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50,369 | 8e7a6c554625aced734232649b2d70c80859b33f | It is not for the faint hearted - a Hamas-run summer camp for school kids to take part in gruelling physical activities, military exercises and political demonstrations. Thousands of Palestinian students have gathered to take part in the brutal summer camps, organised by the political organisation Hamas, in the Southern Gaza Strip. Photos from the camps show children climbing obstacles above open flames, running in formation and standing at attention. They also include political demonstrations for the students to show their solidarity for Palestinian prisoners currently held in Israeli jails. Some countries and organisations, including Israel, the United States and the European Union, classify Hamas as a terrorist organisation, while others, including many Arab states, do not. The summer camps are taking place in the Southern Gaza Strip with thousands of school kids expected to attend the military exercises and training activities . The physically draining summer camps are organised and run by Hamas, a Palestinian political group which is considered a terrorist organisation by some countries . These Palestinian boys, covered in dirt and soot, were photographed taking part in a physical military exercise yesterday, in an area called Rafah, in Southern Gaza . The activities the students participate in includes physical exercise, with many pictures showing obstacles to be overcome while avoiding open fires and other hazards . The Gaza Strip has been controlled by political organisation Hamas since 2007 following violent clashes with rival Fatah and a majority victory in the Palestinian elections . Students at the summer camps will also take part in political demonstrations during their stay, to show solidarity with fellow Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails . Many of the activities are variations of what you would find on a normal obstacle course, but with added challenges, such as dodging open flames or barbed wire . The formation of a unity government in Palestine was announced only weeks ago, following the April reconciliation deal agreed between Fatah and Hamas . The students take part in their training courses in often sweltering hot weather - making the physical activities all the more demanding . | Thousands of school kids expected to take part in the tough Hamas-run summer camps in Southern Gaza Strip .
Pictures show children climbing obstacles positioned above open fires, running in formation and standing at attention .
Students also take part in political demonstrations to show solidarity for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails . |
84,867 | f0c3898fbf392a91251583f3f7c1f3bf500e09df | (Reader's Digest) -- Brazilians feel the most pressure to lose weight and be thin, according to an international poll. Eighty-three percent of those polled in Brazil said they felt the pressure to be slimmer, followed by India (68 percent), the U.S. (62 percent) and France (55 percent), according to the survey, commissioned by Reader's Digest for its February issue. The poll of 16,000 people across 16 countries suggests most of us believe too much emphasis is put on being slim. Even so, most have tried to lose weight. And, everywhere, women are significantly more likely than men to feel the pressure. Russians are the most likely to turn to cigarettes to lose weight (23 percent of men and 18 percent of women), while Mexicans are most likely to choose a healthier diet or physical exercise. The poll also shows that France blames the prevalence of fast-food in the U.S. for Americans' growing girths -- and many Americans agree, with almost three-quarters of those polled in the U.S. admitting their eating habits promote obesity. Meanwhile, 51 percent of married American women wish their husbands were thinner with 47 percent of American husbands wishing the same of their spouses. According to the World Health Organization, more people in the world now die from being overweight and obese than being underweight. It says there are about 1.6 billion overweight or obese people in the world and at least 2.5 million deaths are associated with these conditions annually. "Although the universal weight struggle is clear from our poll results, obesity is not our collective destiny," said Reader's Digest VP/Global Editor-in-Chief Peggy Northrop. "Most cultures have some custom that can keep people lean, from a bottle of mineral water on most restaurant tables in Europe to the downsizing of supersizing portions in the UK. There is a huge opportunity to learn from each other how to eat healthy." For more results on the Reader's Digest Global Diet Poll and related content, visit the Reader's Digest site. | World Health Organization: More people die from being overweight, obese than underweight .
Poll: Of those quizzed, Brazilians feel most pressure to be slimmer .
Poll: Russians are the most likely to turn to cigarettes to lose weight . |
30,121 | 55a0a9d17b1b39c36e4c8af07cf17cd4ed42ce4b | (CNN) -- The 2015 British Open will take place at St Andrews it was confirmed Tuesday, with golf's oldest major returning to the Scottish course for the 29th time. The venue, known as 'The Home of Golf', last held the tournament in 2010, with South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen claiming a seven-shot victory for his first major triumph. The 2015 tournament will be the 144th edition of the championship and will take place from July 16-19. "We are delighted to announce that The Open will be returning to St Andrews and the historic Old Course in 2015," Royal and Ancient chief executive Peter Dawson told the European Tour's official website. "St Andrews has proved time and again that it is perfectly equipped to host The Open and I am certain we will yet again see a worthy winner lift the Claret Jug. "Players, spectators and officials alike will welcome a return to the game's spiritual home and I fully expect that we will witness another thrilling championship." Some of the sport's biggest names have lifted the famous Claret Jug trophy at St Andrews, with 14-time major winner Tiger Woods having won at the Fife course in both 2000 and 2005. Bobby Jones, the American winner of 13 majors including three British Opens, won at the Old Course in 1927, while more recently the late Seve Ballesteros clinched victory at the venue in 1984. Bobby Jones: The gentleman who shaped modern golf . American Jack Nicklaus, the most successful golfer of all time with 18 major triumphs, won the championship twice at St Andrews, in 1970 and 1978, and also played the final tournament of his professional career there in 2005. The 2015 British Open will also boost the country's economy, with the 2010 tournament bringing $62 million into the local economy and providing a $156 injection across Scotland. Next year's tournament will be held at the Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England between July 19-22. | The British Open will return to St Andrews in 2015 .
The 144th tournament will be the 29th to take place at 'The Home of Golf'
Louis Oosthuizen won the Claret Jug when the Open was last played there in 2010 . |
38,112 | 6bccba7a5122b47d3818a1c2d926221d7946229e | LONDON, England (CNN) -- A London court cleared singer Amy Winehouse of assault Friday after a two-day trial, her spokesman told CNN. Singer Amy Winehouse was accused of hitting a woman at a charity ball last year. Winehouse was accused of assaulting a woman at a London charity ball last year. She had pleaded not guilty to the charge of common assault. "Amy would like to thank her family, friends, and her legal team for their support during this difficult time," said a statement issued by her spokesman. "She has always maintained her innocence and is very happy to move on with her life and put this episode behind her." The verdict will be good news for the troubled singer, who returned to Britain this month after spending six months on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. Winehouse has publicly battled drug addiction, and this month a judge granted Winehouse and her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, a divorce. It is scheduled to be made final next month. The Grammy-winning artist arrived at court Friday wearing a white shirt, gray blazer, black skirt and pink ballet slippers. Her hair is back to her trademark black beehive with a blond streak, in contrast to the natural curls she sported while in the Caribbean. Winehouse is famous for her retro, soulful R&B sound and has had a string of hits including "Rehab," "Back to Black," and "Tears Dry on Their Own." | Troubled singer found not guilty of hitting woman at charity ball in September .
Amy Winehouse pleaded not guilty to the charge of common assault in March .
Winehouse's divorce from Blake Fielder-Civil should be made final next month . |
93,891 | 04ba3c53b4068a8bcf31bbfc674d520ab2843a2d | The Rev. Al Sharpton is expected to hold a four-day tribute for the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson at the end of this month. Sharpton will be in the Missouri town from October 31 to November 4 in reference to the four hours that the teenager's body was left lying on the street. Sharpton is leading a wave of outcry after a Friday report suggested that investigators do not have enough evidence to charge a police officer over the shooting of Michael Brown. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Anger: Rev Al Sharpton launched an enraged attack on Darren Wilson for claiming he acted in self-defense . Campaign: Sharpton will be in the Missouri town from October 31 to November 4 in reference to the four hours that Michael Brown's body was left lying on the street . Details revealed by the New York Times included the first account of the shooting to come from Darren Wilson - who says he struggled with Brown in his squad car and shot the teen when he grabbed for his gun. Experts told the paper that they believe investigators do not have the evidence to prosecute Wilson on federal civil rights charges - meaning a grand jury could soon decide Wilson should not be tried over the killing. In his own version of events, the police officer told a grand jury he opened fire because the teenager was attacking him and he feared for his life. Wilson insists Brown viciously launched through the window of his police car, punching and scratching him repeatedly. Police officers are generally given more scope for lethal force if they reasonably believe that their life is in imminent danger. Eventually, Wilson said, he pulled his gun from the holster on his right hip, fired two shots, and one hit Brown's arm - leaving his blood smeared inside the car and on his uniform. The account stops there and fails to explain why Brown was shot a further four times outside the vehicle. Since no other witness had a clear vantage point from which to see the incident, legal experts warn Wilson's testimony will carry significant weight for the grand jury, a legal expert told MailOnline. Slamming the account as illogical, Sharpton said at his National Action Network rally in Harlem that it is the 'same excuse' as all other shootings of black citizens by white men. 'It sounds like a Michael Dunn defense,' he said, referring to the Florida man who has been convicted of first-degree murder for shooting dead black teenager Jordan Davis. Dunn claimed he did it because Davis was playing music too loudly. 'It didn't work in Florida and it shouldn't work in Missouri,' Sharpton added. He spluttered: 'First of all, if you stopped him - Michael Brown and his friend - walking down the street, what led to the scuffle? Sharpton is leading a wave of outcry after a Friday report suggested that investigators do not have enough evidence to charge a the shooting of Michael Brown . Aftermath: This is the first picture of Darren Wilson standing over Michael Brown after shooting him dead . Claims: Wilson, pictured again surveying the body, insists he fired from inside the car during a tussle but his account did not explain why the unarmed teenager was then shot at least four times outside the vehicle . 'Secondly, how does he and you get in your car? You trying to do what by yourself?' Sharpton asked. 'Now, if I go with you with your story all the way to that - that Michael Brown was shot, gets up off you in the car - why are you trying to tell me that a man ran back at you when he knew you had the gun and you already shot him?' He added: 'We were involved in Trayvon Martin. We were supportive of Jordan Davis. 'The strange thing is that all of them used the same excuse...The only gun there was Darren Wilson's! Strange parallels with all of these cases.' His words were echoed by Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Dr Arun Gandhi who said Wednesday 'We have looked at it only as racism, and racism is a byproduct of prejudice,' St Louis Public Radio reported. 'Prejudice exists in every one of us, whether we are black, white, brown, yellow.' Nonetheless, a jury will now have the power to tell the state attorney that Wilson is innocent of civil rights abuses if they believe his claim that he was acting in self-defense. Peter Joy, a professor at the Washington University of Law in St Louis, told MailOnline the charge of civil rights abuse is a much higher standard than murder or manslaughter, as the 12 jury members will have to be certain Wilson intended to violate Brown's civil rights by shooting him dead. 'The civil rights abuses are even harder to prove than an underlying criminal conviction. The federal government does not step in to pursue a civil rights conviction unless they believe it was an intentional abuse. 'There are some criminal charges that don't involve that kind of mental state, like murder. 'For example anger. They can be guilty of acting knowingly and recklessly, but it is different to intentionally violating a civil right.' As a result, he said, they will need forensic evidence of damage to the car to disprove Wilson's account if they are to find him guilty. Duke University law professor James Coleman Jr told MailOnline an innocent verdict would 'totally undermine the St Louis criminal justice system'. 'If a grand jury accepts that every shot he fired at that kid was in self-defense that simply is not plausible,' he said. But he warned that prosecutor Robert McCulloch - who has been criticized for his strong ties with the police - will have a strong influence over their verdict. 'Pretty much every jury does what they are told. 'If the prosecutor is being wishy washy about this, it is very possible a grand jury won't indict him.' Determined to level charges against Wilson regardless of the jury's verdict, Benjamin L Crump, the Brown family's lawyer, rebuffed the leaked account. 'What the police say is not to be taken as gospel,' Mr. Crump told the New York Times. 'He can say what he wants to say in front of a jury. They can listen to all the evidence and the people can have it transparent so they know that the system works for everybody. 'The officer's going to say whatever he's going to say to justify killing an unarmed kid. 'Right now, they have this secret proceeding where nobody knows what's happening and nobody knows what's going on. 'No matter what happened in the car, Michael Brown ran away from him.' A number of witnesses agree that Brown and Wilson were embroiled in a physical fight through the car window, but few had an accurate vantage point to see what was happening. 'Self defense': Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson says he feared for his life as he shot Michael Brown . They insist, however, the teenager was trying to flee and holding up his hands. One passer-by, Tiffany Mitchell, is certain Brown was leaning away but Wilson kept pulling him closer. Another, Dorian Johnson, said Wilson grasped Brown's throat and then pulled out his gun threatening to shoot. They then heard shots fired from inside the SUV. There remains no account from witnesses or police of the final four shots fired. According to Wilson's description of the August 9 shooting - revealed for the first time today - Brown made him fear for his life. Investigators are now examining the officer's claim that the teenager physically assaulted him as a grand jury considers whether he is guilty of a number of crimes including: first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter. City officials claim there is still not enough evidence to charge Wilson with violating civil rights. In September, Officer Wilson appeared before a St Louis County grand jury, which was convened to determine whether there is probable cause that he committed a crime. His willingness to testify surprised many. However, his account of feeling vulnerable will be a significant boost in his favor as the grand jury considers its verdict before the deadline of January 7. Nine of the 12 jury members will have to vote against Wilson in order for charges to be leveled. They are expected to vote by mid-November. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch could have bypassed the grand jury stage and simply taken the case to trial by filing a charge against Wilson. He could also have filed a complaint to a judge who decides if there should be a trial. However, McCulloch chose to take the full investigation of Wilson's use of deadly force to the grand jury, leaving the 12 members to decide. According to the New York Times, the leaked account of his version of events did not come from the Ferguson Police Department or from officials whose activities are being investigated as part of the civil rights inquiry. People claiming to have witnessed the shooting have given wildly different accounts of what happened. Some have said that some the young man had his arms raised over his head while others claim that Wilson shot him while his back was turned and he was running. The police have maintained that the unarmed teen physically assaulted the officer and tried to get his gun. One witness, whose name has been withheld, from St. Louis, Missouri, told the grand jury that the teenager did not have his hands above his head when Wilson shot at him, but rather 'out to his sides.' He also said Brown 'staggered toward Wilson despite commands to stop' and that 'the two were about 20 to 25 feet apart when the last shots were fired.' Protests in Missouri have continued ever since the shooting amid claims it was unjustified - and an extreme example of police brutality in the town. Civil rights groups say Brown's death is part of a national epidemic in which a disproportionately high number of unarmed black men are fatally shot by white police officers, an allegation police deny. Officials said that the evidence given so far did not support civil rights charges against Officer Wilson. To press charges, the Justice Department would have to prove that he wilfully violated Brown's rights when he shot him. | The Rev. Al Sharpton is expected to hold a four-day tribute for the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson .
Sharpton will be there from October 31 to November 4 in reference to the four hours that the teenager's body was left lying on the street .
He is leading a wave of outcry after a report suggested that there is not enough evidence to charge Officer Darren Wilson over the shooting of Brown .
Wilson told grand jury he feared for his life as Brown attacked him .
Police are given greater scope for lethal action in case of self-defense .
Sharpton said it echoes the excuse given by convicted killer Michael Dunn .
Jury deliberating whether or not to bring manslaughter or murder charges . |
26,416 | 4af6de7aff5ea8ac807e07ffa465679d7639abcc | New York (CNN) -- With the election just days away, most Americans disapprove of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, while 58 percent of our fellow citizens say it's time for a third party. So let's break out of the two-party mold and take a look at some of the independent candidates across the country who are surging or struggling as Election Day approaches. More Americans now identify themselves as independent than Democrat or Republican -- and independent candidacies are on the rise. "Ninety-two percent of the voters this election will find a minor party or independent candidate on their ballot, either for statewide office or for U.S. House," said Richard Winger of the Ballot Access News. "That's higher than in a normal midterm year." The United States had four independent governors in the 1990s -- Jesse Ventura of Minnesota, Lowell Weicker of Connecticut, Wally Hickel of Alaska, and Angus King of Maine -- but none in the last decade. We've had three independents in the Senate since 2000 -- Vermont's Jim Jeffords and Bernie Sanders as well as Connecticut's Joe Lieberman. And independent Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City is mentioned as a possible candidate for president in 2012, following in Ross Perot's self-funded footsteps. This year, we have high-profile candidates running for governor's mansions and for the U.S. Senate as independents. Lincoln Chafee is leading in polls to become the first independent governor of Rhode Island -- one of 10 states where registered independents outnumber Democrats or Republicans. President Obama recently decided not to endorse the Democrat in this race out of deference to Chafee, who had been a rare Republican friend in the Senate and supported Obama in '08. There is "fatigue with the two parties right now," Chafee told me a few months ago. "People are so weary of the gridlock and partisanship. It's counterproductive to moving the country forward in our very, very challenging times." In Maine, independent Eliot Cutler is trending upward and collecting major newspaper endorsements for his bid to be governor, though he still trails in the polls. But in a state where two-term Gov. Angus King set the model for independent executives, you can't count out a man whose plans are praised by local newspapers as "thoughtful, logical and, most important, doable" -- especially when his GOP opponent is becoming best known for promising to tell the president to "get the hell out" of his state. Two serious independent Senate runs are being conducted this year, both by centrist Republicans who found themselves being pushed out by conservative Tea Party activists in closed partisan primaries. In Alaska, polls show incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski running neck and neck with GOP nominee Joe Miller, who enjoys the support of former Gov. Sarah Palin. Murkowski is running as an independent in a write-in candidacy. The last successful write-in Senate candidate was Strom Thurmond in 1954. But the Murkowski name is almost as influential in Alaska, and Joe Miller's erratic behavior, including allowing his private security staff to handcuff a local reporter, is provoking a backlash even among conservatives like Ben Stein, who recently called him a "clown." In Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist has been campaigning as an independent for the U.S. Senate. He was leading in polls over the summer, but GOP nominee Marco Rubio has been surging by staying competitive among Florida's 2.5 million independent voters, while keeping his Republican base happy. It might surprise you to know that there are 140 independent or third-party candidates running for the House of Representatives this year -- and while most are admittedly long shots, their campaigns retain an aura of idealism and independence. For example, in Mississippi, independent candidate Les Green, a local math teacher, explains the logic of his campaign in a radio ad which proclaims, "They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. But that's what we've been doing electing the same career politicians of the same political parties year after year -- 13 trillion in debt, open borders, and 8 million lost jobs is what we got. ... I'm no politician, but I know when things don't add up. If we want to change Washington, we have to change who we send there." One of the most interesting stories of independence this year comes from the Modern Whig Party, a surprising reinvention of the political party to which Henry Clay and Abraham Lincoln once belonged. "We are in the grass-roots stage, but over time, when people think Whig, we want them to think of non-fringe, pragmatic centrist solutions," said Andrew Evans, one of the founders and leaders of the party. "We wanted that connection to history," he said, "but we have modern principles -- our members tend to be socially liberal but fiscally conservative." The Modern Whig Party claims 50,000 members in all 50 states, and it is running a handful of candidates for both Congress and statewide office this year. Jeff Vanke is the party's candidate in Virginia's 6th District, running a competitive campaign against Republican incumbent Bob Goodlatte. (There is no Democrat in the race.) Vanke -- a 40-year-old former Eagle Scout with a Ph.D. in history -- has a detailed balanced budget proposal as the centerpiece of his campaign and pledges to keep at least 50 percent of his net worth in federal bonds "in order to get more of American debt out of Chinese, Middle Eastern, and other foreign hands and back into our own country." More and more Americans are declaring their independence, because the two major parties seem to be controlled by special interests or the parties' most extreme elements, leading directly to government dysfunction. The parties are not mentioned in the Constitution, but they act as if they are the purpose of our politics. They are not. And until they become more representative and responsive to the majority of Americans who feel politically homeless, we will see more declarations of independents. The courage of their example could drive a renewal of our democracy. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John P. Avlon. | John Avlon: Most people are unhappy with the two major parties and want an alternative .
He says several independents and third parties are on ballots this year .
Avlon says Lincoln Chafee is running a credible independent campaign in Rhode Island .
Avlon: The two major parties "act as if they are the purpose of our politics" |
125,666 | 2e756dc11c83cfba343bc56a510954969afd991a | Los Angeles (CNN) -- A homeless man included in a mock video produced by a friend of Justin Timberlake's for the actor-singer's wedding celebration wants Timberlake to visit him on Skid Row. Lawyer Gloria Allred, known for representing clients with high-profile complaints, held a news conference on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles Monday to publicize the demands of the man, identified only as Eddie. "I just want Justin Timberlake to come and talk to me about the things he can do to help us people that's down and out and that's lost things in our lives and not back on track," said "Eddie," who appeared at the news conference with Allred. Allred also challenged Timberlake and his friends to "take action to provide meaningful assistance to Eddie and others like him." "This issue is not just about fans being upset or anyone being offended by a video," Allred said. "It is about people being down on their luck and in desperate need of help by those who are in a position to provide it. Mr. Timberlake, you, and your friends and others are in a position to provide that help." Mr. and Mrs. Timberlake help bring Sandy relief . The short video -- titled "Greetings from your Hollywood friends who just couldn't make it" -- was not shown at the wedding of Timberlake an Jessica Biel, which took place in Italy in October. But Allred said it was produced for a related event. Eddie was one of several people who live on the streets of Los Angeles who are seen wishing the celebrity couple well in their marriage. "Jessica and Justin, I haven't seen y'all in a long time. My gift is in the mail," Eddie said in his clip. While he was paid $40 to appear on the video, Eddie said he had no idea it would make fun of him or his friends. "We're human beings and we need to be noticed and appreciated, just like other people," he told reporters. "Not just to take a video of a person and put it in a rich wedding and everybody laugh about it, or whatever, like it was a joke on the homeless people." Timberlake posted a letter on his website apologizing for the "silly, unsavory" video, which he said was produced by a "knucklehead" friend without his cooperation or knowledge. "I don't live my life making fun of people (unless, of course, I'm making fun of myself on SNL)... Especially, those who are less fortunate or those in need," Timberlake wrote. "I grew up with a family and community that instilled ideals in me like hard work, honesty and empathy." While Timberlake said he had no involvement in making it, "by association, I am holding myself accountable." Eddie, who has lived on the streets for "six or seven years," said he was hoping for a job as a clerk, custodian, caretaker or construction worker. "Once upon a time, I did have a job and was living good, and my mother passed and a lot of things hurt me within myself and by me not having a job, I kind of fell short of money," he said. "And you know, if you don't have any finances, you don't have nothing to pay rent or anything like that you become on the street." Next Friday is his 58th birthday, but he'll spend it on the street, just like this Christmas, he said. His only family members are two daughters who live in another state, he said. Timberlake's representative did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment on Eddie's call for help. CNN's Jack Hannah contributed to this report. | "I just want Justin Timberlake to come and talk to me," homeless man tells reporters .
Lawyer Gloria Allred challenges Timberlake to help Eddie and other homeless get jobs .
Timberlake apologized for the "silly, unsavory" video, which a "knucklehead" friend made .
"I don't live my life making fun of people," Timberlake says . |
13,249 | 25a480e88673bc6a717afe7237395acf7ff15c1c | (CNN) -- Venus Williams claimed her first singles title in more than two years with a straight sets victory over Monica Niculescu of Romania Sunday to win the Luxembourg Open. The 32-year-old American has slipped down the rankings after battling Sjögren's syndrome, an auto-immune disorder that causes fatigue and joint pain. But the seven-time Grand Slam champion put that behind her with a 6-2 6-3 scoreline in the final for her 44th career singles crown on the WTA Tour. Younger sister Serena tweeted: My eyes are watering up because I am so proud of my sister @Venuseswilliams so proud of you sis congrats on your tournament win! I . The pair had combined together in the London Olympics to win the women's doubles gold for the third straight Games, with Venus showing signs she was returning to her best. A semifinal victory over rising young German player Andrea Petkovic confirmed her form and fitness in a two-hour 38 minutes battle Saturday and Niculescu proved an easier victim in the title match. She made a string of errors to lose in the Luxembourg final for the second straight year. Serena Williams is in the field for the WTA Championships in Istanbul next week, her first tournament since winning the U.S. Open title last month. Venus will go ahead to prepare for the 2013 season and the opening Grand Slam of the season in Australia. "Coming to the tournament this week I was just trying to play well. I didn't know if I could win this event, so to stand here as the winner is a wonderful way for me to end the year, " she told the official WTA website. "It really makes me look forward to next year as well." Meanwhile, in the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki beat top seed Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-3 4-6 7-5 in a grueling final. Dane Wozniacki was claiming her 20th career title but her first Premier Level event in 14 months which have seen her slip down the rankings. In the ATP event in Moscow, second seed Andreas Seppi of Italy came from a set down to beat fourth-ranked Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil to win the title. The 28-year-old Seppi prevailed 3-6 7-6 6-3 for his third career title and second of the year. Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro secured the Austrian Open title and kept up his bid to make the ATP Tour Finals with a 7-5 6-3 defeat of qualifier Grega Zemlja in the final. Del Potro has been out for a month with a wrist injury but the victory left him seventh in the points race with the top eight qualifying for London next month. Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic also looks set for the end of season finale after beating top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 4-6 6-4 6-4 in the final of the Stockholm Open. Berdych holds sixth place in the standings with Tsonga in the eighth and final spot. | Venus Williams wins Luxembourg Open title .
First singles title for 32 year-old American since 2010 .
She has battled a disorder which affects the auto-immune system .
Caroline Wozniacki takes Kremlin Cup in Moscow . |
104,407 | 12b52c8d19c7c246252af0e01100787360bdf806 | WASECA, Minnesota (CNN) -- When you think of protection from the H1N1 flu virus, you may not think the hog population is what needs protecting. But that's precisely the concern among pork producers and those who use swine in research studies. Professor Samuel Baidoo wears specially issued gear as he checks on the hogs at the research facility. Forget any worries you may have had about catching the often-called "swine flu" from a pig. University of Minnesota Professor Samuel Baidoo, a swine nutrition and management expert at one of the school's swine research facilities, says it's actually the other way around. "If we are sick and we come in here, we can easily transfer [diseases], especially flu, to these pigs," Baidoo says. Baidoo took CNN on a tour of the university's research facility to demonstrate the precautions in place year-round to make sure its pig population remains safe. For starters, anyone who wants to visit the facility has to shower and put on specially issued overalls and boots and that rule applies to reporters and even the hog farmers themselves. "They will shower to go and see their own pigs," Baidoo says. This university's swine research barn is typical of most large-production hog facilities, Baidoo says, stressing that it's so secure "flies cannot even come in here." "Flu can be transferred by flies, by birds. There's no way a bird can get into this building. So these pigs are very, very safe," he explains. "We are more a risk to them than they to us." So let's say a pig does happen to come down with a disease, specifically with H1N1. Then what happens? Baidoo says the first sign that something is wrong is usually lack of appetite. "They go off feed, so we know there's something not right." If it does turn out to be a flu virus, Baidoo says, the treatment is very similar to what humans undergo. "We put them on medication and within three days it's over. Just like when we get [the] flu -- we go to the doctor and then they prescribe medication and we get well." Baidoo points out that since H1N1 is a respiratory illness, the actual carcass of the pig -- the pork we eat -- is still harmless. Still, Baidoo says he understands the initial knee-jerk reaction. After all, "swine flu" was what everyone called it at first -- before health organizations began referring to it as H1N1. "I also see the concern of consumers. When there is this situation everybody tends to connect the two. But there is no connection at all between the flu and pork," he says. "There's no fear in eating pork based on the scare of the flu pandemic." The disease most people in the United States and worldwide have been calling swine flu is actually a combination of human and animal strains. It has not been shown to be transmissible through eating pork. In an already suffering market, the negative news is something the U.S. pork industry says could have been prevented. "This flu is being called something that it isn't, and it's hurting our entire industry," Dave Warner, communications director for the National Pork Producers Council, said last week. "It is not a 'swine' flu, and people need to stop calling it that ... they're ruining people's lives." | Researchers say hog population needs protection from human diseases .
Fear over so-called "swine flu" has hit pork industry hard -- and unfairly, many say .
Minnesota facility says humans must wear special suits to keep hogs disease-free .
"No connection at all between the flu and pork," researcher says . |
227,472 | b2871ab389d1228c382a602cac3067c9db76ef99 | Christmas spending on the internet in December rose by much less than expected amid the delivery chaos caused by Black Friday. Annual spending in the month rose by just five per cent, which was the lowest increase over the festive period since internet shopping took off a decade ago. Despite the disappointing numbers, total retail spending on the web reached a new high of £104billion in 2014, which is the first time it has topped £100bn. Scroll down for video . Christmas spending on the internet in December rose by much less than expected amid the delivery chaos caused by Black Friday, which fell at the end of November (above shoppers pictured at an Asda store in Wembley on Black Friday last November) Annual spending rose by just five per cent in December. The poor figures for the month are thought to have been a result of Black Friday, an event imported from the US (above a shopper in Glasgow on Black Friday) The poor figures for December are thought to have been caused by Black Friday, which fell at the end of November and brought forward a lot of present shopping. The event, which has been imported from the US where it kicks off the festive shopping season, was presented by retailers as a huge success however they are now having second thoughts. For while there was a huge spike in spending, these sales were made on the back of big price cuts which will hit profits. At the same time, it seems the event only brought forward gift purchases that would have otherwise have taken place in December, rather than increasing overall sales. Most important of all was the level of orders that a huge number of household name stores could not cope. Marks & Spencer customers were told they had to wait of 10 days to get their purchases, while the online fashion chain ASOS suspended a large part of its their next day delivery system. Amazon, Tesco, Argos, Boots and a host of other household name retailers faced similar problems. At the same time the courier company Yodel, which works with more than 80per cent of web stores, went into meltdown because it did not have enough couriers to ensure items arrived when promised. Such was the crisis that it suspended taking new parcels into its system for two days to clear a backlog of gifts. With the level of orders on Black Friday, a huge number of household name stores could not cope such as Marks & Spencer, whose customers were told they had to wait of 10 days to get their purchases . The net effect of the chaos was that people were put off shopping online for gifts in December and many opted to ‘click and collect’ rather than gamble on items being delivered. The sales figures were published by the web retailer trade body, IMRG, spending experts Experian and the business consultants Capgemini. They said spending in November and December combined was some 13per cent ahead of 2013. Their study confirmed separate research by the British Retail Consortium and accountants, KPMG, which also highlighted problems created by Black Friday. David McCorquodale, the Head of Retail at KPMG, said: ‘The parcel backlogs caused by the aftermath of Black Friday forced some retailers to renege on their delivery guarantees and this impacted shoppers’ confidence to buy gifts online in December. ‘Having hit the internet hard in November, as Christmas neared closer some consumers chose to shop in store to make sure they had their gifts in their hand and not in the mail. ‘The main factor constraining online is the retailers themselves. Their systems still show signs of strain at peak times and they need to be able to cope from order to delivery.’ Head of retail consulting at Capgemini, Adgild Hop (correct), said retailers need to be cautious about attempts to chase big volume sales around events like Black Friday. He said: ‘Black Friday was unquestionably a success for the value-seeking consumer, but for retailers themselves, its success is not quite as clear. ‘As the Index reveals, spending was brought forward a month earlier, at much lower margins for retailers, as a result of the discounts available to customers in November.’ Despite, these problems, he said: ‘2014 has been an important milestone for the online retail sector, with the £100 billion mark being exceeded for the first time. 'When we consider that almost £1 in every £4 is now spent online, and that a large proportion of the other £3 is influenced by some form of digital interaction, it becomes very clear that retailers need to continue to embrace the opportunity that e-Retail poses.’ The IMRG’s Tina Spooner said: ‘While the five per cent December online growth is lower than expected, the story of Christmas trading online this year is one of compression. ‘The anticipated heavy discounting that was very widely communicated in advance of Black Friday served to concentrate the peak around that day in November. ‘The challenge going forward is that Black Friday has been cemented into shoppers’ consciousness and they will expect the same kind of focused discounting next year. 'As an industry, we will need to work together to understand how this extreme activity spike can best be managed in the interests of both shoppers and retailers.' | Annual spending in the month rose by just five per cent - lowest increase over festive period since internet shopping took off decade ago .
Total retail spending online reached new high of £104billion in 2014 - first time it has topped £100bn .
Retailers are having second thoughts on Black Friday after poor figures for the month . |
135,454 | 3b3d85876d41adfbf8c82fad39bf30531188ab84 | By . Jack Doyle . PUBLISHED: . 18:20 EST, 26 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:07 EST, 27 August 2013 . Britain’s regime for controlling dangerous paedophiles is fundamentally flawed, a damning police review has concluded. It leaves thousands of serious sex offenders free to leave the country to abuse youngsters overseas. There are some 65,000 registered sex offenders in the UK, but only 50 orders stopping such individuals travelling abroad have been obtained in the past five and a half years. Free to attack again: Paedophiles such as pop star Gary Glitter are largely free to travel abroad where they can attack again . Yet every year the Foreign Office is notified of dozens of alleged paedophiles arrested overseas for child sex offences. There were some 66 such arrests last year. At the same time, the protection of children in Britain is ‘compromised’ by the system of court orders for child rapists and molesters, the report states. Only 2,658 Sexual Offender Prevention Orders supposed to control dangerous paedophiles in Britain were imposed in 2011/12. The review was commissioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers and written by a leading QC, Hugh Davies, and police experts. It found gaping holes in the regime for stopping paedophiles from travelling overseas. Police can apply for a Foreign Travel Order to keep them in the UK, and anyone on the sex offenders’ register must notify the police if they intend to go abroad. But the report said the number of such orders was ‘absurdly small’ compared to the number of known sex offenders and ‘even the lowest estimates of extra-territorial offending by identifiable British nationals’. Greater protection: In the wake of the Oxford sex ring ran by Mohammed Karrar, left, and Bassam Karrar, right, local MP Nicola Blackwood is pushing for new laws to safeguard children . It added that this ‘tends to demonstrate... that the orders are intrinsically flawed’. In 2007 not one order was handed down by the courts. The report said: ‘The UK’s ability effectively to police the conduct of high-risk sex offenders abroad is highly compromised. ‘The irresistible conclusion is that serious sexual offending against children has occurred and is occurring in many jurisdictions in a culture of near impunity.’ The report is also damning about the Sexual Offender Prevention Orders which can be used to put strict controls on a sex offender’s behaviour in Britain. But police can apply for an order only for someone who already has a conviction for sex crimes, and must show evidence of subsequent threatening behaviour – which is often hard to prove. The report says the ‘fundamental flaws’ in the orders are ‘serious and in need of immediate remedy’. It adds: ‘The existing regime simply serves to compromise effective child protection.’ The report was uncovered by Tory backbencher Nicola Blackwood, who today launches a major campaign designed to fix flaws in child protection. Campaign: Nicola Blackwood MP is seeking to fix flaws in child protection . The Oxford West and Abingdon MP is demanding new laws to protect children in the wake of the Oxford sex ring scandal. Her Childhood Lost campaign is backed by leading children’s charities including Barnardo’s, the NSPCC and Save the Children. Miss Blackwood is suggesting a new ‘Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Order’ which would consolidate all existing orders into one and be easier for police to obtain. It would last five years and could be used on someone without a conviction if there was evidence of the danger they pose to children. Miss Blackwood is also petitioning David Cameron to set up specialist child sexual exploitation centres and for new guidance for judges to ensure tough sentencing in child sexual abuse cases. A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Whilst we have some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders, we keep them under constant review, and will consider proposals like this.’ Cases which have caused alarm include that of Gary Glitter who was jailed in Britain in 1999 and listed as a sex offender for downloading child abuse pictures. Despite this he was able to travel to South East Asia. In 2005 he was arrested by the Vietnamese police and convicted of molesting two girls. At the time critics raised concerns about the apparent ease with which Glitter was able to travel. A Sexual Offender Prevention Order could have restricted his movements, but was not imposed. | There are 65,000 registered sex offenders in the UK, but only 50 orders to prevent them travelling abroad .
In 2007 not one order was handed down by the courts . |
3,050 | 08d8fe080525b943a61ec4dc15f94be838975b9e | By . Lillian Radulova . A 17-year-old boy from the suburb of Beaumaris, Victoria, has died after leaning out of the back door of a moving train. The teenager was with two friends when he opened the door to lean out before striking a fixed object at about 9.20 pm on Friday. The incident occurred only 200 metres from Malvern train station in Melbourne's southeast. Scroll down for video . A 17-year-old teenager died near Malvern Railway Station in Victoria on Friday night after leaning out of the back door while the train was in motion, to strike a stationary object . Paramedics were unable to save the teen, who died shortly before 11pm. No one else was injured. Police are investigating the circumstances leading to the 17-year-old's death. Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. | The 17-year-old from Beaumaris in Victoria, died on Friday night .
The incident occurred after he opened the back door of the moving train .
He then struck a stationary object, 200 metres from Malvern train station .
Two friends who were with him at the time were uninjured . |
250,755 | d0858a57af10d9d908dc42523bb8dd0efe4fa629 | By . Kerry Mcdermott . PUBLISHED: . 04:47 EST, 1 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 07:11 EST, 1 June 2013 . The Deputy Speaker is understood to be facing a fourth allegation of sexual assault after a former intern claimed Nigel Evans groped him in a Commons bar. Police investigating allegations against the Ribble Valley MP have asked for a formal statement from the 22-year-old former parliamentary intern, who claims Evans groped his bottom for around a minute in the Sports and Social Club bar in December 2011. The man, who is now working outside of Parliament, said he had never spoken to Evans and that he was in the bar with his parents when the alleged incident occurred. 'Incredulity': Deputy Speaker and Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans is understood to be facing a fourth sexual assault claim . He said he stopped at the bar for a drink with his parents after showing them around parliament, according to a report in the Guardian. While there, Evans stood with his back to the former parliamentary intern and groped him for around 60 seconds, the man claims. A spokesman for the Deputy Speaker told the Guardian he was unaware of the complaint and 'vigorously denies' any wrongdoing. His office is yet to respond to the MailOnline's request for comment. The allegation comes after Evans was arrested on May 4 over claims he raped one man and sexually assaulted another between 2009 and 2013. The 55-year-old Conservative politician has branded the accusations 'completely false'. Allegations: The former parliamentary intern, 22, claims he was assaulted by the deputy speaker in the Sports and Social Club bar at the House of Commons . Denying the allegations in a statement read outside his home after he was released on bail, Evans told of his 'incredulity' at being arrested over claims made by two men he had until then 'regarded as friends'. A third alleged victim then gave a statement to Lancashire Constabulary. On May 20 Evans' parliamentary offices were searched by detectives who were granted a warrant by a judge at Preston Crown Court. Officers seized 'parliamentary . material' from the deputy speaker's offices at Westminster during the . search, which was carried out with the knowledge of Speaker John Bercow. Mr Bercow said in a statement to MPs that the warrant related to 'the investigation of a serious arrestable offence'. Evans has been relieved of his duties chairing Commons debates until the police inquiries have concluded. A Lancashire Police spokeswoman told MailOnline: 'It is an ongoing police investigation and we won't be providing any further comment.' The House of Commons said it would not comment on an ongoing police investigation. Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons. | Former intern, 22, claims Nigel Evans groped his bottom in Commons bar .
Alleged victim claims he was in bar with his parents when incident occurred .
Deputy Speaker arrested last month over claims of rape and sexual assault .
Ribble Valley MP previously branded allegations 'completely false' |
245,553 | c9d48bef87ff74336289952da48fe9dce44fb5b1 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 10:46 EST, 24 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:52 EST, 25 December 2013 . A rare childbirth complication has claimed the life of a respected Michigan dentist - but her baby daughter survived. Elizabeth Curtis, 34, suffered an amniotic fluid embolism at North Ottawa Community Hospital on Saturday and died the next day. But doctors were able to save the baby girl, Katherine, who Curtis' grieving husband described as 'a blessing'. Tragic: Dentist Elizabeth Curtis, 34, died on Sunday following a rare childbirth complication . Mother and child: Doctors delivered baby Katherine, right, by emergency C-section after Elizabeth Curtis, said she wasn't feeling well during labor . 'We look at her as a blessing and are . very happy for that outcome at least,' Scott Curtis told MLive.com. 'It’s a little source of . comfort that we know we have her.' Scott and Elizabeth Curtis, together for more for than 10 years, had a three-year-old son, Adam. Elizabeth Curtis had been laughing and joking in the birthing suite about 10 minutes before announcing she wasn't feeling well, Grand Haven Tribune reported. Doctors performed an emergency C-section and Katherine was born a healthy 7lbs, 6oz. As Elizabeth Curtis lay unconscious after the delivery, doctors laid baby Kate on her bare stomach, flesh-to-flesh. Mother and child were transferred to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids where Elizabeth Curtis passed away on Sunday morning. An amniotic fluid embolism occurs when . amniotic fluid or fetal material enters the mother's bloodstream and . causes an allergic-like reaction. The unpredictable complication is said . to occur in 1 in 15,200 deliveries in America, according to the . Amniotic Fluid Embolism Foundation. 'It's so rare. You never even think of . anything like this during childbirth,' Scott Curtis said. 'In talking . with doctors and other people, most OB/GYNs never see this in their . lifetimes.' Devastating: Elizabeth and Scott Curtis, pictured with their three-year-old son Adam, had been together for more than 10 years . Heartbreaking: Scott Curtis (pictured left with his son Adam and right with Elizabeth) said he will miss his wife's infectious laugh . Scott Curtis' mother, Jane Curtis, told Grand Haven Tribune baby Kate was released from hospital on Monday afternoon and met her brother. 'They're doing just fine. Baby Kate is thriving. She's eating well,' she said. 'We're doing fine, but we miss Liz so . much. It really was shocking. We can hear her laughter, . though. It rings in our head. We're just going to take it one step at a . time.' Jane Curtis said doctors 'called Kate a miracle baby'. She said Scott, Adam and Kate will move in with her and her husband, Charles Hettenbach, in Spring Lake Township and she will help care for the children. Elizabeth Curtis had practiced dentistry for almost six years after graduating from dental school in 1997. She was close to forming a full partnership at Creason, Weber & Curtis - her home dentist office growing up. 'We had just approved the contract for the partnership,' Dr Kennard Creason told Grand Haven Tribune. 'I won't be hearing that laugh next door to me anymore. I'm really going to miss that.' North Ottawa Community Hospital: Doctors tried to revive Elizabeth Curtis after delivering baby Katherine . Elizabeth Curtis was secretary of the . Rotary Club of Grand Haven and treasurer of the Muskegon District . Dental Society. She volunteered with the Miles of Smiles mobile dental . unit that provides services for children from low-income families. She recently started a podcast on YouTube, Ask Dr. Liz, that answered embarrassing, but common, dental questions. For Scott Curtis, his wife's infectious laugh is what he will miss most. 'Whenever anyone heard it, they knew who was laughing,' he said. 'It was privilege and joy to know her for the 10 plus years.' A memorial service is set for 11am Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church in Grand Haven. | Michigan dentist Elizabeth Curtis, 34, suffered a rare amniotic fluid embolism during the birth of her second child on Saturday and died the next day .
Her daughter Katherine Elizabeth Curtis was born a healthy 7lbs 6oz .
Curtis was a well-regarded dentist and provided free treatments to the disadvantaged .
Curtis' mother-in-law, Jane Curtis, said doctors called Katherine 'a miracle baby' |
42,627 | 7830c595bcf09a2c5ac0659c27a586bcbf8f8eef | By . Mail Online Reporter . A group of California children are protesting the removal of a beloved neighborhood alligator taken away by state fish and wildlife authorities. Though some may consider a 125 pound alligator intimidating, the children in Rancho Cucamonga say that they don't feel right without the creature, named Chopper, penned on neighbor Chris Cassaro's property. 'We just really want her back, so bad that it's not even funny,' said neighbor Braden Zazueta. Roughly a dozen California children and parents held a sit-in to get alligator 'Chopper' back Friday . At 125 pounds, Chopper has lived with her owner in the neighborhood since 1987 . They rallied on behalf of Cassaro's pet's return with signs reading 'Bring Chopper Home' and 'Bring Back Our Gator.' Roughly a dozen neighbors held a sit-in to get Chopper back Friday. Parents at the demonstration said Chopper gave their children an experience no other neighborhood could replicate. 'Most children go their whole lives without that opportunity, our neighborhood's been blessed. So to have her taken from us, it's a complete betrayal, in a sense, to our whole entire neighborhood,' Amber Parks told reporters. Chopper had been on Cassaro's property since 1987. 'I never had children,' he told KTLA. 'She is my child.' Owner Chris Cassaro says Chopper is the closest he has to a child . California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials took Chopper and two venomous snakes from Cassaro on Thursday. They told him it was not legal to own the animals. Cassaro said he had a permit and did everything he could to make sure he was caring for Chopper legally. 'I worked with the city of Rancho Cucamonga for almost a year, jumping through their hoops, doing their conditions, getting my neighbors in agreement,' he told reporters. Officials said he was unable to find that permit when they came for Chopper, but even if Cassaro had produced it they still would have removed the animals. California lists alligators as restricted animals and said Cassaro failed to have a special state permit for Chopper . California has alligators on its list of restricted species and would need a special state license to keep her. As he did not have one, he would likely never be able to keep Chopper again. Cassaro's neighbors are sympathetic. 'She's been living here 30 years, I think she should live here 30 more because it's just her home. Everybody has grown to know her and love her,' said Hunter Oslund. | Sleep-in drew dozens of children and parents who missed 'Chopper'
At 125-pounds, the alligator had lived with Rancho Cucamonga man Chris Cassaro since 1987 .
