text
stringlengths 102
11.9k
| query
stringlengths 2
806
| summary
stringlengths 22
3.99k
|
|---|---|---|
by jaymi mccann published: 12:56 est, 5 july 2013 | updated: 13:40 est, 5 july 2013 police officers in thailand are ditching the doughnuts and getting back in shape as they are sent to join a boot camp about 60 overweight officers are taking part in the 12 day programme that will focus on changing their lifestyle and the biggest loser at the end of the programme will win 5,000 baht, approximately £110 bootcamp: thai police officers take part in a yoga program at a police training center in bangkok it includes dawn t0 dusk exercise and lectures on healthy eating at a police training centre in bangkok the officers wear t shirts with the slogan ‘get rid of the belly’ and start their days with pre dawn jogs, yoga, aerobic dance classes and lessons from nutritionists they also do tai chi to reduce stress and improve the body’s blood flow weight in: the officer who loses the most weight at the end of the programme wins 5,000 baht, almost £110 the cash prize is considered a bonus for underpaid police officers though many say their real motivation is the chance to improve their health sgt maj wanchat phonorthong, a 49 year old traffic officer who at six feet tall weighs almost 21 stone, said: ‘the school children call me `uncle fat' all the time, but i don't mind i'm more concerned about my health, because i have diabetes ‘i'm going to lose some of my belly because they have me work out every day and they only give me half the food i usually eat it's torture but i have to do it for myself’ healthy food: they will take part in dawn to dusk exercise and lecture programs on living more healthily and eating better food pose: thai police officers lt winya thengnimitr, left, and lt col anusara chumchangrua as they start the programme annual checkups last year for thailand's 200,000 police officers showed that the five most common concerns were obesity, high cholesterol, liver problems, high blood pressure and diabetes col pornpen bunnag, who designed the course and heads the family medicine department at bangkok's police general hospital, said: ‘police officers tend to have higher health risks than some other professions because they don't eat and sleep on a normal schedule 'eating at the end of late night shifts, drinking and smoking all contribute to their obesity ‘not only that,’ she said ‘their potbellies make them look less sharp in their uniforms’ | thai 5,000 baht approximately £110 | thai police officers have been sent to a 12 day weight loss bootcamp . the biggest loser at the end will win 5,000 baht, approximately £110 . five most common concerns among officers were obesity, high cholesterol, liver problems, high blood pressure and diabetes |
by daily mail reporter published: 07:40 est, 9 august 2013 | updated: 18:39 est, 9 august 2013 past it? car salesman gary hawkins was sacked after his employer said he was too old at 52 a car salesman was sacked after being told he was too old at the age of 52 gary hawkins won a compensation payout for age discrimination after he took legal action against motor dealership giant carcraft the father of four had worked at the company for eight months when he lost his job he told a birmingham employment tribunal that a boss at the firm fired him after getting on a ‘high’ from sacking two other employees mr hawkins claimed he was told by a regional manager at cc automotive group ltd, which trades as carcraft in wednesbury, west midlands, that he was told old for the job the employment tribunal backed mr hawkins’ claim on wednesday speaking today at his home in sutton coldfield, west midlands, mr hawkins said: ‘i have struck a blow for middle aged men and women everywhere ‘i didn’t even know i wasn’t part of the youth culture until they got rid of me ‘i believe i was the oldest guy working there and they had about 520 members of staff on all the sites he added: ‘the judge said i was the oldest manager and probably one of the oldest staff members ‘we had a new regional manager take over and he came in and told everybody on the first day if he had to sack everybody to improve the sales then he would' he claimed he was sacked at 6pm on a saturday shortly after two colleagues had been told they no longer had jobs, while another employee left because of how he was being treated mr hawkins said: ‘it was a two minute conversation he pulled me to one side and said: “i think you’re too old for my team, you’re sacked” ‘he liked 20 year olds he could bully, he didn’t like anybody with an opinion’ mr hawkins has won thousands of pounds in compensation after being sacked by a regional manager the company denied ageism and claimed mr hawkins had failed to motivate his team and had not trained them properly but he denied his work had been below par and stressed there were regular team meetings where ways of improving sales were discussed mr hawkins has now found a new job as a manager in the car sales industry the tribunal heard other roles had been offered to mr hawkins but the firm admitted other members of staff had lost their jobs tribunal judge peter rose qc also asked the ages of other managers, past and present and it emerged mr hawkins had been the oldest in his field he has now found a new job as a manager in the car sales industry wife heather, 48, said: ‘gary’s definitely not over the hill ‘he has three daughters and a son and they keep him on his toes ‘really, the whole thing has done him a good turn because he’s now got the best job in the world ‘out of all this stress, something good has happened he now gets the time to see his children ‘he’s at a place where they realise his 'softly, softly' approach gets results ‘it’s not nice having to live off credit cards the payout brings us back to where we were’ carcraft, which describes ‘the country’s leading used car supermarket’ with 11 showrooms nationwide, has declined to comment | gary hawkins 52 carcraft eight months hawkins thousands of pounds | gary hawkins, 52, was told he was too old for his job at carcraft . held job for eight months before regional manager sacked him . mr hawkins has won thousands of pounds at an employment tribunal |
published: 12:09 est, 18 march 2013 | updated: 12:53 est, 18 march 2013 researchers have unveiled the nearest thing yet to a real life transformer a human sized robot that can walk, climb walls and even turn into a tank to move across tough terrain the carnegie mellon university highly intelligent mobile platform, or chimp, is designed to primarily move like a tank using tracks to cover tough terrain however, when it needs to, it can simply stand up and even use built in 'claws' to climbs ladders, scale buildings and even hold a car's steering wheel the latest entrant to darpa's $2m robotics challenge is a four limbed robot with near human strength and the dexterity to climb ladders or use tools like a chimpanzee, each extremity is equipped with a manipulator that enables it to grasp objects its developer say it can: move across tough terrain like a tank stand up to access higher objects climb walls using 'claws' climbs ladders use claws to operate power tools open valves and control steering wheels its normal mode of locomotion will be much like that of a tank, with the tracks of all four limbs on the ground, the team says this configuration would offer a particular advantage when moving over debris and rough terrain but chimp also can move on the treads of just two limbs when needed, such as when it must use one or more limbs to open a valve, or to operate power tools chimp will be able to perform complex, physically challenging tasks through supervised autonomy a remote, human operator will make high level commands controlling the robot’s path and actions, while the robot’s on board intelligence prevents collisions, maintains stability and otherwise keeps the robot from harm the robot also will be pre programmed to execute tasks such as grasping a tool, stepping on a ladder rung or turning a steering wheel without step by step direction from the human controller, circumventing the lag between command and execution 'humans provide high level control, while the robot provides low level reflexes and self protective behaviors,' said tony stentz, nrec director and tartan rescue team leader 'this enables chimp to be highly capable without the complexity associated with a fully autonomous robot the cmu highly intelligent mobile platform (chimp) from carnegie mellon university uses mounted tracks on each triple jointed limb to move like a tank over roads as well as tracks, the chimp robot has triple fingered manipulators to climb up ladders, remove debris, or even turn a steering wheel 'this type of robot has tremendous potential,' he said the robot will compete in the defense advanced research projects agency’s (darpa) robotics challenge, in which robots will have human like capabilities to respond to calamities such as the 2011 fukushima nuclear plant disaster climbing ladders and driving vehicles are among the obstacles robots will face in environments engineered for people the nrec entry, tartan rescue team, is one of seven selected by darpa for drc track a, in which each team will develop its own hardware and software chimp is designed with static stability; it won’t fall down even if it experiences a computer glitch or power failure 'when we walk or stand, our brains are actively controlling our balance all of the time,' stentz said 'this dynamic balance makes people nimble and enables them to run' when necessary, however, the operator can control chimp’s individual joints, enabling it to adapt its motion to particular circumstances or extricate itself from tight spots 'in a pinch, it can do anything,' stentz said the robot can move like a tank over roads and rough ground, but can rise up onto two tracks to use the triple fingered manipulators to climb up ladders, remove debris, or even turn a steering wheel | overdignify scants limekilns | no related information |
by rachel quigley published: 16:28 est, 15 august 2013 | updated: 16:40 est, 15 august 2013 the man accused of beating, strangling and stabbing to death a young boston woman on her way to the gym attempted suicide right before his court hearing today by trying to rip out his arteries with his hands edwin j alemany pleaded not guilty today to the murder of amy lord, 24, whose body was found last month in a thickly wooded area of hyde park in boston she was one of the three young women attacked in the same area in a 24 hour period alemany is suspected of carrying out all three and has also been charged with one of the attacks self inflicted: marks can be seen on edwin alemany's neck as he stands in district court during a hearing after his arraignment on thursday, august 15, 2013, in boston much loved: the 24 year old was a high school cheerleader and bentley university graduate suspect: edwin alemany is led from district court in boston after he was arrested on july 25 he was put on suicide watch in jail court appearance: video surveillance from the day of amy's death shows someone purportedly alemany pacing back and forth in front of amy's building and then forcing her back inside when she came out suffolk assistant district attorney john pappas told the court that amy left her dorchester home at 530am to take a bus downtown to go to the gym with a friend, the boston globe reported but she never made it to the gym alemany is accused of beating her inside her home, forcing her into her jeep and taking her to five different atms to take money out before brutally murdering her video surveillance shows someone purportedly alemany pacing back and forth in front of amy's building and then forcing her back inside when she came out after the murder, officials said alemany spent $400 in cash on a cellphone and paid some cellphone bills his defense attorney jeffrey denner told the judge today that his client had tried to kill himself by tearing open arteries with his bare hands, leaving him with self inflicted scratches to his neck and arms not guilty pleas to the murder and kidnapping charges were entered on alemany’s behalf and he was ordered to be held without bail in the other incidents, a woman was attacked at andrew square at 5am on the same day and a third the next day at 1210am they both survived friends: amy lord, center, was abducted by two men at knife point and stabbed repeatedly before her body was dumped in a wood police released this picture of amy lord, taken by one of the atm surveillance cameras as she stepped out of her black jeep the day she was killed last respects: friends and residents of wilbraham gather at gazebo park for a candlelight vigil for amy lord after she died donald lord, amy lord’s grandfather, has said he was devastated at the news of her death 'if you had a daughter, you would want her to be like amy,' he told the boston herald 'she was everything you would want to your daughter to be' she worked as a digital media analyst for genuine interactive the company released a statement saying her death was 'both tragic and shocking' 'we are taking time to focus on the well being of amy’s family and friends, while trying to come to grips with the loss of such a vibrant, caring and special young person who had an infectious positive personality, an ever present smile and caring nature' boston police and suffolk district attorney daniel f conley’s office are actively investigating the crime scene: the body of amy lord, 24, from south boston, was found in hyde park by a man riding a bicycle in the thickly wooded area woods: hyde park's stony brook reservation is a popular place for joggers leah cameron, amy's former cheerleading coach at minnechaug regional high school in wilbraham, said: 'she was this beautiful angel who came from a small town and went to the big city' a number of young women could be seen crying and hugging outside her apartment today according to the boston globe lord was a 2011 graduate of bentley university in waltham with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, quantitative perspectives, the university said in a statement 'our heartfelt sympathies and condolences go out to amy’s family, friends, classmates and professors 'we can only imagine their grief during this tragic time the bentley community grieves along with so many who knew and loved this ambitious, energetic and talented young woman' | last month hyde park five atms this week edwin j alemany | body of amy lord was found last month by man riding bicycle in hyde park . she was kidnapped, beaten and forced to withdraw money from five atms . she was one of three young women attacked in same area this week . edwin j alemany is accused of all three . his defense attorney said he hears whispers in his head |
by katy winter a moving and visually stunning film montage has captured a woman’s pregnancy evolving in a rather unusual way kristi olivares, from manly, australia, has created the film from clips of herself surfing in each month of her pregnancy, as well as blogging about her experience on the website she surfs, a site dedicated to female surfers filmed from a camera on the end of her surfboard, kristi records herself riding waves until she is nine and a half months pregnant two months: kristi begins to record herself surfing while pregnant almost straight away two months: just pregnant, it is impossible to tell that kristi is expecting at the start of the video three months: it is still difficult to discern any bump on slim kristi in her third month of preganancy, as she continues to demonstrate impressive skills on her board often against breathtaking sunsets and showcasing the stunning australian coastline and oceans, the film features a beaming kristi surfing with her friends as we watch her bump, accentuated by her tight fitting surf suit, slowly swell even in the late stages of pregnancy, when most women would be taking the opportunity to indulge in some serious relaxation, kristi is seen paddling out into the ocean before leaping up to stand on her surf board, laughing and smiling as she rides the wave before falling off into the sea talking on her blog about the mechanics of surfing pregnant, kristi says: ‘it is definitely getting more challenging to surf now that i am 30 weeks pregnant luckily i have been surfing at least four days a week throughout my pregnancy so the changes to my body and the ways that i have had to adapt my surfing have happened gradually three months: kristi's love of the ocean is obvious throughout the video, a passion clearly shared by her friends who appear in many of the clips four months: a smiling kristi playfully wears bunny ears for a surf, sporting the tiniest hint of a bump five months: kristi is now sporting a clear, but still small, baby bump however, though she makes adjustments for her pregnancy, she continues to surf about 4 times a week ‘i could ride all of my boards, including the shorter ones until i was about 14 weeks pregnant ‘after that, even though my belly didn’t really stick out, it got uncomfortable to lie on and pop up from ‘because of this, i started to exclusively knee paddle my lovely 9ft 5in long board and learned to pop up from my knees’ the surfing fanatic had to adjust her technique throughout her pregnancy as her centre of balance changed, and we see her surfing become slightly less energetic as the film progresses ‘the bigger my baby belly gets, the more i have to modify the way i pop up because my centre of gravity is shifting and my growing belly makes it increasingly awkward i get tired quite easily and have to take more breaks after i paddle out to the back’ six months: although still surfing regularly, kristi says she changed the way she paddles out (now on her knees as opposed to lying on her belly) and jumps up to standing seven months: kristi demonstrates her considerable skill on the board eight months: with a full swollen belly kristi is still surfing, but admits she got tired more easily and needed to take more breaks eight months: kristi says she got a mixed response from other people for surfing when pregnant nine months: kristi ends up being slightly overdue, and continues to surf right up to the line kristi, who has been surfing for over four years, says she was careful about when and where she surfed while pregnant, never going out in waves over shoulder height, and also was extra vigilant when she fell off ‘if i do have a big spill, i make sure that i am in the foetal position when i am getting rolled around underwater to protect my bump and somehow i always come up smiling,’ she explains on her blog despite her precautions, kristi admits that people’s reactions to her remaining so active through her entire pregnancy were not always positive nine months: surfing with her bump silhouetted, kristi says her doctor supported her decision to surf her way through her pregnancy nine months: kristi says that her four years of experience enabled her to surf safely when pregnant kristi enjoying her last pregnant surf before giving birth at over nine and half months the film ends with kristi surfing against a sunset and the message 'can't wait to introduce my baby to the sea' ‘when i tell people i am still surfing i get a strong response from them most people are positive and happy for me while a few launch into the 'isn’t it dangerous speech' speech ‘other surfers or people who spend a lot of time in the ocean understand when i say that i take wave size and water conditions into account before i paddle out and they can imagine how surfing could be modified to suit a pregnant woman ‘it is usually people with no surfing experience who seem to imagine that i am recklessly surfing massive waves on a short board like a scene from blue crush unfortunately, those people often freely share their judgements and negativity ‘my doctor, who surfs himself, has applauded my decision to keep surfing as part of my healthy lifestyle, recommending of course that i surf sensibly and carefully with regards to my pregnancy’ life's a beach, baby: kristi olivares, 34, surfed four days a week through her pregnancy last year and filmed her changing body as she rode the waves 'i felt like i had to learn to catch waves all over again': olivares said she only surfed in waves that were waist high or smaller and would ask someone to help her carry her board to the beach | strangullion expunger difficulty | no related information |
by daily mail reporter mariah carey has come under fire after she was paid $1 million to perform for a dictator the 'all i want for christmas is you' singer gave a two hour concert for authoritarian angolan president josè eduardo dos santos last sunday, in return for the huge amount the move has angered human rights groups who claim dos santos has murdered many and exploited the country's resources to his own gain controversial: mariah carey, center, posed with authoritarian angolan president josè eduardo dos santos, second from right, and his family last sunday showstopper: carey, pictured here at the performance, has come under fire after she was paid $1 million to perform for the dictator 'it is the sad spectacle of an international artist purchased by a ruthless police state to entertain and whitewash the father daughter kleptocracy that has amassed billions in ill gotten wealth while the majority of angola lives on less than $2 a day,' human rights foundation president thor halvorssen said mariah's show was sponsored by unitel, a mobile phone company owned by dos santos' daughter, isabel his daughter is also head of the angolan red cross, which reportedly received $65,000 in benefit funds from the concert dictator: president jose eduardo dos santos, pictured with his wife, second from right, and daughter isabel, third from left, is accused of paying mariah carey with ill gotten gains the concert comes five years after mariah apologized after performing for notorious dictator colonel muammar al gaddafi, who was toppled and killed during the arab spring uprising in 2011 thor added: 'mariah carey can't seem to get enough dictator cash just five years ago she performed for the family of libyan dictator muammar al gaddafi 'now, she goes from private performances to public displays of support and credibility for one of africa's chief human rights violators and most corrupt tyrants' mariah, 43, posed for pictures with dos santos and his family at the event not again: mariah, pictured at sunday's concert, angered many five years after performing for notorious dictator colonel muammar al gaddafi, who was toppled and killed during the arab spring uprising in 2011 star power: event promoter karina barbosa, pictured top left, posted pictures of the event on instagram according to the human rights foundation, she said: 'i am happy to be here in this room and i am honored to share this show with the president of angola' critics of dos santos claim he has murdered many politicians, journalists and other people who have defied his orders, as well as monopolizing and exploiting oil and diamond resources and seizing control of almost all aspects of government power mailonline contacted mariah carey for comment, but is yet to receive a response 'murderer': critics of dos santos, pictured, claim he has murdered many politicians, journalists and other people who have defied his orders swanky: barbosa posted pictures of the swanky event, and the event's poster which features mariah the performance comes six months after jennifer lopez was forced to apologize for singing 'happy birthday' to the repressive dictator of turkmenistan's brutal regime lopez reportedly changed into a traditional turkmen outfit during her june show and personally serenaded gurbanguly berdimuhamedow whose government is accused of arbitrarily arresting and torturing political dissidents human rights watch ranks turkmenistan as 'among the most repressive in the world' | two hour angolan josè eduardo dos santos last sunday dos santos five years mariah muammar al gaddafi june jennifer lopez turkmenistan | the singer gave a two hour concert for authoritarian angolan president josè eduardo dos santos last sunday, in return for the huge amount . the move has angered human rights groups who claim dos santos has murdered many and exploited the country's resources to his own gain . the concert comes five years after mariah apologized after performing for notorious dictator colonel muammar al gaddafi . in june, jennifer lopez sang 'happy birthday' to . the repressive dictator of turkmenistan's brutal regime |
by becky barrow published: 20:27 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 20:27 est, 10 december 2013 millions of women are being let down by a state pension system that treats them like ‘poor relations’, official figures revealed yesterday the data from the office for national statistics show that 80 per cent of male pensioners get the full amount of £11015 a week but just 46 per cent of women receive the full state pension, which is based on national insurance contributions official statistics show just 46% of women receive the full state pension compared to 80% of male pensioners many women give up work to look after children and so make lower contributions dr ros altmann, a pensions expert, said: ‘the state pension system was designed by men for men who had wives at home ‘women have been stung by a legacy of rough justice from the pension system it has discriminated against women for years’ overall, a typical retired woman who is receiving her state pension, including additional extras, receives £112 per week but a man scoops £34 more per week, with an average weekly payout of £146 this is equal to nearly £1,770 more every year many women give up work to look after children and therefore make lower contributions for many women, this is the difference between turning on the heating or staying cold, between visiting relatives or being stuck at home malcolm mclean, a consultant from pension advisers barnett waddingham, said: ‘it is clear that women are still very much the poor relations when it comes to the state pension’ there are far more female than male pensioners in britain, with around five million men and 73million women over state pension age in the uk to make matters worse, the ons said one in ten retired women get ‘less than half’ of the basic state pension the figures follow the revelation yesterday that elderly savers are being stripped of thousands of pounds by middlemen when they retire and turn their pension pots into annuities half stay loyal to the insurer they have saved with while others turn to brokers in search of a better deal but a report from the financial services consumer panel found many pensioners were being charged between £1,500 and £3,350 by brokers when moving a pot worth £100,000 the ons also exposed the ballooning cost of paying the state pension to britain’s ageing population in 2012/13, the state pension and other payouts, such as pension credit, cost the government £94billion this figure is set to explode as people live longer two in five baby girls born this year will live to celebrate their 100th birthdays, according to the department for work and pensions pensions experts say the state system was 'designed by men for men' and discriminate against women by 2062/63, the ons forecasts the bill will have reached £438billion, a sum the government plans to reduce by raising the state pension age at present a woman can start claiming state pension at 61 and nine months a man can start claiming at 65 it will be increased to 65 for women by 2018 the age for both men and women will then rise to 66 by 2020 and 67 by 2028 john fox, director of the pension provider liberty sipp, said: ‘we all know britain is facing a pensions timebomb ‘with these official projections, the ticking just got louder’ | eightvo vernacularly fortunite | no related information |
by claire ellicott published: 18:33 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 04:51 est, 11 december 2013 thousands of pensioners will pay more for fuel this winter after energy giant eon scrapped a cheaper tariff for the elderly the company blamed a government plan to simplify tariffs for the closure of its age uk deal which offered a cheaper fuel price to those over 60 it has written to customers to tell them that they have been ‘renewed’ on to its standard fixed rate variable tariff which costs around £78 more per year pensioners hit: energy giant eon has scrapped its age uk deal which offered a cheaper price fuel to over 60s it is the second tariff for the elderly that the company has ended after it axed its staywarm deal two months ago, leaving tens of thousands of customers facing bill increases of as much as £180 eon, one of the uk’s biggest suppliers, blamed the prime minister’s energy tariff simplification plan for the withdrawal of the tariff but pressure groups, customers and ofgem yesterday accused the companies of using the retail market review as an excuse to axe some of the best deals the plan was announced last year with great fanfare as a way of enabling consumers to better compare energy tariffs it restricted the number of products each provider can offer to four for electricity and four for gas there were previously a bewildering array of 500 products on offer aides claimed the issue was ‘close to [the prime minister’s] heart’ as figures show that as many as seven in ten households pay over the odds for power some by as much as £300 a year eon customer stephen bunney, who was on the age uk tariff, accused the company of using the changes as an excuse to put prices up for older people on cheap deals the pensioner was on a standard variable age uk tariff which he claimed was better value than everything else on the market when he originally signed up to it he was pleased with the deal and remained on it for roughly five years, but was contacted on december 6 and told that the tariff was being axed in the letter to the 65 year old from erith, kent, eon wrote: ‘we’re closing your tariff and moving you to eon energyplan it is the second tariff for the elderly that the company has ended after it axed its staywarm deal two months ago, leaving tens of thousands of customers facing bill increases of as much as £180 ‘as part of an industry wide programme to create a simpler and clearer, fairer and more competitive energy market, we’ve changed our tariffs and the way we pay you any discounts’ the letter goes on to estimate that the new tariff will cost mr bunney £78 more a year and cancels a three per cent energy discount and uk cold weather payments that he previously received it also advises him that he can switch to other deals and other suppliers and informed him about a new fixed rate age uk deal it offers but mr bunney, a retired bt manager, and his wife, who also worked for bt before she retired, said that the new age uk tariff offered by eon was more expensive ‘out of the blue they just took me off the deal and put me on a more expensive one they are using the government review as an excuse to remove cheap tariffs,’ he said ‘they’re getting round what’s going to happen by cutting their cheapest tariffs their four tariffs won’t be cheaper ones ‘it’s probably legally ok but it’s not morally ok they’re screwing the pensioners yet again’ jo ganly, energy expert at uswitchcom, said: ‘simplification is a good thing for consumers as the energy market has been notoriously difficult for people to get their heads around ‘however, it’s important that simplification doesn’t come at a cost the biggest danger is that consumers start to lose discounts and incentives that are valuable to them ‘this would be like throwing the baby out with the bath water: penalising the savvy who are already shopping around, while removing any incentive that could encourage non switchers to join in’ on average bills will be £60 higher than before this year's round of price hikes even after the government deal to reduce green levies by £50 an eon spokeswoman refused to confirm how many customers were on the age uk plan for ‘commercial’ reasons she said: ‘to make the market simpler and easier to compare we now offer four core tariffs as part of the new rules being introduced by ofgem ‘we’ve written to customers on historic variable products to advise them that their tariff is no longer available and that we’ll be moving them to our standard offering (as required) ‘we hope to have ‘best deal for you’ conversations with these customers about whether there is a better or more suitable product for their needs and urge customers to get in touch ‘we will continue to offer age uk fixed products exclusively for the over 60s’ age uk take a commission of around 15per cent from the tariffs through their enterprise arm which raises money for the charity gordon morris, managing director of age uk enterprises, said: ‘while reducing the number of energy tariffs available should help simplify the market following the implementation of the ofgem retail market review, this customer highlights the important concern that many older people are unaware of the changes taking place and what action they need to take ‘in the first instance, people should contact their energy supplier to ensure they are on the best tariff what is important is for all older people to check their energy costs and ensure they are on the best deal for them’ an ofgem spokesman said: ‘a key part of our reforms is a restriction on suppliers offering no more than four tariffs for gas and four for electricity we have never told suppliers which tariffs they have to close to comply with this rule, as that is a decision for them ‘and in fact we have been clear with all suppliers that they are allowed to keep social tariffs (which for example offer discounts to customers who have difficulty paying bills) under our rules’ | uk 60s eon staywarm two months ago as much as £180 | company scraps age uk deal which offered a cheaper prices to over 60s . customers switched to more expensive standard fixed rate variable tariff . eon already axed its staywarm deal for elderly customers two months ago . tens of thousands of customers facing bill increases of as much as £180 |
by daily mail reporter published: 17:41 est, 29 december 2013 | updated: 05:05 est, 30 december 2013 former nypd commissioner bernard kerik has accused his former attorney of working with federal agents to put him behind bars in 2010 for taking bribes from mobsters kerik, a 9/11 hero, was one of the city's most beloved commissioners and on track to be the head of homeland security but that changed the day he plead guilty to accepting $165,000 in apartment renovations from the mob connected ditommaso family who wanted a city contract he hired high profile lawyer and personal friend joe tacopina to represent him but by the time the case made it to court, his attorney was serving as a witness for the prosecution betrayed: former nypd commissioner bernard kerik (left) is suing his former attorney joe tacopina (right) for working with federal prosecutors behind his back career over: kerik nearly became president bush's director of homeland security but lost the opportunity when the organized crime connections surfaced kerik served four years of prison time in maryland and was released this past may seemingly hell bent on vengence since he filed a bar complaint against tacopina friday in the complaint, kerik accuses tacopina of engaging in 'conduct involving dishonest, fraud, deceit, and/or misrepresentation' in addition to several legal abuses he says that tacopina met with federeal prosecutors behind his back, giving them information that would help bring him down additionally tacopina put kerik in danger of being arrested by contacting him after it was announced that he would be on the witness list connections: kerik pleaded guilty to accepting $165,000 in home renovations from frank (left) and peter (right) dithommaso, from an organized crime connected family kerik also accuses tacopina of attempting to defraud him of a seven figure finder's fee in a real estate transaction steroid use: tacopino is currently representing yankee star alex rodriguez as he seeks to get his 211 game ban reduced following the new complaint, tacopina shot back at kerik in the new york post calling the allegations unsubstantiated old news 'this is such bulls***, reheated dog food,' tacopina said tacopina's attorney was a little less candid with his denials 'if any of these allegations were true, mr tacopina would have at least been subjected to discipline,' washington based attorney lanny davis said in a statement to the new york daily news 'yet mr tacopina in 22 years of law practice has never received a bar complaint, let alone any discipline mr tacopina's spotless record with the bar speaks far louder than the lies and innuendo that are being spread by those with an obvious agenda' tacopina is currently representing yankee star alex rodriguez as he attempts to get his 211 game ban for testing positive for steroid use reduced boston attorney raymond mansolillo is representing kerik in the bar case, and says his client may also file a malpractice suit against tacopina 'we'll assess the information that we've gleaned and we'll determine which avenue to take i'm looking into whether any (of tacopina's representation) had any direct effect on where bernie ended up' | lipoferous unreliability pastes | no related information |
by tom gardner published: 11:16 est, 30 december 2013 | updated: 11:26 est, 30 december 2013 deployed to the harsh war torn outer reaches of afghanistan, sgt daniel rasik could hardly have been further away from his heavily pregnant wife and when genevieve went into labor, the couple were confronted with the prospect of being apart for the birth of their third child but thanks to the internet, the serving us army soldier was able to watch his son being born and comfort his wife from thousands of miles away united: us army sgt daniel rasik, pictured on the ipad held by doctor pete papapanos, watched his wife genevieve, left, give birth in florida via skype from the front line in afghanistan sgt rasik was beamed halfway across the globe via skype from the front line into the hospital room at martin memorial in stuart genevieve, who gave birth by caesarian section, told wptvcom: 'it was the happiest moment of my life followed by the saddest moment of my life when i found out he couldn't be there' recounting how the events unfolded last month, mrs rasik said she did not think the video call would work but the couple decided to give it a go anyway and were overcome with how the technology managed to make the miles of separation disappear safe arrival: little benjamin will get to see his father for real in the spring when he returns from a nine month tour of afghanistan comfort: sgt daniel rasik, left, who is currently deployed in afghanistan, was able to comfort his wife genevieve, right, during the birth of their son via skype mrs rasik added: 'i looked to my left and saw my husband even though he was so far away, he was there 'words can't describe how much it means to us that he was there 'he didn't have to miss the birth of his child and i could have the support that i needed at that time' the 'cyber birth' was the idea of dr pete papapanos, who told wptvcom: 'i thanked him for all the good things are troops are doing overseas for us and how they are keeping us safe,' adding: 'i told him i was going to do everything i could to keep his family safe' the rasiks have two other children twins, who are 13 months old benjamin and his father are expected to meet in person in the spring after mr rasik's deployment | daniel rasik afghanistan genevieve benjamin port st lucie florida spring | sgt daniel rasik was stationed in afghanistan when his wife began labor . genevieve gave birth to son benjamin as husband watched via the internet . son and father, of port st lucie, florida, will be united in spring |
by james chapman published: 20:34 est, 29 december 2013 | updated: 03:46 est, 30 december 2013 a crackdown on taxpayers’ money being used to fund union work by civil servants is today exposed as a dismal failure the cost of ‘facility time’ in whitehall shot up by almost a third in two years, according to official figures what has been dubbed a ‘scandalous subsidy’ increased from £183million in 2010/11 to almost £236million in 2012/13 a rise of 29 per cent limits: fifteen government departments failed to meet a cap set by the cabinet office fifteen government departments failed to meet the cap set by the cabinet office of 01 per cent of the wages bill being spent on union time facility time allows trade union representatives to take paid time off to participate in union duties but critics say it means taxpayers are providing unions with a huge activist base to support strikes and freeing up resources for political campaigns before the curb was introduced in 2010, there was no monitoring of the subsidy among civil servants – with some working full time on union duties and others even receiving promotions without actually doing the job for which they were paid tory mp dominic raab, who uncovered the figures under freedom of information laws, said: ‘with so many facing the disruption of strikes led by militant union leaders, taxpayers will be alarmed to learn their subsidy to the unions has shot up by almost a third in two years 'having pledged to cut the millions of pounds of public money siphoned off for union business, it is vital that the government delivers on its promise’ uncovered: dominic raab mp found out the figures using freedom of information laws the figures are based on data from 16 whitehall departments and 37 executive agencies as 20 departments were sent requests, the estimate is almost certainly below the actual spend on facility time the biggest spenders were the ministry of justice, which charged taxpayers almost £65million the department for work and pensions spent £61million, while the ministry of defence topped £33million the dwp also saw one of the biggest rises in spending over the two years, with a £568million or 1,350 per cent increase ministry of justice expenditure leaped by £726,610 134 per cent while spending by the home office rose by £646,786 (259 per cent) at present, 026 per cent of the civil service’s pay bill is spent on union work the equivalent figure is just 004 per cent in the private sector the taxpayers’ alliance campaign group has led calls for a cut in the subsidy, which it claims is actually worth £80million to unions across the entire public sector but the national association of head teachers said facility time saves taxpayers’ money by preventing conflicts and tribunals, and promoting training and development the trades union congress says the public and private sector save £2million a day a cabinet office spokesman said newer figures will show costs falling ‘dramatically’ a cabinet office spokesman said: 'before 2010 there was no monitoring of taxpayer funded union representatives and too many civil servants worked full time on nothing but union work 'some civil servants were even promoted without doing the job for which they were employed that is not fair to the taxpayer or other civil servants 'our policy now limits the amount of time civil servants can spend on trade union work 'we will be looking closely at this data as it seems totally at odds with the recent numbers reported by departments 'because there was no systematic monitoring before the last election, in some cases reported numbers have seemed to increase but what actually happened is that departments more accurately monitored their workforces as a result of our policy 'our newest figures, which will be published shortly, show the cost of facility time has fallen dramatically' | whitehall two years ministry of justice almost £65million | the cost of ‘facility time’ in whitehall shot up by almost a third in two years . fifteen government departments failed to meet an official cap . ministry of justice charged taxpayers almost £65million |
by daily mail reporter published: 20:32 est, 29 december 2013 | updated: 20:32 est, 29 december 2013 conservationists are fighting to save a native plant that is growing wild in only one site in cornwall there are only 13 lizard junipers in the gew graze valley on the lizard peninsula and they are failing to regenerate a team from the eden project and natural england are now growing specimens at a nursery and hope to plant them in the wild in the coming year rare: the lizard juniper, a rare variant of the more ordinary juniper bush, pictured, is in danger of dying out the lizard juniper was historically recorded at several sites on the lizard fire, grazing by animals, reduction in fertility by ageing plants and male and female fragmentation are believed to be behind the decline in the last 30 years regeneration rates are believed to have been very low in 2010, detailed surveys found no natural regeneration at all john martin, from natural england, said the people of cornwall should be 'very proud of the lizard’s botanical importance' it has a number of rare species cuttings from all known wild juniper plants on the lizard were taken in 2010 to the eden project in cornwall fruit was collected from five wild female plants two years later with the aim to grow plants from the seeds both methods are now being used to help grow junipers 'the 13 individuals live close together [in the wild] and we want to see if former sites where they used to be found might be suitable for the reintroduction,' mr martin said 'it will help protect them if something bad happens to those in the gew graze valley' growth: campaigners from the eden project, pictured, are trying to grow new specimens in a nursery dr tim pettitt, from the eden project, said seedlings had been germinated from the collected seeds, but they had to be 'robust enough' before being reintroduced 'it’s part of our native flora and we need to do more to understand why there has been such a strong decline,' he said 'the species was once abundant and we should endeavour to keep it' the plant is a subspecies of the juniper, an evergreen conifer mr martin said the lizard was the only place in the uk where it was found but he admitted there was some divide in the scientific community as to whether a type of juniper found in southern europe was the same subspecies he said: 'they live in different habitats, there would be no gene flow between the two populations, and they do differ, but at this stage it’s unclear whether it is the same subspecies or not' dr alistair griffiths, who is one of the founders of the project, said: 'it’s a very important project, not just for conserving one population of plants, but also understanding the scientific methods of how best to protect our habitats and plants' he added the research methods used for the lizard juniper, as a case study, could help towards safeguarding other species | the lizard peninsula the eden project | there are only 13 lizard junipers left on the the lizard peninsula . the eden project and natural england are growing specimens at a nursery |
