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31,729 | 5a4238cea8e438c15cda1dec4bc7f57998eecbe6 | By . Mark Duell . Last updated at 11:10 PM on 13th July 2011 . The U.S. are achieving football success again on the international stage after beating France 3-1 to reach the Women’s World Cup Final, prompting wild celebrations across America. The Americans, who have never finished below third place at the competition and won it in 1991 and 1999, took an early lead when Lauren Cheney flicked in a Carli Lloyd cross in the ninth minute. France levelled after the break with a Sonia Bompastor cross that bounced past goalkeeper Hope Solo, and fans of both sides watched on anxiously until the deadlock was broken in the 79th minute. Part time: Abby Wambach, second left, celebrates with her U.S. team-mates after scoring to put her side 2-1 up during the semi-final football match of the Women's World Cup against France in Germany . Hugging time: The U.S. team celebrate after winning the semi-final match of the Women's World Cup . Happy: U.S. footballer Alex Morgan, left in left photo and right in right photo, celebrates after making it 3-1, with team-mate Lauren Cheney, right in left photo, and Megan Rapinoe, left in right photo, during the semi-final . Two goals in three minutes from Abby . Wambach and Alex Morgan in front of 25,676 fans secured a third World . Cup final appearance for the Americans, where they will play Japan on Sunday. The Americans’ road to the final has . attracted much attention from Hollywood celebrities and professional . athletes who have never ever watched a football game before. TV star Ellen DeGeneres wished the . team good luck before the game, dozens in airports were glued to TVs and . Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers tagged a tweet with . ‘worldcupfinalherewecome’. Hundreds of people also watched a live outdoor telecast of the game in San Francisco, California. Hands: U.S. players Hope Solo, left, and Lauren Cheney, right, smile after the game in Germany on Wednesday . Singing: Fans of the U.S. team hold up a sign dedicated to goalkeeper Hope Solo at the semi-final game . Waving the flag: Football fans celebrate while watching a live telecast of the game in San Francisco, California . 'This is our journey, this is our . dream,' a beaming Wambach said. 'France are a great team. There were . moments they were outplaying us but I am so proud of this team. France goals: Sonia Bompastor 55USA goals: Lauren Cheney 9, Abby Wambach 79, Alex Morgan 82 . Shots: 25 (France) - 11 (USA)Corners: 10 - 5Possession: 55 per cent - 45 per cent . Referee: Kirsi Heikkinen (Finland)Location: Moenchengladbach (Germany)Attendance: 25,676 . Final match: USA v Japan (Frankfurt, Sunday) 'I know we are going to pull through. I have belief in this team. Everybody is working for each other.' U.S. coach Pia Sundhage, whose team . needed a penalty shootout to overcome Brazil in the last eight and now . go to Frankfurt on Sunday, said: ‘We lost our legs a bit but we picked . up the fight’. 'I think it was obvious we had heavy legs so we had to adjust.' The Americans, under pressure from . the start, scored against the run of play through Cheney but immediately . fell back with some sloppy passing allowing France to come forward . repeatedly. With Sundhage sensing danger and . bellowing from her coaching area, the French dominance almost paid off . on the half hour when Gaetane Thiney tested Solo with a close-range . effort. High point: United States' Abby Wambach heads the ball past France goalkeeper Berangere Sapowicz . Pure delight: Abby Wambach celebrates with Megan Rapinoe after scoring the second goal . Bompastor then rattled the bar with a fierce drive seconds later as France took complete control. The USA have never lost in 22 women's first-team football games against Japan, running out winners 19 times and drawing 3. They have scored 70 goals and shipped 10. The two have faced off twice in the Women's World Cup, with the U.S. winning 4-0 in a 1995 quarter-final and 3-0 in a 1991 group match. Their last meeting was in North Carolina in May, with the USA winning 2-0 in a friendly. Wambach, who had scored an equaliser . deep into extra time against Brazil, should have put the Americans . further in front before the break but headed along the goal line from a . metre. The French got their just reward . after 55 minutes when Bompastor levelled after whipping in a cross from . the left that deceived Solo. With France coach Bruno Bini bringing . on another striker in the speedy Elodie Thomis as they went in search . of the winner, the Americans struck at just the right time with Wambach . making amends and heading in at the far post in the 79th minute. A smooth chip over keeper Berangere Sapowicz from Morgan three minutes later put the game beyond the French. French fancy: Gaetane Thiney watches shot beat United States goalkeeper Hope Solo . Close call: Keeper Hope Solo, right, and team-mate Abby Wambach watch the ball rebound off the crossbar . 'We had our chances and we had a lot,' Bini said. 'We were as good as we could have been. But they have a lot of experience.' 'This is our journey, this is our . dream. I am so proud of this team' Abby Wambach, U.S. footballer . Though the Americans are two-time . World Cup champions, they haven't made the final since Mia Hamm, Julie . Foudy and Brandi Chastain won it all in 1999. The Americans had only two days' rest . following the Brazil game, their quickest turnaround of the tournament, . and there had been concern that fatigue or emotions might get the best . of them. | USA overcome France 3-1 in Women's World Cup semi-final held in Germany .
Team advance to final where they will play Japan in Frankfurt on Sunday .
Goals from Lauren Cheney, Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan secured win .
American fans back home and 26,000 in stadium celebrated victory wildly . |
56,030 | 9ece4bc0e417c3c03a7216549ccb6a7d5ba1d1bc | By . Steve Doughty . PUBLISHED: . 20:04 EST, 16 April 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 20:06 EST, 16 April 2012 . Comments: Sir Christopher Meyer's attack on the inquiry is the strongest yet . The Leveson inquiry has become a mixture of ‘show trial, seminar and truth commission’, according to a former ambassador. Sir Christopher Meyer said there was a ‘whiff of totalitarianism’ about the inquiry into press standards and warned of the dangers of censoring newspapers. The attack from the former head of the Press Complaints Commission is the strongest so far from an influential name outside the newspaper trade. He said the tribunal’s remit was too ambitious and suggested that Lord Justice Leveson had already made up his mind to abolish the PCC and replace it with a new system of regulation. The inquiry, set up by David Cameron last July in the wake of allegations that the News of the World hacked into the phone messages of murder victim Millie Dowler, is charged with examining the culture, practices and ethics of the press. Sir Christopher, who served as UK ambassador in Washington, said: ‘Is there any proposal for press regulation which has come before Leveson, short of appointing a commissar in every news room with X-ray eyes and telepathic powers, that would have nipped phone-hacking in the bud?’ In a speech to the Worshipful Company of Stationers he said: ‘The Leveson inquiry, with its elements of show trial, seminar and truth commission, is a curious beast. ‘It runs in parallel with at least three police investigations looking into similar matters. No wonder there are anxieties among the police and those arrested that the proceedings of the inquiry might damage or prejudice their respective interests.’ Evidence: James Murdoch appears before the Commons Culture Committee inquiry into phone hacking for a second time last November . The PCC strengthened its rules for journalists after two News of the World employees were jailed over phone hacking in 2007. But it did not uncover the extent of hacking at the newspaper. In a speech to the Worshipful Company of Stationers Sir Christopher said that the PCC ‘has been roundly and wrongly condemned’ for not having police powers to investigate wrongdoing. But he said such powers would amount to ‘utterly objectionable’ state regulation. Sir Christopher said: ‘As a formal judicial inquiry, it eclipses in legal standing the unfinished Chilcot Inquiry into the origins and conduct of the Iraq War, a much more important subject.’ Sir Christopher said Lord Justice Leveson (pictured) had made it 'pretty clear' that something new is coming . He added that Lord Justice Leveson ‘has . made it pretty clear that something new is coming’ and that ‘the . fundamental premise of the proceedings is that the current system of . regulation is broken, has lost the confidence of the public and needs to . be replaced.’ The PCC gives satisfaction to more than 80 per cent of those who use it, Sir Christopher said. It should be strengthened, not abolished. But, Sir Christopher said, ‘when I sought to make some of these points in Court 73, I have to say that there was a glazing of the eye from the inquisitor, a flare of irritation from the bench.’ He added: ‘We cannot wish away the Leveson Inquiry. After the expenditure of huge sums of public money, it will be expected to come up with a result, and that result will be a hugely important moment for our freedoms and for our democracy, already under multiple pressures.’ The inquiry had become a hot-house for debate about the media and society, Sir Christopher said. ‘A thousand flowers, and not a few weeds, bloom in the rich haul of witness statements. ‘Here and there a whiff of totalitarianism arises from the foliage. Some witnesses appear animated by the idea that here is such a thing as Truth with a capital T. There may well be, but we humans have only the most partial and imperfect access to it. In reality we live in a world of fiercely competing ideas and “truths”.’ Sir Christopher said that one of the great strengths of British democracy was the ‘campaigning partisanship of its newspapers’. He advised Lord Justice Leveson: ‘Beware those who, flying the flag of objectivity, want to impose their version of the truth. That would cast open the door to the enemies of the open society.’ | Sir Christopher Meyer claimed there was a 'whiff of totalitarianism' about the inquiry into press standards . |
32,798 | 5d3060485764b63359db387dbde9d737075bf39c | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 05:59 EST, 4 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 08:03 EST, 4 March 2014 . The privately educated sister of Boris Johnson has tried being poor for a week for a BBC documentary. And it seems the experience has left author Rachel Johnson feeling slightly guilty. Ms Johnson - a one time editor of society magazine The Lady - said she had previously assumed poor people had spent all of their money on cigarettes, alcohol and television, until she took part in BBC1's Famous, Rich and Hungry. The privately educated sister of Boris Johnson has tried being poor for a week for a BBC documentary . She said: 'The poor people you see on the box are all fat. How in God's name, can you be overweight and hungry? Now I know.' She joined a family in Deptford, south-east London, where the budget for food was little more than a £1 a day. She said the diet comprised mostly of 'white bread, sugar, and frozen stuff', and the realisation soon dawned that poverty and obesity are two sides of the same coin. The Mayor's sister said the experience had made her realise how much money she has wasted, and think twice about spending £3 for a 'flat white' coffee, after realising how much food the figure could buy for a 'poor family'. She told the Radio Times: 'There's this terrible sense of human waste. They're existing, rather than living, like battery hens. Apart from the telly and the cigarettes, they are living like animals.' But she said that her friends 'bizarrely' were rather envious of her experience, believing she was 'lucky old Rachel' after going on her 'poverty safari'. Famous, Rich and Hungry: The BBC1 show will also . see Dragons Den's Theo Paphitis (left) as well as Ms Johnson (right) live with families who are experiencing food poverty in the UK . She added: '... An experience they can never have, even with all of the money they've got.' Famous, Rich and Hungry will see Made . In Chelsea's Jamie Laing, ex-EastEnders actress Cheryl Fergison, . Dragons' Den's Theo Paphitis and Ms Johnson live with . families who are experiencing food poverty in the UK. The contestants will 'put . their lives of privilege and luxury behind them and experience what . life is really like for people in Britain today who can't afford to . eat', the BBC, who has commissioned the show, confirmed last month. Bye bye luxury: Benefits Street will get a celebrity makeover in the new two-part documentary, set to include Made In Chelsea's Jamie Laing (pictured), from the people behind the controversial Channel 4 programme . The hour-long shows, which are being produced by Love Productions - which also produced the controversial programme Benefits Street - will be broadcast on BBC1 in March as part of Sport Relief. A spokesman for the channel earlier told the . MailOnline that the programme will include people in a variety of . circumstances, and isn't just about people living on benefits. Previous series have included Famous, Rich and in the Slums, Famous, Rich and Homeless and Famous, Rich and Jobless. | Ms Johnson will feature in BBC1's Famous, Rich and Hungry documentary .
Sees celebrities live with .
families who are experiencing food poverty in UK .
She said her friends were envious of her 'poverty safari' experience .
Of poor, she said: 'They are living like animals' apart from 'TV and cigarettes' |
286,581 | ff522b1659343457d9da2e54efd7b14c35e4b0f1 | (CNN) -- Police are investigating whether a North Carolina country road may have become the dumping ground for a serial killer, a man one woman believes could have given her a terrifying ride she will never forget. Jackie Nikelia Thorpe's body was found along Seven Bridges Road in August 2007. Since May 2005, the remains of five women have been found near Seven Bridges Road outside Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The road snakes northeast out of town into rural Edgecombe County. Rocky Mount Police Chief John Manley Jr. thinks the women's deaths are related. "They seem to have some connection," he said. Lanessa Williams of Rocky Mount thinks she narrowly missed joining the ranks of the slain women, saying she is not sure whether a man who offered her a ride to a friend's house last year is responsible for their deaths. The longer the two drove, the more she felt a sense of danger, said Williams, 38. The man -- whom she described as thin and African-American, with a mustache and glasses -- rarely spoke and "looked crazy." "He kept on going, and he rode through lights, and he wouldn't let me get out," she said. Eventually, her fears were confirmed when he demanded sex. "He told me that if I didn't do what he wanted me to do, he was going to kill me and throw me in the river." The man eventually stopped his truck in a dark wilderness area, she said. When he got out, she ran away. "I laid in a ditch and stayed there for a while," she said. "He was riding around looking for me." Police are talking to Williams about her experience. She told authorities she noticed something strange: The large block letters saying "Chevrolet" on the back of the man's truck appeared to be painted on. All five of the slain women were African-American, authorities said. Four lived in Rocky Mount, about 55 miles northeast of the state capital, Raleigh. According to the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office, they were: . • Melody Wiggins, 29, whose body was found May 29, 2005. • Jackie Nikelia Thorpe, 35, whose body was found August 17, 2007, behind a house on Seven Bridges Road. • Ernestine Battle, 50, whose remains were found in a wooded area on the road March 13, 2008. • Taraha Shenice Nicholson, 28, whose remains were discovered March 7, 2009. • Jarneice Latonya Hargrove, 31, whose skeletal remains were found June 29, 2009, in the woods off the road. Manley said it appears that the women "suffered a similar death," but authorities are not divulging further details, including the cause of the deaths. Edgecombe County Sheriff James L. Knight is leading the investigation, working with Rocky Mount police and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. The three agencies have created a joint task force to investigate the unsolved killings. Knight is asking the public to be vigilant. "Watch for vehicles if they are on a path or stop along that roadway, and give us a call." Anyone with more information is asked to call the sheriff's office at (252) 641-7911. | Remains of five women found since 2005 along road outside Rocky Mount .
Police chief says it appears women "suffered a similar death"
One local woman recounts terrifying ride with suspicious man .
City, county, state agencies have formed task force . |
192,182 | 84d3e26788ef6fad363bee41c04a475b39a656d2 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 12:15 EST, 31 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 13:11 EST, 24 August 2013 . A mini-black cab, a yellow submarine and a loaf of bread will be battling it out to win this year's Red Bull Soapbox Race - with marks awarded for sheer inventiveness, as well as speed of pedaling. Following a nine-year absence, the race is back in London with entrants using sheer pedal-power to cross the finish line first in their homemade soapbox vehicles. Out for a test drive around London this week, the contraptions will enter the race itself at Alexandra Palace in London on July 14. Scroll down for video . Mini me: A contestant for the Red Bull Soapbox Race pulls up alongside a real black cab in his DIY version . Impressive: The scaled-down black cab soapbox managed to hold its own in the taxi rank . Finishing first does not necessarily mean that a soapbox will win the competition, the impressive appearance of the boxes will count as well. Hotly tipped to win on the design front are Elvis' blue suede shoe, the Royal baby carriage, or a model of Alexandra Palace itself. The replica Alexandra Palace will share the venue's most famous features - including the rose window, the BBC tower and Palm Court entrance. Previous standout contestants have included a piano, a . rodeo clown, a massive corn on the cob, a jail cell and the Golden Gate . Bridge. A vehicle like the patrol car pictured on Westminster Bridge takes around three weeks to build. Wacky races: A Beatles-inspired yellow submarine, a police car and the black cab whizz past the Houses of Parliament as a test drive ahead of the race . Cruising: The soapboxes are entirely human-powered and made from scratch . Attention to detail: This pint-sized patrol car soapbox took three weeks to build and the blue lights even flash for hot pursuits . This particular model comes complete with flashing blue lights and changing number plates for pursuing criminals. The soapboxes mainly take the form of a steel framework with bike wheels fixed onto an axle, so that the racer can steer and pedal. As a global event, more than forty of the soapbox races have been held around the world since the . first one in Brussels in 2000 – from Australia to South Africa, . Helsinki to St. Louis, Jamaica to Italy. In the London race there will be around 70 imaginative designs battling it out on the day. Iconic: The Beatles-inspired soapbox speeding along on Abbey Road, the site of the famous album cover . Mind out: A double decker bus comes towering up behind the diminutive submarine . | Homemade contraptions with no motors battle it out in the Soapbox Race .
The winner is not necessarily the one who crosses the finish line first...
Entrants include a yellow submarine, police car and Elvis' suede shoe . |
285,394 | fdd14b1a584862a46aa3add62e6c8d3e22351297 | More than 120 years after Vincent van Gogh's death, a new painting by the Dutch master has come to light. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which holds the largest collection of the artist's work, announced Monday the discovery of the newly identified painting, a landscape titled "Sunset at Montmajour." "A discovery of this magnitude has never before occurred in the history of the Van Gogh Museum," the museum's director, Axel Ruger, said in a statement. Van Gogh is believed to have completed the relatively large painting in 1888, two years before his death and during "a period that is considered by many to be the culmination of his artistic achievement," Ruger said. The picture depicts a landscape in the vicinity of Arles in the south of France, where van Gogh was working at that time, the museum said. Museum discovers 'new' van Gogh painting . Ruger said the museum attributed the painting to van Gogh after "extensive research into style, technique, paint, canvas, the depiction, van Gogh's letters and the provenance." Starting September 24, it will appear in "Van Gogh At Work," an exhibition currently on show at the museum in Amsterdam. From the 'Sunflowers' period . Van Gogh (1853-1890) crafted some of the world's best known and most loved paintings, including "Sunflowers," "Irises" and "Starry Night," and a number of self-portraits. He painted "Sunset at Montmajour" during the same period in which he produced "Sunflowers," Ruger said. Van Gogh achieved little recognition as an artist during his lifetime, but his reputation blossomed in the years after his suicide at the age of 37, following years of mental illness. His works now hang in leading museums and galleries around the world. During the art market boom of the late 1980s and early 1990s, three of van Gogh's works succeeded each other as the most expensive paintings ever sold: "Sunflowers" for $39.9 million, "Irises" for $53.9 million and "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" for $82.5 million. In its statement, the Van Gogh Museum didn't divulge the full story behind the discovery of "Sunset at Montmajour," saying it would be published in the October edition of The Burlington Magazine, a fine art publication, and at the museum. Louis van Tilborgh and Teio Meedendorp, two senior researchers at the museum, said the painting had belonged to the collection of van Gogh's younger brother, Theo, in 1890 and was sold in 1901. Saving van Gogh's home from dereliction . | The painting has been identified as a van Gogh after "extensive research," a museum says .
"A discovery of this magnitude has never before occurred," the Van Gogh Museum says .
The picture is from 1888, during a period considered by many to be the high point of his career .
It depicts a landscape in the south of France, where van Gogh was working at the time . |
50,185 | 8df09c11ae87e27a7fc72800750700a964f794cf | Editor's note: Zeyno Baran, a native of Turkey, is senior fellow for the Center for Islam, Democracy and the Future of the Muslim World at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank that says it is dedicated to "global security, prosperity and freedom." From January 2003 until 2006, Baran directed the International Security and Energy Programs at The Nixon Center. Zeyno Baran says the United States can learn much from Turkey's expertise on Afghanistan and Pakistan. (CNN) -- Turks greeted President Obama with huge excitement Monday. This was the first time a U.S. president visited Turkey at the start of his term, sending a clear signal that this administration recognizes the importance of Turkey and wants to engage with it from the start. His address in the Turkish parliament was one of the greatest speeches made by an American leader in such a setting: He not only showed his deep understanding of Turkey's many complex issues and identities, but also handled tough issues with great skill. He framed his talk just right by underlining Turkey's European identity as a secular democracy. That said, it is important to remember how good U.S.-Turkey relations were at the start of the Bush administration. President George W. Bush also considered Turkey an extremely valuable partner, but then came the Iraq war. The United States genuinely believed Turkey would be one of the most important allies going forward. Despite official channels and experts making clear the difficulties in allowing U.S. military to cross into Iraq via its lands, the administration chose to listen to those who sang music to its ears. As a result, they based a whole military strategy on the Turkish parliament voting yes and were shocked when they received a no. Bilateral relations then entered a downward spiral. With Obama's election, there is renewed excitement in Turkey. Like most of the people of Turkey, he opposed the Iraq war and considered Afghanistan the "good war." Going forward, as President Obama underscored in his speech, Turkey can play an important role in Afghanistan as a reliable NATO ally. The question is: How can Turkey best help? Turkey is one of the few -- possibly the only -- NATO member that has deep religious, cultural and historic knowledge of both Afghanistan and Pakistan. In fact, the Turkish government has brought together the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan much before the United States began approaching them together. Reading the tea leaves, one may conclude that the Obama administration wants to cooperate with Turkey in engaging with the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan. This would be the wrong kind of cooperation. Although Turkey has channels to the Taliban and has means to facilitate the talks, there cannot be a morally acceptable deal reached with the Taliban, whose ultimate goal is to curb all individual freedoms and universal human rights, especially when it comes to women. No matter what the reasonable sounding arguments may be in favor of this strategy, pulling Turkey into any kind of engagement with the Taliban -- either as part of NATO or bilaterally -- would have much worse long-term consequences. Instead, the Obama administration needs to think of "victory" not only in the short term and from a purely anti-terrorism perspective, but also in consideration of the people who have lived and will continue to live in those lands. In other words, providing true safety, security, justice and development for Afghanistan and Pakistan -- not the kind of society the Taliban has been providing. Indeed, it is in providing the basic securities that Turkey can be a great partner. Turkey not only can and will continue to help provide safety and physical security, but also could further assist with the reconstruction projects, such as building hospitals, schools, sanitation facilities and investment projects that would have direct impact on the socioeconomic development of the Afghan and Pakistani societies. There are many Turkish companies that have undertaken successful construction projects in these fields since early 2002. There are also military and civilian trainers, nongovernment organizations and even volunteer teachers who work in some of the most dangerous regions. Still, Turkey can possibly make the greatest contribution by helping the United States frame the challenges it is facing in a more accurate and honest way. Just as President Obama referred to his personal story and that of the United States to help Turks look deeper within, Turks can do the same for the United States. To start, Turkey can explain how the vast Eurasian region it belongs to is not just part of the "Muslim world" but has been at the crossroads of eastern and western cultures and ideas and witnessed many brutal wars and massacres over the millennia. Moreover, each country has its own spirit -- there are ancient cultures and tribal formations, and these do not move fast. It is important to stop and drink the tea. Turkey can also explain that it is only in recent decades that jihadism and extremism took root in these lands known for their Sufi teachings that talk about love, instead of hatred. As a true partner, it can also help the United States recognize its share, along with many others, in inadvertently contributing to the creation of the Taliban and al-Qaeda by making bad foreign policy choices. Anything short of recognition of the past catching up with us will leave us all unprepared for what may come in the future. In other words, we may be doomed to repeat the same mistakes until we learn our lesson. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Zeyno Baran. | Zeyno Baran: Obama's speech shows deep understanding of Turkey .
She says administration needs to make good use of Turkey's role in region .
Baran: Using Turkey to make peace with Taliban would be a mistake .
She says Turkey can help rebuild Afghanistan and provide security . |
205,433 | 95f1cfeb0728d5137f6252a24bdd3c65bf864afc | The first significant new museum of American art in nearly half a century debuted in 2011. But to view Crystal Bridges' collection—from a Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington to Jackson Pollock canvases—you don't travel to New York, Los Angeles or Chicago. You head down a forested ravine in a town in northwestern Arkansas. As museum founder and Walmart heiress Alice Walton scooped up tens of millions of dollars' worth of art from across the country, thinly veiled snobbish rhetoric began to trickle out from the coasts. Most notably, when she purchased Asher B. Durand's 1849 Kindred Spirits from the New York Public Library for $35 million, some culturati bristled at the thought that this famed Hudson River School landscape would be leaving for Bentonville. The controversy raised the question: Who deserves access to great art? Yet a small town is precisely the kind of place where a stellar art collection fits in. After all, coastal hamlets, mountaintop villages and desert whistle-stops have inspired American artists for generations, among them, the Impressionists of Connecticut's Old Lyme Colony and the minimalist installation artists who more recently gentrified Marfa. Where else can you find the mix of affordable rents, access to inspiring natural vistas and enough peace and quiet to actually get work done? Many small towns also offer detour-worthy museums, some housed in spectacular historic spaces—old factories, former army bases, Beaux-Arts estates, Victorian mansions—and others built from scratch by internationally renowned architects like Zaha Hadid and Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron. And with works inside just as varied, from landscape paintings at the Taos Art Museum to minimalist installations at Dia:Beacon to American folk art at the Shelburne, you're sure to find a small-town art museum to suit any artistic taste. Travel+Leisure: America's best ice cream shops . Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, Connecticut . When iron industrialist Alfred A. Pope began buying French Impressionist masterpieces, the movement was still stirring outrage across Europe for its radical departure from tradition. But you'd never know it from the intimate, even cozy, atmosphere at the Hill-Stead Museum, which places these works in the same context in which Pope would have enjoyed them—surrounded by antiques and period Federal-, Chippendale- and Empire-style furnishings in his hilltop estate outside of Hartford. Like the works you'll find inside, by Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Mary Cassatt and Édouard Manet, the house itself now seems lovely and genteel. But it also comes with a radical back story: the Colonial Revival mansion, completed in 1901, was designed by Pope's own daughter, only the fourth registered female architect in American history. $15; hillstead.org. Ohr-O'Keefe Museum, Biloxi, Mississippi . Biloxi's Ohr-O'Keefe Museum raises many questions. You might wonder what an avant-garde museum is doing in a Gulf Coast beach town known for its casinos and sunshine. Or how starchitect Frank Gehry got involved in a project dedicated to obscure 19th-century ceramicist George Ohr. Or how this place is even still standing. During construction, Hurricane Katrina slammed an unmoored casino barge directly into the unfinished buildings. Any lack of logic seems appropriate in honoring Ohr, a true eccentric who dubbed himself the Mad Potter of Biloxi and was known for his delightfully misshapen, brightly colored pottery. Opened in 2010 in a thicket of live oaks, the museum encompasses brick-and-steel pavilions, twisted egg-shaped pods and examples of 19th-century vernacular architecture, with galleries on African American art, ceramics and Gulf Coast history. $10; georgeohr.org. The Huntington, San Marino, California . San Marino is named for the tiny republic on the Italian peninsula. And it's an appropriate connection for the Huntington, where the vibe is distinctly European, thanks to 120 manicured acres (reserve ahead for the Tea Room, surrounded by a rose garden) and a collection skewed to Old World classics. The Huntington Art Gallery has the largest collection of 18th- and 19th-century British art outside of London—including works by Thomas Gainsborough and John Constable. Other galleries within this Beaux-Arts estate cover Renaissance paintings and 18th-century sculpture as well as the furniture of Frank Lloyd Wright and paintings by Mary Cassatt and Edward Hopper. A Gutenberg Bible from the 1450s and an illuminated manuscript of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are among the library's gems. $20. Travel+Leisure: The best apps and websites for travelers . Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, East Lansing, Michigan . College towns offer more than beautiful campuses, tradition-rich bars and football. Many can also brag about world-class art collections. Case in point: Michigan State University's new Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum. It's the first-ever university building designed by Pritzker Prize--winner Zaha Hadid and only her second project in North America. The corrugated stainless steel and glass facade juts sharply like a ship—or perhaps more accurately a spaceship—run aground. While the collection is primarily contemporary, the curators included some classic works to better contextualize the newer acquisitions. So you can expect Old Master paintings, 19th-century American paintings and 20th-century sculpture, along with artifacts from ancient Greece, Rome and the pre-Columbian Americas. Free; broadmuseum.msu.edu. Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York . Low-slung and shedlike, with its corrugated tin roof and parallel 615-foot slabs of poured concrete, Eastern Long Island's newest art museum features a style that might be called Modern Agricultural. Surrounded by a meadow of tall grasses on the long road to Montauk, the museum is a minimalist stunner that's perfectly suited to its surroundings: The long horizontal space speaks both to the uninterrupted horizons of the region's famed beaches and to the unfussy simplicity that first attracted artists like Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner and Willem de Kooning. Inside, under an ever-changing glow from skylights above, the collection honors the generations of artists who called this area home, such as American Impressionist William Merritt Chase and mid-century realist Fairfield Porter. In 2014, it won Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron a T+L Design Award for best museum. $10; parrishart.org. Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont . Most art collectors limit purchases to what they can hang on the walls or set on their mantelpieces. But sugar heiress Electra Havemeyer Webb had grander plans. After amassing Hudson River School landscapes, quirky folk art, quilts, decoys, toys and circus posters, Webb decided she needed somewhere to put it all. So she set out doing what she did best: collecting. From across New England and New York, Webb gathered 18th- and 19th-century structures—houses, barns, a schoolhouse, a jail, a general store, a lighthouse and a steamboat—and set them up on 45 acres of farmland near Lake Champlain, where she founded the Shelburne Museum in 1947. More than 150,000 pieces are on display and more accessible than ever; The 2013 opening of the Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education allowed the formerly seasonal Shelburne to stay open year-round. $22. Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas . The Chinati Foundation is massive by design. Fed up with the cramped galleries of New York City and the need to constantly rotate exhibits, minimalist sculptor Donald Judd decamped to this tiny former railroad stop in the Chihuahuan Desert in 1971. Nearly 200 miles from an airport and surrounded on all sides by scrub grasslands, Marfa is blessed, above all else, with space. Judd teamed with the Dia Foundation to transform a decommissioned army base into the 340-acre arts compound. Here and in a number of buildings downtown, works are given room to breathe. A hundred of Judd's trademark aluminum boxes fill two old brick artillery sheds; Dan Flavin's light installations occupy six barracks; Richard Long's volcanic stone pieces sit on an old tennis court; and John Chamberlain's painted steel sculptures are in the Marfa Wool and Mohair Building. $25, full collection tour. Travel+Leisure: The world's coolest museum gift shops . Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Bainbridge Island, Washington . Opened in June 2013 in the waterfront town of Bainbridge Island, BIMA is just a five-minute walk from the ferry terminal that brings passengers across Puget Sound from Seattle. But BIMA's curators aren't concerned with any big-city competition. They've honed in with a laser-like focus on contemporary fine arts and crafts from a very small radius: the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas and the Western Puget Sound region. It's all on view in a dazzling glass building that reflects the region's eco-friendly spirit. With its rooftop garden, recycled-denim insulation, solar panels, geothermal wells and sustainable tigerwood siding, BIMA is on track to become the first LEED Gold--certified museum in the state—and among the first in the nation. Free; biartmuseum.org. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas . Casting her curatorial net (and considerable wealth) far and wide, Alice Walton gathered centuries of exceptional American art, from the Colonial era up to the present. The works by Gilbert Stuart, John Singer Sargent, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock, to name just a few, would make any big city proud. But Walton set her project in a place critically underserved by cultural institutions, the Ozarks town of Bentonville, where Sam Walton opened his first five and dime. Designed by Israeli-American architect Moshe Safdie with an eye toward connecting with the landscape, the museum is made up of eight interconnected galleries built in and around spring-fed pools, surrounded by forests, ravines and miles of hiking trails. It helped inspire the opening of 21c, a nearby art-filled boutique hotel with a locavore restaurant. Free; crystalbridges.org. Mass MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts . The repurposed 19th-century brick buildings that make up Mass MoCA's 13-acre campus are forever linked with northwestern Massachusetts' industrial heritage. These buildings housed textile manufacturers, then Sprague Electric Company, which produced parts for the atomic bomb and the Gemini spacecraft. When Sprague left in 1985, the site was historically significant but unwieldy—a superfund contamination site also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The director of the Williams College Museum of Art came looking for a raw space for larger-than-life installations. After more than a decade of renovations, Mass MoCA opened in 1999. Now artist residencies mean that works of art—visual, music, dance, film, theater—are being created on the very same floors where forward-thinking advances have been developed for 150 years. $15. See more of America's best small town museums here. | Small towns are the very places that have inspired generations of artists .
Enjoy their art in museums located in small towns around the country .
An avant-garde museum calls a Gulf Coast beach town home .
Repurposed 19th-century brick buildings now display art in Massachusetts . |
205,534 | 9610dc47be3552f8b7d44aecfe5472a5a27239a8 | Five of the BBC's most senior bosses were handed jobs with pay totalling £1.8million-a-year without the roles ever being advertised, it was revealed today. Lord Hall, who earns £450,000-a-year as Director General, did not have to apply for his job and then brought in several other executives in the same way. The majority of his senior management team are also graduates of Oxford and Cambridge, with critics saying it shows the BBC is run by 'an old boys' network'. Lord Hall was parachuted in after the Jimmy Savile scandal shook the corporation in 2012 but the Director General job was not advertised. Senior posts: Director General Lord Hall was parachuted in in 2012 and then appointed former colleague Anne Bulford without advertising her post . Controversy: A senior backbench MP has accused the BBC, based at Broadcasting House in London, pictured, of being a self-serving old boys' network . As a result of the Savile scandal, Helen Boaden was forced out of her previous job, head of BBC news because she dumped the Newsnight investigation into his abuse. She was appointed BBC radio chief instead on £352,900. Lord Hall's former Royal Opera House colleague Anne Bulford was given the managing director for finance and operations on £395,000 without the job being advertised. British employment law does not insist that businesses advertise jobs when they become available. But critics believe this can end up discriminating against those who may be suitable. Or meaning that jobs can be handed out to friends or people from a particular group or background. The Equality and Human Rights Commission says: 'If an employer doesn’t advertise at all or advertises in a way that won’t reach people with a particular protected characteristic, this might in some situations lead to indirect discrimination, unless the employer can objectively justify their approach. 'This is because not advertising or only advertising in a very limited way may stop people with a particular protected characteristic finding out about a job, which could count as worse treatment'. And former cabinet minister James Purnell was offered the £295,000 job of director of strategy and digital have previously worked at the BBC as head of corporate planning from 1995 to 1997 under former director general Lord Birt, a friend of Lord Hall. Tim Davie was acting director general during the Savile crisis and was then became CEO of BBC Worldwide and Director Global, on £400,000, earning £670,000 in total last year. It came after it emerged the BBC pays 11 of its most senior bosses twice as much as the Prime Minister and a further 80 executives take home more than David Cameron’s £142,500-a-year salary. Conservative MP Philip Davies, who sits on the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, said: 'The BBC is a self-serving old boys' network. 'The BBC has recently said they have cut their senior management to the bone and there are no more savings to be made there but it’s only at the BBC where you could cut senior management to the bone and end up with more people paid more than the Prime Minister than before you started. ‘It’s just extraordinary and goes to show how much fat there is. ‘What the BBC should do is be cutting out all of these managers, most of who if they disappeared no one would notice, and start delivering some value for money to the licence fee payer.’ Bosses: Helen Boaden was moved to Director of radio in the fallout of the Savile scandal while former Labour MP James Purnell was offered an unadvertised role . The BBC said today that it does sometimes not advertise posts to avoid expensive recruitment processes. The spokesman added that one in three of all executives are Oxford or Cambridge graduates, which is lower than some other sectors. She added: 'These appointments were widely reported on at the time. We appoint the best people wherever they come from. Sometimes where people are uniquely suited to the role there is no need for a lengthy and costly recruitment processes.' Tony Hall, Director General - £450,000. Took the top job at the BBC after being chief executive of the Royal Opera House. Previously he ran BBC News and launched Radio 5, News 24, BBC News Online and BBC Parliament. Anne Bulford, Managing director for finance and operations - £395,000. Lord Hall appointed his former colleague to a top post at the corporation without the job being advertised. Peter Salmon, below right, Director, England - £387,900. Joined as a trainee in 1981 and rose to run BBC1 before taking his current role. Helen Boaden, below left, Director, BBC Radio - £352,900. As a result of the Savile scandal, Ms Boaden was forced out of her previous job, head of BBC news, where she was in charge for seven years, after being criticised for her poor management skills. She was appointed BBC radio chief instead. James Harding, below centre, Director of News and Current Affairs - £340,000. Former editor of The Times Newspaper, Mr Harding took over the post which was vacated by Helen Boaden. Danny Cohen, below right, Director TV - £327,800. Former BBC 1 controller was also in charge of BBC3, where he commissioned Snog, Marry Avoid and Hotter Than My Daughter. Defending his salary recently he said: 'The executives continue to be well-paid, but if we went to commercial organisations we'd be paid roughly double'. Bal Samra, Commercial Director - £322,800. Also has the title of Managing Director TV. Once claimed £1,100 expenses on a ‘thank you meal’ for 22 colleagues to mark the end of a project. Ralph Rivera, Director, future Media - £309,000. American-born executive is in charge of BBC interactive and BBC online. James Purnell, below left, Director, Strategy and Digital - £295,000. Former Labour MP and Cabinet minister.He served as both Culture and Work and Pensions Secretary under Gordon Brown. Mr Purnell previously worked at the BBC as head of corporate planning from 1995 to 1997 under former director general Lord Birt. Valerie Hughes D'aeth, below left, Director HR - £295,000. HR boss joined in August. Alan Yentob, below right, Creative Director - £183,000 - plus £150,000 for presenting role. Last year Yentob justified his own pay by saying he was ‘valuable’ to the BBC because of his ‘relationship with talent’ and ‘understanding of the networks and the schedules’. | Lord Hall brought in as Director General and appointed four other staff .
Critics said today that corporation 'is a self-serving old boys' network'
BBC says not advertising jobs can help avoid 'lengthy and costly' process . |
62,669 | b21454b63fc8426773b6b3b8ab3b7292cf4c0c7e | By . Simon Neville . Last updated at 3:03 PM on 11th October 2011 . TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has sparked outrage after claiming eating puppy meat is no worse than eating a pork chop. The River Cottage star, who regards himself as a ‘real food campaigner’, suggested that society has unfairly dictated which animals can be farmed and which can be kept as pets. His comments were criticised by animal charities as ‘wholly unacceptable’. 'Gimmicky'? The TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - star of River Cottage - admitted he would only eat cats and dogs if he was 'on the point of starvation' Fearnley-Whittingstall told the Radio Times: ‘In principle, but not in practice, I have no objection to a high-welfare organic puppy farm. ‘You can’t object, unless you also object to the farming of pigs. ‘It’s an artificial construct of our society, a cultural decision, to make pets out of dogs and meat out of pigs. ‘Both animals could be used the other way round – although pigs probably do make better meat than dogs and dogs better pets than pigs. But it’s not a foregone conclusion.’ However, the 46-year-old did admit he would only eat loin of labrador or cat liver if ‘I was on the point of starvation’. Last night a Dogs Trust spokesman said: ‘We believe that the concept of breeding dogs for food in any conditions, high welfare or not, is wholly unacceptable. Too cute to eat: The chef said it was an artificial construct of society, a cultural decision, to make pets out of dogs and meat out of pigs . 'Better meat than dogs': Fearnley-Whittingstall said you can't object to eating dog meat unless you also object to the farming of pigs . ‘Dogs are companion animals and as man’s best friend they provide immeasurable love, comfort and support to owners all over the world. ‘They have an innate ability to form real bonds with humans and their loyalty is unquestionable. ‘They also contribute so much to society through their vital roles with our armed forces and the police, and they help people in need such as those who are sight and hearing impaired or otherwise disabled.’ The full interview is available in the latest edition of the Radio Times . An RSPCA spokesman said the chef’s comments ‘were made in a crude way’, adding: ‘Our concerns are with the farming of any animal, dog or otherwise, and his comments may seem sensible but are actually quite controversial – especially when dogs are our most popular and loved pet.’ Fearnley-Whittingstall has spent the past five months not eating meat for his latest TV series and for a vegetarian cookbook. When asked if his new-found vegetarianism was a gimmick for the £1.9million publishing deal, he said: ‘That money is for a series of eight or nine River Cottage handbooks, which I don’t write so the money is shared. But I don’t think we’re gimmicky. ‘I started by looking at where food came from, rearing our animals and growing our food.’ It is not the first time Fearnley-Whittingstall has caused controversy over his food ideas. He has eaten curried fruit bat, giraffe and calf testicles in the past. In 1998 he fell foul of broadcasting rules when his show TV Dinners saw people cooking and eating human placenta. He said at the time: ‘People need to be shocked to make them think about the issues in eating food.’ | River Cottage star says people offended by the idea of eating dogs should also object to pig farming .
Chef admits he would only eat canine if he was 'on the point of starvation'
RSPCA says his comments were made 'in a crude way' |
47,970 | 87663735888ecebca6134a3b0a4a3b6602636031 | Lebanese women are taking to the streets to demand that the government takes domestic violence seriously, by introducing laws to protect women from abusive partners. Nadine Mouwad, a founder of feminist collective Nasawiya, says the prevalence of unveiled, glamorous women in Beirut can create the impression that Lebanon is more liberated from patriarchal cultural attitudes than neighboring countries. But that's merely an illusion, she says. "The problem is that we are sold a lot of fake freedoms that raise Lebanese women under the impression that they have freedom to go anywhere, freedom to dress the way they want to," she said. For the past year and a half, Mouwad and fellow feminist activists have been demanding that politicians ignore the objections of Muslim religious authorities and pass a stalled law protecting women from domestic violence. A draft version of the Law to Protect Women from Family Violence was approved by Lebanon's Cabinet in 2010, but has since become bogged down in parliament, mainly due to the objections of Sunni and Shia authorities. The initial version of the bill was drafted to criminalize physical and sexual abuse, so-called "honor crimes" and marital rape, create specially-trained domestic violence response units within the police, and provide the legal framework for restraining orders to be issued against abusers. Read also: Not all colors welcomed in Lebanon's cultural tapestry . But Lebanon's religious courts -- the judicial authorities presiding over each of the country's faith communities, with jurisdiction over matters of "personal status," including marriage problems -- have criticized the proposed law as an attempt to erode their authority. Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon's top Sunni authority, and the Higher Shi'a Islamic Council both said that they opposed the draft on the basis that Sharia law protected the status of women, and should remain the basis for governing legal issues related to Muslim families. Domestic violence cases in Lebanon are typically heard in the religious courts, which often respond with rulings focused on preserving the family unit, rather protecting women from violence. It's a response that abused women are usually met with from police as well, says Lebanese lawyer Amer Badreddine. "They are told to solve the problem amicably, to keep it a family issue and not cause embarrassment to themselves by bringing it to the police," said Badreddine, who specializes in domestic violence cases. He said the law also failed to recognize marital rape as a crime -- a position that some Muslim judges argue should be upheld. Criminalizing marital rape "could lead to the imprisonment of the man," Sheik Ahmad Al-Kurdi, a judge in the Sunni religious court, told CNN, "where in reality he is exercising the least of his marital rights." Read also: A Palestinian farmer's journey to the Oscars . With little protection from authorities, Lebanese women in abusive marriages must also often contend with the disapproval of their families if they seek to escape their predicament. One Lebanese mother-of-three told CNN of being beaten by her husband from the time she was pregnant with their first child. Shortly after the child was born, he broke her nose and she resolved to divorce him. But her parents were mortified about what people would think, and said she would have to give up her son if she left. She returned to the marital home where the abuse continued, including her husband forcing himself on her. "He used to make me pregnant, thinking that as long as I was having kids he would make me stay," she said. She feared he would kill her. But eventually, with the help of a Kafa ("Enough") -- an NGO tackling violence and exploitation of women and children -- she was able to divorce her husband and retain custody of her children. Such an outcome is rare for abused women in Lebanon -- a situation that was now unlikely to be remedied by the passing of the domestic violence bill, says Mouwad. Her organization heard of about 15 cases a year of Lebanese women murdered by their domestic partners, she said. Mouwad said the draft bill had been watered down with so many amendments due to objections by religious conservatives, that it was virtually useless. She said she would ultimately prefer not to see it pass. "If it passes the way it is, it's going to be disastrous and counterproductive," she said. | A law to protect women from domestic violence in Lebanon has stalled in parliament .