California considers alligators restricted animals and said Cassaro did not have a state permit . |
116,540 | 226bd2cdcfcceb2119bd7f0de1a93e14d94a2c91 | Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN) -- French forces swooped into Somalia for a rescue mission under the cover of darkness, leading to a fierce gunbattle with militants who officials fear killed the hostage, a French intelligence commando. The raid Friday night also left a French soldier and 17 Islamist fighters dead, according to the French defense ministry. Another soldier was missing. French President Francois Hollande acknowledged Saturday that the operation "did not succeed." He said it led to the "sacrifice" of two French soldiers -- the one killed and other missing -- and "maybe the assassination" of hostage Denis Allex, who was a member of the DGSE, France's equivalent of the CIA. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also told reporters in Paris on Saturday that "everything leads us to believe that Denis Allex was gunned down by his captors." But the al-Shabaab militia, which is affiliated with al Qaeda, claimed that the hostage is unharmed and being held at a new location. The militants said in a statement on their Twitter account that they will decide the hostage's fate in the next two days. Profile: Who are Al-Shabaab? The racket of helicopter blades and volleys of gunfire startled Bulo Marer town residents out of their sleep Friday night, when French paratroopers descended on the camp. Three helicopters initiated a heated gunbattle with captors under the cover of darkness in the town about 75 miles northwest of the capital Mogadishu, eyewitnesses said. French soldiers leaped from the aircraft to engage the Islamists on the ground. Al-Shabaab 'recruiting U.S. citizens' The French commandos faced strong resistance from the outset, the defense ministry said in a statement. "In the course of the assault, fierce fighting took place." Al-Shabaab claimed the French soldiers left behind combat gear and a wounded comrade before disengaging. "The injured French soldier is now in the custody of the Mujahideen," al-Shabaab said. Allex was abducted on July 14, 2009, while on an official mission in Mogadishu in support of the transitional Somali government, the French defense ministry said. French media reports suggest that Denis Allex is a pseudonym for the military serviceman. France said it decided to undertake the rescue attempt after the terror group failed to negotiate for the hostage's release for three and a half years while holding him in inhumane conditions. "After an intensive search, which I want to salute, the intelligence service detected the location where he was held," Le Drian, France's defense minister, said Saturday. "... France will never withhold any means to gain the release of all of its hostages." Le Drian expressed his sympathy to the families of the French servicemen lost in the attempted rescue. The defense minister added that there was no connection between the operation in Somalia and a simultaneous deployment of French troops to Mali. A French helicopter pilot was fatally wounded during aerial raids in support of Malian forces combating Islamist forces Friday afternoon. New home for Somalia? Omar Nor reported from Mogadishu, and Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London. CNN's Joseph Netto, Pierre Meilhan and Ben Brumfield contributed to this report. | France's president says the hostage rescue operation "did not succeed"
A French soldier dies; one is missing; the hostage is presumed dead, France says .
But Al-Shabaab says the hostage is alive and at a new location .
France says it undertook the rescue bid after the hostage-takers failed to negotiate . |
175,248 | 6ed0b7aa8dbfc0188559f6eb3a4d03257f206334 | (CNN) -- A British man was jailed Tuesday for raping two of his daughters and fathering nine children over 27 years, a case with echoes of Austria's Josef Fritzl. The two daughters were made pregnant 19 times; there were nine births, five miscarriages and five terminations. Seven of the children are alive but suffer genetic deformities. The father, who cannot be named for legal reasons banning the identification of his victims and the surviving children, pleaded guilty Tuesday at Sheffield Crown Court, northern England, and was sentenced to serve 25 life sentences to run concurrently. The judge said the minimum term the 56-year-old rapist should serve in jail should be 19½ years. South Yorkshire Police Chief Superintendent Simon Torr said, "The victims of these terrible crimes have asked me to state the following: 'His detention in prison brings us only the knowledge that he cannot physically touch us again. The suffering he has caused will continue for many years, and we must now concentrate our thoughts on finding the strength to rebuild our lives.' " Speaking for the police, Torr added, "The main concern ... is for those who have been so badly affected: the victims who have suffered a terrible ordeal. We will continue to offer them our full support to try and help them get on with their lives. "As far as the sentence goes, we are satisfied that this offender has received the strongest possible punishment for his heinous crimes. Now we need to ensure continuing support for those who have suffered as a result of his actions." The daughters first told police about their ordeal in June, but the abuse dated to 1981. It emerged that in 1998 one daughter rang Childline, a charity to help abused kids, and asked for assurances about being able to keep her children if she came forward. When Childline could not make that guarantee, the daughter did nothing more to raise her plight. Watch how the case came to light » . The UK's Press Association reported that the rapes began in 1981 with daily attacks and that for long periods, they would be raped up to three times a week, and the assaults would continue through pregnancies. Their only reprieve came after they had just given birth or when they were ill because of the abuse. If either daughter tried to refuse their father's attacks, they would be punched, kicked and or held to the flames of a gas fire, burning their eyes and arms, PA reported. Despite visiting hospitals and meeting with social workers over the 27 years of abuse, no investigation was launched into the family. The case comes in the wake of the death of a baby, known only as Baby P, which has dominated headlines in Britain. The baby endured horrendous torture and died despite being on the local authority's child protection register. In Austria this year, Josef Fritzl was arrested, accused of keeping his daughter in a basement dungeon and fathering seven children through the rapes. | Dad in UK sentenced to life in jail for subjecting daughters to rapes over 27 years .
Rapes resulted in 19 pregnancies, nine births, seven children .
Surviving children suffer genetic disorders .
Judge questions why social workers, professionals did not find out about case . |
81,074 | e5c799ef966b99ecfc8d0ea3cd5a365b42858074 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 01:53 EST, 4 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 14:10 EST, 4 January 2014 . Charged: Matthew Sowders faces two capital murder charges for the death of his estranged wife Melissa and her unborn child . The estranged husband of a pregnant young mother whose strangled body was found in a Houston river has now been arrested and charged with her murder. Matthew Sowders claims that his now-dead wife, Melissa, pulled a gun on him and his lawyers are entering a not guilty plea. Prosecutors paint an entirely different picture, saying that Matthew told two different friends that he strangled his wife on Boxing Day after an altercation that occurred when she met him to drop off one of their children with him at an area McDonalds. 'The defendant came to her residence on December 26, she stated he was soaking wet and his truck was covered in mud. He told her she strangled her to death after he pulled a gun on her,' one of the prosecutors said in court, according to The Inquisitr. 'He said he stuffed her into a large black trash can and transported to Cypress Creek and there he submerged her body.' The 28-year-old now faces capital murder charges for both Melissa, 26, and her unborn child. Other reports assert that Matthew snapped when he found out that the unborn child was not his and rather was a result of her relationship with her current boyfriend Jason Sanford. Melissa, who has four children with Matthew, was two months pregnant with she and Jason's child at the time that she disappeared on December 26. Fears: Melissa Sowders, 26, has been missing since last Thursday. The pregnant mother-of-four was going to meet her estranged husband when she vanished and her abandoned car was found the next day . Melissa Sowders can be seen rubbing her pregnant belly in this surveillance footage of her the day before she vanished . The video is from a Christmas Day visit Sowders made to her boyfriend's godparents' home. She disappeared the next day . Her body was found in Cypress Creek in Harris County a week after she disappeared. The . investigation included surveillance footage that showed her rubbing her . stomach as she headed to meet Matthew's godparents the day before she . disappeared. She was not showing at the time, but her attention to her stomach made it clear to viewers that she was aware of her pregnancy. Concerns: Her family says she was terrified of her ex - but police have not named him a suspect . Matthew . Sowders originally claimed that he had nothing to do with his estranged . wife's disappearance, but went on to hire a lawyer and stop cooperating . with police. The . Inquisitr reports that he filed for divorce from Melissa, the mother of . his four children who are all under the age of 8, in October but still . had questions about the unborn child's paternity. 'As far as we know he has threatened . her numerous times. He has had a knife to her throat before,' Melissa's . cousin Michelle Bierman told ABC News. 'We think he just went off the edge when he found out she was two months pregnant with Jason's child.' Miss Sowder's family say they fear she is already dead, that she drowned in Cypress Creek. 'The water is cold, she's in there. It's not a proper place,' Michelle Bierman, Miss Sowder's cousin, told KHOU. Mr Sanford, told police he last saw her when she took him to work at 6.15am on Thursday in her white Honda Accord. He . told deputies that she was supposed to meet her ex-husband and their . youngest daughter at a McDonald's - and her family said they fear he . could be involved in her disappearance. Search: Deputies with the Harris County Sheriff Department had searched a wooded area along Cypress Creek on Saturday. They were then searching the water for any signs of the woman's body . Hunt: Volunteers used sonar equipment to search for the missing mother in the creek . 'She was terrified of him. Terrified,' Michelle Bierman, Sowders' cousin, told KHOU11 on Monday. Relatives . told the news channel that her estranged husband was abusive towards . her and did not like her having a new boyfriend or having a child by . him. 'Pretty much from the first day that we knew she was missing, and the circumstances of how she went missing. We knew. We knew,' Bierman added. Court records show that the ex-husband, who has custody of their children, actually filed for divorce in October. Authorities have interviewed the man but have not named him as a suspect. Volunteers from Texas Equusearch are using boats with sonar equipment at Cypress Creek and said they have already found readings of interest in 12 feet of water. | Melissa Sowders, 26, was found dead in a river a week after meeting with her estranged husband Matthew, 28, on December 26 .
He was the father of her four children- all under the age of 8- but he was reportedly upset that she was pregnant with her new boyfriend's baby .
Relatives say she was 'terrified' of him and he was abusive .
He is now charged with two counts of capital murder for Melissa's death and that of her unborn child . |
236,399 | bdfbe14425e7bff0d8f4a74caf07b4590c89972c | Newcastle United are in desperate need of some attacking impetus right now - but midfielder Siem de Jong will not be returning to the side any time soon. The £6million summer signing from Ajax posted a photograph on Instagram showing himself being propped up on crutches. And the news that De Jong is still a long way from returning to the starting line-up will do little to lighten the mood on Tyneside, with the midfielder revealing: 'Still a couple of weeks to go on crutches :( #NUFC #injury.' Newcastle United midfielder Siem de Jong posted a photo on Instagram showing himself on crutches . De Jong sustained a thigh injury and the £6million summer signing from Ajax is out until after Christmas . Newcastle ans hold up signs calling for Alan Pardew to be sacked as boss due to the club's terrible form . De Jong made just three appearances for the Magpies before he suffered a thigh injury which Newcastle revealed would rule him out for 'a number of months,' and he is not expected to return until after Christmas. Alan Pardew's side are on a miserable run of form and sit second-bottom of the Premier League, having failed to win any of their first six matches this season. The Magpies have lost 10 of their last 14 in the league, failing to score in 10 of those matches. De Jong netted 57 times in 168 league games for Ajax and his potency from midfield has been sorely missed in Pardew's beleaguered side. Newcastle travel to the Liberty Stadium to face fifth-placed Swansea City on Saturday. Newcastle look short of firepower and De Jong's (centre) injury has left them struggling for goals and creativity . Peter Crouch's headed goal, which earned Stoke a 1-0 win on Monday, put yet more pressure on Newcastle . Alan Pardew has come under fan pressure following a poor start to the season but has the players' support . | Siem de Jong posts photo on Instagram showing himself on crutches .
Newcastle United midfielder says he still has 'a couple of weeks' on crutches .
De Jong suffered a thigh injury after just three league games for Magpies .
Midfielder is expected to be out until after Christmas with thigh injury .
The £6million summer signing netted 57 times in 168 league games for Ajax .
Alan Pardew's Newcastle side sit second-bottom of the Premier League . |
106,714 | 15a8b9bd2fc59d24d6db261cb36ae2dea871ca01 | By . Ted Thornhill . PUBLISHED: . 07:08 EST, 25 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:31 EST, 26 December 2013 . A woman was left dead and a man critically injured after a shooting in a Macy’s store car park in San Diego. The female victim, in her 20s, managed to dial 911 before she died, at around 1.30am on Christmas Eve morning, and explained to the emergency services that she didn’t know where she was. Both victims had been shot in the head and the upper body as they sat in a car. The woman was later pronounced dead at the scene. Scroll down for video... Victim: Salvatore Belvedere has been left with life-threatening injuries . Brutal: The victims were both shot in the head and torso while sitting in a black sedan . The store, in Westfield Mission Valley Mall, was open at the time for Christmas shopping, and police are appealing for witnesses. The critically injured male, who was rushed to Scripps Mercy Hospital with life-threatening injuries, is 22-year-old Salvatore Belvedere, according to CBS News 8, which said this information came from a source close to the victim’s family. The news channel reported that, according to family members, the dead woman is the fiancée of Belvedere’s brother. Tragic: The shooting took place in the car park of a Macy's store early on Christmas Eve morning . Salvatore’s brother, Gianni Belvedere, was with the pair on Monday night and hasn’t been seen since. A suspect hasn’t been named by investigating officers, but Lt Mike Hastings from the San Diego police department's homicide unit said that they are looking for a 5ft 9 to 5ft 11 male of unknown race, last seen dressed in a shirt and tan pants. He added that he may have driven away from the scene in a dark-gray 2008 to 2011 Honda sedan. Anyone with information is asked to call the San Diego Police Department's Homicide Unit on (619) 531-2293 or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. | The fatal shooting took place in the early hours of Christmas Eve .
The victims were sitting in a car and were both shot in the head and body .
The female victim dialled 911 before she succumbed to her injuries .
The male victim, Salvatore Belvedere, 22, is seriously injured in hospital . |
239,897 | c292024674b062bd608790485fdad8b1b76020e3 | By . James Rush . PUBLISHED: . 12:04 EST, 26 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:29 EST, 26 July 2013 . Terry Collins has been jailed for 16 years for two terrifying sex attacks . A taxi driver rapist who lured young women into his cab by decking it out with disco lights and sweets was today jailed for 16 years for two terrifying sex attacks. Terry Collins, 61, who was known as the ‘Disco Cabbie’, was told by a judge that he remained a danger to women for as long as he was sexually active. The predator cruised the streets at night looking to entice potential victims into his brightly-lit ‘honey trap’ taxi. The pervert took photos of female passengers in drunken and inappropriately-dressed states using a dashboard camera. In March 2010 he raped a girl of 14 after making her get into his taxi before forcing himself upon her. Two years later he raped a 20-year-old woman reveller after she got into his Citroen Picasso cab at a rank at the end of a night out. Police fear Collins has attacked other women customers in the past but they have never come forward. Fellow cabbies spent three years raising their concerns to the licensing authority about the predator’s suspicious behaviour and his oddly-decorated taxi. Their fears were raised further when he posted a number of his photos of female fares on his Facebook page in June 2011. Officials ordered him to strip out the camera and the disco and strobe lights as well as a collection of soft toys and lollipops, but he kept them up. He went on to attack his second victim after he opened the front passenger door as she staggered towards a taxi rank in Bournemouth, Dorset, during the early hours of March 10 last year. As he drove along, with his eyes on the road, he indecently touched the shocked woman. He then pulled into some darkened garages where he forced her to perform a sex act on him and raped her. Police arrested bespectacled Collins and quickly linked him to the 2010 attack on the 14-year-old. He denied two charges of rape and one count of sexual assault makin his two victims go through the ordeal of giving evidence in front of a jury. Police fear Collins has attacked other women customers in the past but they have never come forward . Grey-haired Collins was found guilty and was today jailed for 16 years. Jailing him at Bournemouth Crown Court, judge Peter Johnson said: 'There is not one shred of remorse whatsoever that emanates from you. 'You are a callous and intelligent man who knew exactly what he was doing and one that enjoys control over women. 'You are a callous and intelligent man who knew exactly what he was doing and one that enjoys control over women' - Judge Peter Johnson . 'You exercised no self-constraint and when asked to stop you carried on. 'You represent a danger to females while you remain sexually active.' Detective Constable James Lees, of Bournemouth police, said afterwards: 'Collins abused the position of trust that he held as a taxi driver and preyed on vulnerable woman. 'There may be more of Collins’ victims yet to speak with police. If they have any concerns about Collins I urge them to contact the police as soon as possible.' Collins’ second victim, a mother-of-one, told of her ordeal. The woman, now aged 21, said: 'I left a karaoke bar in the early hours of the morning and walked to a nearby taxi rank. 'What happened is all a bit blurry but the front passenger door of a taxi was open and ready for me and I just got in. 'We were driving for a little while when he touched me inappropriately. He put his hand down my shorts without taking his eyes off the road. I didn’t say anything to him, I just froze. 'He pulled up to the garages behind my flat and touched me again even though I said "no" over and over again. 'I just went numb and and was just thinking about getting out of there alive. All I could think about was my child. 'It lasted about half-an-hour and afterwards I threw a £20 note at him and got out of the car and phoned the police.' The woman said the attack had had a devastating effect on her. She said: 'I couldn’t leave my home for about two weeks and lost two stone in weight. It took a few months for me to even be able to get back in a taxi again.' John Tye, chairman of the Bournemouth Taxi Trades Association, said that licensing officials at Bournemouth council had questions to ask about allowing Collins to remain on the streets for so long. He said: 'Collins was allowed to operate a taxi decked out in such a way to attract young and vulnerable girls. 'Within his car there were extensive disco-type fairy lights and countless cuddly toys right across the dashboard together with a container of sweet lollipops. 'The Trade presented totally unsuitable images of women that were downloaded from his Facebook profile to the licensing board. 'The question has to be asked that had the vehicle not been so high profile and a honey trap, would his victims have been drawn to it?' Collins, from Bournemouth, held a private hire licence for 10 years but also acted as a rogue Hackney carriage, illegally picking up punters on the street. He worked for Star Radio Cars in Bournemouth. A spokesman for the firm said: 'We followed all of the correct procedures and he was suspended as soon as we were notified (of his arrest). Our sympathies go out to all those involved.' | Terry Collins cruised the streets at night looking to entice potential victims .
He raped a girl of 14 in March 2010 and a 20-year-old woman two years later .
Fellow cabbies spent three years raising concerns to the licensing authority .
He has been jailed for 16 years after being found guilty of two counts of rape . |
21,017 | 3ba6113eaf9df237a3bb6ca5c409c741f9348401 | (CNN) -- Somalia's main militant group has banned the United Nations food agency and ordered its aid workers to leave the impoverished country. Al-Shabaab released a statement to the media Sunday, accusing the World Food Programme of distributing expired food and undermining local farmers, said Peter Smerdon, a WFP spokesman. Smerdon declined to comment on the accusations, but said the agency is committed to the failed nation in the Horn of Africa. "WFP is determined to help the people of Somalia in need of assistance, regardless of who controls the areas in which they live, as long as it is safe for our staff to do so," Smerdon said. About half the population -- or nearly four million Somalis -- is starving, according to the United Nations. The food aid agency suspended work in southern Somalia in January, saying rising attacks and unacceptable demands from armed groups had made it impossible to work in the region. Smerdon declined to say whether the agency had resumed operations in the south. However, a statement on the WFP Web site says it continues to deliver food to other parts of the country, including the volatile capital, Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab, the al Qaeda proxy in the country, controls much of southern Somalia. It has accused the food aid agency of having a political motive and supporting the U.N.-backed transitional government. WFP has denied the allegations and said it is impartial and nonpolitical. Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991, and fighting between the rebels and government troops has escalated the humanitarian crisis in the famine-ravaged country. | Al-Shabaab accuses World Food Programme of distributing expired food .
U.N. estimates half the Somali population is starving .
Its food aid agency suspended work in Somalia in January due to rising attacks .
Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991 . |
150,609 | 4eb691dc6ea8f5a285138e89a6d8aebdb0a04434 | Emma Czornobaj, 25, had pulled her car over into the left-hand lane of a provincial highway in Candiac, south of Montreal, in 2010 to rescue the animals . A woman who caused the deaths of a 16-year-old girl and her father after stopping on a highway to help ducklings cross the road has been jailed for 90 days. Emma Czornobaj, 25, had pulled her car over into the left-hand lane of a provincial highway in Candiac, south of Montreal, in 2010 to rescue the animals. Moments later a motorcycle slammed into the back of the parked vehicle. André Roy, 50, who was driving and his 16-year-old daughter, Jessie, who was riding on the back, were killed in the process. In court the animal lover said she had not seen the ducks' mother anywhere and planned to pick them up and take them home. Czornobaj was found guilty of two counts of criminal negligence causing death, a charge and two counts of dangerous driving causing death. The Crown had reportedly sought a sentence of nine months in jail and 240 hours of community service. As she was jailed during a hearing on Thursday, a judge also banned Czornobaj from the road for 10 years and told her she must perform 250 hours of community service. According to CBC Pauline Volikakis, the wife and mother of the two victims, had said she wanted Czornobaj to get a sentence that reflects the seriousness of her actions. After the hearing she said the sentence was enough for her to try and move on with her life. She was riding on her own motorbike behind her husband daughter when she say the horrific events unfold. Czornobaj had three years driving experience at the time of the accident and had no criminal record. A police officer testified at the trial that Roy, whose speed was estimated to be from 113 km/h to 129 km/h when he applied his brakes, collided with the car at between 105 km/h and 121 km/h. The jury was told the speed was higher than the prescribed 90 km/h limit on the road. During the trial, witness Martine Tessier testified that she noticed parked car didn't have its hazards on and that the driver's door was open. She also said she saw Czornobaj motioning to some ducks on the side of the road. André Roy, 50, (center) who was driving and his 16-year-old daughter, Jessie, (right) who was riding on the back, were killed when their bike slammed into the back of car. His wife Pauline was behind them at the time . 'I shouted to my [three] children: ‘What is she doing there? She’s going to get killed',' Tessier said, according to National Post. 'I saw a body go over the car. It looked like a rag doll. I shouted to my daughter to call 911.' Prosecutor Annie-Claude Chasse had a message for motorists. 'What we hope is that a clear message is sent to society that we do not stop on the highway for animals. It's not worth it,' she said. Czornobaj left the courthouse without commenting. According to National Post, she is a financial analyst who graduated from Concordia’s John Molson School of Business where she made the dean’s list. | Emma Czornobaj, 25, parked her car on a highway in Candiac, Montreal .
Pulled vehicle onto the left lane in a bid to rescue the stranded animals .
Motorcycle carrying André Roy, 50 and daughter Jessie, 16, hit the back .
Czornobaj said she planned to capture and take home the ducklings .
She was also banned from the road for 10 years during the hearing . |
187,294 | 7e8e5833912d2a898f497634deae32ed5ed79bfd | By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 05:10 EST, 9 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 13:25 EST, 9 March 2013 . The Liberal Democrats will block further cuts to welfare unless David Cameron drops his opposition to to stripping rich pensioners of their benefits. Nick Clegg warned David Cameron that any additional raid on Britain's vast benefits bill must 'start' with reducing handouts like the winter fuel allowance and free bus passes for well-off over-65s. The intervention comes after Business Secretary Vince Cable said health and foreign aid should not be protected from spending cuts. Nick Clegg addressed delegates during a Q&A session at the party's annual conference in Brighton . Many faces: Mr Clegg was very animated during a Q&A session with delegates in Brighton . Mr Clegg defended benefits cuts during a heated Q&A session with activists at the Lib Dem spring conference in Brighton. He challenged Defence Secretary Philip Hammond to find savings from his own budget instead of demanding general cuts to welfare. Mr Clegg said: 'Philip Hammond is making his case for his own department and is slightly scouring the Whitehall landscape to find what he considers to be the easy alternative to a lot of what are undoubtedly difficult decisions which need to be taken in relation to the Ministry of Defence.' The Lib Dem leader insisted he was not opposed to further cuts. 'If you want to revisit welfare then let’s at least start with the people at the top. Vince Cable receives a bus pass in Twickenham; he doesn’t feel he needs it. 'Why are we giving – Vince isn’t a millionaire – but why are we giving these universal no-questions-asked benefits to millionaire pensioners when people on much lower incomes are having their support from the benefits system cut or curtailed. 'And the Conservatives don’t want to do that. So they don’t even in their great enthusiasm for welfare reform, let’s go after welfare; go after welfare, even when they want to do that they won’t start at the top and work down.' Mr Clegg earlier met young activists and new Lib Dem MP Mike Thorrnton . Mr Clegg went on: 'There is real difference there and I have made clear to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor: The Liberal Democrats are not averse to welfare reform, we have done a lot, and we have just to £3.5billion in welfare savings in the last autumn statement . 'But if you want to do more you have got to do it fairly, you have got to show that you are prepared to start at the top and work down.' Earlier Mr Cable claimed further . cuts to his Business department would damage science and universities, as he . repeated his call for extra spending on big infrastructure projects to . kickstart the economy. And he launched an outstpoken attack on Tories demanding deeper spending cuts as waging 'ideological jihad' against public services. Business Secretary Vince Cable has questioned whether health, schools and defence spending should be protected from cuts . The Cabinet is embroiled in a growing public row about the need for further spending cuts in 2015-16, beyond the next general election. Chancellor George Osborne has privately made clear he is relaxed about minister ‘fighting it out among themselves’ over where the axe should fall. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond and Home Secretary Theresa May are among the Tory ministers resisting more cuts to their budgets. But Mr Cable is seen as the ‘shop steward’ of the so-called National Union of Ministers preparing to defy the Treasury. In his fringe appearance last night, Mr Cable he said there would be 'pressure on public spending' for years to come. And in an strongly-worded attack on the Tories, he added: 'What . we have to make absolutely clear is that there is a difference between . managing public spending, controlling public spending in that context - . having that financial discipline - and the kind of thing that a lot of . right-wing Conservatives are wishing for, which is a kind of British Tea . Party,' he said. 'A kind of ideological jihad against public spending and public services.' Mr Clegg applauds during a rally to mark International Women's Day, which was dominated by party angst over its handling of the allegations against Lord Rennard . In an interview ahead of the Lib Dem . spring conference in Brighton, Mr Cable warned serious damage will be . done to British industry if the coalition continues to spare some . departments from any cuts. David . Cameron promised real terms increase in health funding and the defence . equipment and schools budgets will be protected post-2015. The coalition . has also committed to increase foreign aid to 0.7 per cent of GDP. Mr Cable insisted he is not ‘sticking his head in the sand’ but is angry that so many areas have been protected. Former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown said he did not want the party being in government to be a 'blip' in its history. In a rousing speech as the head of the party's election campaign said he wanted being in power to become a 'habit'. And he told activists: 'You know, I'm sure that you, like me, have often told children and grandchildren that it's not the winning that matters, it's the taking part. 'Well let me let you into a little secret. That's b******.' He added: 'Liberals have waited a hundred years for May 2010. 'And I dreamt every hour of my leadership of our party, that one day we would have the opportunity to be where we are now, in government; making a difference.' He told the Guardian: . ‘In opposition I did not think that was a sensible way to approach . public spending. I have gone along with it in government in coalition, . as part of the team and all that, and we did that in the first wave of . public spending cuts.’ Mr Cable warned he will block further cuts to his Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. ‘We have delivered in the first spending round big spending cuts – not too many people give us credit for it but the administrative cuts have been 50 per cent. ‘We have lost a lot of civil servants – it is a much more efficient department. We have done 'brave things' in quotes like student fees, privatising the Royal Mail – radical things – but we have now got to the point where further significant cuts would do enormous damage to things that really do matter, like science and skills and innovation and universities. ‘Obviously, that is not very sensible given that the overall objective of the government is to achieve extra growth. 'I am always up for efficiency and quite brave reforms, so I am not just sticking my head in the sand, but you get to a point where the kind of cuts that are being considered will do serious damage to things that are essential for growth and the industrial strategy. I think we know there are large, alarming sums being sought.’ His criticism of the decision to international development from cuts comes as it emerged foreign aid is to be diverted through British companies to prevent it falling into the hands of corrupt and wasteful regimes. Firms will use the money to win infrastructure contracts and boost struggling economies in Africa, Latin America and Asia. The radical move, to be announced by International Development Secretary Justine Greening next week, is being seen as a victory for common sense in the bitter controversy over the £11billion international development budget, which has been ringfenced while other departments face cuts. The Lib Dems gather in Brighton for their spring conference hoping to celebrate their victory in last week's Eastleigh by-election. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg hopes to use the spring conference to draw a line under a run of scandals . But the party has been dogged by . questions about its handling of groping allegations against former chief . executive Lord Rennard and Chris Huhne's conviction for perverting the . course of justice. Senior . party figures including Nick Clegg and his wife Miriam have been forced . to deny being told by Mr Huhne's estranged wife Vicky Pryce that he . forced her to take speeding points for him. The . Lib Dems hope to use the gathering to distance themselves from the . Tories, and Mr Cable has questioned Mr Osborne's focus on spending cuts . to balance the nation's books, arguing more could be raised from taxes. 'The proposals for the one-year spending review, as we understand it, is for 85 per cent spending cuts versus 15% tax rises. Certainly as a Liberal Democrat I would question that.' And he defied David Cameron's insistence that pensioner benefits like the winter fuel allowance should be protected from cuts. The 69-yearold said: 'I have been getting the winter fuel payment for five years, it has been keeping me warm in Twickenham. I actually give it away. 'If we are in the realm of tough choices, why did we feel that this area is a sacred cow?' | Vince Cable questions decision to protect some areas from austerity .
Business Secretary warns industry will be damaged if his budget is cut again in the next spending review . |
3,983 | 0b7cf639b7af543e29f7a183b0939f3da84aa7eb | By . Jaymi Mccann . PUBLISHED: . 06:19 EST, 23 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:19 EST, 23 May 2013 . Jailed: Wendy Nichols stole more than £1.5 million from her employers to fund her luxury lifestyle . A crooked financial controller who lived in a mansion owned by Carol Vorderman has been jailed after she stole £1.5 million from her employers to fund a life of luxury. Wendy Nichols, 49, siphoned cash from company accounts and used it to pay for flash cars, foreign holidays and even plastic surgery for herself and one of her daughters. The mother-of-two rented a palatial apartment at Sloblock Hall, a £5 million country mansion in North Somerset owned by TV presenter Carol Vorderman. Northampton Crown Court heard Nichols also bought her daughters plush BMW cars, paid for them to go to a private boarding school and splashed out on a £200,000 flat for one of them. Nichols - who turned up to court wearing a figure-hugging dress - covered her tracks by altering records and using the name of an ex-employee to authorise fraudulent transactions. Between 2006 and August 2012 she stole a total of £1,537,608 from Logistex, based in Kettering. She pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to theft and false accounting and on Wednesday she was jailed for five-a-and-a-half years. Jailing Nichols, Judge Richard Bray told her she had breached the trust of her employer, where she had worked for ten years. He said: 'You used your position to defraud your employer over a period of six years. 'It is amazing to me that this was not detected sooner. The money was spent on the most blatant luxuries.' Landlord: Nichols siphoned £1.5million from her employers and lived in Carol Vorderman's £5million mansion in Somerset . Elizabeth Gooderham, prosecuting, said Nichols was rumbled when the financial director at her firm noticed an unusually large transaction and traced it to her personal account. Further investigations revealed dozens of similar deposits from company funds. Mrs Gooderham told the court: 'The money was being spent on regular trips to department stores, holidays to New York, Dubai and Tenerife and cosmetic surgery for Nichols and one of her daughters. 'She bought her daughters a BMW Mini and BMW X3, she also paid for them to go to a private boarding school and bought one of them a flat in Glasgow which cost more than £200,000. 'It was an extravagant lifestyle not borne out by someone on a salary of between £50,000 and £60,000.' Convicted: Nichols bought BMW cars, a flat in Glasgow for her daughter, and luxury holidays with the money she stole . Maxine Krone, defending, said Nichols felt she had 'created a monster' during the thefts, and had initially intended to pay the money back. She added: 'She is ashamed of herself and of the breach of trust.' Mrs Krone said Nichols had arrived in court with her suitcase already packed as she fully expected a prison sentence. Speaking after the case, Det Con Andy Hewitt, from Northamptonshire Police, said: 'The next stage will be for a Proceeds of Crime hearing, to see if some of the money can be recovered.' A date for the hearing has yet to be set. Lawyer Julie Vickers, speaking on behalf of Logistex, said: 'Wendy Nichols was employed by Logistex for almost ten years and held a senior financial management position. 'We placed our trust in her in a role that required honesty and professionalism. 'At no time in that period did we have reason to doubt the integrity and trust we placed in her. 'It is therefore with great disappointment that we have discovered the theft. Guilty: Nichols pleaded guilty in Northampton Crown Court. the defence said that she felt ashamed of what she had done . 'She breached the trust we placed in her by systematically stealing money from the company over an extended period of time. 'As soon as the theft became known to the company we moved quickly to resolve the problem and Wendy Nichols was removed from her position. 'Logistex remains financially robust.' | Wendy Nichols, 49, siphoned £1.5milion from company accounts .
Used the cash to buy BMW cars, luxury holidays, flats and plastic surgery .
Between 2006 and August 2012 she stole a total of £1,537,608 from Logistex .
She has pleaded guilty, and said that she is 'ashamed' of what she has done . |
36,674 | 67e9dccabdf6e53a7b28fbc4eb3a5949337cceae | Five members of Francois Hollande's personal staff have lost their jobs after photos were taken of the president and his 'secret' lover at the Elysee Palace. The French president ordered the transfer of the officials following the publication of the hugely embarrassing images in gossip magazine Voici. Taken last month, they showed the 60-year-old Socialist with Julie Gayet, the 42-year-old TV actress. Sarkozy spies? Francois Hollande, left, transferred five staff members after pictures were leaked of him and his girlfriend at the Elysee Palace. Four were originally appointed by his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, right . Their long-term affair was uncovered in January, leading to Valerie Trieweiler, Mr Holland's 'official' girlfriend being kicked out of the Elysee Palace. She suffered a brief nervous breakdown, and then went on to write a lucrative kiss-and-tell book which she was promoting in Britain last week. Ms Gayet, a divorced mother of two, disappeared from public view for months, but the blurry photographers of her on a private terrace of the Elysee with Mr Hollande appeared last week. The French presidency today confirmed that five members of Mr Hollande's presidential staff were being sent to different jobs away from his 'private service.' There was no possibility of paparazzi having got into the highly secure presidential home in Paris, prompting the speculation that the pictures were taken by staff. 'Five were immediately placed in the frame, and they are the ones who have been moved on to other duties,' said a governmental source in Paris. He said investigators did not know the exact person who had taken the snaps, so all five were 'being let go'. To add a further twist to the soap opera, four were originally appointed to their prestigious jobs by Nicolas Sarkozy, the former conservative president. He is desperate to retake the presidency from Mr Hollande, leading to speculation that he had engineered the latest drama to embarrass his detested rival. The photos – which are thought to have been taken with a simple phone camera – were distributed by an agency with close links to Mr Sarkozy's third wife, the former supermodel Carla Bruni. Sour grapes: Valerie Trieweiler, left. Mr Hollande's 'official' girlfriend until the affair with Julie Gayet, right, was revealed, has published a new book which portrays her ex as a cheating liar who hates the poor . The images of Mr Hollande and Ms Gayet were the first ever of them in public together, and appeared as Ms Trierweiler portrayed the president as a cheating liar. Not only did she say he was a cynical love cheat, but insisted he was a hypocritical Socialist who secretly despises the poor and refers to them as 'the toothless'. Ms Trierweiler's best-selling book, 'Thank You For This Moment', has been translated into 12 languages and has just come out in the UK. It is likely to end any hope Mr Hollande has of retaining the presidency following the 2017 elections. His current approval rating is less than 13 per cent. | Smartphone pictures showed president at the Elysee with his girlfriend .
There was no question of paparazzi breaching the Elysee's tight security .
Four of the officials transferred were originally hired by Nicolas Sarkozy . |
266,764 | e5870b314b4718cd1211fbe58c3b937c6323dc5c | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- And now, the rejects. The photographs show the Boeing VC-25 making a steep bank not usually seen with passenger aircraft . Three months after the White House released a single photograph taken during a photo op of "Air Force One" flying over New York -- a flight that caused panic on the streets below -- the U.S. Air Force on Friday released the remaining 145 photos taken during the flight. The photographs show the Boeing VC-25 -- a military version of a 747 -- making three passes by the Statue of Liberty, at one point accompanied by an F-16 fighter jet and at another point making a steep bank not usually seen with passenger aircraft. That latter move may have contributed to the chaos below. The photographs and several lengthy government e-mail chains were released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests by CNN and other news organizations. The e-mail chains show that the flight's government organizers were aware of many New Yorkers' fears of low-flying aircraft before the April 27 flight, and show a flurry of second-guessing, finger-pointing, damage control and occasional expressions of regret in the hours immediately after the flight. Watch a compilation of still images of the flyover » . "Thanks for the heads up on sensitivities in the New York area," an Air Force colonel wrote in an e-mail two days before the flight. "This is an issue that PAG [the Presidential Airlift Group] has also been concerned with. As a result, their coordination has been substantial." But while the White House, the military and numerous federal and local government agencies coordinated the flight, the federal government demanded secrecy, preparing a news release that was to be distributed only if there were media inquiries. Those inquiries came during the morning flight, triggering a quick chain of e-mails among government officials. "We...need to construct some sort of timeline on when folks became aware of it if that is possible," one Air Force official wrote, responding to the public interest. "I agree we... need to accomplish damage control, but we aren't the POC [point of contact]," the response reads. "Nor do I want to become a belly button for NORAD to push on this one." Wrote one top Pentagon spokeswoman: "Nothing like having everyone point the finger at someone else so we ALL look like a big bunch of buffoons... can you say Moe, Larry & Curly!??!?!" In addition to the informal e-mail banter, the documents show the regimented system the Pentagon uses to monitor and respond to breaking news stories. A U.S. Northern Command document offers this "assessment" of the story: "Last 4 hours: Story reported quickly. Covered by AP, CNN, FOX major news outlets. Local reporting very critical, highlighting 'scare' factor. Local populace very critical of event, due to 9-11 sensitivities." It continues: "Web site blog comments 'furious' at best. Twitter search reveals 'tweets' regarding two F-16's chasing commercial airliner. Rate of 1 tweet per minute and growing." "No positive spin is possible. Admit mistake," it concludes. In another e-mail, USAF Col. Scott M. Turner, commander of the Presidential Airlift Group, was doing just that. "Again, my apologies sir. Real intent here was to honor NYC, not cause mass chaos," it reads. The next day, the Northern Command's internal memo included depictions of New York's three major tabloids featuring the headlines, "Scare Force One," "Just Plane Stupid!" and "How Dumb Was This!" The photographs released Friday, meanwhile, show the presidential aircraft making a steep bank, seemingly well beyond the 30-degree maximum for Boeing 747s carrying passengers, according to one airline pilot consulted by CNN. That may have contributed to the anxiety on the ground. The Pentagon estimated the cost of the flight at $328,835, which includes the Boeing aircraft and the two fighter jets that accompanied it. But, they said, "the hours would have been flown regardless, and the expenses would have been accrued on a different mission." The VC-25 aircraft is designated "Air Force One" only when the president is aboard. President Obama was not on the plane during the photo op. After the incident, Louis Caldera, the director of the White House Military Office responsible for the flyover, resigned. "I have concluded that the controversy surrounding the Presidential Airlift Group's aerial photo shoot over New York City has made it impossible for me to effectively lead the White House Military Office," Caldera said in a letter to Obama. "Moreover, it has become a distraction to the important work you are doing as president. After much reflection, I believe it is incumbent on me to tender my resignation and step down as director of the White House Military Office." | Presidential plane's flight over New York led to panic on ground .
Air Force releases 145 new photos of flight; 1 had been released previously .
Government e-mail chains from day of flight also released .
"No positive spin is possible. Admit mistake," says one . |
80,405 | e3ee7f2e0966ebc835da160a2694abbd7f901026 | (CNN) -- A Florida pastor told CNN on Tuesday that while his congregation still plans to burn Qurans to protest the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the church is "weighing" its intentions. Terry Jones, pastor of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, who was interviewed on CNN's "American Morning," said the congregation is taking seriously the warning from the U.S. military that the act could cause problems for American troops. "We have firmly made up our mind, but at the same time, we are definitely praying about it," Jones said. Later Tuesday, Jones had a response to a statement from Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, who said the burning of Islam's holy books "could cause significant problems" for American troops overseas. "It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan," Petraeus said in a statement issued Monday. "The general needs to point his finger to radical Islam and tell them to shut up, tell them to stop, tell them that we will not bow our knees to them," Jones said on CNN's "AC360." "We are burning the book," Jones said. "We are not killing someone. We are not murdering people." The planned action has drawn sharp criticism from Muslims around the world and from U.S. officials. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday issued a statement saying the U.S. government "in no way condones such acts of disrespect against the religion of Islam, and is deeply concerned about deliberate attempts to offend members of religious or ethnic groups." It emphasized that it strongly condemned "the offensive messages, which are contrary to U.S. government policy and deeply offensive to Muslims especially during the month of Ramadan." "Americans from all religious and ethnic backgrounds reject the offensive initiative by this small group in Florida. A great number of American voices are protesting the hurtful statements made by this organization," the embassy said. With about 120,000 U.S. and NATO-led troops still battling al Qaeda and its allies in the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban movement, Petraeus warned that burning Qurans "is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems -- not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community." Petraeus said he was concerned about the political repercussions of the church's plan. "Even the rumor that it might take place has sparked demonstrations such as the one that took place in Kabul yesterday," he said. "Were the actual burning to take place, the safety of our soldiers and civilians would be put in jeopardy and accomplishment of the mission would be made more difficult." One of Petraeus' deputies, Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, told CNN's "The Situation Room" that the event "has already stirred up a lot of discussion and concern" among Afghans. "We very much feel that this can jeopardize the safety of our men and women that are serving over here in the country," said Caldwell, the head of NATO efforts to train Afghan security forces. Caldwell said American troops "are over here to defend the rights of American citizens, and we're not debating the First Amendment rights that people have." But he added, "What I will tell you is that their very actions will in fact jeopardize the safety of the young men and women who are serving in uniform over here and also undermine the very mission that we're trying to accomplish." "I would hope they would understand that there are second- and third-order effects that will occur that will affect that young man and woman who's out there on point for America, serving their nation today, because of their actions back in the United States," he said. Thousands of Indonesians gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday to protest the planned Quran burning. "The burning is not only an insult to the holy Quran, but an insult to Islam and Muslims around the world," said Muhammad Ismail, a spokesman for the hard-line Indonesian Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir. Jones said his congregation is aware that the action is offensive. "We realize that this action would indeed offend people, offend the Muslims. I am offended when they burn the flag. I am offended when they burn the Bible. But we feel that the message that we are trying to send is much more important than people being offended." Jones said Muslims are welcomed in the United States, if they observe the Constitution and don't try to impose Sharia law, or Muslim law. The message, he said, is directed toward the "radical element of Islam." "Our message is very clear," he said. "It is not to the moderate Muslim. Our message is not a message of hate. Our message is a message of warning to the radical element of Islam, and I think what we see right now around the globe provides exactly what we're talking about," he said. The center says it was founded in 1986 as a "total concept church for the rich, the poor, the young and the old." Its purpose is to "stand up for righteousness and for the truth of the Bible." It stresses that "Christians must return to the truth and stop hiding." "We need to speak up against sin and call the people to repentance. Abortion is murder. Homosexuality is sin. We need to call these things what they are and bring the world the true message: that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life," it says on the church's website. It also emphasizes its dislike of Islam, and on its website, it blog posts an item called "Ten Reasons to Burn a Koran. "Any religion which would profess anything other than this truth is of the devil. This is why we also take a stand against Islam, which teaches that Jesus is not the Son of God, therefore taking away the saving power of Jesus Christ and leading people straight to Hell," the site says. "It is our vision to go around, to preach and to challenge, and to get the church involved and ready. We must go outside of the walls, and march for righteousness." Commenting the other day on Jones' critique of Islam, Plemon el-Amin, the imam of an Atlanta, Georgia, mosque, said that his words are "really quite uninformed." "But in America, there is the freedom to be ignorant," el-Amin said. "The only problem is in the world, many people don't understand that particular freedom. So what he is doing is like shouting fire in a theater, in a world theater, and people are upset." El-Amin said Jones has boasted of never reading the Quran, so, "He doesn't know that he's going to burn a book that has some of the most beautiful passages about Christ Jesus throughout, as well as Moses, Abraham and all of the prophets he reads about and says he follows in the Bible." But he said the best strategy would be to ignore Jones, "like we do people on corners saying the end of the world is coming." Other religious organizations have joined with U.S. Muslim groups to oppose the Quran-burning. The National Association of Evangelicals is urging the church to cancel the event, warning that it could cause worldwide tension between the two religions, and Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu leaders in Gainesville have organized a "Gathering for Peace, Understanding and Hope" the night before the scheduled Quran burning. The U.S. Embassy statement said that in his speech on Islam last year in Cairo, Egypt, President Obama said it is part of his responsibility to fight "negative stereotypes of Islam," and he mentioned interfaith efforts "to counter this kind of ignorance and misinformation." "And during his recent Iftar speech at the White House, he said: Let me be clear: As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country." In the CNN interview, Jones was asked about the Christian principle of turning the other cheek -- not acting out in violence or engaging in payback and in deed. "I think in deed that most of the time, we as Christians are indeed called to turn the other cheek. I believe that most of the time, talk and diplomacy is the correct way. But I always think that once in a while, I think you see that in the Bible, there are incidents where enough is enough and you stand up," Jones said. An armed Christian organization that had pledged to protect the Dove World Outreach Center withdrew its support from the Quran-burning last week, stating the event "may diminish the work of the Holy Spirit to witness to Muslims." That group's founder, Shannon Carson, said he agrees with the church's stance on Islam, which he called a cult "that is invading our nation." But he complained that the "liberal media" is using stories about Jones' plans "to distract, divide and enrage the public." CNN's Atia Abawi contributed to this report. | NEW: Pastor calls on Petraeus to confront radical Islam .
He says congregation is aware of warning that act could cause problems for U.S. troops .
U.S. embassy deplores disrespect against Islam .