by sara malm published: 20:41 est, 27 december 2013 | updated: 15:22 est, 28 december 2013 fresh out of a cocaine scandal, a divorce and public attacks by her former personal assistants, nigella lawson has said she is 'averse to conflict' the 'domestic goddess' told how she avoids confrontation in an interview with radio times interview to promote the new season of the taste nigella's acrimonious split from charles saatchi has hogged the headlines, alongside her confession in court that she has used cocaine seven times in her life and accusations by the grillo sisters that she 'let her children smoke cannabis' scroll down to see promo not confrontational: nigella lawson has said she is 'averse to conflict' and that as a cook, she is different from professional chefs talking about her us tv show, which has been described as masterchef meets the voice, she told the magazine: ‘what i liked, not being terribly confrontational as a person, is that because you taste everything blind, you're never making any judgments on a person and you're just talking about the food’ lawson, who is also an executive producer on the show, added: ‘so much of reality tv is the theatre of humiliation or in some sense the culture of the breast heaving back story, so to have a food competition that is actually about the food is rather pleasant’ asked what the difference is between professional chefs and cooks like her, she added: ‘what i would say and this is not about the food, it is about the personality is that, as a general rule, chefs are conflict driven, they are perfectionist, they are risk takers all about the taste: nigella said she seeks to 'use food to bring harmony for whatever reason' in charge: nigella, pictured alongside her fellow chefs ludo lefebrve, marcus samuelsson and anthony bourdain is both a judge and the show's executive produces ‘whereas home cooks tend to be conflict averse well, i am not necessarily risk takers, and we seek to use food to bring harmony for whatever reason’ lawson added that she had felt ‘incredibly frightened’ about going to los angeles to do the show the interview, which took place six weeks before allegations of lawson's drug use emerged in the fraud trial of her former personal assistants, francesca and elisabetta grillo, the sisters were acquitted and lawson admitted during the trial that she took cocaine with her late husband john diamond when he found out he had terminal cancer, and in 2010 when she claimed she was being ‘subjected to intimate terrorism’ by her former husband mr saatchi police are to review her admission that she took the class a drug the taste is being broadcast in the uk on channel 4 | nigella lawson us nigella | 'domestic goddess' nigella lawson says she is 'not confrontational'. opened up in interview about new season of us show the taste . nigella said she 'seek to use food to bring harmony for whatever reason' |
by damien gayle published: 09:03 est, 14 december 2012 | updated: 09:03 est, 14 december 2012 the obama administration is 'considering' building a death star after an online petition reached the 25,000 signatures it needed to be accepted by the white house the online petition, which calls for the us government to 'secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a death star by 2016' now has more than 27,000 signatures first seen in the sci fi classic star wars, the death star is a spherical, moon sized space station that is capable of destroying entire planets with a single energy beam blast the galactic empire's ultimate weapon: now the white house is 'considering' building its own death star after an online petition calling for its construction passed 25,000 signatures within 30 days commanded by grand moff tarkin, played in star wars by peter cushing, it is the galactic empire's ultimate weapon, and is used to obliterate princess leia's home planet of alderaan the petition on the white house's we the people website for the us to build its own death star was started by a colorado man identified only as john d a statement reads: 'by focusing our defense resources into a space superiority platform and weapon system such as a death star, the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense' the we the people website claims that any petition which attracts 25,000 signatures within 30 days will be guaranteed as assessment by white house staff 'if a petition gets enough support, white house staff will review it, ensure it’s sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response,' it says icons of cinema: mark hamil, carrie fisher and harrison ford led the rebels in the original star wars students from lehigh university of pennsylvania in february calculated that, in today's economy, it would cost $852quadrillion to build a 140m diameter death star at current production rates, it would take 833,315 years to mine enough steel to begin work on such a weapon, they estimated the galactic empire's death star was eventually destroyed by luke skywalker leading a squadron of fighter pilots from the rebel alliance | harmonized atheistical propolises | no related information |
by matt chorley, mailonline political editor published: 04:09 est, 15 may 2013 | updated: 09:21 est, 15 may 2013 british workers have seen their wages rise by the lowest level for four years, while the cost of living continues to soar wages increased by just 04 per cent in the first three months of 2013, including a fall in march new figures showed the number of people out of work rose by 15,000 to 252 million the rate of unemployment rose to 78 per cent wages: average pay has gone up just 04 per cent during the past year compared to a 28 per cent increase in inflation the fast rise in rents will compound the misery for many households ages increased by just 04 per cent in the first three months of 2013, including a fall in marchnew figures showed the number of people out of work rose by 15,000 to 252 million the rate of unemployment rose to 78 per cent total pay including bonuses from january to march was up just 04 per cent on the same period in 2012, the office for national statistics the rise was entirely fuelled by increase state funded jobs, with employees in the private sector seeing no year on year increase in pay at all the figure for march alone showed a fall in pay of 04 per cent, the first negative since march 2009the consumer prices index, which tracks the annual rise in the cost of living, stands at 28 per cent it means wage rises are failing to cover rises in bills for food, housing and shopping leaving people worse off every month labour mp catherine mckinnell said in the commons yesterday: 'average earnings are rising at the lowest rate since the end of 2009' she pointed to a study by the resolution foundation, that warned the squeeze on average incomes is set to continue for many years 'the foundation estimates that the gap between what people earn and what they would have been earning had their wages risen in line with inflation will have risen to £3,200 by 2017' average earnings excluding bonuses rose by 08 per cent, the lowest rise since records began in 2001 tuc general secretary frances o'grady said: ‘those in work are taking a hammering in their pay packets with wage growth down to just 04 per cent, while prices rise far more quickly‘it's no wonder the economy is struggling when people in work are getting poorer every month’ after rising for previous quarters, the fissures showed a surprise fall in the overall rate of unemployment to 08 per cent the figures also revealed that the number of people in work fell by 43,000 in the latest quarter to march, to 297 million, the biggest fall since autumn 2011 some 902,000 people had been out of work for more than a year, a 23,000 increase on the three months to december the number of unemployed 16 to 24 year olds fell by 17,000 to 958,000 the government claimed there were now more than half a million job vacancies in the uk, the highest number since 2008 the number of people claiming out of work benefit jobseekers allowance in april fell to its lowest level since may 2011, but still stands at 152million the drop in employment by 43,000 was blamed on a fall in part time workers and government training schemes the number of people in full time jobs rose by 10,000 on the quarter employment minister mark hoban said: 'there are record numbers of women in work, fewer young people unemployed and more vacancies available for those looking for work labour's liam byrne accused tories of bickering over europe while families were struggling 'we are also seeing continuing falls in the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance which is positive whilst there has been a disappointing increase in the headline rate of unemployment, we shouldn't forget the progress we are making 'we are not complacent to win the global race we need to do all that we can to help people achieve their aspiration to look after themselves and their families' the number of people classed as economically inactive, including students, people on long term sick leave and those who have given up looking for work, rose by 47,000 to nine million despite today's increase in unemployment, the total is 92,000 lower than a year ago the unemployment rate from january to march was 78 per cent, down from 79 per cent in december to february liam byrne, labour's shadow work and pensions secretary, said: ‘we now have definitive proof the government has simply failed to get britain back to work’ he said the government had done nothing in the queen's speech to help solve the ‘jobs crisis’ and instead tory mps were bickering over europe ‘families struggling for work will be asking quite simply, what planet are these people on?’ however, neil carberry, director of employment and skills for the cbi, said: ‘given the challenging economic conditions at the end of last year, it's unsurprising that we're now seeing fewer people in work ‘what's encouraging, however, is that economic conditions seem to be improving and that full time jobs are still being created’ martin beck, uk economist at capital economics, said: ‘following recent positive news on the economy, today's uk labour market data provides something of a reality check ‘there was a triple whammy of bad news, with employment in the three months to march down by 43,000 and unemployment up by 15,000 meanwhile, the squeeze on real earnings has intensified’ | january to march just 04% year on year 28% | total pay from january to march was just 04% up year on year . consumer prices index shows cost of living is 28% higher . number out of work rises by 15,000 to 252 million |
by joshua gardner published: 15:58 est, 15 march 2013 | updated: 16:00 est, 15 march 2013 president obama says iran is ‘over a year or so’ away from developing nuclear weapons and that he will use ‘all options’ to stop them in the lead up to his first ever presidential visit to the country next week, obama sat for an interview with israeli television ‘right now, we think it would take over a year or so for iran to actually develop a nuclear weapon, but obviously we don't want to cut it too close,’ he told israel’s channel 2 news march 14, according to abc news prepping: ahead of his visit to the country, obama sat down with the israel's channel 2 news and discussed the hot topic of nukes in iran israel’s concerns over iran’s nuclear program are expected to be the major focus of obama’s trip to the country israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu has been vocal about his belief that iran is developing nuclear technology at a clip much faster than what obama describes and the differing timelines are expected to be a sticking point in talks between the two leaders in addition to outlining what us intelligence believes they know about the iranian nuclear program, obama made clear that his first course of action to stop iran from building the bomb is through diplomacy the president called diplomacy ‘a more lasting solution’ and said this message is the same one he’s given to prime minister netanyahu in the past disagreement: while obama said iran could be capable of building a nuke in 'a year or so,' israeli prime minister netanyahu believes they're much closer all options: while obama maintains his desire for diplomacy, last week joe biden said the president will use military action if forced however, obama also hinted that he’s prepared to take us intervention in iran a step further than diplomacy ‘i continue to keep all options on the table,’ he said those options may include the military, if recent words from vice president joe biden are any indication he said as much earlier in march while speaking to the powerful pro israel lobby american israeli public affairs committee no plans: iran maintains its nuclear program is only for producing electricity at power plants like this one and has no plans for a nuclear weapons program ‘if god forbid the need to act occurs,’ biden said march 4, ‘it is critically important for the whole world to know that we did everything in our power, we did everything that reasonably could have been expected to avoid any confrontation’ meanwhile, president obama maintained that non military tactics at limiting iran’s nuclear program are ‘having a significant effect’ the president also made clear in the interview, reports the new york times, that iran’s time to comply with international demands is finite ‘there is a window,’ he said, ‘not an infinite period of time, but a window of time where we can resolve this diplomatically’ | israel iran biden pro israel obama | ahead of his visit to the region, the president assured israel in a television interview he will use 'all options' to stop iran . earlier this month, vice president biden told a pro israel lobby obama would use military force if necessary |
by daily mail reporter published: 09:46 est, 28 december 2013 | updated: 11:00 est, 28 december 2013 the 17 year old adopted son of a prominent new jersey doctor has been accused of stabbing to death his sister with a kitchen knife during an argument on thursday evening travis gallo allegedly stabbed teia gallo, 20, multiple times in front of another sibling in their pershing ave, washington township, home about 530pm 'there are two lives lost,' father dr robert gallo said 'it’s a tragedy' devastating: travis gallo, 17 (right) is accused of stabbing to death his sister teia gallo, left teia gallo: the 2011 graduate of paramus catholic high school was described as 'a role player' on the basketball team travis was charged with murder as a juvenile yesterday during a closed hearing in superior court in hackensack, with authorities deciding whether to charge him as an adult, northjerseycom reported the shocking news has devastated the tight knit family, with dr gallo saying he didn't know what sparked the argument 'she was a loving kid she was adored by my grandchildren, by her sisters and brothers,' the hackensack gynecologist told northjerseycom 'my family is devastatedwe're a very strong family there’s a lot of love and a lot of hugging, and we will get through this we will weather this storm' 'we still have a lot of unanswered questions,' he told the new york post dr gallo has 12 children with his wife, theresa three adopted, including travis and teia, and nine biological the big hearted doctor took travis in at age three for what was supposed to be a temporary arrangement until he could find him a permanent home but gallo grew attached to travis and decided to keep him permanently the couple also adopted teia and destiny, who were sisters close knit family: robert and theresa gallo (sitting front) adopted teia (second from left) and travis (right) when they were young the family: robert and theresa gallo (sitting center, front) had 12 children and 14 grandchildren suffering: robert gallo said he and his wife, theresa (both pictured) are devastated by the tragedy the family said the children were close and got along, with the adopted children never feeling out of place however close friends of teia say the young woman's relationship with travis was strained friend jennifer o'connor told northjerseycom teia, a paramus catholic high school graduate, thought her brother was becoming increasingly aggressive she said teia, who attended nearby dominican college where she was a junior, hoped next year to move into a dorm room on the orangeburg, ny, campus, to get away from travis 'it was getting bad,' o’connor said 'she wanted to live on campus next year to get away from his anger' tough times: friends of teia gallo (pictured left, and right with her partner) say the young woman had a strained relationship with her brother travis however teia's parents don't believe their daughter's desire to move was because of travis 'there were times when they didn’t get along, but our idea wasn’t to separate them,' dr gallo said 'most kids, they have altercations every once in a while but we never had the sense that it would get to this' until last year travis attended westwood regional high school, where he took special education classes and played on the football team dr gallo said was being home schooled after getting bullied by other students at school district officials offered to let travis leave school, and send teachers to his house to complete his coursework | travis gallo 17 teia gallo 20 new jersey robert gallo teia travis | travis gallo, 17, allegedly fatally stabbed his sister teia gallo, 20, in front of another sibling . they were the adopted children of prominent new jersey ob gyn, dr robert gallo, who has 12 children . the victim's friends say teia claimed travis was 'aggressive' and she needed to 'get away from his anger' |
by katie davies published: 22:10 est, 26 february 2013 | updated: 08:04 est, 27 february 2013 spring break chaos has arrived early in mexico's cancun this year with american college students already beginning their revelry across the resort hundreds of students have been pictured starting the party early in the mexican city today, drinking heavily and dancing the night away with marines on patrol to ensure no one gets too carried away this year cancun was found to be the number one destination for students looking to enjoy the typically wild week long holiday which doesn't usually get going until march getting the party started: students have already started hitting the clubs of cancun, pictured last night, marking an earlier spring break than usual on patrol: mexican navy marines were out yesterday to ensure there was no trouble among spring breakers in the resort however, some college students were out in force last night drinking and partying in the streets until the early hours, knocking back shots in images which they will be hoping don't make it back to mom 'spring break is a week of rest and relaxation you get away from tests, midterms, homework, work, anything,' sean wells, a senior at indiana state university told wthitvcom students certainly seem a long way from homework if the images which typically emerge from the resort are anything to go by hundreds of young revelers tend to be snapped in shorts and bikinis knocking back cocktails on the beach, in the hotel pools or worse for wear in the bars and on the dance floor and it doesn't look likely to calm down this year in january, student travel agency sta reported the city was the most popular in terms of student travelers followed by punta cana in the dominican republic and puerta vallarta also in mexico revelry: cancun is regularly one of the top picks for american spring breakers and is said to be the most popular choice of destination for students this year soak up the sun: mexican navy sailors patrol the beach as revelers relax during spring break last year as student advice website student city says, visitors shouldn't be expecting a quiet time: 'in cancun, the party never stops, so you may want to choose your spring break hotel based on the noise level chances are that if you don't choose a quiet one, you'll just be up for 7 days straight and that may not be a bad thing for some of you' however, no matter how many of them there are, it seems the party goers won't be able to escape the long arm of the law mexican navy marines were pictured patrolling the popular nightclubs of the city yesterday starting a season where on average 45,000 people will visit the resort the local tourist board is keen to maintain safety in the area, particularly amid fears in mexico that tourism will decrease as a result of violence in the tourist town of acapulco six spanish women holidaying there earlier this month were tied by their bikinis and raped and robbed by a gang of men heavy drinking: party goers typically engage in heavy drinking in the spring break hotspot, pictured party by the pool: the resort's hotels are overrun by spring breakers typically in march but some colleges assign the week off in february there have been six arrests in connection to the incident jesus almagauer, chief executive of the cancun convention and visitors bureau, said cancun was not a city struggling to keep the peace 'last year cancun welcomed almost 4 million visitors, and while none of our tourists were victims of violent crimes, we understand that safety is always a concern when traveling to a foreign country,' he told the la times 'in response to that concern, and in an effort to dispel any misconceptions about the destination, we always amplify our security protocol during peak travel times to ensure the safety of every person visiting us [cancun] has better safety records than most major us cities' last year the department for public safety in texas sparked a row with mexican authorities for advising against travel to the resort for the third year running they said violence between rival drug gangs as well as other crime posed safety issues for tourists not in the library any more: every year students head for sunnier climes during their week long break from college to enjoy days on the beach and nights on the dance floor beach bodies: an american student on her spring break enjoys her drink at a hotel in cancun last year 'the mexican government has made great strides battling the cartels, and we commend their continued commitment to making mexico a safer place to live and visit,' texas department of public safety director steve mccraw said 'however, drug cartel violence and other criminal activity represent a significant safety threat, even in some resort areas' 'many crimes against americans in mexico go unpunished,' he added officials in mexico described the state's stance as 'outrageous' rodolfo lopez negrete, chief operating officer of the mexico tourism board, said: 'this warning is exceptionally aggressive to paint mexico with such a massively broad brush stroke is simply outrageous' for most students the week off for spring break typically comes in march but some colleges offer the week in february teen stars: ashley benson, selena gomez, vanessa hudgens and rachel korine pose for their spring breakers promotional tour busted: vanessa hudgens and selena gomez appearing in the 2012 film spring breakers drama: spring breakers tells the story of four college girls who end up involved with drug dealers after robbing a restaurant in order to fund their spring break vacation | spring breakers mexican marines sta | 45,000 holidaymakers are expected to flock to the holiday resort over the next month or so including thousands of spring breakers . scenes of drunken debauchery are commonplace at the mexican resort popular for its fine weather and party atmosphere . marines patrol the city in order to ensure the revelry doesn't get out of hand . this year it is the number one choice for students getting away for their week long break, according to student travel agent sta travel |
by rupert steiner published: 18:25 est, 18 november 2012 | updated: 04:09 est, 19 november 2012 four bosses at starbucks have walked away with £50million in pay despite the coffee chain having paid no corporation tax in britain over the past three years, it has been reported documents filed on the firm’s website show the quartet managed to receive handsome fees over the past three years as well as owning shares worth a combined £5637million while starbucks has been trading healthily in recent times, it has managed to post a profit from its uk business only once in 15 years, according to reports starbucks has been trading well but pays little in uk tax because of legal accounting techniques and it has paid a total of just £86million corporation tax in 14 years, with nothing in the last three some of this is due to the legal practice of writing off the costs of growing a business against tax, and the payment of royalties for the use of technology to a parent company but the firm has been able to pay handsome wages to its most senior staff over the past three years it was reported that finance chief troy alstead, who owns £68million of shares, was paid £57million, and founder howard schultz £33million – he also owns shares, worth £545million paid handsomely: uk director john culver was paid £38million over two years and owns £47million in shares ex uk boss cliff burrows who now oversees the firm’s americas operation and has shares worth £72million, earned £65million uk director john culver was paid £38million over two years and owns £47million in shares last week starbucks, amazon and google were slammed over measures they have taken, within the law, to reduce their tax liabilities ex uk boss cliff burrows now oversees the firm's americas operation and has shares worth £72million he earned £65million over the past three years bosses of the three giants were grilled by mps over how they managed to pay little or no corporation tax on their uk operations all three denied they were engaged in aggressive tax avoidance business secretary vince cable yesterday indicated that action can be expected from chancellor george osborne, who delivers his autumn statement on december 5 speaking on bbc1, mr cable told the andrew marr show: ‘our own tax authorities have got to be very tough on things like royalty payments, which is where a lot of the subterfuge takes place’ he said it was ‘completely unacceptable where there is systematic abuse taking place’ howard schultz was paid £33million on top of the £545million worth of shares he already has ‘starbucks claims they are actually making losses in the uk,’ he added ‘i don’t know whether they are or not but you would need some pretty intensive investigation by the inland revenue to establish what exactly is going on, whether their transfer prices and their royalties are being fiddled or not’ last week andy street, managing director of john lewis, warned that firms based in overseas tax havens could ‘out invest and ultimately out trade’ rival businesses paying full taxes in the uk a starbucks spokesman said: ‘corporation tax is a tax on profits and although we would very much like to and are moving in the right direction, we just don’t make a profit in the uk yet finance chief troy alstead, who owns £68million of shares, was paid £57million ‘starbucks does however pay a number of other taxes in the uk for example, we directly contribute more than £25million to £30million per year to the exchequer in various taxes, including employers’ national insurance contributions and business rates’ hm revenue and customs has nearly doubled its estimate of unpaid tax on executive pay to up to £400million, compared with last year bosses at britain’s 700 largest businesses are being investigated using new powers jason collins, a partner at law firm pinsent masons, said: ‘hmrc has increased its focus on executives’ | a combined £5637million starbucks uk 15 years £86m 14 years last three | the quartet also own shares worth a combined £5637million . starbucks has only posted a profit from uk business once in 15 years . paid a total of £86m corporation tax in 14 years, with nothing in last three |
by daily mail reporter published: 21:04 est, 29 december 2013 | updated: 21:05 est, 29 december 2013 britain's biggest solar farm large enough to power 11,000 homes is to be built on the south coast after councillors approved the plans the 200 acre site will be positioned between waterlooville, hants, and fareham, hants the current largest solar farm in the uk is at wymeswold airfield in leicestershire, mids, at 150 acres a new 200 acre solar farm is to be built in hampshire, and is 50 acres larger than the current record holder the plans, submitted by hampshire's southwick estate, will see the loss of agricultural land, which has been farmed for three generations but the scheme was given the go ahead by nine out of ten councillors on the planning development control committee at winchester city council councillor therese evans, who was the dissenting voice, said: 'i fear it will set a precedent because they are taking up so much of a farm 'i feel you have to be very careful about setting a precedent for a lot of fields 'there are three which are currently being used successfully for agricultural farming, and have been for generations 'although i see the importance of renewable energy, i do still think it is important to retain agriculture as much as possible where it's viable' pressure group the campaign to protect rural england, also objected to the ambitious plans the land has been farmed by the cutler family for three generations but current tenant farmer neil cutler said he supports the proposals and will work with the estate and solar farm providers to ensure its success the family will also be compensated for the loss councillors in hampshire approved the scheme despite the loss of of agricultural land which has been farmed for three generations (file picture) a consultation was held in august this year and the majority of the responses were also positive hampshire co ordinator for friends of the earth ray cobbett welcomes the plans he said: 'it is another step on the long road to sustainable energy resources in south hampshire and we welcome it 'a calculation has to be made as to the best use of the land and that is down to the landowner and the local planning authority' solar farm providers hive energy and welborne solar are supporting the plans hive energy chief executive giles redpath said: 'we are delighted to be working with southwick estate on this prestigious project 'we are both committed to creating one of the uk's largest solar parks, which will be almost invisible from public areas, will support local ecology, will increase biodiversity and will deliver much needed green electricity into the portsmouth area for the next 25 years' | 200 acre hampshire uk 50 acres | new 200 acre site to be built in hampshire countryside . it will be the largest in the uk by 50 acres |
by katie davies and daily mail reporter published: 22:21 est, 1 march 2013 | updated: 22:54 est, 1 march 2013 tens of thousands of us college students are flocking to the mexican city of cancun this years rather than travel to other popular tourist hotspots, which have been deemed too dangerous city officials said friday that they expected thousands more visitors than the 25,000 who came to the caribbean coast resort last year they said at least part of that boost in visitors could be attributed to people avoiding pacific coast resorts such as acapulco, which have been hit by high profile incidents of criminal violence in recent years soak up the sun: mexican navy sailors patrol the beach as revelers relax during spring break last year revelry: cancun is regularly one of the top picks for american spring breakers and is said to be the most popular choice of destination for students this year cancun tourism director maximo garcia rocha said some major tourist agencies were expecting as many as 43,000 spring breakers, but the major influx was only beginning friday the cancun hotel association said occupancy was at 90 per cent citywide with vacationers arriving en masse in cancun, local officials have stepped up patrols of marines, soldiers and special tourist police in zones packed with hotels and bars brad madani, a 24 year old from toronto, said he had come to cancun for the second time and was drawn by the beaches, discos and bikini contests while many canadians think mexico is dangerous, madani said, he felt safe in cancun, particularly with the heavy presence of marines speaking in halting spanish, he added, ‘hay muchas chiquitas bonita,’ or 'there are many pretty girls' garcia said city authorities were distributing flyers at the 10 main spring break hotels giving numbers for the us consulate and advising spring breakers not to drink or urinate in the streets, use drugs, start disturbances or destroy property while some risk management companies have attempted to change the image of mexico as a crime ravaged country, it appears that the travelers’ fears are not unfounded on patrol: mexican navy marines were out yesterday to ensure there was no trouble among spring breakers in the resort mexico is on the us state department ‘current travel warnings’ list diamante, the popular tourist area where six spanish women were tied up with their bikinis, raped and robbed last month, ‘has been less affected by violence,’ according to the state department's website the obama administration issued a travel warning in november 2012, noting that resort areas and tourist destinations generally do not see the levels of violence and crime reported in other areas of mexico, but ‘crime and violence are serious problems throughout the country and can occur anywhere,’ nbc reported the website lists general and state specific security information due to the number of kidnappings and disappearances in mexico, it advises travelers to ‘lower your profile and avoid displaying any evidence of wealth that might draw attention’ for the state of guerrero, where acapulco is located, avoiding non essential travel in certain areas, and best times of day and routes to travel are addressed tourists in certain cities, including acapulco ‘should exercise caution and stay with in tourist areas’ this year, cancun was found to be the number one destination for students looking to enjoy the typically wild week long holiday, which got to an early start in february getting the party started: students have already started hitting the clubs of cancun, pictured last night, marking an earlier spring break than usual 'spring break is a week of rest and relaxation you get away from tests, midterms, homework, work, anything,' sean wells, a senior at indiana state university told wthitvcom students certainly seem a long way from homework if the images which typically emerge from the resort are anything to go by hundreds of young revelers tend to be snapped in shorts and bikinis knocking back cocktails on the beach, in the hotel pools or worse for wear in the bars and on the dance floor and it doesn't look likely to calm down this year in january, student travel agency sta reported the city was the most popular in terms of student travelers followed by punta cana in the dominican republic and puerta vallarta also in mexico as student advice website student city says, visitors shouldn't be expecting a quiet time: 'in cancun, the party never stops, so you may want to choose your spring break hotel based on the noise level chances are that if you don't choose a quiet one, you'll just be up for 7 days straight and that may not be a bad thing for some of you' jesus almagauer, chief executive of the cancun convention and visitors bureau, said cancun was not a city struggling to keep the peace beach bodies: an american student on her spring break enjoys her drink at a hotel in cancun last year heavy drinking: party goers typically engage in heavy drinking in the spring break hotspot, pictured 'last year cancun welcomed almost 4 million visitors, and while none of our tourists were victims of violent crimes, we understand that safety is always a concern when traveling to a foreign country,' he told the la times 'in response to that concern, and in an effort to dispel any misconceptions about the destination, we always amplify our security protocol during peak travel times to ensure the safety of every person visiting us [cancun] has better safety records than most major us cities' last year the department for public safety in texas sparked a row with mexican authorities for advising against travel to the resort for the third year running they said violence between rival drug gangs as well as other crime posed safety issues for tourists 'the mexican government has made great strides battling the cartels, and we commend their continued commitment to making mexico a safer place to live and visit,' texas department of public safety director steve mccraw said party by the pool: the resort's hotels are overrun by spring breakers typically in march but some colleges assign the week off in february not in the library any more: every year students head for sunnier climes during their week long break from college to enjoy days on the beach and nights on the dance floor 'however, drug cartel violence and other criminal activity represent a significant safety threat, even in some resort areas' 'many crimes against americans in mexico go unpunished,' he added officials in mexico described the state's stance as 'outrageous' rodolfo lopez negrete, chief operating officer of the mexico tourism board, said: 'this warning is exceptionally aggressive to paint mexico with such a massively broad brush stroke is simply outrageous' for most students the week off for spring break typically comes in march but some colleges offer the week in february teen stars: ashley benson, selena gomez, vanessa hudgens and rachel korine pose for their spring breakers promotional tour busted: vanessa hudgens and selena gomez appearing in the 2012 film spring breakers drama: spring breakers tells the story of four college girls who end up involved with drug dealers after robbing a restaurant in order to fund their spring break vacation | spring breakers mexican marines obama mexico sta | 43,000 vacationers are expected to flock to the holiday resort over the next month, including thousands of spring breakers . scenes of drunken debauchery are commonplace at the mexican resort popular for its fine weather and party atmosphere . marines patrol the city in order to ensure the revelry doesn't get out of hand . the obama administration issued a travel warning for mexico in november 2012 . this year it is the number one choice for students getting away for their week long break, according to student travel agent sta travel |
by jessica jerreat published: 00:32 est, 29 december 2013 | updated: 07:07 est, 29 december 2013 love conquers all and that's certainly the case for iraq war veteran tomas young, who had wanted to end his life after being left paralyzed by a sniper's bullet in 2004 the 33 year old, who was left quadriplegic after medical complications, had said at the start of this year that he was in too much pain to live anymore but the support and love of his caregiver turned wife claudia cuellar has given mr young a more positive outlook power of love: tomas young and wife claudia, who he says has giving him the strength to stay alive 'i just came to the conclusion that i wanted some more time with my wife and i decided that i really don't have the chutzpah to go ahead and do away with myself,' he told npr his change of heart shows how much has changed for mr young in the space of a year in march he announced that he intended to refuse food, saying: ’i'm sick and tired of being sick and tired' since the fateful day he was hit by a sniper's bullet in iraq's sadr city, the soldier turned anti war campaigner has been in chronic pain medical complications after the initial injury resulted in him becoming quadriplegic, and a pulmonary brain embolism in 2008 made him less mobile 'i decided that i was no longer going to watch myself deteriorate,' mr young said earlier this year but, with the new year approaching, the 33 year old said his 'amazing wife' who he married in april 2012, has given him reason to live in sickness and in health: tomas and claudia, who was his caregiver, married in april 2012 devoted: the couple say they now just want to celebrate their life together 'since she's come into my life, i'm happier than i've ever been and i want to leave her alone for as short a time as possible i love her and my love for her is stronger than my desire to kill myself,' he told abc's nightline earlier this month his wife thanked robert miltenberger for saving her husband he was sat next to mr young when he was shot, and kept him alive by pressing on the wounds while they still under fire the men hadn't seen each other since 2004, but as they were reunited ms cuellar said: 'you saved him' as she explained that the couple would never have met if it hadn't been for mr young's injuries 'it's been a very difficult journey but sometimes the hardest journey you learn the most if there wasn't love, this wouldn't be possible,' she said ms cuellar added: 'we just want to celebrate our life it's hard, but it's not sad' all you need is love: claudia, pictured with tomas, says their journey together has been hard but not sad injured: tomas, pictured in 2007, was hit by a sniper's bullet in iraq in 2004 the couple, who live in portland, oregon, will see in the new year with a party at the portland art museum mr young, who famously wrote an open letter to bush and cheney chastising them for going to war on iraq, hopes his change of heart will encourage others who may be feeling low 'if you're in life and you start to think things are a little too rough to handle just think of me and what i go through, and you realize that 'hey, i don't have it so bad',' he said | tomas young claudia | tomas young says he is glad he changed his mind about taking own life . soldier turned anti war protester says wife claudia made him happy again |
by tom gardner published: 11:35 est, 27 december 2013 | updated: 15:29 est, 27 december 2013 they say the camera never lies but this clever picture tricks the eye into thinking aspiring photographer laura williams' body is invisible the sixth form student, who says she is inspired by 'weird dreams' and nature, set up the picture with a mirror covering her torso for her art foundation course after she posted the image online it went viral receiving more than 160,000 views worldwide viral: this arresting image has been viewed more than 160,000 since being uploaded vanishing act: student laura williams playing tricks on the eye with her captivating series of photographs laura, 18, who hopes to study at university to be a photographer and graphic designer, said: 'it happened so quickly really 'i came back from college one day and it had about 2,000 views and i couldn't believe that but then it kept going up and up from there invisible: laura williams keeps a dream journal in which she records memories and details from her imagination optical illusion: laura williams used a mirror to make it seem as if her torso had disappeared 'it's got to about 160,000 now 'it feels really weird ever since that photo went crazy i have had a lot more views of my other work which is really nice 'nature really inspires me just the dew in the mornings can make me go out with my camera and shoot distortion: laura williams relies on her subconscious and dreams for artistic inspiration freeze frame: laura williams shows she has an eye for the unusual picture with this carefully composed image of a camera apparently suspended in thin air in front of her face 'dreams inspire me too if i have a weird dream i will often take ideas from that i try and keep a dream journal and write all the weird ones down 'i would love to go freelance and shoot and edit album covers all myself that is the dream, that is the goal' laura, who studies at hills road sixth form college, cambridge, keeps a blog of her work on flickr page: wwwflickrcom/photos/laurawilliams x dreamworld: sixth form student laura williams plumbs the deepest parts of her imagination to inspire her photographic projects unusual: talented photography student laura williams said she was inspired by 'weird dreams' and nature | laura williams cambridge | student laura williams used a mirror to create stunning trick photo . 18 year old, from cambridge, is inspired by nature and her subconscious . photos have already been viewed more than 160,000 times online |
by daily mail reporter published: 15:50 est, 28 december 2013 | updated: 02:47 est, 29 december 2013 police are searching for a 15 year old girl believed to be kidnapped by a man she met online mackenzie crosswhite has been missing for about two days after sneaking out the back window of her killen, alabama home police say she left the house between 10pm thursday and 6am yesterday missing: police have issued an amber alert for mackenzie crosswhite, 15 out of range: mackenzie has not contacted her father since she disappeared waff reported mackenzie doesn't have a cell phone and hasn't made contact with her father, james edward crosswhite, since she left florence police believe she may be in the company of a male she met online and have issued an amber alert these alerts advertise cases where children have been abducted mackenzie has blue eyes and blonde hair, is 5'7' tall and weighs 140 pounds searching: mackenzie has blue eyes and blonde hair, is 5'7' tall and weighs 140 pounds missing: police have issued an amber alert for mackenzie crosswhite who is believed to have met up with a man she met online | mackenzie crosswhite 15 about two days alabama amber alert | mackenzie crosswhite, 15, has been missing for about two days . police believe she sneaked out the back window of her alabama home to meet someone she met online . police have issued an amber alert, which a notice about serious child abductions |
by harriet arkell published: 10:23 est, 13 august 2013 | updated: 10:59 est, 13 august 2013 a young woman who said she couldn't find a space in her office car park left her £90,000 maserati granturismo in the middle of the road, causing a scene in the south western chinese city of chongqing when the 22 year old graduate intern was told that her thoughtless parking had angered local people, she replied saying they must simply be envious of her car xiao xu told officers that she had parked there because the garage in her workplace was full, and said she'd copied several other cars which had been parked down the middle of the road, though she could not explain where they had gone to central park: graduate intern xiao xu had parked in the middle of the road because her work car park was full not allowed: traffic officers in the south western city of chongqing issued the graduate intern with a fine a recent graduate, she told the police she had left the car in the middle of the busy road while she went to work in an institution nearby miss xu, who said the maserati was her grandmother's and she was just borrowing it, was given a ticket by traffic officers for flouting traffic regulations local resident xing wao, 21, told sinopathiccom: 'the person who parked this car must come from a family of money and affluence and are used to getting their own way whatever rule or law won’t be acknowledged by them' do you think you own the road? a traffic officer explains where miss xu is allowed to park in chongqing miss xu, left sheltering under a parasol, told police she would use a different car to come to work in | pastorality brachytmema gelseminine | no related information |
