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Ciro Immobile scored a late equaliser as Borussia Dortmund came from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Wednesday. Stuttgart’s point in an encouraging display lifted the team from the bottom of the table only hours after the club fired director of sports Fredi Bobic. Bayer Leverkusen rose to second by narrowly defeating Augsburg 1-0 in a match that was interrupted for seven minutes in the first half by a heavy storm. Ciro Immobile celebrates his late equaliser for Borrusia Dortmund . The Italian striker hooks in from close range to clinch a last-gasp point for Borussia Dortmund . Daniel Didavi is congratulated by his Stuttgart team-mates after making it 2-0 . VIDEO Borussia Dortmund 2-2 Stuttgart . Meanwhile, Hannover continued their best start to a season by beating Cologne 1-0 and Borussia Monchengladbach sent Hamburg back to the bottom of the table with a 1-0 victory. Hertha Berlin notched its first win of the season by beating Wolfsburg 1-0. Bayern Munich went top of the standings by defeating Paderborn 4-0 on Tuesday. Bayern have 11 points, with Leverkusen and Hannover a point further back. Daniel Didavi pounced on mistakes by Dortmund’s defense in either half to put the visiting team 2-0 up. But the speedy Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rounded Stuttgart goalkeeper Sven Ulreich in the 73rd to pull one back for Dortmund and Immobile four minutes from time. Salomon Kalou scores on his first start for Hertha Berlin . There was plenty to celebrate for Hannover matchwinner Joselu . 'When you are up two goals, you should go home as the winner,' Stuttgart coach Armin Veh said. Shinji Kagawa had Dortmund’s best chances. In the first half, he controlled the ball with his chest before hooking a shot past Ulreich but onto the bar and narrowly missed the target with a second half header. Dortmund are now eighth, four points behind Bayern, and have already conceded nine goals - 'way too many,' according to defender Mats Hummels. In Leverkusen, Son Heung-min scored the only goal in the 33rd minute, before the match was interrupted by the storm five minutes later. Bayer Leverkusen players flock around goalscorer Son Heung-min . Max Kruse found the net for Monchengladbach and Hamburg have still has not scored a goal in five league matches this season. The club slipped below Stuttgart to occupy the bottom spot. Striker Joselu scored in the sixth minute for Hannover to hand Cologne a first defeat of the season. And newly arrived Salomon Kalou scored on his first start for Hertha Berlin with a powerful first half header against Wolfsburg.
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Struggling Stuttgart four minutes away from victory at Borussia Dortmund .
Daniel Didavi's double put the visitors in command .
But Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ciro Immobile struck to salvage a point for Jurgen Klopp's team .
Bayer Leverkusen beat Augsburg 1-0 to go second .
Narrow victories for Borrusia Monchengladbach and Hertha Berlin, with former Chelsea star Salomon Kalou scoring the winner .
On Tuesday Bayern Munich thrashed early Bundesliga leaders Paderborn to go top .
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A New York high school student has made it to the Elite Eight in a different sort of March Madness. Kwasi Enin of Shirley has been accepted by the eight Ivy League schools -- Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Princeton and Cornell -- and then some. He will have his choice as the decision deadline of May 1 approaches. "I applied knowing that going to any of the Ivy League schools would be wonderful," Enin told CNN. "I thought if I applied to all eight, I figured I'd get into one ... but from the first one onwards I said, 'This can't be happening!' I was shocked seeing all these acceptances under my name." Enin scored 2250 out of a possible 2400 on his SAT, placing him in the 98th percentile across the country, according to The College Board. He's also ranked 11th in his class at William Floyd High School, a public school on Long Island, according to his principal, Barbara Butler. Butler said Enin is not only a model academic student but also plays three instruments for the chamber orchestra, sings in an a cappella group, throws shot put and discus for the high school's track and field team, participates in student government and has had a lead role in school plays since the ninth grade. "Usually kids are good athletes or good musicians or good actors, but they don't have all three and then on top add student government. It's a balancing act. He somehow finds time to do it all and then volunteer at a local hospital," Butler said. Butler has been Enin's principal for six years in both middle and high school. "He is an incredibly modest, humble and respectable person," Butler said. "He is incredibly dedicated and he has his priorities straight. He takes advantage of whatever opportunity he is afforded." Rachel Rubin, the founder of Spark Admissions in Massachusetts, who also previously served on admissions committees at selective universities, said the feat is extremely rare. "It's quite atypical," Rubin said, adding that most students do not apply to all the Ivy League schools. "Standardized test scores and good grades will get a student in the door to have their application read," Rubin said. "But it's their extracurricular activities, leadership experience, exceptional talents, recommendation letters and personal essays that will move a student from a pile of 'maybes' to a pile of 'accepted.'" Harvard's acceptance rate, among the most selective in the country, was just 5.9% for the applicants for the class of 2017, according to its admissions site. Enin was also accepted to Duke University and three State University of New York campuses. Although Enin has yet to make a decision, there seems to be a front-runner. "I'm thinking about Yale. I really liked their sense of family, relationships between undergraduates and professors, and the residential college. They also have a strong biomedical engineering program, which is a wonderful combination of biology and creative tools that doctors and health care professionals can use." Enin added that Yale also has a strong music program, one of his beloved hobbies that he hopes to continue when he isn't hitting the books in college. He hopes to one day pursue medicine, a dream of his that just so happens to align with his parents' careers. His parents, who immigrated from Ghana in the late 1980s, are both nurses and pushed Enin to receive the highest grades possible and follow his dreams. "Health care is a prominent field that satisfies people beyond finances and edifies people and is about moral development," he said. His advice for future applicants? "Follow your passions in high school and not just follow suit for what you think can get you into these schools," he said. "Develop your outside interests -- not just academics."
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Kwasi Enin, 17, has been accepted to all eight Ivy League schools and then some .
"He is incredibly dedicated and he has his priorities straight," his principal says .
Enin plays three instruments, is on the track and field team and acts in plays .
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By . Associated Press . A Florida court has heard the recordings of a Tampa mother telling a detectives that her teenagers were mean and that she hoped they were dead- just hours after their bodies were found. Prosecutors on Wednesday played a recorded interview between Julie Schenecker and Tampa Police Detective Gary Sandel, conducted in January 2011. Schenecker is accused of killing her 16-year-old daughter Calyx and 13-year-old son Beau. 'I loved them when they were birth through six,' Julie Schenecker told Tampa Police Detective Gary Sandel in January 2011. But they became 'sassy' as teens, she said, especially her daughter. Insane or premeditated: A tape was played for the court which heard Julie Schenecker telling a detective that her children were mean and that she hoped they were dead- hours after their bodies were found (pictured in court on Tuesday) 'I just topped over. The last straw,' Schenecker said in the interview, a recording of which was played in court Wednesday. 'My daughter, the 16-year-old, is mouthy. She calls me names.' Schenecker, . who is now 53, also told Sandel how she met her husband, Parker . Schenecker, while both served in the military and said she worked as a . military debriefer in the Army before having children. She . has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of . first-degree murder. If convicted, she will face a life prison sentence . without parole; prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty. During the interview, her voice was slow and slurred. She said she had been in therapy and took multiple prescriptions, including Lithium for bipolar disorder. She told the detective that she had long thought about suicide. 'I feel horrible. I just feel horrible,' she said. 'But I've been thinking about doing this for a long time.' During the interview, Schenecker did appear confused at times. 'Are my kids coming in later?' she asked the detective. Later, the detective asked her where her kids were. She said that Calyx was in her bed where she had placed her after the shooting, and that Beau was in the family's minivan where she had shot him. 'I hope they're dead,' Schenecker said to the detective. 'What do you think?' 'They're dead,' Sandel replied. His side: The recording was played the day after her ex-husband Paul Schenecker took the stand (pictrued Tuesday) telling how he was an Army colonel deployed in the Middle East when his children were killed . Schenecker detailed how she had . intended to kill herself after she killed her teens, but wasn't able to . articulate why she didn't. 'Beau went first, Calyx went second. I'd sure as hell like to go third,' she said. Tampa Police officer Fred Arnold testified that Schenecker's mood was 'jovial' the day of her arrest. 'She wasn't sad or anything like that,' Arnold said. 'She wanted me to give her my gun so she could finish the job.' Prosecutors argue that the slayings were premeditated as opposed to the result of a mental break. The recording was played the day after her ex-husband Paul Schenecker took the stand. He . told how Julie, who he was still married to at the time of their . children's' deaths, starred at him coldly immediately after he heard the . devastating news and said: 'I guess I stomped your heart flat, huh?' During . his questioning by prosecutors in Hillsborough County Court, Parker . Schenecker did not mention Julie Schenecker by name, instead calling her . 'the defendant' or his 'ex-wife.' He was an Army colonel deployed in the Middle East when his children were killed. Parker Schenecker did not show any emotion as he testified for a little more than an hour. He identified various items from the family's home in photographs, and affirmed that the handwriting in a spiral-bound notebook was Julie's. The 50-year-old read one sticky note aloud: 'Tuesday, Feb. 1 Beau is in the van (on the way to practice) Calyx is in her bed tried to make her comfortable.' Victims: Beau Schenecker, 13, was shot dead by his mother . on the way to soccer practice in 2011. His sister Calyx (right) was . then murdered by her mother while she sat at their home computer . Prosecutors said the note was written by Julie Schenecker and detailed the location of the teens' bodies. Parker . said that he had no concerns about the kids' safety with their mother . while he was deployed, even though his wife had suffered from mental . illness, was taking pills and uncharacteristically drinking. Julie . Schenecker and Calyx were also at odds with each other, he said, and he . thought the situation would soon be under control because the teen was . supposed to attend a boarding school. 'To let the situation settle down,' he said. Earlier in the day, Tampa Police crime scene analyst Matthew Evans said that Julie Schenecker had written in her journal that she thought her children would inherit her bipolar disorder and that she was rescuing them from depression and mental illness. 'I believed I've saved them from the pain,' Julie Schenecker wrote, according to Evans. 'I wish this on nobody.' Schenecker wrote of 'going to heaven,' and she both apologized to and chastised Parker Schenecker, the analyst testified. 'You didn't teach the kids to be compassionate,' she wrote. Motivations: Julie Schenecker, seen listening as her ex-husband Packer testified, is bipolar and on several medications so her defense team have entered a not guilty by reason of insanity plea . Evans said Julie Schenecker also described how she had stayed in bed for seven weeks, with none of her family spending time with her. 'Neither were you,' she wrote of her husband. 'I sense divorce is inevitable,' she also wrote, according to Evans' testimony. 'I can't live alone.' Her writings show she intended to commit suicide by shooting herself, inhaling carbon monoxide or taking pills. 'I don't believe I could ever recover or make up for my failures over the years,' she wrote.
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Julie Schenecker is accused of killing her 16-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son, telling police shortly after that she hoped they were dead .
Tampa court heard recordings today from when Schenecker was brought in after their bodies were found in 2011 .
'I loved them when they were birth through six,' she was heard saying .
Told officers they became 'sassy' and her daughter 'called me names'
Their father was serving in the military in the Middle East at the time of their slayings .
Defense attorneys say Schenecker is innocent by reason of insanity because she suffered from depression and bipolar disorder for decades .
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It's been one of the most talked-about award seasons yet. From Eddie Redmayne's tearful triumph, to Dakota Johnson's awkward red carpet run in with her mother. But if there is one thing that once again set tongues wagging it's the beautiful gowns on the red carpet. From Scarlett Johansson's gorgeous green Versace gown to Dakota Johnson's beautiful red Saint Laurent number. Scroll down for video . The stars of Toddlewood have recreated some of the best Oscars looks of this year including Scarlett Johansson's green Versace dress (left) and Jennifer Lopez's Ellie Saab gown (right) And now the young stars of Toddlewood have recreated, and paid homage to, some of the best Oscars looks of this year following the Academy Awards this weekend. Including Reese Witherspoon's Armani Prive gown and Jennifer Lopez' gold Ellie Saab ensemble. Toddlewood is the brain child of New York photographer Tricia Messeroux, who takes everyday children and turns them into celebrities. In particular Tricia likes to photograph the children in red carpet looks because she says: 'I love fashion, I love photography and I love kids. 'What better way to get everything I love than to Make It Happen Toddlewood-style!' Tricia has previously worked on transforming children into Grammies stars and hilariously Kim and Kanye. Here are our favourite Oscar's looks, Toddlewood style... This girl copies Dakota Johnson's Saint Laurent dress, even accessorising with a similar silver clutch bag . This little girl posed proudly as Kelly Osbourne who wore a Rita Vinieris dress and Sophia Webster to the awards . This Toddlewood model wore a sleek dressed designed to look like Reese Witherspoon's Armani Prive gown . Scarlett Johansson wore a green Versace gown to the Oscars complete with a matching necklace . Of course the Toddlewood model wore a less risque version of Jennifer's low cut Ellie Saab gown . Oprah Winfrey wore a Theia gown to the Oscars and this little girl managed to copy her pose exactly .
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The Toddlewood child models have recreated the best Oscars looks .
They have recreated the looks of Dakota Johnson and Kelly Osbourne .
Also featured in the picture selection are Oprah and Jennifer Lopez .
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Rhea Holley, pictured, was with a friend, both with new babies, in Costa Coffee in Purley, south London, when her son Arthur began to cry for a feed . A new mother was reduced to tears by a couple who called her a slut for breastfeeding her baby in a coffee shop. Rhea Holley was feeding her son Arthur, 11 months, when nearby Costa customers said she was ‘disgusting’ and should ‘control herself’. Mrs Holley, 27, had arranged to visit the coffee shop with a friend who also had a baby. Yesterday she said: ‘Arthur was asleep so I went in and ordered us some drinks and cake. While we sat there he woke up and was quite upset so I started to breastfeed. ‘A couple were on a table facing in such a way that they did not have to look at me. I heard one of them say “it is disgusting” and I was a “slut”.’ Writing on her blog, she added that her friend had confronted the couple, who were in their late 60s. They told her it was ‘offensive’ and she should breastfeed in the cafe’s toilet. The woman added: ‘You know what time babies need feeding. Go home if you can’t control yourself.’ Mrs Holley, an account manager, said the incident was ‘probably the most humiliating thing that’s ever happened to me’. She is the latest in a series of women to be abused for breastfeeding in public. Last month, the head of the Royal College of Midwives said it suggested that nursing mothers were being demonised. Support: Staff at this Costa Coffee in Purley, south London, pictured, 'reprimanded the couple' who had made the abusive remarks to new mother Rhea Holley . Rhea Holley, pictured right with son Arthur, praised staff at Costa Coffee (file picture left) for supporting her after she was branded 'disgusting' by a pair of elderly customers while she was breast-feeding . Professor Cathy Warwick said that . overstretched health professionals were struggling to give mothers the . individual help they sometimes need to breastfeed for longer, which is . generally considered the healthiest choice for the baby. Mrs . Holley, who lives with husband Christopher, 32, in Faversham, Kent, . said the couple made her feel ‘broken’ but praised Costa Coffee workers . at the branch in Purley, South London. She . said she spoke to staff, who then ‘reprimanded’ the couple. She added: . ‘It was so good of them not only to stand by the law on breastfeeding . but also to be so supportive of someone feeling so upset.’ The . Equality Act 2010 makes it an offence for staff to ask a breastfeeding . woman to leave a public place, such as a park, cafe or bus. Emma . Pickett, of the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers, said the Act left . a loophole open because it only applied to staff and business owners, . not other customers. A . spokesman for the charity Maternity Action agreed, adding: ‘We regularly . hear from women who experience harassment because they have breastfed . in public. ‘It’s time the . Government started educating businesses and the wider community to . support breastfeeding women, rather than shaming them. ‘Service . providers have to intervene and support women if they are experiencing . difficulties with other customers, but legislation does not . specifically outlaw customers from making comments such as those . directed at Mrs Holley.’ A spokesman for Costa said: ‘We have always been very happy for mothers to breastfeed in stores.’ In . March, Heather Vaughan, 29, said she was left in tears after a male . staff member at the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth . ordered her to stop breastfeeding in its creche, saying: ‘We don’t do . that here.’ The same month, Emily Slough was branded a ‘tramp’ by . internet trolls after somebody took a photograph of her breastfeeding in . public in Rugeley, Staffordshire. Elsewhere, nurses stopped Gemma . Murphy, 37, from feeding her infant daughter in a waiting room at St . Cross Hospital in Rugby. The . Equality Act 2010 made it illegal for anyone to ask a breastfeeding . woman to leave a public place such as a cafe, shop or public transport . It states that a business cannot discriminate against mothers who are breastfeeding a child of any age. In . Government guidelines, companies are advised to make sure women they . are providing a service to 'are allowed to breast feed on your premises . if they want to'. It also advises that staff are trained to understand the rights of breast feeding mothers. Under the Act 2010, discriminating against someone because they are with a breastfeeding mother is also prohibited.
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Rhea Holley verbally abused by couple in their 60s as she fed baby Arthur .
27-year-old was in 'breastfeeding friendly' Costa Coffee in Purley, London .
Baristas 'reprimanded' the couple who had called Mrs Holley 'disgusting'
New mother praises staff after being left in 'floods of tears' over the abuse .
Mrs Holley revealed incident had 'ruined' breast feeding experience for her .
She wrote on her blog 'drunkonboob' that the comments were 'humiliating'
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Novara, Italy (CNN) -- Like many girls her age, Italian teenager Carolina Picchio shared her pictures, thoughts and emotions on Facebook. But after a video of the 14-year-old allegedly showed up on Facebook in which she appeared to be drunk and disoriented at a party, social media became a source of torment. In a wired world, children unable to escape cyberbullying . An ex-boyfriend and his friends posted a steady barrage of abusive, offensive messages aimed at Carolina. And what started out online spilled into her daily life at school, and among her friends in the prosperous northern Italian town of Novara. Unbeknown to her family, it all became too much for her to handle. In the early hours of January 5, she jumped out of her bedroom window, landing headfirst on the concrete below. Thousands of messages . Carolina's sister, Talita, and some of the teenager's friends say they reported the abusive messages from her ex-boyfriend to Facebook in the hope they would be removed. But, they say, nothing happened. When bullying goes high-tech . "He was insulting her, mistreating her," Talita said. "We naturally spoke about it with her but she told us not to worry." Now the Novara prosecutor, Francesco Saluzzo, is looking into the possibility of filing a criminal complaint against Facebook for failing to remove offensive content that may have led to Carolina's suicide. "In the case of Carolina, it appears some of her friends, some of her relatives, asked for the removal of some of this strong content, and it wasn't removed -- and this played a role in her decision to commit suicide," he said. Besides the abusive messages on Facebook, on the day leading up to her death, Carolina had received 2,600 vulgar messages via the messaging service WhatsApp, the prosecutor's documents show. 'Have you hurt me enough?' Carolina left a final letter addressed to her tormenters, which her mother, Cristina Zocca, shared with CNN. "Are you happy now?" the teenager asked. "Have you hurt me enough? Have you had enough revenge?" Asked for the company's response, a spokesman for Facebook said, "We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Carolina Picchio and our hearts go out to her family and friends. How to protect your child from online bullies . "Harassment has no place on Facebook and we actively encourage teens and parents to report incidences of bullying using the links located throughout the site. "We remove content reported to us that violates our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and we escalate reports of harassment and bullying to law enforcement where appropriate." Italian media reported in May that eight teenage boys ages 15 to 17 were being questioned by authorities on suspicion of incitement to suicide and possession of child pornography. But Carolina's mother believes Facebook and other social networks must do more to confront the reality of online bullying. "My battle is to make the social networks responsible, so that there are protections for minors," she said. "We can't allow for more Carolinas, or other mothers who must cry and be deprived of the lives of their daughters." Carolina's uncle has posted a video on YouTube dedicated to the teenager and her death. It has become a rallying point in Italy for the fight against online bullying. Journalist Barbie Latza Nadeau contributed to this report.
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Carolina Picchio, 14, jumped from a window to her death after bullying on Facebook .
Her sister and friends say they reported the abusive content to Facebook, but nothing happened .
The Novara prosecutor is looking into filing a criminal complaint against Facebook .
Facebook says it encourages reporting of abuse and removes content that breaches its rules .
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By . Associated Press . PUBLISHED: . 11:59 EST, 12 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:59 EST, 12 November 2013 . An Ohio boy with brain cancer died yesterday - just two weeks after he had arrived home from hospital for an early Christmas. A family friend in Port Clinton says 13-year-old Devin Kohlman died Monday afternoon. Doctors had told Devin's family that he didn't have long to live, so the city along Lake Erie spent the last few weeks trying to fulfill his wish of being home for his favorite holiday. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Last wish: 13-year-old Devin Kohlman was dying of brain cancer but had been able to celebrate his last Christmas two months early - after his entire town joined together to bring him a festive celebration . Early Christmas: Residents of Port Clinton, Ohio, leaped into action after learning Devin was coming home from hospital having been given the terminal diagnosis . Big turn out: Hundreds of residents wore red and green, sang Christmas carols and decorated their homes with lights for Devin Kohlman . The city put up a Christmas tree . within view of the family's apartment and tons of shaved ice shaped . drifting snow outside his window. Santa even showed up on a motorcycle. Family and friends gathered for a vigil last night after his death while an early-season snow fell over the city. In late October, Devlin returned from a Cincinnati hospital and was greeted by hundreds of well-wishers wearing red and green and singing Christmas carols . A . local Wal-Mart donated Christmas presents while Christmas trees and . snowmen were dotted around outside the home of the teenager. The youngster's family had been told he had weeks to live after chemotherapy to fight an aggressive brain cancer failed. Season's greetings: The celebrations began with a welcome home parade for the teen while Christmas trees and festive lights were put up opposite his bedroom window . Festive cheer: It might have been Halloween but in one Ohio town, it was Christmas . Arriving in style: Santa's sleigh was not ready so he had to come to town on a motorcycle . Port Clinton Mayor Vincent Leone said as many as 60 people joined in to help stage Christmas in October. The gesture delighted Devin's parents. His mother Alexis said at the time: 'We want Devin to have the best Christmas that he's ever had. And we want to make sure that he has Christmas. 'I've never seen anything like it. We're really thankful. But it's for Devin. It's not for us.' The . celebrations began with a welcome home parade for the teen while . Christmas trees and festive lights were put up opposite his bedroom . window. Alexis Kohlman’s apartment has a bay window, which had enough room for Devin’s hospital bed to be situated so he could see the street. Then the sound of Santa and an elf, along with . several other members of the Lost Riders motorcycle club, came to join . the party, which Devin said made him happy, according to the Port Clinton News Herald. 'We decided at 10 o'clock this morning that we wanted to decorate this and make something special... and within an hour we had probably 50-60 people here bringing . decorations, plus what the city had,' said Port Clinton Mayor Vincent . Leone. Devin had battled cancer for a year. Bucket list: Throughout Devin's illness he had been able to do a number of things to help cheer him up .
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Local residents in Lake Erie had put on an early Christmas for Devin Kohlman in October .
Family and friends gathered for a vigil last night after his death .
Devin had battled cancer for a year .
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TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran's parliament speaker has criticized U.S. President-elect Barack Obama for saying that Iran's development of a nuclear weapon is unacceptable. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has outlined where he thinks U.S. policy needs to change. Ali Larijani said Saturday that Obama should apply his campaign message of change to U.S. dealings with Iran. "Obama must know that the change that he talks about is not simply a superficial changing of colors or tactics," Larijani said in comments carried by the semi-official Mehr News Agency. "What is expected is a change in strategy, not the repetition of objections to Iran's nuclear program, which will be taking a step in the wrong direction." In his first post-election news conference Friday afternoon, Obama reiterated that he believes a nuclear-armed Iran would be "unacceptable." He also said he would help mount an international effort to prevent it from happening. Larijani said that U.S. behavior toward Iran "will not change so simply" but that Obama's election showed internal conditions in the United States have shifted. He added that Iran does not mind if the United States provides other Persian Gulf countries with nuclear technology, but "you should know that you cannot prevent the Islamic Republic [from reaching its goals in the nuclear field]," according to the news agency. Obama cautioned Friday that it had only been a few days since the election and that he was not in office. "Obviously, how we approach and deal with a country like Iran is not something that we should simply do in a knee-jerk fashion. I think we've got to think it through," Obama said. "But I have to reiterate once again that we only have one president at a time. And I want to be very careful that we are sending the right signals to the world as a whole that I am not the president, and I won't be until January 20th." Larijani was speaking two days after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Obama, the first time an Iranian leader has offered such wishes to a U.S. president-elect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. One analyst said the welcome was a gesture from the hard-line president that he is open to a more conciliatory relationship with the United States. Ahmadinejad said Tehran "welcomes basic and fair changes in U.S. policies and conducts," according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency on Thursday. Relations between the United States and Iran have historically been chilly and have been further strained in recent years over Iran's nuclear program. Tehran insists that the program exists for peaceful purposes, but the United States and other Western nations are concerned by Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment activities. CNN's Shirzad Bozorgmehr contributed to this report. Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Iran criticizes Obama for saying nuclear weapon development unacceptable .
Parliamentary speaker says Obama should apply campaign message of change .
U.S.-Iran tensions high over Tehran's nuclear ambitions .
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f578acc0e0857d2c07b7c992d42e7aa7a45cb267
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Two years ago the Krespanis family upped their whole life and moved nearly 100km north-west of Melbourne to the small town of Kyneton to raise their young family on a farm, hoping for a better life for their two kids. Now they are dealing with the devastating death of their 22-month-old son Noah, who died on Thursday after being left in a hot car outside a daycare centre. Speaking to The Age, shocked members of the Kyneton community expressed their dismay over the tragic accident telling of the family's love for their children, growing vegetables and raising their own pigs and chickens. Scroll down for video . Pictures have emerged of 22-month-old Noah, who died after being left in a hot car outside a day care centre on Thursday . Noah Krespanis was found in a car parked outside a home on Acacia Drive in Kyneton in 31 degree heat. The car window was smashed in order to rescue Noah but attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. The toddler was found unconscious by a family member while strapped in a car seat in the Toyota Hilux parked outside the home about 3pm on Thursday. It has been reported that temperatures would have reached up to 60 degrees inside the car on the hot Summer day. A family member told the newspaper that the parents of the toddler are absolutely inconsolable. 'He was just a gorgeous little boy. But I don't want to say 'was' or I think I'll start crying,' they said. The family member said Noah's parents believed the move to Kyneton was right for their two kids. 'It was better for the kids: the air is fresher, it's a better environment to raise children,' the family member said. 'No one imagined this.' Noah's distraught father posted an emotional social media message on Thursday, urging parents to 'cherish every day' they get to spend with their children. The toddler was found unconscious by a family member while strapped in a car seat in the Toyota Hilux parked outside the home about 3pm on Thursday . The body of an infant boy was found in a vehicle on Acacia Drive in Kyneton (pictured) on Thursday . Taking to his Twitter page, a devastated Mr Krespanis paid tribute to his son making a heartfelt plea to parents urging them to hug their children and 'never let them go'. 'We lost our beautiful son today,' he wrote on the social media account on Thursday. 'Hug your children. Hug them and never let them go.' 'I love him more every day. Forever.' he said, referring to his baby boy. 'I'll always know I cherished every day. Every laugh, every adventure, every cuddle. Miss you noey X.' Mr Krespanis' post comes just hours after it was revealed that Noah's mother is too distraught to speak to police. Homicide squad Detective Senior Sergeant Shane O'Connell said the mother was present when he was found in the car, but said police investigating the incident would not speak to her for days, the Herald Sun reported. 'As you can imagine the family of this young boy are devastated by what has occurred so it's been difficult for us to try and piece together exactly what has occurred but that's something that will be the focus of our major ongoing investigation,' Det Sen Sgt O'Connell said. 'She's absolutely devastated by what has occurred. It's a very tragic set of circumstances.' The owner of a separate local childcare centre said they were heartbroken over the tragedy . The childcare centre where a 22-month-old boy was found dead in a hot car parked outside was privately-run and operated out of a family home . The woman who operates the family day care is part of a well-known local family and runs the business from her house, The Age reported. The family day care's father said his daughter was 'distraught', but said the family would not be speaking publicly until police had finished their investigation. There is no suggestion the childcare centre owner was involved in Noah's death. Police are investigating whether a female relative of the 22-month-old had forgotten the child was in the vehicle. The 22-month-old boy was apparently found by a family member . Victorian homicide detectives are trying to establish whether the woman mistakenly thought she had dropped the toddler at a childcare centre in the morning before continuing with her regular routine, the Herald Sun reported. Temperatures in Kyneton reached 31 degrees at the time of the tragedy. The woman ran a regulated family day care service through Bambini Child Care Services, a company that trains educators to take care of children from their home. A spokeswoman for Family Day Care Australia, of which Bambini is a member, said: 'Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with the family and all those affected by this tragedy.' They refused to comment on any other details while police were conducting inquiries. The owner of a separate local business - Kyneton Family Day Care - posted on her Facebook page: 'The only information I can give regarding the accident in Kyneton this afternoon is that I am absolutely heartbroken for the family and my friend.' Inspector Ryan Irwin said at the scene: 'I understand the boy has been found by a family member and paramedics were called and obviously there were attempts made to try and revive the child.' Insp Irwin said homicide squad detectives would oversee the investigation, and called the incident an 'absolute tragedy'. 'We're devastated,' Inspector Irwin said, according to the Herald Sun. '[The family are] devastated, absolutely devastated and we're still trying to track some family members down to actually notify them.' Officers were still at the scene on Acacia Drive in Kyneton, 100km north-west of Melbourne hours after the awful discovery. Neighbours of the house the baby boy was found outside said the residency doubled as a childcare centre, the ABC reported. Neighbours of the house the baby boy was found outside said the residency doubled as a childcare centre . Homicide detectives have been called into the investigation but this is 'common procedure' according to police. Ambulance Victoria would not comment on the latest case, but has issued repeated warnings against leaving children in cars. In the first five weeks of the year, paramedics were called to 200 cases. Most recently, a young girl had to be rushed to the Royal Children's Hospital after being locked in a hot vehicle at Maribyrnong, 4km west of Melbourne, for just half an hour after her mother couldn't open the doors. 'The girl was sweating profusely and her clothes were drenched, so there was certainly potential for it to quickly become life threatening,' advanced life support paramedic Ben Dalton said. 'The MFB smashed a window to get the girl out of the car.' Mr Dalton said two children have died in the last few years after being left in hot cars in Victoria, and it's frustrating the message is not getting through. 'Children can't regulate their body temperature like adults can, which puts them at significant risk,' he said. 'It's never okay to leave a child locked in a car, even for a minute or two.' The state government said it will increase penalties for leaving children in hot cars, with fines up to $3700 and jail time increased from three months to six months. The suburb, which is about 100km north-west of Melbourne, recorded temperatures of 31 degrees . It comes after Ambulance Victoria were called in to help at least six young children locked in hot cars in separate incidents last week, and a total of 200 children in the first five weeks of 2015 .
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The Krespanis family moved to Kyneton two years ago .
It was supposed to be the start of a new life for the family .
Instead they are dealing with the death of their 22-month-old son .
A family member said Noah Krespanis' parent are inconsolable .
She told of the family's love for living on a farm .
Noah was found in a vehicle at Kyneton, 100km north-west of Melbourne .
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By . Stuart Woledge . PUBLISHED: . 11:01 EST, 8 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:09 EST, 8 October 2013 . After a year posing for photographs at tourist spots around the world, Sam the skeleton is doubtless looking forward to resting her bones. Since owner Susan Weese first came up with her plan to take pictures of the bag of bones every day for a year last Hallowe'en, the 42lb medical skeleton has visited the likes of Venice, Paris, Rome and New York. And while the project may now be about to draw to a close, Sam and Susan, 57, still have Texas and San Francisco to tick off their list. Colosseum: Susan (right) and her skeleton Sam (left) pictured at the great gladiatorial arena in Rome . Cesar: Sam dresses up as the great Roman emperor and is flanked by legionaries at the Colosseum . Queen of the Adriatic: Sam takes a romantic ride in one of Venice's famous gondolas . The City that never sleeps: Sam appeared to be slightly overwhelmed when she arrived in bustling New York . Munch: Sam tucks in to a pretzel during a well-earned break on her round the world trip . Well earned pint: Sam donned traditional German dress and posed for a picture drinking a pint of lager . The pair set out on their jaunt on November 1 last year - the traditional Day Of The Dead. Sam was seated in the passenger seat of Susan's car, a decision that was not lost on other motorists, who showed their appreciation by sounding their horns. As well as a trip to the Empire State Building in New York, Sam was treated to a tour of the Colosseum in Rome, and even had a ride on one of Venice's romantic gondolas. When the . project comes to an end this month Susan plans to retire Sam to her . studio as she has now become part of the family. Strange customs: Sam has to fly 'over sized' and it has proved tricky getting her through airport security . Park life: After the hustle and bustle of the city, Sam takes a stroll through New York's Central Park . Not shy: Sam persuaded this young couple to appear alongside her in one of the snaps for the album . Spooky plan: Susan (right) came up with the idea for the photographic project last Hallowe'en . She hopes to get another, slightly lighter skeleton to take on future trips. Susan, . from Albuquerque in New Mexico, first became interested in bones . 30 years ago when she worked on medical illustrations. She said: 'Sam is 42lbs and if I carry her in my arms I get bruises everywhere. 'She . flies over sized, which is hard getting through airports. She got held . up by the Department of Agriculture in Newark because they had to make . she was not real bone. 'The only day I had to take pictures when we . were in New York was a cold, rainy, windy day. Carrying her across the . Brooklyn Bridge was no easy task. 'Most of my friends have been . tremendously supportive. They give me and Sam lots of skeleton gifts and . some have opened their closets and shared interesting bits of . wardrobe.' Lazy bones: Sam is pictured wearing sunglasses and lying on an inflatable rubber ring in a swimming pool . Connected to fellow tourists: Sam enjoyed a taste of the Big Apple, wearing a Statue Of Liberty hat and posing with other travellers . Road to hell: Sam certainly caught the attention of other motorists, who tooted their horns in appreciation . Ball game: Sam even managed to take in a baseball game when she paid a visit to the Windy City, Chicago . The beginning: It is not known as the Land of Enchantment for nothing, as Sam the skeleton's exploits prove .
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For 'Sam' the skeleton, life really began after death .
Medical model accompanies owner Susan Weese wherever she goes .
Daily photographic project began on last year's Day Of The Dead .
When odyssey finishes next month, Sam will be able to rest in peace .
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Madrid (CNN) -- Teresa Romero Ramos sought out help three times. Finally, one week after first seeing a doctor, Romero found out why she felt so sick: She had Ebola. Even after her Ebola test came back positive at Madrid's Alcorcon hospital, Romero had to wait. According to a worker at that hospital, Romero lay in the emergency room -- exposed to other patients as well as medical staff, going back and forth -- for eight hours before being transferred to a hospital in the Spanish capital that specializes in infectious diseases. While Romero was "doing better" Wednesday, according to a regional health spokesman said Wednesday, parts of Spain's medical establishment is looking worse and worse the more that comes out about what she's gone through from how she contracted Ebola to how her case has been handled. Her plight can also be compared to that of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian citizen who was sent home from a Dallas, Texas, hospital days before eventually being admitted for Ebola. Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, died on Wednesday. Speaking about what's unfolding in Madrid, Health Minister Ana Mato told Parliament that Spain is going to revise its protocols for handling Ebola. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also said that his country is "facing a matter that is of international concern." But that doesn't mean Spaniards should hunker down or become overly alarmed, urging them to "keep calm." "I would like to ask you to allow the health workers to work," he said. "The Spanish health system is one of the best in the world." 1st person to contract Ebola outside Africa . The Ebola virus has been voracious, infecting more than 8,000 people and killing at least 3,800, according to the World Health Organization. It's also been largely confined, with every person catching the disease in West Africa. Deadliest Ebola outbreak: What you need to know . Until Romero. She is the first person to contract the deadly virus outside Africa. Dr. German Ramirez, who is among those treating her, said the nurse's assistant at Madrid's Carlos III hospital may have been exposed while removing protective gear she'd donned to treat a Spanish missionary infected with Ebola in West Africa. "That's what we were working on -- on the errors possibly made while removing the protective suit," Ramirez told reporters, saying it's possible the protective suit or gloves may have touched her face. Angry doctors and nurses outside Carlos III Hospital said Tuesday they were outraged that two missionaries -- Miguel Pajares and Manuel Garcia Viejo, were almost dead when they arrived -- had been brought to the hospital. Both priests ended up dying at the Madrid hospital. How did Spanish nurse catch Ebola? That Romero may have gotten Ebola while doing her job is a major cause of concern, especially if she did -- as she told Spanish newspaper El Mundo -- follow the necessary protocols while caring for the missionary. So, too, is how her treatment was handled afterward.
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A nurse's assistant got infected while caring for an Ebola patient in Madrid .
Spokeswoman: This woman sought treatment twice, got sent home both times .
She was admitted to hospital a third time; waited hours for transfer, worker says .
5 are with her in a hospital; dozens of others are being monitored for Ebola .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 12:04 EST, 18 June 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 12:04 EST, 18 June 2012 . Waste of talent: Emily McCaughan, 22, who wanted to be a doctor, died after falling 20 floors at Circus Circus hotel in Las Vegas . An aspiring doctor fell to her death from a Las Vegas hotel after having drug-induced hallucinations at a music festival. Emily McCaughan, 22, who attended the University of Arizona, died last week after . falling from her room on the 27th floor to a third-floor roof. Family members said that the young woman had suffered paranoid delusions after taking ecstasy at the . three-day Electric Daisy Carnival - a festival which drew 320,000 people before ending last . Monday morning. The family spokesman Mignonne Walstad told the Las Vegas Review-Journal: 'Damn it, they [drugs] are just killers every . single time. 'Emily wasn’t a drug addict, it was just a tragic accident.' Her friends told the paper she had become distressed after taking the drug on Sunday evening. She had believed that a 'man was following her' and wanted to go back to the hotel on the Vegas strip, so her friends put her in a passing cab. Back at the hotel, the 22-year-old sent a series of Facebook messages asking for help. When her friends returned later she had disappeared. Her body was found after it was believed she had squeezed between the window bars of her hotel room. Her death was confirmed by the medical examiner on Friday after Las Vegas police decided not to make it public at the time. Miss McCaughan’s father, Richard, said he could not believe his daughter would have used drugs and suspected foul play. He said his daughter had been inspired to go to medical school by her grandfather who was a doctor during the Korean War. The family live in Scottsdale, Arizona but are originally from Lake Stevens, Washington. Horrific: The 22-year-old student died after it was believed she squeezed between the window bars of her room on the 27th floor . Friends and family held a . 'celebration of her life' on Saturday. She leaves her parents, Richard . and Jaci, along with two brothers Justin and Ryan and an older sister . Megan. On Facebook, the young woman listed . her interests as dance and snowboarding. Her father told the . Review-Journal that she had planned to go to Thailand this summer to do . charity work. A man also died after attending the . Electric Daisy Carnival last weekend. The 31-year-old party-goer died on . Saturday after he was hit by a truck early last . Monday morning. The Florida man, who has not yet been identified, has been drinking, friends said. The Clark County coroner’s office had not . yet announced a cause of death for Miss McCaughan and police were . still investigating the circumstances of her fall. Erika Raney, spokeswoman for Electric Daisy Carnival producer . Insomniac, said her company goes out of its way to provide ample . security and medical personnel, and was not responsible for the deaths. Bright future: Emily McCaughan died after taking drugs at a rave in Las Vegas last Monday . Hedonism: Miss McCaughan and a man, who was not identified, died after attending the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas . She said: 'We are deeply saddened by the two tragedies that occurred last week . in Las Vegas outside Electric Daisy Carnival. 'The two tragedies occurred beyond the festival’s walls as well as . beyond Insomniac’s control and these incidents will not threaten the . future of EDC in Las Vegas.' Ms Raney . said all Insomniac festivals have a zero-tolerance policy against drugs . and a strictly enforced policy barring those under the age of 18 from . entering. 'It is a known fact that individuals who choose to . partake in illicit drug behavior may suffer unexpected tragic . consequences,' she said. 'We hope that our fans carefully consider the . decisions they make and how those decisions impact their own safety and . the well-being of those around them.' The Florida man struck by . the truck was within the care of two trauma doctors within minutes of . the accident, she said, a response time otherwise unheard of had he not . been in close proximity of the festival and its medical staff. Devastating loss: Emily McCaughan pictured with her mother Jaci . Fun with friends: Emily McCaughan was with a group of friends in Vegas who were all taking drugs but her family insisted she was not a regular user . Ms Raney added: 'Electric Daisy Festival, in many respects, is one of the safest places . to be in Las Vegas during the event weekend’s operating hours. 'With law enforcement, private security teams, and fully staffed . medical facilities housing doctors, nurses and emergency medical . personnel, the venue functions like a small city.' The deaths are the latest in a string of fatalities linked to the festival. The . rave was shunned in Los Angeles in 2010 following a 15-year-old girl’s . fatal drug overdose. That party also resulted in more than 226 people . receiving emergency medical treatment and 114 arrests for misconduct, . drug possession and other charges. Revellers: Miss McCaughan reportedly suffered paranoid delusions after taking ecstasy at the Electric Daisy Carnival (there is no implication that the party-goers in these pictures were connected) Party time: The carnival is the largest electronic dance party in the U.S. but has been linked to several fatalities over the years . Last year, a Texas teenager died during an Electric Daisy Carnival in Dallas plagued by drug arrests. Despite the festival’s troubled past, Las Vegas has warmly welcomed the Electric Daisy Carnival since it moved there last year. Arrest and medical call totals for the latest festival in Las Vegas haven’t been released. The . Electric Daisy Carnival is the largest electronic music party in the . United States, complete with a towering ferris wheel, amusement park . rides and celebrity DJs.
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Emily McCaughan fell from Circus Circus Hotel on Vegas strip .
Aspiring doctor 'squeezed through window bars in her hotel room'
Had spent 3 days at electro music festival with friends .
Returned to hotel alone after becoming distressed a 'man was stalking her'
Man also died after being hit by truck following Electric Daisy Carnival .
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(InStyle.com) -- This year, the Emmy Awards come on the heels of New York Fashion Week. How does the red carpet measure up to the runway? "The Spring and Fall collections were all about loose shapes and subtle, restrained sensuality," says Hal Rubenstein, InStyle Fashion Director and author of the upcoming "100 Unforgettable Dresses." "On the other end of the spectrum, 10 out of 10 celebrities we loved on the Emmy's red carpet are wearing body conscious gowns." Sofia Vergara . "Modern Family's" Sofia Vergara struck a pose on the Emmys carpet in a curve-hugging scarlet Vera Wang creation, which she accessorized with stunning emerald earrings. "The most exciting part of my outfit is my Colombian emeralds," the outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series nominee said of her ensemble. See all the best-dressed stars on the Emmys red carpet . Julianna Margulies . Nominee and presenter Julianna Margulies chose a strapless white Armani Privé couture gown featuring a jewel-dotted bodice."The Good Wife" star admitted that it wasn't easy getting to the red carpet, though she picked her look the night before. InStyle.com: Top fashion and jewelry trends at the Emmys . Minka Kelly . Presenter Minka Kelly chose a navy Christian Dior gown, which featured lace sleeves and insets. Hairstylist Mark Townsend gave her a chic low side chignon, while makeup artist Matthew VanLeeuwen painted on perfect smoky eyes and a pink lip stain. Nina Dobrev . Vampire Diaries beauty Nina Dobrev looked elegant in a strapless, form-fitting red Donna Karan gown, Neil Lane jewels, Brian Atwood stilettos and a Judith Leiber clutch. InStyle.com: Best hair and makeup at the Emmys . Evan Rachel Wood . "I put it on and it immediately fit," the "Mildred Pierce" star said of her black sequin Elie Saab gown. "I didn't have to do a thing to it. I have to give it back that's the only unfortunate part." The outstanding supporting actress nominee completed her look with Fred Leighton jewels, Salvatore Ferragamo shoes and a Judith Leiber bag. Kerry Washington . Presenter Kerry Washington wore a red beaded, strapless Zuhair Murad gown with a fitted silhouette. She finished the look with a matching crimson Jimmy Choo clutch and shoes. Kristen Wiig . Funnylady Kristen Wiig paired her cinched waist, chocolate ombré Zac Posen design with weighty gold Fred Leighton bangles.The outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series nominee left her caramel-highlighted strands down and loose to complement the rich brown tones in her gown. Amy Poehler . "Parks and Recreation" star Amy Poehler accessorized her glittering blue Peter Som gown with ball drop earrings, a matching ring, and a Judith Leiber clutch. The Most Fashionable TV Shows of All Time . Julie Bowen . "I can't believe I'm wearing Oscar de la Renta," the "Modern Family" star and Emmy nominee said about her metallic gown with the plunging neckline. "It's always been a little bit of a dream." Her low side ponytail showed off her stunning Neil Lane drop earrings. Kate Winslet . "I'm wearing a really comfortable Elie Saab dress. I like it a lot," Kate Winslet said of her vibrant curve-conscious Emmys look. The outstanding lead actress in a miniseries nominee teased her blond waves into a loose updo, and accessorized with diamond drop earrings, a matching bracelet and a sleek clutch. Check out all of the night's top looks at InStyle.com. Get a FREE TRIAL issue of InStyle - CLICK HERE! Copyright © 2011 Time Inc. All rights reserved.
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Some of the best-dressed at this year's Emmys wore body conscious gowns .
"Mildred Pierce" co-stars Kate Winslet and Evan Rachel Wood both wore Elie Saab gowns .
"Modern Family's" Sofia Vergara thought her Colombian emeralds added excitement .
Julianna Margulies revealed that she picked her white Armani Privé the night before .
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f57a1ea87cf16884c6b5842ca793144ae4ce1d85
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A man is lucky to be alive after he miraculously survived for 14 hours trapped in a tiny air bubble after his car flipped upside down and into a ditch of water. Mark Beckford was reported missing by his wife Lesley, 60, on Tuesday morning when he failed to come home. The 45-year-old was driving at about 2am when his red MG ZR came off the road and into the ditch near Hamstreet in Kent. Miracle: Martin Beckford is lucky to be alive after his car flipped upside down and into a ditch filled with water . But the taxi driver was not discovered until shortly before 4pm. He was found trapped with just an air pocket at the back of the car to keep him from drowning. Kent Fire and Rescue Service crews were called after a lorry driver spotted the back wheels of a car upside down. Wife Lesley, 60, of New Romney, said: 'We were in a panic. We were ringing everyone. Nobody knew where he was. 'I rang him up to five times from work and all I got was the voicemail service. When I got home he was still not there and then I reported him missing.' Mrs Beckford’s daughters Melanie Wellman and Nichola O’Shea, were among the family members who spent the night calling friends, the hospital and police to find Mr Beckford. Miss Wellman said: 'Mark was never able to call for help because his phone was lost in the ditch during the accident. It was never even found when they rescued him.' Romney Marsh Watch Manager, Alan Brown, said: 'The car was almost submerged in 4ft of water and the firefighters used hydraulic cutting equipment to release the hatchback door so they could check if there was anyone inside. Kent Fire and Rescue Service crews were called after a lorry driver spotted the back wheels of a car upside down . 'In order to release him, crews winched the car partially up the bank so it was far enough out of the water to safely remove him through the hatch back door.' The Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) attended the scene and two HART paramedics also entered the water to assist in dry suits. The driver was treated at the scene by paramedics and a doctor before being taken by ambulance to the William Harvey Hospital where he is currently in a stable condition. Rob Sherwood of Kent Fire and Rescue Service praised emergency crews for their hard work. He said: 'This was a very unusual rescue and they all did a good job in difficult circumstances. 'I would like to praise the lorry driver for spotting the car and calling 999. If he hadn’t stopped for a look then the man would have been in there even longer and it might have been a different outcome. 'Our firefighters managed to get into the car and provided an initial medical response until the ambulance teams quickly took over. All the emergency services at the scene worked as a team to achieve this rescue.' The A2070 between Hamstreet and Brenzett was closed in both directions while police recovered the vehicle. Kent Police are appealing for witnesses to the crash.