Quran-burning pastor is "really quite uninformed," Atlanta imam says . |
242,526 | c5e86d700688ecde5cf5f6c4ae5b517de4ec6dff | By . Hugo Gye . It is said that most babies look a bit like Winston Churchill - and that maxim certainly applies to Prince George, according to his doting uncle Harry. The older prince, who is on a tour of South America, told a reporter that his nephew's 'big chubby cheeks' gave him a resemblance to the wartime Prime Minister. George, who will celebrate his first birthday next month, is perhaps the best-known baby in the world - but he still has some way to go before he can match the stature of Churchill. Doppelgangers: Prince George and Winston Churchill are the spitting images of each other, says Prince Harry . Dignified: But George has some way to go if he is to match the achievements of Churchill . Harry, 29, made the light-hearted comments during a reception in Chile's capital Santiago, where he was attending an event to celebrate the official birthday of his grandmother, the Queen. The reception was hosted by British ambassador Fiona Clouder, and attended by local dignitaries from business, the arts and politics. Radio presenter Virginia Araya said that she had asked Harry about his nephew during the event. 'I asked him what George was like,' she said. 'He said: "He's growing up, he is walking and he has big, chubby cheeks. He looks like a young Winston Churchill."' Temper: Like Churchill, George can show flashes of an outspoken temperament . Quip: Prince Harry made his comments during an event at the British embassy in Chile . Harry's comments yesterday came a day after he received a wedding proposal from a woman with the same surname as his sister-in-law, Kate Middleton. According to the Telegraph, TV reporter Bernardita Middleton confronted the prince on the streets of Santiago while wearing a tiara and said to him: 'I am a Middleton, like Princess Kate. I be your next wife Harry.' Before arriving in Chile, Harry visited Brazil, where he watched England's final World Cup match against Costa Rica. He also helped a family living in the slums of Valparaiso to enjoy the football by mending their television just in time for Brazil's second-round clash with Chile. | Prince Harry compared his brother's son to the wartime Prime Minister .
Made the comments during an event at the British embassy in Chile .
Harry is currently on a tour of South America and was previously in Brazil . |
202,044 | 91908ef09a296952d4cacae8b28ecb8b4e847c6e | World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo is displaying without permission replicas of the FA Cup and Premier League trophies he won with Manchester United. The Real Madrid forward’s CR7 Museum in his home town of Funchal houses all his individual trophies as well as copies of the silverware from team successes throughout his stellar career. These include three replicas from his Premier League victories with United in 2007, 2008 and 2009, the FA Cup from 2004, the Champions League from 2008 and the FIFA Club World Cup, also from 2008. Cristiano Ronaldo (with Ruud van Nistelrooy in 2004) is displaying an FA Cup replica without permission . Ronaldo won a number of trophies while at Manchester United - including three Premier League titles . An FA licence is required to copy the FA Cup and making replicas of the Premier League trophy needs PL approval. All are on display without the application process being started by the superstar’s representatives. Neither English football body intends pursuing Ronaldo for breaching trophy regulations. Roy Hodgson has told England’s stars of tomorrow to start dreaming of winning Euro 2020 at Wembley. UEFA announced that the stadium will play host to the final and both semi-finals of a tournament being staged across 13 cities. England manager Hodgson said: ‘Young players have got to be thinking this is a great opportunity, not only to be part of a wonderful tournament but there at the end when the prizes are dished out.’ Yorkshire's strong support for captain Andrew Gale, who faces an ECB charge for using racist and abusive language against Lancashire batsman Ashwell Prince, is being interpreted as signalling the start of a battle between Giles Clarke and Yorkshire’s Colin Graves for the ECB chairmanship. It was Clarke who felt it inappropriate that Gale should receive the County Championship trophy when serving an ECB ban, with further charges pending, much to Yorkshire’s upset. Graves has the backing of many counties, making it a strong possibility he will lead domestic cricket while Clarke concentrates on the international game. Yorkshire have backed their captain Andrew Gale after he abused Lancashire's Ashwell Prince . The FA look likely to be dragged into a messy legal fight following Edward Lord’s removal from their Inclusion Advisory Board for speaking out over the governing body’s lack of action on discrimination. Lord regards the FA statement about his sacking as defamatory and the eyebrows raised among the swimming fraternity over the chairman of the Amateur Swimming Association being dismissed by the FA in such a fashion makes it necessary for Lord to take measures to defend his reputation. With discrimination issues now so prevalent across football, the picture gallery in UEFA headquarters in Nyon of the 17 white faces that comprise the executive committee of European football’s ruling body sends out all the wrong messages. Sign of the times for Dyke . After the Watchgate hoo-ha of FA chairman Greg Dyke having to return his £16,400 Parmigiani watch given to him by the Brazilian federation, it wasn’t lost on the FA party arriving in Geneva for the Euro 2020 venue verdict that the one brand of Swiss watch being heavily advertised was… Parmigiani. Dyke, who had intended to donate the gift to charity, was wearing a £70 Sekonda. But two other members of the FA group love expensive watches. General secretary Alex Horne had a Frank Muller on his wrist while England manager Roy Hodgson is an ambassador for Hublot, who brought out a special World Cup edition watch for him. FIFA Congress delegates have been given £200 Longines watches, which also seem to fall outside items of ‘trivial or symbolic value’ allowed by FIFA’s ethics committee. UEFA chief Michel Platini says he doesn’t return gifts but will donate the value of his Parmigiani to charity. Greg Dyke had to return his £16,400 Parmigiani watch given to him by the Brazilian federation . There is understandable concern at BT Sport that their company logo remains prominent on convicted killer Oscar Pistorius’s profile picture on Twitter. BT are expected to approach the South African athlete’s representatives to have it changed before his sentencing next month. BT said: ‘Pistorius’s contract as a BT ambassador ended last year.’ The Footballer of the Year awards night in May is being moved from the London Lancaster hotel to The Landmark. This follows last year’s rumpus when organisers the Football Writers’ Association were moved from their traditional banqueting hall, where pictures of all previous winners adorned the walls, to a cramped suite below stairs because of a double booking with the British Sandwich Association. | Manchester United won three Premier League titles with Cristiano Ronaldo .
Roy Hodgson has told England stars to dream of winning Euro 2020 .
UEFA announced that Wembley would host the tournament's final .
Greg Dyke had to return a £16,400 watch to the Brazilian federation . |
227,815 | b2fdb122d51d50459ce1c5f40b0404346893d7e6 | Los Angeles (CNN)Romel David is terrified. He and his family can't sleep, and they can't stop thinking about what will happen in Syria, thousands of miles away from the comfort of their California home. David said his brother-in-law, who emigrated to the United States about four years ago with his wife and two daughters, has been abducted by ISIS in Syria along with several other members of the family he had hoped to bring to the United States to get them out of harm's way. David said his brother-in-law decided to return to Syria two years ago to be with them as they went through the process of applying for visas to the United States. The 59-year-old and 11 other family members were among the people taken by ISIS, which has targeted Assyrian villages in Syria this week. "We anticipate the unthinkable. It's absolutely devastating," David told CNN. "It's happening; another Holocaust before our very eyes. There is nothing that we can do. But the world must do something. Please. Please, the world powers must do something for all of these people." They are devout Christians, who like many in their village, farmed and lived simple but hard lives off the land. They were taken hostage early Tuesday morning from Hassakeh in northeastern Syria. ISIS abducts scores of Christians in northeastern Syria, groups say . David and his family in Modesto, California, found out about their capture in a devastating phone call. An elderly Syrian man who lived nearby called. He was too sick to leave his home when everyone began fleeing as ISIS fighters stormed the villages in northeast Syria about 30 miles from the Turkish border. "With his cell phone he called my brother-in-law's wife and my wife's sister and told him what has transpired," David said. The family hasn't heard from the old man since nor any of their captured family members. "Feeling helpless is overwhelming. We can't sleep. It's devastated us. ... We fear the worst, and we pray for mercy and intervention from God," David said. David said ISIS was trying to exact an impossible amount of money, a tax on Christians in Syrian villages and cities they control. The amount was so high -- more than most make in five years -- it was impossible for families to pay, he said. David would not reveal his brother-in-law's name for fear that ISIS is so media savvy they would single him and his family out if they found out that his brother-in-law is indeed a legal U.S. resident. But he said his brother-in-law is man of deep conviction and could not live comfortably with only part of his family safe in the United States, a country he had come to love. "He was happy that he was America's adopted son. He was looking forward to having his son and his son's family join him and proceeding with a life of prosperity here," David said. Now his mission to try to get his remaining family members to America has resulted in him being captured along with them. "When things started falling apart, he feared for the welfare of his son and son's family. He couldn't very well be here having safe haven here so he went. He is a loving father, and a devout Christian who truly loves God. May God protect him," David said. ISIS has attacked numerous minority groups during a bloody campaign to create a vast caliphate across Syria and Iraq under its extreme version of Sharia law. The number of Assyrians estimated to be in captivity has climbed steadily, from an initial estimate of between 70 and 100 people seized earlier this week to 150 as of Wednesday, with women, children and the elderly among them. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the number of Assyrian hostages seized over three days at 220, in a statement released Thursday. Osama Edward, founder of the Assyrian Human Rights Network, said the number is even higher -- 262. Activist: ISIS now holds 262 Christians hostages in Syria . The Assyrians are a proud people who've overcome a lot in their history. They can trace their roots back some 4,000 years to the time of Mesopotamia, considered one of the cradles of civilization and birthplace of writing and literature. While their first religion was Ashurism, Assyrians have been predominantly Christian since the third century. "How can Syria be Syria without the Assyrians?" Edward said. "We gave the country our name." The captured Assyrians have gotten the attention of Rep. Ana Eshoo, a California Democrat, who wrote a letter to President Barack Obama pleading for Washington and the United Nations to try to help secure a safe haven for religious minorities in Syria and Iraq. "For the past decade we have been witnessing a rapid decline of Syria and Iraq's Christian communities," Eshoo writes. "The situation for religious minorities in Syria and Iraq remains desperate and soon will be hopeless. We must act now." She has proposed more safe havens inside Iraq and Syria for religious minorities, specifically in the Nineveh Plains, as well as adequate humanitarian assistance in refugee camps. CNN's Steve Almasy contributed to this report. | Romel David's brother-in-law went to Syria to be with his son and family as they applied for visas .
ISIS this week has taken hundreds of Christians hostage .
"We fear the worst," David says . |
58,605 | a63b84b19bb30edc9607d838e8d468b77f68bd29 | By . Meg Henderson . PUBLISHED: . 12:08 EST, 10 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:11 EST, 10 August 2013 . The other day, my two grandchildren, Ruth and James, played in the garden all day. It was very hot, so the paddling pool was filled and they were soon joined by the children who live next door. Soon James, still a gloriously uninhibited three-year-old, was running about in his birthday suit, as his sister, with all the sophistication of a five-year-old, pretended to be appalled and felt it her duty to tell on him. The following day was just as warm – but the children were taken to the cinema and, in the afternoon, watched TV, when normally they would be told to go outside and get some fresh air, instead of sitting in front of the box. Troubling: Parents with young children face difficult questions when they find out that a neighbour is a paedophile This picture is posed by models . The reason was simple – adult fear. Much to their bewilderment we just didn’t want to let them out of our sight, didn’t want them to go beyond their own driveway – and even then they had to be fully clothed. You see, that morning we found out that a very near neighbour had appeared in court, where he admitted making and distributing indecent images and videos of children. He had also engaged in sexual activity with underage girls and sent indecent communications to other children over the internet. At the age of 26, this man that we waved to and greeted cheerily as we passed, has been placed on the Sex Offender’s Register and awaits sentencing after the usual reports. Cliches were all we could think of at first. That we were shocked, that we couldn’t believe it was true, that it couldn’t happen in a place like this – all the usual responses of the bewildered parent. Everyone knows paedophiles exist across society but for some reason you don’t expect to meet one on your own doorstep. Then instinct kicked in, in the form of an almost overwhelming urge to be sick – followed by another to wrap the children in three layers of clothing from head to foot and to only pass this man’s house with a very wide body swerve. Close to home: Paedophiles exist across society but people do not expect to meet one on their own doorstep. This picture is posed by models . Ruth and James live in a small street of about eight large upmarket houses, a quiet place with no through traffic so they are safe to run around – the kind of place where everyone really does know everyone else. They scamper in and out of each other’s gardens as well as their own and all the children are welcome to play together in any of them without any qualms. Directly in front is the sea, a great attraction not just for them but for the holidaymakers who flock to the beach every summer. To the left is a very good play park and, down in the bay, a mixed bird population where the children visit to throw bread and count the new chicks. There is, then, a good population of children at the best of times and even more so in the hot weather – and from this man’s home he has clear views of our gardens, plus all the attractions that bring people here. He has the capacity and twisted interest to take pictures and videos of innocent children too, and one of the stomach-churning questions on every mind today is whether he has already filmed our own youngsters. At the moment, it is possible for women to check with the police in case a new partner is a paedophile, but not for parents in the community to know if one – or more – is living nearby, or even next door. To allow parents this knowledge could lead to possible vigilante action – so says the official view.It is enough that the police know, though everyone is aware that they cannot monitor these people round the clock. And it is true that in the past, when communities have found out for themselves, they have forced paedophiles out of their areas. Mob rule, say the authorities, but you have to wonder why the safety of vulnerable children comes second to those who have committed offences against children. There has to be a better system that puts protection of children before that of convicted paedophiles – but if there is one, there is clearly a reluctance to put it in place. But this man has been caught and convicted and we do know where he lives, a right most parents believe they should have, and one I have always supported. Until today, I thought it was enough to be forearmed with that knowledge. But when I look out of my window I can see directly into this man’s home. He is that close, and with a sickening suddenness I realised it is not enough just to know. Knowing gives no security. In fact, all it does is throw up yet more questions and more anxieties. For the first time I now appreciate fully the way these offences spread out, the ripples gathering everyone in. For instance, what do we tell very young children like Ruth and James? Concerns: Parents would not want to let children out of their sight if they found out a paedophile was a neighbour. This is a file picture of children playing outside . We will want them to stay away from his house, that is obvious. But how do we explain this to them when they have always had the freedom to roam about what was once a safe area? Ruth, at only five, would have no understanding of the issues involved and for the life of me I can think of no simple way of telling her. If we simply warn her to keep away from that house because a bad man lives there, we will plant not just fear, but possibly terror in her young mind that James would soon pick up on too. This is how childhood innocence is destroyed. Clearly we cannot let them be as free as they were just the other day. Yet we know that withdrawing their usual freedom will unfairly restrict them and they are completely innocent – they have committed no crime. The house that I can see from my window is this man’s family home, where he lives with his elderly parents, and to where he will eventually return. Even if he does soon get a custodial sentence, I would bet anything it will be short. His parents have committed no crime either and cannot be compelled to leave their home, something that could be considered if they lived in council housing. And how are we to treat them now that we are aware of their son’s sick interests? God alone knows what hell they must already be going through but, however much sympathy it is possible to have for their situation, expressing this and befriending them is out of the question – keeping our distance is our only realistic option. And if any one of us decides to sell our home, do we tell prospective buyers of this man’s existence and crimes? I wouldn’t consider living in a house near him – and if I unsuspectingly bought one then found out how close he was, I would pull out of the sale, regardless of the legal situation. So here we all sit, paralysed in a way, stunned by what we have just found out, the anger only now beginning to surface. It is not an exaggeration to say entire lives, existences and outlooks have been changed by the crimes of someone in our midst, whose perversion we never had any reason to suspect for even one minute. You don’t, do you? For this kind of thing always happens on someone else’s doorstep, a horror story far away that we tut-tut over in the newspapers. But we are now asking questions for which I suspect no answers exist: What do we do, what happens now? We are constantly told by those who profess to know that modern parents are over-protective of their children, that our entirely unjustified anxieties stifle them and deny them the kind of freedoms every child should have. There has been yet another report saying exactly that this week. Not an argument that would be entertained in our quiet little backwater today I have to say – and, possibly, not one that ever will be again. | Meg Henderson found out that a neighbour was a paedophile .
Admitted making and distributing indecent images and videos of children .
When she looks out of her window she can see directly into his home .
She now worries whether he has filmed her grandchildren . |
3,208 | 094c858141efdb7d6b5d61da1b6d800cc10e78c5 | The angry mother of a victim of the Oxford sex grooming gang last night demanded: ‘Someone needs to take the blame.’ Catastrophic failings by police and social services enabled the sadistic group to drug, rape and traffic girls as young as 11 for eight years. Victims repeatedly told police they had been abused and sexually tortured and care-home staff just watched as the men collected the under-age girls at night. But despite the catalogue of appalling blunders and missed opportunities – and David Cameron warning police and council chiefs they faced ‘very searching questions’ – nobody is prepared to take the blame. Scroll down for video . Oxfordshire County Council's chief executive Joanna Simons, left, and Thames Valley Police chief constable Sara Thornton, right, have both refused to resign despite their organisations' failure to stop the abuse sooner . Seven members of a paedophile ring were found guilty at the Old Bailey of a catalogue of child sex abuse charges . Both Thames Valley Police Chief . Constable Sara Thornton and Joanna Simons, head of Oxfordshire County . Council, say they will not resign. Their defiance, a day after the seven . vicious and ‘medieval’ predators were convicted at the Old Bailey, came . as: . Most of the eight-year campaign of . abuse by the gang took place after Miss Thornton was appointed head of . the Thames Valley force in 2007. Brothers Bassam Karrar (left) and Mohammed Karrar (right) were found guilty at the Old Bailey yesterday . Assad Hussain was cleared of raping Child A but convicted of having sex with a child . She yesterday apologised for not . acting sooner, but when asked if she had considered resigning from her . £160,000-a-year post, she said: ‘The focus has got to be moving forward. I think the focus for me is on driving improvements in the future.’ Five of the six girls were abused . while in the care of Oxfordshire County Council’s social services . department. But Miss Simons also said she was not quitting her . £182,000-a-year job as chief executive. She said: ‘My gut feeling is that I am . not going to resign because my determination is that we need to do all . that we can to take action to stamp this out. ‘[We are] incredibly sorry that we . weren’t able to stop this abuse any sooner . . . what we understand now . is much more about the grooming process. 'We didn’t understand that going . back seven or eight years ago. ‘All I can do is apologise if we didn’t listen enough, if we didn’t do enough.’ The mother of one of the victims, only . 14 when the gang began plying her with drink and drugs before . exploiting her for sex, said: ‘Oxford Social Services has failed our . children and someone has to pay for it. ‘They were supposed to be looking . after my child, yet the social workers went home at night knowing that . she was being abused and did nothing. Brothers Anjum Dogar (left) and Akhtar Dogar (right) have been convicted of offences involving underage girls . Zeeshan Ahmed (left) and Kamar Jamil (right) were among those who were convicted today at the Old Bailey . ‘The police are talking about there . being more victims, something like 50 more girls, who they want to come . forward. But how can they expect them to have the courage to come . forward when these six girls have been failed so badly.’ Speaking in New York, the Prime . Minister refused to defend the Chief Constable and county council chief, . saying the authorities would have to ‘respond for themselves in terms . of what happened’. Mr Cameron, an Oxfordshire MP, said: . ‘It really is just appalling, absolutely appalling – it’s shocking what . took place. Everyone’s going to have to ask some very searching . questions about how this was allowed to continue for so long.’ Abuse was carried out at the Nanford Guest House in Oxford. Pictured is a room at the guest house . CCTV issued by Thames Valley Police of Mohammed Karrar, who was convicted of two counts of sexual activity with a child, during an interview with the police . As with similar outrages in Rochdale . and Rotherham, police officers, social workers and staff in residential . homes knew or suspected that children were being used and sold for sex . by large numbers of men. But a catalogue of opportunities to stop the abuse were missed from as early as May 2005. Two of the three care homes where victims of the Oxford gang lived have been closed down. But only one person has been sacked – a . manager at Dell Quay, a privately run care home in Henley-on-Thames . where the council placed girls, was dismissed after refusing to pay a . victim’s taxi fare when she returned after running away. The 14-year-old was driven back to Oxford where she was raped. Steve Heywood, assistant chief . constable of Greater Manchester Police, said yesterday: ‘Our No 1 . priority at the moment is child sexual exploitation. It is now ahead of . gun crime. Expect a lot more convictions.’ Kamar Jamil, 27, who was convicted of rape, facilitating child prostitution and trafficking, during an interview with the police . Prosecutors . have pledged to 're-review' three historic cases involving victims of . the Oxford sex ring after admitting more could have been done to . investigate their claims. The . Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it would look again at the . decision to take no further action over the allegations of abuse . involving the girls from 2005 to 2006. In one case, the CPS said information was requested from Thames Valley Police but the force did not respond. Baljit . Ubhey, chief crown prosecutor for Thames and Chiltern, said the CPS . would now be more 'proactive' when dealing with sex abuse allegations. She said: 'We want to encourage people who have experienced something similar to have the courage to come forward. 'What . we shouldn't do is as soon as we see a weakness - the girls had taken . drugs or alcohol or they lied about something in the past - that means, . "this case is hopeless and we can't go ahead with it". 'Rather . than be fatalistic and negative, it's about being really positive and . saying, "how can we really get to the truth here?"' Ms Ubhey admitted the CPS should have pursued Thames Valley Police when information was first requested about one of the claims. The further allegations do not involve any of the defendants involved in the Old Bailey trial, she added. 'I think we could have been more proactive,' Ms Ubhey said. 'Of four cases we looked at, in three of those it's arguable we might have been able to do more. 'What . I can't say is that we will change our decision. What I can say is . perhaps we could have taken a more proactive approach in making further . enquiries.' Ms Ubhey confirmed a serious case review would be conducted following the conclusion of the trial.She . said she expected more cases of a similar nature to come to light as . new guidance is issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in . the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal. Ms . Ubhey added: 'I think what these cases have highlighted is that they're . probably not isolated incidents and there's probably more of this . activity going on.' | Sara Thornton, who has been chief constable of Thames Valley Police since 2007, rejects suggestions she should resign .
Joanna .
Simons, chief executive of Oxfordshire County Council whose social .
services failed to help the girls, also refuses to resign .
Seven men found guilty of catalogue of offences involving underage girls .
Verdicts delivered at Old Bailey at the end of a five-month trial .
The seven men have been remanded in custody for sentencing next month .
Girls were so young 'they had just stopped believing in the Easter bunny'
Police identified as many as 22 girls who were 'sold for sex and worse'
Two of three care homes where victims lived have been closed down but only one member of staff was sacked .
It emerged that only one care worker has been sacked in the aftermath of the scandal.
An MP urged courts to impose ‘the .
most severe penalties’ on the gang so the victims receive ‘the justice .
they were denied by the local authorities’.
One of the UK’s largest police forces said tackling child sexual exploitation is now a bigger priority than gun crime. |
228,028 | b3428a28359d91475be7754d90f484bf15e9124a | By . Anna Hodgekiss . PUBLISHED: . 11:30 EST, 1 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:51 EST, 1 May 2013 . A deadly bird flu virus sweeping through China has taken the first steps towards becoming a global threat to humans, experts have revealed. In the space of one month, the avian strain known as H7N9 has spread through all 31 Chinese provinces and claimed 125 victims, killing a fifth of those infected. Scientists say it is mutating rapidly and already has two of five genetic changes believed to be necessary for human-to-human transmission. Experts speaking in London today said . there was no room for complacency over H7N9, and warned against the . mistake of assuming it was a far-away foreign problem. A Chinese tourist wears a face mask in front of a portrait of leader Sun Yat-sen at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Scientists say it is mutating rapidly and becoming more of a threat to humans . GPs have been sent letters advising them on how to identify cases and what action to take if one is suspected. So far the the virus has been found . in chickens and only affected people who have had close contact with the . birds, often at live markets. If it were to become fully adapted to human hosts it could result in a serious worldwide pandemic claiming millions of lives. The 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic - the worst flu pandemic in modern history - killed up to 80 million people worldwide and is believed to have originated in birds. Research is ongoing into how the virus is behaving and what makes it so virulent. The virus has infected people of all age groups, from two to 81, suggesting that humans have no natural immunity to it. So far 20 per cent of victims have died, 20 per cent are recovering and the rest remain ill. In fatal cases, the virus has triggered sepsis - a massive inflammatory response - leading to multiple organ failure. Leading British expert Professor Peter . Openshaw, director of the Centre for Respiratory Infection at Imperial . College London, said: 'This is a very, very serious disease in those who . have been infected. So if this were to become more widespread it would . be an extraordinarily devastating outbreak. The bird flu virus is mutating rapidly and already has two of five genetic changes believed to be necessary for human-to-human transmission . 'It's very unusual to see more than 100 new cases in a very short time period. I think it's definitely something we need to be concerned about.' Scientists have learned lessons from the H5N1 bird flu strain which also emerged in China, and since 2003 has led to 628 confirmed cases in 15 countries and 374 deaths. With a 60 per cent mortality rate, H5N1 is even more deadly than the new strain. Luckily it has not yet shown any sign of making the jump to human-to-human transmission. Although there is no reason to think that H7N9 will acquire this ability any time soon, it already displays some degree of human adaptation. In H5N1, five key genetic changes were identified that scientists believe are needed for the virus to become a potential pandemic threat. Laboratory studies have revealed two of . these mutations in H7N9. One of them is integral to the 'H7' part of its . structure and enables the virus to latch onto certain receptor . molecules in the human respiratory tract. It is seen even when the virus . is confined to chickens. British experts today warned against the mistake of assuming it was a far-away foreign problem . The other has only been acquired after human infection and helps the virus to replicate inside cells. How easy or difficult it might be for the other three changes to occur, and to what extent H7N9 needs the same mutations as H5N1 to pass between humans, is unknown. 'There are hallmarks of human adaptation in the virus,' said Professor Wendy Barclay, chairwoman of influenza virology at Imperial College London. 'What that means is that the virus is mutating rapidly still and acquiring selective adaptive mutations when it crosses into people.' Although H7N9 readily infects chickens, . and probably wild birds, it does not kill them - unlike H5N1. This makes . it extremely difficult to track and hinders attempts to reduce the . chances of human infection. One previous outbreak of an 'H7' flu . strain was recorded in the Netherlands in 2003. However this was a very . different sub-type of virus, since it caused non-fatal eye infections. A teacher guides a student on how to use disinfectant in a junior high school in Taipei, Taiwan . Dr John Watson, head of respiratory diseases at Public Health England, the body that has taken over from the Health Protection Agency, said it was important not to assume there was no threat to the UK. 'It might be tempting to feel, fine, let's just sit back and wait,' he said. 'We feel it's important nevertheless to be taking this very seriously, because of the illness that it's caused, because of the novelty, and because of the possibilities there are about what it does next.' An ever present possibility is someone importing the virus into the UK from China. If a case were confirmed, the patient would have to be isolated and treated quickly. Details of his or her history and contacts with other people would also have to be obtained. The experts pointed out that the virus was sensitive to antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu, stocks of which remained in the UK after the swine flu pandemic of 2009-10. Currently there is no readily available vaccine against the strain. | Virus has taken first steps towards becoming a global threat to humans .
Has two of five genetic changes thought necessary for human transmission .
British experts warning against complacency as virus a real threat to the UK .
Is 'definitely something we need to be concerned about,' says leading expert .
GPs have been sent letters advising what action to take if they spot a case . |
40,517 | 7256f2256f066572b6808d3ab5dcb029f13a2fa9 | By . Sally Lee . The 'ghost' of one of Australia's most notorious criminals is still lurking within the walls of his old jail cell in Melbourne - or so a group of frightened lawyers have been led to believe. A recent group of visitors were recently tormented by what they believe to be the voice of Mark 'Chopper' Read, who died last year at the age of 53, during a ghost tour of the now desolate Pentridge Prison. It was in this prison that the notorious Read had both his ears chopped off by a fellow inmate back in the late 1970s. Scroll down for video . A ghost which resembles Mark 'Chopper' Read is believed to be haunting is old jail cell at Pentridge Prison in Melbourne . Lantern Ghost tour guide Jeremy Kewley (pictured) said he was leading a group of lawyers around the historic prison when they heard a loud man bellow out near Read's cell 16 in D-Division of the prison . Lantern Ghost tour guide Jeremy Kewley said he was leading the group of lawyers around the historic prison when they heard a loud man bellow out near Read's cell 16 in D-Division of the prison. This startled not only the lawyers but Mr Kewley himself as he initially thought it was a prank by one of the visitors. 'Suddenly came this incredibly loud and aggressive male voice basically screaming out "GET OUT",' Mr Kewley told the Today Show. 'We just sort of froze.' Shortly after, the same voice yelled out and repeated again 'GET OUT!'. 'It scared the holy crap out of me,' Mr Kewley said. 'I had to assure the group that this was not part of the tour.' He said police searched the entire building but could not ascertain where the voice came from. He is adamant that this has never happened before. Mr Kewley also alleges that other group tours sighted an apparition that resembles Read in this very cell . Prison Pentridge was an Australian prison built in 1850 and closed in May, 1997. Other notable prisoners include bush ranger Ned Kelly and Ronald Ryan who was the last man to be executed in Australia . Mr Kewley also alleges that people from other tour groups claim to have seen an apparition that resembles Read, who was behind bars from 20 to 38 years of age. Read, who's been convicted of a long list of crimes including assault, arson, armed robbery, kidnapping, firearm offences and impersonating a police officer, died of liver cancer in October last year. Pentridge was an Australian prison built in 1850 and closed in May, 1997. Other notable prisoners includes bushranger Ned Kelly and Ronald Ryan, who was the last man to be executed in Australia. Mark Read was brought to life on screen by Eric Bana in the 2000 film Chopper . | A group of lawyers were on a ghost tour at the historic prison in Williamstown, 9km south-west of Melbourne CBD .
Mark 'Chopper' Read, who died last year at the age of 53, was behind bars from 20 to 38 years of age .
Tour guide Jeremy Kewley said police searched the entire building but weren't able to explain the source of the voice .
He said other groups have even witnessed a ghost-like figure which resembles the notorious criminal . |
250,032 | cf91fb83ff83dbac435544ec683dc41d8cf8e023 | (CNN) -- Mitt Romney arrived Wednesday in South Carolina as the clear front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, while his rivals campaigned across the state to try to halt the former Massachusetts governor's momentum after his victory the day before in New Hampshire. CNN projected that Romney's second straight triumph in the first two contests of the nomination process gained him seven of the state's 12 delegates, based on his first-place support from just over 39% of primary voters. Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who finished second with about 23%, picked up three delegates, and former Utah Gov. and U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman gained two delegates based on his third-place finish with roughly 17% of the vote. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum got no delegates for their support of just under 10% each, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry also was shut out by trailing with less than 1% of the vote. With 1,144 delegates needed to secure the nomination, the New Hampshire haul was more symbolic than substantive, but it further bolstered Romney's campaign after his razor-thin victory in last week's Iowa caucuses. Next on the primary calendar is the January 21 primary in South Carolina, where Romney's five opponents are counting on the state's social conservatism and reputation for brass-knuckle political brawls to help their cause. The Palmetto State has picked the winner of every GOP nomination fight since 1980. Gingrich told a town hall in Rock Hill, South Carolina, that the result of the upcoming primary will be historic. "I believe the next 10 days are as important as any 10 days we have seen in modern American politics," Gingrich said. "I believe that South Carolinians are either going to center in and pick one conservative or by default they are going to send a moderate on to the nomination." Santorum, who lost to Romney by eight votes in Iowa, said Wednesday that it was "silly" for anyone to suggest Romney has the nomination wrapped up. "This is a long process," Santorum said while campaigning in Ridgeway, South Carolina. "Half the people (who) voted yesterday weren't even Republicans." Romney is hoping a combination of momentum, campaign cash, growing establishment support and a fractured opposition will lead to a victory not only in South Carolina but also in Florida at the end of the month. That would be four straight victories for Romney after Iowa and New Hampshire, and could bring the Republican contest to an early conclusion. In a sign of Romney's support, his campaign said Wednesday it would report fourth-quarter earnings of $24 million for a total of $56 million in 2011. "I have a long way to go before I get the nomination," Romney told CNN on Wednesday morning. The other candidates will "find new attacks. (But) I think in the final analysis people want someone who can lead the country back to strength with good jobs and rising incomes, and all these attacks I think will fall entirely flat." In his victory speech Tuesday night, Romney sounded like the presumptive Republican nominee, calling Barack Obama "a failed president" who puts his faith in government while "we put our faith in the American people." Romney is the first non-incumbent Republican in modern history to win both Iowa and New Hampshire. Romney leaves N.H. with wind at back . For their part, the other candidates quickly tried to minimize New Hampshire's importance and appeal to South Carolina's more conservative electorate. In Rock Hill, Gingrich said that if elected, "we will not tolerate a speech dictatorship in this country against Christianity." He also questioned Democratic challenges to Republican efforts to require more stringent voter identification efforts in some areas. "What does it tell you about the Obama administration that they are afraid -- afraid -- to have an honest elections?" Gingrich said. "They are afraid if we only allow legal voters." Perry noted the fact that he had all but abandoned New Hampshire, focusing his time and energy on South Carolina. "South Carolina is a winner-take-all state," Perry said on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight." "Winning here, I can promise you, wipes out the caucus victory and New Hampshire. So if Mitt's thinking he's got it in the bag, I think he'll be in for a great surprise in South Carolina when he shows up here." Are you in South Carolina? Tell us why you're voting . Santorum, meanwhile, took aim at both Romney and Perry. Without naming Romney, Santorum said electing a moderate would be little better than having a Democratic president. "That's not a victory at all," Santorum said, adding: "We want a leader that believes in us and is not an establishment candidate who's going to do more of the same." Responding to Perry's claim of being the only true political outsider in the race, Santorum noted that Perry "requested 1,200 earmarks as governor of Texas, and Rick Perry's been in politics in Texas for 25 years, so he's been in public life more than anyone else running for president." Santorum's campaign said it has raised $3 million since the second-place finish in Iowa, with at least half of that planned for spending on ads in South Carolina. Paul told CNN after his second-place finish Tuesday that he expects to raise more money, and his campaign chairman said Wednesday that Paul plans to spend $1 million in South Carolina, a significant amount in a state where television advertising isn't all that expensive. Even if Romney is unstoppable as the GOP nominee, Paul and his aides made clear he intends to keep his campaign going, perhaps all the way to the Republican convention. The more delegates he can rack up, the more leverage he would have to integrate key messages of his libertarian, anti-interventionist movement into the Republican Party platform. "We're on the move," Paul said Wednesday in West Columbia, South Carolina. "It isn't only because you have a candidate. We have an issue, and we have a set of principles that we're going to defend, and this is what motivates people." Paul: Only I can stop Romney . In an interview with CNN before Tuesday's results came in, Gingrich acknowledged South Carolina will be vital to his presidential hopes. "We're going to go all out to win South Carolina. We think that's a key state for us," the former speaker said, describing the race there as a contest between himself -- a "Georgia Reagan conservative" -- and Romney, "a Massachusetts moderate." Gingrich has been pounding at Romney since Iowa, complaining about a massive negative ad campaign against him by allies of the former Massachusetts governor. A Gingrich-allied super PAC has already launched its own anti-Romney barrage in South Carolina, and Gingrich and others have honed in on Romney's years as a financier with Bain Capital, accusing him of getting rich by gutting companies and laying off workers. "The last thing you want is to nominate somebody who collapses in September because they can't answer the questions," Gingrich said Wednesday in an interview to broadcast on CNN. " ... You know, people want to attack me for my past, that's fine. I either will answer it and be ready to be the nominee or I won't. Romney ought to have to meet the same test." Gingrich wasn't alone in attacking Romney's business record. In South Carolina, Perry told supporters Romney's firm "looted" a photo company in Gaffney and a steel company in Georgetown. "I would suggest they are just vultures," Perry said. "They are vultures that are sitting out there on the tree limb waiting for the company to get sick, then they swoop in, they eat the carcass, they leave with that and they leave the skeleton." Democrats have joined the Republican criticism, with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who chairs the Democratic National Committee, saying Wednesday that Romney emerged from New Hampshire a "wounded candidate." "Yesterday's primary couldn't have happened soon enough for him because his support in the state was rapidly eroding," Wasserman Schultz said "As I watched it erode, it seemed to me the more people got to know Mitt Romney the less they liked him." Romney seemed unconcerned in an interview Wednesday on CNN. "It's been brought up every time I've run," Romney said, adding that Democrats are trying to put "free enterprise on trial." "But, you know, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich are going to be the witnesses for the prosecution," he added. "I'm not worried about that. ... You saw last night that approach didn't work very well for (them). And so we'll take it to the next level." At a Romney event Wednesday night, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley chided fellow Republicans for making an issue of Romney's business past. "We have a real problem when we have Republicans talking like Democrats against the free market," she said as the audience cheered. "We believe in the free market." A former businesswoman, Haley appealed to the audience as fellow executives. "We want companies to be able to do what is best for companies, and during tough times you downsize and you make hard decisions and during good times you expand and you help those businesses grow more," she said in her introduction of Romney. "That's what he's done. He's done what every one of us has tried to do." CNN's Paul Steinhauser, Alan Silverleib, Jim Acosta, Peter Hamby, Dana Bash, Kevin Bohn, Tom Cohen, Jessica Yellin and Rachel Streitfeld contributed to this report. | NEW: South Carolina's governor says don't attack Romney's business record .
Mitt Romney shrugs off criticism of his days as a venture capitalist .
Ron Paul, Rick Santorum plan big spending in South Carolina .
The Republican presidential campaign shifts to South Carolina, site of the next primary . |
233,219 | b9ecf0180d6e5204853abb6e4f20f535c5d14d66 | (CNN Student News) -- June 2, 2011 . Download PDF maps related to today's show: . • Libya • Kennedy Space Center • Charlotte, North Carolina . Transcript . THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Carl Azuz and this is CNN Student News! It's June 2nd. And in our penultimate program of the school year, we're starting things off on Wall Street. First Up: Headlines . AZUZ: Talking about the stock market, and yesterday was not a good one. Experts use the Dow Jones Industrial Average to get an idea of how the whole market is doing. The Dow dropped 280 points yesterday. That is the worst drop since last August. Next up today, northern Africa, where Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces are fighting against rebels in a civil war. Other countries are involved in this, too. The U.S., Britain, France: They're part of a military coalition that's being led by NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The goal of that coalition is to protect Libya's civilians during this civil war, and NATO says it's extending that mission for another 90 days. A lot of what the coalition's been doing is carrying out air strikes, like these. They're targeting Colonel Gadhafi's forces, his compounds, and trying to limit his military resources. The conflict in Libya has been going on since February. Recently, several top officials have left Gadhafi's government. That includes some generals in the Libyan army. One official who left the government yesterday said that it's in shambles. Debt Ceiling Debate . AZUZ: Turning to the U.S. government now, where a big topic on Capitol Hill is the country's debt ceiling. That is the amount of debt that the government is allowed to have. President Obama wants the ceiling raised. Republicans in Congress say they won't do that unless the government makes some cuts in spending. In fact, on Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted against the idea of raising the debt ceiling without making spending cuts. Christine Romans is here to help us get a better picture of what's going on. Christine, let's start off with the question, what exactly is the debt ceiling? (BEGIN VIDEO) CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: It's basically America's credit limit. Congress sets the cap on how much money the country can spend to pay its bills and to pay our interest payments. The debt ceiling is sort of like the credit limit on your credit card bill, only much, much bigger. And think of it this way: if you're running a $3,000 balance on a $10,000 credit limit, the U.S. government, we run right up to our credit limit over and over again. And instead of paying it off, we just raise the debt limit. How big is this pile of debt? $14.3 trillion. More precisely, $14,293,975,000,000. This is money the government has already spent. Stacked on top of each other -- this is just to give you an illustration -- $14 trillion would reach from the Earth to the moon more than four times. Your share of this pile of debt: about $47,000 for every man, woman and child in America. We hit our debt ceiling, the debt limit, on May 16th. How are we operating now? The treasury secretary is juggling the bills that are coming in to keep the country from defaulting. He says we can go until August 2nd. After that, the situation, he says, is critical. Secretary Geithner says not raising the debt limit so America can pay its bills would be "catastrophic." It's like being, he says, a homeowner with only enough money to pay some of the bills. You either pay the mortgage or you pay the credit card bills. Which one are you going to pick? The government would like to pick and choose, would have to pick and choose what to pay. Geithner says some bills won't get paid. Checks to millions of Americans, like Social Security, perhaps, would have to stop. Republicans say he's wrong. The U.S. won't default so long as we keep making interest payments on our bonds. All of it, a big political debate now. But here you go, you guys: Congress has raised the debt ceiling 74 times since 1962; 10 times just since 2001. This is the first time it's been so critical politically and turned into such a big ideological fight. For more information and complete coverage of the debt ceiling debate, you can check out more at CNNMoney.com. (END VIDEO) Political Check . AZUZ: Thank you, Christine. November 6, 2012 might sound like a ways away, but some people are working toward something that's going to happen on that day: the U.S. presidential election. Campaign season is here, and before we head off for the summer, we want to give you an idea of where things stand. On the Democratic side, President Obama has announced that he's running for another term in office. But whom will he be running against? That will get decided through primary elections. Those start happening once we get to 2012, and several Republicans have announced their candidacy. That includes former CEO and talk show host Herman Cain, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, U.S. Representative Ron Paul and former governors Gary Johnson and Tim Pawlenty. Another name you might know -- former governor Mitt Romney - is expected to announce his candidacy today. Some other big names have already said they won't be running, and there's always the possibility that more candidates will join the field. Shoutout . TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Today's Shoutout goes out to Mr. Shimasaki's social studies classes at Valley High School in Santa Ana, California. What do these signal flags mean? You know what to do. Is it: A) Diver down, B) Stop immediately, C) Hurricane warning or D) Man overboard? You've got three seconds -- GO! This double flag is the signal for a hurricane warning. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout! Hurricane Season . AZUZ: Hurricane season is on! In the Atlantic Ocean, it lasts from June through November. That's not the only time hurricanes can form, it's just the time when they're most likely to form. Forecasters who make predictions about how many hurricanes might form say this year is likely to be an above-average season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is predicting 12 to 18 named storms. It expects six to 10 of those to become hurricanes, with three to six strengthening into major hurricanes. Last year, zero hurricanes made landfall in the U.S., but experts say it's always important to be prepared. Shuttle Program . AZUZ: Coming in for a final landing: the space shuttle Endeavour touched down at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Wednesday morning. It was the shuttle's 25th and last mission. And this is the crew that did it: Endeavour's astronauts, led by shuttle commander Mark Kelly, who said it was sad to see Endeavour land for the last time. As that ship heads into retirement, this is the one that will close out NASA's space shuttle program: Atlantis, waiting on the launch pad, scheduled to go up on July 8th in the last shuttle mission. Profits into Food . AZUZ: In Charlotte, North Carolina, there's a restaurant that works on a kind of "pay it forward" concept. When you buy a meal there, you're also paying to help feed other people who are in need. Tom Foreman looks at the ingredients that make up this unique story. (BEGIN VIDEO) TOM FOREMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In busy downtown Charlotte, by lunchtime folks have built up an appetite. So at the King's Kitchen Restaurant, that's when the real building begins, because Chef Jim Noble's goal every day is to help his diners help their community. CHEF JIM NOBLE, KING'S KITCHEN: And I think everybody wants to help. They just don't know how. FOREMAN: Noble is one of the state's most renowned chefs and deeply religious. So, he opened the King's Kitchen a year and a half ago as a non-profit restaurant. The money made here goes to programs that feed the poor throughout the community. Last year, $50,000. Mindful of recessionary pitfalls that could derail this effort, the chef started by raising enough donations to open without any loans. NOBLE: This is not the best time in the world to get in debt in a restaurant, you know. So, we wanted to do this debt-free. Number five. And what does that say? FOREMAN: The restaurant also offers job training for jobless people, folks such as Philip Lewis, who joined the program less than two months ago when he heard about it at church. PHILIP LEWIS, KING'S KITCHEN: I've got more than I've asked for here. Faith, finances, everything I needed this place has given me. It's a life-changing place. No matter where you are in your life, it will bring something positive to it that wasn't there before. FOREMAN: Sure, this non-profit restaurant competes with Chef Noble's for-profit places, but he has faith there is room for all. NOBLE: Sometimes in life, you have to make a distinction between success and significance. FOREMAN: And for him, the significance lies in knowing every plate that goes out of the kitchen here means poor people are being fed all over town. Tom Foreman, CNN, Charlotte, North Carolina. (END VIDEO) Before We Go . AZUZ: Before we go, when the weather's not fit for man nor beast, I guess you could send this out. It's called the Big Dog. And it's an all-terrain robot that can run, climb and carry heavy loads. It's also designed to absorb shock. The guy's not being mean; he's just showing off the Big Dog's stability. It handled the kick all right. Maybe not quite so stable on the ice. Someone could invent artificial little creatures that attack the Big Dog. Goodbye . AZUZ: I guess you'd have to call them robo-ticks. But that's a tail for another day. Just one more show to go. For CNN Student News, I'm Carl Azuz. | Explore the significance of the U.S. reaching its debt ceiling .
Take stock of the field for the 2012 U.S. presidential election .
Visit a restaurant that aims to help community members in need .
