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(CNN) -- Travel photos open windows to the unknown. For this season of CNN's "Parts Unknown," Anthony Bourdain has been expanding our horizons to show us places such as Paraguay, Vietnam and even New York's often-unexplored borough of the Bronx. Instagram users and CNN iReporters followed along with Bourdain each week, sharing their travel photos from the places he visited. Some of their best travel photos were included in the above gallery. It's halfway through the season, and we welcome you to share your photos from Bourdain's upcoming travel destinations: Tanzania (October 26); Iran (November 2); Provincetown, Massachusetts (November 9); and Jamaica (November 16). Upload them to iReport or tag your images #partsunknown on Instagram. We will add photos from these locations after each episode airs.
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Instagram users and iReporters follow along with Anthony Bourdain in his travels .
CNN's "Parts Unknown" airs at 9 p.m. ET Sundays .
Share your photos from the remaining destinations with CNN iReport .
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North Korea fired two short-range missiles off its eastern coast Monday, the second such launch in less than a week, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry. The defense ministry said it is on high alert and monitoring the situation. It called on the North to stop the missile launches. The weapons launched were Scud missiles that flew more than 500 kilometers (311 miles), according to the defense ministry. The missiles landed in the sea, South Korea's semi-official Yonhap news agency reported. On Thursday, four Scud missiles with a shorter range were fired into the sea off North Korea's eastern coast -- flying about 220 kilometers (137 miles), according to Yonhap -- just days after the start of annual joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States. North Korea opposes such exercises, which routinely cause friction among the three countries. North Korea's missile capabilities . Last year's exercises triggered weeks of heightened tensions between the nations and North Korean threats of nuclear war. Thursday's launch was the first time North Korea had fired Scud missiles, which have a range that covers the whole of the Korean Peninsula, since 2009, South Korea said. Foreign policy experts say the North Korean missile firings may not herald a repeat of last year's saber rattling from Pyongyang, which included threats of preemptive nuclear strikes against the United States and South Korea and the declaration that the armistice that stopped the Korean War in 1953 is null and void. North Korea launches missiles into sea .
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The South Korean Defense Ministry is on high alert .
The launch is the second in less than a week .
They come after the start of joint military exercises between U.S. and South Korea .
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(CNN)Vince Camuto, the iconic women's footwear designer and co-founder of Nine West, has died. He was 78. His namesake line paid tribute to the designer with a post on Twitter, citing a quote by Camuto that read, "Life is an adventure. Seize the opportunity and find your passion." In 1978, Camuto co-founded Nine West with Jerome Fisher. In 1999, they sold what had become one of the country's largest shoe companies to the Jones Group Inc. for nearly $900 million. Nine West, which has expanded into clothing and accessories, celebrated Camuto's influence on its Facebook page: "Thank you for making women look and feel more beautiful -- from our head to our soles. You will be missed." Camuto went on to create the Camuto Group in 2001, acquiring licenses for brands like BCBG Max Azria, Lucky Brand and Tory Burch, helping the latter create her now-signature Reva ballet flat. Under the Camuto Group, he launched three of his own clothing and footwear lines -- Vince Camuto, VC Signature and Louise et Cie -- in 2005. That year, he purchased the license for the Jessica Simpson Collection. Simpson mourned the loss of Camuto on Instagram, heralding him as a "mentor" and "the creator of all my dreams." "I will forever walk in your shoes ... you made them," she continued. Camuto is survived by his wife, Louise, and five children. People we've lost in 2015 .
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Vince Camuto has died at the age of 78 .
Camuto co-founded Nine West in 1978 .
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By . John Stevens . UKIP voters are disconnected because many cannot send and receive emails, use search engines or browse the internet, Labour’s shadow business secretary has suggested. Chuka Umunna said that ‘a lot’ of people who voted for the party in its European elections victory were not computer literate and did not have basic online skills. He promised that a Labour government would be ‘absolutely focused’ on connecting people who have been alienated from the wider economy. Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna made the claim to explain why a lot of people supporting UKIP feel disconnected from the modern world. Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Mr Umunna, 35, said: ‘We’ve got to empower our people. ‘The BBC has carried out some very interesting research on this. One in five people in our economy cannot do the four basics online of sending and receiving an email, browsing the internet, filling in an online form. ‘Now there’s been a lot of talk about communities who’ve been disconnected from our global economy and those of course were a lot of those who were voting for UKIP in the local and European elections. ’And of that mass of people who can’t do the things that all of us take for granted, a very large number of them are from those communities. ‘So the next Labour Government, we are going to be absolutely focused on connecting people into the global economy, so they can realise their dreams and aspirations.’ Last month, the UK Independence Party became the first party other than the Conservatives or Labour to win a national election since 1906 when it surged to victory in the European elections. The party led by Nigel Farage also picked up more than 100 council seats from Labour, the Tories and Lib Dems. UKIP leader Nigel Farage has enjoyed success in local and European elections, which his party puts down in part to a strong presence on social media . After the election, Suzanne Evans, who lost her seat as a councillor in Merton, said the party had not replicated its national success in London as voters more ‘media-savvy’. She said: ‘I don’t think we have got our message across in London. We do have a more media-savvy, well educated population in London and they are more likely to have read some of the negative press that’s been about us.’ Ed Miliband last year announced that former Tomorrow's World presenter Maggie Philbin would lead a Labour-backed taskforce on developing young people's digital skills. In a speech, the Labour leader warned that the UK is falling behind on IT and said the government is ‘letting down’ businesses and the workforce. A BBC study published earlier this year found that 19 per cent of adults did not have the basic skills of being able to send and receive emails, use a search engine, browse the internet, and fill out an online application form. Mr Umunna, who has been compared to Barack Obama, is a rising star in the Labour party and has been tipped as a possible future leader. Last year, the Streatham MP and former DJ caused anger after it was revealed that he had once criticised nightclubs in London for not being trendy enough. While working in his old job as a lawyer eight years ago, Mr Umunna had written online: ‘Is it just me or is there a serious lack of cool places to go in central London at the weekends? ‘Most of the West End haunts seem to be full of trash and C-list wannabes, while other places that should know better opt for the cheesy vibe.’
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Claims UKIP supporters cannot send email or use search engines .
Shadow business secretary said a 'lot' of UKIP voters lack online skills .
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An Australian surfer has experienced first-hand the unforgiving swells at Cronulla when she smashed into a rock pool several times. A video has captured the terrifying moment world number two Tyler Wright was unable to escape the relentless surf after her board washed over the rocks, through the chain fence and into the pool. Wright was on her way back to the shore in the three- to four-foot swell with a rough shore break when she went left at Alley Reef - in Sydney's south - and came off. Scroll down for video . Australian surfer Tyler Wright smashed into a rock pool at Cronulla in Sydney's south during a surfing competition . Tyler Wright, 20, surfs with the Culburra Boardriders team from southern New South Wales . On Saturday, Wright was participating in the Australian Boardriders Battle National Final . The 20-year-old was heading back to shore when she turned left at Alley Reef and she fell off her board . She attempted to get her board back twice but the waves would not let up, and was forced to jump off the pool wall and back into the ocean as the board continued to wash back into the pool again, with Wright still attached by her leg rope. Concerned fans, along with her brother Owen Wright, watched as the 20-year-old battled the tough conditions during Saturday's Australian Boardriders Battle National Final. Fortunately, Wright was able to free herself from the board and made her way back to the beach. She was first greeted by her brother who hugged her as the relieved surfer appeared to have been left unscathed by the incident. The board then headed into the rock pool where it became stuck as waves continued to hammer the 20-year-old . She attempted two times to get her board back but had to abort both times when conditions made it impossible for her to do so . Eventually, she was able to free herself from the board by detaching herself from the leg rope . She luckily escaped uninjured but was taken to hospital in an ambulance for precautionary checks . But as a precaution, Wright was seen being packed into an ambulance on a stretcher and taken to hospital for precautionary checks. At the time, Wright was in a stable condition, according to a statement from the World Surf League. The 20-year-old surfer is part of the Culburra Boardriders team from southern New South Wales. The Australian Boardriders Battle National Final continues tomorrow, with $120,000 up for grabs for the winner. Her brother Owen Wright, who is also a surfer, along with concerned fans watched from the shore . He was the first to comfort her sister after the scary incident, which saw her walk away shaken but seemingly unscathed . Here she is seen being loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher and was taken to hospital .
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Female surfer Tyler Wright was competing at Cronulla - in Sydney's south .
She was competing at the Australian Boardriders Battle National Final .
The 20-year-old was going back to shore when she fell off her surfboard .
It washed into the rock pool and got stuck over the chain fence of the pool .