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Mark Beckford was reported missing when he failed to come home .
The 45-year-old came off the road and into a ditch near Hamstreet in Kent .
He was discovered trapped with just an air pocket to keep him alive .
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PUBLISHED: . 19:09 EST, 14 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 19:09 EST, 14 January 2014 . A Connecticut engineer with dual, U.S.-Iranian citizenship was arrested by federal authorities last week after it was learned that he was attempting to smuggle thousands of secret documents - including blueprints for one of the U.S. Air Force's most advanced fighter jets - to Iran, prosecutors confirmed Monday. According to authorities, Mozaffar Khazaee had labeled boxes containing the documents as 'household goods' when he shipped them from his home in Connecticut to California on their way to Hamadan, Iran. Smuggler: Mozaffar Khazaee is accused of trying to smuggle plans for a top-secret fighter jet to his home country, Iran . Khazaee was arrested last week at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey as he was attempting to travel to Germany and then on to Iran, where he planned to meet a contact and turn over the boxes containing 'sensitive technical manuals, specification sheets, and other proprietary material' related to the F-35 and its engines to agents presumably with the Iranian government, according to an affidavit filed by a Special Agent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations. Authorities say the documents labled as 'household goods' initially was discovered in November, when Customs agents inspected the truck Khazaee had used to ship the boxes of documents across the country en-route to Iran. The shipping company Khazaee used described the boxes as containing 'books and college-related items, two suitcases, a vacuum cleaner and some other items,' Pricey: Developing the F-35 fighter jet has cost the U.S. government roughly $400 billion . According to authorities, however, the boxes contained 'thousands of pages contained in dozens of manuals/binders relating to the JSF [F-35 Joint Strike Fighter] program.' Khazaee has worked as an engineer for several defense contractors across the U.S. None of the defense companies are specifically named in court documents, but his latest employer - identified in court records as 'company A' - has been identified by the Blaze.com as Connecticut-based Pratt and Whitney. 'Pratt & Whitney has been cooperating fully with the government on this matter and will continue to do so,' Matthew Bates, Communications Manager at Pratt & Whitney Military Engines tells the website. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is reportedly the most expensive defense program in U.S. history. According to ABC News, the program costs roughly $400 billion, and is intended to 'replace the air-to-ground fighter attack fleets of the Navy and . Marine Corps, and work in tandem with the Air Force's next-generation . F-22 Raptor, an air-to-air fighter.' Future: Officials in charge of the F-35 program have called the plane the future of American air power . The program has been the subject of criticism for poor planning and production. But the Air Force maintains that it is 'the future of American air power.' Other nations appear to have taken notice of the program - even prior to Khazaee, and his link to Iran. According to published reports, the F-35 is listed as one of several major U.S. weapons system designs that has been at least partially compromised by defense hackers in China. According to court records, Khazaee has traveled to Iran at least five times in the last seven years. He's been charged with interstate transportation of stolen property of the value of $5,000 or more. If convicted, Khazaee faces a fine and up to 10 years in prison.
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Mozaffar Khazaee has worked for at least three U.S. defense contractors over the last several years .
The F-35 fighter jet program has cost the U.S. at least $400 billion .
Defense officials call the F-35 program the future of U.S. air power .
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By . Dan Bloom . A seven-year-old boy took a loaded 9mm handgun into school in his waistband and showed it off to classmates. School chiefs in Pasadena, Texas, said it was the youngest child they had ever found with a firearm - adding it was a miracle the gun, which had the safety catch off, was not fired. The incident unfolded just after 9am on Monday at Kruse Elementary School when a young girl saw the gun and alerted her teacher. Loaded with the safety off: A first grader took a gun to school in the waistband of his trousers (file photo) School district spokesman Renea Ivy told Fox 26 News: 'We're fortunate that gun was not discharged - to think about the alternative is terrible'. The pupil was suspended from school and police were called . Staff took the boy, who has not been named, out of the classroom and immediately called police. They discovered he had found the gun in his home and taken it into school concealed in his clothes. Renea Ivy, spokesman for the Pasadena Independent School District, told Fox 26 News: 'It was [loaded], which is upsetting to everyone. That is scary to think that a first grade child could have a loaded gun. 'We're really thankful that the little girl told her teacher. 'We're fortunate that gun was not discharged - to think about the alternative is terrible and that's why we're back at the table saying are we doing enough to make sure our students are safe. Peaceful: The gun was found on Monday morning at Kruse Elementary School (pictured) in Pasadena, Texas . The gun was found in the city of Pasadena, which is on the outskirts of the U.S.'s fourth-largest city Houston . 'Part of that responsibility is ours . as adults, not only to secure our weapons but also to tell children if . you see a gun, don't touch it.' The boy was disciplined and suspended from . school, while his parents received a citation for making a firearm . accessible to a child, Houston news network KHOU reported. A letter sent to parents said: 'Guns are not allowed at school. More importantly, please take this incident as an opportunity to talk to your child about gun safety. 'If you have a gun in your home, please secure the gun in a place that children cannot access and make sure the gun is not loaded and has a safety feature that must be removed before the weapon can be discharged. 'Whether or not you have a gun in your house, remind students that if they see a gun, they should not touch it and should immediately tell an adult.'
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Gun was spotted in a classroom full of youngsters in Pasadena, Texas .
Boy had taken it into school in the waistband of his trousers .
School chiefs said it was lucky gun wasn't fired: 'The alternative is terrible'
Boy removed for rest of semester and parents are also disciplined .
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From smartbands to high-end pedometers, never before have there been so many gadgets that claim to monitor health and boost fitness. But as technology gallops ahead, most come at a considerable financial cost. Now researchers have found that smartphone apps that track an physical activity are in fact just as accurate as many fitness gadgets. Scroll down for video . Researchers have found that smartphone apps that track an individual’s physical activity, are just as accurate as software in fitness gadgets. A stock image of the Flex is pictured . The study compared the performance of a five devices - including Nike’s Fuelband, the Jawbone UP24 and Fitbit Flex - against five apps. They analysed their ability to count steps as these are often used to calculate other measures of physical activity, such as distance covered or calories. A total of 14 participants walked on a treadmill for 500 and 1,500 steps, multiple times, while different technologies counted their footsteps, according to a new research letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Jama). ‘In this study, we wanted to address one of the challenges with using wearable devices: they must be accurate, said University of Pennsylvania medical student and lead study author, Meredith Case. ‘After all, if a device is going to be effective at monitoring - and potentially changing - behaviour, individuals have to be able to trust the data.’ The study was based 10 devices and apps’ ability to count steps and popular wearables. Screenshots from the iPhone Moves app - one of those surveyed - are shown left and right. Step counts are often used to derive other measures of physical activity, such as distance or calories . In the study, a total of 14 participants walked on a treadmill for 500 and 1,500 steps, multiple times, while technology counted their footsteps to determine the accuracy of the apps and gadgets. A stock image of a women who wasn't involved in the study, is pictured . Galaxy S4 Moves app . iPhone 5s Moves app . iPhone 5S Health Mate app . iPhone 5s Fitbit app . Nike Fuelband . Jawbone UP24 . Fitbit Flex . Fitbit One . Fitbit Zip . Digi-Walker SW-200 . ‘We found that smartphone apps are just as accurate as wearable devices for tracking physical activity.’ The study is a follow-up to a recent Jama viewpoint suggesting that there's little evidence that wearable devices alone can change behaviour and improve health for those that need it most. In the experiment, each of the healthy adults wore a waistband with one pedometer and two accelerometers attached, as well as three wearables on their wrist and two smartphones in their pockets. The iPhone ran three apps - Moves,Health Mate and Fitbit - while the Android ran one Moves app. At the end of each trial, step counts from each device were recorded. The 10 top-selling devices and fitness apps in the US that were tested, were: Galaxy S4 Moves app, iPhone 5s Moves app, iPhone 5S Health Mate app, iPhone 5s Fitbit app, as well as Nike’s Fuelband, the Jawbone UP24, Fitbit Flex, Fitbit One Fitbit Zip and the Digi-Walker SW-200. The data from the smartphones were only slightly different than the observed step counts, with a range of minus 6.7 to 6.2 percent relative difference in mean step count. The results suggest that the Fitbit One and Zip devices are the most accurate surveyed, while Nike's Fuelband (pictured), appears to have the largest margin for error in the 500 and 1,500 step trials. However, over all, smartphone apps performed as accurately as wearables . But the data from the wearable devices differed more, with a range of between minus 22.7 to minus 1.5 percent. The results suggest that the Fitbit One and Zip devices are the most accurate surveyed, while Nike's Fuelband, appears to have the largest margin for error in the 500 and 1,500 step trials. Apps such as Moves for iPhone proved fairly accurate. The free app automatically tracks walking, running and cycling and shows a user's day as a simple storyline. It counts steps and shows calories burned for each activity. Professor Mitesh Patel, an attending physician at the Philadelphia VA Medical Centre, who also teaches at the university, said: ‘Since step counts are such an important part of how these devices and apps measure physical activity, including calculating distance or calories burned, their accuracy is key. ‘Compared to the one to two percent of adults in the U.S. that own a wearable device, more than 65 percent of adults carry a smartphone. Our findings suggest that smartphone apps could prove to be a more widely accessible and affordable way of tracking health behaviours.’
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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania tested 10 best-selling apps and fitness gadgets by using them to count steps taken by volunteers .
They tested apps such as Moves and devices including the Fitbit Flex .
Found smartphone apps are just as accurate as some fitness gadgets .
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By . Andy Dolan . PUBLISHED: . 04:37 EST, 10 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 20:00 EST, 10 May 2013 . A policeman was paid more than £13,000 in compensation after injuring his big toe – during health and safety training. The unidentified officer was one of 23 colleagues to lodge claims against Suffolk Police which has paid out more than £300,000 to staff since 2007. It is just the latest in a string of cases which have heightened fears that there is a burgeoning compensation culture within the police. Compensation culture: Officers from Suffolk police have claimed more than £300,000 in compensation from the force over the past six years reveal new figures . In March it was revealed that a woman officer is suing both her own force and a victim of crime over separate mishaps at work. And last month, it emerged another . officer is suing a burglary victim after allegedly falling into a drain . while investigating a break-in. In the latest case to come to light, . the Suffolk Police officer pocketed £13,625 after he hurt his right big . toe during a health and safety drill. Claim: PC Kelly Jones (left), pictured with her father on her first day as a police officer, sparked outrage when she launched a legal claim against a petrol station owner after tripping over a kerb on a call out . At least seven claims to the force . were lodged by officers who were hurt during training. The figures . released under Freedom of Information laws also reveal how another . officer received a payout of £7,400 for slipping on a spillage in a . custody suite. Injuries: It emerged that PC Jones had also taken legal action against her force after she was involved in a collision while traveling in a patrol car . The biggest successful claim – for . £130,845 – came in August 2010 when a member of force staff fell in a . store room and fractured a hip. Of the 23 compensation claims lodged . with Suffolk Police, 16 were settled, five were dismissed and two – one . involving an officer tripping over a pallet and the other when a falling . ceiling panel caused injury – remain outstanding. Suffolk Police said the compensation payments may include ‘legal expenses’ and ‘third party solicitor’s costs’. A spokesman said that of the £13,625 . paid out in the case of the officer who injured his toe, less than . £4,000 amounted to actual compensation. The spokesman went on to defend the . claims. She said: ‘The very nature of policing can mean that incidents . attended by officers can involve pursuit or confrontation, which can . potentially result in damage or accidents. ‘Every effort is made to reduce these . instances but they can be inevitable in the course of ensuring that . communities are kept safe.’ Matt Gould, chairman of Suffolk Police . Federation, denied that officers were becoming more litigious or . greedy, adding: ‘I think one of the things that gets forgotten is that . if police officers become injured to the extent where they can’t perform . all of the functions of the police officer they face compulsory . termination of employment or medical retirement. Rough justice: Petrol station owner Steve Jones pictured with the kerb that PC Kelly Jones fell over while investigating a break in . Alarmed: Home Secretary Theresa May called for a review into Police compensation claims saying that it was damaging public trust in officers . ‘Just like any other employee, there needs to be some protection for them.’ But Jonathan Isaby, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said the case was ‘further evidence of how the compensation . culture has got out of control in this country’. He added: ‘Every penny spent on settling these claims means less money spent on frontline policing and keeping us safe.’ In March, WPC Kelly Jones triggered a . furious backlash after it emerged she was suing a garage owner in . Norfolk after tripping on a kerb while investigating a burglary. It then emerged the 33-year-old is . also demanding compensation from Norfolk Constabulary for a knee injury . sustained in an accident in a police car. The case prompted Home Secretary . Theresa May to order a review of police compensation amid fears it may . be deterring victims of crime from coming forward. Then last month it emerged PC Richard . Seymour is suing a burglary victim after he allegedly tore his Achilles . tendon when he fell into a drain while investigating a break-in in . Surrey in 2012. He is suing for ‘loss of overtime’ during his six-month absence from work despite being on full pay. Police officers have sought huge sums for controversial claims. Among them are: .
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Suffolk Police paid out more than £300,000 in compensation in six years .
Seven claims were made against the force for injuries received in training .
One worker won more than £130,000 for breaking a hip in a store room fall .
UK officers received £19.8million in successful claims last year .
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(CNN) -- Cuba President Raul Castro removed two longtime government leaders loyal to his brother Fidel and promoted younger technocrats, according to state-run media and a U.S. analyst. The communist government's state council announced Thursday the removal of Jose Ramon Fernandez Alvarez as vice president of the council of ministers, according to state-run Granma. Fernandez, who is in his 80s, was the U.S.-trained head of the Cuban military force that defeated the U.S.-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs, said CNN analyst Carlos Alberto Montaner. Also removed from office was Jose M. Miyar Barrueco, who was minister of science, technology and environment, Granma reported. Miyar is considered the last Fidelista -- or loyalist to former Cuban president Fidel Castro -- in Raul Castro's government, Montaner said. Miyar was Fidel Castro's personal secretary, Montaner said. "Publicly, Raul did not feel too comfortable with Miyar," Montaner said. "Raul is completing the government with people who are close to him." Fernadnez and Miyar were assigned to other government posts, Granma said. Replacing Fernandez is Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, an engineer in his early 50s who comes from the Communist youth party, Montaner said. Diaz-Canel who, was minister of higher education, Granma said, was replaced by First Deputy Minister Rodolfo Alarcon Ortiz, Granma said. As president, Raul Castro has been creating a communist government of technocrats rather than political leaders, Montaner said. Raul Castro replaced his brother, who was battling health problems, as president in 2008.
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Cuban President Raul Castro replaces two longtime officials loyal to his brother Fidel .
Removed is Jose Ramon Fernandez Alvarez, who led military forces in winning Bay of Pigs .
Also out is Jose M. Miyar Barrueco, who was Fidel Castro's personal secretary .
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(CNN) -- Friday's French Open semifinal between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, billed by some as the real final, lived up to the hype. Nadal, ultimately, was the happier man after an epic match that lasted more than four and a half hours on a sweltering day in Paris. The defending champion moved within a match of making it a record extending eight French Open titles by defeating the world No. 1 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-7 9-7. "I was ready for the fight," Nadal told reporters. Nadal will now be the heavy favorite to beat fourth-seed David Ferrer in Sunday's all-Spanish final. Ferrer, who cruised past Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1 7-6 (3) 6-2 in the other semifinal to dash local hopes, will be appearing in his maiden grand slam final and has lost 16 consecutive matches on clay against Nadal. Nadal, in his 35th meeting against Djokovic, improved to 5-0 against the Serb at the French Open. But for a while it appeared as if Djokovic would inflict more woe on Nadal in a gripping rematch of last year's final. Djokovic had topped Nadal in three straight grand slam finals beginning in 2011, downing him in six hours in the 2012 Australian Open finale. Djokovic led 4-2 in the fifth set -- after Nadal blew a break lead in the second and couldn't serve out the match in the fourth. It was just the second time Nadal has been taken to five sets at Roland Garros. "When I was serving for the match it was against the wind so I knew that it would be a tough game," Nadal said. "It was a similar match to the one in Australia in 2012 and he won. This time it is me that won and that is what makes sport so big." The thriller wasn't without controversy. With Djokovic leading 4-3 in the fifth and at deuce, he put away a simple smash. Chair umpire Pascal Maria, however, ruled that he touched the net before the ball bounced twice -- giving Nadal the point. Djokovic won the next point to revert to deuce -- instead of holding for 5-3 -- and Nadal eventually broke for 4-4. "Who knows what direction the match may have taken if I had won that point," Djokovic told reporters. "On 99.9 per cent of other occasions, I would have got the point." Maria earlier gave both players a warning for taking too much time between points. Djokovic was also upset that his request to water the court in the fifth set was denied. He felt the court was too dry. "I was not asking to water the court because I want to make my opponent trip or do something like that," Djokovic said. "I was doing it for myself, because I felt that it got very dry and it was very slippery." Nadal made the better start, gradually taking control of the first set in the hot conditions thought to suit him -- his heavy ground strokes move through the court quicker and his balls bounce higher. With Djokovic spraying shots and Nadal hitting deep, the Spaniard broke for 4-3. He saw off Djokovic in the opener and seemed headed for a win when he broke again for 3-2 in the second. Not for the first time in the encounter, Nadal would drop his serve in the ensuing game. A rattled Nadal lost four games in succession and the match was level. Nadal stormed to the third set and again held the lead in the fourth. He broke for 4-3, only to drop serve for 4-4. Unusually for Nadal, he couldn't close out the match when trying to serve it out at 6-5. As Nadal hit shorter, Djokovic was allowed to step in and crush his ground strokes. A reeling Nadal was broken to start the fifth but rallied, aided by Djokovic erring on several overheads. "It's a very special win for me and congratulations to Novak," Nadal said. "He's a great champion and he is going to win here at Roland Garros one day." Ferrer capitalized on apparent nerves from Tsonga in the first set and overturned a 3-0 deficit in the second. Once Ferrer took the second set, Tsonga sagged. Tsonga was bidding to become the first Frenchman in 30 years to win a major.
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Rafael Nadal rallies from a break down in the fifth set to beat Novak Djokovic .
The French Open semifinal goes to five sets after Nadal fails to serve it out in the fourth .
Djokovic was bidding to win his first French Open after topping Nadal in Monte Carlo .
Nadal will face David Ferrer in Sunday's final after compatriot beats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga .
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By . Colin Fernandez . PUBLISHED: . 11:50 EST, 17 July 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 18:33 EST, 17 July 2012 . A criminal chasing a debt left Michael Caine’s daughter Natasha so terrified her hair ‘turned white’, a court heard yesterday. Kevin Fox, 45, is accused of repeatedly harassing her husband Michael Hall, a millionaire property developer, at his office and at the couple’s home. The court heard the debt collector first turned up uninvited at Mr Hall’s offices in Victoria, Central London, on February 9 this year. He was said to be acting for a client who claimed a company part-owned by Mr Hall owed £67,000 to him. Court fight: Michael Caine¿s son-in-law Michael Hall, far left, is fighting in the High Court for damages and an injunction against a debt collector he claims has been 'harassing' him over an alleged £67,000 debt . Couple: Michael Hall is married to Michael Caine¿s daughter Natasha . After two more visits to the office, in which he was said to have made violent threats, the court heard he turned up at the couple’s home in Wimbledon. Although Natasha and her husband, who have three children, were out, it had a frightening impact on the family, the court heard. Yesterday, in dramatic scenes in the High Court Mr Hall, who is seeking damages and an injunction against Fox, faced the man he alleged had left his 39-year-old wife of five years terrified. Mr Hall said Fox’s unsolicited visit to their home on February 29 while builders were at work was ‘very, very upsetting’. Mr Hall told Fox, who is representing himself: ‘You were putting considerable pressure on me and my family. My wife’s hair has nearly gone white since you walked in our house.’ In a statement about the visit Mr Hall added: ‘The defendant intimidated the builders who were working on site and took it upon himself to walk around the premises, while uttering further threats of violence to the point that one of the contractors decided to leave, in fear of their own personal safety.’ Fox is then allegedly said to have commented that ‘he wished to know the layout of the property for future reference’. Michael Caine with his wife Shakira and daughter Natasha, who is married to Michael Hall. Mr Hall is fighting for damages and an injunction against debt collector Kevin Fox whom he claims has been 'harassing' him over an alleged £67,000 debt with 'menacing threats' ‘Such a comment was clearly designed to intimidate and to cause the claimant to be concerned for his personal safety,’ the statement said. Fox told the court it was ‘wholly untruthful’ that he entered the couple’s home, and said the house was ‘a derelict building site’ at the time. Mr Hall retorted: ‘It was a building site, it wasn’t derelict, it was our house.’ Fox, who denies the civil harassment claim, was jailed for seven years in 2004 for theft and possession of a firearm with intent after he and two other men stole £1.4million in gold bars from bullion firm Johnson Matthey. The court heard Mr Hall did not call the police about the alleged harassment but instead asked former Tory MP and London mayoral candidate Stephen Norris to enlist the help of senior police contacts. Mr Norris is chairman of Obsidian Regeneration, Mr Hall’s property group. Mr Hall denied he had been trying to get Mr Norris to ‘scare’ Fox but merely to ‘use his influence’ to resolve the situation, and added, ‘I did not want a media circus...which I have now.’ Asked why he had hired bodyguards to protect himself and his family rather than calling the police, Mr Hall told Fox: ‘I wanted to try and get you to back away.’ Michael Hall wants an injunction forbidding Mr Fox from coming within 100 yards of his west London home in Market Place, just off Oxford Street, or his offices in Arlington Street, Piccadilly (file photo) He said he had been told Fox was ‘a very dangerous criminal who had been imprisoned in Belmarsh for a criminal offence’. Mr Hall, who married Natasha Caine in 2007, said Fox’s demands for money amounted to ‘blackmail’ and added: ‘My understanding is you are an underworld enforcer and you threaten people in order to get money.’ Fox, from New Barnet, Hertfordshire, told the court that it was ‘an abuse’ for Mr Norris to speak to senior police officers on behalf of Mr Hall. ‘To be absolutely clear, you spoke to Mr Norris so he could use his influence, so he could speak to the right people,’ he told Mr Hall. ‘I don’t have that influence, I don’t know anyone who has that influence. I don’t have your money, your private investigators, don’t have your lawyers, I don’t have your millions.’ Mr Hall’s barrister Paul Emerson told the High Court: ‘My claimant says no debt is owed at all. In respect of that matter the course of the conduct is such that it amounts to harassment. There is no proper excuse for what is going on.’ Fox denies all claims by Mr Hall that he acted in a threatening way. The case at the High Court continues. Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons.
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Collector left Caine's daughter so terrified her hair 'turned white'
Kevin Fox claimed a company part-owned by her husband Michael Hall owed the money .
Mr Hall wants injunction stopping Kevin Fox from coming within 100 yards of his west London home .
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All he wanted was a phone call. According to Rio Ferdinand, the most toxic scandal in the history of the Premier League era could have been avoided if John Terry had just picked up the telephone and apologised. Yet isn’t that the nub of it? The reason Terry’s foul exchange with Rio’s brother Anton continues to resonate almost three years later is because civil resolution was impossible once the wheels of the modern race scandal began turning. Rio’s recollection of that time is shaming for British society. Smashed windows, bullets in the post, abuse in the street. His mother was hospitalised with stress. And his family were the victims. Understandably, he feels bitter that Terry appeared without remorse through this turbulent period. Yet it was not as simple as that. The FA ruled that Anton Ferdinand (left) was called a 'f****** black c***' by John Terry (right) in October 2011 . Rio Ferdinand has revealed that if John Terry (left) had phoned then the race row could have been solved . Rio Ferdinand (left) says he no longer speaks to his former England team-mate John Terry (right) The moment a member of the public complained about what Terry is alleged to have shouted down the pitch on October 23, 2011, communication became impossible. That is the nature of this beast. Other disputes can be resolved with clear-eyed honesty, but the instantaneously sensitive process around race cases ends all hope of a swift or constructive outcome. In an ideal world, Terry learns, the Ferdinand family receives its apology, examples are set, progress is made. This is not to brush racial politics under the carpet. The two sides could have been reconciled in the glare of publicity, maybe appeared side by side, taking questions from the floor. It would have been awkward but was the alternative much better? Court cases and FA hearings, resignations and sackings and, at the end, what? John Terry quit England after the FA’s charge, despite being cleared in court of racial abuse . Anton Ferdinand (right) leaves Westminster Magistrates Court following John Terry's criminal case in 2012 . If the incident was repeated at a match next weekend, would English football be any further forward? It would have some nice, statutory punishment procedures in place, but little more. Education, contrition and growth should be the aim: qualities a little more useful than a 10-game ban. Everyone has, at some point, spoken in the heat of a moment. Everyone has said something they instantly regret. Nothing as incendiary as the words Terry is accused of uttering. Not racist, but worthy of apology. And that apology can be made, whether immediately or on reflection, in the hope of advancement. We resolve and move on. That is human nature. Rio Ferdinand (right) says the race row involving his brother Anton (left) could have been sorted with a call . John Terry (right) was banned by FA for alleged language used against Anton Ferdinand (left) in October 2011 . Yet that was not the case on October 23. Within hours, under pressure, Terry had his alibi and was sticking to it. Equally, social media had begun driving a news agenda that screamed for action. The authorities responded with intent to prosecute. And that was the point of no return. Reflecting on the days that followed in his autobiography, Ferdinand is insightful on race issues. ‘The matter should have been sorted quickly in a way that would have allowed everyone, including John Terry, to emerge with dignity,’ he says. Of course, he is right. That would have been considerably healthier than the saga played out across courtrooms and in the offices of the national association, a scandal that cost the job of the England manager and its captain, and the careers of several footballers. Rio did not play for England again, Terry retired in haste and Anton has not been the same player. Rio Ferdinand (left to right), Ashley Cole and John Terry were all team-mates for England for several years . Rio Ferdinand (right) and John Terry (left) have not spoken since the QPR-Chelsea match in October 2011 . Yet, just as Ferdinand admits in his autobiography that he was under legal instruction not to talk publicly about the case, so Terry would have been under pressure. He would have received legal counsel, and possibly advice from his club, and they would have been of one voice. Say sorry, they would have told him, and you might as well admit guilt. He was never going to pick up the phone and make that call, once the external clamour began. Ferdinand apparently sought reconciliation, a chance to talk frankly and to receive honesty in return. Instead, the last direct conversation Terry had with a member of the Ferdinand family took place that fateful Sunday; any other contact was deemed too complex, just at a time when openness, intimacy and sincerity was urgently required. ‘Everyone please just respect each other,’ is Ferdinand’s message now. He almost echoes Rodney King’s plaintive plea during the LA riots. ‘Can we all get along?’ King asked. And we can, mostly. Yet the fall-out from English football’s most poisonous exchange is scant evidence of it. The processes put in place failed miserably and have left English football no further advanced. There is still no legacy beyond bitter recrimination. Nobody learns, nobody grows and nobody says sorry any more. Ashley Cole arrives to attend the trial of his team-mate John Terry at Westminster Magistrates court . Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand fell out during the court case between John Terry and Anton Ferdinand . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
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Rio Ferdinand recalls race row with John Terry in his new book, #2sides .
Terry used racially-aggravated language towards Rio's brother Anton at Loftus Road in October 2011 that led to a court case and FA investigation .
Rio says scandal could have been avoided if Terry had just phoned the Ferdinand family and apologised for using language in heart of the moment .
Moment member of public complained communication became impossible .
Ferdinand says he was under legal instruction not to talk about case .
If incident was repeated next weekend, new punishment procedures would be in place but Premier League remains uneducated on racial issues .
English football no further advanced in dealing with it than three years ago .
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By . Mark Duell . A woman who was abandoned as a baby on the steps of a health centre almost half a century ago today revealed how she was desperate to contact her real parents. Arlene Creed knows nothing of her true origins or her birthday - and her birth certificate says she was born 'on or about December 7, 1966'. The mother of two was aged between one and three months old when she was left 47 years ago in a yellow carrycot in Darwen, Lancashire. Mother of two: Arlene Creed, 47, lives in Lancashire and has two children - Liam, 27, and Shannon, 11 . She was discovered wrapped in a brown green and yellow striped blanket together with a bottle, baby food, nappies, talc and spare clothes. Nurses gave her the name ‘Dawn Blackburn’, after the town and borough where she was left on the cold evening of January 16, 1967. It was not until she was adopted at the age of three that she was given the name 'Arlene'. Miss Creed said she had been tormented with never knowing the truth about her lost family, with whom she is desperate to get in touch. The former pupil of St Edmund Arrowsmith RC High School in Blackburn, said she had always wanted to know more about her past. Miss Creed said: ‘I have tried and tried to find my birth parents, but kept coming to a dead end. I think East Lancashire is where the secret lies.’ She made front page news in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph when she was found. 'Mystery baby': She made front page news in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph when she was found in 1967 . Cuttings from the time say she was 'well-nourished' and 'warmly wrapped', but that there was no clue to the identity of the 'Darwen mystery baby'. Siblings: Liam, 27, and Shannon, 11, her children . The article continued: ‘A telephone call from a man who would not give his name and address informed the police about 9.30pm that the baby was on the steps. ‘About an hour later, another anonymous male caller wanted to know if the baby had been collected.’ Police at the time said they were anxious to hear from anybody who knew of the baby's identity, but nobody came forward. Miss Creed, who has worked as a nurse across East Lancashire for 30 years, said she believed the man who called the Union Street health centre was her father - and that she was desperate to get in touch with him. She said: ‘In my head, he is my dad because whoever it was, phoned twice, so it is somebody who cared for me and wanted me to be found. ‘It is quite comforting to know they did care. I think they might have been in a desperate situation and did not know what to do. It was not that they wanted to get rid of me.’ After leaving school, Miss Creed studied at Salford University to become a nurse. She now lives in Waterfoot, Lancashire, and has two children - Liam, 27, and Shannon, 11. She said she had spent her whole life searching for information about her family and had managed to track down her birth certificate last year. But she was distraught to find no information about her parents, who she believes would be in their 70s now. Search: Miss Creed studied at Salford University to become a nurse. She is seen (right) with daughter Shannon . Her adoption broke down when she was 15 and she said she went to live with her adoptive grandmother who died two years later. Front page: Cuttings from the time say the baby was 'well-nourished' and 'warmly wrapped' Documents kept at the police headquarters in Hutton were destroyed by fire and Arlene's GP records from before she was 15 were all lost leaving her feeling like there was a 'conspiracy' against her finding the truth. The Rossendale Raft Foundation volunteer said part of the reason the hunt to find out about her family had become so desperate was because of a bone condition her children suffer from, which doctors believe could be hereditary. She said: ‘I have not had a family for so long and my kids have no grandparents, so it would just mean the world to find them. ‘If I did meet them and it did not work out, it would not be a problem. I just want questions answering. I do not blame them for what happened. ‘It is getting late, but there is a chance my parents could still be alive. I could have nursed my mum or a member of my family, I just do not know. ‘It is a bit like now or never. I do not want to get older and wish I had done more. When my daughter was born, she looked quite a bit like me and I want to know who I look like.’ Miss Creed, who believes she may have Irish roots because of her blue eyes, pale complexion and freckles, appealed for anybody who could help to get in touch. She said: ‘It is exciting, but it is also very scary. It happened 47 years ago and people's memories go, but somebody must know something. They must. I just want to fit all the puzzle pieces together.’
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Arlene Creed, of Lancashire, does not know her true origins or birthday .
Her birth certificate says she was born 'on or about December 7, 1966'
She was left 47 years ago in a yellow carrycot in Darwen, Lancashire .
Can you help Miss Creed with her search? Email: mark.duell [at] dailymail.co.uk .
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By . Leon Watson . West Yorkshire police commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson drives a car confiscated from a drug dealer . A police and crime commissioner came under fire today after it emerged he drives a car confiscated from a drug dealer. West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson uses a high-powered Audi A4 as a 'pool' vehicle after it was seized from a criminal. Assets seized as part of the Proceeds of Crime Act are usually sold off with half of it going to the Treasury. But Burns-Williamson, who earns £100,000 a year, is campaigning for forces to keep all the cash. A councillor in Huddersfield said the high-value Audi A4 should be sold and the money ploughed into local policing. Almondbury's Lib Dem Councillor Phil Scott discovered the car deal when the commissioner arrived at a supermarket drop-in session in the Audi. The silver car is seven years old and would have cost £25,000 when new. Speaking at a full Kirklees Council meeting Cllr Scott said: 'This vehicle should be sold and the money spent on local policing in communities. 'Use the money to buy a more economical car, fair enough, but do not go around in high-powered cars.' He later said: 'When we have police stations in a poor state used only for meal breaks then every penny counts. 'This is a commissioner who is calling on the Government to give us more of the assets we get from POCA and I agree with him. 'I accept that he will need a car, so let's get a cheaper car. Who is insuring this high-powered vehicle, who is paying the tax and who is the legal owner? 'He's a nice guy but he's slipped up here, he's on £100,000 a year and I don't think this is appropriate.' Cllr Ken Smith, a Kirklees member of the Police Crime Panel, said at this week's full council meeting: 'It's as broad as it is long. 'The money might go to hire or buy a new car, or you can cut out those transactions and just use the car.' The Audi A4 used by West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns Williamson . The PCC is a political appointment elected to oversee each police force. A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: 'The PCC uses his own car, but along with all staff working within the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, he has use of a seven-year-old Audi A4 vehicle, which was seized following a forfeiture order against a man who was using the vehicle to deal drugs.' PCC Mark Burns-Williamson said: 'Re-using the vehicle saves the public a significant amount of money which would otherwise be incurred through business mileage claims or the commercial hire of vehicles. 'This forms part of ongoing efficiency savings to ensure we continue to cost the public less than the previous police authority.'
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Mark Burns-Williamson uses Audi seized by West Yorkshire Police .
But councillors in Huddersfield say should be sold to pay for local policing .
Normally just half of seized proceeds of crime usually go to forces .
Burns-Williamson is campaigning for all the cash to go to police .
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(CNN) -- In the halcyon days of space exploration, when the USSR was sending the very first satellites into orbit, and Neil Armstrong was about to take his first (small) steps on the moon, NASA's finances accounted for a staggering 4.41% of the US federal budget. In the last two years, that figure has dropped below 0.50% for the first time since 1960, and with the long, slow decline in funding has come an equally steady slide in the US government's appetite for space exploration. Two years ago, many commentators were proclaiming the end of the space age. The contention seemed hard to dispute: in 2011, NASA's Space Shuttle program was permanently retired when the Atlantis touched down to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, after completing its final voyage. Around the same time, plans for a U.S.-manned mission to Mars were shelved, and steps were put in place to decommission the International Space Station. But as governmental funds have dried up, amateur space enthusiasts around the world are reviving humanity's interplanetary dreams through crowd-researched and crowd-funded space projects of their own. The idea of crowd funding, where a large number of individuals pledge a small amount of cash towards a big project, may not be new, but it has been given a new lease on life through websites such as Kickstarter, which help people with innovative ideas reach a global audience. To date, Kickstarter has helped fund films, video games, electronics and more. Recently though, Kickstarter, and other sites like it, have begun to be used to fund missions to the final frontier. To date, many of these projects have been relatively modest in scale and ambition, with sorties only as far as Earth's low orbit. But some are attempting to recapture the spirit of President John F. Kennedy's potent 1962 speech: "We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade." The most ambitious and headline grabbing of them all is a new crowd-researched venture to send a manned submarine to Jupiter's ice moon, Europa. Yes, you read that right. The fledgling mission hopes to take an amphibious vehicle farther than humanity has ever traveled before, to dive deep into the freezing oceans of Europa. At the moment, the project simply aims to connect people around the world to begin researching the mission -- funding for the operation will come much later. Kristian von Bengtson is the man behind the audacious scheme. von Bengtson has spent the last five years working on crowd-funded rocket projects alongside his business partner Peter Madsen. Their organization, Copenhagen Suborbitals, has grown from a two-man team into a volunteer army of 45 full- and part-time collaborators with an annual crowd-sourced budget of around $400,000. Europa is regarded as a suitable destination for human exploration due to the commonly held theory that beneath its icy surface lie great oceans of water in liquid form. Scientists suggest that Europa is one of the most likely locations in the Solar System to be capable of hosting extra-terrestrial life. Some have postulated that microbial life akin to that found in Earth's deepest oceans may already exist there. So compelling is this possibility that the European Space Agency is planning a mission to send a robot to Europa in 2022. For von Bengston though, sending robots into space holds no interest. "If you send a piece of equipment to a part of space then you didn't actually go there ... Robots are stupid mindless machines. They are not curious, they don't come up with ideas or solutions." von Bengtson's project is not without its critics. In an article on the online tech magazine Motherboard, Fran Bagenal, a professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado, says: "What's the point of sending humans? What can they do that robots cannot do better? And robots do not need to breathe, eat, drink, excrete or come back. And robots have better bodies, eyes, hands, noses, ears -- and brains." von Bengtson's understands the criticism, but says that working towards a manned mission to Jupiter's moon fulfills another critical purpose: to inspire. He says that inspiring people is essential to kickstarting the kinds of discussions he hopes the operation will produce. "If we had talked about putting a solar panel into the sky, I guarantee we would not have got a dime in crowd funding. You need to have both the human and the pioneering aspect to attract interest." Away from Operation Europa, von Bengtson and Madsen have aimed to muster this same enthusiasm to build support for their project to send a manned rocket into space. The Danish designer estimates that with the support he has received online, the project could come to fruition by 2020: "we are in a completely different age now," von Bengtson says. "You can reach everybody around the world. With the internet you can share your thoughts and ideas immediately and you can send money around the world. Copenhagen Suborbitals wouldn't be possible if you didn't have the internet. Everybody is able to join forces." Other projects have found similar success online. Aerospace engineer Zac Manchester hit the fundraising target for his project to launch a hundred micro satellites after just two weeks. His experiment aims to test the communication capacities of small spacecraft, as well as determine how long they can stay in orbit and how well their electronics hold up in the harsh environment of space. The Cornell University graduate is looking forward to seeing his project launch in December. One of Manchester's former research associates, Michael Johnson, has a similarly ambitious project called Pocket Spacecraft that allows anyone to buy into a mission to send a thousand tiny spacecraft to the moon. Investors will be able to track their small ship, from its design and construction through to launch and onward to the moon. Johnson says that the project is about "democratizing interplanetary space exploration." He hopes that experiments such as this will help build a new enthusiasm around space research. "We're building new tools," Johnson says, "so that one day every child will be able to send their own spacecraft on a robotic field trip in space." Talking about his own project to CNN, Manchester said: "I think that crowd funding is enabling new types of missions to be flown - smaller, cheaper, and riskier missions - that may not have been funded under traditional models. It is not going to replace the multi-billion dollar national space programs. Those programs, in fact, did the basic research that has enabled the current crop of crowd-funded space projects, including my own. The kind of sustained long-term research that governments have traditionally funded is still very much needed and I hope that it continues." von Bengtson agrees, adding that his own work is only possible because of research that has already been done by governmental space programs: "we are standing on the shoulders of, well, everyone," he says. The work being done by this new breed of innovative crowd-funded and crowd-researched projects allows people around the world to actively get involved in space exploration. von Bengtson and others like him want to inspire not through mounting monolithic projects that are out of reach, but by opening the process up and inviting people to get involved. "If they want, our donors can come to Denmark and see the test of our rocket engines for free. Many like to do that, but most are just happy to be a part of the project. They find it important, and they find it interesting to follow ... That dialogue is very important." To get involved in von Bengtson's plan to take a submarine to Jupiter, click here. Or to send your own spacecraft to the moon, click here.
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Amateur space enthusiasts are mounting spaceflight missions funded by online supporters .
Copenhagen Suborbitals aims to send a manned rocket into space by 2020 .
Cornell graduate Zac Manchester will launch his crowd-funded micro satellite project in December .
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Melissa Dohme agreed to meet her ex-boyfriend outside her Clearwater, Florida, home for one final embrace. In a split second after they clinched, Robert Burton unleashed a frenzied stabbing attack on her face and body, cracking her skull, knocking out her teeth and slicing through her neck and back. The pretty college student flat-lined four times that night in January 2012, as doctor's battled to stem the flow of blood from her 32 stabs wounds. Scroll Down for Video . Shocking: Melissa Dohme, appears in a picture in the weeks after she was stabbed 32-times by her ex-boyfriend Robert Burton outside her home in Clearwater, Florida on January 24, 2012 . She suffered a stroke that rendered the left side of her face paralyzed and caused her disfigurement she has admitted was 'hard to accept'. But amazingly she survived against all odds and as violence against women dominates the headlines, Dohme has released an image of her wounds in her role as a campaigner for victims of domestic abuse. In the two years since she desperately clambered onto the sidewalk to escape her crazed boyfriend running her over as he fled in his car, Dohme, now 22, has undergone 10 reconstructive procedures as part of her recovery. Incredibly, she has forgiven Burton, who is currently serving a life sentence without parole for his cowardly and brutal attack. Now: Melissa Dohme's recovery is apparent in this grab from her appearance on Sunday night for CBS show 48-Hours - in which she discussed her campaign against domestic violence . Close to death: Melissa nearly died four times as doctors battled to save her after she suffered 32 stab wounds and her recovery proceeded slowly . Recovery: Melissa suffered nerve damage and a stroke that left her needing months of rehabilitation . Brutal: Police gather evidence pictures of the wounds that Robert Burton inflicted on his former girlfriend that almost ended her life . Crazed: Robert Burton is pictured here with Melissa Dohme before he unleashed his horrifying assault on her in January 2012 . Video Source YouTube . And in an incredible turn of fate, Dohme is now in a loving relationship with one of the first paramedics on the scene who responded to the 911 call. In an interview with CBS News to highlight the recent spate of violent attacks on women inlcuding the stoning death of a woman in Pakistan and the rape and hanging of two women in India, Dohme recounted the terrible evening of January 24, 2012. 'I went outside to meet Robert Burton ... in the hopes that he would really leave me alone forever,' said Dohme. 'He said that he just ... wanted a hug. It's all he wanted. ... A final goodbye, all he wanted was closure and I basically, you know, walked outside to my murder. 'And, you know, I ... walked up to him. ...He looked kind of empty, no emotion ... absolutely nothing in his eyes. Just soulless ... I mean he was just blank face. 'I heard a click ... I didn't know what the sound was, he just started just stabbing me with that knife ... he just kept coming at my face. 'I knew my face was completely covered in blood, and my hair felt soaking wet. I mean, it was seriously, like, dripping wet, like I just got outta the shower. 'I was trying to scream and I'm trying to crawl and I wasn't getting anywhere. 'I felt myself dying so ... I couldn't really breathe. .... I felt myself I really was not going to make it. I really said 'this is it.' Survivor: Melissa Dohme was stabbed in the face and neck more than 32 times, but her scars are quickly fading; the picture on the right shows how her scars have healed in a two-month span . Remarkable recovery: Melissa posted this montage of photographs that documented her recovery from a near fatal stabbing in 2012 . Dohme and Burton had been together for two years before she ended their relationship after he throttled her one evening in 2011. In her impact statement at his sentencing in March, 2013, Dohme reminded the judge exactly what Burton did to her and what he wanted to do to her. 'He was just stabbing over and over with the switch blade knife and that's when I was leaving my hands up because I knew he was trying to stab me in the eyes and heart,' she said. A trauma surgeon told the judge it was a miracle Dohme survived as she was seconds away from dying, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Found love: Melissa Dohme with her boyfriend Cameron Hill last year - who was one of the paramedics who responded to her 911 call when she was stabbed 32 times in the face and neck . Justice served: Melissa Dohme in court last year . with her mom and sister, left, and the surgeon she credits with saving . her life, right . She suffered a stroke from the blood loss and had cuts across her arms, neck, head and face. Her teeth were knocked out, and her skull was cracked. 'It is all like a blur, I remember pieces of it,' said Dohme to CBS News. 'He immediately stabbed me right here in the back of my shoulder and then right here in the back of my neck. 'The knife just kept coming down at me. 'I remember hearing ... my skull crack. Over all of my -- he kept coming at my face. 'And then my mouth filled with blood ... "Oh, my God, you know, he's going to kill me. ... This is a fight for my life ... I have to scream. I have to run. 'I was losing blood everywhere. I kept trying to like crawl away from him... 'I was so weak ... I felt like I was going to die right there.' Burton pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and domestic abuse in the stabbing of his ex-girlfriend. At her court appearance, Dohme was accompanied by her now-boyfriend, Clearwater firefighter, Cameron Hill, 39, who responded to the 911 call. Happy outcome: Cameron Hill and Melissa Dohme met for the first time that awful night - but are now together . Mr Hill said the sight of the young woman drenched in blood with stab wounds to her hands, arms, face and head was the most gruesome he had seen in his 17-year career. Though he couldn't see her face, couldn't tell if she was blond because of the blood and didn't know her name, a strange feeling came over him and he said he knew in his heart he was going to see her again. 'Usually with a person that has been stabbed that many times, you don't think that they are gonna make it ... But as the helicopter was lifting off that night, I had this crazy little feeling in my head that I would see Melissa again,' said Hill to CBS News. Melissa ended up being in the hospital for three weeks. She flat lined four times, received 12 units of blood and suffered a stroke that affected her balance, according to The Tampa Bay Times. A severed nerve partially paralyzed the left side of her face. Though doctors did not know if she would speak smile or walk again, she made a remarkable recovery and left rehab without a cane. Head over heels: Cameron did not know what to do but . could not get the young woman he rescued out of his head. He . eventually asked her out and ever since their first date the pair have . been inseparable . 'When Melissa showed up to our trauma center here in St. Petersburg, she ... was dying before our eyes. ... And without a rapid intervention it would be over quick,' said Dr. Jeffery Johnson of the Bayfront Health Medical Center. 'So the moment she hit the door we started resuscitation, we started CPR, we started replacing her blood volume. And then our next point of attack was to stop the bleeding. 'Melissa died twice in our emergency room-- and each time we were able to get back. I wasn't giving up and she wasn't giving up. And so, if she wasn't gonna give up, our team wasn't gonna give up.' She became determined to reach out to all those who helped save her and to tell her story to others. After a trip to Europe with her girlfriends, she returned determined to become a nurse. She now travels the country speaking as an advocate for abused women. 'I don't want to hear of another girl on the news who was killed or another girl who was permanently disfigured. I don't want to hear these things,' she said to CBS News. 'One of the main things I tell new girls is never meet up with an abusive ex of yours, it's not safe and I didn't know that.'