Use the Daily Discussion to help students understand today's featured news stories . |
79,169 | e066ba6cd73204bbe8fac2b8e175aff4ab9a8bb5 | By . Mark Mcghee . I began collecting Panini World Cup stickers with my five-year-old son Archie several weeks ago. This was my attempt to indoctrinate him into the football world and to initiate his journey as a lover of the game - a journey which we all know will be full of ecstatic highs and lows of anguish. What better place to begin the wee lad’s journey than in Brazil? Home: Brazil will provide a brilliant backdrop to the World Cup, but don't expect them to win the tournament . To an extent, my mission has succeeded. He is aware that the World Cup is coming and that there are many teams taking part, but he still can’t get his head round why Scotland are not going to be there! Many more of us feel the same. I have enjoyed the process of opening the little packets to reveal the next exciting group of players who will be there in Brazil to thrill us with their skills. For the amount of money I have now invested I could have sent him there to see the Final live! One regret from my playing days is that I never played in a World Cup. Perhaps I will have the opportunity as a Scotland coach to go to one. As we left the pitch at Craven Cottage last week, Gordon commented on the performance of the Tartan Army that night. ‘Imagine going to a World Cup with that lot,’ he said. I dare to imagine! Support: The Brazil national team will be under pressure to perform on home soil . As the opening match approaches the excitement is growing. Who’s in each squad? Who’s left out? Who’s injured? Who will be the stars? Which team will be the surprise package? Ultimately, who will win this magnificent football fiesta? Many pundits have the host nation as the team to beat. I’m afraid I’m going to be a party pooper and disagree. I believe that, having won Group A, they will exit at the first knockout stage, where they will lose to the team who finishes second in Group B - most likely Holland, but possibly Spain. Unlike some of the other contenders, I don’t believe they have strong enough attacking options. There are only six teams who can win the competition. I recommend that you extrapolate the draw on the wallchart included within today’s paper and I guarantee that most of us will arrive at very similar outcomes. Come together: A host of world class players including Mario Balotelli (above) will be on show . In the semi-finals, I have Germany playing the Netherlands and Argentina facing Spain. I would love the Final to be between Spain and Argentina but the draw makes that seem unlikely. Keeping the best players healthy and fresh can be key to a prolonged run in the tournament. Those teams who enjoy a more straightforward group stage will benefit over those teams who have to fight every step of the way to make the first knockout stage. England, Uruguay and Italy find themselves in just such a group and could suffer as a consequence.When Gordon took over the national team, we discussed at length what we could possibly do to improve performances and results. During those deliberations, I mentioned that I was often struck by how much more sophisticated the playing style of many European club sides and international teams was in comparison to ours and, indeed, England’s. Teams place far greater emphasis on technique and on ball retention than many British teams do. The outstanding difference, though, is in the shape of teams and the variety and complexity of the movement that they achieve within their various systems. The British model is far too rigid and relies too heavily on the strength of individual players than a more joined-up team performance. The individual is important and can often be the difference between winning and not winning but that is secondary to the team plan which is designed to make it as difficult as possible for the opposition to mark and track match-winning players. Pedigree: Chile's Alexis Sanchez will be one to watch during the World Cup in Brazil . It gives the flair players space and time to exploit the opposition’s weaknesses. That is the reason I believe England will once again struggle at a World Cup. England have some terrific players but their system and strategy are too simplistic to upset the best teams in the world. England enjoy what is more like a boxing match than the chess game that Spain and Argentina will aspire to. I’ve been struck by the publicity that has been given to the ‘legacy’ of Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games, something that looks like being an extremely positive event for the entire nation. The Games give us the opportunity to showcase our beautiful country and demonstrate what great hosts we are. In addition an infrastructure, which will benefit our children in the coming years, will be left for the nation to enjoy. Shame: Wales and Real Madrid star Gareth Bale may never get to play at a World Cup . What will be Brazil’s legacy? Several revamped stadia, some improved local infrastructure and the huge disappointment of being the hosts and not even making the Final. Hosting a World Cup is a high-risk undertaking for any nation. The impact it has on a country is no longer a positive exercise in ‘cost and benefit’. The process of deciding how and where World Cups are held must be reviewed. The pantomime that is the proposed 2022 Qatar World Cup is further evidence that something fundamental in world football has to change for the sake of the game’s integrity and to make the finals affordable in the future. All that said, the backdrop Brazil will provide for football’s showpiece competition will make this the most spectacular World Cup ever. Talent: Neutrals will be hoping Luis Suarez can recover from knee surgery to take part in Brazil . New media, improved technology, global communications, the music, the colour and the Brazilian people will make this the greatest show on earth. There are very few of the great players who won’t be there. Gareth Bale is the prime example. Like his fellow countryman Ryan Giggs, the Welsh superstar may never play in the finals. The World Cup finals provide us with the opportunity to see so many great players. Times have changed though as we see so many of them playing regularly in the English Premier League and in the Champions League. Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Luka Modric, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Robin van Persie, Yaya Toure, Luis Suarez. The list goes on: Mario Balotelli (love him or hate him), Edin Dzeko, Mesut Ozil and so on. Conspicuous by their absence from my hit list are any Argentinians. In my book, they come under a separate heading. That of World Cup winners 2014. Star: Lionel Messi (right) deserves to win the World Cup for being the best player to have played to game . Maxi Rodriguez, Angel di Maria, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain. What other squad could have left out Carlos Tevez? Then, of course, they have Lionel Messi, for me the best player ever to have played the game. For that alone, he deserves a World Cup winner’s medal. They have power, pace, a healthy measure of cynicism in defence and an abundance of attacking options. Crucially, they have the brilliant Messi. There are others to look out for. Some less known to us in Europe. Players who have the opportunity to make themselves household names. Look out for Alexis Sanchez of Chile, Xherdan Shaqiri of Switzerland, France’s Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani of Uruguay, Christian Noboa of Ecuador and also Enzo Perez. The Benfica man is one of the less recognisable names in the Argentina squad but he will anchor the midfield and allow Messi the freedom to win the World Cup. I can’t wait for the show to begin. Pressure: All eyes will be on Neymar to see if the Brazilian can inspire his team to World Cup success . | Brazil will provide a brilliant backdrop to the World Cup but the host nation won't win the summer tournament .
Lionel Messi deserves to lead Argentina to World Cup victory .
Ones to watch: Edinson Cavani, Alexis Sanchez and Paul Pogba . |
116,094 | 21d95d7ca4b5899320bdb44cc55618420f0112b7 | By . Associated Press Reporter . Like reading a blitz, Johnny Manziel knew the questions about his off-field wildness were coming. So the Browns quarterback struck first. 'At the end of the day,' Manziel said, 'I've made some rookie mistakes.' On the eve of Cleveland's first training camp practice, Manziel offered some regret about his well-chronicled weekend partying over the past two months. But as he prepares to battle Brian Hoyer for a starting job, Manziel, 21, said he's in good standing with his bosses. Regrets: Cleveland Browns draft pick Johnny Manziel - pictured here earlier this month rolling a $20 note in a Las Vegas bathroom - has said he has made 'rookie mistakes' during the off-season . Day job: Cleveland Browns' Johnny . Manziel says he needs to do a better when it comes to acting like a professional . It's time to get to work. From here on, he's Johnny All About Football. 'There's some things that I wish I could've gone back and done a little differently,' Manziel said. 'But I'm continuing to move forward and trying to represent this organization in a positive manner and a positive light, so just very excited to be back in camp and it's football 24/7 and that's what I love doing. 'That's what I live for and it's what my job, so for me, I'm very excited to be back and can't wait to get this underway.' Manziel addressed his fraternity-guy-gone-wild behavior, which included photos of him hanging out poolside in Las Vegas with Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, swigging champagne on an inflatable swan pool raft in a Texas nightclub and a shot of him rolling a dollar bill in a bathroom. Manziel didn't say he'll change completely, but vowed to be focused on football going forward. Manziel opened his news conference by discussing his off-field exploits, saying he has spoken to Browns coach Mike Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer. Write caption here . Relaxed: Manziel is pictured at a Red Sox game with Colleen Crowley, an undergrad at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas . 'For me, my main thing is, people within this building, my teammates, the coaching staff, the higher-ups in this organization we've all been on the same page,' he said. 'We've all been good and very eager to be moving forward.' For weeks, the Browns downplayed Manziel's antics. But as his questionable conduct continued and after the startling photo surfaced of Manziel with the rolled-up bill, Pettine reached out to the 21-year-old while he was on vacation. 'I've talked about that with Coach Pettine,' Manziel said. 'I've talked about it with Farmer and the people I needed to talk about that with. Moving forward, they're good with everything. I've told them everything that I need to, and everything's been good.' While acknowledging he could have made better decisions, Manziel also defended his lifestyle. 'I don't think there's anything wrong with me going out and having a night life, having a social life,' he said. 'I mean I am 21-years-old and I do like going out and it was the offseason. It's free time for us and if I want to go out and hang out with my friends or go to nightclubs or do things like that then I think that's within my rights to be doing that. 'I don't think there's anything wrong with me going out and having a night life, having a social life': Johnny Manziel defends his partying ways. Pictured here with rumored girlfriend Colleen Crowley . Party time: Johnny Manziel enjoyed his July 4 weekend with Playboy model Dallas Nicole . 'I think there's other guys throughout the league that are doing that and I'm not trying to compare myself to anybody else but I think that's within my rights to be doing that.' Manziel doesn't think his busy social calendar will hurt his chances to beat out Hoyer. 'I don't believe so,' he said. 'I think there are definitely things moving forward to help better act as a professional. At the same time, I'm still learning how to do that. I'm still getting used to this role, still getting used to this league, still getting used to being a pro football player. 'I'm not in college anymore. There's things I need to do better, and that's just part of being a professional. Hopefully with time and going through this season and as time goes on, I'll get better at doing that.' The former Texas A&M star enters his first camp as Cleveland's No. 2 quarterback behind Hoyer, who will get all the reps with Cleveland's starting offense during the first few days of camp. Cleveland Browns draft pick Johnny Manziel stretches during the Cleveland Browns rookie minicamp on May 17, 2014 at the Browns training facility in Berea, Ohio . Pettine, who earlier this week said he wants to name his starter "pretty quickly" believes Manziel enters camp well prepared to compete with Hoyer. The continuous controversy surrounding Manziel has somewhat overshadowed Hoyer, who has worked his way back after suffering a season-ending knee injury in his third start last season. The homegrown Hoyer is certain he'll hang on to his starting job and be behind center when the Browns open at Pittsburgh on Sept. 7. 'I'm confident I am that guy, but in the same sense I know if it comes down to the fact Johnny does beat me out I will have given everything I can and he will have totally earned it,' Hoyer said. 'That's what you want. All I ask is the opportunity and a chance to earn the job, and that's what I've been given. For me it's about going out every day and proving I can be that guy I believe I am.' | Rookie NFL quarterback Manziel enjoyed a summer of non-stop partying since signing with the .
Cleveland Browns in May .
Made the most of off-season before starting $32 million four-year contract .
Said he made 'rookie mistakes' but 'is moving forward with football'
Defended late-night ways as normal and expected . |
173,944 | 6d14b1c4e8ffe060d907483e3ca659fc11c0a9e0 | By . Lizzie Parry . A six-year-old has been dubbed 'catgirl' after a rare skin disease left her with soft . black fur covering her back. Zhao Xinrui's parents noticed a small patch of discoloured skin on her back about a year ago. As the condition progressed, her horrified mother abandoned her daughter and husband, fleeing the village of Changshan near Luzhou City in southwest China's Sichuan province. Zhao's grandmother, Zhao Henghui, said: 'Doctors told us it was just a birthmark - even when it started spreading - but now it covers half her body.' Zhao Xinrui's parents first noticed a small patch of discoloured skin on their daughter's back around a year ago. Since then soft black fur has grown to cover her entire back and is starting the cover her arms and face . In order to make sure Zhao Xinrui was admitted to the family's local kindergarten, teachers told the other children she had a mole. But she now requires urgent treatment to remove the hair, which covers her entire back and is starting to grow on her arms and face. 'The poor girl - it breaks our hearts to see her suffer like this,' said her father Zhao Lai, 45. He said his wife had abandoned him and his daughter and that he was trying to look after her together with his parents. The three of them had been trying to raise money to pay for treatment. He said: 'We were told that she couldn't have any operation anyway until she got to about five. 'But now she's old enough we don't have the money. The six-year-old's mother abandoned her after discovering the rare condition. Zhao Xinrui's father Zhao Lai, pictured left, and her grandparents are caring for her, trying to raise money for treatment . It is hoped Zhao Xinrui, pictured with her grandmother, will be able to have an operation soon, where doctors plan to replace the hairy skin with healthy skin from other parts of the youngster's body . 'Despite the fact that we saved ever since we heard she would need it.' In an interview with local TV, the youngster said her biggest ambition was to be cured so that she could wear summer clothes and even a swimming costume like her pals. The media coverage has inspired some members of the public to donate money and it is now hoped the youngster will be able to get the operation she needs. She has already been sent to the provincial capital Chengdu for medical treatments and the plan is to carry out an operation to try and replace the hairy skin with healthy skin from other parts of her body. | Zhao Xinrui's parents first noticed a patch of discoloured skin on their daughter's back around a year ago .
Horrified at the soft black fur growing up her child's back, her mother abandoned her, fleeing the family home .
Zhao Xinrui's whole back is now covered with black hair and it is starting to spread up her arms and face .
Needs an urgent operation to replace the hairy skin with healthy grafts from other parts of her body . |
146,002 | 48c7d1a3c272e6bfbe3f332f65cefce4648b298a | (CNN)A Czech archeology team in Egypt has uncovered an intriguing find: the tomb of a previously unknown queen. The discovery was made in an Old Kingdom necropolis southwest of Cairo in Abusir, home to the pyramid of Pharaoh Neferefre, who ruled 4,500 years ago. The tomb was found in Neferefre's funeral complex, and it's believed that the queen was Neferefre's wife. In a statement to the Agence France-Presse, Egypt's Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty called the queen Khentakawess III, noting that this is the "first time we have discovered the name of this queen who had been unknown before the discovery of her tomb." The tomb, which one official said dated back to the middle of the 5th Dynasty (2994-2345 BC), had an inscription that indicates its owner was the "king's wife." Archaeologists also found roughly 30 utensils made from limestone and copper. "This discovery will help us shed light on certain unknown aspects of the Fifth Dynasty, which along with the Fourth Dynasty, witnessed the construction of the first pyramids," el-Damaty told the AFP. The expedition was led by the Czech Institute of Egyptology, which is affiliated with Charles University in Prague. The team's leader, Miroslav Barta, said in a statement that their newest find is just more proof of how ripe the Abusir site is for further research. "This is another significant discovery in the last few years (that) have repeatedly confirmed that the Abusir necropolis provides a number of unique sources for the reconstruction of major epochs of ancient Egyptian history," Barta said. | A team of archaeologists uncovered the tomb of a previously unknown queen .
The tomb is believed to belong to the wife of Pharaoh Neferefre .
The discovery was made in a necropolis southwest of Cairo . |
180,284 | 756766f5c004930a93a4a55421570b3791f80bc5 | Read MARTIN SAMUEL's expert view on what the future holds for Hatem Ben Arfa . French Ligue 1 side Nice want to sign Hatem Ben Arfa from Newcastle. Hull City are cutting short the France international's loan and he is surplus to requirements at St James' Park. Greek champions Olympiakos have also shown an interest in the 27-year-old. Ben Arfa joined Hull on a season-long loan after being criticised for a lack of professionalism by Newcastle boss Alan Pardew. French international Hatem Ben Arfa has emerged as a target for Ligue 1 side Nice . The 27-year-old's loan spell is being cut short by Hull having played just nine games for the club . The Frenchman played just nine games for Hull and Bruce told BBC last week: 'Sometimes transfers don't work, especially with a loan deal. 'I'm disappointed. We brought him in on a wave of publicity and there has been no fallout or slanging match. 'His views of the game are different to mine. At any club you need to have a certain work ethic to get in the team, that's the frustrating thing. Ben Arfa scored 14 goals in 86 appearances for Newcastle but is surplus to requirements at St James' Park . 'I hope Hatem takes in what I've had to say to him because his talent is there for all to see. But talent without hard work means you won't live up to your potential," said Bruce. 'To play for me you have to know you are playing for the team. To be a great you have to be a team player.' Ben Arfa, who has 13 caps for France, scored 14 goals in 86 appearances for Newcastle but had a strained relationship with the manager, with Pardew saying: 'He won't be coming back here, that's all I can say.' | Nice are looking to sign Hatem Ben Arfa from Newcastle .
The French international has been on loan at Hull this season .
Hull are cutting short Ben Arfa's loan and he is not needed by Newcastle . |
159,890 | 5aad940d39d53d13ba6da96ae90a5ee3d38a3ee1 | New York (CNN) -- The parents of a missing Virginia college student plan to travel to New York on Thursday to assist in his search. Ian Hunter Burnet, a 22-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University student, went missing days after arriving in New York City to celebrate New Year's Eve, authorities said. Burnet left Richmond on a bus bound for New York on December 26, according to his father, Mark. He planned to stay with a fellow college student and her friend in an apartment in Harlem, his father said. "He went up just to have a post-Christmas tourist visit to New York City and celebrate New Year's Eve. He was intending to have a short time there and then return back to Virginia," the father said. According to Burnet's father, Burnet and a friend had made plans to hang out together back in Virginia on January 2, but Burnet never made it back. The last communication he had with his son was December 28. "I received a routine type of text talking about touring in New York," he said. Some other news outlets have reported that Burnet told friends he was not having a good time in New York, but his father said that was something he had not heard. "I wish I knew more," he said, "If I did, I might be able to understand what happened." What investigators do know is that the friends with whom Burnet was staying say they last heard from him on December 30. "Ian was communicating via text with them and the last bit of information that we had was that he was just stepping out to go out for the evening. And we don't have any information other than that," the father said. "It's very frustrating," said New Kent County Sheriff Farrar W. Howard, whose Virginia office is leading the investigation in conjunction with Virginia State Police and the New York City Police Department. "Nobody has seen him since the 30th." Burnet's father said that his son, who graduated as valedictorian from New Kent County High School and was on a full scholarship to study engineering, was looking forward to classes starting back on January 17. He said Burnet had lived on his own for years, was independent and would have no reason to simply run away. Authorities retrieved Burnet's phone at the apartment where he was staying, but for Burnet to be without his phone is not uncommon, according to his father. "He didn't really like talking on the phone. He would send texts and surf the Web, but he didn't like to carry a lot of valuables on his person," the father said. Authorities say Burnet did take his driver's license and credit cards with him the last time he left the Harlem apartment. "Who knows what's going through a 22-year-old's head?" the father said."But he would not want us to worry. If he was out there, he would get in touch with us." | Ian Hunter Burnet, 22, left Virginia to celebrate New Year's Eve in New York .
He stayed with friends in Harlem, who last heard from him December 30 .
His parents have set up a Facebook page asking for information .
Ian Burnet is 5 feet, 10 inches and weighs 160 pounds; he has brown hair, green eyes . |
272,985 | ed95641a02e370a716fb0cdc4abb3be39ba819dc | Arsene Wenger lamented Arsenal's weak mentality and poor defending as the Gunners threw away a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Anderlecht in the Champions League. Arsenal led 2-0 at half-time thanks to Mikel Arteta's penalty and Alexis Sanchez's stunning volley before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looked to have sealed the win with a third before the hour. There was late drama, however, as Anthony Vanden Borre scored twice - the second another spot-kick - and Aleksandar Mitrovic headed in a 90th-minute equaliser to snatch a dramatic point for the Belgians. Nacho Monreal, Lukas Podolski and Tomas Rosicky (left to right) trudge off after Arsenal threw away a three-goal lead at the Emirates to draw 3-3 with Anderlecht on Tuesday in the Champions League . Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a 90th minute equaliser to break Arsenal hearts and steal a point for his side . Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger slammed his side for their weak 'mental level' against Anderlecht . 'Maybe we underestimated them subconsciously and we got punished - in the Champions League you need to be at the right mental level and we got punished because we were not,' Wenger said. 'You have to give them credit - they tried until the end. 'We had a poor defensive performance from the first minute to the 90th today. 'We were also punished because of bad luck - the first goal was clearly offside - but defensively our performance was not good enough. We thought the job was done.' Arsenal's misery was compounded by the sight of Arteta hobbling off in the second half with what Wenger revealed is a hamstring injury. Santi Cazorla attempts to help Alexis Sanchez of the turf after the comeback from Anderlecht . The Gunners remain in a strong position to qualify from Group D but their chances of finishing top of the pool are slim with Dortmund now five points clear. Wenger's side have gone through second in three out of their last four European campaigns and have lost in the last 16 on each occasion. 'We dropped off too much in the second half and didn't go into the challenges any more - then you are always open,' Wenger continued. 'We stopped winning the challenges and dropped off. We didn't stop the crosses, we didn't stop the long balls. Mitrovic beats Per Mertesacker to a near-post header to complete the most unlikely of comebacks . 'In the first half we were outnumbered sometimes but in the second half it was bad defending.' Anderlecht exacted sweet revenge for Arsenal's victory in the reverse fixture a fortnight ago, when the Gunners scored twice in the last three minutes to win 2-1. The young Belgian outfit were a threat on the break throughout the contest and Wenger admits he was impressed with his opponents. 'Anderlecht are a good team,' Wenger said. 'Maybe in four or five years we will see this team was full of good players and they are much better than everyone thinks they are.' 'Even in the first half they had three or four good chances - they are a good side.' Arsenal face Dortmund at home next before their final group match away to Galatasaray. Aaron Ramsey lies face down on the turf during Arsenal's draw with Anderlecht . | Arsenal threw away three-goal lead against Anderlecht at Emirates .
Mikel Arteta, Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain put them 3-0 up .
Anthony Vanden Borre (two) and Aleksandar Mitrovic netted for visitors .
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger slams side's weak 'mental level'
He was angered by the Gunners' defensive mistakes on Tuesday . |
25,967 | 498dc74beb3f3b5cdacd19f8b6937f4aa2dc97bb | A driver has claimed squirrels ‘ate’ his new Toyota Aygo after the firm began using eco-friendly plastics to boost its green credentials. Tony Steeles said his car was repeatedly attacked by the rodents only days after it was delivered. ‘The aerial’s been chewed off twice, the oxygen sensor’s been damaged and various rubber-like trim parts have been chewed and damaged,’ he told motoring magazine Auto Express. ‘The car’s been back for repairs four or five times.’ Hungry? A driver claims squirrels started 'eating' his Toyota Aygo - because of eco-friendly plastics . As no other vehicles parked nearby have been attacked, Mr Steeles, from Croydon, south London, questioned whether Toyota’s use of plant-based plastics might be attracting the hungry squirrels. Door trims, seat cushions, spare tyre covers and boot liners are among the parts that the Japanese firm now makes with materials derived from natural sources, such as the castor oil plant. Mr Steeles’s dealer, Jemca Croydon, insisted there was no link between his car’s plastics and the rodent attacks. But it paid for the repairs each time he returned the car, and eventually swapped it for a new Toyota Yaris. A Toyota spokesman told Auto Express that the problem was ‘unusual’, adding: ‘We have very few complaints of this occurring in the UK.’ However, he said the firm’s research and development teams would ‘investigate if any improvements can be made to the design of our products to deter rodents’. Tasty: The Toyota Aygo is one of several cars being made with the new range of eco-friendly plastics . Auto Express editor-in chief, Steve Fowler, said: ‘It’s an admirable eco trend to manufacture car parts from plants, but could this green-fingered fad be making new motors irresistible to hungry wildlife? ‘We’ve always thought the Toyota Aygo was a tasty little car, but this is really taking the biscuit – or plant-based parcel shelf.’ Mr Steeles said he wasn’t taking any chances with his new Yaris, and now stores it in a garage overnight. Toyota is not the only car manufacturer embracing unusual new materials. Ford announced last year that it was working with food giant Heinz to see if dried tomato skins left over from making ketchup could be used to develop an alternative to petroleum-based plastic. And British sports car maker Lotus has experimented with body panels made from hemp fibres. Food sources such as soy, peanut oil and even rice husks are used by some manufacturers, according to Auto Express. | Tony Steeles, from Croydon, London, said rodents arrived within days .
Eco-friendly plastics made of materials like peanut oil and tomato skins .
Mr Steeles' dealer insisted there was no link - but paid for the repairs . |
11,650 | 211bb2224b6b4a7b543dd4eeb894c688271df6ba | NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens will warn today that Britain needs to 'get back in shape' if a public health catastrophe is to be avoided . Britain needs to ‘get back in shape’ if a public health catastrophe is to be avoided, the head of the NHS warns today. Simon Stevens is to launch a national anti-obesity drive in the new year – as a report finds Britain is now the second fattest country in Europe. In a clarion call to those recovering from the excesses of Christmas Day, Mr Stevens will ask GPs to identify tens of thousands of fat patients to be put on anti-diabetes programmes and offered lifestyle advice. The NHS England chief executive will say that losing just 5 to 7 per cent of weight can cut the chance of developing diabetes by almost 60 per cent, according to research. The warning comes as a study of 30 European nations found that only Hungary has fatter adults than Britain. Campaigners said Britain needs to make a collective New Year’s resolution to reverse current trends, which suggest two thirds of middle-aged men will be obese in two decades, official data shows. Mr Stevens also attacked a ‘daft’ European Court of Justice ruling last week which said obesity should be counted as a disability. He said such fatalistic talk should be abandoned in favour of a realisation that it was up to all of us to take responsibility for our health and get in shape. ‘The ghost of Christmases past reminds us that 20 years ago we didn’t have these problems as a nation,’ Mr Stevens said. ‘The ghost of Christmases future tells us that if we get our act together – as the NHS, as parents, as schools, the food industry – we can get back in shape. Scroll down for video . ‘Rather than recent daft judgments by the European Court practically pretending that obesity is inevitable, in England in 2015 we’re going to start proving that it isn’t. ‘That’s why the NHS is going to be funding a new national programme, proven to work, that will offer tens of thousands of people at risk of diabetes proper support to get healthier, eat better and exercise more.’ Under the new scheme, GPs will be asked to identify patients at risk of diabetes – especially those under 40 who are overweight. After tests for pre-diabetes, they will be advised on fitness and diet . The extent of Britain’s obesity epidemic was exposed in the latest study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Its Health At A Glance Europe 2014 report shows 24.7 per cent of British adults are obese, compared with a European average of 16.7 per cent. Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Bulgaria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria and Romania all have obesity levels of less than 13 per cent. Only Hungary has higher rates of adult obesity than the UK, at 28.5 per cent. The OECD report, based on data collected in 2012, shows Britain’s rate rose from 23 per cent in 2002. Rankings cannot be compared, as some countries in the 2014 report did not feature in 2002. Obesity is defined as having a body mass index of 30 or more, meaning the person’s weight is a danger to their health. BMI is calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in metres. A measure of between 18.5 and 25 is healthy. Independent research earlier this year found that obesity costs British taxpayers more than the police, prisons and fire service combined. Mr Stevens believes anti-obesity schemes will begin saving the NHS money within three years. Under the scheme, GPs will be asked to identify patients at risk of diabetes – especially those under 40 who are overweight. After tests for pre-diabetes, they will be advised on fitness and diet, followed by regular monitoring. Earlier this year, a major study suggested a third of Britons have borderline diabetes. The NHS spends £10billion a year treating the three million sufferers of the condition – the majority of whom have type two, linked to obesity. Local NHS organisations that have run successful diabetes prevention schemes will be asked to help design the national programme. Official data suggests that if obesity was reduced from the current rate of almost 25 per cent to the 1993 level of 15 per cent, about five million cases of disease could be prevented in two decades. The National Obesity Forum’s Tam Fry said: ‘After all the food and drink consumed yesterday and today, I wouldn’t be surprised if the UK had caught up with Hungary … The National Obesity Forum is calling for a national New Year’s resolution … to tackle the aftermath of turkey, pud and cake.’ Obesity has caused 88,000 avoidable cancer cases, according to Cancer Research UK . Four in ten cancers could have been prevented over the past five years if Britons had adopted healthier lifestyles, research shows. A toll of 600,000 avoidable cases includes 314,000 caused by smoking, 145,000 by poor diet – including eating too much red meat – and 88,000 from obesity, says Cancer Research UK. Figures from the charity show that around 40 per cent of the 331,500 new cases diagnosed each year are directly caused by a poor lifestyle. According to the statistics, half of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetime. Scientists are urging the public to make simple lifestyle changes to slash the odds. Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London – funded by Cancer Research UK – looked at more than 100 existing studies to calculate how many cancers diagnosed between 2007 and 2011 were caused by poor lifestyle. In addition to smoking, a poor diet and obesity, they found that a further 62,200 cases were down to excess alcohol and 55,900 from spending too much time in the sun. Professor Max Parkin, a Cancer Research UK statistician, said: ‘There’s now little doubt that certain lifestyle choices can have a big impact on cancer risk, with research around the world all pointing to the same key risk factors.’ But he added that ‘we can stack the odds in our favour by taking positive steps now that will help decrease our cancer risk in future’. | Simon Stevens will launch national anti-obesity drive in the new year .
He will ask GPs to identify fat patients for anti-diabetes programmes .
Losing 5 to 7% of weight cuts chance of developing condition by up to 60% .
Study of 30 nations found only Hungary has fatter adults than Britain . |
72,125 | cc6993e966305e3ad5ab1f72863b07297c81a30a | The compare and contrast makes miserable reading for Real Madrid supporters. Going into the World Club Championship back in December the team was on a run of 21 straight wins. They had scored 79 goals in the process and conceded just ten. Cristiano Ronaldo had scored 25 goals in the first 15 games of the season with Messi trailing in his wake 12 goals behind. With new signings Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez a huge success Carlo Ancelotti’s only problem was keeping everyone happy as he tried to fit all his stars into the starting XI. When they beat San Lorenzo to win in Marrakech they were crowned World Club champions and there were few who contested their status as the best team on the planet. Cristiano Ronaldo looks dejected after Real Madrid fell embarrassingly to local rivals Atletico Madrid . The Spanish giants celebrate their World Club Championship win over San Lorenzo back in December . Sport said Real were 'humiliated' against Atletico . Fast forward to the return of Champions League football and they are no longer the favourites to win the competition having been overtaken by Bayern. The team Ancelotti will field in the Veltins Arena against Schalke on Wednesday will be much weaker than the side he was able to pick in December and leading scorer Ronaldo has found the net just three times since the turn of the year. Even before Christmas Madrid’s coaching staff were concerned about a possible dip at the start of the new year. They knew that the World Club Cup meant two extra fixtures (made three by a winter break friendly against AC Milan). Ancelotti and his assistants also knew that there were certain players who were running close to empty having had big World Cup tournaments in the summer and played too many games since. And the fixture calendar had not been kind pairing them with Valencia and three times against Atletico Madrid – twice in the Cup and once away in the league. Real Madrid lost three of those four games. Stats courtesy of Squawka . Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas is back in the supporters' bad books after his slip in the 4-0 defeat by Atletico . In goal Iker Casillas’ mistake for the first goal in 4-0 league defeat to Atletico means he is being whistled again by his own supporters. In front of him the defence is creaking. Without the hamstrung Sergio Ramos there is no one to bring the ball out from the back and with Pepe missing there has been a lack of defensive organisation too. Ancelotti might have to repeat the inexperienced pairing of Nacho and Varane on Tuesday against Schalke although Pepe is racing to get back in time to play the game. The midfield trio of Kroos, Rodriguez and Luca Modric has been hit by injury with the latter two both missing. At first the absence of the Croatian former Spurs midfielder was not felt too much but with Kroos tiring from having to play every game he has been missed more than ever in the last few games. Summer arrival Toni Kroos (centre) has had to hold the fort for the injured James Rodriguez and Luka Modric . Ronaldo (right) was criticised after he was pictured celebrating his 30th birthday after the loss to Atletico . Ancelotti has little faith in Asier Illaramendi who the club signed for €30m two years ago from Real Sociedad so winter signing Lucas Silva might have to be pitched in against Schalke. Up-front Ronaldo’s misfiring has been the biggest cause for concern. He gave Leo Messi an ‘I’m coming for you’ message at the Balon d’Or ceremony at the start of the year but he has only scored four goals in his last 10 games and Messi is now just two goals behind him in the goalscoring charts. So much for the theory that having scored 25 goals in 15 games Ronaldo could finish the season with 70 goals. On the plus side Real Madrid are in the capable hands of Ancelotti who has steered many a big team through this mid-season crisis. Not that there is much love for him from the Bernabeu where he was booed when his name was read out at the weekend. There is also the plus of the form of Isco who was again outstanding at the weekend in the unconvincing win over Deportivo. Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Pepe (left to right) celebrate their European romping of Schalke last season . And perhaps most encouragingly for their supporters the precedents from last year in terms of matches between Schalke and Real are very positive. In February 2014 Madrid beat Schalke 6-1 in Gelsenkirchen with the BBC – Bale, Benzema and Crisitano – all scoring twice. Madrid are on a run of 19 straight wins in the Champions League so another victory will take them to 20. And if it's a big win like last season they will feel a little more comfortable wearing that World Club champions crest on their shirts. The one that seems to have cursed them since the turn of the year. | Real Madrid were in scintillating form before going into the winter break .
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored just three goals since the start of 2015 .
However, Madrid are on a run of 19 straight wins in the Champions League .
The La Liga giants face Schalke in the last 16 first leg on Wednesday night .
CLICK HERE for all the latest Real Madrid news . |
123,250 | 2b54793244eca8b4700273d0813fec1f8bd52758 | UEFA launched its new Nations League this week, promising to shake up the international calendar and replace pointless friendlies with meaningful competition. The inaugural tournament will take place in 2018 and 2019, helpfully filling the gap between the World Cup and European Championship. But what is the Nations League and how will it work? We answer all the key questions for you. England will be one of the 54 UEFA countries to take part in the Nations League, to be launched in 2018 . How has this Nations League come about? UEFA and its members have long wanted to find a way of spicing up those largely meaningless friendlies that fill the international calendar. You only have to look at pictures of a half-empty Wembley for their September friendly with Norway to understand why England and other countries are in favour of introducing more competitive matches that generate more interest and shift tickets. This idea has been on the agenda at UEFA committee meetings since 2011 and, on Thursday, UEFA finally unveiled the finer details of the new Nations League. England line up to play Norway in a September friendly in front of a sparse Wembley crowd . So what's the format? The Nations League will be comprised of four Divisions (A-D). Each of these is then sub-divided into four groups of either three or four teams (numbered 1-4). UEFA's 54 nations will be split between the four divisions, according to their position in the rankings as they stand in November 2017. Division A will include the top-ranked European nations, like Germany, Spain, England, France and Italy. Division D will contain the minnows like San Marino, Luxembourg and Gibraltar. Divisions A and B will consist of four groups of three teams. Division C will comprise two groups of three teams and two groups of four teams. Division D will feature four groups of four teams. The nations in each group then play each other home and away across the double-header international weeks in September, October and November 2018. The format of the UEFA Nations League, which features four Divisions sub-divided into four groups each . World champions Germany will be one of the favourites for the Nations League when it launches . The teams that finish top of the four groups within Division A - the top one - then progress to a Final Four competition to be staged in June 2019. They will play in a knockout format with semi-finals and then a final at neutral venues to determine the UEFA Nations League champions. There is also promotion and relegation between each of the Divisions with four teams moving in each direction for the next running of the competition. How does this affect Euro 2020 qualifying? UEFA claim the new system will make the European Championship qualifying more streamlined. The qualifying tournament will take place as usual but will take less time, being held between March and November 2019. The winners and runners-up from the 10 qualifying groups advance automatically to the finals as is the case now. The remaining four places at the finals will come from Nations League play-offs. Within each of the four divisions, the four group winners will advance into the play-offs, to be played in March 2020. They will then play semi-finals and a final to determine which four nations reach the tournament. If the group winners have already booked their place at Euro 2020, their place will be allocated to the next best ranked team in their particular division. So this is a fall-back for nations who haven't reached Euro 2020 via the usual qualifying route. A graphic showing how the Nations League fits into the Euro 2020 qualifying tournament . The Nations League should ensure more exciting matches for England fans at Wembley . What are the advantages? The main beneficiaries of the change will be Europe's smaller nations. Those minnows placed in Division D will have an equal chance to reach Euro 2020 because of the play-off system, which is designed so they're drawn against a nation of similar ability rather than a big gun. For the fans, it means a big increase in the amount of competitive football on offer and more attractive fixtures to go and watch. Won't it mean a more crowded calendar? No, it shouldn't do. The international weeks will remain at roughly the same time of year as they are now. UEFA even say the demands on players will be less because the games will all be in Europe, meaning shorter flight times. Is this the end of friendly matches? No, there will still be room in the calendar for friendly games against nations from outside of Europe. The new competition offers hope that minnows like Gibraltar can qualify for the European Championships . Talk me through this then... Ok, let's take England. Now as one of Europe's foremost nations, they will be drawn in Division A with the other top-ranked countries. Let's say they're drawn with Holland and Russia in one of the three-team groups. So between September and November 2018, England will play both of them home and away, meaning four matches in total. England beat Holland and Russia at Wembley and draw both their away matches, meaning they finish in first place. This means they advance to the Nations League Final four and have a semi-final with, say, Germany in June 2019. It will be held at a neutral venue determined by UEFA. If they win, they'll make the final, again on neutral territory. Lose, and they're out. At the same time, England will be playing through their Euro 2020 qualifying group as is the case now. This will take place between March and November 2019. UEFA President Michel Platini has decided Euro 2020 will be staged right across Europe . If England finish first or second, they qualify for Euro 2020 automatically. But say they have a bit of a disaster and only finish third in their group. Their performance in the Nations League could save them. Because they beat Holland and Russia to finish first, they'll advance to the play-offs in March 2020. There, they will face the next highest-ranked nation who have not already secured their place at Euro 2020 in a play-off semi-final. Win that and then the final and they will sneak into Euro 2020 as one of four teams who have qualified through the Nations League play-off route. | UEFA announced plans for its new Nations League this week .
The new tournament seeks to replace pointless friendly matches .
The inaugural tournament will take place in 2018 and 2019 .
Nations will be placed into four Divisions according to their ranking .
These Divisions are then sub-divided, with four groups in each .
Group winners in the top division will advance to a Final Four .
There will be promotion and relegation between the Divisions .
The Nations League also forms a play-off for Euro 2020 qualifying . |
243,313 | c6e4a836713edb806a5de4f544d00f7f79818543 | (CNN) -- "It's like building a Japanese garden at Pearl Harbor or a big swastika in Auschwitz." "Eyeris" is livid. He's voiced his opinion, no holds barred, on several YouTube videos concerning the proposed construction of an Islamic cultural center a few blocks from ground zero in New York. His comments are blatantly anti-Islamic in nature and express a deep resentment toward the Muslim faith. In a comment posted on an online video advertisement in opposition to the Islamic center, Eyeris -- an online pseudonym -- calls for the bombing of all mosques in the Western world. In a comment on a different video, he calls for the annihilation of all Muslims. But he'd only say this online. The 39-year-old relies on his cloak of anonymity to shield him from what he believes is the certain scorn he'd face if he uttered these words in public. In fact, Eyeris is a pseudonym for his YouTube alias. He wears two layers of armor. "I don't think I would say this in open due to restrictions. I have a business and cannot afford to speak freely in our days of freedom of speech. Haha, what a big joke actually, if you think about it," says Eyeris, in an e-mail from Belgium, where he currently resides. "Political correctness is killing everything freedom stands for." As sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter become increasingly popular, they are rapidly becoming havens for people who want to speak openly about race, politics and religion without damage to reputation. Anyone can fake a name and voice an opinion -- no matter how controversial -- without any threat to their reputation. That ability is one of the driving forces behind the prevalence of hate speech on the web, says Yaman Akdeniz, director of Istanbul, Turkey-based Cyber-Rights.org, a website that advocates online civil liberties. The controversy surrounding plans to build an Islamic center just a few blocks from the World Trade Center site has spawned aggressive and candid outpourings of online sentiment. Those outpourings are collectively making a case-in-point study of how the internet has spawned a wide-open, frequently anonymous forum for declarations that can easily be considered offensive or hateful by some. "This is what has occurred in the case of the Islamic center -- a shift in society's acceptability of openly expressing ethnic prejudice," says Dr. Osman Ali, a psychiatrist at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City. One Facebook group in opposition to the Islamic center has about 90,000 members. Even though the 13-story center is planned to include a pool, auditorium and prayer area, the group, like many of its counterparts, refers to the building simply as a mosque. The Facebook group, called "No to the Mosque at Ground Zero", has become one of the largest opposition groups on the site. Charlotte Thompson (the only social mediate who let CNN use her name) joined because she is against the proposed cultural center. She points out that the group has "shifted its focus from 'stop the Mosque being built' to 'all Muslims are evil terrorists.' " Andrew Noyes, Facebook's manager of public policy communications says the site does not knowingly allow anonymity and tries to respond to hate speech as quickly as possible. "Facebook has always been based on a real-name culture. This leads to greater accountability and a safer and more trusted environment for our users. It's a violation of our policies to use a fake name or operate under a false identity," he says. But where there are rules, there are rule benders and breakers, and some accounts that use pseudonyms. "Regarding the broader issue of controversial content that may appear on the site, I wonder how the phone company would answer a question about preventing threatening phone calls? And webmail providers about threatening e-mails?" adds Noyes. "Just as none of those communications platforms can guarantee their tools won't be misused, neither can we." In an e-mail response, a YouTube spokesperson also references the site's size when explaining the prevalence of hateful comments on uploaded videos. "With 24 hours of video uploaded every minute to YouTube, it is not possible to prescreen content and operate at the scale we do. It would be like the telephone company prescreening every call before allowing it to be connected." Even though some choose to use their real identities, there are still a great number of anonymous comments on YouTube and Twitter, even on Facebook where some create alternate profiles from which they comment in controversial groups. These sites have become forums that cater to specific parts of the population -- those with strong opinions who want to maintain reputation. However, the thinking behind some of these anonymous comments could be more complex. Dr. Adam Brenner, director of adult psychiatry residency training at Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, believes the idea of "reciprocal altruism" may contribute to the prevalence of negative comments in this situation. "We really are evolved for treating people well, but with the idea that we'll get something in return. Everyone has had some experience of being hurt and that hurt leads to hostility. That triggers the response of wanting to protect one's self, and making the other hurt in return is one way," says Brenner. For groups that monitor social media websites for hate speech, one of the main concerns is how accessible prejudiced comments are to kids. According to 2010 data gathered by Quantcast, a popular web analytics company, about 22 per cent of American YouTube and Facebook users are ages 3 to 17. On YouTube, inappropriate and discriminatory comments are common. There are videos in which users ask others to stop spreading the hateful speech, and even Urban Dictionary, the popular, editable, pseudo-dictionary frequented by high school and college students, has a definition for the term "YouTube Racist." On Facebook, many groups against the Islamic center are public, which means anyone can access them, even without a Facebook account. Ali says negative and unfounded comments posted about Islam and its followers can confuse children who are growing up in Muslim households. "When [kids] see videos with blatant misinformation on the internet, they may not have the cognitive ability to determine the representative nature of those statements [and] they are not trained to challenge it," says Ali. Bill Nigut, the Anti-Defamation League's Southeast regional director, says the same goes for any religion. "These messages are directed at young people whose religious values have not yet taken root. It can cause them a lot of anxiety and ... it worries us," he says. Nigut says the ADL routinely sends messages to Facebook regarding anti-Semitic remarks. He references one instance where he received a complaint that a 12-year-old girl was called a "dirty Jew" on her Facebook page. Meanwhile Eyeris -- the YouTube user whose diatribes against the proposed Islamic center near ground zero now live online -- has a 13-year-old child. And despite the no-holds-barred comments that he's made, he says he has just one wish. "Peace to you and the whole world, man! Because in the end, that's all I want." | Online anonymity allows internet users to express opinions without reservation .
Experts say it's also leading to more hateful sentiments expressed online .
Case in point: The controversy surrounded proposed Islamic center near ground zero . |
160,113 | 5af200d7a24c1875c95789c7bae7cc35db68eaef | In a surreal scene straight out of the movie The Hangover, a young mountain lion has been caught after trying to walk into a casino in downtown Reno, Nevada, ahead of the breakfast rush on Friday. Nevada Department of Wildlife spokesman Chris Healy says the young male cat's behavior was ‘almost the equivalent of being a stupid teenager.’ Healy said coming-of-age cougars often end up where they shouldn't after being chased out of a territory by adults. Furry troublemaker: A two-year-old mountain lion was tranquilized after being spotted holed up under an outdoor stage outside of Harrah's casino in downtown Reno . Lion's den of sin: The 100-pound cat was spotted by Harrah's guests while trying to negotiate the hotel's revolving door . Guests at Harrah's reported seeing the 100-pound cat trying to slip into the casino just before dawn on Friday. When the animal couldn't negotiate the revolving door, it hid under an outdoor stage in a nearby plaza. State wildlife officials tranquilized the two-year-old cat and on Saturday, it was released into the wild after being tagged for participation in a University of Nevada at Reno study. At around 5:16am on Friday, police started receiving calls about the big cat roaming the area around around the hotel. Officers who arrived on the scene set up a perimeter, warning the public to stay away and shutting down the main road through downtown Reno, KOLO-TV reported. The adolescent cat holed up under a . stage in the Harrah's Plaza in front of the casino. When wildlife . officials responded to the scene, the cougar was tranquilized with three . shots and transported by truck to Nevada Department of Wildlife's field . office in Reno and then to the department’s office in Carson City, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.. Check-up: A wildlife official is inspecting the cougar's massive fangs after hitting it with three tranquilizing shots . Tagged: The male cat was fitted with a tracking collar that will allow researchers from the University of Nevada at Reno to monitor its movements and habits . The animal was unharmed and no injuries to people were reported. Wildlife experts believe that the young mountain lion likely arrived in Reno along the Truckee River corridor located just a few blocks north of Harrah’s. On Saturday morning, the two-year-old . cougar was released into the Carson Range in the Spooner Summit area . above Lake Tahoe's east shore, Healy said. ‘He . was fully ready to go,’ Healy explained. ‘He was feisty in the trap and . snarled if you got too close. Once he decided to go, he quickly ran off . into the underbrush and was gone.’ Wildlife . biologists said the Carson Range is good area for mountain lions that . features an abundance of mule, deer and smaller prey in the summer. Born free: The adolescent cougar was released into the Carson Range in the Spooner Summit area above Lake Tahoe's east shore . One strike, you're out: Wildlife officials say if the curious cougar is ever spotted in Reno again, it will likely be euthanized . Before the feline was released into its natural habitat, wildlife officials fitted it with a tracking collar that will allow researchers to monitor the cat’s movements and habits. Mountain lion sightings have been reported around Reno in the past, Healy said, but not in the downtown casino area. ‘The best-case scenario is we never see it or hear from it again,’ Healy said, adding the cat probably would be put down if it is spotted in the city again. | The two-year-old male cougar tried to enter through Harrah's revolving door .
