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104,096 | 124e272636272e9b808c588a39ad33c60a88d60f | (CNN) -- Tunisia and co-hosts Gabon secured dramatic last-gasp victories to reach the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations Friday. Tunisia needed a final minute goal from Issam Jemaa to beat Niger 2-1 while Gabon came from behind to beat Morocco 3-2 with their winner in the eighth minute of added time. It left them tied on six points and assured of a place in the last eight, while Morocco and debutants Niger are going home and are pointless with a match to play in Group C. The first game in Libreville saw Niger put up a brave challenge and Tunisia coach Sami Trabelsi was relieved by his team's victory. "We knew Niger would be well organized and rigorous on the counter attack. The spirit of my team was there for all to see. Thank God we were able to win, thank God," he told AFP. Tunisia were ahead after only three minutes when Youssef Msakni beat several defenders before shooting home. Blog: Expect more shocks at the Africa Cup of Nations . But within five minutes Niger were level as William Tonji Ngounou scored their first ever goal in the Africa Cup of Nations finals. Niger had the better chances to win the match, but a point was cruelly snatched from them by Jemaa's late strike. That was forerunner for the drama of the second match of the evening at the Stade l'Amitie stadium and an incredible finish which sent the home fans into wild celebrations. Gabon looked set for a 2-1 victory as second half goals from Daniel Cousin and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had put them in control after Houssine Kharja's first half opener for Morocco. But in the first minute of added time Morocco won a penalty and Kharja equalized with his second of the match. Then up cropped Bruno Mbanangoyes to curl home a free kick in the eighth minute of stoppage time of a remarkable encounter. | Tunisia and Gabon secure second wins in Africa Cup of Nations Group C .
Last minute goal from Issam Jemma gives Tunisia 2-1 win over Niger .
Co-hosts Gabon later beat Morocco 3-2 to join Tunisia in last eight .
Bruno Mbanangoyes grabs dramatic winner for Gabon in stoppage time . |
28,627 | 5139ae14352be4017fbbab974ad3ca8ce93dfed2 | (CNN) -- While New York police sort out the brawl that left Chris Brown with a nasty cut on his chin early Thursday, the media is left with conflicting details that are mostly be attributed to unnamed sources. It was a "brutal attack" that injured Brown, his model girlfriend Karrueche Tran and his bodyguard, Brown rep Jeff Raymond said. "Chris and his party are cooperating with New York authorities who are pursuing this incident further." Brown and others in his group have been interviewed by New York police, Brown's spokesman said. A New York Police spokesman confirmed the department was investigating the incident. Brown was partying with friends in the VIP section of the South Village club W.i.P., while the rapper Drake and his friends were nearby, according to statements reps for both artists. Some online reports said the incident began when Drake and Brown argued over Brown's ex-girlfriend Rihanna, whom Brown was convicted of assaulting three years ago. But the confrontation was not about Rihanna, a source close to Brown told CNN. The same source would not confirm if Drake, who has dated Rihanna, was involved. While Drake's rep confirmed the rapper was there, he said "Drake did not participate in any wrongdoing of any kind last night at W.i.P." "He was on his way out of the club when the altercation began," Drake's rep told CNN. "He did not engage in any activity which resulted in injury to person or damage to property." The source close to Brown described Brown and his party as victims who were enjoying themselves until they were confronted by "the other party." They wanted no part of the confrontation and were trying to leave when they were brutally attacked, the source said. Brown's spokesman disputed one online report that someone in Brown's group escalated the confrontation by taunting Drake. "No one in Chris' camp was inciting the other party," he said. Brown posted a photo of his injury -- which appeared to be a half-inch gash on the left corner of his chin -- on his Instagram account. Rihanna on Chris Brown: I'm going to do what I want . Meek Mill, another rapper named in the online reports, also distanced himself from the brawl. While Mill's rep declined comment to CNN, the artist tweeted "It wasn't me." Brown, in a tweet of his own Thursday afternoon, appeared to support Meek Mill's claim. "Me and @MeekMill ain't on that bulls**t. Real respect Real...." Brown is on probation for another two years, until 2014, the result of his guilty plea to assaulting Rihanna on the eve of the 2009 Grammy Awards. Mark Geragos, the same lawyer who defended Brown in that case, is in New York representing Brown in this incident, the spokesman said. "Chris is only being viewed as a victim, based on injuries sustained to him, his girlfriend, his friends and his security," the spokesman said. "He is not being viewed as a witness, and certainly not as a suspect." Previously on CNN: Stars react to Chris Brown, Rihanna . CNN's Denise Quan and Carolyn Sung contributed to this report. | Chris Brown wanted no part of the confrontation, a source close to the singer says .
Brown and his friends were trying to leave when they were brutally attacked, the source says .
Drake "was on his way out of the club when the altercation began," his rep says .
"No one in Chris' camp was inciting the other party," Brown's spokesman says . |
227,394 | b26d0ac24c17b1dee71b98dcc7b6f4981ee80f04 | By . Kathryn Blundell . PUBLISHED: . 16:40 EST, 28 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 02:12 EST, 29 August 2013 . When the Cambridges proudly released their first family photos - with the snugly wrapped Prince George cradled in his mother's arms - the nation breathed a collective 'awww'. Swaddled in a simple shawl, the youngest member of the Royal Family was, we all agreed, what a newborn baby should look like. After all, the image of the Virgin Mary and swaddled baby Jesus is one we've grown up to recognise as the embodiment of motherhood. Well, not any more. Last week, grandmother Valerie Butcher inadvertently dragged the new prince and his devoted mother into a debate on the wrongs and rights of swaddling by writing an angry letter to a newspaper about an incident involving her four-week-old grandson, also called George. Good enough for royalty: Prince George of Cambridge was seen wrapped in a swaddling shawl in his first official pictures . Valerie wrote that her daughter had taken George to her local clinic where she was 'sternly told off' for swaddling her child. What's more, she now has a note on her file saying that by swaddling, she 'is willing to put her baby's life at risk'. In short, she has been marked down as a bad parent. Swaddling involves wrapping a newborn in a thin cotton sheet or blanket, so its arms are pinned against its body by the fabric, which is then secured under the child's body. Many mums hail it as an easy way to settle very young babies as it makes them feel warm and safe. As a bonus, by restricting the movement of the arms, swaddling suppresses the 'startle reflex', where babies suddenly - and often - throw out their arms in their sleep, waking themselves in the process. Encouraging the trend: Baby Cambridge was also seen in the swaddling blanket when he left hospital with his parents and other new mothers and fathers have been following suit . Not too tight: Prince George had the blanket loosely wrapped around him on his first day out . Swaddling isn't advised for babies once they're capable of rolling over, as the cloth can end up over their face, increasing the risk of suffocation and cot death - but many mothers still swear by it up to the age of around four months. Does any of this sound like poor parenting? It certainly doesn't to me. I swaddled my children - both my daughter, who is now 17 years old, and my son, who is six - and I swear I got more sleep as a result. However, there's an increasing body of opinion calling for an end to it, pointing to the danger of the baby overheating, and suggesting the practice could even damage their joints. A 2009 study carried out by the universities of Bristol and Warwick indicated an increased risk of cot death in babies who were swaddled. 'If your baby doesn't like it, then don't force it. Swaddling has to be baby-led' Of the group of infants in the study who succumbed to cot death between 2003 and 2006, 24 per cent were swaddled, compared with 6 per cent in a control group of healthy babies. However, other factors, such as sleeping in the parents' bed or on a sofa, or being in poor health, may also explain the results. The fear is that swaddling can send a baby's temperature spiralling out of control. Janet Fyle, of the Royal College Of Midwives, says: 'A newborn is unable to regulate its own body temperature in the way an adult can. That's why the current advice for mothers is not to wrap their babies tightly or in heavy blankets, especially in warm weather. And a blanket should never be added to a swaddled baby.' Professor Nicholas Clarke, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Southampton General Hospital, is firmly in the anti-swaddle camp. He says: 'We saw a huge resurgence in swaddling in 2011, generated by the suggestion it could ease colic (a condition where very young babies cry uncontrollably for no apparent reason), though I’ve seen no evidence to support this. 'That spike in popularity linked directly to an increase in the number of babies I saw with hip dysplasia - where the bones of the hip joint are not aligned correctly. Parenting debate: Swaddled newborns tend to sleep better but some believe it isn't worth the risk . 'Infants are born with very flexible joints, which are also under the effects of relaxin - a hormone women produce when they’re pregnant to loosen joints and make birth easier. 'So a newborn's joints are more prone to issues at this age than any other. They need to be able to bend their legs up and out at the hips.' His concerns are clear: swaddling infants so their hips and knees are kept straight or together may increase the risk of hip dysplasia and dislocation. Yet many see Professor Clarke’s stance as an over-reaction. Midwife Janet Fyle says: 'I'm not sure it's such a big issue - why would anyone wrap their baby up to the extent that it's causing developmental problems? This only happens if you're rough with your baby, so it’s unlikely in my view.' Childcare consultant and author Rachel Waddilove, who has worked as a maternity nurse for celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, is passionate about the benefits of swaddling. 'It's a wonderful way of ensuring babies feel safe and secure when put into their cots,' she says. 'I will often go to a home where every time the baby tries to drop off to sleep, his little arms go and he wakes himself up. I swaddle him, tuck him in tight and he will normally drop off happily and quickly.' She rejects the suggestion that swaddling hurts babies. 'The fuss that is being made about it being bad for babies' hips is, I believe, unsubstantiated. If we were binding babies then that would be a different matter, but that's not the same as swaddling, where babies' legs aren’t restricted.' She points out that the precautions she takes when swaddling are the ones any sensible mother would take. 'Obviously, you need to keep an eye on your baby’s temperature, by feeling at the base of his neck, to avoid the risk of overheating. But it’s a wonderful tool to help your baby settle and sleep well.' And sleep, as any parent will tell you, is a big issue. In the early days, many parents feel lucky if they get four hours in a row, and I spent the first few weeks with each of my children wondering if I'd ever know what it felt like to be rested and focused again. Under wraps . In Tudor times, swaddling involved wrapping the baby in linen bands from head to foot until nine months old . I was so demented with tiredness I often found myself in the middle of a task, like making up a bottle, and forgetting where I was and having to start all over again. Who wouldn't try every sleep trick in the book? Yet teaching parents about swaddling has been gradually dropped from many antenatal courses. Teresa Walsh, a midwife childbirth educator at London’s Portland Hospital, says: 'Although I don't mention swaddling as part of my baby-care classes because it's not a core skill, parents always bring it up - it's very fashionable at the moment. 'I swaddled my babies but I'm not sure I would now because the research on its main benefit - more sleep - isn't good enough to say it makes any difference. Studies show that at best a child might sleep for an extra half-hour. 'And I actually think allowing babies to wake slightly makes them learn to settle themselves back to sleep - a key skill if a baby's ever going to go through the night.' Teresa encourages parents to try swaddling if they like - but to be mindful of their babies' reactions. 'If the baby settles and doesn't fight it, then I say go with it. But if your baby doesn't like it, then don’t force it. Swaddling has to be baby-led.' Janet Fyle agrees. 'Midwives don't live with mothers or know their babies better than a parent does - we can only tailor advice in context with each family’s routine and preferences.' Indeed, if swaddling is good enough for a future King, then surely it’s good enough for the rest of us? | Prince Cambridge has been pictured in a swaddling shawl .
Many mothers hail swaddling as easy way to settle newborns .
But increasing body of opinion .
calling for an end to it .
They cite risk of baby .
overheating and damage their hip joints . |
27,851 | 4eefb39ff98d7ff28974048ee1304c6b601da41c | By . Hugo Duncan . A spring spending spree helped British stores achieve their best month of sales growth for a decade, figures revealed yesterday. Retail sales rose 1.3 per cent last month as the Easter break and supermarket price war persuaded shoppers to splash out, according to the Office for National Statistics. The increase left sales 6.9 per cent higher than April last year – the biggest annual jump since May 2004. Mortgage lending was also on the rise as the housing market continued its dramatic recovery. April this year saw the biggest increase in sales for more than a decade, raising hopes that the economy had finally turned a corner for good but also increasing the concern that the recovery was based on household debt . The Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has warned that the economic recovery is not sustainable at the moment because it is too reliant on consumer spending . Analysts said it put the UK economy on . course for another strong quarter following growth of 0.8 per cent in . the first three months of the year. The . Bank of England welcomed signs that ‘the recovery has become less . fragile’ and said the economy may be even stronger than so far reported. ‘According . to present estimates, output had grown at a little above its historical . average for each of the past four quarters,’ a spokesman said. ‘But . it was possible that, after the usual cycle of data revisions, output . would ultimately prove to have been growing at an even faster rate.’ Experts . believe the economy has finally returned to its pre-recession peak, . having crashed by 7.2 per cent under the last Labour government during . the ‘Great Recession’ of 2008-09. Marks and Spencer chief Marc Bolland this week revealed the High Street giant had suffered its third year in a row of falling profits. But the rest of the retail sector appears to be booming . Household spending has driven the . turnaround over the past 12 months, but manufacturing and business . investment are also growing. The . surge in spending last month – in part driven by Easter – came as the . squeeze on family finances eased thanks to low inflation and higher . wages. Food sales were 6.3 per cent higher than a year earlier – the . best performance since January 2002 – as supermarkets cut prices in a . bid to lure shoppers away from their rivals. Dr . Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at research group IHS . Global Insight, hailed the ‘mightily impressive’ figures, saying: ‘This . bodes very well for GDP growth in the second quarter.’ The . Council of Mortgage Lenders said £16.6billion of home loans were made . last month, up 8 per cent on March and 36 per cent on a year ago. It was . the best April since the financial crisis in 2008. A . separate report, by research group Markit, showed job security is now . at its highest level since it started taking records in February 2009. People . are also more confident about their future finances than they have been . at any time over the past five years, according to the study. Tim . Moore, senior economist at Markit, said: ‘The latest survey highlights . that improving labour market conditions and relatively subdued increases . in living costs are delivering an appreciable overall boost to . household finances. Households remain upbeat about their financial prospects for the next 12 months, supported by another drop in job insecurities.’ Business . leaders welcomed the sales figures but warned the recovery was far from . secure. David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of . Commerce, said: ‘Retail sales volumes are expanding at their strongest . pace since 2004. This is good news, and supports our belief that the UK economy saw continued growth in the second quarter of this year. ‘However, . the UK recovery still needs to become more balanced. Although consumer . spending should remain an important part of overall growth, exports and . investment should make a greater contribution or there is a chance the . recovery could stall.’ | High Street enjoyed strongest growth since May 2004, figures reveal .
Retail boom more evidence that the economy has turned a corner .
But stagnant wages raise fears the recovery is based on household debt . |
161,841 | 5d44f8fc97d0b90118ff78b0ee09a28fd5a3a4fb | By . Jaymi Mccann . PUBLISHED: . 12:21 EST, 29 April 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:18 EST, 24 May 2013 . Andrew Stone as he arrived at Hammersmith Magistrates Court today. He is accused of assaulting his 25-year-old girlfriend as she wouldn't listen to music with him . A reality TV star who worked with Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue punched and strangled his girlfriend in a vodka-fuelled rage. Dancer Andrew Stone, who has appeared on Celebrity Big Brother and Pineapple Dance Studios, kicked his girlfriend out of his bed, grabbed her by the throat and tried to choke her after she refused to stay up late and listen to music. Stone, 40, had drunk five double vodkas and coke at his flat in Marylebone, central London, when he attacked girlfriend Claudia Cersosimo in the early hours of January 30 this year. Hammersmith Magistrates' Court heard how Miss Cersosimo, 25, was left so scared by the attack that the mere mention of Stone’s name causes an anxiety attack. Miss Cersosimo was ill with a viral infection and trying to sleep but Stone was playing loud music and kept badgering her to answer questions about the tracks he was playing. When the 25 year-old told him she just wanted to get to sleep Stone attacked her. Giving evidence from behind a screen, she told the court: 'He said if I didn’t answer him he would kick me out of the bed. Then he chucked me out of the bed and I span out. 'I don’t know how it happened because it was all so fast but he was somehow at my side wrestling me out of the bed. He used his leg, I think it must have taken two goes and then I landed on the floor. 'He wrestled me onto the bed and then he pinned me down and with his hand started strangling me so I couldn’t breathe. 'He was putting quite a lot of weight . down on me at the same time he pinned my arms down because I was trying . to push him off me. 'I was really scared at that point, I think I was just shouting "Get off me, Get off me".' Passing verdict at West London Magistrate's Court, Deputy District Judge Karim Ezzat said yesterday he found Miss Cersosimo a 'credible witness' and believed her version of events. He said: 'Having considered all of the evidence that I've heard and having regard to the photographic evidence I've seen I am satisfied that the injuries caused to Miss Cersosimo were caused in the manner she describes and I therefore find you guilty.' Looking downcast and surprised, Stone, 40, glanced back to his manager in the public gallery as the verdict was read out. Andrew Stone shot to fame in 2010's Pineapple Dance Studios with Louie Spence . Andrew Stone attacked his girlfriend because she refused to listen to music with him . Wearing a dark grey sparkly blazer, . black suit trousers and patent black leather shoes, Stone shook his head . as he listened to the evidence against him during the short trial. He claimed that Miss Cerosimo's injuries were self inflicted. Miss Cersosimo added that she screamed at Stone to get off her, but he lunged for her again and punched her. She said: 'As he came up he punched me in my right eye, I remember starting to scream and holding my right eye. Andrew Stone, who was on Celebrity Big Brother, denied attacking her, claiming that the injuries were self-inflicted . 'I remember getting down on the floor and crawling away from the bed. He came at me again and he was holding me by the collar of the T-shirt I was wearing. He was yanking my collar it left red marks round my neck.' Miss Cersosimo managed to kick Stone off her, and fled to the bathroom where she called the police on her mobile phone. But she didn’t lock the door and Stone followed her to the bathroom, kicked the door open and stood in the doorway blocking her way out. 'He was more calm, but he hadn’t acknowledged what he had just done, he just said ‘get off the phone’ he was really rude and abrupt. He was still aggressive in his tone,' she said.She managed to get to the front door where she tried to buzz the police in through the intercom but Stone twice hit the intercom phone out of her hand. She told the court: 'Then he got my clothes and bag and stuff and threw it by the door and that is when the police entered the property.' Following his arrest, he told police the couple had argued, and that she locked herself in the bathroom and inflicted the injuries on herself. ‘She always does that - making a big deal out of something small,’ he said. The 25-year-old met the reality TV star in a nightclub in Covent Garden, central London, a year earlier and had been dating for a few months. But the pair had a tempestuous relationship and Miss Cersosimo said she believed Stone was cheating on her. Defence counsel Tyrone Smith asked Miss Cersosimo: 'You believed he was having sex with other people.' She replied: 'Yes'. The dancer told police that he had drank four or five double vodkas that evening . Referring to a text message Miss Cersosimo has sent to Stone Mr Smith said: 'You name a girl and you believe she was smirking at you and you believe the defendant was texting her for sex.' Miss Cersosimo said: 'Yes, because I had seen the text messages. He kept telling me how he didn’t want to be sleeping with other girls anymore and telling me that he loved me, but the day (that text) was sent he was with her.' She told the court: 'I knew what he was like, that was effectively cheating on me.' Miss Cerosimo has struggled with a history of depression and self-harm and once fled to Stone’s bathroom with a kitchen knife. The dancer has a 30 years dance experience and has performed alongside Britney Spears (left) and Kylie Minogue (right) The case's prosecutor said that since the alleged attack she has been suffering from severe anxiety attacks. Jumoke Hughes said: 'Since this she has been having severe anxiety attacks. The mere mention of the defendant’s name or seeing the defendant causes her to have serious attacks.' He said Miss Cersosimo 'would like a restraining order' but the judge said this would be dealt with at sentencing and warned Stone that he faces a community service order as well. Stone declined to comment as he left court as he was released on bail and will be sentenced at West London Magistrate's Court on the morning of May 23. His agent said: 'We are disappointed with the outcome and we will be taking it further.' Stone denied common assault. Originally from Kettering in Northamptonshire, Stone boasts a CV featuring 30 years’ dance experience. He trained at the Central School of Ballet and has toured with stars including Kylie, Britney Spears, Tina Turner, and Ricky Martin. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Mr Terry Mills of Big Talent Group was Mr Andrew Stone’s agent. We are happy to make clear that this is not the case, nor did he make any comment in relation to this case. | Andrew Stone attacked girlfriend Claudia Cerosimo in January .
Facing a possible restraining order and told to expect community service when a judge sentences him in May .
The court heard that he punched and strangled the 25-year-old .
Stone, 40, told police that he drank five double vodkas at the time .
Said that Miss Cerosimo's injuries were self-inflicted .
She is now said to suffer from anxiety at the mere mention of his name . |
178,880 | 739a83ac4e0439d2f1b9869c217153598fb21cd0 | (CNN) -- Christina Hendricks' decision to star in "Mad Men" was a risk that paid off. When the 39-year-old actress first spotted the script for Matthew Weiner's '60s-era drama, her interest was piqued. But while she was all in to play Joan Holloway, the sharp and curvacious secretary who would rise to become an integral member of "Mad Men's" world, Hendricks' agency wasn't so sure. "They said, 'It's a period piece, it's never going to go anywhere," the actress told U.K. paper The Guardian. "'We need you to make money and this isn't going to make money.'" The agency, she continued, "ended up dropping me." But to Hendricks, the promise of "Mad Men" outweighed the potential for failure. "I had been on several shows that were meant to be the big ones, that would go on for ever, and they didn't," she pointed out. "So there was no sure bet and I'd already taken a chance on them and I felt, why not do the one you're in love with and take a chance on that?" Taking that chance has led to a breakthrough role for the actress, who until "Mad Men" had done a few appearances on TV series "ER," "Beggars and Choosers" and "Angel." But after stepping into Joan's shoes, and earning five Emmy nominations along the way, Hendricks' popularity has soared. The treatment she receives now from the public is a far cry from what she suffered in high school, where Hendricks said she was bullied. "We had a locker bay, and every time I went down there to get books out of my locker people would sit on top and spit at me," Hendricks told The Guardian. "So I had to have my locker moved because I couldn't go in there ... I felt scared in high school. It was like 'Lord of the Flies.' There was always some kid getting pummeled and people cheering." At this point, she could attend her high school reunion just to have the last laugh, but Hendricks said that she hasn't held on to any bitterness about those days. "You know, I had so much anger about that time, that experience, for so long and I don't know what dissipated it, but now it's gone," Hendricks said. "I feel some sadness about it, about how cruel kids can be to each other, but that's it. ... I haven't gone to any reunions. I'm sure, if I did, they would have no idea I went there. No idea." | Christina Hendricks was dropped by her agency over "Mad Men"
But the risk paid off, as the series has earned her five Emmy nods .
She was also bullied in high school . |
36,461 | 67592322654d97aa8eddf4256216782095663222 | (CNN) -- Robert Allenby overcame an ankle problem to claim a share of the lead after the first round of the Sony Open in Hawaii. The Australian suffered the injury after falling of a curb in Honolulu earlier this week, but still managed to fire a five-under-par 65 in his first PGA Tour appearance of 2010. He was joined at the top of the leaderboard by five other players despite windy conditions at the Waialae Country Club on Thursday. His score was matched by former Masters champion Zach Johnson, Davis Love III, John Merrick, Ryan Palmer and PGA Tour Qualifying School winner Troy Merritt. They were one shot ahead of a group of 10 players including current Masters champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina, world No. 3 Steve Stricker, Sweden's Carl Pettersson and former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman. "I twisted my ankle on Monday and didn't know whether I was going to play, tried it out yesterday and sort of scraped it around the golf course," Allenby told reporters. "I kind of did the same things today really. It's all a bit abbreviated, the old swing, but the short game's good and that's what counts. You need that when you're not 100 percent." British Open champion Stewart Cink was further back in another big group of 11 tied on two-under along with South Africa's Rory Sabbatini and Japan's Ryuichi Oda. Former world No. 1s Ernie Els and Vijay Singh were among those another stroke back alongside two-time major winner Retief Goosen. Meanwhile, David Lynn is set to take a one-stroke lead into the third round of the European Tour's Joburg Open in South Africa after Friday's action was halted by bad weather with 30 players still out on the course. The Englishman, who has won only once in more than 300 starts, followed up his opening 63 with a four-under-par 67 at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington East. He was five shots clear of compatriot John Parry and South Africa's Andrew Curlewis, who were the highest placed of those yet to complete their rounds, each with three holes to go. Home favorite Charl Schwartzel, also one of four players to score 63 in the first round, was second on 11-under after a 68. Irishman Darren Clarke, seeking to regain his place in Europe's Ryder Cup team this year, was tied for third on 10-under after a 69. | Robert Allenby overcomes ankle injury to claim share of lead after first round of Sony Open .
Australian cards five-under-par 65 in in his first PGA Tour appearance of 2010 .
He is matched by Zach Johnson, Davis Love, John Merrick, Ryan Palmer, Troy Merritt .
David Lynn has one-stroke lead as weather hits second round of European Tour's Joburg Open . |
132,671 | 37907c50da1b897feca4490050b5308e4edb0f3c | By . Sam Webb . PUBLISHED: . 19:32 EST, 26 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 02:47 EST, 27 May 2013 . Courageous criminal: A Welsh beekeeper says the theft of hives is on the rise, despite the inherent dangers . Brave - or foolhardy - thieves are stealing colonies of honey bees that can sell for up to £200. Britain's dwindling bee population is already on the decline thanks to long bouts of cold weather, loss of habitat and possibly pesticides. Now both bees and the people who care for them have to contend with thieves taking colonies. Cardiff beekeeper Elaine Spence was distraught when one of her hives was stripped of its honey bee colony in March. She told BBC Wales said she knows of 10 other hives being stolen in the past year, although no officials figures are kept, and estimates a colony of bees could sell for more than £200. She said: 'I looked at my hive and there was no roof on it. I was lost for words. 'I lifted what remained of the hive to have a look and it was just empty inside. 'All bee-keepers strive to ensure that their bees last through the winter. You care for them, they're a bit like part of your family, really. 'And to come and find that they have just been taken from you - it was really distressing.' Ms Spence, who keeps her hives on industrial land at a secret location in Cardiff, was already reeling after losing one of her three colonies to the poor weather. She also believes the thieves would have needed specialist knowledge and storage equipment to commit the crime. The thieves would have needed specialist equipment to steal the bees. File picture . Bees in the UK are already under threat thanks to long bouts of cold weather, the dwindling countryside and potentially pesticides . However, the thieves may have some karmic retribution coming their way, as the bees taken are a particularly vicious batch. She said: 'The bees that were taken were a fairly angry lot - they even managed to put me in accident and emergency last year through stinging me, so maybe there might be some poetic justice.' The programme also looks at the effects of a recently-banned group of pesticides known as neonicitoinoids. James Byrne of the Wildlife Trust says he fears the pesticides could be eroding bees' navigation system. Wild honey bees are responsible for pollinating around one-third of the world's crop production, but there numbers are in sharp decline, with the finger firmly pointed at a group of pesticides called neonicotinoids. Members of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee are now calling for a moratorium on the use of sprays containing neonicotinoids. | Beleaguered British bees face new threat from thieves .
Colonies can sell for £200, according to keeper .
Criminals would require specialist skills and equipment . |
255,111 | d6364ae0b9795d75f6277d509d39160d5b443e4a | By . Anthony Bond . PUBLISHED: . 10:46 EST, 15 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:52 EST, 15 August 2013 . A team of tricksters raked in thousands of pounds by overcharging a pensioner for odd jobs and gardening. Edward Dolan and his teenage son, Michael, were both jailed today for the scam, in which they charged their 84-year-old victim up to £1,250 a time for small, substandard jobs. The ruthless travelling gang's activities did not come to light until after the cancer sufferer, from Marske, east Cleveland, died in late 2011. Jailed: A team of tricksters raked in thousands of pounds by overcharging a pensioner for odd jobs and gardening. Edward Dolan, left, and his teenage son Michael ,right, have today been jailed . Over more than two years, they took a total of £17,500. One entry in the OAP's chequebook was £700 for a coat of gloss on a garage door, while there were also payments for house repairs and cleaning. The pair, both from Stokesley, North Yorkshire, were jailed after they pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and money laundering. The scam came to light following the pensioner's death. The day after he died, his son was sorting through his belongings when Edward Dolan turned up at the house looking to make more money. Prosecutor Richard Bennett told Teesside Crown Court that the 47-year-old 'left in a hurry' when he was told of the pensioner passing away. But the victim's son was easily able to describe the 31-stone conman, while neighbours of the OAP later told police they had seen him there regularly. Convicted: Michael Dolan also admitted a second conspiracy with friend William McElvaney, pictured, both now 19, which involved fleecing an 89-year-old out of £180 . Michael Dolan, who was 15 when the scam started, claimed after his arrest the gardening and repair business was his, and his father was just his driver. His father tried to shift the blame onto the teenager when quizzed - but trading standards chiefs believe he ran it until his son reached 18. Michael Dolan also admitted a second conspiracy with friend William McElvaney, both now 19, which involved fleecing an 89-year-old out of £180. The woman, who suffered from dementia and lived alone like the first victim, twice called her son to say she had no money after the pair took her pension. Mr Bennett said a diary entry she made said 'gardeners have been to cut the edges' and she later told her son that they had taken all of her cash. Because she had been tricked out of money earlier in the year, her family installed a security camera which caught the pair knocking at her door. The following day, Dolan returned to the bungalow in Hutton Rudby, North Yorkshire, looking for further work and cash for 'work', said Mr Bennett. McElvaney, of Whitby, was locked up for nine months after he admitted conspiracy to defraud over two days with Michael Dolan. His barrister, John Harrison, admitted the pair did not intend to finish the job for which they had been paid, but said his involvement was limited. Nigel Edwards, for Michael Dolan, who was jailed for two years, said the teenager accepted he overcharged for work but had no real empathy or insight. Emma Bennett, for Edward Dolan, jailed for 15 months, said his asthma, obesity and knee and toe pains, would make any prison sentence hard to cope with. Judge Armstrong heard that building and gardening experts said the £17,500 work on the home of the first victim was worth no more than £1,800. | Edward Dolan and his teenage son .
Michael were both jailed today .
They took thousands from 84-year-old cancer sufferer .
One entry in the OAP's chequebook was £700 for a coat of gloss on a door . |
90,354 | 003efe1b59a1ab4d031347a1e7518e565cd587e2 | Fraudsters are selling fake make-up containing dangerous levels of poisonous chemicals such as arsenic and lead, consumers were warned yesterday. Fake versions of fashionable cosmetic brands including MAC and Benefit have been found to contain up to 19 times the legal level of lead. Pregnant women and their unborn babies are particularly vulnerable to some of the dangerous chemicals found in the counterfeit products, which have also been found to contain cancer-causing compounds. Scroll down for video . Counterfeit make-up containing dangerously high levels of metals is being sold across the country and in large volumes online, Trading Standards officers said as they warned about the danger of fake products . The warning came after trading standards officers swooped on a nail and beauty shop in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, reported to the authorities by a woman customer who reported having a bad skin reaction. Counterfeit versions of products by US firms MAC and Benefit and other big-name brands were seized, tested and found to contain high levels of lead, arsenic, mercury, copper and cadmium. The heavy metals have been linked to health problems ranging from allergic reactions and skin sensitivity to nerve disorders – and even death. Excessive levels of lead can cause high blood pressure, fertility problems, memory and concentration problems and increased risk of harm to the foetus during pregnancy. Dermatologists have reported a rise in the number of women with skin conditions triggered by use of the counterfeit cosmetics, and have warned the make-up can cause permanent damage. The manufacture of genuine cosmetics is strictly controlled and products are tested rigorously before they go on sale. But counterfeiters put cheap, untested substances in their concoctions, which are often packaged to look virtually identical to the genuine brand. Previously, fake versions of high-end mascara and eyeliner have been found to contain paint stripper and nail varnish remover, while a batch of counterfeit perfume seized by police was found to contain urine. Some of the fake make-up that has been found contains metals up to 200 times the safe limit for users . Trading standards officers have warned that online shoppers are also at risk, with fraudsters hiding behind internet sites to sell the fake goods. Officers have also reported finding makeup containing up to 200 times recommended safe levels of metal. The Daily Mail found several websites selling cut-price cosmetics yesterday, with prices reduced by up to 86 per cent. A MAC lipstick on the brand’s official website for £15.50 was available on a cut-price site for just £2.05. Consumers shopping online have no way of knowing if the reduced version is genuine or fake, but trading standards have warned that sites or shops offering massive reductions may be selling counterfeits. Warwickshire trading standards officers did not name the shop at the centre of their swoop, saying their investigation is still continuing. But county councillor Richard Chattaway said retailers had a legal responsibility to ensure their goods were genuine and safe to use. He added: ‘It is unusual for fake and dangerous cosmetics to appear on the high street. Warwickshire County Council's Trading Standards team recently seized fake MAC, Benefit and Naked Pallet products on sale at a store in Nuneaton. Some of the make-up found contained 19 times the limit of chemicals including deadly arsenic. A counterfeit MAC mascara looks similar to originals produced . They were alerted to the counterfeit products after a woman had an adverse skin reaction to one of the products. Results from tests on lip gloss, eye shadow, eye liner, skin powder and other facial cosmetics on sale at the nail and beauty store revealed they contained heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury, copper, cadmium and lead. Warwickshire County Councillor Les Caborn, cabinet member for community safety, said: 'Exposure to heavy metals can cause a range of health problems. 'They can cause pregnant women to feel ill and damage unborn children. 'They are also associated with fertility problems, high blood pressure, and muscle pain and memory problems.' ‘However, we would advise consumers to seek medical attention if they have an adverse reaction and to report the product to trading standards.’ MAC Cosmetics is endorsed by pop star Rihanna and used by celebrities including TV cook Rachel Khoo and reality TV star Kim Kardashian. The firm said it worked with authorities in Britain and internationally to stop the illegal sale of counterfeit cosmetics and to block websites which sold them. Consumers are advised to buy from official websites or stockists and to examine packaging for batch numbers. Handley Brustad, lead officer for Intellectual Property at the Trading Standards Institute, said counterfeiters are frequently using the internet because they can escape detection and follow the latest trends to sell their fakes. He said: 'Online this is a huge problem because it's not as straightforward as finding it being sold in a high street shop or marketplace because you have got to do an awful lot of digging to find it. 'Counterfeiters are using domain names that appear like they are from the UK when they are not, and are making prices closer and closer to the genuine product to make them appear more real but make people think they are getting a bargain. 'With make-up we are finding the counterfeiters are putting in many more metals because that's what binds the make-up together. This is very strictly controlled in the UK because these metals are dangerous. 'People who buy the make-up are then putting these products near their eyes and mouths. They can cause blindness and if you ingest enough of it, even death. 'We are generally talking about high percentages of unsafe chemicals. It's usually heavy metals like lead and cadmium - the ones that are strictly regulated because of the harm they cause.' Fake MAC and Benefit make-up has also been found recently in South Wales, and Mr Brustad said examples containing dangerously high percentages had also been discovered. 'There have been incidents where we have found products containing 100 or 200 times these safe levels,' he added. 'Counterfeiters are getting better and better all the time which makes the industry all the more dangerous' | Counterfeit make-up containing dangerous levels of metals is being sold .
Some makeup has 200 times safe limit of arsenic, lead and cadmium .
Fake products found on high street and increasingly for sale on internet .
High content of metals can cause fertility problems, blindness and death .
Trading Standards said fraudsters price their products so they are a bargain - but not so cheap as to be an obvious con . |
67,233 | beba58ec06d9b759b7375e01ad732dfd5667f4a9 | Innocent victim: Sabrina Moss, 24, was shot dead while out celebrating her birthday with friends . A young mother caught up in a double shooting in London while out celebrating her 24th birthday has died of her injuries. Sabrina Moss was one of two women gunned down in North-West London early yesterday. The other casualty, also 24, was last night in hospital with injuries which are not thought to be life-threatening. Detective Chief Inspector John Sandlin of the Metropolitan Police said: ‘I believe the two women were innocent parties who were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.’ Scotland Yard said officers were called shortly after 4am following reports of shots being fired in Kilburn High Road, Kilburn, North-West London. Police and London Ambulance crews found two women suffering from gunshot injuries. Both were taken to hospital and Sabrina was pronounced dead later. She had been celebrating her birthday with friends. Chief Inspector Sandlin said: ‘I am appealing for anyone who witnessed the shooting, or who saw anything suspicious in the Kilburn area early yesterday morning, to call police. ‘In particular, I need to hear from anyone who saw two males who came into the High Road from its junction with Messina Avenue and, after the shooting, made off on foot back along Messina Avenue.’ Scroll down for video . Fatal shooting: Forensics officers investigate the scene of the double shooting in north London in which a 24-year-old woman was killed . Two police officers stand guard at the scene where a woman was fatally shot in the early hours of this morning . Tributes to Sabrina flooded on to the social networking site Twitter, with many of her friends mentioning her four-year-old son. Adjei Adu wrote: ‘My heart goes out to her family and the lil one she’s left behind, sleep well Sabrina Moss.’ Leila . Hassan tweeted: ‘My thoughts are with your family... a beautiful young . woman, mother and daughter!’ Another tweet read: ‘Lost the cousin I was . close with when I was a child. RIP Sabrina Moss.’ An upturned cardboard box is used to cover evidence at the scene of a double shooting on Kilburn High Road in North London . Two forensics officers enter a restaurant on Kilburn High Road in North London believed to be part of the scene where two women were injured in a shooting . A sniffer dog is used to search for evidence at the scene of the double shooting. No arrests have been made . A friend of Sabrina’s, Carla Goulart, paid tribute to her and said she had made a cake to celebrate her birthday. She . said: ‘You really bugged me for this cake and you even pretended you . were crying about it. It was our pleasure making it for your 24th . birthday. I will miss you a lot.’ Rochelle Hibbert tweeted: ‘Just heard about Sabrina Moss . . . I don’t even wanna tell my sister! RIP xx’ Poignantly, . Sabrina had tweeted about her birthday only recently, writing: ‘2 weeks . till my bday, decided I’m stayin in that night can’t be bothered with . bdays no more.’ Another 24-year-old woman is in hospital. Her injuries are not thought to be life-threatening. Last night, police said one man had been arrested in connection with the shooting. A post-mortem examination will be arranged in due course. Anyone with information was asked to called the police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. | Police alerted the shootings at 4.12am on the Kilburn High Road .
Another woman, also 24, was shot but not seriously injured .
Officers from gang crime-linked Operation Trident are investigating . |
127,719 | 31178221ae095422cfedd4a3925f4047a19dbf58 | MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has gone to Mexico, the apparent epicenter of the swine flu outbreak where more than 100 people have died in suspected cases. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, reporting outside a Mexico City hospital, says people can't get swine flu by eating pork. With governments scrambling to prevent further outbreak, Gupta appeared Monday on CNN to address people's concerns. CNN: We got a question that comes to us over Twitter. This question, "I heard that you can't contract swine flu from eating pork. Is that true? If so, why? Does cooking or curing pork destroy the virus?" Gupta: It is true. You cannot catch it from eating the pork. And it is true that cooking it to a certain temperature, around 160 degrees, also inactivates most of the pathogens in the pork as well. Follow Gupta on Twitter for swine flu updates . Also keep in mind, this is mainly an airborne thing or something that lives on inanimate objects, so people touch the virus, then they touch their mouth, they touch their nose, they touch their eyes. That seems to be the most common mode of transmission. CNN: Another question that we have we haven't gotten to, actually, which is an important question, also on Twitter. "If a person has had the flu shot this year, is he or she protected? Does this person have a better chance of getting it, or would it just be a milder case?" Thank you. That's from John Martin in Rome, New York. So what's the answer, doc? Watch Gupta on the outbreak in Mexico » . Gupta: Well, it doesn't appear that the flu shot really offers much in the way of protection, although it may offer some, and here's why. This particular virus seems to be a combination of several different strains: two strains of swine flu, one strain of bird flu and one strain of human flu. It's the human flu that that flu shot may protect slightly against. So you're protecting against a part of the virus if that makes any sense. But it's a very good idea to get your flu shot, for sure. Always think about that. But in terms of protecting for swine flu, it's not going to be enough. CNN: We've got another question ... via Twitter this morning. And this is a question, of course, everybody is wanting to know the answer to: "Could this strain get out of control and mutate into something similar to the 1918 pandemic?" iReport: Are you worried about swine flu? Gupta: Well, when you look at pandemics, they have several different qualities. They're usually a virus or some sort of pathogen the world has never seen before. They cause a lot of death, and they're sustainable in populations. We know that this is a new virus. It is very hard to figure out just how deadly this is yet. We know that over 100 people have died here in Mexico, but we don't know out of how many people who got sick. There are about 1,300 people who had serious illness, but there may be thousands more who had mild illness who never went to the hospital. So it's hard to tell how lethal this is. See scenes from Mexico » . So, you know, on one hand, in 1918, you didn't have global air travel. Nowadays, you do. So this virus can move around the world a lot faster. But right now, it doesn't seem like it's as lethal. You know, it's just early in this whole process to be able to tell. Learn more about swine flu » . CNN: Sanjay, one question that we haven't gotten to ... most of the people who died from swine flu in Mexico were in the prime of their lives really, and this usually hits infants or the elderly. What does that say to you as a doctor? Gupta: This is interesting. And the same thing happened in sort of a nonintuitive way when we were talking about SARS and when we were talking about avian flu. Think about it like this: Typically, you think of someone who has a weakened immune system, who's going to be most adversely affected by an infection. Their immune system simply can't fight it. But in these cases, it's the immune system itself that reacts robustly, and it's the immune system in that reaction to the virus that is causing death in these patients. So the virus starts that cascade, but all that fluid builds up in the lungs, and all those inflammatory cells throughout the body -- that's what's causing the problem. We saw the same thing with SARS and with avian flu as well. Which is why exactly as you said ... [people in their] 20s and 30s and 40s, this hospital behind me, they say that's been the bulk of their patients with regard to swine flu. CNN: You know, Sanjay, everybody knows that you're the sort of doctor that gets out there in the thick of things whenever something happens around the world -- any kind of public health emergency or disaster. And you're there in Mexico City, and a lot of people at home might be thinking, why the heck would Dr. Gupta want to go to a place where there's disease outbreak. What are you doing to protect yourself? Gupta: Well, we are trying to -- you know, we're clearly being very cautious here. We're not taking any chances. These masks can be helpful. But, you know, this is going to sound simple, but simply washing our hands. This is a virus that lives on keyboards, lives on money. We don't shake hands with people. That's the way it's probably being spread, and that's what we're trying to avoid. But this is where it started. If we figure out what happened here, we may figure out what happened in the rest of the world. [Get more questions answered about swine flu by clicking here.] . | Dr. Sanjay Gupta says flu shots aren't enough in fighting swine flu .