It is opposed by religious groups which claim it will erode the power of religious courts .
Feminist groups are protesting the delay, saying women have few legal protections in Lebanon .
One judge from a Sunni religious court told CNN marital rape was a husband's "right" |
66,509 | bca10ec46921eacff724b93abe96e6ea6abd0dff | A mother who was found dead after taking her newborn baby from the maternity unit of a hospital sparking a major search was discovered in a gully close to her child's body, an inquest heard today. Charlotte Bevan, 30, disappeared from St Michael's Hospital in Bristol with four-day-old Zaani Tiana Bevan Malbrouck at about 9pm on December 2. CCTV footage showed the new mother leaving the hospital without a coat, wearing hospital slippers and carrying her daughter in a blanket. The footage also showed her walking past at least three nurses without being stopped. Scroll down for video . Charlotte Bevan, 30 (pictured left and with her baby right), disappeared from St Michael's Hospital in Bristol with four-day-old Zaani Tiana at about 9pm on December 2. Their bodies were found at the foot of Avon Gorge . Ms Bevan was calmly took her little girl from the maternity unit of the hopsital before leaving the hospital . Following a city-wide search, the body of Ms Bevan was found on the cliff face of the Avon Gorge, almost two miles away from the hospital ward, a day after she disappeared. The body of Zaani was found near where her mother had been found, 15 hours later, following an extensive search. A short hearing at Avon Coroner's Court, in Flax Bourton, near Bristol, heard that the pair had apparently fallen from the cliffs, which overlook Clifton Suspension Bridge. The pair were discovered after a walker spotted Ms Bevan's slippers and a baby blanket on the cliff's edge and called police. Avon Coroner's Court heard today that post-mortem examinations had been carried out on both the mother and daughter by a Home Office-registered pathologist, but further tests were required. No members of Ms Bevan's family were present at the 10-minute hearing, which was opened by Assistant Coroner Dr Peter Harrowing. He told the court there would be 'separate and distinct' inquests into the deaths of the mother and daughter. 'But given the circumstances of which their deaths occurred it was appropriate to deal with matters at the same time,' he added. Coroner's officer Alex Basson said Ms Bevan was pronounced dead by a paramedic at 9.17pm on December 3 in the Avon Gorge. She was believed to have been be suffering from depression, schizophrenia and severe sleep deprivation when she left the hospital and had reportedly stopped taking medication so that she could breastfeed when her child arrived. The new mother and her baby were found in a gully at the foot of Avon Gorge, an inquest in Bristol heard . Officers descended into the Avon Gorge while searching for the baby as a sniffer dog team worked below . 'She was identified by her uncle to a detective constable,' Mr Basson told the hearing at Flax Bourton, near Bristol. 'The circumstances surrounding her death were that the deceased had recently given birth to a baby daughter and was seen on CCTV to leave St Michael's Hospital in Bristol with child on December 2. 'Her lifeless body and that of her child, also lifeless, was later found following a police search in a gully in Avon Gorge having apparently fallen.' Mr Basson said Zaani was born on November 28 and she was confirmed dead by a paramedic at the Avon Gorge at 3.02pm on December 4, just six-days-old. 'She was identified by hospital wristbands to a detective constable at the Avon Gorge,' he said. 'The circumstances surrounding her death were that the deceased was found lifeless in the Avon Gorge. 'The body of her mother Charlotte Bevan was recovered nearby.' The court heard that post-mortem examinations had been carried out by Dr Russell Delaney who has provided provisional reports to the coroner. 'We await the final report subject to histology and toxicology examination,' Mr Basson added. Mr Basson also confirmed that he was not in possession of any medical cause of death relating to Zaani. 'I have spoken at length to the investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Russell Jones, and clearly the investigation into the deaths of Charlotte and Zaani is well underway,' he said. 'They anticipate having their investigative report available in about eight weeks' time.' The court heard that the reports from Ms Bevan's GP and both the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, who had dealings with her, and the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, which runs St Michael's Hospital, had been requested. Dr Harrowing said the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) had recently updated its guidelines for health professionals working with pregnant women who were at risk of mental health problems. Police launched a city-wide search for Ms Bevan and her daughter and found their bodies at Avon Gorge . Ms Bevan (pictured left with partner Pascal Malbrouck and right in the late stages of her pregnancy) had reportedly stopped taking her depression medication so she could breastfeed when her baby arrived . 'I think it is important that we ensure that both the mental health partnership and the University Hospitals Bristol address those guidelines in the reports they prepare,' he said. 'They should be able to provide information and evidence of how those guidelines were applied in respect of Charlotte Bevan.' The coroner said that for the resumed hearing he would be making Ms Bevan's partner, Pascal Malbrouck, her mother Rachel Fortune, and the two health trusts 'interested parties'. A provisional date for the full hearing was fixed for April 16 and could run into a second day, the court heard. Adjourning the hearing, Dr Harrowing added: 'The family are not in attendance at this opening today but they are fully aware of today's hearing and understandably chose not to attend.' Paying tribute after the deaths, Ms Bevan's mother said: 'My beautiful daughter and granddaughter are now at peace.' A funeral for Ms Bevan and baby Zaani will be held at Christ Church in Clifton at 1pm on Friday. Her family has asked those attending to wear bright clothing and not to bring any cut flowers. A private cremation will take place for family only following the funeral. | Charlotte Bevan, from Bristol, carried daughter Zaani Tiana out of hospital .
CCTV footage showed her walking past three nurses at vending machine .
Allegedly suffered depression, schizophrenia and severe sleep deprivation .
New mother had stopped taking her medication so she could breastfeed .
Bodies of Ms Bevan and Zaani were found in gully on side of Avon Gorge .
Inquest opened near Bristol today and adjourned until April 16 next year .
For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details. |
19,902 | 38844d40bedd6890dc5662757ff0f80c38680152 | By . Peter Allen and Kirsty Walker . PUBLISHED: . 18:34 EST, 22 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 18:35 EST, 22 August 2012 . Iain Duncan Smith (pictured) said rules which allow expats abroad to claim up to £100m in winter fuel payments was 'ridiculous' Iain Duncan Smith last night vowed to fight a ‘ludicrous’ European ruling allowing expats living in warm countries to claim a total of up to £100million in winter fuel payments. The European Court of Justice ruling means the Government must pay the annual handout worth as much as £300 to up to 444,000 British pensioners living abroad. The Work and Pensions Secretary is now considering bringing in a ‘temperature’ test so payments would only be made to those living in colder climates. Mr Duncan Smith told the Daily Mail: ‘We will fight these ridiculous rules. The winter fuel payment is about helping British pensioners with heating costs and it is ludicrous we could have to pay more pensioners living in hot countries.’ He added: ‘We will protect taxpayers’ money and bring in a temperature criteria.’ Previously, the elderly could only qualify for the winter fuel allowance if they reached 60 before leaving Britain. Anyone who left Britain before the payment was introduced in 1998 was also excluded. But under the new rules claimants only need to ‘have a genuine and sufficient link with the UK’ including having ‘lived or worked in the UK for most of your working life’. It means that anyone born on or before July 5, 1951, can now make a claim for the payment for winter fuel this year. Any household with a pensioner qualifies for a payment of £200. Those with someone over 80 get £300. In the 2010-11 winter, 72,840 expats claimed winter fuel payments, or WFPs, at a total cost of almost £16million. Under the changed rules, that figure could be multiplied many times over. There are some 444,000 people living in Europe who receive a UK state pension. Bills to heat the home: Mr Duncan Smith said the winter fuel payment is about helping British pensioners with heating costs . If they were to all claim the WFPs, the annual cost would rocket to almost £100million a year, at a time when the Government is being forced to make unprecedented spending cuts. It is not possible to accurately estimate how many people will receive a payment for the first time as a result of this change, Mr Duncan Smith said, because not all will satisfy the criteria for a WFP. Officials are now looking into how a temperature test might work. Any change in the WFP criteria would require new legislation. There are some 60,000 OAPs living in France, many of them based in the south where the average temperature in winter can be as high as 57F (13C). Sleeping in hotter climates: A ¿temperature¿ test could be brought in so payments would only be made to those living in colder climates . In parts of Spain, where there are some 100,000 British OAPs, average temperatures in December and January can reach 63F (17C). Many of the expatriates who have moved to such countries are middle-class retired people who have deliberately moved abroad to enjoy a better climate. For elderly people solely surviving on a state pension or small employment pensions the WFP is a lifeline during particularly cold winters. Some £100billion is spent providing benefits for the elderly, and Mr Duncan-Smith has called for £5billion to be shaved off that total. The Department for Work and Pensions said: ‘It is now possible people living in the European Economic Area and Switzerland may be entitled to Winter Fuel Payment.’ | 'Temperature' test may be brought in to check climate cold enough .
Winter fuel payment about helping British pensioners, says Work and Pensions Secretary . |
270,099 | e9cf21bd50a79ef846cd87e39e31ef823852d760 | (CNN)Cameron Diaz kicked off her new year with the sound of wedding bells. According to reports, the actress married Good Charlotte musician Benji Madden in a small ceremony at the couple's home in Los Angeles. Diaz, 42, had been dating Madden, 35, since May. The couple became engaged in December and are said to have sealed the deal the evening of January 5. The guest list reportedly included celebrities like Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow, with Diaz's friend Drew Barrymore serving as a bridesmaid. Diaz - who has previously been linked to actor Jared Leto, singer Justin Timberlake and baseball player Alex Rodriguez - has been skeptical in the past of marriage and outspoken about the fact that she wasn't anxious to settle down. She told Maxim magazine in 2011 that she believed marriage was a "dying institution," adding, "I think we have to make our own rules. I don't think we should live our lives in relationships based off old traditions that don't suit our world any longer." But it seems Benji Madden suits the actress just fine. Diaz's friend and Madden's sister-in-law, Nicole Richie, has previously (and perhaps jokingly) taken credit for setting the pair up. "I approve of anything that's going to make Benj happy," Richie, who's married to Madden's twin brother, Joel, told Andy Cohen on "Watch What Happens Live" in July. "I am a devoted sister-in-law. I am happy for anybody who's happy, and I want everybody to be surrounded with love." If Richie did play matchmaker for Diaz and Madden, she nailed it. In a statement to People magazine the newlyweds said, "We couldn't be happier to begin our new journey together surrounded by our closest family and friends." | Cameron Diaz married musician Benji Madden Monday .
The couple had a small ceremony at their home in Los Angeles .
Diaz has previously been skeptical of marriage .
The couple were set up by Madden's sister-in-law, Nicole Richie . |
241,179 | c438d4933f7b66f8e4d7fba889495ee00da8b377 | By . David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 11:34 EST, 5 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:59 EST, 5 December 2013 . The president and his supporters are pushing to get higher wages for American workers, but the nation's largest pro-Obama organizing group is telling its footsoldiers not to expect a paycheck at all. Organizing For Action, which flexed its muscles as Obama For America during two presidential election campaigns, announced Wednesday that it's seeking 'Spring Organizing Fellows' to 'be a part of our growing organization' and 'explor[e] OFA's broad scope approach to issue advocacy.' But unlike most fellowships, which offer a stipend or a housing allowance, the positions are strictly 'unpaid' and require Americans to work 'without the expectation of pay, for civic and public service purposes.' Organizing For Action collected $7.7 million during the third quarter of 2013, according to disclosure reports collected by the Center for Responsive Politics. The group has raised nearly $21 million this year. President Obama's election machine is now called 'Organizing For Action,' and it's looking for free labor while it pushes for a minimum wage hike . On Wednesday President Obama railed on against big-business efforts to block a minimum-wage hike, while his wealthy campaign machine pushed for free labor to do his bidding . An hour before OFA announced its 2014 fellowship program, the group tweeted a line from the president's Wednesday speech on the economy. 'Retweet if you agree: "It's well past the time to raise the minimum wage." —President Obama,' the group's message read. Three hours later the Twitter account @BarackObama, which OFA controls, blasted out an infographic that claimed raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour would create 140,000 new jobs. And the group's website advocates for policies that 'reward work by raising the minimum wage so an honest day’s work pays more.' In a lengthy economic policy speech on Wednesday, the president complained that 'there are airport workers, and fast-food workers, and nurse assistants, and retail salespeople who work their tails off and are still living at or barely above poverty.' 'And that’s why it’s well past the time to raise a minimum wage that in real terms right now is below where it was when Harry Truman was in office.' 'Wage slaves'? Fast food workers are picketing McDonald's restaurants in New York City today, as part of the union-led social movement that Organization For Action supports . Thousands marched in front of Walmarts on Black Friday, demanding higher wages for employees. Unions paid some protesters to show up; Walmart hasn't budged on its wage policies or its decision to avoid unionizing its workforce . 'For all their talk of fairness and justice, supporters of minimum wage hikes hypocritically fail to offer these exact same policies to their own employee interns,' Employment Policies Institute research director Michael Saltsman told MailOnline. 'It’s a classic case of "do what I say, not what I do."' Organizing For Action did not respond to a request for comment. The group has operated fellowship programs for several years, including the two presidential election cycles when it was the official Obama campaign organization. But in those days, throngs of volunteers flocked to 'fellowship' meetings to learn how they could help elect, and then re-elect, Barack Obama. In the president's second term, however, OFA has found it tougher to recruit cost-free labor. June 2012: Hundreds of OFA volunteer 'fellows' packed a hall in Virginia to learn how they could help re-elect President Obama . Trouble in paradise, May 2013: An OFA organizer proudly tweeted a picture of just two 'fellows' building a climate-change database for OFA . 'Look,' a Republican election consultant told MailOnline, 'Obamacare is in the trash heap, Iran is about to have a nuclear bomb, the IRS and Justice Department are as corrupt as a New Jersey mobster, and the White House has become a punchline.' 'No wonder the volunteers are staying home.' Online photos from 2010 and earlier show hundreds of 'fellows' gathered in meeting rooms to receive their marching orders. More recent images circulating on Twitter and Facebook show tiny handfuls of volunteers engaged in defending the president and his policy objectives. Anti-Obama partisans lashed out on Wednesday after OFA launched its search for unpaid workers. 'Do you provide a living wage to do this work?' one asked. Another quipped: 'Only if you pay me $15 per hour, plus benefits. Otherwise you are exploiting my labor.' | Organizing For Action, known as Obama For America during the election season, is advertising for 'fellowships' to push the White House's agenda .
Unlike most fellowships, the positions are unpaid and provide no benefits .
OFA advocates for minimum-wage hikes, but is catching flak for denying its own footsoldiers any wages at all .
Conservatives tweeted barbs on Wednesday as OFA announced its program just hours after Obama demanded a minimum wage increase . |
258,585 | daa888b20d356ab8c81e947141d23ddcfe540e64 | MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Prosecutors will recommend that a Spanish court drop its investigation of six former officials in the administration of U.S. George W. Bush for alleged torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Spain's attorney general said Thursday. Investigating judge Baltasar Garzon has the final say on whether to proceed or shelve the case. The claim against the former officials, presented by a human rights group and provisionally accepted last month at the court -- pending an opinion from the prosecutors - threatens to turn the court "into a toy in the hands of people who are trying to do a political action," Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido said at a meeting at a downtown Madrid hotel. "We undoubtedly cannot support that action," Conde-Pumpido said. If alleged torture at Guantanamo is going to be investigated at all, that should be done first in the United States, so that the former American officials would have a chance to defend themselves there, Conde-Pumpido added, according to his press chief, Fernando Noya. The prosecutors will inform the investigating judge, Baltasar Garzon, of their decision, and the judge would then have to decide whether to proceed or shelve the case, Noya said. Former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and five other ex-Bush administration officials are accused in the human rights group complaint of allegedly sanctioning torture at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The complaint alleges the six former officials were the legal architects of a system that allowed torture of prisoners at Guantanamo, in violation of international law. The case might still go forward at the court, despite the prosecution opposition, said Gonzalo Boye, a lawyer who filed the complaint for the human rights group. Boye told CNN that prosecutors earlier opposed the court's human rights investigations of ex-Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and, separately, the former military regime in Guatemala, but that those cases went ahead anyway. "It's up to the resolution of a court as it has always been," Boye told CNN. "Garzon has to decide. This is a jurisdiction decision for a judge, not for the prosecution." Boye predicted that once Garzon officially receives notification of the prosecution opposition, it could take the judge a few weeks to decide whether to proceed with the case. Boye conceded that it makes the case harder without prosecution support. "It's a shame the prosecutor is taking this position, but not a surprise," Boye said. "They always obey political orders. They don't want to be in a bad position in front of the Obama administration." Some analysts and bloggers have suggested in recent days that the case could damage relations between Spain's Socialist government and President Barack Obama's administration. But a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told CNN on Wednesday that a German court once had an investigation of then U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, but that did not hurt U.S.-German bilateral relations. Garzon accepted the complaint from the human rights group because there were at least four Spaniards at Guantanamo who allegedly suffered torture. Garzon then sent the matter to prosecutors at Spain's anti-terrorism National Court, requesting their opinion on whether a crime had been committed. The 98-page complaint, filed in March 2008 by Boye on behalf of the Association for the Rights of Prisoners, names Gonzales, who was Bush's legal counsel when the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba was established as part of the administration's "war on terror." Gonzales later became attorney general. The complaint also names five other top Bush administration officials: former assistant attorney general Jay Bybee; former deputy assistant attorney general John Yoo; former Defense Department general counsel William J. Haynes II, former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith and Vice President Dick Cheney's former legal counsel, David S. Addington. Lawrence Wilkerson, a former top aide to Colin Powell, who was secretary of state in the early years of the Bush administration, testified before a House of Representatives subcommittee in June 2008 that the six officials "had a collusion" to develop a legal rationale for the administration's interrogation policy of detainees. Yoo, the author of a memo which critics say authorized torture, testified before the same subcommittee soon after in June 2008, saying that his role in the administration had simply been to provide legal advice. "We were functioning as lawyers. We don't make policy. Policy choices in these matters were up to the National Security Council or the White House or the Department of Defense," Yoo testified, according to a Congressional transcript. Addington proved difficult to pin down when he testified before the same subcommittee on the same day as Yoo last June. Addington, who by then was Cheney's chief of staff, delivered a flat "no" in response to a question from New York Democrat Rep. Jerrold Nadler about whether Addington "contributed to the analysis or assisted in the drafting of the August 1, 2002 interrogation memo." But when Nadler followed up with: "You had nothing to do with that?" Addington replied, "No. I didn't say I had nothing to do with it." Addington never seemed to clarify what, if any, role he had. Garzon is Spain's best-known investigating magistrate who issued the precedent-setting arrest warrant for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998 while he was in a London hospital. Garzon has investigated human rights abuses of former military governments in Chile and Argentina, Islamic terrorists operating in Spain, the armed Basque separatist group ETA, as well as major drug traffickers. | Spanish prosecutors to recommend dropping case against ex-Bush officials .
Attorney General to say Guantanamo allegations should be probed in U.S.
Attorney General says case motivated by political action .
Final decision on whether to drop or pursue case rests with investigating judge . |
102,736 | 10695a2ea555d258a430b457317538fdda141646 | He is one of the world's fattest cats, tipping the scales at a whopping 10kg - more than 1.5 stone. But the aptly named Maximus is extremely agile and can jump and leap like any kitten, according to his owners. Leon and Eugenia Korovin from Petrozavodsk, north-western Russia, bought the feline as a wedding present to each other in 2009. Scroll down for video . Maximus is extremely agile and can jump and leap like any kitten, according to his owner Leon Korovin . 'We both love cats and we both love really big cats,' said Mrs Korovin. 'So when we found Max we had to have him. 'He's big but he's extremely agile. With us he's very gentle. He can jump and leap like any kitten and he's a terror when he's after a mouse.' The five-years-old cross between a Maine Coon and Siberian cat keeps fit by going on daily walks. But Mr Korovin said: 'The trouble is we couldn't find a cat harness to fit him. He kept bursting out of them so we switched to dog harnesses instead.' And of Max's appetite is every bit as big as the rest of him. Mrs Korovin said: 'Oh, he eats us into the poorhouse and turns his nose up at anything that isn't fresh but we think he is worth it.' The Maine Coon and Siberian cat cross bursts out of his harnesses and goes on daily walks to keep fit . The five-year-old turns his nose up at anything that isn't fresh but his owners think he is worth it . | Five-year-old Maximus tips the scales at 10 kilos, more than 1.5 stone .
The Maine Coon and Siberian cat cross keeps fit by going for daily walks .
But he has to wear a dog harness as he bursts out of any made for felines .
Owners Leon and Eugenia Korovin bought him as a wedding present in 2009 . |
241,953 | c522f29ea08f7a6ca731e69e971fcf0dbc6ac1d4 | An orphaned sea otter found all alone on a California beach four weeks ago has finally found a new home. The pup was discovered on Coastways Beach in central California by a jogger four weeks ago, and immediately taken to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for care. The southern sea otter was severely underweight and had been abandoned by her mother at least 16 hours prior to being discovered workers there said, so it was immediately a rush to get her fed and healthy. Scroll down for video . A sea otter that was discovered all alone on a California beach when it was just 1 week old has been nursed back to health . Workers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium spent four weeks getting the pup healthy again . Now, after four weeks of intensive care and stabilization in Monterey Bay's Sea Otter Program, the now 5-week-old pup, whose name is currently Pup 681, is ready to head to its new home - in Chicago. Monterey Bay Aquarium reached out to aquariums ain search of a facility that could provide necessary care for the pup, and the Shedd Aquarium in the Windy City answered their call. 'It truly takes a village to rehabilitate a young sea otter,' Tim Binder, the aquarium's vice president, told the Chicago Tribune. 'Our animal care team is teaching the pup how to be an otter.' Now, the 5-week-old otter is heading to her new home at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago . She spends her days swimming, playing with felt and drinking formula filled with minced clams . And Pup 681 seems to love her new surroundings, swimming around, playing with felt and enjoying meals of formula with minced clams. She is also learning how to feed and bathe herself. Best of all however, staff at the aquarium is hard at work picking out a name for the new lady in their lives. | An otter orphaned by its mother was discovered malnourished on a beach in California four weeks ago .
Workers at the Moterey Nay Aquarium were able to nurse the tiny pup back to health .
Now, the southern sea otter is heading to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, which will be her new home . |
18,652 | 34c6211e98e0b599aa3676c07c5635f9dd7cbd93 | New York (CNN) -- New York police on Sunday touted the impact of their much-criticized "stop, question and frisk" policy, claiming it has contributed to a spike in the number of firearms confiscated and coincided with what is shaping up to be a historically low murder rate. Comparing numbers from the first three months of 2012 to the same period last year, the number of such stops increased 10% while the number of illicit guns taken away went up 31%, according to a New York Police Department statement from Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne. Meanwhile, New York's murder rate has plunged 21% year-to-date as of last Friday -- meaning, if the current trend continues, the yearly number of murders in the city would be the lowest since such statistics first were recorded, as such, in 1963. "New York City continues to be the safest big city in America, and one of the safest of any size, with significantly less crime per capita ... than even small cities," the department said. Police cited Operation Impact and the "stop and frisk" policy as key reasons for the improving crime statistics. But the policy has been criticized sharply by some as grounds for racial profiling. Donna Lieberman -- executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which has described the practice as "unlawful and racially biased" -- blasted the latest release of data, accusing the police department of trying to "massage the numbers to make this look like an effective and worthwhile program." "What (this policy) does is terrorize moms of color about the well-being of their sons, who have to navigate how to survive unwarranted intrusion into their activities by a police department for doing absolutely nothing wrong," she said Sunday in a statement. Added Darius Charney, senior staff attorney for the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, "It is mind-boggling that, after years of public outcry and in the face of strong evidence that stop-and-frisk violates people's rights and does not make them safer, the NYPD has doubled down on this discriminatory and ineffective practice." Another critic, City Council member Jumaane Williams, earlier this year questioned how the policy affects the police department's relations with minorities in the city. "Communities are losing trust with the police, which is one of the biggest crime-fighting tools that we have," Williams said. Minorities are far more likely than whites to be questioned under New York's program, according to police department statistics. Of those stopped and frisked -- 93% of whom were males -- 54% were African-American, 33% were Hispanic, 9% were white and 3% were Asian. Yet the police department, including Commissioner Ray Kelly, has argued that the policy ends up disproportionately protecting those in minority communities. African-Americans and Hispanics made up 96% of all New York shooting victims and 90% of murder victims last year, police said. Therefore, a drop in such shootings citywide would logically equate to fewer minorities' being killed. New York police pointed out there were 124 murders this year in the city through April 29, compared with 158 in Chicago -- which, with about 2.7 million people, has less than one-third of New York's population. Those figures couldn't be clearly matched on the city of Chicago's website. Official crime data from Chicago did note 120 homicides in that city through April 20, while the Chicago Tribune's RedEye website recorded 169 homicides as of May 9. "The continuing murder decline in New York is vindication of the NYPD's policy of engagement, which includes Operation Impact, police stop and questioning and use of the Real Time Crime Center to get timely information into detectives' hands as quickly as possible," New York police said in their statement Sunday. Civil liberties advocate Lieberman acknowledged progress regarding crime, but disputed the idea that this can be credited to "stop, question and frisk" -- or that such trends aren't evident elsewhere without such policies. "Crime has gone down and stop-and-frisk has gone up, but that doesn't meant that stop-and-frisk is (the) reason for reduction in crime. It's gone down in almost every city in the last decade," she said. "It's time for (Mayor Mike Bloomberg) and Police Commissioner Kelly to treat people of color as if they were their own families." While 31% more firearms were recovered in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same stretch one year prior, only 13% more weapons total were confiscated, according to police statistics. That is because most such seized weapons are knives, at about seven times the rate for guns. The vast majority of those stopped, questioned and frisked walk free without punishment. According to data from 2012's first three months, 5% of those ended up being arrested and another 5% were served summons. Both rates are slightly below those from the previous year. CNN's Nina Ibarra contributed to this report. | NEW: Police "massage the numbers" to support "stop, question and frisk," a critic says .
NEW: Police "doubled down on (a) discriminatory and ineffective practice," says another critic .
Blacks and Hispanics are most likely to be stopped, and also be murder victims in New York .
Police say statistics show it works, pointing to a low murder rate and more guns seized . |
206,510 | 975fbb91f5f36d26b54dfbaf6ba156af6a3f9d4e | A pilot who ejected from a US fighter jet moments before it smashed to the ground radioed a colleague to say: 'Dude, I'm getting out'. The pilot bailed out of his $30million F15-D fighter jet, from RAF Lakenheath, at 6,000ft before the aircraft crashed into a field just yard from houses near Spalding, Lincolnshire, last October. Documents on the crash show he ejected after the plane went into a flat spin, where the aircraft rotates on its belly making almost impossible to recover from, at 15,000ft. Scroll down for video . Crash: The pilot radioed to say 'dude, I'm getting out' moments before bailing out of this $30million F15-D above a field in Lincolnshire, bringing it down just yards from some houses . A technical sergeant, who was sitting in the back seat of another jet, said he was left 'very shaken'. In transcripts of an interview he gave investigators, he said: 'After 6,000ft, number 2 [the pilot from the crashed jet] basically said 'Dude, I'm getting out'.' The information was revealed in documents released after a BBC Freedom of Information request. Bang: The pilot ejected after the craft went into a flat spin, where the plane rotates on its belly, at 15,000ft . An Accident Investigation Board report into the crash is yet to be released. The MOD's clean-up bill for the crash was last week revealed to be £393,235. The USAF will cover 75 per cent of the cost. The pilot, who had been on a training exercise at the tie, escaped the accident with minor injuries. | Pilot radioed with message seconds before ejecting from $30million craft .
F15-D came down in fields in Lincolnshire just yards away from houses .
Clean-up bill cost nearly £400,000, with US Air Force meeting most of cost . |
198,026 | 8c5402f0ac4d3db8cb8ed02f216bd7733a781294 | By . Ray Massey . Last updated at 9:57 AM on 31st January 2012 . Thousands of militant Tube workers yesterday rejected a £500 bonus to simply do their jobs during the Olympics. Union bosses insisted it was not an ‘adequate reward’ for 14,000 staff including drivers, station and ticket staff, signallers and engineers. The RMT, led by Bob Crow, was accused of holding London Underground and Olympic chiefs to ransom after talks on the payment ended in disagreement. Tube workers have rejected the latest offer of pay for not going on strike during the Olympics . The breakdown sabotaged the VIP launch of a campaign to persuade spectators and commuters that the capital’s transport system can cope with the huge demands of the Games. The bonus would come on top of £1,200 extra already earmarked for 3,500 Tube drivers for working different and longer shifts during the Olympics. And all Underground workers are getting a generous four-year general pay deal. This will leave the average driver’s annual salary at more than £50,000 for a 35-hour week with more than eight weeks of holiday. General Secretary of the RMT Bob Crow says his union just wants 'a fair deal' Former Transport Minister Stephen Hammond MP said: ‘The unions should not hold London to ransom during the Olympics as millions of people struggle during these difficult economic times.’ Matthew Sinclair, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, added: ‘The Olympics has cost enough without the threat of Tube drivers holding the capital and the Games to ransom.’ The controversial bonus is an annual payment based on customer surveys. Both the RMT and bosses agree it should be higher this year to reward the ‘additional effort’ of staff, but cannot agree by how much. The rejected amount, claims the union, is made up of £100 for meeting ‘unspecified and arbitrary’ targets. The remaining £400 is based on £20 per shift over the month-long event, when millions of extra people will use the transport system. But the hard-line union objects as those on leave or off sick would receive ‘less or nothing’. It also claimed: ‘There is no reward for the increased workload taken on by staff.’ RMT chiefs are also angry that: ‘This offer does not reward staff for the work during the run-up to the Games.’ General secretary Mr Crow said the union would continue to press for an across-the-board payment to all staff. ‘All we are calling for is a fair deal for all the staff involved in delivering the colossal transport challenge that we will be facing this summer,’ he insisted. Transport for London boss Peter Hendy said the breakdown in talks was ‘a tactic’. He added: ‘We will get a deal with the RMT. Our staff are going to be very proud to do this.’ Let the Games commence: The deal would cover a period of almost nine weeks during the Olympics and Paralympics . Other transport workers are also cashing in on the Games. Just days ago, workers on the Docklands Light Railway were given a deal worth up to £2,500 to work up to five hours of guaranteed overtime per week during the event. More than 500 staff on the London Overground are also getting a bonus of at least £600. The latest dispute threatened to overshadow the high-profile drive to boost public confidence that London’s transport network will cope with the huge demands of the Olympics. London's Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy has suggested people should ‘go for a beer’ to help space out their journeys at peak times during the Olympics. He was speaking as a publicity campaign was launched today to try to help people navigate London’s public transport system during the Games. There is information available online of the 30 busiest stations and where ‘in theory’ people could be waiting for half an hour, he pointed out. Mr Hendy said: ‘With a bit of forethought and care about when you use the transport system at a very busy time it will all work out alright. ‘I have never seen anyone in a Tube station for half an hour - go for a beer. 'We are on track but still have an awful lot to do. We have got to get the athletes to the Games but we also have to keep the city moving.’ The campaign also suggests other options for people, such as working at different times or locations, teleconferencing rather than travelling to meetings, or alternative modes of transport including walking and cycling where practical. Those involved included Transport Secretary Justine Greening, London Mayor Boris Johnson and Lord Coe, head of Olympics organisers Locog. Mr Hendy said: ‘We’re not saying it will all run perfectly. We’re trying to make it run as well as we can. It’ll be all right. ‘You don’t need to sit under the table with a tin hat on and tins of beans for the duration.’ He hit back at what he called the Olympics ‘gloom-mongers’ and urged commuters to help by staggering train journeys by going ‘for a beer’ after work. Mr Johnson urged ‘Olympic fat cats’ to ‘get on their bikes’ or use the Tube to get around. On the bonus dispute, he appealed to train workers’ better nature, adding: ‘The majority will want to participate in a great Games.’ Miss Greening said: ‘I urge the unions to agree an early resolution of this dispute so Londoners, visitors and businesses are provided with the service they need during this once-in-a-life-time sporting celebration.’ | RMT urges staff to hold out after DLR staff agreed a deal under which they will get up to £2,500 . |
22,837 | 40d95ee8fb42ec09daccae066763cc88d5fe2f97 | (CNN) -- A woman who allegedly scammed nearly half a million dollars from a nonprofit fund benefiting the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings was arrested Friday, according to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. Audrea Gause, 26, was arrested in Troy, N.Y., where she lives, on a Massachusetts fugitive warrant, a statement from Coakley's office said. She is charged with larceny in Massachusetts . The nonprofit -- The One Fund Boston -- began distributing nearly $61 million to 232 eligible claimants starting June 30, according to a release from the organization. Gause was awarded $480,000 from the fund after claiming she suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the Boston Marathon bombing. Following a tip received by both the office of the state attorney general and The One Fund Boston that Gause was not in Boston at the time of the bombing, an official investigation began on Gause's claims, Coakley said at a news conference Friday afternoon. That investigation determined that Gause was not a patient at Boston Medical Center or Albany Medical Center at the times allegedly entered on her notarized claim form, the statement says. "She was stealing money from the real victims of the Marathon bombing, and from the people who gave so generously to help them," Coakley said on Friday. The One Fund Boston divided payments up between four classifications that were based on the severity of injuries or loss of life, according to the fund's statement. More than 260 people were wounded and 3 were killed in the double bombings, which took place near the Boston marathon finish line on April 15. There has been some indication that there may be others involved with Gause's fraudulent claims and the investigation is still ongoing, Coakley said. Gause appeared in Rensselaer County, New York, Court for a fugitive warrant hearing on Friday afternoon, Capt. John Cooney of the Troy Police Department told CNN. Gause was being held without bail in the Rensselaer County Jail. Her next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Cooney said. It could not immediately be determined whether Gause had retained an attorney. Coakley's statement said her office, in conjunction with The One Fund, is reviewing all claims submitted to and paid by the fund. | The nonprofit One Fund Boston is distributing $61 million to victims of the Marathon bombing .
One woman's claim of suffering a traumatic brain injury got her nearly half a million dollars .
Authorities got a tip the woman was not in Boston at the time of the bombing .
A 26-year-old New York woman was arrested Friday and will face charges in Massachusetts . |
191,689 | 8439ceb768a462f28265da2be9a3479fac1194c9 | By . Sam Webb . PUBLISHED: . 14:17 EST, 5 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 16:29 EST, 5 September 2013 . Teenager Jasmine Griffiths was bullied to death by cruel taunts on Facebook, her distraught parents have said . A teenager was bullied to death by cruel taunts on Facebook, her distraught parents said today. Jasmine Griffiths, 18, of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, was found hanged at her home after receiving ‘dozens’ of messages telling her to kill herself. Jasmine’s stepmother Kirsty, 35, said the unnamed bullies continued harrassing Jasmine even when she blocked them and also targeted her friends. She said: 'It was Facebook that did it. It was all over it and that’s what started it. 'They had lots of profiles and they kept adding new ones to get to her when she blocked them. 'They said things like "go die in a hole", "you’re worth nothing", and "go kill yourself". 'She loved her family and her friends. 'It was not the kind of thing you would think people would say to an 18-year-old. 'Did they bully her? Of course they did. 'And when her friends went to stick up for her they went after them too, e-mailing them terrible things.' Kirsty spoke out alongside Jasmine’s father Neil after a coroner chose not to include the Facebook allegations in the inquest into her death. Dr Peter Harrowing said he could not be sure the hairdressing student intended to kill herself on the day she died and recorded an open verdict. The hearing at Flax Bourton near Bristol heard how Jasmine was found dead after a party at her home in April last year. College friend Rebecca Hemmett said her pal was excited about the party but had been upset by a text message. Rebecca, who studied hairdressing with Jasmine, told the inquest: 'In the few days before the party she was making really weird comments like "what would you do if I killed myself?" 'I thought it was a bit strange but then it was Jasmine being Jasmine - she came out with silly things all the time.' Jasmine's stepmother Kirsty, 35, said the unnamed bullies continued harrassing Jasmine even when she blocked them and also targeted her friends . The inquest heard Jasmine had a number of drinks and two or three lines of the stimulant Mephadrone - known as Mcat - at the party. Friend Zoe Conway thought Jasmine was acting strangely as the party ended around 4am and begged her to come home with her. Zoe said: 'She was not herself. Fighting back tears, Zoe added: 'I didn’t want to leave her. I really didn’t want to leave her but she gave me no choice in the end. 'She practically pushed me out of the door.' Jasmine was found by her brother the following afternoon. Tests found traces of Mcat in her blood and a postmortem confirmed she had died from hanging. Dr Harrowing, the assistant deputy coroner for Avon, told the 30 friends and relatives who attended the inquest he could not be sure she intended to kill herself. After the hearing Jasmine’s dad Neil, 40, a hairdresser, said: 'Jasmine was a bright and bubbly girl, always full of life and always last to leave the party. For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, log on to www.samaritans.org or visit a local branch. | Jasmine Griffiths, 18, was found dead at home in April last year .
Vile social media taunts included 'you're worth nothing' and 'go kill yourself'
Trolls even targeted her friends with 'terrible' messages . |
245,578 | c9dcdba82e2b9e784cd5676dbd679ea8b6ecf20d | (CNN) -- Senators voted late Thursday to approve a defense bill and end an ugly standoff over presidential nominations, averting a third overnight session in two weeks. The Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act 84 to 15. It then voted 55 to 45 to break a filibuster on the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to be the deputy secretary of Homeland Security. On Friday morning, senators will begin a series of votes on the nominations of Mayorkas; John Koskinen to be commissioner of the IRS; and Brian Davis to be a federal district judge for Florida. The confirmation vote on Janet Yellen to be chairwoman of the Federal Reserve has been pushed to January 6. Progress has been difficult because the parties have been feuding over a new rule the majority Democrats forced through limiting filibusters over the objections of minority Republicans. Before the agreement on the voting schedule, Republicans had insisted on all time allowed for floor debate, even if no one was talking. Such a process would have kept senators working all night and through most of Saturday, cutting their holiday break short. CNN's Jonathan Helman and Ed Payne contributed to this report . | NEW: Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act .
NEW: Senate votes to break a filibuster on the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas .
Janet Yellen's nomination to lead the Federal Reserve delayed until January . |
280,872 | f7dbecc51e6669f5d22cbb2c52f06ce59722aefb | Michael Phelps' self-proclaimed 'intersex' girlfriend has been offered a role in a porn film to act out their alleged fling. Taylor Lianne Chandler has been approached by porn baron Vivid Entertainment boss Steve Hirsch, who has made millions from hardcore pornography films for the internet. Chandler, 41, told TMZ who reported the news, that she was still in the 'wine and dine me' stage of negotiations. Scroll down for video . Michael Phelps' (left) self-proclaimed 'intersex' girlfriend Taylor Lianne Chandler (right) has been offered a role in a porn film to act out their alleged fling . Porn baron: Steven Hirsch poses with Savanna Samson, one of his Vivid Entertainment stars. Hirsch, who has made millions from hardcore pornography films for the internet, reportedly approached Chandler . Last month Chandler claimed that the most decorated Olympian of all time pursued her on Tinder – but that they are no longer an item. Phelps has yet to comment on Chandler’s claims. Chandler, claims to have had a romance with the US athlete, 12 years her junior, before he went into rehab in September and that they became involved after he approached her on the dating app. However, such is Phelps' fame, that she wasn't sure if the messages were coming from a made-up account. I'm yelling Tinder: A look at Phelps' alleged Tinder profile, which is how he and Chandler first met . She told The Daily Beast's Aurora Snow: 'He pursued me [on Tinder]. He was actually outside the age range for what my account was setup for. But what I've learned is when someone looks at whatever and likes you, even if they're younger it shows up in your feed. 'But at the time I just didn't think it was real. You just figure it's fake.' Chandler explained that once they'd met up, their relationship seemed quite serious. She said: 'We talked about the fact that I wasn't looking to get involved with someone unless it was serious. I'm not ugly, so its not like men don't approach me, but I wanted something real. And it felt real with him. I've been to his house four times, we talk everyday, and I've slept with him more than once.' Chandler admitted on a Facebook post that she'd been born an 'intersex' - someone who had male genitalia, but no testicles, while also having a uterus and no ovaries . Chandler claims she was with Phelps when he was arrested on suspicion of DUI on September 30 in Baltimore . Feet in the sand: Chandler has been a champion for gender rights . Her choice: Chandler began taking testosterone blockers in her teens, and had corrective surgery in her early twenties to get rid of her male genitalia . The blonde says that she had a fulfilling sex life with Phelps, who made her feel 'like the most beautiful woman in the world'. The pair are no longer together, but for reasons that Chandler won't disclose. She insists that the split is not because she was forced to admit her past, and says that the reason is for Phelps to disclose. Chandler admitted on a Facebook post that she'd been born an 'intersex' – someone who had male genitalia, but no testicles, while also having a uterus and no ovaries - with the name David Roy Fitch. She later had surgery. She wrote: 'I was never a man, never lived as a man. No one can say they knew me as a man or produce a photo of me as a man. 'There are people that remember me as an androgynous child at times because of what was forced upon me.' GUILTY: Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps walks into a courthouse Friday morning for a trial on drunken driving and other charges. He pled guilty . After his arrest Phelps went to rehab. He was busted with a .14 blood alcohol level. He has since gone to rehab . She had previously detailed their first date, to a Baltimore Ravens games, to the National Enquirer. 'One thing led to the next, and we made love during halftime,' she claims in the interview. 'Later, we had sex again. The intimacy with him was amazing! It was the first time in my life that someone has made me feel like a true woman.' She also told the magazine that she never lied to the swimmer about her past, saying it just never came up. Chandler claims she was with Phelps when he was arrested on suspicion of DUI on September 30 in Baltimore, Maryland. Showing some skin: Photos of Michael Phelps in a jail cell after his DUI arrest have been released . The swimmer entered rehab just a few days after the incident. On Friday Phelps pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and received 18 months of supervised probation and a one-year suspended jail sentence. The 18-time Olympic gold medalist was arrested for drunken driving early on September 30 after speeding and then crossing the double yellow lines inside a Baltimore tunnel, police said. 'The last three months of my life have been some of the hardest times I've ever gone through, some of the biggest learning experiences I've ever had,' Phelps, wearing a dark suit, white shirt and blue tie, told reporters. 'I'm happy to be moving forward. I'll continue to grow from this.' Phelps, 29, was clocked by radar at around 1:40 a.m. traveling 84 miles per hour (135 kph) in a 45-mph (72-kph) zone, police said, adding that he blew a .14 on a Breathalyzer, nearly twice the legal limit of .08 in Maryland. He faced up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. 'I hope we don't have this conversation again and I'm optimistic that we won't have this conversation again,' Judge Nathan Braverman told Phelps during his sentencing. Police said an officer followed Phelps' 2014 Land Rover onto northbound Interstate 95, through the Fort McHenry Tunnel, and pulled him over just beyond the tunnel's toll plaza. The drunken-driving arrest was the second for Phelps, who has spent most his life working feverishly in the pool but admits he likes to have a good time when not competing. Following his arrest, Phelps, who is eyeing a spot on the U.S. team for the 2016 Olympics, was suspended for six months by USA Swimming and barred from representing the United States at the 2015 FINA World Swimming Championships in Russia. Phelps said he completed a 45-day rehab program at an Arizona treatment center following his arrest, continues aftercare in Baltimore, and will participate in Alcoholics Anonymous. | Taylor Lianne Chandler claims to have dated US swimmer Michael Phelps .
Approached by porn baron Vivid Entertainment boss Steve Hirsch, says TMZ .
Says she is in 'wine and dine me' stage of negotiations .
Born an 'intersex' - male genitalia but no testicles, and uterus but no ovaries .
Chandler claims that Phelps approached her on dating app Tinder .