Cat was tranquilized and fitted with a tracking collar to be part of a University of Nevada at Reno study .
Was released into the Carson Range above Lake Tahoe .
Wildlife experts believe the cat arrived in downtown Reno along the Truckee River .
Cougar will likely be euthanized if it shows up in the city again . |
219,100 | a795f67e02ae88e0a7a9eb8907a87f7de5ee8c2a | New York (CNN) -- Police say they have discovered more human remains on a Long Island, New York, beach near where the corpses of four women were discovered last year. The remains of a fifth body were located west of Cedar Beach, Long Island, approximately one mile from where the other corpses were discovered in December, according to Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer. "There may be clues available now with this body that will help the homicide investigation and will help it move forward," Dormer said. An investigation will be conducted to identify the remains. Meanwhile, police say, the hunt for a potential serial killer continues, as does the search for Shannan Gilbert, 24, whose disappearance resulted in the finding of the other bodies within a quarter mile of each other. The four bodies have since been identified as Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, of Norwich, Connecticut; Melissa Barthelemy, 24, of Erie County, New York; Amber Lynn Costello, 27, of North Babylon, New York; and Megan Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine. All four women found dead advertised for prostitution services on the website Craigslist, police said. The bodies were found in various stages of decomposition, and at least one could have been there for as long as two years, Dormer said. CNN's Leigh Remizowski contributed to this report . | NEW: Police are investigating human remains found on a New York beach .
The remains were found near where four corpses found last year .
Police are still searching for a potential serial killer .
The search for Shannan Gilbert led to the discovery of the four bodies . |
157,734 | 57f6169bdf13eb57f90d2901618eb82fbe3a3123 | A finding that Hezbollah is to blame for the bomb attack that killed five Israeli tourists in Bulgaria last July adds to pressure on the European Union to label the controversial group an outlaw terrorist organization. The Bulgarian government's announcement of its conclusions Tuesday also could complicate life for Lebanon's coalition government, of which Hezbollah is a member. Israelis killed in Bulgaria bus terror attack, minister says . Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov told reporters in Sofia that of the three people who carried out the attack, "We have established that two were members of the militant wing of Hezbollah. There is information that shows financing and the connection between Hezbollah and the two suspects." He also said the pair had traveled on genuine Australian and Canadian passports, though it's not clear whether the documents had been stolen. Bulgaria explosion comes amid growing Iranian-Israeli tension . Hezbollah has said nothing about Israel's previous accusation that it was responsible for the attack, which occurred outside a bus waiting at the airport in the Bulgarian resort of Burgas. The United States and Israel seized on the conclusion of the Bulgarian investigation to urge the EU to move against Hezbollah. President Barack Obama's counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, said Tuesday the investigation had exposed Hezbollah as "a terrorist group that is willing to recklessly attack innocent men, women, and children, and that poses a real and growing threat not only to Europe, but to the rest of the world." Read more: The inner workings of Hezbollah . In a statement issued from the White House, Brennan said, "Bulgaria's implication of (Hezbollah) underscores the importance of international cooperation in disrupting terrorist threats. "We call on our European partners as well as other members of the international community to take proactive action to uncover (Hezbollah's) infrastructure and disrupt the group's financing schemes and operational networks." U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated the call for European countries to "crack down on Hezbollah." "We need to send an unequivocal message to this terrorist group that it can no longer engage in despicable actions with impunity," he said in a statement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also commended the Bulgarian investigation, saying: "The attack in Burgas was an attack on European soil against a member country of the EU. We hope that the Europeans draw the necessary conclusions as to the true character of Hezbollah." Bulgarian bus attack is work of suicide bomber, minister says . Canada also joined the chorus, with Foreign Minister John Baird issuing a statement saying: "We urge the European Union and all partners who have not already done so to list Hezbollah as a terrorist entity and prosecute terrorist acts committed by this inhumane organization to the fullest possible extent." A technical analysis of the explosion, carried out by a team of consultants and provided on background to CNN, said the Israeli tourists had placed their luggage in a baggage compartment along the side of the bus and were boarding when the explosion occurred. The bomb -- concealed in a backpack -- went off in a confined space between two buses, instantly killing four of the tourists and the bus driver, as well as the bomber. The consultants' analysis of closed-circuit video of the suspected bomber waiting in the terminal and of the remains of the device suggests that the bomb was detonated by remote radio control. Residue from two radio transceivers was recovered from the scene, along with a dual-tone multiple-frequency circuit. The explosive charge was approximately 3 kilograms (6 pounds) of TNT and ammonite, probably obtained from a Bulgarian company, according to the consultants. Police release composite image of Bulgaria bus bomber . Whether the bomber intended to kill himself is unclear. It is possible that he planned to load the backpack on the bus and detonate it remotely as it pulled away. The premature detonation of the device before all members of the Israeli group were on board the bus could have been caused by a malfunction or by violent movement, or it could have happened as the device was being armed. Alternatively, an accomplice could have detonated the bomb from a nearby vantage point, in which case the bomber may have been deceived about his true role in the attack. Read more: Iran in "open war" with Israel . Bulgarian investigators last month said their evidence was that the bombing was not intended as a suicide attack. Analysts say the attack was not that of a "lone wolf" but rather required planning and reconnaissance, suggesting a well-orchestrated plan. Last year, Matthew Olsen, director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, said in a congressional hearing that the Bulgarian attack could have been part of a growing international campaign of terror attacks by Hezbollah. "Since May 2008, Hezbollah plots against Israeli targets in Azerbaijan, Egypt and Israel have been disrupted, and additional operational activity in Turkey has reportedly been uncovered," Olsen said. But while the United States has stepped up efforts to interdict Hezbollah's international financial operations, the group has enjoyed greater freedom in Europe. Germany's annual threat report in 2012 concluded that nearly 1,000 Hezbollah members and supporters lived there. Hezbollah raises money quietly in several European cities, according to intelligence agencies, to support its extensive network of social programs in Lebanon. Experts: Hezbollah positioned for attack in U.S . Only the Netherlands among the main European governments describes Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Britain distinguishes between its military wing -- which is proscribed -- and its work as a political party in Lebanon. France and other EU states do not characterize any part of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. If the European Union moves toward unified sanctions against Hezbollah, the current Lebanese coalition government led by Prime Minister Najib Mikati may be in jeopardy . Mohanad Hage Ali, a Lebanese expert on Hezbollah based at the London School of Economics, told CNN, "Since Mikati formed his government two years ago, there has been steady European support. But since Hezbollah is part of this government, more EU member states are likely to dissociate themselves from Mikati's government" if the link with the Bulgaria bombing is confirmed. "Since the 1980s," he added, "the United States listing of Hezbollah on its list of terrorist organizations has been seen as a unilateral act, while the Lebanese party was improving its international relations, especially with EU states. This may now change." Mikati said Tuesday his government is "ready to cooperate in clarifying the circumstances" of the attack "in fairness and safeguarding justice," but he did not address the accusations against Hezbollah . Hage Ali said that if Hezbollah were designated a terrorist group by the EU it would virtually eliminate the European role in mediating between Hezbollah and Israel on such issues as negotiating prisoner exchanges. Germany has been especially active in mediating on humanitarian issues. But there have been signals in the past few months from senior figures in Angela Merkel's coalition that the mood is shifting. Last August, the foreign policy spokesman for Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, Philipp Missfelder, told the Jerusalem Post it was "long overdue to place Hezbollah on the EU's list of terror organizations." The British foreign secretary, William Hague, has also called on the EU to reopen discussions on Hezbollah's status. | Bulgaria announces that Hezbollah was behind a fatal attack in July .
Five Israeli tourists were killed in the bomb blast in Burgas, Bulgaria .
The United States and Israel urge the European Union to label Hezbollah a terror group .
A U.S. official notes a growing international campaign of terror attacks by Hezbollah . |
74,862 | d43fe06e8523a89695bd11c9e3fac50e77552616 | (CNN) -- He's the face and voice of Mexico's strategy against drug trafficking and organized crime. In his capacity as national security spokesman, Alejandro Poire has the unenviable task of telling Mexicans -- and the world -- about his government's fight against organized crime, which have been widely criticized. CNN's Rafael Romo asked Poire 10 questions about the status of Mexico's war on drugs. More than 34,000 people have died in drug-related violence during the four years that President Felipe Calderon has been in power. Based on your own estimates, last year was the worst with 15,273 deaths. Is violence in Mexico out of control? The level of violence last year was the highest that we have had in a long time, but it is also the case that towards the end of the last year and the last trimester we saw a significant decrease in the number of deaths overall in Mexico. We have a comprehensive strategy and we have shown significant successes. We have seen an increase in violent incidents in places like Acapulco, which used to be safe. How widespread is violence in Mexico? Violence is heavily concentrated. Fifty percent of all deaths last year in Mexico happened in only three out of 32 states in the country -- Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Tamaulipas. Thirty percent occurred in the state of Chihuahua and one of every five in Ciudad Juarez [across the border from El Paso, Texas]. Is it time to change Mexico's anti-drug strategy? We can get a hold of this violence. We have shown it in other parts of the country and we will do it because we have a comprehensive strategy to address crime and violence. Can you mention a place where the current strategy is working? In Tijuana we saw a very significant upsurge in violence during the year 2008. But thanks to a very strong presence of the federal forces, the increase in intelligence capabilities, and the very good coordination with state and local authorities, the level of violence has gone down, as well as kidnappings, car thefts, and extortion. Mexican police are often overwhelmed by the drug cartels which often have more powerful weapons. What has your government done to strengthen police agencies? We began the administration with less than 6,500 federal police officers. Now we have over 35,000 with 7,000 of them having college degrees from the top universities in Mexico. These are all policemen that are vetted on a systematic basis. They can be excluded from the forces if they have any type of misconduct. Three-thousand were dismissed last year for that reason. In what ways has the current strategy been effective? In March 2009, we announced that we were looking for 37 of the most wanted and dangerous criminals in Mexico, the leaders of organizations which have grown significantly over time and have very significant logistical and organizational capabilities. To date, we have detained or brought down 20 out of this 37 criminals and that's just one aspect of this strategy. We are significantly weakening these organizations. President Calderon has said that the United States demand for drugs fuels violence in Mexico. Has this negatively affected the relationship? We have a very significant and very fruitful and productive relationship, but indeed we have significant areas of opportunity. It is clear that the availability of high-powered guns in the United States for Mexican criminals is hurting bilateral security. We would hope to see an overwhelming response from the United States government to prevent these guns from getting into Mexico. Is it time for a Plan Mexico just as it was time for a Plan Colombia 10 years ago? We have the Merida Initiative and the most important part of it is that it recognizes our [Mexico and the United States] shared responsibility. It began during the Bush administration, at the urging of President Calderon. The Obama administration has supported it as well and agrees with the concept of shared responsibility. As we like to say, it takes two to tango. What do you say to Mexicans who are suffering the effects of violence? We understand and share the feeling of frustration of people who live in certain areas of our country. President Calderon has responded with a very significant and comprehensive strategy from the beginning of his administration. We have listened to proposals by civil groups. From those proposals, we have sent [anti-drug] initiatives to congress to address the illegal flow of money and improve police forces. Other than law enforcement, what are you doing to curb violence in Mexico? We have opened up 75 new universities during the current administration. The number of young Mexicans with access to a high school education has increased by one million. We have also opened 330 drug rehabilitation centers and implemented drug prevention programs in 20,000 schools around the country. We have also launched a reform of our judicial system to make it more transparent and efficient. | Mexican national security spokesman says killings down in last trimester 2010, despite record high for year .
He says targeting crime bosses and hiring more security forces is beginning to get results .
He said the availability of high-powered guns in the U.S. for Mexican criminals is hurting bilateral security .
And he added cross-border relations were significant, fruitful and productive . |
90,314 | 00354310584353392b2e7329bab09a1f7201705c | Casey Kasem's children are being prevented from visiting their ailing father, his daughter Kerri told CNN. Casey Kasem, known for his years hosting the countdown shows "American Top 40" and "Casey's Top 40," is suffering from Parkinson's disease. He's 81 and retired from his radio hosting in 2009. According to Kerri Kasem, about three months ago, her stepmother, Jean Kasem, suddenly barred her sister, her uncle and some of Kasem's friends from seeing him. She's perplexed by the decision. "I don't get it, I don't understand it," Kerri Kasem, who co-hosts the radio show "Sixx Sense" with Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx, told CNN. "He has Parkinson's and all the research we've done indicates socialization would help him." CNN has reached out in an attempt to get a statement from Jean Kasem, but has so far been unsuccessful. Los Angeles TV station KABC reported that Kerri Kasem and other members of the family held a protest at Kasem's Holmby Hills house on Tuesday. "He can't really speak, but he knows we're there," she told the station. "And last time we saw him, he could shuffle a little bit. He had a hard, very hard, time walking. He was just deteriorating due to Parkinson's disease." "We fear that he's been isolated and neglected, and so that's why we stand here today," said Gonzalo Venecia, Casey's former personal assistant. Asked about accusations that her family was trying to become beneficiaries of Kasem's will, Kerri Kasem told CNN that wasn't the case. "My dad told us a long time ago we were not in the will, and we're OK with that. We've known that for years," she said. "I've never asked him for anything, nor have I asked Jean for anything." Don Pitts, Kasem's agent of more than 35 years, said he did not want to take sides in the argument, but he did say Casey is still of sound mind at age 81. "He has Parkinson's, has it very bad. It took his speech, and for somebody who made millions of dollars using his voice -- for him to lose that gift, that beautiful instrument -- it must be frustrating. But he's handling it very well," Pitts said. "His mind is very sharp, his brain works well. You can tell in his eyes he understands everything you're saying. He just has trouble translating it from the brain to his vocal cords." Besides the famed countdown shows, Casey Kasem was also the voice of Shaggy in the cartoon "Scooby Doo" and an announcer for NBC. He was a popular DJ and occasional actor before "American Top 40" began in 1970. The kings of the radio: All-time great DJs . | Casey Kasem's longtime manager said the star is still of sound mind .
Kasem's children not being allowed to see father, says his daughter Kerri .
Kasem, 81, is suffering from Parkinson's disease .
Popular radio host best known as the voice behind "American Top 40" |
245,031 | c921774287efe65c8d85aa56fb6e5119caead728 | MailOnline readers have captured wintery scenes from around the country today after much of Britain was covered in snow overnight when temperatures plummeted to -11C. Forecasters have warned of up to four inches of snow over the next two days along the east coast, where there is the possibility of more snow in the south and south east on Friday. While the sudden flurries may have caught some drivers unawares, with accidents and tailbacks widely reported on Britain's roads this morning, that has not stopped MailOnline viewers from venturing out to capture some snaps of the snow. Emma Davies sent in an image of her two children Alexander and Paige getting a ride to school on a sled in Weston Turville, Buckinghamshire, while Sarah Chisholm took a picture of her daughter Grace, 9, with a miniature snowman in their garden in Romford, Essex. Others turned to nature for inspiration, sending in images of snowy fields and white woods, while Melissa Ayton-Minton managed to capture a robin sitting on a park bench in Woking, Surrey. The Met Office said today that sub-zero temperatures will continue overnight tonight, and may stick around for the next five days. An easterly wind blowing in from Europe on Friday will bring biting cold to the south, with the mercury dropping to -4C with windchill. Having fun: Alexander and Paige Davies enjoy a rather unorthodox ride to school in this image taken by mother Emma in Weston Turville, Buckinghamshire (left), while Louise Lorkin took this picture of son Mason Charge, two, in Hemel Hempstead, Greater London . Frosty: Sarah Chisholm, nine, stands next to a snowman she made in her garden in Romford, Essex, in this snap sent in by mother Sarah . Bleak but beautiful: Jonny Williams sent in these images captured while on a winter walk near Torpoint, in Cornwall, this morning . Frozen: While there was only a light dusting of snow in Tregantle, near Torpoint, Cornwall, temperatures will remain bitterly cold today, reaching a high of just 4C . Sunset: As Samantha Rickaby took an evening stroll in Barnard Castle, Cumbria, yesterday she managed to capture this amazing sunset . Sunrise: Ms Rickaby was up early again this morning, this time to photograph the sun coming up over Eggleston, County Durham . Cold: Boats covered with snow are pictured docked along the Thames Valley in Wraysbury, in this image taken earlier this morning . Robin red-breast: Reader Melissa Ayton-Minton saw this winter creature while on a walk through Woking Park, Surrey, today . Cold feet: Mallards waddle through the snow and paddle across the pond in Woking Park, seemingly unbothered by all the snow . Swanning about: A pair of swans make their way through the icy pond-water in Woking Park after sub-zero temperatures overnight . Bit of all white: The distinctive arch of Wembley football stadium stands out against the snowy skies in this snap of London sent to us by reader Marta Gabler this morning . Still snowing: Michael Harper shared this image of Tongham, near Farnham in Surrey as the snow continued to fall today . Winter walk:This image of Wimbledon Common coated with snow was taken this morning by Mail Online reader Sarah Rooke . No snow day for you: Two girls make their way to school over the frozen pavements of North Ascot in this photo by an unknown reader . Postcard perfect: Michele Fearn sent in this picture taken while out for a stroll across East Hampshire earlier today . Nippy: Walkers will have to wrap up warm if they plan on taking a hike through East Hampshire. Forecasters say easterly winds will bring bitterly cold temperatures to the south this weekend . Snow drift: Emma Thorpe stopped to take a picture of this wintery scene in Saxby All Saints, North Lincolnshire . Frozen over: Barges sit beside a very chilly looking River Wey, in Guildford, captured in this picture taken by Derek Tucker . First snow: Londoners saw their first snow of winter today prompting many to pick up their cameras, including Kathleen Baldwin, who took this photograph in New Eltham, south east London . Four: Golfers hoping for a quick morning round at Coombe Wood Golf Course, Surrey, will have been left disappointed as this picture from Phil Faith clearly shows . Snowed under: Jeff Brown was confronted with this snowy scene when he opened the curtains this morning in Caistor, north Lincolnshire . Mind how you go: Drivers faced difficult conditions on the roads this morning, including Lee Wilson who captured this scene in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Leona Robinson took this snap after arriving safely at St Mary's University, Twickenham . First snow: A bus makes its way through Orpington, Kent, in this shot from Andrew Burns as much of the south saw the first snow of winter . | Snow fell across large parts of UK this morning after temperatures plummeted to -11C in some parts overnight .
Four inches of snow to fall on high ground along east coast tomorrow, with risk of more in south on Friday .
Despite the chilly weather MailOnline readers ventured outside and have sent in snaps of their winter walks .
Have you taken pictures of the wintery weather today? Share them with us: [email protected] . |
144,049 | 46443827ba174e31e2a202afdfeeefa07d3324af | By . Ap Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 13:43 EST, 9 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 14:43 EST, 9 May 2013 . Shamed: Army sergeant Naida Hosan is Catholic but says she was taunted by felow servicemen because her named sounded Islamic . Army Sergeant 1st Class Naida Hosan is Catholic, but that didn’t stop some of her fellow U.S. soldiers in Iraq from taunting her about what they believed was her Islamic-sounding last name. In fact, Hosan got so fed up with her nickname of ‘Sgt. Hussein’ and being quizzed about which god she prayed to, that the New York native changed her name. Before she deployed for a second war tour, Hosan legally became Naida Christian Nova. This did not solve her problems. Instead, matters escalated. Nova . complained to her superiors about constant anti-Muslim slurs and jokes. She says they responded with a series of reprisals intended to drive her . out of the Army, leading her to consider suicide. ‘My complaints fell on deaf ears . every time,’ said Nova, 41, a member of the Army's 82nd Airborne . Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C. ‘Any time I would say something about . it I was treated like I didn't know what I was talking about or that . I'm an idiot or that I was a Muslim sympathizer. It was just a very . lonely feeling.’ Determined to remain in the service for at least eight years, until she is eligible for retirement, Nova recently re-enlisted. But she agreed to tell her story to The Associated Press because ‘I don't want this to happen to anyone else if I can help it. It's a horrible to feel like people are against you when you are supposed to be on the same team.’ Fort Bragg spokeswoman Sheri L. Crowe said the Army would not comment on the case, and referred questions to the U.S. Department of Justice. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, assigned to defend the Army, also declined comment. But her account is supported by an affidavit filed by an old friend, Sharon Deborah Sheetz, who said that Nova had confided in her about the harassment she had suffered, telling Sheetz that she was so unhappy that she no longer wanted to live. A Farsi linguist who works in military . intelligence, Nova's multicultural background exemplifies the kind of . soldier Army recruiters prize — U.S. citizens with ethnic ties to a part . of the world many Americans can't find on a map. Nova's father, Roy Hosein, was born . into a Muslim family on the Caribbean island of Trinidad, where his . parents had emigrated from India. He converted to Christianity after . meeting Nova's mother, a Catholic from the Philippines, and became a . U.S. citizen shortly after his daughter was born in New York. He changed . the spelling of his family name to . Taunted: Sergeant 1st Class Hosan transferred from a post in England to one in North Carolina, but says nicknames like 'Sgt. Hussein' followed her . Hosan in the hope his children would avoid discrimination. ‘He Americanized it,’ his daughter explained. ‘He got Hosan from Hosanna. He kept hearing it in church.’ She reported for basic training two months after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. ‘Before 9-11, my last name never raised an eyebrow,’ she said. ‘But after 9-11, I felt compelled to tell people I am a . Christian and felt I had to prove I was loyal to the United States.’ Her first deployment was to Iraq in 2005. She said other soldiers, including her supervisors, mocked her family name and made crude jokes. ‘I was called Sgt. Hussein, as in Saddam Hussein,’ she said. ‘Even when I would correct them on the pronunciation of my name, I was still called Sgt. Hussein. I was asked what God I pray to. And there were a lot of references to hajjis, used as a derogatory term.’ Hajiis, in fact, are Muslims who have made the pilgrimage to the Saudi Arabian birthplace of the prophet Muhammad. But Nova said she regularly heard U.S. troops use the word as racist slang for enemy, terrorist or suicide bomber. ‘My uncle is a hajji, because he made . the pilgrimage to Mecca in 2005,’ Nova said. ‘I would stand up for what I . thought was right and say, 'Not all terrorists are Muslims and not all . Muslims are terrorists.' That just opened the door for more harassment.’ Extremes: Hosan went so far as to change her name . Mikey Weinstein, a former U.S. Air Force officer who founded Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said Nova's experience is not uncommon. Military personnel who are Muslim or perceived to be of Middle Eastern descent are often targets for discrimination, he said. ‘When a Muslim soldier, sailor or airman stands up for themselves, they are the subject of vicious reprisal and retribution,’ said Weinstein, who is Jewish. ‘What (Sgt. Nova) has gone through is horrible, but it is typical.’ In 2007, while serving in Harrogate, England, Nova said co-worker told her and others a racist joke about Muslims. When she objected, Nova said, a supervisor warned her to stop making trouble. Instead, she filed a formal complaint with the Army's Equal Opportunity Branch, the program charged with ensuring the military provides an environment ‘free of unlawful discrimination and offensive behavior.’ Within days, Nova said she was removed from her job and ordered to take a ‘command directed’ mental health evaluation. ‘In writing, the referral said my . values were not in line with mission,’ she said. ‘They considered me a . 'Muslim sympathizer,' that I was too loyal to Muslims.’ Rather than address her complaint, . Nova said, the Army transferred her to the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg. Though she hoped to make a fresh start with her new unit, word of her . complaint followed her to North Carolina. That treatment worsened after a . November 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood in Texas. Maj. Nidal Hasan, a . Muslim, is charged with killing 13 people. His name sounded a lot like . hers. Nova changed her name shortly before . deploying to Afghanistan last year. She arrived just after worn copies . of the Quran were found to have been burned with trash from a U.S.-run . prison outside the capital of Kabul, a widely reported incident that . triggered violent protests. New: Just prior to shipping out to a second tour, this time to Afghanistan, Hosan officially became Naida Christian Nova . The Army responded by initiating a new training program on the proper handling and disposal of Islamic materials. But Nova said she discovered that her unit trashed and burned documents collected through intelligence gathering that contained what could be considered sacred writings. Nova conferred with an on-base military chaplain, and suggested designating a special box for Islamic materials so they could be disposed of in a more appropriate manner. ‘When I brought this up, I was told 'Sgt. Nova, you can't bring your religion to work ...,'‘ she recalled. ‘I changed my name, but that didn't change other people's ignorance.’ After just two months in Afghanistan, she said her commanders removed her from her job and ordered her back to Fort Bragg. With the help of a Fayetteville lawyer, Mark Waple, she filed a formal complaint with the Army's Inspector General in October seeking a voluntary discharge due to being subjected to ‘adverse treatment and negative, prejudicial remarks ... concerning the Muslim faith.’ Nova said she grew so depressed that she considered suicide. She checked herself into an on-base hospital for treatment, staying for about a week before returning to duty. After learning of her IG complaint and hospitalization, Nova's commanders at Fort Bragg responded by filing paperwork to involuntarily end her military career and bar her from reenlistment for ‘ineffective leadership.’ No change: Hosan says even her new name didn't stop the bullying and after she complained she was nearly given a forced discharge . Typical: Mikey Weinstein, pictured, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, called Hosan's experience common . Nova's Army performance review from a few months earlier, a copy of which she provided to AP, shows her as meeting expectations in all categories, with her senior commander rating her potential for promotion and increased responsibility as ‘superior.’ The forced discharge could have imperiled Nova's ability to get a civilian job, denied her Veterans Affairs medical care and educational benefits. After exhausting her administrative options for fighting her case, Waple helped Nova file a complaint in federal court alleging discriminatory treatment and asking a judge to prevent her discharge. Rather than fight the case in court, the Army retreated. Shortly before a key hearing before the judge, Waple says he got a call from Army lawyers informing him that the disciplinary action against Nova was ‘completely off the table.’ She, in turn, agreed to drop the lawsuit. Nova re-enlisted in the Army on April 8. She recently married, and is preparing to ship out next month to attend a senior leadership course and then report to a new assignment in Germany. ‘I want to put all this behind me. I want to move on to my next duty assignment ...,’ said Nova. ‘My beliefs aren't any different from what the Army states as its beliefs and values. I would like to be treated fairly.’ Relief: Her record otherwise spotless, Hosan has since sought representation and disciplinary action has been 'taken off the table' | Sergeant 1st Class Naida Hosan says she was nicknamed 'Sgt. Hussein' and quizzed about what god she prayed to while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan .
The New York native went as far as to change her name to stop the taunts from equals as well as superiors but even that didn't work and Hosan considered suicide . |
19,218 | 366b390a067cf9efbba2ed1583cd55f78301379a | (WIRED) -- Microsoft released an Xbox Live app for iOS devices on Wednesday, bringing features of Microsoft's gaming service to Apple devices for the first time. My Xbox Live lets users edit their 3-D avatars, chat with Xbox Live friends and revel in their achievements. You can also check out more information about the newest apps and games on Xbox, as well as gaming tips and breaking news. Windows Phone users have had Xbox Live services packaged into their mobile experience for a while now, but now iOS users can get a piece of the action. And whether they like it or not, iOS users who download the app are also getting a screen similar to a Windows Phone-style user interface. The iPhone app features the horizontal bar across the bottom of the screen that houses the same sort of circular icons you'd find in a Windows Phone 7 app. Also included: a clever browser-based demo that lets you virtually explore the UI of a Windows Phone from your Android or iPhone handset. While you may already be on a phone of a different OS, it has potential to lure potential defectors over to Microsoft's mobile platform. It's been a good week for Microsoft. On Tuesday, the company unveiled the details of its upcoming Windows Store for Windows 8, the newest version of the world's most popular desktop platform. And on Monday, the company announced that the Xbox was getting a user interface refresh, with dozens of new content channels and the addition of a Windows Phone app you can use to control your Xbox. Microsoft's iOS apps are now icing on top of the cake. Now when are we going to get those Microsoft Office apps on the iPad? My Xbox Live is available free for download on the iPhone and iPad in the App Store. Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT! Click here! Copyright 2011 Wired.com. | My Xbox Live lets users edit their 3-D avatars, chat with Xbox Live friends .
iOS users who download the app get a screen similar to Windows Phone-style interface .
My Xbox Live is available free for download on the iPhone and iPad in the App Store . |
105,890 | 1491d36cf1cec0dda049b52fff34cfd6931e94bc | Two hapless restauranteurs - who became the first to be abandoned by Gordon Ramsay on Kitchen Nightmares - have become the subject of Internet ridicule after their ham-fisted attempts to repair their reputation. Samy and Amy Bouzaglo, who clashed with the TV chef after inviting him to critique their Arizona bistro, took on the entire Internet of 'haters' after the episode showed the married owners of bistro Amy's Baking Company in an unflattering light. After the episode aired on Fox on May 10, the online criticism for Amy's Baking Company flowed forth - causing apoplectic reactions from the Bouzaglos. See extract below... Under pressure: Chef Gordon Ramsay walked off his first ever episode of Kitchen Nightmares after being unable to get through to Samy and Amy Bouzaglo about the problems with their Scottsdale, Arizona bistro. However, they say THEY stopped filming. Controversial couple: Samy and Amy Bouzaglo (pictured), owners of Amy's Baking Company, made headlines after appearing on reality show Kitchen Nightmares in May - and being accused of stealing their servers tips . Filming at the restaurant before Ramsey arrived showed diners waiting more than hour for their meals, with Amy cooking each meal one at a time. One told the Phoenix New Times: 'You could hear Amy yelling in the kitchen and Samy was running all over the dining room. 'Other tables were complaining and people were leaving because they were waiting so long for their food. My partner and I had reservations for 6:45. By 9:30, we still hadn't received our pizza.' And when one customer confronted Samy about the fact he still had not been served he as told to 'go f--- yourself.' Ramsay, who has made millions in the . restaurant business and holds 14 Michelin stars, was filming his 82nd episode at Amy's Baking . Company in Scottsdale, serving up his typical no-nonsense . advice of the venture's failings to the owners. Rage: The owners of Amy's Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro respond to their 'haters' on Facebook after the episode of Kitchen Nightmares aired on May 10 . Threats: The owners of the restaurant appeared to lash out at criticism via social media . Fury: The post came shortly after the episode of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares featuring the Scottsdale restaurant aired . However even the fiery British chef . was left open-mouthed by the chaotic goings-on at the bistro - which . included a young waitress being fired for asking a question and Mrs . Bouzaglo . threatening to call the police on a customer who tried to leave after . waiting an extra long time for his pizza. When Ramsay tried to give the husband . and wife team some pointers as to where they were going wrong, he was . met with open aggression from Samy and complete denial about the quality . of the food from Amy. When Ramsay tells diners that the . owners are keeping their waiting staff's tips, the chef ends up close to . trading blows with Mr Bouzaglo. It later comes to light that the couple have fired more than 100 employees - in a year. Negative comments appeared on Reddit, . Yelp and Facebook, calling the restauranteurs 'incredibly immature, . rude, unprofessional' while another added: 'these people were so . arrogant that they couldn't see that a Michelin-star chef was trying to . help them'. Claims: Days after the abusive messages appeared, the owners claimed that the social media accounts of the restaurant had been hacked . In response, the husband and wife team allegedly . began posting torrents of abuse directed at commentors on their business's Facebook . page. Shortly before the Kitchen Nightmares episode aired, the Bouzaglos wrote on Facebook: 'We do not feel the need to make any excuses for our behavior on tonight’s show.' They also challenged ex-employees to come forward with evidence that they had stolen their tips as was claimed in the episode. After . the show aired, hundreds of negative comments appeared across social . media sites, slating the owners' attitudes, their treatment of staff and . the quality of food. In . response, a message appeared on Monday on the Amy's Bistro Facebook page: 'TO . REDDIT. I FORBID YOU FROM SPREADING YOUR HATE ON THAT SITE. THIS IS MY . FACEBOOK, AND I AM NOT ALLOWING YOU TO USE MY COMPANY ON YOUR HATE . FILLED PAGE.' It was quickly followed by: 'This is . Samy. I am keeping note of all names here. We will be pursuing action . against you legaly [sic], and against reddit and yelp, for this plot you . have come together on. you are all just punks.' First fail: Gordon Ramsay was forced to walk off the 82nd episode of Kitchen Nightmares after being unable to work with the owners, who have courted controversy ever since the episode aired . Another . read: 'To all of the Yelpers and Reddits: Bring it on. you are just . p******. come to arizona. you are weaker than my wife, and weaker than . me. come to my business. say it to my face. man to man. my wife is a . jewel in the desert. you are just trash, reddits and yelpers just . working together to bring us down. pathetic.' The . war of words rolled on for several days, before coming to an abrupt . halt with this message on Tuesday: 'Obviously our Facebook, YELP, . Twitter and Website have been hacked. We are working with the local . authorities as well as the FBI computer crimes unit to ensure this does . not happen again. We did not post those horrible things. Thank You Amy . &Samy.' MailOnline was awaiting a response from restaurateurs Amy and Samy Bouzaglo. During a morning meeting to clear the air, the tense situation once again escalates with Amy threatening to walk out. Finally, Ramsay wishes the couple good luck with their business but tells him he cannot help them and leaves. | British chef filming at Samy and Amy Bouzaglo of Amy's Bistro in Arizona .
But he quit in exasperation after being unable to reason with fiery couple .
Episode showed slow service with restauranteurs shouting at customers .
Diner who asked why he had not been served was told 'go f--- yourself'
Ramsey then tells diners that the owners keep waiting staff's tips .
Couple have fired more than 100 employees in a year .
Descends into farce with furious exchanges on Facebook .
But couple later claimed their account had been hacked . |
250,829 | d09e0da7cab4808ac6067f89b14b7d89be887fec | London (CNN) -- A British businessman who is accused of having his wife killed during their honeymoon in South Africa will be allowed to leave jail on bail, a judge decided Friday. Shrien Dewani is accused of hiring a crew of hitmen to kill his wife during a taxi ride in Cape Town, South Africa in November. British Judge Duncan Ousely rejected concerns from the South African government that Dewani would use his funds and international connections to flee before an extradition hearing. Ben Watson, a lawyer for the South African government, cited hotel surveillance video that he said showed Dewani twice meeting with a cab driver as the sort of evidence indicating Dewani's involvement in a plot against his wife. But Ousely ruled that Dewani, who did not attend the hearing, had a genuine interest in clearing his name and said he has cooperated with investigators from both England and South Africa. Dewali's solicitor, Andrew Katzen, said he was "delighted" with the outcome but declined further comment following the court hearing. Dewani, who is jailed in London's Wandsworth Prison, will be allowed to stay at his parents' home. He will be required to report to a police station in Bristol every morning. A court hearing has been temporarily scheduled for Jan. 20, but it is unclear when South Africa will submit a formal extradition request. Dewani's lawyers say he is innocent and will fight extradition. Dewani's wife, Anni Dewani, died in an apparent carjacking as the couple took a taxi ride in a crime-ridden neighborhood of Cape Town. Dewani was allowed to leave South Africa, but this week prosecutors there accused him of hiring a crew of hitmen to kill his wife. "The alleged hijacking was in fact not a hijacking, but part of a plan of subterfuge which Shrien Dewani, the husband of the deceased and the accused, had designed to conceal the true facts ... that the deceased was murdered at the instance of the husband," South African prosecutors wrote in court documents. In the documents, prosecutors detail meetings that Dewani had with the taxicab driver where where he allegedly paid the driver 15,000 South African rand ($2,170) to have a crew of hitmen kill his wife and make it look like a carjacking. The court documents do not say why Dewani allegedly wanted his wife dead. The driver, Zola Tongo, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in South Africa after admitting to taking part in the killing. CNN's Nkepile Mabuse contributed to this report . | Businessman accused of arranging fatal hit on his wife in South Africa is granted bail .
The couple's cab driver told authorities of the alleged murder plot .
South African authorities want Dewani extradited . |
248,806 | cdf396b9c20c5f2f10e57ca104cb107202ceae71 | PC Warren Luke, pictured leaving Wood Green Crown Court, where he is facing charges of actual bodily harm . A police officer savagely beat a mother who rowed with staff at a children's hospital, a jury heard. PC Warren Luke grabbed the woman as she clutched the arm of her seriously ill seven-year-old daughter. Nurses watched in horror as he punched the mother in the face and kicked her, it was alleged. The ferocity of the clash left the girl, who suffers from cerebral palsy, covered in her mother's blood. The 41-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, wept yesterday as she told jurors she had feared she would die. She said Luke attacked her in full view of a ward of very sick children, leaving her bleeding heavily from a wound to her face. 'I couldn't do anything. I was being beaten. I was helpless. He kicked me six or seven times,' she said. In a police video interview played to the jury, she described how Luke suddenly turned on her as two women PCs spoke to her 'nicely'. 'He told me, 'You've got to leave, you've got to leave',' she said. 'I kept playing with my daughter and then I saw him moving towards me. He was kicking me and kicking me. 'He had one hand on my head. When I fell on the bed he grabbed my hair and banged my head. I was screaming. 'I couldn't defend myself. My ex-husband ran in and shouted, 'Why are you kicking my wife?' 'It seemed as if this officer wanted to kill me.' The former husband said: 'I saw him punch her in the face. He was elbowing her too.' Luke, 38, was one of four officers called to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London in December 2013 after the woman argued with doctors and refused to leave her daughter's bedside. Nurses feared the woman would try to remove the girl from the hospital, where she had spent two months receiving life-saving care. Prosecutor Samantha Cohen told Wood Green Crown Court in North London that Luke made the woman release her daughter's arm, but returned moments later and grabbed her hair. Luke was accused of savagely beating a mother who rowed with staff at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (pictured) Luke, a Met officer for six years, denied the attack during the trial at Wood Green Crown Court (pictured) She said: 'He then punched her in the back of her head and on her back. He then kicked her arm a number of times. She was bleeding heavily from her face. She offered no resistance.' The woman was handcuffed by two other officers and escorted from the hospital. Security staff told police they were appalled by Luke's behaviour, Miss Cohen said. Two of his colleagues reported Luke to a supervising officer and he was arrested later that evening. Susannah Stevens, for Luke, said he behaved 'calmly and politely' and accused the woman of 'completely exaggerating' the force used. The woman had behaved aggressively towards staff twice before and had grabbed Luke's groin during the melee, she said. Luke, a Met officer for six years, denies causing bodily harm. The trial, which is expected to last up to three weeks, continues. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. | PC Warren Luke had allegedly beat the woman in front of her sick daughter .
Police were called to the hospital after she refused to leave her child's side .
But a court heard the officer had then kicked and punched the 41-year-old .
Luke - a Met officer for six years - has denied causing bodily harm . |
88,213 | fa5fd3609aa1319f6666e2139af7cb06189ec1b6 | By . Leon Watson . PUBLISHED: . 11:30 EST, 4 May 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 12:54 EST, 4 May 2012 . A Muslim woman who repeatedly beat a 10-year-old girl with a steel ladle for not reading enough verses of the Koran is facing jail today. Asia Parveen, 31 brandished a knife at the child after accusing her of lying about her prayers. Parveen, who was five months pregnant at the time, also forced the girl to stand with her arms outstretched for four hours, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard. Asia Parveen, 31 who beat the child with a metal cooking spoon is facing a possible jail sentence . The girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, escaped from the house in Stoke Newington, north London, and police found her alone at a bus stop in Waltham Forest, east London, almost four hours later in the early hours of the morning. Doctors identified 56 injuries when she was examined at hospital, . Parveen, who is a mother-of-three, accepted causing some of the injuries with the ten inch cooking spoon but said others must have been caused when the girl 'fell over.' Prosecutor Tom Nicholson told the court an argument started between Parveen and the girl on August 15 last year during Ramadan. 'The girl was praying from the Koran and Ms Parveen accused her of lying about how many of the verses she had read,' he said. 'She was 10 at the time. Ms Parveen took a metal spoon about 10 inches in size and the Crown's case is that she hit the child with it repeatedly over a half an hour period, causing extensive bruising over both arms, her legs and head. Mother-of-three Asia Parveen outside Snaresbrook Crown Court where she was let out on bail before sentencing . 'The Crown's case is that Ms Parveen said she was going to kill the girl and ran to get a knife from the kitchen. 'The girl had no alternative but to leave at around 10pm. 'She got a bus and a train and it was about 1.50am when the police found her at a bus stop in Broadway Parade, Waltham Forest. 'She was on her own and extremely cold. She was taken to hospital and an examination found she had suffered 56 injuries.' Parveen admitted a single count of child cruelty but insisted that she only used the spoon once or twice on the girl's arms and bottom. She claimed the other injuries had been the result of the girl falling over. Parveen also denied threatening to kill the 10-year-old or picking up a knife. Judge Martyn Zeidman accepted . Parveen's basis of plea, saying it would not be in the public interest . for the child to give evidence. 'The . defendant has accepted she behaved in the wrong way towards the girl . and there is absolutely no doubt that she behaved disgracefully,' the . judge said. 'Before the violence, she says had been asked to stretch her arms up in the air for a period of four hours. 'She says she was hit all over with a spoon on her arms, legs, head and back about 20 times. 'The basis of plea is that the defendant only admits causing injuries to the girl's arms and bottom. 'On the face of it, the defence assertion is incredible. But I don't regard it in the public interest to make the child give evidence. 'In any view, the defendant has behaved in an absolutely disgraceful way, and what an irony that the child was encouraged to behave in a godly fashion when this was far from godly. 'But I undertake to sentence the defendant on her version of events and avoid further distress to the child.' Adjourning the case until June 15 for reports, Judge Zeidman told Parveen: 'I'm releasing you on bail but that gives no indication on what will be the eventual sentence. 'All options are open so you must not assume that because you got bail you will necessarily avoid an immediate prison sentence.' Parveen, of Hackney, north London, will be sentenced on June 15. | Doctors found 56 wounds the child's body .
Asia Parveen also forced the girl to stand arms outstretched for four hours .
Police found her after she escaped from the house in north London . |
32,578 | 5c9ec738918d37d70a73f7feb754fdc0657e00a9 | By . Oliver Pickup . UPDATED: . 02:27 EST, 10 August 2011 . NATO warplanes bombed a Libyan warship docked in Tripoli harbour after observing that weapons were being take from it that were expected to be used to conduct attacks, the alliance said today. The Soviet-built Koni-class frigate was hit and badly damaged on the military side of the port of Tripoli, NATO military spokesman Colonel Roland Lavoie told a news briefing. 'It became evident regime forces were removing weaponry and munitions from the warship with the intent of using them from other platforms,' he said. Blast: The Fernej area of Tripoli is rocked by a powerful explosion in the early hours of the morning . Blitzed: A building used by Gaddafi troops is seen after a Nato air strike on the town of Bir al-Ghanam . NATO was concerned the arms could have been used against civilians, NATO forces, or ships delivering humanitarian aid. 'The strikes were successful and they are expected to reduce the regime's ability to conduct hostile action,' Lavoie said. 'The state of the frigate is not good. As of this morning, photos showed that it was quite damaged. 'I would conclude that it is very unlikely to present any threat in the future to the civilian population or to NATO forces. NATO's air campaign and a sea blockade launched in March have kept Gaddafi's naval forces confined to harbour except for a few minor harassment missions. However, two NATO warships did come under ineffective rocket fire from the coast last week. Colonel Gaddafi has ordered three days of mourning following the alleged death of many civilians . NATO said it destroyed several Libyan naval vessels in air strikes in May. Warships hit at that time included a Koni-class frigate and a Combattante class fast-attack ship. The strike came on the same day that Libyan accused Nato of bombing civilians. According to local reports the attack, which took place 150km - or 90 miles - east of the capital, led to at least three children dying. The international agency have been trying to help the anti-regime rebels, who have been battling with Colonel Gaddafi's forces for five months, and have said they will investigate the claims. Libyan state television showed footage of the charred bodies of at least three young children who, it alleged, were killed by a Nato strike last night on the village of Majar. In addition, there were also video clips in which women and children - supposedly badly injured in the bombing - being treated in a hospital. State television did not provide a figure for the total number of people who had died or had been wounded. However, the official Jana news agency insisted that '20 families' had been killed, though a precise figure was not forthcoming. Exercise: Libyan rebel fighters with the Tripoli Revolutionary Brigade after carrying out a drill . The state television said that the government of Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi have announced three days of mourning for the victims. Majar is situated near Zlitan, on Libya's Mediterranean coast, where Nato forces have been mounting attacks on government troops. An official from the organisation said the alliance hit a target in Zlitan last night but he could not say if it was in the same location where Libyan television reported casualties. 'We have been chasing this (report) up,' the official said. 'We cannot confirm reports of civilian casualties but we would regret any loss of civilian life. 'Nato goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties, unlike the Gaddafi regime, which is deliberately targeting civilians.' | Attack on same day Nato are accused of killing 'dozens' of civilians including children in bomb attack . |
285,377 | fdcbda4f1a5687ba8a4959347021947d2e8cd588 | By . Graeme Yorke . Goalkeeper Brad Friedel has signed a new one-year deal with Tottenham, the Barclays Premier League club have announced. The veteran United States international, 43, moved to White Hart Lane from Aston Villa on a free transfer in July 2011, but has often been used as back-up for France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, making just one Barclays Premier League appearance last season. Spurs are also keen for Friedel to help promote the club in America in an ambassadorial role. Old timer: Brad Friedel has signed a new contract at Tottenham which will take him beyond his 44th birthday . Mover and shaker: Friedel has also played for Liverpool, Blackburn and Aston Villa in the Premier League . The club confirmed on their official website: 'Brad Friedel has put pen to paper on a new one-year contract with the club, which will also see him become a club ambassador with a particular focus on our work in his native United States. 'Our goalkeeper's ambassadorial role will have a wide-ranging remit that will include greater involvement in our global coaching programme and engaging with our 30 supporters clubs from across North America as we continue to increase our global presence and bring our international fanbase closer to the club. 'Brad has enjoyed an impressive 17-year career in the Premier League to date, representing Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa before joining us in the summer of 2011. 'Capped 82 times by his country, including appearing in two World Cup finals, he has currently made a total of 67 appearances in goal for us.' Former Manchester City goalkeeper John Burridge currently holds the record for being the oldest Premier League player, having appeared aged 43 years, 4 months and 26 days. If Friedel appears for Tottenham on or after October 15, 2014 then he will break the record which Burridge set in the 1994-95 season in a 3-2 defeat against Queens Park Rangers. Winner: During his time at Blackburn he won the League Cup, his only silverware in England . Big business: Friedel won 82 caps for the USA and Tottenham want him to help their brand stateside . | Tottenham goalkeeper signs new contract to take him beyond 44th birthday .