Gupta: Swine flu is affecting people in their prime in Mexico .
"It is very hard to figure out just how deadly this is yet," Gupta says . |
151,579 | 4ff38c53f59722fe5da51b473dfedf54a43a51e0 | 1960 Maradona is born . Maradona (L) and Kusturica (R) arrive at the screening of 'Maradona', Cannes International Film Festival 2008. 1971 Scouted age 11 for the junior team of Argentinos Juniors . 1976 Makes his professional debut aged 15 . 1977 Makes his full international debut for Argentina aged just 16 . 1979 Scores first international goal and wins the junior World Cup . 1981 Transfers to Boca Juniors for $1.96m. 1982 Plays his first World Cup for Argentina, scoring twice, but also getting sent off. Afterwards he is transferred to Barcelona FC for a then world record $9.81m. 1983 Wins the Spanish Cup with Barcelona . 1984 Transfers from Barcelona to Serie A Napoli for another record fee of $13.54m. 1986 Captains Argentina to World Cup Victory, scoring two goals against England on the way, the first, the infamous "Hand of God" and the second an incredible 50 meter run voted "Goal of the Century" in a 2002 FIFA poll. 1987 Helps Napoli to their first Italian title . 1990 Hit by paternity suit after World Cup final defeat by West Germany . 1991 Fails a drugs test and is banned for 15 months. Leaves Italy in disgrace. 1992 Makes his comeback at Sevilla in Spain . 1993 Heads back to Argentina with Newell's Old Boys after disagreement with Sevilla . 1994 Sent home after failing drugs test at the World Cup in the U.S.A. 1996 Books into a clinic for drug addiction. 1997 Announces retirement from football aged 37 after failing another drugs test . 2000 Collapses with heart problems . 2002 Moves to Cuba to try and combat drug addiction . 2004 Rushed to hospital after another collapse . 2005 Maradona hosts his own talk show, interviewing Pele on the opening night . 2008 Emir Kusturica's documentary "Maradona" is shown at the Cannes Film festival . | Maradona was scouted for Argentinos Juniors when aged 11 .
Captained his country to World Cup victory in 1986 .
Has battled with drug addiction and health issues in recent years .
"Maradona" documentary shown at Cannes Film Festival, May 2008 . |
244,496 | c86bb10e350bbb9f3a9d077f61922a5f854c5edd | A horrific gang-rape of six tourists in the famous resort of Acapulco was carried out by an armed gang who celebrated their horror attacks with mescal and spared one woman because she passed the 'nationality test'. The Spanish women were raped in the holiday spot by five masked men in the early hours of Monday - tied with their bikini straps by their attackers who also tied up their partners so they couldn't intervene. More details of the attack emerged as officials helped the victims - all from . Mexico City - to leave Acapulco and return home reportedly . under police protection yesterday. Scroll down for video . Police escort: A van carrying the 12 Spanish tourists traveled from the Office of Justice. Six Spanish women were raped in their rented bungalow in Acapulco, while their companions were tied up . Apology: Acapulco's mayor Luis Walton pledged to catch those responsible for the attack and apologized for saying it happens everywhere . Acapulco's mayor Luis Walton condemned the crime and promised to catch those responsible but was also forced to apologize today after saying such attacks happen 'everywhere in the world'. 'I apologize for having said that,' he said. 'Of course . this worries us and we don't want anything like this to happen in . Acapulco or anywhere else in the world.' 'We know this is going to affect our tourism.' The incident happened in the early hours of Monday morning at Playa Bonfil just south of the city center. The gang fled afterwards with their victims' valuables including cash, credit cards and mobile phones. The women, aged between 30 and 32, were last night receiving counseling. Guerrero state Attorney General Martha Garzon said the motive was "robbery, and to have fun' with the gang drinking mescal during the attack. She added that the woman spared was allowed to go because of her nationality - despite the fact she was married to one of the Spanish men in the group. 'She says she identified herself to the (attackers) and asked not to be raped, and they told her that she had passed the . test by being Mexican and they didn't touch her,' Garzon said according to CBS. Acapulco is one of Mexico's oldest and most famous beach resorts but has declined in popularity in recent years over safety concerns . Acapulco is one of Mexico's oldest beach . resorts and attracted Hollywood stars including Elizabeth Taylor, Frank . Sinatra and Brigitte Bardot in the 1950s. Ten Hollywood actors, led by John Wayne and former Tarzan Johnny Weissmuller bought a hotel in the resort and helped turned it into one of the most fashionable of its era. Packed crowds have gathered on its cliff tops since the 1930s to watch professional divers plunge 130ft into the shallow waters of the Pacific. Its reputation has been tarnished in recent years by the rival drugs cartels that have turned part of the city into no-go areas, although thousands of American teenagers still travel there for spring breaks every year. Two Mexican tourists were injured on Saturday after trying to drive through a roadblock set up by locals who have formed self-defense groups to combat the drug-related violence. | Six women were attacked for three hours by the group of men who broke into their apartment in the middle of the night .
The five masked men tied up the victim's partners with telephone cords and drank mescal as they raped the Spanish group .
One Mexican woman who was staying in the apartment was spared 'because of her nationality'
Acapulco mayor Luis Walton apologizes today for initial comment that 'it happens everywhere' as victims are helped to leave under police protection . |
99,986 | 0cd6230132f32857bb8342e336ff597d421ef471 | By . Nick Fagge . PUBLISHED: . 07:53 EST, 16 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 18:16 EST, 16 December 2012 . Diverse: A study has found 153 languages are spoken in Manchester . Its detractors try to portray it as a cold, wet and sometimes insular place. But Manchester is actually one of the most exotic cities in the world, researchers claim. This is due to its cultural diversity, with at least 153 languages spoken. Two-thirds of Mancunian school children are bilingual, with the number of languages likely to increase, according to the study by Manchester University. The city is more diverse than London, and rivalled only by New York and Paris for its ethnic and linguistic mix, claims Professor Yaron Matras, who carried out the research. ‘Manchester’s language diversity is higher than many countries in the world,’ Professor Matras said. ‘It is very likely to be the top of the list in Europe, certainly when compared to other cities of its size.’ With a population of 500,000, Manchester is much smaller than London, where more than 300 languages are spoken by eight million inhabitants. Professor Matras said: ‘There are certainly a greater number of languages spoken in London but these are by people who are passing through – diplomats, businessmen, etc – but in Manchester, the foreign language speakers are residents. ‘Around two-thirds of Mancunian school children are bilingual – a huge figure which indicates just how precious its linguistic culture is. As immigration and the arrival of overseas students to the city continues, it’s fair to say that this already large list is set to grow.’ Manchester’s rapid growth began during . the Industrial Revolution, with the city’s textile trade attracting . workers from across the empire, setting the pattern for diversity. The policy of recruiting from abroad . for public services, such as the NHS, has helped bring in some of the . more obscure languages, the professor says. Manchester is famous for its football teams, United and City, managed by Sir Alex Ferguson (left) and Roberto Mancini (right) respectively, but now has a new claim to fame . Manchester is also known for producing stars like former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher . These include more than a dozen . Indian languages, ten from West Africa, three Kurdish dialects, various . forms of the Romany language of Eastern European gypsies, Uyghur – which . is spoken by the Muslims of north-west China – and even Nahuatl, the . tongue of the ancient Aztecs of Mexico. Professor Matras said the Census data . released last week underestimated the number of multi-lingual households . in the UK, as respondents were asked to name their main language. ‘Most multi-linguals speak a language . other than English at home, but use English at work, in their place of . study, so they will answer that English is their main language, even . though this is not strictly accurate.’ | Rivalled only by New York and Paris for ethnic and linguistic mix .
Indian and West African languages, Uyghur and Nahuati spoken .
Study says number will only increase as students flood city . |
148,297 | 4bbffb4bb2e15aafded99899e06a3adf6983536f | Not many people would turn to a sat nav, a photograph or a pendulum to find a lost pet. But that's exactly what one cat lover did, using powers of the supernatural to find missing moggies and reunite them with their owners. 'Dowsing' is the dangling of a pendulum and using the direction in which it moves to find a lost object. Brian Bowes from Consett uses the anciant method of Dowsing to find missing cats . Although some may think this slightly strange, Brian Bowes, 48, says that the ancient art of dowsing shouldn't be knocked after he found four cats using his pendulum which he bought on eBay and is made out of crystal. The father of two from Shotley Bridge, County Durham, is regularly contacted by panic-stricken owners asking to help find their missing pet and explained that the process of finding the stray tabbies has been proven to work. Mr Bowes believes his work can help owners be reunited with their lost cats (File Photo) He said: 'People contact me through Facebook, and send me a picture of their lost cat, its name and the area where it went missing. I keep a picture of the cat on the laptop next to me with a sat nav map on my phone. 'First I have to clear my head of absolutely everything so my mind is completely empty. 'Then I hold the pendulum above the map on my phone and ask questions, such as: 'Is the cat alive? Is it injured? Is it being kept in a house?' The pendulum will move clockwise for yes and anti-clockwise for no. 'When I ask it to show me where the cat is, the pendulum will then sway to a certain area on the map. 'I keep zooming in on the area until I can zoom in no more and I get to a street name. In total it usually takes about half an hour for me to find where the cat might be, and I contact the owner to let them know. 'Where I've been successful I usually get within 50 metres of where the cat was found, which is good considering I only started to do this seriously a few months ago.' Brian, who delivers catalogues for a living, also used his psychic powers to find his own pet cat Sam nearly four years ago when she went missing. He said: 'This was the first time I decided to use a sat nav map instead of a map in a book, and the pendulum guided me to an area not too far away from where I live. 'I put up leaflets straightaway and on that same day, someone got in touch to say she was sleeping in their shed - in the same place that the pendulum guided me to.' But this wasn't the last time the method of dowsing would come to the rescue when another of Brian's cats went missing a year later. This time, Merry the cat was found stuck in a tree close to home but thankfully Brian, who now has five cats, hasn't needed the pendulum again for his own pets. But the dowsing enthusiast is clearly in high demand as up to three or four people a day contact him for his help. He said: 'I saw some owners putting pleas for help on the Consett Cats charity Facebook page after their cats went missing. I thought I could help these people out, and in October I posted an offer to dowse for cats on the charity's lost and found Facebook page. 'So far I have done it thirty times- for some owners I've done it once or twice, and for others I have done it for them many times. 'Up until now I've managed to find a missing cat in Sunderland and another in the Chester Le Street area. The owners were absolutely over the moon, they couldn't believe it. 'The owner of the cat found in Chester Le Street went exactly to the estate where I told her to go and at first there was no luck. 'But when she went back a second time, she shouted for her and the cat just walked up to her from out of nowhere. Mr Bowes used his psychic powers to find his own pet cat Sam nearly four years ago when it went missing . Mr Bowes is confident his methods can be most effective to help owners find their lost pets . 'That was really spooky. 'After that it has just sort of snowballed from there. I've even had people messaging me to help find their dogs. 'I do try to help people as often as I can but it's usually no more than a few times a week after work in my spare time.' He added: 'I had heard of dowsing rods but the first time I heard about dowsing using a pendulum was when I saw someone on the TV using one to find a lost child. 'I decided to try it for myself and at first, I got my son to hide a push pop around the house. Using a map of the house that I drew and the pendulum I bought on ebay, I managed to find where he had hidden it.' Although Brian admits that dowsing is a more unconventional way of finding lost pets, he tells sceptics to give it a try first. He said: 'It is unusual. If I had never heard of it before I would think that I'm losing the plot! 'I've been dowsing for four years now and finding the cats has totally proved to me that it does work. It could be a ghost pushing the pendulum for all I know. 'I can't explain it and I don't know how it actually works, but it does, and I'm going to keep on doing it as long as I'm helping people. 'Give it a go and see for yourself.' | Brian Bowes, 48, says he found four cats using his pendulum and a photo .
Called 'dowsing' which follows direction pendulum swings in .
Mr Bowes used technique to find his own missing cat four years ago . |
69,909 | c635727b9679a3805ca138bb1458049c46c56168 | A new reality series follows the life of a 380lb dancer as she tries to debunk common misconceptions about obesity. Whitney Thore, 30, launched into fame earlier this year when a YouTube video of her called A Fat Girl Dancing went viral, amassing more than 5.7million views to date. TLC's new show My Big Fat Fabulous Life will chronicle the life of the Greensboro, North Carolina native as she tries to dance her way to physical fitness, all while empowering women who feel guilty or ashamed of their bodies. Scroll down for video . Fat and fabulous! A new reality series called My Big Fat Fabulous Life follows the life of 380lb YouTube dancing star Whitney Thore, 30, as she tries to debunk common misconceptions about obesity . Transformation: An endocrine disorder called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) caused Whitney to gain more than 100lbs within four years in her teens . 'There's P.C. terms for everything these days, but fat people are fair game,' Whitney says in a preview for the series. 'Someone has to fight for us!' In the clip, Whitney explains that she was slender in her teens, weighing a healthy 114lbs when she began high school. But due to an endocrine disorder called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), which she was only diagnosed with later in life, she began gaining weight rapidly over the years and struggled to lose it. Flashback: Whitney (left, with a friend, and right) explains that she was a slender dancer in her teens, weighing a healthy 114lbs when she began high school . Quick judgments: These days, due to the PCOS, she weighs 380lbs - even with all the exercise and dance she does. 'I hate people thinking that I'm lazy,' she says . 'When I started college I started gaining weight so fast that I didn't know what was wrong with me,' she remembers, explaining that two-thirds of women with her condition are overweight or obese. 'By the end of my freshman year I'd gained 100lbs, and my entire life changed.' Too ashamed to look at herself in the mirror, Whitney gave up dancing and 'fell into a deep depression' that lasted several years. New start: Recently, Whitney decided to move back home with her parents (pictured), where she has launched a movement, #nobodyshamecampaign, in a bid to promote self-love and acceptance . Stay positive: 'Living with PCOS isn't easy,' she says. 'But I still have a choice in how I let it affect my attitude. I may be fat, but I am still fabulous. I have one life to live, and it damn sure better count' Ambition: She has also taken up dancing again and started teaching a dance class for other bigger women . She struggled with eating disorders and obsessive exercise, even dropping 100lbs in eight months - only to put it back on again almost as quickly. 'Looking back to when I was thin, I can't believe how much I took it for granted,' she admits, adding: 'I hate people thinking that I'm lazy.' Recently, Whitney decided to move back home with her parents, where she has taken up dancing again and launched a movement, #nobodyshamecampaign, in a bid to promote self-love and acceptance. And she has even begun teaching a dance class for other bigger women. Sensation: Whitney launched into fame earlier this year when a YouTube video of her called A Fat Girl Dancing (pictured) went viral, amassing more than 5.7million views to date . 'I love all of the positive things that came out of the videos, but it doesn't change that right now, I'm the heaviest that I've ever been in my whole life,' says Whitney. PCOS is a condition in which a woman's hormones are out of balance. Thought to be genetic, it affects about one in ten women. PCOS may lead to menstrual cycle changes, cysts in the ovaries, trouble getting pregnant and other health changes. One of the most common symptoms is weight gain and trouble losing weight. 'So I need to lose some weight so that I can do everything in life I want to do, and hopefully I can do that through dance.' The series, which premieres in January, will follow Whitney as she lives life to the full, from wearing a bikini on the beach for the first time in a decade to going on dates and confronting online bullies who body-shame her. 'Living with PCOS isn't easy,' she says. 'But I still have a choice in how I let it affect my attitude. 'I may be fat, but I am still fabulous. I have one life to live, and it damn sure better count.' My Big Fat Fabulous Life premieres at 10/9c on Tuesday, January 13 on TLC. | Whitney was a slender 114lbs when she began high school .
By the end of her freshman year of college she had gained more than 100lbs .
Whitney was diagnosed with anendocrine disorder called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), which makes it difficult to lose weight . |
67,771 | c0401da9267e8d621d7f8719f13aa63a4d712ea9 | PUBLISHED: . 19:08 EST, 4 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:25 EST, 5 December 2013 . Charles Saatchi subjected Nigella Lawson to ‘a long summer of bullying and abuse’, she claimed yesterday. Miss Lawson admitted her ten-year marriage to the businessman may have been doomed from the start. She felt she had to ask permission to do what she wanted, and was ‘punished’ if she displeased him. Frequently referring to him as Mr Saatchi, she said he had set out to ‘destroy’ her after their divorce in July. Her experiences with the multi-millionaire art collector were ‘wounding and very difficult’ leaving her with ‘emotional scars’, the jury was told. Departure: Nigella Lawson leaves court today after admitting taking cocaine and smoking cannabis during her marriage to Charles Saatchi . Testimony: Nigella Lawson told the jury that 'no one can be in any doubt' her ex-husband Charles Saatchi has a temper . Miss Lawson talked at length about her ex-husband’s irritability saying: ‘Yes, he did have a temper and I don’t think that anyone can be in any doubt he had a temper.’ She added that Elisabetta Grillo, who is on trial along with her sister, may have heard him shouting and swearing – and that Miss Grillo found him so unpleasant she moved out of free accommodation in the family home to be away from him. At one point Miss Lawson said she confided in Elisabetta, saying: ‘I can’t take this any more.’ Mr Saatchi, she added, did not enjoy family gatherings, and was also bemused as to why the Grillo girls both wanted to be off at the end of December until Miss Lawson ‘explained to him that it was Christmas’. The couple split in June this year after the infamous picture outside Scott’s which resulted in Mr Saatchi accepting a police caution for assault. But the ordeal for Miss Lawson did not end there, the court heard. The TV cook said yesterday that Mr Saatchi – who on Friday told the court he still adored his former wife – begged her to return to the marital home and to clear him of being a wife beater. She was asked why in October she had threatened to withdraw from giving evidence in the trial – when claims of the Grillo sisters describing her as a drug addict were published on a public relations executive’s internet blog. 'Choking': Nigella Lawson separated from Charles Saatchi after this picture was published which appeared to show him choking her outside Scott's restaurant in Mayfair, central London . Miss Lawson replied: ‘My relations with Mr Saatchi were not good. ‘He said to me that if I didn’t go back to him and clear his name he would destroy me – and also started spreading false allegations of drug use, and in particular that awful incident at Scott’s. ‘I feel his way of getting this out was to use this case.’ She added: ‘Drug allegations came out in September which indirectly Mr Saatchi had menaced me with in August, and I just said, “What drug allegations? There aren’t going to be any”. ‘These allegations appeared in a PR blog that had been dedicated to salvaging Mr Saatchi’s reputation and savaging mine. ‘They had been circulated on the internet and sent to every media outlet. Testimony: The TV chef, 53, spoke about the breakdown of her ten-year marriage to the millionaire art dealer . ‘I thought this would not become a fraud case – I would be put on trial and actually that is what has happened. ‘I’m going to have to answer allegations in front of the world’s press – and it comes after a long summer of bullying and abuse – and I find it just like another chapter in that.’ She also discussed a venomous email Mr Saatchi sent her in October accusing her of being a drug addict, and revealed what seemed to be long-standing problems. Denying a suggestion in the email that she had been seeking a ‘pass’ to enjoy all the drugs that she wanted, Miss Lawson said: ‘I had once made reference to a “pass” because I had been punished for going to my girlfriend’s birthday party. ‘I hasten to say I don’t mean that I was beaten, rather an emotional abuse. It was very wounding and very difficult, and of course we know how things accelerated.’ She then seemed to make the remarkable suggestion that Mr Saatchi may have been secretly colluding with the Grillo girls. Miss Lawson said: ‘He had, I felt, been in contact with the defendants when he talked to me about drugs in August. ‘I’m not saying he did directly but it seemed he knew about these witness statements before they were published on the internet.’ The celebrity chef then told how her ex-husband in October threatened to sue her for some half a million pounds when she threatened not to give evidence against the Grillos. Miss Lawson said: ‘It was really just another form of bullying, and making me pay money for legal help. ‘I feel that part of this campaign is to ruin me in whatever way, and if that is financial so be it. ‘He threatens law very often, I’ve seen this in action. I think he likes everyone to do what he wants. ‘It would be, “Get her – I don’t care how much it costs, I don’t care what it takes”. I’m afraid that is how it is now. He feels betrayed by me.’ Miss Lawson said: ‘That marriage was very difficult in very many stages. It was also deeply happy at some stages. This is sometimes the nature of marriages. But this perhaps was doomed.’ In her October statement threatening to withdraw from the case, Miss Lawson had said: ‘I’m of the opinion that Charles Saatchi will do everything he can to damage not just my interests but the interests of my children. The Grillos trial will give him this opportunity.’ Looking at the packed court around her yesterday Miss Lawson added: ‘And look how it’s played out.’ | TV chef claims she was subjected to ‘intimate terrorism’ by Charles Saatchi .
She says Saatchi 'threatened to destroy her' after public restaurant spat .
Millionaire art dealer told her to 'clear his name' - then he spread allegations about her drug use, court hears . |
122,110 | 29d84a3f595f3b779054e6c9c76563a6ba413953 | NEW YORK (CNN) -- Madeleine Peyroux has carved out a successful career as an interpreter of songs from greats such as Billie Holiday, Patsy Cline and Leonard Cohen. But on her fourth album, the smoky-voiced singer holds the mirror up to herself. Madeleine Peyroux takes a clear-eyed look at her life and relationships on "Bare Bones." "Bare Bones" is Peyroux's first album for which she wrote or co-wrote all the tracks. And she doesn't shy away from touchy subjects. "River of Tears" was inspired by her difficult relationship with her late alcoholic father. "I think it's the kind of feeling that you can get any time of your life when you just have to face some things," she says about getting personal. "You have to let it all hang out, let go of the ideas that were more comfortable and embrace some of the sadness in your life. And then perhaps let it float." Watch Peyroux get personal » . Born in Athens, Georgia, Peyroux (pronounced "Peru") spent some time in a domestic violence shelter as a child. After her parents' divorce, she moved to Paris with her mother which is where, as a teenager, she tested her mettle as a performer by busking on the streets. Critics responded favorably to Peyroux's 1996 debut album, "Dreamland," and international recognition followed with 2004's million-selling "Careless Love." While Peyroux prefers to keep a fairly low profile, she took the time to talk to CNN about stripping down to the bare bones on her newest album. CNN: This is the first album where you've written or co-written all the material. What was that like? Madeleine Peyroux: I was just excited about it. Every day was another opportunity to keep writing for this record, so I spent a year and a half co-writing with a lot of other people as well so that I could go through different processes and get the songs written. Now I'm singing these songs and I feel that looking back ... it was time really well spent. CNN: Was there apprehension about revealing too much about yourself? Peyroux: No. I think of the things that I wrote on this record as stories of being a young woman walking the streets of Paris late at night in "Our Lady of Pigalle," or trying to touch on the Southern culture of drinking and surviving on the basic sayings that we have in order to understand what life is all about. ... But the question was ... would anybody want me to actually tell the full story from beginning to end and make sense of it? Because in the end, I'd like these songs to make sense to everyone and not just be my story. CNN: Tell us about the song "River of Tears." Peyroux: My producer, Larry Klein, had the idea. He wrote the lyrics at the beginning of the song because he had been working with me during the time my father passed away and he knew the story. ... He wrote, "Stop all this talk, turn off the telephone. Open up another bottle. I'm gonna float down this river of tears." We kept writing it together. CNN: What was your relationship like with your dad? Peyroux: Complex. ... He was a complex character. He's definitely a big part of the material on this record. CNN: The album ends on a very uplifting note with the song "Something Grand" and the line "all's forgiven." Is it true that song was inspired by President Obama? Peyroux: It was. ... I live in Brooklyn, New York, and I was up at 4 a.m., the quietest hour, where the highway just slows down for about five minutes so you don't hear any trucks banging over the potholes. I had the windows open. The debates [had been] on television. It was an exciting feeling, and we knew that there was a change coming. And I needed to know that in my bones, and I wanted to feel it. Luck would have it that Obama was elected the day that I recorded the vocals on that song. CNN: What is it about early female blues singers that captivate you? Peyroux: I think I was probably an early teenager when I discovered Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and a bunch of people that are on a long list of artists. They were important to me, especially as an early adolescent. ... To have a female role model that first of all touches me personally and deeply. ... They were very strong women. Bessie Smith, for example, created her own life. She ran the show, she owned a railway train. CNN: You've had a tough life so far, haven't you? Peyroux: Tumultuous. I think eventful ... with traveling and going through a lot of changes in my household, my family, moving around quite a bit. But [I've had] a lot of luck, you know. So not as tough as just a little crazy. ... Music was a big part of [my luck]. And it has the power to change a lot of people from being jaded and take them back into something soothing and healing. | Madeleine Peyroux's new album, "Bare Bones," is unflinching .
Peyroux had alcoholic father, spent time in domestic violence shelter .
Singer with smoky voice wants songs to be universal . |
48,980 | 8a4b17c8b7260e9ae241b4018ce1af4c230a7f18 | (CNN) -- When Macedonia celebrated the 20th anniversary of its independence from the former Yugoslavia last month, it did so in a capital city that has been radically transformed over the past two years. Almost 20 new buildings -- and a similar number of statues, fountains and monuments -- are being built around the center of Skopje. The transformations are being made as part of a project called Skopje 2014, aimed at rebuilding a city that lost many of its landmarks in a 1963 earthquake. The centerpiece, in place in time for the anniversary celebrations on September 8, was a 22-meter statue, called Warrior on a Horse. It is widely understood to depict Alexander the Great, but has not been officially named as such because of a long-running dispute with Greece, to whom the ancient king is a national hero. There is also a new Museum of Macedonian Struggle, which opened on Independence Day, a triumphal arch, a new foreign ministry building, a new constitutional court, a new national theater and a new archaeological museum, among other buildings. Country profile: Macedonia . The official cost of the project is 80 million euros, although critics claim the final bill could be as high as 500 million euros, according to the online newspaper Balkan Insight. Skopje 2014 has divided Macedonians, some of whom say a country with more than 30% unemployment, according the U.N data, should not be spending so much on a building project. Goran Atanasovski, who runs an independent tourism website travel2macedonia.com.mk, said: "The project splits the people, like a river between the coasts, some of them are for it, while others are not. "The controversy for the project is mostly that Macedonia belongs to a group of countries with high unemployment level." However, Zoran Nikolovski, the government's head of tourism, said: "Skopje already has a totally new look from it did two years ago, and by 2014 it will have even more new buildings. Even in this global economic crisis we are building, not only buildings and attractions but also a new infrastructure and accommodation capacity, like brand new airports, roads and hotels. "At first there was misunderstanding from people, but now they are seeing that it is really beautiful for people who live in Skopje as well as for travelers." What do you think of the new buildings? Send in your images . Others question the taste of classic antiquity buildings and bronze statues. One Macedonian who asked not to be named said: "I try to avoid the city center now. It has turned into a theme park. Wherever you turn there are new bronze statues and sculptures. It's as if they're trying to create a national identity. "I would have thought in the 21st century we should be building something modern, urban and contemporary. I can't imagine any other city building a triumphal arch in the 21st century." Regardless of personal opinions of the project, Skopje 2014 and other infrastructure investments do appear to be helping Macedonia to attract foreign tourists. Nikolovski said there had been a 25% increase in foreign tourists visiting Macedonia in the first seven months of this year, compared with the same period last year. Atanasovski said: "Whether it was due to Skopje 2014 or not, this was first season that I've actually seen mass groups of foreign tourists with a travel guides in the downtown and the Old Bazaar. "This is the first year when Skopje received more tourists than Ohrid, the leading tourism destination of Macedonia." Official government statistics show a steady increase in foreign tourists arriving in Macedonia from 99,000 in 2001 to almost 262,000 last year. While the majority come from neighboring countries, there has been an increase in recent years from further afield, including Austria, Germany, Russia, Poland, Italy and Turkey. Nikolovski said: "We have a lack of opportunities for mass market tourism because we don't have a coastline, but we do have beautiful lakes and mountains and interesting culture and history." He said the country was also developing its gambling tourism market, with a number of casino hotels. The government has recently introduced policies to boost tourism including a reduction in sales tax on hotels and catering from 18% to 5% and subsidies to attract tour groups from certain countries. Atanasovski said: "The previous years, usually the tour operators have been including Macedonia as a part of wider Balkan tours and haven't stayed in Macedonia longer than a day. Starting from last year, the number of nights spent in Macedonia has increased." Regardless of money spent on grand projects and infrastructure, national pride has been given a boost from a quarter that no politician could plan. Macedonia's 20th anniversary celebrations coincided with the national basketball team unexpectedly reaching the semi-finals of the European championships. "Honestly, I haven't seen the people of Macedonia so happy and proud before," said Atanasovski. "Flags were all over, on people, on cars, on windows. People have replaced their economic problems with a smile and happiness." | Skopje 2014 is a multi-million euro project to rebuild city center .
Triumphal arch, warrior statue and new museum opened for Macedonia's 20th anniversary celebrations .
Macedonia increases foreign visitor numbers by 25% this year . |
33,552 | 5f71acf0d180c59bf2feff4ac9df7bf6cad295ec | An academy headmaster paid nearly £230,000 a year also raked in cash running a business based at the school. Sir Greg Martin enjoyed a 56 per cent pay rise last year. He is also sole director of a company which managed a health club and accommodation business on his school’s site and his ex-wife is the school’s deputy head. A probe by the National Audit Office found Sir Greg’s firm was paid £508,000 in management fees over the past three years alone. Sir Greg Martin (pictured), headteacher of Durand Academy in Stockwell, south London, enjoyed a 56 per cent pay rise last year, taking his total pay package up to just under £230,000 including pension contributions . Investigators were unable to determine the extent to which he benefited from the arrangement, which the Department for Education has now ended. The NAO said Sir Greg ‘received payments in the form of director’s remuneration and/or dividends’ on top of his headteacher’s pay. Now the Education Funding Agency, an arm of the DfE which policies academies, ‘is planning to undertake a review of academy heads’ salaries’. In a report published today the NAO reveals Sir Greg was handed a pay rise of 56.5 per cent in 2012/13, taking his pay package to £229,138 including pension contributions. This made him ‘one of the highest paid executive heads in the country’. Yet earlier this year Ofsted downgraded his school – Durand Academy in Stockwell, south London – from ‘outstanding’ to ‘good’. The report also reveals that for nearly two years the day-to-day running of the school has been delegated to Sir Greg’s ex-wife, Nathalie Parker, who earned a salary of between £115,000 and £120,000. NAO investigators found a ‘complex’ structure had grown up around Durand Academy and organisations linked to it. They uncovered evidence of a ‘large number of conflicts of interest in the way that it managed its academy and its assets’. Sir Greg (pictured) employed his ex-wife at the school, who earned a salary of between £115,000 and £120,000 . These included a contract with a lobbying and public relations firm – PLMR – whose managing director, Kevin Craig, is the school’s vice-chairman of governors. Payments totalling £583,000 were made to PLMR over three years. Durand Academy recently became the first state primary to open its own secondary boarding school. Pupils aged 13 to 18 are bussed to a mock Tudor mansion in Stedham, West Sussex, each week for an ‘Eton-style experience’. The NAO said it had been told of ‘value for money concerns about the boarding school’, which is being backed by the Government to the tune of £17.34million. Sir Greg – who was knighted for services to education in last year’s Queens Birthday Honours – married Miss Parker in May 1996. The pair, who have two sons together, divorced three years later. Miss Parker was appointed acting head at Durand in September 2012. The NAO report said Miss Parker ‘was appointed through an externally advertised, competitive process and Sir Greg was not on the panel that appointed her’. A probe by the National Audit Office (pictured) found Sir Greg’s firm was paid £508,000 in management fees over the past three years alone. Investigators found a ‘complex’ structure had grown around the academy . It also emerged that Sir Greg received an unspecified sum for running a leisure and accommodation business at the school. The non-profit London Horizons business – a gym, health spa and flats – generates income which is ploughed back into the school. London Horizons has paid GMG, a firm of which Sir Greg is listed as the sole director, for running the business for more than a decade. Between 2011 and 2014, £508,000 was paid in management fees from London Horizons to GMG. After scrutinising Durand’s accounts, the EFA earlier this year ordered the academy to terminate the contract with GMG due to the risk of a ‘conflict of interest’. Research by the EFA suggests contracts at 17 academy trusts in 2012/13 were improper or irregular. Margaret Hodge, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said: ‘It just feels wrong that individuals sitting on the board of the Durand Academy Trust could set up such a complex web of organisations and companies some of which are selling goods and services to the academy. ‘It’s not at all clear if individuals within the trust were improperly benefiting from these companies.’ A spokesman for Durand Academy Trust said: ‘Sir Greg has a hugely demanding role and he has always innovated. We are privileged to retain the services of such a dedicated education leader.’ | Sir Greg Martin enjoyed a 56 per cent pay rise last year, earning £229,138 .
Headteacher raked in cash running health business based at the school .
His firm has been paid £508,000 in management fees over last three years .
Probe by National Audit Office unable to determine extent of his benefits .
Believed to be ‘one of the highest paid executive heads in the country’ |
84,653 | f02e1a6bf11fee4ee09db489f422daaf2ee4fd39 | By . Cindy Tran . Calls to reduce speed limit to 30km/h would help save lives and prevent accidents, says an Adelaide University cycling expert. Dr Jennifer Bonham told The Advertiser that reducing speed limit on residential roads should be highly considered for the safety of cyclists, as well as pedestrians and drivers. The senior lecturer and author is currently undertaking an Australian Road Research Board, a project which received $45,000 funding last month. Dr Bonham told Daily Mail Australia that the project will look at the type of road infrastructure, which is being put in place across Australia to improve safety and convenience for cyclists. Reducing speed limit on residential roads should be highly considered for the safety of cyclists, as well as pedestrians and drivers . 'We are interested in how cyclists and motorists interact with this infrastructure and whether it is effective to assuring safety and convenience for all road users,' she said. 'The keys to improving safety cycling is design, construction and regulation of all roads to ensure the safety and convenience of all road users. The Adelaide Government reported the move of speed limit cut last year had save an estimated 100 lives and $1 billion in property damage and health costs. In 2011, the government reduced limits from 110km/h to 100km/h on 864km of regional roads. Calls to reduce speed limit to 30km/h would help save lives and prevent accidents for cyclists . Places like the Netherlands do no more than 30km/h in residential areas as this is regarded as the safest speed . Dr Bonham said that the positive impact of reducing suburban speed limits from 60km/h to 50km/h highlighted the benefits of slower travelling car. 'I'm suggesting we should try 40km/h and if at some future point - especially as we get more intense (housing) development in suburban areas - we may want to travel at no more than 30km/h.' 'So we get used to 40km/h and then start thinking about if we need to move to further reductions,' she said. The trend to reducing speed limits are already common in some European countries. 'In places like the Netherlands you can’t do more than 30km/h in residential areas because they regard this as the safest speed and they have been doing this for 40 years,' she said. The Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety found an average of 35 cyclists are killed and over 25,000 are seriously injured on Australian public roads each year. | Reducing speed limit on residential roads should be considered for the safety of cyclists .
Dr Jennifer Bonham's project will look at the type of road infrastructure across Australia .
Places like the Netherlands do no more than 30km/h in residential areas which is the speed regarded the safest for cyclists . |
60,912 | ad0dc4279c5704736573862629507043f1d07044 | By . Tales Azzoni, Ap . Gremio have been banned from this year's Brazilian Cup after fans racially insulted an opposition player in a match last week. A tribunal also fined the club around $20,000 [£12,150] and said the fans found responsible for the abuse will be banned from attending matches for two years. Wednesday's ruling comes less than a week after a small group of fans called Santos goalkeeper Aranha a "monkey" in a Brazilian Cup match at the Arena Gremio. Some also imitated monkey noises towards the player. Monkey taunts: Santos keeper Aranha returns to Rio after suffering racist abuse from Gremio fans . Punishment: Gremio has indefinitely suspended one of its fan groups after tehe incident . Gremio said it will appeal the ruling. The return match remains suspended until a final ruling is made. Santos won the first leg 2-0 in Porto Alegre. Gremio have won the Brazilian Cup four times and are currently managed by former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. It's not too late to play MailOnline Fantasy Football… There's £1,000 to be won EVERY WEEK by the highest scoring manager . CLICK HERE to start picking your Fantasy Football team NOW! There's £60,000 in prizes including £1,000 up for grabs EVERY WEEK… . | Brazilian side Germio found guilty of racist abuse .
Gremio suspended fans' group for racist taunts .
Supporters directed monkey chants at Santos keeper Aranha . |
36,092 | 666c66bdc9ca19e8aad151e3f36722d3a9a492ea | By . Tara Brady . Villagers in Russia are mourning the death of a child who was killed when an automatic gate closed crushing him to death. The accident happened in the tiny hamlet of Proskurka near Novgorod as four-year-old Vanya Mihanokov was playing near the factory where his mother worked. The automatic gate separated his family's wood processing business from the road outside. Scroll down for video . The child can be seen in the right hand side of the picture with a worker playing with a dog . The child is left on his own while the worker walks away with the dog towards the road . Vanya Mihanokov (circled) walks over to the gate which separates his family's business from the road outside . Worker Vassily Malenko said: 'Everybody here liked Vanya. He was a sweet little boy with a cheeky smile and a polite word for all. He was a real joy-bringer. 'The gate was just an adventure for him. He was fascinated by the silent electric mechanism that would make it slide open and shut and would often sit and stare at it for hours. 'But on this day he got bored riding his bike around the yard and rushed over to sit on the gate when he saw it moving. His mother Lioudmila, who was working inside, thought he was safe. 'There was a colleague there anyway but he missed the boy climbing on the gate as it was beginning to move, the boy wanted to get off, but his jacket was caught. The child's coat gets trapped in the automatic gate and he begins to struggle . As the gate began to move the boy refused to move and his mother who was working inside thought it was safe . The boy was fascinated by the silent electric mechanism on the gate that would make it open and shut . Vanya Mihanokov circled was killed when the automatic gate closed crushing him to death . 'He was struggling, he couldn't free himself and then his tiny body was crushed in the closing mechanism.' The other employee even then did not see what happened as he was playing with a dog. When he realised, the boy's mother and staff rushed to the scene but it was already too late. Vanya was declared dead at the scene. | The accident happened in the tiny hamlet of Proskurka near Novgorod .
Vanya Mihanokov was playing near the factory where his mother worked .
The four-year-old was fascinated by the silent automatic gate .
After climbing on the gate his coat got stuck and he was crushed to death . |
69,862 | c61113883b9b897a7708f1778133568b323713a2 | Luis Suarez and Martin Skrtel appeared to come to blows in a Liverpool training session on Friday, in perhaps the first sign that there is trouble in Merseyside paradise. The club are nearing their first Premier League title, and would take a major step towards it with a win against Chelsea on Sunday. But there seemed to be a clash between two of their key players at Melwood, with others stepping in to break it up. Shove: Luis Suarez pushes team-mate Martin Skrtel in a Liverpool training session on Friday . Close up: The Liverpool players were playing a game of head and foot volleyball when the incident took place . Lead up: Players are seen laughing at Skrtel doing imitations, but Suarez is seen scowling at the Slovakian . Row: The striker clenches his fist towards the defender at Melwood . Tempers fray: An eye witness said that Skrtel cheated in the game and Suarez wasn't impressed . During a game of head and foot volleyball, players were laughing as Skrtel joked around. One man who looks to have taken offence though is Suarez, who is seen scowling at the Slovakian centre-back. Suarez then seems to clench his fists and raise his arms at Skrtel, and is backed up by team-mates Philippe Coutinho and Lucas. Competitive: The game continued and an eye-witness said that Suarez's team later won the point . Hugs: Players laugh and joke about the incident, but Suarez and Skrtel are still kept apart . Blow: Brendan Rodgers is spotted in the background while Suarez still seems to be arguing his case . An eye-witness suggested Skrtel seemed to be mucking about which amused his team-mates, but not Suarez . He used his arm to keep the ball in play, a move which Suarez and Philippe Coutino objected. The former leaned over the net to push Skrtel. Manager Brendan Rodgers stepped in to calm the escalating tension and Suarez's team was awarded the point. Matters seemed calm soon after. Heated: Philippe Coutinho and other South Americans and Spaniards have Suarez's back . No anxiety: Brendan Rodgers had claimed that his players were loving his life at the top . The incident could suggest a . contradiction to Rodgers' quotes from last week, insisting there was no . anxiety about the title race at the club. 'I'm enjoying being top of the league,' he said. 'It is absolutely wonderful. There is no pressure with it. 'People say, "You must not sleep at night". I've never slept better. It's absolutely great, it's why we work. 'I . see the joy in the players and in their training - and there is no . anxiety. It's good to be involved in. The only way you get the . experience is by going through it - win or lose. 'Suarez is a brilliant talent. I think the supporters have seen him mature over the course of the last season.' | Luiz Suarez and Martin Skrtel come to blows in Liverpool training session .