Wright was attached to board by a leg rope and struggled to free herself .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . Last updated at 12:19 PM on 19th July 2011 . Jan Mohammed Khan was killed in a Taliban attack on his home in Western Kabul . A close adviser to Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has been killed by gunmen strapped with explosives. Jan Mohammed Khan, who assisted Karzai with tribal issues, as well as parliamentarian Mohammed Ashim Watanwal, were killed in the brazen late-night attack on Khan's home in western Kabul. Security forces quickly killed one of the assailants, but the second attacker barricaded himself inside the house and battled police outside. The crackle of gunfire and small explosions finally ended about 3 am on Monday morning and reporters on the scene saw a body - presumably that of the final attacker - dragged out of the house on a plastic sheet. One police officer also was killed, according to the Interior Ministry. The assassination threw a pall over two events marking the shift to the next phase of the Afghan conflict - the transfer of an entire province to Afghan security control on Sunday and Monday's transfer of authority for NATO and U.S. forces from Gen. David Petraeus to Lt. Gen. John Allen. The killing of Khan, which the Taliban claimed responsibility for, is the second high-profile assassination in Afghanistan in less than a week. Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president's half-brother and one of the most powerful men in southern Afghanistan, was gunned down last week by a close associate. The attack on Khan began Sunday evening when two men wearing suicide bomb vests and armed with guns knocked at a side door at Khan's home in western Kabul and then, when a man who worked at the house opened the gate, punched him and pushed past him into the residence, said Mohammad Yusuf, the man who opened the door. 'Then the shooting started,' Yusuf said. It was not immediately clear whether there had been armed guards outside the door. A relative who was inside the house said the attackers went straight for the room where Khan and Watanwal, a lawmaker from Uruzgan province, were talking. Afghan police keep watch outside the house where the attack began to unfold on Sunday evening . The body of a Taliban insurgent is driven away from the scene of the assassination . 'They went in there with their guns and started shooting and just killed them,' said Najibullah, a young man who spoke through tears and only gave one name. Defence department officials confirmed the deaths. Khan was governor of the Pashtun-dominated Uruzgan province in the south from 2002 until March 2006 and has remained influential in the area. Though he was often labeled a warlord and a thug by the international community, presidential spokesman Waheed Omar said Karzai considered him a key partner in the south and a bulwark against the Taliban. 'Jan Mohammed Khan was one of the most influential leaders in the south, especially in Uruzgan,' Omar said. As an example of Karzai's trust in Khan, Omar explained a tribal dispute the adviser helped calm. Broken windows bear evidence of the gun battle which killed the two men . 'Only two months ago, Jan Mohammed Khan resolved a huge dispute between the Hazaras in Uruzgan and one of the Pashtun tribes. The president said, 'Jan Mohammed Khan was the only one who can resolve that problem because both sides respect him,'' Omar recalled. He said Karzai would not have removed Khan as governor except for pressure from the international community, which wrongly accused him of criminal activity. 'He was one of the most hard-line opponents and enemies of the Taliban,' Omar said.It was unclear how influential Khan was with Karzai, but he was thought to wield considerable influence in Uruzgan. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the insurgent group. Ahmed Wali Karzai (left) was killed in a gun attack last week. He was the half-brother of President Hamid Karzai (right) Mujahid said the Taliban killed Khan because he was assisting coalition forces in carrying out night raids against Afghans. The controversial raids have been highly effective in capturing or killing hundreds of Taliban fighters and midlevel commanders. Karzai has complained the operations anger many Afghans who are mistakenly targeted. 'He was cooperating and helping the American forces,' Mujahid said in an emailed statement. The Taliban had also claimed responsibility for Tuesday's killing of Karzai's half-brother, who was shot dead by a close associate. Wali Karzai's death left the president without an influential ally to balance the interests of the southern region's tribal and political leaders, drug runners, insurgents and militias. Sunday's violence marred the handover of control of a peaceful province in the center of the country to Afghan police, another step in a transition that will allow foreign troops to withdraw in full by the end of 2014. The weeping President, centre, attends the burial of his half- brother in his family's ancestral village of Karz, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, last week . Bamiyan province is one of seven areas going to Afghan security control this month in a first round of the transition. Another, Panjshir province in the east, began being transferred earlier this month. Both places have seen little to no fighting since the overthrow of the Taliban nearly 10 years ago and barely had any coalition troop presence. Bamiyan only had a small foreign troop contingent from New Zealand. Bamiyan and Panjshir are the only two provinces that will be handed over in their entirety during this month's transition phase. Other areas to be handed over are the provincial capitals of Lashkar Gah in southern Afghanistan, Herat in the west, Mazer-e-Sharif in the north and Mehterlam in the east. Afghan forces will also take control of all of Kabul province except for the restive Surobi district. But recent attacks in the capital have served as a reminder of how much Afghan forces still depend on international help in Kabul. New Zealand special forces were called in to help with Sunday night's attack, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said in a press conference Monday. He said the New Zealand troops began in a mentoring role but then shifted into an 'operational' combat role as the attack unfolded. Key declined to give further details of what happened. It's the second time in three weeks that the New Zealand Special Air Service group (SAS), which is in Afghanistan primarily to mentor Afghan security forces, has become actively involved in active combat. The SAS was also involved in countering insurgents who attacked the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul on June 29.
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Attack comes one week after President's brother was gunned down .
Another parliamentarian also killed in the Kabul raid .
Taliban claim responsibility for both assassinations .
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By . Ap Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 23:43 EST, 13 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:22 EST, 14 August 2013 . Hopes were dashed Tuesday when a decades old Florida quadruple murder investigation ended when authorities concluded there was no link between their case and the killings dramatized in the book In Cold Blood. The convicted killers, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, were long suspected in the slayings of Cliff Walker, his wife, Christine, and their two children. The family was killed in December of 1959, about a month after Smith and Hickock murdered a Kansas farmer and his family. Investigators were unable to make a DNA match between Smith and Hickock, and Christine Walker, who was raped and had semen on her underwear. Cold case? Cliff and Christine Walker were murdered in their Florida home along with their children in a crime long connected to In Cold Blood murderers Perry Smith and Richard Hickock . Two families? Richard Hickock, left, and Perry Smith, right, fled to Florida after murdering a family in Kansas and some believe they killed again . Authorities said they were unable to match the DNA because only partial profiles could be taken from the exhumed bodies in December, and the Walker crime scene samples were old and degraded. No more tests were scheduled. ‘The complication lies in the fact that there's still some uncertainty,’ Bell said. ‘It wouldn't exclude them but it also does not provide us with any level of confidence to say there's a match because there's not.’ Police still believe the two men were likely involved. ‘We're not closing the case,’ Bell said. ‘It remains an unsolved murder. The mystery continues and we'll look for other opportunities. We've reached a point where we don't believe we're going to accomplish that through DNA testing.’ Testing decades-old DNA can be difficult, said Dr. Michael Baird, the laboratory director of the DNA Diagnostics Center in Ohio. Red herring? Smith and Hickock's remains were exhumed om 2012 and their DNA taken. However, time had degraded the samples taken from the Florida crime scene in 1959 too much to place them at the scene . Slain: Christine and Cliff met as teenagers, they were murdered in 1959, along with their two young children . Unsolved: Christine twirled ropes at the local rodeo as a teen and Cliff roped calves. Their 1959 murder remains unsolved . He said genetic evidence can degrade . over time. How much DNA was retrieved from samples, how it was stored . and the conditions it was exposed to all play a role in whether a full . DNA profile can be collected. He said testing a partial DNA profile would be like looking at a fingerprint that didn't have all the swirls. ‘The . ability to make a match with an individual would be compromised,’ Baird . said. ‘It's not uncommon for this to happen with a sample that old.’ Smith and Hickock fled to Florida after killing prominent Kansas farmer Herb Clutter, his wife and two of their children. Cleared? Smith and Hickock were cleared of the crime after their capture in 1960 for the Kansas murders of the Clutter family, but experts have since called the lie detector results of the day useless . Truman Capote befriended the killers to write his groundbreaking, novel-like book about the Kansas murders . The murders in Holcomb, Kan., were chronicled in Truman Capote's book, which gripped readers with its vivid narrative of the Clutter family life and the tormented inner workings of the killers' minds. The book detailed the murders, the trial and the killers' execution. The two men — who were drifters — were eventually captured in Las Vegas. A polygraph test cleared them of the Walker murders. But in 1987, a polygraph expert said those tests in the early 1960s were worthless. In 2007, Sarasota Det. Kimberly McGath took a fresh look at the Walker murders and wanted to test the killers' DNA. Smith and Hickock killed the Clutter . family on Nov. 15, 1959, and took off to Florida in a stolen car. They . were spotted at least a dozen times from Tallahassee to Miami and points . in between. On Dec. 19, . the two men checked out of a Miami Beach motel. The Walker family was . killed that day at their home on a ranch in the small community of . Osprey about four hours northwest of Miami. Cliff . Walker was shot to death and his wife was beaten, raped and shot. Three-year-old Jimmie was shot to death and his 2-year-old sister was . shot and drowned in a bathtub. News stories at the time noted that there . were gifts around the tree. In Cold Blood: Smith and Hickock killed the Clutter family, pictured, in their own Holcomb, Kansas home in 1959 . Siblings: Nancy Clutter, 16 (left), and her 15-year-old brother Kenyon Clutter were killed with their parents in Kansas in 1959, a quadruple homicide documented in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood but never connected to the Wilson murders in Osprey, Florida . Connected? The caskets containing the bodies of the Clutter family are loaded into hearses. Many hoped their murders could be connected to the Walkers' in Florida, but those hopes have been dashed . At some point on the same day, Smith and Hickock bought items at a Sarasota department store. On Dec. 21, witnesses say they spoke with Smith and Hickock in Tallahassee. McGath said the Walkers had been considering buying a 1956 Chevy Bel Air, which was the kind of car Smith and Hickock had stolen and were driving through Florida. McGath thinks that somehow, the Walkers and the killers met because of the car. The detective found witness statements — and talked to people who are still alive — who said they saw Smith and Hickock in the Sarasota area around the time of the Walker murders. In Cold Blood mentions the Walker killings in a short passage; Capote incorrectly states that the slayings occurred near Tallahassee, Fla., about five hours north of the actual scene. He also relates a conversation between Hickock and Smith on a beach in Miami, and has Smith speculating that ‘a lunatic’ copied the Kansas killings. The book says that in reply, Hickock ‘shrugged and grinned and trotted down to the ocean's edge.’
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Christine and Cliff Walker were killed along with their two children in their Osprey, Florida home .
Perry Smith and Richard Hickock fled to Florida after killing a family of four in Kansas, as documented in Capote's In Cold Blood .
Smith and Hickock have long been connected with the Florida murder but DNA evidence has been deemed insufficient to draw any conlusions .
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New York (CNN) -- Two Turkish-American gas station workers on suburban Long Island say they were assaulted and beaten with a flagpole bearing an American flag on the night of Election Day. Five men face charges in the alleged attack, police said Thursday. The incident began when some teenagers became angry when they were asked to show identification for a tobacco purchase, said Erdaogan Yavuz, the manager of the OK Gas Station in Wantagh, New York, told CNN. "My father is a cop and he's going to kill all you guys," one of them said, according to Yavuz. The teens, yelling expletives, left only to return a short time later with two older men. All five began to assault Yavuz and his co-worker, Yuksel Cebeci, Yavuz said. Cebeci was able to get inside the station, but Yavuz said he was beaten badly. One of the older men shouted, "You aliens get ... out of my country!" "Then he grabbed the [gas station's] flag and hit me in the face with the flagpole, and that's when I grabbed the flag from him to defend myself," said Yavuz, who said he became a naturalized citizen of the United States in March. When Nassau County police arrived on site, the man attacked one of the officers, according to a spokesman for the 8th precinct in Levittown. The officer was treated at St. Joseph Hospital in Bethpage for lacerations to his right knee and a swollen hand, the spokesman said. Cebeci was treated for broken fingers, Yavuz said. All five men were charged with assault but the case will not be prosecuted as a hate crime, said Chris Munzing, the deputy director of communications for Nassau County Police. The men were arraigned on Wednesday, and November court appearances have been set, the district attorney's office said. The district attorney's office identified the men as Nicholas Lazarus, Christ Makhmaltchi, Gregory Vitale, Richard Vitale Jr. and Richard Vitale Sr. Attempts to reach the suspects and their attorneys were not immediately successful Thursday afternoon. A surveillance video from the gas station is in the hands of prosecutors, officials said.