Can become the Premier League's oldest ever player next season .
Brad Friedel also becomes an ambassador for Spurs in United States .
Premier League side want him to build their global presence . |
132,097 | 36d70bc0a7ea8aba80a169c9028c41a9169fefd3 | YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Montana (CNN) -- The gray wolf was officially removed from the Endangered Species Act's "threatened" list Friday after three decades -- a decision that has stoked controversy among environmentalists and ranchers. Federal officials estimate there are 1,500 gray wolves in Yellowstone National Park. It means the wolves can be shot and killed once they step out of Yellowstone National Park as soon as the affected states establish a hunting season. However, state Fish and Wildlife officials can shoot the animals whenever they deem the wolves to be a problem. The government delisted the wolves -- which were eliminated from Yellowstone decades ago before being reintroduced in the 1990s -- because they are now thriving in the park that is dominated by bison, elk and bighorn sheep. "They're back here in the Northern Rockies; they're back here in Yellowstone," said Doug Smith, a biologist for the National Park Service in Yellowstone. "That's something to celebrate given their history of human hatred." But not everyone is happy about the animal being removed from the endangered list. Conservationists believe hundreds of gray wolves straying from Yellowstone in search of prey could soon be killed by hunters and ranchers. Watch rancher say no wolf is "sacred" » . "We're not ready to pop the champagne corks and have a party," said Doug Honnold, the managing attorney for Earthjustice, a non-profit environmental law firm based in Oakland, California, that has threatened to sue the government. "My biggest fear is we're going to go backwards instead of forwards." It wouldn't be the first time. In the early 20th century, wolves were the targets of a massive government extermination campaign. "It's harder to find an animal more persecuted than wolves. ... We did wolf extermination with a vengeance," said Smith. But attitudes began to change in the 1980s. Elk and bison populations increased dramatically because there was no natural predator to keep their numbers in check. In 1995, Smith led a team to bring wolves back to the Rocky Mountain landscape. They transplanted dozens of wolves to Yellowstone from Canada. See photos of Yellowstone's animals » . The project has been regarded as an overwhelming success. There are now more than 1,500 wolves across Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, according to the government. That number convinced federal wildlife officials to remove them from the endangered species list. Federal officials require each of the three states to maintain a population of 100 wolves, meaning a total of 300 wolves across all three states. The states have actually pledged to keep the population higher than that, at a rate of 150 wolves per state. "We did a thorough analysis," said Ed Bangs, the wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "The consensus [for recovery] is a population of 300 wolves and 30 breeding pairs." He added, "The wolf population is fully recovered. We have more wolves than we ever predicted and we have fewer problems than we ever predicted." Earthjustice says that's not nearly enough to ensure a viable population and they want to stop the delisting. "We're going to have hundreds of wolves die needlessly," said Honnold. But many ranchers in the region just don't understand the fuss about the animals. They have complained for years that the wolves eat their livestock. "There's nothing about a wolf that's sacred," said Bruce Malcolm, a cattle rancher and Republican member of Montana's House of Representatives. He said he's lost nearly two dozen cows to the wolves in recent years. "I would have preferred that they never came here," he said. If there's a winner with the controversy, it's Yellowstone. The wolves have pushed up attendance by more than a 100,000 visitors per year, according to a park study. Smith, who has dedicated his life to the wolves, is philosophical about the debate. "No one says living with wolves is easy," said Smith. "Living with wolves is a compromise." E-mail to a friend . | Gray wolves officially no longer considered endangered .
Environmentalists fear hundreds of wolves could soon be killed by ranchers .
Rancher tells CNN the animals threaten his way of life .
Federal Wildlife official: "The wolf population is fully recovered" |
147,967 | 4b596865b2cd0f6a733e0be51747f47b3b43e0ef | By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 10:16 EST, 22 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:06 EST, 23 July 2013 . Content: Foreign Secretary William Hague insisted the reports would inform the debate on staying in the EU . A major government review into the Brussels influence in Britain has concluded there is little to worry about. William Hague's study into the so-called ‘balance of competences’ found that the current relationship between Britain and the EU was . broadly fine. But the claim provoked a damning response from Tory MPs and the UK Independence Party who dismissed it as 'a futile and cynical PR exercise'. The Prime Minister ordered the studies as part of his promise to re-negotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership. He plans to reach a new deal after the election before staging an in-out referendum by 2017. But the first six reports of 32 to emerge from the balance of competencies review suggest that there is little to complain about. Overall, more than 500 submissions were made to government during the consultation stage of the reports, which took up to eight months to draw up. One official said today: 'We are happy with the overall balance of evidence.' The report on tax said: ‘Respondents and interested parties were content with the current balance of competence on taxation.’ Another finds that integration has brought to the EU and the UK ‘appreciable economic benefits’ while a report on animal health for found that the ‘internal market produced real benefits for the UK’. Tory MP Douglas Carswell wrote on Twitter: ‘Europhile Whitehall elite says EU membership is a good thing – SHOCK.’ UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: 'Problem number one is that the Conservative Party does not really want to repatriate important powers to the UK. Cameron has said he will vote to stay in the EU come what may. 'Problem number two is that their interlocutors in Brussels are unwilling to transfer powers as well.' However Foreign Secretary William Hague said the reports were an essential contribution to the debate on Britain's EU future. He added: ‘At a time when the EU is facing considerable challenges and discussion on the EU in Britain is intensifying, it is vitally important that the debate in the UK is as well-informed as possible,’ he said. ‘These reports make a valuable contribution, not only to the debate in this country but also to the debate taking place in other European nations about the future of the EU.’ Threat: One report warned that turmoil in member states could allow the EU's foreign service, headed by Baroness Ashton, could attempt to increase its control . The reports, drawn up by officials, do not make recommendations but attempt to summarise how the EU both helps and hinders the UK. The report on foreign affairs raises concerns about the performance of EU institutions such as the diplomatic service - the external action service headed by Baroness Ashton. ‘If the internal conditions of EU external action deteriorate, how will that affect our choices of how to deliver international impact in the British interest?’ the report asks. ‘If the institution's performance does not improve, or if there is an undesirable shift in control away from the member states, such as a greater role for the European Parliament, how will we alter our approach, what will the constraints be, and how will we use or develop our other partnerships and alliances as alternative vehicles?’ The report on health raised concerns about the impact of EU regulations - such as the working time directive (WTD) and data protection laws - on the NHS. ‘There was a strong view that it is important to consult more with health departments and their stakeholders on these areas from the outset. A number of concerns were raised about the negative impact of the WTD on the NHS,’ it said. | Government study finds on balance membership of the EU is a good thing .
William Hague says reports will inform debate on staying in the EU .
UKIP leader Nigel Farage dismisses it as a 'futile and cynical PR exercise' |
278,926 | f55d739e98053c1793539c724978c05b7fb11041 | (CNN) -- When it comes to negotiating a salary for a new job it can pay to ask for a precise figure. New research has suggested that asking for an amount that is less "round" -- like $105,000 instead of $100,000 -- increases the final outcome. The idea is that precise numbers give recruiters the impression a candidate has thoroughly researched the job. "It matters because round numbers seem less informed. People who use them seem like they haven't really done their homework, or they're just sort of being arbitrary," said Malia Mason, an associate professor at Columbia Business School, who led the study. She says the perception that a number came out of nowhere leads negotiation counterparts to be more aggressive in their counteroffers, which translates into worse outcomes for people who make round offers, compared with people who make precise offers. "Precise numbers are just one way to communicate to people 'don't mess with me' or 'I'm informed, I'm not just throwing some number out there,'" Mason said. Read more: Can Twitter help you land a job? The real burden for the job seekers is to then prove they are not just throwing numbers out there. Mason says actually doing the calculations of how much to ask for, to back up the offer amount, is "far more important" than simply using the precise numbers recommended by the study. Candidates may figure out the going rates for the jobs from Websites or by asking someone within the company who would be open to telling you. Ramit Sethi, author of "I Will Teach You to Be Rich," offers courses on negotiation using techniques based on his own experience, real-world data from his students and tests that he runs. He says that doing relevant research, and then giving the perception that you have reasons for the dollar figure sought, is the most important part of negotiation. "When you walk into a room, you should already know not only the pay range of your job, but you should have it documented and printed out and ready to present," Sethi said. Good negotiators should be able to justify why they should be paid the higher end of that range, Sethi said. It involves explaining one's experience, knowing the company's challenges and letting the recruiters know how you can solve their problems. Read more: What does it take to get a job in China? To show recruiters that you can back up your salary request, Sethi recommends candidates use the "briefcase technique," actually typing up a plan of how they would help the company and pulling it out (possibly from a briefcase) during a negotiation. "It shows what they would do in 30, 60, 90 days. And when you do this people's jaws drop. And when that happens, five or ten thousand dollars' raise in negotiation is almost trivial. It's almost beside the point, because you're showing how much value you can add to the company," he said. Mason points out that there are broad benefits to providing reasons in a salary negotiation. Not only does it help convince the recruiter of the candidate's worth, but it gives the recruiter material to back up the decision. "People don't like being told 'it's my way or the highway.' People like to have reasons," she says. "What you want to do in a negotiation is have your counterpart understand why that number that you're suggesting makes sense, so that he or she can explain to herself why it makes sense, so she can go explain to the rest of her company or the rest of her team why it makes sense." | In negotiations, there is an advantage to offering a figure that is not a round number .
Precise numbers give recruiters the impression that the candidate has thoroughly researched the job .
But actually researching the job is more important, experts say .
Good negotiators should be able to justify a high salary . |
120,618 | 27e20be7b9de01d70045124036d6aa990bf7fff3 | By . Ted Thornhill . PUBLISHED: . 05:57 EST, 8 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 08:05 EST, 8 January 2014 . A German man who masqueraded as an Army general choked his elderly wife to death, searched online for escape plans and claimed to be entitled to part of the socialite's estate even though she had disinherited him, a prosecutor said at the man's murder trial. But Albrecht Muth's lawyer said during opening statements on Tuesday that his client is innocent and that prosecutors have no evidence linking him to the death of the 91-year-old victim. Charged with first-degree murder, Muth could face life in prison if convicted. Victim: German socialite Viola Drath was found beaten and strangled to death . ‘Albrecht Muth didn't kill his wife. The government has their theory but that's all it is - a theory,’ attorney Craig Hickein said. ‘And they can't prove that he did it because he didn't.’ Muth, 49, is standing trial two and a half years after Viola Drath, a German journalist and playwright, was found strangled and fatally beaten in the couple's row home in Washington's posh Georgetown neighborhood. Accused: Muth is charged with first-degree murder and could face life in prison if convicted . The death brought an end to a marriage marred by Muth's angry outbursts, occasional acts of violence and side relationships he had with other men, prosecutor Glenn Kirschner said. Muth pleaded guilty to assaulting Drath in 1992. She alleged in 2006 that he had attacked her during an argument, and a computer repairman recalled seeing him shove her and curse at her during a visit to their home months before the death, Kirschner told the jury. ‘This murder was a very long time coming,’ he told jurors in D.C. Superior Court. The unusual relationship - the couple wed in 1990 - united a socialite well-known in diplomatic and political circles with a fellow expatriate nearly half a century younger. Muth latched onto Drath's social connections, inventing various personas for himself - including false claims of being a brigadier general in the Iraqi army. He was known to stroll the neighborhood in a purchased military-style uniform. Drath's daughter, Fran Drath, testified Tuesday that Muth, curiously, was wearing an eye patch when she met him. Those eccentricities continued even after Muth's arrest. His self-imposed bouts of starvation for what he says are religious reasons have resulted in prolonged hospital stays and his absence from the trial. He also fought unsuccessfully to wear a military-style uniform to court and to subpoena former CIA director David Petraeus as a potential witness. On the morning of August 12, 2011, Muth called police to report having found his wife dead in a third-floor bathroom of their home. There were no signs of forced entry to the home during the overnight hours when Drath is believed to have been killed, and a neighbor reported having heard a faint cry and a man's laugh, Kirschner told the jury. Detectives who examined Muth's laptop computer after Drath's death found Google searches for ‘crossing the Canadian border,’ extradition arrangements with Mexico and flights to Iceland, Kirschner said. Muth was arrested several days later, after detectives identified him as their suspect. Muth alerted Fran Drath to her mother's death in what she described as a staccato, passionless voice, insinuating that she had died after a fall. Chic home: The investigation began after Muth reported finding 91-year-old Viola Drath's beaten and stabbed body in the bathroom of the couple's home in chic Georgetown, where for years they hosted dinner parties for notable Washingtonians . Then he presented her with a type-written amendment to her will - with spaces for both his signature and his wife's - stating that he was entitled to up to $200,000 from her estate upon her death. In reality, Drath had specifically disinherited Muth in a will that had been executed months earlier, prosecutors say. ‘It's clumsy. It's callous. It's calculated. It's motive for murder,’ Kirschner said of the bogus codicil. The prosecutor showed Fran Drath a copy of the document Tuesday and asked her about a signature purported to be from mother on the piece of paper. ‘It doesn't look right,’ she said. But on cross-examination, Dana Page, one of Muth's defense lawyers, suggested that the relationship was far closer than her daughter had said. Page noted that the couple had affectionate nicknames for each other, threw parties with each other and encouraged each other's eccentricities, such as when Muth decided to change his name to Count Albi. ‘They were co-conspirators in all of this,’ Page said. Hickein, Muth's public defender, said there was no DNA link to the killing. He pointed out that Muth called police on his own and agreed to extensive interviews with detectives. ‘Albrecht Muth didn't flee. He didn't hide. He didn't need to,’ Hickein said. Muth, though absent from the trial, is able to follow the proceedings though an electronic hookup in court. He has been fasting intermittently, and doctors say he is too frail to be brought to court. A judge earlier ruled that Muth, who has resisted multiple urgings to resume eating and restore his health, was intentionally making himself unavailable and that the trial could proceed without him. | Albrecht Muth, 49, is accused of murdering Viola Drath in their DC home .
The trial for the case began on Tuesday with Muth facing life if convicted .
His lawyer has argued that there is no evidence linking him to the death .
Drath, 91, was a German journalist and playwright who disinherited Muth . |
170,610 | 68d8dceb9dd2d26c358da9aaa2dd7d838b204e21 | New England's tallest lighthouse has been sold for $78,000 after initial bidding was lackluster, perhaps due to being 6 miles from the Maine coast and a dark history of cannibalism in the area. A federal government spokeswoman says the General Services Administration has accepted a bid for the Boon Island Light Station off York, Maine. The winning bidder is Portland, Maine, resident Art Girard. The Administration closed out an auction of the 133-foot-tall lighthouse tower on Aug. 17. More than a dozen bidders vied for it. The government had to approve Girard's bid, which was the highest of the bunch. Lonely home? Boon Island Light Station sits in the Gulf of Maine about six miles off the coast of York, Maine and is an isolated home perfectly suited for many a sea-loving hermit . Finally sold:The lighthouse sold for $78,000 after an auction was extended after getting a top bid of just $41,000 . Climbing the stairs: Boon Island Light has the distinction of being the tallest lighthouse in both Maine and New England at 133 feet . The lighthouse was built in 1855 and is located on a tiny rocky island 6 miles off the Maine coast. It's still active as a navigational aid. It is one of 57 active lighthouses in Maine and is the tallest in New England, though not the highest above sea level . At six desolate miles off an already sparsely populated coast, is it also its loneliest residence? Initial bidding, which closed at 10am on Tuesday August 12, was lackluster. Seven people bid on the lighthouse, with the top bid coming in at $41,000. The government opened bidding up again. Desolate: The isolate outcropping of granite is located six desolate miles from York, Maine and was once the site of a shipwreck where sailors eventually turned to cannibalism . Flashback: A photograph of Boon Island's lighthouse before the loss of the keeper's house in 1978 . Tradition: Boon Island is among the five or so light houses on the New England and Gulf Coasts auctioned by the Coast Guard each year . In addition to its isolation, Boon Island's dark history could be to blame for not selling the first time around. The barren outcrop of granite was the site of a shipwreck in 1710. The stranded sailors ultimately resorted to cannibalism. The purchase also comes with stipulations. While the buyer owns the rocky island and lighthouse, he or she would be required to allow the light to remain 'a navigational aid maintained by the United States Coast Guard,' according to Seacoastonline.com. The light has been automated since 1978. Boon Island is among the five or so light houses on the New England and Gulf Coasts auctioned by the Coast Guard each year. Dilapidated: It appears that the new owner might have a bit of work on their hands . Protocol: While the buyer owns the rocky island and lighthouse, he is required to allow the light to remain 'a navigational aid maintained by the United States Coast Guard,' according to Seacoastonline.com . | New England's tallest lighthouse has been sold for $78,000 on August 17 in a repeat auction after initial bidding was lackluster .
The winning bidder is Portland, Maine, resident Art Girard .
Initial bidding on August 12 was unsuccessful with a highest bid of just $41,000 .
In addition to its isolation, Boon Island's dark history could be to blame for not selling the first time around .
The barren outcrop of granite was the site of a shipwreck in 1710 and the stranded sailors ultimately resorted to cannibalism . |
156,508 | 5656264b5f72f9fb2027bfae648f2d759b656dcb | (CNN) -- By the time you read this Twitter may have already announced it's getting into the online-music business. If so, they will have plenty of company -- courtesy of some of the tech world's biggest names. After days of speculation, Twitter on Friday rolled out a Web page for Twitter Music. Of course, it was a page that didn't do anything, but sent a pretty clear signal that the much speculated-about service was about to become a reality. (The prevailing theory late Friday was that it would go live over the weekend, in conjunction with the Coachella music festival. But it did not.) Early reports suggest the service will let users listen to the songs that are trending as most popular on Twitter and elsewhere on the Web. And it would be only one of several music-streaming services to either be introduced recently or rumored to be in the works. And it's not just startups with names like Grooveshark any more. Google, Apple and Microsoft are among the major players now in the mix. Why are so many Internet titans getting into the game? The answer is simple: dollars and cents. Online streaming, by which users listen to music either for free or for a monthly fee, is the fastest growing form of music listening, according to industry reports. The Recording Industry Association of America, in its annual report, said that while overall music sales were down in 2012, digital-music sales were up 14%, topping $4 billion. "Digital growth was driven by large increases in revenues through what can broadly be referred to as 'access models,' where users can choose to listen from large libraries of music rather than purchasing individual songs or albums," the report read. At the top of that heap are sites like Pandora and Spotify. Pandora lets users give it suggestions, then creates a personalized radio station. Spotify lets users pick exactly what they want to listen to out of a library of more than 16 million songs. Both make money either through ads or by letting users pay a monthly fee to go ad-free. Spotify has made no bones about its desire to make even the Apple iTunes model for digital music obsolete. Why pay for music when you can listen to virtually anything you want to hear for free (or for a modest fee), they ask? (Some musical artists would say because it helps them make a living wage, instead of fractions of a penny for each of their songs played.) For the first time, royalties earned from digital-music services in the UK just surpassed licensing revenues from radio broadcasts. And digital streaming is growing particularly fast among younger users. A Nielsen research poll from August suggested that teens now discover and listen to music on YouTube more often than on the radio, iTunes or CDs. "The accessibility of music has seen tremendous expansion and diversification," said David Bakula, a Nielsen senior vice president. "While younger listeners opt for technologically advanced methods, traditional methods of discovery like radio and word-of-mouth continue to be strong drivers." Here's a closer look at the heavyweights hoping to get their share of the increasingly lucrative music market. Twitter . On Thursday, music-discovery company We Are Hunted confirmed reports that it had been bought out by Twitter. Instantly gone from the Internet, We Are Hunted would search blogs, social media and other sites for new music that was picking up serious buzz and add it to a constantly updated stream. One would assume Twitter plans something similar. "We can't wait to share what we've been working on at Twitter," reads a message on the now-closed Hunted site. "We wish we could say (what it is), but we're not yet ready to talk about it. You'll hear more from us when we are." DJ turned "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest praised the app on Twitter on Thursday, saying it "shows what artists are trending, also has up and coming artists." The official rollout could happen at Coachella on Saturday, though Twitter did not respond to a request for comment and had not confirmed that as of Friday afternoon. Apple . Reports have suggested that Apple, which already lets iTunes users listen to their own music libraries, is also eyeing the streaming-music space. Last month, reports surfaced that CEO Tim Cook had met with Beats Electronics, founded by hip-hop producer Dr. Dre and music-industry stalwart Jimmy Iovine. The maker of the popular "Beats by Dre" and other headphones announced in January that it had begun "Project Daisy," a music-subscription service. Eddy Cue, an Apple executive who played a major role in creating iTunes, also attended the meeting, Reuters quoted three unnamed sources as saying. In its announcement of Daisy, Beats said the service would be released in late 2013 and "bring an emotional connection back to the act of music discovery." Google . Google, meanwhile, is reportedly working to expand the already wide reach of YouTube in the Web music world. For young listeners, YouTube is already a massive music-discovery and listening tool. And, like Apple, Google provides virtual lockers for users to store and listen to their own music on multiple devices. Google's service would reportedly let users subscribe to expanding streaming options. The company wouldn't confirm its plans on the record, but didn't shoot them down, either. "While we don't comment on rumor or speculation, there are some content creators that think they would benefit from a subscription revenue stream in addition to ads, so we're looking at that," said a spokesperson for YouTube, which Google owns. Microsoft . Here's the major player that's already in the game. Xbox Music was introduced in October. It's offered across a full range of Microsoft products, including the Xbox 360, and uses the increasingly familiar ad-supported or ad-free for a fee model. While Microsoft flailed with its attempt at an iPod competitor, the Zune, the tech giant has been far more successful pushing the Xbox as an all-in-one entertainment device, not just a gaming console. | Twitter is the latest Web player to get into music streaming .
Ad-or-subscription streaming services like Spotify, Pandora are booming .
Apple, Google and Twitter all reportedly will roll out music services .
Microsoft's Xbox Music feature was introduced in October . |
82,550 | ea132a568b4c04ceac66851ed9c674f539f8a552 | By . Daniel Bates . PUBLISHED: . 04:58 EST, 25 June 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 17:12 EST, 25 June 2012 . When a marriage falls apart, even the angriest of husbands probably wouldn’t bother laying claim to his wife’s shoes. But then, most wives don’t have a footwear collection worth $1million (£640,000). Hedge fund manager Daniel Shak is suing his ex-wife, Beth, for 35 per cent of all the shoes she owns, claiming she kept them hidden as they thrashed out a $3.25million (£2m) divorce settlement. Surrounded: Beth Shak with some of her 1,200 pairs of designer heels. She claims it was an obsession bordering on illness . Beth and her daughter admiring the collection . Substitute for love: Mrs Shak said 'There was such a lack of emotion and love in my relationship that I filled that void with shopping... I couldn't stop' Mr Shak alleges she hoarded the 1,200 . pairs – more than half of which are by Christian Louboutin – in a . ‘secret room’ in their exclusive apartment. But Mrs Shak, a . professional poker player, branded her ex-husband’s move as harassment, . said he must have known about the shoes – and vowed to ‘fight him all . the way’. The couple, who have three children together, split up in . 2009. Mr Shak remained in their $7.4million apartment, which he has . since sold for a $200,000 profit. Last year, however, he lost a . reported $7million on the gold market. He has now filed the lawsuit . against his ex-wife. It states: ‘In the summer of 2011, Daniel became . aware that Beth owned and failed to disclose an extensive … collection . of Christian Louboutin shoes … and other high-end designer shoes. Beth is working on her new shoe website, Shoes R Forever, which was inspired by her new boyfriend Ben Cook . ‘Dan . trusted his wife and was not inspecting his home to try to find . inventory or “secret rooms’’.’ The collection is indeed vast and . includes 700 pairs of Louboutins, costing from $700 to $4,000. That, . combined with her reputation as a World Series poker player, has made . Mrs Shak something of a celebrity in the U.S. She has appeared on . television to discuss her shoe habit, and is starting to design her own . range of footwear. The 42-year-old’s devotion to Louboutin is such . that she has described his creations as ‘fine art’ and even has a tattoo . of one of his heels. The collection includes dozens of pairs of . strappy silver sandals, black kitten heels and leopard print pumps, all . in her own size seven (UK size 4). Beth and her staggering collection have featured on MTV Cribs and the Today show . Mrs Shak’s most expensive shoes are a pair of . black and white cowboy boots once owned by Elizabeth Taylor. She keeps . them in a glass cabinet of their own with a framed picture of the . actress on the wall above, although she refused to reveal how much they . cost. She now lives in a luxurious house near Philadelphia with her . two youngest children Lindy, 17, and Austin, 15 – and has four storage . areas around the property for all her footwear. The main closet, which . can only be entered using a numerical keypad, is 12ft by 8ft and has . eight racks, each full of shoes, going from the floor to the ceiling. A second room also has a numerical keypad and is 4ft by 5ft. There is also a separate rack in another room, where she keeps her formal shoes, and another cupboard for the remainder. Beth Shak with her boyfriend Ben Cook, 36 and part of her shoe collection . Beth's collection features 700 Christian Louboutin heels ranging from $400-$7,000 . A glitzy pair of Louboutin heels are one of Beth's favourites . Mrs . Shak claims she has always funded her habit with her poker winnings, . although by some counts she has won only $500,000 during her six years . in the game. She said: ‘There are shoes that I don’t even remember . buying. I’m so short of space I had to give a couple of hundred pairs . away. ‘Sometimes I pull a pair out that I don’t remember and feel like I got a pair of shoes for free.’ She . added that it would be ‘ludicrous’ if she had actually kept her habit a . secret from her husband when they shared the apartment in New York. ‘I’m shaking my head over this whole thing,’ she said. ‘He is saying he didn’t know the closet in our master bedroom existed.’ Daniel Shak believes the value of the collection may entitle him to hundreds of thousands of dollars more in their divorce settlement . New home: Mrs Shak has moved into this new home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her shoes are in special closets that require a PIN code to enter . Asked . if she has become addicted, she said: ‘I don’t have an addiction to . shoes because they’re a want, and definitely not a need.’ Mrs Shak’s . collection beats that of Mariah Carey, who reportedly owns 1,000 pairs. But . it’s smaller than Celine Dion’s, who is said to own around 3,000 – the . same number collected by Imelda Marcos, the infamous first lady of the . Philippines. Asked if she gets compared to Marcos, Mrs Shak laughed: . ‘Yes, it’s so bad!’ Mr Shak, 52, who runs SHK Asset Management in . New York, said: ‘I take offence at her statement where she says I am . claiming to have no knowledge of her master bathroom closet.’ The case is now going through the courts. | Beth Shak's wealthy ex-husband has filed a lawsuit for a portion of her collection after he discovers their $1m worth .
She owns 1,200 pairs of designer heels, including 700 Christian Louboutins .
Ex-husband claims he knew nothing about the shoes . |
24,469 | 4566e90ca5e65f0323c41319030ca4349357cd67 | By . Harriet Arkell . PUBLISHED: . 10:10 EST, 8 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:22 EST, 8 May 2013 . If you think winning at bingo or the lottery is simply down to chance, think again. Lucky people tend to have similar features, according to new research, which also shows you'll have a better chance of winning if you live in Stoke-on-Trent. A bingo firm studied the facial features of winners across the country and discovered that many of them shared characteristics which they then built into one 'lucky' face for each sex. Female winners look like the mocked-up face on the left, while male winners resemble the man on the right . Women who win tend to share the same face shape as Olympic hero Jessica Ennis, and mouths like Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet. They also have hair like Dame Helen Mirren, eyes like singer Adele, and a nose like Kate Moss. Male winners tended to have faces shaped like dancer Louis Smith, hair like Daniel Craig, and a beard like that worn by business mogul Alan Sugar. Having Simon Cowell's smile, Alan Carr's nose, and David Beckham's eyes will also give you a better chance, apparently. The data from Gala Bingo also shows that the luckiest age is 37 for women and 58 for men while the luckiest region in the UK is Central Scotland, followed by the South West and Lancashire. The luckiest town in the UK is Stoke-on-Trent. The UK's luckiest town is Stoke-on-Trent apparently, and if you're 37 and have hair like Helen Mirren, you're in . Alison Digges, director of Galabingo.com, said the firm decided to study the facial features of winners when they realised they often looked similar. She added: 'We’re well used to seeing the fantastic expressions on our members’ faces when they realise they’ve won. 'It’s a real perk of the job to be a part of the smiles and laughter and tears of joy.' Kate Winslet's mouth and David Beckham's eyes are signs of a lucky person, Gala Bingo research shows . | Lucky women tend to have hair like Helen Mirren and Kate Moss' mouth .
Winning men often have Daniel Craig's hair and Simon Cowell's smile .
And the luckiest town to live in is Stoke-on-Trent, says bingo firm Gala . |
194,102 | 8743608a5148f863508c562494b6f9d0fbecfc5d | By . Dan Bloom . PUBLISHED: . 04:31 EST, 13 February 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 05:36 EST, 13 February 2014 . Disney has dropped the voice of Donald Duck in the Middle East after he said Israel should be demolished. Wael Mansour no longer works for the global corporation - whose founder Walt Disney was famously accused of being racist and anti-semitic - after he tweeted: 'I truly wish #Israel is demolished, I hate Zionism, I have so much hate inside me with every single child they murder or land they seize'. He insisted his message was 'anti-Zionist', claiming Israelis were 'just a bunch of Polish / Ethiopian immigrants roughly 70 years old'. Outrage: Wael Mansour has been dropped over this tweet, which said: 'I truly wish #Israel is demolished, I hate Zionism, I have so much hate inside me with every single child they murder or land they seize' Aw, phooey! Wael Mansour (left) said he was the Arabic voice of Donald Duck (right) for seven years . Quack? Mr Mansour received support and derision for his tweet, which came after he posted photos of himself dubbing cartoons which featured the Disney character into Arabic for use in the Middle East . He told his 5,000 Twitter followers: 'Disney decided I am no longer the official voice of DonaldDuck in it's middle-east dubbed cartoons because of an anti Zionism tweet. Proud!' His total has since rocketed to 30,000 followers. The media personality, who lives in the Egyptian capital Cairo, had previously posted photos of himself dubbing the character's famous quacking voice into Arabic. His tweet prompted outrage among some quarters when he posted it in August last year, drawing attention from the Jewish media and commentators on Twitter. One, Paolo Salom, told him: 'Israel is there to stay, u genocide lover. Try and think more to ur Arab Countries and how u are demolishing 'em from within.' Others, however, offered their support. Anger: Despite many people being offended, some of Mr Mansour's followers leaped to his support . Divisive: Walt Disney had a mixed reputation and was dogged by allegations of anti-Semitism . Mr Mansour is still a radio personality in Egypt, hosting a show on Cairo radio station MegaFM. Speaking to Jewish newspaper The Algemeiner in August, a Disney spokesman said Mr Mansour was employed by a 'third party in the past' and 'should not be painted as a Disney employee'. The spokesman added: 'Disney is a large, multinational corporation and we have policies guiding the correct behavior of all our employees.' Speaking to MailOnline today a Disney spokesman confirmed that view, adding: 'He's not an employee of Disney and he never has been. He's a contractor.' Pressed on whether there was a reason for Mr Mansour to speak out now, she said: 'If he does then that's for him to share. I don't have any information or background to share on that. 'There's nothing more to really say on the matter other than he's a contractor who's done work in that region for character voices, as we do the world over.' Mr Mansour said he had done . occasional voiceover work since 2006 with his last job believed to have . been shortly before his tweet last summer. War propaganda: Donald Duck in a hellish Nazi munitions factory in Disney's anti-Nazi propaganda film Der Fuerer's Face, which won the 1943 Academy Award for best animated film . Disney's founder, Walt Disney, long faced claims that he was anti-Semitic, racist and misogynistic. Last . month Meryl Streep used a speech to attack his reputation, saying the . cartoons legend was a 'gender bigot' who had ‘formed and supported an . anti-Semitic industry lobby'. Mr Disney's niece Abigail came out in support of the comments, saying: 'I know he was a man of his times and I can forgive him, but Saving Mr Banks was a brazen attempt by the company to make a saint out of the man. A devil he was not. Nor an angel... So I say Brava Meryl.' Disney did, however, make pro-American anti-Nazi films for three years during the Second World War at the request of the U.S. armed forces. One of the films, Der Fuehrer's Face, pictured Donald Duck as a worker in a hellish Nazi munitions factory. It was used as propaganda to sell war bonds in the U.S. and won the 1943 Oscar for best animated film. | Wael Mansour said he was the Arabic voice of Donald Duck for seven years .
But he was criticised for tweet attacking 'child murder' and 'land seizures'
He insisted his comments were 'anti-Zionist' rather than anti-Semitic .
Disney spokesman: He was a third-party contractor not an employee .
Walt Disney famously faced accusations of racism and anti-Semitism . |
56,213 | 9f4be9084e6064cfd884f9a2257f2d98528bcd7b | By . Associated Press . PUBLISHED: . 15:43 EST, 2 February 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 16:04 EST, 2 February 2014 . A 300-foot cellphone tower in West Virginia collapsed Saturday and minutes later a smaller tower fell, killing two contractors and a firefighter, authorities said. The contractors Kyle Kirkpatrick, 32, from Hulbert Oklahoma and Terry Lee Richard, Jr, from Bokoshe, Oklahoma were tethered to the larger tower when it collapsed in Clarksburg, killing them, State Police Corporal Mark Waggamon said. Nutter Fort Fire Department firefighter 28-year-old Michael Dale Garrett, of Clarksburg, was killed when he was walking from his vehicle to the scene. Three dead: Two telecommunications towers that were being reinforced collapsed, killing two contractors and a firefighter . Tragic loss: This banner adorns the Nutter County Fire Department where Michael Garrett was a firefighter . Team: Michael Garrett (left) will be sorely missed by others in the Nutter Fort Fire Department . Family man: Kyle Kirkpatrick died after a communications tower he was working on collapsed . Young dad: Terry Lee Richard, Jr also died in the tragic accident . Two other contractors working on the larger tower were hurt and taken to a hospital. Waggamon described their injuries as serious but not life-threatening. Waggamon said three of the workers were more than 60 feet up on the tower. One of those workers was killed along with a co-worker who was about 20 feet up when the tower toppled. Two other workers at the site were not injured. Waggamon said the weight of the collapsed tower put stress on guide wires to the smaller tower. The crew was doing maintenance to strengthen the tower's support when the accident occurred, Waggamon said. He said the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate. The towers are owned by SBA . Communications, which hired workers from S&S Communications to . remove the tall tower's diagonal supports and replace them with new . ones. 'We . are deeply saddened by the loss of life and the injuries to the other . individuals and our prayers and concern go out to the families . involved,' SBA Communications said in a statement to Metro News. Two injured: A helicopter carries the injured contractors to hospital . Dangerous work: Police say the 300-foot tower fell before the contractors could even begin their work on it . Great heights: One of the men was 70 feet up the tower, the other was 20 feet high . Brave: Michael Garrett was killed as he ran from his vehicle to help the victims of the first tower collapse . 'SBA Communications is cooperating fully with any type of investigation being conducted by governmental agencies. We realize the sensitivity surrounding such an unexpected event and have mobilized our team to be on the scene to assist with any information needed.' Steven Thompson, a member of the Summit Park Volunteer Fire Department, said about three dozen people from eight fire departments in the area responded. Thompson said rescue personnel had to use four-wheel-drive and all-terrain vehicles because snow had made a mess of the gravel road leading to the site, which was on a ridge about 200 feet above a main road. He said the first crews still arrived 10 to 15 minutes after the call. | Two contractors were working on a 300-foot tower in West Virginia when it collapsed, killing them .
A smaller tower fell minutes later, killing a firefighter who had arrived on the scene .
Two other contractors were injured in the accident .
The contractors were strengthening the towers' supports by replacing them when they collapsed .
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating . |
23,479 | 42b17e1e211d3186276fd3989302478fb94bd5df | By . Helen Pow . A woman survived an incredible plunge from a clifftop in a car, and then had to watch her husband slowly die before her eyes before rescuers reached them. Xiu Lo, 39, watched husband Feng, 43, die next to her as she sat trapped in their car for five days after it fell off the cliff in a remote road in China. 'It was terrible. I had to sit and watch him die knowing that I could do nothing to save him,' said the distraught woman. Tragic: Xiu Lo, 39, pictured, watched her husband Feng, 43, die next to her as she sat trapped in their car for five days after it fell off the cliff in a remote road in China . Miracle: The woman survived an incredible plunge from a clifftop in a car, pictured . She survived by sipping mineral water and eating a bunch of grapes that the couple had with them. The accident happened on the Bizi Mountain near Baoding City in Shandong Province. On May 12, the couple were on an afternoon outing when the husband who was driving suddenly lost control of the vehicle and it fell from the cliff edge in to a ravine below. 'We smashed on to rocks,' said Xiu Lo. Grapes: Xiu Lo survived by sipping mineral water and eating a bunch of grapes that the couple had with them . Steep mountain: The accident happened on the Bizi Mountain near Baoding City in Shandong Province on May 12 . 'My husband was badly injured. He was in and out of conscious and died after about three days later.' She said at night, she was terrified and feared that snakes or rats or other wild animals would be attracted to the wreck by the blood. 'When the dawn came up each morning I prayed that I would be rescued,' Xiu Lo said. 'Where we had crashed was very remote and I knew that my chances of discovery were not good. But I kept myself alive with the grapes and the water. Outing: The couple were on an afternoon outing when the husband who was driving suddenly lost control of the vehicle and it fell from the cliff edge in to a ravine below . Sad: 'It was terrible. I had to sit and watch him die knowing that I could do nothing to save him,' Xiu Lo said after her rescue . 'My husband knew he was going to die, but he told me to stay strong, he told me I had to survive. It gave me the strength not to give up.' After five days a group of trail walkers spotted the wreck, called the authorities and she was rescued. She was airlifted to hospital where she is recovering. A police spokesman said: 'She was too injured to climb the cliff face. She is a very lucky woman.' | Xiu Lo, 39, watched husband Feng, 43, die as she sat trapped in their car for five days .
Incident happened May 12 during an afternoon on the Bizi Mountain near Baoding City in Shandong Province .
The husband who was driving suddenly lost control of the vehicle and it fell from the cliff edge in to a ravine below .
She said her husband was badly injured and died three days later .
She survived by sipping mineral water and eating a bunch of grapes that the couple had with them .
Xiu Lo was rescued by trail walkers after five days . |
216,659 | a47f489862a734ebcdd456b219e0b0519590a4ef | Beijing (CNN) -- Schoolchildren were ordered to halt outdoor sports activities until Tuesday this week, as a dirty cloud of smog continued to shroud China's capital. This was among a series of emergency response measures adopted in Beijing Sunday when the city's Air Quality Index exceeded 500 micrograms, the highest level. Anything above this is regarded as "beyond index." Reports of respiratory problems -- as well as the sale of masks -- have skyrocketed, according to state media, and over the weekend, streets appeared emptier, as a sun was barely visible amid a hazy blanket. On Monday morning the U.S. Embassy in Beijing recorded "hazardous" levels of pollution, with a "Beyond Index" reading of 515 at 3:00 a.m. (2 p.m. Sunday) local time, last seen on Saturday when the air quality index, based on U.S. national air quality standards, hit as high as 755. Read more: Which city has best quality of life? Beijing Hyundai Motor Company suspended production on Sunday, and nearly 30 construction sites halted construction, the China Daily cited the city's environmental protection bureau as saying. The city's residents say pollution is worsening despite authorities' assertions that air quality has improved since the city hosted the 2008 Olympic Games. Last year, heavy haze and smog forced the cancellation of almost 700 flights at Beijing airports. The city is comparable to Los Angeles, another gray city, according to experts. "With their difficult meteorological conditions and a large number of pollution sources, addressing pollution is a long-term and difficult task," Deborah Seligsohn, adviser of the World Resources Institute, said last year. The agency runs a climate energy and pollution program in China. Los Angeles has battled air pollution since the 1950s, well before U.S. national regulation, according to Seligsohn. "Stilll in the 1970s, 20 years later, it was famous for its smog," she said. "In the 40-plus years since the Clean Air Act was passed, L.A. has never been fully in compliance with EPA standards, even though it has continued to improve." Read more: China must come clean on pollution . European Commission figures show that China produced 9.7 million kilotons of carbon dioxide while the United States had 5.42 million kilotons in 2011, the latest available numbers. The weekend's pollution levels have prompted an "orange fog" warning in Beijing because of diminished visibility, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. "Pollutants have gradually accumulated over the course of recent windless days, making the air quality even worse," said Zhu Tong, an environmental sciences professor at Peking University told news agency. Beijing will remain covered in gray until Wednesday, when the wind will sweep in to the rescue and blow the smog away, according to state media. CY Xu in Beijing and Faith Karimi in Atlanta contributed to this report. | NEW: Beijing recording "hazardous" levels of air pollution Monday .
NEW: Children in worst-hit areas ordered to stop outdoor sports activities .
Reports of respiratory problems -- and sale of masks -- skyrocket .
U.S. Embassy in Beijing records an index of more than 700 micrograms Sunday . |
189,266 | 8118c2dd02cfe53b1a7c09b67c9a620b27117c94 | A disabled pensioner has hit out at British Gas after the energy giant phoned him, visited him and sent him bills for 14 years - even though he doesn't use any gas. Stroke victim Alan Eacock, 73, says the firm repeatedly pestered him over a gas meter he does not use - and has now had removed - leaving him suffering from stress. British Gas have finally apologised for his treatment - but have risked making matters worse by promising to contact him yet again to say sorry. Stroke victim Alan Eacock, 73, says he has suffered 14 years of pestering from British Gas - despite the fact that he gets his electricity from Npower and even cut off his gas supply in a bid to end the bills and calls . Mr Eacock says he started receiving bills from the company soon after he moved into his flat in Kings Norton, Birmingham over 10 years ago. He says he has since been contacted 'thousands' of times by the firm, despite repeatedly telling them he was not using any gas. Following numerous visits by engineers but a continued barrage of mail and calls, he disconnected his gas meter. But even that did not stop the company and he has continued to be contacted, with his most recent letter arriving in August, demanding £30.73. Other bills however say Mr Eacock needs to pay £0.00 to the company. Mr Eacock, who suffered a stroke 17 years ago, says he now wants to sue the energy giant for the stress caused. Mr Eacock say he wants compensation from the company for his treatment . 'I hate them. It's been an absolute nightmare. I have never used gas in the property. I have electric heaters and an electric oven,' he said. 'I even got the gas meter disconnected, but still British Gas keep sending me letters.' The company referred demands for money to a debt collection agency, Improved Financial Solutions Ltd, at one point. Mr Eacock, who gets his electricity from Npower, added: 'It is driving me mad. I am a strong-willed person, but it could easily send somebody else over the edge. 'Every time I see a new letter in the post I get really stressed, and often rip them up. I just want it to stop. 'I have had 14 years of hassle, phone calls and sitting in waiting for their visits. I just can't take it any more.' British Gas say Mr Eacock was charged a £25 standing charge from 2013 because he had a meter, even though he was not using any gas, in line with Ofgem rules. Because these bills were unpaid, they were referred to a debt collection agency. They insist he was contacted less than 10 times about this issue. The company did however admit that Mr Eacock should not have received any bills after had his meter removed in April. A spokesman said: 'When Mr Eacock contacted us earlier this year to ask for his meter to be removed, we should have closed his account straight away. 'Customers who do not use gas or electricity and have meter in their can ask for this to be done free of charge so they do not have to pay the standing charge. 'We should have done this immediately, given his circumstances, to resolve the issue. Mr Eacock's account is now closed and will not receive any more letters from us. We have contacted him to apologise and to offer a gesture of goodwill.' The company has finally apologised to Mr Eacock and says it will 'contact him' to say sorry. File photo . | Retired 73-year-old started getting bills after he moved into his home in 2000 .
He has repeatedly contacted British Gas telling them he does not use gas .
When calls, visits and bills continued, he had his gas meter disconnected .
But even that did not stop the firm, who sent bills up until August this year .
Some of the bills inform Mr Eacock he owes £0.00 for the coming year .
He said: 'I'm a strong person, but it could send somebody over the edge'
Energy giant has finally apologised to the pensioner for his treatment .
