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12,615 | 23c045bb4453516fb3bed5e23c83f360bdbbde32 | (CNN) -- A new smartphone application allows users to carry out a virtual dissection of a human body. The iPhone app, "Anatomy Lab," allows the user to move between 40 body layers to enable dissection. The iPhone app, called "Anatomy Lab," has been developed by researchers from the University of Utah and provides images of a real human cadaver. Utah professor Mark Nielsen told CNN that the application is aimed at medical and anatomy students who might not have the opportunity to dissect a real human body, but it's also proving a hit with medical practitioners. "A lot of medical professionals, especially in physical therapy and rehabilitative medicine, are using it to educate patients and show them the body parts they're discussing," Nielsen told CNN. "Anatomy Lab" lets the user move between 40 separate body layers, zoom in to view different structures and rotate them to get different view points. It started out as a computer program showing the dissection of a cadaver, beginning with the skin and moving on to subcutaneous tissue, nerves, veins, and muscles. See some of the best health monitoring apps » . Nielsen said the iPhone's touch screen is perfect for the interactive nature of the application. "The program's so logically set up for the iPhone -- you can pinch the screen to rotate and enlarge, and tap on things to identify them," he said. Nielsen's son, Scott Nielsen, a physics major at the University of Utah, wrote the code for the iPhone version, which has so far sold more than 3,000 copies. The app also comes in a cheaper, scaled-down version called "My Body," aimed at the curious amateur. "Anatomy Lab" is the latest in a line of iPhone apps either aimed at medics, or with health benefits. | "Anatomy Lab" iPhone app allows users to dissect a virtual cadaver .
Researchers say app is aimed at medical and anatomy students .
The app has so far sold more than 3,000 copies, and is a hit with doctors too . |
196,862 | 8ac9d4ded081619bf5f8ace34c8efbb5b05c2ca6 | By . Sami Mokbel . Arsenal are moving to safeguard the future of their key stars, with Per Mertesacker and Tomas Rosicky signing new contracts. And the club have plans to put Aaron Ramsey, Laurent Koscielny and Santi Cazorla on improved deals. Having spent £42million on Mesut Ozil in the summer, Sportsmail revealed last year how the Gunners would turn their attention to keeping current members of the squad. Junior Gunner: Per Mertesacker tweeted this picture of himself in an Arsenal shirt as a youngster after agreeing his new deal at the Emirates . Staying put: Rosicky and Mertesacker have extended their deals at the Emirates . Wojciech Szczesny, who penned a new . deal last year, Bacary Sagna, Mertesacker and Rosicky were viewed as the . club’s priority — and three of the four have signed. Rosicky has signed a 12-month deal, with an option for a further year, keeping him on £80,000 per week. Germany . defender Mertesacker, who is a contender to become Arsenal skipper . should out-of-favour Thomas Vermaelen leave this summer, is understood . to have signed a three-and-a-half year deal, taking him to 2017. His new contract includes a marginal pay-rise from £80,000 per week. Securing the future of Sagna, however, is proving less straightforward, with the right back already rejecting two offers. The Gunners will now look to extend Ramsey, Koscielny and Cazorla’s contracts. Glum: Mertesacker looked dejected after defeat at Stoke but was happier when signing a new deal . Solid presence: Mertesacker (right) has started all but two of Arsenal's Premier League matches this summer . No doubting Tomas' commitment: Rosicky (left) is pleased to be staying at Arsenal . Not bad! Wenger has done well in securing the long-term services of some of his top players . Ramsey, . targeting the clash against Tottenham on March 16 for his return from a . thigh injury, signed a new contract worth £50,000 a week in December . 2012. But his form this season has forced Gunners chiefs into action, with talks over a five-year contract under way. The . new deal would give the Wales midfielder a significant pay rise and . the club hierarchy are confident of a successful conclusion. Likewise, Koscielny’s excellent displays have enhanced the France defender’s reputation in Europe. And . with Manchester City and Barcelona on the look out for a new centre . back, the Gunners plan to quickly improve the 28-year-old’s deal. Focus of attention: Arsenal will now try to tie Santi Cazorla (left) to a new deal . On his way out: Bacary Sagna looks set to turn down a new deal and leave Arsenal for free in the summer . Koscielny . still has three-and-a-half years left on his £55,000-per-week agreement . but he will be in line for a significant increase as the Gunners look . to secure him for the long term. As Sportsmail reported last week, the Gunners are also trying to tie Spaniard Cazorla to a contract extension. Meanwhile, midfielder Kim Kallstrom has stepped up his training schedule following a back injury.Kallstrom, . 31, joined Arsenal on loan from Spartak Moscow in January despite . having a fractured vertebrae and there were fears he may never play . for the club. But the Sweden midfielder has intensified his workload at the club’s London Colney HQ and is nearing match fitness. Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner insists he will continue to give his all for the club despite being set to leave this summer. He . said: ‘I don’t think I have ever pulled my socks down and been like, . “F*** this, I don’t care”, but I have played like I had a future and I . am going to continue doing that until the end of the season, then we . might part ways.’ 52594 . 36950 . 84359 . 201039 . 55125 . 32857 . | Per Mertesacker and Tomas Rosicky sign new contracts .
Mertesacker tweets picture of himself as a boy wearing an Arsenal shirt .
Arsenal plan to put Aaron Ramsey, Laurent Koscielny and Santi Cazorla on improved deals . |
279,714 | f658a6796a74533f07fe2ff1043e04fdf61f62dc | (CNN) -- Fifty-four years after the Duval County, Florida, school board ignored the wishes of students and named a Jacksonville high school for a controversial Confederate general, the school will be getting a new name. The school board voted 7-0 Monday to change the name of Nathan B. Forrest High School after the current school year ends. Officials will choose between the names Westside and Firestone in January. When it was opened in 1959, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision that required racially integrated public schools, district officials chose to name the school after Forrest -- a former slave trader and Confederate commander whose troops were involved in the massacre of black Union soldiers at a Tennessee fort. He later served as the first "Grand Wizard" of the Ku Klux Klan. "For too long and too many, this name has represented the opposite of unity, respect, and equality -- all that we expect in Duval schools," board member Constance Hall said in a statement from the district. The name-change was spearheaded by parent Ty Richmond, whose Change.org petition amassed 162,150 signatures. "I'm very encouraged. Jacksonville is too much of a beautiful city to have that ugly blemish," Richmond told CNN affiliate WAWS. "I don't want my daughter, or any student, going to a school named under those circumstances," he said in his petition. "This is a bad look for Florida -- with so much racial division in our state, renaming Forrest High would be a step toward healing." A kinder, gentler Ku Klux Klan? 'We don't hate anymore,' imperial wizard says . At the time it was named, the segregated school had an all-white student body. It is now 62% black, 23% white and 9% Hispanic, according to the district. Still, the decision to strip the name was not universally popular. More than half of the faculty opposed the change, as did 36% of students, the district said. A Missouri KKK leader also protested the change, saying those who want the name changed are ignoring "the true historical facts surrounding this valiant man of honor." Bedford fans have noted the commander's widespread reputation as a military genius, and have long said he was misunderstood. They say he disbanded the first version of the Ku Klux Klan after it grew violent and argue that he made efforts to reconcile with blacks in his later years. He is the subject of numerous monuments and other efforts to preserve his memory across the South. A monument honoring Forrest has been the subject of long-running controversy in Selma, Alabama, a focal point of the civil rights movement. The monument was located in a city building for a while but moved to a city-owned cemetery following protests. In 2012, someone stole Forrest's bust from atop the monument. Efforts to refurbish the monument have resulted in disputes. In 2011, a Mississippi proposal to create a license plate honoring Forrest brought opposition by civil rights groups and never saw the light of day. Group demands California high school change 'Arab' team name, mascot . | Jacksonville, Florida, school board votes to drop name of Confederate general from school .
Critics say Nathan Bedford Forrest was slave trader whose name should not grace a school .
Supporters of keeping the name say Forrest was misunderstood .
The new name will hopefully be chosen in January . |
98,681 | 0b14186510cd2d5df3da6f96046e0c5004d4ee59 | (CNN) -- At 51 years of age, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk has come a long way. As part of the Kashubian minority living in the Gdansk Region, he was born to working-class parents -- his father a carpenter and his mother a nurse. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was elected in November 2007. As a student of History at the University of Gdansk in the late 1970s, a period of growing discontent with the Communist regime in Poland, he became actively involved in the creation of the opposition Students' Solidarity Committee. This was founded in reaction to the murder of student activist Stanislaw Pyjas by the State Security Service. Despite his anti-communist activities, he successfully finished his studies in 1980 and joined the Independent Solidarity Trade Union movement. When the Communists imposed martial law in 1981 he continued with his underground activities, writing pamphlets about the ideas of liberal economist Friedrich Hayek and the concept of private property. His heroes became former U.S. president Ronald Reagan and British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. With the fall of Communism in 1989, the Solidarity Movement splintered. Lech Walesa, the former Solidarity Leader was elected President, while Tusk went on to co-found the KLD (Liberal and Democratic Congress Party) with other well-known figures. The Party stood for among other things: free market economy, privatization, individual freedom of Polish citizens and Polish accession to the EU. The following year, during the 1991 Parliamentary elections, the KLD won 37 seats in the lower house of the Polish Parliament. Not being able to follow up on their success in the 1993 elections, the KLD merged with the larger Democratic Union Party (UD) to form a new party called Freedom Union (UW). Tusk soon became Deputy Chairman and in the 1997 elections, he was voted into the Senate. In 2001, Tusk formed the Civic Platform Party (PO), winning seats in that year's parliamentary elections and becoming Deputy Speaker in parliament. But the Civic Platform was not able to sustain its success in the 2005 elections. Tusk and his party lost both the presidential and parliamentary elections to Lech Kacczynski's PiS (Law and Justice Party). This setback was not to last as Tusk triumphed over Jaroslaw Kaczynsky's PiS in the October 2007 elections and became prime minister of Poland. Tusk's economic policies are pro-business: less bureaucratic hurdles and state interference making it easier for entrepreneurs to start businesses. He is also trying to woo back more than a million Poles who left the country to work in other European Union countries after it joined the EU in 2004. Tusk is a keen footballer, viewed in his youth as a promising striker. He is married to historian Malgorzata and has two children, Kasia and Michal. | Involved in anti-communist activities as a student in Gdansk .
In 1989 Tusk co-founded the KLD (Liberal and Democratic Congress Party)
In 1997 he was voted into the Polish Senate .
Became prime minister of Poland after 1997 parliamentary election . |
56,159 | 9f2a5bde763ae76162cdc5be53cf2f6d1ba8e069 | By . Jill Reilly . A Norwegian museum says it has agreed to return a Matisse once looted by Hermann Goering to the family of Jewish art dealer Paul Rosenberg. The 1937 painting, Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace, has been the centrepiece of the Henie Onstad Art Center near Oslo since the museum was established in 1968 by shipping magnate Niels Onstad and his wife, Olympic figure-skating champion Sonja Henie. The museum said in a statement that although it acquired the painting in good faith, it has 'chosen to adhere to international conventions and return the painting to Rosenberg's heirs.' A Norwegian museum says it has agreed to return Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace, left, a Matisse once looted by Hermann Goering, right, to the family of Jewish art dealer Paul Rosenberg . Norway is a signatory of the 1998 Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, which requires museums to review their collections for potentially looted works and when such a work is found, to try to locate rightful owners. Niles Onstad was apparently unaware of its provenance . Now worth an estimated $20 million, the painting was taken by Goering after Rosenberg fled to New York in 1940, and sold to a Parisian art dealer later convicted of dealing in Nazi looted art. It was acquired from a different French gallery in 1950 by Onstad, who was apparently unaware of its provenance. The museum investigated the painting's past only after being notified by the Rosenberg family of their claim to it in June 2012. The museum said that in the wake of the investigation - which it . believes is the first of its kind undertaken in Norway - it has called . upon the country's government to establish a committee to actually meet . its obligations under the Washington Principles. Similar reviews have been launched in the U.S., Netherlands and Germany. 'Ultimately, . it was the strength of the moral claim that persuaded the Henie Onstad . Art Center to restitute this painting unconditionally to the Rosenberg . heirs,' said Chris Marinello of Art Recovery Group, a lawyer . representing the family. Yesterday a panel set up by the German government said a medieval treasure trove at the . centre of a long-running ownership dispute should stay with a Berlin . museum and not be given to the heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers. The . recommendation on the fate of the Welfenschatz, or Guelph Treasure, by a . decade-old commission created to help resolve restitution claims isn't . binding but carries strong moral weight. The . collection includes silver and gold crucifixes, altars, intricate . silverwork and other relics. Some experts have estimated its current . value at between 180 and 200 million euros ($248 and $276 million. The medieval Dome Reliquary of the Welfenschatz, is displayed at the Bode Museum in Berlin. A panel set says a medieval treasure at the centre of a long-running ownership dispute should stay with a Berlin museum and not be given to the heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers . The heirs maintained that their . ancestors had no choice but to sell the Christian artifacts in 1935 to . the Nazi government for less than their value. The . foundation that oversees Berlin's museums said the collectors weren't . forced to sell the treasures, arguing among other things that the . collection was not even in Germany at the time of its sale. In . its recommendation, the commission wrote that, after thoroughly . investigating the sale process, it came to the conclusion that it was . not a "forced sale due to persecution." It said it can "not recommend . the return of the Welfenschatz to the heirs of the four art dealers and . other possible former co-owners." The . president of the museum foundation, Herrmann Parzinger, welcomed the . panel's conclusion and praised it as a "thorough recommendation ... that . considers all the facts." Representatives of the heirs weren't . immediately available for comment. Germany's culture minister, Monika Gruetters, said she hopes the Jewish heirs will accept the recommendation. She . said it "does not change ... the fact that the German government will . continue to do everything to shed light on to the Nazis' art thefts and, . when in doubt, will press for restitution." The . collection, which has been on display in Berlin since the early 1960s . and is currently at the city's Bode Museum, is considered the largest . collection of German church treasure in public hands. A medieval reliquary bust of St. Blaise, of the Welfenschatz. The heirs maintained that their ancestors had no choice but to sell the Christian artifacts in 1935 to the Nazi government for less than their value . | Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace returned to Paul Rosenberg's family .
Centrepiece of the Henie Onstad Art Center near Oslo since 1968 .
Painting was taken by Goering after Rosenberg fled to New York in 1940 .
Norway is signatory of 1998 Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art . |
43,308 | 7a1cfa80786ba9caf34a25fab7768c9bb23a2ee5 | (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts warned North Korea against any "provocative" moves Sunday ahead of a possible new nuclear bomb test by Pyongyang. Opinion: For South Koreans, a familiar tone from Pyongyang . In a round of calls Sunday, Kerry, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea's Kim Sung-hwan all agreed the North must understand "that it will face significant consequences from the international community if it continues its provocative behavior," according to a summary of the calls from the U.S. State Department. Earlier Sunday, North Korea announced that its leader, Kim Jong Un, "has made an important decision" that would strengthen the country. The brief statement on the state-run news agency KCNA provided no details, but it said the decision was made at a meeting of the reclusive Stalinist state's Party Central Military Committee. Across the Demilitarized Zone, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called on his government to be prepared for a possible test. Lee paid a visit to the underground bunker that serves as the South's crisis management center, his press office reported. South Koreans cast wary eyes to the North . North Korea has conducted two previous nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009, and proclaimed itself a "nuclear state" in 2012. U.S. officials told CNN last week that the North appeared to be ready test another nuclear device "at any time." U.S. analysts believe the 2006 test had a yield of about 1 kiloton -- comparable to the explosive power of about 1,000 tons of TNT -- while the second was roughly 2 kilotons, National Intelligence Director James Clapper told a Senate committee in 2012. By comparison, the bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 was roughly 15 kilotons. Where North Korea stands in its pursuit of a nuclear missile . The U.N. Security Council voted to tighten sanctions on Pyongyang in January, after the North launched a satellite aboard a long-range rocket in December. The North Koreans responded by announcing they planned another nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches as part of a new phase of confrontation with the United States. | U.S., South Korea and Japan warn of "significant consequences" after a bomb test .
U.S. officials say a new North Korean nuclear test could come at any time .
South Korea's president tells his government to be prepared . |
101,617 | 0ef83159e2e1fa317fe877bc5884d625cb88331b | By . Kerry Mcqueeney . PUBLISHED: . 06:26 EST, 17 July 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 20:04 EST, 17 July 2012 . Former BBC presenter Dan Penteado was jailed yesterday for pocketing £25,000 in benefits while he was being paid to track down cowboy traders on television. Penteado, who admitted eight offences of dishonestly or knowingly claiming the benefits, was sentenced to 12 weeks. The father of two, who co-hosts the Rogue Traders part of the show Watchdog, received £24,077 in housing benefit and £868 in council tax benefit while the BBC paid him £56,000 over four years. Penteado, 40, who lives in a rented £375,000 townhouse in Bournemouth, was caught out when a council housing benefit officer recognised him on TV. Sentencing, chairman of the bench John Corben told him: 'This is not a victimless crime, it is actually a crime of stealing from the public purse.' A tearful Penteado was escorted to the cells as his wife burst into tears. His solicitor Terrence Scanlan told Bournemouth magistrates that Penteado was a man of good character but was 'sinking in debt' and owed £20,000 in student loans. He was only on short-term contracts with the BBC. Portuguese-born Penteado, who also works as a private investigator, had 'lost his burgeoning career in broadcasting', the solicitor added. The court heard that Bournemouth council was seeking to recover all the cash and he had already paid back £280. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Camera-shy: Dan Penteado, who famously uses a . motorcycle to track down fraudulent traders on the show, arrives at . court on the back of a bike . Today, the BBC confirmed the presenter is to be axed from the show following the case. A BBC spokesman said: 'In light of the prosecution, Dan Penteado will not be returning to Rogue Traders.' Scanlan said Penteado committed the fraud from 2008 to 2012 . because he was on a short-term contract with the BBC and made the 'very . poor judgment not to interrupt the flow of housing benefit'. Debt-ridden . Penteado was only caught when a council housing benefit officer . recognised him on Rogue Traders and matched the name to his fraudulent . application. In court: Rogue Traders' Dan Penteado has been jailed after pleading guilty to council tax and housing benefit fraud to the tune of more than £24,000. Pictured right is his co-presenter Matt Allwright (right) Chairman of . the bench John Corben told Penteado, who is from Bournemouth: 'This is . not a victimless crime, it is actually a crime of stealing from the . public purse. 'It was . planned over four years and it was calculated and we consider it so . serious that only a custodial sentence is appropriate - you knew exactly . what you were doing. 'You will be sentenced to 12 weeks in prison and it will not be suspended.' His wife was in court and burst into tears as her husband was given a custodial sentence. Earlier . in the hearing Mr Scanlan told the court that Portuguese-born Penteado . was a man of good character but was 'sinking in debt' and owed £20,000. Mr . Scanlan explained that Penteado first applied for benefit in 2007 when . he was a student at Bournemouth University. The solicitor said Penteado had 'lost his burgeoning career in broadcasting and that itself is quite a punishment for him'. Upsetting: Dan Penteado's wife leaves Bournemouth Magistrates court today carrying his motorbike helmet after her husband was jailed for 12-weeks . Earlier in the trial, the court heard how the offences went back to 2007 when Penteado filled out his first claim form . and failed to declare he had another bank account. The court heard that Penteado repeated the fraud in subsequent years up to 2011. In that time he failed to tell . Bournemouth Borough Council he had been paid more than £56,000 for his . work on Rogue Traders from 2008 to 2011. Penteado appeared in court dressed in . trademark leathers and crash hemlet, ensuring he wasn't snapped by . cameramen - a similar tactic used by many of the crooks he exposed. Magistrates in Bournemouth were told . that Penteado began claiming benefits in 2007 after he enrolled on as a . full-time student at Bournemouth University. He went to work for the BBC six months later on Rogue Traders but failed to disclose his earnings. Johanne McNamara, prosecuting for Bournemouth Borough Council, said: 'The offences . came to light when a housing benefit officer recognised the defendant . from the television programme Rogue Traders and recognised the name from . a form they had just processed.' She outlined eight charges Penteado . pleaded guilty to, explaining he received sums ranging from £16,000 and . £18,000 from the BBC from April 2008 to December 2011. He pocketed £24,077 in housing benefit and 868 pounds in council tax benefit. Terrence Scanlan, defending, said: . 'Mr Penteado first obtained his claim for housing benefit in October . 2007 and at that point he was not working for the BBC. 'He had enrolled as a student as Bournemouth University trying to improve his prospects and was taking a degree course. 'He had no income and was relying on a student grant. His wife was not working and the family was struggling. 'In March 2008 the BBC contacted Mr . Penteado and invited him to return to the programme that he had . previously worked on; Rogue Traders. 'The BBC was going to recommission . the programme and between March 2008 and December 2011 Mr Penteado had a . series of short-term contracts - not continuous employment. 'That uncertainty about his work raised a question mark that fed into his decision not to interrupt the flow of housing benefit. 'It was very poor judgement and the claim was wrongful for a period of four years.' Dan Penteado's house in Bournemouth, Dorset. He said last month the matter was a 'misunderstanding' Mr Scanlan said the BBC paid him over £56,000, which worked out at about £14,000 a year. He added: 'Throughout this period . this was not a man living extravagantly, for most of the time he was a . student and a family was living quite frugally. 'He has worked hard and always tried . to improve his circumstances and always had the interest of his young . family at heart. He is married with two children; twins aged nine.' The presenter started working with Mr Allwright in 2001. He is familiar to viewers of Watchdog as . one half of the motorbike-riding team of investigators who chase down . unscrupulous tradesmen and bring them to justice. In the last series of Watchdog, the pair confronted eight business owners who they felt were ripping off the public. Mr Scanlan told the court that as a . result of the conviction, Pentreado's 'burgeoning career in . broadcasting' was likely to have been scuppered. He also said his client had £20,000 in debt from student loans and faced paying back £24,000 to the local council. Penteado wore a white shirt, black tie and black jumper when he appeared in court today. He looked pale and nervous and breathed deeply throughout the proceedings and at one stage wiped a tear away with a tissue. Penteado lives in the leafy suburb of Westbourne in Bournemouth with his family. The rented three-storey, terraced . townhouse property is in a gated, private road, has a balcony on the . first floor and is worth about £375,000. Earlier, the court heard the council, which . brought the prosecution, would be seeking to recover all the cash. Councillor David Smith, from . Bournemouth council, said: 'The amount of money stolen in this case is . truly shocking. We are pleased that Mr Penteado has now been . successfully prosecuted and brought to justice. 'The council will not tolerate . benefit fraud. Anyone committing benefit fraud should expect to be . investigated and action to be taken.' | Dan Penteado looked dazed as he was led to the cells by security guards .
Presenter had already admitted eight offences going back to 2007 .
He failed to declare BBC earnings of £56,000 between 2008 and 2011 .
He said last month that the incident was 'all a misunderstanding'
Magistrate tells him: 'You knew exactly what you were doing'
BBC confirms the presenter is to be axed from the show . |
48,983 | 8a4b7dd01fadf76cd783f9ad433bb5c5a4f3565c | (CNN) -- WJLA anchorman Leon Harris remembers that when the pain began on August 1, it came out of the blue. "I woke up that Thursday morning prepared to go to the gym and then go to work and have a regular day," he said. "But I had this incredible, sudden pain in my stomach that was something that I have never felt before in my life. It felt like a horse had kicked me." He admits that wasn't enough to move him to seek help, though he says the pain was worse than other injuries and illnesses. He has had broken bones, surgeries, popped tendons, fallen off a truck, and driven himself to the hospital with severe appendicitis. "I've actually been run over by a truck -- none of that compared to what I felt in my stomach at that time. "I'm going through pain unlike any pain I have ever felt in my life and it literally knocked me to the floor and you know, being a stupid guy, a regular guy, I did what most guys do. I said: You know let me just take some Pepto Bismol, let me pop a couple of Gas-X pills, that'll take care of it, it's just gas." An hour later, his wife, Dawn, who had recently graduated from nursing school, found him writhing in pain on the floor. She immediately got him to a local hospital. Harris credits her for saving his life. He says unequivocally, if she hadn't come upstairs when she did, he wouldn't still be here. He thought he would just spend the night in he hospital and be back to normal the next day. But about 4 o'clock that morning things got serious. "All of a sudden, the door opened, these guys came rushing in the room saying we've gotta to go to intensive care immediately ... and I was sort of in a fog, not on any drugs at the time except for pain meds. I found out later it was because they said my kidneys were shutting down and my lungs were beginning to fill up with fluid. "They called my wife and said you need to get here immediately because we need to intubate him -- to put me on a ventilator and they needed her to sign off on it." When Dawn arrived, he remembers she asked him where his phone charger was. At that moment, he says, his eyes rolled back up in his head and he passed out. "I was pretty much out from that moment for the next nine days." So, within 36 hours of that initial "kick" in the stomach, Harris was being life-flighted to Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore. "For you to be life-flighted you've got to be in pretty bad shape," he says. Harris got a diagnosis of necrotizing pancreatitis. "My pancreas basically decided to start dying and taking my kidneys, my lungs and other internal organs along with it." He says his doctors described his gut as looking like "a bomb had gone off inside me." He adds, "you don't get symptoms until it's already happening and if you don't get that process stopped quickly enough it can be fatal, and that's what was so dangerous about the situation I was in." In order to allow his pancreas to heal, Harris says he wasn't allowed to have anything in his mouth for 17 days, relying on feeding tubes for nourishment and a tube down his windpipe to breathe. The main causes of pancreatitis are gallbladder disease and alcohol consumption. Harris has a family history of gallbladder disease. While the specific cause for him is unknown, Harris knows this type of infection can be fatal and he says he came close to dying a couple of times. "My heart stopped and they actually had to revive me ... at one point they were trying to replace the tube into my windpipe. I flat-lined. They were able to get me revived and the same thing happened the very next day. I had the tubes going down into my windpipe and I just knew that I couldn't breathe. That was the absolute worst part of the whole thing. The pain in my stomach, fine -- that felt like someone had just taken a knife and cut my entire insides out. That hurt. That was nothing compared to not being able to breathe. That sensation of not being able to breathe, it was just like trying to go run a marathon breathing thru a cocktail straw." He was so uncomfortable, he tried to pull one of the tubes out. "I punched people, I kicked people. At one point it took 10 people to keep me on the table." He was restrained, his hands and feet tied down for his own protection. He says hospital staff nicknamed him the beast. Eventually that fight began to take a toll. "August 9, I just got exhausted and I said I give up, I can't fight this anymore, what's the sense of fighting, and just decided OK, fine, this is God's way of telling me, 'OK buddy this is it' and so that night I begged them to let me die." But when he closed his eyes, Harris says he saw his wife's face. "That's when I said I can't quit. If I quit I'm gonna go to hell and I'm not gonna go to hell for quitting. If I go to hell it's gonna be for something else, it won't be for quitting." Harris recovered and some are calling it miraculous. "If there is such a thing as a miracle, the night of August 9 is when it happened. I begged to die and by August 10 I had a miracle," he said. He has an even bigger appreciation for his wife and two children and the friends and family who stood by him during this ordeal. He also has some advice for other men who may be ignoring what their body is telling them. "Don't wait until you have as close a brush with leaving this Earth as I did before you decide that you're worth going to see a doctor. ... Don't say 'Eh, I don't need to go see a doctor' --yeah you do!" Harris continues to recuperate and is back at work. He returned to the anchor desk on September 9. | On August 1, Leon Harris felt terrible pain .
Doctors told him he had a condition called necrotizing pancreatitis .
Harris recovered and some are calling it miraculous . |
227,620 | b2ba92ae69b8d5414f3bd5eaae8216159ec5e2a8 | BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier was detained Sunday in connection with the shooting death of a civilian contractor at Contingency Operating Base Speicher in Tikrit, Iraq, the military said. The contractor was not identified, but Houston, Texas-based military contractor KBR said the person was an employee. The contractor died at about 8:30 a.m. "of wounds suffered in a shooting at COB Speicher," the Multi-National Division -- North said in a statement. "We can confirm that a U.S. soldier has been identified and detained in the alleged shooting incident," Maj. Derrick Cheng, division spokesman, said in an e-mail. "KBR can sadly confirm that one of its employees tragically died this morning in Tikrit, Iraq," KBR spokeswoman Heather Browne said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers remain with the employee's family," the statement said. "As the Army is leading the investigation of the incident, KBR is not providing further comment at this time. We are of course fully cooperating with the Army in its continued investigation." No further details about the shooting were released. Cheng said the investigation is ongoing. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report. | Houston, Texas-based military contractor KBR said the person was an employee .
Contractor died at "of wounds suffered in a shooting" at base, officials said .
Army is leading investigation, says KBR . |
77,052 | da7ab2c79503e4a88d5c9a894225db30e67817cc | New York is deserted today on what should be one of its busiest weekends for tourism of the year, as businesses count the cost of a four-day city shutdown after Hurricane Irene forced people indoors. Retailers will . make heavy losses because of a shutdown on one of the last weekends before children go back . to school - and one of the most popular times for tourists to visit. But it might have been worse for New York City, as a direct . hit by the damage-wreaking hurricane could have cost it up to $35billion in . damage and increased the chance of a double-dip recession. No sales: Fifth Avenue looked deserted in New York while it was on shutdown during Hurricane Irene . However C. Britt Beemer, of America's Research Group, told . MailOnline losses will be ‘catastrophic’ for businesses, as this weekend would . have seen 10 per cent of back-to-school shopping. ‘It's catastrophic because you basically lose all the volume you were going to do,’ he said. ‘Many people in the U.S. are getting ready for the . kids to go back to school.’ Around 85 per cent of revenue shops would have taken this . weekend will ‘evaporate’, and it is especially bad because back-to-school is the year’s second largest shopping event, he said. One tenth of shopping ahead of school restarting would . have happened this weekend, as many parents would be taking their children on . holiday for Labor Day next weekend. As well as lost sales, damage is an issue as flooding is a separate . policy on most home insurance - so consumers will be left with less . disposable income after they have spent money on repairs. This weekend was going to see bumper sales for retailers - until Hurricane Irene came along. Parents would have been shopping for children ahead of the return to school next month. And New York City was expecting to be full of tourists visiting during the summer holidays. But all that lost revenue will cost the city's economy billions of dollars, experts say. 'It’s going to be tough,' Jon Taylor, president of Babylon Village Chamber in Long Island, New York, told Patch. 'We just don’t need this after having to weather the economy.' The total clean-up cost through 10 East Coast states is estimated at up to $13billion by Kinetic Analysis Corporation because of the widespread flooding in low-lying areas, reported ABC News. University of Maryland professor Peter Morici said up to $45billion of damage has been caused on the East Coast, factoring in physical damage and the loss of two days of economic activity. Around four million people have been left without power and more than 10,000 flights have been cancelled, while train services across the East Coast region remain indefinitely suspended. Wet, wet, wet: A view of a nearly deserted 7th Avenue near Times Square in Manhattan as Hurricane Irene closed in on the New York City, shutting down America's financial capital and most populous city . But in New York, a hurricane hitting at . around 100mph would have flooded the subway and acres of pricey real . estate in the five boroughs - as well as costing the city half of its . annual budget. The city would have required state and . federal assistance and recession fears would have been heightened from a . damage response cost of around one per cent of the total U.S. output. Governor Chris Christie said he expects damages from Hurricane Irene to run into billions of dollars along New Jersey's Atlantic coast and from inland river flooding. 'I've got to imagine that the damage estimates are going to be in the billions of dollars, if not in the tens of billions of dollars,' he told NBC. He said state damage assessments along the coast would begin on Sunday afternoon but that inland damage may not become obvious until river flooding subsides as late as Tuesday. One possible scenario was that the hurricane came ashore 50 miles east of Manhattan on Long Island, which would have caused around $10billion in damage, reported the New York Times. If an even stronger storm with speeds of at least 111mph was to have directly hit Manhattan it could have caused $100billion damage, according to estimates. A Category 3 storm could have rivalled the $235billion economic damage that the Japanese earthquake and tsunami was estimated to have caused earlier this year. A Category 4 hurricane seems physically impossible but if it was to happen in theory it could cause trillions of dollars of damage, reported the New York Times. Very quiet: As rain from Hurricane Irene falls, a single NYC Taxi Cab passes through Times Square in New York City, ahead of what is expected to be a quiet Monday morning as workers stay at home . Any hurricane hitting New York is . such a big issue as the city’s annual gross domestic product is . estimated at $1.4trillion, which is around 10 per cent of the whole U.S. output. This means a long-term non-functioning economy could cause a national and even global meltdown, and could make it one of the most expensive natural disasters the world has ever suffered. ‘We're looking at a multibillion-dollar event - that's almost certain. We're not looking at a hurricane as strong as a Katrina or a Hurricane Ike. But we are looking at a storm that will move over an area that has much greater population than an area like New Orleans or South Texas' Insurance expert Bob Hartwig . New York City’s real estate value is around $800billion, so analysts can only imagine what would happen if even a small percentage of this was to be destroyed by freak weather. The major cities affected by Hurricane Irene are New York City; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Boston, Massacusetts; Baltimore, Maryland; and Washington D.C. These account for a huge 16 per cent of U.S. national output and 14 per cent of employment, so a storm that disrupts work for several days could have a serious impact, reported The Fiscal Times. Insurers are expecting to suffer huge losses due to the hurricane, airlines are reeling as thousands of flights have been cancelled and shops cannot open so they losing sales. Clouds gathering: Manhattan is seen as Hurricane Irene approaches. A direct hit on New York City could have cost the economy up to $35billion in damage and significantly increase chances of a double-dip recession . The 1938 Category 3 hurricane that hit almost 40 miles from Central Park at speeds of 120mph caused the equivalent of around $45billion in today’s money, estimated meteorologist Roger Pielke. 'Any kind of severe weather tends to get insurance companies nervous. When they get nervous, their number crunchers take another look at what their exposure is and whether they’re charging enough and that may lead to rate increases'Consumer advocate Amy Bach . Other estimates from Kinetic Analysis suggest the hurricane could have threatened up to $14billion in insured losses and $20billion in overall economic loss, reported Bloomberg. Big problems include lost hours at work, power outages and a shutdown in sea and air traffic. ‘Any kind of severe weather tends to get insurance companies nervous,’ consumer advocate Amy Bach told The Fiscal Times. ‘When they get nervous, their number crunchers take another look at what their exposure is and whether they’re charging enough and that may lead to rate increases.’ Protection: Workers board up windows ahead of Hurricane Irene in the South Street Seaport area of New York, with companies expecting the hurricane to threaten up to $14billion in insured losses . Hurricane Katrina cost an eye-watering . $134billion in damage, as well as 1,800 fatalities, and although Irene . is a much weaker storm it is wreaking havoc over a significantly larger . area. Despite the horrendous weather and shut subway, the New York Stock Exchange still expects to open as usual on Monday morning. It has backup generators and can run on its own, but a spokesman said the exchange may change opening plans depending on the severity of the storm. With many traders living outside of Manhattan, a suspended transport network means it's unclear how many traders will get in to work. ‘We're looking at a multibillion-dollar event - that's almost certain,’ insurance expert Bob Hartwig told NPR. ‘We're not looking at a hurricane as strong as a Katrina or a Hurricane Ike. ‘But we are looking at a storm that will move over an area that has much greater population than an area like New Orleans or South Texas.’ There was expected to be damage to buildings and transport infrastructure from storm surges and heavy rainfall, as well as damage to vehicles and beaches, reported the Huffington Post. Petrol supplies fell as drivers filled up before leaving or just topped off their tanks as a precaution before the storm hit, with some pump prices rising around $0.03 per gallon overnight. Down: A power line pole lies on the street after being felled by high winds kicked up by Hurricane Irene in Montauk, New York, as the area was battered with heavy winds and driving rain on Sunday . Global markets will begin to factor in what happened on Monday morning, with BNY Mellon strategist Michael Woolfolk saying that they will be most concerned about damage costs. ‘This is a worst-case scenario. This was supposed . to be a prime weekend for apparel retailers’ C. Britt Beemer, America's Research Group . The hurricane comes in the thick of the critical back-to-school shopping season, a time between mid-July and September that is typically the second biggest shopping period of the year. For some big retailers, Manhattan is particularly important because it can account for as much as 10 percent of their annual revenue. A washout could have a huge impact on retailers' top and bottom lines, as estimates were made that Irene will stop around 80 million shoppers from hitting the malls this weekend across the U.S. ‘This is a worst-case scenario,’ Mr Beemer added. ‘This was supposed to be a prime weekend for apparel retailers.’ | Last weekend of August is usually key for New York's $1.4tn annual output .
But direct hit would have flooded subway and acres of expensive real estate .
Damage cost of Hurricane Irene across East Coast estimated at up to $45bn .
Non-functioning economy in New York for four days will have huge impact .
Insurance premiums will rise and businesses across the city have suffered . |
280,548 | f76e9db3a3b2b7cd6424629300466c014460b70d | Washington (CNN) -- Desiree Rogers, the White House social secretary, plans to step down, the Obama administration announced Friday. Her office came under scrutiny after a couple who lacked an invitation were allowed into President Obama's first state dinner. "We are enormously grateful to Desiree Rogers for the terrific job she's done as the White House social secretary," the president and first lady said in a statement released Friday. In an interview on Friday, Rogers said she was leaving voluntarily and that her decision was unrelated to the fallout over the security breach. "It has nothing to do with that," she said. "It's Secret Service's job to handle security. Not the social secretary's office." The Obamas' statement did not mention November's party-crashing incident . "When she took this position, we asked Desiree to help make sure that the White House truly is the people's house, and she did that by welcoming scores of everyday Americans through its doors, from wounded warriors to local schoolchildren to NASCAR drivers. "She organized hundreds of fun and creative events during her time here, and we will miss her. We thank her again for her service and wish her all the best in her future endeavors." Rogers said in an e-mail to CNN on Friday, "It has been incredible setting the foundation for the [White House] for this historical presidency. Headed back to private sector." "I accomplished initially what I came to do," Rogers said later. "I like strategy. I like building something. It's built... the foundation of the [social secretary's] office is good and solid." Rogers would not say where she'll be working. She said she'll be "around to work on the transition" to a new social secretary at the White House. She summed up her experiences at the White House in another note: "330 events. Halloween for 3,000. Easter egg roll for 30,000. Music series with performances and the performers teaching the students during the day. Latin, jazz, country, civil rights. " In December, the White House was accused of stonewalling as Congress investigated the party-crasher security breach at Obama's first state dinner. At issue was whether the White House was protecting Rogers from testifying about how Tareq and Michaele Salahi were able to crash the first White House state dinner. The couple did not have an invite but were allowed in. Rogers' office planned the dinner. At the time, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said his agency would take the heat for the incident. "This is our fault and our fault alone," he told federal lawmakers. "There's no other people to blame here. ... Look at me and blame me," he told members of the House Homeland Security Committee. CNN's Ed Henry, Suzanne Malveaux and John King contributed to this report . | Desiree Rogers came under scrutiny after White House state dinner .
She says her decision is unrelated to the fallout over the security breach.
"Headed back to private sector," she says in e-mail .
"We are enormously grateful ... for the terrific job she's done," Obamas say . |
14,366 | 28bbbf57c580be154f0602cbfe8b63603ef5a3a4 | If you're lost money on a bet, or overspent this week, spare a thought for Warren Buffett - he has lost $2 billion in two days. Mr Buffett, who is known more for making long-term investments, than chasing the quick-buck, holds large chunks of Coke and IBM, both of which dived in value over the last two days. His Berkshire Hathaway investment house lost $1 billion on Coke - which dropped 6 per cent - yesterday after the company reported earnings below expectations, something its expecting to be repeated next year. Warren Buffett, seen here with his wide Astrid, lost $2 billion in two days when shares in Coke and IBM fell . It's not all bad news for Mr Buffett though, with investors sticks with his company where shared climbed on Monday and Tuesday; they are up 17 per cent this year . Mr Buffett owns 400 million shares in the company and his son Howard sits on the beverage company's board. That loss followed a hard day at the office on Monday, when IBM lost $1.3 billion as the stock plunged. The stock dropped 7 per cent on Monday, then dipped again yesterday. It is off nearly 13 per cent so far this year, and Mr Buffett's company holds over 70 million shares, according to CNN Money. The losses cap off a difficult year for the investor. He bought into Tesco whose value dropped nearly 47 per cent. On Monday IBM lost $1.3 billion as the stock plunged 7 per cent, before dipping further yesterday; Mr Buffett's company holds over 70 million shares . It's not all bad news for Mr Buffett though, with investors sticks with his company where shared climbed on Monday and Tuesday. They are up 17 per cent this year. And Mr Buffett's largest stake, in Wells Fargo, has climbed 11 per cent this year. | On Monday IMB, which Mr Buffet owns 70 million shares in, lost $1.3 billion .
The following day his investment company lost $1 billion on coke .
The loses follow a poor investment in Tesco which sank 47 per cent . |
130,737 | 351596d1e8afe5b44254e9d9ad0c931bd47be14c | By . Rob Cooper . UPDATED: . 06:14 EST, 7 March 2012 . A father has been banned from being alone with his eight-year-old daughter after telling police he accidentally accessed child porn while attempting to download music from the internet. Nigel Robinson says his life has been plunged into a nightmare since he reported himself to authorities as an act of good citizenship. When the 43-year-old plumber told police he had inadvertently downloaded shocking pictures of ‘young girls’, officers contacted social services. Prohibited: Nigel Robinson, pictured with his wife Liz, cannot have unsupervised contact with their eight-year-old . His laptop was seized and – because of . lengthy waiting times for police analysis of computers in non-urgent . cases – the investigation could mean he is not allowed to be alone with . his daughter for a year. Mr Robinson claims he is being treated like a criminal for trying to do the right thing. ‘When I saw these images I wanted to . do something about it,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want anyone else’s children . to be exploited in this way. ‘I can categorically state 1,000 per . cent there will be nothing inappropriate on my computer other than the . files I told the police about. ‘I can understand there needs to be . caution. It is a very serious matter, but to be told it may be a year . before the conclusion is just madness. I cannot take my daughter to the . park, swimming or anything. ‘It has been a nightmare. I feel like I . am guilty until proven innocent. That is not the way I understood the . British justice system to work. ‘I wish I had just binned the laptop and then none of this would have happened. ‘Whoever was uploading this will be miles away by now, yet I’m under the finger of suspicion.’ Mr Robinson, from Hull, said he was . trying to download an album by the rock guitarist Slash from a . file-sharing website – which he accepts is itself illegal – when the . incident happened. Despite the practice being against the law, millions . of people obtain music for free in this way. When he opened the folder of files he . had downloaded, which he says he believed contained music, he found . files with girls’ names. ‘When I opened some of them up, I . realised they were young girls,’ he said. ‘I immediately called my wife. I was panicking. I asked her what she thought I should do and her . response was to call the police. ‘I was willing to take it on the chin . for downloading the music. I half expected to get arrested for that but . felt it was important because someone was obviously uploading this.’ Mr Robinson phoned Humberside Police . and was told statements would need to be taken by officers and also East . Riding of Yorkshire Council’s social services department. It was at these interviews that he . learned he would not be allowed unsupervised access to his daughter . until the investigation was over. The order was put in place in November and detectives warned Mr Robinson it could be a year before the laptop was examined. Child porn: Mr Robinson, 43, said he was trying to download music when he accidentally opened indecent images of young girls . Yesterday his wife Liz, 32, a care home assistant manager, spoke about the problems the family now faced. When she worked a night shift, she . said, she had to arrange for someone to be in the house with her husband . or send their daughter to her grandmother’s house. ‘Why does my . daughter have to suffer? Technically my daughter could miss a year of . her life with her dad,’ she said. ‘I think it’s bureaucracy gone mad.’ Police confirmed the inquiry could take a year to complete as the case has ‘to go in a queue’. A spokesman said: ‘We are conducting . an investigation that has resulted in the confiscation of a laptop, in . order for the relevant inquiries to take place. ‘This is a standard procedure for this type of investigation. ‘The laptop is sent away to be . examined and, as this forms the basis for a number of different . investigations, Humberside Police has no control over the amount of time . it takes for the laptop to be returned.’ East Riding social services said the . access ban was ‘a proportionate response’ based ‘on the information it . presently has about this case’. | Nigel Robinson called police on wife’s advice after 'accessing porn while trying to download music'
Now 43-year-old is 'banned' from being alone with daughter while investigation is completed .
Father says: 'I feel like I'm guilty until proven innocent' |
230,850 | b6edc072c239cb9ef92ed09503198acee39a1fb6 | By . Leesa Smith for Daily Mail Australia . An Australian is among eight tourists killed in a bus crash in Bolivia. The bus was returning from a visit to the South American country's famed Salar de Uyuni salt flats, when it overturned just before dawn on Saturday. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed the death and said a second Australian was among the 24 people injured. DFAT is providing consular assistance to both travellers' families. An Australian is among eight tourists killed in a bus crash on the way back from Salar de Uyuni salt flats . Bolivian Police said the bus was returning to La Paz when it ran off the highway and crashed. Police Captain Gonzalo Carrasco said that another 24 people, most of them foreigners, were injured and being treated in hospitals in Oruro, the closest big city. He said eight of the 10 killed were foreign tourists including an Australian, two Swiss, two Italians and a Peruvian and that two of the foreigners could not immediately be identified, The Australian reported. One of the fatal Bolivian victims included the bus driver. Carrasco said the accident occurred Saturday about 290km south of the capital. He said the cause of the accident was under investigation. The accident occurred Saturday about 290km south of the capital of La Paz . | An Australian is among eight tourists killed in a bus crash in Bolivia .
The bus was returning from a visit to Salar de Uyuni salt flats on Saturday .
A second Australian was among the 24 people injured .
DFAT is providing consular assistance to both travellers' families .
