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197,142 | 8b2b152efb4da9d5f05497d2149bbf4d4f077aba | By . James Nye and Louise Boyle . PUBLISHED: . 00:23 EST, 13 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 00:23 EST, 13 September 2013 . Schoolgirls are being investigated by police following the suicide of a 12-year-old girl who suffered relentless cyber-bullying, authorities said today. Rebecca Ann Sedwick leaped to her death from a cement silo at an abandoned factory a mile from her home in Lakeland, Florida. Her body was discovered at 6.45am on Tuesday morning after her mother reported that her daughter had not returned from school on Monday evening. Polk County sheriff Grady Judd said on Thursday that law enforcement and the school district were not to blame, adding that he planned to press charges against the bullies if enough evidence is found. Scroll Down for Video . Devastated: Rebecca Ann Sedwick, 12, (pictured with her mother Tricia Norman) is believed to have leaped to her death from an abandoned cement silo in Florida after being relentlessly bullied by girls online . Judd told the Orlando Sentinel: 'Girls can get pretty catty as kids. The system cannot manage all that cattiness … I truly . believe the school system tried but we don't live in a perfect world.' Detectives are now looking at 15 girls . who may have been involved and the sheriff said today that if there is . enough evidence to prove that the law has been broken, he will recommend that . they be charged. A vigil was held for 12-year-old Rebecca at the abandoned factory where she took her own life on Wednesday night. Following her suicide, Rebecca's family found online bullying directed at her just four days before, according to 10 News. The family believed that the bullying had stopped after the 12-year-old was moved school. Rebecca's mother Tricia Norman told the Lakeland Ledger that . girls had bullied her daughter viciously online at Crystal Lake . Elementary School last year, bombarding her with messages on her cellphone such as: 'You're ugly'; 'Why are you still alive?' and 'Go kill . yourself'. At one point the 12-year-old was physically attacked in school. Ms Norman pulled her daughter out of Crystal Lake and moved her to Lawton Childs Middle . Academy. Remorseless: This is believed to be the Ask.Fm page of Rebecca Ann Sedwick - showing some examples of the abuse she suffered . Despite being moved school and shutting down her Facebook account, the remorseless bullying carried on online through other sites and services. The girl's devastated mother said that a group of . five or six girls at Crystal Lake who bullied her on Facebook continued . to torment the 12-year-old even after she had left. The mother was so incensed by the bullying at Crystal Lake that she filed two complaints to the school. 'She has been bullied before and people had told her she needed to kill herself,' Sedwick’s sister, Summer Howard, said to The Ledger. 'But we all thought she was fine now. No one had known.' Tragically, Ms Norman said that she was . never informed that her daughter did not show up for class on Monday . morning because of a problem with Lawton Chiles Middle Academy's . automated system. Lonely death: Rebecca Ann Sedwick's body was discovered at the base of this cement silo just a mile from her home . Deputies discovered her body at around 2.25am on Tuesday on the ground at a former Cemex cement site. Summer Howard said she told deputies that her sister had snuck into the site, around half a mile from their home, before and used to climb on the cement silos. Police forensic officers were seen on Tuesday afternoon at the top of one of the cement silos dusting for fingerprints. 'I don’t know what I’m doing,' Norman said to The Ledger. 'I don’t know what I’m supposed to do next. I just lost my world. 'My life is just never going to be the same, I’m missing a big part of it, a huge part of it.' The Polk Country Sheriff's Office . revealed that Sedwick had been caught cutting herself and making . comments about wanting to hurt herself before Monday, but Norman said . she didn't know the cyber-bullying had resumed. Bullied: Rebecca was withdrawn from her elementary school for home-schooling in the aftermath of he cyberbullying being uncovered and her mother Tricia (right) said that she believes it to be a warning to all parents to be vigilant . Norman said that the bullying at Crystal Lake became so bad earlier this year that her daughter was hospitalized with self-inflicted cuts on her arms and legs. 'When she was being bullied at Crystal Lake Middle, she used to come home every day and tell me how she wasn’t worth anything, that she was ugly, how she was stupid,' Norman said. 'And I said, ''Baby what on earth would make you think that? You’re the most beautiful person I know and the smartest person I know.''' However, once police checked her cell phone they discovered that the bullying had not stopped, especially on Kik Messenger, Instagram and Ask.fm. 'People just need to stop bullying, period,' Howard said. 'You never know whose life you’re affecting.' An autopsy was completed on Tuesday but results are pending toxicology results, the Sheriff’s Office said. For support on suicide . matters call the National Suicide Prevention Helpine on 1-800-273-8255 or go to . www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org. | Rebecca Ann Sedwick, 12, was bullied online for two years by a gang of school girls, it has been claimed .
She was found dead at an abandoned Florida cement factory this week .
Her family believed the abuse had stopped when Rebecca moved school . |
140,922 | 423d5b3a7aaa766b98c644a25ad46d42dc55c77d | By . Ted Thornhill . A woman suspected of stealing from a Macy’s in the San Gabriel Valley fled topless after her top and bra came off as she struggled with a police officer attempting to detain her. The woman is alleged to have stolen items from the store, at the Westfield Santa Anita mall, on the evening of June 29 and put them in her purse. However, she was confronted by a Macy’s loss prevention officer before she could leave. Bizarre: A suspected female shoplifter fled a Macy's (pictured) in the San Gabriel valley topless after a struggle with one of the store's loss prevention officers . A struggle then ensued in which she hit the officer several times and lost her clothing. A police officer told CBS Los Angeles: ‘During the altercation, the suspect’s shirt and bra came off.’ The woman, 44, is described as being of Asian origin, but hasn’t been named yet. The officer added: ‘[The woman] ran to her car topless and left behind her purse containing her driver’s license.’ Wanted: Police said the woman was 44 years old and left her licence behind, but she hasn't been named yet . A witness saw her driving away in a white Mercedes and took note of the licence plate number. Earlier this month footage has emerged of Arkansas officers pursuing and arresting a naked female who was running through a parking lot. On the evening of July 1 police in Fayetteville received a call from a member of public who said that a naked woman ‘intoxicated on drugs and “tripping balls”’ was running around the town center. Two squad cars were dispatched, with the woman in question, later named as 21-year-old Melissa Valencia, filmed on an in-car camera. At the start of the footage she is seen running away from the police units and an officer giving chase on foot. The clip then shows her struggling with officers as they try to arrest her. She was charged with misdemeanor public intoxication, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest charges. | A suspected female shoplifter fled a San Gabriel Valley Macy's topless .
Her top and bra came off after a struggle with authorities, police said .
She left her driving licence at the scene and drove away in a Mercedes . |
103,265 | 1129569aa95d7b17f8dd7b8e9b32f4557f50e9e8 | (CNN) -- In a crackdown on football match-fixing, Singaporean authorities have arrested more than a dozen people they suspect of being members of an organized crime syndicate. The arrests come amid a global effort to uncover corruption in the sport, which European police officials believe has reached some of the world's most high-profile games including World Cup qualifiers and UEFA Champions League matches. Among the 14 people detained in Singapore during the 12-hour operation on Tuesday is the crime group's suspected leader, the Singapore Police Force and the city-state's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said in a joint statement late Wednesday. The statement didn't disclose the names of the arrested suspects, and authorities wouldn't say whether Tan Seet Eng, a Singaporean man also known as Dan Tan, was among them. Singapore police said earlier this year that Tan, considered to be a key suspect in the global match-fixing scheme, was helping them with their investigations. Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, said in February that it was investigating hundreds of games on suspicion of match-fixing. It pointed to "a suspected organized crime syndicate" in Singapore as masterminding the alleged scams and working with criminal networks in Europe. Singaporean authorities said some of the people they detained this week, including the suspected leader, are "the subject of ongoing investigations in other jurisdictions for match fixing activities." Australian soccer hit by 'disturbing' match-fixing scandal . 'An important step' Interpol, the international police organization, said it had helped to connect investigators in Singapore and Europe. "Singaporean authorities have taken an important step in cracking down on an international match-fixing syndicate by arresting the main suspects in the case, including the suspected mastermind," said Ronald K. Noble, Interpol's secretary general. "No person should doubt Singapore's commitment to fighting match-fixing." The suspected leader and four others are being held for further investigation, the Singaporean agencies said. The nine remaining suspects will be released on bail, they added. The people arrested -- 12 men and two women -- are all Singaporean and are aged between 38 and 60, Singapore authorities said. "Singapore is committed to eradicate match-fixing as a transnational crime and protect the integrity of the sport," the police and the corruption investigation bureau said. "All cases will be pursued vigorously with a view to bring perpetrators to justice." European police officials in February described their investigation as "the biggest-ever investigation into suspected match-fixing in Europe." A total of 380 games in Europe -- including World Cup and European Championship qualifiers -- were deemed suspicious, with 425 match and club officials and criminals involved from 15 different countries. | The arrests include the suspected leader of an organized crime group .
Interpol: Arrests "an important step" in cracking down on match-fixing .
Earlier, European police officials announced a huge investigation .
They said hundreds of games were under suspicion . |
192,483 | 852fd2428e14ae92f46f4d816dfb6046a6511993 | By . Jim Van Wijk . Besiktas coach Slaven Bilic fully expects Arsenal to have shaken off their sluggish start to the new domestic season when they clash in the first leg of a crunch Champions League play-off at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger admitted his men lacked their usual fluency against Crystal Palace on Saturday, when they came from behind to secure a 2-1 victory through Aaron Ramsey's stoppage-time goal. Arsenal are still missing World Cup winning trio Per Mertesacker, Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski while £30million summer-signing Alexis Sanchez showed glimpses of his potential on a first foray into the hustle-and-bustle of English football. Scroll down for videos... Gameplan: Slaven Bilic is wary of Arsenal ahead of their Champions League qualifier against Besiktas . Former Everton and West Ham defender Bilic, however, knows just what Wenger's slick passing side are capable of. 'We are ready with everything for this game,' the Croatian said. 'We know very well the opponent and have prepared well. 'We have respect for our opponents, because we are playing against one of the strongest teams in Europe. 'We have a game plan, and the players have to implement this plan.' Getting ready: Arsene Wenger and Mathieu Flamini speak ahead of the game in Turkey . Good spirits: Arsenal players share a joke during training ahead of their decisive game . Bilic continued: 'Arsenal, though, will also be ready for this match, they have quality players and we are well aware of what we are playing against. 'Arsenal are the favourites, but we also try our best. 'We have a dream and we will do our best to make it happen.' Forward Mustafa Pektemek is confident Besiktas, whose home stadium is being redeveloped, can take a positive return back to England. 'We are expecting a tough match, but we want to get a good result in front of our own fans to then go to London. 'Every day we are form is improving and our goal is to maintain this pace.' CLICK HERE to start picking your Fantasy Football team NOW! There’s £60,000 in prizes including £1,000 up for grabs EVERY WEEK… . Enter the dragon: Aaron Ramsey's last minuted goal secured victory against Crystal Palace after a slow start . | Arsenal play Besiktas in Champions League qualifier in Turkey .
Gunners underperformed in opening league win against Crystal Palace .
Slaven Bilic expects Arsenal to be more prepared on Tuesday .
Ex-Croatia manager say he has a gameplan for Arsene Wenger's side . |
244,866 | c8eccb3bb3f4e4afc17fb4e0c9086cf09d20e8c8 | By . Chris Waugh . Chris Woakes is targeting an extended stay in the England Test side following his successful return to the the fold this summer. The 25-year-old bowling all-rounder played the final three Tests against India, helping England to win all three and clinch a 3-1 series victory despite having trailed 1-0 after two matches. Four wickets in the final match at The Oval seemed to justify his selection following two quiet Tests, and Woakes believes he is finally settling into the international fold. The Mighty Woakes: Chris Woakes celebrates taking a wicket at The Oval . Woakes said: 'I had a taste of Test cricket last summer against Australia and it helped me to improve as a player. 'I did OK last year but I think I have improved as a cricketer in the mean time and come back stronger. 'I have added more pace in my bowling and I think my game has moved up a level to when I first broke into the England team.' The right-arm fast-medium bowler is highly-regarded within the England set-up, yet he faces stiff competition for places in an ever-evolving line-up. Ben Stokes, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett and the once-again selectable Steven Finn are just some of the players vying for a spot in the Test side. And, with England not playing another Test until they tour the West Indies in March, Woakes may have a little time to wait yet to fully cement his place in the side. 'It is a fresh squad in many ways and I am happy to be a part of it. It's all a blur: Woakes (centre) has put on a yard of pace since his Test debut last year . Appealing trait: Woakes implores the umpire to give Murali Vijay (left) out - which he does . Well done: Woakes is congratulated by England captain Alastair Cook after victory at The Oval . 'We haven't got a Test for a while now which is a little frustrating but I aim to be involved once they do come back round again. 'Playing for England is what we all aim for as county cricketers. Having been in and out of the squad for few years now it was nice to get a run in the Test team towards the end of the summer. Delighted: Woakes after the Oval win . 'I got myself one or two important wickets - and a few runs here and there - and so I feel pretty good about how I contributed to the side. 'We played some really good cricket as a team and, when you win a Test series, it is a great feeling. Playing Test cricket for England is the pinnacle. I am just delighted I am able to say I was a part of such a fantastic victory in the series against India.' The Warwickshire bowler - who will feature for the county under their limited-overs name the Birmingham Bears at the NatWest Twenty20 finals day at Edgbaston on Saturday - first appeared on the international scene in the shorter form of the game in January 2011. And, with 13 ODIs and five international Twenty20s behind him, Woakes is keen to be involved in the one-day side of things over the coming months ahead of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next year. 'It's nice to be included in the squad for the India ODI series, especially with so much one-day cricket coming up in the next year. 'It's a huge achievement to be involved in any international squad so I am very pleased. 'Obviously I hope to be going to the World Cup in 2015, so there's that little added incentive too.' Chris Woakes was speaking at a NatWest branch ahead of NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day this Saturday. NatWest are proud sponsors of T20 cricket from grassroots to the top of the professional game. To find out more go to natwest.com/cricket. | Woakes settling into international fold after Test debut last year .
He is competing with likes of Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan for a place .
'Every county cricketer wants to play for England,' says Woakes .
Woakes will play for Birmingham Bears in NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day . |
254,479 | d5689c36ba1680ab35f5d9ee59f9357c1e1ad5c7 | By . Steph Cockroft . A mother and father who spent five weeks crafting a magical treehouse for their children have been ordered by council chiefs to rip it down - because it does not have planning permission. Remco Bosma, 38, and his wife Sylvia, . 37, lovingly built the 12ft wooden playhouse after their children - Nick, seven, Anouk, five and Jack, three - begged for the secret hideaway. The couple spent £750 on fence panels and corrugated material before building the den in a weeping willow tree in the back garden of their home in Crowland, Lincolnshire. Sylvia Bosma, 37 - who is pictured with her children Nick, seven, Anouk, five and Jack, three - has been ordered to rip down the treehouse in Crowland, Lincolnshire, because it does not have planning permission . But just days after the project was finished, the couple received a letter from the council saying the treehouse needed planning permission - because it had a 'raised platform' and was more than 11ft high. South Holland District Council - which said it had received a complaint about the structure - ordered the family to either dismantle the treehouse 'in its entirety' or to apply for retrospective planning permission. Mr Bosma said: 'My kids will be devastated if the tree house has to come down. 'I will feel very bad tearing it down too. When you spend such a lot of time building something you become very attached to it. 'The kids saw a tree house earlier in the year and said to me that they would like one. So I went out and bought some fence panels and corrugated materials for the roof. The Bosmas spent five weeks and £750 creating the magical hideaway for their three children. But the council sent the family a letter just days later saying it had received a complaint about the structure . The council told the family it had to either tear down the treehouse or apply for retrospective planning permission . Council chiefs said a building in a garden would not usually need planning permission - but this one needs permission because it has a 'raised platform' and is more than 11ft high . 'I spent loads of my spare time up that tree and the children were over the moon with the results, the absolutely adore it. 'When the letter came I was surprised. I just did not realise you would need planning permission for a tree house.' The Bosmas have now submitted a retrospective application to the authority but face an anxious wait as to whether or not they have to rip down the precious treehouse. If the council rejects the planning application, it will have to be torn down. South Holland District Council said it had received a complaint about the treehouse, even though Mr and Mrs Bosma said noone had complained to them . Mr Bosma said: 'I had a chat with my wife and we decided to put in the planning application immediately. 'It has been over a month now and I still have no idea when we will find out the result. 'I just don't really want to think about how they will react to the news if we do have to bring it down - it would break their hearts.' Mr Bosma said the children were over the moon when the treehouse was completed and will be heartbroken if it has to be torn down . Mr and Mrs Bosma were also shocked that the council had received a complaint, even though noone had come to them first with concerns. The couple spent five weeks constructing the 12ft triangular structure and finally completed the project in March. A spokesman for South Holland District Council said: 'A member of the public contacted us about the tree house. 'We sent a letter to Mr Bosma to inform him the structure did require planning permission. 'He has now submitted a planning application which will now be considered.' The decision is expected to be made next week. | Remco and Sylvia Bosma built the treehouse in Crowland, Lincolnshire .
Days later the couple received a letter from South Holland District Council .
The couple were warned to tear it down or apply for planning permission .
The council said it breached rules because it was more than 11ft high . |
36,359 | 67186c07f50199c694434205388839983216c2d3 | (CNN) -- Padraig Harrington has accepted his punishment after being disqualified from the Abu Dhabi Championship for an incident during Thursday's opening round of the European Tour golf event. Television replays showed that the three-time major winner inadvertently moved his ball with his hand on the green at the seventh hole, but did not sign for the required two-stroke penalty. The Irishman went on to card a seven-under-par 65 which left him one shot off the lead, but he did not tee off for Friday's second round after officials noticed his infringement. "I was aware I hit the ball picking up my coin. I looked down at the time and was pretty sure it had just oscillated and had not moved, so I continued on," the world No. 26 told the European Tour website. "In slow motion it's pretty clear the ball has moved three dimples forward and it's come back maybe a dimple and a half. At the end of the day that's good enough, but I wouldn't have done anything differently yesterday -- there was nothing I could do about it at that moment in time." The European Tour's senior referee Andy McFee explained that Harrington was disqualified after signing for an incorrect score. "It's a minute movement, but it's a movement and he never replaced it, so he should have included a two-stroke penalty. Because he signed for a score lower than actually taken, the penalty is disqualification," McFee said. Harrington, who has not won on the European Tour since his second British Open victory and subsequent U.S. PGA Championship triumph in 2008, said he had no quarrels with the officials. "The one thing all golfers love about their sport is the fact that we can stand up and say, 'We have the best rules, we are the fairest, we call them on ourselves.' "I think in this situation and other situations like that, with the new technology, maybe going forward, that the penalties can be changed. But the actual rulings have to stay where they are." Meanwhile, defending champion Martin Kaymer claimed a three-shot lead on Friday after shooting 65 to move up to 12-under 132 at the halfway stage. The 2010 Race To Dubai winner -- also the 2008 victor in Abu Dhabi -- carded a flawless seven-birdie second round, five of them coming in his first seven holes. The German, playing his first tournament of 2011, will replace Tiger Woods as world No. 2 if he finishes in the top seven. First-round leader Charl Schwartzel was second after a 71, as the South African dropped three shots in five holes in the middle of his front nine and made two more bogeys after the turn before finishing with a birdie. In-form Schwartzel holds early Abu Dhabi lead . That left last weekend's Joburg Open winner a shot clear of U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, who countered three bogeys with five birdies in his 70. World No. 12 Rory McIlroy was tied for seventh on 138 after a 67, while former European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie was another shot back in a group of eight after a 69. World No. 4 Phil Mickelson (70) was tied for 25th on 141 along with South Africa's two-time major winner Retief Goosen (71). World No. 8 Paul Casey, the winner here in 2007 and 2009, was tied for 50th after a 70, while top-ranked fellow Englishman Lee Westwood may also scrape into the weekend rounds after a 75 left him tied for 62nd on 144 -- a shot inside the projected cut. Westwood suffered two double-bogeys on his front nine, but bounced back with birdies at two of his last three holes. Last year's runner-up Ian Poulter and British Open Louis Oosthuizen were both set to miss out on 145. Meanwhile, Venezuelan rookie Jhonattan Vegas claimed a share of the lead at the PGA Tour's Bob Hope Classic after shooting five-under 67 in California on Thursday. The 26-year-old carded eight birdies but closed with his third bogey at the PGA West's Nicklaus Course in La Quinta. The first man from his country to play on the main U.S. circuit, he had been second overnight following his 64 at the Palmer Course. American Boo Weekley carded 66 at the Nicklaus Course to join him on 13-under 131, with fellow Americans Charles Howell (66) and Chris Crouch (65) tied for third another shot back. The five-round charity event is played over four courses with a mix of professional and amateur players. | Padraig Harrington disqualified from Abu Dhabi Championship after rule infringement .
Irishman moved the ball with his hand but did not sign for two-stroke penalty .
Defending champion Martin Kaymer claims halfway lead at European Tour event .
Venezuelan rookie Jhonattan Vegas shares halfway lead at PGA Tour's Bob Hope Classic . |
47,969 | 8763ec97f6bc66266deaeacbeadd8b03a5ca93e7 | By . Ruth Styles . PUBLISHED: . 06:52 EST, 26 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 07:15 EST, 26 November 2013 . A young mother has lost more than half her body weight after discovering that she was too fat to fit into an aeroplane seat belt. Katy Isaac's embarrassing moment came in 2006, when the 28-year-old tipped the scales at an unhealthy 22 stone. After boarding a flight to Turkey, the mother-of-two found herself unable to do up the safety strap and was forced to ask the stewardess for an extender belt usually given to pregnant women. Much better: A slimline Katy pictured at home in Welshpool. She lost an incredible 12st 5lb and is now a size 8 . Difference: Katy pictured on her 2006 honeymoon (left) and slender after losing weight in 2013 (right) Horrified, Katy, who works as a dinner lady in her home town of Welshpool in Shropshire, decided something had to be done about her weight, most of which had crept on thanks to a diet of chips and Chinese takeaways. After failing to lose weight on her own, she finally joined Slimming World 18 months ago and cut out junk food and cooking with oil. Since then, Katy, who is married to Craig, 41, has lost an incredible 12 stone 5lbs and now weighs a trim nine stone 13lbs and is a svelte size eight. 'I’d tried losing weight before but I always failed miserably because the diets I followed would leave me feeling hungry and deprived, and so I’d be miserable, too,' explains Katy. 'I was never a big person until the birth of my daughter Milly when I started living on convenience foods. Embarrassing: While en route to Turkey for her 2006 honeymoon, Katy found she was too fat for the seatbelt . All gone: Katy says the experience was so humiliating, she returned determined to lose weight . 'We would eat ready meals every day, and loads of takeaways, I loved a trip to the chippy or a Chinese meal. 'The lowest point was for my honeymoon to Turkey, I got on the plane and sat in my seat, but when I picked up the belt I realised it would not fit around my stomach. 'I tried and tried but it would not go, I realised there were people staring at me, it was so embarrassing for me. 'I had to call the stewardess, and they had to bring me an extender normally given to pregnant woman or parents who have children on their laps. I tried after that to lose the weight, but it still didn’t work. 'I’d miss my favourite foods too much, so before long I’d have thrown in the towel and be back where I started. But Slimming World was completely different to anything I’d known before.' Katy, who earlier this month was named one of . Slimming World’s slimmer of the years and met a host of stars, . including West Life star Brian McFadden, at the awards ceremony in . Birmingham, says small changes made the biggest difference. Healthier: Katy credits making small changes such as wholemeal bread in place of white for her new look . Family: Katy says her children Milly and Harvey. pictured in 2007, are benefiting from her new regime . Award: Katy was named one of Slimming World's slimmers of the year for 2013 following her diet . 'The changes I made to the way I cooked and ate were small ones, like swapping white bread for wholemeal and using low calorie spray instead of oil or butter, but they made a big difference,' she explains. 'They meant I could still enjoy all my favourites and lose weight. It was great to be able to eat the same as my family and friends instead of having to have a separate diet dinner, too, so they’ve benefited from eating more healthily without even trying.' Katy has also swapped ready meals for homemade suppers and says that she's not the only one feeling the benefits of her newly healthy lifestyle. 'I feel so much better now, and I feel better for my children. Everything we eat at home is now home-made, it means I have not only helped myself but improved my children’s lives. 'It is fantastic, my next goal is to run a half marathon, I love running now, it’s one of the things there was no way I could do 18-months-ago.'' Heather Robertson, who runs the Welshpool Slimming World group, said: 'Katy doesn’t only look great on the outside; she’s a new woman on the inside, too. 'Nowadays she’s unrecognisable from the shy, unhappy woman who walked into the group all those months ago. 'She’s happier, healthier and more confident, and her success is contagious as she’s inspired so many other people in the group.' | Katy Isaac, 28, has lost 12st 5lb and is now a slim size 8 .
Used to weigh an unhealthy 28st and was a dress size 28 .
Lost weight after being unable to do up airline seatbelt .
Has swapped takeaways and ready meals for a healthy diet .
Says it has improved her life - and made her children healthier . |
275,132 | f068cdbcc75955ab2a9c03129b219d67b956bf9a | Rio Ferdinand has accused John Terry of ‘stupidity’ over the racial insult he delivered to his brother Anton and has expressed his shock that the former England captain never apologised to either of them. Ferdinand, once an England team-mate of Terry, became estranged from the centre-half when he clashed with Anton at a match between QPR and Chelsea in 2011. The FA ruled Terry had racially abused Anton, calling him a ‘******* black ****’. And Ferdinand, who has spoken about the affair publicly for the first time in his autobiography #2Sides, serialised in The Sun on Sunday, said: ‘He never apologised to me or to Anton. And he has never hinted that he has ever had a moment of understanding over the damage his stupidity had inflicted on everyone.’ You can like our Manchester United Facebook page here . Rio Ferdinand has accused John Terry of ‘stupidity’ over the racial insult he delivered to his brother Anton . The FA ruled that Anton Ferdinand (left) was called a 'f****** black c***' by John Terry in 2011 . Ferdinand and Terry, who were England centre-back partners together, no longer speak and the former Manchester United skipper says he cannot forgive the Chelsea captain for what he said and did and put his family through. He added: ‘For me, the biggest idiot will always be John Terry. As England captain and my centre-back partner he could have saved everyone a lot of pain by admitting immediately he used the word in the heat of the moment, but was not racist. Rio Ferdinand says he no longer speaks to his former England team-mate John Terry . John Terry quit England after the FA’s charge, despite being cleared in court of racial abuse . ‘I think that's probably what happened and what the truth is. Anton and I would've accepted that – instead he never gave us a chance. ‘That was the betrayal. He tried to run away from what he had done.' Fedinand also revealed that the incident, which happened back in 2011, took its toll on his family with his mother having her windows smashed in, bullets in the post and was eventually admitted to hospital with stress. Terry quit England after the FA’s charge, despite being cleared in court of racial abuse. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. | The FA ruled that John Terry had racially abused Anton Ferdinand in 2011 .
Terry is said to have called the defender a 'f****** black c***'
Rio Ferdinand claims Terry never apologised to he or Anton . |
118,136 | 248bd84510a43b6175cbdfaaf10a20585eeda082 | By . Associated Press Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 23:54 EST, 22 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 15:43 EST, 23 January 2014 . A Mexican national was executed on Wednesday night in Texas for killing a Houston police officer, despite pleas and diplomatic pressure from the Mexican government and the U.S. State Department to halt the punishment. Edgar Tamayo, 46, received a lethal injection for the January 1994 fatal shooting of Officer Guy Gaddis, 24. Asked by a warden if he had a final statement, he mumbled 'no' and shook his head. As the lethal dose of pentobarbital began taking effect, he took a few breaths and then made one slightly audible snore before all movement stopped. Scroll down for video . Edgar Tamayo, 46, was executed on Wednesday night in Texas for killing Houston police officer Guy Gaddis in 1994 . He was pronounced dead 17 minutes after the drug was administered, at 9:32 p.m. CST. Tamayo . never looked toward Gaddis' mother, two brothers and two other . relatives who watched through a window. He selected no witnesses of his . own. Several dozen police . officers and supporters of the slain patrolman revvied their motorcycles . outside the prison before witnesses were let inside the death chamber. The . execution, the first this year in the nation's most active death . penalty state, came after the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal . courts rejected last-day appeals and Texas officials spurned arguments . that Tamayo's case was tainted because he wasn't informed, under an . international agreement, that he could get legal help from the Mexican . consulate after his arrest for the officer's slaying. Tamayo's weeping cousin Edelmira Arias was amongst a group of his relatives who gather at his parents home in Miacatlan, Mexico, while he was being executed in Texas . Attorneys had also argued unsuccessfully that Tamayo was mentally impaired, making him ineligible for execution, and that the state's clemency procedures were unfair. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Tuesday had rejected Tamayo's request for clemency. 'It doesn't matter where you're from,' Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said. 'If you commit a despicable crime like this in Texas, you are subject to our state laws, including a fair trial by jury and the ultimate penalty.' Gaddis, who had been on the force for two years, was driving Tamayo and another man from a robbery scene when evidence showed the officer was shot three times in the head and neck with a pistol Tamayo had concealed in his pants. The car crashed, and Tamayo fled on foot but was captured a few blocks away, still in handcuffs, carrying the robbery victim's watch and wearing the victim's necklace. Mexican officials and Tamayo's attorneys contend he was protected under a provision of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Protestors calling for a stay of execution gathered to sing and chant outside the prison unit where Edgar Tamayo was executed in Huntsville, Texas on Wednesday night . Legal assistance guaranteed under that treaty could have uncovered evidence to contest the capital murder charge or provide evidence to keep Tamayo off death row, they said. Records show the consulate became involved or aware of the case just as his trial was to begin. Secretary of State John Kerry previously asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to delay Tamayo's punishment, saying it 'could impact the way American citizens are treated in other countries.' The State Department repeated that stance on Wednesday. But Abbott's office and the Harris County district attorney opposed any delays. At least two other inmates in circumstances similar to Tamayo's were executed in Texas in recent years. The family of slain Houston Police officer Guy Gaddis enters the prison unit to witness the execution of Edgar Tamayo in Huntsville, Texas, on Wednesday night . The Mexican government said in a statement this week it 'strongly opposed' the execution and said failure to review Tamayo's case and reconsider his sentence would be 'a clear violation by the United States of its international obligations.' Tamayo was in the U.S. illegally and had a criminal record in California, where he had served time for robbery and was paroled, according to prison records. He was among more than four dozen Mexican nationals awaiting execution in the U.S. when the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled in 2004 they hadn't been advised properly of their consular rights. The Supreme Court subsequently said hearings urged by the international court in those inmates' cases could be mandated only if Congress implemented legislation to do so. 'Unfortunately, this legislation has not been adopted,' the Mexican foreign ministry acknowledged. | Edgar Tamayo, 46, received a lethal injection in Texas on Wednesday night for the 1994 fatal shooting of Houston police officer Guy Gaddis, 24 .
Mexico had asked for the execution to be halted because he wasn't told he could get legal help under 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations .
Secretary of State John Kerry also .
asked for a delay, .
saying it 'could impact the way American citizens are treated in other .
countries'
Tamayo's execution was the first this year in the nation's most active death penalty state . |
6,821 | 135abe4e8b4dd82b6bdc12259b55b694cd2df4f9 | By . Kate Lyons for Daily Mail Australia . A Porsche worth $250,000 was destroyed last night after it spun out of control through a wall from a freeway and fell three metres into a casino car park. The incident occurred when the driver of the 2010 Porsche Panamera lost control of the vehicle while driving on Bolton Avenue Burwood, in Western Australia at 9.55pm Thursday. The car smashed through a retaining wall, fell three metres from the road before crashing onto the carpark. Scroll down for video . The car was damaged when it ploughed through a dividing fence of a road and fell three metres to a car park below . The driver fled the scene before police arrived. A passenger had been in the car at the time of the incident and was not injured. Debris from the crash flew metres from the crash site, parts of it damaged the side of a silver Mazda 2B hatchback that was in the car park. The driver and passenger of the Mazda were unharmed. Fire rescue services also attended the scene and reported that the car was written off and towed. The Porsche is estimated to be worth $250,000. Police are continuing investigations into the cause of the crash yesterday. The driver of the Porsche fled the scene and police investigations into the incident are continuing today . Fire rescue officers who attended the scene said the car, estimated to be worth $250,000, was written off and had to be towed . Police are investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred just before 10pm last night . | The driver of a 2010 Porsche Panamera is believed to have lost control of the vehicle .
The car was written off after it crashed through a wall and fell three metres .
The driver fled the scene and the passenger was unharmed . |
77,141 | dab86b567f42063d2c535500da7db298a0fbcdd4 | (CNN) -- Women 1-0 Men? If sponsorship of professional women's sport has traditionally lagged behind its male equivalent, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) fired a shot across the gender divide Tuesday by announcing a $525 million 10-year media deal. Describing the deal as "groundbreaking," the WTA's agreement with media organization PERFORM seeks to win greater exposure for the women's game. "This is a game-changing and historic moment for our fans and for women's sport," WTA Chairman & CEO Stacey Allaster said in a statement. "Our new broadcast strategy to produce all 2000 main draw singles matches in partnership with PERFORM will deliver exponential global exposure for our players, tournaments and partners." Allaster told the New York Times the deal was the "largest in women's sports history" and more than "doubles the $21 million the WTA currently receives." As part of the agreement, the WTA and PERFORM will set up a joint venture -- WTA Media -- which will deliver the content across television, the internet, mobile as well as social media. "We are strong believers in the exceptional sport entertainment value of the WTA and are committed to driving the value for all WTA members and partners," said PERFORM's Joint-CEO, Simon Denyer. | WTA announces 10-year media deal worth $525 million .
Agreement with media organization PERFORM .
Deal designed to promote women's game across different media channels . |
198,400 | 8cd1fd0b1d1266deba0e7d4a50dc4b91a36a6c06 | (CNN) -- After two successive defeats, and with his proud unbeaten home English Premier League record at stake, Jose Mourinho was never going to take any chances. The shock losses against Everton and Basel brought a brutal end to the Special One's second honeymoon at the club, and he responded by making the changes he thinks are necessary to overhauling the team's playing style. So neither Juan Mata, the club's two-time player of the year, nor the skilled-but-error-prone defender David Luiz even featured in Saturday's squad to face London rival Fulham. Back came captain John Terry, a defensive stalwart in Mourinho's first Chelsea reign but a peripheral figure last season, along with John Obi Mikel -- a defensive midfielder that the Blues worked so hard to steal from under the nose of Manchester United back in 2006. And those two combined to seal a 2-0 victory that ended a run of four games without a win, which had contributed to Chelsea's worst start to an EPL campaign since Russian owner Roman Abramovich took over in 2003. Terry headed down an 84th-minute corner and Mikel hooked the ball into the net -- the Nigerian's first league goal in 185 games. That relieved the pressure on Mourinho, indeed putting his team top of the table on goal difference ahead of Sunday's Manchester derby and other games involving top-four hopefuls Arsenal and Tottenham. This was Chelsea, which had more than $150 million worth of talent on the substitutes' bench, winning ugly. It came against a struggling Fulham team that has not won since the opening day of this season, and has not beaten Chelsea since March 2006 -- or won at Stamford Bridge since 1979. "After a bad start that everybody kept telling me is the worst start for about a decade, today I go to bed and look at the table: nobody is in front of us," Mourinho said after the match, having extended his unbeaten home record in the EPL to 63 matches. "I'm in football for a long time and when results are not good I'm not expecting people to speak well about our team. I'm building a different team, the most difficult thing is first to change the philosophy. That takes a little bit of time. "We are not playing especially well, the results are not especially good, but the beauty of the Premier League is that everybody loses points, so no dramas. I have to say, I never worked so hard as I'm doing this season with this group of players." Part of Mourinho's problem has been the dilemma of trying to find a place for his wealth of attacking talent. He made it clear before the match that he sees Oscar -- not Mata -- as his No. 10 behind the sole striker, and it was the Brazilian who settled Chelsea's nerves after a poor first half. Oscar netted his second goal this season in the 51st minute, scrambling in from close range after two less-than-convincing parries by visiting goalkeeper David Stockdale -- who, incidentally, was one of the few EPL players this weekend to wear rainbow laces in support of an anti-homophobia campaign. "I want to play Mata and Oscar, but Juan has to work and adapt to a certain style of play because I'm not ready to change Oscar's position," Mourinho said. "Juan has to learn to play the way I want to play, be more consistent." With last week's 2-1 Champions League defeat at home to Swiss side Basel echoing the draw with Rosenborg that marked the end of his first Chelsea tenure in 2007, Mourinho has a lot of hard work to return to the glory days of his successive EPL crowns in his first two seasons at the club. "The result was better than the result against Everton, but I think we played much better against Everton than we did today," he conceded. Meanwhile, previous leader Liverpool crashed to a 1-0 defeat at home to Southampton, its first reverse this season. Croatia international defender Dejan Lovren headed home Adam Lallana's corner eight minutes after halftime to clinch the visitors' second win this season, having been the last team to beat Liverpool in the league -- at home back in March. Everton built on the win over Chelsea by coming from behind to win 3-2 at West Ham, scoring twice after home midfielder Mark Noble was sent off to be the EPL's only unbeaten team with two wins and three draws . Noble had put West Ham 2-1 ahead with a penalty, but received a second booking with eight minutes to play -- which allowed England defender Leighton Baines to fire in a second superb free-kick. Two minutes later on-loan Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku headed in the winner, having come on as a halftime replacement, despite a collision with West Ham's Joey O'Brien that left the Belgium international needing lengthy treatment. Promoted Hull moved up to mid-table with a 3-2 win at Newcastle, thanks to a 76th-minute volley from Nigerian forward Sone Aluko. On-loan France striker Loic Remy had twice put Newcastle ahead, but his goals were canceled out by Robert Brady and Ahmed El Mohamady. Sunderland stayed bottom after a third successive defeat, with the club's former striker Stephane Sessegnon scoring West Brom's opening goal in a 3-0 victory. Aston Villa bounced back from three successive defeats by winning 1-0 at Norwich, as new Czech striker Libor Kozak netted the only goal after the home side's Robert Snodgrass missed a penalty. | Oscar and John Obi Mikel score in Chelsea's 2-0 win at home to Fulham .
Jose Mourinho's team goes top of the EPL on goal difference .
Mourinho drops fan favorite Juan Mata and brings back John Terry .
Previous leader Liverpool suffers first defeat this season . |
229,972 | b5ce4d3b1246ea426c853542994b1464160bdd97 | USA captain Tom Watson has taken full responsibility for any mistakes made in the Ryder Cup defeat to Europe. The 65-year-old was openly criticised by Phil Mickelson, just two hours after the contest ended in a 16.5 points to 11.5 victory for the hosts at Gleneagles. It was Europe's eighth win in the last 10 biennial contests and Mickelson made his feelings known in public soon after. VIDEO Scroll down to hear exactly what Phil Mickelson said about USA captain Tom Watson . USA captain Tom Watson (right) has taken full responsibility for any mistakes made in the Ryder Cup defeat . Watson (left) was openly criticised by Phil Mickelson (right) just two hours after the 2014 Ryder Cup ended . With Watson sitting just a few feet away, Mickelson - left out of a full day's play on Saturday for the first time in 10 Ryder Cup appearances - stated his support for the methods of Paul Azinger, who captained the side to their last win at Valhalla in 2008. Watson responded on Saturday, saying in an open letter: 'I take complete and full responsibility for my communication, and I regret that my words may have made the players feel that I didn't appreciate their commitment and dedication to winning the Ryder Cup. 'My intentions throughout my term as captain were both to inspire and to be honest. As for Phil's comments, I completely understand his reaction in the moment. 'Earlier this week I had an open and candid conversation with him and it ended with a better understanding of each other's perspectives. 'Phil's heart and intentions for our team's success have always been in the right place. Phil is a great player, has great passion and I admire what he's done for golf. Mickelson was clear and specific in his criticism of American Ryder Cup captain Watson last Sunday . Mickelson (centre) looks despondent after Europe collect the Ryder Cup trophy instead of USA . 'The bottom line is this. I was their captain. In hindsight whatever mistakes that were made were mine. And I take complete and full responsibility for them. 'I want to say again to the players, their families, the PGA and our country how proud and honoured I was to captain this talented group of golfers, and how privileged I was to spend the past two years working this labour of my love for the Ryder Cup.' On the performance of his team, Watson added: 'The guys gave everything. They played their hearts out. I was proud to get to know each and every one of them. I know they are all going to win tournaments, be on future Ryder Cup teams and have wonderful careers. 'Our team certainly showed guts when it took it to the other team early in Sunday's singles matches. We were indeed tied with them as the scoreboard turned wonderfully 'red'. 'Our players started fast as I had asked them to in my comments the night before. I asked them to really concentrate on holes two to five, as the Europeans had won too many early battles on these particular holes. 'But in the end, the facts are that the other team played better. My hat's off and congratulations to them.' Watson has responded in an open letter and explained that he will take 'full responsibility' for the defeat . In response to all of the recent discussion about our Ryder Cup loss, I would like to make a few comments. First, I take complete and full responsibility for my communication, and I regret that my words may have made the players feel that I didn't appreciate their commitment and dedication to winning the Ryder Cup. My intentions throughout my term as captain were both to inspire and to be honest.Secondly, the guys gave everything.They played their hearts out. I was proud to get to know each and every one of them. I know they are all going to win tournaments, be on future Ryder Cup teams and have wonderful careers. Our team certainly showed guts when it took it to the other team early in Sunday's singles matches. We were indeed tied with them as the scoreboard turned wonderfully "red". Our players started fast as I had asked them to in my comments the night before. I asked them to really concentrate on holes 2-5, as the Europeans had won too many early battles on these particular holes. But in the end, the facts are that the other team played better. My hat's off and congratulations to them. As for Phil's comments, I completely understand his reaction in the moment. Earlier this week I had an open and candid conversation with him and it ended with a better understanding of each other's perspectives. Phil's heart and intentions for our team's success have always been in the right place. Phil is a great player, has great passion and I admire what he's done for golf. The bottom line is this. I was their captain. In hindsight whatever mistakes that were made were mine. And I take complete and full responsibility for them. I want to say again to the players, their families, the PGA and our country how proud and honored I was to captain this talented group of golfers, and how privileged I was to spend the past two years working this labor of my love for the Ryder Cup. | USA captain Tom Watson releases open letter to explain how he takes 'full responsibility' for their defeat against Europe in the 2014 Ryder Cup .
Phil Mickelson openly criticised Watson just two hours after losing the contest 16.5 points to 11.5 at Gleneagles .
'I completely understand (Mickelson's) reaction in the moment. Earlier this week I had an open and candid conversation with him,' says Watson .