by ian drury, defence correspondent published: 19:22 est, 29 december 2013 | updated: 19:23 est, 29 december 2013 sue gray, 50, has been promoted to air vice marshal, the highest military rank ever held by a woman in britain a woman who joined the raf after finishing university has been promoted to the highest military rank to be held by a female in britain sue gray, 50, has been made an air vice marshal equivalent in seniority to a major general in the army or a rear admiral in the royal navy she is only the second female two star officer in the uk's armed forces she has been appointed a director at the defence equipment and support and will be responsible for buying and maintaining all fighter jets, training aircraft and drones air vice marshal gray follows in the footsteps of air vice marshal elaine west, 51, who became director of projects and programme delivery at the defence infrastructure organisation in august she joined the raf in 1985 after gaining a degree in electronics from newcastle upon tyne polytechnic commissioned as an engineer, she has climbed through the ranks during a 28 year career she has twice served on the frontline in iraq, in the first gulf war in 1991 and again in 2003 as chief engineer for the joint helicopter force she said: 'it is an immense privilege to have served my country in the raf and i am delighted to continue to do this in my new role as director of combat air 'i look forward to the challenges of ensuring the uk stays at the cutting edge of combat air power, delivering world class fast jet training aircraft and remotely piloted air systems to our armed forces' defence minister anna soubry said: 'i am delighted that the armed forces continue to demonstrate there are no glass ceilings for female personnel and that they recognise and promote the best people, irrespective of gender' as part of her new role ms gray will be responsible for buying and maintaining all raf aircraft (file picture) air marshal baz north, head of raf personnel, said: 'sue gray's promotion to the rank of air vice marshal is thoroughly well deserved; i wish her every success in her challenging role 'her promotion is a tangible demonstration that the raf provides rewarding careers for our diverse population of professional military personnel and that we realise the potential in our best and brightest people' women make up about 10 per cent of armed forces personnel, or 14 per cent of the raf, 9 per cent of the royal navy and 8 per cent of the army | sue gray 50 air vice marshal uk ms gray raf 28 years ago | sue gray, 50, has been promoted to the rank of air vice marshal . it is the highest military rank ever held by a woman in the uk . ms gray joined the raf from university 28 years ago |
by daily mail reporter published: 19:37 est, 5 july 2013 | updated: 20:06 est, 5 july 2013 back in the day: during a covert career in which he infiltrated various groups, bob lambert has spoke of his disgust at some of his actions a former scotland yard police officer who fathered a child with one of several targets he had relationships with while working undercover has apologised to the women bob lambert said he would always regret the 'serious mistakes' he made during a covert career which saw him use the identities of dead children, give evidence in court under his false name and co author a libellous leaflet mr lambert used the alias bob robinson during his five years infiltrating environmentalist groups, when he was with the special demonstration squad (sds), the metropolitan police unit that targeted political activists the revelation that the married officer slept with four women fathering a child with one sparked outrage in an interview with channel 4 news, he said he accepts his behaviour was morally reprehensible and a gross invasion of privacy 'with hindsight, i can only say that i genuinely regret my actions, and i apologise to the women affected,' he said 'i'd always been a faithful husband i only ever became an unfaithful husband when i became an undercover police officer' the ex officer declined to reveal whether his superiors were aware of the child insisting he would only discuss that with an investigation into the activities of undercover police activities being led by the chief constable of derbyshire mr lambert said he 'didn't really give pause for thought on the ethical considerations' of adopting the identity of a dead child in 1984 as it was standard practice at the time 'that's what was done let's be under no illusions about the extent to which that was an accepted practice that was well known at the highest levels of the home office,' he told the programme he confirmed that he had appeared in court as bob robinson but could not say whether the judiciary was made aware by the police that he was doing so 'on occasions i was arrested as bob robinson and to maintain cover i went through the process of arrest, detention, and on occasions, appearing in court,' he said he denied it amounted to perjury as 'the position was that i was maintaining cover as bob robinson'but asked if the court was 'made aware', he added: 'well, that's what needs to be established' mr lambert also confirmed that he helped write a libellous leaflet that attacked fast food giant mcdonald's and triggered the longest civil trial in english history mcdonald's famously sued two green campaigners over the leaflet in a landmark three year high court case it was not disclosed during the costly civil legal proceedings brought by mcdonalds in the 1990s that an undercover police officer helped write the leaflet 'i was certainly a contributing author to the mclibel leaflet well, i think, the one that i remember, the one that i remember making a contribution to, was called what's wrong with mcdonalds?', he told channel 4 over the line: bob lambert in a more recent picture, fathered a child with one of his targets asked if that fact was disclosed during the proceedings, he said: 'i don't know' he repeated his rejection though of claims that he planted an incendiary device in a debenhams store in harrow in 1987, calling that a 'false allegation' mr lambert, who was an sds manager for five years, earlier this week insisted he had not been aware of any campaign against the family of murdered black teenager stephen lawrence those claims were made by another veteran of the unit, peter francis, who alleges he was told to find information to use to smear the lawrence family who are calling for a public inquiry to examine the issue home secretary theresa may has said they would be looked at by the derbyshire probe and a separate inquiry led by barrister mark ellison qc into alleged corruption in the original lawrence murder investigation, but has left open the possibility of other action 'my reputation is never going to be redeemed for many people, and i don't think it should be,' mr lambert said 'i think i made serious mistakes that i should regret, and i always will do i think the only real comfort i can take from my police career is that the muslim contact unit was about learning from mistakes' belinda harvey, one of eight women who are suing the metropolitan police over relationships with men who turned out to be undercover officers, rejected his apology 'almost everything he said to me was a lie; why would i possibly believe what he says to me know' she told channel 4 'if it hadn't been for the case we're bringing against the police, he would never have apologised and i would have lived the rest of my days not finding out the truth' former director of public prosecutions lord macdonald of river glaven said the latest evidence strengthened the case for a judge led public inquiry 'it is as bad as i think we thought it was,' he said 'he seems to have admitted a great deal of the conduct that people feared had been taking place 'it now sounds as though not only senior police officers but senior civil servants may have known what was going on 'it's no good having this multitude of inquiries that are going on at the moment, one of them conducted by the police themselves which is pretty hopeless in my view 'we need a single public inquiry under a senior judicial figure to examine what happened, what went wrong, who authorised it and most of all to reassure us that its not going on still' | bob lambert bob robinson lambert | bob lambert had a five year covert career using the alias bob robinson . the married office slept with four women and fathered a child with one . lambert claims that being undercover led to his bad behaviour |
by lizzie edmonds and daily mail reporter browsing the marks and spencer website, stuart lever came across what looked like the bargain of the century – a plush reclining armchair for 50p the deal was so good – including free delivery and assembly – that the former tory councillor decided to buy seven for a mere £350, and donate them to his local hospital and he wasn’t the only one who spotted the bargain, with other eagle eyed shoppers deluging the site with orders bargain: marks & spencer mistakenly advertised this £700 reclining chair for 50p on their website one even tried to buy seven of the high back richmond recliner chairs costing a grand total of £350, rather than £4,900 but it was all too good to be true a technical error meant the chair should have had a price tag of £700, and m&s has now cancelled all orders and offered refunds writing to customers, the retailer said: ‘for a short period of time on our website, our richmond highback recliner chair was incorrectly priced at 50p ‘we hope you can see this was an obvious pricing error on our part and we apologise for any inconvenience caused’ mr lever, 45, who was a councillor in bolton, said: 'i was very disappointed to hear that marks and spencer wouldn’t be going through with the order as far as i’m concerned they should honour the deal without any question 'they are a big company and hey should take the mistake on the chin and pay out, they have already confirmed that they received our order mistake: customers received this email from the company confirming their bargain purchase 'if everyone kicked up a fuss, you never know they might end up changing their minds 'i had contacted the hospital about possibly giving the chairs to the maternity unit, but obviously that won’t be happening now' a bolton council trading standards spokesman said: ‘in cases where there has been a clear mistake the seller is able to reject or cancel the order as it was not a genuine contract’ eventually bosses at the high street chain realised their mistake and cancelled all orders and offered refunds in a letter to customers they said: 'we are aware that, for a short period of time on our website yesterday, our richmond highback recliner chair was incorrectly priced at 50p 'during this time an order was placed for the chair on your account and we’re sorry to let you know that this order will not be processed further 'we know that this will be disappointing for you, however, we hope you can see this was an obvious pricing error on our part and we apologise for any inconvenience caused 'you will receive further emails from us today to notify you that your order has not been progressed and a refund processed if your order included any additional items, apart from the chair, we’re afraid that you will have to place a new order for those items apology: marks & spencer have now cancelled all orders and offered customers a full refund 'once again, we do apologise for any disappointment or inconvenience caused by this' initially on its website m&s proudly trumpeted the richmond as being 'supremely comfortable and supportive with the split headroll lumbar back cushion 'the combination of comfort with the beautiful proportions and classic lines will make this a real future favourite' it added: 'free, eco friendly home delivery our crews will unpack, assemble and position the item' but today the chair was nowhere to be seen on the website although other items in the same range were being offered for sale a marks & spencer spokesman said the pricing mistake was down a 'technical error' which was corrected as soon as it was spotted he said the chairs would not be sold at 50p and a full refund would be given a statement said: 'we have contacted customers and apologised for any inconvenience caused' | slumberproof zoometry encephalopyosis | no related information |
by sara malm desperate times require desperate measures – and when an impala was targeted by two vicious cheetahs, it made a jump for it that will not soon be forgotten the distressed animal was captured on camera leaping into a car full of tourists in order to escape the predators the terrified animal appeared to be seconds away from death when an unexpected window of opportunity appeared – quite literally scroll down for video close call: the impala jumps into a car to escape two cheetahs in kruger national park in south africa the animal had been chased by the cheetah along with its herd when it realised it was the only one left behind as the two ferocious animals appeared to have cornered the impala – it leaped into a nearby car which happened to have its windows rolled down samantha pittendrigh, 20, happened to be filming the chase when the impala jumped through the passenger side window of a toyota in front of her she said: ‘we started freaking out going crazy we couldn't believe it we were absolutely dumbstruck ‘we had absolutely no idea what was going on ‘we watched the cheetah chasing the impala we saw a few of them turn around in the bushes towards the road they were running from' sweet escape: a group of impala flee across a road in kruger national park, south africa when one of them take an unexpected turn swift exit: as the last impala cross the road, the cheetahs' intended meal finds a novel way to escape ‘all of a sudden we saw the impala jump out of the bushes and then someone started screaming 'it is in the car, it is in the car' ‘we heard a little girl screaming in the car the boy sitting outside the car filming looked a lot younger, so it must have been a family ‘people in other cars screamed 'open the door, open the door'’ in the confusion, one of the passengers managed to open a door and the impala is seen just seconds later trotting across the road to freedom the cheetahs are just yards away but do not give chase the footage was captured in kruger national park, south africa, where according to park rules you must stay inside your vehicle at all times as the terrified impala realises it is the cheetahs' chosen meal, it looks for a way out, and spots the car unexpected visit: one person inside the car appears oblivious to the fact that an impala is on its way inside the vehicle and continues to film the cheetah chase just dropping by: this is the moment when the impala jumps into the tourists' car in front of the chocked cheetahs the bewildered cheetahs are left with long noses and empty stomachs as the impala disappears into the car miss pittendrigh, who is studying supply chain management at the university of pretoria, was with her friends tanith human, 20, carmen thvle, 21, and michelle de jager, 21 unlike some of her friends, she has made several trips to kruger national park but was left stunned by the trip she added: ‘my family are so jealous in all the years my parents have been going to kruger park they have never seen anything like it and we do go regularly ‘it really is a once in a lifetime thing and we managed to be in the right place at the right time ‘i was very happy to witness something like that but i felt a sorry for the cheetah ‘there are so many impala, it is not like they will miss one of them’ however, the world's fastest land animal was not completely ‘cheetah ed’, as one of them managed to make a kill a mere dozen feet along the road, according to miss pittendrigh | impala kruger national park | impala made an unusual escape at kruger national park . the animal jumped into a tourists' car to avoid becoming lunch . the two chasing cheetahs were left bewildered and hungry |
by luke salkeld published: 20:38 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 21:05 est, 10 december 2013 surgeon: dr david berry, pictured, had been at university hospital wales for 18 months a surgeon has been suspended after being linked with eight allegedly avoidable deaths the general medical council’s ban on david berry performing liver surgery follows a review of the cases of 31 of his patients it found that ten had died and 'eight of those ten deaths were avoidable' concerns about the consultant were first raised through normal monitoring procedures mr berry was put on restrictive practice for an internal investigation to be carried out and this led to him being suspended while he was referred to the gmc a team from the royal college of surgeons then held an in depth investigation which uncovered the eight 'avoidable deaths' linked to his work at university hospital wales in cardiff the surgeon, who moved there from the leicester area, had been working for the cardiff and vale university health board, which runs the hospital, for 18 months yesterday bosses revealed the full extent of their findings as the partner of one of the eight patients began legal action martyn rogers, 66, from newport, south wales, died of blood poisoning and acute liver failure last summer within three days of undergoing a liver surgery procedure, his organs began shutting down and it was discovered that one of his major veins had been damaged his death on july 25 last year came one week after dr berry carried out an operation to remove tumours from his liver maria davies, his partner of 40 years, has instructed medical law experts at irwin mitchell to launch an investigation she is concerned about the care other patients may have received tragedy: university hospital wales in cardiff (pictured) has apologised and opened a helpline for other patients in a statement, she said: ‘we were led to believe that the surgery would remove the tumours and ultimately prolong his life ‘to learn that martyn’s death could have been avoided is very difficult to comprehend and has left me feeling angry i want to know why his treatment was not better and i am also concerned that other patients may have been affected as the report suggests poor operative skills were partly to blame anger: martyn rogers, pictured, was one of eight patients who suffered an 'avoidable' death after he developed blood poisoning 'i would also like to know what steps are being taken by the board within the hospital to ensure no one else suffers the same unnecessary ordeal’ a spokesman for cardiff and vale university health board said: 'a liver surgeon working at the university hospital of wales was fully suspended from duty in january 2013 following concerns about the outcomes of some liver patients in his care 'the uhb commissioned a second, detailed review by the royal college of surgeons of the individual care of some 31 patients who underwent complex liver surgery by this surgeon, ten of whom sadly died following that surgery 'the outcome of this detailed review showed that eight of those ten deaths were avoidable' medical director dr graham shortland, said the uhb’s normal checks on surgeons’ clinical outcomes had identified the original concerns and no current liver patients were at risk ‘every death is a tragedy for the family concerned, but we do not underestimate the impact of a death in these circumstances,’ he added ‘we would like at the outset to put on record our unreserved apologies to miss davies, and every family who has been affected’ emma rush of irwin mitchell said: ‘the report into martyn’s death is deeply concerning and maria understandably wants answers’ the uhb has set up a helpline number: 0800 952 0244 | interxylary wordlessness unmysticizing | no related information |
by lucy crossley published: 10:28 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 19:47 est, 10 december 2013 more than 100 orphaned seal pups have been saved by rescue workers after they were swept away from their mothers during the recent floods the adorable pups, many of them under three weeks old and in need of constant care, were washed up after a tidal surge hit the east coast each pup is expected to need up to five months’ rehabilitation after being separated from its mother, and so many of the animals needed looking after that the east winch wildlife centre in norfolk has now reached full capacity orphaned: this tiny seal pup is one of more than 100 rescued by the rspca after they were swept away from their mothers during the recent floods alone: the orphaned pups were separated from their mothers in the storm surges that hit the east coast last week mission: rspca workers help to carry some of the stricken seal pups to safety after they were washed up on the east anglia shoreline the centre now needs help from the public to care for the animals, as staff are struggling to cope with the numbers centre manager alison charles said: 'we have never had a seal rescue project on a scale as big as this before 'if it wasn’t for us, these seal pups would starve to death but we really need the public’s help because without their donations we simply couldn’t do what we do 'this couldn’t have happened at a worse time for the seals rescue: the pups were taken from the shoreline by rspca workers and taken to an animal rescue centre to be cared for new home: the animals have been looked after at the east winch wildlife centre in kings lynn, norfolk help needed: with the centre at full capacity staff have struggled to cope with the number of seals, prompting the rspca to launch a crisis appeal 'we are at the height of the grey seal pupping season, which means most of these poor seals should still be dependent on their mother’s milk' seal colonies are a common sight along the norfolk coast as they come ashore to breed between november and january there had been fears that hundreds of seals would be killed when the highest tides on record hit the coast last thursday and friday pups cannot swim or survive without their mother’s milk until they have shed their distinctive white fur at one breeding ground in horsey, volunteers counted 440 pups on the beach before the surge and only 177 after it hit in need of tlc: pups cannot swim or survive without their mother's milk until they have shed their distinctive white fur disaster: if it had not been for rescue workers and staff at the centre, the seal pups would have starved to death feeding time: it costs £22 a week to feed each of the young seals but national trust rangers at blakeney point, one of the largest colonies with about 1,000 seals and pups, said they had accounted for the vast majority of the seals' it would appear that the majority of seals and pups were able to reach higher ground on the sand dunes and escape the worst of the surge,' a spokesman said the rspca has launched a crisis appeal to help care for the orphaned seals, with the charity saying it costs £22 a week to feed each pup the eventual aim is to returning the animals to the wild | east winch wildlife centre less than three weeks old rspca seal01 | east winch wildlife centre has reached ful capacity after so many seal pups swept ashore . some pups are less than three weeks old and in need of constant care . staff strugg;ing to cope with numbers, prompting rspca to launch urgent appeal . to donate to the rspca’s appeal, text seal01 followed by how much you would like to donate to 70070 |
by matt chorley, mailonline political editor published: 12:24 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 05:14 est, 11 december 2013 david cameron might be the leader of the country but he has revealed that he is secretly a follower of tv cook nigella lawson the prime minister has admitted he is a member of #teamnigella rooting for the domestic goddess in her very public battle with ex husband charles saatchi mr cameron brushed aside her admission to snorting cocaine and smoking cannabis to hail her as a ‘very funny and warm person’ who creates good recipes backing: david cameron has revealed he is supporting tv cook nigella lawson in her public battles thanks: miss lawson has used the hashtag #team nigella to thank her supporters, and offer a recipe for holiday hotcake it seems the prime minister is on the right side of public opinion a yougov survey at the weekend showed miss lawson had actually gained public sympathy since dramatically giving evidence at the trial of her two former assistants accused of fraud some 39 per cent of people have more sympathy for miss lawson than they did before she gave evidence compared with just two per cent who have taken her ex husband's side the fraud trial at isleworth crown court heard a scathing email from mr saatchi which accused miss lawson of being 'so off your head on drugs' that she had allowed the pas to spend 'whatever they liked' giving evidence on the witness stand, miss lawson admitted to taking drugs in front of her children the daughter of former tory chancellor nigel lawson began using the hashtag #team nigella, to thank her supporters during the divorce and courtroom ordeal asked by the spectator if he was a member of #teamnigella, mr cameron admitted: ‘i am’ he went on: ‘i’m a massive fan, i’ve had the great pleasure of meeting her a couple of times and she always strikes me as a very funny and warm person ‘but i’m also an amateur cook and i like her recipes nancy [cameron’s nine year old daughter] and i sometimes watch a bit of nigella on telly not in court, i hasten to add’ team nigella: miss lawson's team of lawyers, prs and family who supported her as she gave evidence at isleworth crown court it is not clear if mr cameron has taken miss lawson up on her offer on twitter of the receip for holiday hotcake, which she described as 'the perfect receip to show tanks for all your support and to those who hashtag #teamnigella' today the court heard miss lawson's personal assistants were able to spend nearly £700,000 on luxuries because their credit card statements were never scrutinised, a court heard today italian sisters elisabetta and francesca grillo bought designer items from chanel and prada stores during a non stop shopping trip to new york as they went on a four year spending spree, the jury was told businessman charles saatchi who has been locked in a bitter and very public dispute with his ex wife miss lawson charles saatchi's accountant rahul gajjar said he did not check the statements for coutts credit cards given to the pair 'line by line' the grillo sisters are accused of committing fraud by abusing their positions by using a company credit card for personal gain prosecutors claim the italian sisters lived the 'high life', spending the money on designer clothes and handbags from louis vuitton, christian dior and vivienne westwood the pair, of bayswater, west london, deny the charge against them the case continues sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons | lawson teamnigella twitter | prime minister reveals he is a secret supporter of the tv cook . hails lawson as a 'very funny and warm person' who creates good recipes . tv cook has used #teamnigella hashtag to thank her supporters on twitter |
by mike dickson and chris pleasance published: 10:51 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 12:52 est, 10 december 2013 andy murray will not be attending the bbc sports personality of the year awards on sunday despite being hotly tipped to win the wimbledon winner has been training in miami for three weeks and said the 11 hour flight back to leeds would be too disruptive to his schedule instead the tennis ace, who became the first man to win wimbledon for 77 years this summer, will appear via satellite but he is keen for his non attendance to not be seen as a snub scroll down for video andy murray is hotly tipped to win sports personality of the year after becoming the first british man to win wimbledon in 77 years sealed with a kiss: andy murray kissing the trophy after winning the wimbledon championships last year: murray was third in 2012 and was presented on a video link by boxing legend lennox lewis murray is warming up in florida following back surgery in september and has only just started playing practice points as he tries to prepare for next month's australian open speaking the the guardian, murray said: 'i have training and rehab every day up until christmas day when i leave for a tournament, i'll be on the road for five months in total – and training on christmas day if murray wins the award he will not be the first sports star to miss out on collecting it in person in 2007 boxer joe calzaghe had to be handed his award by lennox lewis in las vegas after travelling to watch friend ricky hatton fight floyd mayweather andrew flintoff also missed out on collecting his prize in person in 2005 because he was in pakistan with the england cricket team 'i won't spend it with my family or girlfriend i don't want to do it and, likewise, i'd like to be at the awards, but these are the sacrifices i need to make in order to give myself the best chance at the australian open in january' murray, the world number four, added: 'i have a great relationship with the bbc, from the recent documentary to my regular columns throughout the year and i don't want this to be seen as a snub 'i'm looking forward to linking up with the show live on the night and being part of it all' sources close to murray described it as 'genuinely a tough decision for him, as he realises the importance of the awards and what a huge 18 months he's had, and what it means to the british public' it is believed that lendl cautioned against the trip as it would disrupt murray acclimatising to the warmer weather murray's friend ross hutchins is also training with him, as is outstanding british prospect kyle edmund, 18 murray's first tournament of the new season will be an exhibition event in abu dhabi on boxing day against jo wilfried tsonga, before the official atp season opener in qatar murray was also awarded an obe but almost missed that ceremony too after being randomly selected to complete a drugs test that morning murray beat novak djokovic at the all england club this year after losing to federer the year before from there it is off to the australian open where current champion novak djokovic and rafael nadal, who ended last season by regaining the world number one ranking, will be waiting murray has always viewed the training camp as an essential part of his training regime, and missed last year's ceremony in order to stay in the us, and was presented with the third place trophy next to the hotel swimming pool a bbc spokesperson said of murray's absence: 'we are of course disappointed that andy murray cannot be in leeds in person but are very much looking forward to him joining us live on the night via link up 'we're looking forward to a fantastic night celebrating the 60th sports personality, with many former winners and some of the world's biggest sport starts attending' the last winner who did not attend the ceremony was joe calzaghe in 2007 who was in las vegas at the time and in 2005 andrew flintoff was unable to receive his award in person as he was on tour with the england cricket team in pakistan this year's other nominees include cricketer ian bell, welsh rugby international leigh halfpenny, track athlete christine ohuruogu and paralympic sportswoman hannah cockroft | andy murray sports personality sunday ivan lendl florida murray first british wimbledon 77 years | andy murray is heavily tipped to win sports personality award . however he will not be attending the ceremony on sunday . instead he will be training with coach ivan lendl in florida . murray is the first british man to win wimbledon for 77 years |
by anna edwards published: 11:58 est, 15 march 2013 | updated: 07:10 est, 21 march 2013 a teenager died after accidentally taking his father's medicine, an inquest heard today sixth former paul hurst, 18, mistakenly took a mixture of medication a friend found the 'talented and fun loving' student unconscious on a beanbag at his home talented sixth former paul hurst, 18, died after mistakenly taking his father's medicine paul was taken to hospital but could not be revived his father, also called paul, told the inquest: 'i kept the three drugs in a kitchen cupboard paul had never expressed any interest in taking the medication 'he was a wonderful human being and always saw the good side in people the inquest heard that paul's death was the result of his own actions, even though it was unintentional 'the only thing he ever wanted was to be loved he brightened up everyone's life' paul was found dead at his home in wellington, hereford, in november last year the hereford inquest heard younger paul suffered from the medical condition dyspraxia which caused him to have a lack of awareness of danger and a 'sense of invincibility' detective sgt tim powell told the inquest that paul's death was the result of his own actions, even though it was unintentional the coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death dyspraxia is a life long common disorder that affects movement, co ordination and social skills it is also known as developmental co ordination disorder (dcd) dyspraxia affects basic motor skills such as walking and fine motor skills such as writing in children and adults, the nhs says adults with the condition can suffer social and emotional difficulties, as well as problems with time management and organisation the condition is believed to affect around five to six per cent of people in the uk men are more disposed to suffer from it, and it tends to run in families | decoagulate housesmith cyathos | no related information |
by tom leonard published: 17:31 est, 25 december 2012 | updated: 17:35 est, 25 december 2012 more than 65,000 americans have called for piers morgan to be deported from the us after he criticized pro gun campaigners on his chat show a petition on the white house website accuses the television presenter of undermining the 'rights of americans' any petition posted on the site that attracts more than 25,000 signatures guarantees a response from the us government last week mr morgan repeatedly attacked pro gun guests on his nightly cnn shows following the sandy hook elementary school massacre, in which 20 children and six staff died scroll down for video divisive: a petition has been launched to deport piers morgan after he has taken a strict stance on gun laws he called larry pratt, executive director of gun owners for america, an 'idiot,' 'dangerous' and an 'unbelievably stupid man' after he argued that more guns would cut crime in another debate on gun controls, an exasperated mr morgan shouted down economist john lott, author of more guns, less crime and accused him of 'lying' over gun crime trends in foreign countries including britain gun rights advocates, who have been forced on the back foot by public outrage over the connecticut school killings, were furious over the attacks particularly as they came from a foreigner the petition on the white house website reads: 'british citizen and cnn television host piers morgan is engaged in a hostile attack against the us constitution by targeting the second amendment [the right to keep and bear arms] speaking out: the petition had already garnered more than 65,000 signatures by tuesday 'we demand that mr morgan be deported immediately for his effort to undermine the bill of rights and for exploiting his position as a national network television host to stage attacks against the rights of american citizens' the petition was started on december 21 by a man from austin, texas, who was identified as kurt nimmo us citizens can file a petition on the white house website and the administration has to respond if it collects at least 25,000 signatures within 30 days morgan has made it clear in tv debates that he was not attacking the second amendment, which gun advocates insist protects a citizen’s right to bear arms but the american establishment is usually terrified of doing anything that could be deemed anti constitutional and even morgan’s on air cnn colleagues looked taken aback by the force of his anti gun outbursts morgan, who also writes a column in the mail on sunday's live magazine, has refused to back down hitting back: morgan has responded to the growing petition with a series of tweets outspoken: morgan called gun advocate larry pratt 'an unbelievably stupid man' on his show last week on twitter, the former daily mirror editor insisted that 'wanting america to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines isn't 'anti consitutional' – it’s called 'common sense'' he also joked that, if deported, he was thinking of anchoring his cnn show from jamaica cnn has said it has no immediate comment on the petition but media pundits believe the publicity won't damage a network which is struggling to win audiences prior to the row, there had been speculation that morgan might lose his prime time slot independent publicist howard bragman said that the controversy was likely to get morgan noticed and may translate into higher ratings 'a lot of it comes from his being british, he's seen the differences between the us and uk, he's passionate and authentic in taking this issue on, and it's probably only going to help him attract more people to his show,' mr bragman said last night an unrepentant mr morgan fired back at his critics on twitter saying: 'merry christmas! even to those who want me deported' | british cnn us the sandy hook us constitution december 21 morgan | british cnn host has taken aggressive stand for tighter us gun laws after the sandy hook elementary school massacre . petition claims he has engaged in hostile attack against us constitution . created on december 21 and has garnered more than 45,000 signatures . morgan: 'are there any other countries that will have me?' |
by hayley o'keeffe published: 08:34 est, 28 december 2013 | updated: 06:05 est, 29 december 2013 german soldiers march through central paris, a world war ii warzone scarred by nazi occupation although in these incredible images the streets are also full of modern day cars and tourists by pinpointing the exact locations of original photographs, sergey larenkov, is able to open a window into the past, revealing how troops and tanks once occupied the french capital german soldiers march down the streets of france near the famous arc de triomphe using a mixture of photography and computer editing skills, the russian photographer is able to intertwine war era locations with modern day photographs, creating an eerie but fascinating effect sergey said: 'i am always searching for the places pictured in the old postcards and photos any chance i get 'the hardest part of my photography is locating the exact point and angle from which the original picture had been taken people hide behind a tanks in the streets of paris, as in the modern day street shoppers go about their daily business nazi flags are seen attached to a building while today it is a regular route for buses german troops make their way through the streets of paris troops and dignitaries march the parisian streets near the arc de triomphe soldiers march down the streets of paris, france people line the streets near the famous arc de triomphe people line the streets in support for allied troops as they make their way through paris near the famous arc de triomphe this incredible series of photographs show how paris would look if soldiers from world war ii returned to the streets 'by stitching the two images together i feel it has the ability to transport someone from a peaceful, modern life to the hardest times of the war period' 'the hardest part of my photography is locating the exact point and angle from which the original picture had been taken, it can be very difficult locating the place, getting to this place, making shot and then processing it a man squatting near sandbags in a black and white photo mixed with how the street looks today 'i can spend months perfecting one shot, but other times it only takes me about 30 minutes 'my grandfather's fought the nazis defending leningrad and now they are gone, i feel like i must tell my own children what their ancestors had to overcome, the theme of these photographs are very personal to me' troops with a parked vehicle in the streets of paris, whilst today a man can be seen flicking through tourist postcards | socializations overobjectifying filatures | no related information |
by steve nolan published: 15:53 est, 14 june 2013 | updated: 15:54 est, 14 june 2013 a woman was beaten to death after a row with neighbours over her daughter's western clothing turned into a riot keshmal dubey, 55, was killed after a long running dispute over her daughter gunjan's choice of jeans over traditional indian clothing descended into mob violence in the city of aligarh, 90 miles from new delhi several people were injured in the trouble which started after a neighbour, named pulwati, repeatedly criticised the 20 year old college student's choice of dress riot: a 55 year old woman was beaten to death in the poor indian state of uttar pradesh, pictured, in a dispute with a neighbour over her daughter's western clothes according to the times, aligarh police superintendent amit pathak said: 'the girl's neighbour would constantly pass comments on the way the girl dressed 'on this occasion, she was in jeans and the woman, as usual, started passing comments 'a fight ensued which grew ugly when the neighbour got other men to support her' the girl's father, netrapal dubey, told india today that the neighbour had asked him to stop his daughter wearing the jeans because it made her sons stare at the girl he said that she warned him that gunjan was at risk of being sexually harrassed, or 'eve teased' as it is known in india, by young men mr dubey claims that a mob of men carrying guns and clubs forced their way into the family home and hit his wife over the head with a rifle butt, killing her and injuring him and his daughter conservative dress: neighbours repeatedly criticised the 20 year old student for not wearing a traditional sari, like those pictured the trouble was eventually diffused when fellow neighbours stepped in to halt the violence a man and a woman were arrested according to police and face charges of murder and attempted murder police are still trying to identify some of the other people involved an elderly woman and her daughter in law were killed after neighbours in their eastern indian village accused them of practising witchcraft the gang, mainly made up of women according to police in jharkhand, are said to have beat the women, aged 70 and 42, to death district police chief rakesh bansal said that 19 women from karonda jor village have been arrested the women were killed on tuesday night about 85km north of state capital ranchi, according to the telegraph violence broke out after villagers decided to fine the pair for practising witchcraft at a village meeting but spent the collected r1,500 on alcohol crimes mainly against women accused of black magic remain a problem in india, particularly in poorer regions a year ago a father and his two teenage sons were killed by villagers in the same district they were also accused of practising witchcraft | keshmal dubey uttar pradesh | keshmal dubey, 55, was beaten to death after a row with neighbours . they objected to her student daughter's choice of western clothes . the trouble flared in the poor western state of uttar pradesh |
by david mccormack published: 14:47 est, 29 may 2013 | updated: 17:37 est, 29 may 2013 the mother of a 14 year old boy who is already a master's student and well on his way to earning a phd in quantum physics, was once told her son would most likely struggle with basic everyday tasks such as tying his shoes laces jacob barnett was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism aged two, yet now has an iq higher than albert einstein and has been tipped as a future nobel prize winner his mom, kristine barnett, has written a book – ‘the spark: a mother's story of nurturing genius’ about her experiences raising him and why she chose to ignore the experts when it came to treating her son's condition kristine barnett, has written a book about her experiences raising her son jacob and why she chose to ignore the experts when it came to treating his condition kristine barnett said felt ‘hopeless’ when she was first told about her son’s illness ‘the perceived wisdom on autism was that we would be working on very basic skills for jacob for the rest of his life,’ she told ctv’s canada am on tuesday morning while the experts said her son needed to spend more time on special education, she chose to follow her son’s ‘spark' rather than focusing on what her child couldn’t do, barnett said she decided to focus on something he enjoyed the stars at night, she would take her son outside to listen to jazz and gaze at the sky aged 14, jacob barnett is already a master's student and is well on his way to earning a phd in quantum physics as her young son's passion for the stars grew she looked to feed his thirst for knowledge and took him to a lecture at an observatory much to her surprise when the professor asked a question about the red planet, ‘his little hand shot up and he knew the answer,’ she said quickly it emerged that jacob had an amazing capacity for learning he taught himself calculus in just two weeks and began working on an original theory in astrophysics at the age of nine since enrolling at indiana university purdue university indianapolis (iupui) at the age of 10, barnett has flourished astounding his professors, peers and family with his spectacular intelligence since enrolling at indiana university purdue university indianapolis at the age of 10, jacob has impressed his professors, peers and family with his intelligence he became a paid researcher in quantum physics at the age of 12 and can recite 205 of the digits in the number pi for other parents feeling hopeless over their child’s autism diagnosis barnett has a message 'in every child, there is a spark,” she said a movie deal is said to be in the works | kristine barnett jacob barnett phd | kristine barnett was told when her son was two that he might never read or write . now 14, jacob barnett is working on earning a phd in quantum physics . his mom believes she helped by ignoring the experts and finding out what her son's 'spark' was |