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A request for ID for a tobacco purchase was the trigger, the station manager says .
One man shouted, "You aliens get ... out of my country," Erdaogan Yavuz says .
The pole of the station's American flag was used as a weapon, he says .
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By . Fiona Macrae . Updated: . 05:42 EST, 18 August 2011 . Scientists plan to smash a spacecraft into an asteroid so that they are prepared for having to stop one hurtling towards Earth. The news came as Nasa moved to calm fears that a comet is on a collision course with our planet. The plans for a test mission to stop an asteroid from colliding with Earth come from Nasa’s cousin, the European Space Agency. Rescue plan: The European Space Agency is planning mission Don Quijote - to blow up a huge asteroid that could potentially be hurtling towards Earth . In the Hollywood movie Armageddon, Bruce Willis attempts to blow up a huge asteroid hurtling towards Earth. In real life, the mission, called Don Quixote, will see two spacecraft launched. One will be fired at an asteroid at . break-neck speed in an attempt to push it off its course. The other will . analyse data with the aim of informing future missions in which the . future of mankind may be at stake. One potential target for the test . mission is a 1,600ft-wide asteroid called 99942 Apophis, which has a . tiny chance – around one in 250,000 – of hitting Earth in 2036. Nasa scientists yesterday took the . unusual step of officially dismissing claims sweeping the internet that . comet Elenin, discovered by an astronomer last December, is on a deadly . course. Brucey bonus: Armageddon starred Bruce Willis as the leader of a team of astronauts who destroy an asteroid that threatens to wipe out Earth . Scare stories include the comet . plunging the Earth into darkness for three days by blocking out the sun, . colliding with Earth, moving tides or continents and throwing the . planet off orbit. It is even claimed that a fleet of . UFOs are streaking towards us in the comet’s wake, and that Nasa has . conspired with media organisations to create a news blackout on the . comet to avoid mass panic sweeping the world. But the space agency said Elenin will . never come closer to Earth than 22million miles and will not compromise . our planet in any way. An official said: ‘The truth is that . Elenin has received much more attention than it deserves due to a . variety of internet postings that are untrue.’
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Plan is similar to the plot of Hollywood film Armageddon .
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By . Rick Dewsbury . PUBLISHED: . 07:42 EST, 3 May 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 10:18 EST, 3 May 2012 . The Serious Organised Crime Agency's website was temporarily shut down today after a cyber attack. It was the victim of a scam known as distributed denial of service (DDOS) whereby an internet address is flooded with bogus traffic, effectively making it unreachable. The actions can also jam other websites hosted by the same provider which is why the agency decided to go offline. A SOCA spokesman said: 'It is important to stress this is not a hacking attack. A DDOS is entirely different where a large number of computers try to access the site at the same time. Danger: Similar attacks on the Soca website have previously been linked to the 'hacktivist' group Anonymous . 'The huge flow of traffic causes the . website to potentially fall over. We took the decision to take down the . site at 10pm last night to limit the impact on other clients hosted by . the same service provider. 'It is a temporary inconvenience and . we will put the site back up once the action stops. We cannot say at the . moment when that might be.' He went on: 'It is also important to . stress there was no security risk and the website only contains . publicly available information, it does not provide access to . operational material.' DDOS attacks on the Soca website have previously been linked to the loose-knit international 'hacktivist' group Anonymous. The spokesman added that it would 'not be appropriate' to comment on who may have been responsible. Soca has recently closed 36 websites . believed to be selling stolen credit card information. Last month, Soca . was part of a joint effort with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation . to shut websites associated with selling stolen financial information. The agency said 2.5 million items of compromised data was recovered, preventing an estimated potential fraud of £500m. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks during the official launch of Serious Organised Crime Agency in 2006 . The website has been targeted in the . past by members of 'hacktivist' group LulzSec. In June 2011, they forced . the site offline using similar tactics. Graham Cluley, of anti computer virus . firm Sophos based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, described the attack as a . 'thump on the nose rather than a mortal blow.' He said: 'It is not impossible to stop . this sort of thing from happening, but quite costly, and SOCA may want . to look at what they have in place to prevent future occurrences. 'Government websites expect to be . atacked from time to time and it is just an inconvenience. Large numbers . of people visit the website for legitimate reasons and at the moment . are unable to do so. 'The attack could be linked to LulzSec or other hacking groups. It is likely to be connected to SOCA's work. 'Yesterday, a number of British and . Irish suspects were arrested in the US over a hacking inquiry so that . could also be significant.' He added: 'This is the second time in . less than a year that SOCA's website has found itself the target of . malicious attackers, having previously suffered from a DDoS attack at . the hands of the notorious LulzSec gang in June 2011. 'Some may suspect a LulzSec . sympathiser is behind the attack, as yesterday US prosectors made public . an indictment against four British and Irish men, suspected of being . involved in an internet attack on the Stratfor security analysis firm . last year.' Until yesterday, only Jeremy Hammond, a 27-year-old from Chicago, had been charged in relation to the Stratfor security breach. But now Donncha O'Cearrbhail (aka . 'palladium'), Darren Martyn (aka 'pwnsauce'), Jake Davis (aka 'topiary') and Ryan Ackroyd (aka 'kayla' or 'lolspoon') - who were all arrested by . authorities last year - have also been named. Added Mr Cluley: 'Another . consideration for who might be responsible for the DDoS is that SOCA . recently shut down 36 websites selling stolen credit card details. 'Whoever is to blame for this latest assault, it is worth remembering denial-of-service attacks are against the law.'
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Cyber assault has similarities to attacks by Anonymous and LulzSec .
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Online Christmas shopping is set to start early, with auction site eBay predicting that Sunday November 30 will be its busiest day of the year. Cyber Monday, which falls on December 1, is traditionally the busiest online shopping day, as buyers rush to make sure all their orders arrive on time. The website 'tends to see a sharp rise in sales' on this particular day each year as people start to think about their festive shopping lists early. Online auction site eBay predicting that Sunday 30th November will be its busiest day of the year . The rush for the checkout is thought to be partly as a result of warnings that delivery companies may not be able to cope with a huge increase in the number of parcels sent. The day has been dubbed Super Sunday and comes hot on the heels of Black Friday, which precedes it by two days. Falling on November 28th, Black Friday is seen as the start of the biggest High Street shopping weekend of the year. On Super Sunday, eBay estimates that 1,800 gifts will be purchased per minute from a selection of more than 800 million items available in total. Since the launch of the site's Christmas Shop, tech, lifestyle and classic toys have proved the most popular presents among shoppers so far. Xbox, iPad, Bose Sound Bar, Lego and Playmobil are among the brands set to take prime position under trees across the nation, report their analysts. The day dubbed Super Sunday comes hot on the heels of Black Friday, which precedes it by two days . Nevertheless, traditional guests remain popular with five teddy bears, 57 board games, 85 games consoles, 99 tablets, 258 mobile phones and 318 handbags already sold every hour on the site. Black Friday began in the US but has now spread to the UK and sees retailers slash prices as they attempt to kickstart a Christmas rush. It got its name because it was traditionally said to be the point at which American retailers began to turn a profit for the year, or go 'into the black'. Visa Europe reported that on Black Friday last year, Britons spent £1 million every three minutes to snap up the best deals in the shops - equal to an astonishing £6,000 per second. Cyber Monday, meanwhile, is a more recent phenomenon and takes place the Monday after Thanksgiving Day in the US. It is the internet equivalent of Black Friday, allowing shoppers to skip the hustle and bustle of the shops and purchase all their presents from the comfort of their sofa.
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Site expected to reach fever pitch between 8-9pm Sunday November 30 .
More than seven million shoppers expected on eBay.co.uk within 24 hours .
Online retailer estimates that 1,800 gifts will be purchased per minute .
Xbox, iPad, Bose Sound Bar, Lego, Playmobil among most popular items .
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(CNN) -- Ah, the first day of spring. It conjures images of butterflies flapping through azure skies and bunnies hopping through meadows of fresh tender grass. Someone forgot to send the memo to the Northeast and Upper Midwest where some folks are digging out from up to 15 inches of snow and temperatures in some areas are well below zero. Winter isn't ready to give up yet as a lingering storm was dumping more snow across most of Maine on Wednesday, after hitting the rest of the region a day earlier. A winter storm warning remains in effect until noon for central and northwest Maine, where 8 to 14 inches of snow are expected. "Definitely over winter," an exasperated David Riley of Lunenburg, Massachusetts, told CNN affiliate WHDH-TV. "I'm ready for spring." The town about 40 miles northwest of Boston received 15.5 inches of snow on Tuesday. "Pretty sick (of this)," Fran Gallagher said. "Our house is going on the market at the beginning of April and we're getting out of here ... hopefully some place warm." With all the snow this winter, the Worchester, Massachusetts, school system has already burned through five snow days built into the schedule and will have to make up two more at the end of the year. The city has received more than 100 inches of snow this season. Bitter cold . While temperatures are cold in the Northeast, in the teens in many areas, the Upper Midwest is in deep freeze. The wind chill in cities like Fargo, North Dakota, are forecast to reach 30 degrees below zero, the National Weather Service said. Even the Deep South was getting a taste of winter on the first day of spring. Freeze warnings swept in an arch from central Alabama to North Carolina, with forecasters telling farmers to harvest or protect tender vegetation.
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Up to 14 inches of snow expected in Maine .
Lunenburg, Massachusetts, received more than 15 inches on Tuesday .
Wind chills to reach 30 below in North Dakota .