Watson adds: 'Phil's heart and intentions for our team's success have always been in the right place' |
54,574 | 9a96095c154b5bf8c4cdd2f35c9cbfb5b0b6b673 | London (CNN) -- EADS and BAE Systems have dropped plans to merge after failing to win political support for a $45 billion deal that would have created a European aerospace and defense giant. "It has become clear that the interests of the parties' government stakeholders cannot be adequately reconciled with each other or with the objectives that BAE Systems and EADS established for the merger," the companies said in a statement Wednesday. Read more detail: CNNMoney . France and Germany were keen to retain political influence in a merged company, a stance Britain believed would have put at risk BAE's privileged access to military contracts in the United States. Barry Norris, founding partner of Argonaut Capital Partners, an investor in EADS, told CNN: "we think today's decision to terminate merger talks is actually a triumph for common sense and shareholder value." He added: "It's easy to forget that these are companies owned by their shareholders." Watch: What went wrong? A merger would have brought together the maker of Airbus planes with Europe's largest arms manufacturer and created a global rival to U.S. defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing. Several British lawmakers, including Conservative Member of Parliament Ben Wallace, wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron earlier this month, raising concerns about the deal. BAE and EADS believed that together they would be able to generate stronger growth by achieving a better revenue balance between civil aviation and defense, but that commercial rationale was challenged by some major investors. "We are obviously disappointed that we were unable to reach an acceptable agreement with our various government stakeholders," BAE Systems Chief Executive Ian King said. CNNMoney's Mark Thompson and CNN's Jim Boulden and Irene Chapple contributed to this report . | A $45 billion deal for EADS and BAE Systems to merge has collapsed .
The deal had struggled against political and shareholder opposition to salvage plans .
The deal was complicated by the desire of France and Germany to retain political influence . |
162,409 | 5dfdbd9721ac7d39b0de2932328952a19a2419c2 | By . Rob Draper . Follow @@draper_rob . Wayne Rooney has backed Roy Hodgson to . take England into Euro 2016 and apologised to fans for the early exit . in Brazil - but says that the team have to become more streetwise if . they want to become a force in major tournaments. Rooney . supports the attacking style and introduction of young players that . Hodgson has used in Brazil, saying he believes the strategy will pay . dividends in the future. Key moment: Uruguay's Diego Godin was fortunate to escape a second booking for foul on Daniel Sturridge with the score 0-0 . On the run: Rooney, second left, takes part in a practice drill during a training session on Saturday . Focused: Rooney walks past as manager Roy Hodgson, left, talks with coach Gary Neville during training . But he also says England need to learn from the . Uruguayans and become less naive in the way they play the game. Rooney . said: 'If you look at teams who have won the tournament in previous . years, you can see that nastiness in them. I think we need to get that . in us. Maybe we're too honest. 'Uruguay stopped the game; they . committed I don't know how many fouls - clever fouls which slowed the . game down. I think we're a bit honest in terms of the way we play. 'It's small margins, but those small things can amount to a big thing in terms of staying in the competition or going out.' Asked . whether Daniel Sturridge might have made more of the elbow to this . throat by Uruguay's Diego Godin, who was already on a yellow card, . during Thursday's 2-1 defeat, Rooney said: 'Of course. You see players . surrounding the referees - I'm not saying Uruguay did that - but I'm the . same now. I want to win the game. Hurting: Wayne Rooney admitted the players were disappointed by early World Cup exit . 'I . got kicked 10 times and I don't think there was a yellow card given to . an opponent. That's what I mean. We tend to get up and try to get on . with the game as quick as we can. 'Maybe . that's a fault, maybe that's where other teams are ahead of us. But we . gave everything to try to win games. But there are a lot of young lads . who want to play every minute. I think at times we could have slowed the . game down a bit or taken control of the game a bit more. But this is . football. You have to take your chances.' Despite the disappointment, Rooney believes Hodgson was right to take a positive approach to games in Brazil. 'If you look over the previous two or three tournaments, we've not attacked teams, we've been cautious,' he said. 'In other tournaments we've wondered if we could have done things differently once we were out, but we've had a go here. It's just not gone our way.' England goalkeeper Joe Hart admits it will be a long three weeks while the World Cup goes on without England. Question time: Joe Hart and Wayne Rooney face the press at the Urca Military Base on Saturday . Hodgson's side still have to play . Costa Rica on Tuesday but the Manchester City keeper says it will be . tougher to take after the squad have travelled home and started their . holidays. 'It will be really . difficult,' said Hart. 'The World Cup will be everywhere, no matter . where we are in the world, a reminder of where we could have been. 'We've no-one else to blame. We could have changed that, but we haven't. It'll play on our minds, but we have to move on. 'It's . the worst I have felt. I have a strange, empty feeling. I have put . everything into this tournament but ultimately I'm gutted.' Hart admitted that there are no easy explanations for the defeats against Italy and Uruguay - sides that Costa Rica managed to beat. He said: 'It's a good question. They've been tough games for Costa Rica and they've come out on the right side. We've had two tough games and come out on the wrong side. It's a simple question but a tough one to answer.' Heads up: Raheem Sterling (left) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain during training on Saturday . Difficult: Hart (left) admitted the World Cup exit was the lowest moment of his career . For Hart, whose World Cup appeared to . be in jeopardy when he was dropped by club manager Manuel Pellegrini . last year but who battled back to become City's No 1 and win the Premier . League title, said he and the squad would take lessons from Brazil. He said: 'I want to keep improving, trying to take the best of every situation, good and bad. 'We've . had some high ones, some very good ones. But this was my first World . Cup playing, and it's not gone to plan. But there are things I can take . from it, technical and personal things.' | England striker says that the team have to become more streetwise .
Ronney says England must become less naive in the way they play the game .
Rooney believe Hodgson's attacking strategy will pay .
dividends in the future .
Daniel Sturridge could have made more of the elbow to this .
throat by Uruguay's Diego Godin . |
70,711 | c877310322ca6b627507d2d116d82cb313b692be | (CNN) -- Suicide bombers are responsible for killing more than 12,000 Iraqi civilians and wounding more than 30,000 since the war began, according to study released by the British medical journal Lancet. The study found that 1,003 documented suicide bombings accounted for 12,284 of 108,624 Iraqi civilian deaths, 11% of those killed between March 20, 2003, and December 31, 2010. It also found such attacks accounted for 30,644 -- or 26% -- of the 117,165 documented cases of Iraqi civilians wounded within the same period. "Suicide bombers in Iraq use suicide bombs strategically as cost-effective, precise, highly destructive weapons," said the study, which was published Saturday. "Our findings suggest that the Iraqi civilian population suffers a substantial public health burden because it is a primary chosen target of suicide bombers and those who deploy them." The study analyzed and compared suicide bomb casualties using data compiled by Iraq Body Count, an independent public database that documents violent Iraqi deaths using hospital, morgue, nongovernmental organizations and official figures as well as media reports. "Certainly, our findings for documented casualties do not represent total deaths or injuries, because not every death or injury is reported, or linked to a suicide bombing as a cause," the study said. Getting an accurate picture of the Iraq war toll is difficult at best. The 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein saw the collapse of Iraq's government, including the agencies responsible for documenting deaths. Additionally, insurgent violence made hand counts by health care workers and nongovernment organizations impossible. Iraq Body Count has been criticized by a number of people, including those who say its data is biased, undercounted or overcounted. Proponents of the organization's data, which is published at iCasualties.org, say it is the most reliable tally of Iraqi deaths. The Lancet also faced criticism for publishing a study in 2006 that found 600,000 Iraqi civilians had been killed during the war. The authors' findings were widely dismissed. The latest study, which was written by Madelyn Hsiao-Rei Hicks of King's College of London, also documented the number of U.S.-led coalition forces killed in suicide bomb attacks. During the same period from 2003 to 2010, 79 documented suicide bomb attacks were responsible for the deaths of 200 coalition troops, the study found. Of those troops killed, 176 were American, it said. The U.S. military said no American troops were killed in Iraq in August, marking the first month without a military casualty since the invasion. But for Iraqis, August was one of the more deadly months of the year. On August 15, the country was struck by a barrage of suicide bombings, car bombs and gunfights that left 84 people dead and 200 wounded. Two weeks later, at least 28 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a Sunni mosque in western Baghdad, officials said. | NEW: Suicide bomb attacks continue in Iraq, while no U.S. fatalities reported in August .
NEW: The study finds 12,284 Iraqi civilians are killed by suicide bombers from 2003-2010 .
The Iraqis killed in suicide attacks account for 11% of the war's civilian fatalities .
Suicide bombers also kill 200 coalition troops, including 176 Americans, the study says . |
150,449 | 4e84e614001c32eeb139f223d9172c9260fff722 | BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Travelers to China who display flu-like symptoms may be randomly quarantined over concerns of the swine flu virus, the U.S. State Department warned. A child traveling with his parents wears a face mask after they arrive at the Beijing, China, airport. There have been cases of children being separated from parents after either tested positive for the virus, also known as H1N1, a travel alert said Friday. Chinese officials may give medications to minors in such cases without consulting their parents, according to the alert. "Although the proportion of arriving Americans being quarantined remains low, the random nature of the selection process increases the uncertainty surrounding travel to China," the alert said. Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs transmitted to humans and caused by type A influenza virus. Symptoms include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. There have been about 48,000 confirmed cases worldwide, including 519 in China, according to the World Health Organization. The Chinese government has taken measures to stop the spread of the virus. They include placing passengers who have fever or flu-like symptoms on a seven-day quarantine, the alert said. Others facing quarantine include those sitting close to travelers with symptoms, those with elevated temperatures and those from areas where virus outbreaks have occurred. A 15-year-old from Topeka, Kansas, told CNN on Monday that she was quarantined in Beijing for a week. "Apparently, I was sitting too close to a man who had a fever on the 14-hour plane ride," Kaitlin Hannigan said, adding that she initially thought she had a fever, but her temperature was fine when officials checked it. A day after she arrived in Beijing with an educational group, government officials showed up at her hotel. "They were wearing quarantine suits, goggles and masks and, like, full body suits and gloves, and said I had to be quarantined for seven days because I came in contact with that guy," Hannigan said. Earlier in June, New Orleans, Louisiana, Mayor Ray Nagin was quarantined in Shanghai after possible exposure to the virus. Nagin was headed to Australia on an economic development trip when he was quarantined for four days after sitting beside a passenger who was being treated for suspected swine flu symptoms. Nagin showed no signs of illness. State officials warned Americans traveling to China that they have to follow local quarantines procedures. "The U.S. Embassy will be unable to influence the duration of stay in quarantine for affected travelers," the statement said. The travel alert expires in September. | Travelers to China with flu-like symptoms could face 7-day quarantine .
Chinese government officials try to control spread of H1N1 virus .
New Orleans, Louisiana, Mayor Ray Nagin recently quarantined on China trip . |
188,745 | 8074d550a2743d0d53a7c8af955a02fd13843f72 | By . Darren Boyle . Extremist preacher Omar Bakri Mohammad will not be allowed back into Britain, the Government has insisted amid reports he intends to claim asylum in the UK. The radical Islamic cleric faces the death sentence for running a terror cell in Lebanon and claims he has been tortured, according to reports. Family members have said they are launching an urgent appeal to allow him back into Britain under asylum laws but the Home Office has ruled out a return. Omar Bakri Muhammad, left, is seeking asylum following his arrest on terror charges in Lebanon. He shared a 2002 London platform with Abu Hamza, right, who was found guilty in the US of supporting terrorism . Omar Bakri Muhammed, pictured, began preaching in the UK and fled after the 7/7 terror attacks fearing arrest . Bakri, who holds Syrian and Lebanese citizenship, lived in Britain for 20 years and led radical group Al Muhajiroun until it was disbanded. He faced possible treason charges over his support for the London bombers in 2005 and fled Britain for Lebanon. The British Government barred him from returning. At the time, he described the 7/7 bombers as the 'fantastic four', but left Britain fearing arrest. Speaking to journalists in 2005 from Beirut, Bakri claimed he would never return to Britain as the government refused to accept his support of Osama Bin Laden and the need for jihad. The cleric has been repeatedly linked with al Qaida but has denied the claims. Omar Bakri Mohammed, pictured, claimed back in 2003 that British Muslims were preparing to act as suicide bombers - two years before the 7/7 attacks in 2005 . Earlier this year he went on the run after raids in Tripoli to end sectarian violence after clashes that left dozens dead. Bakri, pictured here in 2005 in Beirut claimed at the time he would never return to Britain as the government cannot accept his support of 'Osama Bin Laden and jihad' A Home Office spokesman said: 'An individual must be physically present in the UK in order to make a claim for asylum. 'Omar Bakri Muhammad was permanently excluded from the UK in 2005 on the grounds that his presence is not conducive to the public good. 'As Omar Bakri Muhammad is excluded from the UK, he will be unable to make a claim for asylum.' Lebanese security officials Bakri is the mastermind behind a terrorist cell based in Tripoli. He has spent more than one month in custody and despite his regular denials of al Qaeda membership he has expressed public support for several of their affiliated groups. Authorities in Lebanon believe Bakri is linked to Al Qaeda and is responsible for a series of attacks both on Army personnel in recent months and inciting sectarian fighting in Tripoli, which left 30 dead and over 160 wounded. Omar Bakri, believed to be 54 now, was previously the London-based spiritual leader of the extremist group Al-Muhajiroun. He lived in London where he was known as the Tottenham Ayatollah. Bakri was under investigation by UK police after he called for young British Muslims to take up arms and join Al Qaeda. On the London bombings it was also reported that Bakri referred to the four suicide bombers who killed 56 people on July 7 as 'the fantastic four'. He said the British people were to blame for the terror attacks on the capital because they 'did not make enough effort to stop its own government committing its own atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan'. Bakri, pictured, said Britain would continue to be at risk from jihadists while British troops remained in the middle east. In March he told The Daily Mail when speaking of the troubles in Tripoli ‘only jihad salafi can save it and save Lebanon’. He added: ‘This country needs to be made an Islamic state, obviously ... but I know the security services are getting ready to nab me soon’. The radical Islamic cleric was under house arrest in Tripoli since Lebanese security forces released him from jail in 2010, after striking a deal with the Shia extremist group Hezbollah. Bakri was sentenced to life following a terrorism conviction, but was released on bail after witnesses recanted their testimony. If found guilty of the current charges against him in Lebanon though, Bakri will face the death sentence. | Bakri's family fear the hate preacher will be tortured by Lebanese authorities .
They want the British government to grant asylum as his life is in danger .
The Home Office said his presence 'was not conducive to the public good'
Bakri told reporters in Beirut in 2005 that he would never return to the UK . |
218,231 | a6866b34cdbb72890e6cc810c477438a769b5c39 | By . Alex Greig . PUBLISHED: . 11:02 EST, 15 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 11:02 EST, 15 March 2014 . A family that emigrated from Mexico more than two decades ago in search of a better life has been ripped apart after the blast that collapsed two buildings in Harlem on Wednesday claimed the lives of two of its members. Cecilio Hernandez keeps a vigil at the Harlem Hospital Center bedside of his 15-year-old son Oscar, who is in a critical condition after the explosion. Hernandez's wife Rosaura Barrios-Vasquez, 44, and daughter Rosaura Hernandez, 21, were among the eight people killed on Wednesday. Aspiring chef: Rosaura Hernandez had recently completed culinary school and was working as a line cook . Loving mother: Rosaura Barrios-Vasquez was devoted to her three children . Hernandez had already left for his job in a restaurant kitchen and his youngest child, a four-year-old girl, was at school on Wednesday morning when the two buildings were leveled without warning. Hernandez and his wife left Mexico and built a new life for themselves more than 20 years ago.The family lived in a fourth floor apartment 1644 Park Avenue and Hernandez worked hard as a restaurant cook to send his three children to school. More... America could be plunged into a nationwide blackout if just NINE of its thousands of power plants were attacked, report reveals . Heartbreak as two young sisters lose both parents in separate tragedies within 48 hours . 'He is devastated as you can imagine. He is, like most Mexicans living in that area, a cook who works very hard to take care of his family,' Mexico's Consul-General Sandra Fuentes Berain told the Wall Street Journal.Hernandez's daughter Rosaura was an aspiring chef and was achieving everything her parents had hoped for her when they left Mexico all those years ago. Serious but stable: Oscar Hernandez (right) is in hospital with serious injuries following the blast that killed his mother and sister (left) Searching: Using sound devices to probe for voices and telescopic cameras to peer into small spaces, workers searched a pile of rubble from a gas explosion in the East Harlem section of Manhattan yesterday . Proud: Rosaura was following her dream of becoming a chef and worked as a line cook like her father . She had recently completed culinary training and had so impressed during an internship that she was offered a job working as a line cook at the posh Triomphe restaurant at the Iroquois Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. 'He told me the daughter could finally help them pay the bills. She had just graduated from a chef school. He was so proud of her,' said Berain. Hotel general manager Robert Holmes called Hernandez's death ‘truly a terrible loss.’ Holmes . said the 22-year-old was at the restaurant just under two years. He . said she started as an intern and became a line cook when a position . opened up. He said she was ‘calm, cool and collected’ in the demanding restaurant environment. Rosaura Hernandez's body was found on Wednesday. Her mother's remains were pulled from the rubble Thursday. According to the family's pastor at the Spanish Christian Church, Rosaura Barrios-Vasquez was dedicated to her children and on the morning she died had been preparing to take Oscar to a doctor's appointment for a serious skin condition the teen suffers from. 'I don’t know how it is that Oscar survived and she got pinned by the rubble. Thank God at least he survived,' Rivera told the New York Daily News. Grim task: Firefighters remove a body from the scene of the gas explosion in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York . On the day of the blast, residents of the adjacent buildings were going about their mornings: cleaning their teeth, eating breakfast, getting ready to head out the door. Oscar had apparently been sleeping when the buildings exploded. Rescue workers came upon a boy lying on a mattress amid the rubble, silent but alive. 'He was conscious,' Officer Paul Pastorini told the New York Times. 'He was covered in blood. His eyes were moving around.' They lifted the boy, still wrapped in his blanket, and as they carried him down to the street, flames shooting from the buildings became so intense that rescuers had to retreat. Pastorini doesn't like to think about what would have become of Oscar if they hadn't noticed him when they did. Shocking blast: Some 60 people sustained injuries caused by the blast and the two buildings' collapse . Young victims: Three children were hurt in the incident, Oscar Hernandez the most seriously . Up in flames: Firefighters work the scene of an explosion as flames leap up the towering heap of rubble . At Harlem Hospital Center, Oscar is . recovering from instense burns, internal injuries and fractures. He is . in a critical but stable condition. Cecilio Hernandez has not spoken publicly about the tragedy. 'They . were always happy and hardworking, very humble,' Zoraida Rivera, 59, a . friend of the family, told the New York Daily News. 'Now Cecilio is left alone with his two children. This is so difficult.' Hernandez . is receiving help from the Mexican Consulate. He plans to send the . bodies of his wife and daughter back to Mexico for burial. | Rosaura Barrios-Vasquez and Cecilio Hernandez emigrated to America more than 20 years ago .
Barrios-Vasquez and their daughter Rosaura Hernandez, 21, died in the explosion that leveled two Harlem buildings .
Their son, Oscar, 15, was seriously injured and is in hospital in a critical condition .
Cecilio Hernandez and the family's youngest child were not home when the explosion occurred .
Rosaura Hernandez was an aspiring chef who had just finished culinary school and worked as a line cook .
Her father worked long hours to send his children to school and help them achieve their dreams .
Cecilio Hernandez wants to bury his wife and daughter in his native Mexico . |
129,738 | 33b73e20352610a1769a72b4dbf816ce7e6dc961 | (CNN) -- Chelsea sacked manager Andre Villas-Boas Sunday, citing poor results which threaten their participation in next season's Champions League. His final match proved to be Saturday's 1-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion which left the Blues languishing in fifth place in the English Premier League. Assistant coach and former Chelsea midfielder Roberto Di Matteo will take temporary charge until the end of the season. A statement on the west London club's official website confirmed the departure of Villas-Boas, less than a year after taking over from Carlo Ancelotti. Blog: Abramovich was right sack AVB . The 34-year-old Portuguese is the sixth manager to be sacked by Chelsea's Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich. Since he took control only Guus Hiddink, who was an interim appointment, left of his own volition. Blog: Can English clubs catch their European rivals? "Andre Villas-Boas has parted company with Chelsea Football Club today," the statement read. "The board would like to record our gratitude for his work and express our disappointment that the relationship has ended so early. "Unfortunately the results and performances of the team have not been good enough and were showing no signs of improving at a key time in the season. "The club is still competing in the latter stages of the Champions League and the FA Cup, as well as challenging for a top-four spot in the Premier League, and we aim to remain as competitive as possible on all fronts. "With that in mind we felt our only option was to make a change at this time. "With immediate effect Roberto Di Matteo has been appointed first team coach on an interim basis until the end of the season." The decision to install Di Matteo ends speculation that former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was to be given the job on a temporary basis. Di Matteo faces a testing few weeks, with Chelsea hoping to overhaul a 3-1 first leg deficit to Napoli in their last 16 Champions League tie, an away trip to Birmingham in an FA Cup replay, while trying to improve their league position. Villas-Boas came to Chelsea with a big reputation after guiding Porto to the Europa League title and comparisons were made between him and compatriot Jose Mourinho, who enjoyed such success at the club. But results have been indifferent and his relationship with senior players such as Frank Lampard has come under the spotlight. | Chelsea sack manager Andre Villas-Boas .
Villas-Boas was in charge at Stamford Bridge for less than a year .
Sixth manager to be shown the door by Roman Abramovich .
Roberto Di Matteo takes over until the end of the season . |
222,796 | ac6a6b686b3ff1d5d783ee9c9fd5ed8707d60578 | By . Leon Watson . PUBLISHED: . 08:05 EST, 9 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:05 EST, 9 December 2013 . This boxing orangutan is ready for a rumble in the jungle. And who can blame him - the annoying monkey facing him keeps stealing his banana. These hilarious photographs show the youngster wrestling with a cheeky long-tailed macaque as they try to dine on a feeding platform. Southpaw stance: A young orangutan puts its fists up at a long-tailed macaque on a feeding platform in Gunung Leuser National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia . The orangutan puts his fists up and tries to punch an annoying monkey - who keeps trying to steal his banana . It happened at Gunung Leuser National Park on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The orangutan was with its mother who, incredibly, was once kept as a pet before being released into the wild. Despite being fighting fit, he still needs the odd food handout from his keepers, and doesn't appreciate it when the other animals monkey around. The Sumatran orangutan lives among the trees of tropical rainforests. Protective: Despite being fighting fit, the orangutan still needs the odd food handout from his keepers . The inter-species boxing match happened at Gunung Leuser National Park on the Indonesian island of Sumatra . Females almost never travel on the ground and adult males only do so rarely. Adult males are typically solitary while females are accompanied by offspring. In Sumatra, around 80 per cent of the native forest has already been destroyed. The loss of natural habitat, along with illegal hunting, has left the Sumatran orangutan critically endangered. Of the nine existing populations of Sumatran orangutans, only seven have prospects of long-term viability, each with an estimated 250 or more individuals. Only three populations contain more than 1,000 orangutans. Humans share 96 per cent of their genes with orangutans. | Hilarious snaps show youngster wrestling with cheeky macaque .
It happened at the Gunung Leuser National Park in Indonesia . |
284,783 | fd028d554a761233e647d7e489929271256774cd | Andy Murray wants to work with coach Amelie Mauresmo for the 'long term'. The Scot announced he had hired the French former Wimbledon champion shortly before the grass-court season, but the partnership could not help Murray retain his title at the All England Club as he exited at the quarter-final stage. But, speaking ahead of this week's Rogers Cup in Toronto, the British number one insisted the link-up has been a positive experience. VIDEO Scroll down for Andy Murray is training at 100 percent after back problems . Partnership: Murray and Mauresmo will continue to work together after enjoying their time so far . Experience: Mauresmo, who won two Grand Slams as a player, joined Murray to offer a new perspective . He told BBC Sport: 'We've agreed to work together and I think from both sides we're willing to do what it takes to make it work long term. 'I really enjoy working with her, she's helped me a lot. 'She integrated well with the rest of the team. It's been a good start. Now it's about me producing the results.' Preparation: Murray was talking before the Rogers Cup in Toronto as he starts working towards the US Open . | Murray began working with Mauresmo this summer before Wimbledon .
Former World No. 1 to travel with British star 25 weeks a year .
Murray says he 'really enjoys working with her' |
23,002 | 41431fd6c25569cbb8073fdfe62b1b5877f89ad6 | Sandino, Cuba (CNN)A neglected, weed-strewn field in a small Cuban town where there are more horses than cars seems an unlikely setting for a major shift in government policy. But in the isolated town of Sandino, Cuba's first Catholic church since the 1959 revolution took power is set to be built. "There is money to start, there is the construction material to start, there are the permissions to start, so everything is ready," said Bishop Jorge Enrique Serpa Pérez, who oversees the diocese where the new church will be built. The Sandino church has been 56 years in the making, ever since Fidel Castro took power and Cuba became an officially atheist state. Religious people fell under suspicion by the new revolutionary government, but none more so than those who belonged to the Catholic Church, which was seen as being overly sympathetic to the Batista regime that Castro had driven from power. In the first years of the revolution, thousands of Catholic priests were jailed or forced into exile, and church property, including the Jesuit school that Castro attended, was seized by the Cuban government. Only with the visit in 1998 of Pope John Paul II to the island did relations between the Cuban government and Catholic Church begin to thaw. Christmas again became a national holiday, and Cubans faced less official discrimination for practicing their faiths. In December, Cuban President Raul Castro thanked Pope Francis for his role in the secret talks that led to a prisoner swap between Cuba and the United States and the start of negotiations to restore full diplomatic relations. In 2015, church officials said requests to build new churches that had long been ensnared in red tape began to receive government approval. While church officials said several new Catholic houses of worship are in the works, the first will be built in Sandino, a remote town at the end of a pothole-cratered road in Cuba's westernmost province. The Rev. Cirilo Castro drives that road to Sandino once a week to officiate Mass in a converted garage in the back of a house the church rents. He has lost count of the miles he has put on his green Russian Lada as part of his ministry to towns throughout the province. When the new Catholic church is built -- the first in Sandino's history -- Castro said he would move to minster there full time. "I hope the church doesn't stay within the four walls," he said "That it will go farther than that. That with the building of the new church, there will be more people of faith," Castro said. The Cuban Catholic Church desperately needs more followers in Cuba, where in recent years the syncretic religion Santeria, that mixes African religions with Catholicism, has exploded in popularity. The church in Sandino will take about two years to build and when completed will hold 200 people, Castro said. Most of the $50,000 collected so far for the new church comes from fund-raisers held by the St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Tampa, Florida. "Much of Tampa's history and culture comes from Cuba," said the Rev. Tom Morgan, St. Lawrence's vicar. "It's absolutely fantastic they are building a new church, and I hope to be able to visit one day." Morgan said he was optimistic that recent changes in U..S Treasury Department regulations would make it possible for his church to send supplies and building materials to Cuba to help with the construction of the new church. As she makes her way down a path to attend Mass in Cirilo Castro's converted garage, Digna Martinez said she has waited more than five decades for a church to be built in Sandino. Martinez said she, her husband and two children were those relocated to the town during early 1960s when a triumphant Fidel Castro was still battling what he called "bandits," holdouts against his revolution waging guerrilla warfare in the countryside. While there is no official tally, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people suspected of plotting against the revolution were shipped to Sandino to live in a form of internal exile. "It was a process to make a community for political prisoners," Martinez said. "They took our farm away and brought us here." A lifelong Catholic, Martinez said one of the most devastating things about being forced to move 500 miles away from her home to a town she had never heard of was that there was no church. "Having a church is very important," she said. "Many of the people here were brought up Catholic and need a church. We were baptized and prayed when we went to bed and woke up, just like our parents and grandparents taught us." | Cuban Catholics start building their first churches since 1959 .
Religious believers had been seen as suspicious under the Castro regime .
The new churches are desperately needed, Cuban Catholics say . |
139,238 | 4009cf883deb8d3445b4e48685dc2095305cd6a1 | By . Matt Blake . PUBLISHED: . 08:45 EST, 25 September 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 08:13 EST, 26 September 2012 . Memoirs: Jenna Miscavige Hill, 28, daughter of David's older brother Ron, has been a frequent critic of the Church of Scientology since publicly breaking with it in 2005 . A niece of controversial Scientology leader David Miscavige is planning a tell-all memoir about her life in the church and how she escaped its clutches. Jenna Miscavige Hill, 28, daughter of David's older brother Ron, has been a frequent critic of the Church of Scientology since publicly breaking with it in 2005. In 'Beyond Belief: My Secret Life inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape', she will reveal 'strange and disturbing' details about growing up in the church and will provide a firsthand . account of Scientology's 'upper ranks', its publishers William Morrow say. In 2000, when she was 16 years old, . Ms Miscavige's parents left Scientology, disillusioned with its . practices. In the five years that followed, she has claimed that - because of the church's . policy of 'disconnection' with relatives and friends who do not support . the cult - all letters between them were intercepted and she was not . allowed to answer the telephone for over a year. 'If you flunked your uniform inspection, sometimes if you were late . . . . you would be dumped with a five-gallon bucket of ice water,' she told investigative journalist Philip Recchia in 2008. 'We were also required . to write down all transgressions . . . similar to a sin in the Catholic . religion. 'After writing them all down, we would receive a meter check on . the Electropsychometer to make sure we weren't hiding anything, and you . would have to keep writing until you came up clean. This is from the . age of 5 until I was 12.' After leaving the church, Ms . Miscavige Hill, with Kendra Wiseman and Astra Woodcraft - both also . raised in Scientology - founded the website exscientologykids.com. Tell all memoir: 'Beyond Belief, left, will reveal 'strange and disturbing' details about growing up in the church. Ms Miscavige Hill, right has set up a support group to help other Scientologists, current and former . The site was launched as support . group offering 'non-judgmental support for those who are still in . Scientology, discussion and debate for those who've already left, and a . plethora of easy-to-understand references for the curious'. Following . the public split between the cult's most famous member, Tom Cruise, and . wife Katie Holmes, Ms Miscavige Hill spoke out in support of Holmes and . the couple's daughter Suri. 'My . experience in growing up in Scientology is that it is both mentally and . at times physically abusive,' she said in a statement released through . the Ex-Scientology Kids website. 'I was allowed to see my parents only once a week at best – . sometimes not for years. Powerful people: Ms Miscavige Hill's uncle and Scientology leader David . Miscavige, left, talks at the opening of a new church in London, . while its most famous member, actor Tom Cruise, right, speaks at a . launch in Madrid . Scientology couple: John Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston at the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) Charity Ball Concert at Saint Hill Manor in West Sussex in 2005 . 'We got a lousy education from unqualified . Teachers, forced labor, long hours, forced confessions, being held in . rooms not to mention the mental anguish of trying to figure out all of . the conflicting information they force upon you as a young child. 'While it is very unlikely that Suri Cruise would have the same . upbringing as me (due to her parent's celebrity status), any . organization that is capable of mistreating and neglecting the needs of . children, regardless of their social status, and which has a long . history of breaking up families is no place for an innocent child. Happier times: Following the public split between the organization's most famous member, Tom Cruise, and wife Katie Holmes, Ms Miscavige Hill spoke out in support of Holmes and the couple's daughter Suri (pictured in 2007) 'The people in Scientology who are responsible for "PR" are experts at twisting the truth and intimidation tactics. 'As a mother myself, I offer my support to Katie and wish for her . all of the strength she will need to do what is best for her and her . daughter.' She says, since leaving the church, she has been branded a 'suppressive person', which the church’s website defines as someone 'who seeks to suppress other people in their vicinity'. The Scientology website reads: 'A suppressive person will goof up or vilify any effort to help anybody and particularly knife with violence anything calculated to make human beings more powerful or more intelligent. 'The "suppressive person" is also known as the "anti-social personality". Within this category you would find ‘Napoleon, Hitler, the unrepentant killer and the drug lord,' according to the website. 'Beyond Belief: My Secret Life inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape' will be published by HarperCollins Publishers imprint William Morrow, due out in January. Scientology has been dogged by controversy almost since the day it was created. The belief was founded in 1952 by L Ron Hubbard who until then had been known for writing pulp and science fiction novels. Followers believe that inside them are ancient alien beings known as thetans which have lived for thousands of years on other planets and were brought to Earth on a space ship that looks like a Douglas DC-8 plane. Through a process called Dianetics they make themselves far better people, and even massively boost their IQ. Such claims however have never been proved and instead Scientology has faced allegations it charges outrageous fees for its services and abuses its followers. Among the most controversial aspects are 'audits' in which followers have to explain their inner secrets to a superior, including their sex lives. There have also been reports of bizarre punishments and questions have been raised over what happened to the wife of its current leader David Miscavige, who has reportedly not been seen since 2007. Those who join the higher order of Scientology, known as Sea Org, pledge their allegiance for one billion years - a vow supposedly made by children as young as 10. Scientology courts Hollywood stars and famous followers include Tom Cruise and John Travolta but it is very rare that they speak about their beliefs. Cruise's marriage to Katie Holmes was said to have ended over her refusal to allow their six-year-old daughter Suri to be indoctrinated. She was also said to be concerned about the child being sent to the Scientology Gold Base in California where members are banned from having children, are paid just $50 a week and can be punished for simply looking at somebody the wrong way. Scientology was also the basis of the current cinema hit The Master in which a drifter is taken in by the leader of a cult-like group. | Jenna Miscavige Hill, 28, is the daughter of Scientology leader David Miscavige's older brother Ron .
She left the church in 2005 and set up a support group for other Scientology deserters .
Ms Miscavige Hill: 'My experience in growing up in Scientology is that it is both mentally and at times physically abusive'
Book will reveal 'strange and disturbing'
details about growing up in the church and will provide a firsthand .
account of Scientology's 'upper ranks', say publishers . |
10,324 | 1d520473b412970673f8f9fa65583e5f760ddd3d | By . Arthur Martin . PUBLISHED: . 19:11 EST, 29 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:06 EST, 30 September 2013 . Former Match of the Day presenter Jimmy Hill is suffering from Alzheimer’s, his family have revealed. Hill, who managed Coventry after playing for Fulham and Brentford, is now living in a care home near the south coast after his condition deteriorated. He was famously chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association and successfully campaigned for the abolition of the £20-a-week maximum wage, which was scrapped in 1961. Scroll down for video of Hill on Match of the Day... and as a linesman . Jimmy Hill presenting the BBC's Match of the Day in 1981 - he racked up 600 appearances on the show . At his best: Hill scores for Fulham against Manchester United in 1958 . Sporting icon: Once a successful footballer and manager, Jimmy Hill, pictured in 1964, also became chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association in 1957 . VIDEO: Hill introduces Match of the Day . It was one of the most seismic changes in football and meant that players not clubs controlled their earning power. Hill's Fulham team-mate Johnny Haynes was the first English player to earn £100 a week. That has arguably led to the player power of today, with stars such as Wayne Rooney and Yaya Toure earning upwards of £200,000 a week. Hill is fondly remembered in Coventry after an innovative spell as manager, during which he changed the colour of the club's kit and their nickname to the Sky Blues. This is still in use. He was also chairman of Coventry, and at Fulham and Charlton. If that wasn't enough, he once even ran the line at a First Division game at Highbury in 1972 after an official was injured and an appeal went out over the PA system for a replacement. He is probably better remembered now for his career as a broadcaster and he presented Match of the Day more than 600 times. Hill moved to Sky Sports in 1999 and fronted Jimmy Hill's Sunday Supplement, a panel show on which journalists discuss the football topics of the day. Jimmy Hill and Bryony at Buckingham Palace in 1995 - he received both an OBE and a CBE . The 85-year-old was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2008 but his condition was made public on Sunday by his youngest son Jamie, 46, and . his daughter Joanna, 50, who are his two children from his second . marriage. There is a legal wrangle concerning his welfare. Hill gave joint powers of . attorney to his current wife Bryony, 62, and a solicitor in 2005, when . he was still in good health. His five children from his two previous marriages only discovered the . existence of the legal document in 2008, when Hill was deemed by doctors . to be too ill to look after himself. It . was only then that the law required that his children be informed that . powers of attorney had been granted to Mrs Hill and the solicitor. As a result, none of his children has any say over his future treatment or the management of his assets. Jimmy Hill pictured at a Fulham v Chelsea match in 2006 - he was diagnosed in 2008, but his condition only came to light at the weekend . Mr . Hill Jnr, a property consultant and fitness coach who lives in west . London told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘He is the most sprightly physical specimen in the home, but his mind is not what it was. The home is the best place for him. That is not my complaint. ‘My concern is we only discovered in 2008 that power of attorney had been signed three years earlier. We said in 2008 that if Bryony’s lawyer steps aside and one of us children has joint power of attorney, we will be happy. ‘Unfortunately, that was declined. We were told they had considered giving one of the children power of attorney in 2005, but decided against because it would have been too difficult to choose just one.’ Mr Hill Jnr has raised the issue with his local MP, Justine Greening, the International Development Secretary, who passed his concerns to Chris Grayling, the Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor. Joanna Hill, who lives in Mexico, added: ‘It is a shame that we as his children have no rights over his treatment and care. ‘Children whose parents have married more than once should be made aware that they will be unable to influence their affairs if they register a power of attorney. Hill’s wife Bryony was unavailable for comment on Sunday. In his heyday as a TV presenter: Jimmy Hill, left, pictured with another presenter with a famous chin, Bruce Forsyth . VIDEO: Jimmy Hill linesman . Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons. | The former footballer and TV presenter is now living in a care home .
Hill was diagnosed in 2008, but his condition came to light at the weekend .
Successfully fought for the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961 .
Was chairman of PFA as well as manager of Coventry .
Even ran the line at a First Division game . |
254,349 | d53b0baa067cc75140ec6b3edf98a43abcbf40ba | By . Ryan Gorman . and Associated Press Reporter . A civilian employee of the Coast Guard in Alaska was convicted Friday of the 2012 shooting deaths of two of his co-workers at a remote base originally thought to be the work of a bizarrely-tattooed drifter charged in a separate murder. James Wells, 62, was found guilty of murdering Coast Guardsmen Petty Officer 1st Class James Hopkins and retired Chief Petty Officer Richard Belisle - but his defense team vehemently denied his guilt and tried to blame the murders on another man. The 15-member federal jury took only six . hours to reach a verdict after the month-long trial. They found Wells . guilty of two counts each of first-degree murder, murder of an officer . or employee of the United States, and possession of a firearm in a crime . of violence. Accused killer: Jason 'Eyeball' Barnum was accused of killing an Anchorage police officer only months after Belisle and Hopkins were shot dead . Wells showed no emotion as the verdict was read, according to KTUU, but relatives of his victims burst into tears. Federal . prosecutors earlier said they would not seek the death penalty if Wells . was convicted. His sentencing was set for July 8. He will likely spend the rest of his life in jail. It is not clear if he plans to appeal. Investigators revealed during the trial that Wells put . together an almost-air tight alibi before sneaking on to the base April . 12, 2012 to kill the two men, their bodies were found in the station's rigger shop, where antennas are built and repaired. Prosecutors contended Wells, a Coast . Guard civilian technician, resented the growing influence of Belisle and . Hopkins in the shop where he was a nationally recognized antenna . expert. They said he meticulously planned an alibi, sneaked onto the . communications station and gunned them down. Wells . made it home after the shooting and called Hopkins' work phone, leaving . a message saying he would be late for work because of a flat tire, . officials claimed. Eyeball . But his defense team argued it was Jason 'Eyeball' Barnum that pulled the trigger. Barnum, known as 'eyeball' for both . the tattoo on his right eyeball that has permanently colored the eye . black and an illustration of an eyeball on his forehead, declined recognizing the names of either . man while in court with the jury out of the room, according to the . Anchorage Daily News. The 38-year-old also refused to answer when asked if he took drugs the day of the murders or whether he killed the two men. 'I don't want to answer that,' he said. Wells' defense team claims the man - currently being held on charges he gunned . down an Anchorage police officer - took drugs the day of the murders . and skipped town before being caught. He acknowledged in court being on . the island during the killings and leaving shortly after. FBI . agents talked to Barnum in the months after the double murder while . making it clear he wasn't a suspect, but he refused to answer any of . their questions. Barnum's . testimony was then sought by the defense team because he was a known . acquaintance of an ex-con who dated Belisle's teen daughter, according . to the paper. She admitted to having past drug problems and dating the . former convict. They once worked together: This July 2, 2011 file photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows Richard Belisle, second from left, and Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class James Hopkins, second from right, with Jim Wells, left, and Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Cody Beauford as they help erect a communications antenna on Shemya Island, Alaska . Dead: Belisle, shown here in 2011 after killing a caribou, was gunned down at the Coast Guard base . Remote: The base is located on Kodiak Island, about 250 miles south of Anchorage . Prosecutors were able to convince the . judge the already-accused killer had nothing to do with the Kodiak . murders and would only be brought to the witness stand 'to frighten the . jury,' according to the paper. They then proceeded to mount their case against Wells, saying he . committed the cold-blooded killings because he became jealous of the . pair's growing influence at the island base. Hopkins, 41, was an electronics technician from Vergennes, Vermont. Belisle, 51, was a former chief petty officer who continued service to the Coast Guard as a civilian employee at the base about 250 miles south of the state capital Anchorage. In memorial: Former colleagues hold a plaque dedicated to Chief Petty Officer Richard Belisle, retired, and Petty Officer 1st Class Jim Hopkins during a memorial held at the unit on April 12, 2013 . Prosecutors say the flat tire was a ruse to give him a cover story for committing the murders. Wells told the FBI he started driving to work, detected a soft tire, stopped at a hotel near the Kodiak airport entrance, checked the tire and returned home to change it, authorities said. Unbeknownst to Wells, a security camera at the nearby Coast Guard main gate recorded his truck heading for the communication station shortly before 7 a.m. and driving in the opposite direction toward his home 34 minutes later. Wells' wife was out of town the day of the shooting, and her blue SUV was parked at the Kodiak airport. Investigators concluded Wells switched cars, waited for Hopkins to drive by, followed him to the communications station and shot him and Belisle. Federal public defender Rich Curtner said in his opening statement that Wells suffered from chronic diarrhea following gall bladder surgery and was delayed the morning of the murders because he spent 20 minutes in a bathroom of a commuter airline. Wells made no mention of using an airport bathroom to the FBI. Curtner and defense attorney Peter Offenbecher of Seattle contended authorities immediately focused on Wells and ignored other possible suspects, including 'eyeball.' They said prosecutors had no eyewitnesses, no confession, no murder weapon and no physical evidence linking Wells to the homicides. Wells served eight years in the Navy and 13 with the Coast Guard. Upon discharge in 1990, he was hired as a civilian employee. Kodiak Island is home to the largest Coast Guard Air Station in the . Pacific. The double homicide took place 3 miles away at the base's . communications station, where personnel monitor radio traffic from ships . and planes. | Jason 'Eyeball' Barnum was questioned in the killings and declined to speak both to the FBI and in court .
He admitted being on Kodiak island during the murders before leaving for Anchorage - where he soon was accused of gunning down a police officer .
James Wells, 62, was convicted Friday of killing the two men after becoming jealous of their growing influence at the remote base .