by joanna crawley and jennifer ruby published: 05:29 est, 31 july 2013 | updated: 09:24 est, 15 august 2013 their exclusive interview with gq magazine is their most revealing to date, but one direction's devoted fans aren't too happy with how their idols have been portrayed harry styles, zayn malik, louis tomlinson, liam payne and niall horan were unveiled as the latest cover stars for the publication this week, with topics discussed in the accompanying interview including bisexual rumours, groupies and their tangled love lives and since the publication of the interview, the magazine has experienced a major backlash from dedicated directioners, who bombarded the gq twitter account with a string of often foul mouthed and abusive messages scroll down for videos not so lucky: gq's twitter account was subjected to a barrage of abuse thanks to its one direction cover messages from fans range from the funny to the terrifying with many specifically complaining about the way that harry was portrayed alongside harry's individual gq cover was the tagline 'he's up all night to get lucky', with many fans complaining it was an unfair way to describe the 19 year old singer pointing out harry's clean cut side, one twitter user wrote: 'harry isn't 'up all night to get lucky' he's up all night making vines, hanging out with hair stylists, old people, and a baby' 'we're not dating': harry has admitted that he is 'just friends' with nick grimshaw, despite being plagued by rumours that they are a couple other directioners weren't quite so polite though with another posting an explicit reply to harry's own tweet which promoted the interview: 'im f*****g p****d at how they portrayed you, you are not a god damn man w***e, you are a cupcake jesus' another pointed out that the boy's fans are notoriously loyal, tweeting: 'i'll f**k you up gq, i swear you've messed with the wrong people' the gq interview saw harry open up about rumours he's bisexual, with the teen star addressing the speculation that he and radio 1 dj nick grimshaw are more than just friends reassuring his legions of female admirers, harry insisted he 'didn't know' about the rumours, adding: 'we’re not dating, no we’re just friends' when asked whether or not he's bisexual, harry said: 'bisexual? me? i don’t think so i’m pretty sure i’m not' but the star seemed magnanimous about the circulating stories, saying: 'some of them are funny some of them are ridiculous some of them are annoying 'i don’t want to be one of those people that complains about the rumours i never like it when a celebrity goes on twitter and says, “this isn’t true!” it is what it is; i tend not to do that' but while harry is single, some of the boys are in relationships, and have admitted that being faithful is easy as they don't have time for groupies 'groupies? we don’t have time to party! i’m not even single this sort of talk will get me in trouble,' said liam payne world takeover: zayn malik also covers one of the editions, as the boys release new single best song ever even fan favourite niall horan, who recently dated zoe whelan, said: 'we go back on the road straight after a show and we’re gone i wish we did have time for girls and parties but we don’t' but it seems that a certain british singer has caught his eye, adding: 'i’ll say one thing: ellie goulding – wow she’s absolutely amazing looking' louis tomlinson, 21, who has been with girlfriend eleanor calder for nearly two years, claimed that cheating had no appeal: 'the type of girls that would sleep with you in a heartbeat aren’t the type of girls i’d want to take home anyway,' he said one direction have certainly embraced their more mature side for the new magazine shoot, looking serious on the five different covers growing up: louis tomlinson and liam payne looked serious as they both feature on covers of the issue, which will be on sale from august 1 hard worker: niall horan has admitted that the boys don't have time to party with groupies as they're constantly on the road | nonlyricalness aquilaria uninodal | no related information |
by daily mail reporter published: 06:53 est, 6 july 2013 | updated: 06:57 est, 6 july 2013 the billionaire google chairman has been hunting for a new luxury london home that would leave him with a higher uk tax bill than the internet giant has paid out on average in recent years eric schmidt has hired a friend of prince william to help him search for a new mansion in the sought after neighbourhoods of chelsea or holland park due to the spiralling cost of homes in the prestigious postcodes it is estimated that stamp duty would cost him £21million, less than the average yearly amount paid by google in corporation tax between 2006 and 2011 house hunting: google chairman eric schmidt has been searching for a new london mansion according to regulatory findings, over that period google generated £12billion in uk revenues and paid just £106million in corporation tax, leading to the company facing heavy criticism for its tax policies, including from labour leader ed miliband and mp margaret hodge, who labelled the company's tax ploys as 'brazen' last year, google paid £73million in corporation tax on sales of £3billion, although tax experts have claimed the figure should have been at least £200million higher mr schmidt, said to be searching for a family sized home, has been viewing properties valued at around £30million, according to newspaper the financial times he is said to have hired thomas van straubenzee, a friend of prince william and a partner in estate agent firm vanhan mr van staubenzee is believed to be on his honeymoon, following his lavish wedding to lady melissa percy, the daughter of the duke of northumberland in a ceremony attended by a host of royals including william and harry, and princesses beatrice and eugenie married life: mr schmidt has appointed thomas van straubenzee, who wed lady melissa percy last month, to help him look for a london home location location location: mr schmidt is believed to have been looking at properties worth around £30m in plush holland park pippa middleton and harry's rumoured new girlfriend cressida bonas were also present, while the prince's ex chelsea davy was a bridesmaid mr van straubenzee was unavailable for comment, while a google spokesman declined to issue a statement on the claims due to the government increasing stamp duty on homes worth more than £2m to seven per cent this would mean that a £21m fee would be owed on a £30m home one estate agent with awareness of the house hunt said that mr schmidt's only criteria for his new home is that it 'doesn't require any work' his decision to look for a london home follows building work getting underway on google's new london headquarters in kings cross new home: building work has got underway on google's new uk headquarters in kings cross, london | eric smidt london £30m £21m google 12bn uk just £106m thomas van straubenzee vanhan | eric smidt looking for new luxury london home . £30m pound house would come with £21m stamp duty bill . figure higher than average paid by google in corporation tax in recent years . internet giant generated £12bn in uk revenue between 2006 and 2011 . just £106m paid in corporation tax during that period . google chief appoints thomas van straubenzee from estate agent vanhan |
by nick enoch published: 13:27 est, 16 august 2013 | updated: 13:49 est, 16 august 2013 rosemary wickstead drowned in front of her husband while saving one of their three sons off the coast of the outer hebrides this is the first picture of research scientist rosemary wickstead, who drowned in front of her husband while saving one of their three sons after he got into difficulty while swimming off the coast of the outer hebrides doctor's wife mrs wickstead, 45, from herne hill, south london, was at a beach on the isle of harris on monday evening when the family got into trouble both she and her husband, david, had jumped in to save one of the boys it is not known which of the three luke, 12; samuel, nine; and joseph, three were rescued mr wickstead tried to resuscitate his wife before the emergency services arrived a nearby resident called stornoway coastguard at around 740pm and a rescue team was sent to help by the time they arrived, mrs wickstead had been recovered to traigh mhor beach but was unconscious she was flown by air ambulance 40 miles to the western isles hospital in stornoway where she died today, tributes poured in from friends and colleagues professor hazell dockrell, who worked with mrs wickstead at the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine, told the evening standard: 'she was a marvellous woman she did a masters and phd with us and she was a great scientist 'she was a very special person and touched the lives of a lot of people it is the most dreadful thing to have happened' meanwhile, patricia gorak stolinska, who had worked with mrs wickstead on a research project, told the standard: 'that [trying to save her child from drowning] is completely in her character 'she was a very gifted musician, a fantastic person she was really one of life's special individuals, incredibly wise, a great communicator and we will miss her terribly' mrs wickstead, 45, who was a research scientist at the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine, died after getting into difficulty while swimming at traigh mhor beach it is believed that mrs wickstead who also played violin in her local lambeth orchestra and her family had rented a nearby cottage the conductor, christopher fifield, called her a 'truly lovely woman' and a 'highly valued' member of the orchestra mr wickstead, a gp at the corner surgery in south london, and two of his sons were taken to hospital in an ambulance as a precaution but they had not suffered serious injuries on his surgery biography, dr wickstead said he had recently reduced his working hours because it was 'important to my health and family' it also added that he had previously worked for the aid charity medecins sans frontieres in ethiopia and afghanistan her vicar said mrs wickstead will be missed by 'hundreds of people' in her parish speaking from st paul's church in herne hill on wednesday, reverend cameron barker said she had been a member of his congregation for more than 15 years and was 'a lovely person' he said: 'she was a lovely lady she was a member of st paul's for more than 15 years and her children were all baptised here doctor's wife mrs wickstead, from herne hill, south london, was at a beach on the isle of harris with her husband, david, on monday evening when the family got into trouble 'they were regular attendees and rosemary helped run one of our children's church groups on sunday mornings 'she had concerns for trade justice and international concerns' he added: 'hundreds of people will be devastated she really was a lovely person and very involved in the church and our activities 'she was also very involved at the school as well her oldest son is at secondary school now, but the younger two are at the same primary school that he went to, st jude's church primary school 'i have been here over 10 years and i have never hear anybody say an even vaguely cross word about rosemary 'she was just lovely and will be hugely, hugely, missed' one local resident told the herald scotland newspaper: 'there were a lot of people around including coastguard volunteers 'this is the first time i think i can remember a drowning on that beach' waters near to the picturesque traigh mhor, famous as home of the the world's only beach landing strip at barra airport, are known to have strong currents and rip tides carol collins, from stornoway coastguard, said although the western coast is popular with tourists, they must seek take safety precautions before visiting 'all the beaches on the western coast are popular destinations, they attract people because they are beautiful spots,' she said 'but there are no life guards or flag systems in place' a police scotland spokesman said: 'at approximately 805pm police received a report from hm coastguard in relation to a maritime incident at borve beach on the isle of harris 'a woman was flown to the western isles hospital where she sadly died' a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal | rosemary wickstead london isle of harris traigh mhor monday evening london school of hygiene and tropical medicine | rosemary wickstead and family, from london, were visiting isle of harris . got into difficulty swimming at traigh mhor beach on monday evening . work colleague at london school of hygiene and tropical medicine described her as a 'marvellous woman' |
by meghan keneally mark zuckerberg has revealed that if he were to tell his 19 year old self anything as he was starting to launch facebook, it wouldn’t be anything related to business ‘i don’t know, maybe marry priscilla sooner,’ he said the 29 year old billionaire married his college sweetheart in may 2012 at a surprise ceremony in their palo alto home after dating for years, but apparently he feels he waited too long big day: tuesday marks the 10th anniversary of the creation of facebook and founder mark zuckerberg says that the company is still planning to grow looking back: when faced with an interview that he did at age 19 (right), he said that the advice he would have told his former self would be to marry his wife priscilla sooner in spite of the emotional moment during his interview with the today show’s savannah guthrie, he clammed up when she asked about the prospect of the couple adding kids to their brood anytime soon ‘ooh, savannah, have you been talking to my mom?’ he joked instead, he admitted that couple have been focusing on their less complicated interests, saying he recently splurged on a nice grill because they like to cook and he constantly adds pictures of their pet dog, beast ‘he actually has more than a million fans,’ zuckerberg said of beast’s invidividual facebook page ‘he's like this ridiculously cute dog he looks like a little sheep, he's a sheep herding dog and he's just this little 30 pound dog and he's just amazing’ happy day: after meeting as students at harvard, priscilla chan and mark zuckerberg got married at their palo alto home in may 2012 having fun: zuckerberg said that he takes tons of pictures of the dog that he and priscilla (pictured) share, and have even created a facebook page for the hungarian sheep herding dog named beast the mogul talked about how facebook is continuing to grow even after reaching the 10 year milestone birthday today ‘when i think back on this i just think, “you know, i'm one of the luckiest people in the world,”’ he said 'morning coffee and cuddle': the couple shared this august 10 photo on the dog's facebook page ‘if i'd only had a fraction of the experiences i've had, and only met a few of the people i've had the opportunity to work with, i would still be one of the luckiest people in the world i mean, that's not lost on me 'it's been a pretty amazing journey it's so rare to touch a billion people's lives’ zuckerberg, 29, was famously still in college at harvard when he launched the company, and said that despite recent reports, teens are not fleeing the social network ‘facebook and instagram are both really popular with teens, both in the us and globally i think what you're starting to see is that there are all these different ways that people want to share and communicate i think increasingly, people aren't going to get them all from just one app,’ he said when asked about his company's phenomenal success, zuckerberg put it down to the fact that he, and his employees, simply 'cared more' ‘i've spent a lot of late nights pacing around my living room with teammates just trying to plot out what our next move can be in order to keep pushing forward on this mission, but there's always a next move,’ he told the today show host during an interview at facebook’s california headquarters ‘but one of the big things that i've taken away from the last 10 years is, there's always a next move and you just need to keep on pushing forward and keep on doing the best thing that you can’ last week, the company has had the largest single day stock rise since july 2013, jumping from $5347 to $6103 per share making a jump: the increase in company's stock last wednesday from $5347 to $6103 per share was the highest single day jump since july 2013 future plans: one of the biggest projects that zuckerberg is working on is called internetorg, which is trying to help connect more people to the internet across the globe the company’s share price has remained high, and is currently at $6238 per share on tuesday morning facebook's fourth quarter revenue rose to $2585billion from $1585 billion in the year ago period, beating analysts' average expectation of $233billion facebook said on wednesday that revenue from mobile ads represented 53 per cent of its total fourth quarter advertising revenue, up from 49 per cent in the third quarter | intradivisional argolic streptolysin | no related information |
by nick fagge published: 17:51 est, 5 july 2013 | updated: 17:51 est, 5 july 2013 patrick loughrey recieved a £866,000 payoff from the bbc before moving into another public sector job a former executive who left the bbc with an £866,000 settlement has found another highly paid public sector job patrick loughrey, 57, was given 12 months’ salary ‘in lieu of notice’ even though the former ‘nations and regions’ boss had agreed his exit 14 months earlier and worked out his notice period the payment – which the government spending watchdog said was ‘inconsistent’ with corporation policy – included a £266,288 ‘pension augmentation’ as part of his ‘early retirement’ mr loughrey, who in april 2010 started a £200,000 a year job as the taxpayer funded warden of goldsmiths university, joined the bbc in 1984 as an education producer and left in 2009 he told the daily mail any severance payments were ‘made in fulfilment of long standing entitlements’ and ‘approved at the highest level’ on monday, a national audit office report sparked a furious row as years of bbc pay offs were revealed in all, it handed staff £369million over eight years, the watchdog said mps said the massive sum showed an ‘outrageous disregard for licence fee payers’ money’ the national audit office said the bbc often breached its own guidelines and had ‘put public trust at risk’ by authorising the payouts, including £61million to senior managers mr loughrey said that he was unable to discuss his payment in a carefully worded statement this week, he said: ‘as you will be aware from yesterday’s national audit office report, certain staff names were anonymised by the bbc to comply with data protection law loughrey took up a £200,000 a year job as warden at goldsmith's university ‘you will also know from the report that there are clauses in their employment contracts which prohibit those individuals from disclosing details about their severance payments ‘given this, i consider i am unable to respond to the specific questions you have raised ‘i would however like to make clear that any severance payments i received were made in fulfilment of long standing contractual entitlements and approved at the highest level’ the former teacher took early retirement from his role as director of nations and regions in december 2009 loughrey's generous pay deal reportedly came after discussions with then director general, mark thompson he had responsibility for bbc scotland, wales, northern ireland and english regions and led 6,500 staff, with a £300,000 salary, an expense account and pension contributions mr loughrey was referred to by the national audit office as ‘case study 1’ it said his generous pay deal came after discussions with then director general, mark thompson, and deputy director general, mark byford it added the bbc ‘offered to work closely with the manager with early planning for moving to a career outside the bbc’ he secured a year’s pay for redundancy, as well as a year’s pay ‘in lieu of notice’ the report observed: ‘this case provides an example of a departing senior manager receiving their maximum pay in lieu of notice (£300,000) despite the fact that they worked their notice’ the nao report showed mr loughrey had found ‘alternative employment’ before leaving the report said the executive’s final salary was £300,000 the bbc’s website archive also shows that mr loughrey was paid £300,000 when he left irish born mr loughrey, who lives in kew, south west london, is now paid £206,000 a year by goldsmiths university he did not deny the suggestion that he was the recipient of the £866,000 deal, but stuck to his carefully worded statement | patrick loughrey 866,000 bbc loughrey 266,288 200,000 warden of goldsmiths university | patrick loughrey was given £866,000 when he left his role at the bbc . loughrey was ‘nations and regions’ boss of the corporation . included a £266,288 ‘pension augmentation’ as part of his ‘early retirement’. government spending watchdog said was ‘inconsistent’ with bbc policy . the 57 year old then started £200,000 a year job as taxpayer funded warden of goldsmiths university |
by simon tomlinson with its manicured lawns, tropical foliage and neat bungalows, this idyllic setting on the edge of the florida everglades would make for an ideal retirement community miracle village, however, is home to more than 100 registered sex offenders half of its population who have abused minors, viewed child pornography or even molested their own children among them are a teacher, a pastor and a sports coach more than half of the population of this florida village on the edge of the everglades are sex offenders reminiscent of a retirement village: the area has manicured lawns, tropical foliage and neat bungalows the 24 acre community was built in the 1960s to house sugar cane workers in 2009 the late dick witherow, a pastor with the christian group matthew 25 ministries, began making housing available to sex offenders witherow came up with the idea for the village largely because of a florida state law that prevents offenders from living within 1,000ft of a school, park, day care centre or playground some cities and counties have extended that to 2,500ft forced out of densely populated areas, miracle village offers sex offenders a place to live away from those restrictions and it's proved so popular there are between 10 and 20 applications from potential residents every week the village is located about three miles from any other neighbors it is self contained, with its own water supply and sewage treatment plant registered sex offenders living in the village include pat powers (left), the director of the christian ministry that offers the housing to offenders, and christopher dawson (right), 22, convicted of having sex with a minor in demand: miracle village has proved so popular there are between 10 and 20 applications from potential residents every week 'in the beginning, no one wanted us around,' said pat powers, a sex offender who is now director of matthew 25 ministries, in an interview in march with the orlando sun sentinel 'but it's totally changed, now we're a part of the community' married couple david and lecil woods said they would have no place to live if it weren't for miracle village david was convicted of a sex offense for engaging in what he claims was consensual sex with his girlfriend at the time, who was 16 years old 'we had searched for places to live and nobody would rent to us,' lecil woods told the new york times 'if it wasn't for this place we would be homeless' the village does not allow offenders who are convicted of violent sex crimes against strangers jerry youmans, the intake coordinator for the ministry who is also a registered sex offender, told the bbc: 'we try not to accept people with a history of violence or drugs, or to take any diagnosed paedophile that is, someone who can only become sexually aroused by a child the village was set up in 2009 by the late dick witherow, a pastor with matthew 25 ministries, in large part because of state law that prevents offenders living within 1,000ft of a school, day care centre or playground 'we want to protect the people who are already here and those who were living here before us' some children do live in the village, however, as state laws allow sex offenders to live in the same neighborhood as minors, although some may be banned from having contact with them one such resident is 22 year old christopher dawson, who is barred from speaking to anyone under 18 after he had sex with a 14 year old who he believed was older he was sentenced to two years' house arrest followed by probation for eight years after breaching the terms of his licence, he was ordered to the village by a judge 'it's been a blessing in disguise i feel as though i have a destiny with miracle village i feel at home and safe here i love the people,' he said you can hear more about this story on the bbc world service programme assignment on thursday 1 august | miracle village 1,000ft | more than 100 sex offenders live in miracle village on edge of everglades . banned from living within 1,000ft of schools, parks and day care centres . so popular it receives 10 to 20 applications from potential residents a week |
by laurie kamens published: 20:15 est, 5 july 2013 | updated: 20:15 est, 5 july 2013 several people in indiana got a treat when they looked towards the skies on the 4th of july, but it wasn't fireworks they were seeing residents of fort wayne captured photographs of a rare weather phenomenon commonly referred to as a fire rainbow formed by the perfect alignment of sunlight passing through cloud particles, a fire rainbow looks like a horizontal rainbow colored streak scorched across the sky scroll down for video indiana locals were treated to a fire rainbow (pictured here), a rare weather phenomenon, in the sky on the 4th of july the indianan's sent in photographs of the phenomena to local news channel 15, wanecom the station's excited meteorologist nicholas ferreri said that he was pleasantly surprised to see the fire rainbow photos when he came into work 'this is definitely not something that happens every day,' he told the station's website fire rainbows occur when sunlight and cloud ice particles align perfectly to create a prism that hangs beneath the sun and looks like a rainbow in the shape of flames not actually made of fire or a real rainbow, a fire rainbow or circumhorizontal arc appears when sunlight passes through the ice crystals in cirrus clouds, according to the uc santa barbara department of geography when the light and cloud particles are perfectly aligned, the crystals act as a prism and refract the light in what commonly looks like a rainbow 'the complete halo is a huge and beautiful multicolored band running parallel to the horizon with its center beneath the sun,' the academic institution explains news channel 15 meteorologist nicholas ferreri explains what a fire rainbow is, while viewer images are displayed behind him ferreri admitted that after receiving the images he had to consult with the national weather service to confirm what the prism was 'at first, we thought it was what's known as a 'sun dog', but it didn't seem to match all the characteristics,' ferreri said 'after some digging on both of our ends, one of my meteorologist colleagues, sam lashley, at the northern indiana national weather service forecast office was the one who matched it with the characteristics of the rarely occurring 'fire rainbow'' a fire rainbow is not actually fire or a rainbow, and the scientific name for the weather occurrence is actually a circumhorizon arc a sundog is a halo at the same elevation as the sun, which looks like a bright colored spot in the daytime sky, according to the american meteorological society he noted that the horizontal pattern of the heavenly occurrence was what helped him and his fellow meteorologists confirm the circumhorizonal arc citing 'what a neat sight! a 'fire rainbow' on the 4th of july,' ferreri commented on the station's website watch video here: 'fire rainbow' seen in fort wayne | indiana the 4th of july | indiana residents saw a rare weather phenomenon called a fire rainbow streaked across the sky on the 4th of july . a fire rainbow is an alignment of sunlight and cloud ice particles that looks like a horizontal multicolored arc below the sun |
by daily mail reporter for the second time in a week, a python has swallowed a family pet in the backyard of an australian home after last week's dog swallowing incident in caniaba, new south wales, a snake has followed suit in queensland's idyllic whitsundays, the daily mercury reports michelle grigg says she found walter, the family dog, in the belly of a python that had crept on to her property scroll down for video another one? this python swallowed the grigg family's beloved pooch walter cringeworthy stuff: michelle grigg says she has been dealing with snakes on her property ever since she was a girl but not like this 'my husband went out on the road to look for him,' she said 'i was standing out on our patio where we have big pot plants and i looked down at my feet and there was the snake' while she didn't seem terribly fussed, having dealt with snakes since she was a child, she admits her kids were more shaken up by the death of the maltese shih tzu cross 'i was very calm i'm good in stressful situations,' she said 'i woke them up for school and told them what had happened they were absolutely devastated and my son wanted me to have killed it so he could have buried walter 'but i picked up the snake and relocated it' michelle wrestles the python into a plastic container after it attacked and ate walter (r), the family pet who was a gift from the children's aunt michelle's young children were devastated by the death of the family dog, a gift from their aunt ms grigg says her seven year old daughter didn't take the news well 'this little dog was given to her as a gift from her aunty, it was her everything,' she told the courier mail last week a python swallowed a 'possum sized' dog and a length of chain after pouncing on the pet pooch's kennel animal rescue volunteer sue ulyatt from the wildlife information rescue and education service (wires) said it was rare to see a snake swallow a dog 'we’ve just checked our stats and it's actually only the second time in the last ten years that we know of,' she said last week 'it's usually the other way around; the snake comes off second best' now that's twice in one week | maltese walter australia | python swallows family's maltese shih tzu cross . snake crept onto whitsundays property and killed dog, walter . second time in one week a snake has eaten a dog in australia |
by associated press and james gordon after several recent southern california earthquakes left them sensitive to shaking, people around the region thought they felt the ground move earlier this week but this rumble came from the air us navy cmdr kevin stephens told the los angeles times on thursday that the shaking was a sonic boom produced by an f/a 18 super hornet fighter jet the jet was over the pacific ocean about 35 miles southwest of san diego when it broke the sound barrier whats that noise? the rumble was created by an f/a 18 hornet fighter plane the jet was over the pacific ocean about 35 miles southwest of san diego when it broke the sound barrier some residents in long beach and the north orange county coast reported feeling and hearing what some thought was an earthquake but caltech seismologist kate hutton said no earthquakes were reported in the area during the time the shaking was reported federal aviation administration spokesman ian gregor to the la times that any sonic boom would come from a military aircraft 'civil aircraft do not exceed the speed of sound, so any sonic boom would come from a military aircraft,' he said long distance: although the military exercise was bring carried out 100 miles away, the sound traveling at 760mph soon reached the coastline 'military aircraft do not fly supersonically in civilian airspace; they would only do so in restricted military airspace out over the ocean' sonic booms move in the direction a jet is flying, and because it was pointed northward the rumble was felt in orange and los angeles counties while some may equate sonic booms to sounding like sharp cracks, the farther away you are from the jet, the more likely you might hear a rumbling sound that can shake buildings nasa aerospace engineer edward haering compared it to lightning strikes the closer you are to the lightning, the more likely you’ll hear a sharp crack the farther away you are, the more likely you’ll hear a rumble the f/a 18 was flying as part of a demonstration of the uss ronald reagan aircraft carrier, whose home port is in coronado it was a fighter jet: although some have speculated it could be the testing of the mythical top secret aurora spy plane project the plane flew faster than the speed of sound as part of an exercise 50 miles off the coast the speed of sound is about 761 miles per hour it can be hard for pilots to know where and how far sonic booms will travel a lot depends on the weather and the direction of the wind, which helps determine where the sound will go some have speculated it could be the testing of the mythical top secret aurora spy plane project when the navy conducted a similar flight further south in the summer of 2012, most of san diego felt it many who felt the shaking took to social media, assuming it was an earthquake scott conner told the times that he was convinced it was a quake and was the biggest he had ever experiences 'i thought it was the biggest quake i’ve ever been in… this thing was big, big,' he said 'the whole house just lifted' | f/a 18 hornet the pacific ocean 100 miles la | mysterious rumbling along coast wasn't earthquake, experts say . f/a 18 hornet was carrying out exercise over the pacific ocean . sonic boom traveled 100 miles to la coastline where vibrations were felt |
by associated press traffic judge: judge joseph charter doesn't usually have freedom of speech cases come through his traffic court hauling a truckload of logs to a southern oregon mill last fall, chris hill noticed a sheriff's deputy behind him and flashed his lights to warn a ups driver coming the other way the deputy pulled over hill on us highway 140 in white city and handed him a $260 ticket for improperly using his headlights, saying another deputy had seen the flashing lights from behind the ups truck and alerted him to stop the log truck because of the signaling outraged, hill decided to fight the ticket, and on wednesday, a jackson county justice court judge dismissed the citation, finding that motorists flashing their headlights amounts to speech protected by the oregon constitution judge joseph carter determined the law covering the use of high beams was valid, but was unconstitutional as it was applied by the deputy 'the citation was clearly given to punish the defendant for that expression,' the judge wrote 'the government certainly can and should enforce the traffic laws for the safety of all drivers on the road however, the government cannot enforce the traffic laws, or any other laws, to punish drivers for their expressive conduct' the jackson county sheriff's office did not return a telephone call for comment hill, 38, of klamath falls, has been driving truck for 10 years, and was not interested in seeing his insurance rates go up for getting a ticket he initially told the deputy that the ups driver was his neighbor, and he was just saying hello 'my point to the cop was his partner didn't know why i was flashing my lights,' hill said 'he couldn't tell for sure what i was doing' by the time his case went to court last month, hill had researched the law and found nothing that expressly prohibited the use of headlights to signal other drivers he also recalled a tv news story about a federal judge in the midwest barring police from handing out tickets to drivers who flashed their lights to warn others of a speed trap ahead fought the law: chris hill fought his $260 ticket issued for flashing his headlights to warn another driver of police presence and won 'i thought, 'well, i'll throw that in there, too,'' he said acting as his own attorney in a hearing conducted by telephone, hill said he acknowledged the ups driver wasn't his neighbor, and he raised the free speech argument 'what i did wasn't illegal, whether it's freedom of speech or not,' he told the associated press dave fidanque, director of the american civil liberties union of oregon, noted the oregon court of appeals overturned a traffic law prohibiting horn honking for non traffic purposes on similar grounds in the 1990s after a number of people got tickets for honking in support of us troops during the first gulf war 'if the motive of the sheriff's deputies was in fact not to make the roads safer, but to raise more revenue from traffic enforcement, that would be even more reason why it should be unconstitutional,' fidanque said 'if this is part of a pattern, then it probably would be worth us looking into it in more detail' | chris hill oregon 260 hill joseph charter | trucker chris hill noticed a police car behind him in oregon and flashed a ups driver coming the other way to warn him . the deputy pulled him over and issued a $260 fine for improperly using his headlights . hill represented himself in court, arguing that flashing his headlights amounted to freedom of speech . judge joseph charter found in favor of hill, saying that 'the government cannot enforce laws, to punish drivers for their expressive conduct |
by lydia warren and associated press plot: kelvin melton 'ordered the killing of the dad of the prosecutor who locked him up for life' an imprisoned gangster used a smuggled cell phone to mastermind the terrifying kidnap of the father of a prosecutor who helped send him away for life, federal authorities said frank arthur janssen, a north carolina military contractor whose daughter prosecutes violent crimes, was rescued in a raid on an atlanta apartment by the fbi's hostage rescue team on wednesday night authorities arrested five people aged between 19 and 21 who allegedly have connections to the bloods gang they were acting on behalf of kelvin melton, who is serving a life sentence for ordering the shooting of a man in 2011, said john strong, the fbi's agent in charge for north carolina during the abduction, the kidnappers took a picture of janssen tied up in a chair and sent it to his wife, threatening to torture and dismember him if she went to police, the fbi said in court documents they also allegedly exchanged at least 123 calls and text messages with melton in the past week as they discussed how to kill and bury 63 year old janssen without a trace the suspects were found nearly five days after the kidnapping after authorities tracked their mobile phones and listened to their calls authorities are now investigating how melton, 49, got a mobile phone in his cell at polk correctional institution in butner smuggled phones usually come from relatives or other visitors, ap reported plot: frank arthur janssen, 63, right, was kidnapped earlier this month allegedly by five gang members who wanted to get back at his daughter, who prosecuted on a case that put their friend behind bars testimony from his 2012 trial shows melton is a high ranking member of the bloods street gang from new york city who ordered a 21 year old subordinate to travel to raleigh and kill his ex girlfriend's new boyfriend court records show melton has a long record of felony convictions in new york, the first being a 1979 robbery committed when he was 14 the admitted triggerman, jamil herring gressett, testified that he followed melton's orders for fear he or his loved ones would be killed if he didn't the victim survived a gunshot wound the prosecutor in the case was wake county assistant district attorney colleen janssen kidnapping victim frank janssen's daughter in a handwritten 2012 letter in the court file, melton protested that the prosecutor had not followed proper legal procedure, citing a specific state statute raid: an image shows federal agents walking through an apartment complex in atlanta after the agents rescued janssen on wednesday night he was not harmed in the kidnapping or the rescue audience: neighbors watch as the agents stand guard at the apartment following the raid authorities have revealed text messages sent by the alleged gang members to the kidnap victim's wife, as well as details of a call between the gang and their mastermind, kelvin melton texts from the 'gang' to christie janssen if you contact police, 'we will send (mr janssen) back to you in 6 boxes and every chance we get we will take someone in your family to italy and torture them and kill them we will do drive by and gun down anybody' at 1219am wednesday, she received a text photograph of him tied up in a chair 'tomorrow we call you again an if you can not tell me where my things are at tomorrow i will start torchering' call between 'gang' and 'mastermind' at 820pm on wednesday, melton called the kidnappers and they apparently spoke about where to bury janssen's body: 'the first spot we are checking out is close to the house' 'we want to make sure it's in a secluded area and the ground is soft so we can go 3 feet deep' 'get a bag, put it over his head, and stuff something in his mouth' 'however you feel like doing it, just do it' 'make sure to clean the area up don't leave anything don't leave any dna behind' 'prosecutor must file accuser affidavit with clerk of court 'prior' to seeking an indictment, this affidavit must be on file, mandatory!' melton wrote 'the accused indictment is not legal and is rendered in valid' but it didn't work and melton was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and being a habitual felon, resulting in a life sentence the case came back to haunt the jenssen family when a woman knocked on frank janssen's door on saturday at his wake forest home several people assaulted him and someone used a stun gun he was then driven 400 miles away to atlanta and his wife, christie, returned home from a shopping trip to find him gone from the home and drops of what appeared to be blood on the ground on monday, christie started receiving a series of text messages from a mobile phone in georgia one of the texts said if law enforcement was contacted, 'we will send (mr janssen) back to you in 6 boxes and every chance we get we will take someone in your family to italy and torture them and kill them we will do drive by and gun down anybody' at 1219am wednesday, janssen's wife received a text photograph of him tied up in a chair along with a message: 'tomorrow we call you again an if you can not tell me where my things are at tomorrow i will start torchering' the messages made specific demands for the benefit of melton, according to the fbi those demands were not spelled out in the court filings and authorities would not provide further details a federal law enforcement source told the associated press that the kidnapping was an act of retaliation and that the communications of those involved suggested a link to the bloods raid: residents look on as workers repair a neighbor's front door after agents broke it down wednesday the next morning: the agents raided the apartment around midnight and five people were arrested cruel: the five kidnappers allegedly tied up janssen and sent a photo to his wife to blackmail her probe: fbi agents can be seen gathering evidence from the scene following the successful rescue at 8:20 pm on wednesday, the fbi says a call was placed by melton from the prison to a phone associated with the kidnappers in atlanta the two male callers appear to be discussing how to dispose of a body: 'the first spot we are checking out is close to the house' 'we want to make sure it's in a secluded area and the ground is soft so we can go 3 feet deep' 'get a bag, put it over his head, and stuff something in his mouth' 'however you feel like doing it, just do it' 'make sure to clean the area up don't leave anything don't leave any dna behind' following the call, authorities tried to enter melton's cell and he temporarily barred the door and smashed the phone a few hours later, they located janssen in atlanta at the forest cove apartments target: a news crew sets up equipment opposite the wake forest home of the kidnap victim charged with kidnapping were: jenna paulin martin; tiana maynard; jevante 'flame' price; michael 'hot' montreal gooden and clifton james roberts authorities also recovered a 45 caliber handgun, picks and a shovel, according to the fbi according to the complaint, the women and roberts conspired to kidnap janssen while price and gooden were the 'night watch' over him those arrested appeared before a federal magistrate judge in atlanta on thursday they are due back in court for a bond hearing tuesday, when they will each have a lawyer appointed by the judge according to prison records, melton is being held on 'maximum control' status after racking up several infractions over the past year, including being cited for possessing a weapon and twice for having a mobile phone in 2013, 747 mobile phones were confiscated from inmates in north carolina's prisons so far this year, 166 have been seized authorities: john strong, special agent in charge of the fbi in north carolina, said the kidnapping was related to his daughter's prosecution work as he spoke at a press conference on thursday officials at the state department of public safety concede many are smuggled in by prison employees bribed by inmates or their relatives they are now investigating how melton got the phone he allegedly used to help orchestrate the kidnapping of his prosecutor's father 'the department is deeply concerned about any corrupting influence by inmates against adult correction employees and will aggressively investigate and take action against offenders and staff involved in using cellphones to conduct criminal activity from inside prison walls,' secretary frank l perry said 'it will continue its ongoing efforts with increased intensity toward stopping contraband from entering any of its facilities' | kelvin melton frank arthur janssen 63 saturday melton 2011 janssen atlanta wednesday | kelvin melton communicated with 5 gang members from his jail cell after they kidnapped frank arthur janssen, 63, from his home on saturday . melton, a habitual felon, is serving a life sentence for ordering the shooting of a man in 2011 a case janssen's daughter prosecuted on . the 5 kidnappers 'sent mr janssen's wife text messages saying they would dismember her husband if she contacted police'. mr janssen was rescued in a raid on an atlanta apartment on wednesday . authorities are investigating how melton had a cell phone in his cell |
by lydia warren police have unearthed a cache of weapons and pipe bombs at the home of a new york city emergency technician while responding to a call about a domestic dispute victor cadicamo, a 29 year old emt for the city's fire department, has been charged with criminal possession of a weapon, harassment and menacing after a row with his wife on thursday his wife, christina liskowitz herself a fire department emt called police to their brooklyn home at 910am, saying that her husband had threatened her with a gun their two year old child was allegedly in the house when their fight started busted: victor cadicamo, 29, allegedly had two pipe bombs, five firearms and a rifle hidden at his brooklyn home officers arrived and searched for the gun he had allegedly threatened her with and came across five firearms and a rifle hidden in the living room and bedroom, the new york daily news reported cadicamo was taken to the police station for questioning and admitted to having two pipe bombs at the home after a search, a bomb squad located the explosives on thursday afternoon the bomb squad removed the explosives from the brighton beach house and dismantled them at rodmans neck firing range as a precaution it wasn’t clear if the pipe bombs were live the other weapons were also confiscated stash: cadicamo shared this image on his facebook page, writing beneath the picture: 'lol if you saw what i've got in my apartment you'd be shocked' fight: the home was searched after his wife, christina liskowitz, called 911 and claimed he was threatening her with a gun their two year old child was in the home at the time of the dispute as well as criminal charges, cadicamo, who has worked as an emt for six years, could lose his job, but union officials said it was too early to comment on his future at the service neighbors told the daily news that they often heard the couple fighting and that cadicamo had boasted about having guns in his apartment 'i can’t believe he has a bomb,' neighbor yasir ullah said 'he is a nice guy i cannot believe this' an image taken several years ago and posted on facebook shows cadicamo posing with a selection of guns in what he identifies as his bedroom uncertain future: he was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, menacing and harassment and his future at the fire department is unknown he has worked as an emt for six years 'lol if you saw what i've got in my apartment you'd be shocked,' he wrote beneath the picture cadicamo has been charged with criminal possession of a weapon, menacing and harassment, but he has not yet been charged for possessing the explosives the fdny have not yet responded to a request for comment | victor cadicamo 29 year old emt | victor cadicamo, a 29 year old fire department emt, 'threatened his wife with a gun at their home and she called 911'. officers 'found 5 firearms, a rifle and 2 pipe bombs hidden in their home' |