Incident takes place during a game of head and foot volleyball .
Suarez seems to take offence to Skrtel's actions . |
220,052 | a8cffe6d842d44c35d1faa6c0fec45a387e09d74 | By . James Nye . PUBLISHED: . 19:16 EST, 29 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 19:17 EST, 29 January 2014 . Deeply unsettling hidden camera footage that shows unsupervised children actually pointing guns left unattended towards their own faces has been released. The video was shot by ABC News as an experiment to highlight a new study published in the medical journal Pediatrics that has revealed 10,000 American children are injured or killed by guns each year. Despite being given gun safety lessons just days before at their St. Petersburg, Florida, school, some children approach the guns and wave them around for minutes before calling for help from their teacher - who had left the class for the test. Scroll Down for Video: . Terrible: This little boy aims a real handgun left intentionally unattended at his face while the teacher was out of the room in St. Petersburg, Florida as part of a joint Yale and ABC News study . Seven hidden cameras were placed around the classroom, while two unloaded, but real guns were placed inside toy boxes for the kids to find. Police, the children's parents who had agreed to the experiment and the Yale researchers who authored the study then watched how the kids reacted to the presence of the guns. The frightening response from two children showed them stare down the barrels and then wave the firearms around before shouting for help from an adult as they had been taught just days previously. To compound the shocking footage, the parents who agreed to let their children be secretly filmed all told ABC News and the Yale researchers that they were confident their children would alert an adult immediately. Not toys: This boy handles the gun like it is a toy after he begun rummaging around in a playbox at his school in Florida while filmed for the ABC News experiment . Frightening: While the guns were not loaded - they were real - and the children waited minutes and played with them before calling for help from teachers at their school . The fact they did not only served to highlight the unsettling study from the Yale School of Medicine which reported on the toll gun violence has had on child mortality rates in the United States. Based on the most recently released data from 2009, researchers discovered that over 7,000 children are hospitalized or killed due to gun violence and that an additional 3,00 children die from gun injuries before they even get to the hospital. More staggering statistics show that 1.7 million children live in a home with an unlocked and loaded firearm and that 1 child or teen is injured every hour by firearms in the US. 'This study reinforces what we know from the mortality data,' Daniel Webster, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, told NBC News. 'We have an extraordinary health burden in our youth associated with firearms injuries.' The data from 2009 reveals that 7,391 children under the age of 20 had been hospitalized from firearm injuries and 4,559 resulted from intentional uses of the weapons.See more US News from ABC|ABC World News . Hidden: The guns were placed in parts of the classroom the children would go to and were easily accesible . Scary: One of the guns is visible inside a toy-box from the classroom in St. Petersburg . Of that number, 2.149 were injured in accidents and 270 were suicide attempts and of the children who were hospitalized, 453 – 6 percent – died from their injuries. Younger children - 20.8 percent of the number - were also more likely than 15- to 19-year-olds (8.3%) to suffer a traumatic brain injury. Almost 90 percent of the cases were also more likely to be boys. Racial disparity was also high, with 47 percent of the hospitalizations occurring in black children , with black kids 10 times more likely than white children to be a victim of guns. According to CBS News little more than half of the injuries (52 percent) involved open wounds, followed by fractures (50 percent), then chest, abdomen or pelvis internal injuries (32 percent). Sobering: This mother watches as her child waves around a gun inside the classroom while left unattended - she had volunteered her child because she thought they would be responsible around guns . 'That’s more than 7,000 children injured badly enough to be hospitalized,' said the study’s lead author, Dr. John Leventhal, a pediatrics professor at the Yale School of Medicine. 'All are unnecessary hospitalizations because preventing gun violence is something that can actually be done.' In an obvious suggestion, Levanthal said that to bring down this number, parents should keep their guns locked and hidden and separate from ammunition to keep their children safe. Webster also suggested to NBC News that the government should make it illegal for individuals under 21 to own a firearm. 'While you have to be 21 to purchase a handgun from a dealer, if you’re an 18-year-old you can go to a private seller and legally purchase a handgun in 38 out of 50 states,' Webster said to NBC News. Like buying groceries: Shoppers at the Walmart Super Center can buy weapons with ease . Parents looked to the sky in grief following the Sandy Hook massacre of December 2012 . Another damning statistic was that the mortality rate among children from firearms in the US was nearly 10 times higher than other wealthy nations. 'This is a very unique and abnormal problem that such a wealthy nation should have such high mortality and morbidity in youth related to firearms,' he said. Gun control is high on the political agenda at the moment with the tragedy at Sandy Hook in December 2012 still raw. In the first 14 school days of 2014, there have been at least 7 school shootings: at Wakefield Elementary School in Calif., Berrendo Middle School in New Mexico, Liberty Technology High School in Tenn., Albany High School in Georgia, Delaware Valley Charter School in Penn., Widener University in Penn., and most recently, Purdue University in Indiana. In 2013, there were 28 school shootings. | Sobering ABC News study conducted in collaboration with Yale University secretly filmed unsupervised children around unattended handguns .
New study published in the medical journal Pediatrics says that over 7,000 children go to hospital ER's every year suffering from gun injuries .
Another 3,000 children die from gunshot wounds in the US before they reach hospital .
1.7 million children live in a home with an unlocked and loaded firearm .
1 child or teen is injured every hour by firearms in the US . |
161,488 | 5cc79acbb354bc0b08af26e77e496846bdc99472 | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More than 170 people around the globe, including at least 61 in the United States, have been arrested in a major operation targeting international child pornographers, officials said Friday. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and European Union representatives announced the sting's results Friday. Operation Joint Hammer has rescued 11 girls in the United States, ages 3 to 13, who were sexually abused by child pornography producers, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and representatives of the European Union said at the Justice Department. Dozens more were located in Europe, including several young female victims in Ukraine. Authorities found connections between producers, distributors and customers in nearly 30 countries as a single investigation grew to a global inquiry into the dark corners of brutality and child abuse. The investigation, code-named Operation Koala in Europe, was developed when investigators determined that a pornographic video found in Australia had been produced in Belgium. "This joint EU-U.S. coordinated effort began with the discovery in Europe of a father who was sexually abusing his young daughters and producing images of that abuse," Mukasey said. Further investigation showed a number of online child porn rings. Some included dangerous offenders who not only traded child pornography but also sexually abused children, the officials said. Agents are still attempting to locate child victims whose images have appeared in photos and videos, and more arrests are expected as the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Postal Inspection Service continue the investigation. A Postal Service official said ringleaders primarily targeted prepubescent female victims to satisfy their customers but noted that other groups produce photos and videos of boys and girls of all ages -- or even infants. "For this subset, that's what turns them on," the official said. | U.S., European officials join for child pornographer sting .
11 girls ages 3 to 13 rescued in the United States, dozens more found in Europe .
Arrests turn up people who traded child porn, sexually abused children, officials say .
Inquiry began with pornographic video found in Australia that came from Belgium . |
78,352 | de19585bf44bb42bbc9bca5810cade5148e7d614 | (CNN) -- Casey Anthony's defense team is now six attorneys strong. At a news conference held outside Anthony's lead defense attorney's office in Kissimmee, Florida, on Tuesday, Jose Baez introduced three new members to its "dream team." Baez and fellow defense attorney, Cheney Mason, said Dorothy Clay Sims and Ann Finnell will now represent Anthony at her criminal trial. Charles Green of Orlando will take over Anthony's civil case. When asked by reporters how many lawyers are needed, Baez quickly responded that he would "rather be accused of being over prepared than under prepared." "You can't buy this type of dream team," Mason said. "Well, Bill Gates can buy it." Baez said building the team has been no easy task. In March, a Florida judge ruled Anthony was indigent, despite having been paid $200,000 for her personal photographs by ABC News. "It takes a lot to ask a lawyer to sign on," Baez said. "Many times they believe in the cause and that has been the one driving factor ... [we] all believe in the cause for justice." Mason, a prominent Orlando attorney, said another hurdle has been the location of the murder trial. He said Florida is "probably the toughest state to try criminal cases." "We're up against the State Attorney's office," he said. "They have a law firm of 150 people." Casey Anthony is charged with capital murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. The girl was reported missing in July 2008, and investigators found her body after five months of intense searches and speculation. Anthony's murder trial is set for May 2011. | Casey Anthony's defense team adds three new attorneys .
Two of them will join Anthony's criminal defense team, one will join her civil defense team .
"I would rather be accused of being over prepared than under prepared," lead attorney says . |
154,723 | 53f5941ba1aed7a40ef1992ab921dd9ad91cb54f | Boris Johnson posed as a cocaine dealer in an attempt to sting 'Fake Sheikh' News of the World reporter Mazher Mahmood, it has been claimed. The now-defunct Sunday paper is said to have offered Spectator writer Lloyd Evans £5,000 to destroy the career of Mr Johnson, then editor of that magazine. But the whole scheme was a ruse dreamt up by Mr Johnson to tempt the paper with 'scandalous gossip' and thus disprove its claim to only act in the public interest. Scroll down for video . Boris Johnson, pictured in 2003 when he was editor of The Spectator magazine: He and a Spectator writer tried to fool reporters from the News Of The World into believing drugs were sold from the magazine's office . The 1999 plot was revealed in a post to The Spectator's Coffee House blog by Mr Evans, the magazine's sketch writer and former theatre critic. He described how he and Mr Johnson, now mayor of London, came up with a series of 'implausible fables' to tempt the News of the World's reporters and expose how it deals with 'punters who approach it with bits and pieces of dirt'. Mr Evans described how after calling the red-top with his claims that Mr Johnson was a high-class cocaine dealer, he was met in a pub by a reporter called Nadia and asked to sign a contract offering him £5,000 for the story. Mr Evans recounted: 'Nadia wired me up and I phoned Boris, using my codename "David". As an opener I mentioned some poems I’d sent him (in real life I’m a poet). Did he want to publish them? He sounded lukewarm, as we’d agreed he should. 'Then I mentioned "Prince Charles" and asked if he could give me a small package from "Charlie". Fine, said Boris. Nadia liked this touch. "Prince Charlie," she said, "must be real Oxford talk?" Yeah,’ I said. Boris, meanwhile, was preparing his end of the sting at The Spectator's offices. Mr Evans wrote: 'He had a plastic bag of baking soda and was stuffing it underneath a statuette that graces the mantelpiece of his office. The inscription on the fine silver figurine reads: "To The Spectator. From The Townsfolk Of Aberdare. 1929." The drugs would be produced with a flourish from beneath this official heirloom.' The Fake Sheikh: NotW reporter Mazher Mahmood was brought into the story, but before the double-cross was executed the paper realised they had already been offered another spurious story about Mr Johnson . Convinced it had taped evidence of Boris dealing Class A drugs, the News of the World mobilised its troops. A blacked-out van full of photographers was sent to The Spectator and a video camera was hidden in the handbag of a Nadia, who was posing as Mr Evans' girlfriend. They then dispatched Mr Mahmood, their chief investigator, who now faces inquiries by Scotland Yard and the Crown Prosecution Service, to meet him and double-check the story. But before Mr Evans' double-cross sting worked out, the paper realised he had earlier failed to provoke its reporters' interests in a different spurious story about Mr Johnson. 'I was rumbled,' wrote Mr Evans. When he finally came face to face with Mr Mahmood, the reporter had a clear message for him. '"This isn’t the way we work," he told me,' Mr Evans wrote. '"Boris isn’t a drug dealer — in the normal sense. He doesn’t do it for a living; he doesn’t corrupt children. 'OK, dealers like that, yeah, we go after them — but not in this case. That’s entrapment. And entrapment is not the way we work." Mr Johnson published the story of how a Spectator writer almost double-crossed the News of the World in his magazine a few months later. | Mr Johnson instructed a Spectator writer to go undercover as a 'source'
NotW offered Lloyd Evans £5,000 to help catch Mr Johnson selling drugs .
But the ruse was rumbled and the paper pulled out at the last minute . |
187,888 | 7f4b67de110a3d6005cfc75b12a4d822644cc49e | By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 11:31 EST, 27 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:49 EST, 27 November 2012 . Foreign Office minister Baroness Warsi breached the House of Lords Code of Conduct by failing to declare income from renting out a flat . Tory minister Baroness Warsi was today censured by Parliament’s standards watchdog for failing to declare income from renting out a flat. A complaint against the senior Foreign Office minister was upheld by the Lords Commissioner for Standards, Paul Kernaghan, for receiving thousands of pounds from tenants in her Wembley flat. After being made a minister in May 2010, she moved out of the flat on security advice but could not sell it because of a dramatic fall in house prices. Some £30,000 had been wiped off the property’s value. Instead Baroness Warsi, who was Conservative party co-chairman at the time, rented the flat out. She received £6,937 in rent during 2010-11 and less than £5,000 in 2011-12. As minister without portolio she told the Cabinet Office about the flat, but did not notify the House of Lords authorities where the income should have been recorded on the register of interests because it was more than the £5,000-a-year threshold. In evidence to Mr Kernaghan, she blamed ‘an oversight, for which I take full responsibility’. In today’s ruling, the Commissioner said: ‘Baroness Warsi was not engaged in any comprehensive scheme to obscure her property interests and it should be noted that her failure to register her rental income did not result in any financial loss to the taxpayer, or additional monetary gain to herself. ‘Nevertheless, the Code seeks to promote openness and accountability and the absence of monetary gain does not absolve members of the requirement properly to register relevant interests.’ The peer has apologised and the matter is now regarded as closed, said the House of Lords Privileges and Conduct Committee in a report. Baroness Warsi said: ‘Throughout this process, I have endeavoured to ensure that relevant authorities have been notified at all times. The fact that I owned, and was letting out, the flat was known to Cabinet Office, the Leader of the House, and HM Revenue and Customs. As soon as I became aware that the flat was not included on the Register of Lords' Interests, I immediately informed the Registrar. ‘I would sincerely like to apologise for any failure to disclose my personal interests in accordance with the rules of the House.’ Mr Kernaghan cleared Baroness Warsi of a more serious allegation that she improperly claimed overnight subsistence allowance while staying in the spare room of a flat in Acton, west London, which was being rented by Tory official Naweed Khan. Lady Warsi referred herself to the Commissioner over the allegation, which relates to a six-month period in 2007-08 after she was made a peer and was waiting to move into the Wembley property. At the time, peers were allowed to claim £165.50 a night for the cost of staying in London to attend the House of Lords. Lady Warsi told Mr Kernaghan that she spent part of that time staying in hotels but also spent around 12 nights at the Acton flat and paid an ‘appropriate’ amount of £1,200 to Mr Khan. In today's report, Mr Kernaghan said he had interviewed both Mr Khan and the property's owner Wafik Moustafa, and concluded: ‘There is an arguable case that she was entitled to claim a night subsistence allowance towards the cost of maintaining a residence in London from the point where she took on contractual liability for her flat in Wembley and incurred financial costs by reason of paying a deposit. ‘She has also put forward evidence of expenditure in relation to her interim accommodation arrangements, even if some of that expenditure might not always be viewed as necessarily incurred. In any event, I cannot be satisfied that on the balance of probabilities that she breached the Code of Conduct.’ | Lords Commissioner for Standards upheld complaint against senior Foreign Office minister .
Baroness Warsi received £6,937 in 2010-11 and up to £5,000 in 2011-12 but failed to declare in the register of interests . |
128,337 | 31d98d00ea2d78a3a16ac022ccb9668a6871ff8e | By . Sophie Jane Evans . A teacher has been struck off after uploading 'naked pictures' of celebrities on to a primary school computer by mistake. Robert Adams, 52, 'accidentally' copied the images from his personal memory stick on to the main computer system at Deighton Primary School in Tredegar, South Wales. They included 'full-frontal' pictures of celebrities, such as singer Miley Cyrus and actress Scarlett Johansson, a disciplinary hearing heard. Struck off: Robert Adams, 52, has been banned from teaching for five years after uploading 'naked pictures' of celebrities on to the main computer system at Deighton Primary School (pictured) in Tredegar, South Wales . They were among 80 pornographic images of women - and one child abuse image of a girl aged around 15 - uncovered by police. Adams, a former IT co-ordinator, has now been banned from teaching for five years after being found guilty of unacceptable professional misconduct by the General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW). He will be eligible to reapply to join the teaching register in 2019 - but it is not guaranteed he will be accepted. The pornographic images were discovered after a nursery teacher at the school in Blaenau Gwent logged on to her class computer and came across a folder called 'Glam'. Famous faces: The pictures included 'full-frontal' images of celebrities, such as singer Miley Cyrus (right) and actress Scarlett Johansson (left), a General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW) disciplinary hearing heard . She clicked on the folder to uncover an array of images of 'women with no clothes on', the hearing in Cardiff heard. Officers later investigated the folder and discovered several nude photos of female celebrities, including French star Carla Bruni, singer Alicia Keys and actresses Helen Mirren and Isla Fisher. Adams, former IT co-ordinator at the school, had found the images online on his home computer, before saving them on his memory stick, the hearing heard. He claimed he had then accidentally copied them on to the school's computer while trying to download important files from the system during maintenance work. Mistake: Adams, former IT co-ordinator at the school, claimed he had accidentally copied the photos from his personal memory stick on to the school's main computer system (file picture) Nursery teacher, Jayne Edwards, told the hearing she had been looking for classwork when she spotted the 'Glam' folder. 'I could see many thumbnail images in the folder and when I clicked on the first image I saw an adult female with no clothes on,' she said. 'In the next image I clicked on there were three females with no clothes on. 'Obviously I was shocked at what I had seen and went running around the school to find someone.' The hearing was told every classroom in . the school had a computer which both teachers and pupils could access through . personal accounts with passwords. Following the discovery in October 2009, Adams immediately handed his memory stick in to police and was suspended from the school with full pay. Former headteacher, Roger Fawke, said the teacher had seemed 'quite concerned' that there was indecent material on the computer that children could access. 'He is one of the best teachers I have ever come across and was a valued member of staff that I could trust to do the best for pupils,' he said. Detetctive Constable Blair Jones carried out a forensic investigation Adams's memory stick, laptop and school computers. He told the hearing the teacher had uploaded the 'Glam' folder on to the school system just before he took his class to a harvest festival at the local church. He said evidence also showed Adams had accessed a similar pornographic file on his laptop later that night - and had deleted all files from his memory stick. DC Jones said: 'When he handed in the memory stick to police the next day there appeared to be nothing on it - but forensic tools allowed us to see all the deleted files.' He added: 'Mr Adams is the only person who truly knows how the "Glam" folder appeared on the school server.' Celebrities: Adams's 'Glam' folder also included photos of Carla Bruni (right) and actress Helen Mirren (left) As well as the pornographic images of women, police discovered a video of the young girl - who appeared to be under 16 and partially clothed - in the recycle bin of Adams's laptop. Steve Powell, chairing the GTCW panel, said the incident was a 'particularly serious' one of 'unacceptable professional conduct'. 'The child abuse image found is fundamentally incompatible with Mr Adams continuing to be a registered teacher,' he added. Adams was investigated by police, but was not prosecuted. | Robert Adams uploaded 'naked photos' on computer at South Wales school .
Claimed he had 'accidentally' copied the images from personal memory stick .
They included 'full-frontal' pictures of celebrities, such as singer Miley Cyrus .
They were among 80 pornographic images of women uncovered by police .
Officers also found one child abuse photo of young girl aged around 15 .
Teacher, 52, has been found guilty of unacceptable professional misconduct .
Banned from teaching for five years by General Teaching Council for Wales . |
200,518 | 8f90ce000ae8a27a5a18c8f6c05d06129e7b6530 | Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has predicted it will ‘take a long time’ for local rivals Manchester City to be regarded as one of Europe’s super-clubs. On the eve of his first Manchester derby, Van Gaal gave former player Peter Schmeichel’s assertion that City were now a bigger club than United short shrift — despite them being the current Premier League title holders. Van Gaal claims United’s worldwide appeal will always mean they are considered a bigger club than City. Louis van Gaal believes it will 'take a long time' for Manchester City to be regarded as a super-club . Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal (left) enjoys a joke with midfielder Darren Fletcher on Friday . Juan Mata, Michael Carrick, Wayne Rooney, Ander Herrera and Robin van Persie (left to right) train . ‘I think so because abroad we have more fans, and followers on social media,’ said the Dutchman. ‘It’s also the same thing for Bayern Munich being the biggest club of Germany, the same thing for Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain. ‘It takes a long time for Manchester City to reach that level, I think.’ United say that market research indicates they have 659 million supporters globally, though there is always debate about how such figures are produced. Van Gaal’s immediate concern, though, is winning at The Etihad Stadium. Despite spending £158million on new players in the last transfer window, United are yet to win an away game, failing to overcome Burnley, Sunderland, MK Dons, Leicester City or West Brom. Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero takes part in training on Saturday . (left to right) Gael Clichy, Pablo Zabaleta, James Milner, Fernandinho and Edin Dzeko train on Saturday . Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure wears a snood to keep warm during training on Saturday . The Dutchman admits he is perplexed by it as he takes his team across town. ‘There is no reason for it but they are the facts and it should not be like that,’ Van Gaal conceded. ‘The only game we lost was at Leicester and that was a special because of the referee’s decisions. We’ve drawn the other games and we could have won, it’s small margins. We only lost out in height which made it difficult at set-plays. Maybe you can advise me to buy tall players.’ So will Vincent Kompany and Edin Dzeko be a threat today? ‘City have scored only one out of a set-play, less than us,’ said Van Gaal dismissively. Wayne Rooney will return from suspension to captain United for the first time in the derby. On-loan striker Radamel Falcao is still missing, though United insist his injury is not related to his long-term knee problem. | Man United boss believes local rivals are not one of Europe's super clubs .
Van Gaal claims United's worldwide appeal makes them bigger than City .
The club say that they have 659 million supporters worldwide .
The cross-town rivals set to face off in the Manchester derby on Sunday . |
93,515 | 0445749f00307704a119aa0807108a782cdd6808 | By . Jenny Awford For Mailonline . A massive wall of dust swept through Washington yesterday, causing traffic accidents and hindering efforts to tackle 300-acre wildfires. The dust storm, known as a 'haboob', reduced visibility to zero and led to mandatory evacuation notices for residents and businesses. Wildfires have continued to rage in Oregon for more than a week and this dust storm is threatening to complicate efforts from firefighters. Scroll down for video . A dramatic dust storm moves towards a barn near Harrington, Washington yesterday. The wall of dust, known as a haboob, reduced visibility to zero . Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber has authorised the state fire marshal to send structural firefighters and equipment to help crews battle a wildfire that is threatening more than 130 homes in Jackson County. A storm system that moved through the area Tuesday afternoon helped the fire gain momentum and cross containment lines, a Jackson County sheriff's spokeswoman said. The Rogue River Drive Fire between Eagle Point and Shady Cove started Monday and has grown to about 300 acres. More than 7,000 lightning strikes blanketed central Oregon on Tuesday. And a dramatic dust storm blew through Eastern Washington and north Idaho on yesterday evening in advance of thunderstorms, lightning and rain. The dust cloud led to mandatory evacuation notices for residents and businesses. It also hampered efforts to tackle wildfires in Washington and Oregon . Washington state troopers said the dust storm or ‘haboob’ reduced visibility to zero in parts of Whitman and Adams counties, leading to numerous traffic accidents. Matt Fugazzi, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Spokane, said that Washington gets a dust storm like this every couple of years. Winds of 40 to 50 mph kicked up a wall of dust in advance of the thunderstorms as the weather front moved up through Eastern Washington and western Idaho and kept heading north. A wildfire sweeps through Rowena, Oregon, on August 5, threatening seven homes. With steep terrain, high temperatures and high winds, firefighters are facing a difficult challenge . A helicopter drops water into a ravine just west of Chenowith Street in Oregon to stop the Rowena Fire west of The Dalles on August 8 . Washington State Department of Natural Resources firefighter, Schuyler Jorgensen, calls in a weather report as a DNR firefighter walks down a smoking hill on August 11 . Four buildings, including one home, were destroyed in a fire that burned across 10 acres in Mead, north of Spokane, shortly after the thunderstorm moved through. Fire officials at the Devil's Elbow Fire complex on northeastern Washington's Colville Indian reservation said that after a week, nearly 800 firefighters had encircled the 32-square-mile fire with containment lines. They expected their work to be tested by the winds accompanying yesterday's new thunder and lightning storms. A helicopter drops water on the Rowena fire on August 6, about seven miles west of The Dalles, Oregon . Residents of more than 30 homes have been told to leave. Three firefighters who deployed emergency shelters when a thunderstorm whipped up the flames at a Northern California blaze were released unhurt from a hospital yesterday. Corey Wilford, a spokesman for the Beaver Fire, said there was no immediate word whether an investigation will be conducted. About 150 rural homes have been evacuated. The fire was 30 percent contained after burning across 45 square miles of the Klamath National Forest north of the Klamath River. California Interior Secretary Sally Jewell called on Congress to enact legislation allowing federal disaster funds to be spent on the biggest wildfires, at a fire coordination centre in Redding, . And California Fire Chief Ken Pimlott said three years of drought have contributed to explosive fire conditions across Northern California. | Dramatic dust cloud swept through Washington yesterday .
Visibility reduced to zero, resulting in car accidents and mass evacuations .
The wall of dust is threatening to complicate efforts to tackle wildfires .
Wildfires have ravaged Oregon for more than a week .
Governor Kitzhaber is calling for more firefighters to tackle a 300-acre blaze . |
220,406 | a94dacb3a375a9b920dceb7c551e39402920bb3c | House prices in Manchester have surged by 21 per cent in a year, the fastest rate anywhere in the country, pushing the average price of a house in the city up to £209,000, Nationwide has reported. The rise has raised fears of a house price bubble caused the BBC's move north, as people pour in from outside the city and artificially inflate property prices. The cost of buying a home rose in every region in 2013, with a national average increase of 8.4 per cent now pricing a typical UK home at £175,826. Price map: Manchester performed best among major cities, with average house prices up 21 per cent . Boom: The house price rise in Manchester has raised fears of a bubble caused the BBC's move to MediaCity in nearby Salford. There are concerns that new residents may artificially inflate prices . Chris Bagley, development manager for the Federation of Small Businesses' Manchester and North Cheshire branch, said: 'The BBC must have had an effect on house prices in Manchester. It’s not just what the BBC brings – it’s what it brings with it. Things are looking better and people are encouraged by the growth of major organisations nearby.' She added: 'I think any kind of conscious move by an organisation that is . seen as prominent, important and a market leader is going to encourage people . to move there. Ms Bagley went on to say: 'Since the BBC moved north, people suddenly think Manchester is the place to be. And they've brought a lot of people with them.' A source at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors suggested the property price rise in Manchester could also be linked to the HS2 project - the planned high speed rail link that aims to cut the journey time between Manchester and London to just over an hour. He claimed prices may have been driven up as investors inquire about buying second homes in the city ahead of an expected property price hike if the project gets the green light. Although average nationwide property prices remain around five . per cent below all-time highs recorded in late 2007, the increase is the . biggest leap since June 2010, and further evidence of an increasingly . broad UK property market. But it was Manchester that emerged as the best-performing area in 2013, with an overall uplift of 1.9 per cent in the North as a whole. Life-changing: David Cameron has a cup of tea with Sharon Ray and her daughter Maisie, 2, during a visit to her home in Southampton, Hampshire which she has bought through the government's Help to Buy scheme . A housing bubble is an economic condition caused by rapid increases in property valuations based on unjustified speculation about how much demand there is to buy. Once the bubble inevitably bursts, property valuations go into steep decline, leaving those who purchased homes at a higher price out of pocket. The financial crisis that began in 2007 was partly related to the bursting of numerous housing bubbles around the world. Banks lost out when people were unable to meet mortgage payments and the value of repossessed properties became considerably less than the money borrowed. Housing bubbles are considered more dangerous than stock market bubbles as historically they last nearly twice as long and lead to overall losses that are twice as large. Speaking of the BBC's effect on the . mood of the area, Ms Bagley said: 'With the BBC on the doorstep there is . also encouragement to film here, which brings people in. We’ve had some . big filming projects here lately.' 'In . many ways it’s down the BBC boost that the FSB will be holding its . annual conference in Manchester this year. That and the Commonwealth . Games.' A BBC spokesperson said: 'The rationale for the move to Salford was to deliver long term and sustainable economic, creative and audience-focused benefits.' They added: 'We have just celebrated two years of award-winning TV, radio and online content and the whole region is sharing in the momentum of Media City with spend by the Public Service Broadcast channels in the region up from 15.9 per cent to 20 per cent.' The BBC announced in 2004 that it planned to move several departments north in order to cut costs and increase regional diversity. However, it has been widely criticised for the £1billion cost of the move, as well as the lavish relocation deals offered to senior staff. The relocation to MediaCity in Salford was completed in June 2012. There are approximately 2,500 BBC staff . currently employed at the 200 acre site, which sits on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal. Elsewhere, the Nationwide figures show that house prices in London are 14 per cent above their annual peak, with a typical home in the English capital now valued at £345,186. In 1983, the average home cost 3.5 times the homeowners salary. After a dip in the 90s and and peak in 2007, the average home cost more than five times the owner's annual earnings in 2013 . Carlisle . was named as the worst performer, with a 1 per cent annual increase in . prices taking the average value of a home there to £136,128. House prices in Northern Ireland are . still around half their 2007 levels, although they have climbed by 7 per . cent year-on-year to reach £111,612 on average. London has the most expensive house prices in the UK while Northern Ireland has the cheapest, according to Nationwide's figures. Scotland . recorded a 3.7 per cent annual increase in house prices, pushing them . to £136,729 typically, while Wales saw prices pick up by 6.1 per cent . over the same period, taking the average price there to £139,722. In England, prices have increased by 8.6 per cent year-on-year to £205,084 typically. Yesterday, . Prime Minister David Cameron dismissed fears that the Government is . pumping up a housing bubble as he hailed the success of its flagship . Help to Buy scheme. This graph measures final quarter house price trends since 1983. The typical UK home is now worth £175,826 . A new phase of Help to Buy was launched . in October to offer state-backed mortgages to credit-worthy people . struggling to get onto the property ladder or move up it because they . only have a small deposit saved up. The . Prime Minister branded sceptics of the mortgage guarantees - such as . Liberal Democrat business secretary Vince Cable - 'London-centric'. In many parts of the country prices were 'barely moving at all', he insisted. More than 6,000 people have put offers . in on homes and applied for mortgages using Help to Buy since it was . launched about three months ago. Nearly . 750 homeowners have completed their purchases and hundreds were able to . spend Christmas in their new homes, according to the Government. A new phase of Help to Buy was launched in October to offer state-backed mortgages to credit-worthy people struggling to get onto the property ladder or move up it because they only have a small deposit saved up . Robert . Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said the upturn in prices has . become 'increasingly broad-based over the course of 2013'. He said: 'For the second successive quarter, all 13 UK regions saw positive annual house price growth in quarter four. 'Part . of the reason for the acceleration in house price growth is that the . supply side of the market has not kept pace with the upturn in demand, . even though buyer numbers remain subdued by historic standards. 'For example, in quarter three 2013 the number of housing transactions in England was around 25 per cent below pre-crisis levels, while the number of new homes built was around 45 per cent lower.' Mr Gardner said that current ultra-low interest rates are currently helping to keep home loans relatively affordable, with the typical mortgage payment for a first-time buyer equating to around 29 per cent of their take-home pay. But he added: 'However, the risk is that if demand continues to run ahead of supply in the quarters ahead, affordability may become stretched. 'House price growth has been outstripping average earnings growth since the start of the year.' | Average UK home now valued at £175,826 - a 1.4% month-on-month rise .
Every region experiences rises - with Manchester the best-performing city .
Surge in Manchester raises fear of property bubble caused by BBC move .
BBC completed £1billion relocation to MediaCity in nearby Salford in 2012 .
There are over currently over 2,500 BBC staff employed at the 200 acre site .
Manchester boom could also be related to HS2 ahead of improved rail links .
London house prices rose by 14.9% in 2013 and now average at £345,186 .
Northern Ireland is still the cheapest place to purchase a home in the UK . |
175,730 | 6f797813675127bd0950da39b2e03e14b83ce756 | (CNN) -- Opposition candidate John Evans Atta Mills has narrowly won Ghana's presidential election, the Ghana Electoral Commission said on its Web site. John Atta Mills, left, of the opposition NDC has defeated Nana Akufo-Addo, right, of the ruling NPP in the runoff. The chairman of the Ghana Electoral Commission, Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, said Mills had garnered about 4,521,032 votes, or about 50.2 percent of the total votes cast. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, of the incumbent New Patriotic Party, won about 49.77 percent of the total valid votes cast, Afari-Gyan said, according to the commission's Web site. The two men led a field of eight candidates in the December 7 general election, but neither secured a majority of the votes. Akufo-Addo had held a slight lead in that vote. The runoff election was so close that it could not be decided until the last of the 230 constituencies, the Tain constituency, voted on Friday. "On the basis of the official results given, the results of the run-off election in the Tain constituency in the Brong Ahafo Region, which was held on the 2nd January 2009, it is my duty to declare Professor John Evans Atta Mills the President-elect of Ghana," Afari-Gyan said, according to the government's Web site. Both parties had alleged irregularities in voting in the Ashanti region and Volta regions, but Afari-Gyan said the commission did not find evidence in "purely electoral matters" that invalidated the results. Mills, 64, will replace John Agyekum Kufuor as Ghana's president on January 7. Kufuor is stepping down after serving two four-year terms, the maximum allowed. Mills is a law professor who served as vice president from 1997 to 2000 under Jerry Rawlings. He lost to Kufuor in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Ghana, a country about the size of England, is the world's second-biggest cocoa and gold producer. In 2007, leaders announced the discovery of oil off its shore. The world recession, however, has hindered growth. Ghana has seen a decline in its exports and will not tap into its oil resources until 2010. Part of a former British colony, Ghana was among the first African countries to gain independence in 1957. It endured a series of coups before military dictator Rawlings took power in 1981. A decade later, Rawlings led the country through the transition to a stable democracy with multi-party elections. | NEW: Opposition candidate John Evans Atta Mills wins presidential election .
Nana Akufo-Addo of the incumbent NPP has been ousted .
Runoff election was so close it could not be decided until a final vote on Friday . |
213,663 | a0b72f3239467a5247e3af099d73a9ef51a5c3eb | By . Helen Pow . PUBLISHED: . 17:30 EST, 2 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 17:30 EST, 2 January 2014 . Walmart is recalling about 73,400 Mainstays five-piece card table and chair sets after customers lost more than just cash on the furniture - they lost their fingers. The chairs, sold exclusively by the retail giant, can unexpectedly collapse, posing a fall hazard or potential finger injury, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday. Walmart has received 10 reports of injuries caused by the cheap collapsible furniture, including one finger amputation and three fingertip amputations, the notice said. Recall: Walmart is recalling about 73,400 Mainstays five-piece card table and chair sets, pictured . Customers also complained of sprained or fractured fingers and there was one report of a sore back. The recall includes the Mainstays card table sets with a black padded metal folding table and four black padded metal folding chairs. 'Made by: Dongguan Shin Din Metal & Plastic Products Co.' is printed on a white label on the bottom of the chairs. This is the company that made the chair cushions. The CPSC notice lists Heshan Camis Industrial Co. Ltd. as the Manufacturer, which is based in Guangdong, China. Label: 'Made by: Dongguan Shin Din Metal & Plastic Products Co.' is printed on a white label, pictured, on the bottom of the chairs . The product was made in China and Taiwan, it states. The sets were sold at Walmart stores across the U.S. and on its website from May 2013 through November 2013 for about $50. The CPSC warned consumers to immediately stop using the set and return it to Walmart for a full refund. Individuals may contact Walmart at (800) 925-6278 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. CT on Saturday, and from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. CT on Sunday. | The retail giant is recalling about 73,400 Mainstays five-piece card table and chair sets after customers reported finger amputations .
The chairs, sold exclusively by the retail giant, can unexpectedly collapse, posing a fall hazard or potential finger injury, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday .
Walmart has received 10 reports of injuries, including one finger amputation, three fingertip amputations, sprained or fractured fingers and one report of a sore back . |
148,202 | 4b9efa52d0383007f28cfb28ab2e989f5db1c5c7 | (CNN) -- When the highly anticipated movie "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" opened Friday in theaters, many fans had already seen it. The pirating and distribution of "Wolverine," starring Hugh Jackman, is being investigated by the FBI. The online leak of a pirated, unfinished version of the 20th Century Fox film a month ago sent federal authorities springing into action and stoked a heated conversation within the entertainment industry about digital piracy. Piracy of upcoming films is not new, but the theft of "Wolverine" is especially troubling for an industry concerned with a stalled economy and the financial bottom line. It's rare for high-quality copies of a big-budget blockbuster to appear on the Internet more than a month before the film's release, experts say. Within a week of "Wolverine's" March 31 leak, more than a million people had downloaded the movie, according to TorrentFreak, a blog devoted to the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol. Watch intrepid reporter look for answers » . "Unfortunately, the recent leak of the Fox film 'Wolverine' provided a stark backdrop to the impact that digital piracy has on the large investments that producers make in creating state-of-the-art films," said Rep. Howard Berman, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, who oversaw a congressional hearing on piracy after the leak. "During our hearing in Los Angeles, director Steven Soderbergh said that in 2007, the entertainment industry generated a trade surplus of $13.6 billion," Berman added. "Imagine what those numbers would be if we could rein in piracy." Bootleg, or illegally copied, movies have long been a thorn to the film industry. In 2003, a version of Universal's "The Hulk" appeared on the Internet two weeks before the film opened. A New Jersey man pleaded guilty to the theft. And in 2005, a pirated print of "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" was uploaded to the Web within hours of the movie's release. But where Hollywood's biggest headache used to be murky, muffled copies of films taken by someone who snuck a camcorder into a theater, today's pirates are getting more sophisticated and gaining access to better-quality goods. Greg Sandoval, who covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News, said that in the digital age, thieves can gain access to near-perfect advance copies of films on DVD that have greater potential to undermine a movie's box-office prospects. And even studios' attempts at safeguarding their products against piracy, such as by encoding DVDs with digital watermarks that allow authorities to trace individual copies, aren't enough, Sandoval said. He said tech-savvy thieves have figured out how to strip such watermarks from DVDs. "When you're talking about digital content ... it's impossible to lock it down completely" from theft, Sandoval said. "These hackers are very creative. Sometimes, they're one step ahead of the security experts." 20th Century Fox issued a statement vowing to prosecute the "Wolverine" thief "to the fullest extent of the law." The FBI is investigating, but as of Thursday, no arrests had been made. Darcy Antonellis, president of technical operations for Warner Bros. (which is owned by the parent company of CNN), said the growth of technology has aided the pirates. "Digital piracy has continued to increase with greater access to [files] and improved broadband services," said Antonellis, who helps oversee Warner Bros.' anti-piracy efforts. "As broadband services increase their capacity to support legitimate services, they also enable increased illegal file-sharing. Technologies have evolved to encumber such distribution but must compete with the strength of viral or super distribution of content." The bad guys aren't the only ones keeping up with the technology. Keith Bolcar, special agent in charge of the FBI's cyber division in Los Angeles, said agents and their partners as "doing everything we can to keep up with the learning curve of technology, hopefully just as fast as our criminal subjects." The FBI meets routinely with studio representatives to share intelligence, to discuss strategy and to detect and fix vulnerabilities in security measures, he said. "While I can't discuss investigative techniques, we employ a myriad of sophisticated methods to solve these crimes," said Bolcar, whose office is investigating the "Wolverine" leak. "Our investigators receive extensive training and are technologically savvy." Hollywood also faces the challenge of protecting digital files that pass through so many hands while in production and post-production. Antonellis said Warner Bros. works diligently to safeguard its properties. "Each project, for us, is unique, with its own unique set of challenges," she said. "Whether there are 50 or 500 people involved in the process, we try to focus on ownership/responsibility of our assets throughout the entire production through to distribution process." John Malcolm, director of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association of America, said digital piracy can take many forms, including peer-to-peer file sharing and streaming. Malcolm said the association is conducting a lot of outreach to universities and Internet service providers to help them address piracy that occurs over their systems. The issue is global, Malcolm said, as evidenced by pending litigation in France that would shut down Internet accounts of illegal downloaders. The association is in litigation against an Australian service provider, iiNet, to try to establish the legal parameters of its responsibility in policing its system, Malcolm said. "In some cases, we are making great progress with ISP, and in some cases, it's a little bit tougher going," Malcolm said. "After all, it's their broadband that's being eaten up, and it slows down their systems." Berman, D-California, said advances in technologies that enable filtering and other anti-theft tools will help curb piracy. So will creating more sites where viewers can legitimately access movies, shows and music, such as Hulu and the recently announced Vevo, a partnership between Universal Music and YouTube. "Given how pirated materials often damage computers with viruses, spyware and other problems, consumers will continue to embrace the innovative, legitimate sites that are becoming more and more available," Berman said. Malcolm agrees. He said there are more than 350 sites that legitimately distribute digital content. If a person is a true movie lover, they will want to respect the art, the artists and the countless people behind the scenes who make the magic happen, Malcolm said. "I hear periodically, 'Well, Tom Cruise has enough money' or 'Tom Hanks has enough money,' " Malcolm said. "I would say to movie lovers, stick around and watch all of the credits. When you see hundreds of names scrolling across the screen, those are the people whose talents contributed to making that movie, and they need to make a living." CNN.com's Brandon Griggs contributed to this story. | Pirated version of "Wolverine" distributed online weeks before movie's debut .