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Melissa Dohme nearly died on the evening of January 24, 2012 when Robert Burton attacked her outside her home .
Flat-lined four times that night as paramedics and doctors battled through the night to save her .
She suffered nerve damage and a stroke which caused the left side of her face to be paralyzed .
She has battled through two years of rehabilitation and 10 operations to recover .
Incredibly has fallen in love with one of the paramedics who arrived first on the scene .
Has spoken out against violence against women following her assault .
Burton was sentenced to life without parole in March 2013 .
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By . Derek Lawrenson . They are the new big three of American golf — and no, they don’t go by names like Tiger, Phil or Rickie. Meet Michelle, Stacy and Lexi, the trio who have breathed fresh life into the struggling women’s game. At a time when the men’s variety is crying out for an old-fashioned rivalry, these three are regularly battling each other down the stretch. Each presently holds a major. Now they are bringing their compelling act to these shores, where they will start as three of the favourites for the Ricoh British Open at Royal Birkdale this week. Star: Michelle Wie is an icon in women's golf and her rivalry with Lewis and Thompson is good for the game . Not just a pretty face: Wie shows off her US Open trophy in New York but she has earned her glory . Of course, it does not hurt that they are photogenic. Dressed in a dazzling aqua blue dress for a whirlwind day of publicity after winning the US Open last month, Michelle Wie showed she could hold her own in the fashion and beauty stakes alongside anyone on the tennis circuit. What is great for women’s golf, though, is that there is much more to them than the fact they look good. This trio can really play and each has an intriguing story to tell of their rise to the top. Lexi Thompson was playing in the US Open at the age of just 12. Now, still only 19, she has become the fully fledged article, with a major already to her name after winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship impressively in California in April. Wie, of course, was the one who was always tipped for the top. At 14 she missed the cut in a men’s PGA Tour event in her native Hawaii by a single stroke, coming in with a better 36-hole score off the same tees than players as good as Adam Scott. Young star: Lexi Thompson is still only 19 but made her US Open debut seven years ago . Thereafter, her struggles have been well-chronicled but she never gave in. Now, a decade later and with a degree from Stanford University also to her name, she is fulfilling all her promise. The one they are both trying catch, however, is current world No1 and this week’s defending champion, Stacy Lewis. At 29, what a triumph for guts and determination her rise to the top represents. Consider that for all her high school years Lewis had to wear a brace for 18 hours each day to correct a curvature of the spine. She sat out playing golf during her first year at college because she was recovering from surgery, yet still went on to become one of the most decorated players in the amateur game. No wonder her website is: stacysback.com. Right now she is playing the best golf of her life and holds a Tiger-like lead at the top of the rankings. On top: World number one stacy Lewis stormed back to beat Wie in Arkansas last week . She has won three of her past seven events and showed her mental strength last Sunday. The task was to catch Wie in the final round, after she had beaten her into second place in the US Open the previous week. In front of an adoring crowd in Arkansas, where she went to college, she pulled it off. So after the first major of the season was won by Thompson over Wie and the second by Wie over Lewis, it would be no surprise if the trend continued at Birkdale, particularly if the event is blessed with sunshine. Let’s not forget either the two precocious teenagers: Lydia Ko from New Zealand, just 17 and already the world No2; and our own Charley Hull, only 18 and yet a star of the last Solheim Cup. The first of two successive Opens on England’s gilded North West coast promises to be every bit as fascinating as the men’s version at Royal Liverpool next week.
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Three stars provide a rivalry missing in the men's game .
Lewis, Wie and Thompson go into next week's British Open as favourites .
Each currently hold a major .
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By . Daily Mail Repoter . The tables were turned on a graffiti artist in Brazil after he was caught red - or in this case, black - handed tagging the side of a police station. When the unidentified tagger was caught by police, the officer who busted him had something in mind other than arresting him: He forced the vandal to apologize and to allow the officer to spray him in the face with the same black spray-paint he used to tag the police barracks. The entire thing was videotaped and uploaded to the website Live Leak earlier this week. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Tagger: This young man was busted spray-painting the police station near Sao Paulo, Brazil . Alternative: Rather than arrest the young man, the officer who busted him offered him an alternative . Apologize: The officer told the tagger he wouldn't arrest him if he apologized and allowed him to spray-paint the young man's face . The video shows the tagger on his knees as the officer lectures him in Portuguese. The sound of the officer shaking the can of spray-paint is heard before he sprays it on the young man's face for about 15 seconds, covering his entire face and head. The tagger then coughs from the fumes before he is forced by the officer to apologize. 'Say sorry,' the officer snaps at the tagger. Thorough: The officer sprays the tagger's face for about 15 seconds, nearly covering his entire face . He's sorry: After having his face covered with spray paint, the tagger apologized for vandalizing the police barracks . Lesson learned: The officer then tells the tagger to leave before he changes his mind about arresting him . 'Sorry, sir, I will never paint the base of police again,' the tagger responds. 'Now get out before I change my idea,' the offiser says. The young vandal then gets to his feet and runs off. The video already has been viewed nearly 125,000 times since it was posted two days ago. Brazilian authorities apparently take graffiti very seriously - anyone caught tagging a building in the South American country can face a fine and up to a year in jail.
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The unidentified tagger was caught spray-painting police barracks near Sao Paulo, Brazil .
The officer sprayed the man for about 15 seconds, nearly covering his entire face .
The tagger faced a fine and up to a year in jail if the officer had instead decided to arrest him .
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Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy has been publicly called out by the owner of a local eatery for leaving a 20-cent tip on a bill totaling more than $60. The Philadelphia burger joint PYT shared a receipt online showing what was described as Mr McCoy's paltry tip. 'The twenty cent tip that the Eagles' LeSean McCoy just left our server on his $60 check is going to come in really handy for that new official NFL McCoy jersey he had his heart set on,' the message that accompanied the receipt read. 'That is a .03% tip. New record!' Paltry tip: The owner of Philadelphia's PYT burger joint shared this receipt from Monday showing the 20-cent tip that Eagles star LeSean McCoy left for a server on a $61.56 tab . Unsatisfied customer: PYT server Rob Knelly (left) indicated that the meager tip did not come as a surprise given that LeSean McCoy (right) and his friends were rude and disrespectful from the moment they sat down . According to the document in question, McCoy and three guests patronized PYT on North Hancock Street at around 3pm Monday, ordering $57 worth of food, plus $4.56 in taxes. McCoy paid the tab with his Visa credit card, writing in by hand a '$00.20' tip for a grand total of $61.76. McCoy's party of four was served that day by a waiter named Rob, identified later in an NJ.com article as Rob Knelly. The PYT staffer revealed to the paper that LeSean McCoy and his guests were being loud and rude from the moment they sat down at the table. ‘I kept my cool for as long as I could, where you just don’t want them yelling and cursing you,’ Knleyy, who is a Baltimore Raves fan, said. ‘I asked some questions; they weren't really responsive. They were cursing, making derogatory comments. I put their order in and forgot one of their appetizers, which I apologized for. They ordered things and, once they got it, said “We ain't eating this s***. We don't want it."’ After giving the patrons’ drink orders to the bartender, Knelly said McCoy and his party continued to call for him. ‘They didn’t know my name,’ Knelly told NBC Philadelphia. ‘They just said, “you’re my server right?” They were being rude so after I gave them their food I didn’t go back to them until they were done. I just avoided their rudeness.’ Fast-food landmark: Tommy Up, the owner of the popular eatery, wrote on Facebook that everyone at PYT was excited to see McCoy, but he responded by making derogatory comments and mistreating the staff . When a Philadelphia Daily News reporter reached out to McCoy for comment, the NFL player said, 'It's bull****, man,' but he declined to further elaborate on the tip controversy. In 2012, LeSean McCoy signed a five-year contract extension with the Eagles worth $45million. Slip-up: Knelly admitted that he forgot to bring an appetizer for the group, but apologized for his mistake . The image of the receipt posted on PYT’s Facebook by the owner has been shared more than 2,800 times, drawing sharp criticism from many commenters for calling out McCoy as a bad tipper. User Taryn Woods wrote: ‘This is very distasteful and unprofessional of PYT. So what if the man left a .20 cent tip? It’s his right to be cheap or more than likely disappointed with the service.’ Another Facebook commenter Phil Penny wondered: ‘is there a minimum we should tip to avoid you posting receipts online?’ In response to the firestorm, the proprietor of the burger joint, Tommy Up, penned a lengthy status update Tuesday afternoon offering his side of the story. Mr Up opened his letter by taking full responsibility for sharing the receipt online and saying that he stands firmly by his staff. He then went on to describe how ‘pumped’ his employees – many of them loyal Eagles fans – were to see the famed running back walk through the doors of their establishment. ‘Mr McCoy and his friend sat inside at a booth next to my management and next to me. They were given excellent service. Impeccable service. If anything, our server was a little nervous as was our food runner, because they are big, big fans,’ the owner wrote. Millionaire's response: The running back, who signed a five-year contract extension with the Eagles worth $45million in 2012, responded to the tip-gate by saying the eatery's claims were 'bull****' ‘He and his group, from the moment they sat down, were verbally abusive to our staff in the most insulting ways. The derogatory statements about women and their sheer contempt for the staff serving them wasn't the end, however. ‘After Mr McCoy and his group left I looked over and saw their server, my friend, with his head bowed down and with a very confused look on his face. I took the receipt out of his hand and I couldn't believe that anyone could be so callous. Mr McCoy had left a .03% tip for our staff. ‘Our staff that was beyond excited to see him walk into our burger joint and was excited to serve him. That's twenty cents on a tab of over $60. Twenty cents that our server has to split with the food runner and the bartender. Two dimes from an insulting multimillionaire. The owner went on to dismiss reports the McCoy and his party received poor service as ‘a complete slanderous lie.’ ‘At the end of the day, I did what I felt my heart told me to do. And I don't want anything from Mr McCoy, but...maybe an apology to his server who gave him excellent service would be cool,’ Mr Up summed up, before directing all hate mail to his email address.
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McCoy had lunch with three friends at PYT in Philadelphia Monday, leaving only 20 cents for his server on a bill totaling $61.56 .
PYT owner Tommy Up shared photo of McCoy's receipt on Facebook, calling the 0.3 per cent tip a 'new record'
PYT server Rob Knelly said McCoy and his three friends were loud and verbally abusive from the moment they sat down .
McCoy responded to the controversy by dismissing the restaurateur's claims as 'bull****'
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By . David Wilkes . PUBLISHED: . 16:39 EST, 4 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 01:37 EST, 5 August 2013 . You could say their garden is a bit of a jungle... in the nicest possible way, of course. For as they spend up to 12 hours a day between them tending their precious plot, pensioners Alan and Mary Watson could never be accused of letting it get overgrown. With 18ft windmill palms native to the Far East towering into the sky, tree ferns from Australia, cordylines and fig trees, it does, however, look like it ought to be sited somewhere tropical. Garden of Eden: Alan and Mary Watson have spent £10,000 on tropical plants to create a paradise in their back yard . You might need a bigger watering can: The plants and 18ft palm trees require constant attention and keep the retired couple busy for up to 12 hours a day . In awe: The couple look up at the canopy of a palm tree and survey their beautiful garden (left). Mr Watson has grown award-winning dahlias and vegetables. His wife Mary (right) considers herself the deputy gardener of the pair . Or at Kew Gardens or as an exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show, at the very least. But in fact this little piece of paradise has far, far humbler roots. To reach it, you just have to step out of the back door of Mr and Mrs Watson’s red-brick detached house in the suburbs of Derby. It is a far cry from what was there when the couple bought the newly built three-bedroom property in a residential street in 1966 for £3,150 and moved in after their wedding. Back then, the most eye-catching site in the 750sq yard back garden was the clothes drying on the washing line. But they immediately set about transforming the patch of scrub - and right away were so dedicated to the garden that at the start of their marriage they had no stair carpet because they preferred to spend their money on a greenhouse instead. Mrs Watson, 67, a former care worker, said: ‘I had to scrub the stairs on my hands and knees for two years, but I had beautiful tomatoes on the table.’ They first transformed it into a typical English suburban garden. Mr Watson, who worked as a British Rail engineer, grew dahlias and picked up countless rosettes for his vegetables at horticultural shows. It was 15 years ago that, having raised their son Adam and become grandparents, they decided to switch to the tropical paradise look. Keeping up with the Joneses: The Watson's neighbours will have a hard time catching up on the 15 years spent planting and tending to their tropical garden . Then and now: The sparse garden's main feature was a humble clothes line when the couple bought the property 46 years ago (left). They have transformed it into a spectacular paradise (right) Mr Watson, 73, designed it himself and since then they have spent an estimated £10,000 stocking it with its fabulous foliage. Neither of them has ever actually visited a tropical country, so Mr Watson relied on his imagination to plan the lush haven. Dazzling red Bishop of Llandaff dahlias remain as a reminder of the more traditional style, and there is also a fish pond, a waterfall, a lion head fountain and a decking area in the south-facing garden. ‘Alan’s hip had started to play him up so we decided to create a different garden, one with less digging and less work. At least that’s what we thought then - but I’m not so sure now,’ said Mrs Watson. ‘We can do up to six hours each a day quite easily. Alan is head gardener and I’m his deputy. You soon know if you miss a day - it quickly shows.’ While the results of their efforts are gloriously plain to see, their own little ‘Eden project’ has not been without its hiccups. To their dismay, the severe winter of 2010 ravaged many of their prized tropical plants and they lost several, including 6ft tree ferns, to the cold weather. Unassuming: The couple bought their home in Derby in 1966, when they designed their garden in the traditional style. They were so keen on the pastime, they went without carpet for their stairs so they could afford a greenhouse . Dazzling Dahlias: The striking red Bishop of Llandaff dahlias stand out against the garden of green foliage . They were so upset that at times, they say, they wondered if they could carry on. But they have replaced plants and restored the garden to its lush former glory once more. They now take extra care to protect the plants in winter and have picked up some unusual tips, including wrapping duvets around tree trunks to keep them warm when the mercury plunges. So what motivates them to do it? ‘What this garden does to people, you can see it in their faces. It blows them away. It’s a stunning and tranquil place,’ said Mrs Watson. Mr Watson added: ‘It takes you on a journey. A garden is the journey of your life.’
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Alan and Mary Watson spend up to 12 hours a day tending to their 18ft palm trees in their Derby home .
Retired couple have spent £10,000 in the last 15 years filling their 750 sq yard garden with tropical plants .
Keen gardeners wrap duvets around tropical trees to protect them when the weather turns cold .
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By day he was an Amazon delivery driver, in his free time he transformed into a self-styled 'zombie hunter' who patrolled the streets in a decommissioned squad car. Now he is accused of being a killer who murdered random women for thrills. New details have emerged about the life of Bryan Miller who is accused of stabbing two Phoenix women to death in 1992. One of the women's body was found decapitated. Miller was an horror-obsessed fantasy enthusiast and a regular at events such as Comic Con and 'zombie walks' where he would indulge his alter ego. He was arrested in the cold-case killings of two women in1992 on Tuesday - and it has now emerged that he stabbed another women he met in 2002, but was let off when he claimed it was in self defense. Melissa Ruiz-Ramirez was out walking in Everett, Washington, on May 23 when she accepted a ride from a man whom she recognized from a friend's apartment complex. During the car ride, they talked about how some of the trails and pathways near that complex were dangerous, before Miller allegedly took Ruiz-Ramirez to his work and stabbed her in the back with a 12-inch serrated knife. Scroll down for video . Alter ego: Bryan Miller would patrol the streets of Phoenix as the 'zombie hunter' Violent past: Bryan Patrick Miller, 42 - who was arrested Tuesday for a 22-year-old grisly double murder case and had a Facebook page calling himself 'The Arizona Zombie Killer' (pictured) - was acquitted of a separate stabbing in 2002, it has been revealed . Strange: Miller, a 'zombie hunter' and compulsive hoarder, was busted in connection with two horrific murders of young women that terrified the Phoenix area in 1992 and 1993 . Arrested: Miller, a father-of-one, lists himself on Facebook as a driver for Amazon who loves zombies . However the charges against Miller were dropped after he argued that Ruiz-Ramirez had tried to rob him. He moved back to Arizona shortly afterward and quietly resumed his life. That is until his dramatic arrest on Tuesday. It has also been revealed that, in high school, Miller randomly stabbed a woman at a Phoenix mall but only served time until age 18, Phoenix police Sgt. Trent Crump said. The Washington state case didn't require him to submit a DNA sample because he was exonerated. Miller, who was reportedly obsessed with horror and fantasy, had a decommissioned police car he acquired in Washington and would drive around Pheonix calling himself 'The Arizona Zombie Hunter'. He set up a Facebook page specifically for his hobby, which he described as: 'Keeping Arizona safe from the things that go bump in the night. Also available for your event.' DNA evidence recently collected by undercover officers now ties the divorced father to the slayings of Angela Brosso, 22, and 17-year-old Melanie Bernas. The women disappeared 11 months apart while riding their bikes through Phoenix. Miss Brosso was killed in November 1992 and her body was found shortly after she went missing. Her decapitated head was found 11 days later in the Arizona Canal. Bernas' body was discovered about 1 ½ miles away floating in the water in September 1993. Her turquoise bodysuit was discovered nearby. She had also been riding near the canal. Unsolved: Angela Brosso, 22, and 17-year-old Melanie Bernas were murdered 11 months apart while riding their bike through Phoenix Arizona in the early 1990s. Police finally made an arrest this week . Scene: Phoenix Police Crime Response Unit members inspect the house of a Bryan Patrick Miller, the suspect of at least two 1992 murders of two young women in Arizona . New evidence: Police are expected to spend several days combing through Miller's home . Investigation: Miller's alleged victims had both disappeared riding bikes near the Amazon Canal in Phoenix . Social media: According to Miller's Facebook page he is a father of one, works as a driver for Amazon, likes Zombie films and conventions and recently embarked on a relationship . Investigators took six months to link the killings through forensic evidence and failed to make a breakthrough until Tuesday, when they Miller on two counts of first-degree murder and kidnapping and one count of sexual assault. Police said they tied the case to Miller through DNA, but refused to say how they obtained the sample. Police continued to comb through Miller's home near North Mountain Park on Thursday and are likely to be there for several days. So far, there is no evidence that Miller knew either victim, Crump said. A bike was found in a shed in Miller's backyard, but Crump said it wasn't immediately clear if it belonged to either victim. Neither of the women's bikes - Brosso's purple, 21-speed Diamondback nor Bernas's green SPC Hardrock Sport - has ever been found, suggesting the killer may have kept them as trophies. Miller appeared in court Wednesday without an attorney. According to police, he denied any involvement in the killings during a police interview. He acknowledged living in the vicinity at the time of the murders and that he rode his bike on the bike paths. Jason Brosius, who worked with Miller at the time of his assault arrest in Everett, said he never saw Miller exhibit any strange behavior. 'He was kind of a quiet person but he wasn't anymore quiet than anybody else,' said Brosius, who still works at the same company, a provider of truck accessories. 'He didn't show any crazy, weird flags to me. He seemed pretty square.' Brosius recalled how Miller moved right after his acquittal without saying much to anyone. Crime scene investigators admit they were traumatized by the sheer brutality of the 1990s murders. 'It's the most brutal murder we've probably ever had,' said William Schira, a Phoenix detective on the cold-case squad . Archive: The murders in Phoenix in 1992 and 1993 - crime scene pictured here - terrified the city . Shocking: The disappearance and then discovered of the two victims bodies frightened the area . Shocking: Angela Brosso, 22, was killed in November 1992 and her body was found shortly after she went missing. Her decapitated head was found 11 days later in the Arizona Canal . 'He came back here, collected his personal stuff and that was the last anybody saw of him,' Brosius said. 'He said he was going back to Arizona, and that was it.' Police said the killer probably had special military training due to the speed and brutality of the women's executions. 'It's the most brutal murder we've probably ever had,' said William Schira, a Phoenix detective on the cold-case squad said in 2012. Phoenix police and the Cold Case Homicide Unit launched a fresh appeal for information that year, hoping someone who lived in the area may recall anything unusual among their neighbours. 'We're calling on the public who lived in that area at the time to think: 'Who had specialized training and might have seemed a little off?',' said Phoenix police Sgt Troy Hillman at the time. It is not known whether Miller's arrest was made as a result of that inquiry. Zombie Hunter: Miller appears to have been obsessed with horror and fantasy and would attended fan conventions in a decommissioned police car, which he called 'The Arizona Zombie Hunter' According to Miller's Facebook page he is a father of one, works as a driver for Amazon, likes Zombie films and conventions and recently embarked on a relationship. A recent posting read: 'I have had to deal with some if the worst rejections you can imagine and some that were exceptionally cruel.. I am awkward when it comes to a lot of social aspects of my life'. Another in October last year read: 'My birthday is on friday and normally I dread my birthday because of well 'reasons', but this year I have decided to celebrate my birthday the entire month of October. Seeing friends, concerts, food, car-related events, and just trying to enjoy things more, and this weekend I have the zombie walk and an extra day off and then next week is Halloween and Fearcon.'
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Bryan Patrick Miller, 42, was arrested Tuesday in Phoenix for a double- murder cold case .
Angela Brusso, 22, and Melanie Bernas, 17, killed in Phoenix 22 years ago .
Miss Brusso's head was discovered in Arizona canal in November 1992 .
Miss Bernas's body was found in the same canal in September 1993 .
Records show Miller was charged with a stabbing in Washington in 2002 .
He was acquitted after arguing the female victim tried to rob him .
He also served time for stabbing a woman in high school .
Investigators say he was linked to the murders through DNA evidence .
Miller drove around Phoenix in a decommissioned cop car dressed in a cyber punk costume calling himself 'The Arizona Zombie Hunter'
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Adam Lallana might have supported Everton as a youngster but the Liverpool midfielder is still getting to grips with life on Merseyside. The 26-year-old, who was born in St Albans and raised on the south coast, moved to Anfield from Southampton in a £25million deal last summer. But it appears the England man has not yet adjusted to all aspects of life in Liverpool after struggling with a 'Scouse test' from his new club's media team. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Liverpool's Adam Lallana take a 'Scouse test' Adam Lallana takes part in a 'Scouse test' at Liverpool after joining the club last summer . Lallana (left) tussles with defender Chris Smalling during England training on Tuesday at St George's Park . In a sneak peek of the full video, Lallana was asked to give a definition of the Scouse phrase 'lid', which means lad. The former Bournemouth youngster looked dumbfounded until being given a couple of examples of the word - 'that's sound that, lid' and 'nice one, lid'. He then quickly worked out the meaning of the word and added it to his growing Scouse vocabulary. Nice one Adam, lid. Ex-Southampton midfielder Lallana grins as he struggles to work out the meaning of the Scouse phrase 'lid' Lallana, pictured in action against Real Madrid, is settling in at Anfield after spending 14 years at Southampton .
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Adam Lallana joined Liverpool from Southampton for £25million .
The midfielder is settling in at Anfield after an injury early in the season .
Lallana struggles to understand the phrase 'lid' in a 'Scouse test'
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By . Alasdair Glennie Tv Correspondent . Janet Ellis, who has suffered the pain of ten miscarriages shared her story to promote health charity Wellbeing of Women . It is a heartache she chose to keep private for many years. But having suffered the pain of ten miscarriages, Janet Ellis feels she is well-placed to observe how women can often be ‘stoic’ when it comes to their feelings. Miss Ellis, 58, one of Blue Peter’s best-loved presenters, had a string of miscarriages between 1994 and 1999. She eventually gave up on having a fourth child to focus on her daughter Sophie Ellis-Bextor, now 35 and a singer, and her two younger siblings. Sharing her story to promote health charity Wellbeing of Women, she said her gender has a tendency to ‘suffer in silence’. ‘I talked to the people who needed to know ... I didn’t want it to become the main thing about me,’ she said. Miss Ellis said she believes women often neglect their own wellbeing to care for others, adding: ‘There is a tendency for women to ignore their own health problems until things get really terrible. ‘I think most women are quite stoic about how they are feeling. They tend not to mention the trivial headache or the cold, whereas it does sometimes become a bit more of a production for men.’ Miss Ellis presented Blue Peter from 1983 to 1987. She quit after giving birth to her son Jackson, now 27, with her second husband John Leach. At the time it was speculated that the presenter was forced to leave the BBC because they were unmarried at the time. But she now insists the decision was entirely her own. She said: ‘I was prioritising baby. With two small children, and that amount of filming and live shows, it wasn’t a difficult decision to make. Janet eventually gave up on having a fourth child to focus on her daughter Sophie Ellis Bextor, pictured, and her two younger siblings . ‘Blue Peter was perfect while it lasted. Sophie was young enough to fit in with what I was doing. But I think that sort of thing becomes harder when children get older. 'I might have stayed on a couple of years if I hadn’t had Jack, but he was a jolly good reason to leave. So I never regretted it.’ Calling for more older women to be put on TV, she added: ‘I think the right person for the job, and if she happens to be an older women, then of course. A bit of positive discrimination doesn’t go amiss.’ Miss Ellis went on to have her second daughter Martha-Rose in 1991.
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TV presenter suffered the pain of ten miscarriages between 1994 and 1999 .
Says women can often be 'stoic' when it comes to their feelings .
Eventually gave up on having a fourth child to focus on her other children .
They include singer Sophie Ellis Bextor and her two younger siblings .
Has shared her experience to promote health charity Wellbeing of Women .
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More than 200 women and girls were raped by Sudanese soldiers in their village in North Darfur after one of the nearby garrison's men went missing. The women - including 80 schoolgirls - were subjected to the eight-hour ordeal on Friday night, just hours after the garrison's commander gave the villagers until sunset to retrieve the missing soldier. One of the elders in Tabit, near El Fasher, told Radio Dabanga they were caught by surprise when the soldiers surrounded their village at 8pm. The brutal attack on the women and girls took place in a village in north Darfur in Sudan (file picture) 'They beat the people with rifle butts and chased all of the men outside the village,' he added. 'Then they started to rape about 200 women and girls, which lasted from Friday evening until 4am on Saturday.' He said the commander came to the village on Friday morning, claiming that one of his soldiers went missing on Thursday evening, and demanding the villagers retrieve him, AllAfrica.com reported. 'They also prevented us from transferring the wounded to El Fasher city, the Unamid base, or to Shangil Tobaya,' the village elder added. The commander admitted that his men committed the mass rape and apologized to the victims for the soldiers' actions. He also acknowledged that his men had beaten and humiliated the men in Tabit. The villagers have rejected his apology. One of the Sheikhs in Tabit told Radio Dabanga that the commander arrived in Tabit on Monday morning accompanied by a lieutenant and two vehicles mounted with a heavy machine gun. The village of Tabit is located in North Darfur - one of the five states composing the Darfur region of Sudan . He said: 'The commander acknowledged that his forces 'committed a mistake' against Tabit. He explained that the soldier who went missing was found in Tawila locality.' The commander asked the villagers to record the names of the rape victims and the wounded, and to bring them to the military hospital in El Fasher. 'We refused his apology,' the Sheikh added, 'and demand the formation of an independent investigation into the crime, and to bring the perpetrators to justice.' He said that following the brutal attack no Sudanese authorities or Unamid forces came to the area. Meanwhile, a number of families from Tabit have moved to Zamzam camp for the displaced in El Fasher and others are preparing to leave the area.
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Mass rape was carried out in the village of Tabit into early hours of Saturday .
Soldiers beat people with rifle butts and chased the men out of the village .
Commander admitted that his men committed the mass rape and apologized .
Villagers refused apology and are demanding the men be brought to justice .
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The first clip from the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be shown in the US on Friday… but some fans have been taken in ahead of its release by cleverly made fake trailers. A teaser trailer for The Force Awakens will be shown in at least 100 theaters across America. It’ll be the first ever glimpse of J J Abrams' blockbuster. However, lots of people thought they’d already had one. Scroll down for videos . Fake: A scene from a trailer purporting to be for the new Star Wars film . The Fakes Awaken: Some people have been fooled by the fake trailers, such are their quality . A fake trailer titled Star Wars: The Force Awakens International Teaser Trailer uploaded to YouTube on Monday has been viewed over four million times. It contains slickly edited Star Wars scenes and dramatic voiceovers – even the logos for Disney and Abrams’ production company Bad Robot – and fooled lots of users. Comments such as ‘amazing’ and ‘incredible’ were posted underneath it, but some quickly figured out that it was a compilation of shots from various films and computer games. One user realised it was fake from the sound quality. User Rocky Severino said: ‘I'm an audio engineer and trust me no self respecting studio would ever mix the voices so they could barely be understood because of blaring music and sound effects, just trash.’ Another phony trailer called Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Black Friday Trailer 2015 cheekily used sequences from hit video game Destiny – but still pulled the wool over the eyes of some users. Doesn't compute: This shot, from a supposed Star Wars trailer, is actually from the trailer for video game Destiny . Hole load of phony: Another scene from Destiny passed off as Star Wars VII . CA Irvine — Edwards Irvine Spectrum 22 & IMAX . CA San Diego — Edwards Mira Mesa Stadium 18 IMAX & RPX . GA Atlanta — Regal Atlantic Station Stadium 18 IMAX & RPX . IL Chicago — Regal City North Stadium 14 IMAX & RPX . NY New York — Regal Union Square Stadium 14 . PA Warrington — Regal Warrington Crossing Stadium 22 & IMAX . TN Knoxville — Regal Pinnacle Stadium 18 IMAX & RPX . TX Houston — Edwards Houston Marq'E Stadium 23 IMAX & RPX . WA Seattle — Regal Thornton Place Stadium 14 & IMAX . One user said ‘that looked real for a minute!’, while another wrote ‘this looks awesome!’ Star Wars Episode 7 Official Trailer LEAKED, meanwhile, made little effort to pretend it was real, with every shot containing exaggerated lens flare – one of Abrams’ favorite techniques. The real trailer is expected to be shown for only two days, but will also be available on iTunesTrailers. Regal Cinemas announced that the real trailer will play before all movies showing at nine of its locations. Some of the locations where the trailer will be shown are the Edwards Irvine Spectrum 22 & IMAX in Irvine, California, the Edwards Mira Mesa Stadium 18 IMAX & RPX in San Diego, California, the Regal Atlantic Station Stadium 18 IMAX & RPX in Atlanta, Georgia, the Regal City North Stadium 14 IMAX & RPX in Chicago, Illinois and the Regal Union Square Stadium 14 in New York City, among others. More locations could be announced, maybe from other chains as well. The trailer is reportedly not very long - a minute at most - and will include only a few glimpses as there has not been enough time to edit and polish the footage. Abrams has revealed little teases about the film online.He has shared a quick look at the Millennium Falcon and also the X-Wing. The film is set 30 years after The Return Of The Jedi and is being produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Lucasfilm, and Bad Robot Productions.The Force Awakens will be released on December 18, 2015. And for comparison, here's the real thing: . The first cast and crew meeting: Director JJ Abrams chats with Ford, Fisher, Driver and Hamill, among others, in London earlier this year before filming began . The Lord in black: The new film is set 30 years after Darth Vader, seen here in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes back, perished .
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First clip from Star Wars: The Force Awakens to be shown in US on Friday .
Teaser trailer will be shown in at least 100 theaters across America .
Some fans have been taken in ahead of its release by fake trailers .
Scroll down to see the real teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 08:48 EST, 3 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 20:55 EST, 3 December 2013 . A father-to-be tormented by his fear of noise may have thrown himself under a Tube train, an inquest heard yesterday. Neil Carter, 37, ‘felt like there was no way out’ due to his phobia of certain sounds, the hearing was told. The IT consultant suffered from misophonia, a rare and incurable neurological disease that gave him a heightened sensitivity to noise. Neil Carter (left, with his wife Lucy in Australia in 2010) died after he was hit by a tube train, an inquest has heard . Misofonia, literally 'hatred of sound', is a newly diagnosed condition which usually sets in between 10 and 12 years old. The sounds trigger a 'flight or flight' style response in the sufferer, provoking either extreme anger or fear, most commonly anger. The closer a sufferer is to the person making the trigger sound, the stronger the response. The illness means specific sounds – . such as other people walking, chewing or breathing – can trigger rage, . panic and even the urge to be violent towards those making the sound. Mr . Carter’s psychiatrist, Dr Elise Stephen, said she had referred him to . The Priory clinic in Roehampton, South-West London, less than a . fortnight before his death in November last year. He became a voluntary . inpatient after being made redundant. Dr . Stephen told West London Coroner’s Court: ‘I was concerned at the . frequency and intensity of his suicidal thoughts the last time I saw him . on November 7. ‘He told . me that he had been at his brother’s party recently and the noise had . been too much. He felt like there was no way out and feared he could not . be a provider for his family because of his illness. He said he . struggled to cope.’ Mr . Carter, of East Ewell in Surrey, died when he was hit by a train at . Turnham Green Underground station on November 20 last year, after going . missing from The Priory. IT consultant Neil Carter 'felt like there was no way out' due to his fear of certain sounds, the inquest was told . A . report by Dr Stephen described the patient’s ‘very low mood’ and said: . ‘We discussed his mental state with his depressive symptoms. We . discussed how he had thought about jumping in front of a train, but he . said he definitely would not do it.’ She added: ‘We had discussed getting new headphones for him as his other ones were hurting his ears.’ Dr . Niall Campbell, a psychiatrist from The Priory, said no formal risk . assessment had been carried out as to whether Mr Carter was a suicide . risk. The inquest heard he used a cash machine at 1.30pm on the day he . died, but was not officially recorded as missing until 5.30pm. Mr Carter suffered from a rare and incurable neurological disease called Misophonia, which means 'hatred of sound' Mr Carter died when he was hit by a tube train in west London on November 20 last year . A . Priory report on the patient’s state of mind written in October last . year said: ‘He felt like there was no way out. The noise and fear of . noise is an intrusion into his life. He has suicidal thoughts, but no . plan to carry it out.’ Dr . Campbell said he thought Mr Carter’s situation may improve with the . right treatment, ‘but Neil said he was not so optimistic’. The . psychiatrist added: ‘The anti-depressants had not been working for him, . but it was still early days.’ The . inquest heard Mr Carter had the painkiller Tramadol in his system when . he died, but he had not been prescribed it by The Priory. The inquest continues. For confidential support on suicide matters call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch or click here.
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Neil Carter 'felt like there was no way out' due to condition, hearing was told .
37-year-old suffered from rare neurological disease called Misophonia .
Condition meant Mr Carter had a heightened sensitivity to noise .
He died after he was hit by a train after going missing from The Priory .
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f581b521038ab7202bbbc595294f427afa198e0a
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By . James Slack, Home Affairs Editor . British children using social networking sites have unwittingly been the victim of one of the world's worst ever child pornography rings, it has emerged. Police are preparing to make arrests across the UK of dozens of men who had paid to access the secret obscene image-sharing website. The US authorities - which smashed the international ring - called it 'one of the largest known online child exploitation operations in history'. Scroll down for video . Sting: British police are poised to make arrests after one of the worst ever child pornography rings was uncovered in the U.S. Fourteen men were arrested after more than 250 children, mostly boys were found to be victims. U.S. officials identified 27-year-old Jonathan Johnson (pictured) as the the main administer of the site . Many of the victims were contacted via social network sites and 'enticed to produce sexually explicit material'. Some of the men responsible tricked them by posing as females. More than 27,000 subscribers to the vile secret network had access to 2,000 videos filmed on computer webcams. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the US said they had arrested 14 American men who operated the member-only site from the southern state of Louisiana. Investigators have so far identified 251 child victims, of whom 243 were boys. There were 228 Americans and a total of 23 from Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Belgium. The majority were aged 13 to 15, but 33 were aged under 12 and two were aged just three. The UK's National Crime Agency has been handed detailed intelligence on British users of the site, who now face being arrested. Big win: Officials with customs and homeland security announced the major sting in a press conference held Tuesday . Daniel Ragsdale, of the Department of Homeland Security, said: 'Never before in the history of this agency have we identified and located this many minor victims in the course of a single child exploitation investigation.' He said the agency was fighting 'a growing trend where children are being enticed, tricked and coerced online by adults to produce sexually explicit material of themselves'. Some of the 14 alleged operators assumed female identities to contact their targets on popular social network sites. They have been charged with running a child exploitation enterprise after allegedly distributing the material through the Tor network, or so-called 'dark web'. This allows Internet anonymity by hiding online traffic and a user's location. The network, which was operated for a year from mid-2012 to last June, was unmasked after an item was sent through the US Postal Service to a child. At least 300 subscribers to the site in the US and overseas face lesser charges. An NCA spokesman said: 'We can confirm that information was sent to the CEOP command from our law enforcement colleagues in the United States. 'A number of disseminations have been made to UK police forces, but as investigations are ongoing, we cannot comment further at this time.' Predators: Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the fourteen men arrested preyed upon 'the most innocent, most vulnerable members of our society' Earlier this year, the Internet Watch Foundation warned of the dangers of UK teenagers sharing explicit images on social networking sites. The IWF said children who used the likes of Facebook, the imgur or Flickr photo sharing websites or the Snapchat mobile phone app to send explicit pictures or videos to a boyfriend or girlfriend did not believe the images would be widely circulated. But analysts found nine out of ten images posted on the internet featuring young people later re-appeared on so-called 'parasite' websites after being stolen, hacked or copied. Once in circulation, it is very hard for them to be removed. Susie Hargreaves, the IWF chief executive, said young people must understand they were exposing themselves to 'ridiculous levels of risk'. She added: 'It can happen across the board to any child of any class.' Over a period of just 47 working hours - the IWF logged 12,224 sexual images or videos of young people that had been uploaded to the internet. Of these, 10,776 were later found on so-called 'parasite' websites, often designed solely for the purpose of displaying explicit images of children or teenagers. Roy Naim, an immigration activists from Brooklyn, New York (left) and Andrew Korpal from Granger, Indiana (right) were two of the men arrested in the bust . 24-year-old Michael J Eales of Westby, Wisconsin (left) and Tuckerton, New Jersey-resident Stanley Zdon III (right) were also arrested . Speaking earlier this week, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said: 'These . alleged perpetrators preyed upon the most innocent, most vulnerable . members of our society with no regard to the immediate or lasting harm . they caused to their victims and their families.' The investigation was led by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Postal Inspection Service. All . of the victims have been contacted by law enforcement officials and the . U.S. victims have been offered the assistance of HSI victim assistance . specialists. There are still some 300 ongoing investigations into the website's subscribers. Eleven of the 14 men, including the man authorities say was the administrator of the network, are being prosecuted in Louisiana. The other three are being charged in New York, Colorado and Wisconsin. Authorities accuse Jonathan Johnson of of Abita Springs, Louisiana, of being the leader of the operation. They said he admitted creating multiple fake female personas from his home and encouraged others to do the same in an effort to entice boys to produce sexually explicit images of themselves. Court papers show Johnson was charged last month through a criminal information, a document that can only be filed with a defendant's consent. It signals a guilty plea. He faces 20 years to life in prison. A lawyer for Johnson did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Tuesday. Jonathan Johnson, 27 . Albita Springs, Louisiana . Daniel Nolan Devor, 39 . Brunswick, Georgia . John C Foster, 44 . Tipp City, Ohio . Aung Gaw aka Michael Gaw, 25 . Fremont, California . Vittorio Francesco Gonzalez-Castillo, 26 . Tucson, Arizona . Sean Jabbar, 32 . Minneapolis, Minnesota . Christopher Jamieson, 30 . Douglassville, Georgia . Andrew Korpal, 29 . Granger, Indiana . Nicholas Saine, 27 . Seattle, Washington . Christopher Schwab, 25 . New Orleans, Louisiana . Stanley Zdon III, 27 . Tuckerton, New Jersey . Roy Naim, 30 . Brooklyn, New York . Minh Vi THong, 30 . Denver, Colorado . Michael Easles, 24 . Westby, Wisconsin .
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British police are preparing to arrest dozens of men who accessed the secret obscene image-sharing website .
It comes after 14 U.S. men were arrested earlier this week as the authorities uncovered one of the world's worst ever pornography rings .
American Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced the major bust in a press conference on Tuesday .
The administrator of the website has been identified as Jonathan Johnson of Abita Springs, Louisiana .
A total of 251 children were connected to the website, and most of them were boys between the ages of of 13 and 15 .
Two of the victims were 3 years old or younger .
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By . Harriet Arkell . Gordon Higinbotham, 42, says he let escorts work from his Hull council house and took a share of the proceeds in exchange for protecting them . An unemployed father-of-four has admitted helping run an escort agency from his taxpayer-funded house. Tattooed Gordon Higinbotham, 42, who appeared in the controversial TV show Benefits Britain: Life On The Dole, says he would provide protection for escort girls as they entertained clients at his council house in Hull, East Yorkshire. Humberside police are now investigating claims he took a quarter of the women's profits in exchange for letting them meet clients at his three-bedroom home while he sat in an adjoining room. Mr Higinbotham, who has a foot-long tattoo of Adolf Hitler on his back and a picture of the Ku Klux Klan on his stomach, told a journalist he housed escorts at his house over a period of several years, despite claiming benefits for most of his adult life. He said: 'The girls used to see clients in my house and I sat next door to make sure they didn't get hurt. 'I did it on and off for a few years and I did the advertising just to help out. My aim wasn't to make money off it, I wanted to protect the girls. 'If they earned £40, I would receive £10 of that for my protection.' Mr Higinbotham placed advertisements for the escort agency, called Kaz For Others, in his local paper, boasting of services including 'Feet and Secret Fantasies', 'Bi Couple, male and female' and 'Mark, male escort'. The Hull Daily Mail said its records showed an account in his name had placed more than 100 advertisements costing nearly £400 in the paper since August 2011. Mr Higinbotham, who is a grandfather, said he began doing it after he met some escort girls in his local supermarket and they told him they were having problems with clients. He said: 'They were extremely upset - their clients were hurting them - so I decided to let them use my house. 'It just a little bit of money - nothing major.' But he insisted he was no longer involved, and later said he had had 'nothing to do with' the business beyond taking out adverts and providing his house for the escort service to take place in. Mr Higinbotham became notorious after he appeared in the Channel 5 Benefits Britain documentary earlier this month, saying: 'I like anyone as long as they're English.' He was also filmed telling his daughter and her husband he would pay them if they voted for UKIP in May’s European elections. After the show was broadcast he claimed he and his family had been wrongly portrayed as 'racist morons' - though Channel 5 said Mr Higinbotham's views had been 'faithfully reported' - and said they had received death threats, leaving them frightened to leave the house. In January 2009 the skinhead was given a two-year antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) for distributing material that could incite racial hatred, and he was also banned from showing off his 15 racist tattoos in public. The grandfather says he began helping escort girls after they told him they were being hurt by their clients . Mr Higinbotham, a father of four and grandfather, says he received death threats after he appeared on TV . 'Skinhead': Mr Higinbotham, who has received benefits for most of his adult life, is covered with tattoos . A year earlier, he was caught on CCTV sticking far-right messages on shop windows, blocks of flats and public places. Today, spokesmen for both Hull City Council and Humberside Police said they were investigating allegations Mr Higinbotham had allowed escort services to operate in his home. A spokesman for the police said: 'Humberside Police have been made aware of the issue and will be looking into this.' Phil Webster, cabinet member at Hull City Council, said: 'We will now investigate Gordon Higinbotham and the benefits he has claimed. 'If he is found to have breached his contract with a council-owned house, he could be evicted.'
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Gordon Higinbotham, 42, from Hull, appeared on Benefits Britain programme .
Says he received death threats after show 'portrayed him as racist moron'
Now the unemployed father of four admits he let escorts work in his home .
Says he took share of proceeds in exchange for protecting the escort girls .
Told journalist: 'If they earned £40, I would receive £10 for my protection'
Hull Daily Mail says he spent £400 placing 100 adverts for escort agency .
Mr Higinbotham says he only did it to help protect girls from abusive clients .
Humberside Police and Hull City Council say they're investigating the claims .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 08:15 EST, 12 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 10:05 EST, 12 March 2014 . A murder trial is set to start on Wednesday for a New Jersey man charged with tossing his 2-year-old daughter into a creek while she was still strapped in her car seat. Arthur Morgan III of Eatontown is accused of weighing down the seat with a tire-changing jack so that it would sink. He's charged with killing his daughter, Tierra Morgan-Glover, in November 2011. 'Murdered': Tierra Morgan-Glover (left) was . allegedly killed by Morgan (right) while the 27-year-old was on a . court-approved visit with her. They had been due to watch the animated . film Happy Feet Two together . Indicted: Morgan's trial begins on Wednesday. Here he is shown during a previous court appearance . Her body was found in a creek inside a Jersey Shore park after he failed to return the girl to her mother following a trip to see a movie about dancing penguins. An autopsy determined that the child was alive when she hit the water. Morgan fled to California following the child's death. He was found by a fugitive recovery task force. Prosecutors say Morgan had asked the girl's mother if he could take Tierra to see the movie Happy Feet Two. Grief: The girl's mother Imani Benton, centre, weeps during Morgan's previous court appearance . Tragic: The toddler was still strapped in her car seat when she was found partially submerged in a creek at Shark River Park (pictured) in New Jersey . When he did not return her after a few hours, the mother called police. A warrant charging Morgan with child endangerment was issued before the girl's body was found. But . an abduction alert for Tierra was not issued because the state had no . reason to believe the child was in danger until she was found dead. According . to prosecutors, Morgan tossed the car seat, with his daughter strapped . snugly inside its protective belts, from an overpass into the chilly . water of the creek. The . creek, about 20 miles north of where she lived, is up to 7ft deep in the . area where the body was found, near an overpass 15ft above the creek. Caught: Arthur Morgan III, with his arms handcuffed behind his back, lies on the ground surrounded by U.S. Marshals following his dramatic arrest in San Diego . Floored: Tierra's death sparked a week-long manhunt for her father across the U.S. To . ensure that her car seat sank, he had attached a car jack, the heavy . metal contraption used to raise a car's chassis to change a flat tire. Her cause of death was listed as 'homicidal violence, including submersion in water'. An autopsy determined that the child was alive when she hit the water. Should . Morgan be convicted, prosecutors say they will seek to have him . imprisoned for the rest of his life without parole – the harshest . punishment available in New Jersey since state officials instituted a . moratorium on new death penalty cases several years ago.
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Arthur Morgan III was found at a house in California after a week on the run in November 2011 .
Daughter was found face down in a stream after being 'thrown in alive'
Morgan, 30, had been on court-approved visit when he disappeared .