by james rush published: 10:56 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 12:06 est, 10 december 2013 maureen williams has been jailed for 15 months after she stole £170,000 from the account of an elderly dementia sufferer she had befriended a building society clerk who stole £170,000 from the account of an elderly dementia sufferer she had befriended has been jailed for 15 months maureen williams, 59, took advantage of betty holland, 87, when she offered to help her with her finances she wrote cheques to herself, which she got her confused victim to sign, and handed out the money to her family so they could buy houses jailing her for 15 months at exeter crown court, in devon, judge geoffrey mercer described her crime as a 'gross breach of trust' he said: 'you had got to know her as a customer at the building society where you worked and you took on the role as her financial adviser and also became a friend 'at the time of these offences she was clearly, in my view, suffering from dementia or at the very least the onset of dementia you must have known that from your contact with her 'in writing out cheques for yourself for her to sign and in making transfers, you took very dishonest advantage of her and it was a gross breach of trust' the court heard the pair met when williams was a clerk at a building society branch in bristol, and were friends for a number of years before she started stealing williams, of winscombe, north somerset, denied three counts of fraud but was convicted by a jury at bristol crown court on october 17 sentencing her in exeter on december 6, judge mercer said: 'the money was used in part to buy your son a property and i have set a timetable for confiscation proceedings and expect the money to be repaid 'i have read a lot of glowing references about you and i have read the medical reports which describe the disease you are suffering from, which carry substantial weight in my sentencing judgment 'however, this was dishonesty on a scale which must command an immediate prison sentence' giles nelson, mitigating, said williams is in poor health and her condition means that any jail sentence will be more difficult to cope with than if she had been younger and less frail williams first met her victim when she became her financial adviser at the bradford & bingley building society branch in keynsham, near bristol, 15 years ago jailing maureen williams for 15 months at exeter crown court (pictured), in devon, judge geoffrey mercer described her crime as a 'gross breach of trust' williams later left to become a freelance independent financial adviser and ms holland, who lived in farmborough near bath, became her client prosecutors claimed williams spent eight years grooming the widow into entrusting her with all her financial affairs and when ms holland who had no children developed dementia williams saw her chance to cash in 'you should never take advantage of vulnerable people like this but she just got greedy' betty holland's cousin rachel smith she wrote out a number of large cheques, including one for £75,000, which confused ms holland would sign at her request without knowing what they were for the fraud was only uncovered when ms holland collapsed at home in november 2009 and was taken into hospital her relatives became concerned about her finances and began to investigate and williams was arrested in 2010 ms holland's cousin rachel smith, 45, of melksham, wiltshire, said: 'by the end betty didn't know what she was doing because of her dementia 'she (williams) would put cheques in front of her and she would sign them betty trusted her completely after all, who wouldn't trust a financial advisor? 'you should never take advantage of vulnerable people like this but she just got greedy' williams was arrested in 2010 and denied any offences she said the money was a gift and had no reason to disclose it to the holland family after sentencing, detective constable sandy osborne, who led the investigation, said: 'this kind of dishonesty offence is rarely brought to the notice of the police and i am delighted that justice was done in this case 'judge mercer's sentence should act as a warning to others who abuse their position of trust to prey on vulnerable members of society' legal action is now underway under the proceeds of crime act to recover the money williams unlawfully obtained ms holland, who ran a garage with her late husband, now lives in a nursing home in trowbridge, wiltshire, and has severe dementia | spratty cauls gelototherapy | no related information |
by daily mail reporter published: 19:34 est, 6 march 2013 | updated: 05:45 est, 7 march 2013 fawlty towers was hardly the best advert for the hotels of torquay, but the devon resort does have some of the best places to stay, says a survey torquay – the setting for basil fawlty’s chaotic hotel in the classic tv comedy – has come fifth in a uk league table for best service in hotels it scored 821 points out of 10 to put it only a little behind the 846 achieved by sheffield at the top of the list compiled from thousands of reviews by the hotelinfo company not so bad: fawlty towers depicted hotels in torquay as shambolic but hotels in the town came fifth for offering the best service in a table compiled by hotelinfo second, on 839, was norwich, with leeds third, on 829, and york fourth, with 824 london trailed in at joint 22nd position, with 736 points compared with european hotels, the uk fared poorly, failing to make it into the top 20 this list was headed by finland and germany, both with 836 points austria was third with 835, while hungary came fourth after scoring 831 the uk's neighbour ireland was in 11th place with 812 points but the uk, with only 756 points, was below the 20th placed nation, the netherlands, on 782 points coastal: torquay finished closely behind sheffield in first place, norwich in second and leeds third a hotelinfo spokesman said: 'from rats in the restaurant to cream being poured over a guest’s head, fawlty towers gave torquay a less than positive image, as far as hotel stays go 'however, nearly 40 years have passed since then and our latest service quality survey has revealed that the british seaside favourite actually makes it into fifth position for service levels nationally' the company added: 'in comparison with mainland europe, the uk has a lot of catching up to do' | bacquet procomprise unhuzzaed | no related information |
by julian gavaghan published: 10:37 est, 14 march 2012 | updated: 07:52 est, 15 march 2012 people in sunderland are more likely to drink themselves to death than anywhere else in the country, government figures reveal alcohol killed 36 in the city in 2010 as the number of victims across england and wales rose to 8,970 last year up 126 since 2009 nine of the ten parliamentary constituencies with the highest number of drink related deaths were in the north – highlighting the social divide between the regions booze borough: a pub in sunderland, a city where 36 people drank themselves to death in 2010 bournmouth east, where 27 died, was the only voting district in the south to register among these hotspots, according to data from the office of national statistics just below deprived sunderland central in the alcohol death toll rankings were bootle, st helens south & whiston, birkenhead and liverpool walton – all in merseyside afluent devizes in wiltshire had the fewest deaths at two the ons figures listed the number of deaths directly caused by drinking – including alcohol poisoning, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis the data does not cover deaths caused by drink related car crashes, violent incidents or linked diseases such as liver cancer two thirds of victims were men – with the national death rate rising among males from 5,690 to 5,865 in the space of a year by contrast, the number of woman who drank themselves to death fell to 2,925 in 2010 from 2,974 the north west was the worst affected region of england – with 1229 victims – followed by the south east (922) and the west midlands 821 however, per head of population, the north east has the highest rate of deaths with 226 men per 100,000 compared to 213 in the north west and 13 in the south east deaths in the north east have also risen at a faster rate than anywhere else today’s figure of 469 is nearly three times higher than the 1991 toll of 170 worryingly, the rate of female deaths across the region has increased by163 per cent since 1991, compared to a national increase of 67 per cent colin shevills, director of alcohol charity balance, said: ‘once again our region tops the tables and we’ve seen an astonishing leap in alcohol related deaths over the last two decades death rate: the number of deaths per 100,000 people by english region ‘people are dying because alcohol is way too cheap they’re dying because alcohol is available on nearly every street corner at all hours of the day and night they’re dying because alcohol is also far too heavily promoted ‘the alcohol industry spends something like £800m a year on marketing which is having a huge impact on recruiting the next generation of problem drinkers from amongst our children ‘we need to turn back the rising tide of alcohol related deaths by introducing a range of measures which include greater restrictions on alcohol marketing and a minimum price per unit of alcohol’ killer regions: the north east (outlined in red has in recent years overtaken the north west has the region with the highest number of alcohol related male deaths prime minister david cameron has already signalled his interest in a minimum price of 50p per unit interestingly, despite the general perception of bingeing teenagers, middle aged people were found to drink more regularly than bingeing young people, new figures revealed yesterday(thurs) those over 45 are three times as likely as younger people to drink alcohol every day, it found very few young men in their teens and early 20s drink daily, and even fewer women but more than one in five men of pension age open a bottle or a can of beer, wine or spirits every day killer: the table shows the north west has the highest actual number of male deaths, with the figure rising across the country from 5,690 to 5,865 reduction: the number of deaths among women across britain has fallen over the last three years the picture of steady drinking by the middle aged is likely to lift some of the taint that attaches to young people over alcohol abuse the violence and disorder in many city centres at weekends, and the pressure on police and hospital casualty units that follows, has left young people frequent targets of criticism over their drinking habits | 36 a year north east merseyside | city has highest death toll at 36 a year and north east region the worst rate . nine of ten worst disricts are in the north with four in merseyside alone . experts blame cheap alcohol and for for introduction of minimum pricing |
by daily mail reporter published: 15:09 est, 14 june 2013 | updated: 15:09 est, 14 june 2013 a military judge will not allow an army psychiatrist to tell jurors that he shot fort hood soldiers to protect taliban leaders in afghanistan the judge said today that maj nidal hasan's 'defense of others' strategy fails as a matter of law col tara osborn said no soldiers at the texas army post on nov 5, 2009, posed an immediate threat to anyone in afghanistan she said the legitimacy of the afghanistan war is not an issue at hasan's trial, which hasn't started representing himself: maj nidal hasan will defend himself at his trial for the 2009 fort hood shooing rampage hasan, 42, is an american born muslim he faces the death penalty or life without parole if convicted in the rampage that left 13 dead and nearly three dozen wounded hasan is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in an attack on soldiers at a readiness facility, many of whom were getting ready to deploy to iraq or afghanistan maj nidal hasan didn't elaborate when he announced his 'defense of others' strategy on june 3, shortly after a military judge agreed to allow him to represent himself but it was the first time hasan hinted at his reasoning behind the attack on the texas army post it was revealed also last month, that hasan has been paid $278,000 since the shooting on november 5, 2009 soldiers injured in the horrific attack at the texas army base are fighting to receive the same pay and medical benefits as those injured in combat, but the department of defense confirmed that major nidal hasan has continued to be paid the army said that under the military code of justice, unless hasan is found guilty, his salary cannot be suspended help: army medical staff treat their fellow servicemen who were shot in the attack at the texas base | pseudorepublican epigrammatised drainpipe | no related information |
by emma innes published: 07:41 est, 30 december 2013 | updated: 07:44 est, 30 december 2013 a blind schoolgirl whose growth has been stunted by a rare condition can now get around thanks to a specially made mini cane at just 34 inches tall, five year old lexi drake struggled to get by using even the smallest of white sticks because they were too big for her but her life has now been transformed thanks to the custom made cane lexi drake, five, had turner syndrome which causes short stature and infertility she also has a brain tumour which caused her to lose her sight when she was two years old lexi has turner syndrome – a chromosomal abnormality which only affects girls and is caused by an abnormal sex chromosome she is also blind as a result of suffering from a brain tumour which damaged the nerves in her eyes lexi, from burton upon trent, staffordshire, is one of just three known people in the world to suffer from the combination of turner syndrome and a brain tumour but she is adapting to life with her new 24 inch cane and started school in september her mother anna, 25, said: ‘most people moan if they have a headache and are struggling to get out of bed but whatever she is faced with, she gets on with ‘she’s happy and smiley and full of energy she’s always caring about everybody else lexi (pictured with her mother, anna, and her mother's partner, james bowler) was unable to have an off the shelf white cane as they are too long so a custom made one was flown over from canada for her ‘you hope for the best and i just take every day as it comes the tumour hasn’t grown back since her treatment’ ms drake, a mother of three, said: ‘she had a cane which was the smallest they had in the country, but it was still too big for her and that didn’t even have the ball on it ‘i had to get this one with the ball made for her in canada since then, she has never looked back ‘she uses it at school and she has grown with it really well ‘she got it when she was four she was the smallest in the country to have a white cane lexi (pictured learning to swim with her aunt, chrissie drake) is one of just three people in the world known to suffer from both turner syndrome and a brain tumour ‘i think now the blindness is part of lexi i would love her to wake up and say i can see but it is absolutely part of lexi ‘she has adapted to it so well she doesn’t let her it get her down and she has lots of friends at school she will talk to anybody’ lexi was diagnosed with turner syndrome at her mother's 15 week scan the syndrome means she has part, or all, of one x chromosome missing sufferers can experience a range of physical problems as a result, including small stature and infertility she also developed a rare brain tumour, called craniopharyngioma, in 2010 and had to have keyhole surgery to reduce the size of it but it was unsuccessful and in march 2011 she travelled to america to receive pioneering treatment lexi (pictured in hospital with her aunt, karen grob) had to have keyhole surgery to remove her brain tumour when this failed, she went to the us for pioneering radiotherapy four metal screws were inserted into her head for six weeks while she underwent proton beam therapy, a form of radiotherapy suited to tumours buried deep in the brain and spine because it causes less damage to healthy tissue the treatment involved gruelling sessions, five days a week for 45 minutes, while the tumour was zapped with radiation to reduce its size however, the treatment caused her to suffer strokes ‘she will need heart surgery because she has a narrowing of the aorta but that will probably be when she is about 10 years old,’ ms drake, who lives with partner james bowler, 25, added ‘at the moment she is doing quite well with the tumour ‘she has regular scans every three to four months to look out for her health and any potential problems ‘she’s on growth hormone and in the last six months she has grown six centimetres’ ms drake says she wants lexi to be independent and to feel she is no different to any other children lexi still has to undergo mri scans to look for tumour regrowth, as well as scans to monitor her blood vessels to prevent any potential strokes one of lexi’s doctors from birmingham children’s hospital praised her bravery throughout her ordeal martin english, consultant paediatric oncologist at birmingham children’s hospital nhs foundation trust, said: ‘there are only three cases of the combined craniopharyngioma and turner conditions reported in the world and lexi is one of those ‘she has coped incredibly well many young children cope better with blindness than adults as they don’t know differently ‘she has undergone three lots of surgery at the children’s hospital in birmingham, been to america and great ormond street as well ‘she’s a real star she is incredible she recognises nearly all the staff that look after her just by the sound of their voices’ lexi (pictured with her sister, natalia) will also need heart surgery when she is about ten as she has narrowing of her aorta ms drake continued: ‘i want her to succeed in everything that she does and to be happy that is what any parent would want and to know that they have had a good childhood and to be at peace ‘we try to give her independence she understands that she is blind and she can’t see and she will say i can see with my hands and my cane can help me see where i am going ‘in a way i am protective in that i am watchful but i let her do things herself to give her independence i am trying to make her feel that she is not any different to the others’ a spokesperson for vista, the charity that made lexi’s cane, said she has taken to using it naturally they said: ‘lexi, she was a natural, she took hold of the cane and off she went i am sure the positive attitude of her family helped, but lexi is an inspiration’ turner syndrome affects about one in every 2,000 female babies and no cure is currently known turner syndrome is a genetic condition that only affects women it is caused by an abnormal sex chromosome and affects about one in every 2,000 baby girls babies normally have 23 pairs of chromosomes including one pair which determine the baby's sex these are known as the sex chromosomes one sex chromosomes comes from the father and the other from the mother the mother's is always an x chromosome, the father's can be an x or y a baby girl normally has xx and a boy has xy in turner syndrome, the y is missing so the child is always a girl the child also has part, or all, of one x chromosome missing meaning she has just one complete x chromosome rather than two most children with the condition are shorter than average and have underdeveloped ovaries this means they are infertile and do not have periods some girls with the condition also have heart, kidney and thyroid problems turner syndrome is often not diagnosed until puberty as height and the lack of periods are the main symptoms there is no cure for the condition but most people with it live a relatively normal life and their life expectancy is unaffected source: nhs choices | lexi drake turner uk us | lexi drake was born with turner syndrome a chromosomal abnormality which only affects girls and causes short stature and infertility . when she was two she was also diagnosed with a brain tumour . the tumour caused her to lose her sight and meant she required surgery in the uk as well as advanced radiotherapy treatment in the us. she is only 34ins tall so is too short for an off the shelf white cane . she is now able to move around by herself thanks to a specially made cane |
by associated press published: 23:26 est, 14 june 2013 | updated: 23:29 est, 14 june 2013 the associated press obtained a report friday that detailed the investigation into misconduct by the top official at the us military academy according to the report by pentagon investigators, lt gen david huntoon, the school's superintendent, didn't properly compensate workers at a charity dinner and used his position to obtain 'car care' among other things the department of defense inspector general concluded that west point superintendent lt gen huntoon misused his position, government resources and personnel, according to a heavily redacted report released to the in response to a freedom of information act request west point officials said they would not comment on the report, which said huntoon took full responsibility and repaid the affected parties $1,815 based on prevailing labor rates review: a report obtained by the ap details the investigation into misconduct by lt gen david huntoon, the superintendent of west point the report said the army inspector general conducted a preliminary inquiry in 2010 into allegations huntoon improperly allowed an employee to get government quarters at west point based on a 'personal relationship' with her the army investigators determined those allegations were unfounded the separate pentagon investigation found huntoon improperly used government personnel, accepted gifts of services from subordinates and misused his position in the case of the charity dinner, workers were paid with $30 and $40 starbucks gift cards, which investigators said was 'not sufficient' redactions in the report make it impossible to determine the complete nature of most episodes or details about the people involved in them for example, the report says huntoon misused his position to get cat feeding help for a friend, but it was unclear who was feeding the cats and who the friend was it also is unclear which relative or friend received driving lessons cats: one of the highlights of the report is that huntoon misused his position in order to get 'cat feeding services' for a friend improper pay: in one instance, huntoon had workers at a charity dinner paid with $30 or $40 dollar starbucks gift cards forced out?: huntoon will be retiring this summer something army officials deny is related to the 2010 investigation military officials first disclosed in april that an inspector general's investigation found huntoon had engaged in misconduct, but they did not release specifics about the report at that time, the army said huntoon had no pending disciplinary action against him the report released friday called for the secretary of the army to 'consider appropriate corrective action' in regards to huntoon in a statement, an army spokesman said the report was referred to the vice chief of staff of the army, who is responsible for handling disciplinary actions lt col justin platt said that on october 5, 2012, huntoon was issued a 'written memorandum of concern, which admonished him for the improper use of subordinate personnel for unofficial purposes' platt said the report found that huntoon improperly used two enlisted aides for unofficial functions at his headquarters and that a subordinate employee 'improperly provided driving lessons to a family member of ltg huntoon' huntoon, a 1973 west point graduate, will retire this summer after three years as superintendent army officials have said the retirement comes after 40 years of service and is not related to the investigation the investigation into his actions was among a series of negative stories from the venerable academy on the hudson river an army sergeant assigned to west point was charged last month with secretly photographing and videotaping at least a dozen women at the academy, including in a bathroom and west point's men's rugby team is temporarily disbanded after cadets forwarded emails that were derogatory to women | devid huntoon west point $30 and $40 dollar starbucks huntoon this summer | lt gen devid huntoon, superintendent of west point was investigated for misconduct as early as 2010 . report found he misused position to get cat feed services and driving lessons for friends . for a charity dinner, he paid workers in $30 and $40 dollar starbucks gift cards . huntoon will be retiring from his position this summer |
by hayley o'keeffe published: 11:12 est, 26 december 2013 | updated: 11:20 est, 26 december 2013 an imprisoned saudi blogger who denounced islam is facing the death penalty according to his wife raif badawi who set up the free saudi liberals blog is currently in prison, and according to his wife ensaf haidar, he must go before a high court on a charge of apostasy he would receive the death penalty if convicted by the courts according to amnesty international raif badawi has been in prison since 2012, and his wife claims that he is facing a death sentence in july, a criminal court found badawi guilty of insulting islam through his website and in television comments he was sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes, but his lawyer has appealed against the punishment badawi set up his website in 2008 and has been in prison since 2012 the year the site was launched he was detained for one day and questioned, with some clerics branding him an unbeliever and apostate his wife and their children have now left the country and now live in lebanon amnesty international told cnn that badawi's case shows that saudi arabia is not a place where people can debate openly about their beliefs a spokesman said: 'is clear case of intimidation against him and others who seek to engage in open debates about the issues that saudi arabians face in their daily lives' | raif badawi free saudi liberals lebanon | high court trial for father of three raif badawi according to his wife . legal troubles began when his free saudi liberals site launched in 2008 . his wife and children have left the country and now live in lebanon |
by snejana farberov published: 08:22 est, 27 december 2013 | updated: 18:10 est, 27 december 2013 left for dead: eva casara, a 17 year old expectant mother, was shot in the back of the head, robbed and dumped in the snow christmas day in dolton, illinois south suburban chicago authorities say someone shot and killed a 17 year old pregnant girl on christmas day — but that her baby was saved doctors pronounced eva casara, of calumet city, dead at an area hospital thursday morning she had been shot in the back of the head wednesday in dolton dolton police chief john franklin expressed condolences to the teen's family he added that it's ‘unimaginable to lose a child on such a holy day’ police say casara was found fatally injured wednesday evening lying in the snow between two houses in the south suburban community she was around five and a half months pregnant no suspects were in custody friday, but franklin says there are solid leads in the case according to eva's grandmother, fannie casara, the teen stepped out of her home with a group of friends wednesday afternoon saying she would be back shortly but she never returned worried family members made repeated attempts to reach her, but the girl's cell phone went straight to voice mail scroll down for video crime scene: eva was found with a gunshot wound in this alleyway then at around 330am thursday, the casara family were told by police that the 17 year old expectant mother had been found shot in the 1100 block of east 152nd street eva casara was shot once in the back of the head and left for dead in the snow her assailants also took her iphone, purse, coat and hat 'they treated her like a dog and just shot her in the back of the head,' her grandmother told chicago sun times full of life: eva dropped out of high school in september but was planning to get her ged and then go to college to study nursing casara was rushed to franciscan st margaret health hospital and was then transferred to advocate christ medical center the mortally wounded teen went into cardiac arrest three times, but doctors kept her on life support long enough to save her baby girl the young mother was pronounced dead at 11am thursday without ever regaining consciousness eva's premature baby, weighing just over a pound, is currently listed in critical condition the family plan to name her lailani paris – a name eva herself had picked after learning she was having a girl, chicago tribune reported according to casara's family, the teen dropped out of high school in september to take care of her baby, but she had big dreams fannie casara, eva's grandmother and legal guardian, said that her granddaughter, a bright girl who loved reading, was planning to get her ged and then go to college to study nursing police believe eva was gunned down in the 1520 block of dorchester avenue, and her body was later moved to the site where she was eventually found after lying nearly an hour on the ground fighter: doctors were able to save eva's baby girl, who was born more than three months premature grief: estrellita casara said her daughter was beautiful inside and out during a press conference, her distraught mother made a tearful plea, asking the public to help find those responsible for her child’s brutal death ‘my princessi miss her so much,’ estrelita casara said ‘everywhere she goes, she just lights up the place she's as beautiful inside as she is outside please, somebody, anybody, help me with my baby’ | eva casara dolton illinois | eva casara was discovered mortally wound and bleeding in the snow in dolton, illinois, after being shot and robbed . doctors kept her alive long enough to save her baby girl, who was born weighing just over a pound . teen girl was planning to get her ged and go to college to become an er nurse |
by abigail frymann published: 11:27 est, 6 july 2013 | updated: 12:29 est, 6 july 2013 in its heyday it attracted two million visitors a year but the iconic amusement park at the seaside resort of margate shut in 2006 as crowds ebbed away, enticed by more glamorous locations the seafront site has been an amusement park in one form or another since 1874 when 'lord' george sanger opened his menagerie at the 'hall by the sea' not so scenic: the rollercoaster was damaged in a fire in 2008 and stands neglected and partially dismantled in need of a makeover: although home to britain's oldest rollercoaster dreamland could not maintain its charm for visitors and closed in 2006 decline: the cinema first looking faded and then in scaffolding would be restored in the second phase of the costly redevelopment revival: the dreamland trust has been granted £10m from the government's seachange fund to re open dreamland as heritage themed amusement park unloved: the 16 acre site includes a theme park, amusements, a 2,200 seat cinema and a shopping arcade that dominates margate's seafront sanger's grade ii listed menagerie cages are believed to be the last of their kind remaining the site contains the uk's oldest rollercoaster, a grade ii* listed structure from 1920 called the scenic railway, and a 2,200 seat grade ii* listed cinema building developed in 1935 the scenic railway rollercoaster today stands neglected and partially dismantled in the ruins of the old park after it was damaged by a fire in 2008 grim: one of britain's premier seaside destinations, margate is down at heel and waiting for redevelopment at the moment derelict: designer wayne hemingway said the restored park would be for people of all ages to enjoy when it hopefully opens next year kentish coast: an aerial view of dreamland, showing the gaping empty space on the seafront however, there are already signs that margate's fortunes are looking up of all the holiday resorts in the world, margate reached seventh place in the rough guide book’s 'must see' destinations for 2013 the turner contemporary art gallery on the seafront has already brought in almost a million visitors since it opened just over two years ago there are also new shops and boutique hotels, particularly near the attractive old town mary portas took on the town's shop owners and tried to breathe new life into the town's retail sector for her show mary, queen of shops wayne hemingway, the creative force behind the dreamland trust, says that if their legal battle is successful the first phase of renovations will cost some £10 million wasn't it fun: the scenic railway, the world's first rollercoaster, opened in 1920 but today stands delapidated innocent age: resorts such as margate have lost out as tourists have travelled to more glamorous and warmer locations downward slide: dreamland's fortunes had been declining for years before the site's closure in 2006 that will include restoring the scenic railway, the historic rides collections and the original menagerie cages a second phase will include restoring the iconic 2,000 capacity cinema auditorium the campaigners have their work cut out, especially as tesco is seeking planning permission for a supermarket next door to dreamland, potentially spoiling the heritage feel of the site | coimplicate naiad parodize | no related information |
by matt chorley, mailonline political editor published: 07:43 est, 16 august 2013 | updated: 08:41 est, 16 august 2013 broadcaster andrew marr has revealed his major stroke has left him unable to type the bbc presenter today made his first appearance at a public event since the serious stroke in january this year which damaged his left arm and leg, leaving him needing intensive physiotherapy but as he prepares to return to the airwaves next month grilling britain’s top politicians, the former newspaper journalist disclosed the progress he has made on the road to recovery scroll down for video return: broadcaster andrew marr made his first appearance at public event since suffering a major stroke at the edinburgh international book festival recovery: the 53 year old author revealed his revised version of his book the battle for scotland had to be updated using a dictation machine because he had been left unable to type marr, 53, was rushed to hospital after being taken unwell seven months ago doctors warned his wife, journalist jackie ashley, he might not survive the bleeding in his brain and that if he lived he could be left unable to move, see, speak or hear following months of rehabilitation, he is now preparing to return to broadcasting full time next month but speaking at the edinburgh international book festival, he said he was still unable to perform some basic tasks he said: ‘i can't type because my left arm is still no good i used to touch type but i can't any more i used to think i could only think through my fingers’ comeback: marr is due to return to hosting his sunday morning political show next month physio: the serious stroke in january damaged marr's left arm and leg, and means he has to walk with a stick he said a revised version of his 1992 book the battle for scotland had been updated using a dictation machine marr, the corporation's former political editor, began his career as a newspaper reporter, becoming the editor of the independent before turning to television he has also presented a number of history programmes along with his politics show and has had five books published he has previously blamed a combination of overwork and excessive exercise for his stroke ‘i had a major stroke, i'm frankly lucky to be alive i had been heavily overworking mostly my own fault in the year before that,’ he said in april he is due to return to full time presenting this autumn, taking up the helm again on bbc1's andrew marr show from september 1 and is also returning to radio 4's start the week grilling: marr has been off tv screens since being taken ill in january, but did record an interview with prime minister david cameron in june marr worked to update his book on scottish politics ahead of next year's referendum on independence he predicted it would be ''much closer than the polls suggest' and there was still a 'lot to play for' but he admitted there was a 'very strong anti english feeling' in scotland, adding: 'i don't think it is particularly serious most of the time, but it can become serious, it can become toxic' he hailed scottish first minister alex salmond as 'some kind of political genius' but after being in power for some time is now 'struggling with the gilt rubbing off a little bit' the glasgow born journalist also revealed he would choose a scottish passport should scotland vote yes next year 'i am a scot, so it would have to be a scottish passport and not an english passport,' he said | told edinburgh international book festival scottish | journalist suffered stroke in january which could have left him paralysed . told edinburgh international book festival how typing is impossible . updated book on scottish politics using a dictation machine . he is due to return to broadcasting full time in early next month |
by daily mail reporter jane pauley, the former co anchor of the 'today' show, is trading nbc for cbs pauley, 63, is moving to cbs where will contribute stories to the network's 'cbs sunday morning' bob schieffer, host of cbs' other sunday morning program, 'face the nation,' broke the news on thursday during a symposium at texas christian university's schieffer school of journalism pauley was also a panelist at the event jane pauley, who is joining cbs as a contributor to 'cbs sunday morning,' at a charity event in november 2013 jane pauley in 1989, the last year she was an anchor on nbc's 'today' show before leaving the program to start a new prime time program for the network ‘we’re really, we’re really really happy to have you,' schieffer said, according to a transcript provided by cbs news 'and i can’t think of a better place for you to tell a story because you’re a great storyteller – and sunday morning is one of my favorite, favorite broadcasts' pauley co hosted 'today' from 1976 to 1989 she had been with nbc for 40 years pauley started her career at cbs as a news anchor at a network affiliate in indianapolis in 1972 'cbs is the reason i had a 40 year career at nbc,' pauley said, according to the daily news 'so if it weren't for that cbs saturday night lineup that i followed, i would never have had a career in network television so i've kind of come back home' a date when pauley will start on 'cba sunday morning' has not yet been determined cbs newsman bob schieffer, host of the network's sunday morning program 'face the nation,' who broke the news of pauley's move to cbs at a journalism school event in texas on thursday | homers crackers stenocephalic | no related information |
by dan bloom miracle: kelly cays, 22, and her fiance zach rose were saved by an anonymous benefactor a woman whose car was stolen and trashed with her $1,800 wedding dress inside has been saved in time for the big day – after an anonymous ‘angel’ bought her a new gown kelly cays, 22, was devastated after her jeep turned up in an alleyway with the all lace gown missing in her home town of colorado springs several women offered her their gowns after the crime appeared in her local newspaper, but the search seemed hopeless because none would fit miss cays’ 5ft 1in frame she put down a $400 deposit on a new gown, but could not afford the balance because she used all her spare cash fixing her trashed car that was until a miracle struck at the bridal shop out of the blue, the manager phoned kelly to tell her a ‘wedding angel’ had paid the $1,400 cost of an identical gown miss cays – who still has no idea who the mystery woman was – joked she would be sleeping with the dress every night until the big day in june she told today: ‘she said that she had amazing news and that someone had come in and anonymously paid off my dress ‘i just started crying i’m so thankful they don’t even know me, and it was a wonderful thing to do ‘i’m so, so grateful if i can find her, she can come to the wedding’ miss cays had received the original gown as a gift from two aunts and chose it because it reminded her of the one her late grandmother wore 60 years earlier she and fiancé zach rose scoured pawn shops in the hope the dress had been traded, but to this day it has not turned up saviour: the mystery woman donated $1,400 at danelle's bridal boutique in colorado springs, pictured it is far from the first wedding miracle in february a newlywed couple in britain survived a 30ft tree toppling onto their car as they drove from their wedding ceremony to the reception lee true, 36, and his new wife clare, 40, were driving away from the wedding in fierce winds in their peugeot 206 when the car buckled under the force of the blow miraculously the pair only suffered minor injuries while lee’s two children james, seven, and charlie, five, and their dog tilly, walked away completely unharmed | kelly cays 1,800 jeep colorado springs saviour | kelly cays, 22, had $1,800 gown in the back of her jeep when it was stolen . it turned up in an alleyway in colorado springs with the dress missing . when crime appeared in a local newspaper, a mystery woman intervened . saviour went into the bridal shop and paid the cost of an identical dress |