Industry employs technology like digital watermarks to hinder thieves .
Pending French legislation would shut down Internet accounts of downloaders .
MPAA exec says fans should consider the livelihood of those who make films . |
68,403 | c1f39636bc77a04af302bc17a9eb121eaecf903a | By . Sam Adams . PUBLISHED: . 23:16 EST, 21 September 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 07:40 EST, 22 September 2012 . A haul of art worth more than $10 million has been stolen from the home of a wealthy Californian banker known as the 'Bond God.' Pieces by some of finest artists of the 20th Century, including celebrated Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, were among the 13 works snatched from the Santa Monica residence of Jeffrey Gundlach. The thieves also took Mr Gundlach's Porsche, expensive watches and wine during the raid, which is thought to be one of the most costly of its kind on a private home. Theft: Art by some of the finest painters of the 20th Century were taken during the raid, including this piece (pictured) by the Canadian-born artist Philip Guston . Valuable: Also taken was an eye catching piece by the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian (pictured left) and a work by the Impressionist painter Guy Rose (right) Raid: This piece by American landscape painter William Wendt was part of the stolen haul . Santa Monica Police have published . pictures of the art work in a bid to track the pieces down, while Mr Gundlach has reportedly offered a $200,000 reward for the return of his property. $1,000 is also being offered for information leading to the arrest and . conviction of those who carried out the raid, according to Santa Monica police. The theft took place between 3 pm last Wednesday and 8 pm on Friday while the owner was away from his Santa Monica home. Among the watches stolen were high-end . pieces by Breitling, Tag Heuer and Philip Patek, while the car stolen . was a red 2010 Porsche Carrera 4S. Victim: Among the art work stolen from the home of financier Jeffrey Gundlach (pictured left) were pieces by the American artist Joseph Cornell (an example of which is pictured, right) The items are believed to have been taken from different rooms within the house. The haul included a painting by the Expressionist artist Richard . Diebenkorn and two glass-fronted boxes by the American Surrealist artist and sculptor Joseph Cornell. A colourful landscape by William Wendt known as the 'Dean of Southern California landscape painters,' was part of the stolen haul. Work by Impressionist Guy Rose and landscape artist Hanson Duvall Puthuff were also taken, as well as pieces by Abstract Expressionists, including Johns, Philip Guston and Franz Kline. One of the most eye catching pieces stolen was by Mondrian, who became famous for the geometrical coloured boxes used in his work. Mr Gundlach, who is CEO of investment firm DoubleLine Capital, is one of the most successful bond and mutual fund investors in the US. His firm has assets of over $30bn. The financier, who is in his 40s, was fired from his former company in 2009 after he was found to have breached his 'fiduciary duty' but was awarded $67m in back pay. Anyone with information on the theft or . the whereabouts of the stolen items should contact Santa Monica Police . or call Crime Stoppers. Return: Mr Gundlach has reportedly offered a $200,000 reward for the return of the art work - which included these pieces by Jasper Johns (pictured left) and Franz Kline (right) Santa Monica: The art work was stolen from a home in Santa Monica, California . | Financier Jeffrey Gundlach was on business trip when his home was raided .
Stolen art includes work by some of America's finest painters .
Thieves also took his Porsche, wine and a collection of valuable watches .
Gundlach has offered $200,000 reward for return of his property . |
127,279 | 30849619aff257f54abcfb419e80c22ccfdf4e19 | Ricardo Patino said he has 'fundamental right to sunbathe' By . Gerard Couzens and Amanda Williams . PUBLISHED: . 11:27 EST, 11 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:28 EST, 11 June 2013 . Britain is 'breaching the human rights' of controversial Wikileaks founder Julian Assange by not allowing him to leave his embassy hideout to go sunbathing, it's been claimed . Britain is 'breaching the human rights' of controversial Wikileaks founder Julian Assange by not allowing him to leave his embassy hideout to go sunbathing, Ecuador's foreign minister has today claimed. The south American country claims the fugitive's human rights are being trampled on by being prevented from enjoying London's summer sunshine. Assange, 41, has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in Kensington, west London, for nearly a year. He was granted asylum as he fights extradition to Sweden on sex assault charges. Met Police keep a 24-hour watch on the building and have orders to arrest him if he steps outside of the building. Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino insisted today ahead of a meeting next Monday with William Hague in London his country would continue to protect Assange. Insisting the Australian could only sunbathe through the window of his embassy hideout, he said: 'We believe he has a fundamental right to sunbathe.' He added: 'His right to intimacy, mobility, a normal life and health is being restricted. 'I will be asking the British government to allow Mr Assange to sunbathe and enjoy the warm weather and sunshine because unfortunately, at this moment in time, he hasn't been able to do so for a year.' Assange was given diplomatic asylum two months after seeking refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy on June 19 last year. Assange, 41, has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in Kensington, west London, for nearly a year . The south American country claims the human rights of Mr Assange (pictured here addressing crowds outside the embassy last year) are being trampled on by being prevented from enjoying London's summer sunshine . He entered the embassy after the UK's Supreme Court dismissed his bid to reopen his appeal against extradition to Sweden over claims by two female Wikileaks supporters he committed sex offences against them. The Wikileaks founder says he fears he will be handed over to the US and face the death penalty if he is sent to Sweden. Ecuador's Foreign Minister is expected to tell Britain it has a duty to grant Assange a safe passage out of the UK during his trip next week. | Assange has been in Ecuadorian embassy in Kensington for nearly a year .
Granted asylum as he fights extradition to Sweden on sex assault charges .
Ricardo Patino said he has 'fundamental right to sunbathe' |
167,501 | 64a3aa5a8a43a497e0d47b13e856434fae24b371 | Evelyn Grace Campbell (pictured) was sentenced to two years in prison for escaping jail . A woman has been sentenced for up to two years in prison for escaping prison by impersonating another inmate. Evelyn Grace Campbell, 29, from Uniontown, Pennsylvania, fooled jail guards and a bail bondsman at Fayette County prison into believing she was another prisoner with a similar sounding name. She left the prison and the mix-up wasn't noticed until the next day. Campbell - who was serving a six month sentence for retail theft - signed herself out of the prison on June 6 when a bondsman showed up to post $500 bail on behalf of another inmate, Maretta Gambel. The warden says Campbell stepped forward when guards called for Gambel. She then escaped after telling the bail bondsman she didn't have identification before he let her sign the release papers. Warden Brian Miller said the guards and bail bondsman should have had photos of both women. Campbell left the prison and the mistake was not noticed until 7am the next morning. She turned herself in at 3pm the same day. Campbell - who was serving a six month sentence for retail theft - escaped Fayette County Prison (pictured) She was charged with forgery and identify theft and had a new $30,000 bail set. On Wednesday, she was sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison. Police said Campbell is not 'dangerous' but 'elusive' and has a history of running from police. | Evelyn Grace Campbell, 29, has been sentenced to two years in prison .
Fooled guards at Fayette County jail into thinking she was another inmate .
She left the prison and the mix-up wasn't noticed until the next day .
She had been serving a six-month sentence for retail theft . |
85,716 | f31f70004cae81d2477b62ba8614a1cc704d1c3b | The UK Independence Party is set to win its first parliamentary seat tomorrow as voters were poised to deliver a bloody nose to both the Tories and Labour. Douglas Carswell, the former Tory MP who defected to UKIP this summer is expected to hold his seaside constituency of Clacton in Essex by a landslide. Polls have put him on course to win up to 6,000 more votes than the Conservatives, in what is set to be a humiliating by-election defeat for David Cameron. Scroll down for video . Douglas Carswell, who defected from the Tories in August, was campaigning in Clacton today, where he hopes to become UKIP's first elected MP . In the town centre Mr Carswell received a hug from supporter Asma Jackson as polls suggest he will secure a majority over the Tories of up to 6,000 . Labour are expected to cling on in the northern seat of Heywood and Middleton, where another by-election was triggered by the death of local MP Jim Dobbin. But UKIP, who have made political capital out of child abuse scandals in nearby Rochdale and Rotherham and fears about immigration, are set to run them a close second, which would raise more concerns about Ed Miliband's leadership. Mr Cameron has all but conceded the Conservatives cannot win Clacton, which has high unemployment and contains the most deprived ward in the country. The Prime Minister made a last ditch visit to the seat last week, and acknowledged the Tories were 'the underdogs'. The Conservative candidate fighting Mr Carswell is Giles Watling, an actor best known for his appearance as the vicar in the 1980s sitcom 'Bread', who is from the area and has been a local councillor for several years. A few cabinet ministers and MPs have visited the seaside town in recent weeks to campaign, but the party largely held back in order to throw more resources at the next by-election in Rochester and Strood, in Kent, next month triggered by the defection of fellow Tory MP Mark Reckless. Mr Reckless has a small lead in the polls, but the Conservatives believe they can hold it, and will head there on Friday afternoon after the Clacton result to campaign. Mr Cameron said they would 'throw everything we can' at keeping the seat. Securing the first seat in the Commons will mark a major breakthrough for UKIP, with leader Nigel Farage hoping it will act as a springboard for other wins at the general election . Tory candidate Giles Watling, a former actor in 1980s sitcom bread, was joined on the campaign rail today by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude . Labour have approached the northern by-election tonight with increasing panic amid concerns that Ed Miliband is not in touch with the voters about immigration. One MP said yesterday that if UKIP finished within 2,000 votes of Labour there 'alarm bells would start ringing' about Mr Miliband. The MP, who did not wish to be named, said it would suggest that the direction of the party 'was not one that was appealing to our core voters'. A study last week found that the UKIP surge could prevent Labour taking dozens of Tory target seats at the next election. John Mann, Labour MP for Bassetlaw, said Labour was not doing enough to address the UKIP threat in many northern, working-class seats. Mr Mann said: 'Labour needs to squeeze the space that UKIP is trying to squeeze into, which is attracting low-paid working class voters and their concerns, which are pay, immigration and the NHS. If we don't, we won't win – it's as simple as that.' 'That voice isn't represented in Labour's policies. It's a fundamental weakness and if Ed Miliband wants to become Prime Minister he needs to address that.' UKIP are also hoping for a strong showing in the by-election in Heywood and Middleton, where Nigel Farage campaigned yesterday, climbing on to a tank for the cameras . Ed Miliband met local people today in Heywood, where Labour is expected to win the by-election triggered by the death of Labour MP Jim Dobbin . Senior Labour MP Margaret Hodge said all mainstream parties are set to be punished at the ballot box, because they are not listening to real people's concerns. Mrs Hodge, MP for Barking, which caused shockwaves in 2006 by electing a dozen BNP councillors said: 'People are moving away to UKIP, the BNP or the SNP as a protest vote against the mainstream political parties not connecting with the electorate. Trust is in danger of breaking down.' Kent and Essex are key areas where Labour must pick up marginal seats if they want to win the next general election. But in Clacton, which Labour held under Tony Blair with different boundaries when it was known as Harwich, their vote is set to be squeezed by UKIP. Labour managed to poll 25 per cent of the vote in Clacton in 2010 at the height of Gordon Brown's unpopularity and their vote share is predicted to drop this time. Yesterday, local councillor Tim Young claimed yesterday that immigration is 'not an issue' in the area 'in terms of numbers' as there are few migrants there. He added: 'I think it's being stoked up a bit by what UKIP are saying. But it isn't the first issue that comes up on the doorstep. That's been the NHS and street lights.' | UKIP on course to deliver a bloody nose to the Conservatives and Labour .
By-elections being held in Clacton and in Heywood and Middleton .
Polls suggest Carswell will beat Tories in Clacton by up to 6,000 votes .
Labour expected to cling on in Heywood, but with UKIP hot on their heels . |
169,376 | 6728b6bb39b23c8e03ce327f26c3c598ee30f202 | (CNN) -- A professional baseball player landed in a hospital after a game this week with a bite wound to the ear, police said. Alex Guerrero, second-baseman for the Albuquerque Isotopes, could be seen quarreling on the field with his teammate, catcher Miguel Olivo, during a game against the Salt Lake Bees on Tuesday. Video posted to MiLB.com showed teammates stepping between the two, as they taunted each other. The site, which bears the title "the official site of minor league baseball," reported that not much later, in the eighth inning, the two fought in the team's dugout. A photo on MiLB.com showed Guerrero holding a towel to his ear. The Triple-A game was temporarily suspended and both players were replaced by substitutes. The injured player was transported to a hospital in Murray, Utah, said Salt Lake Police detective Greg Wilking. Authorities there told Wilking that "an ear had been bitten off." Guerrero declined to file a report with law officers. "He wanted to talk to a lawyer and the league before he decides what he wants to do," Wilking said. The Isotopes, who lost to the Bees 7-4, got behind early in the game, allowing Salt Lake 4 runs in the first inning. Both teams have losing records. Olivo became angry and confronted Guerrero on the field in the seventh inning, after the second-basemen did not tag a player out when Olivo threw the ball to him, MiLB.com reported. The Isotopes are a farm team of the Los Angeles Dodgers, which issued a statement on the incident. "The baseball operations department is aware of the altercation and is conducting an investigation into the matter. The organization does not condone this type of behavior," it said. Both men also play in games for the Dodgers in the majors. Guerrero, who defected from Cuba in 2013 signed a four-year $28 million contract with the club. Liverpool star Suarez bites opponent . | 2nd-baseman Alex Guerrero of the Albuquerque Isotopes lands in a Utah hospital after a fight .
'An ear had been bitten off,' a detective says .
Catcher Miguel Olivo confronts his teammate Guerrero over a play .
The Isotopes lose the game to the Salt Lake Bees . |
152,306 | 50d8cd5eee555a6a90770b437750ed727f5353a2 | Syria-Turkey border (CNN) -- The dead are everywhere. Nonexistent until last June, the encampment of about 1,600 people now is a haven of peace compared with the terror experienced in the country just 300 yards away. Housed in neat, white tents in southern Turkey, with cooking stations in between, people here do not have to worry about being silenced, tortured, arrested or killed. In other words, they don't live in fear of what they say happened all around them on a daily basis -- and still happens -- in their war-torn nation of Syria. EU slaps new santions on Syria . They are, however, left with the memories of people killed. And they share them freely, in the form of grainy videos showing their loved ones' funerals, pictures on cell phones of their missing sons and stories about the horrors they escaped but many of their countrymen still endure. "They want the world to understand them. They want the world to bear witness," Fouad Ajami, a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, said Monday from the camp. "They also see the camera as a way of holding onto the memory of this lost world, a world that is very achingly close." The fighting has prompted thousands to flee Syria, setting up new lives in a number of makeshift camps in neighboring nations. The United Nations estimates at least 9,000 people have been killed over the past 14 months in Syria. President Bashar al-Assad's government blames the violence on "armed terrorist gangs," while the opposition and many in the international community say it is the result of the regime's bloody crackdown on dissent. Not including arrests, opposition groups actually estimate the death toll is at more than 11,000 and growing. A month after 'cease-fire,' where does Syria stand? Two of those killed are sons of Abu Mohammed, who recalled from the camp in Turkey how they had been fatally shot by security forces while demonstrating in Syria about a year ago. Another son is missing, believed to be arrested and possibly killed without ever having never met his 7-month-old son. Mohammed cannot justify why Syrian security forces killed his sons and the children of so many others. But he knows why they spoke up, and why many are still fighting. "We had young men that cried out and shouted, 'Freedom!', and they were killed for that?" he asked rhetorically. "We just want freedom. What's wrong with asking for freedom?" Through a hole in a fence, past olive groves and across rolling farmland, that sense of freedom lives -- albeit tenuously. While the Syrian government exerts control over most of the country, there are exceptions. The police station of one town, for instance, was turned into makeshift barracks for fighters from the rebel Free Syrian Army. At a school, where al-Assad's government still pays the teachers' salaries and for textbooks, students in blue uniforms burst into chants slamming their president. Outside town, opposition fighters take up positions along roads. They take a 19-year-old prisoner who, they say, was headed to enlist in al-Assad's armed forces, sparing him only after he vows to join their fighting force instead. Even with this sense of ownership and fragile freedom, there is little sense here that the end is near. That's especially true back at the refugee camp in Turkey, where expectations are low that they will return home safely anytime soon. The cease-fire that was to take effect last month hasn't ended the violence. One Syrian activist, identified as Zaidoun, says the government is "playing games" even with the scores of unarmed U.N. monitors in the country. Zaidoun said the government decreases attacks wherever the monitors are, then fills the void after they leave by pounding communities with mortars and gunfire. Zaidoun says he has all but given up hope that people from outside Syria will intervene and stop his people's suffering. But he still has faith that the dreams of he and other opposition will be realized. "It's OK. We know now that world is happy watching us being killed, and we will do it on our own," he said. "Even if it takes 10 years, we are on the streets and we will not change, we will not retreat, and we will not give up." | Hundreds of Syrians pack a camp in Turkey, one of several set up for refugees .
They came here to flee violence that U.N. says has killed at least 9,000 people .
Rebel fighters control some areas in Syria .
A man whose two sons were killed asks: "What's wrong with asking for freedom?" |
102,991 | 10c1785f396b2d8c420e5461188bd111da784baa | Meet Hulk, the world's biggest pit bull dog weighing in at an incredible 12-and-a-half stone (174lbs). The enormous hound is owned by Dark Dynasty K9s, from New Hampshire, which specialises in breeding some of the world's most fearsome guard dogs. Hulk, who towers above his handlers when standing on his hind legs, has now become an internet star after footage of him uploaded to YouTube racked up around 1.1 million in just one week. Good boy: Hulk is the world's biggest pit bull dog weighing an astonishing 174lbs . American Pit Bull Terriers were created as fighting dogs by crossbreeding bulldogs, mastiffs and terriers. They are descendants of English dogs used to bait bulls and bears for cruel pit fights. They continue to be used for illegal dog fighting in the US and In the UK are considered so dangerous it is illegal to own one. However Dark Dynasty K9s insist their animals have calm, well balanced temperaments and would be suitable as family pets. Feeding time: Hulk towers above his owner as he stretches up to grab a treat . Record breaker: Digital scales capture the weight of the huge hound - 173.4lbs - almost 12 and a half stone . To find out more visit Dark Dynasty K9's Facebook and Instagram pages . | Fearsome hound is bred by U.S. firm specialising in guard dogs .
He towers above his owners when standing on his hind legs .
YouTube clip gets over a million hits in less than a week . |
255,734 | d6fe3b3f88824bc529cee60fbd6b2838f09c42ec | By . Ashley Collman . The New Jersey woman who was impregnated five times by her father, an award-winning music video director, is writing a memoir about her childhood abuse. From the age of 10, Aziza Kibibi (now 35) was treated as a sex slave by her father Aswad Ayinde, a music-video director who won fame producing The Fugees' 'Killing Me Softly' music video. But after being convicted of abusing Kibibi and one of her sisters, Ayinde is now behind bars with a 90-year sentence. Despite being abused by her father, and treated like the other women by her mother, Kibibi has overcome her dark past and plans to put the whole thing behind her by publishing a memoir. Scroll down for video . Sharing her story: Aziza Kibibi, 35, plans on publishing a memoir about her dark childhood. Her father started raping her at the age of 10 and she eventually went on to have four children out of incest . 'The number one solution for ending something that is dark is to bring it to light,' Kibibi said in a fundraising video. Locked up: Her father, Aswad Ayinde, now faces a combined 90 years in prison for the sexual abuses he committed against two of his daughters . Kibibi recently started a campaign on Indiegogo to raise 19,000 to self-publish her book, titled Unashamed. It took her three years to write the 410 page manuscript about her polygamous family upbringing. She says she wants to share her story in order to 'raise awareness and lend a voice to those that are and have been abused'. The book is set to be published next June. Kibibi also recently won a $10,0000 college grant from Soroptimist, a female empowerment organization. 'Many of the women that have received the grant have overcome enormous obstacles including poverty, sexual and domestic violence, the death of a spouse, and substance abuse,' Soroptimist said in an announcement. The grant will help Kibibi finish college. She is currently attending Essex County College. Last August, Kibibi shared the story of her tumultuous childhood with NJ.com. Her early life was relatively normal. She lived with her mother and father on the third-floor of an apartment in Paterson, New Jersey, with her Jamaican immigrant grandparents living below. Kibibi was home-schooled but still allowed to play with the neighborhood children. When her family grew to include eight children they moved into a bigger apartment in the same building. Double life: Kibibi's father became famous for directing the music video for The Fugees' song 'Killing Me Softly' It was when Kibibi started to mature that her father started giving her unwanted attention. 'He told me I was special. Initially, it was to teach me to be a woman,' she said. 'By the time he started having intercourse with me, he was getting more and more violent. When I would start fighting him, he would hit me. It was more about threats.' Her father began to change, and became more controlling over the family. He moved them out of their grandparent's apartment to another house in Paterson before relocating to Eatontown in Southern New Jersey. The children were only allowed to watch a small amount of TV, and nothing that depicted traditional family life. Modern medicine was outlawed in the house, and he actually told his wife that his relations with Kibibi were to treat her eczema. Getting her degree: Kibibi recently won a $10,000 scholarship to finish college from a female empowerment organization. She currently attends Essex County College . Kibibi wasn't the only one Ayinde was having sex with. He had a mistress - a Manhattan lawyer whom he had another two children with - and was also abusing one of Kibibi's sisters. He called himself a polygamist and a prophet. His family was allowed to pray to god but could only do so through him. 'He said the world was going to end, and it was just going to be him and his offspring and that he was chosen,' his ex-wife, Beverly Ayinde testified at a 2010 pre-trial hearing. She said he was attempting to create a 'pure' bloodline by procreating with his daughters. When Kibibi's first child was born without defects, Ayinde took it as proof and continued to rape the girl to get her pregnant. Damaging: Kibibi gave birth to five children by her father, and many of them inherited a rare genetic disorder due to inbreeding . But the following children would not be . so lucky. Two further daughters born from her father would be diagnosed . with phenylketonuria (PKU) a disease that prevents the body from . breaking down amino acids. PKU can cause brain damage and seizures. Dr. Anna Haroutunian, a PKU specialist who has treated Kibibi's children, said they definitely got the disease because of inbreeding. PKU is a recessive gene, so both parents must have the gene in order for it to pass along to the child. The gene only appears at a rate of 1 in 4,000 world wide and is much lower for African-Americans. Likely Kibibi's paternal grandfather had the gene. Over the years, Kibibi became obsessed with escaping. She would sleep just because her dreams were better than real life. Saved: When she was younger, Kibibi would dream of escaping her father. Eventually she did when she brought her sick son to a hospital and triggered a social worker to step in . 'I'd dream about running away. I'd dream about getting all my brothers and sisters — one of my sisters was a baby, and I was taking care of her — I'd dream about growing breasts and getting milk and running away with them somewhere,' she said. When she was older and one of her sons fell sick, she finally got the courage to take him to the hospital since Ayinde was out of town on a business trip. But she didn't know how to interact with the doctors and a social worker stepped in, alerting the Department of Youth and Family Services. When Ayinde returned from his business trip he was enraged, and threatened to forcibly remove his son from the hospital. Child services stepped in before he could do that and placed them in separate homes. Ambition: In addition to attending school, Kibibi runs her own bakery business . After that Kibibi, her mother and her sisters moved away from Ayinde as she attempted to get her children back. Her performance in state-mandated courses and counseling impressed the government officials and eventually her children were returned to her. 'She has been an exceptional mother,' Haroutunian said. 'She was so attentive and patient, it's remarkable. For a young girl - with all she's had - she has been just wonderful.' Having to fight to get her children back also empowered Kibibi, and translated to her life after abuse. She now lives in East Orange, New Jersey with her husband. Defects: When Kibibi's first child was born without defects, Ayinde took it as a sign that he was creating a 'pure' bloodline . She went back to school for her GED and will finish her liberal arts degree from Essex County College this fall. She also runs her own baking business and plans to start a restaurant someday. Kibibi and her sister decided to finally bring charges against their abusive father. They delayed pressing charges since they were unsure the affect it would have on the children. She shared her story in hopes of making a difference with those in a similar situation. 'Instead of just being an experience that I had, maybe this strengthened me. What doesn't break us makes us stronger.' | Aziza Kibibi, 35, was raped by her father Aswad Ayinde starting at the young age of 10 .
Over the years, he fathered four of her five children .
In July, Ayinde was sentenced to a combined 90 years in prison for abusing both Kibibi and her sister .
Kibibi is now married, going to school and running a baking business in East Orange, New Jersey .
She is currently fundraising to self-publish her memoir, Unashamed .
Kibibi also recently won a $10,000 grant to finish college . |
106,524 | 1562c623fc8dcbff83d649ce0ee30738876dc935 | Celtic risk being haunted by ‘disgrace’ and ‘shame’ if they fail to beat one of the weakest Rangers teams in Old Firm history, according to former Ibrox regular Bert Konterman. The Dutchman, scorer of a Treble-wrecking League Cup semi-final winner against Celtic back in 2002, is under no illusions about who should win Sunday’s Hampden clash. But he believes that the pressure of trying to avoid humiliation – and virulent abuse from their own fans – could work against Ronny Deila’s men, declaring: ‘If Celtic lose on Sunday it’s a disgrace for them. Bert Konterman (left) has experience in Old Firm derbies, having played for Rangers between 2000 and 2003 . Konterman strikes to score the winner against Celtic in a Treble-wrecking League Cup semi-final in 2002 . ‘They would be slaughtered for half a year by all the fans. It would last until they win the league and get going in the Champions League qualifiers again. ‘Celtic is stronger than Rangers because they play in a higher league and have more money. They have to win – they have to. If they don’t, it will be a shame on them. ‘If you are making a prediction then you’d put all your money on Celtic. Celtic are the biggest club, they have the money so Rangers are the underdogs. In some ways that makes it easier for them, they can just focus on playing their game. ‘The Rangers fans want to see their team win, of course, but they also just want to see a team playing a committed as they can be. If they do that, they’ ll get a standing ovation from the fans. ‘It’s a chance for Rangers to test themselves against old rivals, but there is no pressure because everyone expects Celtic to win.’ Konterman (second right) believes that Celtic would be a disgrace if they lost to Rangers on Sunday . The pressure will be on Ronny Deila (pictured), Konterman thinks, because Celtic are fully expected to win . | Rangers play Celtic in the Scottish League Cup semi-final on Sunday .
Former Rangers man Bert Konterman says Celtic should win with ease .
Konterman thinks Celtic will be a disgrace if they fail to beat Rangers .
He says there is no pressure on Rangers because they are expected to lose . |
41,654 | 7581e1da9583d40ca36f6d98dcab1eb801e8faac | French police have been accused of 'beating' British-bound migrants living rough in Calais. A highly critical report by Human Rights Watch claims refugees are subjected to 'harassment and abuse' on the streets of the northern French port. There are an estimated 2,500 illegal immigrants in Calais all hoping to sneak across the Channel to Britain. Accusation: Migrants in Calais, pictured, are being subjected to 'harassment and abuse' by local police, according to a report by Human Rights Watch . The report by the global organisation said it interviewed eight people who suffered broken bones caused by the police, and another 21 who were sprayed with tear gas. Flare-ups have occurred in recent months between the rising . number of migrants, who try to sneak into cargo trucks passing . into Britain, and security forces. Last September, hundreds of . migrants protested what they said was police violence. In the wake of clashes, French and British authorities . announced heightened security measures, but a shelter pledged by . the French government for 1,500 migrants and asylum seekers to . open by January is not yet fully functional, HRW said. Human Rights Watch said: 'Asylum seekers and migrants living in the poverty in the port city of Calais are victims of harassment and abuse by French police. 'Nineteen people, including two children said that police had abused them at least once, including through beatings. Help: Migrants receive hot food from the association 'La Vie Active' in Calais on January 15, at the site where a new day center for migrants was opened which should be able to accommodate 1,500 migrants a day . 'Eight were left with broken limbs or other visible injuries, which according to them were caused by police in Calais and the surrounding area. 'Twenty-one, including two children, have said that the police sprayed them with tear gas.' Most of the migrants are living without shelter, with no . access to toilets and showers and limited access to running . water. Many rely on meals provided by local volunteer . organizations. Under French law, asylum seekers have the right to be housed . in a state-run facility as they await the processing of their . claim. Human Rights Watch said it had called on the French government to launch an immediate investigation and also provide police with guidance over the use of force. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve accused the group of 'not verifying the allegations of police violence to which it refers'. He added: 'The seriousness of the charges against the public security forces contained in this document should have led the association to approach those in charge of the police with specific facts.' Calais Prefect Denis Robin, who oversees the police force, said many of the injuries suffered by refugees were as a result of fights between rival migrant gangs. | Report by accuse French police of beating migrants in Calais .
Eight migrants claim they suffered broken bones caused by police .
France's Interior Minister accused report of 'not verifying allegations' |
183,152 | 793a26ce9f4f9ab7782c7d3e56e64f56d78c91af | Los Angeles (CNN) -- Michael Jackson's mother will be called back to testify by AEG Live as its last witness in their defense of Katherine Jackson's wrongful-death lawsuit on Monday, an AEG Live lawyer said Wednesday. AEG Live lead attorney Marvin Putnam said he would question the 83-year-old Jackson family matriarch "about the absurdity of the damages" she wants the jury to award if they decide the concert promoter is liable in the pop icon's death. A Jackson lawyer argued that AEG Live's "intent is to show the lawsuit's purpose is greed," while the judge suggested that any mother could be expected to say "there is no amount of money that would substitute for the loss of her son." Putnam has frequently cited in interviews a "statement of damages" letter sent to him by a Jackson lawyer last year capping possible damages at $40 billion, but the judge ruled that he could not refer to it in court because it was not a sworn filing in the case. Jackson lawyer Kevin Boyle pointed out that the lawsuit complaint only says that damages would be "according to proof at trial," based on testimony by several expert witnesses who have testified. Katherine Jackson and grandchildren Prince, Paris and Blanket contend that AEG Live is liable in the singer's death because it negligently hired, retained or supervised Dr. Conrad Murray, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. AEG Live argues that Jackson chose and controlled Murray and that its executives had no way of knowing about the dangerous treatments he was giving him in his bedroom. Jackson expert Arthur Erk -- a certified public accountant who has managed and audited the business affairs of many top artists -- testified that he was "reasonably certain" that Jackson would have earned at least $1.5 billion from touring, endorsements and sponsorships had he not died from a propofol overdose preparing for his comeback tour. "It is very difficult to assess the value of the King of Pop," Jackson lawyer Deborah Chang told the judge Wednesday. "How do you even do that?" The non-economic damages suffered because of Michael Jackson's death could be enormous considering "what happened to Paris Jackson," she said. Jackson's 15-year-old daughter attempted suicide in June and remains in a treatment program. The $40 billion estimate made last year was not a court filing but was a "best guess" before the expert reports were completed, Chang said. Jackson lawyers seemed to welcome the prospect of AEG Live calling their client as their final witness, considering how jurors reacted when she was on the stand in July. Jurors leaned forward and paid close attention during her two days of testimony as the last witness in their case. "Why are you here?" Jackson lawyer Brian Panish asked her. "Because I want to know what really happened to my son," she said. "And that's why I am here." Panish asked Jackson how it made her feel to be asked probing and personal questions about her family by AEG Live lawyer Marvin Putnam. "It makes me feel real bad, because my son was a very good person," she said. "He loved everybody. He gave to charity. He was in the Guinness Book of World Records for giving to charity." in July, she told jurors she filed the wrongful death lawsuit against AEG Live "because I want to know what really happened to my son." If jurors decide that AEG Live is liable in Jackson's death, they could award damages based on the loss of the mother's and children's relationship with him and the amount of money he was unable to earn because his life was cut short. After AEG Live rests its case -- which lawyers indicated would happen Monday -- the Jackson lawyers would have a chance to call several rebuttal witnesses. Closing arguments in the trial, which began in April, could be heard as soon as next week. | AEG LIve lawyers want another chance to question Katherine Jackson in death trial .
Lawyer: Jackson's mom will be asked "about the absurdity of the damages" she wants .
Judge: Any mother would say "no amount of money would substitute for the loss of a son"
Wrongful death trial closing arguments could be heard next week . |
284,070 | fc084ea9ab2fec8884716f96edf1b91c665349b9 | (CNN) -- The director of Iraq's largest hydroelectric dam shot down reports Monday that it had been seized by the radical Islamic State, saying Kurdish forces fended off an assault. Fighters with the Islamic State, formerly the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, were pushed back after gaining access to a housing compound for employees who work at the dam just north of Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, Abdul Khaliq al-Dabbagh, the director of the Mosul Dam, said. Conflicting reports about who was in control of the dam on the Tigris River began Sunday amid news of fierce fighting between Islamic State fighters and Kurdish forces, known as Peshmerga. A Kurdish commander told CNN on Sunday that ISIS had taken control of it, though employees remained at the dam. But al-Dabbagh said the Peshmerga held their positions until reinforcements arrived early Monday morning. ISIS -- known for killing dozens of people at a time and carrying out public executions, crucifixions and other acts -- has taken over large swaths of northern and western Iraq as it seeks to create an Islamic state that stretches from Syria into Iraq. The United Nations in Iraq warned that 200,000 civilians were trapped in dire circumstances after the Islamic State and associated armed groups "seized control of nearly all of Sinjar and Tal Afar districts" in the northern Ninevah province, including several small oil fields that border Iraq's Kurdish region. Most of the people who fled districts are minority Kurdish Yezidis, an ancient religious sect with ties to Islam, Christianity and Judaism. A large number have taken refuge in the Jabal Sinjar mountains, the United Nations said. Kurdish fighters battled ISIS in an attempt top retake Sinjar -- a small town inhabited by the Yezidi sect -- on Monday and have been engaged in house-to-house battles in some of the fiercest fighting since the fall of Mosul to the Islamic militant group in June, a Kurdish commander said. Both sides are using heavy weaponry, the source said. Fighting has also been reported in the border town of Rabia, with Syria-based Kurds joining the battle against Islamic State militants. Meanwhile, the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Massoud Barzani, told a group of Yezidi sect leaders that his government would liberate Sinjar, according to a report on the government's website. Barzani said the Kurds had been fighting without any help from the Iraqi government or the international community. The State Department said Sunday that it was "actively monitoring the situation" in Sinjar and Tal Afar, and said that the United States is supporting both Iraqi security forces and Peshmerga forces in the fight against the Islamic State. "The assault over the past 48 hours on territories along the border of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and focusing on towns and villages populated by vulnerable minorities, demonstrates once again that this terrorist organization is a dire threat to all Iraqis, the entire region and the international community," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. Islamic State takes control of Iraq's largest dam . U.S. agrees to send 5,000 more Hellfire missiles to Iraq . | NEW: Dam is in the hands of Kurdish forces, not the Islamic State, an official says .
There has been fierce fighting in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, close to Syria, a source says .
Kurdish fighters are engaged in house-to-house battle with Islamic State, source says .
Sinjar fell to ISIS fighters over weekend, police say . |
199,446 | 8e3273ec3e129b7908448471bbdb0ac34296163e | (CNN) -- Perhaps money can't buy happiness. A recent Gallup report shows that Singapore's wealthy population is the unhappiest -- less happy than the populations of Iraq, Haiti, Afghanistan, and Syria. Singaporeans were least likely to report having positive emotions-- despite the fact that they enjoy one of the highest per capita GDP values in the world. The international pollster measured "positive emotions." Carried out last year in 148 countries, the survey asked around 1,000 persons in each country five questions about what positive experiences people had had the day before: if they had been well-rested, treated with respect, if they smiled or laughed a lot, and whether they'd done or learnt something interesting. In Singapore, only 46% of the interviewed answered "yes" to these questions, compared with 55% reported from people in Haiti and Afghanistan. Even in Syria, where the uprisings that later developed into a civil war took place in 2011, 60% of the people asked answered yes to the survey's questions. Economists in the United States have found that domestically, income only affects daily happiness when earning up to $75,000 annually. A higher income than that doesn't make much of a difference for American citizens' well-being, Gallup wrote. The population that reported the most positive emotions was Panama, a country with a per capita GDP ranking 90th in the world. In fact, eight out of the 10 happiest countries in the survey are located in Latin America. As for Singapore, this is not the first time it has come in last in a Gallup poll. Last month, Singapore ranked as the least emotional country, which measured the daily emotions of people in 150 countries during a three-year period. Top 10 happy countries . Panama (85%) Paraguay (85%) El Salvador (84%) Venezuela (84%) Trinidad and Tobago (83%) Thailand (83%) Guatemala (82%) Philippines (82%) Ecuador (81%) Costa Rica (81%) 10 least happy countries . Singapore (46%) Armenia (49%) Iraq (50%) Georgia (52%) Yemen (52%) Serbia (52%) Belarus (53%) Lithuania (54%) Madagascar (54%) Afghanistan (55%) Read more: Urban farming looking up in Singapore . Read more: Best place to buy property in Asia . | A Gallup survey shows that Singaporeans are least likely to report positive emotions .
Singapore has one of the highest per capita GDPs globally .
U.S. economists have found that income only affects happiness up to a certain amount .
Panama is the world's happiest place . |
102,716 | 106416a86c68e4cac2880a8a75ce05910e3a4b9e | (CNN) -- Two teams of scientists say they have found a key area of the H5N1 bird flu virus which seems to be vital to its ability to copy itself, and hope the discovery could lead to new drugs to fight the infection. Human-to-human transmission of avian flu is rare, but in some cases, the virus has passed from poultry to humans. The discovery is generating excitement among scientists who are looking for a new weapon against the bird flu virus that typically kills more than half its human victims. Two separate groups of scientists -- one in China, one in France -- used a highly technical process to identify protein that seems to be involved in its ability to replicate itself. That gives researchers a new target, as they try and develop new medications. The announcements, detailed in the British-based journal Nature, come at an uneasy time for those who follow the bird flu strain called H5N1. So far this disease is mainly affecting birds in some countries and the number of human cases remains small, but the virus has shown no sign of growing milder since it first infected people back in 1997. It continues to decimate bird flocks in sporadic outbreaks, mostly in Asia, and occasionally breaks into the human population. China's Ministry of Health reported eight human cases last month, including four deaths. Since 2003, the World Health Organization has confirmed 404 human cases worldwide. Nearly two-thirds of the victims have died. While H5N1 doesn't make headlines the way it did in 2005, health officials say the continuing severity of the infections means the alarm is still on. Influenza viruses, in general, spread easily. If H5N1 were to acquire the genetic ability to pass easily from person to person, it could turn into a major catastrophe. Many countries have stockpiled both vaccines and antiviral medications, for such a scenario. The same medications that are used to treat regular flu, oseltamivir (Tamiful) and zanamivir (Relenza), also seem to be effective against H5N1. But that's no reason to rest easy. All flu viruses tend to mutate rapidly, which is why the flu vaccine one year, won't protect you against the next year's flu. Those rapid mutations mean the virus tends to develop a resistance to any widely used medication. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, told CNN, "It always happens that eventually, sooner or later, the [flu] virus will develop varying degrees of resistance. You just hope that it's kept to a minimum." The findings in Nature may lead to another option to fight bird flu, but an actual new drug is years away. A vaccine could be effective, but they first have to know what strain of flu they're fighting. The current strategy of health officials around the world is to try to contain isolated cases before they spread. The best case scenario would be, that this H5N1 killer remains primarily a disease for the birds. | Experts say they have found key component of the H5N1 bird flu virus .
It is hoped this will lead to better medication to fight the infection .
China reported its first human-to-human infection in 2005 .