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A 64-year-old Pennsylvania woman who has said she sold marijuana to help raise several grandchildren after her daughter died has been sentenced to 15 to 30 months in state prison. The Valley News Dispatch reported Candace Kelly was also ordered Thursday to cough up $75,000 for fines, and appear December 1 at a prison. Kelly entered guilty pleas last month for drug selling charges, according to the newspaper. Grandmother: Candace Kelly, 64, has said the funds she made from selling drugs were used to raise her multiple grandchildren . Drug selling: Police say Kelly bought large quantities of marijuana at $3,300 per pound and resold it at a profit of $100 per pound . It is believed by investigators that Kelly sold up to 100 pounds of marijuana a year for more than four years, The Valley News Dispatch reported. State police seized $393,000 when they raided her Buffalo Township home last fall. Police also seized 64 pounds of hydroponically grown marijuana. The newspaper reported that police seized 2 pounds of hallucinogenic mushrooms as well as roughly 2 pounds of hashish - plus 'drug pipes, items used to package the marijuana, a marijuana grinder, digital scale, and papers showing the extent of her drug trafficking.' The Pennsylvania State Police, as well as the Pennsylvania State Attorney General's drug task force, are set to get the majority of Kelly's hefty funds -- which she assented to handing over at the October plea hearing, The Valley News Dispatch reported. She has said the funds were used by her to support her grandchildren. Police say Kelly bought large quantities of marijuana at $3,300 per pound and resold it at a profit of $100 per pound. 'Legalize it man,' Kelly told CBS Pittsburgh in January 2014. 'If I can make that kind of money, why can’t the rest of Pennsylvania wise up? 'I never got on Welfare, I never drew anything from the system, I raised all my kids on my own. That’s my only crime.' Peace: Kelly gave the peace sign to a local news station in January 2014 and said at the time she supported marijuana legalization .
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Candace Kelly, 64, has been sentenced to 15 to 30 months in state prison .
She has also been ordered to cough up $75,000 for fines, and appear December 1 at a prison .
State police seized $393,000 when they raided her Buffalo Township home last fall - along with 64 pounds of hydroponically grown marijuana .
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A family is in hiding after the wrong magistrate was accused of being responsible for the release on bail of deranged terrorist Man Haron Monis. Police have been regularly monitoring the family home of Darryl Pearce after he was incorrectly singled out as the presiding court official who released Monis, despite the 50-year-old facing more than 40 offences. 'They are very overwhelmed by it all,' a family friend told Daily Mail Australia. Scroll down for video . Deranged gunman Man Haron Monis pictured in 2009 leaving Downing Centre Local Court after he had been charged with seven counts of unlawfully using the postal service to menace, after sending harassing letters to families of killed Australian soldiers. A Sydney magistrate is in hiding after being wrongly accused of granting him bail during a separate court case . Hostages flee the Lindt cafe in the early hours of Tuesday morning as the Sydney siege reached a tragic climax . A hostage escapes the clutches of crazed terrorist Man Haron Monis during the Sydney siege . A police raid on the house of Amirah Droudis, the girlfriend of dead Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis . Amirah Droudis, girlfriend of dead Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis, pictured arriving at police station in Western Sydney after the fatal shootout . The self-proclaimed sheik, Man Haron Monis, was on bail facing charges of being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife, when he stormed the central Sydney cafe on Monday and held 17 people hostage. Monis and two of his hostages died at the end of the near 17-hour siege. But a mix-up over whether the magistrate's name was Pierce or Pearce has caused heartache for the latter. Mr Pearce's family have been the subject of tirades of abuse, and even death threats, after it was claimed, incorrectly, that he had made the bail decision. 'I guess is a natural reaction by some members of the public who feel obliged to stick their head up and make an issue of it but sometimes they do too much,' the Daily Mail was told. The woman wouldn't elaborate on the level of threats but confirmed there had been serious warnings levelled at the Pearce family and police were at the premises. 'They're worried about the unknown, the fact that it has gone way too far and they were wrongly singled out especially by those who are just ranting about the issue and using the wrong name. 'They just want to keep their heads down and are very guarded about who they speak to now.' The Department of Justice refused to confirm that Mr Pearce and his family were under police protection, a spokesman telling Daily Mail Australia that they would not be drawn on the matter. 'We will not be making comment about any apparent threats against the judiciary and cannot reveal any security arrangements,' he said. First it was floral tributes now Sydney has taken to placing chalk messages to the victims of the Martin Place siege . 'RIP Katrina & Tori'. A message aimed at the two hostages killed by Monis in the Lindt cafe . Monis, whose real name is recorded as Mohammad Hassas Manteghi, was due to face court on February 27 next year. He was placed on a good behaviour bond in 2013 when he wrote a series of offensive letters to families of Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan. But within a year he had been charged with being an accessory to his ex-wife's murder and more than 40 sex offences against several women. Ms Pal, 30, was stabbed to death and set alight in April 2013 in a Werrington unit block in western Sydney. Monis' then partner, Amirah Droudis, 34, has been charged with her murder. He had been released on bail in December last year on the accessory charge under the old bail laws. It has since been reported that Magistrate William Pierce said that the crown, in fact, had a weak case against Monis and that the pair did not represent a threat to the public. 'If there is a threat, it was to this woman who was murdered,' Pierce was reporting as saying. However, he reappeared in court on May 26, only days after new bail laws came into effect, and again in October over new sexual assault offences. He was deemed then to pose an 'unacceptable risk to interfering with witnesses and endangering the safety of victims and individuals in the community'. But the 50-year-old committed sexual offences against women in the Sydney suburbs of Burwood, Liverpool, Westmead and Belmore between September 2001 and September 2014. The assaults committed in his registered business called Spiritual Consultation included sexual intercourse without consent and rubbing of genitalia during sessions in which he apparently acted as a 'spiritual healer'. Further court documents show he threatened to shoot the mother of his two sons at Minchinbrook in western Sydney, almost two years before Noleen Hayson Pal was murdered. Flowers are left as a sign of respect at Martin Place in Sydney. Lone gunman Man Haron Monis, was shot dead by police in the early hours of Tuesday morning after taking hostages at the Lindt Chocolat Cafe Two other people died, 33-year-old cafe manager Tori Johnson and 38-year-old Sydney barrister Katrina Dawson. According to an interview at St Mary's Police Station on July 27, 2011, Monis threatened Ms Pal after they had split up and demanded custody of their children, then aged seven and three. Ms Pal, who told police she was afraid of Monis, had met him at a local fast food outlet a week earlier to discuss custody. Police say Monis told her 'if I can't see the kids more than I am now, you're going to pay, even I I have to shoot you'. Court documents from 2011, when he was charged with stalking and intimidating his ex-wife Noleen Hayson Pal, reveal he had a firearm licence while working as a security officer, but it had expired. The file also shows that he allegedly threatened to shoot his former partner if his demands were not met. But the 2011 charges against Monis of stalking or intimidating his wife were dropped. He told police he was just 'a protective father' and wanted full custody of his sons because he feared they were being maltreated. Asked about the threat to shoot Ms Pal he said 'I didn't threaten her'. Monis told investigating officers that he was a former 'security offficer in Australia' and that he had previously held a forearm licence and gone target shooting. Members of the Muslim community have flocked to the makeshift shrine in Martin Place to pay their respects . Faiths of all varieties have been present at the Martin Place shrine in the hours after the deadly shootout . There have been tears and tributes as Sydneysiders struggle to come to grips with the tragedy which took place at the cafe on Tuesday morning . But Ms Pal, who became Monis' de-facto wife some nine years before she was murdered, died in a brutal killing on the afternoon of Sunday, April 21. Lured to his Werrington flat, she was set upon, stabbed 18 times and then doused with an accelerant and set alight. Neighbours in the block reported seeing a woman in a black cape run from the flat. It was not until seven months later, in October 2013, that police arrested and charged Monis' girlfriend, Amirah Droudis with murder and charged him with being an accessory to murder before and after the fact. Flowers are placed on top of barriers outside the Lindt cafe where a crazed gunman held 17 people hostage, killing two and wounding several others . Police opposed bail, and he was put in custody where he complained that he'd been 'tortued' and had 'excrement' thrown on him. But last December he was released on bail. In April this year, he was charged with sexual assault, and was granted bail. However, a further 40 sexual assault charges were laid against Monis on October 10, but he was still allowed to walk free. His bail conditions included not going within 500 metres of an airport, not approaching witnesses or victims, reporting every day to Campsie Police Station and surrendering his passport. The floral tribute outside Martin Place for victims of the Sydney siege. The family of magistrate Darryl Pearce is under police protection after he was wrongly named as being responsible for the bail release of gunman Man Haron Monis .
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The family of the magistrate wrongly named as giving bail to deranged gunman Man Haron Monis has been threatened .
Regular police presence around the family home of Darryl Pearce .
More details about the crazed gunman's past revealed .
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When she was found abandoned in a carrier bag in a park, this new baby was just a few hours from death, police said yesterday. The little girl, thought to be only a day or two old, was said to be alert and contented as she recovered in hospital. Officers released this picture of the baby - named Jade by hospital staff after the dog walker who found her - in an effort to trace her mother. Scroll down for video . Found: This newborn girl, known as 'Baby Jade', was discovered in a Birmingham park on Wednesday . Safe: The girl is now recovering in hospital, but police have not yet tracked down her mother . Jade had been wrapped in a towel . inside a bag and left in Marlborough House Community Park, Birmingham, . where she was found at 2pm on Wednesday. The umbilical cord was still . attached. Roger Wilday raised the alarm after making the discovery as he walked his dog Jade through a community park in the Stechford area . of the city. The 68-year-old was led to the newborn by his pet, who refused to leave the child's side until Mr Wilday came to investigate. 'Jade . has grown up with children around her, she loves babies and when she . found the baby in the bushes she wouldn't leave until she knew I had . seen it,' the retired engineer said. 'She . is a hero dog. There was no-one else in the park at the time and it was . very cold. If it wasn't for Jade that baby could have been dead. Newborn: Jade was apparently no more than a day old when she was abandoned in Birmingham . 'I always take her to the park and we . were out walking - she was off the lead and headed off towards the . bushes. She wouldn't come back when I called her and so I had to go . over, and I saw the bag and then I heard a baby cry. 'I . reached down to look at the bag closer and I saw there was a baby . inside wrapped in a light blue blanket. I dialled 999 and picked the . baby up, and within a minute the police and ambulance were here. 'She . was a tiny little thing, you could tell she must have been recently . born, she was still warm so I don't think she had been there long.' West Midlands Police have . released several photos of the girl and a heartwarming Instagram video in order to raise the likelihood . of someone recognising her. Chief . Inspector Ian Green said: ‘Paediatricians have confirmed the baby was . lucky to be found when even just a few more hours exposed to the . elements could have had fatal consequences.’ Police hope forensic tests on the bag and DNA samples from the baby will help identify her. Hero: This dog, named Jade, found the newborn in a carrier bag hidden in a bush yesterday . Hunt: Police are scouring the park in Stechford in an effort to find clues about Baby Jade's origins . Mr . Green added: ‘I’m told she’s very alert and a contented, happy . baby … but of course what she really needs is to be in her mother’s . arms. 'Thankfully, we now know she's safe and . well - and our priority is very much on finding her mum to ensure her . safety and to provide whatever support she needs. He urged the unknown woman to call police on 101. Baby Jade, who weighs around 6lbs, is currently being treated in Birmingham Heartlands Hospital. Officers are continuing to make house-to-house inquiries near the park where the baby was found. Mr Green added: 'We're still keen to hear from witnesses who were in the park yesterday - especially anyone who saw somebody with a carrier bag from The Entertainer toy shop - or anyone who believes they could have information that will lead us to identify the mother.'
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Newborn has been nick-named 'Baby Jade' by staff treating her in hospital .
She was named after the dog which found her in a Birmingham park .
Police are hunting for the girl's mother and carrying out DNA test .
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A fourth American aid worker infected with Ebola walked into Emory University Hospital today after arriving on a medical plane. The patient, a doctor who contracted the virus in Sierra Leone, arrived at 10.20am by ambulance, with a police escort, at the Atlanta hospital to be housed in a special isolation unit. Wearing a bulky protective suit similar to those of Emory's first two arrivals, the patient walked from the ambulance to the hospital - though a different entrance was used this time around. Reporters and television cameras - but fewer curious onlookers - lined the street. Scroll down for video . The patient, a doctor who contracted the virus in Sierra Leone, arrived at 10.20am by ambulance and walked into Emory hospital with the help of a medical worker . The patient is believed to be the third American doctor to contract Ebola and had been working in a clinic in Sierra Leone . An ambulance transporting an American infected with the deadly Ebola virus from West Africa, leaves Dobbins Air Reserve Base on Tuesday . The ambulance driver was pictured on Tuesday morning wearing a protective suit and face-mask while driving to Emory . The patient's identity was not released, and the hospital released no additional details. A medical plane landed in metro Atlanta on Tuesday morning, with the patient headed to Emory University Hospital, where two others - Dr Kent Brantly and aid worker Nancy Writebol - had been successfully treated. The plane touched down around 9.20am at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, just northwest of Atlanta. Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. James Wilson confirmed the arrival. The World Health Organization said a doctor who has been working in an Ebola treatment center in Sierra Leone has tested positive for the disease. An airplane transporting an American infected with the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa, lands at Dobbins Air Reserve Base on Tuesday in Marietta, Georgia . WHO said the doctor was in stable condition on Monday in Freetown and was being evacuated. Last month, two U.S. aid workers who contracted Ebola in Liberia, Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, were treated successfully at Emory. Another worker, Dr. Rick Sacra, 51, is being treated at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. In Omaha, Sacra's family members said he was able to eat breakfast Monday for the first time since arriving Friday at the Nebraska hospital. The doctor from Worcester, Massachusetts, remains in stable condition. His wife, Debbie, said that Sacra is more alert and that they had a half-hour conversation by video conference Sunday. 'He hasn't been able to eat much since he got here, but he had some toast and applesauce,' Debbie Sacra said. Dr Rick Sacra, 51, is being treated at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha after being the third American to be diagnosed with Ebola . Dr Kent Brantly (pictured left) and aid worker Nancy Writebol both recovered from Ebola after being treated at Emory hospital last month . 'He also tolerated the research drug well - better than he had the previous doses he was given.' Sacra is being treated with an experimental drug that is different than Zmapp, the one given to Brantly and Writebol. Sacra's doctors have refused to name the drug they are using, but they say they've been consulting with experts on Ebola on his treatment. Zmapp also is experimental, and doctors and experts have said it's impossible to know whether the drug helped their recovery. Sacra went to Omaha instead of Atlanta because federal officials asked the medical center to treat him in order to prepare other isolation units to take more Ebola patients if needed. The Ebola outbreak sweeping West Africa has killed more than 2,000 people and has taken a particularly high toll on health care workers.
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The plane touched down around 9.20am at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, just northwest of Atlanta .
The patient, whose identity has not been released, will be kept in isolation .
The World Health Organization said separately that a doctor who has been working in an Ebola center in Sierra Leone tested positive for the disease .
WHO said the doctor was in stable condition and was being evacuated .
Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, were treated successfully at Emory .
Dr Rick Sacra, 51, is being treated at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha - he is stable and ate breakfast on Monday, according to family .
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The family of a man who died in 2010 believe he too may have been the victim of the the South West Water poisoning scandal. Campaigners have called for a fresh probe into Britain’s worst ever mass tapwater poisoning incident after it has been linked to the death of Richard Gibbons. Drinking supplies were polluted when tonnes of aluminium sulphate were tipped into the wrong tank at the Lowermoor treatment works in Camelford, Cornwall in July 1988. Last year an inquest ruled that Carole Cross (pictured when younger) possessed abnormal levels of the metal aluminium in her brain when she died aged aged 59 . Last year a coroner said it may have contributed to the death of Carole Cross, 59, who died in 2004. Carole suffered with a rare neurological disease and was found with high levels of aluminium in her brain. Now the family Mr Gibbons say new tests have shown that he had similarly high levels of aluminium sulphate in his brain when he died aged 60 in 2010. They said initial tests were inconclusive but a second set has proved that he had similar levels of aluminium as Ms Cross. Mr Gibbon’s son-in-law Phil Reed said: 'After his death we asked for tests to be performed to establish if there was any evidence of aluminium accumulation in his brain tissue.' 'Initial tests were performed, which proved to be inconclusive for aluminium. 'Unfortunately these tests were performed on small samples of tissue rather than the whole brain. The Lowermoor Water Treatment Works in Camelford (pictured) was the scene of a terrible accident when tonnes of aluminum were accidentally dumped into the local water supply . 'We requested that the test be re-run but using the whole brain to establish if there was any accumulation. 'After the second test it turns out that Richard’s brain did indeed have high levels of aluminium particularly in the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for short term memory. 'The two people tested for brain aluminium levels, Carole Cross and now Richard Gibbons, have shown high levels of aluminium in their brain tissue. 'This evidence shows the need for further study amongst the population exposed in July 1988.' The poisoning occurred when a relief delivery driver inadvertently dumped 20 tons of aluminium sulphate directly into the unmanned treatment works. The alumininium sulphate was then pumped into the water system to South West Water Authority's customers. There were widespread complaints of stomach cramps, ulcers aching joints and even hair turning green. The incident polluted the supply to 20,000 people but authorities insisted it was safe and even suggested the 'foul' taste could be disguised by mixing it with orange juice. Locals quickly began reporting stomach cramps, rashes, diarrhoea, mouth ulcers and aching joints - some even complained that their hair turned green. Mr Gibbons, of Tintagel, Cornwall, later complained of short-term memory loss, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and kidney damage. He also suffered with decaying finger and toe nails, skin problems and recurring gum and ear infections, which he believed were linked to the contaminated water. A recent study by the Government-appointed Lowermoor Sub Group of the Committee on Toxicity said there was 'no conclusive link' between the leak and the chronic symptoms and diseases reported. But it called for further research to examine the long-term neurological effects on young childrenand babies born in the immediate aftermath.
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Last year a coroner ruled that contaminated water may have been responsible for death of Carole Cross, 59 .
New tests have shown that when Richard Gibbons died age 60, he too had high levels of aluminum in his brain .
Government committee said that more research is needed to examine effect of metal those exposed .
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By . Sara Malm . PUBLISHED: . 10:17 EST, 24 October 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 13:21 EST, 24 October 2012 . UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is jealous of Gangnam Style artist Psy, because he has stolen his crown as the world’s most famous South Korean. The UN chief joked during a meeting with Psy that he felt overshadowed by the star, whose video has scored over 500 million views on YouTube. The fellow countrymen then joined together in re-creating the world-wide phenomenon that is the Gangnam-style dance. United Nations Style: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joins fellow South Korean, rapper Psy, in some Gangnam Style moves . ‘I'm a bit jealous. Until two days ago . someone told me I am the most famous Korean in the world. Now I have to . relinquish. I have no regrets,’ Ban said. The two lavished praise on each other . at UN headquarters Tuesday, with Ban even risking a few of Psy's . trademark dance moves from the viral smash video Gangnam Style. ‘So now you have first and second . famous Korean in the same building,’ Psy told reporters at a photo . opportunity with the UN chief. Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, also had nothing but praise for Ban Ki-moon, and what his position means to South Koreans. Dance lesson: Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, shows UN Secretary-General how to do the trademark 'horse-riding' moves from his YouTube hit . Over the Ki-moon: Psy was delighted the Secretary-General was such a keen student of his moves . Gang-nam style: Fellow Korean UN delegates joined the dance . ‘For all the Koreans he is the guy, you know, in everyone's heart in Korea, the best among the best. ‘To be here and he knows me, even the . thing that he knows me is so touching right now, and he's saying he saw . my video. He counted my video views,’ Psy said. ‘This is a much more better feeling than when I got No. 2 on Billboard.’ The playful photo opportunity was a break from the conflict and . wars the UN chief usually deals with. Ban's spokesman, Martin Nesirky, . told reporters the secretary-general thinks it's important to engage . different parts of society. Honoured: South Korean artist Psy was full of praise for Ban Ki-moon when they met at the United Nations headquarter . Korean celebrity battle: Ban Ki-Moon joked that he was jealous that Psy was more famous than him . Praise: The pair took in turns to praise each other for their work, despite the differences in its nature . Earlier, Ban met supersonic skydiver . Felix Baumgartner and spoke admiringly of his death-defying leap last . week from a balloon 24 miles (39 kilometers) above the Earth. Baumgartner, whose jump broke the sound barrier and set a world record, offered to give Ban skydiving lessons. The Korean YouTube phenomenon Gangnam Style now has over half a billion views on the video network site and has been parodied all over the world, from prisons to U.S. Congress elections to British private school Eton. Gangnam Style is Korean slang referring to a luxurious lifestyle associated with the Gangnam district, an affluent and trendy area of Seoul known as 'South Korea's Beverly Hills'. Having a laugh: The UN Secretary-General thinks it is important to engage in all parts of society, which apparently includes joining in horse-riding style dancing .
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Ban Ki-moon met Korean artist Psy at United Nations' headquarters .
The UN Secretary-General took a dance lesson, performing the 'Gangnam-dance' with Psy .
Psy's Gangnam Style has over half-a-billion views on YouTube .
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(CNN) -- Nearly four decades after hundreds of people were led to their deaths in a mass murder-suicide pact in a South American jungle, the cremated remains of nine of those victims have been found in a shuttered funeral home in Delaware. The eerie find was made after the owner of the site of the former Minus Funeral Home in Dover contacted authorities about 38 small containers left behind on the property, authorities said. The discovery harkens to a sensational case involving more than 900 people who followed the charismatic Rev. Jim Jones from San Francisco to a jungle settlement in Guyana in 1978. They believed they were being delivered to a place of racial harmony and social justice. Ultimately, they were ordered or forced to drink cyanide-laced punch after Jones' gunmen killed a visiting U.S. congressman and four others at a nearby airstrip. Of the 38 containers of cremated remains found at the former funeral home, 33 were marked and identified, said Kimberly Chandler, a spokeswoman for the forensic science division of the Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security. Nine of the marked containers held the remains of Jonestown massacre victims, Chandler said. The bodies of some Jonestown victims were transported to Dover Air Force Base, which has the nation's largest military mortuary. Chandler said she did not know the connection between the funeral home and the military base. The remains in five other containers have not been identified. Authorities will attempt to track down relatives or make arrangements to dispose of the remains, Chandler said. There was no evidence of criminality in the remains' disposal, Chandler said. It appears the remains went unclaimed. The discovery prompted Delaware authorities to conduct an exploratory excavation on the property on Wednesday. Dover police officers identified areas on the property with loosely compacted soil. Several bronze grave markers for veterans who served from World War I through the Vietnam War were found, police said in a statement. The markers were to be presented to family members or returned to the Veterans Administration. More than 900 men, women and children died in what became known as the Jonestown massacre -- the worst mass murder-suicide at the time. On November 18, 1978, Jones' idealistic dream of creating a socialist paradise turned deadly when his followers were ordered or forced to drink cyanide-laced punch. Earlier, California Rep. Leo Ryan had arrived on a one-man investigative mission, bringing along a TV camera crew and various reporters. Fifteen church members asked to leave with him. But Jones sent gunmen to a nearby airstrip, where they killed Ryan, an NBC correspondent and his cameraman, a newspaper photographer and one of the departing family members. Ryan and his party were ambushed as they were loading the plane with Jones' followers who wanted to leave. The 227 children in the so called "Peoples Temple" were poisoned first. Syringes were used to squirt the poison in the mouths of babies. Some adults drank willingly. Most of those who protested were shot by armed guards. A few escaped into the jungle. Jones was later found with a bullet in his head. It is not known who shot him or whether he shot himself. CNN's Chuck Johnston contributed to this report.
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Cremated remains of nine victims of the 1978 Guyana massacre have been found in Delaware .
The remains were discovered at site of the former Minus Funeral Home .
Authorities were contacted after 38 small containers were left behind .
Over 900 followers of Jim Jones were ordered or forced to drink cyanide-laced punch .
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Miracle babes: Jo Powell risked her own life by refusing treatment for breast cancer during her pregnancy with son Jake . It is a decision no expectant mother should have to face. After years of trying for a baby, Jo Powell finally discovered that she was pregnant. But her delight turned to despair days later when doctors found she had breast cancer and advised her to sacrifice her unborn child’s life in order to save her own by beginning chemotherapy. Mrs Powell defied the doctors, however, and refused to start the treatment until much later in her pregnancy, in a gamble that could have cost her her life. Miraculously, she and her husband Richard are now celebrating with their young son, Jake, after being told that she has beaten the cancer. Mrs Powell, 41, an office administrator, said yesterday: ‘When I heard the word cancer my first thought was, “I’m going to lose my baby.” ‘It was like I was in a living nightmare. We had been trying for a baby for years, and we were convinced it wasn’t going to happen for us, so Jake was so special. ‘I knew we couldn’t give up on our baby. There was no way I was going to sacrifice him to save myself. ‘I knew that even if I didn’t make it, I would have brought a life into the world.’ The couple, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, discovered Mrs Powell was pregnant in 2010. But days later she found a lump in her breast. Doctors at Nottingham City Hospital warned that they could not begin chemotherapy while she was still in the early stages of pregnancy. Mrs Powell was told that if she chose to keep her unborn child she would have to delay chemotherapy until later in her pregnancy when her baby would be strong enough to survive it. The doctors advised her to consider an abortion, explaining that her cancer was aggravated by her hormones and that the pregnancy could help the disease grow faster. But Mrs Powell refused to give up on her unborn child.The doctors agreed to postpone her treatment for nearly six months but insisted on operating on her breast to remove the tumours on her lymph nodes immediately. Risky: Mrs Powell did agree to have an operation to remove the lymph nodes from her breast when she was 10 weeks pregnant but was relieved to hear Jake's heartbeat following the surgery . Tiny bundle: Painter and decorator Richard had to look after his new baby son and care for his wife after she spent weeks in hospital, eventually undergoing a mastectomy following the birth . Mrs Powell began the chemotherapy . when she was five months’ pregnant. Amazingly, the treatment had no . effect on Jake, who was born just before Christmas in 2010. But days after the birth, Mrs Powell . began intensive treatment for cancer which left her fighting for her . life. Mr Powell, 30, looked after their son while his wife spent weeks . in hospital before undergoing a mastectomy. Now, after a long ordeal, the couple have been told she needs no further treatment. Mrs Powell added: ‘We’re just thrilled that we can finally be a happy, healthy family after all we’ve been through. ‘I feel like we’ve won the lottery. I’m the luckiest woman in the world.’ Lucky: Mrs Powell said: 'Two years ago, I felt like our lives were falling apart. Now, I couldn't be happier. I feel like we're the luckiest family in the world' Healthy boy: Luckily, Mrs Powell's cancer treatment has had no damaging effect on Jake, who was born just before Christmas 2010 .
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Jo Powell, 41, discovered lump in her breast days after finding out she was pregnant with first child .
She refused to start treatment until much later in her pregnancy .
Miraculously she gave birth to baby Jake and also beat the cancer .
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(CNN Student News) -- September 16, 2014 . As severe drought combines with other factors to dry up parts of a California river, residents of Baja California are threatened with flooding from a hurricane. Today's show takes you all over the Pacific Coast of North America. We also report on a conference in Paris, a museum display on signatures, and how smartphones can impact sleep. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News!
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This page includes the show Transcript .
Use the Transcript to help students with reading comprehension and vocabulary .
At the bottom of the page, comment for a chance to be mentioned on CNN Student News. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call.
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(CNN) -- "Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine" (Relic Entertainment, THQ) deftly takes the popular tabletop miniatures game and puts it into a video game with gun-blazing, sword-swinging action and a story that flows well. Players control Titus, a captain of the Ultramarines, as they and their comrades attempt to battle orks, demons and the forces of Chaos. There are plenty of weapons to satisfy your melee or missile tendencies in battle. All the action takes place in the third-person point of view, so the field of battle is easily kept in sight at all times. Minor enemies attack en masse and in waves, while tougher enemies usually show up to scrap all alone. Boss battles are demanding, and pulling off multiple attacks is almost required to conquer the last foe. Players often are accompanied by two other space marines who contribute to the wholesale slaughter of lesser opponents but seem to have little effect on boss battles. Hand-to-hand weapons can be knives, swords, axes and hammers while long-distance weapons start with pistols and go all the way to cannons. Ammunition and grenades can be found strewn around the battlefield to supply whatever weapons you have in your possession. Modes of combat are interchangeable and offer plenty of ways to wipe out enemies. Trigger buttons control the long-range weapons while controller buttons activate hand-to-hand abilities such as stun and execution. Performing an execution on a stunned enemy also rewards the player with points for good health. Hack-and-slash action makes for an enjoyable fight and really enhances the game. But it is more than just blood and gore (which, incidentally, gets splashed all over your character during battle, then magically disappears afterward) that make "Space Marine" worthy. The characters seem like they are ripped right from the British navy, with accents that sound like they come from the streets of London. Each character has his own feel and motivations, giving personality to even the lowliest speaking ones. The game's three main space marines all have their own quirks and idiosyncrasies. They are outfitted in colorful armor that probably would feel right at home in a "World of Warcraft" setting but with nods to symbols and icons of ancient civilizations. I found myself listening a little more intently than normal as characters spoke about their trials and tribulations. Small bits of soldiers' lives were revealed, helping make the entire experience more immersive. The story -- one of honor, courage and sacrifice -- could have readily been ignored or glossed over to focus more on the combat. However, developers were able to knit together a tale that also includes loss and betrayal while giving the player a feeling of omnipotence that makes it unique for shooters. But the single-player campaign game felt like it didn't last long enough, and the maps, while beautiful, were linear -- not allowing for exploration. The panoramic views and immense weaponry teased with the prospect of a wide world to be explored and liberated, only to be stifled by rubble and downed machinery at every turn. The ending, a cliffhanger of sorts, really was a jaw dropper. It's a testament to the writers for crafting an interesting (but short) story as well as the developers for making me feel so invested in my characters. I have never played "Warhammer 40,000" on the tabletop (mainly because I didn't have the funds to lay out for the miniature figures that are required), but "Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine" on the console is well worth the investment. "Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine" is available for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is rated M for mature due to blood and gore and intense violence. This review was done playing the single-player campaign on the Xbox 360.
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In "Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine," players control Titus, a captain of the Ultramarines .
All the action takes place in the third-person point of view .
Hand-to-hand weapons can be knives, swords, axes and hammers .
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The woman who had her claims of being raped as a child overturned by Hillary Clinton in Arkansas in 1975 has accused the former Secretary of State of being a hypocrite. The unnamed victim says Clinton should not be known as a champion of women's rights after the then-attorney found a way for her attacker to get off on a lesser charge and lighter sentence. As newly released tapes of Clinton discussing the case surfaced, the woman, who was a 12-year-old virgin at the time of the attack, told the Daily Beast her character had been smeared in the trial. Scroll down to listen to the audio interview . Accusations: Hillary Clinton, pictured with daughter Chelsea earlier this month. The victim of a sex offender she represented has spoken out about how Clinton treated the case . She accused Clinton of misrepresenting her as a child who sought out the attention of older men and who had made false claims of abuse before. 'Hillary Clinton took me through Hell,' the victim said, after hearing how Clinton had laughed as she discussed . the trial in a recorded interview. Legal past: Hillary Clinton, pictured in 1980, helped a man accused of child rape get a lighter sentence . Denying claims in the trial that she was 'emotionally unstable' and had a tendency to seek out older men, the victim said she would call Clinton a hypocrite if she met her again, and said she would be concerned if Clinton ran for President. 'If she . becomes president, is she gonna be telling the world the truth? No. She’s going to be telling lies out there, what the world wants to hear,' the victim said. She added that if she met her again she would tell Clinton: 'You took a . case of mine in '75, you lied on me… I realize the truth now, the heart . of what you’ve done to me. 'And you are supposed to be for women? You . call that [being] for women, what you done to me? And I hear you on tape . laughing",' the victim told the Daily Beast. In an interview that was recorded but never released, Clinton had discussed the case, which was her first as a criminal defense lawyer. During the course of the conversation . which dates from the early 1980s, Clinton, then 27, outlined how she . used a mistake by the prosecution to get 41-year-old Thomas Alfred . Taylor a lighter sentence. Taylor, who died in 1992, pleaded guilty . to unlawful fondling of a child and was sentenced to one year in . prison, which was reduced for time served. Shockingly, Clinton laughed as she indicated that she knew he may have been guilty, and discussed how she got him to take a lie detector test. 'I had him take a polygraph, which he passed – which forever destroyed my faith in polygraphs,' Clinton said with a laugh. Career path: Bill and Hillary in 1969. In 1975, the year the couple were married, Clinton represented Thomas Taylor in her first trial as a criminal defense lawyer . The victim said her experiences and the way she was treated in court left her scared of men for years. She never married or had children, and turned to drugs at one point. Although she managed to get her life back on track, the woman said she remains angry at what she called a 'miscarriage of justice'. 'It’s proven fact, with all the tapes, [Clinton] lied like a dog on me. I think she was trying to do . whatever she could do to make herself look good at the time,' th ewoman said. 'She didn’t care if those guys did it or not. I do not think . justice was served at all.' The woman added that before the rape trial she had never previously accused anyone of attacking or harming her. Distressed: The victim has accused Clinton, pictured at the Children's Defense Fund's 40th anniversary last year, as a hypocrite for calling herself a champion on women's rights . She claimed that when she spoke to a Newsday reporter in 2008, she was misquoted when she said she was 'sure Hillary was just doing her job'. 'If I had known that day what I know now, I would have told him exactly what I'm telling y'all today,' she told the Daily Beast. After hearing the tapes of Clinton discussing her case, the victim said she was moved to tears. '[Clinton] owes me a big apology, [but] I’ll . probably never get anything from her,' she said. Listen to the Audio Interview Here .
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Victim says Clinton is a hypocrite for championing women's rights after helping her attacker find loophole in the case .
Clinton had defended Thomas Taylor, 41, in Fayettville, Arkansas .
Clinton is heard laughing as she discusses the case in recently found audio interview from the early 1980s .
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By . Matt Blake . PUBLISHED: . 04:09 EST, 17 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:57 EST, 17 May 2013 . The moment Google launched hotly-awaited camera spectacles 'Glass', technocrats across the world queued up to give their review online. But when one father put the device through the ultimate trial and tested it on his toddler, the adorable youngster gave a verdict that was rather open to interpretation. Chris Angelini's son, Lucas, appears to love the wearable computer at first as he totters about the family home, in Bakersfield, California, repeating: 'Look at my cool glasses.' But two minutes into the trial the two-year-old takes them off and hands them back, saying: 'I'm done... they're hot.' Scroll down for the adorable video. Toddler test: Chris Angelini said he put the Google Glass on his son, Lucas, two, for a joke and to make his wife laugh . Making juice: Lucas appears to love the wearable computer as he totters about the family home, in Bakersfield, California, repeating: 'Look at my cool glasses.' It is unclear whether the boy used the word 'hot' as a slang term for 'cool', or if he actually meant the high-tech headgear was heating up his little face. The contraption is fitted with a wireless cellular radio to stay connected to the internet at all times to deliver search results, provide turn-by-turn . directions, and upload images. But such radios have come under fire for emitting potentially harmful electromagnetic radiation that could heat up in a similar way to mobile phones after uninterrupted use. Nevertheless, despite the brief time Lucas had the headset on, it appeared to work and provided an adorable . insight into a world seen through the eyes of a toddler. Angelini, who runs technology review website Tomshardware.com, posted the video on YouTube, where he wrote: 'As I was testing Google Glass, my two-year-old wanted to know what I was . doing (almost as much as he wanted some juice). So, I indulged him. The . result was really pretty cute.' Child's eye view: Lucas drinks the juice in the cute video . Hello mummy: They then move into the living room where to see his mother and play with toys before the little boy brings the trial to its abrupt end . Play area: In the two-minute video, Lucas shows his father his toys in the living of their spacious home . Adorably astute: But in the end, Lucas appears to tire of the glasses, saying: 'I'm done... they're hot' The boy first joins his father in the kitchen where they prepare an apple juice with ice. They then move into the living room where to see his mother and play with toys before the little boy brings the trial to its abrupt end. In a review of the gadget on his website, Angelini says: 'There’s something to be said for playing with your kid and recording it, . rather than watching him run around, passively, through a smartphone . camera (50 minutes of video at a time, that is). How Google Glass Works . 'And if you want a . different perspective, try turning the tables. I did it as a joke (and . because I figured my wife would find it cute). Turns out it's actually . pretty cool to get reminded what everything looks like from half my . height.' He adds: 'Glass is going to be a great way for parents to memorialize a lot of . firsts without managing birthday parties, juggling Christmas presents, . or trying to steady those first few steps while glancing over at a . camera screen. 'This puts the moment in point-of-view, and it doesn’t . create a spectator out of you. You remain a participant in life, and you get the tape when the action is over.'
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The video was made by Chris Angelini and his two-year-old son Lucas .
Totters around house in Bakersfield, CA, saying: 'Look at my cool glasses'
But after two minutes he hands them back, saying: 'I'm done... they're hot.'
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By . Simon Jones . The January transfer window is about to swing open once again but who will your club target in the market? With some restless players angling for a move away and a number of club managers clamouring for reinforcements to bolster their squads, what transfers are we likely to see before February 1? Here, Simon Jones runs the rule over each Premier League club's ambitions when the window begins on New Year's Day. ARSENAL . TOP TARGET: Alvaro Morata (STR, Real Madrid, loan) ON THE RADAR: . Dusan Basta (DEF, Udinese) Diego Costa (STR, Atletico Madrid), Michy . Batshuayi (STR, Standard Liege), Gianelli Imbula (MID, Marseille), . Marc-Andre ter Stegen (GK, Borussia Monchengladbach) COULD LEAVE: Lukasz Fabianski, Thomas Vermaelen, Serge Gnabry (loan) Top target: Arsenal are keen on a loan move for Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata (right) ASTON VILLA . TOP TARGET: Jurgen Locadia (STR, PSV, £8m) ON THE RADAR: John Guidetti (STR, Man City, loan), Simeon Slavchev (MID, Litex Lovech), Wilfried Zaha (MID, Man Utd, loan) OUT: Christian Benteke, Shay Given, Stephen Ireland, Yacouba Sylla (loan) CARDIFF CITY . TOP TARGET: Nick Powell (MID, Man Utd, loan) ON THE RADAR: Wilfried Zaha (Man Utd, loan), Isaac Cuenca (STR, Barcelona, loan), Andy Robertson (DEF, Dundee Utd) COULD LEAVE: John Brayford, Joe Mason . Loan rangers? Man United's Wilfried Zaha (right) and Nick Powell are on the radar of Cardiff City in January . CHELSEA . TOP TARGET: Diego Costa (STR, Atletico Madrid, £32m) ON THE RADAR: Edinson Cavani (STR, PSG), Radamel Falcao (STR, Monaco), Fredy Guarin (MID, Inter Milan), Nemanja Matic (MID, Benfica), Gianelli Imbula (MID, Marseille), Kurt Zouma (DEF, St Etienne), Luke Shaw (DEF, Southampton) COULD LEAVE: Demba Ba, Kevin de Bruyne, Ryan Bertrand, Michael Essien . Lethal: Diego Costa (left) has dazzled at Atletico Madrid this season since Falcao's departure in the summer . Limited chances: Demba Ba (left) and Kevin de Bruyne (right) may look to leave Stamford Bridge . CRYSTAL PALACE . TOP TARGET: Nikica Jelavic (STR, Everton, £5m) ON THE RADAR: Peter Crouch (STR, Stoke), Matthew Etherington (MID, Stoke), Emmanuel Riviere (STR, Monaco), Scott Dann (DEF, Blackburn), Ali Al-Habsi (GK, Wigan). COULD LEAVE: Kevin Phillips, Dwight Gayle (loan), Florian Marange, Elliot Grandin, Neil Alexander, Owen Garvan . Second fiddle: Nikica Jelavic (right) is struggling for opportunities at Everton behind loan star Romelu Lukaku . EVERTON . TOP TARGET: Michy Batshuayi (STR, Standard Liege, £8m) ON THE RADAR: Alfred Finnbogason (STR, Heerenveen), Aiden McGeady (MID, Spartak), Andy Robertson (Dundee Utd), John Souttar (DEF, Dundee Utd), Bruno Martins Indi (DEF, Feyenoord), Curtis Davies (DEF, Hull) COULD LEAVE: Nikica Jelavic, John Heitinga . Star turn: Standard Liege striker Michy Batshuayi could bolster Everton's attacking options . FULHAM . TOP TARGET: Zakaria Labyad (MID, Sporting CP, £3m) ON THE RADAR: Paolo Hurtado (MID, Pacos de Ferreira), Benjamin Angoua, (DEF, Valenciennes), Nicolas Isimat-Mirin (DEF, Monaco), Josh Brownhill (MID, Preston) COULD LEAVE: Dimitar Berbatov, Adel Taarabt, Fernando Amorebieta . Languid: Dimitar Berbatov (right) could be set to depart Craven Cottage before the end of the season . HULL CITY . TOP TARGET: Shane Long (STR, WBA, £4m) ON THE RADAR: Georgios Samaras (STR, Celtic), Nick Powell (Man Utd, loan), Filip Djordjevic (STR, Nantes), Jordan Ayew (STR, Marseille), Nordin Amrabat (MID, Galatasaray), Rami Rabia (DEF, Al Ahly) COULD LEAVE: Cameron Stewart, Matty Fryatt . Cutting edge: Shane Long is top of Steve Bruce's most-wanted list in January . LIVERPOOL . TOP TARGET: Mohamed Salah (MID, Basle, £12m) ON THE RADAR: Ivan Rakitic (MID, Sevilla) Dennis Aogo (DEF, Hamburg), Martin Montoya (DEF, Barcelona), Will Hughes (MID, Derby), Ryan Bertrand (DEF, Chelsea) COULD LEAVE: Iago Aspas, Luis Alberto (loan), Daniel Agger . MANCHESTER CITY . TOP TARGET: Diego Alves (GK, Valencia, £6m) ON THE RADAR: Willy Caballero (GK, Malaga), Bruno Zuculini (MID, Racing Club), Eliaquim Mangala (DEF, Porto) COULD LEAVE: Joleon Lescott, John Guidetti (loan) Case for the defence: Diego Alves (left) and Eliaquim Mangala (right) are both being watched by Man City . Coming or going? Mohamed Salah (left) has attracted the attention of Liverpool while at Basle as Manchester City's highly-rated Swedish striker John Guidetti (right) could be leaving the Etihad in a loan move this window . MANCHESTER UNITED . TOP TARGET: Marco Reus (MID, Borussia Dortmund, £40m) ON THE RADAR: Luka Modric (MID, Real Madrid), Lars Bender (MID, Bayer Leverkusen), Alex Song (MID, Barcelona), Yohan Cabaye (MID, Newcastle), Fabio Coentrao (DEF, Real Madrid), William Carvalho (MID, Sporting Lisbon) COULD LEAVE: Wilfried Zaha, Nick Powell, Will Keane (all loan), Alex Buttner . NEWCASTLE UNITED . TOP TARGET: Bafetimbi Gomis (STR, Lyon £5m) ON THE RADAR: Wilfried Zaha (Man Utd), Aiden McGeady (Spartak) COULD LEAVE: Papiss Cisse, Yohan Cabaye . Maestros: Yohan Cabaye (left) and Alex Song (right) may be options in Manchester United's midfield . Talent: Marco Reus would add flair and more goals to the champions' strikeforce . NORWICH CITY . TOP TARGET: Mikael Boman (STR, Halmstad, £4m) ON THE RADAR: Nick Powell, Wilfried Zaha (both Man Utd, both loan), Ola Toivonen (MID, PSV), John Heitinga (DEF, Everton) COULD LEAVE: Luciano Becchio . New chapter? Sweden forward Ola Toivonen (right) has been at PSV Eindhoven since 2009 . STOKE CITY . TOP TARGET: John Guidetti (STR, Man City, loan) ON THE RADAR: Mame Biram Diouf (STR, Hannover), Adrian Ramos (STR, Hertha Berlin), Luuk de Jong (STR, Borussia Monchengldabach), Youssef Al Arabi (STR, Granada), Nick Powell, Wilfried Zaha (both Man Utd, loan) COULD LEAVE: Kenwyne Jones, Peter Crouch, Matthew Etherington . SOUTHAMPTON . TOP TARGET: Shay Given (GK, Aston Villa, £250k) ON THE RADAR: Julio Cesar (GK, QPR), Carlos Vela (STR, Real Sociedad), Jonathan Pitroipa (MID, Rennes), Davide Astori (DEF, Cagliari) COULD LEAVE: Gaston Ramirez, Luke Shaw . Still got it: Shay Given may be handed the chance of Premier League football again with Southampton . SUNDERLAND . TOP TARGET: Liam Bridcutt (MID, Brighton, £5m) ON THE RADAR: Julio Cesar (QPR), Jeroen Zoet (GK, PSV), Kyle Naughton (DEF, Tottenham), Paolo Hurtado (Pacos de Ferreira), John Guidetti (Man City, loan) COULD LEAVE: Ji Dong Won, Jack Colback, Carlos Cuellar, Andreas Dossena, Craig Gardner, Seb Larsson, David Vaughan, Cabral, Charis Mavrias, Valentin Roberge, El Hadji Ba, David Moberg-Karlsson . SWANSEA CITY . TOP TARGET: Shay Given (GK, Aston Villa, £250k) ON THE RADAR: Nick Powell (Man Utd, loan), Tom Ince (MID, Blackpool), Iago Aspas (STR, Liverpool), Ayoze Perez (STR, Tenerife), John Guidetti (Man City, loan), Kenwyne Jones (STR, Stoke) COULD LEAVE: Ashley Williams . Main man: It may be difficult to lure Liam Bridcutt away from Brighton mid season and Liverpool may want to hold on to Iago Aspas (right), who they only brought in last summer . TOTTENHAM . TOP TARGET: Alvaro Morata (STR, Real Madrid loan) ON THE RADAR: Tom Ince (Blackpool), Christian Benteke (STR, Aston Villa), Marco Borriello (STR, Roma), Alex Buttner (DEF, Man Utd) COULD LEAVE: Kyle Naughton, Jermain Defoe . On his way? Jermain Defoe has been heavily linked with a move to MLS side Toronto FC . Having a look: Christian Benteke (left) and Tom Ince (right) are being tracked by Tottenham . WEST BROMWICH ALBIONTOP TARGET: Joe Mason (STR, Cardiff, £1m)ON THE RADAR: Wilfried Zaha (Man Utd, loan), Ryan Bertrand (DEF, Chelsea)COULD LEAVE: Nicolas Anelka, Markus Rosenberg, Graham Dorrans . WEST HAM UNITED . TOP TARGET: Nikica Jelavic (STR, Everton, £5m) ON THE RADAR: John Guidetti (Man City, loan), Asamoah Gyan (STR, Al Ain), Obafemi Martins (STR, Seattle), Abdoulaye Ba (DEF, Porto), Lamine Kone (DEF, Lorient), Jonas (STR, Valencia), Helder Postiga (STR, Valencia), Diego Forlan (STR, Internacional) COULD LEAVE: Modibo Maiga, Carlton Cole . In the market: Is Valencia forward Helder Postiga the answer to West Ham's striker crisis? Shot shy: Carlton Cole (left) and Modibo Maiga (right) have scored four Premier League goals between them .