In an early version of this article, two photographs of Mr James Wells of Ballyfermot Dublin were wrongly published. We would like to make it clear that this Mr Wells has no connection whatsoever with the events or trial in Alaska, which concerned a coastguard technician, also called James Wells. We apologise for the distress caused. |
30,596 | 5702ad4c6121f92d4693f7cdc6a8435ed1ace3e3 | By . Fiona Macrae, Science Correspondent . PUBLISHED: . 19:55 EST, 16 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 19:55 EST, 16 January 2014 . When it comes to this weekend’s weather forecast, there’s good news and bad news. Temperatures are creeping up-wards – but we’re still set for a washout, with rain across most of the UK. After sunshine today, a blanket of wet weather is set to sweep northwards tomorrow, with just a tiny part of England expected to be spared from the drizzle. Sunshine and showers: The forecast for the next three days . Washed out: Flooding has continued across southern England this week, but there is set to be no respite in the rain. This man waded through water with his shopping in Shepperton, Surrey, on Wednesday . Met Office forecaster Charlie Powell said: ‘It looks like we are going to see a band of rain pushing northwards through the early hours. 'Much of Wales, central and southern England will see the majority of these showers and they could be quite heavy. ‘In between, a thin sliver of the UK will get a fairly dry day. It looks like much of north-west England and maybe into the east – East Anglia and Lincolnshire. It’s a very, very, thin strip.’ However, the weekend will not be a total washout. Mr Powell said: ‘In terms of the day to enjoy, it is probably Sunday – if you can dodge the showers and find the drier weather. Watered: A greenhouse flooded by the Thames near Sunbury, Surrey, on Wednesday. Rain will continue . ‘The further north east you go, the wetter and windier it will be.’ ‘We have got everything under the sun over the next few days, but at least it is not going to be desperately cold.’ Temperatures are expected to remain slightly above average for mid-January, with daytime highs of 10C (50F) and night-time lows of 2C (36F). Tomorrow night will bring the coldest weather, with patchy frost expected in the Midlands. The mixture of sunshine and showers is expected to last into next week. Thankfully, there is no sign of storms returning any time soon. There is some good news however – spring is on its way. Rain stops play: The Environment Agency has recorded a 10-year water level high on some stretches . Daffodils and snowdrops have been spotted raising their heads, trees are in bud, butterflies are on the wing. Despite the floods, last month was two degrees warmer than average, and most areas have had only a handful of frosts. The Woodlands Trust says that changing weather patterns says spring now arrives some 12 days earlier than 25 years ago. | Only a tiny sliver of England is set to be saved from tomorrow's rain .
But temperatures will remain above average for January at a high of 10C .
Woodlands Trust: Spring arrives 12 days sooner than it did 25 years ago . |
203,766 | 93cb41eac15a6d3708175ca2b0ea81012dfc7672 | Christmas trees have become easier to decorate because they have fewer branches at the top - after two consecutive mild winters, growers claimed yesterday. Many of the popular Nordmann Fir trees grown in England have big gaps between their top branches because they have grown upwards too quickly in the unseasonal weather. Experts say the perfect Christmas tree should have around 9in to 15in gaps between its branches but two good growing seasons means the branches at the top of this year's trees are very sparse. Easier to decorate: Grower Vincent Thurkettle, 58, harvests his Nordmann trees in Great Hockham, Norfolk . Two mild winters: Mr Thurkettle said growers 'need colder winters to create the perfect Christmas tree' This year's mild weather means the bottoms of the trees are also much more bushy than normal. Vincent Thurkettle, 58, who grows Norway Spruce, Blue Spruce and Nordmann Firs at Manor Farm in Great Hockham, Norfolk, said growers ‘need colder winters to create the perfect Christmas tree’. He added: ‘We have had two long mild summers and a mild last winter, which means the trees have grown too fast and the distance between the rings of branches is bigger than usual. ‘Luckily most of our customers are seeing this as a positive because it makes it easier to dress the tree with tinsel and large baubles which hang well in the gaps.’ Different shape: This year's mild weather means the bottoms of the trees are much more bushy than normal . Choices: Many Christmas tree customers are said to be selecting trees with bigger gaps between branches . Improvements: The milder weather also means the needles on the Christmas tree are better than usual . Colin Palmer, who runs Coddington Christmas Tree Farm near Ledbury in Herefordshire, said it was the taller Nordmann Firs over 6ft which had mainly been effected. But he added that many of his customers were actually selecting the trees which had bigger gaps between their branches. Mr Palmer said: ‘My clients have welcomed it as it makes it easier for them to decorate the tree and we've found people have actually been selecting these trees. ‘This year was the best growing season for over a decade so there has been robust growth and it means the top shoots up quickly and the lower part of the tree is even more bushy than usual.’ The milder weather also means the needles on the Christmas tree are better than usual. Mr Thurkettle added: ‘The foliage is the best I have ever seen. It is beautiful, green and lush and really silky and soft. The needles are as good as they can ever be.’ | Nordmann Fir trees in England have big gaps between top branches .
Popular trees have grown upwards too quickly in unseasonal weather .
Perfect tree should have around 9in to 15in gaps between its branches .
Mild weather means bottom of trees are also more bushy than normal . |
199,006 | 8da35144efcf01d83dff05d76bd0fd689f412afd | By . Lydia Warren . and Associated Press . A nine-year-old girl who was hit by a plane as it crashed on a Florida beach on Sunday has passed away two days after her father was killed in the same accident. Oceana Irizarry, from Fort Stewart, Georgia, was with her father, Ommy Irizarry, on Caspersen Beach in Venice when a 1972 Piper Cherokee plane made an emergency . landing after reporting problems. The duo were hit by the plane or debris and Mr Irizarry, an Army sergeant celebrating his ninth anniversary with his wife, died at the scene on Sunday afternoon. Oceana was airlifted to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg but on Tuesday, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office said they were notified by the medical examiner's office that the little girl had died. Scroll down for video . Tragic: A photo from the family's holiday in Florida last week shows Ommy Irizarry, right, with his wife and children, including Oceana, who has passed away after a plane crash on Sunday. Mr Irizarry also died . Loss: The dad and daughter were walking along the beach when they were hit by the plane or debris . It was unclear how the plane or the debris hit the father and his daughter. Just hours before, Mr Irizarry had posted a message on Facebook to mark his ninth anniversary. 'I . am very happy and can't wait to see what the next 100 have in store for . us,' he wrote, and tagged his wife, Rebecca, in the post. But as he walked on the beach with Oceana, officials say a plane pilot radioed the airport that he was having trouble with his aircraft and was planning to land on the beach. 'He's trying to make the airport,' a woman calling 911 from the airport said. 'He says he's not going to make the airport. But he's going to be on the beach.' The 1972 Piper Cherokee lost a wheel, . damaged a wing and smashed its propeller shortly after making a . distress call about 2:45 p.m. Sunday to Venice Municipal Airport, . officials said. Wedding anniversary: Staff Sgt. Ommy Irizarry, left with his wife Rebecca on their vacation and right in an Army handout, was remembered by friends as a hands-on, hardworking father of three . Tragic: This is the message Mr Irizarry . posted to Facebook on Sunday morning, just hours before his death . The plane crash-landed on Caspersen Beach, just south of the airport, at the southern tip of the island of Venice and the plane or debris hit the father and daughter. In other 911 calls, a family friend cried as she described the scene while screams and wailing could be heard in the background. Another man told a dispatcher about the little girl's condition. 'She's breathing a little right now,' a man said. 'Rapid pulse and difficult breathing. She's unconscious.' The proud dad-of-three was an Army sergeant stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia, according to . officials, and Howard said the family was scheduled to be stationed in . Alaska. The couple's Facebook pages were filled with photos of the family enjoying beaches in Georgia and in Ommy's native Puerto Rico. Fatal crash: The 1972 Piper Cherokee made an emergency landing on Caspersen Beach in Venice . Resting: The pilot of the 1972 Piper Cherokee and his passenger were uninjured in the crash landing . Runway: The pilot indicated to air traffic controllers that he was going to use the hard sand bank on Caspersen Beach as a runway to land . Rebecca's . page showed a photo of her and her husband in the water, smiling for . the camera, while they vacationed in Florida with their family - before . other posts asking for prayers. Family friend Kim Howard described Irizarry as 'a great, hands-on father' to three children. The pilot of the doomed plane was . identified as Karl Kokomoor, 57, and the passenger was David Theen, 60, . both of nearby Englewood. They were not injured. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. | Ommy Irizarry, 36, was vacationing in Florida with his wife and three children to celebrate his ninth wedding anniversary .
He was killed and his daughter, Oceana, was critically injured when a plane crash landed on Caspersen Beach on Sunday afternoon .
On Tuesday, the medical examiner revealed Oceana had passed away .
The plane's pilot had issued a mayday after it experienced difficulties . |
82,795 | eac29d325470d366d5fd1d66ca0d52cd0b672555 | By . Bianca London . A slimmer who piled on the pounds yo-yo dieting after a schoolyard crush called her fat has shed nine stone after ditching food and living on a diet of juice. Emma Tolliday, 37, began dieting at the age of just 13 when she received the cruel jibe. Despite Emma trying every regime she could, nothing helped her lose weight permanently and she reached 21 stone at her heaviest. Emma Tolliday became a lifelong yo-yo dieter at the age of just 13 when a schoolyard crush branded her fat - she has now lost nine stone on a juice diet . Struggling with anxiety and pre-diabetes, size 26 Emma booked a seven-day detox retreat with a friend to cleanse the fat and sugar from her system in July 2012. Ditching her diet of pizzas and crisps, Emma, from Kent, lived on pure juice and dropped a stone in a week; the experience spurred her to adopt the diet permanently. She spent the next nine months cutting out sugar, caffeine and dairy, sticking to two juices a day and managed to drop nine stone. Emma, head of retail for cosmetic firm Models Own, said: 'Ever since I was a teenager I was always podgy. Despite Emma trying every diet she could, nothing helped her lose weight permanently and she reached 21 stone at her heaviest (pictured left) Emma booked a detox retreat, ditching her diet of junk food to live off pure juice and dropped a stone in a week; the experience spurred her to adopt the diet permanently . 'I started dieting at just 13 years old when I asked my mate to ask the boy I liked at school what he thought of me. He answered with one word - "fat." 'I was devastated and cried all night. The next day I went on a diet, and over the years I tried everything from slimming groups to shake replacements. 'Nothing worked for long and I eventually put the weight back on with more added on. 'I struggled with severe anxiety and during one of my GP visits the doctor told me my blood sugar was very high and diabetes was imminent. I was scared and desperate. 'The next day I was reading a magazine that talked about celebrities like Kim Kardashian using juice detoxes to lose weight. Emma has cut out sugar, caffeine and dairy, sticking to two juices a day and has managed to drop nine stone in the process . 'I thought that’s something I haven’t tried and decided to research more about it. I found a company called Obsidian that offered health retreats with juice detoxes. 'I got a mate of mine to join me for a week-long break in Spain. We thought if we made it more of a holiday it would motivate us. It was affordable so we signed up.' During the retreat, which cost £500 all-inclusive for seven days, Emma stuck to three juices a day, exercise and relaxing by the pool. 'The only way I can describe it is like fat people rehab,' she said. 'I went into it thinking I would be starving. But after the first day I woke up feeling incredible. Emma, pictured here before the weight loss, struggled with severe anxiety, her blood sugar was very high and the doctor even told her that diabetes was imminent . Emma was reading a magazine that talked about celebrities like Kim Kardashian using juice detoxes to lose weight and it inspired her to try one herself . 'I had all this energy and felt better than I had in years. And the best bit was the juices were so filling I wasn’t hungry at all. When I lost a whole stone by the end of the week I knew that it actually worked. 'I got home and threw out all the junk food around the house and stocked my fridge full of fruit and veg. I bought a juicer and started juicing for meals. 'Eventually, a few weeks later, I started adding a healthy dinner like steamed chicken and vegetables into the mix but I kept to juicing all day. Within a year I had lost almost nine stone and fit into a size 12.' Emma’s husband Ben, 30, was so inspired by her weight loss he decided to try the juice diet. The engineer managed to lose four-and-a-half stone alongside his wife. Emma's husband Ben, left, was so inspired by her weight loss he decided to try the juice diet and lost four and a half stone . Emma, pictured before her weight loss, centre, has now landed her dream job as a retail executive for a global cosmetic firm . At Emma’s next GP visit she was stunned to learn her body was in tip top shape; she no longer had to worry about diabetes and her anxiety had disappeared. The newfound confidence triggered by her weight loss helped Emma land her dream job as a retail executive for a global cosmetic firm. 'Before I started juicing I never would have had the confidence to go for my job,' she said. 'The Obsidian retreat started a change that has improved my life immeasurably. I’ve even had friends start juicing because they are so impressed by the results. 'There’s a reason why so many celebrities pay big money for juice detoxes and diets. It’s because they work.' Breakfast: banana and toastLunch: McDonalds veggie burger and chipsSnack: crispsDinner: pizzaSnack: chocolate . Breakfast: super juice (apples, pineapple, celery, cucumber, spinach, wheatgrass) Lunch: turbo juice (apples, pineapple, greens, broccoli, lime, carrots) Dinner: detox juice (including apples, carrots, broccoli, spinach, beets, cucumber) OR steamed chicken and veg . | Emma Tolliday, 37, just put the weight back on after every fad diet .
Reached 21st and size 26 at her heaviest thanks to diet of pizza and crisps .
Went on weight loss retreat and got into juicing .
Follows diet of three juices a day and says it's changed her life .
Now weighs 12 stone and wears size 12 clothes . |
65,789 | bac7810e6374bd8646272a74e26eb70cb7d3258b | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 17:19 EST, 14 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 20:46 EST, 14 July 2013 . She was born so tiny, that doctors held out little hope for her survival. But now Annabel Hately, who was once barely the size of a Biro, has celebrated the first birthday medics feared she would never see. Annabel weighed just 1lb 5oz when she was delivered 12 weeks early in July last year. Annabel Hately, who was once barely the size of a Biro, has celebrated the first birthday doctors feared she would never see . Rachael Hately, 40, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, was even told at her 20-week scan if Annabel did not reach one pound in weight she would have to have an abortion. The mother-of-two Rachael said: 'They told me and my husband Neil we were having a girl and took measurements. 'The hospital told us she hadn't grown as much as they would've liked and her limbs were really small. 'I needed weekly checks at the time as my placenta wasn't feeding her properly. 'If Annabel didn't reach one pound in weight they would consider a termination because she had little chance of survival. 'I asked the consultant whether there was anything I could do and he said there wasn't. Annabel pictured in an incubator soon after her birth at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Cosham, Portsmouth. She weighed only 1lb 5oz at birth and was described as being as small as a Biro . Mother Rachael, 40, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, was even told at her 20-week scan if Annabel did not reach one pound in weight she would have to have an abortion . 'When I got home I read forums online and other mums who were going through the same thing said they their babies had gained weight by eating more protein and healthier options. 'So I started eating more to try and pile on the weight and even though she put on some, it wasn't enough.' NHS researcher Ms Hately was forced to give birth 12 weeks early by caesarean section after Annabel stopped growing in the womb. She stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit for eight weeks until she reached 3lb 7oz, while friends and family helped look after her and husband Neil's other daughter Eleanor, now five. Ms Hately said: 'People can't believe the transformation now she is one-years old. 'She now fits into size nine to 12 month clothes, so she is still about three months behind but she's slowly catching up. 'We didn't have any problems with Eleanor so we were surprised at what happened. But now the little girl has celebrated her first birthday with her family . 'We want to say a big thank you to everyone who helped us at the hospital. Throughout the whole process the staff were just fantastic.' Dr Charlotte Groves, consultant neonatologist at the hospital, said: 'It's lovely to see Annabel is thriving following her premature start to life. 'It's always gratifying to receive positive feedback from parents regarding the care their baby received while on the neonatal unit, as having, as having a small premature baby in a neonatal intensive care unit is often stressful.' To celebrate Annabel turning one, the family laid on a special birthday bash. | Annabel Hately weighed just 1lb 5oz when she was delivered 12 weeks early .
But now, against the odds, she has celebrated her first birthday . |
102,737 | 1069ad3120f2062ab0defa733fb6932462b56ffd | By . Martin Robinson . PUBLISHED: . 06:57 EST, 15 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 07:14 EST, 15 October 2013 . The heartbroken parents of a stillborn baby who died after a series of blunders had to grieve on a packed maternity ward because the hospital's bereavement suite was being used for storage. Kerry Watson, 28, had to endure the torment of delivering her lifeless child Cameron naturally after hospital staff ignored a scan which revealed he was being starved of oxygen in the womb. A review into maternity services within Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has now revealed that if he had been delivered just one day earlier by emergency caesarean, he would have survived. Scandal: Kerry Watson, 28, had to endure the torment of delivering her lifeless child Cameron at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield and then grieve surrounded by other mothers . Appallingly, Kerry and husband Craig, 27, were then left to recover on a ward alongside new mums because the bereavement suite was being used to store records - something the report describes as 'almost beyond belief'. Kerry, who also has an eight-year-old son, said: 'I was in labour for 24 hours and for most of this time, we were left alone. I felt that the staff didn't want to face us and we were totally unsupported through the process. 'This was the most horrendous experience of my life but to top it off, midwives said the only place available for me to recover was on the ward with all the new mums. 'There was no way I could do it so we were sent home.' The couple of Normanton, West Yorkshire, had struggled to conceive so were 'overjoyed' when they found out she was pregnant with their second child. But she started suffering pains on Boxing Day 2011 and visited Pinderfields Hospital having not felt the baby move for some time. Damning: A review of care at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust found if Cameron had been delivered a day earlier he would have survived . Staff carried out tests but put it down to Cameron being a sleepy baby, despite Kerry pointing out the fact he had always been very active. By 3 January 2012 Kerry was still concerned so she and Craig went back to hospital - and only a faint heartbeat was detected. However, as Cameron had not met the essential criteria on the monitor, Kerry was referred through to the Consultant - who failed to check the results that had been printed from the monitor and instead told the couple to return the following day. Ms Watson said: 'After a student midwife and a senior midwife could not find a heartbeat, a doctor eventually came in and placed a scanner on my stomach and turned the screen to face us. 'It was obvious our son's heart was not beating. We asked whether our son was alive but no one would answer and a radiographer was then called in. 'She took pictures on the scanner for five minutes. We were totally distraught by this point and finally she said, "I'm sorry, he's gone". 'We were in complete and utter disbelief. We had known for days that something wasn't right but hospital staff made us feel that we were being a nuisance and tried to brush it all under the carpet. 'It just breaks my heart to know that if Cameron had been delivered by caesarean or even the day before when we saw the consultant, he'd still be alive today but instead we felt we were ignored and dismissed because we were blocking up the Consultant's clinic, which was the first clinic back after New Year.' A review into maternity services within Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust following Cameron's death revealed concerns about staff's professional behaviour after a consultant was described as being unprofessional and rude in his approach with Kerry and Craig. It also found that midwives were afraid to question the consultant's decisions when it was apparent the patient could be in danger and there was inadequate documentation. There was inadequate assessment of clinical information and although a fetal heart scan identified Cameron's heartbeat as weak, it was not acted upon. Finally, the investigation revealed a lack of skills in managing bereaved families and a lack of bereavement facilities. The couple are speaking out for the first time after experts at Irwin Mitchell secured an admission of liability from Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust. The consultant is now being investigated by the General Medical Council (GMC) and has restrictions on his practice. Anna Bosley, a specialist medical lawyer at Irwin Mitchell's Leeds office who represents Kerry and Craig said: 'This couple has been devastated by the loss of their son Cameron and they understandably wanted answers about what went wrong. 'Whilst we welcome the fact that the Trust has admitted responsibility, we back the couple's calls for proof from the trust that improvements have been made to maternity services to protect patient safety and prevent the same catalogue of failings being made again.' Dr Richard Jenkins, medical doctor at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, apologised and said they recognised failings in care. 'We started an investigation immediately after these events with input from an independent clinician and we have already implemented changes as a result. 'While sadly we cannot change the outcome for Cameron, we believe the steps we have taken will minimise the risk of a similar tragedy occurring in the future.' | Review of care at Pinderfields Hospital reveals series of failures by staff .
Medics ignored warning signs that could have saved couple's child Cameron .
Delivered stillborn but could've been save if caesarian took place day earlier .
Parents Kerry and Craig Watson forced to grieve in packed maternity ward .
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust apologises and consultant faces GMC probe . |
55,723 | 9df199b0c5c7da5070dc4a6cb9f0a65486ee73d0 | (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama's victory speech Tuesday night compares favorably with a number of historic orations, a linguist said Thursday. Barack Obama speaks at a rally in Chicago, Illinois, after winning the presidency Tuesday night. "His goal was to be understood by the widest possible audience during his victory speech, and he seems to have done a great job doing it," said Paul J.J. Payack, president of the Austin, Texas-based Global Language Monitor, which analyzed the speech for content, tone and length. "He's at his best communicating directly and forthrightly with this audience and using different types of rhetorical devices," Payack said, noting that the speech was written to a seventh- or eighth-grade level. That's lower than the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech (grade 8.8), President Reagan's 1987 "Tear Down This Wall" speech (grade 9.8) and even Obama's own 2004 Democratic Convention speech (grade 8.3), Payack said. In the four years since then, "he has learned to speak more directly and more succinctly when he's giving a major address," the word aficionado said. He spoke admiringly of Obama's repeated use of the phrase "Yes, we can," calling it "very effective." "That's a very short, direct sentence," Payack said. "Almost like a drumbeat hammering into people's minds and hearts." He added, "something like that comes across as a very effective rhetorical device." That phrase compares with Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" and President Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country," delivered in his inaugural speech. At about 2,000 words, the speech was short enough not to lose the audience's attention but long enough to cite specifics and cover the subject matter, Payack said. Watch Obama's victory speech » . Twelve of those words were "hope" or variations of the word, which indicates optimism about the change (used nine times) he has promised to effect. Another 23 of the words were "will," another way of making the speech forward-looking. Though most of Obama's verbs were in the active voice, 11 percent of the sentences were in the passive voice, a dependable method of deflecting responsibility, Payack said. He cited Obama's "There will be setbacks and false starts" as an example. "He's spreading the responsibility around," Payack said. "He didn't say, 'I will have setbacks. I will be wrong. I will make mistakes.' He used the passive voice for those types of constructions." But the vast majority of the hopeful references were in the active voice, he said. "It's very personal and very active. 'I promise we, as a people, will get there.' " The speech was notable for what it omitted, too, Payack said. In this case, the absence of a reference to the September 11 terrorist attacks indicates a change in tone, he said. In his closing phrase, Obama repeats the mantra, "Yes, we can," which serves as a call to action, an acknowledgment that the country faces hard work, Payack said. Obama is saying, "I'm asking you to do something big, but we can do it together," Payack said. "We are the change; we are the hope." | Linguist says Obama's speech was on seventh- or eighth-grade level .
That's lower than King, Reagan speeches .
Speech was optimistic and forward-looking, expert says .
Lack of 9/11 reference was significant change in tone, linguist says . |
220,022 | a8c60c1417b1aa336ce77a27b3cc1fe326684da6 | Washington (CNN) -- Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said Monday he thinks Hillary Clinton will run for president next year and that her decision could be known as soon as December. Kaine, a Democrat who has vowed to endorse Clinton should she run, made the comments in a question and answer session with students at Randolph Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. An audio clip of the event was provided to CNN by a person in the room who wished to remain anonymous. The former governor and chairman of the Democratic National Committee was asked if he would run for president in 2016, but Kaine waved off the question and quickly pivoted to Clinton. "The answer is no," he said. "I had come out in, I guess in April or May, to strongly support Sen. Clinton, Secretary Clinton, should she run. I have no knowledge about whether she will or won't, but my intuition tells me that she will. But that will probably not be known until, I would say, December." Clinton has said publicly that she will make her decision about 2016 known sometime after the new year. Kaine was one of President Obama's first supporters when Obama launched his presidential bid in 2007. With his impressive resume and a deep well of respect within Democratic Party ranks, Kaine has been talked about as a potential candidate himself in 2016. But Kaine signed on with the Ready For Hillary super PAC earlier this year and announced that he will get behind Clinton if she seeks the Democratic nomination. He will also host a Washington fund-raiser for the group on Tuesday, Politico reported last week. Republicans' favorite label for Clinton 2016: 'Obama's Third Term' | Hillary Clinton's 2016 decision could be known as early as December, says Sen. Tim Kaine .
Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, says he thinks Clinton will run for president .
Kaine is a former governor and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee . |
284,493 | fc951a6b5174b0f11e47aac9ca26a8ef85f7050a | The Cleaning Guys have dealt this toxic chemical spills, horrific crime scenes and industrial accidents, but company officials admit none of it had prepared them for their newest job - sanitizing the apartment where U.S. Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan spent three days before being admitted to the hospital. The Dallas-based company has stepped up to clear the soiled bed sheets and clothes that contain Duncan's sweat and other bodily fluids - after his girlfriend revealed they are still in the apartment five days after he was admitted to the hospital and confirmed to have Ebola. 'Obviously, I think anyone involved would be worried -- not necessarily worried, but cautious. We've had a lot of discussions and team meetings about how we're going to attack the situation,' Cleaning Guys vice president Brad Smith told ABC News. Scroll down for video . Big mess: The Cleaning Crew arrived on scene Friday to decontaminate the apartment where Thomas Duncan stayed while infected with Ebola . Suited up: six to eight Cleaning Guys crew members suited up in full hazmat gear to clean the apartment and removed contaminated bedding . 'But we run into hazardous chemicals and things that could hurt us probably more often than most.' Officials hired the Cleaning Guys on Friday after another company backed out of a contract to clean the apartment at The Ivy Apartments in Dallas. The owner of that company had claimed he didn't have the proper permits to transport hazardous materials on state highways. Mr Smith told ABC that Duncan's sheets, blankets and and other belongings in the apartment will be triple-bagged and packed away by the company's crew. They will then be handed over to another company that will incinerate everything. Six to eight cleaners will work in the apartment and anyone who goes in will be suited up in hazmat gear that includes a full face mask, a respirator and a face shield. Ebola has been proven to live in clothing and surfaces for at least six days in ideal conditions. Duncan's girlfriend, Louise Troh, has been quarantined in the apartment she shared with the Ebola patient - along with her 13-year-old son and two nephews. She shockingly revealed to CNN on Thursday that the sheets he sweated in were still on the bed and towels and other clothing with his bodily fluids had not been picked up. Sealed off: Workers used plastic tarps to seal off the apartment where Duncan had been staying . None of the 100 people Duncan had contact with while contagious are showing signs of infection - though about a dozen people are under close observation. The family must be relocated before the cleanup full can begin, a spokesman for the city of Dallas said. He had no information on where the family will go. Visitors from the American Red Cross were seen Thursday bringing food to the apartment door. The North Texas Food Bank said it sent three days of cereal, tuna, produce and other supplies. Outside, the management of the 300-unit complex in northeast Dallas was passing out flyers about Ebola to residents. Private security guards and local sheriff's deputies blocked off the entrance to dozens of reporters. Apartment manager Sally Nuran said employees were power-washing sidewalks and scrubbing common areas, though she believed Duncan had not visited most of the complex in his short time there. | The Dallas-based company specializes in cleaning up hazardous waste, industrial accidents and crime scenes .
Workers arrived on scene Friday - after Thomas Duncan's girlfriend revealed his sweat-stained sheets were still on the bed five days after he was admitted to the hospital . |
172,302 | 6afdb2b164cc8983702faad6602ddbb930a1ff5b | Kieran Clough, who used a fake name to contact a teenager of Facebook, despite being banned from using the web as part of a sexual prevention order imposed on him . A mother who posed as her teenage daughter to trap an online pervert reacted in fury yesterday as judges refused for a second time to send him to prison. Kieran Clough, 24, had planned to meet the woman’s 15-year-old daughter, after sending her explicit messages online. He was on his way to see the girl, armed with a knuckle duster, a police baton, a book on sex toys and a bottle of vodka, when he was arrested by officers who had been alerted by the mother. But despite being warned that Clough was ‘at high risk of reoffending’, a judge let him off with a supervision order. Months after avoiding a jail term, Clough contacted another young girl online, posing as a teenager called Bella. He was caught out, but the garage worker has been allowed to walk free by a judge yet again. The first victim’s mother expressed her anger at the ‘lenient’ criminal justice system and called for Clough to be jailed to protect other children. She said he would prey on young girls ‘again and again’ if judges only gave him a ‘slap on the wrist’. Using a fake name, Clough had tried to lure the woman’s daughter into meeting him by sending her intimate pictures of himself on Facebook and offering to buy her presents in return for sex. But his plan was foiled when the horrified mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, found the messages and arranged a meeting, pretending to be her daughter. The mother, from Wearside, said: 'I knew he would do it again. 'The sentence he got was too lenient in the first place. 'He was supposed to be banned from using the internet but unless somebody is there with him 24/7 it is easy for it to happen again. 'It makes me realise there there is something wrong with the system for him to go out and do it again. He is a very dangerous boy.' Durham Crown Court heard that despite being subject to the order and three-year community supervision, Clough, posing as ‘Bella Swinton’, contacted the 14-year-old girl via social media in August. He claimed to know her and asked her to send a photo of her bedroom, ‘to ensure she was on her own’. Katherine Dunn, prosecuting, told the court how Clough exchanged messages with the girl for two weeks, before eventually revealing ‘Bella’ was really a boy and telling her to delete their conversations. Miss Dunn said the girl asked if he was ‘that paedo arrested last year’ and Clough agreed, saying it had been ‘a mistake’. But the girl told her mother and Clough was arrested by police. The mother of the 15-year-old girl (both are pictured in silhouette to protect their identities) who was groomed online by Kieran Clough has said she 'knew he would do it again' He refused to give officers the password to his phone or computer and to answer their questions. Miss Dunn added: 'This was deliberate contact, targeting a young girl, aware of her age and identity, directly flouting the terms of the previous order.' Clough admitted breaching the order and has remained in custody since his arrest on August 11. Tony Davis, defending, told the court how Clough has a hearing impediment which requires him to lip read, and this may have partly caused his social immaturity. Mr Davis said: 'Clearly the behaviour in the original case was more serious than this. 'But, it has brought about what everyone was trying to avoid, namely the incarceration of this young man for more than two months now. 'Contacting girls younger than him, under the age of 16, was something of a pre-occupation, but that was because of his inability to form relationships with girls his own age.' Durham Crown Court heard that despite being the subject of a sexual prevention order, Clough posed as 'Bella Swinton' to contact the girl on Facebook . Recorder Jeremy Hill-Baker said as Clough has spent more than two months in custody he could impose a three-year community supervision order during which he will undergo intensive sex offender treatment work. He was also made subject of a new sexual prevention order, and must register as a sex offender, both for five years. It was last year that the mother of Clough’s first victim discovered the older man had been attempting to groom her daughter for sex via Facebook. She said was horrified to overhear her young daughter telling friends she had been to meet a 21-year-old man she had been speaking to on Facebook - and then demanded to see the messages between them. She spoke of how she was sickened to read the sexually explicit exchanges between her impressionable daughter and Clough - who knew the girl was 15 all along. The mother intercepted the messages and arranged a meeting with the Clough. He turned up with a car full of weapons and a book about sex and was arrested. When officers searched the garage worker’s home and found a stash of over 900 child porn images and seven movies on his computer. He admitted grooming, possessing indecent photographs of children and having offensive weapons, but walked free from Newcastle Crown Court last September. | Kieran Clough groomed a 15-year-old girl last year but was spared jail .
Was caught when victim's mother snared him after posing as her daughter .
Made the subject of a sexual prevention order and banned from using web .
Since emerged Clough used a fake name to contact another girl online .
First victim's mother speaks of her fury saying 'she knew he'd do it again'
Clough was made the subject of a new order and place on sex offenders register for five years . |
49,041 | 8a83d0742c178e8a824f1f588bffa16c3a9b8827 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 01:56 EST, 9 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 01:59 EST, 9 March 2014 . The family of a pregnant 21-year-old who was strangled and raped are campaigning to change a Wisconsin law that let her killer avoid a murder charge because he was drunk. Brian Cooper, 36, was found guilty last year of sexually assaulting Alisha Bromfield, but the jury were unable to decide on the murder charge because he had been intoxicated at the time of the killing. Miss Bromfield's family are now trying to overturn the law which prevents a murder charge while drunk because a killer's intent can't be proved if intoxicated. Justice: The family of Alisha Bromfield are trying to change a Wisconsin law that stopped her killer being found guilty of murder . Cooper is alleged to have strangled the 21-year-old, from Plainfield, Illinois, when she refused to restart their relationship. Afterwards, he sexually assaulted the body of Miss Bromfield, who was six months' pregnant. The pair had been in Wisconsin for a family wedding at the time of the attack, in August 2012. Miss Bromfield, and her unborn baby girl who she planned to call Ava, died in the attack. During his trial in June, Cooper's defense was that the alcohol he had during and after his sister's wedding reception inhibited his ability to form intent. He has never denied killing Bromfield. Jury foreman Mark A. Hagen told the Green Bay Press Gazette the jury's main disagreement was over the meaning of a line in their instructions. Charges: Brian Cooper was accused of killing and sexually assaulting Alisha Bromfield . Loss: Alisha was expecting a baby girl who she planned to call Ava . It read: 'If the defendant was so intoxicated that the defendant did not intend to kill Alisha Bromfield, you must find the defendant not guilty of first-degree intentional homicide.' After the trial, Miss Bromfield's family launched an online campaign, calling for supporters to sign a petition to overturn the law. On a Facebook campaign page the family posted a notice about a senate hearing on the law that is taking place next week. 'This bill is to eliminate voluntary . intoxication as a defense for criminal liability,' the post read. 'This new petition will go to the House and Senate and the . Governor. This will be the last petition. The judicial committee was . very impressed last week on how we were able to get 6,300 signatures in . 48 hour. we are almost there. Attack: Cooper is accused of strangling Alisha Bromfield and sexually assaulting her body at a Wisconsin hotel . 'All of our hard work and dedication to . Alisha and Ava is finally here.' Miss Bromfield's mother, Sherry Anicich, told CBS Chicago: 'Being drunk is no excuse for murder. We are trying to get a law passed that amends voluntary intoxication that it cannot be used as a defense for murdering.' While she admitted that any law change may not have an impact in the trial of her daughter's alleged killer, Ms Anicich said she hopes it will help other cases. 'If it helps somebody in the future, then we’re hoping that another family doesn’t have to endure a trial or endure someone to walk free because they are intoxicated,' she said. Cooper is due to be retried on the murder charges in the deaths of Miss Bromfield and her unborn baby on May 5. | Jury were unable to agree on homicide charge at Brian Cooper's trial because of Wisconsin laws on intent .
Alisha Bromfield's family are petitioning senate to drop intoxication rule . |
149,255 | 4cfe5e464c107ab786e8e0d45cfc0245d36fadc4 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 13:39 EST, 22 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 16:41 EST, 22 August 2013 . The Alabama 15-year-old boy accused of hanging his 9-year-old half-sister will be tried as an adult.St. Clair County District Attorney Richard Minor said his request to have the Ragland, Alabama teen tried as an adult was granted Wednesday. John Dillon Salers is accused of calling over to a tree and then hanging her from it with a rope. The girl's foster mother later found her hanging from the rope, according to AI.com. Unthinkable: Katelynn Arnold (left) was found hanging dead from a tree in May 2012. Her half-brother John Dillon Salers, right, is accused of murdering her and will by tried as an adult . It was tied deliberately in a simple knot around the girl's neck, but was not a hangman's noose, St. Clair County Sheriff Terry Surles said. Salers went to bed after she was taken to the hospital but was arrested in the early hours of the morning. Police said he admitted to killing Katelynn and told officers a motive—but that motive was not revealed. Pictured: The area in which Salers is accused of hanging hyis young sister from a tree in rural Alabama . The boy and girl were living with their aunt and uncle as part of a foster home situation, Surles said. According to the Katelynn's maternal grandfather John Henry Arnold, this was because their mother struggled with personal problems. 'She had problems and was working on them,' Arnold told WBRC last year. 'She's not handling this very well at all.' Nevertheless, he said, 'the kids were where they should be.' Arnold said at the time that he believes his granddaughter's death was an accident. 'I've never seen him angry or aggressive or nothing like that,' Arnold said of Salers. Katelynn had been riding her bicycle on Thursday evening and her aunt noticed she was missing so drove around looking for her for 45 minutes. When she returned home, she found the girl handing from a tree outside the home. The sheriff's department was called at 8.10 p.m. Adult: St. Clair County Sheriff Terry Surles said the rope had deliberately been knotted. The district attorney's request to try Salers as an adult for the crime has been granted . By the time officers arrived, rescuers had removed Katelynn from the tree. She was pronounced dead at a hospital. An autopsy showed she died as a result of strangulation by ligature and her death was ruled as a homicide. The case has now been turned over to a grand jury. The girl was remembered as a 'sweet little angel' by her school principal Roger Wilkinson. 'If you were a teacher, you'd like a room full of them,' he told the Birmingham News. | John Dillon Salers is accused of tying a rope around his half-sister Katelynn Arnold's neck and hanging her .
The half-siblings had been in the care of their aunt and uncle for about four years as their mother 'worked through some issues' |
13,482 | 26488842ab255e4efd180caed2f6420b8a0c3fef | A 'callous and contemptuous' paediatrician who ran an unregistered mobile circumcision service has been struck off after he carried out a string of bungled and unhygienic procedures - including one while a baby boy was screaming in agony because the anaesthetic had worn off. Dr Mohammed Siddiqui, 49, of Southampton, carried out four botched circumcisions on youngsters at their homes in Southampton, Bath, Birmingham and Reading for parents who wanted to have their children circumcised for religious reasons. But the NHS doctor failed to wear gloves or carry proper resuscitation equipment, leaving one baby suffering seizures and another in agony when he woke up during the circumcision and Siddiqui decided to carry on anyway. Mohammed Siddiqui has been struck off the medical register after he carried out botched and unhygienic circumcisions on baby boys in an unregistered mobile clinic, with a 'reckless disregard' for their safety . He has now been struck off the medical register. Siddiqui's 'mobile clinic' was not registered with the Care Quality Commission and the doctor failed to secure proper insurance for each procedure. He worked at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust at the time he was running the clinic for cash, as a sideline, between June 2012 and November 2013. He was suspended but carried on carrying out the procedures using a loophole in the law. He has since resigned from the NHS. Following a three-week hearing at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester, 69 separate allegations against Dr Siddiqui were found proved and he was branded a risk to patients, having acted with a 'reckless disregard' for their safety. Siddiqui performed the procedures on four separate boys. The families said the medic did not wash his hands prior to the procedures treatment, did not wear surgical gloves, failed to carry out proper examinations and did not have proper resuscitation equipment including oxygen and airway equipment. He even carried surgical materials in plastic carrier bags and used baby wipes during the procedures. Siddiqui was working at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust and running the service as a sideline . An investigation began after a complaint by Kelly Braiha and her husband Ghali, from Littlehampton in West Sussex, which claimed their 23-month-old son Najem was left traumatised and suffered an infection because Siddiqui did not take hygienic precautions. When one boy suffered an adverse reaction to a local anaesthetic, Siddiqui did not realise it was a seizure and failed to act immediately to ensure an ambulance was called. Instead, when the boy's eyes started rolling back in his head and he began frothing at the mouth, Siddiqui thought the boy was cold and asked the baby's father to wrap him in a blanket and turn the central heating up. The baby was later taken to hospital where suffered two further seizures. When the parent of a second boy rang the medic to say his son was still in pain, Siddiqui failed to respond and in an email accused him of 'telling lies'. A third boy - whose parents are themselves both doctors - woke up during the procedure and began screaming in agony but Siddiqui saw 'no point in waiting any longer'. Siddiqui is pictured leaving the GMC hearing in Manchester . The hearing was told he kept saying: 'I didn't need to stop because the child was already crying.' An operation on a further youngster was such a poor standard he had to carry out another circumcision on the same child the following day. The boy suffered injuries from the operation because too much skin was removed, Siddiqui failed to refer him to a hospital and then ignored his parents when they expressed concerns over his condition, the tribunal had heard. Circumcision is only available through the NHS if there are compelling medical reasons but healthcare workers still have to be registered with the Care Quality Commission if they want to perform home circumcisions for religious reasons. However it is feared Siddiqui - despite being struck off - could try to continue to operate his dangerous private mobile clinic because male circumcision is not illegal in Britain. The practice is popular among the Muslim community. Panel Chairman John Donnelly said Dr Siddiqui had been 'evasive and contradictory' during his evidence and said the medic had treated the GMC with 'contempt.' He added: 'His misconduct was both a particularly serious departure and reckless disregard of good medical practise and patient safety. Some of his behaviour as previously identified, involved breaches of very basic mandatory medical principles.' Mr Donnelly said Siddiqui had put one baby's life at risk by failing to deal with the situation properly when a baby suffered a seizure and had caused considerable pain by continuing with the circumcision when one baby woke up crying. The chairman added: 'He seemed completely indifferent to the fact he had caused pain to this baby and actually said that when babies were already crying he established the effectiveness of the local anaesthetic by beginning the procedure and seeing the reaction. Siddiqui also failed to obtain adequate histories of each boy he was performed the procedure, it was said, as well as failing to make sure his equipment was aseptic. Siddiqui did not wash his hands properly before procedures and continued to carry out a circumcision on a young boy who woke up screaming in agony during surgery because the anaesthetic had worn off . Mr Donnelly added 'Mr Siddiqui said he is an experienced, hospital-based paediatric surgeon, yet he made a number of failures in basic hygiene in preparing babies for the circumcision and in preparing himself to perform them. Taken together they amounted to serious failures that must have increased the risk of infection to the very young children upon whom he was operating. 'Given his experience he must have known that the level of hygiene he was applying fell far below the standard expected of a medical practitioner carrying out a surgical procedure in the home and was wrong.' The Panel said it was also concerned that Siddiqui's attitude showed a significant lack of concern for the wellbeing of the babies and their parents. It found the only option was for 'erasure', or striking off, from the register. Mr Donnelly said: “The Panel has concluded that Mr Siddiqui’s behaviour is fundamentally incompatible with continued registration. It is satisfied that erasure is necessary in order to protect the public, to uphold professional standards and to maintain confidence in the profession. The panel also found he often showed an arrogance and was reluctant to take advice from senior doctors. | Dr Mohammed Siddiqui was NHS paediatrician at Southampton Hospital .
He ran an unregistered mobile circumcision service for cash as a sideline .
Siddiqui botched procedures, leaving babies in agony and needing surgery .
He failed to respect hygiene and had a 'reckless regard' for their safety .
Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service found 69 allegations proved .
Tribunal ruled Siddiqui should be struck off the medical register .