Since 2003, the World Health Organization has confirmed 404 human cases . |
29,753 | 54a7031aecef4350917c9f70e6d7cb13af66cf33 | (CNN) -- After a weeklong manhunt, authorities have arrested mixed martial arts fighter Jonathan Koppenhaver in Southern California for allegedly beating his ex-girlfriend in Las Vegas. Police captured Koppenhaver, who goes by War Machine, at a motel in Simi Valley on Friday afternoon. He's originally from the suburb near Los Angeles. "Inside the room was a small quantity of cash and some pizza," the Simi Valley Police said in a statement. Koppenhaver has been on the run since his ex-girlfriend accused him of assault on August 8, according to CNN affiliate KVVU. At the time, police were called to a Las Vegas home at 4 a.m. and found two people suffering from nonlife-threatening injuries, the affiliate reported. One of the two, adult film actress Christy Mack, said Koppenhaver beat her several times during the August 8 incident, according to the affiliate. In Twitter posts shortly after the alleged attacks, Koppenhaver appeared to address the issue. He said he had gone to the house to surprise Mack with a ring and ended "up fighting for my life." "I only wish that man hadn't been there and that Christy & I would be happily engaged," he posted. "I don't know y I'm so cursed. One day truth will come out." His tweets two days after the alleged incident don't say who the man in the house was. "The cops will never give me fair play, never believe me," he posted. "Still, deciding what to do but at the end of the day, it's all just heart breaking." Koppenhaver is awaiting extradition to Nevada, the affiliate reported. CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report . | Jonathan Koppenhaver has been on the run for a week .
His ex-girlfriend said he assaulted her in Las Vegas last week .
Authorities arrested him Friday at a motel in Southern California .
"I'm so cursed," he said after the alleged assault . |
128,468 | 3203fffff41268738bcdf1e5398bd30bffd93175 | (RollingStone.com ) -- It's been five years since Prince put out a new record in the United States, since he limited the release of his 20Ten LP, but that will change this fall. On September 30th, the artist will release two new records: Plectrumelectrum, his long-teased album with the group 3rdEyeGirl, and his recently announced solo LP, Art Official Age. He will reportedly hold a series of special events and live dates around the world, details for which are forthcoming, to celebrate the albums' release. Both records are available separately as pre-orders, via the website ArtOfficialAge.com, and include "instant gratification" downloads. Art Official Age is being billed as "classic Prince," since it was produced, arranged, composed and performed by the musician (alongside singer-songwriter Joshua Welton). The record reportedly contains a mix of soul, R&B and funk. The pre-order includes the songs "Breakdown" and "Clouds," as well as three digital singles. The funky, jazzy latter track is now streaming at Complex. RS: Prince's 15 best post-eighties deep cuts . Prince has already released the video for album track "Breakfast Can Wait" and he played "Funknroll" during his appearance on Arsenio earlier this year, though the version on Art Official Age is "funkier and nastier," according to a Minneapolis Star Tribune writer who got an early listen. The reporter also claimed that "This Could Be Us" was a ballad inspired by Prince's Purple Rain costar Apollonia Kotero and that "The Gold Standard" had lyrics "wild and rude." The writer also said the album contained an "aggressive and menacing" rap song featuring Rita Ora. Plectrumelectrum, a "classic band album" that is said to be an "electrifying funk-rock statement," features the singer leading the all-female group ThirdEyeGirl. The ensemble test-drove a number of the record's songs on their recent Hit and Run tours. "No one can play like this band," Prince told Rolling Stone about the record. "People are going to try, but they won't be able to." RS: Zooey Deschanel talks Prince collaboration . He also previewed the record at a late-night listening session in New York City, which revealed the hard-rock guitar number (and pre-order instant-gratification track) "Pretzelbodylogic," as well as the original version of "Funknroll." Notably absent from the record is Prince's duet with Zooey Deschanel, "Fallinlove2night," which got its debut on The New Girl in March. The records mark Prince's return to Warner Bros., the label he split from acrimoniously in the Nineties after wearing the word "slave" on his face as a protest to his record contract. "When you stop a man from dreaming, he becomes a slave," he told Rolling Stone in 1996. "That's where I was. I don't own Prince's music. If you don't own your masters, your master owns you." Earlier this year, Prince worked out a deal with the label where he now owns the masters to his recordings. The label previously announced a plan to put out a deluxe, digitally remastered, 30th anniversary release of the Purple Rain soundtrack, though it has yet to announce a release date. RS: Prince on Label Heads: 'They're Always at the Beach With Their Kids' "Prince is one of just a handful of visionary artists who have truly reshaped and redefined modern music and culture," Warner Bros. Chairman & CEO Cameron Strang said in a statement about the two new records. "For the past 35 years, he has never stopped evolving, challenging himself, reinventing his sound and pushing boundaries. In true Prince fashion, he has just given us not one, but two extraordinary albums that express the incredible range and depth of his talent. All of us at WBR are immensely proud to be working with Prince to bring this brilliant new music to his legions of fans around the world, and needless to say we are thrilled to be working in partnership with him again." Art Official Age track list: . 1. "Art Official Cage" 2. "Clouds" 3. "Breakdown" 4. "The Gold Standard" 5. "U Know" 6. "Breakfast Can Wait" 7. "This Could Be Us" 8. "What It Feels Like" 9. "Affirmation I & II" 10. "Way Back Home" 11. "Funknroll" 12. "Time" 13. "Affirmation III" Plectrumelectrum track list: . 1. "Wow" 2. "Pretzelbodylogic" 3. "Aintturninround" 4. "Plectrumelectrum" 5. "Whitecaps" 6. "Fixurlifeup" 7. "Boytrouble" 8. "Stopthistrain" 9. "Anotherlove" 10. "Tictactoe" 11. "Marz" 12. "Funknroll" See the original story at RollingStone.com. Copyright © 2011 Rolling Stone. | Prince will release two albums on September 30 .
He's already released a video for "Breakfast Can Wait"
He's previewed music at New York City listening sessions . |
196,682 | 8a88f66213dcf5ee70a695c5833e0a07656cc7a6 | Spot the Dog author Eric Hill, whose mischievous yellow puppy delighted children in sixty languages, has died at the age of 86. The London-born illustrator sold 60 million copies of the books after inventing the lift-the-flap concept which now permeates children's fiction. And in 2008, he was awarded an OBE for services to literature. Ingenious: Eric Hill, who has died aged 86, was hailed as a 'master of simple design' for creating Spot . Hailing him as a 'master of simple design', publisher Puffin paid tribute to Mr Hill, who died at home in California following a short illness. Francesca Dow, who runs Penguin’s children’s division, said: 'He created one of the world’s most . loveable children’s book characters - Spot, the charming, naughty, . playful puppy, loved and appreciated across the world. 'Eric’s . ingenious lift-the-flap device turned the reading of a Spot book into a . glorious game of hide and seek, enjoyed by children and adults alike. 'Puffin is proud to publish Eric Hill and will ensure Spot continues to delight children for generations to come.' Iconic: In 2010, Where's Spot was turned into a variety of special edition lift-the-flap books over the 34 years . Honoured: In 2008, Mr Gill was presented with an OBE for services to children's literature by Prince Charles . Eric Hill, born in Holloway, north London, was evacuated during the Second World War, but returned as soon as he could before the war ended. He became an assistant in an illustration studio. In the 1940s, he took up a job in advertising, which led to him becoming a creative director and illustrator. It was 1979 when he was experimenting with an advert featuring a lift-the-flap function that Mr Gill realised how much it excited his son Christopher - then aged three. He decided to create Spot. At first, publishers were reluctant to run the new-fangled design, but when Where's Spot was released in 1980 it was an instant hit. It was soon followed by another hit - Spot's First Walk - and then, in 1983, an animated series, The Adventures Of Spot. He was involved in every script and frame.By the 1990s, the books had been translated in 60 different languages. The books follow Spot, a yellow puppy with brown spots and a brown-tipped tail, and his adventures with his parents, grandparents, brother and sister - plus a conglomerate of animals including a crocodile and a hippo. The franchise began in 1980, with the release of Where's Spot, and became an instant success. Soon, audiobooks - narrated by The Vicar Of Dibley's Jane Horrocks - and an animated TV series followed. In a statement, his family said they would miss him 'immensely'. They said: 'Although this time of loss is a great hardship for us, we can honestly say that we take some solace in the joy he brought to so many children and families through his work. 'We know Spot, and therefore Eric, has had a beloved presence in so many homes and bedtime readings. And we know we share our grief with many.' Mr Hill, who avoided publicity and often referred to himself as Spot’s Dad, started out as an errand boy in an illustration studio. He then ventured into a career in advertising before creating the best-selling puppy-dog picture books. Determined to 'widen' children's perspectives, and credit them with more intelligence than adults believe, he deliberately set out to use unusual colours and unconventional objects. He moved to the United States with his family in the 1980s. He is survived by his wife Gillian, their son Christopher and his daughter Jane, all of whom are involved in continuing Spot's legacy. Diverse: The playful stories were translated into 60 languages - including Welsh - within a decade . | London-born illustrator died at home in California following short illness .
Received OBE in 2008 for services to literature, invented 'lift-the-flap' books .
Publisher hailed him as 'master of simple design' and 'ingenious inventor'
Spot the Dog books were translated into 60 languages, sold 60m worldwide . |
21,822 | 3e02611c64fc334d60ac45005933bac1750fc6bf | It is commonly thought that age brings wisdom. And this is largely true, it seems – unless you are Japanese. In which case, by the time you are 25, you are likely to be just as wise as your elders, an astonishing new study reveals. Americans, however, are more conventional and develop deep understanding over time, according to research by the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Wise heads on all shoulders: Japanese have similar levels of measured wisdom at ages 25 and 75 - whereas Americans get wiser as they age, a study shows . In one of the tests, designed to measure five crucial aspects of reasoning, U.S. citizens’ scores improved by 22 per cent over 50 years. But, in the examination scored out of 100, both 25-year-old and 75-year-old Japanese participants had an average quotient of 51 for intergroup wisdom – the idea of understanding society. With Americans, on the other hand, results from the same tests varied between averages of 45 and 55 between the two age groups. Also, interpersonal wisdom – the understanding of relationships between individuals – the scores of the 225 U.S. participants climbed from 46 to 50. In the case of the 186 Japanese people recruited by lead researcher Igor Grossmann, their scores actually dropped slightly from 53 to 52. The tests also recorded other unexpected results. Given the U.S. reputation of an individualistic society, you might expect its participants’ interpersonal wisdom to be higher than their supposedly more collectivist Japanese counterparts. Yet the study showed that by 75, the Japanese scored higher in the interpersonal wisdom and Americans, in fact, achieved higher results in the intergroup variety. Conventional wisdom: Americans tend to get steadily wiser as they get older . Dr Grossman suggested that perhaps, then, you need individual skills when society is collective, and social ones when it is individualistic. His study, published in Psychological Science and reported in The Economist, recruited Japanese and Americans with a range of different occupations. Assessors scored their responses on the degree to which they discussed what psychologists consider five crucial aspects of wise reasoning. They are ‘willingness to seek opportunities to resolve conflict, willingness to search for compromise, recognition of the limits of personal knowledge, awareness that more than one perspective on a problem can exist and appreciation of the fact that things may get worse before they get better’. Participants were asked to read a series of pretend newspaper articles. Half – designed to test intergroup wisdom - described conflict between groups, such as a debate between residents of an impoverished Pacific island over whether to allow foreign oil companies to operate there following the discovery of petroleum. The other half – used to measure out their interpersonal wisdom - took the form of advice columns that dealt with conflicts between individuals, including siblings, friends and spouses. After reading each article, participants were asked ‘What do you think will happen after that?’ and ‘Why do you think it will happen this way?’ Their responses were recorded and transcribed. Then, to ensure that assessors couldn’t know whose record came from which respondent, age-related information and clues to participants’ nationalities were removed from the texts. | Scientists scored different age groups out of 100 in tests designed to measure five aspects of wisdom .
Found Japanese got same results at ages 25 and 75 but Americans increased their quotient by 22% . |
201,964 | 917661a95bf3cd7819f07ed389542e2106498c0b | (CNN) -- With an apology to his former business partner, ex-Facebook president Sean Parker has broken down and tweeted. "Sorry Zuck, I had to do it eventually," Parker wrote Monday on his newly minted Twitter account. The apparent mea culpa to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is, so far, Parker's only post. But, by Tuesday morning, he had already racked up nearly 24,000 followers on the rival networking site. Parker was co-founder (or maybe an early employee, depending on who you believe) of music-sharing site Napster and created sites Plaxo and Causes in addition to helming Facebook in its early days. He's perhaps best known to most folks through his fictional interpretation by Justin Timberlake in the movie "The Social Network." (Movie-version Parker was responsible for two of "The Social Network's" most famous lines, urging Zuckerberg to drop the "the" and just be "Facebook" and saying that "what's cool" is not $1 million, it's $1 billion. For his part, the real Parker has called the movie pure fiction, saying he was portrayed inaccurately). His tweet goes on to "blame" Scooter Braun, an entertainment marketer best known as Justin Bieber's agent. Parker's Twitter debut comes, perhaps not coincidentally, as he looks set to launch his latest e-venture -- a video service called Airtime. His biographical information on Twitter includes a link to a Forbes profile titled "Sean Parker: Agent of Distruption." It also links to The Founders Fund, the venture-capital firm in which Parker is a partner. And maybe he doesn't owe Zuckerberg a full apology just yet. Parker's Facebook page has more than 38,000 people who "like" it -- outpacing his Twitter feed, at least for now. | With a nod to Zuckerberg, ex-Facebook president Sean Parker joins Twitter .
"Sorry Zuck," starts Parker's lone tweet on the account he started Monday .
Parker co-founded Napster and is known through his portrayal in "The Social Network"
New account comes as Parker is reportedly about to launch a video service . |
166,049 | 62b631ec009e9742763db72a05c71bfae1538967 | ALPHARETTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Latin music pulses from the stereo as 40 women jump, shimmy and sway to the beat. Zumba is the most popular exercise class at one suburban Atlanta YMCA. It's not a dance club. This is a regular morning exercise class at the YMCA in Alpharetta, Georgia. It's called Zumba. Part dance, part aerobics, Zumba is an hourlong routine that works almost every muscle in the body. "It is dance fitness," explained Stephanie Maxim, one of two class instructors. "We teach them moves that you can see on 'Dancing with the Stars': salsa, mambo, cha-cha, and we put it into a group fitness format." "It's not like a workout," explained Diane Walterstiel, 55, of Alpharetta. "Before I come, I'm tense, but when I leave, I could kiss the world." Nearly a year after being introduced at the YMCA in suburban Atlanta, Zumba is the most popular exercise offering at the facility. Alberto Perlman, co-founder and CEO of Zumba Fitness in Hollywood, Florida, wasn't surprised when the concept took off not just in the United States but around the world. "We turned exercise into a party," Perlman declared. "Zumba broke some of the rules of fitness. We used music in the original form instead of using step counts." Perlman, whose background is in marketing, teamed up with Colombian dancer and choreographer Alberto "Beto" Perez in Miami in 2001. "One day, Beto forgot his aerobics tapes, so he played his salsa and meringue songs during class in their original form," Perlman said. "People went crazy. They didn't feel like they were in a class with a drill sergeant." Perlman said Perez decided to call the exercise Zumba, after the Colombian slang word meaning to buzz like a bee or move fast. Zumba is now a brand name. Since 2003, Perlman's group has trained 20,000 instructors around the world and sold more than 3 million DVDs on the Internet and through infomercials, he said. Heather Bleakman teamed up with Maxim to teach the Georgia YMCA session. She called the class a form of therapy. "We see women change," she said. "We see their faces light up." Bleakman stood at the front of the room and offered a high-impact version of Zumba for those who could keep up while Maxim focused on a slower low-impact routine. Maxim warned participants at the beginning of class to modify the exercise to fit their needs. She added that wearing proper footwear is one of the best ways to guard against injury. "In Zumba, we do a lot of pivoting, so you've got to have a shoe that has more of a flat base so you can move, or you'll feel the torque in the knee," Maxim cautioned. Lilieth Burke, 48, of Alpharetta started attending Zumba classes a year ago and kept coming back because she appreciated "the simple composition of dance moves." Unlike other exercise workouts she's tried, "Zumba is not a punishment," she said. Burke summed up the benefits: "I feel fit, I sleep better, I feel better, I feel younger, and I feel I can live another 48 years." | Set to original-form music, Zumba classes combine dancing and aerobics .
Since 2003, more than 20,000 instructors have been trained worldwide .
Zumba adherents rave about its physical and psychological benefits . |
69,983 | c66ef42143ed5f58ecefbeb5d3f1a0c164d2e60c | (CNN) -- Commercial office space, warehouses or factory facilities are not required to launch a successful business. At-home enterprises have turned many business people into full-fledged celebrities. Grammy award-winning musicians OutKast started in a basement recording studio in Atlanta, Georgia. Apple, Google and Microsoft all were born at home-based facilities. See more famous businesses that started at home » . Culinary queen Paula Deen started her media empire by making bag lunches in her own kitchen. | At-home startups prove commercial facilities aren't required for success .
OutKast, Google, Microsoft, Spanx and other famous names started in homes .
Paula Deen's kitchen bag-lunch operation led to her media empire . |
87,231 | f777e7a5549b870b123363351d6b36d1362c68b3 | Lionsgate is launching a touring exhibition of The Hunger Games as the first step toward opening a theme park dedicated to the wildly-popular book and film series. The movie studio revealed that it's 'deep into conversation' with potential theme park partners. The post-apocalyptic franchise has proved a substantial money-maker for Lionsgate, grossing nearly £1billion at the box office, and the company is looking for new ways to cash in on its success. Scroll down for video . Movie magic: Lionsgate revealed that it's 'deep into conversation' about opening a Hunger Games theme park . The four-part series has yet to release its final two installments, with the third - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 - set to arrive in cinemas in November. But can the studio turn a successful film franchise into a profitable theme park? Lionsgate will begin testing the waters with the launch of a touring exhibit, The Hunger Games: The Exhibition, in the summer of 2015. The studio has joined forces with theme park creator Thinkwell Group to develop its plans. 'Thinkwell... is spearheading an initiative for line extensions of "The Hunger Games" and all of our other brands,' Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said during a conference call, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The studio will test the waters with a touring exhibit - The Hunger Games: The Exhibition - in summer 2015 . He said: 'As a first step, we've already designed a state-of-the-art travelling museum involving costumes, props, and other elements of the Hunger Games world that will begin touring the U.S. next summer.' Now it seems that the studio is eyeing an even grander presence. During Friday's conference call, Feltheimer revealed that studio execs are 'excited about these [theme park] opportunities and are pursuing them,' reports Businessweek. He also mentioned that The Hunger Games: The Exhibition would be the first test of several 'extensions' of Lionsgate franchises, which include Twilight and Divergent. Twilight phenomenon: The vampire-meets-girl love story was a worldwide success . The next big thing: Lionsgate's Divergent is also being eyed as an opportunity for brand 'extension' Twilight has proved particularly successful for the studio, with the vampire love story's five-film franchise grossing almost £2billion worldwide. Apocalyptic teen romance 'Divergent' has likewise made a substantial box office impact, netting £164million with its first of four films. This comes on the heels of Universal Orlando's launch of the Harry Potter-themed extension to 2010's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Universal Orlando Islands of Adventure launched The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in 2010 . This summer, Universal Orlando added Diagon Alley, which includes a thrill ride, wand shop, and restaurant . The new area in the studio's Florida park is called The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Diagon Alley, and cost an estimated £239million. This is in addition to the initial site's £158million development costs. At this point, there's no word on whether Lionsgate is looking at developing a stand-alone theme park or simply adding themed attractions into already-existing parks. | Studio says it's 'deep into conversation' with possible theme park partners .
The Hunger Games: The Exhibition is touring the US in 2015 .
Hit film franchises Twilight and Divergent could be included in future plans . |
18,032 | 33124c289cbc72de67e41f201693b1135cd95a4b | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Libya has paid $1.5 billion to the families of terrorism victims, overcoming the final obstacle to full relations with the United States, the State Department said Friday. Police officers survey the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland, in December 1988. The payment ends Tripoli's legal liability in U.S. terror cases and paves the way for increased U.S. involvement in the oil-rich nation. President Bush signed an executive order Friday restoring Libyan immunity from terrorism-related lawsuits and dismissing pending cases over compensation as part of a deal reached this summer. David Welch, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, who negotiated the agreement, called Libya's rehabilitation from a terrorist nation to a U.S. ally "historic." The pact closes the book on a contentious period in U.S.-Libyan relations, which began in the 1980s with a series of attacks involving the two countries, including the bombings of Pan Am flight 103, a German disco and U.S. airstrikes over Libya. U.S. business executives hope the new relationship will lead to billions of dollars of new investment in Libya, a country rich in petroleum reserves but lacking a developed infrastructure. This summer, the United States and Libya signed a deal for the State Department to create a $1.8 billion compensation fund to finalize the claims for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the 1986 bombing of La Belle disco in Berlin, Germany. It also compensates Libyan victims of U.S. airstrikes in the 1980s. Congress unanimously adopted the Libyan Claims Resolution Act, sponsored by Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-New Jersey, which cleared the way to end the feud and created the victim compensation fund. Under the agreement, Libya pays more than $500 million to settle remaining claims from the Lockerbie case and more than $280 million for victims of the disco bombing. It will also set aside funds to compensate victims of several other incidents blamed on Libya, although Libya has not accepted responsibility. In exchange, Libya will now be exempt from legislation passed this year enabling terrorism victims to be compensated using frozen assets of governments blamed for attacks. Tripoli sought the protection to encourage U.S. companies to invest in Libya without fear of being sued by terrorism victims or their families. An initial payment of $300 million was received this month, after the opening of a U.S. trade office in Libya and a historic visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Another $600 million was received Thursday and the remaining $600 million Friday, Welch said, adding that the families could start receiving payments within days. The remaining $300 million will go to Libyan victims of the bombing in Libya by U.S. warplanes in 1986. Libyans say dozens of people died in the U.S. air attack, including an adopted daughter of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi. President Reagan ordered the attacks on Tripoli and Benghazi after two U.S. soldiers were killed and 79 Americans were injured in the 1986 Berlin disco bombing. The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 killed 270 people, including 189 Americans. Of the dead, 259 people died on board the plane and another 11 on the ground. Libya has paid 268 families involved in the Pan Am bombing $8 million each of a $10 million settlement. But it withheld the remaining $2 million owed to each family over a dispute regarding U.S. obligations to Tripoli. A group of relatives of Pan Am victims said in a statement Friday that they applauded Libya's fulfillment of the agreement. "The Pan Am 103 families deeply appreciate Sen. Lautenberg's work to urge the administration to take every step to bring the agreement to fruition," spokeswoman Kara Weipz said in the statement. "While our loved ones will never be forgotten, we are glad this chapter in our efforts is finally over." Ties between the two countries began to improve in 2003, when Libya gave up its weapons of mass destruction program and began compensating Lockerbie victims. But lingering lawsuits prevented the two countries from fully normalizing ties. The State Department has said the deal was pursued on a "purely humanitarian basis and does not constitute an admission of fault by either party." Senior State Department officials said the formula was designed to respect Libyan sensitivities about compensating victims for incidents for which it hasn't taken responsibility and also allow Libya to settle outstanding claims for the air strikes on Tripoli. Donations to settle Libyan claims were placed in the "voluntary" fund, from which each country involved in the claims draws the money to pay its citizens. Welch would not say exactly where the money came from but stressed that no American taxpayer money would be used to compensate Libya. The deal is to be followed by an upgrading of U.S. relations with Libya, including the confirmation of a U.S. ambassador, which was held up until the payments were made. Lautenberg applauded the payment Friday. "American victims and their families have waited decades for Libya to pay for its deadly acts of violence and today they have received long-overdue justice," he said in a statement. "I am pleased that our relentless pressure and support for terror victims has led to this historic moment." Rice's visit in September, the first by a secretary of state since 1953, was hailed by both countries as a breakthrough. It followed months of negotiations between the two countries. | Payment is part of multitiered plan to normalize relations between the two countries .
Tensions go back to attacks on Pan Am 103, German disco, U.S. airstrikes .
Libya now exempt from legislation allowing victim compensation from frozen assets .
Deal ends Libyan liability in terror cases, paves way for U.S. investment . |
77,936 | dcf1266db17e6cdd11e7d851c3b26bb18f21e12f | A teenager has become the first ever openly gay head boy to be given the role at one of the country's elite group of public schools. Will Emery, 17, who came out to his family three years ago, was voted in by more than 1,000 pupils and staff at Brighton College in Sussex, one of the most successful schools of its type in Britain, with boarding fees starting at £27,000 a year. Emery, the son of a banker, said: 'I don't think my sexuality had any impact on my being chosen, but in other periods, when people had to hide their sexuality, it could have been a different story.' The new head boy appointed at Brighton College is an openly gay teenager. It is the first time a top public school has made such an appointment . Headmaster Richard Cairns said there was a huge round of applause when the announcement was made and said teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 see sexuality as a 'so-what' issue. He added: 'He was a very popular choice - the rugby players voted for him along with many others - but I bet if I wrote to the old boys and said our head boy was openly gay, some of them would think it's very strange indeed.' Mr Emery has used his new position to speak critically of schools that use policies that stopteachers from discussing homosexuality. Gay rights campaigners have highlighted 40 schools that use sex education policies that forbid 'promoting' homosexuality, similar to the controversial section 28 of the Local Government Act implemented by Thatcher's government. 'I don't think my sexuality had any impact on my being chosen, but in other periods, when people had to hide their sexuality, it could have been a different story' - Will Emery . Section 28 made it an offence for a local authority to 'intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality' or to 'promote the teaching in any maintained school the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship'. It has since been repealed. The teenager's stance is supported by Mr Cairns, who described the schools' actions as 'outrageous'. Mr Emery, speaking to The Sunday Times, said the root of the issue lies with the attitudes of those running the schools. He said: 'They grew up in a society where homosexuality wasn't spoken about. Their views need to be changed.' | Will Emery was voted in by pupils at £27,000-a-year Brighton College .
Headteacher says sexuality is a 'so-what' issue to teenagers .
Mr Emery blasted schools that forbid discussion of gay issues . |
146,414 | 4954632fdbec181c5c7370af2b28ab486b01a95e | Nigel Farage flew half way round the world to address America's leading conservative conference last night - but hardly anyone turned up to listen. The Ukip leader flew to Washington to address the gathering of hardcore activists before catching a ‘red eye’ flight home overnight to get back in time for this afternoon's Ukip conference in Margate. But Mr Farage was handed the 'graveyard' speaking slot at the end of the day and was forced to address an audience of just 250 in a convention centre with a capacity for over 5,000. Nigel Farage flew to Washington to address America's leading conservative conference - but hardly anyone showed up to listen . Mr Farage delivered his speech to row after row of empty chairs just an hour after the hall had been packed for a speech by Sarah Palin, the darling of Tea Party conservatives. The Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual three-day mecca for Tea Party campaigners, anti-abortion opponents and gun rights activists. Mr Farage warned the Republican gathering that they risked becoming dinosaurs like the Conservatives in the UK if they continued to embrace the political centre. Mr Farage slammed David Cameron over his failure to identify the infamous ISIS executioner 'Jihadi John.' 'Of course they should have told us his name,' he said. 'We should have heard it weeks ago. This information's been known for a long time.' He also claimed the name was leaked to cover yesterday's immigration figures. 'By sheer coincidence,' he said, Emwazi's name was published 'on the day when the government has to announce the worst immigration figures ever seen in the history of the United Kingdom.' 'WE'RE NOT THE TEA PARTY': Nigel Farage, whose UK Independence Party is challenging both Tories and Liberals, said his is a real political force, not just an influence group trying to reform a wayward party . He also hit out against CAGE, the British NGO that often advocates on behalf of radicalized Muslims and brands their detractors 'Islamophobes.' 'Yes, yes, yes!' Farage exploded when asked if the group was an embarrassment to most Britons. 'It's politcal correctness! 'I mean, we see protests on a regular basis with these groups on the streets of London saying and shouting things that – if you and I did them, we'd find ourselves behind bars in very short order.' 'We actually have a Judeo-Christian culture,' he added. 'It's actually in our Constitution, so let's stand up for it.' Is that xenophobic? Farage doesn't think so. 'The thing about us,' he said of the UK, 'is that we have been, of all the European countries, the most tolerant of all different religions and all different groups who have come to Britain.' While 'private observance' of any religion 'is fine,' he insisted, 'unless we live under one law we're in trouble.' The Conservative Political Action Conference brings all manner of right-wingers to a hotel in Maryland each year . Mr Farage said the Republican Party was 'going through the same crisis of identity as the Conservative Party in Britain'. Ukip, he boasted, was 'an insurgent political force that has taken on the political establishment and rocked them to the backs of their heels.' But he said: 'We're not the tea party. Our job is not to influence one political party. We're not an outlier from the Tories.' And unlike the tea party phenomenon, which peels off disaffected Republicans who believe their traditional party has moved too far left, he said, his group 'is not just retired half-colonels who've always voted Conservative and now they're UKIP. We're dragging them from across the spectrum.' Mr Farage also attacked Mr Obama - claiming he sees 'an American president who doesn't have the courage' to fight against Islamist terror. Mr Obama, he claimed, lacks the vision to see 'what has gone wrong, and why those three people were arrested on the streets of the USA yesterday.' That was a reference to the trio of Muslim men who were detained by the FBI after they began the process of traveling to Syria for training with the ISIS terror army – with the intention of bringing death and destruction back to America. 'We must stand firm and defend our Judeo-Christian culture,' Farage said, earnign his first boisterous applause. 'We must make it clear that we believe in common law and not Shariah law.' He called radical Islam 'an enemy within' both the US and the UK. Farage said 'the Republican Party is going through the same crisis of identity as the Conservative Party in Britain' 'If you discuss immigration, it means you're a bad person,' he complained to a thousand convention-goers – 'that you harbor dislike or hatred or prejudice of somebody else' CPAC's lineup includes Sarah Palin, whose teleprompter played tricks on her last month in Iowa, leaving her rambling for minutes . The CPAC conference draws conservatives from all over the US, but they share the same message . Like any political force testing its boundaries by casting a wide net, it would be recognizable to American conservatives who have had to contend with their own brand of bad publicity. Todd Akin, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate, famously self-imploded after musing on whether abortions should be allowed in cases of 'legitimate rape.' Sarah Palin just last month lost track of her teleprompter during a key Iowa speech and rambled aimlessly for what seemed like hours, causing some to wonder if she was intoxicated. An ocean away, UKIP councillor Rozanne Duncan was kicked out this month after she was filmed saying she has 'a problem with people with negroid features.' And social media accounts belonging to UKIP activist Richard Crouch were plastered recently with claims that his home town of Leicester is a 'sh*thole' and 'full of P***s.' His Facebook account called Asians 'The Taliban' and labeled Romanians 'pick pocketing criminals.' Crouch insisted that his account was hacked, but the damage was done. Farage threw up his hands and suggested that idiots will be idiots. 'Well, look,' he told Daily Mail Online, 'people like Rozanne Duncan are local councillors. They are very low-level people in UKIP. They're not major players.' 'Yes, we get people who say stupid things in UKIP. I don't approve or condone any of it.' | Nigel Farage flew to Washington to address a conservative conference .
But he was given the 'graveyard' speaking slot at the end of the day .
Just 250 people turned up to listen in a room for more than 5,000 .
He slammed Cameron for not identifying ISIS executioner 'Jihadi John'
Ukip leader flew home overnight to address party's conference in Margate .
He is due to speak at Ukip's spring conference at 4.20pm this afternoon . |
282,718 | fa2e882dc32c1e2e47b5675f5a8747c80882d7dc | By . Mark Duell . Two love rivals who moved in together when the woman they loved died fell out so badly that one tried to kill the other, a court heard today. Mark Motteram, 45, and Steve Cook, 37, put any romantic rivalry behind them so they could raise Anne Motteram’s children together. Mrs Motteram had three children with ex-husband Mr Motteram and one with her new partner Mr Cook. But she suffered a fatal heart attack at her home in Southampton aged 40. Family: Pictured in 2011, Mark Motteram (left), 45, and Steve Cook (right), 37, put any romantic rivalry behind them so they could raise Anne Motteram's children together . Mr Motteram and Mr Cook then vowed to raise the children together as an ‘unconventional family’. But Winchester Crown Court was told that the animosity between them became too great. They eventually went their separate ways and became embroiled in a ‘bitter custody battle’ over Mr Cook and Mrs Motteram’s youngest daughter, four-year-old Catherine. Mr Cook moved to Derby, where he won custody of his daughter on the condition she took four short holidays a year in Southampton. He dropped her off for her first visit and went straight to Southampton Central Police Station where he told officers he had ‘concerns for the children’s welfare’. Disgruntled Mr Cook - annoyed that Mr Motteram had access rights - claimed there was a stash of drugs in the house and no food, the court heard. It led to police raiding the property, where they found healthy food, a full freezer, and no sign of drugs. The false allegation angered Mr Motteram, who armed himself with a 4in kitchen knife when Mr Cook arrived to collect his daughter at the end of the week. Tom Wright, prosecuting, said Mr Motteram lunged at Mr Cook as he opened the door, stabbing him once in the chest, on November 26 last year. Fathers: Mrs Motteram had three children with ex-husband Mr Motteram (left) and one with her new partner Mr Cook (right). But she suffered a fatal heart attack at her home in Southampton aged 40 . The court heard there was no animosity between the pair at the time Mr Cook started a relationship with Mrs Motteram, but things deteriorated after her death on February 26, 2011. 'The circumstances surrounding this case are tragic. Mr Motteram is remorseful and wishes it was himself he harmed' Keely Harvey, defending . Mr Wright said: ‘After Mrs Motteram’s sad demise, the children and two men did try making a go of things as a family. Unhappily, the two men did not get on well - friction and animosity led to that situation breaking up. ‘The break-up was acrimonious and was exacerbated by the custody battle that then went through the court.’ Mr . Wright told the court Mr Cook contacted police to report his welfare . concerns, and added: ‘Whatever Mr Cook’s motivation, the effect was to . further sour Mr Motteram’s attitude towards him. Relations: Luke Motteram, 18, son of Mark . ‘When he went to collect Catherine at the end of her stay, he rang the doorbell and Mr Motteram immediately lunged at him with a kitchen knife. The knife struck Mr Cook just below the ribs, above the abdomen. ‘Perhaps because Mr Cook was on his guard - and expected Mr Motteram to be angry - he was able to grapple with Mr Motteram and get the knife off him as they fell to the ground.’ Mr Cook was taken to hospital by ambulance where he was treated for the non-life-threatening wound. Mr Wright said: ‘When police arrived, Mr Motteram was calm, co-operative and compliant. He readily accepted he had stabbed Mr Cook and confided to the officer that it had been his intention to kill Mr Cook. ‘In interview he explained his animosity had been building, and over the previous weeks he had nurtured a strong desire to do him harm and to kill Mr Cook.’ Keely Harvey, defending, accepted Mr Motteram had told officers he intended to kill Mr Cook - but insisted he never meant it. She said: ‘This is an offence born more out of love for a child than hate for Mr Cook. The circumstances surrounding this case are tragic. ‘Mr Motteram is remorseful and wishes it was himself he harmed. Catherine spent a happy week with the family and was well cared for. She did not want to go back home.’ Mr Motteram shook his bowed head repeatedly as he sat in the dock, weeping loudly. Sobs could also be heard from the public gallery, where Mrs Motteram’s older children from a previous relationship sat with those she had with Mr Motteram - Luke, 18, and Toni, 15. Mr Motteram admitted wounding with intent and was jailed for four years. An alternative count of attempted murder, which Mr Motteram denied, was dropped. The judge, His Honour Mr Justice Teare, said: ‘There are mitigating factors but that does not excuse what you did.’ Mr Cook and Mrs Motteram had two other children together but both tragically died - one was stillborn and the other was delivered after Mrs Motteram’s death but died a week later. 'After Mrs Motteram’s sad demise, the children and two men did try making a go of things as a family. Unhappily, the two men did not get on well - friction and animosity led to that situation breaking up' Tom Wright, prosecuting . Speaking after the case, Flower of Justice church pastor Bob Light, who is now raising Mr and Mrs Motteram’s son Ben, ten, said: ‘The family are devastated. ‘This has been an incredibly tough time for them and is not going to get any easier. They have lost their mother and have now been deprived of their father. ‘It is a tragic case but they are doing their best to help each other through these tough times and will stick together.’ Speaking shortly after Mrs Motteram’s death, Mr Motteram said of his unusual relationship with Mr Cook: ‘People do think it is strange but we have always got on. Now it is more important than ever. ‘It is a weird situation but the most important thing here is the kids and what is best for them.’ Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. | Mark Motteram and Steve Cook tried to raise Anne Motteram’s children .
She had three children with ex-husband Mr Motteram, one with Mr Cook .
But she suffered fatal heart attack at her home in Southampton aged 40 .
The men vowed to raise children together as an 'unconventional family'
But court hears that the animosity between the men became too great .
Mr Motteram admitted wounding with intent and is jailed for four years . |
266,256 | e4d8fb6a0ca7bbeac6a76d6a529d206dc2c9b06d | By . Associated Press . Last updated at 2:16 PM on 27th November 2011 . Three American students arrested during a protest in Cairo has arrived home after being released from prison yesterday. Gregory Porter was the first to land at Philadelphia International Airport on Saturday afternoon. His family from nearby Glenside is 'thrilled that he's home', relative Sharon Sloan said. Home: Gregory Porter, 19, is the first of three U.S. students arrested during a demonstration in Cairo, to arrive back on U.S. soil . Fellow students Derrik Sweeney, 19 and Luke Gates, 21 landed on American soil later on Saturday. They were arrested last Sunday on the roof of a university building near Tahrir Square after being accused of throwing firebombs at Egyptian security forces. The students, who are spending a semester at the American University in Cairo, were said to have joined with protesters demanding an end to the country's military rule. Second to arrive: Luke Gates is hugged by his father Bill Gates, left, and mother Sharon after arriving at Indianapolis International Airport . Finally: Derrik Sweeney, center, gets hugs from his father Kevin Sweeney, left, and sister Ashley, right, at Lambert-St. Louis International . Lined-up: Derrik Sweeney, 19, Luke Gates, 21, and Gregory Porter, 19, were arrested on Sunday on the roof of a university building near Tahrir Square . Thrilled to be home: Gregory Porter, center, with his attorney Theodore Simon, landed on American soil this afternoon . Derrik's mother, Joy Sweeney said she met her son, a Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Missouri, at St Louis Airport on Saturday evening. She added that their release was the 'best Thanksgiving gift' and she was preparing a belated celebratory dinner. Earlier today, Mr Sweeney's father, Kevin, told CNN that his son had been . falsely accused and that he was merely 'observing something that was . definitely a phenomenon of the culture'. People power: Protesters gather for a mass rally in Tahrir Square in Cairo today . His fellow students Gregory Porter, of Glenside, Pennsylvania, attends Drexel University while 21-year-old Luke Gates, of Bloomington, Indiana is a student at Indiana University. Mr Porter’s lawyer said his client . sounded upbeat in a phone conversation held as the students were being . escorted by police to the airport. Egyptian officials confirmed the release of all . three young men yesterday. Cairo's . top prosecutor said security forces had found a bag containing empty . bottles, gasoline, a towel and a camera with the Americans, who . said the bag belonged to two friends. The students were studying for a . semester in Cairo to improve their Arabic. Out: Luke Gates, left, is a native of Bloomington, Indiana, while Derrik Sweeney, right, is from Jefferson City, Missouri . Officials at the students' universities in the U.S. and the American University in Cairo were all working with the State Department and . Egyptian government to have them released. Video footage taken from the protests . shows at least two of the students, their faces covered by bandanas, . taking part alongside the Egyptians. Flying the flag for democracy: Men wave an Egyptian flag from the top of a lamppost in Tahrir Sqaure . Mr Gates, the oldest of the captured students, had been sending tweets from Cairo about attending the massive Egyptian rallies. 'Earlier tonight rubber bullets a charge and then a retreat, my knee and elbow are f****d up,' he wrote during the protests. The news of the Americans' release came as tens of thousands of protesters thronged in . Tahrir Square today demanding the country's interim Egyptian rulers hand . over power to a civilian government. The week of violence has seen at least 41 people killed and 3,000 injured. The army, once hailed for its role in helping oust former president Hosni Mubarak from power in February, has come under increasing fire for dragging out a handover to civilian rule. President Obama last night urged Egypt’s military rulers to quit power ‘immediately’ on the biggest day of protest yet in Cairo. After Friday prayers – the last in Cairo before next week’s crunch election - political marches were organised by some 30 parties, mostly converging on Tahrir Square. Egypt is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections on Monday. | The trio were arrested on a roof near Tahrir Square on Sunday . |
148,882 | 4c84d1bb409ac01164524c4f7cf1e1d3953cca54 | A range of contact lenses has been developed that the makers claim can make the wearer look younger and more attractive. The Acuvue Define lenses have a pigment inside that helps to define the border around the iris, known as the limbal ring. This ring naturally fades with age and poor health, so improving the definition is said to make us look more youthful, and healthier. Scroll down for video . The eye's have it: The limbal ring is often known as nature's eye-liner'. The new lenses (pictured right) claim to make eyes look younger by defining the edge of a person's iris, a quality said to have an anti-aging effect . Product designer Angie Bowers said: 'The limbal ring is often known as "nature's eye-liner". 'In fact, studies show faces with a more distinctive definition around the limbal ring are rated as more attractive. 'Since a limbal ring usually fades over time, a defined one can suggest youthfulness and good health.' A limbal ring is a dark circle that appears around the iris of your eye - the coloured part. The rings are typically less than a millimetre thick, and are associated with youthfulness - the rings are darker when a person is a child, and fade with age. Some studies have also claimed that a more prominent limbal ring is a sign of attractiveness. The lenses can be used by people with dark or lighter eyes, she added. Lenses for lighter eyes are described as giving a 'sparkle effect' and those for darker eyes are described as giving a 'shimmer effect'. In 2011, researchers from the University of California Irvine conducted a study in which participants were shown a set of 80 pairs of faces and asked to rate them for attractiveness. The faces in each pair were the same except one had been digitally altered to have a darkened limbal ring. Looking good: The limbal ring ring naturally fades with age and poor health, so improving the definition is said to make us look more youthful, and healthier, a study has claimed (before and after of lenses pictured) Age fades the colour in a person's eye (stock image of elderly man pictured), but if someone has high cholesterol there can be a white ring in the clear cornea and this deposit dulls the iris colour too . The pattern on the Natural Shimmer lens (top) gives it more depth and provides an intense effect whereas the pattern on the Natural Sparkle lens (bottom) provides a luminous and brightening effect . The researchers found that the male and female participants, who were not aware of what had been changed, overwhelmingly preferred the photos showing the darker limbal rings. The scientists, who published their research in the journal Evolutionary Psychology, suggested that we have evolved to find faces with more defined limbal rings as more attractive because they signal that the person is young and healthy enough to reproduce with. Dr Robert Burriss, a psychologist at Northumbria University who specialises in attractiveness, said: 'The limbal ring fades over time, so it is used - unconsciously - as an indicator of age. 'This is interesting because we perceive most other indicators of age - wrinkled skin, grey hair, voice, changes in posture - consciously. 'But I'm pretty sure most people have never given their limbal rings a second thought!' Consultant ophthalmologist Julian Stevens said there is nothing we can do to prevent the natural fading of the limbal ring with the passage of time - but certain conditions can make it worse. 'The iris pigment can fall out over the years, so the colour fades,' he said. 'But if someone has high cholesterol there can be a white ring in the clear cornea and this deposit dulls the iris colour too.' | The Acuvue Define lenses have a pigment inside that helps to define the border around the iris, known as the limbal ring .
