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(CNN) -- "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" hit thousands of theater screens across the country at midnight Wednesday. Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter develop a romance in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Since then, fans have been buzzing about some of the film's most impressive scenes -- including one called "I killed Sirius Black." In the scene, Potter is confronted by Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange, who is creating mischief for both the boy wizard and his latest crush, Ginny Weasley. (Death Eaters are followers of the series villain, Voldemort.) Exhilarating for some, but frustrating for others, this particular scene from the franchise's sixth installment is a cinematic creation, as it never occurs in the J.K. Rowling novel. Watch the excitement of "Potter's" scene » . That aside, it includes pyrotechnic explosions, blazing fires, a massive chase sequence and the use of dark arts -- the Harry Potter version of black magic. In this week's "The Scene," actors Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry Potter; Bonnie Wright, who stars as Ginny Weasley; and director David Yates comment on the action. | "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" came out Wednesday . Film has key scene involving Harry and Bellatrix Lestrange . Scene is not in J.K. Rowling's book, but a cinematic creation . | 8abb05fd59bbd76a62d3c58d27754a1a57aad1c6 |
By . Daniel Martin . The Chancellor in Glasgow on Monday: He has vowed to spend billions on a 'Crossrail of the North' to give an economic boost to Manchester and Leeds . George Osborne says it is better to spend public money on transport links in the North than continuing to fund so many people on welfare. The Chancellor yesterday pledged billions to fund a ‘Crossrail of the North’ to prevent cities such as Manchester and Leeds from lagging behind London and the south. He said that although the plans could cost as much as £15billion, the benefits that would accrue in terms of prosperity would be better than spending so much on benefits. Mr Osborne said that if the GDP of the north of England was brought up to the UK average, it would be worth an extra £56billion to the northern economy over the next 18 years – the equivalent of £1,600 per household. He told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that governments should not have to choose between investing in the north or the south of the country. ‘I hope we don’t have to make a choice between the two,’ he said. ‘I think the real choice in our country is actually spending money on this big economic infrastructure, trans-Pennine rail links, Crossrail 2 in London and the like, and spending money on, for example, welfare payments which are not generating either a real economic return and at the same time, are trapping people in poverty.’ At an event in Manchester, he backed a report by the leaders of the cities of Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle who call for £15billion of investment to improve road and rail links. The Chancellor described cost in the One North report as ‘affordable’ – and that is was necessary to make it easier to travel between the cities to enable them to compete with London. The report said that if adopted, the 15-year investment plan, which complements the HS2 proposals, could deliver benefits for the whole of the North of England including up to 150 per cent additional capacity on roads and as much as 55 per cent quicker journey times on a faster, more frequent interconnected rail network. Mr Osborne said: ‘Of course £15billion is a lot of money – it’s about the size of the Crossrail project in London. ‘It’s a project over a number of years, out to 2030. We have got a £100 billion capital budget to the end of the decade. I think this kind of proposal is affordable.’ Mr Osborne has said he wants to build a ‘Northern powerhouse’ around the major cities of the North, whose legacy of heavy industry has led to an economic performance lagging behind the rest of the UK. The Chancellor also said that this autumn there will be new proposals on transferring more power and a bigger say over how money is spent, from Whitehall, to the cities and regions in a ‘new model of city governance’. He added: ‘I’m prepared to roll up my sleeves and get it done, so let’s get on with it’. Mr Osborne said if the Government and the cities could get the economic performance of the North to match the rest of the UK, it would add billions to the wealth of the nation and ‘rebalance’ the economy from an over-reliance on the City, London and the South East. Crossrail construction workers on the Connaught tunnel below the Royal Docks in east London: Public spending on infrastructure is £5,312 per person in London but in the North West it is only £420 per person . The One North plans also include increased road capacity for both freight and personal travel through extended motorways, improving links to ports and airports and fast and frequent intercity rail links, all interconnected with HS2, the super-fast North-South rail project from London. Labour Treasury spokeswoman Shabana Mahmood said: ‘Only Labour will properly back our city and county regions with ambitious plans to devolve more funding and economic power to them. ‘Mr Osborne will be judged on his actions, not his words. He is failing to back the Heseltine report or Labour’s plans to devolve billions of pounds of funding.’ Figures from the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) show the North has fared badly in terms of investment in the past. Ed Cox, director of IPPR North, said planned spending of public money on transport infrastructure in the National Infrastructure Plan was £5,312 per person in London but in the North West it was £420 per person and the North East just £157 per person. | Bringing the North's GDP up to UK average could boost economy by £56bn . The improvements could help northern cities compete better with the South . Mr Osborne has previously said he wants to build a ‘Northern powerhouse’ | 8c9329df169decadf241dd73675005764495bc1a |
By . Anthony Bond . PUBLISHED: . 06:48 EST, 20 March 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 12:16 EST, 20 March 2012 . Difficult job: Detectives are asking members of the public if they recognise this man - who appears to be headless in this image - following a series of arson attacks in Harrow . When detectives find a picture of that vital person they need to speak too following a crime, it makes their job all the more easier. But the Metropolitan Police may find it difficult to track down this man. Officers are asking members of the public if they recognise him following a series of arson attacks in Harrow. There is just one problem - he appears to be headless. A source at the Metropolitan Police confirmed it was the best image they had of the man they want to speak too. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is not believed anybody has yet identified him. Detective Sergeant Andy Simpson, of . Harrow CID, who is investigating the fire, said: 'The quality of the . image is quite grainy, and the suspect is covering his face, however we . are releasing this image in the hope that someone may recognise this . person by the clothes he is wearing, his build or even his gait. 'It's often the case that a CCTV image of a person may appear . unrecognisable but can often be identified by someone they live with or . work closely with.' Police believe the man could hold vital information following a fire at Cedars Hall in Harrow Weald in January, which caused damage to a door and the roof of the building. Detectives think this incident could be linked to a series of arson attacks in the Harrow Weald area. This includes one in the early hours of . Sunday in which eight London Fire Brigade engines attended to reports of . a fire at the rear of a tyre shop in Long Elmes, Harrow which had . spread to the Post Office next door. Residents from the flats above the premises were evacuated following the blaze. Unique features: Hampshire Police . issued this very strange e-fit image of a man in 2010 . Other police forces have previously being criticised over unusual e-fits which they have released. Police in Hampshire were branded 'absolutely ludicrous' after issuing an e-fit of a burglary suspect with what appeared to be a lettuce balanced on his head . Residents were astounded when confronted with the image, with many ridiculing the artist's impression. One local declared: 'It looks more like a . bald man stood in front of an iceberg lettuce. I can't imagine anyone . actually has a hairstyle like that. Odd: Police in Hampshire also released this e-fit of a boy believed to be just nine . 'It's absolutely ludicrous - the funniest e-fit I have ever seen.' The same force was also criticised for issuing an e-fit of a boy believed to be just nine years old - below the age of criminality, meaning even if he was caught he could not have been prosecuted. The wanted boy was said to have knocked another youngster to the ground and kicked him in the head when he refused to let go of his toy in a park. Hampshire police defended the move, saying there was no CCTV in the Portsmouth park where the assault happened. | Officers are asking the public if they recognise him following a series of arson attacks in Harrow . It follows a number of bizarre e-fits from other police forces . | bea8389940d1d7ca182096d816c7ff128af9ffff |
Britain is set to enjoy the hottest Halloween on record this week after days of flash flooding in some parts of the country which saw a group of schoolchildren risk their lives by larking around on a flooded road. Despite the heavy downpours which have blighted several regions over the last few days, temperatures are set to remain within the high twenties for the remainder of the week. The Met Office said much of England and Wales will enjoy the above-average temperatures, which will see the mercury hit 21C - making Britain hotter than several European cities including Athens, Rome and Crete. Dangerous: A group of schoolchildren were spotted larking around in deep floodwater on a busy main road in Dudley, West Midlands . Risky: The young boys, still dressed in their school uniforms, were seen jumping off the pavement into the huge puddles of floodwater . Stunning: The Met Office said temperatures were set to reach 20C to 21C in the UK. Pictured: Chew Valley near Pensford, Somerset . Relaxing: One man read his book in the unseasonably favourable conditions in St James's Park, while two women also relaxed . It comes after a weekend of downpours in some areas of the country, including in Dudley, West Midlands, where a group of schoolchildren risked their lives by playing in floodwater on a busy road. The pupils, from Castle High School, could be seen dangerously joking around in the filthy floodwater, with one even lying down in a huge puddle in the middle of the road. Wearing their school uniforms, the youngsters could be seen jumping off the pavement and splashing each other in the face as vehicles passed just inches away from them. The worrying scene on Ednam Road - less than 400 yards from the school - took place while teachers nearby tried to keep traffic moving following torrential flash flooding. Dudley councillor Khurshid Ahmed said he was worried the children's behaviour put them at 'unnecessary risk'. He said: 'It's very dangerous. They do need to be more careful, especially as there is a big bend in the road making it more difficult for drivers to see. 'They shouldn't be putting themselves in danger like that and certainly shouldn't be lying down in the water or trying to have showers and messing about with their friends. 'I will be passing on my concerns to the school and also speaking to the highways department to see what can be done to prevent the road from flooding.' Soaking up the sun: A woman enjoys the beautiful autumnal sunshine in St James's Park, central London, this afternoon . Beautiful: The autumnal leaves which cover Selwyn College in Cambridge shone in the afternoon sun today as temperatures hit 21C . Contrast: Despite today's warm weather in England and Wales, including at St James's Park in London (left), Scotland experienced different weather altogether. One lady was forced to shield herself with an umbrella and raincoat as rain lashed the country (right) Peaceful: A narrowboat made its way up the Grand Union Canal in Little Venice, west London, in this morning's autumnal sunshine . One local resident, who did not wish to be named, added: 'Their behaviour was very stupid. There were teachers nearby who did nothing, these kids could quite easily have been killed. 'One of them was actually lying in the road, it looked like he had gone for a swim in his uniform. His parents would not have been happy when he got home, that's for sure.' Castle High School headteacher Michelle King said she was trying to identify the pupils involved. She said: 'If I can reveal the pupils identities I will deal with them appropriately and speak to their parents. I wasn't happy about what those students were doing. 'We had teachers getting saturated, trying to move the traffic along as it was gridlocked round the school, so I would like to thank them for their dedication. 'We did not receive any complaints about children from drivers in the area, and I have heard that some of the people involved were from other schools too. 'Traffic is always a nightmare on the roads around the school and then you add in flash floods and it becomes very difficult.' Kicking back: As temperatures soared, a group enjoyed the sunshine with a boat trip on Swanbourne Lake in Arundel, West Sussex . Serene: The group made the most of the first day of the half-term holidays with a trip out on the water in Arundel, West Sussex . Tranquil: A group enjoyed punting down the River Cam in Cambridge today as temperatures soared to 21C in some parts of the country . Brave: Swimmers made the most of the above-average temperatures in London today by taking a dip in the Serpentine in Hyde Park . Chilly: Several members of the Serpentine Swimming Club joined swans in the Hyde Park lake in central London for their afternoon swim . Despite the flash flooding, temperatures started to soar across the country today – and the unseasonably favourable weather is set to remain until the weekend. As temperatures reached 21C in parts of southern England today, families enjoyed splashing around in punts and rowing boats on the River Cam in Cambridge while others enjoyed the autumnal sunshine by relaxing in London's parks. Forecasters at the Met Office said tomorrow is also expected to be unseasonably warm and sunny, with the mercury hitting 20C in the South. After a brief respite of cooler weather and downpours on Wednesday, temperatures are expected to again soar on Thursday. It means Halloween on Friday could become the hottest one on record, with the current record for October 31 standing at 19.4C in Margate, Kent, in 1968. Laura Young, a Met Office spokesman, said: 'It is unusually mild for this time of year and it has been a really good start to half term week in the South. 'Parts of the South East could see 20C or 21C today, so it is very mild and there is lots of sun around.' Plucky: One man tried to avoid the swans in the Serpentine in Hyde Park as he went for an afternoon swim despite it being October . Taking a dip: The swimmers enjoyed the serene conditions in Hyde Park as they dusted off the cobwebs in the favourable warm weather . Refreshed: The swimmers ventured into the water as temperatures reached 20C in some parts of the country today . On edge: A swan flaps its wings at London's Hyde Park today as the Met Office predicts the warm weather to last until the weekend . Picture perfect: A family watch the gorgeous sunset on a beach in Heacham, West Norfolk, after a day of above-average weather . Picturesque: The Met Office said the warm weather was set to continue this week. Pictured: This morning's sunrise behind Tower Bridge . However, despite the balmy weather forecast for England and Wales, it is a different story in the North West and Scotland, which will see two days of cloud, wind and rain. The Met Office has issued an amber warning for rain in the Highlands until midday tomorrow and a yellow warning for Strathclyde, Central, Tayside and Fife. The village of Kinlochewe in the Northwest Highlands has seen 172.8mm of rain in the last 60 hours. The rain is set to move south on Wednesday, with showers in the South East, while the Midlands and North will enjoy a clearer day with a mix of sunshine and cloud. | Schoolchildren spotted playing in floodwater on busy road in Dudley, West Midlands, after torrential downpours . Dressed in their school uniform, pupils could be seen larking around despite vehicles whizzing by just inches away . After days of flash flooding in some parts of the country, Britain is now set to enjoy unseasonably high temperatures . Expected to reach 21C in some areas, meaning it will be hotter than many European cities including Athens and Rome . If temperatures reach 20C on Friday, it could become the hottest Halloween on record - beating 19.4C in Kent in 1968 . | 8c33e0505c438e0d011016de8d7cd6b2502b2d1e |
By . Daily Mail Reporter . Physiotherapist Christopher Lewis (pictured) bit a woman client's shoulder and growled 'like a baby lion' to satisfy sexual urge, a tribunal has heard . A physiotherapist bit a client’s shoulder while she was lying on his table and growled 'like a baby lion' to 'satisfy his sexual urge', a tribunal has heard. Christopher Lewis allegedly carried out the act after pressing his body against the woman and squashing her breasts during therapy on her fractured shoulder, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) panel was told. Sophie Lister, representing the HCPC, said Lewis had spoken to his client about how physical injuries could affect sexual relationships during the session at Verulam clinic in St Albans, Hertfordshire, on May 13 last year. 'Towards the end of the conversation, Mr Lewis started to work her right shoulder and slowly leaned across and squashed her breasts, still keeping eye contact and bit the skin of her left shoulder playfully,' Ms Lister told the hearing in central London. 'It made her feel uncomfortable, vulnerable and shocked.' Giving evidence, the woman, who cannot be named, said she thought Lewis made a noise as he bit her. 'It was a bit of a growl,' she said. 'It wasn’t a lion growl. Like a baby lion growl. 'There was no way this was a peck or a kiss. 'He had my skin in his teeth and shook his head in a similar way to a cat does when he does a bite.' Lewis broke down in tears during his evidence as he told the hearing it was 'completely false' to suggest he bit the woman or that his actions were sexually motivated. But the physio, who is facing a conduct and competence committee, has admitted squashing his client’s breasts with his torso 'in the context of a hug', his lawyer Nicholas Toms said. Ms Lister said: 'We say Mr Lewis’s actions were motivated and done for his sexual gratitude, to satisfy his sexual urge and impulse. 'Notwithstanding what he will say, there is no other feasible explanation for his actions.' She added: 'We say the intention was for his sexual gratification and no other reason.' Following the physio session, the woman cancelled a future appointment after emailing Lewis to say his behaviour had 'blurred the lines', Ms Lister said. Lewis sent a reply in which he said he realised he made a mistake and had not acted 'appropriately', the lawyer said. He later telephoned the woman to apologise, she added. Lewis told the panel the woman may have mistaken contact with his facial hair for a bite on the shoulder and he had been 'stupid' to hug her as she grimaced in pain during treatment. 'No bite took place,' he said. 'Looking back it was not something I would do now. The incident is alleged to have taken place at Verulam Clinic in St Albans, Hertfordshire, on May 13, 2013 . 'It should never have happened. 'I wanted to show her, as a physiotherapist, I could sympathise with her and provide emotional support.' Asked if he thought he acted appropriately, Lewis replied: 'No. 'It crossed physical boundaries. 'She did not come to the session to be hugged, she came for treatment. 'I completely accept what I did was wrong. 'I should have never given her a hug.' Lewis said the length of his facial hair 'probably feels quite prickly' and the woman may have perceived that as a bite. He told the hearing he felt 'terrible' when his client emailed him to cancel her next appointment. 'I knew as soon as I did it it was a stupid thing to do,' he said. 'When I received an email like that I was pretty distraught.' The woman, who cannot be named, said he had her skin in his teeth and growled like a 'baby lion'. She told the panel that it made her feel 'uncomfortable, vulnerable and shocked'. Picture posed by model . During cross-examination, Lewis denied being 'aroused' when the woman mentioned during treatment that she had a female partner. 'I have no interest in the sexual orientation of my clients or what they do behind closed doors,' he said. 'I’ve been a happily married man for five years.' Lewis told the hearing it was 'very hard ... to have been accused of doing something you haven’t done.' 'I’m not sure what I would do if I was not able to continue practising as a physiotherapist,' he said. During her evidence, the woman admitted the alleged bite had not left a mark. 'It wasn’t a painful bite,' she said. 'It was a bite taking hold of my skin.' She also denied that she had mistaken the feel of Lewis’s beard for a 'peck' on her shoulder. 'I have no recollection if he had a beard or not,' she added. The woman, who gave evidence from behind a screen, said there was 'certainly no flirtation' towards the physio. She added: 'The reason I didn’t challenge him at the time was I felt extremely vulnerable.' The hearing was adjourned until tomorrow. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article. | Christopher Lewis allegedly carried out act at clinic in Hertfordshire in 2013 . Tribunal heard he squashed her breasts in therapy on fractured shoulder . Client told panel it made her feel 'uncomfortable, vulnerable and shocked' Woman, who can't be named, said he had her skin in his teeth and growled . Lewis broke down in tears during evidence and said it was 'completely false' | e3024d24e9241ce0739c6f6f25b8f27071816918 |
Moscow (CNN) -- Of Russia's 12 million immigrants, about 2-3 million of them live in Moscow, according to the U.N. It's a high proportion for a city of 11 million people. In 2013 tensions turned violent with mass street protests and several killings believed to be motivated by nationalist sentiment. Egged on by ethnically Russian residents demanding justice after an Azeri migrant allegedly killed a young Russian man, police made mass arrests of people from the Caucasus or Central Asia. Nationalist groups followed suit, hunting for people with non-Slavic faces, though they planned to do more than just detain them for questions. For a month, police conducted raids at markets throughout Moscow where illegal immigrants were believed to be working. The biggest raid was in October at the Sadovod market, when about 1,000 workers were rounded up by police. The incident was widely covered by Russian media. I saw the opportunity to do something I have always wanted to do -- see what life is like in Russia for migrant workers, or, as they are called here, "gastarbaiters". Many of these workers are from my homeland, Tajikistan. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan was the hardest hit of the former republics. That fact is still evident today. Nearly half of Tajikistan's GDP comes from money sent home by migrant workers in Russia. The abundance of workers from Tajikistan stems from the ease with which Tajiks can find employment in Russia. All that is required is medical insurance and a work permit. So I pretended to be a migrant from Tajikistan in desperate need of a job. I found a guy named Firuz who worked at the Sadovod market where the biggest raid happened. He agreed to help me get a job as a guest worker. He also told me what the police raid was like, saying that even he was taken to the police station, despite his Russian passport. Police had taken everyone without asking questions, he said. When the detained workers arrived at the station by the busloads, policemen said anyone who did not want to go into the building could give them a bribe and leave. Three people allegedly paid 5,000 rubles ($140) and left, as Firuz and other workers at the market later told me. I repeatedly called Moscow police to check these allegations but the media office refused to give me a reply. Most of the migrants from Central Asia who were caught apparently were released the next day, as they were all working legally, and police had just neglected to check documents before detaining them. It seemed that the raids were more for show than anything else, a bid to show the public that authorities are taking action against illegal immigration. Once I started my job at the market, I had three options: to become a sweeper, a porter or a vendor. I decided to be a porter because it meant more interaction with people. I had to find clients on my own, take their luggage and bring it where they wanted. I got introduced to an elite porter, Sakhovat. I was shocked to discover he could earn 5,000-6,000 rubles (U.S. $170) a day. Most Russians with a higher education don't earn that much. In theory, Sakhovat could get up to 150,000 rubles a month (U.S. $4,500). The key to his success is that he was one of the first porters at Sadovod when it opened and he built up his own client base. It was surprisingly difficult to get a job at the market without connections. My supervisor told me that if he had not known Firuz, he would never have hired me. During the interview, I did my best to be a Tajik, but I spoke Tajik with a thick Russian accent that was hard to disguise. I had spent all my 23 years in Russia and am considered Russian. Fortunately, those 23 years did not give me away. I spent about $100 on a uniform, a permit and a trolley, then got to work. Unfortunately, my cover was blown and guards at the market figured out I was a journalist. I spent only two days there and earned just 500 rubles ($14). I would have never thought that working as a simple porter at the market was so competitive and hard. But it was harder to find a person willing to pay for the service. I was wandering through the aisles, shouting offers of assistance, but nobody responded. It was a rough feeling: you're angry and aching, you feel cold, you want to sleep. You feel devastated. When I came back empty-handed, Firuz started laughing at me. It was funny for him: a Muscovite with a higher education could not cut it as a porter. He told me that it took most migrants several weeks or months to start earning money. He said: "I am a Russian citizen but nobody hires me because I am Tajik. I have a higher education here, but when they ask about my nationality and I answer honestly, they just hang up." It must be said too that people at the market were really courteous to each other while I was there, sweepers, vendors, shoppers, porters, everyone. I didn't see anybody fighting or quarrelling. I asked about rights violations but Firuz couldn't recall any. The security guard worked well, punishing those who violated the market's rules. Articles about my experiences appeared in the Moscow Times and also in Russian Reporter magazine. The piece was republished in Tajikistan and even in the Vietnamese press (lots of Vietnamese work in Russia as labor workers too). It was the first undercover report from the market which depicted a real migrant's life by a guy from Central Asia who spent all his life in Moscow. While the debate on illegal migration dominated Moscow, I was able to see the situation from the perspective of the migrants, many of whom end up caught in the crossfire despite being here legally and just struggling to survive like everyone else. If it was hard for me, what about the 17-year-old migrants from Central Asia who don't speak Russian, don't know anyone, who have no money or support? Perhaps we should think about them when we hear politicians calling for tighter restrictions on immigrants, or see nationalists staging rallies in Red Square. The question of illegal migration in Moscow seems nonsense when the difference between a fake and original work permit is just $30. It is a question of prejudice. Unfortunately, a guy from Central Asia is seen the same as illegal migrant, even if he has spent his whole life in Russia. The media sometimes ignites this prejudice. According to the Russian science magazine Scepsis, for the last 10 years the image of undesirable migrants from Central Asia has been cultivated by journalists as an enemy or an interloper. Articles about migrants have been written with a negative focus -- crime, fraud, murder. Migrants were blamed for coming to Russia, for taking jobs that "belong" to Russians and living in apartments where Russians should have lived. But migrants themselves are just pieces on a big chess board. The Russian government needs a cheap workforce of migrants, and Tajikistan authorities need Russia because there are no jobs at home. It's a question of mutual aid for two countries. Yet, as long as everybody continues to relate to migrants as mere pawns, the issue will never be resolved. The views expressed in this article are Eradzh Nidoev's alone. | Journalist Eradzh Nidoev pretended to be a migrant worker in a Moscow market . He wanted to see what life was like for Tajik migrants after tension and violence in the Russian capital in 2013 . Nidoev says Russians need migrant workers and migrants need the jobs, so mutual respect is essential . | 2e58bc0d71abae4e94e2e3c15ea672ccb1162b61 |
At least 4,000 stuck away from Australia with many sleeping in airports across the world . 'It currently appears that there are no . funds available to meet operational expenses so flights will be . suspended immediately,' the airline said today . Rival Qantas says that it will allow people stuck to buy cheap tickets home with them . By . Martin Robinson . Last updated at 11:46 AM on 17th February 2012 . Trips of a lifetime for thousands of holidaymakers have been wrecked after the collapse of an international budget airline. At least 4,000 passengers are stranded and sleeping on airport floors because Air Australia has run out of money and went into voluntary administration today, immediately grounding its five-jet fleet. Some of those affected are stuck as far away as Honolulu, Hawaii, and Phuket in Thailand. The Brisbane-based international and domestic airline, formerly known as Strategic Airlines, said all flights had been cancelled and the airline would not be accepting new bookings because it could no longer pay its bills. Bust: Air Australia has run out of money and immediately grounded its fleet . Air Australia's fleet consists of five Airbus A330-200 and A320-200 aircraft, and regularly flies to Bali, Phuket, Honolulu and cities within Australia. 'It currently appears that there are no funds available to meet operational expenses so flights will be suspended immediately,' the airline said in a statement. Passengers who bought tickets with credit cards or had travel insurance may be given a refund, the airline said. Nowhere to go: Passengers sleep with their luggage at Phuket international airport after their flight home from Thailand was cancelled . Stranded: Passengers pass the time at the Phuket airport today as they have no way yet of getting home . Calling home: Friends pass the time in Phuket with no real prospect of returning to Australia anytime soon . Family: A mother and her children stranded in Phuket today . Around 4,000 passengers were overseas with Air Australia round-trip tickets, voluntary administrator Mark Korda said. 'Overnight, the company was unable to refuel its planes in Phuket,' Korda told Australia's Fairfax Radio. 'The directors appointed us at 1:30 this morning and the boys have been working throughout the night to deal with what's a very difficult situation.' Stranded in Honolulu, Priya Sinh was forced to postpone her 18th birthday party on Saturday at her home on Australia's Gold Coast. Waiting: Daryl Maudsley, left, and his wife Cathy, centre top, pose with their children, from second left, Joshua, Daniel and Elise, all from Coolum Beach, Queensland, Australia, as they wait for a taxi at the airport in Honolulu after discovering their Air Australia flight to Brisbane wasn't taking off . Lost: Daryl Phillips of Brisbane surfs the internet on his iPad for alternative flights to Brisbane near the Air Australia ticket counter at Honolulu International Airport . Stuck: Alin and Rhondda Dempsey wait for news near the Air Australia ticket counter at Honolulu International Airport . She used her iPad to log onto Facebook to tell her 70 guests not to come because she would not be back in time. 'We tried to laugh about it, but it wasn't funny,' she said while her family called hotels looking for a room. Her mother managed to reserve the last four seats on a Jetstar flight to Sydney leaving on Saturday. Australian airline Qantas and Jetstar, its budget subsidiary, were considering adding services to help stranded passengers get to their destinations or home. Bust: A grounded Air Australia plane sits unattended on the tarmac of the Brisbane International airport today . Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the airline will sell stranded passengers tickets for the same price they paid for their Air Australia tickets, giving them a chance to recover the full price from their travel agencies or credit card companies. Air Australia's administrators are calling for immediate expressions of interest in the sale of the business. | At least 4,000 stuck away from Australia with many sleeping in airports across the world . 'It currently appears that there are no . funds available to meet operational expenses so flights will be . suspended immediately,' the airline said today . Rival Qantas says that it will allow people stuck to buy cheap tickets home with them . | 8ec03f827bc97526efc13bb8313cf4817a9e155f |
Barack Obama's Ivy-League educated half-brother is publishing his autobiography next month, painting a dramatically different picture of their few meetings from the one the president related in his best-selling 'Dreams from My Father' memoir. Mark Obama Ndesandjo includes an appendix in his book, cataloguing what he says are factual errors in 'Dreams' – including words falsely attributed to his mother, a Jewish woman named Ruth. 'A lot of the stuff that Barack wrote is wrong in that book, and I can understand that,' he told the Associated Press last year when he planned to self-publish his book. 'To me,' Ndesandjo said then, 'for him the book was a tool for fashioning an identity and he was using composites. I wanted the record to be straight. I wanted to tell my own story, not let people tell it for me.' Scroll down for video . Revelations: Mark Obama Ndesanjo, the half-brother of Barack Obama's half-brother, is uncorking family secrets that the president left out of his own memoir . Troubled childhood: Ndesandjo as a baby with his mother Ruth, then married to the elder Barack Obama. Mark claims his father once held a knife to her throat . His book, 'An Obama's Journey: My Odyssey of Self-Discovery across Three Cultures,' is due in stores September 16 and published by Globe Pequot Press. Describing a two-day stretch in 1988 . when the two half-brothers first met and shared a next-day lunch, . Ndesandjo, who bears only a vague family resemblance to the president, . writes that 'overall, it was a very awkward, cold meeting.' 'An Obama's Journey: My Odyssey of Self-Discovery across Three Cultures,' an autobiography of President Barack Obama's Kenyan half-brother Mark Obama Ndesandjo, is due in stores on Sept. 16 . Barack Sr., he explains, was someone he tried not to think of since he had divorced Ruth years earlier and descended further into alcoholism and a downward career spiral. But with Barack Jr. suddenly in his living room, brought for a visit by the future president's aunt, avoiding thoughts about their common father became uncomfortably impossible. It was, he writes, as 'though the skeleton that no one ever talked about had strayed into the middle of a family party.' Ndesandjo, according to a writer at WND.com who obtained an advance copy of the book, 'described their lunch together during that second day as filled with tension, as Barack struggled to embrace the African heritage of a father Ndesandjo had rejected.' The author 'had refused even to use the Obama name, unable to forget, as a child, experiencing the alcoholism and brutality of their father.' The elder Barack was a blithely self-involved alcoholic, once killing a man in a DUI auto accident and dying at age 46 while driving drunk. His viciousness is largely absent from the president's 'Dreams' – President Obama met Barack Sr. just once after his infancy, at age 10 – and is relegated to Obama quoting his half-brother criticizing Barack Sr. 'You think that somehow I’m cut off from my roots, that sort of thing,' Ndesandjo tells the future president in 'Dreams.' 'Well, you're right. At a certain point, I made a decision not to think about who my real father was. He was dead to me even when he was still alive. I knew that he was a drunk and showed no concern for his wife or children. That was enough.' In 'Dreams,' Obama casts himself as . the all-seeing observer trying to connect himself back to his Kenyan . roots. But Ndesandjo now recalls details that never made it into the . president's 1995 book. 'My . impression at the first meeting,' he writes, 'was that Barack thought . that I was too white, and I thought that he was too black.' 'He was an American search for his African roots. ... I'm an American but I was living in Kenya, searching for my white roots.' Ndesandjo moved to China 12 years ago, married a Chinese wife, and is now fully immersed in the Chinese language and culture . Accusations of violence: Mark Ndesandjo says the future president thought he was 'too white' even though they both called the same man 'father' Culture warrior: Ndesandjo lives in Shenzhen, China with his wife and has won volunteer service awards for his campaigns against domestic violence . 'I remember that when I spoke with him about the heroes of Western culture, he rolled his eyes impatiently,' he has told Maariv, an Israeli newspaper. 'My feeling was that, here is an American who in many ways is trying to be a local Kenyan youth. This is something I tried to flee my entire life.' Ndesandjo says his effort to escape his African cultural roots was furthered in part by a desire to escape the legacy of his violent father. 'His self-hatred and tendency toward self-sabotage was passed down and became part of my identity,' he acknowledges in his new book. 'My mother's lily-white skin and my father's ebony-black visage come to symbolize an eternal incompatibility in my mind's eye. For a long time I hated to have anything to do with what my father represented, whether it was him personally, or even the positive aspects of African culture.' 'In violent reaction to him,' he concludes, 'I turned passionately toward Western culture and music, which brought me a measure of solace.' After earning degrees in physics from Brown and Stanford Universities, Ndesandjo honed his artistic talents in China where he lives with his wife. He is an accomplished pianist and recording artist who often gives lessons to orphans in the Chinese boom town of Shenzhen. More criticisms of Barack Sr. surfaced in 2009 when the new president visited China during his first year in the White House. Only visit: Barack Sr. visited the future president in Hawaii in the 1970s (L) for the first and only time before heading back to Kenya, and posed (R) with his former wife and President Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham . That's when Ndesandjo published his first book, an autobiographical novel titled 'Nairobi to Shenzhen: A Tale of Love In The East.' It paints Barack Obama Sr. as an abusive drunk who repeatedly beat him and his mother in episode after rage-filled episode. 'There were some thumps as of someone falling,' reads one passage that Ndesandjo wrote in the third-person. Out of Africa: President Barack Obama shared a laugh on Wednesday with Tanzania's President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete at the White House's U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington . 'His father's angry voice raised itself. ... He didn't remember what they were fighting about, but his stomach felt sick and empty.' 'His mother was being attacked and he couldn't protect her. "You bastard!" he remembered her screaming out. And that was just one night. There were many more.' One of those nights, Ndesandjo writes in 'An Obama's Journey,' resulted in his blitzed father holding a knife to his mother's throat after she obtained a restraining order against him. 'We Obamas have big hands. They can be used to create or to debase,' reads one portion. 'My hands enable me to comfortably reach across twelve keys and play piano well. My father would use his big hands to knock my mother down when he came home from a night of drinking.' 'I would move protectively toward her and clutch her legs, crying,' writes Ndesandjo. 'I know now why I mostly remember her legs, not her torso, or even her face.' His parents met when Obama Sr. was a graduate student at Harvard University. They moved to Kenya in 1964, where he and his brother David were born. David later died in a motorcycle accident. Obama Sr. had earlier divorced President Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, following Obama's 1961 birth. Ndesandjo's mother later divorced the elder Barack Obama and married another man, whose surname both mother and son also took. | Mark Obama Ndesanjo, the son of Barack Obama Sr. and his third wife, details beatings he and his mother endured in Kenya . He also airs his version of his early meetings with the president, casting him as 'an American ... trying to be a local Kenyan youth. This is something I tried to flee my entire life' 'Barack thought that I was too white, and I thought that he was too black,' the Brown- and Stanford-educated Ndesandjo writes . 'An Obama's Journey: My Odyssey of Self-Discovery across Three Cultures' is due in stores September 16 . | 73ce0c3dc5c0752bdb392ccae44bfb53cec60dfb |
(CNN) -- A former Ohio doctor was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for poisoning his wife with cyanide five years ago. A Cleveland jury convicted Yazeed Essa last week of aggravated murder for poisoning Rosemarie Essa, his wife and the mother of his two children, with a cyanide-laced calcium pill. Essa, 41, will be eligible for parole in 20 years, Cuyahoga County prosecutor Bill Mason said. His crime occurred before Ohio sentencing laws were changed to give judges discretion in determining when a convicted murderer is eligible for parole. Dressed in an orange jailhouse jumpsuit, Essa did not betray an emotion as Judge Deena Calabrese lamented that she could not hand down a stiffer sentence . "I regret that you have the benefit of committing this crime under the old law," Calabrese told Essa. "You took an oath to preserve life and you destroyed your family," she said. "I cannot imagine the evil that you have done to these people, especially your children. It is my great hope and the only that I can think of at this moment that they forget you ... and that whatever legacy you had is wiped away." The six-week trial included testimony from more than 60 witnesses who told the story of a philandering doctor, his many mistresses and an international manhunt that crossed three continents and ended with his arrest in Cyprus in October 2006, 18 months after his wife's death. "What do you say to a person that murders the mother of his children, a murdering coward with no heart, no compassion, no remorse?" Rosemarie Essa's mother, Virginia DiPuccio, said at her son-in-law's sentencing hearing Tuesday. "All she wanted was children and a husband that loved her back and you took that away. She didn't deserve it," DiPuccio said as other relatives sat in the packed courtroom audience, dabbing tears with tissues. Essa fled the United States in March 2005 after police questioned him about his wife's death. He was arrested in Cyprus on October 7, 2006, for using fake travel documents. In January 2009, Essa was extradited to Cuyahoga County, according to the prosecutor's office. Defense attorneys pointed to a lack of physical evidence linking Essa to the tainted supplements and urged jurors not to convict him for his playboy lifestyle. The defense also attempted to cast suspicion on Essa's mistresses. Two of them testified, one saying she never loved Essa and another saying she believed him when he promised to be her soul mate. The 38-year-old mother of two and former nurse was driving to the movies in the family Volvo on February 24, 2005, when she felt ill, passed out and hit another vehicle before stopping against a curb. Before she crashed, she called a friend from her car and told her that she was beginning to feel sick to her stomach and wondered whether a supplement her husband had given her was making her ill. Jurors heard from the friend, Eva Gardner, along with two of Essa's mistresses and his brother, who said Essa admitted to killing his wife. DiPuccio said her daughter made the phone call so he wouldn't get away with murder. "It didn't go your way," she said, as a stone-faced Essa listened. "She got you, Yaz, and the Essa curse ends here today. We have Rosie in our memory. She's in our hearts and with us always." | Yazeed Essa was convicted last week of giving wife calcium pills laced with cyanide . Essa will be eligible for parole in 20 years because crime occurred before change in law . Judge laments she cannot give Essa a harsher sentence: "You destroyed your family" Prosecutors alleged that the philandering doctor poisoned his wife to escape a marriage . | 9e5dd0b92e89e6591b51123aed20fb03521fe61b |
(CNN) -- Security has been heightened at Sweden's nuclear power plants after explosives were discovered on a vehicle entering a protected nuclear site, authorities said Thursday. The truck was stopped at the Ringhals nuclear power plant on Wednesday afternoon, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority said. The suspicious material was discovered before the vehicle had entered the protected area, it said. Police are now investigating suspected sabotage, said the plant's owner, Vattenfall. The "explosive paste" was uncovered by sniffer dogs during a routine security check, the company said in a statement. "The discovered object could not have induced a serious damage at Ringhals," it said. "Ringhals nuclear power plant is still in operation." Officers patrolled the site overnight with bomb detection dogs but found nothing else, the company said. The plant has raised its security level to the second lowest level of 4 as a precaution, the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority said. The country's two other nuclear power plant, in Forsmark and Oskarshamn, have also boosted their security measures following the discovery, it said. "It is still assessed that there was no risk of an explosion because the explosive had no detonation device," the statement said. David Persson, a spokesman for the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, told CNN he believed it was the first time such an incident had occurred. The State Forensic Laboratory confirmed the substance was an explosive paste Thursday morning, Vattenfall said. Sweden has 10 reactors at its three nuclear plants. | The explosives were discovered before they entered a protected area, authorities say . Security has been tightened at Sweden's three nuclear power plants . Police are investigating suspected sabotage, the plant's owner says . No detonation device was attached to the explosives, authorities say . | 513ce8898de058012789fe12e5d82f35eed503f0 |
By . Becky Evans . PUBLISHED: . 10:52 EST, 16 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 13:54 EST, 16 November 2012 . A former police inspector killed his wife and six-year-old daughter before stabbing himself with a kitchen knife a week after he being sacked from his force, an inquest was told today. Toby Day, 37, strangled and stabbed wife Samantha, 38, and six-year-old daughter Genevieve before turning the knife on himself. Day also attacked his two older children Kimberley, 16, and Adam, 14, with a knife at their home in Melton Mowbray last December. Kimberley was stabbed in the neck but managed to escape and raise the alarm at her nearby school. Her younger brother was found in time and survived a stab wound to the chest. Tragic: Toby Day, second from left, stabbed and strangled six-year-old daughter Genevieve, far left. and wife Samantha, second from right. Children Kimberley, 16, and Adam, 14, whose identities have been protected, were both also stabbed but survived the attack . Devastated: It is believed former Leicestershire Police inspector Toby Day, right, rowed with wife Samantha, pictured left on holiday in August 2011, before the attack began . Both children were at the hearing today, accompanied by members of their family. The coroner for Rutland and North Leicestershire Trevor Kirkman said: 'No one here or in the wider community could fail to have been touched by these tragic incidents.' He recorded a verdict of unlawful killing for Samantha and Genevieve and one of dying at his own hands for Day. The inquest was told that Day had appeared before a disciplinary panel and been dismissed from Leicestershire Police for misconduct a week before the attack on December 8 last year. The nature of the misconduct was not . revealed during the inquest but reports at the time said he had been . sacked for misusing police systems and matters 'concerning honesty and . integrity'. Detective Inspector Matthew Healey, from Nottinghamshire Police, told the hearing that on the day of the attacks the couple had met nursery worker Samantha's parents for coffee before dropping their youngest child at school. While they shopped, Day was told that newspapers had contacted Leicestershire Police asking for information about his dismissal. Later that day, officers were called to the family home after Kimberley ran to Swallowdale School having been stabbed in the neck. Sacked: Former Leicestershire Police inspector Toby Day turned on his family days after being sacked from the force . Raised the alarm: Oldest daughter Kimberley managed to escape to her nearby school and call the police, who set up a cordon around the family home and tried to negotiate with Day . Home: Day, Samantha and Genevieve were discovered in an upstairs bedroom at their house in Melton Mowbray. Teenage son Adam was found downstairs and survived his injuries . Misconduct: Hours before they died, Day had been told newspapers were asking about the reason for his dismissal from the police force - believed to be misconduct of misusing police systems and matters 'concerning honesty and integrity' A police cordon was placed around the house as officers tried to negotiate with Day. When armed police forced their way in about an hour after the alarm was raised they found Adam in the living room with a stab wound to the chest. His mother and younger sister were found on a double bed in an upstairs bedroom. The former inspector was found on the floor next to them, with a kitchen knife in his hand. The inquest was told Samantha died from strangulation and stab wounds. She also had marks on her eye that Home Office pathologist Guy Rutty was caused by an 'initial assault' earlier in the day. He said it was believed Samantha may have already died or been unconscious when she was stabbed four times. Professor Rutty said Genevieve died from three stab wounds to the left hand side of her chest. However, he added that ligature strangulation was a contributory factor. After killing his wife and daughter, Day then stabbed himself six times in the chest. The hearing heard how during a search of the property police found a second knife, with Samantha’s blood on it, in the dishwasher. Genevieve and her older sister and brother were taken to Queen’s Medical Centre for treatment but the six-year-old was confirmed dead at the hospital. 'Deep care': Mother Samantha, left, pictured with Kimberley. The 16-year-old managed to escape and raise the alarm . Hospital: Kimberley, whose identity has been protected in the picture with her mother Samantha, spent ten days recovering in hospital, as did her brother Adam . The hearing heard no one else was arrested in connection with the deaths. Summing up, the coroner said: 'To say the least - and this is a dramatic understatement - the evidence is very traumatic. 'It’s difficult for anyone dealing with it and it is almost unimaginable to think of the thoughts of the family who seek to come to terms with the events. 'It is a case that causes particular anguish because of the circumstances.' Adam looked at the floor while Kimberley stared straight ahead as the coroner read out his verdict. The coroner added to members of the family at the hearing: 'No-one affected by these events will ever forget what has happened but I hope you will be able to journey on with the help and support.' Addressing Adam and Kimberley, he said: 'I hope in some way that hearing what happened at first hand will help you to move forward. 'It’s hard to imagine anything much more traumatic than this.' Speaking after the verdict today, Canon Lee Francis Dehqani, the family’s parish priest and vicar of Oakham, said: 'It is now over 11 months since the tragic death of these parishioners. In all this time I have been conscious of the resilience of the family and their deep care for one another.' He said the inquest is 'one more step' in their battle to come to terms with the deaths. Deputy Chief Constable Simon Evans, of Leicestershire Police, said the deaths were 'truly tragic, in every sense of the word.' | Former Leicestershire Police inspector Toby Day was sacked days before killings for misconduct . Strangled and stabbed wife Samantha and six-year-old daughter Genevieve and attacked teenage children Kimberley, 16, and Adam, 14 . Kimberley stabbed in neck but escaped and raised the alarm . Today, coroner records verdicts of unlawful killing for Samantha and Genevieve . | 32a709347bfb2ec9d917573c2de3132b17fbfdf6 |
(CNN) -- Tech giants Apple and Google may get an unofficial A grade when it comes to stock price, but they can only manage a D grade when it comes to sustainability. The U.S. technology companies both received the grade that would make most students wince in a new survey, published this week, that rated the sustainability performance of 2,063 global companies. The report evaluated companies according to their social, environmental and governance risks and impacts, taking into consideration human rights and supply chain labor standards among other issues . Top of the class in the Sustainability Report published by EIRIS, the British based corporate research company, is German sportswear company, Puma. Lesser known companies like Danish pharmaceutical company, Novo Nordisk, and two British rail and bus companies make it into the top ten. Puma CEO explains his company's business model . "Despite operating in a sector at high risk for human-rights abuses, Puma has a strong environment record and demonstrates improvements in supply chain labor standards," the report said. The worst performers were graded E, with over 60% of mining and oil and gas producing companies including ExxonMobil and Chevron Corporation given the lowest rating. By definition fossil fuel focused companies are not able get the highest grade, but the report's authors say their grades can improve if they show greater commitment to developing cleaner alternative energy sources. The sector with the most A grades was in health care, because of the "positive social benefits of healthcare" and lower environmental impact, with four pharmaceutical companies in the top ten. Carlota Garcia-Manas, Head of Research at EIRIS, said environmental and ethical concerns are becoming a greater priority among many of the companies rated. "There are signs that companies are making sustainability a priority and acknowledging its importance, not only in terms of acting as good 'corporate citizens' but also in terms of ensuring their own long-term success," she said. The report revealed some notable differences between companies from different regions. One fifth of UK companies scored A, followed by 12% of mainland European ones, but only 2% of U.S. companies and 1% of Asian ones received the top mark. One in five of the Asian companies surveyed received an E grade. According to EIRIS, Apple's poor grade was because of its links to suppliers in countries with human rights and labor issues, while another of titan of the corporate world, Toyota, received a C because of its leadership in developing cleaner technology vehicles. Learn more: Apple's tax tricks . The report found that smaller companies were generally lagging behind on sustainability -- only 24% of the 50 biggest companies surveyed had D or E grades compared to 40% across the wider sample. "It's clear that companies need to do much more if they are to meet the concerns of their stakeholders and investors whilst managing the impacts of their businesses upon society and the environment in a sustainable way, both now and in the future," said Garcia-Manas. | Report graded over 2,000 top companies for sustainability . Apple and Google received D grades . German sportswear company Puma was rated highest . Only 2% of U.S. companies and 1% of Asian businesses had the top mark . | c3db5c4e36b2dd5f7e0093881866442d9a6e2cd6 |
