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164 | 007c4a5dfd21e5339f96c9c244c6c7d91168a4be | Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- More than 340 fetuses have been found at a Buddhist temple in Bangkok, discovered because the smell of decay drew complaints, police said Wednesday. Discovery of the fetuses, which came from illegal abortion clinics, have led to six morticians being detained for questioning, police Lt. Col. Chusak Kumsai said. The chief of morticians admitted receiving fetuses from several clinics, Kumsai said. Temples in Thailand typically have morticians who prepare bodies for cremation. The fetuses have been taken from the Phai-nguern Chotinaram temple in central Bangkok to the Chulongkorn Forensic Institute for investigation, police said. "I think [the fetuses were at the temple] because the new incinerators are under construction," nearby resident Puak Eiamchan said. "So the temple can't receive any dead bodies to cremate for almost two months now." "I believe that people who did this must have done it for some time and it was exposed because they can't burn the fetuses and they were accumulated to hundreds and the smell started to tell." Abortion is illegal in Thailand, but women are allowed to one if they are the victims of rape, or if the pregnancy endangers the life of the mother, according to Pavena Hongskul, founder of the Pavena Foundation for Children and Women. | The smell of decay leads to the discovery .
The fetuses came from illegal abortion clinics, police say .
The chief of morticians admit receiving fetuses from several clinics .
Temples in Thailand typically have morticians who prepare bodies for cremation . |
76,590 | d94139d83ce6155e6454492aa1fd56b34973c4ff | By . Becky Evans . PUBLISHED: . 11:39 EST, 15 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:42 EST, 15 December 2012 . A building made famous as the setting for children's series Byker Grove will be transformed into an Islamic school. Plans to convert the former Bishop's Palace into a fee-paying faith school have been given the go-ahead. The BAHR Academy will cater for up to 340 boys and girls between 11 and 16 in Benwell, Newcastle. The site has been on the market since 2007, a year after the BBC stopped filming the series. Transformation: The building, pictured behind members of the Byker Grove cast, including Ant and Dec, will become an Islamic Academy . Plans include the development of the run-down site and will include a community building, coffee shop and events space that will be open at weekends. BAHR Academy principal Mufti Muhammad Abdulmuheet welcomed the decision by Newcastle City Council, which he said will see a derelict building put back into the community. He said: 'When it was run by the BBC, the site was not open to everyone but we want the public to come along, the community facilities are for everyone to use. 'We want to show that Islam is inclusive and we want to be a part of Benwell and Scotswood. 'At the moment the building is in a dire state but the community has raised funds to bring it back into use.' Write caption here . Benwell Towers, pictured behind the cast, pictured in 1990, lay empty since 2006 when the BBC pulled the plug on Byker Grove after 17 years. Jill Halfpenny can be seen on the far left . The building was the setting of the popular series that ran from 1989 to 2006. It launched the careers of Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, who played PJ and Duncan on the programme, and over the years also featured Donna Air and Jill Halfpenny. The Newcastle-based Academy bought the site, which includes the Grade II-Listed Benwell Towers and Welburn House, bought for £400,000, . Also known as the Mitre Building, the property was home to the bishops of Newcastle in the late 1800s, before being used as a fire station during the Second World War. It has also been used as a pub and restaurant but has mainly been empty over the past five years. Some objections about traffic congestion were raised by residents at the planning meeting but the plans have been recommended for approval. The report read: 'The proposed school would impact upon some neighbouring residents. 'Increased coming and goings would generate activtity above ity last use as a reocording studio. 'However, any disruption would be for only certain periods of the day and with less activity at weekends. Given the benefits of finding a future use of the property, then these impacts are considered acceptable.' | Grade II-Listed Benwell Towers was bought by BAHR Academy for £400,000 .
Was the setting of BBC series for 17 years but has been empty since 2006 .
The building in Benwell, Newcastle, will cater for 340 boys and girls .
Academy principal welcomed decision by Newcastle City Council to bring derelict building back to life . |
111,983 | 1c6bbd93e8b39a3df736d7d46f39bc8c679f2a4f | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 16:26 EST, 16 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 16:26 EST, 16 November 2012 . The mobile map rivalry between Apple and Google could soon heat up right on Apple’s digital turf. Google is putting the ‘finishing touches’ on a test version of its new mapping application that will work on Apple’s iOS 6-powered iPhones, the Wall Street Journal reports. Google is just a few steps away from submitting the product to Apple’s digital marketplace, say people in the know. Apple Map: Apple released an update to its new iPhone and iPad operating system in September that replaced Google Maps with Apple's own map application . If the new mapping app is accepted into . the iTunes store, it will directly compete against Apple's own mapping software, which has been repeatedly called a ‘flop.’ When Apple launched its new mobile operating system in September, the Silicon Valley heavyweight replaced a working version of Google Maps with its own new Maps application, which quickly came under fire for its numerous flaws. Consumers were outraged, the media went to town and Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook issued a public apology. ‘At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers,’ Cook wrote in a letter to customers posted on the company’s website. ‘With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment.’ The Google Map view: Google, one of Silicon valley's top companies, has been very successful with its mapping software, tech experts say . The Apple Map view: Apple, another Silicon Valley heavyweight, came under fire for its new mapping application, which many called a 'flop' Sources were unable to tell the Wall . Street Journal when Google will actually submit its new maps . applications to the iTunes store and whether or not Apple is likely to accept it. Still, the news remains a positive . sign for iPhone 5 owners who have been begging Apple for a stand-alone . Google Maps application since the release of iOS 6. | Google is putting the ‘finishing touches’
on a test version of its new mapping application that will work on .
Apple’s iOS 6-powered iPhones, sources say .
If the new mapping app is accepted into .
the iTunes store, it will directly compete against Apple's own mapping software, which has been repeatedly called a ‘flop’ |
207,229 | 984e7f5da8609f663d2b688af51e2791f27f9ae8 | A landowner is selling one of the Lake District's most famous peaks for £1.75m - and is hoping 'some daft Russian' will come along and take it off his hands. Lord Hugh Lowther, the eight Earl of Lonsdale, is flogging the 3,000ft Blencathra mountain in a bid to pay off a £9m inheritance bill. But the 64-year-old, who lives there with his third wife Lady Elizabeth, admits he needs some 'show off' to buy the iconic peak - because any prospective buyer won't be able to do anything with it. Lord Hugh Lowther, the eighth Earl of Lonsdale, pictured with his wife Lady Elizabeth, is selling Blencathra mountain in the Lake District for £1.75m . The iconic mountain, commonly known as the Saddleback, is being sold - complete with a ceremonial lordship - to help pay off a £9m inheritance tax bill . Speaking to the Telegraph, Lord Lonsdale said: 'Who's got the money? We know the Chinese have got it, and the Russians . have got it. 'We're hoping there will be some daft Russian (who wants . it) to show off.' The aristocrat, whose family has owned the peak for 400 years, has already sold a Turner painting, a derelict farm standing and a couple of vacant cottages to try and reduce his inheritance tax bill. But with just 18 months to pay every penny, Lord Lonsdale decided it was time to sell the peak - with a ceremonial lordship title chucked in for free. Despite its stark beauty and prime location, Lord Lonsdale knows selling the peak will be hard work. As it is part of the Lake District National Park, which is in Cumbria, any buyer will be unable to develop or build on the peak. Lord Lonsdale, 64, said he can think of 'better things to spend his money on' but hopes 'some daft Russian' will want the mountain so they can 'show off' The new owner will also be unable to do anything about the thousands of walkers who cross the peak each year. Lord Lonsdale admits he can 'think . of better things' to spend his money on, but hopes an extravagant international might feel otherwise. If his wish for a 'daft Russian' does not come true, Lord Lonsdale hopes the government or . National Trust will step in instead. He told the paper: 'Once the duties are gone, I can have a better way of life. I can . go and buy myself a super yacht in the south of France or a house in . the Bahamas. Why not? The mountain, one of the most renowned landmarks in the Cumbrian national park, would still be protected from development even if it is sold . A favourite among tourists and walkers, is only the second mountain to be put on the market, after Snowdon in 1998 . Estate agent John Robson said he hoped someone would buy it, in the same way someone might buy a 'stunning piece of artwork' 'We can still walk on it, and fly over it, and do what the hell we like with it. It's not going anywhere.' Lord Lonsdale inherited the peak, which covers an area of 2,676 acres, from his father in 2006. The iconic mountain is commonly known as Saddleback, due . to the distinctive drop from its peak. On a clear day, it gives view over to the Isle of Man and North Wales. But Lord Lonsdale is still embarking on new ground. Blencathra is only the second mountain to be put on the market, since Snowdon went up for sale in 1998. The peak, which has six separate fell tops, has been in the Lowther family for 400 years . Covering nearly 2,700 acres, the mountain gives stunning views, sometimes as far-reaching as the Isle of Man and North Wales . It will not have a For Sale sign to alert . potential buyers, but the mountain will be advertised in a glossy . brochure, before being bought under sealed bids. Lord Lonsdale, who has several lordships under his belt, is also selling the lordship of the manor of Threlkeld - a ceremonial title, dating back to the 18th Century - to go with the mountain. John Robson, managing director of Lonsdale Settlement Estates, said: 'It is one of the biggest tourist destinations in this country. He said: 'We hope someone will buy it in . the way they would buy a stunning piece of art work. But instead of a . picture of the landscape you are getting the real thing. Lord Lonsdale said he will still 'walk on it, fly over it and do what the hell we like with it' when he sells the iconic peak . Lord Lonsdale says he plans to buy a super yacht in the south of France or a house in the Bahamas once he sells Blencathra . 'The mountain features in the Wainwright mountain guides. It is a unique opportunity to own something so unusual. 'It is the stand out mountain in the Lake District, with a truly beautiful landscape.' The Lowther family have a long history and Lord Lonsdale's father, who was the seventh generation to own the land, inherted the estate in 1953, aged 39. Blencathra's reputation as a tourist attraction has its roots in the 18th century, when people would travel by horseback or carriage along the new Penrith to Keswick turnpike road to enjoy the spectacular views. It was also a favourite of the fell-walker and guide book author Alfred Wainwright. | The iconic Lake District peak, Blencathra, is on the market for £1.75m .
The mountain is being sold by Lord Hugh Lowther, eighth Earl of Lonsdale .
He is selling the 3,000ft peak to pay off a £9m inheritance tax bill .
The aristocrat says he needs a 'daft Russian' with lots of money to buy it . |
81,711 | e792127673d3d1b4ee7d1f0f7f006f83c6131355 | (CNN) -- Barcelona and Atletico Madrid remain virtually inseparable in La Liga after Saturday night's top-of-the-table clash at the Vicente Calderon Stadium ended in a 0-0 draw. As the season reaches its halfway point, both the Catalans and the Red and Whites have 50 points, with only Barcelona's superior goal difference separating the two teams. The first half was a tight affair with both teams careful not to give away an early advantage in what could be a decisive game in the fight for the title. Read more: Who will be crowned world's best footballer? Despite scoring twice in his comeback match against Getafe in midweek, Lionel Messi once again started on the bench but came on for the injured Andres Iniesta at halftime. The Argentine's introduction gave Barca more bite in attack but still Atletico held firm. Neymar's arrival in the 66th minute -- the Brazilian striker also started on the bench after missing the match against Getafe with a bout of gastroenteritis -- added another string to Barcelona's attacking bow but a goal didn't materialize. Messi, who will be hoping to retain FIFA's Ballon D'Or when the winner is announced on Monday, passed and probed but couldn't find a way through. His best chance came nine minutes from the end but the 26-year-old was denied by a fine save from Atletico's Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois. Diego Simeone's side had their moments too with Diego Costa narrowly missing out at the far post when Brazilian defender Miranda flicked on Koke's corner kick in the 28th minute. Turkish midfielder Arda Turan, who provided much of the Atletico's creative spark, also saw a chance go begging with 12 minutes to go -- his mistimed volley easily scooped up by Barcelona's keeper Victor Valdes. Both teams are now six points ahead of third place Real Madrid, but Carlo Ancelotti's side will reduce their arrears to three if they beat Espanyol on Sunday. In Saturday's other La Liga fixtures, fouth-placed Athletic Bilbao romped to a 6-1 victory over Almeria while Valencia's stuttering season continued as they went down 2-1 at Celta Vigo. Two matches were played in Serie A on Saturday with Parma climbing to seventh after running out 3-0 winners at second-from-bottom Livorno while the match between Bologna and Lazio ending goalless. League leaders Juventus travel to Cagliari on Sunday with second place Roma entertaining Genoa. Fifth place Hellas Verona host third place Napoli and Fiorentina, who are currently fourth, travel to Torino. Inter play Chievo Verona at the San Siro on Monday evening. Read more: Relief for Moyes as Man Utd stop the rot . Read more: Does football take homophobia seriously? | La Liga's top two sides play out 0-0 draw as season reaches halfway point .
Both Barca and Atletico have 50 points from 19 games with Barca top on goal difference .
Real Madrid can close gap with leaders to three points with win at Espanyol on Sunday . |
101,108 | 0e4b4628e27c59af82bb7c7bc6cbed2e4636155c | A UKIP county councillor and his wife have admitted stealing nearly £25,000 through benefit fraud using a false address for two years. Cllr Peter Lagoda, 59, and his wife Maria, also 59, today dramatically changed their plea to guilty at the start of their trial. The pair had been accused of giving Fenland District Council a false address in a bid to claim extra benefits from 2008 to 2010. Confession: Cllr Peter Lagoda and his wife Maria both pleaded guilty to using a false address for two years . Lagoda had claimed he lived in South Beach, Cambridgeshire, when instead he shared a property in nearby Wisbech with his wife. It had been alleged the councillor and his wife falsely claimed £11,565 in income support, £2,346 in council tax and £10,949 in housing benefit. Despite originally pleading not guilty in April last year at Cambridge Magistrates' Court, the pair have now admitted all the charges against them. Peterborough Crown Court heard how the dishonesty had stretched for more than two years between June 2008 and November 2010. A UKIP spokesman said: 'If he has . pleaded guilty to a criminal offence, the party will revoke his . membership. He is currently suspended from the party and sitting as an . Independent.' Sentence: The couple will be sentenced together on March 28 at Peterborough Crown Court . The confession comes after Lagoda admitted he described his north African sister as a 'w*g' and German relatives as 'Mongols' whose children have 'slanty eyes'. He said: 'Yes, my cousin married Mongols and now all their little children are ever so cute and they have slanty eyes.' Lagoda had been elected to represent Wisbech South on Cambridgeshire County Council in May last year. But he was suspended from UKIP after being charged by Cambridgeshire Constabulary with the fraud. The pair will now be sentenced on March 28 at the same court. | Councillor Peter Lagoda and wife Maria, both 59, changed plea today .
Accused of using false address from June 2008 to November 2010 .
UKIP spokesman said membership will be revoked due to guilty verdict .
Both will be sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court on March 28 . |
240,663 | c39107da8257b323abc7d27af4c58bae418ce122 | LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- This year, the Oscars are on Hugh Jackman's shoulders. Hugh Jackman plans to offer viewers "a good time" at the Oscars. He hosts the big show Sunday night. The Australian actor, who earned rave reviews for his hosting of the Tonys, now has the Academy Awards to contend with. It's a job that's put Jon Stewart, Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg and David Letterman on the firing line, with only Billy Crystal and Johnny Carson emerging more or less unscathed in the last couple of decades. But with typical verve -- after all, this is the guy who won a Tony for playing song-and-dance man Peter Allen in "The Boy from Oz" -- Jackman cracks jokes about the task, telling ABC that one of his distinctions is that he's the "tallest" Oscar host in recent years. To CNN's Brooke Anderson, he was equally at ease. "Ultimately, the way I see it is if I'm not going to have a good time, then how can anyone else have a good time," he said. Watch Hugh Jackman talk about doing it the Australian way » . Even if he's not having a good time, you may not want to get in his way. After all, this is the guy who's played the fearsome, sharp-clawed Wolverine in the "X-Men" movies and gets a solo turn as the superhero in the forthcoming "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." Jackman talked with Anderson about musical numbers, Heath Ledger and performing "drunk and nude." The following is an edited version of the interview. CNN: Are you feeling any nerves, or is it just pure excitement at this point? Hugh Jackman: It's more, it is more excitement. I'm not impervious ... there has been moments in my life where I've been nervous going on stage, that's for sure, and I know I'll have a butterfly or two, cause yeah, you wanna have a couple. But ultimately, the way I see it is if I'm not going to have a good time, then how can anyone else have a good time. You know, you're the host -- it's not really about you. Ultimately, it's your job to set the tone. Watch Hollywood prepare for the Oscars » . CNN: And the butterflies give you a little bit of adrenaline, I would expect. Jackman: Yeah, and I'll be drinking from about 9 a.m., so that's why I'm impervious. CNN: Now you're a triple threat [a dancer, actor and singer]. I need confirmation on a couple of things. Are you doing a musical number with Beyonce? Jackman: Oh, that's a good question. Look, I'm old school, I don't want to give too much away. But I didn't fully deny it, did I? There's going to be some surprises, that's for sure. CNN: Stars of "High School Musical" as well? Jackman: OK, I'll give you that. Yes, they're going to be up on stage. CNN: This is really a reinvention of the Oscars this year. The ratings have been low. Traditionally a comedian hosts the show. How do you feel about being part of the reinvention this year? Jackman: I'm thrilled and honored, and that's honestly how I feel. I don't worry about the ratings or anything like that. I'm really excited by what is planned for the night, and I can tell you it's different. It really is different. I mean having someone as tall as me is a big change. ... It's really not going to be funny at all. No, but there's so many things I love about what they're doing with the show. Forget ratings, you should always reinvent -- you should always be doing something different. What this night is going to be about is spontaneity. We're going to set an atmosphere that will allow things to happen that you won't expect. And the other thing that I and the creators wanted to keep at the top and forefront of the night is that it should only happen on that night -- whatever happens, it could only happen on Oscar night, and only this year will it happen. So there's going to be some things in there where you're like, "Oh!" CNN: How daring is it going to be? Will there be YouTube moments where people will be talking about the Oscars this year after it happens? Jackman: One of my favorite moments at the Oscars was when the streaker came across David Niven. And we're upping it a level and we're just going to do most of the show naked. Um, well, there hopefully will be YouTube moments. CNN: "The sexiest man alive" [is] going to be up there nude? Jackman: Drunk and nude, yes. So that's our new fresh approach. It's the Australian way. CNN: Are you going to work that "sexiest man alive" title into the show? Jackman: There's a few jokes floating around. Of course I will be about 8 feet away from two-time sexiest man alive Brad Pitt, so yes, there's great temptation to use something there. CNN: And political jokes -- will there be many of them that you will work into the act? Jackman: Hmm ... there may be some, but it won't be top-heavy. CNN: OK, so lots of surprises. You've got experience with award shows, how is this different than hosting the Tonys? Jackman: The Tony Awards is watched by more people in the theater than at home on television. So, the Oscars, it's slightly different, there's about a thousand here [in the theater] and a billion out there. But really, if I hadn't done the Tony Awards, I'd be a hell of a lot more nervous. I mean I'm trained as an actor, that's what I do, it's not like I'm trained to be a host. But having done that, the thing that I think surprised me more than anything was how much fun I had because anything can happen. You're always amongst people who are, they're pros. There's people out there, and if you played with them, they'll generally play back, and that's the thing I like about it. CNN: Heath Ledger was a fellow Australian. Do you think [it will] be a fitting tribute for him to posthumously win an Oscar? Jackman: You know of course, I can't help [but] feel sentimentally for him to be recognized. I think everyone recognizes his talent, his contributions. He was a friend of mine -- I knew him -- so I would love him to get that kind of public recognition. His family will be there; I can't help but feel that will be great. So that's the only category that I will give my preferences. I have a few others. I've had a few little sly bets going. I've got to talk to all those people backstage: Hey, I thought you should have won! CNN: How do you balance your home life with your busy schedule? Jackman: You abandon your family at this point in time. Literally, they're in New York. People have said, "Oh, is the family coming out?" and I've said [to my family] don't bother coming -- I leave at about 7 in the morning and I get home at about 11 at night, so right now it's Skype. God bless Skype. CNN: The kids are understanding? Jackman: Yeah, they're cool. My son, who's named Oscar by the way, he goes, "You know what the headline should be? 'Oscar's dad hosts the Oscars.' " And I was like, that's pretty good. Yeah, he'll stay up and watch it. iReport.com: Who do you think will win at the Oscars? | Hugh Jackman hosts Oscars on Sunday night .
Australian actor jokes that he's going to host "drunk and nude"
Jackman hopes that fellow Aussie Heath Ledger wins best supporting actor . |
148,962 | 4c9cceabb8bfa4ba530de3b87231459fd6141056 | (CNN) -- Missile and launch components have been moved to the east coast of North Korea in the "last few days," a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the information told CNN Thursday. The apparent deployment comes amid further threatening statements by North Korea and heightened tensions in the region -- a situation that "does not need to get hotter," a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said. The move of the missile and launch equipment could mean that Pyongyang, which unleashed another round of scathing rhetoric accusing the United States of pushing the region to the "brink of war," may be planning a missile launch soon. The components, the official said, are consistent with those of a Musudan missile, which has a 2,500-mile range, meaning it could threaten South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia. The United States has been looking for a hidden North Korean east coast launch site or mobile launchers, a concern because a launch from the east coast would go over Japan, the official said. U.S. reducing rhetoric that feeds North Korean rhetoric . It is believed a missile launch would be a "test" launch rather than a targeted strike. That is because it appears the North Koreans have only moved the components so far. The United States is waiting to see whether North Korea issues a notice to its airmen and mariners to stay out of the region. Communication intercepts in recent days also seem to show that Pyongyang might be planning to launch a mobile ballistic missile in the coming days or weeks, another U.S. official said. Earlier, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told a parliamentary committee in Seoul that the North has moved a medium-range missile to its east coast for an imminent test firing or military drill. The missile doesn't appear to be aimed at the U.S. mainland, Kim said, according to the semi-official South Korean news agency Yonhap. Key dates in U.S. military moves near North Korea . Wednesday, the United States announced it was sending ballistic missile defenses to Guam, a Western Pacific territory that is home to U.S. naval and air bases. North Korea has cited those bases when listing possible targets for missile attacks. The latest developments come amid the disclosure of what one U.S. official calls an Obama administration "playbook" of pre-scripted actions and responses to the last several weeks of North Korean rhetoric and provocations. North Korea: Our global fear and fascination . Pentagon seeks to 'turn the volume down' Pentagon officials, while decrying North Korean saber-rattling, said recent announcements of U.S. military deployments in response to belligerent statements by North Korea may have contributed to the escalating tensions between the countries. As the bombast reaches a fever pitch, the United States is refining its message toward North Korea. The Pentagon now says it is working to decrease the temperature as it maintains a frank and vigilant stance toward Pyongyang's threats. "We are trying to turn the volume down," a Defense Department official said. "We accused the North Koreans of amping things up, now we are worried we did the same thing," one Defense Department official said. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland denied that there had been a change in tone and defended the U.S. responses. North Korean social media apparently hacked . "The moves that we have been making are designed to ensure and to reassure the American people and our allies that we can defend the United States, that we will and that we can defend our allies," she said. It was the ratcheting of tensions from North Korea that led to the U.S. shoring up its defense posture, she said. "But we have also been saying all the way through that this does not need to get hotter, that we can change course here" if North Korea cooperates with the international community. At the same time, National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said, the United States urged North Korea's leaders "to heed President Obama's call to choose the path of peace and come into compliance with its international obligations." "Threats and provocative actions will not bring North Korea the security, international respect, and economic development it seeks," she said. North Korea slams U.S. The latest tough talk from Pyongyang lashed out at the U.S. military presence in the region. A spokesman for a North Korean group accused the United States of "hurling" its "nuclear war hardware into the region and pushing the situation on the brink of war," Pyongyang's official news agency reported. North Korean rhetoric against U.S. heats up . "The U.S. imperialists have pursued ceaseless war moves since their occupation of South Korea, creating a touch-and-go situation several times. But never have they worked so desperately to launch a nuclear war against the DPRK with all type latest nuclear hardware involved as now," a spokesman for the National Peace Committee of Korea said in a written statement. The DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The statement said the United States is "seriously mistaken if it thinks it can frighten the DPRK with such latest weapons." It said "the country will no longer remain a passive onlooker to the U.S. imperialists' frantic moves to ignite a nuclear war." "Cutting-edge weapons are not a monopoly of the U.S. and gone are the days never to return when it could invade other countries with nukes as it pleased," the statement said. "The U.S. and the South Korean warmongers had better stop their rash actions, deeply aware of the gravity of the prevailing situation." The movement of missiles . The possible movement of the North Korean missile is "of concern, certainly to the U.S. military and to Japan," said Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Programme at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. He said he believes the missile in question is a Musudan, a weapon the North hasn't tested before that is based on a Soviet system. U.S. sending defensive missiles to Guam . The North has medium-range ballistic missiles that can carry high explosives for hundreds of miles. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Wednesday that the recent North Korean threats to Guam, Hawaii and the U.S. mainland have to be taken seriously. The medium-range missile will probably take about two weeks to prepare, Fitzpatrick said, which means a potential launch could coincide with the April 15 anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea and grandfather of its current leader, Kim Jong Un. "The concern we have is all you need is that one lucky shot, and that one lucky shot from a North Korean missile could do a lot of damage to our island home," Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo told CNN early Friday. North Korea warns 'moment of explosion' nears . The U.S. playbook . As a result of the war of words, the Obama administration established a "playbook" of pre-scripted actions and responses to the last several weeks of North Korean rhetoric and provocations, an administration official said Thursday. The actions included an increased show of U.S. military force during the annual U.S.-South Korea military exercise, the Foal Eagle. Some of the U.S. military's recent moves -- including the deployment of ballistic missile defenses closer to North Korea -- were not part of the planning. Key dates in U.S. military moves near North Korea . The latest situation on the Korean Peninsula stems from the North's latest long-range rocket launch in December and underground nuclear test in February. Tougher U.N. sanctions in response to those moves, combined with joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises in the region, are given by Kim Jong Un's government as reasons to ratchet up its threats in recent weeks. On Thursday, North Korea barred South Korean workers and managers for a second day from entering the Kaesong industrial complex, an economic cooperation zone that sits on the North's side of the border but houses operations of scores of South Korean companies. It also repeated a threat from the weekend to completely shut down the complex, where more than 50,000 North Koreans currently work. The current crisis at Kaesong began a day after North Korea said it planned to restart "without delay" a reactor at its main nuclear complex that it had shut down five years ago as part of a deal with the United States, China and four other nations. Most observers say the North is still years away from having the technology to deliver a nuclear warhead on a missile. It has conducted three nuclear bomb tests, in 2006, 2009 and most recently in February. It has said that its nuclear weapons are a deterrent and are no longer up for negotiation. But U.S. officials have said they see no unusual military movements across the Demilitarized Zone that splits the Korean Peninsula. Many analysts say the increasingly belligerent talk is aimed at cementing the domestic authority of Kim Jong Un. Opinion: Kim Jong Un is not crazy . North Korea's elaborate game of chicken with U.S. CNN's Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Joe Sterling reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Kyung Lah, Judy Kwon and K.J. Kwon in Seoul; Tim Schwarz in Hong Kong; Barbara Starr and Elise Labott and Tom Cohen in Washington . | FIRST ON CNN: Communications intercepts suggest possibility of NK missile launch .
State Department: "This does not need to get hotter"
A show of force during U.S.-South Korean exercises is part of pre-scripted actions .
The U.S. says it is transferring a missile defense system to Guam . |
12,927 | 24a65d60f0d53ef40ae8226c08f171bee2efd2a7 | Los Angeles (CNN) -- Dr. Conrad Murray, who was Michael Jackson's personal physician, is refusing to testify in the wrongful death lawsuit that the singer's mother filed against concert promoter AEG Live. If called, he will plead the fifth so as not to incriminate himself, the doctor said in a statement sent to the Jackson family. Murray has never been questioned under oath about Jackson's death, which occurred on his watch. He did not testify at his trial, where he was found guilty of causing Jackson's death on June 25, 2009, by administering a deadly overdose of sedatives and the surgical anesthetic propofol in what he told police was an attempt to cure the singer's insomnia. He is serving a four-year sentence but could be out in two. On Monday, he was supposed to be deposed in the wrongful death suit. But lawyers for Jackson's mother, Katherine, and her three children called off their jailhouse visit because Murray swore "he would not answer any questions at the deposition or the trial," Jackson lawyer Kevin Boyle told CNN. He said the Jackson case would not suffer without his testimony. AEG's lawyer suggests the Jacksons canceled Murray's deposition because his testimony would "destroy" their case. "They are not interested in the truth," said the lawyer, Marvin Putnam. Asserting his 'Fifth Amendment privilege' The cancellation came after Murray's attorney Valerie Wass sent the Jacksons a sworn statement signed by Murray making it clear he would not answer any questions while his involuntary manslaughter conviction in Michael Jackson's death is being appealed. "Accordingly, if I am called or ordered to testify at deposition or trial in the Katherine Jackson vs AEG wrongful death case, I will be asserting my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refuse to answer any questions," Murray's declaration said. Jury selection in the civil trial is set to begin April 2 in a Los Angeles County court. Prince Jackson, the pop star's oldest son, is expected to testify about his father's last days. Jacksons: Focus back on AEG . The Jackson lawsuit contends that AEG Live is responsible for Jackson's death because it hired and supervised Dr. Murray, who was administering the surgical anesthetic propofol to Jackson each night for a month to induce sleep as he prepared for a series of concerts organized by AEG Live. A jury found Dr. Murray guilty of involuntary manslaughter after hearing testimony that he violated medical standards in his treatment of Jackson. "Dr. Murray's choice to keep quiet puts the focus back on the company, AEG, that hired Dr. Murray and agreed to pay him over $1.5 million a year, and provide Murray with a large house and drivers and other perks, to make sure that the company's biggest asset, Michael Jackson, made it to the shows on time, no matter what," Boyle, the Jacksons' lawyer said. A judge ruled last month that Jackson lawyers could question Murray at the Los Angeles County jail, where he is serving his prison sentence. AEG: Testimony destroys Jacksons' claim . "The Jacksons told the world that they wanted Dr. Murray's deposition, and then when the Court gave it to them, they canceled it," Putnam, the AEG lawyer, told CNN on Sunday. "They have had all of their claims dismissed except negligent hiring, and they don't want Dr. Murray to be deposed because he will tell them what he already told the police: that he worked for Michael Jackson; that Michael Jackson, not AEG, was his employer; and that Michael Jackson personally invited him to join the 'This is It' tour long before anyone at AEG had even heard of him. The Jacksons canceled the deposition because that testimony destroys the only claim they have left. They are not interested in the truth." Back and forth . The Jacksons' lawyer argued, in response to Putnam's comment, that AEG was not interested in having Murray take the stand in the trial. "AEG did not even try to get Dr. Murray to talk," Boyle said. "AEG is simply not telling the truth. AEG can't run from the fact that they hired the man who is in jail for killing the greatest entertainer the world has ever known." Wass, who unsuccessfully objected to the deposition, said she advised Murray to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions because of his appeal. The appeal brief is expected to be filed next week. Jacksons plan to use e-mails . Jackson died two weeks before his "This Is It" comeback concerts, organized by AEG Live, were to have debuted in London in the summer of 2009. E-mails the Jackson's plan to use in their case suggested that the promoter was worried about Jackson's missed rehearsals and they sought Murray's help in getting him ready. Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson and their grandmother contend that AEG Live's pressure on Murray to have Jackson ready for daily rehearsals despite his fragile health led to his death from the propofol overdose. A cornerstone of the Jacksons' case is an e-mail AEG Live co-CEO Paul Gongaware wrote 11 days before Jackson's death. The e-mail to show director Kenny Ortega addressed concerns that Murray had kept Jackson from a rehearsal the day before: "We want to remind (Murray) that it is AEG, not MJ, who is paying his salary. We want to remind him what is expected of him." Jackson lawyers, calling it a "smoking gun," argue the e-mail is evidence that AEG Live used Murray's fear of losing his $150,000-a-month job as Jackson's personal physician to pressure him to have Jackson ready for rehearsals despite his fragile health. Billions at stake . The lawsuit seeks a judgment against AEG Live equal to the money Jackson would have earned over the course of his remaining lifetime if he had not died. If AEG Live is found liable, it could cost the company several billion dollars, according to estimates of Jackson's income potential. AEG Live is a subsidiary of AEG, a global entertainment company that was recently for sale with an $8 billion asking price. The company announced last week it was no longer for sale. | Murray: "I will be asserting my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination"
Jackson lawyers cancel deposition of Murray .
The Jacksons claim AEG Live bears responsibility for pop icon's death .
AEG: Jacksons canceled deposition because Murray would "destroy" their case . |
253,654 | d451615aba36eeaff592dc4a0c28b57a1be6dc7a | By . Mia De Graaf . PUBLISHED: . 07:02 EST, 1 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:50 EST, 1 November 2013 . As crowds of horse-showing experts gathered in Cardiff to battle it out for Horse of the Year, they knew the competition would be tough. But nobody was quite ready for three-year-old Fenton Kirkland. Not yet in school and just months on from taking his first steps, the toddler and his pet Shetland pony Toffee trotted through the three rounds with ease to take the top prize - leaving their 30 adult opponents trailing behind. Winner: Fenton Kirkland, 3, who beat 30 adults to win gold cup and best of show rosette with his pet Shetland . Style: Competitors are awarded points for style in the contest that people spend months training for . The inseparable pair - who are the same . height - were commended for appearance, behaviour and style at the . annual contest run by Sunnybank Equestrian Centre, in Rudry near . Cardiff. Taking to the stage against men and women . in smart bowler hats, he tipped his flat cap at a jaunty angle and . paraded two-year-old Toffee around the ring. Fenton was lauded by judges for natural handling skills well beyond his years. And Toffee received top marks for his appearance and personality. Fenton was given Toffee as a third birthday present last March and has practised with the Shetland pony every day since. His mother Donna, 30, said: 'Fenton and Toffee are a great double act. Inseparable: Fenton was given two-year-old Toffee for his third birthday in March this year . 'They were up against all comers but the two of them walked off with the gold cup and rosette. It was only the second time he had competed with Toffee and we were all ecstatic when he won. 'Complete strangers in the arena all thought he was so phenomenal they wanted photos taken with him.' The youngster, from the village of Nantyglo, near Ebbw Vale, South Wales, is following in the footsteps of his aunt Sharon Howells, who has been showing horses for more than 10 years. Mrs Howells said: 'The whole place was electric and everybody was cheering and clapping. In the family: He hopes to follow his aunt Sharon Howells who has been showing horses for 10 years . 'He was running on sand down the full length of the arena and even though he looked so tiny he did a marvellous job. 'Fenton is animal mad - he loves horses, tractors and farms and has got two chickens which he looks after. 'The way he has started he'll be at the Horse of the Year show before long - and I'm sure he'll do well.' A spokesman for the annual horse show said: 'Fenton is only three but he knows how to handle his pony. They are a great team together. 'The judges marked Fenton and Toffee on how well they were turned out and the way they presentedin the show ring. 'They look for good teamwork between the pony and the handler - Fenton and Toffee were the best in the ring. 'I'm sure Fenton was helped by his cute clothes, he really looked the part.' | Fenton Kirkland was given two-year-old Toffee for his 3rd birthday in March .
After months of practising, the pair won Championship Prize at Sunnybank Equestrian Centre's annual Horse of the Year contest in Rudry near Cardiff .
They were awarded points for style, behaviour and appearance . |
276,828 | f2a33441f77dc39aca905071d5821b0393258742 | (CNN) -- U.S. law enforcement seized thousands of pounds of drugs and arrested hundreds of people in a synchronized bust targeting Mexican drug cartels and their associates, federal authorities said Friday. The sweep involved several local, state and federal agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a statement from that organization. Together, they arrested 676 people and seized more than $12 million, 282 weapons and 94 vehicles around the United States. In addition, nearly 40,000 pounds of marijuana, 467 kilograms of cocaine, 64 pounds of methamphetamine and 21 pounds of heroin were captured in the operation, the statement said. John Morton, the immigration and customs agency's director, said the effort showed what U.S. law enforcement could do when working together on the issue, while stressing that its work wasn't complete. "Through our continued coordination and cooperation with Mexican law enforcement, ICE agents and officers will strike at the very heart of these organizations by seizing the drugs, guns and money that fuel their criminal enterprises," Morton said. The joint operation began Wednesday, roughly a week and a half after immigrations and customs' agent Jaime Zapata was ambushed on a highway while working in Mexico. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Michael Sanders said the agencies are trying to send a message to cartel operatives in the United States. He described most of the targets as mid- to high-level dealers, the type who have day jobs but work in cells that distribute drugs and return drug money to Mexico. A Houston police officer was shot Thursday as he tried to serve a narcotics warrant while taking part in the sweep. Officers returned fire, striking the suspect. The suspect's condition was unknown, police spokesman Kese Smith said. Houston police officer Nash Patel was struck in the elbow and lower backside but was in good condition at the hospital, Smith said. The people arrested this week belong to several cartels, Sanders said. The cells tend to be small and work in an isolated fashion, so it's possible that multiple cells from the same cartel may operate in the same city without knowing each other. Those arrested could face federal drug charges or various state charges, depending on the evidence collected. CNN's Mariano Castillo contributed to this report. | Law enforcement agencies work together to target Mexican drug cartel operations in the U.S.
$12 million, 282 weapons, 94 vehicles, 40,000 pounds of pot, 467 kilos of cocaine seized .
The coordinated bust began Wednesday and targeted operations around the U.S.
It comes a week and a half after a U.S. agent was killed while working in Mexico . |
88,711 | fbca9bf96c440bbfab59de6bd5f6d06ed609ed99 | (CNN) -- In protest of what it calls a religion "of the devil," a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida, plans to host an "International Burn a Quran Day" on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks. The Dove World Outreach Center says it is hosting the event to remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam. With promotions on its website and Facebook page, it invites Christians to burn the Muslim holy book at the church from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. "We believe that Islam is of the devil, that it's causing billions of people to go to hell, it is a deceptive religion, it is a violent religion and that is proven many, many times," Pastor Terry Jones told CNN's Rick Sanchez earlier this week. Jones wrote a book titled "Islam is of the Devil," and the church sells coffee mugs and shirts featuring the phrase. Muslims and many other Christians -- including some evangelicals -- are fighting the initiative. The church launched a YouTube channel to disseminate its messages. "I mean ask yourself, have you ever really seen a really happy Muslim? As they're on the way to Mecca? As they gather together in the mosque on the floor? Does it look like a real religion of joy?" Jones asks in one of his YouTube posts. "No, to me it looks like a religion of the devil." The Islamic advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Muslims and others to host "Share the Quran" dinners to educate the public during the monthlong fast of Ramadan beginning in August. In a news release, the group announced a campaign to give out 100,000 copies of the Quran to local, state and national leaders. "American Muslims and other people of conscience should support positive educational efforts to prevent the spread of Islamophobia," said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper in the release. The National Association of Evangelicals, the nation's largest umbrella evangelical group, issued a statement urging the church to cancel the event, warning it could cause worldwide tension between the two religions. "The NAE calls on its members to cultivate relationships of trust and respect with our neighbors of other faiths. God created human beings in his image, and therefore all should be treated with dignity and respect," it said in the statement. Dove's Facebook page, set up for the September event, has more than 1,600 fans. "Eternal fire is the only destination the Quran can lead people to, so we want to put the Quran in it's [sic] place -- the fire!" the page says. But another Facebook group with more than 3,100 fans says it stands "against the disrespect and intolerance that these people have for the Muslim people" and encourages people to report Dove's page to Facebook. Targeting another group it calls "godless," the Dove center is also hosting a protest against Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe, who is openly gay, on Monday at Gainesville's City Hall. The group previously fought -- unsuccessfully -- to derail Lowe's election campaign. "We protest sexual perversion because the Bible protests it. ... What is acceptable to today's leadership becomes acceptable to tomorrow's society," the church says in its blog entry about the event. Lowe and other government figures and media outlets received e-mails from the church about the event, The Gainesville Sun reported. Lowe isn't concerned with Monday's event. "I've got other things to do," he said, The Sun reports. On the outreach center's front lawn, alongside a sign reading "Aug. 2 Protest, No Homo Mayor, City Hall," stands not just one, but three signs bearing the slogan "Islam is of the Devil." One of the signs -- one reading "Islam" on one side, "Devil" on the other -- was vandalized. On its blog last week, the church said the sign will be replaced. "This is private property and vandalism is a crime here in America," the blog says. "In Islam, many actions that we consider to be crimes are encouraged, condoned or sheltered under Islamic teaching and practice, though. Another reason to burn a Quran." | Dove World Outreach Center to host "International Burn a Quran Day"
In video, pastor says Islam is "a religion of the devil"
The National Association of Evangelicals is asking the church to call off the event .
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling on Muslims to launch education efforts . |
220,423 | a95179cac02a5b3730dc746ed951e79748a115db | The days of awkwardly cutting an oval egg into odd-shaped slices to make it fit into a sandwich is now over. A kitchen gadget has been invented that squashes the egg into a square, meaning it can be chopped more easily and placed into sandwiches, burgers and onto salads. The simple device simply squashes the egg, with the help of a small drop of oil, to change it from an oval into a cube. Scroll down for video . A clever gadget has been invented to solve the age-old problem of fitting slices of round egg in a square sandwich. For generations people have been chopping up circular pieces of egg and layering them on bread but being forced to leave gaps at the corners. But this device turns the oval snack into a cube (shown) A Chicago-based entreprenuer has come up with something else worth getting egg-cited about after inventing a gadget that scrambles an egg inside its own shell. The £10 ($17) contraption named Goose gently spins the egg, blending the yolk and the white without cracking the shell itself. The already-scrambled egg can then be soft or hard boiled - and its creator, Geraint Krumpe, claims the ingenious method makes them taste far better than regular eggs. The contraption, known as the Egg-Q-ber, is a jar in which hard-boiled eggs are placed and squashed into the new shape. A user simply has to cook their egg, peel off the shell, place it in the container and screw on the lid, which forces it into a cube. After one minute the egg will have moulded to a cube shape and can be chopped up ready to eat. The square slices can then fit to the exact shape of a sandwich. The £4.99 ($8.50) gadget is 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches (8.9cm by 11.4cm) in size and is made by Kidult. Robert Lawson, 33, is from Harrogate, Yorkshire and is the owner of Kidult, who manufacture the Egg-Q-Ber. The contraption, known as the Egg-Q-Ber, is a jar in which hard-boiled eggs are placed and squashed into the new shape. A user simply has to cook their egg, peel off the shell, place it in the container with a dash of oil, and screw on the lid to get the sandwich-friendly square eggs (shown) He said: 'The concept was conceived in Japan by a man named Masashi Nakagawa and his agent then approached Kidult. 'We . then designed, sourced, manufactured and distributed it. The Egg-Q-Ber . is something that started as a novelty but it's also practical and . people enjoy using it. 'It stops the egg rolling around on the plate and it makes the correct shapes for sandwiches.' Ben . Redhead, head of buying for Firebox who is stocking the product, added: . 'Boiled eggs have been the bane of picnics and packed lunches the world . over due to their completely illogical shape. To use the Egg Q-ber device the egg must first be hard boiled (left) before being placed inside with a bit of oil and closing the lid (right) The egg must be kept inside with the lid closed (left) for one minute. When it is taken out it will have been moulded into a cube shape . 'Now we’ve discovered the Egg-Q-Ber, we’ve finally brought a little discipline to the dinner plate and can create perfectly uniform sandwich coverage too. 'All someone needs to do is hard boil their egg and peel off the shell, pop it in the Egg-Q-Ber, wait for a minute and it will be in a cube shape. 'The product proves very popular in the summer months when people tend to eat more salads and sandwiches. 'People have said they were sceptical at first but found the results were actually really good, and that their friends are all wanting them now.' | A gadget that can squash eggs into cubes has been unveiled .