But they said they now plan to contact him again - just to say sorry . |
18,530 | 34693a20b25e0f55ab59775cb0631d5c0ec103ed | A teenage boy wielding two kitchen knives went on a stabbing rampage at his high school in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, early Wednesday, before being tackled by an assistant principal, authorities said. Twenty students and a security officer at Franklin Regional Senior High School were either stabbed or slashed in the attack, Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck told reporters. The accused attacker was been identified as 16-year-old Alex Hribal, according to a criminal complaint made public. Hribal, who was arraigned as an adult, faces four counts of attempted homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a weapon on school grounds, the documents show. "I'm not sure he knows what he did, quite frankly," Hribal's attorney, Patrick Thomassey, said, adding he would file a motion to move the case to juvenile court. "...We have to make sure that he understands the nature of the charges and what's going on here. It's important that he be examined by a psychiatrist and determined where he is mentally." A doctor who treated six of the victims, primarily teens, said at first they did not know they had been stabbed. "They just felt pain and noticed they were bleeding," Dr. Timothy VanFleet, chief of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told CNN. "Almost all of them said they didn't see anyone coming at them. It apparently was a crowded hallway and they were going about their business, and then just felt pain and started bleeding." Arguing against bail for Hribal, the district attorney told the court that four of the victims were in critical condition, including one who was "eviscerated." There's a question whether the victim will survive, Peck said. Hribal is being held without bail at the Westmoreland County juvenile detention center. Authorities have not detailed a possible motive in the attack, but the district attorney said in court the teen made "statements when subdued by officials that he wanted to die." 'Don't know what I got going down' The carnage began shortly before the start of classes, when an attacker began stabbing students in a crowded hallway and then went from classroom to classroom. Student Matt DeCesare was outside the school when he heard a fire alarm ring and then saw two students come out of the school covered in blood. Then he saw teachers running into the building and pulling "a couple of more students out," he told CNN. The students had been stabbed. To stanch the bleeding, the teachers asked the students for their hoodies. "We all took our hoodies off and handed them to the teachers to use as tourniquets to stop the bleeding," he said. Recordings of emergency calls released in the wake of the attack provide a soundtrack of sorts to the terror and chaos that played out inside the school. "I don't know what I got going down at school here but I need some units here ASAP," one officer can be heard saying. Minutes later in another call, another official, breathlessly, can be heard detailing casualties: "About 14 patients right now." Then another call for help. "Be advised inside the school we have multiple stab victims," one of the officers said. "So bring in EMS from wherever you can get them. 'Saw the kid who was stabbing people' Student Mia Meixner was standing at her locker. "I heard a big commotion like behind my back," she told CNN. "And I turned around and I saw two kids on the ground." She thought a fight had broken out, but then she saw blood. "I saw the kid who was stabbing people get up and run away," she said. Then she saw a girl she knew standing by the cafeteria. "She was gushing blood down her arm." Meixner dropped her books and went to help the girl. Bystanders step up in time of crisis . "I started hearing a stampede of students coming down from the other end of the hall, saying 'Get out, we need to leave, go, there's a kid with a knife.' Then a teacher came over to me and the girl I was trying to help. And she said she would handle the girl and that I should run out. So then I just ran out of the school and tried to get out as soon as possible." Meixner never heard the attacker utter a word. "He was very quiet. He just was kind of doing it," she said. "And he had this, like, look on his face that he was just crazy and he was just running around just stabbing whoever was in his way." She said she didn't know the boy, but he had been in a lot of her classes. "He kept to himself a lot," she said. "He didn't have that many friends that I know of, but I also don't know of him getting bullied that much. I actually never heard of him getting bullied. He just was kind of shy and didn't talk to many people." Hribal's attorney described him as a "nice young man," who has never been in trouble. "He's not a loner. He works well with other kids," he said. "...He's scared. He's a young kid. He's 16, looks like he's 12. I mean, he's a very young kid and he's never been in trouble so this is all new to him." At least a dozen FBI agents could be seen going in and out of Hribal's family home in the hours after the attack. Shortly before the agents arrived at the house, a man believed to be Hribal's father drove up. "My prayers go out to everyone who was injured today, and I hope they recover as soon as possible," he told reporters. Hribal's attorney said the family was upset by the allegations. "They did not foresee this at all," he said. Stabbing shatters peace in quiet, upscale community . Tackled by an assistant principal . Assistant Principal Sam King is being credited with bringing to an end the 5-minute rampage that authorities say began about 7:15 a.m. ET. King tackled the teen, Peck told reporters. A school resource officer was able to handcuff the suspect, Police Chief Thomas Seefeld said. Assistant principal called 'great man' The accused teen was being treated for injuries to his hands, the chief said. Police Officer William "Buzz" Yakshe, who also serves as a resource officer at the school, helped subdue the suspect, said Dan Stevens, the county deputy emergency management coordinator. Yakshe is "doing fine," Stevens said. "He's more upset than anything else over what happened, because these are his kids." A fire alarm that was pulled during the attack probably helped get more people out of the school during an evacuation order, Seefeld said. Students were running everywhere and there was "chaos and panic." At one point, a female student applied pressure to the wounds of one of the male victims, possibly helping to save his life, said Dr. Mark Rubino, chief medical officer at Forbes Regional Hospital in nearby Monroeville, Pennsylvania, where seven teens were taken for treatment. The students who were hurt range in age from 14 to 17, Stevens said. The injuries were stabbing-related, such as lacerations or punctures, he said. 'It doesn't happen here' The attack in Murrysville is the latest in a string of school violence that has occurred across the nation. But mass stabbings, such as the one at the high school, are rare. The attack has rattled the town, a residential enclave with a population of about 20,000. A message on the Franklin Regional School District's website said all of its elementary schools were closed after the incident, and "the middle school and high school students are secure." Franklin Regional Senior High will be closed "over the next several days," district school Superintendent Gennaro Piraino said. The district's middle school and elementary schools will be open Thursday, and counseling will be available for the whole district, he said. Information on what led to the stabbings and the conditions of the injured are still unfolding. Bill Rehkopf, a KDKA radio host and Franklin Regional High School graduate, called the stabbing shocking. He said he kept thinking, "It doesn't happen here, it can't happen here." | The DA says 4 people are in critical condition, including one who was "eviscerated"
Alex Hribal, 16, faces 4 counts of attempted homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault .
Teachers use students' hoodies as tourniquets on injured teens, student says .
An assistant principal tackled the accused attacker, authorities say . |
41,065 | 73d4bfd99a04996c3ea0f51eab278f5c53bbd628 | Miracle baby: Anna Binks with her long-awaited daughter Esme . This is the miracle baby - born after ten years and ten fertility treatments. Esme Binks was born five months ago after a lengthy battle which cost her mother Anna a staggering £35,000. Anna, 34, has undergone ten tries at IVF treatment in the last decade - but says it has finally been worth it to have her miracle daughter. Anna, who works for Macmillan cancer support, and lives in Hull with husband Phil, 40, a fireman, said: ‘It has been an incredible emotional battle to have Esme and there were plenty of times when I thought I would never be a mum. ‘She has cost a lot of money, but she has been worth every penny. She’s our miracle daughter.’ Anna’s battle began back in 2002, when she began trying for a baby with her former partner. She said: ‘He had some fertility problems and then I also found out that I had blocked fallopian tubes too, so I knew that we needed to have treatment.’ Anna had a first IVF attempt at a fertility clinic in Hull, but it didn’t work. She then underwent a course of artificial insemination, but again that did not work. She said: ‘I had been so hopeful the first time that it would work, and when it didn’t, it was devastating. Then when the second attempt failed too, it was heartbreaking. But I was determined to carry on. I wanted to have a baby more than anything in the world.’ Happy family: Anna and Phil Binks are thrilled to have Esme in their lives . Emotional: Esme was born ten years after Anna first started trying for a baby . She then had a further five attempts from November 2005 until April 2007. But she failed to fall pregnant. She said: ‘The doctors couldn’t understand what was going wrong. My embryos were always top quality yet nothing was happening. They eventually advised me to consider adoption as they didn’t think it was going to happen for me.’ Anna then went to CARE Fertility in Nottingham for help. She had another course of fertility treatment - her eighth - but it also failed. She said: ‘They had given me hope and told me not to give up, but it was still devastating to fail again. I’d had eight fertility treatments by now, and nothing. I thought I would never be a mum, but something inside me wouldn’t give up. Pretty in pink: Esme was born at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospital in January . 'I tried everything - supplements, acupuncture, and I read somewhere that wearing orange knickers encouraged fertility so I did that too. I was so desperate to try anything that may help.’ She had her ninth course of fertility treatment in July 2008 and fell pregnant, but devastatingly she miscarried the baby at 11 weeks. She said: ‘That was the lowest point. After all these years of trying, I had finally fallen pregnant, only to lose my baby. It was heartbreaking.’ Anna split with her partner and met her husband Phil 12 months later. They married in June 2011 and decided to have one last try at IVF. She had funded her previous attempts by selling her house and taking out loans. Dedication: Anna said that she funded her fertility attempts by selling her house and taking out loans . She said: ‘It was going to be my last attempt. We’d had some money for our wedding, so we decided to use that. I’d been trying for so long and had been through so many treatments. If this didn’t work, I had to finally accept that my battle was over and I was never going to be a mum.’ In April last year Anna had her tenth course of treatment at CARE Fertility, and two weeks later she discovered she was pregnant. She said: ‘I was thrilled, but I was worried in case I lost this baby too. All the way through the pregnancy right up until I gave birth, I was still petrified that I was going to lose her.’ Esme arrived into the world at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospital in January weighing a healthy 7Ib11. She said: ‘It was the most amazing moment of my life when she was born and I held her in my arms for the first time. After ten years, ten fertility treatments and £35,000 I finally had my miracle daughter. Lucky: 'I would love to try for a brother or sister for Esme,' Anna said, 'but I would definitely have to win the lottery first!' ‘I just couldn’t stop crying, I couldn’t believe she was finally here. Phil was really emotional too.’Esme is now five months old and has a healthy appetite and loves a hearty sunday dinner. Anna added: ‘She is absolutely perfect and every day I look at her and think how lucky I am. I would love to try for a brother or sister for Esme, but I would definitely have to win the lottery first!’ Dr Phillip Lowe, from CARE Fertility, said: 'I see many couples with complex fertility problems – but Anna and Phil have the biggest set of case notes I’ve ever seen! It is extremely unusual to wait ten years to become pregnant. We were absolutely delighted to hear that Esme had arrived safe and sound after all this time.' | Anna Binks waited ten years to fall pregnant after ten fertility treatments .
Process cost her £35,000 and involved selling her house and taking loans .
Finally her daughter Esme was born in January this year . |
233,816 | bab65b9186fa75212f02aae7cc5659a9b7b2551a | By . Freya Noble . A group of lucky surfers had a very close encounter with a large whale on Sydney's northern beaches on Sunday. However they were warned to steer clear of the southern right whale as they were spotted just metres from the huge marine mammal at Freshwater beach. Footage from the Nine News helicopter showed the group surrounding the creature as it slowly swam and splashed near the surface. Scroll down for video . Stay back: Surfers were warned over the loudspeakers at Freshwater Beach on Sydney's norther beaches to keep their distance from the southern right whale on Sunday . One surfer can be seen trying to make a quick escape when the whale made a sharp turn towards it, while others hung back and watched the whale from a distance. The southern right looked to be in a playful mood, rolling around in the water and flicking its tail. According to government guidelines swimmers should not be closer than 30 metres to a whale, while surfers and boats are required to keep a distance of at least 100 metres. The southern right whales are often spotted along the NSW coastline at this time of year . Freshwater resident Ian Hansen told Fairfax he first noticed the whale because it was surrounded by surfers. 'To be honest they were harassing it a bit. They were so close and it had no room to move... If I was the fish I'd be harassed too. It'd move a bit and they'd back off,' he said. The surfers were reportedly told to increase their distance from the whale over the loudspeakers at Freshwater Surf Lifesaving Club. Surfers are supposed to stay 100m away from whales, as are boats, while swimmers are meant to keep a distance of 30m . The club president Wayne Frankly also spoke to the publication, and told them he was worried people were so close as a surfer was hospitalised last year after a run in with the same breed of whale at Bondi. 'The whale was within the confines of our beach, just having a sticky beak and some riders went out to have a look,' Mr Freakly said. Southern right whales usually measure between 14 and 18 metres long and can weigh up to 80 tonnes. They are often found in shallow water, are known to have encounters with surfers and are spotted on the NSW coastline at this time of year during migration. Southern right whales can measure up to 16 metres and weigh up to 80 tonnes . | Footage shows a group of surfers surrounding the southern right whale .
The pack were warned to stay back from the creature at Freshwater Beach .
Last year a surfer was injured by the same species of whale at Bondi . |
221,736 | ab09debc66237e67f3cccdc58ce51bb4a699f648 | By . Sarah Griffiths . Soil has been frozen to the bottom of the Greenland Ice Sheet for 2.7 million years, a study reveals. A piece of the GISP ice core is pictured . Scientists have discovered an ancient 'green' tundra landscape preserved below approximately two miles (3.2km) of ice. The evidence suggests that the Greenland Ice Sheet has existed much longer than previously thought and has survived a number of periods of global warming. ‘We found organic soil that has been frozen to the bottom of the ice sheet for 2.7 million years,’ said University of Vermont geologist Paul Bierman. Scientists are particularly interested in Greenland’s ice sheet as it is the second largest in the world. Its future stability could have an enormous impact on how fast and high global sea levels rise from climate change. The sheet's 656,000 square miles (1,055,000km) of ice could raise the global sea levels 23ft (7 metres) if they were to melt. Dylan Rood a co-author on the study from the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre and the University of California, Santa Barbara, said: ‘The ancient soil under the Greenland ice sheet helps to unravel an important mystery surrounding climate change.' The discovery suggests that even during the warmest periods since the vast ice sheet formed, the centre of Greenland remained stable. Dr Bierman said: ‘It’s likely that it did not fully melt at any time, which allowed the tundra landscape to be locked away under the ice for millions of years. Surprise! Scientists were stunned to discover an ancient tundra landscape frozen under two miles of ice in Greenland (pictured). It has been there for three million years and could lead scientists to reconsider how stable Greenland's ice is . The Greenland Ice Sheet is a vast body of ice covering 656,000 square miles (1,055,000km) of Greenland - approximately 80 per cent of the country's surface. It is the second largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic Ice Sheet and is around the same size as Alaska. The thickness of the ice is usually more than one mile (2km). Some climate scientists argue that the ice is nearing a 'tipping point' where it could all melt in the next 2,000 years. If the entire 684,000 cubic miles (2,850,000 cubic km) of ice did melt, it would lead to a rise in global sea levels of 23ft (7metres). The new study suggests that the Greenland Ice Sheet has been around much longer than previously thought and that it was covered in green tundra around three millions years ago. It is based on the examination of an ice core called GISP 2, which was taken in 1993. University of Vermont graduate student Lee Corbett, explained: ‘The traditional knowledge about glaciers is that they are very powerful agents of erosion and can effectively strip a landscape clean. '[Instead] we demonstrate that the Greenland Ice Sheet is not acting as an agent of erosion; in fact, at its centre, it has performed incredibly little erosion since its inception almost three million years ago.’ Dr Bierman described the ice sheet as a refrigerator that has preserved the landscape. The scientists found the tundra by taking a fresh look at 17 ‘dirty ice’ samples from the deepest 40ft of the 10,019ft GISP2 ice core extracted in 1993. They extracted a rare form of the element beryllium - an isotope called beryllium-10 – which was formed by cosmic rays and trapped in the soil and rock. The longer soil is exposed at Earth’s surface, the more beryllium-10 it accumulates and measuring how much is soil or rock allows geologists to date the material. Scientists are concerned about ice from the Greenland Ice Sheet melting because it could raise global sea levels significantly. These images show the extent of surface melt in July 2012 (from left to right) The researchers expected to only find soil from eroded rocks, but instead discovered the silt had very high concentrations of the isotope, which they measured on a particle accelerator at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Joseph Graly who analysed the beryllium data, said: ‘On a global basis, we only find these sorts of beryllium concentrations in soils that have developed over hundreds of thousands to millions of years.’ The research shows that the soil has been stable and exposed at the surface for somewhere between 200,000 and one million years before it was covered with ice. The team also measured nitrogen and carbon that could have been left by plant material in the core sample. The fact that measurable amounts of organic material were found in the silty ice suggests that the pre-glacial landscape may have been partially forested tundra. Dr Rood said: ‘Greenland really was green! However, it was millions of years ago. ‘Greenland looked like the green Alaskan tundra, before it was covered by the second largest body of ice on Earth.’ | University of Vermont researchers analysed soil to prove the presence of an ancient tundra two miles (3.2km) below the Greenland Ice Sheet .
Greenland looked like the green Alaskan tundra, before it was covered by the second largest body of ice on Earth, the experts said .
Evidence suggests the sheet is older - and more stable - than thought and has survived a number of periods of global warming .
The future stability of the ice sheet could have a huge impact on sea levels .
Scientists found the landscape by taking .
a look at 17 ‘dirty ice’ samples from the GISP2 ice core extracted from Summit, Greenland in 1993 .
Back to Mail Online home .
Back to the page you came from . |
44,636 | 7dcede101b047ebdeda03fea74a629d64c6a54b0 | ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- With at least five people dead and massive expanses of land and roads under water, Georgia's governor declared a state of emergency Monday in the 17 counties hardest hit by flooding from severe weather. Atlanta firefighter Stephen Webb carries a dog to safety Monday at the Peachtree Park Apartments. Gov. Sonny Perdue's announcement followed three deaths in north Georgia's Douglas County, one death in Gwinnett County and another in Carroll County, where a 2-year-old child was ripped from her father's arms by fierce floodwaters while he struggled to hold on to bushes, officials said. Those counties, near Atlanta, were among the 17 included in the state-of-emergency declaration . About 100 miles north of Atlanta, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, one person was swept into rushing water and is presumed drowned, said Jeremy Heidt, a spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency in Nashville. Three missing children in Douglas County, west of Atlanta, were found, but their mother was one of the flood's fatalities, said Dena Brummer, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. "We're in rescue-and-recovery mode," said Wes Tallon, spokesman for fire and emergency management services in Douglas County. "It has not stopped raining, and another line of thunderstorms is coming." Watch flooding one CNN.com staffer recorded » . Until just a few months ago, the area was gripped by drought. Watch what caused the torrential rain » . Several storms moving northeast from the Gulf of Mexico brought the downpours, which forecasters expected to continue through Monday night. Rains were expected to taper off by Tuesday morning but scattered showers were expected for the next couple of days. Just west of Atlanta, some areas have received about 22 inches of rain since last week, CNN meteorologists reported. About 12 of those inches fell in a 12-hour period from Sunday night to Monday morning. After Georgia creeks and rivers burst, swollen by days of rain, residents struggled to escape. In Cobb County's Austell, two rescuers paddled their way through rising flood waters searching for stranded victims, video from CNN affiliate WXIA showed. The pair on the inflatable, yellow raft ushered a stranded woman to a section of black-tarred street that was not under water. Nearby, three men pushed their valuables in a kayak as they waded through the shoulder-high muddy waters. Another two men floated on what looked like air mattresses linked together by rope. Watch men float on inflatable mattresses » . Near Marietta northwest of Atlanta, a flooded bridge blocked the only road out of a residential area surrounded by a national park and the Chattahoochee River. Two buses picked up elementary school children Monday morning, but flooding prevented them from picking up older students later, and the buses couldn't return with the first batch in the afternoon, said iReporter Pritam Jaipuriar, who lives there. See Pritam Jaipuriar's iReport . Some elementary students used a walking trail -- the only other path out of the area -- to return home. Some parents arranged for friends beyond the bridge to pick their children up from school and keep them for the day. "My first-grader son is staying with a friend of mine," said Jaipuriar, who was unable to go to work Monday. Some ground-level apartments in the area were flooded, but his unit was fine, he said. Unable to drive for supplies, some residents walked the path to a store a few miles away and returned with bags of groceries, said iReporter Jeff Cofer, who also lives there. See Jeff Cofer's iReport . Near northwest Atlanta's Vinings area, floodwaters encroached upon multimillion-dollar houses. Rescue personnel rode in boats over flooded streets Monday night, going home to home to pick up residents and take them away. Water levels were high enough at one home that the people there stood on a roof to await rescuers, a fire and rescue official said. On Monday morning, a couple inches of water had entered the Villa Rica, Georgia, home of iReporter Walid Zeid, damaging suitcases and other things that were on the floor. Water from a flooded lake lifted his boat to the roof of his boathouse, crushing the boat's canopy, Zeid's iReport video showed. Zeid, a flight attendant, was supposed to be on an international flight Monday, but flooding prevented him and his family from leaving home, which is in Carroll County. See Walid Zeid's iReport . "You can't go anywhere. The roads are washed up," he said. The flooding from torrential rains drenching the metropolitan Atlanta area "has to rank as one of the worst," Matt Sena of the Peachtree City, Georgia, National Weather Service told CNN. Watch home's yard become a lake » . Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport in five days has received about 4.5 inches more rain than it usually would in all of September, he said. iReport.com: Floodwaters seep into Carroll County home . "Hundreds of roads have been closed" in the Atlanta area, Brummer said, adding that Carroll, Douglas and Paulding counties "have been impacted the most." Watch I-75/85 under water » . Two of the Georgia fatalities involved people trying to drive through floodwater. A vehicle with one man in it was swept off a road in Douglas County, and a car carrying a woman was swept off a road in Lawrenceville in Gwinnett County, east of Atlanta, Brummer said. Seydi Burciaga, 39, was driving to her Lawrenceville home from work when flash flooding trapped her in her vehicle, Gwinnett County police said. She called 911 and police tried to locate her, but Burciaga could not tell them exactly where she was. Floodwater moved her car about 500 feet after she was swept off the roadway, and her attempts to guide rescuers to her by mentioning landmarks were unsuccessful, police said. By the time rescuers found her minivan, she was dead, police said. In Tennessee, the presumed drowning victim was forced into a culvert, or underground storm water drain, about 6 p.m. Sunday, Chattanooga Fire Department spokesman Bruce Garner told CNN. Sylvester Kitchens Jr., 46, was with a friend, Albert Miller, when the two decided to swim in a large, flooded ditch, Garner said. He said a Miller family member told him that "basically it was a bet." Both managed to grab onto a chain link fence while being buffeted by the strong current, Garner said. A neighbor threw a garden hose for them to grab onto, and Kitchens reached for it but was unable to hold on. Miller clung to the fence for about 20 minutes and was eventually rescued by firefighters, Garner said. Kitchens' body has not been found, said Garner, who added that it "doesn't appear he could've survived." CNN's Mallory Simon, Nicole Saidi and Jason Hanna contributed to this report. | Georgia's governor declares emergency in 17 counties .
Girl who was swept from father's arms is among five killed in Georgia .
Person in Tennessee swept into rushing water, presumed drowned, official says .
Hundreds of roads closed, official says; more rain expected before finally ending . |
276,545 | f24780178960086337daddfd13d2deff6930f963 | BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Coalition forces in Baghdad have killed the man believed to be the mastermind of recent bombings in the Iraqi capital, the U.S. military said. Mahir Ahmad Mahmud Judu al-Zubaydi, also known as Abu Rami and Abu Assad, was believed to be the leader of one of al Qaeda in Iraq's Baghdad networks, the military said in a statement issued Friday. The military said intelligence reports led coalition forces to a building in Baghdad's Adhamiya neighborhood Friday. They surrounded the building and called on the occupants to surrender but were engaged by small arms fire, the military said. The forces returned fire and killed two people, Abu Rami and a female, the military said. "Sadly, here again is a case where [al Qaeda in Iraq] has put innocent lives in danger in order to protect themselves and shield their terrorist efforts," said Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, a spokesman for the Multi-National Force in Iraq. Coalition forces had evacuated several children from the building before they detonated ordnance inside, the military said. The house caught fire, the military said, and the local fire department was called in for assistance. The U.S. military blames Abu Rami for masterminding numerous car bombings, including an October 2 suicide car bombing that killed eight people and wounded more than 30. The attack happened outside a Shiite mosque in Baghdad just as worshippers left early-morning prayers marking the end of Ramadan. Among the victims of that attack were several Iraqi soldiers who were part of an army patrol providing security for worshippers, Iraqi and U.S. officials said. Abu Rami was also responsible for numerous car bombings and mortar attacks in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood in 2006 and 2007, including a car bombing in November 2006 that killed more than 200 people, the military said. That attack, which targeted Shiites, was one of the worst attacks in Iraq since the war began in 2003. Abu Rami was also believed to be a planner and participant in kidnappings and videotaped executions, the military said. A video from June 2006 shows Abu Rami shooting one of four Russian diplomats. The diplomats were taken hostage weeks before an al Qaeda-linked group said it had beheaded three of them and shot the fourth to death. Abu Rami also is said to have ordered and directed a car bombing May 1 that killed eight Iraqis and a U.S. soldier, the military said. Abu Rami was originally a member of the terrorist group Ansar al-Islam and joined al Qaeda in Iraq in 2004, the military said. He became the military "emir" of Baghdad's Rusafa district last year before taking over all terrorist operations there, the military said. Meanwhile Saturday, Poland ended its military presence in Iraq with a ceremony for its approximately 900 troops at Camp Echo in Qadasiyah Province. "We can say the goals of the mission have been largely accomplished. Over the past five years, we have fulfilled our commitment," Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich said, according to a news release issued by coalition forces. The Polish army commanded Multi-National Division - Center South, which operated throughout Qadasiyah Province. Polish forces completed 10 rotations in Iraq, which ended October 1, and commanded 10 national contingents, including Armenia, Latvia, Mongolia, Romania, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina. "You came not to conquer but to liberate. You sought not personal gain but liberty, and you build not an empire but a sovereign nation. You created hope where terror reigned, and you have made history," said Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of Multi-National Force - Iraq. The operating area was transferred to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Also Saturday, Deputy U.S. Secretary of State John Negroponte met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani at his residence in northern Iraq, about 100 kilometers west of Kirkuk. The meeting focused on the "strategic framework" between Iraq and the United States to safeguard the Iraq's independence, Talabani said in a statement Saturday. "During the meeting everyone discussed the political, economic and security issues and both sides addressed the most important developments related to the political process, national reconciliation and the aimed efforts to the success of this process from all aspects and at all levels," Talabani said. Earlier, Negroponte met with Arab representatives in Kirkuk to discuss a Kurdish-Arab dispute over the city's ethnic tensions. The Kurds want to incorporate oil-rich Kirkuk into their semiautonomous region. His visit comes at a time of growing tensions between the central government of Nuri al-Maliki and the Kurdistan Regional Government in the country's autonomous northern region. In August, Iraqi forces entered Khanaqin, a territory disputed between Arabs and Kurds that is secured by the Kurdish peshmerga forces. The crisis was resolved on a political level, but tensions remain high in the area and relations between the Shiite-dominated government and the KRG remain strained. Like Khanaqin, Kirkuk is disputed territory. Legislators overcame an impasse over a key provincial elections law last month by setting the problem of Kirkuk aside and deciding to exclude the province from a vote expected early next year. | Poland ends military presence in Iraq with ceremony Saturday .
U.S. diplomats meet with local officials to discuss Kirkuk sovereignty .
U.S. military: Man suspected in series of Iraqi bombings killed by coalition forces .
Troops acting in self-defense shot Abu Rami and woman, according to military . |
202,659 | 92623c5d3ee912608f3c176fa3ae1b49a746b25e | Ukrainian acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said Wednesday that the separatist protests in Ukraine's eastern region would be resolved within 48 hours -- either through negotiations or the use of force. At the same time, Russia insisted that the presence of its troops just over the border was no reason to worry. The United States and others have accused Russia of fomenting the separatist unrest as a pretext for military intervention. Using classified and commercial satellite imagery, the United States estimates there are up to 40,000 Russian troops on the border with eastern Ukraine. NATO has also warned of a major troop buildup. The U.S. ambassador in Kiev, Geoffrey Pyatt, posted photos via Twitter on Wednesday to illustrate the U.S. estimates. The photos depict what is supposedly a field outside the Russian city of Rostov -- empty in October, filled with troops and armored vehicles on April 2. A U.S. official with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN those photos "are consistent" with classified imagery. Washington is sharing some information with the Ukrainians, but not highly classified intelligence, the official said. Ukraine was aligned with Moscow until a month ago, and it is believed Ukraine's security services are still penetrated by the Russians, the official said. But Russia's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Ukraine and the United States have "no reason for concern" about the presence of Russian forces, which it says are on military exercises. "Russia has repeatedly stated that it does not conduct unusual or unplanned activities which are militarily significant on its territory near the border with Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry said in a prepared statement. It added that accusations that Russia was building up its armed forces were "groundless." Asked if he considered the threat of a Russian advance into Ukraine more likely now than last week, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told CNN's Jim Sciutto, "We are always vigilant. We are always looking at the options that we need to take." Hagel said Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe, has been asked to develop "new and additional measures and options." Meanwhile, the separatist protests in eastern Ukraine have entered their fourth day. Pro-Russian protesters seized government buildings in the cities of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv on Sunday. Rebels who occupied Donetsk's regional government building a day later -- declaring a "people's republic" and calling for a referendum on secession from Ukraine to be held by May 11 -- remained in control of the building Wednesday, holed up behind substantial makeshift barricades. In Kharkiv, more than 70 people were detained Tuesday in what Ukrainian authorities said was an anti-terrorism operation, as security forces cleared a government building of protesters. The 48-hour deadline set by Avakov to end the crisis may escalate the tensions in Ukraine's eastern region. "There are two opposite ways for resolving this conflict -- a political dialogue and the heavy-handed approach. We are ready for both," he said, according to official news agency Ukrinform. On Tuesday, Moscow warned that any use of force to crack down on protests in the region, which borders Russia, could lead to civil war and called for "the immediate cessation of any military preparations." Opinion: Turning Crimea into 'Putinland'? Hostage reports . There were conflicting reports late Tuesday over whether demonstrators who seized control of a Security Service of Ukraine building in Luhansk took hostages. An anti-terrorism unit outside the building said the pro-Russian demonstrators were holding hostages, Victoria Syumar, a Security Service spokeswoman, and Yarema Duh, spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council, told CNN. Fifty-one people were released from the building early Wednesday morning, the Security Service said in a statement. But pro-Russian demonstrators holed up in the building denied having taken anyone hostage, according to Reuters reports. Ukrainian interim President Oleksandr Turchynov reiterated Tuesday that he would treat pro-Russian separatists who have seized buildings in the country's east as "terrorists" who will be prosecuted with the full force of the law. His remarks came ahead of a vote in parliament that approved legislation outlawing groups and individuals who call for separatism. Of the 450 members of the Ukrainian parliament, 230 voted in favor of the bill. Kerry: 'Contrived pretext' for intervention . U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the situation in eastern Ukraine twice on the phone Wednesday with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The two officials talked about "the importance of resolving the security situation in key cities in eastern Ukraine peacefully and through dialogue, and they both rejected the use of force to obtain political objectives," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. Kerry said Tuesday that Russian forces and special agents were behind what he called the most-recent "chaos" in eastern Ukraine. He described the developments as "more than deeply disturbing" and said they amounted to what could be a "contrived pretext for military intervention just as we saw in Crimea." Echoing that view, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told CNN's "Amanpour" show that Russia is financing subversion in eastern Ukraine using the pretext of ethnic tensions. "What's happening in Ukraine is unacceptable," he said. "A more powerful nation is first taking a province away from a less powerful country and now financing subversion using the pretext of ethnic problems, which are nonexistent." Kerry will meet Monday with his Russian, Ukrainian and European Union counterparts to discuss efforts to de-escalate the crisis, according to a statement from EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. Ashton "calls against any further destabilization of Ukraine, whether from the inside or the outside," the statement said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told her country's parliament Wednesday that "the situation in the Ukraine remains difficult ... and unfortunately in many places it is not clear how Russia helps the de-escalation of the situation. "Therefore we will continue to do what we've been doing: on the one hand pursue a path of dialogue, but on the other hand make clear that in our view Ukraine has a right to its own development. We demand this. Ukraine must decide its own destiny, and in this we will help Ukraine." Kerry warned of increased sanctions targeting Russia's banking, energy, mining and arms sectors if the Russians "cross over" into eastern Ukraine. Current sanctions target individuals over Russia's annexation of Ukraine's southeastern Crimean Peninsula last month. U.S. Navy ship headed for Black Sea . Similar pattern seen in revolts . U.S. officials told CNN on Tuesday that one reason the United States believes Russia may have orchestrated the pro-Russian demonstrations in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv is that the disturbances and violence had a similar pattern and similar separatist motivations, even though the cities are at significant distances from one another. U.S. officials have long noted that these three cities are specific areas that Moscow has been trying to influence. Although Ukrainian forces have been able to regain control for now, the U.S. assessment is that Russia may be trying to fabricate a pretext for military action using some of the tens of thousands of troops still massed on the border, several U.S. officials told CNN. Even after weeks of tension and uncertainty, the United States does not know what political calculation Russian President Vladimir Putin might make in deciding whether or not to move his troops into Ukraine, officials said. The belief is the decision will be made by Putin with little or no influence from his top military and foreign policy advisers. There is also a U.S. view that Putin may leave the troops on the border for some time to come to intimidate Ukraine's government, American officials said. Those troops remain positioned so close, and are so heavily armed, that the United States and NATO calculate they could "roll across" eastern Ukraine in three to five days, one official said. Russia has said it does not intend to invade eastern Ukraine, although it says it reserves the right to intervene to protect ethnic Russians. | Kerry and Lavrov discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine in two phone conversations .
U.S. ambassador tweets pictures he says show Russian buildup .
"We are always vigilant," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says of Russia's moves .
Ukraine's acting interior minister says unrest in eastern region will be resolved in 48 hours . |
93,859 | 04b06472cb3294ea35f60adf134827388682e3dd | E! News host Giuliana Rancic has helped a two-time cancer survivor to chop off 45 inches of her hair while live on air during Wednesday’s episode of The Rachael Ray Show. Giuliana, who was herself diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, was given the honor of making the first snip from 59-year-old Charley’s hair, before calling on a team of stylists to help her transform the previously lengthy locks into a chic bob. Charley’s decision to cut her hair, which previously extended all the way down to her thighs, was especially emotional, as she has spent the last nine years growing her hair back after losing it all while undergoing chemotherapy treatment in 2005. Scroll down for video . New look: Charley, a two-time cancer survivor, was given a dramatic haircut by fellow cancer survivor Giuliana Rancic on The Rachael Ray Show . Shear genius: Ms Rancic made the first cut, chopping off a whopping 45 inches of hair . Charley said that the loss was 'devastating' because she'd always taken pride in her lengthy locks. 'People know me by my long hair; it's a trademark,' she explained. 'I couldn't face the world without my hair. My crowning glory was gone; my self-esteem was gone; my confidence was gone. I lost more than just my hair when I lost my hair.' Charley's first bout with the disease came at age 23, when she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. The long and short of it: The 59-year-old hadn't had a haircut in nearly a decade . Although she didn't lose her hair during that treatment, it led to a life-changing meeting with a young girl in a children's cancer ward, who said her greatest wish was to have long hair like Charley's. 'They could've shaved my head in that moment and I would've handed her my hair,' she recalled of the heartbreaking moment. From then on, Charley donated her her hair to children with cancer every few years up until her second diagnosis nine years ago. Mirror, mirror: Charley was stunned when she saw her stylish new look for the first time . Youthful look: 'This is reminiscent of my thirties,' Charley told Ms Ray and Ms Rancic of the new hairdo . Charley told Ms Rancic, who underwent a double mastectomy after her diagnosis, that she was ready for her first haircut in nearly a decade. The 40-year-old TV personality chopped off Charley's ponytail, announcing that a team of professional stylists from New York City's Cutler Salon was waiting backstage to finish the job. When it was time for the big reveal, Charley stepped out in a sleek, modern bob, gasping as she saw her stunning reflection in an oversize mirror. 'This is reminiscent of my thirties, and I'd like to go back there,' she said. | Ms Rancic, a fellow breast cancer survivor,made the first snip before handing over the scissors to a team of stylists . |
60,979 | ad3d2759c24ec0174e7d7883660ecb0606ce96f8 | (CNN) -- For classic rocker Tom Petty the waiting is the hardest part after five guitars were stolen from a soundstage where the Heartbreakers were rehearsing for their upcoming U.S. tour. A $7,500 reward is being offered for the return of the guitars, including a vintage 1967 Rickenbacker, a 1967 Epiphone and a 1965 Gibson. "Sometimes people make mistakes, but we'd like these back," Petty said on his Twitter account Friday. "no questions asked." Police in Culver City, California, are investigating the theft. Both as a solo artist and leader of the Heartbreakers, Petty is one of America's top recording artists, selling more than 57 million albums, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Among his hits are "Refugee," "American Girl," "Free Fallin'" and "The Waiting." The band's tour is set to start Wednesday in Colorado. CNN's Denise Quan contributed to this report. | Police are investigating the theft of five guitars .
Three of them were vintage guitars from the 1960s .
The band's tour begins this week .
Tom Petty was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 . |
103,757 | 11d738bf7ba048ac6c6ded064be98e1df54d09b0 | Circumcision before the age of five can double a boy's risk of developing autism, controversial research suggests. Scientists believe the finding may be linked to stress caused by the pain of the procedure. The study of more than 340,000 boys in Denmark found that circumcision raised the overall chances of an autism spectrum disorder before the age of 10 by 46 per cent. But if circumcision took place before the age of five it doubled the risk. Circumcision also appeared to increase the likelihood of boys from non-Muslim families developing hyperactivity disorder. Regardless of cultural background, circumcised boys may run a greater risk of developing autism and ADHD, a study has claimed . The research, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, examined more than 340,000 boys born in Denmark between 1994 and 2003. At the age of nine, their health was tracked - and almost 5,000 cases of ASD were diagnosed. Professor Morten Frisch of the Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, who led the research, said: 'Our investigation was prompted by the combination of recent animal findings linking a single painful injury to lifelong deficits in stress response...and a study showing a strong, positive correlation between a country's neonatal male circumcision rate and its prevalence of ASD in boys. He added: 'Today it is considered unacceptable practice to circumcise boys without proper pain relief. 'But none of the most common interventions used to reduce circumcision pain completely eliminates it and some boys will endure strongly painful circumcisions.' The study goes on to discuss how painful experiences in babies have been shown - both in animal and human studies - to have a long-term effect on pain perception. This is a characteristic often encountered among children with autism, they add. There is clear scientific evidence that the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks, a landmark report has declared. A debate has long raged over the ethics of the procedure - and some men believe it has affected their sexual function or satisfaction. But U.S. officials have now said the medical evidence supports having the procedure. The announcement came in new long-awaited draft guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is the first time the U.S. Government has released such a report on circumcision, where the foreskin around the tip of the penis is cut away. While the guidelines stop short of telling parents to get their newborn sons circumcised, they are very clear on the health advantages. Professor Frisch said: 'Given the widespread practice of circumcision in infancy and childhood around the world, our findings should prompt other researchers to examine the possibility that circumcision trauma in infancy or early childhood might carry an increased risk of serious neurodevelopmental and psychological consequences. However experts have urged caution over the findings. Professor Jeremy Turk, Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at Southwark Child & Adolescent Mental Health Neurodevelopmental Service, said: 'The findings of this research, while interesting, need to be considered carefully - one cannot draw very strong conclusions from the data. 'This is not a causal study, but instead compares data sets and looks for correlations. 'While this is a valid way of doing a study, it means that we must be careful about any implications. 'For example, many cases of autism are missed until children are older and as there are relatively few cases of autism this could easily skew the data. 'Furthermore, there are many potentially confounding variables which could explain raised ASD rates, which the authors do not explore or account for. 'Finally, I have some issues with the premise in that their speculations regarding early pain as a cause of autism are, to say the least, highly speculative. And Dr Rosa Hoekstra, lecturer in psychology at the Open University, said: 'I think this is an extremely speculative study. 'The study is purely based on register data and takes a registered autism diagnosis at face value, without considering cultural or social factors affecting the likelihood of an (early) autism diagnosis. The researchers suggest the pain caused by circumcision may be partly to blame, in turn affecting how the brain develops and reacts to stress . 'Even in a high income country like Denmark not all children with autism are detected and given a suitable autism diagnosis at an early age (the age under study in this paper). She added: 'An entirely different but in my view much more plausible explanation is as follows: Boys with symptoms of autism who undergo circumcision by a medical professional may have their symptoms recognised as autism more often, and at an earlier age, than boys who are not circumcised and who may therefore fly under the radar of medical professionals. 'In other words: the detection rate of autism (rather than the risk of autism per se) may be higher in boys seeing a medical professional for circumcision. Professor David Katz, from University College London, who chairs Milah UK, a body that speaks for the Jewish community on issues related to circumcision, said: 'This report is far from convincing: correlation does not equal causation. 'There is a long history of attempts to link autistic spectrum disorders to unrelated practices, such as the measles/mumps/rubella association, which proved to be fraudulent. He added: 'There is general agreement that in people suffering from an ASD there are abnormalities that can be identified in brain structure and/or function. 'There is a strong genetic component, which may be a factor within the faith communities studied here, and which does not appear to have been explored amongst them. 'Some contemporary research does indicate that factors besides the genetic component are contributing to the increasing occurrence of ASD. 'For example, a variety of environmental toxins have been invoked to explain why these conditions are more prevalent today than they may have been in the past - but again proof of causation is lacking, and these factors are only likely to be relevant in those who are already vulnerable to them.' Applied statistician Professor Kevin McConway, from the Open University, said: 'This study raises an interesting question, but one that cannot be fully answered with these data.' | The findings hold regardless of cultural background, say researchers .
They suggest the pain caused by circumcision may be partly to blame .
This may in turn affect how the brain develops and reacts to stress .
Study looked at 340,000 boys born in Denmark between 1994 and 2003 .
But experts have urged caution over the 'extremely speculative findings' |
135,096 | 3ac2e972fcbe1e29a30f393250fd985c1f3aa8cc | An international operation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement aimed at child pornography and sexual abuse has resulted in the arrest of 245 suspects, officials announced Thursday. All but 23 of the suspects were apprehended in the United States. The agency said that during the course of Operation Sunflower, law enforcement officers identified 123 victims of child exploitation and removed 44 of those children from their alleged abusers with whom they were living. The other cases involved victims who were exploited by people outside their homes or children who were harmed years ago and are now adults. Several of the children were shockingly young. Five were under age 3. Nine were between the ages of 4 and 6. Of the 123 victims, 110 lived in the United States in 19 different states. ICE officials did not identify the six other countries where victims were identified or where some of the arrests were made, citing the need to work discreetly with international law enforcement partners. According to ICE, some of those arrested during Operation Sunflower were registered sex offenders. Operation Sunflower was conducted in November and December, but efforts are continuing on other cases. During a news conference, ICE Director John Morton said the agency was calling on the public to provide tips and mentioned several open investigations. One of those cases involves the sexual molestation of an unidentified girl thought to be around 13. Investigators believe the abuse took place about 11 years ago, but the pornographic images were widely circulated. ICE has posted pictures of an unidentified woman and man suspected of abusing the girl on its website. The woman has some distinctive tattoos that investigators hope will lead to tips about her identity. Based on a forensic analysis of the pornographic images in that case, investigators think the abuse occurred in the Los Angeles or San Fernando Valley area of California. Although the girl may now be an adult, ICE officials want to identify and prosecute the suspects and prevent them from harming new victims. "Forensic analysis technology has become critical in the fight against child exploitation," Morton said. "We are coming across these images on the Internet. They are being produced in one country but shared literally around the world, often in real time." Morton said ICE works with other law enforcement agencies and with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to look for clues in the pictures of abuse to identify where the acts occurred and track down the victims and perpetrators. The name Operation Sunflower was chosen to commemorate a case from 2011 in which Danish law enforcement officials shared images and chat board information about a 16-year-old boy who allegedly planned to rape an 11-year-old girl. One image taken from a moving car showed a road sign with a sunflower on it. ICE's Homeland Security Investigations determined that the road sign was unique to Kansas. Agents were then able to find the exact stretch of road where the picture was taken and to locate the girl. 18 rescued in child pornography raids, feds say . 3 Mexican brothers extradited to U.S. to face 25 counts linked to sex trafficking . | Immigration agency's "Operation Sunflower" identified 123 child victims of pornography, abuse .
Some victims were as young as 3; others were abused as children and are now adults .