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Man United target Borussia Dortmund ace Marco Reus .
Arsenal and Spurs set to tussle for Real Madrid's Alvaro Morata .
Diego Costa could be Chelsea-bound if London club stump up £32million .
Man City in the hunt for a goalkeeper, with Diego Alves topping the list .
Liverpool keen to boost attacking options with Basle's Mohamed Salah .
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With its glamorous stars such as Immodesty Blaise and Dita von Teese, glittering costumes and teasing routines, burlesque has never been more popular. But although it might seem like a modern phenomenon, burlesque has roots that lie deep in the world of the Victorian music halls - and even beyond. The old halls were at the heart of popular entertainment in Victorian London and drew huge crowds hungry for fun, music and spectacle. Scroll down for video . Risque: Modern burlesque star Dita von Teese is following in the footsteps of her Victorian predecessors . What made them particularly successful was their embrace of a female audience; the first type of establishment ever to do so. In the preceding years of the 18th century, everything from taverns to coffee houses had been for men alone. Inside their doors, singers and musicians entertained the men while they dined, drank and discussed business and politics, or, perhaps after a glass or two of wine, join in with the choruses. Singing nights became so popular that taverns began to put on musical nights in special rooms, and soon glee clubs were a regular night out for young men. At the bottom of the scale were the ‘penny gaffs’: dismal shops where costermonger boys and girls paid a penny apiece for some rough food and drink served up with patriotic singing and comedy sketches. Colourful: Wiltons Music Hall in Whitechapel was once one of London's most popular venues . Star: The 1930s American actress Jeanette Macdonald was one of the last great music hall stars . One lad told the Victorian historian Henry Mayhew, 'The songs are out and out, and makes our gals laugh. The smuttier the better, I thinks; bless you! The gals like it as much as we do'. So widespread were the penny gaffs, there were reputedly 20 of these dens within a five-mile radius of St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Entertaining though they might have been, they certainly were not places for a decent woman to visit, any more than the taverns and gin palaces were. By the 1830s some slightly better song and supper rooms began to attract a more refined audience, although women were still not allowed to enter, and performers could expect a hail of bottles or boots as well as verbal abuse if their act went down badly. Singers at venues like the Coal Hole, a notorious dive just off the Strand, would be paid £1 a week and all they drink they could hold. They probably needed to be drunk in order to face their audiences. The Eagle on London’s City Road (famous from the nursery rhyme ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’) was one of the musical taverns, and there were countless others in towns and cities the length of the country. Fame: Marie Lloyd, a singer, was particularly notorious and was even banned from the USA for immorality . But things were changing and the first purpose-built music hall opened its doors in the London borough of Lambeth in 1852. The Canterbury Hall had a capacity of 700, and the early all-male audiences came to eat and drink as much as to be entertained. A resounding success, it was soon enlarged to hold 1500 people and pioneered the concept of the music hall, including entertainment for women. Charles Morton, the Canterbury’s owner, believed that women had a civilising effect and made a deliberate effort to attract them by introducing ‘Ladies Thursdays’. Gentlemen could bring a female companion, but in a setting where prostitutes openly worked the aisles the men were not always accompanied by their wives. A flood of new venues opened up in London and throughout the rest of the UK, with the result that by 1870, there were 31 large halls in London and 384 in the rest of the country. Helped by the opening of the first underground railway line, the Metropolitan, more affluent suburban audiences could easily make their way to Town for a night out, and with money to spend they demanded more and better shows in a less risque setting. Impersonator: Vesta Tilley, who died in 1952, was a hugely popular male impersonator . Marriage: Tilley went on to marry Sir Abraham Walter de Frece, Conservative MP and theatre impresario . Popular: Ms Tilley finally retired from her music hall career in 1920 when she married Sir Abraham . New performers were needed to fill the stages at all the brash new Empires and Palaces that soon sprang up to meet the new middle-class demand, so young women – often the daughters of supper club and tavern veterans – stepped into the spotlight for the first time. The stage offered an independent life for many of them, and stardom for a few. A typical music hall bill would feature a chairman keeping order with a gavel, a comedian or two, dancers in daring costume, novelty acts like a juggler, contortionists, trapeze artists or trick cyclists, a drag act, and a magician. Stage magic often employed new science like electricity or magnetism, and audiences were enthralled by the illusions. A dynasty of stage illusionists called the Maskelynes opened a magic theatre on Piccadilly known as the Egyptian Hall, and here young women were sawn in half or levitated or chased through comedy disappearing acts for thousands of performances. The centrepiece of music hall, however, was music – and the star was always the singer. Men like Albert Chevalier and then George Robey were adored, but it was the women and their signature songs who topped the bill. Vesta Tilley was a male impersonator. She was Burlington Bertie, every inch the monocled dandy to look at, but singing in a high and very feminine voice. Retired from the stage she ended her long life as Lady de Freece, wife of the Conservative MP for Blackpool. Marie Lloyd was the Queen of Music Hall. She had made her debut as a table singer at the Eagle, but soon she was the naughty phenomenon of the age. In her distinctive trill she warbled innocent-seeming lyrics with titles like Oh! Mr Porter, What Shall I Do? and She’d Never Had Her Ticket Punched Before that were loaded with double entendres – innocent enough today, but shocking to the Victorians and Edwardians. When the moralists protested about her song I Sits Among the Cabbages and Peas she amended it to I Sits Among the Cabbages and Leeks – to howls of appreciation from her admirers. Loved: Marie Lloyd (right, with her sisters) was one of the genre's brightest stars but succumbed to alcoholism . Outpouring: When Marie died, aged just 52 years old, her funeral was attended by 100,000 people . Marie had a colourful private life; she was refused entry to the US at the start of a tour because she had shared a cabin on the voyage over with a man to whom she was not married. Unlike Vesta Tilley’s, her ending was a sad one – she took to the brandy and fell over drunk on stage. The audience thought it was part of the act and roared with laughter, but she was mortally ill and died a few days later aged only 52. 100,000 people came to her funeral. The grand music hall tradition lay behind later artists like Gracie Fields, George Formby and Stanley Holloway, Charlie Drake and even the Goons, but the days of the halls were numbered. By the 1930s, they had been virtually obliterated by the rising popularity of nights spent enjoying the new films at the cinema. But while the music halls are gone, they certainly aren't forgotten. While later shows such as The Good Old Days were a coarse pastiche of the real thing, our own modern burlesque still captures the glitter, daring and downright risqué thrill of the long-gone old halls. Rosie Thomas is the author of a novel about the world of the music halls and magic, The Illusionists, out now, £14.99, published by HarperCollins. See harpercollins.co.uk for more information.
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Stars included singer Marie Lloyd and male impersonator Vesta Tilley .
Lloyd was so popular, her funeral was attended by 100,000 people .
Tilley ended her days as the wife of the MP for Blackpool .
Music halls combined cabaret style routines with risqué songs .
First appeared in the mid 19th century and were popular until 1930s .
Rosie Thomas is the author of a novel about the world of the music halls, The Illusionists, out now .
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Shocking new pictures have emerged showing Donetsk airport lying in ruins despite a ceasefire being agreed between Ukraine and pro-Russia rebels last month. The truce between the two sides began on September 5, but despite the agreement, hostilities have continued in Donetsk, with the UN confirming today that 331 people had been killed since the ceasefire began at a rate of 10 a day. One of the main battlegrounds in Donetsk has been the city's Sergey Prokofiev Airport, which has been hit by shelling during fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces. Scroll down for video . The ruins of what is left of the main terminal building at Sergey Prokofiev International Airport in Donetsk, which has been a battleground between Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels . Smoke rises close to the airport's air traffic control tower, which has been the scene of an artillery battle between the two sides . New pictures, which have emerged today, have shown smoke rising from the main terminal building at the airport, which lies in tatters. The airport's air traffic control tower can also be seen completely gutted as the result of an artillery battle. Donetsk airport has been the focus of much of the fighting but has no immediate tactical significance for separatist forces who are devoid of any air power. In addition, hostilities are said to be persisting in the towns around Donetsk including Debaltseve and Schastye. Pro-Russian separatists are pictured firing mortars towards Ukrainian positions close to the airport in Donetsk . Shelling has continued in the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk, even though a ceasefire was agreed between the two sides last month . It was revealed today that 331 people have been killed since the truce was agreed at a rate of 10 per day . It pictures come after the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein released a statement today saying that the security crisis needed to be tackled so residents of east Ukraine could reclaim their rights. The organisation estimates that some five million people are being deprived of education, adequate health care, housing and employment in the area. Mr Zeid said: 'While the cease-fire is a very welcome step toward ending the fighting in eastern Ukraine, I call on all parties to genuinely respect and uphold it, and to halt the attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.' Two young people sit in an ambulance waiting to be treated after a rocket slammed into a shopping mall in Donetsk's Kubishevski district . The grad rockets hit the shopping centre, where it is believed that two people were killed and five were injured . A pro-Russian separatist soldier makes his way through the shopping centre picking up parts of a missile after a rocket attack . Rebels and government officials regularly blame each other for the civilian deaths. Separatist fighters have been observed firing artillery from residential areas, eliciting hasty responses from Ukrainian troops that often miss their mark and hit houses. A separate U.N. report cites the Ukrainian government as saying more than 4,500 residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed in the fighting. At least 22 settlements remain without running water, while 93 settlements have no electricity, the report said. Donetsk's Kalinina hospital has also been hit by shelling during the conflict with mortuary workers struggling to cope with the bodies piling up . Servicemen from pro-Ukrainian forces take part in a drill near the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol today . The training drill came as the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the security crisis needed to be tackled so residents of east Ukraine could reclaim their rights . Rebels and government officials regularly blame each other for the civilian deaths in the east of Ukraine . Lack of proper housing is becoming particularly acute with the approach of winter, when temperatures can drop below freezing for weeks on end. According to government information from mid-September, some 25,500 displaced people were living in shelters unsuited for winter habitation, the U.N. said. In a separate statement, Zeid called on both sides in the fighting - largely around the industrial and coal mining cities of Donetsk and Lugansk - to "halt the attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure once and for all." Among the dead in the conflict, at least 1,078 were Ukrainian servicemen and volunteers, according to the report, although it noted that 'the reporting of Ukrainian military casualties is imprecise and contradictory.' Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has blasted NATO for plotting a 'war of extermination' against Russia in a stark return to Cold War rhetoric. He alleged that the military bloc was 'more extremist than even Islamic State fanatics'. The retired leader's attack came as the UN revealed that 331 people have perished since a ceasefire was signed in Ukraine a month ago. Castro denounced the 'hatred' towards Russia of new NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg, the former Norwegian premier, seen by others as more sympathetic than his predecessor towards Moscow. 'I was listening to statements by NATO's new secretary general', said the former Cuban leader. 'Such hatred in his face. What an incredible effort he is undertaking against the Russian Federation.' Revolutionary Castro, 88, who left office in 2006 suffering from ill health, was reacting against Stoltenberg's claim that the Alliance wanted a constructive relationship with Moscow, but Vladimir Putin must reverse course in Ukraine and abide by international law. His words came in an article entitled 'An Uncertain Future'. Cuba is now run by his younger brother Raul. Castro senior spoke amid fears of new anarchy in Ukraine with the ceasefire teetering on the brink of collapse.
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Images show the terminal building and control tower lying in ruins .
Airport has been one of the main battlegrounds in the city of Donetsk .
Comes as UN estimates 331 people have been killed since ceasefire began .
Hostilities are also said to be continuing in Debaltseve and Schastye .
UN commissioner calls for east Ukraine resident's rights to be restored .
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Customers who signed up for a pre-Christmas cruise for Christians to Turkey, Greece and Israel are still waiting for a refund after the holiday was cancelled 10 days before departure. New Malden-based LivingSun Holidays sold a 10-day break leaving on October 13 but called it off less than a fortnight before setting off citing 'political instability' in the region for leading to a drop in numbers. Company director Bob Fleming said the tour to iconic religious destinations was booked through Thomson Cruises who had yet to refund money paid in advance, meaning LivingSun couldn't pass on the almost £2,500 paid by holidaymakers. The LivingSun Holidays cruise was to take in iconic religious landmarks including Istanbul's Hagia Sophia . Mosaic of the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus, flanked by Emperors Justinian and Constantine, at Hagia Sophia . However, Thomson Cruises say they have had no such dealings with LivingSun. Thomson Cruises said: 'Thomson Cruises is extremely concerned that LivingSun Holidays has been engaging in promotional activities using the Thomson Cruises trademark, as no permission has been granted for this use. 'Thomson Cruises does not have, and has never had, any association with LivingSun Holidays and no booking for this cruise was passed to us by LivingSun Holidays.' One customer, Gospatric Home, 81, who planned to take the trip with his wife Diana, told the Surrey Comet that he was still waiting for a refund of £2,490 from LivingSun Holidays. 'It is a crazy saga,' he told the local paper. 'The money we all paid was not held in an escrow account. If it had been, then he could have repaid it all to everyone.' Gospatric Home, 81 (right) had planned to take the Christian cruise with his wife Diana (left) The homepage of LivingSun Holidays website, which promises 'excellent Christian holidays' Mr Fleming said in a letter to customers that while his company wants to refund customers it simply doesn't have the funds to do so. The letter said: 'The cancellation of the cruise has left us in a difficult financial situation - we have considerable costs which are irrecoverable for us and while we fully accept this is our problem to resolve, it means we simply do not have enough cash at the moment to start the refund process.' He said the company aims to pay 'about 18 people a total of £20,000' by the end of the month. In response to the statement from Thomson, he said: 'We did successfully take a group to Israel with Thomson in April so I should be sorry if they have forgotten about us so soon.' LivingSun's website promises 'excellent Christian holidays for people to enjoy God's creation together' and 'with no disruption from noisy non-Christian neighbours'. Another location for the cancelled cruise was Olympia, home of the Ancient Olympic Games . 'Our aim is to give you a holiday where you can be fully refreshed, mentally, physically and spiritually and we believe it is the presence of God and His living Son at the centre of our holiday operation that makes the difference,' says the website. 'We know what a benefit it is to be surrounded by like-minded people, in an environment which is safe for all. Safe for families, those travelling by themselves and anyone who is looking for a high quality and hassle free holiday.' The company also offers 'special rates for Clergy and Church Workers'. A page entitled Tours lists no products, but states: 'Our tours are all filling up faster than we can list them!' Another tour organised by the company called The Lands of the Bible the ran from November 12 to 22 taking in Italy, Greece and Turkey, according the the website.
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LivingSun Tours cancelled a Christian cruise 10 days before departure .
The cruise was to take in Turkey, Greece and Israel and cost £2,490 .
Customers are still waiting for their refund for the 10-day holiday .
The company claims it booked the tour through Thomson Cruises, but the holiday company claims it has had no dealings with LivingSun Holidays .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 19:04 EST, 27 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:13 EST, 27 November 2013 . Residents of the small Connecticut town Newtown have turned their attention and support to the local high school football team as the one-year anniversary of one of America's worst mass shootings approaches. The Newtown High School Hawks completed an undefeated season on Tuesday night, with players dedicating their sport to the victims of last December's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The footballers have been wearing the number 26 on their helmets to commemorate the 20 children and six adult educators killed during the December 14 shooting by 2--year-old gunman Adam Lanza. The logo also features green, which is the school's official color. Winners: The Newtown High School Hawks completed an undefeated season on Tuesday night, with players dedicating their sport to the victims of last December's massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Here Newtown's Nick Lotrecchiano (left) looks for some running room during the game against Masuk High School in Monroe, Connecticut . The Newtown High School Nighthawks finished the season on Tuesday night with a record 12-0 after beating out archrival Masuk High Sschool 42-7 . The Nighthawks finished the season with a record 12-0 after beating out arch rival Masuk High School 42-7. The blowout win on Tuesday night gave the team a leg up in its quest for a state championship by securing top seed in the playoff tournament that starts next week. 'Our players are hungry to win the championship to give everyone in town a great Christmas present and something to feel happy about a year after such a horrible tragedy,' said Newtown High's head football coach, Steve George. If Newtown makes it to the championship game, it is likely to be played on December 13 or 14, George said. The latter date would coincide with the anniversary of the shootings. Newtown High School Nighthawks defeat host Masuk High School in Monroe, Connecticut November 26, 2013. Stay strong Sandy Hook: A student looks for a place to leave flowers at a memorial for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Next month marks the one-year anniversary of the massacre . Quarterback Andrew Tarantino said winning a championship would be particularly poignant this year. 'Obviously, what our team and community went through the past year was really tough, but we just want to put a smile on everyone's face by bringing home a state championship,' said the 17-year-old senior, who has broken all the school's quarterback records. 'There’s a lot of good things going on here . . . that sometimes get overshadowed by all the negative things that go on, but I guess that’s what news is sometimes.' The win against Monroe, Newtown's direct neighbor, was bittersweet. When Sandy Hook was closed indefinitely after the shooting, Monroe quickly refurbished one of their campuses, Chalk Hill School, which had been closed the year before, to accommodate Sandy Hook students. Gone: Sandy Hook Elemntary School was closed following the shooting, firstly for crime scene investigations and then following a town vote that it should be demolished and completely replaced. Adam Lanza, 20, opened fire inside the school killing 20 first-graders and six educators before killing himself as police arrived on Dec. 14, 2012 . The school is still home to Sandy Hook students - as the original school was demolished to make way for a new $57 million complex, as voted for by members of the town following the shooting - and has temporarily been renamed Sandy Hook. The tiny All-American town of Newtown will likely forever be known for last year's devastating tragedy. Because of its small population - about 26,000 - every resident was somehow touched by the shooting. While none of the football team’s players reportedly had any relation to victims of the tragedy, about 10-15 had gone to elementary school at Sandy Hook, as had two coaches. This image, released as part of a report investigating the shootings at Sandy Hook, shows a scene inside the entrance to the Newtown school following the massacre . This image hows a weapon found at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Adam Lanza opened fire inside the school killing 20 first-graders and six educators before killing himself as police arrived . Chilling: One of the guns found at the scene at Sandy Hook elementary, as used by Adam Lanza . The Nighthawks win comes as Sandy Hook is thrust back into the news following the release of a 48-page report concluding the case is now closed. While the report provided new details on Lanza, saying that he was fascinated by violence, particularly the Columbine High School massacre, it determined that his motive is 'a question (that) may never be answered conclusively'.
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The Newtown High School Nighthawks, who are in the top 10 in Connecticut for passing yards, commemorated the slain students of Sandy Hook while completing an undefeated season on Tuesday night .
Players wore helmets emblazoned with '26', which is the number of victims killed in the Dec. 14 shooting .
If Newtown make it to the championship game, it is likely to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the tragedy .
Quarterback Andrew Tarantino said the team 'enjoys putting a smile on people's faces'
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(CNN) -- For the past week-and-a-half, people have been marveling over the discovery of evidence supporting "inflation," the theory describing the birth pangs of the Big Bang 13.7 billions years ago. What do these findings mean and how did they come about? Lots of articles reported the news, but I am going to try to explain it in depth. Stick with me, because this is one of the most exciting astrophysical discoveries in decades. Humans have wondered about the origin of the universe for millennia, and last week's news brought us a little closer to an answer. What this development means, basically, is that for the first time, we may be seeing what happened in the first billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second of the universe. Assuming this discovery is verified by other similar experiments, it means the very birth of the universe can be studied. These will tell us about the physics of matter and energy well beyond the reach of earthly particle accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider. In a press conference on March 17, leaders of the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization (BICEP2) experiment announced their discovery of evidence of gravitational waves -- predicted by Einstein's theory of General Relativity -- that were generated by the near-instantaneous expansion of the universe by some 50 factors of 10, or a factor of 100 million, trillion, trillion. Those waves were predicted by the theory of inflation, developed 30 years ago by Alan Guth, Andrei Linde and others. Inflation is the instantaneous initial expansion, far faster than the speed of light, that "describes the propulsion mechanism that drove the universe into the period of tremendous expansion that we call the Big Bang," as Alan Guth put it. Incidentally, the term "Big Bang" was coined as an insult by a physicist who didn't like the theory. The Big Bang idea itself is simple. Edwin Hubble -- after whom the Hubble Space Telescope is named -- showed more than 80 years ago that our universe is expanding. Objects in space are not hurtling outward: Space itself is becoming bigger over time. That means the distance between two galaxies grows even if neither galaxy is moving through space at all. By extrapolating the Hubble expansion backward, we have long known that the universe was once smaller by many, many factors of 10. All the mass and energy of the entire universe squeezed into such a tiny volume would have been much hotter and denser. Then, as the universe expanded over time, the energy density went down, so the temperature cooled. This Big Bang idea implied that cool relic radiation should be visible today. Indeed, this Big Bang glow of radiation was discovered in the early 1960s by two Bell Labs engineers, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, who were trying to build the world's best radio antenna. Their instrument recorded a mysterious irreducible low-level noise from every direction. Apparently worried that the surface of the antenna horn had been corrupted by, um, debris from pigeons roosting inside, the engineers repeatedly disassembled and cleaned the antenna, to no avail. Physicists later connected this measurement to the Big Bang prediction of a cosmic microwave background, for which Penzias and Wilson were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1978. As a colleague at Bell Labs joked, referring to their obsession with pigeon droppings, "They went looking for dung and came up with gold. For most of us [scientists], it works the other way." The Big Bang idea was well established by the 1980s. But it did not explain important pieces of the story. First, the universe looks pretty homogeneous and isotropic -- that is, galaxies in any one direction look very similar to galaxies in the opposite direction, no matter how distant. The number of galaxies, their masses, their shapes and their stellar content are remarkably similar, to the furthest reaches we can observe. This is surprising because the Big Bang-Hubble expansion implied that very distant regions should never have been in causal contact. How then could they be so similar? Here is a simple analogy: Imagine a thermos of ice water and a thermos of hot tea. As long as these two liquids are separate, they will have different temperatures. But if the two liquids are combined, the mixed liquid will quickly reach an intermediate temperature. Similarly, two well-separated regions of the universe can be alike only if they were at one time in contact. The theory of inflation explains this quite naturally: If at the beginning the universe inflated at an extraordinarily rapid rate -- much faster than the Hubble-measured expansion today -- then all parts of the universe visible today were once in contact. That means they had the same initial physical conditions (such as temperature and density), so that similar stars and galaxies eventually formed out of the cosmic soup. Inflation also explains why the universe has a very "flat" geometry -- something revealed in the 1990s by analysis of the spatial distribution of tiny fluctuations (hot and cold spots) in the cosmic microwave background radiation. In principle, other geometries of space were possible. For example, a two-dimensional surface can be flat like a table; convex like the surface of a sphere (also called closed); or concave like the surface of a saddle (also called open). For the universe to be flat requires a very precise balance. It has infinitely more ways to be open or closed, with strong curvature, weak curvature, or anything in between. But to be flat -- well, that's like balancing on a knife edge. Inflation naturally explains this odd fact. Specifically, the idea is that, at the very beginning, the universe must have inflated enough to stretch the fabric of space until no trace of curvature remained. Imagine inflating a beach ball to the size of the Earth: you can easily see the curvature of the beach ball in your hands but once it's hyper-inflated, any piece of its surface seems very flat, just as the Earth feels flat locally. The enormous inflation in size would effectively erase the initial conditions in the universe. Whatever the initial temperature, for example, inflation would cool the universe to absolute zero. Even if the initial universe were very lumpy, after inflation we can see only a very smooth, local part of the original volume -- and it would seem perfectly flat. After about one hundred millionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second, according to theorists, whatever repulsive gravity caused inflation then transformed into a hot, dense soup of particles and energy. At this point, the Big Bang expansion that Hubble discovered took over. How inflation began and how it ended are not yet understood, but this simple idea of inflation neatly explains otherwise odd characteristics -- isotropy and flatness -- of our universe. Still, until now, there had been no direct evidence of inflation. What BICEP2 saw was the imprint of inflation on the cosmic microwave background radiation. Specifically, inflation should have generated a lot of gravitational waves -- that is, it would cause propagating ripples of space itself. Such waves have a characteristic pattern, squeezing space rhythmically in one direction then the perpendicular direction, like two hands pressing a rubber ball top to bottom then side to side. This distortion of space causes a special pattern of polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. So what is polarization? Light is a wave that oscillates back and forth -- polarized light oscillates preferentially in one plane. Because most light is a mix of random directions of polarization, its net polarization is zero. But any scattered light, like sunlight reflected off water, is polarized -- which is why polarized sunglasses cut down substantially on glare. BICEP2 scientists searched for that special pattern of polarization in the cosmic microwave background that would show the evidence of inflation, working for several years analyzing and reanalyzing their data. As they ran through every possible check of the analysis, team members finally began to believe they had detected the first direct signs of inflation. Now other experiment teams are redoubling efforts to find the same signal -- or to find contradictions. The reported BICEP2 signal is unexpectedly strong, so it should be within reach of at least some of these experiments. Physicists around the world know: the BICEP2 discovery is only the beginning of the story. If this result is verified by independent experiments, new, more accurate experiments will be designed to better measure the polarization imprint. This in turn will tell us about how matter and energy behave in conditions much hotter and denser than on Earth or any other place in the cosmos. As Carl Sagan once said, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." Let the observations begin. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Meg Urry.
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Meg Urry describes the sequence of discoveries that lead to evidence of "inflation"
Urry: Inflation, far faster than speed of light, happened in the first instant of the universe .
Urry: Theory began 80 years ago with Edwin Hubble: Telescope named after him .
Urry: After inflation, the universe went into more "sedate" pace of Big Bang we see now .
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f588e04ce9af76f8413e53783f1abb35f8401c16
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By . Sophie Borland . PUBLISHED: . 09:19 EST, 15 April 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:19 EST, 15 April 2013 . The hospital trust at the centre of one of the worst health scandals in living memory has been put into administration after losing £20million last year. Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust has been taken over by a team of managers who will spend the next 45 days deciding its fate. It is only the second time this has happened in the history of the NHS. South London Healthcare was put into administration last summer. Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust - where up to 1,200 patients may have died needlessly after they were 'routinely neglected' - is to be put into administration, it was announced today . Mid Staffordshire, which runs . Stafford and Cannock hospitals, has a troubled past and up to 1,200 . patients are feared to have died needlessly due to poor care between . 2005 and 2009. In February, a long-awaited report . blamed the disaster on a ‘culture of fear’, with managers being more . obsessed with meeting targets than patient care. But the trust has long been plagued . by financial difficulties, largely caused by the fact that it does not . serve enough patients for its size. The decision to put the trust into administration has been made by the watchdog Monitor, which regulates foundation trusts . This means it cannot generate enough income from providing treatment and services to cover its running costs. In addition, it has struggled to . attract top doctors. As a result it has to use expensive agency staff to . plug gaps in the rota. On one occasion in 2011 it paid £5,700 for one . doctor to cover a 12-hour shift. Last night the watchdog Monitor announced that the trust had appointed administrators to take over its running. The new plan will be subject to a public consultation and services at the hospitals in Stafford and Cannock (pictured) will continue to run as normal until a final decision is reached . Dr Hugo Mascie-Taylor – one of the . country’s most senior doctors – and Alan Bloom, of accountancy firm . Ernst and Young, will spend the next 45 days deciding its fate. They are likely to conclude it should . be broken up and taken over by neighbouring trusts, such as University . Hospitals North Stafford, Burton and Wolverhampton. The watchdog insisted that all patient services would continue to be run as normal until its fate had been decided. David Bennett, chief executive of . Monitor, said: ‘It is important that people in Mid Staffordshire know . that they can still access services as usual at Stafford and Cannock . hospitals while the trust special administration process is ongoing.’
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Includes Stafford Hospital, where 1,200 patients may have died needlessly .
Decision has been made by Monitor, which regulates foundation trusts .
Done to 'safeguard the future of health services' provided by the trust .
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(CNN) -- When making a big decision, how aware are you of the underlying brain processes informing your choices? When you go with your gut instinct, are you aware of the bodily signals that have informed your actions? While it may seem that there is no time for the close inspection of the body and mind at these critical times, enlightened leaders are turning towards mindfulness training as a way to reprogram their mind in a bid to stay sane and pull ahead in today's challenging business environment. Not only does this allow individuals to clearly see the intentions and reactions underlying each and every action-- learning when an action is arising out of fear of uncertainty or rejection and becoming better able to detect a "sure thing" via bodily signals. By repeatedly training the mind to pay attention to the sensations of the body as they enter the brain, mindfulness training uses this information to build up an exquisitely sensitive understanding of our reactions and responses in the world -- both at work and elsewhere in our lives. The term mindfulness refers to a particular state of mind, one that is alert, aware and fully present to what is unfolding on a moment by moment basis in the mental and physical landscape. Importantly, this awareness includes an element of acceptance, not judging whatever you discover in the process. The route to mindfulness is through attention training. In our general understanding, attention is something we direct outwards into the environment -- something pleasant catches our attention and we turn to look, something annoying distracts us and our mind wanders. This process changes the neural connectivity between regions of the brain related to attention and concentration. Sounds great, but what's the catch? The catch is that you need to train to get these benefits. Similar to visiting the gym and repeatedly lifting weights to develop muscles, to improve focus, concentration, and build emotional resilience you need to train your brain. An in-depth understanding of mindfulness from reading about it does not count as it is not training the neural networks. Bringing your attention in a sustained way to the breath and the body is the starting point of these practices. To obtain the best results, this training in done in a quiet dedicated environment. For example, 20 minutes of mindfulness practice in the morning will radically change how you experience your working day and relate to others. In the early stages of training, similar to when we first go to the gym, there is frustration and annoyance with our inability to stay focused and the effort required. This is because we are training these neural networks for the first time and the wetware of the brain is floppy and the mind undisciplined. The mind gets easily bored and distracted and thinks of a million other things it should be doing. We might also be alarmed when we see the quantity of mental activity that we weren't aware of at all! With practice however, the ability to stay focused becomes easier, productivity increases, there is less distraction from emails and phone calls and memory improves. One study has shown that mindfulness training helps reduce the age-related decline in the number of neurons in the hippocampus -- a region of the brain vital for memory. Perhaps most importantly, we can learn to be really present and attentive with those who really matter -- our loved ones. Where is your mind when your phone beeps and vibrates during a family dinner? High pressure situations, those involving emotions such as fear and anxiety, are when reactive mental habits are most likely to be triggered. Mindfulness allows us to see more clearly how draining this is in terms of our brain's energy reserves and how this clogs up our ability to problem solve in a creative way. Fear creates constriction in the mind, meaning we tend to stick with what we know and lose the ability to think flexibly. This happens at the level of the individual and in a wider sense in organizations. Precisely at the time when we need to be creative, the conditions of uncertainty about our economic future leads to behaviors that are constricted and conservative and more likely to keep us stuck. Engaging with the bodily sensations related to these negative emotions is at the heart of mindfulness. Improvements in attention are a happy side effect of mindfulness but the real changes occur when we are able to embrace fear in an accepting way. Those who are willing to fail, and can sit with the uncertainty of not knowing will be those who ultimately succeed because their mental resources have been freed up in a way that allows creativity and flexible thinking to emerge. Mindfulness training is found in sectors as diverse as health, sport, military, education, and in the boardroom. Tomorrow's leaders know that it will take more than technical expertise and access to facts and figures to remain competitive. Hence giants such as Google and General Mills now include mindfulness training within their organizations. The ability to communicate, to really listen, to be flexible in responding, and to be creative and courageous in decision making are the so-called "soft" skills that leaders are realizing are essential for the health and growth of their talent and business. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dr Tamara Russell.
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Business leaders are taking up mindfulness training to make better decisions, says Dr Tamara Russell .
Studies show the training can help reduce the age-related decline in the brain .
Google and General Mills are just some businesses using mindfulness training .
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(CNN) -- A group of African-American church leaders announced Wednesday their intention to join ranks with the Occupy movement in the nation's capital, bolstering what some consider a mutual message of condemning income inequality and social injustice. The move comes against the backdrop of evictions of Occupy protesters encamped in city parks and squares across the United States, raising questions about whether the two groups can capitalize on momentum gained by the months-long movement. "We are occupying until poverty is eradicated," pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant told reporters at the National Press Club in Washington, near where a core group of activists remains encamped. The two groups plan to gather during a national "day of action" scheduled for January 16, set to coincide with the commemoration of former civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. But could Wednesday's announcement signify that Occupy is now shifting toward more established forms of influence? "Every successful movement begins with a grievance and turns into an agenda," said Bill Galston, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. By linking up with black church leaders, he said, the group can tap into a community with years of experience in social movements. Since September, activists have gathered to draw attention to corporate greed and the excesses of the so-called 1%, a reference to the nation's elite, who protesters say wield disproportionate influence over the rest of the country. Their message, though popular, has also been criticized for its lack of focus. But on Wednesday, church leaders outlined a more specific call to lawmakers, asking for a moratorium on foreclosures, an increase in federal Pell grants to students and added national funding for job training. In past months demonstrators have largely shunned established political figures, wary of being co-opted by outside influence. And yet outside groups have largely been involved, swelling demonstrator marches with union ranks in cities like New York, where activists first encamped in a lower Manhattan park. "When they had physical spaces, then the point was to be there," added Galston of the encampments. "But the movement has to move from occupation to something else." Last month, authorities in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia dismantled tents and arrested protesters who refused to leave city parks and squares. On Saturday, police arrested 46 people in Boston, sweeping through a downtown square to evict people rooted there since late September. "I think there is a danger" the movement could lose momentum without these physical spaces, said Elisabeth Jacobs, a Brookings fellow in governance studies. "But I'm not sure that it's a foregone conclusion. "There's a pretty lively Web space for this community." But whether the movement can evolve into an "Occupy 2.0" could be key to its survival as a relevant social movement in the months and years ahead. That evolution may also require adopting more institutional forms of influence, such as lobbying and use of the courts, which protesters have often labeled corrupt. "People might be a little frustrated that the movement is taking a new shape," Jacobs said. But with the loss of landmark encampments in places like Manhattan's Zuccotti Park and Boston's Dewey Square, "I'm not sure what they're actually trying to accomplish if they don't adapt." The group's Twitter feed, meanwhile, remained abuzz with online activity on Wednesday. "How do we take back our govt from corrupt and incompetent elected officials?" read one post. "Keep the dream ALIVE," read another. CNN's Stacey Samuel in Washington contributed to this report.
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A group of African-American church leaders announce they'll join the Occupy movement .
"We are occupying until poverty is eradicated," says pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant .
The two groups plan to gather during a national "day of action" scheduled for January 16 .
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By . Ruth Styles . With a kitchen crammed with Tupperware and a penchant for recycling outfits, the Queen is no stranger to thrifty living. And it appears that the monarch has found another way to keep costs down - by eschewing expensive scented candles and scenting Buckingham Palace using reed diffusers instead. Photos of the Queen's audiences with David Cameron reveal the presence of the diffusers, tucked away on a sideboard between porcelain ornaments and potted plants. Photos of the Queen's audiences with David Cameron reveal the presence of the diffusers . The diffusers, which use rattan reeds to disperse the fragrance of essential oils or perfume, last for up to four months - significantly longer than candles, which on average, burn for just 60 hours. 'Unfortunately, it's impossible to tell the brand that the Queen is using as the branding appears to have been removed,' explains perfume expert Lawrence Roullier White. 'But I'd like to think the perfect scent for her would be 'Sweet William' by British brand Urban Apothecary London.' He added: 'While diffusers are a luxury, Her Majesty is being quite canny financially as the average scented candle will burn for 60 hrs while reed diffusers can last up to four months.' Reed diffusers are becoming an increasingly popular way to scent the home thanks to their convenience and the ability to provide a constant source of fresh fragrance. They also dispense with the need for flame and matches, something that Roullier White believes the new great-grandmother would appreciate. 'There's is no need for a naked flame,' he explains. 'I suspect that this is why Her Majesty has chosen a reed diffuser to scent her drawing room - there are a lot of papers on her desk and she obviously feels more comfortable. 'She's probably more sensitive to fire after the blaze at Windsor Castle during her annus horribilis.' While . it's not hard to find diffusers with price tags large enough to make a . dent in even the most regal of bank balances, there are some more . affordable options around - not least Air Wick's cheap and cheerful . £6.99 offering. But if . you're looking for something a little more special, Lawrence Roullier . White reveals how to pick the perfect diffuser for your palace. Sicilian Lemon Reed Diffuser . 'Individual . scents work better in some rooms than others,' he explains. 'In the . bathroom and kitchen, fresh, clean smells work wonderfully. 'Lemon . or fig are great as they dispel nasty niffs, while citrus scents affect . the brain in a positive way and make us feel happy.' TOP PICKS: Sicilian Lemon or Fig both by Urban Apothecary London (£39, urbanapothecarylondon.com) 'Pungent . perfume can be a bit overpowering in the bedroom, so try something a . little more gentle. I love my own Clean Sheets diffuser - it smells of . fresh linen and does seem to be the one unifying smell that everyone . loves. 'Rose Arbour is . another good one as scientists have found that if you rest surrounded by . natural floral fragrance, you'll sleep better. TOP PICKS: Clean Sheets and Rose Arbour by Roullier White (£35 at www.roullierwhite.com) 'The hall and drawing room are where you'll entertain the most, so impress them with a super opulent scent. 'I . love Rigaud's luxury Cypress, which, admittedly in candle form, was . used by Jackie Kennedy to fragrance the White House and by the legendary . editor of American Vogue Diana Vreeland to scent her office. 'Choose . something a little fresher for the dining room so it doesn't compete . with the cuisine. Opale by Linari combines fresh lime, Asian tangerine, . plum and green tea and is ideal for this.' TOP PICKS: Cypress by Rigaud, £160, and Opale by Linari, £89, both at Harrods .
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Reed diffusers, which last up to 4 months, used at Buckingham Palace .
Choice revealed in photo of weekly meeting with the Prime Minister .
Although many are expensive, Air Wick have budget version for £6.99 .
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Thomas Hitzlsperger says it would have been almost impossible for him to come out as gay had he still been playing professionally. The former Aston Villa midfielder, who retired from football back in January, believes that he couldn't of come out as homosexual during his time as a player because of the media. He told the Metro in a Q & A: 'I did so many interviews and it took up all of my time so it would have been difficult to go back into training as if nothing had happened. Proud: Thomas Hitzlsperger is the only openly gay player to have played in the Premier League . 'For me it would have been almost impossible had I still been playing – not because of the fans or the other players, but because of the media.' The 32-year-old is an ardent supporter of the Stonewall campaign – a lesbian, gay and bisexual rights charity in the UK – which helps tackle homophobia in football. And the former Germany international says players should show their support to the campaign this weekend by wearing rainbow laces. Respect: Hitzlsperger spent short spells at Everton and West Ham, as well as four years at Aston Villa . He added: 'It would show there is no place for prejudice in football. Last year Everton, one of my former clubs, wore the laces which was great. 'Some players may not want to because of their personal beliefs, and we must respect that, but it is great to see so many players and clubs getting involved.' As well as Hitzlsperger a number of Arsenal players have pledged their support to the rainbow laces campaign, including England duo Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, as well as QPR midfielder Joey Barton.
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The former Aston Villa and West Ham midfielder says he couldn't have come out gay when he was playing professionally .
The 32-year-old is a big supporter of the Stonewall campaign which tackles homophobia in football .
Hitzlsperger remains the only openly gay player to have played in the Premier League .
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The Italian government has announced plans to spend £160,000 creating an ‘earthquake-proof’ plinth for Michelangelo’s statue of David. Culture minister Dario Franceschini said funds would be provided to build an anti-seismic platform beneath the 14ft statue in the Accademia Gallery in Florence after hundreds of earth tremors shook the city and the surrounding region in recent days. As many as 250 earthquakes measuring up to 4.1 on the Richter scale have hit Tuscany in recent days, resulting in schools, houses and offices being evacuated. The Italian government has announced plans to spend £160,000 creating an ‘earthquake-proof’ plinth for Michelangelo’s statue of David . No injuries were reported but about 200 people fled their homes in Greve, 20 miles south of Florence. ‘The earthquake in Florence fortunately did not damage the government’s cultural assets,’ Mr Franceschini said as he announced funding to save the statue. ‘But it has made the need to approve this project even more urgent. A masterpiece like David must not be left to any risk.’ Last spring, experts revealed that Michelangelo's marble sculpture, created between 1501 and 1504, was at risk of collapsing due to a set of micro-fractures in its ankles. Angelo Tartuferi, director of the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence which has housed the statue since 1873, said the platform would be ready for use within the year. Last spring, experts revealed that Michelangelo's marble sculpture, created between 1501 and 1504, was at risk of collapsing due to a set of micro-fractures in its ankles . The gallery has already limited then the number of visitors and ordered a special platform to minimize vibrations. Tests by the National Research Council and Florence University have revealed that vibrations from local traffic and the millions of visitors who come to visit the statue each year have contributed to weakening the five-tonne statue. A number of other cultural treasures in Italy have been equipped with anti-seismic bases in a bid to protect them from the frequent earthquakes that hit the country. A special plinth designed by the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development was developed for the 2,500-year-old statues known as the Bronzes of Riace in the southern city of Reggio Calabria. As many as 250 earthquakes measuring up to 4.1 on the Richter scale have hit Tuscany in recent days, resulting in schools, houses and offices being evacuated . The two square marble plinths are lined with spheres that are developed to roll when the statues are placed under stress. In April 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook the town L'Aquila, 100 kilometers east-northeast of Rome, killing 309 people. It was the biggest earthquake disaster to hit Italy in recent years, and was preceded by several weeks of minor tremors. The earthquakes come after it was revealed that tourism in Tuscany is back to the record levels of 2011. According to recent statistics, this year 43.4 million tourists visited the Italian region, which is the second highest result ever. The earthquakes come after it was revealed that tourism in Tuscany is back to the record levels of 2011 . ‘Compared with 2013, this year there have been 209,000 more arrivals and 441,000 more overnight visitors,’ explained Mr Alberto Perruzzini, director of the touristic sector of Toscana Promozione. These numbers confirm that Tuscany is still very appealing. ‘More and more foreigners decide to visit this region for holidays – today they represent 53 percent of the total number of tourists.’ Mr Perruzzini added: ‘We think that in 2015 there will be more arrivals from the US, Canada and China, while those from Brazil and Russia will get more stable. ‘There should be a general increase of 2.5 percent in arrivals. For what concerns European tourists, we think that 2015 will be a pretty stable year, with maybe some more visitors from France, Spain and from northern Europe, Great Britain included.’
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The Italian government plans to spend £160,000 creating a new platform .
The statue, created between 1501 and 1504, has micro-fractures in ankles .
Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence limits visitors to minimize vibrations .
As many as 250 earthquakes measuring up to 4.1 on the Richter scale have hit Tuscany in recent days .
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Beijing (CNN) -- Chinese police say the late aunt of a young boy whose eyes were gouged out is the prime suspect in the horrific attack, state media news agency Xinhua reports. The six-year-old boy, named by local media as Xiao Binbin, is still recovering in hospital after being found bloodied and in a drugged state with both eyes missing near his home in late August. He'd been missing for four hours. Early reports suggested that Xiao may have been the victim of organ traffickers, claims police later denied. Now, authorities in Fenxi country, Shanxi Province, have named the suspect as the boy's aunt Zhang Huiying, who killed herself last Friday after jumping into a well in the courtyard of her home. Police said Zhang's DNA was found at the scene of her nephew's attack. Blood stains belonging to the boy were also found on Zhang's clothes. The boy told police that a woman with a non-local accent called his name and asked him if anybody in his home played mahjong before taking him to the field, according to quotes attributed to his mother, Wang Wenli, in state media. Local police immediately launched a manhunt for the suspect by offering a 100,000 yuan ($16,335) reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect, whom they said was a woman, according to Xinhua. Soon after the attack, state broadcaster CCTV showed images of a boy with bandages over his eyes recovering in hospital while his stricken relatives cried at his bedside.
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Chinese police name suspect as boy's aunt Zhang Huiying .
Zhang died last week after jumping to a well near her home .
The six-year-old boy was found bloodied with missing both eyes in late August .
He told police a woman approached him, according to state media reports .
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(CNN) -- It's not the kind of view you want from the window seat: a damaged wing flap with a handwritten note on it saying "we know about this," with an arrow pointing to the area in question. That's what one passenger on a July 28 Alaska Airlines flight from Burbank, California, to Seattle saw, snapping a photo of the rather unorthodox note that generated criticism on social media. On Tuesday, Alaska Airlines said that a wing flap on the Boeing 737 had received an FAA-approved trim repair before the flight and was safe to fly. "And before every flight, pilots do a walk around the plane, and they kept seeing the section repair and pointing it out and kept filing a report saying, 'you need to fix it,' " said airline spokesman Paul McElroy. Maintenance workers wrote the note to head off further reports, which was "not the best approach," McElroy said. "It is not the best way to report an issue, and we have since removed the writing, and the flap will go in for a total repair in October." The maintenance technician's intentions were good, said another representative, Bobbie Egan. "But the communication was not appropriate and did not follow company procedures." "We apologize for any alarm it may have caused," Egan said in a statement. Egan said a passenger shared the photo with Alaska Airlines seeking an explanation for the note. The photo appeared on the popular website reddit.com and was shared and discussed on social media. CNN's Amanda Watts contributed to this report.
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Handwritten note on damaged airplane wing referenced repair .
Alaska Airlines said the repair was made before flight, according to FAA standards .
Method for heading off repeated damage reports was "not the best approach," airline said .