The jar-like Egg Q-ber is being sold by London-based Firebox .
It works by placing a hard boiled egg inside, with oil, and closing the lid .
After a minute the lid is removed and the egg is moulded into a cube .
Could have practical applications such as making sandwiches easier . |
48,089 | 87c02f153a58dec7fcb6f8aa0ef830bed69ac718 | Claims: Scotland Yard were set to interview the solider about his alleged claims over Diana's death before he allegedly left the country . The SAS soldier who made astonishing claims Princess Diana was murdered by special forces has apparently fled Britain just days before he is set to be questioned by police. The former sniper, known only as soldier N, is said to have left the country as Scotland Yard launches a new investigation into the Princess' death. He allegedly told his wife that a member of an elite unit shone a light in her chauffeur's face causing him to crash in August 1997. The . wife claimed her husband had told her the 'hit' had been . instructed by someone in the royal inner circle because they did not approve of Diana's relationship with Fayed. Soldier N was due to meet Scotland Yard's DCI Philip Easton but is understood to have left the country on Monday or Tuesday. A source close to the investigation told The Sunday People: 'Soldier N is key to this inquiry as he is the person who made the claims about Diana's murder. 'Pressure on him has been mounting since the original story broke last month. He was aware police wanted to interview him.' It is thought Soldier N may be have travelled to the United Arab Emirates while his partner and her children are still at their home in Hereford. Scotland Yard reportedly decided to review the case, 16 years after Diana's death in a Paris underpass, after interviewing the woman who insists her former husband's claims were true. She alleged a white car and . motorbike were involved in the plot which enlisted the services of one . of Soldier N's former SAS colleagues. When asked by officers why she hadn't reported her husband's theory earlier the woman said she had been sworn to secrecy. In a dramatic twist, the investigation could also unearth recordings of the . crash after security experts revealed Diana's phone was bugged. Soldier N is also alleged to have stolen money while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Crash: Soldier N allegedly told his wife about the 'hit' after he had taken Prince William on an advanced driving course in 2008 . His wife reportedly told officers that when he returned from a tour of duty in Iraq in 2004, she was asked to pay 13,000 Iraqi dinars (around £7,000) into his personal bank account. The conversation took place in 2011 but the couple have since separated. When the woman quizzed her husband . about his theory he reportedly told her the SAS had been following Diana . and Dodi Al Fayed, who was also killed in the accident. The . forthcoming investigation, which was prompted by the claims, will look into allegations from a source in . the UK security industry that GCHQ was remotely taping Diana and Dodi up . until the moment of the crash. A source told a national newspaper said Diana was a prime . intelligence target, GCHQ operatives 'would have wanted and had the . capacity to listen live to the conversations in the car as it sped away . from the Ritz.'. Couple: Diana and Dodi pictured on CCTV at the Ritz Hotel in Paris just hours before the fatal crash . At the time IRA terrorists were driving vehicles packed with explosives around the UK in plots to blow up city centres - and senior military commanders had to find a way to thwart them. One source said: 'The SAS had to develop a series of tactics for every eventuality. In the 1980s the IRA were driving bombs to targets around Britain.' Diana, . 36, Fayed, 42, and their driver Henri Paul, 41, were killed in the . crash in 1997. The Princess' bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was seriously . injured. Al Fayed's father, Mohammed Al Fayed has . always asserted the pair's deaths were the result of a planned murder . at the hands of the British Establishment and MI6, and similarly claims a . white Fiat was involved in the crash but has never been traced. | Solider N was due to be interviewed by Scotland Yard for new investigation .
Said to have left the country on Monday and Tuesday and maybe in the UAE .
Comes after his claims that the crash was a 'hit' ordered by an elite unit .
Sources say he may have fled because of the 'pressure' |
254,842 | d5dda6fe17ce5b1baa3c9674a1d1c6b6cd6b54b9 | By . Mia De Graaf . PUBLISHED: . 04:01 EST, 30 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:06 EST, 30 November 2013 . Busy: Steve Chapman, 57, has no recollection of painting the ceiling or cooking meals while asleep . For most people, painting the ceiling is simply a bore. But Steve Chapman doesn't blink an eyelid. In fact, the father-of-two was fast asleep when he scaled a ladder to do the handy-work and went on to cook a meal - all before he woke up. And he cannot remember a thing. Suffering from a rare condition which causes him to sleep for around 60 hours at a time, Mr Chapman, 57, had no idea what he was getting up to until his wife spotted the ladder and the newly-immaculate decor. He can also eat 'dozens' of chocolate bars in his sleep without knowing until he discovers the empty wrappers thanks to the 'Sleeping Beauty' disorder. Officially known as Kleine-Levin Syndrome, it affects around one in a million people and makes them fall into a deep sleep for even months on end. Sufferers - predominantly male - are known to experience flu-like symptoms before abruptly falling asleep. Excessive food intake, hallucinations and an abnormally uninhibited sex-drive can be observed during episodes. Mr Chapman, from Overton, Hampshire, has suffered symptoms for 33 years and says being diagnosed was a 'huge relief'. A machine assistant at banknote printer De La Rue, he said: 'It was very distressing for my wife Doreen. 'She once came home and found a ladder in the lounge - I had been painting the ceiling but couldn't remember anything. 'I would even cook myself things to eat. After one episode, my wife found the wrappers from dozens of chocolate bars strewn across the room.' He describes experiencing a feeling of 'blackness' for two days before his episodes, in which he could be 'active' but have no memory of his actions. Mr Chapman has been able to keep his job by managing his KLS with medication, and is determined to raise awareness about the condition. Treatment: After 33 years, the father-of-two has been diagnosed and needs to follow an intense treatment regime . Medication: With no known cure, doctors can only prescribe stimulant pills like modafinil and amphetamines . But he said he and his two sons - who are both now grown-up - had found it hard to deal with. He was diagnosed by specialists after several misdiagnoses and was even being accused of faking his symptoms for several years. Mr Chapman added: 'The diagnosis has made a huge difference to me.' Though there is no known treatment for the disorder, doctors sometimes prescribe stimulant pills such as modafinil - though this often provokes irritability. Adele Clarke, a founding member of KLS Support UK, said: 'KLS is a strange condition which is very hard for sufferers to live with. 'The more awareness there is, the better.' | Steve Chapman, 57, diagnosed with KLS or 'Sleeping Beauty Syndrome'
It causes its 1million sufferers to sleep 'for months on end', experts claim .
He has had symptoms for 33 years but can't remember any of his activities . |
55,711 | 9deb3096d100f70a9054671c62caa6b806269b14 | These haunting images provide a rare glimpse inside a dilapidated New York City hospital that has become a popular stop for curious tourists after being shut for 60 years. Like a scene from a horror film the long-abandoned immigrant hospital on Ellis Island is filled with eerie corridors, crumbling rooms and forgotten equipment. It was where one out of ten arrivals deemed too ill to enter the US were sent to recover or die as they landed in America aboard ships from overseas. Photographer Gordon Donovan snapped these eerie images of the long-abandoned immigrant hospital on Ellis Island in New York . Tourists can look inside rooms that were previously shut, including a linen room where mattresses were dried after being cleaned . A look inside a bathroom used by thousands of immigrants in one of the wards inside the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital in New York . One of the creepy main corridors that visitors walk through during hard-hat tours of the dilapidated hospital buildings . Ellis Island – known as the ‘Gateway to America’ – was the country’s largest and most active immigration station from 1892 to 1924. More than 12 million newcomers were processed, but some were deemed unfit for entry and sent to the hospital which is in ruins after years of decay. The 29-building medical complex, which opened in 1902, was in its day the largest public health institution in America. Ellis Island, known as the 'Gateway to America', is situated just north of the Statue of Liberty and just south of Lower Manhattan . A giant cage was attached to this building, which was used to house psychiatric patients after they arrived from overseas . Abandoned 60 years ago the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital has become a popular stop for curious tourists after reopening recently . The hospital was where one out of ten arrivals deemed too ill to enter the US were sent recover or die . It operated as a hospital until 1930 and was left to rot when the immigration station closed in 1954. Located on the Hudson River between the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan, Ellis Island's main building was restored and reopened as an immigration museum in 1990. But the hospital complex on the island's south side remained shuttered until officials reopened the buildings for public viewing. Ellis Island – known as the ‘Gateway to America’ – was the country’s largest and most active immigration station from 1892 to 1924 . Tourists are taken inside the laundry room during hard-hat tours through the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital . More than 12 million newcomers were processed on Ellis Island, but some were deemed unfit for entry and sent to the hospital . This large contraption is one of the old washing machines, from around 1930, found in the hospital's laundry room . The 29-building medical complex, which opened in 1902, was in its day the largest public health institution in America . During breaks hospital staff could retreat to this room which was equipped with a fireplace and furniture . Gordon Donovan, from New York, captured these incredible images during a hard-hat tour through select areas of the 750-bed medical complex, including large hospital wards, kitchens, laundry facilities and morgues. He said: ‘The tour is for history buffs and especially photography lovers. ‘The fading colours of the interiors, corroding machinery, metal stairs and doors, strong textures and challenging lighting are wonderful photography experiences.’ For $25 per person, visitors are taken on a 90-minute guided tour of some of the hospital's buildings, including its powerhouse . Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital operated as a health complex until 1930 and was left to rot when the immigration station closed in 1954 . The hard-hat tour takes visitors through select areas of the 750-bed medical complex, including wards, kitchens and morgues . Gordon Donovan said the fading colours, corroding machinery and strong textures make it a 'wonderful photography experience' Much of the medical equipment has been removed over the years but visitors can still see some of the original machinery . Superintendent John Piltzecker of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island added: ‘Even though much of the hospital equipment is no longer here, these special buildings are able to speak volumes. ‘The National Park Service is pleased to work with Save Ellis Island in their efforts to bring visitors to the South Side to learn more about the island's unique story through this special tour program.’ Led by a group called Save Ellis Island, the 90-minute guided tours cost $25 (approximately £15) per person. | One out of ten arrivals deemed too ill to enter the US were sent to Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital to recover or die .
Ellis Island, the 'Gateway to America', was the largest and most active immigration station from 1892 to 1924 .
The medical complex, which opened in 1902, was shut for 60 years before recently opening for hard-hat tours .
Visitors are taken through large hospital wards, kitchens, laundry facilities and morgues during organised tours . |
239,518 | c21dd90e7686bd053afa3a879113fa020e96bb65 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 20:05 EST, 14 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:30 EST, 15 July 2013 . Stable: Nelson Mandela, will be discharged from hospital, ex-president Mbeki said . Nelson Mandela will soon be discharged . from hospital to recuperate at home, according to former South African . president Thabo Mbeki. ‘I am quite certain that one of these days Madiba (Mandela) will go back home,’ he said at the weekend. Official statements that South . Africa’s first black president was critical but stable were correct, he . said, at a memorial service in Pretoria on Saturday. He added: 'One of . these days the doctors will agree that he can go and stay at home . rather than in hospital.’ Mandela’s wife Graça Machel also said she was ‘less anxious’ about his condition. ‘He continues to respond positively to treatment. I would say that today I am less anxious than I was a week ago,’ she said. The former apartheid campaigner has . been hospitalised for more than five weeks for a recurring lung . infection, which has led to four hospital stays in the last six months. Friends who have visited him say he is . on a life support machine - and court papers alleged he was in a . persistent vegetative state - but recent official updates have said . Mandela was in a critical but stable condition. Mandela, who was hospitalized on June . 8, turns 95 on Thursday. He spent 27 years in prison before becoming South Africa’s first black president in 1994. Last week, a close friend of . Mandela contradicted the court reports that he was ‘totally conscious’ when he visited him in hospital this week. Family: Mandela's daughters, Zazine Diamini and Swati Diamini visit the Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria today where their father is said to be in a stable condition . Update: Graca Machel spoke about her husband's condition at a fundraising drive for a children's hospital that will be named after the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader . Denis . Goldberg, a white anti-apartheid activist and stalwart of the ruling . African National Congress (ANC), contradicted that medical opinion . presented in court, which stated that Mandela has been in a ‘vegetative . state’ for the last nine days and his family had discussed switching off . his life support machine. Goldberg, . who was jailed for 22 years during the infamous Rivonia trial of 1964 . that saw Mandela imprisoned for life, insisted that he had visited . Mandela on Monday and he that ‘he is clearly a very ill man, but he . responds to voices and tries to talk.’ He added: ‘He was dozing when I got . there. I spoke and told him who I was and he opened his eyes and looked . at me. I spoke to him for about ten minutes and he responded positively . to what I was saying. He was aware of who I was.' Support: A shrine has grown in front of Mandela's house in Johannesburg as well-wishers flock to the site to pay their respects . Tributes: Katlego Matswalela, left, reads messages in support of Mandela at the shrine outside his home . Get well soon: Well-wishers pose with messages for the former South African President outside his home . | Nelson Mandela will soon be discharged after spending a month in hospital .
President Thabo Mbeki said Mandela was critical but stable .
Mandela’s wife Graça Machel said she is now ‘less anxious’ |
61,500 | aead642a5dc791a8574540bcc2c92dd9f328d874 | FC Rostov head coach Igor Gamula has been suspended for five matches after being found guilty of making racist comments, the Russian Football Union (RFS) said in a statement on Wednesday. Ukrainian-born Gamula said he wouldn't sign any more black players and joked that Ebola had spread to his club at a press conference last month, but after his comments were published the coach insisted he was joking and the English media didn't understand his 'Russian humour'. Asked after the match against Ural Ekaterinburg on October 31 if Rostov had signed Cameroon defender, Benoit Angbwa, who attended the game, Gamula said: 'We already have six black players, do you want me to get a seventh? Angbwa just lives here, we will not be buying him.' VIDEO Scroll down to watch Watch FIFA's powerful anti-discrimination campaign video . Rostov coach Igor Gamula was suspended for five matches for a 'joke' about black players and Ebola . Rostov had been linked with Cameroon defender Benoit Angbwa, seen here playing for Anzhi against Spurs . The 54-year-old Gamula's comments caused a storm in the media, especially in Britain. 'I immediately told the journalist that my remarks were between him and me and it was a joke. He took the quote and published it,' Gamula said. 'I will say it again - it was a joke. I have a great relationship with all the team's dark skinned players. The British press just doesn't understand our Russian humour.' Rostov's South Africa central defender Siyanda Xulu didn't see the funny side of the 'joke' either, and said he would not train until Gamula apologised to all of the club's dark-skinned players. Rostov's South Africa central defender Siyanda Xulu (right) and other black players at the club demanded and received an apology from their coach . Gamula personally said sorry to each of the players in question and they all shook hands with him. South Africa's Minister for Sport, Fikile Mbalula, and South African FA president Danny Jordaan have asked FIFA to look further into Gamula's comments. 'Any country that is going to host the World Cup should be hospitable to any race or nation, without discrimination because of the colour of a person's skin and in particular Russia,' Jordaan said referring to the 2018 finals. 'Therefore I believe that he (Gamula) deserves the harshest possible punishment. This is not the first time that such things have been said in Russia.' Angbwa (right), previously of Krylia Sovetov, had been linked with a move to struggling Rostov . Dynamo Moscow's Congo defender Christopher Samba and Zenit St Petersburg's Brazil striker Hulk were both victims of racist abuse by opposition fans during matches in September. 'Of course, you need to watch what you say, especially when we are trying to battle against racism,' RFS vice president Nikita Simonyan said after Wednesday's disciplinary committee meeting. 'If you want my personal opinion, I think Gamula said he was sorry enough times. He literally slapped himself in his face for making such an unfortunate joke.' Gamula said the RFS had told him not to comment on his ban. | Igor Gamula, coach of Russian club Rostov, suspended for five games .
Gamula 'joked' he already had 'enough dark-skinned' players .
Also suggested Ebola had spread to team after five players fell ill .
Coach claimed English media didn't get his 'Russian humour'
Rostov's South African defender Siyanda Xulu demanded an apology . |
148,383 | 4bde397d6e501de87ec043019f7894af5efc6a72 | (CNN) -- For many people, the name Sierra Leone still conjures up images of the country's decade-long civil war and subsequent war crimes trials. However, eight years after the end of the war, the country is hoping that tourism will be the key to its future prosperity. One organization with an innovative plan to attract the visitors back is Tribewanted, a project to build an eco-tourism community on John Obey beach, 20 miles from the capital Freetown. From October, the project hopes to attract tourists paying $450 a week to live in the community and help build a sustainable tourist village on the beach. The price includes all meals and a contribution to the community development. In addition, visitors will pay for their flights and transfers from the airport. Ben Keene, co-founder of Tribewanted, told CNN, "We are going to be working with the local community of John Obey. We are going to build our village on this tiny peninsula and this is going to be our new life." This is the second Tribewanted project. The first began four years ago on the Fijian island of Vorovoro, which the organization claims has injected more than $1million into the local economy. Elijah Eccles, a John Obey villager working as a cook on the project, told CNN, "We want to have tourists coming in so a lot of people will have a job to do. "We used to work with tourists before, but because of the war everything broke down," he explained. "But we want the tourists to start to come again." Daniel Macauley, another local working for Tribewanted, said: "I believe that eco-tourism will be good for development because the locals will be involved and we are controlling it. It will help to develop the community and other areas like schools and healthcare. "We are sending out a message to the world that Sierra Leone is open for people to come and visit, to actually see what we can give to them," he continued. "There's a lot to come and see: the people, of course, and the country and also the nature we have," he said. Filippo Bozotti, co-founder of Tribewanted, told CNN, "It's the perfect project for Tribewanted to partner up with the local community for sustainable development. "We are looking for this to be a long sustainable project that helps the community in the long-term," he added. The area has already come a long way since the devastation of the civil war, which ended in 2002 with the help of a 17,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission. "What's amazing is this whole place has been built up since the end of the war, so these villages have been built completely from scratch," said Keene. The World Travel Guide, which describes itself as the "bible" of the travel industry, said Sierra Leone was trying to recreate the tourist trade it enjoyed before the war, when 100,000 foreign visitors came every year for its natural beauty, secluded white sandy beaches and unspoilt rainforests. The guide said: "The government is starting from scratch, going back to basics to entice foreign travelers to return to this small corner of Africa." It said Sierra Leone was modeling its tourism development on that of nearby Gambia. The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office warns its travelers of petty crime, poor infrastructure and few health facilities. It said: "Transport infrastructure is poor. None of the options for transferring between the international airport at Lungi and Freetown are risk-free." The website VisitSierraLeone.org describes Freetown peninsula as "a taste of paradise". It said: "Probably offering the greatest potential in the tourism industry, the beaches along the Freetown Peninsula are a sight to behold. "As tourism is still a developing industry in Sierra Leone, the beaches are not overwhelmed with visitors which means that most are still in pristine condition and on a weekday you could have an amazing beach entirely to yourself." A U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Freetown convened to try militia leaders on both sides of the civil war ended in October 2009 after seven years. Former Liberian leader Charles Taylor is still on trial in The Hague accused of instigating atrocities during the war in Sierra Leone. | Sierra Leone's tourist infrastructure collapsed during its 10-year civil war .
Tribewanted will ask visitors to help build a sustainable tourist village .
Sierra Leone wants to emulate nearby Gambia's tourist success . |
123,940 | 2c38cfc10550bbe618e52a64788ba46fbb15e503 | Criminal: Ken Boonstra, 48, has been identified as the man who broke into a young couple's home and was killed during a struggle . An intruder who was stabbed to death after breaking into a gym owner's house had been planning to sexually assault his wife and video tape it, according to reports this week. Ken Boonstra was stabbed to death by a 26-year-old woman while her husband struggled with him in their Washington home. Police have now revealed that Boonstra, 48, had a camera and tripod in his pocket when he broke into the couple's home. The couple, who own a local branch of a gym, are not being identified because they are the victims of a crime. The wife's mother and the couple's seven-month-old daughter were both in the home at the time of the attack. The Seattle Times reports that the fatal early morning break in on May 13 was not the first time that Boonstra had been in the couple's home. He went into the house 12 hours before the attack and threatened the wife, grabbing her by her ponytail and demanding all of her money. She didn't get a good look at him because her hair was grabbed from behind, West said. She was slapped and punched in the face and suffered an ankle injury as she was dragged by her hair. 'This guy apparently grabbed her by the pony tail, swung her around, robbed her, and then either slapped or punched her in the face,' said Sgt Cindi West, spokesman with King Country sheriff's department. At the time, that was $41 cash, and her left the house. The wife called police to report the robbery and was understandably frazzled. The recording of the call hears the dispatcher tell her to take a deep breath and reassures her that police are on the way. She responds: 'I just want them to be here... I'm sorry, I'm just so scared.' Fighting back: The couple, whose names are not being revealed because they are the victim of a crime, fought back against the attacker who had attacked the wife 12 hours earlier also in their home . The problem therein appears to be that he became familiar with both the house and the woman prompting him to return later that night with the apparent intention of sexually assaulting or abducting her. The wife was not the only woman involved in the attack, as initial reports also stated that her mother was also involved, along with her husband. The family went out to dinner that night and then went to bed by 10pm after 'triple checking' the locks on every door. Hours later around 1.40am, the husband woke when their dogs started barking. When he heard the dogs begin to growl, he ran back to get wasp spray which he used on the intruder with little success. The wife originally came into the struggle armed with a baseball bat but that broke during the altercation. Defending their home: The couple were in their Washington home with their 7-month-old daughter and the wife's mother at the time of the attack in May . 'When the husband was fighting with the intruder, the wife was the one that went and got the knife, and stabbed the intruder, trying to help her husband out,' said West. It took several stabs of the knife to get Boonstra to stop fighting. 'The overall circumstances indicate that the suspect may have entered the home this morning with the intent of abduction and sexual assault,' the police report read. Police were able to confirm that Boonstra was the man responsible for the earlier break in because the wife had knocked off his hat during that struggle. DNA tests later matched the fibers on the hat to Boonstra's dead body. Boonstra's mother told The Seattle Times that her son had been 'going downhill' ever since his divorce years earlier and police found a collection of videos posted to Youtube wherein he made religious and anti-women ramblings. The intruder apparently was the same man who robbed the woman in the North Bend home Sunday - just 12 hours earlier . Before the inital break in, the wife had taken to Facebook to post her joy at celebrating her first Mother's Day with her baby girl, boasting of her incredible husband and saying she 'couldn't ask for anything more.' The trainer at a Cascade gym was then deluged with messages of support from friend, with one declaring her a 'mother, protector, wife, business woman and heroine'. The fit and healthy young couple have left their home to recuperate after their frantic night battle. The couple had no significant injuries from the fatal fight, but a detective said they were likely sore because it was 'quite a struggle,' said King County sheriff's Sgt. Cindi West. Buff: The couple owned a nearby gym . Investigators don't believe the residents know the intruder and there's nothing to indicate why the house was attacked. There's no marijuana growing in the home, for example, West said. 'We have not seen anything that would explain why this house was targeted,' she said. Some neighbors speculated the man may have come from a homeless camp in some nearby woods. 'This is a weird deal, just a bizarre case,' West said. | Ken Boonstra, 48, has been identified as the man who broke into a young family's central Washington home and was killed by the wife .
Police have now revealed that he likely planned on abducting or sexually assaulting the wife .
He had a camera and tripod in his pocket when he broke in the house .
Was the same man that broke in to the home and attacked the wife 12 hours earlier but she didn't see his face the first time .
She stabbed him to death with a kitchen knife while her husband tried fighting him off . |
237,894 | bfe7eea3d36a9d83c1c2b1752230ecd343c2425e | A Russian thrill-seeker has taken sofa surfing to a whole new level after a video showed him being dragged along behind his car while sitting in his armchair. Alexander Shapovalov claimed he had been planning to take the old chair to the rubbish tip but could not fit it into his car. So the 23-year-old decided on a novel mode of transport instead- tying the armchair to the back of his car and jumping on it for the ride. Scroll down for video . Thrill-seeking in comfort: Alexander Shapovalov took a trip around town in an armchair tied attached to the back of car . Russian police are now investigating the video and have warned they are considering bringing charges against him. The video, shot by Shapovalov and his friends, show the adrenalin junkie sitting in the chair as it is dragged down the frozen streets of Krasnoyarsk in central Russia's Krasnoyarsk Krai region, behind the Subaru Forester. After spotting a car park where there were other young car drivers trying out drifting techniques, he and his friends decided to join in complete with armchair. A video shot by Shapovalov and his friends shows the armchair being dragged down the frozen streets in the city of Krasnoyarsk in central Russia's Krasnoyarsk Krai region . Sparks fly from underneath the armchair as it speeds along, attached by rope to the Subaru Forester . The group filmed Shapovalov being dragged in the armchair behind his drifting car and at one point turning over, sending him skidding across the road. Travelling at considerable speed, sparks can even be seen flying from underneath the piece of furniture. Shapovalov, who escaped the tumble unhurt, said: 'I decided to tie (the armchair) up behind my car and drag it there with one of my friends driving, and as it was on the road anyway I decided to sit on it. 'It was always comfortable but I never knew it could also be so much fun.' After several others had also tried surfing with the armchair, the friends are finally seen dragging it to the tip. There, Shapovalov said a fond farewell to his faithful piece of furniture with a goodbye kiss. Shapovalov said he had been planning to take the old armchair to the rubbish tip but could not fit it into his car . After spotting other young car drivers trying out drifting techniques, he and his friends decided to join in complete with armchair . | Alexander Shapovalov sat in the armchair as it was dragged behind a car .
The 23-year-old said he was planning to take the old chair to the rubbish tip .
But when it couldn't fit in the car he choose the novel form of transportation .
Russian police are investigating to decide if charges will be made against him . |
150,432 | 4e7fb39798c99dd804ba97fa237e8e960b8e049e | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 00:07 EST, 26 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 15:50 EST, 26 May 2013 . The high-profile 'super lawyer' believed to have been dating the paralegal found dead in a bathtub full of water in his home has penned a bizarre tribute to the woman on his Facebook page. The body of Julia Papazian Law, 26, was found yesterday morning, naked and face-down in the bathtub in the Philadelphia home of A. Charles Peruto Jr. She had been working as Peruto's paralegal for about two years, and she and Peruto had been dating, according to reports. Gone too soon: Julia Papazian Law was found dead on Saturday morning in a bathtub at the home of her boss, Philadelphia 'super lawyer' A. Charles Peruto . 'Super lawyer': A Charles Peruto says he was out of town when a 26-year-old woman was found dead in his bathtub . Today, Peruto posted an odd tribute to the Miss Law on his Facebook page, according to NBC Philadelphia. He wrote: 'It's very hard to find someone who really matches you on all eight cylinders. I found my soulmate hippy, and can never replace her. We worked and played, and never got enough life. 'I'm grateful we made every minute count, without a single dispute about anything ever. I'm especially sad for her 10-year-old brother, who was her life, along with her loving and close sisters, mother and step-father. Earth lost the best one ever. Happy birthday baby.' At the time of her death, Miss Law was three days away from her 27th birthday. Philadelphia's Fox affiliate reports that authorities do not currently consider the death to be suspicious, although, the cause of death currently is unknown. The woman's body was discovered at about 10:30am by a maintenance worker who stopped by the home, located in Philadelphia's Center City neighborhood. Speaking to NBC Philadelphia in Spanish, the worker said: 'The first thing I did was call 9-1-1 and police showed up. I then went to homicide to give my accounts of what happened.' The station also reported that no drugs were found in the home. Police sources identified the dead 26-year-old as Julia Law, who reportedly was dating 'super lawyer' A Charles Peruto Jr., who owns the home where the body was found . Peruto told police he had been at the Jersey Shore, in Avalon, when the body was found. He was questioned by detectives and has not been arrested. He would not speak to reporters seeking comment outside of his home. Tragedy: At the time of her death, Miss Law was three days away from her 27th birthday . He has handled numerous high-profile cases in the Philadelphia area, including alleged mobsters and killers. According to his website, Peruto has been dubbed a 'super lawyer' - an honor for Philadelphia's top attorneys - by his peers nine years in a row, and has achieved 'Not Guilty verdict in over 200 jury trials and 2,500 non-jury trials.' 'He has been hired by other attorneys for the sole purpose of cross examining one or two witnesses in their cases,' the website boasts. It goes on to say that 'as can be seen on this website under "Past Cases," he has been called a "ferocious cross examiner," "gives a supreme closing argument to a Jury," and "very entertaining on an otherwise boring case.'" In 2012, Peruto 'successfully' represented Philadelphia weatherman John Bolaris in a situation the media dubbed ' the real life Hangover.' Bolaris claimed he was drugged and scammed out of $43,712 by Russian 'bar girls' in Miami. He subsequently lost his job with Philadelphia's Fox affiliate. Police continue to investigate the circumstances of the death. No comment: Peruto, who has been interviewed by police, would not speak to reporters outside of his home . The scene: this is the home owned by Peruto where authorities found the body of a woman sources say was his 26-year-old girlfriend . View more videos at: http://nbcphiladelphia.com. | Attorney A Charles Peruto says he was out of town when the woman's body was found .
Sources identified the victim as Julia Papazian Law, and say she and Peruto were dating .
Peruto represented a Philadelphia weatherman who claims he was drugged and scammed out of $43,712.25 by the Russian 'B-girls' while on vacation in South Beach . |
260,266 | dd062afc62f54242a484871daeed259d8cbbdef9 | He left the field to an ovation fit for a hero. Radamel Falcao had his first goal for Manchester United and it proved to be decisive in clinching victory over Everton at Old Trafford. It also obscured the fact that a player who could end up costing United in excess of £50million had squandered a number of opportunities to get off the mark earlier in the game. Alongside him, Robin van Persie posed even less of a threat. Neither striker, it has to be said, is living up to his reputation at the moment. Radamel Falcao connects from inside the box to score his first Manchester United goal . The United striker pokes him against Everton after Angel di Maria's mishit shot broke to him in the box . Falcao and Robin van Persie have a good statistical record up front together but never seemed to click . The statistics will show that either Falcao and Van Persie have been on the scoresheet in all three games they have started together. Indeed, Van Persie’s first of the season at Leicester was presented to him on a plate by Falcao’s far post cross. Unfortunately for United, it ended there. Since then, this has looked less like a strike partnership and more like two forwards struggling side by side for top form; proof that the fantasy football approach of throwing together two big-name players does not guarantee instant success. There is no clever interplay, no obvious understanding, and no running off one another. Thank goodness United have Angel di Maria to pull it altogether. Robin van Persie picked up an early booking for a late tackle on Everton's Gareth Barry . Falcao has still not completed 90 minutes for United since joining on loan on transfer deadline day . In fairness to Falcao and Van Persie, both are working their way back from knee injuries. In Falcao’s case, he has yet to complete a full 90 minutes since rupturing the ACL in his left knee playing for Monaco in a French Cup tie in January, forcing him to miss the World Cup. Van Persie made it to Brazil with Holland after suffering a knee injury playing for United against Olympiacos last season, but he has not looked like the same player since. He had just one chance of note against Everton, latching onto to Di Maria’s first-time flick early in the game but steered the ball high over Tim Howard’s goal. Falcao, on the other hand, could have had a hat-trick. Click here to see our brilliant Match Zone including Falcao's match-winning heat map . Falcao was barely involved in United's build-up play but did his most important work in the Everton box . Robin van Persie spent more time on the ball for Manchester United but in less dangerous positions . Falcao contributed little aside from goals, but his strike proved to be the all-important winner . Inside the opening 20 minutes alone, he met Luke Shaw’s excellent cross with a diving header which failed to beat Howard, and then volleyed well wide after being played in by Di Maria’s flick. The former FC Porto and Atletico Madrid striker then met Di Maria’s corner on the full just before half-time and succeeded only in volleying it high into the Stretford End. It was the attempt of a player increasingly desperate to break his duck. He had two more half chances within two minutes of the restart and then snatched at another close-range effort when Shaw picked him out in the box again. But a player with Falcao’s remarkable goalscoring record will always be a threat. ‘A proper centre-forward,’ said Paul Scholes on television. Van Persie was in the game more throughout but less likely to arrive on the end of a move than his partner . Falcao found it difficult to escape the attentions of John Stones and Phil Jagielka but did get chances . The Colombian striker fires wide while his strike partner looks on hoping for a pass . When Di Maria for once mis-hit a shot in the 62nd minute, his teammate had dropped off his markers and was lurking to stab the ball past Howard from 10 yards. The relief on Falcao’s face was clear to see. Instead of making a rather awkward exit 11 minutes later, Old Trafford gave him a rousing ovation when he was replaced by James Wilson. ‘He needed that goal,’ said Louis van Gaal afterwards. ‘I have talked with him because I thought he was forcing himself too much to score a goal. Falcao was beginning to look frustrated as he failed to take his chances before he finally found the net . Falcao may be more used to his role in the opponent's area, but he performed a crucial role on his own line . It was clear how much Falcao's goal meant, both to the player himself and the United fans . ‘He’s a player who will normally make a goal every match and he has had to wait so long. I can understand that but now he has scored it will be better after the international break.’ United must hope their manager is right. Continuing to play Falcao and Van Persie together will mean dropping Wayne Rooney into his less preferred midfield role and fewer opportunities for Juan Mata. The two stars leading the line must produce, both individually and as a partnership, to make it all worthwhile. Louis van Gaal congratulates his expensive striker whose goal secured a vital three points for United . | Falcao and Van Persie have scored between them in each of the games they have started together .
But pair showing little attacking cohesion as a partnership .
Falcao scores from Angel di Maria's misshit shot but could have had a hattrick . |
119,068 | 25c61f803a66fbd7e25bef4f8fdda2aa9f95909f | (CNN) -- A worldwide network of fraudsters conned thousands of people into buying fake golf clubs on eBay, a London court has heard. Ebay was hit by a massive worldwide fraud in counterfeit golf clubs. In allegedly the largest fraud uncovered by the online auction site, the counterfeit clubs, as well as clothing and other golf accessories, were sold "on a scale, it is believed, has never been seen before," prosecutors told Snaresbrook Crown Court. The mastermind behind the million dollar operation, Greg Bellchambers, from east London, has already admitted fraud and conspiracy. His six co-defendants, who deny playing a "crucial role" in the plot, are said to have assisted Bellchambers in managing accounts and acting as distributors in the scam. Bellchambers sourced the "below-par" clubs in China and then marketed them on eBay as the original top of the line brands. The fraud only came to light when a disgruntled customer complained to a local trading standards office in London about sub-standard Acushnet clubs and an investigation was launched. When Bellchambers' home was raided, "a large quantity" of clubs were seized, with all of them fake apart from those which belonged to the 45-year-old. Adam Davis, for the prosecution, said: "Nearly every major golf brand has been affected by the sale of counterfeit goods through the eBay accounts. "It is the belief of the fraud investigation unit at eBay that this case represents the single largest counterfeiting conspiracy yet uncovered on their Web site." Prosecutors claimed that many other people were involved, but proceedings have not been brought against them as they live abroad or there is insufficient information to identify them. The trial of Bellchambers' six co-defendants is expected to last three months. All deny conspiracy. | Fake eBay golf clubs scam left thousand out of pocket, court is told .
Nearly every major golf brand affected by worldwide fraud on online auction site .
Ringleader Greg Bellchambers has admitted fraud and conspiracy .
Six other co-defendants on trial for conspiracy at Snaresbrook Crown Court . |
167,954 | 653a0adabb9b63b68923827884ecd91f0fe6c2dd | By . Dan Bloom . PUBLISHED: . 16:07 EST, 16 February 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 17:18 EST, 16 February 2014 . Many teenagers' rooms smell like a farmyard, but at least Nasar has an excuse. He is constantly staring at himself in the mirror, goes days without a shower and is noisy in the small hours, because he is a horse. The three-year-old castrated Arabian horse fled inside his owners' thatched house during a storm in December, and now he doesn't want to leave. Stable home: Nasar the three-year-old castrated Arabian horse moved into his owner Stephanie Arndt's house in Holt, Germany, during a hurricane-force storm . Good neigh-bour: Nasar comes and goes as he pleases and sometimes he bugs Stephanie for a glass of juice. His manners are just dreadful though - he slurps terribly . What's on TV tonight? Nasar begs to be let into the living room, left, and once he is inside he completely dominates it - to which Ms Arndt (pictured) can't help but laugh . His owner Stephanie Arndt, from the village of Holt in northern Germany, told Die Welt the horse likes to play the keyboard and drink juice. He took refuge indoors when much of northern Europe including Britain was battered by the hurricane-strength storm Xaver in December, whose fatalities included a lorry driver in West Lothian and a man crushed by a tree near Nottingham. So far he has been neater and tidier than many teenagers. He helps his owner sort out her firewood and the biggest damage he has caused has been a smashed cup, which earned him a stern talking-to. Ms Arndt, a 39-year-old doctor, said: 'He doesn't like rain and wind... He thought it was very appropriate. Sometimes he stands before the mirror and bobs his head.' Trotting out his favourite tunes: Nasar's hobbies include playing the keyboard with his face and looking at his long straight hair in the mirror. Like any teenager, then . Why the long face? Like so many teenagers, Nasar is obsessed with looking at his own reflection. Unlike most teenagers, his hair has already gone grey . Home sweet home: Owner Stephanie Arndt defended herself for allowing Nasar into her home, saying: 'I do not think he's in the house against his will' Nasar usually sleeps outside like a normal horse, preferring to roam indoors during the day, but that does not stop him and Ms Arndt taking the occasional nap. At the age of three, he is the equine equivalent of a human teenager as he is almost at full maturity. So shouldn't he be roaming free in the fields, his owner was asked. Ms Arndt replied he had 'never cared seriously' for his paddock and stable. She added: 'I do not think he's in the house against his will.' Does my bum look big in this? As with any stroppy teenager, it is probably not a good idea to startle Nasar from behind. He might not take too kindly to it . What are you up to? Nasar has taken a liking to Ms Arndt's straw filing boxes, possibly because they remind him of the sleeping material inside his stable . Time to hit the hay? Despite being enormous, Nasar feels comfortable in the little thatched house and is known to take the odd nap with his owner . Mine! So far Nasar has caused almost no damage. His owner said the worst so far was a smashed cup - which earned him a very stern talking to. He hasn't done it again . | Three-year-old Arabian horse fled inside his owners' thatched house in Holt, Germany, in December in a storm .
Since then he has made himself at home, staring at himself in the mirror and coming and going as he pleases .