(CNN) -- The family that robs banks together stays together. That's what southeastern Texas authorities allege about a father, son and daughter, tying them to a pair of bank robberies in that state and possibly five others in their native Oregon. Now, weeks after those heists occurred, the three suspects are in the Fort Bend County Jail. In a press release issued Friday, the Fort Bend County, Texas, Sheriff's Office identified the three as 50-year-old Ronald Scott Catt, his 20-year-old son Hayden Scott Catt and his 18-year-old daughter Abigail "Abby" Catt. Before their arrests, authorities concluded they'd seen the father and son before -- in disguise -- in surveillance video shot October 1 in and around the 1st Community Credit Union in Katy. The footage shows a younger man with a fake mustache and an older one in a painter's mask, with both wearing dark sunglasses, hats and orange traffic vests that had an "X" on the back. Other images, released by local authorities to media, showed the two suspects pointing small guns inside the bank and emptying cash out of a vault. After that robbery, detectives went to a Home Depot near the sheriff's office and found the distinctive orange vests. They followed up a short time later by going to another Home Depot about 14 miles north in Katy, near where detectives found stolen license plates between the October 1 robbery and one in August in nearby Harris County. The two male suspects in the latter robbery wore painter outfits and masks. "While viewing videotapes at the checkout counters, they identified Hayden and Abby Catt purchasing the vests with their father's debit card," the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office said. "Ronald Catt was later identified purchasing a painter's mask." Ronald and Hayden Scott Catt were arrested November 9 at a Katy apartment and subsequently were ordered held on $140,000 bail. Abigail Catt -- who police say was the getaway driver in the October 1 bank heist -- was taken into custody later that day, with her bond set at $100,000. Following interviews with the suspects, Fort Bend detectives notified authorities in Oregon -- where the Catt family is originally from -- as they "believe the suspects may be connected to five bank robbery cases in the Portland ... area," the sheriff's office said. | Two men in vests -- one in a fake mustache, another in a painter's mask -- rob a bank . Police say they are father and son, and allege a daughter drove the getaway car . Detectives: The family bought the distinctive orange traffic vests at a nearby Home Depot . Authorities believe the family may be responsible for 7 bank robberies, 5 in Oregon . | 30dee979d9d624ae35a5a25a8289ec6355155168 |
Toney, Alabama (CNN) -- She says she didn't want to do it, but was convinced by a teacher's aide to act as bait to catch an accused sexual predator. What happened next was horrific: The then-14-year-old girl says she was sodomized by a fellow student in a school bathroom. Now 19, she is telling her story publicly for the very first time. "I just felt like I was set up by the teachers. They gave me a word that they couldn't keep," said the woman, who asked CNN to call her "Jaden." According to court records, a 16-year-old student approached Jaden in the hallway of Sparkman Middle School in Toney, Alabama, on January 22, 2010, and asked her to meet him in a bathroom for sex. It was not the first time the boy had propositioned her, said Jaden, who was enrolled in the school's special education program. Usually, she just ignored him. But, on that day, Jaden told a friend, who suggested she tell a teacher's aide about what was happening. That aide, June Ann Simpson, knew of other girls who the boy had tried to lure into a bathroom for sex, according to a 2010 federal lawsuit filed by Jaden's father against Madison County Schools and officials. Simpson, in turn, told the school's principal, Ronnie Blair, about the allegations. According to a 2012 deposition, Blair told Simpson the boy would have to be proven guilty to be punished. In response, Simpson crafted a plan to prove the allegations, using Jaden as bait. The idea was to have the girl agree to meet the boy in a bathroom. Simpson would watch surveillance video, and teachers would intervene before anything happened. "I told her no. I didn't want to do it," Jaden told CNN. She acquiesced later that day. "I just wanted it to stop," Jaden said about the alleged harassment. 'He just gets away with it' Key questions in her case center around who knew what and when. Jaden and Simpson claim they then went to the office of vice-principal Jeanne Dunaway. However, Simpson says when she told Dunaway about the plan, Dunaway did not respond. During a deposition, Dunaway denied the conversation happened. Jaden says she then left Dunaway's office and found the boy in the hallway to tell him they could "do it." Simpson stayed behind to watch surveillance monitors, hoping to catch the two walk into the bathroom. She never did. According to Jaden's written statement after the incident, the boy made a last-minute change. Instead of meeting in the boys' bathroom on the special needs students' corridor, the boy allegedly told the girl to meet him in the sixth grade boys' bathroom, in another part of the school. Once there, Jaden says she tried to stall the boy, hoping a teacher would rush in. She told him she didn't want to have sex, and she tried blocking him, according to her 2012 deposition. Nothing worked. Jaden says the boy sodomized her. "I thought they were going to do what they said they were going to do -- and be there and stop him -- just get him in trouble," Jaden told CNN. The alleged attacker was never charged and the case was never presented to a grand jury, according to Madison County District Attorney Robert Broussard. The incident was characterized as "inappropriate (sic) touching a girl in boys bathroom" according to school disciplinary records. The boy was suspended from school for five days and sent to an alternative school for a short time. The alleged attack was at least the 13th incident of sexual or violent misconduct in the boy's file, all within two academic years. While at the alternative school, the boy was suspended for sharing pornographic images on a cell phone. He was eventually allowed to return to Sparkman Middle School while Jaden was still enrolled as a student. "He just gets away with it, I guess," she told CNN. June Ann Simpson resigned shortly after the incident. "My client has gone from being a teacher's aide to being a scapegoat," Simpson's attorney, McGriff Belser III told CNN. Dunaway is now the principal at nearby Madison County Elementary School. 'Hard for me to have good days' In 2013, a district court judge allowed the father's claims of state violations, including negligence, against Simpson and Dunaway. The judge tossed out the federal claims -- that the school district violated Title IX and that Simpson and school administrators deprived the girl of her civil rights. Title IX is a federal law aimed at ending sexual discrimination in education. In part, it dictates how schools that receive federal funds must respond to claims of sexual harassment. Both sides have appealed. "(Judge T. Michael Putnam) found the board of education's policies were proper. He found that the school administrators took appropriate action and complied completely with federal law as soon as they were notified of this unfortunate incident," attorney Mark Boardman told reporters last month. Boardman's firm represents Madison County Schools and the administrators named in the 2010 lawsuit. The firm has not responded to CNN's numerous calls for an interview. Also in September, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division submitted a 126-page strident amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, disagreeing with the district judge's order. The brief, submitted jointly with the U.S. Department of Education, argues the school, in its capacity as a recipient of federal funds is "liable for (its) deliberate indifference to known acts of peer sexual harassment." "If Title IX imposes any responsibility on school officials to prevent sexual harassment, it surely requires a response when they learn, as here, that a 14-year-old special needs student is about to be used as bait to catch a 16-year-old student with an extensive history of sexual and violent misconduct," federal attorneys write in the brief. On the same day the federal brief was submitted, the Women's Law Project, joined by 32 national and local organizations, submitted a joint brief supporting the family's lawsuit. The National Women's Law Center and the family's attorney, Eric Artrip, have also submitted a joint brief to the Eleventh Circuit. "It means a lot. It says that people actually care about what happens," Jaden told CNN . Months after the incident, the teen transferred to a school district out of state, but eventually dropped out of school before graduating. Jaden says she continues to struggle. "It's hard for me to have good days," she told CNN. "I have days to where I just want to sit there by myself. I get angry faster, and I get insecure." Asked what might help her, she stressed the importance of justice and closure. "By actually having our day in court, and letting everything be known, so that it won't happen again," Jaden said. CNN's Stephanie Gallman and Dana Ford contributed to this report from Atlanta. | The woman, now 19, talks about her story publicly for the first time . She said she was raped in an Alabama school in 2010 . "He just gets away with it, I guess," she tells CNN about her alleged attacker . | b2779dea7356efc24141f1effddff92e2f2b1bc8 |
By . Laura Clark . Nick Clegg’s free school meals plan was in disarray last night after it was savaged by headteachers. They blasted ‘ludicrous’ official advice that infants could be asked to choose their meals two hours ahead, eat at 11am and have cold lunches. The guidance from the Department for Education even says parents might be brought in to chop vegetables. Nick Clegg' free school meals plan was in disarray after it was savaged by headteachers . From September, all children between four and seven will qualify for free lunches under the £1billion scheme announced by the Deputy Prime Minister at the Lib Dem autumn conference. Heads have already warned they do not have the facilities to cope. The guidance responds with positive case studies and the suggestion that schools make ‘lunchtime part of the curriculum’ and lengthen or stagger lunch breaks. But Gail Larkin, of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: ‘This policy was a nice soundbite and took us all by surprise – it just wasn’t thought through properly. 'One school that has been trialling this has had to start lunches at 11am and finish at 2pm – it’s ridiculous.’ Jim Holditch, head of Godinton Primary in Ashford, Kent, insisted the tips were worthless. ‘They are not addressing the problem that we have, which is lack of capacity,’ he said. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg eating lunch with children from the Walnut Tree Walk Primary School in London. But heads have blasted 'ludicrous' official advice that infants could be asked to choose their meals two hours ahead, eat at 11am and have cold lunches . ‘It’s being done so badly the Government could end up with a monumental own goal. The motivation is less about children’s welfare and more about election promises. ‘How much of break time would be taken up getting children to pick what they want for lunch? That frankly is a ludicrous solution. ‘Has anyone from the DfE ever tried to get 60 four-year-olds to choose at break time what they want for lunch and to remember by the time they get up to the serving hatch – or not to change their mind when they see the food laid out in front of them?’ He also questioned advice suggesting that menus be simplified: ‘The recipes aren’t complicated. We’re not having chateaubriand. It’s spaghetti bolognaise etc etc. I’m not sure there’s much mileage in that.’ Mr Holditch has asked his local authority for a share of £150million made available by the Coalition to help schools improve kitchens and dining halls. But his likely allocation will be nowhere near enough to cover the renovations to kitchen and dining facilities he needs. He said the guidance showed the initiative could not be delivered without detrimental effects on other aspects of school life, such as PE. The guidance ‘toolkit’ suggests that schools ‘set aside extra time to help children learn how to use cutlery as part of their curriculum’. From September, all children between four and seven will qualify for free lunches under the £1billion scheme announced by the Deputy Prime Minister at the Lib Dem autumn conference . It highlights a school where pupils are taught about the food they are eating, encouraged to eat more fruit and vegetables and shown how to use knives and forks. Further case studies include a primary that relies on parent volunteers to ‘prepare vegetables and bake cakes for its in-house lunch service’. The toolkit notes that putting up ‘brightly coloured posters’ will improve the dining hall environment. It also tells heads to control noise levels by playing music, rewarding quiet pupils or supervising children more closely. Mr Clegg’s initial hope that all 1.5million meals would be hot has been abandoned, with the DfE confirming schools will able to provide cold lunches as long as they meet nutritional standards. For schools with too many children to feed in an hour, the advice is to ‘lengthen or stagger lunch breaks’. The toolkit, written with an introduction by Lib Dem schools minister David Laws, notes that schools which took part in a free meals trial scheme found they ‘could get it right after a few weeks’ by being flexible about how they organised their lunch hours. At St Lawrence Primary in Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, there is no kitchen and all pupils eat packed lunches in their classrooms. Head Paul Dyer said: ‘The status quo here works extremely well. I can see a situation where millions of pounds will have gone into this but that money will be squandered.’ Graham Stuart, Tory chairman of the Commons education select committee, said the free meals policy should have been thought through more carefully. ‘It does show the dangers of Nick Clegg pitching into education policy without being aware of the realities in schools,’ he added. He urged the Government to step back from the September deadline. But a spokesman for Mr Clegg said: ‘Pilots of universal free school meals run by the Department for Education and Department of Health started in 2009 and ran for two years. ‘Evaluation showed clear benefits for all in terms of educational attainment and healthy eating, but in particular for the poorest children. The plans are fully tested, well designed and properly funded. ‘Every child deserves the best possible start in life, and at the same time we are doing all we can to help ease the pressure on household budgets.’ A spokesman for the DfE said: ‘We are providing more than £1billion to ensure children get a healthy meal in the middle of the day. 'We’re also making sure that schools are not left out of pocket by putting £150million on the table.’ | From September children aged four to seven will qualify for free lunches . But heads have already warned they do not have the facilities to cope . They say the Lib-Dem scheme just 'wasn't thought through properly' | f49bda16ce8ac842df3f284b3f451e9bb15fe944 |
He is cool under pressure when whipping up confections for his show Cake Boss. But at 1am on Thursday morning reality star Buddy Valastro found himself in hot water when he was pulled over by Manhattan police for weaving his sports car through lower New York City, according to TMZ. After failing several field sobriety tests, the 37-year-old baker was handcuffed and arrested for investigation of drunken driving. It was also claimed that the star told police, 'You can't arrest me. I'm the cake boss!' and suggested the officers simply put him in a cab instead of taking him in. Criminal court: Buddy Valastro is shown on Thursday at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City after being arrested earlier for investigation of drunken driving . According to the site, the officers noticed Buddy, whose real first name is Bartolo, driving suspiciously on 10th Avenue. He then weaved more between 20th Street and 32nd Street. The TV favorite was driving a yellow 2014 Corvette. Police sources told TMZ the star smelled strongly of alcohol and he 'flunked multiple field sobriety tests.' Buddy reportedly went above the legal limit on his Breathalyzer test. He was handcuffed on the scene and booked. No plea: Buddy did not enter a plea during his arraignment and was due back in court on January 6 . Defense table: Defense attorney Carl Scott Spector represented Buddy at his arraignment . According to The Associated Press, Buddy was 'unsteady' on his feet, his face was 'flushed,' and he had 'bloodshot' eyes. Buddy appeared at his arraignment on Thursday at Manhattan Criminal Court wearing a red checkered dress shirt, charcoal sports coat and blue jeans. The usually ebullient star looked somber while sitting next to his defense attorney Carl Scott Spector during his arraignment. Center of attention: Buddy was surrounded by microphones and cameras as he left his arraignment . After the hearign: Buddy rode in the passenger seat after his hearing while his wife Lisa drove them away . Prosecutors offered Buddy a standard plea deal that would include a 90-day driver's license suspension and a $300 fine if he pleaded guilty. The baker rejected the plea deal. He pleaded not guilty and was released without bail, according to TMZ. No deal: Buddy rejected a standard plea deal offered by prosecutors . Hit show: The baker stars in the TLC show Cake Boss that focuses on his bakery and family . Buddy was due back in court on January 6. The TLC star released a statement on Thursday to his supporters. 'Please know that I want to share and explain to you what happened today and I look forward to doing so at a later date. I appreciate your support and understanding as we handle things privately as a family,' Buddy wrote. A bad turn: Cake Boss star Buddy Valastro, pictured in Las Vegas in May, was arrested early on Thursday morning in New York City for a DWI . Nice wheels: The baker was driving a 2014 yellow Corvette when police noticed him 'weaving' between 10th Street and 32nd Street . He's been in business with TLC for years: The handsome Italian, pictured in a promotional shot in 2012, has been a big star for the network . TLC also released a short statement that read: 'We are thankful no one was harmed. This is a personal matter for Buddy and his family.' The New Jersey native has a wife named Lisa and four children: Sofia, Marco, Carlo, Buddy Jr. In addition to his hit TLC show Cake Boss, Buddy also operates several bakeries. King of the cakes: The 37-year-old reality star with his team in front of his bakery Carlo's Bake Shop . His wife who he has four children with: The New Jersey native with Lisa at the Tony Awards in 2010 . | The TLC star was pulled over about 1am on Thursday in New York City . Police saw him weaving in yellow 2014 Corvette and he failed sobriety tests . Prosecutors said he tried to talk police out of arresting him . Famous baker rejected plea deal and pleaded not guilty . | 72460c7682d1d56121ccaa2201b072cd2c38d83c |
(CNN) -- Mercedes Formula One team is facing a million dollar question -- and it has decided to ask the audience. After another bruising on-track encounter between its drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at the Belgian Grand Prix, Mercedes is considering introducing team orders for the remaining seven races. The team's head of motorsport Toto Wolff described Sunday's lap two clash, which effectively ended Hamilton's race and Rosberg's chance of victory, as "unacceptable." "It has been our clear policy to let the drivers race this year but rule number one is: don't hit each other," Wolff told reporters in Spa. "To see that kind of contact, so early in the race, is an unacceptable level of risk to be taking out on track. "It cannot -- and will not -- happen again." To make sure it doesn't, Mercedes asked its half a million Twitter followers for advice on Thursday. "Team orders or free racing? There has been a lot of debate since Belgium -- this is a chance to have your say," it asked via Twitter. It then posted two options, one in favor of team orders and another in favor of free racing. Fans were asked to vote on the issue by either retweeting or marking their preferred option as a favorite. The team then announced the result of the vote after four hours of voting, revealing 92% of the audience wanted the drivers to be allowed to continue to race each other. Proving just how thorny the issue of team orders is in F1, Mercedes then asked: "To those who would prefer to see team orders implemented, how would you employ them? "To the 92% in favor of free racing, what sanctions would you impose for breaking the 'no contact' rule? Would you suspend a driver for a race and not maximize constructors' points? Perhaps you'd set the order at qualifying slots?" Rosberg and Hamilton are locked in an intense rivalry for the 2014 world title. The German is now 29 points -- more than a race win -- ahead of his English rival and former teenage friend. It seems when it comes to solving the problem at Mercedes there are no easy answers, even for the team itself. | Mercedes has asked its Twitter audience for advice on introducing team orders . At the Belgium GP, Nico Rosberg crashed into Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton . Mercedes head of motorsport Toto Wolff described the incident as "unacceptable" The team's Twitter audience voted in favor of allowing the drivers to continue to race . | f860da405b5aabaedc334c3a56741c30e49332a0 |
By . Anthony Bond . PUBLISHED: . 05:03 EST, 18 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:22 EST, 18 June 2013 . It is a sight which will distress any animal lover. Lined up in rows, these horrific pictures show 213 bear paws which were seized by Chinese customs officers. Two Russians were arrested after attempting to . smuggle the paws into China at Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia. Scroll down for video . Disturbing: Customs officials count 213 bear paws which were seized after two Russian men attempted to smuggle them into China . They were discovered hidden inside the tyres of a vehicle which was crossing the border from Russia. According to the Global Times, it is believed the paws are from the brown bear, which is a protected species in China. Bear parts are in demand in China because people believe they have a medicinal value. Experts say smuggling like this has increased in the last two years. As reported by the BBC, in China bear paws are worth 10 times more than in Russia. It is estimated the haul was worth £293,000. Illegal: Bear parts are in demand in China because people believe they have a medicinal value . Speaking to the Global Times, Zhang Xiaohai, from the Animals Asia Foundation, said: 'The . demand is huge because more people can afford them and the country has . the tradition to treat bear paw as a rare ingredient for cuisine or as . an expensive present,' he said. 'Bear farms in China exacerbate the situation as they also sell paws illegally, which stimulates the growing trade.' Officials at the border became suspicious after noticing one of the men driving a van looked nervous and appeared to keep checking his watch on May 22. Officials decided to X-ray the van and they discovered the paws. Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons. | Haul was discovered hidden inside the tyres of a van . They are from a brown bear - a protected species in China . | 6ad7b53309c8bba6af5bf9bb4fb53b52f75117ad |
New York (CNN) -- A Berlin-bound United Airlines flight returned Saturday night to Newark Liberty International Airport after a problem developed in the left engine, officials said. Eyewitnesses reported seeing flames spewing from engine right after the plane took off. A tire blew during takeoff and flew into an engine, FBI spokeswoman Barbara Woodruff said. The Federal Aviation Administration said it could not confirm that. Flight 96, with 173 passengers and crew, circled the airport and burned fuel before landing at 8:05 p.m., according to the FAA. United described it as a "mechanical issue." Potential FAA cuts would create big hassles for fliers . The crew of the Boeing 757 reported a problem after it left New Jersey for Berlin, said FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen. The engine was operating properly before it landed, she told CNN. Eyewitness Keisha Thomas, who was traveling on the New Jersey Turnpike, said she witnessed fireballs near a wing shortly after the plane took off. Thomas heard a loud sound, describing it as "pow, pow, pow." Djenaba Johnson-Jones, who lives across the river from the airport, said she heard an unusual noise and saw fire, but not smoke, coming from the aircraft's left engine. Eyewitness Dennis Ostolaza said he heard a "propeller sound" akin to a military helicopter as the plane gained altitude after takeoff, with "black smoke and fire spitting out of the engine." The flight left the gate at 5:53 p.m.; witnesses reported seeing the engine flames shortly before 6:30 p.m. Recovered wreckage fails to solve case of missing pilot . Man: Airline treated me like a pedophile . Airline asks passengers for gas money . CNN's Julia Greenberg, Ross Levitt and Jason Kessler contributed to this report. | Plane returns safely to Newark airport . Witnesses report fire in engine . United flight was taking off for Berlin . FBI: Piece of tire flew into Boeing 757 engine . | fb329abd020a80f3ab2e597b2f3e8dbe7450c2a3 |
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The head of a shipping company recently victimized by pirates off the Somali coast told lawmakers Tuesday that U.S. cargo crews should be allowed to arm themselves in response to the rising hijacking threat. In April, pirates attacked The Liberty Sun, a U.S.-flagged cargo ship, but were unable to board. Philip Shapiro, head of Liberty Maritime Corp., told a U.S. Senate Commerce subcommittee that the owners of U.S.-flagged "have done all they can within the law to protect our crews." Unfortunately, he said, U.S. vessels are still largely at the mercy of pirates in shipping lanes around the heavily trafficked Gulf of Aden. "In light of the recent threats to U.S. merchant mariners, we respectfully request that Congress consider clearing the obstacles that currently block ship owners from arming our vessels," Shapiro said. Pirates unsuccessfully attempted to board the Liberty Sun, a cargo vessel owned by Shapiro's company, near the Somali coast on April 14. The ship was on a humanitarian relief mission at the time, carrying 47,000 tons of food to Mombassa, Kenya. Pirate leaders later said the attempted hijacking was carried out as revenge after the U.S. Navy killed three pirates involved in a failed attack on the cargo ship Maersk Alabama. The slain pirates were holding Capt. Richard Phillips, who was in charge of the Alabama when it was boarded April 8. "We've heard some suggestions that U.S.-flagged ship owners have not done enough to protect their vessels," Shapiro said. "That view ... is flat wrong. Our company adopted every measure recommended by the international maritime organizations and required by the Coast Guard's approved security plan for making the vessel a difficult piracy target -- and more." Merchant vessels don't usually carry firearms, he said, but the "Maersk Alabama incident constitutes a game changer. ... Self-proclaimed pirate leaders have now issued direct threats of violence against American merchant mariners." Shapiro said that U.S. crews have a right to self-defense under U.S. laws dating back to 1819, but "recently enacted State Department arms export regulations effectively prohibit the arming of vessels." He also said that ship owners are at risk of "being second-guessed in U.S. and foreign courts for self-defensive measures that were common in 1819." Shapiro urged congressional leaders to help "bring U.S. law up to date and give us the legal framework we need to be able to protect ourselves." Until then, he said, U.S. naval escorts or government security teams will be required for U.S. vessels on high-risk transits. Shapiro was joined at the committee hearing by Phillips, who said the most desirable response would be the establishment of U.S. military escorts as well as military detachments. Phillips repeated an assertion he made before a separate Senate committee last week that arming vessels' crews could provide an effective deterrent -- but only under certain limited circumstances. "Unless the root causes of piracy are addressed [on land], piracy will continue to expand and evolve into an even greater threat for American and foreign seamen," Phillips said. A Transportation Department official testifying at the hearing noted that the ships most vulnerable to attack are those built low to the water with insufficient top speeds. Ships need to be able to accelerate to "a high rate of speed [for] aggressive maneuvering" and should have high walls that are tough for pirates to scale, said Undersecretary of Transportation Roy Kienitz. He recommended that ship owners mandate a range of "best practices," including having fire hoses to spray water over the side of a ship and extra manning for watches during dawn and dusk, when attacks are tougher to detect. Shapiro said that the crew of the Liberty Sun was able to fend off the pirate attack in part by rigging fire hoses to cover the stern of the vessel and "create a virtual flood wall of water coming off the ship." Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-New Jersey, applauded the efforts of the crews on both the Alabama and the Liberty Sun. "These bandits have to be stopped," he said at the opening of the hearing. "Violence and lawlessness will not be tolerated whether on land, in the sky or at sea. We have a duty to protect the ships that proudly fly America's flag." | Liberty Maritime Corp. chief speaks before U.S. Senate Commerce subcommittee . He says U.S. vessels are at mercy of pirates around the busy Gulf of Aden . Pirates tried, failed to board one of his company's cargo ships, the Liberty Sun . Richard Phillips, the hijacked Maersk Alabama captain, joined him at the hearing . | 43d482b6c8b000b9ba40685ad0a8aa6e4221b798 |
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (CNN) -- The death toll from flooding and mudslides in Brazil continued to climb Thursday, with official reports of at least 181 fatalities. Thousands of people have been left homeless, said the government-run Agencia Brasil news service. The Rio de Janeiro mayor's office placed that figure at 5,000. At least 161 people have been injured, the Rio de Janeiro state government said Thursday on its Web site. A record 11.3 inches (287 millimeters) of rain fell in Rio within 24 hours Tuesday, Mayor Eduardo Paes said, according to the news service. The downpour continued Wednesday. iReport: Share your photos, video, stories with CNN . More than 30 homes were destroyed in a mudslide Wednesday in metropolitan Rio, Agencia Brasil said. About 200 people could be buried or trapped in the mud, emergency officials said. The cities of Niteroi and Sao Goncalo are among the hardest hit, with more than 80 dead and dozens missing, the news service said. CNN affiliate TV Record showed firefighters, military personnel and other rescuers using heavy machinery to dig for buried residents. Brazil's minister of cities, Marcio Fortes, said that housing and sanitation problems are not new for Rio. His department, which works directly with cities on urban development projects, said that before this week's flooding, the government already had set aside some $800 million to cities to help deal with flood waters and poor infrastructure. Now, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has made available another $11 billion for drainage infrastructure across Brazil, Fortes said. As for the project that sits before them, Fortes estimated that about 4,000 homes can be rebuilt, together with better roads, schools and health centers. These would provide a shift from the current structures in the slums of Rio, where housing is often improvised. "You can't correct the past, but you can fix the future," Fortes said. CNN's Marilia Brocchetto contributed to this report. | Death toll climbs to at least 181; thousands left homeless . Mayor: Record-breaking 11.3 inches (288 millimeters) of rain fell in Rio Tuesday . 200 could be trapped following another mudslide, Brazilian media report . | 6ad89d717e5eafa2d156acd9866bd3144b3fe7ab |
For about two minutes on Saturday, millions of eyes will focus on Louisville, home of Kentucky's most feted affair, that blissfully short sporting event that comes with its own cocktail. Horses, hats and barrels of booze star in that show, and while the Kentucky Derby experience is not to be missed, Churchill Downs' hometown is worth lingering over. Whether you're headed to the races or thinking about a future visit, enhance your trip with these Louisville experiences: . A touch of art . The 21c Museum Hotel houses 21st-century work by established and emerging artists, as well as 90 guest rooms complete with original art. A huge revitalization success, 21c Louisville was created by transforming downtown tobacco and bourbon warehouses and has been voted among the top hotels in the world by Condé Nast Traveler readers. Get your contemporary art fix for free 24 hours a day in the museum. Video art fans, you'll have to keep slightly more sensible hours. Video installations by artists that have included Bill Viola and Tony Oursler run from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. Visitors to 21c will be greeted outside by Turkish artist Serkan Ozkaya's 30-foot golden replica of Michelangelo's David. A sip of bourbon . Top off the museum experience with a cocktail, or perhaps a bourbon flight, at the adjoining Proof Bar or a meal at Proof on Main, where chef Levon Wallace showcases Ohio River Valley ingredients. The bar stocks more than 50 Kentucky bourbons for your sipping pleasure. You're in the right state for sampling the dark liquor as most of the world's bourbon is produced in Kentucky. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail hits seven distilleries, or just continue along the Urban Bourbon Trail. A bit of sport . Just down the street from 21c, the history of the "Official Bat of Major League Baseball" is chronicled at the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. You can't miss the building. The world's biggest baseball bat, which is 120 feet long, rests against its side. The bat makers, Hillerich & Bradsby Co., have been turning out baseball bats for more than a century, and the facility features exhibits and tours of the plant where bats for today's pros are made. A hefty snack . Louisville's elegant Brown Hotel, built in 1923, is home to the hot brown, a hearty post-revelry snack. The open-faced turkey sandwich, topped with bacon and Mornay sauce was created in the 1920s to satiate hungry dinner dance guests in the wee hours. It still satisfies. A spot of history . Derby attendee or no, you probably don't want to miss one of the city's most popular attractions, the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs. It's closed this Friday and Saturday for the weekend's festivities, but general admission is available on Sunday (Note that it's the museum's busiest day of the year). At Churchill Downs, Early Times Kentucky whiskey will provide the kick for nearly 120,000 mint juleps expected to cross race-goers' lips during the Kentucky Oaks and Derby races this weekend. (The Oaks race, held the day before Derby, is more affordable and popular with locals.) A taste of nature . A breath of fresh air is never a bad idea when you're mixing tourism and bourbon. Stroll along the 2.4 mile loop at Cherokee Park, which is part of an extensive system of Louisville parks designed by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (of Central Park fame). Another bite or two . Louisville has earned the distinction of being one of the top five "Foodiest" small cities in America by Bon Appétit magazine. Restaurant openings are eagerly anticipated, and the city's 2,500 eateries provide plenty of options for every palate. For some of the freshest choices head to NuLu along East Market Street, where trendy new businesses and loft developments are fueling a rebirth. NuLu = "New Louisville." Last year's hot newcomer Decca is still generating buzz with original cocktails, a cellar lounge and local, seasonal fare. One last sip of bourbon . At a real risk of overindulging, make a pilgrimage to The Oakroom at the historic Seelbach Hotel where you can sample the hotel's namesake cocktail, which dates back to 1917. It's a blend of bourbon, triple sec, Angostura bitters, Peychaud's bitters and Champagne. Go home. Detox. | The Kentucky Derby's hometown is worth lingering over . Bourbon looms large in this booming foodie town . Get outside and explore the local museums while you're there . | a810515f8d76052d68c34a9df5503b1ec4271f76 |
She's the flame-haired make-up artist who is credited with transforming the likes of Penelope Cruz, Millie Mackintosh and Cara Delevingne. So it's fair to say that Charlotte Tilbury, who is Kate Moss' go-to make-up artist and best friend, knows a thing or two about beauty. The make-up maestro, who has created the looks for the glossiest of Vogue covers and starriest red carpets, has released a short tutorial for her mature fans called 'a youth-boosting, naturally glamorous make-up for the 60 plus woman'. Makeover: Charlotte Tilbury, right, has created a tutorial on how to achieve a youthful look for over 60s - and called on her 65-year-old mother Patsy, left, to help. Here is the finished look . With a little help from her 65-year-old mother Patsy, Charlotte provides a step-by-step guide to creating a youthful look. 'Women who don't make the effort and stop wearing make-up literally age overnight,' explains Charlotte as she whips out an arsenal of her best products to use on her mother. Charlotte preps Patsy's skin with her 'magic cream', which she describes as a secret mix of patented anti-age ingredients, a hyaluronic acid booster plus floral extracts that lift and transform the skin. As she applies a primer and foundation, she explains that her products are packed with retinol, which is extremely important for over 60s skin. 'It's really youth boosting and plumps the skin up and makes it look really glowing. That's what you lose as you get older. 'And as we know, too much sun ruins your skin, it's beauty suicide,' she explains. She then uses a retouching pen to take out any age spots, unwanted freckles and blemishes before sweeping powder over the skin and creating a defined brow. 'The brow defines the face, it's the pillar of it,' she says before using an eyebrow pencil she created with the help of good friend and client Cara Delevingne. Youth boost: 'Women who don't make the effort and stop wearing make-up literally age overnight,' explains Charlotte as she whips out an arsenal of her best products to use on her mother . 'Cara really brought back the brow,' she adds before telling her mother how important eyelash curlers are for opening up the eyes. Charlotte then uses a smudger brush to create a soft smokey eye inspired by the 'golden goddesses of Ibiza' and adds a subtle slick of eyeliner and lots of coats of mascara. 'Pop bronzer onto your forehead and onto your cheekbones as the sun would naturally hit you and some highlighter onto the C-section of skin, which paints a sort of candle light onto the skin,' she says. Before and after: Charlotte's mother Patsy was treated to a 'glamorous goddess' makeover, which she often recreates on Kate Moss and supermodel Gisele . Charlotte also emphasises the power of lipstick. Patsy muses: 'If I was . stranded on a desert island, I would want a lifetime supply of lipstick . to look glamorous when I was rescued.' 'As you get older, your lips shrink and your face begins to collapse,' says Charlotte as she shapes Patty's lips with lipliner and shades it with a natural pink hue. The final stages involve blushing your cheek in what Charlotte calls a 'swish and pop' movement before defining your jaw line with powder. Friends in high places: Charlotte recently gave Wolf Of Wall Street star Margot Robbie a makeover for an event at Buckingham Palace . 'This . is a golden goddess look I would use on Gisele and Kate Moss,' says Charlotte. 'It's designed for 17-70-year-olds and proves that by . using modern, pretty colours, it instantly makes you look younger and . softens you.' Charlotte, 40, has been working as a make-up artist for 20 years and is regularly called on by the likes of Adele and J-Lo to help them get red carpet-ready. Most recently, she made over Sienna Miller and Cara Delevingne, as well as Kate Moss, for the supermodel's Topshop launch party and gave Poppy Delevingne her wedding look. Best pals: Charlotte created Kate Moss' look for her Topshop launch party - and even created a lipstick in her honour . Bride-to-be: Charlotte, who is pregnant with her second child, did the Delevingne sisters' make-up for Poppy's wedding on Friday . | Make-up artist to stars created youth-boosting beauty look . Calls on mother Patsy, 65, to be her model . Explains importance of retinol, lots of mascara and lipliner . Recently made over Margot Robbie and Kate Moss . Did Poppy Delevingne's make-up for wedding . | afb28ab2dd7a82babd993bc9f908071a0878d4af |
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama on Wednesday agreed to move his scheduled special address to a joint session of Congress back one day -- from September 7 to September 8 -- after consultations with House Speaker John Boehner, the White House said Wednesday night. "Today, the President asked to address the Congress about the need for urgent action on the economic situation facing the American people as soon as Congress returned from recess," the White House said in a statement Wednesday night. "Both Houses will be back in session after their August recess on Wednesday, September 7th, so that was the date that was requested. We consulted with the Speaker about that date before the letter was released, but he determined Thursday would work better. The President is focused on the urgent need to create jobs and grow our economy, so he welcomes the opportunity to address a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday, September 8th and challenge our nation's leaders to start focusing 100% of their attention on doing whatever they can to help the American people." A political showdown had erupted earlier Wednesday over Obama's sudden request. Boehner, in a letter to Obama, said the 8 p.m. speech would come less than two hours after the House is scheduled to complete legislative business, and the speaker recommended moving it back a day. Boehner's letter noted that security sweeps of the chamber usually take more than three hours. "There are considerations about the congressional calendar that must be made prior to scheduling such an extraordinary event," Boehner wrote. "With the significant amount of time -- typically more than three hours -- that is required to allow for a security sweep of the House chamber before receiving a president, it is my recommendation that your address be held on the following evening, when we can ensure there will be no parliamentary or logistical impediments that might detract from your remarks." One senior GOP aide told CNN that "arranging a joint session of Congress isn't as simple as snapping our fingers." Obama's requested date conflicted with a Republican presidential debate to be held at the Reagan Library in California. When asked about that conflict, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney brushed it off. "This is the right time to do it (and) the right day to do it," Carney said in reference to Obama's speech. If the Republicans want to "adjust the timing of their debate ... that would be completely fine with us." Numerous observers noted that the September speech will conflict with the opening game of the National Football League's regular season. The dispute had touched off accusations by people on each side -- all on condition of not identifying who made them -- of high-handed behavior by the other, as well as the White House. One Democratic source said the White House provided little advance notice of the speech request to congressional Democrats, while the GOP aide stressed that Republicans were not consulted at all. The aide added that Republicans were notified only 15 minutes before the public release of Obama's request. Events like the president's State of the Union address typically involve as much as four to six weeks of lead time and consultation, involving a series of meetings among police, Secret Service officials and others, the Republican aide noted. However, a White House official said Boehner's office was consulted and raised no objection. That prompted Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck to insist that "no one in the speaker's office -- not the speaker, not any staff -- signed off on the date the White House announced today." "Unfortunately, we weren't even asked if that date worked for the House," Buck said. "Shortly before it arrived this morning, we were simply informed that a letter was coming. It's unfortunate the White House ignored decades -- if not centuries -- of the protocol of working out a mutually agreeable date and time before making any public announcement." A senior Democratic aide familiar with scheduling such events in previous administrations said "the childish behavior coming out of the speaker's office today is truly historic." "It is unprecedented to reject the date that a president wants to address a joint session of the Congress," the senior Democratic aide said. "People die and state funerals are held with less fuss, so the logistics excuse by the speaker's office is laughable. Yes, consultation always occurs, but the president always gets the date he wants." Meanwhile, an aide to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Boehner didn't consult with House Democratic leaders about seeking a new date for Obama's speech. Obama's request for a Wednesday evening speech was accepted by the leadership of the Democratic-controlled Senate, according to a Democratic Senate leadership aide. The approval of leaders from both chambers of Congress, however, is required for such a presidential request to be accepted. Obama's speech is intended to provide a prime-time platform for the rollout of his highly anticipated job growth plan. "Our nation faces unprecedented economic challenges, and millions of hard-working Americans continue to look for jobs," Obama said in a letter sent earlier Wednesday to Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. "As I have traveled across our country this summer and spoken with our fellow Americans, I have heard a consistent message: Washington needs to put aside politics and start making decisions based on what is best for our country and not what is best for each of our parties in order to grow the economy and create jobs. We must answer this call." The national unemployment rate currently stands at 9.1% -- a figure all but ensuring that the state of the fragile economy will remain the dominant issue of the 2012 presidential campaign. CNN's Brianna Keilar, Deirdre Walsh, Kate Bolduan, Jessica Yellin and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report. | NEW: White House agrees to move speech back one day, to September 8 . NEW: White House says it "welcomes the opportunity" for a speech that night . NEW: Speech is "about the need for urgent action" on economy, White House says . Obama's request for September 7 produced outcry over scheduling, notification . | 0e64a2dd9d9f91853967faef2363f1b2f60ee3cd |
By . Sam Webb . PUBLISHED: . 08:41 EST, 10 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:08 EST, 10 January 2013 . A historic Yorkshire marketplace will have its cobbles ripped up and replaced with modern block paving for health and safety reasons. East Riding council said the traditional stones in Beverley's Saturday Market could 'cause problems for visitors and residents with disabilities' and has ordered crews to dig them up next week, causing uproar among townsfolk and English Heritage. The conservation body has strongly advised against the plan and urged the council to keep the cobbles, which historians believe are at least 175 years old and probably date back to the 1700s. Rage: A number of protest marches have been held to oppose the cobbles being ripped up in Saturday Market . Protest: Campaigners opposed to the removal of the cobbles bear signs saying 'What next? The Minster?' and 'Cobblers to the council' It said the traditional surface is 'important to the historic character' of the market town, which is popular with day-trippers and tourists. Residents have held 500-strong marches through the market square and presented petitions containing almost 1,000 names in a bid to halt the work. However, town hall bosses said work will go ahead after they consulted community groups, including members of a disability advisory group, which were in favour of removing the stones. History professor Barbara English, of Beverley Civic Society, said it was a 'hugely disappointing' and short-sighted decision in the face of 'an overwhelming amount of opposition'. 'This will destroy the town's historic atmosphere,' she said. 'Saturday Market, which is surrounded by listed buildings, is the absolute core of the town. This and the minster (an historic church in the town) are what people associate with Beverley.' Vocal: More than 500 people marched on Sunday, and 1,000 have signed a petition opposing the council's plan . Angry young man: A Beverley child shows his support for the Save Our Setts campaign . History: The cobbles in Saturday Market, Beverley, East Yorkshire are due to be removed next week because of health and safety concerns. Residents and historians have blasted the plans . Outrage: Marches attended by 500 people and a 1,000-signature petition have failed to dissuade town chiefs from removing the cobblestones . Legacy: The stones in Saturday Market are believed to be 175-years-old or more . Prof English said historic records show the stones were in place in 1829 and may well be from the 1700s. But the council says many of the cobbles - or setts - were replaced or restored when they were uncovered from beneath a layer of tarmac in the 1980s. Campaign group Save Our Setts, organised by Beverley Action Group, has held 500-strong protest parades through the town, which has a population of less than 30,000. The Yorkshire town of Beverley is famous for its 13th century Minster, its market and its music festivals, which celebrate traditional and early music. The medieval background of the town is reflected in street names like Toll Gavel, Butcher Row, Ladygate, Hengate, Wednesday Market and Saturday Market. The Minster has Europe's largest collection of musician stone carvings. It also boasts the 700-year old Percy Tomb, a masterpiece of European medieval art. On the other side of town is St Mary's Church, which has a brightly-painted Minstrel pillar and a decorated ceiling depicting the Kings of England. The church also has a carving of a pilgrim hare, which was said to be the inspiration behind Lewis Caroll's White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. Beverley's annual festivals of early music, chamber music and folk music attract visitors from far and wide and celebrate the town`s ancient tradition as a centre of musical excellence. The town's Art Gallery is renowned for its permanent collection of Frederick Elwell paintings, a painter who once painted a portrait of King George V and lived in the town. A spokesman called the idea 'a crude, inappropriate scheme that will remove these wonderful landmarks and change the character of Beverley's main square for the worse, forever'. He added: 'The setts, pavements, curbs and gullies are an essential part of the cultural heritage of this town and a major feature of Saturday Market, drawing visitors from around the UK and abroad.' English Heritage said East Riding council asked for its advice about changes to the marketplace in 2012, which also include upgrading pavements and increasing pedestrian areas as part of a £2.5million scheme. An English Heritage spokesman said: 'We believe it is possible to improve the market area and still keep the cobbles, which are important to the historic character of Beverley. 'We were supportive of the proposals in principle, although we advised there were elements of the scheme which could be changed to be more sympathetic to the historical character of the conservation area and the 40 listed buildings in the area. 'We advised that it was better to keep the cobble stones rather than remove them completely and only remove them where wheelchair access was needed. 'This advice was given before East Riding submitted their official planning application and since then we have heard nothing from the council on their plans for the area.' Saturday Market's large market square is still used by traders and is lined with conservation-listed Georgian, Victorian and other historic buildings. Heritage: The Grade I listed Market Cross at Beverley in the 1940s . The marketplace, with the Market Cross on the left, in 1869. Beverley Minster is just visible to the right of the cross in the distance . An unidentified street in Beverley in the early 20th Century, taken by renowned photographer Alfred Hind Robinson . It contains a 300-year-old market cross that is Grade I listed - the highest historic protection possible, reserved for 2.5% of all listed structures including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and York Minster. Nigel Leighton, director of environment and neighbourhood services at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said the cobbles 'can cause problems for less able-bodied people or those using wheelchairs and prams'. He said a number of community groups, including the town council, chamber of trade and the Disability Advisory Monitoring Group were consulted. What a mess: In November bungling council workers enraged residents in the picturesque market town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, after wrecking historic cobblestones by covering them with thick yellow paint . He added: 'The proposed scheme is a good compromise of all the feedback received by the council from groups and individuals who represent a broad cross-section of Beverley's 30,000 population. 'Work on the scheme will begin next week and the council has agreed to look into reclaiming the setts and other historic materials to be set aside for use in Beverley.' Several years ago, plans were put forward to transform the market square into a continental-style piazza, complete with fountains and trees. They were ditched following a public outcry. In November residents in the picturesque market town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, were furious after council workers clumsily daubed double yellow lines on Georgian cobbles in an historic square. The paint dribbled down the stones leaving an unsightly mess in St Mary's Place in the town, a popular tourist destination. James Tweedle, 33, who lives nearby, said: 'It's absolute incompetence.' | Residents fume over plans to tear up cobbles in town's scenic marketplace . Campaigners call plans 'crude' and say it will 'destroy' the site's character . English Heritage also voice fears over removal of 175-year-old cobbles . But town chiefs defend plans, saying disabled people struggle on the stones . | 06465a5b68a376bb3e5a1a1cd3387e7fe36cd626 |