This ring naturally fades with age and poor health, so improving the definition is said to make us look more youthful, and healthier . |
163,117 | 5eed30dafb11e605945c4ce2742c946ac8be2271 | Manchester United have made no move to register goalkeeper Victor Valdes with the Barclays Premier League this week, effectively ruling him out of Saturday’s game at Arsenal. United are in the grip of a deepening injury crisis with midfielders Daley Blind and Michael Carrick and goalkeeper David de Gea returning from the international break with injuries. De Gea’s finger dislocation makes him a doubt for the weekend – although that hasn’t been confirmed yet – and there has been speculation that United manager Louis van Gaal may overlook regular No 2 Anders Lindegaard at the Emirates this weekend and try and push the experienced former Barcelona keeper Valdes in to emergency service. Man United goalkeeper David de Gea leaves Spain training on Friday to get a dislocated finger looked at . The 32-year-old is a free agent and has been training at United while he recovers from a knee injury. Valdes is close to fitness now but United would have to officially add him to their Premier League squad in order for him to play and it is understood that has not happened. There is room in United’s official list for Valdes as they are not currently up to their 25-man maximum permitted by the league. However, an application to add the 32-year-old would take a number of days and the fact United have not even started the process would appear to suggest Lindegaard will play this weekend if De Gea is not fit. Victor Valdes (centre) watches from the stands as Manchester United draw 1-1 with Chelsea at Old Trafford . Danish goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard (second left) looks set to start against Arsenal on Saturday . Valdes was in Manchester as Barcelona beat City in the Champions League in February this year . As regards De Gea, the United No 1 sat on the bench as Spain beat Belarus over the weekend, rather than being sent home to his club as would usually be the case when a player is seriously injured. The 24-year-old - who has been linked with a move to Real Madrid - told the Spanish press that Valdes is not being signed as a replacement for him. 'Yes, my contract runs out in 2016. But they didn't sign him for that,' De Gea told Spanish newspaper AS. 'Victor had a difficult injury, he had a bad time and the boss knows him well and has given him the opportunity to recover. De Gea - seen here celebrating with Juan Mata after United beat Everton - has been in fine form this season . VIDEO De Gea dislocates finger . 'Yes, Victor is training over in Manchester, he's still not 100 per cent after his injury. When he is fully fit he will start to train with us. He's still not training in goal with us. From time to time he comes out with the goalkeeping coach but very little still. 'Van Gaal knows him well because he gave Victor his debut at Barca and has a special affection for him and whenever possible we have to help where we can. 'Football is cruel at times, it's difficult. When things go well you're very good and when they go badly, well it's awful.' | Goalkeeper Victor Valdes has been training with Manchester United .
The former Barcelona ace is close to recovering from a serious knee injury .
United will register the Spain international in their squad .
But they will not do so in time for Valdes to face Arsenal on Saturday .
Regular No 1 David de Gea likely to miss the game with a dislocated finger .
Sportsmail's Adrian Durham has argued that the Arsenal vs Man Utd fixture should be postponed due to injuries . |
228,944 | b470216ff1b8678943e98202b5a1bc188689bb8c | Washington (CNN) -- As the United States prepares to take some troops out of Afghanistan this July, an ambitious program to persuade Afghanistan insurgents to leave the fight has managed so far to attract only 1,700 converts over the past 10 months, according to a general leading the "reintegration" effort. But the killing of Osama bin Laden may convince more to turn, the general says. The United States and its allies have contributed $141 million to the program of amnesty and reintegration. And estimates are that 20,000 to 25,000 fighters remain in the field, despite efforts to persuade both Taliban leaders and foot soldiers to cross over. "It is gaining increasing authenticity. People know they can step out of the fight," British Maj. Gen. Phil Jones said Thursday in a video link from Afghanistan to the Pentagon. He heads up the allied reintegration effort for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Jones said Afghanis have talks underway with 40 to 45 Taliban and insurgent groups, representing maybe a total of 2,000 additional fighters. He said there had been new interest after U.S. commandos killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan early this month. "We were talking to some officers from the (Afghanistan) National Directorate of Security this morning and they were quite clear that that the expressions of interest of low level and mid level groups to join the program has picked up considerably over the last couple of weeks." Jones said. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said soon after the raid that bin Laden's death opens the door to Taliban parting ways with al Qaeda. "If that could happen at the same time we're keeping military pressure on the Taliban, keep them from taking back what you guys seized from them, expand the security bubble, you may actually next winter have the potential for reconciliation talks that are ... meaningful in terms of going forward, because one of the red lines for both us and the Afghan government (is) the Taliban disavowing any role with al Qaeda," Gates told Marines at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina on May 12. Potential recruits to the reintegration program are interviewed, photographed and fingerprinted, and they can be sheltered in safe houses and receive a stipend before returning to their villages. But Jones admitted problems with the program. "Inevitably if you start with a paper document and you have to build this airplane as you fly it, so to speak, then you are going to have challenges meeting demands." For some fighters, leaving the battlefield can be an impossible step. "There still is a sense among a lot of the fighters that this smacks too much of surrender and their honor and dignity as fighting men ... can't quite take it as yet," Jones said. "There is still that psychology playing out there." Another problem is what Jones described as "the predatory reach" of insurgents who cross the border from Afghanistan to punish and kill those they see as disloyal. And he denied problems with fighters taking refuge in the program, only to return to the insurgency. "Thus far the people who have come -- the 17 hundred who have come in recent months -- have shown no signs of recidivism yet. There is no sense they are coming in to wait out the fighting season and go back," Jones said. In the long term, success of reintegration will depend on overall military and political momentum in the country. There are no certainties in Afghanistan -- that is one of the things we have learned over the past 10 years," Jones said, predicting a tough fighting-season in coming months. "At its heart this is a very human process. It requires people on both sides of the divide to make really courageous and life-changing decisions." | "People know they can step out of the fight," says a British general .
About 1,700 insurgents have entered the reintegration program, he says .
Estimates are that as many as 25,000 Taliban fighters remain in the field .
The killing of Osama bin Laden may convince more to turn, the general says. |
232,801 | b96c46b9a21f5c76ffe15ad2ef5440314ab0864d | By PETER STANFORD . UPDATED: . 05:05 EST, 22 December 2011 . Puzzle: The Turin Shroud's origin is endlessly debated. Still, the Catholic Church has placed the cloth in a cathedral as an object of worship . The Catholic Church has never publicly accepted or rejected popular belief that the Turin Shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. But it has done everything short of that to encourage devotion to this ancient piece of linen, on display in Turin Cathedral, which bears the markings of a man who appears to have been crucified. The extraordinary sepia image on the cloth is simply — as Pope Benedict XVI likes to put it in that careful, precise way of his — ‘an image that reminds us always of Christ’s suffering’. Yet, this week, a group of Italian scientists claimed the shroud was created by a ‘supernatural event’ rather than the machinations of medieval forgers. The academics concluded that the sort of burst of ultra-violet light necessary to have left such an imprint on the cloth just wasn’t possible by any human endeavour in any age other than our own technically advanced one with its access to lasers. The implication of their findings is that the image was scorched on to the linen as a result of a divinely generated light given out by Jesus’s body when he rose from the dead. Believers in the shroud hail the research by scientists at Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) as proof that it is genuinely the cloth of Christ. They claim it backs up the work of a group of American scientists from the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP) from the Seventies. These scientists established by careful analysis of the fibres of the cloth that the image of the bearded, crucified man had not been painted on to the cloth. It was not, they concluded, ‘a natural formation’. Science, say the believers, appears to have provided no reasonable answer to counter the belief of generations of Christians that this is the image of Christ on the shroud in which his body was wrapped when it was taken down from the cross. Scientists in Italy believe the kind of technology needed to create the Shroud of Turin simply wasn't around at the time that it was created. Still the Vatican steadfastly refuses to be drawn again into the saga . And yet, despite this latest research supposedly proving its authenticity, the Vatican has steadfastly refused to be drawn again into the long-running saga of the shroud. The question is why. Why, if the science seems so certain, won’t the Catholic Church endorse this piece of cloth as the genuine article? One reason is that the new research still cannot get round the main stumbling block when it comes to proving the shroud’s authenticity. In 1988, three separate and internationally acclaimed laboratories in Zurich, Oxford and Arizona carbon-dated samples of the cloth, provided by the Church, and came up with 1260 to 1390 as its probable date of origin. In other words, that research showed it to be a medieval forgery. And in the 23 years since, the best that the shroud’s devotees have come up with to counter this incontrovertible fact is a theory that all three samples that were carbon-dated were contaminated — that they contained rogue fibres from later medieval attempts to patch and mend the original shroud. There are plenty of papers that try to make this thesis stand up, but the overall impression is of whistling in the wind. So why do people flock to see the . shroud on the rare occasions it is put on public show in its glass, . climate- controlled display case? The most straightforward answer is . that we like a mystery and this one is about as tantalising as it gets. For . just as the Church has never felt able to pronounce definitively on the . shroud, neither has science come up with a water-tight theory as to . exactly what it is and how the image came about. The . shroud therefore exists in a kind of middle ground — where we can all . pronounce our own verdict. But once you start considering the . possibilities of how it was created, you immediately get in a tangle. If it is a medieval forgery, then how can its image have been created by methods beyond the wit of humankind at that time? Why do people flock to see the shroud? We like mystery. Since neither the church nor science have come up with a definitive answer, the shroud exists in middle ground, where we can make our own verdict . One of the most intriguing aspects is that the image of Christ is hard to pick out with the naked eye in the sepia markings on the cloth, which is 4½m long and just over a metre in width. But, when at the very end of the 19th century, a photographic negative of the image was first produced, it looked every inch like the face of Christ. How could a medieval forger have produced something so exact 500 years before the technology existed to make a negative image? Yet the sceptics could easily counter this with an argument of their own. Even if the shroud is really 2,000 years old and the carbon-dating laboratories mistaken, they point out what is there to link it to Jesus? Crucifixion was a common method of putting criminals to death back under the Romans. This might just as well be the funeral wrappings of a run-of-the-mill murderer or thief. Indeed, one theory popular among supporters of the medieval forgery theory is that it was made centuries after the death of Christ by crucifying someone in exactly the same manner as described in the Gospel accounts and then wrapping the victim in a shroud. The further you go into this mystery, the murkier the waters become. And if you go so far as to visit Turin (for 500 years the shroud belonged to the locally based royal house of Savoy) and stand in front of the display case, there is undeniably a certain awe about this object. The Resurrection of Christ, 1463-65, fresco by Piero della Francesca: The Vatican - which owns the Turin shroud - shies away from statements over whether it is real or fake, but says it helps to explore the 'darkest mysteries of faith' It springs, to my mind, not from any air of authenticity that the object itself radiates, but from the knowledge that for centuries people have been making precisely the same pilgrimage as I and so many others have done to gaze at this piece of cloth. It stems from the fact that they have harboured exactly the same hopes that by doing so, somehow, they will be able to reach a final conclusion on the truth or not of the very claims of Christianity. How comforting it would be to know, for sure, if there is a God. What is important today about the shroud is not whether it is genuinely the burial cloth of Jesus — we are never going to reach a consensus on that — but rather that over many centuries people have believed in it. It is this history of belief that is the really powerful thing. At a stroke it carries us back through centuries of Christianity and connects our sceptical, secular and scientific age with an earlier epoch of miracles and faith. This is why the Catholic Church refuse to be drawn on the Turin Shroud. As Pope Benedict says, it is an extraordinarily powerful image of Christ’s suffering — and made so because of the faith people have in it, whether it is genuine or not. On its own, the shroud is never going to be enough to legitimise belief in the core tenet of Christianity — the Resurrection of Jesus. But nevertheless, it is a powerful focus for our thoughts on the subject — a symbol of the hopes of so many who embrace Christianity without any conclusive proof other than their own belief. And that, surely, is the point about religion — a point we are in danger of missing now that every belief and theory is judged to be worthless unless it can be put under a microscope by scientists and proved, irrefutably, to be true. Some things, some important things, just don’t fit into this rigid, logical model of the world. Science, as the saga of the shroud epitomises, can never get to the bottom of faith. Peter Stanford is a former editor of the Catholic Herald. His latest book, The Extra Mile: A 21st Century Pilgrimage, is published by Continuum. | Italian scientists claim shroud was created by 'supernatural event' as burst of ultra-violet light necessary to leave imprint on cloth wasn't then possible .
Implication from research is that image of Jesus was scorched onto linen by divinely generated light given out by His body .
Shroud believers welcome new scientific research 'proving' its existence .
But Vatican still refuses to comment on the long-running saga . |
150,950 | 4f2aa6ff26c8de3b66b8a50db70c6bba1d06c8b3 | By . Harriet Cooke . PUBLISHED: . 11:07 EST, 16 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 02:29 EST, 17 December 2012 . A Post Office in the tiny Welsh village of BETHLEHEM has been swamped with customers who want to have their Christmas cards stamped with its unique postmark. Thousands of visitors from all over the world will be flocking to the village for their Christmas mail to be stamped with the festive name. Postmaster Mike Williams said: 'This is a very busy time for our Bethlehem branch. Swamped: Bethlehem Post Office in a tiny village in Carmathanshire West Wales has been inundated with visitors who want their Christmas cards sent with its unique stamp . Left, the coveted Bethlehem stamp with the angel and the harp, and right, post office worker Pauline Bewley, who is coping with thousands of tourist customers . 'People come from all over the UK and abroad to hand deliver their cards to make sure they get the Bethlehem handstamp. 'We have had visitors from as far as America, Australia and even from the more famous Bethlehem.' The unique stamp shows an angel and a harp, with greetings in English and Welsh. And crucially it carries the name of the Biblical city in Palestine fabled as the birthplace of Jesus. The post office in the quiet Carmarthenshire village is more than 2,500 miles from the 'Little Town of Bethlehem' featured in the popular Christmas carol. But that hasn't stopped customers rushing there - and mail chiefs expect around 30,000 letters to pass through the post office this year. Royal Mail Director Tony Fox, said: 'Thousands of our customers take advantage of this unique handstamp helping bring festive cheer to those who receive it at Christmas.' Visitors: Rachel and Tom Stewart with baby Freya were among the thousands to . visit Bethlehem Post Office so they could send their festive cards with a . unique stamp . Tourist destination: Thousands of people flock to Bethlehem every year because of its famous name . Traveller: The Prince of Wales in 1862 . Photographs and previously unseen diary extracts charting a royal visit to Bethlehem 150 years ago are to go on display. Queen Victoria's eldest son King Edward VII travelled on an educational trip to the Middle East in 1862 when he was the Prince of Wales. He was joined by Francis Bedford - the first photographer to accompany a royal tour. Bedford's images of the trip captured a view of Bethlehem from the roof of the Church of the Nativity, said to be built on the spot where Jesus was born. He also took a picture of the Shepherds' Field showing the area where the Angel Gabriel is said to have appeared to the shepherds. The photographs, which belong to the Royal Collection, will form part of a new exhibition - Cairo to Constantinople: Early Photographs of the Middle East - at The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, from March 8, 2013. Curator Sophie Gordon said the purpose of taking the photograph from the Church of the Nativity was to show the Victorian audience that Bethlehem really existed and to add weight to the Christian tradition. 'Bethlehem wasn't directly on the Prince's route - and so his party made a particular point of going there,' she said. Dr Gordon added: 'Very little was known about this part of the world at the time, and what information they did have was largely based on knowledge of the Bible.' In the early 1860s, photography was still in its infancy and had only been introduced to the public in 1839. 'Bedford's camera would have been quite large to accommodate a 10 x 12in glass plate negative,' Dr Gordon added. 'He must have had porters to carry all his equipment, as the entire photographic process had to be done on the spot. Exhibition: The Shepherds' Field, Bethlehem, taken on a royal visit . to Bethlehem in 1862 . 'Just before he took the photograph, Bedford would have coated and sensitised the plate, because the plate had to go in the camera when it was still wet. 'He would have then developed and fixed the image, while excluding all light, and washed the plate. 'To carry out this process, Bedford would have constructed a temporary dark room, perhaps on the church roof.' The then Prince of Wales described the party's visit to Bethlehem in his diary entry for April 3, 1862, describing how 'our tents were struck at 8.30am and we started at that time (on horseback of course) for Bethlehem, which we reached in about a couple of hours time, stopping on the way at Rachel's tomb, and it was ascertained for certain that the tomb is on the site of the real one'. Unseen: Royal photographer Francis Bedford took this picture of Bethlehem 150 years ago while on a visit with the Prince of Wales . He recalls how they had 'some splendid refreshment' and how they saw a 'fine view' on the top of the church. On April 18, 1862, when the party encountered poor weather ahead of a ride to Nazareth, he wrote: 'Early in the morning it blew a regular hurricane and poured with rain and all our tents were in gt. jeopardy.' The heir to the throne's four-month trip to the Middle East was designed to increase his understanding of the area at a time when the Ottoman Empire was disintegrating and Britain needed to secure the route to India. Cairo to Constantinople: Early Photographs of the Middle East will go on show at the Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, from March 8 to July 21, and at the Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, from October 2014 to February 2015. | Thousands flock to village with the famous name of Bethlehem .
The coveted handstamp attracts visitors from across the world, including America and Australia .
Around 30,000 letters to pass through the post office this year . |
203,574 | 938951f8e53a735c4e03ee71bf52ba8331e9bb6e | By . Sophie Jane Evans . PUBLISHED: . 09:57 EST, 11 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 13:22 EST, 11 March 2014 . These spectacular photos show peregrine falcons hunting pigeons in the skies over British cities. The birds, some of the world's fastest creatures, were captured snatching the vermin above Bristol and London. They can be seen soaring through the air with speeds of up to 240mph, before swiping the pigeons in their sharp talons. Hunting: This photo shows a peregrine falcon carrying a pigeon in its talons as it soars above the city of Bristol . Fighting over lunch: A pair of falcons, which can reach speeds of up to 240miles per hour, fight over their prey . Speedy: Peregrine falcons are some of the world's fastest creatures - and are also widely distributed globally . Peregrine falcons are the most widely distributed birds in the world - inhabiting all continents, except Antarctica. However, in Britain, they are usually spotted in the skies above mountain ranges, wild cliffs and other remote spaces. Photographer Sam Hobson, 34, said it was 'amazing' to capture the birds hunting above the bustling cities. 'There is something amazing about seeing one of the world's fastest animals perched on a building you see every day,' he said. 'There are . plenty of tall buildings in cities for the birds to perch on.' Mid-flight: But the birds are usually spotted in the skies above mountain ranges and wild cliffs in remote areas . Incredible: Photographer Sam Hobson, who has been tracking and photographing urban falcons for the past two years, said it was 'amazing' to capture the birds in Britain. Above, a peregrine falcon flies over Bristol . 'Perfect habitat': 'We have unwittingly created the perfect habitat for the falcons in Britain,' said the 34-year-old . Mr Hobson, who has been tracking and photographing urban falcons in Bristol and London for the past two years, said the birds had been attracted to the cities because of their large number of pigeons and other migratory birds. 'I have seen falcons doing things they don't do in the countryside,' he said. 'For example, I witnessed them hunting at night. 'The . falcons were using the city lights to spot other birds and then . swooping on them. Perching: Mr Hobson said March was a good month for picturing the birds. Above, a falcon on a perch . 'We are used to seeing nocturnal hunting behavior in . owls, but not peregrines. 'They were hunting different birds as well, not just pigeons. They preyed on a lot of migratory birds.' He added that March was a good month for photographing the birds - saying: 'We are coming up to the time when falcons lay their first eggs of the year. 'Males are particularly territorial during this time, and attack other birds like seagulls which come anywhere near their nests. 'A couple of years ago two falcons in Bristol only managed to lay one egg, and a seagull knocked it into the floating harbour. Some workmen managed to fish it out with an umbrella, and it was saved.' Mr Hobson said he had captured the falcons from vantage points on high buildings - while carefully observing their nesting habits to determine where they will appear. 'I stood on top of a car park all day, waiting for something to happen,' he said. 'From the pictures you would think these are really active birds, but often I sit there watching them perched on a ledge, digesting their food all day.' Ben Hoare, features editor at BBC Wildlife Magazine, said peregrines have undergone a 'spectacular renaissance' in Britain - and have been attracted to cities because of their 'suitable prey'. 'There is plenty of suitable prey here, especially pigeons, and lots of nest sites too - a high ledge or flat roof is a perfect substitute for a cliff,' he said. 'The falcons have even learned to hunt after dark using the glow from streetlights, targeting the migratory birds that fly over our cities at night. Flying high: The photographer took the amazing photos from vantage points on buildings in Bristol and London . Change: Ben Hoare, of the BBC, said peregrines have recently undergone a 'spectacular renaissance' in Britain . Suitable location: 'There is plenty of suitable prey here, especially pigeons, and lots of nest sites too,' he said . 'When I started birdwatching in the 1980s, peregrine falcons were at a low ebb after decades of decline. But, today these fabulous birds of prey nest in full view in many British cities, often on cathedral towers or other tall landmarks. 'I see a pair of peregrines most days in central Bristol on my walk to work, and delighted local office workers love to follow the birds' progress as they raise a family. 'The birds seem remarkably tolerant of all the noise going on around them - once I saw the male peregrine perched on the end of a tower crane on a building site, completely oblivious as it swung through 90 degrees.' | Images show peregrine falcons hunting pigeons above Bristol and London .
Can be seen soaring through sky, before snatching vermin in sharp talons .
Peregrine falcons are some of world's fastest creatures, reaching 240mph .
They are usually spotted in skies above remote mountain ranges and cliffs .
Photographer Sam Hobson was 'amazed' to capture them above busy cities .
Birds are believed to have been attracted to cities because of 'suitable prey'
They have even learned to hunt after dark using streetlights, says expert . |
176,210 | 701e8ae018eb9cdd1aec3814251e19fe0ab78f71 | By . Jennifer Newton . Afghan voters defied threats of violence to cast their ballots in the country's first democratic transfer of power today. The turnout was so high that some polling centres ran out of ballot papers as people queued up to cast their vote more than an hour before polls opened. Men in traditional tunics and loose trousers and women clad in burqas arrived at the polling stations with a sense of excitement over choosing a new leader for the first time. Scroll down for videos . Men lining up to register to vote at a Kabul polling station in the country's first democratic transfer of power . The poll is amid tight security as Taliban militants have vowed to disrupt the vote by targeting polling stations and election workers. Hundreds of thousands of Afghan police and soldiers fanned out across the country, searching cars at checkpoints and blocking vehicles from getting close to polling stations. Some voters were searched three times in Kabul, and text messages were blocked in an apparent attempt to prevent candidates from last-minute campaigning. At a Kandahar hospital-turned-polling station, the men's queue stretched from the building, through the courtyard and out into the street. An Afghan policeman stands by a gate at a polling station in Jalalabad, east of Kabul during elections amid tight security . Afghan women show their registration cards as they wait to cast their ballots in Kunduz . In Helmand province, women pushed, shoved and argued as they pressed forward in a long line. The Taliban threats came following several recent high-profile attacks in the heart of the Afghan capital, Kabul. Just yesterday, an Associated Press veteran photographer was killed and a reporter wounded when an Afghan policeman opened fire on their car. Today a bomb exploded in a school packed with voters in the Mohammad Agha district of Logar province, wounding two men, one seriously, according to local government spokesman Din Mohammad Darwesh . Rocket attacks and gun battles forced authorities to close an additional 211 polling centres, raising the total number which were shut because of security concerns to 959, according to Independent Election Commission chairman Ahmad Yousuf Nouristani. Some polling stations ran out of ballot papers due the large turnout of voters across Afghanistan . These women queued up to vote in the Afghan elections in the north western city of Herat today . There was tight security at polling stations as Taliban militants vowed to disrupt the vote by targeting election workers . But Mr Nouristani also confirmed that some polling centres had run out of ballot papers but that authorities were addressing the shortfall. They also extended voting by an hour, to accommodate everybody standing in the queue. Mr Nouristani said: 'We have received complaints about it and we have already sent ballot papers to wherever needed.' The vote will chose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, who is consitutionally barred from serving a third term. International combat troops are leaving Afghanistan by the end of the year. Afghans will be then left largely on their own to face what is likely to be an intensified campaign by the Taliban to regain power. Afghan president Hamid Karzai cast his vote at a high school near to the Presidential Palace . Afghan presidential candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, centre, and his vice presidential candidates Mohammed Mohaqiq, right and Mohammad Khan, left show their fingers marked with indelible ink after casting their ballots . A new president will be chosen from a field of eight candidates, with three of them widely considered the main contenders. Mr Karzai cast his vote at a high school near the presidential palace. 'Today for us, the people of Afghanistan, is a very vital day that will determine our national future. 'We the people of Afghanistan will elect our provincial council members and our president by our secret votes,' he said, his finger stained with the indelible ink being used to prevent people from voting twice. Electoral officials have taken extra measures to prevent fraud after widespread vote-rigging in 2009 marred Mr Karzai's re-election. Strict protocols include bar codes on the ballot boxes delivered by truck and donkey caravans to all 34 provinces and plans to tally the results immediately after the vote closes and post a copy of the results at each centre. | Voters started lining up to vote more than an hour before the polls opened .
Election is amid tight security due to threats by the Taliban .
Voters are choosing first democratic successor to President Hamid Karzai . |
68,133 | c14f2dc81695fd5c76ada411b16f5d3c15f9bfa1 | (CNN) -- Actor Alec Baldwin says he is "very, very interested" in running for political office but to leave acting would be "extremely painful." The "30 Rock" star made the comments in an interview to air Wednesday on CNN's "Parker Spitzer." Knowing Baldwin's long-running interest in politics, Eliot Spitzer asked him if he was ready to "get into this game." "The answer is: Yes, it's something that I am very, very interested in," Baldwin said. "People would say to me all the time, 'Why would you want to do that?' And sometimes I don't want to do it because to leave what I am doing now would be extremely painful." Baldwin, 52, told Spitzer he loves where he is in his acting career right now. "However, I do believe that people want to believe that someone, who deeply cares about the middle class ... would like to see public office." This isn't the first time Baldwin has flirted with the notion of becoming a politician. He told Playboy magazine over the summer that he was interested. "The desire is there; that's one component. The other component is opportunity," said Baldwin, who descibes himself as a "carry-me-out-in-a-box New Yorker" and someone unlikely to move to another state for a political opportunity. "I have sometimes thought I could move to New Jersey or Connecticut and run. I'd love to run against Joe Lieberman. I have no use for him. But it's all fantasy" Baldwin also told CBS news magazine "60 Minutes" in 2009 that running for political office is "something I might do one day." | Baldwin stars in the NBC show "30 Rock"
He has long flirted with running for political office .
Baldwin has expressed a similar interest in interviews with Playboy and "60 Minutes" |
159,119 | 59af35d89628c396e7497f47e14656e52bfeab6c | The pesky credit card surcharges that ramp up the cost of purchases on flights, taxis, household bills, tickets and more could be chopped under recommendations to be put forward by Treasurer Joe Hockey this weekend. Consumer campaign group Choice spokesperson Tom Godfrey told Daily Mail Australia it is just a matter of time before surcharges – which are estimated to cost consumers up to $800 million a year - are scrapped. 'We think the end is imminent. The government has signalled they've had enough and now it's time for some strong enforcement against companies,' Mr Godfrey said. Mr Hockey wants the Reserve Bank of Australia to accept recommendations put forward in his Financial Service Inquiry report that call for a stop to hefty surcharges, the Herald Sun reports. Surcharges could be chopped under recommendations put forward by Treasurer Joe Hockey this weekend . Under the recommendations retailers would only be able to charge the administrative cost of paying with card – limited to 12 cents or 0.5 per cent of the transaction value. Currently, companies such as Telstra charge 2 per cents plus GST for card payments and airlines like Jetstar and Tigerair charge a whopping $8.50 per flight. Choice spokesperson Mr Godfrey explained: 'The latest report is a damning blow for excessive surcharges in the industry - airlines, taxis, ticket sellers - anyone that administrates credit card sales on a large scale. 'Australia has had it very bad for a very long time. Choice has been running a long campaign to get rid of these fees... $800 million a year is what it’s costing consumers. A lot of money could be saved if the move is bought in and enforced.’ Under the recommendations retailers would only be able to charge the administrative cost of paying with card . Mr Godfrey said the biggest offenders are the airlines. 'They have been flying high on credit card surcharging for years.' In the meantime, he said consumers can avoid surcharges by looking for a 'fee free payment method' but he acknowledged consumers like the convenience of using their credit cards. Former Commonwealth Bank executive David Murray is leading the Financial Service Inquiry, supported by Mr Hockey. The Treasurer behind this year’s unpopular federal budget told the Herald Sun of the inquiry: ‘A major focus is consumer protection. We need to make sure Australians are as well informed as possible so they can make the right choices.’ Airlines like Jetstar and Tigerair add a whopping $8.50 per flight in surcharges . Cabcharge also adds on a percentage in fees for paying with credit card . However, this is not the first attempt to stop credit card charges. In March 2013, Visa became the first company to ban Australian retailers from adding on fees for using their cards. The airlines and the taxi industry did change the way they charged fees as a result. Independent eftpos provider Tyro Payments said more than 36 per cent of Australian businesses, or 100,000 companies, impose some type of surcharge on a customer's bill. This means the majority of companies - 64 per cent or 200,000 – are already doing the right thing for consumers. 36 per cent of Australian businesses impose some type of surcharge on a customer's bill . In June 2012 the Reserve Bank of Australia said it had noticed an ‘increase in cases where surcharges appear to be well in excess of acceptance costs’. ‘The Bank intends that its variation will improve price signals by enabling a card scheme to address cases where merchants are clearly surcharging at a higher level than is justified for acceptance of its card products,’ it added. Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Reserve Bank of Australia for comment on the latest claims. The Financial System Inquiry is aiming to establish a blueprint for the future of Australia's financial system. The inquiry has received more than 6500 submissions since its interim report, 5000 of which touched on the issue of credit card surcharges, AAP reports. Its findings will be released on Sunday, sixteen years since the last financial system inquiry. | Treasurer Joe Hockey will ask the Reserve Bank of Australia to back his plans to scrap credit card surcharges .
Under the new recommendations retailers would only be able to charge the administration cost of paying with a card .
The cost would be limited to 12 cents or 0.5 per cent of the transaction value .
Surcharges are estimated to cost consumers up to $800 million a year . |
126,639 | 2fb2144f6b2284a2b1123f6bd3756226ef940b25 | Coal will become more in demand than oil by 2020 driven by growth in China and India, despite campaigns to reduce carbon emissions across the globe, a new report reveals. Marking a return to an era reminiscent of Britain's industrial revolution, the rapidly expanding economies in the East are turning to coal since it is cheaper and more reliable than oil or renewable energy sources, energy consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie said on Monday. Rising demand in China and India will push coal past oil as the two Asian powerhouses will need to rely on the comparatively cheaper fuel to power their economies. Coal demand in the United States, Europe and the rest of Asia will hold steady. Smog: China has access to vast swathes of coal, which is cheaper for it to use than other fossil fuels. Pictured, Wuda Coal Field, in Wu Hai, Inner Mongolia, China, where coal is mined, then trucked nearby to the power stations and factories in the region . Little choice: China has no alternative to coal, with its domestic gas output limited, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports more costly than coal . Global coal consumption is expected to rise by 25 per cent by the end of the decade to 4,500 million tonnes of oil equivalent, overtaking oil at 4,400 million tonnes, according to Woodmac in a presentation on Monday at the World Energy Congress. 'China's demand for coal will almost single-handedly propel the growth of coal as the dominant global fuel,' said William Durbin, president of global markets at Woodmac. 'Unlike alternatives, it is plentiful and affordable.' China - already the top consumer - will drive two-thirds of the growth in global coal use this decade. Half of China's power generation capacity to be built between 2012 and 2020 will be coal-fired, said Woodmac. China has no alternative to coal, with its domestic gas output limited, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports more costly than coal, Durbin said. China's demand for coal will almost single handedly propel it to the most demanded fuel on the planet, the report says . 'Renewables cannot provide base load power. This leaves coal as the primary energy source,' he said. Power infrastructure provider Alstom estimated that across Asia close to half of the 600 gigawatt of new power generators to be built over the next five years will be coal-fired, Giles Dickson, a vice president at the company said. 'Coal prices are low,' he said, adding that coal is about one-third of the price of LNG in Asia and about half of the gas price in Europe. Abundant supply is also supporting demand for coal. The traded volumes of coal will increase by a further 20 per cent by 2020, Dickson said, including supply of lower grade coal from Indonesia, Australia and South Africa. 'As the lower grade coal comes into the market, further downward pressure on prices will further drive demand,' he said. Currently, oil is the most used fuel the world over, but coal is expected to be more in demand by 2020 . Excess supply and faltering demand growth have depressed global coal prices this year. European coal futures have tumbled more than 20 per cent, while Australian coal prices have plummeted from the record $130 per tonne hit in 2011 to around $80 per tonne as China's demand grew slower than expected. 'If you take China and India out of the equation, what is more surprising is that under current regulations, coal demand in the rest of the world will remain at current levels,' Durbin said. High fuel import costs and nuclear issues will support coal use throughout Northeast Asia, while in North America coal is still competitive in many locations despite abundant low-cost shale gas. 'The struggling economy and low coal prices has rendered the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) ineffective,' Durbin said. 'The carbon price will need to reach 40 euros per tonne to encourage fuel switching, which is unlikely before 2020.' In Southeast Asia, coal will be the biggest winner in the region's energy mix. Coal will generate nearly half of Southeast Asia's electricity by 2035, up from less than a third now, the International Energy Agency said in early October. This will contribute to a doubling of the region's energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to 2.3 gigatonnes by 2035, according to the IEA. | Economic growth in China and India are driving global demand for coal .
Coal is plentiful and more affordable for both China and India .
Coal demand in the U.S., Europe and rest of Asia will remain steady . |
170,804 | 6911388bac2ba3a7776bbac33999307bdc91f32d | By . Rachel Reilly . PUBLISHED: . 06:55 EST, 11 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:13 EST, 11 July 2013 . It is many men's little secret, but research has finally revealed the top ten Viagra sales hotspots in the UK. It found that Belfast reported the highest sales of the sex-enhancing drug, followed closely by Slough and Portsmouth. The news has coincided with new figures showing that sales of the little blue pill have doubled since it went off-patent and became 75 per cent cheaper last month. Scroll down for erectile dysfunction calculator . New research has shown where the top 10 Viagra sales hotspots are in the UK. Belfast is in pole position while smaller towns including Chester and Norwich have also made the list . Research into sales differences across the nation analysed data collected over the past three years. Statistics collected by ChemistDirect.co.uk found that sales peaked in Northern Ireland's capital. It also revealed that small towns such as Chester and Norwich made the top ten, as did Maidenhead, a popular area for the over 50s. 1 Belfast2 Slough3 Portsmouth4 Glasgow5 Coventry6 Chester7 Leicester8. Liverpool9 Maidenhead10 Norwich . Viagra was formulated by pharmaceutical company Pfizer and was launched as a sex-enhancing medication in Britain in 1999. It was originally developed to treat high blood pressure and angina but was found to be ineffective for these conditions. However doctors noticed it led to . sustained erections, as a result of temporarily increasing blood flow to . the penis. Last year 2.3 million British men were prescribed the drug, costing the NHS £40.3million. But last month the manufacturer of Viagra lost its exclusive right to make the drug. Since then, the price of the sex drug has dropped dramatically and could drop as by up to 90 per cent, taking the cost of a pill from £10 to £1. Over 20 manufacturers have applied for a license to produce a generic version of the drug, whose chemical name is sildenafil. The drug is so commonly used that stars including Michael Douglas, Jack Nicholson and Hugh Heffner have openly admitted to taking it. Until the drug went off-patent, NHS cuts had made it difficult for men to get the medication, with only men suffering with diabetes, multiple sclerosis and prostate cancer being offered it. But since then, legally produced sildenafil has flooded the market, triggering a 75 per cent drop in the price of the pills . Until the drug went off-patent, NHS cuts had made it difficult for men to get the medication, with only men suffering with diabetes, multiple sclerosis and prostate cancer being offered it. Because of this a fifth of all prescriptions last year were private. But since then, legally produced sildenafil has . flooded the market, triggering a 75 per cent drop in the price of the pills. One online clinic, DoctorFox.co.uk, has seen a . doubling of orders as more men request treatment and can afford to buy . greater quantities. The clinic's price for four 25mg pills of sildenafil has plummeted to £6.60 . compared to £24.20 in June. Calculate your risk of erectile dysfunction with the quiz designed for MailOnline by online GP service DrEd.com. | Sales data from the past 3 years shows Liverpool, Coventry and Glasgow men are also big users of the sex-enhancing drug .
Since Viagra went off-patent last month, pharmacies have noticed a surge in sales as cut-price versions of the drug have flooded the market . |
70,112 | c6c75a281cc7fd3253957ddbbae285001b7555de | Russia and the United States, in their third day of talks in Switzerland, said Saturday they have reached a groundbreaking deal on a framework to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stood side by side in Geneva as they set out a series of steps the Syrian government must follow. Syria must submit a comprehensive list of its chemical weapons stockpile within one week, Kerry said, and international inspectors must be on the ground no later than November. President Barack Obama said in a statement that the framework "represents an important concrete step toward the goal of moving Syria's chemical weapons under international control so that they may ultimately be destroyed." He added, "There are consequences should the Assad regime not comply with the framework agreed today. And, if diplomacy fails, the United States remains prepared to act." Senior U.S. State Department officials said that according to the timeline, initial inspections of declared chemical weapons sites must be completed by November; all production and mixing and filling equipment must be destroyed by November; and all chemical weapons material must be eliminated by mid-2014. The best way to ensure international control of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal will be to remove as much as is feasible and to destroy it outside Syria, if possible, the framework document says. Read the framework of the agreement . Kerry said the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must allow "immediate and unfettered" access to international inspectors. He said the inspectors should be able to get to Syria's chemical weapons sites despite the ongoing civil war, provided the al-Assad regime cooperates, since Syria has moved its chemical weapons into areas where it has tight control. The United States and Russia reached a shared assessment on the amount and type of chemical weapons possessed by the al-Assad regime, Kerry said. "Providing this framework is fully implemented, it can end the threat these weapons pose not only to the Syrian people but also their neighbors," and the wider world, he said. Syrian Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi welcomed the deal, saying his country is bent on implementing the political program as the "sole exit" from the crisis, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency. Enforcement measures . The verification and destruction process will be carried out by personnel from both the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the body that implements the international ban on chemical weapons use, according to the framework agreement. Russia and the United States will now work to get a U.N. Security Council resolution that will keep the process under review and allow the Council to consider the use of force if Syria fails to comply. Syrian crisis: Keep up with key developments . Russia has veto power in the Security Council and would be unlikely to agree to using force. Other options include imposing sanctions. Senior State Department officials told reporters that Saturday's agreement "sends a very powerful message" about the use of chemical weapons but acknowledged that the goal of eliminating them in Syria by the middle of next year is "daunting." The United States and Russia "agree that Syria has a stockpile that includes chemical warfare agents as well as the precursors for those agents," judged to be about 1,000 tons in total, the officials said. "We agree that it includes blister agents such as sulfur or mustard (gas) as well as nerve agents such as sarin," they said. But the number of locations for these agents has still to be agreed, they added. The United States and its allies blame al-Assad's forces for the chemical weapons attack outside Syria's capital last month that Washington says killed more than 1,400 people. Al-Assad and other officials vehemently deny their forces were responsible. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday his team is preparing a report for the Security Council that he believes will be an "overwhelming report that chemical weapons were used." The report is expected to be delivered Monday morning, according to three diplomatic sources. Syrian opposition fears . The Syrian opposition struck a note of skepticism. Gen. Salim Idriss, head of the rebel Free Syrian Army, told reporters in Istanbul he has information that Syria already started to move chemical materials and weapons out of the country, into Lebanon and Iraq. In Turkey, U.S. soldiers guard against Syrian missile threat . He predicted that al-Assad would keep some of his chemical weapons arsenal, and "then use it against our people and the FSA and then he will come out and accuse terrorists, and he will say that he gave up everything he has." The Syrian government refers to the opposition fighters as terrorists and has previously accused them of chemical weapons use. Some inside Syria criticized the focus on chemical weapons. Protesters in one town held up a banner in Arabic saying they are "worried that the international community is giving Assad a license to kill with all kinds of weapons except the use of chemical weapons." Hopes for peace . French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the U.S.-Russian agreement "constitutes an important step forward," a sentiment echoed by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague. The two plan to meet Kerry on Monday in Paris to discuss the framework and its implementation. Ban pledged U.N. support for the plan, his spokesman said, and expressed hope that it would both prevent any future use of chemical weapons and pave the way for a political solution in Syria. Opinion: Is diplomacy the harder solution in Syria? Kerry and Lavrov announced the deal on their third day of talks. Friday, they signaled their intent to meet later this month on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where they hope to set a date to restart long-stalled parallel talks on the broader issue of ending the Syrian civil war. The U.N. estimates more than 100,000 people have been killed since the civil war began in 2011, in addition to more than 2 million becoming refugees and over 4 million being displaced within Syria. 7-year-old's story shows pain, worry of Syrian refugees . | Kerry: Syria must list its stockpile within a week .