They began a romance during which they had sex several times, she says . |
201,812 | 91458ed4fe83be8930f29f3227eff5661e55bd75 | Roberto Martinez has called criticism of Arsene Wenger 'incredible' but is aiming to turn up the pressure on Arsenal's under-scrutiny manager. While Wenger endured a week to forget in Europe, Martinez and Everton found some form with a 3-1 dismantling of Young Boys Berne setting up a Europa League last 16 clash against Dynamo Kiev. Monaco's 3-1 victory at The Emirates has put Arsenal on the brink of Champions League elimination and plunged Wenger back into the spotlight but Martinez feels the criticism is baseless. Everton boss Roberto Martinez has called criticism of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger 'unbelievable' The Gunners boss has been heavily criticised after his side fell to a 3-1 defeat against Monaco on Wednesday . Romelu Lukaku, pictured celebrating his second goal against Young Boys, has the potential to go right to the top according to his manager . Even still, he is aiming to give Wenger's detractors more ammunition by leading Everton to what would be just their second Barclays Premier League victory of 2015 on Sunday. 'You see the reaction and you see what Arsene Wenger has done and it is just incredible,' said Martinez. 'The way that he has changed the way we prepare teams in this country is unbelievable. 'He will be one of those managers that you will not appreciate how much you miss him until he has gone. He has got incredible experience. I just don't understand that sort of debate.' Everton have been progressing smoothly in the Europa League but their form in the Barclays Premier League needs to turn and Romelu Lukaku will have a key role in making that happen. The Belgian scored five times against Berne over two legs and Steven Naismith said: 'He has got great coaches behind him and the will to improve. He'll definitely do all he can to get at the top.' | Arsenal face Everton at The Emirates on Sunday afternoon .
The Gunners will be looking to get back to winning ways after a shock 3-1 defeat at home to Monaco on Wednesday night .
Toffees boss Roberto Martinez believes criticism directed at Arsene Wenger following the defeat was 'incredible'
The Spaniard has labelled the 65-year-old's achievements 'incredible' |
209,774 | 9baf17a2604b7b446c40e18607af7e7cae7a3665 | By . David Wilkes . Towering 40ft high, measuring 60ft wide and estimated to weigh up to 18,000 tons, it’s enough to take your breath away - quite literally. So pity the residents of a neatly kept suburban cul-de-sac who have had to put up with this huge mountain of stinking rubbish at the end of the road for the past three years. The Environment Agency is currently locked in a legal battle with the firm that runs the waste disposal site, claiming it has not been paying for the mound to be treated and sent on for disposal or recycling elsewhere. Scroll down for video . Huge heap: The residents of Orpington are fighting the owners of a refuse tip at the end of their cul de sac that has grown to around 50ft engulfing their homes . Disgusting: The waste was supposed to be removed in June 2013. The price of a three-bedroom house in the road has plummeted from £250,000 to £225,000 . Stinking: A site worker scavenges through new rubbish at the site. The smell means that residents cannot open their windows or enjoy their gardens . All the while the residents of Cornwall Drive in St Paul's Cray, in Bromley, south-east London, have not been able to enjoy their gardens and dare not open their windows to cool down in summer. Not impressed: Alan Cowburn, 74, a retired printer who . has lived there since 1971, said: ‘It’s a nightmare, all the dust, the . huge lorries with their reversing beepers. On top of that, they say the price of a three-bedroom house in the road has plummeted from £250,000 to £225,000. Alan Cowburn, 74, a retired printer who has lived there since 1971, said: ‘It’s a nightmare, all the dust, the huge lorries with their reversing beepers. ‘The smell can be overpowering outside, like burnt plastic. It sometimes permeates into my house. I’ve been violently sick on occasions. ‘I’m sure we get more flies round here than we used to, and I’ve seen a few rats. I’d do anything to get rid of it.’ Nasrin . Sultana, 33, an NHS administrative worker, and her husband Anisur Rahman, 35, who . runs an off-licence, fear for their daughter Rowzarida, three, and son . Reean, eight. Nasrin . said: ‘It’s really horrible, and we’re really scared when there are . fires. You can’t even sit in the garden because of the smell and we keep . the windows shut because of the dust. ‘About every eight weeks the children feel sick for a couple of weeks. They weren’t like that before we moved here.’ The Environment Agency said it served notice on Waste4Fuel to remove all waste from the site by June 2013. According to the firm’s website, they . ‘specialise in the collection and correct disposal of waste that can be . reprocessed for use in generating electricity’. When the firm failed to act, the agency took the case to the High Court and obtained an order to make it comply by May 1 this year, but it still failed to do so. Now the case is back in court. It was adjourned yesterday to continue next week. Eyesore: According to the firm’s website, they 'specialise in the collection and correct disposal of waste that can be . reprocessed for use in generating electricity' Vast: The scale of the mountain of waste was captured in this aerial shot earlier this year . Giant: The pile of dirt dwarfs the sizeable suburban houses, blocking their view of the idyllic lake . Rancid: Site workers are dwarfed by the looming pile. The Environment Agency is currently locked in a legal battle with the firm that runs the waste disposal site . Unsanitary: A fire burning at the Waste4Fuel site. The neat cul-de-sac has had more flies than it did before the rubbish pile - some residents even reported seeing rats . | The 40ft high pile of rubbish, which is also 60ft wide, towers above a street in Bromley, south-east London .
Overpowering smell means residents can't open their windows and they say their house prices have plummeted .
Environment Agency is locked in a legal battle with the firm that runs the site and the case will continue next week . |
275,577 | f105c70092b6865f1acd02b8f84ce62e7031782f | A high profile gay rights activist and Democrat fundraiser has been charged with sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy with his boyfriend. Terry Bean, 66, co-founded two of the biggest national campaign groups and raised more than $500,000 for Barack Obama's 2012 re-election bid. He was arrested at his home in southwest Portland on Wednesday and indicted with two counts of third-degree sodomy and one count of third-degree sex abuse. Charged: Terry Bean, a prominent gay rights activist who raised $500,000 for Obama, has been charged with sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy with his boyfriend in a hotel last year . Defense: Bean's lawyer claims he is the victim of an 'extortion ring' to ruin his reputation . Bean's lawyers insist he is the victim of an 'extortion ring', which they claim involves several men 'known to law enforcement'. The alleged incident involved a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old boy in 2013 in Eugene, Oregon, police said. His ex-boyfriend, Kiah Loy Lawson, 25, was also arrested and charged, according to USA Today. Bean is a revered character among the gay rights activist community and with the Democratic Party, Oregon Live reports. He helped to form the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay And Lesbian Victory Fund. The trained broker was forced to defend himself earlier this year after his co-accused, Lawson, revealed Bean secretly filmed their sexual encounters. However, his lawyer Kristin Winemiller has lambasted claims he abused a teenage boy. Co-accused: Kiah Loy Lawson, who is also charged, last year accused Bean of secretly filming their sex . Winemiller released this statement: 'Terry Bean is a highly respected community leader who has devoted his life to bettering our community. 'Over the course of several months in 2013-2014 Terry was the victim of an extortion ring led by several men known to law enforcement. 'This current arrest is connected to the ongoing investigation of that case in which Mr Bean has fully cooperated. 'No allegations against Terry Bean should be taken at face value. 'We look forward to the opportunity to clear his name.' Bean was bailed on Wednesday for 10 per cent of his $50,000 bond, Oregon Live claimed. | Terry Bean, 66, co-founded Human Rights Campaign and Gay And Lesbian Victory Fund before putting more than $500,000 behind Obama in 2012 .
He has been charged with 2 counts of sodomy and 1 count of sex abuse .
Boyfriend, 25, also charged with abusing the 15-year-old boy in Oregon .
Lawyer claims Bean is a victim of an 'extortion ring', he has been bailed . |
62,611 | b1eb30945e602f8ed817f438052e78ae80f525f8 | By . Richard Hartley-parkinson . PUBLISHED: . 06:55 EST, 28 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:21 EST, 28 March 2013 . A new father celebrating the birth of his son with a fry-up in a hospital canteen says his breakfast was served with a maggot. Wayne Foster-Wells, 31, was at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, South Wales, when he went for breakfast after visiting his wife, Tammy, following the birth of Samuel. However, towards the end of his meal, the unemployed father-of-nine noticed the bug hiding in his tomatoes. Mr Foster-Wells found the maggot (circled) in his breakfast of omelette, sausage, bacon and tomatoes . Wayne Foster-Wells, 31, found a maggot in his breakfast at Royal Gwent Hospital . He said: 'It was your standard fry-up . with omelette, bacon, sausage and tomatoes, but towards the end of the . meal I noticed a maggot on the plate. 'I . immediately told the other people eating the breakfast, but they . carried on eating. I then spoke to the hospital staff but they didn't . seem bothered. 'All they . could say to me was that they would take my name and address but it . could take multiple months before anything was done. 'But . I could get the £2.50 that I paid for the meal back. I have a really . bad stomach and have been rushing to the toilet since.' The Royal Gwent Hospital has launched . an investigation and contacted the Environmental Health Office after . Wayne made an official complaint. Julian Hayman, of Aneurin Bevan Health Board, said: 'The health board can confirm that we have been made aware of a complaint from a member of the public. 'The complaint concerns tinned tomatoes which had been sourced externally. 'We are currently investigating the concern with our suppliers and have also informed the Environmental Health Office.' The Royal Gwent Hospital has launched an investigation and contacted the Environmental Health Office . | Wayne Foster-Wells was visiting his wife after she gave birth .
Hospital has launched an investigation and contacted environmental office . |
144,674 | 47193c07d23b86f5494b5f5bcd035e4d0ca15c51 | By . Damien Gayle . PUBLISHED: . 13:03 EST, 27 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 04:23 EST, 28 December 2012 . A forest-owning German aristocrat is to reintroduce bison into the wild in Western Europe for the first time in over 250 years. Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg is set to introduce a herd of eight European bison to his 32,124-acre forest in North Rhine-Westphalia. If the 79-year-old prince's plan works, Germany will be the first country west of Poland where animals, also known as wisent, will live in the wild once again. Massive: European bison, also known as wisent, stand up to 6.5ft tall and can weigh up to a ton. Now a German aristocrat has hatched an audacious plan to reintroduce them to the wild on his country estate . However, there are fears the reintroduction of the wild, giant animals, which grow up to 6.5ft tall and weigh up to a ton, will scare away tourists and pose a hazard to hikers. Nearly a decade in gestation, Prince Richard's plan is set to enter its critical phase after he was given final approval from the state Environment Ministry in Dusseldorf just before Christmas, Der Spiegel reports. His 50sq/mile estate - roughly half the size of Manhattan - surrounds the city of Bad Berleburg and extends across many of the foothills of the Rothaar Mountains. It is already home to about 300 wild sheep, 400 red deer, 600 wild boar and so many roe deer his seven groundsmen have given up trying to count them. A wisent calf eats a carrot: Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg is set to introduce a herd to his forest in North Rhine-Westphalia . Now over the next few days workers will drive into Prince Richard's forest and take down the fence around an enclosure where his eight bison have been acclimatising to the environment since 2010. Once that is done, the enormous bull, five cows and two calves will be free to roam. They will be the first of their species to wander wild in Germany since 1746. But questions have been raised about the possible impact of the mammoth creatures. They will roam wherever the leader takes them, even along major roads and through nearby villages. Officials and residents of Bad Berleburg, a city of some 20,000 people, have been largely in support of the plan, which they hope will bring tourists back following the decline of the German health spa industry. European bison were hunted to extinction in the wild in Western Europe centuries ago, but they lived on in Eastern Europe until a poacher killed the last wild specimen in the Caucasus in 1927. That would have been the end of this close relative of the more famous American bison, which is roughly as big, if it wasn't for the few animals that survived in zoos. All of the roughly 3,000 wisents alive today are the descendants of only about a dozen original animals. However, residents of the High Sauerland region, just on the other side of the Rothaar Mountains, fear that the animals could wreck tourism, damage forests, and even interbreed with dairy herds. Despite the backing of such an august individual as Prince Richard, the plan also met with scepticism from officialdom, with the state Environment Ministry putting together a long list of concerns that took scientists from four universities more than four years to answer. Forestry economists eventually agreed that the bison herd could even be useful to forests, since they would keep ecologically valuable areas free from undergrowth - a task currently performed by forest workers. And a doctoral candidate at the University of Siegen, Philip Schmitz, conducted a study which finally showed the flighty bison, despite their imposing size, posed little threat to humans. After enlisting volunteers to approach the animals, he found they were far more likely to simply run away than make an attempt to charge people walking across their territory. This map shows the location of Schmallenburg and the forest where the bison will be set loose . The wisents of Bad Berleburg will never become a truly wild herd, because their numbers are too small, nevertheless this is the first time since 1746 that wisent will roam unchecked through a German forest. Because their numbers are small, they will only stand a chance of survival if humans intervene carefully in their lives. Rigorous family planning will be needed, because inbreeding will result if fresh genes are not introduced. The leaders of the herd will also be tracked via GPS transmitters to limit their territory to roughly 40sq/km - about a third of Prince Richard's estate. Their winter feeding area, where they are supplied silage by forestry workers, will serve as their home and they are not expected to stray far since, as the prince says, 'they're incredibly lazy animals'. | German aristocrat to reintroduce herd of eight to his private forest .
They will be the first to wander in the wild in Germany since 1746 . |
204,631 | 94efd69ef4678866095882612a8cc9e26a717c03 | ORME, Tennessee (CNN) -- The drought in the Southeastern United States means more than just brown lawns to the folks in Orme, Tennessee. Water flows from their taps for just three hours each evening. A 1961 firetruck loads up with water from a hydrant in Alabama to haul back to Orme, Tennessee. The mountain spring that supplies water to the town usually dries up at the end of summer, but just for a few days. This year it dried up early, on August 1, and hasn't revived, leaving the town's 145 residents high and dry and relying on water trucked in from the next state. Every day at 6 p.m., Orme Mayor Tony Reames turns a big valve to release water from the town's tank. When he turns the crank again at 9 p.m., taps in the town run dry. "When they cut it back on we jump for joy," Orme resident Debbie Cash said. "And then you only have it for three hours." Three hours to do all the laundry, bathing, dishwashing and animal watering that has to be done. Watch how Cash copes » . The old mining town could be the canary in the coal mine for the rest of the region. Just 150 miles to the southeast, the 4.5 million people who live in and around Atlanta, Georgia, are nervously watching water levels go down at their major reservoir. The drought has highlighted an ongoing struggle between Georgia, Alabama and Florida over rights to water from the Chattahoochee River. "All of these people that are on the river systems better take note, because once your streams and tributaries to the river start drying up, the river isn't far behind," Reames said. See photos of a Atlanta's shrinking Lake Lanier reservoir » . Volunteers take turns three days a week driving a tanker truck or Orme's diesel-belching 1961 fire truck to a hydrant near Bridgeport, Alabama, 2½ miles down the road. Making several round trips, they haul about 25,000 gallons of water back to Orme each day. Bridgeport, which gets its water from the Tennessee River, doesn't charge its neighbor. Stevenson and New Hope, Alabama, also help out, occasionally bringing trucks full of water to the hydrant, where it's transferred to the Orme trucks. See where Orme has to go for water » . But things are looking up in Orme. A pipeline from Bridgeport is nearly complete, built with the help of a $378,000 grant from the federal government. "With this new water coming in, then we'll have it made," Cash said. "Now we won't have to worry about it no more." In addition, an Austin, Texas, company called H2O Guard is planning to donate water-saving sink aerators, shower heads and toilet valves to everyone in Orme on November 17, company spokesman Robert Easter said. "We think we're going to get another 90 gallons' savings per day per household," Easter said. "That'll make that little water tower in that town go from three hours to four hours without any change in anyone's habits." Reames said residents have found creative ways to conserve, flushing toilets with condensation water from air conditioners and undrinkable water from swimming pools that were filled early in the summer. It's a lesson for everyone. "Cherish the water you got and be kind of careful with it," Cash said, "because you never know if you will be out of water." E-mail to a friend . CNN's Jim Kavanagh contributed to this report. | Orme, Tennessee, has running water from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Town's spring ran dry in midst of Southeast drought .
Donated water is trucked in from Alabama .
Completion of pipeline will solve problem for good . |
261,846 | df1eb9b138e79d62800f2f75444564f817d8cbf0 | By . Wills Robinson . When it was first manufactured in 1948, the Citroen 2CV was seen as an innovative car that could be driven by a peasant. Nicknamed the 'Tin Snail', it has now become a classic, known for being easy to drive, cheap and simple to maintain. That's why a group of motoring enthusiasts have clubbed together to modify 16 of the vehicles and race them in some of the world's most stunning locations. Their first excursion, the Marrakech Express Rally, was a 2,000 mile, 12-day trip around Morocco, encompassing the Atlas Mountains, a number of souks, the Torda Gorge and the magnificent sunsets. The cars have a measly 29 brake horse powers and can reach speeds of up to 75mph, but were still able to tackle the gruelling terrain. John Brigden, 60, from Cranleigh, Surrey, who organsied the trip, said: 'They are iconic cars. They are not fast, but people still love seeing them on the road. We just wanted to do something different. They are easy to drive and they hold onto the road well.' The race, held over numerous stages, was won by former McLaren Team Manager, Alistair Caldwell, who helped James Hunt win the F1 title in 1976. Scroll down for video . Cruising: The group drove the modified Citroen 2CVs 2,000 miles over 12 days from Malaga on the south coast of Spain and all over Morocco. The French classic, also known as a 'Tin Snail', has a measly 29 brake horse powers . Held up: A convoy of the 2CVs slow down as a local walks his two camels across the desert. Their journey took in various terrains including sand, gravel, mud and tarmac . Surface: The team, who wanted to do something 'completely different', aimed to visit the roads less travelled . Snow-covered mountains: The fleet of 16 cars, which were modified using parts bought off eBay, were set different tasks on different days of the race. They included time trials and average speed tests . One draws out the name of the car in letters as the sun sets over the desert . The first design by Pierre Boulanger in the early 1930s was for a low-priced, rugged 'umbrella on four wheels'. The aim was that two peasants would be able to drive 100kg of farm goods to market at around 40mph, wearing clogs and across muddy unpaved roads if necessary. But when it was first manufactured in France in 1948, it was considered technologically advanced, innovative and stood out with its unconventional appearance. It featured four-wheel suspension, front wheel drive, inboard brakes, and even detachable body panels. Car Magazine journalist L.J.K Setright described it as: 'The most intelligent application of minimalism ever to succeed as a car.' The 2CV also became a huge commercial trimpuh . After just a couple of months on sale, there was a three-year waiting list. Production was increased from four units per day in 1949 to 400 units per day in 1950. Some of the early models were built at Citroën's plant in Slough, England. After nearly 50 years, the last was produced in 1990 and driven out of a Mangualde, Portugal where manufacturing had moved. More than 5 million were produced. Upgrade: The group of motoring enthusiasts and former racing drivers installed roll cages into the cars which have a top speed of around 75mph . After dark: Drivers park one of the 66-year-old cars on a hill in order to watch the sunset over the desert . Rubble: The cars took on narrow roads surrounded by rocks. The route included passes over the Atlas Mountains and the Torda Gorge . Cliff: The cars, which are nearly 70 years old, had to navigate sharp turns surrounded by steep drops . Spectators: Locals greeted them as they wove through a remote village. A support crew followed the vehicles to make sure they stayed on the road . Difficult terrain: The cars are parked up as the team climb to the top of a sand dune in the middle of the desert. The team carried wheel-rims - 102 in total - tyres, engines and gearboxes during the trip . Overtake: On the tarmac roads they covered during the trip, they passed other forms of transport, including a donkey being led by a local . Wildlife: The team met companions during the trip, including a monkey on the side of a road. The team said they had limited mechanical problems during the journey . Entrance: One of the cars passes through a gate outside the desert town of Tazzarine, en route to the sandy roads of Morocco . Architecture: Another vehicle passes through the archway of a desert town. Special stages tested the cars' abilities to maintain an average speed over a distance . Causing a splash: A lead car drives through a puddle on one of Morocco's rural roads. The race was won by former McLaren Team Manager, Alastair Caldwell, who helped James Hunt to an F1 World Championship victory in 1976 . Winding road: A sign warns the drivers of the potential obstacles that lie ahead on the stage. The cars were painted red and white for the trip and given special branding . Team photo: Each of the drivers stand out of the 2CV's open roofs as they stop at a hotel for the night . Weaving: The team had to dodge ruined, derelict buildings in the desert as they braved temperatures in excess of 30C . Speed: Even though the car struggles to reach 30mph, it was captured dashing across the desert by one of the group's photographers . Convoy: The team follow each other on one of the rare, two-lane, tarmac roads dissecting a remote part of North Africa . In a flash: The group behind the Marrakech Express said they wanted to explore the relatively untouched routes around Morocco . Break: Alastair Caldwell, who rose from a cleaner to Team Manager in the McLaren F1 setup, steps out of the car to refill the petrol tank . Motor racing legend: Mr Caldwell (left) raises a glass after his victory in the 12-day rally. The group will return to Morocco for the rally next year . | Group of racing drivers and motoring enthusiasts modified fleet of the classic French cars .
Set off on a 2,000 mile, 12-day trip, beginning in Malaga, Spain, before travelling around a large part of Morocco .
The cars have a measly 29 brake horse powers and can reach speeds of up to 75mph .
Race was won by former McLaren Team Manager, Alistair Caldwell, who helped James Hunt win the the F1 title in 1976 . |
172,693 | 6b7dd33ab55544ffcc5d0f4658bbb1d4921a267e | A lone gunman boarded a school bus, shooting dead its driver, and taking a six-year-old passenger hostage, authorities revealed Tuesday. The shooter, cited by many news sources to be 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes, has barricaded himself in a bunker-like structure in his back yard, and continues to hold the child hostage. The Dothan Eagle reports that Dykes was supposed to appear in court on Wednesday for a bench trial over a menacing charge. A suspect, identified as Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, allegedly held up a school bus Tuesday in Midland City, Alabama, shooting dead the bus driver and taking a boy hostage . Emergency vehicles flocked around the area as investigators tried to negotiate the hostage situation . Dykes’ neighbor, James Edward Davis Jr told the paper that the man pointed a gun at him and his daughter in December, saying that they had driven into his yard. The Dale County Sheriff confirmed that a man shot the driver in Midland City on Tuesday. Children on the bus said that the man who boarded the bus told most of the students to get off. They then said that the man shot the bus driver several times. The driver later died of his wounds. His identity wasn't immediately released. uthorities say the shooter took the child to an area behind nearby Destiny Church. WSFA reported that bomb squads were called to the scene, though there was no sign of explosive devices. The shooting comes at a time when gun violence in schools is on everyone's mind, nearly two months after the Sandy Hook Elementary School schooting . Residents in the immediate area were also evacuated as a precaution. Midland City police would not comment, and a call to the Dale City Sheriff's office was not answered Tuesday. However, it was reported that members of a SWAT team are communicating with the suspect in his bunker via a PVC pipe. The shooting comes as the nation is on edge about gun violence, especially in schools, after a gunman shot dead 20 students and six staff members at a Connecticut elementary school last month, stoking a national debate on gun control. The sheriff's department said multiple agencies were assisting with the incident and local area schools would be closed on Wednesday. | Gunman, identified as Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, allegedly shot dead bus driver and took boy, 6, hostage .
Currently barricaded in bunker; SWAT team trying to negotiate with him . |
251,306 | d14429057ac1f699ae69be75039d0d32c14266fe | Cruise lines can get a bad reputation for claustrophobic cabins and annoying entertainment - not to mention norovirus outbreaks - but there are some that go above and beyond to break the mould and guarantee their guests the trip of a lifetime. Spending weeks (or even months) on a cruise ship, you want to make sure your hard-earned money and holiday time is well spent. Whether you look for the best on-board dining, family-friendly lines, or the ultimate in luxury, this list can steer you in the right direction. Cruise reviews website Cruise Critic has announced its UK Editors' Picks Awards for 2014, rounding up the best cruise liners on the seas. New ship on the block: Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas is among the winners of Cruise Critic's UK Editors' Picks Awards for 2014 . Cruising: The awards round up the best cruise liners of the year, selected in 18 categories including best for luxury, itineraries and romance . Adventure: Hurtigruten line takes guests to see the Northern Lights in Norway and the Arctic Circle . Royal Caribbean's newest ship, Quantum of the Seas is the big news in cruising at the moment. The jaw-dropping vessel, which made its debut last month, was awarded Best New Ship for being both 'innovative' and 'revolutionary' with its glass viewing pod, skydiving simulator, and robotic bartenders. Royal Caribbean line was also commended for Best Entertainment, while P&O Cruises was awarded Best for Families and Best Dining with their roster of celebrity chefs including Marco Pierre White, Atul Kochhar, James Martin, and Eric Lanlard. Marco Pierre White has overseen the Ocean Grill restaurants across P&O's fleet, however Cruise Critic nominated the chef's The White Room on the ship Ventura as head and shoulders above the rest. Five star: Regent Seven Seas Cruises took away Best Luxury . Excelling in accommodation: Celebrity Cruises won for both Best Suites and Best Cabins . Best New Ship - Quantum of the Seas . Best Refurbishment - Thomson Cruises . Best For Luxury - Regent Seven Seas Cruises . Best For Families - P&O Cruises . Best Itineraries - Voyages of Discovery . Best For Adventure - Hurtigruten . Best Value For Money - Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines . Best Dining - P&O Cruises . Best Entertainment - Royal Caribbean International . Best Suites - Celebrity Cruises (Solstice Class) Best Cabins - Celebrity Cruises . Best Shore Excursions - Azamara Club Cruises . Best For Romance - Princess Cruises . Best Cruise Ship Bar - Cunard's Commodore Club (QM2) Best UK Port Of Call - Liverpool . Best UK Departure Point - Southampton . Best New River Ship - Emerald Star and Emerald Sky . Best River Cruise Line - CroisiEurope . For luxury, Regent Seven Seas Cruises was deemed the finest on the seas for truly treating guests like royalty. Cruise Critic chose the line as it 'is the only line at this end of the ultra-luxury scale that truly delivers all-inclusive luxury.' When they promise all-inclusive, they really do deliver. Flights and pre or post-cruise tours are included, as are onshore excursions as well as high-quality liquor. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines won the Best Value for Money award for the third year running. Celebrity Cruise Line's Solstice Class ships won the Best Suites category for the second consecutive year, as well as the award for Best Cabins. Celebrity's ship Reflection has increased the number of its AquaClass staterooms due to high demand. The luxury suites come with a spa concierge to arrange spa appointments, exclusive access to a 'clean-eating' restaurant on board and the relaxation room, and a wellness programme that includes meditation and yoga. Other winners include Voyages of Discovery (Best Itineraries), Azamara Club Cruises (Best Shore Excursions), and Cunard's Commodore Club on Queen Mary 2, which was awarded Best Cruise Ship Bar. Fit for royalty: Princess Cruises were deemed Best for Romance . Drink up: Cunard's Commodore Club on Queen Mary 2 is the best on-board bar with its panoramic views and white-glove service . The elegant ship's bar boats white-glove service while guests enjoy panoramic views from the front-of-ship bar through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Emerald Waterways won Best New River Ship for their Emerald Star and Emerald Sky, while CroisiEurope was awarded Best River Cruise Line. 'The cruise industry offers a wealth of choice, and the Editors' Picks Awards share our expert insight and provide guidance to British holidaymakers who are interested in a cruise,' commented Adam Coulter, UK editor Cruise Critic. 'With cruise lines constantly improving their products this isn't an easy task, but we have identified the lines which have excelled in order to help cruisers plan their perfect cruise, and ensure the time and money they invest is well spent.' Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, added: 'We originally launched our Editors' Picks Awards in 2008, to highlight lines that we felt were doing a great job. 'Just six years later, the industry has grown tremendously; cruise lines continue to up the ante, and there are more options than ever before for travelers looking to hit the seas.' Luxury: P&O Cruises were big winners for 2014, being awarded Best Dining... ... and Best for Families, with lots of entertainment for the kids on board . | Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas, which launched last month, won Best New Ship .
Reviews website Cruise Critic selected the best in categories including dining, romance, value and itineraries .
P&O, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises were big winners with two categories each . |
143,183 | 4529578b7cc1b4536974c99c666ea4c1b5cb6042 | Promoting her latest Peter Rabbit book, Emma Thompson said she no longer supported Labour and admitted her daughter goes to a private school . She has been a renowned supporter of left-wing politics. But when it comes to educating her daughter, it seems Emma Thompson is prepared to put her political leanings on the back burner. The actress has revealed she sends 14-year-old Gaia – her child with husband Greg Wise – to a north London private school instead of entrusting her education to the state. Once Gaia turns 16, her mother hopes to enrol her at a state school near their home in West Hampstead – however even that will be one of the UK’s most elite establishments. Miss Thompson told The Times: ‘We’re not in the catchment area for Camden School for Girls, but she might go there for the sixth form.’ The 55-year-old, who is said to be worth £30million, was educated at the school herself when it was still a grammar. It has long been a favourite of wealthy left-wing parents who can afford to live in its expensive catchment area, and inspectors regularly describe it as ‘outstanding’. Scroll down for video . Other alumni include actress Tamsin Greig and the children of several Blairite cabinet ministers. If Gaia does get in, it may improve her chances of being accepted by an elite university like her mother, who studied at Cambridge. In recent years, ministers have encouraged admissions tutors to accept lower grades from state pupils if they show more ‘potential’ than their private school counterparts. Thompson is regularly accompanied by her 14-year-old daughter Gaia at red carpet events . Camden School for Girls: Thompson went there but has chosen to send her daughter to a private school . The actress hit out at US President Barack Obama for not 'changing things' and Tony Blair for 'accruing wealth' Miss Thompson – who also has a 27-year-old adopted son Tindy – also used her interview to call for a ‘revolution’ to fix the world’s social and political problems. And despite being pictured in a ‘celebrity selfie’ with Ed Miliband at a Labour drinks reception earlier this year, she said she is now so disillusioned by politics that she ‘cannot support any of it’. She said: ‘I don’t think this is working, everybody! I’m in a red-hot phase of meltdown. We’re going to have to have a revolution.’ Thompson reserved praise for millionaire comedian Russell Brand, right, seen with his heiress former girlfriend, Jemima Khan . 'Why is it always about earning money to buy things?' The actress has been in Manchester promoting her book . | The 55-year-old actress says her daughter Gaia, 14, is privately educated .
Says she lives too far away from nearest top state school in north London .
But contradicts herself by saying 'She might go there for sixth form'
Thompson has long been a vociferous supporter of the Labour party .
But she says she no longer supports any politicians as 'they're awful'
Actress, worth an estimated £30m, slammed Tony Blair for 'earning money'
She says: 'I'm in a red-hot meltdown - we're going to have a revolution'
Comments came in Manchester as she promotes her new Peter Rabbit book . |
5,789 | 106d91b562d0be1ba41ac471893e17f4064f9536 | By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . William Hague today dismissed 'ridiculous' criticism of his decision to spend four days with Hollywood star Angelina Jolie while war raged in Iraq. The Foreign Secretary appeared to accuse Radio 4 presenter John Humphrys of not asking intelligent questions about his appearances with Miss Jolie and her husband Brad Pitt. Mr Hague insisted the star-studded summit to end sexual violence against women in war did not divert his attention away from the crisis of the day, stressing the UK government was 'entirely capable of doing both'. Scroll down for video . Foreign Secretary William Hague poses for photographs with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on Thursday, the third day of the summit to end sexual violence in conflict . Mr Hague faced criticism for spending four days at the summit, while remaining almost silent on the ongoing conflict in Iraq . Miss Jolie and Mr Hague launched a joint campaign in 2012 to fight sexual violence in war. It came after she wrote and directed a film, called In the Land of Blood and Honey, in 2011 set during the Bosnian war. Up to 50,000 women were raped during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. Last week the pair hosted a four-day summit in London, which culminated in a new international protocol which they hope will 'shatter the culture of impunity' around sexual violence in war. However, it meant that as Islamist jihadists swept through large areas of Iraq, Mr Hague was posing for photographs with two of the world's biggest film stars. Miss Jolie also made a trip to Downing Street, where she was pictured smiling in the sunshine with David Cameron. Today Mr Hague insisted the government was capable of focussing on immediate problems while also addressing long-term issues, like sexual violence in war at the summit. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Anybody who thinks that should have been there, should have come along to it... This is about conflict prevention. 'It brought together most of the world. We’re not going to solve conflicts of the many sorts we debate on this programme unless we address these appalling crimes. 'The idea that you can never deal with long-term issues because there’s always something short-term, I always find rather ridiculous.' Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall also met Miss Jolie and Mr Hague during a private meeting at Clarence House . He stressed that he had been able to hold talks about Iraq with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who had been in London for the summit. And in apparent swipe at Mr Humphrys for even asking the question, he added: 'With respect, I think the basis of your question has less basis than most of the highly intelligent questions.' The summit attracted delegations from 123 countries. Organisers, hope it will pave the way for more support for survivors of rape of warzones, and a commitment to bring perpetrators to justice as well as ‘raising awareness dramatically’ of the crimes across the world. Mr Hague added: 'We’re trying to change global attitudes all over the world, which governments alone cannot do. And foreign policy today involves working with different people outside government – NGOs, civil society, people who can reach people who never listen to governments. 'We’re trying to effect a change in attitudes of the entire world so that the terrible violence meted out to vulnerable people, particularly women all over the world, can be brought to an end or can be greatly diminished. 'And I think we should make those alliances to do that. We don’t stop doing that work because we’re dealing also with the crisis of the day. We’re entirely capable in the British government of doing both.' Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed Miss Jolie to Downing Street on Tuesday . At the closing ceremony of the summit on Friday, Miss Jolie said she will work with Mr Hague and others for 'as long as it takes' to prevail in the struggle of sexual violence in conflict. She said the work begun at the summit is 'very, very much linked' with violence against women in other contexts, such as the kidnap of the schoolgirls in Nigeria or the recent rape cases in India and Pakistan. She added: 'One of the most heartening aspects of this summit has been to see so many male leaders prepared to confront the taboo surrounding sexual violence in conflict. Indeed I believe one of the outcomes of this summit is that this subject is now firmly on the top table of international diplomacy and we will work to ensure that it stays there…it goes to the heart of international peace and security.’ On Saturday it was announced Jolie had been made a dame by Mr Hague. | Foreign Secretary defends four-day summit on sexual violence in conflict .
Insists he was able to focus on long-term issues and Iraq at same time .
Posed for photographs with Hollywood stars on each day of event .
Appears to accuse R4's John Humphrys of not asking intelligent questions . |
67,269 | bed76bc80968370744e2d246b0df4db2a4c71b96 | Capt. Derek Herrera wanted to remain on active duty after a sniper's bullet in Afghanistan left him paralyzed two years ago. Now he plans to retire from the Marine Corps, but not before walking across a stage with robotic leg braces to receive a Bronze Star. Herrera will be honored Friday at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego, in a ceremony that will also mark his medical retirement after 8½ years in the military. Derek Herrera, a paraplegic U.S. Marine, stands upright using ReWalk, an exoskeleton using motors and braces for upright walking . Herrera will be honored Friday at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego, in a ceremony that will also mark his medical retirement after 8½ years in the military . Herrera has vowed to retire while standing, like he did when he joined the Marine Corps. 'I could easily go and roll up in my wheelchair, but for me it's a mental and emotional goal that I set for myself: to stand up and walk out of the Marine Corps,' said Herrera, who was the first American to purchase the ReWalk system recently approved by the Federal Drug Administration. The special operations officer is being honored with the Bronze Star for his actions on June 14, 2012, when the patrol he was leading came under heavy fire in Afghanistan. Herrera continued coordinating efforts while receiving treatment for his own spinal injury and collapsed left lung. 'The bravery and fortitude he displayed inspired his men to heroic feats as they valiantly fought to save the lives of their wounded team members and repel the enemy assault,' wrote Maj. Gen. M.A. Clark in recommending Herrera be recognized with a Bronze Star. Herrera and Maura Herrera walks onstage at 2014 Stand Up For Heroes at Madison Square Garden at Madison Square Garden on November 5, 2014 in New York City . The special operations officer is being honored with the Bronze Star for his actions on June 14, 2012, when the patrol he was leading came under heavy fire in Afghanistan . Left paralyzed from the chest down, the 30-year-old Marine sought to be allowed to remain on active duty and also has pushed himself to get back to walking. His last day on active-duty is Nov. 30. The ReWalk system functions like an exoskeleton for people paralyzed from the waist down, allowing them to stand and walk with assistance from a caretaker. The ReWalk system functions like an exoskeleton for people paralyzed from the waist down, allowing them to stand and walk with assistance from a caretaker . A harness around the patient's waist and shoulders keeps the suit in place, and a backpack holds the computer and rechargeable battery . The device consists of leg braces with motion sensors and motorized joints that respond to subtle changes in upper-body movement and shifts in balance. A harness around the patient's waist and shoulders keeps the suit in place, and a backpack holds the computer and rechargeable battery. Crutches are used for stability, and the FDA requires an assistant be nearby. Herrera's wife assists him. Crutches are used for stability, and the FDA requires an assistant be nearby. Herrera's wife assists him . The MARSOC Foundation, a charitable fund for members of the Marine Corps Special Operations Command, raised the money for Herrera to buy the $69,500 device. Herrera is working on a master's degree in business administration at the University of California Los Angeles and plans to start his own business. 'Every day is a choice to live, love, inspire, honor the fallen, make the world a better place and walk in the footsteps of giants,' Herrera wrote in a Thanksgiving holiday column published by UT San Diego in 2013. | Capt. Derek Herrera wanted to remain on active duty after a sniper's bullet in Afghanistan left him paralyzed two years ago .
Herrera will be honored Friday at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego, in a ceremony that will also mark his medical retirement after 8½ years in the military .
Uses the ReWalk system, which functions like an exoskeleton for people paralyzed from the waist down . |
262,551 | e01795edd89c6c03836172720a5158c76b0680ff | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 01:36 EST, 10 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 05:18 EST, 10 August 2012 . Retiring: Bob Hoskins was given the diagnosis in the autumn. Announcing his retirement the star's agent said he planned to spent time with his family . Actor Bob Hoskins has put his £895,000 country retreat up for sale after announcing he is retiring from showbusiness following his diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. Hoskins, 69, revealed his battle with the brain disorder earlier this week - several months after his diagnosis. It has now emerged the four-bedroom home he has shared with his second wife Linda for more than 10 years is on the market. The property in Chiddingly, East Sussex, boasts a swimming pool, tennis courts and a paddock set in 13 acres. Hoskins has said he retired so he could spend more time with his family before his condition deteriorated further. The announcement brings to an end a silver screen career which spanned four decades and included Hollywood hits such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit. His most recent appearance was in Snow White and the Huntsman, released this year and starring Kristen Stewart. A statement released by his agent said: 'Bob Hoskins wishes to announce that he will be retiring from acting, following his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease last autumn. 'He wishes to thank all the great and brilliant people he has worked with over the years, and all of his fans who have supported him during a wonderful career. 'Bob is now looking forward to his retirement with his family, and would greatly appreciate that his privacy be respected at this time' Symptoms of Parkinson’s include tremors, muscle stiffness, difficulty with movement and a gradual slowing down of the body. Facial expression and balance can also be affected. Hoskins is perhaps best known for his role in 1988 Hollywood hit Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Daiga Heisters, of support and . research charity Parkinson’s UK, said: 'We are sorry to learn that Bob . Hoskins has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. Parkinson’s is a . progressive condition that affects everybody differently, and can change . on a daily, or even hourly, basis. 'Many . people can live a full and active life with their diagnosis of . Parkinson’s. However, it does affect some people quickly and severely.' Actor Michael J Fox is one of the most . well-known sufferers of the disease, which he has battled for more than . 20 years. He was diagnosed at the age of 30, but did not make the news . public for another seven years. He is now 51, and his Michael J Fox Foundation is the largest contributor of private funding to research into the condition. Another high-profile sufferer is Muhammad Ali, who was diagnosed at the age of 42 in 1984. The former champion boxer, now 70, has cut an increasingly frail figure in recent years. The majority of cases of Parkinson’s . disease appear for no known reason, but experts believe the repeated . blows to the head may have contributed to the onset of the disease in . his case. Back To The Future star Michael J Fox also has the disease as well as former heavyweight world champion boxer Muhammad Ali . The 69-year-old from Suffolk has played a wide range of roles including starring as a minder in 1986 film Mona Lisa opposite Cathy Tyson . Hoskins began his film career in the . 1970s and found fame playing Harold Shand in the iconic 1980 gangster . film The Long Good Friday alongside Helen Mirren. An Oscar nomination for best actor and . further critical acclaim followed his lead role in another British . film, Mona Lisa, in 1986. He went on to play Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988, and Smee in both Hook (1991) and Neverland (2011). In the 1980s and 1990s he was also famous for his adverts for BT, and his ‘It’s good to talk’ catchphrase became well-known. He has four children and has lived in . East Sussex with second wife Linda Banwell for more than a decade. Asked . in May if acting was still a passion, Hoskins replied: ‘Acting is a . lark but I’m trying to work less. They say: "Bob I know you’re trying to . retire but we’ve got a little swan song here which is the business..." and I get talked into it. 'The more you don’t want to work, the . more work you get. I want to be at home with the wife but she doesn’t . want me to retire, she wants me out of the house.' Eight years earlier he played a gangster alongside Helen Mirren, right, in cult hit The Long Good Friday . | The four bedroom home in Chiddingly, East Sussex, boasts a pool, tennis courts and paddocks set in 13 acres .
Has shared the home with his wife Linda Barwell for more than 10 years .
Comes after Hoskins, 69, retires from acting after being diagnosed with Parkinson's in the autumn - a neurological condition which is thought to affect around 127,000 people in the UK and has no known cure .
Actor plans to now spend more quality time with his family .