by martin robinson published: 08:01 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 21:01 est, 10 december 2013 walks free: fireworks display organiser geoffrey counsell leaves bristol crown court yesterday as he was cleared of causing the deaths of seven and injuring 51 on the m5 a fireworks organiser accused of causing a motorway crash that killed seven and injured 51 says the authorities wanted 'someone to blame' as he was cleared of breaching health and safety law yesterday a judge directed a jury at bristol crown court to find geoffrey counsell, 51, not guilty of a single charge of failing to ensure the safety of others contrary to the health and safety at work act seven people died in a massive motorway pile up involving more than 30 cars when they were engulfed by a thick fog on the m5 near taunton at around 820pm on november 4 2011 the smog was so thick that motorists on the northbound carriageway likened it to having a tin of paint thrown over their windscreens geoffrey counsell, 51, said he believed the decision to prosecute him was 'motivated by a desire to find someone to blame for this terrible accident, simply for the sake of doing so' speaking outside bristol crown court, he said: 'i would like to start by expressing my sympathy to all those who were affected by the terrible crash on november 4 2011 'i have been through an appalling experience over the last two years, yet i recognise that my misfortune is as nothing compared with that of those bereaved and injured as a result of that accident judge justice simon, who directed the jury at bristol crown court to return a verdict of not guilty, said: 'the prosecution case required mr counsell to appreciate and react more or less instantly to something not thought to be a hazard to anyone and had no previous reason to think it was a hazard' he added: 'there was no proper basis that you could have concluded that a reasonable person would have appreciated a reasonable risk and reacted to it to stop the display' mr counsell was in charge of the massive event at a rugby club which saw 1,500 rockets fired during a 15 minute display through his solicitor, gavin reese, mr counsell said outside court: 'before a final decision to go ahead with the display was taken, the highways agency, the taunton deane borough council and the avon and somerset constabulary were consulted 'all were informed of the fact and nature of the display no objection of any kind was raised as matters transpired, the taunton deane borough council and avon and somerset constabulary were to be the agencies which prosecuted me in respect of that same display 'the display was carried out without incident it was a very foggy night and the fireworks produced some smoke, which would have mingled with the fog 'however, i saw nothing to cause me to believe that any firework smoke would cause a hazard and i do not believe that it did so' mr counsell continued: 'the prosecution case against me was based on the suggestion that i should have recognised the risk of something occurring which has never been shown to have happened before, which probably did not happen, and risk of which was not recognised by anyone else 'the judge noted when he ruled that there was no case to answer, the prosecution case was 'heavily weighted with hindsight' message: fireworks contractor geoffrey counsell, 51, (right) with a member of his legal team, gavin reese (centre), who said the authorities who agreed to the display then sought to blame his client tragedy: the m5 in somerset on november 5 2011, the day after the fireworks display designed by geoffrey counsell, who was cleared of any wrongdoing yesterday 'as many people will be aware, the assistant chief constable of avon and somerset constabulary mr (anthony) bangham appeared on national television less than 48 hours after the crash to advance the police belief that smoke from the display had caused the crash carnage: the horrifying result of the m5 crash, which happened in conditions drivers described as like having paint on their windscreens 'hours before the pronouncement was made, officers from avon and somerset constabulary had unlawfully obtained a warrant to search my home, as the judge found during the trial 'the unlawful search of my home took place despite the fact that i had previously expressly confirmed to the police my willingness to co operate with their inquiry in any way 'the current proceedings were brought jointly by the avon and somerset constabulary and taunton deane borough council prior to the proceedings being brought, those representing me wrote to taunton deane borough council highlighting the obvious flaws in the case 'those concerns were simply ignored again, in august of this year, those representing me set out in court documents the very issues which caused the case to come to a halt nevertheless, the prosecution continued 'i am obviously extremely relieved that i have been cleared of any blame for this terrible crash so, whilst i am very relieved that, more than two years later, my ordeal is over, i continue to feel that my prosecution was motivated by a desire to find someone to blame for this terrible accident, simply for the sake of doing so' it was alleged that mr counsell, of ashill in somerset, failed to ensure he operated the firework display so as to ensure, as far as was reasonably practicable, that others who might be affected were not exposed to risks to their health and safety mr counsell was originally charged with seven counts of manslaughter but they were dropped earlier this year and instead he faced the health and safety charge grandparents anthony and pamela adams, from newport, south wales; father and daughter michael and maggie barton, from windsor, berkshire; battle re enactor malcolm beacham, from woolavington, somerset; and lorry drivers terry brice, from south gloucestershire, and kye thomas, from cornwall, died and 51 people were injured, including some seriously, in the pile up mr counsell, who ran firestorm pyrotechnics, was the contractor hired by taunton rugby club to run the £3,000 display at its ground, which was watched by 1,000 people he set off 1,500 shots as part of his jupiter display in 15 minutes just 200 yards from the motorway in a leaflet promoting his business, the experienced mr counsell described the display as the 'biggest and most lavish' piece of 'unforgettable' pyrotechnics he offered much loved: anthony and pamela adams who were amongst those killed in fatal crash on the m5 near taunton, somerset, in november 2011 victims: malcolm beacham (top left), bristol lorry driver terry brice (top right), former soldier and lorry driver kye thomas (bottom left) and maggie barton (bottom right), all killed in the crash on the m5 near taunton witnesses described seeing the smoke drift across the nearby carriageway peter blair qc, prosecuting, told the jury: 'essentially the prosecution say they experienced a loss of visibility, generated, we say, by a plume of smoke created by mr counsell from his firework display which had built up bereft: elaine adams, whose family members died in the accident on the m5, and spoke on behalf of all victims, said that she was 'devastated' by what had happened 'it was dispersed because of the lack of wind mixed with the humid air and drifted in the direction of the motorway 'we say people were exposed to an appreciable risk to their personal safety that night as a consequence of the way mr counsell prepared for and then went about his business 'we say that ensuring the safety of people using that motorway needed particular care if you were going to undertake a big firework display involving the use of a substantial volume of these hazardous explosives, which generated a lot of smoke 'smoke can have an appreciable effect on reducing visibility that should be obvious it didn't take long from the build up of smoke to the dramatic loss of visibility 'we say if he had adequately undertaken his health and safety properly, some or all of the consequences which unfolded on november 4 may have been avoided' elaine adams, from barry, south wales, and daughter of mr and mrs adams, said: 'i am speaking on behalf of all the families here and we are all absolutely devastated 'we feel that things should have gone a little bit further and the judge should have made more of an informed decision 'i am really upset i am very, very cross about what happened 'i am just devastated and i am really upset and, to be honest, as much as there has been a picture brought up over the last few weeks, there is still a lot of confusion 'i think a lot of money has been wasted and i think there are things that could have been done that haven't been done 'i would have liked to have seen the defence witnesses before the case was stopped' pile up: the emergency services consider the situation on the night that seven died and 51 were injured on the m5 in 2011 aftermath: view of the wreckage which shows burnt out cars along the m5 where seven people died bristol crown court heard that the smog built up during and after a fireworks display at taunton rugby club and drifted across the road pile up: one driver said her car hit a patch of white mist as it entered the m5 at junction 25 ms adams said she still believed it was right to bring the prosecution 'i think perhaps health and safety are at fault for their guidance despite having evidence, their guidance is not clear,' she said john williams, leader of taunton deane borough council, said: 'i hope that the end of crown court proceedings brings some closure for the families, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives or suffered injury in the terrible events on november 4 2011 'the council is now seeking to work closely with the relevant authorities to see if the current guidance regarding large fireworks displays, such as the one at taunton rugby club, is appropriate 'we also pledge our support for any changes that may be deemed necessary our primary concern is to minimise the risks of this type of unimaginable incident happening again 'on behalf of the council, i would like to extend my deepest sympathy to the families of the bereaved and the families and friends of all those affected by these terrible events 'i would also pay tribute to all those who showed such bravery at the scene, to all the emergency services and to staff at the hospitals where the injured were treated 'there will be a coroner's inquest in due course and the coroner may make recommendations having heard the evidence laid before the inquest' | masseuses ribbonfish equidifferent | no related information |
by matt chorley, mailonline political editor published: 07:29 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 20:49 est, 10 december 2013 children as young as four see 70 adverts for payday loans on television each year in total, adverts from firms offering high interest, short term credit were watched almost 600million times by children last year, figures suggest it comes after a 23 fold rise in the number of such commercials in only three years, with 397,000 aired in 2012 – more than half during the day tv watchdog ofcom revealed how the number of adverts has soared from just 17,000 in 2008 to 400,000 last year, which would take 138 days to watch back to back around the clock adverts for the likes of wonga (left) and payday uk have been criticised for normalising high interest loans the number of payday loan adverts hit almost 400,000 last year, up from just 17,000 in 2008 payday loan firms are accused of particularly targeting using daytime tv to persuade the unemployed and those raising children to take out loans charging more than 5,000 per cent apr interest charities and unions called for a crackdown on the adverts which 'prey' on the vulnerable and influence even very young children labour leader ed miliband has called for the adverts to be banned from children’s tv altogether, after accusing the firms of creating a ‘quiet crisis’ for thousands of families swamped by debt and money expert martin lewis condemned adverts during children’s tv as ‘inappropriate propaganda’ which means even the under 10s now nag their parents to borrow money to buy toys in 2009 there were just 17,000 payday loan adverts shown on uk television, recording 12million views or ‘impacts’ among adults and 3million 4 15 year olds wonga typical apr 5853% signed a four year deal to sponsor newcastle united this month hired a bafta nominated director to produce a film on the controversial company to counteract criticism about its huge profits and sky high interest rates cash lady typical apr 2670% courted controversy when it hired ex bankrupt reality star kerry katona to front ad campaign but this summer the atomic kitten star declared herself bankrupt for the second time in five years due to unpaid debts her money troubles led to her being dropped as the face of cash lady payday uk typical apr 2610% bought by us giant dollar financial in 2011 for a reported $195million it is now part of the same firm which owns the money shop, which has 550 stores nationwide quick quid typical apr 1734% spent an estimated £32 million, advertising during programmes like friends, desperate scousewives and hollyoaks in july it apologised after sending emails threatening to send in debt collectors to people who had not borrowed money by last year the number of adverts had rocketed to 397,000, with 75billion impacts among adults and 596million for children it means that last year every adult saw 152 payday loan adverts, and 4 15 year olds watched the equivalent of 70 each a survey on moneysavingexpertcom found a third of parents reported their under 10s repeating payday lenders’ slogans, while 14 per cent said that when they had refused to buy a toy, their child had nagged them to take out a payday loan martin lewis, creator of moneysavingexpertcom said: 'the ofcom research is proof that payday lenders are grooming our children to be the next generation of borrowers, either deliberately, or due to lack of care when placing adverts 'our research shows 14 per cent of parents of under 10s have had their kids suggest a payday loan when they’ve been turned down for things like toys 'but the real danger is the normalisation of these far from normal loans to the next generation 'we called six weeks ago for the government to ban all high cost credit advertising from kids’ tv 'the labour party has picked it up and now supports the policy today’s research should act as a clarion call for others to follow 'mr cameron, mr clegg – please, its time you too supported this and made it happen' ofcom published audience research into advertising of ‘payday’ loans on tv payday loans accounted for just 01 per cent of all advertising spots, but that figure has risen sharply to 12 per cent more than half of payday loan adverts were shown during daytime tv from 9:30am to 4:59pm a further 16 per cent were shown between 5pm and 8:59pm and 15 per cent between 11pm and 5:59am, 9 per cent between 6am and 9:29am and the remaining 6 per cent between 9:00pm and 10:59pm around 1 per cent of all the adverts were show on children's tv channels citizens advice chief executive gillian guy said:'payday lenders are unashamedly and irresponsibly using adverts to prey on poorer households in a bid to capitalise on the cost of living crisis 'payday lenders should not be targeting children and teenagers with adverts 'it is deeply concerning that children and teenagers were exposed to three times as many payday loan ads in 2012 compared to in 2010 'more and more adverts are appearing on music channels and tv stations popular with teenagers and young people as lenders try to entice the next generation of borrowers 'lenders’ targeting of young people and those on low incomes is coupled with industry failures to make sure loans are only given to people who can afford to repay citizens advice has found 61 per cent of loans do not come with proper checks to ensure the borrower can pay back the loan' one in four payday loan adverts is shown on a music channel and 8 per cent appear on movie channels the vast bulk 42 per cent are shown on the main terrestrial channels mr miliband last month called for the ads to banned during any programmes aimed at children he said: 'as a father of two young boys, i know how influenced they can be by what they see 'and i don't want payday lenders taking advantage of the cost of living crisis and targeting children in this country 'it is wrong, it is not what should be happening and that is why a labour government would stop them advertising during children's tv 'it's bad for young people, it's bad for families and it's bad for communities' more than half of all payday loan adverts are seen during daytime tv the union unite called for a 9pm watershed for payday loans adverts unite assistant general secretary steve turner said: 'this research paints a horrific picture of a generation of children and young people being groomed into a culture of debt by this bombardment of advertising 'it is not just children being infected by this payday loan culture research has shown that people are borrowing £660 a month just to pay for the necessities of life food, housing and heating 'the asa should give a robust lead in introducing a 9pm watershed for these payday loans so that children are not influenced by this insidious onslaught 'the number of adverts should be curbed as the public are being duped into thinking that getting into debt is an easy option and pain free quite the contrary' | ofcom labour ed miliband | ofcom reveals number of ads soared from 17,000 in 2008 to 400,000 in 2012 . it would take 138 days to watch all of the adverts back to back . the ads were viewed an astonishing 75billion times last year . labour's ed miliband has called for the ads to be banned from kids' tv |
by hayley o'keeffe published: 13:05 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 14:28 est, 10 december 2013 victor dahdaleh arrives at southwark crown court the serious fraud office faced further embarrassment after it was forced to drop a high profile case estimated to have cost the taxpayer £14 million victor dahdaleh, 70, a friend of tony blair, was accused of paying £39 million to the bahraini royal family to secure multi billion pound aluminium contracts dahdaleh was said to have handed around £3 million in kickbacks to bruce hall, 61, the chief executive officer of smelting firm alba, who spent some of his cash gains on luxury property, southwark crown court heard hall already admitted conspiracy to corrupt and gave evidence against dahdaleh but his testimony was so different from his statements to the sfo that the agency had to throw in the towel seven weeks into the case two witnesses from the us were also unwilling to attend the trial in a statement the agency said: ‘the sfo has today offered no evidence against victor dahdaleh, having concluded that there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction in this case ‘the sfo had previously obtained the conviction of a conspirator, bruce hall, who pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to corrupt 'mr dahdaleh was the only remaining defendant in the case’ dahdaleh a jordanian born metals magnate allegedly issued orders for the payments, totaling more than £40million, to be made using a fax machine at his home in belgravia, central london tony blair with victor dahdaleh, in his role as president of the canada uk chamber of commerce prosecutor philip shears qc had told the jury: ‘those payments, we say, were corruptly made in order to win business for companies who hoped to trade with alba’ hall was recruited to become ceo of alba in february 2001 and took up the position five months later, before leaving in june 2005, jurors heard the case was abandoned after seven weeks of hearings at southwark crown court the australian national had a long history of working in the smelting industry and has experience in the production of aluminium, jurors heard bruce hall, who was extradited from australia, arriving at court with his wife mr shears said hall entered into what was a pre existing conspiracy between victor dahdaleh and sheikh issa involving corrupt payments dahdaleh was said to have been a major donor to the labour party, which is now disputed by officials he was once introduced by lord mandelson as ‘victor, my friend’, and had a ‘warm relationship’ with mr blair while he was prime minister he insisted he had done nothing improper dahdaleh, of eaton place, belgravia, central london, denied conspiracy to corrupt, six counts of corruption and a further count of transferring criminal property a series of cases brought by the sfo have collapsed in recent years including the prosecution of property magnates robert and vincent tchenguiz the sfo is now being sued for £300 million by the tchenguiz brothers, whose offices were illegally raided in 2011 hall, of rutland gate, tooting, southwest london, awaits sentence after admitting conspiracy to corrupt | victor dahdaleh £39 million bahraini serious fraud office jordanian labour party | victor dahdaleh denied paying £39 million to the bahraini royal family . serious fraud office claimed no realistic prospect of a conviction . jordanian born metals magnate was a 'major' labour party donor |
by nick enoch published: 09:20 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 12:02 est, 10 december 2013 there are several ways to survive an avalanche hold onto something and pray, 'swim' in the direction of the snow or be a mountain goat that certainly helped these light footed animals after they were faced with a wall of snow hurtling down a mountainside in the french alps last week incredible footage from a helicopter over le roc de la peche near pralognan la vanoise shows nine chamois goats having to think fast as the avalanche heads towards them scroll down for video relaxed: the goats are seen minding their own business on a mountainside in the french alps herd? herd what? the avalanche begins at le roc de la peche near pralognan la vanoise as five of the chamois goats hot hoof it over the cascading snow to safety, the remaining four disappear under a white sheet, much to the dismay of the helicopter crew which recorded the footage it's not looking good for the goat quartet five make a dash for it while the others try to sit it out as the 'runners' nimbly hot hoof it over the cascading snow to safety, the hapless four disappear under a white sheet, much to the dismay of the helicopter crew their commentary is in french, but the sheer emotion in the voices as they cry 'ay, ay, ay!' dispenses with the need for google translate and just when all seems lost, two, three, then all four buried goats emerge and rush off to join the rest of the group battered, possibly; bruised, maybe but alive in october, two climbers in the region suffered mild injuries while climbing the glacier du génépy they were just below the summit ridge at 3,500 meters when they triggered a slab of snow but what's this? two of the animals emerge from under the wall of snow! four! amazingly, the 'lazarus' goats live again and race to re join the herd clear of danger, the nine are reunited, and they certainly have something to bleat about high on a hill stood a lonely goat: a chamois surveys its kingdom | le roc de la peche french alps | high drama at le roc de la peche in the french alps |
by sarah griffiths published: 11:37 est, 30 october 2013 | updated: 04:20 est, 31 october 2013 giant steps taken by the biggest dinosaur that ever strode the earth have been reconstructed by scientists argentinosaurus, from south america, was able to walk for the first time in more than 94 million years virtually, on a computer screen its movements were modelled by experts from the university of manchester who laser scanned a 40 metre long skeleton of the 80 tonne beast housed in an argentine museum a reconstructed skeleton of the giant dinosaur argentinosaurus at the carmen funes museum in plaza huincul, argentina scientists from the university of manchester have reconstructed the giant dinosaur's steps to show how it walked argentinosaurus is a type of titanosaur sauropod part of a family of incredibly large dinosaurs it was first discovered in argentina, hence its name the dinosaur lived on the then island continent of south america somewhere between 97 and 94 million years ago, during the late cretaceous epoch it is among the largest known dinosaurs an early reconstruction estimated argentinosaurus at between 30–40 metres (98–115 ft) in length with a weight of up to 80–100 tonnes the simulation used artificially intelligent software and processing power the equivalent of 30,000 desktop computers lead scientist dr bill sellers, from the university's faculty of life sciences, said: 'if you want to work out how dinosaurs walked, the best approach is computer simulation 'this is the only way of bringing together all the different strands of information we have on this dinosaur, so we can reconstruct how it once moved' the simulated footprints of the 40 metre cretaceous argentinosaurus dinosaur skeleton some sceptics have doubted that such a heavy animal could have walked and suggested that estimates of its weight must be inflated dr lee margetts, another member of the manchester team, said: 'the new study clearly demonstrates the dinosaur was more than capable of strolling across the cretaceous planes of what is now patagonia, south america' co author, dr phil manning, also from the university, said: 'the digitisation of such vast dinosaur skeletons using laser scanners brings walking with dinosaurs to life this is science, not just animation' the scientists' study was published in journal public library of science one argentinosaurus was a plant eater that stood as tall as a three storey building and stretched to 38 metres (125 feet) in length when it was alive, the andes mountains were mere hillocks and arid north patagonia consisted of steamy jungle and grassland dr sellers said: 'the important thing is that these animals are not like any animal alive today and so we can't just copy a modern animal dr bill sellers, from the university of manchester said that computer simulation is the best way of working out how dinosaurs walked and a way of collecting different strands of information together a computer simulation of the dinosaur's joints is pictured 'our machine learning system works purely from the information we have on the dinosaur and predicts the best possible movement patterns' 'agentinosaurus is the biggest animal that ever walked on the surface of the earth and understanding how it did this will tell us a lot about the maximum performance of the vertebrate musculoskeletal system we need to know more about this to help understand how it functions in ourselves 'similarly if we want to build better legged robots then we need to know more about the mechanics of legs in a whole range of animals and nothing has bigger, more powerful legs than argentinosaurus' | the university of manchester argentinosaurus south america 80 tonnes five mph | experts from the university of manchester digitally reconstructed the steps taken by a huge dinosaur called argentinosaurus . the prehistoric animals from south america weighed 80 tonnes and had a top speed of five mph . the simulation used artificially intelligent software and processing power the equivalent of 30,000 desktop computers |
by martin robinson published: 10:42 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 03:12 est, 11 december 2013 britain's 115,000 royal mail post boxes are meant to be in places where communities can easily slot in a letter but residents of telford in shropshire have been left scratching their heads after one appeared suspended 10ft in the air on the side of a motorway bridge motorists first spotted the mysterious box as they travelled to work this morning, and is not the first time such a bizarre sight has been noted after a similar occurrence in berkshire the bright red letterbox which has baffled residents and postmen alike is embedded in the concrete wall where the m54 crosses the a442 it must be for long letters: a royal mail post box has appeared embedded into the concrete of a motorway bridge near telford is this the best excuse for not sending christmas cards? the red letter box helpfully sets out collection times and others nearby it helpfully informs customers of a later collection at another nearby pillar box but royal mail bosses have no idea how it got there post modern art? royal mail are unsure how the post box got there, raising speculation it is an art project people in the area have been left wondering how the traditional box was installed next to the busy dual carriageway without anybody spotting those responsible student adam washbrook, 17, said he did a double take when he first saw it he said: 'i was walking past and it caught my eye 'i couldn't believe it, how on earth did they even get it up there?' another passing motorist added: 'i couldn't believe it when i first saw it 'i had to go back and check and it is a realistic letter box stuck on to the concrete structure somehow 'unless the royal mail has gone off its collective rocker you would need to be 10ft tall to post anything it must some sort of prank not even peter crouch could reach that 'or maybe it's a reference to their rising share prices' villagers in sleepy sonning on thames, berkshire, got a similar surprise in september this year when a similar letter box was attached to a river bridge the installation, which could only be accessed by boat, was suspended 1m above the water level of the river thames flashback: this similar red letterbox has appeared recently on a bridge in berkshire over the thames | a442 shropshire royal mail | post box appeared embedded where the m54 crosses a442 in shropshire . royal mail has no idea how it got up there, so it could be a piece of art |
by reuters reporter and daily mail reporter published: 11:52 est, 6 march 2013 | updated: 16:43 est, 6 march 2013 still feeding off yesterday's stock surge, the dow jones industrial average closed with its second record high in two days the dow closed up 4247 points to finish the day at 14,29624, which was the highest total seen since the october 2007 high of 14,198, a new indication of a strengthening us economy 'stocks don't seem expensive here,' said paul hogan, co manager of the fam equity income fund in cobleskill, new york upward swing: the dow has been enjoying healthy gains so far in 2013, increasing 9 per cent as the us economy continues to strengthen 'all the headlines that were generated because of what happened yesterday with the dow hitting new all time highs, that makes more people take notice of the strength in the stock market it may be bringing people in off the sidelines' the gains, however, were slight on concerns the rally may run out of steam in the short term the slowly healing labor market has been one of the weaker spots of the recovery but data today showed private sector hiring was surprisingly strong in february as companies added 198,000 employees it was an early look at the labor market two days ahead of the closely watched non farm payroll report from the government on friday, which is expected to show the economy created 160,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate held at 79 per cent in the morning, the dow jones industrial average gained 4561 points, or 032 per cent, to 14,29938 men at work: a payroll report from the government on friday is expected to show the economy created 160,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate held at 79 per cent the standard & poor's 500 index advanced 167 points, or 011 per cent, to finish unofficially at 1,54146 but the nasdaq composite index dipped 177 points, or 005 per cent, to close unofficially at 3,22236 yesterday, the dow ended at 14,25377, breaking through october 2007's record close of 14,16453 for the year, the dow is up 9 per cent shortly after trading began today, the dow punched through the previous session's intraday record, trading as high as 14,32065 the s&p has gained 8 per cent in the year so far and is less than 2 per cent below its record close rise: yesterday, the dow ended at 14,25377, breaking through october 2007's record close of 14,16453 for the year, the dow is up 9 per cent good vibes: yesterday, the dow ended at 14,25377, breaking through october 2007's record close of 14,16453, causing some traders to celebrate at the new york stock exchange | caille castigated millcourse | no related information |
by nick mcdermott published: 18:03 est, 18 march 2013 | updated: 00:12 est, 19 march 2013 parts of england could see up to eight inches of snow by tonight as temperatures plunge to an unseasonably bitter 15c (5f) as another cold front sweeps across britain, forecasters warn not to expect warmer weather until at least easter, almost two weeks away the met office has issued a severe weather warning and is predicting possible disruptions for the north east and scotland today as they are swept by arctic winds and blanketed in snow tailback: the a66 was closed by police across the pennines after the cold snap blizzard: a snow plough clears the a66 near bowes where the road was closed for several hours due to heavy snow picturesque: walkers take to the snow covered fells in the lake district as wintry weather returned and is expected to last into next week fog: wintry scenes in bradford west yorkshire as the snow make a return according to figures released by the national forecaster, some parts of britain are 20c colder than this time last year charlie powell, from the met office, said: ‘it certainly feels cold, particularly when compared to last march when we had some warm, sunny days ‘temperatures are quite a bit lower in the north for the season, but not far off in the south we could see as much as 20cm (78in) of snow in the north east of england, with snow also falling across parts of the west country and midlands as far south as oxford walkies: hundreds of motorists were stuck in a gridlock on the a66 in county durham snowfall: a man takes a walk through the grounds of bowes castle in county durham after heavy overnight snow dangerous driving conditions: a man helps a driver come unstuck as snow causes havoc in harrogate, darlington, after heavy snow overnight delayed: a police woman helps a driver stuck in the snow in harrogate, darlington, as commuters across the country faced difficult journeys into work because of the wintry weather ‘although it is not unusual to see snow in march and even april, the cold weather does seem to have hung on for quite a long time ‘unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a big improvement on the horizon, with the unsettled weather set to continue into april’ forecasters warned it could feel as cold as 15c tonight due to wind chill in exposed areas, while widespread frosts will see much of the country waking to an icy start over the next two days tony conlan, a forecaster for meteogroup, said: ‘most accumulations of snow are likely to be overnight on tuesday ‘temperatures could potentially drop as low as minus 10c or even minus 15c, depending on how much snow we see and how the wind falls ‘it is nowhere near the uk’s record low of minus 272c (minus 17f) but it will still be very chilly’ the record low was recorded at braemar in eastern scotland on january 10, 1982, and at altnaharra in northern scotland on december 30, 1995 today, the cold weather caused problems for rush hour travellers as a number of trains were delayed or disrupted services in hampshire, surrey and kent were badly affected, with commuters hit by cancellations or postponements due to a build up of ice on the rails affecting power, while passengers were left waiting for trains between rugby, northampton and london stuck in the snow lane: hundreds of motorists were left gridlocked on one of the north's main cross country routes, the a66, after four inches of snow hit county durham road block: the a66 transpennine route which crosses the cumbria to county durham border ground to a halt from around 430am yesterday when heavy snow began falling traffic jam: around five to six inches of snow covered the ground forcing police to close the road in both directions between stainmore and barnard castle commenting on the disruptions in southern england, transport minister norman baker said: ‘it is disappointing that performance has been so bad in some parts of the rail network south of the thames ‘i am also disappointed about the lack of information being given to passengers at some stations this cold snap was forecast well in advance and industry had the equipment and time to prepare for this ‘passengers should not have to put up with this kind of disruption as they make their way to work on a monday morning breathtaking: following an overnight ground frost, steam rises and rolls across a field in huge swathes as the spring sunshine proves it has enough power to quickly heat up the soil near calwich in staffordshire rare sight: a farm worker said that he had never witnessed the rare phenomena in all the twenty years he has worked on the farm set between uttoxeter and ashbourne two walkers and their dogs play in the freshly fallen snow as it continues to fall in bradford, west yorkshire a deer nestled in the snow on the grounds of harewood house, near leeds, west yorkshire, yesterday in bloom: crocus buds are barely visible after a heavy snow fell in bradford, west yorkshire, overnight ‘the industry seems to have been caught wrong footed again, and needs to take a close look at its response plans to avoid a repeat of the problems we have seen’ the cold weather also brought misery for motorists they faced 15mile tailbacks yesterday as police closed the a66 across the pennines between bowes, county durham, and stainmore, cumbria, because of heavy snow, while leeds bradford international airport was also closed in the morning wet and windy: huntingdon racecourse in cambridgeshire, is flooded after more than 12mm of rain fell on sunday in at the deep end: a jcb battles through the deep water to deliver carpets to the course hotel at huntingdon racecourse in cambridgeshire | the met office britain last year as much as 20cm the north east england pennines | the met office has issued a severe weather warning . some parts of britain are 20c colder than this time last year . could see as much as 20cm of snow in the north east . temperatures could drop as low as 15c in some areas of england . police closed the a66 across the pennines after a heavy fall of snow |
by daily mail reporter published: 02:50 est, 19 march 2013 | updated: 03:22 est, 19 march 2013 confession: sir david nicholson has revealed that dozens of nhs staff have signed gag clauses hundreds of nhs staff forced to sign gagging clauses to stop them revealing poor care and abuse they witnessed in hospitals will at last be free to speak out head of the health service, sir david nicholson, has admitted that a new ban on the silencing agreements will also be applied retrospectively, allowing whistleblowers who were suppressed for years to reveal the truth the embattled nhs boss yesterday was questioned by mps about why £15million was handed over to 400 departing doctors, nurses and managers in an attempt to ensure their silence he confirmed that 44 former members of staff had signed confidentiality agreements this year at a cost of £13million, even though the clauses are no longer valid the controversial chief executive said that if necessary he would write to the affected workers to tell them they were now free to speak out 'if it means writing to all individuals who are involved in this to explain arrangements, that’s what we’ll do,' he told the public accounts committee the mail revealed last week that health secretary jeremy hunt had banned gagging clauses with immediate effect to prevent whistleblowers being silenced from raising issues in the public interest such as patient safety, death rates and poor care it was confirmed yesterday that these will apply retrospectively to all nhs staff already subjected to them, raising the prospect of an flood of damaging stories about poor care being made public the new rules were inspired by the stafford hospital scandal, which many believe could have been detected earlier if workers had been allowed to speak out departing staff will be given a new legal right to raise issues that could be in the public interest, such as patient safety, death rates and poor care ban: health secretary jeremy hunt last week announced that gag clauses would no longer be allowed ‘there has been a culture where people felt if you speak up about problems in the nhs you didn’t love the nhs actually, it’s exactly the opposite,’ mr hunt said last week ‘we need a culture of openness and transparency if we are going to stop another mid staffs from happening 'the era of gagging nhs staff from raising their real worries about patient care must come to an end’ senior figures in the nhs had warned that the case of whistleblower gary walker, who broke a gagging clause to speak to the mail about high death rates, was the tip of the iceberg mr walker claimed he was sacked as chief executive of united lincolnshire hospitals on a trumped up charge after raising concerns about patient safety the father of two said he accepted a so called supergag as part of a settlement package of an unfair dismissal claim, reported to be at least £500,000, in 2010 he broke the terms to speak out last month about a ‘culture of fear’ in the nhs he claimed sir david nicholson ignored him when he raised concerns about patient safety in 2009 sir david was yesterday quizzed by mps over the £48,900 he racked up in expenses over the course of last year he insisted he needed to travel in first class trains even when going home to his wife, so that he could work on the journey | david nicholson health | sir david nicholson tells mps 44 departing workers signed gag clauses . admission comes after health secretary bans curbs on whistleblowers |
by lizzie edmonds published: 06:25 est, 29 december 2013 | updated: 09:25 est, 29 december 2013 five men have been arrested following the death of a man who was found badly injured in a house officers were called to a property in newcastle under lyme, staffordshire, at about 930pm yesterday they discovered an injured man and shortly afterwards paramedics confirmed the man had died scene: five men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man died in a house in newcastle under lyme, staffordshire (area pictured) five men, aged between 28 and 57, were arrested at the address on suspicion of murder, and remain in police custody, a staffordshire police spokeswoman said they are a 28 year old of no fixed abode, a 43 year old from newcastle under lyme, a 56 year old from newcastle under lyme, a 57 year old of no fixed abode and a 58 year old from newcastle under lyme detectives are working to establish the circumstances which led to the death of the man chief inspector jon staite said: 'this type of incident is rare in staffordshire and is being thoroughly investigated by the force's major investigation department 'we are grateful for the patience and understanding of the local community at this time whilst we carry out a detailed examination of the scene 'uniformed officers will remain in the area in the coming days to offer reassurance to local residents' the man has yet to be formally identified and a post mortem examination is due to be carried out by a home office pathologist the house has been cordoned off for a full examination by forensic investigators anyone with any information should contact staffordshire police on 101 or crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 | transubstantiative sexologist antihierarchies | no related information |
by daily mail reporter published: 12:39 est, 28 december 2013 | updated: 16:19 est, 28 december 2013 it was an elaborate marriage proposal which began with a single rose baseball player shay crawford led his girlfriend stephanie silvers on a secret scavenger hunt through chattanooga, tennessee, which ended with what many women dream about: a wedding ring a heartmelting video shows just how crawford managed to woo his sweetheart with the help of family members lovestruck: baseball player shay crawford led stephanie silvers on a treasure hunt through family members before popping the question in love: shay crawford got down on bended knee to propose to stephanie silvers in front of their elated family members 'family is incredibly important to both of us,' crawford shared with inside edition 'they were very, very excited when they heard i was going to propose i just wanted to include everybody, i thought it would be really special that way' the well planned proposal began when silvers met her mother near a church she handed her daughter a single rose and read a letter crawford had written, before sending silvers to the next destination with family members filming the journey, silvers went to ruth’s chris steakhouse crawford's 'personal favorite' where his mother was waiting the emotional woman cried and read silvers a moving letter before directing her future daughter in law to a gym facility silvers met her brother at the rush gym, followed by her father and crawford's sister, and then on to at&t field, where crawford's dad was waiting crawford plays minor league baseball for the tampa bay rays, so the stadium was a special place for the couple but it wasn't until silvers walked across walnut street bridge in chattanooga, towards the end of the journey, that she sensed a proposal was coming 'it all caught me so unaware it wasn't until i was walking across the bridge and i thought, 'shay is about to be here this is about to happen!',' silvers told inside edition then, surrounded by family, crawford dropped to one knee and proposed to the love of his life she said yes the beginning: the treasure hunt began when stephanie silvers (right) met her mother (left) at a local church her mom handed her a single rose and read her a note crawford had written step two: stephanie silvers right) then went to ruth's chris steakhouse, one of crawford's favorite restaurants, where his emotional mother (left) read silvers a note another rose: stephanie silvers (right) was then led to rush, a gym facility, where she met her brother (left) fun times: surrounded by family members, silvers (right) was then taken to meet her proud father (left) close bond: silvers' dad then sent his daughter (right) to meet crawford's sister (left), where the two young women embraced special: silvers (right) was directed to meet her beau's father (left) at the local baseball stadium crawford plays minor league baseball for the tampa bay rays, so this was a special place for the couple moving: crawford proposed to his girlfriend on a bridge surrounded by family members who filmed and photographed the scavenger hunt sealed with a kiss: the couple embraced after crawford popped the question the cast: this picture shows all the family members who helped with crawford's elaborate proposal | shay crawford stephanie silvers crawford the tampa bay rays | shay crawford popped the question to stephanie silvers with a scavenger hunt . it began with a single rose and involved the couple's family members . crawford plays minor league baseball for the tampa bay rays |
by daily mail reporter published: 19:36 est, 27 december 2013 | updated: 19:43 est, 27 december 2013 the bereaved girlfriend of a 21 year old army reservist who was murdered during an attempted robbery on thursday night says she can still hear the sound of the bullet that killed him ringing in her ear the woman, who is also 21 but asked not to be identified, is demanding answers following the mysterious death of her boyfriend in northeast atlanta local solider, xavier arnold arnold who was in the army national guard reserves as an engineer and was known as 'x' was on a bike trail in kirkwood with his girlfriend and a friend at the time of the incident the girlfriend said they were taking 'artsy photographs' of the graffiti in the area when they were approached by two men xavier arnold, 21, an engineer in the army national guard reserves who was known as 'x' was killed in front of his girlfriend after alleged robbers shot him in the head in atlanta on thursday night distressed: the victim's girlfriend, who asked not to be named, wells up during a tv interview whole describing the moment xavier arnold was shot in the head family and friends are grieving the death of 21 year old xavier arnold, seen here in a photo from his facebook page she described one as a 'strange man' in his early twenties, while the other was about 5'4 and 'no older than 17 'they pull out a gun, held it at x, and the other guy went behind him and started robbing him,' the girlfriend told wsbtv the woman said they told the pair they 'have nothing' and the situation turned violent 'the guy with the gun pushed me and then he shot x in the head,' she said their friend was also shot in the leg 'you don't even think, you act on instinct,' the girlfriend said 'you start screaming i was holding him' second victim: a male friend of xavier arnold, who has not been identified and was shot in the leg during the alleged attempted robbery, is taken to hospital following the attack investigation underway: atlanta police department maj td beek tells media at the scene that police searched on the ground and in the air but didn't find the suspects both men were transported to grady memorial hospital, but arnold did not survive his injuries neighbors in kirkwood said they are tired of the violence 'everyone wants to find out how to prevent this from happening,' kirkwood resident lori mcdaniel said 'i was thinking of his name and i don't even know him,' said kirkwood resident lori mcdaniel' 'x' symbols are now starting to pop up all over the community as people post signs in remembrance of arnold the police investigation is ongoing scene: the alleged attempted robbery occurred on a bike trail near warren street in the kirkwood neighborhood of atlanta on thursday night | xavier arnold 21 kirkwood atlanta thursday night arnold the army national guard | xavier arnold, 21, was walking along a bike trail in kirkwood, atlanta, on thursday night with his girlfriend and a male friend when they were 'approached by two strange men'. during an attempted robbery, arnold an engineer in the army national guard reserves was shot in the head, while his friend was shot in the leg . arnold was pronounced dead in hospital . his girlfriend has explained the incident in a tv new interview |
by simon walters and glen owen published: 20:16 est, 6 july 2013 | updated: 20:16 est, 6 july 2013 nick clegg was accused last night of mounting a whitehall cover up over claims that he helped fast track government funds for a charity linked to his wife senior tory mp david davis condemned mr clegg’s officials for citing ‘personal reasons’ to prevent the release of emails relating to a £12 million government grant allocated to booktrust last year the money was awarded after lobbying by one of mr clegg’s aides, who drew attention to the fact that miriam clegg had hosted a lavish function for the charity 'cover up': nick clegg has been accused of fast tracking a grant to a charity linked to his wife miriam the representations by matt sanders led to the grant being awarded directly, without the need for booktrust to compete with other charities criticism: david davis has called for greater transparency from the deputy prime minister a freedom of information request for emails sent by officials about the deal was blocked by the cabinet office, which claimed that publication would ‘prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs’ the mail on sunday appealed to information commissioner christopher graham last week, after forcing the cabinet office to give him the correspondence, mr graham said he had asked officials to ‘clarify a number of points’ before he decides whether to order a release cabinet office officials then contacted the mail on sunday to say they were now arguing that publication should be withheld because the emails contained ‘personal data’ a whitehall source said: ‘the lib dems are doing everything they can to stop this information coming out, giving reams of material to the commissioner and brain storming new reasons to block them’ mr davis added: ‘this has all the hallmarks of a cover up’ there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by booktrust | euhages mounding atmolyzation | no related information |