Stephanie Arndt said he 'never cared seriously' for his paddock and the only damage has been a smashed cup . |
162,255 | 5dc8816f380913a845a12d82b83cb5d369c9d302 | Seeking a middle ground between calls for tough military action and none at all, President Barack Obama said Thursday he was sending up to 300 military advisers to Iraq to help the embattled government hold off a lightning advance from the north by Sunni militants. Obama told White House reporters the goal was to prevent a civil war in Iraq that could destabilize the region, and also prevent creation of a terrorist safe haven in northern Iraq and neighboring Syria from which U.S. enemies could plan and launch attacks against American interests. At the same time, Obama sought to allay fears of a military escalation that could relaunch the eight-year war he halted by withdrawing U.S. troops in 2011. "We have had advisers in Iraq through our embassy and we are prepared to send a small number of additional American military advisers -- up to 300 -- to assess how we can best train, advise and support Iraqi security forces going forward," the President said. "American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq but we will help Iraqis as they take the fight to terrorists who threaten the Iraqi people, the region and American interests as well," he added. Obama also said his strategy meant that "going forward, we will be prepared to take targeted and precise military action if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires it." Possible airstrikes . The language signaled possible airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters who have swept toward Baghdad in recent weeks. Senior administration officials told reporters after Obama's statement that the United States will be sending the advisers to multiple joint command locations in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq. Several initial teams of about a dozen special forces members from units in the region would begin arriving in Iraq soon, said one of the officials on a White House phone conference conducted on condition of anonymity. Earlier, several U.S. officials told CNN that the Pentagon proposed sending Green Berets, Army Rangers and Navy SEALs to Iraq as military advisers and to collect intelligence. The term military adviser evokes memories of the Vietnam War, when the U.S. government used that label for initial American forces sent over in what ended up as a long and costly engagement. U.S. officials acknowledged the American military advisers would likely face danger based on their location. Boots on the ground . CNN military analyst Rick Francona said the decision amounts to U.S "boots on the ground" in Iraq, no matter how the administration characterizes it. "This is the first step. This is how you get drawn into these situations," said Francona, adding that the mission must be clearly defined to avoid greater military involvement. In response to questions from reporters after his statement, Obama rejected criticism that bringing home troops from Iraq three years ago contributed to the current crisis, saying it was Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki who rejected a residual force agreement over the need for a core requirement that would immunize U .S. troops from local prosecution. Obama also made clear that he blamed al-Maliki for worsening Iraq's deep sectarian divide by failing to include Sunni and Kurdish interests in his policies. He called on a new Iraqi government recently elected to adopt more inclusive policies, and said he was sending Secretary of State John Kerry to the region to promote such an approach. U.S. sources say Kerry is expected to travel to Iraq soon. "Unless there is a coming together and elimination of the mistrust and addressing of the sense of isolation of different segments of Iraqi society -- unless people are brought together in order to try to bring the country together it's going to be -- there is no single military solution," Kerry told reporters on Thursday. New government . On the White House call, a senior administration official said a main goal of the moves announced by Obama was to allow the constitutional process of setting up a new Iraqi government to occur within the legally required time frame. The freshly elected Parliament will choose a new prime minister and president, and the Obama administration has signaled the need for a different approach than the sectarian polices of al-Maliki. To conservative hawks in Congress, Obama's moves didn't go far enough. "We are deeply concerned that the President continues to make political change in Iraq the prerequisite for greater U.S. military and other actions that could begin reversing the momentum of ISIS and improving the security situation in the country," said a statement by Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, two leading critics of what they consider to be the President's soft foreign policy. U.S. officials familiar with the Pentagon plan, who spoke to CNN on condition of not being identified, said the teams of military advisers would be placed around Iraq in the headquarters of Iraqi military brigades and tasked with gathering intelligence on ISIS forces, such as their location, numbers and weaponry. Such information could provide needed intelligence if Obama decides to proceed with airstrikes on ISIS fighters, as requested by Iraq. Baghdad tense as military seeks to halt ISIS militants' advance . Airstrikes an option . For days, military sources have said ISIS fighters are dispersed and mixed in with local populations, making them difficult to target precisely with airstrikes. Francona noted that the U.S. special forces would be "in a great position to call in any air strikes" if Obama decided to use that option, too. On Wednesday, the President met with congressional leaders and later with Kerry on the Iraq crisis, which has prompted GOP criticism of U.S. foreign policy in the hyper- partisan environment of an election year in Washington. According to a White House statement, Obama went over efforts to "strengthen the capacity of Iraq's security forces to confront the threat" from ISIS fighters, "including options for increased security assistance." Earlier, spokesman Jay Carney spelled out one limit to any help, saying: "The President hasn't ruled out anything except sending U.S. combat troops into Iraq." Congressional authorization . While the White House statement emphasized Obama would continue to consult with Congress, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the President "basically just briefed us on the situation in Iraq and indicated he didn't feel he had any need for authority from us for the steps that he might take." House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California agreed with McConnell's assessment, adding she believed congressional authorization for military force in Iraq back in 2001 and 2003 still applied. A few hours earlier, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said they were working out details on possible U.S. steps that could include airstrikes on ISIS fighters. The two leaders agreed with senators on a budget subcommittee that the Iraq crisis amounted to a threat to U.S. interests in the region and, down the road, a possible threat to the homeland if northern Iraq and neighboring Syria become a safe haven for al Qaeda-affiliated Islamists. Kerry: U.S. would communicate with Iran, not work with it, against ISIS . Washington politics . Obama has advocated less unilateral U.S. intervention abroad than his predecessor, GOP President George W. Bush, who led America into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Republicans hoping to win control of the Senate and maintain their House majority in the November election have sought to depict Obama's foreign policy as weak and ineffective. They claim that a U.S. failure to intervene more forcefully on behalf of Syrian opposition forces created an opening for the Sunni militant movement now marching toward Baghdad. House Speaker John Boehner, who attended the White House meeting with Obama a day earlier, told reporters on Thursday that the Iraq crisis amounted to a broader foreign policy failure by the administration. "When you look it is not just Iraq," the Ohio Republican said. "It is Libya, it's Egypt, it's Syria. The spread of terrorism has increased exponentially under this President's leadership." Administration officials blame Iraq's crisis on the failure of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to govern more inclusively over a nation with major sectarian divisions, especially between the Sunni-dominated north and Shia-dominated south. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said al-Maliki needs to be convinced that his retirement would be in his country's best interest. "I think that most of us that have followed this are really convinced that the Maliki government, candidly, has got to go if you want any reconciliation," she said this week. Other Democrats grudgingly supported Obama's announcement. "To help Iraqis contain the current violence and protect our national security interests, I support President Obama's decision to deploy a very limited number of advisers to Iraq for a non-combat training mission," said a statement Thursday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. He said that "any U.S. role in Iraq must remain sharply limited in scope," arguing that government funds should be for rebuilding infrastructure at home instead of more war in Iraq. Opinion: Cheney's amazing chutzpah on Iraq . Transcript: Obama's remarks on U.S. response to Iraq crisis . Current fighting pushes Iraqi refugee population past 1 million . | Conservative hawks says Obama didn't go far enough .
President Obama outlines steps to bolster Iraq against ISIS fighters .
CNN military analyst: "It is boots on the ground"
U.S. forces will advise Iraq's military, collect intelligence . |
190,649 | 82d7cdcf8a6eed143d1aa63c894de56e3554c78a | By . Will Stewart . and Kieran Corcoran . An immediate ceasefire is necessary for talks to happen over eastern Ukraine, Vladimir Putin said yesterday. The Russian president said he expects Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president-elect, to show ‘goodwill’ and ‘state wisdom’ in dealing with the issue. He and Mr Poroshenko shared a symbolic handshake yesterday as they met for 15 minutes to discuss the main issues related to settling the crisis. Scroll down for video . Ukraine president-elect Petro Poroshenko (second left), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk after a group photo during the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Benouville . Difficult: Mr Putin (left) has called on Mr Poroshenko (right) to show 'good will' in his attitude to the conflicts - which the Ukrainian government believes he is behind . Putin has . described the events in Ukraine leading to Mr Poroshenko's election as a . 'coup', while the government in Kiev has accused Russia of fomenting . conflict in its eastern regions, parts of which have declared themselves . independent. Putin also said that Moscow is ready for constructive discussion with Ukraine on settling its gas debt to Russia. He . said that he and Poroshenko discussed the main . issues related to settling the crisis. The leader said he welcomes . Poroshenko's position that the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine needs to be . stopped. Poroshenko, . speaking to journalists in Normandy, said that he expects a statement . from Russia about the recognition of his election, according to the . Interfax news agency. Topic of conversation: Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two men spoke of 'the soonest end to bloodshed in south-eastern Ukraine and combat actions by both parties' - separatists and Kiev's armed forces . The . meeting between Putin and Poroshenko came on the same day that Putin . spoke with President Barack Obama, who had been keeping the Russian . leader at arm's length over the Ukrainian crisis that has rekindled Cold . War-era tensions. Putin's . spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two men spoke of ‘the soonest end to . bloodshed in south-eastern Ukraine and combat actions by both parties’ - . separatists and Kiev's armed forces. They ‘confirmed that there is no alternative to settling the situation by peaceful political means’. With Merkel in close attendance the two men spoke after a photocall of leaders attending the Normandy commemoration. All three stood up during the impromptu meeting, with Peskov confirming the session was ‘on their feet’. Putin . has not been invited for chocolate billionaire Poroshenko's . inauguration on Saturday in Kiev but Moscow confirmed he would be . represented by an ambassador. Relations between the two ex-Soviet republics collapsed after Moscow claimed the West backed a coup of ‘fascist’ forces in Kiev and staged an audacious grab for Crimea, a region almost as large as Belgium. Tense: Meanwhile tanks were seen standing by at Slovyansk in the disputed Donetsk region, where five Ukrainian soldiers were wounded today . Loading up: Soldiers pile shells into their tank in anticipation of more fighting. Ukrainian authorities say 200 people have died over the past few weeks . Proxy: Ukraine has claimed that Russia is behind the unrest in its eastern regions, which declared independence last month . Near-bankrupt . Ukraine claims Russia is fomenting unrest in its eastern regions amid . fears it could seek to annex far more territory. Putin . earlier said that Poroshenko ‘still has no blood on his hands’ while . urging a halt to Kiev's crackdown on separatist fighters in eastern . Ukraine. Russia has yet to recognise the result of the Ukrainian election, and until now has maintained the position that Viktor Yanukovych, toppled by a coup, was the legitimate president. Merkel spent time with both men before bringing them together for what the West hopes will be the start of solution to the Ukrainian crisis. Putin - a KGB spy in East Germany during the Cold War - is seen as closer to Merkel than any other Western leader. | The two men spoke of 'the soonest end to bloodshed in Ukraine'
Putin called on the Ukrainian leader to show 'good will' in the conflict .
The Russian leader is not invited to billionaire Poroshenko's inauguration .
The two men spoke after a Normandy commemoration photocall . |
175,312 | 6ee3cae12a42bedadac43f0cfacaf41970528373 | By . Martha De Lacey . PUBLISHED: . 06:49 EST, 8 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 07:13 EST, 8 October 2013 . From colourful TV adverts and shiny pictures in magazines, to rambunctious cider tents at music festivals and clinky bottles of wine on restaurant tables: it is impossible to shield your children from alcohol completely. Whether or not you choose to drink in front of them, however, is up to you. But by doing so could you be setting a dangerous example, and setting them up for a troublesome relationship with the sauce as adults? Two mothers appeared today on ITV's This Morning to debate the issue, with journalist Shona Sibary maintaining that enjoying a glass of wine over dinner with her husband sets her children a beneficial example, while writer Liz Fraser stressed that children who see everyday drinking as normal will use that as their life model. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . To drink or not to drink: Shona Sibary, left, says drinking in moderation is fine in front of your kids, while Liz Fraser, right, says witnessing their parents drink alcohol every day is damaging to children . It's fine if it's with food: Does drinking alcohol every night with dinner teach children that everyday drinking is acceptable? A recent investigation discovered that last year there were 293 cases of children aged 11 or under attending A&E with alcohol-related conditions, anf 6,500 under-18s. This has lead to prominent alcohol education charity Drinkaware beseeching parents to have the 'alcohol chat' with their children before it's too late. Speaking to Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield, mother-of-four Sibary said: 'My children - the eldest of whom is almost 15 - see me drinking a glass of wine in the evening - with my husband, with food - to relax. 'They see it in moderation. They don't see me drunk or staggering. 'It's naive to think children aren't going to come across alcohol when they leave home, and it's safer for them to learn about it here with me rather than by binge drinking at university.' Big debate: Philip and Holly watch Shona and Liz discussing the issue on ITV's This Morning today . Fraser said: 'It's hard to disagree with this, but we're talking about the more extreme things. Of course it's a good idea for children to see parents having a good relationship with alcohol, the problem is when it's every day, when wine is on the table every night at dinner. 'Health professionals say we should stop daily drinking and make that clear to children from the ages of 0 to 10. Instead of "When Mummy's tired she has a drink". 'You see it on Twitter - "5 o'clock: wine o'clock" - 5 o'clock shouldn't be wine o'clock! It should be make the kids tea o'clock, or go for a walk o'clock, or go to the gym o'clock. 'Drinking alcohol should not be an everyday thing.' Heated: Shona, left, said she didn't want to feel guilty for enjoying wine with dinner, but Liz, right, said children learn by example . Learning young: Liz Fraser suggested that children aged 0-10 should be shielded from alcohol to learn that you don't need to drink it . Sibary counteracted the argument explaining daily drinking is part of European culture and also done in the Mediterranean. She reiterated that she'd rather alcohol wasn't a hidden topic, but discussed openly within her family so her children were less likely to rebel later on. 'I will give my kids a drink before they go to university - half a beer or a glasss of wine - so hey can understand the effect alcohol has on their bodies. 'I have alcoholism in my family and so my . kids have seen the negative effects it can have. Seeimg me . drinking one glass of wine in the evening is not the same. I object to the guilt trip mothers are when they have a glass of wine at the end of a stressful day.' Fraser, who admitted having bought her 15-year-old a bottle of beer when she took her to the Edinburgh Festival, said it was precisely that language that caused the problem, leading children to believe that the solution to feeling stressed, tired or even hungry is at the bottom of a bottle. | Two mothers, Shona Sibary and Liz Fraser, debated issue on This Morning .
Sibary believes children benefit from seeing parents drinking responsibly .
Fraser said the culture of everyday drinking is detrimental to children .
She believes the language used to talk about drinking is harmful . |
99,426 | 0c0f5b486bc466b11b5f59940269a782b9d146fc | (CNN) -- Environmental campaign group Greenpeace has called for people to join a "global day of solidarity" Saturday for 30 people detained and charged with piracy by Russia as they protested Arctic drilling last month. Russian authorities made the arrests after two of the activists left the Greenpeace icebreaker Arctic Sunrise and tried to climb the side of an oil platform owned by the Russian energy giant Gazprom in the Barents Sea. Greenpeace has condemned the Russian action, saying its activists were taking part in a peaceful protest against the "slow but unrelenting destruction of the Arctic." The group has called on supporters around the world to stage candlelight vigils Saturday, holding signs saying "Free the Arctic 30," to highlight the plight of those detained. All 30 people aboard the ship, including 28 activists and two freelance journalists from at least 18 countries, were charged last week with piracy. Meanwhile, the government in the Netherlands -- where the Arctic Sunrise is registered -- wrote to the Dutch parliament Friday to say it has launched legal action aimed at freeing the 30 under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea. "With regard to its detention of the ship, Russia invokes its authority to ensure safety at sea in the vicinity of the oil platform," Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans wrote. "The Netherlands agrees on the importance of safety at sea, but in this case we contest the lawfulness of detaining the ship and its crew." The "arbitral procedure" it has filed focuses "on what the Netherlands views as the unlawfulness of boarding and detaining the ship and on our demand for the release of the ship and its crew," it said. "Under this procedure the Netherlands can in two weeks, if insufficient progress has been made, request the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to prescribe provisional measures for the release of the ship and its crew." This would not interfere with Russia's ability to pursue criminal proceedings against the 30 people, Timmermans said. Two of those detained are Dutch nationals, both of whom are receiving consular assistance. The defendants also include Americans Peter Wilcox, who is the captain of the Arctic Sunrise, and Dmitry Litvinov, who Greenpeace says also holds Swedish citizenship. Greenpeace ship captain defies orders, Russians resort to towing . The other detainees are from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Britain, New Zealand, Ukraine, Russia, France, Italy, Turkey, Finland, Switzerland, Poland, the United States and Sweden, the group said. None of those charged last week pleaded guilty, Russia's Investigative Committee said. If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Lawyers acting on Greenpeace's behalf have filed appeals in court seeking the defendants' release, Greenpeace said Thursday. Greenpeace International's General Counsel Jasper Teulings said Friday he welcomed the Dutch government's "strong stance in support of the rule of law and the right to peacefully protest. Russian officials will now be called to explain their actions before an international court of law, where it will be unable to justify these absurd piracy allegations." Russian authorities accuse the defendants of trying to commandeer the platform. The authorities and Gazprom also say the activists endangered the lives of the company's employees and that their action could have led to an environmental disaster. CNN's Bharati Naik, Alla Eshchenko and Jill Dougherty contributed to this report. | Greenpeace urges supporters to join a vigil in support of 30 people detained by Russia .
The Netherlands launches legal action under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea .
The 30 detained -- 28 activists and 2 freelance journalists -- are charged with piracy .
They were arrested on the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise as they protested Arctic drilling . |
67,436 | bf5a93e6a87fa2d421dca78c64a092fc73dff21e | By . Mike Dawes . PUBLISHED: . 17:39 EST, 1 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 17:43 EST, 1 March 2014 . Neurologists have warned that Michael Schumacher now seems unlikely to make a full recovery after spending nearly two months in a drug-induced coma. The 45-year-old fell while skiing in France and hit the right side of his head on a rock, cracking his helmet. Doctors operated to remove blood clots from his brain, but some were left because they were too deeply embedded. Nearly two months after Michael Schumacher suffered serious head injuries in a skiing accident some neurologists say the seven-time Formula One champion seems unlikely to make a full recovery. The racer with his wife Corrina . The seven-time Formula One world champion's condition stabilised after he was placed in the coma. Late last month, doctors began the process of withdrawing sedatives to try to wake him up. His agent, Sabine Kehm, said in an email that 'Michael is still in the wake-up phase' and that 'this phase can be long.' Schumacher's family has released few details of his condition to protect his privacy. 'It does not bode well,' said Dr Tipu Aziz, professor of neurosurgery at Oxford University who is not connected to Schumacher's care. 'The fact that he hasn't woken up implies that the injury has been extremely severe and that a full recovery is improbable.' His agent, Sabine Kehm, said in an email today that 'Michael is still in the wake-up phase' and that 'this phase can be long' Patients who have had major head injuries are sometimes put in a drug-induced coma to give the brain a chance to heal; a coma reduces the need for blood flow and may help the swelling go down. Aziz said doctors typically try every few days to bring someone out of a coma. 'If you don't start getting any positive signs, that becomes very worrisome,' he said, adding that Schumacher's doctors are probably doing regular brain scans to look for signs of activity - though such signs may be difficult to detect if he is still being sedated. Other experts said it was premature to make an accurate prognosis. 'About 90 percent of the recovery is made within nine to 12 months, so this is still early days,' said Dr Anthony Strong, an emeritus chair in neurosurgery at King's College London. 'The longer someone is in a coma, the worse their recovery tends to be.' His agent, Sabine Kehm, said in an email today that 'Michael is still in the wake-up phase' and that 'this phase can be long' Now that several weeks have passed since the accident, doctors may also have a better idea of how the rest of Schumacher's brain is doing. 'MRI scans can show any secondary deterioration in the brain structure,' said Dr. Colin Shieff, a neurosurgeon at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London and a trustee for Headway, a British brain injury charity. He said other parts of Schumacher's brain that weren't directly affected by the accident might now be starting to show worrying signs that may not have been visible before. Shieff said that if Schumacher does eventually come out of the coma, he probably would face significant disabilities because of the length of time he has already spent comatose. While there have been rare instances of people emerging from comas months and years later with the ability to communicate, Shieff was doubtful that would be the case with Schumacher. He said the cases where comatose people made a surprising recovery had mostly suffered things like poisoning, strokes or failed resuscitation attempts. Treatment: Schumacher is currently being kept under anaesthetic at the University Hospital (above) in France . | The 45-year-old fell while skiing in France and hit his head .
Doctors removed blood clots from his brain but had to leave the deep ones .
Last month doctors began process of withdrawing sedatives to wake him up .
His agent, Sabine Kehm, said: 'Michael is still in the wake-up phase' |
103,052 | 10d937a571844dd479443e8ced3ca0cfa06bb152 | Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- The one thing that Egyptians know for certain is that their next president is not a woman. That is because there are no female candidates contesting the presidential elections. All of those running for election can be classified into two categories; Islamists or Secularists. But within each camp there are distinctions and gradations. There are secularist left-wing candidates, secularist autocrats and secularist old guard. Then there are progressive Islamist, moderate Islamist, revolutionary Islamist and right-wing ones. The one thing that they all have in common is the banality of their engagement with women's rights and with questions of gender justice. Throughout the official 21 days of presidential propaganda, we the public have learned that all the candidates "value" women and believe that women are half of the Egyptian society and therefore should be respected and honored. A near century of Egyptian feminism and our candidates can only offer a cloyingly condescending stance on the rights of the voters who will enable one of them to become a president. This is the sad truth about Egyptian politics. It is women who attend rallies, who accept trivial bribes of sugar and rice and who stand in the very long queues to vote. Egypt segregates its polling stations, so the remarkable length of women-only queues is evident for all to see. Yet women are ignored as political agents and as citizens in all presidential programs. See also: Women and the Arab uprisings . It is true that these programs are very similar and are generally lacking but still, the projections they make of women and their rights are noteworthy. Female heads of houses feature prominently in these programs. Women living in poverty are being promised cash transfers, medical insurance and access to finance and services. Yet these women need not wait for a new president as they are already entitled to all these benefits! Our candidates have also promised women access to senior executive positions. Candidates like Amr Mousa, Abu el Fotouh, Ahmed Shafeek and Hamdeen Sabbahi have said "there is no objection to a woman becoming ..." then finishing the sentence by referring to positions such as vice president or some other senior function. This is also sadly a meaningless gesture since there are no legal or constitutional barriers to a woman assuming high office in any branch of the executive, legislature or now the judiciary. Our candidates are promising to solve the problems that already have solutions, but what about the ones that don't? What about to the proliferation of gender discrimination? What about their position on repeated attempts to repeal family-status laws that gave women the right to unilateral divorce, which enabled women to keep custody and guardianship of their children until the age of 15, instead of being deprived of their seven-year-old sons or nine-year-old daughters if they are divorced from the father? Egypt has one of the lowest rates of female labor-force participation (20%) in the world and perhaps the lowest rate of female representation in parliament (2%). Women are present, vocal, active, but excluded and undermined. The new president should have something to say about this paradox. But perhaps candidates would rather remain silent on gender issues so as to please their male supporters. See also: Revolution signals new dawn for Egypt's women . The current constitutions of Egypt guarantee equality and rights to all citizens. But the right to rights is a far cry from the attainment of these rights. Women in Egypt need a vocal champion who will not interfere with their choice of clothes, career or spouse, but who will guarantee that they have access to jobs, to legal protection, and to freedom and equality within marriage and outside it. Women are given sugar, rice and other staples so that they choose the generous candidate. They are being cajoled and gently coerced to give their voices to the candidate chosen by their family or kin. They are not, however, respected as political agents nor "courted" as supporters with interests and rights. What they need is a commitment, not a handout. A commitment to justice can come from a religious or a secular candidate. Women need not fear a president who "uses" religion to please the masses and get their votes -- nor be disappointed when the veneer of secularism cracks to reveal an ambivalent chauvinist. Whatever "style" choices these candidates make, they matter less than their substantive policies and positions. Women in Egypt should not hold their breath or wait for a savior but rather continue to organize and struggle for social, political and economic rights and freedoms. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Hania Sholkamy. | Egypt's women ignored by presidential candidates, says Hania Sholkamy .
She says candidates haven't addressed gender discrimination .
Women in Egypt should continue to organize and struggle for social and political rights . |
171,939 | 6a878373e6d1e4990b47bdc0b18aa854b051e3b7 | (CNN) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could open the Morganza Spillway as early as Saturday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Friday. The Mississippi River Commission has directed the Corps to operate the crucial spillway once river flows reach a certain trigger: 1.5 million cubic feet per second. Projections indicate the tipping point could be hit as early as Saturday evening, Jindal has said. Opening the spillway would lower anticipated cresting levels along the lower Mississippi River and divert water from Baton Rouge and New Orleans but would flood much of low-lying south-central Louisiana. Seven parishes are expected to be affected by the opening, according to the Corps. The Mississippi River Commission has advised a "slow opening," and the flood would spread gradually over several days, the Corps said. The Morganza Spillway has not been opened since 1973. Louisiana state and local officials braced for the possibility of major flooding in the Atchafalaya River Basin if, or when, federal authorities open the spillway north of Baton Rouge. They advised residents to expect road closings. Residents gawk at Mississippi's rise . The National Guard worked around the clock to construct a flood barrier in Morgan City, Louisiana, where the Atchafalaya River was already 3.15 feet above flood stage, according to the National Weather Service. The strategy in Morgan City, officials say, is to reinforce the levees around the city. That's where efforts were being focused Friday, rather than on handing out sandbags to individual residents. "Really, we're just waiting," said Evie Bertaut, who has lived in Morgan City for 50 years. Officials believe that the levees will protect the city from flooding, but some are taking preliminary precautions, she said. At Sacred Heart Church, where Bertaut works, people spent the day moving important documents such a baptismal, marriage and financial records to the second floor. "Most people are getting their photographs together, things that you can't replace in case you have to go," she said. A collective gasp as Louisiana town braces for flood . Meanwhile, in the Arkansas town of Helena, the river crested at 56.5 feet -- 12.5 feet above flood stage, according to the National Weather Service. The river's slow pace has given emergency responders more time to prepare, forecasters said. But while the slow-moving water gives residents extra time to get ready, it also means that land could remain under water for some time. Jindal urged southeastern Louisiana residents to evacuate. "Now is the time to take action," he said. The U.S. Coast Guard said floodwaters could close the Mississippi River to ships at the New Orleans port as early as Monday morning. To help New Orleans, the Army Corps of Engineers said Friday that it will open 52 more bays at the Bonnet Carre Spillway just north of the city, diverting water into Lake Pontchartrain. That will mean a total of 264 bays will be open in the 350-bay spillway. Stars talk about the flooding and response . The National Weather Service said that as of Friday morning, the river was at 16.8 feet in New Orleans, just a fraction below flood stage. It is expected to crest May 23 at more than 19 feet. The New Orleans levees are built to withstand 20 feet, according to the weather service. Upriver in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Police Chief Walter Armstrong said 600 residents had been evacuated as of Thursday night. The river was expected to crest at 57.5 feet. Flood stage at Vicksburg, the level at which the river may begin flowing over its banks, is 43 feet. Armstrong said he expected higher water Friday, with more homes affected. More than two dozen roads were closed and about 45 businesses will be closed by Friday. Homes that were built between the levee and the Mississippi River were the first affected. "We estimate that every home built on the river side of the levee from Memphis all the way to the Louisiana line is flooded," said Mike Womack, executive director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Residents near Vicksburg counted on a levee for protection. In addition to the mainline levee along the river, starting near Vicksburg and extending northeast for more than 20 miles, a so-called backwater levee offers shelter. The backwater levee is designed to keep water from backing into the Yazoo River delta and is designed lower than the mainline levee so that water can flow over it. That level is expected to be reached Monday, said Charlie Tindall, attorney for the Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners. The backwater levee was being "armored" by a heavy plastic coating to prevent it from washing out, he said. Nonetheless, 1.4 million acres in Mississippi, including 602,000 acres where crops are growing, could flood, said Rickey Grey of the state's Department of Agriculture. Across the South and lower Midwest, floodwaters have covered about 3 million acres of farmland, eroding for many farmers what could have been a profitable year for corn, wheat, rice and cotton, officials said. In Arkansas, the Farm Bureau estimated that damage to the state's agriculture could top more than $500 million as more than 1 million acres of cropland are under water. Womack talks about flood costs . "It's in about 10 feet of water," Dyersburg, Tennessee, farmer Jimmy Moody said of his 440 acres of winter wheat, which was to be harvested in the coming month. Other farmers in Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas rushed to salvage what wheat they could ahead of the rising water. As for corn, farmers who were able to get into the fields during a soggy planting season in late March and April are seeing their crops in some cases under several feet of water. Some officials said Thursday that spillover effects resulting from the flood could threaten other industries. That includes the possibility that the Waterford 3 nuclear power plant in Taft, Louisiana, could be closed, according to CNN affiliate WGNO. The Mississippi River is expected to crest at 26.6 feet in Taft on May 23. If it reaches 27 feet, officials told WGNO, the plant's water intake system could shut down. NBA's Grizzlies inspired by fans in flooded Memphis . Carl Rhode of Entergy, the plant's operator, told WGNO that the threat to the intake system is not a matter of nuclear safety. However, Scott Welchel, a St. Charles Parish Emergency Operations Center official, said shutting down the plant would have a "domino effect" on local industries. "It would impact every industry along the river," Welchel said. "That's just something that isn't easy for people to deal with, especially on a moment's notice." For residents in communities along the river, the damage has been far more devastating than can be measured in dollars and cents. Danny Moore of Millington, Tennessee, told CNN affiliate WPTY that the recent disaster marked the second time in one year that flooding took away nearly everything he had. Moore said that after a flood destroyed all of his furniture last year, he decided to move everything he owned into rented storage space. However, those belongings were destroyed when his storage unit was flooded several days ago. "They say bad luck comes in threes. I hope this is the end of it," Moore told WPTY. The Millington resident said he lost a house to a fire in 2009. Moore said he is too preoccupied with taking care of his girlfriend, who is suffering from an infection that is damaging her liver, to look for new furniture. "We'll do what we've got to do and keep praying," Moore said, holding back tears. CNN's Mariano Castillo, Mia Aquino and Erica Henry contributed to this report. | NEW: Army Corps of Engineers is expected to open the spillway once river flows hit a trigger .
NEW: Projections indicate the tipping point could come as early as Saturday, Jindal says .
NEW: The Morganza Spillway has not been opened since 1973 .
Opening the Morganza Spillway would flood the Atchafalaya River Basin . |
278,930 | f55e5b010184e381dbd8ef9155fe0f923b8c9fb6 | (CNN) -- An elderly man suspected of Nazi war crimes has been arrested in Hungary, prosecutors said Wednesday, after a worldwide Jewish rights organization discovered him living in Budapest. Laszlo Csizsik-Csatary is accused of sending more than 15,000 Jews to the Auschwitz concentration camp in the spring of 1944, the Simon Wiesenthal Center said. The center considers him its most-wanted Nazi war criminal. The Simon Wiesenthal Center found Csizsik-Csatary as part of its Last Chance project, said Efraim Zuroff, director of the center's Israel office. Csizsik-Csatary served as a senior Hungarian police officer in the city of Kosice, which is now in Slovakia but was under Hungarian rule in the 1940s, the center said. "He was a commander of a ghetto," Zuroff said. Csizsik-Csatary participated in the deportation of 15,700 Jews to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944, witnesses have told the center. He also played a role in "deportations to the Ukraine to be killed: 300 Jews," Zuroff said. "We found eyewitnesses on three different continents," Zuroff said. Those witnesses told the center about Csizsik-Csatary's cruelty to Jewish detainees and his role in the deportations to Auschwitz and Ukraine. Csizsik-Csatary denied the allegations to a reporter from the British tabloid The Sun. A witness to the August 1941 Ukraine deportations had nine family members who were deported, Zuroff said. Csizsik-Csatary made sure four of them were brought back from forced labor with the Hungarian army so they would be deported and killed, according to Zuroff. During the Auschwitz deportations, Csizsik-Csatary "forced these girls to dig a ditch with their hands -- young Jewish girls." Two of the center's witnesses were survivors of that deportation, he said. Using the last name Csizsik, Csizsik-Csatary arrived in Canada in 1949, telling immigration officials he was Yugoslavian, according to The Toronto Star newspaper. Canadian authorities later investigated allegations that he had lied to immigration authorities about his past when he arrived there. Canada revoked his citizenship in 1997 and initiated an investigation. As deportation proceedings were under way, Csizsik-Csatary voluntarily left the country. Csizsik-Csatary returned to Hungary upon leaving Canada, Zuroff said. "Hungarian authorities knew that he was back," he said. Authorities in Hungary launched an investigation in September 2011 after receiving information from Zuroff regarding Csizsik-Csatary's residence in Budapest and his role in the Auschwitz deportations, the center said. Mladic war crimes trial opens . Demjanjuk war crimes conviction caps 30-year battle . 2009: Nazi war crimes trial 'last of its kind'? CNN's Jo Shelley and journalist Flora Hevesi contributed to this report. | Laszlo Csizsik-Csatary tops the Simon Wiesenthal Center's list of most-wanted Nazis .
Center says he participated in sending 15,700 Jews to Auschwitz in spring 1944 .
Csizsik-Csatary denied the allegations to British tabloid The Sun .
The center says eyewitnesses on three continents describe acts of cruelty . |
219,036 | a780b74845cb984d2f034f19b62e39b7dbcfda70 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 04:24 EST, 30 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:00 EST, 30 September 2013 . When a university's cheerleaders began entertaining the crowds lining the streets before a major homecoming game, they hoped to raise spirits. But it seems police did not get into the spirit of the event. Police in London, Ontario, slapped The University of Western Ontario’s head cheerleader Max Gow with a $140 fine for 'causing a nuisance'. 'Nuisance': Police cracked down on The University of Western Ontario cheerlearders for performing to the crowds who had gathered on the street before a homecoming game . The incident provoked outrage from the troupe's head coach, David-Lee Tracey who branded it the 'single dumbest act' he said he has witnessed in his 33 year career. He told The Star it was 'absolute insanity' to issue to fine, adding: 'Since when is it against the law to yell your school name?' 'Stupid, stupid, stupid.' ‘Go ’Stangs Go, Go ’Stangs Go,’ is now a public offence.' The squad was headed to TD Stadium . for the Mustangs game against the Queen’s Golden Gaels. The four members began cheering in a parking lane, out of the way of any potential passing cars. Three male cheerleaders were throwing a female teammate into the air on Broughdale Avenue. Ticketed: Four cheerleaders from the University of Western Ontario were performing a stunning stunt, similar to this, when police pounced . The explanation written on the ticket said: 'Causing a nuisance in the street by conducting a cheerleading performance.' Mr Tracey said the team has received 'mountains of support' from people across Twitter. The team plans to challenge the ticket, although Tracey hopes it can be done in a timely manner. 'Right now, we are just trying to find enough adult support, someone with higher authority,' he said. London Police have been cracking down during their Project L.E.A.R.N. campaign, which ends Sunday. The . aim of it is to address 'quality of life issues' and to target . 'specific geographic areas traditionally plagued with nuisance type . behaviours,' according to the London police website. 'Perhaps today was supposed to be one of their hit list days,' Tracey said. | The four members of Canadian troupe began cheering in a parking lane .
Female teammate was being thrown into the air when police pounced .
Officers from London, Ontario, force issued ticket for causing a 'nuisance'
Head coach branded police decision 'absolute insanity' |
93,385 | 041936114ee209e18ff521a294f1a5f2338550da | By . Kerry Mcdermott . PUBLISHED: . 05:34 EST, 27 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:12 EST, 27 February 2013 . Threats: James O'Neill viciously beat his partner with a beer bottle before fleeing on a bus clad only in his boxer shorts . A man threatened to kill his partner while savagely beating her with a beer bottle, before fleeing on a bus clad only in a pair of boxer shorts. James O'Neill, 46, attacked Hazell Peters 'completely out of the blue' with a Buddha-shaped bottle as she was lying on their bed watching Emmerdale. O'Neill - who chanted the words 'I'm going to kill you' as he repeatedly hit his partner of seven years in a frenzied attack lasting 15 minutes - only stopped when Ms Peters told him her grandson was due to arrive at any moment. He was later arrested after being spotted half naked on a bus. O'Neill was jailed for over 12 years at Preston Crown Court for the attack on his 51-year-old partner, which left her needing more than 60 stitches to her head, face and arm, along with a broken bone in her ear and a perforated ear drum. Ms Peters, who told how she desperately pleaded with her partner to stop hitting her at their home in Morecambe, Lancashire, said: 'He's not a man, he's a monster.' 'It was completely out of the blue,' she said. 'I was lying on our bed watching Emmerdale, and he came into the room. He was very calm. 'Out of nowhere he said: "You're going to die". 'It was as if he was telling me he had made me a cup of tea.' As . well as hitting Ms Peters with the Lucky Beer bottle, which she kept as an . ornament on her bedroom windowsill, O'Neill tried to strangle his partner and threw a kettle and a fan at her. 'He's a monster': O'Neill, left, has been jailed for 12 years for the savage attack on partner Hazell Peters, right . 'He kept hitting me and hitting me,' Ms Peters said of the ordeal on September 13 last year. 'He wanted me to die. I didn't think he was ever going to let me out. 'I was pleading with him to stop but he was determined to kill me. I don't . know why, he didn't seem angry, he just wanted to hurt me,' she said. It was only when she told him that her grandson would soon be arriving at their home that O'Neill relented. 'It was the only way I could think to get him to leave me alone,' said Ms Peters. 'Denton would come to us every Friday afternoon after school. He wasn't coming that week, but James didn't know that. It worked. It was almost like someone had flicked a switch.' Recovery: Ms Peters, who needed more than 60 stitches after the 15 minute attack, has welcomed her former partner's 12 year jail sentence . O'Neill jumped up from the bed and stripped down to his boxer shorts before ordering Ms Peters to take off her clothes. 'I did what he told me, because I had no idea what he was going to do next,' she said.'There was blood everywhere, it had splattered up the walls and my clothes were drenched. He said that we needed to clean up and he began wiping the walls with his t-shirt.' Ms Peters managed to grab a jumper and run outside, where a passing motorist spotted the bleeding woman and called the emergency services. When police arrived at the house O'Neill had fled, but he was picked up by officers after being spotted on a bus wearing just his boxer shorts. An original charge of attempted murder was changed to a section 18 wounding offence at an earlier hearing at Preston Crown Court. O'Neill pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years and eight months in jail. Ms Peters said she was 'really pleased' with the sentence. DC Ian Cartwright, of Lancashire Police's Public Protection Unit, said: 'This was a vicious attack that left the victim fearing for her life. 'She is still suffering after the incident and, while most of her physical injuries are healing, she has found her confidence greatly shaken. 'Victims of domestic violence should know that the police take this kind of crime very seriously and we will not only do all we can to bring an offender to justice but to provide help and support to the victim so that they can find the path away from their abusive situation.' | James O'Neill hit partner with Buddha-shaped bottle she kept as ornament .
He threatened to kill partner Hazell Peters .
Ms Peters was left with a broken bone in her ear and perforated ear drum .
O'Neill was arrested after being found on a bus in just his boxer shorts .
Victims of domestic abuse can contact police on 101 - but always dial 999 in an emergency. The National Domestic Violence Helpline can be contacted 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on 0800 2000 247. |
102,021 | 0f7cf71baae952abcbdaaa33768c88d8d214a784 | By . Emma Glanfield . A notorious beggar, who is deemed the worst in Britain, has officially been banned from begging anywhere in the UK. Sukhvender Singh Deo, who is known as Billy the Quid because he always asks passers-by for £1, has a string of Asbos to his name banning him from scrounging in the street. The 43-year-old was even jailed for two years in October 2011 after relentlessly targeting a widow over a four-year period between 2007 and 2011, begging an astonishing £35,000 from her. Sukhvender Singh Deo, who is known as Billy the Quid because he always asks passers-by for £1, has a string of Asbos to his name banning him from scrounging in the street . The court heard at the time how Deo targeted legal secretary Bridget Macedonski after she was kind to him and gave him a few pounds whenever she saw him in Chatham, Kent. Over a period of four years, Deo persuaded Mrs Macedonski to give him her mobile phone number and repeatedly called her to ask for loans of up to £100-a-time over four years. Maidstone Crown Court heard at the time that he managed to get £35,000 out of Mrs Macedonski, who had been left a sum of money when her husband died at the age of 40. Deo was jailed for two years in October 2011, getting three months for harassment, 12 months for breaching his Asbo and nine months for two counts of perverting the course of justice - all to run consecutively. But after getting out of jail last year, Deo appeared on the streets again - hanging around in old haunts in Chatham town centre, as well as other parts of Kent. Widow Bridget Macedonski, from Bromley, who ended up handing over £35,000 over a period of time to beggar Sukhvender Deo who used the money for drugs . Deo was first handed an Asbo in 2006 banning him from begging in Chatham and from engaging in behaviour 'likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress to the public'. He was handed another Asbo in 2010 banning him from begging in the county of Kent, but this week he was hauled before magistrates again - and this time banned from begging anywhere in the UK. Medway JPs heard how Deo, who admitted harassment without violence, was caught begging numerous times since August last year. Sergeant Craig West, of Kent Police, said the new Asbo would mean that Deo could be jailed if caught begging anywhere in Britain. Sukhvender Deo was jailed for two years in October 2011 after relentlessly targeting widow Bridget Macedonski over a four year period between 2007 and 2011, begging an astonishing £35,000 from her . He said: ‘If Deo is seen begging anywhere in the country, he is breaching the order. ‘If this happens he would be committing a crime and could be prosecuted.’ He said: ‘Deo is well known across the Medway Towns, particularly in Chatham, for being a nuisance and persistently harassing members of the public by aggressively begging for money. ‘People visiting our High Streets to go shopping, or to use cash machines, should be able to do so without being approached for money and faced with this type of behaviour. ‘The order is in place to protect the public from further nuisance behaviour and it is hoped that the local community is reassured by the action taken. ‘If he breaches the order, which continues until 10 March 2017, he could be arrested, charged and put before a court.’ The Asbo bans Deo from 'begging or seeking charitable donations, alms or loans from any person other than a registered charity or a financial institution, loitering in the vicinity of any cash dispensing machine, or acting in an anti-social manner that causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to anyone not of the same household as himself'. Maidstone Crown Court heard in 2011 how Deo 'relentlessly' targeted Mrs Macedonski for four years. The court heard how Deo followed legal secretary Mrs Macedonski home, pestered her in the street and sent her numerous text messages telling her he needed cash quickly. In the end Mrs Macedonski, who is in her 40s, ended up re-mortgaging her home, and eventually selling it to keep paying Deo, who said he needed the cash to pay off drug debts, telling her he 'would be killed' if he didn't pay up. Sukhvender Singh Deo, nicknamed Billy the Quid, is even listed in the Urban Dictionary because he is so well known for begging in Chatham High Street, pictured . Martin Yale, prosecuting, told the court that Deo 'preyed on Mrs Macedonski's better nature' and that she even started going to great lengths to avoid bumping into him by getting off her train three miles before her stop. He said: ‘To avoid him she would get off the train at Gillingham and then walk to Chatham, but if he didn't see her, Deo would call her mobile phone. ‘She began to feel quite intimidated.' In a victim impact statement read in court, Mrs Macedonski said: ‘The fact he has abused my trust is sad and disappointing, but I cannot help thinking that without the support of others encouraging him he would not have managed to go so far.’ Judge Martin Joy told Deo: ‘This was a wholly disgraceful course of conduct by you preying on somebody who had sought to come to your aid and you preyed on her better instincts. ‘Even now, she has considerable sympathy for you.’ Locals say Deo is 'notorious' in the area - where he has been begging for a decade. Ben Smart, 32, said: ‘I first saw Billy about 10 years ago - he always says the same thing “Alright mate, got a pound?” ‘When he was in jail it was a massive relief as he follows you up the street begging for change and it's not easy to get away from him.’ He is even listed in the Urban Dictionary because he is so well known in the area. It states: ‘Billy The Quid - Annoying homeless chap given the Asbo from Chatham High Street. ‘So called because he never fails to ask passers-by for a quid.’ In 2011, Sukhvender Singh Deo was jailed at Maidstone Crown Court, pictured, for targeting legal secretary Bridget Macedonski and repeatedly calling her asking for loans of up to £100-a-time . | Sukhvender Singh Deo was jailed in 2011 after begging £35,000 from widow .
The beggar is well-known in Chatham, Kent, for asking passers-by for £1 .
He was issued with an Asbo banning him from begging in Britain until 2017 .