Hoskins, from Suffolk in England, has played a range of roles since the 1970s, ranging from gangster films to comedy roles . |
225,519 | b00131e28f63420d32258a769448124ade28bba8 | A veteran cop and married father of three shot himself on his way home from work yesterday, becoming the fourth NYPD police officer to take his own life in less than a month. Highway-safety officer Matthew Schindler, 39, pulled onto the side of the Long Island Expressway near Exit 40 in Jericho at 4.30pm on his way back from a shift in Queens before shooting himself under the chin. Minutes earlier the 14-year veteran, described by a friend as an 'an all-around great guy' had texted his sergeant to say he wouldn't be seeing him any more. Tragic: Veteran cop Matthew Schindler, 39, has become the fourth NYPD officer to kill himself in less than a month (file picture) His fellow officers were ordered back to the 115th Precinct stationhouse, where flags were lowered to half mast, to be told the tragic news. According to the New York Post, when told the distressing news Bill Genet, the head of volunteer group Poppa that helps troubled police officers, exclaimed: 'Oh, God, not another one.' Schindler is the second NYPD officer to commit suicide in eight days and the fourth since the start of the year. On February 5, 20-year veteran Brian Saar, a father of twin five-year-old daughters, shot himself at his home in Suffolk County after apparently arguing with his wife at a party. On January 19, officer Terrence Dean, 28, shot himself with his service pistol while on duty at the scene of a Queens car burglary after getting a phone call from his fiancée Maria Stuart, urging him to get help for his severe depression. (File picture): Officer Schindler pulled onto the hard shoulder of the Long Island Expressway near Exit 40 in Jericho at 4.30pm on his way back from a shift in Queens before shooting himself under the chin . According to Ms Stuart he replied: 'Fine, I'm going to kill myself,' before pointing his gun at his head and pulling the trigger. Minutes earlier Ms Stuart had called the precinct to leave an anonymous tip warning that one of the their officers was suicidal. She said that in the days leading up to the suicide, Dean had threatened to kill himself and those around him a number of times. The day before he died, Dean threatened to kill himself by putting his gun in his mouth while at home with Ms Stuart. Ms Stuart said that part of the reason why he was depressed was because he felt that his family had pressured him into becoming a police officer instead of pursuing his dream of being a fire fighter. On Jan. 15, rookie Patrick Werner, 23, killed himself at his parents’ home in Yorktown Heights after fleeing from a car accident. | Father of three Matthew Schindler, 39, shoots himself in patrol car on way home from work . |
92,187 | 0292923afe5715ee700f4ba8413f959a18a1e95d | By . Daily Mail Reporter . Last updated at 11:33 PM on 21st July 2011 . Detectives have been criticised for a 'shocking and disgraceful' conspiracy to pervert the course of justice after it was revealed how they took a key murder trial witness to a brothel, paid him cash and allowed him to take cannabis and heroin in their company. A Supreme Court ruling has unearthed how 'supergrass' and convicted robber Karl Chapman had sex with a policewoman, socialised at officers' homes and visited pubs while in custody as West Yorkshire Police sought to secure his continued co-operation. The force also ignored a number of violent crimes allegedly committed by Chapman, including the brutal rape of his cellmate and the vicious stabbing of a fellow prisoner with broken glass bound with twine. Convicted robber Karl Chapman, pictured left in 1996, was the main prosecution witness in the case of Paul Maxwell, right, who admitted murder last month . Chapman received special treatment because he was the main prosecution witness in the case of Paul Maxwell, who last month admitted murdering 85-year-old Joe Smales in Wakefield, West Yorkshire in 1996. Maxwell and his brother, Daniel Mansell, were originally found guilty of the attack after a Leeds Crown Court trial in 1998, but the convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal in 2009 on the grounds they had been 'procured by gross prosecutorial misconduct'. The Supreme Court judgement, published on Wednesday, reveals for the first time the 'variety of wholly inappropriate benefits' given to Chapman by West Yorkshire officers . Five Supreme Court judges ruled by a majority of three to two last year that Maxwell should face a retrial. More than £3million of taxpayers' money had been spent on the case by the time he finally admitted his guilt, for which he received a 17-and-a-half-year jail term. The Supreme Court judgement, published on Wednesday, reveals for the first time the 'variety of wholly inappropriate benefits' given to Chapman by West Yorkshire officers. One judge, Lord Brown, who took the view that Maxwell should not have been retried, found that a large number of officers, including 'several of very high rank', were engaged in a 'prolonged, persistent and pervasive conspiracy to pervert the course of justice'. Officers colluded in Chapman's perjury during the trial, the judge found, intending him to lie throughout his evidence about how he had been treated. They ensured Chapman's police custody records presented a 'false picture of the facts', even forging one to conceal the truth, and they lied to the Crown Prosecution Service after the trial. Lord Brown stated: 'To describe police misconduct on this scale merely as shocking and disgraceful is to understate the gravity of its impact on the prosecution process. 'It is hard to imagine a worse case of sustained prosecutorial dishonesty designed to secure and hold a conviction at all costs.' None of the officers involved in the case have been prosecuted or disciplined. All have since left the police service and at least one is understood to be living abroad. The full extent of the corruption was uncovered by a North Yorkshire Police investigation on behalf of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which probes potential miscarriages of justice. It is understood that some West Yorkshire officers refused to co-operate with the inquiry. Investigators found that Chapman regularly had sex with a woman police constable but he cheated on her when her colleagues took him to a brothel - a trip described on the custody record as an outing to 'assist in the locations of crime'. Chapman wrote to the woman officer, apologising: 'I was drunk and stoned on weed, they paraded a dozen beautiful women in front of me and said take your pick.' It is alleged that Chapman later assaulted the officer after they broke up, but the case was one of several against him which were not prosecuted. Maxwell's solicitor Mark Foley said he was stunned by the 'incredible scale of the malpractice exposed'. Deputy Chief Constable David Crompton said: 'In relation to the original investigation back in 1996, the methods used to deal with the main witness were wholly unacceptable and cannot be condoned in any way whatsoever.' Following the North Yorkshire Police inquiry 'the CPS concluded there were no criminal offences committed by any officer'. Mr Crompton said: 'Since the original investigation was carried out 16 years ago there has been a complete root-and-branch overhaul of procedures to safeguard against such failings and to prevent them from ever happening again.' | West Yorkshire Police also ignored a number of violent crimes allegedly committed by Karl Chapman .
He received special treatment as he was a main witness in the retrial of Paul Maxwell .
Officers intended Chapman to lie throughout his evidence about how he had been treated . |
27,352 | 4d877dfd2b7ec891560e6e1ce5bd4acefba6b57f | By . Reuters . and Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 23:08 EST, 4 February 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 17:08 EST, 5 February 2014 . Yet another winter storm bore down on the East Coast on Wednesday, threatening to dump up to a foot of snow, causing treacherous travel conditions and leaving nearly a million people without power. Around 120 million Americans were in the path of the storm as it moved from the lower Great Lakes eastward to central New England, where residents can expect to see ample snowfall before the system moves out to sea by Wednesday evening, meteorologists said. 'It's . going to be a mess,' Rich Thompson with the National Weather Service . said. 'The heavy snow is going to be up toward Boston and inland from . the Coast.' Scroll down for video . Helping hand: A man carries a girl with an injured foot across a snowy street in New York City on Wednesday . Stuck: Ed Brown digs his car out the snow in West Lafayette, Indiana after heavy snow hit on Wednesday . Smash: A downed tree covered in ice lays atop a minivan after a winter storm in Philadelphia . Mess: Emergency personnel prepare to clear a fallen tree from in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania . A day after the storm pounded the . nation's mid-section, there was a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain . hitting a swath north of Washington, D.C. through New York City, with . growing snowfall in Boston and parts of New England. In New Jersey, a . state of emergency was declared. Residents in Chicago - where the economy has been hard hit by this year's winter storms - are set to endure their 31st day of snow. More than 120 million people in 32 states . were in the path of the storm, which threatened to cut power, cancel . flights and snarl traffic, NBC reported. Already, 900,000 people are without power. More than 3,000 flights have been canceled as slushy snow and ice blankets runways, with New York-area airports and Boston's Logan International Airport hardest hit, FlightStats reported. Storm: This NOAA satellite image taken on Wednesday morning shows a developing storm system over much of the Eastern half of the United States, which is expected to be pummeled with more snow . New storm: A map shows that the Northeast will be heaviest hit by snowfall, with up to 12 inches . Freezing: The Northeast is enduring freezing temperatures, slush snow and ice after days of snow . Winter storm: A map shows the severe wind chill and winter weather alerts in place across the country . Blocked: Commuters walk through the MTA Subway at 42nd Street/Times Square in New York City on Wednesday after there were delays with some of the trains due to inclement weather . Shut down: A power failure shut down the 1-2-3 line in New York City on Wednesday morning . Residents and state officials were . taking precautions, with officials postponing legislative work and . closing schools. Schools in Providence, Rhode Island, were ordered . closed on Wednesday. The . National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for New York . City lasting until 6 pm on Wednesday, while Con Edison warned residents . that the snow and freezing rain could spark power cuts across the city. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie . declared a state of emergency and ordered state offices closed on . Wednesday for all non-essential workers. 'I . encourage all New Jerseyans to drive carefully and remain off the roads . if possible so that our first responders and public safety officials . can safely respond to any emergency situations,' Christie said in a . written statement. Covered: A front end loader clears snow from intersections in Hutchison, Kansas on Tuesday . Slush: Men shovel a snowy sidewalk in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York on Wednesday . Frozen: A woman uses an umbrella against the freezing rain as she passes the New York Stock Exchange . Wet snow: A nanny pushed a child through a slushy intersection at Union Square in New York City . Buried: Bikes sit covered in snow near Union Square in New York, where snow and icy rain fell Wednesday . Ice: A bird perches next to ice covered sneakers hanging from utility lines in Philadelphia . More than 2,000 U.S. flights were . canceled early on Wednesday morning, with more than 250 delayed, . according to Flightaware.com, a website that tracks air traffic. It adds to the 8,000 flights that were delayed across . the country by Tuesday afternoon, and more than 1,640 that were canceled, . according to Flightaware.com, a website that tracks air traffic. A . second patch of snowfall that was approaching Cleveland and Detroit . would likely move across to the New York and New England areas later in . the day, Thompson said. New . York issued a hazardous travel advisory for Wednesday and Mayor Bill de . Blasio told residents to prepare for a difficult commute. The storm set up Monday night over . southwestern Kansas and was peaking over Kansas City on Tuesday. More . than 7 inches (18 cm) of snow had fallen in the Kansas City area by the . early evening. Long wait: Traffic backs up after a tree fell across U.S. 1 in Langhorne, Bucks County, Pennsylvania . Fallen: A woman clears snow near a downed tree limb after the storm hit Philadelphia on Wednesday . Snow trail: Passers-by in Walpole, Massachusetts use umbrellas while walking through snow . Brave: Dan Hazelwood goes for a run in the Public Garden during a winter storm in Boston, Massachusetts . Thick snow: Andrew Pyliotis shovels snow in front of his gas station in Norwood, Massachusetts . White out: Snow piles up on a dock in a frozen pond in Carmel, Indiana after eight inches of snow fell . This . event is uncommon, said NWS meteorologist Dan Hawblitzel, as only about . 3 percent of the winter storms that hit Kansas City total more than six . inches of snow. Kansas Governor Sam Brownback declared a state of 'disaster emergency' on Tuesday. Authorities in Kansas and neighboring Missouri advised residents to stay in their homes and the National Weather Service (NWS) warned of 'extremely difficult travel conditions'. 'Kansas . City and eastern Kansas is going to get a lot of snow,' said Greg . Carbin, meteorologist for the NWS Storm Prediction Center. 'It's . remarkable weather. Winter is entrenched. It doesn't appear to be . wanting to go anywhere.' Interstate 70, a key road artery connecting Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, was closed in both directions for part of the day Tuesday near Columbia, Missouri, after poor visibility and slippery conditions caused several tractor-trailers to collide, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Blanketed: New York City's Central Park, photographed on Tuesday, is under . several inches of snow as another winter storm has the Big Apple in its . cross-hairs . Warm work: Facilities Manager Richard Henning shovels snow at the Castle Museum in Saginaw, Michigan . Precautions: Cities across the Northeast are preparing for the worst, in many cases closing schools and offices in preparation for the storm . Winter wonderland: Julia Pollock wears snow shoes to take her goldendoodles, Cody and Bond, for a walk in the fresh snow on Wednesday in Shaker Heights, Ohio . The threat of snow remained on the East Coast and in the Midwest as the brutal winter weather continued . Numerous additional accidents were reported in Missouri as cars skidded off slick highways. Icy . conditions were wreaking havoc in Arkansas, with . multiple accidents reported on major traffic arteries, said Arkansas . highway officials. Also on Tuesday, Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy postponed his state of the state address. He said the impending storm was also causing state legislative leaders to push back by a day the start of the joint legislative session. 'While I hope the storm is not as bad as predictions suggest, I also don't want to put anyone in harm's way,' Gov. Malloy said in a statement announcing the delay. The incoming snow comes after a fast-moving winter storm hit the Northeast on Monday, forcing flight cancellations throughout the region and tying up road traffic the day after the NFL's Super Bowl. On Sunday, the famed groundhog 'Punxsutawney Phil' emerged from his burrow in the small Pennsylvania town, saw his shadow and - as the legend goes - predicted six more weeks of winter. | More than 120 million people in 32 states are in the path of latest storm and already more than 900,000 have lost their power .
The Northeast was hit with another foot of snow overnight on Tuesday .
The New York area is expected to be pummeled with as many as 7 .
inches of snow followed by rain, freezing rain and sleet .
Already more than 3,000 flights have been canceled and schools and government buildings have been closed . |
218,022 | a6487cde828630d8b1fcbb1919c3ab1e0a2f753a | (CNN) -- Firefighters extinguished a blaze in a nuclear submarine early Thursday at a U.S. Navy shipyard in Maine after battling it for hours, according to a statement released by the shipyard. Seven people were injured and were treated either on the scene or at "a local medical facility," the statement from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard read. Among those injured were three firefighters from the shipyard, two ship crew members and two civilian firefighters, who assisted the Navy's fire crew. Vacuum cleaner blamed for fire on nuclear submarine . The USS Miami's reactor was not operating at any time the fire broke out and remained unaffected and stable throughout, said Capt. Bryant Fuller, commander for the shipyard, which is in Kittery, Maine. The sub was in dock at the shipyard when the blaze began, where it has been "since early March for an overhaul." Firefighters first responded to the fire at 5:41 p.m. ET Wednesday. The fire started in a forward part of the ship away from the reactor, affecting "primarily living areas and command and control spaces," Fuller said. "The nuclear propulsion spaces were physically isolated early in the event from the forward compartment fire," according to the statement. The USS Miami is capable of carrying Tomahawk cruise missiles and Mark 48 torpedoes. No weapons were on board, Fuller said. State, local and federal authorities were notified of the incident. "The cause of the fire is not known at this time," Fuller said. "A full investigation will be conducted." Portsmouth Naval Shipyard was established on June 12, 1800, and is the oldest continuously operating shipyard run by the Navy, according to Gary Hildreth, a public affairs officer for the facility. CNN's Larry Shaughnessy and CNN's Chris Boyette contributed to this report. | NEW: Fire on USS Miami at shipyard in Maine was put out early Thursday .
NEW: Seven were injured in the submarine blaze .
The sub's reactor was not affected, and no weapons were aboard, officials say . |
63,573 | b48521323e223d60023b6fb24b18aeb09e1c383c | Bethesda, Maryland (CNN) -- When Capt. Greg Galeazzi joined the Army seven years ago, he was well aware of the risks he would face. "Of course you accept that injuries or death is a possibility," Galeazzi said. "This is what happens to soldiers who fight wars." In 2011, that possibility became Galeazzi's reality. While leading his platoon on a routine morning patrol, an improvised explosive device detonated beneath him. "It felt like I got hit by a wrecking ball," he said. Though Galeazzi survived the blast, life as he knew it did not. Suddenly, he was a double, above the knee amputee and had a severely wounded right arm. "I was a shell of a man," he said. "Who I was, was gone." Before his injuries, playing the guitar had been a special pastime for Galeazzi. "Music has always been important to me," he said. "I felt a deep sadness because I thought I'd lost my ability to play music." Galeazzi began to see things differently when he joined MusiCorps, a music rehabilitation program for severely wounded soldiers who are recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. "We match the injured troops with professional musicians," said Arthur Bloom, who founded the program in 2007. "They help wounded warriors play music and recover their lives." 'Band' of brothers . Bloom, a graduate of the Yale School of Music, offers his services to patients at Walter Reed who have an interest in playing an instrument. Program participants practice technique. They write and record music. Or they may just get together for a jam session. "Some of what we do you could call adaptive music making," Bloom said. "The folks who are missing limbs or have damaged hands and arms sometimes require specialized instruments, which we provide." VOTE for the CNN Hero of the Year . The journey to recovery for many troops is a long one. It can require dozens of surgeries and many years spent in medical treatment facilities. "There's so much downtime at Walter Reed, and that's what we fill up with music," Bloom said. "What we didn't expect is that they'd get really, really good. So we formed a band." The MusiCorps Wounded Warrior Band is the performance component of Bloom's program. The group has performed at some of the country's premiere concert venues, including the Kennedy Center and Madison Square Garden, and with world-renowned musicians like Yo-Yo Ma and Roger Waters. "When I see them perform, it just blows me away," Bloom said. "They're amazing even when they don't perform. But performing shows other people -- and it also shows them -- that they're amazing." Rock 'n' recover . Studies show that music can reduce anxiety and even help an injured brain heal. Bloom believes that music is medicine for the mind. "I've seen guys come in here, and they're going through such a tough time with their injuries that they are very withdrawn," Bloom said. "The music becomes their new way of communicating. It can be just as powerful as the spoken word. ... By injecting music into this space, we can inject life." Since 2007, Bloom and his group have helped hundreds of wounded warriors. For Galeazzi, joining MusiCorps has helped restore his confidence and made him more optimistic about his future. In addition to rediscovering his musical ability, he is currently enrolled in pre-med classes. "Something survived that horrible injury in Afghanistan," Galeazzi said. "And that was my ability to play the guitar. Arthur and his program changed my outlook on what is possible." Bloom says the greatest reward has been working with the troop of amazingly talented individuals. "Music has no stigma," he said. "The folks we work with, when they do music, there's nothing injured about the way they do it. It's just good music." Want to get involved? Check out the MusiCorps website at www.musicorps.net and see how to help. | MusiCorps is a rehab program for wounded soldiers recovering at Walter Reed .
Founder Arthur Bloom, a Yale School of Music graduate, began the nonprofit in 2007 .
MusiCorps also provides custom instruments for those whose injuries require them .
Voting for 'CNN Hero of the Year' continues through Thursday, Nov. 16 . |
239,045 | c17987796d8aa2377b622d09e435a762a871ed8a | SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST, California (CNN) -- Beyond the towering trees that have stood here for thousands of years, an intense drug war is being waged. Authorities uncovered more than $1 billion worth of pot plants in Sequoia National Forest this week. Illegal immigrants connected to Mexico's drug cartels are growing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of marijuana in the heart of one of America's national treasures, authorities say. It's a booming business that, federal officials say, feeds Mexico's most violent drug traffickers. "These aren't Cheech and Chong plants," said John Walters, director of the National Drug Control Policy. "People who farm now are not doing this for laughs, despite the fact Hollywood still thinks that. They're doing it to make a lot of money." Walters spoke from a "marijuana garden" tucked deep into the Sequoia National Forest, a two- to four-hour hike from the nearest road, far removed from the giant sequoias the region is best known for. Watch Hollywood needs to chill out, get serious about pot » . Ten thousand marijuana plants, some 5 feet tall, dotted the mountainside's steep terrain amid thick brush, often near streams. This garden's street value is an estimated $40 million, authorities said. Walters clutched three plants he said were worth $12,000 on the streets. "This is about serious criminal organizations," Walters said. "They're willing to kill anybody who gets in their way. They're taking money back to those who kill prosecutors, judges and law enforcement." See photos of pot farm sweep in heart of U.S. national treasure » . Over the past eight days, a federal, state and county law enforcement initiative called Operation LOCCUST has eradicated 420,000 marijuana plants here worth more than $1 billion on the street. By comparison, authorities eradicated 330,000 plants over the six-month growing season last month, said Lt. Mike Boudreaux of the Tulare County Sheriff's Department. Authorities have arrested 38 people and seized 29 automatic weapons, high-powered rifles and other guns, Boudreaux said. For years, Mexican drug cartels have used the remote forest to conduct and conceal their business. But the pot production has intensified because it has become harder and harder to smuggle marijuana across the U.S.-Mexico border, Walters said. "They come into our own national parks and risk the lives of sheriffs and others," Walters said. Watch Mexican pot farms in U.S. forest » . Sequoia National Forest is more than 350 miles from the border, named in honor of its 38 groves of giant sequoia trees dating back thousands of years. The forest covers 1.2 million acres in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Some of the workers have established residency in the United States, Boudreaux said. Most are in the country illegally, he said, many brought for the sole purpose of growing pot, maintaining production and protecting the camp. "They're using family or very trusted family friends. They don't just use anybody," he said. Authorities arrested nine people in one bust recently, all of them brothers or cousins ranging in age from 20 to 27, Boudreaux said. Boudreaux described a sophisticated web in which workers and supplies are delivered to the camps by separate groups of people who don't know all the details about the marijuana operation. "You're recruited in for that purpose as long as you're trusted. ... Each person has his function." Once at the national forest, the growers carry with them everything they need: tents, food, guns, fertilizer, irrigation hose and marijuana seeds. Armed men keep watch over the gardens day and night during planting season, officials say. They dam mountain creeks to create pools and then siphon the water into miles of gravity-fed hoses that lead to smaller tubing to irrigate the plants. Nearly all of the marijuana plants have individual drip lines. "The people that are growing this are good at what they do," said Boudreaux. The battle is being waged by a coalition of local, state and federal agencies. They rip up and remove the intricate irrigation systems, eradicate the plants and develop intelligence on the workers. "The goal is not just to eradicate the plants but to go after the organizations," Walters said. What's different this year from years past, officials say, is that they're working to destroy the entire infrastructure of the marijuana grown in this region, from the irrigation systems to capturing the growers to ripping up the plants. And they're trying to get at the heart of the cartels. Walters said they have a "unique relationship" with Mexican law enforcement to go after organized crime -- that they will take names of those arrested here and try to work back to the crime families. "In the past, all we've been able to do is what we call 'whack and stack,' " said Bill Wittman, sheriff of Tulare County. Wittman says he has had "well over 200 people in the field every day" eradicating the plants and removing the irrigation systems as part of the operation. "We're not just pulling the plants, we're targeting mid-level and upper-management of these trafficking organizations," Boudreaux said. How do they find the gardens in such remote areas? They use aerial surveillance, human intelligence and other means. "Often times, we have people who will lead us to these gardens," Boudreaux said. Allen Ishida, a member of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors, said the illegal activity is alarming. "I want to state that the guys growing the marijuana are not the guys I went to college with," he said. "These are organized drug cartels out of Mexico." Boudreaux says authorities are furious that cartels are operating in a U.S. forest. "It's something that's troubling for many of us in law enforcement," he said. "You have illegal criminal activity in the mountain regions not only destroying the natural beauty of the landscape but as well as the potential for this product to reach the children of this community." CNN's Wayne Drash contributed to this report from Atlanta. | Drug czar stands in pot garden: "These aren't Cheech and Chong plants"
Authorities say Mexican drug cartels send illegals to grow marijuana in forest .
$1 billion worth of marijuana plants destroyed in Sequoia National Forest, cops say .
"They're willing to kill anybody who gets in their way," drug czar says . |
943 | 02a7dafda52e2cf23e727a32bfb9752894858388 | Energy secretary Ed Davey claimed the green business interests of energy watchdog chief John Gummer were not conflict of interest . Energy Secretary Ed Davey has admitted he knew former Tory Minister John Selwyn Gummer had green business interests when he chose him to head the powerful government watchdog that sets targets for renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions. But he insisted they did not amount to a conflict of interest – on the grounds they only concerned ‘infrastructure’, not renewable power generation. Last night critics dismissed this view as ‘absurd’. The Mail on Sunday revealed earlier this year that Mr Gummer, now Lord Deben, is chairman of both Veolia Water UK, which connects windfarms to the National Grid, and the Climate Change Committee. The committee’s stringent, binding targets are the main reason why the Grid is set to spend £25 billion on its network by 2020 – a big factor in soaring household energy bills. This newspaper’s disclosure about Veolia Water UK triggered a long correspondence – published last week after a Freedom of Information Act request – between MPs, Lord Deben and Mr Davey. The latter said in a letter in May that he knew about Veolia’s energy business, but there was no conflict of interest because the firm was ‘mainly involved in infrastructure projects’. Labour MP Graham Stringer, a prominent climate sceptic, was scathing about Mr Davey’s role: ‘The whole of our energy policy has been distorted by green lobbyists. To say there is no conflict because Veolia is only involved in energy infrastructure is patently absurd.’ Last night The Mail on Sunday asked Lord Deben how much Veolia is paying him and how he could avoid making Climate Committee decisions that might benefit the firm. He did not respond. Mr Gummer, pictured second from left with David Cameron, Wetlands Trust chief executive Martin Spray and MP Zac Goldsmith, is the chairman of Veolia Water UK, which connects wind farms to the National Grid . | John Selwyn Gummer is chairman of a firm which connects wind farms .
But he also leads a committee in charge of setting green energy targets .
Now Energy Secretary admits he knew - but insists there was no problem .
Labour climate sceptic Graham Stringer said that claim is 'patently absurd' |
204,019 | 941c4dc4b93170aa8678519847898138e6fbdaaf | The break off of Sandy Beach in Oahu is notoriously dangerous and tricky to surf. But an effortlessly cool seal put its fellow surfers to shame, hanging ten with ease on the Hawaiian beach. The marine mammal was caught on camera catching waves and swimming amongst the crowd while it waited for the next swell during a busy day at the beach in August. Captured by New York photographer, David Amann, 52, the agile creature is seen diving beneath the water, allowing the tide to carry it towards the shoreline. Scroll down for video . Hanging ten: A seal has been caught on camera surfing the waves off of Sandy Beach in Oahu, Hawaii . Coming through: The marine mammal was pictured enjoying the swell amongst other swimmers in August . Surf's up: Beachgoers stopped to stare as the monk seal caught a wave to the shore . The Hawaiian monk seals only visit the beach a few times a year, and David managed to grab the camera from his bag and snap the seal as it enjoyed the surf. David said: 'This is a very unusual occurrence, seals do visit Sandy Beach a couple of times a year but I have never seen one come in on the breaking side of the beach. 'It certainly does look like it is catching a ride onto the beach, I have never seen this done by a monk seal before but they are experts in the water and I am sure it knows what it is doing. Happy to mingle: The friendly seal waited for the swell with the other surfers . I'll catch the next one: The break off Sandy Beach is known to be difficult, and is preferred by expert surfers . 'The seal did make it to the beach for a relaxing rest on this sunny day. 'As soon as the people realised the seal was approaching the beach, everyone ran in that direction. 'I had my camera handy in my bag, but it was my wife, Elizabeth, that first spotted the seal. 'It is always a treat to get a visit from our ocean living brothers and sister so we were very excited, especially to see the seal catching some waves.' The Hawaiian monk seal is an endangered species of seal native to the Hawaiian islands. There are just over 1,000 remaining. Taking a break: The images were taken by New Yorker David Amann, pictured mimicking the seal sunbathing . Sandy Beach, on the South Shore, is well known for its strong rip tides and shore break very close to the shoreline. The latter is the cause of many swimmer injuries, and has earned it the nickname 'break-neck beach'. A favourite of Barack Obama, who grew up in Oahu, locals this month successfully opposed a movement to have the beach renamed President Barack Obama Sandy Beach Park. | Hawaiian monk seal pictured catching waves off Sandy Beach in Oahu .
New York photographer David Amann witnessed the scene in August .
Break is notoriously difficult is nicknamed 'break-neck beach' |
230,861 | b6f06fb1b7180a7e76a5ef9e945fd9da2e6c658b | Just yards from where thousands of pro-democracy supporters have been "occupying" the heart of Hong Kong's financial district, stands an imposing gray building surrounded on all sides by a high wall -- this is the Hong Kong garrison of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), China's armed forces. The main gates of the base, known as the Prince of Wales barracks until London handed over the city to Beijing in 1997, are guarded by heavily armed sentries in green combat fatigues, who stand statue-like with impassive expressions 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But despite the fact Hong Kong is a Chinese territory, the PLA garrison abides by local Hong Kong laws that emphasize the city's considerable autonomy. In short they keep a low profile: the soldiers never come out onto the streets of the city, and there's minimal interaction with the local population beyond the occasional open day. While there is nothing to suggest this will happen, the possible intervention of the 6,000 PLA troops believed stationed here has been the "elephant in the room" for many, as we approach the first full week of pro-democracy demonstrations. For some protesters, memories are still fresh of 1989 and the brutal crackdown of student protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. PLA arrives . It was July 1, 1997 when the main force of Chinese soldiers rolled across the border from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen into Hong Kong, as Britain formally ceded control of the territory it had controlled since 1841. Despite heavy rain, the convoy of green military trucks filled with soldiers clutching their rifles was met by crowds waving the flag of the nascent Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong: a white five-petal bauhinia flower on a red background. They headed for Hong Kong Island and their new base, which had earlier been vacated by a British military detachment and was now flying the flag of the People's Republic of China. The barracks, located in Hong Kong's Central district, are the garrison's headquarters but many PLA personnel -- particularly naval and air force units -- are stationed at smaller facilities across the territory. While troop numbers remain constant, the garrison's personnel are frequently rotated in and out of Hong Kong. According to the city's governing legislative council, the first rotation was conducted in 1998 and 12 rotations have been made since then. OPINION: Leung: Emotion 'will get us nowhere' Non interference . Under the newly-created "Basic Law," a constitutional agreement that came into effect on July 1, 1997, the PLA garrison -- a mixture of personnel from PLA navy, ground and air forces -- is responsible for defense and to maintain the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the State and the security of Hong Kong. While Article 14 of the Basic Law stipulates that the garrison "shall not interfere in the local affairs of Hong Kong," the Hong Kong government "may, when necessary, ask the Central Government (Beijing) for assistance from the garrison in the maintenance of public order and disaster relief." It then adds, "the garrison shall perform its duties in accordance with the provisions of the national laws that the Central Government decides to apply in Hong Kong in the event that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress decides to declare a state of war or, by reason of turmoil within Hong Kong which endangers national unity or security and is beyond the control of the HKSAR Government, decides that Hong Kong is in a state of emergency." However, Beijing has been at pains to emphasize that the current situation in Hong Kong is the responsibility of the local authorities to address. Since 1997, China's military presence in Hong Kong has been largely anonymous with little revealed about its daily operations -- with the exception of open days, when the city's population is invited into the PLA's barracks and given the opportunity to see its weaponry and meet soldiers. However, there have been signs in recent months that the PLA has started to be more high profile, with regular visits to the city's Victoria Harbor by warships. Recent accounts of armored vehicles rumbling between bases across the city has prompted many to speculate whether this is a deliberate ploy by Beijing to make its presence felt. | Protesters gathering close to Hong Kong garrison of the People's Liberation Army (PLA)
PLA garrison abides by local Hong Kong laws, though it can help maintain order if asked .
Memories are still fresh of 1989 and the brutal crackdown of Tiananmen protests .
Estimates put number of PLA troops stationed in Hong Kong at around 6,000 . |
115,700 | 214e328083038bf52df9904a2a032b4797bfa714 | By . Julian Robinson . and Jack Crone for MailOnline . Surveillance footage is said to prove that John Crawford, pictured, was holding a toy gun when police shot him dead at a Walmart store . A man shot dead by police in a U.S. supermarket was killed while facing away from officers after he had picked up a toy gun, according to surveillance footage seen by his family and attorney. John Crawford was gunned down on August 5 at a Walmart store in Beavercreek, Ohio, after a shopper contacted police to report that he was waving an A5-15 rifle at customers, including children. But footage of the 22-year-old proves he was in fact holding an unpackaged MK-177 BB rifle he had picked up in the store's toy department. Police claim Mr Crawford ignored their commands to drop what they thought was a weapon, and the former Marine who called the police at the time said Crawford 'looked like he was going to go violently'. But Mr Crawford's family attorney, Michael Wright, claims surveillance footage from the incident, which Ohio's attorney general allowed him to watch with Crawford's family, contradicted those accounts, The Raw Story reports. He said: 'John was doing nothing wrong in Walmart, nothing more, nothing less than shopping.' He added that the surveillance video showed Mr Crawford facing away from officers, talking on the phone, and leaning on the BB gun like a cane when he was 'shot on sight' in 'militaristic' fashion. This appears to fit with in with the account of LeeCee Johnson, who claims to be the mother of Mr Crawford's two children. She said she was speaking to him on the phone when the incident occurred. She told Dayton Daily News: 'We was just talking. He said he was at the video games playing videos and he went over there by the toy section where the toy guns were. 'And the next thing I know, he said "It's not real", and the police start shooting and they said "Get on the ground", but he was already on the ground because they had shot him. 'And I could hear him just crying and screaming. I feel like they shot him down like he was not even human.' Ohio Attorney General, Mike DeWine, announced yesterday that the case will now be handed to a special prosecutor to present to a grand jury on September 22. Beavercreek Police and Ohio Attorney General's Office initially insisted officers at the scene acted appropriately. After the shooting, Chief Dennis Evers, said: 'Officers confronted the subject inside the store area near the pet supplies holding a rifle. The officers gave verbal command to the subject to drop the weapon. 'The subject later identified as John Crawford was shot after failing to comply with the officer's commands.' John Crawford was shopping in Wal-Mart (shown in a file image) in Beavercreek, Ohio when he was shot dead . Sergeant David Darkow, one of the officers involved in the shooting, has already been allowed to resume his duties while another officer, Sean Williams, remains on administrative leave. Mr Crawford's cousin Lamon Brown says the family has contacted human rights group the NAACP as well as National Action Network. The family has also asked the U.S. Justice Department to open a civil rights investigation and assess whether the shooting was justified and whether race played a factor. Tasha Thomas, who has said she was Mr Crawford's current girlfriend, confirmed he was not armed when he walked into the store and that she was in another aisle when the incident happened. In a recorded call made to police, a voice says: 'There is a gentleman walking around with a gun in the store. ... He's, like, pointing it at people.' Later in the call, sounds like gunshots can be heard, followed by someone screaming for people to leave. Authorities say another customer also died after suffering a medical problem during the evacuation of the store. Police identified her as Angela Williams, 37, of Fairborn. Wal-Mart spokesman Brooke Buchanan say the company is working with investigators and is 'deeply saddened about the loss of life'. | John Crawford was shot dead by police at Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio .
According to attorney, surveillance footage proves 22-year-old was in fact holding a toy gun and not an actual rifle as was reported to the police .
The lawyer has criticised police's 'shoot on sight' and 'militaristic' approach .
Cops yet to comment on video but initially said officers acted 'appropriately' |
257,558 | d957b91c4919daccea902d4d5ab4409c26b064b2 | By . Daniel Miller . PUBLISHED: . 08:48 EST, 14 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:35 EST, 14 June 2013 . A faithful dog is seen pushing its elderly owner's wheelchair though Russian floodwaters. The incredible video, filmed from a passing car at an unknown location, shows the dog struggling along on its hind legs through water almost a metre deep. A voice off camera is heard to remark in Russian: 'Good Lord he's being pushed by his dog.' Scroll down for video . A helping paw: A faithful dog pushes his elderly owner's wheelchair through floodwater . The clip was uploaded to YouTube last week. Some users point out that no one had stopped to help the man. Others have suggested the dog may be simply hanging on to its owner rather than pushing him. The only clue to the location is the fact that the video is Russian. However Russia has remained largely unaffected by the recent floods which have brought chaos to large parts of central Europe, suggesting the clip may have been filmed some time ago. Good boy: Some YouTube users have commented on the fact no one had stopped to help the man . In April, hundreds of people were forced from their homes in Russia’s Voronezh and Saratov regions after rivers flooded due to record snowfalls. The torrential weather this spring has sent the Elbe, the Danube and other rivers such as the Vltava and the Saale overflowing their banks. The resulting floods have caused extensive damage in central and southern Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. The elderly man gestures towards the car from where the incident was filmed. The only clue as to the location is a Russian voice in the background remarking: 'Good Lord he's being pulled by his dog' | YouTube video shows dog struggling on its hind legs as he pushes its master through water almost a metre deep .
Voice off camera is heard to remark in Russian: 'Good Lord he's being pushed by his dog' |
180,107 | 7532e5ec831657a5398f9857dc47db33c7a2faa4 | By . Larisa Brown . PUBLISHED: . 07:09 EST, 30 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 15:22 EST, 30 August 2012 . A street cleaner who was stabbed as he tackled a burglar has died of his injuries, police say. Piotr Mikewicz, 40, hit the burglar across the head with his broom as the thief emerged from a house in Shepherd’s Bush carrying two laptops. He was left fighting for his life after being stabbed in the chest and has now died in hospital. 'Brutal attack': A policeman outside the house in Shepherd's Bush where a street cleaner tried to stop a burglar from stealing two laptops before being stabbed in the chest . Searching for clues: Two police officers can be seen looking in a bush for evidence on the street where the hero cleaner was attacked . A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and is currently in custody at a central London police station. Two other men and three women . have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. Councillor Greg Smith, Hammersmith . and Fulham Council Deputy Leader, praised Mr Mikewicz’s bravery and . described him as a ‘friendly, hard-working man’. He said: ‘Everyone at the council is . deeply saddened by the tragic news that Piotr Mikewicz, who was one of . the borough’s dedicated street cleaners, has died after being stabbed by . some scum of the earth who obviously has no regard for human life. ‘Piotr was a hard-working man, who was a friendly face to all who knew him on his regular beat. ‘Piotr was a family man who . courageously tried to intervene when he spotted a crime in progress and . our thoughts are with his family and friends at this extremely difficult . time. ‘Although this is an isolated . incident, it is deeply shocking that Piotr’s genuine act of bravery . should end in such brutal violence and we trust that the perpetrators of . this evil will be brought to justice swiftly.’ Cordoned off: Forensic teams search the property the thief broke into . A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: . ‘A street cleaner who was stabbed after trying to stop a burglar from . getting away in West London has died from his injuries. ‘The man, aged 40, died in St Mary’s Hospital Paddington earlier today. ‘Although police believe they know the man’s identity, we await formal identification. The deceased is from Eastern Europe.’ The have-a-go hero attacked the . burglar just before 2pm on Wednesday as he emerged from a house on . Rylett Road, a plush London street with houses worth more than £1m, with . two laptops. Eyewitnesses said the cleaner was . given emergency heart treatment as he lay in the road by two district . nurses who happened to be passing. Police seal off streets in the area as they search drains and gardens for the weapon used to stab the innocent victim . Forensic teams are seen entering the house after police launch an investigation to find the burglar . Lee Rivett, a builder who was working at a house nearby, said he spoke to the cleaner a few minutes before the incident. He said: ‘Just before he was passing the house I was working on and we had a quick chat. ‘I told him not to worry about cleaning the front of the house where I was working. ‘Two minutes later came out he was lying down on the road. ‘I heard that he caught someone . trying to burgle someone.A fight has broken out and I know he swung a . broom at the guy. I think he caught him on the top of the head. ‘Obviously who ever they’re looking for has claret running down his head and was holding two laptops. ‘There were two people trying to help him. I saw them trying to resuscitate him by massaging his chest.’ Police continue their search on the plush London street, with houses worth more than £1m, where the burglary took place . The suspect - described as a white male - fled the scene along Askew Road towards Goldhawk Road. Police sealed off streets in the area as they search drains and gardens for the weapon. A London Ambulance spokesman added: ‘We were at the scene in less than five minutes. ‘One ambulance crew, a single responder in a car, a duty officer and an air ambulance were at the scene.’ A woman who lived next door to the . house which was raided said: ‘I saw the injured man lying on the ground . with an oxygen mask and clearly saw a wound on the left-hand side of his . body. There was a paramedic dabbing at it.’ The woman, who asked not to be named, . said the medics worked on the injured man for about an hour before he . was airlifted to hospital. She said: ‘The reason why it had taken them so long is because he had been given open heart surgery in the road.’ Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons. | Piotr Mikewicz, 40, knifed in the chest as he hit burglar across the head with his broom .
Was left fighting for his life, but has now died in hospital, detectives revealed .
Councillor: 'It is deeply shocking that Piotr's genuine act of bravery should end in such brutal violence'
Six people have been arrested and one man is being held on suspicion of murder .
Two other men and three women have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender . |
5,877 | 10a985ad87c647976a7710e22615c1f5ff1a3ca7 | (CNN)The U.S. military will deploy 400 trainers and hundreds more troops in a train-and-equip mission for Syrian rebel forces, the Pentagon said Friday. The American troops will be deployed starting in early spring on six- to eight-week missions in three countries -- Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia -- as part of the Obama administration's plan to expand training for moderate Syrian rebels. Those groups are battling forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and extremist groups such as ISIS, as well as others linked to al Qaeda. The mission would be led by the military and complement a modest CIA training program, based on what was authorized by the White House more than a year ago. "Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar have agreed to host training sites, and we anticipate the program to train and equip the moderate Syrian opposition will take approximately 400 U.S. trainers, with the caveat that this number could fluctuate based on course load, course requirements and other variables," said Cmdr. Elissa Smith, a Pentagon spokeswoman. "We also anticipate that the trainers will have enablers. We expect to begin training in early spring." The trainers focused on Syria will join up to 3,000 American troops that were authorized by President Barack Obama last year to act as anti-ISIS fighters in Iraq, which shares a border with Syria. American involvement in the battle against ISIS has been more robust in Iraq, where the government has requested assistance. American planes have conducted numerous bombing missions in both countries. This new training program is meant to help "moderate Syrian fighters" target ISIS. The moderate fighters are also at war against al-Assad, whom the Obama administration also wants to see defeated. But in her statement, Smith didn't mention al-Assad as a target of the U.S. training mission. "The goal for the train and equip program is to build the capabilities of the moderate Syrian fighters to defend the Syrian people; stabilize areas under opposition control; promote the conditions for a negotiated settlement of the conflict in Syria; and empower trainees to go on the offensive against ISIL," she said, using the U.S. government term for ISIS. U.S. officials have said that vetting the rebels who take part in the program will play an important role to assure they do not share any dual allegiances to Jabbat al-Nusra, al Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, or any other militant groups. Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, has said training the vetted rebels could take eight to 12 months before they are ready to return to Syria for the fight against ISIS. CNN's Chloe Sommers, Z. Byron Wolf and Jamie Crawford contributed to this report. | Obama administration wants to train moderate Syrian rebels .
Training was authorized by the White House more than a year ago . |
241,895 | c50fb08734186afa3c7c27da59e467bb3a2d6509 | By . Ellie Zolfagharifard . PUBLISHED: . 11:40 EST, 21 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:47 EST, 21 November 2013 . The International Space Station (ISS), the second brightest object in our night sky, celebrates its 15th birthday today. Its journey began back in November 20th 1998, when the Russian Space Agency launched a spacecraft called Zarya into orbit. The launch was the dawn of the largest international cooperation effort in space to ever come to fruition. Scroll down for video interactive timeline... The International Space Station, the second brightest object in our night sky, celebrates its 15th birthday today . Zarya became the first piece of the International Space Station, which is currently in orbit 220 miles above Earth. Two weeks later, on December 4 1998, the space shuttle Endeavour launched Unity, the first U.S. piece of the complex. The two space modules built on opposite sides of the planet were about to be joined together in space, making the space station an international collaboration. Blanketing clouds form the backdrop for this 70mm scene of the connected Zarya and Unity modules after having been released from Endeavour's cargo bay a bit earlier . ‘We definitely knew there was no margin for error on that first mission—we had to be successful,’ said Bob Cabana, the Kennedy Space Center director. ‘We also knew that it wasn’t all on the crew. This was a team effort, and everyone was giving it all they had to ensure success.’ Since that first momentous meeting of Zarya and Unity, the space station has grown piece by piece. Today the ISS has a mass of almost a million pounds and is the size of a football field. To date, station and shuttle crews have conducted 174 spacewalks totalling almost 1,100 hours . Astronaut Nicole Stott installs hardware in the Fluids Integrated Rack in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station during Expedition 21 . It represents a collaboration between Nasa, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. The ISS is the only lab that can be used to carry out sustained scientific research in microgravity conditions. So far at least 1,500 scientific studies have been carried out in space, and the results are being used back here on Earth by the 69 countries that have taken part. The first crew to inhabit the space station launched on a Soyuz spacecraft on October 31, 2000. The first crew to inhabit the space station launched on a Soyuz spacecraft on October 31, 2000 . The International Space Station's length and width is about the size of an American football field . Astronaut James H. Newman waves during a spacewalk preparing for release of the first combined elements of the International Space Station . Their arrival on board the station marked the start of a permanent human presence in space. To date, station and shuttle crews have conducted 174 spacewalks totalling almost 1,100 hours – the equivalent to nearly 46 days of spacewalks to build and maintain the complex. ‘It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years since we joined Unity and Zarya in orbit and laid the cornerstone for the International Space Station,’ Mr Cabana said. So far at least 1,500 scientific studies have been carried out in space . Astronaut Rick Mastracchio, Expedition 38 flight engineer, works with equipment in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station . A picture of Earth taken by the International Space Station by night . ‘It is truly an engineering marvel and a testament to what we can accomplish when we all work together. ‘It has provided us the framework for how we will move forward as we explore beyond our home planet, not as explorers from any one country, but as explorers from planet Earth.’ Nasa says it is confident the habitat is safe to stay in orbit until 2028, and possibly much longer. The Expedition One crew members are about to eat fresh fruit onboard the Zvezda Service Module of the Earth-orbiting International Space Station . Photographers capture the liftoff of the Soyuz-FG rocket booster with the Soyuz TMA-11M spaceship carrying new crew members to the International Space Station from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan . | Since 1998, 1,500 scientific studies have been carried out on the ISS .
Results are being used back on Earth by 69 countries who have taken part .
ISS has a mass of almost a million pounds and is the size of a football field .