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Ed Miliband's ‘complacent’ leadership is under assault from senior figures in his own party after a poll suggested the Conservatives have extended a new lead over Labour. Former deputy prime minister Lord Prescott, normally a fierce loyalist, condemned Mr Miliband for pursuing a ‘core vote strategy of getting 31 per cent of traditional Labour supporters with a few ex-Lib Dem voters’. And Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said it had been a ‘mistake’ for the Labour leader to forget to make any mention of Britain’s vast budget deficit in his final party conference speech before the election. Scroll down for video . Lord Prescott, listening to Ed Miliband's speech last week, has today slammed the party leader's strategy to win the next election . Labour nerves have been jangled by a slump in the party’s ratings following the party conferences. A poll by YouGov showed the Conservatives moving into the lead for the first time in nearly three years, by just one point. Yesterday, it published another survey suggesting the Conservatives are now up to 36 per cent, with Labour on 34 per cent. It also showed Mr Cameron has opened up a 42-point lead over Mr Miliband on leadership, up from 31 last week. He is more trusted on almost every issue, with the Labour leader ahead only on the NHS. The Labour leader may as well have told party activists to 'go back to your constituencies and prepare for Coalition' Ed Balls insisted the Labour leader's speech was '10 out of 10', but admitted it had been a mistake to not mention the deficit . Lord Prescott shocked Labour HQ by tearing into his party’s approach as ‘far too timid’. Writing in his Sunday Mirror column, the former deputy prime minister mocked Mr Miliband’s ‘six-point’ plan for ten years in Downing Street. ‘Can you remember what they were? They were just one-line objectives, not detailed policies,’ he said. Attacking the strategy of trying to limp to an election win by appealing to core Labour voters plus some disaffected Lib Dems, he added: ‘He might as well have said at the end of his conference speech: “Go back to your constituencies and prepare for coalition”.’ Mr Balls revealed that the Labour leader had told him after his disastrous conference speech that he had blundered. Mr Miliband has been ridiculed after forgetting to deliver planned remarks about the need to rein in the deficit in his address. ‘He said to me afterwards it was a mistake and it was,’ the Shadow Chancellor told Sky News’s Murnaghan programme. ‘But look, that kind of thing happens sometimes in politics.’ Labour MP John Mann said there was an ‘extraordinary level of complacency that permeates the top of the party’. ‘Ed should get out and mix with real voters to discover what they really care about,’ he added. Mr Mann claimed that many backbenchers were infuriated by the ‘35 per cent strategy’ – winning the core Labour vote plus 4 or 5 per cent of former Lib Dems. ‘They seem to think we need just one more small push and we will limp over the line to victory,’ he added. Labour officials insist that polls suggest the party still has a strong lead in key marginal seats, and Mr Miliband’s conference speech has helped push the NHS up the political agenda.
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Lord Prescott accuses Labour leader of giving up trying to win swing voters .
Claims Mr Miliband's may as well have said 'prepare for Coalition' in speech .
Praises Tory fighting spirit ahead of the next election, but says Labour 'flat'
Comes as YouGov poll puts the Tories on 36%, ahead of Labour on 34% .
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(CNN) -- I am probably neither the first nor last critic to say this, but Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist" is a flawless film. There is literally nothing wrong with it. I don't have a single nit to pick, minor flaw to point out or little bit that annoyed me. It is pure magic from the first frame to the last. It is proof that to be moving, engaging, enthralling and fun, movies have no need for sex or violence, color or even spoken dialog, for that matter. That's not to say I don't love many films with all those things, but "The Artist" has distilled cinema to something it so rarely achieves: pure joy in art. This is not art for art's sake, this is art for enjoyment's sake. It's not an "important" film that we all need to see because it's great art (although it is both important and art) it is a film that everyone should see because it's joyous. It's stunningly beautiful. It's a throwback to some of the things that brought people into the cinema in the first place. The chance to escape their lives and live someone else's for a time. The story is relatively simple and takes plot elements from "Singing in the Rain," "Citizen Kane" and "A Star is Born" as well as the best of Hollywood melodrama. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a matinee idol, a star of the (silent) silver screen. Along with his faithful Jack Russell terrier (Uggie), Valentin stars in action adventures and is revered by men and women alike. It's the age old story: Men want to be him and women want to be with him. At the premiere of his latest blockbuster, as George is mugging for the cameras and signing autographs, he runs into Peppy Miller (a luminous Bérénice Bejo), an aspiring actor. They meet cute when she is caught in the throng of autograph seekers (she is one herself) and suddenly finds herself on the other side of the policemen holding back the crowd and standing right next to her idol. Taking advantage of the situation, Peppy begins to mug, planting one on her idol's cheek, landing the pair on the cover of Variety and setting the plot in motion, a variation on the old "boy meets girl" standard. While George is reveling in his box office glory and Peppy is hoping to make the most of her instant fame, George's wife, Doris (Penelope Ann Miller), is stewing in jealousy and resentment. And while the photo in Variety is completely innocent, one gets the feeling her fears may not be completely groundless. Peppy lands a gig as an extra in George's next film and the obvious attraction between the two begins to manifest itself. Peppy is a starstruck aspiring actress just beginning her career in show business and George is a veteran movie star and ladies man at the top of his game. You also get the feeling he's been in this situation before. Things are going well for George. Despite the unrest at home, he's got a new film, he's got a new crush and all is right in his world, until the head of the studio, Al Zimmer (John Goodman), begins to embrace the talkies. While Al is convinced that the advent of sound is the future of film, George is convinced the public will stick with him, so he bets on the continued popularity of the silent film. Thus, his career begins to wane, just as Peppy's beings to wax. The end of the silent era (and his marriage) and the crash of the stock market send George into a spiral of booze and self-loathing, with only his faithful dog and chauffeur Clifton (James Cromwell) sticking by him. Bitter over the demise of his career, George even lashes out at what he sees as the symbol of that decline, Peppy. "The Artist" isn't actually a silent film per se, as it has a score and well, I won't spoil it for you, but Hazanavicius' use of sound is ingenious. However, for all intents and purposes, it is silent. For the actors, there was very little difference, as they still speak their lines, we just don't hear them, but for the audience, the change is immeasurable. Instead of watching their faces almost exclusively, we find our eyes drifting across the screen and noticing things that perhaps we might not have noticed otherwise. A subtle cue of body language, the placing of objects within the frame, how the music moves the action along, all of these and more come alive when we're not tied to watching the actors speak. Hazanavicius has a deft hand at directing and a delightful sense of whimsey. The film is peppered with sight gags in the best of classic Hollywood tradition, and both Dujardin and Bejo prove more than up for the task. A brief pantomime between Bejo and one of George's suit jackets is worth the price of admission alone -- and keep your eye on the dog! Hazanavicius and his backers took a huge risk in making the film. They funded a black and white, silent film with two unknown (in the United States) leads and a handful of supporting Hollywood talent. However, when Dujardin picked up the best actor prize at Cannes and reviews started to pour in, they knew they had a winner on their hands. A pure and open love letter to the cinema, "The Artist" contains many nods and winks to the history of this art form and clever viewers will pick up on a few cues. It is, as I have mentioned, a comedy, a melodrama and a romance, but above all, it fulfills the promise of what cinema can be at its best. It takes us on a journey up to the peaks and down in the valleys, through love, loss, heartbreak and despair and right back around again to love. "The Artist" is rated PG-13, although it's on the tame end of the scale. A bird is flipped, there are a few moments of characters in jeopardy and quite a bit of smoking, if that sort of thing bothers you.
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"The Artist" is a film everyone should see because it's joyous .
The story is relatively simple and takes plot elements from "Singing in the Rain"
The film is peppered with sight gags in the best of classic Hollywood tradition .
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Washington (CNN) -- Fueled by a close call on a runway two years ago involving a U.S. senator, general aviation pilots will soon have increased leverage when facing FAA disciplinary action under a bill awaiting President Barack Obama's signature. The legislation was spearheaded by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, whose own piloting incident led to increased scrutiny by the Federal Aviation Administration. Inhofe, an experienced pilot with more than 10,000 flying hours, faced an FAA investigation after landing his private plane on a closed runway, sending ground workers scrambling for safety. In the October 2010 incident, the investigators said the runway was clearly marked with a large "X" indicating it was closed. Additionally, a notice warning pilots the runway was closed had been issued. Such notices, called NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen), are supposed to be checked by all pilots prior to departure. Inhofe said he didn't check for FAA warnings. Supporters of the "Pilot's Bill of Rights" say the new measure passed by the House and Senate gives general aviation pilots the ability to fight charges levied against them by FAA officials. Highlights of the bill include: . -- Allowing pilots to appeal National Transportation Safety Board rulings in federal district court. Previously, pilots could only appeal FAA findings to an NTSB administrative law judge. -- Requiring the FAA to inform pilots when they're being investigated and notify them that any response by the pilot can be used as evidence against them. -- Forcing the FAA to share all evidence with the pilot before any enforcement action is enacted. -- Requiring the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the FAA's medical certification process. Pilots have argued that current FAA medical forms are easily misunderstood, resulting in those who are under investigation being accused of falsifying the documents. "This bill remedies many of the most serious deficiencies in the relationship between general aviation and the FAA, and ensures that pilots are, like everyone else, treated in a fair and equitable manner by the justice system," Inhofe said after the bill passed by voice vote in the House. Pilot advocacy groups lauded the news. "This is a landmark bill for general aviation, and protecting GA pilots' freedom to fly," said Lorraine Howerton, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association vice president of legislative affairs, said on the AOPA's website. Inhofe told the Washington Post at the time, "I called the [Federal Aviation Administration] when I landed to tell them what had happened" and to see if there was any problem ... Since there was no accident, there appeared to be no significant problem." Pilot rescued after U.S. jet crash in Japan . GAO investigators: Some student pilots in U.S. illegally . Official: 3 Americans die as private jet crashes in France .
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The legislation was spearheaded by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma .
Inhofe faced FAA scrutiny after landing his private plane on a closed runway .
The bill would all pilots to appeal NTSB rulings in federal district court .
It also would require the GAO to review the FAA's medical certification process .