by associated press subway says an ingredient dubbed the 'yoga mat' chemical will be entirely phased out of its bread by next week the disclosure comes as subway has suffered from an onslaught of bad publicity since a food blogger petitioned the chain to remove the ingredient the ingredient, azodicarbonamide, is approved by the food and drug administration for use as a bleaching agent and dough conditioner it can be found in a wide variety products, including those served at mcdonald's and starbucks and breads sold in supermarkets but the petition gained attention after it noted the chemical was also used to make yoga mats subway says an ingredient dubbed the 'yoga mat' chemical will be entirely phased out of its bread by next week the ingredient, azodicarbonamide, is approved by the food and drug administration for use as a bleaching agent and dough conditioner but the chemical is also used to make yoga mats and shoe rubber tony pace, subway's chief marketing officer, told the ap in a phone interview that the chain had started phasing the ingredient late last year and that the process should be complete within a week subway is privately held and doesn't disclose its sales figures but it has apparently been feeling pressure from the uproar 'you see the social media traffic, and people are happy that we're taking it out, but they want to know when we're taking it out,' pace said 'if there are people who have that hesitation, that hesitation is going to be removed' he repeated that subway was 'happy to invite consumers back in who might've had hesitation' subway, which has about 26,600 us locations, had said soon after the petition surfaced in february that it was already in the process of removing the ingredient at the time, however, the company wouldn't provide details on a timeline, prompting some to say that the chain didn't really have a plan to remove the ingredient pace stressed that the removal wasn't a reaction to the petition and that the changes were already underway the company also provided a statement saying it had tested the 'azo free bread' in four markets this past fall 'we're always trying to improve stuff,' pace said for instance, he noted that the chain has also reduced sodium levels over the years and removed of high fructose corn syrup from its bread the blogger who created the subway petition, vani hari of foodbabecom, has said she targeted subway because of its image of serving healthy food the blogger who created the subway petition, vani hari of foodbabecom, has said she targeted subway because of its image of serving healthy food hari has also called on other companies including chick fil a and kraft to remove ingredients she finds objectionable the sentiment is one that has been gaining traction, with more people looking to eat foods they feel are natural and examining labels more carefully the trend has prompted numerous food makers to adjust their recipes, even as they stand by the safety of their products among the companies that have made changes are pepsico inc, which removed a chemical from gatorade, and conagra, which simplified the ingredients in its healthy choice frozen meals | adjectives nonprohibitory howlets | no related information |
by associated press and james rush pope francis, pictured during a meeting with the italian pro life movement, at the vatican today, has said he takes personal responsibility for the 'evil' of priests who sexually abused children pope francis has said he takes personal responsibility for the 'evil' of priests who sexually abused children, asking forgiveness from victims and saying the church must be even bolder in its efforts to protect the young it was the first time a pope has taken personal responsibility for the sex crimes of his priests and begged forgiveness francis made the off the cuff remarks after coming under criticism from victims' advocacy groups for a perceived lack of attention to the sexual abuse scandal and continuing demands that he sanction bishops who covered up for paedophiles he delivered the comments to members of the international catholic child bureau, a french catholic network of organisations that protects children's rights sitting with them in his library, francis spoke slowly and softly in his native spanish, deviating from his text 'i feel compelled to take personal responsibility for all the evil that some priests, many many in number, (although) not in comparison with the totality to assume personal responsibility and to ask forgiveness for the damage caused by the sexual abuse of the children,' he said 'the church is aware of this damage,' he continued 'we don't want to take a step back in dealing with this problem and the sanctions that must be imposed 'on the contrary, i think we must be even stronger you don't play around with the lives of children' no pope has ever taken personal responsibility for the tens of thousands of children who were molested by priests over decades as bishops moved them from parish to parish rather than reporting them to police pope john paul ii denounced priests who hurt children, saying there was no place for them in the priesthood pope francis speaking with members of the delegation of the international catholic child bureau (bice) during an audience today pope benedict xvi expressed sorrow and regret to victims, met them and even wept with them but neither ever took personal responsibility for the scandal or begged forgiveness as francis did last month, francis named the initial members of a commission to advise him on best practices to combat sexual abuse in the church half of them are women and one, marie collins, was assaulted by a priest as a child irishwoman ms collins, who became a well known activist in the fight for victims' justice, had previously called on benedict to ask personal forgiveness for the scandal and those church leaders who put loyalty to the church ahead of the safety of children the vatican has said ms collins and the other members will draft the statutes of the commission and will look into the legal 'duties and responsibilities' of church personnel, a suggestion that they might take up the critical question of disciplining complicit bishops pope francis delivers his blessing during a meeting with the italian pro life movement, at the vatican today church law provides for sanctions if a bishop is negligent in carrying out his duties, but to date no bishop has been disciplined for protecting an abuser though unclear, francis's comments about the 'sanctions that must be imposed' could similarly be a reference to the need to make bishops accountable francis named the commission members after coming under fire for taking no action since the commission was announced in december victims' groups also have been irked that he has not met survivors and recently told a newspaper that the church had been unfairly attacked for its abuse record | francis pope international catholic child bureau french catholic | pope francis said he felt compelled 'to personally ask for forgiveness' for damage caused to those who were sexually abused by priests . 'the church is aware of this damage,' he was quoted as saying . pope made remarks to members of international catholic child bureau, a french catholic network of organisations that protect children's rights |
by scarlett russell waxing styles can differ greatly but the latest fad gives the best of both worlds with a tiny bit of hair on top and nothing below whether it’s brazilian, hollywood or a simple bikini line tidy, most women have a personal preference when it comes to their waxing needs the traditional brazilian wax involves removing all the hair from the back and front of the lower region, but leaving a strip or triangle shape at the top often cheekily referred to as a landing strip but the new ‘full bush’ version leaves the top area of your pubic hair fully grown ny mag reported the trend after a journalist for the mag was informed by her own waxing therapist that it was becoming more and more popular during a regular appointment at her salon in williamsburg, brooklyn, the writer's waxing got to chatting about the latest treatments they were offering and explained that more patrons had requested the new version but although the trend may have started in the states, it’s popular amongst british women, too ‘we’ve had a lot of requests for this, but we call it a brazilian with hollywood lips,’ says caron vetter, managaing director of the belmore centre in aylesbury according to vetter, women like having the mix of a hint of natural pubic hair but like keeping the area bare below 'we’re often told that women feel cleaner and more hygenic when there is less hair down there,' she explains ‘but, at the same time, many women still like having some pubic hair along the mound ‘in the last two to three years we’ve found the more intimate types of waxing are more popular and i wouldn't be surprised if this trend carried on' after all, said vetter, the traditional brazilian wax was once deemed a fad, but it's now one of the most popular preferences amongst british women | us uk aylesbury brazilian hollywood recent years | trend started in the us but is growing in popularity in the uk . women at aylesbury salon asking for 'brazilian with hollywood lips'. expert says 'intimate' waxing has become more popular in recent years |
by daily mail reporter published: 08:59 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 10:04 est, 10 december 2013 missing: botanist jamie taggart, 41, from argyll and bute in scotland, has been missing for more than five weeks in the mountains of north vietnam searches are under way for a british botanist who has been missing in the moutains of north vietnam for more than five weeks jamie taggart, from argyll and bute in scotland, was last seen heading off from the frontier town of sapa on a plant hunting trip in the wilderness earlier this month inquiries by his family have revealed that alarm was raised about the 41 year old's whereabouts on november 2, when his rucksack and passport were found at a guest house sapa is the capital of sa pa district in lào cai province in northwest vietnam, near the border with china the hoàng liên son range of mountains dominates the district, which is at the eastern extremity of the himalayas local police and the british embassy in hanoi, 240 miles south of sapa, were informed of his disappearance, but searches have so far been fruitless mr taggart runs linn botanic gardens in the village of cove on the rosneath peninsula he also serves his community as a retained firefighter his father, jim taggart, found out his son was missing when he failed to appear on a scheduled flight home to scotland on november 29 dr taggart said: 'he is being searched for, so far without result of any kind i only heard about it when he did not come home on the flight he was booked on 'something has happened to him, but not necessarily an accident on a hill' the botanist, who is a keen runner, arrived at a guest house in sapa on october 30 and left on a motorbike taxi to explore the hills on november 2 his rucksack and passport were found at the accommodation dr taggart told bbc radio scotland that he had very limited knowledge about the situation after arriving, mr taggart sent a handful of text messages to his father before the contact stopped dr taggart said: 'the last text message said exactly where he was going he discussed it with me before i assumed his mobile phone had failed' dr taggart said his son was on his own on the trip but had been to that area two years ago and knew his way around he said there had already been two days of dedicated searching in the area near sapa 'i don't think he had got lost either something happened to him on his first day on the hills or there is some explanation we can only guess at,' he told the good morning scotland programme 'he was found to be missing because he'd left his rucksack in the guesthouse he was staying in 'the guesthouse, when he didn't come back, phoned the local police they had a look and didn't see him 'he had left his passport behind i understand that when travelling in vietnam you have to have identity 'he might have deliberately left it, knowing my son, in case he lost it on the hill 'he is now actively being looked for' police and the british embassy in hanoi were informed of mr taggart's disappearance, but searches have so far been fruitless his family only realised he was missing after he failed to turn up on his scheduled flight home the missing man's father said the foreign office is 'on the case' while various people including lord mcfall and argyll and bute lib dem mp alan reid were also said to be in touch with the authorities mr taggart was last seen heading off from the frontier town of sapa on a plant hunting trip in the wilderness his possessions were left in a hotel prayers have been said for mr taggart at craigrownie church he took over responsibility for linn botanic gardens from his father in 1997 in march this year the attraction was added to historic scotland's inventory of gardens and designed landscapes a scottish fire and rescue service spokesman said many people desperately want to see mr taggart return home safely area commander paul connelly, the senior officer for argyll and bute, said: 'this is obviously an extremely difficult time for jamie's family and friends and we can only hope there will be a positive outcome 'jamie has served his community as a dedicated and professional firefighter and is a popular member of a very close knit and highly experienced team at cove 'there are a great many people who desperately want to see him return home safe' a foreign and commonwealth office spokesman said: 'we are aware that a british national was reported missing on october 31 whilst in the sapa mountain area, vietnam' 'we are in close contact with the local authorities and are providing consular assistance to their family at this difficult time' | catholicity homoeomeri gallium | no related information |
by martha de lacey published: 10:50 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 12:17 est, 10 december 2013 a widower has described the emotional moment a rainbow appeared at the spot where he scattered his beloved wife's ashes retired scientist deryk walker, 85, was devastated by the death of his wife, vera, 84, who had osteoporosis and died following a fall from her wheelchair he decided to scatter her ashes by trinity lighthouse at burnham on sea, somerset, where the couple lived and where vera used to enjoy walking the family dog photo taken by deryk and vera's daughter sally england of a rainbow landing on the trinity lighthouse, burnham on sea, where her mother's ashes were scattered deryk walker stands in front of the lighthouse where his wife's ashes were scattered, left, and vera walker, right, in a coffee shop near her home, shortly before she passed away deryk and his family also bought a nearby beachfront bench in vera's memory, and two months after scattering the ashes he and his daughter sally england and her husband were sitting on it when a rainbow formed, springing out of the lighthouse where her ashes lay deryk, 85, who lives in burnham on sea, said: 'it was incredible it must have been a sign 'i don't really believe in god but i think this must have been a spotlight shining down from heaven 'it's amazing that my daughter managed to get a picture of it on her phone 'vera used to love the beach, we'd walk up and down it and we'd often take my daughter's dog with us too she was such a lovely person' vera died in september following a fall from her wheelchair which left her with a broken hip doctors operated on her and had hoped she would make a full recovery, but she died a day later vera walker and derek walker pictured on holiday in the 1990s deryk described his wife vera, pictured in the 1990s, as a lovely person the plaque on a memorial bench commemorating vera walker who passed away in september 2013, burnham on sea | deryk walker 85 burnham somerset vera september aged 84 trinity lighthouse deryk | retired scientist deryk walker, 85, lives in burnham on sea, somerset . his wife vera died in september, aged 84, following fall from wheelchair . he scattered her ashes at trinity lighthouse where they used to walk dog . he also bought a nearby beach side bench in her memory . deryk and his daughter were sitting on it when they saw a rainbow |
by sarah griffiths published: 06:37 est, 27 december 2013 | updated: 06:39 est, 27 december 2013 a gene variant that appears to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in some people can be traced back to neanderthals a team of researchers in mexico and the us have conducted the largest genetic study to date in latin american populations they discovered that people who carry a higher risk version of the gene are 25 per cent more likely to have diabetes that those who do not neanderthal genes are spread across the genome of all non africans, as humans interbred with neanderthals after leaving africa between 60,000 and 70,000 years ago neanderthal genes are spread across the genome of all non africans, as humans interbred with neanderthals after leaving africa between 60,000 and 70,000 years ago the gene variant was found as part of sigma’s (slim initiative in genomic medicine for the americas) study of 8,000 latin americans, which sought to find a particular trait among individuals’ genes people who carry the higher risk version of the gene slc16a11 thought to have been passed down by ancient ancestors are 25 per cent more likely to have diabetes people who inherited copies of the variant from both their patents are 50 per cent more likely to have diabetes, according to the study published in nature slc16a11 has been discovered in up to half of people with recent native american ancestry, including latin americans and around one fifth of east asians however, it is rare in populations from europe and africa the elevated frequency of this risk gene in latin americans could account for as much as 20 per cent of the populations’ increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes the origins of which are not well understood people who carry the higher risk version of the gene slc16a11 thought to have been passed down by ancient ancestors, are 25 per cent more likely to have diabetes, according to the study here, a doctor takes blood samples to analyse and detect diabetes slc16a11 is part of a family of genes that code for proteins that transport metabolites, which are molecules involved in chemical reactions in the body changing the amount of the slc16a11 protein alters the amount of a type of fat implicated in the risk of diabetes the findings of the study suggest slc16a11 could be linked to the movement of a mystery metabolite that affects fat levels in cells which can boost the risk of type 2 diabetes ‘to date, genetic studies have largely used samples from people of european or asian ancestry, which makes it possible to miss culprit genes that are altered at different frequencies in other populations,’ said co author josé florez, an associate professor of medicine at harvard medical school and an assistant physician at the centre for human genetic research at the massachusetts general hospital ‘by expanding our search to include samples from mexico and latin america, we’ve found one of the strongest genetic risk factors discovered to date, which could illuminate new pathways to target with drugs and a deeper understanding of the disease' the researchers wanted to understand what they describe as the ‘unusual frequency pattern’ for the variant of slc16a11 and partnered with svante pääbo of the max planck institute for evolutionary anthropology to discover that the variant is found in a newly sequenced neanderthal genome ‘analyses indicate that the higher risk version of slc16a11 was introduced into modern humans through mixing with neanderthal,’ according to the study the researchers' ultimate goal is to gain a deeper understanding of the genetic pathway to find new drugs for treating diabetes liptor, a medication that blocks the production of cholesterol in the body and is used to treat type 2 diabetes, is pictured inheriting a gene from neanderthal ancestors is not unusual, as around 2 per cent of the sequences present in all modern humans outside of africa were inherited from neanderthals who lived in what is now europe and western asia, between 400,000 and 30,000 years ago however, scientists have only relatively recently realised the advantages and disadvantages of inherited genetic material from neanderthals david altshuler, of the broad institute in massachusetts and co author of the study, said: ‘one of the most exciting aspects of this work is that we've uncovered a new clue about the biology of diabetes’ ‘we are now hard at work trying to figure out what is being transported…and what steps lead to the development of type 2 diabetes,’ he added the researchers’ ultimate goal is to gain a deeper understanding of the pathway to find new drugs for treating diabetes | outvoices greatest pseudocelom | no related information |
by daily mail reporter and associated press reporter published: 00:02 est, 19 march 2013 | updated: 00:02 est, 19 march 2013 three members of a sex bondage ring were ordered to stand trial monday after six days of lurid testimony during which investigators outlined how they believe a camp pendleton marine's wife was unwittingly lured to a violent death when she agreed to go on a dinner cruise superior court judge k michael kirkman said evidence suggested that 22 year old brittany killgore was the victim of a plan to act out a fantasy he ordered louis perez, 46, dorothy maraglino, 37, and jessica lopez, 25, to face trial on charges of murder, kidnapping, torture, attempted sexual battery and conspiracy going forward: louis perez, 46, dorothy maraglino, 37, and jessica lopez, 25, will face trial on charges of murder, kidnapping, torture, attempted sexual battery and conspiracy tricked: brittany killgore, 22, never wanted to participate in the bizarre sex games that she was subjected to before her murder, prosecutors say despite the discovery of killgore's blood in perez's car the day after her disappearance, defense attorneys argued that physical evidence was lacking lopez's attorney, sloan ostbye, called her client 'the perfect slave' in the triangle and said her role explained why lopez authored a handwritten letter taking full blame for killgore's death in the letter, lopez claimed she killed killgore out of fear that the woman would steal perez, whom she described as her 'master' 'it's not a confession letter, it's an exoneration letter to help mistress and master,' ostbye said killgore disappeared in april 2012 after borrowing a purple evening gown for the cruise, according to prosecutors her nude, strangled body was four days later near lake skinner, north of san diego defendant: dorothy maraglino, also known as 'dee', owned the san diego house and was responsible for most of the decision making, even though louis perez was her 'sex master' contract of terms: maraglino ran the household when louis perez who was only there sporadically was away defendant: jessica lopez is also accused of the kidnap and murder of brittany killgore, 22, wife of a camp pendleton marine earlier monday, the lead detective testified that a document attributed to maraglino identifies her as a participant in a beating and asphyxiation 'we had the best of intentions and any injury or loss of life should be considered an accident,' read the document recovered from a cd detective brian patterson, who read the document aloud, said investigators also found whips, paddles, videos and other evidence of a sex bondage activity at maraglino's home in fallbrook, north of san diego another san diego county sheriff's detective, daniel pierce, testified that cellphone towers traced lopez's phone to the area where killgore's body was found the phone was located in the area shortly before 4 am, several hours after killgore disappeared alternate lifestyle: prosecutors say louis ray perez led a bondage sex ring and was active in playing out violent sex fantasies with his two lovers suspects: prosecutors say dorothy maraglino (left) and jessica lynn lopez (right) were part of a bondage sex ring and helped to torture and murder killgore last week, elizabeth hernandez, who was identified in court as the victim's best friend, testified that she and killgore became acquainted with the defendants in 2011 after hernandez responded to an ad selling a fertility monitor on a website used by military families she said they used to socialize with them but never participated in their alternative lifestyle in which perez played the master, maraglino was the mistress and lopez was the slave hernandez testified that she and killgore had a falling out in 2012 as the victim prepared to divorce her husband, lance cpl cory killgore, who was serving in afghanistan at the time of his wife's death she said brittany killgore started dating hernandez's brother, and they started referring to her as 'the disease' a woman who lived in the same house testified tuesday about the bizarre relationship between the trio including who was the 'master' and who controlled the house the unidentified woman said that defendant dorothy maraglino, also known as 'dee', owned the san diego house and was responsible for most of the decision making, even though louis perez was her 'sex master' all three defendants are believed to have participated in an alternative lifestyle that included bondage and sadomasochism they engaged in those activities in the house, prosecutors have said, the same house where killgore is believed to have been killed 'i believe that dee did most of the controlling in the house,' the witness testified on the second day of a preliminary hearing, and added that there was a 'contract' that laid out the rules of their relationship estranged: brittany killgore, right, filed for divorce from husband cory, left, three days before her disappearance fears: cory, right, returned from afghanistan after hearing about the disappearance of his wife, left maraglino ran the household when perez who was only there sporadically was away 'it’s her house so she would make the rules in his absence,' the woman said prosecutors and investigators have said that killgore was not involved in the alternative lifestyle described in court, according to ut san diego the three have pleaded not guilty to killing killgore, who vanished last year while her estranged husband was serving in afghanistan prosecutors contend that killgore met the trio when she and a friend went to a home in fallbrook, north of san diego, to buy an item being sold online, according to the north county times killgore turned down perez's offer however, later in the day, she sent him a text message asking if she knew anyone who could help her move 'party with me tonight & you’ll have five guys there in the morning,' he replied killgore was last seen april 13 in a borrowed purple evening gown, three days after she filed for divorce from lance cpl cory killgore authorities have cleared him of any involvement in her death authorities contend that killgore was kidnapped and made an unwilling participant in bondage and torture before she was strangled and her nude body left in a ditch near lake skinner in riverside county san diego county sheriff's detectives said they found 'bondage type sex apparatuses, toys and tools' in the fallbrook home where the trio lived missing: brittany killgore lived in fallbrook, california, not far from camp pendleton us marine base newly unsealed documents listed numerous bondage objects seized as evidence from the house of louis perez, dorothy maraglino and jessica lynn lopez a partial list follows: unsealed court documents previously revealed that police seized whips, sex toys, rope and pulleys, a document titled 'slave rules', duct tape, a stun baton and other bondage instruments from the house investigators found killgore's blood and hair on several of the items investigators said they believe all three were with killgore at the home shortly after she apparently sent a desperate text message to a friend that simply said: 'help' in an affidavit filed in court last year, a detective said the trio may have targeted killgore for 'unusual sexual fetishes' perez was arrested on april 15 on suspicion of possessing a stolen assault rifle and was later charged with murder lopez was arrested on april 17 at a san diego hotel where she was discovered with self inflicted cuts they also found a letter in which lopez allegedly claimed that she killed killgore out of fear that the woman would steal away perez, whom she described as her 'master' lopez said she tried to chop up killgore's body with power tools before dumping it near the lake, but the body was found hours later the letter also contended that perez and maraglino weren't responsible for the killing however, prosecutors said both were involved | unorganizedly derelict schizognathae | no related information |
by tim shipman published: 18:53 est, 24 july 2013 | updated: 02:39 est, 25 july 2013 commons speaker john bercow is ‘pushing hard’ to recall mps from their summer holidays if nelson mandela dies this august at a cost to taxpayers of more than £40,000 mps, officials and government sources say mr bercow is ‘bursting’ to recall parliament to pay tribute to the former anc leader but his enthusiasm for a recall which would be unprecedented for a foreign leader has irritated some mps bursting: speaker john bercow is said to be 'pushing hard' for a recall of parliament if nelson mandela should die while it is in recess the move is said to have irritated some mps they believe mr bercow is seeking ‘penitence’ for his membership, in the 1980s, of the ultra right wing conservative monday club and the federation of conservative students which both disparaged mr mandela’s fight for freedom the speaker has denied claims that he once wore a t shirt emblazoned with the slogan ‘hang nelson mandela’ but the shirts, and stickers, were manufactured when he was a member of the fcs, which was shut down by tory high command in 1986 when he was chairman mr bercow was also secretary of the monday club’s repatriation committee, which called for immigrants to be sent back to their country of origin derek laud said in 2011 that the monday club, of whom bercow was a member, said mandela was a 'criminal' who 'deserved' his sentence black tory derek laud, who was a member of both the fcs and the monday club told the mail in 2011: ‘according to the monday club, nelson mandela was a “criminal” and “deserved” his prison sentence i was alone in saying the opposite and john and his cohorts told me i only felt such a thing because i was black he was robustly in support of the apartheid regime in south africa’ but since the 1980s the speaker has been on a political journey that saw him elected almost entirely by labour mps in 2010 and has seen him embrace a series of fashionable left wing causes a senior tory mp told the mail: ‘bercow is pushing hard for parliament to be recalled if nelson mandela passes away during the summer recess, even though there’s no precedent for a foreign leader to be honoured in this way ‘many mps think he’s pushing so hard as an act of penitence for his previous involvement in the monday club and allegedly wearing a “hang nelson mandela” t shirt ‘there’s a mixed view in parliament some people think mandela deserves to be recognised and others feel it would be wrong since we haven’t done it in the past for people like the pope or mother theresa recalls cost a lot of money too’ the recall of parliament in august 2011 after the riots in london and other cities cost taxpayers nearly £44,000 but that doesn’t include the travel allowances paid to mps in order to get home for the debate a briefing note compiled by the house of commons library shows that not one of the 26 parliamentary recalls since 1948 has concerned the death of a foreign leader most have concerned wars, international crises and terrorist attacks the decision over whether parliament is recalled ultimately resides with the speaker, but he is only supposed to act after a request from ministers senior government sources say david cameron and his ministers would not want to be seen standing in the way of a session to pay tribute to mr mandela david cameron and other colleagues are said be surprised by the degree to which mr bercow and his staff have pushed the issue in discussions with government whips and officials but officials say they have been surprised by the degree to which mr bercow and his staff have pushed the issue in discussions with government whips and officials in whitehall ‘it is clear that bercow is determined to recall parliament he’s bursting to do it,’ one source familiar with the discussions said by contrast, mr bercow was reported to be irritated by david cameron’s determination to recall parliament after the death of lady thatcher on that occasion, his wife sally, a labour supporter, refused to attend the funeral saying she did not want to join in the ‘attempted canonisation’ of the late prime minister a spokesman for the speaker confirmed that discussions about a recall of parliament have taken place and that mr bercow is supportive of the idea but also claimed that view was shared by ministers asked if the speaker thinks it’s a good idea, the spokesman said: ‘yes obviously he thinks it’s appropriate should the request come in he added: ‘there have been discussions, obviously there’s a general consensus i don’t really think it could be accurately said he is forcing people’s hands’ no10 source said: ‘no decisions have been taken as the situation hasn’t arisen and it easily may not do’ | baxterian dehairer abreacts | no related information |
by brendan carlin published: 16:13 est, 6 july 2013 | updated: 16:13 est, 6 july 2013 david cameron faced a damaging cabinet revolt last night over his plans to go ahead with the £42 billion high speed 2 rail link well placed sources claimed that environment secretary owen paterson has vowed to kill off the project on the grounds that it will damage the environment the prime minister has made the vastly ambitious scheme, linking london and the north with 225mph trains, a symbol of his commitment to investing in the nation’s future elaborate plans: fears over damage to the environment and mounting costs is creating growing opposition to hs2 but in recent weeks, the plan has come under increasing criticism, with even former labour business secretary peter mandelson warning that it could be an ‘expensive mistake’ the mail on sunday can reveal that mr paterson and one other tory cabinet minister have expressed doubts about the plan a well placed tory insider said: ‘owen’s view is that he will subject it to such tough environmental tests that he will kill off the whole thing ‘he does not like hs2’ threat: the cheshire countryside where the proposed hs2 link between london and manchester may run the huge project is expected to destroy 135 acres of ancient woodland – sparking promises from ministers last week that soil from the woods would be transplanted to new sites but a second tory cabinet minister has privately sounded the alarm over the enormous bill, which has already risen by nearly £10 billion since original estimates the minister told friends last week: ‘when we’re trying to cut public spending and make ends meet, hs2 doesn’t add up if we are going to spend billions of pounds on rail infrastructure, surely it should be on improving existing lines’ tension: environment secretary owen paterson, right, has reportedly vowed to kill off the project which david cameron has made a symbol of his investment in britain's future the cabinet doubts about the project, which will slice through tory heartlands, emerged as labour support for it began to crumble lord mandelson claimed last week that the previous labour government’s plans for the line had been based on flawed estimates and said all political parties ‘should think twice before binding themselves irrevocably to hs2’ last weekend, alistair darling, the former chancellor, revealed he was now an ‘hs2 sceptic’but mr paterson’s office denied last night that he had ever vowed to kill off the project sources close to the environment secretary confirmed he was ‘not a fan’ of hs2 but said he had merely promised mps in the constituencies affected that proper environmental tests would be applied | 135 acres owen paterson cameron | the huge project is expected to destroy 135 acres of ancient woodland . environment secretary owen paterson is challenging cameron over plans |
by ryan gorman the accused: ahmed sofyan faces multiple charges after a 13 year old girl says he molested her aboard the ship a family's dream vacation turned into a nightmare when a 13 year old girl accused a disney cruise line worker of molested her on board a ship while it was docked at port canaveral ahmed sofyan, 37, of jakarta, indonesia, was charged with two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation and one count of false imprisonment after being taken into custody thursday by authorities the cruise line notified both local authorities and the fbi when it learned of the claims made by the girl, according to wkmg it occurred aboard the disney dream ship ‘we have no tolerance whatsoever for the behavior alleged in this incident,’ karl holz, president of disney cruise line, said in a press release ‘we are sorry that anything of this nature could have occurred on one of our ships,’ he continued‘we place enormous value on the trust our guests have in us, and nothing is more important to us than the safety and security of each and every one of our guests’ the incident was reported by the orlando sentinel to have occurred during ‘turnaround day,’ when passengers disembark and others board while docked: the incident reportedly happened while the ship was still in port canaveral nightmare: the girl and her family were aboard the disney dream cruise ship the victim has not been identified sofyan has been fired by disney he is currently cooling his heels in brevard county jail it is not clear if sofyan has a lawyer this incident mirrors another from august 2012, when an employee was seen on surveillance footage fondling and kissing an 11 year old girl he escaped prosecution after the cruise line failed to notify authorities and bought him a plane ticket home to india from the bahamas, according to wkmg the girl’s parents declined to press charges in that incident | savoringly transorbital gaed | no related information |
by daily mail reporter published: 19:02 est, 1 november 2013 | updated: 19:02 est, 1 november 2013 covered head to toe in hair, this newborn baby is the latest addition to the aptly named werewolf family the 22 day old baby inherited a rare gene carried in her family which leads to a disorder known as werewolf syndrome her mother savita sambhaji raut, 26, said she feared for her daughter's future after she inherited the condition but accepted her fate mother's love: savita sambhaji raut, 26, holds her 21 day old baby daughter, who was born with a rare genetic condition called werewolf syndrome this little baby girl is the latest addition to the werewolf family who have a rare genetic disorder which means they are covered in hair and she said it did not matter what her child looked like, she would love her unconditionally speaking from her home in madhavnagar, central india, she said: 'i was so happy to have her alive, but it upsets me' she added: 'i am scared for her future but god has chosen us to be like this 'i am her mother so i have to accept her and get on with life' her daughter, who is yet to be named, is one of only a few hundred people in the world to be born with werewolf syndrome there is no cure to the condition, otherwise known as hypertrichosis but this makes no difference to the tot's father milind who said he just overjoyed to have a daughter happy family: werewolf sisters, left to right, savitri sambhaji raut, 17, savita sambhaji raut, 26, laxmi sambhaji raut, 15, and manisha sambhaji raut, 19, gather around newborn baby, foreground unconditional love: anita sambhaji raut, 45, mother of the werewolf sisters holds on to her grand daughter who is also born with lots of hair on her body the two distinct types of hypertrichosis are generalized hypertrichosis, which occurs over the entire body, and localized hypertrichosis, which is restricted to a certain area hypertrichosis can be either congenital, which is present from birth, or acquired later in life the excess growth of hair occurs in areas of the skin with the exception of androgen dependent hair of the pubic area, face, and axillary regions snooze: fast asleep, the 22 day old werewolf baby girl, who is yet to be named by her parents, catches some shuteye at her home in maharashtra, india | nonrecurent firebed flirter | no related information |
by associated press and daily mail published: 10:19 est, 29 december 2013 | updated: 10:20 est, 29 december 2013 bill de blasio will be sworn in as mayor of new york city by former president bill clinton the democrat will be inaugurated as the 109th mayor of the nation's largest city during a ceremony wednesday on the city hall steps his transition team announced on saturday that he will be sworn in by the former president de blasio worked in clinton's administration in the us department of housing and urban development bill de blasio (left) will be sworn in as new york's 109th mayor by former us president bill clinton (right) clinton will use a bible once owned by another former president, franklin d roosevelt the new york daily news reports that the bible is on loan from the roosevelt presidential library and museum in hyde park, new york the de blasio transition team says former secretary of state hillary rodham clinton also will attend the new year's day ceremony de blasio managed her successful 2000 senate campaign 'chirlane and i couldn't be more excited to have president clinton and secretary clinton stand with us,' de blasio said in a statement deblasio will recite his oath at midnight on dec31 but de blasio's campiagn did not say where the swearing would occur, or who would administer the oath new york city mayor elect bill de blasio (pictured outside the west wing of the white house) will be inaugurated on wednesday on the steps of city hall us secretary of state hillary clinton will also be in attendance at the mayoral inauguration former mayor bloomberg, who served three terms, was sworn in by rudy giuliani during the ball dropping at times square the new york dailty news reports that the cheif judge if new york state at the time, judithkaye, performed a ceremonial swearing on january 2 outside city hall de blasio's inauguration ceremeony will take place on the steps of city hall de blasio's team gave out 1,000 free tickets to every day new yorkers there will be 5,000 seats total us president barack obama speaks during a meeting with a group of newly elected mayors from across the country, including new york mayor elect bill de blasio newly elected new york city mayor bill de blasio speaks on stage next to his wife chirlane mccray (r) and children dante de blasio (l) and chiara de blasio at his election night party on november 5, 2013 in new york city | probonus ommatidium prepartake | no related information |
by gerri peev published: 11:17 est, 3 june 2013 | updated: 18:51 est, 3 june 2013 the archbishop of canterbury has warned david cameron’s push for gay marriage will diminish the institution and weaken the family in his first major intervention on the marriage (same sex couples) bill, the most rev justin welby said he could not support the legislation ‘as it stands’ despite their vocal opposition, bishops are set to abstain from a crunch vote on gay marriage in the house of lords tonight warning: archbishop of canterbury justin welby said the gay weddings laws effectively abolish marriage as an institution the vote comes as sources said there had been pressure from downing street on church house, the headquarters of the church of england last night, archbishop welby argued that same sex marriage ‘at its heart is not a faith issue, it is about the general social good’ he added: ‘rather than adding a new and valued institution alongside it for same gender relationships, which i would personally strongly support to strengthen us all, this bill weakens what exists and replaces it with a less good option that is neither equal nor effective ‘the concept of marriage as a normative place for procreation is lost; the idea of marriage as covenant is diminished; the family in its normal sense, predating the state, and as our base community of society, as we have already heard, is weakened’ archbishop welby expressed regret for the way the church had treated homosexuals in the past the bill would not deliver equality because elements of the legislation distinguish between same sex and opposite sex marriage, he argued ‘the result is confusion marriage is abolished, redefined, and recreated, being different and unequal for different categories’ he added that it was ‘with much regret but entire conviction i cannot support the bill as it stands’ sources in the lords said the archbishop was not expected to vote on the bill the lords debate continues today after the prime minister’s attempt to legalise gay marriage was pushed through with the backing of labour mps last month all three main parties are giving their peers a free vote, but with more labour, lib dem and tory peers in favour of the bill, it is expected to go through cross benchers are likely to be split lord dear, a former chief constable, urged peers to reject the ‘ill considered’ bill and introduced a wrecking amendment to scupper it ‘we find ourselves in a world where an ill conceived bill seeks to overturn centuries of tradition, heedless of public opinion and religious leaders and blind to the laws of unintended consequences,’ he said however, equalities minister baroness stowell of beeston argued marriage needed to be extended to same sex couples to remain sustainable she said: ‘we believe same sex couples should be able to marry if they want to and extending that choice is the right thing to do for them and the right thing to do for the future of marriage,’ she said | justin welby tory commons david cameron | justin welby warns marriage is abolished, redefined and recreated . more than 130 tory mps opposed the legislation in the commons . david cameron said he is 'proud' of the equality laws |