Twp Bolivians were also killed in the crash . |
152,044 | 507e643f31c05565454e380e008559e62a8a849b | By . Ryan Gorman . and Lydia Warren . and Associated Press Reporter . An ex-convict with a history of mental illness eyed in the stabbing that left a six-year-old boy dead and his seven-year-old friend clinging to life was released from prison only two weeks ago despite a history of mental illness, it has been revealed. Daniel St. Hubert, 27, was paroled May 23 and is suspected in multiple stabbing attacks that have left two people dead and two others hospitalized in the weeks since. His original five-and-a-half-year sentence stemmed from attempted murder and assault convictions, records showed. Scroll down for video . Accused: Daniel St. Hubert being arraigned Thursday night in Brooklyn criminal court . Cops unknowingly encountered the suspect only hours before the vicious attack in a Brooklyn housing project that sent shockwaves through the city. He was urinating on a sidewalk when police approached him, sources told the New York Daily News. He claimed that he didn't know it was illegal and, after showing proper ID, he was released with a summons, said police. His reported actions over the next few hours are unspeakable. St. Hubert is accused of entering the Boulevard Houses in East New York, and stabbing to death P.J. Avitto in an elevator. The attack left Mikayla Capers seriously injured, she is currently fighting for her life in a city hospital. Suspected killer: Daniel St. Hubert allegedly stabbed 2 children and could be charged in further attacks . Perp walk: Daniel St. Hubert, center, is led from the 90th precinct by police, Thursday, June 5, 2014, in New York . Victims: Six-year-old P.J. Avitto, left, was stabbed to death in an elevator in his housing block on Sunday, while seven-year-old Mikayla Capers was left in critical condition. St. Hubert has been arrested in the attack . Killed: 18-year-old Tanya Grant-Copeland, pictured, was stabbed on Friday four blocks from where the children were attacked but police are still investigating whether St Hubert could be responsible . The mentally ill man was then arrested . only hours later for the stabbings after police patrolled the area . around his mother's home in Queens - and now he is suspected in yet . another grisly murder, police said. St. Hubert didn't put up any resistance . during his arrest, though he has a record of assaulting both a police . and correction officer, and was angrily ranting to himself in a holding . cell late Wednesday night, said NYPD spokesperson Stephen Davis. St. Hubert appears on surveillance . video near the subway stop where a homeless man was stabbed early . Wednesday morning on a platform, Davis said. Witnesses . to the seemingly random attack also described the suspect using an . 8-to-10-inch knife with a brown handle similar to one recovered on St. Hubert when he was arrested, Davis said. The 52-year-old drifter is recovering in a hospital and expected to survive the disturbing attack. St. Hubert is also suspected of stabbing to death 18-year-old Tanaya Copeland on Friday four blocks from where the attack of the young children happened, authorities said. Media frenzy: Reporters and photographers crowd the sidewalk for even just a glimpse of the man accused of the horrific stabbings . Plea: Police Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce appealed for help tracking down the stabbing suspect hours before he was arrested on Wednesday . Further testing of evidence collected . at that scene needs to be conducted, Davis said, but a similar knife was . recovered where Copeland was killed. St. Hubert was being held in a Williamsburg, Brooklyn precinct on Thursday . and unavailable for comment. It wasn't immediately clear if he had made . any statements or had asked for an attorney. Meanwhile, the father of Prince Joshua Avitto, the six-year-old boy who was fatally stabbed, said on Thursday that if he saw the suspect, he'd ask him, 'What made you do this to a little baby?' 'I'm at a loss for words,' Prince's father, Nicholas Avitto, told Fox 5 News. 'The bottom line is he got out and this tragedy took place after he was released from jail.' Missed: A boy looks at a memorial outside the Boulevard Houses in East New York on Wednesday . St. Hubert was picked up just after . 8pm Wednesday by detectives who had been tracking him, police said. He . was identified by forensic evidence recovered on the knife at the scene . of Sunday's elevator stabbing, police said. At . a Wednesday evening press conference attended by the mayor, officials . said investigators believed St. Hubert had no car and may have been . riding the subways. Davis said St. Hubert, who has an extensive criminal history, had previously been arrested on disorderly conduct charges for taking up two seats on the subway and other infractions. St. Hubert hasn't yet been officially charged but murder and assault charges are likely coming, said Davis. | Daniel St Hubert, 27, has been arrested in connection with the death of P.J. Avitto, 6, and the attack on Mikayla Capers, 7, last week .
Police also suspect he could be responsible for stabbing 18-year-old Tanaya Copeland just four blocks away but investigations continue .
He is also being eyed for a random attack on a homeless man on Wednesday - the 52-year-old is expected to survive .
St Hubert was stopped for public urination on Wednesday but the police did not recognize him and let him go; he was arrested hours later .
The accused has a history of mental problems . |
133,933 | 392cc6e71268c56a607547b7f6a63e0ed550b48d | By . Associated Press . Vice President Joe Biden's eldest son, Beau Biden, said Thursday that he has decided not to seek reelection as Delaware attorney general this year and instead plans to run for governor in 2016. 'Over the past few months, as I've been planning to run for re-election, I have also been giving a great deal of thought to running for governor in 2016,' Biden said in an e-mail to supporters Thursday morning. 'What started as a thought — a very persistent thought — has now become a course of action that I wish to pursue.' Scroll down for video . Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden said Thursday he won't seek reelection this year. Biden, who underwent surgery at a Texas cancer center last year, is pictured here at state budget hearing in February . Biden, who underwent surgery at a Texas cancer center last year, had said previously that he would seek a third term as attorney general. 'After careful consideration, I have concluded that it is not right to ask for your support in 2014, knowing that my focus would be divided between doing my job as attorney general while at the same time running as a candidate for governor,' he said in the statement. 'Therefore, I am announcing today that I will not seek re-election as your attorney general this November.' The announcement by Biden, 45, caught Delaware's political establishment off guard. He was seen as a virtual shoo-in for re-election. 'I don't want to use the word disappointed. I'm surprised, as everybody else is,' John Daniello, chairman of the Delaware Democratic Party, said in a phone interview. 'But on the other hand, I truly believe that he's an honest young man in terms of just telling everybody what his ambitions are," Daniello added. "I just admire the hell out of him for looking at the situation and saying 'I'm going to play this thing straight up.'' Vice presidential Joe Biden and his son Beau during the Democratic National Convention August 27, 2008 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado . Molly Magarik, a campaign spokeswoman for Biden, said the attorney general was not available for comment Thursday. Magarik said Biden had been planning to run for a third term until recently but that he also has been mulling a run for governor. 'He talked to his family, and they came to the decision that yes, that's what they want to do,' she said. Biden, who suffered a mild stroke in 2010, was hospitalized last August after becoming weak and disoriented during an Indiana vacation. He was later flown to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas, where doctors removed what was described as a small lesion. Biden has refused to discuss his latest health scare, but the Texas center's head of neuro-oncology gave him 'a clean bill of health' in November. | Beau Biden had planned to run for a third term as Delaware's Attorney General .
He said Thursday to drop that bid so that he could focus exclusively on his run for Governor .
Biden suffered a mild stroke in 2010 but now has a 'clean bill of health' |
143,413 | 45776a869f206da539f4d53cae322846a34434cb | San Diego, California (CNN) -- You almost have to feel sorry for President Obama. Almost. You know you're having a tough week when you're essentially being called untruthful by, of all people, Bill Clinton, who knows a thing or two about stretching the truth. At the very least, Clinton insisted that Obama -- in trying to sell Obamacare to the American people -- should not have broken his promise that, if they liked their doctor and health care plan, they could keep both. For millions of Americans, perhaps tens of millions, this hasn't been the case. Their policies were cancelled. Even while continuing to express support for the Affordable Care Act, Clinton suggested that people should be able to stay with what they had before the legislation took effect "even if it takes a change in the law." That is easier said than done. There is no easy fix that wouldn't rip out the foundation of Obamacare. Meanwhile, millions of Americans lose health care coverage that, defenders of Obamacare insist, wasn't very good anyway. Maybe not. But here is what is probably going through the mind of people like the ones whose individual policies were canceled or the single mom with three kids who was kicked off her company's health plan because she works part-time and must take her chances on the Obamacare exchange: "It wasn't perfect but at least it was something." Meanwhile, on the other end of the health care seesaw, according to official figures released Wednesday, just 106,000 Americans signed up. And that figure generously includes those who selected a plan but haven't paid yet. For what it is worth, only about 26,000 of those 106,000 managed to enroll through the troubled federal website that became a national punchline: www.HealthCare.gov. So, in other words, while we're only a month into this social experiment, those who have been inconvenienced by Obamacare outnumber, by a wide margin, those who have signed up to be helped by it. And if you think what is happening on the federal level is nutty, just take a look at the local exchanges. How's this for a math problem? In Washington D.C., just five people enrolled even though officials spent $133,573,928 to set up the exchange. That's $26,714,785.60 per enrollee. We knew that sometimes the safety net becomes a hammock. Now we know that, sometimes, the hammock is made of gold. None of this looks good. But it looks especially bad to Democrats who are up for re-election in 2014. Many of them are running for the hills. A group of about a dozen of them have given the White House until Friday to come up with a way for people to keep their health care coverage. You'll recall that every single Democratic lawmaker in both houses voted in favor of Obamacare, the very law that they're now trying to change. It would have been nice if they had made those changes through amendments before voting for the final bill. That's how it is supposed to work. After the fiasco at the Bay of Pigs, President John F. Kennedy famously noted that "victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan." Well, it's not just defeat that has no parents. We learned this week that the orphanages are also filled with massive, costly and inefficient government programs that give new meaning to the phrase "bureaucratic nightmare." These programs fine people for not buying a product from a website that doesn't work right, and they have caused an upheaval where -- under the pretense of ensuring that all Americans have health insurance -- several million Americans who had health insurance wake up to find that they no longer do. Obama either knew this would happen and he lied, or he was grossly mistaken. Either way, an important promise has been broken and a sacred trust violated. And while, politicians break promises all the time, this one is in a whole different category. This isn't the metaphorical "chicken in every pot" that never materialized. This is about government coming into your home and taking away the chicken that you planned to feed to your family for dinner. There's a big difference. And voters know it. Many Americans don't just feel disappointed and underserved. They feel injured, betrayed and lied to by their leaders -- and especially by Obama. In a Quinnipiac University poll released this week, Obama's job approval rating has dropped to a record low: just 39% of Americans approve of how he is handling the job, while 54% disapprove. Only 19% of Americans say they believe the quality of their health care will improve in the next year, while 43% say it will get worse and 33% don't think it will impact their coverage one way or another. But here's the real problem for the White House and the entire administration. In the same poll, more Americans than not are questioning the president's integrity. A majority of voters -- 52% -- say that Obama is not honest and trustworthy, compared to 44% who disagree. It wasn't supposed to be this way. When Obama took office in January 2009, he promised to be an improvement on previous presidents. He promised an administration that was honest and transparent. The rollout of Obamacare has been neither of those things. Someone has to pay for that. And, if voters have anything to say about it next year, someone will. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette. | Ruben Navarrette: It's been a tough week for Obama, including criticism from Clinton .
He says millions of Americans are seeing policies canceled, only small numbers signing up .
Democrats running for re-election in 2014 are getting nervous, he says .
Obama's poll ratings are taking a hit due to lack of confidence in his words, he says . |
153,446 | 5247459384d06b2cfc9e185d2a6ba8bd0a82b561 | These starkly-beautiful images bring to light the subterranean conditions endured by soldiers of the First World War while they were sheltering from constant artillery fire. Even though the fear of death always hung over the men - or perhaps because of it - the soft stone of the carved-out walls are covered in personal expressions of identity and survival. The stills were taken by Texan photographer Jeff Gusky, who chronicled the tunnels in France alongside National Geographic writer Evan Hadingham. Mr Hadingham wrote: 'The entrance is a wet hole in the earth little bigger than an animal burrow, obscured by thorny brush in a secluded wood in northeastern France. Together we slither through the muddy hole into the darkness below. 'After a few hundred feet the tunnel ends at a little cubicle hewed out of the chalk, reminiscent of a telephone booth.' Scroll down for video . U.S. troops of the 26th 'Yankee' Division, billeted in an underground quarry at Chemin des Dames, carved some 500 engravings during six weeks in 1918. These include names, addresses, religious and patriotic symbols, and other images. Abandoned: Some quarries could shelter thousands of men and featured amenities such as electric light. By 1918 combined tank, artillery, and air attacks made battlefields more mobile, and armies began to abandon their underground redoubts. He added: 'Here, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, German military engineers would take turns sitting in total silence, listening intently for the slightest sound of enemy tunnelers. Muffled voices or the scraping of shovels meant that a hostile mining team might be only yards away, digging an attack tunnel straight toward you. 'The danger grew if the digging stopped and you heard the sound of bags or cans being quietly stacked, one on top of another. It signaled that the enemy was laying high explosives at the end of the tunnel. Most nerve-racking of all was the silence that followed. 'At any moment the charges might detonate and blow you apart or bury you alive.' Even a single small mine could wreak havoc. In one tunnel complex the men visited, a charge set off by the Germans on January 26, 1915, killed 26 French infantrymen and wounded 22 more. The pair found graffiti left by the German engineers who manned this listening post, with names and regiments and a motto: 'Gott für Kaiser!' (God for the Kaiser!). The scars of artillery barrages still pockmark the ruins of a fort at Chemin des Dames, where some 30,000 French troops died during ten days in April 1917. Underground, French and German forces tried to penetrate each other¿s tunnels, and sometimes they fought hand to hand in pitch-black passageways . The deadlock of trench warfare led both sides to tunnel beneath enemy positions and plant explosives. In the Oise Valley, German engineers dug this secret network of tunnels beneath the French front lines. On January 26, 1915, they detonated a charge that killed 26 French infantrymen and wounded 22 . Soldiers relieved the tedium of underground life with signatures, sketches and caricatures, carvings, and even intricate relief sculptures. Life in the quarries was vastly preferable to the muddy hell of the trenches above. A journalist visiting one of the caverns in 1915 noted that 'a dry shelter, straw, some furniture, a fire, are great luxuries for those returning from the trenches.' But conditions were still grim. One French soldier wrote home: 'Vermin devour us, and it’s teeming with lice, fleas, rats and mice. What’s more, it’s very humid and a lot of the men fall sick.' To pass the time, the exhausted men would daydream. Images of women proliferate on the quarry walls, including many sentimental and idealised portraits. Troops left the relative comfort of an underground quarry via a carved stairway leading up to the trenches. Faith: A hundred years ago in a subterranean chapel, an unknown artist carved this image of a French soldier praying. Artwork covers many abandoned passages under the western front . Among the most prolific decorators of the underground cities was the 26th 'Yankee' Division, one of the first U.S. units to reach the front following America’s entry into the war in April 1917. To visit the quarry where they were billeted at Chemin des Dames, Hadingham and Gusky climb down two wobbly ladders into a cavern 30 feet below. They spent hours exploring a hundred-acre complex, finding passageways strewn with countless bottles, shoes, shell cases, helmets, beds made of rusted chicken wire, even an entire cooking range with pots and pans still in place. The images are from a feature - The Hidden world Of The Great War - in the August issue of National Geographic magazine. For more information please click here. | Photographer Jeff Gusky and writer Evan Hadingham explored the forgotten caverns of the Great War .
The underground chambers are decorated with signatures, slogans and even elaborate carvings by soldiers .
Although better than the trenches, conditions in the cavern were unpleasant and sudden death never far away . |
59,579 | a930bd3baa58008853117905d4f71bff23925bd5 | By . Rob Cooper . PUBLISHED: . 08:11 EST, 23 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 13:20 EST, 23 August 2013 . Germans were banned from eating sausages to help with the First World War effort, researchers have said. Zeppelin airships were a key weapon for the Central Powers during the 1914 to 1918 war but production placed a huge demand on cow guts, used to make gas holding cells. It took more than 250,000 cows to make a single airship and the animals’ intestines became so precious that making the popular bratwurst and other sausages was temporarily made illegal in areas under German control. Fear the wurst: Germans were banned from eating sausages during World War I because the Central Powers needed cows to help them produce Zeppelins to launch raids on Britain . Gunned down: A Zeppelin Z 48 comes down in East Anglia in 1917. Initially they were difficult to bring down because a few bullet holes did not cause much air to leak out of the aircraft which hold thousands of gallons of air. However, an incendiary bullet was later developed which set the Zeppelins alight . Details of the sausage ban were uncovered by researchers working on a Channel 4 documentary in a document prepared for the US . National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in 1922. The . ban also applied to occupied Austria, Poland and Northern France. It read: 'The collection of the goldbeater’s skins was very systematic in Germany during the war. 'Each butcher was required to deliver the ones from the animals he killed. 'Agents exercised strict control in Austria, Poland and Northern France, where it was forbidden to make sausages.' For the programme Dr Hugh Hunt, a University of Cambridge engineer, examined the role of the Zeppelin in the war, which foreshadowed the Blitz by bringing war to British civilians for the first time in centuries. Wreckage: An L33 Zeppelin is shot down by British fighter aircraft in 1916. By 1917, 77 of the 115 German airships had been destroyed . Morale sapping: A Zeppelin raid on England during World War I destroyed this house in Maldon, Essex . He studied how the silent aircraft were built and how the British adapted to their threat. 'One of the most intriguing things about the Zeppelins is that we don’t have a huge amount of information about how they were built, nor about how they were destroyed,' he said. 'But while shooting down a massive hydrogen balloon sounds pretty easy, actually it was quite the opposite. 'For the best part of two years, these things were able to fly over Britain, dropping bombs and causing havoc.' Records have long suggested that the Germans used cow intestines to contain the hydrogen needed to make them fly but it had never been clear how this was achieved. Destroyed: Two workmen inspect the wreckage after a Zeppelin damaged a house in England during World War I . Battlefield: German prisoners helping to carry wounded British soldiers back to their trenches after an attack near Ginchy during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 . Sausage ban: The Wurst was banned by the Central Powers in Germany, Austria, Poland and Northern France . Dr Hunt and his colleagues visited a sausage factory in Middlesbrough where they worked out that by making sausage skins wet, stretching them and allowing them to dry again, they could be bonded together to form ideal vessels for gas. Conceived as a way to break British civilian morale, the Zeppelin raids never caused enough casualties to alter the course of the war. But for civilians who witnessed them, the attacks, which began in January 1915, were a shocking experience. London’s East End and other towns in east and southern England, including Hull, King’s Lynn and Great Yarmouth, were targeted. Because of their stealth, the attacks were difficult to counter and when the raids ended in 1917, 77 of the 115 German airships had been shot down but 1,500 British citizens had been killed. Dr Hunt said: 'If you shoot a bullet at a balloon of hydrogen, all you get is a small hole. 'There were 50 thousand cubic metres of gas in a Zeppelin, and by putting a few holes in it, all you were doing was depriving it of a few cubic metres. It barely made any difference.' Eventually an incendiary bullet which set the Zeppelins alight was developed. It was not until he began filming the show that Dr Hunt discovered the bullets’ designer was his own great uncle, Jim Buckingham. Attack Of The Zeppelins will be shown on Channel 4 on Monday. Horror of war: British troops are seen in no man's land advancing on enemy lines during the Battle of the Somme during World War I . | Sausages were banned in Germany, Austria, Poland and Northern France to help with the war effort .
Zeppelin attacks were used by the Central Powers to sap British morale .
1,500 British citizens were killed in attacks by Zeppelins . |
69,913 | c636edaf81c08916994b2d6c662a6ac68ad9df63 | (CNN) -- Christie's is the world's leading art business with global auction sales in 2007 that totalled $6.3 billion, marking the highest total in company and in art auction history. A Christie's employee holds the painting 'La Surprise' at Christie's auction house in London on July 4, 2008. Founded in 1766 by James Christie, Christie's conducted the greatest auctions of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and today remains a popular showcase for unique artworks as well as international glamour. Christie's offers over 600 sales annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewelry, photographs, collectibles, wine, cars and more. Prices range from $200 to over $80 million. Christie's has 85 offices in 43 countries and 14 salerooms around the world including London, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Dubai and Hong Kong. Most recently, Christie's has expanded initiatives in emerging markets such as China, India and the United Arab Emirates, with successful sales and exhibitions in Beijing, Dubai, Mumbai and Russia. Christie's also offers its clients worldwide access to its sales through its real-time online bidding service Christie's LIVE. | Christie's global auction sales in 2007 totalled $6.3 billion .
Christie's was founded in 1766 by James Christie .
Sales categories include fine arts, jewelry, photography, collectibles, wine, cars . |
179,547 | 7477bf97a29aa10e9dd99dc1cf79f428972d57e3 | Popular Australian blogger Jessica Ainscough, the 'Wellness Warrior', has died of cancer at the age of 30 after seven years of sharing her battle with the disease. The 30-year-old passed away on Thursday, after a long battle with a rare and aggressive form of cancer called epithelioid sarcoma, which she chose to fight with natural and often controversial methods. When Ms Ainscough was diagnosed at the age of 22, she refused conventional treatment and her doctor's reccomendation that her arm be amputated, opting instead for a natural treatment called Gerson Therapy which involves drinking raw juices and coffee enemas. Scroll down for video . Popular Australian blogger Jessica Ainscough, the 'Wellness Warrior', has died of cancer at the age of 30 . 'I didn’t chop off my arm. I didn’t go into aggressive, full-body chemotherapy. I didn’t accept that my doctor’s ‘solution’ was the only course of action,' she wrote on her Wellness Warrior blog. 'I decided that I would do everything in my power to thrive in life, in spite of the looming expiration date I’d been given. I learned how to treat myself with absolute kindness & self-respect. I radicalised my diet. I systematically detoxified my body — and mind.' Ms Ainscough adopted a strict vegan diet, and additional suppliments to 'heal' her body without chemotherapy, an approach which has no scientific support but has garnered enthusiastic adoption from a small proportion of cancer sufferers around the world. Her cancer stopped spreading, and she reported that her 'flare-ups' were minimal, allowing her to live a relatively normal life. 'Somewhere along the way, I realised that I was more than a ‘cancer story’ — I was a leader, a role model, an educator, and a champion,' she wrote on her blog. 'Part of an empowering wellness revolution, sweeping the planet. Someone who could change lives & provide HOPE — simply by showing up, and telling my story.' Ms Ainscough detailed her journey with the method on her popular blog, attracting thousands of followers on social media and publishing a book called 'Make Peace with Your Plate'. Ms Ainscough's mother was diagnosed with cancer, and after embracing Gerson therapy, died in 2013 . Ms Ainscough detailed her journey with the method on her popular blog, 'The Wellness Warrior' When Ms Ainscough was diagnosed at the age of 22, she refused conventional treatment . Her unusual approach to fighting cancer attracted significant criticism from the public, and bodies such as the Cancer Council. 'The data that are available are not sufficient to warrant claims that the Gerson therapy is effective as an adjuvant to other cancer therapies or as a cure,' a page on the Cancer Council's website says. 'At this time, the use of the Gerson therapy in the treatment of cancer patients cannot be recommended outside the context of well-designed clinical trials.' Her mother was diagnosed with cancer in 2012, and, inspired by Ms Ainscough's success, also adopted the Gerson Therapy method. The alternative treatment did not work, and her mother passed away in 2013, an event which Ms Ainscough said brought her to her knees. 'I’ve been challenged, frightened, and cracked open in ways I never had before. After my mum died at the end of last year, my heart was shattered and it’s still in a million pieces,' she wrote on her blog in December last year. 'I had no idea how to function without her, and it turns out my body didn’t either. For the first time in my almost seven year journey with cancer, this year I’ve been really unwell,' she wrote. 'I’ve been challenged, frightened, and cracked open in ways I never had before,' said Ms Ainscough on her blog . Ms Ainscough wrote in her last blog post that she expected to be writing again in January . 'I’ve lived with cancer since 2008 and for most of those years my condition was totally stable. When my mum became really ill, my cancer started to become aggressive again. After she died, things really started flaring up.' Ms Ainscough reportedly began pursuing conventional treatments after she suffered through ten months of constant bleeding from the tumours in her arm and shoulder. 'This has been a game-changer for me and also very strange. Some weeks I’ve felt nothing but overwhelming sadness, others I’ve been really bitter and angry,' she wrote. 'I’ve also spent my time doing lots of research into treatment options. I’ve been speaking to doctors, healers, and specialists and I’ve been completely opening myself up to attracting the right people who will help me heal – whether they are from the natural medicine world or conventional,' 'My beliefs have been completely shaken up and I’ve had to drop any remnants of fear and ego that were preventing me from exploring these options sooner.' Ms Ainscough wrote in her last blog post that she expected to be writing again in January. Her website now features a photograph of Ms Ainscough, with the memorium 'On February 26th, 2015, the world lost one of its brightest sparks'. 'After 30 years, seven of which were spent thriving with cancer, Jess Ainscough peacefully passed away.' To read Cancer Australia's information on complementary and alternative therapies, please visit their website. | Jessica Ainscough, The Wellness Warrior, was a popular Aussie blogger .
She died of a rare and agressive form of cancer, epithelioid sarcoma .
Ms Ainscough was diagnosed at 22 and rejected conventional medicine .
She embraced the alternative Gerson Therapy method to rid toxins in body .
The therapy involved drinking raw juice and having coffee enemas .
Her mother was also diagnosed with cancer but passed away in 2013 .
In 2014 she said she was 'shattered' and was considering 'all methods'
She died on Thursday after a seven-year battle with the cancer . |
16,268 | 2e23986043cbc07e21df697febfa087db4414669 | By . Kerry Mcdermott . PUBLISHED: . 15:25 EST, 15 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:15 EST, 15 January 2013 . From the world's mightiest and most elusive creatures, to spectacular landscapes in the farthest flung corners of the globe, National Geographic has been capturing the wonder and diversity of our planet and its inhabitants for more than a century. The publication is now celebrating its landmark 125th anniversary with a showcase of some of the most iconic and recognizable images to have graced its pages over the years. The stunning series of photographs span decades and continents, from a trio of men on camels in the shadow of Egypt's pyramids in 1938, to the arresting beauty of a young Afghan refugee captured on camera in Pakistan in 1985. King of the jungle: A mighty lion finds a place for a nap amid the branches of a tree in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, where the creatures are often spotted sleeping high above the ground in fig trees . Founded in 1888, the National Geographic Society is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. It has funded more than 10,000 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects around the globe. The magazine is celebrating its 125th anniversary . Having started out as a scholarly journal in the 19th Century, the magazine has evolved into a publication that shines a spotlight on distant corners of the globe for millions of readers, with its combination of breathtaking photography and on-the-ground reporting. Steve McCurry's photograph of young Afghan refugee Sharbat Gula is perhaps the image most associated with National Geographic. Sharbat, whose piercing green eyes captured the attention of the globe when her solemn face appeared on the cover of the magazine in 1985, was around 12-years-old and living in Pakistan when the picture was taken during Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. For years she was known simply as 'the Afghan Girl', until the photograph's striking subject was formally identified in 2002. A look back through the National Geographic photo archives offers a glimpse into landmark moments in the history of countries around the world. One 1963 image features two members of the first U.S. team to reach the summit of Mount Everest trudging through the dazzling white snow as they make their ascent. The American expedition was sponsored in part by the National Geographic Society, and pioneered a new route to the summit of one of the world's most daunting peaks. But it is not always humans that feature in the journal's most spectacular photographs. In many of National Geographic's stunning pictures, it is animals, not people, that take centre stage. Photographer Paul Nicklen managed to capture a rare 'spirit bear' enjoying a feast of salmon in the rainforest in British Columbia in 2010. Also known as the Kermode bear, the elusive creature is a variant of the North American Black Bear that is born with white fur. Another picture reveals an enormous lion, lit up in the African dusk, stares down the lens of the camera as it prepares to bed down for a sleep amid the branches of a fig tree in Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park. One heart-warming photograph, which captures a fleeting moment of contact between Jane Goodall and a baby chimpanzee, reveals the bond that can exist between animals and humans. Photographer Hugo Van Lawick snapped the photograph as the chimp, which was named Flint, reached out to Jane at Gombe Stream National Park in western Tanzania. Now 78, British primatologist Jane famously spent 45 years studying the interactions of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. Spectacular setting: Members of the first American team to reach the summit of Nepal's Mount Everest are seen making their ascent through the snow in 1963 . Rare creature: The spirit bear - or Kermode bear - is a variant of the North American black bear that has white fur, like this creature photographed feasting on salmon in the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia in 2010 . Landmark: In this iconic 1938 image, three figures astride camels behold the majesty of the Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza, Egypt . Frozen in history: This shot of Afghan men gathered at a bazaar in Herat in 1931, left, was photo-journalist Maynard Owen-Williams' favourite image, while the piercing eyes of refugee Sharbat Gula, right, for years known only as the 'Afghan Girl', captured the attention of the world when they featured on the cover of the magazine in 1985 . Visible bond: Primatologist Jane Goodall and tiny chimpanzee Flint share a touching moment at Gombe Stream Reserve in Tanzania, East Africa. The fleeting scene was captured on camera in 1964 . The ice maiden: The 500-year-old mummy of a young Inca girl was unearthed on Mount Ampato in Peru in 1995 by archaeologist and National Geographic explorer-in-residence Johan Reinhard . More than a century of exploration: The National Geographic-Army Air Corps balloon, Explorer II, prepares to take to the skies over South Dakota, U.S., in 1935, left, while the image on the right shows one of 11 colossal stone heads discovered in Mexico in 1938 during an expedition led by archaeologist Matthew Stirling . | National Geographic is celebrating 125 years dedicated to exploration, education, and conservation .
From the famous 'Afghan Girl', to three men dwarfed by Egypt's majestic pyramids in 1938, National Geographic has brought us some of the world's most recognisable images . |
26,039 | 49cbaec345e2d6288ac399c20af68e647d5150b9 | Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) -- Jorge Ramos has been the face of Univision's News broadcast for 24 years. The program's estimated audience of more than 2 million viewers exceeds most English language news broadcasts. Ramos is also a best-selling author of 10 books. His latest is "A Country for All: An Immigrant Manifesto." CNN spoke to him in Phoenix where he was covering Arizona's controversial immigration law, SB1070: . CNN: You came to the United States as an immigrant yourself. What is your story? Jorge Ramos: Well I was working as a journalist in Mexico, and one day when I was very young out of college they censored one of the stories that I was doing on the president of the country. And back then I was very idealistic -- and I still am -- and I decided to quit. I quit my job in Mexico. I sold my car for $2,000, got a student visa and came to the United States. And it was supposed to be for only one year, that was January 2, 1983, and that year has become 27 years. So this country gave me the opportunities that my country of origin, Mexico, couldn't give me. CNN: How were you able to stay in this country on a student visa? JR: The student visa became a work permit. With the work permit I started working as a reporter in Los Angeles and then after being a few years in Los Angeles I became at 28 the anchorman for Univision news. CNN: You have written 10 books in your time here, often focusing on Latinos. But why immigration? Why now? JR: It's a book on the urgent need to have immigration reform. As we can see what happened in Arizona [the overturning of parts of SB 1070] it's a step in the right direction for Latinos and immigrants, but it's simply not enough. Things are exactly the same as two weeks ago or two months ago or two years ago or even 20 years ago because we still have 11 million people in the U.S. without any rights whatsoever. It's really incredible that the most powerful country in the world is treating 11 million people as second-class citizens or second-class human beings. CNN: You're getting a lot of criticism with this book not for criticizing the conservatives who are targeting immigrants, rather for accusing President Obama of breaking a campaign promise. Please explain this. JR: Yea, when Barack Obama was running for president he told Univision in an interview that he was going to have an immigration bill during his first year in office. It was an important promise because back then Barack Obama was trying to the get the Democratic nomination against Hilary Clinton. Hillary Clinton had promised that she was going to do it during the first 100 days. Anyway, Latinos believed Barack Obama; 67 percent of Latinos voted for Barack Obama and at the end President Barack Obama didn't keep his promise. He broke a promise. So, Obama broke his promise, Democrats don't have the political will to push for immigration reform right now and Republicans are missing in action during immigration. Nobody is really doing anything for immigrants right now. CNN: As an anchor for one of the largest Spanish-speaking news networks in the world, have you been able to get the Democratic leadership or the president to tell you what is behind the delay? JR: I think it's politics, simply politics. Democrats are very scared of losing the elections in November. The Democrats are afraid of losing control of the House of Representatives, if not the Senate. So they are not willing to push their luck right now on immigration and since immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants, can't vote there is really nothing to gain. But it was a campaign promise. Democrats were, most of them, for immigration reform and right now when they see the political wings are going the other way they are doing nothing. Because of the lack of action and leadership in Washington, that's why things like this are happening in Arizona. Other states realize that nothing is happening in Washington and they're taking immigration into their own hands. It's wrong, but that's what they're doing. CNN: Let's talk about the Republican Party at the national level. There's a movement within Christian Republicans, many of whom are Latino, who are trying to promote a "Not Arizona but not Amnesty" position. Is the Republican Party listening to them? JR: I don't think honestly that the Republican Party is listening to them. The Republican Party has to make peace with Latinos, otherwise they're going to keep on losing election after election after election. Latinos will become the majority in this country in less than 100 years. We won't be here to see it, but without the Hispanic vote, no one can make it to the White House. If Republicans don't make peace with Latinos, Texas is going to become a blue state and Republicans are going to keep on losing elections. They don't get the fact that immigration is the most important symbolic issue for Latinos. Other issues are more important jobs, education, health care, but immigration is the most important issue. If Republicans don't get it, they are going to keep on losing the Hispanic vote. CNN: Millions of Spanish-speaking people living in America watch Univision. During the SB1070 story when you were in Phoenix at the State Capitol, you were surrounded by hundreds of people watching your live shots. What do your viewers want in the way of immigration reform? JR: It's very simple. They want to be legal in this country. They know that they are not criminals. They know that they are not terrorists, yet they're being blamed for the crime in this country. Those who are criticizing them, they're completely wrong. Crime is down in all the United States. Most immigrants are not terrorists or criminals. They pay taxes. They create jobs. They don't abuse the system and they are very frustrated because no one is paying attention to them. So what they see in Univision -- the Spanish language media -- is the kind of leadership that they don't see in politicians. I mean look, Latinos are 15 percent of the population and we only have one U.S. senator, so there is a lack of leadership in the Hispanic community. The only way for them to communicate is through Spanish language media. That's why you see hundreds of people whenever we go, you know? CNN: As a journalist you know that we must remain objective. Seeing all these admirers, I cannot help but wonder how you can remain objective on this story. JR: I think it is a fair question and I think its something that I that I have to answer very honestly. As a journalist, I am not allowed and I will never give my opinion on the air when I'm doing the newscast. I have to give both points of view and that's exactly what I do all the time. But as an immigrant with a voice, because I have the privilege of having a voice, there are times when I have the need to talk for those who don't have a voice. As long as you're very clear on your roles, as long as you tell people exactly what you're doing, I think I am being fair and honest. CNN: Will your next book be based on this immigration coverage? JR: I don't know, I don't know. But right now I know that immigration reform has to be won in English. I mean the book in Spanish has sold very well, but it really doesn't matter because I'm speaking to the converted. Immigration reform has to be won in English and that's the only way. Even with an accent, you know? | Jorge Ramos is the main news anchor for Spanish language station, Univision .
He came to the United States from Mexico in his 20s .
He is critical of Obama for not getting an immigration bill in his first year in office . |
52,011 | 9350efdccb2b7108c772bb9bd883c50e058608a3 | (CNN) -- How much should the rest of the world worry about the crisis unfolding in Europe? For anyone who cares about the state of their personal finances and the size of their reserves for retirement, the answer is: A lot. For investors, it's a time of risk and opportunity. Investors exhaled with some relief Sunday after voters in Greece gave a narrow victory to New Democracy, a party that vows to work with European leaders to keep the struggling country in the eurozone. But the crisis is nowhere near solved. Greece has to find a way to stability while Spain and Italy, much more important economies, show worrisome signs. When scenarios of "Europocalyspe" and "Eurogeddon" are evoked, you know things are getting bad. Because in today's interdependent and hyper-connected world, no continent can feel secure while another is sliding economically. What happens in Europe has the potential to determine the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in November. It could trip up America's feeble recovery, create more unemployment and take a toll on the global stock market. Conversely, if Europe manages to avoid a financial storm, it could remove a huge cloud of uncertainty hanging over the global economy and brighten the outlook -- and the portfolios -- of investors everywhere. Pro-Euro Greek right tries, again, to form government . If you doubt that European problems could affect U.S. shores, take a quick glance at history for a chilling lesson. Prominent economists have drawn an eerie parallel between today's events and those of the early 1930s when, as the world limped in the aftermath of the 1929 Wall Street crash, a banking crisis in Europe took the world economy into another downward spiral and led to an explosion of extremist politics that, ultimately, set the pathway to World War II. If you don't care about the politics, consider just the stock market in the last 100 years. The Dow Jones Index, which stood at 381 in early September 1929, lost half of its value in the two months after the Great Crash of October. But the worst was yet to come. By 1932, the index had plummeted a breathtaking 90% from the September highs, dropping to just 41. The years after the 1929 crash brought a stomach-churning roller-coaster ride. The Dow climbed more than 400% from 41 to 194 and then back down to 92, before stabilizing and resuming a relatively steady climb during World War II. Imagine seeing your savings, your retirement funds, cut to one-tenth their size. It took a quarter of a century for the market to return to pre-crash levels. Those who bought stocks when the index stood at 41 saw their investment eventually soar to spectacular heights -- especially those who picked the right stocks at the right time. (The tycoon, J. Paul Getty, among others, started building his fortune by snapping up bargain stocks.) So what do those events in the 1930s, which unfolded when bankers, politicians and investors knew so much less about the economy, have to do with our world, the age of the Internet, the era of unlimited access to information and advanced economic theories? If European leaders and the voters who elect them glean the right lessons from history and manage to steer their continent away from the edge of the cliff, then we won't see a repeat of that disaster of a global crash. But no one knows whether Europeans will get their economic problems straightened out. This means that anyone who owns stocks or other investments should take a deep breath and decide just how much risk he or she is willing to accept. Most Americans own stocks through mutual funds. Millions have their money in employee-provided retirement accounts and rely on the stock market for their future without realizing it. Many top-rated investors are minimizing their stake in the market. The legendary Jim Rogers says he's pessimistic and not buying stocks. He's buying gold and other commodities. The investment giant BlackRock is telling clients to stock up on cash and safe-haven bonds and treasury bonds even though this is not the best strategy in the long run since it provides negative returns when you factor in inflation. For the more adventurous and optimistic, there's the lure of potentially huge returns, if Europe dodges disaster, or, in the aftermath of a crash. European leaders are getting strong advice from all directions. While the Greeks suffer, the Spaniards face severe unemployment, and fringe political parties spring up and grow stronger, economists from both sides of the Atlantic are urging German Chancellor Angela Merkel to reverse course from her push for strict austerity, which is choking economies already in depression. My sense is that Merkel will do whatever it takes to not let the eurozone come apart and will ease up on austerity while the storm passes. But nobody has a crystal ball; not for the market, not for the politicians. For investors, the most important point to keep in mind is that these are not days like others. It is a time of crisis, of great risk and, as happens when there is great risk, also of potentially great rewards. Those who wish to take the risk should do it with eyes wide open, not by accident, neglect or inertia. The epicenter of the crisis may be in Europe, but the shockwaves will know no boundaries. Everyone should pay attention. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Frida Ghitis. | Frida Ghitis: Anyone who cares about personal finance needs to pay attention to Europe's crisis .
Ghitis: Europe's problems could have huge impact on the U.S., just look at the 1930s .
She says investors are reducing their stake in the stock market in fear of a big crash .
Ghitis: It's a time of great risk, but also of potentially great reward . |
132,593 | 377889b847ce563f9546ea30bf2923ab065d857d | Rafael Nadal jinked and jumped around Centre Court, his fist shaking in relief. He had been rocked by the sheer ferocity of a Czech beast called Lukas Rosol but now he was being applauded by a crowd on its feet, a champion restored. For a few nervous, late-lunchtime moments it looked as if history might just repeat itself. It was Rosol, tall and strong, who had caused an earthquake around this part of south-west London two years ago when his powerful serve and bold shots sent Nadal out in the second round. Wimbledon had rarely witnessed a bigger shock, a 33-minute final-set dismantling under the roof by the then world No 100 of the great Rafa. Jumping for joy: Rafael Nadal roars with delight as he seals a four-set win over Lukas Rosol . Revenge: Rafa Nadal celebrates avenging his defeat to Lukas Rosol two years ago . The Centre Court auditorium can make men shrivel or make them grow like giants, and we wondered for a set and a half on Thursday whether the air — the roof was down this time — might inspire Rosol again. Now ranked 52nd in the world, Rosol took the first set and carried the momentum into the second, when he broke Nadal early and took a 4-2 lead. The Spaniard was wobbling (as well as twitching and towelling and tarrying, to Rosol’s displeasure, as the Czech made clear on court with the odd disapproving stare and afterwards in his claim that Nadal is given special treatment by officialdom). Would Rosol’s feat of 2012 play tricks with the minds of the players? After all, it was the biggest moment in one man’s career and presaged a long downturn in the fortunes of the other. There was the murmur that rustles around the court at such moments of tension. But Nadal’s forehand, whippy and powerful and trusty, combined with his warrior spirit to fight back to 4-4. The set went to a tiebreak, which the double Wimbledon champion won 8-6. We did not know it for certain yet but the outcome of the match was swinging Nadal’s way here and now. His uncle and coach, Toni, grasped some of the significance of it, though, and celebrated animatedly. Pippa Middleton, whose derriere graced a seat in the second row of the Royal Box, contented herself with a more regal clap. Revenge: Rafael Nadal beat Lukas Rosol to avenge his defeat at Wimbledon two years ago . Not this time: Lukas Rosol was unable to beat Rafael Nadal for the second time in two years . Rosol’s first serve — an Exocet missile — was less reliable in the third set, his confidence dwindling as Nadal’s grew. The one slight black mark against the match was the speed of Nadal’s play, about which Rosol made a few reasonable points. ‘All the players should have the same time between points,’ he said. ‘The best players are taking more than the normal players and nobody is telling them anything. I don’t know why.’ Most observers thought he was lumping Nadal and Novak Djokovic together as Alphas who please themselves. Rosol added: ‘He was taking a long time between serves. He was doing all his rituals. I just asked the referee if it was OK and he said it was fine. This is not why I lost today, but the referee was not going with the rules.’ Nadal was unconcerned about the issue, happy just to have come through a tough match. Revenge was not in his vocabulary. Eyes on the prize: Rafael Nadal battled back from a set down to seal victory . Test of character: Rafael Nadal didn't have it all his own way against Lukas Rosol, losing the first set . Looking for inspiration: Lukas Rosol started brightly but faded as the match went on . VIDEO Wimbledon: Day 4 review . John Isner reached the third round of the Championships for the first time. The American No 9 seed, who is famous here for his 70-68 fifth-set win over Nicolas Mahut in 2010 — the longest match to ever be played at Wimbledon — defeated Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen in straight sets. Isner did show his love of long sets though, taking the opening set tie-break 19-17, the second longest tie-break in the history of the men’s competition. ‘What happened happened,’ he said of his defeat in 2012. ‘That’s it. We had already congratulated him for that. Today (Thursday) is another story. I need to find the solution. Finally, I did. ‘I had a good answer after being in a bit of trouble. ‘I played with fantastic energy in the last three sets. Very positive. Very quick with my legs. Very quick mentally. I was returning well. So I am very pleased with the way I played. 'After winning at Roland Garros I feel less pressure this year. I am more confident and better physically. I am practising with a different energy from the last two years because my knees work better.’ Next up is . Mikhail Kukushkin, the Kazakh ranked 63 in the world and now playing . freely after a shoulder injury. Ahead of that match, Nadal went back to . his house to put his feet up, watch the USA vs Germany World Cup game . and get some supper. ‘We go to restaurants every single day of the rest of the year so when we are here I like to cook,’ he said. Gracious: Lukas Rosol (left) congratulates Rafael Nadal on his victory . Thirsty work: Niall Noran (right) takes a sip of beer as he and band-mate Liam Payne take in some tennis . Royal touch: Pippa Middleton was spotted in the Royal box during Rafael Nadal's game against Lukas Rosol . Famous face: Sir Steve Redgrave and his wife Ann were also in the Royal Box on Thursday . The world number one maintained his momentum to break to love in the first game of set four, soon surging 3-1 up. After saving a break chance when serving for the match, Nadal eventually claimed victory at the third time of asking when Rosol's return was long. Next for him will be Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in round three after he beat lucky loser Frank Dancevic in straight sets. | World No 1 and second seed beats Rosol 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-4 .
Rosol had chance to go two sets up but could not take it .
Nadal won 14 straight points at end of third set and start of fourth .
Rosol famously beat Nadal in five sets at Wimbledon two years ago . |
120,085 | 2733291db5850a19339a62285447d19794c60973 | Washington (CNN) -- Well, that settles it: CBS' Bob Schieffer must be straight. Not that I spent time thinking about his sexual orientation before but that's the first thing that popped in my mind when the legendary newsman, in critiquing President Barack Obama's inauguration speech, said, "There were no real memorable lines." Maybe not for straight people, but there were not a whole lot of gay people who will forget this: . "Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well." That was the first time the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community was mentioned in inaugural address. I'd say that passage was pretty memorable. And while we've all heard this president mention the rights of gays in speeches before -- what was unique about the inauguration, what really moved me and a lot of people engaged in this particular struggle, was this: . "We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths -- that all of us are created equal -- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall." Seneca Falls refers to the first women's rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. His mention of Selma was a nod to the civil rights march in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. And Stonewall? After years of being harassed by police, even arrested for dressing differently or simply walking down the street, the patrons of the Stonewall Inn finally had enough. So after another humiliating raid at a Greenwich Village bar by the name of Stonewall Inn, they fought back. That was June 28, 1969. That moment is credited with being the single most important event in the gay rights movement. The community came together. Groups were formed. Significant cultural change had begun. In mentioning Stonewall, with not only the nation, but the world watching, Obama gave more than a passing acknowledgment to a group of people who were instrumental to his re-election. He stopped, looked us in the eyes, and said: I see you. Maybe if you've never had to worry about not being promoted "if someone found out"; maybe if you've never had to switch pronouns or leave your better half at home for fear of being fired; maybe if you've never had to worry about health insurance for your children or pay extra taxes because your state doesn't recognize your family; maybe if you've never sat in a church and had a preacher tell you that your family isn't a family at all, that your loving relationship is wrong, that who you are is inherently wrong, then I could see how someone could view the president's speech as lacking in memorable lines. But the Association of Bragg Officers' Spouses recently offered the wife of an Army lieutenant colonel an invitation to join the group as a "special guest" -- not as a spouse -- for one reason: sexual orientation. So despite being legally married, despite a 15-year relationship, despite the overturning of "don't ask, don't tell," the blatant discrimination and bullying of LGBT people continues. So the mentioning of Stonewall did not pass by everyone's ears unnoticed. In fact as I made my way from the frozen lawn in front of the U.S. Capitol, past the parade route and eventually to one of the evening's balls, it was clear to me that the passage in Obama's speech was more than a memorable line. It was a rallying cry. That's not to say the work is done but rather Bayard Rustin, and Harvey Milk and Del Martin and the countless souls who have since moved on, did not fight for this notion of full equality, in vain. It took 44 presidents, 57 inaugurations and 224 years before the LGBT community was mentioned in an inauguration speech -- but the community was finally mentioned. That seems pretty memorable to me. At the beginning of the ceremony, Sen. Chuck Schumer drew our attention to the construction of the Capitol, particularly the Statue of Freedom that stands at the top of the dome. He pointed out it was a freed slave, Phillip Reed, who helped to cast the bronze statue, which was placed there December 2, 1863, not even a year after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. To hear that story on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as the nation's first black president was being sworn in for a second time, was a reminder to all of us that at times equality can feel like a slow train coming ... but we cannot grow weary because it is coming. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson. | LZ Granderson: Bob Schieffer found "no real memorable lines" in Obama speech .