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In March last year, scientists believed they had glimpsed - for the first time - the rapid expansion of the universe just after the Big Bang, a theory called cosmic inflation. But since then, the Bicep2 findings have been repeatedly called in to question, with many saying they did not show what they appeared to. And now it seems the final nail has been put in the coffin, as new data is set to reveal that the initial finding was due to the effects of dust in our galaxy - and not cosmic inflation. Gravitational waves from cosmic inflation generate a faint but distinctive twisting pattern in the universe. Shown here is the pattern observed with the Bicep2 telescope, providing what was thought at the time to be evidence for cosmic inflation after the Big Bang. The results have now been called into question . The latest revelations, made using data from Esa’s Planck satellite, are set to be unveiled in a paper early next week. However, according to the BBC, a summary of the paper was briefly posted on the French Planck High Frequency Instrument (HFI) website, before being pulled. ‘Once the "galactic emission" [dust] is correctly subtracted, there still remains an excess [signal] but it is at present too weak to be considered a detection and could be the result of [experimental error],’ the summary has been quoted as saying. A telescope at the south pole, called Bicep2 (Background Imaging of cosmic Extragalactic Polarisation) was used to search for evidence of gravitational waves. The instrument examines what is called the cosmic microwave background, the extremely weak radiation that pervades the universe. The background radiation is not precisely uniform. Like light, the relic radiation is polarised as the result of interacting with electrons and atoms in space. Computer models predicted a curl pattern in the radiation that would match what would be expected with the universe's inflation. It did this by detecting a subtle property of the cosmic microwave background radiation. This is radiation that was created in the Big Bang and originally discovered in 1964. Bicep2 measured the large-scale polarisation of this microwave radiation. Only primordial gravitational waves can imprint such a pattern, and only if they have been amplified by inflation. The latest findings are not entirely a surprise - but will still be a disappointment for anyone holding out hope that Bicep2 was correct. The initial results were made using an extremely sensitive detector on an Antarctic telescope. The team thought they had found a polarisation of light that would have proved the theory of cosmic inflation. To make sure the signal they were detecting was correct, the team subtracted the lensing effect of massive galaxies. But at the time, some scientists said the team had not correctly accounted for interstellar dust in our galaxy. And now, using data from the Planck satellite, which characterised dust in the galaxy, it seems this fear has been confirmed. For their initial research, the Bicep2 astronomers scanned about two per cent of the sky for three years with a telescope at the South Pole, chosen for its very dry air, to aid in the observations. Their research centered on a theory by Albert Einstein when something very explosive happens it leaves ripples in space-time known as 'gravitational waves'. The very first gravitational waves can tell us about the birth of the universe and scientists have discovered they leave imprints in cosmic microwave background radiation - the afterglow of the Big Bang - as they pass through space. The latest findings are not entirely a surprise - but will still be a disappointment for anyone holding out hope that Bicep2 was correct. For their research, astronomers scanned about two per cent of the sky for three years with a telescope at the South Pole, shown, chosen for its very dry air, to aid in the observations . The incredible find was soon dismissed by other research groups who thought the Harvard Bicep team in may have underestimated the effects of dust in the galaxy. Now, that explanation has been given more credit following a recent study by Esa's Planck satellite (shown) The theory suggests that this initial spurt would have taken the infant universe from something infinitely small to something close to the size of a marble. Earlier this year experts believed they had seen these gravitational waves and hailed the experiment as a massive step forward - but admitted the theory needed more work. 'It's just unbelievable quite honestly,' Professor Peter Ade, who helped build the instrument that detected the waves, told MailOnline at the time. 'This is confirming what is, to me, a wacky idea.' These observations have eluded scientists for decades because it’s difficult to separate the characteristic swirl of light created by gravitational waves, and the dust generated today by the Milky Way. The Bicep team hoped to overcome this by looking at cleanest part of the sky, over Antarctica. But they didn't use dust data compiled by Europe's Planck satellite, which had mapped the sky at many more frequencies than other satellites.
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European scientists are to reveal the Bicep2 results were wrong .
In March 2014 scientists said Bicep2 had proved cosmic inflation .
This is the theory that the universe rapidly expanded after the Big Bang .
But analysis by the Planck satellite suggests this finding was just interstellar dust in our galaxy .
The latest findings were to be published next week but leaked today .
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(CNN) -- So, Gary Oldman, tell us what you really think. In a raw interview with Playboy, the actor, 56, railed against Hollywood "dishonesty" and double standards, said that Mel Gibson and Alec Baldwin have been victims of hypocrisy and asserted that not voting for "12 Years a Slave" to win an Oscar meant "you were a racist." Oh, and he doesn't like the Golden Globes, helicopter parents or reality TV, either. Indeed, the "Dark Knight" actor, who's starring in the forthcoming "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," pulled no punches when talking about pretty much anything. The conversation will appear in the magazine's July/August issue. The Gibson and Baldwin affairs really angered him, he said, because he believes their accusers don't exactly have clean hands themselves. "I don't know about Mel. He got drunk and said a few things, but we've all said those things. We're all f***ing hypocrites," Oldman said. "The policeman who arrested him has never used the word 'n*****' or 'that f***ing Jew'? I'm being brutally honest here. It's the hypocrisy of it that drives me crazy. "Mel Gibson is in a town that's run by Jews and he said the wrong thing because he's actually bitten the hand that I guess has fed him -- and doesn't need to feed him anymore because he's got enough dough," Oldman continued. "But some Jewish guy in his office somewhere hasn't turned and said, 'That f***ing kraut' or 'F*** those Germans,' whatever it is? We all hide and try to be so politically correct. That's what gets me. It's just the sheer hypocrisy of everyone." Other Oldman tidbits: . On reality TV: "The museum of social decay." On helicopter parents: "There's never any unsupervised play to develop skills or learn about hierarchy in a group or how to share. The kids honestly believe they are the center of the f***ing universe. But then they get out into the real world and it's like, 'S**t, maybe it's not all about me,' and that leads to narcissism, depression and anxiety." On political correctness at the Oscars: "At the Oscars, if you didn't vote for '12 Years a Slave' you were a racist. " On the Golden Globes: "A meaningless event. ... It's 90 nobodies having a wank." If Oldman is hard on Hollywood and its people, he's equally critical of himself. Asked about "Sid & Nancy," his breakthrough film, he said, "I don't like myself in the movie." Ditto with "The Fifth Element" and "The Dark Knight." "It was work," he said. (He did have kind things to say about the film "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Francis Ford Coppola and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" director Alfonso Cuaron.) As the interview continued, Oldman -- who described his politics as "libertarian" -- recognized that he may have been a little too blunt. "So this interview has gone very badly. You have to edit and cut half of what I've said, because it's going to make me sound like a bigot," he said at one point . "You're not a bigot?" replied interviewer David Hochman. "No, but I'm defending all the wrong people," Oldman said. "I'm saying Mel's all right. Alec's a good guy. So how do I come across? Angry?" "Passionate, certainly," Hochman said. "Readers will have to form their own opinions." "It's dishonesty that frustrates me most," Oldman said. "I can't bear double standards. It gets under my skin more than anything."
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Gary Oldman sounds off in Playboy interview .
Oldman says hypocrisy drives him crazy .
Hypocrisy and political correctness hurt Mel Gibson, Alec Baldwin, he said .
Oldman has little patience for Hollywood niceties .
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New York City will come to a standstill tomorrow as Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office said it will shut down the entire train and bus system at noon Saturday as Hurricane Irene moves up the east coast. The shutdown will include the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and Access-A-Ride. The last complete system shutdown in New York City was during a 2005 transit union strike. SHUTDOWN: The MTA will shut down the city's subway and bus system at noon Saturday as Hurricane Irene moves up the east coast . In a press conference Friday, Bloomberg warned that service may not be restored in time for the Monday morning commute. He said: 'There is no question that we're going to get hit with some wind and high water that is going to be dangerous.' MTA chairman Jay Walder added : 'I cannot stress enough: please do not wait for the last train, and if you don’t need to travel, please don't.' New Jersey and Philadelphia transit systems followed suit Friday, announcing system shut-offs as well. Like New York, New Jersey Transit and it's PATH service between New York and New Jersey will end at noon Saturday. Bus service will be suspended at 5 pm. New Jersey Governor Christ Christie said: 'ACES and Meadowlands service has already been suspended beginning at noon tomorrow. All rail service will be suspended.' In Philadelphia, Mayor Michael Nutter said mass transit in the city of brotherly love and its suburbs will halt at 12:30 a.m. Sunday. All aboard: Hurricane Irene is expected to cause headaches for commuters shown lining up today as the storm barrels toward the Northeast . Commute woes: Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned that subway and bus service may not be restored in time for the Monday morning rush hour . You're grounded: Flights across the East Coast will be cancelled causing grid lock for thousands of travellers. This picture, taken on Tueday, shows a NOAA P-3 Orion turboprop, which photographs hurricanes from above, on the tarmac in Tampa, Florida . As Irene swirls in the Atlantic, . Americans have been warned to start preparing for travel chaos up and down the East Coast as airlines . began to cancel flights and get planes out of the way in preparation for . the storm's entrance onto the U.S. mainland. New York officials said most major bridges, including the George Washington and Verrazano, will be closed to all traffic if wind speeds exceed 60 mph. The storm has forced hundreds of flights to be cancelled over this weekend and while those in coastal areas will be immediately affected, delays could ripple across the country. Adding to the transit woes were the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights, as Southwest and American Airlines joined JetBlue in grounding planes. Most of the flights were cancelled from Saturday through Monday, mostly at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and in Boston, Bloomberg reported. American Airlines and its American Eagle affiliate, with an extensive network in the Caribbean, cancelled 126 flights on Thursday. Most were in the Bahamas and south Florida, including Miami, a jumping-off spot for flights to the Caribbean and Latin America. Delta Air Lines reported four cancellations yesterday, and United just one. Airlines have already begun allowing travellers . to change flights without paying the usual financial penalties. Even before Irene's arrival, unrelated thunderstorms were causing delays of up to two hours today at major airports in the New York and Washington areas, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Highway from hell: A sign declaring a mandatory evacuation in anticipation of Hurricane Irene warns motorists in Nags Head, North Carolina on Thursday . Hardy soul: Cory Ritz braces himself as a wave bursts onto a pier at the Boynton Beach inlet in Florida on Thursday . The service's CEO, Daniel Baker, predicted that Irene-related cancellations would pick up this afternoon and become significant on Saturday. Irene presents serious challenge. Because major travel hubs such as Washington and New York are in its potential path, flights that are cancelled or delayed there tend to ripple across the country. 'Most everyone expects New York to get hit, so you're obviously not going to leave a lot of planes on the ground in New York, waiting for a problem,' said Tim Smith, a spokesman for American Airlines. He said all the airline's flights on Thursday in the Bahamian capital of Nassau were cancelled and there were delays in Miami due to heavy rain. He said the airline would track forecasts before making decisions about cancellations for today. New York grid lock: Rain and dark clouds passed over the Empire State Building. Trains, buses and the subway could all be cancelled this weekend if Irene is too strong . Spanish tourist Noelia Chacon is travelling the East Coast with her husband and son. The family's vacation has been badly affected by the weather. They were evacuated from the Smithsonian in Washington after Tuesday's earthquake and now might limit their New York sightseeing due to Irene. 'We've had an earthquake and a hurricane so far. We'll see what's next,' Ms Chacon said, as rain fogged the windows of the hotel lobby. 'This is a trip we will not soon forget.'