He says inspectors must be on the ground by November .
Chemical weapons must be destroyed by mid-2014, Kerry says .
Syria's prime minister welcomes the deal . |
257,192 | d8ddbbe5af513f2df75d5d3fe2e7cba64253270f | (CNN) -- The old adage "beauty is only skin deep" has turned out to be true, and filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders is a living witness. For his latest documentary, "About Face: Supermodels Then & Now" -- premiering on HBO on Monday --- the lensman exposes a side of the fashion business rarely seen by the masses, in which some of the most legendary and beautiful clotheshorses open up about their triumphs and struggles in and out of the spotlight. HBO is owned by CNN's parent company. The hour-plus-long film, which debuted this year at the Sundance Film Festival, features interviews with household names like Christie Brinkley, Beverly Johnson, Calvin Klein, Isabella Rossellini, Christy Turlington Burns and Cheryl Tiegs alongside industry pioneers such as Carmen Dell'Orefice, China Machado, Eileen Ford, Pat Cleveland and Bethann Hardison. Unlike other accounts of the fashion business -- such as popular fictional films like "Mahogany," "Zoolander" and "The Devil Wears Prada" and the documentary "The September Issue" -- "About Face" let the models do the talking. "People go into the film thinking, 'Oh, it's going to be some kind of fluffy film about the fashion world,' and then they leave it overwhelmed," Greenfield-Sanders said from his home in upstate New York. "I think that everyone was very honest in the film," he added. "And that's what I appreciated, them giving me their 100%. They gave me a lot and were very open." The film begins with 81-year-old Dell'Orefice candidly comparing her plastic surgery to repairing a ceiling that's falling down. The New York native is regarded as the world's oldest working model and started at Vogue magazine at the tender age of 15. Another eyebrow-raising moment comes with anecdotes from another octogenarian: Machado, who became the first ethnic model to grace the cover of Harper's Bazaar in 1959 after legendary fashion photographer Richard Avedon blackmailed the magazine's publisher into putting her on it. Three years later, the Shanghai-born beauty would become fashion editor of the same publication. "It started out in this '70s and '80s world," Greenfield-Sanders explained. "And I realized that I wanted to go deeper in front of that, and I wanted to do people from the '60s and even the '50s. Part of that was because they are still alive. You can still have a first-person conversation with (them)." The auteur behind such acclaimed documentaries as "Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart," "Thinking XXX" and "The Black List" series became inspired to do the project after a chance encounter. His friend Harry King, a well-known fashion hairdresser, hosted a party three years ago in New York as a reunion of sorts with people from the past who were his current Facebook friends. Greenfield-Sanders double-parked his car to run in for five minutes and ended up staying for hours. "My life changed," he said. "I knew a few of their names, and there were a handful of models there, and I thought, 'This could be a interesting group portrait,' " he said. "And that was the beginning of what I wanted to do. ... As I got to know them, I realized that this could definitely be a film." "I liked the idea of strong women who had kind of reinvented themselves, who have gone through tremendous fame and glamour and how they deal with that." The conversation around ageism is what mostly piqued his interests, he admitted. "That's something I think about a lot. I'm 60 years old. How does the world treat you as you get older? How do you deal with the fact that you're not the best-looking person anymore if your life is all about your looks?" Beverly Johnson, the first African-American woman to grace the cover of Vogue, appears in the film, as does another black beauty ("one-eighth African-American," she clarifies in "About Face"): Cleveland, who spoke poignantly about being attacked in the racist South during her early days modeling with the Ebony Fashion Fair. Cleveland would flee the United States for Europe until women of color were represented more in fashion in her homeland. Marisa Berenson revealed how her grandmother, famed fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, ended a longtime friendship with then-Vogue editrix Diana Vreeland after she hired her as a model for the magazine. Isabella Rossellini opened up about how her long-term contract as a spokesmodel for Lancôme cosmetics ended once she turned 40. And Bethann Hardison, who is more known for managing and shaping supermodels' careers, shared intimate stories about growing up in Brooklyn and how her mother thought she was a prostitute when she embarked on a modeling career. There were a few coveted cover girls, like Twiggy, who were out of his reach. "I think the film covers all of the areas that I wanted to cover. It covers the fun of fashion and modeling and the excitement of being that beautiful and having people turning everyone's heads," he noted. "It covers the drugs, the racism and the plastic surgery, and it's a very wide-ranging film. And I like that about it. And we like stories." Kim Alexis, one of the top models of the '80s, was elated to be a part of the film and to reconnect with friends she hadn't seen in years. "Modeling is a lonely business. We show up for jobs by ourselves, and each day is a new venture, no team, no office camaraderie. To be able to take a photo with my favorite models, doing what we did best, was a great day." The former Revlon spokesmodel released her literary debut, a novel titled "Beauty To Die For," this week. Like her book -- a sudsy murder mystery -- she said "About Face" offers a voice for the silent. "Modeling is silent. People don't know or understand how we feel as we work." Alexis recently hobnobbed with some of the film's subjects and the New York glitterati at the premiere party at the Paley Center for Media, which will house the corresponding portrait exhibit through September. "How good it was to hear these women's past and present thoughts, how everyone looked so good -- still -- and what a great thought on the part of Timothy Greenfield-Sanders to think it was worth sharing," said model Tyson Beckford, who attended the party. "No matter who you are, a good story is always worth listening to, and a beauty-related issue keeps it interesting." With the increasing growth and mass appeal of image-savvy social media apps and smartphones (equipped with state-of-the-art camera lenses) Greenfield-Sanders understands his lofty position as the poster child for portraiture. And it's not something he takes for granted. "I have been very aware of this and how the world had gotten so much faster and bigger, and if you don't have a photo show and a movie and a book and a DVD and a CD all at once, you just get lost, and I've been lucky as an artist, because I started out as a filmmaker but then became a photographer, so I'm skilled in all of these areas," he said. "I think, if you can, you need to be in as many mediums as possible at the same time." | "About Face: Supermodels Then & Now" premieres tonight .
The filmmaker got access to some of the top names in fashion .
Models' struggles with race, age are included in documentary . |
93,978 | 04d49d8cbb96c194ae5b45b099a9afb80eb4db46 | (CNN) -- It reads like the opening scene of an "Indiana Jones" movie. A young man climbing a French glacier finds a cache of glittering jewels wrapped in bags stamped "Made in India" -- remnants, perhaps, of cargo from an ill-fated airliner called the Malabar Princess. The best thing about it? This story is true. It happened early this month on a glacier overlooking the southeastern French village of Chamonix, Albertville police Chief Sylvain Merly said Thursday. The climber -- who Merly said asked to remain anonymous -- found the jewels inside a metal box atop the glacier. He turned them over to police in Bourg-Saint-Maurice on September 9. Merly declined to characterize the stones, which are being described in French media as rubies, sapphires and emeralds. They're worth somewhere between €130,000 (about $175,000) and €246,000 ($331,600), Merly said. French authorities are trying to trace ownership of the jewels. If proof of ownership can't be established, the unnamed 20-something mountaineer could stand to receive a portion of their value, Merly said. TrowelBlazers: In search of the female Indiana Jones . The gems may be from the 1950 crash of Air India Flight 245, the "Malabar Princess." The plane smashed into nearby Mont Blanc during a storm, killing all 48 aboard. When it crashed, the plane was preparing to make a stop in Geneva, Switzerland, as it flew between Bombay -- now Mumbai -- and London. French authorities say it's also possible the gems could have been aboard an Air India Boeing 707, the "Kanchenjunga," that crashed in nearly the same spot 16 years later. A diplomatic bag from that flight was recovered last year. Adding a bit of intrigue to the story, the 1966 crash is the subject of scattered conspiracy theories suggesting the Air India flight, which carried the father of India's nuclear industry, Homi Bhabha, was shot down by a fighter jet or missile. Debris from the wrecks routinely emerges from the bottom of the glacier, including metal, wire and even a piece of landing gear discovered in 1986, according to a Mont Blanc tourist site. Inside Cambodia's stunning new temple discoveries . CNN's Michael Pearson reported and wrote from Atlanta; Saskya Vandoorne reported from London. | A mountaineer discovers jewels on French glacier .
They could be from one of two airliners that crashed near the spot, one in 1950, the other 1966 .
French authorities are trying to trace the owners . |
235,321 | bca2539acf723756aab29ad471d3fb0b9fb7d83b | Next time you glance at a billboard for a new film you could be automatically shown the trailer, details about the cast and book tickets for your nearest showing online without the use of a phone or tablet. Augmented reality firm Blippar has unveiled the world's first image recognition and tracking app for Google Glass wearers that show videos, webpages, and more, simply by looking at a picture. These so-called Blipped images can be printed on products, papers, magazines, and on bus stops, for example, and as users move their eyes around, the content can move to remain in that wearer's line of sight. Scroll down for video . Blippar has unveiled the world's first image recognition and tracking app for Google Glass wearers that show videos, webpages, and more, simply by looking at a picture. Here a ketchup advert is jumping out of a computer screen . Blippar CEO and co-founder Ambarish Mitra made the announcement during a discussion about the future of mobile technology at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The Blippar app is already available on . iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry devices, but it currently . requires getting a phone out of a pocket, opening the app and pointing . the camera at the image. Today's announcement is the first time the technology can be used automatically, and seamlessly, just by looking at an advert. Blippar doesn’t produce the content, it . is the software that recognises the images and links that with a . pre-programmed video, for example. Google Glass with Blippar could look at an advert for foundation, for example. The camera on Google Glass could be used . to scan the wearer’s skin tone and the system could . recommend which shade will suit them best. The Blippar app is already available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry devices, but it currently requires getting a phone out of a pocket, opening the app and pointing the camera at the image. Today's announcement is the first time the technology can be used automatically, and seamlessly, just by looking at an advert. ‘This is a very exciting time for Blippar and a pivotal moment for the augmented reality industry as a whole,’ said Mitra. ‘We’re proud to announce that Blippar is actually the first to build a fully functioning, proof of concept to share with the world.' Blippar doesn’t produce the content, it is the software that recognises the images and links that with a pre-programmed video, for example. Mitra told MailOnline another way the technology could be used is with makeup adverts. ‘Google Glass with Blippar could look at an advert for foundation, for example. The camera on Google Glass could be used to scan the wearer’s skin tone and the system could recommend which shade will suit them best. ‘Google Glass is a promise that can only be fulfilled by companies such as Blippar. It’s very much like Minority Report. This is a completely new race.’ Google has banned facial recognition with its Glass product and MailOnline asked Mitra how he will guarantee users won’t abuse the app to bypass these restrictions. ‘Blippar is capable of facial recognition but we disable it by default,’ said Mitra. ‘Brands can’t turn pictures of people into Blippable images, for example, with the existing app and this will continue with Google Glass.’ 21st century beauty: Google Glass with Blippar could enhance an advert for foundation, for example. The camera on Google Glass could be used to scan the skin tone of the wearer¿s hand and then recommend which shade will suit them most . The concept is similar to the technology seen in the film Minority Report (a still, pictured). In a recent report, Juniper Research announced that the number of people using augmented reality globally is predicted to rise from 60 million, at the end of 2013, to over 200 million by 2018 . This isn’t just a technology that companies can use to advertise their products, either. The Blipp Builder can be used by anyone on a web browser to turn a photo of anything, other than faces, into a Blippable image. In a recent report, Juniper Research announced that the number of people using augmented reality globally is predicted to rise from 60 million, at the end of 2013, to over 200 million by 2018. Blippar was recently used to turn the front of Shortlist magazine in London into a playable game on mobiles. Blipped images are also printed on every can of Pepsi in the U.S to play promoted videos. The demo presented at Mobile World Congress also showcased other areas of image recognition technology Blippar has been developing including faster recognition, and lower battery usage. | Blippar for Google Glass is first recognition and tracking app for headset .
Looking at Blippable image using the camera plays content automatically .
Videos and other content will then move to remain in their line of sight .
The augmented reality app is already available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry devices .
CEO assured MailOnline the technology cannot be used to scan faces . |
276,672 | f26f54b51b4561262b709611270289288d624e2f | Last week, President Obama's campaign launched a fictional storybook ad called, "The Life of Julia." The slide show narrative follows Julia, a cartoon character, from age 3 to age 67 and explains how Obama's policies, from Head Start to Obamacare to mandated contraception coverage to Medicare reform, would provide Julia with a better life than Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan could. Julia is not your typical all-American girl, but an obviously independent, yuppie liberal woman. She goes to public school, graduates college, and becomes a Web designer. She is able to pursue her career because, at age 27, "her health insurance is required to cover birth control and preventive care, letting Julia focus on her work rather than worry about her health." At age 31 she "decides to have a child," with no mention of a father or husband. Her son Zachary heads off to a Race to the Top funded public school, while Julia goes on to start her own Web business. She retires at age 67 with Social Security and Medicare supporting her financially and spends her later years volunteering in a community garden. Julia's happily-ever-after tale is remarkably void of reality. Nowhere in her fictional life is it mentioned that Head Start has done little, if anything, to improve elementary education, that she will likely graduate with $25,000 in student loan debt, that she has a 50% chance of being unemployed or underemployed after college, that Medicare and Social Security are headed toward insolvency, and that her share of the national debt is $50,000 and growing. For Republicans, Julia's story might seem like a joke too good to be true, but they should take it very seriously. Because buried within "The Life of Julia" is the ideological vision of modern liberalism -- to create a state that takes care of its people from cradle to grave. The story of Julia is a microcosm of Obama's vision for America and emblematic of his view of the government's role in an individual's life. "The Life of Julia" has done what many conservatives have failed to do so far -- outline in exacting detail what modern Democratic policy wants for individuals. Here we have Obama's 21st century synthesis of the Great Society, New Deal and New Frontier. Julia's entire life is defined by her interactions with the state. Government is everywhere and each step of her life is tied to a government program. Notably absent in her story is any relationship with a husband, family, church or community, except a "community" garden where she works post-retirement. Instead, the state has taken their place and is her primary relationship. As banal and hackneyed as Julia's life of government dependence may seem, many Americans support it. After all, similar promises lured a number of European countries into overreaching and under-supported social safety nets. With the American family less intact than ever and with single motherhood at historic highs, women like Julia are increasingly left on their own. The idea of government assistance can become more and more attractive to them and even necessary. Democratic policymakers realize that in the absence of self-sustaining family units, government can step in and fill the void. And a government large enough to fill that void can eventually take the place of the family altogether. Cultural commentator Heather Mac Donald recently wrote, "The single mother has become the cornerstone of Democratic politics." Julia is the perfect example. In response, conservatives must defend their own cornerstones -- individual liberty, virtue and earned success. Conservatives must make the case that earned success is preferable to government dependency, and that Julia is more likely to achieve success and fulfillment in a good, stable family. As families grow stronger, schools, churches and communities improve, and Julia's chances for success improve, both for herself and her son. But as government grows larger and more intrusive, Julia's personal liberty and opportunities may shrink. Whatever pleasure Republicans may get from jokes or parodies of Julia, the fact is that many women will choose her life, some out of necessity or believing it's necessary. "The Life of Julia" should make it obvious that this election is about more than offering Julia a better job and more benefits. Conservatives must be able to provide Julia an alternative vision for a better future. Without it, Julia might have nowhere else to turn but to the government, and that is nothing to laugh about. Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion . Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion . | President Obama's campaign launches a fictional storybook ad called "The Life of Julia"
William Bennett: Buried within the ad is the ideological vision of modern liberalism .
He says the story of Julia represents Obama's view of the state's role in an individual's life .
Bennett: Conservatives must be able to craft an alternative vision . |
118,650 | 253389a8e1b564c9d5b065f04f1aa9fbd7e11328 | Alex Salmond will tomorrow face one of the biggest tests of his political career as he prepares for a TV showdown that he must win to have any hope of referendum victory. The First Minister is under intense pressure going into the STV debate, with a new poll revealing that only a quarter of No voters expect Mr Darling to win the contest. Failure to land a killer blow could end Mr Salmond's hopes of splitting the United Kingdom, and he is receiving help from taxpayer-funded civil servants and a lifestyle guru in a last throw of the dice before the referendum. Scroll down for video . First Minister Alex Salmond will go head-to-head with former Chancellor Alistair Darling, who is leading the Better Together campaign against independence . Campaign leaders in both camps are taking the two-hour TV programme very seriously, right down to the colour of tie the two politicians should wear, and the broadcaster is hoping for an audience in seven figures. However, experts have warned such programmes rarely reshape the political landscape. As an uneasy truce for the Commonwealth Games comes to an end, there will now be open warfare between both sides for the final few weeks of the referendum battle, with families set to be bombarded by mailshots costing taxpayers more than £850,000. Time is running out for the SNP, with a new poll for The Scottish Mail on Sunday showing Unionist campaign's lead has increased slightly in recent days. The findings are a massive humiliation for Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who used a Sunday newspaper interview yesterday to claim that Scotland's stunning success in the Commonwealth Games could give the Yes campaign the 'momentum' to win the referendum. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg last night accused her of 'sullying' the Games. A fan waved a St George's flag during last night's closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games . AT a Commonwealth Games dominated by the 'photobomb', Alex Salmond should have been on high alert. An England fan mocked the First Minister of Scotland by waving the St George's Cross behind his head as he watched Tom Daley compete in the diving. It was a lighthearted reference to Mr Salmond's stunt last year, when he waved the Saltire behind David Cameron's head at the Wimbledon finals. The prank comes just six weeks before the Scottish independence referendum. Alex Salmond waved the Saltire behind David Cameron at Wimbledon last year . In fact, only 12 per cent of those surveyed said Glasgow 2014 had made them more inclined to vote Yes, but four-fifths of that number said they were planning to vote for independence in the first place. The Survation study found more than 80 per cent said the Games have made no difference to how they would vote and 7 per cent said it would make them more inclined to vote No. Overall, the poll shows that 40 per cent of Scots plan to vote Yes - down one point since last month - with no change for the level of support for No at 46 per cent. The poll also found that only 11 per cent of voters expect Mr Darling to win tomorrow's TV debate, with 37 per cent backing Mr Salmond. Among Yes voters, 69 per cent said they backed the First Minister, while just 24 per cent of No supporters said they believe Mr Darling will emerge victorious. Alan Schroeder, associate professor at Northeastern University School of Journalism in Boston and author of Presidential Debates, said: 'While debates make great political theatre, they don't necessarily have the power to reshape the political landscape. 'Whatever happens on Tuesday, there is too much at stake for Scots voters to let two hours of televised combat determine their future.' Professor John Curtice of Strathclyde University said: 'It's clearly true the Yes side need it to make a difference. 'All Alistair Darling, frankly, needs to do is try and hang on to what he's got. I would say to him, play to type and make this as boring as possible.' It is understood Mr Salmond has preparing for the debate for around a week, enlisting the help of Claire Howell, a psychologist more used to dealing with Premiership football teams. Asked if taxpayer-funded civil servants have been involved in the preparation, a spokesman for the Scottish Government said: 'This is a standard media event. Alex Salmond was invited as First Minister and has the normal office support.' Better Together campaign director Blair McDougall said: 'The pressure is on the First Minister to finally give people honest answers to fundamental questions when he debates with Alistair Darling. 'The Commonwealth Games had nothing to do with the referendum.' Miss Sturgeon said: 'I do think the momentum is with us. I think [the Games] will inevitably leave a feelgood factor.' But speaking during a visit to Edinburgh, Mr Clegg said: 'I think it was very gauche of Nicola Sturgeon to try and extract political advantage from the Commonwealth Games. 'The Commonwealth Games is a wonderful festival and it really shouldn't be distorted or sullied by the politics of the SNP.' Mr Salmond responded: 'Nick Clegg describing anybody else as gauche - that must be one of the quotes of the year. 'I'm not really annoyed by this. My self-denying ordinance and Nicola's ends tomorrow and then there's time enough to take on Nick Clegg or anyone else.' | First Minister to go head-to-head with former Chancellor tomorrow night .
Salmond wanted debate with Cameron but Darling is leading No campaign .
Voters have their say in the independence referendum on September 18 . |
230,801 | b6dddb0e7cf75b610fd6dbcae30d40e4798de28c | By . Sarah Griffiths . Chased by a pack of sheepdogs, a three-month- old bear cub became separated from her family and found herself alone. Unable to feed or fend for herself, Zoe may have died if she was not rescued by a charity and brought to a bear sanctuary in Greece. There, the orphaned bear is learning the basics to survive in the wild so she can one day roam the hills again. Unable to feed or fend for herself, Zoe may have died if she was not rescued by a charity and brought to a bear sanctuary in Greece . Experts at Arcturos Bear Sanctuary in Kastoria, north Greece, tried in vain to reunite the badly dehydrated young cub with her mother and are now teaching Zoe survival skills from a distance. Philip Mansbridge, CEO of UK charity Care for the Wild International, which helps fund the sanctuary, explained: ‘At her age, Zoe really isn't equipped for being alone so being rescued has probably saved her life. ‘The next step though is to train her so she can feed and fend for herself in the hope that she will be able to go back into the wild later this year.’ Since her arrival, Zoe has been kept in a fenced area with no human contact other than her two carers, a worker at the sanctuary told MailOnline. When she was a cub, Zoe was fed five times a day, then four when she got stronger. When she is fully grown she will receive just one large meal a day. The feeding process takes place in such a way that Zoe is encouraged to search for food. The fruit and nuts and vegetables, food that she will be able to find when she will be released, is not given directly to her, but it is hidden in different spots in her enclosure. Here, she discovers apples tucked behind a rock . Experts at Arcturos Bear Sanctuary in Kastoria, north Greece, tried in vain to reunite the badly dehydrated young cub with her mother and are now teaching Zoe (pictured) survival skills from a distance . Around 350 brown bears live in the northern parts of Greece, in one of the biggest populations of bears in southern Europe. The main threats to them are humans as well as loss of habitat. They . come into contact with humans relatively rarely because they are found . only in the forests of central and northern Pindos and the Rhodope . massif in the north of Greece. There are usually around 10 bears at the sanctuary in Kastoria, north Greece, at any one time. They . are usually orphaned cubs or ex captive bears from zoos or circuses. Some have been rescued from the dancing bear trade, which the sanctuary . was instrumental in getting banned. This week it is hoped that Zoe will be released into a larger enclosure in the forest where she will regain some of her independence and can be trained before her final release at the end of the year. ‘The feeding process takes place in such a way that she is encouraged to search for food. 'The fruit and nuts and vegetables, food that she will be able to find when she will be released, is not given directly to her, but it is hidden in different spots in her enclosure. 'This way Zoe is forced to search for her own food,’ the sanctuary worker explained. Zoe will be able to forage for wild berries and nuts in her new enclosure, which grow on bushes and trees there, preparing her for life in the wild. At the moment, Zoe sleeps in a den made by staff at the sanctuary and there will be a similar one built in the wild for her when she is released, so she has somewhere cosy to sleep during the winter, when bears are lethargic. Zoe will be able to forage for wild berries and nuts in her new enclosure, which grow on bushes and trees there, preparing her for life in the wild. Here, she attempts to sniff out some food that has been hidden . Young bear cubs are kept in a fenced area in the sanctuary with no human contact other than her two carers, a worker at the sanctuary told MailOnline. Here, two slightly larger bears are housed in a big enclosure . Zoe has been living at Arcturos Bear Sanctuary in Kastoria, north Greece (shown on the map) with other orphaned bears and those that were kept in homes or circuses . The worker said that Zoe is independent and strong. ‘From the first day of her arrival she made it clear that she wouldn’t care for hugs and lots of play with humans. She got used to the milk formula very quickly and every time we introduced her to any new type of food she would try it right away! ‘She is very heavy and tall now, and she is ready for the next step.’ Releasing brown bear cubs like Zoe back into the wild is a difficult and dangerous thing to do, and has only been managed once before in Greece, when Arcturos successfully set two cubs free. Philip Mansbridge, CEO of UK charity Care for the Wild International, which helps fund the sanctuary, explained: 'At her age, Zoe really isn't equipped for being alone so being rescued has probably saved her life.' Here she enjoys an apple in the safety of her enclosure . Zoe will be able to forage for wild berries and nuts in her new enclosure, which grow on bushes and trees there, preparing her for life in the wild, like this bear called Koukla . Releasing brown bear cubs like Zoe back into the wild is a difficult and dangerous thing to do, and has only been managed once before in Greece, when Arcturos successfully set two cubs free . Mr Mansbridge said: ‘Zoe must be treated like a wild animal and not have too much human contact. ‘In the wild, she'll wear a satellite collar so Arcturos can monitor her progress and hopefully she'll get on just fine.’ The worker said that Zoe will be released in a forest area where there is minimum human activity. ‘It will be in a great distance from villages, farms and other human facilities. The previous time the two cubs released didn’t cause any kind of trouble to the locals.’ There are usually around 10 bears at the sanctuary at any one time. They are usually orphaned cubs or ex captive bears from zoos or circuses. Some have been rescued from the dancing bear trade, which the sanctuary was instrumental in getting banned. The worker said that Zoe will be released in a forest area where there is minimum human activity. 'It will be a great distance from villages, farms and other human facilities. The previous time the two cubs released didn't cause any kind of trouble to the locals' There are usually around 10 bears at the sanctuary at any one time. They are usually orphaned cubs or ex captive bears from zoos or circuses . Some of the bears in the sanctuary (pictured) have been rescued from the dancing bear trade, which the sanctuary was instrumental in getting banned . Dancing bears were pierced with chains and 'trained' by standing on hot metal plates to lift their feet as if dancing. Around 350 brown bears live in the northern parts of Greece, in one of the biggest populations of bears in southern Europe. The main threats to them are humans as well as loss of habitat. They come into contact with humans relatively rarely because they are found only in the forests of central and northern Pindos and the Rhodope massif in the north of Greece. Around 350 brown bears live in the northern parts of Greece, in one of the biggest populations of bears in southern Europe. The main threats to them are humans as well as loss of habitat. A bear named Kiriakos is pictured . Releasing brown bear cubs like Zoe back into the wild is a difficult and dangerous thing to do, and has only been managed once before in Greece, when Arcturos successfully set two cubs free (pictured in captivity) | Zoe was chased by sheepdogs when she was three month's old .
Experts at Arcturos Bear Sanctuary in Kastoria, north Greece, tried in vain to reunite the dehydrated cub with her mother .
She has been in the sanctuary learning survival skills ever since .
Zoe has minimal human contact and is encouraged to search for food .
This week she will move to a larger enclosure where she will be able to forage for wild berries and nuts growing on trees .
Zoe will sleep in a man-made den, but she will learn to build her own too .
She will be released into the wild this winter . |
117,994 | 245d96805a56b013bff03dd4bdd481875764c94b | By . Jaya Narain . PUBLISHED: . 04:06 EST, 26 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 01:55 EST, 27 May 2013 . A pensioner was mauled to death after dogs smelled his roast dinner and broke through his garden fence. Cliff Clarke slightly burnt the lamb shank he was cooking for his evening meal so he opened his back door. But the smell of the food attracted two large dogs. Police at the scene removing the dog, that was shot dead by armed police, from the house in Clubmoor . One – a Staffordshire bull terrier . crossed with a bull mastiff, according to neighbours – jumped at the . retired hospital porter as he stepped out of his back door. The dog’s jaws clamped round one of Mr Clarke’s limbs and dragged him to the ground where he was bitten a number of times. Neighbours heard his screams and . rushed to the three-bedroom terraced house. One of them armed himself . with a golf club and tried to beat the animal away from the pensioner. Police forensics officers at the scene carrying out examinations. Richard . Kelly Close is a small cul-de-sac over the road from a public . park . When police arrived, four armed officers shot the dog dead. It took three of them to carry its body away. Mr Clarke’s next-door neighbours – two women, 27 and 28 – were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter then released on bail pending further inquiries. Another neighbour Paul McGlynn, 46, said: ‘I heard his screams – it was horrible. He seemed in a lot of pain. ‘The neighbour tried to beat them back but it was too late.’ Joiner Gary Dignan, 36, said: ‘The . two huge dogs had got out a few hours before and were in people’s . gardens. One [neighbour] was too frightened to go out but called someone . to report it.’ The house in Richard Kelly Close, Clubmoor. It is believed he was attacked in his garden . He added that Mr Clarke walked with a . stick and described him as ‘pretty frail’, adding that he ‘wouldn’t . have stood a chance against such big dogs’. The attack, at 9pm on Saturday in the . Clubmoor district of Liverpool, is the second death by dogs in the past . two months. In March, Jade Anderson, 14, was killed by two . Staffordshire bull terriers and two bull mastiffs at a house in . Atherton, near Wigan. Police say they are powerless to prosecute anyone in relation to Jade’s death, because the attack happened on private property. But when Mr Clarke was killed, he was . on his own property where the dog was not permitted, which constitutes . an offence under the Dangerous Dogs Act. Powerful: A Staffordshire bull terrier crossed with a bull mastiff. File picture . Mr Clarke, who joined the Army in 1954 for National Service, had celebrated his 79th birthday the day before the attack. One friend Susan Carson, 60, who . lives across the road in the quiet cul-de-sac, said: ‘He came round for a . cup of tea at mine just before he died. He called me afterwards to say . he had burnt his tea but said, “I’ll be OK”.’ She added: ‘He’s lived in that house . all his life and told us that he had been born there. It is awful for . him to die in such a senseless way right in his own garden.’ Police said the dog attacked the pensioner in the garden of his home in Clubmoor, Liverpool, just before 8.40pm last night . She said Mr Clarke had complained about the dogs and was going to report them to the police. ‘He said they could attack somebody and was worried that the biggest . dog had been trying to escape and had made a hole in the fence that it . could get through,’ she said. ‘Cliff was in a terrible state when . they brought him out, he was a bloody mess. He was only wearing his . underwear and one slipper.’ It is not clear whether the second dog was involved in the attack. It was not killed but put on a lead. Police were last night questioning the two arrested women on suspicion of manslaughter. Richard Kelly Close, in Clubmoor, is around three miles from Liverpool city centre . Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons. | Armed police called to a house in Clubmoor, Liverpool, last night .
When officers arrived they found body of a man outside his home .
The dog that killed him was out-of-control and had to be shot dead .
Neighbour says he had been cooking when he was attacked .
The two women were first arrested under Dangerous Dogs Act .
They have now been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, and bailed . |
62,319 | b107fb302bfc4e4d024d1920bd76c84f49da5045 | By . Dan Bloom . PUBLISHED: . 07:22 EST, 13 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 13:38 EST, 13 November 2013 . India's top police official has apologised for making remarks in which he said: 'If you can't prevent rape, you enjoy it'. Ranjit Sinha, chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation which is India's equivalent of the FBI, provoked outrage less than a year after the fatal gang-rape of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus. The police chief spoke yesterday during a panel discussion about illegal sports betting. Scroll down for video . Ranjit Sinha of the Central Bureau of Investigation, which deals with cases including rape, murder, terrorism and corruption within government. Activists called for his resignation. He said the remarks were out of context . He told delegates that if the state was unable to stop gambling, it may as well make money by legalising and taxing it. 'Do we have the enforcement?' he was reported to have said yesterday. 'It is very easy to say that if you can't enforce it, it's like saying if you can't prevent rape, you enjoy it.' Mr Sinha, pictured with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was accused of trivialising rape . His remark was translated in a number of slightly different ways, including as: 'If you can't prevent rape, you might as well enjoy it.' The analogy provoked outrage among opposition politicans and women's groups who accused him of 'trivialising rape'. Brinda Kara, leader of the Communist Party of India, said: 'It . is sickening that a man who is in charge of several rape investigations . should use such an analogy. He should be . prosecuted for degrading and insulting women.' Mr Sinha apologised today in a statement and said his comments had been taken out of context. 'I regret any hurt caused,' he said. 'I gave my opinion that betting should be legalised and that if the laws . cannot be enforced, that does not mean that laws should not be made. 'This . is as erroneous as saying that if rape is inevitable one should lie . back and enjoy it. I reiterate my deep sense of regard and respect for . women and my commitment for gender issues.' But Kavita Krishnan, an activist with the All India Progressive Women's Association, called for Sinha to step down. 'How can he remain the head of India's premier investigation agency?' she said. Nirmala Sitharaman, spokeswoman for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, called the remarks 'shocking', adding on Twitter: 'Wonder if his colleagues in the Bureau, his family and well-wishers approve of his view.' There were protests across India after a 23-year-old woman was brutally and fatally gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi last December. Four men were sentenced to death by hanging over the attack, with another one dying in custody before the trial. A sixth male, a juvenile, was sentenced to three years in a reform facility. Pictured: Ranjit Sinha. The remarks come at a bad time for his organisation, the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is accused of being a tool to pressure political rivals and is having its legality challenged in court . The lawyer for Ram Singh, who was one of the six accused of the New Delhi gang rape, speaks to reporters in March after it emerged Singh died in custody. The fatal attack provoked national fury over rape laws . The New Delhi attack forced the government . to change rape laws and create fast-track courts for rape cases. New . laws introduced after the attack make stalking, voyeurism and sexual . harassment a crime. They also provide for the death penalty for repeat . offenders or for rape attacks that lead to the victim's death. There were more than 24,000 reported rapes in India in 2011, but activists say the real number is many times higher. The affair comes at a bad time for India's . CBI, which has been accused of acting as a tool for the government to pressure . political rivals. Its own legality is being challenged in court. | Ranjit Sinha, head of India's Central Bureau of Investigation, told to resign .
He made an analogy to rape while talking about India's gambling laws .
But his remarks caused outrage 11 months after fatal New Delhi gang rape . |
284,891 | fd2a4235d3564287c536fdd3082abcd6dfaa09a9 | A retired church worker has revealed how John F Kennedy took her virginity during a debauched 18-month affair while she was a teenage White House intern. Mimi Alford says she felt powerless to resist the late U.S. president as he pulled her into ‘Mrs Kennedy’s room’ and seduced her on his wife’s bed. Other claims in her newly published autobiography include that he made her inhale a sex drug during a party at Bing Crosby’s ranch and coerced her to perform a sex act on an aide while he looked on. Alleged affair: Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, left, and Mimi Alford, right, as a . teenager when claims she had an 18-month affair with the leader . When she thought – wrongly – that she . was pregnant by the president, that same aide arranged for her to see an . abortion doctor, even though abortion was illegal at the time. Mrs Alford’s claims are the most in-depth account of their liaisons so far published. They reveal how Kennedy never kissed . her and ignored her whenever his wife was around. She never even called . him ‘Jack’, always addressing him as ‘Mr President’ – even when they . were in bed together. Their affair began in the summer of . 1962, lasting until Kennedy was assassinated the following November. Mrs . Alford, then just 19 years old and with the maiden name Beardsley, had . begun a job in the president’s press office. After meeting Kennedy she . says he asked to give her a personal tour. Personal stories: Mr Kennedy reached out to Miss Alford following the death of his infant son Patrick Bouvier Kennedy with his wife Jacqueline (pictured), whom he shared received letters of remorse with . With his staff drinking cocktails just . down the corridor, she claims he led her into Jackie Kennedy’s room . where he took off her clothes without saying a word. When she momentarily resisted his . advances, Kennedy asked: ‘Haven’t you done this before?’, to which she . replied: ‘No.’ He continued anyway, she says, adding: ‘On the ride home, . it kept echoing in my head, I’m not a virgin any more.’ Mrs Alford, now a 69-year-old . grandmother, also tells of a party at the ranch of Crosby. When a . reveller passed around a tray of sex drug amyl nitrate, she writes that . the president asked her if she wanted to try it. ‘I said no,’ she recalls, ‘but he just . went ahead and popped the capsule and held it under my nose. I ran . crying from the room.’ As to why she allowed the affair to . happen, she admits: ‘The fact that I was being desired by the most . famous and powerful man in America only amplified my feelings to the . point where resistance was out of the question.’ Published: Miss Alford's new book, Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath, provides a never-before told story of life in the White House with the president as his mistress . Alford, who ironically went to the same Miss Porter's school as JFK's wife Jackie, described Kennedy as 'playful', the sex as 'varied and fun' and said he could be 'seductive and playful'. She said they spent a lot of time 'taking baths' and that if they spent the night together, she would wear his own soft-blue cotton nightshirts. But she also revealed complications in the relationship, saying they never kissed, and that she was often subjected to a 'waiting game' where she was told to stay in her hotel until he called for her. There is also a dark undertone to some of Kennedy's actions in the book, such as when he 'forced' her to sniff amyl nitrate, commonly known as poppers, during a Hollywood party at Bing Crosby's desert ranch. She said: 'I was sitting next to him in the living room when a handful of yellow capsules - most likely amyl nitrate, commonly known as poppers - was offered up by one of the guests. 'The president asked me if I wanted to try the drug, which stimulated the heart but also purportedly enhanced sex. 'I said no, but he just went ahead and popped the capsule and held it under my nose. He didn’t try it himself. This was a new sensation, and it frightened me. I panicked and ran crying from the room.' She also tells of how JFK asked her to 'take care' of his friends Powers who 'looked a little tense' while they were swimming in the White House pool. 'It was a dare, but I knew exactly what he meant. This was a challenge to give Dave Powers oral sex. I don’t think the president thought I’d do it, but I’m ashamed to say that I did... The president silently watched,' she said. During the October 1962 Cuban Missile . Crisis, where the U.S. and USSR had a nuclear stand-off, he reportedly . told her that: 'I’d rather my children red than dead.' And . Alford, then Mimi Beardsley, also tells of how she erroneously believed . at one point she was pregnant with JFK's child, and another moment of . when her lover reached out to her following the death of his infant son . Patrick Bouvier Kennedy. 'Best friends': Dave Powers, pictured with JFK in 1963, and alone in the Cabinet Room in 1962. The new book claims the former President 'dared' Alford to perform sex acts on Mr Powers while he watched . She wrote: 'I had never seen real grief in my relatively short life. He invited me upstairs, and we sat outside on the balcony in the soft summer evening air. There was a stack of condolence letters on the floor next to his chair, and he picked each one up and read it aloud to me... Occasionally, tears rolling down his cheeks, he would write something on one of the letters, probably notes for a reply. But mostly he just read them and cried. I did, too.' Alford said she saw President Kennedy for the final time at The Carlyle hotel in Manhattan on November 15, 1963, just a week before his assassination in Dallas. At this point she was due to be married to her college sweetheart, Tony Fahnestock. 'He took me in his arms for a long embrace and said, "I wish you were coming with me to Texas." And then he added, "I'll call you when I get back." I was overcome with sudden sadness. "Remember, Mr President, I’m getting married." '"I know that," he said, and shrugged. 'But I’ll call you anyway.'" | Former White House intern Mimi Alford says JFK 'took her virginity'
Ex-President 'told her to perform sex acts on his friend while he watched'
Claims he made her take drugs, never kissed her and played 'waiting games'
The former church administrator thought she was pregnant with JFK's child . |
221,251 | aa6812e39367ed3b59e369be32d8cc443aaa515d | Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger insists the fighting instincts shared by Alexis Sanchez and Luis Suarez were honed on the streets of South America. Wenger admires the energy and devilry of Chile international Sanchez, the Gunners' £35million summer signing from Barcelona, and Uruguay striker Suarez. The Frenchman believes the dominance of Latin American forwards in European football is a result of the determination needed to succeed in their homelands, while developed countries have become 'softer'. Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez has a fighting spirit that the Gunners have been missing in recent seasons . Barcelona's new striker Luis Suarez is also renowned for his bullish attitude on the field of play . Arsene Wenger believes the pair are special because of their childhood root on the streets of South America . 'Look across Europe and where are the strikers from? Many of them, at least 80 per cent, are from South America,' Wenger said. 'Maybe it's because in Europe street football has gone. In street football when you're 10-years-old, you want to play with 15-year-olds. 'Then you have to prove you're good, you have to fight and win impossible balls. 'When it's all a bit more formalised, it's less about developing your individual skill and fighting attitude. We've lost that a bit. 'Not every South American has that, but if you go back 30 or 40 years in England, life was tougher. 'Society has changed. We're much more protective than we were 20 or 30 years ago. We have all become a bit softer.' Suarez - pictured battling with Stoke's Ryan Shawcross in January - gave Liverpool an added edge . Sanchez has scored eight goals in 15 appearances since joining Arsenal and Wenger has been impressed with his rapid transition to the Barclays Premier League. 'I'm a bit surprised. It's because he has a particular mental strength,' Wenger said. 'He reminds me of the first generation of English players that I had - Lee Dixon, Steve Bould, Tony Adams, Nigel Winterburn, Martin Keown. This kind who is just ready for the fight. 'It's natural to Alexis. Every day he wants the ball. He doesn't walk out, he runs out. Sanchez - who starred for Chile at last summer's World Cup in Brazil - has made an impact at the Emirates . 'He has a natural level of energy that is unbelievable. You would love everyone to have that, but unfortunately it doesn't work like that. 'When you see where he has come from, where he was born, and then he plays for Barcelona and Arsenal, he needs to have something special.' When asked if Sanchez and Suarez were alike, Wenger replied: 'Exactly. When Suarez gives the ball to an opponent, he wins it back straight away. 'Sanchez is the same, there is no time between the offence and defence. The transition is very quick. And they are very quick as well.' | Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger lauds the spirit of Alexis Sanchez .