Granderson says the perspective of a gay person is far different .
Obama broke ground with strong support for equal rights, Granderson says .
Those who have felt pain of discrimination won't forget Obama's words, he says . |
21,914 | 3e486c4484d7ad274b95a6a9dedb736a49c68536 | By . Lucy Osborne . PUBLISHED: . 20:06 EST, 15 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:12 EST, 16 July 2013 . As if putting their hands in their pockets for a daughter’s wedding weren’t enough, ever more parents now put money towards their son’s as well. The occasion has become so expensive that a fifth plan to pay for their son’s nuptials, and many more will make some contribution, research has shown. A third pay for their daughter’s big day, according to a survey by Saga Home Insurance. Rising costs: Parents are increasingly being tapped by their sons for help with paying for weddings . The average cost of a wedding rose above £21,000 this year. Previous research showed it had risen by £7,000 in a decade. In 2003 the bill for the big day was £14,643, rising to £18,781 in 2006 and £19,265 in 2009. People in their 20s and 30s simply cannot afford such a price tag given the economic climate so are being forced turn to the bank of mum and dad. Paying for weddings also seems to run in the family. Parents are more likely to cover the entire bill for their children if they didn’t have to pay for their own, the survey of 9,349 adults, all aged 50, found. Big day: People in their 20s and 30s simply cannot afford the high price tag attached to weddings given the economic climate so are being forced turn to the bank of mum and dad . Emma Soames, editor-at-large for Saga Magazine, said: ‘The only way to give your child the wedding of their dreams is for both sets of parents to contribute. 'I have discovered this as my own daughter is getting married this summer and it seems to be the norm these days for the parents in law to contribute. ‘Costs can be enormous especially since a girl’s implacable desire to dance in her wedding dress means that there is normally a celebratory meal for quite large numbers of people before they hit the dance floor.’ | A fifth plan to pay for their son's nuptials, research by Saga has shown . |
171,196 | 69912b442ba29b91252915b622f3466bc02c0ac8 | By . Simon Tomlinson . Russia today imposed a 'full embargo' on most food imports from the West in retaliation for sanctions over Ukraine - a sweeping move that will cost Western farmers billions of dollars but could also lead to empty shelves in Russian cities. The decision shows that President Vladimir Putin has no intention of bowing to Western pressure over Ukraine and will instead try to strike back at the West. It also demonstrated that the Kremlin is ready to inflict damage on Russia while pursuing its course in Ukraine. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also warned that Russia could block transit flights for European and U.S. Airlines to the Asia-Pacific region. Scroll down for video . 'Sanctions only lead to a deadlock': Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announces a 'full embargo' on most food imports from the West in retaliation for sanctions over Ukraine . In televised comments, he told a government meeting: 'Russia is introducing a full embargo on imports of beef, pork, fruit and vegetable produce, poultry, fish, cheese, milk and dairy products from the European Union, United States, Australia, Canada and Norway.' The ban goes into effect immediately and will last one year unless 'our partners demonstrate a constructive approach' with regards to sanctioning Russia, he said. 'Of course this is a serious decision for the suppliers of such foods from these countries.' The U.S. and the EU have accused Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March, of fomenting tensions in eastern Ukraine by supplying arms and expertise to a pro-Moscow insurgency, and have imposed asset freezes and loan bans on a score of individuals and companies. Could lead to empty shelves: Shoppers buy imported fruit at a supermarket in Moscow. Experts say local producers will find it hard to fill the gap left by the ban because of poor efficiency and shortage of funds . Russia depends heavily on imported foodstuffs - most of it from the West - particularly in the largest and most prosperous cities such as Moscow. In 2013, the EU's agricultural exports to Russia totalled 11.8 billion euros (£9.3 billion), while the U.S. Department of Agriculture says food and agricultural imports from the U.S. amounted to $1.3 billion. Experts said that local producers will find it hard to fill the gap left by the ban, as the nation's agricultural sector has continued to suffer from poor efficiency and shortage of funds. The damage to consumers inflicted by the ban will be felt particularly hard in big cities like Moscow, where imported food fills an estimated 60-70 per cent of the market. Medvedev said Russia could go further and ban Western carriers from flying over Russia on flights to and from Asia - a move that would significantly swell costs and increase flight time. Unrest: The U.S. and the EU have accused Russia of fomenting tensions in Ukraine by supplying arms and expertise to pro-Moscow separatists (above) who has also been blamed for the shooting down of flight MH17 . He said there has been no decision on that yet, and wouldn't specify when and under what conditions the move could be taken. Medvedev made it clear that Russia hopes that the sanctions will make the West revise its policy and stop trying to pressure Russia with sanctions. 'Until the last moment we hoped that our partners would understand that sanctions only lead to a deadlock, and no one needs them, but they didn't,' he said. 'We hope our partners will put a pragmatic economic approach above bad policy considerations, and they will start thinking instead of trying to scare us.' If the West doesn't revise its course, Russia may follow up by introducing restrictions regarding imports of planes, navy vessels and cars, Medvedev warned, but added that the government will realistically assess its own production potential. | PM Dimitry Medvedev strikes back at the West with year-long sanctions .
Banned products include meat, fruit, vegetables, fish, cheese and dairy .
The EU, U.S., Australia, Canada and Norway among countries affected .
EU's agricultural exports to Russia totalled more than £9billion last year . |
147,028 | 4a1fdb27f19504c7430f7859a1f5ff04d85a0441 | Democrats are looking to turn up the heat on Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy as he heads into the final days of his runoff battle with Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu with two ethics complaints focused on his work at Louisiana State University. Both a Louisiana citizen affiliated with the Louisiana Democratic Party and the American Democracy Legal Fund filed complaints with the Office of Congressional Ethics on Wednesday alleging that Cassidy's work for the university violates multiple ethics rules and guidelines and calling for an investigation. The ADLF complaint, obtained by CNN, alleges that Cassidy failed to receive required approval from the Ethics Committee to engage in teaching activities from 2011-2014. Lawmakers are banned from receiving any "honoraria" — meaning a payment for an appearance, speech or article — while serving in office, but teaching activities are exempt from that ban. The complaint against Cassidy also argues that his work for LSU did not meet the requirements to be considered teaching work, and thus wasn't exempt from the ban. Instead, it argues, his work amounts essentially to "medical services," and so the stipend he received from LSU for his teaching services should be considered compensation in violation of Ethics rules. That stipend was also, the complaint alleges, inappropriately left off of his personal disclosure forms. And it also argues that Cassidy received compensation from LSU for months when he didn't put in any hours there, meaning the compensation constitutes a gift in excess of the $100 limit lawmakers must adhere to. The LDP complaint outlines similar concerns. Cassidy's campaign did not respond to a request for comment. It's an effort from Democrats to highlight a late-breaking controversy surrounding Cassidy's employment with the school. Documents published last week by a number of local Louisiana political blogs suggest Cassidy might have billed the school for more hours of work than he completed. Cassidy and his campaign advisers have pushed back against the allegations, arguing they're entirely baseless and simply an effort from Landrieu's campaign to try overcome some of the deep deficit she faces in the polls. She's considered a serious underdog in Saturday's showdown. Landrieu's campaign has vehemently denied that it had anything to do with the documents coming to light, but Bob Mann, an LSU professor and veteran Louisiana political reporter, told CNN on Tuesday he had heard from multiple news outlets in Louisiana that Democratic operatives had been shopping the documents around for at least a month, and found no takers. He said despite the continuing developments in the situation, he thought it was too late in the race for it to change the tide. "It's one of those things that I think just happened a little too late to really make a difference. It almost feels like last-minute desperation kind of stuff," he said. | Rep. Bill Cassidy is favored to defeat Sen. Mary Landrieu in their runoff matchup Saturday .
He's facing late-breaking controversy over his teaching work at LSU .
Two Democratic groups have filed ethics complaints focused on his work for the university . |
172,960 | 6bd6e70b832bef786d2b36ea5e039d3342d12b7b | PUBLISHED: . 20:50 EST, 19 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:08 EST, 20 November 2013 . JPMorgan Chase & Co has tentatively agreed to pay $13 billion to settle allegations surrounding the quality of mortgage-backed securities it sold in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. If the agreement is finalized it would be the government's highest-profile enforcement action related to the financial meltdown that plunged the economy into the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. A source familiar with negotiations between the bank and federal government said Attorney General Eric Holder, Associate Attorney General Tony West, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and the bank's general counsel, Stephen Cutler, negotiated the tentative settlement in a Friday night phone call. Scroll down for video . Deal: JP Morgan Chase has tentatively agreed to $13bn agreement over mortgage-backed securities . The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the deal has not been finalized, said the tentative agreement does not resolve a criminal investigation of the bank's conduct. It is being handled by federal prosecutors in Sacramento, California. On Friday night, Mr Holder told the bank that a non-prosecution agreement was a non-starter, meaning that the Justice Department will continue to conduct the criminal investigation of the financial institution. As part of the deal, the Justice Department expects JP Morgan to cooperate with the continuing criminal inquiry into the bank's issuance of mortgage-backed securities between 2005 and 2007, the source said. JP Morgan spokesman Brian Marchiony and Justice Department spokesman Brian Fallon declined to comment. Of the $13 billion, fines and penalties will use up $9 billion and $4 billion will go to consumer relief for struggling homeowners, the source claimed. Inquiry: Bank CEO Jamie Dimon testifies before the House financial services hearing in June 2012 . Conference call: Attorney General Eric Holder is said to have negotiated the deal in a Friday night phone call . When the housing bubble burst in 2007, bundles of mortgages sold as securities soured and the investors who bought them lost billions. In the aftermath, public outrage boiled over that no high-level Wall Street executives had been sent to jail. Some lawmakers and other critics demanded that the big bailed-out banks and senior executives be held accountable. Negotiations: Security and Exchange Commission head Stephen Cutler is also said to have been involved in the $13 bn deal . In response, the government in January 2012 set up a task force of federal and state law enforcement officials to pursue wrongdoing with regard to mortgage securities. In September, JP Morgan agreed to pay $920 million and admit that it failed to oversee trading that led to a $6 billion loss last year in its London operation. That combined amount, in settlements with three U.S. and one British regulator, is one of the largest fines ever levied against a financial institution. In another case, the company agreed to pay a $100 million penalty and admitted that its traders acted 'recklessly' with the London trades. In August, the Justice Department accused Bank of America Corp, the second-largest U.S. bank, of civil fraud in failing to disclose risks and misleading investors in its sale of $850 million in mortgage bonds in 2008. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a related lawsuit. The government estimates that investors lost more than $100 million on the deal. Bank of America disputes the allegations. The latest action against JP Morgan brought the weight of the Obama administration against the bank, which has enjoyed a reputation for managing risk better than its Wall Street competitors. JP Morgan came through the financial crisis in better shape than most of its rivals and Mr Dimon, its chief executive, charmed lawmakers and commanded the attention of regulators in Washington. A number of banks, including JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, previously have been accused of abuses in sales of securities linked to mortgages in the years leading up to the crisis. Together they have paid hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties to settle civil charges brought by the SEC, which accused them of deceiving investors about the quality of the bonds they sold. JP Morgan settled SEC charges in June 2011 by agreeing to pay $153.6 million and reached another such agreement for $296.9 million in November last year. The banks in all the SEC cases were allowed to neither admit nor deny wrongdoing - a practice that brought criticism of the agency from judges and investor advocates. But in a first for a major company, JP Morgan admitted in the agreement with the SEC over the $6 billion trading loss in its London operation that it failed in its oversight. Aid: $4 billion from the deal will be used to help homeowners left struggling after the crash . The admission could leave the bank vulnerable to millions of dollars in lawsuits. JP Morgan also reached settlements over the trading loss with the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Britain's Financial Conduct Authority. The Justice Department is still pursuing a criminal investigation of the trading loss and a possible cover-up at the bank. Two of the bank's former traders in London are facing criminal charges. The SEC also is investigating individuals involved in the trading loss. Mounting legal costs from government proceedings pushed JP Morgan to a rare loss in the third quarter, the first under Mr Dimon's leadership. The bank reported on October 11 that it set aside $9.2 billion in the July-September quarter to cover a string of litigation stemming from the financial crisis and its 'London Whale' trading debacle. JP Morgan said it has placed a total of $23 billion in reserve to cover potential legal costs. | Deal would be government's highest-profile action over financial meltdown .
$4bn from fund will go to consumer relief to help struggling homeowners .
Justice Department is continuing its criminal investigation of the bank . |
221,530 | aac4bc425f3974099f5c9070d95b5b9c70520c56 | (CNN) -- When Piper Below lost her dog, Jack, on a morning walk, the last thing she expected was to find him with the help of hundreds of strangers on the Internet. But since Below was desperate to track him down, she did just that -- by going to popular Internet forum Reddit and posting a plea on the Houston board for residents to look out for her dog. After an outpouring of people offered to keep an eye out, one Reddit user found Jack wandering in the parking lot of a grocery store and reached out to let Below know. "REDDIT HE'S FOUND!!!! AND YOU DID IT!!!!! I have to leave to take him to the vet but he seems like maybe he's ok. I COULD KISS YOU ALL!," Below wrote on the forum. Below, a professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health, told HLN that she was originally worried that she couldn't dedicate the time to Jack that he deserved. After finding the dog wandering dazed in the middle of the street in early September, she took him in and tried to do what she could to nurse him back to health. "He had skin infections, eye infections. He was filthy, malnourished, you name it," she said. "He seemed sweet for a dog that didn't seem coherent. I have never owned a dog before, but I did my best to nurse him back to health." After a few rounds of meds and some good rest, Jack seemed to be making a speedy recovery ... but Below's plan to find him a home elsewhere was quickly eroding. "I kept seeing this incredible personality come out of him," she told HLN. "When we went to the vet to get his issues addressed, he just set his chin on my knee and waited calmly while he got prodded and poked. He had only known me for a week, and he had stolen my heart." Below had made the decision to keep Jack in early October. She, Jack and a neighbor were walking in an empty lot near her home on December 1 when Jack slipped through a gap in the fence and took off. Below watched as he ran into the street and was hit by a big, white truck. "He bounced off the truck, got up and ran back toward us. I thought he was coming back, but he darted off instead. And I knew I had to find him," she told HLN. That night, Below decided to take to Reddit to see if she could spread the word to look for Jack. She posted in several different forums and went to sleep after spending time with supportive friends. The next morning, she woke up to hundreds of messages. A Reddit user put her in touch with a man that maintains a large email list of people involved in animal rescue, which eventually led to one of the people on the list finding Jack. Below was at work at around 3:30 p.m. Monday when she got a phone call from a woman who said she had her eyes on Jack nearby. Below darted as fast as her legs could carry her to find them. "A man came up to me when I was running to meet her and asked if I had seen a dog, and I said "I'm looking for my dog!' and he said 'I'm from Reddit!' It was crazy and amazing," Below said. Below finally found Jack with the woman who had contacted her, and when she did, the reunion was nothing but tears and palpable relief. "I saw his body relax as soon as he saw me," she told HLN. "So I had this scared, filthy dog in my arms, and I was crying. There just aren't words." Below said that the support from Reddit stunned and amazed her. "I got e-mails from people that said 'I go on a walk every day. I'll reroute near where Jack was lost and look for him.' One woman said she was stuck at home with an injury and had nothing to do, so she would go look for him. And even when we found him, we met someone who was out looking for him," she told HLN. While not a heavy Reddit user before now (Below describes herself as more of a "lurker"), she said that the site is an incredible tool for gathering information and that she uses it daily to keep an eye on what's going on in the world. "It curates the entire Internet for you," she told HLN. "And thanks to it, I found my dog." | Piper Below lost her dog during a morning walk .
Strangers on Internet forum Reddit helped her find the pup .
Below said the support from Reddit stunned and amazed her . |
213,595 | a09f0b5dadbf9fce2b3504eeac4497029d9ae662 | Beijing (CNN) -- An outbreak of polio has been confirmed in China for the first time since 1999, leaving one person dead and hospitalizing another nine, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The disease, a contagious viral illness that in its most severe form causes paralysis, difficulty breathing and sometimes death, broke out in the prefectures of Hotan and Bazhou in the country's western Xinjiang province. Among the ten cases confirmed, six are in children under three years old and four are young adults. The WHO said evidence indicates the virus is genetically linked to polio cases currently circulating in Pakistan, which borders Xinjiang. Pakistan has been affected by the nationwide transmission of the same WPV1 strain. It also warned the virus could spread beyond the current affected area. "Although other areas in China or other countries are not immediately at risk due to the geographic distance to the affected province, the polio virus can travel great distances and find susceptible populations, no matter where they live," Helen Yu, from the WHO's Beijing office told CNN. According to China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Ministry of Health has dispatched a group of public health experts to the affected region to help treat the virus. It said the local government had launched a mass vaccination campaign starting in early September. WHO confirmed initial vaccination campaigns carried out by mid-September had reached over 3.5 million children -- children being particularly vulnerable to polio. Further vaccination campaigns will be conducted in the near future to ensure this outbreak is brought completely under control, according to the health ministry. "No matter how long a country has been polio-free, as long as global polio eradication has not yet been achieved, the risk for importation remains and constant vigilance is required." said Yu. Polio, also known as poliomyelitis, is usually transmitted through contaminated food and water. It invades the nervous system and often leads to permanent paralysis. It can be prevented by immunization. This is the first outbreak of polio in China since 1999, when a case was reportedly brought into the country from India. | Outbreak reported in western Xinjiang province, which borders Pakistan .
Polio a contagious viral illness that can cause paralysis, death .
Among the ten cases confirmed, six are in children under three years .
WHO: Virus genetically linked to polio cases circulating in Pakistan . |
254,538 | d57c44b1a2934e97dc6491c082f4aa1b4bb27747 | By . John Hall . North and South Korean warships have exchanged gunfire after Kim Jong-Un's navy were accused of illegally entering waters belonging to its neighbour. In the latest sign of rising animosity between the bitter rivals, officials from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Ministry said a North Korean vessel fired two artillery shells at a ship patrolling the countries' disputed maritime boundary in the Yellow Sea. The shells apparently missed the South . Korean ship, which responded to the act by deliberately firing several . artillery rounds in to the water near the North Korean vessel. Tension: In the latest sign of rising animosity between the bitter rivals, South Korean officials said a North Korean vessel fired two artillery shells at one of its warships patrolling in the Yellow Sea (file image) South Korean officials speaking on . condition of anonymity said their vessel deliberately missed the North's . warship as it only fired the shells to determine its rival's level of . aggression. They were hoping . to establish whether the North Korean ship had been firing a warning . shot and deliberately missed, or if the shells had in fact been intended to hit . them. Officials said that . residents on the frontline Yeonpyeong Island - which belongs to South . Korea - were evacuated to shelters, and fishing ships in the area were . ordered to return to ports. In 2010, North Korea fired artillery at the island, killing two civilians and two marines. Anger: On Tuesday, South Korean navy ships fired warning shots to repel three North Korean warships that briefly violated the disputed sea boundary. Yesterday, Kim Jong-un (centre) vowed to retaliate . Kang . Myeong-sung, a Yeonpyeong resident, said in a phone interview that . hundreds of residents were in underground shelters after loudspeakers . ordered them there. He heard the sound of artillery fire and said many people felt uneasy at first but later began to stop worrying. Both Koreas regularly conduct artillery drills in the disputed waters. The . sea boundary is not clearly marked, and the area has been the scene of . three bloody naval skirmishes between the rival countries since 1999. North . Korea has in recent weeks conducted a string of artillery drills and . missile tests and has unleashed a torrent of racist and sexist rhetoric . at the leaders of the U.S. and South Korea. Lookout: A South Korean navy defense ship on patrol near Yeonpyeong Island (file picture) On . Tuesday, South Korean navy ships fired warning shots to repel three . North Korean warships that briefly violated the disputed sea boundary. Yesterday, North Korea's military vowed to retaliate. North . Korean military ships and fishing boats have routinely intruded into . South Korean-controlled waters that the North doesn't recognize. The Yellow Sea boundary was unilaterally drawn by the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. | Officials from the South say North Korean ship fired two artillery shots .
South Korean naval patrol vessel then returned fire with several rounds .
All of the fired shells ended up missing and falling into the Yellow Sea .
Incident took place on South Korean side of disputed maritime boundary .
The area has been a source of hostility and bloodshed since the 1950s . |
34,652 | 6277a87846e259f5f0c751a3d7b7891d94684789 | Washington (CNN) -- Among the 90,000 secret U.S. military documents posted on the internet this week by WikiLeaks are more than a dozen reports of possible attacks on Afghanistan coalition aircraft using heat-seeking shoulder-fired missiles. It was that type of missile that brought down numerous Soviet military aircraft when the Soviet Union tried to occupy Afghanistan in the 1980s. But among all the reports, one day stands out: May 30, 2007. In the first of three attacks on that day, an American CH-47 helicopter code named "Flipper" was, according to a leaked report, "engaged and struck with a missile." "The missile struck the aircraft in the left engine," the report says. "The impact of the missile projected the aft end of the aircraft up as it burst into flames, followed immediately by a nose dive into the crash site." All seven troops on board died, including five Americans, a Briton and a Canadian. The report goes onto say, "Based on description of launch, size of round, and impact force of the projectile, it is assessed to be bigger than an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) and possibly a surface-to-air missile. Witness statements ... suggest Flipper was struck by MANPAD (man-portable air-defense system)." MANPADs are shoulder-fired missiles that can home in on the heat from an aircraft's engine to destroy it. A U.S. military official in Afghanistan said the reports don't tell the whole story. "We're aware of the report on surface-to-air missiles. What's being presented is a pretty broad and somewhat random selection of documents that includes information that in some cases is incomplete or not verified by other sources or studies," the official said. "There's been no recent activity suggesting that these weapons are a threat, as attested by the volume of our daily air activity and the causes of aircraft incidents, which we report." Within half an hour of the first attack, two Apache helicopter gunships were fired on by what the pilots thought was a missile. The helicopters were not damaged. Another half hour later, another attack came from the ground on the same Apaches. The report on that incident reads, "This was possibly the second MANPAD engagement against this flight of Apaches in a 30-minute period. Clearly, the Taliban were attempting to down an Apache after downing the CH-47." Many more reported MANPAD attacks or possible MANPAD attacks were reported in 2007, but none brought down a coalition aircraft. Perhaps the best known and most effective MANPADs are American-made Stingers, which the United States supplied to Afghan militia to fight the Soviets. At least two of the reports indicate that a Stinger missile could have been used to attack coalition aircraft, albeit unsuccessfully. One report details that case of a missile fired at an American F-18 Hornet by what was believed to be a MANPAD. And because the missile blew itself up as it approached anti-missile flares, the report's author suggested it was a Stinger. "A Stinger Basic would have likely been the only MANPAD (currently known to be in Afghanistan) capable of a proximity detonation onto the dispensed flares," the unidentified commander wrote. The Hornet was not damaged and no one was hurt. Most of the reports mentioning the specific type of MANPADs refer to older, less sophisticated missiles of Chinese or Soviet design. "The 1st or 2nd generation MANPADs generally encountered in Afghanistan (HN-5, SA-7, SA-14, SA-16) would have had to have made direct contact with one of the flares (in order to) initiate the detonator," the report on the F-18 Hornet attack says. There's no doubt MANPADs are in Afghanistan. One coalition raid on a weapons cache in 2005 found four MANPADs in storage. And during a meeting between U.S. military leaders and a provincial governor, "the governor reported that a man claiming to have MANPADs for sale has been in touch with his staff, presumably to give CF (coalition forces) an opportunity to buy them and get them out of circulation," one of the leaked reports says. "The governor referred to them as Blowpipe missiles. The seller is going to show the governor a picture to prove that he has them." It is unclear from the report whether the coalition ever secured the missiles the governor talked about. | Documents posted on WikiLeaks.org include possible attacks by MANPADs .
The missiles may have been used in three attacks on May 30, 2007 .
The heat-seeking "man-portable air-defense" units include U.S. Stinger missiles .
Most reports refer to older, less sophisticated Chinese or Soviet designs . |
111,903 | 1c526c3c5406f05d95e2027f9f5ce5ec783341a9 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . Shocking video from the mountains of Afghanistan show a a 500-pound bomb dropped by U.S. bombers land on a U.S. Army infantry outpost after the bombers mistook the outpost for a Taliban hideout. The dramatic video shows soldiers at the outpost watch as an Air Force bomber flew overhead. Seconds after seeing the bomber, there is a loud explosion, and the soldiers reacting with poise amongst the chaos caused by the explosion. Thankfully, there were no casualties caused by what appears to be a mistake made by pilot of the bomber. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Near miss: An Air Force bomber mistakenly dropped a 500-pound bomb on an Army infantry outpost . Boom: An angle of the explosion from the ground shows the massive size of the explosion . Close call: Soldiers in the outpost record the smoke plume just next to their outpost . According to Funker530.com - a website for military veterans, Army mortar teams spotted Taliban forces on a ridge far from their position in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan's Paktika Province along the Pakistani border. Simultaneously, airstrikes were called in to take out the opposition forces. It appears, however, that the pilot mistook the Army outpost for the Taliban fighters and dropped a 500-pound bomb on their location - narrowly missing the soldiers at the outpost. 'Honestly we had dropped so many bombs up to that point that the thought . never even crossed my mind that this could even happen, especially with . all the checks put into place,' one of the soldiers tells the website. 'About a half second before impact you . could hear the bomb screaming in like I hadn’t ever heard before, and I . definitely knew at that point something was off.' Terror: The soldiers were rattled by the initial explosion, but luckily none of them were killed or injured . The enemy: Soldiers spotted Taliban fights on a ridge line far from their camp, and an air strike had been ordered to take them out . Rattled: The bomb hit just feet away from the Army outpost, where soldiers fire mortars at enemy fighters . The soldier says the impact was so powerful that it knocked people to the ground. 'After the initial realization that it had hit behind us, we were so . scatter brained trying to figure out what happened. It hit so close to . the guys in the tower it actually knocked the fill out of radios,' he said. 'Once the smoke had cleared and we realized that no one was seriously . injured, we were just sitting there in awe as the anger started to . build,' he continued. It remains unclear what caused this near-fatal mistake. | The bomber apparently mistook the U.S. soldiers for Taliban fighters .
The bombing happened in the Paktika Province along the Pakistani border .
It remains unclear what led to the near-fatal mistake . |
257,070 | d8ba6d17fa4f6d2265a38bcb9eaf13303576649d | By . Bianca London . They are the diamond-encrusted Birmingham-made shoes for the decidedly well-heeled - and they're yours for a cool £200,000. The Princess Constellation stilettos sparkle with 1,290 precious gems were inspired by the Paul Simon hit, Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes. The design has taken more than two years to develop and each pair takes three weeks to create. Dazzling: A pair of stilettos encrusted with nearly 1,300 diamonds have gone on sale for an eye-watering £200,000. The sparkling shoes, dubbed the Diamond Princess Constellation stilettos, are available in either solid platinum or luxurious 18ct gold . The stilettos are the work of British designer Christopher Michael Shellis, from Birmingham, who has created a host of similarly opulent creations. The heel and sole are easily replaceable by the owner so that they last for ever, and Christopher is backing up his claim with a 1,000-year guarantee. Christopher, whose label is called House of Borgezie, has worked in the heart of the Jewellery Quarter for more than 20 years. He creates and designs extravagant shoes, working with temperatures of more than 1,000C as he uses a secret heating technique. Work of art: The design has taken over two years to develop and each pair takes about three weeks to create. The stilettos are the work of British designer, Christopher Michael Shellis from Birmingham . Lifetime investment: The heel and sole are easily replaceable by the owner so that they last forever and Christopher is backing up his claim with a 1,000-year guarantee . Princess shoes: 'They're truly regal and have been created to be a world treasure - guaranteed to still be here in a thousand years' time,' says the designer of his latest creation . House of Borgeize hit the headlines when it unveiled the world's first everlasting stilettos and last year the 48-year-old, from Aston, launched the world's most expensive shoe - the £140,000 Eternal Borgeize. Chris has raised the bar considerably with his latest design, which is available in solid platinum or 18-carat gold. He said: 'After 25 years, the Princess Constellation are probably my finest work. They are the crown jewels of stilettos. They're a bit like the 1960s E Type Jag - it doesn't matter what you do, you're not going to improve on them. Extravagant: House of Borgezie customers include buyers from Russia, Dubai and the United States. Celebrities are also among Chris' clientele, too . Cinderella would be proud: 'These are the ultimate in feminine adornment, they're the crown jewels of stilettos,' says the designer from Birmingham . 'Occasionally in a designer or artist's life there may come a moment in time when you stand back and realise you may just have created your finest work so far. I think this is truly that moment. 'Like any royal crown, the Princess Constellation will still be here in a thousand years' time.' It may take a lot of sole-searching before purchasing a pair, but Chris stressed his stilettos for the super-rich don't just look good. 'They're a good investment,' he added. 'These are the ultimate in feminine adornment, they’re the crown jewels of stilettos. 'They’re truly regal and have been created to be a world treasure - guaranteed to still be here in a thousand years time. Proud moment: Chris says he believes the Princess Constellation stilettos are his finest work so far . Glittering: The sparkling shoes, dubbed the Diamond Princess Constellation stilettos, are available in either solid platinum or luxurious 18ct gold and come adorned with blue butterfly designs . 'They’ll make any woman feel like a princess.' House of Borgezie customers include buyers from Russia, Dubai and the United States. Celebrities are also among Chris' clientele. 'Every shoe is a bit like making a violin. They are jewellery for the feet,' he insisted. Now Chris is set to fulfil an ambition to market stilettos for 'the average woman'. The bargain-busting shoes will be unveiled next month - for less than £1,000! | The Princess Constellation shoes take three weeks to create .
Inspired by Paul Simon's hit, Diamonds On The Soles of Her Shoes .
The £200,000 shoes were designed in Birmingham by Christopher Shellis .
Come with a 1,000-year guarantee and easily replaceable heel and sole . |
36,490 | 676ed3dac6c37f997de48b59139452c6493be0ea | Is Yaya right to be angry over birthday snub? Yaya Toure's agent has claimed the midfielder could quit Manchester City this summer, with the Ivorian feeling the club is not giving him enough attention. Toure has backed Dimitri Seluk's bizarre attack on Manchester City for forgetting the midfielder's birthday and says he will clarify his future after the World Cup. Seluk told talkSPORT: 'If you ask 100 per cent or 50-50 [if Toure will stay], better 50-50 than 100. VIDEO Scroll down for Yaya Toure: My career's great; going to City was the right move . Glory: Yaya Toure holds the title trophy with Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini . Comments: Toure's agent Dimitri Seluk has been in the public eye over the last week . Going back? Toure could return to Barcelona this summer, the club he played for between 2007 and 2010 . 'Of course it's not the question of . money, it's more importantly about the relationship. Normally everything . is good, yes they win Premier League. Seluk said that the club should have given Toure a prize after he missed out on the PFA Player of the Year award to Luis Suarez. 'Okay, . Suarez wins best player, his decision is his decision. But Yaya did not . win. Normally the club must say something, make a prize to him, . something a little bit more, like 'Okay Yaya you had a great season' or . something special, a cake. When . asked if Barcelona are a possible destination for Toure this summer, . Seluk said: 'Barcelona we know are a former club of Yaya, and all the . staff at Barcelona, and players, liked him and supported us. He had a great time there and it’s like another home for him. 'It's . possible to find solutions, and the player will be happy. It's not a . question of money or no money. Always more attention must be given to . player, more motivation for the future. This is my opinion and the . opinion of course of Yaya. No respect: Seluk says City should have given Toure a prize for missing out on the PFA award to Luis Suarez . Having their cake and eating it: Sheikh Mansour celebrates City's title win . 'Of course it's not the question of . money, it's more importantly about the relationship. Normally everything . is good, yes they win Premier League. 'When . he plays in the team, like any player, he says "I will be in team where . the team loves me, if people or supporters don't love me I can leave." 'This . is very important because he fights for Man City but he fights for Man . City and they don't fight for him. He is very upset. VIDEO: City players and officials sing happy birthday to Toure on the plane to Abu Dhabi . Happy Birthday: A stewardess brings a cake with the Manchester City crest on it . Playing it cool: Samir Nasri points out that it is Yaya Toure's birthday . Celebration time: Nasri and other members of the squad and staff sing Happy Birthday to Yaya Toure . Upset: Yaya Toure says that no one wished him happy returns at a title celebration party . High earner: Yaya Toure is one year into a four-year deal worth £220,000 a week . Happy birthday to you! City posted this on their Twitter on May 13 . 'The . main thing is attention. Somebody in their job, in newspaper or in . radio, if the company will shake his hand and congratulate him on his . birthday he will be happier and life will be better and nicer. 'If people don't give attention to us we will forget about these peopole and work with other people. 'Some . people can say what they want, but i tell you this is not about cake, . more importantly it is about attention. Yaya can buy cake for everybody . and it's no problem from him. 'Believe me, I bought him everything [for his birthday].' And . Toure earlier tweeted: 'My agent was trying to make a point here on my . behalf, joke aside.It seems important for me to make a statement.. I am . going to do so. 'Everything dimitry said is true. He speaks for me. I will give an interview after world cup to explain.' How sweet: Yeovil Town sent Toure this happy birthday message on Twitter . Sound investment: Manchester City signed Yaya Toure from Barcelona for £24m in 2010 . | Dmitri Seluk says Toure is 'more 50-50 than 100 per cent' likely to be at the club next season .
Seluk also says City should have given Toure a cake when he missed out on PFA Player of the Year to Luis Suarez .
'If people don't give attention to us then we will forget about these people and work with others,' said Seluk .
Toure could leave City in the summer after being upset by the 'sick' incident, where the club did not wish him a happy 31st birthday .
Seluk says Sheikh Mansour had a '100kg cake' after winning title .
He also claims City showed Toure a lack of respect .
Seluk says City congratulating midfielder on Twitter was 'a joke'
However, video shows City players singing Happy Birthday on plane . |
167,237 | 6449138ba5f4503c3be48183d5c76ec60f3d4123 | Robin van Persie is determined to play for Holland at the 2018 World Cup and intends to carry on until the age of 40. The Manchester United striker scored four goals to help his country to third place at this summer's World Cup in Brazil and has already set his sights on the next one in Russia, when he will be 35. And thinking beyond that, Van Persie is keen to stretch his playing career for as long as possible despite suffering various injury problems over the years. Longevity: Robin van Persie wants to represent Holland at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and continue playing until the age of 40 . Back in action: Van Persie was given an extended break after the World Cup this summer but is back playing for Manchester United at the beginning of the Louis van Gaal era . Speaking about the next World Cup to Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, Van Persie said: 'I will be 35 then and I will do everything to be there. 'I live quietly, this saves a few years. My goal is to play at the highest level for as long as possible and being available for the national team is a part of that. 'I am 31 now and I have a little less than nine years to go. I won't be playing for a major club at the age of 40, although I do still want to be playing professional football at that age. That's my goal.' Flying Dutchman: Van Persie scores his memorable diving header in Holland's 5-1 win over Spain at the World Cup finals, one of four he contributed as the Oranje finished in third place . Misfiring: Van Persie heads towards goal in United's 0-0 draw at Burnley. They haven't won yet this season . Van Persie is already his national team's all-time leading goalscorer with 47 and is eight caps short of a century. Having been given an extended break by Louis van Gaal, his former coach with Holland, after the World Cup, he has so far started two matches for Man United this season. Van Persie has suffered a succession of injuries both with United and former club Arsenal but is confident he can continue until the age of 40. The striker will captain the Dutch side in Guus Hiddink's first match in charge, the Euro 2016 qualifier with the Czech Republic in Prague on Tuesday night. On the ball: Guus Hiddink will oversee his first competitive fixture for Holland when they take on the Czech Republic in Prague in a Euro 2016 qualifier on Tuesday night . | Robin van Persie wants to represent Holland at 2018 World Cup in Russia .
Man United striker keen to continue playing until age of 40 .
31-year-old scored four times for Dutch at World Cup in Brazil .
Van Persie is set to captain Holland against Czech Republic in opening Euro 2016 qualifier on Tuesday night . |
22,330 | 3f66f1e8a2328b6014b71adbed6920b890f72e4d | Atletico Madrid have relaunched a bid to sign Roberto Soldado from Tottenham but want an initial loan. The move is likely to be met with a swift rebuttal by Tottenham who would be reluctant to allow the Spain international to leave just a year on from signing him for £26million from Valencia. Tottenham have interest from QPR in winger Andros Townsend but will not sell the England international for less than £10million. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Erik Lamela prank sleeping Roberto Soldado on flight . Target man: Atletico want to take Soldado back to Spain where he impressed before moving to Spurs . Tough times: The Spanish striker struggled in his first season at the club after joining for £26million . Meanwhile, PSV Eindhoven are offering a new contract to Tottenham target Memphis Depay. The 20-year-old Holland international is the subject of a £15m offer from Tottenham and is interested in the move. Tottenham's move for Seattle Sounders right-back DeAndre Yedlin, however, may be derailed by his chances of earning a work permit. Tottenham want cover for Kyle Walker and are prepared to pay £2.75m for the 21-year-old. Wamted winger: England wide man Townsend (left) is a target for newly promoted QPR . On the slide: USA full-back DeAndre Yedlin's potential transfer could be in doubt over work permit issues . | Striker scored only one league goal from open play last season .
Soldado was a £26million purchase from Valencia last summer .
Atletico want Spaniard on initial loan to replace Diego Costa's goals .
Spurs also holding out for £10million for winger Andros Townsend . |
30,456 | 56960b26fc31209678e41c88a59e6bcf969d0c8a | As Chester and Barnsley battled against each other at the Deva Stadium in a bid to book a place in round three of the FA Cup, Seals boss Steve Burr had a novel idea to inject some energy into his weary troops. With the rain pelting down, a packet of Jaffa Cakes were thrown onto the field in a attempt to fuel the ailing Chester players. Chester's Gareth Roberts duly picked up the biscuits and began eating them before offering some to players on both sides. A Jaffa Cake lies on the Deva Stadium turf after a packet of the biscuits was thrown onto the pitch . Chester's Gareth Roberts picked up the packet and began eating them before offering referee Keith Hill some . Roberts continues to eat the biscuits as his side sought an energy boost against their League one opponents . Referee Keith Hill then urged Roberts to cease the impromptu snack break and get on with the match. But the Chester management's ploy failed to work as Barnsley criused to 3-0 to book their place in the next round. Dale Jennings struck twice while Kane Hemmings another another as the non-leaguers were put to the sword by the League One visitors. Barnsley's Dale Jennings (second right) celebrates after his completed his brace against Chester . | Chester's Gareth Roberts finds a packet of biscuits on the pitch .
Roberts eats a few and offers one to referee Keith Hill .
Chester were went down 3-0 to Barnsley . |
88,726 | fbd4476020e3745f071ea8e7fe609a18acddda94 | By . David Kent . USA have a terrific opportunity to make the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in 12 years when they take on Belgium on Tuesday. Jurgen Klinsmann's side progressed from this summer's 'Group of Death' - as referenced by president Barack Obama this week - by beating Ghana and drawing against Portugal. While this isn't the most gifted American team of recent years, particularly without the goalscoring Landon Donovan, the manager has them well-drilled and they are uniting a country. VIDEO Scroll down to see 'Marouane Fellaini sends Belgian girl a wig resembling his hair' The main man: America have looked to Clint Dempsey for their supply of goals in recent years . Flying high: Barack Obama watched the Germany game from his airplane as USA progressed . Who are the danger men? Clint Dempsey is the talismanic figure up front for America and has scored twice in the tournament so far. The Seattle Sounders man isn't usually a striker but has played on his own under Klinsmann in the absence of more attackers. American supporters should watch out for Eden Hazard for Belgium. The forward lit up the Premier League at Chelsea over the last year and poses a serious threat with his direct dribbling and intelligence on the ball. The USA central midfield pairing of Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones have Bundesliga experience in Germany and work hard, while Tim Howard has been one of the most consistent goalkeepers in Europe over the last five years. Tacticians: Belgium's Marc Wilmots (left) and America's German-born manager Jurgen Klinsmann . Captured the imagination: America supporters in Detroit flocked to a fan park to watch the Germany defeat . Strike! Jermaine Jones celebrates after netting against Portugal drawing the 2-2 draw in Group G . The managers . Klinsmann and Belgium boss Marc Wilmots are two of the best players of their generation. Wilmots was a central midfielder and capped by the European side on 70 occasions, while the America boss played for Germany 80 times, scoring an impressive 38 goals. How did Belgium get here? Wilmots guided his team to three wins out of three in Group H - even though they weren't at their best. The Belgians have a host of talent who play in the English Premier League, including Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham) and Vincent Kompany (Manchester City). They beat Algeria 2-1 thanks to goals by Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United) and Dries Mertens (Napoli) before a late winner by teenager Divock Origi (Lille) crushed Russia. The group winners were already through by the time Vertonghen scored the only goal against South Korea. One to watch: Belgium's Eden Hazard, who plays in the Premier League for Chelsea, is electrifying on the ball . Gangly: Marouane Fellaini has had a good tournament from the middle of midfield for the Europeans . Head-to-head . The only time Belgium have lost competitively to USA was in the 1930 World Cup, when they went down 3-0. They last met in May 2013, which ended in a 3-2 defeat for America. Everton's Kevin Mirallas and Fellaini scored as well as a brace from Christian Benteke. Geoff Cameron and Dempsey found the net for America. The American WAGs . Dempsey's wife Bethany has a masters degree and is an educational psychologist - as well as posing for a Sports Illustrated shoot in 2011. Bradley has been married to Amanda Barletta for three years, while Matt Bresler posts pictures of himself and wife Amanda on his instagram account. Belgium skipper Kompany also got wed in 2011 to wife Carla, while creative midfielder Axel Witsel is said to be engaged to Szabo Rafaella. WAG: Bethany Dempsey pictured at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 24/7 three years ago . All smiles: Amanda Miller Besler with her husband Matt at the University of Kansus back in November . Couple: Dynamic central midfielder Michael Bradley married Amanda Barletta in 2011 . Classy: Carla Kompany is the wife of Belgium and Manchester City captain Vincent . Put a ring on it: Alex Witsel is said to be engaged to beauty Szabo Rafaella . | Captain Clint Dempsey is the American talisman .
Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones pair up in midfield .
Marc Wilmots' side have plenty of Premier League talent .
Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Marouane Fellaini all star . |
275,154 | f0714cd6a5c4dcaa71bc6e12cedfa06133f8af38 | (CNN) -- Imagine that the chair you're sitting on became a sofa on demand as the day moved from light to dark. Or if all your furnishings could move out of your way as you walk through a room. These thoughts could one day become reality through research being conducted at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL). The EPFL biorobotics lab is developing self-configurable robotics known as "Roombots," which can merge with materials and furnishings to create adaptable furniture for the home and office. "It's a bit of a science-fiction project in my lab to create intelligent furniture which can change shape and functionality," explains lab director Auke Ijspeert. "We envisage the Roombots moving and combining to create a diversity of elements including tables and chairs." The goal is to create furniture that can be re-used in multiple ways. Read this: Electronic noses sniff out cancer . Designs would consist of Roombot modules -- which resemble two dice stuck together, and contain a battery, three motors for movements and pivoting, and a wireless connection. Each module is just 22cm long and the team imagine just 10 of them could combine to build a broad range of furniture. "The Roombots would be coupled with more passive materials such as a table top or cushion to create the end results," says Ijspeert. However, the team's immediate goals are to create mobile furniture to assist the elderly and those with reduced mobility. "Let's say an elderly person is using a walker, the furniture could have modules attached for it to move out of the way in a cluttered apartment or have a stool follow the person and remain close by," describes Ijspeert. For now, the team have managed to enable a few modules to interact, coordinated by algorithms on a PC, but they plan to improve human-robot interactions by either embedding cameras to track where users are or using voice recognition for people to instruct their furniture. Further hopes lie in using tablets to display a room virtually, with people using augmented reality to then move and place furnishings as they desire. "Eventually we want less and less human interaction to have a more fluid transition of furniture," says Ijspeert. Designs aren't limited to the home and could be applied to the workplace to create high-end conference rooms that reconfigure according to functionality, and eventually anywhere, with people creating their own uses for the building blocks. "What I really hope is to provide Lego blocks for people to find their own use such as artists or designers," says Ijspeert. Read this: Electronic noses sniff out cancer . In pictures: What the Internet really looks like . | Robots known as "Roombots" are paving the way for furniture that can build itself .
Roombots will combine active and passive parts to create all kinds of furnishings .
Each roombot is a small cube and contains batteries, motors and a wireless connection .