Nasa says it is confident the habitat is safe to stay in orbit until 2028, and possibly much longer . |
33,975 | 60923ad7a20d0bf245ff55795edfe1f99f4e1828 | Afghan police shot dead a bird which had been equipped by the Taliban with an explosive pouch, GPS tracker and detonator. Alert officers spotted the suspicious bird in the Faryab province in the north of the country, near the border with Turkmenistan. The bird had several wires protruding from its feathers, a mobile phone detonator and a specially designed 'suicide vest'. Scroll down for video . Afghan police shot dead the suspicious-looking large bird, pictured, in the north of the country . After killing the bird, soldiers found what appeared to be a GPS transmitter, pictured, . Afghan soliders claimed the bird was also carrying an explosive device when it was shot . Police were also suspicious about the large bird, because it was not native to the area. Major General Abdul Nabi Ilham told NBC News that the bird exploded when it was shot and 'suspicious metal stuff' was scattered around. Ilham added; 'We are gathering all the stuff, but found parts of what looks to be GPS and a small camera.' The success in Faryab Province comes as the Afghan district police chief in Helmand Province, Ahmadullah Anwari, complained that his officers are suffering from major weapon and equipment shortages. Anwari said despite his officers facing constant attacks from Taliban insurgents, he can only supply each checkpoint in his district with just three hand grenades. He said: 'Sometimes up to 200 Taliban attack our checkpoints and if there are no army reinforcements, we lose the fight . 'It shames me to say that we don't have enough weapons and equipment. But this is a bitter reality.' As most foreign combat troops prepare to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014 after 13 years of war, the experiences of Anwari and other police chiefs and army commanders across the country are NATO's biggest worry. One of the electric components found strapped to the dead bird was from Uzbekistan . Afghan police found the suspected bomb after they shot the suspicious-looking bird dead . The United States, which provides the bulk of NATO troops in Afghanistan, has poured some $61 billion into training a 350,000-strong security force. U.S. and Afghan commanders have praised the bravery and effectiveness of local soldiers, police and others in the face of a Taliban onslaught that has killed more than 4,600 Afghan security force members already this year. When insurgents attacked a foreign guest house in central Kabul last Thursday, Afghan commandos killed the attackers, but international helicopters and special forces helped in the mop-up operation that lasted hours. Taliban fighters also entered Camp Bastion, a large base in the southern Helmand province handed over to Afghan troops a month ago by withdrawing U.S. and British forces. It took Afghan soldiers three days to drive the insurgents out. The Taliban launched a suicide bomb attack on a compound used by the US-based charity PAD, pictured . Well-equipped members of the Afghan National Army, pictured, have been training in Kabul . However, local police chiefs complain that their men are being starved of equipment and weapons . In the capital Kabul, the local police chief resigned yesterday after Taliban gunmen killed three members of a South African family in the capital. The guest house attacked by the Taliban in Kabul on Saturday - the third attack on a foreign guest house in 10 days - was home to staff of the U.S.-based charity Partnership in Academics and Development (PAD). PAD said on its website that three people were killed by insurgents who used guns and explosives. They were identified as members of the same South African family - a father and his two teenage children - by a colleague of the mother, who was not in the compound at the time. The family had lived in Afghanistan for nearly 12 years, with the father running the charity and the mother working as a doctor at a Kabul clinic, the colleague said. NATO troops are due to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of December leaving the Afghan National Army with responsibility for the country's security, although limited NATO air support will be made available . The Taliban said on Saturday they had attacked the foreign guesthouse because they believed it to be a Christian centre. This was the second time this year the Taliban targeted a group that it said had links to Christianity. Violence across Afghanistan has surged this year as the Taliban and their allies have stepped up their activities ahead of the scheduled withdrawal of most international troops by the end of next month. Over the past 10 days, three compounds used by foreign organisations have been hit by armed attackers. In separate attacks in Kabul, two American soldiers, two British embassy workers and dozens of Afghan civilians have died. | Afghan police have shot dead a large bird carrying a suspected bomb .
Officers opened fire after spotting wires coming out of its feathers .
The bird was equipped with a GPS tracker and mobile phone detonator .
This comes as the last NATO troops prepare to leave Afghanistan .
Taliban insurgents have increased the number of attacks on Afghan troops .
Police complain they have not got enough weapons to cope with attacks . |
84,659 | f03441779a6652e25eb2b715a0284efc84309049 | By . Associated Press Reporter . Blood-covered young men swarm into the streets as part of a religious procession in Pakistan. Children also take part in the gory ritual self-flagellation which is held ahead of Ashura on the ninth day of Muharram in Peshawar. Shi'a Muslims all over the world pay their respects with the flowing of their blood as they mourn the slaying and martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammad. Scroll down for video . Flagellation: Afghan Shi'ites beat themselves with chains and blades to mark Ashura outside the Abul Fazel Shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan . Ashura: A Pakistani Shiite Muslim boy prepares to flagellate himself with chains a day ahead of Ashura, the tenth day in the month of Muharram, in Peshawar, Pakistan . Bloodied: An Afghan Shi'ite Muslim flagellates himself during an Ashura procession in Kabul . Hitting: A Pakistani Shiite Muslim boy (left) and a man (right) participate in ritual self-flagellation during the religious procession. Ashura, which falls on the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram, commemorates the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of Prophet Mohammad, who was killed in the 7th century battle of Kerbala . Imam Hussein who was killed by armies of the Yazid near Karbala in 680 AD. He was killed by his political rivals along with 72 companions in the seventh century battle of Kerbala where some of the bodies of the dead were then mutilated. People taking part in the procession hit themselves with blades on long chains and draw blood on their backs and heads. Millions of pilgrims poured into the Iraqi city of Karbala for the peak of commemorations for Ashura today, the most important day in the Shi'ite calendar, with security tight following mass-casualty attacks in previous years. Shi'ite Muslims run between the Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas shrines as part of the ritual ceremony of Ashura in Karbala, 50 miles southwest of Baghdad. In some regions of Muslim countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Bahrain, the commemoration has become a national holiday. Painful: Some men took knives to themselves during the procession . Devoted: The people use blades on chains to inflict injuries on themselves . Religion: Millions of pilgrims poured into the Iraqi city of Karbala for the peak of commemorations for Ashura today, the most important day in the Shi'ite calendar . Mourning: Iranians and Iraqi Shiite mourn at the Ashura ceremonies at the Kerbala mosque in Tehran, Iran . | GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING .
Imam Hussein was killed by armies of the Yazid near Karbala in 680 AD .
Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan have day as national holiday . |
86,367 | f527ca6caff4f1de2d93e3cb8e04b2b9d618f237 | (CNN) -- World leaders tackled the bloody 18-month crisis in Syria on Wednesday. Chinese and U.S. diplomats met, Turkey's prime minister spoke and Egypt's president said, "It's time for a change." Here are the latest developments: . Clinton, Chinese foreign minister discuss Syria . U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi huddled over what Clinton called "the evolving situation in Syria" and urged support for "transition" in that country. "With respect to Syria, it is no secret that we have been disappointed by Russia and China's actions blocking tougher U.N. Security Council resolutions, and we hope to continue to unite behind a real path forward to end the violence in Syria," Clinton said at a joint news conference with Yang in Beijing. The secretary of state stopped in China during a visit to Asia. The United States believes in a "peaceful political transition" in a Syria currently ruled by Bashar al-Assad's regime and wants to work for that goal with China and other nations, Clinton said. "We haven't agreed on how to handle Syria, but we haven't stopped talking about what should be done, because the violence continues," she said. Yang called the situation complex. He stressed China's neutrality and said, "Any solution should come from the people of Syria and reflect their wishes. It should not be imposed from outside." "China has been emphasizing all along that the various parties should arrive at a cessation of fire and an end to violence, and the various parties in Syria should begin a political dialogue. And like many countries, we support a period of political transition in Syria." Egyptian leader says it's time for a change . Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy called for a transitional phase in Syria and for al-Assad to leave power. "The Syrian people made their decision, and it is time for change. Let the Syrian leadership learn from the recent lessons of history. Change is due, now," he said. Morsy made the comments while addressing a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo. Morsy's support of the Syrian opposition reflects his solidarity with the people who took to the streets during the Arab Spring, the popular label for the democratic movements that swept across the Middle East and North Africa last year. Turkey: "Pre-election situation" may be impeding U.S. initiative . Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the United States might be holding back on stronger action against Syria because of this year's presidential elections. "Maybe it's because of the elections -- maybe it's because of the pre-election situation in the States. Might be the root cause of the lacking of initiative," he told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "Nobody has spoken to us about their reasons, and they are not obliged to state anything. We are very thankful and pleased they have stated that they're against this regime." Erdogan has called on the U.N. Security Council to declare a no-fly zone along the Turkey-Syria border, but the council is frequently divided between the interests of Western countries and Russia and China. Dozens killed in Syria's largest city . The battle for Aleppo raged, with at least 115 people killed there, opposition activists said. The fatalities are among at least 258 people killed across the country, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said. Elsewhere, shelling killed three children in Homs and a sniper shot dead a teenager in Deir Ezzor. Shelling, blasts and gunfire also rang out in Damascus and its suburbs. Regime forces and the rebel Free Syrian Army battled in Deir Ezzor and the Damascus suburbs, the LCC said. CNN's Saad Abedine, Holly Yan and Joe Sterling contributed to this report. | U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Chinese foreign minister .
Egyptian president calls for regime change, transitional phase .
Hundreds killed Wednesday in Syria . |
50,444 | 8eb2a47b3afd62dbbbefe970959cad3dc3934123 | By . Alexandra Klausner . PUBLISHED: . 11:23 EST, 27 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 16:09 EST, 27 January 2014 . An avalanche dumped 30 feet of snow on an Alaska highway and is blocking the only road leading into the port city of Valdez. The avalanche started on Friday and more occurred on Saturday. The Richardson Highway leading into the city will remain closed for about a week, reports CNN. Avalanches have dumped 30 feet of snow and ice on an Alaska highway, closing the only road into the port city of Valdez . This graphic distributed by the National Weather Service via social media diagrams the snow dam on the Lowe River in Keystone Canyon caused by Friday's avalanches . The Anchorage Daily News reported that the avalanche slides measured between 30 and 40 feet deep, according to Jeremy Woodrow, a state Department Transportation spokesman. Three inches of rain fell in the area Friday, a record for that day in January, said Mike Ottenweller, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Anchorage. The rain may have caused the series of avalanches to occur. Snow crews spent all of Saturday dropping aerial explosives in order to avoid additional slides. However, a new avalanche slid down the north side of Keystone Canyon on Saturday, perhaps caused by the preventative blasting activities. It measured between 1,000 and 1,500 feet long and between 60 and 70 feet deep, said Woodrow. The residents of the coastal town of about 4,000 are being urged to evacuate their homes because water is starting to accumulate behind the snow and debris left over by the massive avalanche. NBC News reports that the water accumulation can lead to the possibility of 'very dangerous' flash floods. 'Flash flooding is a very dangerous situation, ' the National Weather Service warned in an advisory. CNN reports that a shelter was was made in a high school and teen center for people who choose to evacuate their homes. The town website reports that Valdez has enough fuel and food for the time being but in the case of emergency, food and fuel can be brought to the town by barge. Valdez is a 300-mile drive from Anchorage, a large city in Alaska. According to CBC News, an avalanche can be caused by anything that disturbs accumulated snow on the side of a mountain. Natural factors could be precipitation (rain or additional snow), wind, rocks falling, sudden warm weather, or external factors like skiers or snowmobiles. Valdez is a 300-mile drive from Anchorage, the capital of Alaska. | The avalanche started on Friday and more occurred on Saturday .
Heavy rainfall on Friday may have caused the avalanche .
The Richardson Highway leading into the city will remain closed for a week .
Residents have been encouraged to evacuate their homes due to dangerous flash flood warnings . |
181,735 | 774d0a48e5e86917dc86f1daed104bfcb1ae0fda | By . Snejana Farberov . and Ashley Collman . A Pennsylvania bride who shot dead her niece during an argument that broke out after the wedding reception this week claims she did it by accident. The attorney for the newlywed says Christina George-Harvan, 30, of Conway, is 'obviously completely distraught.' Police say George-Harvan gunned down 21-year-old Katelyn Francis Thursday as they left a bar in New Brighton. Bride Christina George-Haven was still wearing white when she was arrested Thursday night after shooting dead her niece in a bar fight after her wedding . Killed: 21-year-old Katie Francis died on the way to the hospital after being shot by her aunt in a fight over who was going to drive. Friends of Francis say she had a son named Kody, and is pictured in her Facebook profile picture with a young boy . According to investigators, the two women were bickering over . who would be the designated driver when the bride grabbed a gun from her . husband's truck and shot Francis, of Fairmont, West Virginia. The newlywed’s lawyer, J. Lauson Cashdollar, told the Beaver County Times Mrs George-Harvan simply tried to move the gun when it discharged. The shooting took place just hours after George-Harvan tied the knot with new husband, Jeremy Harvan. The . three were in the parking lot of Jimmy K's Bar and Grille when they got . into a fight about who was going to drive and George-Harvan pulled out a . pistol and shot Francis, authorities say. Scene: George-Harvan, her new husband and Francis went out drinking to celebrate the marriage at Jimmy K's bar in New Brighton and subsequently got into a fight over who would drive home . Booked: George-Harvan spent her wedding night in county jail. Above, the scene after the shooting . 'Everybody . in the bar noticed that there was something going on with the people, . but nobody knew exactly what was happening,' witness James Botinovich . told KDKA. 'The next thing you know we heard someone got shot...looked out, noticed it was right by my car.' Police . responded to the scene around 10pm Thursday and arrested George-Harvan, . booking her in Beaver County Jail for the first night of her honeymoon. Paramedics rushed Francis to UPMC Presbyterian, but she died en route. Charges: George-Harvan has been charged with homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment . Francis was from Fairview, West Virginia, a small town 75 miles south of Pittsburgh. Deanne Chenoweth, a friend and former co-worker of the victim, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Francis was a single mother who left behind a young son named Kody. Before her death, Chenoweth says Katelyn worked as a cashier at a Shop 'n Save grocery store. According to her Facebook, Francis was married to a woman named Kayla Bender; the two tied the knot April 4. . Love: According to her Facebook profile, Katelyn (right) was married to a woman named Kayla Bender (left) A friend and former co-worker of Francis says the 21-year-old worked as a cashier at a Shop 'n Save grocery . Katelyn Francis (pictured in a photo from her Facebook) attended her aunt's wedding in New Brighton, Pennsylvania earlier that day . While . her aunt has been identified as Christina George-Harvan, the suspect's . legal name may be Francis as well since she registered for a marriage . license as Christina N Francis, of Conway, Pennsylvania. Her new husband is from Freedom and the .9mm Glock is registered to his name. Mrs George-Harvan faces one count of homicide, two counts of aggravated assault and one count reckless endangerment. Her next court appearance is scheduled for May 2. His gun: The gun that killed Francis was registered to George-Harvan's new husband Jeremy Harvan. Above, another picture form the scene of the fight . Blast: A witness at the bar said he heard a bang and went outside to see that someone had been shot right by his car . | Christina George-Harvan, 30, married Jeremy Harvan Thursday and went out drinking to celebrate with niece Katelyn Francis that night .
The three allegedly got into a fight in the parking lot of Jimmy K's Bar when George Harvan pulled out a pistol and shot Francis .
Newlywed's attorney says George-Harvan was moving the gun when it went off .
Francis died on the way to the hospital and George-Harvan spent her wedding night in county jail .
George-Harvan charged with homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment .
According to Francis' Facebook profile, the 21-year-old had a son and was married to a woman named Kayla Bender . |
10,877 | 1eec620e0cf91cdacdf6fbd359cf21e670274660 | Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced that the Australian government will donate $20 million to help staff a 100-bed Ebola response clinic in Sierra Leone. Mr Abbott said that the government would be contracting an external company to deploy staff to the region. The clinic will be built by the UK and over 200 staff will be needed to run it, comprising mostly of locals. However, Australian volunteers and international medics will also be needed. The mission follows a deal struck between the governments of Australia and the UK and healthcare provider Aspen Medical to manage services in a British military field hospital in Sierra Leone. Scroll down for video . Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced that the Australian government will donate $20 million to help staff a 100-bed Ebola response clinic in Sierra Leone. Mr Abbott said that he has received assurances the 100-bed clinic would treat Australians who contract the disease overseas as if they were British citizens. He also revealed that a further $2 million will be sent to Sierra Leone to enhance the regional preparedness for Ebola. Another $2 million will go to Australian logisticians working with UN agencies such as the World Health Organisation in West Africa. Mr Abbott stated that the chances of an outbreak of Ebola in Australia are still very low, but he said that the government recognises that this is a global problem. Medical workers in protective suits working in the patient area of an Ebola treatment center in Conakry, Guinea, 13 October 2014 . Australia has provided $18 million in aid, but the only Australian workers in west Africa are volunteers working with non-government organisations. Speaking at a press conference, Mr Abbott said that the centre should be up-and-running as soon as possible and he hopes to have it open by the end of November. 'My anticipation is that Aspen will have some staff on the ground in Sierra Leone within days,' Mr Abbott said. Staff load component of an Ebola treatment center on to an aid plane bound for Sierra Leone. The Australian government has reached a deal that would allows it to send workers to west Africa . 'It will be up to Aspen to decide who should staff the centre in Sierra Leone but it's an Australian company,' he continued. As of October 31, 13,500 clinical cases of Ebola had been detected in West Africa. While there have been no confirmed cases of Ebola in Australia, almost 5,000 people have died from the disease in Africa. The Prime Minister also stated that the chances of an outbreak of Ebola in Australia are still very low. However, the government has been taking no chances and they have been ramping up security in preparation for the disease going global. Screening at airports has been installed for people arriving from west Africa. Mr Abbott said that while he acknowledges the impact Ebola is having internationally, he would like to keep the upcoming G20 summit focused on economic issues. Opposition leader Bill Shorten commended the Abbott government for taking the first step against the Ebola outbreak. Mr Abbott said that the government would not be sending Australian's over to Sierra Leone, but they would be contracting an external company to deploy staff to the region. 'We are please the government is finally making an overdue first step on the Ebola epidemic,' Mr Shorten said. Deputy leader of the opposition Tanya Plibersek said that there are Australians willing to help stop the outbreak going any further, by providing their support in Sierra Leone. 'We have hundreds of Australians that have said they'd go if facilitated by this government,' she said. She also revealed that the opposition party has no problems with Aspen Medical being involved in the clinic. Australian Medical Association President Brian Owler expressed his joy at the government's response to the Ebola crisis, although he issued a warning to Australians wishing to help out in Sierra Leone. Healthcare workers load a man, center, onto a ambulance as he is suspected of suffering from the Ebola virus in Kenema, Sierra Leone. Ebola has killed almost 5000 people so far and the World Health Organisation has recorded more than 13,000 cases . 'Im pleased today that this announcement has been made to fund the Aspen group to supply the services' 'There is sill a lot of work to be done' Mr Owler said that a number of vital questions still need to be answered. 'I think there are a number of questions we still need answers to,' he said. He stated that any Australians wishing to be a part of the new facility would need to be provided with training and resources. 'We certainly want any Australian to be able to return safely,' he said. Mr Owler said that the Australian public should have confidence in Abbott's plans and in the Aspen facility. 'We do have people who would be able to go to Sierra Leone and do this work,' he said. In a statement Aspen Medical said they are prepared to help fight the deadly disease. 'Aspen Medical already has a presence in North West Africa where it has been running a clinic in Liberia for several months.' the statement read. 'Aspen Medical is also known for its healthcare service to the Australian Government in the Solomon Islands.' | The government will donate $20 million to open an Ebola response clinic .
The clinic will be in Sierra Leone .
The facility will have 100 beds .
Over 200 staff will be needed for the clinic .
A deal has ensured any Australian who contracts the disease will be treated at the clinic as if they were a British citizen .
An extra $2 million will be sent to Sierra Leone to enhance the regional preparedness for Ebola .
Another $2 million will go to Australian logisticians working with UN agencies .
Mr Abbott stated that the chances of an outbreak of Ebola in Australia are still very low .
Opposition leader Bill Shorten has commended the government's actions .
Australian Medical Association President Brian Owler said he has questions regarding the clinic .
Any Australian workers intending to travel to Sierra Leone would need proper training and resources .
Deputy leader of the opposition Tanya Plibersek said there are hundreds of Australians willing to help . |
54,889 | 9b7a6de965437ec2d2f32fb6027057e5ebb2d256 | There has been a five-fold increase in the number of centenarians during the last three decades, figures show. In 1981, there were just 2,420 people aged 100 or over living in England and Wales. By 2012, the figure had shot up to 12,320, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The number of pensioners aged over 90 has almost tripled in the three decades since 1981. In 1981 there were 157,390 people over the age of 90 living in England and Wales. The figure soared to 465,500 by 2012 . And the ONS estimates that of the latest figure, 610 people are aged 105 or more. The figures also show that the number of pensioners aged over 90 has almost tripled in the three decades since 1981 - when there were 157,390 people over the age of 90 living in England and Wales. The figure has soared to 465,500 in 2012 – just under one per cent of the total population - the data showed. Indeed, in the last decade alone there has been a 33 per cent increase in the number of people aged 90 and over. There are estimated to be 2.6 women per man aged 90 and over and 5.9 women per man aged 100 and over in England and Wales . There has been a five-fold increase in the number of centenarians during the last three decades, figures show . There are estimated to be 2.6 women per man aged 90 and over and 5.9 women per man aged 100 and over in England and Wales. There . has been a continuing increase in the number of people aged 90 or over . since 1981, apart from in 2008 when there was a slight dip in the number . of the ‘oldest old’. The ONS says the fall reflects low birth numbers towards the end of the First World War. In 1981, there were just 2,420 people aged 100 or over living in England and Wales. By 2012, the figure had shot up to 12,320 . ‘Life expectancy continues to increase for both males and females in England and Wales, with improvements in the recent decades mainly due to improvements in mortality at older ages,’ the ONS report states. ‘This has resulted in increasing numbers of people aged 90 and over in the population. ‘Growth in the numbers of the “oldest old” is of policy interest because of implications for pensions, health and social care.’ In the UK there are just over 800 over 90s per 100,000 people. In Japan, the figure is 1,200 per 100,000 . | In 1981 there were 2,420 people aged 100 or over in England and Wales .
By 2012 the figure was 12,320, with 610 thought to be aged 105 or over .
The number of people over the age of 90 has tripled since 1981 - they now make up nearly one per cent of the total population of England and Wales .
There are estimated to be 2.6 women per man aged 90 and over and 5.9 women per man aged 100 and over . |
79,865 | e26a4304af9b3752a54a59c21bf3ebc3c3a8ab9d | Argentinian football thugs are planning to ambush and attack England fans during the World Cup, police warned today. More than 650 violent 'ultras' are believed to be travelling to the competition in Brazil from neighbouring Argentina, according to reports. Many are heading to Belo Horizonte, where Argentina will be based during the tournament and where England and Argentina play group games just days apart later this month. Argentinian football thugs are planning to ambush and attack England fans during the World Cup in Brazil, according to reports . Police in the city warned today that members of the notorious Argentinian Barra Brava groups have made alliances with equally violent Brazilian ultras - and are preparing attacks on rival England fans during the tournament. One Brazilian ultra group, Mafia Azul, have reportedly rented a ranch on the outskirts of the city in southeast Brazil to accommodate dozens of Barras Bravas linked to Argentinian club San Lorenzo. The Mafia Azul group, linked to Belo Horizonte side and current league leaders Cruzeiro, were earlier this year banned from stadiums in Brazil after violent confrontations with rival fans which left several people dead. Miliary police chief Col Divino Brito told Brazil's Estado de Minas newspaper he believes Argentinian and Brazilian soccer thugs are preparing to team up to attack English fans while they are in town. England fans, pictured during clashes in Brussels in Euro 2000, have been warned they could be attacked by Argentinian football thugs when they travel to the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte during the World Cup . He said: 'Our worry is that in the interval between one match and another, when we are going to have thousands of fans from Argentina and then from England, there are going to be clashes. 'We will deal forcefully with any foreigner who comes here wanting to commit violence and vandalism.' But Col Alberto Luiz Alves admitted: 'We can normally monitor groups with a history of violence. 'But we would only know of dangerous fans if they enter by air, and in the case of the Argentinian Barra Bravas most will be arriving by land. It will be very difficult to keep track of them.' At least 11,000 Argentinian fans have bought tickets to see their side play Iran on June 21 in Belo Horizonte, where the Argentina squad will also be based during the tournament. Earlier this year Debora Hambo, a lawyer representing the Barras Bravas, warned that Argentinian fans were preparing to face the English in Brazil - in revenge for losing the conflict over the Falkland Islands, pictured . Three days later, over 7,500 England fans are expected in the city in southeast Brazil for their final group game against Costa Rica. The Barras Bravas are known as some of the world's most violent football fans, and have been blamed for at least 120 soccer-related deaths in Argentina in the past 20 years. Earlier this year Debora Hambo, a lawyer representing the Barras Bravas, warned that Argentinian fans were preparing to face the English in Brazil - in revenge for losing the Falklands War. Supposedly relaying a message from the group's leader, she said: 'The Argentine people have a good memory and they will never forget nor forgive. We will always remember what happened in 1982. She added: 'They are not cowards. They are not concerned about their physical integrity. It doesn't matter to them, they risk their lives every minute. 'They are brave beyond life and death. That is why they have a violent reputation.' | Hundreds of Argentinian football thugs planning to attack England fans .
Many heading to Belo Horizonte where Argentina and England will both play .
'Barra Brava' groups claim to have teamed up with Brazilian ultras . |
234,782 | bbf20d4e023922f1da8b3147faa1d355cd0c2f39 | The golden mask of Tutankhamun (pictured) has been permanently damaged after its 'beard' was stuck on with epoxy . The blue and gold braided beard on the burial mask of famed pharaoh Tutankhamun was hastily glued back on with the wrong adhesive, damaging the relic after it was knocked during cleaning. The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, where the burial mask is kept, is one of the city's main tourist sites, but in some areas, ancient wooden sarcophagi lay unprotected from the public, while pharaonic burial shrouds mounted on walls crumble behind open glass cases. Tutankhamun's mask, over 3,300 years old, and other contents of his tomb are the museum's top exhibits. Three of the museum's curators reached by telephone gave differing accounts of when the incident occurred last year. They also could not agree whether the beard was knocked off by accident while the mask's case was being cleaned or if was removed because it was loose. They did agree, however, that orders came from above to fix it quickly and that an inappropriate adhesive was used. All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisals. 'Unfortunately he used a very irreversible material - epoxy has a very high property for attaching and is used on metal or stone but I think it wasn't suitable for an outstanding object like Tutankhamun's golden mask,' one curator said. 'The mask should have been taken to the conservation lab but they were in a rush to get it displayed quickly again and used this quick drying, irreversible material,' they added. The curator said that the mask now shows a gap between the face and the beard, whereas before it was directly attached: 'Now you can see a layer of transparent yellow.' Another museum curator, who was present at the time of the repair, said that epoxy had dried on the face of the boy king's mask and that a colleague used a spatula to remove it, leaving scratches. The first curator, who inspects the artifact regularly, confirmed the scratches and said it was clear that they had been made by a tool used to scrape off the epoxy. Egypt's tourist industry, once a pillar of the economy, has yet to recover from three years of tumult following the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Museums and the opening of new tombs are part of plans to revive the industry. But authorities have made no significant improvements to the Egyptian Museum since its construction in 1902, and plans to move the Tutankhamun exhibit to its new home in the Grand Egyptian Museum scheduled to open in 2018 have yet to be divulged. The burial mask is kept in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (pictured), which is one of the city's main tourist sites . Neither the Antiquities Ministry nor the museum administration could be reached for comment Wednesday evening. One of the curators said an investigation was underway and that a meeting had been held on the subject earlier in the day. The burial mask, discovered by British archeologists Howard Carter and George Herbert in 1922, triggered worldwide interest in archaeology and ancient Egypt when it was unearthed along with Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb. 'From the photos circulating among restorers I can see that the mask has been repaired, but you can't tell with what,' Egyptologist Tom Hardwick said. 'Everything of that age needs a bit more attention, so such a repair will be highly scrutinized.' The mummified and embalmed face of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun, pictured on display in a climate controlled case in his tomb at the Valley of the Kings . Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled from 1332BC - 1323BC after taking the throne at the age of nine or ten. The son of Akhenaten, when he became king, he married his half-sister, Ankhesenpaaten. However, his reign was short-lived; he died at the age of 19 and is believed to have suffered from scoliosis, a condition which means the spine is curved. He remains one of the best known pharaohs and there has been widespread research about his life and health following the discovery of his tomb. In 1907, Lord Carnarvon George Herbert asked English archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter to supervise excavations in the Valley of the Kings. On 4 November 1922, Carter's group found steps that led to Tutankhamun's tomb, which would eventually lead to what was the most complete ancient Egyptian tomb ever discovered. He spent several months cataloguing the antechamber before opening the burial chamber and discovering the sarcophagus in February the following year. | The braided gold beard on Tutankhamun has been permanently damaged .
Curator used glue to stick it back on after it was damaged during cleaning .
However, museum staff have confirmed it was the wrong type of adhesive .
The famous death mask now shows a gap between the face and beard .
Dry epoxy on the mask was scraped off, leaving permanent scratch marks . |
15,299 | 2b80528cb25baa2264c71de8f660115b59079dd7 | Washington (CNN) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs unveiled new regulations Monday making it easier for men and women who served in the armed forces to receive benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder. Current department rules require veterans to document events like firefights or bomb explosions that could have caused the disorder. Such documentation was often time-consuming and difficult, and sometimes was impossible. Under the new rules a veteran only needs to demonstrate that he or she served in a war and performed a job during which events could have happened that could cause the disorder. "With this new PTSD regulation, we are acknowledging the inherently stressful nature of the places and circumstances of military service, in which the reality and fear of hostile or terrorist activities is always present," said Michael Walcoff, the VA's acting undersecretary for benefits. The new rule "will potentially benefit all veterans, regardless of their period of service and it is not limited to veterans with direct combat experience," he stressed. Wolcoff noted that over 400,000 veterans currently receive compensation benefits for PTSD. In his weekly address on Saturday, President Barack Obama called the change a "long overdue step." "For years, many veterans with PTSD who have tried to seek benefits -- veterans of today's wars and earlier wars -- have often found themselves stymied. They've been required to produce evidence proving that a specific event caused their PTSD. And that practice has kept the vast majority of those with PTSD who served in non-combat roles, but who still waged war, from getting the care they need," Obama said. "I don't think our troops on the battlefield should have to take notes to keep for a claims application. And I've met enough veterans to know that you don't have to engage in a firefight to endure the trauma of war. So we're changing the way things are done." Under the new rules, no benefits will be passed along until a Veterans Affairs psychiatrist or psychologist confirms that a veteran actually suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Department officials say that should reduce the risk of fraudulent claims. One congressional analysis reportedly put the cost of the new changes at $5 billion. Obama said the new process "will help veterans not just of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, but generations of their brave predecessors who proudly served and sacrificed in all our wars." "It's a step that proves America will always be here for our veterans, just as they've been there for us. We won't let them down. We take care of our own," he said. CNN's Larry Shaughnessy contributed to this report . | New VA rule makes it easier for veterans to get PTSD benefits .
Veterans are no longer required to documents specific events causing PTSD .
VA acknowledging "inherently stressful nature ... of military service"
Over 400,000 veterans now receive PTSD benefits . |
187,171 | 7e66ddd04af41ef2dbd92c28d0ddb80b4bea479b | By . Anna Hodgekiss . From the humble sandwich to an expensive salad, there are few dishes that don't taste better with bacon. And now, the point has been even mathematically proven. A massive number-crunching exercise has revealed that dishes with bacon really do taste better - and very few taste worse. Better with bacon: New research has found that virtually every dish - especially sandwiches - taste better when a rasher or two is added . Tech magazine Wired teamed up with the Food Network to analyse 50,000 recipes and 906,539 comments on them. Previous research has pinpointed the exact chemical reaction that makes bacon so smell so tempting. Called the Maillard reaction, it occurs between an amino acid and a reducing sugar when heated. The acid and sugar react to release a huge amount of smells and flavour that make us salivate. Elin Roberts, of the Centre for Life education centre in Newcastle, explained the reaction releases hundreds of smells and flavours, but it is the smell which reels in the eater. 'If we couldn't smell, then taste wouldn't be the same.' Explaining how the results were calculated, Wired writer Cliff Kuang said: 'First, we searched out all the recipes that fit a certain description - sandwiches, for example. 'Then, we calculated the average rating for those foods if they did not include the word “bacon.” 'We ran the numbers again using only recipes that did include bacon. Of all the foods we analysed, bacon lends the most improvement to sandwiches.' Many other dishes also got a boost when bacon was added - when the data was analysed, those with with a rasher or two included got better scores. There are various theories as to why - not least because of the crunch and flavour bacon adds to sandwiches. It's also a good addition to salads - providing it doesn't go soggy. Recipes with spinach and asparagus were all rated better when they contained bacon, for example. But . it wasn't all good news. There are foods that get worse with bacon - . namely pasta (particularly in creamy sauces) and, rather unsurprisingly, . desserts. The data analysis also gave a fascinating snapshot into the most popular foods through the last few years. The data analysis also gave a fascinating snapshot into the most popular foods through the last few years, including the surge in popularity of cupcakes since 2009 . Two major trends are the surge in popularity of cupcakes and gluten-free products since 2009, while salted caramel and sriacha (hot sauce from Thailand) have soared in popularity since 2011. On the other hand, portobello mushrooms and low carb diets were big in 2007, but have nose dived since then. The trends were calculated by findings the total number of reviews for each food. Wired and the Food Network then calculated what percentage of the recipe reviews came in each quarter since 2007. But the results clearly show one thing: bacon has always been popular. Previous research has pinpointed the exact chemical reaction that makes bacon so tasty. Called the Maillard reaction, it occurs between an amino acid and a reducing sugar when heated. The acid and sugar react to release a huge amount of smells and flavour that make us salivate. | Analysis of 50,000 recipes and 906,539 comments on the Food Network revealed that very few dishes taste worse when bacon is added .
Only exceptions were pasta dishes (especially creamy ones) and desserts .
Data also revealed snapshot into the most popular foods through the last few years - with salted caramel and cupcakes soaring in popularity .
But low-carb diets and portobello mushrooms are no longer trendy . |
136,112 | 3c19e0f78e08a6559f00703304e2f3a4d6ad1d87 | By . David Wilkes . They were out there somewhere enjoying the Welsh countryside, snuffling about in the valley perhaps or snoozing in the woods. The pack of 23 wild boars which were let loose by burglars during a break in at a farm were quite possibly feeling as happy a pig in the proverbial yesterday. But the same could not be said of residents of the nearest town, Maesteg, near Bridgend, South Wales, who were anxiously awaiting for the beasts to be recaptured - as police warned they may charge anyone who approaches them. Warning: Greg Davies, owner of Cwmfelin boar farm in Bridgend, South Wales, lost 23 after a break-in last night . Brutal: Several of the animals were mutilated by the burglars in the overnight raid near Maesteg town . ‘I don’t think I’d want to get that close in the first place really,’ said Michelle Reid, 46, as she tucked into a fry-up in the Valley Café. ‘At least they haven’t decided to have a look round the shops today.’ Her sentiments were shared by an elderly woman out for a stroll. ‘I hope I don’t find one in my garden,’ she said. ‘They are vicious little things. I’d run if I saw one.’ As police and local farmers searched for the boars yesterday, Inspector Paul Thomas of South Wales Police said: ‘They may charge anyone who tries to approach them as the boars will be disorientated, confused and are not used to being out of their pens. Police are hunting the pack of 23 let loose into the Welsh valleys, which require a dangerous animals licence . Several of the 110-strong herd were found with cut throats or had their heads battered with a hammer . ‘These animals are recognised as posing a potential threat. People should take as much care as possible. We are investigating the criminal damage and the release of dangerous wild animals, which can carry a sentence in prison.’ The owner of the farm, Greg Davies, 46, holds a dangerous animals licence and had the necessary fencing in place to prevent escapes. He advised farmers to shoot the boars on sight if they are spotted. He said he lost 23 adults boars and 19 boarlets out of his 110-strong herd when his isolated farm a couple of miles from the town centre was raided by burglars. Several others were found dead with throats cut and heads battered with a hammer. Mr Davies said: ‘They are dangerous animals and should not be approached. Six people were arrested yesterday as the search continued for the missing 23. The rest of the pack is pictured . Mr Davies could see 70 or 80 of the animals running around the land when he arrived in the morning . ‘They will attack if they smell blood. Farmers with new lambs in their fields need to keep their eyes open for the boars. I’m advising them to shoot them straight away. They are carrion animals and will attack.’ Six people were yesterday arrested after the boars were freed, police said. Mr Davies said: ‘When I arrived at the farm on Sunday morning I could see 70 or 80 of them running around. The gate had been cut and they were released from their pen. It was very worrying. ‘We rounded up as many as we could and I’ve only just been able to establish how many are missing. I reckon it is 23 adults and 19 boarlets unaccounted for.’ He has been breeding the boars for six years with an adult fetching £350 to £400 - and also supplying specialist restaurants and delis as far away as Sussex and Scotland. He has been breeding the boars for six years with an adult fetching £350 to £400 . The raiders also took almost £10,000 of mechanical and electrical gear from the farm . The raiders also took more than £10,000 in mechanical and electrical gear, Mr Davies said. Wild boars are usually nocturnal, foraging in early morning or late afternoon and evening, and can travel up to 30 miles a day looking for food. They have even been known to charge at cars, damaging grilles and bodywork. But naturalist and BBC broadcaster Iolo Williams, the patron of the Wild Boar Trust said: ‘They’re fantastic animals, fascinating things. They have a bad reputation and I don’t understand why. ‘They are very secretive, they are very shy and probably the first thing they’ll do is they’ll head for woodland cover. There’s quite a bit of woodland in the Maesteg area - I’m pretty sure that’s where people will find most of them.’ | Burglars freed 23 of 110-strong pack from Cwmfelin farm in Bridgend .
Farmer Greg Davies found many boars killed, £10,000 equipment missing .
Warned locals to shoot any of the animals they find, police still searching . |
28,137 | 4fc1a8a811f55f6f33d1d02c6ab9c7cce3da400c | Manchester United are watching £30million-rated Palermo striker Paulo Dybala. Club scouts were present at their weekend game against Inter Milan where they also watched Inter striker and Chelsea target Mauro Icardi who scored twice in a 3-0 win. The 21-year-old Dybala, who has been tipped as the new Sergio Aguero in Argentina, can play as a striker or right winger and has impressed in what has been his breakthrough season. Palermo's Paulo Dybala celebrates after scoring against Hellas Verona in February . Dybala has impressed this season and has been watched by representatives of Manchester United . The Argentine has netted nine goals in 17 appearances this season and that has not gone unnoticed by those at Old Trafford. Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool have also been represented at games this season and Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini is resigned to his departure in the summer but has hit out at his purported agents. Inter Milan's Mauro Icardi finds the back of the net against Palermo at the San Siro stadium . 'This year he has exploded, but I already knew that he was very good,' said Zamparini. 'The boy is now in the hands of some people who don’t wish him well. It’s difficult to see him staying at Palermo. 'He’s a great lad, who has been corrupted by bad advice. Now he’s advised by people who only see him as money making tool and nothing else. Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool have also been to watch Dybala this season . 'Dybala is worth over €40m but I won't sell him until June. Many foreign clubs asked after him, including Manchester United. 'I told the English side that he is not for sale right now, but we can talk about it again in six months. In my view, he is the best striker in Europe at the moment.' United, meanwhile, who agreed a new two and a half year contract with defender Paddy McNair, 19, yesterday, retain an interest in Paris St Germain defender Marquinhos also. Lyon's French forward Nabil Fekir (L) vies with Paris Saint-Germain's Brazilian defender Marquinhos . Paddy McNair gets to grips with West Ham United attacker Enner Valencia at Old Trafford . | Manchester United are keeping tabs on Palermo striker Paulo Dybala .
Club representatives were present at Palermo's game with Inter Milan .
They also went to watch Inter striker Mauro Icardi who scored twice .
Chelsea are also interested in 21-year-old Argentinian striker Icardi . |
278,684 | f5075a4013e83a08580dc15fbb9ff86c8c99f190 | Emily Cressey should not even be here. Her tiny, birdlike body should still be safely encased in her mother’s womb, 36 weeks into the gestation process, 18-inches long and gaining the weight she needs to thrive. Instead, she is officially three months old, weighs just 4lb 8oz, and is alive only thanks to a supermarket sandwich bag that replicated the warmth and safety of her mother’s body. Weighing little more than 1lb and born 16 weeks before her due date, Emily is one of Britain’s youngest surviving premature babies. Claire Cressey cuddles her daughter Emily who was born 16 week premature. Born that early, babies are deemed 'on the edge of life', and less than half survive . Pictured this week clinging to her mother’s finger, Emily’s battle for life touched the hearts of anyone who saw it. And now The Mail on Sunday can reveal the incredible technique that doctors used to save Emily’s fragile life – and her mother’s own devastating account of watching her daughter struggle to survive. Her fight for life has astounded medics at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh who delivered her. The instant Emily was born, doctors delicately placed her inside a resealable plastic bag, identical to those sold in supermarkets. It was an ingenious measure. ‘The bag acts as a micro environment,’ explains consultant paediatrician Dr Andrew Gallagher. ‘At this age she was too tiny for an incubator, which is designed for full-term babies.’ This week her exhausted but exhilarated parents, Claire Cressey and Alan Coultas, were given the news that on June 16, the day she was due to be born, little Emily will finally be allowed home. Cradling her daughter, Claire, 34, said yesterday: ‘It’s been an emotional journey. Our world has been turned upside-down and what should have been every new parent’s happiest moment became our worst nightmare, delivering our beautiful daughter at 24 weeks.’ Latest UK statistics show that babies born at 24 weeks have between a 42-46 per cent survival rate. They are highly susceptible to losing body heat, so hospitals are putting them into sandwich bags to stave off death from hypothermia. Ms Cressey, a former care assistant who lives in Coldstream in the Scottish Borders, added: ‘Emily’s finally out of the woods. 'It’s such a relief after everything we’ve been through. My little lady is on a roll now and there’s no stopping her.’ Here, in her own words, Claire, who has three older daughters, Caitlin, eight, Millie, four, and Brooke, 17 months, with long-term partner Alan, 47, describes the traumatic moments leading up to Emily’s birth on February 27 and the desperate battle to save her life. To this day, I will never know why I went into labour early, throwing us into a nightmare. Our much-wanted fourth child was supposed to arrive on June 16 but, instead, she had other plans. My waters broke without warning on Sunday, February 23, sending me into a state of panic. I was aware that babies born before 24 weeks, and so still within the legal abortion stage, are labelled on the ‘edge of life’, as their lungs and other vital organs are not developed enough. As a result, not all hospitals are keen to intervene. I remember counting in fear, wondering what would happen if the baby was born that day. I now understand the despair that some parents must go through when their baby is born at 23 weeks or earlier and is allowed to die. It was with relief I counted she was exactly 24 weeks that day and at least my baby would be given a fighting chance, whatever was about to happen. A day earlier, and it might have been different. In the end, it would be another four days before Emily arrived on Thursday, February 27 – the day before my birthday. I’d been given a series of steroid injections on the day my waters broke, in an attempt to help accelerate the baby’s lung development. But with no sign of contractions starting, I was allowed to return home to rest. It was a horrible waiting game, but when my contractions finally came, everything happened terrifyingly quickly. We’d known that Emily was in the breech position, and by the time we reached the hospital 50 miles away one of her feet was sticking out. Incredibly, they delivered Emily one-and-a-half minutes after we arrived in the labour suite. To all intents and purposes, it was a ‘normal’ birth, except my baby was coming far too early. But there she was, my little Emily Grace, weighing just 1lb 3oz, and our lives would never be the same again. 'She was put into a sandwich bag straight away. It's like a little insulation jacket that helps them maintain body temperature because they lack the body fat to stay warm' To my surprise, she was put into a sandwich bag straight away. It was just like any one you would get in a supermarket. But it apparently simulates the protective environment they’ve just come out of. It’s like a little insulation jacket that helps them maintain body temperature because they lack the body fat to stay warm. I didn’t have time to see her or touch her before she was taken away to the neonatal intensive care unit. I was sick with worry, not knowing if she would live or die. It would be an hour before I saw my daughter for the first time – and instead of that feeling of instant, overwhelming love, I felt panic and horror that she was so small. Surrounded by tubes and on a ventilator, I prayed she would be OK. But it was impossible for anyone to know what would happen next. The medical staff didn’t give us a prognosis and we didn’t dare ask the question, ‘How long will she live?’ I saw her for 20 minutes before I was taken back to the maternity ward and put into a side room. I could hear the happy sounds of other mums with their babies all around me. It was horrendous. The next day I managed to see Emily around lunchtime. Seeing her lying there was every mother’s worst nightmare. Her skin was transparent, her eyes were fused shut and her little hands and feet were still webbed. We couldn’t touch her and spent hours sitting by her incubator. As she made it through the first 24 hours, then the first week, we began to allow ourselves to think that she might pull through. By two weeks, Emily had already needed two blood transfusions. Still nervous, we decided to have her baptised, in case the worst happened. It was a beautiful service, carried out at the side of her incubator. And still Emily fought on. As the days passed, everyone kept saying to us, ‘That’s her through the danger point.’ But that’s not always the case with premature babies. It’s not unusual for their little bodies to become tired at three weeks and they die. I was allowed home but I slept beside the phone with my clothes on, in case the call came to say she was deteriorating. Emily would be one month old before I could finally hold her – a moment which coincided with Mothering Sunday and proved the perfect present. 'We are incredibly proud and in love with her. Her strength and determination are nothing short of amazing' She’d finally opened her eyes and I was getting to hold her for the first time. I enjoyed the wonderful moment I never thought I would see. It was an absolutely amazing feeling. By six weeks, Emily still remained in an incubator but her weight was up to 2lb 5oz and she could be dressed for the first time. I could see small but significant changes as her tiny hands and feet developed properly. Her condition continued to improve so much that, by nine weeks, Emily was finally transferred to Borders General Hospital, just half an hour from our home. But we were brought down to earth with a bump again soon afterwards and reminded how long the road ahead of us is when Emily’s consultant told us she has a heart murmur that will require surgery at some point in the future. The reality of being born at 24 weeks is starting to kick in. The worry of long-term effects and wondering what the future holds for Emily is frightening. But, ten days ago, in another first, I was able to bottle-feed Emily and, last weekend, give her a bath. Those were beautiful moments most mothers take for granted, but after fighting for so long to keep her alive, it was a very precious time for me. Slowly, the equipment has disappeared from my daughter’s room and she is now in a cot, rather than an incubator. It’s very scary seeing it go and will take a bit of getting used to. We are incredibly proud and in love with her. Her strength and determination are nothing short of amazing. She has fought amazingly hard to stay with us. | Emily Cressey was born at just 24 weeks old, weighing little over 1lb .