The 43-year-old is so well-known he is even listed in the Urban Dictionary . |
129,766 | 33c0f28008ce3ffd0436f664de111e4ebead6b6b | By . Martha Kelner . Follow @@marthakelner . Sam Twiston-Davies is only 21 but he is hobbling around the office building at Grange Hill Farm like a wizened old man. A crashing fall at Wincanton the previous evening has left him barely able to walk. Most people would be in bed but Twiston-Davies, like all jump jockeys, is a breed apart. His most pressing concern is not the crippling bruising on his left hip but passing a medical examination so he can ride at Market Rasen that afternoon. ‘I spent the night with it iced up,’ he said. ‘But then the ice fell off my leg and my bed was soaking wet when I woke up. I’ll ice it in the lorry on the way down to take away the swelling. They make you do squats and press-ups to show you’re OK. They’re very good at strapping you up and getting you back out there.’ Falls are as much a part of the job as hot baths to make weight and studying the formbook every morning. Twiston-Davies knows they are coming — ‘I think one in every eight or nine rides ends on the deck’ — but it would never stop him from racing. Sam Twiston-Davies is relishing his new role as stable jockey for Paul Nicholls . The risk . of bone-crunching falls is even perversely useful in engendering a sense . of brotherhood in the weighing room. ‘You’re like a massive . dysfunctional family in there,’ said Twiston-Davies. ‘You . might not get along with the lad three pegs down but if he was to have . a fall you’d be the first to help him out, get his car home and see . him in the hospital.’ Twiston-Davies . is the hottest property in race riding. Last month he was made stable . jockey for Paul Nicholls — champion trainer in eight of the last nine . years — and had his first winner in his new job on Pressies Girl on . Thursday evening. Nicholls has previously shared his best horses among a . number of jockeys but Twiston-Davies will have the pick of the bunch . this season. It . is a move which means he could be the biggest threat to the dominance . of AP McCoy in the last two decades. Not that he has any ideas about . toppling the greatest champion racing has ever had. ‘To . think about ever challenging him is crazy,’ he said in reverential . tones. ‘You wouldn’t ever think about trying to beat AP. Richard . Johnson’s tried for 19 years and finished second and third every time. I . think AP’s the most dominant champion in world sport, just to ride in . the same generation as him is a privilege. The long-term dream for me is . to be champion jockey but it’s never going to happen when AP’s around. Laid-back: Twiston-Davies was relaxing at his father's yard in the Cotswolds . ‘The . day AP retires is going to be a sad day for racing because we’ll all . miss him, but it’s going to be so competitive because the whole thing’s . going to open up. The domination he has is amazing.’ Twiston-Davies . was three years old when McCoy won the first of his 19 champion jockey . titles in 1996. With his lightly freckled face, red hair and airy charm, . he oozes youth but has had a whole lifetime preparing for this career. The oldest son of trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies grew up in Cheltenham, . the home of jump racing, surrounded by jockeys. ‘Carl . Llwellyn was stable jockey for my dad when I was growing up. He won two . Grand Nationals on Saturdays and then was sat down with us on Monday . morning at the kitchen table eating boiled eggs and soldiers for . breakfast before we went to school. Family affair: Sam will keep the ride on his father's star horse The New One, who is a leading contender for next year's Champion Hurdle . ‘I . learned so much from having all these amazing jockeys around so there’s . no way I would be riding as well as I am without having my start here. But at the same time, the early days were all about trying to prove . myself, to show that I wasn’t just getting rides because of my dad. ‘I did all the mucking out and riding out the same as everyone but I think sometimes people didn’t understand that at first.’ Twiston-Davies . is rake thin, with his tracksuit bottoms hanging from his hips and . wearing a Las Vegas hoodie bought during a trip to Nevada last week with . fellow jockeys Aidan Coleman and Richie McLernon. ‘I . went away to Vegas weighing 9st11 and came back 9st12 despite eating . three massive meals a day. I’m quite lucky in that respect.’ Younger brother Willy, 19, rides on the flat and is stable jockey for Mick Channon. Rising star: Twiston-Davies' spiralling profile has seen him get the job as Paul Nicholls' stable jockey . ‘You . wouldn’t believe we were brothers,’ said Twiston-Davies, ‘He’s 6ft tall . and made of nothing. Because he has to watch his weight so much he’d be . lucky to have a meal a day so he’s grumpy a lot of the time. He’s very . quiet because he saves so much of the energy for trying to be bubbly in . the paddock beforehand. He’s great fun when he’s eating and drinking . normally. ‘It’s hard watching . what he does but those are the sacrifices he’s willing to make. We all . make sacrifices because it’s the best job in the country.’ A . natural raconteur, Twiston-Davies is more ebullient than most jockeys . and sees his responsibilities as extending beyond the winning post. ‘I . try to be happy,’ he said. ‘When the owners are there I try to make . their five minutes before and after their horse has run enjoyable. Even . if I’ve pulled it up five out, if I can somehow put a smile on their . face afterwards then I’ve done my job.’ | The 21-year-old is the new stable jockey for champion trainer Paul Nicholls .
Twiston-Davies will keep the ride on his father's star hurdler The New One .
Says Tony McCoy is 'most dominant champion in world sport' |
53,751 | 9870450c3b792c1cc9023867396849e6d4d53043 | By . Jill Reilly . PUBLISHED: . 05:18 EST, 22 March 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 17:00 EST, 22 March 2012 . Two Southern California men pleaded guilty on Thursday to indecent exposure in Dominica after they were arrested during a stop on a gay cruise of the Caribbean. John Robert Hart, 41, and Dennis Jay Mayer, 43, of Palm Springs, apologized in court and said they regretted their actions. Police said they were seen having sex in plain sight of people on land, prompting officers to board the ship and arrest them on Wednesday. Gay cruise: John Hart, 41, left, and Dennis Jay Mayer, 43, both of Palm Springs, California, pleaded guilty to indecent exposure after they were caught having sex . Mayer, 43, second from left, and Hart, 41, third from left, are escorted by police officers back to court following their arrest during a stop on a gay cruise of the Caribbean . The two initially were arrested on suspicion of the local equivalent of sodomy in the eastern Caribbean island, which prohibits sex between two men. The men's attorney, Bernadette Lambert, said they were remorseful. 'They were struck by the beautiful mountains, the clean and clear fresh air and were having a few cocktails, and so threw caution to the wind,' she told the court. Chief Magistrate Evaline Baptiste ordered the men to pay a nearly $900 fine after calling them 'rogues and vagabonds'. They made no comment after the hearing and police drove the men to the airport after they were released. The two were aboard the Celebrity Summit cruise ship that had departed Puerto Rico on Saturday with about 2,000 passengers. The ship departed for St Barts late Wednesday, leaving the men behind. Arrest: Two men on board a gay cruise of the Caribbean were arrested yesterday in Dominica, after being spotted having sex on the Celebrity cruise ship, pictured, from the port of Roseau . The cruise was organized by Atlantis Events, a Southern California company that specializes in gay travel. President . Rich Campbell said Thursday that the outcome of the case would have . been the same had it involved a heterosexual couple instead of two gay . men. 'It had nothing to . do with their sexual orientation and everything to do with their public . conduct,' he said. 'I have been in contact with the guests and they are . in good spirits.' Dozens of islanders packed the courtroom in the capital of Roseau to attend the 30-minute hearing. Dominica . Tourism Minister Ian Douglas said that tourists should abide by local . laws regardless of their religious or sexual orientation, and that . cruise ship officials should make passengers aware of these laws. 'It . cannot be the responsibility of Dominica to screen guests and tourists . before they come into the country,' he said. 'It is expected that any . time people come to a country, they will respect the laws of the . country.' Gay Caribbean . cruises have been popular for several years despite hostility to . homosexuality on certain islands, especially in Jamaica, Barbados and . the Cayman Islands. Party boat: The cruise was organized by Atlantis Events, a Southern California company that specializes in gay travel. The ship departed for St. Barts without the men, who are being held in a cell at police headquarters in the capital of Roseau . The cruise was organized by Atlantis Events, a Southern California company that specializes in gay travel. President Rich Campbell, who is aboard the cruise, said in a phone interview earlier that the company has organized many trips to Dominica and would 'happily return'. 'Many countries and municipalities that gay men visit and live in have antiquated laws on their books,' he said. 'These statutes don't pose a concern to us in planning a tourist visit.' Statement: President Rich Campbell, pictured, who is aboard the cruise, said 'The guests' actions were unfortunate but minor in this case and have no bearing on our overall guest experience' 'The guests' actions were unfortunate but minor in this case and have no bearing on our overall guest experience,' he said via email. The pastor of Dominica's Trinity Baptist Church, Randy Rodney, praised the police for their intervention. 'I . am very pleased that the police were called in and have arrested the . people in question. I have warned about gay tourism and its implications . for Dominica,' said Mr Rodney, who is a vocal critic of homosexuality . and lesbianism. Holiday ethos: On the company website, guest are encouraged to enjoy themselves and it states 'The only rule is there are no rules' According to Cruisemates.com, no gay cruise lines sail to Jamaica or Barbados for fear of homophobia and possible violence. It said other places like the U.S. Virgin Islands welcome gay cruises. In 2010, the Cayman Islands rejected the arrival of an Atlantis gay cruise amid protests from religious groups even though homosexuality is legal on the archipelago. Don Weiner, a spokesman for Atlantic Events, referred all questions to Campbell, including why the company organized a trip to Dominica and whether it knew about the island's anti-sodomy laws. Elizabeth Jakeway, a spokeswoman for Celebrity Cruises, referred all questions to Atlantis. The last time authorities in the Caribbean intervened on a gay cruise was in February 2011, when agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested a California man aboard the Allure of the Seas, which had docked in St. Thomas. The man, Steven Barry Krumholz of West Hollywood, pleaded guilty to selling ecstasy, methamphetamine and ketamine to fellow passengers. | Men were spotted having sex on Celebrity Summit from dock in Dominica, where sex between two men is illegal .
If found guilty, they could be fined $370 each and face up to six months in jail . |
225,337 | afcd20fce309b677f36bc31261c82795c771d20a | As the Steffon Armitage transfer saga played out this week, another English No 7 was conducting business in his own rough, tough, meticulous manner that could yet see him oust national captain Chris Robshaw ahead of the World Cup. Will Fraser still doesn't possess a full England cap. A cruel run of injuries has prevented the Watford-born 24-year-old from showcasing his skills on the highest stage, where most believe he belongs. But he is fit again and as desperate to play for his country as at any stage in his injury-chequered five-year professional career. Will Fraser of Saracens receives the Aviva Man of the Match award after the victory over Harlequins . Chris Robshaw is hoping to keep hold of his England shirt in spite of competition for his position . 'There's a massive desire to play for England,' Fraser said at Saracens' training ground ahead of Saturday's European Champions Cup clash with Clermont Auvergne. 'I want to play for England and that's the be all and end all.' While Armitage has attracted headlines this week for his bid to satisfy the RFU's strict selection criteria — which only permits players playing in England to be selected for the national side — by attempting to sign for Bath from Toulon, it is Fraser who could yet make a late run on Stuart Lancaster's Elite Player Squad. Whether or not he makes the cut when the squad is announced on Wednesday, Fraser is certain of one thing: he has no intention of turning his back on club or country before his international appetite is sated. 'If I was told if I went abroad I would never play for England I wouldn't go — unless there was no chance of me being picked then maybe I'd consider it,' he said. 'But if I knew I still had a chance to play then I'd stay. 100 per cent.' Will Fraser of Saracens loses his footing challenging for the ball with Ryan Shortland of Newcastle Falcons . Will Fraser says, unlike Steffon Armitage, he would not move to France if it would harm his England prospects . Music to Lancaster's ears, no doubt. The England coach is a known admirer and called Fraser into his Loughborough training camp this summer despite another injury-hit year which saw him miss his club's ultimately unfulfilling climax to the season with a complicated ankle fracture. Fraser showed precisely why with a performance against his England rival Robshaw at the start of the season described by Saracens director Mark McCall as 'high, high class' as the men in black humbled Harlequins 39-0. Saturday's clash — a repeat of last season's semi-final which saw Sarries crush Clermont 46-6 — is another chance for Fraser to impress Lancaster ahead of Wednesday's EPS announcement. 'If I don't make the EPS squad then I'll just keep plodding along. I know more than most how quickly things can change,' Fraser said. That last comment is as much a reference to his youngest brother Henry — paralysed from the neck down since 2009 following a diving accident — as it is to his own relatively trivial injury issues. Henry will be watching proudly on Saturday and big brother added: 'I grew up 10 minutes down the road and whatever happens this will always be my club.' England coach Stuart Lancaster will name his latest international squad next Wednesday . | Saracens back row has seen international ambitions hampered by injury .
Will Fraser hoping to challenge Chris Robshaw for his England jersey .
Fraser will be hoping to be included in Stuart Lancaster's next squad .
Flanker was called into Loughborough training camp this summer . |
148,018 | 4b68891a9c2f6661cf591bd6f556456c652c2083 | A shocking video has emerged of a young man callously kicking a cat through the air, while he and his friend filming the incident laughed. More than 5,000 people have signed a petition urging police in Akron, Ohio, to find and prosecute the man. Thankfully for the cat, it reverted to type and landed on its feet. Police are investigating after local broadcaster NewsNet5 contacted officers, who received a petition calling on them to arrest the cat-kicker for animal cruelty. The petition says: 'He didn't show any sort of regret, as he and his buddies were having a big laugh about what just happened. You can also imagine that the cat didn't enjoy this!' Torturing a pet in Ohio carries up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,500, to be paid to animal protection groups. Animal cruelty: More than 5,000 people have signed a petition urging police to prosecute a thug who kicked a cat through the air and then laughed in this shocking footage posted on Facebook from Akron, Ohio . Horror: The cat flew through the air, but thankfully and according to animal legend, it landed on its feet . Unidentified: Police told local media in Ohio that they are investigating the reports and trying to identify the man . | More than 5,000 people have signed petition calling for man to be prosecuted .
Footage was reportedly shot in Akron, Ohio, and posted on Facebook .
Thankfully the animal landed on its feet but police are now investigating . |
131,144 | 35971af296dc8201a6fcebba628c82dcba6bf5c9 | Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus has been fined £427,000 for a series of driving offences - the highest sanction of its kind ever handed out in the country - according to German newspaper Bild. The 25-year-old Germany forward was allegedly stopped by police several times and received speeding tickets on at least five occasions since 2011, before the authorities realised he had been driving without a licence ever since. Reus told Bild: 'I decided back then to take that road but the reasons I did it are something I cannot really understand today.' VIDEO Scroll down for Marco Reus' Top 3 Bundesliga goals for Borussia Dortmund . Marco Reus is almost half a million pounds worse off after a catalogue of driving misdemeanours . Reus,snapped with Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp during a training session, has not had a licence since 2011 . Reus' astronomical fine has accrued from offences committed since 2011 to the current day . Dortmund's prosecutor's office said the fine was related to incidents from 2011 until this March. 'Today I know that I was too naive and that it was stupid. I have learned my lesson and this will not happen again,' Reus added. Reus, who missed Germany's World Cup triumph in July after picking up an injury in the final warm-up game, is a transfer target of several major European clubs, with his release clause £19.8million. The club were unavailable for comment. | Marco Reus has been driving without a licence since 2011 .
The 25-year-old has received speeding tickets on at least five occasions since the start of 2011 .
'Stupid' Reus has been fined nearly £500,000 for driving offences .
He admits he was 'too naive and stupid' and will learn from his mistakes . |
90,691 | 00a3121ae106ce18379649be9d61faaf9b885ea7 | (CNN) -- Third seed Andy Murray will play world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open after overcoming Roger Federer in a tense five-set semifinal in Melbourne Friday. Sunday will see a repeat of the 2011 final, with Murray looking to avenge his defeat to Djokovic after beating 17-time grand slam winner Federer 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-2. Murray will be looking to finally capture the Melbourne title having twice been runner-up at the year's first grand slam. The 25-year-old Briton is also looking for his second straight grand slam title after beating Serbian ace Djokovic in the final of the U.S. Open last September, the first time he had claimed one of the four major titles in tennis. Should he repeat that victory over Djokovic in the Australia final, Murray would become the first player to follow up his maiden grand slam title with another at the first opportunity. World No. 2 Federer was hoping to become the first man in the post-1968 Open era to win the Australian Open on five occasions, but came up short in a high quality match lasting exactly four hours. It was the first time Murray had beaten Federer at a grand slam, but his victory over the Swiss maestro in the gold medal match at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London has acted as a springboard for his later successes. Murray never trailed throughout the match on the Rod Laver Arena, but was twice pegged back as Federer won the second and fourth sets on tiebreaks. Murray served for the match in the fourth set at 6-5, but was denied victory by some brilliant attacking tennis by the second seed as he broke back. Federer carried that momentum into the subsequent tiebreak to force a decider, but Murray showed his mettle by taking control again. An early break saw him forge 5-2 ahead and when Federer served to stay in the match, he was unable to offer more than token resistance, hitting long as Murray sealed an epic and deserved victory. "I've been known for losing a lot of tough matches and big matches, especially here a few times, and having never beaten Roger in a big match until the Olympics," he said in his court side interview. "That obviously helps but it doesn't make it any easier when you're trying to serve it out." The 31-year Federer insisted he would bounce back after his third straight semifinal loss in Melbourne and dismissed notions that he would struggle to compete with younger rivals such as Djokovic and Murray. "I go from here with a good feeling for the year. I didn't play a tournament leading in, so now obviously I know where my level is at," he told gathered reporters. "I also know that I have even more time to work on my game, work on my fitness this year. It's something I'm excited about." Saturday will see the women's final between World No.1 Victoria Azarenka and former French Open champion Li Na. The championship will close when Murray and Djokovic lock horns 24 hours later, with spectators hoping for a repeat of their epic semifinal clash last year where the latter prevailed in a five set thriller before beating Rafael Nadal in a marathon final. Nadal, the other member of the 'big four', is currently sidelined by a long-term injury but intends to make his comeback next month. | Andy Murray will play Novak Djokovic in Sunday's Australian Open final .
Third seed Murray beat Roger Federer in five sets to reach his third Melbourne final .
It was Murray's first victory over Federer at one of the sport's four grand slams .
Djokovic beat Murray in the 2011 final of the season's first grand slam . |
283,774 | fba1ec387d1c5c486a9f0661ceb1604a6ae927e0 | Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has refused to throw his support behind Prime Minister Tony Abbott over the sacking of chief whip Philip Ruddock on Friday. Appearing on QandA on the ABC on Monday evening Turnbull dubbed the move to get rid of the 'father of the house' a 'captains call' when asked by an audience member about the dumping of the iconic Liberal Party member. In response to the same questioner journalist and Today Show host Lisa Wilkinson ripped into the prime minister, slamming him for his 'laundry list' of personal goals distracting him from leading the country. Scroll down for video . Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull took a swipe at Prime Minister Tony Abbott while appearing on QandA on Monday evening . Lisa Wilkinson also took aim at Abbott over his broken promises and 'laundry list of own goals' Speaking about the turfing of Ruddock, the communications minister would not 'run a commentary on the prime minister's decisions', but admitted the chief whip's loss was felt deeply in the party. 'Philip Ruddock is the father of the house, which means he's been in parliament for over 40 years, he's the longest serving member of the house of representatives,' Turnbull said. 'He is well-loved, he is well-respected, he is esteemed by all of the Liberal party right across the country . 'Tony Abbott, as Philip said, it entitled to appoint and replace the chief whip as and when he wishes that's his call,' he added. But despite refusing to openly condemn the move by the prime minister, Turnbull seemed to smile as he called the move a 'captain's call'. Turnbull said Abbott's decision to dump 'father of the house' Philip Ruddock was a 'captain's call' but refused to give his personal opinion on the matter . He said he would leave it up to public opinion to determine whether it was the right or wrong decision . 'He's the boss, he's the captain he can make a captains call,' he said, which was met with a smirk from fellow panelist Lisa Wilkinson and laughter from the audience. 'Whether the decisions are right or wrong, time and public opinion no doubt and other events will determine. 'All I'm prepared to say about Philip Ruddock is what a fine man he is and I was very sad to see his services terminated in that role. Full stop,' Turnbull declared. Just moments before the communications minister's response, Lisa Wilkinson slammed Mr Abbot for his 'broken promises' and 'laundry list' of self-motivated goals. 'I think that problem that Tony Abbott has now is that there are so many own goals, I mean there's almost a laundry list now,' Wilkinson began. Wilkinson admitted that though Abbott was good in opposition, but also pointed out his shortcomings and hypocrisies as leader of the nation . 'It's just been one thing after the other and then we've had silly mistakes, silly decisions like the knighting of Prince Phillip' she said . She gave credit to the prime minister for his 'very effective' operation as opposition leader, but the Today Show host also pointed out his shortcomings and hypocrisies as leader of the nation. 'One of the strongest messages he would come back with during our interviews was that Julia Gillard broke a promise we will not break promises,' Wilkinson said. '(But now) we've got broken promises: we've got no cuts to the pension, no cuts to the ABC or SBS, no cuts to education, the submarine contracts look like they've been broken', she continued, pointing out where the Liberal Party had failed in her opinion. 'It's just been one thing after the other and then we've had silly mistakes, silly decisions like the knighting of Prince Phillip. 'In terms of these own goals the prime minister even... he said that the question was not whether or not the Australian people thought that Prince Phillip getting that award was appropriate it's whether the award was appropriate,' she continued. Throughout the Today Show host's response, Turnbull did not jump to the defence of the prime minister which left many speculating on social media . Turnbull, here with Abbott last week, admitted during the program he was not consulted on the shafting of Ruddock, and he did not know who was spoken to about it before it happened . Calling the knighthoods awards that Abbott 'bought back from the dark ages' and also took aim at the way he was out of touch with the members of his own party. 'Tony Abbott only has to look in the mirror to see why he's having so many problems, and on the issue of Philip Ruddock I would have thought its's the prime minister's job to be in touch with his back bench,' she said. 'He couldn't have been reading a newspaper and he certainly couldn't have been talking to anyone in the backbench because we all knew ... everyone watching knew that he had real issues with the backbench . 'And 40 per cent of people who sit behind him don't want him there as leader,' Wilkinson concluded her scolding. Throughout the Today Show host's response, Turnbull did not jump to the defence of the prime minister which left many speculating on social media about his motives. A number of commenters pointed out his body language during the exchange, while others drew attention to his slight smirk as Wilkinson laid into Abbott. | Malcolm Turnbull took aim at the PM on QandA on Monday night .
Said decision to sack Philip Rudd was a 'captain's call'
Lisa Wilkinson also slammed Tony Abbott over 'laundry list of own goals'
Listed a number of his 'broken promises' and his hypocrisy .
Wilkinson also denounced his decision to knight Prince Phillip . |
241,668 | c4c8b7bd52401d246dc63c88c90174bd4efbfa5f | Washington (CNN) -- U.S. and North Korean officials met secretly in New York in the days before North Korea's latest round of threats and provocations, although nothing came of the meeting, according to a source familiar with the matter. The source described the meeting as part of regular back channel exchanges between the countries. Clifford Hart, the U.S. envoy for six-party talks aimed at North Korean denuclearization, met with North Korea's deputy U.N. ambassador, Han Song-ryol, in mid March, according to the source. Northeast Asia on edge ahead of possible North Korean missile test . Hart repeated the Obama administration's call for North Korea to avoid provocative actions and urged a return to diplomacy, and Han promised to communicate the message to Pyongyang, the source said. The meeting was held as part of the so-called "New York channel," a process used for communicating and passing messages between Washington and Pyongyang in the absence of normal relations. In February, North Korea used the "New York channel" to warn the State Department about its third nuclear test. White House spokesman Jay Carney, appearing on CNN's "The Situation Room," said in general terms that the United States has a "channel of communications with the North Koreans, and we utilize that channel." The meeting was first reported by the Foreign Policy magazine blog, The Cable. Timeline: North Korea's war of words escalates . | Nothing came of New York meeting days before North Korea unleashed threats .
Source says meeting part of regular back channel exchanges .
The Obama administration called for Pyongyang to avoid provocative actions .
"New York channel" set up for U.S., North Korea to exchange information, messages . |
235,549 | bcf018f65ceb9adb6f079c7002144ba79a5cfd9e | West Ham defender Winston Reid admitted he was relieved West Ham had avoided being another of the weekend's FA Cup victims as they edged past League One high-flyers Bristol City on Sunday. With both Chelsea and Manchester City crashing out of the competition at the hands of Bradford City and Middlesbrough respectively a day earlier, pressure was on the in-form Hammers to ensure they put on a professional display at Ashton Gate. Diafra Sakho's header nine minutes from time was enough to send the Hammers through to the fifth round at the expense of Steve Cotterill's side - who were in complete control during the first half but failed to make their dominance count. Hammers defender Winston Reid blocks a challenge from Bristol City winger Luke Freeman . Diafra Sakho celebrates after scoring the goal to send West Ham through to the FA Cup fifth round . After the game Reid told the BBC: 'In the first half we were under pressure from Bristol City. 'It's always difficult to come to these places though so it was important we got a clean sheet and the win. 'The manager mentioned to us before the game about that (the cup shocks on Saturday). Sam Allardyce looks on during his West Ham side's FA Cup tie at Bristol City on Sunday . Carl Jenkinson battles for the ball with Joe Bryan during West Ham's FA Cup clash at Ashton Gate . 'With that in mind we didn't want to be another of them, so we just wanted to get the job done. 'Of course we have a chance (of winning the FA Cup) but there's a long way to go yet. 'Today we played okay but ultimately got the result we needed.' Hammers boss Allardyce (left) greets Steve Cotterill ahead of the game at Ashton Park . Enner Valencia tumbles down in the area following a challenge with midfielder Bryan . | West Ham beat League One high-flyers Bristol City 1-0 on Sunday in their FA Cup fourth round clash .
Diafra Sakho's 81st minute goal was enough to earn the Hammers victory .
Hammers defender Winston Reid admitted he was relieved his side had managed to progress to the next round following a weekend of shocks .
Both Chelsea and Manchester City were knocked out on Saturday . |
162,799 | 5e82ddcdc902aef1b0f72ed1745afcd43a6dd68e | A daughter of the man dubbed Britain’s most feckless father has criticised him for having 26 children by 15 different women and for spending his life living at the taxpayers' expense. Peter Rolfe, from Newport on the . Isle of Wight, has claimed more than £500,000 in state . handouts over the course of his lifetime, and is now demanding his family is moved into . a bigger council house. But . his 18-year-old daughter Roseanne - the only family member of his . enormous family seeking work - today said: 'Dad should not have had as . many kids... he was a Jack-the-Lad with an eye for the ladies, but that . is no excuse.' Last month Peter Rolfe sparked outrage when he appeared on ITV's This Morning to say he deserved the £500,000 in benefits, adding he felt he should have received even more money. Scroll down for video . Feckless: Peter Rolfe (sitting, centre) has had 26 children by 15 different women, and has spent his life living at the taxpayers' expense. Now one of his daughters, Roseanne (pictured in black), has slammed his way of life . Benefits: Former chef Peter Rolfe, from Newport on the Isle of Wight, has already claimed more than £500,000 in state handouts over the course of his lifetime . Roseanne Rolfe, who is training to become a painter and decorator, said her father should have practiced safe sex to avoid having so many children. 'I would like a couple of children, but I won’t expect the taxpayer to pick up the bill,' she added. Ms . Rolfe still lives in Newport with her father; brother Peter Junior, 19; . sisters Marieanne, 15, Carrieanne, 14, and Leeanne, 17; and Leeanne’s . one-year-old twins. 'I could have left home at 16 and got my own council house, but I want to better myself,' she told Closer magazine. 'Dad has looked after me well and we are close, but I don’t agree with how he has lived his life,' she added. Brazen: Last month Peter Rolfe sparked outrage when he appeared on ITV's This Morning programme (pictured) to say he deserved the £500,000 in benefits, adding he felt he should have received even more . Demands: Peter Rolfe is insisting his family be moved into a bigger council house after describing his three-bedroom property in Newport, Isle of Wight (pictured) as 'a prison' Mr Rolfe, a former chef, currently receives up to £800 a week in welfare payments. He caused outrage when he and his family of 14 boys and 12 girls appeared on a shocking new Channel Five TV series, Benefits Britain: Life On The Dole, which featured parents who view children as a ticket to an easy life. Now Mr Rolfe - whose children range in age from nine to 40 - wants a larger home after complaining that his current three-bed house is a 'prison'. The unemployed father has even blamed the children’s mothers for his predicament, saying: 'I believe some got pregnant on purpose.' In her father’s defence, Ms Rolfe said her father became the family’s primary carer when she was four, after he split from her mother. Mr Rolfe gave up his chef’s job and began receiving £30,000 a year in state benefits. Challenge: Peter Rolfe said people who criticise him should imagine what it's like being a father of 26 . Upwardly mobile on benefits: Peter Rolfe has successfully applied for disability allowance which means his family gets £800 a week (and he gets a mobility scooter) Ms Rolfe, who no longer has any contact with her mother, said: 'We had to be careful with money, but we never went without' 'There was always food on the table and Dad would treat us to days out at the beach.' 'As we got older, he developed arthritis, heart problems and type 2 diabetes, so he was unable to work - even if he had wanted to.' Ms Rolfe left school at 15 with no qualifications, but enrolled at college to study English, maths and information technology. 'I did not want to live in a cramped house with no money. I wanted a decent job... Dad was proud of me. He wanted me to have a better life than him,' she said. Ms Rolfe, whose boyfriend Ross, 21, works as a nurse, then signed up for a two-year painter and decorator course. 'I can’t wait to start earning my own money,' she said. 'Ross and I plan to save to rent our own place. I will prove out family aren’t scroungers,' she added. | Roseanne Rolfe has criticised her father for having too many children .
She says Peter Rolfe would not need handouts had he practiced safe sex .
But did say her father ensured none of his children ever went without .
Unemployed Rolfe has fathered 14 boys and 12 girls with 15 different women .
He has raked in more than £500,000 over the course of his lifetime .
Says he deserved the money and claims he should have had even more .
He is even demanding his family are moved into a bigger council house . |
248,939 | ce226f918ab6b2245c4121b4461e4f09d2fa9e29 | Cristiano Ronaldo found himself upstaged by Real Madrid team-mate Karim Benzema and former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba on Saturday night as France beat Portugal 2-1 in their international friendly. Ronaldo, sitting on the bench with an ice pack on his left knee after being substituted on 76 minutes, could do little to turn Portugal's fortunes around at the Stade de France after the hosts took a third-minute lead through Benzema before Pogba doubled their advantage in the second half. Portugal substitute Ricardo Quaresma set up a tense finale by slotting home a penalty for the visitors, but France held on to their slender advantage. Paul Pogba celebrates doubling France's lead in the second half as the hosts beat Portugal in their international friendly on Saturday . Karim Benzema and his France team-mates celebrate after the home side took the lead at the Stade de France against Portugal . Pogba celebrates with his France team-mates after coolly slotting home to make it 2-0 with about 20 minutes remaining in the match . Ronaldo sits on the turf frustrated as his Portugal side suffer an early blow against France in the international friendly on Saturday night . Ronaldo could do little to help Portugal in the first half as France dominated the visitors in the impressive stadium near Paris . Cristiano Ronaldo was seen with an ice pack on his knee after being substituted in Paris . France: Mandanda, Sagna, Varane, Mangala, Evra, Cabaye, Pogba, Matuidi, Valbuena, Benzema, Griezmann . Subs: Lloris, Jallet, Mathieu, Cabella, Gignac, Payet, Digne, Sissoko, Remy, Yanga-Mbiwa, Schneiderlin, Costil . Bookings: Mangala, Cabaye, . Goals: Benzema (3), Pogba (69) Portugal: Patricio, Eliseu, Alves, Pepe, Soares, Moutinho, Mendes, Gomes, Danny, Ronaldo, Nani . Subs: Lopes, Fonte, Ricardo Carvalho, Eder, Vieirinha, Antunes, Pinto, William Carvalho, Silva, Quaresma, Mario, Beto . Bookings: NONE . Goals: Quaresma (Pen, 78) France wasted no time in dominating the visitors from the offset. A low cross from the left by Antoine Griezmann found Bacary Sagna in space towards the back post, and the Manchester City defender forced goalkeeper Rui Patricio to palm his shot away. It did little good as the rebound fell to Benzema who, with the goal gaping, tapped the ball in to make it 1-0 with just three minutes on the clock. Replays on the big screen showed Ronaldo turning away, looking frustrated to relinquish a lead so early in the international friendly. The former Manchester United star tried to trick his way beyond France's back line but his step-overs accomplished little during a less-than-convincing opening 45 minutes for the men in white. Griezmann, looking sharp for France, weaved his way through Portugal's defence midway through the first half but a tame shot with the outside of his left foot was comfortably collected by Patricio. Portugal, however, were nearly gifted an equaliser shortly before the break when France tried to pass their way out from the back. It was Nani who almost punished the hosts' carelessness as the Manchester United winger, currently on loan at Sporting Lisbon, found himself with only goalkeeper Steve Mandanda to beat. His shot across goal, seemingly in slow motion, went agonisingly wide of the right post and France's half-time lead remained intact. After the break, Ronaldo looked hellbent on testing the France goalkeeper. The 29-year-old, rising above surrounding defenders to meet Nani's cross, saw his header destined for the bottom-left corner, only for the right hand of Mandanda to deny the two-time Ballon d'Or winner. VIDEO Scroll down to see Pogba attempt scoring from behind the goal in training . Ronaldo emerged looking hellbent to test the France goalkeeper after the break but was ultimately substituted on 76 minutes on Saturday . Portugal sensed they were good for a goal but it was France who nabbed the all-important second. Patrice Evra, starting the move from a standard throw-in on the left, found himself charging at goal before squaring the ball to Benzema. The striker in turn set the ball for Pogba who, with a drop of the shoulder, simply tucked it away into the bottom-left corner to make it 2-0. Again, Ronaldo was shown on the big screen for the 81,000 present before being substituted with 14 minutes remaining. The man on in his place - Joao Mario - immediately had an impact by winning a penalty from a trip by Pogba. Another substitute, Quaresma, calmly slotted the resulting spot-kick beyond Mandanda to make it 2-1 with a little more than 10 minutes to play. It proved too little, too late for Portugal, but those at the Bernabeu will be more concerned by the strapping on Ronaldo's left knee than the friendly defeat. Portugal lost the international friendly 2-1 against France but Real Madrid fans will be more keen to know more about Ronaldo's fitness . Ronaldo was substituted on 76 minutes by Portugal manager Fernando Santos on Saturday night and immediately had his knee strapped . France held on to their slender advantage after Portugal struck back with a little more than 10 minutes remaining on Saturday night . | Cristiano Ronaldo sits on bench after being substituted 76 minutes in with ice pack strapped to his left knee .
Real Madrid team-mate Karim Benzema and ex-Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba initially put France 2-0 up .
Portugal substitute Ricardo Quaresma set up a tense finale by slotting home a penalty for the visitors 78 minutes in . |
204,245 | 9466f635332058e3c8677c31f2e1e99f85c653e2 | By . Mark Prigg . Over 10,000 historic maps of New York have been scanned and made available online by the New York Public Library. The library has also unveiled a radical new 'warping' feature that allows users to superimpose any of the maps onto modern-day New York to see changes. It allows users to virtually fly around the maps, seeing just how Manhattan has evolved. Scroll down for video . The new 'warper' tool allows users to view the historic maps in Google Earth and other apps on top of modern-day New York . Although the maps are primarily of New York, the digital maps also include: . 1,100 maps of the Mid-Atlantic United States and cities from the 16th to 19th centuries, mostly drawn from the Lawrence H. Slaughter Collection; . More than 700 topographic maps of the Austro-Hungarian empire created between 1877 and 1914 . 2,800 maps from state, county and city atlases (mostly New York and New Jersey) More than 10,300 maps from property, zoning, topographic, but mostly fire insurance atlases of New York City dating from 1852 to 1922 . More than 1,000 maps of New York City, its boroughs and neighborhoods, dating from 1660 to 1922. 'NYPL has now scanned nearly all of its public domain New York City atlases, a collection of now more than 10,000 maps,' Matt Knutzen of the library revealed in a blog post announcing the project. He also revealed the 'warper' tool that allows the old maps to be put on top of new maps. 'We have also built a web tool where users both inside and outside the Library can virtually stretch old maps onto a digital model of the world à la Google Maps or OpenStreetMap, thus creating a new copy that is not only aligned with spatial coordinates on the Earth, but normalized across the entire archive of old maps.' The library worked with staff, volunteers, and interns, a group of roughly 1,500 participants worldwide to complete the ambitious project. This is the first time the majority of the maps have been made available online. An 1863 map of Central Park that is opart of the collection. It's library entry reads: 'Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1863 by John Bachmann, in the Clerks Office of the District Court for the Southern District of N.Y.' The Library hopes to expand to project to create a 'historical Yelp' for New York, with everything from restaurant menus to pricing in stores from the city's past. 'If we have documents related to past times and past places (old maps), then we can create data to 'rebuild' those past times and past places. 57 maps of New York electronically stitched together in the software . An early map of New york . 'If we 'rebuild' old places in virtual space, we can then organize a universe of other information around those old places. 'Wouldn’t it be great to have yelp.com and menupages.com, but for old restaurants and with old menus and prices? Or to have at least a smattering of old photos in a historical street view? Or to search the National Newspaper Digitization Project using a map interface? An early map of Summer Hill in New York that forms part of the new collection . An early map of New york . | Users can choose a map and superimpose it on today's New York to see differences .
Reveals how New York has evolved over time .
New York Public Library hopes to add restaurant menus to create a 'historic yelp' |
273,009 | ed9eb1baa24b21d48bdf9d17f8bf55ab0095825f | Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented a united stance with Haitian President Rene Preval during her visit Saturday to the quake-battered capital. Clinton, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the country since Tuesday's 7.0-magnitude quake, sought to assure the Haitian people that the United States is working with the government "to assist in every way we can." "We are here at the invitation of your government to help you," she said. "As President Obama has said, we will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead." Clinton said she and Preval will issue a joint communique Sunday "setting forth our intention to cooperate together." Clinton arrived in Haiti via a U.S. Coast Guard plane Saturday afternoon and immediately went into meetings with Preval, Rajiv Shah, the director of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other U.S. officials already on the ground. Get the latest developments in Haiti . "We had a very good meeting about all of the priorities of the Haitian government and the Haitian people," Clinton said after a brief news conference following the meetings. She said air efforts are focused on providing water, food and medical help. She also stressed the importance of restoring the country's communications networks, electricity and transportation. "We agreed that we will be coordinating closely together to achieve these goals." In an interview with CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta, Clinton said "every day we are making progress and I expect that to continue." In addition to the immediate needs, Clinton said the focus will switch next week to long-term recovery and reconstruction, telling Gupta she believed that Haiti, with the help of the international community, could be a better place than it was before Tuesday's quake. The U.S. Coast Guard plane she arrived on was carrying 100 cases of water, 100 cases of meals-ready-to-eat, and food and toiletries for about 140 U.S. Embassy staff members. Fifty Americans, who have been waiting to be evacuated, will fly back to the United States when Clinton departs. Clinton landed hours after President Obama announced Saturday that former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush have agreed to lead an effort to raise funds for Haiti. Frustrations continued to mount in the earthquake-pummeled country as survivors remained in dire need of food, water and medical aid. One medical official warned that a third of the patients at a makeshift hospital -- one of many being erected in open fields, abandoned stadiums and empty warehouses around the capital -- were in need of immediate surgery, and could die without it. "They will die of infections, they'll die of dead tissue, they'll die of malnutrition and metabolic derangements," Dr. Jennifer Furin with the Harvard Medical School said of the roughly 300 patients at the hospital on a U.N. compound near Port-au-Prince's airport. Elsewhere, a food drop by U.S. helicopters in Port-au-Prince became a chaotic scene as hundreds of Haitians without food and water for four days rushed the boxes of aid being shoved out of the open doors. A similar scene erupted Friday when a food convoy with the World Food Programme was forced to leave an area after men in the crowd starting pushing and shoving their way to the trucks. Impact Your World . Amid the chaos, there were signs of progress: more aid distribution sites and hospitals, a system for identifying the dead and even more survivors rescued from the ruins of buildings. U.S. troops handed out about 2,500 meals in Petionville on Saturday and 14 aid distribution points had been established. The Israel Defense Forces began operating a field hospital at an abandoned soccer field, and the U.S. Naval Hospital Ship Comfort, staffed by a crew of 64 and 560 hospital personnel, left the Baltimore Harbor on a trip that will take about five days. Increasingly, Haitians were seen helping Haitians. One local church was able to scrounge up some potato chips, bottled water and juice to hand out. Local authorities were seen setting up a makeshift clinic on a street corner in Port-au-Prince with one doctor and a couple of tables and folding chairs. U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Edmond Mulet said common grave sites were being created for the thousands of victims, calling mass graves discovered by CNN crews Friday "not very dignified." He said the dead will be photographed in hopes of providing identification for families. While there has not been an official count of the dead, Mulet said the number of casualties in the capital, which has a population of 3 million, ranges from 100,000 to 150,000. He said Friday 13,000 bodies had been recovered so far. The State Department has put the American death toll at 15 so far. U.S. officials said search and rescue operations will continue through the weekend. As of Saturday afternoon, 22 people had been rescued since Tuesday from collapsed buildings by U.S. urban search and rescue teams. At least one man was pulled from the rubble on Saturday and other crews were working to reach others. Tapping noises were heard at a collapsed day-care center, but later stopped. One trapped person apparently was sending text messages from beneath a collapsed bank. Meanwhile, the Port-au-Prince airport remained overwhelmed by the influx of air traffic bringing in supplies and efforts continued to clear the roads. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who confirmed Saturday the deaths of the top two civilian officials at Haiti's U.N. mission, was to arrive in the capital Sunday. On Friday, the United Nations said that at least 37 U.N. personnel have died -- 36 with the U.N. mission and one with the World Food Programme. The number of unaccounted for U.N. people exceeded 300. There are 12,000 people working for U.N. entities in Haiti. CNN's Anderson Cooper, Ivan Watson, Arthur Brice, Elise Labott, Richard Roth, Chris Lawrence and Steve Kastenbaum contributed to this report. | NEW: Clinton says global aid can help Haiti become better place than it was before quake .
NEW: Medical official warns that a third of patients in makeshift hospital may die without surgery .
NEW: Amid chaos, signs of progress, including aid distribution sites, hospitals .