But there are fears he could continue to run mobile service because male circumcision is not illegal in the UK, and common in Muslim communities . |
173,956 | 6d1aa265644010322c35ac91406ee9839fade04f | (CNN)The United States is maintaining a list of about two dozen or so top ISIS operatives in Iraq and Syria that it hopes to target in airstrikes, according to a senior U.S. official. The list essentially amounts to a kill list, since the United States has no troops on the ground in Iraq or Syria to capture ISIS suspects. The No. 1 target on the list is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS. One U.S. official said al-Baghdadi is well-aware the United States is hunting him, so the belief is he is staying out of sight. It's been months since the last intelligence report about where al-Baghdadi is hiding, a senior U.S. official tells CNN. The United States believes al-Baghdadi knows warplanes are hunting him, so he moves cautiously -- even as his influence has grown beyond Syria and Iraq. The United States has already killed a dozen or so ISIS operatives on the list, including an ISIS chemical weapons expert, the senior official says. But others are added to the list as intelligence is gained about their role in ISIS. The official strongly emphasized that the command-and-control structure of ISIS remains murky and more intelligence is needed about the identity of top operatives. ISIS executioners such as so-called Jihadi John are still in the U.S. crosshairs -- but the list focuses on targeting those whose death would broadly hurt ISIS. The kill list may now expand as the United States struggles to understand an ISIS command structure made more confusing by the growth of ISIS adherents in Egypt, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya. One analyst cautions those labeling themselves as ISIS might have very different goals. "We have to take each terrorist or cult organization in every country as a separate entity. We can't look at it as one big group. You may miss the most important targets when you are doing that," said Mark Hertling, CNN military analyst. The growing -- and alarming -- reach of ISIS . The execution of Egyptian Christians on the Libyan coastline underscores the targeting problem. The United States wants to identify the killers. But the broader worry is ISIS' position in Libya. It now has a stronghold in Derna and operates across Libyan coastal areas within reach of southern Europe via busy shipping lanes. "It's very difficult to have the same kind of controls over people who might be getting on boats who might be working as stevedores or laborers on ships that are coming into European ports," Hertling said. | The No. 1 target on the list is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a senior U.S. official says .
The United States has already killed a dozen or so ISIS operatives on the list, the official says . |
64,545 | b74bfef5e37441015c069a738adcc697840af9bb | Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm revealed she has banned her five-year-old daughter Scarlet from looking at pictures of Rihanna . She exposed more than her fair share of flesh during her days as a Spice Girl often favouring a crop top to flaunt her toned torso. But Melanie Chisholm yesterday revealed she has banned her five-year-old daughter Scarlet from looking at pictures of Rihanna because she thinks the pop star is too raunchy. Explaining her decision, the 40-year-old also urged female stars to show a little 'more dignity' and stop being so overtly sexual. Miss Chisholm, who was once better known as Sporty Spice, said: 'My five-year-old daughter loves Rihanna. 'But she has no idea what her idol looks like, because there is little footage of Rihanna that I'm happy for her to see. 'It's a shame that a talented, successful woman expresses herself in such an overtly sexual way. Not that we can boil the problem down to one female singer baring her flesh. 'We need to have a bigger conversation about society's obsession with celebrity. It's vulgar and narcissistic and I worry about how it affects young girls.' It is not the first time Rihanna, 26, has come under fire for her provocative and sexually suggestive image and her risqué outfits. Two years ago she was dropped by Nivea as her image was considered inappropriate for a family brand. Miss Chisholm along with former bandmates Victoria Beckham, Mel B, Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell championed 'Girl Power' as a term of empowerment in the 1990s and turned themselves into multi-millionaires in the process. She said the problem did not 'boil down' to one female singer exposing her flesh. Scroll down for video . Rihanna, 26, has come under fire for her provocative and sexually suggestive image and her risqué outfits . Unlike some of today's acts, the Spice Girls 'weren't interested in pleasing men' and made music that sent a positive image to girls and women, she said. Speaking to the Radio Times, Miss Chisholm said: 'There are some great artists out there, but sometimes we could just do with a bit more dignity. 'We need female artists to be authentic. Of course, a 20-something woman has feelings and experiences that she wants to express - but you also have to be mindful of your responsibility to young fans.' The singer exposed more than her fair share of flesh during her days as a Spice Girl often favouring a crop top to flaunt her toned torso . Rihanna was dropped by Nivea two years ago as her image was considered inappropriate for a family brand . Miss Chisholm, who split from Thomas Starr in 2012, her partner of ten years and father of Scarlet,added: 'We need to have a bigger conversation about society's obsession with celebrity. It's vulgar and narcissistic and I worry about how it affects young girls.' The singer's comments come in the wake of growing concerns about sexual content in music videos, and with the launch of a pilot scheme to give raunchy videos shown online in the UK age ratings. Chart-topping Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, which featured naked models dancing, was one of the most high profile videos to raise eyebrows last year. Artists such as Annie Lennox have condemned the 'pornographic' content of some material presented to younger fans. 'I'm all for freedom of expression, but this is clearly one step beyond, and it's clearly into the realm of porn,' Lennox has said. | Mel C urged female stars to show 'dignity' and stop being so overtly sexual .
Spice Girl said her five-year-old has no idea what Rihanna looks like .
She said there is little footage of singer she is happy for her to see .
Mel C often favoured a crop top to flaunt her toned torso as a Spice Girl . |
7,141 | 14370187e4380f52048985ea387dfeb068118dd0 | (CNN) -- NBC has canceled "Whitney." And "Guys With Kids." And "Up All Night." And "1600 Penn." That's four half-hour comedies axed in one afternoon. And those are in addition to "30 Rock" and "The Office," which are having their final seasons this year. And let's not forget "Animal Practice," the network's previously cancelled comedy this season. And there still could be more carnage to come. We're also awaiting word on the fates of freshman comedies Go On and The New Normal, along with perpetual underdog veteran "Community." What has survived? NBC renewed "Parks & Recreation" for a sixth season today. "Parks" is NBC's best-performing show on Thursday night's after The Office, though it has an average adults 18-49 rating that's less than one third of CBS' Thursday leader "The Big Bang Theory" (2.0 vs. 6.2). NBC announced earlier that it will partly restock its lineup with a few new comedies. Highlights include Sean Hayes in Sean Saves the World, about a guy who must figure out how to parent his 14-year-old daughter, and a TV series version of the 2002 film "About a Boy," starring David Walton as a bachelor whose primary goal in life is avoiding any kind of responsibility until he meets a geeky young boy. 'Community' finale: The end (for now?) But NBC will have a tough time regaining its former legendary Thursday night comedy dominance. CBS made serious inroads into the evening with "Big Bang" and "Two and a Half Men" frequently ruling the 8 p.m. hour. Recently CBS experimented with putting repeats of other comedies into the 9 p.m. hour, raising the possibility of a full-scale two-hour comedy invasion into the evening next fall. Expect more NBC and CBS prime-time moves over the next several days as broadcasters prepare for their upfront presentations in New York City next week. NBC will announce its new fall schedule on Sunday and CBS will unveil its plans on Wednesday. See the original article at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved. | NBC has canceled "Whitney," "Guys With Kids," "Up All Night" and "1600 Penn"
That's in addition to "30 Rock" and "The Office," which are having their final seasons this year .
NBC announced earlier that it will partly restock its lineup with a few new comedies . |
21,204 | 3c2120c169c0155d206f5d22da9fd47969965301 | Ugh. Three outbreaks of illness affecting more than 100 people each have been reported aboard two cruise liners -- two of them in back-to-back cruises of the same ship -- according to the nation's leading health protection agency. The double dose of ill-fated cruises struck the Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. During the ship's April 5 to April 12 cruise, 105 of the nearly 3,000 passengers and crew were affected -- primarily with vomiting and diarrhea, the disease agency said. During the ship's cruise the prior week, 117 passengers and crew members were struck, according to the CDC. Two CDC Vessel Sanitation Program environmental health officers and an epidemiologist were to board the vessel in Baltimore, Maryland, on Saturday to conduct an investigation. Specimens were being collected to be sent to the CDC lab for testing. "We'll be working with both the medical teams as well as the crew on board the vessel and the cruise line with doing follow ups," Bernadette Burden, a CDC spokeswoman, told CNN affiliate WJZ. "Really taking a look at their cleaning, sanitation and hygiene practices that are being employed on the ship to interrupt the spread of disease." But the ship's owners were planning to plunge onward, departing as scheduled at 4 p.m. Saturday on the next cruise -- seven nights to the Bahamas. Royal Caribbean told WJZ that any would-be passengers feeling a little queasy about the prospect of leaving Saturday aboard the twice-stricken ship could reschedule. The third outbreak affected Princess Cruise's Crown Princess during a week-long cruise ending Saturday. In all, 152 of the more-than 4,000 passengers and crew were sickened. A lone CDC Vessel Sanitation Program environmental health officer was to board the ship upon its arrival Saturday in Los Angeles "to conduct a targeted environmental health assessment, and evaluate the outbreak and response activities," the CDC said. The chief suspect behind all three waves of illness is norovirus, a highly infectious virus that can be picked up through contaminated food or water or by touching contaminated surfaces. It causes inflammation of the stomach, intestines or both, often leading to stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Each year in the United States, it causes 19 million to 21 million illnesses, and contributes to 56,000 to 71,000 hospitalizations and as many as 800 deaths, CDC says. Cruise ships are a prime target. "We have so many people together in a closed environment, eating in the same place," Catherine Troisi, associate professor of management, policy and community health at the University of Texas School of Public Health, told WJZ. "That's why you see it." How the Navy avoids norovirus . Are cruise ships floating petri dishes? Is your cruise safe? | The Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas was struck during back-to-back cruises ending Saturday .
That won't stop it from setting off Saturday for a third cruise .
Norovirus is a common cause of diarrhea and vomiting among cruise ship passengers .
It causes as many as 800 U.S. deaths per year, CDC says . |
61,222 | ade430b06108073780259f63e41e1333f984a35e | Los Angeles (CNN) -- If you are parked in front of your TV to watch the Grammys, you only saw a fraction of what happened at the annual music awards show Sunday. In fact, 70 of the 81 trophies were handed out in a pre-telecast ceremony in the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, next to the Staples Center where the last 11 Grammys were presented between a record 20 star-studded performances. Plenty of action takes place backstage where the winners go to talk after they leave the stage, as well. There were hints backstage that the Zac Brown Band, which claimed the best country album Grammy, may be veering into other music genres. "I love great music of all different kinds," Zac Brown said. "We're just getting started. One project ahead is an acoustic album, Brown said. "We really control all of our destiny now and all of our rights to everything we do now, so we can really experiment," he said. He especially enjoyed the Grammy performances of Rihanna, Sting, Justin Timberlake and Kelly Clarkson, Brown said. Brown used the Grammy weekend to develop relationships with other artists. "My rolodex got strong this weekend," He said. After Carrie Underwood won her sixth Grammy, the latest for best country solo performance, she made it clear backstage that she's sticking to country music and would never cross over into pop music. "I love that world," Underwood said. "I love the people in it. I love making country music that anybody can get into. If it ever crosses over, then it does it on its on. I don't think I can see myself making a pop album." We learned backstage why Jay-Z teased The Dream about the "Boyz in the Hood" he was wearing when they accepted their Grammy for best rap/sung collabotation. "I would like to thank the swap meet for his hat," Jay-Z said in his acceptance. "He was just digging on me," The Dream explained backstage. "Yeah, we do that." The trigger for the kiddng was that Jay-Z's wife, Beyonce, had just said she wanted the hat. And in fact, he bought the cap at a swap meet in Compton, Caifornia, he said. The Dream also revealed he would fly to Paris soon to work on an album with Kanye West, who shared the collaboration Grammy with him. "Hopefully we can get another Grammy together," he said. The televised presentations target pop, country, urban, rock, and rap categories, leaving the jazz, gospel, classical, Latin and other categories to the pre-show. The Nokia Theatre was far from full, because many of the 754 individual nominees and their teams were on the red carpet or still getting ready for the big show while the pre-show was under way. But if you were there for the pre-show -- or watched it streamed online -- you would have heard Rihanna, Drake, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Usher, Beyonce and Paul McCartney win Grammys. You still would not have seen them, however, because those stars were not present to accept. You would have seen Taylor Swift making an effort to appear excited and surprised as she accepted a Grammy for best song written for visual media. She won it because she was a co-writer of "Safe & Sound," a song made for "The Hunger Games" film. "This is unbelievable!" Swift exclaimed. It was her sixth Grammy in her young career. The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson also took the pre-telecast stage to accept the Grammy for best historical album. He co-produced "The Smile Sessions," a resurrection of an abandoned Beach Boys album project from 45 years ago. He hinted that the Beach Boys have "a lot of stuff in the can that hasn't been heard" and that the group would "try to get an album together" this year. Wilson, 70, appeared frail, requiring two men to walk on each side backstage. Janis Ian, another major star from the past, was there to accept a Grammy. Ian called it a "big upset" when she beat first lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, Ellen DeGeneres and Rachel Maddow in the best spoken word category. "I keep thinking there must be a punchline here," Ian joked. "An ex-president and the first lady and three lesbians walk into a bar." Ian won for narrating "Society's Child: My Autobiography." It was just her second Grammy after nine nominations in eight different categories. "I made a choice to be a songwriter and not be part of the circus all the time. I don't do popular music because that's not what I'm good at," Ian said backstage. Bonnie Raitt was there to get her 10th Grammy, the latest for best Americana album given for "Slipstream." "I didn't expect this," Raitt said. "I have enough." Jazz legend Pat Metheny took home his 20th Grammy out of 36 nominated. The latest for best jazz instrumental album, given to him for "Unity Band." Esperanza Spalding, the bass-playing jazz singer whose best new artist win upset Justin Bieber fans two years ago, was present to win two more Grammys in the pre-telecast. Spalding, 28, won for best instrumental arrangement accompanying vocalists and for best jazz vocal album for "Radio Music Society." Drake, whom Spalding also beat two years ago for best new artist, may now wish he had been there because the rapper was awarded his first Grammy after 13 nominations. Then again, he also lost twice Sunday when Jay-Z and Kanye West beat him in the best rap song and best rap performance categories. Paul McCartney was a no-show to pick up his Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album. It was awarded for his "Kisses on the Bottom" album. While there are plenty of household names announced in the pre-show, it is also the chance for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to honor people who perform important jobs for the music industry. For example, Billy Vera won a Grammy for writing the best album notes. He composed the notes for an album of Ray Charles music, "Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles." Fritz Klaetke, the art director for "Woody At 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection," won a Grammy for producing the best boxed or special limited edition package. While this may seem to be the most unglamorous of all Grammys, Klaetke said the category was important for "recognizing the role packaging design plays in these days of downloaded music." | NEW: Best country album winner Zac Brown hints his band may try new music .
NEW: Carrie Underwood reveals backstage she would never make a pop album .
2011 best new artist Esperanza Spalding accepts two Grammys in Sunday's pre-show .
The pre-telecast honors categories such as best album notes and best album package . |
19,739 | 38104636b3b19e552a39a0e8f7769ce7efaad154 | Madrid (CNN) -- Spanish investigators are trying to figure out how a 5-month-old baby died on a baggage carousel at an airport in Alicante. A spokeswoman for Spain's airport authority, AENA, said Thursday it's not clear how the baby ended up on the baggage belt for oversized luggage. "The baby was on the baggage carousel, but could not have gotten there alone. Someone had to put the baby there. I don't know how the baby got there," said the airport spokeswoman, who by custom is not identified. The infant's mother, an American woman, arrived at the airport late Wednesday on a flight from London's Gatwick airport with her baby and another young child, the spokeswoman said. The father, who is Canadian, was already there waiting at the Alicante airport, she added. The baggage carousel is a flat, black rubber-type belt that moves only in one direction and is only activated when oversized bags are sent out on it for pickup. It's several feet long and passengers can stand on either side of it or at the receiving end, the spokeswoman said. She said it was not immediately known if the infant was placed on the belt while it was stopped, or once it had started moving. An unidentified security officer at the airport told CNN affiliate Atlas she didn't see the incident, but was told that "the mother apparently put (the baby) down on the conveyer belt when she went to reach for something. He was crushed by the conveyer belt and it killed him." Airport medical personnel rushed to the scene but were unable to revive the infant, the spokeswoman said. The Spanish Civil Guard said the baby's death appears to be an accident, but an investigation is under way. At a loss: Comforting grieving parents . After the baby was pronounced dead, the family had to wait for a judge to arrive, by Spanish law, so that the body could be moved. Civil Guards took statements from the parents at the airport, the airport spokeswoman said. The baggage belt for oversized luggage -- which includes infant car seats and baby strollers -- is at one end of a large baggage claims hall at the Alicante airport, which handles 9 million passengers a year, the spokeswoman said. The baggage carousel is in a secure area, and passengers go through it to claim their bags before they exit into the public arrivals hall. The father of the baby would not have had access to that area, the airport spokeswoman said. Civil Guard and National Police spokesmen confirmed the nationalities of the mother and father as American and Canadian, respectively. A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Madrid said that U.S. Consular officials are aware of the incident and are providing assistance. A spokeswoman for the Canadian Embassy in Madrid said she could not comment and referred inquiries to the Canadian government's Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa. Spanish newspaper El Pais reported the family had come to the Alicante area, on Spain's Mediterranean coast, for vacation, but authorities would not immediately confirm that. When terrible things happen: Helping children heal . | It's not clear how the baby ended up on the baggage carousel .
The mother, an American, also had another young child with her .
Authorities believe it was an accident but are investigating . |
78,870 | df83dd0372849ec9a117e5a67462c0ba12417da7 | (CNN) -- The Venezuelan government initiated a new charge against a private television broadcaster and said that 29 additional radio stations would soon be closed, the latest move in what critics call a crackdown on freedom of expression. Demonstrators hold up a picture of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at a pro-Chavez rally on Saturday. The Saturday announcement by Minister of Public Works and Housing Diosdado Cabello, who oversees the state telecommunications regulator, came at a counter-rally to marches protesting the hardline tactics of President Hugo Chavez. Friday's marches against Chavez were in part to protest the government's closure of 32 radio stations and two television broadcasters last month. The government said the stations were shut down for violations relating to their broadcast licenses. Critics say the president was clamping down on critical press. "There are 29 [radio stations] that will be off the air shortly," Cabello said at Saturday's pro-Chavez rally. Cabello also announced a new legal complaint against television broadcaster Globovision as a sanction for allegedly calling for a coup against Chavez during its coverage of Friday's rallies. Globovision carried text messages from viewers on a ticker on the bottom of the screen during the anti-Chavez protests that called for an overthrow of the government, Cabello said. "If you call for a coup, if you call for assassination, assume your responsibility," he said. The government has already initiated a number of charges against Globovision. The station, known for being critical of Chavez, is being investigated for breaking a law on "social responsibility" on some programs on certain dates. The station violated a statute that makes it illegal to utilize telecommunication channels to further criminal acts, the government alleges. Venezuelan authorities had also opened an investigation into whether Globovision broke the law May 4 when it reported about an earthquake before an official report had been issued on the matter. Two other investigations had previously been launched against the station. The relationship between privately-owned media in Venezuela and the leftist Chavez have never been rosy. Chavez has accused private television stations of supporting his brief ouster in 2002, and the president was a driving force behind denying a license renewal in 2007 to one broadcaster he said cooperated with the opposition. | Venezuela says 29 more radio stations to be closed; 32 already shut down .
Minister also announces new charges against TV station critical of president .
Critics say President Hugo Chavez' government is trying to silence press criticism .
Announcements come at pro-Chavez rally, countering anti-Chavez rallies on Friday . |
94,433 | 055e6078605171ba58ef98d95b1a669dd1c4cdbc | California animal control discovered an eight-foot alligator surrounded by the bodies of two cats at a suburban Los Angeles home on Monday. The female crocodile named Jaxson was found in a box with a lid at the home of Laura Mattson, who had been caring for the reptile for years, possibly decades. 'It was found under foliage and debris. You had to be looking for it to locate it,' said Mark Salazar, of field operations director for Los Angeles Animal Services, who said experts estimate Jaxson is 40 years old. Scroll down for video . Later gator: Authorities discovered an eight-foot crocodile Jaxson being kept at the home of Laura Mattson, who provided a photo of Jaxson among several kittens to show how docile the animal was . Los Angeles Zoo officials impounded and moved the reptile (pictured), estimated to be about 40 years old . Mattson said her late husband Jim brought Jaxson into the family when it was a baby. She lamented the fact that animal control had removed it from the property. 'It's like losing part of my family and plus losing part of Jim. So now I've lost him too,' Mattson told ABC. After finding two dead cats alongside Jaxson, authorities said they believe Mattson was feeding the felines to the alligator, a claim she and her brother deny. 'Now we lost the alligator. And now they're making statements that shouldn't be making because nobody's feeding cats to the alligator,' said Mattson's brother Ron Gorecki. 'We got plenty of money to feed whatever we have to feed,' he added. Mattson explained she cared for several neutered feral cats at her home, telling NBC the alligator had been hand-fed 'hot dogs and chicken for 36 years.' Habitat: The female crocodile, believed to be 37 years old, was found in a box with a lid, where Mattson kept her to keep her from being taken by officers . Housepet: Mattson claimed her late husband Jim brought the gator into the family when it was a baby, and that losing it was like losing a part of her husband . Fed: Mattson's brother Ron Gorecki denied any claim they were feeding cats to the alligator and said Jaxson was part of the family . 'She was so docile, she would let rats eat the hot dogs out of her mouth,' Mattson told the station. Officers still paid a visit to neighbors in the area to ask whether any small pets had disappeared in the past. Authorities had been hunting around the neighborhood of Van Nuys for the animal since 2014, when animal control received a call about an alligator and arrived on Mattson's doorstep. A search of the property came up empty then, but officers returned Monday after a neighbor reported seeing the gator. Mattson refused to allow animal control to enter the home, so officers went to a judge to obtain a search warrant and finally found Jaxson. It is illegal to keep wildlife in Los Angeles without a permit. For the time being, Jaxson will be held at the Los Angeles Zoo while animal control conducts an investigation. Mattson said the animal was only in the box to keep animal services from taking it, but also claimed she had been looking to find a home for Jaxson, and tried calling the zoo, but it was full. 'I understand now it's not legal, but when it becomes a pet, it becomes your family,' her brother told ABC. 'When it becomes your family, you protect the pet and the people involved. That's all there is to it,' he added. | The animal was found in the backyard of Van Nuys resident Laura Mattson .
Mattson had cared for the alligator, Jaxson, since her husband brought it home when it was a baby 36 years ago .
Authorities believe Mattson fed the alligator cats, since several dead cats were found nearby .
Mattson claims she hand-fed Jaxson hot dogs and chicken . |
177,651 | 71fedc5914e23303a65dab9e94fd97a1bd5eac86 | By . Steve Robson . PUBLISHED: . 11:05 EST, 23 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:35 EST, 23 November 2012 . A row has broken out between two of Britain’s most historic cathedral cities after one accused the other of trying to 'steal' its Christmas shoppers. Traders in Salisbury, Wiltshire, were left seething when a billboard went up in the city centre advertising a festive market in Winchester, Hampshire, 30 miles away. They feared the poster - which described Winchester as 'England’s Christmas Capital' - would draw away valuable business. Riled: Traders in Salisbury were left fuming when this poster for a Christmas market in neighbouring town Winchester appeared on their doorstep . Payback: Salisbury traders retaliated by erecting a poster for their own festive market by Winchester's railway station . Now they have hit back with their own market and poster - and placed it in view of thousands of commuters near Winchester’s railway station. Salisbury hopes to attract some of the 400,000 people that spend around £1.5 million at the German-style market in Winchester each year. The event - in the former capital of England - has been running in the picturesque grounds of Winchester Cathedral for six years. An open air ice rink, live music, and wooden chalets selling a range of food and handmade gifts are said to boost sales in nearby shops by 25 per cent. Lucrative: The Christmas market at Winchester pulls in 400,000 people a year and is said to be worth at least £1.5million to the local economy . Ian Newman, chairman of Salisbury City Centre Management, hopes Salisbury’s new Christmas market will help claw back some customers. He said: 'A lot of traders in Salisbury were angry when Winchester tried to steal our customers by placing an advert in our city centre. 'They first did it last year and have done so again this year. In the current economic climate every customer is crucial and we cannot afford to lose them to other cities. 'We have wanted a Christmas market in Salisbury for many years and Winchester’s poster spurred us on to launch one this year. 'As part of our marketing we have placed a billboard poster in Winchester and are now taking them on - on their own turf.' Rivalry: Salisbury traders say Winchester Christmas market is stealing their business . Charlotte Barnaville, from Winchester Christmas Market, welcomed the competition. She said: 'The advert in Salisbury formed part of our wider marketing campaign and was not targeted specifically at them. 'We just want people to be aware of our event and are not trying to ‘steal’ customers. 'However, our poster does seem to have spurred them on and it is nice to have a bit of friendly competition between two great historic cities.' She added: 'We are not overly concerned by their efforts because we are confident we still offer the best market and Christmas entertainment in England.' | Traders in Salisbury, Wiltshire, left fuming by billboard in their city centre advertising festive market in Winchester 30 miles away .
Hit back by putting poster up in Hampshire for their own Christmas market .
'We're taking them on - on their own turf' Ian Newman, chairman of Salisbury city centre management . |
73,163 | cf827b692b65dff6979247414f339b64ebe72bcb | Ashya King could fly to Prague for potentially life-saving treatment as early as tonight after his parent’s were finally given permission to take the desperately ill boy out of a Spanish hospital. Brett and Naghmeh King were granted their wish by a High Court judge – eight days after they removed him from a Southampton hospital following a row with doctors and drove to Spain. The five-year-old brain tumour patient will fly by private jet to a specialist hospital in the capital of the Czech Republic as soon as possible after he was deemed in a 'perfect condition to travel'. Family lawyer Juan Isidro Fernandez Diaz said today that the youngster could fly to Prague as early as tonight, Sunday, or Monday at the very latest. Scroll down for video . New hope: Brett, pictured outside the Malaga hospital with his son Danny today, and Naghmeh King were granted their wish by a High Court judge - eight days after they removed him from a Southampton hospital . Urgent treatment: Ashya's mother Naghmeh and father Brett, pictured leaving the Malaga children's hospital today, asked for the five-year-old, pictured last year, to be transferred to a private hospital 560miles away . Best course of action: Ashya's parents now hope that it is not too late for their son to get the treatment he desperately needs to prevent the cancer cells from regenerating . The family's lawyer Juan Isidro Fernandez Diaz (pictured on Sky News today) said the youngster could fly to Prague as early as tonight, Sunday, or Monday at the latest and said he was in a 'perfect condition to travel' Ashya is expected to receive a course of chemotherapy at a children's hospital before being given proton beam therapy which his parents believe will give him the best chance of survival. The lawyer said: ‘We’ve got the judge’s order. We’re very happy. It’s wonderful news. We’ve got a private jet virtually ready to take Ashya out of hospital.’ He also said the brain tumour patient was in 'perfect condition' to travel at the moment and had been playing with his family and toys. Mr Justice Baker made the decision after receiving a detailed plan outlining the treatment Ashya will receive. He was also provided with evidence that the boy’s parents have enough money to pay for the treatment at the Proton Therapy Centre and travel costs. The extraordinary development came hours after Ashya’s family were effectively ‘held hostage’ by a Spanish hospital which refused to release him. His parents asked for him to be moved from the state institution to a private hospital 560miles away so he could start chemotherapy. 'Overjoyed': Ashya in hospital with his mother Naghmeh. The five-year-old will fly by private jet to a specialist hospital in Prague as soon as possible to start a course of proton beam therapy . The children’s hospital in Malaga treating Ashya had refused to allow him to leave without permission from the British courts, telling his parents: ‘He’s going nowhere.’ August 28: Brett and Naghmeh King wheel their Ashya out of Southampton General hospital after disagreements over his care. Family flee to Spain. Six hours later, hospital alerts Hampshire police. August 29: Police warn ‘time is running out’ for Ashya as he needs specialist equipment. He becomes a ‘ward of court’ in the UK. August 30: European Arrest Warrant issued. Members of the public spot the family. The parents are arrested and Ashya is taken to a children’s hospital in Malaga. August 31: Ashya’s brother Naveed posts a YouTube video denying neglect. Southampton hospital claims that it offered the family a second opinion. Parents appear at a Malaga court before being transferred to Madrid. September 1: Parents told they will stay in custody after they refuse to be extradited. September 2: Kings freed after arrest warrant dropped. September 3: Ashya and his parents are reunited. Kings are told they must submit Ashya’s treatment plan for approval by doctors. A charity agrees to cover the cost of proton beam therapy. September 4: Negotiations continue over Ashya’s treatment. September 5: Ashya was due to fly out to Prague for treatment after a judge agreed to allow his parents to take him there. Meanwhile, the family’s lawyer stoked up bad feeling by saying that a British court had no right to decide the boy’s future because it did not have jurisdiction in Spain. As pressure to resolve the impasse mounted, Mr Justice Baker held a telephone conference with lawyers yesterday afternoon to thrash out a resolution. Ashya’s parents now hope that it is not too late for their son to get the treatment he desperately needs to prevent the cancer cells from regenerating. The couple want him to have proton beam therapy rather than traditional radiotherapy. Last week they fled to the south of Spain where they were arrested following a manhunt and forced to spend three nights in separate cells in a Madrid prison. Following a national outcry, they were released and reunited with their son. As he is still a ward of court, the parents had to submit a care plan to doctors at Southampton General yesterday. Ashya’s grandmother said: ‘At 4pm yesterday, we’d lost all hope. Now, he’s on his way to Prague.’ Patricia King added: ‘We’re overjoyed that he’s finally getting treatment and we are so relieved.’ The seriously ill boy remains a ward of the High Court. However, this will be dropped when he reaches the Prague hospital. Experts there have studied Ashya’s records after they were sent over by the University Hospital Southampton Trust on Tuesday night. The treatment is likely to cost between £60,000 and £65,000. The Proton Therapy Centre claims its therapy is less than half the price of comparable treatment in the US. Family lawyer Juan Isidro Fernandez Diaz had said that the decision to make Ashya a ward of the court had ‘no validity under international law’ because he is in Spain and not Britain. ‘The High Court can say it’s got custody but Ashya is in Spain and under international law it can’t execute the ward of court power,’ he said. Pioneering: The treatment room at the Proton Therapy Centre in Prague, where Ashya is expected to arrive to begin the treatment which is not available on the NHS . Next stop? Tonight it remained unclear whether the boy was flying straight to the private clinic in Prague (pictured) or was stopping off at the Clinica Universidad de Navarra, in Pamplona, northern Spain . Earlier Mr Diaz said: ‘Ashya will be going to a private clinic in Navarra. His parents are very happy with the doctors they have contacted, with the treatment that has been proposed and with the results of that treatment.’ A source at the Malaga hospital said: ‘The director of the Materno-Infantil Hospital received a formal request for Ashya’s transfer to Navarra Hospital. We have replied saying his parents must obtain the permission of the High Court first and until that happens, he’s going nowhere.’ The source said the hospital was puzzled by the request for the move to the private Navarra facility because the family would have to pay for treatment it was currently getting for free. | Parents Brett and Naghmeh King granted their wish by a High Court judge .
Ashya will fly by private jet to specialist hospital in Prague, Czech Republic .
Lawyer said he would travel either tonight, Sunday or on Monday at latest .
He said he was in 'perfect condition' to fly and has been playing with toys .
He is expected to receive chemotherapy before proton beam therapy .
His parents believe treatment will give him the best chance of survival .
Mr Justice Baker made decision after receiving treatment plan from Kings .
It outlined the treatment and evidence that the boys' parents can pay for it .
He will cease to be A ward of the court when he reaches Prague hospital .
KIDS’n’CancerUK is helping the Kings fund the proton therapy. You can help support the charity and Ashya’s family online at www.justgiving.com/Ashya-King- Proton- Beam-Treatment. |
226,375 | b11e7842d041162d35838d715d15b69d49500aa6 | Aston Villa haven’t scored for four games, and they have scored only one goal in their last six outings in the Premier League. Their tally of just 11 goals in 21 games so far this season is pathetic – it’s comfortably the lowest total in the Premier League and it’s less than half the number Queens Park Rangers have managed. Losing 1-0 at Leicester City on Saturday was as bad as it gets for Villa. They created virtually nothing, the fans booed them at half-time and full-time, chanted for Paul Lambert to go and told the manager he didn’t know what he was doing. Aston Villa and Leicester City players clash in Saturday's Premier League match at the King Power Stadium . Paul Lambert is under pressure as his Aston Villa side continue to slide down the Premier League table . Aston Villa is one of England’s finest football clubs. The leading representative of England’s second city, they have reigned supreme at home and in Europe in the past and have a stadium that is the envy of many. But on the pitch right now they’re useless. If the fans are expecting a return to the Martin O’Neill days when Villa challenged (albeit in vain) for a top-four place, then that’s optimism gone mad. O’Neill left because he didn’t want to work within financial restrictions imposed by owner Randy Lerner. Lambert has taken the job on, occasionally he has got Villa playing some decent stuff but those games have been too infrequent, and right now they are non-existent. Gabriel Agbonlahor, battling with Dean Hammond, has everything a top striker needs... other than his finishing . Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke looks like a player who doesn't want to be at the club . Aston Villa shouldn’t be contenders at the top, but they shouldn’t be this bad. Fans fear a relegation fight and with good reason. I believe Lambert is a good manager who has lost his way. Fielding a midfield three of Ashley Westwood, Carlos Sanchez and Tom Cleverley against a team bottom of the table with only one home win all season is shameful. I’m a fan of Westwood as a holding midfielder, there’s a hint of Michael Carrick about him. But in terms of invention and creation there is nothing. Further forward, Joe Cole looks like he’s retired already, Andreas Weimann’s progress has halted, Christian Benteke looks like he wants to be at another club while Gabriel Agbonlahor has everything a top striker needs – except that he’s a terrible finisher. Aston Villa fans will be expecting a return to the Martin O'Neill days where they challenged the top four . Elsewhere, contracts for top players are running out. Fabian Delph and Ron Vlaar will both have to leave in this window if Aston Villa want to make any money from them. Take those two out of this squad and Villa are staring down the barrel of the Championship. Lambert is working within the confines of the financial equivalent of a gastric band set to its tightest, so I have some sympathy. Fat chance of Villa returning to glory in these circumstances. But he isn’t helping himself at all. His teams have no enterprise, and are definitely not exciting to watch. There doesn’t even seem to be an intention to entertain the fans. Losing is never good, but fans would be more willing to forgive if you were trying to do something positive. But losing while stinking the place out is harder to accept so that’s why Lambert is getting relentless grief from the fans. Ron Vlaar is being courted by Arsenal and Aston Villa may be tempted to cash in on the defender this month . The Villa story should be so different. From the ownership of the club downwards, Aston Villa should be forward-thinking, progressive and successful. Villa need an owner who can grab hold of the club and drag it back to where it should be. For a bright owner and for a dynamic manager there is the chance to achieve something special and memorable at a big club like Aston Villa. But nobody wants to seize that opportunity it seems. Villa fans should be mixing it with Munich and Madrid just like they used to. Right now they’re looking more likely to be slumming it with Swindon in the second tier of English football. Sad times at Villa Park. | Aston Villa have failed to score in their last four outings .
They've scored 11 in 21 games... less than half the number QPR have .
Fans are expecting a return to the days under former boss Martin O'Neill .
But right now they are heading for the Championship . |
149,614 | 4d73e1c7bd420490797674c3066b66c7795562df | Croatia’s government has received a controversial proposal that says a secluded, barren island of rock known as the Naked Island would be the perfect place to put gay tourists. Goli Otok was used as a penal colony in Communist times and the pitch to transform it into a gay tourism hub is based on its isolated location in the northern Adriatic Sea. The proposal from an independent think tank says the island – miles away from anywhere – would be the perfect spot for gay tourists because it would give them privacy away from others. Barren island of rock: A proposal says isolated Goli Otok would be the perfect place for gay tourists . Former political prison: The island in the northern Adriatic Sea was used as a penal colony by the Communists . Still home to a handful of derelict buildings, the uninhabited island was used by the Communists as a political prison when Croatia was part of Yugoslavia. It housed thousands of prisoners who lived in cramped conditions and were forced into labour and tortured by their captors for opposing communism. Hundreds died before the prison was disbanded. The proposal to turn Goli Otok into a gay tourism destination was put forward by the Association of Eco and Social Forum of Croatia after Croatia's government solicited potential investment opportunities. Aljosa Babic, the head of the association, said it would be a welcome way to boost tourism in the region and it would be easy to implement because Goli Otok is property of the Republic of Croatia. He added cryptically: ‘Because of its past the island could be an attractive destination.’ In response to questions about whether the proposal is homophobic, a spokesman for Zagreb Pride condemned the idea, telling MailOnline Travel: ‘The investor is a local politician from Rijeka that run for public office in many years, but never got elected. We don’t consider his proposal as relevant.’ Abandoned: The prison was disbanded in the late 1980s but several derelict buildings are still standing . Prison of horrors: Political prisoners were forced into labour and tortured on Goli Otok . Mr Babic, who handed the recommendation to tourism minister Darko Lorencin, said the fact that the 1.5-square mile island is not being used is a waste of resources. In the document prepared for the tourism ministry the association said that the big advantage of the island was that it was so secluded and had so little to recommend it that not even locals bothered to go there - and that meant it was private. They wrote: ‘Gay guests could enjoy their time at the island for 24 hours per day without anyone bothering them. It is completely private.’ Croatia places 44th on a list of destinations for gay tourists. According to the European Gay Tourist Association, gay tourists spend up to £50m on holidays, said Mr Babic. 'Ghost' island: The proposal says gay tourists would enjoy their time 'without anyone bothering them' | Goli Otok, known as the Naked Island, is located in the northern Adriatic Sea .
Proposal is being considered by Croatia's tourism ministry .
It says the island is ideal for gay tourists because it is remote and unused . |
165,730 | 6254b8c80b940186885a6837e0522880121d2353 | By . Amanda Williams . PUBLISHED: . 12:26 EST, 16 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:28 EST, 16 July 2013 . A paedophile has been jailed for 19 years after a school dinner lady overheard one of his victims talking about the abuse. Martin Thomas lured five girls into his home by offering to teach them about wildlife in his garden pond. But once they were there the 63-year-old retired trawlerman then forced them to take part in sex acts with him, Exeter Crown Court heard today. A child abuser has been jailed Exeter Crown Court (pictured) for 19 years after an alert school dinner lady overheard a young victim talking about her ordeal . Thomas was trapped after a dinner lady overheard a six-year-old girl talking . about male genitalia and suspected something was wrong. A police inquiry found Thomas had been preying on girls aged six to ten for almost a decade without any of his young victims summoning the courage to report what he had done. Thomas lived in Brixham, South Devon and targeted girls living nearby. Some of the victims came forward after learning of Thomas's initial court appearance in their local paper. He denied having touched any of the children but was found guilty after three of the girls gave almost identical accounts of being abused. Thomas, Brixham, denied a series of sexual offences but was found guilty of the rape of three girls, and indecency offences against two others. He was jailed for 19 years with a six year extended licence by Judge Francis Gilbert, QC, at Exeter Crown Court. He told him: 'The level of depravity was exceptional and was your willingness to disregard the risk of detection. That adds to the dangerousness I attribute to you. 'The victims... were allowed to go to your house because you were trusted by their parents. 'When the opportunity arose you abused them. At the time they did not realise what was happening and they were unable to prevent you committing these offences. 'They know now what you did and the level of distress and pain they showed when reliving their experience was very apparent for all to see. Martin Thomas lived in Brixham, South Devon and targeted girls living nearby or who were friends of his own young son . 'Part of your excitement seems to have been derived from the fact you were running enormous risks. 'It was part of your pattern of depravity that you took as many risks as you could. It seems to be there is such a risk of future offending that you are a very dangerous man indeed.' During a week long trial all five girls gave evidence by video link or behind screens and told how they were abused at his home. A school dinner lady testified how she overheard a six-year-old girl talking with friends . She was so alarmed by what she heard she reported it to the head. The girl's mother was called in and initially could not believe what had happened but then went to the police. The victims all told similar stories of abuse and all remembered Thomas by his distinctive accent, which they thought to be Australian, even though he actually came from New Zealand. Thomas denied all the allegations and said he had only been alone with children on very rare occasions and that his wife was home most of the time. He said: 'All I have ever shown to those girls is kindness'. | Martin Thomas lured girls into home, offering to teach them about wildlife .
But when they were there the 63-year-old forced them into sex acts .
He was jailed for 19 years at Exeter Crown Court . |
244,935 | c90150cf669fa7efb74549bdaaa074d300b9da4d | The Taxpayer's Alliance called the spending 'wasteful' and blasted what it called the BBC's 'lucrative revolving door'. File image used . The BBC has come under fire for re-hiring 700 people who it had previously spent £10.3million on making redundant. It has emerged that of the 700 staff members who took redundancy packages, more than 400 are now back at the broadcaster working as freelancers. Last night the Taxpayers' Alliance criticised what it described as the BBC's 'lucrative revolving door'. John O'Connell, the director of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: 'Licence-fee payers will be furious that their cash is being wasted on generous golden goodbyes, only for those made "redundant" to walk back in on a new salary,' the Sun on Sunday reported. A BBC spokesperson told the paper it was common to have seasonal freelancers in the journalism industry as it helped keep costs down. News of the spending comes amid a row over the corporation's plans to broadcast a story imagining the assassination of Margaret Thatcher. The fantasy, written by bestselling author Hilary Mantel, was condemned as ‘perverted’ and ‘distasteful’ when it was published in September. Despite this, Radio 4 has selected the story for its prestigious Book At Bedtime slot – sparking a furious backlash. Supporters of the former Prime Minister accused the broadcaster of being deliberately provocative with a move that will stoke accusations of BBC bias against the Tories. ‘It is a sick book from a sick mind and it’s being promoted by a sick broadcasting corporation,’ former Cabinet Minister Lord Tebbit said. Lord Tebbit's wife Margaret was paralysed when the IRA tried to murder Margaret Thatcher and her Cabinet in the 1984 Brighton bombing. Ms Mantel’s story depicts the callous murder of the former Prime Minister by an IRA gunman and was inspired by the Booker Prize-winning author’s own fantasy about assassinating Lady Thatcher, who she admits to ‘detesting’. The broadcast on January 9 will increase tensions between the BBC and the Government after David Cameron and George Osborne accused the Corporation of bias in its coverage of spending cuts. | The BBC has re-hired hundreds it spent £10.3million on making redundant .
More than 400 of these people are now freelancing back at the broadcaster .
It comes amid a row over the BBC's plans to broadcast controversial book .
The corporation will air The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher .
Hilary Mantel's book imagines the killing of former PM by an IRA gunman .