Doctors placed her in a resealable plastic bag after birth to keep her alive .
Bag imitates protective, warm environment inside mother's womb .
Parents Claire and Alan have been told they can take her home on June 16 . |
197,075 | 8b13590f1be2ac04888ab1d9bb62b336897dc827 | By . Harry Mount . PUBLISHED: . 16:13 EST, 14 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 20:24 EST, 14 December 2012 . Price war: Supermarkets are competing to offer the lowest priced Champagne this Christmas. Pierre Darcys champagne, pictured, is being sold by Asda for only £10, usually costing £23.98 a bottle . Well, it looks like champagne and it tastes like champagne, but it doesn’t clean out the wallet like champagne. This Christmas, in an unprecedented supermarket price war, the cost of the most famous, most expensive of festive drinks has plummeted to record lows. Tesco is selling its premier cru champagne for £14.99 a bottle. Marks & Spencer is doing its Louis Chaurey non-vintage Brut for £12.75, on a multi-buy deal. And Waitrose has halved the price of its Bredon Cuvee Jean Louis Brut to £14.99. But the really staggering deals are on offer at the cheaper supermarkets. Asda’s Pierre Darcys Champagne Brut normally goes for £23.98 a bottle — but you can now get it for £10, until January 3. And the deal of deals comes from Aldi, which is selling its sparkling for under £10: its non-vintage Philizot et Fils Champagne Veuve Monsigny Brut is going for only £9.99. And, just like a gift-wrapped puppy, it’s not just for Christmas — the deal will continue into the New Year. The question is, how on earth can supermarkets afford to sell their champagne at such rock-bottom prices? And, perhaps more importantly for consumers, is it drinkable? In all its essential elements, the Aldi champagne follows the time-honoured rules of the drink. It’s made from traditional champagne grapes — a third chardonnay, a third pinot noir, a third pinot meunier — using the double fermentation method that produces the famous bubbles. Its alcohol level is 12 per cent — a classic figure for champagne. And it doesn’t taste too bad, either. ‘Of course it’s not a premier cru [a top champagne] at that price, but it’s been well received; it’s won awards,’ says Katy Jameson, spokeswoman for Aldi. The official Aldi tasting notes proclaim that ‘this award-winning champagne is elegant and fresh’, with an ‘intense nose of baked apple, brioche and stone fruits with gorgeous flavours of apples, red fruit and minerality on the palate’. Luxury: France's Champagne region is known for its distinctive sparkling wines . Objective experts haven’t trashed it, either. One broadsheet wine writer calls it ‘bright and fresh, if a little one-dimensional’. Still, even one dimension isn’t half bad for less than a tenner. But how exactly can Aldi get the price so low? The maths suggest it’s near impossible to turn a profit on a bottle costing £9.99. You need 2.2lb of grapes for a single bottle of champagne. At current market rates, that will cost you £4.38. Excise duty on top of that is £2.43, and VAT, at 20 per cent, must be paid on the total — another £1.36. Already we’re up to £8.17, and we still haven’t paid for bottling, warehousing, shipping and distribution. Those overheads vary but, altogether, the total cost price is almost certain to match or exceed the selling price of £9.99. Until November 22, Aldi was selling it for £12.99, but it has been slashed to its current price since then — and there it will remain well into 2013. So how do supermarkets like Aldi and the others make their money, if at all? The suspicion is that deals like these are loss leaders — they draw our attention, get us through the supermarket doors and then we spend money on other full-price items while we are there. They are also sometimes described as ‘crosstown deals’. They encourage customers to make a special trip to discount supermarkets — which are often on the fringe of town — to take advantage of these low prices, and then end up spending lots more money on other goods, too. And plenty of us are happy to make that trip — the British drink more champagne than any other nation except France. Though prices this year seem to have reached new lows, there have been one-off Christmas deals like this before. Several years ago, Woolworths offered a limited supply of champagne at £5 a go — that was clearly a loss leader and a publicity stunt which could not prevent the chain going bust. This year, the cuts are widespread and, in many cases, last well beyond Christmas. There is a genuine, long-term price war being waged. The supermarkets refuse to admit whether they are actually losing money on any of these deals. The last thing they want to be accused of is underpricing booze, just at a time when the Government is considering introducing minimum alcohol pricing to deter problem drinkers. ‘Aldi works with its suppliers to get the best possible deal, but we can’t really go into our business model,’ says Katy Jameson of Aldi. ‘Our buyers spend a lot of time looking for the right champagne, and they will go to the smaller suppliers to find it.’ One smaller supplier in question is the respected family champagne house of Philizot et Fils, based near Epernay, in the heart of the Champagne region. ‘We’re very happy with selling our champagne to Aldi,’ says Virginie Philizot. ‘Yes, £9.99 is a very low price but that is marketing by the supermarket. It has nothing to do with us. It doesn’t affect how much they pay us for our champagne. We still make a good profit on our sales to them.’ Asda has gone through a very similar process to end up with its £10 champagne, finding a small family company and building a close relationship with them. Its Pierre Darcys Champagne Brut — winner of a bronze award in the 2012 International Wine and Spirit Competition — is produced by the family company of Champagne Paul Laurent and is made with grapes harvested around the village of Bethon in Cotes de Sezanne, south of Epernay. Cheap: Aldi's Philizot et Fils Champagne Veuve Monsigny Brut, left, is selling for £9.99, while Tesco's premier cru champagne, right, is selling for £14.99 . Lynsey Grace, Asda’s champagne buyer, . chose it because it is ‘fresh and easy-drinking’. Tasting it myself, it . has a certain amount going for it. Just like the Aldi champagne, it’s . made from a mixture of chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier grapes, . and is 12 per cent in alcohol volume. Pale gold in colour, it has a . distinctly Christmassy nose of burnt apple. If . I’m brutally honest, it is ever so slightly acrid, with a lingering, . bitter aftertaste. But give it a real Arctic chill in the freezer just . before Christmas lunch, and your mother-in-law won’t tell the . difference. Once again, the . question is: how is Asda managing to sell it so cheap? ‘We’re able to . sell champagne at such fantastic prices due to our size and the volume . of our orders,’ Asda’s Lynsey Grace says, before adding: ‘We take our . role as a responsible alcohol retailer seriously, which is why we . committed to never selling alcohol as a loss leader and always sell at . cost, plus VAT and duty.’ With . price cuts like this, the supermarkets are hoping to shift more . champagne than ever this Christmas. Lynsey Grace expects a 10 per cent . uplift in sales of the drink, compared with last year. But . you won’t find these sorts of prices on champagne from the famous . houses — the Bollingers, the Veuve Clicquots and the Moets. Even in . these recession-hit times, the gilt-edged names still gain their brand . value from being reassuringly expensive. Debate: The multitude of champagne being sold at bargain prices has stirred debate amongst wine critics . Expensive: Wines from the region are usually expensive, leading some to question how supermarkets can afford the discount prices . Yet . the very name champagne still carries a cachet even at the cheap end of . the market — a cachet jealously guarded by the handful of vineyards in . the Champagne region of northern France through their representative . body, the Comite Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne. ‘Christmas discounts are great value for money for the consumer,’ says Thibaut Le Mailloux, spokesman for the Comite. ‘But they don’t support the image of champagne in the best way. They make champagne look cheap when it isn’t cheap to make — thanks to the production process and the limited amount of produce. ‘And the price promotions at Christmas are paid for by higher prices for the rest of the year.’ But the odd thing is that even the £10 bottle from Asda still carries a certain prestige thanks to the word ‘champagne’, emblazoned in large letters on its label, metal cap and gold foil wrapper. It still has all the customary thrills of champagne: it opens with a satisfying pop, a blast of icy smoke and that overflowing stream of minuscule bubbles. And there is no mention of Asda anywhere on the bottle or its wrapper. Of course, we want our champagne to be as dirt cheap as possible — but we don’t want Great Aunt Gladys to know exactly how cheap it is when she’s knocking it back during the Queen’s Speech. Glamour never goes out of fashion — nor does a bargain. The £10 bottle of champagne is a rare combination of the tw . | Supermarkets engage in 'price war' selling famous drink at discount prices .
Asda selling champagne for £10, while Aldi prices bottle at £9.99 .
Both Waitrose and Tesco selling bottles for £14.99 . |
89,542 | fe3f6c0f495b2a538a343c40527e938e6f5c1d56 | By . Louise Boyle . A 19-year-old boy has died after falling into a coma following being hit with a Taser by police at a Baltimore hospital. The city's police department has launched an investigation after the incident at Good Samaritan Hospital. Officers claim that the teenager was part of a violent altercation with at least five security guards earlier this month when they got involved in the struggle. Scroll down for video . The 19-year-old was involved in a altercation with five security guards at Good Samaritan Hospital (pictured) when he was Tasered by Baltimore police . The teenager, whose identity has not . been revealed because he is a ward of state, was given an unknown . amount of medication before officers arrived on the scene, according to reports. Baltimore police Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez told CBS: 'The person was breathing when the officers left the hospital. 'It was not learned that the individual was in a coma and was possibly brain dead until several days after this incident.' Police would not reveal if the teenager had been Tased more than once or for how long. He was initially brought to the hospital suffering from emotional distress on May 6. He had been taken to the hospital from a home he was staying at. It is unclear whether the boy was at a foster or group home. Officials who spoke to The Baltimore Sun would identify the teenager only as a 'ward of state'. It is unclear why he was a ward of state but in Maryland you can remain in state care until the age of 21. A spokesman for Good Samaritan Hospital refused to comment on the case to MailOnline today because the name of patient could not be provided. MailOnline was awaiting a comment from the Baltimore Police Department. Once witnesses and the responding officers are interviewed for the investigation, the findings will be turned over to the State's Attorney's Office. | The city's police department has launched an investigation after the incident at Good Samaritan Hospital .
Officials said that the 19-year-old, who was admitted to hospital with emotional distress, was a 'ward of state'
Good Samaritan Hospital refused to comment to MailOnline today without the name of the patient . |
108,769 | 18408766cb07bbe1a71b08e57f454cabd87ef1e2 | Apple has set Sept. 9 as the date for a big announcement. What will the company unveil? "Wish we could say more," reads an invitation sent to media members on Thursday. Multiple reports over the past few months have suggested that Apple plans to roll out two versions of an iPhone 6 this year, with screens that are 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches, when measured diagonally. Is bigger really better for Apple? That would be a massive leap from the iPhone 5S and 5C's 4-inch screens and an apparent move to battle competitors like Samsung and HTC who have been making bigger phones for years. But the "say more" tease prompted immediate speculation that new phones might not be all that's on the agenda. The safest bet is that a long-anticipated "iWatch" smartwatch will be introduced as well. Apple was granted a patent for a smartwatch in July and reports have suggested now is the time for its debut. The device, which will compete with existing offerings from Samsung and other top competitors, is expected to have a heavy focus on health and fitness apps. The Apple event will be at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts, a 2,400-seat venue in the company's hometown of Cupertino, California. Apple has traditionally rolled out new iPhones in the fall, in advance of the winter holiday season. | Apple sets Sept. 9 as date for an event .
Company could unveil the iPhone 6 and a smartwatch .
iPhones reportedly will have bigger display screens .
Invitation teases: "Wish we could say more" |
136,012 | 3bf8590268ff46c97124fab8436bf4c1054ff5dd | By . Gerri Peev . and James Chapman . A senior minister last night risked causing fury in Downing Street by mocking the ‘Eton mess’ at the heart of Government. As it emerged that David Cameron has rebuked Michael Gove for highlighting the ‘preposterous’ number of old Etonians at the top of government, Baroness Warsi appeared on television with a spoof newspaper front page fuelling the row. The Communities Minister - who attends Cabinet but is not given the full Cabinet minister status - echoed the Education Secretary’s view that there needed to be more state school pupils like her at the heart of government. Scroll down for video . Campaign: Baroness Warsi on The Agenda with her spoof Eton Mess front page . Baroness Warsi told ITV's Agenda that she wanted to see less 'Eton Mess' and more 'bread and butter pudding' in the government . Incredibly, she appeared with a mocked up newspaper front page she apparently designed herself bearing the headline ‘Number 10 Takes Eton Mess off the Table’. It featured a picture of David Cameron and the faces of other old Etonians in Number Ten - chief of staff Ed Llewellyn, bumbling Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin and policy chief Jo Johnson - in a pudding bowl. Holding up the front page on ITV’s The Agenda, Lady Warsi said: 'Mine is this one, which is the story that we had earlier this week about Michael Gove talking about people at the top of the Cabinet. 'Number 10 takes Eton Mess off the menu, and replaces it with bread and butter pudding.' Lady Warsi, the former Conservative Party . chairman, went on: ‘Michael [Gove] was making an incredibly serious . point that it can’t be right that the seven per cent of kids who go to . independent school end up at the top tables, not just of politics, but . banking and law and every other profession.’ In an extraordinary swipe at the Prime Minister and his advisers, Baroness Warsi mocked them up in a pudding bowl . She added that the Education Secretary ‘wants to create a first class, a world class state system which means that in future years you will have more pupils from state schools, people like me, around the Cabinet table and in that I fully support Michael Gove.’ Mr Gove said in a newspaper interview at the weekend that the number of old Etonians in Mr Cameron’s inner circle is ‘preposterous’. He told the FT: ‘It doesn’t make me feel personally uncomfortable because I like each of the individuals concerned, but it’s ridiculous. ‘I don’t know where you can find some such similar situation in a developed economy,’ The Education Secretary has told colleagues his remarks were not meant to embarrass the Prime Minister. They were interpreted as a jibe at London Mayor Boris Johnson, another old Etonian, since Mr Gove is said to have decided to support Chancellor George Obsorne as Mr Cameron’s successor. Last night it emerged that Mr Gove - who won a scholarship to private Robert Gordon’s College - was admonished by the Prime Minister over the weekend for his attack on the influence of Eton. A Cabinet source told the Mail: ‘He was b******d ’. The Education Secretary is understood to have accepted that he had blundered. The Spectator magazine quoted another source saying Mr Gove had been ‘torn a new one’. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles today insisted he was not interested in where people went to school. The 61-year-old, who attended Greenhead Grammar School in Yorkshire, told LBC 97.3 radio: 'I'm anything but posh, but frankly I don't think you should judge somebody on where they came from and whether they went to Eton or Shenfield High. 'I'm not even slightly worried about people inside the Government who went to Eton. There are two people with ministerial responsibilities that went to Oakbank grammar school in Keighley in my department and I'm not worried about that. 'We shouldn't be worried so much about where people come from as where they are going.' Eton College's chapel. The school was attended by the Prime Minister and costs £33,000 a year . Earlier a Cabinet said that Lady Warsi’s mock front page would be seen as ‘a weak joke’. The . peer was said to have been furious when she was demoted as party . chairman in the 2012 Cabinet reshuffle by the Prime Minister. She . reportedly insisted she would not remain in the Government unless her . job at the Communities Department was augmented with another one as a . Foreign Office minister. Lady Warsi also clashed with Number Ten over gay marriage. She said last night she had abstained in a vote on the issue as she felt religious communities ‘needed to have the protection’ but had been on a ‘personal journey’ since. ‘You will find over time religious communities and individuals will change too… let’s allow that process to happen more naturally, rather than shoving it down people’s throats, because I think what we will end up finding is that over time people - like the Conservative Party, like David Cameron, like many of us in the Conservative Party - will start to change their position,’ she added. David Cameron, Prime Minister: Eton College (£33,000 a year), Oxford University . Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister: Westminster School (£32,000 a year), Cambridge University . William Hague, Foreign Secretary: Ripon Grammar School (state), Oxford University . George Osborne, Chancellor: St Paul's School (£31,000 a year), Oxford University . Danny Alexander, Treasury Chief Secretary: Lochaber High School (state), Oxford University . Theresa May, Home Secretary: Holton Park Grammar (state), Oxford University . Philip Hammond, Defence Secretary: Shenfield School (state), Oxford University . Vince Cable, Business Secretary: Nunthorpe Grammar (state), Cambridge University . Iain Duncan Smith, Work and Pensions Secretary: St Peter's RC School, Solihull (state), Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst . Chris Grayling, Justice Secretary: High Wycombe Royal Grammar (state), Cambridge University . Michael Gove, Education Secretary: Robert Gordon's College (£11,000 a year), Oxford Uni . Eric Pickles, Communities Secretary: Greenhead Grammar (state), Leeds Polytechnic . Jeremy Hunt, Health Secretary: Charterhouse School (£33,000 a year), Oxford University . Owen Paterson, Environment Secretary: Radley College (£32,000 a year), Cambridge University . Justine Greening, International Development Sec.: Oakwood Comp. (state), Southampton Uni: . Alistair Carmichael, Scottish Secretary: Islay High School (state), Aberdeen University . Ed Davey, Energy Secretary: Nottingham High School (£12,000 a year), Oxford University . Patrick McLoughlin, Transport Secretary: Cardinal Griffin RC (state), Rodbaston College . Maria Miller, Culture Secretary: Brynteg Comprehensive (state), London School of Economics . Theresa Villiers, Northern Ireland: Francis Holland School (£15,000 a year), Bristol University . David Jones, Welsh Secretary: Ruabon Grammar School (state), University College London . Lord Hill, Leader of the House of Lords: Highgate School (£17,000 a year), Cambridge University . | Baroness Warsi appeared on TV with an 'Eton Mess' spoof newspaper .
Featured picture of David Cameron and other old Etonians in Number Ten .
Comes as Gove was rebuked for criticising number of old scholars in power . |
112,599 | 1d453a7640a1bd5326ab1d915f71ac660552dddc | By . Beth Stebner . PUBLISHED: . 19:28 EST, 7 July 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 08:51 EST, 8 July 2012 . A 22-year-old man wielding a riffle was gunned down by police after a tense early-morning standoff in a busy area of Philadelphia. Police believe the man, later identified as Amir Bey, could have been attempting ‘suicide by cop,’ and was described by a police commissioner as mentally unstable. Bey allegedly began firing shots at random early Friday morning in Center City, nearby City Hall and the Masonic Temple. Scroll down for video . Terror on the streets: A 22-year-old gunman, later identified as Amir Bey, was toting a riffle on the streets of Philadelphia early Friday morning . Rebel without a cause: Authorities speculated Bey could have been attempting 'suicide by cops' Suspect: Amir Bey was arrested at the scene and rushed to the hospital . According to NBC Philadelphia, Bey was walking around the temple and firing shots into cars, shattering several windscreens. He also allegedly fired a few shots into the Masonic Temple. Authorities immediately shut down road and pedestrian traffic, as well as all SEPTA services around City Hall; the SWAT team was also alerted around 6:30am. NBC Philadelphia reports that Bey was aimlessly pacing in front of the temple, wearing a green shirt and jeans, and carrying the riffle. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey described the tense scene to CBS Philly: ‘As SWAT was arriving, literally pulling up to the scene, the offender took a shot at police. He was in the middle of the street. Police responded and returned fire.’ It is unclear how many times Bey was shot, but authorities guess he was hit by anywhere from 10-15 bullets. He was arrested at the scene and immediately taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he remains in critical condition. Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel described the gunman as mentally unstable. He says it's possible that 22-year-old Amir Bey wanted officers to kill him. ‘Suicide-by-cop’ is a colloquial term used to describe someone who potentially wishes to kill themselves and engages in life-threatening behaviour, causing police to intervene with deadly force. First responders: Police squads from three units responded to reports of the gunman, who was outside the Masonic Temple in Center City . Standoff: Police stand tense outside the Masonic Temple as they wait for the gunman to make a move . Taken away: This aerial shot from NBC Philadelphia shows Bey being taken away on stretcher; he was shot multiple times after he opened fire on police . Authorities encountered Bey downtown on Friday morning after receiving a report that a man was shooting at parked cars and at a window in the Masonic Temple. Police say Bey then brandished the weapon at responding officers and fired another shot. Police returned fire. Bey was hospitalized in critical condition after sustaining multiple bullet wounds. He has no prior criminal record. No other injuries were reported. The area surrounding the scene of the standoff was closed for nearly seven hours as police tried to piece together information from the shooting. Investigation: Police kept the area surrounding the Masonic Temple closed for seven hours as they tried to piece together what happened . Location, location: The shooting happened near Philadelphia's City Hall, left; Bey was shot outside the Masonic Temple, right . It was the second police-involved shooting in the same week. During Fourth of July festivities, police shot at a teenager after they witnessed him shooting a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old in the leg, according to NBC Philadelphia. The shot grazed the teenager’s chest, and all three were listed in stable condition. As of July 7, there have been a total of 188 homicides in Philadelphia, up from last year’s total of 167. The city has been riddled with crime – both violent and property crimes. According to a recent police report, there were 341 violent crimes – including homicide, rape, robbery, and assault – within the last week. In that period, there were also 1,135 reported burglaries and thefts. For confidential support, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Watch videos here: . View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com. | Amir Bey, 22, was seen around City Hall in Philadelphia wielding a riffle .
As he 'opened fire at police,' Bey was shot down and remains in critical condition .
Police say Bey has no prior convictions but appears to be mentally unstable . |
218,454 | a6cf3110a1b9758a794337d9ff8eadf161f438d5 | (CNN) -- The allegation is shocking: an 8-year-old girl lured to a storage shed with the promise of chewing gum, pinned down and sexually assaulted by four boys, none of them older than 14. President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has made cracking down on sex crimes a top priority in Liberia. The response from the girl's family sent a second and equally stunning shockwave through their Phoenix, Arizona, community: "The parents felt that they had been shamed or embarrassed by their child," reported Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill. As a result, the girl was taken into custody by Arizona's child welfare agency. The prosecutor who charged the four boys called the crime "heartrending" and "deeply disturbing." But to those familiar with Liberia, the west African nation where the families of all of the children are from, the crime and response are both part of a sadly familiar story. "It's something that happens every day in every community in Liberia," said Tania Bernath, a researcher for the human rights group Amnesty International. The country was racked by a brutal civil war for most of 14 years. During that time, rape was used by fighters on all sides as a tool of war and a way to spread terror and demoralize enemies. A United Nations report in 2004, the year after much of the fighting stopped, estimated that 60 to 70 percent of all women in the nation had been the victims of sexual violence. A 2006 government report said that of 1,600 women surveyed, 92 percent reported some kind of sexual violence, including rape. "They would have cases where they would rape the wife in front of the husband -- things like that, really breaking down communities," said Bernath, who spent several years in Liberia working for a relief organization. While no one yet knows whether the boys charged in the case were exposed directly to violence in their homeland, advocates say they fear that harmful attitudes toward rape in Liberia have followed some members of the tight-knit immigrant community to the United States. Watch a report on the allegations and cultural conflicts » . "Things like gang rape were used so often during the war that I think, with kids, if they saw it and heard it or heard about it -- that's part of what you might wonder about [in the Phoenix case]," Bernath said. "It was sort of normalized." In the Phoenix case, a 14-year-old boy who police say was the ringleader is being charged as an adult. The other boys accused are 13, 10 and 9 and were charged as juveniles. Phone calls by CNN to the Maricopa County public defender's office, most recently on Wednesday, have not been returned. It's not known what, if any, exposure the boys or their parents had to the fighting in their homeland, where it was once commonplace for children as young as 7 or 8 to be forced into duty -- the boys handed rifles while the girls were made to perform chores or serve as sex slaves. A United Nations report estimates that about 70 percent of all fighters in the conflict were younger than 18, and former fighters have told U.N. and other researchers about the rapes they say they routinely committed. After the Phoenix attack, a 23-year-old sister of the victim told a reporter that her sister was "bringing confusion" after the assault was discovered by a neighbor. She said that she wanted the suspects to be released from jail because "we are the same people" and that her sister would be ostracized by others in the Liberian community for being a rape victim. It's a reaction that Beverly Goll-Yekeson knows all too well. A native of Liberia, Yekeson was a victim of sexual violence and now works as an advocate for other Liberian women. She says most families in Liberia condemn rape, but the crime is drastically underreported because of the stigma victims and relatives feel. "There are a lot of social illnesses in the society; they are ashamed to come out," said Yekeson, president of the Liberia Crisis Center for Women and Children. "Rape is not something that people just come out and say." Yekeson, who now lives and works in Maryland, said that refugees who have resettled in other countries, including the United States, often bring those attitudes with them. Her group, which runs a shelter for abuse victims in Monrovia, Liberia, also works with refugees. "Reintegrating them into society, changing their mind-set -- that's where we have to go," she said. "That's a bigger challenge. It's one thing to implement a rape law and another thing to change the mind-set of a people." In 2005, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became Africa's first elected female head of state. Shortly afterward, the country enacted a law making rape a crime for the first time. Before that, only gang rape had been explicitly outlawed, and advocates say anarchy in the country meant any law added to the books during the civil war wouldn't have been enforced anyway. Johnson-Sirleaf has made cracking down on rape and changing attitudes about it a top priority. She condemned the alleged attack in Phoenix and said defending rape is not a part of the nation's culture. "Those parents should know that things have changed in Liberia," she told CNN last week. "No longer do we tolerate this. This is not a question of shame on the family. It's a question of the assault of a young child, and that cannot be tolerated." Watch Liberia's ambassador, president react to the alleged rape » . The girl was taken into custody by Arizona's child welfare agency after the police accounts saying her parents were ashamed of her. Her father has since said he wants his daughter back and denied telling police that she brought shame to the family. A pastor working with the family has said he wants to investigate to find out if there was miscommunication between the family and police in the hours following the alleged assault. Johnson-Sirleaf said she hopes the alleged attackers will receive counseling in addition to any criminal sentence they may face if they are found guilty. Liberian refugees, and those still living in her country, need to be clear that the days of sex crimes being excused or swept under the rug are over, she said. "[Rape is] something that is no longer acceptable in our society," she said. "It is a problem, but it is [also] a crime, and people bear the brunt of the penalty for such crime." Under Johnson-Sirleaf's leadership in Liberia, bail is not available to those charged with rape, and a special court system has been set up to deal specifically with sex crimes. But even that system has problems that need reform, advocates say. Yekeson said an 8-year-old girl from her crisis center in Liberia was persuaded to press charges. But in the courtroom, she was made to testify while her accused attacker sat only feet away. "You had the rapist right there, staring in her face," she said. "That child was so traumatized, she ran away from the shelter and we had to look for her for days." But Yekeson and others remain hopeful that as the years since the fighting stopped tick away, attitudes about sex crimes in Liberia will continue to change. "Because of the war, the social structure in Liberia, like any other war country, was destroyed," she said. "Once the proper institutions have been put back into place, you will have more parents coming out and saying they are not ashamed." | 8-year-old girl sexually assaulted by fellow Liberia natives, police say .
During Liberia's civil war, rape was used as a weapon by soldiers .
U.N. report: 60 to 70 percent of Liberian women were assault victims .
Johnson-Sirleaf, first elected female leader in Africa, makes stopping rape a priority . |
247,141 | cbd44809438c860f047d7851c2f2e6d48eb42d0a | Landon Donovan has criticised coach Jurgen Klinsmann's tactics during USA's World Cup campaign, which ended with a 2-1 defeat by Belgium in the last 16. Klinsmann stunned the nation when he decided to leave the 32-year-old Donovan, USA's record scorer, out of his 23-man squad for the tournament. While Donovan has been careful with his words in his television appearances during the tournament, the team's exit prompted a pointed critique of the German coach's approach. VIDEO Scroll down to Watch Landon Donovan reacting to Chris Wondolowki's miss . Hit out: Jurgen Klinsmann's tactics at the World Cup were criticised by Landon Donovan . Left behind: Donovan was omitted by Klinsmann from USA' 23-man squad for the World Cup . 'I think the most disappointing is we didn't seem like we gave it a real effort, from a tactical standpoint,' he told mlssoccer.com. 'I thought the guys did everything they could, they did everything that was asked of them, but I don't think (tactically) we were set up to succeed... and that was tough to watch.' Donovan said Klinsmann had turned away from the positive approach he had adopted since taking over the US team in 2011. Agony: USA's run at the World Cup ended when they were beaten 2-1 by Belgium in the last 16 . 'They were set up in a way that was opposite from what they've been the past couple of years, which is opening up, passing, attacking - trying to do that. And the team has been successful that way. 'Why they decided to switch that in the World Cup, none of us will know. From a playing standpoint, I think the guys will probably be disappointed in the way things went,' he said. After striker Jozy Altidore was injured in their opening win against Ghana, Klinsmann opted to play Clint Dempsey as a lone striker and Donovan said that was a negative approach. Backwards: Donovan thinks it was negative to play Clint Dempsey as a lone striker after Jozy Altidore's injury . Up in the air: Donovan is unsure whether he will return to the USA national team . 'My feeling as a player, if I'm in that locker room before that game - before the Germany game, before the Belgium game - and the coach walked in and said we're playing a 4-5-1 and Clint is up top by himself, I would have been disappointed. Because I would have said let's go for it. I want a chance to go for it and try to win the game,' he said. LA Galaxy forward Donovan also criticised the decision to play Michael Bradley in a more advanced role in midfield. Donovan evaded the question of whether he expected to return to the national team ahead of next year's North American Gold Cup. 'We'll see. That depends on a lot of conversations that would have to be held,' he said. On Wednesday, Klinsmann said he intended to turn towards young players in the coming year as he seeks out new talent for the national team. | Donovan says USA were 'not set up to succeed'
LA Galaxy forward criticises defensive decisions by Jurgen Klinsmann .
32-year-old was left out of USA's World Cup squad .
Donovan unsure if he will return to national team . |
213,076 | 9ff08135ad9191b7ea10c3b2c9f024eff8b2ecbc | Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren again said this morning that she's not running for president, regardless of pleas from the progressive base for her to seek the Democratic nomination in 2016. 'You know, I'm just here to stand up for hardworking families who just want a fighting chance. That's what I'm in this fight for, and I'm in this fight all the way,' Warren told NPR today during an interview to discuss her latest battle to keep in place reforms that rein in Wall Street. The left-wing darling was careful not to say that she was 'never' running, however, leaving open the possibility of a future candidacy - potentially sooner than she's letting on publicly. If former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ultimately decides not to take a second go at higher office, Warren's supporters hope she'll pick up the torch. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, right, is pictured here with Rep. Maxine Waters, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, at a press conference last week to express their outrage that a huge, $1.1 trillion spending bill put forward by the Republican-controlled House contains changes to the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that regulates complex financial instruments known as derivatives . Warren led the charge on Capitol Hill last week against a provision in the $1.1 trillion compromise spending bill that would roll back restrictions on financial institutions passed in the 2010 Dodd-Frank bill. In an impassioned speech on the Senate floor that has been characterized as a career-defining moment for the freshman legislator, Warren ripped the rider as a measure that 'would do nothing for the middle class, do nothing for community banks, do nothing but raise the risk that taxpayers will have to bail out the biggest banks once again.' 'So let me say this to anyone who is listening at Citi[group]. I agree with you Dodd-Frank isn't perfect. It should have broken you into pieces,' she said, directing her anger at the multinational banking group whose lobbyists are credited with authoring the offending measure. 'Instead of passing laws that create new bailout opportunities for too big to fail banks, let's pass...something...that would help break up these giant banks,' she said. Continuing, Warren said, 'Enough is enough with Wall Street insiders getting key position after key position and the kind of cronyism that we have seen in the executive branch. 'Washington already works really well for the billionaires and the big corporations and the lawyers and the lobbyists. 'But what about the families who lost their homes or their jobs or their retirement savings the last time Citigroup bet big on derivatives and lost? What about the families who are living paycheck to paycheck and saw their tax dollars go to bail out Citi just 6 years ago?' she asked. Warren said that lawmakers were sent to the nation's capitol 'to fight for those families,' and it 'tt is time - it is past time' for them to start living up to that mandate. While she ultimately failed to convince a majority of her party to oppose the bill and it passed both chambers of Congress, the move set alight new calls from the left for her to compete for the presidency in next year's contest. The left-wing lawmaker, beloved by progressives for her unwavering commitment to holding big banks accountable and fighting for laws she believes will benefit the middle class, comes nowhere close to earning the support of Clinton in polls of Democratic voters. Warren often trails party frontrunner Clinton by 40 or more points. Hard-core Warren supporters believe that 'Hillary fatigue' could create an opening for their icon to seek and win the Democratic nomination, however. Even if Clinton does continue to track well, the Warren wing of Democratic Party wants the Massachusetts Senator to enter the 2016 horse race to force the party to the left on marquee issues. In a statement released by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee today, the organization's co-founder Stephanie Taylor said 'it is time for Democrats to remold the party around Elizabeth Warren's big economic populist ideas -- like breaking up "too big to fail" banks, expanding Social Security, and making college way more affordable.' 'The way for Democrats to inspire the public is to give Americans the debate about big ideas that we deserve -- and that means following Elizabeth Warren's lead,' she said. Former Secretary of State and 2016 frontrunner Hillary Clinton is pictured here at a press conference today. Clinton has not announced her intentions to run for president yet, but she is widely expected to do so in the coming months. Either way, Warren supporters believe their candidate should enter the race. Of specific concern to Warren's supporters is Clinton's cozy relationship with financial institutions. As a candidate for office in the past, Clinton accepted funds from wealthy financiers progressives believe are responsible for the 2008 financial meltdown. Since leaving the Obama administration last year she's collected checks in excess of $200,000 a piece from some of the same institutions who benefited from government bailouts six years ago while on the speaking circuit. Progressives fear that Clinton won't be an effective check on the big banks currently lining her pockets if elected to office and have fiercely advocated on behalf of alternative candidate Warren. 'I’d love to see [Clinton] match [Warren’s] talking points in terms of the economy, just reforming Wall Street,' Nick Moe, a political activist from Alaska told Politico over the weekend during a progressive gathering in Washington, D.C. 'She’s [Clinton's] been absolutely silent as the Dodd-Frank legislation is being rolled back. Where was she?' he continued. In off-chance that Warren changes her mind and does decide to run for higher office next year, a group of Democratic operatives has set up a political action committee called Ready for Warren to collect information on probable supporters that it can then pass on to Warren's official campaign if she jumps in the race. The Ready for Warren operation mimics the strategy of a similar group set up in Clinton's name. The movement to draft Warren has gained steam in recent weeks, as several other possible presidential candidates' self-imposed deadlines to announce their intentions draws near. At the same time Warren's latest stand against big banks on Capitol Hill has the political class buzzing as the move put her in direct opposition to the White House. As support for the massive appropriations bill to keep the government open through the end of the fiscal year waned last Thursday, the Obama administration came out in favor of the compromise legislation and strongly urged Democratic lawmakers to do the same. Age: 65 . Spouse: Bruce Mann (m. 1980) Children: None . Occupation: U.S. Senator for Massachusetts . Previous: Special Advisor for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau . Democratic Credentials: Aggressive advocate for Wall Street reforms; opposed to 'too big to fail' banks . Backers: Ready for Warren, Progressive Change Campaign Committee . Best known for: Role in creation of 2010 Dodd-Frank legislation that placed new on financial institutions . Says of 2016: 'I'm not running.' Age: 67 . Spouse: Bill Clinton (m. 1975) Children: Chelsea Clinton . Occupation: Secretary of State . Previous: U.S. Senator for New York, First Lady . Democratic Credentials: Pushed for broad health care reforms known as Hillarycare . Backers: Ready for Hillary, Correct the Record . Best known for: 2008 presidential campaign; married to a former Commander in Chief; Benghazi . Says of 2016: 'I'll decide on 2016 presidential bid early next year.' The White House made clear that it too was unhappy with the provision of the bill that eliminated restrictions on Wall Street but warned that Democrats would likely end up with even less preferable legislation if they forced the issue. 'This is ultimately not a difference over the value of the provision, it’s a difference -- at least among Democrats -- over the strategy,' White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said on Friday. 'The President is certainly sympathetic to those who say this is a terrible provision...the President himself has concerns about the provision and opposes it,' Earnest explained. 'But the President did make a strategic decision about the wisdom of signing the agreement that was before him, as opposed to kicking the can down the road and trying to broker an agreement in which Republicans had more leverage,' he said. In January when the new Congress convenes Republicans will outnumber Democrats in both legislative chambers, giving them the upper hand until the next set of federal elections, two years from now. Warren acknowledged the difficult position the White House found itself in when considering whether to back the legislation in her interview with NPR today and conceded that approving the legislation was ultimately the correct call. 'You know, once the House passed an omnibus bill with this in it and threw it over to the Senate — and then the House left town — at that point, there was very little choice but either to pass the omnibus, even with this thing in it, or shut down the government,' she said. 'And we didn't want to shut down the government.' Sticking by her principles, though, she derided the provision's supporters for the way they went about making changes to the regulatory system. 'I know for sure that this shouldn't be slipped into an omnibus spending bill — a bill that must pass in order to keep the government open,' she said. 'And what it means, if this works, is they can just kinda keep slipping grenades and attach them to, you know, must-pass spending bills, and pretty soon we have no financial regulations at all,' she warned. | ' I'm just here to stand up for hardworking families who just want a fighting chance. That's what I'm in this fight for, and I'm in this fight all the way'
The left-wing darling was careful not to say that she was 'never' running, however, leaving open the possibility of a future candidacy .
Warren led the charge last week against a provision in the $1.1 trillion spending bill that would roll back restrictions on financial institution .
She ultimately failed to convince a majority of her party to oppose the bill but set alight new calls for her to compete for the presidency next year . |
186,559 | 7da478fcf60fb7c315e0ada6093b8764cbcc30a5 | By . Jonathan Wynne-jones . PUBLISHED: . 05:20 EST, 15 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 05:58 EST, 15 January 2014 . Blunder: University College has apologised after accidentally sending out results of its worst-performing students in an email . An Oxford University college has upset its students after accidentally sending out a list of the worst performers to hundreds of their fellow undergraduates. The embarrassing leak revealed the names and grades of students at University College who had the lowest marks in the pre-Christmas exams. Known as ‘collections’, the exams are used to check whether pupils are on track to a good final grade, but do not go towards their degree mark. But almost 50 who achieved a 2:2 grade - a mark below 60 per cent - or worse in the Michaelmas collections had their results sent to fellow students. The information was contained in an Excel document accidentally sent out by Kristiana Dahl, an academic administrator at University College, which counts Stephen Hawking and Bill Clinton among its alumni. It showed the worst-performing students in the college, as well as their percentage mark and their degree subject. Officials have not revealed how many students received the email but it is thought it was sent to hundreds at University College - known as ‘Univ’. Staff quickly asked students to 'please delete the email previously sent out as it contained inaccuracies'. One of the students affected, who did not wish to be identified, told student newspaper The Tab: “I don’t ever want to do collections again. 'I was pretty gutted after my results last term, but didn’t realise I would be publicly humiliated. I can’t even go into college any more. 'I want a full explanation from the college. I would sue but there are apparently no decent lawyers at Univ.' Exam 'humiliation': Students were left dismayed after the worst performers had their results included in an email to fellow undergraduates (file picture) Tam Guobadia, a second-year law student said: 'I personally find it quite funny but I understand why some people might be upset.' Another student said: 'Of course, everyone on the list is just trying to laugh it off. 'But in reality, no one feels comfortable with having something so personal shared with the entire college. 'It’s hard not to feel everyone’s talking about you.' Abigail Reeves, head of the college's Junior Common Room, apologised to students after a meeting with senior tutor Dr Anne Knowland. She said: 'Dr Knowland has assured me that the document was sent accidentally and that the disclosure of results was not intentional. 'The member of staff responsible is apparently mortified. The senior tutor has also told me that action will be taken with the Academic office to insure that an incident like this never occurs again.' | University College administrator sent out email naming worst performers .
The email included names of 50 students who got a mark below 60 per cent .
Undergraduates say they feel 'humiliated' at having their results circulated .