Law enforcement officials in six other countries also made arrests in the operation . |
117,803 | 241ad99a97933655c22dc40ed2d4fc0149fa5259 | By . Richard Kay . Last updated at 9:53 AM on 6th December 2011 . As our best-known animal lover, the Queen has taken a keen interest in the mystery illness that has struck down dogs after they have been walked in woods on her Sandringham estate, killing at least eight of them. Now, just as she prepares for her family Christmas at Sandringham, Her Majesty has received some welcome news. The Queen, who asked scientists from the Animal Health Trust to investigate the canine illness, had warned dog walkers to be vigilant after her land became the worst hit area in the country. Welcome news: The Queen had taken a keen interest in the mystery bug which had struck down the dogs . Her own dogs are equally at risk, including her corgis and the Labradors that pick up pheasants on her Boxing Day shoot. The trust believes that the outbreak of so-called Seasonal Canine Illness, which affected 49 dogs exercised in woodland at Sandringham this autumn, appears to be over. No new cases have been reported for more than a month, so the Queen can relax, knowing that royal shooting parties on the estate are no longer at risk. The trust also believes it has discovered the cause, after a botanist from the Natural History Museum was able to rule out various theories. Outbreak: The Seasonal Canine Illness had also affected dog walkers in Sherwood Forest (pictured) There was no sign, I gather, that any plant or fungus was the cause following soil tests which proved negative. Instead, the trust now thinks the bug is linked to bites from an infestation of harvest mites. It says that there have been 95 cases this year in five areas, including Sherwood and Thetford forests, but Sandringham was worst affected. Two dogs walked on the royal estate this year have died, while six died last year. However, survival rates improved after the Queen ordered estate managers to put up signs warning dog owners to watch for symptoms. Buckingham Palace has refused to say if the Queen has stopped walking her dogs on the estate because of the outbreak. A spokeswoman says: ‘The Sandringham estate is taking the reports of sick dogs very seriously.’ Next Labour leader? Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper appeared on The Andrew Marr Show last weekend . Fortune appears to be smiling on shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper: bookmakers have her as 3-1 favourite to succeed Ed Miliband as the next Labour leader. She also has the seal of approval from multi-millionaire novelist Ken Follett and his former Labour MP wife, Barbara. The Folletts bankrolled Cooper’s husband Ed Balls’s failed attempt to become party leader last year to the tune of £127,500. With Balls’s chances of taking the top job all but sunk, they have now moved on to funding his wife. According to the latest register of MPs’ interests, Barbara gave Cooper £4,550 to help pay a member of staff. Verbier bash: Holly Branson joined ber future husband on his stag do . Coming from such an unconventional family, it was perhaps not surprising that Holly Branson broke with tradition to celebrate her hen night. For rather than being parted from fiancé Freddie Andrews, he came along too for his stag night. The daughter of Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson flew with shipbroker Freddie to Switzerland at the weekend for a lavish party at her father’s luxury ski lodge in upmarket Verbier — along with 26 friends. All the girls wore matching T-shirts — but, fortunately for Holly, she was spared the usual embarrassment of a hen do when the suitcase containing her party kit was lost. ‘It was such a pity Holly’s hen bag didn’t turn up,’ I am told. ‘There were a few surprises in there.’ The group boarded a coach at Geneva airport and were whisked to Sir Richard’s nine-bedroom chalet, which rents out at £99,800 a week at the height of the skiing season. The retreat has 13 full-time staff, including a Raymond Blanc-trained chef. Although the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are close friends of the couple, they were not at the jollities. Freddie and Holly are due to wed on Necker, Branson’s privately-owned Caribbean island, this month. Joanna Lumley and her former husband Jeremy Lloyd will be reunited on . stage at the Royal Albert Hall . The last time actor and writer Jeremy Lloyd and Joanna Lumley, his former wife, worked together was in a 1971 TV series. David Croft, who helped with the script, was persuaded on-set by Lloyd to do a sitcom based in a department store. The rest is history as Lloyd and Croft’s comedy classic Are You Being Served? is still shown in more than 50 countries. On Sunday, Lloyd and Lumley will be reunited on stage at the Royal Albert Hall for a charity production of Captain Beaky & His Band, the poetry Lloyd set to music in 1977. The 80-year-old will be introduced on stage by Lumley. ‘It felt like we were married for ten minutes, but it was for a year,’ he says. ‘Joanna wrote that maybe we shouldn’t have got married, and just had an affair instead. ‘But I don’t regret it for a second and we have remained great friends.’ And Lloyd is clearly still on good terms with Charlotte Rampling, to whom he was engaged for three years: she is travelling from her home in Paris for the show. Tribute: Poppy Floyd, daughter of Keith Floyd, is developing a television tribute to her late father . More than two years after the death of maverick celebrity chef Keith Floyd, his daughter Poppy, 27, is developing a television tribute to her late father. Hard-living Floyd died on the same night a less-than-flattering Channel 4 documentary was screened about him — a film that upset his family and friends. Floyd’s manager Stan Green tells me . plans are afoot for Poppy — from Keith’s second marriage to Julie . Hatcher — to front a show, Floyd On Floyd, celebrating her father’s . eventful career. ‘She’s very much her father’s daughter,’ says Green. ‘She’s like a little Keith, but only with his nice side! ‘I’ve . long thought we needed a programme that actually celebrates Keith’s . career and Poppy is the perfect person to do it. When I approached her, . she thought it was a great idea.’ He . adds: ‘Poppy is a trained architect, not a cook. But she will be . visiting the places her father went to during his career, re-telling his . stories and adventures.’ Architectural historian Gavin Stamp is furious with architect Lord Foster, who used an Oxford University lecture to attack Heathrow airport as unviable (Foster wants it sold off and turned into housing). Of course, it just so happens that Foster, 75, is promoting his own proposals for a new four-runway airport in the Thames estuary which would earn his company several millions. Professor Stamp is unimpressed: ‘Am I alone in getting rather tired of that distinguished tax exile Lord Foster pontificating from his Swiss eyrie on how London should be re-planned — always with megalomaniac schemes requiring the benevolent intervention of some large architectural practice such as his own?’ PS What has Radio 4 presenter Libby Purves got against biographer Sarah Bradford? Yesterday, Purves used her newspaper column to take aim at the author, who has a new royal book out, after Bradford’s admission that she was possibly mistaken to have once written that Prince Philip had been unfaithful. ‘No indication of an apology to the husband of the Supreme Governor of the Church of England for suggesting he broke the seventh Commandment,’ she thundered. Bradford insists she and Purves have no history of hostility. ‘I’ve not met her and have nothing against her,’ she says. ‘The whole thing made me laugh. I’m an innocent bystander.’ | Outbreak of Seasonal Canine Illness appears to be over . |
18,291 | 33c3ae9a032a854d96d3e1ab789292bfcca75f15 | Jamaican discus thrower Chad Wright dazzled spectators at Hampden Park with an impressive performance and some equally impressive socks. The 23-year-old was sporting some rather sharp footwear in the qualifiers and his throw of 61.08m saw him through to the final. Sock it to them: Chad Wright turned heads in the discus with his choice of attire and his performance . Diving is supposed to be a sport of great grace and composure, but Malaysian diver Ahmad Amsyar Azman ended up falling flat on his face in the preliminary round of the men’s 1m springboard. His attempt to pull off a particularly tricky dive ended in disaster after he failed to complete his final forward rotation and he ended up hitting the water on the horizontal. He still managed to qualify, though. Flat out: Ahmad Azman's landing left much to be desired . Olympic champion Sally Pearson has been slammed by Australia’s head athletics coach hours before she begins the defence of her Commonwealth 100m hurdles title. Pearson, 27, was fined by Athletics Australia for missing a pre-Games training camp but Eric Hollingsworth labelled her ‘a bad example to the entire national team’. The pair have not spoken since falling out in March. At loggerheads: Sally Pearson and Eric Hollingsworth . Hollingsworth, though, faces suspension or even the sack for his comments, with Athletics Australia deeply upset by his actions. Meanwhile, a man detained by police over an altercation at the athletes’ village early yesterday morning is believed to be a member of the Australian team. England’s James Ellington made the 200m semi-finals after getting some added motivation from his Jamaican opponent, Jason Livermore. He said: ‘It was quite easy but I was nervous as I was up at 6.55am and I hate early mornings. That clown (Livermore) on the outside gave me the motivation because he was making noise in the call room. ‘You shouldn’t do that because that makes me run faster. As long as he does that in the semi-final then I’m going to get him.’ The semis are from 6.25pm. Feisty: James Ellington (right) and Jason Livermore in their 200m heat . Golden Gunde from Malawi, 21, didn’t quite live up to his sensational name in the men’s 200m heats. He had the slowest reaction time and finished last — or 007th — in 22.39secs. Maybe he should have entered the shooting instead... Rio Ferdinand might have found himself a new sport. The defender seemed to enjoy England’s 2-1 win over Scotland in the women’s hockey, which sealed England’s place in the semi-finals. ‘I’m into this hockey,’ he tweeted. ‘I wish our refs communicated like these hockey refs!’ He also approved of England’s prowess in front of goal: ‘Alex Danson — what a goal! Silky.’ Scotland's James Heatly had quite a lot to live up to at the diving centre. The 17-year-old’s grandfather Sir Peter Heatly, who turned 90 last month, was a diver at the Commonwealth Games in 1950, 1954 and 1958, and he won gold medals in all three. With the pressure on, Heatly the younger could only manage a 9th-place finish in the 1m springboard yesterday, but he does have another chance to emulate his grandfather and add to the family haul in the 3m springboard. | Jamaican discus thrower Chad Wright dazzled spectators with an impressive performance and some equally impressive socks .
Malaysian diver Ahmad Amsyar Azman ended up falling flat on his face in the preliminary round of the men’s 1m springboard .
Olympic champion Sally Pearson has been slammed by Australia’s head athletics coach hours before she begins the defence of her Commonwealth 100m hurdles title . |
11,706 | 2144ebc328adc12a725729c360821b6dcac5126b | By . Chris Pleasance . PUBLISHED: . 04:58 EST, 20 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 08:11 EST, 20 January 2014 . The family of Uriel Jaurez-Popoca allege that dropping the Mexican man at a Taco Bell was part of a 'perverse joke' about his heritage . The family of a drunk Mexican father who was run over and killed after police dropped him off at a Taco Bell instead of arresting him are suing the force for racial discrimination. Uriel Juarez-Popoca, 22, was hit and killed while walking along a four-lane highway on June 28 2012 near Columbus, shortly after Ohio state police found him sitting in his truck while clearly intoxicated. But instead of arresting him, the officers took him five miles away to the nearest Taco Bell before leaving him there, an act which the family claims is part of a 'perverse joke' about his heritage. The family has now launched legal action for unspecified damages against the Delaware County Sheriff's Office in Ohio, several of the agency's deputies and an officer with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. According to Courthouse News Service, the complaint reads: 'Violating all of their own rules of conduct and safety, defendants ridiculed Mr. Popoca as a Mexican, ultimately leaving him disoriented and intoxicated in a dangerous area where he was predictably killed by a passing motorist. 'The defendants mocked and ridiculed Mr. Popoca based on his Hispanic or Mexican national origin. Defendant Trooper Carpenter failed to stop the discriminatory behavior of the deputies. 'Defendant Deputy Beggs then advised defendant Trooper Carpenter that they were going to transport Mr. Popoca to a nearby Taco Bell.' Police said at the time that they dropped Juarez-Popoca off at the Taco Bell expecting him to call for a ride. However the lawsuit alleges the officers received numerous calls about him . from the store manager and drivers along the highway during the 50-minute . period after they dropped him off, and failed to take proper action . Juarez-Popoca was hit and killed near to Alum Creek Bridge on U.S. 36 (pictured). His wife, two children and parents are now suing the police for racial discrimination . Juarez-Popoca, who was working in the U.S. at the time and sending money back to his wife, two children and parents in Mexico, was hit on U.S. 36 just north of Columbus, Ohio, and died of severe head, neck and chest injuries. An attorney for the patrolman said the discrimination allegations are ludicrous and that the officers gave Juarez-Popoca 'a major break' by letting him go, especially considering that his legal status in the country was in question. Sam Shamansky, the attorney representing the Ohio state patrolman named in the lawsuit, said that Juarez-Popoca's death was a tragedy but that authorities were not discriminating against him. 'There's no discrimination here,' he said. 'If you ask me, it could just as easily be said that deputies were giving him a major break by not taking him to jail, maybe in order to not have discriminatory actions taken against him, vis-a-vis deportation. 'As an observer trying to be independent, I would suggest that's way more plausible than that they were discriminating against him because he's Hispanic.' Two deputies, Christopher Hughes and Derek Beggs, were fired over the matter. Patrolman Sean Carpenter also was fired but won an appeal of that decision and was reinstated. | Uriel Juarez-Popoca, 22, died in 2012 after being hit while walking on US 36 .
Just 50 minutes before he was found by police sitting drunk in his truck .
Instead of arresting him the officers dropped him off at a Taco Bell .
His family claim police were making a 'perverse joke' about his heritage .
His wife, two children and parents are now suing for racial discrimination . |
111,079 | 1b394f947ce37b7192c48b2cbe8f33c6b5240630 | Ten people were rushed to hospital after a car ploughed into a sidewalk cafe packed full of diners, when the driver lost control of his vehicle. A surveillance video shows the terrifying moment the car careens off the road, and crashes through the tables of diners seated outside the Lemoni Pizzeria in Miami, Florida. Diners scramble to get out of the way as tables are scattered and glass is smashed. Scroll down for video . Victims are carried from the scene. The surveillance video shows the terrifying moment a car careens off the road, and crashes through the tables of diners seated at a sidewalk cafe in Miami, Florida . Some of the injured are laid out on the sidewalk and ten people - including two children - were taken to hospital, Fox 6 reports. 'I mean, everyone was on the floor; there were some kids screaming,' said Sarah Raw, who witnessed the incident. 'There was a couple people who were completely face down.' 'Right as I was running down over there I just heard a loud boom and a lot of ruckus,' onlooker Joshua Arteaga added. 'It was really bad.' Paramedics pulled the driver Belony Alterma, 66, from the car at sat him on the sidewalk. Officer Kenia Fallat said several people, including two of the vehicle's passengers, were brought to hospital with what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries. Diner are enjoying their lunch the Lemoni Pizzeria in Miami when the car careens off the road towards them . The crashes through the tables of diners sending tables flying, glass smashing and people scrambling . Through a neighbor who translated for him, Mr Alterma said he was driving when he pressed the brakes of the vehicle, and it just shifted and he lost control. Mr Alterma's wife was in the passenger seat of the vehicle when the accident occurred. 'His wife was very hysterical, and she was very upset about the whole thing,' witness Joseph Gougre said. Miami police say Mr Alterma was not wearing his glasses, and this may have led to him losing control of the vehicle. They believe speed may have been another factor. Officials also say the restaurant did not have the proper permit for an outdoor cafe. Miami police say the driver of the vehicle was not wearing his glasses, and this may have led to him losing control of the vehicle. They believe speed may have been another factor . Some of the injured are laid out on the sidewalk and ten people - including two children - were taken to hospital . | Surveillance video shows the terrifying moment the car careens off the road .
It crashes through tables of diners seated outside Lemoni Pizzeria in Miami .
Injured people are laid out on sidewalk and ten victims were taken to hospital .
Driver was not wearing his glasses which may have led to the incident . |
151,026 | 4f4319b5d0d0eecbbbf42ad2f03dc7f708e8c6e8 | A 20-year-old student died of a heart attack after taking a fatal dose of ecstasy with her boyfriend at a nightclub in London, an inquest heard . Taylor Mae Woodard, an aspiring showbiz journalist studying at Bournemouth University, shared half a gram of MDMA with her boyfriend, Alex Rickett, at Plan B nightclub in Brixton. After returning to Mr Rickett's home in Worcester Park, south-west London, in the early hours of March 9, she collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. Scroll down for video . Taylor Mae Woodard, a student at Bournemouth University, died after sharing half a gram of MDMA with her boyfriend at a nightclub in London . Miss Woodard and Alex Ricketts took the ecstasy in a bathroom at Plan B nightclub, in Brixton . Despite Mr Rickett's best efforts to save her, Miss Woodard was rushed to Kingston Hospital and died at 6.22am. The inquest heard that she had taken the Class A drug every two to three weeks, and police found an empty stash of white powder in her pocket, which she may have taken without telling her boyfriend. West London Coroner Jeremy Chipperfield said a toxicology report discovered Tayla had fatal levels of ecstasy in her blood when she died. He said: 'Alex Rickett was going out with Tayla on a night out and they took drugs bought by Tayla from her home in Bournemouth at the Plan B nightclub in Brixton. 'They travelled back from the nightclub. Tayla collapsed and lost consciousness very soon afterwards. 'MDMA she had taken was present in her system at level associated with death. She had intended to use MDMA, which is not unusual with young people. 'Unfortunately on this occasion it tragically had fatal consequences. Tayla died of MDMA toxicity, an accidental death.' Miss Woodard, 20, collapsed at Mr Rickett's home and died in the early hours of March 9 at Kingston Hospital . A police officer later found another bag of ecstasy in her jacket pocket, which Miss Woodard may have taken in the nightclub. Mr Rickett had not know about it. Her father Russell Woodard, who was at the inquest with his wife, Julia, told the court: 'She confessed to me in her first year of university [that] she had taken drugs. At the time I did research. 'I spoke to her and said it was not a good idea to do it again because she did not know what was in it. I think she thought it was better not to tell me in future. 'I wouldn't be surprised if Tayla had taken the drug occasionally, I'm surprised to hear she took it every two to three weeks.' Russell Woodard, Tayla's father, said she had told him she had started taking drugs during her first year of university. Mr Rickett wept as he explained how they had spent the day together, drinking a small amount of vodka and wine before going out to the nightclub with a couple of his friends at around 11pm. Miss Woodard brought a gram of brown MDMA with her and the couple shared half of it in the toilets. They left the club at around 3.30am and headed back to his house in Tamesis Gardens, in Worcester Park, south-west London. He said: 'I had done less than usual and she had taken less MDMA than usual because of the amount left in the bag. We did it every two to three weeks. 'She was normal, she seemed normal. We were cleaning our teeth in the bathroom, she was sitting on the bath then she collapsed into the bath.' 'I picked her up and laid her on the bathroom floor. I woke my brother and called the ambulance, I can't remember in which order. 'I rang to ask when the ambulance was coming because her nose was turning purple. They told me how to do mouth to mouth. 'The ambulance came and the paramedics did CPR and then they took her away.' Dr Philip Halliday, from Kingston Hospital, said he had been told she had taken 250mg of MDMA with alcohol. Pathologist Dr Robert Chapman, who carried out the post-mortem examination, described Miss Woodard as fit and healthy. He said: 'The toxicology report showed she had high levels of MDMA, 1.64mg per litre in her blood, but the level of ethanol alcohol was not particularly high.' The fatal level of MDMA is anything above 0.1mg. Detective Constable Ian Moody, who helped perform the investigation into her death, said Mr Rickett had given the rest of the MDMA to police for analysis and nothing unusual was found in it. He added: 'I went back to Tamesis Gardens, where she collapsed, and found the denim jacket she had been wearing in the bathroom. 'I searched the jacket and found a small snap bag containing remnants of white powder, which was analysed and found to be MDMA as well. 'Alex told me he had not known about the second bag.' Mr Woodard has since raised almost £1,000 in his girlfriend's memory, with donations going to mental health charity Mind. Ecstasy came into widespread use in the 1980s, when taking it was linked to raves and dance music. The Class A drug comes in powder and pill form. Its effects include euphoria, a sense of intimacy with others and diminished anxiety and depression. Research has suggested that long-term changes to emotional states and behaviour have been triggered by consumption of the drug, which affects chemical receptors in the brain. The synthetic stimulant triggers the release of dopamine, the chemical that controls the nervous system, producing a massive increase in heart rate and blood pressure. This can prove fatal. Medical studies also report that one in four people have suffered unpleasant side-effects, such as extreme paranoia and insomnia. Campaigners believe that ecstasy poses a real risk of triggering brain damage. They have argued that it can induce memory loss, decrease cognitive performance and has long-lasting effects on behaviour. | Student Tayla Mae Woodard died after taking ecstasy with her boyfriend .
Couple shared half a gram of ecstasy in a nightclub bathroom, inquest hears .
Aspiring journalist Miss Woodard later collapsed at Alex Rickett's house .
She went into cardiac arrest and died at Kingston Hospital on March 9 .
Police found another bag of ecstasy which boyfriend did not know about .
Miss Woodard's father says she told him about her drug use two years ago .
He warned her not to take MDMA because she 'did not know what was in it' |
189,791 | 81c346c87d07968fcd12ff387326c4c596d3f8af | (CNN) -- From superstorms to floods, to historic heat waves and droughts, not a week goes by without a major disruption somewhere in our communities. Between 2011 and 2013, 48 states and two-thirds of American counties endured crises severe enough to be declared major disasters. Of course, these events aren't preventable, but there are often steps we can take to change how we prepare and respond. Indeed, with the right preparation, not every extreme weather disruption has to become a disaster. Hurricane Sandy underscores what can be done. The deadly 2012 storm was devastating for communities along the Eastern Seaboard. But the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Rockefeller Foundation asked the question: What if we focused on planning and preparing as much as we do on disaster reaction and response? So we partnered to create Rebuild by Design, a competition that brings together engineering and design experts with public, philanthropic and community organizations to try to find ways of rebuilding that make communities like those affected in New York and New Jersey more environmentally and economically resilient. And now the competition is hitting the national stage, with the HUD-led $1 billion National Disaster Resilience Competition, which is aimed at encouraging local businesses, community development organizations, nonprofits, and local and state governments to rethink how cities plan in the face of a growing number of natural disasters. In November, we convened a summit of leaders from 67 competing states, cities, counties and parishes. Now, government officials and civic leaders as well as engineers, architects and urban planners will participate in boot camp-like resilience academies to understand best practices before they submit their proposals. The first one, designed for the challenges facing the Southeast in particular, is being held this week in Atlanta, followed by other dedicated regional academies across the country in the new year. This billion-dollar investment turns the traditional idea of disaster relief on its head. For years, communities have received federal recovery funds after the fact -- when they were knocked on their heels by a disaster. Unsurprisingly, this is also a particularly expensive way of doing business. This new approach, in contrast, will ultimately save communities millions in long-term costs. The Federal Emergency Management Agency suggests that every dollar we invest in resilience before a disaster saves $4 after the fact. So, in a way, this was an idea that we couldn't afford not to do. We call the philosophy behind this competition the "resilience dividend," and it pays off by improving our everyday lives in the good times, too. Take Tulsa, Oklahoma, which over the last century has often experienced flooding. Since the city began planting parks in floodplains and changing the way it designs its buildings, Tulsa's residents have been paying some of the lowest insurance rates in the country and worrying less about losing their homes and property. The quality of their lives and their sense of economic security has grown. Or consider Boulder, Colorado. After a bout of historic rainstorms there, a public-private partnership designed storm drains that double as bicycle trails, floodgates doubling as transportation routes, and recreation areas that protect water quality. And New Orleans, which was devastated by flooding from Hurricane Katrina 10 years ago next year, reimagined its economic base in rebuilding itself, encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship and creative and sustainable development. A decade after large areas were submerged, New Orleans is recognized as a hotbed for startups and one of America's most resilient cities. Rebuild by Design is succeeding not only because of the creativity of the projects, but also due to the collaboration of multidisciplinary teams of engineers, architects, planners and, importantly, local communities -- all of which partnered in unprecedented ways. Of crucial value, the teams spent considerable time on the ground in these communities, building critical trust and listening to citizens about their needs. For example, one of the winning groups in the competition proposed a 10-mile flood barrier to protect Lower Manhattan -- called the "Big U" -- that would not only be functional and effective, but also aesthetically appealing. Drawing on local input, the design incorporated green space, bike paths, art and community markets that create economic opportunity in underdeveloped areas, all while protecting against future flooding. Building resilience is a process with no ideology: Natural disasters in our country are destroying Republican and Democratic communities alike. But the National Disaster Resilience Competition is providing common-sense solutions that create common ground on which to work together. The time to embrace resilience is now. | Julián Castro and Judith Rodin: Disasters hurt Republican, Democratic communities alike .
Each dollar invested in resilience before a disaster saves $4 after the fact, they note .
HUD and Rockefeller Foundation partner to create Rebuild by Design .
The competition looks for ways to rebuild that make communities more resilient . |
274,685 | efd16e754a5aeba67558c5a830e984a922edf575 | (CNN) -- Sometimes a sign of the times is subtle. Let's talk about it: Second Life has long been a forum for self-help, now some rehab centers are setting up shop there. For clients of an alcohol rehab center in Atlanta, one appears in the form of an after-care option: they can meet their therapist for follow-up sessions in Second Life, the popular virtual world. The clients at Accelerated Recovery Centers, all addicted to alcohol, first complete an initial two to three weeks of intensive therapy at the center, undergoing training and meeting with psychologists, counselors, life coaches, medical professionals, nutritionists and personal trainers. Then they go home -- where temptation waits. To cope with that, over the next nine to 12 months they have sessions with their therapist over the phone, through a video-chat service like Oovoo.com, or in Second Life. In the latter, an avatar that the client controls meets with another that the therapist controls. The rehab center has been carefully replicated within Second Life, on a secure parcel of virtual real estate called Identity Island. The furniture, walls, and layout of the virtual rehab center look the same as in Atlanta. The therapist's face is mimicked on the avatars. Audio is used rather than text chat, so the therapist's voice comes from the avatar during sessions. There's also group therapy, with many avatars meeting at once. But the rehab center is not about technology -- it's about helping clients overcome alcohol addiction. (The center was started about three years ago; the Second Life option came last year.) Some clients decide against Second Life. They're not comfortable with computers, perhaps, or they don't like being represented by an avatar. But for many, the virtual world works. They have a sense of having "been somewhere," notes David E. Stone, a licensed psychologist at the center and its chief technology officer. And they feel "more comfortable meeting in a replica of the therapy room that they used in real life." Many also tend to reveal more, or be more direct, in the virtual world -- a phenomenon called "online disinhibition." (You can see it in chat rooms too.) And different aspects of identity tend to emerge with different mediums, whether text, voice, video or avatar (or in-person), just as a group setting reveals different things than one-on-one. Avatar-based therapy raises some intriguing questions. For instance: Do clients identify with their avatars? "Clients may possibly objectify or distance themselves from their avatar, which in some cases might attenuate the effects of the therapy," notes John Suler, a psychology professor at Rider University in New Jersey who has studied the topic. But in some cases an avatar might help, he notes. For instance developing an "observing ego" -- the ability to look at oneself objectively and rationally -- is critical to many kinds of psychotherapy. "It's possible that interacting through an avatar might stimulate that observing ego," he says. The rehab center's use of the virtual world is, if anything, restrained. Of course not every problem can be addressed in Second Life, such as, Stone feels, psychotic disorders. Immersive worlds help cope with the real world . But many therapists believe virtual worlds can help clients deal with fears or addictions and experiment with new behaviors and means of expression. Avatars are not always involved. For instance a virtual world can be immersive, with earphones, wrap-around goggles, vibrating floors or chairs, and even smells, so users feel they're "in" the world rather than controlling an avatar moving through it. The former has more power to distract, to the point where in some experiments burn victims have felt reduced pain while immersed. Such setups, however, can get expensive, whereas Second Life is free or low cost, making it an easy way for therapists to experiment with virtual worlds. The U.S. military uses virtual reality to help Iraq War veterans cope with post-traumatic stress disorder. Added to the visual experience are smells and sounds -- like burning rubber and Arabic prayer -- to help trigger flashbacks so they can be dealt with gradually in a safe environment, with a therapist on hand. A California chain called the Virtual Reality Medical Center helps clients overcome a wide range of fears, including of flying, heights, public speaking, closed spaces and spiders. Virtually Better in Georgia has similar offerings. The list goes on, with variations seen around the developed world. But these are still early years, and much remains to be seen and tested when it comes to virtual worlds and psychotherapy. Stone and his team plan to share their findings on the use of Second Life at an American Academy of Psychotherapists event in November. A fair bit of self-help goes on in Second Life, without therapists. For instance some physically disabled users combat depression by flying, dancing and earning a living in the virtual world. Shy types gain real-world confidence in virtual parties. This sort of thing is likely to happen more often. Research firm Gartner estimates that 80 percent of Net users worldwide will be in non-gaming virtual worlds like Second Life by the end of 2011. Ironically, Internet addiction is also likely to rise -- meaning in some cases one malady could be swapped with another. Not all therapists will go virtual. Many insist on seeing cues like appearance, facial expressions and body language. Some set up shop in Second Life but require a real-world meeting first. Others accept PayPal and offer their services to any avatar or website visitor who happens along. Of course long-term success is rarely a sure thing in psychotherapy, whatever the approach. Back at the rehab center, therapists and clients are easing into virtual reality. Avatar-based therapy is just an option. In any case clients must return to the center at least once. The real center, that is, in Atlanta -- to meet with the real version of their therapist. | Some rehab centers using virtual worlds to complement therapy for addiction .
Self-help has already been a large feature in Second Life .
Some psychologists say patients might distance themselves from avatar .
Others suggest it could provide way to gain some useful objectivity . |
158,961 | 597f18fd910381a267d1643a2e37c495c5a858ea | (CNN) -- A Scottish court has convicted eight men of child sexual abuse in what police say is the largest pedophile ring ever dismantled in Scotland. The eight men were all convicted Thursday of offenses related to indecent photographs of children. Three were also convicted of the sexual abuse of young children, and five were convicted of conspiring to take part in the sexual abuse of a child, identified only as Child F. "Tens of thousands of photographic and video images of children being sexually abused were recovered," said Morag McLaughlin, the prosecutor for the Lothian and Borders region. "All of those involved in the investigation and prosecution of the case have been profoundly affected by it." Two of the men, Neil Strachan and James Rennie, face a maximum of life in prison when they are sentenced July 29, said a spokesman for the High Court in Edinburgh, where the men were convicted. The others, who will be sentenced June 11, face a variety of lesser sentences. The police investigation revealed a network of people who shared a common interest in child sexual abuse, said Detective Superintendent Allan Jones, of Lothian and Borders Police. Information from the probe yielded information on 70 others around Britain and led to "numerous arrests," he said. "They made initial contact via the Internet and used it to share vile imagery and discuss the abuse of children," Jones said. Watch a report on the convicted men » . Strachan was the only one of the eight who was previously known to police, he said. "All of them led classic double lives. Some of them were respected members of their professions and communities," Jones said. The family of Child F released a statement after the conviction that detailed how Rennie betrayed the family's trust to abuse their son. Rennie was "the closest of family friends" for more than 15 years and even offered support and friendship during difficult times, they said. "To subsequently learn that he abused our son, and invited others to do the same, has been devastating," the family said. "As a family we have had to learn to live and cope with the effects these horrific events have had." The mother of another child involved in the case, identified only as Child JL, described her "anguish" about what Strachan had done to her son. "I will never be able to forgive him for the sick acts that he committed against my son," said the mother, whose name was not released. "I feel that no matter what punishment given to Mr. Strachan, it will never be able to compensate for the hurt, devastation and great deal of stress brought to me and my family. Mr. Strachan used and abused our trust in order to satisfy his and others' sick needs." Police and prosecutors gathered important evidence from overseas and used new scientific expertise in order to prosecute the case, the court said. Lothian and Borders Police said it received "invaluable" expertise from the FBI in the United States and other British and Scottish agencies -- including the Serious Organized Crime Agency and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center. Microsoft helped police trace e-mail addresses and identities, Jones said. Police also had help from two U.S. academics, Professors Hany Farid of Dartmouth University and Miroslav Goljan of the State University of New York at Binghamton, who are experts in steganalysis, a forensic technique that links an image to the camera on which it has been taken, Jones said. Jones praised the forensic scientists who had to examine the imagery in the case. "They do not have the option to look away and have to live with the memory of what they have seen," he said. "It is a testament to their expertise that they did this day in, day out. They did it for the good of children and provided us with a first-class service." | Scottish court convicts eight men of child sexual abuse .
Police say it is the largest pedophile ring ever dismantled in Scotland .
Two of the men, Neil Strachan and James Rennie, face life in prison . |
145,984 | 48c215bbd962ef86eb5a13ced7dd6ed79d6d6848 | For Hillary Clinton, having her own baby grandchild to kiss on the campaign trail, could be one of the biggest boosts to her possible presidential election campaign. Although the former Secretary of State and First Lady has not said if she will run in 2016, the arrival of her first grandchild will soften her image, analysts have said. While Chelsea only revealed her pregnancy on Thursday, supporters of her mother have already started cooing over a possible baby in the White House. Scroll down for video . Celebration: Hillary beams as Chelsea announces that she is to become a mother . Excited: Hillary Clinton looked delighted at her daughter's news . With the Clintons having a near-royal status in the U.S., the announcement of a new arrival due this fall has sent ripples across media outlets and political forums. 'My most exciting title yet: Grandmother-To-Be!,' Mrs Clinton had tweeted yesterday. But some, such as Republican strategist Michael . Goldfarb, have highlighted the 'perfect timing' of the pregnancy, tweeting: 'Just in time for HRC to have a baby on stage with her . when she announces she’s running, right?' On MSNBC Andrew Ross Sorkin, a guest on the morning show, said Friday : 'Can we talk about the human drama that is Grandma Clinton?' 'I don't want to be cynical and I'm not suggesting anyone's having a baby for election purposes, but ...' the New York Times columnist added before the panel drowned him out. Young votes: Hillary Clinton cuddles a baby wearing a campaign sticker from her 2008 election bid . Softened: Analysts say becoming a grandma could change the dynamic of a campaign for Hillary . Mr Sorkin went on to say the arrival of the youngest member of the Clinton family could change the dynamic of the election campaign, and would be a closely watched story. 'I think it’s different because the country is invested in this family ... I just think you are gonna see babies around the campaign,' he said. 'It just adds this whole element of compassion.' Supporters . of a Clinton run for the White House in 2016 have certainly welcomed . the news, posting messages of congratulations on Chelsea's Facebook . page, the Los Angeles Times reported. 'I am sure your Mom will love having a grandchild . running around the White House with her!' one post read. Another said: 'The first grandchild to be raised in the White house! Hillary giving . the baby a bottle while giving a press conference. How wonderful!' For Mrs Clinton however, the joy of finally becoming a grandmother appears to be the only thing on her mind. Autumn child: Chelsea also made an announcement on Twitter, revealing that the baby will be born in the fall . Proud parents: Hillary and Bill Clinton with daughter Chelsea and her husband Marc Mezvinsky at their wedding . Former . President Bill Clinton spoke of their desire to be grandparents back in . 2011, saying: 'I'd like to be a grandfather ... I would like to have a . happy wife, and she won't be unless she's a grandmother. 'It's something she wants more than she wanted to be president.' The former . First Family were congratulated on their grandparents-to-be status by . another former First Family, with Laura Bush tweeting: 'BillClinton and . @HillaryClinton, grandchildren are the greatest gift. @ChelseaClinton . & Marc will be wonderful parents!' Jenna Bush, who had her first baby last year and, like Chelsea was a First Daughter, also sent congratulations. She tweeted yesterday: 'Congratulations @ChelseaClinton! Welcome to the best club in the world. Mamahood is wonderful. Xx'. Grandmother-to-be: Hillary followed Chelsea's announcement with an excited Twitter post . Future grandpa: Bill Clinton posted a tweet of his own that said how he excited he was . | Former First Lady's image softened by grandma status, analysts claim .
Republican strategist points out 'perfect timing' of baby's arrival . |
131,495 | 3607a645dc679ce52dfd86380e01f84a2c4b718d | By . Jessica Jerreat . PUBLISHED: . 00:35 EST, 1 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:43 EST, 1 June 2013 . From Chinatown and the High Line to Washington Square Park fountain and Harlem, scenes from the summer of 1939 are brought vividly to life in rare color footage of New York City. The Romano Archives footage has just been released 74 years after a French tourist captured the scenes on 16mm Kodachrome. Life appears carefree in summertime Manhattan, in the year the city hosted the World Fair in Flushing Meadows and months before the outbreak of the Second World War. Top of the rock: Tourists enjoy the view from the Rockefeller observation deck in 1939 . Cooling off: Children splash around in Washington Square Park fountain on the hot summer's day . Still popular: The fountain in Washington Square Park is still a favored place to cool off on a hot day . While some scenes, such as the tourists gathered on the Rockefeller observation deck, appear unchanged today, footage of the High Line shows trains using the elevated railway that has since been converted into a park. The city's streets appear congested even in 1939, but with classic cars and double decker buses. Even the famed yellow cabs look different. The French cameraman also captured city folk enjoying the summer's day, when it was still possible to buy a pina colada for 5c. Men sit smoking on the steps of brownstones, market traders sell fruit and vegetables off street stalls and women in elegant dresses and hats chat over coffee. Children are seen paddling and running through Washington Square Park fountain, an open-top bus shows tourists the city sights, and designer shops such as Cartier draw in shoppers. Changing times: A train is seen on the High Line, which has since been transformed into an elevated park . City life: Neighbors are seen chatting on the steps of a Harlem brownstone by cameraman Jean Vivier . Fresh look: Everyday scenes like this market trader selling vegetables on a street corner were recorded . Color film was just taking off at the end of the Thirties. In the year this amateur footage was taken, Technicolor was being used on the 1939 classics Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. A spokesman for the archive told the Huffington Post the footage was part of a longer film shot by Jean Vivier, who sailed from Marseille to New York on the SS Normandie for a vacation. Kodak amateur movie cameras had been available since 1935. According to the company’s website, 'Kodachrime Film was introduced and became the first commercially successful amateur color film.' Timeless: Some scenes, such as the statue of Prometheus outside the Rockefeller Center, remain unchanged . Big apple: New York City was a popular draw for tourists in 1939, the year it hosted the World Fair . Although Kodak had introduced sound on film in 1937, Vivier's film was silent, with a score added later, according to Yahoo News. Vivier's film was released by the Romano Archive, a digital archive of American and European history privately owned by the Italian Vincent 'Enzo' Romano. | Recently released archive footage shows tourist spots still popular today .
From Chinatown to Harlem, amateur film captures city life .
New Yorkers seem carefree months before Second World War begins . |
126,679 | 2fc212f9fa488b6e436e69521289dc5747ce3296 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 15:29 EST, 9 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 15:53 EST, 9 January 2014 . A former doctor in Oklahoma faces nine counts of murder for allegedly over-prescribing controlled substances to several patients, eight of whom died from prescription drug overdoses and another caused a fatal car accident while under the influence of drugs supplied by the doctor. Additionally, 71-year-old William Martin Valuck is charged with 72 counts of distribution of a controlled dangerous substance in Oklahoma County District Court. Authorities say Valuck is responsible for the deaths of Victoria Pretzer, Michelle Salazar, Jennifer Zimmerman, Paul Beesley, . Christina Green, Joyce Curnett, SaShawn Saatian and Lorra Hilton, each of whom died from drug toxicity from excessive amounts of drugs prescribed by Valuck. Dr. Feel Good: William Valuck faces eight murder charges for over-prescribing patients prescription narcotics . Valuck faces an additional murder charge in the death of Ronald Banton, who was killed in a car wreck on December 9. The driver of the other car, Dustin Hall, was allegedly under the influence of prescription drugs illegally prescribed by Valuck. The indictments were handed down Wednesday. 'Our investigation has revealed that during a period of approximately . one year, Dr. Valuck prescribed extremely large amounts of controlled . substances — including the most abused prescription drugs on the street — to numerous patients with very little medical examination or the . establishment of a valid doctor-patient relationship,' Oklahoma State . Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control agent T.N. Briscoe wrote . in the arrest warrant, which was first obtained by the Oklahoman. In the past, getting a murder conviction for a doctor who over-prescribes prescription drugs is no easy task. Propofol: Dr. Conrad Murray was sentenced to four years in prison for over-prescribing the drug Propofol to Michael Jackson . The most notable case of a doctor facing charges in a patient's death for over-prescribing drugs is that of Conrad Murray, the former physician of pop star Michael Jackson. Murray was accused of illegally injecting Jackson with high doses of the drug propofol, which the pop legend claimed he needed to sleep. Following Jackson's death, an autopsy revealed that he died as a result of an overdose from propofol and other drugs. The jury in the case found Murray guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 and sentenced him to four years in prison. He was released in October of 2013. | In addition to the overdoses, one of William Valuck's patients caused a fatal car wreck .
Valuck also faces 72 counts of distribution of a controlled dangerous substance .
The deaths all occurred during a one-year period . |
187,784 | 7f2ba88e1925130baf32dd2312d19599a25d79c9 | Britain is sending more than £2million in aid to Argentina – even as Buenos Aires cranks up its hostility over the Falklands. The revelation provoked a furious reaction from Tory MPs last night and is an embarrassment for David Cameron, who only last month was accusing Argentina of ‘shameful’ attempts to bully the islands. To mark the 180th anniversary of British rule of the Falklands yesterday, the Argentine government issued a five-page rant by foreign minister Hector Timerman, in which he accuses the UK of ‘colonial and military occupation of Argentine territory’. Joy: Falklanders celebrate last year's referendum result in which they voted to remain under British rule . Mr Timerman said that after years of UK defence cuts, Argentina is no longer afraid of our defence forces. ‘The lion roars, but does not inspire fear any more,’ he claimed. He highlighted Mr Cameron’s bid to intervene in the Syrian conflict last year as evidence of Britain’s ‘aggression’. And he directly criticised the Prime Minister’s Christmas pledge to defend the Falklands. He said: ‘As a corollary to a year in which the British Government issued threats to several independent countries, to such an extent that the British Parliament itself had to reject its attempts to launch military actions in the Middle East, the British Government devoted a paragraph of its Christmas address to the military defence of the Malvinas Islands, forgetting – if the British Government was ever able to appreciate it – the peace message that Christmas should inspire. ‘Perhaps this was the expression of a failed attempt to confuse the world as to the colonial and military occupation of Argentine territory, and the result of the lack of legal and historical arguments.’ Islas Malvinas is the Spanish name for the Falklands. The then Argentine junta invaded the islands in 1982 before being kicked out by a British taskforce. Mr Cameron sanctioned a referendum last year which saw the overwhelming majority of islanders vote to remain British. Argentina stepped up its harassment of the Falklands last year, including threatening oil executives who approve exploration in its waters with 15-year jail terms. Victory: The Union flag flies over Port Howard, West . Falkland. The Argentine junta invaded the islands, known as the Islas . Malvinas in Spanish, in 1982 before being kicked out by a British . taskforce . Official figures show that Argentina . received more than £2million from Britain in 2012 and it is understood . that this aid is continuing. A . Government source insisted Britain has no bilateral aid programme with . Argentina, adding: ‘All of the programmes we do finance are aimed at . building long-term partnerships with the Argentine people – including . businesses and future leaders – or tackling global issues, such as . climate change and human rights.’ Britain . also contributes £7million to a £50million EU aid programme to . Argentina. Last year Britain’s aid budget increased by 30 per cent. Argentina is now considered a relatively wealthy country, as a member of . the G20 group of leading economies. A Royal Marine guards Argentinean soldiers captured at Goose Green as they await transit out of the area . Last night, Conservative MP Ian Liddell-Grainger, a member of Parliament’s all-party group on the Falklands, said: ‘Why on Earth are we sending aid to Argentina? It is absolutely ridiculous. They are behaving outrageously towards the Falklands and they hardly need the money. ‘People will be rightly shocked that we are giving money to Argentina at a time when they are trying to stop our shipping from going to the Falklands and threatening to prosecute companies that explore for oil there.’ Fellow Tory Peter Bone said: ‘People will be appalled that we are sending aid to Argentina – a country that is making aggressive claims on the Falkland Islands. There can be no justification for it and it must stop.’ Jonathan Isaby, of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said the figures underlined concerns the Government was more interested in meeting Mr Cameron’s target of spending 0.7 per cent of our income on aid than on ensuring it is well spent. He added: ‘This is further evidence the growing aid budget is too often wasted. ‘Ministers should stand up for Britain by axing aid to an already well-off country that has made it clear that it doesn’t deserve our support.’ | Argentine government issues five-page rant about UK 'colonial occupation'
But official figures show the country receives £2m in direct aid from Britain .
UK also contributes £7m to £50m EU aid fund for Argentina, a G20 country . |
252,386 | d2a9cbdb77bf3e768b425a82d119b16ade7e6f35 | (CNN) -- In November 2011, The Boston Globe had a panel on "cyberetiquette." We met in a theater at Boston Globe headquarters. On the stage was a moderator, a Globe reporter, and two of the Globe's regular "advice and manners" columnists. And then there was me, there, I suppose to represent the cyberworld and where it might take us. As I remember it, we responded to questions from the moderator and from the floor with general agreement on most matters: No texting at family dinner. No texting at restaurants. Don't bring your laptop to your children's sporting events, no matter how tempting. (Your daughter looks up from her star turn at lacrosse, and you are deep into an e-mail to your supervisor. The game was boring until then, sure. But e-mail can get so engrossing that you've got to be careful; you're playing with fire!) Then came this question from the floor: A woman said that as a working mother she had very little time to talk to her friends, to e-mail, to text, to keep up. "Actually," she confessed, "the only time I have is at night, after I'm off work and before I go home, when I go family shopping at Trader Joe's [a supermarket]. But the guy at the checkout line, he wants to talk. I just want to be on my phone, into my texts and Facebook. Do I have the right to just ignore him?" Watch Sherry Turkle's TED Talk . The two manners experts went first. Each said a version of the same thing: The man who did the checkout had a job to do. She had a right to her privacy as he provided his service. I listened uncomfortably. I thought of growing up and all the years I went shopping with my grandmother, all the relationships she had with the tradespeople at every store: the baker, the fishmonger, the fruit man, the grocery man, for this is how we called them. TED.com: Make data more human . If they hadn't spoken to us, we would have been upset. If we hadn't spoken to them, I always assumed they would have been upset as well. I was not older than my fellow panelists. And I've never considered myself a nostalgic person. But I found myself disagreeing with them. I answered the question from the floor in a very different spirit. I said that we all know that the job that the man at the checkout counter was doing can now be done by a machine. But until he is replaced by a machine, I think he should be treated as a person, with all the rights of a person. And that includes a bit of human exchange, since that is clearly what makes his job tolerable for him, makes him feel that in his job, this job that could be done by a machine, he is still a human being. TED.com: We are all cyborgs now . My fellow panelists were not pushovers. Nor was the audience. This was not what they wanted to hear. But in this moment, as in so many others like it, when I took stock of their unhappy reaction to what I said, I felt myself at the cold, hard center of a perfect storm: We expect more from technology and less from each other. What once would have seemed like "good service" is now an inconvenience. That's the "less from each other" part of the equation. We also want technology to step in as we invite people to step back. It used to be that we imagined that our mobile phones would be for us to talk to each other. Now, our mobile phones are there to talk to us. New commercials for Siri, the digital assistant on Apple's iPhone, have it serving as a best friend and confidante to a man who is preparing for a romantic dinner date at home and to an ingénue who takes a rainy day off from work to dance around her apartment in bare feet. I interview young people who tell me they hope that in the future, Siri will be even more like a best friend to them. TED.com: How technology evolves . We are at a moment of temptation, ready to turn to machines for companionship even as we seem pained or inconvenienced to engage with each other in settings as simple as a grocery store. We want to instrumentalize daily life with real people and accept fantasies of "intimate" conversations with robotic personal assistants who have no real understanding of what we are saying to them in terms of what things mean to us. We seem lonely but afraid of intimacy. Siri, the social network, digital assistants, all of these give the illusion of companionship without the demands of relationship. The path we are on seems fraught with paradox and about the most important human matters. Yet smitten with technology, we are like young lovers who are afraid that too much talking will spoil the romance. We don't much want to talk about these problems. But it's time to talk. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Sherry Turkle. | Sherry Turkle, once an enthusiast for digital technology, expresses some doubts .
She says people are so focused on devices, networks, that other things get ignored .
Turkle: In our rush to connect online, are we leaving behind real human interaction?
We want technology to step in as we invite people to step back, she says . |
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