Mobile furniture could benefit the elderly and people with poor mobility . |
225,282 | afb85b1c48858a220fc099a4fc832c54121187e8 | An engineer has discovered a 3,500-year-old tribal gold necklace worth £20,000 in a field full of grazing cows. Part-time treasure hunter David Spohr had given up on his search in the Tarrant Valley, Dorset, and was on his way for lunch after a fruitless morning when his metal detector suddenly sounded. At first glance, he said the dull metal object he unearthed looked to be nothing more precious than a rusty old sardine tin. Engineer David Spohr has discovered a 3,500-year-old tribal gold necklace worth £20,000 in a field full of grazing cows . At first glance he said the dull metal object he unearthed looked to be nothing more precious than a rusty old sardine tin. Little did he know that it was a solid gold Lunula dating back to the Bronze Age . But after wiping off the mud he was shocked to find the object was a solid gold amulet. The unremarkable lump was revealed to be a gold lunula, a crescent-shaped necklace dating back to the Bronze Age and engraved with an ancient pattern. Lunulas - meaning 'little moon' in Latin due to their shape - were rigid necklaces worn by ancient tribal leaders as a symbol of power and authority. The lunula unearthed by Mr Spohr weighs 71.5 grams, and is one of only a handful found in mainland Britain - and the first to be discovered using a metal detector. Only three others have ever been found in Britain, the last of which was dug up in Wales in 1869. Mr Spohr, 55, a precision engineer, has now discovered the necklace could be worth as much as £20,000. The find would have been worth even more but it is thought to have been damaged by a farmer's plough. Mr Spohr, from Poole, Dorset, said: 'I headed across the field to get my sandwiches and kept the detector on as I walked. Lunulas - meaning 'little moon' in Latin due to their shape - were rigid necklaces worn by ancient tribal leaders as a symbol of power and authority . The lunula unearthed by Mr Spohr weighs 71.5 grams, and is one of only a handful found in mainland Britain - and the first to be discovered using a metal detector . Mr Spohr, 55, a precision engineer, has now discovered the necklace could be worth as much as £20,000. The find would have been worth even more but it is thought to have been damaged by a farmer's plough . 'Halfway across I got the signal. I dug very carefully and was quite amazed when I got it out. 'I could see it was yellow and so shiny. I also saw some engraved edges and I realised it was something special. 'We do find a lot of rubbish and you never think you're going to find a lump of gold. 'I have found some good things in the past but this was the find of a lifetime. You dream of finding something as significant as this. It was unbelievable.' A treasure inquest will now be held and the value will be split between Mr Spohr and the owner of the field near Blandford. It is then expected to go on show in a museum. Mr Spohr, who has been treasure hunting for six years, added: 'It is being examined at the moment and will then go to the coroner who will declare it treasure. 'Its value is decided by a team of experts and typically you split it 50/50 with the landowner. 'I've heard everything from £2,000 to £20,000 but I'm not getting too excited until I get the letter. 'I'll probably use the money to go on holiday.' A treasure inquest will now be held and the value will be split between Mr Spohr - who has been treasure hunting for six years - and the owner of the field near Blandford . Part time treasure hunter David Spohr had given up on his search in the Tarrant Valley, Dorset, and was on his way for lunch after a fruitless morning when his metal detector suddenly sounded . It is thought the lunula is between 2,500 and 4,500 years old but it is hoped the British Museum, who are currently examining it, will be able to narrow down the date. Members of the Stour Valley Search and Recovery Club, of which Mr Spohr is a member, say the lunula is the most exciting find in their 30-year history. Research by club members suggests that more than 80 of the 100 lunulas found in the past were in Ireland and several others on the coast of mainland Europe. In mainland Britain, one was found in Wales in 1869 and three on the coast of Cornwall. David Eagles, the club chairman, said: 'It is a very exciting find - a once in a lifetime discovery. 'Our club has been going 30 years and I can't think of a more significant find. 'We have been searching those fields for 25 years and they still continue to surprise us. 'David called me over when he made his discovery and it was very exciting to see the necklace come out of the ground. 'It is a wonder that it was still in tact after all these years.' If you find any ancient objects whether they are made of precious metal or other metals or clay it is called ‘treasure trove’ and is the property of the Crown. Anyone who finds objects which might be treasure trove must report it to the local police or museum, the local authority archaeologist. Goods found in the sea or on the seashore could be from a ship and are known technically as ‘wreck’. All wreck must be reported to The Receiver of Wreck, The Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Treasure discovered on land is governed by The Treasure Act. If you find treasure, under the law you are obliged to report it to your local police station within 14 days. They will pass it on to the coroner who will decide whether it is defined as treasure. If a museum wants to acquire the find, it is likely you will receive the market value price. However, if no one wishes to purchase it, the finder may be entitled to keep it. | Treasure hunter David Spohr had given up search in Tarrant Valley, Dorset .
But just as he was about to leave for lunch, his metal detector sounded .
He had struck upon a 3,500-year-old tribal gold necklace worth £20,000 .
Discovered a Lunula - meaning 'little moon' in Latin .
due to their shape .
The rigid necklaces worn by ancient tribal leaders .
as symbol of power . |
117,791 | 24155d1b64c059fc712f1ec096922de2f36d290f | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 08:31 EST, 10 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:31 EST, 10 March 2013 . Abused: Leisha Brookes claims Jimmy Savile and other men attacked at the BBC TV 's White City HQ . A woman has vowed to go to jail rather than pay her TV licence because she claimed she was abused by Jimmy Savile and 35 other men at the BBC's headquarters. Magistrates listened in shocked silence as 45-year-old Leisha Brookes explained why she would not pay the £145.50 fee. She said: 'No matter what you fine me , I am not going to give a penny to my abusers from the BBC. I cannot pay the BBC or anyone connected with it.' The repeated abuse by the disgraced DJ and the men, happened over two years at the BBC TV headquarters in White City, west London, when she was about nine years old, she claimed. Speaking to the Sunday Express Miss Brookes revealed how she was abused after a cameraman friend of her family introduced her to the former Jim'll Fix It presenter. He allegedly abused her at his home, taking naked pictures of her when she spent weekends with him after tricking her family into letting her stay. The cameraman took her repeatedly to visit his workplace as a 'treat' so she could meet the stars of the day and see where programmes were made. She told the paper: ' At the time Jim’ll Fix It was massive . and I told him I wanted to be on the show. He said, ‘I can do even . better than that. I can get you to meet Jimmy Savile any time you want’. Disgraced: Jimmy Savile abused Leisha Brookes when she was nine-year-old, she claims . 'I can remember him taking me to see Savile in a room with a table, a . mirror, a wardrobe and a couple of chairs. The cameraman called him . Uncle Jim. 'Savile sat in . this high-backed chair and he asked me to sit on his knee while he . signed my luminous pink autograph book. I was wearing a pink dress with . my hair in pigtails. He sat me right back on his body' Miss Brookes, from Southend, Essex, claimed she was then . abused and the cameraman took her to see the paedophile another two or three times . and left them together. From that moment, she said, almost every week she was left alone with men at the White City studios. Victim: Leisha Brooks says the abuse wrecked her life and gave her mental problems . She produced documents for the magistrates at Colchester proving that she had given evidence to police as part of Operation Yewtree investigation into Savile and other suspected paedophiles . Waiving her right to anonymity, Miss Brookes said the abuse had wrecked her life, leading to mental health problems and suicide attempts. Eventually her five children were put into care. She had been fined three times by courts over the past seven years for failing to have a TV licence, previously blaming 'personal reasons' for her refusal to pay. She was found guilty and fined £50 with a surcharge of £20, giving her 28 days to pay. The BBC said: 'Operation Yewtree is a police matter and it is not something we can comment on.' | Leisha Brookes claims she was abused by Savile after cameraman friend of her family introduced her when she just nine years old .
'No matter what you fine me, I cannot pay the BBC or anyone connected with it' |
76,859 | d9ffea0a6ee26f6e0fcdae096d8255094fc18f7e | (CNN) -- This week, Time magazine named Miley Cyrus a finalist for Person of the Year, the annual award bestowed on the person editors think has "most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year." A true testament to the global influence of twerking, she was the only nominee from the entertainment industry. Her co-nominees included Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, President Obama, Pope Francis, and gay rights activist Edith Windsor. The pope was the winner, but one thing's for certain: Miley Cyrus makes an impact. Regardless of whether you care about her latest performance or haircut or provocative, eyebrow-raising declaration to the press, it's likely you'll have heard about it. In part, that's owing to her affinity for ever-media-friendly shock, delivered in the form of a raunchy, nudity-filled music video; a raunchy, nudity-filled photo shoot with photographer Terry Richardson; and a raunchy awards show performance that likely would have contained some nudity had it been allowed. It did, however, contain a foam finger and a latex bodysuit. And a tongue that was a performer of its own. Shocking behavior isn't uncommon in the entertainment industry, and especially in music. Shock, like sex, sells. But it's quite possible Cyrus isn't selling just shock, and albums. She's also selling drugs. Earlier this year, Miley ended months of speculation that one of her song lyrics referred to "Molly," the nickname for psychedelic drug MDMA, or a form of Ecstasy. When she was asked if she was referring to her own name or the drug Molly in the song "We Can't Stop," she told The Daily Mail, "If you're aged 10, it's 'Miley.' If you know what I'm talking about, then you know." In September, she offered a second endorsement, telling Rolling Stone that marijuana and Molly are "happy drugs -- social drugs. They make you want to be with friends." What effect might the former Disney star's drug advocacy have on the legions of tween and teen fans who follow her every move? A 2008 study looking at the influence of technology, media and pop culture on criminal behavior concluded that while young people are influenced by pop culture, and more so than adults, it was difficult to empirically study the cause and effect of pop culture on their behavior. And certainly, the glorification of vice in music is not at the hands of Miley Cyrus alone: A 2008 study out of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that 33% of the top 300 songs on the top of the Billboard charts portrayed drug or alcohol use -- an increasing number of them pop songs -- which means that kids receive about 35 references to substance abuse for every hour of music they listen to. That said, what we do know: Exposure to excessive violence in video games can increase aggressive attitudes, behaviors and values, particularly in children. And adolescent exposure to music, a powerful social force often linked to identity, memories and mood, is much more frequent than it is to any other form of pop culture. According to the Pittsburgh School of Medicine study, most teens listen to an average of 16 hours each week of music, compared with about six hours each week for movies. Perhaps more than any other entertainment medium, the study authors wrote, "music is well known to connect deeply with adolescents and to influence identity development." And so it's hard not to argue that Molly is likely reaping the benefits. The numbers are there: A 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that 12.4% of Americans between 18 and 25 had experimented with MDMA, while a report released last week by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration stated that emergency room visits related to MDMA increased 128% between 2005 and 2011 among people younger than 21. "Everyone wants to try it," a recent Teen Vogue article quoted a 19-year-old named Samantha as saying, and indeed many are: In recent months, there were multiple suspected MDMA-related deaths and hospitalizations reported along the East Coast, and in October, MDMA was linked to 10 Chicago-area deaths. Music might not make kids do drugs. But it's naïve to think that music isn't having an impact on kids' behavior and perception -- and that all this attention Cyrus is getting isn't teaching them something about what it takes to get noticed. (Meanwhile, all the attention MDMA is getting will, naturally, serve to pique curiosity.) Cyrus is an adult. She can sing about and ingest whatever she wants -- but naming her a Person of the Year? Well, it's a tough pill to swallow. Unless, of course, you're a drug named Molly. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Peggy Drexler. | Peggy Drexler: That Miley Cyrus was a finalist for Person of the Year shows her impact .
Drexler: She confirms the "Molly" she sings of in "We Can't Stop" is a form of drug MDMA .
Drexler: Who knows if her fans will be likely to try it, but music is a powerful force .
She says MDMA-related ER visits and reports of young people dying from it are up . |
242,795 | c64086ef7c67388da14ed19ae93e586eca16ffb9 | By . Chris Parsons . UPDATED: . 07:24 EST, 6 January 2012 . The U.S. Air Force's top secret unmanned space plane which has been circling Earth for ten months may be spying on China's space laboratory, it was claimed today. The secretive X-37B space plane launched into Earth's orbit last year, with the Air Force revealing few details about its course or when the plane will return. But onlookers studying the spy plane's path now believe the space craft may be spying on China's new space station, Tiangong-1, in the latest bout of orbital accusations exchanged between the two nations. Secretive: The U.S. Air Force has refused to reveal the course of landing date of its X-37B, which has been circling the Earth for ten months . Experts claim the U.S. plane could be spying on China's space program after it was noted that the two space craft's have closely matched orbits. The mission of the X-37B space plane was extended at the end of last year after it spent nine months orbiting the Earth, with a new landing date yet to be set. The claims that the U.S. craft may be snooping on Chinese space activity were made in Spaceflight magazine. Spaceflight editor, Dr. David Baker told the BBC, told the BBC: 'Space-to-space surveillance is a whole new ball game made possible by a finessed group of sensors and sensor suites, which we think the X-37B may be using to maintain a close watch on China's nascent space station.' 'The parallels with X-37B [and Tiangong-1] are clear. 'With a period differential of about 19 seconds, the two vehicles will migrate toward or against each other, converging or diverging, roughly every 170 orbits.' Mystery tour: The mission of the X-37B space plane was extended after it had spent nine months orbiting Earth . A Long March-2FT1 carrier rocket loaded with Tiangong-1 unmanned space lab module blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in September . Claims that the U.S. could be spying on Chinese space activity come in the wake of cyberhacking allegations made against China at the end of last year. China was accused of interfering with two U.S. government satellites in one of its most advanced hacking operations to date. On four occasions between 2007 and 2008 Chinese agents are said to have breached security on the environment-monitoring craft. The 29-foot, solar-powered craft had an original mission of 270 days and had been due to land at the same base last month. A Chinese publicity graphic of the carrier rocket, Long March-2FT1, which was launched in September . Under construction: Engineers prepare part of the Tiangong-1 module which was propelled into space as part of China's ambition to build a space station . The X-37B's official task is to test new spaceflight technologies, but some nations have speculated abouts its potential military capabilities. Iran's PressTV called the craft a 'secret space warplane', while space experts and technical advisers have also echoed the same opinion. Brian Weeden, a technical adviser to the Secure World Foundation and a former orbital analyst with the U.S. Air Force, told Space.com early last year: 'As we know through experience, everything and anything about them [the NRO] is classified.' 'A typical spy satellite is in a polar orbit, which gives you access to the whole Earth. 'The X-37B is in a much lower inclination which means it can only see a very narrow band of latitudes - and the only thing that's of real interest in that band is the Middle East and Afghanistan.' | X-37B space plane has 'similar orbit' to Chinese space station .
U.S. Air Force won't reveal details of space craft's trip, or when it will land .
Craft's secretive mission was extended in December after nine months . |
17,587 | 31d664f4f45176dde6545708b9082b07add24022 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 04:49 EST, 13 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:49 EST, 13 November 2013 . A grandmother was horrified to find a worm in the supermarket ready meal she was sharing with her grandchildren. Kathy Thompson had already began eating the chicken tikka slice she had bought from her local branch of Iceland when she made the disgusting discovery. Her grandchildren were about to bite in to the meal, but she stopped them just in time. Disgusting: This worm was found in a chicken tikka slice ready meal sold by a branch of supermarket Iceland . Ms Thompson, from Barnstaple in Devon, said she was up all night imagining the worm crawling around inside her. 'I was chewing when I spotted this worm on my plate and I just spat out my food everywhere,' she said. 'I had cut the slices up and was sharing them with my young grandchildren and immediately snatched them away. It was just disgusting.' She added: 'I spent the night retching and it was like I could feel it crawling in my stomach whenever I thought about it.' Fury: Grandmother Kathy Thompson was horrified to discover the creepy-crawly in her lunch . Ms Thompson has vowed never again to shop at Iceland, which specialises in frozen food and is the 10th largest supermarket group in Britain. 'I have another packet of the slices in my freezer but I don't want to even touch them now - they'll have to go out,' she said. 'It is just so disgusting - this should have never been allowed to get in the food.' Investigation: Iceland has vowed to look in to the contamination after receiving a complaint from Ms Thompson . A spokesman for Iceland said that the company had launched an investigation into the incident after receiving a complaint from the angry customer. He said: 'We can confirm that Ms Thompson has been in touch with our customer care department regarding the foreign body found in her chicken lattice. 'Ms Thompson is returning the item to the store and the foreign body will be collected by our supplier in order for them to carry out a thorough investigation. 'As soon as we have the results of the investigation we will get back in touch with Ms Thompson.' | Kathy Thompson was eating Iceland ready meal when she found worm .
Supermarket has launched an investigation into contaminated pastry . |
112,075 | 1c8fdbfddd83a64c4699e9bd40625a6d0ee1c851 | Five members of the same Virginia family - including a pregnant woman - have died after the car they were driving collided with an 18-wheeler on a Maryland Road early on Saturday morning. According to state police, the victims were Zarissa Ayres, 30, and her unborn child, Travis Straton, 25, Regina Ayres, 24, Jordan Ayres, 7 and Jonathan Ayres, who was two-months old. The family was traveling in a 2006 Suzuki Forenza when the crash happened and four of the five were declared dead at the scene. Tragedy: Zarissa Ayres, (left) and Regina Ayres, (right) died in the car crash on a Maryland freeway on Saturday morning . Deadly: The 18-wheeler struck the 2006 Suzuki minivan at around 1am on Saturday morning in Maryland . Zarissa Ayres was rushed by ambulance to Memorial Hospital in Easton, but she and her child died. The drive of the truck, Yvenet Mayette, 28, was also injured in the crash which happend at 1.15am on Saturday at the intersection of routes 50 and 313 in Wye Mills according to the Salisbury Daily Times. Awful: Regina Ayres, and her seven-year-old daughter Jordan passed away in the car crash . Police said there is no indication at this time that alcohol was a factor and they don’t know who was driving the car the family was in. Travis Straton, 25, the father of Jonathan Ayres, also was killed. He was from Onancock, Virginia. The truck slammed into the car on the passenger side and rolled over on the vehicle before coming to rest. The Ayers were returning home from Baltimore where they had visited family. Police say there was no snow at the time of the crash, but that temperatures were extremely low. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and no charges have been filed so far. Snow and cold temperatures played a part in Friday's massive 200-vehicle pile up in Michigan that took the life of one man and left 22 people injured. Four of the five were pronounced dead at the scene of the Maryland crash, police said. Zerissa Ayres, who was pregnant, was transported by ambulance to Easton Memorial Hospital, where both she and her unborn child were pronounced dead. The tractor trailer driver is identified as Yvenet Mayette, 28, of Wilmington, Delaware. He was flown by Maryland State Police helicopter to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he is being treated for injuries. Injured: The drive of the truck, Yvenet Mayette, 28, was also injured in the crash which happend at 1.15am on Saturday at the intersection of routes 50 and 313 in Wye Mills according to the Salisbury Daily Times. | Five people, including two children and a pregnant woman, were killed early Saturday in Maryland after truck crashed and rolled over on top of a minivan, state police said .
Zarissa Ayres, 30, and her unborn child, Travis Straton, 25, Regina Ayres, 24, Jordan Ayres, 7 and Jonathan Ayres, who was two-months old died . |
206,506 | 975ca6014873dd56b4eada5941e34ba93460434d | By . Oliver Todd . Follow @@oliver_todd . Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has raised hopes that he might move to Chelsea - after he took over Jose Mourinho's job, coaching the Stamford Bridge side on Football Manager. Pogba, currently on international duty at the World Cup with France, is regarded as one of the best young midfielders in Europe after a string of quality performances for his national team and Italian champions Juventus. And with Chelsea among the 21-year-old's potential suitors, Pogba has been pictured 'managing' the Blues against London rivals Arsenal - and picking himself in midfield alongside outgoing club legend Frank Lampard. Downtime: Pogba takes the chance to get in some Football Manager time during the national team's flight . Tactical genius: The 21-year-old goes for a 4-2-3-1 formation similar to the one used by Jose Mourinho . Loves himself: Pogba has bought his virtual self as Chelsea manager in the management simulator . Jese . Hazard Oscar Mata . Pogba Lampard . Asamoah Cahill Ivanovic Azpilicueta . Cech . Subs: Banega, Schurrle, Eto'o, De Sciglio, Chiellini, Willian, Luiz . The midfield powerhouse has also signed fellow Juventus player Kevin Asamoah at left back and Real Madrid's Jese to lead the line. The footage, released by the French Football Federation after the 5-2 win over Switzerland, shows Pogba lining up as Chelsea's number 15 in a defensive midfield role with Eden Hazard, Juan Mata and Oscar in front of him. And Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic form Chelsea's centre back pairing as Pogba take on London rivals Arsenal, with no place in the fictional side for captain John Terry. His full line-up in a 4-2-3-1 formation includes Petr Cech, Asamoah, Cahill, Ivanovic, Cesar Azpilicueta, Pogba, Lampard, Hazard, Oscar, Mata and Jese. Valencia's Ever Banega, Andre Schurrle, Samuel Eto'o, AC Milan right back Mattia De Sciglio, Juventus team-mate Giorgio Chiellini, Willian and David Luiz are on the bench. Happy: Pogba's team-mates appear in good spirits after their 5-2 win over Switzerland in Salvador . Natural choice: If Pogba joins Chelsea it won't be alongside his favoured Football Manager partner, Lampard . Pogba left Old Trafford at the end of . his contract in 2012 after falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson but has . since gone on to become one of most sought-after midfielders in Europe. He . has been a key part of Juventus' title-winning midfield this year and . started France's opening game against Honduras before coming off the . bench in their 5-2 win over Switzerland. Juve are understood to be willing to sell Pogba despite protestations that he is a key figure at the club. Big win: Pogba celebrates against Switzerland - could he be in a Chelsea shirt next season? | France midfielder is managing Chelsea on the best-selling simulator .
Has been linked to Chelsea with Jose Mourinho looking at midfielders .
Pogba pairs himself with Chelsea legend Frank Lampard in the middle .
Kevin Asamoah and Jese are also in Pogba's starting XI .
Footage released from France's flight back from 5-2 Switzerland win . |
234,445 | bb8012ad5934958aab80ef7e0b76ed35244dc94b | West Ham have approached Arsenal about making Carl Jenkinson's move a permanent one and been quoted a whopping £12million. The England Under 21 international is on a season-long loan at Upton Park and has impressed manager Sam Allardyce with his performances and attitude but a permanent deal will be difficult to seal at that price. The 22-year-old has made 20 appearances already this season as opposed to 22 in the whole of the last campaign with Arsenal and last month underlined how he has developed under Allardyce. Arsenal defender Carl Jenkinson has been in impressive form since joining the Hammers on loan . Jenkinson, pictured with Stewart Downing, joined West Ham on a season-long loan deal . 'I didn’t want to have another season sitting on the bench,' Jenkinson said. 'It was starting to drive me up the wall a little bit, I wanted to get out and play football, and I’ve realised that I’m happiest when I’m playing regular football. 'I didn’t want to go on loan to a team that was just going to kick the ball long. I wanted to go to a team where I was going to learn and improve and I think I’m definitely doing that here at West Ham. 'We focus on defending in training and we do a lot of work on one-v-ones and heading and I feel I’ve developed in those areas. He’s given me the licence to get forward and express myself. I know what I’m capable of.' Allardyce believes two or three extra additions will shape his squad into regular top-six contenders and the purchase of Jenkinson would not only be good continuity but prove a good investment for the future. However, West Ham will struggle to meet Arsenal's demands. They will reassess their budget in the summer and hope that Jenkinson can also push for the move. Jenkinson, pictured with Hull's Harry Maguire, moved to Upton Park in order to play regular first-team football . | Arsenal have set asking price for on-loan defender Carl Jenkinson .
Jenkinson has been in impressive form for Sam Allardyce's West Ham .
The Hammers will struggle to meet Arsenal's valuation of the Englishman .
Click here for more transfer news . |
156,120 | 55ce772971896bc5d4b237479fefb0c0ad6ddd38 | Islamic State militants are raking in money at a remarkable rate, earning about $1 million a day from black market oil sales alone, a Treasury Department official said on Thursday. David Cohen, who leads the department's effort to undermine the Islamic State's finances, said the extremists also get several million dollars a month from wealthy donors, extortion rackets and other criminal activities, such as robbing banks. In addition, he said the group has taken in at least $20 million in ransom payments this year from kidnappings. Scroll down for video . David Cohen, who leads the department's effort to undermine the Islamic State's finances, said the extremists also get several million dollars a month from wealthy donors, extortion rackets and other criminal activities, such as robbing banks . 'With the important exception of some state-sponsored terrorist organizations, ISIS is probably the best-funded terrorist organization we have confronted,' Cohen, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. 'It has amassed wealth at an unprecedented pace.' The group extracts oil from territory captured across Syria and Iraq, and sells it to smugglers. ISIS, led by Iraqi Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, wants to create a caliphate, or Islamic empire, in the Middle East. It initially tried to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad, but other groups, including al-Qaida central command, turned against ISIS because of its brutality. Unlike the core al-Qaida terrorist network, ISIS gets only a small share of funding from deep-pocket donors and therefore does not depend primarily on moving money across international borders. Captured oil field near Baghdad: ISIS is extracting oil from territory captured across Syria and Iraq, and then selling it to smugglers, said Cohen . Instead, it obtains the vast majority of its revenues through local criminal and terrorist activities, Cohen said. He acknowledged that the Treasury's tools are not particularly well-suited to combating extortion and local crime. 'They rob banks. They lay waste to thousands of years of civilization in Iraq and Syria by looting and selling antiquities,' he said. 'They steal livestock and crops from farmers. And despicably, they sell abducted girls and women as sex slaves.' In the Iraqi city of Mosul, Islamic State terrorists are reportedly going door to door and business to business, demanding cash at gunpoint, he said. 'A grocery store owner who refused to pay was warned with a bomb outside his shop. Others, who have not paid, have seen their relatives kidnapped. ISIS is receiving several million dollars a month from wealthy donors, extortion rackets and other criminal activities, such as robbing banks . 'We've also seen reports that when customers make cash withdrawals from local banks where ISIS operates, ISIS has demanded as much as 10 percent of the value,' Cohen said . But oil is the biggest money-maker. 'It is difficult to get precise revenue estimates... but we estimate that beginning in mid-June, ISIS has earned approximately $1 million a day from oil sales,' Cohen said. Other estimates have ranged as high as $3 million a day. The Treasury said ISIS is selling oil at substantially discounted prices to a variety of middlemen, including some from Turkey, who then transport the oil to be resold. 'It also appears that some of the oil emanating from territory where ISIS operates has been sold to Kurds in Iraq, and then resold into Turkey,' he said. White House press secretary Josh Earnest, right, introduces Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen to give a briefing about actions the Treasury Department is taking to combat financing for ISIS . Cohen said the Syrian government also has allegedly arranged to buy oil from ISIS. He noted that U.S-led airstrikes on the group's oil refineries are threatening the militants' supply networks, and that Turkey and the Kurdistan regional government - the official ruling body of the predominantly Kurdish region of northern Iraq - are working to prevent ISIS oil from crossing their borders. Cohen acknowledged, however, that ISIS moves oil in illicit networks outside the formal economy, making it harder to track. 'But at some point, that oil is acquired by someone who operates in the legitimate economy and who makes use of the financial system. He has a bank account. His business may be financed, his trucks may be insured, his facilities may be licensed,' he said. 'We not only can cut them off from the U.S. financial system and freeze their assets, but we can also make it very difficult for them to find a bank anywhere that will touch their money or process their transactions.' | 'ISIS is probably the best-funded terrorist organization we have confronted,' said David Cohen .
Group extracts oil from territory captured across Syria and Iraq, and sells it to smugglers - including some from Turkey .
Also receives several million dollars a month from wealthy donors, extortion rackets and other criminal activities, such as robbing banks .
Taken in at least $20 million in ransom payments this year from kidnappings . |
26,897 | 4c56d3db7d1519c519a5be75980a115b331d7cc9 | By . Ashley Collman . UPDATED: . 13:10 EST, 15 January 2014 . Eighty-six current and former members of Yale University fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon are being sued over a fatal crash at the 2011 Harvard-Yale football game. Sig Ep brother Brendan Ross, then 21, was driving a U-haul van full of kegs to the frat's spot near the Yale football field on November 19 when the vehicle sped up and hit three women. Nancy Barry, a 30-year-old student from Salem, Massachusetts, died in the crash. Yale student Sarah Short and Harvard employee Elizabeth Dernbach were also injured. Fatal: 30-year-old Nancy Barry died after being hit by a U-Haul van driven by a Sigma Phi Epsilon brother in 2011. Her estate and one of the other women injured are filing new lawsuits against all 86 men who were members of the fraternity at the time . Crash: Sig Ep brother Brendan Ross, then 21, was behind the wheel of a U-Haul van when he sped up and hit three women at the 2011 Harvard-Yale football game . Someone to blame: Representatives for Barry's estate and Ms Short were forced to file a lawsuit against all the men who were members of the frat at the time since the national organization refused to take responsibility for the incident . Ms Short and Barry's family have filed new lawsuits against all 86 men who were Sig Ep members at the time of the crash after the fraternity's national organization denied responsibility in the incident. 'Obviously, suing 86 fraternity brothers isn’t what we wanted to do,' Paul Edwards, the attorney representing Barry’s estate, told the New Haven Register. 'But the national fraternity organization was claiming this wasn’t a Sigma Phi Epsilon-sponsored event. This clearly was a fraternity-sponsored event.' Legally, the national organization says, it has nothing to do with the local chapter which isn't covered by their insurance. Joel Faxon, the attorney representing Ms Short, told the Yale Daily News that he has never in his 20 years of litigation seen a national organization shirk from protecting its local chapter. But Mr Edwards believes the national organization has stepped up partially since 84 of the brothers being sued are being represented by the same lawyer - Jeremy Platek of White Plains, New York. Shirking responsibility: Sig Ep's national chapter says it legally has nothing to do with the local Yale chapter, which doesn't fall under their insurance either . Stepping up: But it seems the national chapter is helping the current and former brothers who are defendants in the case since most of them are being represented by one lawyer . Pay out: The new lawsuits are expected to be in court for a number of years. If awarded damages, the men will most likely pay with their parent's automobile or homeowner's insurance . Damages: Barry's estate is hoping to get several million dollars in the suit, while Ms Short is going after seven figures to cover her more than $300,000 in medical bills . 'I would be surprised if all the fraternity members had collectively gotten together and decided to hire one lawyer on such short notice,' Mr Edwards said. 'The odds are very high that he was appointed to represent them by the national fraternity.' The men started making their first court appearances between January 6 and 14 and the trial is expected to last a number of years. Barry's estate is seeking several million dollars in the lawsuit, while Ms Short hopes to get seven figures to cover her more than $300,000 in medical bills. Representatives of Barry and Ms Short's estate have filed a total of four lawsuits including suits against the university, City of New Haven and other parties. There is a possibility that the four lawsuits may be joined into one in the future. If Barry and Short are awarded damages, they will most likely be paid with money from the brothers' parent's automobile or homeowner's insurance. Ross, the brother who actually hit the women, had criminal charges against him dropped and avoided prison time by pleading guilty to driving unreasonably fast and unsafe starting. The driver: Brendan Ross (center) walks with his attorney while attending court proceedings. He managed to escape prison time by taking a plea deal . At the time, one witness told police Ross pressed the pedal in annoyance when the women were not moving fast enough, the New Haven Register reported. Another witness was grilling sirloin tips when he heard the crash and saw two people lying on the ground. 'The driver looked shocked. Absolutely . shocked. He didn't look intoxicated or anything like that. He had a . dazed look like he had just hit someone,' said Tim Walker of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. After the crash, Ross passed a field sobriety test and he remained cooperative with authorities throughout their investigation. In court, prosecutors said Ross was 'appropriately remorseful'. Drinking games: The annual Harvard-Yale game is a boozy event that usually involves a lot of drinking before hand in the lots surrounding the stadium . 'Brendan Ross is an . outstanding young man who was involved in a tragic accident,' his attorney William Dow III said . in a statement. 'He will emerge from this without a criminal record, but . the memory of that tragedy remains. Brendan and his family have . extended their condolences to Ms. Barry's family when the accident . occurred. Ms. Barry remains in their prayers. ‘She was an angel - and I'm not just . saying that - an absolute angel, and we don't know why this happened to . her,’ Barry's grandmother Nancy St. Pierre, also of Salem, told the . Hartford Courant . At the annual Yale-Harvard game, . tailgating is nearly as storied as the competition itself. Elaborate . buffets dot the car parks and fans frequently fill U-Haul trucks . with kegs, grills and hard alcohol but the university has since calmed down festivities. Following the fatal crash, the university has banned kegs at athletic events. Oversized vehicles like the U-haul van in the crash have been barred from athletic events unless pre-approved for use by a vendor. Changes: Following the accident, the university has calmed down festivities at the annual game by banning kegs. Over-sized vehicles like the U-haul in the crash are only allowed to be used by vendors now . See videos here . | Yale Sigma Phi Epsilon brother Brendan Ross, then 21, killed Nancy Barry while driving a u-haul truck to a tailgating event in November 2011 .
Ross injured two other women in the accident on the day of the annuaL Harvard-Yale game .
Representatives of Barry's estate and one of the other women injured in the crash are suing all 86 men who were members of the frat at the time .
They were forced to sue all the Sig Ep brothers after the national fraternity refused to take responsibility for the incident .
The criminal charges against Ross were dropped and he avoided prison time by taking a plea deal . |
7,429 | 150eca66c7a95533da5505457d1e2d24b0a2c445 | Everett, Washington (CNN) -- Sprawled out before us sits the exterior of the world's biggest building by volume. They make airliners here. Big ones. "Let's go see some airplanes!" says our Boeing VIP tour guide. I remind myself: This doesn't happen very often. Yeah yeah yeah, Boeing offers public tours of this 98.3-acre airliner factory north of Seattle every day. This ain't that. This is special. As part of a convention of aviation fans called Aviation Geek Fest, we're gaining ultra-exclusive access to the factory FLOOR. The public tour is limited to the balcony. We're about to walk knee-deep where Boeing gives birth to some of the world's biggest and most advanced airliners, including the 747-8 Intercontinental, the 777 Worldliner and the 787 Dreamliner. Hot damn. But not so fast -- before we go inside, Boeing has laid down some rules: no photos, no video, for our eyes only. Here's a painful development: Our smartphones have been confiscated. Gulp. I'm already suffering from phantom phone pangs. We enter through a small, inconspicuous door marked S-1. Suddenly, we're surrounded by partly assembled airliners in a room so big it takes on the feeling of an entire world. In some spots, we gaze across an unobstructed view measuring a quarter-mile. This building is so flippin' big that -- years ago -- it created its own inside weather patterns, including vapor clouds. They eliminated that by installing a special ventilation system. Today's factory forecast: avgeeking, with continued avgeeking and a favorable chance of avgeeking later in the day. Here are a few cool tidbits: . Jaw-dropping perspective . The thrill of being so close to the planes literally stops you in your tracks. Seemingly everywhere you look there's another five- or six-story-tall airplane towering over you. Some are covered with a green, protective temporary coating. One Dreamliner tail is painted with the familiar British Airways red, white and blue. Another sports New Zealand Air's cool black-and-white. Boeing paints the tails before they're attached to the planes. Then they carefully adjust the tails for balance. Paint adds hundreds of pounds of weight, which would ruin the plane's balance if the tails were painted after being attached. Soon these behemoths will jet across vast oceans as they carry travelers to far-flung destinations. 'You've gotta have secret clearance' The planes' huge fuselages are joined together with the help of a giant piece of equipment called a "saddle." This U-shaped metal cage straddles the top of the planes during the body-joining process. The "Wing Build" area -- where workers attach wings to the planes -- is the loudest part of the entire facility. The staccato of rivet guns pierces the heavy air. Whooshing vacuums suck up any dust that may be created when workers drill into the planes' lightweight carbon composite material. Security concerns in the plant are real. "Conversation-restricted area," says one sign. As we walk past a fenced-off zone, our guide quips, "You've gotta have secret clearance. I can't even go in there!" The rock star engine . Then, like a holy relic brought back from the Crusades -- Boeing lets us touch "it." By "it" we mean the GE90-115B. Guinness calls it the most powerful commercially produced jet engine in the world. We gather around this rock star engine like thirsty travelers at a desert oasis, each taking turns running our hands across its silver exterior. The lip of the engine's mouth feels rough, like it has countless scratches etched into it. That design, engineers discovered, helps reduce noise. This 19,000-pound monster hangs from the wing of a giant 777, but the engine still looks humongous -- measuring more than 11 feet in diameter. In fact, Boeing says it's so big you could fit the body of a 737 airliner inside it. "There's no way to sense the sheer size of an airplane without being right there underneath it," says NYCAviation.com contributor Ben Granucci, enjoying his first Aviation Geek Fest. Engines like this make it possible for wide-body planes to fly long-distance routes nonstop with only two engines instead of three or four. In fact, the 777 flies many of the world's longest nonstop routes. In 2005 it set the world distance record for a nonstop commercial airline flight, jetting 13,423 miles from Hong Kong eastbound to London in 22 hours, 22 minutes. The world's top flying hauler . Just a few hours earlier, a handful of aviation geeks were hanging out at a hotel next to Paine Field, the airport Boeing uses to test and deliver the factory's planes. Then, Granucci tweeted out that the plane that hauls the most cargo by volume in the world just happened to be passing through. Count me in. Soon, a dozen camera-wielding geeks are lined up outside the hotel to welcome the Dreamlifter -- a modified 747 -- as it lumbers in for a landing. "We're gonna be late for breakfast," says avgeek Steve Dillo as he snaps photo after photo. "But this is worth it." The thing roars like a lion, but it looks like a whale as it slows for touchdown. In the entire world, there are only four of these giant planes. Boeing uses them to ferry big sections of the 787 for final assembly here in Everett. Last year, when a Dreamlifter landed at the wrong airport in Kansas, it wasn't exactly a stellar moment. The Avgeek News Network . This is the fifth avgeek fest, co-sponsored by AirlineReporter.com and Everett's Future of Flight Museum. The February convention drew a record 300-plus participants from 18 different states and three countries. Former GM and Toyota engineer Philip McKenzie, flew 8,000 miles from Melbourne, Australia, to see how "things are laid out" in the factory. Vancouver Airport official Trevor Batstone traveled 100 miles from Canada. Who are these people -- these avgeeks? What defines them? "It's someone who always looks up in the sky when they hear a jet roar," says Ryan Ewing, 14, who runs airlinegeeks.com out of his Bethesda, Maryland, home. Ewing was right there in the thick of the geeks with his camera when the Dreamlifter came calling. The event was born from an aviation-obsessed online community that uses social media to organize and share information. Aviation news sites like Airchive, AirlineReporter, NYCAviation and AirlineGuys all share common friends, connections and interests. When news breaks, their informal social network sometimes challenges traditional news media. This month AirlineReporter and a few other aviation sites broke news about the hijacking of an Ethiopian Airlines 767 in Rome about 30 minutes before many "legacy" news organizations, says AirlineReporter founder and editor-in-chief David Parker Brown. Boeing's desire to connect with fans and fliers combined with the emerging power of the avgeek nation opened the doors to the exclusive Boeing tours, Brown says. "Boeing has increasingly realized how smart and educated about aviation avgeeks are." Baby Boeings . The following day southeast of Seattle, Boeing opens up yet another factory for us to tour. This one is the birthplace of what Guinness calls the "most produced large commercial jet in aviation history" -- the 737. No public tours here. This is a tour for avgeeks and VIPs. "Avgeeks love getting access to places that are off limits," says Brown. "It's all about exclusivity." Here's some 737 tour trivia: . —This place creates 38 of the planes every month on a moving assembly line. And they're pushing to increase that rate. "Even though we joke that the 737 is the 'Baby Boeing,' it's still a large and complex machine," says Granucci. "It requires precision to put it together. The fact that you can perform such precise work on a moving target -- I find that to be incredible." — The facility receives pre-assembled fuselages by train from a factory in Wichita, Kansas. — Workers attach wings to the fuselages. It takes about nine hours to put wings on a 737. —The planes also get "winglets" — the tiny, upward pointing wings you see on the wingtips of 737s and other airliners. These doodads reduce drag on the plane and make it more fuel efficient — by about 4%. —Workers install seats on the planes by using a loading machine they call a "hay baler." — In an operation called "high blow," Boeing tests each plane's passenger cabin for possible leaks during pressurization. The procedure includes putting people inside the planes to listen for leaks. — Each 737 is made up of 42 miles of wire and 394,000 separate parts . — If there's a problem on the assembly line, workers activate a purple flashing light -- alerting others that they need help. "Blinking purple is bad for us here," says Christian Ofsthus, a Boeing senior manager. "If there's something wrong, something doesn't fit, we need to do something about that." As the tour ends, we wind through an employee diner named for the World War II symbol Rosie the Riveter, and file back onto our bus. Driving off the property, we spot a train loaded with brand new wingless 737 fuselages headed to the factory behind us. That triggers spontaneous applause and scattered whoops throughout the bus. Well, you just can't get any geekier than that. "That is so cool," I hear someone say. "Yeah," said someone else, "baby planes!" | Boeing allowed aviation fans unique factory access during a February convention .
"Avgeeks" toured factories for 737, 747, 777 and 787 Dreamliner .
Growing avgeek community challenges legacy news media . |
171,218 | 69998c6aa071165230080292d12367aab0080772 | By . Graham Smith . PUBLISHED: . 05:18 EST, 19 March 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 05:39 EST, 19 March 2012 . A teenager who was shot in the neck by his nine-year-old cousin is today in hospital in a stable condition. Anas Jaber, 16, was playing video games at his family's home in St Petersburg, Florida, on Saturday when his young relative pointed a gun at him. The weapon, which the boy had found in the house, went off as Anas raised his hand and told him to put it down. Stable condition: Anas Jaber, 16, posted this photo from his hospital bed on Facebook. He was playing video games at his family's home in St Petersburg, Florida, when his nine-year-old cousin shot him . A bullet went through the victim's left hand and into his neck. The injuries are not life-threatening and Anas has even taken to Facebook to post a photo of himself wearing a neck brace. Posing for the picture in his bed in Bayfront Medical Center, he said: 'This s*** hurts my neck.' Anas initially told police that he had been the victim of a drive-by shooting in an attempt to shift the blame from his cousin. He later admitted that the younger boy had fired the gun. Anas, who is recovering at Bayfront Medical Center in St Petersburg, initially told police that he had been the victim of a drive-by shooting . Police spokesman Mike Puetz said officers found two rifles in the residence. He said: 'As the victim raised his hand and told the cousin to put the gun down, the gun discharged striking the victim in the neck and left hand. 'Officers recovered two rifles from the residence and the investigation continues as to the ownership of the weapons and who had responsibility for securing them.' No charges have been filed. | Anas Jaber initially told police he was the victim of a drive-by shooting to protect his young cousin . |
102,691 | 1059d2b206b6cf68627e20399d1edf807d92377c | A Saudi prince who murdered a fellow Saudi may be executed, a newspaper reported on Sunday, in a rare example of a member of the kingdom's ruling family facing the death penalty. The English-language Arab News did not name the prince or his victim, but said a senior member of the family and government, Crown Prince Salman, had ‘cleared the way for the possible execution of a prince convicted of murdering a Saudi citizen’. In a message about the case to Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, Prince Salman said: ‘Sharia (Islamic law) shall be applied to all without exception’, the daily reported. Scroll down for video . Ruling: Crown Prince Salman has said that no one is immune from Sharia law . Prince Salman's message followed a statement from the victim's father that he was not ready to pardon the killer and he was not happy with the amount offered as blood money. The families of murder victims are encouraged by authorities to accept blood money instead of insisting on execution. The paper quoted Crown Prince Salman's message as saying: ‘There is no difference between big and small, rich and poor ... Nobody is allowed to interfere with the judiciary's decision. This is the tradition of this state. We are committed to following the sharia.’ Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef was told to clear the way for an execution of the royal . An Interior Ministry spokesman was approached by Reuters for a comment, but no one was available at the time of writing. The Arab News is part of a media group chaired by a son of Crown Prince Salman, who is also deputy prime minister and minister of defence. The kingdom, which follows a strict version of sharia has been criticised in the West for its high number of executions, inconsistencies in the application of the law, and its use of public beheading to carry out death sentences. Saudi Arabia had executed at least 47 people as of May 2013, according to Amnesty International's website, compared to 82 in all of 2011 and a similar number in 2012. Members of the ruling family are only rarely known to be executed. One of the most prominent cases was Faisal bin Musaid al Saud, who assassinated his uncle, King Faisal, in 1975. The family is estimated to number several thousand. While members receive monthly stipends, and the most senior princes command great wealth and political power, only a few in the family hold nationally important government posts. | So far, the identity of the prince and his victim has not been made public .