by daily mail reporter and ap reporter published: 22:34 est, 27 may 2013 | updated: 01:12 est, 28 may 2013 a california man shot his two adult daughters, before apparently committing suicide while his three young grandchildren were in the home an 8 year old girl called 911 to report gunfire at 4:30 am, and deputies arrived to find 63 year old anthony alvarez dead from what appeared to be a self inflicted gunshot wound, the tulare county sheriff's department said in a statement jennifer kimble, 37, the mother of the young girl and two teenage boys present at the time of shootings was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds scroll down for video anthony alvarez (left), a 63 year old vietnam vet, shot his two daughters, valerie alvarez (right) and jennifer kimble, while kimble's three young children were asleep in the house, before fatally turning the gun on himself alvarez's other daughter valerie alvarez, 33, who is disabled, was critically wounded she was air lifted to a local hospital and is reported to be in critical condition police are now looking to the 8 year old girl and her 11 and 13 year old brothers for answers the 8 year old girl woke up to find her mother and grandfather dead, and her aunt seriously wounded the children, who were unharmed by their grandfather, were reunited with their father by police he had been at work at the time of the shootings 'it's going to be complicated for our detectives because we can't ask jennifer what happened and we can't ask anthony what happened,' sergeant chris douglass told abc action news 30 the police will also question valerie, who is reported to be stable after undergoing surgery anthony alvarez shot his two daughters, killing one and critically injuring the other, while his three grandchildren slept inside his california home (seen here) though they don't have definite answers yet, douglass had not doubt that anthony alvarez had shot his daughters and turned the gun on himself authorities believe that alvarez got in to a fight with kimble, which quickly turned violent 'it's a very cut and dried case,' douglass said neighbors speculated that alvarez's motive had to do with his late wife's death last year 'it's a big surprise i just can't believe it poor kids,' neighbor felicia marroquin told the local news station according to neighbors the family, who all live together in one home, were planning to take the children to disneyland later this week watch video here: | anthony alvarez 63 year old vietnam alvarez 8 year old | anthony alvarez, a 63 year old vietnam vet shot his two adult daughters while his grandchildren were asleep in the house . after killing his elder daughter and critically injuring the younger one, alvarez fatally turned the gun on himself . his 8 year old granddaughter called police after waking up to the gruesome scene |
by daily mail reporter published: 11:19 est, 22 october 2013 | updated: 11:23 est, 22 october 2013 it's one of the most exclusive addresses in new york city and russian billionaire roman abramovich is just short change away relatively from owning it the steel tycoon and owner of chelsea football club has almost got his hands on an entire mansion on fifth avenue he just has two more apartments to acquire and another $23million to stump up the 46 year old paid $75 million last month for a majority chunk of historic berwind mansion at 828 fifth avenue moving in: billionaire roman abramovich and dasha zhukova are buying a fifth avenue home prime position: the fifth avenue property overlooks central park he has been busy inking deals to acquire the remainder of the building so that he can eventually create his own lavish entire mansion overlooking central park two people still stand in the way of that dream however one will not leave for another year, while a long time resident is demanding more money, according to pagesixcom a fifth floor apartment, which according to public records has been owned by eugenia olazabal since 1981, is causing the billionaire problems pagesixcom claims the russian has offered her $15 million but she is holding out for $23 million meanwhile, fashion designer adolfo sardina, who owned a duplex in the mansion, caved in to the billionaire's offer exclusive: the fifth avenue home was built for a coal tycoon in the 1890s ornate: the fifth avenue building is based on an italian renaissance design according to pagesixcom, abramovich offered between $10 million and $15 million to buy sardina out and the wealthy men 'came to an agreement but adolfo insisted he needed a year to move out, which abramovich agreed to,' the source said if he achieves full ownership of the rennaissance stle mansion, abramovich will be fulfilling the dream of the building's late owner, real estate developer howard ronson ronson turned the block into apartments in the 1970s but had planned to return it to its original mansion state he died in 2007 abramovich, who is worth $102 billion, will share the eight bedroom home with dasha zhukova, the mother of his two youngest children he set a new record for the highest amount ever paid for a co op in the city, when he sealed the multi million dollar property deal, according to the new york post family: dasha is the mother of abramovich's two youngest children extravagant: abramovich owns the world's largest yacht, eclipse, which cost him $250 million finished in 1896, the luxurious fifth avenue building was once described as 'about as close to versailles as residential new york has to offer' the building, designed in the italian renaissance style and built for a coal baron called joseph berwind, overlooks central park zoo and has a full time doorman, according to street easy abramovich's latest home includes a penthouse, triplex and maisonette in the decadent building which is made up of five apartments he may not have the whole building just yet, but abramovich will have a 15,080 sq ft home complete with wine cellar, ballroom, ten bathrooms and roof top terrace with views over the park 'part of it is buying a dream of eventually owning one of the greatest pieces of real estate of new york, a mansion on fifth avenue directly across from one of the better parts of central park,' pam liebman, president of corcoran group, told the wall street journal paradise: the billionaire also has a luxury home in st barts, where he holds lavish new year's eve parties city living: abramovich also owns a sprawling london mansion many original features of the grand home remain, including gilded flowers, and ornate wood carvings and plasterwork interior designer alberto pinto is behind the makeover of the triplex, which has a 34ft ballroom with louis xv style plaster ceilings and ornate angels carved over the fireplace the fifth avenue home will be perfect addition to abramovich's luxury portfolio, which already includes a string of luxury homes in cities across the world, private jets, and the world's largest yacht, eclipse, which cost him $250 million in 2010 read more here: billionaire close to owning entire berwind mansion | russian $75m last month $10 15m a year $23m $8m abramovich | russian billionaire paid $75m for the majority of the mansion last month . two people stand in his way of having free reigns of the entire building . he has bought a duplex for $10 15m but owner won't leave for a year . final owner is demanding $23m $8m more than abramovich has offered |
by daily mail reporter published: 10:47 est, 6 july 2013 | updated: 16:09 est, 6 july 2013 two teenagers have died and another two seriously injured when their car smashed into a tree with such force that the engine was catapulted into the road the 18 year old driver of the silver peugeot 306 was declared dead at the scene, while a 19 year old passenger later died in hospital four teenage boys who were in a silver opel astra traveling behind the peugeot were arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving following the crash in horsham, west sussex horror scene: two teenagers, aged 18 and 19, have died after the silver peugoet 306 they were travelling in left the road and collided with a tree in slinfold, horsham impact: the force of the crash caused the engine of the peugeot to be captapulted from the car and into the middle of the road three of those arrested, two aged 18 and one aged 19, were later released with no further action the driver, an 18 year old man from billingshurst, has been released on unconditional bail until august 28 pending further inquiries the force of the crash caused the engine of the peugeot to be captapulted from the car and into the middle of the road the a264 five oaks road near fulfords hill in slinfold was closed for nine hours as rescuers attended the horror smash two other passengers an 18 year old man and a 17 year old girl were taken to the royal sussex county hospital with serious, but not life threatening injuries the man was said to have serious but non life threatening injuries while the girl's injuries were described as minor tragedy: four teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving tributes: people look at flowers left at the scene of the crash an 18 year old man and a 17 year old girl are recovering in hospital with serious, but not life threatening injuries sergeant alan spicer, from the roads policing unit at sussex police, said: 'all fatal road traffic collisions are tragic but even more so when it involves young people just starting out in life 'i would appeal to anyone who witnessed the collision and has not yet spoken to officers to please do so as a matter of urgency 'we would also like to hear from any other drivers who saw the silver peugeot or the silver opel astra prior to the collision' the road was closed to traffic for nine hours while crash investigators attended the scene | acorned calid wabbler | no related information |
by abul taher published: 16:10 est, 6 july 2013 | updated: 06:12 est, 7 july 2013 booted out: abu qatada, 53, is due to be deported on sunday morning neighbours of abu qatada have threatened to stop paying council tax if his family is not removed from the area qatada was this morning due to be flown to jordan in a private jet commissioned by the home office from raf northolt after a ten year battle costing taxpayers £2 million but it is believed that his wife, two sons and two daughters will remain living in the uk now residents in stanmore, north west london, where the family live, want them removed, saying they are ‘fed up’ they have signed a petition threatening to refuse to pay council unless the family is evicted one neighbour in her 40s, who does not want to be identified, said that she and dozens of others have signed the petition, which they have submitted to harrow council harrow council has not yet responded the family of qatada, 53, moved into a four bedroom detached house on the street about six months ago they are all believed to be living on benefits qatada was living there too until march when he was re arrested for breaching his strict bail conditions he has been in custody at maximum security belmarsh prison in south east london since then another neighbour said: ‘why should they stay here on benefits while we pay taxes 'people like that should not have been allowed to live in this country’ she added that residents were afraid of having such a dangerous terrorist’s family living in their midst qatada has been described as ‘osama bin laden’s ambassador in europe’ scroll down for video long battle: it seems as though home secretary theresa may has finally managed to conclude the home office's decade long campaign to deport abu qatada a middle aged couple, who live next door to the qatada family, refused to answer any questions though when asked if the qatada family were leaving the area, the woman replied: ‘i hope so’ qatada’s deportation to jordan was made possible when britain and the arab kingdom signed a treaty ensuring that no evidence gathered from torture will be used against him in any future trial the fanatic, a jordanian national, is wanted in his native country for terrorist plots in 1999 and 2000 harrow council could not be reached for comment | abu qatada raf northolt jordan qatada uk | hate cleric abu qatada is due to be deported from raf northolt . he will stand trial in his native jordan for terrorist plots in 1999 and 2000 . qatada's wife, two sons and two daughters will probably remain in the uk |
by harriet arkell published: 04:35 est, 19 march 2013 | updated: 07:02 est, 19 march 2013 a power cut has left three fuel storage pools at japan's tsunami damaged nuclear plant without fresh cooling water for nearly 24 hours, raising concerns about the fragility of the tsunami ravaged nuclear plant the fukushima dai ichi nuclear plant's operator said the temperatures in the pools was within safe limits and would remain so for four days, but the incident has highlighted the problems caused by the continued use of makeshift equipment at the damaged plant a spokesman for tokyo electric power company (tepco) said the reactors were not affected by the power outage and said staff were preparing a back up system in case the repairs did not fix the problem new aerial photo of the fukushima plant shows the reactor buildings that were damaged by the 2011 tsunami masayuki ono said: 'if the worst comes to the worst, we have a backup water injection system' the command centre at the plant suffered a brief power failure just before 7pm local time (10am gmt) yesterday, knocking out the cooling facilities for four fuel ponds electricity was quickly restored to the command centre, and by tuesday afternoon (this morning, london time) the cooling system had been restored at one of the pools, but three the pools in reactors 1, 3 and 4, were still broken at 6pm in japan (9am gmt) having investigated the cause of the power cut, the company concluded that it might be due to problems with each of the switchboards for the pools, and began to prepare spare switchboards for use if it could not fix the original ones tepco said that while the temperature in the affected pools had risen slightly, it was still well below the target control temperature it said the reactors were unaffected and no other abnormalities were found this image from 2011 shows a spent fuel storage pool at one of the damaged reactors in the power plant the march 2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plant's power and cooling systems, causing three reactor cores to melt and fuel storage pools to overheat since then, the plant is now using makeshift systems this latest incident is a major test for tepco to see if it has learned anything from 2011's disaster tepco, which has been accused of a string of cover ups, was heavily criticsed by local media today for waiting hours before disclosing details of the power cut its spokeman mr ono acknowledged that the plant was vulnerable, saying: 'fukushima dai ichi still runs on makeshift equipment and we are trying to switch to something more permanent and dependable, which is more desirable the march 2011 tsunami crippled the fukushima plant when waves destroyed cooling facilities and reactors overheated 'considering the equipment situation, we may be pushing a little too hard' mr ono said the utility did not immediately try to switch to a back up cooling system because doing so without finding and fixing the cause could lead to a repeat of the problem there is a backup cooling system but no backup outside power, he said regulators have previously raised concerns about the makeshift equipment, and have urged the plant to switch them to a more permanent arrangement the operator still has to remove melted, fatally radioactive fuel from the reactors before fully decommissioning the plant, which officials say could take 40 years the tsunami on 11 march 2011 saw huge waves knock out the cooling facilities at the nuclear power plant as a result the reactors overheated and went into meltdown the plant has since been stabilised but the full effect of the disaster is yet to be ascertained yoshihide suga, the chief government spokesman, sought to allay concerns today, saying: 'in a sense, we have put in place measures that leave no room for worry' | grotesquerie resurface crescographic | no related information |
by ross clark published: 16:51 est, 2 august 2013 | updated: 03:58 est, 3 august 2013 no one expects to park their car free of charge next to the airport terminal building while they fly abroad on holiday but then neither do they expect to be charged simply for dropping off or picking up friends and family at the airport — let alone fined if they take too long yet that is exactly what luton and many other british airports now do since birmingham airport first introduced drop off charges in 2007, they have been quietly — some would say sneakily — introduced by nine other regional airports entry barrier ticket machines, coupled with high tech number plate recognition cameras, monitor your arrival and departure drive up to luton’s drop off point and you will be charged £2 leave your car unattended while you help your passengers find their way to the right check in desk, or exceed the maximum 15 minutes waiting time, and you will be hit with an £80 penalty sky high: the car park at heathrow, where it costs £16390 to park your car for eight days snowed under: car parking rates may put many holidaymakers off using a particular airport (luton pictured) and the same applies if you stop, even for a few seconds, on any of the airport’s approach roadsthis week, councils have been widely condemned for the excessive charges they impose on motorists for on street parking between them, they made profits of £565 million in parking charges and fines in fact, it is illegal for councils to use parking as a source of revenue but when it comes to predatory airport parking companies, there is no legislation to protect motorists from extreme charges airports can charge whatever they like alongside the excessive drop off charges and ‘fines’ for anyone who, unfamiliar with the road layouts, stops momentarily to read a sign, or adjust a rear view mirror, airports have jacked up their long term parking charges it now costs £16390 to park a car at heathrow for eight days and £30250 for 15 days southampton charges £171 for two weeks’ parking and bournemouth £160 and, unlike heathrow, where you can still drop off someone for nothing, bournemouth airport charges £250 just to stop briefly and let out a passenger airports try to distance themselves from blame by saying parking and traffic management are contracted out to specialist firms what’s more, many of these firms are foreign owned ridiculous: a parked plane gets a better deal than a parked car these days at airports money maker: cars parked at gatwick airport car park for example, overstay at luton and you will receive a ‘parking charge notice’ from a german based company called apcoa, which also manages car parking at heathrow, gatwick, southampton, exeter and aberdeen airports, and runs the traffic management at birmingham airport stansted and edinburgh airports contract out parking to a spanish company called empark both firms collect money from motorists via what they call ‘parking charge notices’ — named, presumably, to ape official, police issued ‘penalty charge notices’ these dress the fees up as fines, but they are not legally fines in truth, parking on private land is governed by contract law, and in order to collect the money, the parking company would have to take out a civil action in court some motorists have rumbled this and refuse to pay, resulting in some parking companies dropping the charge — presumably for fear that the courts would rule that their parking charges represent an unfair contract but most motorists simply pay up in for a penny in for a pound: airport car parking is very much seen as a rip off and now has to be factored in when working out holiday costs i approached several airports to ask how much revenue they generated from parking most refused to say, citing ‘commercial sensitivity’ but manchester airports group, the largest uk owned airports operator in the country, said that in the year to march 2013 it earned £59 million from parking fees at manchester, east midlands and bournemouth airports that is 143 per cent of total revenues, and £7 million more than it earned from parking the year before despite claims that increased charges are designed to encourage use of public transport and to reduce traffic congestion, squeezing cash from motorists is a lucrative source of income in many cases, airports must be extracting more money from passengers parking their cars than from them as air passengers easyjet, for example, is advertising flights from gatwick to milan or sardinia for £52 return but parking your car in the long term car park for a week at gatwick will cost exactly twice this: £104 at some airports it now costs more to park a car than a plane manchester, which charges £35 per day in its short term car park, charges only £21 for a six seater light aircraft to be parked on the runway apron for the same period even an airbus a380 gets four hours’ free parking on the apron at manchester not so motorists, who must pay £280 to park their car for a mere half an hour luke bosdet, of the aa, says: ‘where airports see a motorist, they see a pound sign ‘it is not unreasonable to want to move passengers along quickly and so to cut congestion, but airports could do that by employing marshals to move motorists along, not by penalising them with high charges’ he adds that concessions should also be made for cars dropping off disabled peoplesome airports have even used the threat of terrorism as an excuse for charging drivers who drop off passengers a spokesman for edinburgh airport, which charges £1 to enter its drop off zone, said the area had to be redesigned after the terrorist attack on glasgow airport in 2007 but bournemouth airport, which charges £250 for cars that drop off a passenger, admits that ‘the prime rationale for the charge is commercial’ and has been driven by the fact that passenger numbers have fallen during the recession crazy money: parking a car for a fortnight is more expensive than parking up a plane when stansted airport introduced a £2 charge for vehicles to enter its drop off zone last year, its then owners, the spanish group ferrovial, claimed the charge was part of an ‘environmentally friendly’ travel plan to encourage the use of public transport but if it is so concerned about its carbon emissions, why doesn’t it end its short haul routes and tell passengers to take the train instead? a spokesman for the airport’s new owners, manchester airports group, admitted that ‘car parking is used to keep charges low for airlines, resulting in cheaper air fares for our passengers’ what he really means is that the airport has lost business from budget airlines, which have been shopping around for cheaper landing fees elsewhere, and that the airport is reduced to trying to cream a profit from motorists instead it is impossible to know how many passengers, stung by stansted’s £2 drop off charge, have vowed never to go back to the airport but figures show that while there were 24 million passengers in 2007, last year the number had dropped to 175 million a spokesman for the airport says that its parking charges are now ‘under review’ if the airports want us to carrying on travelling, and spending money in their shops, perhaps they could start by removing the threats and excessive charges they are using to fleece us when we dare to travel to the airport by car in other words, stop acting as pirates and concentrate on returning air travel to what it once was: a pleasure, not an experience which leaves us fuming before our plane has even taken off | luton airport 2 almost £165 heathrow manchester airports group 59million | drop off point at luton airport will cost you £2 . it costs almost £165 to park your car at heathrow for eight days . manchester airports group made £59million in the year to march 2013 |
by rebecca seales published: 10:03 est, 7 july 2013 | updated: 02:05 est, 8 july 2013 murdered: private simon jeans died in 1996 after he was hit over the head with a rock in croatia a father has spoken of his shock at learning that body parts belonging to his murdered son have been discovered in a hospital laboratory 17 years on distressed terry jeans, 67, fought a long battle to bring the soldier's killer to justice after he was attacked in croatia private simon jeans was set upon by a gang of thugs who hit him over the head with a rock on september 8, 1996 he died nine days later from a brain haemorrhage at frimley park hospital, surrey, aged just 25 parts of pte jeans' body including his brain, lungs and heart were held by surrey police as they investigated the murder the organs were taken to king's college london to be forensically examined, and when the forensic department closed in 2000, they were transferred to guy's and st thomas' hospital mr jeans, from portsmouth, hants, said he did not know the body parts had not been reunited with his son's body he now wants to hold a ceremony to bury them something which the co operative funeralcare have quoted him around £1,600 to do mr jeans said: 'nobody has really said sorry i haven't heard that word at all 'these things don't seem to matter to the police, but they do to me' mr jeans claims he had to spend around £20,000 to bring his son's killer to justice and said this new cost is something he simply cannot afford seeking an apology: terry jeans, 67, says he had no idea his son's organs had not been reunited with his body he said: 'i have been alone doing this and they should be accountable for their errors 'it is not about my son or the suffering that this has caused, it's about money and it shouldn't be that way' apology: guy's and st thomas' hospital said it would liaise with the police to pay for the burial of pte jeans' organs a spokesman for guy's and st thomas' hospital said the body parts had been stored in a 'sensitive and secure way', adding that once the hospital identified them last year it had contacted the police forces involved the spokesman said: 'guy's and st thomas' would like to apologise to the families affected for the distress that this situation has caused them' the hospital also said it would liaise with police to reach an agreement to help terry with the costs detective inspector jon vogel, from surrey police, said: 'at the forefront of our minds throughout this sensitive operation is the need to respect the concerns and wishes of families 'we need to give them a clear, compassionate and open account of the circumstances, and to assist them in the return of the remains of their loved one should they wish it' terry said: 'they should be putting right what they have done wrong it has only made me hateful' | simon jeans surrey police king's college london and later guy's st thomas' pte jeans' | private simon jeans died of a brain haemorrhage in 1996 after a gang hit him over the head with a rock . his brain, heart and lungs were initially held by surrey police as part of the murder investigation . they were taken to king's college london and later to guy's and st thomas' hospital but were never reunited with pte jeans' body . a hospital spokesman has apologised and said it will liaise with the police to meet burial costs |
by simon jenkins published: 16:02 est, 6 july 2013 | updated: 17:25 est, 6 july 2013 nobody seems to love hs2, and with good reason it is by far the largest, and possibly the craziest, infrastructure project in british history it is not green it will destroy town and country the length of the land it is presented as a much needed boost for the economy, but the boost will likely come during the next boom, when such reckless public spending will seem foolish elaborate plans: former british rail board member simon jenkins says the hs2 is total waste of money since hs2 is ‘premium fare’, its chief beneficiaries will be existing first class passengers out of euston this may be a deserving group, but they are hardly the poor struggling masses yearning to breathe free yet george osborne wants to subsidise them to the tune of £1,000 from every taxpayer in the land last week the government admitted yet another hike in hs2 spending, from £33 billion to £43 billion the criticism became a deluge margaret hodge, chairman of the commons public accounts committee, called it ‘complete madness’ one of her tory members, richard bacon, added: ‘everyone thinks it’s going to be £70 billion, £80 billion, £100 billion by the time it’s finished’ that is double the present estimate last month the national audit office declared even the existing case for the project at best unproven the proclaimed increase in business hours was declared minimal, since people can now work on a train the list of hs2’s opponents would fill a page and embrace most of its original architects, such as lord prescott, alistair darling and lord mandelson prescott called it a ‘con on the north’ mandelson admitted last week that it was always a political project, intended ‘to paint an upbeat view of the future’ city leaders in birmingham and manchester supported it, but were not asked if they would prefer the money for something else, such as urban transit systems, a new trans pennine link or an extension to the m65 the railway has opponents as diverse as the institute of economic affairs and the socialist workers party, the economist magazine and the environmentalist george monbiot, the engineering employers federation, the rac, the countryside alliance, the taxpayers alliance and wildlife trusts galore in a savage letter to the times, adam mills, former boss of the first channel link, hs1, said claims being made for the new line were ‘away with the fairies’ hs2’s friends are almost exclusively those with a political or financial interest in it the transport secretary, patrick mcloughlin, asserts that it will ‘bridge the north south gap’ and ‘compete with china’ limited benefit: the plan has come under increasing criticism, with even former labour business secretary peter mandelson warning that it could be an 'expensive mistake' he does not explain why competing with china means avoiding the existing euston midlands transport corridor and crashing through some of the loveliest country in england mcloughlin and the line’s chief cheerleader, lord adonis, deflect criticism from this geographical nonsense by claiming hs2 will at least liberate capacity on lines into euston since it is premium class, it will do so in a very limited way nor does the minister explain why the train is to arrive at euston and not link with either heathrow or the eurostar terminal at st pancras it does not even link to london’s new crossrail the ‘train of the future’ will reach neither of london’s international transport hubs i served on the british rail board in the 1990s every investment battle was between glamour projects that appealed to ministers and the mundane needs of passengers the railway was still only half electrified and much of its signalling was victorian, yet time and money were exhausted on building a tilting train that never worked every train pundit knows that the quickest and cheapest way to increase capacity is to re engineer platforms, signals and rolling stock the 2012 atkins report on alternatives to hs2 (now forgotten) showed that redeveloping euston could deliver a cost benefit ratio of one to four – twice the benefit of hs2 threat: the cheshire countryside where the proposed hs2 link between london and manchester may run britain’s conventional railway desperately needs investment it is shaming, long after most of the rest of europe is electrified, that diesels still leave paddington for the west country and chug round most of the feeder lines on the network cross country services into wales are dire if mcloughlin wants to reduce overloading, he should look at the commuter lines in the bristol area, in lancashire and in yorkshire yet he is blowing the lion’s share of rail investment for 20 years on a well heeled group at euston to oppose hs2 is not to be nimbyist, much as some ministers like to see things that way there is no overriding national interest in tearing up open countryside when other means of transport are available there are 100 more productive uses for £50 billion of infrastructure spending new motorways would deliver four to five times more economic benefit than hs2 the parallel is exact with concorde in the 1970s, a high profile project that played to harold wilson’s high tech obsession its backer was tony benn, who fought against all attempts to kill it at birth, musing recently on the bbc that ‘it will always be an icon’ concorde was a taxpayer gift to the rich, a classic french style grand project intended to yield political glory benn made it fly over the cabinet room to give his friends an exhilarating bang – the most expensive bang in history concern: simon jenkins says that claims for the line are 'away with the fairies' high speed trains are for long distances britain’s compact geography and the need for frequent train stops make speed less critical to journey times fast trains are also energy inefficient, necessitating an estimated 60 per cent more carbon than ordinary trains because, unlike in france, we have little benefit of nuclear power even in france the tgvs are losing their glamour they have led french railways into £34 billion of debt a halt has been called to new lines and sncf has announced it will redirect investment to high volume commuter lines modern rail passengers in a country such as britain want comfort and reliability rather than marginally faster journeys time spent in trains is no longer seen as wasted a wise railway goes for many small investments, not one big one this leaves the intriguing question, if the case for hs2 is so weak, how does it survive? the answer was given by david cameron in opposition he warned that special interest lobbying ‘has tainted our politics for too long,’ and needed curbing he has not curbed it hundreds of millions of pounds have been spent by taxpayers on hs2, meaning a list of consultancies and contractors that is almost as long as that of the line’s opponents these lobbyists have open access to whitehall, to ask ministers for ever more in the trough george osborne usually resists calls to spend public money but curiously enough, when the hs2 lobby arrives in whitehall, his smile is wide and his pockets are deep that is what cameron was talking about, once | hs2 simon jenkins 135 acres £43 billion | list of hs2’s critics would fill a page and quite rightly, says simon jenkins . the huge project is expected to destroy 135 acres of ancient woodland . last week government admitted another hike in hs2 cost to £43 billion |
by simon walters published: 17:04 est, 6 july 2013 | updated: 09:35 est, 7 july 2013 david cameron’s daughter florence was rushed to hospital last week after getting a sticker trapped up her nose doctors at st thomas’ in london removed the sticker after her concerned parents’ unsuccessful attempts to do so at their downing street flat they became aware of the two year old’s discomfort when she began spluttering at the breakfast table unstuck: florence cameron was rushed to st thomas' hospital in london after getting a sticker trapped in her nose both david and samantha cameron tried and failed to extract the sticker and florence was taken to st thomas’, where it was surgically removed the domestic drama comes a year after the camerons left florence’s sister nancy, nine, in a pub where they had gone for sunday lunch near the prime minister’s retreat, chequers mr cameron disclosed florence’s mishap during a visit to london’s evelina children’s hospital on friday, to mark the 65th anniversary of the national health service accepting an evelina sticker, he joked: ‘i have to be careful with stickers – my daughter florence got one stuck up her nose only yesterday’ asked what had happened, he said: ‘the first sam and i knew about it was at breakfast when it was obvious florence was having some difficulty breathing it turned out she had a sticker stuck up her nose we both tried to get it out but we just couldn’t do it’ hospital trip: florence, pictured with her parents shortly after her birth in 2010, had the sticker surgically removed last week florence, who is three next month, was taken to st thomas’ by the family’s long serving nepalese nanny, gita lama, 32, and treated within an hour, but whitehall insiders stress the tot did not get special treatment as the pm’s daughter ‘she was treated very quickly,’ said one ‘the doctors and nurses did a great job and the pm and his wife were delighted she came back safe and well she has been told not to put stickers in her nose any more’ during his trip to the evelina hospital, mr cameron told staff of the many visits he and samantha made when their son ivan was being treated there he was six when he died in 2010 mr cameron said: ‘i will never forget the care my son ivan received and the inspirational people who helped sam and me through some of the most difficult times’ | florence st thomas' hospital camerons nancy | florence, two, had difficulty breathing and was taken to st thomas' hospital . sticker was surgically removed after pm and his wife failed to retrieve it . drama comes a year after the camerons left daughter nancy, nine, in a pub |
by darren boyle fbi agents have arrested three men who they claim hacked top secret us army helicopter simulator software as well as pre release computer games such as 'call of duty' on the microsoft xbox game system the group has been charged with breaking into the computer systems and stealing the data, which included simulation software from the fearsome apache attack helicopter court documents show that one of the men is alleged to have used stolen technical details to create his own counterfeit microsoft xbox one machine which he later sold on ebay for $5,000 the fbi has charged (right) sanadodeh nesheiwat, 28, and (left) nathan leroux with 15 felony charges including computer hacking after the gang allegedly breached a us army helicopter simulator to steal the software to create a counterfeit microsoft xbox version of call of duty the men, sanadodeh nesheiwat, 28, from new jersey, nathan leroux, 19, from wisconsin and canadian resident david pokora are facing 15 felony charges of conspiracy, fraud and computer hacking following a major fbi investigation fbi agents believe that a man from north carolina and an australian teenager were also involved in the high tech scheme the us army contracted zombie studios to develop simulation software to help train pilots to use the apache helicopter (pictured) the three men were named by federal prosecutors in a sealed indictment which has just been released the 54 page document was published by the smoking gun after the three men were charged the case was brought before a grand jury in july 2013 at the us district court in wilmington, delaware it is understood that the fbi waited eight months before serving arrest warrants on nesheiwat, leroux and pokora the fbi claims the three men used information stolen from microsoft to make their own counterfeit xbox one console prosecution documents claim the three men targeted 'network weak points' to gain illegal access to computer systems the men are accused of hacking into microsoft as well as several computer game developers including valve corporation, activision blizzard, zombie studios and epic games prosecutors believe the men accessed the networks in a bid to illegally download games that were still in development including call of duty: modern warfare 3 the fbi claim the three men hacked various computer networks to download pre release versions of popular games such as call of duty: modern warfare 3 (pictured) later, after breaching the zombie studios secure network network, prosecutors allege the men then were able to access the ah 64d apache simulator programme it is understood the us army contracted the seattle based games company to develop the training software the fbi believe that the men were involved in the scheme between 2011 and 2012 while microsoft had its new xbox one game system under development it is understood the men used the 'internal design and technical specifications and pre release operating system software code' to build their own counterfeit machine which they sold on ebay for $5,000 the indictment claims that leroux then allegedly attempted to build a second counterfeit xbox the court documents show the fbi had the cooperation of one individual described in court documents as 'person a' from delaware he claims leroux gave him a counterfeit console which he was due to post to the republic of seychelles the indictment said 'person a' had a skype conversation with pokora who asked him for assistance on encrypting his hard drive pokora is alleged to have asked: 'i need your help i'm going to get arrested' in a second call, pokora is claimed to have said: 'if we do this right, we will make a million dollars each' fbi investigators allege that the men also wanted to gain access to the latest games in the call of duty franchise (pictured) while still under development | vaudism disenablement dioctahedral | no related information |
by harriet arkell and david wilkes published: 11:02 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 18:24 est, 10 december 2013 protocol has not always been olympic hero sir bradley wiggins’ strongest point but yesterday, cycling’s ‘modfather’ was determined not to put a loafer clad foot wrong as he was knighted by the queen so much so, in fact, that when asked about meeting her majesty after the ceremony at buckingham palace, he said: ‘to be honest, it’s such a blur i can’t remember what she said or what i said ‘you concentrate so much on the protocol of what you have got to do, what she actually said i can’t remember now it was more nerve racking than the olympics’ scroll down for video humble: sir bradley wiggins was knighted by the queen at buckingham palace today for services to cycling the new sir bradley said he felt 'inferior' to others receving honours at buckingham palace today the new sir bradley, who last year won olympic gold and the tour de france, said he felt humbled but in typical style, the record breaking cyclist talked down his achievements, saying he had 'just won a bike race' and felt 'a little bit inferior to everyone, really' the record breaking cyclist the first briton to win the tour de france who also garnered seven olympic medals in a glittering career that saw him being crowned bbc sports personality of the year 2012, was shaking with nerves after the investiture but the no nonsense father of two who is known for his sideburns and dapper brown suits, said he was still planning to attend training tonight sir bradley said: 'it was quite nerve wracking actually i'm just incredibly uncomfortable in those circumstances and i'm still shaking now, to be honest 'i'm glad it's over the queen asked what i'm doing now, and it was an incredible summer last year 'it's quite humbling, really, being here i was just talking to some of the other people getting stuff, and asking them what they've been honoured for, and they're historic things, ground breaking sciences or whatever sir bradley wiggins attended buckingham palace with his wife, catherine, and children isabella and ben singer pj harvey was made an mbe, left, while yeoman bed goer alexander burnett, right, received the royal victorian medal british soldier warrant officer class 1 andy peat received a george medal for bravery he covered a taliban bomb to protect rescuers as they saved a wounded danish soldier in afghanistan sir bradley, who wore a trademark brown suit for the occasion, showed his medal off to beefeaters afterwards 'i've just won a bike race' he added: 'it's just the end of the road in a sense, in that it tops off the closure of last summer it's a great honour' sir bradley said he was not going to celebrate tonight as he was training for forthcoming races, adding: 'i'm looking forward now, trying to concentrate on the next olympic cycle now 'i'll probably be training this evening it's just ongoing at the moment' wasim khan mbe, who became the first british born pakistani to play professional cricket in england utv presenter paul clark proudly holds his mbe alongside his wife carol the father of two had a stunning summer last year, winning the tour de france and then gold at the oympics sir bradley touched on the recent spate of cyclist deaths in london, saying that 'people have to help themselves' he said: 'with successes in the sport, more people get on bikes and obviously accidents happen 'i think the fact that there is more publicity around it means more is being done now there's more publicity towards cycle safety now, with people wearing helmets, being visible, etc 'it's not going to happen overnight and people have to help themselves at the end of the day it's a long old process' | efflower redan mesogleal | no related information |
by steve nolan published: 09:43 est, 10 december 2013 | updated: 09:47 est, 10 december 2013 it might not be a good idea to take on an opponent who is much bigger than you but when you have the power and cunning of a lioness, size is irrelevant an incredible video has emerged of a lioness taking down a baby giraffe at the shamwari game reserve in grahamstown although lions have a tendency to avoid tackling such large prey, the giraffe proves no match for the astonishing lightning fast agility of the lioness scroll down for video a lioness at the shamwari game reserve in south africa is pictured leaping into the air and bringing down a giraffe two lionesses stand over the stricken giraffe who was ambushed while grazing with its mother the lone lioness stalks a baby giraffe and its mother at the reserve using a bush as cover having waited patiently for the giraffe and its mother to finish grazing on a nearby tree, the lioness silently creeps towards her prey, ready to pounce the clip begins with the lioness using a bush as cover as it watches the baby giraffe and its mother grazing from a distance the lion slowly begins to creep towards its prey using bushes and shrubs to stay hidden from the craning view of the giraffe she patiently sits in the long grass waiting for the giraffe to drop their guard and walk away from the trees as the giraffe finish their meal and begin to walk towards a clearing, the lioness makes her move as the giraffe begin to walk away from the bushes, the lion speeds up hoping to cut its prey off at the beginning of the clearing with a powerful burst of speed, the lioness suddenly breaks into a sprint and races towards the giraffe as the unsuspecting giraffe emerge from behind the trees, the lioness strikes and barely breaks stride before leaping high into the air the mother giraffe is helpless as the lioness strikes out dragging its bigger prey to the ground the pack of lions are pictured feasting on the giraffe after dark she stalks around the tree hoping to cut the unsuspecting pair off as they saunter away breaking into a run as she gets closer as the two giraffe emerge from the cover of the trees the lioness strikes effortless breaking into a powerful sprint and leaping in the air the lion twists and, claws first, manages to bring the baby giraffe down to the ground with the mother left to helplessly look on, the stricken baby giraffe can still be seen breathing as it lays helplessly on the ground with its captor standing over it the clip ends after dark, when the pack of lions enjoy the fruits of the lionesses labours and feast on the catch lions in africa tend to feast on wildebeest, zebras and buffalo they are occasionally known to take down larger prey such as giraffes but it is a relatively rare practice due to the threat of injury because of their size | shamwari game reserve giraffe | astonishing clip of hunting lioness filmed at shamwari game reserve . giraffe's mother can only look on helplessly as the big cat tackles its prey |
Subsets and Splits