A top Seattle lawyer has died after a truck crashed into her bike - leaving her partner to bring up their seven-month-old daughter alone. Sher Kung, 31, was riding in the bike lane along Second Avenue in the city on Friday morning when a truck made a left turn and struck her. She died at the scene. The tragic accident came less than two weeks before the city plans to improve safety for cyclists at the intersection, including adding a protected lane and a separate signal,King5 reported. The young lawyer, described by her firm Perkins Coie as 'one of our brightest young lawyers', had welcomed her first child, Bryn, with her fiancee Christine Sanders in February. Scroll down for video . Tragedy: 31-year-oldSher Kung, who welcomed a baby daughter with her partner earlier this year, was killed by a truck as she rode her bicycle in downtown Seattle last Friday . Loved: Kung, pictured with her fiancee Christine Sanders, was a top lawyer who had worked for LGBT issues . She was 'an exceptional lawyer and a wonderful comrade, with boundless energy, legal brilliance and relentless optimism,' Perkins Coie said in a statement on Saturday, the Seattle Times reported. 'Our hearts go out to her partner and their child, her extended family, and her many friends.' Most famously, Kung was part of the American Civil Liberties Union trial team that successfully challenged the military's 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' policy. In September 2010, she helped the ACLU represent Air Force Major Margaret Witt, a nurse who was fired from the military in 2004 for being gay. The court ordered the military to give Witt her job back. Adored: She shared numerous photographs of her welcoming baby Bryn to the family earlier this year . Happy: Sanders, 37, has now been left to bring up the seven-month-old girl alone . Loved up: A photograph shared on Kung's Facebook at the start of last year shows her proposing . In photos of Witt and her partner Laurie McChesney celebrating after their victory outside court in Tacoma, a fresh-faced Kung can be seen grinning beside them. More recently, Kung worked on intellectual-property issues and educational materials that helped educate farmworkers about their rights, the Seattle Times reported. She had received her bachelor's degree from Brown University and her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. She met Sanders, 37, more than three years ago and the couple enjoyed an active lifestyle together. In a Facebook post last year, Kung was pictured on one knee proposing to Sanders. On January 1, Sanders shared an image of her large baby bump with the comment: 'Happy New Year, little bug! At 37 weeks you're officially term and we can't wait to meet you. Successful: In 2010, Kung, an ACLU lawyer, (right) looks on as Margaret Witt, center, and Witt's partner, Laurie McChesney, celebrate after a judge ruled Witt should get back her job, which she lost for being gay . Tribute: A ghost bike memorial has been left at the intersection where Kung died in downtown Seattle . Loved: A note left on the memorial thanked the young lawyer for her dedicated work on LGBT issues . 'I'm not sure how we did it all, but in 2013, we got engaged, bought a house and made a person. In 2014, we solemnly swear we'll accomplish a little less.' On a fundraising page set up in her memory, friends wrote: 'Sher Kung was a beautiful, active and caring person that was loved by everyone who had the honor of knowing her. 'A life lived with heart, joy, passion, and such soaring love for her family and friends. Her cheery smile, positive attitude and warm, energetic personality will be missed by many.' The truck driver has cooperated with investigators and showed no sign of impairment, police said. Friends have left running shoes and t-shirts at the scene, which has been marked by a white bicycle - a ghost bike. See below for video . | Sher Kung was hit by a truck making a left turn in Seattle on Friday . The tragedy comes just two weeks before the city plans to make safety changes for cyclists at the intersection . Kung was on the team of lawyers who successfully represented Margaret Witt, who was discharged from the military for being gay in 2004 . Kung and her partner welcomed a baby daughter earlier this year . | 41de8d237a3ffb2f8dfc04cbe0b54e7cabffad27 |
An Egyptian court has sentenced four members of the Muslim Brotherhood to death and the banned group's leader to life in prison. Mohamed Badie was one of 14 members sentenced to life, alongside his deputy Khairat El-Shater and leading Brotherhood figure and lawmaker Mohamed El-Beltagy. Mr Badie and Mr El-Beltagy both showed their defiance at the verdicts, gesturing behind the heavy screens of their cages to cameras in the Cairo courtroom. Scroll down for video . Leading Muslim Brotherhood figure Mohamed el-Beltagy gestures from the defendants' cage during his trial at the non-commissioned police officers institute in Cairo. He was sentenced to life in prison . Supreme Guide of the banned Mohammed Badie cries out in defiance during his sentencing today . Mr al-Beltagy attending the first meeting of the constituent assembly in Cairo, Egypt, in June 2012 as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (left); a sharp contrast to the caged prisoner and key figure in the now banned group registering his angry defiance at being handed a life sentence (right) Egyptian policemen stand guard in the courtroom in front of the cage holding the defendants. The case stems from violent clashes near the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters on June 30, 2013 . The case stemmed from clashes near the group's headquarters on June 30, 2013, four days before the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The fighting left 11 people dead and 91 wounded. The men were accused of murder and possession of firearms, among other charges. Other key figures sentenced to life include party head Saad el-Katatni and his deputy, Essam el-Erian. Four lower-level members of the Brotherhood were sentenced to death for inciting the violence in June 2013. Two of those sentenced to death and three sentenced to life were tried in absentia. The death sentences are subject to appeal and many of the defendants are already serving lengthy sentences on other charges. Once the top leader of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Badie has already been sentenced to multiple life terms, and was one of hundreds given the death sentence in a mass trial that drew international criticism of Egypt's judicial system. Some 22,000 people have been arrested since Morsi's ouster, including most of the Brotherhood's leaders, as well as non-Islamist activists swept up by police during protests. Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie behind bars during his trial at the non-commissioned police officers institute in the Egyptian capital Cairo . Police in the Cairo courtroom.Some 22,000 people have been arrested since Morsi's ouster, including most of the Brotherhood's leaders, as well as non-Islamist activists swept up by police during protests . Egypt's former Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Mahdi Akef looks on during today's trial at which the group's current leader Mohamed Badie was sentenced to life over the deaths of protesters who stormed the group's Cairo headquarters in June 2013 . President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who as army chief toppled Morsi, describes the Brotherhood as a major security threat. The movement says it is committed to peaceful activism. The same day another Egyptian court listed the Palestinian group Hamas as a terrorist organisation, judicial sources said, part of a sustained crackdown on Islamists in the most populous Arab state. Hamas is an offshoot of the Brotherhood, which the authorities have also declared a terrorist group in Egypt and have repressed systematically since the coup against Morsi. While a court ruled in January that Hamas' armed wing was a terrorist organisation, Saturday's broader ruling against the entire group has potentially greater consequences for the already strained relationship between Cairo and Hamas, which dominates the Gaza Strip on Egypt's border. 'The Egyptian court's decision to list the Hamas movement as a terror organisation is shocking and is dangerous, and it targets the Palestinian people and its factions of resistance,' Hamas said in a statement after the ruling. 'It will have no influence on the Hamas movement,' Hamas said. After the January decision against Hamas' Qassem Brigades, a source close to the armed wing signalled the group would no longer accept Egypt as a broker between it and Israel. Cairo has for many years played a central role in engineering ceasefires between Israel and Hamas, including a truce reached between the sides in August that ended a 50-day Gaza war. A spokesman for the Egyptian government declined to say what actions the government would take to enforce the ruling. 'When a final judgment is issued, we will discuss this,' Hossam al-Qawish said. | Mr Badie joined by leading Brotherhood figure Mohamed El-Beltagy . Pair gesture to cameras in Cairo courtroom in defiance of life sentences . Twelve other members of banned group given life terms by Egyptian court . Charges include murder and firearm possession over June 2013 clashes . Fighting followed ouster of former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi . Four lesser Brotherhood members sentenced to death for inciting violence . | 79c92fb178255c3213a5e6c594f9c2984c4df881 |
Athens, Greece (CNN) -- The leader of the socialist PASOK party in Greece is starting efforts to build a government, his party said, making him the third Greek politician since Sunday to try to do so. PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos held meetings with the leader of the Democratic Left party, Fotis Kouvelis, in what Venizelos called a "first step" toward assembling a coalition of pro-European parties. He is scheduled to hold talks with head of the center-right New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, on Friday. Samaras and another potential coalition partner -- Alexis Tsipras of the leftist Syriza party -- have tried and failed to organize a government already. If no one can pull together a coalition, and no national unity government can be formed by May 17, Greece must call new elections. Venizelos, who has three days to cobble together a deal, said Sunday's fragmented results show voters don't trust "any party on its own." But he says he wants Greece to stay in the eurozone, the group of 17 European countries that use a common currency. "It is a given that we want Greece in the euro," he said. "We want something better, not something worse." Read why Greece will muddle through crisis . Greece has been forced to impose punishing austerity measures to get international loans that have kept it from defaulting on debts. The election results were widely seen as a message to politicians to back away from the harsh economic austerity measures. Voters backed parties on the far left and right, withholding support from PASOK and New Democracy, the more moderate parties that made up the coalition that enacted the cuts. Seven parties won seats in parliament in Sunday's election, but no party captured more than 19% of the vote. As Tsipras began coalition talks Tuesday, he said PASOK and New Democracy "don't have a majority any more to vote for the plundering of the Greek people." PASOK placed third in the election, behind New Democracy and Syriza. The latest opinion poll, by Marc-Alpha TV, suggests that if new elections are held, Syriza would come out on top, with nearly 24% of the vote, followed by New Democracy with 17.4% and PASOK with just under 11%. A coalition would still need to be formed. Extreme-right party Golden Dawn would take a smaller share of a second vote than on Sunday, the poll suggests, but would still pass the threshold to have lawmakers in parliament. A European Commission spokeswoman said this week that Greece needs time to work through its political process, but she reminded the country's leaders that they would be expected to abide by the terms of a bailout program meant to avoid a crippling financial meltdown. "The commission hopes and expects that the future government of Greece will respect the engagements that Greece has entered into," spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen told reporters. New Democracy ended up with 108 seats in Greece's 300-seat parliament. Voters also delivered a rebuke to PASOK, leaving it with 41 of the 160 seats it held before Sunday's vote. Together, the parties fell short of the 50% necessary to continue their coalition, requiring formation of a new government. Last year, Greece's debt threatened to force it to drop Europe's common currency, the euro, prompting the European Central Bank and other lenders to swoop in with emergency funding. In exchange, they demanded that the government slash spending. The resulting measures have led to tax increases and cuts in jobs, wages, pensions and benefits -- and significant public outcry. Read why Greece shouldn't be allowed to sink . The national unemployment rate for January, the latest month for which figures are available, was nearly 22%, prompting widespread protests and leading some young people to leave the country in search of work. Youth unemployment is even higher than the national average of one in five out of work. For two years, the country's massive amount of debt has threatened the stability of the eurozone. Greece pushed through a huge debt swap in March to save it from disorderly default and clear the way for it to receive a second bailout from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, worth €130 billion ($171.5 billion). The debt restructuring deal gave some breathing space to the eurozone bloc, where fears that Greece might collapse had increased pressure on other debt-laden nations such as Spain and Italy. CNN's Antonia Mortensen and Matthew Chance and journalist Elinda Labropoulou contributed to this report. | NEW: Socialist leader Venizelos calls talks a "first step" toward a coalition . Opinion poll suggests the leftist Syriza party would win most votes in a new election . Two other politicians say they can't get enough backing from other parties to form a coalition . If no government is formed by May 17, Greece has to call new elections . | a6d1f86e1c8bff1e31f3362ff715fa745342d414 |
By . David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 11:16 EST, 4 February 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 11:21 EST, 4 February 2014 . Bridget Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who was fired in disgrace over allegedly politically motivated traffic lane closures, says through her lawyer that she will not obey a subpoena for documents related to the embarrassing episode. Kelly has become the third New Jersey official to claim the protections of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects citizens from being forced to incriminate themselves in legal proceedings. Her lawyer wrote Monday to the legislative panel handling an investigation in the state capital of Trenton that Kelly is clinging to her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, and to privacy rights enshrined in the Fourth Amendment. Former Christie deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly (R) is the third person to cite Fifth Amendment protections in refusing to provide investigators with information about the 'Bridgegate' scandal . She 'respectfully will not produce the . information demanded in the Committee's subpoena,' attorney Michael . Critchley wrote to Reid Schar, the special counsel in charge of the . probe. Schar made his . name prosecuting former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is serving a . 14-year federal prison term for public corruption. 'The Fifth Amendment's protections are not limited to verbal testimony,' Critchley insisted in the letter published online by the Newark Star-Ledger. He also claimed some of the committee's subpoena demands were 'impermissibly overbroad' and might violate her right to privacy. The attorney did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment. Emails that surfaced in January . appeared to show Kelly orchestrating the closure of lanes leading from . Fort Lee, N.J. to the busy George Washington Bridge, a commuter route . into New York City. 'Time . for traffic problems in Fort Lee,' she wrote to Port Authority official . David Wildstein, who responded, 'Got it.' Wildstein was the first . official in the saga to cite the Fifth Amendment, refusing to testify in . a January 9 hearing. Wildstein's attorney wrote Friday that his client claimed 'evidence exists' showing Christie was inside the circle of people who knew about the lane closures when they were occurring. The governor's office fired back with emails, circulated among friends and political allies, claiming 'David Wildstein will do and say anything to save David Wildstein,' and slamming The New York Times for first misreporting what Wildstein's lawyer wrote. The attorney, the Times' original story incorrectly claimed, had said 'that the governor knew about the lane closings when they were happening, and that he had the evidence to prove it.' That text was quietly changed hours later without any acknowledgement. The New Jersey legislature's Select Committee on Investigation said Monday in a statement that it had begun to receive subpoenaed documents from some of the 18 people and two organizations that received the demands last month. David Wildstein, a former Port Authority appointee of the governor's, refused to testify during a January 9 hearing in Trenton, N.J. Bill Stepien, the political brain behind Christie's two successful gubernatorial elections, also refused on Friday to turn over documents, citing the Fifth Amendment. Kelly's decision hit the Internet while Gov. Christie was fielding questions during a regular 'Ask the Governor' radio segment. 'It doesn’t tell me anything,' he said about the decisions, three in all, to withhold information from investigators. Chris Christie fielded questions from New Jerseyans on Monday night during a regular radio segment as news broke that Kelly would refuse to cooperate with a subpoena . 'I would hope they would share any information they have that would let me get to the bottom of it,' Christie said, while continuing to insist he had no knowledge of the 'Bridgegate' lane closures before they were put into place. 'But on the other hand, they have constitutional rights like everybody else, and have the right to exercise them. There’s nothing I can do about that.' Loretta Weinberg, a Democratic state senator who co-chairs the committee investigating Christie's political orbit, told the Bergen County Record that 'It's frustrating when we’re trying to find the truth of the situation that started with the governor saying he was going to cooperate and urge others to do the same.' She and State Assemblyman John Wisniewski, the committee's other co-chair, said in a statement that they received Critchley's letter. 'We are reviewing it and considering our legal options with respect to enforcing the subpoena,' they said. Kelly’s announcement came just days after one of her former underlings, Christina Genovese Renna, resigned from Christie's office. Renna, the former director of New Jersey's Intergovernmental Affairs agency, left her job on Friday but said in a statement that she had been considering the move since shortly after Christie won re-election in November. Her lawyer said Monday that Renna, who received one of the committee's 20 subpoenas, would find it more and more difficult to leave as parallel investigations by the legislative committee and federal prosecutors gather steam. | Bridget Kelly, the governor's former deputy chief of staff, is refusing to turn over documents to a legislative committee . The decision suggests that her notes, emails, calendars and other paperwork might incriminate her . Christie's office is under fire over accusations that he orchestrated a political revenge plan to close road lanes in a Democratic mayor's town . The September closures pinched off traffic to the George Washington Bridge . Christie fired Kelly in January, and now she's the third former official to cite the Fifth Amendment in refusing to cooperate with a subpoena . | 513db76b91299de6d7f4f123010242aa07010a15 |
It is one of the biggest days in the British racing calendar. And no Epsom Derby would be complete without the presence of the country's most high-profile horse-racing fan - her Majesty the Queen. The 87-year-old monarch was resplendent in a mint green dress coat with a co-ordinating hat as she arrived at Epsom Downs ahead of the Investec Derby today. Favoured pastime: The Queen, a familiar face at all the major dates in the horse-racing calendar, visited Epsom Racecourse in Surrey ahead of the Derby today with her husband the Duke of Edinburgh . Bird's eye view: The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie observed all the action from their vantage point on the Queen's Stand at Epsom . Studying the form: The Queen was deep in conversation on the stand while the Duke of Edinburgh used his binoculars to get a better view . Sporting event: Princess Beatrice wore a cloche-style hat by milliner Karen Henriksen, and a monochrome dress with a circle print . The Queen and Prince Philip were joined by their granddaughters, Princesses Beatrice, 24, and Eugenie, 23 in the Surrey sunshine today. The girls' father Prince Andrew, Duke of York, was also in attendance at Epsom today, making it something of a family affair for the royals. Princess Beatrice, famous for her unorthodox choice of hat at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in April 2011, again decided on a statement headpiece for her day at the races. Prince Andrew's eldest daughter wore a black and white patterned dress with black heels and gold jewellery, which she accessorised with an unusual maroon cloche hat by milliner Karen Henriksen and a matching clutch bag. Blue skies: The Queen, an avid horse-racing fan, chose a mint green dress coat and a co-ordinating hat to attend the Investec Derby at Epsom Downs Racecourse today . Derby day: Princesses Eugenie, left, and Beatrice, right, joined their grandmother the Queen at the Surrey racecourse for the Investec Derby today . Finery: Princess Eugenie chose a patterned dress in summery shades of blue, white and taupe, teamed with a taupe hat and nude heels, while her sister Princess Beatrice wore an unusual black and white dress with black heels and maroon accessories . Bold: Princess Beatrice, 24, accessorised her black and white dress with a maroon cloche hat, a black and gold studded belt and gold jewellery . Race day: The Duke of Edinburgh waved to the crowds as he arrived at the Surrey racecourse today (left), before joining the monarch to soak up all the action from the Queen's Stand (right) Triumph: Ryan Moore rode to victory on Ruler of the World today in the Investec Derby, cheered on by around 100,000 spectators . Quality time: Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie appeared deep in conversation at Epsom today (left), while Prince Philip kept his wife the Queen entertained (right) Good spirits: The Duke of Edinburgh kept these racegoers entertained on the Queen's Stand overlooking the Surrey racecourse today . Ruler of the racecourse: Ruler of the World, ridden by jockey Ryan Moore, thundered to victory watched by thousands of racegoers including members of the royal family at Epsom . Princess Beatrice's dress was cinched at the waist with a black and gold studded belt. Her sister Eugenie chose a more . spring-like palette, wearing a full-skirted frock in shades of blue, . white and taupe, with a co-ordinating taupe hat and nude heels. Her hat was created by Sarah Cant, the couture milliner behind the cream headpiece Eugenie wore on Easter Sunday this year. The Newcastle University graduate's . patent shoes were similar to the LK Bennett heels famously favoured by . Prince William's wife Kate Middleton. Other famous faces spotted in the crowd on Derby day today included comedian Jack Whitehall and Les Miserables star Samantha Barks, who looked incredible in a knee-length body con dress and co-ordinating hat. All smiles: Surrounded by members of her family, the Queen was captured beaming in the sunshine as she arrived at the racecourse in Surrey ahead of today's Derby . Family affair: The Queen, a regular race-goer, was accompanied today by her husband Prince Philip (right behind the Queen), their son Prince Andrew (left behind the Queen), and his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie (seen right in the background) Formal: Prince Andrew, dapper in top hat and tails, joined his daughters Princess Eugenie (left with her father) and Princess Beatrice (right) at Epsom Racecourse today . Sisters: Princess Eugenie, left, chose nude patent heels similar to those favoured by the Duchess of Cambridge, while Beatrice, right, wore black to match her dress . Crowds: Thousands of racegoers enjoyed bright sunshine and pleasant temperatures at the racecourse in Surrey on Epsom Derby day today . Radiant: Les Miserables star Samantha Barks, 22, looked stunning in a blue, white and black body con dress with a co-ordinating hat and white clutch bag . Famous faces: Actor and comedian Jack Whitehall, 24, was also in the crowds at today's Epsom Derby, wearing a grey three-piece suit . International visitors: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, and his wife Princess Haya of Jordan were also in attendance . Best-dressed: Actress Gemma Chan, left, chose a simple yet striking monochrome dress, left, while her boyfriend Jack Whitehall was smart in a grey three-piece suit . Signs of summer: Racegoers decked out in their finery - including the obligatory colourful hats - enjoyed glasses of Pimms as they cheered on the horses today . Glamour: Ladies' Day was yesterday but that didn't stop the girls pulling out all the stops for the Epsom Derby today . Ruler Of The World provided Aidan O'Brien with a fourth Investec Derby and maintained his unbeaten record under Ryan Moore at Epsom today - with favourite Dawn Approach well beaten. Ruler Of The World (7-1) showed a smart turn of foot to go clear, but Battle Of Marengo, Galileo Rock and Ocovango all set off in pursuit. The gap was closing at the line as Libertarian flashed home to claim second with Galileo Rock in third. The race was watched by over 100,000 people at Epsom Downs. | The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh led the royal contingent at Epsom Downs ahead of today's Derby . Accompanied by Princess Beatrice, 24, and her sister Princess Eugenie, 23, in the Surrey sunshine . Ruler of the World, trained by Aidan O'Brien, claimed victory in the 234th Epsom Derby today . | 80ddd07211888f2974640dbe8cee58bee81c97a4 |
Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany provided a decent reply when Arsenal supporter Piers Morgan offered him a sports cars and money to swap the north-west for north London this week. 'These days I play for glory,' said the Belgian. As quick witted as it was acerbic, Kompany’s Tweet made his point. The landscape has shifted in English football over the last five years. You no longer sign for Arsenal if you want to win the Barclays Premier League any time soon. Even the ever optimistic Kompany will find little glory in his own team’s predicament at the moment, however, as the City captain does his best to steady a defence currently looking as vulnerable as at any time since Arab money eased his club on to an upwards trajectory six years ago. Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany failed to deal with the threat of two-goal hero Seydou Doumbia . Belgium international Kompany, pictured with CSKA Moscow's Alan Dzagoev, struggled against the Russians . Manuel Pellegrini's side have not been at their best during this season's Champions League campaign . Kompany reflected on his side's performance shortly after the final whistle . Football is cyclical, of course. Few things at the really top clubs last forever and City have too many good players in their squad for their current struggles to last. Having said that, they are currently showing few signs of digging themselves out of a defensive slump that threatens to undermine their whole season. Manchester City have tried to pair Vincent Kompany with a number of centre backs during his time at the club but have had little success. The likes of Kolo Toure, Joleon Lescott and Stefan Savic have all been given a chance to hold down a starting berth alongside Kompany - but have all since moved on to pastures new. Eliaquim Mangala, who sealed a £32million move to the Etihad during the summer transfer window, had expected to bolster City's defensive options but is yet to impress. There are other issues currently afflicting this City team. Too many of their marquee players are lacking form. They miss a reliable third striker after the departure of Alvaro Negredo on the back of his wife’s homesickness in the summer. Nevertheless, the sickness that currently drags them down is undoubtedly their work without the ball, their defending. Even the best attacking teams need a platform on which to work and at the moment City just don’t have one. City were as poor as they have been for many years on Wednesday night in that area of the field and there would appear to be a self-belief issue. Confidence – that intangible sporting elixir – can hide a multitude of sins. Equally, when it leaves you it can turn very good players in to shadows of themselves. Look, for example, at the two first half goals conceded by Pellgrini’s team here. Kompany looked dejected after his side loss 2-1 against Champions League opponents CSKA Moscow . The Manchester City defender was not happy with the performance of referee Tasos Sidiropoulos . Martin Demichelis, pictured, and Eliaquim Mangala have taken it in turns to partner Kompany . The first – a free header from a free-kick – was the type of goal Sunday League defenders would go to the pub and fret about. The second, meanwhile, began with a botched clearance from Gael Clichy and ended with a run from CSKA forward Seydou Doumbia that was just too well-timed for the City left-back’s malfunctioning colleagues to do anything about. There were other horror moments, too. Between his two goals, Doumbia raced clear on Joe Hart with far too much ease. On that occasion he was let down by a poor first touch and a shot pulled across goal and wide. Then, shortly after CSKA’s second goal the talented CSKA midfielder Bebras Natcho turned away from Yaya Toure so effortlessly that it was embarrassing. Luckily for City, he couldn’t supplement that act with a pass of similar quality. Let’s not be too hard on Toure. The City midfielder has had a tough week and scored a sublime free-kick equaliser early in the piece. His subsequent sending off – as deserved as it was – was simply born of frustration. Former Porto defender Mangala has failed to live up to his £32million price tag . Piers Morgan took to Twitter on Tuesday to ask Kompany if he would join his beloved Arsenal . Morgan then joked he had withdrawn his offer after the Manchester City star's performance against CSKA . City lost their discipline here. Despite their numerical disadvantage, they could have chased this game down. They had enough quality left on the field. There is a distinct lack of joy about this team at the moment, though, and, it must be said, their manager is showing few signs of finding answers. We have all watched this group of players often enough over the recent months and years to know what they are really capable of. They can be a pretty fearsome, destructive force. At the moment, though, they look vulnerable and fretful and it is surprising. Certainly across the back it would help if Pellegrini could field a settled back four and in particular a regular central partnership. Injuries to summer signing Eliaquim Mangala – back on the bench against CSKA Moscow – and Aleksandar Kolarov have deprived him of that option, though, and for now he must muddle on. The Champions League looks beyond City already. If things don’t improve soon, the Premier League will follow suit by the time the Christmas trees go up. VIDEO Pellegrini defends City's discipline . | Manchester City's defence failed to deal with the threat of CSKA Moscow star Seydou Doumbia . Manuel Pellegrini's side lost 2-1 against the Russia outfit at the Etihad . City's hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages are extremely slim . Fernandinho and Yaya Toure were sent off against CSKA Moscow . | 9b2cbe5da9fdb4bab6d3be81f17f1b975c8674e7 |
The universe as we know it may not be the only one in existence. In fact, it could be one of a number of parallel universes making up a ‘multiverse.’ In this scenario, there could be multiple versions of you in different universes – ones doing exactly the same thing, and others where your 'twin' has made completely different life choices. It may be stretching the imagination, but theory has gained traction following the major discovery of gravitational waves on Monday. Scroll down for video... The discovery of these gravitational waves could solidify the idea that our young universe went through inflation. That theory is linked to the idea that the universe is constantly giving birth to different, parallel universes . Earlier this week, astronomers detected what happened in the first billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. This very brief moment of time at the beginning of everything is when the universe expanded very rapidly - a theory called cosmic inflation. According to Albert Einstein when something very explosive like this happens it leaves ripples in space-time known as 'gravitational waves'. Gravitational waves from cosmic inflation generate a faint but distinctive twisting pattern in the universe. Shown here is the pattern observed with the Bicep2 telescope, providing evidence for cosmic inflation after the Big Bang, although the results have been called into question . Enlarge . This graphic shows the universe as it evolved from the Big Bang to now. Nasa scientists believe that the universe expanded from subatomic scales to the astronomical in just a fraction of a second after its birth . Astronomers announced on Monday that they ripples in the fabric of space-time that are echoes of the massive expansion of the universe after the Big Bang. Predicted by Albert Einstein nearly a century ago, the discovery of the ripples, called gravitational waves, would be a crowning achievement the understanding of how the universe began and evolved. The ‘multiverse’ theory is based on the fact that these gravitational wave point to a particularly powerful type of inflation of the early universe. In some regions of physical reality inflation, continues and in others it stops. In the regions where it has stopped someone looking back on this time would see a 'bang' - the birth of their universe. The ‘multiverse’ theory is based on the fact that these primordial gravitational wave point to a particularly powerful type of inflation of the early universe. ‘In most models, if you have inflation, then you have a multiverse,’ said Stanford physicist Andrei Linde speaking at a conference on Monday. Theorists argue that every kind of universe is out there in the aftermath of the Big Bang, from our familiar universe to universes that have completely different physical properties. 'When it comes to inflation, universes beyond our own come wrapped up as part of the package – what we see as our universe is what remained after inflation ceased in this part of reality,' Colin Stuart, author of 'The Big Questions in Science', told MailOnline. 'What's just been found is “a smoking . gun” for inflation – the most concrete evidence we have to date that it . actually happened. So the multiverse is looking more likely than ever.' Scientists, from left, Clem Pryke, Jamie Bock, Chao-Lin Kuo and John Kovac smile during a news conference at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge to announce their groundbreaking results on gravitational waves . The term ‘multiverse’ was invented in December 1960, by Andy Nimmo, then vice chairman of the British Interplanetary Society. It is based on the theory of eternal inflation, which suggests that shortly after the Big Bang that formed the universe, space-time expanded at different rates in different places. According to eternal inflation theory, this gave rise to bubble universes that may function with their own separate laws of physics. The idea of other universes out there may seem strange, but scientists say it can help solve some problems of fundamental physics. For instance, the long-standing mystery of why nature appears to be fine-tuned for the emergence of life can be explained by the picture of a multiverse. Some scientists argue that intelligent observers exist only in those rare areas in which the conditions happen to be just right for life to evolve. The rest of the multiverse remains barren, but no one is there to notice it. Another multiverse theory suggests that if space-time goes on forever, it must start repeating at some point, because there are a . finite number of ways particles can be arranged. The multiverse theory could explain a number of processes that have stumped cosmologists for years. For example, there is the 1998 discovery that galaxies in our universe seem to be spreading apart at an accelerating rate. This goes against the rule that mutual gravitational attraction should be slowing them down. If there were multiverses, our universe may happen to be one in which the dark energy is relatively weak. It could also resolve the dilemma in ‘superstring’ theory. At its most basic level, describes all subatomic particles as vibrating filaments and membranes of energy. The string theory only works in ten or eleven dimensions. 'Such a multiverse might even explain the very reason we exist at all,' said Mr Stuart.'The natural forces at work in our universe, like gravity, for example, seem strangely fined tuned for life. Cosmologists studying a map of the universe from data gathered by the Planck spacecraft concluded that it shows anomalies that can only have been caused by the gravitational pull of other universes . 'Tinker with the settings of nature even slightly and that creates a universe devoid of stars, planets and people. How come all the settings are perfectly suited for living things? 'It seems an extremely unlikely coincidence. However, if there really are a multitude of other universes out there, each with their own settings, at least one of them will have the right settings for life. 'Our existence moves from being highly improbable to inevitable. In fact, if the number of other universes is infinite, there are an infinite number of copies of Earth out there, with an infinite number of copies of you, reading an infinite number of identical versions of this article.' Last year, scientists were able to create a map of light from when the universe was just 380,000 years old . Last year, scientists said that they had found the first 'hard evidence' that other universes exist. Cosmologists studying a map of the universe from data gathered by the Planck spacecraft concluded that it shows anomalies that can only have been caused by the gravitational pull of other universes. The map shows radiation from the Big Bang 13.8billion years ago that is still detectable in the universe - known as cosmic microwave radiation. Scientists had predicted that it should be evenly distributed, but the map shows a stronger concentration in the south half of the sky and a 'cold spot' that cannot be explained by current understanding of physics. Laura Mersini-Houghton, theoretical physicist at the University of North Carolina, said: ‘These anomalies were caused by other universes pulling on our universe as it formed during the Big Bang.’ A multiverse could resolve the dilemma in 'superstring' theory. At its most basic level, the theory describes all subatomic particles as vibrating filaments and membranes of energy. But string theory only works in ten or eleven dimensions and we only experience four . | On Monday, scientists discovered 'smoking gun' to expanding universe . They found gravitational waves produced moments after the Big Bang . The discovery points to powerful type of inflation of the early universe . If space-time goes on forever then it must start repeating at some point . This suggests the cosmos is constantly giving birth to parallel universes . | 982f25f49bbe4fc06bb731ef405531b4cfba553a |
By . Paul Harris . PUBLISHED: . 18:40 EST, 11 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:40 EST, 12 March 2013 . Ten years of lies and betrayal came to a dramatic conclusion last night when Chris Huhne was finally put behind bars. The former Cabinet minister’s spectacular fall was complete when a prison guard led him in handcuffs to start an eight-month sentence. The prosecution said the 58-year-old millionaire had tried to cheat justice with a ‘scandalous’ legal defence. Vicky Pryce, who Huhne persuaded to take his speeding points and later divorced, was also given eight months for the same offence of perverting the course of justice. Last taste of freedom: Huhne leaves his London home and heads to court yesterday with his lover Carina Trimingham. He was given eight months in prison for perverting the course of justice . Describing her as ‘controlling, manipulative and devious’, Mr Justice Sweeney highlighted her revenge campaign that ruined her cheating husband’s career. He told the pair: ‘Any element of tragedy is entirely your own fault.’ Addressing Huhne, he said: ‘You have fallen from a great height albeit that that is only modest mitigation given that it is a height that you would never have achieved if you had not hidden your commission of such a serious offence in the first place.’ The former Liberal Democrat MP, who once harboured hopes of taking Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s job, had lied ‘again and again’ in what was a ‘flagrant offence’ of its type, he added.Huhne’s barrister said the catastrophe had torn his family apart. ‘He is a man laid bare,’ said John Kelsey-Fry QC. ‘He has two things left to which he can sensibly hope to cling. The support of his partner and loyal friends and the hope of a reconciliation with his children.’ The end: Former energy secretary Chris Huhne arrives at Southwark Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced for perverting the course of justice . He insisted however the politician was no bully and had not tried to impose his will on his family. Once a powerhouse couple – a senior politician and a leading economist – Huhne and Pryce looked more like strangers on a bus when in the dock yesterday. Their eyes failed to meet and they did not exchange a word. They sat 4ft from each other. The case was conducted at huge public expense and Huhne is estimated to have spent up to £500,000 on his defence. Yesterday it emerged that the Crown Prosecution Service is trying to recoup £117,558 in prosecution costs, £79,015 for Huhne and £38,544 for Pryce, plus an extra £31,000 from Huhne for a previous attempt to get the case thrown out. He is fighting the costs order. Mr Kelsey-Fry said Huhne will pay costs that are ‘just and reasonable’ but questioned the prosecutions version of how events unfolded. ‘Mr Huhne would not for a moment cave at paying just and reasonable costs attributed to him for this case,’ he said. ‘He would not want to be in any sense a burden on the public purse, bearing in mind his defence.’ Despite the dubious record of becoming the first former Cabinet minister since Jonathan Aitken to be jailed, Huhne has already launched a PR initiative apparently aimed at limiting damage to his image. In interviews hours before he was sentenced at London’s Southwark Crown Court he said he regretted not owning up earlier and accepted the judge’s conclusion that he ‘lied and lied again’. He agreed his political career was ‘very clearly over’. In another interview, he maintained that jail was ‘a fairly small bit of the total penalty’ but admitted ‘lawmakers can be many things, but they cannot be lawbreakers’. Dubious honour: Huhne becomes the first former Cabinet minister since Jonathan Aitken to be jailed . Remarkably, he said he had hoped Pryce – described in court as fragile and a broken woman – would be acquitted instead of convicted at her jury trial. ‘I didn’t want her to go to jail,’ he said. ‘I told the kids and everybody else that. Revenge eats you up. It does worse things to you than to the person you are attempting to attack.’ The case came to a close just one day short of ten years from the moment a speed camera caught Huhne’s BMW doing 19mph above a 50mph limit on the M11 between London and Stansted. It might have begun with a simple motoring offence but it led to a desperately risky and ill-founded attempt to weasel out of a driving ban, compounded by lies, complex legal wrangling and an arrogant belief by both Huhne and Pryce that they would get away with it. They didn’t. Huhne comes into contact with a photographer's lens as he arrives at court. He tried to avoid a driving ban by falsely claiming his ex-wife was driving his car more than a decade ago . What Huhne might not have bargained for was the vengeful determination of a woman scorned – Pryce’s repeated attempts to expose her philandering husband by spilling details to the press of his criminal secret over the speeding fine. Nor, perhaps, did he imagine he would be ‘laid bare’ in a case that went ahead against his spurned wife for her part in the deception after he finally pleaded guilty, and she didn’t. Yesterday he made a public apology in court claiming he ‘felt awful’ about dragging people he loved into what he described as ‘this gruelling experience’. In legal mitigation it was clear that Huhne did not want to say anything derogatory about his ex-wife. Perhaps significantly, the sole allegation he did reject was a claim from her that he forced her to abort one of their children, part of the evidence she gave from the witness stand. Court artist sketch of Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce being sentenced at Southwark Crown Court in London yesterday . Both defendants wore black as they stepped separately into the dock. Pryce had a red rose in her bag from an admirer outside court, plus a double pack of tissues. Huhne read from papers given to him by his legal team. Their 26-year marriage ended more than two years ago after the exposure of his affair with Carina Trimingham, his 47-year-old PR adviser. The tall brunette sat a few feet from the dock alongside Huhne’s father Peter, visible to her lover but out of sight of Pryce. Sentencing the pair, Mr Justice Sweeney said: ‘To the extent that anything good has come out of this whole process, it is that now, finally, you have both been brought to justice for your joint offence. Rose for a prisoner: Vicky Pryce gets a rose from an elderly well-wisher on her way into court for sentence yesterday . ‘Any element of tragedy is entirely your own fault.’ The judge said Huhne had lied to avoid prosecution for the offence – then compounded those lies by insisting Pryce had not taken the points for him, pleading not guilty, and by trying to get the case thrown out under abuse of process. ‘Whereas the truth, as you well knew throughout, was that Vicky Pryce had taken the points for you and you were guilty,’ the judge said. Both Pryce and Huhne are expected to be released from prison after only two months with a tag and a strict curfew. | Decade-long saga ends as disgraced politician is jailed for eight months . His former wife Vicky Pryce gets the same sentence . Judge says legal defence was 'scandalous' | 5dccf959dac63777de69b5ab9a325b56d65ee242 |
By . Harriet Arkell . UPDATED: . 05:14 EST, 9 April 2013 . A notorious Rockefeller impostor was a master manipulator who 'always had a lie in his back pocket to explain things', but slipped up and left clues that he was a killer, a court heard yesterday. Prosecutor Habib Balian told the jury that Christian Gerhartsreiter murdered John Sohus in San Marino 28 years ago and said that all the evidence they needed to convict him was there. 'This isn't a movie, a book, a TV show, a docudrama,' the Deputy District Attorney said in his closing argument, referring to the fact that the case has been turned into all of those things over the years. 'This case is about two people who lived and died,' Balian said. Gerhartsreiter is on trial in California, U.S. for the 1985 murder of John Sohus, who disappeared from his home in San Marino with his wife, Linda . Defendant Christian Gerhartsreiter is charged only with the murder of Mr Sohus in suburban San Marino, but the prosecutor has been allowed to say he believes Gerhartsreiter also killed Mr Sohus' wife, who remains missing after nearly three decades. 'She's dead', Balian said repeatedly as he described the disappearance of Linda Sohus and her husband, John - newlyweds he said had no reason to vanish. The bones of John Sohus were unearthed in the backyard of his mother's former house in San Marino a decade after he and his wife disappeared. He was found to have died from multiple fractures to the skull, probably caused by a blunt instrument such as a baseball bat. Gerhartsreiter lived as a tenant on the property in 1984 and 1985, but called himself Chris Chichester then. He vanished around the same time the couple disappeared in 1985, according to witnesses. As part of his closing argument, Balian used a Powerpoint presentation that showed pieces of a jigsaw puzzle falling into place. Balian predicted that the defense would seek to paint Linda Sohus as the murderer of her husband. Previously the trial heard from Gerhartsreiter's ex-wife Sandra Boss, right, to whom he lied about who he was . 'They're going to batter her over and over and say she was the mastermind,' Balian said in his presentation. 'But all the evidence in this case is going to point you to the fact that only one person was the mastermind. ... He is charged with murder.' However, defense attorney Jeffrey Denner was less demeaning of Linda Sohus than he was of his own client. He said Gerhartsreiter, a German immigrant, was a white-collar criminal with a long list of offenses including identity theft and immigration fraud. 'Over a period of time in this country, he committed a lot of crimes with which he was never charged', Denner said. 'It's no wonder he would want to stay under the radar.' But the lawyer said his client had not been running from a murder investigation. The defendant, seen here with pen in his hand, took copious notes as the prosecutor summed up the case against him . Denner noted that no trace evidence was scientifically connected to the defendant, and he suggested it was more likely that Linda Sohus had a 'dark side' of her life that led her to kill her husband. But he offered no evidence to support that contention. 'That's the stuff that reasonable doubt is made of', he told jurors. 'You don't know what happened. If you don't know what happened, you can't convict anybody.' Balian noted that Monday was the 28th anniversary of the day Linda and John Sohus were reported missing. 'What do we do with a case 28 years old?' he said, acknowledging there are no eye witnesses or physical evidence in the case. 'Circumstantial evidence is just as powerful', Balian said as he detailed the pieces of his puzzle. 'Not only does he flee, he changes his identity and discontinues contacts with friends. Why? Because he's a murderer', the prosecutor said. Eventually, Gerhartsreiter turned up on the East Coast using the name Clark Rockefeller and living well at the expense of his wealthy wife. Gerhartsreiter was previously prosecuted for kidnapping his own daughter and is serving a prison sentence for that crime. Defense lawyers have suggested that he lived a life of pretense, making up wild stories about royal lineage, but they say he never killed anyone. 'He lied at will and his life was based on that', Denner said. 'He said he was a filmmaker and he could amend the script anytime he wanted.' Gerhartsreiter was previously accused of kidnapping his own daughter Reigh, above, in 2009 . Balian reminded jurors of testimony by former friends from San Marino. A woman remembered seeing dirt in his yard where a large hole had been dug. A forensic expert said traces of blood were found on the concrete floor beneath a rug in the guest cottage the defendant occupied, bt it was never clear if the blood was human or animal, and it was not linked to Gerhartsreiter. The prosecutor also emphasized what was found in the backyard grave along with bones - plastic shopping bags from the University of Southern California and University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, two colleges the defendant attended. 'The case is easy', said Balian. 'The evidence is right in front of your eyes.' The only thing missing, he acknowledged was a motive. Why would the defendant kill John Sohus? 'The prosecution need not prove why', he said. 'It's not part of our burden of proof. Nor do we need to prove the type of weapon used or where he was killed.'Superior Court Judge George Lomeli instructed jurors that if they cannot agree on the charge of first-degree murder, they have the option of considering second-degree murder, which does not require premeditation. He told jurors to return Tuesday for Balian's rebuttal before the start of their deliberations. Accused: Christian Gerhartsreiter is accused of the 1985 murder of John Sohus . Man of mystery: Gerhartsreiter did not tell the women in his lift that he was actually a German immigrant . Connection: The bones believed to belong to Mr Sohus were found buried at a home Garhartsreiter was living at while going by the name Chichester . Violent death: The remains believed to be of John Sohus, seen with his then-wife Linda, who is also missing, were found to have died of multiple fractures of the skull inflicted by a blunt object, possibly a baseball bat . | Christian Gerhartsreiter, 52, accused of murdering John Sohus 28 years ago . Prosecutor tells Los Angeles court that defendant was expert manipulator . In summing up, prosecutor says all the evidence to convict is there for jury . | fa770cc082f661c4896a6aae39a6a46b53628f0b |
Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN) -- Three people were killed and seven others injured, two of the seriously, when an improvised explosive device went off Monday near government offices here. It is unclear who is behind the blast, a rare occurrence in the Himalayan capital, although a previously unknown group, United Ethnic Liberation Front, has claimed responsibility, police Officer Dhiraj Singh said. "We cannot verify that as we are still investigating," Singh said. No arrests have been made so far. The explosion happened outside a court house and less than 200 meters from the Central Secretariat, which houses most government ministries. Two people died on the spot while third died while undergoing treatment at hospital. All 10 victims are men. As Nepal prepares a new republican constitution and adopts a federal model, various ethnic groups in a population of about 27 million are demanding special rights and calling for provinces based on ethnicity. | Bombing occurs near central secretariat in Nepal's capital . Previously unknown group claims responsibility, police say . Two people were killed on the spot, and another died at a hospital . | 4e92a896a3821652b51e2be63b99c0635443529a |