It has been selected for Radio 4's prestigious Book at Bedtime slot . |
135,149 | 3ad193d575848ae58482d802df4ec6394f0331d7 | (CNN) -- We have long moved on from the idea of African design being simply Africa centered. In the past couple of years it has made it onto catwalks in Paris, New York, Milan and beyond. And of course, as with any competitive market, there will always be new talent changing the game. In African fashion today, names like Lanre Da-Silva Ajayi, Thula Sindi, Deola Segoe, Ozwald Boateng and more are praised in the hallways of fashion houses. And now there is a new breed of designers who have caught the attention of fashion enthusiasts in Africa and abroad. So here are seven emerging African designers to watch out for this year. Shakara Couture . Ewemade Erhabor-Emokpae has had a long obsession with the vintage glamor of the 1920s and 50s. Her design label -- Shakara Couture -- has encompassed the aesthetics, ambiance and essence of the present couture era and added an African flair. Officially launched in 2012, the design label had its first major debut at the Music Meets Runway 2012 event where African designers clamoured together to unveil their late 2012 collections. Her collection was filled with long luxurious dresses with lace detail, creative fascinators, wide brim hats and satin gloves. Recently, she released a few photos from her 2013 collection titled "There is No Such Thing As Too Much Glamor." The campaign photos showcased a young housewife carrying about her daily chores dressed to the nines. Read this: Africa Fashion Week hits London catwalks . Kaela Kay . When I first encountered the Kaela Kay design label I was immediately struck with its big and loud prints and funky designs. Created by Ghanaian designer Catherine Addai the label thrives on its passion to transform bold and extravagant prints into feminine, sexy and modern clothes for the modern woman. Addai has created the Kaela Kay woman to stand out. The Kaela Kay woman is a refined socialite who walks with her shoulders back and her head held high. Apart from her label's aesthetics, which always have a professional outlook, another reason why the Kaela Kay brand caught my attention was because of its take on prints. It moves to re-interpret print combinations while still keeping its African foundations. Kitschai . When the 2013 collection "Unicorns and Bullet Wounds" from Kitschai was released, fashion enthusiasts were engulfed by a wave of curiosity. The design label introduced an edgy and risqué collection that wasn't typical of Nigerian designers and has not been seen elsewhere in this year's batch of collections. Created by London-based Nigerian Andrea Ushedo, she incorporated her punk/retro personality into the designs, making them just dark and edgy enough. With such an impressive debut, one can only wait in anticipation for what the label will bring out next. Love April . Whenever I think of the Ghanaian Love April design label, I think of sultry and feminine designs with a hint of African detail. Nina Barkers-Woode launched the Love April brand in 2011. She started it as a label offering ready-to-wear clothes for women, as well as leather goods and accessories. Read this: Glorious fashion in the desert . According to her interview with Shadders Africa: "It embodies today's woman with the marriage between sophistication and sexiness which allows her to step into the world, wherever that might be, feeling and looking confident." She last showcased her 2012/2013 collection at Ghana Fashion Week 2012, where it received a lot of praise. Milq & Honey . Dark earthy tones, gold panel details and a twist to every piece are the three qualities that come to mind every time I look at a collection piece from Milq & Honey. Owned by Gabriella and Kelly Davids, the South African label speaks to the confident woman who is sexy and edgy, yet glamorous and classy. Their clothes are inspired by energetic colors, animals and the natural patterns and shapes of the Earth. At the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Cape Town 2013 they debuted their 2013 collection, which was a mix of light and dark. They started off with a dark ensemble of typical Milq & Honey garments and then went off into a birth of colors in neon and summer-appropriate casual wear. Ernest Mahomane . With the experience gathered from being trained by Gavin Rajarh, Ernest Mahomane's eponymous label could easily pass off as one that has been in the business for years. The label opened the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Cape Town 2013 with an amazing combination of white and red dresses with gathered tulle, fitted bustiers and enhanced shoulder cuts that were as daring and serene as its Spring/Summer 2013/14 collection. The clothes have a smooth and classy appearance that isn't overdone and is true to the Ernest Mahomane ethos of transcendent beauty. Read this: Taking African colors to America's Deep South . Fenix Couture . This Nigerian-Canadian design label reminds me a lot of the Jewel By Lisa label. Its well-tailored designs and understanding for the female form are both professional and appealing. The brand was created by Josephyn Akioyamen, who started her journey into fashion while living in Lagos, Nigeria. She was constantly surrounded by intricate colors and prints and, of course, African culture. Fenix Couture is a combination of timeless elegance and modern luxury brought to life by stimulating textiles and precision tailoring. With its 2013 Ihotu Collection, the label introduced itself to the world as one not just to watch, but a label that is so transformational that it would last for years to come. Creating a fashion label begins with the birth of passion, after which the dream is filled with enthusiasm and drive. I have only listed seven African designers that are certain to do great things this year and in the years to come, but there are many others that, just like these, are taking the African fashion industry to new heights. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jennifer Obiuwevbi. | BellaNaija.com writer Jennifer Obiuwevbi charts the change in African fashion design .
Designs from the continent have diversified in shape and style over the years .
African fashion houses now pioneer international catwalk trends, she says . |
271,829 | ec1b91ebbc0ede6432b5ee491ff3af632d54b65f | A tattooed model who became an internet sensation after posting a video of herself jiggling her boobs to Mozart says she she's getting death threats after rocketing to Internet stardom. The clip, posted online by Sara X Mills, showed her moving her breasts individually and simultaneously to the sound of Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The hilarious video has now been viewed 26 million times in the space of a week. The viral hit has turned her into an overnight celebrity - bringing both the good and the bad. She says she now gets recognized at the grocery store and has raised money for charity. Scroll down for video . Sara X Mills filmed a video of herself synchronising her chest to a Mozart symphony . The model has revealed that after having breast implants, she was 'delighted' to realize that she could do the 'crazy boob bouncing trick' and had much greater control over her chest movements . Sara X, a former stripper and freelance writer, says that she was 'bored and uninspired' at the time she recorded the video. Writing on Jezebel the 27-year-old model, who admits her breasts are fake, says she decided to try something new. But she never anticipated the online abuse she would get - and even death threats. 'I know I've definitely been called a w**** and a s*** and an attention w**** far more times than I ever was when I was actually in an adult industry,' Sara says. 'Mostly the people who have negative things to say about my character, or my presumed profession, past profession, and life decisions don't get that the video is meant to be humorous, and operate under the assumption that I just wanted to show the world my boobs.' She adds: 'I won't be too sad when my 15 minutes passes: it's a little disconcerting to have the clerk at the grocery store recognize me as "the Mozart boob twerk girl." Only a few people have messaged me death threats; overwhelmingly, the response is positive, and I've raised money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and I am always pleased to hear from people who message me saying that they too are trying to flex their boobs.' She explains: 'I'm not a stranger to putting myself out there, though I had an incredibly conservative upbringing. I became a dancer, not of the ballerina variety. Most of my seven-year 'career' in that field was spent working in bikini bars where stripping and lap dancing were illegal,' she writes. 'I did develop a love for performing using my body as a means of expression. I relied on physical comedy, interacting with the people who sat at my stage and making them feel like we shared an inside joke. I never took myself seriously.' Overnight success: Sara says she had no idea her video would garner over 26 million views worldwide in seven days . 'It never occurred to me to be ashamed of my body or what I was doing with it.' Sara has ensured her achievement goes down in history by recording her boobs in action. The soundtrack Sara chose to showcase her talent was performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 1936. Since she uploaded the piece last week, Sara has been on the receiving end of speculation that she faked the movements. 'About that chest: getting breast implants was a conscious financial decision. Night after night I watched girls with implants have money literally thrown in their faces just for being onstage with those boobs. Naturally, I wanted in on the action!' Viewers accused her of attaching invisible string to her chest, creating an effect similar to a puppeteer, who would move the body parts from above. There was also a far-fetched theory that Sara had been shocking herself electronically to force the movements. But she has since responded to the critics revealing that her fake breasts are the tool that enabled her to move her chest so easily. She said: 'While my boobs are very fake, the video is very real... I am flexing my pectoral muscles and it's moving my implants.' Sara says about her decision to make the video, 'I relied on physical comedy, interacting with the people who sat at my stage and making them feel like we shared an inside joke. I never took myself seriously' 'I've definitely been called a whore and a slut and an attention whore far more times than I ever was when I was actually in an adult industry', Sara says. Sara claims after the breast-enhancing surgery she was able to perform her special trick. 'Post-recovery, I was delighted to realize that I could do the crazy boob bouncing trick I had seen some of my coworkers do since day one. Customers would get all excited about boob bouncing, and I'd think: submuscular implant displacement, mmmm, yea baby.' 'I won't be too sad when my 15 minutes passes: Only a few people have messaged me death threats; overwhelmingly, the response is positive, and I've raised money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation', Sara says . 'I hadn't seen anyone perform my particular favorite boob trick. So I figured: why not give it a shot? The idea is I want people to think I'm going to come out and sing a song. Then while I do the boob bounce… you know how musicians look in an orchestra while they're playing? I'm going to do that face.' 'Feeling quite pleased with my work, I published the video on Youtube, hoping for maybe 150,000 views total and a few good laughs. Within an hour, their post of my video had been shared over 1,000 times.Three hours later I was awoken by a barrage of texts saying that my video was beginning to show up on websites that my friends followed. Then it landed on the front page of Reddit. By noon, the count was in the tens of thousands. Emails began to roll in, from people wanting to air my video, to sign me to representation. By the end of the day the views surpassed a million, and the next day was even crazier: the calls and emails included a TMZ interview and a reporter from a very large UK tabloid calling to make an offer for my exclusive story.' Since the story was first posted, interest in Sara's unique talents has now died down, but the views continue to climb and are now close to 26 million hits. She says that she does not read the comments section to avoid reading some of the cruel thoughts people leave. She appears to realize that often fame of this kind of often fleeting but Sara is looking forward to some quieter days ahead . | Sara X Mills filmed a video of herself synchronizing her chest to Mozart .
She has revealed that her silicone implants are the key to clip's success .
Her video how now had 26 million views but she says that she will be glad when her 15 minutes of fame are over . |
32,490 | 5c624f52fdc60ebdeccdb748559d6251abead313 | Five cannon that were once used by Blackbeard to terrorize the Atlantic shipping lanes have been recovered from a wreck that belonged to the notorious pirate. The cannon, one weighing 3,000lb, are the latest artifacts divers have salvaged from the wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge, which ran aground off North Carolina in 1718. Since the wreck was found on a sandbar in Beaufort Inlet in 1996, a team of archeologists have scavenged the ship for treasures including gold dust, coins, glass beads and a pewter syringe. Salvaged: One of the five cannon is raised from the wreck of the Queen's Anne Revenge . 'Today is definitely a red-letter day: five guns coming off the site,' David Moore, who has been part of the recovery team from 1996, told CBS News. The weapons, brought to the surface on Monday, would have fired 6lb cannon balls at any ships daring to confront them. 'This is spectatular. This is the most cannon we have ever raised in a single day,' Faye Mitchell, of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, said. 'We also raised two concretions which are these barrel hoops they used to store food provisions and things like that,' she told WPTV. Historians believe the largest cannon found was made in Sweden, meaning Blackbeard who was also known as Edward Teach or Thatch, had guns from different countries on board. Feared: The Queen Anne's Revenge, a former slave vessel, was the head of Blackbeard's fearsome flotilla . In total, 40 cannon were believed to have been on board the Queen Anne's Revenge, a former French slaveship taken by Blackbeard and his men off Martinique in 1717. Since the wreck was discovered in 1996, 22 of the ship's guns and about 280,000 artifacts have been recovered. The location and size of the ship, as well as the finds, has led experts to conclude that the ship really is the Queen's Anne Revenge. 'It's in the right place, from the right time. The artifacts are all dating to the appropriate period. She was the right size ship. It's nothing else it can be,' David Moore, from Beaufort's maritime museum said. Once the cannon and other artifacts have been recovered, they are sent to a laboratory in Greenville to be cleaned and analyzed. Raised: An 11ft anchor, weighing nearly 3,000lb, was recovered from the wreck in 2011 . Infamous: Ian McShane played legendary pirate Blackbeard in the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film . 'For every month we spend here on the . site, you spend 11 or 12 months in the lab getting these artifacts . cleaned and interpreted and analyzed,' Mr Moore said. The five cannon will be the last of the treasure to surface this year, as the dive ends for the year. 'We're going to continue excavating the site and have it completed by 2014,' project director Billy Ray Morris said. An exhibition of the finds, including an 11ft anchor weighing nearly 3,000lb that was found in 2011, is on display at Beaufort's North Carolina Maritime Museum. Rare find: A pewter syringe discovered in 2007 is among other centuries-old items found in the wreckage . Other finds have included onion bottles, bells, buckles and a partly gilded hilt thought to have held Blackbeard's sword. After running aground off North Carolina in 1718, the pirate escaped to another ship in his flotilla and continued his life of piracy for another six months until forces hired by Virginia's governor killed him. To prove the pirate was dead Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard, who led the fatal attack, returned to Virginia with Blackbeard's severed head hanging from his ship's bow. | Weapons that would have fired 6lb cannon balls brought to surface .
Artillery from Queen Anne's Revenge among latest discoveries found on North Carolina sandbar . |
95,740 | 07111e6cdda0acce77b1bbc99f3534f042bf25d9 | By . Sam Webb . These charming pictures show an almost impossible cute baby gorilla playing with and being cuddled by his mother in a German zoo. Jengo was born in December and has recently been joined by another baby, which was born during the night between March 10 and 11. Its sex is still unknown but the birth is a cause for celebration as it is the second gorilla baby to be born within four months in the same group at Leipzig Zoo in the east of Germany. Adorably, Jengo is also pictured playing with grandmother Viringika at the zoo, which houses the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center, where researchers study the behaviour, perception and communication of apes. Like the other great apes, gorillas have many traits considered human abd can laugh, grieve, develop strong family bonds, make and use tools, and even think about the past and make plans for the future. As well as gorillas, the centre has chimpanzees, bonobos and orang-utans. Cheeky: Baby gorilla Jengo relaxes in the enclosure at the zoo in Leipzig, Germany . Hey grandma, put me down! Baby Jengo is held aloft during a play session with his grandmother Viringika . Practice climb: Jengo clambers up the back of his mother, Kimbara, and pokes out his bright pink tongue . Love: New mother Kumil tenderly holds her new baby, born just days ago. Gorillas are capable of many emotions we consider human . Knowledge: Researchers at the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center study the behaviour, perception and communication of apes . The unnamed baby is the second gorilla to be born within four months in its group at Leipzig Zoo in the east of Germany. Right, baby gorilla Jengo relaxes in the arms of his mother Kibara . | Jengo the gorilla captured in a series of heartwarming photos taken at Leipzig Zoo in Germany .
Born in December, he has recently been joined by another new baby in his group . |
136,026 | 3bfce652f16ab3728964422270c5b2f382803fec | By . Lucy Waterlow . PUBLISHED: . 13:44 EST, 30 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 13:44 EST, 30 January 2014 . A big-busted cookery teacher who hoped to solve her back pain problems by having a breast reduction was left with a body she hated after surgery went disastrously wrong. Anne, 57, went under the knife ten years ago to reduce the size of her 32FF chest, but the botched operation left her with nipples placed abnormally high - so high she couldn't even find a bra to cover them. Ann felt so self-conscious that she even began undressing in the dark so her husband Paul couldn't see what had happened to her body. She says she 'felt like a freak'. She explained: 'My nipples look like they've been plonked on too high. It's a complete nightmare. I pop out of everything I put on' Botch job: Reduction surgery left Anne with lopsided breasts and 'abnormally' positioned nipples . One . decade later Ann mustered the courage to write in to TLC show Extreme . Body Disasters, begging them to redo the operation. And after a . successful operation she is finally happy with the way she looks. Speaking . about the trauma of the first operation, Ann said: 'I always had big . breasts and I hated them. After I had children, they . got bigger, and then they dropped and were virtually around my waist. My . posture was terrible, I suffered from terrible back problems and . eventually, I felt, well, enough is enough and I can't carry on like . this.' Supported by husband Paul, they dipped into their savings and pension so Anne could have the cosmetic procedure. 'This was a dream come true - at long last, I thought I was going to be . normal. But when the bandages were taken off, I couldn't believe my . eyes,' Anne said. Anne had been left with lopsided nipples that were abnormally high. Not only did this make her self-conscious in front of her husband, it also made it difficult for her to find underwear that was high enough to cover them. She explained: 'My nipples look like they've been plonked on too high. It's a complete nightmare. I pop out of everything I put on. 'It makes me feel really unsexy. I hate myself and I'm always aware of . it every day and I just hate my body. I've just been left looking like a . freak.' They pop out: The mother said she couldn't find bras to cover her high nipples . She continued: 'I won't let my husband see me naked. I get dressed and undressed in the dark or turn round.' Anne applied to TLC show Extreme Beauty Disasters to see if their resident surgeon Dr Vik Vijh could salvage her appearance following the botched operation. Dr Vijh explained how the surgery went wrong because the surgeon positioned the nipples 'higher on the breast mound than they should be'. This then caused 'bottoming out' - which occurs when the skin that was stitched together during the operation can no longer . support the weight of the chest and gravity takes hold. The breasts descent . but the nipples don't. Fixed: Anne went on Extreme Beauty Disasters and had another op to reposition her nipples which she is delighted with . 'It never ceases to amaze me when I see appalling surgeries but it makes me more determined to sort them out,' Dr Vijh said. Dr Vijh operates on Anne to redress the previous problem and this time, she is delighted with the end result. She said: 'I can wear a bra, I can wiggle around and nothing's popping out! They're perfect. It's changed the whole way I feel about myself, my confidence, my posture - it means so much to me.' She added: 'I feel feminine, I feel sexy, I'm a lot more confident than I ever was, I'm happy to wear low tops and it's just made so much difference to me.' Extreme Beauty Disasters is on TLC Thursdays at 8pm . | Anne, 57, tried to reduce 32FF chest, but ended up 'looking like a freak'
Nipples were placed abnormally high, meaning bras didn't cover them .
She began undressing in the dark so her husband couldn't see her body .
She endured feelings of extreme self-consciousness for a DECADE .
Has now had second op on Extreme Body Disasters to repair damage . |
271,778 | ec0a388ee967744ce5851b97c1ed07d9178ba320 | (CNN) -- The auction hammer is ready to go down on a remarkable collection -- it offers you a once in a lifetime opportunity to sample the fine wines collected by legendary football manager Alex Ferguson. During 26 years at Manchester United, Ferguson raised a glass to many memorable wins and toasted countless vintage performances. Auction house Christie's is selling off part of Ferguson's private collection valued at a mouth-watering $5 million, with bidding set to open on nearly 500 lots -- roughly 5,000 bottles -- across three auctions running between May 24 and June 23 in London and Hong Kong as well as online. "My interest in wine began during a scouting trip in France and, over time, my enjoyment of discovery and collecting grew," Ferguson, who retired in May 2013 after guiding United to 13 English Premier League titles and two European Cups, said in a statement. "The importance of collecting wine was that it served as a distraction and gave me a balance in my life that helped me in dealing with the intensity and demands required of me as the manager of Manchester United. "In retirement, I now have the time to visit the places and people that will feed my passion, so I felt it made sense to release a large number of the wines I had collected over the years. I hope many will enjoy exploring my collection." The lots span over a quarter of a century, including six bottles of Romanee-Conti Grand Cru 1999 from the year United won an historic Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble. Valued at between $84,000 and $109,000, the lot also comes with a signed United shirt from their Champions League final win over Bayern Munich 15 years ago. "While Alex Ferguson's reputation and standing in football is renowned the world over, we are thrilled at Christie's to be able to showcase his exceptional taste in fine wine," said David Elwood, Christie's head of wine. "This collection includes a roll call of impressive wines, including one of the most comprehensive groups of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti that we have ever offered at auction. "It is remarkable to see that Sir Alex's talent of picking quality players for the pitch also extends to picking sensational wines for the cellar." An auction in Hong Kong will be held on May 24, ahead of a sale in London on June 5 and online auction that will run between June 9 and 23. | Alex Ferguson will auction of part of his private wine collection .
The Scot spent 26 successful years as manager of Manchester United .
The total worth of the lots up for auction is said to be $5 million .
Ferguson won 13 EPL titles and two European Champions League crowns at United . |
163,914 | 5ffa96ac06b5e048ac167de8c9bdb5d2e47c9ec9 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . First came Prada-style handbags for under-tens, then Liz Hurley designed bikinis for eight-year-olds. Now, the latest item to make your little girl feel old beyond her years is a child-friendly cologne. Cologne & Cotton’s Eau de Cologne is made in Spain and designed by Alvarez Gomez, Madrid’s oldest and most prestigious perfumery. Cologne & Cotton's Eau de Cologne has been designed to be child-friendly . It’s said to be formulated especially for children, and can be spritzed directly onto skin or rubbed into the hands and applied. The smell, described by the makers as ‘a refreshing gentle aroma’, is a mix of lemon blossom, Spanish lavender and mint. All ingredients are natural and the cologne is made without chemicals. Liz Hurley (left) designed bikinis for 8-year-olds (right) Eau de Cologne, £26.95, cologneandcotton.com . | Cologne & Cotton’s Eau de Cologne designed by Alvarez Gomez .
Is Madrid’s oldest and most .
prestigious perfumery . |
245,591 | c9e0961cdae805aeb0b978825f7b9a2744b0da90 | Two British brothers were attacked by a knife-wielding holidaymaker in a row over sunbeds at a five-star hotel in Turkey. Danny and Ben Slade, from Ashford, Surrey, were left needing hospital treatment after the incident during a family break at the Isis Hotel and Spa. The row broke out after they reserved sunbeds at the hotel in the popular tourist resort of Bodrum. Scroll down for video . Luxury hotel: The attack happened at the Isis Hotel and Spa in Bodrum, Turkey . Moments before the attack, the man shouted at brothers Ben, 22, and Danny, 26, and girlfriend Lauren Anshaw, 24, who were on a break with their parents Daniel, 50, and Mary, 49. Ben told the man to take two of the sunbeds as he was causing such a disturbance – and his father alerted the hotel security. The attacker then returned with a knife, stabbing Ben in the arms and legs – before Danny jumped in to save him, and got stabbed in the chest. The man screamed ‘I'm killing you’ in front of horrified sunbathers and children. Ben had to undergo life-saving surgery for wounds to his arms, legs and feet, and Danny narrowly escaped death as the knife missed his heart and lungs by just 2cm. Quick-thinking Danny leaped in the hotel pool to escape, while Ben hid in a bush. Popular holiday resort: The incident took place when the brothers were on holiday at the resort with their family . Ben said: ‘I had laid down on the sunbed after the guy walked off when I heard my brother's girlfriend screaming my name. ‘I opened my eyes and looked up and saw this knife glinting in the light. ‘I had never been in any situation like that in my life. ‘I then fell over another sunbed and he stabbed me in the leg. While this was going on he was telling me “I'm killing you”. ‘My brother saved my life without a doubt. I got stabbed five times.’ Architect Danny said: ‘It was like being in a horror film. I feel lucky to be alive.’ The family has now returned home, where Mary said: ‘We had a right time of it, it's just something you would never expect to happen.’ ‘Seeing my children like that was just my worst nightmare. I just went into shock. ‘I saw Danny first of all, there was blood everywhere. He told me “I think he's killed Ben”. It was terrible. ‘It's going to stay with us for the rest of our lives.’ The Isis Hotel and Spa declined to comment and a man was arrested and bailed by local police. | Ben and Danny Slade were on holiday in Bodrum with their family .
Had reserved sunbeds at luxury hotel but were confronted by a man .
He returned with a knife and stabbed the men in front of holidaymakers . |
280,809 | f7c8b8cf0d32ae75db8febb2d0ccc5ed6c774a47 | By . Mike Dawes . Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman suffered a sickening injury on Wednesday night when he was hit by a line drive in Surprise, Arizona during a Spring training game. The closer broke bones above his left eye and nose when the ball which he pitched at 99mph came hurtling back towards his face - the latest frightening injury to a pitcher struck in the head by a batted ball. Chapman was undergoing further testing at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, where he was set to spend the night for observation, according to a statement from the Reds. Scroll Down for Video . Pitch: Reds closer Ardolis Chapman fires off a 99mph pitch towards Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night in Arizona . Manager Bryan Price said Chapman was conscious and talking as he was taken off the field during Cincinnati's spring training game against the Kansas City Royals. The exhibition was called after an 8-minute delay with Kansas City leading 6-3. 'Not good,' Price said. 'He left the field on a stretcher, took a line drive just above his left eye is what it looks like — a contusion, a laceration, and certainly needs to be taken to the hospital and checked. 'We've got Tomas Vera, an assistant trainer, is going to be with him. And then we'll get our updates from there.' Return: Perez rifles back the ball towards Chapman (left) who is still following through on his pitch at the stadium in Surprise, Arizona and (right) the ball can be seen as a white speck just above Chapman's left arm about to hit his face . Contact: The ball ricochets off Chapman's face at speed - causing him to raise his left hand to his face in agony . The hard-throwing left-hander was struck by Salvador Perez's liner with two outs in the sixth inning — the pitch was clocked at 99 mph. Chapman crumbled to the ground, face down, his legs flailing. The ball caromed into the third base dugout. Medical personnel, including Royals Dr. Vincent Key, rushed onto the field. Blood could be seen on the mound. Perez put his hands on his helmet before reaching first base. He immediately went to the mound where players from both teams huddled as the 26-year-old Cuban reliever was being attended to in an eerily silent stadium. An ambulance's siren could be heard in the background while Chapman was loaded onto the stretcher. 'It was an absolute bullet that Sal hit,' Royals manager Ned Yost said. 'It's just a real sickening feeling for everybody.' Collapse: Chapman falls to the ground as concerned team mates and umpires dash over to help him as he writhes in agony on the floor . Players from both teams knelt, some bowing their heads and crossing themselves in prayer. Chapman was taken to Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center in Sun City. He was then transferred to Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center. Perez appeared to be in tears as he left the field, and first baseman Eric Hosmer hugged him. Perez quickly left the clubhouse without speaking to reporters. Hosmer hit a line drive off the head of Tampa Bay's Alex Cobb last June. Cobb sustained a concussion. Playing right field, Reds teammate Jay Bruce heard the ball hit Chapman. 'It was one of the more frightening and non-fun moments I've been a part of on the baseball field,' he said. After Chapman was driven off to the waiting ambulance, Price and Yost met with the umpires. 'It was really a mutual agreement,' crew chief Chris Guccione said. 'Players were rattled. The staff was rattled. The umpires were rattled. We figured it was best, along with both teams in agreement, that the game should end.' Prayers: Cincinnati Reds players and Kansas City Chief players kneel as Chapman receives urgent medical care on the field on Wednesday night . Treatment: Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman is taken off the field after being hit by a line drive Wednesday night March 19, 2014, after another frightening incident involving a pitcher being struck by a batted ball . Yost said neither he nor his players wanted to keep playing. Price felt the same way. 'You can't find it in your heart to go out there and play,' he said. Oakland pitcher Brandon McCarthy, who had emergency surgery after he was struck in the head by a line drive in September 2012, urged caution in a post on Twitter. 'all reporting at this point means zilch, until he gets a scan,' he said in a tweet. Chapman, who throws a 100 mph fastball, had walked four Royals in the inning before being injured. The two-time All-Star had 38 saves for the Reds last season. When reporters walked into the Royals clubhouse, third baseman Mike Moustakas asked a team official to request that they leave. Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman throws in the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Cleveland Indians in Goodyear, Arizona in this 2012 file photo . 'No one wants to talk,' Moustakas said. In January, Major League Baseball approved a protective cap for pitchers following several terrifying scenes similar to this one in the last few years, including Toronto's J.A. Happ, who sustained a skull fracture. The heavier and bigger hats were available for testing during spring training on a voluntary basis, but the cap apparently would not have helped Chapman in this case. 'I know this isn't uncommon as we would like it to be, but it was frightening,' Price said. 'Certainly frightening.' | Cincinnati Reds pitcher Aroldis Chapman suffered fractures to bones in his nose and left eye while taking a line drive to the face on Wednesday night .
Chapman carted off the field and transported by ambulance to hospital .
The game between the Reds and the Kansas City Chiefs was abandoned .
Reds manager Bryan Price said Chapman was conscious and talking as he was taken off the field . |
49,687 | 8c789e9353d4905f5c675c8a1e567a338a2b4a39 | By . Tamara Cohen . PUBLISHED: . 19:44 EST, 6 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:32 EST, 7 September 2013 . Millions of patients going for treatment in A&E should see their GP, a paramedic or chemist instead, says a senior NHS official. Professor Keith Willett, who is leading a review of accident and emergency services, said up to 30 per cent of those who use casualty units would be better treated elsewhere. But he admitted that 6.5million patients who needlessly queue at A&E are frustrated by long waits for a GP appointment or lack of access to out-of-hours care. Choices: Patients should see their GP as oppose to clogging up A&E according to a senior NHS official . In an interview to be broadcast on Sky News today, Professor Willett says the NHS review will ‘start to address the demand’ by improving primary care, which he says clearly ‘did not make itself available’ to some patients. England’s A&E departments were in crisis last winter. Waiting times were the worst for nine years, with more than 300,000 patients waiting four hours or more. Professor Willett’s review, published this autumn, will state that all A&E units must always have a consultant available, and other senior doctors on duty, including elderly care specialists. Foreign doctors working in Britain will face language tests if concerns are raised about their fitness to practise. It follows a string of scandals in which overseas doctors have been blamed for poor care. Currently only those from outside the European Union are given strict language tests, but from next year the doctors’ regulator, the General Medical Council, will test all applicants. In addition, those who are already working can be tested if they are going through disciplinary proceedings. Health minister Dr Dan Poulter said: ‘Overseas doctors make a hugely valuable contribution to the NHS but it is clear that tougher checks are needed.’ Paramedics will be sent to treat more patients at home or by the roadside so they do not need hospital care, and patients will be told to ring the 111 helpline to see what care is appropriate. ‘We have to manage the situation and take away from emergency teams those patients who could be managed by other parts of the system,’ he said. ‘We know that 15 to 30 per cent of people who turn up to be treated at A&E could have been treated in general practice. We can look at the way primary care is available to people, by changing the way we deliver services.’ He asked the public to ‘understand the issues’ and consider calling for advice or contacting a GP or pharmacist. But Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GPs committee, said family surgeries are ‘bursting at the seams’, and the 111 number is not fit for purpose. ‘There is no doubt there are patients who attend A&E who would be better treated in a community setting, but NHS 111 has been fuelling the problem by inappropriately advising patients to go to hospital,’ he said. ‘That needs to be improved so people get quality advice from clinicians, not untrained people using a computer program.’The Government has given the NHS an extra £500million over two years to find short-term solutions to the likely rise in demand for emergency care in the winter. | Professor Keith Willet says NHS will 'start to address the demand'
6.5million people needlessly queue at A&E .
Waiting times are the worst they have been for 30 years . |
154,413 | 538c43f63a374f31a68763fcb5701783866893be | Road deaths and serious injuries are on the rise after years of falling, damning new Government figures revealed today. It throws into reverse the Government’s road safety strategy and bucks the longer term trend of falling casualties. It was also described as ‘alarming’ and ‘a scandal’ by road safety campaigners – with cyclists, motorcyclists and children bearing the brunt. Wake up call: There was a 9 per cent increase in the number of children killed or seriously injured and a 12 per cent increase in total child casualties in spring of this year compared to the same period last year . Officials blamed 'warmer weather' for bringing out more ‘vulnerable’ road users such as cyclists onto the nation’s highways, as well as increasing levels of traffic. But RAC external affairs head Pete Williams said: "The increase in road casualties is alarming, especially the statistics that show a rise in the number of child casualties.’ The new figures show that total casualties – comprising deaths, serious injuries and slight injuries - rose by 9 per cent to 48,020 from April to June this year compared to the same quarter last year. The number of people killed and seriously injured – known as ‘KSI’ and used by safety officials as the benchmark for measuring performance - rose by 7 per cent to 6,280 for spring 2014. This was despite the quarterly figure of 440 deaths being practically unchanged from the 439 for the same period last year. Slight injuries in Spring 2014 rose 9per cent to 41,740. The provisional figures from the Department for Transport also show that total casualties across Britain for the 12 months ending in June were 4per cent higher than the previous year at 193,290. Those killed or seriously injured were also up by 4 per cent to 24,580. And the number of fatalities alone rose 3per cent from 1,713 to 1,760.Slight injuries rose 4per cent to 168,710. Long-term decline:Transport Minister Robert Goodwill, pictured, said that Britain's roads are among the safest in the world . In spring 2014 there was a 9per cent increase in the number of children killed or seriously injured and a 12per cent increase in total child casualties. Child pedestrians killed or seriously injured rose by 1per cent and total child pedestrian casualties were up 3per cent. There was also a big increase in the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured - up 18 per cent compared to a 9 per cent rise in motorcyclists for the quarter. The Department for Transport said warmer weather in spring 2014 compared with spring 2013 may have increased the number of vulnerable road users, particularly motorcyclists and pedal cyclists, on the roads. It added that traffic levels in spring 2014 were 0.8per cent higher than in spring 2013 which could also partly explain the casualty increases. Car users killed or seriously injured were up 8per cent. But the number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured in spring 2014 was down by 1per cent - the only road-user group to show such a decrease. Cycling groups were concerned that in the 12 months to June the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured rose 10 per cent. British Cycling's policy adviser and former Olympic cycling champion Chris Boardman said: ‘A 10 per cent increase is a stat that should act as a wake-up call to the Department for Transport instead of simply being explained about by the milder weather we've seen in the last year.’ Mr Boardman said: ‘It's great that more people are choosing cycling as a means of transport but the reality of Britain's roads will be putting millions more off.’ AA president Edmund King said: ‘Although the good weather and increase in traffic may have had an impact, that will be scant consolation for those who have lost a loved one or been injured on our roads.’ Claire Francis, policy head at transport charity Sustrans, said cycling casualty figures showed ‘our roads aren't safe enough’. She added: ‘We are failing to enable our children to get to school safely. It's no wonder that more and more are being ferried to school by car. It's a scandal that this is allowed to continue .’ Transport Minister Robert Goodwill said: ‘Any death on the road is a tragedy and improving safety is an absolute priority for this government. While there remains a significant long-term decline in casualties and Britain's roads are among the safest in the world, there is absolutely no room for complacency.’ | Number of casualties in spring rose 9% compared to same period last year .
Children, cyclists and motorcyclists bear the brunt, figures reveal .
Officials blamed 'warmer weather' for bringing out more 'vulnerable' users .
Remains a significant long-term decline in casualties on Britain's roads . |
206,649 | 978ece5649dbcbb347f8743a35d14934fa73d8e8 | A gang of thugs kidnapped a 14-year-old and told his parents they would chop his head off if they didn’t pay a £40,000 ransom, a court heard. Abdal Miah, 29, Liban Mohammed, 20, Anjam Shaffique, 30, and Carlos Treazure, 27, are on trial accused of snatching the unnamed youngster off the street. The terrified teen was allegedly taken outside an off-licence in Sheffield, South Yorks., dragged into a car, and driven to a rural village - where he was eventually released eight hours later. Snatched: The teenager was allegedly kidnapped on this Sheffield street . Sheffield Crown Court heard the teenager had a hood placed over his head, and was forced to make phone calls to his father and mother relaying his abductors’ ransom demands. Alistair MacDonald QC, prosecuting, said the youngster was talking to friends outside Bir’s Beers on Staniforth Road, when he was snatched at around 4pm on October 31 last year. He said a man approached him and asked whether he was responsible for smashing up his Vauxhall Astra car. 'The man gripped the boy’s wrist and tried to drag him away,' Mr MacDonald said. Jurors heard that another kidnapper arrived when the boy resisted, and they both dragged him behind the off-licence and threw him into the back of a waiting car. 'His head was held down and a hood was placed over his head,' Mr MacDonald said, adding four men were in the car. He said the teenager’s father rang his son’s phone and one of the kidnappers answered. They said they wanted 40 ‘bags’ - slang for thousands of pounds - or ‘his son was coming back in pieces’. Released: The kidnapped boy was released near the village of Ringinglow (pictured) When the boy’s parents failed to raise the money, the amount was dropped to 2,000 pounds, jurors heard. 'There was even a threat to chop the boy’s head off,' Mr MacDonald said. The schoolboy was released at around midnight, and ran to a farmhouse in Ringinglow, where resident Angela Batty helped him to call the police. Mr MacDonald said the alleged kidnappers were snared using DNA evidence and telephone call data. 'Only the kidnappers know why they released him,' he said. The four deny kidnapping and blackmail. The trial continues. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. | Abdal Miah, 29, Liban Mohammed, 20, Anjam Shaffique, 30, and Carlos Treazure, 27, 'hooded boy and drove off'
Teenager 'kidnapped after being asked him if he had smashed up car' |
106,211 | 14ff2119f3f4e4de412a0278f783b67ec17cb3e2 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 04:19 EST, 13 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:14 EST, 15 July 2013 . You might think with names like French fries and Worcestershire sauce, it would be pretty self-explanatory where certain foods came from. But a survey has revealed that on average, most people were unaware where some of the most common foods consumed every day first originated. The majority of those questioned - 70 per cent of 1,003 people - were confident they had a good knowledge of foreign foods. Think you know your foods? Few people surveyed correctly identified the origin of fajitas which first originated in the U.S. - not Mexico . However, 64 per cent and 90 per cent, respectively, incorrectly guessed where French fries and pasta were first created. Over three-quarters of those surveyed incorrectly believed that chilli con carne was first eaten in Mexico, not the U.S., while only 10 per cent knew the correct origins of cheesecake – Ancient Greece. More than 90 per cent of us are fooled by the deceptive name of Worcestershire sauce, which was created in Bengal and not the west midlands of England, while only 11 per cent of people know the correct birthplace of French fries (Belgium). Good taste: It was the ancient Greeks who came up with our dessert favourite the cheesecake . Write caption here . The survey also found that less than 5 per cent are aware that pasta actually originates from China. 10. Fajita, 88.9% incorrect: Texas, USA . 9. French Fries, 89.3% incorrect: Belgium . 8. Cheesecake, 89.9% incorrect: Ancient Greece . 7. Noodle Chop Suey, 90% incorrect: USA . 6. Garlic BreaD, 92.6% incorrect: Asia and USA . 5. Chilli Con Carne, 92.9% incorrect: USA . 4. Vindaloo, 93.7% incorrect: Portugal . 3. Lasagne, 94.5% incorrect: Greece . 2. Pasta, 95.1% incorrect: China . 1. Worcestershire Sauce, 96.3% incorrect: Bengal . We’re not always clueless, however – fortunately only a third of respondents thought that the British-made Swiss roll was from Switzerland. The survey results also showed that food thought to be of English heritage is most often consumed by Brits, with our favourite international cuisines revealed to be Italian and then Chinese. Indian was a close fourth with 53 per cent of respondents eating curry-based dishes more than once a week and Mexican cuisine came fifth with a quarter of people enjoying dishes from south of the border regularly. Emerging cuisines appear to be Thai, Greek and Caribbean foods. Afruj Miah, senior national account manager at GLORIOUS! Foods, which carried out the survey, said: 'The results of this survey show that . we’re certainly not as knowledgeable as we think we are when it comes to . foods from other cultures, and that we’re often eating foods with . far-flung influences when we think we’re eating Great British pub grub.' | Survey found most thought they knew where common foods first originated .
But most were tripped up by pasta, fajitas, French fries and garlic bread . |
51,266 | 9123c4eed074c577f5e5336474d917fdfdd88ed6 | As the death toll from Ebola reaches 3,800, experts are warning that the virus could mutate and become airborne, meaning that it could be caught by breathing it in. The public is being told by health officials that the virus that causes Ebola cannot be transmitted through the air and can only be spread through direct contact with bodily fluids – blood, sweat, vomit, feces, urine, saliva or semen – of an infected person who is showing symptoms. However, several leading Ebola researchers claim that the virus mutating and spreading through the air should not be ruled out. As the death toll from Ebola reaches 3,800, experts are warning that the virus could mutate and become airborne . Virus expert Charles L. Bailey, who in 1989 helped the American government tackle an outbreak of Ebola among rhesus monkeys being used for research, told the LA Times: 'We know for a fact that the virus occurs in sputum and no one has ever done a study [disproving that] coughing or sneezing is a viable means of transmitting. 'Unqualified assurances that Ebola is not spread through the air are "misleading".' Dr C J Peters, who has undertaken research into Ebola for America's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the paper: 'We just don't have the data to exclude it [becoming airborne].' Meanwhile virologist Dr Philip K Russell, a former head of the U.S Army's Medical Research and Development Command, told the paper: 'I see the reasons to dampen down public fears. But scientifically, we're in the middle of the first experiment of multiple, serial passages of Ebola virus in man.... God knows what this virus is going to look like. I don't.' In September, Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, writing in the New York Times, said experts who believe that Ebola could become airborne are loathed to discuss their concerns in public, for fear of whipping up hysteria. Discussing the possible future course of the current outbreak, he said: 'The second possibility is one that virologists are loath to discuss openly but are definitely considering in private: that an Ebola virus could mutate to become transmissible through the air.' The public is being told by health officials that the virus that causes Ebola cannot be transmitted through the air and can only be spread through direct contact with bodily fluids . Dr Osterholm warns viruses similar to Ebola are notorious for replicating and reinventing themselves. It means the virus that first broke out in Guinea in February may be very different to the one now invading other parts of West Africa. Pointing to the example of the H1N1 influenza virus that saw bird flu sweep the globe in 2009, Dr Osterholm said: 'If certain mutations occurred, it would mean that just breathing would put one at risk of contracting Ebola.' Dr Osterholm said public health officials, while discussing the possibility in private, are reluctant to air their concerns. Virus expert Charles L. Bailey said unqualified assurances that Ebola is not spread through the air are 'misleading' 'They don't want to be accused of screaming "Fire!" in a crowded theater - as I'm sure some will accuse me of doing. 'But the risk is real, and until we consider it, the world will not be prepared to do what is necessary to end the epidemic.' He called for the United Nations to mobilise medical, public health and humanitarian aid to 'smother the epidemic'. The chair of the UK's Health Protection Agency, Professor David Heymann of the London School of Hygiene of Tropical Medicine, said it is impossible to predict how any virus will mutate. He said scientists across the world do not know enough about genetics to be able to say how the Ebola virus will change over time. He told MailOnline: 'No one can predict what will happen with the mutation of the virus. I would like to see the evidence that this could become a respiratory virus.' The first person diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. died on Wednesday despite intense but delayed treatment, and the government announced it was expanding airport examinations to guard against the spread of the deadly disease. The checks will include taking the temperatures of hundreds of travelers arriving from West Africa at five major American airports. The new screenings will begin Saturday at New York's JFK International Airport and then expand to Washington Dulles and the international airports in Atlanta, Chicago and Newark. An estimated 150 people per day will be checked, using high-tech thermometers that don't touch the skin. The White House said the fever checks would reach more than 9 of 10 travelers to the U.S. from the three heaviest-hit countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. President Barack Obama called the measures 'really just belt and suspenders' to support protections already in place. Border Patrol agents now look for people who are obviously ill, as do flight crews, and in those cases the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is notified. As of Wednesday, Ebola has killed about 3,800 people in West Africa and infected at least 8,000, according to the World Health Organization. A medical official with the U.N. Mission in Liberia who tested positive for Ebola arrived in the German city of Leipzig on Thursday to be treated at a local clinic with specialist facilities, authorities said. The unidentified medic infected in Liberia is the second member of the U.N. mission, known as UNMIL, to contract the virus. The first died on September 25. He is the third Ebola patient to arrive in Germany for treatment. The virus has taken an especially devastating toll on health care workers, sickening or killing more than 370 of them in the hardest-hit countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone - places that already were short on doctors and nurses. There are no approved medications for Ebola, so doctors have tried experimental treatments in some cases, including drugs and blood transfusions from others who have recovered from Ebola. The survivor's blood could carry antibodies for the disease that will help a patient fight off the virus. | Public is being told that Ebola can only be transmitted by direct contact .