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By . Emily Allen . PUBLISHED: . 06:01 EST, 29 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 06:36 EST, 29 August 2012 . Moody moggie: Ginny Murphie says her cat Teddy Bear can be moody but is generally very docile and sweet-natured with humans . Meet Ginny Murphie the owner of the 'Essex lion' who this week revealed her less-than ferocious feline is actually just a pussycat. Her three-year-old cat Teddy Bear sparked Britain's biggest safari hunt earlier this week when terrified holidaymakers thought they'd seen a lion - but it was in fact Teddy on an evening stroll through a stubble field. Today, former fitness instructor Mrs Murphie said her 3ft long Maine Coon isn't like a lion at all - just very docile and loves nothing more being doted on. She said: 'He's the boss of the . dog but he's quite docile and sweet-natured with humans.' Mrs Murphie was away in Liverpool when the story about the 'Essex lion' broke on Sunday evening. The 50-year-old watch the drama unfold on television - but as she watched the police . cars racing to the scene near her home in St Osyth, Clacton on Sea, Essex, she had a sneaking feeling that her very own 'big cat' was behind the saga. Mrs Murphie said Teddy Bear's five minutes . of fame hadn't gone to his head - although he has been happily posing for photos. She said: 'He's been . sleeping and he's been very tired but he's out at the moment. 'He was superb with the film crew yesterday and he loved having his photo taken. He absolutely loved all the attention, but it's not gone to his head.' When Mrs Murphie bought her cat three years ago she hoped he'd stay indoors and keep her company after she was diagnosed with liver cancer. But she was in for a shock as Teddy Bear discovered a passion for the outdoors - possibly triggered by Mrs Murphie's dog Billy who she says relentlessly insists on playing with him. Roaming round gardens and paths near her home she soon realised he loved nothing more than stalking for prey and took a shine to one particular field. She said: 'He likes . that field, it's his field, and he goes hunting for hares all the time. 'Sometimes he disappears for . two or three days, but he always comes back, but he spends a lot of time . out. He's a bit of a sulky cat because the dog gets all the attention. Sometimes he does get in a strop.' She added: 'He's only . lion-like with the dog, he hisses at him and the dog irritates him . immensely as he always wants to play with him.' On the prowl: Teddy stalks through a stubble field yesterday just days after he was mistaken for the Essex lion . Mrs Murphie said she knew straight . away Teddy was responsible for the safari hunt when she saw the blurry . photo of the 'lion' taken by witnesses. The Maine Coon, also known as American Longhair, is one of the oldest natural breeds in North America. They are renowned for their size and are known as the 'gentle giants' of the feline world, and have a rectangular body shape and a long flowing coat. They can weigh up to 25lbs and are not considered fully grown until they are four or five years old. They have a beard around their necks which can look like a lion's mane and long hair around their legs and chest. Unusually for cats they also enjoy playing with water. She said he's been mistaken for a fox before, adding: ‘All my friends were joking . that it must be Teddy. When I saw the photo I recognised him straight . away. The way his ears were and his head. It's definitely him.’ Armed officers and two police . helicopters using heat-seeking equipment, which cost £880 an hour to . run, were scrambled in a bid to track down the wild animal following Sunday's reports. Workers . from nearby Colchester Zoo carrying tranquilliser guns scoured the . fields and residents were warned to stay indoors. Caravanners were . temporarily moved to a nearby garden centre. Mrs Murphie, married to engineer Dave, 51, . said she realises now how Teddy, with his ginger mane, could have been . mistaken for a lion. She said: 'I've just looked across the field now and I can see a white cat and it looks huge. It's a question of perspective.' The mother-of-three added: ‘We thought it had to be . Ted as he’s the only big gingery thing around there and he does tend to . wander into that field.’ 'As we were away he probably went into the field to sulk. Here, kitty kitty: Mrs Murphie, who is battling liver cancer, says this is definitely her cat Teddy and she knew it was him as soon as she saw the picture. She said from a distance he can look quite big . Pet lover: Ginny Murphie cuddles up to her giant ginger moggie Teddy Bear. She was away in Liverpool when her cat sparked Britain's biggest safari hunt after holidaymakers though they'd seen a lion in Clacton, Essex . ‘From a distance, because he has a light coloured mane he does look a little lion like. I can see why someone would think that.' Teddy is a Maine Coon which is the biggest breed of domestic cat and can grow up to 25lbs. Mrs Murphie is waiting for an important update on her cancer this week and might have to . raise £50,000 for a new treatment called immunotheraphy which is . available in Germany and could help fight her disease. Roar! The feline likes to boss dogs around but is very sweet-natured with humans and enjoys hunting hares . She said: . ‘I got him because I wanted some comfort and he has been brilliant. What’s happened has really cheered me up, it is quite amusing.' Despite Mrs Murphie’s certainty as to . the culprit in Operation Pussycat, however, there remain several . witnesses who remain equally convinced that the creature they saw was . much more than just a little kitty. First to spot the animal was Denise . Martin, 52, a warehouse worker from Canvey Island, on holiday at Earls . Hall Farm with her husband Bob. Big cat? Teddy Bear is so large and ginger that he's been mistaken for a fox before - but never a lion . Playtime: Teddy Bear is a three ft long Maine Coon - the largest domestic cat - and Mrs Murphie said she can understand why people might think he was a lion from a distance. She said she enjoys playing in this field . ‘There . was some smoke from a bonfire, but it cleared I could see this shape in . the field, so I got the binoculars out,’ she said yesterday. ‘I said to my husband, “What do you make of that?” He said, “That’s a lion.” We weren’t scared at all – it was excitement. ‘You . don’t often see something like that in the wild. At one point time it . sat up and looked at us and we could see its ears twitching. It knew we . were there and it sat down and started cleaning itself.’ Searching: Police were seen patrolling areas around Earls Hall Farm in St Osyth (pictured), near Clacton, Essex .
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Former fitness instructor Ginny Murphy says her pet cat Teddy Bear is 'very sweet nature and docile'
She said he can sometimes be a bit moody and probably wandered into the field to 'sulk' when he was mistaken for a lion .
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f58d0c7ccffc92ae6219d305eae7228274263011
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TBLISI, Georgia (CNN) -- Russian forces launched an airstrike against a military airfield near the Tbilisi International Airport early Sunday, despite international calls for Russia to stand down from the escalating conflict, Georgian officials told CNN. The attack near the Georgian capital city came after a day of intense fighting in the former Soviet republic, with dozens of Russian warplanes bombing civilian and military targets in Georgia on Saturday. As many as 2,000 people had been killed in the capital of separatist Georgian province South Ossetia, according to a Russian ambassador. "The city of Tskhinvali no longer exists. There is nothing left. It was wiped out by the Georgian military," the Russian news agency Interfax said, quoting the Russian ambassador to Georgia, Vyacheslav Kovalenko. Tskhinvali residents who survived the bombardment by hiding in basements and later fled the city estimated that hundreds of civilians had died. They said bodies were everywhere, according to The Associated Press. CNN could not independently confirm any death tolls, which varied greatly depending on the source. Alexander Lomaia, secretary of Georgia's National Security Council, said dozens of Georgian troops had lost their lives. Watch Georgian minister describe fighting in South Ossetia » . "Our losses are mounting ... as many as 40 military servicemen killed and over 100 wounded," he said. "The losses are also mounting among civilian population in the cities." Lomaia said Georgian troops in Tskhinvali were engaged in fierce ground battles on Saturday with Russian troops, whom he said were engaged in a full-scale military operation. The operation included tanks, armored vehicles, heavy artillery, soldiers and paratroopers, Lomaia said. Military aircraft were crossing the Georgian border about every 15 minutes, he said, hitting civilian, economic and military targets. He said that at least 50 military jets were being used. Watch images of crashed Georgian war plane » . "Frankly, we have not expected the Russian invaders to hit our residential buildings, to hit our peaceful cities, to hit our peaceful citizens," he said. He said he couldn't confirm whether Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, had been hit. "From the legal point of view, our actions are absolutely justified and legitimate," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in Vladikavkaz, the capital of the Russian region of North Ossetia. "Moreover, they are necessary." He arrived in the region that borders South Ossetia on Saturday night. Putin's press secretary told Interfax that the premier was concerned about the flood of refugees arriving in Russia from South Ossetia. Russian officials said that more than 30,000 refugees have left South Ossetia and crossed into Russia over the past two days, Interfax reported. "The actions of the Georgian authorities in South Ossetia are a crime, of course, primarily a crime against their own people," Putin said. "This aggression led to numerous casualties, among civilians in particular, and virtually caused a real humanitarian catastrophe. And that is already a crime against the Ossetian people," he said. "At the same time I would like to stress that Georgia has always been greatly respected in Russia and Georgians regarded as brotherly people," the premier said. Russians struck several major targets Saturday, including the Black Sea port of Poti, an airport, a major pipeline and a military base and train station in Senaki in western Georgia, Lomaia said. Georgian officials said that a center housing civilians had also been hit. Eight Georgians died in the port town, Georgian officials said. The Kodori Gorge in upper Abkhazia -- a second breakaway province in Georgia -- was also bombarded by at least 12 Russian jets, Lomaia said. Georgia's public television station reported a second round of bombings in Abkhazia at just before 11:30 p.m. Military bases at Vaziani and Marneuli also came under attack, the British Foreign Office said, and Russian aircraft bombed the Georgian town of Gori, about 35 miles northwest of Tbilisi, Georgian officials said. An Associated Press reporter who visited Gori shortly after the Russian airstrikes Saturday saw several apartment buildings in ruins, some still on fire, and scores of dead bodies and bloodied civilians. The elderly, women and children were among the victims. A Russian naval fleet was anchored in the Black Sea port of Ochamchire in Abkhazia province, Lomaia added. "We have managed to down 10 Russian jets, and one of the pilots has been captured alive and is being treated in a military hospital," Lomaia said. "We have also destroyed up to 30 Russian tanks and heavy military [vehicles]." The situation in South Ossetia escalated rapidly from Thursday night, when Georgia said it had launched an operation into the region after its unilateral cease-fire was met with artillery fire from separatists that killed 10 people, including peacekeepers and civilians. It accused Russia of backing the separatists. Russian tanks began rolling into Georgia on Thursday night. On Saturday, the Georgian parliament approved President Mikhail Saakashvili's request to impose a "state of war" for 15 days, officials said. The order is not a formal declaration of war and stops short of declaring martial law, according to Georgian officials. It gives Saakashvili powers he would not ordinarily have, such as issuing curfews, restricting the movement of people or limiting commercial activities, those officials said. Saakashvili asked Western leaders to pressure Russia to agree to an immediate cease-fire. "We are dealing with absolutely criminal and crazy acts of irresponsible and reckless decision makers, which is on the ground producing dramatic and tragic consequences," Saakashvili said Saturday afternoon. U.S. President Bush, speaking from Beijing, China, called for an immediate halt to the violence, a stand-down by all troops and an end to the Russian bombings. He urged the sides to return to "the status quo of August the 6th." Watch Bush express concerns over situation » . "The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia. They mark a dangerous escalation in the crisis," Bush said in a statement while attending the Olympic Games, according to The Associated Press. Bush spoke Saturday evening to Saakashvili and Russian President Medvedev, a White House spokesman said. The war, Saakashvili said, "is not about South Ossetia. It has never been in the first place. It is about destroying a small democratic nation aspiring to live in peace, freedom and liberty." "This unprovoked, long-time-ago-planned invasion and aggression must stop," he said. It was unclear which side controlled Tskhinvali on Saturday. The Georgians said fighting raged, but the Russians said they had "liberated" the city. "Battalion task forces have fully liberated Tskhinvali of Georgian armed forces and started pushing Georgian units out of the area of responsibility of the peacekeeping forces," General Vladimir Boldyrev, commander of the Russian Ground Forces, told Interfax. Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said that Georgians had shot down two Russian aircraft, contradicting Georgian claims. Georgia, a pro-Western ally of the United States, is intent on asserting its authority over South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Both have strong Russian-backed separatist movements. Inside South Ossetia, civilians have been without water, electricity and basic services for more than a day, said Maia Kardava, a Red Cross spokeswoman in Tbilisi. She said the Red Cross was unable to reach colleagues based in Tskhinvali because their phones had lost power and they were huddled in bomb shelters. CNN's Elise Labott and journalist Elene Gotsadze contributed to this report. Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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2,000 people have been killed in South Ossetia, Russian ambassador says .
40 military killed and mounting civilian casualties, Georgia official says .
Russian prime minister: Georgia's actions are "crime against their own people."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposes an immediate cease-fire .
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Fishermen have caught 25 dolphins from a pod of more than 250 being held captive on the coast of Japan, it is claimed. The bottlenose dolphins, including one very young and rare albino dolphin worth millions, have been selected for a life of captivity in aquariums and marine parks ahead of a 'mass slaughter', according to environmentalists. Those that haven't been taken will either be selected tomorrow, or stabbed to death for meat. Scroll down for video . Shocking: More than 250 dolphins are being held captive in a cove in the village of Taiji in south-west Japan . Protective: The captive dolphins gather around one very young and rare albino dolphin (bottom), worth millions . Selection process: The bottlenose dolphins have been selected for a life of captivity in aquariums and marine parks ahead of a 'mass slaughter'. Above, one of the animals is hauled into a boat by Japanese fishermen . Taken: Fisherman drag one of the selected dolphins onto a boat. The animal will either be transferred to the Dolphin Base, Hotel Dolphin Resort or Whale Museum, or kept in a harbour holding pen until its fate is decided . Caught: A total of 25 dolphins, including the one above, were captured during the eight-hour selection process . The brutal selection follows an international outcry, with thousands of people having taken to social networking sites during the past 24 hours to express their anger and disgust at the process. Local fisherman and dolphin trainers arrived at a cove in the village of Taiji, on the south-west coast of Japan, shortly after 7am today, according to militant environmental group Sea Shepherd. The dolphins had already been forced to endure an agonising 19-hour wait - with eye-witnesses reporting that the animals could be seen 'thrashing around' in the cramped cove. A total of 25 dolphins were captured during the eight-hour selection process, according to the group. Outcry: The captive selection follows an international outcry. Above, a Twitter user expresses her sadness . 'Heartbreaking': Thousands of people having taken to social networking sites during the past 24 hours . Brutal process: The Twitter hashtag #tweet4taiji was trending across the world throughout the day . Controversial: The dolphins had already been forced to endure an agonising 19-hour wait - with eye-witnesses reporting that the animals could be seen 'thrashing around' in the water. Above, fisherman capture a dolphin . Heavy load: The animals were dragged onto surrounding boats by scuba divers using nets, tarp and wire . Uncertain fate: Dolphins that weren't taken will either be selected tomorrow, or stabbed to death for meat . They were dragged onto surrounding boats by scuba divers using nets, tarp and wire. Among the captives was the albino dolphin, which is believed to have been immediately transported to the Taiji Whale Museum. Albino . bottlenose dolphins are extremely rare, and are worth considerable . money to marine parks as spectator items and entertainment. The other captives have either been transferred to the Dolphin Base, Hotel Dolphin Resort or Whale Museum, or are being kept in a harbour holding pen. However, one of the dolphins is believed . to have died while being transferred to the pen - with its carcass, . instead, being taken straight to a nearby butcher's house. Sad: The body of dolphin believed to have died during the selection process is transferred to a butcher's house . Horrific scene: If the remaining dolphins that escape captivity are not killed, they will be 'driven' back to the open ocean by 'banger boats' that force them to travel out to sea using long poles attached to the boat's sides . Harsh conditions: These poles are deployed above the water, and then the fishermen hit a flange on the top of the poles with a hammer, creating a cacophony that drives the dolphins back out to sea . The remaining animals will meet their fate - either a life of captivity or death by spear - tomorrow. If the dolphins that escape captivity . are not killed, they will be 'driven' back to the open ocean by 'banger . boats' that force them to travel out to sea using long poles attached to . the sides of the boat. These . poles are deployed above the water, and then the fishermen hit a flange . on the top of the poles with a hammer - creating a cacophony that drives . the dolphins back out to sea. This is the same tactic that the fisherman use to push the dolphins into the cove and capture them. Those driven back to sea will likely . be very young, and will not have the guidance of the elders that have . been killed or captured, making them very unlikely to survive. Annual process: The fishing crew are pictured transferring several dolphins into the 250-strong pod . Rounded up: The dolphins were forced to wait in the pen for 19 hours until the holding reached critical mass . Heavy machinery: Fishermen hoist a dolphin out of the sea, on its way to either lifetime captivity or death . For the past couple of days, Sea Shepherd has been streaming live footage of the cove, . which was made famous in the Academy Award-winning film The . Cove, which documented the entire process from capture, to selection, to . aftermath. The footage has sparked outrage among people across the world - with #tweet4taiji trending on Twitter throughout the day. Twitter user Graham Vingoe wrote: 'Heartbreaking story of wild animals being treated in such a way by Japan #tweet4taiji' Meanwhile, a user with the handle @_LFord wrote: 'Sickening way to treat animals #tweet4taiji' Tradition: Each year the fishermen capture and kill a huge amount of dolphins, putting the population at risk . Did she kill herself? There is speculation that the mother of this albino dolphin trapped by Japanese fishermen in a cove has committed suicide after being torn apart from her baby . Campaigning: One of the crusaders from Sea Sheperd, left, who hope to bring the dolphin's plight to light. Right, fishermen prepare their nets to capture the next selected dolphin. None of the animals were slaughtered today . And Natalie McCallum tweeted: 'I'm so sad knowing that shortly all these poor . dolphins are going to be killed for their meat. So upsetting. #tweet4taiji #tweet4dolphins'. Meanwhile, the environmental group's Facebook page has received similar outbursts of disgust. Emma Russell wrote: 'These animals belong to the world and these fishermen are butchers and thieves'. And Leann Kropa added: My heart breaks for these dolphins, yet to endure another day of starvation and barbaric treatment.' Boat: 'Banger boats' use poles and flanges to make unpleasant sounds, driving the dolphins to specific places . Preparation: Fishermen and trainers unload the orange nets yesterday - just 24 hours before decision day . Action: The scuba divers and boat drivers, left, are, for the most part, a selection of fishermen from the Ishana Fishermen's Union. Right, one of the dolphin fences inside the cove that allows the fishermen to stand watch . Today, Sea Shepherd said in a statement: 'Those taken captive are forced to watch . as the remaining members of their family are brutally killed for human . consumption.' Every year the fishermen of Taiji . corral hundreds of dolphins into a secluded bay, select a few dozen for . sale to aquariums and marine parks, and stab the rest to death for . meat. The . marine parks in Japan are modeled after the U.S. aquarium industry that . make millions of dollars using dolphins for extremely popular aquatic . acrobatic shows. Pictured yesterday, the dolphins are oblivious of the impending doom some of them will suffer at the hands of the fishermen. They are captured around four to five at a time until enough of them are collected for 'selection' Treatment: The fishermen brutally kill the dolphins they do not set free or capture using a sharp spike or spear . Cramped: The cove does not provide much space for the dolphins to swim, forcing them to huddle up in groups . The town's . fishermen defend the hunt as a cultural tradition, yet 'The Cove' was . met by protests from right-wing activists when it was screened in Japan . in 2010. The selection is process is likely to continue until tomorrow. No dolphins have been slaughtered so far. The Taiji Fisheries Cooperative Association, which is in charge of the dolphin hunt, was not immediately available for comment.
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250 dolphins are being held captive in a cove in the village of Taiji, Japan .
25 of the animals were selected today for a life of captivity in aquariums .
Among these was rare albino dolphin, transferred to Taiji Whale Museum .
Another captive died while being transported to a harbour holding pen .
Remaining dolphins will meet their fate tomorrow - possibly death by spear .
Selection process was documented in the Oscar winning film 'The Cove'
Blame could lie with Japan's multi-million dollar marine park industry .
Fishermen use brutal tactics to herd and capture the dolphins in the cove .
The yearly killings mean the dolphin population is being decimated .
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England head coach Stuart Lancaster insists he will speak to Dylan Hartley about the 'importance of on-field discipline' after the hooker's latest indiscretion. Northampton Saints forward Hartley was handed a three-week suspension by the RFU after being sent off for elbowing Leicester Tigers' Matt Smith in a Premiership match in December. Hartley escaped a lengthy ban after RFU judicial officer Jeremy Summers accepted his guilty plea and mitigating circumstances - including provocation by Smith - but he was still punished due to his previous poor disciplinary record. Northampton Saints hooker Dylan Hartley trudges off despondently after being sent off for his vicious elbow . During the melee, Hartley was caught planting a elbow into the face of Leicester Tigers' centre Matt Smith . Referee JP Doyle (left) had no choice but to show Hartley a straight red card for his antics . Smith (left) and Hartley (right) have words after the incident, as the Leicester man is seen to by a physio . April 2007 - banned for 26 weeks after being cited for eye-gouging Wasps forwards James Haskell and Jonny O'Connor. March 2012 - received an eight-week suspension after being cited for biting Ireland forward Stephen Ferris' finger while playing for England in a Six Nations game. December 2012 - banned for two weeks after being cited for punching Ulster hooker Rory Best during a Heineken Cup match. May 2013 - sent off for verbally abusing referee Wayne Barnes during the Aviva Premiership final against Leicester at Twickenham. Received an 11-week suspension that sidelined him for the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia that he had been selected for. December 2014 - sent off for elbowing Leicester centre Matt Smith in the face. Banned for three weeks. * Hartley, has now been banned for a total of 50 weeks during his playing career. And that means Hartley will be available for national selection during the 2015 Six Nations if Lancaster decides to choose him, with the tournament kicking off when England travel to Cardiff to face Wales at the Millennium Stadium on February 6. But Lancaster insists he will speak to the 61-cap hooker before allowing him to take to the field in a Red Rose shirt this year. Speaking at the unveiling of the 2015 World Cup sign on the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne, Lancaster said: 'I have not spoken to Dylan. I did not want to do anything until the disciplinary process was followed through, and obviously he has a ban to serve. 'He knows as much as anyone the importance of on-field discipline. He will have been disappointed in himself to put himself in that position. 'I will have a conversation with him.' In total, Hartley has now received bans totalling 50 weeks. Before his latest indiscretion, Hartley had already been given a 26-week suspension in April 2007 for eye-gouging, an eight-week ban in March 2012 for biting, a two-week punishment for punching in December 2012 and an 11-week expulsion for verbally abusing referee Wayne Barnes in the 2013 Aviva Premiership final. Hartley will miss three Aviva Premiership games before being available to return for Northampton’s European Cup clash with the Ospreys on January 18. Hartley trudges off after being shown a yellow card during England's loss to South Africa in November . England head coach Stuart Lancaster at the unveiling of the 2015 World Cup sign on Newcastle's Tyne Bridge .
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Dylan Hartley was handed a three-week ban by the RFU for elbowing Leicester Tigers' Matt Smith in a Premiership match in December .
Northampton hooker has now received suspensions totalling 50 weeks .
England head coach Stuart Lancaster will speak to Hartley .
Lancaster will remind Hartley of the 'importance of on-field discipline'
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Strangers have raised tens of thousands of dollars to help two former death row inmates who spent decades in prison for a 1975 murder before being exonerated. Ricky Jackson, 57, and Wiley Bridgeman, 60, walked free from prison on Friday after a witness, who was just 12 at the time, revealed he had lied about seeing the murder in Cleveland, Ohio. The witness recanted his testimony last year, saying he had accused the men of killing a businessman following police threats. In just three days since their release, thousands of dollars in donations have been sent to fundraising pages for the two men. New life: Ricky Jackson, who was freed on Friday after nearly four decades in prison, grins as he holds his first ever cell phone on Sunday. An online fundraising page has raised nearly $30,000 for him so far . A gofundme page for Jackson had raised more than $29,000 by Monday morning, whileanother gofundme page for Bridgeman totaled more than $2,400. The pages were set up by the Ohio Innocence Project and Ohioans to Stop Executions to help the men rebuild their lives. On Jackson's page, the organizers shared a photo of him grinning while holding a cell phone on Sunday with the caption: 'Ricky with his first cell phone!' The men were convicted of murdering Harry Franks, a businessman in Cleveland, Ohio - based largely on the testimony of a 12-year-old, Eddie Vernon, who said he saw the murder. The two, along with Bridgeman's brother Ronnie, were given death sentences after Vernon testified. The death sentences were commuted to life in prison after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed capital punishment in 1978. Ronnie Bridgeman was released in 2003 for separate reasons. Free man: Ricky Jackson is pictured following his release from Cuyahoga County Jail after 39 years on Friday . Back: Wiley Bridgeman, pictured left, embraces his brother Ronnie after being freed on Friday. Ronnie, now known as Kwame Ajamu, was also convicted in the death but he was let out of prison years before him . Back together: The two brothers share a moment after Wiley, right, was allowed to walk free on Friday . He was reunited with the other two inmates Friday when they walked free from Cuyahoga County Jail after prosecutors asked that the charges be dismissed. The dramatic turnaround came after Vernon, now 52, recanted his testimony, saying that police officers coerced him into testifying and gave him details of the case. Their cases were first re-evaluated after a 2011 article in the Cleveland Scene magazine highlighted Vernon's unreliable testimony. Changing his account in 2013, he said: 'All the information was fed to me - I don't have any knowledge about what happened at the scene of the crime', Cleveland.com reported. In the initial court hearings, Vernon said he was on a bus with other schoolchildren when he heard gunshots near the a grocery store called Cut-Rite. Other children on the bus have said Vernon would not have been able to see anything from his seat - and he has since admitted that was true. Crime scene: A crime scene photograph shows the body of the man who the men were accused of killing . Victim: The three men were wrongly convicted of murdering Harry Franks, a businessman in Cleveland, Ohio . He now claims detectives talked him into testifying, then said if he claimed he was lying his parents could be put in prison for perjury. When he dismissed Jackson's case, Judge Richard McMonagle said, 'Life is filled with small victories, and this is a big one.' 'The English language doesn't even fit what I'm feeling,' Jackson said as he exited the building Friday. 'I'm on an emotional high.' Bridgeman said he never lost hope that he would be freed for good. 'You keep struggling, you keep trying,' he said. Bridgeman embraced his brother Ronnie, who changed his name to Kwame Ajamu, as he walked out of the courthouse. All he could say was that he is unsure what the future holds other than a celebratory fish dinner. Ajamu told him: 'Stick with me. You'll be all right. I ain't never going to let you go.' Jackson and his lawyers planned to celebrate at a hotel. Asked where he was going to live, Jackson replied: 'It's ironic. For 39 years, I've had a place to stay. Now, you know, that's precarious.' Thankful: Jackson looks to the sky in court after a judge revoked his sentence on Friday afternoon . Mugshots: Jackson, left, and Birdgeman as pictured by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections . Ajamu said in an interview Thursday that the prospect of the three being together again is 'mind-boggling.' He spent his 18th birthday on death row and was in prison when his mother, a brother and a sister died. He said: 'The idea that my brother - both of those guys are my brothers - are getting out? I don't even care about me.' Vernon broke down during a court hearing for Jackson on Tuesday as he described the threats by detectives and the burden of guilt he had carried for so long. Jackson said he holds no animosity toward Vernon. 'It took a lot of courage to do what he did,' he said. 'He's been carrying a burden around for 39 years, like we have. But in the end, he came through, and I'm grateful for that.'
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Ricky Jackson, 57, and Wiley Bridgeman, 60, were convicted of murdering a businessman in Cleveland, Ohio in 1975 and were put on death row .
Their sentences were commuted to life in 1978 after Supreme Court ruling .
But a witness, who was 12 at the time, recently revealed that he had accused the men after coercion from police and recanted his account .
They walked free from prison on Friday .
Thousands of dollars have now been raised for the men on gofundme .
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Atlanta (CNN) -- A 36-year-old woman who was reported missing shortly after Christmas has been found dead in Atlanta, authorities said Wednesday. Investigators used dental records to identify a body found in southwest Atlanta as that of Stacey Nicole English, the Fulton County Medical Examiner's office said in a statement. An autopsy did not reveal a cause of death, the office said, and further investigation and testing probably will take several weeks to complete. English's abandoned car was discovered, with the motor running, in Atlanta in late December. Police have made no arrests in the case. They also have named no suspects. Robert Kirk, a St. Louis man who had stayed with her December 24-26, said English was "acting peculiar and out of character" during the stay, adding that "she began screaming in the apartment and shouting biblical scriptures and indicating that the world was coming to an end," a police report said. He said that he left around 10:30 p.m. on December 26, after English "began asking him if he was Satan" and told him to leave "her residence immediately." A friend, Michelle Strothers, told police that she last saw English on that day or the next one. In an interview with police on New Year's Eve, Strothers said that her friend "appeared upset" and told her "she felt as if someone was attempting to hurt her." "She also stated that Ms. English was acting out of character, and began discussing the end of the world and quoting biblical scriptures," said the police report. Earlier, English's mother and stepfather told police that they typically talked with her "several times a week" and became worried after she did not answer their calls since they last talked with her on Christmas. They eventually used a spare key to enter her apartment, where they saw "no sign of English," the police report said. Her mother, Cynthia Jamison, said that English "was currently taking medication" and had attempted suicide by overdose a little more than two years earlier, according to police. Private investigator T.J. Ward, hired by the family, told HLN's Vinnie Politan that neither homicide nor suicide can be ruled out at this point, and that the area is being treated as a crime scene. "When toxicology comes back (we will) see if there was something in her system that could have caused her death."
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NEW: Toxicology reports will provide important info, private investigator says .
Stacey Nicole English was reported missing after Christmas .
Investigators used dental records to identify her body .
The medical examiner's office says it has not determined a cause of death .
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Roy Hodgson worst fears were realised on Sunday as NFL sides the Jacksonville Jaguars and Dallas Cowboys dug up the Wembley pitch less than a week before England's Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia. The Cowboys beat the Jaguars 31-17 in front of a packed crowd but mud was seen flying up on a regular basis as the gridiron stars pounded their way around the turf just six days before Hodgson's men are due to play. The England manager met Wembley executives to voice his worries that his players may be risking injury on that pitch when they face the FIFA-ranked No 36 side. Loose dirt flies flies up at Wembley as Dallas Cowboys' Dwayne Harris returns the ball against Jacksonville . The Wembley surface is visibly cut up as the NFL star go through their paces on Sunday night . Although rain fell beforehand the pitch was relatively dry, but dirt visibly flew from the surface when players hit full tilt and as a whole it was clearly in poor condition at the end of four quarters. This is the second American football game in a fortnight on the field and Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford noted it was 'pretty cut up' last time out - and he doesn't have to worry about the impact a bumpy surface will have on a round ball. After inspecting the pitch this week Hodgson said it was 'not in the best of nick' - and that was before the FA announced next year it will host three more NFL games at the stadium. Jacksonville's Blake Bortles (above) slips on the Wembley surface during the clash . The Cowboys beat the Jaguars 31-17 in the second NFL game at Wembley in a fortnight . He had already criticised the scheduling of this match so close to an England game, which he expects should take priority. 'I don't really think you could expect me to say, "Excellent, delighted, well done,", Hodgson said. 'But I'm realistic, I'm pragmatic and this match has been organised for a period of time now. The pitch, unfortunately, is not in the best of nick, which we're all a bit unhappy with. I think it will get put right. Groundstaff remove divots from the pitch at half-time during the NFL match . Getting straight to work the Wembley groundstaff race to prepare the pitch for England's clash with Slovenia . 'If asked if it was a good thing or not, I would have to say not. I can do nothing about it and we won't use it as an excuse. 'The ground staff will be working their socks off from Sunday evening through to Saturday to make it as good as it can possibly be and we will accept that and have to adapt.' After Sunday's match Dallas Cowboys defensive end Jeremy Mincey said of the pitch: 'It was a little muddy and tough but we had our long studs in and adjusted well. There wasn’t much slipping and sliding out there and some guys changed their cleats at half-time.’ England boss Roy Hodgson didn't seem pleased with the NFL match taking place at Wembley .
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NFL match took place six days out from England's next Euro 2016 qualifier .
Roy Hodgson's England take on Slovenia on November 15 at Wembley .
The England boss had already voiced concerns about the pitch .
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When their older brother Jeremy died in Afghanistan, Ben and Beau Wise did what loyal brothers and soldiers do. They stood solemnly in uniform at his memorial, laid red roses in front of his picture, and Ben spoke bravely to a chapel full of loved ones who came to mourn. Soldiers themselves, Ben and Beau knew what their fallen brother had experienced and seen. They knew the difficulties of being a warrior and a devoted husband, and what a testament it was to Jeremy's character that he had excelled at both. Band of brothers: From left, Ben, Beau and Jeremy Wise, deep in conversation. Ben and Jeremy died while serving their country in Afghanistan . 'Jeremy, I miss you and I love you, brother,' Ben said. 'And see you again.' Two . years later, Ben died at a hospital in Germany after an insurgent . attack left him with injuries that first cost him his legs, then his life. He was . 34, a year younger than Jeremy was when a suicide bomber killed him at a . CIA base where he was working as a defense contractor. For a family that had already paid the highest price of war, it was time for another funeral, another eulogy, another grave. The . eldest Wise boys are two of the thousands of Americans who have died . since the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan began. But they share a link . that most do not: They were brothers. 'They laid down their lives, both of them, so that others could live,' their mother, Mary Wise, said. Jeremy, Ben and Beau played with soldiers long before they became soldiers themselves. Devastating loss: The Wise family in Little Rock, Arkansas. Mother Mary Wise (right) poses with her children, from left, Beau, Heather, Ben and Jeremy . Playtime was something of a . battlefield rehearsal. When the G.I. Joes were idle, their toys morphed . into land mines, waiting to be stepped on in the carpet at the family's . home in southern Arkansas. The . three Wise boys and their sister, Heather, grew up in a small town . called El Dorado. It wasn't a far drive from the country, where their . father, Jean, taught the boys to hunt squirrels and deer when he wasn't . treating patients as an ear, nose and throat doctor. The . house was always full of something: the smell of mom's venison fried up . with lemon pepper, the sound of the kids riffing on guitars or banging . on drums. Amid the . chaos, though, was harmony. A friend once asked why they didn't have . cable. Ben looked at him and said: 'We've got each other.' At . night, when Beau was tucked into bed, the big kids would have story . time. Ben and Heather would sit with legs crossed and listen to Jeremy, . who even as a teenager, saw himself as a protector: sword in hand, clad . in armor, crossing bridges to battle monsters with glowing eyes and . yellow breath. Hero: Army Sgt Ben Wise died on January 15, 2012, in a hospital in Germany after being wounded in Afghanistan . Courage: Navy Seal Jeremy Wise on the cover of a video of his 2009 memorial service and a newspaper obituary kept by his sister in Prescott, Arkansas . 'In the story, of course, he's always the hero,' their sister Heather Skaleski said. As they grew older, military dreams turned into career plans. Ben aired his by the time he was in Sunday school. Most of his classmates raised their hands when a teacher asked what they wanted to do when they grew up. Not Ben. He got up from his seat and drew a picture of a soldier on the board. Years later, in 2000, he enlisted in the Army - and then told his mother. 'I was indignant because I was Mommy and I thought he should talk with me, which I realize now was laughable,' his mother said. Jeremy signed up next, dropping out of medical school to become a Navy SEAL. The last to join the military was Beau. Determined to keep her last son out of harm's way, his mother refused to cook for him for two weeks when he announced he was going to become a Marine. Pride: Beau Wise in his U. S. Marine Corps uniform - he lost two brothers in Afghanistan . 'I was just so mad because I wanted to protect him,' Mary Wise said. Her protests didn't work. He followed his brothers. Once the deployments began, they seemed constant. Beau shipped off to Afghanistan for the first time in 2009. Ben had finished a deployment earlier that year and was preparing for another with his Special Forces unit in 2010. 'One was always coming or two were there and one was home,' their mother said. Jeremy had just retired as a Navy SEAL and was working as a defense contractor in Afghanistan. He thought he could spend more time with his family that way and still serve his country. When he was home in Virginia, he played ninjas with his stepson, Ethan, and hung around his wife, Dana, even if she was doing something as mundane as laundry. 'He loved us almost suffocatingly so,' she said. When he was working in Afghanistan, Jeremy called home often and made the adventure sound like a vacation. He talked about the food, the hotels - not the danger. 'He wouldn't tell me anything about it because he didn't want me to worry,' his sister, Heather, said. The risk became real at the end of 2009, when the Wise parents were celebrating the birth of Ben's baby boy in Washington state. Amid the celebration, word came from overseas: A suicide bomber had killed Jeremy at a CIA base in Afghanistan. His family met his remains in Dover, Delaware. It was a cold, gray day and the family waited inside a bus that felt like a funeral parlor, Heather recalled. Ben took Heather's hand in his and they whispered memories about their brother. Deployments were harder after that. Ben and Beau headed back overseas not long after the funeral. The war started wearing on Ben, a medic who repaired the wounds that men inflict on each other. He worried about his younger brother serving in another part of Afghanistan. 'I was just so mad because I wanted to protect him.' Mary Wise, mother . '(Beau's) heading home here in the next few days, which is a huge load off my mind,' Ben wrote in a Facebook message to a friend. He waited for his own homecoming. During his final deployment, Ben would tell his sister stories about his son, Luke. Then he would cut himself off, unable to talk about the baby boy he couldn't hold in his arms. 'The pain comes in when you have to think about home, think about the people you love and then just try to block it out ... for your family and for your fellow soldiers,' Heather recalled him saying. He prayed. He had faith that he would come home. So much faith that he turned down a friend's offer to ship him a care package in December, telling him that he would be packing up by the time it arrived. The next month, an insurgent shot Ben after he and his fellow soldiers saved a number of women and children in Afghanistan. A medic unto the end, he helped tend to his own wounds before he was flown to a hospital in Germany. Beau caught a flight and accompanied Ben's wife to the hospital, where she saw her husband for the last time. Ben fought to stay alive, even after doctors cut off his legs, even as his body failed, even as his organs started shutting down. He died on January 15, shortly before his parents arrived to say goodbye. Beau called Heather. 'We were crying and I said, ''It's just you and me now, bro,'" she said. 'Just us two.' Again, the family found themselves in the same chapel, the same veterans cemetery, to say goodbye.They moved Jeremy's grave so that the brothers could lie side by side in Suffolk, Virginia. 'To lose Jeremy was devastating,' his widow, Dana, said. 'To lose Ben was just ... you throw your hands up in the air.' Each brother's tombstone cites part of the Bible. Jeremy's points to a chapter that's often read at happier times: 1 Corinthians 13. Part of it reads: 'When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.' The family still calls them boys. The youngest, Beau, is planning to move closer to Ben's family. Later this year, his mother says, he'll transfer from his base in Hawaii to one on the mainland. He'll remain in the military, at least for now. He will not deploy for war again. Though the Marines will not talk specifically about Beau's case, the military has policies in place to protect surviving sons like Beau and families like the Wises. It's rare for brothers to die in the same war, but not unheard of. One of the most famous cases of siblings dying in war is the five Sullivan brothers, who died together at sea during a battle in World War II. Mary Wise said the military assured her that Beau won't be sent into conflict again. Their family has sacrificed enough.
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Jeremy Wise, 35, killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan in 2009 .
Two years later, Ben Wise died in hospital following insurgent attack .
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(CNN) -- It's probably the furthest thing from Hugh Hefner's idea of a sexy hotel room, or a "Fifty Shades of Grey" weekend getaway, but a white, bright, mother-of-pearl-themed hotel room in London has won an award for world's sexiest bedroom. The Corfu Suite at the Blakes Hotel in London took the top spot for its "sumptuous decor," "a bed you can't leave" and "an element of intrigue." And no, the judges weren't the prude, prim types -- they included burlesque star Immodesty Blaze, fashion blogger Garance Doré and the president of luxury lingerie brand Kiki de Montparnasse. Runners-up were the "fantasy cocoon" at the Ca Maria Adele hotel in Venice, and rooms at Secret Bay resort in Dominica. More categories . The Sexiest Bedroom in the World was just one of the categories in the Smith Hotel Awards announced last week. To celebrate their 10th anniversary, travel publisher and boutique hotel booking service Mr & Mrs Smith asked travelers around the world to vote for their favorite boutique and small luxury hotels. More than 47,000 people voted, and panels of judges chose the winner and the two runners-up from each category's shortlist. To read about the winners and runners up in more detail, check out the Smith Hotel Awards website. Category winners . Sexiest Bedroom: Blakes Hotel, London . Best-Dressed Hotel (interior styling): Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia . Hottest Hotel Bar: Ace Hotel, New York . Best Hotel Restaurant: La Bastide de Moustiers, Provence, France . Best Spa Hotel: Como Shambhala Estate, Bali . The Eco Award: Sextantio Albergo Diffuso, L'Aquila, Italy . Best for Families: Soneva Kiri, Koh Kood, Thailand . Best Budget Hotel: Brody House, Budapest, Hungary . The Greatest Outdoors: Dunton Hot Springs, San Juan Mountains, Colorado . Above and Beyond: The Upper House, Hong Kong . Best Newcomer: Fogo Island Inn, Newfoundland, Canada . Best Smith Hotel 2013: Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, California .
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Travel publisher Mr & Mrs Smith announced Smith Hotel Awards winners .
Corfu Suite at the Blakes Hotel took top spot for world's sexiest hotel bedroom .
Ace Hotel in New York is hottest hotel bar .
Best new hotel is in Newfoundland, Canada .
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By . Ashley Pearson . Against my will, I've become a bargain basement shopper. Whereas I once frequented the hallowed halls of Harrods, now it's Poundland and Primark. Just the lighting alone is jarring, to say the least. What's interesting though, is that I frequently catch the eye of one of my well turned out peers who I'm certain is making the same adjustment as me. Ashley Pearson says it is possible to live a champagne lifestyle on a tighter budget . In our case it's a new baby that has made the difference, but for some it may be saving to get on the property ladder, expensive IVF treatments, school fees or buying a new home. Whatever it is, it's nice to know that I'm not alone. Having said that, although my formerly Champagne lifestyle is rapidly downshifting into a Prosecco world - my tastes haven't changed at all. And whilst I find myself hurtling towards middle age in a home cluttered with Fisher Price, I can tell you that I am not ready to swap my DVF for Boden and my Choos for Clarks. At least not yet. Therefore, after careful investigation, I've put together a guide to the best luxe-loving and glam values out there. And if, like me, your budget no longer matches your carefully cultivated taste levels, this one's for you. Let's talk linens. I'm a total bed linen snob and I can talk thread count with the best of them. The first time my 4 month old vomited on my 1200 count white Turkish cotton I felt a physical pain. Thankfully I've now discovered a website called Best Bed Linen. They've supplied top five-star hotels for over 20 years; including The Savoy, The Goring, and Claridges. Best Bed Linen supply bedding for luxury hotels such as The Savoy but there sets are available from £115 . This is a 5-star sleep experience in your own home. A set, which includes a flat or fitted sheet, duvet cover and 2-4 pillowcases starts at £115. www.thebestbedlinenintheworld.com . For those of us who like to cook, or in my case have fancy pots and pans I don't use, on display - we all know how expensive Le Crueset is. Gorgeous, lasts forever and a true status symbol on the stove. Check out Sainsbury's new range that comes in a kicky aqua and fantastic lapis blue. A great alternative, cooks like a dream and looks v snazzy. Ashley loves the Le Crueset style pots available at Sainsburys . And what about the all important beauty upkeep? Celebrites such as Kim Kardashian have personal Spray Tanners who come to their home and give them a customised spray tan. No more streaking, no brown palms or stains in between fingers. And in London at least you can get a similar service on a budget. Beau Bronz, which sprays for TV shows like This Morning and Dancing on Ice offers a bespoke spray tan for £40. And even better, they come to you! This service is available across London (Call Abi 07968133221 or Rachel 07872945044) I know Tesco does well for clothes but I had no idea they made such stylish home accessories. Recently bemoaning the costs of setting up a home office, I was delighted to discover a great range of options. This stylish lamp for £25 was a steal. Ashley was pleasantly surprised by the range of stylish homewears available at Tesco . Are you amongst those of us who can immediately identify Jo Malone's Lime Basil Mandarin cologne (£78)? Bronnley has made a very clever substitute. It's called Lime and Bergamot and every time I wear it, I get asked if it's the Jo Malone signature scent. I am in love with it as much as I am the fact that it costs a mere £14. Ashley says that Bronnley's Lime & Bergamot scent could easily be mistaken for Jo Malone . Although I am not by any means an . attachment parent, a new baby invariably made us long for a bigger bed. Early morning play and sleep sessions, and just general exhaustion left . us fighting for our corners. I got a tip off from a producer friend who works on a home design show. Apparently this site is a major decorator's secret with designer furnishings that look more expensive than they are. www.loveyourhomeforless.com. We ordered the Isabella Storage Bed, and I can honestly say that in addition to saving more than 1000 pounds from others I had found, it's the prettiest bed I've ever seen. Ashley saved more than £1000 on her bed from Love Your Home for Less . I admit it, I am a total and complete candle snob. I can smell a Diptyque from a mile away, but at something like £40, their role in my household expenditures is now taken over by Pampers and Aptamil. I have found some lovely, less expensive alternatives. Check out Illume's Anemone, lovely looking and at £22, good value (beautybay.com). Also the dotcomgiftshop has some beautifully elegant candles for just £9.95 - I loved the Moroccon Rose and Fig. Ashley is a self confessed candle snob but is very keen on the dotcomgiftshop's offerings at £9.95 . I'll never forget when a very famous British TV presenter confessed to me that her massive diamond wedding rings set was from Carat. 'Everyone expects me to have enormous and expensive rings, but I'd never spend that kind of money on jewellery.' Her sparkling 'diamonds' were so pretty and I'd always envied them, I couldn't believe they weren't the real thing. So, if your budget doesn't allow for the ring from Tiffany's you covet, check out Carat. Some of their pieces are truly lovely - and would fool all but the most practiced eye. www.carat.co . Carat is great for those of you without a Tiffany budget . My feet changed dramatically whilst pregnant, so post baby I was faced with a priceless wardrobe of shoes that no longer fit. You can thus imagine my utter delight upon discovering Moda in Pelle which does a mean Louboutin inspired white heel and a kicky pair that look like 'Tod's'. However, it was this pair that really got me excited. They are very similar to the expensive wedges that Jennifer Aniston LIVES IN and retail for £50 instead of Jen's £230 version. Despite being grounded at home more these days, I still love a little night away. The free to download app HotelTonight allows you to book a room in 250 destinations at a huge discount. Ashley loves Moda in Pelle's wedges that steal Jennifer Anniston's style for £50 . The only catch is, you can't choose the hotel until the day of - but they have gorgeous properties in most major cities, and you are virtually guaranteed a lovely selection. We tried the swanky Beaufort hotel in Knightsbridge at a 50% savings and loved it. And another cash saving trick is to look out for new hotel launches. CEO of . luxury travel specialists Fox PR www.foxpr.co.uk Lysbeth Fox says, . 'Hotels traditionally offer great value when they first open. Keep on . top of local news in the location you're interested in, watch for hotel . openings and book early. Travel specialist Lysbeth Fox recommends the D-Resort Gocek in Dalaman, Turkey, for a spring break . Ashley stayed in the Kalamar Dream Villa on a recent trip to Turkey and said it was great value for money . 'You . can often secure an incredible deal if you're amongst the first wave of . guests.' Her pick this season? D-Resort Gocek in Dalaman, Turkey which . opens in May. Early bookings are now only £150 per night for the . 5-star, ultra glam, beach-fronted hotel, dresortgocek.com.tr. Ashley says that although she is spending more and more time in Primark, she is a Harrods girl at heart . And for planning a trip for the whole family, if you want luxury without a massive hotel bill, consider Holiday Lettings (holidaylettings.co.uk). We stayed at the Villa Kalamar Dream (Home ID 76799) on a recent trip to Turkey and were completely blown away. And at 222 pounds a night, a cost shared by 6 adults, it was incredible value. Breath-taking sea views, roof deck terraces with sun loungers, fresh bread delivered each morning, maid service and chefs available, as well as an infinity pool and flat screened entertainment system to die for; it was truly A-list living. It was ideal for a family and far less pricey than a hotel. For general pampering, look for ways to multi-task your treatments. Edward James' Aveda salons offer 15 minute 'Glow Facials' for clients who want to use their down-time in the salon (when colour is processing) or whilst their hair is being shampooed and conditioned. At £20 each the mini-facials are combined with a hand and arm massage and a lie down on a reclining massage bed. If the treatments are booked with a colour service they are just £15. The bottom line: you may be more likely to spot me at Poundland than Prada these days, but I still like the finer things in life. And until things change, you'll find me dreaming of the day when TK Maxx stocks Crème de la Mer and Victoria Beckham designs.