Capsules: Calamari Gold is made from squid caught for sale in shops and restaurants . Hated by generations of children, it took being put into a capsule to make cod liver oil palatable, but even that might not be enough to save it. It is facing a challenge from squid oil, which is said to be much higher in health-boosting properties. Calamari Gold is made from squid caught for sale in shops and restaurants, and contains high levels of omega-3. It is particularly rich in a form of the essential fatty acid called DHA, which is good for our brain, eyes and heart. Capsule for capsule, the product is claimed to contain up to four times as much DHA as cod liver oil. ‘DHA is the predominant omega-3 in many of our vital organs and is fundamental for our health,’ said nutritionist Suzie Sawyer. ‘DHA is important for brain health, improving concentration, memory and cognitive development. ‘It is critical in the maintenance of overall eye health and research indicates it can help to improve blood pressure and may reduce the risk of heart disease.’ Unlike cod, squid is not overfished, and its relatively short lifespan means it accumulates fewer toxins than some other fish. The NHS recommends that we eat fish twice . a week, but many of us would rather pop a pill – the latest figures . show that Britons spend almost £10million a year on omega-3 supplements. Miss Sawyer said: ‘With rising costs . of seafood, the supplement is the more economical option to eating the . recommended two portions of food a week and a great alternative for . those who dislike seafood.’ A . month’s supply of 30, 1,000mg Calamari Gold capsules costs £34.99 from . Holland and Barrett. An equivalent supply of cod liver oil capsules . costs around £2.25. Capsule for capsule, squid oil is claimed to contain up to four times as much DHA as cod liver oil (file picture) | Calamari Gold made from squid caught for sale in shops and restaurants . High levels of omega-3 and rich in form of essential fatty acid called DHA . Capsule for capsule 'it contains four times as much DHA as cod liver oil' | 8f24ea923082eabaeca550683b41e51bafa70182 |
Arsene Wenger has launched a scathing attack on fifth officials, insisting he does not know what they are paid for. Arsenal manager Wenger queried their role after replays indicated Anthony Vanden Borre's first goal for Anderlecht was offside in the Champions League clash at the Emirates. Wenger admits UEFA have explained the use of the fifth official to him, but he believes he's not alone in struggling to see the benefit of having them. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Arsene Wenger: Fifth official should have chair and good book . The fifth official is in position as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain goes through on goal for Arsenal . Mikel Arteta chips a penalty for Arsenal against Anderlecht in the Champions League as officials watch on . Arsene Wenger was furious that Anthony Vanden Borre's offside goal against Arsenal was allowed to stand . Anthony Vanden Borre celebrates after scoring two goals for Anderlecht against Arsenal . 'Every time we go to Geneva, (Pierluigi) Collina (UEFA's chief refereeing officer) explains to us that the fifth referee is a fantastic finding. 'But when you see the pictures of the first goal, it is unbelievable. A guy stands behind the line in front of the offside guy and does not stay a word. 'I do not know what the guys behind the line are paid for. That is a general feeling shared by everyone who watches football. They should buy a seat for them, and give them a good book!' | Arsenal threw away a three-goal lead to draw against Anderlecht . Arsene Wenger admits UEFA have explained fifth official's role . Wenger says his opinion is shared by everyone that watches football . The fifth official missed Anthony Vanden Borre's offside goal . | 27f4477e8f2d5e5322eef669a81e13e1b8aae1d0 |
(CNN) -- In a potential landmark case, a Massachusetts teenager is on trial this week after prosecutors say his texting while driving caused a crash that led to the death of a 55-year-old man. Aaron Deveau's trial got underway Tuesday in Haverhill, with opening statements and the prosecution beginning to present its case. The first few days of the trial included testimony by the victim's family and a crash survivor, the replaying of Deveau's original interview with police and a visit to the crash site, as the defendant looked on from afar. Almost exactly one year earlier, the then-17-year-old Deveau pleaded not guilty to a host of charges tied to the fatal February 20, 2011, crash, the Essex County District Attorney's office said in a press release at the time. Those charges were motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, being an operator under 18 using a mobile phone, being an operator reading or sending an electronic message, a marked lanes violation and two counts of negligent operation and injury from mobile phone use. Some 38 states ban text messaging for all drivers while 31 prohibit all cell phone use by "novice drivers," according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Yet Deveau's case is thought to be unique, in that his texting is being linked to another person's death. Prosecutors allege that Deveau was texting when his car crossed the center line and hit a vehicle being driven by Donald Bowley, a resident of Danville, New Hampshire. Bowley's girlfriend, Luz Roman, was in his car with him and suffered serious injuries. Haverhill Detective Thomas Howell testified this week that the two "were almost folded into the floorboards," the impact was so severe. Bowley died March 10, after he was taken off life support. "My brother received such head trauma that... there was no hope for him," Bowley's sister, Donna Burleigh, said this week in court. According to reports from several CNN affiliates, prosecutors claim that Deveau received and sent a total of 193 text messages on the day of the crash, including several around the time the accident occurred. During her opening remarks, Assistant District Attorney Ashlee Logan suggested that Deveau may have erased some of his texts or fibbed to police after the accident. "He states the last message that he received was at 2:33 (p.m.), and then shows the officer the next message is at 3:10," Logan said. "When records were received, it's learned: there are two (texts) missing." Deveau said after the crash in a taped interview with police, which was played in court this week, "I was tired. I was distracted. When I looked away for one quick second, I came too close to her and I was trying to hit my brakes." His defense lawyer claimed authorities set out from the beginning to link texting to the crash, a cause-and-effect relationship that he contends is not valid. Joseph Lussier, the attorney, furthermore urged jurors not to let the sad, gruesome nature of the crash and its effect on its victims cloud their determination as to whether Deveau's texting was to blame. "Please don't listen to the sympathies of the commonwealth when you're making your decision," Lussier said. | The trial of Aaron Deveau, now 18, began this week in Haverhill, Massachusetts . Authorities say he was texting before a fatal crash, then erased some of the texts . The defense argues authorities had an agenda in trying to link texting with the crash . The teen had told police after the incident, "I was tired, I was distracted" | ae7a1b48c41834d2ed43c78e25287dfb23162bf7 |
(CNN) -- Roger Federer suffered a stunning upset defeat to John Isner as the United States took a 2-0 lead Friday in their Davis Cup World Group first round match in Switzerland. Home favorite Federer was in action for the first time since losing to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the Australian Open and could find no answer to an inspired Isner, who won 4-6 6-3 7-6 6-2. It followed an earlier 6-2 4-6 4-6 6-1 9-7 win for Mardy Fish over Stanislav Wawrinka in the first rubber of the tie. World No.3 Federer was expected to tie it up on the indoor clay court in Fribourg, which was selected by the Swiss hosts, but Isner, best-known for his marathon match against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon, again showed his aptitude on the slower surface. Spain fury over drugs slur . After dropping the opening set, the American took the next three to close out victory in two hours 40 minutes, ending a 15-match winning streak for Federer in the Davis Cup. "The way I played today is the way I need to play in all my matches," said Isner after his surprise victory. "I owe it to Jim Courier (American Davis Cup captain) -- he was on at me to hit all my shots. It's the win of my life." Fish, despite his higher ranking, was not favored against Wawrinka, but showed his fighting qualities in a four hour 26 minute match. He played superbly in the fourth set to level the match for the loss of a single game and always looked the stronger in the 16-game decider. "I lost a couple of long ones in Austin last year, and that feels so bad I just needed to win this one.' Fish told the official Davis Cup website. Wawrinka and Federer will pair up for Saturday's doubles where they will take on Mike Bryan and teenager Ryan Harrison. Meanwhile, holders Spain took a 2-0 lead over Kazakhstan after the opening day of their first round tussle in Oviedo. With World No.2 Rafael Nadal missing the tie for the home team, it was left to Juan Carlos Ferrero and Nicolas Almagro to step up to the plate. Veteran Ferrero needed five sets to beat Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1 4-6 7-6 4-6 6-4 while Almagro eased past Andrey Golubev 6-3 4-6 6-1 6-1. | Roger Federer beaten in Davis Cup tie in Switzerland . John Isner wins in four sets as United States take 2-0 lead . Mardy Fish saw off Stanislav Wawrinka in earlier match . Holders Spain leading Kazakhstan 2-0 in Oviedo . | 7be08034d5f4187d224c0a283866d069bbde3dd5 |
By . Hannah Ellis-petersen . PUBLISHED: . 18:15 EST, 23 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:26 EST, 24 November 2013 . Soured: Jamie Oliver - thought to be worth £150million - and wife Jools . Jamie Oliver is pulling the plug on his signature range of artisan food amid multi-million pound losses and bitter criticism from his suppliers. Reputed to be the world’s richest chef with a personal fortune of £150 million, Mr Oliver launched his ‘Jme’ food range amid great fanfare two years ago. The collection of sauces, biscuits and jams were said to be a ground-breaking collaboration between the TV cook and a hand-picked group of independent, small-scale food producers in Britain and Italy. But despite being stocked in over 150 retailers, poor sales have left Jme owing parent group Jamie Oliver Ltd £14 million – some £6 million of which is unlikely to be repaid. Jme made losses of £3.8 million in 2012, double its deficit of £1.9 million the year before. Mr Oliver is to discontinue the range by the end of the year. Suppliers and wholesalers confirmed they were sent an email informing them the line was ending, leading some producers to attack Jme’s ‘commercial ineptitude’ and ‘poor branding’. One producer claims he is still owed money by Jme and said his final dealings with the business had left a ‘sour taste’ in his mouth. ‘We had a lot of difficulties with them,’ said Gary Reid, of shortbread bakers Reids of Caithness. ‘I’m not going to be harsh on Jamie Oliver because the failure is down to his team. I’m still sitting on about £1,000 of packaging they wanted that I’ll never get reimbursed for.’ Mr Reid accused the chef’s business associates of being ‘unprofessional’ and described many of the decisions made by those in charge of the Jme brand as ‘commercial madness’. ‘To be honest, I’m not surprised the range has been cut,’ he added. ‘It turned out to be a really poor business. Many of their buyers ignored top-quality importers who wanted to take our products on abroad. ‘It’s such a shame because the brand had such potential. I’ve been so furious about it. ‘We made some money from it, but . we’ve also lost money from it. It’s not good when high-profile brands . are doing that to small businesses.’ Another . supplier, who preferred to remain anonymous said: ‘I’m not surprised at . all the range did not do well. They had no idea about the commercial . world. It was ridiculous. By the end I was pulling my hair out.’ Discontinued: A range of products from JME Foods - which made significant losses and will be discontinued by the end of the year . The group is also to withdraw Jme homeware from stores, although the products will still be marketed through direct selling parties in individuals’ homes, and online. A spokesman for Mr Oliver last night confirmed that the foods range would be discontinued from 2014, but added: ‘The food was always a very small part of what the Jme range offers. ‘It was decided the focus should be on the bigger, more successful, homewares range sold through direct selling and online. ‘We are not aware of owing any suppliers money but if they would like to approach us directly as opposed to through the media, the Jme team will investigate.’ | £150m chef launched his 'Jme' food range two years ago . Despite being stocked in 150 retailers, poor sales have left Jme owing parent group Jamie Oliver Ltd £14 million and will be discontinued by 2014 . Made losses of £3.8 million in 2012, double £1.9 million deficit year before . | 5ac211ab2cbb8dc948ae9ab0ddf6d1c2d8356831 |
(CNN) -- Ever find yourself struggling to craft the perfect sentence for a loved one who's, um, serving a sentence? Now, you have a friend in the greeting card business. Terrye Cheathem has created a line of greeting cards geared toward prison inmates. A Los Angeles, California, lawyer has come up with a series of cards geared toward prison inmates, a rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population. Some express simple good wishes: "We are all praying for you while you do your time." Others celebrate holidays: "You had the choice to be 'naughty or nice.' And you chose ... Now you have to do your time. But, Christmas won't be the same without you here." Others dole out tough love: "When you called last time, I was not very sympathetic. I guess that I have heard your promises to change too many times. Please - stop promising to change. Just do it." Creator Terrye Cheathem said the cards let family members say "Look, things need to be different when you get out." She came up with the idea a few years ago while looking -- without success -- for a birthday card to send her brother-in-law, who was serving an 11-month sentence. "There are so many people who have mixed feelings about communicating with their loved ones in prison," Cheathem said Thursday. "They are unhappy, oftentimes profoundly embarrassed. People don't know what to say." So she created Three Squares Greetings to capture the sentiments for a captive audience -- one that seems to be getting larger each year. More than 2.3 million people were in jails or prisons in the United States at the beginning of 2008, according to a study released last month by the Pew Center on the States. The center is a private organization that advocates for alternative programs to alleviate prison populations. For the first time in the nation's history, the center says, more than one in 100 Americans are behind bars, a higher proportion than any other country. Cheathem is selling her cards online and through stores. She also wants jails and prisons to carry cards designed for inmates to send their relatives. "They're 'Thank You' cards," she said. " 'Thank you for visiting,' 'Thank you for bringing the kids,' 'Thank you for coming to court.' " Like many, bookstore owner James Fugate was at first reluctant to carry the line in his Los Angeles shop, Esowon Books. "I have some issues of being nice to criminals," Fugate said. "And in my 20 years in business, I've seen some relatives who don't seem to realize the gravity of what (their family members) have done." Fugate said he changed his mind when he realized that most of the cards carried messages asking inmates to turn their lives around. Cheathem understands the hesitation of shoppers and sellers. "I can't think of any other product that anyone wants to receive and certainly no one wants to be in the position to buy one," she said. "But there is a need for this." Cheathem points to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick of Detroit, Michigan. He was charged this week with perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct of office. He was released on a $75,000 bond. "I have a card that says, 'I'm sorry to hear about your arrest,' " she said. "Right now , there are probably 50 people or more who would send it to him." E-mail to a friend . | New series of greeting cards is geared toward prison inmates . Study shows the U.S. prison and jail population is rapidly growing . Card creator is selling her cards online and through stores . | 4a403faad8116c40f4cb960d3ffad081106341ad |
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 12:38 EST, 18 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 13:34 EST, 18 December 2013 . Disgraced former Navy chaplain Gordon 'Dr. Chaps' Klingenschmitt has weighed in on a recent ruling by a Colorado court that forced a Denver bakery to serve wedding cakes to same-sex couples, slamming the plaintiffs at the center of the lawsuit have 'demonic spirits manifesting inside them' and are 'cooperating with the devil. In his latest anti-gay tirade, Klingenshmitt, who has become infamous for the pro-discrimination statements made on his daily 'Pray In Jesus Name' TV program, said Charlie Craig and David Mullins - who sued their local bakery for refusing to sell them a cake for their nuptials - are 'inhuman'. Klingenshmitt also said he is looking into having Administrative Law Judge Robert N. Spencer - who made the bakery treat gay people as regular customers - impeached in the wake of the ruling, according to the Huffington Post. 'I admit that the two men are humans -- they're men,' Klingenshmitt said. Scroll down for video ... Controversial: Former Navy chaplain Gordon 'Dr. Chaps' Klingenschmitt has slammed a decision forcing a Denver baker to serve same-sex couple 'unhuman' on his TV program 'Pray In Jesus Name' David Mullins, left, and Charlie Craig, right, successfully sued a Colorado bakery after their order for a rainbow wedding cake was turned down by the owner . 'But when they manifest sexual immorality, there's something inside of them that is manifesting and, on this show, we like to discern the spirits and I would say that's a demonic spirit that is manifesting inside of them.' He then added: 'They're cooperating with the devil and there is something unhuman inside of them.' An evangelical Protestant chaplain, Klingenschmitt was involuntarily discharged from the Navy and fined $3000 in 2007 for wearing his military uniform at a protest in Washington that was trying to push the government to guarantee the right of chaplains to 'pray in the name of Jesus'. He is not the first to renounce the Denver ruling. Last week, the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer said Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips was a victim of what he described as 'the Secular Inquisition' on an installment of his 'Focal Point' radio show. In September Judge Spencer ruled that Phillips had illegally discriminated against the plaintiffs. He ordered Phillips to accommodate same-sex couples or face fines and other penalties. Owner: Jack Philips maintained in court that his belief in Jesus Christ preventing him from making cakes for same-sex couples. The judge ruled in September he had to make such cakes or face fines and other penalties . Ongoing: Charlie Craig and David Mullins said they knew of other gay couples who also had orders refused, not necessarily for wedding occasions . 'At first blush, it may seem reasonable that a private business should be able to refuse service to anyone it chooses,' Spencer wrote in his 13-page ruling. 'This view, however, fails to take into account the cost to society and the hurt caused to persons who are denied service simply because of who they are.' Colorado allows civil unions for same-sex couples, but defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Craig, 33, and Mullins, 28, were wed in Massachusetts, one of 16 U.S. states that have legalized same-sex marriage, but wanted to have a celebration of their nuptials in Colorado. Phillips refused to bake the cake, saying his Christian beliefs prevented him from doing so. Priorities: In another instance a gay couple had their order refused but when told the order was for a dog, the bakery happily agreed to proceed . Winners: Charlie Craig and David Mullins on their wedding day . Nicolle Martin, an attorney for Masterpiece Cakeshop, said the judge's order puts Phillips in an impossible position of going against his Christian faith. 'He can't violate his conscience in order to collect a paycheck,' she said. 'If Jack can't make wedding cakes, he can't continue to support his family. And in order to make wedding cakes, Jack must violate his belief system. That is a reprehensible choice. It is antithetical to everything America stands for.' The American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Division, which ruled that Phillips had violated a state law barring discrimination at public accommodations based on race, gender or sexual orientation. Spencer then upheld the commission's findings. Mullins said in a statement it was 'offensive and dehumanizing' when he and Craig were denied service at the bakery. After venting such frustrations on Facebook, Mullins received an outpouring of support from the community, with the story 'catching fire' in the media. 'We felt that the best way to honor the support that they had given us was to follow this complaint through,' he said. 'No one should fear being turned away from a public business because of who they are,' he said. Mullins said he and Craig were 'ecstatic' about the decision. 'To a certain extent, though, I don't think that this is necessarily a surprise,' he said. Phillips may appeal. The discrimination case of Charlie Craig and David Mullins (pictured) was far from the first legal hurdle same sex couples have had to jump over in Colorado . Recent advances on gay rights only underscore Colorado's difficult past on the issue. In 2006, voters banned gay marriage. More notably, in 1992, voters approved a ban on municipal anti-discrimination laws set up to protect gays, leading some to brand Colorado a 'hate state'. Four years later, the U.S. Supreme Court said the law, known as Amendment 2, was unconstitutional. See video here . | Denver cake shop refused to bake a cake for gay wedding celebration because the owner said it went against his Christian beliefs . The couple sued and won on the grounds of discrimination in September, with owner ordered to accommodate same-sex couples as regular customers . Former Navy chaplain Gordon 'Dr Chaps' Klingenschmitt now says the ruling was wrong and is seeking an impeachment . Klingenschmitt called the couple 'unhuman', said they 'have demonic spirits manifesting inside them' and are 'cooperating with the devil' | 586ec011f8eb624e4fbbeac3eaedc98da0da53c6 |
Three Democratic lawmakers asked President Barack Obama on Thursday to ban travelers from the West . African countries hit hardest by the Ebola virus from entering the U.S. until the . outbreak of the disease is under control. Democratic Reps. Alan Grayson, Kyrsten Sinema, Dave Loebsack and 23 Republicans in the House of Representatives sent a letter to Obama calling on him to direct the State Department . to impose a travel ban and restrict visas issued to citizens of . Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In the letter, dated Oct. 8, they also asked U.S. health and . border control officials to consider quarantine for anyone who . arrives from the affected nations after being exposed to Ebola . until 21 days have passed, the period in which they would show . signs of the illness. Scroll down for video . President Barack Obama arrives at Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas, California, this afternoon to designate 346,177 acres of national forest land in the San Gabriel Mountains as a national monument . Obama took a break from dealing with Ebola crisis and the war against ISIS to travel to California to sign the proclamation and attend a fundraiser . 'We note that Congressman Grayson made this request to your administration in July, and that 27 African countries already have taken such action to protect their on citizens, but the United States inexplicably has not,' the letter states. The lawmakers go on to say Obama should not wait for the World Health Organization to dictate how U.S. authorities should proceed. 'The WHO is an organization of unelected bureaucrats and political appointees of foreign countries,' they wrote. 'It has no duty to protect the lives and well-being of Americans, as you do. 'Furthermore, it has utterly failed to stem this epidemic through its own action,' they added. The letter was released a day after the death of the first . person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, a Liberian man . who traveled from his home country on Sept. 19 and died in an . isolation ward of a Dallas, Texas hospital. The case put authorities and the public on alert for the . deadly virus and the government increased efforts to try and . stop it from spreading outside West Africa. 'Since there is no effective means to identify asymptomatic travelers who harbor the disease, often unknowingly, only a temporary travel ban...can prevent the further spread of Ebola to the United States,' Grayson, a Democrat from Florida, said in a statement on Thursday. In the same statement Florida Rep. Ted Yoho, a Republican who signed the letter, said the the U.S. 'must do all we can to protect our country from infection while aiding in the effort to combat this deadly disease.' 'Taking necessary action to protect our citizens is paramount and is the sole responsibility of the United States government; not the U.N. or the WHO,' he added. U.S. health authorities on Wednesday announced they would . begin enhanced screening of travelers for fever from the . affected countries at five major airports after resisting earlier demands from federal lawmakers to beef up security measures. The Ebola virus has killed nearly 4,000 people in Sierra . Leone, Liberia and Guinea since March in the largest outbreak on . record. It causes hemorrhagic fever and is spread through direct . contact with body fluids from an infected person. The U.S. Defense Department won permission to shift $750 million in war funds to fight Ebola in West Africa as a Republican senator on Friday lifted his remaining objections to the transfer. The action by Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma will give the Pentagon enough funding for about six months of operations in West Africa, including the deployment of up to 4,000 troops and the establishment some 17 Ebola treatment facilities with 100 beds each. 'After careful consideration, I believe that the outbreak has reached a point that the only organization in the world able to provide the capabilities and speed necessary to respond to this crisis is the U.S. military,' Inhofe said in a statement. The representatives who wrote to Obama on Thursday made it clear that they support 'all efforts to provide humanitarian relief' to West Africa. Simply put, the lawmakers said, they just want the president and his administration to take 'commonsense steps to protect U.S. citizens from this Ebola epidemic.' | Democratic Reps. Alan Grayson, Kyrsten Sinema, Dave Loebsack and 23 Republicans in the House of Representatives sent the letter to Obama . They want him to direct the State Department to impose a temporary travel ban and restrict visas for citizens of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone . They also asked U.S. health and border control officials to consider issuing a 21-day quarantine to anyone who arrives in the U.S. from affected nations . | 8db8e9543ec13ffb7c05e0cc1f0bcd980380268a |
By . Rob Cooper . PUBLISHED: . 11:14 EST, 11 April 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:27 EST, 12 April 2013 . Appearance: Fred Talbot, 63, is seen in public today for the first time since his arrest as he leaves his home in Bowden, Cheshire . TV weatherman Fred Talbot steps out in public today - for the first time since his arrest on suspicion of sexually abusing four schoolboys. Wrapped up in warm winter clothing, the 63-year-old presenter was seen leaving his house after being arrested on suspicion of indecent assault and inciting a child to commit acts of gross indecency. The allegations relate to former pupils at Altrincham Grammar School, Greater Manchester, between the early 1970s and early 1980s. Talbot was a biology teacher at the school before he became a television weatherman in 1984, . Today the weatherman dressed in a woolly hat, puffa jacket and grey trousers made a bid not to be seen leaving his £500,000 semi detached cottage in Bowdon, Cheshire where he had been holed up since his arrest. After checking the coast was clear out of the window, the former ITV's This Morning presenter tentatively peeked round his front door before emerging on foot for a walk. Sources close to Talbot said he was 'devastated' by his arrest on Tuesday. One friend said: 'This investigation has hit Fred very hard and he just wants to clear his name. He denies any wrong-doing and he simply cannot understand why this is happening to him. 'Fred's a very popular down to earth figure in the area is a regular at local pubs and he is mortified that people will talking about this investigation.' The inquiry into Talbot was sparked after publicity about a separate investigation into allegations of historic sexual abuse of pupils at a nearby Catholic boys school. The presenter who became famous for his 'floating map' reports in Liverpool's Albert Dock for Richard and Judy's This Morning show on ITV, was on a cruise in the Caribbean when his 18th century cottage was raided by police December 11 last year. Officers broke in through the front door and searched the property for clues but spent a further four months investigating before arresting him. He has now been bail until August. Detectives said they were appealing for more information to help with their investigation. They said the alleged offences did not take place within school grounds. Venturing out: Talbot looked out of the window and peered out of the front door to check the coast was clear before leaving his home today . TV weatherman: Fred Talbot, wearing one of his iconic knitted jumpers, and his ITV This Morning weather map . Talbot has not taken 'off air' at ITV's Granada Reports North West news programme although he was not formally suspended. Today his agent Dave Warwick said: 'He has not been charged with anything so there is nothing to formally deny. There is nothing further to say.' In a recent interview Talbot said he had been 'left in limbo' following the police raid. Brought up in Altrincham, Talbot was a pupil at North Cestrian Grammar School and in 1964 was a founding member of the Altrincham and District Astronomical Society. Search: A police van parked outside the weatherman's home on Tuesday as he was questioned by police over historic sex abuse allegations . He co-discovered a meteor shower, the June Lyrids, in June 1966. During one famous incident whilst presenting the weather on This Morning at Albert Dock in Liverpool, a streaker swam naked up to the map and jumped on. In 1998, Talbot was named 'Weatherman of the year' at the Annual International Weather Festival in Paris and also acted as a weather forecaster on ITV Breakfast programme Daybreak. In 2007 Talbot was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Science by Manchester Metropolitan University in recognition of bringing to a mass audience, 'a better understanding of scientific and environmental issues.' Flood warning: File photo from October 2004 of Fred Talbot who was arrested by police investigating historic sex abuse allegations at a school . Arrested: TV weatherman Fred Talbot, pictured here on Daybreak in 2011, was held by police on Tuesday over alleged historical sex offences . Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons. | Talbot peered out the window to check the coast was clear before leaving his home in Bowdon, Cheshire . He was questioned on Tuesday over alleged abuse in the 1970s and 80s . Allegations relate to his time as a teacher at Altrincham Grammar School . | a3c968f5d0d891e5fa1634276ebeadfe9bc96e8e |
(CNN) -- Redemption is not easy to attain. Four years on and the scars still remain. When France's footballers left for Brazil, they were under no illusions -- it cannot happen again. At South Africa 2010, "Les Bleus" became a laughing stock as players and coaches clashed, strikes were threatened and results embarrassed a nation. Players were suspended, the entire country waged war on a group which had imploded and exited at the group stage after failing to win a single game. Four years ago the picture was grim. Fast-forward to the present and perhaps, just perhaps, France may get the opportunity to shock the world for all the right reasons. A 2-0 victory over Nigeria in Brasilia on Monday ensured its progress to the quarterfinals and a meeting with Germany, which beat Algeria 2-1 after extra time. It is a far cry for the disillusionment and disappointment which cast a shadow of French football during its last foray into the World Cup. "What happened, happened," coach Didier Deschamps said when he announced his 2014 World Cup roster on national television. "That won't go away. It put a stamp on our history. But we don't need to discuss it again." Deschamps and his players have spoken at length of moving on from the embarrassment of four years ago -- but few expected them to achieve much in Brazil. After all, this is a France side which only just scraped into the tournament courtesy of a 3-0 playoff victory over Ukraine in Paris after suffering a 2-0 victory in the first leg. But Deschamps, a World Cup hero on home soil in 1998, has brought about a unity in the squad which has not been seen for many a year. His decision to leave out Manchester City's Samir Nasri caused controversy outside of the squad -- but it did not surprise those who know Deschamps as the single-minded man that he is. He commands respect -- it helps if you've won the World Cup and European Championships as well as a host of titles at club level. And his players are responding -- even when not at their best as they were during the first half against Nigeria. But such is the quality at his disposal, Deschamps never panicked, even when Nigeria appeared to take the game to his side in the opening 45 minutes. Paul Pogba's 79th minute header and an own-goal from Joseph Yobo smoothed France's passage into the next round following a difficult afternoon. "I am very proud of everything we did from the start," Deschamps told French television after the game. "There was tension out there. They are a very strong side and there were a lot of duels. "But we're through. We're in the quarter finals and we'll do everything we can to go a stage further." Only three African teams have ever reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup -- Ghana the last to do so four years ago. But Nigeria's campaign has been blighted by inconsistency and rows over appearance fees -- a matter so serious that the country's president, Goodluck Jonathan, was forced to intervene and assure players they would be paid. Form has also been a problem -- a drab goalless draw against Iran in its opening game of the tournament was followed by a narrow victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. A 3-2 defeat by Argentina, in which Lionel Messi scored twice, ensured Nigeria qualified in second place despite having only managed a solitary win. But France, a side which won its group with a style and swagger which was so sorely lacking four years ago, hinted at a far more difficult challenge. After all, Nigeria had managed just one victory in its previous 11 World Cup matches and suffered defeat on both occasions it had reached the second round in 1994 and 1998. But if anyone had expected France to simply brush Nigeria aside, they were sorely mistaken. The Super Eagles, who won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013, arrived in Brasilia as underdogs, not that you would have known it during the early stages of the contest. While France appeared slow and sluggish, those in green began in sprightly fashion and thought they had taken the lead after 19 minutes. Ahmed Musa, the man who terrorized Argentina with two fine goals, picked out Emmanuel Emenike inside the penalty area and the striker turned the ball home. Unfortunately for Nigeria, Emenike had strayed just offside -- not by much, but enough for the flag of the assistant referee to be held high and bring a curtailment to the celebrations. Perhaps that piece of luck awoke France from its slumber as just moments later a fine move almost broke the deadlock. Paul Pogba, one of the most exciting young midfielders in the game, burst into space before feeding Mathieu Valbuena. Valbuena, free of any Nigeria pressure, then produced an inch-perfect cross that Pogba met with a rasping volley which Vincent Enyeama saved in spectacular fashion. Enyeama, who plays his club football in France with Lille, kept more clean sheets than any other in Ligue 1 last season. But that save apart, he was a mere spectator in the first half with France failing to register another shot on target. France, which had lost two of its previous three World Cup games against African opposition, might have been expected to emerge a different side after the interval. But that fluidity so evident in group-stage victories over Honduras and Switzerland still proved elusive. Instead, Nigeria continued to look the more threatening of the two sides -- Peter Odemwingie's fierce effort bringing a sharp save out of Hugo Lloris in the French goal. By that time, France could have and possibly should have been reduced to 10 men following a horrific tackle by Blaise Matuidi on Ogneyi Onazi. U.S. referee Mark Geiger showed a yellow card -- much to the consternation of the Nigerians, who believed the challenge warranted more than just a caution. It was only with the introduction of Antoine Griezmann in place of the disappointing Olivier Giroud up front that France began to look dangerous. It was Griezmann who helped create the chance of the game with 20 minutes remaining. The Real Sociedad forward played a one-two with Karim Benzema, sending the Real Madrid striker in on goal -- but his effort was partially saved by Enyeama and hacked off the goal-line by Victor Moses. Suddenly, it was France which began to take control, with its passing game finally causing Nigeria problems. First, Benzema crashed an effort across goal which had those in green shirts panicking, while Yohan Cabaye's spectacular 20-yard effort smashed across the crossbar with Enyeama beaten. But, with 11 minutes to go, France finally got the breakthrough it had threatened. Enyeama came to deal with a corner and when he could only flap at the ball, Pogba nodded home from close range. "There are no words to describe this," said Pogba after helping his side past Nigeria. "I know there is a whole country behind us. Scoring that goal really liberated us. I am so happy for the team and all France. I'm speechless. "To score a goal for your country, especially in an important match like this to get into the World Cup quarter finals, it's one of the best moments of my life." Pogba's goal -- the 146th of the tournament, one more than was managed at the entire 2010 World Cup -- set up a frantic finale as Nigeria pushed forward in search of an equalizer. But every time those in green swarmed forward, France moved to exploit the space and only a wonderful save by Enyeama stopped Griezmann from doubling his side's advantage. The second goal appeared inevitable and it duly arrived during stoppage time when Joseph Yobo, making his 100th international appearance, deflected Mathieu Valbuena's cross into his own net. It was a sad end to an afternoon which had begun with such promise for Nigeria -- but for France, the chance for redemption remains. | France defeats Nigeria 2-0 in World Cup last-16 clash . Paul Pogba's second-half header gives French advantage . Joseph Yobo nets an own-goal in stoppage time . France will play Germany in the quarterfinals . | 3c7bcfff060cc093305a525be7b4df6dd46d00f4 |
By . Scarlett Russell . If you thought DIY was just for the boys, think again. Some 60 per cent of women in the UK say they are now more . likely to carry out home improvements than their partners and half consider themselves handier than men, too. The news comes as more women than ever are homeowners - single women now account for more than one in five UK households. Do It Yourself: 60 percent of women carry out home improvements themselves, while 78 per cent say their partners are consulted on the planning, design and decor . This perhaps explains why 66 per cent of those questioned said that the materials like paint, plaster and plywood are paid for from . their personal bank accounts. The survey, by WD Bathrooms, . questioned 1,244 Brits and also found that DIY still seems to be the cause of marital . disagreements. Nearly a quarter said that doing work around the . house prompted bank holiday arguments, usually caused by the age-old issue of one party not cleaning up properly. 1. Changing lightbulbs2. Changing fuses3. Fixing a leaky tap4. Fixing the toilet5. Replacing doorknob6. Patching hole in the wall7. Painting8. Hanging wallpaper. 9. Sealing windows10. Hanging Pictures . The most common answer among women when asked why they had taken up DIY was that, ‘it was the only way to get anything done.’ While four in ten women said they wanted . wanted to stop asking their brothers, fathers and male friends for . assistance, ten per cent said they took up DIY to increase the value of . their home, inspired by TV home improvement programmes. But it's . not all bad news for men, 78 per cent of women say their . partners are consulted on the planning, design and decor. Another recent study into Brit's DIY habits, carried out E.ON Energy, found that just under half of Brits (44 per cent) are guilty of ‘DIY delay’, after failing to complete energy-saving tasks around the home. The poll found that 61 per cent of the 2,000 respondents to the survey said that bleeding radiators was the tast most people left unfinished. Some 52 per cent ignored fitting loft insulation and 42 per cent won't get round to a new boiler. Lynne Wilson, director at WD Bathrooms said: 'It comes as no surprise that as women . are increasingly spending more on their homes they want to learn skills . that will potentially save them money on tradesmen. 'DIY is no longer just a man’s domain.' | Some 80% of British women questioned have paid for recent renovations . Men's practical skills are in decline as more women own their own homes . Half of women think they are better at home improvements than their men . | 359ce65a8d8b9c316895101998cc6fb86c6c3eab |
(CNN) -- A Southwest Airlines plane made an emergency return to Tennessee's Nashville International Airport on Monday morning because it hit several birds during takeoff, the airline said. The captain of Flight 3387, which had been bound for Baltimore-Washington International Airport, declared an emergency after birds entered one of the Boeing 737's two engines, Southwest spokeswoman Michelle Agnew said. The plane, which had taken off from the Nashville airport at 6:35 a.m., made a safe landing there shortly afterward, Agnew said. Firetrucks met the plane as a precaution, but the landing was uneventful, Southwest said. The plane was put out of service for maintenance, and the airline said it was working on other ways to get the plane's 110 passengers to their destination. Agnew said she didn't know exactly how the bird strike affected the engine. "Bird strike" is the term used for incidents in which planes collide with birds. Often the creatures get sucked into a plane's engine. A record 10,726 wildlife strikes by airplanes -- 97% of which involved birds -- were reported in the United States in 2012, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. One of the most famous bird-plane encounters in recent years resulted in the "Miracle on the Hudson." On January 15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 left New York's LaGuardia Airport and ran into a flock of geese that damaged both engines, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River. Rescuers reached the aircraft and found passengers standing on its wings. Everyone was rescued. | NEW: Birds went into one of the plane's two engines, Southwest spokeswoman says . A Baltimore-bound Southwest Airlines plane makes an emergency landing in Nashville . The plane had just taken off from Nashville International Airport when it hit birds, airline says . The plane landed safely, Southwest says . | 33c251621915084e9e78afce8a07a35736b2b5c2 |
(CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI urged warring parties in Syria on Tuesday to end the 21-month-old civil war. "May peace spring up for the people of Syria, deeply wounded and divided by a conflict which does not spare even the defenseless and reaps innocent victims," the pope said in his traditional Christmas message, delivered from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. "Once again, I appeal for an end to the bloodshed, easier access for the relief of refugees and the displaced, and dialogue in the pursuit of a political solution to the conflict." Read more: Syrian military police chief defects to join 'the people's revolution' Sunni Muslims make up three-quarters of Syria's 22.5 million people. But Christians, who represent 10% of the population, have been drawn into the war, which has largely been fought by the Alawite-dominated government and the largely Sunni opposition. Christians have been historically protected by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and have been reluctant to take sides. Some Christians in Syria abhor al-Assad, and others support the government. Many have been apprehensive about the prospects of an opposition government and fear the influx of jihadists in rebel ranks. Jaramana, a town in the Damascus suburbs with a Christian and Druze population that has mostly been pro-regime, was the site of violence Monday night. Read more: U.N. envoy meets with Syrian president as deaths mount . The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels ambushed and killed a military intelligence officer there. The Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition network, said Tuesday that Free Syrian Army rebels killed five military intelligence soldiers in clashes with government forces. A report issued last week by the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria focused on sectarian hostilities and referred to dangers faced by Christians. It cited a car bombing outside a bakery in Jaramana and the kidnapping of Christians in September. Read more: Opposition: More than 100 Syrians killed in bakery attack . Before the conflict started in March 2011, the largest Christian communities were in the Damascus, Aleppo and Homs regions, it said. But many Christians have fled their homes because of the violence. Homs Christians have escaped to Damascus, and some have made their way to Beirut; Armenians who had been living in Syria have sought refuge in Armenia. Syria's Armenian Orthodox and other Christian communities "have sought protection by aligning themselves with the government, with the consequence that they have come under attack from anti-government armed groups," the report said. Read more: Refugee figures fail to give true picture of Syria crisis . Some Christians have formed "armed self-defense groups to protect their neighborhoods from anti-government fighters by establishing checkpoints around these areas." More than 40,000 Syrians have been killed since March 2011, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced from their homes. At least 171 people were killed Tuesday, the LCC said. Of those, 61 died in Damascus and its suburbs. The Syrian Observatory reported that rebel fighters had taken over the town of Harem in Idlib province. Regime forces and militia allies surrendered; many of them and pro-government civilians died during clashes, it said. Tuesday's violence occurred after two days of air assaults on Syrians who had been waiting on line for bread. An air assault in Homs province killed at least 15 people Monday, a day after more than 100 were killed at a bakery in Hama province, opposition activists said. Both bombings took place in areas known for anti-government sentiment. The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) blamed "armed terrorist groups" for the Hama province attack. Read more: U.N. envoy meets with Syrian president as deaths mount . Doctor: Mystery gas kills six, injures dozens . A doctor in Homs said six people have died after exposure to a mysterious gas. Dr. Abu al Fida said he treated about 30 of the more than 60 people who were affected by the gas this week. Those who were close to the source of the gas suffered symptoms such as paralysis, seizures, muscle spasms and, in some cases, blindness, he said. Those who were farther from the source suffered difficulty breathing, disorientation, hallucinations, nervousness and a lack of limb control similar to excessive tear gas exposure, he said. Al Fida said those affected responded well to atropine, which is used to treat sarin gas patients, but it was unclear what the substance may have been. He said the gas appeared as a white flash that went clear. Opposition activist Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said six rebel fighters died after inhaling a white gas that had no smell. "Gas was released and spread in the area after members of the regime forces threw canister bombs," Abdulrahman said. "... The activists said that everyone who (inhaled) the gas felt severe headaches, and some had seizures." CNN cannot independently confirm government or opposition reports from Syria because the government has severely restricted access by journalists. State-run SANA quoted Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor-in-chief of the journal Russia in Global Affairs, as warning that "allegations of the Syrian government using chemical weapons could be excuses for foreign military intervention in Syria." It added, "In a statement to journalists on Tuesday, Lukyanov said that the reports on chemical weapons in Syria could be exploited to undermine the authorities and motivate foreign forces, stressing that there's no proof that chemical weapons have been used and that these reports seem to be another round of the media war against Syria." U.S. President Barack Obama has previously warned that any use of chemical weapons by Syria in its civil war would be crossing a "red line" that would prompt a swift U.S. response. Diplomatic front: More talks, but no clear results . On the diplomatic front, U.N. peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met Tuesday with members of the National Opposition Coordination Commission at a hotel in Damascus. Commission Chairman Hassan Abdel Azim said possible solutions to the crisis were reviewed with the envoy. The group is seen as a government-approved opposition group or regime front. It is not recognized by other opposition groups, such as the LCC or the Free Syrian Army. Read more: U.N. announces $1.5 billion aid effort for Syrian refugees . Tuesday's meeting came a day after Brahimi met with al-Assad. The LCC on Tuesday laid out its demands for peace talks. It said it would reject any initiative that would force Syrians "to choose between accepting unfair compromises or the continuation of the regime's crimes against them." The group also warned against granting the government "more time to continue to destroy and kill." The LCC said that the president and his officials must leave power in order for any initiative to work, and that any plan to give the government immunity against prosecution would be "immediately rejected, as it threatens the chance for Syrians to succeed in achieving justice." In Bahrain, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council called for an immediate end to violence in Syria, and pledged support for the opposition, Kuwaiti state-run news said. Members of the group, such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have supported the Syrian opposition. The four other Gulf Cooperation Council members are the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. CNN's Amir Ahmed, Samira Said and Mohammed Jamjoom contributed to this report. | Gas reports "could be excuses for foreign military intervention" A flare-up is reported in a Christian-Druze enclave outside Damascus . Rebels hold a town in Idlib province, says opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights . A mysterious gas kills six people in Homs, a doctor and an opposition group say . | 40fb3df7527c74573367902d110a30dc6292536d |