Experts warn that the possibility it could become airborne can't be ruled out .
'Assurances Ebola is not spread through the air are misleading' - expert .
Ebola has killed about 3,800 people in West Africa and infected at least 8,000 . |
239,714 | c2559df5ab1566d545fcdd1017d094819e7afbc7 | By . Ruby Warrington . PUBLISHED: . 17:00 EST, 23 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:00 EST, 23 March 2013 . Fit in the City: Ruby Warrington works out from home . It’s 11.20am and Natalie Portman’s personal trainer, Mary Helen Bowers, is putting me through my paces at my apartment in Manhattan’s East Village. Down on my mat, I’m guided through a series of leg lifts to tone and hone my inner thighs – similar to the kind of moves Mary had Natalie do to get in shape for her Oscar-winning role in Black Swan. It’s part of a workout that Mary Helen, a former dancer with the New York City Ballet, calls Ballet Beautiful – which is also popular with her other high-profile clients, actresses Liv Tyler, Kirsten Dunst and Victoria’s Secret model Doutzen Kroes. MY LAPTOP STUDIO . As the burn begins to kick in, I can hear groans from other women. No – I’m not hosting a class at home, I have logged on to Mary Helen’s website, balletbeautiful.com, and joined one of her classes via my laptop. When we finish, Mary Helen leans into her webcam – which gives me a full view of her airy space in New York’s Soho where the live class is in session. ‘How are you doing Ruby?’ she asks. I give her a thumbs-up – even though my leg feels as if it’s about to go into spasm. Mary Helen has been training clients remotely since 2008, when she was working with Natalie. ‘She was amazing for my business, but at the same time it meant I travelled with her a lot,’ says Mary Helen. ‘I didn’t want to leave my other clients hanging, so I bought a laptop and started training people over Skype.’ When she opened her studio, she developed the software to allow people to join her classes online, too. A subscription costs £185 per month or it’s £23 a class. ON CAMERA . ‘Bye-bye gym, hello convenience,’ says the home page on wello.co, another site offering digital workouts. Having launched last summer with remote, one-on-one personal training sessions, it began offering classes – open to up to five people at a time – last month. Here, you can find anything from yoga to full-on boot camp sessions, and the following weekend, I try an hour-long cardio circuits class. Soon I get an email from Dorothy, the instructor, asking me and the other girls who’ve signed up if we have any equipment she can incorporate into our workout. It turns out we all own a set of dumbbells. Ballet beautiful: A webcam class from the website so you can take your classes at home . In the end, one of the other girls drops out and so Sarah – who is based in California – and I get Dorothy to ourselves. Jumping around my living room with my dumbbells, my eyes on my computer screen where I can see Dorothy in one window and Sarah in another, is a bit like doing a workout DVD – but better. Left to my own devices, I might have been tempted to sit out some of the tougher moves, but with the camera on me I am too embarrassed to give up so I power on through. By the end of the class, I’ve got a proper sweat on – just like if I’d worked out at the gym. But for a fraction of the price. An individual class costs £6.50, while a one-on-one session with a personal trainer is between £25 and £130, depending on who you choose. QUICK FIX FITNESS . An even better deal can be found at another site called fitnessglo.com. For £8 a month you get unlimited access to hundreds of prerecorded workout videos, ranging in duration from ten to 45 minutes, and covering every kind of workout under the sun. It’s like having your own fitness DVD library, and while you don’t get the benefit of personal instruction, it beats them all for convenience – you really can log on wherever and whenever. I try a 30-minute cardio athletic circuits class – the perfect quick fitness fix on another deadline-heavy day. All this doesn’t even begin to mention the ease with which you can find fitness instruction by watching videos uploaded by trainers to YouTube. So will I be handing in my gym membership and switching to digital workouts instead? Probably not. For me, you can’t beat the energy you get in a live class, with the teacher yelling instructions over a pumping soundtrack and 20 other people going for it on all sides. But on those days when time’s extra tight, I will log on. | Ruby Warrington works out at homein New York in front of her laptop . |
47,763 | 86c743c8060619747058723bf8cc4a9829a990d7 | By . Ruth Styles . PUBLISHED: . 04:43 EST, 6 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 10:31 EST, 6 March 2014 . From questionable flings to dodgy piercings, there are few teenagers who haven't made an embarrassing mistake or two. But for Roger, a 32-year-old health and safety inspector, his teenage blooper has had lasting consequences. Aged 15, he got a huge bulldog tattoo in the middle of his chest but when he tried to have it removed, he was left covered in scars - and with remnants of the inking still in place. Gruesome: The pitted and scarred tattoo left on Roger's chest following bungled surgery to remove it . Big mistake: Roger aged 15 with the bulldog tattoo that has proved so troublesome . 'It's been a long process for one mistake that I made,' he explains. 'It's all just one big ball of embarrassment.' His problems began when he decided to get a tattoo of a bulldog in the centre of his chest when he was aged 15 - much to his family's horror. 'I was just horrified,' remembers Roger's mother Marion. 'It didn't do anything to enhance Roger as I knew him.' But worse was to come when, 11 years later, he attempted to have it removed using a silicone solution intended to force the colour out. 'It was almost like re-tattooing,' remembers Roger, 'but it was done in a circular dot form and they injected a silicone solution in there that pushed the tattoo ink out.' The results, however, were not what he'd been hoping for. Instead of a smooth tattoo-free chest, he was left with a collection of lumpy scars - and traces of left-over ink. Thanks to the messy result, Roger was left with his self-esteem in tatters and says he is too embarrassed to take his shirt off in company. 'I've got a daughter,' he adds. 'I want to look forward to holidays where I can lie on beaches with my top off like any normal guy.' Improving: Roger has now had laser surgery to remove the rest of the ink, although the scars remain . Painful: A laser specialist gets to work on the remains of Roger's disfiguring bulldog inking . In a bid to finally rid himself of the disfiguring mess left by the bungled tattoo removal, Roger consulted Extreme Beauty Disaster's dermatologist, Dr Sam Bunting. Her solution was a course of laser treatments to remove the remaining ink followed by steroid injections to rid him off the scarring. Speaking after the first round of laser treatment, Roger said: 'I won't dumb it down and say it isn't painful at all because it does really hurt. 'But it's all just been a self-esteem killer. I'm really pleased with the progress I've made - I really can see an end to the entire issue now. He added: 'I can already feel the difference in my life. My self-esteem is definitely on the up now.' Roger appears on Extreme Beauty Disasters, tonight at 8pm on TLC . | Roger, 32, got a bulldog tattoo on his chest when he was 15 years old .
Attempted to have it removed 11 years later but the treatment was bungled .
Has been left with disfiguring scars and remnants of the tattoo ink . |
61,604 | af03cf944b31c8020bcc401f4ebbae55b7b3083e | By . Pa Reporter . Manchester United defender Phil Jones is expected to meet with the club's medical staff on Tuesday as the Red Devils wait to discover the extent of the injury he sustained on England duty. Jones limped off in the 77th minute of Monday's 2-0 Euro 2016 qualifying victory in Switzerland due to what appeared to be hamstring problem. No confirmation has been forthcoming from the Football Association on the matter and United will be eager to assess the 22-year-old when he arrives back in Manchester. Injury: Manchester United will assess Phil Jones's injury before they face QPR this weekend . The Old Trafford outfit, without a win to their name yet this season after four matches in all competitions under new boss Louis van Gaal, are next in action when they host QPR in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday. Several United players could make debuts in the match, including Jones' fellow England defender Luke Shaw, who it is understood is now fit and ready for selection. Left-back Shaw has been unable to make a competitive appearance for his new side following a summer switch from Southampton having suffered a hamstring injury of his own in August. There could also be United bows on Sunday for another defender in Marcos Rojo, with the necessary paperwork for him to do so now signed off, plus the versatile Daley Blind and striker Radamel Falcao, the two transfer deadline day recruits. Hamstring: Phil Jones limped off holding his hamstring as England beat Switzerland 2-0 in Basel . Meanwhile, Ander Herrera, who arrived from Athletic Bilbao over the summer, is hopeful of making his comeback in the game. The midfielder has been restricted to just one competitive United run-out so far because of an ankle complaint, but wrote on Twitter on Monday: 'Training hard and looking forward to this next game at Old Trafford!' There could also be a home Red Devils debut for Angel di Maria, the winger the club broke the British transfer record to sign last month. Comeback: Ander Herrera could make his return from injury against QPR in the Premier League on Sunday . United striker Robin van Persie is keen to get back working among the new signings once he finishes his international duties this week with Holland. Speaking in the Austrian Alps, where the Dutch team have been training, 31-year-old Van Persie - who has also expressed his desire to play at the 2018 World Cup and keep his career going through to the age of 40 - said: 'I can't wait to go and train and play with the world class players we have signed - wow! 'That feeling, that we are going to perform well, has only got stronger after the buying of players over the last weeks. I find it very exciting, the arrival of all those new players. 'For me personally, it's brilliant to go and play with some of the best players in the world. It's great that I can go and train and play with them every day.' Excited: Robin van Persie said he was very excited about Manchester United new boy Radamel Falcao . United wide man Ashley Young is also convinced the future is bright for the club. 'I definitely think things are going to turn for us and I would say to the fans there is nothing to worry about, we're going to come good,' Young told Inside United magazine. 'It's just like the manager has said, just believe in the philosophy and how we're playing and keep believing that we're going to turn this round because we do.' Sir Bobby Charlton has echoed the sentiment that United supporters should not be too fearful about what lies ahead. 'We've got nothing to worry about,' said the club's all-time leading goalscorer, quoted by the Manchester Evening News. 'He's got the world at his feet, the new manager. 'What we need to do now is put the players in the right places and the ball in the right place. But that's harder than it sounds.' Future: Ashley Young told fans they have nothing to worry about when it comes to Manchester United . | Phil Jones limped off while playing for England against Switzerland .
Manchester United will assess the defender's injury .
Louis van Gaal's side face QPR in the Premier League on Sunday .
Luke Shaw, Radamel Falcao, Marcos Rojo could make debuts . |
100,613 | 0d9f21cfcecfa0797e91075cdfd8ceafc56ad451 | By . Chris Pleasance . PUBLISHED: . 05:19 EST, 15 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 05:43 EST, 15 March 2014 . Kelvin 'Kelly' Hewitt, the man believed to have had his penis cut off by gipsies, is the father of at least seven children by three different women, it has been reported. The 40-year-old was found beside the A66 on Thursday and was taken to hospital where he was put into a medically-induced coma. He regained consciousness yesterday but was in too much pain to be interviewed by police. Officers from the Cleveland force closed part of the dual carriageway on Friday to search for the missing manhood, but have not been able to find it. Attack: Kelvin 'Kelly' Hewitt (pictured), the man who had his penis cut off near Middlesbrough, is the father of at least seven children by three different women, it has been revealed . Mr Hewitt (left, kissing an unknown blonde woman) has regained consciousness after being put into a medically induced coma, but was unable to talk to police officers . Possible connection: The man was attacked near a gipsy campsite on John Boyle Road on Teesside . Motive: It's thought that the gipsy gang (not necessarily connected to the picture) cut off the man's penis for sleeping with one of their girlfriends . Standstill: Police closed a busy dual carriageway to hunt for a man's penis after he was discovered severely injured at the side of the road . Distressed: The 40-year-old was discovered in a distressed state on the side of the A66 dual carriageway in Middlesbrough on Thursday morning . A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault in relation to the incident and was released on bail . Mr Hewitt is thought to be in a relationship with Carla Hill, who is a mother to two of his children, and has an ex-partner Debbie Lewis who he has four more children with. Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Ms Lewis said: 'They're devastated. I've had two in tears since all this came out.' Leanne Trewitt, 22, another of Hewitt's children from a third partner, posted on Facebook yesterday: 'My dad's stable now just hoping for a speedy recovery. Love you papa smurf!' Her friends flooded her page with get-well messages after she posted the above note. Cleveland police said: 'The victim remains in hospital and is now conscious. Officers visited him today but were unable to carry out a detailed interview. 'They hope to speak to him today or tomorrow to establish exactly how his injuries were sustained. Inquiries are on-going.' Mr Hewitt was discovered in a distressed state on the side of the A66 . dual carriageway. The builder, originally from Redcar, moved on to the Heaven Traveller's Site at South Bank about six years ago. A cordon around a blood-spattered caravan, believed to be where the attack took place, was removed yesterday. Facebook comment: Mr Hewitt recently posted a message about a meal he had at McDonald's on the A66, close to where he was attacked . Despite regaining consciousness Mr Hewitt faces a long period of recovery and will need extensive plastic surgery. Dr Raj Persad, a consultant urologist, told MailOnline that a new penis could be constructed even if the original tissue is lost. He said: 'The best hope is that doctors have kept the tissue in a viable way so the penis can be reconnected. If the tissue is no longer viable, the options are limited. 'It may be possible to make a phallus – rather like that created in gender reassignment surgery. Here, tissue expanders can be used to create a flap of tissue that can be rolled into a phallus. The urethra would also have to be reconstructed.' A . member of staff at Asda close to where the incident happened said he . heard that a man had suffered the horrendous injury to his groin. He added: 'A few of the Asda staff have been talking and apparently it was some gipsy men doing it to another guy after they found out he had slept with one of their girlfriends. 'I don't know his name but that seems to be what I have heard.' Although police at the time would only say that the . man had suffered serious injuries and wounds to his groin area, around eight officers were seen combing a grass verge at the side of the road, while tape was used to seal off a section of the carriageway. It's believed that they were searching for the missing body part. Officers search the verge of the dual carriageway for the man's organ and other forensic evidence . A member of staff at Asda close to where the incident happened said he heard the victim had suffered a horrendous injury to his groin . Road block: This stretch of the A66 was sealed off by police investigating the incident . The road closed some time between 4.20am . and 9am and was open again by midday. The police closed east bound . carriageway first while they searched, then west bound. A 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assault in relation to the incident was held in police custody on Thursday. He was bailed pending further enquiries. Mr Hewitt was found at 4.50am and was taken to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. Ambulance: Mr Hewitt was found at 4.50am with serious injuries and was taken to hospital . Investigation: Officers were said to be 'keeping an open mind' as to how the man was injured . 'The road closures were required as part of the investigation into how the man received his injuries,' said a police spokesman. 'This . is necessary so that officers can look for anything which may shed . light on how he became injured or his direction of travel.' The police had taped off a Vauxhall Zafira on a nearby gipsy site. He added: 'If the road was not closed any evidence could be lost or destroyed.' 'Investigations are at a very early stage.' Missing: It is understood that his penis had been cut off and was missing, prompting officers to close sections of the route in order to search for it . The spokesman added: 'Officers are keeping an open mind as to how he received his injuries and key to this will be speaking to the man himself when they are able to do so.' A second man who did not wish to be named said: 'I work on an industrial site close to where it happened. 'When I came into work this morning it was bedlam because the whole place was at a standstill. 'Nobody has told us what has happened, we heard there had been a body found and that there had been a stabbing but these could just be rumours.' Mr Nim Christopher, a leading expert in penile reconstruction at University College London Hospitals, told MailOnline: ‘For a complete penile reconstruction, a procedure called a free flap phalloplasty is performed. This involves taking a chunk of tissue still intact (in terms of nerves, veins, arteries) from another part of the body. This is then rolled into a tube like a sausage roll with a pipe inside it for the urethra.’ Parts of the body where skin may be taken from are the arm or the thigh. The tissue is then transplanted onto the groin area and the nerves, arteries and veins are connected. Cosmetic surgery is then performed to give the transplanted penis the appearance of one that has been circumcised. The whole procedure usually takes three operations and sensation – if it returns at all – can take a long time while the nerves heal. If a man wishes to be sexually active, he can undergo surgery to have a ‘penis pump’ device implanted. Here, two cylinders are placed either side in the tissue and these are connected to a pump in the scrotum. Squeezing the pump fills the cylinders with fluid kept in a reservoir in the abdomen. This type of surgery can be very successful and save sexual relations when all else has failed. But there are some risks attached to the operation, though, including infection and damage to the penis. A man who had been walking his dog through the area when police started closing the roads said: 'From what I could gather there had been some sort of stabbing. 'I asked an officer what was going on and he said there was no risk to the public but someone had been seriously injured, they said it was just an individual incident though.' A man working in nearby ScS Sofas said: 'There has been a heavy police presence in the area all day, they have been walking around the area and generally chatting to public. 'Lots of people have said there had been a stabbing but that they had heard it from someone else so it was probably just rumours. 'Whatever it was it must have been pretty serious for them to have closed the roads for so long, it was a nightmare getting into work this morning. 'People have been coming in and asking if we knew what had happened but we had no idea either. 'I instantly thought it must have been a road accident seeing as they closed the roads.' A lady taking her shopping from Asda said: 'I know there has been a man hurt but there hasn't been much else said on the matter. 'There . is a lot of gossip about a stabbing but it could just be rumours with a . lot of people speculating over what it could be and coming to their own . conclusions.' Two community support officers who were patrolling said a man had been seriously injured earlier today. They said 'no comment' when asked if a man's penis had been chopped off. All road closures have now been lifted. | Kelvin 'Kelly' Hewitt, 40, believed to have had penis cut off by gipsies .
Hewitt reported to be father to at least seven children by three women .
Builder Hewitt was found next to A66 with groin injuries on Thursday .
Police were searching for the missing organ but have not yet found it .
He regained consciousness from medically-induced coma yesterday .
Attack thought to be revenge for sleeping with gipsy's girlfirend .
Man, 22, arrested on suspicion of assault and released on bail . |
157,572 | 57bcacce527bcf2c19bceffe63c859e0211b91dc | (CNN) -- Eric "The Actor" Lynch, who became a celebrity among celebrities by calling in to Howard Stern's radio show, died Saturday, his manager said. Lynch, 39, stood just 3 feet tall, but his reach was long thanks to the entertaining chemistry he developed with Stern over a decade of phone calls. "Despite our sometimes testy on-air relationship the entire staff absolutely loved Eric the Actor," a message on Stern's website said Monday. Â "When he visited the show in person everyone lined up to take pictures with him. Â And not just us -- celebrities all over the world loved Eric." His manager, Johnny Fratto, confirmed Lynch's death in a Twitter posting Sunday: "I am so sorry and so sad to inform everyone that my friend Eric "The Actor" Lynch passed away yesterday afternoon!!!" Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who had Lynch on his show in 2008, tweeted that he was "my all-time favorite Howard Stern caller and I will miss him terribly." Comedian Wanda Sykes was also a Lynch fan. She tweeted: "Sad to hear about the passing of #EricTheActor. He was one of my favorite callers. #ByeForNow" Bravo TV host Andy Cohen initially tweeted that he was praying that word of Lynch's death was not true, but then: "seems like it's true ... So RIP Eric the Actor. One of the great Stern callers ever. He was incredibly entertaining for many years. :-(" Comedian Artie Lange, who is well-known for his work on Stern's radio show, tweeted that Lynch "truly didn't care what u thought of him. Which in some ways made him happier than us all." Lynch, who lived and died in Sacramento, California, suffered from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, according to his Internet Movie Database biography. His health problems, however, did not keep him from working on several television shows, starting with a role as a travel agency client in a 2005 episode of NBC's "American Dreams." His Stern stardom also helped Lynch land roles as a homeless man on the Fox TV drama "Fringe" and a landlord on the USA Network's "In Plain Sight." His television resume also includes a cameo role on the FX show "Legit." People we've lost in 2014 . See more comedy business content at CNN Comedy. | Listeners enjoyed Lynch's testy on-air relationship with Howard Stern .
Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel: Lynch was "my all-time favorite Howard Stern caller"
Artie Lange: Lynch "truly didn't care what u thought of him"
Health problems didn't keep Lynch from working on several TV shows . |
279,459 | f6076f8c4cf385efa36e885c88d0e2c81a0e576b | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Isaac Lidsky arrives in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, stops suddenly and, upon hearing a voice, extends his hand in greeting almost instinctively. Isaac Lidsky graduated from Harvard University at 19. Retinitis pigmentosa has seriously impaired his vision. Seemingly simple gestures such as a hello don't always come easily for a man who is legally blind. But this hasn't deterred the ex-Justice Department prosecutor from pursuing a promising legal career, one that will take him inside the nation's highest court in a few weeks. The Florida native will join 36 of the nation's top young attorneys as law clerks to Supreme Court justices for the 2008-'09 term. He will be the first legally blind law clerk in the court's history. Lidsky, 28, will work with the retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and will be assured of long days writing and researching cases. "I certainly am nervous to the extent I am eager to be helpful to the justice and productive," he said. "I just want to do good work." Watch as the lawyer will break new ground at the court » . Lidsky, a one-time actor, may be vaguely familiar to adults of a certain age. He played the lovable geek Barton "Weasel" Wyzell on the NBC series "Saved by the Bell: The New Class" in the 1990s. "There's a little bit of a cringe factor because my character was not necessarily the coolest kid in school, but certainly, [there's] fond memories," he recalled. "It was an incredible experience for a kid to have." Around that time, the 13-year-old was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that already had struck two of his older sisters. The symptoms were slow to develop, so Lidsky came to terms early with the idea of losing his vision. Now his sight is seriously impaired. Lidsky said his parents, Betti and Carlos Lidsky, did not allow self-pity and encouraged him to help others like himself. "Right away my parents really led the charge on saying, 'How can we take this challenge and turn it into something positive?' " he said. "So for 15 years we have been doing just that." Acting was never going to be a career for Lidsky. It was the law that always attracted him. As a child he went to court with his father, a prominent Miami lawyer. Becoming a Supreme Court law clerk, he said, was a lifelong dream. After graduating at 19 from Harvard University, he earned a degree from its law school, with a brief stop in between as an Internet business entrepreneur. In 2004, he began a clerkship with Judge Thomas Ambro of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ambro became a mentor to the bright young lawyer and witnessed a sudden decline in his vision. "You could tell things were getting worse," Ambro said. By the end of the one-year assignment, "he now needed a cane and was using a guide dog. Once he had no idea I was in the same room with him until I spoke." But that did not dull Lidsky's drive to succeed. "He had a real good sense of what he was facing," Ambro said. "He's determined to make it in the same way as other people who succeed. For him it was simply a matter of getting the tools to do it." Those tools include optical character recognition software, which scans printed words electronically and reads them back to him, and a Blackberry-type communication device that sends and receives e-mail audibly. Friends said he was a little reluctant over the years to embrace much of the technology, as he sought to preserve his independence as long as possible. After his clerkship came a stint in the Justice Department's Civil Division, where he argued about a dozen cases in federal courts. He said his acting skills came in handy when pleading before often skeptical judges. With the recommendations of Ambro and others, Lidsky applied four times to be a Supreme Court law clerk but was rejected. A meeting with longtime federal Judge David Tatel, who also is blind, convinced Lidsky he should not give up his dream. Then came the call from O'Connor. "Sitting in her chambers, here I was worrying about having to recall the minutiae of legal doctrine" for the personal interview, he recalled. "But we fell into talking about our families and philosophies, and she made me feel very warm and welcome." O'Connor was not available for an interview, but former clerks said they remember her as a nurturing type who nevertheless demands much from them. "I have no doubt Justice O'Connor will keep me very busy," Lidsky said. In addition, Lidsky likely will be assigned to an active justice to sort through the 9,000-some appeals that reach the high court every year. In that capacity, he would recommend which cases should be accepted for review and help write early drafts of opinions. O'Connor also will continue her practice of sitting in on several appeals court cases a year, so Lidsky will assist her on those, along with the 78-year-old's busy schedule of teaching, speeches and public advocacy. Lidsky will have to scale back involvement in his foundation, Hope for Vision, which he created with his wife, Dorothy, and some friends to raise awareness of blinding diseases. His group is launching a campaign this week to find a cure for blindness by 2020. "We have communities of Hope across the country that do events to raise awareness and funding for research," he said. "It's purely volunteer-driven, very grass-roots. Over 98 percent of the money we raise goes directly to scientific grants." As for the future, Lidsky plans to go to London, England, after his clerkship ends, so his wife can finish her master's degree. He would be set to rejoin his law firm, where he has taken a leave of absence, but has no specific career goals. "In 10 or 15 years, I would bet he will be a man still on your radar screen," Ambro predicts. Lidsky appears more modest. "I'm not out there to set any kinds of records or prove anything to anybody," he said. "As odd as it may sound, losing my vision has in a lot of ways been a very rewarding experience for me." CNN's Kelli Arena contributed to this report. | Isaac Lidsky is set to become first legally blind law clerk at U.S. Supreme Court .
Lidsky will work with retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who still hears appeals .
Lidsky played Weasel on NBC's "Saved by the Bell: The New Class"
He and wife founded Hope for Vision, a foundation that seeks a cure for blindness . |
71,686 | cb279b4221d7b2a37eb5df5754ba6cdfb5a2a920 | New 'Nutrition Facts' labels on packages will let families know whether their food has added sugars for the first time while reflecting more realistic portion sizes. Calorie counts will also be in larger, . bolder type under the label changes being proposed by the Food and Drug . Administration, which were announced by Michelle Obama on Tuesday. Under the changes, serving sizes would be based on what people actually eat, rather than what they should eat. A serving of ice cream, for example, would be half a pint, rather than a quarter of a pint. Both 12-ounce and 20-ounce soda bottles will now read 'one serving' rather than two-and-a-half servings because people often drink the entire bottle in one sitting. Scroll Down for Video . Proposals: The FDA released images showing how the proposed new nutrition labels will look compared to current labels (left). The new label will have a bolder calorie count and will have a line for 'added sugars' Support: Michelle Obama speaks about the proposed label changes and how they will help families make healthy choices at the White House on Thursday . Many single-serving packages - a bag of . chips, a can of soup or a frozen entree, for example - would either be . listed as a single serving or list nutrient information by serving and . by container. The Food and Drug Administration says that by law, serving sizes must be based on actual consumption, not ideal consumption. 'Our . guiding principle here is very simple, that you as a parent and a . consumer should be able to walk into your local grocery store, pick up . an item off the shelf and be able to tell whether it's good for your . family,' said Mrs Obama, who announced the plans as part of her Let's Move! initiative. The changes are still a couple of years away, though. The FDA will take comments on the . proposal for 90 days, and a final rule could take another year. Once . it's final, the agency has proposed giving industry two years to comply. The FDA projects food companies will have to pay around $2 billion as they change the labels. Changes: The labels will call 20-ounce sodas, left, one serving and a pint of ice cream, right, will be marked as 2 servings instead of 4. The changes show what people actually eat instead of what they should eat . Shake up: The changes are designed to help families make healthier choices when they look at labels in stores . The Grocery Manufacturers Association, . the industry group that represents the nation's largest food companies, . did not respond to any specific parts of the proposal but called it a . 'thoughtful review'. President Pamela Bailey also said it . was important to the food companies that the labels 'ultimately serve to . inform, and not confuse, consumers'. It was still not yet clear what the final labels would look like. The FDA offered two labels in its proposal - one that looks similar to the current version but is shorter and clearer and another that groups the nutrients into a 'quick facts' category for things like fat, carbohydrates, sugars and proteins. There also would be an 'avoid too much' category for saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, sodium and added sugars; and a 'get enough' section with vitamin D, potassium, calcium, iron and fiber. Both versions list calories above all of those nutrients in a large, bold type. Nutrition advocates have long asked for added sugars on the label because it's impossible for consumers to know how much sugar in an item is naturally occurring, like that in fruit and dairy products, and how much is added by the manufacturer. According to the Agriculture . Department's 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, added sugars . contribute an average of 16 percent of the total calories in U.S. diets. Though those naturally occurring . sugars and the added sugars act the same in the body, the USDA says the . added sugars are just empty calories while naturally occurring ones . usually come along with other nutrients. New plan: Mrs Obama stands beside a proposed version of the new labels as she speaks at the White House . Campaign: On Thursday afternoon, she dances with an eggplant from the Super Sprowtz at a La Petite Academy child care center in Bowie, Maryland as part of her Let's Move campaign . Energetic: She visited to promote healthy environments and eating habits at preschools . David Kessler, who was FDA commissioner when the first Nutrition Facts labels were unveiled in the early 1990s, said he thinks focusing on added sugars and calories will have a 'demonstrative public health benefit'. Kessler said the added sweetness, like added salt, drives overeating. And companies will adjust their recipes to get those numbers down. 'No food company wants products to look bad,' he said. While some may ignore the panels, there's evidence that more people are reading them in recent years as there has been a heightened interest in nutrition. A USDA study released earlier this year said 42 per cent of working adults used the panel always or most of the time in 2009 and 2010, up from 34 per cent two years earlier. Older adults were more likely to use it. | Proposed nutritional labels will display calories in bold print .
New 'added sugars' section will show what the manufacturer has added compared to naturally occurring sugars in the product .
Serving sizes will reflect what people eat rather than what they should eat .
The labels, announced by Michelle Obama, will take at least 2 years to appear to give manufacturers enough time to make changes . |
261,238 | de56496d305c65cd34739b7234bb5422fb37a1ee | Sylvester Stallone's son, 36, found dead at Los Angeles home Friday . Actor 'devastated and grief-stricken' over sudden loss of eldest child . Sage played the 66-year-old's onscreen son in Rocky V . Autopsy scheduled to take place in next 48 hours . By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 10:23 EST, 14 July 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 03:33 EST, 15 July 2012 . The body of Sylvester Stallone's son laid undiscovered for at least three to four days before being found Friday in his Los Angeles home, according to new reports. Coroner's officials are still investigating the death of 36-year-old Sage Stallone who is understood to have overdosed on prescription pills found at the scene. According to TMZ, the filmmaker 'lived like Howard Hughes' in a room 'littered with junk' - and his body could have laid cold for as long as a week. Tragedy: Sylvester Stallone's son Sage was found dead Friday afternoon in his Los Angeles apartment after a suspected drug overdose. He was 36, pictured here in 2006 in Hollywood . A source told the website Sage was . living like a recluse at his Studio City home, and had not spoken to his . family for a week before his body was discovered. A housekeeper who is believed to have . been at the residence earlier in the week was reported to have . been instructed never to enter his room, which a law enforcement source . described as 'disgusting' and foul-smelling. Sage's mother, Sasha Czack, is said . to have called the housekeeper on Friday to check on him after she was . unable to reach her son. That is when the body was discovered, according . to TMZ. Sudden death: The body of the 36-year-old Sage Stallone was brought out to the coroner's van in Los Angeles . Recluse: Sage's body was allegedly not found for days after his death . A friend of Sylvester Stallone's late . son has meanwhile disputed reports the 36-year-old committed suicide, saying he . was 'healthy and upbeat' just two weeks before his sudden death. As coroner's officials investigate if . the death was accidental, a friend of the young filmmaker says he is . baffled by the news because he 'never knew him to do drugs'. The friend, who was not identified by RadarOnline, told the website: 'I saw him two weeks ago and he seemed great. He was healthy and upbeat and didn't seem depressed at all. At work: Sylvester Stallone appeared at a Comic-Con event in San Diego on Thursday, shortly before his son's sudden death . Grief-stricken: The star has said he is 'devastated' by the loss of his eldest child, Sage . Pronounced dead at the scene: The coroner's van was spotted at Sage's home in Los Angeles along with news crews . Unresponsive: The filmmaker's body was taken straight to the coroner's office - and not to the hospital . 'I never knew him to do drugs, not . even weed, so for him to die from an overdose is kind of shocking to me. I am totally stunned.' Radar reports an autopsy will be performed as early as Sunday, however, toxicology tests will be needed to determine cause of death. The results of such tests could take weeks. Sylvester Stallone on Friday said he is 'devastated' and 'grief-stricken' over the death of his son. A source told Radar that medics . arrived on the scene at 3.05pm Friday afternoon and spent around 25 . minutes trying to revive Sage before his death was pronounced at the . scene. Devastated: Sly's agent released a statement saying he was 'grief-striken' at the loss of his son . Mystery: An autopsy is scheduled to take place in the next 48 hours to determine the cause of death . Red carpet smiles: Sage pictured in 1996 at the Hollywood premiere of Daylight with his father Sylvester and his now-wife Jennifer Flavin . Family: Sage had become reclusive since the red carpet appearance with Jennifer and his father, Sylvester Stallone, according to reports . Walking down the aisle: Sage, pictured left, led his mother Sasha Czack down down the aisle as she wed Rich Ash in April 2000 . Double act: Sage appeared alongside his father in the 1990 movie Rocky V, playing the role of Rocky's son Robert Balboa . His body was taken straight to the coroner's office - and the insider claims no suicide note was found. 'I suspect he had been dead for quite a while when he was discovered,' the source told the website. 'Usually medics will be at the scene . for around forty-five minutes but they were out of there within half an . hour. 'There were a number of prescription bottles found at the scene but it did not appear to be suicide and no note was found.' A 9-1-1 call was placed shortly . before 3pm and the caller said Sage wasn't breathing and indicated it . could be a drug overdose, Radar reports. An autopsy is scheduled to take place in the next 48 hours. Shortly after news of Sage's death, a . spokesman released a statement on behalf of his action hero father, 66, . who was at the Comic Con film convention in San Diego yesterday. Before the heartbreak: Stallone was pictured yesterday with Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Comic Con film convention in San Diego . 'Sylvester Stallone is devastated and . grief-stricken over the sudden loss of his son,' the actor's . spokesperson Michelle Bega said in the statement. 'His compassion and thoughts are with Sage's mother, Sasha.' 'He was a very talented and wonderful young man. His loss will be felt forever.' Police said they found the younger . Stallone in the home while responding to a 'welfare check', however . Sages' lawyer George Braunstein said he was found by a housekeeper. Friends and acquaintances had become concerned because they hadn't heard from Sage in the past day. Hand in hand: Sylvester pictured back in 1982 with his first wife Sasha Czack, Sage's mother . Braunstein said the death came as a shock, telling the New York Post this afternoon: 'He was in good spirits, and working . on all kinds of projects. 'He was planning on getting married. I am just devastated. He was an extremely wonderful, loving guy. This is a tragedy.' Sage Moonblood Stallone was the . oldest of Sylvester Stallone's children and co-starred with his father . in two films. He was the first of two sons Stallone had with first wife . Sasha Czack. He made his acting debut in 1990's . Rocky V - he played his Stallone's onscreen son - and also appeared with . his father in 1996's Daylight. Also in 1996, Sage Stallone and . veteran film editor Bob Murawski co-founded Grindhouse Releasing, a . company dedicated to preserving and promoting the B-movies and . exploitation films of the 1970s and 80s. He also directed the 2006 short Vic, which screened at the Palm Springs Film Festival. Braunstein said Sage had frequent requests to work on films. 'He was a full of life filmmaker with . his whole future ahead of him,' he said. 'He was just very up and . enthusiastic and positive. 'I think it was probably some sort of accident,' he said of the death, and claimed he had never seen Sage take drugs. He told E! News: 'I never knew him to drink alcohol. I never saw him take drugs. I never knew of anything like that.' The lawyer has also made claims that Sage in fact posted photos to his Facebook account 17 hours before his body was discovered. Braunstein added that Sage Stallone greatly admired his father but was working hard to make his own name in the film industry. 'He was very proud of his father and proud to be his father's son,' he said. Stallone's split from Sage's mother Czack in 1985 after 11 years together. They also have a another son . Seargeoh, 32, who is autistic. Big boots to fill: Sage said he always worried about living up to his father's success, seen here together again in Rocky V . He wed model and actress Brigitte . Nielsen in the following December in Beverly Hills but they split just two . years later in a very public divorce. He married third wife, Jennifer . Flavin, in 1997 after an eight-year on-again, off-again relationship and . they have three daughters: Sophia Rose, 15, Sistine Rose, 14, and . Scarlet Rose, 10. Sage, who . was raised by his mother following his parents' divorce, felt distant . from his father growing up, a theme which hit home as they were filming . Rocky V together. ‘When I was screaming, “You never spent time with me! You never spent time with my mother!” - that was true,’ he told People magazine in 1996. ‘I was looking into my father's face and really saying that.’ But it proved a turning point for the father and son, who went on to form a close bond and they acted again together in the 1996 film Daylight. ‘Between takes, Sly and Sage would roll around in the dirt like two puppies,’ the director Rob Cohen observed at the time. Sage certainly felt the pressure of growing up with such a famous father and would worry that he would never match his success. ‘I tell him, “As long as you give it your best, that's all that matters,” his mother Sasha said in that same year. Sage went on to pursue a career behind the camera and shunned the wild Hollywood party scene, preferring to watch horror zombie films instead. ‘People call me a hermit,’ he said while promoting the film. ‘But I'm happy.’ | Sylvester Stallone's son, 36, found dead at Los Angeles home Friday .
Actor 'devastated and grief-stricken' over sudden loss of eldest child .
Sage played the 66-year-old's onscreen son in Rocky V .
Autopsy scheduled to take place in next 48 hours . |
161,253 | 5c75c62938a76ba9195717620cde53c313df74fa | David Cameron today confronted SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon over her promise to have her Scottish MPs vote on the future of the English NHS. The Prime Minister used a meeting in Edinburgh with the Scottish First Minister to make clear his anger at the idea that English laws should be decided by nationalists from north of the border. In his first speech in Scotland since the independence referendum, Mr Cameron promised to make Holyrood one of the 'most powerful devolved parliaments in the world'. David Cameron today met First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to discus further devolution to Scotland . Mr Cameron's visit is designed to honour a 'vow' made in the final days of the independence campaign to hand more powers to Scots if they decided to stay in the Union. But it has been overshadowed by Ms Sturgeon's shock plan to end its long-standing policy of not voting on devolved issues such as health and education. A new Ipsos Mori poll for STV News found 52 per cent of Scots are planning to vote SNP in May. That would give the Nationalists an incredible 55 of Scotland's 59 seats, with Scottish Labour reduced to a rump of only four MPs - with the Tories and the Lib Dems completely wiped out. It would shatter Labour's hopes of an overall majority, and would leave Ed Miliband reliant on SNP votes to pass laws - including those which only affect England. Paving the way for a power-sharing deal with Labour, Ms Sturgeon insisted any vote on the English NHS had knock-on effects in Scotland because the Edinburgh government’s budget is linked to Westminster spending. She said it was necessary to protect the Scottish NHS from the knock on effects of cuts and privatisation in England. The SNP leader told the BBC: ‘We would be prepared to vote on matters of English health because that has a direct impact on Scotland's budget. ‘So if there was a vote in the House of Commons to repeal the privatisation of the health service as has been seen in England to restore the National Health Service we would vote for that because that would help to protect Scotland's budget. ‘If there are decisions taken to further privatise the NHS in England, and I don't think anybody thinks the Tories are progressively privatising the health service in order to increase the public funding of the health service, so decisions are taken, that reduce over time the public funding of the health service in England then that has a direct knock on effect to Scotland's budget.’ The Prime Minister visited new building work at Edinburgh Airport before setting out details of his pledge for more powers for the Scottish Parliament . Tory defence minister Anna Soubry branded the remarks 'complete twaddle' and warned Ms Sturgeon was putting the Union at risk again. 'She doesn't even understand what's happened and this nonsense - and it is a nonsense - that the Conservatives are on some wide-scale privatisation of the NHS. She puts our Union at risk again and plays with dangerous stuff.' Mr Cameron sought to repaid the damage caused by the referendum campaign when he reveals the draft clauses that will underpin the devoltion of new powers to Scotland. The Tory leader stressed that these new powers are 'guaranteed', regardless of who wins May's general election . Mr Cameron promised the Scottish Parliament will be able to 'combine the freedom to decide what happens in Scotland's schools, hospitals, surgeries and police stations and the responsibility of determining how around 60 per cent of public money in Scotland is spent'. He declared: 'The Scottish Parliament will have more control of its tax and spending - making it one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world. 'For the first time - the majority of the money the Scottish Parliament spends will be raised right here in Scotland. 'This includes a substantial new package of welfare powers - worth £2.5 billion - to tackle long term unemployment, disability and poverty. 'We've already moved to allow the Scottish Parliament to extend its franchise so 16 and 17 year olds could vote at the 2016 Holyrood elections and here we are stating in law the permanence of the Scottish Parliament - so there can never be any question: Holyrood is here to stay.' With Scots having voted to stay part of the UK in last September's independence vote, Mr Cameron claimed that decision 'wasn't just about the future of devolution' adding that people north of the border value 'the safety and security of being part of something bigger, our family of nations'. Mr Cameron said in the referendum campaign 'the leaders of the other main political parties and I promised extensive new powers for the Scottish Parliament - a vow - with a clear process and timetable'. He added: 'We said a command paper would be ready by the end of October - and it was. 'We said we'd get cross-party agreement by St. Andrew's Day - and we did. 'We said draft legislation would be published by Burns Night - and here we are, three days before the celebrations start, with those clauses before us.' But the SNP claims the new powers do not go far enough. Scottish Deputy First Minister John Swinney, who was on the Commission along with representatives from Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, said: 'The proposals which Mr Cameron publishes today must live up to the word and spirit of the Smith Commission. Scotland should not - and will not - accept anything less. 'While the Smith Commission recommendations did not go as far as we wanted, and do not live up to the 'vow' made before the independence referendum, we welcome them, and they must now be delivered in full.' The latest IpsosMORI opinion poll suggests the SNP could will an incredible 55 of Scotland's 59 seats, with Scottish Labour reduced to a rump of only four MPs - with the Tories and the Lib Dems completely wiped out . Mr Swinney said there is still 'a long way to go before these proposals are put into law'. He added: 'What we have today is the start of the process to develop a Westminster Bill which has widespread support for introduction shortly after this year's general election. 'We will be working closely with stakeholders to ensure these proposals are right for Scotland and that they reflect the views of ordinary people. The Scottish Government is focused on securing economic growth, tackling inequality and protecting our public services, and the new powers being delivered must help deliver those goals. 'We will carefully examine today's paper, because anything which backtracks, waters down or falls short of what Lord Smith recommended would be unacceptable - and ultimately it is the people of Scotland who will determine if these proposals go far enough.' Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said after the referendum campaign 'as promised the UK has today delivered unprecedented new powers for Scotland, which make it one of the most powerful devolved administrations in the OECD'. The Liberal Democrat said: 'The next steps are clear: the Scottish Government and Parliament will soon have these powers, and it needs to ensure that it implements them in a way that works for Scotland, including by looking at further devolution within the country, as recommended by Lord Smith. 'Devolution doesn't just mean the flow of powers from one Parliament to another. Devolution is about empowering our regions and our communities across Scotland and the UK.' | Prime Minister to use speech in Edinburgh to set out powers for Scotland .
Draft laws will deliver on vow made during independence referendum .
But pledge overshadowed by row over interference south of the border .
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said her MPs would vote on English laws .
SHe plans to back Labour’s bid to repeal the Government’s NHS reforms .
Holyrood is in complete control of the health service north of the border .