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MTA to shut down all New York City trains and buses at noon tomorrow .
New Jersey and Philadelphia also schedule service halts for its rail and bus service for Saturday .
Southwest, JetBlue and American Airlines ground more than 1,000 flights from Saturday through Monday .
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'Attack': Michael Callaghan allegedly sexually assaulted a 20-year-old woman on Sunday . A 911 dispatcher told a distraught woman to 'quit crying' after she called to report that she had been raped. The startling lack of sympathy emerged when WSYX asked the Columbus Police Department for a recording of the call that had been placed around 4am on Sunday. The woman can be heard sobbing as she told the female dispatcher that she had awoken in her friend's dorm to a man telling her to carry out a sex act on him - and threatening to shoot her if she did not comply. Afterwards the man allegedly stole cash and an iPhone from the building, which is an off-campus house for sorority girls at Ohio State University. The distraught 20-year-old woman ran from the house and called 911. On the recording, she tells the dispatcher that the man broke into the house full of girls and woke her up with a gun to her head, before assaulting her and stealing the items. When the dispatcher asked her for her address, she said she was from out of town and didn't know exactly where it was. She asked the dispatcher if she was able to trace her phone. 'No. We can't,' the dispatcher says impatiently. 'That's why I need to know where you are.' Scroll down for video . Scene: The woman was staying with a friend off campus near Ohio State University (pictured) when she was awoken by a man holding a gun to her head. When she called 911 she was met with 'zero sympathy' The victim said that her attacker was a small white male with a white shirt - and begged the dispatcher to arrest him immediately. 'Ma'am, you’re going to have to quit crying so I can get the information from you,' the dispatcher responded. And when the woman said she was not sure exactly how the rapist got into the house, the tetchy dispatcher said: 'Well, they're not going to be able to find him with the information that you've given.' By that point, the victim had had enough. 'Don't you understand how horrified I am?' she said through tears. 'I am a 20-year-old from Upper Arlington. I don't know what you deal with every day, but the kind of sympathy you have is zero.' No apologies: Dispatcher chief Lieutenant Marc Dopp said the dispatcher would not be reprimanded because the suspect was caught. He conceded that the call could've been handled better . Police went on to arrest and charge Michael Callaghan, 30, with rape and burglary in relation to the attack. Victim to dispatcher . A 911 supervisor told WSYX that the dispatcher could have handled the call better and that it will be reviewed - but that she will not be reprimanded because the suspected was caught and charged. 'We want [dispatchers] to be empathetic . but at the end of the day we have to get [the victims] help,' CPD's 911 . dipatcher chief Lt. Marc Doff told WSYX. She will not be receiving a written warning and the incident will not go on her record. The Columbus police did not return MailOnline's request for a comment. See below for video . ABC US News | ABC Celebrity News .
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Victim 'awoke in Ohio State University off-campus house with a gun to her head and Michael Callaghan forcing her to commit a sex act'
Afterwards the distraught woman called 911 and spoke with an abrasive dispatcher, a recording of the call shows .
The woman - who was visiting from out of town - did not know her exact location and was too upset to give specific details about the suspect .
Dispatcher becomes impatient and says they will not be able to find him .
Despite the dispatcher's rude responses, she will not be reprimanded because the suspect was caught and charged, her manager said .
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By . Sam Webb . PUBLISHED: . 09:14 EST, 14 October 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 15:32 EST, 11 November 2012 . Under pressure: BBC Director General George Entwistle admitted he knew nothing about the corporation broadcasting child sex abuse allegations before they went out . BBC insiders have called the Director General's claim that he didn't ask about the content of the canned Jimmy Savile Newsnight documentary 'barely credible' and 'ridiculous'. At a press conference on Friday, George Entwistle, who expressed his 'revulsion' at the thought of Savile's abuse at the BBC, claimed he never asked questions about the nature of the Newsnight investigation dropped last year, saying he wanted to ensure the independence of news and current affairs. At the time Mr Entwistle was Director of the Vision division, which is responsible for commissioning, producing, scheduling and broadcasting the content of all of the BBC's television channels. The Independent reported that media commentator Steve Hewlett, who presents Radio 4's The Media Show, yesterday called the claim 'simply implausible', adding: 'The idea that he didn't know is barely credible.' David Elstein, the former chief executive of Channel 5, added his voice to the condemnation, saying Entwhistle would have to be 'pretty brain dead' not to investigate the programme's subject matter. Mr Entwistle, who also apologised to victims on behalf of the BBC, told reporters that Helen Boaden (head of news) had told him that Newsnight was planning a programme about Savile. He said that he said 'thanks for letting me know', but asked no questions about it. A senior BBC newsroom source told the Independent: 'It defies credibility that he didn't try to find this out. 'The idea that, as head of vision, in charge of the Christmas schedule, he just said 'thanks for letting me know' is ridiculous. 'The best thing you can say is he looks completely incurious to the point of being irresponsible. He looks hopeless.' Tension: A source says BBC director general's comments have split the Newsnight newsroom . The source added that Newsnight journalists are 'extremely tense' and feel like they were left 'looking stupid' by Mr Entwhistle's comments. 'You have a huge national story that was not mentioned on Newsnight until 10 or 11 days after it blew up. (The newsroom) is getting uncomfortable. It is very tense. It is a ludicrous situation,' they added. The source also spoke about the claim of Peter Rippon, the editor who dropped the Savile investigation, that the story was not good enough to air. They added: 'He did everything he could to make it impossible for the story to run... In most newsrooms if you are not quite there (with a story) you would just keep going.' The paper added that it understands the Newsnight team had spoken to at least 10 women, including witnesses and victims. A BBC spokesperson said: 'George Entwistle has made his position exceptionally clear. As said at the press briefing on Friday, 'I was the Director of Vision for the television department at the BBC, I had no influence or authority over investigations carried out by BBC News and it's very important that I always behaved in a manner which absolutely bore out that lack of authority or responsibility'.' Sorry: Entwistle also apologised to victims on behalf of the BBC and says he feels 'revulsion' that the attacks may have taken place at the BBC . Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons.
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George Entwistle says he didn't ask about content of Newsnight investigation into Savile's sex abuse .
But BBC insider calls claim 'ridiculous'
Newsnight staff split over handling of the broadcast .
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By . Mail On Sunday Reporter . Labour’s outspoken adviser Bill Grimsey, the former Wickes DIY chain boss and author of the controversial report on run-down town centres, is involved in a long-running feud with David Cameron’s rival ‘shopping tsar’ Mary Portas. TV star Ms Portas carried out her own review of struggling towns, which led to the Portas pilot scheme, under which 12 towns shared £1.2million of taxpayers’ money. A £10million high street innovation fund was also set up. Labour’s outspoken adviser Bill Grimsey, is involved in a long-running feud with David Cameron’s rival ‘shopping tsar’ Mary Portas . However, former Iceland and Wickes chief executive Mr Grimsey accused Ms Portas of using her Government role to promote her Mary Queen of Shops TV programme. He dismissed her plans as ‘nostalgic, little more than a PR stunt’ and said she ‘promised the Earth and delivered little’. He added witheringly: ‘If you ask a window dresser to write a report, what you will get is window dressing.’ She hit back, accusing him of ‘talking complete rubbish’ and claiming he had tried to line his own pockets by writing a book, Sold Out, about the issue. ‘I must have done something to Bill Grimsey in a former life,’ said retail guru Ms Portas. ‘He says the high street is dead. That does not sound like someone who really cares about the high street to me.’ Brandon Lewis, the Conservative Minister responsible for town centres, said Ms Portas had done a ‘phenomenal job’.
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Bill Grimsey, former Wickes and Iceland boss, has criticised Mary Portas .
Labour adviser called her £1.2million high street scheme a 'PR stunt'
Ms Portas, who had a BBC series, rubbished Mr Grimsey's claims .
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(CNN) -- Alberto Contador will take a 39-second lead into the final stage of the Tour de France after fighting off a determined challenge from Andy Schleck in Saturday's deciding time trial stage. Spain's Contador had an eight-second advantage going into the 52km solo test from Bordeaux to Pauillac and came under pressure from his Luxembourg rival at the early time checks. For some fleeting moments it seemed possible that Schleck could reclaim the yellow jersey, but as he tired, Contador, considered a far superior time triallist, increased his advantage. And at the finish, a relieved and tearful Contador had extended his lead by 31 seconds. "It was a very hard day. I've worked so hard for so many years but today it really came right down to the wire. That's why I'm so emotional," Contador told the official race website. "In fact, I think it's the first Tour I've won where I've been so emotional. "I want to thank all the people who have been there for me these last years." Both the top two were well adrift of the best time of Schleck's Saxo Bank teammate Fabian Cancellara. He powered around the course in one hour and 56 seconds to win the 19th stage by 17 seconds from Tony Martin whose HTC-Columbia teammate Bert Grabsch finished third. Russia's Denis Menchov will claim the final podium position in Paris after leapfrogging Olympic road race champion Samuel Sanchez of Spain for third overall with the best time trial performance of the leading contenders, who had to battle a rising wind over largely flat terrain. Assuming no accidents on the 20th and final stage into the French capital on Sunday, it will be the third Tour de France triumph for Astana's Contador after his 2007 and 2009 triumphs. He courted controversy by taking the overall race lead in the Pyrenees on Monday after Schleck dropped his chain near the summit of a climb. Contador flouted recent convention by not waiting for him to fix the problem and was later jeered by fans as he donned the yellow jersey. Contador had gained 39 seconds on Schleck, ironically the margin that will likely separate them at the finish in one of the closest fought Tours in recent years. Their head-to-head duel on the Col du Tourmalet in Thursday's final mountain stage will long be remembered, with Contador making a sporting concession to allow Schleck to claim the victory while maintaining his slender but decisive advantage. Schleck said he is determined to return next year to win the Tour de France. "I've always said I've progressed (in the time trial) but to beat Alberto is not easy. I gave it my all, and I just couldn't beat him," he said. "I've won two stages here, so for that I'm happy. I will come back next year to win. He is not unbeatable."