New York (CNN) -- On a chilly Saturday afternoon, a man with all the time in the world stands outside the bus he calls home. While he takes in a view of the Brooklyn Bridge, Bob Votruba boasts he lives on 84 square feet of pure luxury. "It's a cherished spot for me," he says, "something that is a little sacred." Votruba, 58, a retired father of three, is in the middle of a 10-year journey to spread kindness across the country. So far he's logged almost 60,000 miles on a school bus he bought and has lived in for four years. His Boston terrier, Bogart, keeps him company. The bus advertises his mission in giant letters painted on one side, "One Million Acts of Kindness." It's a goal, he says, a person under 30 can realistically meet if he or she makes it a point to be kind to someone every day. "It's a constant reminder that I have chosen this path to be as kind as I can in every possible way," he says. The impact of Virginia Tech shootings . Votruba says he felt compelled to champion kindness after learning a gunman had killed 32 people on April 16, 2007, at Virginia Tech. He had begun a period of introspection, realizing he wasn't satisfied with his lifestyle, which he considered "cushy." His construction business had become just a job, and he felt unfulfilled with the direction of his life, especially with his kids headed off to college. "It seemed like there was a higher meaning in going forward with life," he says. "That's when Virginia Tech happened." Votruba drove to Virginia Tech the week of the shootings and talked to people about their experiences dealing with the tragedy. It wasn't just one conversation that affected him but the range of emotions he saw that week, which, he says, motivated him to change his life. He returned to his home near Cleveland, and the single father told his children that he planned to sell all his belongings and drive to university campuses across the country to talk about kindness. Daughter Lizzie, 23, says she and her siblings were taken aback but not surprised. They always said Dad was kind. "It was a different step than most people take in their life," his 25-year-old son, Peter, says. "I was proud that he left and he was going to do something he felt was right and needed to do." Reminders . April 16 -- the date is as familiar to Bob Votruba as it is to anyone the Virginia Tech shootings personally affected. Meeting recently with the Chamber of Commerce in Chesterland, Ohio, he told the group what that day meant, but Votruba says he was saddened to see a crowd of blank faces. "That's how these events end up being lost in the public memory," he says. "The Boston bombings (were) on April 15, and there was so much coverage on April 16, April 17 and April 18. Here was an event that was so big six years ago that hardly got a mention." Votruba says we live in a "Post-it note" society, where people need constant reminders to love and care for one another. He sets at least four alarms each day to remind him to think about others and what he can do to spread kindness. Small gestures can help folks get into the habit of being kind, he says. "If you want to say a prayer, or a moment of silence," he says, that's what you should do. "Whatever you need to do to honor someone." On the road . Votruba made good on his vow to sell his home and belongings, taking an early retirement to embark on his journey of kindness. He funds it with his savings and retirement checks but also accepts small donations. "It's all a buck here, 20 bucks there, that sort of thing," he says. He drives to places where the weather is nice, visiting elementary schools and senior centers to drop off fliers announcing his mission. Those organizations will call him up (sometimes up to a year later) and ask him to come give a talk. A couple of years ago, he added a bike to his travels and has ridden it nearly 18,000 miles to spark up conversations with the people he encounters about issues such as domestic violence and child abuse. He placed two stickers on the back of his bike telling people what they should do: "Be a man. Don't raise a hand. Stop domestic violence," and "Stop childhood sexual abuse now." By the handlebars, a big black-and-white sign reads: "Boys should never hit girls," a message to which the children respond. "These are issues as I'm driving across the country I'm hearing so much," he says. "I'm having firsthand conversations with people losing loved ones because of suicide. I've had adults break down and cry 30 to 40 years later because of something that happened in high school." Votruba likes to hand out "kindness certificates," so people can frame a visual reminder of the mission of his trip. Wake up and smile. Hold the door for someone. Let everybody go through traffic. These are the things Votruba says he does when he's on the road and recommends for others. A living memorial . On this trip to Brooklyn, a dozen people from places as far away as Australia stopped by his bus to read the messages people left behind. "There is a sense of wonder that turns him into a joy," says Sister Claire Young, who lives in Vero Beach, Florida. "You come outside and say hello to him, and he's just so thrilled to see you. What can be better?" There is no heat inside Votruba's bus -- or air conditioning for that matter -- but the walls are filled with more than 400 messages, written by children and adults who stop by and chat. It's a living memorial, he says, of the people who took the time to write on it. But it also speaks to the future, when days are long and he needs a reminder to keep going. He likes the simplicity of one note that a 3-year-old left with the help of his mother: "Just be nice." And the wisdom of a 92-year-old man who was married for 60 years: "Tell your love, you love her every day." Even on a cold day, Votruba says, "it warms the soul." | Bob Votruba has traveled nearly 60,000 miles across the U.S. to talk about kindness . After the tragedy of the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, he decided to change course . He rides with his Boston terrier, Bogart, as company and sometimes bikes . He gives himself reminders each day to be kind and gives assignments to others . | 3b829343077af6557a32311eb3c5b203cc0e1875 |
By . Alex Greig . PUBLISHED: . 01:15 EST, 7 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 01:24 EST, 7 March 2014 . Anyone who has ever received a dubious fortelling in a fortune cookie, take heed: A Bronx woman who used her lucky numbers, according to the cookie, has won $2 million. Emma Duvoll, 75, dined out in Manhattan Chinese restaurant Sammy's Noodle Shop & Grill and cracked open her sweet end-of-meal treat to reveal five lucky numbers. She used the numbers when purchasing a Powerball ticket for the February 1 draw for $193 million. Look to the cookie: Emma Duvoll won $2 million after playing numbers she received in a fortune cookie . NBC reports that Duvoll bought the ticket in Pine Bush and realized the day after the draw that she'd won. 'I was surprised but pleased,' she told lottery officials. The grandmother of eight and great-grandother of one told the New York Post she plays Powerball about once a month. Duvoll was born in Switzerland and moved to the U.S. with her husband, Dwight, 86. The pair raised two sons and owned a delicatessen in the Bronx. The couple were watching at home when Duvoll's numbers came in. Bright future: She's planning to invest some of the money and use the rest to travel . Duvoll had managed to match the five numbers but had missed out on the Powerball. The cookie's recommended numbers were 5, 12, 15, 27 and 38. Matching five numbers automatically won Duvoll $1 million but she had chosen the Power Play option, which doubled her winnings. Duvoll will receive a one-time payment of $1,246,085 after all required taxes. She was in Manhattan Thursday, along with several other New York winners, to receive her prize. 'I took some time contemplating what I will do with the money,' Duvall said. 'I plan to invest most of it, and maybe take a trip to Switzerland to visit family.' Employees at Sammy's Noodle Shop told the New York Post that they're all now believers in the cookie. | Emma Duvoll, 75, used number she received in a fortune cookie to enter the Powerball lottery . She won $2 million after matching the five numbers, but missed out on the Powerball . She plans to invest her money and travel . | d5c35416fe5f3c7ab1fbdb4f62bf844cd196bce3 |
By . Suzannah Hills . PUBLISHED: . 11:33 EST, 10 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:41 EST, 11 August 2013 . Missing: A 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of child abduction after Erika Kacicova, 13, disappeared on Monday . A 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of abducting a 13-year-old girl who has been missing for five days. Erika Kacicova, 13, was last seen on Monday at around 4pm as she left her home in Darnall, Sheffield. A 22-year-old from Bradford handed himself into police after hearing about appeals to find Erika and is now 'assisting officers' to help find the missing teenager. South Yorkshire Police have launched a search operation to try and find Erika and are appealing for her to get in touch to ensure she is safe and well. Erika, who has gone missing previously, is described as being around 4ft 11ins tall, Eastern European, of slim build, with long, dark-brown, straight hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, pink polo-style shirt and a silvery-grey coloured jacket. Officers are carrying out door to door enquiries in her home town of Darnall and detectives are working on the information coming in from the public. A team of South Yorkshire officers have gone to Bradford to look for her there and work with colleagues in West Yorkshire to help locate the missing teen. Detective Inspector Helen Tate said: 'Erika has now been missing for almost 5 full days and we haven’t had any positive sightings or confirmed contact from her. 'We know she has gone missing before but not for this long. 'She is a young girl, away from home and our main aim is for her to return safe and well. 'We know Erika’s family have friends and acquaintances in the Bradford area, so she may well have travelled to West Yorkshire. 'We are grateful for the calls from the public, so please contact us if you think you know where Erika is. 'Erika, if you are reading this, please let us know you are okay. You aren’t in trouble; we just need to know you are safe.' Anyone with information regarding Erika’s whereabouts should contact South Yorkshire Police on 101. Last sighting: Erika was last seen leaving her home in Darnell, Sheffield, around 4pm on Monday afternoon . | Erika Kacicova, 13, was last seen leaving her home in Darnall, Sheffield, on Monday afternoon around 4pm . Man, 22, handed himself into police after hearing about appeals to find her . He has been arrested on suspicion of child abduction and is 'helping officers with their enquiries' to find the missing teenager . | 693b3cb5150b876bbc2c509e1d4be94bb2ba7397 |
(CNN) -- Chevron filed an appeal with Ecuador's National Court to review a ruling that it must pay billions of dollars in damages for oil pollution in the Amazon rain forest. In addition to the $8.6 billion ruling, the court said that Chevron must publicly apologize to Ecuador, and if it fails to do so, the fine will be doubled to nearly $18 billion. The ruling Chevron is appealing was handed by an Ecuadorian appeals court on January 4, nearly a year after the panel received the case, the state-run Andes news agency reported. The case stems from claims that the company had a detrimental impact on Amazonian communities where it operated. Chevron says it has filed the appeal with Ecuador's National Court of Justice. "Throughout the course of this litigation, judges corruptly operating in concert with the plaintiffs' lawyers have created, rather than corrected, injustice," Hewitt Pate, Chevron vice president and general counsel, said Friday. Chevron's appeal is the latest in 19 years of litigation between Amazon residents and Texaco, which was later purchased by Chevron. At the time of the January ruling, Chevron said the appeals court decision "is another glaring example of the politicization and corruption of Ecuador's judiciary that has plagued this fraudulent case from the start." The company alleges that reports and evidence against it were fraudulent, and that bribes and corruption led to the original decision against it. "Chevron does not believe that the Ecuador ruling is enforceable in any court that observes the rule of law. The company will continue to seek to hold accountable the perpetrators of this fraud," the company said in a statement. When an Ecuadorian court handed down the original ruling last year, both Chevron and the Amazonian residents appealed. Chevron argued the verdict was the product of fraud and the plaintiffs said the size of the award was too small in comparison to what would be needed to do a real clean-up. The case, Aguinda v. ChevronTexaco, was originally filed in New York in 1993 on behalf of 30,000 inhabitants of Ecuador's Amazon region. The suit was eventually transferred to the Ecuadorian court and Ecuadorian jurisdiction. The lawsuit alleges that Texaco used a variety of substandard production practices in Ecuador that resulted in pollution that decimated several indigenous groups in the area, according to a fact sheet provided by the Amazon Defense Coalition. According to the group, Texaco dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic waste into Amazon waterways, abandoned more than 900 waste pits, burned millions of cubic meters of gases with no controls and spilled more than 17 million gallons of oil due to pipeline ruptures. Cancer and other health problems were reported at higher rates in the area, the group says. Chevron says Texaco was partnered with an Ecuadorian oil company when it operated in Ecuador, and that it spent $40 million on remediation efforts to clean up roughly one-third of the sites in which it worked -- an amount reflective of its 37% share of the oil-producing consortium with Petroecuador. It says its cleanup efforts were certified and approved by the Ecuardorian government and blames Petroecuador for any ongoing pollution at sites where it was the sole operator, according to documents on the Chevron website regarding the lawsuit and its history of operations in the South American country. | Chevron's appeal continues 19 years of litigation . The fine will double if Chevron does not apologize, an appeals court has ruled . The company says the case is fraudulent . It does not believe the ruling is enforceable . | 878760a5e53da778a5fa35bb5f665c651709da6d |
(CNN) -- Four young women died after a tractor-trailer crashed into a bus carrying members of a college women's softball team late Friday in southern Oklahoma, a law enforcement spokesman said. The bus, which belonged to North Central Texas College, was transporting its softball team back from a game, the school said. It was carrying 15 female students and one male coach. "The semi departed the roadway to the left and traveled into the median and crossed the median, entering the southbound lane where it impacted the bus," said Oklahoma Highway Patrol Cpt. Ronnie Hampton. School bus crashes in Georgia; 17 students sent to hospital . The college website identified the victims as Brooke Deckard, 20, of Scurry, Texas; Jaiden Pelton, 20, of Telephone, Texas; Meagan Richardson, 19, of Wylie, Texas; and Katelynn Woodlee, 18, of Windom, Texas. The National Transportation and Safety Board was sending a team to investigate the accident, which occurred on Interstate 35 in the Arbuckle Mountains near Davis, about 60 miles from the main campus of NCTC and an hour south of Oklahoma City. Eleven students were taken to the hospital, as well as the driver of the tractor-trailer, Hampton said. Two of the injured were flown by air ambulance to the Oklahoma University Medical Center in Oklahoma City. Earlier, the highway patrol had reported that two semis were involved in the accident but later revised that to one truck. NCTC is a two-year school in north Texas. The college scheduled a prayer vigil for 8 p.m. Sunday on the school's main campus in Gainesville. NCTC President Brent Wallace said at a press conference that the school's other traveling athletic teams were called back to campus because of the tragedy. NTSB: No evidence of fire before FedEx truck crashed into students' bus in California . | NEW: The four victims were young women 18-20 years old . The tractor-trailer crossed the median into the opposing lane of traffic on I-35 . The bus carried 15 female students and one male coach . 11 were taken to hospital, including truck driver; 2 injured were taken via helicopter . | 4eb0dc89b59ff61dbe2af0558335855dc848075b |
By . Meghan Keneally and Nina Golgowski . PUBLISHED: . 20:05 EST, 21 July 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 20:50 EST, 21 July 2012 . One day after accusations that the U.S. government has been infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood leading to heavy criticism of Rep Michele Bachmann in both political parties, she's not backing down. Instead, the former presidential candidate has added a fellow congressman to her list of U.S. suspects she believes needs investigating. Rep Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to congress and whom Bachmann shares the state of Minnesota with, has been added to her list of names. Scroll down for video . Taking names: One day after Rep Michele Bachmann accused the U.S. government of being infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood she has added Rep Keith Ellison (right) , a Muslim who challenged her views, to her list . Ellison was added following his defense of Secretary of State . Hillary Clinton's top aid Huma Abedin, a Muslim, whom Bachmann accused of having relations to the Islamic society. He said she should apologize to Ms Abedin for her accusations, coupled with four other Republicans, that had zero merit. Responding to that request, Bachmann voiced concern of Ellison . as well and suggested he be added to the list also. 'He has a long record of being associated with (the Council . on American-Islamic Relations) and with the Muslim Brotherhood,' she told radio . and TV host Glenn Beck on Thursday night. Ellison, addressing Bachmann's curt accusation, said it is . false and believes the congresswoman who's currently running for re-election . just wants attention. Questioned: Huma Abedin (left), aide to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (right), has been subjected to inquiry by Rep Michele Bachmann and four other fellow House Republicans for having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood . What rights: Rep Bachmann questioned the high security clearance Ms Abedin has working for Secretary Clinton which Rep Ellison chastised the congresswoman for . 'I think she thinks that we're evil because we don't . understand God the way she does,' Mr Ellison told the Huffington Post. 'It must . be very frightening to see the world through her eyes.' It . was only Wednesday the typically press shy Ms Abedin made headlines . instead of her husband, disgraced former New York Congressman Anthony . Weiner. First, she and Weiner appeared in a People magazine spread where she declared that she is proud to be married to her husband even after the Twitter sexting scandal that forced him to resign his position as a Democratic representative for part of the Queens borough in New York. Then she was a hot topic by Bachmann and other Republican politicians deriding her with claims that her deceased father, mother, and brother has connections to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Calling her out: Though John McCain (right) never mentioned her explicitly, he gave a seven-minute speech slamming a letter that Michele Bachmann (left) wrote deriding one of Hillary Clinton's top aides . 'The concerns about the foreign . influence of immediate family members is such a concern to the U.S. Government that it includes these factors as potentially disqualifying . conditions for obtaining a security clearance, which undoubtedly Ms . Abedin has had to obtain to function in her position,' Ms Bachmann wrote . in a responding letter to Mr Ellison who called her claims baseless. '...in questioning how Ms Abedin . received a high-level security clearance, you imply that our top . intelligence agencies did not adequately investigate Ms Abedin,' Ellison . responded. 'Accusing the . men and women of the U.S. intelligence community of failing to do their . jobs requires far more substantial information than what you have . provided to date,' he wrote. Trusted: Bachmann says Ms Abedin's position is highly sensitive and she could abuse it, effectively because of falsified rumors about her Muslim family's connections . Republican Arizona Senator John McCain, like Ellison, also came to Ms Abedin's defense. The former presidential candidate spoke . passionately about Ms Abedin’s years of dedicated public service in her . role with Secretary Clinton, and denounced the senseless character . attacks that were made by some of his more conservative party members. 'Huma represents what is best about America: the daughter of immigrants, who has risen to the highest levels of our government on the basis of her substantial personal merit and her abiding commitment to the American ideals that she embodies so fully.' McCain said in his speech on the Senate floor. 'I am proud to know Huma, and to call her my friend.' Bachmann, who rose to national prominence during her failed bid for position of this year’s Republican presidential candidate, alleged that Ms Abedin’s deceased father, mother, and brother are connected to the Muslim Brotherhood, the controversial political opposition group who often works against American interest in Arab states. Touting her role on the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Bachmann wrote a letter- which was co-signed by four other congressmen- alleging that given Ms Abedin’s highly-sensitive position in Ms Clinton’s staff, she is effectively a national security threat due to her fictitious connections to the Brotherhood. In the letter, which was sent to the deputy inspector general of the State Department and the Director of National Intelligence among others, Mrs Bachmann and her co-signers gave no traces of evidence of their findings. Stay at home dad: Weiner has been taking care of his new son Jordan while his wife Huma Abedin continues her high-powered job at Hillary Clinton's top aide . Well connected: Ms Abedin has stood quietly by her husband Anthony Weiner in the wake of his sexting scandal last year that lead to his resignation . Mr McCain made a clear attack on the . statements, drawing on his own personal experience having been the . victim of false rumors during his multiple presidential campaigns, and . having his heroism questioned in spite of his strong military record . which included many years as a prisoner during the Vietnam War. He said that he knows the pain that is cause 'when a person's character, reputation and patriotism are attacked.' 'When anyone, not least a member of Congress, launches specious and degrading attacks against fellow Americans on the basis of nothing more than fear of who they are and ignorance of what they stand for, it defames the spirit of our nation, and we all grow poorer because of it,' he said. ‘To say that the accusations made in both documents are not substantiated by the evidence they offer is to be overly polite and diplomatic about it. In the shadows: A then-pregnant Abedin (left in both shots) was the one to hand Clinton her Blackberry when the news came through that Muammar Gaddafi had been killed . Defender: John McCain dismissed the letter about Abedin as reckless and said that he was honored to call her a friend . ‘The letter in the report offer not one . instance of an action, a decision or a public position that Huma has . taken while at the State Department or as a member of then-Senator . Clinton's staff that would lend credence to the charge that she is . promoting anti-American activities within our government.’ Mrs Clinton’s staff clearly appreciated the bi-lateral support that he showed in renouncing the move. Mrs Clinton’s spokesman Philippe Reines dismissed the accusations, calling them 'nothing but vicious and disgusting lies, and anyone who traffics in them should be ashamed of themselves. I would hope that hearing the remarkable statement from someone of Senator McCain's stature gives her (Bachmann) pause in doing so any further.' In response, Mrs Bachmann said that her words were being twisted and that the point of her letters was 'to outline the serious national security concerns I had and ask for answers to questions regarding the Muslim Brotherhood and other radical group's access to top Obama administration officials.' Watch the video here: . | Muslim Rep Keith Ellison added to list after chastising Bachmann's inquiry . Huma Abedin, the Muslim wife of disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner, was targeted as potential threat while aid to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton . Former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann wrote a letter alleging that Abedin's family has connections to the Muslim Brotherhood but provided no proof of the statements . | 1c3d083341f0dd1738547a4c48f1fea040adc968 |
Offered an improbable second chance in the Champions League, Celtic are on the verge of taking it. A composed, tactically astute performance against the champions of Slovenia in the Ljudski Vrt Stadium leaves Ronny Deila's team 90 minutes from the group stages for a third successive year. Short of signing David Blaine it's hard to recall a greater act of naked escapology than this. The Scottish champions are not through yet. Neither should they expect a good luck postcard from Warsaw in the coming days. Yet, on a night when they dominated a very ordinary Maribor team for long spells they could – should – have emerged with a first leg victory. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Ronny Deila say he is happy with his side's performance and is confident of progressing to the group stage . Back of the net: Celtic midfielder Callum McGregor (centre) reacts quickest to put the visitors ahead in the sixth minute against Maribor . Early delight: McGregor runs away to celebrate his strike in Slovenia as goalkeeper Jasmin Handanovic is left to pick the ball out of the net . All smiles: Celtic players (from left to right) Beram Kyal, Stefan Johansen and Jo Inge Berget celebrate with goalscorer McGregor (far right) Maribor: Handanovic, Stojanovic, Rajcevic, Suler, Viler, Vrsic (Mendy 74), Filipovic, Dervisevic (Mertelj 81), Bohar (Sallalich 79), Tavares, Ibraimi. Subs: Cotman, Mejac, Zahovic, Arghus. Celtic: Gordon, Lustig, Denayer, van Dijk, Izaguirre, Johansen, Mulgrew, McGregor, Kayal, Berget, Stokes (Griffiths 81). Subs: Zaluska, Ambrose, Biton, Commons, Pukki, Griffiths, Henderson. Referee: Pavel Kralovec (Czech Republic) Such was the contrast with the 4-1 defeat to Legia which left Deila's team staring down the barrel of fiscal gun, however, there were few of a mind to quibble on Wednesday night. There were some similarities with the Legia game. Once again Celtic made a terrific start. Once again, they conceded a quick equaliser. But this time there was no collapse. Celtic have good reason to believe they will finish the job at Parkhead before a large crowd now. For the third successive away game in Europe Callum McGregor, the 20-year-old who spent last season on loan at Notts County, scored an invaluable goal. Like Stefan Johansen, Craig Gordon and a raft of others in Celtic colours he had a fine game and is making a habit of it, showing excellent composure and decision making in key areas. It took him eight minutes to score the goal which ultimately proved crucial to Celtic in Warsaw. Here it took just five. Johansen, who had an industrious night in Celtic's midfield, sprung the Maribor back line with a lofted pass to an onside and in space Jo Inge Berget. The Norwegian had work to do yet. He rode the first challenge then steered an angled shot towards goal. Home keeper Jasmin Handanovic blocked with his legs, but McGregor is showing a pleasing habit of being the right man in the right place. The youngster slotted the ball into the net for 1-0. The gnashing of teeth on the streets of Warsaw was almost audible above the silence of the home supporters. There was no sign of panic from Celtic. The possession stats were overwhelming in their favour. Maribor generously stood off the team in green and white and allowed them to play. All square: Maribor's Damian Bohar (second from right) tucks the ball beyond Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon to get his side back on level terms . Get in! Maribor midfielder Bohar gestures to the home fans after scoring in the 14th minute at the Ljudski vrt Stadium . Yet cold hard experience has already shown this season that nothing is simple for Scotland's champions. After shipping a leveller in three minutes in Poland they lasted a whole eight here. Yet the goal they lost – once again – was pitiful. Ronny Deila started 19-year-old on loan Manchester City defender Jason Denayer beside Virgil van Dijk and threw Beram Kayal in beside Charlie Mulgrew as a second holding midfielder. Last season's top scorer Kris Commons was sacrificed to make Celtic stiffer and sterner in defence and that decision was justified by a return to form from Kayal. The Israeli was solid here. Yet in 14 minutes the home team simply passed the ball through a porous backline. Denayer's inexperience showed as he was caught wrong side of his man, while Mikael Lustig might also have done better. Whoever cops the blame eventually, left winger Damjan Bohar slotted the through ball calmly past Craig Gordon for 1-1. It was Maribor's first chance. Virtually their first attack. It was natural, then, to fear for Celtic. There was a déjà vu to much of this. Mercifully, it was misplaced. In contrast with warsaw Deila's team didn't panic. They made it to half-time at 1-1 quite comfortably and were desperately unlucky not to be 2-1 – maybe even 3-1 ahead. Oddly willing to stand off and allow their visitors to play, Maribor conceded a raft of first half corners. One of them, in 20 minutes, almost ended in a goal when Stefan Johansen's deep, probing effort to the back post was headed back across goal by captain Charlie Mulgrew. Zeljko Filopovic headed off the line. There was an astonishing let-off for Maribor just after the half hour mark. Another Celtic corner, this time from Anthony Stokes on the other side picked out Virgil van Dijk in front of goal and his header could hardly have been any better. It was bulleting into the net until, freakishly, it struck Celtic teammate Johansen on the goalline and stayed out. Under pressure: Celtic defender Jason Denaver (back) tussles with Maribor striker Marcos Tavares (front) as he prepares to receive a pass . So close: Celtic almost take the lead but Virgil can Dijk's (right) header hits his team-mate Stefan Johansen and bounces back into play . Battle: Goalscorers Bohar (left) and McGregor (right) both attempt to get control of the ball during the opening period . Still there was no reason for Celtic to despair. They passed the ball sharply, UEFA statistics showing the Scots had 64% possession in the first half. With a striker able to hold the ball up and bring others into the play . And yet the worry here was clear. Celtic had shown they could score. Could they defend? Maribor stung the palms of Craig Gordon twice with long-range efforts. A Petar Stojanovic piledriver was pushed wide by Gordon as van Dijk stood off. The former Scotland keeper, making his first European start for Celtic, was called into action again after Maribor's creative danger man, Agim Ibrahimi made space to thump a 25 yard left foot drive at goal. Gordon pushed it out and Dare Vrsic failed to bring the ball down to guide the rebound on target. For all the criticism of Celtic's transfer dealings – or lack of – over the summer, Gordon may yet prove to be a superb piece of business. In a rare lapse of defensive concentration in 59 minutes Emilio Izaguirre gave the ball away in his own half. Working the ball wide to the left flank Maribor full-back Mitja Viler whipped in a cross for Ibrahimi to direct a downward header towards the bottom right hand corner. Gordon dived full length to push the ball away in a manner which suggested, if he stays fit, that Fraser Forster's departure may prove less than catastrophic. It was a fleeting moment of concern for Celtic's number one. Of the two goalkeepers Handanovic, at the other end, was by far the busier keeper. How Celtic left here without a second goal, indeed, remains an enduring mystery. Looking on: Celic manager Ronny Deila plots his next move while watching his players in action before the break . Sliding in: Celtic midfielder Jo Inge Berget (right) evades a strong tackle from Maribor's Dare Vrsic (left) Challenge: Celtic defender Emilio Izaguirre (right) has the ball stolen off him by Vrsic near the touchline . They controlled the play and crafted a series of chances. The first in 61 minutes saw Stokes claim a handball from Aleksander Rajcevic as he headed a fine cross from McGregor towards goal. Stokes had a mixed night here, in truth. His best moment came when he controlled the ball with his back to goal, spinning and dragging a low effort from 20 yards wide of goal. That came during an excellent spell for the Scottish champions. They should have scored a second in 72 minutes when Johansen embarked on an endless solo run which almost carried him through for a brilliant individual goal. Stokes was screaming for the ball in the centre and would have had a tap in had the Norwegian squared. Instead he stumbled at the crucial moment, allowing Handanovic to deal with the danger. The Maribor keeper was at it again seconds later, another charging solo run from Virgil van Dijk this time - anding in the Dutchman thudding a 30 yard shot towards the top corner, Handanovic tipping the ball over the bar at the last second. A second goal was desirable for Celtic. But not essential. The key was keeping composure in defence until the end. The arrival of Efe Ambrose at right back offered no guarantee of that, but when Gordon produced another excellent save by leaping to push a 30 yard drive from substitute Ales Mertelj over the bar they were edging closer to a very decent first leg outcome. | McGregor gave Celtic the lead with a close-range finish after six minutes . The Slovenian side equalised just eight minutes later through Bohar . The result leaves next week's second leg at Celtic Park finely poised . The winners of the tie will qualify for the Champions League group stage . | dbdf8f1f63ea98d02fe8250436ed45e8d77ba798 |
By . Colin Fernandez and Jill Reilly . PUBLISHED: . 11:38 EST, 11 June 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 13:22 EST, 11 June 2012 . She has only just stopped trading vicious blows with her estranged husband on Twitter, but now Kate Goldsmith is enduring a new cycle of online animosity - sickening racist tweets. Internet trolls have been bombarding the Rothschild heiress with vile racist abuse in reaction to her alleged affair with black U.S. rapper Jay Electronica. It has been reported that she split with Ben Goldsmith, her husband of nine years, for the New Orleans musician. Vile abuse: Internet trolls have been bombarding Kate Goldsmith, left, with vile racist abuse in reaction to her alleged affair with black U.S. rapper Jay Electronica, right . Ben Goldsmith pictured with Jay Electronica who is alleged to have had an affair with his wife . Today one of the vile tweets written by Sublime2 @ochimp1 referred to the musician as a 'gorilla.' Another user under the name of @EnigmaIce1 tweeted 'Top World family defiled by a low life ... and an an ape.' Most of the comments were too offensive to . republish online and were sent from anonymous Twitter accounts with . fake names and unidentifiable profile pictures. Vile: Internet troll sent racist tweets to Kate Goldsmith, attacking her relationship with U.S. rapper Jay Electronica . Offensive: Another anonymous tweeter directly contacted Kate Goldsmith with a barrage offensive messages . Mrs Goldsmith's followers reacted with shock at the vicious and nasty tweets - one user calling themselves @Hattie_Jacques wrote on their Twitter page: . 'Astonished by the vile racism aimed at @kateroundtable just because she appears to have left a white man for a black man. It is 2012 right?!' Another user told Mrs Goldsmith to report one of the trolls as he had 'done it to people in the celeb world before.' So far Mrs Goldsmith has not . responded to any of the sick tweets, although she did write on her profile . page: 'It ain't safe out here in these tweets.' Mrs Goldsmith's followers reacted with shock at the vicious and nasty tweets . The comment is thought to play on lyrics from LA-based rappers Black Knights who sang ‘It ain’t safe out on these streets’. Although she swore off using Twitter she has now defended her use of it to air grievances as the ‘only recourse’. After public spats on the social networking site, the couple released a joint statement on Friday saying they regretted saying things in public that should have been kept private, adding: ‘There will be no further comment.’ However, in fresh tweets yesterday, Mrs Goldsmith lashed out at Daily Mail writer Janet Street Porter who had criticised the Twitter war in an article entitled: ‘Why this modern compulsion to let it all hang out makes my skin crawl.’ Street Porter said Mrs Goldsmith was invading her own privacy by tweeting about her marriage. Attack: Sister-in-law Jemima Khan . In a fresh twist, her comments appeared to have been prompted by tweets about the Street Porter article from socialite Jemima Khan – her husband’s sister. Mrs Khan wrote: ‘In the same article about the need for privacy (a fair point) she [Street Porter] also outs her own Mum as an adulterer for good measure. #hypocrisy.’ A freelance journalist Sarah Standing joined in, tweeting: ‘Oh that article made me so angry, what bull****’ At which point, Mrs Goldsmith posted: ‘Me too...and re her condemnation of me ‘‘taking’’ to twitter to air grievances as I did she publishes her views and opinions ad nauseam. ‘With the luxury of not having them twisted and magimixed by the press. Twitter is the only recourse for most.’ Mrs Goldsmith, 30, had been branded ‘appalling’ by her 31-year-old husband for her behaviour since she began a relationship with Electronica. The New Orleans rapper, whose real name is Timothy Elpadaro Thedford, is currently staying in a £1.8million penthouse apartment in Knightsbridge, a short distance from Mrs Goldsmith’s £20million marital home in Kensington. Mrs Goldsmith, claimed her ‘life had been saved’ by the rap artist, who she manages through her own record label, Roundtable Records. She also appeared to accuse her husband of cheating on her before the couple issued their statement. Yesterday Mr Goldsmith was keeping quiet about the split – and his only tweet was about how ‘solar power would be the lowest cost energy option’ in the US by 2015. Electronica said he ‘had no comment’ to make. | Kate Goldsmith has been bombarded with vile racist tweets from internet trolls on Twitter . They are in reference to her alleged affair with black U.S. rapper – Jay Electronica . Mrs Goldsmith and her husband Ben last week traded increasingly vicious blows over Twitter after her alleged affair was revealed . | 76ee58e2ac1e48343a65d21edaffa432acf337b8 |
The House of Representatives won't move to impeach President Barack Obama, and the idea is 'all a scam started by Democrats at the White House,' House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday. 'This whole talk about impeachment is coming from the president's own staff, and coming from Democrats on Capitol Hill,' Boehner told reporters. 'Why? Because they’re trying to rally their people to give money and to show up in this year's elections.' On Monday the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee emailed its largest donor list with a request for money based specifically on impeachment fears. SCAM: Boehner said Democrats have cooked up baseless impeachment fears in order to raise money . Smoking gun: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee begged donors for money on Monday by floating the idea that Republicans could impeach the president . The . president, vice president and first lady, the solicitation read, 'need . your help, because it’s a critical moment. House Republicans will vote . THIS WEEK to sue the President. And the White House believes it could . lead to Barack Obama’s impeachment.' 'It’s . time to have the President’s back. With the most critical deadline . we’ve faced in just days, we’re still 75,000 donations short of our . goal.' Adding fuel to Boehner's contention, a top White House aide used the 'I' word on Friday during a Christian Science Monitor breakfast event, tying the threat of impeachment to a lawsuit Boehner is pursuing against the Obama administration. The legal action, Dan Pfeiffer said, has 'opened the door' to a presidential impeachment. 'Impeachment is a very serious thing that has been bandied about by the recent Republican vice presidential nominee and others in a very un-serious way,' said Pfeiffer, hat-tipping former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. 'We take it very seriously and I don't think it would be a good thing.' Palin said of Obama just days ago in Denver that 'if he's not impeachable, then no one is.' Boehner has said plainly that his lawsuit, which focuses on the White House's unilateral changes to the Obamacare law, will not be a prelude to removing Obama from power. 'This is not about impeachment,' the House speaker said on July 9. 'This is about faithfully executing the laws of our country.' He added a more definitive statement on Tuesday, saying that the House leadership has 'no plans to impeach the president. We have no future plans.' Staying: Obama doesn't face an impeachment threat, Boehner said, preferring to take the president to federal court over his administration's changes to the Affordable Care Act . Impeachment refers to a formal process prescribed in the U.S. Constitution for throwing a president or a federal judge out of office. The House would first bring charges against Obama and vote to approve them. The Senate would then hold a trial on those charges and vote on whether to convict. The Constitution reserves impeachment as a remedy for 'high crimes and misdemeanors,' which the framers understood to be official crimes committed while in power. Boehner and other House leaders have tried to tamp down conservative Republicans' expectations in recent weeks. A senior House staffer told MailOnline that Tuesday's words would be welcome in establishment circles since Democrats' control of the Senate makes removing Obama from office a guaranteed non-starter. 'It shouldn't have taken this long for him to say it, but now that he's said it we can get back to things that won't backfire,' the aide said. A CNN/ORC International poll released on Friday found that one-third of Americans, 33 per cent, believe Obama should be impeached and removed from office. Fully 65 per cent disagreed. | House or Representatives won't move to impeach, Boehner told reporters . He said talk of impeachment is an election-year fundraising ploy launched by the White House itself to help Democrats in November . The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee send a fundraising email on Monday asking for money to fend off impeachment threats . Tea party Republicans have hoped for the gutsy move from Capitol Hill . Democrats control the US Senate, which would have to convict the president of 'high crimes' or 'misdemeanors' to remove him from office . | 5bd2ba9a507f8cb79565dba8edf00049aef07bad |
By . Lizzie Edmonds . PUBLISHED: . 05:49 EST, 14 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:41 EST, 14 October 2013 . Britain is facing a shortage of goat's cheese following a slump in production across Europe, industry experts have revealed today. Middle-class kitchens and posh restaurants alike may have to go without following a decimation of stocks across Europe, it has been claimed. Low supply coupled with an increase in demand during the festival period will see prices of what is produced soar, some experts have said. Shortage: Many middle-class kitchens and restaurants could have to go without goat's cheese this Christmas period after a Europe-wide shortage . The shortage follows a cull of more than 50,000 pregnant goats . and sheep across Europe in 2010 to rid herds of the . disease Q Fever - which can spread from animals to humans, trade journal The Grocer reported. This not only meant an inevitable fall in stock, but many farmers stopped breeding the animals after they lost almost all of their livelihoods due to the cull. Experts said today that the situation is a 'perfect storm' of rising demand at a time when stocks are low. Goat's cheese is traditionally in high demand during the festive period, along with many other upmarket foods. 'Crisis': In 2010, 50,000 goats and sheep were culled in a bid to stop the spread of Fever Q - a disease which can spread to humans (library image) Last week it was announced the cost of chocolate would increase by up to a third. Crippling . rises in the price of cocoa butter could add 21p to the cost of every . 100g of milk chocolate by December, experts said. They added it would affect everything from expensive truffles to festive advent calendars and even chocolate coins. The . cost of producing chocolate has gone up by 33 per cent in the last year. This is thanks to a 70 per cent rise in the price of cocoa butter, a 50 per . cent rise in milk powder prices and a 15 per cent increase in whey . powder costs. So far, chocolate makers have sheltered consumers from some of the costs - but this may change with the Christmas rush. Howard Newmarch of specialist . cheesemaker Eurilait said: 'Inevitably there will be allocations to . ensure that customers are supplied in part, but not totally what they . would ideally want.' George Paul, director of rivals . Bradburys, added: 'Retailers would either need to pay more for goat . products or risk being left short. 'One or the other will give shortly - it'll either be price or availability.' It would seem that cheese is not the only item that may be too costly for the average kitchen in the run up to Christmas this year. Last week it was announced the cost of chocolate was set to soar by up to a third. Crippling rises in the price of cocoa butter may add 21p to the cost of every 100g of milk chocolate by December, experts said. They added that it would affect everything from truffles to advent calendars and chocolate coins. The cost of producing chocolate has gone up by 33 per cent in the last year thanks to a 70 per cent rise in the price of cocoa butter, a 50 per cent rise in milk powder prices and a 15 per cent increase in whey powder costs. Cocoa powder and sugar have fallen in price, but they account for a much smaller proportion of production costs. So far, chocolate makers have sheltered consumers from some of the costs. There has been a small 7.5 per cent rise in the price of a Cadbury’s Dairy Milk bar, while a box of Quality Street costs 14.3 per cent more. But with peak season approaching, there may be price hikes to come ahead of the Christmas rush. | Shortage after a decimation of stock in Europe, industry experts warned . Follows a cull of more than 50,000 goats and sheep across the continent after the spread of disease Q Fever . Situation a 'perfect storm' of rising demand and low stock, experts said . News of a chocolate price increase this Christmas revealed last week . | 72fb4e4fa23781651cc063611602fc7028462df2 |
By . Tara Brady . PUBLISHED: . 07:33 EST, 15 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 08:25 EST, 15 October 2013 . It is believed around 200 people have been put to death in Iran since its new president Hassan Rouhani came to power in June . A death row prisoner in Iran is to be hanged for a second time once he 'becomes well again' after he survived an initial bungled execution. The 37-year-old man named as Alireza M was 'put to death' in the Islamic regime's Bojnourd prison last Wednesday for drugs offences. After 12 minutes, he was certified as dead and taken to the prison morgue. But when his family went to collect his body the following day, they noticed he was still breathing and rushed him to hospital. One family member told Iran's state-run media: 'When we were told the death sentence had been carried out, we went to collect his body to prepare for a memorial service. 'But when we went to the coroner's office we found him alive again, which made his two daughters very happy.' Once officials were told Alireza M had survived, they put him under armed guard at the hospital to await a second execution. A judiciary official told the state media: 'The verdict was the death sentence, and it will be carried out once the man gets well again.' Iran has executed an estimated 560 people this year - including around 200 that have been put to death since new 'moderate' president Hassan Rouhani came to power in June. Rouhani vowed to end the repression of the previous regime, but human rights groups have said executions have actually increased under his rule. Iran has the highest rate of executions per capita and puts to death more people annually than any nation except China. Iran has the highest rate of executions per capita and puts to death more people annually than any other nation except China. This convicted murderer Hashem Anbarniya was hanged in 2002 . Many of the condemned are executed for theft, drugs-related offences, not following the rules of Islam or criticising the government. They are often hanged publicly in town centres or from bridges and cranes. Maryam Namazie, of the campaign group Iran Solidarity, said: 'Rouhani was quoted saying he wanted to empty the prisons - it seems the regime intends to do so via executions.' | The 37-year-old was put to death in the Islamic regime's Bojnourd prison . After 12 minutes he was certified dead and taken to a morgue . When his family went to collect his body the next day he was still breathing . Guards are waiting for him to recover enough so he can be hanged again . | eb631eb0ef708e626fd7094f3346c8d73aa0b374 |
A teenage girl was beheaded by a relative in northern Afghanistan after she turned down his marriage proposals, according to reports. The victim, named as Gisa, was decapitated with a knife in the Imam Sahib district of Kunduz province on Tuesday, local police said. She is believed to be around 15-years-old. A police spokesman said two men, named as Sadeq and Massoud, had been arrested following the teenage girl's murder. The two men are understood to be close relatives of the victim that live in the same village. Local police sources have said the men behind the attack wanted to marry the girl, but their advances had been turned down by victim's father. Violence: The teenage girl is understood to have been beheaded after she refused a relative's repeated marriage proposals (FILE PHOTO) Gisa is understood to have been attacked as she returned to her home in Kulkul village after going out to collect water from a nearby well. Her father told a local news agency he had not wanted his daughter to get married because she was too young. Afghanistan's Taliban regime - notorious for its oppression of women in the country - was ousted in 2001, but extreme violence against women is still rife. In 2009 the Elimination of Violence Against Woman law was introduced in Afghanistan, criminalising child marriage, forced marriage, 'giving away' a girl or woman to settle a dispute, among other acts of violence against the female population of the ultra-conservative Islamic nation. But the UN has said there is a 'long way to go' before the rights of Afghan women are fully protected. Comprehensive official statistics on the number of incidents of violence against women in the country are difficult to establish, with the majority of cases going unreported. However in the year to March 2011, Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission registered over 2,000 acts of violence against women. The NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force has given high priority to re-establishing women's rights that were eradicated under the Taliban as part of its efforts to create a security strategy for Afghanistan. But with the deadline for international troops to pull out of the country - scheduled for the end of 2014 - looming, activists have warned that the outlook for the female population remains bleak. Human Rights Watch has said women's rights are increasingly at risk in the run up to the scheduled draw-down of NATO forces, with early and forced marriage, impunity for violence against women and lack of access of justice among the long list of challenges they still face. 'Beheaded': The teenage girl is understood to have been attacked as she returned to her home in the Imam Sahib district after fetching water from a nearby well . While Afghan women have won back some basic rights since the Taliban was toppled 11 years ago, so-called honour killings remain relatively commonplace in the war-torn Islamic nation. The summer of 2012 saw a spate of so-called honour killings in Afghanistan. In July a father shot his two teenage daughters dead in the Nad Ali district of Helmand when they returned home four days after running away with a man. Earlier that same month shocking video footage emerged of a 22-year-old Afghan woman being gunned down with an AK47 in front of a crowd of baying villagers in Parwan province. Thought to have been married to a member of a hardline Taliban militant group, the woman, known only as Najiba, was executed after being accused of having an affair with a Taliban commander. Her murder followed a horrific case in Ghazni province in which a man beheaded his ex-wife and two of their children. Serata's former spouse barged into her home and decapitated her in front of their eight-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter. He then killed the children because they had seen, police said. This year the country's Independent Human Rights Commission recorded 16 incidents of honour killings in March and April alone, the first two months of the Afghan new year. During the month of July a spate of brutal killings in the country - which left four women and two children dead - attracted international attention. The Independent Human Rights Commission warned last month that Afghanistan has seen a sharp rise in cases of both honour killings and rape, adding that many incidents of murder and sexual assault go unreported to authorities. The ever-present threat of violence at the hands of men in a patriarchal society has also led to an increase in cases of Afghan women taking their own lives. Dozens of women commit suicide in the country each year, often to escape failed or abusive marriages. Divorce is still taboo in Afghanistan, and women who flee their marriages, if caught, face stringent prison sentences. A family court established in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, in 2003 offered a semblance of hope for women in the country that are trapped in forced marriages or subject to domestic violence - but it still adheres to Afghanistan's version of Islamic sharia law. Traditional Afghan culture places no onus on a man who wants to leave his spouse to go through legal proceedings - he can divorce his wife without any approval of the justice system. In the court in Kabul, a woman must plead her case before judges and lawyers, and she must have five male witnesses willing to attend in support. A recent case saw a 17-year-old girl forced to accept a marriage proposal from a man she despised successfully argued for her engagement to be scrapped by the court, according to The Washington Post. Tragically for Farima, who dreamed of becoming a doctor, the decision did not mark a return to the life of relative freedom she enjoyed before her engagement. Before taking her battle to the court, the desperate teenager had thrown herself from the roof of her Kabul home. Farima broke her back in the fall, but survived. Her fiance insisted that their planned marriage must still go ahead, leading the now disabled teenager to take her battle to the family court. Following the case, the 17-year-old is back in her childhood home. Her family did not allow her to return to school, and the injuries she sustained in her failed suicide bid mean relatives fear she will be unlikely to marry in the future. While she managed, against the odds, to free herself from a fate she dreaded, the future for this defiant Afghan girl still looks bleak. Challenges: Afghan women have won back some basic human rights since the fall of the Taliban, but there is still a 'long way to go', activists say (FILE PHOTO) | Two men have been arrested following the death of the teenage girl in Kunduz province, northern Afghanistan . Victim, named as 'Gisa', was beheaded by her cousin after she and her family turned down his marriage proposal, a police spokesman said . | 878b3d397d43a0cbf52bda442a8c2897d8c10bab |
(CNN) -- Alleged Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was semi-conscious, wrapped in field gauze and "covered in blood" when he arrived late Friday at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, according to a detailed first-hand account from a senior employee at the hospital. The source said Tsarnaev appeared to have lost a great deal of blood and was making no sound until he reached the Red Zone Trauma Area, where he began to moan in considerable pain. He didn't seem to utter any words, the source said. Approximately 8-10 medical staff were working on him and there were at least two thoracic surgeons present as well as other surgeons. His condition was stabilized very quickly, said the source. The FBI was inside the trauma room during the stabilization and several other law enforcement agencies were outside the room, including the FBI, Boston police and Beth Israel police, according to the source. Reconstructing the trail of his deleted Instagram account . Other patients were also in the trauma area, separated by curtains, but there were no bombing victims there, the source said. Tsarnaev was taken to X-ray, had a CT scan and was then taken to the operating room. FBI agents stayed nearby during surgery, the source said. Within a matter of hours he was moved to an ICU unit on the upper floors of the hospital. There were no other patients in that secure unit for the duration of the time that he was there and Tsarnaev recovered very quickly, the source said. "He was in much better shape than most people thought," the source said, but had serious wounds to his throat and leg. He has since been transferred with the help of U.S. Marshals to Federal Medical Center, Devens -- a federal prison specializing in long-term medical care, about 40 miles west of Boston. At Devens, he is locked inside a 10-by-10-foot cell with a steel door, a slot for food and an observation window, a prison spokesman said Sunday. Tsarnaev is now able to speak and has been interacting with medical staff, spokesman John Colautti said. After disasters, hospitals pay it forward . | Source: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev arrived at hospital semi-conscious and 'covered in blood' He didn't seem to utter any words, the source says . Source: His condition was stabilized very quickly . | 0320e826d1a852ad9c12b1b97abf7abd0eca4fd0 |