Comes after the SNP demanded Westminster support for Scottish oil . |
182,882 | 78d8819b1bfd5d60b1aa14551636327c53cbe4bd | (CNN) -- Libya's rebel leaders claimed Monday they had captured three of Moammar Gadhafi's sons, including Saif al-Islam, who is wanted on war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court. But shortly afterwards, Saif appeared in public in Tripoli, where he spoke to reporters -- raising serious questions about the reliability of the rebels' account of events. A day later it remains unclear whether Saif al-Islam was ever in rebel hands, while another Gadhafi son, Mohammed, reportedly escaped from rebel custody. It is also uncertain whether Saadi, the third son the rebels claimed to have captured, was in their custody either. So how much does this dent the credibility of rebels? And can the Libyan people and the international community put their faith in the Transitional National Council (TNC) to lead the nation if the Gadhafi regime falls? Observers say the reported arrest -- and prompt reappearance -- of Saif al-Islam are at the least an embarrassing distraction for the rebels as they seek to take control of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The International Criminal Court, whose chief prosecutor told CNN Monday it had been talking to the rebels about transferring Saif al-Islam to its custody, by Tuesday was insisting it had never confirmed his capture, while Western diplomats faced questions over their wisdom in backing the rebel leadership. Professor Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics, told CNN he did not believe the rebels had intended to mislead the wider world over the arrest of Saif al-Islam, seen as his father's heir apparent. But, he said, the confusion was of great concern because it betrayed a lack of cohesion and competence in the Transitional National Council's leadership and exposed the group's structural weakness. Rebel groups and militias were acting independently rather than as a unified military force, he said, and with that came a risk that the rebel assault would disintegrate into urban warfare and civil strife. He said the rebel leadership needed to "up its game" and could not repeat the lack of openness shown when the rebel government's military commander, Gen Abdel Fattah Younis, died in murky circumstances in Benghazi last month. "The lack of transparency raises serious questions. This is a de facto government -- they must get it. This is not amateurs' time," he said. "They cannot afford to really make so many mistakes because once they lose their credibility, it's very difficult to repair." Mahmoud Shammam, minister of information for the National Transitional Council, acknowledged that the situation over the reported capture of Saif Gadhafi was confusing. "We admit our communications was not clear," he told CNN, saying it had been representatives in Benghazi who stated Saif was under arrest, rather than the prime minister. The rebels did not know if Saif al-Islam Gadhafi had been arrested and escaped, he said, so they would have to confirm what happened with the leaders engaged in the fighting in Tripoli. But, he said, confusion like this occurred in conflict situations, adding that the rebel forces were entering a big city with many different centers of operation. Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Tuesday that the rebels had the confidence of the American government despite the conflicting information over Monday's arrests. "We have definitely found them to be credible and reliable interlocutors," she told CNN's Wolf Blitzer from Rome, saying the United States had been in close contact with the leadership in Benghazi, the rebels' eastern base. Washington joined Britain and other Western powers in recognizing the NTC last month as the legitimate governing authority in Libya, adding to the pressure on Moammar Gadhafi to relinquish power to the rebels. "Clearly in a situation as fluid as this that is evolving rapidly, there's going to be confusion, there's going to be misinformation, and those that are on the ground in Tripoli may or may not be in full and timely communication with the leadership outside of Tripoli," Rice said. "Generally speaking, we've found in all of our engagements with the (NTC) that their leadership is reliable, principled and is working to do the right things." Saad Djebbar, a lawyer who negotiated the release in Scotland two years ago of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of blowing up a Pan-Am flight over Lockerbie, echoed the view that it was unfair to judge the rebels as unreliable on the basis of miscommunications on the ground in Tripoli. "We have to focus on the bigger picture now and see what the council does next," he told CNN. Djebbar believes the NTC should focus on getting food and medical supplies to the people in areas of Libya no longer under Gadhafi's control, in order to demonstrate that life will be better under a new government. And in order to reassure their allies in the West, the NTC must ensure law and order are established in the areas liberated from Gadhafi's forces, he said. Police and security forces should be retrained so they understand they exist to serve the people rather than the regime, he added. The specter of Iraq's descent into violence and sectarian strife after the fall of Saddam Hussein hang over Libya -- and Djebbar sees the international community as having a key role to play in ensuring history is not repeated. "The United States, United Kingdom, France and others should work now with practical steps to make sure that Libyans feel that their country has become a better place," he said. "This is not Iraq." The credibility of a new government will rely on its swift formation and the inclusion of respected members of different communities, tribes, professions and religious groups, he said, to act as "trustees of the revolution and its values." Omar Ashour, director of Middle East Studies for the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, said the rebels were trying to learn from their mistakes -- and the misfortunes of other countries such as Iraq -- in order to keep the trust of their international partners. Speaking from Cairo, on his way to Tripoli, Ashour told CNN he believed the critical issue was one of transparency, so that the rebels could avoid the kind of damaging conflicting accounts that emerged over the death of Younis. And however the NTC does, he believes the resulting government will be better than the corrupt regime headed by Gadhafi over the past four decades. "It's a huge task but to be honest they are the best that we have in Libya at the moment," he said. Gerges agrees that it would be wrong to judge the NTC too harshly for a handful of errors in its early days. Not only is the movement less than a year old, he pointed out, but it is made up of many disparate ideological, social, regional and tribal groups that have yet to fully consolidate into institutions. Gerges believes a functioning and inclusive government will develop given time, provided peace can be restored in Libya and that the TNC can translate its rhetoric into concrete policies. "If I were to gamble, I would gamble on the rebels really rising to the occasion," he said. CNN's Krsna Harilela contributed to this report. | The rebels said they had captured three of Gadhafi's sons, including Saif al-Islam .
Saif al-Islam reappeared in public in Tripoli, shortly after throwing their credibility into doubt .
Analysts say the mix-up can be explained by the confusion on the ground .
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice says she has confidence in the rebel leadership . |
145,305 | 47ecf00a537b4546c29a431fdcbaf154088f455a | A woman claims to have been sacked after turning off a colleague's power washer to observe a two-minute silence on Armistice Day. Norma Gregory was working at an Arnold Clark car showroom in Aberdeen on November 11 at 11am. The 57-year-old stopped what she was doing to respect the customary two-minute silence, turning off her colleague's power washer so that she may do the same. When the woman turned the machine back on, Ms Gregory tried to block her by pushing her arm. Norma Gregory was sacked after becoming involved in an altercation with a colleague who used a power washer as the 57-year-old was trying to observe a two-minute silence on Armistice Day . A complaint was made and Ms Gregory was sent home before being called back in to the car showroom days later to be sacked. 'It was unbelievable that I ended up sacked for just trying to observe the two-minute silence,' the mother-of-two said. 'It was a storm in a teacup. I touched her arm slightly, nothing more.' Ms Gregory had been working at the showroom for two months on Remembrance Day. The former Scottish Water employee said she asked staff what the company had planned to commemorate the centenary of the First World War, but was shocked when she learned nothing had been arranged. 'I spoke with the assistant manager at the start of the day to ask what we were doing but he said there was nothing planned. 'I thought it was poor considering what an important day it was and particularly with Sir Arnold’s background in the forces.' Sir Arnold Clark left the RAF in 1954 after ten years of service. Two years after being discharged, the car tycoon opened his first showroom. Ms Gregory was shocked when she was called into her boss's office at the showroom in Aberdeen and sacked days after the altercation . Sir Arnold Clark, who has more than 200 showrooms in the UK, served in the RAF for ten years . Speaking of the altercation, she said: 'At 11 o’clock I was in the car valeting bay with a colleague and we were cleaning a car. 'The radio was playing and the presenter said they were going to the news and a two-minute silence would follow. 'But my colleague kept working despite me asking her to stop. 'I turned off the power washer she was using and then she turned it on again. Then I turned it back off again. 'This continued for a few seconds before I stood in front of it to stop her turning it back on again. 'When she tried to reach around me I pushed her arm away. 'She said I couldn’t do that and then the next thing I know I was ordered into the boss’s office.' A spokesman for Arnold Clark said declined to comment on Ms Gregory's departure from the company, but said: 'We were aware of Norma’s feelings about Remembrance Day.' The 57-year-old was trying to observe a two-minute silence in respect for the Great War Dead. Politicians and the royal family stand in silence at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, central London . | Norma Gregory turned off colleague's power washer to observe the silence .
The 57-year-old was shocked when coworker put the machine back on .
Ms Gregory tried to stop the woman by 'pushing her in the arm'
She was sent home from Arnold Clark that day and later sacked . |
101,867 | 0f45a5576670b73b2c2863933c6a0de9c7a996b9 | By . Alexandra Klausner . Canada police are looking for three inmates who escaped from a Quebec prison tonight and who fled in a helicopter. Prisoners Yves Denis, Denis Lefebvre, 53, and 55-year-old Serge Pomerleau escaped from Orsainville Detention Center at 7:45 PM in a green helicopter. CBC News reports that police don't have many details on the escape yet but that anyone who spots the inmates should contact the police. Yves Denis is one of the prisoners who escaped from a Quebec city prison tonight . Denis Lefebvre is one of the three inmates all believed to be a part of the same narcotics network who escaped from prison tonight . Serge Pomerleau escaped from a Quebec city prison tonight and is the alleged head of a narcotics network . 'We are talking closely with the detention centre to figure out exactly how the escape transpired, said Ann Mathieu, a spokesperson for Sûreté du Québec. 'The priority number one is to find the helicopter.' NBC reports that police are looking for a green helicopter with red and white markings that landed at the prison. Quebec City, said Sgt. Audrey-Anne Bilodeau said that she didn't know if it landed in a prison yard or outside a building nearby. A lone pilot was believed to be in the helicopter when it arrived at the prison. The Barrier Examiner reports that Pormeleau is the alleged leader of a narcotics network dismantled in 2010 in an operation called Project Crayfish. Lefebvre and Denis are also allegedly part of the same network. The escapees face charges of conspiracy and drug trafficking to name a few. A trial is scheduled to start in September and a pre-trial conference should begin on June 17. All three inmates await a murder charge in connection with the death of Johnny Coutu in 2009. This is the second time in jsut a little over a year that a helicopter was involved in a prison break. In March of Last year at St-Jerome prison, a helicopter pilot was forced to release two prisoners at gunpoint. The two suspects and escapees who hijacked the helicopter were caught just a few hours later. Police search for three inmates who escaped Orsainville Detention Center (pictured) in Quebec City tonight . | Prisoners Yves Denis, Denis Lefebvre, .
53, and 55-year-old Serge Pomerleau escaped from Orsainville Detention Center at 7:45 PM in a green helicopter .
Pormeleau is the alleged leader of a narcotics network dismantled in 2010 in an operation called Project Crayfish and Lefebvre and Denis are also thought to be connected .
All three inmates await a murder charge in connection with the death of Johnny Coutu in 2009 and face charges of conspiracy and drug trafficking to name a few . |
111,624 | 1bf35eb0977d5dd5d2c53fa7385f811583d240e8 | A teenage boy cannot stop growing, shooting up eight inches in just a year, after a tumour the size of a golf ball was removed from his brain. Keiran Halliday was suffering severe headaches, prompting his GP to refer him to Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales. There, doctors discovered the pain was being caused by an unusual growth. Surgeons operated on the now 19-year-old, removing the tumour. But Keiran, from Bridgend in South Wales, was then diagnosed with acromegaly - where the body produces too much growth hormone. Keiran Halliday, 19, from Bridgend, South Wales, was diagnosed with acromegaly - a condition where the body produces too much growth hormone - after having a tumour removed from his brain. He has shot up eight inches in the last year, and now towers above his mother Caroline . Since developing acromegaly Keiran has outgrown most of his clothes and shoes, his mother Caroline said. The condition caused him to put on weight and suffer seizures . Keiran was suffering severe headaches before his GP referred him to University Hospital of Wales where doctors discovered a tumour the size of a golf ball in his brain . Doctors believe the tumour caused the teenager's body to begin producing excess growth hormone . As a result he has grown eight inches, shooting up from 5ft 6ins to 6ft 2ins in the last year. This has caused Keiran to suffer seizures and gain weight. Doctors are unsure whether the teenager will stop growing, despite 12 tablets and an injection to control his gigantism every day. His mother Caroline, 54, said Keiran is now unable to go to college or meet up with his friends for fear of suffering a seizure. She said: 'He suffered with headaches really badly so we knew there was something not right. 'The next thing we were told he had a tumour in his brain the size of a golf ball - it was a devastating thing to hear. 'I felt like I'd been hit by a steamroller - it was frightening. He had the operation just before Christmas but then we noticed over the next few months that his body was changing dramatically. 'He shot up in height and he put on loads of weight - none of his clothes would fit him so I had to buy him a whole new wardrobe. Keiran shot up eight inches in a year, from 5ft 6ins to 6ft 2ins, his feet grew from a size six to a nine and he started to gain weight . Keiran's mother Caroline said her son can no longer go to school for fear of suffering seizures, another symptom of his condition . 'He was diagnosed with acromegaly earlier this year and doctors have given him 12 different pills to take every day as well as a daily injection to combat the hormones. 'But even now doctors don't know if he'll stop growing or not - it's devastating for Keiran and myself because he just wants to live a normal life like any other teenager.' Acromegaly is caused by the body producing too much growth hormone. It results in the growth of body tissues over time. Typical features include: . The condition affects around six in every 100,000 adults and is extremely rare in childhood. Acromegaly is often caused by a benign (non-cancerous) brain tumour, called an adenoma. Doctors first spotted Keiran's tumour in September last year but they thought it had burst - meaning Keiran would not need treatment. But three months later he had to go under the knife to have it removed after doctors discovered it had returned. However, the tumour had a devastating impact on Keiran as his body started producing too much growth hormones - which also saw his feet grow from a size six to a nine in less than a year. The 19-year-old has to have regular blood tests and medication on a daily basis to control the growth hormones. He said: 'It's been really difficult for me and my mum. 'I can't go out and see my mates because I could have a seizure. 'I'm on all sorts of medication but even with all of that doctors don't actually know if I'll stop growing or not. 'I wanted to get into media but I can't go to college because of my condition. 'I just hope one day I can get back to normal and carry on with a normal life like I had before.' | Keiran Halliday was diagnosed with a brain tumour after suffering headaches .
Surgeons at the University Hospital of Wales removed the growth .
But 19-year-old was later diagnosed with acromegaly, known as gigantism .
The condition causes the body to produce excess growth hormone .
Shot up from 5ft 6ins to 6ft 2ins in a year and feet grew from a size 6 to 9 .
Keiran takes 12 tablets each day and has a daily injection to treat condition .
But doctors don't know if the teenager will ever stop growing . |
208,555 | 9a090371b53a6137a6ca93f8023f7cb7b832974b | By . Arthur Martin . PUBLISHED: . 05:59 EST, 19 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:52 EST, 19 September 2013 . Case: The jury at Mark Duggan's inquest will hear evidence from a witness who claims she saw police plant a gun at the scene of his death . An eyewitness will accuse police of planting a gun near the body of Mark Duggan after they shot him. Duggan, whose death sparked the 2011 riots in England, was shot twice by a marksman who had halted his taxi. Officers insist the 29-year-old had a gun wrapped in a sock and was raising it ready to use lethal force. But a witness, known only as Miss J, insists police took a weapon from the taxi and left it near the scene. The claim emerged yesterday just before the jury at Duggan’s inquest was taken to the street in Tottenham, north London, where he was shot in August 2011. Ashley Underwood, QC, counsel to the inquest, told jurors they would hear evidence from Miss J. ‘She lived nearby and she said she was close enough to see the colour of the gloves somebody was wearing when doing CPR (on Duggan),’ he said. ‘I need to explore with Miss J whether her evidence suggests the police took the gun from the minicab and planted it. 'All of that evidence will give you the opportunity to explore that possibility.’ The inquest has heard that the officer who pulled the trigger, known by his codename of V53, says he acted in self defence. The marksman has made a statement insisting he saw Duggan lift his right arm and point a gun toward him. Scroll down for video . Visit: A policewoman guards the scene of Mark Duggan's shooting in Tottenham as members of the inquest jury inspect the area where a gun was found . Re-creation: A carbon copy of the taxi Duggan was in was inspected by jurors who were taken from the Royal Courts of Justice by bus . Taking notes: Judge Keith Cutler looks at a replica of the car that Mr Duggan was driven in when he was shot and killed by police . Group: Star QC Michael Mansfield with family and friends of Mark Duggan in Tottenham . Another armed officer, known as W70, . also claims he saw a gun in Duggan’s hand. But when police looked on the . roadside near his body they found nothing. A handgun with one bullet in it was later found behind a railing, between 10 and 20 feet from Duggan’s body. Mr . Underwood told the inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice: ‘Common . sense will tell you when you’re in a fast-moving dramatic situation, . however highly trained you are, you may miss things. ‘So the gun may have been thrown, it may have been kicked there later on by somebody trying to do first aid.’ Key evidence: A photograph of the gun, shown to the jury at the Royal Courts of Justice as part of the two-month inquest . Case: Photograph shows a gun in a sock found 10-20ft away from Mark Duggan, 29, when he was shot dead by police in Tottenham . Aftermath: CCTV caught this image of paramedics treating Mark Duggan after he was shot . Yesterday . the jury was taken to Leyton in east London where Duggan was allegedly . given a handgun by Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, who has been jailed for 11 . years. The jury was then . taken on the route Duggan travelled in the minicab from Leyton to . Tottenham where three unmarked police cars following him conducted a . ‘hard stop’. Duggan was a . member of Tottenham ManDem, one of Britain’s most notorious gangs, and . was suspected of being on his way to Broadwater Farm to carry out a . murder when the minicab was intercepted, the inquest has been told. Counsel . for the inquest Ashley Underwood, QC, said armed officers tried to shock . Duggan ‘into submission’ by performing a ‘hard stop’ on the taxi by . blocking it with three unmarked police cars. Bereft family: Carole Duggan, the aunt of Mark Duggan, arrives at the inquest into his death at the Royal Courts of Justice with Mark's brother Marlon (right) and one other . Family: Marlon and Shau, brothers of Mark Duggan visit the scene of his fatal shooting in Tottenham this afternoon . Addressing . the jury, he said: ‘Regrettably you will hear it didn’t work, in the . sense that Mr Duggan wasn’t shocked into submission,’ he said. ‘He . got out of the minicab and he ran. You will also hear, of course, from . V53 that he was running with a gun in his hand and he started to bring . that gun up into the aim (position). ‘That . police officer will tell you that the reason he fired was because he . saw what he believed to be a gun wrapped in a sock in Mr Duggan’s hand . and that he was presenting it in a way that was threatening and that he . fired in self-defence. ‘One of the shots hit Mr Duggan on the inside of his right bicep, but didn’t do very much damage. Evidence: Photograph shows the bullet-holed jacket worn by Mark Duggan on the night he was shot . CCTV captured the taxi in which the father-of-four was travelling when it was stopped by armed police. The jury visited the scene yesterday . ‘The . second went through his chest and came out his back going through his . aorta, the main artery which pumps blood into the heart, and was fatal.’ Less than half an hour before the shooting Duggan had allegedly picked . up a gun from Hutchinson-Foster. Detectives . had set up a covert surveillance operation on Duggan and five other . suspects because of their believed links to the gang. The . criminal network has been linked to dozens of murders since its members . started drugs trafficking on the notorious Broadwater Farm Estate in . Tottenham from the mid-1980s. Mr Underwood said Scotland Yard had set up Operation Dibri to thwart the illegal activities of the TMD gang. Image shows a dummy in similar jacket to the one worn by Mark Duggan on the night he was shot and the entry points of the bullets . A photograph of the taxi which Mark Duggan was travelling in on the night he was shot in Tottenham. The jury must decide if the gun was taken by police and planted . ‘They . were concentrating on a gang based in Tottenham called for short TMD . and they believed that Mr Duggan was a gang member and was going to pick . up a gun from a man called Kev or Kevin,’ he said. He . also told the jury that Duggan and Hutchinson-Foster appeared to speak . on the phone several times before the gun was allegedly handed over. Mr . Underwood told the jury that they will need to decide if Duggan was . holding gun when he was shot, if it was necessary for the marksman to . fire twice and if the police operation was planned and implemented in a . way that minimised lethal force. The hearing, which is expected to last two months, continues. Grief: Pamela, mother of Mark Duggan (centre) outside the the Royal Courts of Justice . Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons. | The 29-year-old was shot twice by police marksman in Tottenham, London .
His death sparked the 2011 riots across London and other cities .
Eyewitness Miss J says police took weapon from taxi and planted it at scene .
Jury visited scene of death where a gun was found 20ft away over railings .
Street was shut off and set up to look exactly as it did on day Duggan died .
The inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice is expected to last two months . |
72,679 | ce15afe89e4b1b96c59d545a171dfc9024cddfaf | KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Militants continue to use a material not designed for use as a weapon against people to strike international forces in Afghanistan, the U.S.-coalition said Tuesday. U.S. mortars using white phosphorous target Taliban in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, October 28, 2008. White phosphorus, a smoke-producing agent commonly used to hide military operations, can cause severe burns. Groups such as the Human Rights Watch and other watchdogs oppose its use in civilian areas. The coalition's assertions come on the heels of criticism of international military activities that affect civilians in Afghanistan and claims that coalition forces have used the chemical against people, a charge the United States denies. Militants on Tuesday "mortared" a NATO-led "combat outpost with white phosphorus and high explosive rounds" in Paktika province, the coalition said. No injuries and damage were reported. On Saturday, troops found white phosphorous mortar rounds in Bamiyan and a white phosphorus rocket in a military base in Nangarhar province. The U.S. military earlier this month declassified a report of 44 events in Afghanistan in which it said insurgents "used or stockpiled" munitions made of white phosphorus. "The data, obtained from incident reporting from February 2003 through the present, show that insurgents have stockpiled and used white phosphorus against personnel in both indirect fire attacks as well as improvised explosive devices," the military said. The Taliban has alleged that U.S. forces used the chemical in fighting insurgents May 4 in Farah province and injured civilians, but that assertion has been denied by the U.S. military. "We've checked our reports again, and no munitions containing white phosphorous were used by coalition forces in Farah," a senior official said. "It is U.S. military policy to employ white phosphorous for illumination, marking targets or destroying buildings, but to abstain from using it against people." | U.S.-coalition: Militants using white phosphorous against coalition in Afghanistan .
The chemical can cause severe burns; rights groups oppose its use in civilian areas .
Chemical is a smoke-producing agent commonly used to hide military operations .
Taliban alleged U.S. forces used it in fighting insurgents May 4 in Farah province . |
130,898 | 3547425149f1b32444a4a1bf70a102168c4f08e7 | FIFA executive committee member Michel D'Hooghe has described the £16,000 watches given to officials at the 2014 World Cup by the Brazilian federation as the most 'poisonous present' he has ever received. The world governing body's medical chief was the recipient of one of 65 gift bags, each containing a Parmigiani watch, from Brazil's football federation the CBF in June, which were distributed to all 28 members of FIFA's executive committee. FIFA's ethics committee last month said accepting such valuable gifts contravened its rules and has demanded that all the watches be returned by October 24 otherwise it will launch disciplinary proceedings. FIFA executive committee member Michel D'Hooghe has spoken out about the controversial gift . D'Hooghe, speaking at the Leaders in Sport conference in London, said: 'We (FIFA's executive committee) are absolutely angry on that situation. All my colleagues on the executive committee, not one of them needs that watch. 'I have been in football 42 years and received many watches in my career. It is a classical present in football, so I did not need that watch. 'They say I received that watch. It is not true. I found that watch in a bag that was placed in our room. 'It's only after one week that I opened it, I saw there was a watch with plastic bracelet and the mark 'Parmigiano' (sic). 'For me Parmigiano is a cheese that you put on spaghetti. I thought it was a kind of Swatch (watch).' D'Hooghe (right) poses with FIFA chairman Sepp Blatter during a press conference . The 68-year-old Belgian, a member of FIFA's executive committee since 1988, did not appreciate the gift, insisted there was nothing untoward in its intentions, but was happy to return it. 'The Brazilians gave a present for their centenary,' he added. 'There was nothing asked in return. It was not a matter of corrupting. It was a pure present. 'What I did not like is that they gave a present of such value. 'Please never give me such presents again.' UEFA President Michel Platini has said publicly that he will not return his luxury watch . D'Hooghe gave his watch to an acquaintance at the World Cup and has had to ask for its return. 'I am to be humiliated towards that person to ask for that watch back,' he added. 'I asked the person to whom I gave it to give it back.' | Gift bags containing £16,000 watches were given to officials at the 2014 World Cup .
FIFA's ethics committee demands that all watches be returned . |
245,444 | c9acbc59fe60ab3bb4923b7daae2b0ef9d391afe | New elections will probably be held on March 17, the speaker of Israel's parliament said Wednesday, a day after the Prime Minister sacked two senior members of his coalition Cabinet for criticizing government policy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also called for parliament to be dissolved, a step that the Knesset is now considering. Lawmakers voted unanimously to dissolve parliament in a preliminary vote Wednesday, according to the official Knesset website. A Knesset committee will now prepare a bill for further votes by lawmakers early next week. Speaker Yuli Edelstein said the party heads had agreed on March 17 as the proposed election date. The upheaval was triggered when Netanyahu ordered letters of dismissal for Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, two members of his Cabinet from rival parties, according to a statement from his office Tuesday. "During the last few weeks and, in particular, the last few days, the ministers have intensely attacked the government that I am leading," Netanyahu said. "... I will not tolerate ministers attacking the government's policy and its head from inside the government." The call for new elections means Israel is effectively in a state of political paralysis until March. Israel held its last election just 22 months ago. A poll for Israel's Channel 2 suggested that 55% of those surveyed were against another election being held so soon. Polls give mixed picture . Netanyahu will hope that the vote enables him to form a government he can work with, including right-wing and religious parties, but there is no guarantee that he will be able to form the coalition he wants. Netanyahu has been Prime Minister since 2009. But he's had to rely on members of other parties -- many of them to the left of Likud on the political spectrum, such as the centrist parties of Livni and Lapid -- to govern. Netanyahu is also calculating that he can win a fourth term in office. Opinion polls give a mixed picture, indicating that many people blame him for the current crisis but that at the same time, if elections were held today, his right-wing Likud party would increase its share of seats in the 120-seat Knesset. However, people feel there is a range of problems that are not being dealt with, such as a faltering economy, recent attacks against Israelis in Jerusalem and this summer's inconclusive war against Hamas militants in Gaza. Netanyahu blasts 'putsch' Netanyahu told reporters Tuesday that a divided government was one of Israel's problems, saying there was a lot of debate, contradictions and ultimatums. He called out Livni for meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas against his advice and for criticizing building in Jerusalem, which some say has exacerbated tensions with Arabs there. And Netanyahu lambasted Lapid for calling Israel's boycott of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's U.N. speech a mistake and challenging his push to label Israel a Jewish state, which some fear will alienate the country's significant Arab population. He also accused the ministers of being behind talks "to kick out the prime minister." "In one word, they call this a putsch," Netanyahu said. "You cannot have a government like this. It's impossible to govern like this." 'Narrow political interests' In a Facebook post Tuesday, Livni said, "The question in the election will not be who was the first to identify the threats and use them for political means, but who will deal with the threats in a responsible, level headed manner for the good of the country." Lapid's centrist Yesh Atid party also fired back in a statement, in which it said Lapid told Netanyahu by phone that he expected the Prime Minister "to act responsibly and to stop dragging the (Israeli military) and our soldiers into an election for your political needs." Yesh Atid said that "unnecessary elections ... will harm the economy and Israeli society, all for narrow political interests and a surrender to the ultra-orthodox parties, the powerful central committee of the Likud and outside lobby groups." | Lawmakers approve the dissolution of parliament in a preliminary vote .
New elections probably will be held on March 17, Israel's parliament speaker says .
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for its dissolution and new elections .
Netanyahu ordered the ouster of Finance Minister Yair Lapid, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni . |
41,832 | 75f40fd9102eb11d88baf320f2f250933bba7696 | Jeremy and Christine Moody admitted to killing Marvin and Gretchen Parker in July 2013 and the Moodys were sentenced today . The Moodys said that they targeted Marvin Parker, 59, because he was a registered sex offender and his wife, 51, was 'a casualty of war' 'Killing that paedophile was the best day of my life,' Christine said as she left . 'See you perverts later,' Jeremy shouted at victim's family as he walked out . Told police that they had a second sex offender target in mind . Are self-proclaimed skinheads and proud members of a local white supremacist group in South Carolina . Sheriff said that Jeremy Moody shot both victims and Christine Moody slit the wife's throat . By . Meghan Keneally . A white supremacist couple in North Carolina have been sentenced to consecutive life sentences after killing a registered sex offender and his wife. Jeremy Lee Moody and Christine Moody admitted to purposefully targeting and killing a couple in July of last year. The couple admitted to killing Marvin Parker, 59, and his wife Gretchen Dawn Parker, 51, and said that they chose their victims because he was a registered sex offender. Scroll down for video . Horrific: Jeremy and Christine Moody (seen in court today) admitted to killing a sex offender and his wife and though they are self-proclaimed 'skinheads' they say that the local white supremacist group that they are affiliated with did not have a role in the murders . Appalling: The couple said later after the sentencing that they had a second sex offender target in mind and added that the female victim was 'a casualty of war' since they really wanted to kill her sex offender husband . Delusions: Jeremy Moody's lawyer said that at the time of the slaying, he 'felt he was the right hand of God' Acted alone: Though they had personal connections to a local supremacist group, Crew 41, which the Southern Poverty Law Center notes has a history of targeting sex offenders, the Moodys claimed that the Parkers murder had nothing to do with the group. Pictured are Jeremy and Christine Moody's mugshots from their July arrests in Union County . They were unrepentant at the sentencing on Tuesday and even kissed after being sentenced to two consecutive life sentences each. Initially, Jeremy and Christine Moody apologised to the judge and asked for a 30-year sentence so they could see their children and grow old together. But after Union County Judge Lee Alford handed down the maximum punishment, they showed how they really felt. 'See you perverts later,' Jeremy Moody shouted at Charles Parker's family as he walked out of court. 'That's what child molesters get.' 'They got exactly what they deserve,' Jeremy also told reporter. 'Had to do it over again, I'd kill more.' 'I think Jeremy and I would have done it again if given the opportunity,' Christine Moody said to reporters. 'I have no regrets. Killing that pedophile was the best day of my life.' If authorities had not acted fast enough, they may have: Christine Moody said that they had another sex offender in mind as their third victim but were caught in connection to the Parker killings before they could strike again. The Moodys plead guilty to murder, kidnapping, burglary and firearm possession. Though they had personal connections to a local supremacist group, Crew 41, which the Southern Poverty Law Center notes has a history of targeting sex offenders, the Moodys claimed that the Parkers murder had nothing to do with the group. Happy for themselves: The couple smiled and kissed one another as they were awarded consecutive life sentences in a Union County, South Carolina court on Tuesday for the July murder of Marvin and Gretchen Parker . Medical conditions: Jeremy Moody's lawyer says he is bipolar and schizophrenic (left) while Christine Moody is said to have PTSD and borderline personality disorder (right) Union County Sheriff David Taylor told the SPLC that Jeremy shot both of the victims while Christine slit the wife's throat after they told Parker and his wife exactly why they were going to kill them. A surveillance camera on Parker's land caught them leaving, and deputies recognised Jeremy Moody from the word 'skinhead' tattooed on his neck and the 'Made in America' tattoo on the side of his head. Lawyers said both defendants were sexually abused as children and that made them want revenge against the type of people who hurt them. They believed they had a divine assignment to kill all sex offenders, said psychologist Harold Morgan, who analyzed Jeremy Moody. After he was arrested, Jeremy Moody directed investigators to a sheet of paper in his home. He wrote the name and address of another sex offender, telling police he was going to kill that person the next day if he had not been arrested. The Parkers were killed on a Sunday and he planned the next murder for that Wednesday. Brackett said the Moodys had no right to act as a judge and a jury after Parker had already served a sentence for taking advantage of a disabled woman. 'I'm going to tell you, she's cold as hell,' Sheriff Taylor said of Christine Moody. 'She wants to get the glory.' Crew 41 is believed to be a loosely . associated group that connects largely online, but they had their first . meet-and-greet scheduled for August in Nebraska, and the Moodys . apparently planned to attend after the July 21 double murder. Sheriff . Taylor went on to explain that Christine Moody, who was 36-years-old at . the time of the murder, said that Gretchen Parker 'was a casualty of . war'. Target: Marvin Charles Parker (left) and his wife Gretchen Dawn Parker (right) were killed in their home in July and the Moodys said Marvin's sex offender status is what led them to target him . Outside of reading the 69th Psalm from the Bible and letters from their church members, the couple showed little remorse. They smiled and looked longingly at each other during the hearing. Jeremy . Moody smirked as members of the Parker family asked the judge for the . maximum sentence. When the judge asked Christina Moody the standard . question of whether anyone offered her anything for plea, she answered . 'just fame and fortune.' The couple told authorities they had killed others, but investigators found no evidence of other crimes, Brackett said. Defense . lawyers pointed out Christine Moody was a breast cancer survivor who . underwent a double mastectomy four years ago and Jeremy Moody suffered . from schizophrenia and was not on his medicine when the killings took . place. When Moody, who was 30 at the time of the . murder, does not take his prescribed medication, he suffers from . paranoia and delusions, according to his attorney Harry Dest. Christine Moody has her own share of . medical conditions, in addition to cancer she has borderline . personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and antisocial . personality disorder. Parker's family . didn't hear Jeremy Moody call them perverts because they were already . being taken out of the courtroom. They shrugged off his words outside. 'He . got what he deserved. He would kill again if he was let out,' said . Charles Parker's sister Brenda Franklin. 'He can say whatever he wants. He's dying in prison.' In this particular instance, Moody believed that he was acting as 'the right hand of God'. According to the local Fox station, Charles Parker was listed as a registered sex offender after being convicted in 2003 of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a 31-year-old woman and was also convicted in a sexual assault case involving a child in 1991. | Jeremy and Christine Moody admitted to killing Marvin and Gretchen Parker in July 2013 and the Moodys were sentenced today .
The Moodys said that they targeted Marvin Parker, 59, because he was a registered sex offender and his wife, 51, was 'a casualty of war'
'Killing that paedophile was the best day of my life,' Christine said as she left .
'See you perverts later,' Jeremy shouted at victim's family as he walked out .
Told police that they had a second sex offender target in mind .
Are self-proclaimed skinheads and proud members of a local white supremacist group in South Carolina .
Sheriff said that Jeremy Moody shot both victims and Christine Moody slit the wife's throat . |
33,271 | 5e946e2f2d5b7f3b91b5b033b2420e820481ecb6 | Airports are no place to sleep, as any weary traveler who has tried to grab a few minutes shuteye during a layover can attest. But that may be changing, thanks to a new breed of short-stay, pay-by-the-hour micro-hotels popping up in airport terminals around the world. Based loosely on the concept of the Japanese "capsule hotel," these cabins and boxes allow sleepy travelers to seal themselves off from the surrounding commotion for a 30-minute power nap or a solid night's sleep without having to leave the terminal for a hotel. Some even contain toilets and showers. In recent years, versions of the concept have emerged from London to Moscow and from Philadelphia to Dubai, with other destinations likely to follow this year. And they are spreading beyond the airport terminal. Yotel, which operates short-stay "cabins" in airports in London and Amsterdam, has also opened a hotel in Manhattan based on a similar concept, while Sleepbox, which has a demonstration model in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, will open 60 of its units in downtown Moscow in a matter of weeks. Here are three of the best micro-hotels proving that size isn't everything. Yotel: . Yotel has operated its pod hotels in London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports since 2007, and in Amsterdam's Schiphol since 2008. Described by the company as being "inspired by first-class airline cabins," and by one user review as "a cross between a train compartment and a space ship," these small units pack in single or double beds, entertainment systems, a work desk and an en suite bathroom into between 7 to 10 square meters. The cabins --32 at Heathrow, 46 at Gatwick and 57 at Schiphol -- cost about £25 ($39) for four hours, or about £60 ($93) overnight. Yotel also operates a hotel based on a similar concept in New York City, with 669 slightly larger rooms. Yotel marketing director Jo Berrington said the airport cabins had very high occupancy rates, and the company planned to roll out its operations in other airports soon. See also: World's best airport restaurants . Napcabs: . Napcabs are 4-square-meter, self-service booths operating in Terminal two of Munich Airport. Six cabins are currently in operation, with plans to add more in coming months. They contain a bed, desk, air conditioning, internet access and a TV. The minimum charge for their use is €30 ($38), which buys two hours between 6am and 10pm, or three hours outside those times. The company says it is moving to other airports shortly. Sleepbox: . The cozy, 4-square-meter Sleepbox contains a maximum of three bunk beds, bedside tables, electrical outlets, and reading lamps and can be equipped with a television and alarm clock. A model Sleepbox was installed in the Aeroexpress terminal of Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport in August, and will be put into commercial use in coming weeks when 60 are installed for use in downtown Moscow. The Sleepbox's designers envisage the units will also be used in train stations, shopping malls and exhibition centers. They can be booked for as little as 30 minutes; Sleepbox recommends a usage charge of U.S. $15 an hour. See also: Techy hotels a hit with geeky guests . Minute Suites: . Minute Suites provides private rest spaces for travelers to relax, nap or work inside the security areas at two U.S. airports. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has hosted the micro-rooms since late 2009. Philadelphia International Airport also installed 13 suites in 2011. Standard features include a daybed sofa and an HD television. A desk, phone, office chair and Wi-Fi internet connection ensures each suite can also act as a makeshift office space. A minimum one-hour stay costs $30, while every 15 minutes thereafter is charged at a rate of $7.50. SnoozeCube: . Situated in Terminal one of Dubai International Airport, SnoozeCube offers a compact and soundproof room complete with bed, touchscreen TV and internet access. There are currently 10 units in operation and a one-hour stay costs as little as $16. All SnoozeCubes are connected to the airport's flight information system to ensure that passengers do not miss their flights. | Airport micro hotels let travelers sleep in cabins rented by the hour .
The facilities give guests a private place to sleep during layovers .
The concept is spreading outside airports too, with one design to be installed in downtown Moscow . |
80,171 | e3389f430431fb851a3fd022f0cc48385b595370 | A 29-year-old Moroccan man was arrested on Friday in an FBI sting operation near the U.S. Capitol while planning to detonate what police said he thought were live explosives. Amine El Khalifi of Alexandria, Virginia, was taken into custody a year after the FBI received a tip from an informant fearful of his anti-U.S. attitude. Authorities immediately began tracking the suspect. He was eventually arrested with a fake gun and explosives given to him by undercover FBI agents he believed were al-Qaeda members. Scroll down for video . Caught: Amine El Khalifi, a 29-year-old Moroccan who appeared in court Friday evening in . Alexandria, Virginia (artist rendering, right), tried to blow up the U.S. Capitol with what he . thought were live explosives . Authorities said the suspect was closely . monitored by law enforcement, and the would-be explosives had been . deactivated, so the public was never in danger. Officials say he has recently arrived at a federal court in Alexandria, where he is scheduled to appear later this evening. Two people briefed on the matter told The Associated Press he was not arrested on the Capitol grounds, and the FBI has had El Khalifi under surveillance around the clock for several weeks. A U.S. law enforcement official said the El Khalifi was canvassing the U.S. Capitol with violent intentions, Fox News first reported. Standing guard: A U.S. Capitol Police Officer looks out over the capitol after the 29-year-old Moroccan man was arrested for an alleged terror plot to stage an attack in Washington . Thwarted: Officers canvas the area around the capitol after news of the sting operation . Business and pleasure: Tourists walk past a Capitol Police officer keeping watch on Capitol Hill in Washington . He was not believed to have any known . connections to al-Qaeda, the AP reported, though NBC News said that the . man had overstayed his visa and was in the country illegally. Police are currently canvassing El Khalifi's hometown of Alexandria as the investigation continues. Officials say they believe he was acting alone. They say he was targeting the Capitol Hill Visitor Centre, though he changed his mind about the intended target a few times. 'He wanted to set off the explosives where people would be around,' an official said to NBC News. El Khalifi expressed interest in . killing at least 30 people and considered targeting a building in . Alexandria and a restaurant, synagogue and a place where military . personnel gather in Washington. Property: One of El-Khalifi's residences in Arlington, Virginia under investigation by police . Busted: Police officers stand outside another of El Khalifi's residences in Arlington, Virginia . He finally settled on the Capitol after . canvassing that area a couple of times, a counterterrorism official told . the AP. Fox News said that he had come into the country with a family member and then popped up on the FBI’s radar. The investigation that led to El . Khalifi's arrest started last January on a confidential informant's tip . to the FBI, the Associated Press reported. The informant described a meeting . inside an Arlington apartment, where a person who produced an AK-47, two . revolvers and ammunition said the war on terror equated with a 'war on . Muslims' and urged the group to prepare for battle. El Khalifi, the FBI . learned, expressed agreement. Agents said he got more extreme as time passed, and allegedly had ambitions to become the first suicide bomber on U.S. soil. Federal agents posing as al-Qaeda . operatives provided him with what he thought was a suicide vest this . morning, though the explosives were deactivated. Scrutiny: Officials are searching the suspect's Arlington, Virginia home for clues . He was taken down by federal agents outside of the FBI's Wasington Field Office Joint Terrorism Task Force, CBS News said. The news network said that El Khalifi . was praying at a mosque somewhere in Washington area Friday morning, . before the alleged mission. An official told the Post that he was arrested only a few blocks from the Capitol in an alley. The suspect will appear in federal court as early as this afternoon. At least 20 people have been arrested . by federal agents on terrorism-related charges in the past year, the . Senate Intelligence Committee told the Post. Ever watchful: A police car sits in front of the U.S. Capitol building. Earlier today the FBI arrested a man who was allegedly going to blow up the visitor's centre of Capitol Hill . Place of capture: Amine El Khalifi was arrested in this alley near the Capitol . The plot used by FBI agents is . similar to those used in the past. Last September, a man was indicted by . a federal grand jury for allegedly plotting to use remote-controlled . airplanes filled with explosives to attack the Capitol. Likewise, back in November 2010, a Somali-born teenager allegedly plotted to bomb a crowded Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon. He was receiving help from what he thought were jihadists, but were in fact federal agents. The foiled plot comes only a day after the so-called underwear bomber, Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his failed Christmas Day attack. Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a plane by detonating a bomb, but the explosion only caused a brief fire that badly burned his groin. Watch video here: . Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy . | Moroccan-born Amine El Khalifi arrested on Saturday in FBI sting .
Has been living illegally in country for 12 years; lives in Alexandria, Va.