Crown Prince Salman said Islamic law shall be applied 'without exception' |
108,766 | 183f9a8904c482e426b0614ca86fbee0be7aa625 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 23:47 EST, 12 September 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 08:54 EST, 14 September 2012 . A 42-year-old homeless man with a history of sexual violence including two previous sex attack charges on elderly women has been arrested in connection with the brutal rape of a 73-year-old birdwatcher in Central Park on Wednesday morning. David Albert Mitchell, a native of West Virginia who has spent most of his adult life in prison, was taken into custody last night by three police officers who spotted him walking on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, not far from where the woman said the attack occurred. The elderly victim picked Mitchell out of a lineup on Thursday, according to New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne. He is expected to face rape charges. Scroll down for video . Alleged rapist: David Albert Mitchell, pictured, has been arrested in connection with the brutal rape of a 73-year-old birdwatcher in Central Park on Wednesday morning . The heavily tattooed suspect spat at . police officers as he was escorted in handcuffs out of a New York . police building yesterday afternoon. Yesterday afternoon police released surveillance footage showing a suspect making off with the victim's backpack. They have said Mitchell was the man shown in the video. Browne said the suspect had some of the victim's belongings on him, including the memory card from her camera when he was picked up by the officers. Mitchell's disturbing criminal . history began when he was 18, when he was charged with molesting and beating . to death 87-year-old Annie Parks during a burglary in Jenkinjones, his . hometown. A jury did not convict him, but . months later he was accused of raping a woman in her 70s during another . home invasion reported the Charleston Gazette. Mitchell pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery in that trial and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, of which he served eight. After his release, the suspect was . arrested twice more and then was convicted of kidnapping in 2003 and was . sent to prison to serve an eight-year sentence. Over the past two years he has been . hauled in by police for probation violations and petty crimes, but had . not served a significant stretch in prison before coming to New York. Mitchell's sister-in-law and . ex-girlfriend Saretta Mitchell told the Associated Press that she was . the victim in the 2003 kidnapping and that Mitchell attempted to . sexually assault her. She said that his crimes 'were always sexually driven.' Disgusting: The 42-year-old, pictured, spat as he was escorted out of the police building . Line up: The victim picked Mitchell, pictured, out of a line up today . The victim told investigators she . believed a previous encounter with the man, where she took a photograph . of him exposing himself, may have prompted the gruesome attack, which . left her bruised and battered. She said her attacker asked, 'Do you . remember me?' before pushing her to the ground and raping her 'vaginally . and rectally' at about 11am in a wooded area near the park's tranquil . Strawberry Fields. The area serves as a memorial to John Lennon. Mitchell is believed to have been wanted in another Central Park assault as well and has a long history of attacks on elderly women. In the horrific attack, the elderly . woman said she was thrown to the ground and sexually assaulted by the . man who then made off with her backpack, which contained her camera. He . also tried to steal her watch but was unsuccessful. Shaken up but mostly angry, the woman told The New York Post what punishment she believes her attacker deserves. 'Kill . him,' she said. 'Cut off his penis. That’s fine. Cut off his feet, then . hit him over the head. Then give him life in prison. Police: Officers, pictured, cordoned off the area in Strawberry Fields yesterday . Central Park: The victim said the man who attacked her in the wooded area of the park, pictured, had an eastern European accent . 'I’m . a little jittery. I get the shakes. But I’m more angry. I hope he goes . to jail for a long time, and he gets raped, over and over again.' The woman, who regularly visits the . park, said she thinks the assailant was the same man she photographed . masturbating about 10 days ago in another, more isolated spot known as . The Ramble. She said he demanded she delete the . image before they went their separate ways during their previous . encounter, and tried to grab her camera but didn't succeed. Police said . that initial encounter wasn't reported. In yesterday's meeting, the woman said the man approached her and asked if she remembered him. When she said no, he attacked. 'He . pounced on me,' she told The Post. 'He jumped on my back... I started . screaming. And he said, ‘You don’t scream!’ And he grabbed my throat.'I . still screamed. ‘He said, ‘I’ll cut your jugular!’ I stopped screaming. Mugshot: An undated mugshot shows David Albert Mitchell, who police have just arrested for brutally raping a 73-year-old woman . Fleeing: After he allegedly raped the woman, he grabbed her bag and fled our of the park to Manhattan's Upper West Side . Then 'he raped me — vaginally and rectally. Brutally,' she said. After the rape, the man repeated, . 'I’ll cut your jugular. He mashed my head into the dirt. He said, ‘You . stay there and count to 100.’ I counted to 100. 'This guy knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to beat the s--t out of me. I think he’s beaten women before.' Eric Ozawa, a college professor and birdwatcher, found the woman and called 911. He . told reporters he noticed a pair of legs sticking out along the path . but thought it was somebody sleeping. As he got closer, he realized it . was a woman lying face down. Her face was badly swollen, she had a black . eye, a broken eye socket and was covered in mulch. NYPD: Police, pictured at the crime scene, have released video footage of the suspected rapist . Witness: Eric Ozawa, pictured, a college professor and birdwatcher, found the woman and called 911 . Still, she appeared 'self-possessed and lucid,' Ozawa said. After the woman told Ozawa she had been mugged and raped, he immediately called the police. 'It's shocking that it could happen in the park in broad daylight,' he said. 'That someone could rape somebody in her 70s.' Investigators interviewed Ozawa on Wednesday, while other officers and detectives swarmed the scene in search of the suspect. Police blocked off much of the area . near West 72nd Street and Central Park West as they hunted for a suspect . described as a man in his 40s. The . victim told The Post he spoke with a eastern European accent that may . have been Russian. Mitchell is believed to have an accent although he is . not Russian, DNA Info reported. Dangerous: Passersby were shocked that such an attack happened in the middle of the day . Park patrons: Crowds of onlookers, pictured, watched as investigators searched for evidence in Central Park . Authorities yesterday released surveillance images of the suspect who was wearing black pants, a black T-shirt and white sneakers. He was carrying a backpack that resembled the one stolen from the woman, and also wearing a second backpack. Alexander Stein, 48, who runs a picture booth nearby, told DNA Info he saw a police officer near Strawberry Fields get the call about the crime and race over, followed moments later by more squad cars and an ambulance. 'Things happen here every day,' Stein told the news website. 'But when police start running in every direction and ambulances come, you know something serious has happened.' Emily Loubaton, 29, was in the park on a scavenger hunt that her company had organized. 'I think this is pretty disgusting, and so shocking it would happen on such a beautiful day in such a beautiful park,' she said. Scene: The attack took place in a popular area of the park dedicated to John Lennon . Asked if she felt less safe in Central . Park, she said: 'I'd like to believe that New York City has turned the . corner for the better. I mean, this isn't the 70s. But it definitely . makes you pause before you walk in.' The victim told The Post that she wasn't frightened to return to Central Park and would not let the attacker stop her enjoying the area. 'I’m not scared. I don’t want to lose that pleasure. I won’t let anything keep me from enjoying the park,' she said. 'I’m not going back looking like this, but of course I’ll go back. It’s my park. I look like hell, but it will heal. I can see I’m alive.' But she admitted she may lose some sleep after the horrific attack. 'I know tonight, I will have a little trouble. I’ll feel the weight of him pushing me to the ground, and pummel, pummel, pummel,' she told the newspaper, punching the air around her. | David Albert Mitchell, 42, likely to be charged with rape after broad daylight rape yesterday .
73-year-old woman believes she was targeted because she accidentally photographed him masturbating in the park 10 days ago .
Victim called for authorities to 'Kill him. Cut off his penis. Then give him life in prison'
The West Virginia native was convicted of raping a woman in her 70s when he was 18-years-old . |
50,643 | 8f493076678414542f0fce03747fca1d511f88be | Professional and amateur clubs around the country have united to commemorate one of the most iconic moments of World War I - the 1914 Christmas Truce football match between English and German soldiers. Teams joined together for a pre-match photo of intermingling players that will be uploaded to social media websites this weekend as part of the 'Football Remembers' series of events. The so-called 'Moment of History' project images will then be shown at the website www.FootballRemembers.com. It is almost 100 years since, on Christmas Day, soldiers in the First World War stopped fighting, exchanged gifts, sang carols and played football in no-man's land. VIDEO Scroll down to see the memorial at Ploegsteert Wood, Flanders, where British and German soldiers played during WW1 . Chelsea and Newcastle started things off by posing for the group photo ahead of their lunchtime kick off . Arsenal and Stoke players come together at the Britannia Stadium to commemorate the Christmas Truce . Liverpool players line up against their Sunderland counterparts ahead of their Premier League clash at Anfield . Young Tottenham mascots get in on the act at White Lane before Spurs showdown with Crystal Palace . British and German soldiers put war to one side to celebrate Christmas Day, as depicted by this BBC Four documentary . A war veteran plays The Last Post before Arsenal's game with Stoke on Saturday . Championship clubs were also involved with Fulham and Watford playing their part in the Football Remembers project . Clubs from Scotland also supported the project, with Rangers and Cowdenbeath players posing together at Ibrox . It wasn't just league games that saw players united - Sheffield United and Plymouth Argyle line up ahead of their FA Cup clash . The Reading and Bolton Wanderers players are joined by the match officials as theyposed for their 'Moments of Time' picture . The Football Remembers project has been supported by the Premier League, Football Association and Football League and will continue until 2018. More than 30,000 schools were sent an education pack which included resources to help children learn about the Christmas Truce and football's role in recruitment and morale during the First World War. The HRH The Duke of Cambridge is supporting the project, he said: 'The British Council, together with The FA, Premier League and Football League, have put together a tremendous resource for use in the classroom and at home. 'It promises to be a powerful way to engage and educate young people about such an important moment in our history. 'We all grew up with the story of soldiers from both sides putting down their arms on Christmas Day, and it remains wholly relevant today as a message of hope over adversity, even in the bleakest of times.' | Amateur and professional clubs united to take part in a series 'Football Remembers' events this weekend .
Teams posed together for pre-match 'Moments of History' pictures that will be uploaded to social media sites .
Premier League, Championship and Football League clubs all joined in to commemorate the 1914 Christmas Truce . |
44,832 | 7e5eb51fb2fbaba8dcf4260b686f602b8bb378ae | Royal memorabilia is sought after by collectors around the world, particularly those pieces associated with weddings. The general public aren't immune to the lure of marriage keepsakes either: it is rare to find a house in the UK without a commemorative mug or tea towel from either Charles and Diana's wedding or the more recent marriage of the Duchess of Cambridge to Prince William. And now, an exiting new auction will offer collectors a unique opportunity to own a very special souvenir: a piece of the wedding cake from Kate and William's big day. Legacy: At the Julien's auction in Beverly Hills, a slice of cake from the 2011 royal wedding of Prince William, and Kate Middleton is on sale . The cake is to be auctioned at Julien's auction house in Beverley Hills, California, as part of a special sale that will see a collection of the late Lady Diana Spencer's dresses go on sale alongside the wedding cake. Diana's dresses are expected to reach prices up to $130,000 (£80,000), while the single slice from the 2011 nuptials is estimated to fetch between $1000 (£600) and $2000 (£1,200). Best not to actually eat it: The cake (pictured) comes in a presentation tin and is estimated to fetch between $1,000 and $2,000 . The cake was a bespoke creation, crafted by cake-maker Fiona Cairns. It took her five weeks to complete the confectionery masterpiece. The elaborate gateau was covered in cream and white icing and decorated with 900 delicate sugar-paste flowers. The culinary masterpiece took centre-stage at the Buckingham Palace reception held in the picture gallery on the day of their wedding. Fiona, 59, whose confections are sold in Harrods, Selfridges and Waitrose, was contacted by St James's Palace in February and asked if she would make William and Kate's wedding cake. Bakers prepare the Royal wedding cake in the Picture Gallery of Buckingham Palace . Finishing touches: Staff perfect the special cake, that was covered in cream and white icing and decorated with up to 900 delicate sugar-paste flowers . It appears that the humble slice of wedding cake may be worth its grand price tag as Fiona says that creating the dessert was a meticulous and exhausting task. 'We reflected some of the architectural details in the room so the garlands on the walls were reproduced loosely on the fourth tier - we've used roses, acorns, ivy leaves, apple blossom and bridal rose.' The bride wanted elements from the Joseph Lambeth technique of cake decoration, where intricate piping is used to make three dimensional scroll work, leaves, and flowers. Royal wedding memorabilia is extremely collectible and hard to get hold of, the Julien's auction will offer a rare opportunity to fans, pictured - Kate and Will on their wedding day in 2011 . Kate also gave Fiona detailed instructions for her to include 17 different blooms and foliage for their meaning or symbolism - known as the 'language of flowers'. With this in mind it seems that such an iconic component of the wedding should be deserving of such a royal price tag. Also under the hammer is a blank invitation to the same wedding, printed on Queen Elizabeth II's Buckingham Palace stationary. 'The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by The Queen to invite __ to the Marriage of His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales, K.G. with Miss Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on Friday 29th April at 11.00 a.m.,' it reads. 'Dress: Uniform, Morning Coat or Lounge Suit.' It is sure to be met with an equally eager set of bidders. The Exquisite Collection of HRH Diana, Princess of Wales auction will take place on 5th December 2014 at Julien's auction house Beverley Hills California . You're invited: Also under the hammer is a blank invitation to the same wedding, printed on the Queen's Buckingham Palace stationery . A collection of the late Diana, Princess of Wales's dresses which she auctioned off for charity in London in 1997 herself, will go under the hammer again this December in Beverly Hills, California. The outfits, all but one designed by the late Catherine Walker, Diana's personal couturier and close friend for 16 years, are estimated to fetch between $60,000 and $100,000. At the highest end of the price spectrum is a cream lace dress designed by Zandra Rhodes and worn by Diana in 1987 to the Birthright Benefit at the London Palladium; while bidders on a lower budget might snap themselves up a pair of cuff-links commemorating Diana and Prince Charles' 1981 wedding, valued at $600 to $800. Scroll down for video . Under the hammer: This cream lace dress designed by Zandra Rhodes (left) and worn by Diana in 1987 to the Birthright Benefit at the London Palladium (right) is estimated to fetch between $80,000 and $100,000 . The June 1997 auction, Dresses from the Collection of Diana, Princess of Wales, was handled by Christie's of London, only one month before Diana was killed in a car accident in Paris at the age of 36. The anonymous winners will now part with their collectors items at the upcoming Beverly Hills show, handled by Julien's Auctions, . Along with the items, which will go up for auction December 5, is a copy of an oversized catalogue which accompanied the original auction, as well as an invitation to the event; signed by Diana, and valued at between $2,000 and $4,000. Emerald: A vivid green silk gown by Catherine Walker (left), which Diana wore in 1993 to a banquet at the Dorchester Hotel, London, (right) is expected to fetch between $60,000 and $80,000 . Princess pink: A Catherine Walker dress, embellished with beads and mock pearls (left) was worn by Diana in 1993 to the Savoy Theatre in London (right) and is also estimated to sell for up to $80,000 . A handwritten letter from Diana, using her Kensington Palace stationary and dated June 1997 reads: 'The inspiration for this wonderful sale comes from just one person... our son William.' Other garments that will feature will include a Catherine Walker petal pink dress, embellished with beads and mock pearls, worn by Diana in 1993 to the Savoy Theatre in London and estimated to fetch between $60,000 and $80,000. A vivid green silk gown Diana wore the same year, also in London, to a banquet at the Dorchester Hotel, is also expected to go for between $60,000 and $80,000. Additionally, a strapless monochrome number which she wore to a private event, is estimated at the same value. Black and white delight: This strapless monochrome number, also designed by Catherine Walker and worn by Diana to a private event, is also up for auction . Pals: Miss Walker (left) who died in 2012 after a long battle with cancer, created over 1,000 outfits for Diana (right) during her tenure as her personal couturier. Pictured: June 1997, a month before Diana's death . Full circle: The collection was originally auctioned off for charity in London in 1997 by Diana herself. A copy of an oversized catalog which accompanied the auction (pictured) is also for sale . Handwritten: A letter from Diana dated June 1997 (left) reads, 'The inspiration for this wonderful sale comes from just one person... our son William.' - and her signature on the auction catalog (right) Ms Walker, who died in 2012 after a long battle with cancer, worked tirelessly to create over 1,000 outfits for Diana; from right after her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles, to until her death in 1997. According to a friend of Miss Walker, journalist Alison Jane Reid - who wrote an in-depth story about her for MailOnline in 2010 - the Princess and the designer were close, and their relationship founded on 'loyalty and total discretion.' Reid wrote: 'After Diana’s separation from Prince Charles in 1992, clothes became even more important to her. 'Together, the two women devised a joint strategy of ‘defiant’ frocks - body-conscious but without vulgarity - that Diana wore in separation and divorce.' ANNABEL FENWICK ELLIOT . | A slice of Kate and Will's wedding cake will go under the hammer .
The single slice is expected to fetch between $1000-$2000 .
It is part of a unique auction of Lady Diana's dresses .
The couples' wedding invitation will also be up for auction . |
243,597 | c74d9b8a8063913f1178a478a1c55cddffb3049d | By . Associated Press . Last updated at 4:24 PM on 20th December 2011 . ESPN college football analyst Craig James has announced he is running for the U.S. Senate as a Republican from Texas. The 50-year-old, who starred as a tailback at Southern Methodist University and with the New England Patriots in the 1980s and now appears on the cable network's weekly game broadcasts, has been flirting with entering politics for more than year. Republican fundraiser and close friend Roy Bailey last night said that Mr James has informed him he was running for the 2012 Senate seat and is in the process of dropping off his official candidate papers in Austin. Candidate: ESPN college football analyst Craig James has announced he is running for the U.S. Senate as a Republican from Texas . Mr Bailey said: 'I think it's great for Texas. Anytime you have someone with Craig's street smarts and business sense and willingness to serve the public, it's a great thing.' Mr Bailey said he will now help raise money for Mr James's political campaign. Although Mr James's name recognition could be an advantage in the race, it could also hurt him. He is a polarising figure who was embroiled in Texas Tech University's 2009 decision to fire popular football coach Mike Leach over allegations the coach mistreated Mr James's son, a Red Raiders player, after he sustained a concussion. He was also a member of the record-setting SMU football team in the early 1980s when the program entered a series of scandals that ultimately forced the NCAA to shut it down. His late entry into the Senate race puts him in a primary field already crowded with well-known and wealthy candidates who are vying for the seat vacated by retiring Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison. Lt Governor David Dewhurst, former Dallas mayor Tom Leppert and former Texas solicitor general Ted Cruz have spent months raising money and collecting endorsements from prominent Republicans. The deadline to enter the race is February 1. Mr James, who lives north of Dallas in Celina, has been a board member of the influential conservative think tank the Texas Policy Foundation in Austin and recently founded Texans for a Better America to promote conservative policies. He is likely banking on name recognition from his work for ESPN and his ties to big-time college football to overcome his late start. But that name recognition could prove to be a double-edged sword. Texas Tech fired Mr Leach, who had the most wins in school history, after Mr James complained to school administrators that he mistreated his son, Adam James, by twice ordering him to stand for hours confined in a dark place after he got a concussion. Back in the day: Mr James's name recognition could be an advantage in the race, but it could also hurt him . Mr Leach denies mistreating the younger James and has said Craig James had called coaches trying to get his son more playing time. Mr Leach also said he suspects an $800,000 bonus he was due on December 31, 2009, was the reason he was fired. Mr Leach sued the university and named Craig James as a defendant. The case is pending before the Texas Supreme Court. He has also sued ESPN and a Dallas public relations firm, accusing them of libel and slander after he was fired. From 1979 to 1982, Mr James was a star player at SMU and was part of the record-setting 'Pony Express' backfield with Eric Dickerson. Though the Mustangs won Southwest Conference championships in 1981 and 1982, the team was also embroiled in several NCAA investigations. In 1987, the NCAA hit SMU with the so-called 'death penalty' for repeated infractions, shutting down the program for a year after finding SMU had continued to pay players after promising in 1985 it would stop. SMU also chose not to play in 1988 because the NCAA would have limited the Mustangs to only seven games, none at home. The scandal is generally considered among the worst in college sports history. The sanctions levelled by the NCAA decimated the Mustangs program and SMU remains the only school to be given the 'death penalty'. Mr James was never directly implicated in the NCAA transgressions and he has consistently denied any involvement. But he also has had a close relationship with Dallas real estate developer Sherwood Blount, one of the key boosters involved in the pay-for-play scandal. Mr Blount, who reportedly insisted SMU had a 'payroll to meet' even after the school promised the payments would stop, was Mr James' agent when he played in the NFL. In his book Gameday, Mr James wrote: 'I'm not going to sit here and tell you I never received a nickel during my playing days. 'But I can say with certainty that no benefits were ever extended to me from anyone associated with the SMU administration.' After college, Mr James was drafted by the Washington Federals in the USFL and signed with the Patriots before the 1985 season. He retired from football in 1989. As a businessman, he has been involved in ventures providing video content for the Internet as well as real estate holdings and development, according to the Texans for a Better America website. | ESPN college football analyst, 50, is in process of dropping off official candidate papers in Austin . |
182,094 | 77c2dee2dfddb8c82f3d954a5ebb0fe01a089169 | This is the older brother of the missing British twins who ran away from their Manchester council house to Syria to become 'jihadi brides'. Ahmed Halane, 21, is believed to have gone to the war-torn country last year to fight with terror group ISIS, and is now banned from returning to the UK. Two weeks ago his twin sisters Salma and Zhara, both 16, who have 28 GCSEs between them, sneaked out of their bedrooms during the night two weeks ago and boarded a flight to Turkey. They are then thought to have travelled overland to Syria and called their parents to say: 'We’re not coming back'. Scroll down for video . Champion: Ahmed Halane, 21, whose twin sisters have followed him to Syria, is an expert at memorising the Koran and has appeared in YouTube videos viewed by thousands online . On the run: Salma (left) and Zahra Halane (right), who last summer achieved 28 GCSEs between them, left their parents’ home in the middle of the night and caught a flight to Turkey, before crossing the border to Syria . New videos have revealed their brother Ahmed had achieved some fame for his ability to memorise and sing the Koran, which started at the age of five. Some of the films, viewed by tens of thousands on YouTube, show him competing in contests across Britain and even in Dubai, where he has won prizes of around £500. In one film he describes how he had started memorising texts from the religious book from the age of five. In the video, Ahmed, who was born in Denmark but moved to England when he was aged nine, says: 'When I came here to the UK that's when things got a bit more intensive. 'My father opened a school in Bolton, it was quite intensive. Six days a week we used to go. Sometimes four hours a day. 'Friday used to be our day off.' He adds how he progressed from learning one page of the Koran a day 'to five or six pages', describing it as 'a journey'. And by the age of 13 he had memorised the whole book. Later he admits he got married at 18 which 'helped him very much' to 'get better' at it. MailOnline understands that he also has a child. But shortly after the video was filmed last summer he fled to Syria to fight with ISIS. Discussion: Ahmed Halane talks about his life in Denmark and then the UK, before revealing he married at 18 . Police probe: Officers were seen leaving the house. The large back and front gardens were strewn with discarded household items and children's plastic toys . Police have said the twins 'potentially pose a threat to themselves and the community'. Dr Abdelaziz Belattar, 53, who helped organise the competition for the Muslim Association of Britain, said their brother led prayers at the Al Furqan Mosque in Moss Side, where the twins’ father was said to teach the Koran. Dr Belattar, from Hulme, Manchester, said: ‘Ahmed had a good voice and used to lead prayers at a local mosque during Ramadan. I told him that he had the attributes of a good Islamic teacher, particularly as he could recite the Koran.’ Dr Belattar said Halane had told him he had been studying Islam in Denmark, and planned to complete his studies at a university in Egypt. But he said the student had disappeared since the video was filmed last summer. ‘I assumed he Ahmed had gone to Eygpt as I have not seen him since at the mosque or around Manchester’, he said. ‘He was not extremist at all in his manner. I can’t believe his family could be caught up in anything like this.’ In the video, Ahmed says his father and other family members can all recite the Koran. He said he started memorising it a page at a time when he was 5 and he could recite the whole book by age of 13 – learning at group sessions after school or mosque six days a week. He said he started teaching other children at the age of 16 and recites the Muslim holy book every 10 days to help it stay in his mind. Dr Bellatar did not know the rest of Ahmed’s family. It is not clear whether he is the brother said to have inspired the twins to become jihadist fighters. | Ahmed Halane, 21, is now banned from the UK for going to Syria to join ISIS .
Married father of one is a celebrated performer who memorised the Koran .
He has won competitions in the UK and also in Dubai, collecting £500 prizes .
He fled the UK last year and his sisters Salma and Zhara, both 16, followed . |
122,976 | 2af41602a2bee109ae86cac2bc64fae0315c53e4 | Buchanan, New York (CNN) -- Stepping into the containment dome of Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant No. 3 is almost surreal. It's like entering a movie set, but instead of walking by wooden props, we're passing through an 11-foot-thick concrete-and-steel wall. This is the nuclear facility that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to shut down, the long-time target of both anti-nuclear and environmental activists, the nuclear power plant that sits only some 25 miles from New York City. Just a strip of yellow tape warning of radioactive danger separates me, my producer Sheila Steffen and cameramen Rod Griola and Ken Borland from white-uniformed technicians who are removing groups of nuclear fuel rods (204 rods are packaged together in each fuel assembly) and inserting new ones, a month-long process that takes place every two years. Armed guards stand behind us, even after we have cleared three levels of tight security and a radiation briefing. Getting into the White House is easier, far easier. Around my neck are two Indian Point security passes and two dosimeters that will measure the amount of radiation I receive: one will be sent for analysis to a laboratory, the other is an electronic-arming dosimeter, a real-time radiation detector set to beep if I were to receive a dose of 100 millirems per hour. (During our radiation briefing we are told a chest x-ray delivers 8 millirems.) A massive 100-ton steel plug hangs from cables. Below, workers surround the nuclear core, which is underwater. They control machinery that delicately moves the fuel assemblies through a water-filled canal connected to the spent fuel pool, where rods filled with uranium pellets cool down for years. There are nearly 50,000 uranium pellets in each fuel assembly collection of rods. Pumps keep water circulating into the pool so it remains at a temperature of 100-degrees Fahrenheit (compared to the 2,100 degrees that nuclear fuel can reach before it would meltdown). So, keeping the power on here is essential to averting disaster. Indian Point receives its power from the same electric grid to which it contributes. If the power goes out -- and it briefly did only three weeks ago due to a utility technician's error -- backup diesel generators kick in to keep the plant functioning. That's exactly what happened during the recent outage. Each of Indian Point's two reactors have three auxiliary diesel generators, and then there are separately located backups to those backups as well as diesel-driven fire pumps that can keep the spent fuel rod pools filled. It's all designed to avoid the kind of catastrophe that occurred at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant. Plant managers spend lots of time thinking about potential emergencies and how to avert them. "Our plant is designed to handle the worst natural disaster. Our people are trained. We have many layers of redundancy," said John Dinelli, director of operations at Indian Point. The plant is built to withstand at least a 6.0-magnitude earthquake, greater than the region has ever experienced, though researchers at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory warn a 7.0 is not out of the realm of possibility since they have determined the plants is built near the intersection of two active seismic zones. "We believe that we can handle a (magnitude) 7 earthquake," said Joseph Pollock, vice president of operations for Entergy, the plant's owner. "The theoretically highest predicted earthquake in this area would be of a magnitude where our plant design will be able to withstand that and we would be able to respond and shut the plant down in a safe manner." In truth, Indian Point's operators say, a severe hurricane is a far more likely event, for which they also have extensive contingency plans. During the month-long refueling process at unit No. 3, the containment dome's hatch remains open. To be prepared for a natural hazard -- or even the possibility of an attack -- Indian Point keeps a giant plug sitting on a massive forklift nearby that plant workers can shove into place within 15 minutes to protect the reactor. Such precautions and procedures are part of Entergy's application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20-year operating license renewal. Unit No. 3's license expires in 2015, unit No. 2 in 2013. (Indian Point shut down its original reactor, No. 1, in 1974). Back inside the dome, after technicians vertically lift a 12-foot fuel assembly from the nuclear core, they turn it horizontally and move it along a water-filled canal to the adjacent building that houses the spent fuel pool where the assembly is positioned in an upright rack for cooling, which takes years. The pool about 40 feet deep, surrounded by 6 feet of concrete on all sides, and it has a greenish tint to it. Workers stand on metal ramps overhead, prepared to accept the next spent fuel assembly. My electronic arming dosimeter registers a .3 millirem, its first detection of radiation. In a locked, plexiglass-enclosed case not far from the pool sit brand new fuel assemblies fresh from Westinghouse, waiting their turn for a swim to the nuclear reactor core. As precise as the underwater operations are, they are not without flaw. In unit No. 2, Indian Point's other active plant, there has been a relatively small leak during refueling that officials say has let out as much as eight gallons of contaminated water a day into the containment dome area. "We haven't found the exact location of the leak to be able to do the repair and stop it," said Pollock. "We're working with a couple of firms. Right now there's a technique being used in Germany that we're trying to see if it would work here and we're going through that evaluation right now." Pollock says the leak is neither cause for concern nor a safety hazard since it's within one of the reactor domes. As we leave the spent fuel pool, we hand in both our dosimeters for analysis before stepping into a device that detects if we've picked up any contaminants on our clothing or shoes. I step in, push my chest against the oversized metal detector style contraption, wait an uncomfortably long 30-seconds, then do the same with my back up against the device. My heartbeat slows as I step through the locked security gate and walk back towards the largest part of the nuclear plant: the power-generating room. This is where the steam that's created from the nuclear reactor flows through huge tubes to turn giant turbines that power the generator that produces the electricity Indian Point sends off to the grid. Each plant generates 1,000 megawatts of power, providing as much as 30% of the electricity for New York and Westchester County. Since unit No. 3 is undergoing refueling, workers are busy maintaining and upgrading the turbines and generator. Both Indian Point plants are pressurized water reactors, as opposed to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan, which is a boiling water reactor. Pressurized reactors aren't necessarily safer than boiling water reactors, they just employ a different technique to harness the heat generated by nuclear fission to produce steam. As the nuclear crisis unfolds in Japan, Indian Point officials say they're hoping for details that might help operations here. "Undoubtedly we will come back with lessons learned to continue to improve our safety margins and increase them even further," said Pollack. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is initiating a safety review of Indian Point and all other U.S. nuclear power facilities, as part of its response to the crisis in Japan. | CNN Correspondent Allan Chernoff and his crew go into a nuclear power facility .
The Indian Point facility sits some 25 miles from New York City .
New York Gov. Cuomo wants to shut it; the plant seeks a 20-year license renewal . |
155,020 | 5457086d98b4835cb94aed4196243991a163dfec | Is a sunken shipwreck off Haiti the long-lost remains of the Santa Maria, Christopher Columbus' flagship from his first voyage to the Americas? Underwater explorer Barry Clifford, who led a team that found and investigated the wreck, says he's confident it is. "Every single piece fits. Now, of course, we have to go through the whole archeological process, and we plan to do that within the next few months, but I feel very confident that we've discovered the site," he told CNN. "This is the ship that changed the course of human history," Clifford said. If the claim is confirmed, it would go down as one of the most significant underwater archaeological discoveries ever. "It is the Mount Everest of shipwrecks for me," said Clifford, 68. But it isn't a new find for him. Clifford's announcement involves a wreck he and his team investigated in 2003. A cannon was found as part of the wreck. But, Clifford told CNN, archaeologists at the time "misdiagnosed" the cannon. Two years ago, after having researched the type of cannon used in Columbus' time, "I woke up in the middle of the night and said, 'Oh my God,' " Clifford told CNN. He realized the 2003 find might have been the one. A couple of weeks ago, he returned to the wreck with a group of experts. The team measured and photographed the ship. But some items, including the cannon, had been looted from the ship in the intervening years, Clifford said. The ship "still has attributes that warrant an excavation to determine the site's identity," archaeologist Charles Beeker of Indiana University said Tuesday. "Barry may have finally discovered the 1492 Santa Maria." The evidence, Beeker said, is "very compelling." The ship was found in the exact area where Columbus said the Santa Maria ran aground more than 500 years ago, Clifford said. The wreck is stuck on a reef off Haiti's northern coast, 10 to 15 feet beneath the water's surface. Clifford plans to go back to Haiti next month to meet with authorities and decide what steps to take next. Wrecked in 1492 . It was the flagship of Columbus' small fleet that set sail from Spain in August 1492 under the sponsorship of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I. The voyage aimed to find a westward route to China, India and the gold and spice islands of the East. But the land the sailors set eyes on in October 1492 was an island in the Caribbean. Among the islands on which Columbus set foot was Hispaniola, which is divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Columbus established a fort in Haiti. That December, the Santa Maria accidentally ran aground off the island's coast. Some planks and provisions from the wrecked ship, which was about 117 feet (36 meters) long, were used by the garrison at the fort, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. Columbus set off back to Spain with the two remaining ships, the Nina and the Pinta, in January 1493. Archaeological study needed . Archaeologists will have to excavate and examine the ship found off Haiti in order to determine whether it is, in fact, the Santa Maria. Most of the ship is in shape and will be possible to excavate with the help of the Haitian government, said Clifford, who made a name for himself salvaging pirate ships off the coasts of Cape Cod and Madagascar. His team has used sophisticated metal detectors and sonar scans to study the remains. The ship is the right size, he said, and stones found at the site match the kind from the part of Spain where the ship was built. "I don't think any of us should take for granted what has been written," Clifford said. "This is a tremendous touchstone to that period in time. We don't know what secrets are going to be held on the ship." Did Phoenicians beat Columbus by 2,000 years? After 125 years, ship rediscovered at bottom of San Francisco Bay . What caused this Civil War submarine to sink? Piece of ironclad brought to surface . Shipwreck found on Gulf floor while thousands watched . | "We don't know what secrets are going to be held on the ship," says explorer .
Barry Clifford says the wreck is in the right place and is the right size .
A cannon of 15th century design found at the site is the "smoking gun," he says .
Evidence is "very compelling," says an archaeological expert . |
176,894 | 70fbf167e7bb5d7e9ae09169e2d12d290f1fd087 | Artificial leaves have been shown to harness solar energy and turn it into hydrogen for use in fuel cells, for example. But cars and other vehicles still predominantly rely on liquid fuels. With this in mind, researchers have designed a bionic leaf that not only uses solar energy to produce oxygen and hydrogen, it feeds this hydrogen to bacteria that is then engineered to make isopropanol. Researchers have designed a leaf that uses solar energy to produce oxygen and hydrogen. This hydrogen is fed to a bacterium called Ralstonia eutropha. An enzyme takes the hydrogen back to protons and electrons and combines them with carbon dioxide. This is then engineered to make isopropanol (illustrated) Isopropanol is an alcohol molecule that can be used as fuel, similar to ethanol or gasoline, and can be separated from water using salt. The technology was created by a team from Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. It builds on the work of Professor of Energy Daniel Nocera and his ‘artificial leaf’ first demonstrated in 2011. The technology was created by a team from Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. It builds on the work of Professor of Energy Daniel Nocera and his ‘artificial leaf’ first demonstrated in 2011. Professor Nocera’s ‘leaf’ was made from a silicon strip coated with catalysts on each side. The Harvard leaf produces oxygen and hydrogen in the same way as Professor Nocera’s, but the hydrogen is then channeled through a chamber filled with a bacterium called Ralstonia eutropha. An enzyme in this bacteria takes the hydrogen back to protons and electrons, and these are combined with carbon dioxide within the same chamber. The researchers then extract this bacteria, with the protons, electrons and carbon dioxide and metabolically engineers it to make isopropanol. This engineering method was discovered by Anthony Sinskey, professor of microbiology and of health sciences and technology at MIT. Professor Nocera’s ‘leaf’ was made from a silicon strip coated with catalysts on each side. When placed in water and exposed to sunlight, the strip split the water molecules to release and oxygen and hydrogen. ‘This is a proof of concept that you can have a way of harvesting solar energy and storing it in the form of a liquid fuel,’ said researcher Pamela Silver. ‘[Professor Nocera’s] formidable discovery of the catalyst really set this off, and we had a mission of wanting to interface some kinds of organisms with the harvesting of solar energy. ‘It was a perfect match.’ The Harvard leaf produces oxygen and hydrogen in the same way as Professor Nocera’s, but the hydrogen is then channelled through a chamber filled with a bacterium called Ralstonia eutropha. An enzyme in this bacteria takes the hydrogen back to protons and electrons, and these are combined with carbon dioxide within the same chamber. The researchers then extract this bacteria, with the protons, electrons and carbon dioxide and metabolically engineers it to make isopropanol. This engineering method was discovered by Anthony Sinskey, professor of microbiology and of health sciences and technology at MIT. ‘The advantage of interfacing the inorganic catalyst with biology is you have an unprecedented platform for chemical synthesis that you don't have with inorganic catalysts alone,’ said Brendan Colón, a graduate student in systems biology and co-author of the paper. The Harvard technology builds on the work of Daniel Nocera and his ‘artificial leaf’ first (pictured). Professor Nocera’s ‘leaf’ was made from a silicon strip coated with catalysts on each side. When placed in water and exposed to sunlight, the strip split the water molecules to release and oxygen and hydrogen . The same principles could be used to produce drugs such as vitamins (stock image shown) ‘Solar-to-chemical production is the heart of this paper, and so far we've been using plants for that, but we are using the unprecedented ability of biology to make lots of compounds.’ The same principles could be used to produce drugs such as vitamins in small amounts, Pamela Silver said. And in theory, any carbon-based liquid fuel could be engineered from the process. The team said its immediate challenge is to increase the bionic leaf's ability to turn solar energy to biomass by optimising the catalyst and the bacteria. Their goal is 5 per cent efficiency, compared to nature's rate of 1 per cent efficiency for photosynthesis to turn sunlight into biomass. ‘We're almost at a 1 per cent efficiency rate of converting sunlight into isopropanol,’ Professor Nocera said. ‘There have been 2.6 billion years of evolution, and [Professor Silver] and I working together a year and a half have already achieved the efficiency of photosynthesis.’ The findings are published in the journal PNAS and co-authors include Joseph Torella, and Christopher Gagliardi. | The technology was created by biologists from Harvard University .
It builds on the work of Daniel Nocera and his ‘artificial silicon leaf’
This leaf produces oxygen and hydrogen from solar energy .
Harvard leaf produces oxygen and hydrogen in the same way but the hydrogen is fed into a chamber containing bacterium Ralstonia eutropha .
An enzyme in the bacterium takes hydrogen back to protons and electrons .
These are combined with carbon dioxide engineered to make isopropanol .
The same principles could be used to produce drugs such as vitamins .
And in theory, any carbon-based liquid fuel could be engineered . |
116,857 | 22db95603a133e7291795fbd8df7ba805affdfa5 | The Duke of Cambridge has backed calls for a public inquiry into the case of three men who were mown down and killed by a car during the Birmingham riots of 2011. MailOnline can exclusively reveal it is the first time Prince William has expressed his support for the idea in the case of Haroon Jahan, 20, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31. The trio were killed in Dudley Road in the Winson Green area of Birmingham in the early hours of August 10, 2011 as they tried to protect businesses from looters. The Duke (left) supports calls for an inquiry into the death of Haroon Jahan (image right, being held by his father Tariq) Prince William meets with Tariq Jahan in Balsall Heath to discuss the lack of justice for the death of his son . Mr Jahan pictured reading messages at the scene where his 20-year-old son Haroon was killed in Winson Green, Birmingham after being hit by a car . Left to right: Haroon Jahan, 20, Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, were run over and killed by a car . During a private meeting with Haroon's father Tariq and senior police officers and community leaders in Balsall Heath, Birmingham, on Friday, the Duke threw his weight behind proposals for an investigation into why there has been no justice for the families of the three men. Eight men were charged with their murder, but were cleared by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court after a senior officer was accused during the case of lying on oath about the late disclosure of an offer to give eye-witnesses immunity from prosecution. A subsequent IPCC report cleared him of any wrongdoing but did criticise another officer for making the offers of immunity, though he has faced no punishment as he has since retired. Abdullah Rehman, who is CEO of the Balsall Heath Forum community group and was at the meeting, said: 'The Prince had asked to meet Tariq for an update on the case. 'It was quite amazing. He showed real sympathy towards him and his situation. 'We feel there had been no accountability (because of) the fact eight men were cleared of this horrific act during the riots. 'We feel the police, the CPS, and the judge were completely incompetent and we as a community are asking for accountability. The Prince listened. 'He then spoke directly to Tariq and said some really reassuring words: never to underestimate himself, keep his chin up and he was 100 per cent backing a public inquiry, which was great news.' Detective Chief Inspector Anthony Tagg was adamant in court during the murder trial that he had disclosed the relevant information regarding the offers of immunity. He and another officer, Detective Inspector Khalid Kiyani, were investigated after the accused walked free. The judge had to tell the jury to disregard much of the evidence and the eight accused were cleared. The Prince at the meeting with police representatives and community leaders, with Mr Jahan to his left . The Duke was praised for 'putting everyone at ease' during the meeting on Friday . The second in line to the throne impressed community leaders with his knowledge of the case . He said he was 'not just words' and was lobbying senior officers for a public inquiry . The IPCC examined the manner of the police probe into the deaths and declared it had been mishandled in a finding unveiled in May this year. During the trial the judge accused DCI Tagg of having lied on oath about the late disclosure of an offer to give eyewitnesses immunity from prosecution. The IPCC report said Mr Tagg had no case to answer for misconduct. But it ruled DI Kiyani had acted recklessly in offering immunity to witnesses at a public meeting and would have faced misconduct charges had he not retired in 2012. The new West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson and his deputy Yvonne Mosquito were also at the discussion on Friday . After the meeting with the Duke, Mr Rehman told BBC West Midlands radio interviewer Arshia Riaz: 'It was quite overwhelming really, the way he talked to Tariq, the way he spoke to all of us and the sympathy that he showed towards this whole injustice was really heartwarming.' Mr Rehman said the Duke insisted he was 'not just words' but he was talking with senior police officers and the Governor General to get a public inquiry. He said the Prince wanted it 'to happen as soon as possible because there is an amount of trust that has been lost.' He added: 'In my job it is a big disadvantage if people in the community do not trust the police and the justice system. 'The meeting was really heart-warming and has given us a lot of confidence that there will be a public inquiry now. 'With the fact that the crime commissioner and the deputy crime commissioner were there as well, we hope something will come from this. Tarmiq Jahan addresses community groups in Birmingham following his son's death . Haroon Jahan as a boy (left) with his father Tariq pictured right . 'I think there will be more support now the Prince has given his approval and this will get the ball rolling.' Mr Rehman paid tribute to William's knowledge of the case and the way he made everyone feel at ease. 'I didn't know what to expect, but the Prince was really down to earth', he said. 'I do think it is down to his wonderful mother and the way she brought him up. 'How he welcomed us, spoke to us and how he really put us at ease when we were talking to him and the compassion he showed Tariq was really heart-warming.' The atmosphere on the streets of Birmingham was extremely tense after the deaths of the three young men in 2011, with some groups calling for revenge. Mr Jahan was credited with restoring calm after urging local youths to put their faith in the justice system. But his own faith in that system has since been sorely tested after he was denied justice for the death of his son. Mr Jahan wrote on Facebook that his bid for a public inquiry had also been backed by the family of the two brothers who died alongside Haroon. Birmingham community groups stage a peace rally protest in Summerfield Park following the death of Haroon Jahan and brothers Shazad Ali and Abdul Musavir . Prayers are held at Summerfield Park before the funeral for three men killed while guarding against looters in Winson Green area of Birmingham on August 18, 2011 . He posted pictures of his meeting with the Prince on the site and wrote: 'The Prince has given his full support and backing in calling for a public inquiry into the case of the three murdered boys. 'Three years on we still need answers and ultimately justice.' A spokesman for Clarence House declined to comment on the meeting, but did say the Duke has met privately with Mr Jahan on each of his last three visits to Birmingham. This includes last week's trip, with the other two taking place in 2011 and 2013. A statement from West Midlands Police said: 'A comprehensive and high profile investigation was carried out in relation to the deaths of Haroon Jahan, Shazad Ali, and Abdul Musavir. 'Extensive evidence was presented to the Crown Prosecution Service, who authorised the charge of eight men with murder. 'Following a lengthy crown court hearing they were found not guilty of murder by a jury on July 19, 2012. 'If substantial new information or evidence were to become available, it would examined by West Midlands Police, and if appropriate we would take it to the Crown Prosecution Service for their consideration. 'However it is difficult to see where that evidence could come from. What happened that night and who was involved was not really in dispute. 'The jury, having heard all the evidence and having seen all the CCTV, decided that the defendants were innocent. 'The judge therefore remarked that what happened must have been a terrible accident.' | Prince William meets Haroon Jahan's father Tariq in Birmingham .
20-year-old died with two other men in Winson Green in August 2011 .
Murder case against eight men collapsed at Birmingham Crown Court .
Two police officers investigated by IPCC over failure of the prosecution .
Probe related to offers of immunity from prosecution made to witnesses .
Senior officer cleared of lying under oath but second officer criticised .
He retired before he could be punished for wrongly making immunity offers .
Duke tells Mr Jahan to 'keep his chin up' and that he backs him '100%'
Prince is praised for being 'down to earth' and putting meeting 'at ease' |
271,573 | ebc26db94aa88ca9c732c62fc975c8f7fb4792f5 | Washington (CNN) -- Federal Aviation Administrator Randy Babbitt resigned Tuesday, three days after he was arrested on a drunk driving charge near his suburban Washington home. In a brief statement released to the media, Babbitt said he had submitted his resignation to his boss, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and that LaHood had accepted it. Babbitt, 65, a former airline pilot and president of a major pilots' union, said serving as FAA administrator had been "the highlight of my professional career," adding, "But I am unwilling to let anything cast a shadow on the outstanding work done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by my colleagues at the FAA." His statement made no mention of his arrest, although it was clearly the event that precipitated his action. Earlier in the day, Secretary LaHood told reporters he was "very disappointed" that he had learned about Babbitt's Saturday night arrest only after the Fairfax City, Virginia, police department issued a news release about the incident. In a statement released just minutes after Babbitt announced his resignation, LaHood called Babbitt a "dedicated public servant and outstanding leader." "I'm proud to say that we have the safest aviation system in the world, and thanks to Randy's stewardship, it became safer and stronger," LaHood said. "He worked tirelessly to improve relations with the labor community and bolstered employee engagement among his 49,000 colleagues at the FAA." Fairfax City police arrested Babbitt late Saturday night after they allegedly saw Babbitt driving on the wrong side of the road. The police put out a news release on Monday morning detailing the incident. Babbitt was alone in the car, and was cooperative, police said. He was released on personal recognizance, meaning no bail was required. The police department said Babbitt failed a sobriety test, but they did not release the results of any blood-alcohol test. On Monday, DOT officials appeared to be caught off-guard when the police department, in accordance with its policies, issued a news release saying Babbitt had been arrested. DOT officials Monday afternoon issued a statement saying that Babbitt had asked for a leave of absence, and it had been granted. A court date for Babbitt has been set for February 2 in Virginia. Deputy Administrator Michael Huerta is serving as acting administrator. | NEW: FAA head Randy Babbitt resigns after a weekend charge of drunk driving .
NEW: Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood accepts Babbitt's resignation .