Ex-Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush to lead fundraising effort for Haiti . |
82,213 | e909ce9470ee2128270a38e0fa46b1bf7af13d37 | By . Victoria Woollaston . In the very near future there will be machines that act just like humans, doctors will be able to eradicate cancers using your DNA and the password will finally die a death. That’s according to predictions from tech experts at IBM. The firm’s annual 5 in 5 report, which looks ahead at technology trends has, this year, focused on the development of smarter computers, phones and other machines. It predicts that ‘everything will learn’ from the data we store online, what websites we visit, where we go and how we act - and this information will be used for good, and not just for advertising purposes. Scroll down for videos . In its annual 5 in 5 report, IBM has predicted that in the next five years, 'everything will learn'. For example, rather than having passwords, applications will be able to talk to each other to give and learn who a person is. It can then immediately identify unusual or suspicious behaviour and prevent identity theft . According to the annual IBM 5 in 5 report, in the next five years: . The classroom will learn you - smarter classrooms will use cloud data to learn about students and identify learning disorders immediately . Buying local will beat online - shops will combine the convenience of online shopping in physical stores and same-day delivery will improve. Doctors will routinely use your DNA to keep you well - By using advancements in DNA research, doctors will be able to uniquely identify how a certain cancer or disease will affect a person. Treatments and medications will become more tailored and waiting times will drop. A digital guardian will protect you online - Passwords will be replaced by devices that learn who a person is, how they behave and what sites they use. They will grant access automatically to that person, but also be able to identify unusual or suspicious activity automatically. The city will help you live in it - Governments will be able to use data about its residents movements, needs and more to improve cities and towns, including schools and transport routes. The report then breaks down the predictions into five categories and predicts that each of them will happen by 2018. For example, in five years, IBM predicts ‘security is going to become more agile’. Rather than having passwords for different devices, sites and sevices, all of these applications will be able to talk to each other to give a ‘360-degree view of a person’s data and movements.’ This means these devices will just know who someone is, without that person ever having to identify themselves. This so-called ‘digital guardian’ will be trained to focus on a person and learn how they behave to then be able to identify any unusual or suspicious activity; making identity theft a thing of the past. Elsewhere, IBM claims the classroom of the future will be able learn about each student over the course of their education to help them master the skills they need to meet individual goals. It will be powered by a system of sophisticated computers that study data about students stored in the cloud and will be able to immediately identify learning disorders, such as dyslexia, discover if any students are at risk from failing, or even bullying, and will suggest measures to help these students solve these problems. One of the more surprising IBM 5 in 5 predictions is that the high-street will bounce back and beat online shopping. According to the report, ‘buying local will become du jour once again.' One of the more surprising IBM predictions is that the high-street will bounce back and beat online shopping. Retailers will be able to combine digital products and services with physical stores meaning shoppers can physically, or virtually touch and try on clothes before ordering them to arrive in minutes . Retailers will be able to combine digital products and services with physical stores meaning shoppers can physically, or virtually touch and try on clothes before ordering them to arrive in minutes. Services including Shutl are already making one-hour delivery a possibility, and IBM expects this to become even more popular. In medical terms, advancements in DNA research will help doctors understand how a tumour, for example, will uniquely affect each patient. Smart analysis will then be able to offer medications or treatments that can best attack that particular type of cancer in that particular individual, while reducing the time it takes to find the right treatment for a patient ‘from weeks and months to days and minutes’. In medical terms, advancements in DNA research will help doctors understand how a tumour, for example, will uniquely affect each patient. Smart analysis will then be able to offer medications or treatments that can best attack that particular type of cancer in that particular individual . The final prediction made by IBM is about smarter cities. The firm believes that in five years governments and councils will be able to understand, in real-time, how billions of events occur within a city or town. Computers will learn to understand what people need, what they like, what they do, and how they move from place to place and use this information to help develop transport routes, for example, or improve schools. 'We know more now than any other generation at any time has known. Elsewhere, IBM claims the classroom of the future will be able learn about each student over the course of their education to help them master the skills they need to meet individual goals. It will be powered by a system of sophisticated computers will also be able to immediately identify learning disorders, such as dyslexia . 'And yet, we struggle to keep up with this flood of increasingly complex information, let alone make sense of the meaning that is inherent in the massive amounts of data we are acquiring at ever faster rates,' said Dr. Dario Gil, Director, Cognitive Experience Lab, IBM. 'By creating technology that is explicitly designed to learn and enhance our cognition we will usher in a new era of progress for both individuals and for society at large.' IBM believes that these changes will be fuelled by 'a new era in computing’ that will lead to 'breakthroughs that will amplify human abilities, assist us in making good choices, look out for us and help us navigate our world in powerful new ways.' In five years governments will be able to understand, in real-time, how billions of events occur within a city or town. Computers will learn to understand what people need, what they like, what they do, and how they move from place to place and use this information to help develop transport routes, for example, or improve schools . | In five years, IBM predicts cancer will be individually treated at a DNA level .
Buying local will overtake online shopping as same-day delivery improves .
'Smart' classrooms will identify dyslexia and other disorders immediately .
Passwords will be replaced with devices that learn to identify people .
Governments will also be able to use data in real-time to help develop cities . |
67,884 | c09878303d663b8e0d749e9a73e3731c7cd49434 | By . Darren Boyle . A court in South Africa will decide the future of two four-year-old girls who were given to the wrong mothers after a mix-up in a maternity unit after they were born. The girls, who were both born on the same day in 2010, were handed to the wrong mothers after staff at the hospital made a mistake. The error only emerged when the ex-husband of one of the women wanted a DNA test to determine whether he was the child's father - only to discover that neither parent was biologically related to the girl. Both women gave birth to daughters on the same day in 2010 at the Tambo Memorial Hospital in Johannesburg . Th e man wanted confirmation that he was the biological father of the girl before he made maintenance payments. Once the error had been spotted, hospital officials contacted the second mother, informing her that she had taken home the wrong baby. However, the second woman is refusing to swap the child she has reared as her own for the past four years. Both children were born in the Tambo Memorial Hospital in Johannesburg although hospital staff have so far refused to explain how the error was made. Henk Strydom, a lawyer representing one of the women told Reuters: 'They did a paternity test and it was established that neither party was the parent of the child. They went back to the hospital and it was confirmed they had been swapped at birth. 'She was absolutely devastated. She was traumatised. My client wants her baby back. She is the biological mother of the child.' The case is currently before the North Gauteng High Court who will determine whether the children should be returned to their biological mothers. Neither of the families can be identified for legal reasons. Staff at the Tambo Memorial Hospital in Johannesburg, pictured, gave both mothers the wrong children when they were being discharged having given birth on the same day . Both women have met each other hand have been attending joint therapy sessions arranged by the hospital since December. The court has since tasked the University of Pretoria's Centre for child law to investigate what outcome will be in both children's best interests. The University has 90 days to return its findings to the court. A spokesperson for the centre said: 'We have been authorised to investigate the matter and to give our report and recommendations. It will be up to the court to make the final decision.' Mr Strydom compared the unfortunate situation to the story of King Solomon. He said: 'Someone has to make a very difficult decision. It really is a situation on a biblical scale.' | Both women gave birth to daughters on the same day in 2010 .
The Tambo Memorial Hospital in Johannesburg handed the babies to the wrong women .
The mistake only emerged when the ex-husband of one woman wanted DNA confirmation that he was the child's father .
The DNA test showed that neither he, nor his ex-wife were related to the girl .
Only one of the women wants to swap their daughters who are now four . |
30,689 | 5747354c0a89f25b0562208e0fa639b2a206b0ee | (CNN) -- Modern U.S. presidents seem to be in need of neat, catchy labels for the enemy they want to destroy. "Network of death" is the latest one. After U.S. President Barack Obama's speech at the United Nations, we now know that it is this network that needs "dismantling." Whether or not this new label will help increase the number of countries willing to join the U.S. in the fight against ISIS remains to be seen. Old, trusted allies will doubtless follow. Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron has already vowed that his country will "play its part." All Cameron needs is parliamentary approval, which is expected Friday -- and maybe his own new label for ISIS. But how will the "network" react? How will it strike back? It is of course difficult to see how ISIS could successfully resist U.S. air power in the long run. Yet this conflict is first and foremost a political confrontation. The many wars in the Middle East since 9/11 have shown that messages matter. And in this regard the ISIS "network" is bound to continue to do just fine. This is not so much because ISIS and its supporters have created media arms like those radical Islamic groups al-Furqan or al-Hayat. Nor has it much to do with the ability to spread their videos by using Twitter-bots or multiple YouTube accounts, clever hashtags, mobile phone apps or more obscure social media sites to evade counter-measures by police and security agencies. It has all to do with the message itself. If it resonates, it will spread. Goaded into action? ISIS has already portrayed the mere fact that Obama has decided to use military force as a success. Groups like ISIS crave recognition. Acknowledging them as a major threat -- and taking counter-measures -- does just that. It guarantees extensive coverage in traditional media. ISIS' first reaction after the start of the bombardments was to point out that Obama, like George Bush before him, was drawn into a conflict that he could not win. ISIS got what it wanted -- a direct confrontation with the US and an opportunity to link Obama to the widely discredited military strategy of his successor. Provoking and unsettling is a major part of ISIS media strategy. The group knows Western audiences as well as local and regional ones. Hostages are shown in the familiar Guantanamo-style orange jump suits: "What you did to us, we can do to you," is the simple message. Not new, but tried, tested and successful, particularly with local audiences. Recruiting Western Muslims . Most unsettling to Western audiences is that disaffected Muslims from their own nations are drawn to join the conflict. It is hardly necessary for the ISIS leadership to threaten retaliation in Western countries. A few more posts, pictures or videos featuring ISIS fighters with French, British or German voices are sufficient to scare Western politicians and their respective electorates. They might even provoke counter-measures like stricter border controls, passport restrictions and increased surveillance. They might also lead to new types of profiling, which may well backfire and encourage yet more young men to travel to Syria to take up the fight for the self-proclaimed Islamic State, as ISIS has proclaimed itself to be. Western counter-messages and social media offences will hardly prevent this. So in essence, it is as simple as to keep doing what ISIS media people are already doing. Merely resisting U.S. military pressure as long as possible will strengthen ISIS's message. As will the potentially devastating consequences of U.S., French or British bombing raids on civilian populations. Adding variety . Adding a few videos of successful ISIS attacks or evidence of dogged resistance will also help. Hostage videos alone will lose their impact over time, however gruesome they are. A little variation is needed. The new "lecture series" of British hostage John Cantlie shows that ISIS is aware of that. Whether Obama's "network of death" is the appropriate phrase or not, it is certainly true that ISIS and affiliates form a network. But even if ISIS were to become seriously "degraded," it is difficult to believe that the whole network can be dismantled. At the heart of the current turmoil in the Middle East is a civil war within Islam. Being regarded as the one force that stands up to U.S. and Western military power is bound to boost ISIS's reputation in this struggle. The media prominence ISIS has achieved is also bound to encourage other groups to embark on similar "media work." The "network of death" is in an excellent position to continue to create ISIS-style media messages. The video of the beheading of French mountain guide Herve Gourdel, posted by the Algerian ISIS affiliate on Wednesday, is only the most recent example. | ISIS has goaded U.S. President Barack Obama into reacting, writes Peter Busch .
He says terror groups crave attention -- and Obama's giving them that .
Provoking and unsettling is a major part of ISIS media strategy, Busch writes .
Media message could attract disaffected Muslims from West, he says . |
55,081 | 9c08d4679be96c1c89168cd183d1324c84bc9cde | By . Ulla Kloster . PUBLISHED: . 09:12 EST, 29 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:21 EST, 29 July 2013 . A driver has been arrested after a 70-year-old man collapsed and died - during a fight over a car parking space. The victim, who has not named, was rushed to hospital after keeling over, after suffering a suspected heart attack, in the Tyseley Community Centre car park in Birmingham just before 2pm yesterday. The centre is near a children's play are where his grandchildren were playing at the time. A 44-year-old man from the Billesley area of the city was arrested at the scene in connection with the death, West Midlands Police said. The Tyseley Community Centre car park in Birmingham, where the row took place. It was next to a children's play area. A 70-year-old man has since died . Officers attending to the dying grandfather tried to resuscitate him at the scene, but in vain. West Midlands Police Detective Inspector Warren Hines said: 'We understand there was a verbal altercation in the car park - it’s not yet clear what sparked the argument or whether there was any physical contact between the men. 'One of the drivers, a man believed to be in his seventies, collapsed at the scene and sadly was pronounced dead later in hospital. 'I’m keen to speak to anyone who was in the park at the time or around Tyseley Community Centre and may have heard the argument or witnessed what prompted it.' The area was busy at the time of the row, as worshippers were arriving to attend afternoon prayers at the mosque. Police came to collect CCTV footage of the scene earlier today as they continue to try and piece together exactly what happened. Anyone who witnessed the incident in the car park in Formans Road is asked to contact West Midlands Police on 101. Where it happened. Police Detective Inspector Warren Hines said: I'm keen to speak to anyone who was in the park at the time or around Tyseley Community Centre and may have heard the argument or witnessed what prompted it.' The altercation happened in the community centre’s car park, next to Reddings Lane children’s play area, although the building manager said there had been no activities on the day. Manager Ellen Foche, who has worked at the community centre for more than 20 years, said the man’s death was 'a tragedy'. She said the car park, which is covered by at least two CCTV cameras, was used 'by a lot of the community' because of its location next to the park, the local mosque, a school and the centre. Amjad Ahmed, principal of Al-Furqan Community College opposite the car park, said he heard an elderly Asian man had been involved in a row. He added that evening prayers were said for the man at the nearby Mahmudsabir Masjid mosque, where Mr Ahmed is also a trustee, on Sunday. 'I heard that an elderly gentleman was in an argument with a taxi driver and he fell and the next thing, police were called and an ambulance was sent,' he said. 'One of the school workmen said police were trying to resuscitate him, but sadly we heard later he had passed away. It’s tragic, and I also understand his grandchildren were playing in the park at the time as well.' 'It’s tragic, and I also understand his grandchildren were playing in the park at the time as well.' The 44-year-old man arrested in connection with the death has been released on bail, West Midlands Police said. A post mortem was due to take place later today. | Not yet clear what sparked the argument or if there was a fight between the two .
The victim was rushed to hospital after he suffered a suspected heart attack and keeled over .
The car park at the community centre is not far from a children's play area where his grandchildren were playing at the time .
Officers piecing together the row collected CCTV footage of the scene earlier today . |
109,185 | 18ba0cab4a2e27abeb8277d5138584a2ebcabd9b | By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 11:51 EST, 24 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:52 EST, 24 July 2013 . Payback: Tory MP Nadine Dorries is to return £3,000 in expenses after an investigation by a Commons watchdog . Outspoken Tory MP Nadine Dorries has repaid £3,000 in travel expenses after accepting that the claims were ‘wrongfully made and should not have been allowed’. She admitted the money was to make between Westminster and her Mid Bedfordshire constituency for family reasons and a sick pet dog, and not in connection with her job as an MP. Today she renewed her call for MPs’ expenses ‘to be scrapped in their entirety’. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) launched an investigation in Miss Dorries’s expenses earlier this year after noticing an ‘unusual’ pattern of claims. While it found the travel claims were outside the rules, complaints about expense claims for utility bills were dismissed after compliance officer Peter Davis ruled it would be ‘disproportionate’ to penalise the MP further after making ‘no finding’ about how much time she spent at her London accommodation. A preliminary report by the expenses watchdog was posted on the Ipsa website today. An Ipsa spokesman said: ‘‘As part of the regular review of all MPs' claims, Ipsa's internal assurance function found that Nadine Dorries MP's pattern of travel and accommodation claims were unusual, and were referred to the compliance officer for investigation. ‘The compliance officer for Ipsa has concluded his investigation into claims made by Ms Dorries for accommodation and travel and subsistence under the third and fourth editions of the scheme. ‘The compliance officer has found that claims made by Ms Dorries were outside the scheme, and that these claims should be repaid. Ms Dorries has subsequently repaid these claims.’ The three allegations included: . The report said Ms Dorries did not contest the details of her travel claims but said she outlined several explanations for the other allegations, including family commitments and family illness, and an elderly pet dog. Jungle: The Mid Bedfordshire MP was suspended from the Tory party after appearing on ITV's I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here without asking for permission . Outlining Ms Dorries' evidence, the report said: ‘Whilst undertaking her parliamentary duties, the MP and a dependent family member used the premises during the period when utility bills increased. ‘Ms Dorries is a single parent with an elderly pet dog and a dependent family. During the period subject of the complaint, the MP returned to her constituency home to attend to family commitments, including times when a family member and the pet dog suffered illness. ‘At the time of taking out a 12-month . lease on her current Ipsa-funded property, Ms Dorries was not able to . predict her level of occupancy and viewed its use as the most effective . way of facilitating her parliamentary function.’ It . added: ‘Ms Dorries believes that she has acted within the principles of . the scheme and that there has been no deliberate wrongdoing.’ The outspoken backbencher has already announced she will no longer claim expenses . In a statement posted on her website, Ms Dorries questioned why Ipsa had chosen to carry out an ‘expensive and time-consuming investigation into my expenses’. And the MP, who was suspended from the Conservative Parliamentary Party after she appeared on TV's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, added: ‘I am sure it is just a coincidence that, as the pressure began to mount for my whip to be returned after three months of suspension, wham, I surprisingly had an investigation in process. ‘Any request for reinstatement met with the response from the Chief Whip (Sir George Young): 'We now have to wait for the Ipsa investigation to end'.’ Ms Dorries said she was ‘delighted’ that Ipsa had made no findings against her, noting that she could have legitimately made more claims than she had. Her statement said any overpayments were due to a ‘technical breach which was Ipsa's fault’. ‘They were wrongfully claimed on Ipsa's explicit instructions to claim and then wrongfully paid by Ipsa,’ she said. Ms Dorries claimed that Ipsa had failed to pay her £6,000 of salary and failed to mention this in the provisional report, blaming ‘total incompetence’ at the organisation. She said she believed Ipsa needed fundamental reform leading to the abolition of MPs' expenses. ‘Anyway, as everyone knows, I have removed myself from the personal expenses system. I shall use my salary to fund my second home in Westminster and my travel and all other personal expenses, which in effect means I shall be working for free,’ she said. ‘When we had the expenses crisis in 2009, the problem was never who paid the expenses, it was expenses. Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg thought that the answer to the problem, was to change the people who paid the expenses from the fees office to IPSA. ‘Expenses need to be scrapped in their entirety.’ | Commons watchdog issues ruling on Mid Bedfordshire MP .
Reveals 'unusual' pattern of trips to her second home .
MP was suspended from Tory party for taking part in I'm A Celebrity...
Has vowed to stop claiming Commons expenses altogether .
An increase in utility claims over a three-month period during spring and summer 2012, which the report said raised questions as to whether costs had been incurred ‘necessarily and wholly with respect to the MP's Parliamentary functions’, which IPSA said required an explanation.
Ms Dorries' occupancy of her second home, funded by Ipsa, was considered to be ‘significantly less’ than other MPs, raising questions as to whether she should be considered ‘routinely resident’ as required by the rules.
Daily return journeys to Ms Dorries' Mid Bedfordshire constituency while her second home was available also raised questions in Mr Davis' report. |
97,217 | 091ad9e2e6524fc15a419eddb88ecfb9332e171c | By . Toni Jones . Sharing selfies with friends, Instagramming pictures of her shoes and tweeting about the latest blockbuster, Helena Burns sounds like any other social media-loving young women. Except that this young woman has a higher calling than most, and is using modern technology to spread the age-old teachings of God. Chicago-based Sister Helena is one of a growing number of young nuns hell bent on using social media to spread the word of the Almighty. Streetwise sister: Sister Helena Burns is a nun with a mission to spread God's word via social media . And that means getting down with the . kids. As well as her own blog and YouTube channel the American Sister has a Facebook page, vine, Pinterset and Instagram account and currently 14,600 Twitter followers. Her Twitter handle reads: 'Media nun tweets God, Theology of Body, Media Literacy, Philosophy. Proof God exists: hummingbirds, hockey, coffee' and followers of @SrHelenaBurns can expect to see tweets on current affairs, pictures of her travels around various orders of the world, re-tweets from religious blogger friends and snaps of heartwarming proverbs. Flamehaired Sister Helena says: 'I was going to be an ornithologist, but God zapped me and I now belong . to the Daughters of St. Paul.' Sister Helena told The Atlantic: 'I try to really keep up with the . comments on my blog, and also Twitter and Facebook. I’m also on . Instagram and Vine a little bit. How I do it is during the day, while . I’m doing my other work, I’ll keep zipping over to social media.' Instagram queen: She offers practical fashion advice and shares snaps of her travels . From Jesus to Noah: Sister Helena likes to share snaps of her favourite food, drink, men and movies . She joined the Daughters of St. Paul to spread the word through media having studied philosophy and theology as well as screenwriting, and in between giving workshops, and running her mini social media empire she also finds time to review films (including male stripper film Magic Mike, which she says she reviewed without having actually watched), work as a writer/producer and is also finishing as M.A. in Media Literacy Education. Her order was founded in 1915 by Italian priest Giacomo Alberione who saw a need for the Church to start using media more . effectively, and his message still inspires today. Sister Helena said: 'He was the first one to get it. He was not afraid of technology, not afraid of media. For . him, there was no dichotomy between God and technology. Pope selfie: Sister Helena commented on this picture; 'Pope Francis will not be your monkey & say what u want him to say when u want him to say it. Mt. 11:17' 'I . think we have a long way to go in putting more funds there,' she said. 'The Catholic Church is very good at education, tending the poor, soup . kitchens, supporting families in need, missionary work. But when it . comes to media, we don't value it enough.' She said: 'I want to use the latest, most modern, . most efficacious media and media technology to reach the greatest number . of people with the holy spirit.' | Sister Helena Burns has been dubbed 'the media nun'
Runs a Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube account .
Part of growing number of young nuns using media to spread His word . |
277,172 | f319cee0d58b5003605019e52d92bce4d010b212 | (CNN) -- Team Lotus reserve driver Karun Chandhok has told CNN it would be "magic" to be on the grid when Formula One makes its debut in his home country of India next month. Chandhok, 27, joined the CNN-sponsored team at the start of the 2011 season, and is currently behind first-choice drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli in the pecking order. But Lotus team principal Tony Fernandes raised hopes of the former HRT driver taking part in the inaugural Delhi race when he said he would like to see Chandhok take to the track on October 30. "I'd like him to. It's up to the team to see [whether he will]," AirAsia chief Fernandes told Reuters. Veteran Trulli signs new deal at Lotus . On the issue of which racer would make way for Chandhok, Fernandes, who recently purchased English soccer team Queens Park Rangers, suggested Trulli would be the one to face the axe. "Yes, I think Heikki [Kovalainen] is our number one driver, although Jarno's outqualified him [at the Italian Grand Prix]." In response to Fernandes' admission, Chandhok said: "It's obviously very nice to hear. He's the man who can make it happen. I've just got to wait and see what he decides. "As a racing driver, the most emotional race is certainly your home grand prix. If I do get the opportunity to do it, it'll be fantastic, but as this moment it's a question only Tony can answer. "To be an Indian driver on the grid for the first Indian Grand Prix would be magic. I've been very involved in the circuit; I've been visiting the site every month. To have the opportunity to drive would sort of complete that circle." Chandhok was given a drive ahead of the veteran Italian Trulli, who extended his contract with Lotus last weekend, for the German Grand Prix in July, where he finished in last place. While Chandhok admitted dropping a driver can create a difficult situation for the team, he insisted his relationship with Trulli has been unaffected. "It's not ideal, there's no doubt about that ... I experienced it last year [at HRT], my drive was given to Sakon Yamamoto in the second half of the season. It's tough. "When they put me in the car in Germany ... it's a very difficult situation. It can be awkward. But I have to say Jarno was fantastic. He offered his advice and support all through the weekend. I have to say hats off to him, he was a model professional." On his own future, Chandhok, who made his Formula One debut at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix, made no secret of his desire to earn a full-time seat with Lotus. But he said any decision on his future with the team would be made by Fernandes. "I need to sit and figure things out with Tony and where we are and where we see the future. I'd like to stay with Tony, with Lotus, and in the future race for them full-time. That's my ambition. "I'd love to race with these guys and Tony's got a fantastic vision of trying to build an Asian team and I'd love to be a part of that programme." | Karun Chandhok has said it would be 'magic' to race in first Indian Grand Prix .
Chandhok is currently a reserve driver for CNN-sponsored Team Lotus .
The 27-year-old has made just one grand prix appearance so far this season . |
218,660 | a70c89f87e77b9f1fd682dfacbc430f4d435de86 | London, England (CNN) -- Queen Elizabeth II's annual budget this year is £38.2 million ($57.8 million), down from £41.5 million ($62.8 million) last year, Buckingham Palace announced Monday. That means each British person contributes about 62 pence (94 cents) a year to support the royal household. The drop comes mostly because the queen took fewer charter flights this year and refunded money to the government after selling her old helicopter, the palace said in its annual financial statement for the royal household. Her annual spending has fallen by 17 percent in real terms since 2001, the palace said. Queen Elizabeth II is worth an estimated £290 million ($446 million), making her the 245th richest person in the United Kingdom, according to The Sunday Times newspaper's annual rich list published in April. The budget does not include the cost of security provided by the army or police. The government covers the Queen's budget in exchange for her surrendering income from royal holdings, the budget report says. The budget runs from April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010. | Queen's annual spending has fallen by 17 percent in real terms since 2001 .
Queen Elizabeth II is worth an estimated $446 million .
Budget does not include the cost of security provided by the army or police . |
77,068 | da890a12caad1c938c6038ef8e3e7ebed5bcde49 | (CNN) -- Pirates Thursday hijacked a German-owned tanker in the Gulf of Aden, the waterway between Africa and the Middle East which has become one of the world's most dangerous shipping lanes. The U.S. Navy has been joined by other countries to police the Gulf of Aden. The MV Longchamp was seized by seven pirates early in the morning, said a spokesman for the ship's owner, Bernhard Schulte Ship Management Company, of Hamburg, Germany. The company received a phone call from the ship's captain which was "literally around three seconds.He said they'd been seized by pirates, that no one was injured, no dead ... and then clac, the phone went dead,'" said the spokesman, who did not give his name. He said the company has heard nothing from the pirates themselves and had no information on how the vessel had been seized. The coalition of countries patrolling the sea lanes in response to the outbreak of piracy there was not involved in the incident, said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a public affairs officer for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, which is based in the region. He said he did not know if the coalition had received a distress call. The Longchamp carries a a crew of 12 Filipinos and one Indonesian, Christensen said. The tanker is carrying the chemical vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), the owner's spokesman said. | Pirates hijack German-owned tanker in Gulf of Aden .
The vessel Longchamp carries a a crew of 13, according to owners .
Naval ships patrolling the area did not have contact with pirates . |
93,517 | 0445c96df47886416212a51b08a19352e170d9bd | PUBLISHED: . 17:40 EST, 20 February 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 17:55 EST, 20 February 2014 . There’s no doubting her formidable literary talent. But on this occasion, Barbara Taylor Bradford has forsaken the finesse so often evident in her bestselling novels to deliver a rather blunt assessment of French President Francois Hollande, branding the Frenchman ‘a stupid man’. The novelist attacked the 59-year-old premier over his affair with actress Julie Gayet, saying the sordid revelations about his turbulent love life wouldn’t even be fit for the pages of one of her popular page-turners. Author Barbara Taylor Bradford (left) has come out against President Hollande, saying his life doesn't correlate with her books (right) The 80-year-old, who celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary with her husband Bob on Christmas Eve, also suggested that Mr Hollande’s son had introduced his father to Miss Gayet in a bid to seek revenge on journalist Valerie Trierweiler, who the president had left the mother of his children for. Mr Hollande has never married, but has four children Thomas, 29, Clémence, 28, Julien, 26 and Flora, 21, with fellow socialist politician Segolene Royal. Miss Trierweiler became his live-in girlfriend following his separation from Royal in 2007. Mr Hollande then met Miss Gayet at a lunch organised by his son Thomas in 2012. It was arranged after Thomas’ girlfriend Joyce Jonathan, a pop star who is close friends with the 41-year-old Miss Gayet, asked if the actress could come along to discuss the arts. Miss Taylor Bradford was asked whether Mr Hollande’s behaviour could form the basis of one of her blockbuster novels. Too stupid: Taylor Bradford, who has been awarded an OBE for her writing, claims Francois Hollande is too dim to be analogous to one her characters . She told The Lady Magazine: ‘I couldn’t possibly write about such a stupid man. ‘Here is a man who had four children with a woman and then after 30 years he dumps her for this journalist, Valérie Trierweiler, and in the meantime it turns out he’s been cheating on her for two years. ‘It was his son by Royal who introduced him to that actress Julie Gayet – did you know that? So the son was getting his revenge for his mother – that’s what I think as a novelist!’ There is no love lost between Miss Trierweiler and Mr Hollande’s four children, who they see as having broken up his relationship with their mother. Miss Royal announced her split with Mr Hollande on the day she lost her presidential bid in 2007, but his relationship with Miss Trierweiler is said to have already been going on for around two years. His children refused to speak to her for a year after she once sent a Twitter message expressing support for Olivier Falorni, a Socialist politician running against Miss Royal in parliamentary elections. Asked if Britons had been intrigued by French women because they are ‘thinner and more chic,’ Miss Taylor Bradford the said: ‘Well, I do think they are thinner and “chicer”, actually. ‘And I wonder what their secret is about being thinner. But I don’t like being too bitchy about French women – or any woman. I don’t want to say anything about the three that are caught up in this – the mother of his children, the mistress and mistress number two. ‘Will there be a mistress number three? Jimmy Goldsmith said it best: “When you marry your mistress, you create a vacancy.”’ Although Hollande has never married, she added: ‘Maybe they didn’t want to marry him, I don’t know, but if it had been me, I would have wanted to be married.’ Happier daysL French president-elect Francois Hollande kisses his companion Valerie Trierweiler in 2012. Hollande recently left Trierweiler for actress Julie Gayet . Yorkshire-born Miss Taylor Bradford has sold over 88m books in more than 90 countries, with many of her works being made into movies or TV mini-series. Her debut novel, A Woman of Substance, published in in 1979, ranks among the top 10 bestselling fiction books of all time with over 32m copies sold. The acclaimed author was awarded an O.B.E. for her services to literature in 2007. She and her husband, a television producer, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Christmas Eve last year. The couple have never had children. They have tried to start a family in the past, but the author has admitting having two miscarriages. | Novelist attacked President over his recent affair with Julie Gayet .
80-year-old writer said: ‘I couldn’t possibly write about such a stupid man.'
Barbara Taylor Bradford is the writer of many novels about turbulent love . |
11,918 | 21d2b5b06332d6b057972b0fffecd2064c94178e | By . Daily Mail Reporters . PUBLISHED: . 16:00 EST, 6 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 16:17 EST, 6 December 2013 . On May 17, Hofstra University student Andrea Rebello, 21, was shot and killed by a Nassau County police officer during a hostage standoff with an intruder at her shared rental house in Uniondale, New York. According to court papers submitted by the county on Thursday, the investigation into Rebello's death is 'only in it's infancy.' Andrea Rebello's family, including her twin sister Jessica Rebello, asked for records related to the police investigation of her death and were troubled by the police department's response. Sisters: Jessica(left) and Andrea Rebello(right), pictured, remained in the home while another girl was allowed out to collect money from an ATM. The girl called police immediately and they arrived minutes later . 'I was shocked and surprised to hear that they consider this investigation is in its infancy,' said Rebello family lawyer David Roth. Police are refusing both records and crime scene photos. Public officials blame numerous record requests for causing, 'confusion with the county agencies that got them.' Newsday reports that The Rebello family already announced that they plan to sue the county for killing their daughter in the shooting that also killed the home-intruder, Dalton Smith. Police say that Smith held Rebello in . a headlock and pointed a gun to her head. Officer Nikolas Budimlic . approached Smith who then allegedly pointed a gun at the officer. Budimlic fired killing Smith with seven bullets and killing Rebello with one. Dalton Smith, 30, who had a history of criminal behavior, also died in the shooting . Carnell Foskey, a Nassau County Attorney, said that officials did their best to comply with the Robello family's record requests but that some records were exempt. The Robello family's attorney David Roth said that Jessica, who was inside the house at the time of the shooting, spoke with police on the day of the incident but hasn't since, 'essentially because of the way they treated her.' Rebello . was in the two-story home with her twin sister Jessica, another woman . and another man when Smith, wearing a ski mask, walked into the . house through an open front door, Lt. John Azzata said. The intruder allowed the . third unidentified woman to leave and collect money from an ATM, and . she called 911. Police announced that Dalton Smith, 30, was wanted on a parole . violation related to a first-degree robbery conviction and had an arrest . history dating back nearly 15 years. Two police officers arriving at the home encountered Smith holding onto Rebello. Smith, 30, of Hempstead, had a warrant put out for his arrest on April 25. He had been found guilty of robbery . in the 1st degree and had an extensive criminal background going back to . 1999 with multiple convictions for theft and assault.He also spent time in prison and was convicted again for handling contraband goods while behind bars. Andrea (right) shown partying with a friend, was popular and is thoroughly missed by members of her community . The sisters were describes as a 'set' and Jessica 'cannot eat' following her sister's death . He . was shot by police on May 17 after what appears to be an attempted . robbery on Rebello, her twin and their friends. Earlier reports said . that the man shot Andrea Rebello as she pleaded for her life. The 30-year-old followed the sisters, Jessica and Andrea, Jessica's boyfriend John Kourtessiss and another student called Shannon Thomas back to the girls' California Avenue sorority house from the popular student bar, McHebes, according to The New York Post. The gunman reportedly targeted the students after seeing them spending large amounts of money in the drinking spot to celebrate the end of the school term. Around . 2:20am he allegedly peered through the window in his ski mask and . knocked on the door before forcing himself in and taking the group . hostage. Raiding the . home he shouted: 'I saw you at the bar drinking. I know you have more . money than this!', according to police sources quoted in the Post . report. Victim: Andrea Rebello (right), was shot dead by a masked intruder during an invasion of the home she shared with her twin sister Jessica (left). The suspect was also shot dead at the scene . He made the twins remain but told . Thomas to leave and withdraw money from an ATM machine - warning her he . would shoot her friends if she tried anything. While away from the home she called 911. As police arrived neighbors said they heard blood-curdling screams and what sounded like a woman pleading for her life. Victoria Dehel, who lives four doors down told the New York Times that she heard shouting. At first is sounded like 'a bunch of drunk college students,' she told the Times. 'And then the screaming just got worse and worse and worse. And then we heard thuds, like five bangs,' she said. Dehel . said she and her boyfriend stepped onto their porch and they could hear . what sounded like a woman pleading for her life, just as police cars . raced down the street. 'I turned to my boyfriend and I said, 'I think someone just got murdered'. It was awful,' she said. '[Police] drew their weapons and went inside,' neighbor Frank Pugliese, 19 told the Post. 'She was pleading for her life. You could tell she was scared. It . was a surreal moment . . . She was pleading — her voice was trembling . and she yelled, ‘No, no!’ ' Smith is believed to have held them on the second floor. Thomas told the 911 dispatcher that he had a silver handgun pointed . at her friend's head in a bedroom, NBC reported. Break in: Police said that the masked, armed intruder knocked on the front door before forcing his way inside the home and holding the friends, including Andrea (left), hostage . The dispatcher passed the information to police and less than a minute later, Nassau . County police officers reached the home. When they arrived, shots went off. A law enforcement source told the New York Post it appeared the suspect killed Rebello and the police then killed him but this timetable of events was still being verified. 'We . don't know [the suspect's] motive at this time but it appears to be a . robbery,' Chief Rick Capece said in a press conference shortly after the incident. Anthony Kourtessiss said his son was being questioned by police after the shooting and Jessica was 'inconsolable'. 'It’s a terrible situation,' he told the newspaper. '[Jessica] was very upset, inconsolable right now.' Rebello was a member of the Beta Sigma Phi . sorority and lived with six of her sorority sisters at the home, including her sister. Students . flocked to Twitter to express their grief at the killing, with many . writing 'R.I.P' messages to Andrea and sending her twin sister their . best wishes and prayers . A private vigil was held at the . Hofstra Student Center and her funeral took place the next Wednesday. Rebello's . father, Fernando, was too distraught to discuss the incident outside . the family's home in Tarrytown, New York, yesterday. 'It's my daughter, my baby daughter,' the landscaping company chief told the Journal News outside the home he shares with wife Nella. 'She was so beautiful. I'm so confused. 'I don't know what to do,' he added. Her godmother told the newspaper: 'It's just too tragic'. Andrea was . a junior at Hofstra studying Public Relations and Sociology and had attended Sleepy Hollow High School alongside her sister. 'I'm 100% Portuguese and have an identical twin sister so I guess that makes me kind of unique?' she wrote on her blog. Principal Carol Conklin-Spillane . said the girls were 'a set' and Andrea was devoted to her family who . are close to other members of the Portuguese community in the area. 'She had a devotion to family and sense of purpose and of opportunity,' she said. Friends and family attended her funeral on May 22 and deeply mourned her loss . Photographs . on her Facebook page show the girl as a popular student who enjoyed . hanging out with friends and her twin sister, while her blog documents . her cooking hobby. Neighbors said their house had a vegetable garden and the twins would sometimes drop off the produce. 'They brought me some vegetables from their garden. They’re very nice people. They’d do anything for you,' Harris Bank told the New York Post. Family members of slain Hofstra coed gave their final goodbyes at an . emotional funeral service at New York's St. Teresa of Avila Church church on May 22 . The victim’s distraught twin . sister who is unable to eat and keeps keeps asking how she could have prevented . the tragedy. 'During this . tragedy a question comes to mind - why?' Reverand Osvaldo Franklin said. 'Why Andrea, in the flower of her youth, she left us?' As the crowd sobbed, lohud.com reports, Franklin tried to offer comfort, if not an answer. 'She has left us to join our father in heaven,' Franklin said. 'We are here to pray for the family that she left behind.' The New York police union has defended Budimlic by saying the only person responsible for the woman's death was the gunman who held her hostage. 'There . is some second guessing by people who think we should have stayed . outside the house, but our job is to get inside and make sure we can . protect as many people as we can,' said James Carver. But Andrea's grandfather questioned the protocol the officer was following. 'I think the police is not very professional,' Santos said. 'If he's professional, he should have tried negotiation.' The Nassau County Police Department refused to comment when the Mail Online asked whether or not Nikolas Budimlic was on leave or still currently employed. | According to court papers submitted by the county on Thursday, the investigation into Andrea Rebello's death is 'only in it's infancy'
Public officials blame numerous record requests from the family for causing, 'confusion with the county agencies that got them'
Andrea Rebello, a junior at Hofstra, was shot dead at 2:20am on Friday in her Uniondale sorority house along with the masked intruder Dalton Smith by officer Nikolas Budimlic .
Smith had three previous convictions .
for robbery and one for assault, there was a warrant out for his arrest .
after he absconded parole in April .
The Nassau County Police Department refused to comment on whether or not Budimlic was still currently employed .
The Rebello family plans to sue the county for their daughter's death .
Andrea had a twin sister Jessica who is so devastated she has been 'unable to eat' |
124,056 | 2c5da87e541087ba52b432b6556e6d628e864e7b | By . Eleanor Harding . PUBLISHED: . 21:26 EST, 23 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 04:16 EST, 24 December 2012 . Some Armed Forces reservists in Afghanistan are being paid six-figure salaries by the Government, it emerged last night. Military rules state that if reservists’ pay works out less than they would earn in their civilian job, they can claim for extra cash, known as a Reservist Award. So if a reservist works in the City, for example, the gap to be made up between the military pay and their civilian salary can be substantial. Well paid: Some reservists members of the Armed Forces are being paid six-figure salaries because of rules that mean that if they earn less while serving, they can claim for extra cash (file picture) Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that this year, eight reservists called up for duty were paid more than £100,000 for their tour. One of these so-called ‘City soldiers’ was paid £135,000 – several times the pay of regular soldiers – despite only holding the rank of a junior officer. Many of those paid six-figure salaries are understood to be members of the TA unit based in the City of London, the Honourable Artillery Company. Others included members of the Royal Marine Reserve and the RAF Reserve. The Reservist Award is intended to prevent those called up losing out financially because of their service – but some ministers believe the payments cannot be justified and the pay rules are currently under review. An MoD source told The Daily Telegraph: ‘There will have to be a tightening up of the system to limit these costs. It doesn’t make sense to be mobilising junior soldiers on over £100,000 with the Government picking up the bill for their City salary.’ Several doctors and surgeons from the Army medical reserve were also paid more than £100,000 for tours in Afghanistan, with one paid £225,000. Reservist pay rules are being reviewed as the MoD attempts to almost double the number of deployable reservists to 30,000. An MoD spokesman said there was a ‘strict upper limit’ to the Reservist Award, adding: ‘A significant proportion of those in receipt of a large award will be medical experts who deliver world-class care to injured troops on the battlefield.’ | Some serving reservists earn up to £225,000 .
Last year eight reservists were paid more than £100,000 for their tour .
'Reservist Awards' under review by MoD . |
79,004 | dfe8a04ac131f5bf1aaae7796cc83499d33b0a7e | These are the chambers inside the 23,000-acre chemical plant that sprawls underneath to Coloradoan countryside. While green pastures lie above, these concrete bunkers are full to the brim with the largest stockpile of chemical weapons since the Second World War. And they are about to be destroyed. In a landmark move toward complying with a 1997 treaty banning chemical armory, the Pueblo Chemical Depot in southern Colorado plans to start neutralizing 2,600 tons of aging mustard agent in March. Scroll down for video . This Colorado bunker is filled with the largest stockpile of chemical weapons since the Second World War . The United States is about to begin destroying its largest remaining stockpile of chemical-laden artillery shells . 'The start of Pueblo is an enormous step forward to a world free of chemical weapons,' said Paul Walker, who has tracked chemical warfare for more than 20 years for the U.S. government. After nightmarish gas attacks in World War I, a 1925 treaty barred the use of chemical weapons, and the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention set a 2012 deadline to eradicate them. Four nations that acknowledged having chemical weapons have missed the deadline: the U.S., Russia, Libya and Iraq. Pueblo has about 780,000 shells containing mustard agent, which can maim or kill, blistering skin, scarring eyes and inflaming airways. Mustard agent, a thick liquid, is colorless and almost odorless but got its name because early versions smell like mustard. The plant can process up to 60 shells an hour, but the explosion chamber can destroy just six shells a day. Pueblo expects to finish the job in 2019 - more than 55 years after some of the shells there were produced. The Army will use two methods for the Pueblo stockpile. In March, the first of an estimated 1,400 shells that are leaking or otherwise damaged will be placed in a sealed steel chamber with walls up to 9 inches thick. Pueblo has about 780,000 shells containing mustard agent, which can maim or kill, blistering skin, scarring eyes and inflaming airways. Here, inert simulated 155mm chemical munitions are pictured . Four nations that have chemical weapons have missed the deadline: the U.S., Russia, Libya and Iraq . The plant can process up to 60 shells an hour, but the explosion chamber can destroy just six shells a day . Explosives will tear open the shells, and the mustard agent will be neutralized with chemicals. The remaining hundreds of thousands of shells will be run through a partially automated, $4.5 billion plant starting in December or January. It will dismantle the shells, neutralize the mustard agent in water, and then add bacteria to digest and convert the remaining chemicals. The end product can be disposed of at a hazardous waste dump. The work starts less than a year after chlorine gas killed 13 people in Syria in April 2014. International inspectors concluded last month that the gas had been used as a weapon. Before the chlorine attack, 1,400 people were killed in a 2013 nerve gas attack in Syria, the U.S. said. The cost of safely destroying the weapons, and concerns about public health and the environment, have slowed the process, experts say. Violence in Iraq also has been an obstacle. Pueblo expects to finish the job in 2019 - more than 55 years after some of the shells there were produced . In March, the first of a 1,400 shells that are leaking or damaged will be placed in a sealed steel chamber with 9in thick walls. Explosives will tear open the shells, and the mustard agent will be neutralized with chemicals . An ordinance technician uses a robot to to handle inert simulated chemical munitions used for training . Libya expects to finish in 2016 and Russia in 2020, according to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention. Iraq's completion date is unknown. The U.S. amassed 30,600 tons of chemical weapons, both mustard agent and deadly nerve agent, much of it during the Cold War. The Army described them as a deterrent, and the U.S. never used them in war. Nearly 90 percent of the U.S. stockpile has been eliminated at depots in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Maryland, Oregon, Utah and Johnson Atoll in the Pacific, mostly by incineration. Coloradans worried, however, about mercury vapor from incineration, said Irene Kornelly, a member of the Pueblo Citizens Advisory Commission, a liaison group established by Congress. The opposition in Colorado and in Kentucky, where chemical weapons are stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, prompted Congress to order alternatives. Officials who oversee the Pueblo operation insist it is safe, citing years of careful planning and training . Army Lt. Col. Mike Quinn declined to discuss the specifics of security at the 36-square-mile depot, but signs warn, 'Use of deadly force authorized.' Blue Grass won't start destroying weapons until 2016 or 2017, finishing in 2023, Army spokeswoman Kathy DeWeese said. All told, it's costing about $11 billion to destroy remaining U.S. chemical weapons. Blue Grass has 523 tons of chemical weapons, only about one-fifth as many as Pueblo, but it has nerve agent, and some of the mustard agent is so old it has solidified and is more difficult to deal with, DeWeese said. Officials who oversee the Pueblo operation insist it is safe, citing years of careful planning and training, as well as the remote location - an empty expanse of sagebrush some 15 miles from the city's outskirts. Army Lt. Col. Mike Quinn declined to discuss the specifics of security at the 36-square-mile depot, but signs warn, 'Use of deadly force authorized.' Kornelly said she has no remaining concerns, but she's not ready to celebrate. 'I think once we start seeing the weapons go through, there'll be a feeling of accomplishment,' she said. 'Right now, everyone's on pins and needles.' | Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado has largest chemical stock since WW2 .