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Our style blogger Ashley Pearson has had to make a few cut backs since becoming a mother .
But she says there are ways to live a luxury lifestyle without the price tag .
Here Ashley shows you how to cheat your way to the high end .
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By . Laura Williamson . Follow @@laura_mail . Usain Bolt has given the 2014 . Commonwealth Games a massive boost by announcing he is ‘available for . selection’, albeit only in the 4x100metres relay. The . world and Olympic 100m and 200m champion has yet to compete this season . after suffering a foot injury and will miss this weekend’s Jamaican . Championships, but has said he is ‘available for relay duty’ in Glasgow. Crowds . at Hampden Park, however, will still see Bolt in action for less than . 20 seconds if he runs in the heats and final at the Games: the 100m . world record-holder was clocked at 8.70secs for the anchor leg of . Jamaica’s sprint relay triumph at the London 2012 Olympics. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Usain Bolt advising wannabe athletes . Glasgow bound: Usain Bolt has confirmed his availability for the Commonwealth Games . Star of the show: Bolt's participation in Glasgow next month may only be limited to the relay . Jamaica have yet to name their athletics team for Glasgow, although former 100m world champion Yohan Blake has already declared himself unavailable, prompting further questions about why Team England’s squad was announced on June 16 and selected two weeks previously. The early cut-off time for qualification meant Britain’s current fastest male 100m runner, Chijindu Ujah, missed out on selection as he did not run 9.96secs in Hengelo, Holland until June 8. The oversight means Ujah will instead concentrate on guaranteeing his place in Great Britain’s team for August’s European Championships in Zurich by finishing in the top two at this weekend’s Sainsbury’s British Championships in Birmingham. The 20-year-old’s coach, Jonas Taiwah-Dodoo, believes Ujah is capable of dipping under 9.9secs this season, putting him on course to break Linford Christie’s British record of 9.87secs, and could also win his first senior medal in Zurich. Cohorts: Bolt celebrates with team-mate Yohan Blake following the 200-metre final during London 2012 . Unavailable: Blake won't compete in the Commonwealth Games for Jamaica . Taiwah-Dodoo said: ‘I would expect him . to get faster. With the same conditions as Hengelo, can he run 9.8secs? I don’t see why not. And can he go to Europeans and challenge for a . medal? For sure.‘This is the greatest British sprinting has ever . been. Now we’ve not only got 9.9sec guys, but a plethora of other guys . who have all run 10.1 this year.’ Taiwah-Dodoo . said Ujah was so ‘technically bad it was scary’ when he first met him . four years ago, but the youngster is now bidding to become British 100m . champion tomorrow afternoon in Birmingham. Ujah, the third fastest . British man in history, said: ‘I don’t believe I’m a one-hit wonder. I . believe that if I execute my race on Sunday and the conditions are good . I’ll run a fast time. Every race I go into I’ll definitely aim to win . it. ‘I still feel there is a lot more to be done and a lot more to . achieve. It is definitely good being the fastest in the UK right now, . but you then have to go out and prove you can do it at a world level.’ TV and Radio: LIVE Sunday, BBC2 from 1pm and Radio 5 Live from 2pm.
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Bolt confirmed on his website that he is available for selection .
Jamaican was a major doubt after suffering from foot injury .
Participation may be limited to the relay, depending on selectors' stance .
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Bruce Batten was surprised to see an unseasonable visitor on the second-floor deck of his Eagle River home. The former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee from Anchorage heard his dogs barking at about 1:30am Friday. He looked out of the French doors off his bedroom, flipped on a light and saw what was upsetting the dogs: a black bear feeding on a bird feeder. The audience didn't bother the bear. Unwelcome guest: In this November 7, 2014 photo provided by Bruce Batten, a black bear eats seeds inside a bird feeder on a second-floor porch after walking up a flight of stairs in Eagle River, Alaska . 'He's like, "Excuse me, I'm having a little snack here,'" Batten told the Alaska Dispatch News. The incident and others prompted the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to warn residents that southcentral Alaska bears have not taken to winter dens and may be attracted to birdfeeders and cans of trash. Mild temperatures and little snow have led to bears hanging around, said Dave Battle, an assistant area wildlife biologist with the Department of Fish and Game. Bears want to load up on calories before denning, and bird seed and trash are a strong temptation, Battle said. 'It's most likely to stay out a bit longer, packing in the last calories that it can,' Battle said. Bird feeders should remain inside for a few more weeks, he said. Batten retired from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1998 and knows bear habits. 'As we used to say in the Fish and Wildlife Service, "Wait until Thanksgiving and then when you eat a bird you can feed a bird,"' he said. The Department of Fish and Game recommends southcentral Alaska residents keep bird feeders inside between April and November 1. Batten over the summer obtained a 'particularly nice' bird feeder and was anxious to hang it when November arrived. The state agency received other bear reports from Eagle River and even from the Government Hill neighborhood north of downtown Anchorage. 'Just because someone doesn't live in one of the areas mentioned doesn't mean it's safe for them to leave their trash unsecured or put out bird feeders,' Battle said.
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Bruce Batten from Eagle River, Anchorage, photographed a bear outside his home last week eating from a birdfeeder .
The incident and others prompted the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to warn residents that Alaska bears have not taken to winter dens yet .
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A couple who refused to let a gay couple share a bedroom at their seaside guest house have won permission to take their case to the Supreme Court. Court of Appeal judges earlier this year dismissed a challenge brought by the couple who run a guest house in Cornwall, against a ruling that they breached equality legislation when they turned away a gay couple. The appeal court had upheld the January 2011 verdict of Judge Andrew Rutherford at Bristol County Court that Peter and Hazelmary Bull, who run Chymorvah House in Marazion, Cornwall, had directly discriminated against the couple, who were awarded a total of £3,600 damages. Peter and Hazelmary Bull from Marazion, Cornwall, run Chymorvah House (pictured) Peter and Hazelmary Bull (pictured left) refused to let Martyn Hall and his civil partner Steven Preddy (pictured right) share a double room in the hotel that they run. The case is to be heard by the Supreme Court . The Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, has now decided to hear the Bull’s case. Mr Bull, 72, and Mrs Bull, who is in her late 60s, are Christians who regard any sex outside marriage as a ‘sin’. Consequently, they would not let Martyn Hall and his civil partner Steven Preddy share a double-bedded room. The Bulls denied that they had discriminated against the couple, arguing that their policy of only allowing married couples to sleep in a double bed, in accordance with their religious beliefs, was applied to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation. They said they had also prevented unmarried heterosexual couples from sharing double rooms since they opened 25 years ago. In February this year, Sir Andrew Morritt, Chancellor of the High Court, sitting with Lord Justice Hooper and Lady Justice Rafferty, dismissed the case and said the restriction was ‘absolute’ when it came to homosexuals but not heterosexuals. Peter and Hazelmary Bull said they refuse to let unmarried couples share double rooms, in accordance with their Christian beliefs . He said: 'In those circumstances it must constitute discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. Such discrimination is direct'. Lady Justice Rafferty said a homosexual couple 'cannot comply with the restriction because each party is of the same sex and therefore cannot marry'. The Bulls had accepted an £80-a-night double room booking, believing Steven Preddy, 38, would be staying with his wife. When Mr Preddy arrived with his 46-year-old civil partner Martyn Hall, the men, from Bristol, were told they would not be able to share one room and instead had to sleep separately. Martyn Hall (right) and his civil partner Steven Preddy (left) were awarded £3,600 in damages in January 2011 . Peter and Hazelmary Bull Cornwalll say they did not discriminate against the couple because they were homosexuals . In January last year Judge Andrew . Rutherford ruled at Bristol County Court that the Bulls had breached . equality legislation and ordered them to pay the couple a total of . £3,600 damages. In the . Appeal Court ruling earlier this year, Lady Justice Rafferty said: 'Whilst the appellants' beliefs about sexual practice may not find the . acceptance that once they did, nevertheless a democratic society must . ensure that their espousal and expression remain open to those who hold . them. 'However, in a pluralist society it is inevitable that from time to time, as here, views, beliefs and rights of some are not compatible with those of others. 'As I have made plain, I do not consider that the appellants face any difficulty in manifesting their religious beliefs, they are merely prohibited from so doing in the commercial context they have chosen.' The Equality and Human Rights Commission, had backed Mr Preddy and Mr Hall in their action. John Wadham of the EHRC said “We believe that this case will help people to better understand the law around freedom of religion. 'When offering a service, people cannot use their beliefs, religious or otherwise, to discriminate against others.' But Simon Calvert, of the Christian Institute, which funded Mr and Mrs Bull’s appeal, said: 'Something has gone badly wrong with our equality laws when good, decent people like Peter and Hazelmary are penalised but extremist hate preachers are protected.'
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Peter and Hazelmary Bull said that they did not discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation .
They claim they do not let any unmarried couples share a room, in accordance with their Christian beliefs .
When Steven Preddy initially booked the £80 a night room, the Bulls believed that he would be sharing with his wife .
Mr Preddy and his civil partner Martyn Hall were awarded £3,600 of damages at Bristol Crown Court .
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By . James Rush . PUBLISHED: . 08:32 EST, 19 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 02:39 EST, 20 February 2013 . Wealthy: The Duke of Northumberland has been accused by farmers on his estate-owned land of a 'get rich quick' attitude, after claiming they were hit by rent hikes of up to 98 per cent . He is the aristocratic owner of the castle featured in Harry Potter. And although his fortune is said to be around £320million, it seems the Duke of Northumberland wants more. Ralph Percy, 56, has been accused of wrecking the livelihoods of tenant farmers after his land agents demanded massive rent increases.Some have been asked to pay up to 98 per cent more or face eviction. The Duke, whose son George was last year rumoured to be dating Pippa Middleton, owns some 132,000 acres of land. His 1,000-year-old castle at Alnwick, which featured as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films, is known as the Windsor of the North. But despite his wealth, it emerged yesterday that the Duke’s Estate is conducting a crippling round of rent reviews on its farmers in Northumberland. There is no legal limit to the rent the land agents can ask for, and tenants are unlikely to challenge them because this can end up costing them even more. With many farmers suffering from a slump in lamb prices, some fear they might have to give up their properties altogether. Stoker Frater, who runs two farms on land near Alnwick, has been told to expect a 40 per cent increase, following on from a 30 per cent rise three years ago. He said: ‘Tenants are expected to pay outlandish rents just to get the land. ‘The Estate has become so business-orientated that it will take the highest offer.’ Another, who also farms near Alnwick but did not want to be named, was told his annual rent was due to go up by 98 per cent this year. Hit: Farmer Stoker Frater, who farms on two Northumberland Estates-owned farms, has been told to expect a 40 per cent increase in his rent, following on from a 30 per cent rent rise three years ago . Grand: Alnwick Castle, the residency of the Duke of Northumberland, which was also used as a location in the Harry Potter films . After saying he could not afford it, . he was told to accept a 64 per cent rise or be off the land by the . following month. He said: ‘My rent will go up from £21,000 a year to . £34,000, which is completely unachievable. ‘This is affecting my entire family as I won’t be able to afford to run the farm if my rent goes up by this much.’ Northumberland Estates, which has . land in the West Country and Yorkshire as well as Northumberland, has . about 100 tenanted farms. It said the rent reviews reflected rises in . market rates. But David Robson, of the NFU in Northumberland, said the Estate was taking advantage of its tenants. He said: ‘It seems the Estate is . wanting its pound of flesh. Historically, they were run more on the . traditional basis where a farmer was actively encouraged to look after . the land. Now if the farmer can’t pay he’s out the door.’ The rises come as the Duke prepares . for a multi-million pound bill linked to the demolition of flood-hit . flats in Newburn, Newcastle upon Tyne, although the Estate says the . issues are not linked. Tenants have the right to call in an . arbitrator if they dispute a rent rise, but can end up paying costs of . up to £40,000 if the ruling is in the landlord’s favour. An Estate spokesman said: ‘We . understand tenants do not welcome potential increases in rent but . believe that, by encouraging open and honest discussions during . negotiations, rent reviews take into account the type of tenancy, the . individual farm and rents accurately reflect market conditions.’
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Duke of Northumberland nearly doubles rent for some farmers on estate .
Some farmers fearing they may have to give up properties .
NFU Northumberland chairman says estate is 'wanting its pound of flesh'
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Rod Addamo just might be Australia's most dedicated fan boy. The Melbourne-based tiler and father-of-two has been an avid follower of the Marvel universe since he was a child, and is now living the dream in his very own 'Marvel museum' home. 'It encompasses all areas of my life really,' Rod told Daily Mail Australia. 'From our home to the kids to my work and everything in between. It's a real labour of love.' Having fallen in love with comic books at the age of five, Rod has spent the rest of his life collecting, obsessing, and finding ways of incorporating the comics into every area of his life. Rod lost his father as a teenager, and as the eldest child it fell to him to help his mother raise his brothers and sisters. He found that the Marvel universe became more to him than simply a hobby- it became a creed to live by. 'I had to be the man of the house,' explained Rod. 'The creator of the Marvel universe, Stan Lee, put so much pathos into his tales,' 'They taught me about responsibility and about how to do the right thing. I was able to take these lessons and put them into practice in helping out my mum.' Rod Addamo surrounded by his hundreds of collectible figurines in his Melbourne home . In 2011, Rod married his wife Steph in an elaborate Marvel-themed wedding. Taking his fandom to new heights, Rod commissioned a South African artist to design invitations based on a 1980's Spiderman Annual in which Peter Parker marries his long-time love Mary Jane. 'It's an iconic cover, and we made it our own. We used it for the invitations, and created an album for the guests too,' 'I asked the artist to recreate it with myself and Steph as Peter and Mary Jane, and we had all our favourite Marvel characters in the background as wedding guests.' Rod and Steph's invitation for their Marvel-themed wedding in 2011 . Having planned their honeymoon around that year's Comic-Con in New York, Rod started trawling online forums and discovered that the creator of Marvel, Stan Lee, had been announced as a special guest. 'I was so excited,' said Rod. 'I was chatting in a forum with other like-minded fans, and explained to them the story of my dad's passing and how much the Marvel universe had meant to me at that time, and the way it has impacted on my life,' 'Little known to me, one of the members knew Stan Lee's agency, and told them all about my story. They got in contact with me and asked if I'd like to meet him and spend some time together.' The opportunity to meet the man responsible for the world that has meant so much to him was incredible. 'To be able to meet him as an adult, shake his hand, and say thank you to him was just amazing,' said Rod. 'I've actually met him six times now, and I think I can almost call him a friend. Each time he comes to Australia, his agency contacts me and asks if I'd like to come along. I've been so blessed.' Rod has also met many of the other writers and creators of the Marvel universe, including Chris Claremont and Mike McKone. Most recently Rod met Sebastian Stan, who plays Winter Soldier in the latest Captain America film, at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. Rod Adammo and his wife Steph with their children Lila, 3, and Logan, 1. It's not only Rod that loves Marvel though. While wife Steph 'has come to love it over time', their two children were involved right from birth. The couple named their daughter Lila Rose, 3, after X-men character Lila Cheney, and their son Logan James, 1, after the character Wolverine. 'They've seen the comic series and I'll introduce them to the movies when they're older,' Rod said. 'All their plates and cups are Marvel. It makes it easy for people to buy presents, so they have Spiderman toothbrushes and X-men pyjamas and other Marvel clothes. All our birthday parties are Marvel themed too- we already have the decorations!' 'It's a real all-in family love now. My friends call our house the 'Marvel Museum'- we've got statues and figurines, posters and costumes, all the movies, comics, novels, and plush toys for all of us.' Rod with a small selection of his extensive collectibles collection . Even the business that Rod co-owns with his brother is dedicated to Marvel. The roof tiling company is called Marvellous Tiling, with the company's logo and van designed with silhouettes of the different characters. 'It's everywhere I go,' said Rod. 'Whether I'm at home with the kids and my wife, or at work, it's a constant in my life,' 'It's a lot of work keeping ahead of the curve in terms of getting the newest collectible and seeing all the movies but's never actually work. It's always fun, and an experience that I get to share with my family'. 'Creeds like Spiderman's "with great power comes great responsibility" really resonate with me. Ideas about doing good and doing the right thing have made such an impact on my life,' 'Even though the Marvel characters are 2D images on paper or on screen you can take what they model and apply that to real life,' 'Like most people I gravitate towards heroes, but whilst the broad superhero universe is about adventure and fun, it's also about teaching you about life and giving you a code to live by.' 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' is out now on Blu-ray and DVD.
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Travels all over the world to meet Marvel writers and artists .
Planned elaborate Marvel-themed wedding .
Even planned honeymoon around Comic-Con!
Met Seb Stan, 'Winter Soldier', from the most recent Captain America film .
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By . Sam Webb . PUBLISHED: . 09:57 EST, 5 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:24 EST, 5 December 2012 . An enormous queue of taxis is seen waiting to fill up their tanks at a natural gas at a station Taiyuan, capital of northern China's Shanxi Province. Due to rising petrol costs, some Chinese cities have been converted their taxi fleet to run on natural gas. However, due to a current lack of gas stations where they can fill up, drivers are often forced to queue for hours. One driver said that he spends three to four hours each day waiting to get fuel. Round the block: Taxis in Taiyuan, China, are forced to queue for hours for natural gas as demand, driven by high petrol prices, skyrocket . Queue: Half of China's one million taxis are now gas-powered but supply hasn't kept up with demand . Rigmarole: One driver said that he spends three to four hours each day waiting to get fuel . Natural gas fuel combustion produces significantly less harmful emissions than petrol and in 1999 Chinese authorities set a 10 per cent target for clean vehicles as a portion of the overall vehicle population. According to Forbes (LINK), the total number of taxis in China is more than 1.1 million, half of which have gas engines. China is already among the top seven gas vehicle markets and, according to the country’s national plan, China’s natural gas vehicle ownership will be 1.5 million in 2015 and 3 million in 2020. China produces more than 18 million vehicles annually and has approximately 112 million vehicles. Break: A driver snacks on noodles while he waits to fill up his taxi with natural gas. The Chinese government is promoting the use of natural gas-powered cars. China's natural gas vehicle ownership is expected to be 1.5million in 2015 . Green: Vehicles that run on natural gas have far less harmful emissions than their petrol counterparts .
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Taxis forced to wait hours to fill up as numbers of natural gas-powered vehicles soars .
High petrol prices have seen Chinese cities convert their fleets .
But refuelling stations have not grown to meet spiralling demand .
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It's a time when diamonds are the flavour of the month in the midfield on a football pitch but Jamie Redknapp had a different sort in mind on Wednesday night. The former Liverpool and England star was dressed to impress along with his wife Louise as they attended a launch party for the jewellers Pandora in London. Under the campaign #PandoraWishes, the couple have been promoting the Pandora jewellery range and were available for the launch of it at the Oxford Street store. Jamie Redknapp poses with his wife Louise outside the Pandora flagship store in Oxford Street . Marvin Humes and Rochelle Humes were also in attendance at the event along with the Redknapps . Abbey Clancy, wife of Stoke striker Peter Crouch, also attended the Oxford Street campaign . The Sportsmail columnist was surrounded by familiar faces at the event including Abbey Clancy, the wife of Stoke striker Peter Crouch. Following the event, the couple happily stopped to sign autographs outside the flagship store.
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Jamie Redknapp attended campaign launch for jewellery store in London .
Sportsmail columnist was with wife Louise for event at Oxford Street .
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Sometime late on Saturday night, Floyd Mayweather will walk out into the great boxing amphitheatre that is the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for his hotly-anticipated rematch with Marcos Maidana. The fighter is perfectly familiar with these surroundings - his last nine contests have been in that famous ring - but he will still feel that frisson of excitement and adrenaline that comes with placing your unbeaten record and titles on the line. But Mayweather will face the blinding flashbulbs, riotous noise and his Argentinian opponent safe in the knowledge that, whatever fate awaits him over the 12 rounds, his financial position and "Money" monicker are secure. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana square up before bout . Floyd Mayweather can look forward to another big pay-day when he takes on Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas this Saturday. The fighter, unbeaten in 46 contests, has estimated career earnings of £250m . Floyd Mayweather (left) will take on Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand in a rematch this weekend. In the original fight in May, Mayweather won a brutal contest on a split decision . Marcos Maidana (right) connects with Floyd Mayweather during the original contest back in May . Floyd Mayweather greets pop star Justin Bieber at a Los Angeles Clippers basketball match. Their friendship emphasises the showbiz sparkle that Mayweather brings to all of his fights . For the fight itself is simply the culmination of a thorough and well-practised 12-week process put into action by his company Mayweather Promotions every time he fancies stepping in the ring. As explored recently by the Bleacher Report, they have a successful formula that is pretty much unique in boxing and sport, one that reduces the risk to Mayweather and his finances to the absolute minimum. Little wonder, then, that "Money" is the highest paid athlete in the world, according to Forbes, and is currently half-way through a remarkable pay TV deal that will pocket him a jaw-dropping $250m (£154m). His career earnings are estimated at about £250m, with a further £30m to come by the end of the weekend. Saturday's bout with Maidana, in which Mayweather will defend his WBA, WBC and The Ring welterweight and his WBC Light Middleweight titles, could be one of his last. Mayweather is the main focus for the camera bulbs as he promoted his fight with Maidana in Las Vegas . Floyd Mayweather is right on target with a punch against Canelo Alvarez in their September 2013 fight . Floyd Mayweather shows off his physique at the weigh-in for his 2011 contest with Shane Mosley . Floyd Mayweather trades punches with opponent Robert Guerrero in their fight in Vegas last year . Floyd Mayweather poses with his WBC Welterweight title belt after defeating Robert Guerrero in 2013 . The 37-year-old hinted this week that he will hang up his gloves next year after a maximum of three more fights. Maidana comes first, following by two more against 'exciting' opponents. The split-decision victory over Maidana back in May took his record to 46-0. If all goes to plan, he'll retire on 49-0 and won't be short of a pension. His victories in the ring rely on brute strength but Mayweather has also shown brains in engineering a marketing strategy that ensures he controls every aspect of fight night. First, he decides on the opponent alongside his trusted advisers, Leonard Ellerbe, the chief executive of Mayweather Promotions, and Al Haymon, long-standing business associate of Mayweather. The amount paid to the opponents depends but the general range is between $1.5m (£900,000) and $4m (£2.4m). It appears a pittance compared to the vast sums Mayweather rakes in, but then he is the champ. The profile of the opponent dictates the number of pay-per-view (PPV) sales, which cost $65 ($40) a time for standard definition and $75 (£46) for high definition on the Showtime network. A pair of cheques worth $72,276,000 (£44.45m) paid by Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions to Mayweather Promotions, as posted on Floyd Mayweather's Twitter account . Mayweather with his pair of Bugatti Veyron sports cars in an image posted on his Twitter account . Floyd Mayweather arrives at his Las Vegas boxing club driving a Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse . Mayweather's white fleet of sports cars outside his boxing club in Las Vegas . The number of sales hovers between one million for a lesser fight and two million for blockbusters like this Saturday's. Mayweather was smart and realised the potential of PPV early on, leading to the $250m+ tie-in with Showtime to screen his final six fights. When in negotiations, Mayweather held all the aces - he was already a box office name and his only obligation to the network was to turn up for the fight. It falls to Showtime to brand and market the fight in the most effective way. They shoulder the burden and the risk; Mayweather's money is already in the bank. Overseas PPV deals, such as the one with BoxNation in the UK, coin in another $2m (£1.2m), while news channels seeking highlights and sports networks wanting delayed coverage all pay a premium. It will cost Mayweather's company, in collaboration with Golden Boy Promotions, started by Oscar de la Hoya, up to $3m (£1.8m) to assemble an undercard, but that is paid for by selling sponsorship opportunities at ringside. Mayweather leaves his private jet in Washington - the boxer owns two jets, one for him and one for his team . The boxer's white Rolls Royce Limousine, branded with 'The Money Team' logo on the windows . Mayweather in one of his favourite poses - with a pile of dollar bundles . Mayweather makes himself at home in the Presidential Suite of the 6* Mandarin Oriental in Tokyo . Then comes arranging the venue. This is pretty straightforward. The MGM Grand has its reputation as the world's leading boxing venue to uphold - they love the prestige, glamour and the packed house. So much so that they buy up 3,500 of the best seats and give the revenue - about $3.5m (£2.15m) - to Mayweather. After all, he could easily take his circus down the road. Mayweather's people then oversee the coast-to-coast publicity tours and press conferences, the ubiquitous promotion and marketing, and the popular Access all Areas TV spin-off. He is also adept at harnessing the power of social media. Mayweather is an avid tweeter and posts regularly on Instagram. These platforms not only give fans a tantalising glimpse into his habits and training regime but also help to perpetuate the 'Money' legend, cementing his 'top-of-the-bill' status. Mayweather is not shy in flaunting his vast wealth. One Instagram video clip saw Jessi Lee and Doralie Medina, two members of 'The Money Team' (TMT), playing a game to see which could count out $100,000 the fastest while Mayweather time them with a luxury watch. A white Bugatti Veyron, worth £750,000, is his latest favourite runaround and sits proudly on his driveway next to an identical model in red and blue. Mayweather dresses himself in a Louis Vuitton towel in an Instagram picture posted in June this year . A solid gold iPhone 5s, specially commissioned and presented to Mayweather as a present . Mayweather poses with two of the cars in his 'black' fleet - a Rolls Royce Ghost (left) and Bentley Mulsanne . A glimpse inside Mayweather's G450 private jet - the boxer owns two planes . One of Mayweather's many jewel-encrusted watches in a collection worth hundreds of millions of dollars . Mayweather said the contents of this watch case totalled $6.4m (£3.9m) The fighter's fleet of cars is colour-coded depending upon which city he happens to be in - white for Vegas, black for Miami. His collection of expensive timepieces is something akin to an obsession. Mayweather splashed out $1m on one cut from 60 carat Russian diamonds by New York-based Rafaello and Co. For good measure, he patented the design to ensure he earns a tidy commission on any replicas. During a publicity tour last year, Mayweather flew around on his own private plane, a Gulfstream V, which costs about $10m (£6.15m) second hand, while his 20-strong entourage travelled on another jet. When out of the ring, the vast majority of Mayweather's life is played out on a whim. He usually carries about £40,000 cash in his pocket, or troubles one of his assistants to lug around a sports bag containing as much as £750,000. His vast fortune means he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants and, with another superfight on the agenda this week, he's showing no signs of slowing down.
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Floyd Mayweather puts title belts and unbeaten 46-0 record on the line when he fights Marcos Maidana for second time on Saturday .
Bout takes place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas - where 'Money' has staged his last nine fights .
Boxer has an estimated career earnings of £250m and rising .
Maidana fight is the fourth in six-bout pay-per-view deal with Showtime network worth £154m .
Mayweather is known for his lavish spending on cars, watches and jets .
First contest with Maidana saw him win by split decision .
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Marouane Fellaini was left bloodied and bruised on Monday night, but the Manchester United midfielder had the last laugh as he helped his team to FA Cup victory against Preston North End. The 27-year-old is no stranger to the risks of a stray elbow, but he was on the end of a hard challenge from Preston's Bailey Wright, which left him needing treatment from the United medical staff at the side of the pitch. Undeterred, Fellaini went on to score United's second goal in a 3-1 win, after Ander Herrera had initially cancelled out Scott Laird's opener. Marouane Fellaini (left) is caught by the right elbow of Preston North End defender Bailey Wright . Fellaini receives treatment from the United medical staff and has to change his bloodied shorts . Fellaini was made to play the remainder of the first half against Preston with a tissue to stem the flow of blood . Fellaini put his first-half injury behind him to score United's second goal in a 3-1 win over Preston . Wayne Rooney scored a late penalty to secure the 3-1 win and set up a quarter final tie with Arsenal, but Fellaini will still be nursing the effects of his first-half aerial battle with Wright. As the pair jumped to be first to a long ball, Wright's right elbow collided with Fellaini's eye, leaving the Manchester United midfielder in need of some help from the United physio. It is not the first time Fellaini has been involved in a controversial incident of this nature, having twice escaped serious punishment for his own apparent elbows on opposition players. While on international duty in November, the Belgian went unpunished for a challenge on Wales' Joe Allen, while last season he was only given a yellow card for an elbow on Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta. In the match at Deepdale on Monday night, Australia international Wright was not booked by referee Phil Dowd for the challenge. Phil Dowd had a clear view of the incident, but did not punish Wright for the incident in the first half . Wright's elbow connects with the eye of Fellaini, leaving the Manchester United midfielder bloodied . Wright (right) rises above Fellaini, but catches him with an elbow as the two battle to win the aerial ball . The Belgian midfielder (left) caused controversy when he escaped punishment for an elbow on Joe Allen . Fellaini also only received a yellow card for an elbow on Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta last season .
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Manchester United faced Preston North End in the FA Cup fifth round .
In the 17th minute, Marouane Fellaini rose for a header with Bailey Wright .
Fellaini was caught by Wright's elbow, leaving him bloodied and bruised .
The United midfielder is no stranger to a stray elbow, and has been criticised in the past for challenges on Joe Allen and Pablo Zabaleta .
Fellaini had the last laugh as he scored to help United to a 3-1 victory .
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By . Barbara Jones In Cape Town . and Shekhar Bhatia In Mariestad, Sweden . Denial: Shrien Dewani will board a plane to South Africa tonight after three and a half years fighting to avoid it . Honeymoon murder suspect Shrien Dewani will board a plane for South Africa tomorrow night after a three-and-a-half year battle – and the world will finally learn whether the mental illness which delayed his extradition is real or faked. The millionaire care home owner, 33, has denied any involvement in the killing of his Swedish wife Anni, 28, in a crime-ridden suburb of Cape Town in 2011. Since then his lawyers have fought his extradition to South Africa, where he faces charges of murder and conspiracy. They have claimed he is ‘too ill to be extradited’ and would be a high suicide risk as he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. But Anni’s father Vinod Hindocha told The Mail on Sunday yesterday: ‘I have always queried in my mind just how mentally ill he was. Just how long can post-traumatic stress last is a question that has been in and out of my mind continually. ‘Shrien was perfectly well during the time he travelled back from Cape Town with Anni’s body and he was arrested soon after.’ While the arguments raged at repeated appeal hearings, Dewani has spent the past 18 months living in a camper van in the grounds of Blaise View mental health hospital near Bristol and has been allowed to visit his family home nearby during the day. The Mail on Sunday has learned that Dewani is set to enjoy special privileges from the moment he arrives at Valkenberg, a South African psychiatric hospital. His lawyers have argued that these privileges are necessary to uphold his human rights after the protracted legal battle over his extradition. A private room has been prepared for him and he will even be allowed to pay for his own chef to bring him meals every day. Like other patients on the general ward, he will also be able to take part in group therapy, cooking, belly dancing, and sewing classes and will be allowed a free visit to a beauty salon and barber once a week. But, despite the apparently relaxed conditions, security has been tightened and Dewani’s every move will be watched by investigators determined to prove he is fit enough to stand trial for murder. Scroll down for video . Murdered: Anni Dewani was 28 when she was murdered in a remote suburb of Cape Town . Anger: Vinod Hindocha (right), the father of murdered bride Anni Dewani (left with murder suspect Shrien), said he had always questioned how genuine his son-in-law's mental illness could have been . Secure: The Valkenberg psychiatric hospital in Cape Town, where Shrien Dewani will be assessed to see if he is mentally fit to stand trial for allegedly organising the honeymoon murder of his wife Anni . The family of Anni Dewani have backed plans to televise the trial of Shrien Dewani in South Africa. Anni’s father Vinod Hindocha said: ‘She was my daughter, certainly, but since she was shot she has become the daughter of the world. ‘I have been asked if I have any objection and my answer is that I do not. I feel the world wants to know what happened to Anni. ‘Judging by the thousands of letters from across the world we have received from people we have never met, there is a great amount of interest.’ Showing Tuesday’s hearing when Dewani appears to be formally charged – and any resulting hearings – on TV is a decision for the judge. The case could rival the media sensation of the ongoing murder trial of Oscar Pistorius for shooting his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Mr Hindocha said he had discussed cameras being in court with South African prosecutors and broadcasters and had given his backing. Several TV and radio networks have sent applications to the Judge President, arguing there is a valid public interest in live coverage. The announcement came as Mr Hindocha and his wife called for a change in the extradition process between Britain and South Africa as Dewani’s trial draws near – more than three years after the killing. ‘It has been nothing short of torture for us. An extradition order should not take so long,’ Mr Hindocha told The Mail on Sunday from his home in Sweden. Dewani’s flight will be met by . officers from the elite Hawks police unit and he will be escorted to . Cape Town’s High Court to be formally charged with murder. From . there, whether he is granted bail or not, he will go to Valkenberg, . which houses some of South Africa’s most notorious killers and rapists. Hospital insiders say a private room has been refurbished for him in Ward 4 and he will be under 24-hour observation by a team reporting back regularly to the court. They must decide whether Dewani is capable of going for trial and whether he is aware of the serious nature of the indictment for murder. A report based on their findings will be submitted to the court within 30 days and his hospitalisation period could be extended or a court date set. Experts told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Any notion that he has been faking illness for the past few years will be minutely examined. 'Medication will be at a minimum so as not to mask his true condition. Dewani will be seen regularly by consultants but it is when he is back in the ward that he will let his guard down and that is often where we get our most useful insights. ‘His attitude to other patients and the staff, even domestic workers, will be crucial to our observation methods.' A medical source at the hospital told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Frankly it is impossible for him to be genuinely ill for that period, we have never experienced that.’ Dewani denies any involvement in the killing of 28-year-old Swedish national Anni, who was shot as the couple’s taxi was apparently car-jacked in the Gugulethu township in November 2010. The South African government has made clear it is keen to have Dewani declared fit to stand trial for arranging the killing, after three men already jailed for the murder claimed they were offered £1,400 to carry out the crime. The South African government has made clear it is keen to have Dewani declared fit to stand trial for arranging the killing, after three men already jailed for the murder claimed they were offered £1,400 to carry it out . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
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Millionaire's lawyers said he was too high a suicide risk to be extradited .
Care home owner, 33, has always denied involvement in his wife's murder .
Tomorrow he will board a plane for South Africa after three and a half years .
Her father said: 'I have always queries just how mentally ill he was'
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The NSA isn’t just reading the emails of American connected to terrorists, the agency is searching virtually all communications Americans send across the border for the mention of anything even resembling information about overseas surveillance targets. New information reveals that even a Facebook message about al-qaeda sent as a joke or an email sent to a cousin named Osama might trip NSA surveillance software designed to filter through every message sent from American soil to a recipient abroad. This means that just about any message sent overseas could be read by the NSA as computers flag potentially suspicious message for examination by humans. Information overload: A report in July showed the NSA is doing a lot more than spying on Americans with terrorist connections, perhaps with the help of its $1.7 billion Utah Data Center . By identifying the recipient of the emails or text messages as the target of the surveillance instead of the sender, the NSA sidesteps a 2008 law that allows spying on domestic soil without warrants as long as the target was a noncitizen abroad. This, according to a shocking New York Times report out Thursday, which cites a senior source inside the NSA. ‘To conduct the surveillance,’ reads the report, ‘the NSA. is temporarily copying and then sifting through the contents of what is apparently most e-mails and other text-based communications that cross the border…[the] computer searches the data for the identifying keywords or other “selectors” and stores those that match so that human analysts could later examine them.’ Leaked: The revelation was at least partially couched in information leaked by Edward Snowden, which hinted at the expansive reach of the NSA's surveillance program . More convenient: According to the New York Times, the agency searches virtually all emails sent from Americans to recipients overseas. Seen here is the 28-acre NSA facility outside Baltimore, Maryland . The official said the remaining emails, those not selected by the software, are deleted. Nonetheless, privacy proponents were in disbelief. ‘The program described by the New York Times involves a breathtaking invasion of millions of people's privacy,’ American Civil Liberties Union deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer said in a statement. ‘The NSA has cast a massive dragnet over Americans' international communications, collecting and monitoring virtually all of them, and retaining some untold number of them in government databases. This is precisely the kind of generalized spying that the Fourth Amendment was intended to prohibit.’ Jaffer, and undoubtedly others like him, fear the news could equal an invasion of free speech. Though it was previously known the NSA targets Americans with known terrorist associations, new evidence shows the agency is far less discriminating as it combs messages for names and emails related to its targets . ‘The government's scrutiny of virtually every international email sent by Americans will have extraordinary consequences for free expression,’ wrote Jaffer. ‘Americans will inevitably hesitate to discuss controversial topics, visit politically sensitive websites or interact with foreigners with dissenting views. By injecting the NSA into virtually every cross-border interaction, the U.S. government will forever alter what has always been an open exchange of ideas.’ The NSA, meanwhile, all but declined to respond to the new allegations. ‘In carrying out its signals intelligence mission, N.S.A. collects only what it is explicitly authorized to collect,’ said NSA spokeswoman Judith A. Emmel. ‘Moreover, the agency’s activities are deployed only in response to requirements for information to protect the country and its interests.’ Emmel did not directly address the surveillance of cross-border communications, but did stress that surveillance carried out by the agency is intended to gather information about 'foreign powers and their agents, foreign organizations, foreign persons or international terrorists' and not about American citizens.
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An message sent to a cousin named Osama may now be enough to make any American a target of surveillance .
The information was couched in a set of rules leaked by Edward Snowden about a 2008 domestic surveillance law .
The NSA can read the emails simply by defining the foreign recipient, and not the American sender, as their target .
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By . Mark Prigg . In the quiet suburbs of Palo Alto where the tech elite live, a modern day ark is taking shape. Chris Robinson, a designer, began thinking about the how his family could surive an event similar to the 2011 Japanese Tsunami. Now, he has almost finished his project - a giant 'tsunamiball' that can float away from its perch in his back garden, keeping its occupants safe inside. The shell of the tsunamiball nears completion in Palo Alto . Inside the ark: watertight portholes allow those inside to look out, and can be covered to allow sleep on the craft. The boat will be left in Robinson's back yard, above the detached garage, several miles from the water. In the event of tsunami, he is confident it can withstand the initial impact of a tsunami from any direction while on land. It would them simply float on the surface of the water, with a double hull to protect it from surrounding debris. 'Tsunamiball is intended to be a tsunami-proof boat,' Robinson said. 'After the Japanese tsunami in March of 2011 I started to wonder how a family might survive such a brutal and sudden event.' Robinson then talked about the idea with friends, before he started sketching. 'The project started as a series of creative conversations and sketches with friends about possible ways to escape a tsunami with your family intact,' he said. 'The tone was light and playful. Ideas like helium balloon houses, and personal jet packs were exciting lunch time topics. 'Eventually the idea of a floating ball as an escape vessel was hatched.' Robinson, who said his wife was behind the idea, then refined the designed, still unsure if it was possible - and if he'd be able to make it. 'From that idea, through a series of sketches and several hundred web searches birthed the concept that a tsunami-proof vessel was a possibility.' Through the porthole: Chris Robinson working on the Tsunamiball, which he hopes to finish later this year . Robinson at work on the boat. He hopes to have it finished later this year. 'With no boat building experience and almost no time spent on the water, this was more of a fantasy than a practical planning exercise,' he admits. 'But the more I researched, the more I expected I could build it, and I started to build in January of 2012. 'I hope to finish sometime in late 2014.' The boat has a double hull to protect it from sharp objects and debris. 'The idea for this boat is to have it in the back yard above the detached garage, several miles from the water, said Robinson. 'The focus is on building a vessel that could withstand the initial impact of a tsunami from any direction while on land.'
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Boat will kept on a high 'perch' in Palo Alto garden in case a tsunami hits .
Has enough room for an entire family .
In the event of a Tsunami, it simply floats with the wave .
Set to be rented out on Airbnb until needed .
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Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- President Obama said Sunday his administration has mounted a "relentless response" to the oil spill unleashed by the sinking of an offshore drill rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Obama met with local, state and federal officials involved in the cleanup in southeastern Louisiana, the closest stretch of coastline threatened by the massive spill. Afterward, he said that despite "the most advanced technology available," the spill may not be stopped for many days. "I'm not going to rest, and none of the gentlemen and women who are here are going to rest or be satisfied, until the leak is stopped at the source, the oil on the Gulf is contained and cleaned up and the people of this region are able to go back to their lives and their livelihoods," he said. "We will spare no resource to clean up whatever damage is caused." Obama met with the commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Thad Allen; EPA administrator Lisa Jackson; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; and the presidents of several parish governments after arriving, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. The president's briefing included an update on the procedures being attempted to cap the well and the economic and environmental impact of the spill, Gibbs said. After landing in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Sunday, Obama joined Jindal on a two-hour drive to Venice, a staging ground for efforts to fight the growing slick. Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Allen warned that the leaking oil from a rig explosion could continue for weeks with dire consequences. "It potentially is catastrophic," Salazar said. "I think we have to prepare for the worst." That would mean oil damaging sensitive coastal wetlands and industries, including a vital fishing sector that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Obama initially planned to fly over the affected area by helicopter, but weather conditions prevented the flight. Before his trip, Cabinet officials warned he would find a dire situation. Officials warn of possible catastrophe . Salazar blamed the explosion that caused the spill on a failure in rig technology intended to prevent so-called blowouts. "There is no doubt at all here that what has happened is the blowout prevention mechanism at the bottom of the well ... is defective," Salazar said. "While there have been blowouts in the past, we have never seen anything that has been quite of this magnitude." The well is owned by oil company BP. Lamar McKay, president of BP America, told ABC's "This Week" that the company doesn't know why the blowout preventer failed. All three officials interviewed by CNN repeatedly emphasized that BP is legally responsible for spill and clean-up efforts. They avoided direct criticism of the company, but said BP must do more to try to cap the gushing well. Allen called the spill "one of the most complex things we've ever dealt with," and said it was impossible so far to predict how much oil will eventually leak. "If we lost a total well head, it could be 100,000 barrels or more a day," he said. BP said two Louisiana communities, Venice and Port Fourchon, will likely be the first places hit by the oil slick. Nearly 1 million feet of booms have been deployed in an effort to protect precious estuaries and wildlife, even as thousands of barrels of crude oil continued gushing into the water. Drilling new wells to stop the flow would take a month or two, and it was unclear if the leak could be contained or slowed before then. WDSU: Rush to save Lake Pontchartrain . McKay said the company is building a containment system to prevent the leaking oil from spreading, but it may take another six to eight days to deploy it. Meanwhile, the company is working to battle the slick offshore and to clean up any oil that reaches the coast. "We're still working hard, still working hard on the blowout preventer and see if we can actuate this piece of evidently failed equipment," he said. But he compared that to "doing open-heart surgery at 5,000 feet in the dark with robot-controlled submarines." Sen. Mary Landrieu and Rep. Charlie Melancon, both of Louisiana, said they want the government to put more pressure on BP to find a solution. "Our government needs to get somewhere between 'drill, baby, drill' and 'spill, baby, spill,' " Melancon said on CBS' "Face the Nation." Landrieu told the same program that the government should force BP to immediately start drilling remedial wells at the site "and hope that one can fix this." The slick has already taken a toll on life along the Gulf Coast, bringing fishing and tourism to a halt in many places and threatening to cripple those industries for weeks to come. "I'm pretty much on pause right now. ... It's just a big waiting game," said David Boola, a fisherman who operates boat trips for tourists out of Venice. WDSU: Oil spill causes empty shrimp nets . Allen noted BP was deploying its top technology such as the remote operation vehicles, which the government doesn't have. At the same time, Napolitano and Salazar said the Obama administration had reacted quickly to what they called an escalating situation. Napolitano noted the incident was first an explosion and fire, with a search-and-rescue effort for missing rig workers. It then worsened when the rig sank two days later, followed by the increasing oil leak, she said. While BP was the first responder, the Coast Guard reacted right away to the situation and deployed 70 vessels and 1 million feet of boom for possible service, Napolitano said. Salazar noted that the Obama administration has ordered inspections of "blowout preventers" on other Gulf rigs. The government's job was to "keep the boot on the neck" of BP to ensure it meets its obligations in stopping the spill, dealing with the oil slick and paying for all costs and damages. Also on the CNN program Sunday, Florida's Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio called the oil slick a "crisis" but withheld judgment on the administration's response. According to Rubio, it appeared that much of the early information provided to the federal government by BP had been "either inaccurate or shortcoming." In recent days, Rubio said, "We've seen the administration move aggressively, and I hope aggressively enough." BP partnered with government officials to hold town hall meetings throughout the region Saturday to respond to concerns about the spill's consequences. But Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal suggested the response to the oil slick has so far been inadequate. "We continue to be concerned with BP's ability to respond to this incident," he said. Environmentalist Richard Charter of the Defenders of Wildlife organization said the oil leak could cause damage that would last decades. "This event is a self-feeding fire," Charter said. "It is so big and expanding so fast that it's pretty much beyond human response that can be effective. "You're looking at a long-term poisoning of the area," he said. "Ultimately, this will have a multidecade impact." The oil spill started April 20, after an explosion on the BP contractor Transocean Ltd.'s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform. Eleven oil-rig workers remain missing and are presumed dead. The rig sank April 22 about 50 miles off the southeast coast of Louisiana, and the untapped wellhead is gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico. About 1.6 million gallons of oil have spilled since the explosion, the Coast Guard said Saturday.
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NEW: President Obama briefed on procedures used to cap well, impact of the spill .
NEW: "We will spare no resource to clean up whatever damage is caused," Obama says .
Gov. Bobby Jindal: Residents can see the spill, which BP could not contain last week .
Venice and Port Fourchon expected to be the first areas affected .