Police allegedly saw Babbitt driving on the wrong side of the road . |
112,056 | 1c88b2ce498f5aa80d596c736bbc3099e04eff1e | Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egypt's military dissolved the country's Parliament and suspended its constitution Sunday following the ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak, telling Egyptians it would be in charge for six months or until elections can be held. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said it would appoint a committee to propose changes to the Constitution, which would then be submitted to voters. The council will have the power to issue new laws during the transition period, according to a communique read on state television. Sameh Shoukry, Egypt's ambassador to the United States, said Sunday that the generals have made restoring security and reviving the economy its top priorities. "This current composition is basically a technocratic government to run the day-to-day affairs, to take care of the security void that has happened, and to also address the issues related to the economy," Shoukry told CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS." However, a leading opposition figure said Sunday that the military must explain its plans in more detail or see a resumption of the demonstrations that drove Mubarak from office. "They need to come out of their headquarters and start talking to the people and tell us what is in store for us," ElBaradei told GPS. And a prominent Egyptian activist credited with helping spark the revolution warned against taking too long to establish a new representative government. "Biggest mistake now is to give the Egyptian people too little too slow. Restoring confidence requires a faster pace," Wael Ghonim said on Twitter. Mubarak stepped down Friday after 18 days of protests against his nearly 30-year rule and is now in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The longtime president was himself a product of the military establishment that has ruled Egypt since the 1950s, but his abdication leaves a council of generals led by Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi in charge of the Arab world's most populous nation. Sunday's military communique said new elections would be held for both houses of Egypt's Parliament as well as the presidency. Protesters had blasted the November parliamentary elections as fraudulent, and calls for their annulment were among the major demands before Mubarak's ouster. In the meantime, government ministers are now reporting to the military high command in the same way they reported to Mubarak, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq told reporters Sunday, in remarks that were carried live on state television. He said he was reviewing candidates to fill vacant government ministries, adding that no one who was not acceptable to the public would be appointed. Sunday marked the first workday since Mubarak's ouster. For the first time since the uprising began January 25, traffic flowed freely around Tahrir Square -- the epicenter of the protests -- and the majority of shops around the square were open. Some protesters remained in the square Sunday, vowing to keep protesting until Egypt is under civilian rule. The Egyptian junta now has to grapple with the economic problems that fueled the revolt, including massive youth unemployment and economic underdevelopment. The demonstrations virtually shut down Egypt's economy, costing it vital tourism dollars as well. New protests at the headquarters of the National Bank of Egypt appear to have forced the ouster of that institution's chairman, Tarek Amer, and two top deputies, who submitted their resignations on Sunday, according to an e-mail shared with CNN by a bank employee. The National Bank's headquarters in Cairo continued to function during Sunday's protests, with disgruntled staff taking turns to work and demonstrate. It was not clear whether the resignations have been accepted. However, Sunday evening, Egyptian state television announced banks would be shut down until Wednesday, and urged workers to consider the national interest. Bank workers complained that members of Mubarak's family put their allies into positions of power at the bank with grossly inflated salaries. Cairo's stock exchange will freeze transactions from former ministers and businessmen who are now under investigation when trading resumes Wednesday, the exchange's chairman, Khaled Serri Siyam, announced in a statement on the government-run website EgyNews. Outside the Interior Ministry, hundreds of disgruntled police officers demanding higher wages, shorter hours, better benefits and more respect faced off with Egyptian troops. The police officers currently earn 500 Egyptian pounds (about $85) a month -- a quarter of what army troops of comparable rank earn, they said -- and face imprisonment if they refuse to work unpaid overtime. Both low-ranking police officers and administrative staff joined in the protest. Mubarak's ouster came three weeks after a similar revolt toppled longtime Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. And even as officials hash out the details of Egypt's murky political future, public demands for change have rippled throughout the region. In Yemen's capital Sanaa on Saturday, protesters chanted, "Yesterday Tunisia, today Egypt -- tomorrow Yemen will open the prison." And in restive Algeria, anti-government protesters chanted, "Change the power" on Saturday. Security forces clashed with the crowds Saturday in Algiers and detained roughly 100 protesters, according to the opposition Algerian League for Human Rights. Shoukry said it was a "matter of pride" for Egyptians that their revolution was "organized and peaceful," adding, "Egypt has always been a trend-setter in this region." "The region looks to us in many aspects, and I'm sure also in this regard, many lessons will be learned," he said. CNN's Ben Wedeman, Amir Ahmed, Nic Robertson, Arwa Damon, Hamdi Alkhshali, Ivan Watson, Joe Duran and Frederik Pleitgen and journalist Ian Lee contributed to this report . | NEW: Banks are shuttered until Wednesday as protests force top banker's resignation .
NEW: ElBaradei urges generals to "come out of their headquarters"
NEW: Stock exchange to freeze transactions from officials being investigated .
Egypt's ambassador says the military will run a "technocratic" government until elections . |
2,888 | 0872dd5250e7b47c33cc87a0c951b1a51edf0eab | (CNN) -- It goes on every day, in every county in the United States. It's absolutely free. Usually there's no wait to get in. And it can be as compelling as anything on television. The Florida trial in which George Zimmerman stands accused of murdering Trayvon Martin is attracting large TV audiences. The O.J. Simpson trial got the country accustomed to watching high-profile court proceedings gavel-to-gavel; the trial of Jodi Arias drew big ratings before the Zimmerman trial. Viewers return because they find the events almost hypnotic: something that thoroughly captures their attention. But one of the so-omnipresent-that-we-seldom-think-about-it facts of American life is just how much human intrigue, how much tension, how much weakness and heroism and sadness and triumph are on continuous and ever-changing display in multiple and seemingly mundane settings all over the country, each day of the workweek. And how relatively few people choose to sit in the first-come, first-served seats and take it all in. The courtrooms of this nation, both criminal and civil, are bright stages upon which the theater of murder, deceit, heartbreak and duplicity are played out in excruciating and breathtaking detail. In Zimmerman's trial, it's a jury of millions . If you're of a mind to, you can find on those stages narratives as spellbinding as any murder mystery in a bookstore or any crime drama in a movie theater. As a citizen, you can immerse yourself in the tale, day after day. You have to have a little spare time on your hands -- maybe a few days away from work -- and you have to choose a case that most interests you from among the many that are going on at the same moment in the courthouse in your community. The clerk's office will have a calendar of the day's trials, and court employees can be helpful in explaining to you what is transpiring in the various rooms. Trials tend to have ebbs and flows, and there will be times when you have to be willing to sit through lulls. But you will view and hear things more enthralling, more disturbing, more enlightening and more repellent than you might ever have imagined. As a citizen in the seats, you will almost inevitably find yourself becoming a part of the cast of characters of the courtroom. A tangential part, to be sure. But after a few days the attorneys will begin to recognize you, as will the defendants, and the judge, and the bailiffs. You may begin to feel something close to a responsibility to show up -- a responsibility to yourself, not to miss a minute of the story you have started to follow. Why don't more people, especially those who have the time, avail themselves of this opportunity? Perhaps because they seldom stop to think it's there. When a big trial makes it to TV, the assumption is that it has some special quality to attract that spotlight. That may be partially true. But although the sensational trials draw audiences because they're on television, there is so much to see and feel in the courtrooms of even the smallest cities and towns. The matters that bring people to trial -- whether acts of shattering violence, double-dealing in business transactions, any of the hundreds of variations of robbery and theft -- find their way to virtually every crossroads, and thus eventually into virtually every courthouse. Mom vs. mom in the Zimmerman trial . You can be captivated by just how skilled some attorneys are -- and surprised by just how ill-prepared some others are. You'll study the judge -- his or her shifting moods -- as if he or she is the protagonist in a paperback potboiler. You'll make eye contact with the defendants and the jury members. And there is nothing quite like the moment when that jury returns with its verdict. This is a country that somehow becomes giddy when two singers face off in a televised talent contest, and one goes on to the next round while the other goes home. That feeling pales compared to the sensation of sitting in a courtroom, your vital signs kicking into a higher gear as the judge asks the foreman if there is a decision, and the seconds drag on before the words are read aloud. The best part of the experience is that it's not taking place on a cold screen in front of millions of distant, unseen viewers -- it is unfolding a few feet from your eyes. Most cases, even in medium-sized towns, aren't covered by the local newspapers; there are just too many courtrooms for that. But the curtain rises every morning, in public buildings everywhere in the U.S. And, beyond the raw fascination of what goes on, there is another, much more vital, reason to attend: . Because someone should bear witness. Because this is American justice, carried out in all of our names. And anyone who cares to be there is always cordially invited. The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene. | Bob Greene: Zimmerman trial riveting, but why limit yourself to TV trials?
He says in county and local courtrooms across U.S., trials constantly on display. Go watch!
He says subjects are murder, robbery, financial shenanigans; it's free, tense, fascinating .
Greene: Beyond that, it's American justice carried out for us all; important to bear witness . |
30,414 | 5678b19cfb8709c7f06affe40880f5e3c5150506 | (CNN) -- Virginia police detectives talked Sunday for the first time with a 12-year-old Virginia girl and the man who allegedly kidnapped her and has been deemed a prime suspect in her mother's death. Roanoke County police Detective John McPhail said that Sunday morning he and three colleagues discussed the death of 41-year-old Tina Smith with Jeffrey Scott Easley, currently in police custody in San Francisco, California, on warrants for abduction, credit card theft and credit card fraud. While police are investigating Tina Smith's death as a homicide, they have not said how she died. They also talked with Brittany Mae Smith, Tina's daughter, who police had been searching for since Monday. McPhail said the girl "will be heading back to Roanoke soon," but did not disclose when exactly that might happen. McPhail addressed reporters in front of San Francisco's Hall of Justice at 2 p.m. (5 p.m. ET) Sunday, a day after he and his three fellow detectives arrived in California from Virginia. All four have been assigned a particular aspect of a case that involves both the abduction of Brittany Smith and the death of her mother. He did not disclose what police talked about with Easley or Brittany Smith, saying that the investigation was still ongoing. Roanoke County Police Chief Ray Lavinder said Saturday that Easley is a "very good suspect" in the death of Tina Smith -- his girlfriend and Brittany's mother -- who was found dead inside her Salem, Virginia, home last Monday. Police believe that Tina Smith was killed sometime between the morning and evening of December 3, Lavinder has said. On that same day, surveillance video shows Easley and Brittany Smith shopping for a blue, domed tent at a Walmart in Salem. Lavinder said that authorities believe the two left Virginia, heading west toward California, on that night or early Saturday, December 4. They traveled more than 2,300 miles in Tina Smith's silver 2005 Dodge Neon four-door sedan, later located in a parking lot adjacent to San Francisco International Airport after authorities had found Brittany Smith and Easley. A tipster in a Safeway supermarket in San Francisco spotted the pair after seeing their images earlier on CNN, said San Francisco Police Officer Albie Esparza. The two had been holding up a cardboard sign and asking for money, Lavinder said. On Sunday, McPhail said that he and the other Virginia detectives visited the supermarket, as well as the area within walking distance where the tent had been found and Easley and Brittany Smith had been staying. Esparza said Brittany was turned over to California's Child Protective Services division after she was found. She has no visible injuries and has been in touch with family members, according to Lavinder. Easley did not resist arrest, he added. The chief has said Easley met Tina Smith online this summer, then moved into the family home in October. Police issued an Amber Alert for Brittany on Monday after finding the body of her mother. Tina Smith's co-workers had called to express concern that she hadn't shown up for work. Authorities in Florida and Alabama followed suit with Amber Alerts in subsequent days, and notices went out to law enforcement nationwide. Authorities said they do not know if the girl went west willingly with Easley. Regardless, with Brittany Smith safely located, Virginia authorities say they have now turned their focus to the homicide investigation. They are also trying to get Easley back east, though an extradition hearing hasn't taken take place in California courts. He could go to Virginia relatively soon if he waives extradition, or the process may be delayed weeks if he contests his return. | Virginia police meet with Jeffrey Easley and the girl he allegedly abducted .
They also went to the San Francisco supermarket where the two were found .
The girl and suspect were soliciting money outside the California store Friday .
Easley is a "very good suspect" in the death of Tina Smith, the girl's mother, police say . |
87,068 | f7113ced13b79f9ea11c19e157dc63bab4111d57 | (CNN) -- Hey, big spender. New Year's Eve is coming up fast, but there's still time to think about an unforgettable getaway to usher in 2012. Maybe this is the year for the trip of a lifetime or perhaps you're looking to be somewhere out of the ordinary when the clock strikes midnight. If so, here are six luxurious itineraries that require deep pockets, but will set the tone for an amazing New Year. Can't make it this time around? Use the list as inspiration for New Year's Eves to come. Secluded Hawaii . Celebrate in your own (almost) private paradise, far away from any crowd. It takes a 45-minute ferry ride from Maui to get to tiny Lana'i, a former pineapple plantation that has earned the nickname "Hawaii's Most Enticing Island." You might not be able to rent the whole place for yourself, like Microsoft founder Bill Gates did for his wedding, but you can sip champagne at midnight at the Four Seasons Lana'i at Manele Bay resort. "It would be a very exclusive, quiet New Year's celebration," said Janice Hough, an agent with All Horizons Travel in Los Altos, California. "The service is incredible. It's very much a get-away-from-it-all trip, although you're still in the U.S." Rooms start at about $775 a night. The resort is offering a New Year's Eve prix fixe dinner for $125 per person and will treat guests to a special fireworks show over Hulopo`e Bay. Luminous Santa Fe . This adobe wonderland at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in New Mexico draws art lovers, foodies and outdoor enthusiasts all year round. But Hough noted the destination is especially beautiful during the holidays with "farolitos" -- or lanterns -- placed along the Santa Fe Plaza and the city's art gallery district. "It's very pretty and very easy to get to. ... You're also not that far from skiing," she said. There are plenty of posh accommodations to ring in the New Year in style. Hough recommended staying at the Encantado for a "resorty, out-of-town experience" or the Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi in the heart of the city near the Plaza. Rates for both start at several hundred dollars a night around New Year's Eve. Mega-yacht in St. Barts . Join celebrities and billionaires who spend New Year's Eve partying aboard yachts moored in St. Barts' famed Gustavia Harbor. Stars like Demi Moore, Beyonce and Salma Hayek have been spotted celebrating on the Caribbean island in recent years, taking in the fireworks at midnight and staying to get a suntan on New Year's Day. Don't have your own ship? No worries. SeaDream, which offers cruises on luxury "mega-yachts" that carry up to 112 passengers, is sending both of its ships to the picturesque harbor on the big night as part of itineraries that also take you to other parts of the Caribbean. "You feel like you're on a yacht yourself rather than a big cruise ship," said Sue Bryant, a contributing editor for CruiseCritic.com, who has sailed on the SeaDream II. She praised the ship's "foodie" cuisine and attentive service. "The first day we were sunbathing on deck, somebody tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'Ms. Bryant, may I polish your sun glasses?' I've never had anyone say that before." The voyages start at about $5,000 per person. Romantic Vienna . There is something magical about Vienna during the holidays, but the city on the Danube really goes all out for New Year's, with elegant galas and an imperial ball to mark the occasion. For a classic experience, stay at the famous Hotel Sacher, located next to the Vienna State Opera. You can start your night there with a 6-course New Year's Eve gala dinner, which features dishes such as beef consommé with truffle-celery ravioli and turbot with lobster jelly. For 364 euros per person (about $486), the hotel also offers a package that will take you from the festive meal right to the Kaiserball -- a grand ball in the Hofburg Palace, the former residence of Austria's monarchs. On New Year's Day, music lovers who have been lucky enough to score a ticket can attend the elegant "Neujahrskonzert" -- the New Year's Concert at the Vienna Philharmonic, where Strauss waltzes rule the program. African desert adventure . New Year's Eve celebrations usually involve crowds, but this getaway to Morocco will have you and a select group of adventurers marking the occasion in the Sahara, away from most signs of civilization. The journey begins in Fez and continues to the oasis city of Erfoud, said Mary Ann Ramsey, president of Betty Maclean Travel in Naples, Florida, who arranges the trips through Abercrombie & Kent. Traveling by four-wheel drive and by camel, you go out into the desert and the huge Erg Chebbi sand dunes. Guests spend the night in a luxury tented desert camp -- an experience Ramsey described as "incredible" and "spectacular." "To me, that would be the coolest place to be for New Year's Eve," Ramsey said. "I've had people go out there to propose. ... It is the most romantic and fabulous [experience] -- the stars are their own fireworks. There are so many stars because there's nothing nearby." The full itinerary costs about $13,460 per person, an Abercrombie & Kent spokeswoman said. Caribbean fantasy . Ready to be whisked off for an over-the-top experience? This "Fully Loaded" New Year's Eve package at the Gansevoort Turks and Caicos resort starts at $100,000. That price includes private jet service to and from the island of Providenciales, accommodations in the oceanfront penthouse suite and your own on-call spa therapist for massages, yoga and other treatments. On the big night, you take a luxury catamaran excursion to a secluded cove, where a personal chef prepares your meal, a personal conch diving instructor takes you out for an underwater adventure, and a personal videographer films your journey. You'll usher in 2012 while "glamping" (that's camping with a glamorous twist) in a luxury tent. The Gansevoort Turks and Caicos resort was among the winners of TripAdvisor's 2011 Travelers' Choice awards -- chosen by the site's members as one of the top 10 trendiest and most relaxing hotels and in the world. | These itineraries require deep pockets, but will set the tone for an amazing New Year .
Escape the world on "Hawaii's Most Enticing Island;" party with the stars in St. Barts .
Vienna offers a romantic New Year's Eve, complete with an imperial ball .
Caribbean resort offers a New Year's Eve package that starts at $100,000 . |
238,807 | c12412cc5843828246f410e451e11c0001380325 | Leo Santa Cruz fired an Exocet of a warning across the Atlantic to Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg with an explosive KO defence of his WBC world super-bantamweight title. The California-based Mexican devastated his fellow countryman Manuel Roman with a crushing right less than a minute into the second round of this curtain-raiser for Mayweather-Maidana. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Leo Santa Cruz: I am ready to fight Frampton or Quigg . Leo Santa Cruz enjoyed a comfortable night at the office as he defended his WBC super-bantamweight title . Leo Santa Cruz knocked out Manuel Roman in the second round at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas . Will Smith enjoys the action at the MGM Grand . Santa Cruz is seeking championship unification fights with Frampton, who won the IBF belt in Belfast a week earlier, and Quigg, who retained his ‘regular’ WBA title inn Manchester earlier on this evening. They will have watched with keen interest as Santa Cruz caught Roman with a short, crisp, dynamic right cross behind the ear. The challenger pitched head-first into the canvas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, legs akimbo. Although he just about staggered upright he was lurching like a drunk in the Las Vegas night and the stoppage was inevitable. The unbeaten Santa Cruz immediately called out Frampton and Guillermo Rigondeaux, the Cuban maestro who wears the WBO belt. He has already indicated a willingness to go to Ulster and England to fight Frampton or Quigg. | California-based Mexican wins inside two rounds in Las Vegas .
Santa Cruz successfully defended his WBC super-bantamweight title .
Mexican is seeking unification with Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg waiting .
Fight took place on undercard of Floyd Mayweather vs Marcos Maidana . |
110,207 | 1a1845b0cd4ca8acb4b2453a9bcda2f4252c7474 | (CNN) -- Embattled San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and his representatives were in a closed door mediation with representatives from the city on Monday, while volunteers hoping to oust the mayor continued to collect signatures for a possible recall. The session, which began at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) was still in progress Monday afternoon, said a source with direct knowledge of the meeting, which included San Diego City Council President Todd Gloria. The source declined to say what exactly was under discussion. The mediation is the first known meeting of its kind between Filner and the city. The session took place the same day Filner supporters held a "We Will Not Be Silent" rally outside City Hall. One day earlier, protesters who want the mayor to step down marched on the same spot. "There is no excuse for abuse, and there is no excuse for you to stay in power," attorney Gloria Allred told the crowd. She attended Sunday's rally along with some of the women accusing Filner, including one of her clients, 67-year-old Peggy Shannon. So far, 16 women have come forward to say that Filner acted inappropriately, with accusations ranging from one woman's claim that the mayor gave her "tush a pat," to another's assertion that he "put in me what I guess now is the famous headlock." Filner's office has not responded to multiple CNN requests for comment. Last month, he acknowledged he "failed to fully respect the women who work for me and with me" and that he was "embarrassed" by his actions. But he also said he will be vindicated by "a full presentation of the facts" and that he would not step down. The outrage is overwhelming. Roughly 81 percent of city residents want him to resign, according to a poll conducted by CNN affiliate KGTV. Another affilaite, KFMB, reported local radio hosts hired skywriters to spell out "Surrender Bob" over areas of the city last week. Armed with clipboards and pens, volunteers hit the streets of San Diego over the weekend to begin collecting signatures for a recall effort. They need more than 101,000 signatures by September 26. "We're going to be everywhere. We're going to be at sporting events. We're going to be at street fairs, arts shows -- you name it, we will be out there," Dave McCulloch, an organizer, told KFMB on Sunday. Anti-Filner protesters speak . Filner, 70, was elected mayor in 2012 after 20 years in Congress. His accusers range from a singer at a campaign fundraiser to his former communications director, who called him unfit for office. Shannon was the latest person to accuse Filner. "Every day that I went to work, I had butterflies in my stomach because I did not know what was going to happen the next time the mayor came by my desk," she told reporters last week. "I have three sons, four grandsons and two great grandsons. As our mayor, you should be -- but are not -- a role model for any of them," Shannon said. Filner has rebuffed calls to resign from all nine City Council members and from fellow Democrats, including California's two U.S. senators. His supporters, which include some labor unions and Latinos, claim Filner is being denied due process, and the recall effort is orchestrated by those who oppose his political agenda. The mayor entered a two-week intensive behavior therapy program July 29, but his attorney, James Payne, said he was able to complete the voluntary program August 10. He was expected to continue with outpatient treatment, Payne said. "Mayor Filner is taking personal time this week and is unavailable for comment, and we do not have information as to when he will be available for comment," said last week's statement from Payne's office, adding that it was not able to comment on the recall effort or other allegations leveled against the mayor. Filner is expected to return to work this week, but Payne did not immediately return a CNN e-mail asking exactly when he would be back in the office. The city attorney's office has said it could seek as a "last resort" a restraining order -- saying Filner creates a hostile environment for women -- to prevent him from returning to work, the Los Angeles Times reported. The city attorney's office did not return calls seeking comment. Though the city chief of staff changed the locks on Filner's office, it was to preserve evidence rather than to keep him out, the city attorney's office has said. CNN's Kyung Lah, Matt Smith and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report. | City Council president, Mayor Bob Filner, others in mediation meeting, source says .
Mayor's supporters hold "We Will Not Be Silent" rally Monday .
Recall organizers need to collect more than 101,000 signatures by September 26 .
At least 16 women have accused Filner of inappropriate behavior . |
83,895 | edf86282458c5973f15fdf427a47d0c5fee212e7 | Milton Keynes Dons' remarkable cup run is set to continue after they overcame fellow League One high-fliers Bradford City at Stadium mk. Benik Afobe, who scored twice against Manchester United in the second round, bagged another brace as Karl Robinson's side reached the last 16 of the Capital One Cup for the first time in their history. Afobe netted in the fifth minute to put the Dons ahead, and then sealed the victory five minutes from time to earn the Dons a place in round four. Benik Afobe smashes in his spectacular first goal from just outside the Bradford box to put MK Dons ahead . The on-loan Arsenal striker celebrates his fourth Capital One Cup goal of the seaon, and his fifth would follow . James Meredith struggles to get the ball off MK Dons' Dean Bowditch as the hosts held out . The first goal in particular was spectacular, as the on-loan Arsenal striker spun away from his marker and fired into the bottom corner from 20 yards for his ninth goal of the season. On the night his parent club went out of the competition at home to Southampton, it was the kind of inspiration they could have done with. Bradford, who famously reached the final of this competition two years ago, had plenty of chances to get back into the game, Mason Bennet and Jason Kennedy spurning the best opportunities as the visitors shaded possession. Afobe had the pace, and the finish, to wrap the game up late on with his ninth goal of the season . MK Dons boss Karl Robinson congratulates his striker after Afobe booked the Dons' place in the next round . But the Bantams were unable to find an equaliser, and when Liverpool target Dele Alli slid the ball through for Afobe in the 86th minute the striker had the pace and composure to secure the win. MK Dons assistant manager Richie Barker was full of praise for the on-loan striker who has now bagged nine goals in this season's competition. 'Benik has scored a lot of one-on-ones because of his pace,' said Barker, 'but the way he took his first goal was excellent. I didn't realise how good it was until I watched it the second time around. 'He's got everything. And to be fair to him and Will Grigg - who have rotated - every time one of them starts they end up scoring and it gives us a headache in terms of team selection.' Afobe sank to his knees in celebration after securing MK Dons their best ever League Cup showing . | Afobe scores at the beginning and the end to see off Bradford .
MK Dons reach last 16 of Capital One Cup for first time in club's history .
Karl Robinson's side saw off Manchester United in previous round . |
122,819 | 2abdc801ebaf0b259de0e0d5437acb233b250079 | By . Nina Golgowski . PUBLISHED: . 23:37 EST, 22 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 01:17 EST, 23 December 2012 . A U.S. Census report revealing the nation's fastest growing states in the last year has seen the population flocking to the nation's best places for the warmest weather, lowest taxes and one with an oil rush to boot. Topping the list, North Dakota was found having secured a 2.2 per cent growth over the last year - three times the national rate - after becoming the second highest oil-producing state behind Texas. In close second, the District of . Columbia was found with a 2.1 per cent growth, Texas with 1.7 per cent, . Wyoming with 1.6 per cent, and Utah with 1.5 per cent. Hot and cold: A report by the U.S. Census Bureau has revealed the top 10 states that have seen a population boom in the last year, seen in red, along with the worst, seen in blue . Top states: With a 2.2 per cent increase, North Dakota dominates the list in booms with the District of Colombia coming in second . Oil boom: Trucks sit outside a row of temporary housing units for oil workers in Tioga, North Dakota after an oil rush made it the second largest oil state last year just behind Texas . Using figures collected between July of 2011 and July of 2012, the report attributed North Dakota's oil rush to its boost of 10,000 additional residents. But what may come as more of a surprise is their high unemployment rates. While North Dakota is benefiting from a rare 3.0 per cent unemployment rate it's a stark contrast from the other top nine boomers who together average 8.1 per cent. In comparison, Nevada, found in 10th place for positive domestic migration and sixth for fastest growing, has seen a 12 per cent unemployment rate. D.C., ranked second on both lists, has seen a rate of 8.9 per cent. In contrast to population boom, states . experiencing the fastest exit by residents are New York, Illinois, New . Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island according to the report with the one exception of New Mexico - in fourth place - linking colder climates between them. Land of opportunity: North Dakota's oil boom is attributed for their surge in domestic immigrants while the state mutually glistens with a 3 per cent unemployment rate . Fleeing: New York, Illinois and New Jersey were found to have the highest rate of residents leaving the states as seen here . Housing boom: Workers in North Dakota work to construct homes with the oil boom putting pressure on the state's tight housing market . As far as taxes go, four of the top 10 states were found with the lowest rates in the country - those being South Dakota, Wyoming, Texas and Nevada. High birth rates are also credited in four of the top 10 states of Texas, D.C., Colorado and Nebraska. Among the top states nation-wide, however, Utah was found with the highest rate with 12.8 per cent, Alaska in second with 11 per cent, Texas with 8.3 per cent, California with 7.2 per cent, and D.C with 6.8 per cent. Interestingly the report notes Mormonism as responsible for this growth, with Utah, Idaho (with 6.7 per cent growth) and Nevada having the highest concentrations of Mormons in the U.S. Floundering in that category - however leading in deaths - are Maine and West Virginia whose population are said to be seeing more deaths of baby boomers than births. In all, the U.S. population was found now increasing a bit faster, thanks to an improving economy, but not enough to lift growth above its lowest level since the Great Depression. The nation is getting older and is less likely than before to be married, with women waiting longer to have children, if at all. Immigration from other countries is on an upswing after years of sharp declines during the recession but may never return to the peak level it reached in the early 2000s. Weather relations: Seen in winter, New York, left, and Illinois, right, were found with the worst rates of domestic migration, with the list of top 10 states all sharing cold weather with the exception of New Mexico . Religious influence: Utah has been named winner of highest births in the country with Mormonism claimed responsible for the growth . The 2012 estimates released on Thursday offer the latest snapshot of the U.S. population, showing signs of revival and change in pockets of the U.S., especially in Sun Belt states hard hit during the recent recession. 'After decades of wars, a depression, immigration surges, baby booms, boomlets and busts, we are entering a new era of modest growth,' said William H. Frey, a demographer at Brookings Institution who analyzed the numbers. 'This is a result of our aging population, lower fertility rates and immigration levels that will probably not produce sharp population spikes.' As a whole, the U.S. population grew by 2.3 million, reaching 313.9 million people. That growth rate of 0.75 per cent was higher than the 0.73 per cent rate in 2011, ending five years of slowing growth rates. Nevertheless, the rate of growth remains stuck at historically low levels not seen since 1937, restrained by reduced childbirths. Over the last year, the economy has shown improvement, with the unemployment rate declining modestly and U.S. migration edging up after hitting a record low in 2011. As a result, states including Texas, North Dakota, Colorado, Oregon and Virginia posted population growth increases as many young adults moved out from their parents' homes, seeking to test the job market in areas with thriving economies in energy or technology. Still, the nation continues to get older, due to aging baby boomers and fewer people in their child-bearing years. Newly released census projections now show that U.S. growth may have largely peaked, barring a significant and sustained increase in new immigrants. The numbers put U.S. growth in the next year or two at just under 0.8 per cent, before flattening and gradually falling to rates of about half a per cent, a level unseen in more than a century. Religious influence: Utah, their capital's spire seen left in Salt Lake City, saw the highest rate of births in the last year with the report attributing Mormonism to the gain . U.S. growth reached a high in 1950 of more than 2 per cent, lifted by the post-World War II baby boom. Immigration to the U.S. was on the uptick in 2012 after falling significantly during the downturn, although it remained far from the level seen during the mid-2000 housing boom. Congress is expected to debate an overhaul of immigration law next year. 'We will now need to cope with population challenges that past growth has left us — notably, the needs of a large aging baby boom population which will require resources for its medical care, and the social and economic integration of first- and second-generation immigrants,' Frey said. The Census Bureau released state population estimates as of July 1, 2012. The data show annual changes through births, deaths, and domestic and foreign migration. The data suggest that the impact of the recession on formerly fast-growing Sun Belt states may be waning. Nevada had more residents move into the state this year after suffering migration losses in previous years. Arizona and Florida, two other housing boom-and-bust states, also showed renewed migration gains after seeing their growth drop off sharply at the end of the last decade. In all, 26 states grew faster this year compared to the previous year, of which 19 are in the South and West region. 'These gains remain far smaller than those each state experienced during the economic boom, but reflect considerable improvement over the situation at the depths of the recession,' said Kenneth Johnson, a sociologist and senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire, referring specifically to Arizona, Nevada and Florida. In contrast, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey saw more residents move away compared to the previous year. North Dakota grew faster than any state in the nation, climbing by 2.2 percent from July 2011 to July of this year. The District of Columbia was next-fastest growing, followed by Texas, Wyoming and Utah. Two states lost population: Rhode Island and Vermont. Kimball Brace, president of Election Data Services, said if the 2010 census had been held this year, Minnesota would have lost a seat in the House of Representatives and North Carolina would have picked up one due to the shifting population figures. Based on continuing losses, Rhode Island is now on track to lose one of its two seats with just 33,000 people to spare — potentially to the gain of Oregon, which is about 59,000 people away from gaining a sixth seat. California remained the most populous state, followed by Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois. | North Dakota topped list with 2.2 per cent growth over the last year after becoming the second highest oil-producing state .
U.S. population found increasing but not enough .
to lift growth above its lowest level since the Great Depression . |
28,723 | 518c66b3d2c226b4757119ed5371acd980e41332 | (CNN) -- It's the super yacht with a super model and her billionaire tycoon husband as its joint owners and the 100ft supermaxi Comanche lived up to expectations with a blazing start to the Rolex Sydney-Hobart race Friday. The 'Bluewater Classic' in its 70th staging is the first real competitive test for Comanche, which has been specially built for distance racing and speed record attempts, the brainchild of Netscape co-founder Jim Clark and his wife, Kristy Hinze-Clark, who was born in Australia. Comanche, skippered by American Ken Read and with a strong international crew, is expected to battle it out for line honors with seven-time winner Wild Oats XI in the 628-nautical miles race, one of the highlights of the international yachting calendar. The traditional Boxing Day start from Sydney Harbor saw an early glimpse of Comanche's speed with the skipper of Wild Oats XI, Mark Richards, moved to exclaim: "She's smoking -- look at that thing go!" Out to sea and past the first mark in an unofficial record time, Comanche led from Wild Oats XI with the other supermaxis Ragamuffin and Perpetual Loyal giving chase. The race, which runs down the east coast of Australia and across the Bass Strait to the Tasmanian capital Hobart, has drawn a 117-strong entry, the biggest since 1994. But pre-race attention has centered on Comanche -- with its wide-bodied and cutting edge design, and two years in the building in Maine in the United States. Clark watched from a supporting boat as his wife was part of the crew when Comanche took part in the Big Boat Challenge in Sydney Harbor on December 9, won by Wild Oats XI. But the short race was just a small taster for the bigger test and Hinze-Clark opted out of competing, two days before the start, due to fears her inexperience might hamper the race favorite in predicted difficult conditions. She also has three-year-old and four-month-old children to look after so both joint owners are safely shore side to track the progress of their costly boat. "We're ready," Read told the official race website before the start, unperturbed by reports of the rougher conditions ahead. "To me it looks like a nice sailboat racing day. A little breezy, a little lumpy, but if our boat can't handle 25 knots and a little bit of bump then something's wrong." The weather forecast would appear to rule out the chance of a new race record, the current mark set by Wild Oats XI in 2012, of one day 18 hours 23 minutes and 12 seconds, and there were several early withdrawals in the testing conditions. Latest positions: Official Rolex Sydney-Hobart website . | 70th staging of Sydney-Hobart yacht race .
117-strong fleet starts from Sydney Harbor on Boxing Day .
Supermaxi Comanche expected to battle it out with seven-time winner Wild Oats XI .
Comanche owned by billionaire Jim Clark and his Australian model wife Kristy Hinze . |
286,877 | ffb75c28da74f832246b2314cfbace7ce34121a2 | U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services waited less than one day to launch a hiring drive – seeking 1,000 new federal workers – after President Obama announced November 20 that he would act on his own to provide legal papers for millions of illegal immigrants. A new USCIS facility in Crystal City, Virginia is poised to immediately begin implementing Obama's plan, far in advance of a Republican congressional takeover that had the potential to stop him or slow him down through legislators' 'power of the purse.' 'USCIS is taking steps to open a new operational center in Crystal City, a neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia, to accommodate about 1,000 full-time, permanent federal and contract employees in a variety of positions and grade levels,' the bulletin reads. SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE BULLETIN . NOT MESSING AROUND: The Obama administration took less than a day to launch a massive hiring push after the president announced his executive actions to mainstream millions of illegal immigrants into US society . 'The initial workload will include cases filed as a result of the executive actions on immigration announced on Nov. 20, 2014. Many job opportunities at the operational center will be announced in the coming days and please continue to monitor USAJOBS if you are interested.' The bulletin lists 32 examples of job openings, each of which was posted online on November 21. They include a chief of staff who will earn between $124,995 and $157,100 per year, and program analysts who will earn more than $138,000. Jobs earmarked for recent college graduates start in the range of $34,415 to $55,421. The White House did not respond to a question about how far in advance the decision was made to open the hiring floodgates. USCIS similarly did not respond to a request for comment about how long its plan had been in the works. Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions blasted the administration on Wednesday for the move. 'This facility is a clear symbol of the President’s defiance of the American people, their laws, and their Constitution,' Sessions said in a statement.' 'He is hiring federal employees to carry out a directive that violates the laws Congress has passed in order to foist on the nation laws Congress has repeatedly refused to pass.' Sessions warned, however, that a coming Republican majority in both the House and Senate could choke off the funds needed to pay 1,000 new salaries. 'The president cannot spend money unless the Congress approves it,' he cautioned, 'and certainly the Congress should not approve funds for an illegal amnesty.' NOT AMUSED: Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, warned that Congress could choke off the funds needed to pay 1,000 new salaries at USCIS . Sessions has emerged as one of the Senate's loudest critics of Obama's immigration policy shift, calling it a job-killer as he predicts a flood of newly-legalized illegal immigrants will rush to displace citizens from scarce jobs. 'This action will mean that American workers, their sons, their daughters, their parents, will now have to compete directly for jobs, wages, and benefits with millions of illegal immigrants,' he said Wednesday. Reached at his Senate Budget Committee office, Sessions communications chief Stephen Miller told MailOnline that 'every day this facility continues its lawless amnesty operations is another day an American loses his or her job, is another day an American doesn’t get the pay raise because lower-wage workers are available, is another day their tax bill is heavier because they’re funding illegal benefits for people who have no legal right to claim them.' USCIS Hiring Bulletin uploaded by MailOnline . | Facility in Crystal City, Virginia will house 1,000 new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees .
USCIS intragovernmental bulletin announced the move Dec. 1 but job listings were created Nov. 21 .
Obama announced Nov. 20 that he would mainstream millions of illegal immigrants without permission from Congress .
Hiring notices include senior-level officials who will earn as much as $157,100 per year, and indicate government-wide coordination . |
199,086 | 8dbbede8b1db48c40af2b6fd40e7ccc943aa2855 | By . Jackie Clune . PUBLISHED: . 17:00 EST, 1 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 17:00 EST, 1 December 2012 . Last year, two of my ageing dental crowns fell out – a front tooth and an incisor that was concealing an impacted canine. An emergency visit to the dentist revealed I needed more than £7,000 of ‘cosmetic’ dental work. My front crown was beyond repair and I would need a dental implant if I were to avoid dentures. Plus, I would need either orthodontic braces to straighten them or extractions and a porcelain bridge to replicate evenly spaced teeth. As an actress, braces were not practical, and with four children and a large mortgage there was no way I could access such a large amount of money. All smiles: Musical star Jackie Clune after her surgery which saw her travel to Budapest to save money . I felt angry at the expense and lack of help available. What are your options if your teeth fail and funds are limited? While trawling the internet for answers, I realised I was far from alone. With budgets ever tighter, dental treatment is increasingly unaffordable. Some suggest going to a dental school and offering yourself up as a guinea pig, but even these are massively over-subscribed. And I won’t even begin to mention what was featured on DIY dentistry websites. But there is another avenue. More and more Britons are travelling to Europe for dental treatment. There are no official numbers, however, a 2007 survey by Which? found that dentistry is one of the most popular types of health tourism. I had immediate reservations. Would a continental dentist work to the same high standard as those in Britain? And what if something went wrong and I found myself in a foreign hospital? Would there be adequate aftercare? There are numerous web forums and even an NHS site giving tips, such as asking the dentist what his qualifications are, where you can check this and what his speciality is. They also advise patients to have a consultation with a British dentist first – which I’d already done. The General Dental Council (GDC) advises people to make their dentist aware of plans to travel for treatment in case of any complications. After: X-ray image showing some of the work done on Jackie in Hungary . The testimonials on various websites seemed to allay my fears. Most were happy with their treatment – despite often feeling a bit baffled by the language barrier. I came across the website of a clinic called Smile Savers Hungary. There are many such Hungarian companies online and Budapest seems to be the dental tourism capital of Europe. Smile Savers stood out because you can have a proper consultation at one of their UK clinics before travelling, so I booked in. At the first consultation they took a panoramic X-ray of my jaw and teeth and discussed what my options were. The procedure would involve at least two trips due to the recovery period needed in between the extractions and bone grafting – the site needs to recover for a few months to allow dental implants. I was told, if I were to go ahead, the clinic would organise the work to take place over the two trips. I was so impressed with their clinic in London’s Charlotte Street and with the quotation I received at the end of my consultation that I didn’t look elsewhere. There are many companies offering a similar service and it’s probably a good idea to shop around. But I left a three- month cooling-off period for myself before taking the plunge. Smile Savers booked me into the . four-star Art Hotel overlooking the parliament building on the Danube . (£65 a night). Travel wasn’t included so I flew with budget airline Wizz . for £100 return from Luton. Having a companion for the trip is also . advised, mainly for moral support, so I took my mum. My . treatment began with a consultation between Dr Juhasz, a kind-looking . lady and Dr Kaman, the head implantologist. They spoke in Hungarian but I . could tell they were appalled by the root canal treatment I’d had back . home, and Dr Kaman could not believe that the problematic impacted . canine had never been extracted, but simply crowned over. Stage smile: Jackie Clune on stage as Donna in hit musical Mamma Mia! I . then spent two hours in the chair, and although the treatment was not . comfortable it was mostly pain-free. Dr Juhasz removed my old crowns and . replaced the leftover amalgam with safer white fillings. The . extractions were next, and Dr Kaman stroked my arm as he wielded the big . needle that was to go into the roof of my mouth. ‘I’m sorry for the pain I’m about to cause you,’ he murmured, before extracting three teeth. He showed me how black the first one was, how infected the second one was and it took him all of five seconds to extract the impacted tooth the NHS dentist had been so nervous about touching. The bad news was the implant would have to wait – the bone had receded so much that he would have to use a bone graft to get the tooth to stay in place. ‘It will be a waste of your time and money to do it now – it would fall out,’ he said. Though disappointed – I now needed an extra crown to keep the temporary bridge in place – I was impressed with their honesty. I would need a third visit as implanting a tooth when there is insufficient bone in the jaw is a three-stage process – extraction and healing, followed two months later by the bone graft and abutment (the implanted ‘screw’ to take the tooth) and finally, four or five months later, the porcelain tooth itself. After two days of pain-free sightseeing, Dr Juhasz fitted me with the long-term temporary bridge, and I returned two months later for a one-night stay when Dr Kaman implanted the abutment. A five-month healing period followed before the last stage. On my final visit over five days, the Budapest clinic perfected the colour, shape, bite and fit of my permanent bridge. When she handed me the mirror at the end I was so happy I burst into tears. Throughout my eight-month treatment the quality of service was impeccable. Payment is made in two instalments, the first being due at the end of the first visit, the second on completion. The work is insured for three years, although if there are problems the client has to finance their return trip. The quotation is based on what can be seen on the X-rays, so costs could be more. In the end I paid £2,300 – a saving of about £5,000. So far I have had no problems and am loving my new smile. Perhaps if more were brave enough to try dental tourism, our own dentists would have to stop bleeding us dry. | Musical star Jackie Clune hits out at high fees for dental work in the UK .
An increasing number of Brits travel abroad to afford dentistry . |
153,040 | 51c78fd56dbf0c4be62ba2a279aa14ae8366e07f | By . Emma Innes . PUBLISHED: . 05:57 EST, 5 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:06 EST, 5 December 2013 . A 16-year-old has become the UK’s strongest schoolgirl – and says her success is thanks to a joint condition that used to cause her agonising pain. Laresce Browne, from Eccles, Manchester, has six British and World Champion powerlifting records under her belt - yet until just two years ago a condition called hypermobility left her in so much pain she was unable to take part in sport. Rather than let her condition limit her life, Laresce took inspiration from her weight-lifting father, Adam, 39, and began pumping iron. Laresce Browne (pictured lifting muscle man Chris Hedge), 16, is the UK's strongest schoolgirl despite suffering from painful hypermobility syndrome . This put an end to her pain and she became champion in her field. She now holds a UK record for deadlifting more than twice her own bodyweight after lifting 105kg. She can also bench press her own bodyweight of 50kg (7st 12lbs). From birth, Laresce’s toes and knees grew inward and doctors diagnosed her with metatarsus varus, commonly known as pigeon toe. The condition means her feet turned inwards. It usually corrects itself by the age of eight or nine and does not require treatment. Ms Browne thinks her hypermobility has been the key to her weightlifting success as it means her spine bends more than most people's and this gives her greater leverage for lifting . As a result of her weightlifting, Ms Browne says she no longer feels any pain from her hypermobility as she has strengthened the muscles around her weak joints . They also said she had hypermobility, which meant her joints had a greater range of movement than usual. The condition can cause severe joint pain and lead to dislocations. Laresce’s trainer Tania George, 43, says this is the secret to her success - she has more flexibility in her back than most people which means her technique in forming an arch in her spine leaves the competition behind. ‘Most powerlifters would kill to be able to form an action-arch like Laresce,’ said Ms George. ‘Because she has perfected the technique of bending her back strongly and safely she has the leverage to lift incredibly heavy weights.’ Ms Browne suffered daily knee, elbow and hand pain as a result of the condition that causes her joints to have a greater range of mobility than they should . When she was younger Ms Browne missed countless days of school because of the pain - she was in such agony that she was often unable to sleep. She also had to give up PE and dancing . Despite these her conditions, Laresce loves to dance and between the ages of four and eleven she was a keen Morris dancer. As her body began to change from the ages of 11 to 14, the 5ft 2ins tall pupil began to face daily pain in her knees, elbows and hands from her hypermobility that left her unable to sleep for whole nights at a time. She was forced to miss several days of school each month due to pain and the lack of sleep this caused. Eventually she was told by doctors she could not take part in any sports lessons for eight months. After nearly dislocating her hip, Laresce was also forced to give up Morris dancing. Ms Browne said: 'I used to suffer a lot of pain from my hypermobility. When I was eleven I remember coming home from school with pains in my knees, joints and hips' ‘I used to suffer a lot of pain from my hypermobility,’ she said. ‘When I was eleven I remember coming home from school with pains in my knees, joints and hips. ‘It would stop me doing normal things like taking part in sports at school. ‘The pain would be so much that some nights I wouldn’t sleep at all and I just couldn’t face going to school like that. ‘After almost dislocating my hip I had to do six months of physiotherapy to recover.’ However, since taking up the sport of powerlifting 18 months ago she is now effectively cured. To cement her success, Laresce must train for eight hours a week. ‘I become involved when I started going down to see my Dad weight lift at the gym,’ she said. ‘I really enjoyed the feeling of power I got and the excitement of people encouraging me to do my very best. ‘I find it fun to take part in - you have to be a bit aggressive when lifting which I think surprises people when it comes from me. ‘I’ve made lots of friends and it an incredible feeling when everyone’s cheering me on. It’s the support of other people that makes the difference to winning. ‘Becoming a champion was a big surprise - I just started off for fun and I wasn’t expecting anything. So to win six titles over just a few months was amazing.’ Lascesce says her friends were surprised to learn she had taken up a fiercely competitive sport normally associated with fully-grown men. But she admitted some were a little jealous of her new found fame and popularity in her chosen field. Her trainer, Ms George, said: ‘Laresce’s . position as Britain’s strongest powerlifter for her age and weight is . down to her spirit and determination. Ms Browne (pictured lifting fellow bodybuilder, Mustafa Naamani) says some of her friends were surprised when she took up an 'aggressive' sport but that they are now a bit jealous of her success . Ms Browne (pictured as a toddler) was also born with pigeon toes but the condition corrected itself over time . ‘She started visiting the gym just to hang out with her dad from the age of nine. ‘One day when she was about 14 she just asked to have a go and under supervision we allowed her to try it. ‘After this, Lascene started to join in with our women’s strength classes. ‘Even though she is alongside women three times her age with greater experience and well above her weight category, she is head and shoulders above the rest. ‘This success is due to her hypermobility, a condition which she had to work incredibly hard to master. Ms Browne's trainer, Tania George (pictured), said: 'The bottom line is Laresce is a lovely and beautiful teenager who has unlocked a hidden potential no-one could have guessed at' Ms Browne's father, Adam, said: 'I couldn't be more proud of my little girl. She's truly the apple of my eye and has worked so hard to be where she is today.' Ms Browne is pictured with Mr Olympia Champion Felix Lewis . ‘The bottom line is Laresce is a lovely and beautiful teenager who has unlocked a hidden potential no-one could have guessed at.’ Laresce’s father explained how he feels about being the father of such a high-achieving teen. ‘I couldn’t be more proud of my little girl,’ he said. ‘She’s truly the apple of my eye and has worked so hard to be where she is today. ‘No-one has handed her anything on a plate - it’s only through hours of hard practice most muscle-bound men would shy away from that my Laresce was able to be a winner. ‘She’s made us all so very happy and I feel we all enjoy a bright future together thanks to her.’ Joint hypermobility means some or all of a person's joints have an unusually large range of movement. People with the condition are very supple and able to move their limbs into positions others find impossible. Some people with hypermobile joints do not suffer any problems as a result and need no treatment. However, other patients suffer joint pain, dislocations and soft tissue injuries. Hypermobility syndrome can also cause fatigue. It can be treated with exercise and physiotherapy in a bid to improve muscle strength. The condition is hereditary and is thought to be linked to changes in a protein called collagen. Collagen is found throughout the body and, if it is weak, it causes fragility within the body. It is thought that as many as 30 per cent of people might have some degree of hypermobility. It is more common in women than men. Source: NHS Choices . | Laresce Browne, 16, has hypermobility syndrome which means her joints have a greater range of movement than they normally would .