They were meant to destroy everything by 1997, they are starting in March .
36-square-acre plant has 2,600 tons of aging mustard agent that is leaking .
Ammunition will be placed in sealed steel containers and exploded . |
262,886 | e08059e8726ca97b61e4671ffdf4e6d88955e45f | By . Associated Press . and Daily Mail . PUBLISHED: . 14:02 EST, 23 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:34 EST, 24 December 2013 . More than 140 soldiers with the Minnesota National Guard are home for Christmas. The Cambridge-based 850th Horizontal Engineers Company returned from building roads and clearing mines over the last eight months in Afghanistan. The Star Tribune reports family and friends gathered at Cambridge-Isanti High School on Sunday to welcome them home. Tears of Joy: Layla Saline, 6, holds onto her dad, Terry after eight months of being apart . Misses his kisses: Layla Saline, 6, gets a big smooch from her dad, Terry . Father and son: Staff Sgt. Michael Peterson plants a kiss on his son, Derek's, forehead after he was reunited with his wife, Kari . One overjoyed 6-year-old named Layla Saline held up two signs as her father and soldiers from the U.S. Army's Horizontal Engineers company marched into the school gymnasium teeming with their loved ones. One sign read, 'Your our Hero.' The other sign read, 'Welcome Home Daddy. I love you.' The crowd erupted in an emotional cheer as the soldiers entered the room after eight months of being thousands of miles away in Afghanistan. The soldiers hail from about 100 towns in Minnesota and Wisconsin. First Sgt. Jeffry Taylor says the company had no casualties or serious injuries, although one soldier suffered a concussion after an explosive device went off near his armored vehicle. Taylor explained that the soldiers were often fired upon while building roads. 'Our job was to train Afghan army engineers in horizontal engineering, basically earth-moving for roads, repairs, culverts and ditches. We were shutting down bases and turning other bases over to the Afghans,' Taylor said. Returning home: Clara Johnson, right, hugged Shannon Bisitzky as the bus carrying Johnson's son, Ryan arrived . Open arms: Clara Johnson, left, and Shannon Bisitzky react as the bus carrying Johnson's son, Ryan opens its doors . Family together again: Jessica Fimon, of Otsego, holding her 11-week-old son, Charlie, hugs her husband, Charles Fimon . 'You guys did an outstanding job,' First Sgt. Jeffry Taylor told his unit. 'Now we are home and your families are waiting.' He says their company often was shelled with mortars or fired upon. Accompanying infantry or cavalry units provided protection and dealt with the Afghan rebel attackers . The Star Tribune reported that Sgt. Terry Saline, 38, gave his children and his wife Jennifer an emotional hug. 'I felt like I was 16 again and going to the prom,' Saline said minutes later as he retrieved his duffel. 'It felt so good; words can’t describe it, ' he continued. He told the Tribune that he looks forward to return home permanently and work one again with the US Parcel Service where 'you don’t have to worry about things in Afghanistan, like indirect fire.' Spirits are high: Constance Agyei of Burnsville, left, squeals with joy upon seeing her husband, Stephen Sarpong, enter the gym, as their daughter, Stepenora, reacts to her mothers joyful scream . Group hug: Dariane Streit, of Braham, left, hugs her sister, Samantha Hilgers, who was holding her son and Darian's nephew, Cooper Wilson . | More than 140 soldiers with the Minnesota National Guard are home for Christmas after being away in Afghanistan for 8 months .
Other than one minor concussion, soldiers had no injuries abroad .
Soldiers were often fired at while building roads, but all of them made it home to Minnesota just in time for Christmas . |
265,605 | e3fc46e73a3780d642e24fa44d4fc2f059bc0dbc | Where are two of the fall season's best new shows? It turns out, they're on The CW. Between last week's debut of "The Flash" and Monday's arrival of "Jane the Virgin," the younger-skewing network is batting 1.000. Critics have reacted positively to "The Flash," a spinoff of "Arrow" and an origin story of the lightning fast superhero, as well as to "Jane the Virgin," an adaptation of a Venezuelan program. "The Flash": What's the verdict? "Jane" stars Gina Rodriguez as 23-year-old Jane Villanueva, the daughter of a young single mother who has taken her grandmother's advice to preserve her virginity to heart. But when Jane accidentally gets pregnant during a doctor's visit -- it was accidental artificial insemination, to be exact -- Jane's life starts to look something like the telenovelas she watches with her mother and grandmother. The plot hinges on a twist that's soapy even by The CW's standards, but critics say "Jane the Virgin" works, and primarily because of star Rodriguez. The Los Angeles Times' Robert Lloyd has praised "Jane" as "one of the best things to come out of the fall season," and "The Wrap" agreed that the freshman series is one of this fall's "best new offerings." "(T)hanks to star Gina Rodriguez, who makes the lead character believable and likable, the journey to Jane's choice (about the pregnancy) and the inevitable consequences that follow make 'Jane the Virgin' highly entertaining and compelling television," The Wrap says in its review. The plot may seem overwhelming, "but 'Jane' approaches the melodrama with a sly wink, and Rodriguez grounds it with a warmly genuine performance as Jane, whose relationship with her mother (Andrea Navedo) is already primed to be one of the show's best features," Entertainment Weekly said. "Where the series could get preachy, it's tempered, and above all, the whole thing's just a lot of fun." Ratings for The CW's two new shows have been strong, too, as "The Flash" became The CW's highest-rated and most-watched premiere in five years when it bowed on October 7. "Jane" didn't come close to "The Flash's" 4.8 million watching when it premiered Monday, but it also held its own against its competitors at 9 p.m. ET with an audience of 1.6 million and a rating of 0.6 in the adult demo of 18-49. That gives "Jane" the bragging rights of drawing The CW's biggest audience at 9 p.m. on Mondays in more than two years. | The CW's two new fall shows are getting strong buzz .
Both "The Flash" and "Jane the Virgin" have been well-received .
"Jane's" premiere has been praised as one of the best this season . |
254,510 | d5724e6015c1c4545d823368589532a676208ba6 | All the best school science experiments carry at least a hint of danger. But when 13-year-old Jamie Edwards informed his stunned headmaster of his plan to build a nuclear reactor in a classroom, the obvious question was: ‘Will it blow the school up?’ Fortunately, in a victory for the spirit of amateur scientific discovery over the health and safety culture, Jamie’s promise that it was perfectly safe was believed. 13-year-old Jamie Edwards has become the youngest in the world to build a nuclear fusion reactor . And yesterday he became the youngest . person in the world to achieve nuclear fusion from scratch at his . Lancashire secondary school, using high energy to smash two hydrogen . atoms together to make helium. ‘It . is quite an achievement. It’s magnificent really,’ Jamie said . afterwards. ‘I can’t quite believe it – even though all my friends think . I am mad.’ Jamie, who . attends Penwortham Priory Academy near Preston, has been fascinated with . radiation for years, on one occasion even buying a Geiger counter with . his Christmas money. His . fusion ambition was sparked by reading about a 14-year-old US schoolboy, . Taylor Wilson, who had become the youngest to produce a small fusion . reactor in Nevada in 2008. ‘I looked at it, thought “That looks cool” and decided to have a go,’ Jamie added. Head teacher Jim Hourigan congratulates Jamie as a Geiger counter registers the fusion reaction . Jamie Edwards (pictured) built the reactor from scratch in a bid to be younger than American Taylor Wilson who completed a reactor aged 14 in 2008 . Jamie's first step was to enlist help from nuclear laboratories and university . departments, but ‘they didn’t seem to take me seriously’. Nuclear fusion is one of the most promising options for generating large amounts of carbon-free energy in the future. To get energy from fusion, gas from a combination of types of hydrogen – deuterium and tritium – is heated to very high temperatures (100 million °C). One way to achieve these conditions is a method called ‘magnetic confinement' – controlling the hot gas with strong magnets. Jamie Edwards was inspired by Taylor Wilson's technique which used something known as 'Inertial Electrostatic Confinement.' This method uses electric fields to do the work on charged particles - either ions or electrons - allowing them to be heated to fusion conditions. So . that left the laboratories at his school, and the task of convincing . headmaster Jim Hourigan. Fortunately the head agreed, coming up with the . necessary £3,000 funding. ‘I . was a bit stunned and I have to say a little nervous when Jamie . suggested this but he reassured me he wouldn’t blow the school up,’ Mr . Hourigan said yesterday. After months of work, the reactor was finally completed just ahead of his 14th birthday this weekend. And . yesterday, in a ‘radiation controlled area’ in a classroom, before an . audience of experts, he flicked a switch and stared intently at his . Geiger counter until it registered that fusion had indeed taken place – . or created ‘a star in a jar’, as Jamie refers to it. Nuclear . fusion, the reaction that powers the sun, is very different from . nuclear fission, or the splitting of the atom, that occurs in nuclear . power stations and is the stuff of atom bombs. However, both release vast amounts of energy. Jamie started building the reactor in October at the science laboratory at Priory Academy, Lancashire, and finally finished the task this morning . In an incredible eureka moment head teacher Jim Hourigan can be seen pointing to the experiment as a Geiger counter registers Jamie's fusion reaction has taken place . The landmark experiment took place at school in Penwortham, near Preston . Scientists . around the world are replicating Jamie’s experiment, but on a much . bigger scale, in the hope of using it on a large scale to fuel cheap, . environmentally-friendly power stations. Jamie . said: ‘I heard the Geiger counter rapidly go up and I was “What is . that?”,’ he said in the afterglow of success. ‘Then I looked over and . the neutron counter was right up off the scale nearly, and I thought “We . must have done it”.’ The . experiment was assisted by electronics experts who tested the apparatus . for safety, while Jamie, his friend George Barker and the teachers . involved had all attended a risk assessment course at a nuclear fuel . company. For his next . project, Jamie – who wants to be a nuclear engineer or work in . theoretical physics – has his sights set on building a miniature hadron . collider. Trying to rise the funds wasn't easy. Jamie said: 'I went to various nuclear laboratories and universities and they didn't seem to take me seriously' Jamie said: 'It is quite an achievement. It's magnificent really. I can't quite believe it' | Jamie Edwards' reactor was able to smash two hydrogen atoms together .
This made him youngest person to create helium through nuclear fusion .
Fusion took place in a controlled environment at his school in Lancashire .
Head teacher Jim Hourigan said: ‘I was a little nervous when Jamie suggested this but he reassured me he wouldn’t blow the school up' |
95,799 | 07263e73c6356c53202a16ec09999e116383cf6f | (CNN) -- With Torino pushing for a Champions League spot in Italy's Serie A, the Derby della Mole promised to be interesting. Torino hadn't beaten Juventus for about 20 years but has been a surprise package this season and possesses two of the league's top strikers in Alessio Circi and Ciro Immobile. A striker did shine Sunday, although it was Juventus' Carlos Tevez. Tevez scored the only goal in the first half and Juventus restored its nine-point advantage over Roma atop the division with a 1-0 win. Juventus mostly stifled Torino as it extended its unbeaten spell in Serie A to 17 games, though the visitor felt it should have gotten a penalty late in the game. Tevez's effort in the 30th minute put the Argentine tied first in the league scoring charts with the injured Giuseppe Rossi and what a goal it was. He controlled a low, fiercely struck pass, turned and scored on a half volley from outside the box. "It's one of the few times Torino were able to play against us with no pressure, thanks to the great campaign they are having," Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon said in comments posted on the Football Italia website. "It was a real derby, quite an English style one with the referee letting the action run. "Compliments to Torino, as their performance made it really difficult for us. In a complicated and balanced encounter like this, the difference is made by those moments of magic from a champion. We've got several and today Carlos was decisive." Veteran Italian international Andrea Pirlo celebrated with Tevez and Pirlo was involved in the penalty claim in the 80th minute. Omar El Kaddouri went down and Torino thought he was tripped but the referee allowed play to continue. Roma beat Bologna 1-0 on Saturday. Bayern Munich 'relentless' 'Bayern relentless' was the headline used by the Bundesliga's website after it crushed Hannover 96 4-0 and that about sums it up. Bayern registered a 14th straight win in the Bundesliga, hasn't lost in the league in 47 matches and blanked Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday. Thomas Muller and Thiago Alcantara gave the reigning European champion a 2-0 lead at the break and Muller and Mario Mandzukic added strikes in the second half. With second-place Bayer Leverkusen losing on Saturday, Bayern's lead rose to 19 points. "It took a while before we found our rhythm," Bayern manager Pep Guardiola told the club website. "We played very well once we'd scored. It was a chance to extend our lead over our rivals -- and my lads have done just that." In more good news for Bayern, inspirational midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger made his first start since sustaining an ankle injury in November and played more than 70 minutes. "It felt good to be back in the starting lineup and not to have any problems," he said. "I'm feeling much better and my fitness is improving too." Atletico stutters . Not accustomed to competing in the knockout stages of the Champions League, maybe Atletico Madrid's 1-0 win at AC Milan last Wednesday took its toll. An unusually sluggish Atletico conceded three goals in the first half and lost 3-0 at relegation threatened Osasuna to miss a chance to join Real Madrid on 63 points atop Spain's La Liga. "It was a good match for them in the first 25 minutes," Atletico manager Diego Simeone told his club's website. "In the second half we lifted the team level and at least played the game. You can lose and would rather lose like we did in the second half." It was a fine weekend for Real Madrid, given Barcelona also lost Saturday and remained on 60 points. Atletico hosts Real Madrid next week and current world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to feature for Los Blancos after serving his three-game ban. | Juventus downs Turin rival Torino 1-0 to win Derby della Mole .
Carlos Tevez scores a first-half stunner for the lone goal Sunday .
Bayern Munich wins to increase Bundesliga lead to a hefty 19 points .
Atletico Madrid fails to make up ground in Spanish title race after losing . |
282,969 | fa89bcac35f826859a46a3c2d192569ff4f8b842 | Where are you holidaying in 2015? If you are in keeping with the current trends for British travellers, odds are that your destination of choice was inspired by somewhere you've seen on the big screen. MailOnline Travel reported this week that following an influx of film production in the US state of Georgia in recent years thanks to tax incentive, the region is now experiencing a 'screen tourism' boom as fans flock to visit filming locations. According to British Airways, the popularity of filming locations as holiday destinations can be seen all over the world, with the airline reporting a surge in interest for countries that are currently present in popular culture. Reel life: The top travel destinations for 2015 are inspired by the big screen (pictured: Fifty Shades of Grey) Hotpot: Seattle is tipped to see a surge in popularity thanks to Fifty Shades and the return of Twin Peaks . Screen Tourism: The city is showcased in the hugely popular erotic thriller, inspiring fans to visit . Returning to screens: Twin Peaks films in Monroe, Snoqualmie Falls and North Bend in Washington State . While 2014 saw an increase in popularity for places seen on hit TV series Game of Thrones, X Factor, and Keeping Up With The Kardashians, the airline is predicting that Seattle will be the hotspot next year, thanks to the release of the highly anticipated Fifty Shades of Grey and the return of cult series Twin Peaks. Claire Bentley, managing director at British Airways Holidays, said: 'We've realised that popular culture and celebrity events now play a big part in holiday decisions. 'This year the TV series X-Factor created a 400 per cent increase in the number of views on our Bermuda travel page in the days after the destination was featured on the judge's houses episode of the show. Popular: There was a reported a spike in searches for destinations featured on the X Factor judges' houses . Follow in their footsteps: In 2014, filming locations for hit series Game of Thrones were the hotspots . Influencers: Destinations featured on Keeping Up With The Kardashians such as Santorini were also popular . 'We are already preparing for interest in destinations like Seattle, ahead of the buzz created around the return of TV programme 'Twin Peaks' and the launch of the film 'Fifty Shades of Grey', both tipped to be huge hits next year.' As reported by MailOnline Travel, a number of travel comparison websites and airlines experienced a spike in searches for the exotic destinations featured on the judges' houses episodes of the X Factor. Mel B's house in Mexico and Louis Walsh's in Bermuda in particularly inspired increased interest from travellers. Ireland Tourism reported an 11 per cent increase in tourism this year thanks to Game of Thrones as well as Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's honeymoon. Rio de Janeiro . Seattle . Hawaii . Dubai . Singapore . Berlin . Dalaman . Crete . Gran Canaria . Malta . Sporting city: Rio de Janeiro tops the hot list for 2015 as buzz builds ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games . Celebrations: Brazil also hosted the 2014 World Cup, placing it firmly on the world stage . Indeed, other popular culture events are also the catalyst for surges in tourism - Rio de Janeiro's hosting of the World Cup this year as well as the buzz leading up to the 2015 Olympic Games have placed the Brazilian capital firmly at the top of the 2015 hotspot list. While Seattle is set to be popular after being showcased in Fifty Shades of Grey, slated for release on Valentine's Day, it is also the most convenient arrival airport for Twin Peaks fans celebrating the return of the show after 25 years. Three of the series' filming locations - Monroe, Snoqualmie Falls and North Bend - are a 40 minute drive from the city. Not just a stopover: Singapore will be a hot ticket in 2015, according to BA, thanks to the Grand Prix . Celebrity fave: Iconic hotel Marina Bay Sands is popular with stars like David Beckham (pictured last week) Hawaii and Dubai are both tipped to continue their popularity as winter sun breaks, while Singapore - long the stopover of choice en route to far-flung destinations and a business hub - is becoming a destination in its own right. The popularity of Singapore's Grand Prix attracts celebrities, while the glamorous Marina Bay Sands hotel has welcomed David Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow in the past month alone. Closer to home, British Airways predicts that Berlin, Crete and Malta will be among the hottest destinations for short-haul holidays next year. Follow the stars: Prince William's visit and Brad and Angelina's extended stay has put Malta in the spotlight . In the news: Berlin was making headlines this month as it celebrated 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall . Berlin was again on the world stage this month as the city celebrated 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Next year, football fans will also be jetting there for the 2015 UEFA Champions League final. Prince William made headlines when he stepped in at the last minute to fill in when the Duchess of Cambridge was forced to pull out of her royal visit to Malta due to acute morning sickness. Perhaps even more of an influence are Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who are living on the island of Gozo for several months while they film their new movie By The Sea. Destinations: Dalaman in Turkey is also predicted to be a popular holiday spot in 2015 . Winter sun: Dubai will remain a favourite for Brits abroad . | Erotic thriller based on the hit books is set in Seattle .
Cult hit Twin Peaks, returning after 25 years, is filmed in Washington State .
Brangelina and Prince William's visits to Malta increased interest in country .
2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics in Rio place it firmly at top of hot list . |
160,311 | 5b3b8178fb907150a69a11902d1cd7d02a2c7dc5 | (CNN) -- The stars may finally be aligning for a comprehensive immigration overhaul. Whatever the reasons -- and there are many -- it's about time. During my two terms as governor of a border state, there were times when I was hopeful for a breakthrough. But political fear-mongering often ruled the day as immigrants and drugs illegally crossed into the United States and weapons flowed to the south. With every border flare-up, the American public -- and their elected leaders -- put immigration on the back burner. I am encouraged by the news that a bipartisan group of senators has crafted a plan and is working on building consensus toward a political way forward. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is also taking an active role and showing leadership on this issue. My hope is that we end up with a truly comprehensive solution that does not tear families apart. Opinion: Worker visas are the key to immigration reform . A comprehensive plan should create a path to earned citizenship, enforceable border security, a realistic guest worker plan, accountability for employers that hire illegal immigrants and passage of the DREAM Act. We have a window of opportunity now that didn't exist before because immigration is at a low point, and addressing the issue makes more sense politically. Our struggle to recover from the financial crisis doesn't just mean fewer jobs for Americans; the lack of work has also deterred many would-be immigrants, especially those who come to America to find construction and manufacturing jobs. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that we have nearly 1 million fewer illegal immigrants living in America than we did in 2007. Census officials say the economy is the primary reason for the decline. The aging population and the growing middle class in Mexico may also be factors that explain the new trend. While nobody is celebrating the poor economy and the lack of jobs, the reality that illegal immigration isn't seen as a "crisis" at the moment, gives us the opportunity to have a reasoned debate, without the unnecessary rhetoric, and finally enact a comprehensive immigration plan. With a stable and reasonable immigration system in place, I believe we'll have more opportunities for bilateral economic growth and trade between the United States and Mexico. That will mean more jobs on both sides of the border. Politically, the results of the recent election strongly suggest this is the moment for reform. First, President Barack Obama is following through on his promise to make an immigration overhaul a priority, using the good will he earned with the Hispanic constituencies, and will announce his proposals Tuesday. Second, many Republicans in Congress realize that they need a new political strategy if they have any hope of bouncing back from the devastating losses they are experiencing with Hispanic voters. iReport: Under deportation, above fear . Hispanics of all ethnic backgrounds are embracing Democratic candidates and their message of inclusiveness and opportunity for all. Opposition to immigration overhaul, including the demonization of foreign-born families that look to America for opportunity, is hurting Republicans at the polls. Third, the Supreme Court ruled emphatically that immigration is the responsibility of the federal government, not the states. While I am certainly sympathetic as a former governor with the issues that states must deal with as a result of illegal immigration, the onus is on Congress to pass an immigration plan. Unless we come to grips with all aspects of the immigration issue, we are going to end up with the same impractical, expensive and ineffective solutions we have had for years. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bill Richardson. | Until now, fear-mongering drove immigration policy and overhaul was ignored .
Richardson: With illegal immigration down, GOP realizes it needs to address Hispanics .
He says we need path to citizenship, border security, guest worker plan, DREAM Act .
Richardson: The onus is on Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration plan . |
167,511 | 64a63022b6d36cd7154fc931a4028e71b918d49d | By . Chris Brooke for the Daily Mail . James Grant was jailed for 18 months for perverting the course of justice after the letter he arranged to be written, which claimed that the alleged victim had made up the attack, caused the trial to be abandoned . An alleged rapist is being freed after derailing his trial by faking letters from his accuser declaring her ‘love’ for him. James Grant, 27, handed the two documents to his lawyers – forcing the judge to abort the case for legal reasons. The woman who said he raped her had already endured the trauma of giving evidence in court. She could not face doing so again in a retrial, so withdrew her complaint. This meant it was not possible to retry him on the rape charge. The letters had been sent to another inmate, passed on to Grant and handed to his legal team who treated them as new evidence. He claimed they were written by one of his victim’s friends on her behalf but she denied this. A writing expert confirmed she did not write them. Gerry Wareham, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said the letters were ‘fabrications’ and Grant’s actions were ‘devious and utterly callous’. He said the CPS ‘offered all possible support’ to address the woman’s concerns about a retrial. Lawyers also considered reading out her original evidence but this was ruled out ‘due to the circumstances of the case’, said Mr Wareham. He added: ‘In the end, the case could not proceed without her testimony and we respect her wish not to give evidence a second time.’ Grant was prosecuted over the faked letters and other attempts to persuade the woman not to testify. He admitted three counts of perverting the course of justice and was jailed for 18 months at Hull Crown Court on Wednesday. But he was due to be released immediately because of time spent on remand. If convicted of rape, Grant, of Roos, near Withernsea, East Yorkshire, would almost certainly have been behind bars for years. The average jail term for rapists is eight years. He was charged with raping the woman in August last year, after meeting her through social media, and remanded in custody. In January, he went on trial and denied rape. Prosecutor David Bradshaw told this week’s case how the letters ‘caused the rape trial to be stopped’. He continued: ‘Our understanding is the letters were written on Mr Grant’s say so, but he claimed they were written by the alleged victim.’ While inside Hull Prison, pictured, James Grant also persuaded a fellow inmate to send the alleged victim a letter offering her money to drop the case . Grant had . made other attempts to force the woman to drop the case. Mr Bradshaw . said: ‘He got another inmate to send a letter to the alleged victim’s . grandma’s address. ‘While not threatening, it was full of innuendo and promises of money.’ Grant . also contacted an ex-girlfriend telling her to ‘sort it’ although she . does not appear to have taken any action, said Mr Bradshaw. Another inmate, Darby Owen, 19, sent the woman a text message dictated by Grant. Owen, . of Hedon, Hull, admitted twice perverting the course of justice and was . given four months in jail, He was due to be released yesterday because . of time spent on remand. Judge . Mark Bury told Grant that faking the letters was ‘a particularly . serious offence’. Passing sentence, he added: ‘The letters you wrote to . the alleged victim were not abusive or threatening but they did amount . to emotional blackmail. ‘There was a persistent series of attempts to persuade the woman not to give evidence.’ Grant was also given a restraining order to keep him away from his accuser. Humberside Police refused to comment on the case. | James Grant, 27, accused of rape, is freed after derailing his trial with letters .
He handed the two documents to his lawyers, forcing judge to abort case .
The woman who said he raped her could not face giving evidence again .
This meant it was not possible to retry him on the rape charge . |
200,100 | 8f10c6739bfda4fe69a59f9a90fcd652915a4803 | By . Peter Sheridan . PUBLISHED: . 17:05 EST, 16 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:06 EST, 16 March 2013 . Her Oscar-winner husband Daniel Day-Lewis is notorious for immersing himself in his film roles both on and off the set. So when Rebecca Miller comes down to breakfast, she can never be sure who will be sitting across from her – a murderous oil tycoon, revered US president, villainous New York mobster, or even an IRA terrorist. Yet while many would find life as the wife of such an intense ‘method actor’ a challenge, novelist Miss Miller sees the benefits in such a schizophrenic environment, saying it has enhanced her writing. Novelist Miss Miller says that living with such an intense method actor has enhanced her writing . ‘I think it’s helped,’ she insists. ‘Writing is a lot about creating characters, inhabiting them.’ But, she adds, whereas her husband’s personas are seen by many thousands of filmgoers, hers are ‘private, and people don’t get to see’ the creative process. Daniel Day-Lewis recently won his third Oscar, this time for his leading role in biopic Lincoln . Indeed, Day-Lewis, 55, praised his wife’s patience as he accepted his Best Actor Oscar last month for portraying Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s historical drama. ‘Since we got married 16 years ago my wife Rebecca has lived with some very strange men,’ he said. ‘I mean they were strange as individuals and probably even stranger if taken as a group. But luckily she’s the versatile one in the family and she’s been the perfect companion to all of them.’ Miss Miller, 50, the daughter of playwright Arthur Miller, admits she has become accustomed to living with her husband’s film personas. ‘All his characters are wonderful to live with, in their own way,’ she says, adding wryly: ‘My favourite was Abe . . . because he filmed away from home, and I didn’t have to live with him.’ The couple split their time between Ireland and New York, living with their two sons, Ronan, 14, and Cashel, ten, and Day-Lewis’s 17-year-old son Gabriel by French actress Isabelle Adjani. And having the president for a husband and father was undoubtedly easier on the family than sharing their home with Daniel Plainview, the violent oil magnate in Day-Lewis’s 2007 drama There Will Be Blood. Day-Lewis is famous for his method acting, here as a murderous gangster in Gangs of New York . He has confessed: ‘They did go a little bit crazy living with Plainview all the time, but the kids thought it was a laugh in the end to have this different bloke as their dad. My wife is amazingly tolerant. She just believes, like I do, that if you are attempting anything of a creative nature, no rules apply.’ Miss Miller’s latest novel Jacob’s Folly, about an 18th Century Parisian Jewish merchant who is reincarnated as a housefly in modern-day New York, was published in the US last week and comes to the UK in May. | Novelist Rebecca Miller says her husband's acting helps with her writing .
Has become accustomed to her Daniel Day-Lewis's many personas .
She adds that the world may see his characters, but she sees the creative process . |
194,505 | 87c77bc9718284068677f9252c97182388c8ce99 | By . Paul Hirst . Luiz Felipe Scolari is convinced Brazil can beat Germany and make it through to a dream World Cup final despite Neymar’s absence. Brazil will take on Germany at the Estadio Mineirao on Tuesday without their best player and leading scorer, who was ruled out of the World Cup after fracturing a verterbrae in last week’s win over Colombia. An incredible wave of sadness followed the news that Neymar had been ruled out. Scroll down for videos... Motivation: Luiz Felipe Scolari has called for Brazil to win the World Cup for injured Neymar . The players shed tears and many of the 200 million football-mad Brazilians feared how their team would cope without their talisman. But Scolari has moved on from the incident and he has challenged the rest of his squad to reach the Maracana final for their injured star. 'He has done his share. Now it’s up to us to do our share,' the Brazil coach told a press conference on the eve of the match. The end? Neymar broke a vertebra in his back after a challenge by Colombia's Juan Zuniga . 'This match we’ll be playing not just for ourselves but for our country, for everything we’ve ever dreamed of, but also for Neymar and everything he’s done for us. 'Within our group, we’ve accepted that. We’ve left our sad phase behind and we’re focusing on other things.' Scolari had asked Neymar to come to Belo Horizonte for the semi-final, but a spokesman for the Brazil football confederation said the forward would not attend the match and would instead continue his recuperation in Sao Paulo. Despair: Brazil's hopes of winning the World Cup have been severely dented by Neymar's loss . Scolari used several different replacements for Neymar and he also changed his formation during training, presumably to keep the gathered media and the Germans guessing about how his team would line up in Belo Horizonte. Willian and Bernard are the two leading contenders to fill Neymar's position, but Hernanes and Jo are two others who could be drafted in. Scolari rejected out of hand two opportunities to name his starting XI in his pre-match press conference. Mascot: Neymar was asked to attend the semi-final against Germany but has been flown home for treatment . Whoever he does pick, Scolari is sure they will be up to the task. 'Neymar is one of our references and one of the best players in the world, but we have another 22 players who have been hand-picked and capped because we know they are special," the former Chelsea manager added. 'Those guys who come in are special. They can make a big difference. 'This is what we are conveying to our players. We will miss Neymar, but we have a team who can overcome the difficulties and go on into the next round. 'That's the goal the group has had since the beginning: to qualify for the final.' Hair raising! Willian is one possibility to replace Neymar for Brazil's semi-final showdown . Scolari admitted he could deploy three defensive midfielders against the Germans to counter the threat of players like Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze. Operating with three deep midfielders would go against Brazil's tradition of all-out attack, but Scolari has told the nation to trust him in what he is doing. 'Playing with three defensive midfielders is an option,' he said. 'If I have two players in there, the full-backs will have less freedom but I might be able to add something that imposes a bit more damage on Germany too.' Park the bus? Brazil may use three defensive players to combat Bastian Schweinsteiger and Germany's midfield . Brazil topped their group, but they were inconsistent in their first three matches. They then almost exited the tournament in the following round but won a nail-biting penalty shootout against Chile. However, Brazil finally lived up to their billing in Fortaleza last week during a thrilling first-half display in which Colombia were blown away. Neymar's absence, and the step up in opposition, mean Scolari should feel under more pressure than ever. But if the engaging Brazil coach is nervous in any way, he was not letting it show on the night before the game. 'I sleep very well,' the jovial coach said with a grin. Grin and bear it! Luiz Felipe Scolari was in a relaxed mood at the press conference . 'The easiest thing for me is to put my head down and sleep. 'I have a fantastic group of players and we have been watching Germany's games too. 'We've had scouts at their last two matches and our scouts have instructed us how we can beat them. 'When you have a team working with you, a team of assistants, you feel more at ease making choices. 'I know the starting line-up. Tomorrow, when they walk on to the field, you will see why I made those choices. 'I want to tell the Brazilian people: we're doing our best, and doing what we think is necessary. 'Sometimes not in a very beautiful way, but we're moving forward. One step at a time towards the final.' Same again? The Brazil coach doesn't want to taste disappointment after bringing home the World Cup in 2002 . The last time Brazil won the World Cup was 12 years ago, when Scolari led the Selecao to victory over Germany. Scolari has since tasted defeat against the three-time world champions with Portugal, so he wants to get back to winning ways in the semi-final. 'We won in 2002 with Brazil but I lost in 2008 with Portugal. And then I lost the third/fourth place play-off in 2006, also with Portugal, so I have two defeats and one victory, he said. 'In order to tie this up I have to win tomorrow, so I hope Brazil play well, win and the memories are very good.' | Luiz Felipe Scolari has called for Brazil to win the World Cup for Neymar .
Barcelona forward was ruled out of rest of the tournament after breaking a vertabrae in challenge by Juan Zuniga .
Hosts face Germany in their World Cup semi-final on Tuesday 8 July .
Willian and Bernard likely to replace Neymar in Scolari's side .
Brazil coach admits he may use three defensive midfielders against the Germans . |
175,124 | 6eabe8c37e0211fe5b3d8c3501469e07425592d5 | Madrid (CNN) -- Spain is expelling the Libyan ambassador to Madrid and three other Libyan diplomats here, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday. "The government of Spain has decided to put an end to the mission of the ambassador accredited in Madrid by the authorities in Tripoli (Libya), because the Gadhafi regime has lost all legitimacy due to its continual repression of the Libyan population," the statement said. The Libyan ambassador to Madrid, Ajeli Abdussalam Ali Breni, "has 10 days to leave" Spain, the ministry said. The government also is expelling three other diplomats at the Libyan embassy "who undertook activities incompatible with their diplomatic status," the statement said. But Spain has not broken diplomatic relations with Libya, said a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, who by custom is not identified. Spain still has an embassy in Tripoli, although it evacuated its personnel from the city, like many other nations, as fighting between the regime of Moammar Gadhafi and rebels intensified in late March. The Spanish Embassy in Tripoli, staffed only by local Libyan personnel, "is not closed in a diplomatic sense," the spokeswoman said. It was not immediately clear, she added, how many Libyan diplomats or local Spanish personnel might remain at the Libyan Embassy in Madrid, after the expulsion of the ambassador and the three other Libyan diplomats. Spanish Foreign Ministry Trinidad Jimenez on June 8 visited the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi , where she declared that Libya's rebel National Transitional Council was a "valid interlocutor" and a "legitimate representative of the aspirations of the Libyan people," the spokeswoman said. Spain has been participating in United Nations-mandated, NATO-led military operations in Libya. Spain has deployed four F-18 fighter jets and a refueling plane to help enforce a no-fly zone, and a frigate, a submarine and a surveillance plane to help impose an arms embargo against the Gadhafi regime. | Spain is telling the Libyan ambassador to leave .
Three other diplomats are also being expelled .
Spain is not breaking off diplomatic relations with Libya . |
67,199 | be9cf11312d4e4e171b4281b5b6c67d2ced63c92 | Small volcanic eruptions over the past 20 years have been protecting the Earth from global warming, according to a new study. Scientists have confirmed that droplets of sulphur-rich aerosols spewed into the upper atmosphere by volcanoes have been reflecting sunlight away from the Earth. Until recently it was thought that only particularly large eruptions had any noticeable affect on the climate. Scroll down for video . Eruptions of volcanoes like Tavurvur in Papa New Guinea in 2006 had a greater impact on the climate in the past 15 years than had previously been appreciated and may require climate models to be revised . However, the new study has confirmed results from the end of last year that showed these small eruptions can have an accumulative impact on global temperature. This could have helped decrease the global temperatures by between 0.05°C to 0.12°C over the past 15 years. Instead of eruptions, some scientists claim one of the causes of the ‘plateau’ in sea-surface temperature is a change in the exchange of ocean water. They believe this exchange is occurring between warm, surface waters and cold, deep waters below 2,300ft (700 metres) – as if the warming is ‘hiding’ underwater. Easterly trade winds of the Pacific Ocean have increased significantly over the past two decades and as a result are blowing higher volumes of warm surface sea water to deeper depths. Stronger trade winds blowing from South America to Australia have had the net effect of cooling surface temperatures by a global average of between 0.1°C and 0.2°C, . This would be enough to account for the apparent hiatus in global average temperatures over the past 15 years. The warm water won’t hide below the surface forever: scientists believe that it may re-emerge later or affect other climate indicators, such as sea level or ocean circulation. Since 1998, the warmest year on record, the steep increase in global temperatures seen during the 1990s has levelled off, failing to match computer model predictions for climate change. This pause, or hiatus, has been blamed on weak solar activity and increased uptake of heat by the world's oceans. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last year concluded that the deep oceans had been responsible for absorbing an increasing amount of heat, but warned that this could not continue indefinitely. However, in a paper published in November last year, atmospheric scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that small volcanic eruptions in the early 21st century, which had been largely overlooked, were responsible for up to a third of the hiatus in warming. Now researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in California, have found signs of the effects from eruptions from the late 20th century and early 21st century in the atmospheric temperature, moisture and amount of sunlight reflected from the atmosphere. They also found that the eruption of Pinatubo, a volcano on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, which last erupted in 1991, also caused a drop in tropical rainfall. 'The fact that these volcanic signatures are apparent in multiple independently measured climate variables really supports the idea that they are influencing climate in spite of their moderate size,' said Mark Zelinka, a climate scientist at Lawrence Livermore and one of the authors of the new study. This graph shows average land and ocean temperature anomalies between 1961 and 1990 around the world . Small eruptions from volcanoes like Japan's Mount Ontake throw sulphuric acid and aerosols into the air but many of these may have been accumulating unnoticed as a layer between the troposphere and stratosphere . The apparent mismatch between observed temperature increases and predictions from climate change models has led to some to claim that global warming has stalled, as seen by the black line in the graph above . 'If we wish to accurately simulate recent climate change in models, we cannot neglect the ability of these smaller eruptions to reflect sunlight away from Earth.' The findings confirm the work of Dr David Ridley, a climate scientist at MIT who was the lead author on the November study on volcanos. He found that droplets of sulphuric acid and aerosols were accumulating at the intersection between the stratosphere and troposphere layers of the atmosphere. Using ground, air and space based instruments, Dr Ridley and his colleagues were able to get a better estimate of the aerosols accumulating in these layers, around six to nine miles above the Earth's surface. Globally, there are thousands of volcanoes, like this one in Russia, throwing aerosols into the atmosphere . Previously they had been missed as most satellite measurements of volcanic aerosols are restricted to the parts of the stratosphere higher than nine miles as cloud cover can interfere with measurements below that. This means, particularly around the poles where the stratosphere extends down to six miles above the surface, a significant chunk of volcanic aerosols were being missed. He estimated that that since 2000 volcanoes may have caused cooling of between 0.05 degrees C and 0.12 degrees C. Dr Benjamin Santer, who led the new study, said: 'This new work shows that the climate signals of late 20th- and early 21st-century volcanic activity can be detected in a variety of different observational data sets.' Professor Ross McKitrick, an environmental economist from the University of Guelph in Canada, said the results could mean that climate models that are used to inform policy decisions are inaccurate. If volcanic eruptions are masking some of the impacts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, then the climate may be more sensitive than previously thought, or changes in aerosols could be responsible for some of the temperature changes attributed to carbon dioxide. He said: 'If small variations in volcanic activity turn out to have larger and more persistent climatic effects than previously thought, this should have important implications for how climate models are parameterized and how greenhouse gas attribution studies are done. 'The study seems to me to raise the possibility that commonly-used historical reconstructions of volcanic dust forcing may not have been all that reliable. 'Climate modelers rely on dust veil indexes that use measures of known historical volcanic activity to estimate optical effects in the atmosphere. 'These are then used to estimate natural forcings over the 20th century, which are then used in greenhouse gas signal detection (attribution) studies. 'If the historical reconstructions weren't capturing the full magnitude of volcanic effects on the climate, as this study suggests, that presumably means those attribution studies need re-examination as well.' | Volcanoes may have cooled the Earth by 0.05°C to 0.12°C since 2000 .
Scientists had overlooked the role of aerosols from small eruptions .
The aerosols accumulate between the stratosphere and troposphere .
This layer of the atmosphere is difficult to study as clouds obscure it .
Eruptions through 1990s and 2000s have contributed to warming 'pause'
Global temperatures plateaued since 1998 after rapid warming in 1990s .