(CNN) -- For Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart, being vegan isn't only about what she eats and chooses to wear each day. Avoiding meat and dairy in her diet and animal-derived products in her closet is just part of the equation for the 30-year-old designer, businesswoman and animal lover. As founder of fashion label Vaute Couture, her dedication to creating animal-free coats, sweaters and other cold-weather gear has earned her a global cult following among animal rights activists and eco-conscious fashionistas. Her activism began when she was 10 years old with an elementary school social studies project in suburban Chicago on factory farming and the fur industry. She became vegan at 17 and continued her activism in high school with a campaign for alternatives to animal dissection in science class that, with the help of national group Animalearn, eventually became Illinois law. This week, she took her philosophy to New York Fashion Week, where she debuted her first ready-to-wear line in a solo show Wednesday, less than five years since starting Vaute Couture in 2008. Stella McCartney, Charlotte Ronson and other big-name designers have created fur-free collections in previous seasons. But Vaute Couture is the first independent fashion house to show during New York Fashion Week with animal- and cruelty-free built into its brand DNA, from its ultrasuede elbow patches to Thinsulate-lined winter jackets. The line's aesthetic goes beyond faux fur and leather, using organic, recycled and high-tech fabrics in an effort to redefine traditional outerwear staples. Before a packed showroom in New York's Chelsea gallery district, models, accessorized with rescue dogs available for adoption, showed off Vaute's line of coats, dresses and pants of waxed canvas, velvet and moleskin (a heavy-napped cotton twill fabric, despite its name), among other materials. Even the shoes, by Love is Mighty and Brave GentleMan, were vegan. Though Vaute's line comes at a time when consumers seem more willing than ever to pay a premium for products from companies or businesses whose values align with theirs, industry insiders say the company is swimming against the tide in a season expected to bring new twists on leather and fur. But Hilgart, an activist at heart, is undaunted. She believes that there are people like her who care about where their clothes come from and how they're made. It's Vaute's role to make those options more accessible, she said. "I want to reach women who love style, love color, love fashion, and maybe they used to care about where their clothes came from but at some point they told themselves that it was naive to care," Hilgart said. "I think it's important that people see that you can care, you can interact with the world in the way you want and it's not naive. But to do that, you need options." Vaute's values infused all aspects of the show, from the animal-free makeup and hair products used on the models to the vegan petit fours and cheesecakes inscribed with a V from Vegan Treats bakery of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Leashed rescue dogs were led around the audience by volunteers from the Humane Society of New York and Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue. The list of sponsors included some of the biggest names in animal rights activism: the Humane Society of the United States, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Farm Sanctuary and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. By sponsoring fashion events and designers like Hilgart, these groups get a chance to share their mission with buyers, fashion editors and industry insiders, key influencers of consumer trends. "It's a great audience for us to get our message in front of," said Michelle McDonald, outreach manager of the Humane Society's fur-free campaign, which sponsored Jay McCarroll's runway show in 2006 and Charlotte Ronson in 2008. The Humane Society tracks progress through a growing list of designers and companies that have adopted fur-free policies. But Hilgart has taken the commitment to "cruelty-free" fashion a step further with Vaute, McDonald said. "She's not only trying to do her part for fur-bearing animals but for animals all over," McDonald said. "We're very thankful she's out there and attracting so much attention from the fashion industry." The genesis of the company came from Hilgart's own desire for a stylish winter coat that wasn't "accidentally vegan" because it used substitutes for wool, fur or leather to drive down costs. She was a DePaul MBA candidate on break working as a Ford fashion model in Hong Kong when she decided that entrepreneurship was the best way for her to make a difference. "I realized that if I could create a business where the process in itself was actually creating positive change, that would be my activism," she said in a phone interview last week from a noisy New York coffee shop in between final preparations for her show. "I started with outerwear because I found being cold was an excuse to wear animal products," she said. "I wanted to figure out where I would be needed to make a contribution to the movement so people would no longer need to use products and materials made from animals." Whether consumers are ready to give up fur, leather and wool is another story, even if it's in favor of equally stylish and warm alternatives. Hilgart knows there is a market for animal-free fashion among people like her, vegan or not, who take conscious consumerism to an active level. Many of those people attended Wednesday's show and were thrilled by what they saw, regarding the Sailor Moon-inspired collection as a validation of their beliefs. "Compared to even just a couple of years ago, there are now so many cruelty-free alternatives to products that we used to think required the bloodshed of animals -- everything from shoes to cosmetics to luxury fabrics," Jasmin Singer, executive director of Our Hen House, a nonprofit animal advocacy organization in New York, said after the show. "As a society, we're evolving away from commodifying animals, because, finally, it is becoming clear that it's not only cruel, it's unnecessary. There are accessible, affordable, sustainable and attractive alternatives that are ethically sourced and cost no lives. Why not choose them?" People want to do the right thing, she says, citing growing excitement around organic food, fair labor practices, and even faux fur and leather as evidence. But some see the interest in fake animal material in fashion as simply the trickle down effect from more of the real thing appearing on runways. Even if interest in animal-free fashion might be greater than ever, in the same way that more people are willing to go vegan or pay extra for locally made products, trend forecasters say there's a greater interest in looks incorporating fur and leather, which will be reflected on the runway this season. Part of it is a continuation of the seasonless fashion trend that began showing up unexpectedly in spring and summer collections, said Jaclyn Jones, womenswear editor of style forecaster WGSN. But most of it has to do with the luxurious look of leather and fur, plain and simple, Jones said. "There's a point of view from many people in the fashion industry that having real leather or fur pieces adds a kind of elevated conception," she said. "Everyone is always trying to look like their outfit costs more or have more worth or more value to it, especially during economic hardships, people want to make sure they're putting money into something that will last." Hilgart understands that perspective, which is why it has taken her this long to come up with looks that she hopes will make the fashion world and consumers take notice, she said. Creating garments of high-tech materials to convey the indulgent look of high fashion took months of research, especially for someone with no formal training in fashion, she said. With coats and skirts starting at $200, Vaute Couture's price tags are also typical New York Fashion Week, at least on the low end of the scale. Hilgart said the prices reflect the quality of materials and the cost of paying workers a living wage to produce most of the garments in Brooklyn, where she lives. (The line's knits come from Maine.) "I knew I had to design something that would be innovational for the entire industry. Not using animal fibers was an opportunity to look past what was just good enough to make something truly superior," she said. But even attendees of Wednesday's show who were receptive to the concept acknowledged that it's an uphill battle to change an industry or consumer behavior. Simply making animal-free clothing available is a big step in the right direction, especially if it's hip and stylish, said Dakota Kim, a freelance fashion writer who attended the show so she could write about it on her blog, Fashtronaut. "I think that (animal-free clothes) really came to the forefront with Stella McCartney and ever since then it's been a big deal. It's more mainstream and the clothes are just so young," Kim said. Fur coats and leather pants are easy enough to cut out of your wardrobe, she said. But everything else? "It's hard to cut all that out." Follow Emanuella Grinberg on Twitter . CNN's Sarah LeTrent contributed to this report. | Vaute Couture debuts ready-to-wear line at New York Fashion Week . Founder Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart says line shows animal-free fashion can be luxe and stylish . Company started with Hilgart's desire for stylish winter coat that wasn't "accidentally vegan" Vaute's line offers alternative to runways looks heavy on fur and leather . | 264bdd296d51572b9e0b25b2e6d04317398b18d0 |
Prince Harry's decision to quit flying . military attack helicopters to take an Army desk job in London was . spurred by a desire to spend more time with girlfriend Cressida Bonas, a . friend has said. The . 29-year-old, who co-piloted Apache gunships on the Afghan front line, is . to begin a new role helping to co-ordinate ‘significant projects and . commemorative events’ for the Army in London. Captain . Harry Wales, as he is known in the Army, will also lead a bid to bring . the Warrior Games, an ‘Olympics’ for wounded service personnel, to the . UK. It must be love: Prince Harry, left, has quit his job as an Apache helicopter pilot to take a desk job helping to co-ordinate 'significant projects' - as well as to spend more time with girlfriend Cressida Bonas, right . And the move means that . he can further develop his 18-month relationship with 24-year-old Miss . Bonas, a dancer - although friends insist an engagement is not imminent. A . friend of the couple told The Sun: 'The distance made it difficult for . Harry to see Cressie as often as he would have liked. Moving to London . full time will no doubt make them even closer. 'It shows he is serious and Cressie is thrilled.' But . the fourth in line to the throne risks criticism for ditching the Army . Air Corps after defence chiefs spent £2.5million training him to fly the . helicopters. Despite his . undoubted aptitude as a pilot – the prince was one of the two best young . airmen on his course – his decision raises questions that his place . could have been given to a soldier intending to spend their whole career . with the elite unit. Harry, . who remains a commissioned officer in the Household Cavalry, will take . up the staff officer role in HQ London District, based at Horse Guards. The move will allow him to take on more royal duties on behalf of his 87-year-old grandmother, the Queen. Scroll down for video . Project: The Prince at the Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, U.S., which he hopes to bring to the UK . The fourth in line to the throne, who has twice served on the frontline in Afghanistan, will take up a staff officer role in HQ London District, based from Horse Guards . The move will allow the prince to take on more royal duties on behalf of his ageing grandmother, the Queen, 87, who has long signalled she wishes younger members of her family to take the strain . Ceremonial events Harry will help organise will include Trooping the Colour, the First World War centenary commemorations and state visits. But sources said his desire to expand the Warrior Games into a global contest was ‘very much tied up’ with his decision to quit the Army Air Corps. The prince attended the event near Aspen, Colorado, last year, and was ‘blown away’ by the inspirational tournament in which more than 300 injured troops competed. A senior insider said: ‘Prince Harry is passionate about this project. He believes it will be an amazing event that will bring the focus of attention on the problems facing those injured on the frontline.’ Last year Harry said: ‘I don’t see how it wouldn’t be possible to fill a stadium with 80,000 people, not to watch Olympics, not to watch Paralympics, but to watch wounded servicemen fight it out amongst each other – not on a battlefield but in a stadium.' It is understood plans to bring the Warrior Games to London next year are ‘90 per cent in the bag’ and that Harry will play a central role in organising them. The young royal began the 18-month Apache training course in July 2010, qualifying as a co-pilot gunner in February 2012. Officers were so impressed with his aptitude for flying the £46million helicopter that he was handed the prize of top co-pilot gunner on his course. Harry flew to America last year to support competitors taking part in the Warrior Games, a paralympic style event for injured servicemen and women, and he hopes to help bring the event to the UK . Prince Harry gives a high five to Lcpl Maurillia Simpson as he meets British soldiers competing in the Warrior Games and plays sitting volleyball with them in Colorado Springs in May last year . The prince was an Apache helicopter commander and co-pilot gunner and flew missions in Helmand Province during his last deployment to Afghanistan completed in January last year . One of two crew in an Apache, the co-pilot gunner commands the mission, fires the weapons, navigates and sometimes takes over the controls. The prince’s first tour of duty – a secret deployment with the Household Cavalry – was cut short in 2008 when news of his presence was leaked on foreign websites and he was brought back to Britain. Prince Harry, pictured during a visit to the Royal Marines Tamar centre at the HM Naval Base, Plymouth, became a fully operational Apache Attack Helicopter Pilot in February 2012 . However, Harry was so determined to do another tour of duty that he retrained as an Apache pilot to increase his chances of being redeployed. In September 2012 he returned to Afghanistan to fly the attack helicopters in the battle against the Taliban. He served a four-month deployment at Camp Bastion and later admitted he had killed an insurgent in a missile strike. Asked yesterday about the royal’s sudden change of job, a senior source said: ‘Prince Harry wants a career in the military and it is not unusual for an officer to change his career path after this length of time.’ Lieutenant Colonel Tom de la Rue, who commanded Prince Harry in the Army Air Corps, said the prince had ‘reached the pinnacle of flying excellence as an Apache pilot’ and had been a ‘real inspiration’ to his colleagues. A senior Army source said that Harry had not prevented anyone else from flying Apaches, adding: ‘There are not queues and queues of people able to do it, and Harry got there on merit.’ Lieutenant Colonel Richard Kemp, who commanded British troops in Afghanistan, said: ‘This is normal procedure for all officers … It is necessary to have people with operational experience making decisions in headquarters which is one of the reasons why this happens. ‘It is likely that an officer like Prince Harry will return to a front line position after completing his staff role.' | Prince Harry is to take a desk job organising ceremonial events in London . Move will allow him to take on more royal duties on behalf of the Queen . He will also be able to spend more time with girlfriend Cressida Bonas . Will allow him to devote time to bringing Warrior Games to London . He flew to America last year to support competitors taking part in Games . | 73cbed61418a8b7a806f1cb81e7b493acae6cb0b |
From staying slender despite a diet of red wine and baguettes to having perfectly-behaved children, the fascination with French women and their seemingly idyllic lives shows no sign of abating. More than staying slim, however, it's their chic sense of style and elegant insouciance that has the rest of the world gnashing its teeth in envy. But gnash no longer for a group of achingly chic Parisiennes have unveiled a new book that explains exactly how style a' la Français is done. Glamorous: Authors (from left) Audrey Diwan, Caroline de Maigret, Sophie Mas and Anne Berest . How To Be Parisian Wherever You Are is published by Ebury and costs £16.99 . Key lessons include getting rid of those tired old UGG boots, relying on navy and finding a killer signature piece to wear every day. What's more, this is no ordinary group of French friends. Caroline de Maigret is a former model and ambassador for Chanel, while Anne Berest is the author of two novels and a biography of Bonjour Tristesse writer, Françoise Sagan. Completing the team are Audrey Diwan, a scriptwriter and editor-at-large of Stylist magazine, and film producer Sophie Mas. Here, in an exclusive extract, they reveal the new rules of being Parisian - and insist that no matter what your style, nothing is as cool as cleverness. WHAT YOU WON'T FIND IN HER CLOSET . Truth be told, if the Parisienne could just wear a Burberry trench and nothing underneath, she would be in heaven. PARENTING LIKE A PARISIENNE . A Parisienne never hires a babysitter who is too pretty, always finding the less attractive one to be far more competent. She often murmurs, with feigned discomfort, that she's a bit worried that her daughter is 'rather precocious'. It's her way of saying that her child is a genius - or that she takes after her mother. She often pretends that her child is sick to get her out of dinner parties that will bore her to death. Then she feels guilty and worries that some god will actually make her baby ill to punish her for her lies. Yummy mummy: Carla Bruni might be the mother of two children but she's still as stylish as ever . She doesn't baulk at changing nappies but she never mentions the nasty details of stomach bugs or other ailments in public. Even at the paediatrician's, she is reluctant to pronounce those words out loud. She doesn't automatically breast feed her children - only if she wants to. And anyone who tells her what she should and shouldn't do with her breasts had better beware. Particularly if he's a man... She occasionally lets her children sleep in her bed, especially because all the parenting books ever written have forbidden it and she likes to stand out from the crowd... She buys time with sweets so she can finish her phone conversation with her best friend, . She quite likes some of her children's friends, but others she thinks are real idiots. And she makes no particular effort to hide her opinion - being hypocritical would just be setting a bad example. She can spend hours playing make-believe with her little ones. She'd be quite happy to live in one of their imaginary worlds forever, if only she didn't have to return to the adult life to earn a living. FASHION: THE ESSENTIALS . Jeans, anytime, anywhere, and any way. Take a Parisienne's jeans out of her closet and she feels stark naked. Men's shoes. Simply because everyone says these chic flat shoes aren't meant for women but you're a contrarian by nature. In fact, that's the very essence of your style. Parisian chic: Emmanuelle Alt of French Vogue adores jeans and oversized shirts - even on the front row . The bag. It's not an accessory, it's your home. It's an indispensable shambles where you're just as likely to find a shrivelled up four-leaf clover as an old electricity bill. If it's beautiful on the outside, that's just to keep up appearances. And so that no one ever wonders what's inside. The little black blazer. It smartens up a scruffy pair of jeans (the ones you wear all the time) and you wear it on days when you don't want to make it look too obvious that you don't feel like making an effort. Ballet flats. Your equivalent of slippers. You don't choose between comfort and elegance; for you, it's all or nothing. Nobody ever saw Audrey Hepburn wearing carpet slippers. A small silk scarf. It has more than one function. First, it adds a touch of colour to a dark outfit without running the risk of a fashion faux pas. Then, when it rains, you wear it over your head like Romy Schneider. And, on occasion, you can even use it to wipe your child's nose when you've run out of tissues. Chic: Marion Cotillard shows how to wear navy while Vanessa Paradis makes the most of her little black blazer . The white shirt. It's iconic and timeless. A long trench, of . course, for warmer weather. You know it doesn't keep you as warm as a . down jacket. But when you put on a down jacket, you feel like you're . voluntarily adding extra love handles. A thick scarf. Precisely because you don't own a parka. And despite pretending otherwise, sometimes you get cold. The oversized sweater that slips off your shoulder. You wear it the day after a party, as if you'd snuggled up in a quilt. It's as soft as a teddy bear, as calming as Xanax, as wide as a screen, perfect for days when you feel your hips too much. Basic oversized sunglasses. Every day, even when it's raining, because you always have a reason to wear them: too bright out, a hangover, tears running down your face, a desire to be mysterious... Mon Dieu! Former French First Lady Valerie Trierweiler knows all about cheating - and being cheated on . Glamorous: Actress Julie Gayet had an affair with President Francois Hollande of France . An oversized shirt. You always . undo one extra button so it doesn't look too serious. In general, you . borrow your boyfriend's. You'll never return it and you may even one day . wear it in somebody else's arms. Love can fade, but some fashion lasts . forever. The very simple, but very expensive T-shirt. This contradiction guides your life like Liberty Leading the People: . you're perfectly happy to give into the most common trends, as long as . you can add a mark of luxury. As a result, you spend hours searching for . the perfect T-shirt, whose finely woven and slightly transparent thread . make it feel like cashmere. THE ABC'S OF CHEATING . Rule number one: DENY, DENY, DENY. Don't feel guilty: This is about you, not against him. What's good for you is good for your relationship: Basically, you're being a thoughtful girlfriend. Your lover should not be part of your circle of friends: it's OK to cheat on your boyfriend, it's not OK to humiliate him. His honour matters just as much as your personal fulfillment. Save your lover's number under 'Private Number'. Better yet, save it under your best friend's name ('She's so needy...) There's no such thing as a secret that stays a secret. The truth always comes out. Refer back to rule number one. Protect yourself - against disease and love itself (which can also make you very sick). Never complain to your lover about your boyfriend. Who wants to fool around with a woman who's dating a loser? Keep things straight: don't treat your lover like a boyfriend. Shake it up and spread the love: cheat on your lover with your boyfriend. Extracted from How To Be Parisian Wherever You Are by Caroline de Maigret, Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan and Sophie Mas (£16.99, Ebury) | How To Be A Parisian Wherever You Are explains the rules of French life . Includes tips on fashion, parenting and even how to have a lover . Authors include a former model, a novelist, a film producer and a writer . Three-inch heels. Why live life halfway? Logos: You are not a billboard . Nylon, polyester, viscose and vinyl will make you sweaty, smelly and shiny . Sweatpants. No man should ever see you in those. Except your gym teacher - and even then. Leggings are tolerated. Blingy jeans with embroidery and holes in them. They belong to Bollywood. UGG boots. Enough said. A skimpy top. Because you're not 15 anymore. A fake designer bag. Like fake breasts, you can't fix your insecurities through forgery. | 422ebc3396da6baef4cacfecc9bdb8035330bd0b |
By . Hayley O'keeffe . PUBLISHED: . 05:32 EST, 14 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:16 EST, 14 November 2013 . A prized 1963 Andy Warhol painting that captures the immediate aftermath of a car crash sold for $105 million Wednesday at a New York City auction, setting a record for the famed pop artist. The 8-foot by 13-foot painting titled Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) depicts a body sprawled across a car's mangled interior and has only been seen once in public in the past 26 years. The buyer of the work by the pop art pioneer was not immediately identified by the auction house. Iconic image: Andy Warhol's artwork, Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) sold at a Sotherby's auction on Wednesday for £105million . Wednesday's Sotheby's sale beats a previous Warhol auction in 2007 when Green Car Crash (Green Burning Car I) sold for $71.7 million. An iconic image by the artist called Coca-Cola (3) sold for $57.2 million Tuesday at Christie’s auction house. Bidding representatives speak on the phone with their clients during the auction at Sotheby's on Wednesday . Andy Warhol, who died in 1987, famously said that everyone is famous for 15 minutes. But the high price paid for his work at the auction shows that his fame has more longevity . Andy Warhol has created many instantly recognisable images of pop-culture people or items. (Left) the famous banana design from the Velvet Underground's eponymous album and (right) Liz #1 (Early Colored Liz), a picture of Elizabeth Taylor which was also on sale at the Sotherby's auction on Wednesday . The high bidding came a day after the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction went for $142.4 million to conclude six minutes of bidding at Christie’s. The hefty price tag for a 1967 Francis Bacon triptych called Three Studies of Lucian Freud shattered the previous world record — nearly $120 million paid for Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” at a 2012 Sotheby’s sale. A potential buyer views the iconic work, which went on display for the first time in 26 years in the run up to the auction. The painting shows the immediate aftermath of a car crash with a body sprawled inside the vehicle . The winning bid went to Acquavella Galleries who it is believed purchased the painting for an unidentified client. Michael Frahm, a contemporary art adviser and partner at the London-based Frahm Ltd told New York Daily News: 'The demand for seminal works by historical important artists is truly unquestionable, and we will keep witnessing new records being broken. 'This is the ultimate trophy hunting.' Christie’s said Tuesday’s sale brought in more than $691.5 million, the highest total for any single auction in history. Visitors viewing Three Studies of Lucian Freud, by Francis Bacon, at Christie's, in central London, which sold for a record £90million this week . | Sotherby's sale of work beats previous Warhol record of $71.7million . Buyer has not yet been identified by New York auction house . Pop art painting depicts the immediate aftermath of a car crash . | d0630a1d47a468c84291636427f07877df29b06e |
Mumbai, India (CNN) -- To say Gregory David Roberts has witnessed much in his life would be an understatement. The 57-year-old native Australian was sentenced in the late 1970s for a series of armed robberies. He escaped prison and found his way to Mumbai, India, where he lived for 10 years forging a new life, including work as a doctor in the city's slums. Roberts' other career highlights? He joined the mafia in Mumbai, fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan and married a princess. CNN's Anjali Rao spoke with Roberts in Mumbai, the setting and inspiration for "Shantaram," the novel loosely based on his life. Watch Roberts talk about his life in the slum . A brief excerpt from the interview: . CNN: Is it kind of strange that you used to live here, and you were down to your last pennies I guess, and now when you come back here it's with CNN, or Madonna and Guy Richie. Is it kind of strange the way that your life has just taken that change, that turn? Roberts: No, I know this sounds strange, but I think it was to be expected. I had a dramatic change that occurred in my life 19 years ago. I changed the orientation of my life, took control of my life. I think that if you do that, and you stay true to it, and you stay true to a set of principles -- of being fair, honest, positive, and creative in what you do; of pledging not to harm others, and to minimize any amount of harm that you do to other people or to the world around you; you don't take drugs, you don't poison your mind, you don't take alcohol; you focus on what you're doing, keep your discipline -- then I think it's natural that positive outcomes will occur. There's a sense in which it's a natural progression, from taking control of your life and saying, "I'm going to make my destiny happen. I'm not going to allow destiny to control me, I'm going to control my destiny." I think that we can expect it to happen in those ways, so it's not really a surprise. The thing is, it's not surprising that I've come to know these people; the surprising thing for me is that they are almost universally nice people. I haven't met anyone at that level -- whether it's Richard Branson, or Johnny Depp, or Madonna, to name a couple -- who are not very, very nice people, and deeply concerned about the world they live in, and trying to make a difference. And that's the thing that's to me very surprising, I mean and it's a good surprise. | Author of "Shantaram", the global best-seller based on his own experiences . The Australian worked in slums of Mumbai and came into contact criminal elements . Eventful life has included jail term for armed robbery and fighting in Afghanistan . | bb4be6bec1b6f6a5c27e2e69c18258fbc8b82448 |
(CNN) -- A knife-wielding man attacked a woman in a supermarket, eventually cutting off her head and running away with it, government officials in Spain's Tenerife Island said Friday. The man entered a shopping center in the town of Arona, in the Cristianos area of Tenerife, and stole a knife from the supermarket before attacking the apparent stranger, a central government spokeswoman said. Shopping center security guards were alerted and chased the man, subduing him until police arrived. The man, whom national police in Tenerife identified as a Bulgarian, was apparently known in the shopping area, the government spokeswoman said. The British Foreign and Commonwealth office confirmed Friday that a British national had died in Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands. CNN's Al Goodman, Per Nyberg and Bharati Naik contributed to this report. | A knife-wielding man attacked a woman on Tenerife . He cut off her head and ran away with it, officials say . Security guards chased and subdued him . Police identified him as Bulgarian national . | 7de60cd0f522d99a3e6e2bd34bd1090e9eda0ac9 |
Alex Goode has backed the latest measures introduced to improve concussion management in rugby union and warned that failure to implement them could have serious consequences for a player’s health. The Saracens and England full back — speaking on Wednesday at a Rugby Players’ Association event to promote their Restart charity — has personal experience of concussion, having been knocked out several times in the early part of his career, and had an aerial collision in last season’s European Cup quarter-final which left him unconscious for several minutes. The RPA, along with the RFU and Premier Rugby, recently launched an online education module which all players, coaches and referees must sit, and Goode says the more awareness that can be raised the better. Saracens full back Alex Goode is man-handled by Clermont players during their Champions Cup match . The England squad member for the Autumn Internationals has backed new concussion measures . Goode takes a high ball for Saracens on October 18 . ‘Concussion is a subject that people are now talking about across the world but we still don’t know enough about it,’ he said. ‘We do know that just shrugging it off and playing on can have a very detrimental effect on your body in the long run. That’s what we need to highlight to everyone in order to stop people saying, “Just get on with it” or “Stop being soft”. ‘People need to understand that when someone’s had a serious head knock they need to be looked after. They don’t want to be visiting someone in hospital in a wheelchair or a vegetative state. ‘It took me having a few knocks and having the symptoms — which are horrible; like feeling distant from people, feeling sick, head rushes, feeling asleep all the time, aversion to loud music — to really read up and learn more about it. Now if I take a few jibes from people I don’t care. Your health is the most important thing. I didn’t want to finish my rugby career at 24-25.’ The RFU say their motivation for introducing the new measures is based on a determination to improve player welfare — not a reaction to a multi-million dollar settlement in the NFL paid out to retired stars with dementia — and coaches insist they would never interfere with decisions made by club medics. The full back, in action during Sarries win over Clermont, was knocked out in last year's European Cup . ‘Even the top scientists don’t know about this so until we do we do need to err on the side of caution,’ said Goode, 26, who is in the England squad for the QBE autumn series. ‘If parents and kids see someone knocked out and carrying on it sends a terrible message. ‘But what’s happened in the media has made a big impact. We’re getting a better understanding. ‘The coaches understand it too. They are ex-players who used to go back on but they understand now if someone is knocked out they stay off. That’s important.’ | The Rugby Players Association, RFU and Premier Rugby recently launched a compulsory online course on concussion for all people in the game . Alex Goode said awareness must be raised in the code about concussion . He said it should be considered tough to play on after a head knock . | 3adbc7070dbdad2bf4aebd21e23ace4db4f0e862 |
This is the moment a holidaymaker risks his life by bear hugging a shark in what has been branded an idiotic stunt. The snorkeller is filmed wrapping his arms around the lemon shark so his face is just inches away from its jaws. Lemon sharks, named after their yellow colour, are not normally aggressive to humans but they have been known to attack if they feel threatened and one seriously injured a scuba diver earlier this year. Staring death in the face: A snorkeller risks his life by bear-hugging a lemon shark . Risky: The snorkeller is filmed wrapping his arms around the lemon shark so his face is just inches away from its jaws . Luckily, this shark remain remarkably docile as the swimmer approaches the 8ft animal from behind, swings himself underneath and rides along for several metres. The man who posted the video on YouTube, Grant Murdok, said the lemon shark swam peacefully among a group of snorkellers in the waters off the Pacific island of Bora Bora. Mr Murdoch, who said he also embraced one of the sharks, said: 'They didn't seem to mind at all that we were riding for free. It was as close to an out of body experience that I have ever felt.' Stunt: Luckily, this shark remains remarkably docile as the swimmer approaches the 8ft animal from behind, swings himself underneath and rides along for several metres . Predator: Lemon sharks, named after their yellow colour, are not normally aggressive to humans but they have been known to attack if they feel threatened (file picture) But the close encounters have been labelled dumb, idiotic and crazy on social media, it was reported by ninemsn. Sandra O'Donovan posted on Facebook: 'It'll be all fun and games until one of the sharks... bites someone and gets killed for its trouble.' Another, Will Bateman, said: 'Good way to lose your face'. In February this year, a Canadian tourist was seriously injured when a lemon shark bit him on the forearm while he was scuba diving off Bora Bora. | Snorkeller branded 'idiotic' for stunt off the Pacific island of Bora Bora . Friend who also swam with sharks likened it to 'out-of-body experience' Lemon sharks normally harmless bu can attack humans if threatened . | 8cb7dcd355550c5db6a9ea5db6f48ed0743ea3b2 |
American whistleblower Edward Snowden has been elected rector of on of the UK's oldest universities. The computer analyst was nominated by a group of Glasgow University students who said they had received Snowden's approval through his lawyer. The result of the ballot, which opened to students on Monday, was disclosed in Glasgow today. National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, pictured in Hong Kong, has been elected rector of Glasgow University . The philosopher and economist Adam Smith (left), considered by many to be Scotland's greatest thinker, was rector of the university between 1787 and 1789. The political theorist and Parliamentarian Edmund Burke (right), who is often described as the father of conservatism, was rector between 1793 and 1785 . Snowden defeated former champion cyclist Graeme Obree, author Alan Bissett and the Very Rev Kelvin Holdsworth, who champions gay rights. Former CIA employee Snowden, 30, became a wanted man when his leaks brought to light secret National Security Agency (NSA) documents which revealed widespread US surveillance of phone and internet communications. He is staying in Russia where he has been given temporary asylum. In a statement to The Guardian, Snowden said he was 'humbled and honoured' by the vote, describing it as a bold and historic decision in support of academic freedom. 'In a world where so many of our developing thoughts and queries and plans must be entrusted to the open internet, mass surveillance is not simply a matter of privacy, but of academic freedom and human liberty,' Snowden said. A statement from the group which nominated Snowden said: 'We are incredibly delighted to see Edward Snowden elected as the new rector of Glasgow University. Former Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law (left) is another former rector, between 1919 and 1922 as was TV personality Johnny Ball in the 1990s . Conservative politician, statesman and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin (left) was rector between 1928 and 1931 while former Eastenders actor Ross Kemp, pictured here during his induction, took the role in 1999 . Former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy after the Ceremony of Installation as the new Rector of Glasgow University at Glasgow University's Bute Hall in 2008 . 'We have a proud and virtuous tradition of making significant statements through our rectors and we have once more championed this idea by proving to the world that we are not apathetic to important issues such as democratic rights. 'Our opposition to pervasive and immoral state intrusion has gone down in the records. 'What is more, we showed Edward Snowden and other brave whistleblowers that we stand in solidarity with them, regardless of where they are.' A lithographed portrait of Benjamin Disraeli who was rector for six years from 1871 (left) and Richard Wilson (right), who played Victor Meldrew in One Foot In The Grave, was rector from 1996 to 1999 . I don't believe it: Richard Wilson's induction ceremony in 1996 . Rab Butler, a key figure in the Conservative Party in the 1950s, is inducted as Rector of Glasgow University in 1956 . The statement added: 'In the following weeks we will continue to campaign for the NSA and GCHQ to cease their assault on our fundamental right to privacy and for Edward Snowden to be recognised as the courageous whistleblower he is, rather than a traitor.' The role of rector is to represent student issues to senior management at the university, but previous incumbents have been elected as political statements. Winnie Mandela was elected in 1987 and Israeli whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu became rector in 2005, despite students knowing that neither would be able to travel to Glasgow and take up the practical role of the position. Sir Robert Peel (left), the former Prime Minister who helped create the modern concept of the police force, was elected as rector in 1836 and (right) newsreader Reginald Bosanquet pictured reading the News at Ten, was rector between 1980 and 1984 . The English statesman Lord Palmerston was rector between 1862 and 1865. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (right), ex-wife of former South Africa President Nelson Mandela, was elected rector between 1987 and 1990 . The election was held under the single transferable vote system. Snowden received 3,124 votes in the first round and 3,347 in the second. The nearest candidate was Mr Holdsworth, Episcopalian rector and provost of St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow, with 1,563 votes. PhD student Chris Cassells, part of the group that nominated Snowden, said: 'We had no idea what the outcome would be but we are absolutely delighted so many students felt this was an important enough issue to come out and vote. Snowden beat Graeme Obree, the former world champion cyclist pictured here, to the post . 1980-1984 - Reginald Bosanquet, TV newsreader . 1984-1987 - Michael Kelly, Lord Provost of Glasgow . 1987-1990 - Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, wife of Nelson Mandela . 1990-1993 - Pat Kane, musician, former student . 1993-1996 - Johnny Ball, TV presenter . 1996-1999 - Richard Wilson, actor . 1999-2000 - Ross Kemp, actor . 2001-2004 - Greg Hemphill, actor, former student . 2004-2005 - Position vacant . 2005-2008 - Mordechai Vanunu, Israeli nuclear technician and whistle-blower . 2008–2014 - Charles Kennedy, former Leader of the Liberal Democrats, former student . 2014- present - Edward Snowden, intelligence whistleblower . 'It's in the same tradition that elected Vanunu and Mandela. It's a clear statement from Glasgow students that they stand in opposition to pervasive state surveillance and that they celebrate Edward Snowden for his actions as a whistleblower. 'We are very hopeful he will be able to deliver the inaugural address in April either via video link or a pre-recorded message and hopefully that will be the first in a series of engagements.' The nomination of Snowden proved controversial on the university campus. The group that campaigned for his election complained that some posters they put up had been torn down and cut up, while some university unions called for an active rector who will be able to work on behalf of students to be elected. More than 6,500 students voted – double the number who voted when former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy was elected for a second time three years ago. A group of students who gathered in the university's Bute Hall to hear the election result were disappointed with the outcome. Louise Wilson said: 'It sucks. I'm all for political statements, but at a time when the university and students need the biggest say with all the cuts it's just not appropriate to not have a working rector.' Hannah McNeill said: 'I'm furious. We need an active rector, we could have given him [Snowden] an honorary degree or something.' Former champion cyclist Obree is a former student at the university who dropped out four months into a design engineering degree. He said: 'It was quite weird coming back after 25 years. I didn't quite fit in at the time so to be nominated as rector now was quite poignant. When I first accepted I didn't know Edward Snowden's hat was in the ring. 'The students obviously feel quite strongly about what he stood for.' | The computer analyst was nominated by a group of students . Snowden defeated former champion cyclist Graeme Obree . American joins an illustrious list of notable former rectors . They include Prime Ministers, philosophers and statesmen . | 32ea9c79c4fe99394333270ac8f9dcd29dabc480 |
Under fire: Fiona Woolf (pictured) faces mounting pressure to quit her role as chairman of the Government's child abuse inquiry due to her links with Lord Brittan . Nick Clegg was condemned by sex assault victims yesterday for giving his support to the under-fire chairman of the Government’s child abuse inquiry. The deputy prime minister offered his backing to Fiona Woolf, who faces mounting pressure to quit over her friendship with Lord Brittan, a possible key witness at the inquiry. Mr Clegg said he had ‘not heard anything’ suggesting she was the wrong choice for the role. But survivors of abuse, including one of his old schoolfriends, accused him of being on ‘a different planet’. Ian McFadyen, who was subjected to violent sexual assaults by two male teachers at Caldicott School in the 1970s, when he was in the same year group as the future Liberal Democrat leader, is spearheading the drive to have Mrs Woolf removed as inquiry chairman. After the deputy prime minister backed Mrs Woolf, Mr McFadyen wrote on Twitter: ‘I’m sorry Mr Clegg, do we live on a different planet?’ Mr McFadyen is behind a High Court challenge demanding a judicial review of Mrs Woolf’s appointment. His lawyer David Burrows told the BBC that corporate lawyer Mrs Woolf, the Lord Mayor of London, ‘cannot be seen to be impartial’ because of her connections with Lord Brittan – the former home secretary who denies failing to act on a dossier of paedophilia allegations he received while in office in the 1980s. There is a growing chorus of victims of sexual abuse, their lawyers and MPs calling for Mrs Woolf to quit. They say she cannot lead an independent inquiry because she is on ‘dinner party terms’ with Lord Brittan, her neighbour in Pimlico, Central London, and he is likely to be a key witness. Peter Saunders, of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, said: ‘Her position is untenable. She has a strong connection to Lord Brittan, who will play an important role in the inquiry. ‘And anyway, she is a corporate lawyer, a member of the Establishment, when what is needed is a criminal judge or a former police chief. We are dealing with an inquiry into serious organised crime.’ Another survivor of abuse, Andi Lavery, said: ‘It is a complete and utter travesty. Fiona Woolf is not a fit and proper person because she knows Lord Brittan. Everyone knows a judge or juror cannot stay on a case if they are on personal terms with one of the witnesses.’ Last night Mrs Woolf was handed a list of ten detailed questions by a powerful Parliamentary committee. Labour MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, asked for answers by next week about missing information from her account of her relationship with Lord and Lady Brittan. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he had 'not heard anything' to suggest Mrs Woolf wasn't right for the role, despite mounting criticism of her appointment from abuse survivors . Mr Vaz requested to see the ‘first draft’ of Mrs Woolf’s letter to Home Secretary Theresa May, published on Tuesday, and which she admitted was written with the help of Home Office officials. And he asked her to name the official to whom the draft was sent. The explosive letter was her account of her relationship with the Brittans, and detailed their five dinner parties at each other’s houses. He also questioned her about the amount of time she had to work on the inquiry – Mrs Woolf still holds the office of Lord Mayor of London until later this year – as well as what steps she was taking to learn about child abuse, after she admitted she had no experience whatsoever on the subject. Mr Vaz also asked whether a legal challenge to her position as chair could delay the start of the inquiry. Other questions related to matters raised by members of the committee at Tuesday’s hearing. | Child abuse inquiry chairman Fiona Woolf facing mounting pressure to quit . Mrs Woolf criticised for links to Lord Brittan, a possible inquiry key witness . Deputy PM Nick Clegg condemned by abuse victims for supporting her . Claims he has 'not heard anything' suggesting she is wrong for the role . | f282729764183f1fc675c9280e2cf90804ddefc9 |
Honoring the legacy of a former president he's barely mentioned previously, President Barack Obama on Thursday cast Lyndon B. Johnson's push to end legal segregation as a factor in his own ascension to the White House. Obama joined three other living presidents in marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, and the movement that spurred its signing, at Johnson's presidential library in Austin. The landmark measure, signed in 1964, made it illegal to discriminate based on race, outlawing for the first time segregation at lunch counters, buses, and other public spots. "Because of the Civil Rights movement, because of the laws President Johnson signed, new doors of opportunity and education swung open for everybody," Obama said. "They swung open for you, and they swung open for me. And that's why I'm standing here today -- because of those efforts, because of that legacy." Johnson, the nation's 36th president, became an unlikely hero to the civil rights movement by using his stores of political capital to pressure lawmakers to pass the legislation -- an effort initiated by President John F. Kennedy and continued by Johnson after Kennedy's assassination. Johnson wasn't above horse trading and flattery to achieve his goals, Obama said. "Passing laws was what Lyndon Baines Johnson knew how to do," Obama said. "No one knew politics and no one loved legislating more than President Johnson." Johnson's descendants hope to turn his legacy toward that of a civil rights pioneer, rather than the President who presided over the Vietnam War. The fight was personal for Johnson, who'd grown up in the Southwest amid racial inequality. The four-day Civil Rights Summit in Austin was meant partly to change shift Johnson's legacy toward civil rights. Legends of the movement like Rep. John Lewis and singer Mavis Staples appeared directly ahead of Obama. Music played before the event — Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young — evoked the tumult of the era. Obama has said as the first African-American president that he's indebted to civil rights leaders, though during his time in office he has not spoken frequently about his place in the movement's history. He's spoken even less about Johnson's legacy. Thursday's speech marked one of the first times he's even made reference to a predecessor who had a long career in the Senate and served in the White House from 1963 to 1969. Other predecessors — including Republicans Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon — have all been used in speeches more often. That changed during Obama's remarks, which effusively praised a man whose major pieces of legislation — including the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the laws that created Medicare and Medicaid — reflect a staunchly liberal agenda Obama himself has attempted to emulate. "What President Johnson understood was that equality required more than the absence of oppression. It required the presence of economic opportunity," Obama said, co-opting a phrase he's taken as a rallying cry during his second term. "A decent job. Decent wages. Health care. Those too were civil rights worth fighting for." In the last year, Obama has begun speaking more often about race, though the topic is by no means a frequent part of his speeches and remarks. He addressed the issue in deeply personal terms following a jury's acquittal of the man accused of killing black teenager Trayvon Martin, and earlier this year the President spoke about the challenges that young men of color face in today's society. Many suspect Obama will use his post-presidential years to focus on the issue. While race isn't a common theme for Obama, combating inequality has become the central tenant of his second term agenda, through his push to close the gap between rich and poor and his efforts in closing the wage gap between men and women. He also makes regular references to ending discrimination against gays and lesbians, and has come out in support of same-sex marriage. Facing a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, his legislative efforts on those issues have thus far come up short -- leading to some negative comparisons between Obama and Johnson, the so-called "master of the Senate." Those comparisons ignore Johnson's later tenure, Obama claimed last year in an interview with The New Yorker. "When he lost that historic majority, and the glow of that landslide victory faded, he had the same problems with Congress that most presidents at one point or another have," Obama told the magazine's editor, David Remnick. "I say that not to suggest that I'm a master wheeler-dealer but, rather, to suggest that there are some structural institutional realities to our political system that don't have much to do with schmoozing." That historical reflection was absent in Thursday's speech, though Obama did contend the debate in which Johnson was embroiled still raged. "Today we remain locked in this same great debate about equality and opportunity, and the role of government in ensuring each," he said, declaring the government, and the presidency, were meant to try and affect change in peoples' lives. Obama said in remarks at the Civil Rights Summit that Johnson possessed a unique grasp of the power of government to bring about change, and used his office and his enormous legislative skills to get what he wanted. Obama said Johnson "fought for" and "bullied" and "persuaded" until the Civil Rights Act was signed into law. "And he didn't stop there," he said, using the legislation as a springboard for other sweeping changes. Many doubt 1964 Civil Rights Act could pass today . Has the Roberts court placed landmark 1964 civil rights law on a hit list? Column: Lessons from my father, LBJ . | Obama honors the Civil Rights Act, a measure that helped pave his way to the White House. He was joined by 3 other living presidents to commemorate the act and Civil Rights Movement . Over the past year or so, Obama has begun to speak out more on race; inequality . Obama's legislative efforts on those issues have come up short in GOP-controlled House . | 338dfcf98cfab1022256bd6f373adf5cbb1f876f |