Condition left her in constant pain and in danger of dislocating a joint .
She took up weightlifting after watching her father pumping iron .
She now holds six powerlifting records and is no longer in pain . |
100,287 | 0d3841b0de8eed39ed6c7c9e24b39ff252cb95e5 | By . Eleanor Harding . PUBLISHED: . 18:04 EST, 11 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:15 EST, 12 August 2013 . If you feel that you’ve seen these people before, you’re probably right. This is the Phillips family, whose wholesome looks and winning smiles have earned them roles in hundreds of adverts. As Britain’s most sought-after modelling family, they have appeared in newspaper and magazine adverts for everything from supermarkets to holidays. Look familiar? You may have seen them on the back of your cereal box or on the brochure to your holiday. With hundreds of adverts under their belt, the Phillips family are the faces of products including cars and chocolate . Winning the genetic lottery: Louis, now 15, has an abundance of photographs from his childhood that are better than your average snap. He poses with his mother on a beach (left) and later takes the plunge with father (right) Selling power: The family star in commercials up to eight times a month. Whether its frolicking in the sea (left) or sipping a coffee (right) they can get up to £6,000 for each job . Jason and Michelle Phillips, their sons Louis, 15, Luca, five, and Cobie, three, and daughter Evie, one, are signed to one of the country’s biggest modelling agencies. Advertisers are so keen to use them that they model together eight times a month for up to £6,000 a go. Industry experts say it is rare to find an entire family of appealing people who all want to take part in shoots. And they say the chemistry of a real family makes for better adverts than a group of strangers put together for a day. They have worked as far afield as Barbados, Majorca, Ibiza, the Maldives, Holland, Austria and France. Mr Phillips, 42, from Cardiff, has been modelling since he was 16 and decided to get his family involved. He said: ‘It’s the easiest job in the world, the money’s fantastic, I travel to some of the most beautiful places on earth with my family and I enjoy every part of it. Start 'em early: Baby Evie featured in campaigns before birth when Mrs Phillips bared her baby bump for a mortgage company (above) Strike a pose: Even when they're off set, three-year-old Cobie (left) and five-year-old Luca (right) can't help but pull faces for the camera. Mr Phillips said his family are like a Welsh version of the Waltons and it's easy to see why from this adorable shot . I wouldn’t change it for the world. All my children enjoy doing it together. We’re like a Welsh version of the Waltons.’ The family have worked for Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society, Audi, Cadbury, Mercedes, Disney, Zirtek hayfever tablets, holiday firms Haven Hoseasons and Thomson and hundreds of other companies. Mrs Phillips has even modelled while pregnant, and her husband said: ‘The money we earn is saved up for the children’s future. 'We make sure they invest it properly and our eldest Louis has been able to buy a flat with it for when he grows up.’ Despite the glamorous lifestyle and easy money, the family say they take nothing for granted. Mr Phillips said: ‘Looks don’t last for ever so we’re just enjoying ourselves and as parents giving our children the best start to life with a secure financial future.’ Snap happy: Father Jason began modelling when he was 16 and encouraged his family to get involved. Industry experts say it is rare to get a whole family who are attractive and appealing to work together . 'Easiest job in the world': Father Jason (pictured right) said that shooting commercials, like this one for hayfever tablets (left) is an ideal way to travel the world and make money . | Phillips family from Cardiff have modeled for Disney, Mercedes and Cadbury .
Children aged one to fifteen star in adverts with their parents .
Mr Phillips said his wholesome family is a Welsh version of the Waltons . |
259,455 | dbe1612b545b94f64ae120295eefc14c44005183 | By . Emily Allen . PUBLISHED: . 02:38 EST, 25 July 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 03:31 EST, 25 July 2012 . Guilty: The man admitted cruel attacks on his wife, two daughters and son between 1999 and 2011 (file picture) A father who hung his daughter upside . down from a chandelier and subjected his children to a series of cruel . punishments for trivial matters, has been jailed for five years. The 44-year-old man, from Halliwell, . Bolton, Greater Manchester, admitted inflicting a catalogue of cruel . attacks on his wife, two daughters and son between 1999 and 2011, to . punish them for things as trivial as spilling salt. Bolton Crown Court heard how the man locked his son in a dark outhouse after he saw him playing with a toy car, and dislocated his two-year-old daughter's arm by 'roughly' dumping her in a cot. Jailing him for five years and three months yesterday at Manchester Crown Court, judge Maureen Roddy, said: 'Conduct in some of the charges, . had it been used in war time interrogation, it would have been subject . to real criticism - and I remind you that this is treatment of real . children in a family home.' The court heard how the man, who can't be named to protect the identity of his children, even tied up his two daughters and covered their head with a sheet . when neither owned up to spilling salt. When the children's mother tried to . intervene, he ripped her nightdress off, leaving her naked in front of . her children, before beating her. On another occasion one of the girls . was chastised by being draped upside down from a chandelier by her feet . and her bare bottom hit with the cling film. The court heard that cling film became the defendant's weapon of choice. A further cruelty charge related to . him biting one of his daughter's arms. He then hit her with a roll of . cellophane wrap. When people noticed the bite marks he blamed it on . another child. Manchester Crown Court judge Maureen Roddy said some of the charges would have been harsh if used in wartime interrogation. He sentenced him to five years . The man's . seven-year-old son also wet himself because he was so scared when his . father 'flew into a rage' after seeing him playing with a toy car. He . was locked in a dark outhouse before being dragged back into the house . and stripped naked. Ten years ago the man also attacked his wife with a rolling pin while she was pregnant. The man hung his daughter upside down from a chandelier (file pictured) by her feet and hit on her bare bottom . She had a miscarriage the following day, but there is no medical evidence to suggest it was caused by his actions. The man was also charged with actual bodily harm charge following an attack on his wife in front of her children in which she suffered a black eye. Farrhat Arshad, defending, said the man believed he was disciplining his children in an act of love. Judge Roddy said the defendant's attacks against his wife showed the children how she was powerless against his brutality and unable to protect the children from him. She said: 'I accept it wasn't without happy times but it was a life lived in the shadow of these dramatic incidents of cruelty.' She said the defendant will feel a term of imprisonment more acutely as he is unable to speak English. He pleaded guilty to eight counts of . child cruelty, assault on a woman, assault on a 16-year-old girl and . causing a woman actually bodily harm. He was jailed for 63 months for the child cruelty charges, 18 months for actual bodily harm and 81 days for common assault. All sentences will run concurrently. | The 44-year-old man locked his son in a dark outhouse after seeing him playing with a toy car .
He also dislocated his two-year-old daughter's arm by 'roughly' dumping her in a cot .
Judge said some of the charges would have been harsh if used in wartime interrogation . |
146,111 | 48ed33c68444a45e1a7f26d82ba6d6e5ab199c99 | By . Martin Robinson . PUBLISHED: . 11:12 EST, 4 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:35 EST, 5 February 2013 . The rotten relationship between Chris Huhne and his youngest son has been laid bare in a series of foul-mouthed texts. Teenager Peter Huhne sent a string of expletive-filled messages to his MP dad calling him a 'fat piece of s***' and telling him to 'f*** off' when he tried to contact him. Huhne's son was furious that the former Energy Secretary had forced Vicky Pryce to take his speeding points and had later run off with his PR woman, Carina Trimingham, after a high-profile affair. Happier times: Peter Huhne with his parents before the breakdown of his relationship with his father . The messages, published for the first time today, were sent between Peter and his father in 2010 and 2011. They showed Huhne's efforts to speak to his son, then 18, and Peter's desperation that his father admit what he had done in the years before today's hearing. 'We all know that you were driving and you put pressure on Mum. Accept it or face the consequences. You’ve told me that was the case. Or will this be another lie?' he said. Row: The poor relationship between Chris Huhne, outside court today, and his son Peter was made clear in a series of text messages released . Huhne replied: 'I have no intention of sending Mum to Holloway Prison for three months. Dad' But his son responded: “Are you going to accept your responsibility or do I have to contact the police and tell them what you told me?' These texts were read to the court and . can be published for the first time in full below following Mr Huhne's . guilty plea today for perverting the course of justice. 2010 . June 21 . Peter Huhne: Just tried you, ring back within five. Later: Pick up, pick up your f***** phone. PH: I don’t want to speak to you, you disgust me. Chris Huhne: Hope you are okay, I’m visiting Gran on Saturday, would you like to come? PH: No I will see her without you. June 28 . CH: Peter, just to say, I’m thinking of you and I love you very much. It would be great to talk to you, Dad. PH: F*** off. Huhne had tried to write a letter to his son, again sparking a negative reaction. Moment: A sketch from court yesterday shows Chris Huhne next to his ex-wife Vicky Pryce in the dock at Southwark Crown Court as he told the judge he would now plead guilty as his partner Carina Trimingham (centre right) watched in the background . Trial: Lib Dem MP Chris Huhne and his partner Carina Trimingham arrive . at Southwark Court for the first day of his Trial yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice . Scrum: Chris Huhne and his partner Carina Trimmington arrive at Southwark Crown Court for the first day of his trial, just before he made his shock guilty plea . July 22 . PH: . So nice to see our entire relationship reduced to lies and pleasantries . in that letter. Do you take me for an idiot? The fact you said your . parents were happier as a result of their divorce was disgusting... You are the most ghastly man I have ever known. Does it give you pleasure that you have lost most of your friends? July 30 . CH: . I understand that I have really offended you but I hope that the . passage of time will provide some perspective... I love you and I will . be there to support you if you ever need it. PH: You are right - the perspective involves me getting angrier with every day that goes by. You just don’t get it. December 25 . CH: Happy Christmas. Love you, Dad. PH: Well I hate you, so f*** off. December 28 . CH: Tiger, Have you had any news from St Peter’s yet? Love Dad . No answer . CH: Congratulations, I’m really proud of you, Dad. No answer . CH: Well I’m proud and I love you, Dad. PH: Leave me alone, you have no place in my life and no right to be proud. It’s irritating that you don’t seem to take the point. You are such an autistic piece of s***. Don’t contact me again, you make me feel sick. 2011 . January 16 . CH: I hope you are okay, just to let you know I’m thinking of you lots and love you. PH: You couldn’t think about anyone but yourself. You are a pathetic loser and a joke. Have fun with your.... February 27 . CH: Hope you are okay. Saw a Beckett reference and thought of you in Godot, MI6 used to be full of people who did languages at Oxford. Love you. May 21 . CH: I do hope your exams are going okay, despite everything over the last few weeks. Thinking of you, love you, Dad. PS It’s grandad’s birthday today. PH: Don’t text me you fat piece of s***. After allegations had emerged, shortly before Huhne and Pryce were due to be interviewed by police, Peter had another conversation with his father. May 21 . PH: We all know that you were driving and you put pressure on mum. Accept it or face the consequences. You’ve told me that was the case. Or will this be another lie? CH: I have no intention of sending Mum to Holloway Prison for three months. Dad. PH: Are you going to accept your responsibility or do I have to contact the police and tell them what you told me? CH: Discuss it with Mum. PH: It’s not about her its (sic) about your accepting responsibility to me. CH: Happy to talk about it with you. Dad. Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons. | Peter Huhne sent series of messages urging his father to come clean .
'We all know that you were driving and you put pressure on Mum,' he said .
Chris Huhne on December 25 2010: 'Happy Christmas. Love you, Dad'
Peter Huhne replies: 'Well I hate you, so f*** off' |
278,838 | f5437c54b7e03807d7583eaea6b6744ac946a1e2 | By . Associated Press . A conservative Mississippi blogger who is accused of photographing the bedridden 72-year-old wife of Republican U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, 76, without permission has had bail set at $100,000. Clayton Kelly, 28, has a preliminary hearing on Thursday, which was scheduled by a magistrate in Mississippi on Sunday, Assistant Police Chief Robert Sanders said. Police were also looking into the possibility that other people were involved. Mississippi blogger Clayton Kelly (pictured), 28, had bail set at $100,000 by City Magistrate Dale Danks on Sunday . 'That is certainly one of the focal points of the investigation,' Sanders said in an email. Kelly was arrested Friday on a charge of exploiting a vulnerable adult. He's accused of using an image of Cochran's wife, Rose, who suffers from dementia and has been in a nursing home since 2000, in an online video. State Sen. Chris McDaniel, who is challenging the six-term senator in a GOP primary in June, said he does not have any ties to Kelly. 'I've reached out to Senator Cochran directly to express my abhorrence for the reprehensible actions of this individual,' McDaniel said in a statement Saturday. 'This criminal act is deeply offensive and my team and I categorically reject such appalling behavior.' Kelly voluntarily took down the video about 90 minutes after uploading it last month and is cooperating with investigators, said his attorney, Kevin Camp. Cochran's attorney Don Clark said on Saturday that the photo of Rose Cochran was taken near her bedside. Kelly's attorney said it was taken through an open door during visiting hours. Republican U.S. Senator Thad Cochran's (pictured far left in February) wife was unwillingly photographed while in her nursing home . 'He didn't do anything that was out of the norms of visitation. He took the photo and put it on the blog,' Camp said. Kelly's Facebook page includes a photo of a McDaniel campaign sign and a photo of him with McDaniel at a campaign meet-and-greet event. On his blog, Constitutional Clayton, Kelly wrote: 'When it comes to Republicans with a bad voting record, you can't get any worse than Thad Cochran.' Since Kelly's arrest, the campaigns have traded barbs over when Kelly came to the attention of the McDaniel campaign. Cochran's campaign released a voicemail it received from McDaniel's campaign manager, trying to show that McDaniel's camp knew about Kelly before his arrest. The recording was first reported by The Clarion-Ledger and later provided to The Associated Press. Cochran was elected to Senate in 1978 after six years in the House. He is a former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. 'I have been fortunate to have a wonderful family, and like so many families, we are deeply affected by my wife's serious, long-term illness, that we consider to be a very private family matter,' Cochran said in a statement Saturday. 'We will continue doing everything we can to protect my wife's safety and security.' | Clayton Kelly, 28, was arrested on charges of exploiting a vulnerable adult .
Kelly took down the video 90 minutes after uploading it on his blog last month and is cooperating with investigators .
He says the photo/video was taken through an open door during visiting hours . |
104,790 | 1330874edd2b7dd9ceb6d4b7036c58d6747892aa | By . Emma Innes . Short bouts of moderate exercise - such as walking or steady cycling - can improve energy levels among people suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS), research suggests. Patients said they had an improved quality of life and suffered less fatigue after taking part in exercise sessions lasting just a few minutes at a time. In a 12-week programme, 60 patients undertook short periods of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise in 18 supervised and 18 home-based exercise sessions. People with MS said they had an improved quality of life and suffered less fatigue after taking part in exercise sessions lasting just a few minutes at a time . The sessions involved five three-minute bouts of exercise, with two minutes of rest in between each bout. As the study progressed, patients were encouraged to exercise for longer - such as five four-minute bouts - or to take shorter rest periods. Many patients also did muscle strengthening and balance exercises and were taught cognitive behavioural techniques, such as setting goals and understanding the benefits of exercise. The results were compared with 60 MS patients receiving usual NHS care who were not told to take specific exercise. Researchers found that people on the moderate-intensity programme reported improved fatigue levels and had better quality of life for up to nine months. People said they had improved emotional wellbeing, social function and better overall quality of life compared with the other group. An MRI scan showing multiple sclerosis in the brain. Researchers found that people on the moderate-intensity programme reported improved fatigue levels and had better quality of life for up to nine months . The study, carried out by Professor John Saxton from the University of East Anglia, also found the programme to be cost effective compared with usual NHS care. Funded by the MS Society, the research was published in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal. Professor Saxton said: ‘It seems illogical to turn to exercise as a way of managing fatigue, but the results showed that a pragmatic programme based on short bouts of moderate-intensity exercise can really help people improve symptoms and quality of life. ‘Exercise can also offer social interaction - walking with friends, bike riding with the family - there's a lot to gain.’ Ed Holloway, head of care and services research at the MS Society, said: ‘We're delighted that this study has shown how a well-designed exercise programme can be a cost-effective way to help manage some of the symptoms of MS. ‘Fatigue in MS is an incredibly common but troubling symptom that can hugely affect an individual's quality of life. For many people with MS this programme could be a cost effective treatment option.’ More than 100,000 people in the UK have MS, which is usually diagnosed when people are in their 20s and 30s. MS affects almost three times more women than men. | Short bouts of moderate exercise improve quality of life and reduce fatigue .
Even just three five-minute bouts of exercise is enough to improve energy .
Exercise programme is cost effective compared to NHS treatment . |
136,924 | 3d1e52954e6a81d6bfbcc37ebb0c44719038a955 | Fulham boss Kit Symons has received public backing from chairman Shahid Khan despite a run of eight games without a win which has seen the club slip back into relegation trouble. Khan, writing in the programme for Saturday's game against Derby, has made it clear, however, that there were funds made available during the January transfer window which Symons chose not to spend. The American tycoon, aware of the disruption caused by instability since he arrived at Craven Cottage in 2013, has told his manager he trusts him as the football expert and admires his faith in the current squad. Kit Symons' job is safe for now, with Shahid Khan putting his faith in the manager for footballing matters . Fulham spent big on the likes of Ross McCormack this summer, but chose not to in January . Khan said: 'We were certainly mindful of the January transfer window and the opportunities – or temptations - it offers. For every successful move in the transfer season there may be half a dozen that fail to produce results, as supporters of Fulham and likely every club in England understand all too well. 'Nevertheless, while caution is advised when browsing the transfer market, clubs should be prepared to pounce if the right player is available at the right time. 'At Fulham, we were prepared with the appropriate resources and full authority if it made perfect sense. Manager Kit Symons sees our players daily. As a top-flight player not that long ago, Kit knows and feels the game. 'He understands and appreciates the Fulham way. And Kit knows what we all want, and that's a side that will make us proud and compete for a return to the Premier League. Bakary Sako of Wolves takes a shot in a 3-0 win, as Fulham made it eight games without a win . Khan hopes his players will repay their manager's faith as the club battles against consecutive relegation . 'It's good to have someone as our manager who wants to achieve success in a proper manner. So, I have to applaud Kit for his discipline and restraint during this particular January transfer window when the easy and likely popular move would have been to spend for the sake of appearing to be active. 'The truth is, Kit was active. Kit didn't feel the right options were there. As you all know, Fulham endured some drama over the past 18 months with our managers.' Symons became Khan's fourth manager in little more than a year in control when he replaced Felix Magath in September. Magath came in after Rene Meulensteen and Martin Jol but was unable to prevent relegation from the Barclays Premier League last year. Fulham improved after a poor start to the season but have not won since the transfer market closed. Distant play-off hopes have faded, they have slipped back towards the bottom of the Championship and face in-form Derby next. Khan added: 'We've become a more cohesive club, on and off the pitch, since Kit was promoted to manager in September. There's a lot of football left this season. I'm confident we'll finish the season safe, sound and strong. Shahid Khan has had four managers since taking over the club, but is now looking for stability under Symons . 'But in any event, I pay great respect to Kit for having faith in and standing by the players we've had all season to send us upward. What can be better than having a manager who has unconditional faith in you? 'The hope here is that our squad honours Kit's faith and responds appropriately and immediately with Saturday's encounter against Derby. A positive result against the league leaders in front of the home supporters would do nicely. 'In the meantime, I want to assure all Fulham fans that Kit and the Club will always have my full commitment and attention. If Kit feels there's an option to consider during the emergency transfer period, he'll have my total support to act. 'There will be no uncertainty or lack of communication, as I speak at great length with Kit, Mike Rigg and Alistair Mackintosh every Monday, at a minimum. 'They're all aware of my trust and support in each of them. And the same applies for everyone at Motspur Park and Craven Cottage. We have a great club at Fulham, and we will fight through this difficult stretch successfully, united as one.' | Kit Symons has been Fulham manager since September .
Symons started well, but recent form has ended play off hopes .
Fulham boss refused to spend money in January to buy quick-fix .
Shahid Khan insists stability is key after four managers in a year . |
43,000 | 79478a5c2f617af8cccecf47e1f5bccd437c1d41 | By . Martin Robinson . PUBLISHED: . 06:43 EST, 25 February 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 13:08 EST, 25 February 2014 . An armoury of 13 giant pumps used to stop low-lying Holland from being overwhelmed by the North Sea has been shipped in to help stricken communities submerged on the Somerset Levels. The machinery is being used to divert water from the River Tone and River Parrett, which burst their banks and left homes and businesses under water since Christmas. Eight of the pumps were installed at Dunball and five at Beerwall, near Bridgwater, and they can shift more than seven million tons of water every day - enough to fill Wembley Stadium to the brim seven times. It came as forecasters warned that almost two weeks' rain is expected to fall in parts of Britain by the end of today. Protection: 13 pumps used to protect Holland from flooding have been brought in to help drain submerged parts of the Somerset Levels . Powerful: This machinery at Dunball, near Bridgwater in Somerset is helping shift seven million tons of water a day from rivers and fields . Teeming: The water is being moved to alleviate stress on the swollen River Tone and River Parrett, whose high levels has caused chaos and misery in the South West . Process: The 13 pumps are being used to reduce levels in the Bridgwater area of Somerset. The eight pumps at Dunball have been pulling water out of the King Sedgemoor Drain - where it meets the River Parrett, left. The five pumps at Aller are shifting water from the Parrett into the reduced River Sowy, right . Pockets of northern England, Wales and Scotland can expect up to 40mm of rain today - with isolated patches of moorland high above sea level expected to get up to 80mm of rain during that time. The average rainfall for much of the country during February stands at just less than 100mm, meaning the overnight downpour will represent almost half that total in just a few hours. But it is not expected to compare with the sorts of rainfall which have caused havoc in parts of southern England in the last two months, where homes have been evacuated and transport networks brought to their knees as flood water surged. Met Office forecaster Krista Mitchell said a band of rain was heading over England, Wales and Scotland but would fragment by lunchtime today. 'The heaviest rainfall will be over the highest ground. People can expect 30-40mm - up to 80mm on higher ground - the average being 98mm for the month of February.' To alleviate flooding in Somerset the pumps are moving water from swollen rivers, to trenches or other waterways with much lower levels. All the pumps are designed to speed up the flow of water. The eight pumps at Dunball have been pulling water out of the King Sedgemoor Drain - where it meets the River Parrett north of Bridgwater - for around a week. This is designed to increase the capacity of both the King Sedgemoore Drain and the River Parrett. The five pumps at Aller are shifting water from the Parrett into the reduced River Sowy lowering water levels where the Parrett and River Tone meet. The Monks Leaze Clyce sluice gate - north west of Langport - has been opened gradually since Saturday. It is hoped this will divert water away from the Parrett and into the newly-reduced Rover Sowy and out to the sea. Relief: Eight of the pumps have been installed at Dunball and five are at Beerwall, near Bridgwater . Cascade of water: The pumps are moving millions of tons daily but experts believe that the Somerset floods will take several more months to dissipate . Powerful: The phenomenal pumping effort is finally reducing flooding on the drenched Somerset Levels - thanks to a helping hand from Holland . Forecast: The Met Office has said that a fortnight's rain could fall in the coming 24 hours before more sunshine and showers on Thursday . The forecaster said there would be some showers heading into the week, with strong winds, but would not compare with the conditions earlier in February. National Farmers Union president Peter Kendall called for greater priority to be put on flood defences to protect agricultural land. Flood risk: The Environment AGency has reduced the number of areas where flooding is posing a risk to life but large areas are still under water . Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme at the opening of the NFU's national conference in Birmingham, Mr Kendall said: 'We have to put lives and human safety first, but we have to put a higher priority on agricultural land as well. 'We have turned our waterways into wildlife habitats and we have stopped clearing them. For people to say that a fallen tree is a way of managing water is ludicrous. 'We have to look at the example of Holland, where dykes have been maintained, they dredge, and they protect two-thirds of their country. We have to put a higher value on it, because 58% of our very best agricultural land lies underneath a five-metre contour, and that's what's going to feed our country in the future.' He added: 'For those farmers who are under water it's been devastating, and particularly for those farmers in Somerset who've now had these back-to-back years of losing all their income, it will be devastating.' However, Mr Kendall painted a positive picture of the health of farming outside the flooded areas, saying its contribution to the UK economy had grown by 54 per cent over the past five years. 'It is not a big area of the UK that's inundated with water. Our wheat plantings will be up, because 2012 and 2013 saw poor harvests, and actually dairy prices are on the way up as well. So despite the floods, which for the farmers affected are devastating, generally the health of British agriculture is pretty positive,' said Mr Kendall. 'I know we are small - less than 1 per cent of GDP - but if you take a 54 per cent increase, that's significant and the more other parts of the economy that can grow like that, we will all be smiling. 'We believe agriculture produces the raw materials for the biggest manufacturing sector of the economy and we don't believe government really understands the food economy is to the wider economy.' Mr Rooke told the Today programme: 'We've still got a massive amount of water in Somerset that we are still pumping out in the largest pumping operation that we've ever undertaken. We've still got homes flooded from groundwater. And we are still repairing defences as fast as we can.' Aerial views of the flooded Somerset Levels, which has suffered unprecedented flooding caused by a series of relentlessly violent Atlantic storms . Asked how soon dredging will begin in Somerset, he said: 'We announced last week that we've let a contract to start dredging, the Government has provided the money, so we are keen to get going and we will be looking to do the work as soon as it's safe to do so.' Mr Rooke was questioned about whether the UK should follow the Netherlands in adopting techniques such as amphibious homes, building homes on stilts and flooding some areas of land to protect others. He replied: 'I think we will need to consider all of those. There are a few examples in the UK of homes on stilts, but they are very isolated. 'What we need to do is learn from across the world, and indeed the world learns from our experiences, particularly in terms of the flood mapping we do and the flood warning systems we have in place. 'We certainly need to be managing the environment as a whole and looking at how we can cope with these extremes of weather, and I think 2012 was a really good example where for 25 per cent of the year the Environment Agency was busy with others managing a drought and for the rest of the year it was busy, with others, managing serious flooding.' Drying out: The waters which covered Worcestershire Cricket Club's ground had finally receded today . Recovery: The pristine pitch at the New Road Stadium had been covered in flood water . Damage: Luckily for the Worcestershire CCC authorities there is still the best part of four months until the start of the season but the volume of water will have had lasting effects . Home and dry: The water has now subsided, after levels reached such heights that some of the seats were submerged . Clear up duty: Steve Gravenall, one of the ground staff, washes the floor down in the club's machine shed . Scene: Less than a fortnight ago the ground was submerged after the River Severn, which runs close to the club burst its banks . Soaked: Torrential storms and unceasing rain provided an arena better suited to hosting a sailing championships rather than county cricket games . Under water: Worcestershire's ground staff at work as the water level started to recede last week . | The machinery is being used to mover up to seven million tons of water every day from swollen rivers .
Met Office say that two weeks of rain will fall within 24 hours on already soaked ground across the UK .
Farming experts demand Britain follows Netherlands' lead and regularly dredge and clear waterways to stop floods . |
210,321 | 9c6ba0ff267a3a6f786c6a8b239835a28d0d3622 | By . Wills Robinson . PUBLISHED: . 06:46 EST, 21 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:41 EST, 21 October 2013 . A mother who was preparing dinner for her children was horrified after finding hundreds of black bugs crawling inside a packet of pasta she had just bought. Hayley O’Shea, 39, began pouring out fusilli from Tesco to make a tuna pasta bake for her daughters Maisie, seven and Amelia, five, when she saw the infestation of weevils. The mother-of-two quickly threw the Cook Italian brand pasta and the bugs in the bin and sealed up the bag that had not been opened before. Upset: Maisie O'Shea, seven, and her sister Amelia, five, at their home in Bournemouth, Dorset holding the pasta which contained weevil bugs . She has no idea how the swarm of the beetle-type bug got into the 500g bag. Mrs O’Shea called Tesco to complain and was at first told someone would come and collect the packet from her home in Bournemouth, Dorset, so they could investigate. When nobody arrived she emailed the supermarket giant again but was then told she would have to return it to a store. Mrs O’Shea, an account manager at a marketing company, said she is concerned that other bags of pasta could contain the bugs. Mrs O’Shea said: 'I bought the pasta from the Tesco online shopping service. Infested: Some of the Weevils found in the Italian fusilli pasta from Tesco which was bought online . Shocked: Mother-of-two Hayley O¿Shea, 39 was about to cook a tuna pasta bake when she noticed the bugs . Return: Tesco said they would pick up the contaminated package from their home, but when no one arrived, Mrs O'Shea was forced to take it into a store . A weevil is a type of beetle which is usually less than six millimetres (0.24 in) long. There are more than 60,000 species in several families and can often be found in dry foods including nuts and seeds, cereal and grain products, such as pancake mix. In the domestic setting, they are most likely to be found when a bag of flour is opened. Their presence is often indicated by the granules of the infested item sticking together in strings, as if caught in a cobweb. 'I opened it and tipped some into a pan for my children’s dinner and noticed lots of little black things. 'Initially I thought it might have been something burnt on the bottom of the pan so I drained the pasta under the tap, then I looked closer and saw they were insects. 'I looked at the rest of the packet and it was absolutely crawling with them. There must have been hundreds of the things. 'My two children were horrified and now won’t eat pasta again. 'I had no idea what they were so I looked it up on the internet and realised they were weevil bugs. 'I contacted Tesco and they said . someone would come and collect the pasta but they didn’t turn up, so I . emailed them and they told me that it wasn’t their policy to do so. 'They refunded me the money and gave me a 10 pounds compensation voucher but it’s not money I’m after. 'I am outraged that they didn’t want to find out where these weevils came from, it’s like they don’t care.' A . Tesco spokeswoman said: 'If a customer finds something in their food . that they think shouldn’t be there, we would ask them to return it to . store as soon as possible so we can conduct a thorough investigation.' A spokesman for Cook Italian, the company who makes the pasta, said: 'Our key desire is to reassure your readers that all our products are made to very high quality standards, so they should not be concerned that this is normal. 'Equally, though, we all have to accept that natural products attract natural issues from time to time but that said, our processes are set up to eradicate all of these which are within our control to do so.' Swarm: One of the hundreds of bugs that were found crawling round the packet of pasta . Food: The packet of pasta which arrived at the O'Shea bugs with hundreds of weevil bugs inside . | Hayley O'Shea, 39 from Bournemouth, Dorset, was preparing a pasta bake .
She began pouring the Cook Italian fusilli into a pan when she saw the bugs .
Her children Maisie, seven, and Amelia, five, are now refusing to eat pasta .
Was given a full refund and a £10 gift voucher . |
66,011 | bb5a96299c9599207136b6b2370c2013c31989a0 | Shannon Gee, 16, from Camborne, Cornwall, died two hours after overdosing on tablets, inquest told . A schoolgirl who was called a 'fat b***h' and told to lose weight by online bullies died two hours after overdosing on tablets, an inquest heard today. Shannon Gee, 16, walked downstairs and told her father she had 'done something silly' before showing him a bundle of empty pill packets which she had hidden in her bedroom cupboard. The teenager, from Camborne, Cornwall, collapsed shortly afterwards and was rushed to hospital but died from the incident in September 2012. During the first day of an inquest into her death, the hearing heard how Shannon had been mercilessly bullied at school which led to a poor attendance record and meant she rarely left her bedroom. But, despite hiding away, the aspiring actress was also targeted on Twitter and Facebook - battles which she fought 'from the safety of her own room', the inquest was told. Her mother Christine Gee said the problems had started when Shannon was diagnosed with dyslexia and the school 'shined a spotlight on her'. She said: 'The school was very quick to recognise that she displayed some of the common symptoms. But they ultimately succeeded in shining a spotlight on her. 'The other schoolchildren clearly gave their opinions and suggested that she was thick and that she was only getting help because she was the teachers' pet.' In a statement read to the hearing, she added how Shannon was a 'curvy girl' who had been picked on due to her weight . 'She used Twitter, Facebook and other social media facilities to communicate. I know she found herself on the receiving end of some heartless comments,' she said. 'She was a curvy girl. She was called a 'fat b***h,' a 'fat cow' and was told to lose some weight. She fought these little battles from the safety of her own room.' Shannon's half-brother Christopher Harrison, who spent an hour with her on the morning of her death, told the inquest how Shannon had been worried about the bullying. 'There was stuff going on with the school. It was bullying,' he said. 'People were calling her fat and things and she was worrying about her weight. 'I think she had fallen out with one of her main friends which had upset her quite a lot.' Her mother had told the inquest how Shannon, a keen drama student, was 'loving and generous' and had hoped to move to New York one day. But, in the months before her death, Shannon had also been worried by family tensions and the well-being of 'significant adults' in her life, the hearing heard. The inquest also heard how she had become an 'agony aunt' for her peers at the Pool Academy, where she went to school. Her mother added: 'These burdens became too much for her to bear. But it was damned if you do and damned if you don't.' The teenager attended Pool Academy (pictured), west Cornwall, where it is alleged she was bullied by her peers. The inquest heard she was also targeted online - battles she fought 'from the safety of her own room' The day before her death in September 2012, Shannon went to Plymouth to go shopping with a friend. She spent the night at the friend's house before returning home on the Sunday. While at home, her half-brother, a shop assistant, added that Shannon was 'not really talking' and was 'very quiet and tired'. He said: 'If there was anything she would not have told me. She had issues and things that she needed to talk about to do with the family and with school.' She told her father that night how she did not want to go to school the next day, the hearing heard. Hours later, Shannon had collapsed and was taken to Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, where she died. In a statement, her father Paul told the inquest: 'She seemed quite assertive and there was no shortage of other future plans. She would have known full well that we would not have made her go to school. 'There was nothing about her demeanor that suggested she had already taken any tablets.' Talking about the pills, he added: 'I have no idea how she got hold of them or how long she had been storing them. She was very unclear about how many she had taken.' Heather Campbell, a specialist social worker who worked with Shannon, said the teenager was first referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in 2011. She was referred for a second time in February 2012 and went to four further appointments. Ms Campbell said Shannon had talked about different concerns in her personal life, including an allegation of rape between two people she knew well, self-harm and her mother and father arguing. She said: 'She talked quite a lot about the difficulties and the stress relating to her family life. She disclosed that living at home had become "unbearable".' She added that Shannon told her that she 'wanted to try' self-harm, saying: 'Shannon wanted to see what it was like but said that she would never do it again. She had thoughts about what it would be like to be dead but not about doing it.' After that, Shannon's appointments were stopped over the summer holidays and organised to start again in September. The four-day inquest at Truro City Hall (pictured) heard how the student had hopes to move to New York one day. The hearing heard she died at Royal Cornwall Hospital after collapsing at home following an overdose . The hearing heard how Shannon's desperate father had phoned Ms Campbell to ask if they could move the appointment forward as his daughter 'wasn't doing very well'. He also took her to the GP and visited her school. But the inquest heard how a phone message left by the organisation after the summer holidays was never returned. Shannon did not attend another appointment. After Shannon's death, a serious case review was launched. It found that there was action or omission by the services that led to Shannon's death. But Ms Campbell told the inquest how Shannon had been 'thriving' at their last meeting. She said: 'I believe the way forward for Shannon was what she was asking for. She was looking forward and moving on. 'She was really engaged and insightful. I think there are lessons to be learned but I do not think I could have done anything at the time. 'At the last meeting she was thriving. She was doing really well and moving forward.' Both of Shannon's parents have been excused from attending the inquest due to illness. The four-day hearing in her death, held at Cornwall Coroner's Court, continues. For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details . | Shannon Gee was mercilessly bullied over Facebook and Twitter, court told .
It started after she was diagnosed with dyslexia and thrown into 'spotlight'
Pool Academy pupil fought comments 'from the safety of her own room'
Before she died, she told father she had 'done something silly', inquest told .
Showed him bundle of empty pill packets which she hid in her bedroom .
Teenager, from Camborne, Cornwall, died in hospital - inquest continues . |
124,330 | 2cbba0f8309508bab7b3eb6723cf63c31d5a7fdf | By . Tara Brady . PUBLISHED: . 06:35 EST, 13 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 07:16 EST, 13 October 2013 . Standing Figure by Henry Moore has been stolen from a park in Scotland . A valuable bronze artwork by Henry Moore has been stolen from an open air sculpture park. Standing Figure, created in 1950, was one of four Moore pieces in Glenkiln Sculpture Park, in Lincluden Estate by the Glenkiln Reservoir in Shawhead, Dumfries and Galloway. The park also includes his world renowned King and Queen sculpture, and other works by Auguste Rodin and Jacob Epstein. Police said the piece was worth a 'high value', and are appealing for anyone who saw any suspicious people or vehicles in the Glenkiln Reservoir area on these dates to contact them. Standing Figure is among a string of works by the abstract artist, who died in 1986 aged 88, to be targeted by thieves in recent years. Two men were jailed for a year in 2012 for stealing a sculpture called Sundial and the bronze plinth of another work from the grounds of the Henry Moore Foundation in Much Hadham. In 2010, Moore's £45,000 painting Three Reclining Figures On Pedestals was one of three works of art worth a combined £230,000 stolen from a gallery in Broadway, Worcestershire. The Henry Moore Foundation also carried out a security review following the theft of a two-ton piece called Reclining Figure in December 2005. The foundation was established by the artist in 1977 to encourage public appreciation of the visual arts. His sculpture Knife Edge, which stands on Abingdon Green outside the Houses of Parliament, often appears in the background of television interviews and is believed to be one of the most televised works of art in the country. The sculpture park was created by local landowner Sir William Keswick between 1951 and 1976. Sir William bought Standing Figure after seeing it in an exhibition, and Moore was personally 'thrilled' with the artwork's open air location. In an excerpt from a 1975 retrospective of his work on the Henry Moore Foundation website, Moore said: 'Sir William Keswick came to me after he had seen this piece in an exhibition (it may have been the second Battersea Park exhibition). 'He told me about his sheep farm in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and said its large acreage was unsuitable for agricultural farming because the ground was too rocky. Standing Figure is among a number of works by the abstract artist to be targeted by thieves in recent years . Standing Figure is among a string of works by the abstract artist to be targeted by thieves . 'I don't know whether he got the idea to put sculpture on his sheep farm after he saw the Battersea Park open-air exhibition, or whether he was inspired by his experiences in China, where he had lived for many years, and where, he said, there are many examples of monumental sculptures in the open air. 'In any case, he bought this piece to put on his farm in Scotland. His sculpture Knife Edge, which stands outside the Houses of Parliament, often appears in the background of television interviews . The work of art, entitled Two Forms (Divided Circle), was stolen from Dulwich Park in South London in 2011 . Southwark Council had insured it for £500,000 but its true worth is thought to be much higher . 'He placed the sculpture himself on an existing outcrop of rock. Later I went up there and was thrilled with the beautiful landscape and at how well he had sited 'Yon Figure' (the sculpture's local name).' An 'irreplacable' bronze sculpture by Dame Barbara Hepworth was stolen from Dulwich Park, in South London, in 2011. Thieves used cutting equipment to hack down the 7ft sculpture, Two Forms (Divided Circle), before loading it into a van. Southwark Council had insured it for £500,000 but its true worth is considered to be much higher. It . is thought statues are stolen so it can be melted down for scrap. The . Barbara Hepworth sculpture had stood in the middle of the park since . 1970. Moore is known for sculpting people with hollow spaces in their bodies . Henry Moore was born in 1898 in Castleford, Yorkshire, and was the son of a miner. Between 1917 and 1919 he served in the Army before resuming teaching in 1919. He went to Leeds School of Art and taught at the Royal College of Art between 1932 and 1939. Moore is known for sculpting people with hollow spaces in their bodies and for using flowing, abstract shapes. Most of his sculptures are of female figures but he also created sculptures of families and just faces. The artist was known to take inspiration from nature and spent a lot time sketching each sculpture before he made it. He died in 1986 and was buried only a few hundred yards from his home at St Thomas's Church in Perry Green. The Henry Moore Foundation is a registered charity, founded by the artist in 1977 to encourage public appreciation of the visual arts, and in particular the works of Henry Moore. Its main responsibilities are preserving Moore's legacy at his home in Hertfordshire and through exhibitions worldwide; funding exhibitions and research at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds; and awarding grants to arts organisations in the UK and abroad. | Standing Figure was one of four Moore pieces in Glenkiln Sculpture Park .
The park in Scotland also has pieces by Auguste Rodin and Jacob Epstein .
The piece is among a number of works by the artist targeted by thieves . |
224,804 | af149605f1f974d809853d051f99b24c2f698a60 | (CNN) -- Court proceedings began Tuesday in a high-profile libel lawsuit that pits Ecuador's president against one of the nation's largest newspapers. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa is seeking $80 million in damages from El Universo newspaper and its staff. He also wants a judge to impose three-year prison sentences on the newspaper's directors and its former opinion editor. A judge is scheduled to rule Friday in the case, which has drawn international attention from press-freedom advocates, who say Correa aims to crack down on critics by restricting the media. Correa filed the lawsuit after El Universo published in February a column by the newspaper's then-opinion editor, titled, "No to lies." The column called Correa a dictator and claimed that the president had ordered security forces to open fire at a hospital full of civilians last September. Correa said Tuesday that the article's claims were untrue, baseless and "an outrage," according to the state-run El Ciudadano government information website. The president told reporters that he hopes the case will set a precedent. "This fight is for true freedom of expression," he said, a concept that he said has become "an excuse and cover for cowards who, behind an inkwell, think they can destroy others' honor." Tuesday's court proceedings were closed to the media. Pedro Valverde, an attorney representing El Universo, told CNN en Español that the newspaper was not given an opportunity to fully present its side. "The process is plagued with legal inconsistencies," he said. The newspaper remains "faithful to its principle of freedom of expression," he said, arguing that the publication's policies indicate that its directors have no influence on the content of its columns. Emilio Palacio, the paper's former opinion editor, resigned from his post at El Universo last week, saying he was innocent but wanted the lawsuit to end. In March he told CNN en Español that he stood by his column. "I confirm what I wrote, every letter," he said. On Tuesday the newspaper's directors offered to print a correction. "Since it is impossible for us to correct assertions that were not ours -- and without being able to anticipate what correction would fit with what you are thinking -- we offer that you send us the text of the correction you demand in order to print it in El Universo, on the day and in the location that you require," they said in a letter to Correa posted on the paper's website. "We hope that with this offer...you will end this trial," they concluded. Correa rejected the offer, noting that the newspaper already had plenty of time to print a correction, but had not done so. "The moment of gentlemen, of people who have ethics, has already passed," he said, according to El Ciudadano. El Universo, an 89-year-old, family-run newspaper, is based in Ecuador's Guayaquil province. Its website showed pictures Tuesday of what it described as a demonstration supporting the publication and criticizing Correa. "Today it is El Universo. Tomorrow it will be you," one demonstrator's sign said. Ecuador's government information website also showed images of a demonstration, saying Guayaquil residents were supporting Correa and his lawsuit. Protesters in a video posted on the site chanted "Corrupt press, no more!" Press-freedom advocates have criticized the case and other recent efforts to regulate media in Ecuador. In a statement Tuesday, the Inter American Press Association criticized "the ongoing harassment of the Ecuador's independent press through excessive and disproportionate legal suits by President Rafael Correa." The Committee to Protect Journalists also weighed in on the libel lawsuit shortly after Correa filed it. "Ecuador's outdated criminal defamation provisions have been systematically used to punish critical journalists," the New York-based organization said in a March statement. CNN en Español's Fernando del Rincon contributed to this report. | Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa accuses El Universo of libel .
An opinion column in the newspaper sparked the lawsuit .
Both sides say they are fighting for freedom of expression .
El Universo offers to print a correction, but Correa says it's too late . |
63,392 | b400e89b6989c2cccca04a742863d4670e0f14f5 | GULFPORT, Illinois (CNN) -- All roads in the town of Gulfport, Illinois, lead to nowhere. They all hit a dead end into Mississippi River floodwaters. Most businesses and homes in Gulfport, Illinois, are underwater. Only 28 residents had flood insurance. The small town in western Illinois was devastated Wednesday when two levees failed about 45 miles south. Tuesday, all that was visible were a few signs and rooftops. "It almost looked like a tidal wave coming across the land," recalls Rick Gerstel, a resident of Gulfport. "Almost like the end of the world is what it looks like." The water barreled through with such force, it knocked Gulfport's town hall off of its foundation, and the walls of some brick and mortar buildings collapsed. Most businesses and homes are underwater. But none of this was supposed to happen -- at least that is what residents believed. Gulfport was protected by a levee rated to withstand a 100-year flood. Although it wasn't designed to protect the town from a flood on the scale of last week's, it was enough protection that the Federal Emergency Management Agency did not require business or homeowners to purchase flood insurance. Only 28 of the town's 200 residents had federal flood insurance. The rest trusted that the levees would hold. Residents Rick and Gina Gerstel, who lost everything, say no one from their bank to the municipal or federal governments ever told them they were at risk and ought to buy flood insurance. Some residents said they felt misled about the risks of not having flood insurance. They said they thought the chances of a catastrophic flood were miscalculated. Watch: Flooded residents gambled and lost » . Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, agrees. He supports legislation that would require anyone living in an area protected by a levee to have flood insurance. "I don't know how you define 'protected' or call that protected when you're telling people 'you don't have to have this; you don't need it' ... and you're watching families being devastated," Dodd said. "But the opportunity to get on their feet again is going to be very difficult for many families. And that's one of the major shortcomings in the flood insurance program." FEMA says its risk assessment of Gulfport was accurate, and the agency is spending $1 billion to upgrade outdated maps and re-evaluate flood dangers. "We do our best to advertise the availability of flood insurance and encourage people to purchase it," said Terry Reuss Fell, regional chief of FEMA's floodplain management. "We implement the laws that are given to us and the laws right now deal with the floodplains management within that 100-year floodplain and the insurance purchase requirements in that area also." The flooding could have been worse, according to officials, if the federal government had not purchased low-lying land after the historic floods in 1993, which caused $12 billion in damage. Since then, the government bought out more than 9,000 homeowners, turning much of the land into parks and undeveloped areas that can be allowed to flood with less risk. FEMA has moved or flood-proofed about 30,000 properties. But those changes are little consolation for the Gerstels and other uninsured residents who have lost everything and can't afford to rebuild. "Will you ever go back to that house?" CNN asked the Gerstels. "No, sir. I would not go back to the town," Rick Gerstel said. "I would never live there again." | Nearly all homes, businesses in Gulfport, Illinois, were destroyed by floodwaters .