FBI agents reportedly supplied El Khalifi with deactivated 'suicide vest'
Wanted to 'set off the explosives where people would be around,' one official told NBC News . |
181,163 | 7682e092796c775307cff331ec13f50879ea21bb | By . Deni Kirkova . PUBLISHED: . 14:10 EST, 27 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 14:10 EST, 27 March 2013 . High heeled shoes, hair extensions, glowing spray tans and false eyelashes might sound like an Essex girl's party-ready regime, but it's how girls as young as three are preparing to compete in American style children's beauty pageants. The mini modelling contests as seen on hit TV shows such as Toddlers and Tiaras arrived in the UK last year. And they are already spawning a booming beauty industry for babies . The pageant effect is seeping its way to our High Street beauty industry (picture posed by model) Salons offering services usually reserved for adults, like hair styling, blow-drys and nail painting are now opening their doors to the under tens to meet demand for pushy mothers and style savvy youngsters. Tantrum salon in Kensington is one such company, and they already have a thriving celebrity clientele with Geri Halliwell, Liz Hurley and Jack Black all having sent their children there for a haircut. The salon even styled one of the bridesmaids at the Royal Wedding. Tantrum’s co-founder Latasha Malik, 34, who worked in marketing and PR before opening the salon five years ago, told the Times that pre-schoolers make up about 40 per cent of their clients. 'We get all sorts of people but our catchment is quite wealthy,' she said. A blow-dry for baby there costs £30 and follows a consultation and a trim - and they will also paint your child's nails for £7. Nipper Snippers beauty parlour in Reigate, Surrey, offers 'party hair' for little girls with prices starting at £22. Fidgets salon in Tyne & Wear offers blow-drys to girls of eight years old for £13, stating on their website: 'For girls aged over 8yrs Curly and Frizz highly recommends a little pampering and suggests you get a wash, cut and blow dry.' Toddlers and Tiaras star Casey, seven, performed Beyoncé's Single Ladies' dance moves in a new episode . Paisley, three, dressed as Pretty Woman while competing in a pageant in an episode of Toddlers and Tiaras . Maddy took to the stage in the hit show as Dolly Parton, complete with fake breasts and bottom . The US children's beauty industry is worth £3.3billion and beauty contests for children are the norm, with many families spending hundreds on dollars on one event. The . Miss Mini Princess UK contest invites girls from one through 13 . to compete against each other to be crowned the most beautiful. The . competition has four rounds, the first focuses 'on the face and beauty', while in round two the child wears their most 'eye catching special fancy wowing' outfit. The . third round is talent where children get to show off, with props and . costumes allowed, and round four is focuses again on glamour and . beauty. Titled 'Evening Dress', this is the 'final chance to show their poised elegant stance in a prestige evening dress'. The . six age groups split the girls up into Baby Princess, Tiny Princess, . Little Princess, Petite Princess, Little Miss Princess and Pre-teen Princess. The US children's beauty industry is worth £3.3billion, and it looks likely to boom on this side of the Atlantic too . Fashionable celebrity children like Harper Beckham and Suri Cruise fuel the rend for pampering children . Round 1 - Beauty - 'Any choice of beautiful dress (with most focus on face and beauty)' Round 2 - Wow Wear - 'Choice of most eye catching special fancy wowing outfit' Round 3 - Talent - '90 Seconds to show off your most interesting talents any props and costumes allowed' Round 4 - Evening Dress - 'Final chance to show your poised elegant stance in a prestige evening dress' Miss Mini Princess UK encourages girls to 'show your poised elegant stance in a prestige evening dress' | First Miss Mini Princess toddler pageant launched in Leicester last year .
One hundred British girls took part aged from just 23 months old .
Children's beauty parlours now open in Newcastle, Reigate and London .
Treatments include blow-drys, hair curling and nail painting . |
30,942 | 57eac92e9fe7497ef795952120629e9fa05447d9 | (CNN) -- More than 1 million cancer deaths could be prevented around the world if more nations, particularly low- and middle-income countries, implemented known strategies targeting such deaths, two international groups say. It's doable, according to the Union for International Cancer Control and International Agency for Research on Cancer, if countries adopt measures to meet the "25 by 25" targets the World Health Organization set last year. The targets aim to reduce premature deaths due to noncommunicable diseases by 25% by 2025. Cancer deaths total about 7.6 million worldwide each year. Of those, 4 million are in people ages 30 to 69 -- defined as "premature" by the two cancer organizations. "With the right strategies, at least 30% of (all) cancer cases can be prevented based on current knowledge," according to the Union for International Cancer Control. The groups made the announcement Monday, the eighth World Cancer Day. The Union for International Cancer Control -- the largest nongovernmental cancer-fighting organization with more than 760 partners in 155 countries -- organized the day to raise awareness among individuals and governments about cancer and cancer prevention. More than 450 events were held to raise awareness Monday, the group said. This year's theme: to highlight and dispel myths and misconceptions about cancer, including that it is a "disease of the wealthy, elderly and developed countries," according to the organization. In reality, cancer affects those of all ages and income levels worldwide. More lives being saved: Cancer death rates drop 20% . In fact, "more (cancer) deaths occur in lower and middle-income countries, than in high-income high cancer countries, even though there are twice as many cases in high-income countries," said Peter Boyle, president of the International Prevention Research Institute in Lyon, France. Boyle is the main author of World Breast Cancer Report 2012, which was published by the institute and funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure. It was released Monday. According to his report, more than 1.6 million women worldwide will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, compared with about 641,000 in 1980. More than 425,000 will die from the disease each year. "I was shocked by some of the things we found," Boyle said, adding he believes there are various reasons why women in poorer countries are diagnosed late. Lack of treatment is one. He cites an example: In Bangladesh, there is one trained oncologist for 150 million people. There's also a lot of stigma preventing women from seeking treatment. "It's a very, very sad thing," Boyle said. For example, in Kenya and Uganda, 100% of women seek help with advanced or metastatic breast cancer, said Boyle. Metastatic breast cancer means the cancer has spread to other parts of the body; advanced breast cancer means it's the most advanced stage of breast cancer that has not spread outside the breast. In both cases, a late diagnosis can impede efforts toward a cure. By comparison, the report said, "It is calculated that less than 10% of the breast cancer patients in the U.S. are diagnosed with LABC (locally advanced breast cancer). Women in the United States are not immune from late diagnoses." After cancer, my real fight began . Julie Gerberding, a former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on Monday addressed the Global Women's Cancer Summit in Washington, a gathering the Komen Foundation hosted. She described three women who died from cancer, either because they didn't know they had the disease or didn't take advantage of screening. They were her aunts, she said, and lived in the United States. Two had breast cancer, and one had cervical cancer. Gerberding said it's a problem "from Arkansas all the way to Zimbabwe." "We must get better at implementing what we already know," said Gerberding, who is now president of Merck Vaccines. The summit launched its own "25" goal: to improve breast cancer survival and quality of life in 2.5 million women living in low- and middle-income countries by 2025. So much could be done, Boyle said, if existing prevention screening techniques such as mammography and breast self-exams were used and existing treatments were available. He quoted the popular Nike slogan "just do it." "If every woman in the world had adequate knowledge of breast cancer, had access to early diagnostic programs, had access to high-quality diagnostic services and (was) treated according to the most appropriate protocol for their particular disease, then breast cancer mortality would drop rapidly and significantly and have a profound effect on global women's health," according to the breast cancer report. Why I donated my bone marrow . | Using what we already know can help prevent cancer deaths, experts say .
Monday was the eighth World Cancer Day .
Organizers aimed to dispel myths about cancer .
It's a problem "from Arkansas to Zimbabwe," one expert says . |
91,524 | 01bd00d6fad1a3155579635c9d0e0db895e06b2c | Former Countryfile presenter Miriam O'Reilly who won a landmark ageism case against the BBC has attacked the corporation saying John Simpson has been given a new indefinite contract 'because he's man'. The 57-year-old, who successfully sued the BBC for age discrimination after she was dismissed from the programme, hit out on Twitter after learning of the new contract awarded to the broadcaster's world affairs editor. The 70-year-old journalist, who has worked for the BBC for more than 45 years, has been given the new deal that will see him work for the corporation for as long as he likes. Scroll down for video . Former Countryfile presenter Miriam O'Reilly, left, who has attacked the BBC for giving world affairs editor John Simpson, right, an indefinite contract because 'he's a man' In an exchange on Twitter, Channel Five News correspondent Julian Druker sent a post to Miss Reilly with a link to a story about Mr Simpson, with the question 'Wonder what @OReillyMiriam thinks' And just three minutes later, Miss Reilly replied simply saying: 'He's a man.' Mr Druker then followed up with: 'I hope you've double-sourced this Miriam', to which she replied saying, 'Yes, I think you'll find that's accurate.' On Twitter, Miss O'Reilly was asked what she thought about Mr Simpson's new contract, to which she simply replied: 'He's man' A spokeswoman for the BBC refused to comment saying they do not discuss staff contracts. Miss O'Reilly was 51 when she was told in November 2008 that she was being dropped from Countryfile after eight years of co-presenting the Sunday lunchtime show. She then took the BBC to an employment tribunal and successfully sued them for age discrimination saying she had been devastated when she was told she would no longer be on the show. When asked if she had 'double-sourced' her information, she said 'Yes, I think you'll find that's accurate' The programme relaunched in April the following year in a Sunday prime-time slot with Julia Bradbury, 43 and Matt Baker 33, along with long-serving host 70-year-old John Craven. In the wake of her victory, Miss O’Reilly was given a three-year deal to return to the corporation. But in 2012 she announced she was leaving to launch a support service for women facing discrimination in the workplace. Her Twitter bio now states: 'Journalist. Writer. Campaigner. Fought ageism at the BBC and won.' Earlier this year, Miss O'Reilly also hit out on Twitter at her Countryfile replacement Miss Bradbury after she disputed that the 57-year-old had been a victim of age discrimination on the show. Miss O'Reilly was dropped from Countryfile in 2008 before it was relaunched in 2009 with Matt Baker, Julia Bradbury and John Craven, pictured . In an interview Miss Bradbury said that Miss O’Reilly’s departure from Countryfile in 2009 was simply a result of planned changes to the show’s format rather than discrimination. But in a series of tweets, Miss O'Reilly wrote: ‘So you know better than three judges in a legal case and former BBC DG [director general] Mark Thompson who accepted the tribunal decision? ‘Before you make ill-informed statements I suggest you look at the legal case – one day you might need it. Until then good luck with the a**e licking.’ Miss Bradbury did not respond to any of the tweets. Miss O’Reilly then told the Daily Mail she believed Miss Bradbury was simply voicing the defiance of senior producers on Countryfile, whom she claims have refused to accept the employment tribunal’s 2011 ruling. | Ex-Countryfile presenter was asked on Twitter about Mr Simpson's contract .
The world affairs editor, 70, has been given a new indefinite deal at the BBC .
When asked what she thought of the deal she simply replied: 'He's a man'
Miss Reilly was dropped from BBC One programme Countryfile in 2008 .
A year later she won a landmark ageism case against the BBC after an employment tribunal . |
187,713 | 7f153d5fc688ac8b87e46e35131d4aa27b2fa962 | By . Jennifer Smith for MailOnline . A pensioner was left bloodied and battered after being viciously attacked by a teenage mugger who stole less than £30 from her. Anne Anstey was on her way home from a Royal British Legion Club in Meadowfield, County Durham, when the 18-year-old dragged her to the ground and punched her. The 75-year-old was left cowering on the floor with blood streaming down her face as the teenager, Michael Kingshott, ran away with her handbag. Write caption here . Mrs Anstey required stitches to the inside of her mouth and root canal dental treatment as a result of the attack. Durham Crown Court heard how the woman was walking home when Kingshott crept up behind her, threatening: 'Do you want this to get rough'. The 18-year-old, who was high on drugs and alcohol, pulled her to the ground and punched her on the left side of her face. Police discovered the woman's discarded handbag with £28 missing in the days after the attack. The court heard how Mrs Anstey was living in fear after the attack, and found herself constantly checking windows and doors at her home. Judge Peter Kelson QC told the teenager his motivation was purely financial, after his sister had earlier refused to give him money. 'You were clearly lying in wait when that lady left that club. 'You were consumed with a cocktail of drink and drugs, walking the streets of that village cowardly looking for a victim. The 18-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison at Durham Crown Court (pictured) The 75-year-old was walking home from the Royal British Legion Club in Meadowfield when she was attacked . 'Elderly members of our society have every right to feel safe walking five minutes home from a place of leisure. 'What has society come to when an 18-year-old man lies cowardly in wait for a vulnerable old lady? It’s despicable.' Scott Smith, defending, said it was the teen's first offence of violence and that he had been attacked himself four times while on remand. He added it had been an 'opportunistic' offence with no 'gratuitous violence'. Kingshott was convicted of robbery and jailed for four years yesterday. | Anne Anstey was walking home from a Royal British Legion Club .
The 75-year-old was dragged to the ground and beaten across the face .
Her 18-year-old attacker threatened 'do you want this to get rough'
Michael Kingshott was jailed for four years for 'despicable' attack . |
181,751 | 7753596b99513446d0c5225b2bd2a9cae25e0d67 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 10:18 EST, 18 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:36 EST, 18 January 2013 . Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o kept up the charade that his beloved girlfriend had died even after learning it was a hoax, but claims he did it for the sake of his teammates as they prepared for the national title game, it was revealed today. Te'o, whose story of losing his love, Lennay Kekua, during the season endeared him to a nation of fans, has said he found out on December 6 that Kekua in fact never even existed back when he received a phone call from 'Kekua.' But just two days later, he repeated the bogus line that his girlfriend died after battling leukemia to a website in South Bend, Indiana, where the prestigious university is based. Scroll down for video . Manti Te'o repeated the lie that his girlfriend died just two days after learning her entire existence was a hoax. He has told friends that he did to protect his teammates who were preparing for the national title. 'I mean, I don’t like cancer at all. I lost both my grandparents and my . girlfriend to cancer. So I’ve really tried to go to children’s hospitals . and see, you know, children,' the linebacker said to WSBT.com during an interview where he discussed his chances of winning the Heisman Trophy, college football's most honored award. And on December 11, Te'o told the Daily Press of Newport News, Va., on Dec. 11 why he played just days after Kekau supposedly died in September. 'She made me promise, when it happened, that I would stay and play,' he said. Te'o, who is considered a top prospect in this year's NFL draft, didn't tell school officials until December 26. He has been telling friends that he kept the shocking news to himself because he didn't want to cause a distraction as Notre Dame prepared to take on Alabama for the national championship, TMZ.com said. During the 20-day gap, Te'o, who has also said in interviews how he met Kekau in person, agonized over what to do before finally coming clean with his coaches, sources told TMZ. One of the images of 'Lennay Kekua' who supposedly died in September after battling Leukemia . Te'o says he only learned Kekau wasn't real on December 6 when he received a phone call from her cellphone, approximately three months after she died. In a press conference on Wednesday night, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said that Te'o was the victim of online predators who took advantage of the athlete's generosity and kindness. Swarbrick pointed to the documentary film Catfish and an MTV program of the same name in explaining how easy it can be to fool somebody into believing an online relationship is real. But journalists, including one of the reporters at Deadspin.com that broke the initial story, have called that story into question. 'It takes a great deal of faith if you’re going to believe that Manti Te’o actually spent an entire year with a girlfriend that he never met and that he never had any video chat with,' the Deadspin reporter, Timothy Burke, said on the Today show. Burke dug into Te'o's story to discover that his girlfriend never existed. He believes Te'o was in on the ruse, saying, 'it takes a great deal of faith' to think Te'o didn't know the truth. In numerous published reports, Te'o said that while this past season has brought many triumphs to his life, there were also twin tragedies - the deaths of his 72-year-old grandmother and his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, within a day of each other. A comprehensive investigation by Deadspin.com found that while his grandmother did indeed die on September 12, 2012, Kekua did not - nor did she even exist. The school conducted its own investigation and found that Te'o had been taken for a ride by what Swarbrick calls a sophisticated hoax orchestrated by 'a remarkable number of characters - both male and female.' He said: 'It was real to Manti. There was no suspicion that it wasn’t. The pain was real, the grief was real, the affection was real - and that's the nature of this sad cruel game.' 'This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online,' Te'o said in a statement. 'We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her.' Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick told the media Wednesday that Te'o was the victim of an elaborate prank perpetrated by others. However, he stopped short of saying he had ever met her in person or correcting reports that said he had, though he did on numerous occasions talk about how special the relationship was to him. When she was said to be sick in the hospital, T'e'o would phone her and stay on the line with her as they slept, waking up eight hours later to find her still breathing on the other line. And it seems the joke is far from over after someone tweeted from Lennay Kekua's Twitter account late last night. Al Vaosa, who tweets under the username jayRahz, joked about her and even said he was 'running her profile' last December. He has even said on Twitter that he knew it was all a hoax back in 2008. Vaosa claims at that point that he severed all ties with Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, who is the main suspect of being the person behind Lennay Kekua, even though she did not actually exist. Tuiasosopo, left, is believed to be the main person behind the hoax. Vaosa has claimed he severed ties with him but joked on Twitter last December that he 'was running her profile.' Among the evidence collected in Notre . Dame's independent investigation was 'online chatter' that showed some . people knew about the prank and were 'taking joy in it,' Swarbrick said. Vaosa, who Tweets under the username Jayrahz, said last month that the story was a hoax. Vaosa puts the blame on the hoax on Tuiasosopo. Notre Dame athletic director has said others took pleasure in perpetuating the hoax. On the night of the BCS title game, one Twitter user, @jayRahz posted: 'I wonder if the real Lennay Kekua is watching the game.. Cause I know the fake one that didn't die is not watching over the Irish!' But despite the university's claims, there is still substantial doubt that Te'o could have been fooled so easily - and for so long. 'It’s tough for me. I want to believe that Manti Te’o is a smart kid. Playing linebacker for the University of Notre Dame requires a certain amount of smarts, and it would take a pretty, I guess, clueless guy to fall for this for that long. I guess that’s where my skepticism lies,' Burke said. And Yahoo! sports columnist Dan Wetzel said the case has 'left everyone wondering whether this was really the case of a naïve football player done wrong by friends or a fabrication that has yet to play to its conclusion.' Gregg Doyel, national columnist for CBSSports.com, was more blunt with assessment. 'Nothing about this story has been comprehensible, or logical, and that extends to what happens next,' he wrote. 'I cannot comprehend Manti Te’o saying anything that could make me believe he was a victim.' | The star Notre Dame linebacker says he found out on December 6 that Lennay Kekua did not exist .
Two days later, he gave interview saying his 'girlfriend died of cancer'
Made another mention three days later .
Sources said he agonized over whether to tell his coaches the truth as the team prepared to take on Alabama in the national championship game . |
147,213 | 4a5cad2dbe857fc4f9624f6aaaf72b994c7373f9 | From lovely lace at Chanel to dripping diamonds at Schiaparelli, the Paris haute couture shows are the stuff of fashion dreams. The garments, some of which require 300 hours of work, are crafted with the red carpet in mind and are so bespoke that they don't even come with a price tag because if you're lucky enough to snap one up, budget is of no relevance. The SS15 haute couture catwalks served up the boldest and most forward-thinking designs the city has seen in a good few years; haute is all about making a statement after all (even if no one buys the clothes). FEMAIL rounds up the most glamorous moments the week had to offer. FEMAIL rounds up the most lavish moments of Paris haute couture week, starting with Chanel's runway, which was transformed into a paper jungle and watched by the likes of Kris Jenner and Anna Wintour . It makes sense to start with Chanel, which has become one of the most talked-about, anticipated and well-attended shows in haute couture history. Watched from the front row by Kris Jenner, Anna Wintour and Kristin Stewart, Karl Lagerfeld sent his models - including Kendall Jenner - down the beautifully ornate runway in tulle, thousand-colour boucle and crystal flower embellished everything. Clearly a key theme in the paper jungle show, flowers featured prominently and hair maestro Sam McKnight's hair decorations, which hung from each girl's low plait, trended on social media. Karl Lagerfeld - the King of couture - unveiled crop tops and lavish skirts embellished with thousands of ornate floral sequins and tulle, as modelled by his new muse, Kendall Jenner, right . Giving the Chanel showspace a run for its money was Dior's haute couture show, which was held across two levels. Adding to the drama, the upper deck was supported by white scaffolding so that the clatter of the models' shoes added to the general ambiance of the show. There were printed catsuits, ballerina dresses and plenty of sequins, as well as knitted minidresses, crop tops and stripes in abundance. Perhaps the most talked-about item on the catwalk was the latex legging boots in bold, primary colours and ankle boots with Perspex heels. Over at Zuhair Murad was a whole different story. The Beirut-based Lebanese fashion designer, who is loved by Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Jennifer Lopez, sent models down the runway in beautifully embellished floral tulle gowns. The ethereal gowns, which were decorated with blush pink rosebuds and smatterings of sparkle, will no doubt be gracing the Oscar red carpet next year. The ornate gowns were sometimes slashed from the chest to the naval, but the long sleeves and floor-length hemlines kept a certain conservatism about them. Dior's haute couture show in Paris was held across two levels to add to the drama . The most talked-about item on the catwalk was the latex legging boots with clattering metal heels . Zuhair Murad, a Beirut-based Lebanese fashion designer, who is loved by Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Jennifer Lopez, sent models down the runway in beautifully embellished floral tulle gowns . The Ralph & Russo runway was a similar story. Watched from the front row by Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and her husband, the designers aimed to capture the Goddess of Spring with a majestic collection that they say symbolised nature’s regenerative powers. For SS15, the Ralph & Russo muse is an 'exultant deity, whose gifts lend themselves to delight', they say. Acclaimed for its excellence in craftsmanship, the maison de couture aims to inspire with eye-catching embellishment, such as petal appliqué and pearl embroidery; the devil really is in the detail. The colour palette - crisp and most sophisticated - was full of pomegranate pinks, soft mints and cornflower blues. The collection, above all, aims to flatter the female form thanks to sheaths of organza, which promise to hug the figure in all the right places. The show saw the models metamorphose into fairies and nymphs, gracefully collecting blossoms in their structured collars or scattering buds into the folds of their gowns - and Mrs Fernandez-Versini seemed most impressed. The designers at Ralph & Russo were inspired by the 'goddess of spring' with detail such as blue and white petal appliqué and pearl embroidery sewn to Fifties-style dresses and flirty tulle-lined strapless dresses . A model wears the bridal gown closing the Ralph & Russo show in dramatic fashion . Lindsey Wixson walked the Jean Paul Gaultier runway show in a dungaree style gown teamed with some interesting headgear . Jean Paul Gaultier's show opened with the silhouette of a bride in a cloud of dry ice to the beats of Billy Idol's White Wedding. Each model that followed rocked a look as flamboyant as the one before it from a red snakeskin blinged up trench-dress to a modern take on Madonna’s famous conical bra. Lindsey Wixson walked the runway show in a dungaree style gown teamed with a beekeeper-esque hat and Naomi Campbell drew loud cheers as she closed the show looking as youthful as she did when she stepped out for the designer twenty years ago. Valentino, a label coveted by the A-list, served up romantic skirts, dresses and coats printed with poetic embellishment. The brand's creative directors, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli, were inspired by 'love in its purest form' and SS15 was a story of billowing velvet dresses and hand-embroidered sheepskin coats. The duo's main source of inspiration came from the work of Marc Chagall, the Russian-French artist who travelled between St Petersburg and Paris before World War One. The SS15 pieces took cue from Chagall’s romantic and modernist interpretation of different cultures. There was plenty of white tulle hand-painted in grey and embroidered with pearls and delicate flowers. One dress, which was splashed with the moon and smatterings of stars, took a staggering 3,000 hours to embroider on hand painted linen. Valentino served up romantic dresses and coats printed with poetic embellishment and hand-stitched motifs . The brand's creative directors were inspired by 'love in its purest form' and the work of Marc Chagall . Fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier and model Naomi Campbell walk the runway at the end of the Jean Paul Gaultier show as part of Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture week . | The SS15 haute couture catwalks served up the boldest and most forward-thinking designs the city has seen .
Shows included Valentino, Jean Paul Gaultier and Chanel .
FEMAIL rounds up the most glamorous moments the week had to offer . |
266,516 | e53617c99ca844224a2943cc04b26b27c2168f0b | (CNN) -- If one image can tell an entire story, this is a powerful example. The photo is set in a hospital room. A patient with a neck brace, tubes attached everywhere, draped in a red, white and blue quilt, is lying in a bed. His bandaged right arm is raised in what we now know is a salute. His face is mostly obscured, but the photo captures details such as the color of the patient's hair, the shadow of what appears to be a large bruise on his left cheek and a Purple Heart medal pinned to the quilt. The patient is Cpl. Joshua Hargis, 24. His wife, Taylor, calls him Josh. The photo has been shared thousands of times since Taylor posted it to her Facebook page nearly a week after he was injured during a military operation in Afghanistan that killed four troops and injured 14. She posted the image with the following story: . "I received this picture today along with a letter from the commander of the team Josh was a part of on the night of his injuries. A letter to explain to me what kind of man I have the privilege of being married to. He explained to me what happened and what was going on in the picture." She then posted the contents of the letter she says she received: . "Josh was seriously wounded as you know and survived for almost two hours after his injury before arriving to the hospital. Josh was immediately pushed through a series of surgeries and emerged hours later into an intensive care unit here at our base in Afghanistan. Despite being in intense pain and mental duress, Josh remained alert and compassionate to the limited Rangers that were allowed to visit him bedside. "Prior to Josh being moved to Germany for his eventual flight to America, we conducted a ceremony to award him with the Purple Heart for wounds received in action. A simple ceremony, you can picture a room full of Rangers, leaders, doctors, and nurses surrounding his bedside while the Ranger Regimental Commander pinned the Purple Heart to his blanket. "During the presentation the Commander publishes the official orders verbally and leaned over Josh to thank him for his sacrifice. Josh, whom everybody in the room (over 50 people) assumed to be unconscious, began to move his right arm under the blanket in a diligent effort to salute the Commander as is customary during these ceremonies. Despite his wounds, wrappings, tubes, and pain, Josh fought the doctor who was trying to restrain his right arm and rendered the most beautiful salute any person in that room had ever seen. "I cannot impart on you the level of emotion that poured through the intensive care unit that day. Grown men began to weep and we were speechless at a gesture that speak volumes about Josh's courage and character. The picture, which we believe belongs on every news channel and every news paper is attached. I have it hanging above my desk now and will remember it as the single greatest event I have witnessed in my ten years in the Army." A military spokeswoman confirmed that Hargis was awarded the medal while hospitalized in Afghanistan. Tracy A. Bailey, a deputy public affairs officer, also confirmed the sentiment expressed by the commander in the letter. The Bravo Company commander, Bailey said, did not want to be identified. Hargis is one of 14 troops injured during a night combat operation in the Zhari district of Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on October 6. During the mission, a suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive near the assault force. As the assault force reacted to the initial blast, they were struck by a series of explosions, killing four soldiers, including two Army Rangers. While the photo continues to circulate around social media, Hargis is recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. Bailey said Hargis was "not in a position" to make a statement to the media, but he did post a thank-you to supporters on his Facebook page last week. "A huge thank you to everyone who was a part of this and is now a part of it. Only through your love and support may we overcome this difficult road ahead," Hargis wrote. Neither the family nor the military immediately disclosed details about his injuries. But Joshua's father, Jim Hargis, told CNN affiliate WXIX that his son lost both legs when he stepped on an improvised explosive device. A friend posted this response, which sums up most responses from people who've seen the photo: . "So wonderful to see your post Joshua. You are so loved and so many people have been touched by you and what has happened. May you have a speedy recovery and may you know how much you are loved and wished all the best." | Cpl. Joshua Hargis was injured in Afghanistan .
He was presented with a Purple Heart in a bedside ceremony .
A photo of his salute has received thousands of shares on social media . |
87,928 | f97cee0bcb1f27a5f1a08faa49a4068118e14d29 | It's lucky most visitors to this week's Davos conference are billionaires - because Switzerland has been named the most expensive place in the world to buy a Big Mac. The famous burgers cost 6.50 Swiss francs in the Alpine country - that works out at more than £5 ($7.50) for the McDonald's sandwich alone. Norway has the second most expensive Big Mac in the world at £4.40($6.50), followed by Denmark, Brazil and the US, according to the so-called Big Mac index. Scroll down for video . A Big Mac in Switzerland now costs the equivalent of nearly $8 - around £5 in British money, it emerged today . The index was created by The Economist magazine in 1986 as a way of comparing the relative values of different currencies. By comparing a product which is almost perfectly identical and on sale around the world, experts hoped to show the 'purchasing power' of each nation's money. The price of Big Macs is compared against the standard US price for the product - which is currently $4.79, about £3.19 in sterling. The relative price of the iconic burger in Britain - now £2.69 in sterling - has fallen compared to other currencies in recent months. Meanwhile in Russia - whose currency has plummeted amid a fall in the price of oil and sanctions over the annexation of Crimea - Big Macs are cheaper than ever. Consumers in Vladimir Putin's country can now pick one of the burgers for the equivalent of $1.36 - just 91p, which is cheaper than a basic McDonald's hamburger in the UK. A fall in the rouble means Russia is one of the cheapest places to buy the burgers - which cost just 91p there . The prolonged crisis in the Eurozone means the relative cost of a Big Mac on the Continent has also fallen in recent months and is now worth $4.26, or £2.84. The index's latest results were released as business and political leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Switzerland's Big Mac price has risen in the last six months and looks set to increase further as the country's currency continues to boom. The Swiss franc rose nearly 30 per cent to 0.81 against the euro last week following the Swiss National Bank's decision to remove a three-year-old cap of 1.20 francs per euro. It means Swiss ski resorts are being forced to cut prices by up to 20 per cent in a desperate bid to lure back holidaymakers. The currency surge means a British visitor now has to pay £80 more for their week-long lift pass bringing the total to £380, while a single day pass went up to around £60. The cost of enjoying just a small glass of beer while taking in the majestic view of the Matterhorn mountain jumped by around £1.30 to £4.60. The Big Mac was chosen for the 'purchasing power' index because it is almost identical around the world (pictured: A McDonald's in Bangkok, Thailand) | Big Mac index tests the relative price of currencies around the world .
Swiss franc remains the most expensive, according to the index .
The iconic burger now costs the equivalent of nearly $8 there, £5 in sterling .
Norway's currency is the second most expensive, followed by Denmark .
Swiss currency is soaring after central bank removed Euro cap last week . |
78,212 | ddbdbaf1c3450aa69dc9e60aca03ae301b554596 | (CNN) -- Iselle has cleared Hawaii, and all tropical storm warnings have been canceled, the National Weather Service said Friday. It is still a tropical storm, as it drifts farther away from the state. Hurricane Julio should pass by over the weekend and is expected to track north of Hawaii, according to current predictions, sparing the state. But the weather service advised the public to remain diligent, as weather conditions and the forecast could change. Iselle's top winds weakened to 60 mph as it made landfall at 2:30 a.m. Friday along the Kau coast of the Big Island. Had the storm remained a hurricane, it would have been the first to hit Hawaii in decades. By Friday night, the National Weather Service canceled the tropical storm warnings for Maui County and Oahu. Kauai, however, remained under a tropical storm warning. A warning for Hawaii County was canceled earlier. A flash flood watch remained in place for the state through 6 a.m. Saturday. Iselle was still producing locally damaging wind gusts over the smaller islands, the statement said. The state's primary election was expected to take place Saturday despite the storm. Abercrombie, who has taken advantage of the storm to show leadership and appear on television, is in a tough race against State Sen. David Ige in the Democratic primary. U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz faces a challenge from U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa. Schatz was appointed to the seat after the death of longtime Sen. Daniel Inouye. Heavy rains were the biggest threat, with general rainfall predicted to be between 4 and 8 inches, although some areas could get more than a foot. Flash flood warnings cover much of the Big Island, while flash flood watches have been issued for the entire state. Iselle has already delivered 11 inches of rain on the Big Island, according to Mike Cantin with the National Weather Service. In a conference call, Cantin said the Big Island should expect more than a foot of rain. Doug Mayne, of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, said heavy rains have prevented the agency from beginning to assess the impact of the storm. Conditions made it unsafe to get helicopters in the air to access the hardest-hit areas. Hawaii Electric Light said in a tweet that nearly 22,000 customers were without power in various parts of the Big Island. As the storm approached, supermarket shelves were swept bare, while schools and government offices closed. Sandbags were placed around homes and hotels, and ports told to close. In Hawaii County, 630 people have gone to shelters, Mayor Billy Kenoi told CNN affiliate KHON-TV in Honolulu. Track the storm . The state had prepared for a potentially devastating one-two tropical cyclone punch, starting with Iselle and followed by Hurricane Julio, a Category 3 storm, about 900 miles behind it. Hurricane Julio could affect the islands over the weekend, though forecasters expect it to brush the state only with its southern outer bands as it passes to the north as a weakened tropical storm. Julio had strengthened to a Category 3 storm with top winds of 120 mph by Friday morning, when it was centered less than 1,000 miles away. A relatively rare event . Direct hits are rare for the state. Since the 1950s, two hurricane eyes have hit Hawaii -- and both approached from the south, where water temperature generally is warm enough to sustain the storms' strength. That's not to say Hawaii hasn't had close calls. The central Pacific sees an average of about five tropical cyclones a year, and some have brushed the state in recent decades. The cyclones generally approach from the east after forming in the eastern Pacific. But close to Hawaii, dry air, cooler water and wind shear combine to weaken approaching cyclones, dissipating them before they can become a significant threat, CNN meteorologist Indra Petersons said. Hawaii's most damaging hurricane in recent decades -- Hurricane Iniki of 1992 -- came during an El Nino year, or a year of above-average sea surface temperatures. This year hasn't met the criteria for El Nino, but it could in the weeks ahead, Petersons said. Iniki killed at least four people and caused about $2 billion in damage when it hit the western Hawaiian island of Kauai, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. School's out; air travel disrupted . The schools on the Big Island and Maui were closed Friday as residents assessed Iselle's impact. Some airlines made concessions to customers. Hawaiian Airlines moved one flight, to Los Angeles, up by five hours to beat Iselle's arrival. For people who had been scheduled to travel to or from Hawai's airports on Thursday and Friday, United Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines said they won't charge fees to change reservations, and they'll waive differences in fares for those changes. United canceled flights to Hilo and Kona. American Airlines and US Airways also called off flights out of Kona on Thursday but expected Friday's flight schedule to operate normally. Island Air will do the same for passengers ticketed from Thursday though Tuesday. Delta Air Lines said it would waive fees for reservation changes for Thursday and Friday, but fare increases could apply. It said two flights had been delayed in leaving the islands. CNN's Taylor Ward, Mariano Castillo, Katia Hetter, Tina Burnside and Tony Marco contributed to this report. | NEW: All tropical storm warnings have been canceled .
Iselle has already delivered 11 inches of rain on the Big Island .
Hurricanes and other tropical cyclones rarely make landfall in Hawaii .
Julio is tracking north and may just brush the Hawaiian islands . |
148,163 | 4b92d17926655c44b94e2d14939057c54304b281 | author] . PUBLISHED: . 18:09 EST, 15 April 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:14 EST, 15 April 2013 . A father has described how his daughter was shunned by other children because she was born with a rare condition that left half of her face covered with hair. People called Bhawana Thami, who is now nine years old, names like 'monster' because of her disfigurement in her village in the Dolakha district, some 345km from Kathmandu, in Nepal. The condition was the result of a rare mole disease which left untreated would have become cancerous. If that wasn't enough, the family suffered from the villagers' belief that a child with such an appearance must have been a witch and were therefore isolated from the community. Getting her confidence back: Bhawana Thami poses for a photograph after most of the hair from her face was removed . Shunned: Bhawana Thami was called names like monster and witch because of her disfigurement . Her protective father Kaluman went so far as to never allow his daughter to look into a mirror but one day a journalist who took her photo and showed it to her causing the then eight-year-old disgust, fear and shock. But Bhawana has now undergone plastic surgery which her father hopes will help her to begin leading a normal life. The first operation was carried out in Kathmandu with the support of charity Child Workers in Nepal last year. Kaluman Thami and her daughter Bhawana looks on while talking to a journalist prior to his daughter's surgery operation in 2012 . Courageous: Bhawana Thami lies on a stretcher at an operation room in Model Hospital, in Kathmandu, Nepal, in February this year . Plastic surgeons remove Bhawana's last piece of hair from her face during a surgery at Model Hospital, in Kathmandu this year . Loving father: Kaluman Thami comforts his daughter after a five hour operation to remove the hair from Bhawana's face . Mangali Thami, mother of Bhawana Thami, combs her daughter's hair before going to school at Dusikharka village, Dolakha district. She is now beginning to be accepted into her community . Close: Bhawana Thami (front centre) poses with her family members including her father next to their home . Hope: Kaluman Thami takes Bhawana Thami for a walk around Dusikharka village where they live . A year later she has had her second operation which completely removed the hair from her face. However, she will have to have a third operation when she turns 14. She has already returned to her village and been seen playing with other children. Bhawana's appearance is changing every day since her operations took place and now she enjoys activities at school and local villagers have finally accepted her and her family into the community. | Bhawana Thami from Nepal suffers from a rare mole disease .
Her protective father never allowed Bhawana to look at herself in a mirror .
Charity helped to fund surgery needed to remove the hair .
She now enjoys activities at school and playing with other children . |
94,660 | 05a455f6b311a67d52cd59d89d4078a087dda228 | Many people might associate roses with romance novels, but in fact the smell of chocolate tempts readers to buy loved-up fiction. Researchers at Antwerp University in Belgium found that while a chocolatey smell makes people hungry to buy romance novels, it does not necessarily tempt people to buy grittier genres such as crime or business books. The scientists, who permeated a bookshop with the perfume of chocolate, also found that the scent encouraged customers to browse through titles. The government funded study found that bookshop visitors were almost six times more likely to buy a romance novel if they smelt chocolate - and the same results applied to cookery books too . They studied the behaviour of 201 customers in a popular chain bookshop over ten days to find that customers were 3.5 times more likely to pick up romance novels when they smelt chocolate, The Guardian reported. The government funded study also found that bookshop visitors were almost six times more likely to buy a romance novel - and the same results applied to cookery books too. Belgium scientists found the smell of chocolate makes people buy romance books written by novelists such as Dame Barbara Cartland (pictured) Lieve Douché, who led the study told the newspaper: 'When consumers smell chocolate, concepts . associated with chocolate, such as cooking, become more readily . accessible to the consumer's mind and cause consumers to react . differently when encountering a cookbook than if they had not smelled . chocolate.' The researchers concluded romance, food and drink books were strongly linked with the smell of chocolate, but other categories of literature were not, such as comic and graphic novels, travel, art, gardening, crime, law and business books. However, perhaps sue to the scent encouraging customers to browse and deviate from their usual purchasing habits, sales of the 'incongruent' books also increased, with customers 1.2 times more likely to buy any of the books on offer in the chain bookshop. Previous research has found that the smell of chocolate has a positive effect on a person's mood, sparking feelings of pleasure or even arousal when shopping for goods. The Belgium study said: 'The presence of a chocolate scent has a . positive influence on general approach behaviour and a negative impact . on goal-directed behaviour in the store.' Retail experts already exploit customers' sense of smell to influence their attention span and buying behaviour. The new research has taken it a step further by marrying a specific scent with products - even if the books themselves do not have a distinctive smell. | Belgium scientists flooded a bookshop with a chocolatey smell to find customers were almost six times more likely to buy a romance novel .
The government-funded study said the scent does not have a big effect on making people want to purchase travel, crime, business or comic books .
Researchers at Antwerp University said the sweet smell encouraged customers to browse and .
sales of all books rose during the experiment . |
71,492 | caa74634f34101f61495ac17d661212b1318dd0a | By . James Tozer . PUBLISHED: . 07:02 EST, 22 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:21 EST, 9 September 2013 . Police are to be investigated over claims that a man who died after being shot with a Taser was mistaken for a wanted criminal with the same name. Jordan Begley, 23, who had a suspected heart defect, was hit with a charge from the 50,000-volt stun gun after officers were called to deal with a row at his home last month. Yesterday it emerged that the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is looking into claims of a tragic mix-up. Jordan Begley, pictured at his workplace, was tasered by greater Manchester Police officers and later died in hospital . Namesake: Jordan Begley, who was wanted by the police at the time . The watchdog said mistaken identity . was one line of inquiry, but said Mr Begley’s family had not made the . claim to investigators. ‘We . will look at all relevant information, including call handling and . radio transmissions between officers responding to Mr Begley’s address . to see if any mistake occurred, and if it did, if that mistake had any . inappropriate influence on any officer’s decisions to use force,’ said . an IPCC spokesman. Police also insist there is no evidence to support the claim and say they were initially told that Mr Begley had a knife. Officers . were called to the ice cream factory worker’s home in Gorton, . Manchester, by his mother Dot on July 10 to deal with a row between him . and a neighbour. Loss: A picture of a five-year-old Mr Begley with his younger brother Jake, now 17 . Mr Begley's mother Dot Begley says Jake (left) is inconsolable about his brother's death. The picture on the right shows Jordan as a two-year-old . Minutes . after officers from Greater Manchester Police arrived, Mr Begley was . shot using a Taser and died less than two hours later. Grief and anger: Dot Begley wants answers about the day her son died . Mrs . Begley, a 46-year-old café worker, said yesterday that officers had . repeatedly asked if she was from Sale – the nearby home town of a . 25-year-old wanted burglar who had the same name as her son and who had . breached the terms of his prison licence. ‘It didn’t make sense at the time but then when I found out about the other Jordan Begley it clicked,’ she said. She . claimed her son was unarmed and ‘calm and compliant’ before he was . shot, which left him ‘battered and bruised’ and with ‘his eyes . flickering’. ‘The . response was so heavy-handed – Jordan was nine stone and they’d been . called out to deal with a domestic argument,’ she added. ‘He . was calm and compliant, he wasn’t armed and they could have cuffed him . if they wanted to. I can’t believe they’ve followed protocol and there’s . no way that Taser should ever have been used.’ Mr Begley is the tenth person to die after being shot with a Taser since they were introduced in 2004. Six . weeks before the incident he had collapsed from an irregular heartbeat . and was undergoing tests to diagnose a suspected heart condition when he . died. A Home Office . post-mortem examination has so far failed to establish Mr Begley’s cause . of death, but independent tests carried out on behalf of the family . found he had marks that suggest he had been handcuffed. The family have . also launched a civil claim against police over his death. Assistant . Chief Constable Dawn Copley confirmed the mistaken identity claims but . said she was ‘not aware’ of any evidence to support it. ‘We will of course continue to work with the IPCC to assist their investigation,’ she added. The other Jordan Begley was eventually rearrested by police a week after the Taser incident and returned to prison. Beard Street in Manchester, where the incident took place . Mrs Begley was stunned when armed officers arrived at her house and stormed inside the small terraced property.She says she was forced to wait outside her home as around 10 officers spoke to her son inside. For the first time she has spoken publicly about the night she says left her life ‘in ruins’. She said: 'Not long after he got back from work there was an argument with a neighbour but it was something or nothing. Jordan had been threatened and he wanted to go back outside and sort it out but I locked the door and phoned the police. 'Two officers arrived at first and everything was very calm, they were on the doorstep chatting but then loads of vans turned up with armed officers and they forced him inside. He was calm and compliant and doing everything they told him and for that reason I thought everything was going to be okay. 'I was outside looking in through the front door and I could see they had a Taser pointed at him, he had his arms by his side and was still following instructions. 'One of the officers kept saying "step back, step back" but he was against the dining room table and couldn’t step back any further. At that point one of the officers closed the front door on me.' The first time Mrs Begley realised Jordan had been Tasered was when an ambulance arrived at the house and he was carried out on a stretcher. She described her son as ‘battered and bruised’ and with ‘his eyes flickering’. | Jordan Begley, 23, died after he was Tasered by police in Manchester .
His mother says police mistook him for another man with the same name .
Now the incident is being investigated by police watchdog . |
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