Officials have vowed to take action to ensure mistake never happens again . |
29,487 | 53d4920e656fe27f42818057e63e0111168a3bdf | By . Daniel Martin . and Ray Massey . Death toll: Conservative Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said too many people were dying on the roads because of mobile phones . The penalty for drivers who use a mobile phone at the wheel could be doubled to six points. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said yesterday that the high death toll from accidents caused by motorists texting or making calls had prompted him to consider a fresh crackdown. ‘The amount of casualties has been absolutely appalling,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to change this. We’ve got to get that message across.’ Foolish use of mobiles destroys lives, he said, with the latest figures showing phones contribute to one road death every fortnight. The new rules, being considered by his officials, would mean a driver could be banned after two mobile offences over three years. A newly-qualified driver could be banned after one offence because their threshold for a ban is six points. The increased penalty would also dramatically affect a driver’s insurance premiums. In addition, the department is looking at raising fines from £100 to £150. Mr McLoughlin said he was so taken with the idea – floated by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe – that he asked civil servants to work up potential legislation. A change in the law is not likely until after the next election. It follows research showing texting at the wheel can be more distracting than the effects of drink or drugs. The Transport Research Laboratory found sending a text slows reaction time by 37 per cent. Using cannabis delayed it 21 per cent, and drinking to the legal limit 13 per cent. Speaking on a phone slowed it by 46 per cent. At a Westminster lunch, Mr McLoughlin said ‘sometimes people do silly things they don’t realise the consequences of’, adding: ‘I’m particularly referring to the use of mobile phones when driving. ‘The person who is using their phone doesn’t realise the damage or the danger that they could be in, so it ends up ruining different people’s lives.’ In 2011, driving while using a mobile was recorded as a contributory factor in 23 fatalities and 74 serious injuries, he said. Danger: In 2011, driving while using a mobile phone was recorded as a contributing factor in 23 deaths, nearly one every fortnight (file picture) Although road deaths are falling, Mr McLoughlin said ‘one death is too many’. ‘Bernard Hogan-Howe has called for six penalty points for the use of a mobile phone. It’s an interesting suggestion. It’s one that I would want to look at.’ Using a mobile at the wheel has been illegal for a decade, with the fine initially £30. In 2007, it was increased to three points and £60, and last year it rose to £100, and a possible £1,000 on conviction in court. Between May 2012 and August 2013, the number of drivers with points on their licence for using a mobile phone fell by 14 per cent, from 677,500 to 583,700. Last year, Sir Bernard said: ‘If I was able tomorrow, I would say you get six points for driving while using a phone. The problem at the moment is we are dishing out lots of tickets, somebody gets three points and they have got another three chances.’ Stricter punishments: Met police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe believes people caught using mobile phones at the wheel twice should be banned from the road . Yesterday, Mr McLoughlin said: ‘I just want to look at it. I also want to alert people to what they are doing – that it is a foolish thing to do.’ He said one difficulty is that drivers who have passed in the previous two years lose their licence if they get six points – compared to 12 for other drivers. This means a new driver could be banned for one offence. A Department for Transport source said one way to prevent this was to give three points for a first offence, six for a second. Ministers recently increased fixed penalties for a range of offences by 66 per cent – from £60 to £100. Offences upgraded include using a handheld mobile phone to speak or text, speeding, running a red light and failing to wear a seatbelt while driving. All bar the last also carry three points. Motoring groups and MP watchdogs broadly welcomed the points move but said more enforcement is needed. Louise Ellman, head of the Commons transport select committee, said: ‘I think he is right to raise this serious road safety issue.’ Professor Stephen Glaister, of the RAC Foundation, said official figures show the number of infractions may fall as new laws are introduced, only to rise again later on. He said: ‘The issue is less the size of the penalty and more the level of enforcement . . . The message seems clear: drivers believe they won’t be caught.’ The latest RAC Report on Motoring said 51 per cent of motorists think they will escape prosecution for texting in traffic as they see others ‘getting away with it’. There are not enough police patrols, it said. AA president Edmund King said: ‘Harsher penalties such as six points and bigger fines are only part of the solution. They won’t be effective unless accompanied by more cops in cars to enforce the law.’ | Patrick McLoughlin considering doubling penalty points for the offence .
Drivers caught on their mobiles currently hit with three points and fine .
23 people were killed last year in car crashes linked to people using mobiles .
Motorists' groups dismiss the plan claiming increasing penalties do not work .
The RAC Foundation said drivers 'believe they won’t be caught' |
144,814 | 4750858ac194d685eb54c2b95580dc6751d74943 | By . Deni Kirkova . PUBLISHED: . 07:32 EST, 6 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 11:11 EST, 6 March 2014 . Oliver Cheshire returns for another season as the very stylish face of M&S Best Of British menswear. The London-born model, 25, shows off his razor sharp cheekbones in a new set of spring/summer pictures for the high street retailer. Smartly clad in check suits, thick-framed specs and oversized bow ties, Cheshire gives off an air of banker meets handsome professor in the new campaign. Scroll down for video . Oliver Cheshire models Blazer £299, Shirt £99, Bow Tie £19.50, and Trousers £99 . The bow tie, traditionally worn to events, has increasingly extended to daywear wardrobes recently but less formal styles are also flying off the shelves at . M&S this Spring, say representatives. And In the latest offering for menswear the M&S Best Of British line teams bow ties with suits in Prince of Wales and Window Pane Check and as well as Navy Wool. The menswear collection is based on a fresh . spring colour palette in lighter weighted fabrics. Attention . to detail is integral to the collection, and bow ties, ties and . Harringtons have been designed in suiting fabric to create the ultimate . in refined sartorial statements for men. Sporting SS14 M&S Suit £799, Shirt £99, Tie £29.50, Shoes £299 . Big checks in dark navy look sophisticated and eccentric on this suit £799, worn with Shoes £285 . M&S hope to form a new-look masculine mood for spring. Much like last season, prices go up to £799 for a suit, with the average shirt around £99 and £29.50 for ties. M&S said of Best Of British: . 'The collections combine our rich heritage with modern . styling to create an edit of timeless pieces with an emphasis on true . British craftsmanship and quality. 'All . garments are made in Britain in a selection of premium fabrics . including luxury Scottish cashmere through to fine Yorkshire cloths and . each piece is finished to the highest level of detail, a standard . synonymous with British design.' Oliver shows off his razor sharp cheekbones, wearing Mac £249, Cashmere Jumper £149, Tie £29.50 . Oliver wears pink Cashmere Jumper £149, Shirt £99, Tie £29.50, and Trousers £99 . The collection puts emphasis on checks from oversized window pane, to the Prince of Wales check . Oliver, who has enjoyed a sparkling modelling career of some ten years, was scouted by Select Model Management at just 15 while studying drama and became an overnight success. 'From high fashion to high street fashion, everyone gets Oliver’s look,' said Tandy Anderson, founder of Select Model Management, in May. 'Like a young DiCaprio at the start of his career, in front of the camera he has a real versatility and appeal - he's the new everyman of modelling, he is genuinely a face to watch out for.' Oliver in the Jacket £199, Cashmere Jumper £149, Shirt £99, Bow Tie £19.50, Trousers £99 . Clad in Suit £799, Shirt £99, Bag £299, Shoes £285 - with man bag and brolly . White Mac £249, Shirt £99, Trousers £99 . M&S menswear has seen the bow tie, most traditionally worn to evening events, extend to day wardrobes . Away from the modelling scene, Oliver is dating 23-year-old singer Pixie Lott and the pair were spotted leaving a central London restaurant together on Valentine's Day. He looked dapper in a stylish black suit with a crisp white shirt and skinny black tie as Pixie carried an aptly heart-shaped handbag. Ever the gentleman, Oliver carried a large black umbrella to protect his pretty girlfriend from the heavy downpour of rain. Pixie Lott . carried a heart-shaped bag for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner with . boyfriend Oliver Cheshire . | Model, 25, returns as face of Best Of British for another season .
M&S go big on sharp check suits and bow ties . |
248,175 | cd23001ab4ad5759be3d7a1c05899f2231127858 | By . Neil Sears . PUBLISHED: . 06:00 EST, 19 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:44 EST, 19 November 2013 . Yvonne Musonda-Malata was found guilty of failing to provide appropriate clinical care to Baby A at a Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing . A midwife faces being struck off after she was found guilty of leaving a newborn baby in a hospital stationery cupboard. Yvonne Musonda-Malata, 35, left the four-day-old child’s cot in the unlit and unventilated cupboard – where the little one was found covered in vomit, on her stomach and suffocating. The midwife admitted removing the ‘unsettled’ girl so that her mother could get a night’s sleep, but denied putting her in the cupboard. Nursing regulators have ruled that she did so and are meeting today to decide whether Musonda-Malata’s extraordinary actions amount to misconduct – for which the sanctions include a ban from practising. The case, being heard at the Nursing and Midwifery Council in London, comes as NHS staff have been warned they may in future face criminal charges if they neglect patients. Musonda-Malata’s actions at the Queen’s Hospital in Romford, Essex, were only discovered when nursery nurse Alex Curtis went to get an envelope – and was horrified to find the baby shut in with the stationery. The child is believed to have been there for around 20 minutes. Musonda-Malata, who was suspended but continues to work at Queen’s, initially admitted responsibility, but later changed her story and accused Miss Curtis of lying. Nursing and Midwifery Panel chairman Lesley White said yesterday: ‘The panel found Miss Curtis to be a credible and consistent witness. ‘She had no motive to be untruthful and the panel has no reason to believe she was mistaken.’ She said that Musonda-Malata’s decision to shut the baby in the cupboard ‘amounted to a failure to provide clinical care’. Another midwife was also charged over the incident, which took place in April 2011. Christine Onoade, 46, was cleared of involvement – but has since been sacked from the hospital. Christine Olukemi Onoade was cleared of all charges today. The midwife had been accused of failing to provide appropriate care for the baby, and claimed her life had taken a 'nosedive' in wake of the scandal . Musonda-Malata claimed she left the baby in Onoade’s care while she was away with another patient. But . the hearing heard that when she was asked, immediately after the baby . was discovered, what she had done, Musonda-Malata told ward sister . Martina Cheng: ‘I have made a mistake, I’m in big trouble’. The midwives were entrusted with the baby while its mother, who suffers a health condition, was resting at Queen's Hospital in Romford, north east London . Musonda-Malata . later claimed that her confession was inaccurate and only made because . she was not in ‘the right frame of mind’ and ‘just wanted to write . something in the notes and get out of the place’. Musonda-Malata’s . claims were rejected by the panel, which also found her guilty of . failing to provide appropriate clinical care in that she did not . accurately record the baby’s feeds while she was in her keeping. Onoade was cleared of the same charge after the panel ruled that had not been part of her duties. Speaking . after the decision, Onoade said she was relieved to be cleared but . described the case as a ‘nightmare’. Musonda-Malata was unavailable for . comment. The women faced a hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council in central London. Ms Musonda-Malata is yet to be informed if she will face punishment . | Yvonne Musonda-Malata failed to provide appropriate clinical care to baby .
The 35-year-old midwife overfed Baby A and left it face-down in a cot .
Four-day-old baby entrusted to midwives while its poorly mother rested .
Christine Onade, also accused, was cleared of all charges today .
Musonda-Malata to return to Nursing and Midwife Council to face panel .
Newborn babies normally placed on their backs to avoid cot-death . |
23,090 | 41850553ca0e85c5fb8bf068be03c63bd68b802a | (CNN) -- Loud music pumps through huge speakers, front row guests cheer and a parade of stunning models electrifies the gleaming catwalk -- welcome to Africa Fashion Week London. Currently in its third year, the glamorous event saw dozens of big names and up-and-coming designers from across the continent descending on the UK capital's hip district of Shoreditch to unveil their latest stylish creations. "Our platform is about promoting emerging and established Africa-inspired designers," said Ronke Ademiluyi, founder of the event, held from August 1 to 3. "The main thing is to bring attention to them, to showcase their creativity to the world so they get more global recognition for what they do and more appreciations for their brands as well." Vibrant colors . The runways featured designs from countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya and Morocco -- but also from the diaspora, including Britain and the Caribbean. In many ways, the event reaffirmed why Africa-inspired designs are fast catching the eye of the fashion world. Mixing current trends with traditional patterns, more than 60 designers graced the catwalk with a wide array of colorful creations -- everything from show-stopping evening gowns and modern urban casualwear to bold textured prints and chic accessory lines. Glorious colors in the desert: Darfur's fashionable women . Ademiluyi says the continent's fashion today "represents a fusion of contemporary and African designs" awash with "a lot of vibrant colors and tribal trends." Amongst those giving a modern twist to traditional styles is Nigerian designer Fashola Olayinka with her Lagos-based label "MOOFA Designs." Her latest collection, "Ashake" is celebrating the "very powerful and strong women" who "turn heads wherever they go to." "That's basically what's the collection is about," says Olayinka, who started the label about four years ago. "Women who are very feminine and sexy." Read this: Congo's designer dandies . The young designer says that despite the existing challenges, such as frequent power cuts, it's very exciting being part of Nigeria's fashion scene right now. "We work hard and we party hard, so it's been really fun and it's a growing process in Nigeria," she says. "Nigerians like to dress up and a lot of people in Nigeria are now wearing their own fabrics." Profile boost . But despite the growing interest in African designs, Ademiluyi says that many of the continent's promising talents still find it difficult to break into the mainstream international shows. She says that for many of them, the week is a chance to shine on the international stage. "A lot of them are talented but they're struggling," she says. "They don't have support from anywhere, so what we do is we support them -- it's an affordable platform for the designers to showcase their talents to the world." Read this: Taking African colors to America's Deep South . South African fashion artist Steve Mandy agrees. He says that events like this help participants boost their profile both internationally and at home. "You can meet some really important people here and I have already met some great people here that I think I'll do business with," says Durban-based Mandy, known for hand-painting on dresses and t-shirts. "The other thing is the spin-off in terms of your own image, in terms of our audience back in South Africa -- the fact that you can say that you did African Fashion Week it promotes you and helps your product to gain integrity." Looking ahead, Ademiluyi says the goal is to hold the event twice a year and also establish a supply platform that would make the designers' creations more accessible to the world. "For a lot of them, after Africa Fashion Week, that's it," she says. "The clients don't know where to get their brand, so we hope to support the designers a lot more by opening up a distribution outlet." | Africa Fashion Week London was held from August 1 to 3 .
Inaugurated in 2011, the event promotes emerging and established designers .
Organizers say they aim to hold the event twice a year and set up a distribution outlet . |
146,974 | 4a0e119310dfc5e246e9d5dcd275aefca208e9c3 | By . Steve Nolan . PUBLISHED: . 11:35 EST, 27 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:33 EST, 27 February 2013 . It may look like a rusty wreck, but this ultra-rare Aston Martin will still set you back a pretty penny - and will cost a further £250,000 to restore to its former glory. For the 1949 Aston Martin Two-Litre Sports was just the fourth car built by the iconic British car company after it was bought by David Brown. The much-coveted car, which retrospectively became known as the DB1, is one of just 15 ever made and nine still in existence. In need of TLC: This Aston Martin Two-Litre Sports is on the market for almost £100,000 but will cost a further £250,000 to restore to its former glory . In demand: The car was one of just 15 made and one of eight or nine still in existence, so it is highly desirable despite its poor condition . Pricey: A DB1 in mint condition, like the one pictured, can sell for in excess of £400,000 . But it is in need of some tender loving care from a car enthusiast with plenty of spare cash to spend after three decades of decay. Specialist dealer Aston Workshop has the motor on the market for £99,950 in the hope that someone will snap it up with the intention of restoring it. Whoever takes on the project could end up making a tidy profit in the end however, with mint condition DB1s usually shifting for more than £400,000, with prices of classic Aston Martins rising in the current market. Clive Dickinson, general manager for Durham-based Aston Workshop, said: 'The chassis is good and it is a complete car but it is need of a serious restoration. 'The body looks quite bad but we don't think it will need to be replaced and it still has its original chassis and engine which is important. 'Any rare Aston Martin such as this model is desirable and values are really going up at the moment. 'About 90 per cent of all Aston Martins ever built still exist but we think there are just eight or nine of the 15 Two-Litres left and only two others we know about in the UK. Rare: The Aston Martin has been bought by a specialist dealer from its previous owner in Scotland where it was left decaying in a garage for three decades . New era: The car was just the fourth made after David Brown bought the iconic motor company in 1947 . Iconic: The car later became known as the DB1 with Brown's DB initials continuing to live on in the current Aston Martin range, with the firm currently building the DB9 . 'The past ten years has seen some prices appreciate by more than 600 per cent. The Aston is a really pretty car and it will look fantastic when restored. It was one of just 15 DB1s ever made, but what will you get for your £100,000: . 'The car will probably cost around £250,000 to restore and take between a year and 18 months.' David Brown took over the Aston Martin in 1947 with the Two-Litre Sports model the first car built under his management. It later became known as the DB1 with Brown's DB initials continuing to live on in the current Aston Martin range, with the firm currently building the DB9. As the original name suggests, the car is powered by a 2-litre engine which developed a modest 90bhp when it was new - giving the Aston a top speed of a mere 93mph. This is less than half the top speed a current Aston Martin is capable of but its impressive 24mpg makes it greener than all of the current range barring the Toyota-based Cygnet. The car's brochure states: 'The discriminating motorist will find every virtue he is likely to look for - beauty of styling, superb comfort, speed with safety and power to spare.' It adds: 'You will certainly be proud to own one; you could even be excused for boasting about it.' David Brown is understood to have opted against larger scale production of the car because he was underwhelmed by its performance, focusing the firm's resources onto the more powerful DB2. This particular model was the fourth 'DB1' to leave the firm's factory in Feltham, Middlesex and was delivered to Cyril Williams (Motors) Ltd in 1949 in its original livery of Alpine Blue with Grey Hide. The car was then chosen to represent Aston Martin at the Motor Show of that year where it was sold to another dealer, Brooklands Motors. Original: The body looks quite bad but dealers don't . think it will need to be replaced and it still has its original chassis . and engine . Underwhelming: David Brown is understood to have opted against larger scale production of the car because he was underwhelmed by its performance . A 'continuation' log book from 1963 shows it was moved to Scotland that year where it remained until Aston Workshop recently bought it. For the past 41 years it has had just one owner and has been kept off the road since 1983. Aston Workshop is calling the classic sports car one of the world's most exciting Aston Martin restoration projects. Mr Dickinson added: 'The DB1 was the last Aston Martin to have a four-cylinder engine with David Brown fitting the DB2 with a more powerful six-cylinder. 'It was capable of nearly 100mph when it was new so it was quite respectable at the time but this wasn't fast enough for David Brown.' | The Aston Martin Two-Litre Sports was one of just 15 made .
It was the first model made after David Brown bought the company .
The car became known retrospectively as the DB1 .
A fully restored DB1 can sell for in excess of £400,000 . |
270,346 | ea21d73f638614d492c6077491f5515410e02a8c | MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Nine years of blindness almost drove Sharron "Kay" Thornton to suicide. Kay Thornton, with Dr. Perez, can see again after surgery in which a tooth was implanted into her eye. In the end, it was one of her teeth and a procedure surgeons said was never before done in the United States that restored her sight. "It was very embarrassing and humiliating for my daughter to take care of me, and it wasn't supposed to be that way. I'm supposed to take care of her," the 60-year-old woman told CNN on Wednesday. "I thought about suicide, but then I thought, if I did it, I probably wouldn't do it right," she said. Instead, "I just asked God to help me. I couldn't do it by myself. He taught me patience, and I never gave up." Her hopes were raised when she qualified at the University of Miami Bascom Palmer Eye Institute for a months-long procedure in which an eye tooth (also called canine or cuspid) was implanted in one eye as a base to hold a prosthetic lens. Her bandages were removed over the Labor Day weekend. Watch how the tooth was involved in the procedure » . Nearly two weeks later, her visual acuity is 20/70 without corrective lenses in the treated eye, said Dr. Victor Perez, associate professor of ophthalmology, and a cornea specialist at the institute. The Smithdale, Mississippi, woman and her doctors planned to meet the media at a news conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss her case. Thornton, a former restaurant manager with three children, lost her sight in 2000 after she was stricken with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, apparently caused by medication she was taking. The illness is described by the Mayo Clinic as a rare disorder in which a person's "skin and mucous membranes react severely to a medication or infection." The disease causes "a painful red or purplish rash that spreads and blisters, eventually causing the top layer of skin to die and shed." She also lost her hair, all nails and most of her skin. Within a week, Stevens-Johnson syndrome also caused the cells on the surface of her eye to die, and the severe corneal scarring that resulted made her blind. Eventually, everything reversed itself but her blindness. After losing her sight, Thornton said, she especially missed watching television, particularly her favorite show, "Operation Repo." When she and her best friend returned to the hotel after her bandages were removed, Thornton quoted him as saying, "Here's the remote." "And I said, 'hot dog!' " In interviews with CNN, the surgeons at the institute described how they brought back her sight by using what they say is the first surgical attempt in the United States to plant an eye tooth in an eye to hold a prosthetic lens. "The surgical technique -- modified osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis (MOOKP) -- has proven effective in cases where severe corneal scarring blocks vision, but the eye remains healthy," according to the institute. Corneal scarring also can be caused by chemical injuries or burns. The procedure has been done only about 600 times worldwide, surgeons said. Perez led the surgical team who worked on Thornton. To start the procedure, surgeons remove a healthy tooth and part of the patient's jawbone. Perez said Thornton was given a jawbone implant, but she developed a sinus infection, so they removed it. They will try again later. The tooth and bone were then shaved and sculpted, and a hole was drilled into them to hold the prosthetic lens. Then the whole unit was implanted into Thornton's chest and left for several months, allowing the tooth and lens to bond. This was then implanted into her eye. Asked why doctors don't use a piece of plastic instead of a tooth, Perez said that works well when the eye is "wet and healthy." But Thornton's eye was too dry. When he first saw her, he said, "her eyes were covered with skin." Thornton's case had to be severe for her to meet the strict rules to qualify for the MOOKP. "The inclusion criteria is strict," said the surgeon, now known as "the tooth fairy." "The patient must have end-stage ocular surface disease, and must be able to see and localize light," meaning they must be able to describe from what direction light is coming. In addition, "they have to have a healthy mouth and a good tooth." Previously, a stem cell procedure had failed to help her, and she was not a candidate for a cornea transplant, he said. "We used to hear about this surgery with the tooth, and we thought, 'How can people do this?' It seemed to be very far-fetched," Perez said. "Then once I went to Rome and saw the patient results, it was very impressive." "It's so frustrating when they've tried other procedures and nothing works. We needed to find something that would work for these patients," the surgeon said. "I'm very excited for this patient. She really worked hard for this. "What the surgery meant to her is hope. She lost hope of ever seeing again," he said, and was especially distressed that she might never see the granddaughter born while she was blind. Not all surgeons are sold on the procedure. Dr. Ivan Schwab with the American Academy of Ophthalmology told CNN he believes the process is too difficult and the result too disfiguring. There are alternatives that are nearly as good, he added. "We've known about the procedure since the '80s. It's been going on for a while," he said. "We've viewed it with some skepticism. It requires a sizable team and several operations. It seems to be reasonably successful on the small numbers that have been done," though it does bring some disfigurement. The complicated procedure "requires a team of dentists and ophthalmologists," he said. "It's just it's an extreme variation on techniques we're already doing." But he added, "In their defense, they are working on the worst of the worst, people with no other alternatives." There is little evidence, doctors say, for or against the safety of MOOKP, because of the small number of times it has been done. Dr. Christopher Liu at Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton, England, said the process has long been used in Asia and Europe. He brought it to England from Italy. He said he doesn't believe the procedure will take off in the United States because of its length -- each stage takes hours to perform. In addition, he said, though the person can see again, the eye "won't be natural looking." CNN's Elizabeth Cohen, Rich Phillips and Sabriya Rice contributed to this report. | Woman, blinded after illness, has tooth implanted into eye to hold prosthetic lens .
First time this surgery is performed in the United States; only 600 done worldwide .
Some specialists say procedure is too complex to catch on in U.S. |
199,979 | 8ee92576b6010d8399dd3271ccd9f1093f7514ba | By . Gerri Peev . PUBLISHED: . 20:08 EST, 5 April 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 20:08 EST, 5 April 2013 . Golden goodbye: Baroness Ashton . Baroness Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, is in line to rake in £400,000 over three years from European taxpayers – without having to do any work. Her job ends next year and her generous golden goodbye will amount to £133,500 a year – the equivalent of 55 per cent of her £287,543 salary – until the end of 2017. On leaving office, the high representative of foreign affairs will immediately get one month’s salary, or £23,962. She will then receive more than half her annual salary for the next three years. When she reaches retirement age in 2021, she will become eligible for her EU pension which will be worth £61,000 a year. Her pay-off was immediately attacked by MPs, with one claiming that she should actually be paying taxpayers back based on her performance. Baroness Ashton has been heavily criticised by the Government over what ministers have described as her ‘ludicrous’ demands for massive budget increases at a time of austerity. Her running of the EU’s diplomatic service has also been questioned by MEPs from across Europe, who have been unimpressed with the high rates of absenteeism and the hefty rates of pay for officials that are now commonplace in Brussels. Bureaucrats stepped in to defend her ‘transitional allowance’, saying it was ‘the price for the total independence’ of all the senior officials working in Europe. One even claimed the pay-off was ‘important’ because it stopped commissioners from looking for a new job during the last months of their mandate. Last month, Baroness Ashton said she found the role of high representative ‘exhausting’ because it involved ‘a lot of travel and a lot of sitting on planes’. When she steps down, the Labour peer will have to ask for permission to take any new job for up to 18 months after leaving the post. But she will only lose some of her taxpayer-funded deal if she lands work that pays her more than £134,000 a year. Her new allowance will be taxed at a lower EU community tax rate of just 13.5 per cent. And she will also be able to immediately attend the House of Lords. Outspoken: Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, said that Ashton just goes to prove the Brussels pay formula . This means she will receive a daily rate of £300 simply for clocking in and attending debates. A European Commission spokesman defended her bumper pay-off. saying: ‘It’s important that commissioners don’t start looking for a new job during the last months of their mandate.’ He added: ‘They should take their time over finding appropriate new employment. ‘That way, they can continue to give 100 per cent to the job that taxpayers are paying them to do. Complaints: Douglas Carswell said that if the Baroness's pay was performance related she would be writing out a cheque to HM Revenue and Customs . ‘And there is much less risk of a conflict of interest.’ Douglas Carswell, the Conservative MP for Clacton, said: ‘The system is run by, and for the benefit of those troughing officials who work in Brussels. ‘If Baroness Ashton got proper performance-related pay, she would be writing a cheque out to HM Revenue and Customs.’ Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party, said: ‘Ashton just goes to prove the Brussels pay formula. ‘Eurocrats are paid huge amounts of money inversely to the amount of work they do or the little good that they achieve.’ The former Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament vice chair was elevated to the House of Lords as Baroness Ashton of Upholland by the Labour government in 1999. She was briefly Leader of the Lords in 2007, before being dispatched to Brussels the following year. She started by taking over from Peter Mandelson as the EU’s trade commissioner. Baroness Ashton then became the first person to take on the role of the EU’s high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy in 2009. After her first year in the post, Baroness Ashton was voted the least useful of all the EU commissioners in a survey of more than 320 European policymakers. | Baroness Ashton will rake in £400,000 over three years from Euro taxpayers .
On leaving office she will immediately bank one month's salary of £23,000 . |
107,537 | 16b18affc45e470d6879d0e8c2ef65fbc61ef407 | By . Rob Waugh . Last updated at 3:05 PM on 13th October 2011 . The war between Apple and Samsung shows no sign of abating, as the release date of iPhone 5 rumbles ever closer (albeit without confirmation from Apple itself) - and many of Samsung's products remain paralysed in legal limbo by Apple lawsuits. Now it seems Samsung is going to strike back. 'We'll be pursuing our rights for this in a more aggressive way from now on,' Lee Younghee, head of global marketing for the company's mobile division said this week. Younghee also said that Apple was 'free riding' on Samsung wireless technologies - lending credibility to rumours that Samsung would attempt to torpedo iPhone 5 before its European launch. Too similar? Samsung's Galaxy touchscreens and iPhone are currently the subject of a bitter legal dispute in several countries . Ever since Apple launched its iPhone, . it's been an open secret that Samsung makes many of the components . inside it - in fact Samsung's CEO has admitted, 'Apple is our biggest . customer.' But ever since Samsung launched its . own Galaxy series of phones and tablets - high-powered touchscreens . whose flagship, the Galaxy S II, currently outpaces iPhone on the . processing front - legal war has erupted between the companies in nine . countries. A Samsung executive told the Korea . Times this week, 'When the iPhone 5 arrives here, Samsung plans to take Apple to . court here for its violation of Samsung's wireless technology related . patents.' This is in . response to Apple's continued legal action against Samsung's Galaxy . family of touchscreen tablets and smartphones - some of which are . currently illegal in Europe, thanks to Apple lawsuits claiming they are 'slavish' copies of iPhone and iPad. Samsung recently overtook Nokia in . the smartphone market, and its Galaxy S II offers a larger screen and . faster processor than iPhone 4 - and has been a huge hit among geeky smartphone connoisseurs. This month, Apple even forced Samsung to withdraw a prototype tablet device from the show floor of a Berlin electronics show. Samsung's larger Galaxy 10.1 tablet remains illegal in Europe thanks to Apple's legal action. The Maeil Business Newspaper reported that the South Korean firm may seek an injunction against Apple's new iPhone in Europe. Samsung said it would not comment on ongoing legal issues. Legal battle rages between Apple and Samsung over alleged 'similarities between their touchscreen smartphones and handsets . The two technology firms have been locked in intensifying legal battles in nine countries over their flagship smartphone and tablet products - battles made more complex by the fact that many related patents are held by other internet giants such as Google and Microsoft. The latest attacks come after Apple successfully blocked Samsung from selling its latest tablets in Germany and some smartphone models in the Netherlands and forced its rival to delay launching new tablets in Australia. After Apple's latest legal victory in Germany earlier this month, Samsung said it would take all available legal options. Apple first sued Samsung in April, claiming its strongest competitor had 'slavishly' copied its product designs, and Samsung had since counter-sued, arguing Apple infringed on its mobile technologies. | Samsung 'will be more aggressive' from now on .
Company 'will sue' to stop iPhone in Korea - and possibly Europe .
Apple is 'free-riding' on our technology, says Samsung . |
68,230 | c193e75c6efa76c91d0f121f75ca20711f926bc2 | Sharina Star tells how to spot a fake psychic . People spend their whole lives looking for answers and guidance but with endless supposed psychics available on the market there is too much potential for soul searchers to be ripped off. So Daily Mail Australia asks celebrity psychic, Sharina Star, how to spot the difference between a genuine and fake psychic. Star, 56, has been open to the spiritual world since she survived a near-death experience at just 10- years-old after being abducted, beaten and then left to die in Gymea in southern NSW. 'I know it sounds stupid - it was nothing much but I just heard this voice say 'You're going to be OK' - it was nothing more than that but no one believed me - they just thought I was hallucinating - and then the next minute I heard the police sirens,' she said. 'I think that had something to do with it - but everyone has an awakening experience.' Star believes that anyone who is open to the possibility can become a psychic - however, that's not to say that there aren't frauds out there trying to make a quick buck anyway they can. Star offers some handy tips on how to carefully choose a psychic that genuinely wants to help you rather than trying to dig deep into your pockets. The first rule of thumb is to make sure the psychic is a reputable source: . Star says to do your homework on the person you are going to see or take recommendations through word of mouth. 'Beware of someone who is actually out there that you've never heard of and they make all of these ridiculous claims,' Star advises. 'If you have had good reports on a person that is better - the biggest claim to fame is not necessarily the better one than the little lady down the street because a lot of the time they don't deliver.' Scroll down for video . Star says to do your homework on the person you are going to see or take recommendations through word of mouth . If you are told you have a spell or a curse cast on you - ignore it: . 'I think the worst thing is the spells. I've got so many people say they have got these evil curses and they are convinced they have these curses on them.' 'I've tried to tell them everyone goes through bad luck and you've just to work through your bad luck to get your good luck.' 'Be positive with what you are a dealt but it takes a lot to change that around.' Don't be fooled into thinking you have a curse or a spell - it's all nonsense according to Star . Avoid psychics when you are feeling vulnerable: . 'Be careful when are you are in time of grief because you can really get ripped off.' 'A good psychic would send someone to a counsellor - but say you've got someone who wants to speak to a dead person everyday - there are people trying to milk them for money all of the time.' Frauds will prey on those who are feeling at their most vulnerable, Star warns. 'If you see them once and you feel good that's OK, but if they keep wanting to see you and keep taking your money that's a bad sign.' Hotlines can also be a trap for those who feel that they have nowhere else to turn. 'People just keep ringing the 1800 numbers - they get on the line because they just split up with their boyfriend - they will end up spending a lot of money.' Don't believe everything you are told: . Star met a 40-year-old woman who was told when she was just 14-years-old that she would never have children. 'Nobody should says things like that - if you're wrong that plants a seed,' Star says. 'I looked at her palm and told her it looked like she would have two children then I went and had my baby - it does make you psychic having your own baby - any woman will tell you that.' 'Then I went back to the job a few months later and the woman was pregnant. I don't know if she ended up having two but it gives me a lot of joy to see that.' Sharina Star is one of Australia's most popular psychics with a host of celebrity clients and currently hosts a weekly show, Psychic Encounters, on Radio 2UE Sydney and contributes regularly to publications around Australia. Sharina's Fortune Reading Cards are also available now for $24.99 through Rockpool Publishing . | Australian psychic Sharina Star reveals how to spot a fake psychic .
Make sure you do your homework to check that the psychic is credible .
Don't be fooled into thinking you have a curse or a spell .
Avoid seeing a psychic if you are grieving or feeling vulnerable .
Don't call psychic hotlines - you will be charged an exorbitant fee . |
9,575 | 1b204d0c476de17f3f9d1f825f2e2ded94c3f3d8 | By . Victoria Woollaston . PUBLISHED: . 10:01 EST, 26 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:39 EST, 26 June 2013 . The Moon could soon become a robot colony of mechanical apes exploring the lunar landscape, thanks to a monkey robot designed in Germany. Engineers from the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and the University of Bremen have developed a space robot designed to walk and climb like an ape over rocky ground, such as the terrain of the Moon. The iStruct Demonstrator has mechanical arms, legs and a spine that mimic the way primates behave - and could replace the wheeled rovers currently used in lunar missions. Scroll down for video . Engineers from the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence have developed a robot that walks and climbs like a monkey. The researchers plan to send the mechanical chimp to the moon to explore the lunar landscape because it is more agile and versatile than current wheeled rovers and explorers . The iStruct Demonstrator, pictured, weighs 18 kg. It has an articulated spinal column connecting the torso and pelvis to foot and ankle structures. These 'joints' are each fitted with sensors which react and respond to the ground below . The iStruct demonstrator has: . 43 individual force-sensing resistor (FSR) sensors. Six additional FSR sensors on exposed parts used for collision detection. A 6-axis Force/Torque-sensor. A distance sensor in heel to anticipate heel strike. A digital 3-axis accelerometer to perceive the orientation of the foot. Two temperature sensors to compensate for temperature changes in the electronics. Digital magnetic angular encoders to monitor every moving axes of the foot and ankle structure. The engineering team have already built the robo-ape and have now begun testing it in the centre's mock lunar landscape. According to researchers at the DFKI, a primate's body is better suited to the lunar terrain because its four-legged stance is stable when climbing over obstacles or hills. The robot can also right itself if it falls over. It can additionally stand on its hind legs and use its arms to pick up samples and move obstacles using its robotic hands. The iStruct Demonstrator weighs 18kg and measures 66x43x75 cm. It has an articulated spinal column connecting the torso and . pelvis to foot and ankle structures. These 'joints' are each fitted with sensors that react and respond to the ground below. It also has 26 degrees of freedom thanks to various electric motors. The iStruct Demonstrator is similar to the CHIMP robot developed for the DARPA Robotics Challenge. The iStruct Demonstrator's 'legs' and 'joints' have been engineered to mimic those of a primate. This makes the robot more capable of climbing, walking and collecting samples from the rocky Moon terrain . However, the . iStruct's articulated spine, which works as a 6-axes force-torque . sensor, is unique to this robot and . helps it move on all fours. The sensors in the foot and ankle also allow . it to maintain its balance on sloped terrain. A study from the research centre said: 'The aim of the iStruct project is the development of a robotic system which effectively improves the locomotion and mobility characteristics, if applied to the robotic system. 'The main focus in this project is the development of intelligent structures for application in mobile robots to increase the efficiency of a complex walking machine by the purposeful use of intelligent structures. 'A high number of sensors is needed to allow a precise perception of the environment; hence there will be large data sets which have to be locally pre-processed and evaluated. 'In order to meet the high requirements of the intelligent structures, sensors and actuators have to be selected or developed with regard to both their functionality and their integration capability within the intelligent structures.' In 2009, project leader Daniel Kühn worked on a similar robot called the Little Ape capable of simple quadrupedal walking. His current project is due to be completed by August. | The iStruct Demonstrator has been designed to move and behave like real-life primates .
It is being tested on mock lunar landscapes in the hope it will soon be able to explore the Moon .
German engineers are looking at more agile alternatives to the wheeled rovers used in current space missions . |
272,735 | ed3acc78233350abd3cfe2e6d3eea1f283e83156 | Boat after boat, body after body from a capsized South Korean ferry came ashore Sunday morning, a solemn process interrupted by piercing cries and screams from passengers' kin. The wrenching scene came after four police boats arrived in rapid succession. The first carried four bodies. The second boat had three more, likewise the third and fourth. Each body was taken onto a stretcher on the dock in Jindo, draped in cloth. After an inspection, they were carried along a path guarded by police -- who themselves shed tears -- and past even more outwardly emotional family members. These relatives cried and, in some cases, yelled loudly, clearly overtaken by the moment. Some of those shouts came from inside the identification tent. One man yelled out, "Wake up! Wake up, please!" The arrival of the 13 bodies corresponds with the South Korean coast guard's announcement, a short time earlier, that the death toll had increased by that number, up to 50. But few expect it to stop there. While 174 were rescued shortly after the vessel sunk Wednesday, there have been none saved since despite extensive, exhaustive searches by air, from ships and by divers plunging into the frigid waters and ideally inside the now completely submerged ship itself. The number of those unaccounted for stood at 252 early Sunday. Relatives of some of them gathered in Jindo -- the nearest port to the wreckage some 12 miles (20 kilometers) away -- were asked earlier in the weekend to submit DNA samples. Ship's captain defends evacuation . As divers and others scrambled to retrieve yet more bodies, details are trickling in about what happened the day the ferry capsized. Capt. Lee Joon Seok defended his order to delay the evacuation of his sinking ferry, CNN affiliate YTN reported early Saturday. Lee was charged with abandoning his boat, negligence, causing bodily injury, not seeking rescue from other ships and violating "seamen's law," state media reported. He appeared before reporters in handcuffs. "Mr. Lee is charged with causing the Sewol ship to sink by failing to slow down while sailing the narrow route and making (a) turn excessively," prosecutor Lee Bong-chang told the semiofficial Yonhap news agency. "Lee is also charged with failing to do the right thing to guide the passengers to escape and thereby leading to their death or injury." If convicted, he faces from five years to life in prison. Lee wasn't at the helm of the Sewol when it started to sink; a third mate was at the helm, a prosecutor said. Where was the captain? The captain was not in the steering room when the accident occurred, according to police and his own account. He was in his cabin. A crew member, described as the third mate and identified only as Park, appeared in handcuffs with Lee. Park is facing charges including negligence and causing injuries leading to deaths, said Yang Joong Jin, a maritime police spokesman. A technician with the surname Cho is also facing the same charges, he said. Lee answered questions as he left a court hearing Saturday. "The tidal current was strong and water temperature was cold, and there was no rescue boat," he told reporters, according to CNN affiliate YTN. "So I had everyone stand by and wait for the rescue boat to arrive." He said he plotted the ship's course, and then went to his cabin briefly "to tend to something." It was then, he said, the accident happened. The third mate, who was at the helm of the ship when Lee left, said she did not make a sharp turn, but "the steering turned much more than usual." The captain was one of at least 174 people rescued soon after the Sewol began to sink, violating an "internationally recognized rule that a captain must stay on the vessel," maritime law attorney Jack Hickey said. "Pretty much every law, rule, regulation and standard throughout the world says that yes, the captain must stay with the ship until all personnel are safely off of the ship, certainly passengers." More ships, aircraft . Hopes of finding the missing alive dimmed further when the entire boat became submerged Friday. Until then, part of the ship's blue-and-white hull was still poking out of the frigid waters of the Yellow Sea. The coast guard said workers continued to pump air into the hull of the submerged ship, but could not stop its descent. The ferry boat sank 10 meters (33 feet) farther below the surface of the Yellow Sea overnight, Maritime Police told CNN Saturday. South Korean officials said Saturday they are sending in 176 ships, 28 aircraft and 652 divers to take part in the search and rescue efforts. | The death toll climbs to 50, the South Korean coast guard says .
252 people are still missing, in addition to the 174 who were rescued .
Capt. Lee Joon Seok defends his order to delay the evacuation of his sinking ferry . |
158,307 | 58aa8c17729a8ce8b6ff253e78ef48108f086adb | Juan Cuadrado gave a glimpse of why Chelsea are desperate to sign him during Fiorentina's 3-1 Italian Cup win over Atlanata on Wednesday. Chelsea have had a £20.6million bid rejected for the winger, with Fiorentina insisting they will not accept bids below the £26.8m release clause in the Colombian's contract. The clubs are expected to hold further discussions over the next 24 hours. Juan Cuadrado scored a penalty to make it 2-0 to Fiorentina in their victory over Atalanta on Wednesday . Cuadrado celebrates his goal as Fiorentina cruised to a 3-1 win to book a last-eight tie against Roma . Cuadrado holds off Atalanta defender Lionel Scaloni as he looks to get a cross in . And Cuadrado proved why Jose Mourinho wants to bring him to Stamford Bridge by stepping up and slotting home a penalty in the 12th minute of a comfortable win for Fiorentina. Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Montella, however, said denied that Cuadrado would leave: 'To date, there is no chance that Cuadrado leaves Fiorentina. He knows that some things are exaggerated.' Montella's side were 3-0 up inside 30 minutes with striker Mario Gomez netting twice. Gomez, who has been struggling with injury and form, had only scored once in the previous 10 months. But he got Fiorentina off to the perfect start with a deflected shot in the sixth minute. Mario Gomez scored two goals during the game - ending a barren run for the striker . Gomez (second left) celebrates his first goal with his Fiorentina team-mates . Cuadrado doubled Fiorentina's lead from the spot six minutes later after Guglielmo Stendardo was harshly adjudged to have fouled Gomez, sparking fierce Atalanta protests. Gomez added Fiorentina's third in the 28th minute before Rolando Bianchi scored a consolation goal just before half time with a curler into the bottom right corner. Fiorentina defender Marcos Alonso was sent off in the 84th after two bookings in three minutes. Fioretina will now face Roma in the quarter-final after Rudi Garcia's side beat Empoli 2-1 on Tuesday. | Chelsea have had £20.6million bid rejected for the Colombian winger .
Juan Cuadrado scores penalty in Fiorentina's Italian Cup win over Atalanta .