(CNN) -- The son of one of the world's wealthiest men is under arrest in London after the body of his American-born wife was found in their home this week, her death unexplained. Police stumbled into the mystery Monday, when they arrested Hans Kristian Rausing on drug charges. A search of his home in one of London's most expensive neighborhoods turned up the body of his wife, Eva, spurring police to arrest him again in connection with the death. Eva Rausing had struggled with drug addiction for years, an acquaintance said. "This has been an existing problem for a long time," said Liz Brewer, who knew Rausing through charity and social circles. "I think the whole thing is a complete tragedy." The case puts the multimillionaire couple squarely back in the headlines four years after they were arrested on charges of possessing cocaine and heroin, according to media reports at the time. Eva Rausing had tried to smuggle a small amount of crack cocaine and heroin into the U.S. Embassy in London, reports said. She and her husband were arrested when police found more drugs at their house. The pair, however, avoided prosecution. Since then, they have kept a low profile, Forbes magazine said in its annual rich list report this year. "It's very clear to us Eva had her own problems with drugs and drugs misuse," the head of an anti-drug organization told CNN Wednesday. "She knew prevention was important. She knew how hard it was to get off drugs once you are on drugs," said Paul Tuohy, chief executive of Mentor. Eva Rausing had donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the charity in the years before her death, Mentor said. Her husband is the son of Hans Rausing, who is worth an estimated $10 billion, thanks to the family's connection to Swedish packaging giant Tetra Laval. Hans Kristian Rausing is now receiving medical treatment, police said Wednesday. An autopsy Tuesday failed to determine the cause of Eva Rausing's death, police said. Police refused to name Rausing as the man who was arrested, but a source familiar with the investigation said the man in custody lived at the address where the body was found. The source asked not to be named discussing an ongoing investigation. Eva Rausing gave more than 500,000 pounds ($778,000) to Mentor, said the charity, which runs programs "to protect children from alcohol and drugs." J&J heiress, found dead, had high-profile life . Posts on a MySpace page dating back to 2007 that appears to belong to Rausing, but whose authenticity could not be verified, give a picture of her ups and downs. She writes that she went to college in California. "I had a good time there -- too good, as I dropped out and did not go back to university until the grand old age of 24. Which leaves some troubled years in between ... The beginning was fun, the ending not so fun," she writes. "I was lucky to have a loving supportive family who stood by me, though I didn't always see it that way at the time. So, I cleaned up my act, became a good girl, if maybe a little boring, got a degree in economics, and then got married!" She says she is a good mother to the couple's four children but, in an apparent reference to her drug abuse issues, she writes of relapsing several years earlier. "I fell back into the same hole as before and have been there for nearly 7 years. I once read that I would have 7 bad years (I don't normally believe in hocus pocus horoscopes) but so far it has been right, and I'm hoping for 7 good years starting 2007. "I'm still married, amazingly, to a very kind, patient and loyal husband. I'm very lucky that he has stuck with me -- many would have not." Hans Kristian Rausing's billionaire father was bought out of the Tetra Laval business founded by his own father. Tetra Pak declined to comment on Eva Rausing's death or her husband's arrest because their branch of the family "divested its interests in Tetra Pak, and the Tetra Laval Group, in 1995." CNN's Dominique van Heerden, Susannah Palk and Atika Shubert contributed to this report. | NEW: A MySpace page apparently belonging to Rausing tells of her struggle with drugs . Eva Rausing had struggled with drug addiction for years, an acquaintance says . She is found dead after her husband, Hans Kristian, is arrested on drug charges . Rausing's father is worth an estimated $10 billion . | 58201851e43a55e6b2c4dcb8a923ac20b432c674 |
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama sought to reassure and inspire Bostonians reeling from the deadly marathon bombing, telling them that America stood with their grieving city and promised: "We'll keep going. We will finish the race." With Holy Cross Cathedral packed with first responders, families of victims, political luminaries past and present, and members of the public, Obama called Thursday's interfaith service a chance to "mourn and measure our loss." Standing at the podium, he said the bombing, being investigated as a terrorist act, was personal for millions of Americans who, in a myriad of ways, identify with the Hub. "Every one of us stands with you," he said. "Boston may be your hometown -- but we claim it, too." Injecting the experiences of he and his wife, Michelle, as law students just across the Charles River at Harvard and as a rising political figure at the 2004 Democratic convention, Obama said Boston's spirit remains "undaunted and the spirit of this country shall remain undimmed." The moment is something Obama, like other presidents before him, has become familiar with in the wake of national tragedy. Among disasters on Obama's watch: A tornado in Joplin, Missouri, and mass shootings at Fort Hood, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; Aurora, Colorado, and last December's school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. Consoler-in-chief is a role modern presidents have become accustomed to filling, said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University historian and CNN contributor. "It's an important role for presidents," Zelizer said. "Part of what the country wants is a figure who gets us through a particular crisis." Obama's appearance at Boston's main Catholic church and visits with some of those injured at hospitals was an inflection point between the tragic chaos of three days ago and the intensifying investigation, which entered a new phase on Thursday with the release of a video by authorities showing two men they call suspects. "We come together to pray and mourn and measure our loss," Obama said. "But we also come together today to reclaim that state of grace -- to reaffirm that the spirit of this city is undaunted and the spirit of this country shall remain undimmed." The service was attended by Mitt Romney, Obama's Republican rival in last year's election and a former Massachusetts governor and a Boston-based business executive. "I thought the president gave a superb address to the people of this city and the state and the nation," Romney said. "It was an inspiring day." Obama's tone on Thursday was markedly different from the day before when he invoked the memory of mass shooting victims following a setback in the Senate for gun control priorities he supported. He called that legislative outcome "a pretty shameful day in Washington." Obama has been frustrated many times on the legislative front since taking office in 2009, but it has never hampered his ability to communicate to the public that he is in control, Zelizer said. "There's a little bit of a preacher in him and that's something that has always drawn some people to him," Zelizer said. "It gets more powerful and poignant as the speech goes forward." And as he has on previous occasions when tasked with rallying mourners, Obama vowed that the nation's spirit remains undaunted. "Of that I have no doubt, you will run again," Obama said to applause in Boston as he projected optimism. "You will run again, because that's what the people of Boston are made of." "We'll keep going. We will finish the race." | Obama has had to offer words to a grieving nation on several occasions . Americans look to a president to act as "consoler-in-chief" Obama's natural "preacher-like" style lends itself to speeches designed to sooth; rally . | 634744acfacff152538b4d6f319c1fe548fefd6d |
By . Daniel Martin . PUBLISHED: . 17:44 EST, 26 October 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 17:44 EST, 26 October 2012 . Concerns: Former UN chief Kofi Annan has said that many countries receiving aid from Britain can fend for themselves . Former United Nations chief Kofi Annan has backed calls for Britain and the EU to stop giving millions of pounds in aid to wealthy countries. He said booming nations such as China, Brazil and India should wean themselves off development funding so it could be targeted at ‘weaker’ parts of the world instead. His comments come after International Development Secretary Justine Greening called for the European Union to stop giving aid to relatively rich nations. She travelled to Luxembourg last week to say it is wrong that the EU’s aid fund, to which the UK contributes more than £1billion a year, sends money to relatively rich countries such as Barbados, Iceland, China and Brazil. Britain refuses to fund such countries out of its own aid budget. However, the UK is still sending around £280million a year to India – even though the country can afford its own space programme and its president, Pranab Mukherjee, said in February: ‘We do not require the aid. It is a peanut in our total development expenditure.’ Conservative backbenchers want to see the Coalition drop its pledge to increase spending on foreign aid year-on-year, while cutting funding in every other department apart from the NHS. In 2014, taxpayers will be forking out £12.6billion a year on foreign aid – more than the £12.1billion it will be spending on the police. Mr Annan, a Ghanaian who was the UN secretary general from 1997 to 2006, said not all the countries who received aid from British taxpayers needed it. ‘The emerging markets and the countries that are doing well should wean themselves off aid,’ he said. ‘Countries like Brazil, China, India, Ghana, Guatemala and Honduras; some of these countries can fend for themselves. 'In fact I have had the chance to suggest to some of them that they should not accept Britain’s aid willingly. They need to say “We are full enough”, so that there will be more money available for the really poor and weaker.’ A sixth of the money spent by the Department for International Development goes to the EU’s aid programme. Half of this £10billion budget is spent on middle and higher income countries, even though many say they are too wealthy to merit support. Pledge: Justine Greening headed to Luxembourg this week to call for EU funding to stop for richer countries . Brussels has committed £30million to numerous aid projects in China, which has almost 150 billionaires, and more than £10million to Brazil, which will spend £9billion on its 2016 Olympics and whose GDP overtook Britain’s last year. But Mr Annan, who quit his job as Syrian peace envoy in August, also warned that governments rarely deliver all the aid they have promised. Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival earlier this month, he added: ‘The G8 and the G20 make lots of noise, lots of publicity about aid which is not in the end delivered.’ In recent weeks, it has emerged that British taxpayers’ money has been splashed out on a string of projects in wealthy countries, while domestic cuts continue apace. Among the projects being paid for by the EU are a scheme promoting tourism in an Icelandic national park and a pro-EU television series in Turkey. And £1.8million has been handed to the Caribbean island of Barbados to build a hotel and leisure complex where 200 young people will be trained each year in ‘hospitality management’. Some £800,000 out of the EU aid budget is going on a water park being built in Morocco by the French owners of Center Parcs. At the Tory conference earlier this month, Miss Greening said: ‘I want to be clear that whether we give a pound directly, or through another organisation, I always expect value for money on behalf of the taxpayer. ‘I want to bring that same focus on value for money in the UK to the EU in Brussels. I don’t think it’s right that the EU still gives money to those countries higher up the income scale, when we’ve taken the decision to target the poorest.’ The Department for International Development has spent £500million on so-called ‘poverty barons’, private consultants running aid programmes abroad. Meanwhile, millions in aid was last month pledged to help expand an oil plant in India part-owned by the UK’s richest man, billionaire steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. | He has even suggested to countries like Brazil and Ghana not to accept Britain's aid . The calls come as Development Secretary Justine Greening headed to Luxembourg to urge EU to stop giving aid . | 3352e8a0dde50049dac3dd78789d9e0f82ce9710 |
(CNN) -- When David Green, 22, graduated from Western Washington University in December, he applied for dozens of jobs, from fast food to secretarial positions -- sending out more than 50 resumes and scoring only two interviews in the process. The organization Reach to Teach has seen a 100 percent increase in applications to teach English in Asia. "It was horrible. I couldn't find anything," said Green, a history and social studies major. With few employment options in his hometown of Bellingham, Washington, Green applied to teach English in a South Korean middle school through Reach to Teach, an organization that assists college graduates with finding teaching positions in Asia. Green, who counts trips to Canada as his only experience abroad, will be leaving for Seoul on March 20 for one year. "I am scared. I've only had one major breakdown so far, ... but I'm really excited about being on my own ... somewhere completely new where I know absolutely no one," he said. Like Green, many recent college graduates are searching for alternatives to jumping into the job market in the face of the recession. An increasing number of young Americans are searching out paid positions teaching English in countries like South Korea, Japan, China and Spain as a means to expand their horizons and weather the economic doldrums. Mitch Gordon, director of school relations for Reach to Teach, said his organization has seen more than a 100 percent increase in applications in the last six months, with 3,784 applicants compared to 1,488 during the same six-month period last year. The application system doesn't track U.S. applicants separately, but Gordon estimates more than 70 percent are from the United States. The program also has seen a significant increase in current teachers extending their teaching contracts abroad for an extra year. Gordon said he believes the recession is the primary reason for the steady increase in applicants, and the increase has made the program more competitive. "We have more people for the same number of positions," he said. "We're able to raise our standards a little bit more." Japan's JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) program also has recorded a jump in applicants. For 2009 positions, the Japanese government-sponsored program has received 15 percent more U.S. applications than last year, according to program coordinator Joelle Williams. The program attributes the jump in part to the economic situation and the tough job market in the United States. JET officials also noticed that more applications arrived farther in advance of the deadline this year. 'Taking control of my own life' Ayana Hosten, a spring 2008 graduate of Claremont McKenna College, has been working as an English teaching assistant in Madrid, Spain, since February through a program organized by the Ministry of Education of Spain. Her contract is ending in June and she is already looking to extend her stay for another year. Spain's Ministry of Education has announced more than 1,200 openings for U.S. and Canadian "cultural ambassadors" for the 2009-2010 school year. Grants provide the teaching assistants with about $900 a month for the eight-month stay. Teachers are responsible for their own lodging and transportation costs, and applicants should have a functional knowledge of Spanish. For Hosten, 22, going to Spain was a way to escape a rough job market that left her without a full-time job between graduating and applying for the teaching program. "After being unemployed for three months, it really started to affect me emotionally, which was something I was not prepared for," Hosten said in an e-mail. "Going to Spain was me taking control of my own life and pretty much just wiping my hands of the financial crisis." Travis Lee, a University of Tennessee alumnus who is in a teaching program sponsored by a university in Wuhan, China, began teaching English in September 2008, originally intending to stay for one year. "Now I'm thinking of extending my stay for another semester or full year, and if I really like it and can't find a job in America, who knows?" Lee said in an e-mail. He said the economy and the tight job market have been a big influence in his consideration to stay in China. Trying another path . For many recent graduates, working abroad is becoming a more secure option than searching for a job in the United States. Most teaching programs in other countries will provide teachers with a salary and health insurance, and some programs in Asia will even provide free housing, said Jake Hanin, a teach abroad program coordinator for the Council on International Education Exchange, who also has noticed an increase in applications. For programs in Asia, fluency in English is usually the most important qualification for teaching jobs, and many do not require applicants to have previous teaching experience, Hanin said. Lee's salary in China is approximately $555 per month, which he says is more than enough to live comfortably in Wuhan. The university also provides him with a rent-free apartment and pays his electric bill. "We make twice what a Chinese teacher with a bachelor's makes and we do half the work," Lee said in an e-mail. But for Lee and many other recent graduates, working abroad is primarily about having once-in-a-lifetime experiences in a completely different culture. "You have plenty of time to get a career, start a family, and follow that path," Lee said. "Why not try another path first? What have you got to lose?" CNN's Marnie Hunter contributed to this report. | Economy is prompting some recent grads to delay entering U.S. workforce . Reach to Teach applications are up 100 percent from last year . Japan's JET program receives 15 percent more U.S. applications . | bb1da446ca5977d49955fa2c5b1864bc022eca94 |
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 08:34 EST, 11 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 15:25 EST, 11 January 2013 . A top scientist who branded Professor Stephen Hawking 'more machine than man' and a 'brain in a vat' has angered a leading disability charity. Helene Mialet also claimed the eminent British physicist does not need the use of his body because his field of research is all theoretical. The phrase 'more machine than man' was once used to describe arch villain Darth Vader in the Star Wars films. Anger: Helene Mialet provoked a backlash by calling Prof Stephen Hawking a 'brain in a vat' 'Denigrate': Helene Mialet has sparked anger by comparing Professor Hawking to Star Wars villain Darth Vader . Her comments were made in a paper entitled 'On Stephen Hawking, Vader and Being More Machine Than Human'. But Farah Nazeer, director of external affairs at the Motor Neurone Disease Association said: 'Whilst we . appreciate that Ms Mialet is an academic exploring issues of how minds . and machine interrelate, Professor Hawking himself has said: ‘People . with MND are just normal people with an abnormal condition’. 'Referring to anyone who relies on assistive technology to overcome the . profound disability and socially isolating effects of motor neurone . disease as a ‘brain in a vat’ is dehumanising and disrespectful – not . just to Professor Hawking but to all those doing their utmost to live . and contribute to our society with this devastating incurable disease, . which kills five people every day in the UK.' Mialet's article was published on the opinion pages of science website Wired.com, on Tuesday - Hawking's 71st birthday. The physicist was diagnosed with degenerative condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a form of motor neurone disease, 50 years ago. She wrote: 'On this day it's worth examining just who and what we are really celebrating: the man, the mind or the machines? 'Hawking has become a kind of a brain in a vat. Since being afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis almost 50 years ago, his muscles have stopped working, though his mind and senses remain unaffected. Timing: Helen Mialet's article was published by Wired.com on Prof. Hawking's 71st birthday . 'In some ways Hawking is, to borrow from Obi-Wan referring to Darth Vader, 'more machine now than man'.' 'And indeed, because of his disability, Hawking embodies the mythical figure capable of grasping the ultimate laws of the universe with nothing but the sheer strength of his reasoning - he can't move his body, so everything must be in his mind. 'What else would a theoretical physicist need?' This month Prof. Hawking became the unlikely star of the Go Compare insurance wesbite's latest television advertising campaign. The scientist is shown telling a packed lecture theatre that he has discovered how to generate a super massive black hole, before being asked what he will do with the knowledge. The scene then cuts to Go Compare's opera singer - played by Wynne Evans - haranguing a couple in the street, before a black hole forms behind him and sucks him in. Ad star: Prof. Hawkings has become the latest celebrity to feature in Go Compare's adverts . Good radiance: Tenor Gio Compario, star of the Go Compare adverts, is sucked into a black hole . Professor Hawking has been confined . to a wheelchair since 1970, but has still managed to publish several key . works of science, including A Brief History of Time. Despite . being almost completely paralysed, Hawking is able to communicate . through special speech recognition software that converts tiny movements . in his face muscles into words. Dr . Mialet has authored several books and papers about Professor Hawking, . including Hawking Incorporated: Stephen Hawking and the Anthropology of . the Knowing Subject. She has taught at Oxford and Harvard, and is currently teaching anthropology at esteemed University of California, Berkeley. Chris Whitehouse, of the anti-abortion campaign group, Right To Life Charitable Trust, has also blasted Dr Mialet, and said: 'I . disagree passionately and regularly with many of the views that Prof . Stephen Hawkins expresses, but I would die for his right to express . them. 'I have nothing but the greatest respect for this incredible man and what he has achieved. To denigrate him for his disability and to belittle his accomplishments is to denigrate human life itself.' Helene Mialet did not respond to requests for comment today despite messages being left at her office in California. | Helene Mialet's comments provoke backlash from anti-abortion campaigners . MND Association branded her comments 'dehumanising and disrespectful' She is accused of denigrating 'human life itself' by belittling Prof Hawking . | 8e82a0c44fb0025ae906935d9352f2f5d2a12813 |
Dr Michael Dixon, chairman of NHS Alliance, gave the warning . He said: 'We need to start discussing the real taboo subject of the NHS' GP-led Clinical Commissioning Groups given . £65million to spend on local health services . By . Amie Keeley . PUBLISHED: . 19:29 EST, 15 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 02:20 EST, 16 October 2013 . 'Extras': NHS Alliance chair Dr Michael Dixon warns patients could end up paying for 'better food' or IVF . Patients could soon have to pay for ‘hospital extras’ such as better food or IVF, a top GP has warned. Michael Dixon, president of the NHS Clinical Commissioners and chairman of the NHS Alliance, said doctors had to consider introducing new charges to balance the rising costs of treatment and an ageing population. He said patients were already charged for prescriptions and hospital parking, so other services should also be considered. Dr Dixon, who represents the GP-led Clinical Commissioning Groups, said: ‘We need to start discussing the real taboo subject of the NHS, which is co-payment. No one wants to discuss it but it is already happening. 'Patients pay for parking, the television sets on the wards and if you want to see an osteopath, you have to pay yourself. ‘The very wealthy are doing it already by accessing the NHS when it suits them and going private when they don’t.’ But he added the NHS ‘never allow an NHS patient to live, die or go bankrupt depending upon how much he or she can pay’. At a Westminster Health Forum event on the future of the NHS yesterday, Dr Dixon said the service is facing a £30billion funding gap in ten years. He said: ‘If someone wanted a surgical procedure or medicine that didn’t have a proven benefit they could pay for that and also for someone else to have another treatment. ‘Things like car parking or television sets are fairly easy, then on the edge of that, what about dining-room extras like food, or more comfortable beds? ‘I don’t think we should be too afraid of this discussion because the alternative is rationing where no one can have it.’ Dr Dixon added: ‘It’s about being inventive in how we create income in the health service so that we can get more resources to look after patients and don’t continue going back to taxpayers saying “can you give us more”.’ Nurse serves lunch for a patient in a hospital. Picture posed by models . GP-led Clinical Commissioning Groups, which replaced Primary Care Trusts earlier this year, were given £65million by the Government to spend on local health services. The reforms are intended to cut bureaucracy, reduce costs and foster competition, encouraging private firms and charities to take on health service contracts. In August, Dr Dixon said hospitals will have to shrink or close altogether in the wake of new reforms that have given GPs control of more than two-thirds of the health service’s budget. He said that diagnostic tests, outpatient appointments and much of elderly care should be moved to local clinics to improve services and save money. | Dr Michael Dixon, chairman of NHS Alliance, gave the warning . He said: 'We need to start discussing the real taboo subject of the NHS' GP-led Clinical Commissioning Groups given . £65million to spend on local health services . | e923a714d48e886c6deae22dc13cb9184d36b997 |
A baby pygmy goat was beheaded and another goat was taken from the New Orleans park where they had been penned up, the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Thursday. The SPCA is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction in the death of Jack, a black-and-white pygmy goat, and the disappearance of his brother, a goat named Calvin. Both were born Nov. 6. 'It could have been a dog or coyote. It looks bad but I'd prefer to think that something like that happened,' said Morgana King, owner of 'Y'Herd Me?' which contracts out its goats to eat unwanted vegetation such as weeds, and to trim grass. The SPCA is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction in the death of Jack, a black-and-white pygmy goat, and the disappearance of his brother, a goat named Calvin . She acknowledged, however, that the wound looked like a cut rather than a bite. The dead goat's head was missing but its body was found Thursday at Brechtel Park on New Orleans' west bank. Four goats, including another kid born in September, had been penned there, according to the business website. King's husband, Michael King, told investigators the culprits might be teenagers he argued with because they were trying to 'mess with the goats' during the weekend, SPCA spokeswoman Alicia Haefele said. The dead goat's head (not pictured) was missing but its body was found Thursday at Brechtel Park on New Orleans' west bank . However, Morgana King said she believes that scenario was unlikely. 'He (Michael King) also believes that it was possibly an animal attack but our humane officers don't feel the wound marks on the neck support that scenario,' Haefele wrote in an email. | The SPCA is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction in the death of Jack, a black-and-white pygmy goat, and the disappearance of his brother, a goat named Calvin . Both were born Nov. 6 . The dead goat's head was missing but its body was found Thursday at Brechtel Park on New Orleans' west bank . | 543e59b1157eb7f703bf6eed1116559dcef8e45c |
By . Leslie Larson . PUBLISHED: . 10:56 EST, 31 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 15:56 EST, 31 January 2013 . Mark and Mary Gundrum of Milwaukee, Wisconsin just celebrated the seven-month birthday of the baby they were told would only live a few hours. During a routine ultrasound last February, they learned the baby that Mary was carrying had a facial cleft which had allowed brain tissue to seep out and form a golf ball-sized sac on his face. Baby Dominic Pio was born on June 18 and, beating the odds, began to develop normally. The baby boy is now recovering at home after ground breaking reconstructive surgery to repair his face. Anxious: The Gundrums were told baby Dominic would only live a few hours after his birth . Walking miracle: The Gundrums are overjoyed at Dominic's recovery . Brothers: Dominic's brother comforts the baby after his surgery . One year ago, the Gundrum's world turned upside down. The . couple, already parents to seven children, were eager to find out the . sex of the baby Mary was pregnant with and went for an ultrasound in February . 2012. With five girls and two boys, they were excited to learn that their new addition would be a boy and they decided they would call their 8th child Dominic. But their excitement turned to fear when they learned the baby's skull . hadn’t formed properly and there was a triangle-shaped gap from his lip up to . his forehead, called a Tessier midline facial cleft. With a gap in his head, brain tissue had seeped out and formed a golf . ball-sized sac, called a encephalocele, that was resting near his forehead. Complications: A routine ultrasound showed that the child had a massive sac of brain tissue growing on his face . Clinging to hope: After Mary Gundrum learned last Feb. that the condition might be fatal for the child, her other children began praying that Dominic would survive . Doctors prepared the parents that the child would likely not . survive the extremely rare condition, only found in an estimated one child . every two to five years born in the U.S. It was expected that Mary could carry . the baby to term and that he would be born alive but would likely die within . hours. 'At first we were told he would probably die within a few . hours and that we should do our best to enjoy the pregnancy,' Mark Gundrum said. 'Over time his prognosis got better, and the doctors agreed . he'd survive birth. But after that, they had no idea what may happen to him. It . was a real no man’s land territory for all of us.' The Gundrums, who are strong . Catholics, leaned on their faith and spiritual . community as they tried to wrap their heads around what was happening. They shared . with their seven children that the baby would likely not live and while . the baby grew in Mary's womb, she wrestled with the tragedy that likely . lay before her. Family: The seven Gundrum children have welcomed their baby brother with open arms . Faith: The Gundrums leaned on their faith and the support of their spiritual community . Love: Dominic's older siblings having fun with their younger brother . Digesting the pain, shock and disappointment, Mary poured out her heart about . the emotional roller-coaster ride she experienced in a series of heart . wrenching journal entries, weaving in scripture as she worked through her . emotions. 'My hope is that people will not feel sorry for us, but please join us in . our hopefulness. Please join us in hoping and praying for God's will to be . done in us and Dominic … Of course please pray for us for the grace to trust,' the then-pregnant mother asked her readers shortly after she learned of the baby's condition. In the course of the pregnancy, after a discouraging medical appointment, the mother clung to hope and wrote, 'Today . my heart says, yes, I believe in miracles! I believe, if we pray, miracles will . come out of Dominic's short life. I believe God has a miracle in store, what . exactly that will be, I do not need to know.' With the devastating prognosis, the family waited out the pregnancy and faced an uncertain future. Then Mary gave birth via C-section on June 18 and Dominic Pio weighed 7 lbs, 8 . ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches long. He . lived longer than a few hours and overwhelmed his parents and the medical . team as he began developing normally, despite the prominent bubble on . his face. Miracle: Dominic Pio stunned doctors with his miraculous survival . Growing: Dominic began developing normally after his birth . Touching: Dominic's big sister snuggles the little miracle . ‘Things with Dominic are going so much better than what they could have, we . rejoice at every little victory!’ the family shared with their friends after . Dominic survived the delivery. In the months following Dominic’s birth, the parents were directed to Dr. John Meara, plastic surgeon-in-chief at . the Boston Children’s Hospital, who advised them to come to Boston so Dominic could undergo facial reconstruction surgery. Dr Meara and a team of brain specialists worked for weeks to run through . scenarios and prepare for possible complications in the lead to the December operation. They feared . the blood loss during the procedure would be too much for Dominic’s tiny body in addition to the possibility . of an infection but after weeks of preparation, felt confident at the prospects of a successful outcome. Joy: The Gundrums said they fell in love with Dominic's face and had to adjust to his new look after his surgery . Then on December 18, a team of 15 doctors gathered in an operating room at . 9:30am to remove the brain tissue and fluid that had pooled inside Dominic’s . encephalocele. With the sac removed from his face, Dr Meara then performed . reconstructive surgery on the baby’s face to repair the clef and align the . skull. The procedure ended at 3:30pm. The surgery ended up going more smoothly than expected and Dominic spent the next three weeks in ICU recovering. 'Everything went according to plan thanks to the amazing efforts of the whole team,' Dr Meara said. The Gundrums said they owe so much to the efforts Dr Meara, who was optimistic about Dominic's condition when no one else was. Doctor: Dr Meara with his little patient after the surgery . 'This doctor believed in Dominic's life as being valuable and worth all that went into saving him,' Mary wrote in thanks. 'This doctor made it possible for us to come out for a second opinion . and then he made it possible with insurance for Dominic's surgery to be . covered.' With his condition stabilized after three weeks, the parents returned to Wisconsin. As the family and their church continue to pray, they are thanking God for the miracle that is unfolding in Dominic. 'The day Dominic was born, a group of friends had a tree planted in our yard in his honor,' Mark said. 'I remember thinking, 10 years from now, I’m either going to look at that tree and think of the son I lost, or watch him climb its branches. Right now, thanks to so many wonderful people at Boston Children’s and beyond, I'm excited to watch him hanging from that tree as they both grow bigger and stronger.' | During routine ultrasound Mark and Mary Gundrum discovered the baby she was pregnant with had a sac of brain tissue growing outside his skull . The Milwaukee couple were told the baby would only live a few hours . Dominic Pio was born on June 18 and began to develop normally . On Dec. 18, doctors in Boston removed the golf ball -sized bubble . Baby Dominic is now recovering at home . | f03748a21ed965d451c38d2a4ee1ebc6f6ece4e5 |
By . Steve Hopkins . An angry schoolboy wrote to his mother’s killer to tell him he had ruined his life. David Wilder was jailed for life for murdering his former girlfriend Kerry Power in December 2013 . A court heard 10-year-old Olly Power sent the letter to David Wilder who choked his mother to death as he slept in their home just before Christmas last year. Part of his letter was read to a court by his grandmother Stephanie: It said: 'I feel very angry. If I was you I would be ashamed. I have a sad miserable life. You have ruined my life and my family’s life. It was nearly Christmas and we were happy.' Yesterday . tearful bus driver Wilder admitted murdering Kerry Power, 36, at . her home in Plymouth, Devon and was jailed for life. Judge . Graham Cottle said Olly heard the life being strangled from his mother . but ‘mercifully did not come downstairs to witness the act itself or the . immediate aftermath’. He said: 'It is entirely likely that he will be haunted by his memories of that night for a very long time if not forever.' The judge said the murder was a ‘dreadful act’ and when Olly did see his mother under a duvet he did ‘not realise she was dead’. He said Wilder, who must serve a minimum of 17.5 years, was a man ‘who liked to dominate and control women’. In . the days before the murder, Wilder, 42, bombarded Ms Power with texts and phone . calls, stalked her, and turned up drunk at her house after she ended their two year romance. Police . were called to Ms Power's house twice in the days leading up to her . murder and officers told her to call them if Wilder turned up again. The . judge said Kerry dialled 999 at 1.10am as she was being attacked. It was . almost a silent call but police could later hear her say: 'You have to . leave. I don’t know how you got in here but I need you to leave, you . have to leave.' Wilder then strangled her as Olly heard noises which the judge said were his mother ‘struggling for life’. Kerry Power, 36, had ended her two year relationship with Wilder before he strangled her to death . Taunton . Crown Court heard that Olly was disturbed in the middle of the night . when he heard his mother making ‘strange noises’ like she was being sick . and Wilder making ‘muttering noises’. Early . that morning Olly got up and found his mum - now dead - lying under a . duvet in the front room of the house with Wilder lying next to her. The . court heard Wilder strangled the primary school assistant to death four years after he had nearly killed his ex wife Kelly . in a similar attack. 'I . feel very angry. If I was you I would be ashamed. I have a sad . miserable life. You ruined my life and my family's life. It was nearly . Christmas and we were happy' The . judge was told Wilder was given two police cautions for a series . of domestic abuse incidents against his former wife, including one when . he tried to throttle her. The . court heard in 2005 he threw a beaker at his ex-wife and then bent her . legs so that her right hip came out of it's socket. And in 2009 he broke into his ex’s home through a window and climbed on top of her as she lay in bed. Wilder’s own barrister Michael Fitton QC described him as ‘possessive’. He told the court: 'He could not and would not let go.' | Olly Power told David Wilder that he had 'ruined my life and my family's life' Wilder murdered Kerry Power after she ended their two year relationship . The bus driver had a history of violence against women . | a781440ff3faf304164207c3e7f7b48f9ea07be9 |
(CNN) -- Dozens of 911 calls released Wednesday by the Carson City, Nevada, Sheriff's Office capture the horror of a mass shooting at an IHOP restaurant. In one call, a woman sobs as she tries to give the location of the shooter who fatally shot four others before he killed himself in the parking lot. Others seemed to be left almost speechless by the trauma as they give descriptions and accounts. "Hurry send ambulances," one woman pleads. "There are people dead." A total of 11 people were shot Tuesday, Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said. They included five uniformed Army National Guard members and six civilians. Three Guard members, a civilian woman and suspect Eduardo Sencion, 32, were killed. Authorities were investigating the motive Wednesday. Family members told authorities that Sencion had a history of mental problems dating back to age 16, a law enforcement official said. Sencion was carrying an assault rifle and a pistol when he went into the IHOP Tuesday morning, Furlong said. Ralph Swagler, owner of the nearby Locals Barbecue, told 911 that the shooter, who wore a red shirt and black pants, was carrying automatic weapons. "Now he is coming back outside with a gun," Swagler said. "He is shooting people in the parking lot!" At that point, the businessman yells for his son to get out of the way. A burst of gunfire is then heard outside the IHOP. "He is shooting at us now," said Swagler, who declined to speak Wednesday with CNN about the incident. "Automatic weapons. He is shooting at everybody." A second assault rifle was found in Sencion's vehicle, according to authorities. Only the assault rifle he carried was fired, the sheriff said. An IHOP customer talked with 911 operators as he looked inside the restaurant's window after the rampage. "Oh my God, we've got (expletive) people down." Sencion, who had no prior criminal history, continued firing in the restaurant's parking lot after shooting the IHOP patrons. Four nearby businesses were hit by gunfire, Furlong said. Emergency operators remained poised during the barrage of 911 calls. "We've got help on the way," they assured eyewitnesses. "It was crazy," said one witness calling from IHOP. "It was like a nightmare." Furlong said he was the second person to arrive on the scene Tuesday morning. He held a woman shot in the head. "The scene was horrific. It's something that I've never experienced before," the sheriff said. "It looked like a bloodbath, wall-to-wall carnage." Investigators are trying to determine whether Sencion obtained the AK-47 used in the shooting lawfully. The released calls include conversations between law enforcement personnel, who are told they need to be on the lookout for possible additional shooters. Sencion acted alone, authorities learned. In one call, an officer is asked if more assistance is needed. "At this point we have the scene under control," was the reply. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez contributed to this report. | 911 callers describe chaotic scene inside, outside Carson City IHOP . Shooter was found dead of self-inflicted wound in parking lot . Four others were killed, including three members of Nevada National Guard . | 969cdd1eabce04a7b4917274c41bb6b7ddc972b1 |
A satirical take on immigration involving birds on a wire by renowned artist Banksy has flown over the heads of council officials who labelled it 'offensive' and scrubbed it out. Locals at the seaside town of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, were abuzz when the graffiti appeared on Tendring District Council's boathouse at West Beach this week. It showed five grey pigeons holding up signs including one stating 'Go Back to Africa', seemingly aimed at a more colourful bird. One of the pigeons' signs said 'Migrants Not Welcome' whilst another was holding a placard with the words 'Keep Off Our Worms'. Scroll down for video . A satirical take on immigration involving birds on a wire by renowned artist Banksy in Clacton-on-Sea has flown over the heads of council officials who labelled it 'offensive' and scrubbed it out . The mural appeared on a Tendring District Council boathouse at West Beach and was scrubbed out today . The council scrubbed the mural - potentially worth thousands of pounds - off the wall today after receiving a complaint on Tuesday from a member of the public saying 'offensive and racist remarks' had been painted on the wall. One of Banky's graffiti pieces, recently cut off brickwork in east London sold for £500,000, and in 2008, at artwork of his sold for over £1 million in New York. Clacton-on-Sea locals were disappointed with the decision, which came just hours after Banksy posted a picture of his latest work on his website banksy.co.uk. Rebecca Bennett, 18, said she went down to the boathouse today after hearing about the famous new addition and couldn't 'believe it's gone already'. She said: 'I am gutted. Seems a bit of an own-goal by the council as it would have been a massive tourist attraction. 'Even controversial artwork should be for people to debate - not be wiped from history. The council removed the Banksy artwork after receiving a complaint that it was 'racist and offensive' 'I bet that's the last time we'll get a Banksy here in Clacton'. Nigel Brown, Tendring District Council's communications manager, said staff had inspected the site after receiving a complaint and 'agreed that it could be seen as offensive'. He said it was removed 'in line with our policy to remove this type of material within 48 hours'. Mr Brown added: 'We would obviously welcome an appropriate Banksy original on any of our seafronts and would be delighted if he returned in the future.' The scrubbed out Banksy was the second to appear this week, after one showing an elderly woman with headphones staring at an empty plinth was done in Folkestone, Kent . A spokesman for Banksy said he would not comment on the council's actions . Clacton-on-Sea has been in the headlines recently after its Tory MP, Douglas Carswell, defected to UKIP. A by-election for the seat is due to take place next week. The scrapped Banksy work is the second to appear this week. One showing an elderly woman with headphones staring at an empty plinth was done in Folkestone, Kent. te - �Ԯ$ . | A complaint was made that the mural was 'offensive and racist' Tendring District Council inspected the graffiti and agreed . Clacton-on-Sea locals were 'gutted' the artwork was destroyed . | 9d2b6f64245eb3b197f3b806f091af9a8b31e818 |
(CNN) -- Five crew members and a fishing vessel are missing off the coast of Nova Scotia, a Canadian official said Monday. The Miss Ally sent out an emergency beacon about 76 miles (123 kilometers) southeast of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Captain Doug Keirstead of Joint Task Force Atlantic said. Coast Guard units from Canada and the United States are searching for the missing boat, which disappeared late Sunday in an area hit by 30-foot seas and wind that exceeded 74 mph (119 kph). An empty life raft was found Monday morning, Keirstead said. The Miss Ally was registered in Shelburne, Novia Scotia. | The Miss Ally disappeared on Sunday night, sending out a distress radio signal . A crew of five fishermen was onboard, and only an empty life raft has been found so far . | bdf367938745eb39e2470b68bf1bfa3e14fa2f91 |
By . Emily Payne . A United Airlines airliner carrying more than 230 passengers have been forced to make an emergency landing after a fire broke out on board the plane. The Boeing 777, which was flying from Newark to Brussels, was forced to divert to Canada's Halifax Stanfield International Airport Tuesday night. Peter Spurway, the . spokesman for the Halifax Airport Authority, said the fire was in a . contained area and was extinguished prior to the emergency landing just before 10pm. The United Airlines plane was forced to land in Canada after a fire on board . The pilot of United Airlines Flight 999 decided to land at the nearest available airport, he said. Airport Fire and Halifax Regional Fire units met the aircraft on the . tarmac, but the flight crew had already contained and extinguished the . fire. The plane with 233 people on board had been on a flight from New Jersey to Brussels. All passengers and crew members on board were safely evacuated without injury or incident, and are set to board a replacement aircraft. The aircraft will now be inspected by United Airlines authorities as well as Transport Canada. Flight 999 from Newark to Brussels is a regularly scheduled flight. | Aircraft departing from Newark airport was carrying over 200 passengers . Reports of a fire in the plane's galley led to an emergency landing in Canada . Spokesman says passengers and crew were all safely evacuated . | 2315c93e1580161e38d00f8dac0eb9484ebd35d3 |
The paralysed man in charge of assessing benefit claimants has said the UK expects too little of disabled people. Dr Stephen Duckworth, who broke his neck during a rugby accident 33 years ago, said society is letting down the disabled by not demanding a contribution from them. The 53-year-old now leads the team that will assess those who apply for the personal independence payments, which will replace the disability living allowance. Outspoken: Dr Stephen Duckworth says disabled people should be encouraged to do more for themselves . Dr Duckworth said: ‘We need to move to a culture where employers recognise employment is therapeutic as opposed to illness-creating. ‘It is far better to go back to work to get better than to wait to get better to get back to work. Use work as a therapeutic intervention.’ Dr Duckworth – who trained himself to breathe by using his diaphragm rather than his chest muscles – believes more than 20 per cent of Britain’s five million disabled have wrongly become dependent on benefits. He said ‘at least a million, probably north of a million’ of those ‘deemed to be disabled... have got there through system failure and the way society is organised’. The father of four – who receives DLA himself and will be assessed for the new benefit – said that minor injuries had become ‘a very common avenue towards multiple benefit receipt’. Courage: Dr Duckworth was paralysed in a rugby accident but went on to forge a successful career . In an interview, he details a claimant’s possible path after an accident ‘that could have happened at work as a result of lifting a box of photocopy paper’. He says: ‘It gave you a bit of a limp; you get a no-win, no-fee solicitor, a claims farmer, coming up to you.’ As a result, he continues: ‘You get, say, £6,000 in damages from your employers, that builds your impairment, you’re off work for six months, then drop from full pay to half pay, then statutory sick pay.’ After which, Dr Duckworth says ‘you’re feeling the financial pinch’, and he envisages the claimant realising he can get an enhanced income from employment support allowance, and going on to claim it. The scenario, he says, is: ‘Do my work capability assessment, get signed off on to the employment and support allowance at £106, so have a bit to pay the loan sharks back, [but] I am depressed and my partner has left me... my life is falling apart.’ Dr Duckworth, who served on the board of the Olympic Delivery Authority for London 2012, was suicidal after being paralysed as a medical student, but he refused his parents’ offer to look after him. He said: ‘When I broke my neck, my mum and dad said, “Don’t worry, Stephen, we will build you a granny annexe”, and I screamed until I was blue in the face. ‘If they had built me one I would still be living there, they’d have wrapped me in cotton wool and I’d never have got back to London.’ | Dr Stephen Duckworth was paralysed in a rugby accident aged 20 . Now he assesses people for Personal Independence Payments . Says that the disabled should be encouraged to be independent . | 48637c9382a91189f0595fb59846f7a0817acfa9 |
(CNN) -- There will be a good deal of public singing these next few days, during the parties, celebrations and services surrounding the inauguration, and at the inaugural ceremonies themselves. Democrats and Republicans alike will join voices and sing "The Star-Spangled Banner," "God Bless America" and other patriotic songs. Politicians and regular citizens, regardless of where they align themselves along the liberal-conservative continuum, have long been able to put aside their differences as they blend their voices for certain time-honored lyrics: . "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty..." "O beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain..." But the song that is the centerpiece of every inauguration, and of virtually every formal public appearance by a president of the United States, will be heard instrumentally these next few days -- yet will not be sung. The song is "Hail to the Chief." Most people are probably unaware that it even has lyrics. We're accustomed to hearing the United States Marine Band play the stirring, brass-heavy chords as the president comes into sight. Why are the words to the song seldom sung? When you read them, it's easy to surmise one possible reason. In our hyper-partisan times, it would be unrealistic to assume that members of the party out of power would want to enthusiastically belt them out. Take this year, for example. Try to envision the television pictures of Inauguration Day, were "Hail to the Chief" expected to be sung by all the attendees. President Obama appears from inside the Capitol, some of the TV cameras focus on Republican congressional leaders John Boehner or Mitch McConnell or Eric Cantor -- and they are presumed to wish to ardently vocalize: . "Hail to the Chief we have chosen for the nation, . Hail to the Chief! We salute him, one and all, . Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation . In proud fulfillment of a great, noble call. Yours is the aim to make this grand country grander, . This you will do, that's our strong, firm belief. Hail to the one we selected as commander, . Hail to the President! Hail to the Chief!" Yes, those are the lyrics to "Hail to the Chief" -- and it's no wonder that few people have ever heard them. They express a lovely all-American sentiment, but--especially in our superheated political climate-- they possess the potential for some pretty awkward moments of public crooning. Go back a few years. Try to picture, during the administration of George W. Bush, the trio of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and then-Sen. Barack Obama raising their voices in song to warble in Bush's direction: "Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation..." Or imagine, during Bill Clinton's time in office, the sight and sound of Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole and Trent Lott harmonizing as they gaze at Clinton: "Yours is the aim to make this country grander/This you will do, that's our strong, firm belief..." If, in these political times, the words to "Hail to the Chief" sound a little odd, the history of the song is also not short on oddity. The phrase -- "Hail to the Chief" -- originated in Scotland in 1810 as part of a poem by Sir Walter Scott. The poem, "The Lady of the Lake," had nothing to do with the United States, or with the presidency. But the story told in the poem's plot became a British stage play that made it across the ocean within a few years. Among the songs that came to the United States as part of the play was "Hail to the Chief," written by James Sanderson. It was given new lyrics to honor the presidency, and reportedly was used in that context for the first time at an 1815 ceremony to commemorate the birthday of George Washington. It was played at the inaugurations of Presidents Martin Van Buren in 1837 and John Tyler in 1841, according to historians, and during the administration of President James Polk from 1845 to 1849 it became routinely played any time the president entered a room during public occasions. Not everyone was in love with the song. President Chester A. Arthur, who served from 1881 to 1885, directed the leader of the Marine Band to compose a new one to replace it. Fortunately for Arthur, the leader of the Marine Band at the time was a pretty fair songwriter -- a young Marine sergeant major by the name of John Philip Sousa. He came up with a new tune called "Presidential Polonaise." Unfortunately for "Presidential Polonaise," it never caught on, and "Hail to the Chief" made a return. Sousa was undeterred; he would go on to write, among other patriotic classics, "The Stars and Stripes Forever." President Jimmy Carter, in seeking to make the trappings of his presidency a little less regal, asked that "Hail to the Chief" not be played when he made public entrances. This turned out to be a highly unpopular decision. Carter would later tell CBS News: "One of the most unpleasant things that surprised me was when I quit having 'Hail to the Chief' every time I entered a room, but there was an outcry of condemnation." Before long, "Hail to the Chief" was back. The Marine Band continues to play it as presidents make their entrances. The words, however, continue to mostly go unsung, and that will almost certainly be the case during the inaugural festivities these next few days. In the spirit of the history of this -- and as a nod to what might have been -- we leave you with a parting gift of music. On behalf of Chester A. Arthur, please click and enjoy the song you never got the chance to tap your feet to. Ladies and gentlemen, the Mount Prospect, Illinois, Community Band performs, for your listening pleasure, "Presidential Polonaise." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene. | Bob Greene: Patriotic songs sung at inauguration won't include "Hail to the Chief" That song is usually played, not sung. The lyrics might not fly in the political moment, he says . Imagine Boehner joining in to "Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation...," he says . Greene: Song has come and gone for presidential entrances; words remain unsung . | 280ffe493bbc537eaaa4ea825b5ce63c2bd7fcde |