The findings mean models predicting climate change need to be revised . |
53,354 | 9759fb0ef620bbaa2c766d031ba62a04b803b560 | Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Brittany Murphy, the bubbly, free-spirited actress who appeared in such films as "Clueless" and "8 Mile," died Sunday, apparently of natural causes, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said. She was 32. Murphy was pronounced dead at 10:04 a.m. PT Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Sally Stewart told CNN Radio. An autopsy had not been scheduled as of Sunday night, but Captain John Kades, a spokesman for the coroner's office, told CNN that there was no sign of foul play or trauma. He added that it's not unusual for a younger person to die of natural causes. The coroner's office is looking into Murphy's medical history. A final report could take up to eight weeks. The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the death, and robbery and homicide detectives will be at her home, LAPD spokeswoman Norma Eisenman said. "The sudden loss of our beloved Brittany is a terrible tragedy," her family said in a statement issued by her publicist. "She was our daughter, our wife, our love and a shining star. We ask you to respect our privacy at this time." Funeral arrangements are pending, the family said. Murphy starred in several movies, including "Just Married," "Don't Say a Word" and "Riding in Cars with Boys." She also voiced the character Luanne on the animated TV series "King of the Hill." She is survived by her husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack, whom she married in 2007. Fans took to Murphy's official Facebook page Sunday to issue their condolences. "She was a great actress and was going to go far in her career! She will be greatly missed!" read one post. Murphy's former boyfriend and "Just Married" co-star Ashton Kutcher posted his reaction to the news via Twitter. "2day the world lost a little piece of sunshine. My deepest condolences go out 2 Brittany's family, her husband, & her amazing mother Sharon," Kutcher posted. He added later: "see you on the other side kid." Singer-actress Jessica Simpson tweeted: "Brittany Murphy was an incredible ray of Light to so many people. Her smile was contagious. My prayers are with her family and loved ones." Actress Alyssa Milano, who did a USO tour with Murphy in 2003, wrote on Twitter: "She was a sweet soul, with a lot of talent and heart." Murphy was best known for her work in a string of romantic comedies in the early 2000s, including lead roles in "Uptown Girls" alongside fellow Georgia native Dakota Fanning, and "Little Black Book" with Holly Hunter and Kathy Bates, but her movie roles had declined in recent years. Last month, Murphy reportedly was fired from "The Caller," a movie she was working on in Puerto Rico. Her representative issued a statement to news outlets disputing the report, saying: "She was not nor has she ever been fired from any job big or small. ... [Due] to creative differences Ms. Murphy and the production mutually parted ways," according to People magazine. In addition to her "King of the Hill" role, she lent her voice to a number of animated works including the TV series "Futurama" and the 2006 hit movie "Happy Feet." Her work as troubled teenagers in "Don't Say a Word" and "Girl, Interrupted" also gained her critical acclaim. Murphy was the subject of tabloid gossip after she transformed from a pudgy brunette in 1995's "Clueless" to a petite, lithe blonde who graced the cover of such magazines as Cosmopolitan in 2005. She frequently denied rumors of an eating disorder and plastic surgery. Her love life also was fodder for gossip sites as she broke two engagements in 2004 and 2006, then married Monjack after only four months of dating. "All these ridiculous people came out and said all this nonsense when we got married, [but] thank God we had the substance and the history within that to [say], 'Yeah, whatever!' " Monjack told People magazine in a 2008 interview. "We still don't understand what happened. It's made us laugh, it's made us cry, but it's made us stronger." | NEW: Coroner's office: She apparently died of natural causes; report on death could take weeks .
No signs of foul play or trauma, coroner's office spokesman says .
Murphy pronounced dead at 10:04 a.m. PT Sunday, hospital spokeswoman says .
Actress starred in "Clueless" and "8 Mile," and was voice of Luanne in "King of the Hill" |
151,505 | 4fe2e5bb6fca2811d54ed1e9881957297cd851dd | The highly anticipated return of ITV's Broadchurch has prompted a large increase in searches to the west country. An analysis of hotel searches from January 5-8 this year, compared with January 5-8 last year, have seen an increase as high as 200 per cent in some of series' production locations. Interest in Bridport has surged by 161 per cent, while Portishead has seen the greatest spike - just days after the first episode's premiere. As series two of ITV's Broadchurch returns, holiday searches to the west country have incrased . The series' filming location is inspired by the Jurassic Coast, Dorset (pictured) where the show's creator lived . Searches to West Bay in Dorset have also seen a 50 per cent increase. Clearly Brits aren't dissuaded by the dark content of the TV phenomenon, as hotels in both areas expect to see an increase in tourists in 2015, according to Hotels.com. With only one episode of series two having aired so far, searches could increase further as David Tenant and Olivia Coleman unfold their latest mystery. Portishead Harbour in Somerset has seen the greatest surge in interest, with a spike of 200% . St Oswald Bay on the Jurassic Coast is a UNESCO World Heritage site . Following the first series' dramatic finale in 2013, Bridport saw an increase in holiday searches of 67% . St Andrews Church in Clevedon on the North Somerset coast was another filming location during series one . After all, following the first series' dramatic finale in 2013, the coastal area of Bridport saw an increase in holiday searches of 67 per cent. Lizann Peppard of Hotels.com said: 'Broadchurch regularly attracted an average of nine million viewers per episode in 2013, perfectly showcasing this beautiful area to a huge audience. 'It is clear that Brits take travel inspiration from their favourite TV programmes, with this drama the latest to boost search figures to a specific UK location - as the series progresses, it will be interesting to see if the growth in popularity matches it.' | Interest in Bridport up by 161%, while Portishead has seen greatest surge .
Searches to West Bay in Dorset have also increased by 50% .
Location inspired by the Jurassic Coast, where the show's creator lived . |
157,815 | 580cbe52a095477b028d5346d8ecef75db2621fd | By . Beci Wood . Formula 1 mogul Eddie Jordan, TOWIE star Amy Childs and Strictly Come Dancing's Kristina Rihanoff were among the celebrities in attendance at Royal Ascot today. The trio joined thousands of punters who descended upon the second day of the glamorous racing event in Berkshire. While Amy spent the early part of the day getting stuck into champagne, Kristina was kicked out for not adhering to the event's strict dress code. Ready for action: F1 mogul Eddie Jordan and guest pose for the cameras at Royal Ascot . The Only Way Is Ascot: Amy Childs told fans she was drinking champagne on her way to the racing event . Her blue dress, which was made entirely out of Coral betting slips, was deemed unsuitable and have have even been a publicity stunt. A few hours later the blonde beauty reappeared wearing a massive grin and a more demure grey dress and dark blazer. Yesterday's opening race saw Toronado cruise to victory in the Queen Anne Stakes. However the day's big winner was Kingman, ridden by James Doyle, in the St James' Palace Stakes. Royal outing: The Queen and Prince Phillip on day two of one of the world's most famous sporting events . Greeting the crowd: Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Prince Charles . Before and after: Dancer Kristina Rihanoff was forced to change out of her dress made out of betting slips . Girls day out: Amy Childs poses alongside her glamorous friends . Racing selfie: Pundit John McCririck poses with happy punters . Reddy for action: Guest stands out from the crowds in huge brightly-coloured hat . Today marks the first appearance in Britain of the brilliant Arc winner, Treve, in the eagerly-anticipated Prince Of Wales’s Stakes. This week there are a total of 30 races with prize money of £5.3m up for grabs. The Queen is in attendance everyday and her horse Estimate races on Ladies Day tomorrow. Lace masterpiece: Brave guest wears huge headpiece on day two of Ascot . Lots of colour: Guest in wacky rainbow hat, while Jackie St Clair wows in red floral design . Winner: Kingman and James Doyle won in devastating style yesterday . Flower power: Stylish racegoers pose wearing a selection of floral-inspired hats . Simple and extravagant: Racegoers love to dress up for Royal Ascot . | Strictly Come Dancing star was kicked out for wearing a dress made out of Coral betting slips .
It could well have been a publicity stunt by the betting company .
Kristina later reappeared in a more demure grey and black number .
There are six races in action today . |
199,213 | 8de478240c78c292b2446dd3922679daf376755a | (CNN) -- A legal advocacy group sued the federal government Tuesday, seeking benefits for 15 gay and lesbian Massachusetts residents who wed after the state legalized same-sex marriage. A lawsuit contends the federal government is denying benefits to Massachusetts same-sex couples. Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders -- the same Boston-based group that successfully argued in 2003 for same-sex marriage rights in Massachusetts -- filed the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Boston on behalf of six couples and three men whose husbands have died. The suit contends the federal Defense of Marriage Act denies them protections and benefits that heterosexual couples receive, including health insurance for federal employees, the ability to file as "married filing jointly" on federal income taxes and Social Security spousal protections. Two other couples plan to file suit after they receive an anticipated rejection of their amended tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service, GLAD said. President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law in 1996. It effectively bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions by defining marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife" and a spouse as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife." GLAD's suit addresses only Section 3 of the law, a portion that prevents the federal government from giving Social Security and other protections to same-sex married couples. GLAD says there are 1,138 federal laws in which marital status is a factor. Only Massachusetts and Connecticut allow same-sex marriage. Vermont, New Jersey and New Hampshire allow civil unions. One of the plaintiffs in the suit is Dean Hara, who was married to former U.S. Rep. Gerry E. Studds, the first openly gay member of Congress. The two legally married in 2004, a week after Massachusetts began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Studds, who by then had retired from politics, died in October 2006. "Gerry was a public servant for 27 years, worked hard for our country and paid as much into the system as anyone else," Hara, 51, said, according to the GLAD Web site. "But after he died, I was treated differently than other surviving spouses. Every federal employee counts on their surviving spouses having basic protections, but the federal government denies me those protections because of DOMA." Other plaintiffs include state trooper Sgt. Mary Ritchie and her spouse, Kathy Bush. They said not being able to file federal taxes jointly denies them deductions afforded to heterosexual married couples. "We work hard, pay taxes, volunteer and do our part for our community. But the federal government still tells us we're less of a family than other families in our neighborhood -- families Mary works to protect," Bush said, according to the GLAD Web site. Others named in the suit include a postal worker who hasn't been allowed to add her spouse to her health plan, a widower who hasn't been able to collect his spouse's Social Security payments and a Social Security Administration retiree who is denied health insurance for his spouse. The United States of America and several federal agencies are named as defendants. | NEW: Suit addresses section of law that prevents Social Security disbursement .
NEW: Plaintiffs include surviving spouse of former U.S. congressman .
Group says federal government denies same-sex couples benefits, protections .
Defense of Marriage Act bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages . |
163,809 | 5fd9487550a09ceef92ae1da275eb0dd8518bf0f | A gunman killed his pregnant girlfriend before taking his own life at a homeless shelter in New York. Herbert Gaines, 29, blasted Brandi Quijano, 27, six or seven times before shooting himself in the head, according to police sources. Witnesses said there 'was a whole lot of gunshots in rapid succession' at around 10.50pm last night. A murder-suicide probe was underway today after a gunman killed his pregnant girlfriend before taking his own life at the Times Square Hotel for the homeless in New York (file picture) Anthony Mack, 62, who lives on the first floor of the building, told the New York Daily News: 'She was laying on her back bleeding. 'He shot himself in the head, blood was everywhere. I’ve seen so much here, it’s just another horror.' The building, called Times Square Hotel, is run by non-profit organisation Common Ground, which provides housing for the homeless and people with HIV. Herbert Gaines, 29, blasted Brandi Quijano, 27, six or seven times before shooting himself in the head, according to police sources. They were both pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital (file picture) Gaines is understood to been waiting for his partner when she arrived at the hotel then opened fire while she was showing her ID to get through a guarded turnstile in the lobby. Both were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where they were pronounced dead. The motive for the apparent murder-suicide is not clear. Police believe Gaines drove a Dodge Charger to the area before the attack and were searching for the vehicle early this morning. | Herbert Gaines, 29, blasted partner Brandi Quijano, 27, six or seven times .
Witness tells of hearing 'a whole lot of gunshots... in rapid succession'
He added: 'She was laying on her back bleeding, blood was everywhere' |
189,569 | 8179165d1267883179ceda8d970f1faad30890f3 | Crammed into wire mesh boxes the size of coffins, these are the penniless people forced to live like animals in one of the world's richest cities. Hong Kong's forgotten 'caged dogs' pay about HK$1,500 a year (£117) to live in a city whose small size and high population pushes the rent on even a tiny flat far out of the reach of its poorest residents. The poverty-stricken people keep their clothes and photos of loved ones next to filthy blankets in their cages, which measure 6ft long and between 2 1/2 ft and 3ft wide and are stacked on top of each other. Some of them cannot stretch their legs out straight and are forced to sleep curled up in a ball. Life in a cage: Yan Chi Keung, 57, reads the newspaper in his cage home in Hong Kong. The wire mesh boxes are 6ft long and up to 3ft wide and cost £117 a year, compared to £1,240 a month for a small, privately-rented one-bedroom apartment. More than 220,000 people are on the housing waiting list . Caged dogs: Retired Kong Sui Kao, 64, lives in this cage in a cramped room alongside seventeen other people on the roof of a 12-storey block. His underwear hangs on a coat hanger, his shirts are inside the cage and his meagre possessions are stored on a makeshift shelf above his feet . Retired manual labourer, 79-year-old Tai Lun Po, has lived in his cage home for 30 years. The inhabitants are stacked on top of each other in damp, dark conditions . Poverty: Eight-year-old Lee Ka Ying lives in a 6ft square 'cubicle cage home' with her mother, pcitured. For many it is the only way to work in the overcrowded city . British-born photographer Brian Cassey, who lives in Cairns, Australia, is . the latest to document residents of shocking cage homes who are known . locally as 'caged dogs'. He found one of the illegal iron and timber shanties perched on the rooftop . of a 12-storey apartment block in the downtown district of Kowloon, on . the peninsula opposite the main city centre on Hong Kong Island. 'The atmosphere inside is hot, dark, intense and unfriendly', he said. 'As . I first arrived in the corridor outside, I could hear the landlord . inside yelling at the residents; I beat a retreat and returned later.' With . a population of more than 7 million, about the same as London, the . wealthy former British colony has an area of just 426 square miles which puts prices at a premium. A small one-bedroom apartment costs about HK$16,000 (£1,240) a month. The . caged homes began in the 1950s and 1960s when a baby boom and an influx . of Chinese migrants saw Hong Kong's population soar by more than a . million. But there were just a few thousand cages until the 1990s, when the estimated number soared to a peak of 100,000 in 1997. Hardship: Yan Chi Keung, 57, (centre), who suffers from mental illness, smokes in the room where he lives with several other men. The homes began in the 1950s . Getting some work done: Tang Man Wai, 60 (right) looks out of the window as his roommate sits at a desk, a rare luxury in the filthy, dank cage rooms . Behind bars: Yan Chi Keung, 57, lives in a ground-level cage with two more stacked above him, paying about £100 a year to live in the desolate iron and timber shanty . Hong Kong is one of the world's richest and most densely populated cities, leading to huge inequality. Pictured: Retired manual labourer Tai Lun Po, 79 . Last . year the government estimated there are 177,000 people living in highly . inadequate housing in Hong Kong, but because so many of the cage homes . are run illegally it is impossible to say how many of that number were . cages. According to the most recent official figure in 2007, 53,000 people were living in the mesh boxes. One . cage-dweller, Wong Tat Ming, 57, said his home is too small for him to . stretch out fully, forcing him to sleep curled up into a . ball. Many of the residents . feel making a cage their home is better than living on the street. One, . Roger lee, 61, said: 'I have been here for three years now and before . this I was in another cage home. 'I've been on the public-housing waiting list for many years, but I'm single so have no hope.' The . government says there are more than 220,000 people on the waiting list . for public housing, about half of whom are single individuals, and the average wait is almost three years. Some . illegally tenanted buildings were evicted recently, but only five out . of 100 of the tenants were reportedly offered public housing. Desperation: Former Chinese restaurant worker Tang Man Wai, 60, looks out of the window from his cage. One cage-dweller, Roger lee, 61, said: 'I have been here for three years now and before this I was in another cage home. I've been on the public-housing waiting list for many years, but I'm single so have no hope' Dank: Former Chinese restaurant worker, 60-year-old Tang Man Wai, eats next to his cage home. It is impossible to know how many of the cages there are because so many of them are run illegally, including the one pictured. The estimated number shot from a few thousand in the early 1990s to 53,000 in 2007 . Retired manual worker Tai Lun Po, 79, stands next to his cage home. The wire mesh boxes are about the size of coffins, despite being in one of the world's richest cities . Homelessness in Hong Kong was once rare, but many hundreds now live in doorways, under overpasses, and in tunnels. Sze . Lai-Shan works for Hong Kong's Society for Community Organisation, . which visits 1,000 cage-dwellers a year and campaigns for their living . standards to be improved. She . told MailOnline: 'If you run a cage home you need to apply for a . licence but people are now setting them up without licences and running . them illegally, so the government doesn't have an accurate figure on how . many there are. 'We're . finding more and more illegal cage homes and the cost of living in them . is rising. The average rent is about 1,500 Hong Kong dollars (£117) a . year. If the landlord is kind they might charge $1,000, and that's for . 15 or 18 square feet. 'We're . trying to put pressure on the government to increase the supply of . public housing and push the government to monitor the cage homes and the . rent people are paying a lot more.' Dirt: Tai Lun Po, 79, in the corridor outside the room where he lives with 16 other cage dwellers. Many of the homes are illegal and thus invisible to authorities . Retired Kong Sui Kao, 64, lies in his cage. British-born photographer Brian Cassey said: 'The atmosphere inside is hot, dark, intense and unfriendly... As I first arrived in the corridor outside, I could hear the landlord inside yelling at the residents; I beat a retreat and returned later' A pauper's meal: Yan Chi Keung, 57, eats a table in his cramped room full of cage homes. The number has rocketed to more than 50,000 since the early 1990s . | More than 50,000 people are thought to live in 6ft by 3ft iron and timber shanties, many of which are run illegally .
British-born photographer Brian Cassey visited a hot, dank community of cage-dwellers perched on a rooftop .
Inhabitants pay HK$1,500 (£117) a year - compared to HK$16,000 (£1,240) a month for a small one-bed apartment . |
83,704 | ed71acdf1e2d7f8f69db588555a2c6ef6bcd20f9 | By . Daily Mail Reporter . As her father languishes in the water, this bewildered little cygnet knows only that she should not leave his side. So she paddles determinedly in his wake as he drifts in the canal, a broken shadow of the majestic creature he once was. Then as he curls up in some rushes, slipping in and out of consciousness, the cygnet snuggles on his back, seeking some comfort in the smooth white feathers. The baby swan trails its father, who had to be put down after it is thought it was poisoned with contaminated bread . Elsewhere on the canal, her mother was already close to death, victim of a poisoner thought to have fed both swans contaminated bread. By the time rescuers found the pair it was too late to save them and both had to be put down. Last night their orphaned cygnet was being cared for at a wildlife rescue centre. The RSPCA is investigating the deaths. The drama unfolded in the early evening on Sunday when passers-by noticed the distressed swans on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Church, Lancashire. The birds seemed to be semi-conscious, swooning and drooping in the water. A dog walker alerted the RSPCA and officers arrived at the canal bank. The birds, which have royal protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, were rescued but it was too late to save them. It is feared that they had been fed poisoned food, with reports that contaminated bread was found nearby. The deaths have been branded as ‘despicable’ and ‘beyond belief’ by community leaders. It is feared that food they had been given may have been poisioned, with reports that contaminated bread was found nearby. The cygnet snuggles on her father's back as he rests in the rushes after eating contaminated bread . A spokeswoman for the RSPCA said: 'A concerned dog walker called to report two adult swans that looked very lethargic near a canal at Peel Bank, Church. 'With the help of the member of the public, the swans, along with their cygnet, were collected by an RSPCA Animal Welfare Officer and taken to a local vet. ‘Sadly the vet decided the two adult swans had no chance of survival. They were put to sleep, and their cygnet has been transferred to an RSPCA wildlife centre. Neither swan appeared to have any physical injury and one route the RSPCA is investigating is that the swans have been poisoned. 'We are extremely grateful to the walker who flagged this up to us.' A dog walker said he came across the swans at around 5pm on Sunday. He said: 'I was walking my dog and there was a group of people, and I wondered what they were up to. An RSPCA spokesman said: 'Sadly the vet decided the two adult swans had no chance of survival. They were put to sleep, and their cygnet has been transferred to an RSPCA wildlife centre . 'I saw one girl cuddling a swan on the bank, and the other swan was in the water with its young one.' The man called the charity initially believing the birds had been physically attacked. After taking his dog home, he returned with his camera and took pictures of the swans, which he posted on the internet asking for help to find the culprits. He wrote: 'They were still just about living. Kids are looking after the swans the best they can for now. 'Sorry if this is a bit panicky but it’s a crying shame and darn right sick - whoever’s done it. I’m going back there now.' Local councillor Peter Britcliffe, said: 'You really do wonder what sort of despicable person would do this to animals. 'It’s beyond belief and incredible that somebody could get up to something like this. I’m sure everybody will be stunned by this.' | Distressed swans were discovered by a dog walker in Church, Lancashire .
RSPCA alerted after they seemed to be semi-conscious but was too late .
Both birds had to be put to sleep by vets leaving a orphaned cygnet .
Believed that the swans may have been poisoned with contaminated bread . |
172,038 | 6aadb6f24946e5e455c3b50521f3f318a11ee277 | By . David Wilkes . PUBLISHED: . 09:53 EST, 30 October 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 03:18 EST, 31 October 2012 . 'King of his castle': Former lawyer Paul Baxendale-Walker insists he was within his rights to build a helipad in his garden . For years the retired lawyers and businessmen of Hersham have enjoyed the peace and calm of their genteel village. Until, that is, the arrival of adult TV boss Paul Baxendale-Walker. The entrepreneur is building a helipad in the grounds of the £6million mansion he has bought in the heart of the Surrey stockbroker belt. Residents are outraged, saying the concrete landing site is an eyesore and the resultant noise will wreck their quality of life. But Oxford-educated Mr Baxendale-Walker, who sometimes stars in his pornographic films, is convinced he has done nothing wrong. Responding to his Hersham neighbours’ concerns, the 48-year-old said: ‘Every Englishman’s home is his castle. I am completely entitled to have a helipad on my land. If they want a lift, they can just ask me.’ He bought six-bedroom Burleigh House earlier this year from a property developer. It is near the prestigious Burhill Golf Club and is described by estate agents as ‘a sophisticated, welcoming house, designed in the style of a traditional English country residence’. The helipad is being built on two acres once owned by a part of the Burhill group, which was founded in 1926 to manage the estates of Lord Iveagh, boss of the Guinness empire. A covenant on the land says it must stay as a paddock. ‘We believe the helipad is totally inappropriate,’ said a spokesman for the Burhill Group. ‘We are taking legal action and it is now in our solicitors’ hands.’ Luxury: Mr Baxendale-Walker tore down the existing property to build a modern mansion in the village of Hersham . 'Eyesore': Neighbours said they had hoped the film boss was turning the paddock into a Japanese garden - in fact he was installing a helipad . Malcolm Groom, 62, a retired oil and gas lawyer who lives next to Burleigh House, was one of the first to complain. ‘People like Baxendale-Walker choose . this lovely area because of its quiet serenity and peacefulness and the . moment they arrive they destroy what it is they were looking for,’ he . said. ‘He says he can do what he wants with . his castle but what about our castle?’ Colourful character: Mr Baxendale-Walker, seen at a Loaded Magazine event in London, said he would be happy to give his disgruntled neighbours a lift in his helicopter . His wife Kim said she had . discovered that a helicopter can land 28 times a year without . permission. Jean Connell and her husband John, a . former chairman of The Distillers Company, have lived in their house . next to the paddock for 50 years. Mrs Connell said: ‘A few years ago it was a peaceful little backwater here. ‘Now if this man is going to be . allowed to get away with it you will have helicopters coming in, their . friends arriving. 'Concrete block': Kim Groom said Mr Baxendale-Walker's helipad spoils the views from the back garden of her Hersham home . Exclusive: Mr Baxendale-Walker's neighbours on leafy Burwood Road, above, say Hersham is home to celebrities including PR guru Max Clifford . Paul Baxendale-Walker's Hersham mansion is circled in red. Neighbours' homes can also be seen in the shot. Mr Baxendale-Walker has defended his right to build a helipad in the mansion's grounds (image courtesy of Google Earth) A close-up shot of Mr Baxendale-Walker's mansion and the grounds where the helipad will be built (Image courtesy of Google Earth) He has got money coming out of his ears. He has got a . Harley Davidson and a stretch limousine. ‘Nothing bothers him and he thinks . with all of his money he can get away with it. He hasn’t even moved in . yet. We’re both in our 80s and want to have a peaceful old age.’ An Elmbridge council spokesman said . an enforcement investigation had been opened but suggested that planning . permission would not be necessary. Mr Baxendale-Walker, who was struck . off as a solicitor six years ago, has varied business interests which . used to include Bluebird Films. He uses the pseudonym Paul Chaplin . and appeared as the character Jo-Kerr in a blue spoof of the Batman . franchise called Katwoman. Earlier this year he bought the lads . magazine Loaded from administrators and announced the launch of Loaded . TV, which would include an adult channel. He is also a tax adviser. | Bluebird Films boss Paul Baxendale-Walker built the helipad in a paddock behind his home in the upmarket village of Hersham .
Neighbours claim he is in breach of planning permission and say the landing pad is an 'eyesore'
The former lawyer defended his new addition and said: 'Every English man's home is his castle' |
204,990 | 955f9a651bf7d6d401f48d19ed0254f678d0ffe1 | A 92-year-old man who was saved by three quick-thinking strangers when he drove his car into a lake near his home has died, police have said. Salvatore Mancuso passed away at a Port St. Lucie, Florida hospital on Friday, two days he crashed his car into a lake less than a half-mile from his home. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death. On Wednesday, in an ordeal captured on camera, Mr Mancuso's car sped into the water and caught the attention of Alton Brieske, who was eating lunch nearby. Scroll down for video . Dramatic: 92-year-old Salvatore Mancuso, who was saved by a group of bystanders after he crashed his car into the canal on Wednesday (pictured), passed away on Friday, police have said . Without a second thought: Alton Brieske, who smashed the window of the car open to save Mr Mancuso from the sinking car, said that when he saw the car drive into the water he just acted on instinct . Seeing the car sinking, Brieske and a friend, Michael Markisello, jumped into the water, grabbed a hammer and smashed the window, dragging Mr. Mancuso to the shore where they performed CPR. 'I immediately just took my shirt off and took my shoes off and just dove into the water,' Brieske told CBS 12. 'I started shouting, 'I need a hammer! I need something to break this window so I can get in and pull him out.' Smashing the window three times before it shattered, Brieske then faced a race against time to get Mr. Mancuso out before the water filled the car. 'I broke that window, popped the lock, opened the door,'he told WPBF. 'That's when the water started rushing in, so I just acted fast, popped his seat belt off, put my arm under his shoulder and got him out of the car.' Drama: Brieske and Michael Markisello use a hammer to shatter the window and pull Mr. Mancuso to safety . CPR: Brieske then performed CPR on Mr. Mancuso, who police believe lost consciousness before the crash . Brieske, who is hoping to become an ER physician, rescucitated Mr. Mancuso after they got him out of the water. 'It was just instinct. I just got in there, got him out and started CPR,' said Brieske. 'I palpated for a pulse and couldn’t find one. I was listening for a breathing rhythm and couldn’t find one, so that’s when I started CPR.' Police said afterwards that Mr. Mancuso likely suffered a loss of consciousness before the accident. Brieske, who was called a guardian angel by his friend, was humble about his brave rescue. 'I was just in the right spot at the right time. I mean, yes, it was a heroic act if that's what you want to call it. But, I was just doing what anybody else would do,' he said. | Salvatore Mancuso passed away in hospital on Friday, two days after he was rescued from a canal in Port St. Lucie, Florida by a group of strangers .
Alton Brieske saw Mr Mancuso crash his car, ran to his rescue and used a hammer to smash through his window and pull him out .
Police said Mr Mancuso had likely lost consciousness before the crash . |
225,950 | b098499ad04f8fdc22f97ee7aa00ed0bd90b6b51 | (CNN) -- U.S. and allied warplanes hit sites near the northern Syrian city of Ayn al-Arab, the scene of fighting between ISIS and Kurdish forces in recent days, U.S. Central Command confirmed Saturday. A video released by the U.S. military shows a missile hitting a building. U.S. Central Command said it was taken from an F-15E fighter jet that struck an ISIS compound near Kobani, the Kurdish name for Ayn al-Arab. In other airstrikes near Ayn al-Arab, coalition forces hit two armed vehicles at a border crossing with Turkey, the military said. Syrian Kurdish fighters in Alishar, a village a few kilometers from Ayn al-Arab, said the airstrike hit an unofficial border crossing near the village. The strikes are believed to be the first known coalition attacks near the border with Turkey. That country is not participating in the airstrikes and has repeatedly pressed for an international buffer zone separating the combat in Syria from the Turkish border. A London-based monitoring group also claimed Saturday that other airstrikes may have also resulted in the deaths of six civilians near the Syrian city of al-Hasakah. CNN could not independently confirm the report from the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. U.S. Central Command did say Saturday that airstrikes hit an ISIS vehicle and several buildings that were part of an ISIS garrison near al-Hasakah. A purported video statement posted online Saturday by Al-Nusra Front, the al Qaeda franchise in Syria, condemns the U.S.-led coalition airstrikes. A man identified as Abu Firas al-Souri, spokesman for the group, denounced the participation of Muslim countries in the coalition. In addition to U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft, warplanes from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE participated in strikes in Syria, which also targeted ISIS forces in several other locations, Central Command said. A Kurdish fighter in the region and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had earlier reported airstrikes in the vicinity of the village of Alishar, west of Ayn al-Arab. Coalition airstrikes also destroyed ISIS vehicles and a fighting position near Erbil, Iraq, Central Command said. Kurdish forces have been battling ISIS for days to prevent the fall of Ayn al-Arab. It is the last Kurdish-held city in that region of northwest Syria following a swift ISIS assault that sent some 200,000 people running for their lives to Turkey. Opinion: Airstrikes will not beat ISIS . At least four mortar rounds believed fired by ISIS forces have landed in Kobani, according to to Alan Minbic, a Syrian Kurdish soldier who was fighting in an area between Ayn al-Arab and Aidek. A CNN crew witnessed the Kurdish fighters using artillery and heavy machine-gun fire to drive the ISIS fighters back from the ridge line they were occupying. The anatomy of ISIS: How it is run, from oil to beheadings . The developments come as the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS continues to grow. On Saturday, U.K. defense officials announced British fighter jets began flying reconnaissance flights over Iraq less than 24 hours after Parliament voted to approve the country's involvement. Denmark and Belgium also signed up on Friday, adding to a list of more than 50 European, Asian and Arab countries that have joined the fight, according to U.S. officials. Anti-ISIS coalition grows, but that doesn't mean victory is near . U.S. forces continue to hunt targets in Iraq and Syria, with aircraft taking off from the USS George H.W. Bush as often as every 55 seconds, according to CNN's Becky Anderson, who is aboard the aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. The United States launched airstrikes against ISIS in August in an effort to stem the group's breathtaking advance across Iraq. The group, which calls itself the Islamic State, routed Iraqi forces and took over vast swaths of the country. Some analysts warned Baghdad was at risk of falling to the well-armed, organized and funded extremist group without Western involvement. While the most dramatic advances have been halted, Western leaders have warned of a long fight against ISIS, saying it could take years before the group is fully dislodged. Everything you need to know about the rise of the 'Islamic State' CNN's Arwa Damon, Ingrid Formakek and Salma Abdelaziz contributed to this report. | NEW: U.S. military releases video of airstrike in Syria, says it hit an ISIS compound .
Airstrikes hit near Ayn al-Arab, the site of fighting between ISIS and Syrian Kurdish forces .
London-based monitoring group says other airstrikes kill six civilians near al-Hasakah .
Al-Qaeda group in Syria denounces Muslim countries participating in airstrikes . |
148,792 | 4c69176c23ff0173a2eda7c6b587661c45761f10 | (CNN) -- Riots broke out in central Myanmar on Wednesday, authorities said, as police struggled to stop groups of Buddhists from setting fire to mosques and Muslims' homes. The violence comes after a state of emergency was declared last week in the area where clashes between the two communities first broke out, leaving at least 40 people dead. In Natalin township, rioters destroyed eight houses, 12 shops and one mosque, police said. In nearby Zigon township, 40 houses and one mosque were destroyed, they said. Police said they fired rubber bullets at rioters there. Some people were injured and admitted the hospital. The riots prompted new restrictions. Officials put dusk-to-dawn curfews in place in Natalin and Zigon, state-run TV reported late Wednesday, raising the total number of townships where a curfew is now imposed to nine. Officials on Tuesday put curfews in place in the townships of Gyobingauk, Okpo and Minhla, the New Light of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper, said. Police had reported arson attacks on Muslim properties in those three townships in recent days. U.S. authorities have issued a warning to U.S. citizens in Myanmar amid the unrest that began last week in the city of Meiktila, in the central Mandalay region, and spread to other towns. The situation has fueled fears in the commercial capital, Yangon, prompting stores to close in a popular shopping district Monday. The U.S. Embassy told U.S. citizens to avoid the Mingalar Market and Yuzana Plaza part of Yangon, the same area where the stores were shuttered. U.S. warns citizens in Myanmar amid deadly sectarian unrest . A state of emergency . During the clashes in Meiktila, which were reportedly set off by a dispute between a Muslim gold shop owner and two Buddhist sellers, rioters set fire to houses, schools and mosques, prompting thousands of residents to flee their homes. The government declared a state of emergency in the city Friday, allowing the military to help reinstate order. But as the situation there appeared to calm, authorities reported arson attacks by groups of Buddhists in other towns in the region over the weekend. The unrest highlights the fragility of ethnic relations in Myanmar, also known as Burma, as it emerges from decades of military repression. Authorities have released thousands of political prisoners and pursued peace talks with rebel groups in the past two years. President Thein Sein, who has overseen the country's initial moves toward democracy, vowed Monday "to take action against those who led the violence and got involved in it and to expose those who flamed the conflict under the pretext of religion," the New Light of Myanmar reported. The U.N. humanitarian agency says that the Myanmar government estimates that more than 12,000 people have been displaced by the unrest. "They're barricaded in schools and in a monastery," said Ashok Nigam, the U.N. resident coordinator in Myanmar. "They're currently receiving humanitarian assistance provided by the government." A Buddhist monk was reported to be among those killed when the violence initially erupted in Meiktila last week. But Win Htein, an opposition lawmaker for the area, has said that he believes the majority of the victims were Muslims. "Most of the Muslims' houses were destroyed and burnt down," he said Tuesday. "Very few are left." Authorities have found dozens of bodies amid the wreckage left by the riots. Police confiscated weapons such as swords and machetes from groups of Buddhists -- some of them monks -- who were roaming the streets last week, officials said. Win Htein said Tuesday that the situation was improving in Meiktila, but that he was concerned that some young Buddhists were "organizing their own security" despite government warnings not to carry weapons. Tensions persist between Buddhists and Muslims . Growing insecurity . Unsubstantiated rumors of unrest in other parts of the country such as Yangon are spreading via text messages and social media, stoking fears among residents. "People are feeling totally insecure, totally not safe," said Aye Chan Naing, the founder of Democratic Voice of Burma, an independent news website based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, less than 200 kilometers from the border with Myanmar. In one example, Si Thu, a Buddhist employee of the United Nations who lives in a mainly Muslim neighborhood of Yangon, said Tuesday he was moving his family to stay at a relative's home elsewhere in the city. "I can't think of any political or religious aspects now," he said. "I only know about how to protect my family." The New Light of Myanmar suggested that such rumors are being "circulated by those with ill will who want to harm peace and stability." The clashes in Meiktila and elsewhere have drawn expressions of concern from U.N. and U.S. officials. The sudden boiling over of tensions between Buddhists and Muslims in central Myanmar follows sectarian troubles that killed scores of people in the west of the country last year. Those clashes, in Rakhine state, took place between the Buddhist majority and the Rohingya, a stateless ethnic Muslim group. Most of the victims in that unrest were Rohingya. Tens of thousands more were left living in makeshift camps, and many of them have since joined those who attempt each year to flee to Thailand and Malaysia in flimsy boats. CNN's Kocha Olarn, Dana Ford and Elizabeth Joseph contributed to this report. Journalist Pho Wai Lin also contributed. | NEW: Four dozen homes and two mosques are destroyed, police say .
NEW: Myanmar imposes more curfews to try to prevent attacks on Muslims .
At least 40 people have been killed in clashes between Muslims and Buddhists .
President Thein Sein has vowed to take action against those responsible . |
283,670 | fb7cb29b3b39dc3dbeab37eb14ce46d29be65309 | Hilary Mantel has laughed off comparisons between her novel Wolf Hall and Prince Charles' household as being an 'exaggeration'. The author made the comments following an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace this morning, during which she had a damehood conferred on her by Prince Charles. Charles has endured a torrid week, thanks to the publication of a new biography, which along with comparing his household to the 'treacherous' Tudor Court, claimed he would be 'a meddling monarch'. Scroll down for video . Exaggeration: Mantel laughed off comparisons between Wolf Hall and Clarence House this morning . The book, Charles: Heart of a King, also alleged that he attempted to back out of his 1981 wedding to Lady Diana Spencer and revealed that he compares himself to Blackadder buffoon, Baldrick. So stung was Charles by author Catherine Meyer's less-than-flattering portrayal, he yesterday took the rare step of authorising a letter to the Times newspaper that hit back at the 'speculation' and denied that Meyer had had any sort of privileged access. In it, his private secretary William Nye described the contents of the book as 'ill-informed speculation' and said Charles will run a monarchy 'inspired' by that of his mother and grandfather when he takes the throne. But it was Meyer's comparison of Clarence House to the court depicted in Wolf Hall that proved most eye-catching, with the author describing it as 'treacherous and opportunistic'. 'One former householder refers to Clarence House as Wolf Hall,' writes Meyer, 'in reference to the treacherous and opportunistic world depicted by Hilary Mantel in her fictionalised account of the rise of Thomas Cromwell under Henry VIII.' Proud: Mantel, seen here with her damehood, also revealed that Charles is a fan of the BBC2 adaptation . Treacherous: The royal household was compared to Wolf Hall's Tudor court by author Catherine Meyer . Torrid: Charles, who spent the morning conferring investitures, has endured a difficult week . Mantel, however, would not be drawn into the controversy and laughed when asked about similarities between Clarence House and her novel. 'I couldn’t possibly comment on that,' she said. 'I think there may be an element of exaggeration there.' Nevertheless, Mantel is no stranger to a royal controversy, having once ignited one herself courtesy of a speech in 2013 in which she described the Duchess of Cambridge as 'bland'. She also likened the Duchess to a 'machine-made' doll and called her 'painfully thin', adding: '[She is] without quirks, without oddities, without the risk of the emergence of character. 'She appears precision-made, machine-made, so different from Diana whose human awkwardness and emotional incontinence showed in her every gesture.' Claims: Charles, seen here with the Duchess of Cornwall, has hit back at 'ill-informed speculation' Not amused: The claims were made in a new book entitled: Charles: Heart of a King . Buffoon: Among the claims was the revelation that Charles compares himself to Blackadder's Baldrick . Despite Mantel's comments, she was given a warm welcome by Prince Charles, who even told the author that he is a fan of her work - despite Meyer's comparisons. The 66-year-old royal also admitted to being a fan of the current BBC2 adaptation, which stars Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell and Damien Lewis as Henry VIII. 'We talked about the television series of Wolf Hall,' said Mantel, following the investiture. 'He is enjoying [it] very much.' Mantel, whose books about the life of Henry VIII’s adviser Thomas Cromwell have been critical and commercial hits, was made a dame by Charles for her services to literature. Success has come late to the 62-year-old, but she has more than made up for it by collecting a haul of literary honours, including twice winning the Man Booker Prize. | Hilary Mantel was presented with a damehood at Buckingham Palace .
Laughed off comparisons between Clarence House and Wolf Hall .
The lurid claims were made in new biography, Charles: Heart of a King .
Charles has hit back at 'ill-informed speculation' in letter . |
259,175 | db7d6f3cfafc4e94ef0a023a715f1ef4a4851e6e | By . Emma Reynolds . PUBLISHED: . 08:16 EST, 12 May 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 18:15 EST, 12 May 2012 . More than 100 homes have been evacuated as bomb disposal experts carried out four controlled explosions yesterday morning. Two men were arrested on terrorism charges following the discovery of suspected explosives in a garage during raids on two properties in Cheltenham, according to police. Officers arrested a 52-year-old man from the Hester's Way area under the Explosive Substances Act. Fear: Two men were arrested by anti-terrorism officers and bomb disposal experts, pictured, carried out explosions at a cordoned-off garage . Troubling news: Police searched two homes in Cheltenham after 15 neighbours spent the night at a hall and 13 were rehoused . They later found suspected explosives at a house in nearby Up Hatherley and arrested a 31-year-old local man, Gloucestershire Constabulary confirmed. The controlled explosions took place at 11.30am on Saturday, after 15 residents spent the night in a nearby hall and 13 vulnerable people were rehoused. A 200-metre cordon was placed around the garage as bomb disposal teams joined anti-terrorism officers, ambulance crews and firefighters combing the area. Grandmother Sandie Williams, who lives nearby, told a local newspaper: 'This really is a quiet area and we have not really been told anything. We are just half a mile from [intelligence agency] GCHQ so you do worry and they have to investigate it properly.' Resident Ian Boucker said he heard the sirens at around 9.30am. He said: 'I have been afraid and I hope they bring to justice anyone who may have put others' lives at risks.' Mechanic Dave Cumberbatch, 21, who works nearby, added: 'Not a lot happens around here and people are all a bit shocked. It certainly sounds very serious. Disturbance: A 200m cordon was placed around the garage where the suspected explosives were found . 'I imagine the residents are very worried as it really does not happen around here and there are a lot of older people in the area.' ITV correspondent Ken Goodwin tweeted : 'The bangs were like loud gunshots rather that a huge blast. The first was the loudest and interestingly it made my camera shake slightly.' The force’s Assistant Chief Constable Richard Berry said he was grateful to local people for their support and patience during a 'thorough and methodical' investigation. 'At the moment we unfortunately are not able to say when we will be able to lift the cordon,' he added. 'It remains in place for the public’s safety and we have seen that it is justified by the results of the search thus far. Drama: Residents and workers said they were shocked and frightened by the events of the past 24 hours . 'We will endeavour to return the area to . normality as soon as practicable when we can ensure there is no risk of . harm to local residents.' A rest centre has since been set up in St Margaret’s Hall for residents evacuated from their homes and care staff from NHS Gloucestershire are on duty to assist with medication and health concerns. Chief Executive of Cheltenham Borough Council Andrew North, said: 'We understand how distressing this may be for a number of Cheltenham residents, but people should be reassured that we will get things back to normality as soon as possible.' Earlier on Saturday, police confirmed they had re-arrested two men who had initially been detained on Friday evening. Serious danger: Police thanked residents living near the garage for their patience as their homes remained evacuated . Concerns: Officers and emergency services combed the streets, where many older and vulnerable people live . A spokesman said: 'The two men arrested in Cheltenham yesterday, have both been further arrested on suspicion of the commission, instigation or preparation of a terrorist act (contrary to the Terrorism Act 2000). 'This relates to examination of the items found in a garage in Buttermere Close in the Up Hatherley area of Cheltenham. 'The South East Counter Terrorism Unit has assumed responsibility for the ongoing investigation but will continue to work closely with Gloucestershire Police. 'The 52-year-old man and 31-year-old-man are both from Cheltenham. They remain in police custody at this time.' | Officers found explosives in a garage after searching two homes in the Cheltenham area .