Mario Gomez also nets double as Fiorentina cruise to a 3-1 win . |
275,751 | f1346bbab8c4cf153e970755663231305d19c23f | By . Hugo Gye and Chris Brooke . PUBLISHED: . 09:25 EST, 23 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:55 EST, 23 September 2013 . A mother yesterday described the moment she kissed her son goodbye but suppressed the urge to go back and give him a second hug – moments before he threw himself in front of a high-speed train. Sarah Pirie, 50, had driven her son Jake to the station after a weekend break at home so he could return to boarding school, an inquest heard. She stood on tiptoes to kiss her 6ft 6in son and went back to the car. ‘I thought about going back to give him another hug,’ she said. ‘But I thought: “No. He’s 17 now. He’s grown up.”’ Suicide: Jake Pirie killed himself on the way back to boarding school in February this year at the age of 17 . Star pupil: Jake was a top student at Uppingham School and was set to continue to university this year . The teenager had been worrying about getting behind with his English A-level coursework and a virus had stopped him playing sport all term. But his mother said she thought he ‘seemed better’ – and after saying goodbye on the platform she returned home to email his housemaster that he was getting back to his normal self. Sadly the sixth-former, a pupil at the £30,000-a-year Uppingham School in Rutland, was already dead by the time she sent the email. The inquest was told that when his mother asked if he wanted to buy a return ticket, Jake replied: . Shocked: Those who knew the teenager said there was no indication that he was feeling suicidal at the time of his death . ‘No, just get a single. I don’t know when I’m next going home or what is going on.’ She added: ‘He told me that he loved me as well. But that was quite normal.’ The tragedy happened 14 years after Jake’s father James Pirie also committed suicide when he was 39. Mrs Pirie told the inquest Jake was a small boy when he witnessed his father try to kill himself in 1998. He succeeded a year later and four-year-old Jake was with his mother when they discovered the body. Asked how this affected her son, Mrs Pirie replied: ‘He had been starting to ask more questions about his father and what he was like.’ She also told the hearing Jake’s grandmother suffered from clinical depression and was being treated in a psychiatric unit. The inquest in Northallerton heard Jake was a ‘talented pupil’ who had offers from three universities. He was worried about English coursework that was due to be handed in and had asked for the deadline to be extended after losing a memory stick he needed to complete it. Mrs Pirie said her son had been allowed home to Thornton Steward, North Yorkshire, on the weekend that he died in February this year because his grandmother had become unwell. She said they had a ‘peaceful weekend’ although he had ‘not eaten as much as he normally did’. Grieving: Jake's friends took to Facebook to pay tribute to him in the aftermath of the tragedy . Jake seemed in good spirits when she drove him to the station late on Sunday afternoon to return to school. He called a friend to discuss sharing a taxi from Peterborough station to school. Describing the incident, train driver John Ashby said he sounded the horn as a warning when he saw the young man close to the platform edge. ‘The person seemed to hesitate and step back – then jumped turning his back to the train,’ he said. He applied the emergency brake but couldn’t avoid hitting the teenager, who died from multiple injuries. Mrs Pirie said her son usually played for the school rugby team but had not felt well enough to join in all term because of an undiagnosed virus, which she thought might have been glandular fever. Unexpected: Northallerton Station, where Jake killed himself after being dropped off by his mother . Jake's . house master Jonathan Lee said the 17-year-old had obtained nine GCSEs . and four AS-levels, and had three university offers. 'He . appeared to be suffering from flu and had got behind with his studies,' he said. 'His mother was concerned about Jake's motivation and . lethargy. She also mentioned he had strained his back. 'I didn't think he was not motivated. But he did appear tired.' Deputy head Karl Wilding said: ‘Although Jake had anxieties about his schoolwork they were not above and beyond any other pupil at that stage of his school career. 'He rarely spoke about his father. There was genuine surprise and shock at Jake's death.' Recording . a verdict of suicide, coroner Michael Oakley said: 'He placed himself . with his back to an oncoming train which he would have known was . literally on top of him when he did this. 'There . is no real suggestion as to why he should have done that. He had been . ill. He had some sort of virus and was concerned about getting behind . with his work and some work due to be handed in. 'But there was no indication he was going to do anything as drastic as what happened.' | Jake Pirie, 17, killed himself following a visit home to the Yorkshire Dales .
The teenager had been on his way back to Uppingham School .
His mother told inquest he was worried about coursework and had been feeling unwell for weeks .
Jake found his father dead at home when he was just three years old .
For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details . |
231,644 | b7e8daf4384c95518e53ad76f2c27fc154d3f4e5 | They're known for being one of the most rancid-smelling animals and would seem to be the most unlikely of pets. But Deborah Cipriani keeps 50 of the animals in her own home; they are given free reign of the five-bedroom house - even sleeping on Deborah's bed. The 55-year-old, from North Ridgeville, Ohio, runs America's only rescue centre for domestic skunks. Scroll down for video . Devoted: Deborah Cipriani says skunks are loveable and devoted pets and keeps 50 of them in her home . Rescued: The 55-year-old, from North Ridgeville, Ohio, runs America's only rescue centre for domestic skunks and offers them free reign of her own home . Deborah, who is a customer service worker, said: 'A lot of people think we're weird to like pet skunks and they always say, "Why do you want a pet skunk" and I ask them "Why do you want a pet dog?" 'It's the same reason - skunks can be loveable, devoted animals.' She added: 'I have a lot of skunks in the house, they've all got different personalities. 'Some are nice, some are not. Some want to sleep on the bed, some don't. 'But, no matter what the issue is, we treat them all like family.' Full-time job: Mrs Cirpriani spends three hours every morning and evening cleaning the foul-smelling creatures which roam her five-bedroom house . Deborah, who lives with partner Kevin, 51, bought her first skunk in 2000 to help her through the death of her mother. Since then, she's become so attached to the animals that she's dedicated her life to caring for them - getting up at 4.30am every morning to make sure they're all fed in time. She said: 'I have to get up early to start the daily routine of feeding and cleaning every single skunk in the house - that takes three hours alone. 'I then go to work and when I'm home at the end of the day the routine starts all over again. 'It's tiring but it all the running around has actually made me much healthier. If I didn't have so many skunks I wouldn't be so limber and so energetic.' Every year she hosts 'Skunk Fest' for skunk fans from across the country to parade their pets in a 'beauty pageant' On show: The smelly animals are paraded around on a lead; some are even pushed in prams . Since 2000, her home, called Skunk Haven, has become well known throughout America and she even has fans in the UK, France and the Netherlands. Deborah has set up her own event - called Skunk Fest - which attracts fellow animal lovers from all over America every September. The bizarre day includes a beauty pageant for skunks and an award for 'best dressed'. Doting owners walk their pets around on leads; some push them in prams. Deborah said: 'The Skunk Fest is awesome. What we want to do is help the public see skunks in a different light. Tolerant: Partner Kevin is tolerant is Deborah's passion for skunks, which have helped her get over the death of her mother . Dedicated: Since she adopted her first skunk in 2000, she has now amassed 50 of the animals and has devoted her life to caring for them . Chosen one: Deborah said she feels she was chosen to help the skunks and will keep doing so until she dies . 'The animals have a bad reputation because of their smell but what we want to do is change perceptions. 'Because skunks aren't the smelly little creatures that people think they are - they're wonderful, beautiful animals.' She added: 'I feel that I was chosen to help the skunks and I will keep doing this and I will own skunks until I die.' | Deborah Cipriani, from North Ridgeville, Ohio, got her first skunk in 2000 .
The smelly animals helped her deal with the death of her mother .
She now has 50 and devotes her life to cleaning and caring for them .
Says she feels she has 'been chosen to look after them' and always will . |
160,429 | 5b66bde26c1552a5e4cc517c497ccde737e6e02c | A family of three owls were adorably intrigued by a GoPro camera left outside their tree hole home. One by one, the birds pop their heads out of the nest and investigate the screen. While the first isn't brave enough to touch the lens, the second baby owl ventures closer. Scroll down for video . A family of three owls are adorably intrigued by a GoPro camera set up outside their home . Although all examine the camera, only one is brave enough to peck the lens . The birds make a clacking sound as the bob their heads toward the camera lens. Finally, the bravest of the three ruffles its feathers and goes in for the peck. After tapping its beak against the lens several time, the owl seems to give up, confused, and returns to its perch. At one point, two of the birds pop their heads out of their tree hole to stare at the camera . The first of the three remains at a safe distance from the perplexing toy . After pecking the lens several time, the second owl gives up and returns to his perch . | Three baby owls intrigued by GoPro camera set up by tree hole home .
One by one, they approach the camera, but only one attempts to peck it .
With little success, the birds return to their perch confused . |
249,492 | cee2a183faf82e332d3a19472aea12a0882794c5 | By . Stephen Mcgowan . Neil Lennon has attributed Celtic’s dismal Champions League defeat in Poland to a lack of investment in the first-team squad. Speaking after a 4-1 first leg loss to Legia Warsaw left Scotland’s champions with a mountain to climb to reach the play-off round, the former Parkhead boss claimed it was an accident waiting to happen. Before leaving his post in May, the Northern Irishman spoke publicly on the dangers of failing to replace key players such as Gary Hooper, Victor Wanyama and Joe Ledley. Called it! Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon was not surprised by Celtic's defeat in Champions League qualifying . Crushing: Celtic players leave the field after losing 4-1 to Legia Warsaw in the first leg of third round qualifying . As new . manager Ronny Deila faced questions over his team selection in Wednesday . night’s debacle, his predecessor claimed a heavy defeat in the tricky . qualifiers would have happened sooner or later. ‘I . wouldn’t say it was inevitable, but I think it might have been on the . cards,’ he said. ‘There has been no investment at the minute in the team . and Ronny really hasn’t had much time to bed himself in with John . Collins and get to know the players. ‘Those . qualifiers are always really tricky and it took me a year or two. I . remember Gordon Strachan in his first game losing 5-0 to Artmedia in . Bratislava. He won the second leg 4-0 – but it was too big a gap to . recover. ‘So it can happen. They are not out of the tie, but they are going to have to play supremely well to get through now.’ Tall order: New Parkhead boss Ronny Deila has it all to do to take Celtic into the Champions League proper . Failure . to overcome the deficit would see Celtic drop into a Europa League . play-off clash and lose a potential £15million in European revenues. Lennon . believes the club have insulated themselves against that by storing . away the cash from previous campaigns. But failure could increase the . chances of Fraser Forster and Virgil van Dijk being sold to plug the gap . and impact on the club’s attendances in the coming season. Admitting . he left the Celtic job because domestic football no longer stirred his . competitive urges, Lennon – who led the club to three successive titles - . added: ‘I think the Champions League is always important. It gives the . fans and players something to look forward to. ‘There . is the money side as well, but the club is financially healthy. They . can maybe take the hit on not making the Champions League this year. I . don’t think it will be disastrous. Fine start: Celtic's Callum McGregor celebrates after putting his side 1-0 up in Poland . ‘But . in terms of the football angle, it’s imperative to stay in there and . qualify if they can. I was player, coach, manager and it was a huge part . of my life. But in the end we won the league by 30 points last season . and I just thought it was maybe a good time to leave and look for a . different challenge. ‘We . felt, myself and the backroom team, that the challenge wasn’t really . there. We had a great time in the Champions League, but we struggled a . little bit for competition.’ Legia Warsaw’s Ivica Vrdoljak missed two penalties – with Forster saving the second to keep Celtic’s slender hopes alive. But the Polish club’s captain says Henning Berg’s side will finish the job professionally at Murrayfield next Wednesday. ‘I’m . positive we can now finish the job in Scotland,’ said Vrdoljak. ‘We . were comfortable at home and played very well with the goals from Miro . Radovic helping us to settle down. Off the hook? Celtic were lucky not to lose by more after Ivica Vrdoljak missed two penalties . ‘But . we are aware it is half-time and that Celtic came back against Shakhtar . Karagandy last season. That means we must concentrate for the 90 . minutes. We believed in ourselves and I don’t know what was wrong with . Celtic.’ Vrdoljak apologised to his team-mates for wasting the penalties, but vowed to take another in Edinburgh if it comes. ‘I think in the future I will score – in fact if we get one in Edinburgh t I will take it and this time I will score no problem. ‘This . was just one of those nights, but like the team I have faith in my . ability. Worse things happen in life than missing a penalty and I thank . my team-mates for saving me. ‘I apologised to them afterwards but we were together as a team and were all able to laugh because of the final result.’ Meanwhile, . sources close to Celtic striker Anthony Stokes have played down claims . of a bust-up between the player and manager Deila after he was left on . the bench against Warsaw. Teemu . Pukki and new loan signing Jo Inge Berget were given the nod to start . in the 4-1 defeat and both were replaced during the game - although . Stokes did not see any action. | Celtic were defeated 4-1 by Legia Warsaw in Champions League qualifying .
Former manager Neil Lennon was not surprised by the result and admitted lack of investment could be a reason for the crushing blow .
The Hoops have only brought in Craig Gordon and Jo Inge Berget .
New manager Ronny Deila has his work cut out for him at Parkhead . |
15,619 | 2c590419199fb7c7459675d2be535033c4a98b5c | Shame: The guidance was issued in the wake of the furore over Ched Evans, convicted of raping a woman, but who maintains the sex was consensual . A row broke out last night over guidelines which would see men accused of date rape being asked to prove that a woman wanted to have sex. As part of a major shake-up of investigations into sex offences, the Director of Public Prosecutions said it was vital to remove ‘any grey area’ to recognise situations where a woman may have been unable to give consent. Campaigners described the move as a ‘huge step forward’ in ensuring fewer rapists escaped justice. But critics said the guidelines threatened to undermine Britain’s long-standing principle that people were innocent until proven guilty. Tory MP Philip Davies said: ‘It is not clear how anyone is supposed to prove that consent was given. Is the CPS really suggesting that you have to get a signed statement off someone before they have sex? ‘Nobody wants to see rapists walk free. I’m as hardline as they come on crime, but this is ridiculous. Our legal system is based on people being innocent until proven guilty and the CPS are trying to turn that on its head.’ Alison Saunders, the DPP, issued the guidance in the wake of the furore over Ched Evans, who was released from prison in October halfway through a five-year sentence for raping a 19-year-old woman in a Welsh hotel. The footballer has always professed his innocence, saying the sex was consensual, but the woman said she was too drunk to agree. The guidelines, issued to all police forces and prosecutors, move well beyond the idea of ‘no means no’ for the first time. They spell out situations where victims would not be in a position to agree to sex, such as if they were incapacitated through alcohol or drugs, had mental health problems or learning difficulties, or were asleep or unconscious. Rape suspects in positions of power – such as a teacher, employer or doctor – and domestic violence situations where a complainant ‘may be financially or otherwise’ dependent on their alleged rapist, should also be scrutinised, the Crown Prosecution Service said. The document also made clear that behaviour such as staying silent or using contraception did not signify consent. The guidance tells police officers and lawyers to ask how the suspect knew the alleged victim had consented to sex ‘with full capacity and freedom to do so’. Investigators have been told to put greater emphasis on an accused man demonstrating that he had obtained the woman’s agreement ‘fully and freely’. Alison Saunders, the DPP, left, said it was vital to recognise situations where a woman may have been unable to give consent. But Tory MP Philip Davies, right, said it wasn't clear how proof of consent could work . In August last year a leading female judge provoked controversy by criticising rape victims who drank too much and were unable to remember their attack clearly. Judge Mary Jane Mowat said: ‘I’m not saying it’s right to rape a drunken woman, I’m not saying for a moment that it’s allowable to take advantage of a drunken woman. ‘But a jury in a position where they’ve got a woman who says, “I was absolutely off my head, I can’t really remember what I was doing, I can’t remember what I said, I can’t remember if I consented or not but I know I wouldn’t have done” – when a jury is faced with something like that, how are they supposed to react?’ Mrs Saunders said: ‘Consent to sexual activity is not a grey area – in law it is clearly defined and must be given fully and freely. ‘We want police and prosecutors to make sure they ask in every case where consent is the issue: How did the suspect know the complainant was saying yes and doing so freely and knowingly?’ Sarah Green, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: ‘The guidance is a huge step forward. It will help ensure that juries are asked to look in detail at the behaviour of defendants as well as at that of the complainant.’ But David Green, director of the Civitas think-tank, warned: ‘The burden of proof should always be on the prosecution and we should never relax that requirement.’ | New guidelines would force alleged rapists to prove consent was given .
But critics warn it undermines principle of innocent until proven guilty .
'Is the CPS really suggesting that you have to get a signed statement off someone before they have sex?' asks Tory MP Philip Davies . |
243,699 | c76f728b82e2fc739fefdd629ba0695ff4b6b9e1 | Long before Ernest Hemingway wrote his first story, his mother was busy writing about him, in a series of scrapbooks documenting the future author's childhood. Starting Sunday, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in . Boston will make the contents of five Hemingway scrapbooks available . online for the first time, giving fans and scholars the chance to follow . the life of one of the 20th century's literary greats from diapers to . high school degree. Grace Hall Hemingway began the series of scrapbooks by describing how the sun shone and robins sang on the day in July 1899 when Hemingway was born. Family history: Grace Hall Hemingway added her new son Ernest's birth certificate and a family photograph to her scrapbook when her son was born and continued to document his life . Close bond: A photograph of Hemingway's mother Grace Hall Hemingway . Hemingway Collection curator Susan Wrynn said much of the content hasn't been made available to the public before and only a few researchers have seen it in its entirety. The fragile leather-bound volumes have been kept in a dark vault for about four decades to keep them from falling apart. Literary great: The young Hemingway showed an early talent for writing and storytelling that lead to worldwide recognition as adult . The release of these records from the archive, home to 90 per cent of existing Hemingway manuscript materials, will come on what would have been the scribe's 114th birthday. 'I think it will be a very rich resource for people interested in learning about this period of his life,' Sean Hemingway, the author's grandson, said in an interview with The Associated Press. 'He had tremendous talent. It must have been there from the beginning. So I'm sure there are clues in there to that.' Pennsylvania State University professor Sandra Spanier, who is general editor of a project that will publish Hemingway's letters in more than a dozen volumes, said the scrapbooks the author's mother created offer details of his daily life up until age 18 that don't exist anywhere else. 'She almost made their lives into a story... and I think that carries over into his life and his fiction,' she said. There's a scribbling from when Hemingway wasn't quite three years old that the future war correspondent and novelist - who later won a Pulitzer Prize for 'The Old Man and the Sea' - told his mother depicted the roaring sea. Other early passages also hinted at the writer Hemingway would become. Before he was four, Hemingway was trooping into the woods to go hunting with his father and 'using long words' and making 'sage remarks,' according to his mother, who enclosed photos of her son trout fishing and holding his own rifle. 'Can cock my own gun,' one of her captions read. Mea culpa: A 13-year-old Hemingway admits to bad behavior in church but promises to improve in this handwritten note . Early life: Hemingway (left) kept up correspondence when he joined the army as an ambulance driver at 18; Curator Susan Wynn (right) displays one of the scrapbooks of his life made by Ernest Hemingway's mother . By the time Hemingway was five, his mother noted that he was collecting war cartoons and had an appreciation for characters with courage. 'He loves stories about Great Americans,' she wrote. The scrapbooks have a plethora of family photos from the Hemingway family's home in Oak Park, Illinois, and their vacation cottage on a lake in Northern Michigan, including shots of a bare-bottomed baby Hemingway playing in the water by a canoe. They include letters to Hemingway and others he wrote as a child, including a note of contrition in which he confessed to bad behavior in church. 'My conduct tomorrow will be good,' 13-year-old Hemingway promised. History: Rynn holds a letter from Ernest Hemingway to his mother, Grace Hall Hemingway . The scrapbooks also contain childhood paintings and tell of Hemingway playing the cello, suiting up for a 'lightweight' football squad and taking up boxing. During his junior year of high school, he was on his school's prom committee and, according to a report card note from his Latin teacher, showed 'improvement both in attitude and work.' As Hemingway matured, the scrapbooks showcased his earliest attempts at the craft that would come to define his professional life. Among them were a short story from his high school's literary magazine, clippings from some of his first assignments as a high school newspaper reporter and a sonnet in which 16-year-old Hemingway seemed to poke fun at himself. 'Nobody likes Ernest, that, is straight stuff,' he said, 'and when he writes stories - we all cry "Enough."'The scrapbooks are part of the collection that Hemingway's widow, Mary, gifted to the JFK Library and Museum after the author's 1961 suicide. Sean Hemingway said he's excited by their public release and called them one of the ways he's become familiar with a grandfather he never met. 'He died before I was born,' the 46-year-old said. 'Looking at these kinds of things... I feel like I have gotten a chance to know him a bit.' | Hemingway's mother kept detailed scrapbooks documenting his childhood .
They are being made available online for the first time after being kept in a vault for 40 years .
The scrapbooks contain some of Hemingway's earliest writings and pictures of him as a bare-bottomed baby . |
256,795 | d860a5ee88414c44bddff9d1c587b96d259b2031 | By . Sadie Whitelocks . Last updated at 9:44 AM on 5th January 2012 . When his 26 stone 2lb frame got wedged in a turnstile, football fan Marc Littlejohn realised he had to do something about his weight. Traumatized by the incident, the 30-year-old from Halstead, Essex, who was always considered 'the jolly fat friend', hit the gym and started running three times a week. And after shedding 10st 2lb and trimming his waist from 52 inches to 36 he has been crowned as the nation's super fit male slimmer. Biggest losers: (From left) Michelle McBarnet, Anneltje Hacuebord, Marc Littlejohn, Alison Purvis Gisborne, Helen Elverson, Michael Jones, Jane Hall and Lady Arabella Onslow . He is one of eight dieters who have been revealed as Rosemary Conley Diet & Fitness Magazine Slimmers of 2012. Mr Littlejohn said: 'All my life I've been the jolly fat friend and I often got in the fat jokes before anyone else could. 'I . had the biggest belly you've ever seen. If I'd gone on as I was I would . have got bigger and bigger and almost certainly had a heart attack.' But following advice from a diet club and becoming more active Mr Littljohn says his life has been turned around. 'I strongly believe Rosemary Conley, and my instructor Karen Perkins, have saved my life.' SUPER FIT MALE SLIMMER . Super fit male slimmer: Marc Littlejohn shed 10st 2lb, taking his waist from 52 inches to a trim 36 . 50+ SLIMMER . 50+ slimmer: Jane Hal, 54, lost 7st 5lb in 18 . months and can now ride her motorbike comfortably . Others to win awards include Jane Hall who was nicknamed Fatty Arbuckle as a teenager. The 54-year-old, from Lancaster, used to weigh 18st 4lb and wear a dress . size 26, but landed the 50+ slimmer award after shedding 7st 5lb in 18 . months. For years she battled with comfort eating, but following a health scare she decided to join the Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Club. Jane was also determined to enjoy her motorbiking hobby without her stomach resting on the motorbike's fuel tank. Commenting on her achievement she said: 'I've now got my own fitted jacket in a sexy red and black that makes me feel feminine, and a brand new Honda Shadow Black Spirit 750cc to roar about on.' Anneltje Hacquebord, 34, from Oxford, also decided to fight the pounds so she could enjoy rowing for the first time. She said: 'Living in Oxford, I fell in love with rowing but at nearly 16st . I couldn't have even considered getting into a boat.' Anneltje, who juggles a career as an architect by day and a flamenco teacher by night, was crowned career woman slimmer of the year for losing six stone in less than a year and dropping from a size 20 to a svelte size 10. She . said: 'I am so delighted with what has happened and getting this award . simply endorses what it means to me, it's an external acknowledgement of . what I have achieved. 'Now I've lost so . much weight I row regularly and have just won my second race.' CAREER WOMAN SLIMMER . Career woman slimmer: Anneltje Hacquebord, 34, who dropped from a size 20 to a size 10, can now fit in a boat . DOTING DAD . Doting dad slimmer: Michael Jones, 40, went from 21st 11.2lb to 12st 13lb . Finding a different motivation Michael Jones, 40, from Luton, Bedfordshire, decided to get in shape so he could be a better dad. After falling from 21st 11.2lb to 12st 13lb he won the title of doting dad slimmer of the year. The computer programmer, lived a sedentary lifestyle. At home he watched TV or played computer games, often until 3am, leaving little time for his son, 12-year-old Jonathan. The final straw came when he was asked to leave a rollercoaster ride because he was too big for the seat. He added: 'I wasn't a very good dad at all.' GP Lady Arabella Onslow, from Kirkby-in-Furness, Cumbria, lost a massive 10st after she had to tell a patient to lose weight. She said: 'As a GP you listen to patients with all sorts of problems and, of course, not all of them are connected with weight, but a lot can be like breathlessness, bad joints and diabetes. 'So when I had to tell a patient they would benefit from losing weight I felt they were judging me.' The 41-year-old who won Rosemary Conley's health professional slimmer of the year award now wears a size 12 for the first time in more than 20 years. She said that she can now give a positive message to her patients, but before she was conscious of her size: . 'I couldn't sit down comfortably, my knees ached, I developed sciatica and at one point I needed an extra seat belt extension on a flight.' Alison Purvis-Gisborne from Dronfield, Derbyshire, also felt self-conscious in her career as a sports physiology lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University. 'Weighing 20st and lecturing others on how the human body responds to exercise made me feel embarrassed,' she said. HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SLIMMER . Health professional slimmer: Lady Arabella Onslow, lost 10st after she had to tell a patient to lose weight . ONLINE SLIMMER . Online slimmer: Alison Purvis-Gisborne used to weigh 20st but is now a slimmer 10st 12.5lb . But the 36-year-old now weighs 10st 12.5lb after she realised her unhealthy diet of ice cream, chocolate biscuits and pizza was having a negative impact on her body. She said: 'I was horrified to discover how high . my blood pressure was and realised I had to change to protect my health . before it was too late. 'That early grave seemed a whole lot closer but I was given the chance to reduce it through weight loss rather than medication.' Alison,now trains five times a week and has signed up for the London Marathon. She landed Rosemary Conley's online slimmer of the year award for losing 9st in just 14 months. Sport and exercise unite all the winners and discovering a love of cycling after shedding a mammoth 8st 2lb in just over a year earned Michelle McBarnett, 39, the title of super fit female slimmer of 2012. Michelle, of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, used to weigh 20st 2lb and wear a size 20 - 22 but now weighs just 12st and is a slimline size 12 - 14. For years she had been on medication for high blood pressure, but not wanting to take tablets for the rest of her life she decided to take action. She said: 'At only 37 years of age the thought of having to take tablets for the rest of my life was a real shock. 'Rather than having a final goal weight I set my sights on getting off medication as quickly as possible.' Since losing weight she has completed her first bike marathon - in just two hours and six minutes, and cycles four miles every day and up to 30 miles at a weekend. She has also set herself a new challenge of completing the London to Brighton 54 mile bike ride - something she never thought she would be healthy enough to do. Helen Elverson, 33, was the final slimmer to be awarded for her successful weight-loss. The mother-of-three, from Milton Keynes, was slim when she had her children, but found that pregnancy and a change of lifestyle took their toll on her body. Her weight shot up to a 'hefty' 19st and she became a size 24, gorging on cakes, pastries, chocolates and five bags of crisps a day. She said: 'It wasn't just baby cravings, it was me being a pig and I reckon I was getting through 4,000 calories some days. 'I had no interests, no hobbies and no social life.' But after joining a slimming club she lost 8st 7lb in just 14 months, and now shops for size 10 clothes for her 10st 7lb frame. The winners will all be presented with their awards and £1,000 from Rosemary Conley at a ceremony held in London this evening. SUPER FIT FEMALE SLIMMER . Super fit female slimmer: Michelle McBarnett used to wear a size 20 - 22 but now shops for size 12 - 14 . YUMMY MUMMY SLIMMER . Yummy mummy slimmer: Helen Elverson, 33, was once a size 24, but after losing 8st 7lb she is now a a size 10 . | All my life I've been the jolly fat friend, says top slimmer Marc Littlejohn .
I was getting through 4,000 calories, says yummy mummy now a size 10 .
At 16st I couldn't get into a boat! - now slimmer wins second rowing race . |
230,676 | b6b8316f21f919094561d6641c9a241c8725c1fa | By . Jessica Jerreat . Bake sale: Saira Munoz could be deported over her arrest for selling pot brownies in school . A California student arrested for selling pot brownies to raise money for her prom dress could be deported to Mexico. Saira Munoz came up with the money-making scheme while at River Valley High School last year and even employed a fellow student to help sell the brownies. But the teenager, who was 18 at the time, was arrested after a student fell sick and had to be taken to hospital after eating one of the drug-laced cakes. Munoz was sentenced to nine days in prison and four years' probation on Monday but the teenager was also told she could face being deported after her sentence ends. Because she arrived in the U.S. in 2000 with only temporary permission to remain in the country, her felony charge for employing a minor to sell marijuana could be used as reason to send her back to Mexico. Friends of the former student, who currently works in a restaurant, are upset that she could face deportation for her mistakes. 'I was hurt, because she got arrested, and nobody wanted to see somebody we cared about go away,' Carlos Robles, who went to school with Munoz, told CBS News. 'There's people that deserve to be deported, and she just wasn't one of them. There's people that do way worse,' he added. Munoz was convicted of felony child . endangerment and misdemeanor possession of marijuana on school grounds . after admitting to selling the cakes in March last year. Scroll down for video . Sentenced: Former River Valley student Saira Munoz was given nine days in prison and four years' probation . School dance: Saira Munoz planned to sell pot brownies to raise money for a prom dress . She told officers she obtained the drugs from an acquaintance, and planned to use the money she made to buy a dress for the school dance. Two minors were issued citations for helping in the distribution of the pot brownies and were released, the Appeal Democrat reported. As he sentenced her, Judge Brian Aronson told the teenager: 'If you are departed, you must not return unless you do so legally. If you do return, you must check in with probation immediately.' | Saira Munoz was arrested when a student was taken to hospital after eating the marijuana-laced cakes .
19-year-old faces having her temporary visa revoked because of charges . |
15,841 | 2cf8b66560584f0d40e0c6181ad11d4d0ae342b2 | (CNN) -- Two passenger rail cars jumped the tracks Wednesday near Ann Arbor, Michigan, but no life-threatening injuries were reported in the accident, officials said. The Amtrak train "made contact" with a vehicle at a public highway crossing, Amtrak said, causing the engine to turn on its side and the first two cars of the train to derail. The train involved in the incident was Amtrak Wolverine Service Train 351. There were 71 passengers and five crew members on board, Amtrak said. The train, made up of two locomotives and six rail cars, was heading westbound from Pontiac, Michigan, to Chicago. Amtrak suspended service in central Michigan for several hours and said it will offer refunds or re-bookings without fees for those affected. | An Amtrak train and a vehicle "made contact" at a highway crossing .
Two rail cars came off the tracks .
No life-threatening injuries were reported, officials say . |
287,034 | ffe68381bd829f0c9845baac6254c0c8a86cc7a4 | Oxford University last night launched an investigation into claims that Tory students sang a ‘despicable’ song celebrating Nazi massacres during meetings. Members of the university’s Conservative Association were alleged to have given renditions of the song that revels in the killing of Jews during ‘port and policy’ nights. One video, filmed in the common room at Corpus Christi college, is said to show a student drunkenly chanting: ‘Dashing through the Reich’, before being silenced by another member. Oxford University Conservative Association president James Lawson with a friend. They were not involved in the alleged racist singing . The song’s full version, to the tune of Jingle Bells, continues: ‘Dashing through the Reich / in a black Mercedes Benz / killing lots of kike / ra ta ta ta ta.’ The word ‘kike’ is a derogatory term for Jewish people. One member of the Conservative Association, who declined to be named, told the Oxford Student newspaper: ‘Lots of people were singing it that night, and indeed on many other nights, and the general attitude is that that was OK. ‘The thing is, lots of members do find that song, and songs like that one, absolutely despicable, though little is done to stop it. I am very worried with the direction the society is going in at present.’ Pictures taken from ‘port and policy’ nights during the past year also showed members of the society rolling . around drunk on the floor. One was photographed pouring port into a friend’s mouth through a pith helmet. Excess: A member drinks port poured through a pith helmet. Neither was involved in the Nazi singing . Another . photo shows two members dressed as Margaret Thatcher next to a coal . miner outfit bearing an offensive placard which reads: ‘I love . shafting.’ Last night, Joe . Cooke, a former president of the Oxford University Conservative . Association, told the Daily Mail he was resigning from it in protest . about the ‘debauched’ behaviour of many of his fellow members. The . third year PPE student said: ‘It is disgusting and goes against . everything the Conservative Party stands for. I am completely . disillusioned. 'I came from a single-parent family and went to a state . school and had to work for everything I have achieved. ‘But . unfortunately the majority of members are rich former public schoolboys . with a great sense of entitlement who are far more interested in . drinking port than discussing policy.’ A former treasurer of the association recently wrote to members to complain about the ‘excessive and crass’ singing at meetings. He wrote: ‘The dissonance is enough to inflict pain as short, spotty, still-pubescent boys struggle to fix their unsteady voices on any pitch at all. ‘This unbridled clamour is disturbing finalists who live near the Union, many of whom are sounder Conservatives than most, but who don’t feel the need to dress up in ridiculous clothes or pretend that we still have an empire.’ David Cameron and former Tory leaders Michael Howard and Iain Duncan Smith have all given talks to the association in recent years. Its former presidents include Cabinet members William Hague and Jeremy Hunt. The OUCA is affiliated with Conservative Future, the party’s youth wing, and regularly supports candidates in local elections. During last year’s General Election, five former presidents stood for parliamentary seats. The Nazi song allegation is just the latest controversy to hit the association in recent years. Two years ago it was temporarily banned from using Oxford University in its title after members were urged to compete to see who could tell the most offensive racist joke. Yesterday an Oxford University spokesman said: ‘The university proctors, who are responsible for discipline, have been made aware of the [Oxford Student] article and will be considering whether there are grounds for further investigation. ‘The university strongly condemns any form of racism or discrimination.’ James Lawson, the current president of the Conservative Association who took over after the alleged racist singing took place, said he had started an investigation into the allegations. He said: ‘If it turns out this person is a member we will take immediate action to expel them from the association. Racism has no place in the association or our society.’ Additional reporting by James Rothwell . | One video said to show student singing 'Dashing through the Reich' to tune of Jingle Bells . |
251,102 | d0fb72f2df7282c349193c0ea47af281034a2c32 | Lionel Messi may not have worn his special-edition birthday boots against Nigeria, but the ones he did lace up in Porto Alegre certainly did the job. In the 2006 and 2010 World Cups the left-footed magician scored just once. He has four in three games this time round – a brilliant double against Nigeria taking him on par at the top of the goal-scoring charts with Brazil's prodigal son, Neymar. VIDEO Scroll down to watch the trailer for the documentary-movie 'Messi' First up: Lionel Messi's strike sails past Vincent Enyeama in the Nigeria goal for opening goal . The two did not hit it off in their first season together at Barcelona following the samba star's blockbuster move from Santos last summer, but they have shown their considerable individual ability for their national sides at this World Cup. In Vincent Enyeama, Messi was lining up against one of the few goalkeepers who has come out of a duel with the Argentina star relatively unscathed. At the 2010 World Cup the Nigeria goalkeeper made four world-class saves to keep Messi at bay, as Argentina edged past their African opponents 1-0 courtesy of a sixth-minute goal from Gabriel Heinze. Salute: Lionel Messi celebrates scoring his second goal of the game against Nigeria . Those happy memories were consigned to the past after just three minutes of their rematch at the Estadio Beira-Rio. A divine throughball from Javier Mascherano found Angel di Maria on the left side of the area. The Real Madrid midfielder flicked a shot against the post, which rebounded off Enyeama's head and back on to the post, and there was Messi, running at full pelt but still somehow able to guide a thumping finish into the roof of the net from 10 yards. Within a minute Nigeria were level, Ahmed Musa cutting in from the left and whipping a finish inside the right-hand post. The strike, deservedly, had both Nigeria and Argentina fans on their feet. All smiles: Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama shares a joke with Messi during the World Cup clash . Messi nearly got on the end of a flowing move in the 25th minute to restore his side's lead. After instigating the move himself with a driving run from the right, di Maria's sweeping cross/shot just evaded Argentina's No 10 at the back post. Two minutes before the break Messi forced Enyeama into a fine diving stop with a curling free kick from 35 yards. With his sighters set the recently-turned 27-year-old gave Enyeama no chance from a second set piece less than a minute later. VIDEO All Star XI: Lionel Messi . Sures hot: Messi curls home a free kick for his second goal against Nigeria in Porto Alegre . Messi won the free kick by gliding past two challenges before being chopped to the ground by Nigeria centre-back Kenneth Omeruo. There were no questions about who would take it, as Messi grabbed and placed the ball down immediately. He then curled the dead-ball sublimely into the top-right corner, Enyeama so bewitched by the flight of the strike that he did not even dive to stop it. Two minutes into the second half Nigeria equalised through that man Musa, though they were not level for long as Marcos Rojo got the final touch at an Argentina corner to deflect Ezequiel Garay's header past Enyeama and make it 3-2. Influence: Messi scored four of Argentina's five goals to help his side reach the knockout stages . With Argentina's place in the last 16 secure, Alejandro Sabella withdrew Messi in the 63rd minute, no doubt wrapping him in cotton wool as soon as he took his place on the bench. Argentina boast some wonderful talents in their squad, including Sergio Aguero and di Maria, but Messi is streets ahead of the pair of them. Their captain has scored four of his team's five goals at the tournament, dragging them into the knock-out rounds. If your team is going to rely on one man at a World Cup, in this kind of form you would want it to be Messi. | Messi and Neymar both scored four goals in group stage .
Argentina forward scored twice in 3-2 victory against Nigeria .
Messi fired home after Di Maria's shot rebounded off the post .
Messi curled home a sublime free kick for his second goal . |
101,699 | 0f15af202b170d517d07af1cbfc98ea892b29404 | By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 07:23 EST, 27 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:53 EST, 28 February 2013 . Martha Lane Fox is to become the youngest woman in the House of Lords, when she becomes Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho . Web guru Martha Lane Fox's initiation into the House of Lords got off to a shaky start today, when she pre-empted announcing her official title and joked online that she would not be entitled to 'free nipple tassels'. Announcing her appointment as a crossbench peer, she vowed to ‘shake things up’ on the red benches. But the co-founder of travel site Lastminute.com jumped the gun in announcing her title would be Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, as she also joked the peerage would secure ‘free cocktails and nipple tassels’. The 40-year-old told her 49,000 . Twitter followers she could not wait to ‘get [her] robe on and get them . moving’ as she joked about becoming the first member of the Lords to . include Soho in their title. She told one user: ‘Don’t think it gets me a discount in Chinatown or late night bar entry but…’ But when another person told her it was a ‘cool title’ she responded: ‘Get free cocktails and nipple tassles right?' After MailOnline published the tweet, she deleted it, insisting it 'was joke to friend'. She added: 'To take tweet not for everyone and use it trivialises v serious privilege I feel.' When journalist James Lyons pointed out a 'certain irony in web guru and HMG adviser complaining that they didn't think Tweets were public, she replied: 'Just was worried cos such a privilege don't want to make light of it as u can imagine.' In a bizarre twist, Lords rules mean . she must add a hyphen to her surname, to change from Martha Lane Fox to . officially take up the title of Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho when she is introduced in the Lords on March 26. Asked by one Twitter follower if she planned to ‘shake things up’ she replied: ‘Hell yeah’. Baroness Lane-Fox will be joined in the . upper chamber by composer and BBC Radio 3 presenter Michael Berkeley, the . independent House of Lords Appointments Commission said. Mr Berkeley said: 'Naturally I feel very honoured to be appointed to the House of Lords and I am particularly pleased that the Appointments Commission was keen to increase representation in the field of music and the arts.' The new peer used Twitter to release a picture of the letter from the Lords authorities confirming her ennoblement . Lane Fox co-founded Lastminute.com in . 1998, selling it in 2005. She went on to set up the karaoke club chain . Lucky Voice and Go On UK, a charity that aims to teach people about . using the internet. She is also a non-executive director of Marks and Spencer and the Women's Prize for Fiction. In . 2009 she was appointed the UK Government’s digital champion, and has . worked closely with both the Labour and coalition governments. The youngest member of the Lords is Tory Big Society guru, who was born on 19 January 1977. Having . turned 40 on February 10 this year, Baroness Lane Fox is almost a year . younger than the previous youngest woman in the upper chamber, Baroness . Berridge, who was born on 22 March 1972. The newest member of the Lords joked about the potential perks of her new role . Bombarded with messages of congratulation on Twitter, she joked that including Soho in her title did not secure perks in the infamous London district . Only last week Lane Fox received a CBE for services to the UK digital economy and to charity at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. The businesswoman suffered horrific injuries in a car crash in 2004, breaking her pelvis in six places and damaging her arms and legs. After receiving the honour, she said: 'Life’s so serendipitous. I’ve had unbelievable luck - my education, my family, all those fundamentals - and some less good luck - the accident and so on.' She added: 'I quite often think what a parallel life would have been like - a frustrated and terribly bad actress. 'I’ve always loved innovation. It’s less about the actual technology - I’m not good technically - but I love what it can enable.' | Martha Lane Fox jokes about perks of becoming a crossbench peer .
Uses Twitter to vow to shake things up on the red benches .
But she later deleted the 'nipple tassels' joke insisting it was meant for a friend, adding that the new role was a 'very serious privilege' |
218,483 | a6d8e4ae3a29691bd667d80af1b2cbc90fb48b3f | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 16:09 EST, 25 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:56 EST, 25 September 2013 . A three-year-old cancer sufferer has passed away - just days after being granted his dying wish of seeing the Philadelphia Eagles play. Bryan Maenner was surrounded by family members as he succumbed to the disease in his home in Philadelphia on Tuesday - 18 months after he was first diagnosed with a rare blood cancer that caused tumors to develop through his body. The little boy, who had a healthy twin brother, had undergone radiation, chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, but three weeks ago, doctors told his family there was nothing they could do. On learning the devastating news, the family sought to fulfill Bryan's last wishes - which included having one final Christmas and going to watch the Eagles play at Lincoln Financial Field. Scroll down for video . Tragedy: A cancer-stricken three-year-old, Bryan Maenner, has succumbed to cancer a week after he and his father Richard (both pictured) went to an Eagles game as one of his dying wishes . Loss: The little boy, who had a twin brother (right), died after an 18-month battle with blood cancer . Six days ago, the wish to see the Eagles play came true when he went to see the Eagles home game against the San Diego Charges, NBC10 reported. 'We're out tonight giving him the time of his life,' said his father, Richard Maenner, at the game. Bryan, his twin brother Brandon and their father scored seats on the 50-yard line after Gayle Jackson, the mother of wide receiver DeSean Jackson, heard about his story. They met at halftime to thank her for the seats and she gave the little boy a high five. Family: Bryan is pictured (right) with his mother, father, older brother and twin brother. His father said that they are distraught but happy that the little boy is no longer suffering . Innocence: The little boy, pictured in hospital left with his father and right, had undergone radiation, chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant to beat his blood cancer - but it could not be beaten . 'He . just blessed me, believe it or not,' she told NBC. 'So I'm the one that received the . gift this evening. That's why you live - to be a blessing . to someone else.' At the game, Mr Maenner spoke of how devastated he was to be losing his son. 'It is the worst pain a parent would ever . go through in their life,' he said. 'I have to deal with watching my son die every . single day.' Bryan had also asked for one last Christmas and, with the help of friends and strangers on their Facebook group, 'Tryin for Bryan', the Maenners arranged gifts and decorations. But the little boy deteriorated so quickly he was not able to celebrate. On Tuesday, a message appeared on the Facebook group announcing the passing of Bryan, who had loved dressing up as superheroes, particularly Spider-Man. Helping hand: The mother of Philadelphia Eagles' DeSean Jackson, pictured, had scored the family 50-yard line seats to the Eagles game last week after learning about his tragic story . 'I bear witness to a courageous battle fought by our superhero, the message read. 'I bear witness to a family who pulled together when others thought they might fall apart. 'On behalf of the family of Brian Maenner I would like to thank you all for your loving acts of kindness and support. Please keep the family in prayer.' Richard Maenner told NBC10 that the family is grieving, but trying to take comfort knowing Bryan is no longer suffering. He added that funeral arrangements have not yet been set. See below for video . var nbcLP={};nbcLP.aRandomNumber=Math.floor(Math.random()*10000);nbcLP.currentPageLoc=encodeURIComponent(window.location.href);nbcLP.currentSiteLoc=encodeURIComponent(window.location.host);nbcLP.defaultWidth=652;nbcLP.defaultHeight=367;nbcLP.cmsID="224513191";nbcLP.vidPid="PMCfrk4YuJ_w";nbcLP.vidSec="TK";nbcLP.vidSubSec="TK";nbcLP.vidFrame=document.getElementById("nbcLP224513191");nbcLP.vidFrame.style.border="none";nbcLP.vidFrame.width=nbcLP.defaultWidth;nbcLP.vidFrame.height=nbcLP.defaultHeight;nbcLP.vidFrame.scrolling="no";nbcLP.vidFrame.src="http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/templates/nbc_partner_player?cmsID="+nbcLP.cmsID+"&videoID="+nbcLP.vidPid+"&width="+nbcLP.defaultWidth+"&height="+nbcLP.defaultHeight+"&sec="+nbcLP.vidSec+"&subsec="+nbcLP.vidSubSec+"&turl="+nbcLP.currentSiteLoc+"&ourl="+nbcLP.currentPageLoc+"&rand="+nbcLP.aRandomNumber; . | Bryan Maenner died on Tuesday, 18 months after he was diagnosed with rare form of blood cancer .
Last week, his father and twin brother took him to an Eagles game as one of his final wishes .
Another wish had been to have one more Christmas and his family had organized an early celebration - but he deteriorated too quickly . |
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