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Iranian riot police swarmed a major bazaar Wednesday in Tehran as demonstrators launched protests against firebrand President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, blaming him for plummeting currency that's leaving families across the country struggling. A day after Ahmadinejad acknowledged that his country is taking a hit, and placed the blame largely on "the enemy's" sanctions, crowds of protesters also took to the streets in another commercial area in the capital, shopkeepers said. They chanted slogans slamming Ahmadinejad's regime and complained about the high prices of goods and food. Riot police dispersed the crowd, a shopkeeper said. The semi-official Mehr news agency reported two European tourists and some "agitators" were arrested by security forces. The Europeans violated Iranian law by gathering information about the protests, it said. The country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, echoed Ahmadinejad's position Wednesday, saying that growing pressures are mainly aimed at making his country surrender, "but the Iranian nation has and will never surrender to pressures and this has made the enemy furious," the semi-official FARS news agency reported. The United States and European Union have imposed numerous sanctions aimed at pressuring Tehran into sitting down for international negotiations on its nuclear program. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the growing protests show that "clearly the Iranian people are demanding better from their government and speaking out against the gross mismanagement of the economy and the situation in the country." The United States is "watching the situation very closely," she said. The "sanctions that the international community has put on the government as a result of its lack of forthcomingness on its nuclear program are being felt on the ground," she said. Ahmadinejad, in a speech Tuesday, insisted the sanctions hurt the people, not the government. He said the country's economy "has become a tool for psychological warfare." The rial's value was cut in half from September of last year through last month, the Congressional Research Service said in a report. It has fallen even further since, including a sharp nosedive this week, reaching historic lows against the value of the dollar. At the main bazaar in central Tehran, some protesters used boxes and tires to start fires, according to a merchant who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons. Iran's president sits down with Piers Morgan . But Mehr quoted the head of the bazaar's merchant's association as saying that officials had observed "suspicious" activity and identified people around the market who were from "outside the bazaar community." The bazaar was closed for safety reasons, Mehr reported. Dozens of police on motorcycles responded to the scene, and dozens more were on foot. As the police were surrounding the bazaar, the semi-official Iranian Labor News Agency carried a quote from police official Col. Khalil Helali saying that based on his information, "a limited number of people headed towards the bazaar and had chanted slogans." Helali later told Mehr that he had no indication the bazaar was closed. Helali is chief of Tehran's Business Locations Police, which oversees workplaces. Police also gathered in two major squares -- Ferdosi and Vali Asr -- although no demonstrations were immediately reported in those spots. Ahmadinejad: 'I'm quite popular' In a speech Wednesday, Ahmadinejad also said part of the problem plaguing the country's currency is "internal." He blamed "22 ringleaders" who the country's intelligence services have determined are causing tensions and manipulating currency. The president gave no details. But people who trade currency illegally have been increasingly concerned about a crackdown by Iranian forces. Months ago, an Iranian man told CNN that with the country's economic downfall, the only way for his sons to live a decent life was to fall in with influential people or make shady business deals -- such as trading foreign currency on the black market. But Ahmadinejad focused the majority of his remarks on the United States and the West. U.S.: Iran currency woes show sanctions working . "There is a hidden war, a very pervasive and heavy warfare that is happening across the world directed towards Iran," he said. The "enemy" has "succeeded in reducing the sale of our oil to an extent, but God willing, we will fill it up," he insisted. Amadinejad tells U.N. Iran is threatened . The price of a popular bread called barbari has gone from about 1,000 rials each to about 5,000 rials amid the increasing sanctions. A local baker told CNN the cost will likely skyrocket further. The wheat used to make the bread is imported. Feta cheese cost 50,000 rials per kilogram in March. The price has since tripled. Meat that cost up to 190,000 rials per kilogram then has doubled in price. Several Iranians told CNN Wednesday about the financial struggles they're facing. They spoke anonymously for security reasons. "The prices are amazing," said an Iranian entrepreneur, adding, "It's crazy, it's so high." "People can't make sense out of this," she added. "And they don't know what's going to happen next." A taxi driver told CNN, "I've been under so much stress lately that I'm getting migraine headaches. I'm worried about my future, my daughter's future." An auto parts maker insisted that "nobody is buying less or eating less so far," and that shops don't seem to have shortages. But a businessman said, "If you go into a shop, you can probably not buy anything. They're not going to sell you anything. If (the shop owner) is prepared to sell it to you he will charge you a lot more than it was two days ago. And when you ask him why, he'll tell you, 'I have no idea what I'll have to pay to bring this back.'" "Nobody knows whether this is for real, whether this is going to stay here," he added. "And this uncertainty is causing a lot of panic." Mark Dubowitz, an analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, says the sanctions "are designed to put sufficient pressure on the average Iranian," which could help trigger an uprising against the government -- or at least cause leaders to fear one. "Sanctions are a form of economic warfare," he said. Though some sanctions against Iran have existed for decades, "We've seen only 10 months of what I would call significant and severe economic pressure," Dubowitz said. But there's no evidence the sanctions have compelled the Iranian government to change its nuclear stance, analysts say. Ahmadinejad, in his speech Wednesday, denied suggestions that the measures could work. "They lie when they say sanctions are pressure on the government," he insisted, adding that sanctions "are always a pressure on nations" -- meaning average citizens. "It's a rock that the enemy has thrown. So what we should do? We should pick up the rock and throw it at them." Anthony H. Cordesman, national security analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said sanctions must be "large scale and consistent" over time to be effective. It's not possible to predict whether sanctions will change the regime, Cordesman said. "This is a duel and you find out just how effective you are over time." Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, said so far there is no sign of a shift in the government's nuclear program. "If Iran were a democracy, you would have had a situation in which there would have been far greater protests," he said. "Any democratic government would have fallen by now." Parsi said he was skeptical that large-scale protests are in the cards. Iranians "are not going to go out there and risk their lives for a change if they don't know what the next thing is," he said. Iran saw a widespread popular uprising in 2009 after Ahmadinejad's contested re-election, triggering a brutal, deadly crackdown by government forces -- and Ahmadinejad held onto power.
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Several people, including two Europeans, are reported arrested .
The U.S. State Department says it is "watching the situation very closely"
Iranians describe the stress and fear plaguing them .
Pres. Ahmadinejad blamed international "psychological warfare"
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Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) -- Severe floods in northern Indonesia have left at least 13 people dead and driven tens of thousands of others from their homes in recent days, authorities said Thursday. Landslides and rising waters have cut off several villages in one district of the province of North Sulawesi province, leaving about 1,000 residents stranded, the Indonesian National Disaster Mitigation Agency (NDMA) said. Heavy rains started drenching the region Tuesday and have resulted in about 40,000 people leaving their homes to seek temporary shelter, according to the NDMA. Most of the deaths in North Sulawesi were reported Wednesday, authorities said, and two people are still missing. Power is down in most parts of the region and communication lines are disrupted. There are four main rivers in Manado, the provincial capital, that are overflowing, the NDMA said. This year's floods are far worse than previous ones, NDMA spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said. The agency is working with the military, police, the search and rescue agency, Indonesian Red Cross and other groups as well as volunteers to help the tens of thousands of people affected by the flooding. Heavy rains have also caused deadly landslides and flooding this week on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao -- roughly 500 kilometers (320 miles) north of North Sulawesi. A low pressure area has battered parts of Mindanao with wind and rain since the weekend, leaving 26 people dead and displacing more than 200,000, according to Philippine authorities. That weather system, along with another over northern Australia, helped generate the heavy rains over North Sulawesi, Indonesian authorities said. CNN's Kathy Quiano reported from Jakarta, and Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong.
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About 1,000 residents are stranded in villages isolated by the flooding .
Indonesian authorities say two people are still missing .
The disaster agency says the floods are worse than in previous years .
They are partly caused by a weather system that has left 26 dead in the Philippines .
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The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a long-standing appeal from scientists who tried to block funding of stem cell research on human embryos. The brief order from the justices is a victory for supporters of federally funded testing to combat a range of diseases and illnesses. Federal courts had previously lifted an injunction on continued funding, and this latest high court action probably means the lawsuits will be ultimately dismissed. The field of embryonic stem cell research has been highly controversial, because in most cases, the research process involves destroying the embryo, typically four or five days old, after removing stem cells. These cells are blank and can become any cell in the body. Because of the destruction of embryos, most opponents believe this is a moral issue. Supporters of the research point to the potential for saving lives. Legislation passed in 1996 prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars in the creation or destruction of human embryos "for research purposes." Private money had been used to gather batches of the developing cells at U.S.-run labs. That congressional ban had been renewed annually. Stem cells vs. heart attacks . The current administration had broken with the Bush White House and issued rules in 2009 permitting those cells to be reproduced in controlled conditions and for work on them to move forward. Obama administration officials have been at odds with many members of Congress over whether the National Institutes of Health research causes an embryo's destruction, as prohibited by the Dickey-Wicker Act. In opposing the lawsuit, the government had argued that an extensive list of research projects outlined by the government health research agency would have to be shelved if the courts blocked further funding. Some scientists say that embryonic stem cells could help treat many diseases and disabilities because of their potential to develop into many different cell types in the body. In 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia lifted an injunction originally issued by a federal judge, who said, at the time, that all embryonic stem cell research at the research agency amounted to the destruction of embryos, in violation of congressional spending laws. The appeals panel later reversed, concluding the plaintiffs bringing suit "are unlikely to prevail because Dickey-Wicker is ambiguous and the NIH seems reasonably to have concluded" that the law does not ban research using embryonic stem cells. Stem cells help deaf gerbils hear . The White House at the time applauded that ruling. "While we don't know exactly what stem cell research will yield, scientists believe this research could treat or cure diseases that affect millions of Americans every year," said Stephanie Cutter, a deputy senior advisor to the president. "That's why President Obama has long fought to support responsible stem cell research." The case began with a lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health by James Sherley and Theresa Deisher, scientists opposed to the use of embryonic stem cells, who worked with a group that seeks adoptive parents for human embryos created through in vitro fertilization, including the nonprofit Christian Medical Association. Embryonic stem cell research differs from other kinds of stem cell research, which do not require embryos. The current case does not deal with separate research on adult stem cells, which is permissible under federal law. In 2001, when President George Bush first approved federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, 64 existing stem cell lines that were created before August 9, 2001, qualified for federal funding. But of those, only 21 were usable by scientists. Bush later rescinded the funding. Under the Obama administration's rules, at least 75 stem cell lines qualify for federal funding, according to the National Institutes of Health. The NIH has invested more than $500 million in human embryonic stem cell research. Scientists conducting such research say continued federal funding is necessary, because they would have greater flexibility to work collaboratively within labs, across labs and around the world on the latest treatments and breakthroughs. Supporters of embryonic stem cell research say their studies have shown promise in treating a range of debilitating conditions, including diabetes, Parkinson's disease, cancer and spinal cord injuries. The case is Sherley v. Sebelius (12-454).
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Court dismisses appeal that tried to block funding of stem cell research on human embryos .
Scientists had sued the National Institutes of Health over the use of embryonic stem cells .
Opponents of human embryonic stem cell research cite moral issues .
Supporters say federal funding will help research ways to fight a range of illnesses .
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By . John Drayton . Spanish star Rafael Nadal will open the show from Centre Court on day six of Wimbledon as he takes on Mikhail Kukushkin. Their match will be closely followed by Maria Sharapova clash with American youngster Alison Riske before Roger Federer steps onto the famous court in search of his eight Wimbledon title. Elsewhere, Serena Williams faces a tough test against Alize Cornet on Court No 1 which will be followed by Ana Ivanovic vs Sabine Lisicki. Star of the show: Rafael Nadal (above) takes on Mikhail Kukushkin from Centre Court . Centre Court (play starts at 12.00 GMT) 1 Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 124 vs Rafael Nadal (ESP) [2] 1282 Alison Riske (USA) 26 vs Maria Sharapova (RUS) [5] 323 Santiago Giraldo (COL) 92 vs Roger Federer (SUI) [4] 96 . Court One . 1 Serena Williams (USA) [1] 1 vs Alize Cornet (FRA) [25] 82 Ana Ivanovic (SRB) [11] 49 vs Sabine Lisicki (GER) [19] 563 Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [5] 65 vs Denis Istomin (UZB) 71 . Court Two (from 1030 GMT) 1 Milos Raonic (CAN) [8] 97 vs Lukasz Kubot (POL) 1012 Simona Halep (ROU) [3] 33 vs Belinda Bencic (SUI) 373 Bob Bryan (USA) / Mike Bryan (USA) [1] 1 vs Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) / Igor Sijsling (NED) 4 . Court Three . 1 Andrea Petkovic (GER) [20] 9 vs Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) [13] 162 Feliciano Lopez (ESP) [19] 73 vs John Isner (USA) [9] 803 Andrea Petkovic (GER) / Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 18 vs Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) / Arina Rodionova (AUS) 20 . Court 12 . 1 Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) / Shuai Peng (CHN) [1] 1 vs Yuliya Beygelzimer (UKR) / Klaudia Jans-Ignacik (POL) 32 Angelique Kerber (GER) [9] 17 vs Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) [24] 243 Jerzy Janowicz (POL) [15] 81 vs Tommy Robredo (ESP) [23] 88 .
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Rafael Nadal takes on Mikhail Kukushkin on Centre Court .
Roger Federer is in action against Santiago Giraldo .
Maria Sharapova faces American star Alison Riske .
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Water hits nuclear plant in Nebraska but officials say there's 'no danger' 2,000-foot berm at the Fort . Calhoun Nuclear Station collapsed . 11,000 people forced to flee Minot after worst floods in 130 years . By . Daily Mail Reporter . Last updated at 11:53 PM on 27th June 2011 . As the devastating floods peaked today it was revealed that most of the residents affected in Minot, North Dakota, don't have proper flood insurance. The town has been decimated by the floods from the Souris River which slowly began to retreat today, although officials estimate it will be weeks before the river returns to a normal level. At least 4,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed by the floods, the worst in the region for 130 years. And most residents affected do not have the right kind of insurance, as they believed the flood prevention projects put in place after the last major flood in 1969 would protect them. Scroll down for video . Disappeared: The Souris River floods, pictured today in North Dakota, have reached their peak - according to officials who say it could take weeks to subside . Under siege: Floodwater from the Souris River surrounds a church in Burlington, North Dakota . Submerged: The rooftops of these Burlington homes poke out above the flood water in North Dakota today . Today the town looked to recovery and . FEMA said they will provide some assistance. North Dakota Legislature is . expected to offer some relief. Meanwhile a protective barrier which . was holding back floodwater from the Missouri River surrounding a nuclear power plant in . Nebraska collapsed yesterday, sending water gushing around key . electrical equipment. The head of the U.S. Nuclear . Regulatory Commission has been dispatched to the plant in Fort Calhoun, . Nebraska, but officials said the public is in no danger. After the 2,000-foot berm was breached . flood waters poured into around containment buildings forcing the . shutdown of electrical power, and sparking fears that thousands could be . left without power - or face rising bills - if any damage is done. Officials said backup generators are cooling the nuclear material, and that the plant has not operated since April. They said there is no danger to the public. Jeff . Hanson, a spokesman for the Omaha Public Power District, said the . breached berm wasn't critical to protecting the plant, although a crew . will look at whether it can be patched. Mr Hanson said: 'That was an additional layer of protection we put in.' No land in sight: These aerial pictures, taken today, show the extent of the floods that have swept away homes and destroyed lives in North Dakota . Immersed: Homes in Minot are surrounded by water. Most of the residents whose homes are affected don't have flood insurance . The berm's collapse didn't affect the . reactor shutdown cooling or the spent fuel pool cooling, but the power . supply was cut after water surrounded the main electrical transformers, . the NRC said. Emergency generators are powering the plant while workers try to restore power. Flooding . remains a concern all along the Missouri because of massive amounts of . water the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released from upstream . reservoirs. The river is expected to rise as much . as five to seven feet above flood stage in much of Nebraska and Iowa . and as much as 10 feet over flood stage in parts of Missouri. The . corps expects the river to remain high at least into August because of . heavy spring rains in the upper Plains and substantial Rocky Mountain . snowpack melting into the river basin. Homes destroyed: These pictures, taken today, show the extent of the flooding that forced 11,000 to flee their homes . Aid: The National Guard provides two large "bladders," water tanks that hold thousands of gallons of water, for Minot's Trinity Hospital . The . berm collapse comes as the National Guard battled to remove a tiny . footbridge that holds the key to saving a small North Dakota town from . being engulfed in flood waters. Up . to 4,000 homes and business in Minot will be wiped off the map if the . bridge, which has become wedged against a levee, is not removed. The . small bridge is collecting debris, causing the water to swell violently . around the levee - further eroding the last line of defence against the . river Mouse. Resistance: National Guard Specialist Adrian Batsch, left, tests the water supply to Trinity Hospital in downtown Minot today . Hope: Minot residents have started looking to recovery today although many of those affected by the floods do not have flood insurance . Speaking to CBS, Minot's Mayor Curt Zimbelman said the man-made levees threatened to fail in the wake of the huge volumes of water. He said: 'If [the levee] goes, everything goes in this whole, this whole area, for several blocks up, several businesses. 'We either hold this whole dike, this whole temporary dike or we lose it all.' Although the river crested, it is still flowing at 50 times its normal rate and is expanded to 10 times its normal size. Thin line: Levee's protecting homes in North Dakota were reinforced on the weekend . The city has prepared for the worst . with workers bolstering levees that stand between thousands of dry homes . and the rising waters. Workers sweated over sandbags on the weekend as levees were built up to six feet above the level of the rising waters. There . is already widespread damage in the town, with Mayor Zimbelman . reporting more than 4,000 homes had been flooded in an evacuation zone . of neighbourhoods nearest the river. About 11,000 people were ordered out last week. Lead excavator Russ Gohl has drafted in every flood fighter in the area and has even drafted in the National Guard to help. Washed up: Floodwater is pumped out of the basement of a Minot State University building today, after the river hit its peak and began a slow retreat . Jutting out: A statue of a worker, part of the Monument to Labor statue by Matthew Placzek, pokes just out of the rising waters of the Missouri River at Omaha's Lewis & Clark Landing in Nebraska . He said: 'By removing the bridge its . collecting debris and its causing the water to swirl and erode our dikes . and what we are going to do is hook on and try and physically brute . force pull the bridge away.' Fed . by heavy rains upstream and dam releases that have accelerated in . recent days, the Souris surged past a 130-year-old record today and kept . going. This week emergency officials focused on protecting water and sewer systems to avoid the need for more evacuations. Problems at Minot's water treatment . plant prompted the state Department of Health to issue a 'boil order' on . Saturday for users of city water. It also applies to the Minot Air . Force Base, about 13 miles north of town, which gets its drinking water . from Minot's municipal system. Reached its peak: Street signs in Minot show the height of the flood waters at a levee today . Zimbelman said city officials were 'not completely sure at this point' that Minot's water supply had been contaminated. 'It has not been fully tested ... to . show that it is contaminated,' Zimbelman said. 'There is just a concern . at this point, so we're taking precautions.' Minot's Broadway Street bridge over . the Souris, which is its most important connection between the north and . south sections of the city, is likely to remain closed until the crest . recedes, the mayor said. Despite the gloomy . outlook, stories of people helping each other were a heartwarming . counterpoint to the destruction from unprecedented flooding along the . Souris valley in north-central North Dakota. Brought together by word of mouth, church and civic networks, social . media and random encounters, those with housing and supplies to spare . gave willingly to those without. So . many opened their doors that while some 11,000 people were evacuated . from neighbourhoods nearest the river, only a few hundred used shelters . at Minot State University and the City Auditorium. 'For . the rest of the country, that is kind of mind-boggling. But ... that's . how we are in North Dakota,' Senator John Hoeven said. Breached: An aerial view of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant in eastern Nebraska, surrounded by Missouri River flood waters . A Facebook page called Minot ND Flood Help drew volunteer offers to haul furniture, care for pets, clean laundry and even give therapeutic massages - many from outside town. Patrica Eide of Tioga, about 85 miles west, posted an offer to loan her 30-foot camper to a displaced family. It quickly drew a taker: a man with a wife and three children who were living in their van since being evacuated. 'We could probably rent that thing for $500 a month, but I told my husband there's no way I'm going to be greedy,' Eide, 62, said by phone. 'God just had better plans for our camper than renting it.' She was preparing to haul it to Minot with a load of canned tomatoes and green beans, a grill, propane and other supplies. 'I think we've got 'em covered,' she said. A common sight was garages packed with televisions, books, clothing and other items as residents turned their homes into temporary storage units for flood victims. Watch the video .
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Water hits nuclear plant in Nebraska but officials say there's 'no danger'
2,000-foot berm at the Fort .
Calhoun Nuclear Station collapsed .
11,000 people forced to flee Minot after worst floods in 130 years .
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A teenaged boy from Western Australia rode his bike home and ate breakfast after being bitten by a two-metre shark. Cameron Pearman, 13, was surfing with his cousin Sam James, 16, when a shark bit his lower leg at Pyramids Beach about 80 km south of Perth at 6am on Sunday. Unshaken by the attack, the 13-year-old rode 2km home and ate some raisin toast before his father took him to hospital, reports Nine News. Scroll down for video . Cameron Pearman suffered puncture wounds to his legafter being bitten by a two-metre shark . Unshaken by the attack, the 13-year-old rode 2km home and ate some raisin toast before his father took him to hospital . 'It came up underneath me and bit my leg. Then it just swam off, Pearman said. 'I only saw it for a split second, just a head and a tail. I had a bit of an adrenalin rush, so I didn't really feel it.' Afterwards, he rode his bike 2km home and ate some breakfast, before his father demanded he go to hospital. 'I had some raisin toast, it was good,' Pearman said. 'Dad was home, he didn't believe me when I casually said 'I got bitten by a shark'.' Surf Life Saving WA told Daily Mail Australia that the young surfer made his own way back out of the water when an off-duty life saver Bruce Ridley and his cousin administered first aid. It was the first time that Cameron had returned to the water since recovering from a broken wrist. Pyramids beach, about 80 km south of Perthm is expected to remain closed for 24 hours . Pearman said he looked down and saw the head and tail for a split second, but otherwise he 'didn't really feel the attack' Surf Life Saving WA spokesman said the shark's mouth must have been quite large because the one bite created 8-9 punctures and there was a reasonable amount of blood . A Surf Life Saving WA spokesman said the shark's mouth must have been quite large because the one bite created 8-9 punctures and there was a reasonable amount of blood. 'With the force it could have been far worse,' he said. 'Cameron wants to go surfing again tomorrow but his father wasn't too sure.' In a tweet, SLSWA said a medium-sized shark of and unknown species was spotted at 7:45am near the Port Bouvard Bridge. The beach is expected to remain closed for 24 hours, SLSWA tweeted. The story has made waves overseas, after Australian NBA player Andrew Bogut posted the news on Twitter. 'Aussie aussie aussie!: Kid gets bitten by shark, goes home for raisin toast', he wrote.
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Boy, 13, bitten by a two-metre shark on a West Australian beach on Sunday .
Cameron Pearman suffered puncture wounds to his leg from the attack .
He rode home and made his breakfast before being taken to hospital .
He was surfing at Pyramids Beach - 80 km south of Perth .
The beach has been closed off and the species of shark was not known .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 04:25 EST, 21 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:27 EST, 21 October 2013 . With its fearsome array of weapons, radar evading silhouette and $7billion price tag, this is one of America's most deadly - and expensive - warships ever. USS Zumwalt - the largest destroyer ever made - is just days away from leaving the specially constructed dry docks and entering the water. Equipped with guns capable of firing warheads 100 miles, stealth features, and engine able to generate enough power to run 78,000 homes, America is hoping it with guarantee its naval supremacy for decades to come. Fearsome: The $7billion first-in-class Zumwalt rises from the dry docks in Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine . Hulking: First-in-class USS Zumwalt is the largest U.S. Navy destroyer ever built . After embarrassing troubles with its latest class of surface warships, the Navy is hoping for a winner from a new destroyer that's ready to go into the water. So far, construction of the . first-in-class Zumwalt, is on time and on budget, something that's a . rarity in new defense programs, officials said. The christening of the ship bearing the name of the late Adm. Elmo 'Bud' Zumwalt was canceled a week ago because of the federal government shutdown. Without fanfare, the big ship will be moved to dry dock and floated in the coming days. In action: An artist rendering of the USS Zumwalt class destroyer which will be one of the more heavily armed and expensive ships in the U.S Navy . Meanwhile, the public christening ceremony featuring Zumwalt's two daughters will be rescheduled for the spring. Adm. Zumwalt served in destroyers during World War II and was awarded a Bronze Star for valor at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. As . the nation's youngest chief of naval operations, appointed at age 49 by . President Richard Nixon, he fought to end racial discrimination and . allowed women to serve on ships for the first time. Like its namesake, the ship is innovative. It is so big that Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics subsidiary, built a 106-foot-tall, $40 million 'Ultra Hall' to accommodate its large hull segments. The ship is 100 feet longer than the existing class of destroyers. Deadly force: Armed with up to 80 Tomahawk cruise missiles and designed to back up Marines on amphibious missions the USS Zumwalt is so expensive only three will be built . Resembling a 19th century ironclad warship the USS Zumwalt uses a 21st century version of a 'tumblehome' hull . It features an unusual wave-piercing hull, electric drive propulsion, advanced sonar and guided missiles, and a new gun that fires rocket-propelled warheads as far as 100 miles. Unlike warships with towering radar- and . antenna-laden superstructures, the Zumwalt will ride low to the water to . minimize its radar signature, making it stealthier than others. Displacement: 14,564 long tons (14,798 t) Length: 600 ft (180 m) Beam: 80.7 ft (24.6 m) Draft: 27.6 ft (8.4 m) Propulsion: 2 Rolls-Royce Marine Trent-30 gas turbines driving Curtiss-Wright generators and emergency diesel generators, 78 MW (105,000 shp); 2 propellers driven by electric motors . Speed: Over 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) Warpons: . 20 × MK 57 VLS modules, with a total of 80 launch cells . RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM), 4 per cell . Tactical Tomahawk, 1 per cellVertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rocket (ASROC), 1 per cell . 2 × 155 mm/62 caliber Advanced Gun System920 × 155 mm rounds total; 600 in automated store with Auxiliary store room with up to 320 rounds (non-automatic) as of April 200570–100 LRLAP rounds planned as of 2005 of total . • 2 × Mk 110 57 mm gun (CIGS) Originally envisioned for shore bombardment, the ship's size and power plant that can produce 78 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 78,000 homes — make it a potential platform for futuristic weapons like the electromagnetic rail gun, which uses a magnetic field and electric current to fire a projectile at seven times the speed of sound. There are so many computers and so . much automation that it'll need fewer sailors, operating with a crew of . 158, nearly half the complement aboard the current generation of . destroyers. 'The concept of . the Zumwalt is sort of a bridge between the traditions of the past and . the new world of networked warfare and precision guided munitions,' said . Loren Thompson, defense analyst at the Lexington Institute. 'It's . not so much a radical concept as it is an attempt to pull off a full . range of missions with a ship that has one foot in the present and one . foot in the future.' The . Navy once envisioned building more than 20 of the ships. But the ship . has so many sophisticated features and its cost grew so high that senior . Navy officials tried to kill the program. Instead, it was truncated to . just three ships, the first being Zumwalt. The Zumwalt will cost more than $3.5 billion — about three times that of current destroyers — but the program has not been beset by big cost overruns or delays, officials said. The fact that construction has gone smoothly is a relief for the Navy, which has dealt with embarrassing troubles on its new class of speedy warship, dubbed the 'littoral combat ship.' Those smaller ships, designed to operate close to shore in littoral waters, have been plagued by escalating costs, production delays and mechanical problems. What you get for $7 billion dollars: A guide to the USS Zumwalt's unique features . A model of the Zumwalt Class destroyer to be built by Bath Iron Works and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding is displayed during a contract signing ceremony at the Pentagon . Mission modules that give them the . flexibility to perform roles including anti-submarine warfare and . minesweeping are not ready, even though the first ships have been . commissioned. 'That ship is a total disaster,' said Norman Polmar, a naval historian, analyst and author. Against . that backdrop, shipbuilders at Bath Iron Works have been toiling away . on the Zumwalt, the first entirely new ship built on the banks of the . Kennebec River since the original Arleigh Burke was christened more than . 20 years ago. The keel plate for the USS Zumwalt-class destroyer the destroyers will be a new class of multi-mission U.S. Navy surface combatant ship designed to operate as part of a joint maritime fleet . Dan Dowling, president of Local S6, which represents 3,200 shipbuilders, said it's been a challenging project with a new hull design, composite materials and new technology. 'It is a radical departure from what we've known. Whether the Navy is satisfied with the design of the ship is up to them. We can only build what they asked for,' he said, adding, 'I hope they'll be pleased with it. We'd like to build as many of them as we can.'
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USS Zumwalt will have cost $7billion when finally completed .
Warship features deadly arsenal, radar and stealthy silhouette .
Fearsome ship can fire rocket-propelled warheads upto 100 miles .
Engine produces 78 megawatts - enough to power 78,000 homes .
Ship is designed to maintain US naval supremacy for decades .
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By . Naomi Greenaway . Who knew Brian May had a pet badger? The ex-Queen guitarist is just one of a host of celebrities who have been snapped with their beloved pets for a new exhibition. Other famous faces include Paul O'Grady, Michelle Collins, Mark Foster, Martin Clunes and Simon Callow, who have all been photographed with their beloved animals for Pawless, Maria Slough's photography exhibition. The exhibition opens tonight with a preview showing at London's Cafe Royal before it sets sail for a round trip to Amsterdam aboard the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship on Wednesday. Scroll down for video . Michelle Collins and Humphrey, her gorgeous three-year-old pug/shiatsu . Each celebrity has nominated a charity and the exhibition aims to raise awareness and money for various causes. 'There were quite a few funny moments shooting this,' London-based Maria tells MailOnline, 'And some wonderfully inspiring ones too.' 'When I went to photograph Simon Callow, he'd recently moved house and his dogs weren't sure about new people,' she says. 'He greeted me at door with a plate of biscuits and I had to bribe my way step by step into the house. 'But once they were used to me the shoot worked brilliantly.' Mark Foster and Bailey: 'I have always had an affinity with dogs,' says the swimming champ . The exhibition also includes members of public and high-profile animal charity activist Jill Robinson. 'I went to photograph Jill in China and lived amongst rescued bears for a week, which was extraordinary,' says Maria. 'It was so humbling.' So where did the idea come from? 'I'm an avid animal lover so I wanted to use my photography to raise awareness of amazing work animal charities do and animals in need all round the globe.' 'Telling a story within a . photograph is what I strive to do in my work as a media photographer. This collection of photographs that I have been lucky enough to capture . will I hope inspire people.' Paul O'Grady MBE and his pet Olga: 'I was very honoured to be asked to be a part of this exhibition,' he says . Each of the stunning black and white images is accompanied by a quote from the animal lovers. Simon Callow CBE, photographed with his pooches Biffy and Roxy is supporting the Royal Veterinary College. He says, 'We got Biff and Rox from a farm in Wales. They adore each other, and when for medical reasons, they have to be parted the other goes into a rapid decline. 'This was severely tested this year when Roxy, who had seemed to age overnight, was diagnosed with lung cancer and had a huge tumour removed surgically,' he says. Fay Ripley with Barry, whom she calls 'the jam in our family bakewell' 'They were apart for four days, the first time in their lives and Biffy was mortified, though Roxy rather enjoyed the five-star service at the Royal Veterinary College,' he adds. 'She is almost completely recovered now and wickedly playful again, rather proud of her elegantly shaved coat. Biffy can’t figure out what’s happened but his world is right again'. Dame Eileen Atkins who is pictured with her cat Groucho says, 'My husband Bill picked out . Groucho who was the runt of the litter and I chose his very pretty tabby . sister Maisie but within a few days I was in love with Groucho and . Maisie had attached herself to Bill,' she says. Brian May photographed with Harry a rescued badger moments before being returned to the wild . 'Groucho reminds me every day that . looks aren’t everything as even with one wonky eye and a huge wart on . his face I think he is beautiful and love him to bits,' she jokes. Fay Ripley refers to her pet Barry as 'the jam in our family bakewell'. And says, 'He adds sweetness and brings it all together. It just wouldn't be the same without him.' Actress Jenny Seagrove, cuddles up to a pony and says, 'My love of animals was installed in me and nurtured by . my mother. I grew up in Malaysia with dogs, rabbits and access to a . baby brown bear and a baby orang-utan.' Photographer Maria Slough with her own 'best friend' Dame Eileen Atkins and Groucho: 'Groucho reminds me every day that looks aren't everything as even with one wonky eye and a huge wart on his face I think he is beautiful and love him to bits' 'That love has never left me, and . of course extends to all creatures, resulting in my being founding trustee of Mane Chance Sanctuary, trustee of The Born Free Foundation . and a patron of many others,' she explains. 'My love for the animals in our care at the sanctuary is beyond words. They have taught me about forgiveness and . grace amongst other things. 'They are breath-taking in their presence and . capacity to accept and give.' Martin Clunes and Chester: 'Chester is the first horse I ever owned and I owe him so much -- he is one of the nicest, kindest animals you could meet' Swimming champ Mark Foster strikes a pose with his mutt Bailey. 'I have always had an affinity with . Dogs but it wasn’t until I was nearly 30 years old that I got one of my . own,' he says. 'He was a bulldog called George and when I picked him up as a puppy I . could fit him into the palm of my hand. What I hadn't bargained for was . the bond that I formed with him and the place he had in my life and my . heart. It was like a huge love affair. 'He was the kindest and softest . natured dog and I took him with me everywhere. I took him to swimming competitions and I was amazed at what an ice breaker he was in social . situations. 'Having a dog with you invites lots of people to come up and . say hello and of course he loved the attention.' Jenny Seagrove: 'My love of animals was installed in me and nurtured by my mother' Actor Martin Clunes is featured with his horse Chester who he calls 'our king'. 'Chester . is the first horse I ever owned and I owe him so much,' the actor explains. 'He is one of . the nicest, kindest animals you could meet and even though he is now . retired he still goes on giving, he goes out with the young horses and . teaches them some respect and occasionally carries small children on his . back to give them a thrill.' Another star who admits he's crazy about animals is chat-show host Paul O‘Grady MBE, who is photographed alongside Olga. 'I was very honoured to be asked to be a part of this exhibition. I have . always been passionate about animals and am fortunate to share my life . with the animals see in the photographs,' he says. Animal activist Jill Robinson MBE photographed in China with her rescued bears BJ and Mickey . 'I thoroughly enjoy . making the TV programmes about dogs and more recently spending time in . South Africa and Zambia finding out about the endangered species and the . wonderful people who work to rehabilitate them and reintroduce them . into the wild,' he says. The star has nominated the Animal Health Trust to benefit . from the exhibition.'Their work is so important in diagnosing and in . finding new treatments and ways of preventing disease and injury for . horses, dogs and cats in the UK and also across the world,' he says. Veteran actress Virginia McKenna, OBE, poses with a furry friend of a different kind -- an enormous lion. Luckily for her, it was only made of oak! Virginia McKenna with Simon O'Rourke's chain saw sculptor from Wales . 'When Maria first invited me to participate in her forthcoming photographic exhibition, featuring people with an animal that meant a great deal to them, I was intrigued,' she says. 'Then she asked if I would be photographed with a lion! 'The idea developed and the outcome was the most extraordinary sculpture, in fallen oak, by Simon O’Rourke, a brilliant chain saw sculptor from Wales. I call this beautiful noble beast "The Guardian" he looks out over the field and seems to protect all the wild creatures that appear there.' Other stars featured include Michelle Collins and her shiatsu Humphrey and Brian May with a rescued badger Harry, moments before it was returned to the wild.
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Photographer Maria Slough's exhibition opens tonight .
Preview will take place at London's Cafe Royal .
Martin Clunes, Faye Ripley, Brian May and Paul O'Grady pictured with pets .
Each star has nominated a charity to benefit from the proceeds .
Photographs will set sail aboard the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship on Wednesday .
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Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew has admitted his side missed Marouane Chamakh's presence in front of goal after the striker was taken off with a broken nose during the match against Everton on Saturday. The Eagles suffered their first defeat in six games and Pardew bemoaned Palace's lack of cutting edge up front. 'We never really produced a classical moment, or a great moment today,' he told reporters. 'The loss of Cham was crucial today, his guile and experience around the box would have been important.' Crystal Palace striker Marouane Chamakh was taken off after suffering a broken nose against Everton . But Pardew is hoping to welcome his striker back in time for Palace's next game against Leicester and also rued Dwight Gayle's shot being cleared off the line by Phil Jagielka. 'He (Chamakh) wasn't concussed, but it was a heavy blow to the nose. I think he'll be okay for Leicester.' 'I thought Gayle's shot was in, and the players' reaction looked like it was in. 'So whoever invented that goal line technology wanted kicking up the bum today! 'To be fair the linesman said 'it's not on the watch', so I knew straight away really.' Chamakh slides in to tackle Everton midfielder Muhamed Besic (left) before being substituted in the first-half . Crystal Palace Alan Pardew lamented his side's lack of cutting edge after the injury to Marouane Chamakh . Roberto Martinez, meanwhile, said that Everton are 'mentally refreshed' and ready to tackle Liverpool in the Merseyside derby after ending their eight-match winless streak at Selhurst Park. Martinez hailed his beleaguered side for turning the 'chore' of chasing victories into 'an opportunity', with Romelu Lukaku firing his second goal in three games. Belgian striker Lukaku has endured a tough month after the death of close friend and former Anderlecht academy team-mate Junior Malanda. And Martinez paised Lukaku's resilience in shrugging off a six-game goal drought across December, tipping the 21-year-old to fight back to top form. Everton's Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku has returned to form, scoring his second goal in three games . Lukaku had been suffering a goal drought and did not find the back of the net for six games in December . 'I've seen the players mentally refreshed now, we had a little bit of a break and I thought today we looked really strong mentally,' said Martinez, ahead of Everton hosting Liverpool next Saturday. 'It seemed an opportunity rather than a chore, to get the three points. 'Well the Merseyside derbies are always phenomenal events and they are games that almost look after themselves. 'Today was very important for us to face a team in the moment of form that Crystal Palace is, it was a real test. 'So it was one where we had to focus, and now we can really enjoy it and look forward to the Merseyside derby. Crystal Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni makes a good save under pressure from Everton's Aidan McGeady . 'I was pleased with Romelu's performance with the infectious way he was working in that forward line. 'I thought he looked powerful, I thought he looked really fresh and that was pleasing when you've got a striker like Romelu at that sort of level. 'I think we've all had a tough time as a team because we had such a high expectation of ourselves and when you don't reach those expectations it's going to be difficult. 'But I don't think Romelu has any reason to feel down about it, he's been an incredible footballer, he's a responsible young man. 'Sometimes we forget he's only 21, he came back from the World Cup and sometimes it's tough to get your match fitness up to speed. 'And now he's fully fit, he's ready, he loves taking responsibility. 'And he's a striker as we all know who has the potential to be if not the best, one of the best in world football.' Everton's Steven Naismith (left) battles for the ball with Crystal Palace midfielder James MacArthur (right) Aidan McGeady slides in to challenge Crystal Palace midfielder Joe Ledley in the game at Selhurst Park . Martinez said Saturday's victory at Selhurst Park was not about feeling relieved, though. 'More than relief it was real satisfaction, the last two performances in the league have been very, very good, and we didn't get the three points,' said Martinez. 'Today it felt we had to be perfect to get the three points because they are a team full of confidence who have been scoring with ease. 'When you look at a team that can score eight goals in the last three games it shows their form, so for me it's a real satisfaction. 'We scored early, and that's the hardest thing in football, to hold onto that lead in a place like Crystal Palace. 'We were the first ones not to enjoy us not getting wins consistently. We know what we can do, we know the expectations and that was difficult. 'We've got 15 games in the league, we want to show what we can do, and make sure we enjoy in Europe a really good run in the knockout stages.' Both Everton boss Roberto Martinez and Palace chief Alan Pardew are under pressure to deliver this season .
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Marouane Chamakh broke his nose in Crystal Palace's 1-0 loss to Everton .
However, Alan Pardew believes the striker will be fit for Palace's next game .
Pardew admits that his side lacked a cutting edge up front without Chamakh .
Everton boss Roberto Martinez has praised goalscorer Romelu Lukaku .
The Belgian striker has returned to form following a dry spell in December .
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f5985cd08d207b4c01a4c3b178cec519b0bd678f
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(CNN) -- Central African Republic's parliament elected the mayor of Bangui, the capital, as interim president Monday, United Nations peacekeepers there said. Catherine Samba-Panza, elected in a second-round runoff, will face the task of ending the country's turmoil and months of sectarian violence as she heads a transitional government. "This election must mark a new beginning as the country moves towards the full restoration of democratic legitimacy, including through free, transparent, and democratic consultations," the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office there said in a statement congratulating Samba-Panza on her victory. She replaces Michel Djotodia, the leader of the Seleka rebels who seized power in March. Djotodia stepped down 10 days ago under pressure after failing to halt the escalating violence in the country. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Union foreign ministers agreed to send EU troops to the country, a spokesman for the bloc's top diplomat said. There are currently about 4,000 African troops and 1,600 French troops in the CAR to help end the violence. In a statement U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon welcomed the EU's troop commitment and urged support for the African-led Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA). He asked the wider international community to provide financial support. "The Secretary-General looks forward to generous contributions at the MISCA donor conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 1 February." the statement said. The Central African Republic, a former French colony, plunged into chaos last year after a coalition of rebels dubbed Seleka ousted President Francois Bozize, in the latest in a series of coups since the country gained independence. Rebels infiltrated the capital in March, sending Bozize fleeing to Cameroon. Djotodia, one of the Seleka leaders, became interim President. Since then, political turmoil and violence have spiraled. Seleka is a predominantly Muslim coalition, and to counter the attacks on Christian communities, vigilante Christian groups have fought back. The United Nations has said it fears a genocide is brewing, and aid agencies warn of a humanitarian crisis. The International Committee of the Red Cross said fresh inter-communal violence had flared in the west and northwest of the landlocked country. "Red Cross staff and volunteers have buried some 50 bodies discovered in the area around Bossembele, Boyali and Boali, in the north-west of the country," the ICRC said in a statement on Sunday. "Much of the population, in danger of reprisals and with no one to protect them, have fled their homes and are hiding in the bush," it added. The U.N. estimates that the worsening humanitarian crisis affects more than half of the country's population. "The Central African Republic, with the active support of the international community, has an opportunity for a new beginning. This opportunity must be seized," the U.N. said. CNN's Antonia Mortensen and Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report.
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The Central African Republic elects an interim president, Catherine Samba-Panza .
The mayor of Bangui is expected to help end the country's sectarian violence .
The EU will send troops to support French and African soldiers already in the CAR .
The Red Cross says much of the population, fearing reprisal, is hiding in the bush .
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What happens when a rock 'n' roll legend promotes a music player in a world where the iPod, and its smartphone cousins, already dominate the market? If that legend is Neil Young and the music player promises higher-quality sound than any of its competitors, it becomes the third-biggest Kickstarter campaign in the history of the site. The crowdfunding campaign for Young's Pono Music closed Tuesday, having raised more than $6.2 million. The campaign's goal of $800,000 was blown away less than 24 hours after it launched in March. Young, a longtime critic of what he calls the "underwater listening" experience of compressed digital music, thanked backers on the campaign's homepage Tuesday. "You have helped to set the stage for a revolution in music listening," Young wrote. "Finally, quality enters the listening space so that we can all hear and feel what the artists created, the way they heard and felt it." The idea behind Pono is to boost digital music from the compressed and lossy formats to high-quality resolution. Pono will stream music in 24-bit, 192-kHz sound, brighter and more present than the sound provided by MP3s or even CDs. Pono will include both an online music store and player. The PonoPlayer, which will come with 128GB of storage, will sell for $399. By comparison, the 64GB iPod touch sells for the same price, and the iPod classic, with 160GB of storage, sells for $249. High-resolution digital albums at Ponomusic.com are expected to cost between $15 and $25. The site says all major record labels are on board and beginning to expand the amount of their music that's recorded in high-quality digital formats. Young, who introduced the system at the South by Southwest music festival in March with endorsements from the likes of Tom Petty, Eddie Vedder and Sting, believes that the quality of the listening experience will draw enough fans willing to pay more. "It's been a long time coming. It was not easy getting this far, but you made it happen by supporting Pono's vision for better listening," he wrote. "Pono wants to preserve the history of music, in all of its beauty and expression, for all time. Forever."
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Neil Young's Pono Music raises $6.2 million on Kickstarter .
That's the third-largest campaign in Kickstarter's history .
The music player promises high-quality, non-compressed sound .
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f59918ba6cf11f7aa00146f985e0a42b6061de48
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A key aide of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is to be awarded a prestigious degree by one of Britain’s top universities. Lamis Omar has been studying for a doctorate at Durham, and is likely to receive her PhD in September. Emails obtained by the Wikileaks website suggest that Ms Omar enjoys a close friendship with Assad. Something to hide? Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's close friendship with an aide has been revealed by Wikileaks . Fellow students say she had a large picture of the dictator on the wall of her home in the university grounds. Last night, officials at Durham University refused to say whether the institution has accepted money from the Assad regime in tuition fees. The emails appear to show that for the past four years, Ms Omar, who is believed to be in her mid-30s, has been working in Assad’s own department, known as the Ministry of Presidential Affairs. In more than 800 email exchanges between the pair, a picture emerges of a world of poetry and jokes, cocooned away from the bloodshed engulfing Assad’s country. They appear to have a close friendship, in which he buys her gifts and she repeatedly says that she ‘loves’ him. In the emails she refers to Assad, who has been married to British-born Asma, 37, for 12 years, as the ‘sponsor’ of her course. Is it right? Wikileaks have revealed a member of Assad's regime has been educated at Durham University . Tory MP Robert Halfon said: ‘Ethical questions need to be asked as to why Durham University is providing an education to a member of the Assad regime. Given the murder of thousands of Syrians by the Assad regime, Durham should reconsider whether it awards this PhD.’ The emails were among a tranche of 2.5 million obtained by Wikileaks, a controversial website that publishes leaked documents. They were apparently written by Syrian officials and politicians, as well as Assad himself. The documents, which for the most part are written in English, reveal that Ms Omar’s official role was to translate Assad’s speeches. At Durham, her PhD thesis was on Shakespeare. Last night Durham University said: ‘We do not comment on the financial circumstances of individual students. Durham University does not have any formal or active links with the Syrian Government.’ Ms Omar could not be contacted despite repeated calls. And a spokeswoman for President Assad said she would obtain a response to the allegations. She had not done so by the time we went to press. Helping hand: Lord Kenilworth redesigned al-Assad's summer palace, Wikileaks has revealed . A member of the House of Lords charged thousands of pounds to redesign the summer palace of Bashar al-Assad, emails obtained by Wikileaks reveal. Lord Kenilworth was hired to create a luxuriant new garden, including a spectacular water feature, at the Syrian dictator’s country residence near the coastal city of Latakia, the site of fierce fighting between government forces and rebels. The peer’s work was so highly valued he was invited to a formal meeting with Assad’s British-born wife Asma. But as violence engulfed the country, the relationship appears to have soured. Last July, Lord Kenilworth, 56, sent Assad’s office an invoice for £24,000. Two months later, he emailed a member of Assad’s inner circle, asking if he had ‘had a chance to find out when we might be able to receive payment’. The peer, known professionally as Randle Siddeley, has run a landscaping business since the mid-Eighties. The firm was commissioned by Assad in 2010. Initial stages of the work were priced at £176,500, with more bills to follow. Last night Lord Kenilworth said only: ‘We stopped working there 18 months ago. I can’t comment any further.’
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Website suggests Lamis Omar enjoys close friendship with Bashar al-Assad .
800 affectionate emails between pair revealed by Wikileaks .
Durham University refused to say whether it had accepted money from Assad regime .
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