Wenger says his Chilean star forward has a fighting instinct .
Luis Suarez - also South American - is said to share similar . |
11,162 | 1fc22b2eb53d906fc02501a506ffeaaeb529ad40 | By . Joel Christie . and Associated Press Reporter . An archaeology museum in Philadelphia has made an extraordinary find — in its own storage rooms. The Penn Museum, part of the University of Pennsylvania, announced Tuesday that it had 'rediscovered' a 6,500-year-old human skeleton believed to have been a well-muscled man of at least 50, who stood 5 feet, 9 inches tall. The remains were originally excavated from southern Iraq around 1930. Museum officials said the complete human skeleton had been stored in a coffin-like box in one of their rooms for the last 85 years. What do we have here?: Scientists at the Penn Museum say they have uncovered a 6,500-year-old skeleton of a 50-ish man in a coffin-like box in a basement storage room for the last 85 years - with no catalog card or identifying information . Boo: The remains of this man, dating back to about 4400 BC and found in what is now southern Iraq in 1930, have been 'rediscovered' Ancient: The skeleton has been nicknamed 'Noah' because records show the man survived an epic flood . Up-close: The remains were originally excavated from southern Iraq around 1930 . Examining: Janet Monge, the curator-in-charge of the anthropology section at The Penn Museum, discusses recently rediscovered 6,500-year-old human remains . Mint condition: The skeleton originally was discovered in 1929-30 by Sir Leonard Woolley's joint excavation team from the Penn Museum and the British Museum in London . All traces of its original identifying documentations have been lost, but the museum were not worried. A records digitization project was recently undertaken, with University of Pennsylvania researchers, working with a team from the British Museum, determining the remains were first unearthed at the site of Ur, an ancient city near modern-day Nasiriyah, around 1929-1930. The major archaeological project was lead by Sir Leonard Woolley. They excavated nearly 50 feet to reach a site that became known as 'The Royal Cemetery'. During the excavation, the team hit a layer of silt, which Woolley referred to as the 'flood layer', because it was ten-feet deep in some places but still technically up sea level. He determined that the original site of Ur had been a small island in a surrounding marsh. Then a great flood covered the land in the Ubaid-era. Some 48 graves were dug up. The discovery: Historical photos show how the skeleton was originally discovered during a 50-feet dig in southern Iraq . Transport: Workers carry the incredible find out of the digging site in 1929/1930 . Leader: British archaeologist Charles Leonard Woolley (1880-1960) during his excavations at Ur in 1922-34 . However the only skeleton in good enough condition to recover was the one now found at the Penn Museum. The bones and surrounding soil was coated in wax and the entire skeleton was shipped to London, then on to Philadelphia. Skeletons of the same time period, particularly complete remains, are extremely rare, the Penn researchers said. They hope a modern skeletal analysis will reveal more about the population's diet, stresses and ancestral origins that were unable in Woolley's time. Dr. Janet Monge, the curator-in-charge of the anthropology section of the Penn Museum, had known the box was in storage for as long as she had been in charge, but it remained a mystery. Deep down: An historic map shows how far underground the diggers went at the 'Royal Cemetery' There was no catalog card or identifying number. Researchers weren't able to determine its significance until the recent digitization of records. The effort enabled the researchers to link the skeleton to the field records of Woolley. Because the skeleton had survived an epic flood leading Penn researches have appropriately nicknamed their re-discovery 'Noah'. The Penn Museum collection houses more than 150,000 bone specimens from throughout human history. However a museum spokesman told The MailOnline there are no current plans to exhibit 'Noah'. Exhibition: There are currently no plans to put the skeleton on display at The Penn Museum, part of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia . | Skeleton originally found by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley around 1929/1930 in southern Iraq .
The remains were of a man in his 50s who survived an epic flood about 4400 BC .
Coffin was shipped to London then The Penn Museum in Philadelphia .
It has been in the basement of the museum since, with researchers just identifying it . |
5,865 | 10a5b30ded6ae1209c2080af968d2d983cb09f26 | The determination from a section of Newcastle United fans to remove Alan Pardew from his position as manager has ramped up another notch as thousands of posters were printed demanding the 53-year-old be sacked. A campaign named SackPardew.com has grown immeasurably in its endeavours to convince owner Mike Ashley to dispense with the Magpies boss as frustration mounts on Tyneside. And the group behind the website claim they have printed more than 200 banners and 15,000 posters ready to be displayed when the Premier League's basement-boys host Hull City on Saturday - with the text used a parody on the Sports Direct logo, the company which Ashley owns. Newcastle United protest group 'SackPardew.com' have parodied owner Mike Ashley's Sports Direct logo . Alan Pardew's future as Newcastle boss is clouded in uncertainty, with a large section of fans on his back . A different 'SackPardew.com' banner was held up at Newcastle's 4-0 defeat to Southampton last weekend . The group claim to have printed more than 200 banners and 15,000 posters ahead of this weekend's match . The banners will be unveiled when Steve Bruce's (pictured) Hull City visit St James' Park on Saturday . A 'Pardew Out' banner in the away end at St Mary's Stadium during the Magpie's 4-0 loss to Southampton . The group contacted The Chronicle and told the paper they were confident the banners could be taken into St James' Park without any hassle. They said: 'They (the banners) are small enough to conceal so we can get them into the stadium, but we don't want to go down that road. 'We have contacted the club to let them know our plans and are still waiting to hear back from them. 'We have also let the police and council know our plans. We want this to be peaceful and well organised.' Having contracted the support of many pubs in Newcastle, fans will be able to collect banners from specific locations which will be revealed by the group before the match. VIDEO Pardew on the edge . The group say they have contacted the club and are confident they will be allowed to display their banners . Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley (centre) is being encouraged by fans to wield the axe and sack Pardew . Newcastle were hammered 4-0 at Southampton last week and this appears to have accelerated the campaign . Newcastle United's Fabricio Coloccini (left), Chiek Tiote (centre) and Jack Colback (right) look dejected . Alan Pardew (right) puts his hands to his face and closes his eyes in frustration during the Magpie's 4-0 loss . A protest van emblazoned with the campaign's logo will also drive to some of Newcastle's most-recognisable landmarks ahead of the game. Large banners were already held aloft emblazoned with the name of the website and with a smiling picture of Pardew during Newcastle's embarrassing 4-0 hammering at St Mary's last weekend. There were also fans' posters with the messages 'Pardew out' and 'Pardew is a muppet' displayed in the away end on the south coast. It seems that the defeat at Southampton prompted an acceleration of the campaign as photos show boxes and boxes of signs bearing the slogan being printed across the city. The Magpies are yet to win a game this season and sit bottom of the Premier League with just two points from four matches. Newcastle United fans hold up a banner with the words 'Pardew is a muppet' during the defeat to Saints . Supporters will be able to collect the posters from pubs around the city ahead of Saturday's match with Hull . | Section of Newcastle United fans have created 'SackPardew.com' website .
The campaign aims to force the removal of Magpies boss Alan Pardew .
More than 200 banners and 15,000 posters have been printed by group .
Campaign logo is a parody on owner Mike Ashley's Sports Direct symbol .
Aim is for banners to be displayed during Newcastle's match with Hull City .
Group have contacted club ahead of Saturday's St James' Park clash .
Newcastle were hammered 4-0 at St Mary's by Southampton last weekend .
Magpies sit bottom of the Premier League with two points from four games . |
124,998 | 2d91a7572e487329114ef97209dbbef14d8f06cd | By . Snejana Farberov . A San Diego-based clothing company has landed in hot water over a photo showing its T-shirts featuring the body of a monkey paired off with a customized hanger depicting the face of an African-American boy. The offensive image was shared on Twitter Wednesday, sparking indignation among users who lambasted the manufacturer, Just Add A Kid, for allowing this to happen. The clothing brand, which is owned by the company Thanks A Million, quickly went into damage control mode, responding on Twitter that the incident was the result of a misunderstanding. Bad idea: The clothing brand Just Add A Kid has come under fire after this image appeared on Twitter showing their T-shirts with a monkey design paired with hangers depicting an African-American boy . 'The widely distributed and inappropriate picture of a mismatched "Just Add A Kid" hanger with one of our t-shirt products was not authorized, condoned or tolerated by our company,' spokesperson David Oates wrote in a statement released on Twitter. 'We sincerely regretted this occurrence and immediately directed our retail partner to change the product placement.' The statement went on to say that the company will offer mandatory training to everyone in their distribution channels to make sure that such an incident never repeats itself. The image that set off the controversy depicted a row of Just Add A Kid tees with the body of a monkey holding a banana, draped over cardboard hangers with the face of an African-American child. Damage control: The San Diego manufacturer responded to the outrage by tweeting a collage of all the different designs they offer paired with hangers depicting kids of various races . The monkey shirts were placed next to a row of tees with a soldier character on the front, which had been matched with hangers featuring a Caucasian boy. The company explained the T-shirts and hooks came separately, and it was up to each individual store carrying the Just Add A Kid brand to match the two. 'The head shots on our hangers are intended to reflect the different cultures of our happy customers,' the spokesman for the company wrote. Just Add A Kid's statement went on to explain that one of their retailers paired a particular hanger with a shirt without consideration for how it may appear. Just Add A Kid offers a wide range of products ranging from baby bibs to onesies, toddler tees and shirts for adults ranging in price from $9.95 to $17.95. For all ages: The monkey design is featured on different items, from bibs to T-shirts for adults . Finger of blame: The company claimed that the store that matched the hangers with the monkey shirts did so no realizing that customers might by upset . Questionable: Besides the monkey design, the Just Add A Kid site also offers products featuring a 'Confederate' character (right) in a Civil War uniform of the South with a rebel flag . The clothing items come with many different designs, including farmers, princesses, zoo animals, pirates and basketball players. ‘Our designs feature multicultural skin tones and appropriately matching header cards (to) showcase children of the world,’ the company tweeted. The message was accompanied by a collage showcasing various shirt models matched with hangers depicting African-American, Hispanic and Asian toddlers. Among the cartoon characters that grace the shirts available for purchase on the Just Add A Kid website is one called 'Confederate,' which depicts a Civil War-era rebel in a grey uniform with a drawn sword and a small Confederate flag. | San Diego-based company Just Add A Kid released a statement claiming a retailer paired off the shirts with the wrong hangers .
The fashion brand tweeted they offer a variety of products representing different races .
One of their designs is a Confederate character in a Civil War-era uniform holding a rebel flag . |
143,147 | 451d4387cf2a0610ab8aec94b89455f55ab1e42e | A pirate play area had to be closed during half-term after parents found their children trying to pick up used needles and syringes in the sandpit. Parents slammed drug users for leaving sharp objects in an area where children could easily hurt themselves and become infected. Police were called to the play park in Carrington, Nottingham, and the council closed the area while it was 'thoroughly cleansed'. A pirate play area in Carrington, Nottingham had to be closed after parents found their children trying to pick up used needles and syringes in the sandpit . Yvonne Mutton, who took her four-year-old twin grandchildren to the play area, said: 'It's atrocious. What else can I say. It's disgusting that someone would leave that stuff in a park used by children. 'I usually think this is a nice play area but it's very worrying that it is being used for that sort of drug behaviour.' Other drug paraphernalia was also discovered, including an opened wrapper for a sterile spoon and an unopened syringe. Doctor David Hewson, 32, who has just moved to the area with his two-year-old son William and six-month-old baby, said: 'We picked Mapperley Park as an area to live because we had heard good things but this is so disappointing to hear. Other drug paraphernalia was discovered in the park, including an opened wrapper for a sterile spoon . 'I've cycled past here a few times at around 6am in the morning and seen some suspicious people who looked like they were up to no good.' His wife Anna, 36, added: 'It makes me more conscious of coming back here and I will take more care to look out for these things. 'Children are inquisitive and will pick anything up, so it could be very dangerous.' Dave Halstead, head of neighbourhood operations for the authority, added: 'This is a park which is used and loved by many local families. 'Our staff service the park and this is the first time they have found evidence of any drug related activity. 'It is disappointing that someone has chosen to dispose of drugs equipment at a children's playground. 'A team was sent out as soon as we were notified and closed a section of the park before retrieving various items of drug paraphernalia and thoroughly cleaning the area.' | Needles and syringes were discarded at a sandpit in a children's play area .
Parents slammed 'atrocious' behaviour, saying children were in danger .
Police were called and the council closed the area while it was cleaned .
An opened wrapper for a sterile spoon was also found at Nottingham park . |
70,001 | c6785cf46b60c0b32807f44a9305ff6b4d9583c4 | Amanda Knox can no longer rely on Raffaele Sollecito being her alibi in the Meredith Kercher murder case, with Sollecito now denying she was with him the whole of the night on which the British student was brutally murdered. This change in his defence could potentially incriminate Knox. Sollecito and Knox were originally sentenced to 25 and 28 years in prison, respectively, for the murder of Kercher in Perugia and served four years before being released in 2011. Scroll down for video . Italian Raffaele Sollecito, convicted with former lover Amanda Knox of the grizzly murder of British student Meredith Kercher, arrives with his lawyer Giulia Bongiorno (left) for a press conference on July 1, in Rome . Change of defense: Sollecito now denies that Amanda Knox was with him for the entire night on which Meredith Kercher was murdered in 2007 . Mismatching points of view: It is not the first time Sollecito has expressed doubts about the holes in Knox’s story . On January 30, an Italian appeals court reconvicted the pair of murdering former roommate Kercher - a ruling the pair are again appealing. Knox and Sollecito have always maintained that they were together the evening of the brutal 2007 murder in Perugia, after which Miss Kercher, 21, was found half naked her throat slit in the cottage she shared with Knox. But Sollecito's lawyer Giulia Bongiorno said that 'for the entire first part of the evening, they were not together. It’s this first part of the evening that’s new [to his defence]'. Sollecito has pointed to phone records that show that Knox was away from his house for part of the evening. In a dramatic change of legal tactics that he announced in a press conference in Rome he has now claimed there are ‘anomalies’ in Knox’s story. Determined: Knox, a University of Washington student, has been in the United States since 2011 and has vowed the she would never 'willingly' return to Italy to face her fate in court . Brutal: Meredith Kercher was stabbed to death in 2007 . Knox says that she received a text, while at Sollecito’s house, from her boss, telling her not to come to her job at a nightclub that night. But phone records show that the text was received on the road between their houses, something that their retrial judges felt was key in their reconstruction of events. Sollecito's phone and computer records show that he was at home that evening. Sollecito said: ‘I have always believed in the innocence of Amanda. But I have to react to the accusations of the court and to the text message. ‘Either the court has made their umpteenth mistake or she lied to me.’ He added: ‘I was in love with her and we had some very happy moments, but ultimately Amanda was a stranger.' 'There are anomalies in her version of events. Against me there is nothing.' The 'fundamental basis' for the conviction is Knox’s memo to police in which she says she was at the cottage when the murder took place, he said. ‘I believe this was a hallucination, but if the court believes it is true then they have to accept that she did not say I was there. She gave me an alibi. ‘ . It is not the first time Sollecito has expressed his doubts about the holes in Knox’s story. In an interview with Italian television earlier this year, he said Knox had spent the night with him but went back to her place to shower, he said. When she returned, she was 'very agitated,' he said. She told him that it looked like someone had broken in and that there was blood in the bathroom, Sollecito said. But rather than call the police, she showered and returned to his place something he finds odd. ‘Certainly I asked her questions,' he said. 'Why did you take a shower? Why did she spend so much time there?' He didn't get any real answers from her, he said. Knox, a University of Washington student, has been in the United States since 2011. She left Italy right after an earlier appeals court ruling overturned the initial lower court conviction that had led to her imprisonment in Italy. The American, 28, has vowed the she would never 'willingly' return to Italy to face her fate in court. She has said she is hopeful Italian courts will 'once again recognize' her innocence. | Sollecito and Knox reconvicted of Meredith Kercher's murder in January .
Amanda Knox's defence rests heavily on Raffaele Sollecito being her alibi .
She claims that on the night Kercher was killed, she was at his flat .
Sollecito has now said that there are 'anomalies' in Knox's story . |
265,805 | e44556f28c42966a0dd203cb6aaa7e2d2eeff0c6 | (CNN) -- Gunmen killed three police officers in Acapulco, Mexico, early Monday morning in attacks on two police stations, the state news agency Notimex reported. Suspected gang members are handcuffed after a gunbattle in Acapulco, Mexico, on Saturday. The attacks came two days after a ferocious street gunbattle that left 18 people dead, including two soldiers. Mexican soldiers, in trucks and helicopters kept watch over the resort town Monday. Along with swine flu fears, the uptick in violence threatens the tourist economy of Acapulco and other popular resort areas. Witnesses told police that just before 6 a.m., gunmen armed with AK-47s stepped out of two luxury vehicles, walked toward the police station in the Ciudad Renacimiento neighborhood and began shooting. Acapulco officers Gilberto Reducindo Salazar and Arturo Tonala Aguilar were killed in that incident, according to Notimex. Shortly afterward, at a second local police station, attackers fatally wounded officer Andres Guzman Casiano, Notimex said. A fourth officer was injured. The Guerrero attorney general's office said the attacks could have been conducted by the same people, as there was a 30-minute gap between them, the state agency reported. It was unknown whether the attacks were connected with Saturday's shootout, which started when soldiers went to a location called Avenida Rancho Grande in Acapulco on an anonymous tip. They were met by gunfire, according to a statement from Mexico's Ministry of Defense. Five people were arrested in connection with the shootout. Sixteen gunmen and two soldiers were killed, and nine soldiers were wounded, the statement said. After that incident, authorities seized 36 large-caliber weapons, 13 small-caliber weapons, two grenade launchers, 13 fragmentation grenades, 3,525 rounds of various caliber ammunition, 180 charges and eight vehicles, the ministry said. | Attacks came 2 days after ferocious street gunbattle that left 18 people dead .
2 soldiers, 16 suspected gang members killed; 9 soldiers wounded Saturday .
Five people arrested in connection with shootout; authorities seize weapons .
Mexican soldiers, in trucks and helicopters kept watch over Acapulco on Monday . |
149,939 | 4dd9c60c72a61f80805670ba26d1bb653d1493f8 | (CNN) -- We knew even while researching Tuesday's feature on the global impact of Chinese tourism that the story was likely to generate strong reactions among readers. After all, in a matter of just a decade or so, Chinese tourists have gone from being relatively rare outside of Asia to becoming the most important market in global tourism, surpassing American and German travelers in 2012 as the world's top international spenders, with a record $102 billion shelled out on the road. Chinese travelers the world's biggest spenders . But even we were taken aback by the intensity of the emotions -- often thoughtful, sometimes ugly, always illuminating -- the story elicited among our global readership. (Per CNN policy, we've been monitoring and removing the explicitly hateful and threatening comments from the site.) Many readers focused on the individual habits of Chinese tourists, positive and negative. All comments are at the bottom of this: Chinese tourism: The good, the bad and the backlash . Ed Connolly summed up the feelings of the more outraged commenters: "Basically get ready for loud conversations, small tips, deceptive behavior and cutting in line. For anyone who has traveled to Asia, China in particular, you know all too well what I'm talking about. Chinese are rude and inconsiderate. Think I'm too opinionated? Spend a week in China and get back to me." Weighing in from Thailand, Katy Khan voiced a similar sentiment: "Here in Thailand it's a big deal. They can't stand Chinese tourists and are complaining to the government about it. It's pretty bad. Chinese people are quite rude compared to any other culture I've ever experienced." Readers such as Mi Jo, however, reported markedly different experiences with Chinese travelers: "I deal with lot of Chinese tourist every summer and I have to say that they are very kind. They leave impression of shyness. I do not know if they don't talk much anywhere or they are just shocked by cultural differences but they are very very [quiet], and most of them don't speak at all (even though they know English language)." Added tigerlee: "Not only you guys but people in China feel uncomfortable with this group of people [rude travelers]. But most of Chinese are friendly and good mannered." A number of readers compared the reputation of modern Chinese travelers with another frequently bashed group. Wrote William Trudeau: "Anyone remember 'The Ugly American' and similar discussions about U.S. travelers not all that long ago?" Apparently, not all of those conversations are from so long ago. Said britishpal: "I worked in hotels for a number of years, and time after time the thing that got staff all panicked and on edge were when American tourists were expected. Most of the rude behaviors described in this article could just as easily be attributed to American tourists; demanding services that aren't offered, expecting meal times to be extended far beyond reasonable hours, the expectation that their cash-flashing would give them extra entitlements, etc. And to be fair, I've heard British tourists are just as bad in European countries, even outside of World Cup events." Wrote fattsmann: "I'm Chinese-American and I agree that mainland Chinese are horrible tourists based on my trips to Europe and the Middle East. The article hits all the key notes and as other comments have noted, Americans had the same stigma/problems about 1-2 decades ago. The key issues are education and awareness of foreign cultures (including learning the basics of a foreign language before travel), respect for foreign cultures and customs, and patience (including waiting in line, not making snap defensive judgments, etc.). Years ago, it was Americans that were rude and culturally insensitive tourists. Now it's the Chinese. Then it will be another group of people with money to travel." Like fattsmann, a number of mainland Chinese and Chinese citizens of other countries were anxious to join the conversation. Wrote ptran281: "As a Canadian born to Chinese parents.... I can say I can't stand Chinese tourists! There is such a thing called lining up and waiting your turn. I was called a fake Chinese when I reminded them we don't behave like this in Canada." iamjustin provided an explanation for the perception of poor behavior abroad: "I am a Chinese in the mainland; as for the rudeness of Chinese visitors which raised a fire in the comments section, I have something to clarify... The reason why so many Chinese nowadays are so rude and impolite is originated from abolishing of Confucius philosophy and the wild interpersonal abuse in the notorious Cultural Revolution launched by Mao Zedong! ... So the conclusion is that Chinese people in the mainland are the victims of tradition loss, communist political chaos, and the rudeness and lack of self-cultivation are the consequences of the above." CNN International's Facebook page garnered some even more passionate responses. Edith Duarte points out that Chinese have been global tourists for centuries: "Guys, thousands of years ago the Chinese have marveled the world. They are in seven continents all over the globe, Chinatowns are all over the U.S." Meanwhile, Nicolas Serge suggests people on both sides of the tourism equation benefit from Chinese travel. "The U.S. is encouraging people at home to learn and speak Chinese. Furthermore, Many U.S. students are studying in China. Tourism is helping chinese to learn more about other cultures. We remain certain about an effective partnership U.S. and China could build in the future to face global challenges." In the end, of course, the Chinese travel boom -- and perhaps some of the resentment of it -- is driven by the almighty dollar. Or, in a potential shift that seems to both worry and excite the world, the almighty yuan. Summing up the "just because you've got money doesn't mean I have to respect you" contingent, THEGenuineOLiTWiST wrote: "In general, most mainland Chinese who are 40 or over are suffering from this money= respect syndrome. The younger ones are much better at 'fitting in' with their travel destination's social and cultural norms." Perhaps in the end, JohnkinsBob makes the best argument by taking the pragmatic approach to the issue: "The article makes Chinese tourism sound like the yellow peril. If these people have the cash, bring em on! The U.S. is getting back at least part of the dollars that are being sent over there." It's a fascinating and important discussion that will surely continue to engage us all in the years ahead. If you've had experiences as a Chinese traveler or with Chinese travelers, feel free to add to the discussion in the comments section below. Minor edits have been made to some of the comments above strictly in the interest of clarity. | Chinese international tourists spent $102 billion on the road last year .
Around the world, Chinese tourists inspire varied reactions .
Stereotypes prevail, with commenters picking up on habits, good and bad . |
57,064 | a1a8afb093bcadee0b2abc7aefd78a4f33b158c8 | (Mashable) -- After a brief period of downtime Tuesday, the Apple Store has returned with brand new iMacs, confirming recent rumors about an imminent refresh of the lineup. The new iMacs sport the latest Intel Core i5/i7 Sandy Bridge architecture, a HD camera and the new super-fast Thunderbolt port, first seen on MacBooks Pro. Customers will be able to choose between quad-core Intel Core i5 processors and iCore i7 processors clocked up to 3.4 GHz. The 21.5-inch iMac features one Thunderbolt port, and the 27-inch model has two. Finally, the new FaceTime HD camera is included in all new models. Mashable.com: Your next iPad might be an iMac . As for the rest of the specifications, 4GB of RAM comes standard; graphics start with AMD Radeon HD 6750M, which can be upgraded to 6700M or 6970M and the storage ranges from 500 GB to 1 TB, with configure-to-order options allowing for even more memory and storage space. All models come with an IPS LED-backlit high resolution display, SD card slot and a Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad. The prices for the new models are the same as the prices of old iMacs, ranging from $1,199 to $1,999. See the original article at Mashable.com. © 2010 MASHABLE.com. All rights reserved. | New iMacs sport the latest Intel Core i5/i7 Sandy Bridge architecture .
The 21.5-inch iMac features one Thunderbolt port, and the 27-inch model has two .
The new FaceTime HD camera is included in all new models . |
10,967 | 1f36db55e8199bceb836d3f0af792f9da3139b8d | RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (CNN) -- The presidents of France and Brazil are set to sign several bilateral agreements, including a defense accord that would make Brazil the first Latin American nation to possess a nuclear-powered submarine. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meet Monday. According to Brazil's official news agency Agencia Brasil, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are scheduled to sign a strategic cooperation agreement Monday during the Brazil-European Union summit in Rio de Janeiro. Sarkozy is the president of the European Union Council. Brazil and Argentina are the only Latin American countries with significant nuclear capabilities. The agreement would include the transfer of technology that would allow Brazil to assemble 50 EC-725 Cougar helicopters, four conventional submarines and one submarine with nuclear capability as part of Brazil's military modernization process, officials told Agencia Brasil. Under the accords to be signed by the two presidents, France also would provide Brazil with night vision and remote monitoring technology to be used by the military in the Amazon region, the news agency said. | Conventional submarines, helicopters also included in defense deal .
Brazil will also get night-vision technology to use in Amazon region .
French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Rio de Janeiro to sign deal . |
185,965 | 7cd1e6367917bce1aebebc8921a3a5765864549b | It was once the world's fourth biggest sea, a vast lake in the middle of the Kyzylkum Desert. However, a massive water diversion project begun by the Soviet Union in the 1960s has caused it to shrink dramatically - and this year, to dry up completely for the first time. This series of images from Nasa’s Terra satellite reveals the shocking change. Scroll down for video . Before the project, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya rivers flowed down from the mountains, cut northwest through the Kyzylkum Desert, and finally pooled together in the lowest part of the basin. In the 1960s, the Soviet Union undertook a major water diversion project on the arid plains of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. The region’s two major rivers, fed by snowmelt and precipitation in faraway mountains, were used to transform the desert into farms for cotton and other crops. Before the project, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya rivers flowed down from the mountains, cut northwest through the Kyzylkum Desert, and finally pooled together in the lowest part of the basin. In the 1960s, the Soviet Union undertook a major water diversion project on the arid plains of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. The region’s two major rivers, fed by snowmelt and precipitation in faraway mountains, were used to transform the desert into farms for cotton and other crops. Before the project, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya rivers flowed down from the mountains, cut northwest through the Kyzylkum Desert, and finally pooled together in the lowest part of the basin. The lake they made, the Aral Sea, was once the fourth largest in the world. Although irrigation made the desert bloom, it devastated the Aral Sea. This series of images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite documents the changes. At the start of the series in 2000, the lake was already a fraction of its 1960 extent (black line). The Northern Aral Sea (sometimes called the Small Aral Sea) had separated from the Southern (Large) Aral Sea. The Southern Aral Sea had split into eastern and western lobes that remained tenuously connected at both ends. These images show the incredible changes in the region. Taken on August 15th 2001 (left) and August 19th 2014, they show the entire central area has dried up. By 2001, the southern connection had been severed, and the shallower eastern part retreated rapidly over the next several years. Especially large retreats in the eastern lobe of the Southern Sea appear to have occurred between 2005 and 2009, when drought limited and then cut off the flow of the Amu Darya. Water levels then fluctuated annually between 2009 and 2014 in alternately dry and wet years. Dry conditions in 2014 caused the Southern Sea’s eastern lobe to completely dry up for the first time in modern times. As the lake dried up, fisheries and the communities that depended on them collapsed. The increasingly salty water became polluted with fertilizer and pesticides. The blowing dust from the exposed lakebed, contaminated with agricultural chemicals, became a public health hazard. According to NASA, the loss of the water's moderating influence has also led to more extreme temperatures in the region, making winters colder and summers hotter and drier. Aralsk's Mayor Alashbai Baimyrzayev points at a fishing boat on dry dock 23 March 1999 near the city of Kyzmet in the Aral Sea. The Aral Sea is actually not a sea at all. It is an immense lake, a body of fresh water, although that particular description of its contents might now be more a figure of speech than practical fact. Beginning in the 1960s, farmers and state offices in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Central Asian states opened significant diversions from the rivers that supply water to the lake, thus siphoning off millions of gallons to irrigate cotton fields and rice paddies. As recently as 1965, the Aral Sea received about 50 cubic kilometers of fresh water per year—a number that fell to zero by the early 1980s. Consequently, concentrations of salts and minerals began to rise in the shrinking body of water. The Aral Sea supported a thriving commercial fishing industry employing roughly 60,000 people in the early 1960s. By 1977, the fish harvest was reduced by 75 percent, and by the early 1980s the commercial fishing industry had been eliminated. The shrinking Aral Sea has also had a noticeable affect on the region's climate. The growing season there is now shorter, causing many farmers to switch from cotton to rice, which demands even more diverted water. A secondary effect of the reduction in the Aral Sea’s overall size is the rapid exposure of the lake bed. Strong winds that blow across this part of Asia routinely pick up and deposit tens of thousands of tons of now exposed soil every year. The salty dust blew off the lakebed and settled onto fields, degrading the soil. Croplands had to be flushed with larger and larger volumes of river water. The loss of the moderating influence of such a large body of water made winters colder and summers hotter and drier. In a last-ditch effort to save some of the lake, Kazakhstan built a dam between the northern and southern parts of the Aral Sea. Completed in 2005, the dam was basically a death sentence for the southern Aral Sea, which was judged to be beyond saving. All of the water flowing into the desert basin from the Syr Darya now stays in the Northern Aral Sea. Between 2005 and 2006, the water levels in that part of the lake rebounded significantly and very small increases are visible throughout the rest of the time period. The differences in water color are due to changes in sediment. | Images show the giant lake from 2000 until 2014 - where it dries up completely for the first time .
was once the world's fourth biggest sea .
Vast lake was in the middle of the Kyzylkum Desert. |
209,179 | 9ae11e8fd731c7996911ba5f066d68af0dcdc0f1 | A young boy learned his lesson the hard way after his father made him hold up a sign on a busy Texas highway admitting he was a school bully. Jose Lagares stood next to his son as he flashed a cardboard poster at the . Ft. Hood Street and W. Veterans Memorial Boulevard intersection on Tuesday afternoon saying: 'I am a bully. Honk if you hate bullies.' Although he has come under fire for his 'bad parenting', Lagares said his tough love approach has worked. Punishment: Jose Lagaras forced his son, a fourth grader, to hold a sign on a busy highway admitting he was a bully . The fourth grader, who has not been named, apologized of his own accord to the student he bullied, NBC News reported. Lagares, from Killeen, said his son was a repeat bully whose behavior worsened despite punishment such as grounding and even . hard labor. Public humiliation, he said, was ' just the final straw, and it seemed to work.' 'Bullying . is also a form of public humiliation. Maybe he understands that when he . humiliates someone publicly that doesn't feel good,' Lagares told wwlp.com. 'Hopefully he'll take that with him so the next time he tries to bully . someone he'll think about it twice.' Embarrassing: Jose Lagares made his son hold up a sign admitting he was a bully on Tuesday afternoon at the Ft. Hood Street and W. Veterans Memorial Boulevard intersection in Texas. His son apologized to his victim the next day of his own accord . However Lagares said he was inundated with negative criticism from passersby, accusing him of being a bad parent. The next day, the unrepentant father went to the same intersection holding a bright orange sign that said: 'I'm not sorry. Honk to stop bullying.' 'I've gotten that I'm lazy, that's . one that really sticks out to me that ya know there was other options . that I could of done and all that, not knowing my story with my child,' Lagares said. 'I refuse to allow my child to be somebody . else's pain. Ya know, we don't need another Columbine, and we don't . need another Solomon Harris. 'Ya know, we don't need that to happen, and I . refuse for my child to be the cause of that.' Unrepentant: After Jose Lagares was criticized for making his son hold up a sign on a busy highway admitting he was a bully, he held up his own sign the next day saying he wasn't sorry for his choice of punishment . Disciplinarian: Jose Lagares said his son learned his lesson and apologized to his bullying victim at school the next day of his own accord . While numerous passersby criticized Lagares, Melissa Esau stopped to thank him for sending a 'positive message'. I just wanted to thank him for taking some responsibility and just having his son say, hey, this isn't right,' she told NBC News. | Jose Lagares made his school bully son hold up a sign on a highway confessing his bad behavior .
Lagares said it was a last resort after his son didn't respond to grounding or hard labor .
The boy apologized to his victim .
After being called a bad parent, Lagares held up a similar sign saying he wouldn't stand for bullying . |
44,061 | 7c3d9141562311b6d01aa0e387d7cbae1fc591b2 | By . Sophie Borland . PUBLISHED: . 19:52 EST, 8 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:49 EST, 9 January 2013 . The report warns the CQC is not carrying out enough inspections to ensure patients are not at risk . The health watchdog has lost the confidence of the public after missing some of the worst scandals in hospitals and care homes, according to MPs. The Care Quality Commission is not carrying out enough adequate inspections to ensure patients are not at risk, they said. In a scathing report, MPs from the health select committee warn that ‘patients, relatives and the public do not have confidence in the CQC’s standards or the outcomes of its inspections’. The watchdog had declared that the maternity unit at the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay trust in Cumbria, where up to seven babies died, was providing ‘safe’ and ‘high-quality’ care. The CQC also failed to act after being contacted by a whistleblower at Winterbourne View care home, in Bristol, where staff were torturing adults with learning difficulties. It inspected the home only after a BBC Panorama investigation. The CQC is responsible for 30,000 care homes, hospitals and GP practices. Last February its chief executive, Cynthia Bower, was forced to resign, albeit with a £1.4million pension pot. It has since promised to overhaul the way it is run. Inspectors visited the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay trust in Cumbria in 2010 and claimed that it was meeting all ‘essential standards’. But the maternity unit is now the centre of a police investigation over the deaths of seven babies and two mothers since 2008 and a coroner has warned that midwives may have ‘colluded’ to alter medical records and cover up their mistakes. And the Winterbourne View care home in Bristol has since been closed down and six workers have been jailed for neglect and abuse. The report says the watchdog needs to ‘raise the bar’ when inspecting care homes. Often the CQC inspects a home and concludes it is safe - even though patients and relatives are concerned the care is poor. The CQC failed to act after being contacted by a whistleblower at Winterbourne View care home, in Bristol, and only inspected the home after a BBC Panorama investigation, the report says . The watchdog has been repeatedly criticised over the last two years amid concerns it is not protecting the public. Tory MP Stephen Dorrell, chair of the committee said: ‘The CQC’s primary focus should be to ensure that the public has confidence that its inspections provide an assurance of acceptable standards in care and patient safety. ‘We do not believe that the CQC has yet succeeded in this objective. ‘The CQC needs to ensure that its inspections represent a challenging process which is designed to find service shortcomings where they exist, ensure, when appropriate that service providers address them rapidly, and report promptly both to providers and users of the service. The public has lost confidence in the watchdog after it missed some of the worst scandals in hospitals and care homes, says the report . ‘The CQC also needs to show that it treats feedback from the public as free intelligence and that it acts swiftly when serious complaints are brought to light this way.’ David Behan, the CQC’s new chief executive said: ‘In our strategic review we consulted widely on a clear statement of our purpose and role. ‘We also set out our intentions to improve how we communicate with the public, make better use of information, and work more effectively as an organisation and with others, including those who provide care. ‘We have already begun to make some of these changes and will continue this process next year.’ | MPs criticise Care Quality Commission in scathing report .
They say watchdog is not carrying out enough inspections .
Patients, relatives and public 'do not have confidence' in CQC, report says . |
168,261 | 65a13f5ef31421d9e4dc6c6b16fa02ed6a965468 | By . Emine Sinmaz . PUBLISHED: . 19:16 EST, 28 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:16 EST, 28 July 2013 . MI5 is advertising for a new head of health and safety – but it cannot give any details about the role. The £60,000 a year job is based mainly in London and offers ‘interesting challenges when it comes to health and safety’. But potential applicants are not told much else. Hush-hush: MI5 are advertising for a new head of health and safety but can reveal very little about the £60,000 a year role . ‘We can’t show you the buildings,’ the job description declares. ‘We can’t talk about the people you’ll work with. We can’t tell you much about the job. We can’t give you the exact locations. We can’t mention the kind of technology involved... ‘Our work is often covert and our equipment classified.’ The Home Office said: ‘The security service works within the law —including health and safety laws — and needs people with a variety of different skills in a wide number of roles.’ | £60,000 a year job is based mainly in London and offers 'interesting challenges' |
141,028 | 425904dcacfc9156d648cc190ecd3ca4fff9adb3 | When Yvonne Lavasidis picked up the mail on Monday, she expected the usual pile of bills, flyers and paperwork. But little did she know that when she opened one of the letters, she would be brought to tears. The 42-year-old, who owns a Dairy Queen in Markham, Ontario, Canada, was sent a letter by one of her former employees who is now qualified as a doctor. Scroll down for video . Heartwarming: Yvonne Lavasidis, 42, who owns the Dairy Queen in Markham, Ontario, Canada, was brought to tears after she read this letter from her former employee Dr Nahiba Islam, it has now gone viral . The note from Dr Nahiba Islam thanked her old boss for her kindness, support and allowing her to study for her medical admission tests (MCAT) when no customers were around. It read: 'Dear Yvonne, Well, I'm a doctor now! It's taken me a long time, I know, to come back around to Dairy Queen but I have thought of you and your kindness often,' the note reads. 'You are an incredible boss and an even better human being. Thank you for supporting and encouraging me, for BBQing halal chicken for me, and allowing me to study for my MCAT's in the back when no customers were around. Much love, Nabiha' After the letter was shared by her husband on social media, it has now gone viral. 'Obviously I was so very touched,' Lavasidis told ABC News. 'I was in tears when I read the note for the first time, and every time I read it, it still brings tears to my eyes.' 'Incredible boss': Mrs Lavasidis said she was 'very touched' by the note and cries every time she reads it . 'She was a wonderful employee and so bright and one of those kids that you know will be exceptional and find success,' she said. 'I have so many young successful kids. I have one who's a nurse at the local hospital, but she'll take the occasional shift just for the fun of it, if you can believe that. It's just a nice atmosphere for working.' She added that she likes to create a relaxed atmosphere for staff by throwing parties for them and hosting BBQs in the back. 'I work in the store with the staff and have the opportunity to really get to know each person, so it’s a nice thing to see that young people who have found success take the time to take a pen and write a note. It’s so thoughtful.' | Yvonne Lavasidis was sent a letter by her former employee Nahiba Islam .
She is now a doctor after working at the store in Markham, Ontario, Canada .
Note thanked her for showing support, kindness and allowing her to study .
It added: 'You are an incredible boss and an even better human being' |
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