FEMA didn't require flood insurance since levee rated to withstand a 100-year flood .
Only 28 of the town's 200 residents have flood insurance; many can't afford to rebuild .
Risk assessment was accurate and flood dangers being re-evaluated, FEMA says . |
147,529 | 4ac0ec01dc08dd0e4ea02941b8622461a28bf4b4 | A safety gadget has been devised for athletes to prevent serious head injuries occurring. The Jolt Sensor device monitors the movement of players, keeping track of any dangerous impacts. Any potential threat causes the clip - worn on the player's head - to vibrate and send a wireless message to referees, as well as parents and coaches on the sidelines. Scroll down for video . The Jolt Sensor device monitors movements of players, keeping track of any impacts that happen. A threat causes the clip - worn on the player's head - to vibrate and send a wireless message to referees, as well as parents and coaches in the event of a potentially dangerous impact . The gadget was created by CEO Ben Harvatine from St. Louis, Missouri after he suffered from concussion himself. A concussion is a brain injury and all are serious. Most occur without loss of consciousness. Recognition and proper response to concussions when they first occur can help prevent further injury or even death. A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury, or TBI, caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works. Concussions can also occur from a blow to the body that causes the head to move rapidly back and forth. Even what seems to be a mild bump or blow to the head can be serious. Concussions can occur in any sport or recreation activity. So all coaches, parents, and athletes need to learn concussion signs and symptoms and what to do if a concussion occurs. It is hoped the Jolt Sensor will help reduce serious concussion by encouraging sportsmen to stop play at the time of injury. The company are aiming to start shipping the product in April 2015, with a Kickstarter campaign currently taking place to raise £36,000 ($60,000). 'I don't know the actual moment that I got my concussion,' said Mr Harvatine in a video. 'Between dehydration, a boiling hot practice room and repeated knocks to the head, I didn't know why I was dizzy. 'I just pushed through it like I always did. By the time I realised something was wrong, it was too late. I struggled to find the right words, any words, as I staggered into the trainers' room. 'Through the ensuing hospital visits and months of recovery, the same thing kept crossing my mind. How could this have been prevented?' The gadget was created by Ben Harvantine from Missouri after he suffered a head injury. When activated and an impact is detected, referees and coaches can be alerted to serious head injuries and take action. It is hoped the gadget will help reduce serious concussion by encouraging sportsmen to stop play at the time of injury . The sensor, which has a range of over a hundred yards, stays connected anywhere on the field to ensure a dangerous impact never goes unnoticed. When an incident is detected, officials, parents and coaches can be immediately notified that the athlete should be medically evaluated on the sideline with the app's built-in cognitive test. The results of this test are compared with baseline scores and used with the impact data to enable parents and coaches to make more informed decisions. All of this data is then stored in the cloud, for quick and easy access by the athlete and their doctor. The sensor (shown), which has a range of over a hundred yards, stays connected anywhere on the field to ensure a dangerous impact never goes unnoticed. When an incident is detected, officials, parents and coaches can be immediately notified that the athlete should be medically evaluated on the sideline . The device syncs with an app, sending data as it goes. Co-founder Seth Berg said: 'The most dangerous thing an athlete can do after suffering concussion is to get back on the field and continue playing. The symptoms can take time to fully develop. This is why we have created the Jolt Sensor' Co-founder Seth Berg said: 'The most dangerous thing an athlete can do after suffering concussion is to get back on the field and continue playing. 'The symptoms can take time to fully develop. This is why we have created the Jolt Sensor. It's a small clip that easily attaches to any headwear. 'In a collision, it vibrates wirelessly to a smartphone so from the sideline you know about the dangerous impact. 'Parents and coaches are immediately notified using the built in cognitive tests. 'We want every young athlete to grow up wearing a jolt sensor.' | Jolt Sensor device monitors movement of players, keeping track of impacts .
Created by Ben Harvantine from Missouri after he suffered a head injury .
A threat causes the clip - worn on the player's head - to vibrate and send a wireless message to referees, as well as parents and coaches .
This means they can be alerted to serious head injuries and take action .
It is hoped the £60 ($100) gadget will help reduce serious concussion by encouraging sportsmen to stop play at the time of injury . |
199,914 | 8eccce454d62f08eefda90f04b231dbf49043e4b | (CNN) -- An Illinois woman and her boyfriend, already charged with aiding in the abduction of the woman's 6-year-old grandson, face new charges of tampering with a witness in the case, officials said Tuesday. Ricky Chekevdia, 6, allegedly was hidden with his mother in a secret room in his grandmother's house. Diane Dobbs and Robert Sandefur, both 51, are in jail pending the filing of formal charges in the case, said Beth Sandusky, victim services coordinator for the state attorney's office in Franklin County, Illinois. The two were charged previously with aiding and abetting child abduction, a felony, according to Sandusky and court records. They were released from jail on bond Monday, but were back in custody within hours, according to ABC News and CNN affiliate WSIL. Last week, authorities found Ricky Chekevdia, Dobbs' grandson, at her home. The boy was hiding along with his mother, Shannon Wilfong, in a secret room built to hide them -- an area about 5 feet by 12 feet, with a 4-foot ceiling, according to WSIL. Police say the boy had been hidden for nearly two years. Wilfong, 30, is jailed on felony child abduction charges and made her first court appearance Tuesday, Sandusky said. "We let him out of the car and he ran around like he'd never seen the outdoors," Master Sgt. Stan Diggs with the Illinois State Police told WSIL. "It was actually very sad." In an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday, before she was arrested, Dobbs disputed the accusation that Ricky was hidden in the small room, saying that in two years he spent "maybe five minutes" there. "My grandson had the run of the house," she said. "When we were outside, we would go fishing, we would do weenie roasts. We've done fireworks on the Fourth of July. He's helped me plant my flower garden in the back." She said she would not plead guilty to the charges. "We were on our own and we had to do what we had to do and that was make sure our grandson was safe," Dobbs said. Sandusky would not comment on the pending charges against Dobbs and Sandefur or identify the witness. However, a woman told WSIL she called police after Dobbs and Sandefur came onto her property and threatened her son's life. Diggs told WSIL that Ricky is "in very good spirits for someone who's been isolated in that house. ... He's a very, very social, very polite, very talkative little boy." Wilfong and Ricky's father, Michael Chekevdia, had battled over custody since Ricky was born in 2002, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. They initially had joint custody, Chekevdia told the newspaper, but Wilfong would often fail to bring the boy for weekends or scheduled meetings, then in 2007 failed to show up for visitation hearings. A judge granted Chekevdia temporary custody, but by then Wilfong and the boy had disappeared. They were reported missing in November, and in December, prosecutors charged Wilfong with felony child abduction. Wilfong and Dobbs had accused Chekevdia of sexually abusing the boy, but authorities have said those allegations are unfounded, the Post-Dispatch said. Leaving court Tuesday, a tearful Wilfong denied any wrongdoing to reporters, and accused Chekevdia of making lewd comments about the child. She added that the boy feared returning to his father. But Chekevdia told WSIL that Wilfong and her family are "accusing me unjustly." "I was the best father I could be given the time that I had with him," he said. Ricky was taken into Illinois Department of Children and Family Services custody, and is staying with his father's family under child welfare supervision, WSIL said. The department declined comment. Chekevdia told the station he got to see his son smile for the first time at a Labor Day parade. "It was just a wonderful feeling to see a little boy that's been in that situation for so long enjoy himself," he said. | NEW: Boy's parents had battled over his custody since his birth in 2002 .
Grandmother and her boyfriend are in jail pending formal charges .
Mother, Shannon Wilfong, tearfully denies any wrongdoing .
Boy is staying with father's family under child welfare supervision, station reports . |
215,714 | a33804b26c18fd3851617b079f5f7844e2b8c8e2 | A woman ordered to stay away from a couple for 10 years after she admitted to terrorizing them in revenge for being outbid on a home in San Diego has moved in just a mile down the road. Kathy Rowe, 53, pleaded guilty last month to stalking and was sentenced to one year of home electronic surveillance and five years probation. A judge also ordered her to stay away from Jerry Rice, 40, and Janice Ruhter, 37, for 10 years, but much to the couple’s distress she and her family have just moved into the same neighborhood. Scroll down for video . Kathy Rowe, 53, pleaded guilty last month to stalking and was sentenced to one year of home electronic surveillance and five years probation . ‘I kind of think she has more of a reason now to attack us. So obviously, we’re concerned for the family,’ Rice told ABC’s 20/20 on Friday. The couple have admitted that the stress caused by their ordeal with Rowe has caused them to take medication and having counselling. Ms. Rowe however told 20/20 that despite her reign of terror she didn't intend to scare them. 'I may be the least liked person in San Diego County. A horrible, evil person who wanted to harm this nice couple. I did not intend to harm them,' she said. 'I had put so much hope into this house. It’s almost like, you know, you hear bluebirds sing and music play. I walked in, it was my house. And when I found out we didn’t get it, it was devastating. It was heartbreaking.' Rice and Ruhter, who have a young son and daughter, were targeted by Rowe after they bought the home in late 2011. Jerry Rice, 40 and Janice Ruhter, 37, have admitted that the stress caused by their ordeal with Rowe has caused them to take medication and having counselling . Soon after they moved in, the couple had their mail stopped, $1,000 of magazine subscriptions delivered and Valentine's cards with Rice's name sent to other women on their quiet suburban street in Carmel Valley. Even more sinister, when Mr Rice searched his wife's name online, he discovered in horror that there were ads for sex parties at their home, entitled 'Carmel Valley Freak Show'. Mrs Rowe, pretending to be the couple, had advertised for men to visit the home while Rice was not there and force themselves upon Ruhter, claiming it was her fantasy to be raped. Ruhter's photo and address were included in the posts which were made sometime between October 2011 and June 2012. 'I love to be surprised and have a man just show up at my door and force his way in the door and on me, totally taking me while I say no,' Rowe wrote to one man who responded, according to reports. One man did show up at the couple's home but was thwarted once by a locked gate and a second time when the husband answered the door. 'Dream home': Rowe told a California court last month that it was 'devastating' when she lost the home, pictured, due to a miscommunication with real estate agents in 2011 . Rowe, pretending to be the couple, had advertised for men to visit the home while Rice was not there and force themselves upon Ruhter, claiming it was her fantasy to be raped . The couple contacted the police who traced the emails to Rowe. Rice, a school teacher, and Ruhter, a hospital lab scientist, told People this week that the campaign of harassment badly damaged their marriage. Mr Rice began to neglect his family and became obsessed with watching online videos on how to install security lights and cameras. The couple now attend therapy sessions to rebuild their marriage. They both also spend two nights of the week practicing self-defense martial arts after the harassment destroyed their sense of safety in their own home. Ms Ruhter added: 'It was a huge stress in our life for so long. We are trying to heal the best way we can.' Rowe was sentenced last month to a year of electronic surveillance and five years of probation for terrorizing the young family. Rowe said that she tormented the couple as revenge because the home (pictured) they outbid her for had been perfect for her sick husband and disabled daughter . The 53-year-old, who was fired from her job as a county administrative analyst, was charged with solicitation of rape and stalking charges in June 2012. The prosecutor said the charges were filed because Rowe's actions went far beyond a prank. In December, Rowe entered a plea bargain over the stalking charges, in exchange for prosecutors to drop felony charges of soliciting rape and sodomy and misdemeanor charges of identity theft and harassment. A conviction for soliciting rape would have required Rowe to register for life as a sex offender. In court last month, Rowe apologized to the couple for what she had put them through. 'I just wanted to say how humiliated I am by my behavior – that this is not representative of who I am. I've never behaved like this – never will again,' she said. She said she acted due to the stress she was under and never intended to cause the couple any harm. Rice and Ruhter both made victim impact statements at her sentencing. Rowe posted ads online encouraging strange men to go to the home (pictured) and rape Ms Ruhter . 'The home should be a place of safety and sanctuary,' Ruhter said. 'But I never truly felt this way in our house. I felt most secure away from my home. The house became my prison.' Rice added: 'Had law enforcement not intervened in this case, I am certain Mrs. Rowe would have continued her attacks until she successfully brought physical harm to a member of my family.' In a letter to a judge last year, Rowe explained it had been 'devastating' when she lost the house due to miscommunication with real estate agents, and a more attractive bid from the other couple. She had her heart set on the home because it was a single story, to accommodate her severely disabled daughter, and had a pool, to provide exercise for her husband who has stage 4 stomach cancer. 'The anger and grief over losing that house (and especially in the way we did) drove me to behave in a very childish way and to do what I thought were childish pranks to let off steam and ease the pain,' Rowe said in January. 'I never intended for them to be hurtful.' | Kathy Rowe, 53, pleaded guilty last month to stalking and was sentenced to one year of home electronic surveillance .
She was also ordered her to stay away from Jerry Rice, 40 and Janice Ruhter, 37, for 10 years, but instead has moved in just one mile away .
Jerry Rice and Janice Ruhter say they remain concerned for their safety and that of their two young sons .
'I kind of think she has more of a reason now to attack us. So obviously, we’re concerned for the family,' said Rice .
Rowe admitted to terrorizing them in revenge for being outbid on a home in San Diego . |
251,309 | d144e10166f1c963e6a3bc83056aebc8fe2d27d6 | Too young: Garrett Gagne was hit and killed Thursday morning after celebrating New Year's Eve with friends in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. A police officer hit the 22-year-old with his car while he was allegedly lying in the street . A police officer responding to an emergency call early New Year's Day ran over and apparently killed a college lacrosse player who was lying in a road, authorities said. Police said they don't know why Garrett Gagne was in the road or what his condition was before he was struck at 4am in Chatham, Massachusetts. The officer, who has not yet been identified, immediately stopped and called for help when he realized he had hit Gagne, police said Thursday. State and local police are investigating. Gagne, 22, was a senior government major and lacrosse player for St. Lawrence University. Police said he was from Longmeadow in western Massachusetts and was in Chatham, on Cape Cod, to celebrate New Year's Eve with friends. A preliminary investigation has revealed that Gagne suffered head trauma from being hit by a car while he was in the road. Chatham Police Chief Mark Pawlina said his investigators will be looking into whether the officer was speeding at the time, and how the young man ended up lying in the road in a rural area. 'We do know that there were some indications that there was some celebration going on and some alcohol involved, but to what extent we don’t know yet,' he told the Boston Herald. 'That’s something detectives are trying to determine. ... Everything will be thoroughly investigated.' Gagne's death has deeply troubled his department. Stand-out athlete: Authorities don't know why Gagne was lying in the street when he was hit, and are investigating whether alcohol may have contributed to the tragic accident. Gagne pictured above playing lacrosse for St Lawrence University in a number 28 jersey . 'The officer is very distraught and very upset over this, which is to be expected,' Pawlina said. The officer's identity is due to be released within 24 hours and Pawlina said he 'was not a rookie' but also not a veteran. While police said that Gagne's friends could not be immediately reached after the incident, they spoke to the Boston Herald hours later when they set up a makeshift memorial at the scene. 'Everyone loved him,' 24-year-old Dave Honey of Boston, a friend and former lacross teammate told the paper. 'We're all from Chatham and we all were with him last night. We are still in shock.' However, Honey would not go into detail into what happened at the New Year's celebrations Gagne attended. Loved: Gagne (far left) was a senior at St Lawrence, and the Canton, New York school plans to hold a memorial for the fallen student when classes resume. Pictured above with friends in a shot posted to Facebook . St Lawrence University, in Canton, New York, set up a memorial website to Gagne on Thursday. In a statement, St. Lawrence President William Fox said the school will hold a tribute for him when classes resume. Fox wrote in the statement: 'When Mike Mahoney, Garrett's lacrosse coach, contacted me this morning, he told me, "Garrett was close to all of us on the team — a leader, mentor, and friend. His smile and enthusiasm were contagious. He could light up the field and sidelines with his personality. This sudden and shocking loss touches every one of us who knew him as one of our best."' Gagne played in every game last season, and contributed several goals for the team, according to online statistics. At Longmeadow High School, Gagne captained both the lacrosse and ski racing teams and was honored for his academics, according to Fox's statement. He was also a two-time Massachusetts state champion in ski racing. | St Lawrence University lacrosse player Garrett Gagne was celebrating New Year's Eve in Cape Cod with friends when he was killed Thursday morning .
A local police officer hit and killed the 22-year-old who was inexplicably lying in the street . |
104,093 | 124c6aad4537c6ea4582077b342e9479a51cde78 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . UPDATED: . 04:25 EST, 21 February 2012 . Despite finding the treasure and spending more than $2million to recover it, a federal judge on ordered a deep sea salvage company to turn over $500 million worth of Spanish coins it recovered from a shipwreck to the Spanish government within a week. The Civil Guard said agents would leave within hours to take possession of the booty, worth an estimated $504 million, and two Spanish Hercules transport planes will bring it back. But it was not exactly clear when - Monday or Tuesday - the planes and the agents would leave Spain. Return to sender: $500m worth of Spanish 'pieces of eight' coins found in a shipwreck by a U.S. treasure-hunting company must now be returned to Spain, a US judge said . Retrieval mission: Spain is sending over C-130 Hercules planes like this one to retrieve the treasure, which is currently in an undisclosed location in Florida . The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Mark Pizzo ended a five-year legal battle between Odyssey Marine Exploration and Spain over the 594,000 gold and silver coins that were recovered from the wreck of the Spanish ship Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes in 2007 off the coast of Portugal. The ship was sunk by the British in an 1804 battle and Spain said it retained ownership of the ship and its cargo. A U.S. judge ruled in Spain's favour last year, and Odyssey Marine's appeals were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month. The coins have been held in a storage facility at an undisclosed location in Florida. Mr Pizzo said Odyssey Marine must provide an inventory of the coins to Spain by Tuesday and turn over custody of the coins by February 24. Spain will have to pay for the shipping costs. National treasure: Members of Spain civil guard stand next to the Ocean Alert, a ship belonging to the company Odyssey Marine Exploration in southern Spain in 2007 after the US company discovered the treasure . Defence: Maritime Lawyer James Goold represents Spain in the case against Florida treasure-hunting company Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc, and argued that the coins are a national treasure . The company will abide by the ruling, even though it 'flies in the face of all legal precedent,' Melinda MacConnel, vice president and general counsel of Odyssey Marine, told reporters after the hearing. Ms MacConnel said the ruling 'undermined' the jurisdiction of U.S. courts in naval affairs, and complained that Washington had influenced the case in Spain's favour. 'Clearly, the political influences in this case overshadowed the law,' she said. The ruling would also discourage other treasure hunters from reporting their finds, she added. 'The items will be hidden or even worse, melted down or sold on eBay,' she said. That certainly won't happen to this treasure hoard, said Guillermo Corral, the cultural counsellor at Spain's Embassy in Washington, noting that the coins and other artifacts were part of Spanish heritage. 'This is history,' he said. Spanish Navy Rear Admiral Javier Romero said the ship was a grave site for the Spanish sailors who lost their lives in the battle. Mark Gordon, Odyssey Marine's president, said the ruling would not affect current operations and business plans because all expenses of the project had already been passed through the company's prior profit and loss statements. Bygone era: The shipwreck from which Odyssey treasure hunters took 17 tonnes of coins was a Spanish warship which sunk during a battle with the British, Spain said . He said the company was planning for three shipwreck recoveries in 2012. 'The future of Odyssey Marine Explorations has never looked brighter,' Gordon said in a statement. The Spanish Culture Ministry said Monday the coins are classified as national heritage and as such must stay inside the country and will be displayed in one or more Spanish museums. It ruled out the idea of the treasure being sold to ease Spain's national debt. The Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes was sunk by British warships off the coast of Portugal in 1804 while sailing back from South America with more than 200 people on board. Tales recount that the British exploded the ship and the Mercedes broke 'like an egg, dumping her yolk into the deep.' The attack - and loss of insurmountable treasure - caused Spain to declare war on Britain. Odyssey Marine Exploration claimed to have discovered the vessel and recovered more than 500,000 silver and gold coins as well as other artifacts. Besides its debt woes, Spain is saddled with a nearly dormant economy and a 23 percent jobless rate. Odyssey made an international splash in 2007 when it recovered the 594,000 coins and other artifacts from the Atlantic Ocean near the Straits of Gilbraltar. At the time, experts said the coins could be worth as much as $500 million to collectors, which would have made it the richest shipwreck treasure in history. The company said in earnings statements that it has spent $2.6 million salvaging, transporting, storing and conserving the treasure. Odyssey fought Spain's claim to the treasure, arguing that the wreck was never positively identified as the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes. And if it was that vessel, then the ship was on a commercial trade trip - not a sovereign mission - at the time it sank, meaning Spain would have no firm claim to the cargo, Odyssey argued. International treaties generally hold that warships sunk in battle are protected from treasure seekers. At the time, experts said the coins could be worth as much as $500 million to collectors, which would have made it the richest shipwreck treasure in history. The Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes was sunk by British warships in the Atlantic while sailing back from South America with more than 200 people on board. | Odyssey Marine Exploration discovered vast fortune of Spanish 'pieces of eight' off the coast of Portugal in 2007 from 1804 shipwreck .
After bitter court case, US judge ruled treasure must be returned to Spain .
Spanish Civil Guard sending two Spanish Hercules planes to reclaim it at their own expense . |
224,754 | af02339f0df4f5136f5dda066734cb604eded790 | Hurricane Sandy is the second most powerful hurricane in modern history, with its might exceeding even that of Katrina, according to a measurement of the hurricane's strength in relation to its size. Researchers have found that Sandy's Integrated Kinetic Energy index, or IKE, which quantifies the power of a hurricane based on how far out tropical-storm force winds extend from the center, ranked second only to Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Hurricane Sandy's IKE was 140 Terajoules, which was about 20 Terajoules higher than Katrina's, according to Brian McNoldy, a senior researcher at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marin and Atmospheric Science. Scroll down for video . Sandy only had a Category 1 rating due to wind power but gathered significant storm surge after hitting land . Colour enhanced satellite image of hurricane Sandy . Sandy just hours before it finally made landfall on the US east coast . Record-setting storm: Hurricane Sandy was more powerful than Katrina, but its might was more spread out, researchers say . 'Sandy's IKE was over 140 Terajoules (TJ, 1 TJ = 1 trillion Joules = 277,778 kilowatt hours), meaning it generated more than twice the energy of the Hiroshima atomic bomb,' McNoldy wrote on a blog published by the Washington Post. 'At any given moment, many hurricanes contain more energy than an atomic bomb in their surface winds alone (even excluding winds at higher elevations and latent heat energy),' he added. The category levels that are more widely cited to quantify the power of hurricanes purely measure wind speed. Katrina was measured as a Category 3 hurricane at landfall and later rose to a Category 5. The estimated cost of Hurricane Sandy is $20 billion . Residents walk past burned houses in Breezy Point, a neighborhood located in the New York City borough of Queens, after it was devastated by Hurricane Sandy . Sandy, meanwhile, was measured as a Category 1 hurricane at landfall. But Sandy may end up being the second costliest hurricane in history after Katrina because of its high IKE, McNoldy noted. 'Sandy had Category 1 winds at landfall yet was able to create very significant storm surge over hundreds of miles of highly populated coastline,' he wrote. General view of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana after Katrina hit in 2005 . 'Katrina's IKE was more concentrated, Sandy's IKE was more spread out. This metric -- more than wind speed -- encapsulates the respective storms' horrific effects.' Sandy has been estimated to cost at least $20 billion in damage, whereas Katrina cost roughly $106 billion. | Sandy was more powerful than Hiroshima atomic bomb .
The storm exceeded Hurricane Katrina given the strength related to its size ratio .
Sandy may become the second costliest hurricane behind Katrina .
Despite being only Category 1 at landfall Sandy generated significant storm surge over hundreds of miles . |
283,495 | fb37dc2ea680f9c9de1084b6ecf617dd2f9283f2 | If you can hold your breath all the way to the bottom here, you are in a very small minority - this is Y-40 The Deep Joy and with a staggering depth of -40 metres it is the world's deepest pool. The incredible swim centre, designed by renowned architect Emanuele Boaretto, is located within the four-star Hotel Terme Millepini in Montegrotto Terme, Italy. Operating since June, the pool has a diving height of a 12-storey building, or nine double decker buses placed on top of each other. Wet suits aren't required here as swimmers can enjoy a regular temperature of between 32-34°C. Scroll down for video . Record breaker: Y-40 The Deep Joy is the world's deepest pool with a staggering depth of -40 metres . There are several platforms, ranging from -1.3m, to -12m. The pool at the surface is 21m by 18m but it becomes a narrow well-like hole as the depths plummet straight down. Visitors are able to use the facilities for free diving and scuba diving, with underwater caves for cave diving beginners. There is also a unique suspended underwater tunnel which is entirely transparent, so non-swimmers can experience the pool without getting wet. There is a sunbathing deck with loungers on the roof, where swimmers can recover from their deep-diving experience. Dry dock: The underwater tunnel runs right through the middle of the pool . Plunging: One of the first divers to use the pool is filmed from the depths of the Y-40 . Overtaken: The Y-40 surpassed the Nemo33 in Brussels, Belgium, which had a maximum depth of 34.5 metres . Afraid of depths? The pool features several depth platforms before narrowing into a deep descent . Activities: As well as free diving, the pool offers opportunities for scuba divers to practice cave diving . Notable figures from Italian water sports helped to launch the facility this year, including Italian free diver Umberto Pelizzari, and Enzo Maiorca, the ‘father’ of freediving in Italy. Freediver Ilaria Molinari even donned a mermaid tail to dive down to 40 metres to wow spectators. 'Y-40 is unique in its field thanks to the spa water, which cannot be outsourced,' says architect Emanuele Boaretto. 'We want to open up new medium and long term work prospects to try and guarantee prosperity, not only for my company but also for the surrounding land and society.' Other-worldly: Free diver Ilaria Molinari dresses as a mermaid to swim through the artificial cave-diving area . Launch: Molinari dove the depths of the pool at its opening with the help of a mermaid's tail . The pool is situated in a regional natural park of the Euganean Hills in Italy. Mr Boaretto is planning to cover the pool with lawn to b;lend the structure into its environment. Y-40 is open all year round and offers the equivalent of diving the height of a 12-storey building. Activities at the pool include scuba diving, free diving, aqua fitness, watsu, hydro-kinesi therapy and special activities for pregnant women. The four-star hotel within the region of Villa Duodo boasts 100 air-conditioned rooms. Spectator sport: A 13-metre transparent tunnel allows non-swimmers to experience the pool . Temperate: 4,300 cubic metres of thermal water are kept at a temperature of 32-34 degrees celcius . Nemo 33 in Brussels, Belgium, was the deepest indoor swimming pool in the world before Y-40 was completed. Its maximum depth is 34.5 metres (113 ft) and it contains 2,500,000 litres of non-chlorinated, highly filtered spring water maintained at 30C. The pool also holds several simulated underwater caves at the 10 metres depth level. Due to the warm temperature in the pool, divers can dive for extended periods without a wet suit. It was designed by a Belgian diving expert, John Beernaerts, and is used for recreation, scuba diving practice and instruction and by film-makers and scientists. Architectural marvel: The pool is designed by renowned architect Emanuele Boaretto . The world’s largest swimming pool, completed in 2006, is located at the San Alfonso del Mar resort in Algarrobo, Chile. It is estimated to have cost more than £613million to construct and covers nearly 20 acres. Swimming a length in this would mean stroke after stroke for more than three fifths of a mile - that's 20 Olympic-size swimming pools. The enormous man-made lagoon is set halfway up the country's Pacific coast and is filled with 66 million gallons of crystal clear seawater. It uses a computer-controlled suction and filtration system to suck water in from the ocean at one end and pump it out at the other, while the sun warms it to 26C - nine degrees higher than the sea. Tourist attraction: Y-40 The Deep Joy is housed within the four-star Hotel Terme Millepini . | 'Y-40 Deep Joy' is located at the Hotel Terme Millepini in Italy .
The pool is 21m by 18m at the surface, but narrows -40m .
The 4,300 cubic metres of thermal water averages 32-34°C .
The Y-40 overtook Brussels' Nemo33 as the world's deepest pool .
It is used for free diving and scuba diving training and recreation . |
130,302 | 34768e13244346af414ad6c003d874407c2f3ca4 | By . Gareth Finighan . UPDATED: . 11:51 EST, 22 April 2012 . The son of Bermuda's former Premier has been jailed for 12 years and eight months for a string of sex attacks on vulnerable women. Dr Kevin Brown, who ran a medical practice in Los Angeles, was found guilty of 21 charges including sexual battery by fraud, sexual exploitation by a physician, sexual penetration with a foreign object and committing a lewd act upon a child. He had pleaded not guilty to 30 felony counts including forcible rape. The attacks on nine patients - including a 15-year-old girl - took place at Brown's surgery during routine medical check-ups between 2003 and 2008. Predator: Kevin Brown, pictured during his trial in July, took advantage of women visiting his Los Angeles surgery . At today's sentencing, Brown was also . ordered to pay $18,000 in fines and penalties to his victims. He must . also register as a sex offender for life. During his trial in July, prosecutors said Brown, 40, ran his Crenshaw Boulevard practice as 'his personal playground' and viewed female patients as 'his prey'. The married father had faced similar charges in 2004 and 2006 but was acquitted on both those occasions. However, he was arrested yet again in July 2008 after assaulting an undercover police officer posing as a patient. The police sting operation had been launched a year earlier after detectives received yet another complaint against Brown. Playboy: Brown rubbed shoulders with celebrities at a charity poker tournament just weeks before his arrest . The female officer, who made an . appointment with Brown for an injured ankle, testified that Brown lifted . up her shirt and bra and fondled her breast during an examination. The . assault was recorded on monitoring equipment worn by the detective and . played back to the jury during Brown's trial. The trial jury also heard how other patients were given inappropriate pelvic and breast examinations. One victim who visited Brown to be evaluated for weight loss treatment said she had her breasts fondled and Brown also nuzzled his face in the breasts of another victim and sucked on her nipples, the court heard. Deputy District Attorney Ann-Marie Wise had estimated Brown could get a maximum term of 16 years and ten months in state prison for his crimes. 'I am extremely pleased with this verdict, and the women who came forward were very brave,' she said after Brown had been found guilty. Just weeks before his 2008 arrest, Brown - whose father Ewart Brown was Premier of Bermuda between 2006 and 2010 - organised a celebrity poker tournament at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in support of his own charity, the Urban Health Institute. Actor Don Cheadle, reality TV star Khloe Kardashian and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner were among the celebrity guests, as was Brown's father. The charity, which has now been disbanded, later came under scrutiny after it was revealed that only a small proportion of its funds was ever spent on the needy. In the dock: Brown insisted he was innocent and his defence team claimed the authorities had a vendetta against him . Brown had to post $4million bail following his arrest because LA authorities were concerned that he could abscond to Bermuda while awaiting trial. He is now being probed by white-collar crime investigators over allegations that he defrauded a national health insurance scheme. Kevin Brown is the second of Ewart Brown's four sons to be jailed. Younger son Maurice Pitt, 29, is currently serving a ten-year sentence in California for armed robbery. Controversial: Ewart Brown's premiership was dogged by scandal . Ewart Brown - who attended the Criminal Court House in Los Angeles throughout his son's three-week trial - also practiced as a doctor in the city, but returned to his native Bermuda in 1993 to pursue a political career. He eventually took over the premiership of Britain's oldest colony in 2006 and secured a third general election victory for the Progressive Labour Party in 2007. But his four-year premiership was beset by controversy. Bermuda's national debt ballooned from $300million to more than $1billion under his flamboyant and confrontational leadership and Brown was often accused of squandering taxpayer money. In one nine-month period he ran up bills of $265,000 on overseas travel alone, staying at exclusive resorts such as the seven-star Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai and travelling in limousines accompanied by crews of bodyguards and flunkeys. In 2007, leaked police documents revealed Premier Brown had been a focus of an investigation into multi-million dollar corruption at a government-run housing quango set up to provide affordable accommodation for the poor. Prosecutors later stated that they could find evidence only of 'unethical rather than illegal' behaviour, and no charges were filed. Brown later demanded that control of Bermuda's police service be transferred from the Crown to his own government. And the regime was constantly accused of cronyism and corruption - particularly when lucrative government contracts were 'awarded ' to associates rather than put out to tender, only to then run massively over budget. Hobnobbing: Despite being a fervent supporter of independence, Dr Brown hosted a state visit by the Queen in 2009 . Premier Brown's successor, Paula Cox, has promised to launch an inquiry into how one such contract was awarded, while the Auditor General's office has been granted fresh powers to investigate government contracts under Brown's premiership. Premier Brown - who was also held the Tourism Ministry portfolio during his leadership - came in for further criticism after it was revealed he attended his son's 2008 charity poker tournament at the Playboy Mansion. Newspapers on the island claimed that Brown's Tourism Ministry had donated prizes for the charity event in the form of free holidays to Bermuda. The expose caused outrage on the deeply Christian and conservative territory, where gambling and pornography are illegal. And the controversial leader also survived a 2009 no-confidence motion - and a public demonstration outside Parliament - after personally negotiating an under-the-table deal with the White House for four Guantanamo Bay prisoners to be repatriated to the North Atlantic territory. The incident embarrassed Downing Street which is responsible for Bermuda's national security and foreign affairs. The Queen's representative on the island, Governor Sir Richard Gozney, was unaware of the deal until the plane transporting the four inmates touched down on the island. Three-times married Premier Brown, 65, a staunch advocate of independence, later claimed he had acted on humanitarian grounds, but critics argued the move was a calculated snub to Britain and, with his son awaiting trial in the U.S., a deliberate attempt to curry favour and influence with lawmakers in Washington. Always claiming that he would stand for just one term in office, Premier Brown quit politics last year and has remained largely out of the public eye ever since. He spends his retirement in lavish properties in Manhattan, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Martha's Vineyard and Bermuda. A petition requesting a Royal Commission of Inquiry 'into the numerous and various allegations and implications of Government fiscal impropriety and corruption' is now being circulated across the island. And in Britain, MP Andrew Rosindell - chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Overseas Territories - has written to the Foreign and Commonwealth office and Bermuda's governor calling for an investigation into corruption on the island. | Kevin Brown is second of former Bermuda Premier Ewart Brown's four sons to be jailed . |
3,749 | 0ad92958e68ed0c19bf2bc524947289845c4823b | (EW.com) -- Fox is pulling the plug on "Almost Human." The robot cop drama will not return for a second season. 'The Following' post-mortem: EP on who's REALLY dead . "Almost Human" starred Karl Urban and Michael Ealy as two cops, at least one a robot, who fought crime in the future. The freshman drama struggled in the ratings on Monday nights, where the last few episodes averaged about 5.6 million viewers and a mere 1.5 rating among adults 18-49 in the overnight numbers. Tricia Helfer to star in new Syfy space drama . The somewhat similarly premised CBS freshman drama series "Intelligence," which stars Josh Holloway as a crime fighter with a cyber-wired brain, is still on the bubble for a renewal after likewise struggling on Mondays this season. The decision came down on the same day "Almost Human" executive producer J.J. Abrams announced the cast for one of his other sci-fi projects, "Star Wars: Episode VII." See the original story at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved. | Fox has pulled the plug on "Almost Human"
The freshman robot cop drama starred Karl Urban and Michael Ealy .
It struggled in ratings on Monday nights . |
215,075 | a26e1e7055dd707052fb69951c1f3fa6fffb4a5e | By . Tamara Abraham and Rosie Taylor . PUBLISHED: . 15:23 EST, 27 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 07:23 EST, 28 November 2012 . She may have been wearing an old dress, but the Duchess of Cambridge turned heads with a new haircut at the opening of the Natural History Museum’s Treasure exhibition in London last night. Kate's new look appears to have been inspired by the late Seventies and early Eighties, with a heavy parted fringe reminiscent of Farah Fawcett. But it was the combination of the new haircut and the retro silk green dress that brought to mind a more significant likeness: that of her husband's late mother, Princess Diana. Scroll down for video . Retro style: The Duchess of Cambridge's new look at the Natural History Museum last night (left) recalls that of Princess Diana in the early Eighties (right) On stage: In a speech, the Duchess spoke about how she and her husband had enjoyed visits to the Natural History Museum in the past . Inspiration: Kate's new look appears to have been inspired by the late Seventies and early Eighties . Diana wore an almost identical green silk chiffon dress during a 1983 tour as she was leaving Auckland, New Zealand, for a trip to the Bahamas. Like Kate's £1,400 Mulberry dress (previously worn last November to launch the . Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations at Buckingham Palace), Diana's was buttoned high, belted at the waist and gathered at the wrists creating a balloon sleeve. Even their stances are the same, with hands clasped demurely in front. Trusted stylist: Kate's new hairstyle - which also appears to be darker than before, is believed to have been created by her favourite hairdresser Richard Ward, who has a salon off Sloane Square, London . Signature look: Diana famously wore a heavy fringe, which fell across her eyes. Now it appears that Kate is following her lead . Personal tour: The Duchess admires a plate from Audubon's Birds of America alongside Director of the Natural History Museum Doctor Michael Dixon (left) and Special Collections Manager Judith Magee (right) Hair: Kate's new hairstyle - which also appears to be darker than before, is believed to have been created by her favourite hairdresser Richard Ward, who has a salon off Sloane Square, London . Intrigued: The Duchess of Cambridge views an exhibit alongside Director of the Natural History Museum Doctor Michael Dixon, as she officially opens the new Treasures gallery at the Natural History Museum . Kate's new hairstyle - which also . appears to be darker than before, is believed to have been created by . her favourite hairdresser Richard Ward, who has a salon off Sloane . Square, London. The Duchess was given a tour of a gallery . featuring some of the museum’s greatest treasures, including rare first . editions of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Opening the exhibition, she spoke about how she and her husband had enjoyed visits there in the past. Fawcett flick: Kate's parted fringe and layers are not dissimilar from the style of Seventies star Farah (right) History lesson: Kate views a skeleton of an Archaeopteryx during her tour of the museum . Tour: Kate is given a tour of the museum . Long legs: Kate shows of her figure, left and right, in the retro frock . Stellar night: The Duchess of Cambridge turned heads with a new haircut at the opening of the Natural History Museum¿s Treasure exhibition in London last night . She said: ‘The Natural History Museum . has a very special place in the heart of this nation. 'William and I are . just two of millions of people who have passed through these doors, and . marvelled at the spectacular wonders of the natural world, housed in . this beautiful gallery. ‘I care passionately about what . this museum stands for. Being here tonight, seeing some of nature’s . finest treasures, reminds me just how precious and awe inspiring the . natural world is. Sparkle: Kate's much-loved engagement ring complemented her green dress . Strange face: Kate was caught mid-conversation at the glittering event . Tour: The Duchess was given a tour of a gallery featuring some of the museum¿s greatest treasures, including rare first editions of Charles Darwin¿s On the Origin of Species . Emerald style: The Duchess wore a £1,400 dress by Mulberry, previously worn last November . ‘That is why the opening of . Treasures is so incredibly exciting. If it were ever needed, there is . now even more reason to visit this wonderful museum.’ Treasures displays 22 of the most extraordinary specimens that have ever . been on show at the Museum, and opens 30 November to the public. Dr Michael Dixon, Director of the Natural History Museum said: ‘We are thrilled Her Royal Highness joined us to celebrate the opening . of Treasures. We hope that she is the first of many visitors to discover . everything the Museum represents in this special gallery.’ Part . Samantha Cameron, part Shy Di, the Duchess of Cambridge appeared to use . her newly-cut layers not to frame her famous face, but to shield it . from the glare of the cameras. And it would seem Catherine has not been tempted only by the stylist's scissors during her latest appointment.Her . has also taken on a distinctly chestnut hue - perhaps the result of a . gentle, natural vegetable tint, designed to add extra gloss and . light-reflecting properties to her always immaculate blow dry. It’s not the first time Kate’s been associated with the classic British design house, Mulberry. Michael Lendon, creative director of . the Aveda hair institute, told Mail Online: 'Even minor changes attract . huge attention and Kate has progressed her style to something a little . more versatile. 'The new layers around the face will . allow Kate to go for different styles. I think this could be the start . of some new tricks from Kate in the hair department, expect some glam . hair-ups as the shorter layers will make styling an up-do more fun. Without a doubt, the subtle new twist to her signature long locks will . be a hit.' In September Kate wore an elegant navy . Mulberry dress for a visit to the tiny village of Marau, on day seven of . the Diamond Jubilee tour with Prince William. She chose a sleeveless Nightshade Blue Broderie Anglaise dress, which she complimented with a matching patent belt. It . is a busy week for Kate. Tomorrow, she and Prince William make their . first official visit to Cambridge since he was conferred with the . Dukedom on the eve of their wedding. Warm welcome: The Duchess with Chairman of Trustees Oliver Stocken (left) and Director of the Natural History Museum Doctor Michael Dixon . Invitation only: Penelope Wilton and Miranda Richardson (left) and Sir Stuart Rose (right) were also among the guests at the Natural History Museum last night . The . Prince of Wales' communications secretary is to leave his job after . more than eight years in the post to launch a public relations company, . it was announced today. During . his time in office Paddy Harverson oversaw press relations during . Charles' wedding to the Duchess of Cornwall in 2005 and the developing . public profile of his sons the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry. William . and Harry established their royal household away from their father's . court of Clarence House, developed their own charitable interests and . are pursuing careers in the Armed Forces. Mr Harverson yesterday told Charles and his wife of his intention to leave and the royal couple were said to be 'sad' at the news but excited for their outgoing communications boss. He will be launching his new venture with a friend who has a senior position with the online search engine Google with the aim of the new business to advise firms and high profile individuals. Mr Harverson was Manchester United Football Club's communications director and before that worked at the Financial Times where he was the paper's sports correspondent, writing about the business world of sport. The move comes at a turning point for Mr Harverson who will reach the milestone age of 50 next year and has a young family. It is understood he now wants to pursue other challenges after spending a long period working for Charles. It is thought he will leave his post in the spring with a replacement appointed later next year. | Kate's famous glossy blowdry was given a layered makeover, with a heavy parted fringe reminiscent of Princess Diana in the early Eighties .
The Duchess wore a £1,400 emerald green silk Mulberry dress to the Natural History Museum in London . |
53,557 | 97ea0ceca97d618ce4a72c8fb1a027ed3050f4f0 | By . Anthony Bond . PUBLISHED: . 17:16 EST, 4 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 17:20 EST, 4 December 2012 . Prosecuted: The principal of a special school walked in on female care worker Amanda McNally, pictured, who had been having sex with a 17-year-old boy, it has emerged . The principal of a special school walked in on a female care worker who had been having sex with a 17-year-old boy, it has emerged. Amanda McNally, 41, was found hiding behind a bed with the half naked teenager in his room at the boarding school in Hertfordshire. When the principal walked in, he saw a silhouette behind the bed. The boy - who has a mental age of 13 - suddenly emerged without his top on. McNally then appeared saying they had been looking for a paint brush as they were decorating his flat, St Albans crown court heard today. Prosecutor Michael Speak said the boy, who suffers from epilepsy and is subject to seizures and depression, confessed to having sex with McNally the next day. The police were called and in a recorded interview the boy said: 'She was being nice but she took advantage of me.' He said they had penetrative sex in the flat. He said sex had happened before between them, but she had only been charged with one offence. DNA tests confirmed that they had engaged in sexual activity. Mr Speak said McNally, who has a 17-year-old son of her own, had worked as a house care assistant at the school for 3 years, with a 6 month break. 'Her responsibilities were to get the children up, prepare their breakfast, to get them to have a wash and clean their houses and do the shopping. 'At half past three they would return from school and her duties would be to make tea. The care workers are described by the Principal as surrogate parents,' he said. In a victim impact statement the boy said he had been left feeling 'insecure and felt suicidal waking up at night.' He went on: 'She said she was my friend. I can’t trust her. Now I am in a black hole.' McNally, 41, from Ware, Hertfordshire, admitted sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust on February 22 this year. She gave no comment to police interviews. She was of previous good character. Stephen Requena, defending, asked for credit for her guilty plea. In a text sent to the boy earlier she had said the relationship should end. Locked up: McNally was jailed for 14 months and banned from ever working with children at St Albans Crown Court today . At the time her friendship with the boy was the only happiness in her life, he said. She had married at 23, but separated from her husband in 2005. In January this year they divorced after he said he wanted to marry another woman. He said McNally was supported by family and friends and handed the judge references which described her as 'caring and loving.' Judge Stephen Warner told her: 'You were in a position of trust. You befriended him and his family. It was not an isolated incident and only stopped when you were discovered. 'This was a highly inappropriate relationship. He was 17, you were 41. He was vulnerable and compliant. You took advantage to enter into this relationship. You knew it was wrong but you persisted.' He jailed her for 14 months and banned her from ever working with children. McNally must sign the Sex Offender Register for 5 years. | Amanda McNally, 41, was found hiding behind a bed with the half naked .
teenager in his room at the boarding school in Hertfordshire .
The boy - who suffers from epilepsy and is .
subject to seizures and depression - confessed to having sex with .
McNally the next day .
McNally, 41, from Ware, Hertfordshire, was jailed for 14 months and banned from ever working with children . |
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