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Alberto Contador has 39-second lead going into 20th and final stage of Tour de France .
Contador extends his advantage over Andy Schleck in 52km time trial near Bordeaux .
Denis Menchov of Russia moves into third place overall ahead of Samuel Sanchez .
Schleck's Saxo Bank teammate Fabian Cancellara wins stage in fine style .
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San Francisco (CNN) -- As a juvenile corrections officer in Southern California, Teresa Goines found it rewarding to work with troubled youth and help them turn their lives around. The hardest part usually came after their release. "They'd be super excited, ready to start a new life," she said. "They'd be put in the exact same environment, though, so they'd reoffend, and they'd come back." Sometimes, Goines said, they would call and say they wanted to come back. "That would break my heart," she said. "I'd be all tough during the day and drive home at night and cry." Goines felt that by sending these young men home without enough support to keep them on the right track, the system was essentially setting them up to fail. Finding a well-paying job can be a tough proposition when you have a criminal record, Goines said. She wanted to provide an alternative to gangs, knowing that such groups often give troubled youth a way to make money while providing a sense of family and social support. Eventually, she came up with the idea for the Old Skool Cafe, a 1940s-style restaurant run entirely by young people from difficult circumstances. The bistro is in one of San Francisco's roughest neighborhoods, but inside, the atmosphere is warm and inviting. Customers come from all over the city to enjoy the food and entertainment and to support Goines' mission, which provides jobs, career training and a built-in support system to at least 25 at-risk people each year. Goines estimates that 75% of those who've worked at the restaurant have been incarcerated or in trouble with the law. Jonathan Zavala was first incarcerated at 14, and he floated in and out of California's juvenile justice system for years. With his criminal record, he didn't see many options for himself. "I thought, 'No one is going to hire me; what else can I do?' " said Zavala, now 19. A year ago, his probation officer told him about the restaurant. Now, three nights a week, Zavala works as a server and has become a valued member of the Old Skool team. Young people like Zavala fill all of the positions in the restaurant. With the help of a couple of adult mentors, they stock the kitchen, prepare the food, serve the meals and manage the staff. They also play a large part in creating their menu of "international soul food," which now contains several of their family recipes. Goines, a Christian, also offers to share her religious faith with any program participant who is interested, but she says that her program is completely inclusive and welcomes everyone, regardless of their beliefs. The restaurant's theme is inspired by Harlem in the late 1920s through the '40s, and the staff is decked out in red-and-black uniforms from the time period. Goines loves the music and spirit of that era and knew it would be a cool, unique vibe that would help attract customers, but she also had another motive. "From the Harlem Renaissance to ... jazz and swing, so much of that was started by African-Americans," she said. "So many of our youth are of minority descent, I feel like that connection to that era is really important." Zavala says he likes his uniform and red fedora. "People, when they come in, they say, 'You look good!' " he said. "They're not used to seeing kids who've been in trouble look like that. They see us in a different way." Giving young people a chance to be seen differently -- and to see themselves differently -- is what the program is all about. It's open to at-risk youth ages 16 to 22, many of whom are referred by social workers or probation officers. The applicants must submit letters of recommendation and a personal essay and go through two rounds of interviews with the program's youth leaders. Once accepted, they begin a four-month training course. During weekly sessions, employees teach the trainees the basics of every position in the restaurant. Then the new recruits test their skills by shadowing veteran staffers during their shift. "Some days, you'll be the house manager. Other days, you'll bus tables or be the head chef," Goines said. Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2013 CNN Heroes . Trainees, like Old Skool staff members, attend workshops on financial literacy, résumé writing and interview skills. They also meet regularly with a life coach who helps them set goals and connects them with resources for housing or medical care. Participants who haven't graduated from high school must be pursuing a diploma or working on a GED. The program is very strict: More than one unexcused absence from work is enough to be dismissed. Trainees receive periodic stipends, and if they complete the training, they can apply for a job. Employees earn minimum wage -- $10.55 an hour in San Francisco -- and tips are shared by the entire staff. They are also encouraged to take on more responsibility and help supervise the newer members. Ultimately, the youth leaders decide whom to hire and fire. "The whole structure of this organization is meant for the youth to keep rising up in leadership and management," Goines said. "I'm a big believer in ownership. ... The more decision-making opportunities they have, the more life-changing it is." Tammy Vaitai, 22, was withdrawn and quiet as a result of the domestic violence she witnessed while she was growing up. She has been involved with Goines' program for five years, and today she's the youth manager of the restaurant, handling the scheduling, training and service in the "front of the house." She also performs spoken-word poetry at the restaurant and recently started singing with the band. "Now, I own my own car, I have a full-time job, and I'm currently applying to be a homeowner," she said. "I'm so stoked about my future." She credits Goines with helping make it all possible. "(Goines) pushes you past your comfort zone and past whatever limits you give yourself, " she said. "She's great at encouraging us to just dream big. She obviously did it herself. This (restaurant) was a big dream when it started off ... and she made it happen. " For Zavala, the program has been the break he needed to stay on the right path. "I've been staying out of trouble," he said. "Now, I have a support system. ... I feel like we're all like family trying to help each other." He's hoping that Old Skool's scholarship fund will help him attend technical school, where he wants to create and patent his own inventions. Stories like this are what motivate Goines. She wants to establish other Old Skool Cafes across the country, and she hopes that some of the young people she's working with now will help her. "I think there's something about a light going on when you realize your potential," she said. "The core of it is giving them hope. ... Once that light goes on, whatever they do, they're on their way to fly." Want to get involved? Check out the Old Skool Cafe website at www.oldskoolcafe.org and see how to help.
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The Old Skool Cafe in San Francisco is helping troubled youth realize their potential .
They run the 1940s-style restaurant while getting valuable career training and support .
Founder Teresa Goines was a juvenile corrections officer in Southern California .
Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2013 CNN Heroes .
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PUBLISHED: . 09:21 EST, 18 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 02:02 EST, 19 August 2013 . The Duke of Cambridge famously revealed he was a fan of Mary Berry when he met the TV cook during a charity visit in March and now the Great British Bake Off star has described the meeting as one of the best moments of her career so far. Speaking in an interview with the Sunday People's Take It Easy magazine, Berry described the meeting, which took place at the Buckinghamshire offices of Child Bereavement UK, as a 'surreal' moment. 'Prince William said Kate used my recipes,' the excited cook added. 'They were big fans at a charity auction.' Asking for advice? Mary Berry meets the Duchess of Cambridge during a charity event in Buckinghamshire . Proud: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are fans of Great British Bake Off star Mary Berry . Berry has become a household name since Great British Bake Off first aired in 2010, and has made headlines for her dress sense - and for a number of outspoken attacks. Last week, she inspired countless column inches when she lambasted Gordon Ramsey for swearing on TV and declared she 'hates Gordon Ramsey's programmes'. She also criticised other reality TV shows saying: ‘I won’t do Strictly or any of those ghastly reality programmes. I’m A Celebrity would be the end. It makes me shudder.’ Others to feel Berry's ire include feminists, of whom Berry said: ‘Feminism is a dirty word. You’ve got to persuade them [men] gently to do things and, of course, when they come back they say, “Oh, wasn’t that fun?”’ Lucky Prince George! His mother, the Duchess of Cambridge, is said to use Mary Berry's moreish cake recipes . National treasure: Despite her outbursts, 78-year-old Berry holds a special place in the nation's heart . Currently gearing up for the fourth series of Great British Bake Off, which begins on Tuesday on BBC2, 78-year-old Berry also revealed how she stays in TV-ready shape - despite being called on to sample scores of cakes and biscuits for the show. 'I do drink hot water,' she told Take It Easy. 'But I also eat smaller portions. People offer you quiche that is low fat but it tastes disgusting. 'I would rather have the real thing or a beautiful cake made with all the right ingredients - chocolate, butter and sugar - but a smaller slice.'
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Berry met the royal couple during a charity event in March .
The Duchess of Cambridge is said to use Berry's recipes .
The new series of Great British Bake Off starts next week .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 13:52 EST, 8 April 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:58 EST, 9 April 2013 . A pet owner found her beloved cat had been branded with the message 'please neut this cat' in red felt-tip pen. Mother-of-three Sharon Munns, from Bedford, spoke of her horror at finding 11-year-old Becks with his back shaved and the words written on. The RSPCA has condemned the incident describing it as a 'senseless attack'. Branded: Sharon Munn, from Bedford, with her cat, Becks, who has been shaved and written on . The 42-year-old believes it may have been a case of mistaken identity as there's another cat in the neighbourhood who looks very similar to Becks. She told Bedfordshire on Sunday: 'We had Becks neutered about eight years ago so it must be either somebody new to the area who isn't aware of that or they've got him mixed up with another cat.' The council employee's 21-year-old daughter Amy found Becks on Thursday evening and woke her mother to tell her what had happened. Mrs Munns added: 'I wanted to go out and knock on everybody's door to find out who had done it. I couldn't believe it and don't know who could have done such a thing. Sharon Munn believes it may have been a case of mistaken identity as there's another cat in the neighbourhood who looks very similar to Becks . Mrs Munns said: 'I wanted to go out and knock on everybody's door to find out who had done it. I couldn't believe it and don't know who could have done such a thing.' 'We think he's OK but there was a white mark on his back where they've clearly shaved deeper.' She immediately reported it to the police and the RSPCA. An RSPCA spokeswoman said: 'This must have been a very frightening experience for the cat and we understand the owners' distress at this senseless attack on their pet. 'If anyone has any information on who did this can they please call our inspector information line on 0300 123 8018 where they can speak to someone in confidence.' Bedfordshire Police confirmed they received an initial report of the incident and said an appointment had been made to visit Mrs Munns to establish whether it would be deemed criminal damage.
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Mother-of-three Sharon Munns, from Bedford, found 11-year-old .