Substances found just 1/2 a mile from government spy base GCHQ .
Evacuated neighbours face second night away from their homes .
Shocked residents spoke of their fear and concern at the dramatic events . |
271,383 | eb861256f8e955da165b78d6e627e3ef20dd6f10 | New York (CNN) -- A team of prosecutors and a panel of law enforcement, legal and social science experts are being assembled to reinvestigate the case of a man convicted in 1988 of sexually abusing children, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Nassau County District Attorney's office. "A prosecutor's job is not to obtain convictions, but to obtain justice. I cannot predict whether or not our investigation will corroborate the criminal case brought against Mr. [Jesse] Friedman more than two decades ago. What I can guarantee is that my investigation will be thorough andit will be fair," Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement. Nassau County is on Long Island. The announcement to reopen the case comes in response to a federal appeals court decision that suggested prosecutors had an "ethical obligation" to reopen the 1988 child molestation case of Friedman. He was the focus of a 2003 Oscar-nominated documentary, "Capturing the Friedmans." Friedman shared his reaction with CNN Tuesday night in an e-mail: "I am concerned, given my history with the Nassau County prosecutor's office, of their ability to conduct a fair review of their colleagues. However, taking Kathleen Rice at her word, I am optimistic and hopeful for the first time in more years then I care to admit." The 31-page decision, released Monday, questioned "the process by which the petitioner's conviction was obtained" and suggested that because of the "vast moral panic" about child sexual abuse that was prevalent in the late 1980s and early '90s might have led police officials to cut corners in their investigation. In unusually strong language, the 2nd Circuit Court decision stated that "... the police, prosecutors and the judge did everything they could to coerce a guilty plea and avoid a trial" and said there was a "reasonable likelihood" Friedman was "wrongfully convicted" of sexually abusing children. Friedman, 41, served 13 years in prison and another five on parole. He said he was still digesting the court's decision on Tuesday. "If the charges went away, that would be wonderful," he said. Friedman said he has tried for 20 years to revoke his guilty plea, saying that at the time there was "no other viable option, the system was in place." He said he was offered a guaranteed six- to 18-year sentence in exchange for not pursuing a trial and feared the judge would give him 1,000 years if he didn't plead guilty. "If I went to trial, I was doomed," he said. The court decision stated that although by law the court could not overturn Friedman'sconviction as it was filed too late, it suggested that the Nassau County prosecutor's office reinvestigate the case. The decision cited New York law, which states that it was a prosecutor's duty to "take reasonable remedial measures when it appears likely that an innocent person was wrongly convicted." Friedman was 19 when he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing over a dozen children with his father, Arnold Friedman. His father committed suicide in 1995 in prison. Friedman and his father held computer classes in the basement of their suburban home in Great Neck, New York, where the attacks allegedly took place. In 2003, while watching the documentary "Capturing the Friedmans," he found out that many of the children who accused Friedman of sexually abusing them had been put through hypnotic therapy sessions to recall the attacks. Friedman's attorney, Ronald Kuby, said that it was an opportunity for the prosecutor's office to "cure an injustice" and hoped it would end with a decision that Friedman was wrongfully convicted. Friedman, who was paroled in 2001, said he wasn't sure how much it would really change his day-to-day life at this point. "I don't get those years back, but it would be nice to have my innocence declared, I am not a child molester." He said he has an online book business selling popular fiction, which he runs from his home on the U.S. East Coast, where he lives with his wife. "My focus is on tomorrow," he said. | NEW: "I am optimistic and hopeful for the first time" in years, Jesse Friedman says .
In 1988, Friedman pleaded guilty to sexually abusing children .
Team of New York prosecutors to work with panel of experts .
2nd Circuit Court: Officials "did everything they could to coerce a guilty plea" |
53,127 | 96b3db4d6b835e05ba551e44652e931a7bfbefb1 | By . Igor Nitsak . Fighting between rival fans caused a 15-minute interruption to the Champions League qualifier between Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and FC Copenhagen at the Olimpiysky stadium in Kiev on Wednesday. Supporters of the Danish club were attacked by an unidentified group of people believed to be Dnipro fans and were forced to seek refuge under the stands with Premier League referee Andre Marriner postponing the start of the second half for 15 minutes. VIDEO Scroll down to see Dnipro hooligans attacking fans and stewards . Start: Dnipro fans rushed down towards the fence where FC Copenhagen fans were . FC Copenhagen issued a letter of complaint to UEFA, a representative of the Danish club told a news conference after the 0-0 draw. 'A few fans of our club were attacked by the Ukrainian fans and were forced to run away from the stands. It is very unpleasant for us. We have complained to UEFA. We will refrain from further comments until after an investigation,' he said. A representative of Dnipro fans who gave his name as Vlad in an interviewed with local TV broadcaster 2+2, accused Danish supporters of sparking the fighting by waving a Russian flag. 'I would like to apologise for this incident. It was some sort of a provocation. The Danish fans demonstrated the flag of the neighboring country, that is why we saw the brawl. The incident was inflammatory because of politics,' he said. Ukrainian government forces are fighting pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country after Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in March. On the fence: It remains to be seen as to whether Dnipro will be punished for the actions of their fans . Delay: Referee Andre Marriner had to call the game to a half for 15 minutes . Scuffle: The Dnipro fans then proceed to fight with stewards and opposition fans below the railings . Escape: The Ukranian fans were eventually chased away and they jumped back in to the stands . Break: The players leave the pitch as the second half was delayed due to the clashes between supporters . VIDEO Champions League: Feyenoord 1-2 Besiktas . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. | Dnipro fans appeared to attack stewards and FC Copenhagen fans .
Incident took place at half-time of their Champions League qualifier .
Match refereed by English official Andre Marriner .
Match finished 0-0, return leg on August 6 . |
251,997 | d227f69869224a5116106e8edaf2641b7ab434c4 | David Walker went missing in Cambodia ten weeks ago. His body was found near the Gate of Death at the country's Angkor Wat temple (Pic: Tim Rowsell) A journalist, film maker and former member of a British Army anti-terrorist squad, who went missing in Cambodia ten weeks ago, has been found dead near the Gate of Death at the country's ancient Angkor Wat. The body of 57-year-old Canadian David Walker was discovered outside the temple by a passer-by who alerted police. Although it has been impossible to tell from the state of the body exactly how David Walker died, a statement made on behalf of the family clearly implied he was murdered and called on whoever was responsible for his death be brought to justice. Officials at . the Australian Embassy, who represent Canadian interests in Cambodia, . have been informed as have the Australian Federal as has the Canadian . Embassy in Bangkok. An . Australian Federal Police officer is going to the scene to assist the . Cambodian National Police and a pathologist is being called from Bangkok . in nearby Thailand. Walker's body was found near the east gate, known both as the 'Gate of Death' and Victory Gate, shortly after dawn. The . ancient Khmer temple Angkor Wat is Cambodia's biggest tourist . attraction and was the major location for the Angela Jolie film 'Tomb . Raiders'. The body of David Walker was found by a passer-by near the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia . Walker's body was found near the east gate, known as the 'Gate of Death' and Victory Gate, shortly after dawn . Police . will have to determine independent investigators suspicions that he . died somewhere else and his body late dumped at the temple. Walker from Edmonton, Alberta, speaks Khmer, Thai and German as well as English. He served with the British Army in Germany and later joined the controversial 14th Intelligence Company in Northern Ireland. Members unit was later linked to the infamous attack by the UVF on the 'Miami Showband' and other loyalist bombings but Walker was not in the unit at the time. After leaving the army he made his name as a screen-writer and 'fixer' for film and television companies including a documentary with the BBC's Investigative journalist Sue Lloyd Roberts, and was also the co-author of a book 'Hello My Big Big Honey' about Thai bar girls' relationships with their western boyfriend/clients. Together with a Cambodian colleague Sonny Chhoun he ran a company in Cambodia called 'Animist Farm Films'. They were making a film about the charitable works of a former Khmer Rouge soldier. The Khmer Rouge under Pol Pol - Brother Number One - were responsible for Cambodia's 'Killing Fields'. Walker had not been seen since leaving the Green Village Angkor Guest House in Siem Reap three kilometres away on February 14th. He left leaving everything in his room including his mobile phone telling the maid to make the room up while he went out. The Canadian Government has been severely criticized by friends of Walker for doing nothing in his case. They claim that a consular official visited for 24 hours from Bangkok, refused to take charge of his possessions and left without even meeting his business partner Sonny Chhoun. Tammy Wallbridge-Madden Walker's cousin and only surviving relative said after being informed of the discovery: 'The authorities must bring to justice whoever was responsible for this.' | Canadian David Walker, 57, found dead near Angkor Wat in Cambodia .
Family suspects Walker, who went missing 10 weeks ago, was murdered .
Journalist and filmmaker was member of British Army anti-terrorist squad . |
144,924 | 47718a37be53a4d98285ff0ad2a99ddc4124be64 | Hundreds of Chelsea football fans went on the rampage in central Paris tonight, smashing up cafes and shops before a key European cup tie. The worst of the violence was in Rue St Denis, a popular tourist street full of pubs and bars. Some 400 thugs could be seen making 'Sieg Heil' salutes and chanting racist abuse before they started attacking Paris St Germain fans. Scroll down for video . Fights: The worst of the violence was in Rue St Denis, a popular tourist street full of pubs and bars. Around 400 thugs made 'Sieg Heil' salutes and chanted racist abuse before they started attacking Paris St Germain fans . Riots: Hundreds of Chelsea football fans have gone on the rampage in Paris, France - smashing up cafes and shop windows and hurling abuse at opposing fans - ahead of tonight's UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg . 'We're trying to contain the violence but it's spreading,' said one officer on the scene, as riot units arrived on mass. Flares were let off, and the small, packed streets was soon filled with thick black smoke. 'It's terrifying - I just want to get out of here,' said Sarah Avel, a 16-year-old French student. 'We could hear the chanting all afternoon but we didn't expect fighting.' The fans had been drinking for most of the afternoon outside the Frog and Rosbif pub before they moved across the road to The Thistle. It was there that the fighting started, as some of the fans could be heard chanting English Defence League songs in front of black Parisians. A group of around 100 fans then ran down the Rue St Denis, towards the Seine river, smashing up anything in their path. Chaos: The worst of the violence has reportedly occurred in Rue St Denis - a popular tourist street full of pubs and bars - and dozens of police riot vans have been scrambled to the scene . Crucial cup tie: Chelsea only have around 2000 allocated tickets for tonight's Champions League quarter final against Paris St Germain, pictured, but many thousands of fans have come to Paris anyway . Tables and chairs were destroyed outside the McBride's Irish pub, and windows were put in. The outside of a clothes shop was also destroyed, while bottles were thrown at evening drinkers sitting in cafes. Chelsea only have around 2000 allocated tickets for tonight's Champions League quarter final, but many thousands of fans have come to Paris anyway. Earlier in the day there were police intelligence reports that some 300 hardcore Chelsea hooligans had entered France via Belgium to avoid detection. Paris police later said there had been 'serious injuries' in the fights around the Rue St Denis area. A . spokesman said 'around 100 ultra' Paris St Germain fans had targeted . the Chelsea fans, and that 'a number of meetings were arranged'. With thousands of Chelsea fans left out of the ground, police were left to search for groups of hooligans around the city. Deep in thought: Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho waits for the beginning of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg football match against Paris Saint-Germain . Away from the violence: Paris St Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic enters the football ground in Paris, France, ahead of tonight's big clash against Chelsea in the Champions League quarter-final first leg . | Chaos ensued as 400 thugs let off flares, started fights and chanted abuse .
Hooligans chanted offensive EDL songs and made 'Sieg Heil' salutes .
Police sent riot vans to the crowded streets to try and break up violence .
Around 2000 Chelsea fans are in the French capital for European cup tie .
Paris St Germain are hosting Chelsea in Champions League quarter-final . |
255,235 | d6607b3b6f525357d004b91c5d0b14ba9257b7de | Months of anticipation finally came to an end on Friday night as Sam Burgess made his eagerly anticipated rugby union debut in Bath’s victory over Harlequins. The league convert looked every inch the poster boy as he was brought on as a second half replacement at the Rec. His arrival was greeted by cheers and all cameras were focussed on the player Russell Crowe calls ‘the ‘sparkly-eyed man’. Sam Burgess charges into the Harlequins defence with his first touch of the ball in rugby union . Powerful winger Matt Banahan crosses for Bath's first try of the evening at the Rec . Bath fly half Ollie Devoto knocks over an early penalty as the home side dominate the opening exchanges . Quins scrum half Danny Care, who was dropped from Stuart Lancaster's England squad, puts in a box kick . His arrival from Australia — South Sydney Rabbitohs owner Crowe took him over there in 2010 — has been one of the most hyped-up signings of all time and it was the perfect start as his side moved to the top of the table with a convincing victory over their play-off rivals. Afterwards, Burgess said: ‘I just wanted to get out there to try and enjoy it. I had a few experienced guy around me and the whole squad has been great. I have a lot to learn and it was good to be part of a win.’ The Yorkshireman had to wait until the 63rd minute to get on. Among those also hoping to make their mark were England trio Danny Care, Kyle Eastmond and Semesa Rokoduguni who were all released for club duty. Eastmond, another league convert, was turned over early on by Kyle Sinckler, but his mistake was amended when Matt Banahan scored the first try after nine minutes. Eastmond doubled the lead inside the first quarter. Ollie Devoto missed the conversion but found his range as he went on to exchange penalties with Nick Evans. Quins trailed by 10 points at half time but the reliable Evans opened the scoring with anther penalty early in the second half. Bath continued to dominate the set piece and their pressure in the scrum resulted in a yellow card for Sinckler in the 54th minute. He was joined in the sin bin by George Robson and Will Collier and, with a three-man advantage, Bath gave Burgess the orders to warm up. He came on for back Horacio Agulla and it took three defenders to bring him down on his first carry. Forwards Ross Batty and Leroy Houston then extended the lead with further tries. There was plenty of excitement at the Rec as rugby league superstar Sam Burgess was named on the bench . Burgess looked relaxed during the warm-up as he geared up for his first game in the 15-man code . The former South Sydney Rabbitohs star runs out to a great ovation at Bath's home ground . | Sam Burgess makes first appearance for Bath in the 63rd minute .
Tries from Matt Banahan, Kyle Eastmond, Ross Batty and Leroy Houston secure victory for Mike Ford's side .
Bath hooker Ross Batty named Man of the Match . |
83,989 | ee3c877e53e3b64a525084120465aefdd2bec85f | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 17:06 EST, 10 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 19:27 EST, 10 January 2014 . A seven-year-old Burmese refugee who was allegedly raped and fatally beaten by her Utah neighbor suffered an excruciating death, a child abuse expert has testified. Hser Ner Moo was found dead in a pool of her blood at the bottom . of 26-year-old Esar Met's shower in Salt Lake City in March 2008. On Friday, child abuse expert Lori Frasier testified on the fourth day of Met's trial, which has been full of heartbreaking details revealing the alleged torture the little girl suffered . 'This would have been terrible pain for . her,' Frasier testified, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. 'This kind of injury would have required force.' On trial: Esar Met, a Burmese refugee, listens to proceedings through a translator in court on Thursday as his murder trial continues. He is accused of kidnapping, raping and killing his seven-year-old neighbor . Loss: This photo of Hser Ner Moo, who was raped and beaten, was displayed at Met's murder trial. On Friday, a child abuse expert said that the little girl had likely suffered a painful death at the hands of her killer . Frasier explained that injuries to Hser's genitals were extremely rare and probably caused by forceful penetration. Images of the girl's injuries were shown to the jury. There was no DNA evidence found on the body to suggest a sexual assault took place, but Frasier said that didn't mean one hadn't taken place. 'It may have been a crime of power rather than a crime of sex,' Frasier said. 'There are a number of reasons for DNA not to be present.' Hser also suffered a broken left arm that Frasier said would have caused great pain. But defense attorneys questioned Frasier, pointing out that she specializes in abuse suffered by children who are alive, and is not licensed to perform autopsy exams, the Tribune reported. It came after emotional testimony by Mikal Wersland, a sergeant with the South Salt Lake Police Department who had helped search for the little girl after she vanished on March 31, 2008. Emotional: South Salt Lake Police's Mikal Wersland became emotional as he spoke about the desperate search for Hser in March 2008 and how he and his colleagues feared she would be found dead . Passionate: He described searching all of the houses - and his heartbreak when he heard she had been found . He fought tears in court on Thursday as he recounted how a colleague called him to say they had found the girl's body the day after they began looking for her. 'They told me they found what they believed to be blood evidence in the stairwell of one of the apartments we hadn’t been able to search,' he said, using a tissue to wipe tears. 'I just thought about this poor family and having to - just the thought of having to tell this family what had happened to their little girl.' Hser's heartbroken parents gave their own emotional testimony earlier this week as they sobbed about how much they missed their only daughter. 'She was my one, my only one,' her . father, Cartoon Wah, said through an interpreter on Wednesday, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Crime scene: A photo shown in court reveals blood in the basement bathroom where Hser was found . Gruesome: Another image shows blood against a wall in the bathroom where her body was discovered . Cordoned off: A photo shows the front of Met's apartment in Salt Lake City where Hser was found dead . Scene: Hser and her family lived at this South Salt Lake complex, where she reportedly befriended Met . 'I have lost many things in my life, but this . was the biggest loss of my life... Now I have to carry on living with . this broken heart and support my family.' Before moving to Utah, the family had fled the Burmese jungle for a crowded refugee camp in Thailand, which later burned down. Her father recounted their fears as they waited for news of their missing daughter. 'The night [she disappeared] my . wife was crying,' Wah said. 'It had been too long, so we assumed, we . thought maybe our daughter is already dead.' 'I'll . never forget the look on [the mother's] face,' caseworker Carrie Pender . told the court on Thursday. 'Just the fear in her eyes that she . couldn't find her little girl.' His wife, Pearlly Wah, sobbed as she added: 'This is the biggest loss of my life. If you . gave me the whole world of happiness to exchange for this little girl, I . would say no. Nothing can pay me back because I only had one. Whenever I . see little girls run around, it breaks my heart.' In court: Met faces life in prison if he is found guilty of kidnapping and murdering his young neighbor . Painful memories: Carrie Pender, the family's caseworker, testified on Thursday and recalled the look of pain on Hser's mother's face as the family desperately searched for the missing girl in March 2008 . Hser was killed on March 31, 2008 . after she wandered from her parents' home at the same complex, telling . an aunt she was going to play downstairs. But when she failed to return home, her parents grew anxious when they couldn't find her. The . couple, who only speak their native language of Karen, contacted their . case worker who in turn called police. The little girl's body was found . the following day. Met, a 26-year-old Burmese refugee, was arrested and charged with first-degree felony counts of child kidnapping and aggravated murder. If . convicted, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. Prosecutors . decided not to seek the death penalty due to the extreme language . barriers that have already stalled the case for so long. Devastated: Pearlly Wah weeps as photographs taken at her daughter's crime scene are shown in a preliminary hearing in November 2012. The distraught mother also testified at his trial on Wednesday . Loss: Cartoon Wah, pictured in 2012, said losing his daughter has been the worst experience of his life . Defense lawyers say no one saw Met . take or kill Hser and that DNA found from his jacket and from beneath . her fingernails were from games the two had shared in days before the . murder. Met, who had also been living in a . Burmese refugee camp in Thailand before moving to the U.S., moved to the . apartment about a month before the slaying. He . lived at the house with four roommates, but defense attorneys say they . shunned him because he was a Muslim man of Indian origin. The . roommates were arrested on April 1, 2008 but they were later released. Police said they had not been home at the time of the killing and did . not know her body was in the basement bathroom. Met has pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial is expected to continue through January 24. | Hser Ner Moo's body was found in a pool of blood in the bottom of Esar Met's shower in Salt Lake City, Utah in March 2008 .
26-year-old Met, also a Burmese refugee, has finally gone on trial this week after language barriers stalled the process .
Her heartbroken parents sobbed as they testified in the trial, while a police officer who helped with the search wiped away tears on the witness stand .
Child abuse expert testified on Friday that the girl's body showed rare and painful injuries that indicated a brutal sexual assault .
The family came to Utah after fleeing the Burmese jungle and moving to a crowded refugee camp in Thailand which later burned to the ground . |
42,414 | 779afaee348bd6b78ea8f38492484b6c8579b4a1 | U2 frontman Bono revealed today he has suffered from glaucoma for two decades - hence his permanent sunglasses . Many assumed the dark glasses worn by U2 frontman Bono were a fashion statement. But he has revealed the reason he dons shades is because he has suffered from glaucoma for years. The star said he has suffered the eye condition – which if left untreated can cause vision impairment and even blindness - for around two decades. Until now, people put the singer's ever-present sunglasses – which he even wore indoors – were a rock star affectation. But he explained during a recording of tonight's Graham Norton Show for BBC1 that they are to help with his vision problem. Glaucoma can make the eyes more sensitive to light, causing sufferers to use dark glasses to alleviate difficulties. Presenter Mr Norton asked whether the singer ever removes his shades, to which Bono replied: 'This is a good place to explain to people that I've had glaucoma for the last 20 years. 'I have good treatments and I am going to be fine.' He added: 'You're not going to get this out of your head now and you will be saying "Ah, poor old blind Bono". Glaucoma is caused by a build-up of pressure in the eyeball when the fluid in the eye cannot drain properly, which can damage the optic nerve. If left untreated, it can lead to loss of peripheral vision and ultimately complete loss of sight. Early diagnosis can mean further sight deterioration can be prevented - with laser treatment, eye drops and surgery used to stop it worsening - but the damage to the optic nerve cannot be undone. Several things increase the risk of developing glaucoma. Age: Glaucoma becomes much more common as we get older. It is uncommon below the age of 40 but this type of glaucoma affects one per cent of people aged over 40. About five per cent of people over the age of 65 have glaucoma . Race: If you are of African origin you are more at risk of glaucoma. It is also more likely to develop at an earlier age and be more severe . Family: you are at a higher risk of developing glaucoma if you have a close relative who has chronic glaucoma . Short sight: If you are very short sighted you have a higher risk of developing chronic glaucoma . Diabetes: If you have diabetes you have an increased risk of developing glaucoma. For the most common type of glaucoma, there are no noticeable symptoms because the condition develops very slowly. People often do not realise their sight is being damaged because the first part of the eye to be affected is the peripheral vision. Vision is lost from the outer rim of the eye, slowly working inwards towards the centre. The Irish band were on the Graham Norton show to promote their new album, Songs Of Innocence. The song was released commercially this week after previously being given away to half a billion iTunes customers, a controversial move which upset some people who said they did not want it automatically added to their music libraries. Speaking about the furore, Bono told Mr Norton: 'We wanted to do something fresh but it seems some people don't believe in Father Christmas. 'All those people who were uninterested in U2 are now mad at U2. As far as we are concerned, it's an improvement.' Bono revealed that the shades he continually wears help alleviate the symptoms of glaucoma. He is pictured here with Apple CEO Tim Cook during the Apple launch last month . | U2's Bono reveals he wears shades because he has had glaucoma .
Has secretly suffered the condition for two decades .
Glaucoma is caused by a build up of pressure within the eye .
This causes damage to the optic nerve which can lead to blindness .
If it's treated early enough, further damage to vision can be prevented . |
17,967 | 32e769b0ced3ffbf79f695af69a2401897156c8c | By . Kieran Gill . Diego Maradona claims Fifa officials banned him from seeing his beloved Argentina win their opening World Cup game against Bosnia. The 1986 World Cup legend tried to get into the Maracana on Sunday to see the 2-1 victory, but was forced to watch the game from his hotel after being told he was not allowed access. Maradona puts it down to the 'ill will' of tournament officials, and wants to resolve the issue before Argentina face Iran in their second game on Saturday. VIDEO Scroll down to see Diego Maradona in action... as an annoying armchair . Denied: Diego Maradona claims Fifa officials banned from seeing his beloved Argentina start with a win . Not this time: Maradona was not allowed in and did not see Lionel Messi score in the flesh for Argentina . ‘I was not allowed to go in to the game so I had to return to the hotel to see the second half,' Maradona told the Argentinian channel TyC Sports. ‘I did everything I could but they would not let us in. Someone just said no, it could not happen, so I had to watch it on TV. ‘Hopefully we will get this resolved because I want to go and see Argentina in several more games. ‘It is one thing to not be able to go to a game, and another to not be allowed to go. 'When . there is good will, you’re allowed in but when there is ill will, it’s . better to forget it and head back to the hotel, which it’s what we did.’ Next up, Alejandro Sabella's Argentina take on Iran as they look to move further forward to qualifying for the last 16. Chase: Maradona leads the way in 1986, but is less popular among Fifa officials in modern times . Hero to zero: Maradona won the 1986 World Cup but could not get into the 2014 edition on Sunday . | Diego Maradona says he 'was not allowed to go in to the game' as Argentina beat Bosnia 2-1 in Group F .
Former Argentina manager says 'ill will' of Fifa officials saw him turned away .
Maradona watched second half in hotel . |
140,628 | 41d96fbc23ad672f1e679c28eaa0d6255bcbb746 | Two Australian sky surveys named Wallaby and Dingo are expected to discover 700,000 galaxies over the course of the new year. The huge new radio telescope facility in Western Australia will scour vast regions of space to provide clues about galaxy evolution. The £65m Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (Askap) is located in a remote desert region of Western Australia, 196 miles from the port of Geraldton. Scroll down for video . The Australia Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), with an array of 36 antennas each 12 meters (40 feet) across . It consists of 36 dishes, each 12 metres (39ft) wide, which work together as a single antenna. Askap will also help astronomers investigate one of the greatest mysteries of the universe: dark energy. This is the force which appears to be causing galaxies to fly apart at an accelerating rate. Although no one is sure what dark energy is, it is believed to account for 73 per cent of the universe. Scientists were able to predict Askap's capabilities by combining its specifications with computer simulations. Dr Alan Duffy, a member of the Askap team from the University of Western Australia, said: 'Askap is a highly capable telescope. Its surveys will find more galaxies, further away, and will be able to study them in more detail than any other radio telescope in the world. 'We predict that Wallaby will find an amazing 600,000 new galaxies and Dingo 100,000, spread over trillions of cubic light years of space.' On its first day in full operation, ASKAP will collect more data than is currently contained in all current radio astronomy archives or the U.S. Library of Congress . The telescope will examine galactic hydrogen gas – the fuel that forms stars – to see how galaxies have changed in the past 4bn years. Askap is a curtain raiser for an even more ambitious project, the Square Kilometre Array (Ska). With receiving stations stretching between South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Ska will be the world's largest radio telescope when it begins operating in 2019. Its combined antennae will provide radiation-collecting area of approximately 1 sq km. The ASKAP telescope is located in the Shire of Murchison, an area of 50,000 square kms (19,300 square miles), or the size of Costa Rica, with barely 120 people. The location is ideal because it is 'radio quiet', or lacks man-made radio signals that would interfere with the antennas picking up astronomical radio signals. Using new 'radio cameras' called phased array feeds, the telescope will be able scan the sky much more rapidly than existing radio telescopes and will give the telescope a field of view about 150 times the area of the full Moon. ASKAP is also the first building block in the world's largest telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) which will be based in both Australia and South Africa . One of the antenna of the Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope . The telescope will also search for alien life, although that is not its primary purpose . | The two new sky surveys will use data from an array of 36 antennas each 12 meters (40 feet) across .
Project is also the first building block in the world's largest telescope, the .
Square Kilometre Array (SKA) which will be based in both Australia and .
South Africa . |
79,727 | e2132c5a0602287bab497cec9a2f5fad2c54c29c | (CNN) -- Congress is attempting to eviscerate women's health care. Like many women across America, I am outraged. Tomorrow, the Senate will vote on legislation proposed by Sen. Roy Blunt that would allow employers to deny coverage for health care services that are considered morally objectionable. On February 16, Republicans in the House of Representatives held a hearing designed to undermine President Barack Obama's decision to guarantee women free access to contraception health care regardless of their workplace. Fair enough. We all have the right to disagree and fight for our beliefs. But by definition, a hearing is an inquiry into many sides of an issue with testimony from various points of views. But mark this: The Republicans did not have a single woman to testify in support of the contraception mandate. That is not a hearing; that is a sham. Mitt Romney, a front-runner in the Republican primaries, has expressed support for life at conception legislation that could outlaw common forms of contraception, which would adversely affect many women. Romney has also vowed to end family planning funding that America's most financially disadvantaged women rely on for cancer screening, contraception and other basic reproductive health care needs. Voters, including Catholics, overwhelmingly support health care coverage for contraception. The truth is women use contraception not only as a way to prevent unintended pregnancies, but also to improve their health and the health of their families. Increased access to contraception is directly linked to declines in maternal and infant mortality. It can also protect women against debilitating symptoms of endometriosis and reduce the risk of ovarian cancer. But contraception isn't just a basic health care issue for women, it's also an economic issue. Today, many women pay $15 to $50 a month for contraception, even with insurance. That's as much as $600 a year, money that many American families are struggling to find. In a recent interview on MSNBC, Foster Friess, a prominent supporter of Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, said, "On this contraceptive thing, my gosh. ... You know, back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly." Does this man have no wife, daughter or sister? I pray that his comment, which might conceivably be pawned off as a joke if it were not so dangerous, does not represent the perspective of the people in government who have the power to determine women's health choices. But judging by some of the proposed legislation floating around, Friess is hardly alone in his view. I respectfully ask members of Congress to not be blinded by the desires of a small but vocal anti-contraception community that could put the physical and financial health of millions of American women and families on the line. Thankfully, President Obama has stood firmly behind women's health care issues by supporting coverage for contraception and reaffirming commitment to organizations like Planned Parenthood. Anyone seeking office would be wise to take heed that women are watching and we will not tolerate political rhetoric that threatens our health, safety and well-being. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Felicity Huffman. | Felicity Huffman: Congress is trying to eviscerate women's health care .
Poll: Voters, including Catholics, support free access to contraception coverage .
Huffman: Contraception isn't just a basic health care issue; it's also an economic issue .
She says politicians should be mindful that women will not tolerate threats to their health . |
180,169 | 754926de7c45cf9672a90183e239c164a49dbadc | (CNN) -- Google Glass, the tech giant's Internet-connected headset, isn't on the market yet. But that hasn't stopped one lawmaker from trying to keep the eyewear off the highways in his state. In a pre-emptive move, West Virginia state Rep. Gary G. Howell introduced legislation Friday that would amend existing laws against texting while driving to prohibit "using a wearable computer with head mounted display." The bill doesn't mention Google Glass by name, although Howell told CNN he was inspired to amend the law after reading an article about the gadget. If passed, the law would make West Virginia the first U.S. state to ban motorists from wearing Google Glass while driving, a Google spokesman said. The law would take effect July 1. "The primary thing is a safety concern," Howell said in an interview. "It (the Glass headset) could project text or video into your field of vision. I think there's a lot of potential for distraction." Announced last year, Google Glass is an augmented-reality headset that looks like a thin pair of eyeglasses and can be controlled by voice commands. Above and to the right of the wearer's right eye is a small screen that can display Google search results, e-mails, reminders and other information. The device also comes equipped with a tiny camera that can snap photos and record videos. Google Glass is not expected to go on sale until late this year at the earliest. A price has not been announced, although the company has been selling a limited number of pre-order models, targeted at developers, for $1,500. Asked about the proposed West Virginia law, a Google spokesman sent the following statement: . "We are putting a lot of thought into the design of Glass because new technologies always raise new issues. We actually believe there is tremendous potential to improve safety on our roads and reduce accidents. As always, feedback is welcome." For example, Google has said its Glass headset could offer turn-by-turn navigation, with voice commands, to enhance the driving experience. Google has said one goal of its Glass project is to make technology available when users need it but unobtrusive when they don't. The company said the screen on its Glass headset actually sits above the wearer's normal field of vision, not unlike a car's sun visor, and is meant for quick glances, not prolonged viewing. Google Glass has generated a lot of buzz in tech circles and beyond, with many wondering aloud about its practical applications, potential privacy concerns and its promise, for better or worse, of constant connectedness. Although he doesn't want to see it on his state's roads, even Howell says he is intrigued. "I think it's pretty interesting," the state representative said. "I wouldn't mind trying it." | Lawmaker introduces legislation in West Virginia to ban motorists from wearing Google Glass .
Rep. Gary Howell says, "The primary thing is a safety concern"
Google Glass is an augmented-reality headset that can display Internet info .
Google: "We actually believe there is tremendous potential to improve safety on our roads" |
269,749 | e96124c1d22355399b698b14a706db963b2b1128 | Drugs cheats in athletics are running out of ways to escape their fate, according to a leading anti-doping authority. Abby Hoffman from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) says that new innovations in technology means cheats who beat the system now will be caught in the future - with no place to hide after samples are retested. The use of archived samples has already seen 15 athletes retrospectively charged - and Hoffman believes that the new prospect of being caught in future should help stop athletes doping now. Speaking out: Abby Hoffman hopes that the changes in drug testing will help stop athletics cheats . Talking it through: Having spent years on fighting drugs, four-time Olympian Hoffman has seen a lot . And with competitors facing longer bans as the new four-year penalty for doping offences comes into effect in January - those who try to gain an unfair advantage need to watch their backs. 'The retesting is a really important innovation; the IAAF has been maintaining – that is retaining – samples since 2005, so we have samples from all of the medallists from our major events since 2005,' Hoffman said. And with reanalysis soon to be allowed up to 10 years (from eight) - there are more opportunities to stop cheats. Something to get sorted: Drugs in athletics are still a big problem but the changes could put off potential cheats . Innovation: Hoffman spoke about the retesting of samples that will stop today's cheats in years to come . 'The purpose of this is as testing science improves we are going back to samples that originally tested negative but now we have new methodology and we’re getting positive test results so this is absolutely critical, she added. 'I think it’s sending a very strong message to any athlete who is tempted to dope that the fact that you might not get caught today is not going to provide you with assurance about something that may happen in the next decade and given the rate of scientific progress I’d be thinking twice myself about doing something if I thought sometime in the next 10 years my sample might be retested.' The only route out for cheats is admission - as in the case of Tyson Gay, which saw the sprinter have his sentence reduced in a trade-off for information. Gay ended up with a one year ban. Returning: Tyson Gay only suffered from a one year drugs ban due to his willingness to provide information . Plea: Hoffman and the IAAF are hoping that the changes in the way tests are handled will stop doping . 'It sticks in my craw that Tyson Gay only gets the one-year penalty,' Hoffman said. 'There’s a trade-off: If we want to get information and intelligence that will help us better manage and curtail doping, then we’re going to have to bite our tongue, hold our nose, and a guy like Tyson Gay is going to get a penalty that is going to be reduced to one year. 'Under the new code he might not get a penalty all the way back to a single year.' Changing times: If Gay was caught next year under the new rules he might not get off as lightly . | Abby Hoffman says innovations in the industry are making it impossible for cheats to escape - whether that happens now or in the future .
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) are keeping back old samples to test with new technology .
So far 15 athletes have lost out after their samples were later tested .
Science - in particular biological profiling - is evolving fast and making a difference as detection completely changes .
January 2015 will see new four-year penalty for doping offences come in .
Hoffman wants to see the likes of Tyson Gay get longer sentences even in a trade-off for information about doping . |
235,871 | bd55a88928300eda0f01f8a6aa23ee9e8b1cfaf6 | Tottenham have been accused of misleading supporters in their ongoing dispute about building a new stadium. Archway Sheet Metal Works Ltd are standing in the way of Spurs acquiring all the land needed to start work on a new 56,000-plus capacity stadium next to White Hart Lane. After seven years of negotiations failed to reach a conclusion, the club secured a compulsory purchase order last July forcing Archway to sell. But the company challenged the decision and it was due to be heard in the High Court on January 15. Archway Sheet Metal Works Ltd are preventing Tottenham getting the land they need to build a new stadium . An artist's representation of the interior of Tottenham's state-of-the-art new stadium, which will hold 56,000 . Tottenham's vision for their new stadium which they hope to have completed by 2018 . That date was adjourned until February 17 and Tottenham released a statement last week explaining: ‘Due to the fact that not all parties were ready to proceed, the court has adjourned the hearing for a short time and this will now be heard on the 17th and 18th February 2015.’ But directors of Archway, owned by Josef Family, have hit back and accused Tottenham of being the cause of the delay. An Archway spokesman said: ‘In view of the club’s incomplete and misleading account of the true reasons for the adjournment, we made a friendly request for a slight amendment to the news item on the their website. This was to ensure that the fans were not misled into believing that we were responsible for the delay, but Spurs refused to make that amendment. ‘Archway makes this clear statement so that Spurs fans, the news media and other interested parties are not misled as to who is responsible for this ongoing delay: clearly, Haringey Council and the secretive directors of Spurs.’ Archway insist that Tottenham did not provide information ordered by the High Court by the deadline of January 7. Jan Vertonghen got the opening goal against Sunderland as Spurs won 2-1 at White Hart Lane on Saturday . Vertonghen's goal goes in as Tottenham go 1-0 up against Sunderland in the weekend Premier League clash . Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris could not keep a clean sheet against Sunderland at White Hart Lane . Christian Eriksen scored Tottenham's late winner against Sunderland . Archway also claim the compulsory purchase order is ‘unlawful and unfair’ because Spurs and Haringey Council did make information public about their plans before it was granted.The spokesman added: ‘This information relates to secret discussions between the club and various public bodies concerning major changes to the club’s scheme on which the case for compulsory purchase of our land was based.’ Tottenham were hoping they would be able to move into their new stadium by the start of the 2017-18 season, but believe the delay in construction due to Archway has made that highly unlikely. Archway, located on Paxton Road right next to White Hart Lane, went up in flames last November, prompting an investigation from the London Fire Brigade into the cause. The company claim they have been subject to threats and abusive calls from Tottenham fans after standing firm in their stance to block the club’s plans. Spurs are keen that their plans to start construction work and move into their new home are not delayed any further. The club insist that they were not suggesting anyone in particular was not ready to proceed with the High Court hearing and that the statement they released is correct. Tottenham have been accused of misleading supporters in their dispute about building a new stadium . Archway (left) insist Spurs did not provide information ordered by the High Court by the January 7 deadline . | Archway Sheet Metal Works Ltd are preventing Tottenham from acquiring all the land needed to start work on a 56,000-plus capacity stadium .
Seven years of negotiations failed to reach a conclusion and the club secured a compulsory purchase order last July .
It was to be heard in the High Court on January 15 but that date was adjourned until February 17 .
An Archway spokesman said they were not responsible for the delay but that the 'secretive directors' of Tottenham were .
Archway wanted 'to ensure that fans were not misled into believing that we were responsible for the delay, but Spurs refused to make that amendment' |
206,327 | 9719b33894b10f8d6a7a8a03f07f2872938e039c | Heartbroken: Becky Tait, 20, had died on a railway line where a close friend was fatally hit by a train . A heartbroken girlfriend killed herself by copying her boyfriend’s suicide just weeks after he threw himself in front of a train. Care worker Becky Tait, 20, stepped in front of a speeding locomotive on Sunday evening after struggling to come to terms with the death of Phil James. The 19-year-old had died two days after being hit by a train along the same stretch of tracks, near Stone station in Staffordshire, on September 7. Shortly after his death, Miss Tait posted photographs on a Facebook tribute page of the couple on holiday in Portugal. She wrote: ‘The best memories with the best person I’ve ever met. I love you so much.’ Yesterday friends told how Miss Tait had been left inconsolable following the death of her ‘soul mate’. On a Facebook page in her memory, they wrote that the pair had ‘found true love’. One friend, who would give his name only as Adam, said: ‘They had known each other for a while but had only been going out for a couple of months. ‘She was inconsolable and I don’t think she coped well with the death at all. ‘Despite people trying to show their support she just shied away and went into her own little bubble. 'She didn’t talk about it, which I don’t think helped. It’s a tragic loss of two good people. ‘It is so sad they both thought this was the only option out.’ More than 370 of Miss Tait’s friends have joined the Facebook page set up in her memory. Tom Arnold, who created the tribute, wrote: ‘You were the single most incredible, lovable, funny, compassionate, brilliant, entertaining person … The reality of it set in today and I honestly don’t know what I’ll do without you.’ Holiday: Miss Tait had been on holiday with Phil James (right) to Portugal. Mr James, a popular rugby player and Robbie Williams fan, died two months ago after being hit by a train on the same stretch of track . Respectful: Hundreds of people have joined Facebook tribute groups and left flowers at the scene . Close: Miss Tait (left) attended a match at Stone Rugby Club last month to raise money for a memorial bench for her friend Mr James (right). Robbie Williams was among those who paid tribute to the rugby player . He added: ‘I know you’ve struggled for a long time now and I truly hope you’ve found peace.’ Miss Tait was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene at around 6.15pm, just yards from where Mr James had been found fatally injured. Stone's mayor said of the pair (pictured): 'The feelings of the community are very strong' Police say they are not treating her death as suspicious. In a statement, her family said: ‘Becky will be sadly missed by many people. Sadly Becky took her own life. ‘We would like to thank everyone for their kind wishes, support and floral tributes.’ A spokesman for New Park House care home, where Miss Tait had worked for the past three years, said: ‘Becky was a highly valued member of the team. She was bubbly, caring and would do anything for anyone.’ Mr James, also from Stone, was described as one of Robbie Williams’ biggest fans and had a tattoo of the pop star’s name across his chest. Following the teenager’s death, the singer left a tribute on Twitter, asking him to ‘save me a pint in heaven’. Since the two deaths, cards and flowers have been left across the town in tribute. Cathy Collier, mayor of Stone, said: ‘To take your own life is a terrible thing. No one knows what goes through someone’s mind when they do it. ‘The family must be going through heartbreak. ‘The feelings of the community are very strong, as they were with the previous death. It’s bad enough when someone older passes away but for someone so young it’s such a waste of a life.’ Miss Tait last month attended a rugby match held at Stone Rugby Club to raise money for a memorial bench for her boyfriend at Stone Cemetery. | Friends paid tribute to Becky Tait, 20, whose body was found on Sunday .
Her close friend Phil James, 19, died after being hit by train in September .
'Sadly missed' pair from Stone, Staffordshire, had travelled to Portugal .
Her family thanked well-wishers and said Miss Tait took her own life .
For confidential support call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here . |
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