(CNN) -- Police opened, and then dropped, an investigation of physical abuse involving a Florida mother against her teen daughter, closing the case weeks before the woman admitted killing the girl and her brother because they were "mouthy." Julie K. Schenecker, 50, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her 13-year-old son, Beau Powers Schenecker, and her 16-year-old daughter, Calyx Powers Schenecker. She was denied bond at a court appearance Monday, a court spokesman said. "Our belief was that she didn't snap -- she planned this," Tampa, Florida, police spokesperson Laura McElroy told HLN's Vinnie Politan on Monday. New details emerged about the alleged murder as well as a run-in Schenecker had with police months earlier, regarding her treatment of her children. In November, police opened a child abuse investigation into allegations Schenecker had abused Calyx, according to a report from the Tampa Police. A responding officer, Julie Becker, wrote that she didn't see any "visible injuries" on Calyx, nor did the girl complain of any. "She seemed cautious of what was saying, and at times began to cry," Becker said in her report. Calyx told police that days earlier her mother repeatedly hit her while they were driving home, before she was able to run to a safe spot in her room. The girl said that a month and a half earlier, her mother had hit her so hard in the face it caused her lip to bleed. Julie Schenecker told police she had hit the girl three times in the first incident after the girl told her, "You're disgusting," and "You're not my parent," according to the police report. She said Calyx was not bruised or bleeding afterward. The mother also admitted hitting the girl once more than a month earlier, according to her police statement, but she again denied that Calyx had bled. Becker noted, "There is no prior history (related to) this location and the family." On December 21, having found "no evidence of a criminal offense," authorities ended their investigation of the case. McElroy, the Tampa police spokeswoman, said Monday that the daughter's seeming "regret" over her comments and the fact no wounds could be seen prompted the investigators' decision. "Parents can discipline their children using physical force, as long as there's no injury," said McElroy. "That's why there was no criminal offense at that time." But McElroy said police determined on January 28 after they arrived at the family home that Schenecker had plotted to kill the teens. Authorities went to the house after getting a call from the suspect's mother who, after e-mail communications the previous night, was worried her daughter was depressed. Officers arrived at 7:45 a.m. to find Julie Schenecker on her home's back porch, "a little combative" and her clothing soaked in blood, McElroy said. Police then found Calyx's body in an upstairs bedroom. She had been shot twice in the head, police said. Beau's body was later found in the front seat of an SUV inside the home's garage, police said. They said he was shot while he was being driven to soccer practice. A preliminary investigation indicates the teens were killed Thursday night, the police statement said, but the county medical examiner will determine their time of death. Schenecker confessed to killing the children, according to a police statement, eventually recounting her rationale and thought process "in detail," according to a press release. "She did tell us that they talked back, that they were mouthy," McElroy told CNN affiliate WTSP late last week. "But I don't think that will ever serve as an explanation to the rest of us of how you could take a child's life." Schenecker had initially planned what she called the "massacre" -- killing the children and then herself, McElroy said on Monday -- for January 22, but she put it off after learning there would be a three-day check before she could buy a gun. Police later found writings in the house, thought to be from Schenecker, in which she spelled out her intentions in detail. "There are definitely indications that she planned this," McElroy said. "(The writing) was devoid of emotion." Schenecker's husband, Parker, is a colonel in the U.S. Army. He is a member of U.S. Central Command and police told CNN affiliate WFTS that he was in Qatar when his children were killed. Schenecker appeared in court Monday via video link from jail, WFTS reported. She held a tissue and wept softly during the two-minute appearance. Judge Walter Heinrich said at the hearing that Schenecker likely will undergo a psychiatric evaluation, according to CNN affiliates WTSP and WFTS. She did not enter a plea because of that likelihood, according to Hillsborough County Court spokesman Calvin Green. No new court dates are set in the case, Green said. Prosecutors have 21 days to present the case to a grand jury. The mourning for the young victims continues in West Florida, where a vigil was held Friday night. On Monday -- their first day back since the shootings became public -- students at Liberty Middle School in Tampa, wore blue and black in memory of Beau, an eighth-grader at the school. "We wanted to show him that we miss him and he didn't deserve this," Jae Shim, the boy's classmate and friend, told CNN affiliate WFTS. Those students had responded to postings on Facebook, where a page had been set up to honor the boy and his sister, a sophomore and cross-country standout at King High School. "Heaven is now home to two new angels," read one post, from Ron Taskey. "May you both rest in peace!" In Session's Aletse Mellado contributed to this report. Watch Nancy Grace Monday through Sunday starting at 8 p.m. ET on HLN. For the latest from Nancy Grace click here. | NEW: Classmates and others in Tampa are mourning the two teens killed . Police probed alleged abuse involving Julie Schenecker in fall, records show . A police spokeswoman says Schenecker detailed a plan to kill her kids in writing . Police say Schenecker admitted killing her two kids because they were "mouthy" | 7547ae2c8cf32ca31bb29f21832064247d15bf77 |
Women who want to have children lack the ambition to 'go right to the top', a Ukip MEP has suggested. Stuart Agnew was branded 'prehistoric' by critics after claiming that their desire for a baby 'gets in the way'. In a debate in the European Parliament, Mr Agnew, who represents the Eastern region, admitted that he is not a father and blamed sexism and poor childcare for preventing mothers reaching the top. Ukip MEP Stuart Agnew claimed women lose ambition when babies get in the way . Mr Agnew said: 'If you look at the people who get degrees more, women get them and they are getting the jobs in the work place, but for various reasons, they don't have the ambition to go right to the top because something gets in the way. It's called a baby. 'I have never had a baby, but I understand that if you do have a baby it can change your life and it changes your ambitions. 'So, the route is there. Those females who really want to get to the top do so.' He made the comments during a debate on Tuesday about gender quotas. Godfrey Bloom resigned as a Ukip MEP after telling an audience at an event promoting women in politics that they were 'sluts' Richard Howitt, Labour's MEP for the Eastern region, branded Mr Agnew's comments 'outrageous'. He accused Mr Agnew of holding 'Neanderthal views about women. The comments are offensive and insulting.' Mr Agnew's comments come just two months after Godfrey Bloom MEP resigned the Ukip whip in the European Parliament after branded women in the party 'sluts' for failing to clean behind the fridge. Mr Bloom remains an independent MEP. Ukip leader Nigel Farage admitted last week that his party has in the past resembled a 'rugby club on a day out'. But he claimed that was turning around. 'In the early days, just didn't have many able women in the party, or able women who had the time to give to politics. That's changed completely and if you look at the European election list for next year, the women dominate it.' But Labour MEP Mary Honeyball condemned Agnew contested that view. She said: 'They reveal once again UKIP's prehistoric attitudes to women. UKIP is a party with no women as elected representatives, which will be running no female candidates anywhere in the East of England next time round. 'They have consistently - in both word and deed - committed to reduce the rights of women. Godfrey Bloom really was the tip of the iceberg. Mr Agnew defended his comments, issuing a statement saying: 'I was certainly not trying to suggest that all women who have babies don't make it to the top. Margaret Thatcher is an example that springs to mind.' | Stuart Agnew blamed sexism and poor childcare for women's failings . He said something gets in the way of ambition: 'It's called a baby' Comments in a debate in the European Parliament were condemned . Godfrey Bloom quit as a Ukip MEP after calling women supporters 'sluts' | 800900052e66de8836a8f0ba016e3e0a29054ca7 |
Atlanta (CNN) -- The training wheels came off two weeks before the race. They had to, or 5-year-old Jonah Jennings couldn't compete in the triathlon. The first day without them, she cried -- big plopping tears of fear. By the second, she was ready for her new two-wheel bike. Jonah was one of more than 800 kids who participated in the first Atlanta Kids Triathlon in Norcross, Georgia, on Sunday. The juniors, ages 5 to 10, swam 100 yards, biked three miles and ran a half a mile; the seniors, ages 11 to 15, swam 200 yards, biked six miles and ran a mile. "I think it's a big deal for anybody," said Blanche Payne, wellness director at Andrew & Walter Young YMCA and one of the coaches for Jonah's 30-kid triathlon team. "When you say to someone, 'I want you to swim, bike and run in one event,' adults' eyes glass over. When you say that to a kid, they're like 'OK. ...'" Schools given $25,000 to help kids move . Kids Triathlon Inc. started almost by mistake four years ago in Jacksonville, Florida, said event director Tom Gildersleeve. His wife is a physical therapist who saw a lot of teens getting burned out on their favorite team sport. She worried about kids becoming inactive when they didn't end up playing professionally. "That led us to triathlon," Gildersleeve said. "That's a sport that just supports lifelong activity. People who are 80 can still do triathlons." The organization's first race was held in Jacksonville with 400 kids. In 2012, Kids Triathlon spread to five other cities. In each, the group tries to partner with an NFL team as part of NFL Play 60 -- the football league's campaign to get kids moving for 60 minutes a day. "Today we hear constantly about kids not being active," said Joshua Kraft, director of strategic partnerships for the New England Patriots. "What better way than swimming, biking and running? A kid doesn't have to be a superstar to participate." Why it's so hard for kids to lose weight . Cheerleaders for the Atlanta Falcons and mascot Freddie revved kids up Sunday as they gathered in a sea of yellow swim caps to the sounds of singer Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe." "It's a bit like herding cats, isn't it?" a harried volunteer muttered as she tried to line the kids up by race number. It was easy to identify the mini pros -- kids whose parents had obviously spent hundreds of dollars on triathlon equipment. Yet beside the fancy road bikes were ones with pink and purple streamers; Hello Kitty helmets lay next to ones shaped like dinosaur heads. Each kid on Jonah's team was the first in his or her family to complete a triathlon. But as the junior group prepared to jump into the pool, Jonah and her friend Lincoln Fletcher were more interested in their loose baby teeth than being nervous. "See? It's ready to come out," Jonah said as she wiggled it with her pointed finger. The Andrew & Walter Young YMCA team spent seven weeks training. Three days a week, the group gathered to swim and either bike, run or practice transitions. Then, on Saturdays from 8 to 11 a.m., they did all three. "Most could not complete it when we started," Payne said with a laugh. "Huffing and puffing, they'd look at me like, 'You're kidding.' " 'The Beast' races to lose 100 pounds . Scholarships were awarded to those who couldn't afford the registration fee, and some of the team's triathlon equipment was donated, including Jonah's new bike. "I want her to be competitive in life, quite honestly -- not be afraid to compete," said Jonah's mother, LeRoya Jennings, as she eagerly waited for her daughter to round the last corner on the bike path. Twenty minutes later, Jonah ran across the finish line to receive her medal with a big grin. "It was long!" she exclaimed, gulping down water. She said she wants to do another race soon, maybe with her dad next time. Gildersleeve said he hopes the events are making a long-term impact on the communities where they're held. He said that research shows kids average an extra 19 hours of exercise a month in the lead-up to the races. "If we can get a family to adopt that lifestyle, that's a priority for us," he said. "They can learn that being active and healthy is fun." Too much TV linked with weaker kids . | Kids Triathlon Inc. holds races in six U.S. cities and hopes to expand . Children ages 5 to 10 swim 100 yards, bike three miles and run half a mile . The organization partners with local YMCA and NFL teams to promote an active lifestyle . | 38753632feaac7946be328fb2e401ca0a9813ab6 |
(CNN) -- For the past 49 years French animal trainer, Thierry Le Portier, 63, has been a calm handler of wild felines. Growing up he had originally wanted to be a gym teacher, but after catching a glimpse of a lion tamer during a trip to the zoo in Marseille, Le Portier decided to give up his hobbies -- rugby and judo -- to spend every free afternoon watching the tamer at work. On his 17th birthday, Le Portier was finally given the opportunity he had patiently been waiting for when before the show began, as the lights dimmed, the trainer surprised the teenager by forcing him on to center stage. "He grabbed me by the shoulders, pushed me in the cage just before a show with a lioness and said, "go!" And I did the whole show," he said. The show was so successful that Le Portier was confident he had found his vocation and was soon touring Europe with his act. So remarkable was his skill that Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini called on the talented young tamer for a scene involving a lion in his 1974 film "Arabian Nights." Le Portier quickly became a specialist of big-cat scenes and after Pasolini came other famous screen directors such as Jean-Jacques Annaud with "Two Brothers," Ridley Scott with "Gladiator," and more recently Ang Lee with "Life of Pi," which stars a digital tiger. The trainer -- along with his three tigers -- was flown out to Taiwan for four months and filmed extensively for reference. During this time he developed a close bond with the film's director. "Every time we went somewhere [film producer] David Womack called me the quality control and Ang Lee would say 'and inspiration,'" Le Portier said. Read more: Director finished film using phone . Le Portier believes he and Lee struck up a close friendship because of a shared work ethic. "I work with tigers for the same reason Ang Lee is in the movie business: because we can't do anything else." It's this passion for taming which makes Le Portier arguably the best animal trainer in the world. When talking about his work, his whole body becomes animated. "Training is an art; it takes time and an understanding of the animal you are with." Read more: 'Life of Pi' is bold and wondrous . Le Portier doesn't use food as a means of enticing the animal, or a whip to control it. He simply uses his brain. "You don't train with physical abuse because he's so strong, it's a mental arm-wrestle," he explained. "It's a real psychology, mental manipulation." In fact, Le Portier said he was only scared of one type of animal, the kind which has been raised by humans as an exotic "pet," the one that "looks dead behind the eyes." Le Portier believes these are prowling "time bombs." He warns that one day their natural instincts flood back and without warning they turn aggressive -- these wild animals were never made to be patted. "I'm not meant to be his friend; you are never his real friend. You have to intimidate him," Le Portier said. Read more: What's the buzz on 'Life of Pi'? In the cage Le Portier is the boss. But even just a few lapses of concentration in the past have cost him dearly, and he has the scars to prove it. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud believes Le Portier's job could one day cost him his life. "Whenever Thierry confronts a wild animal, he risks his life. I think he secretly hopes to die taming, as Molière died acting, in the exercise of his art." | Frenchman Thierry Le Portier has been training big cats for the past 49 years . Three of his tigers were used as references for the Oscar-nominated film "Life of Pi" Le Portier says training is "an art" that takes time and an understanding of the animals . He says the only animals that scare him are those that have been made "exotic pets" | 2f94b248563f65ae5473af2056526d4a5ee0952a |
It is a mammoth deal that secures his status as Liverpool's talisman for many years to come. Raheem Sterling, at the age of 20, is about to put pen to paper on a staggering contract worth £25million over the next five years. But where does the England star rank among the hottest young properties in the big European leagues? We count down our top 10. 10. Jetro Willems (PSV Eindhoven and Holland) The most experienced member of our list, Willems was barely out of school when he started playing in the Eredivisie with Sparta Rotterdam. A move to PSV Eindhoven proved a springboard for the 20-year-old left-back and he is now a regular for the Holland national team too. Indeed, at 18 years and 71 days, he was the youngest player ever to feature at a European Championship finals in 2012. Willems in action for Holland in a recent Euro 2016 qualifier with Latvia in Amsterdam . 9. Max Meyer (Schalke and Germany) The latest absurdly talented attacking midfielder to come along the German conveyor belt, Meyer has inevitably drawn comparisons with Mario Gotze. The Schalke man, 19, credits the close control and movement required in futsal, which he played as a youngster, for his progress. Meyer is an important cog in the Schalke team and has 68 appearances for them, as well as a cap for Germany. Max Meyer celebrates a goal for Schalke in their Champions League match with Maribor this season . 8. Ross Barkley (Everton and England) Only 21, Barkley has established himself as a mainstay in the Everton team and as a regular for England too - and don't expect him to budge anytime soon. The midfielder possesses that rare blend of strength, pace and technique that allows him to take games by the scruff of the neck and he's demonstrated that quality time after time. He is closing in on 100 competitive Everton appearances and has won 10 caps for his country though there are suggestions a big-money move could be afoot. Ross Barkley embarks on another bustling run for Everton against Hull City on New Year's Day . 7. Saul Niguez (Atletico Madrid and Spain) Tipped to become the next great Spanish midfielder, Saul came through the ranks at Atletico Madrid having joined the club from neighbours Real aged 14. But it was a loan spell at Rayo Vallecano last season that was the making of him and their better-than-expected 12th-place finish in La Liga was in no small part due to his influence. Capped by Spain to Under 21 level, Saul is an uncompromising tackler with quick wits and a very good reading of the game. Saul Niguez celebrates scoring for Atletico Madrid in a La Liga game with Deportivo La Coruna . 6. Mateo Kovacic (Inter Milan and Croatia) A man very much on the radar of the leading Premier League clubs, the versatile Croatian international Kovacic, 20, has already seen and done a great deal. He played 73 times for his first club, Dinamo Zagreb, before arriving at San Siro in 2012 and has since clocked up 73 more games as an important member of the team. His career has seen him flit between defensive and advanced midfield positions but with his accomplished dribbling and passing, he is adept at both roles. Mateo Kovacic (left) takes on PSG's Marco Verratti during a recent friendly match in Morocco . 5. Hakan Calhanoglu (Bayer Leverkusen and Turkey) At the age of just 20, Calhanoglu is regarded as the best free-kick taker in Europe and he has certainly been illuminating the Bundesliga with his set-piece prowess. He left struggling Hamburg for Bayer Leverkusen in the summer in a deal worth £12m and has already found the net seven times in both domestic and European competition. Calhanoglu is so highly rated, Germany wanted him to represent them but he chose the country of his parents, Turkey, and has so far collected five caps. Free-kick master Hakan Calhanoglu playing for Bayer Leverkusen this season . 4. Gerard Deulofeu (Sevilla, on loan from Barcelona, and Spain) A young man who needs no introduction to Premier League fans following his highly impressive loan spell with Everton last season. Deulofeu, 20, was shipped out again by Barcelona at the start of the summer - this time to Sevilla - but many were quick to question why Luis Enrique had not kept him. His speed and direct style of attack mark Deulofeu, who can play on the wing or further forward, as an exciting player to watch. Gerard Deulofeu was a hit at Everton when on loan from Barcelona last season . 3. Adrien Rabiot (Paris Saint-Germain and France) One of the hottest properties on the continent, Rabiot is wanted by a host of top Premier League clubs after struggling to hold down a place in the PSG side. It's a frustrating situation for the highly-regarded 19-year-old midfielder, whose command on the pitch, skill and incisive passing are more mature than his years. Capped by France up to Under 21 standard, Rabiot is likely to make the step up if he can gain regular football, potentially in England. PSG's Adrien Rabiot (right) playing against Inter Milan in a friendly match in Marrakech last month . 2. Raheem Sterling (Liverpool and England) Blessed with a magnetic touch and lightning pace, Sterling was a dynamic part of Liverpool's brush with Premier League title glory last season and is arguably English football's greatest hope for the future. Still just 20, Sterling seems to have accomplished an awful lot already, with over 100 appearances and 18 goals for Liverpool, and 13 caps for his country. And his achievements are being noticed - Sterling won the Golden Boy Award for the best young player in Europe last month. Raheem Sterling won the Golden Boy award recently for being Europe's best young player . 1. Munir El Haddadi (Barcelona and Spain) It's clear that Barcelona feel the time has come for Munir, their 19-year-old wonderkid, and they have used him in several matches this season. As he had demonstrated time after time in Barcelona's youth ranks, the La Masia prodigy boasts fleet of foot, speed of thought, bags of confidence and a willingness to shoot at goal. That is now being unleashed on defences in La Liga and the Champions League, with many glittering years likely to be ahead of him. Barcelona's bright talent Munir El Haddadi in action against Real Sociedad on Sunday night . | New £25m deal will ensure Raheem Sterling's place in Liverpool team . Other bright European hopes include Munir El Haddadi at Barcelona . PSG's Adrien Rabiot is linked with a number of Premier League clubs . Gerard Deulofeu and Saul Niguez are other bright Spanish hopes . Hakan Calhanoglu of Bayer Leverkusen arguably takes best free-kicks . | f384d4d75073467a91ffc13532d0aeade0201cc9 |
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Lady Gaga suffers from a painful injury that has left her unable to walk, forcing the postponement of several shows, the singer said Tuesday. "I've been hiding a show injury and chronic pain for sometime now, over the past month it has worsened," Lady Gaga tweeted Tuesday afternoon. "I've been praying it would heal." The injury is a synovitis, a severe inflammation of joints, her Twitter postings said. She gave no details about how she suffered the injury. Gaga tweeted that she hid the injury from her staff since "I didn't want to disappoint my amazing fans." "However after last nights performance I could not walk and still can't," she tweeted. Gaga's "Born This Way Ball Tour" was in Montreal, Canada, on Monday night. "It will hopefully heal as soon as possible, I hate this. I hate this so much. I love you and Im sorry," she tweeted. The next week of shows, set for Chicago, Detroit and Hamilton, Ontario, have been postponed under doctor's orders, she said. "To the fans in Chicago Detroit & Hamilton I hope you can forgive me, as it is nearly impossible for me to forgive myself. Im devasted & sad," Gaga tweeted. Fan makes a life-sized Lady Gaga cake . Which pop star dethroned Lady Gaga on Twitter? Video: Lady Gaga vs. Kelly Osbourne . CNN's Jennifer Wolfe contributed to this report. | "I've been hiding a show injury and chronic pain for sometime now," Lady Gaga says . Gaga suffers from synovitis, a severe inflammation of joints, her tweets say . "After last nights performance I could not walk and still can't," she tweeted . Chicago, Detroit and Hamilton, Ontario, shows are postponed . | 8f69e17fd1bac373079633926f65b5a043854051 |
A former IRA intelligence officer has claimed in a new book that members of the Irish police force tipped-off senior republicans about a plan to arrest the entire organisation's leadership in 1974. Kieran Conway, who is now a barrister in the Irish Republic joined the IRA in the last 1960s and claims that senior Irish police officers colluded with the IRA. Mr Conway's book alleges that as well as members of the Irish police force, an Garda Siochana, the provisional IRA were also assisted by a top banker, a stock broker, a journalist as well as several mainstream politicians. Kieran Conway, pictured, claims the IRA received tip-offs from the Irish police force in advance of arrests . Mr Conway, who is now a barrister in Dublin, joined the IRA in the late 1960s served as an intelligence officer . Mr Conway told The Guardian: 'I think that the army council had particular contacts with those in the security area which weren't even shared with me. We had contacts in the law offices of the states and contacts in the upper echelons of the guards.' Mr Conway said much of the republican leadership was in talks with members of the Protestant clergy in Feakle, County Clare. He said: 'Take something like Feakle, the place was raided and they (the leadership) got away. Because a tip-off was received that the special branch were on their way to Feakle and that tip-off came from within the Gardai. 'It wasn't just in 1974 and it wasn't just concentrated in border areas like Dundalk, it was some individuals but it was more widespread.' Mr Conway's allegations come as the Police Ombudsman in Northern Ireland reported that there was no evidence to suggest that the RUC had colluded with the IRA in the murder of Arthur Rafferty in 1974 in Belfast. The Ombudsman said that while there had been failures in the police investigation, there was no evidence to suggest any form of cover-up. A review by the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland found no evidence of collusion between the IRA, pictured, and the RUC over the murder of Arthur Rafferty who was shot in Belfast on August 15, 1975 . Dr Michael Maguire of the Police Ombudsman's office said: 'We have looked in great detail at all the available information and intelligence, both about the murder itself and about the various people family members thought were linked to it. 'We found no evidence that would indicate police knew about the planned attack beforehand and could have done something about it, or that anyone was protected from arrest or prosecution because they were a police informant.' Arthur Rafferty was shot at Newington Street close to its junction with the Limestone Road in north Belfast on August 15 1974 and died in hospital several weeks later. The IRA claimed responsibility for the fatal attack. In a complaint to the Ombudsman's office, a member of the Rafferty family alleged that police colluded with the killers by failing to investigate the murder properly in order to protect police informants within the IRA. They also claimed police had destroyed the murder weapon, lost significant exhibits and failed to pursue the names of five suspects which had been supplied to them. Dr Maguire said: 'Investigative failures are not in themselves automatic evidence of collusion. 'We did not find any evidence that police chose not to pursue relevant lines of inquiry or that information was withheld from the detectives investigating the murder.' The Ombudsman's investigation found that 12 spent cartridges and a bullet head were recovered from the scene by the RUC and military personnel, as was a piece of card with writing on it which was attached to a coat hanger which was also found. The report said although detectives were able to speak with Mr Rafferty in hospital several times and to his wife, the interviews did not open up any new leads. Mr Rafferty's family claimed that RUC officers protected the killers because they were informants in the IRA . Days after the attack, on September 23 1974, it was revealed police had received a report that a rifle, ammunition and clothing had been found in a flat in Newington Street and that forensics had linked the weapon to Mr Rafferty's murder and two other shooting incidents. A man was arrested in 1974, but the Ombudsman said there were no notes available to indicate whether or not this person was interviewed. Three years later, in 1977, police authorised the destruction of the rifle and ammunition which had been found. But in 1978, a police search of a social club in Belfast on an unconnected matter uncovered a handwritten document which appeared to be a debrief of Mr Rafferty's shooting. The document made reference to the involvement of three people, two of whom were subsequently arrested and interviewed. In 2005, a member of Mr Rafferty's family provided police with names of people they believed were involved in the murder but police later recorded that there was nothing to link them to the killing. In 2007, the same family member provided the Police Ombudsman's Office with the names of two people believed to be involved in the attack. The Ombudsman said records indicated that one of the suspects was in prison at the time of the murder, while the other one was in police custody. Dr Maguire concluded that police did not manage the crime scene properly and that critical evidence had not been preserved or examined. Similarly, he found no meaningful investigation into how police responded to the discovery of guns, ammunition and clothing. The Ombudsman said there was no evidence that the person who reported this material to police was ever interviewed; no rationale why police submitted the rifle and ammunition for examination but not the clothing, and no audit trail of what happened to any of these items. | Irish police tipped-off the IRA about planned arrests, a new book claims . Former IRA intelligence officer Kieran Conway makes the claims in a book . Mr Conway alleges top Irish politicians and bankers also supported the IRA . A separate probe found no evidence of collusion between IRA and RUC . Members of Arthur Rafferty's family claimed the RUC covered-up his death . Mr Rafferty was murdered by the IRA in Belfast in 1974 in a gun attack . His family claims the killers worked as informants for the RUC in Belfast . The Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland found no evidence of collusion . | 0a8bf9a2557d71e238686bb22bc4433e00c71f1e |
Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday the United States is setting up a $5billion 'terrorism partnership fund' to help other countries push back against radical extremists. Appearing on a host of network morning-show interviews, Kerry staunchly defended President Barack Obama's decision to terminate the U.S. combat role in Afghanistan by the end of the year. Referring in a 'Today' show interview to a speech Obama was set to give later Wednesday at the U.S. Military Academy, Kerry said Obama is telling the Afghans 'by a specific time they have to take over management of their own security and military.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Making the rounds: Secretary of State John Kerry appeared on NBC's Today Show (pictured) as well as the morning programs on CBS, ABC and CNN to announce the new anti-terrorism initiative . Kerry said the message to Afghanistan is 'we're not going to give you all the time in the world. You have to push the envelope.' 'This is not an abandonment of Afghanistan,' Kerry said. 'This is an emboldenment. This is an empowerment of Afghanistan.' Appearing on 'CBS This Morning,' he said the withdrawal plan of the U.S. will allow this country to divert resources to the anti-terrorism fight in other parts of the world. Kerry said U.S. foreign policy needs to reflect a 'rapidly changing, more complex world where terrorism is the principal challenge.' Kerry called the Afghanistan troop withdrawal announcement 'a statement of transition' and said that 'if you tell the Afghans we'll be here as long as it takes, you can absolutely bet your bottom dollar they'll take as long as they want.' Heading out: President Obama, seen leaving the White House Wednesday morning, is due to give a speech at the West Point military academy . The secretary also said 'it is exactly what the American people have always sought in Afghanistan' and said 'the Afghans want us to transition out.' During his interview on ABC's 'Good Morning America,' Kerry was asked for an update on U.S. efforts to win the release of nearly 300 schoolgirls abducted by Islamic extremists in Nigeria. 'We have people on the ground and we're working hand in hand with Nigerians,' he replied. Kerry also talked about National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden on Wednesday, calling him a fugitive who should 'man up and come back to the United States.' Kerry was asked on the Today show about an interview Snowden recently gave in which he said he never intended to be holed up in Russia but was forced to go there because Washington decided to 'revoke my passport.' Asked about Snowden's comments, Kerry replied: 'Well, for a supposedly smart guy, that's a pretty dumb answer, after all.' Sit down: Kerry said that Edward Snowden, whose interview with Brian Williams will air in full tonight, should 'man up and come back to the United States' 'If Mr. Snowden wants to come back to the United States, we'll have him on a flight today.' Kerry said Snowden should 'stand up in the United States and make his case to the American people.' In his interview with NBC anchor Brian Williams, a portion of which was broadcast Tuesday, Snowden said he was 'trained as a spy' and argued that he had a much larger role in U.S. intelligence than the government has acknowledged. 'I was trained as a spy in sort of the traditional sense of the word, in that I lived and worked undercover overseas,' he said. Kerry said, 'A patriot would not run away. ... He can come home but he's a fugitive from justice.' 'Let him come back and make his case,' the secretary added. 'If he cares so much about America and he believes in America, he should trust the American system of justice.' 'I think he's confused,' Kerry added. 'I think it's very sad. But this is a man who has done great damage to his country.' Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy . | Kerry says the fund will help fund anti-terrorism initiatives globally . Comes the day after President Obama announced that less than 10,000 American troops will be in Afghanistan by the end of the year . | efe39ccb217c74660f39e7b69b836cb295a9dcb6 |
(CNN) -- Actor Robert Blake accused CNN's Piers Morgan of calling him a liar in a combative, profanity-laced interview that was more remarkable for its tone than revelations surrounding his acquittal in the 2001 murder of his wife. Blake, 78, said he agreed to appear on the show Wednesday to promote his self-published memoir "Tales Of A Rascal," telling Morgan that the book was not about his late wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley, or their relationship. "I made a deal to come here and talk about anybody from the book," Blake said after Morgan asked about his feelings about the case. "I excused you from that deal because I thought you were going to be cool. Now you're trying to (bleep) into the ground." Blake was acquitted in 2005 in connection with the murder of Bakley, though that same year he was found liable for her death in a wrongful death lawsuit and ordered to pay $30 million. Blake subsequently filed for bankruptcy. When Morgan asked about the case, including the civil suit, Blake demanded: "Do you know why I was arrested?" "Tell me," Morgan said. "Well, before you start asking questions, you should do some goddamn research," Blake said. The actor has long maintained his innocence, raising questions about Bakley's past and her relationships with other men as a possible motive. Bakley, who also had a well publicized relationship with Marlon Brando's son Christian, was found shot in the head in North Hollywood in 2001. The couple had married six months earlier after a paternity test revealed her child belonged to Blake not Brando. "Bonnie had people that she burned. How bad I don't know. Did she steal everything from them? We'll leave that alone. But nobody really knew where Bonnie was. She had 15 ID cards. She had 15 credit cards. She had different places where she lived and nobody could ever find her if they were looking for her," Blake told Morgan. "But one day somebody opened the paper and saw that Bonnie just married Robert Blake and where does Robert Blake live. And what a couple of weeks later she was dead. I want you to chew on that for a bit." Blake's use of profanity is nothing new. Excerpts posted online from his self-published book are filled with it, especially as he describes the case that was built against him by Los Angeles authorities -- and his subsequent imprisonment while waiting to stand trial. Blake accused Morgan of insulting him by raising questions about the case. "Nobody tells me I'm a liar," Blake said. At one point during one of Blake's tirades, Morgan asked: "Are you sane?" Later Blake said: "My skin is a little bit thin. I've never allowed anybody to ask me the questions you're asking." But during a 2011 interview with Tavis Smiley, the actor touched on similar subjects and gave similar answers, including accusing the talk show host of "getting a little weird now" when he asked questions about the case's aftermath, according to a transcript of the interview posted online. When Morgan raised questions about what he said he "presumed to be a very important moment" in Blake's life, the actor responded: "I didn't write about that life and I didn't write a book about Bonnie." At times, Blake appeared to be drawing on his acting experience, quoting lines from movies or interviews he gave years earlier. When Morgan asked where Blake was living, the actor appeared to draw on an answer he gave in 1993 to Entertainment Weekly: "I live in an apartment. I told you, I'm broke. I couldn't buy spats for a hummingbird." At other times, Blake took profanity-infused lines directly from his book, according to excerpts published online, delivering them almost verbatim, including an explanation of how he lost the civil suit brought by Bakley's family. "They didn't win it, I lost it. I went up there, suicidal, to lose that," he told Morgan. He went on to call Morgan "Charlie Potatoes" or "Charlie" during the interview, taking a line from the 1958 movie "The Defiant Ones" that describes a man who is rich and popular. "You're just like the cops. There's no place to get. Keep him in jail until he dies because everybody who's dead is guilty," he told Morgan, again using language from his book. Twitter -- the closest thing to an instant barometer of public opinion -- exploded with reaction. "To my friend Charlie Potatoes: Great TV! Better you than me," former talk show host Arsenio Hall tweeted. Morgan, himself, tweeted: "Incredible interview. I'd cast him in a movie with Charlie Sheen tomorrow." Morgan also asked Blake about his wife's background. "I think she was a con artist, yes," Blake said. "I think she came to Hollywood to con her way into show business." Blake also said he "didn't know here well enough to know her." "I love her - well, I love you as a human being. You're my brother in arms," he told Morgan during the interview. "We're all in this thing together. But we were not dramatically in love or things like that." Blake is best known for his role as a tough-talking detective in the 1970s TV show "Baretta" and his Oscar-nominated performance as condemned killer in the 1967 movie "In Cold Blood." He began his career as a child actor, starring as a Mickey in the "Our Gang" movie shorts. Watch Piers Morgan Tonight weeknights 9 p.m. ET. For the latest from Piers Morgan click here. | NEW: Twitter explodes with reaction from the combative interview . NEW: Robert Blake quotes verbatim, at times, from his writings during profanity-laced explanations . Blake says he's never allowed the questions Morgan asked . The actor calls Morgan "Charlie Potatoes," taking a line from a 1958 movie . | 59636169ce72dbdf621e118499190e3ea9be4844 |
CLICK HERE to read the full match report from the Etihad Stadium . Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock was left fuming at a disallowed goal he believed would have given his side a shock chance to force a draw at champions Manchester City. James McArthur's header from Yannick Bolasie's cross midway through the second half when Palace were trailing 2-0 was ruled out for offside, presumably because referee Phil Dowd and his asssistants hadn't spotted Fernandinho by the touchline yards away from the action playing him onside. Warnock, whose side need every point in an anticipated relegation battle, said: 'As you all know, we scored a cracking goal which would have put the whole stadium in a bit of doubt with 20 minutes to go. We sensed the fans were a bit nervous and we could have had a real go. Neil Warnock complains to officials after seeing James McArthur's strike disallowed for offside . Television replays showed that the Scotland midfielder was easily onside when the ball was played to him . Yannick Bolasie's cross sails over Manchester City's defence to reach McArthur unmarked . 'It is hard enough to score at the Etihad without having a good goal chalked off. It is days like this I wish I was in the media who I could say what I thought without being fined. 'It was miles onside, not even close, two yards. He (the assistant) is in a bad position and it is a disgraceful decision. I am sure he will be sorry but at this level you have to get that right. 'We deserved to be back in the game and through no fault of our own, we weren't.' McArthur heads past a static Joe Hart as Manchester City defenders begin their appeals for offside . A dejected McArthur (left) and Martin Kelly applaud the travelling fans after the game . Palace had only 27 per cent possession against a City side with no fit senior striker and James Milner playing as a makeshift number nine. The Eagles have only scored 19 goals in 17 league games and Warnock is hoping chairman Steve Parrish brings him a powerful centre-forward in the January window. 'We need a little bit more physical presence,' said Warnock, who was without the injured Marouane Chamakh on Saturday. 'All the other lads have their attributes, it would be to supplement us really and give us options off the bench.' Manchester City players celebrate after moving level on points with Chelsea at the top of the table . | Manchester City defeated Crystal Palace 3-0 to move level with Chelsea . Eagles star James McArthur had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside . Neil Warnock labelled the decision 'diabolical' and 'a disgrace' | 37100eb361146a7941d69cc63082cd61084b4251 |
By . Meghan Keneally . PUBLISHED: . 13:51 EST, 26 February 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 16:05 EST, 26 February 2014 . Contact: A source reporting directly to the FBI had more than one meeting with Osama bin Laden in 1993 and 1994- contradicting earlier government reports . Newly-released court documents have revealed that an FBI source had a meeting with former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 1993. The meeting between the informant that the FBI worked with and the now-dead terror chief produced such specific intel for the FBI that they were able to thwart an attack against a British cruise liner and another in Los Angeles. The previously-unknown meeting came to light because Bassem Yousssef, a disgruntled FBI agent, filed a discrimination lawsuit against the agency, and during the court hearing, one of his bosses told of the agent's successes at the bureau. The Washington Times reported that former FBI official Edward Curran testified on Mr Youssef's behalf in the 2010 discrimination case. Mr Curran told the court how Mr Youssef was able to cultivate a source who was closely-tied to another al Qaeda leader, Omar Abdel-Rahman, commonly known as the 'blind Sheik' who was responsible for the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. The source, who was described as being 'very in tight, close' with the al Qaeda leadership, was reportedly in regular contact with the FBI when he met personally with bin Laden at some point in 1993. As a result of that meeting, the FBI was given enough information to stop planned attacks on a Masonic lodge in Los Angeles and helped reveal two previously-secret terror cells in California. Working back-channels: The revelations came as a part of a discrimination suit filed by FBI agent Bassem Youssef (pictured) who is the one who cultivated the source that got in direct contact with Osama bin Laden . 'It was the only source I know in the bureau where we had a source right in Al Qaeda, directly involved,' said Mr Curran, who headed the FBI's office in Los Angeles at the time. The Washington Times revealed no further details about the British cruise liner that was reportedly suggested as a potential target. The news of the FBI's source meeting with bin Laden on more than one occassion in 1993 and 1994 will make waves because it comes in direct contrast to previous testimony that was used as the 'accepted' timeline of events leading up to the September 11 attacks. The 9/11 Commission Report described the FBI's intelligence on bin Laden at the time as being 'at best cloudy' and made no mention of a source who had direct contact with the terrorist. Leader: The source was close with 'blind Sheik' Omar Abdel-Rahman, the al Qaeda official who was reportedly behind the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center . It is unclear why the courtroom revelations- which were initially made in 2010- were not unearthed until now but the former head of the 9/11 Commission argues that the source was not directly related to the plot against the World Trade Center. 'Both the commission and the U.S. government compiled a fair amount of evidence about the activities of the set of groups later best known as al Qaeda during [the early-1990s], when the group was settling into Sudan. We did not delve as deeply in this period because it was so distant from the plotting that led directly to the 9/11 attack,' Philip Zelikow, the 9/11 Commission's executive director, told The Washington Times. The discrimination case came after Mr Youssef filed a suit against the bureau saying that he was sidelined after September 11 because his colleagues thought he was an Arab Muslim. Those assumptions were incorrect, as the highly decorated agent is actually Coptic Christian. | An al Qaeda insider reportedly met with Osama bin Laden more than once in 1993 and 1994, as newly-released court transcripts reveal . Intel from the meeting helped the FBI thwart plans to attack a British cruise liner and a Masonic lodge in Los Angeles . Comes as a contradiction to official government reports compiled for the 9/11 Commission that said the FBI had no clear contacts with bin Laden . | edbe89edf5dfcfd71cfb5e146c54d1e46efd8b2d |
Two Chinese ships arrived at the coast of Vietnam on Monday to begin efforts to collect thousands of Chinese citizens who are fleeing the country after deadly attacks last week. The chartered ships reached the port of Vung Ang in Ha Tinh, the coastal province where some of the worst violence targeting Chinese facilities and workers took place, Chinese state media reported. One of the two, the Wuzhishan, departed later Monday for the southern Chinese port city of Haikou with 989 evacuees on board, according to the official Chinese news agency Xinhua. Along with two other ships that are still en route, the vessels are being used to bring back almost 4,000 Chinese citizens who are leaving because of the recent unrest, Xinhua said. Chinese authorities said Sunday that more than 3,000 Chinese had already been evacuated from Vietnam after protests over China's decision to move an oil rig into disputed waters of the South China Sea spiraled into riots last week in which foreign-owned factories were burned and looted. At issue is the positioning of the rig in waters claimed by both China and Vietnam. Vietnam claims the rig's presence is "illegal," while China says it has every right to drill and has castigated the Vietnamese government for failing to ensure the safety of its nationals. Two Chinese citizens were killed in the violence and more than 100 were injured, authorities said. The crisis has frayed ties between the two Communist-run Asian nations, and there is little sign of either side backing down over the increasingly bitter territorial dispute. Security tightened . A series of chartered planes carried scores of Chinese citizens, including 16 critically injured workers, back to China on Sunday, Xinhua reported. The critically hurt patients were suffering from a range of injuries inflicted by beatings with iron bars, said Liao Zhilin, a spokesman for the hospital in the western Chinese city of Chengdu where they were admitted. The badly injured workers were employees of China Metallurgical Group Corp., a contractor for an iron and steel complex being built in Ha Tinh, according to Chinese state-run media. Vietnamese authorities have clamped down on the unrest, arresting hundreds of people. They have beefed up security at key locations and urged citizens not participate in further protests. But that hasn't stopped China from pressing ahead with the measures to extract thousands of its citizens from the country. Beijing has also warned Chinese people not to travel to Vietnam and said it will suspend some planned bilateral exchanges with Hanoi, according to Xinhua. Ships clash at sea . Out in the South China Sea, ships from both countries are facing off. Vietnam's state-run news agency VNA on Saturday accused China of continuing to show "its aggressiveness by sending more military ships" to the area around the oil rig. The news agency cited Nguyen Van Trung, an official at the Vietnam Fisheries Surveillance Department, as saying that China had 119 ships in the area Saturday morning, including warships, coast guard vessels and fishing boats. Some of the ships were provoking the Vietnamese vessels by ramming them and firing water cannons at them, he said. Vietnam says the rig site is clearly on its continental shelf, and moreover, is in its Exclusive Economic Zone. Hanoi has demanded that China remove the offending rig from the disputed waters, escort vessels from the region and hold talks to settle the issue. 'We are not afraid of trouble' China, for its part, has continued to accuse Vietnamese ships of similar acts, saying they are trying to disrupt the oil rig's drilling operation. It has declared a 3-mile exclusion zone around the rig, which is operated by the state-owned oil and gas company CNOOC. "We do not make trouble, but we are not afraid of trouble," Gen. Fang Fenghui, the chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), said Thursday during a visit to the United States. "In matters of territory, our attitude is firm. We won't give an inch," Fang said after meeting U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey. U.S. concerns . Relations between China and Vietnam soured this month when the Chinese platform began drilling for oil near the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by both countries. At the time, the U.S. State Department called the move "provocative," saying it "raises tensions." Beijing has laid claim to most of the South China Sea, putting it at odds with several of its neighbors in the region, including the Philippines and Malaysia. China is also locked in a bitter dispute with Japan over a group of tiny islands in the East China Sea. While many commentators say Vietnam has every right to be upset over the positioning of the Chinese rig, at least one analyst says the issue not as clear cut as some suggest. "Geographical proximity alone is not an unequivocal basis for claiming sovereignty or sovereign rights," writes Sam Bateman in the Eurasia Review. Bateman, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, says Vietnam's claim to the Paracel Islands is "seriously weakened" by North Vietnam's recognition of China's sovereignty over the Paracels and the lack of protest between 1958 and 1975. In 1974, the two countries fought the Battle of the Paracel Islands, which ended in a Chinese victory and complete control over the land and surrounding waters. After the reunification of Vietnam in 1975, Vietnam's leaders publicly renewed the country's claim to the islands, but the issue remains unresolved. "We have to acknowledge there are territorial disputes," including "what exactly is the status quo and who is seeking to change it," Dempsey said Thursday at the news conference with Fang of the PLA. His comments were a veiled reference to Washington's view that Beijing is attempting to change the status quo by more aggressively seeking to establish control over disputed areas. Protesters torch factories in southern Vietnam as China protests escalate . How an oil rig sparked anti-China riots in Vietnam . | Beijing has laid claim to most of the South China Sea . A Chinese ship sets off with nearly 1,000 evacuees on board, Xinhua says . Anti-Chinese protests in Vietnam descended into deadly violence last week . The unrest was provoked by China moving an oil rig into disputed waters . | 57df60e41fe5cd0d937d028e5789d631b59d8ff7 |
(CNN) -- The Pakistani government has released from a Karachi, Pakistan, jail 179 Indian fishermen imprisoned for violating territorial waters, officials said Saturday. The fishermen, some of whom had been imprisoned as long as a year, had sailed into Pakistani waters apparently by mistake. They will be transported from Karachi to Lahore, where they will be allowed to cross the border into India, said Aslam Nasir Zahid, a member of the Pakistani-India joint judicial committee, a nongovernmental organization working to investigate the imprisonment of civilians in India and Pakistan. Nearly 300 fishermen remain in Pakistani jails, according to Zahid, and 480 boats are in Pakistani custody. Fishermen from the contentious neighboring countries routinely cross into territorial waters and are routinely arrested and held in jail -- many times without trial. Reacting to the release of the Indian fishermen by the government of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Shah, the head of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum told CNN affiliate GEO news that there are still 41 Pakistani fishermen being held in Indian jails and "these innocent men have been in Indian prisons for close to 15 years." | 179 fishermen are released after apparently straying into Pakistani waters . The mistake is common by fishermen from the contentious neighboring countries . Some of those released Saturday were imprisoned as long as a year . | 73d0ee627113f970d6cd2cd24b21cdbfaecc65cd |
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