RSPCA condemns incident describing it as a 'senseless attack'
She believes it may have been a case of mistaken identity .
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(CNN) -- Buggy websites, long hold times and other glitches have marred the first two days of the long-awaited rollout of open enrollment for Obamacare health-care coverage. Blame the gawkers, at least in part, health-care experts said Wednesday. "I think a lot of people trying to get on were just curious, like me," said Drexel University health policy expert Robert Field. "Once that initial curiosity dies down and it's just people who need policies, you'll see much less traffic." In the 24 hours after its launch, more than 4.7 million people have visited the federal website providing signups in 34 states, Health and Human Services Department spokeswoman Joanne Peters said Tuesday. Government officials haven't said how many have actually signed up. "We expect to see similar volume as yesterday, and while this overwhelming interest is continuing to cause wait times, there will be continuing improvements in the coming hours and days," Peters said. States running their own exchanges reported high traffic volumes as well, suggesting that the problems were related to the intense traffic: Too many people had bellied up to the virtual service counter, and the hardware dedicated to sending webpages to users' computers couldn't make out the questions for all the shouting. The effect is similar to, if less nefarious than, a common attack used by hackers to bring down websites: sending so much traffic its way that servers slow or even shut down. 'Too many people' Such problems do not mean, as some Republican critics of the health plan have said, that Obamacare is already a failure, said Michael Doonan, an assistant professor at Brandeis University and a former program specialist with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services who also served on President Bill Clinton's health-care task force. "It's a technical problem, too many people coming in," he said. The exchanges are complex technological systems that require a lot of interplay between agencies, and there's only so much engineers can do to test a system before opening it to the public, he said. "You really need to test them in real time and then backfill with some of the things you really need to get them to work," Doonan said. Peters said the department is "working to speed up the process" and expects enrollment times to drop "in the coming hours." Obstructionism? There's no evidence, Field said, that political opposition to the plan has had any negative effect on enrollment. The federal government is operating the exchange in 34 states, many of which refused to participate because of political opposition to the plan. In Georgia, for instance, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens as saying at a private political gathering in July that state leaders were doing "everything in our power to be an obstructionist." According to Georgia Health News, the state is one of 15 that passed laws to regulating the work of patient advisers, or navigators, called for in the health-care law. But Field said such efforts, which could hinder efforts to reach people who may not be aware of the program or don't have access to a computer, wouldn't have played any role in the glitches seen by enrollment websites the past two days. And Bill Rencher, who just passed the test to become a navigator in Georgia on Wednesday, said such efforts aren't having any effect on getting word out about the program. He predicted no problems signing up for anyone who wants coverage before the December 15 deadline to get coverage on January 1. Consumers have until March 15 to sign up for coverage beginning in April. Just wait . Federal and many state officials in charge of the plans have suggested that consumers wait until the initial rush dies down before trying to shop for coverage. Meanwhile, Republicans -- locked with congressional Democrats and the president over efforts to eliminate the health reform program -- seized on the glitches as evidence that it has already failed. "We have been warned time and time again that Obamacare is not ready for prime time. Well, it turns out that is right," Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kansas, said Tuesday. But Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said Wednesday that it's only natural to expect "some bumps in the road, glitches maybe, some problems with the website." President Barack Obama said as much Tuesday, noting that technology giant Apple had suffered glitches with its new smartphone operating system. "I don't remember anybody suggesting Apple should stop selling iPhones or iPads," he said.
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Problems accessing Obamacare insurance exchange sites stem from big demand, experts say .
There's no evidence political opposition to the plan has played any role, they say .
Advocates suggest waiting to apply for insurance .
Republicans say glitches prove health reform isn't ready .
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By . Martin Robinson . PUBLISHED: . 05:29 EST, 9 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:53 EST, 9 October 2013 . Six men arrested on suspicion of being involved in a plot to murder soldier Lee Rigby have been told they face no further action. The suspects were all held by Scotland Yard in the days following the Fusilier's brutal killing in Woolwich last May. One of those, Hayden Allen, was arrested on May 25 - three days after Drummer Rigby . was knocked down in the road and hacked to death. Attacked: Drummer Lee Rigby, 25, from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was killed as he walked in Woolwich, on May 22 . The 21-year-old was held on conspiracy to commit murder but denied any involvement in the 'atrocity'. Yesterday Mr Allen's lawyers said that they had been . notified that the police will not be taking his case further. In a . statement, TV Edwards Solicitors said: 'Following his interview and release on bail by . the police, he asked that they be allowed time fully to investigate the . case. 'We have today been notified that the police will not be taking . his case further, vindicating him from any involvement in what took . place. 'Mr Allen would like to this to be known as widely as his . arrest was publicised. He offers his full condolences to the family and . friends of Mr Rigby.' Today Scotland Yard confirmed that a total of six men arrested in connection with the 25-year-old's death on May 22 will face no further action. They include a 29-year-old man arrested on May 23, and three men aged 24, 28 and 21 - including Mr Allen - arrested on May 25. Shocking day: Drummer Rigby was hacked to death as he walked back to his barracks in a murder that disturbed the world . Distraught: Widow Rebecca Rigby, centre, holds son Jack, two, during the funeral of the Fusilier Lee Rigby at Bury Parish Church, Bury, Lancashire . A 22-year-old arrested on May 26 and a 50-year-old detained the following day, May 27, have also been told this week that they face no further action, police said. All had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder. Previously two women aged 29 and 31, both arrested on May 23 on conspiracy to commit murder, were later released without charge. And two men aged 42 and 46, arrested on suspicion of being involved in the supply of illegal firearms, have also already been told they will not face prosecution, police said. Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, both deny murder and are due to stand trial at the Old Bailey on November 18. Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons.
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Scotland Yard made series of arrests following Woolwich attack in May .
Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale to stand trial at the Old Bailey .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 16:43 EST, 14 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 16:45 EST, 14 December 2013 . The latest documents from the National Security Agency leaked by Edward Snowden show that government spies are capable of listening in on mobile phone calls that use a common form of encryption. The Washginton Post on published confidential government documents provided by Snowden that show that the NSA can 'process' cellular phone calls on GSM networks, even if they are encrypted. Observers have long known that military and law enforcement officials are capable of hacking into a suspect’s mobile phone. GSM, which stands for Global System for Mobile communications, is the world's most widely used cellphone technology — though several large networks, notably Verizon and Sprint, rely on an older network technology called CDMA. The cellphone encryption technology used most widely across the world can be easily defeated by the National Security Agency giving the agency the means to decode most of the billions of calls and texts that travel over public airwaves every day . Watching and listening: The agency’s ability to crack encryption used by the majority of cellphones in the world offers it wide-ranging powers to listen in on private conversations. They're listening: U.S. law prohibits the NSA from collecting the content of conversations between Americans without a court order. If the NSA has the capacity to easily decode encrypted cellphone conversations, then other nations likely can do the same . Calls that have been encrypted according to a common standard called A5/1 — which was developed in 1987. The . vulnerability comes into play on 2G networks, which modern cellphones . may resort to it when 3G or 4G networks are not available or too . congested. More modern networks like 3G and 4G, found throughout the US and other wealthy nations, are more difficult to decode. The Post found that more than 80 percent of cell phones used in the world use outdated and vulnerable technology. David . Wagner, a computer scientist at the University of California Berkley, . said that type of encryption 'was designed 30 years ago, and you . wouldn’t expect a 30-year-old car to have the latest safety mechanisms.' Experts . suggest that while it takes longer for analysts to decode and examine . messages sent on higher systems, it is indeed possible. Some . carriers are already making the change to the newer A5/3 method of . encryption, however, it doesn't matter how strong strong their . encryption, the calls are automatically decoded upon reaching the . carrier's internal network. The . NSA has repeatedly stated that it only snoops on conversations . involving foreign citizens, as it has no legal basis by which to conduct . such surveillance on Americans. HQ: The NSA has been secretly collecting the phone call records of millions of Americans, using data provided by telecom firms AT&T and Verizon for years . Statement: Snowden had previously insisted that every phone call and internet transaction made in America is logged . Current . US law makes it illegal for the NSA to monitor phone conversations . between American citizens without a court order, yet these documents . reveal that the agency is capable of overriding encryption and listening . in on international citizens. The . Post warned that the intelligence agencies of other nations likely have . the same technology, and may even listen in on American phone calls. This . method of surveillance has made headlines recently because of the . reported NSA tap on world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela . Merkel. 'The . scale of foreign surveillance has become so vast, the amount of . information about Americans 'incidentally' captured may itself be . approaching mass surveillance levels,'' said Elizabeth Goitein of the . Brennan Center for Justice's Liberty and National Security Program. 'The . government should be targeting its surveillance at those suspected of . wrongdoing, not assembling massive associational databases that by their . very nature record the movements of a huge number of innocent people,' said Catherine Crump, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties . Union.
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Snowden documents and officials reveal agency is able to listen into phone calls even if they are encrypted .
NSA has repeatedly stated that it only snoops on conversations involving foreign citizens .
The code has been cracked for years .
NSA says its collection is lawful .
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(CNN) -- Carol, a 39-year-old circus elephant wounded in a drive-by shooting, is expected to make a full recovery. She was shot on the grounds of BancorpSouth Arena, in Tupelo, Mississippi, while on tour with "The Greatest Show on Earth." "It appeared to be a deliberate, targeted event," said Capt. Rusty Haynes, with the Tupelo police. Authorities are looking for a silver or white Ford Explorer that was seen in the area at the time of the shooting, around 2 a.m. Tuesday. Haynes said Carol, an Asian elephant, was struck on her neck, between her shoulder and ear. A reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case has climbed to $24,000. A part of that money is coming from the U.S. government, as Asian elephants are endangered, Haynes said. Carol will spend several weeks in Missouri convalescing. "I have no idea why anyone in the world would want to do something so malicious or stupid," the police captain said Wednesday. "It makes no sense to me whatsoever." Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is scheduled to open in Tupelo on Thursday. It bills itself as "The Greatest Show on Earth."
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39-year-old Carol was shot in Tupelo, Mississippi .
Police are looking for a silver or white Ford Explorer .
A $24,000 reward is being offered in the case .
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(CNN) -- Felipe Massa will not be returning to Formula One this season, his Ferrari team have officially announced. Massa is still showing the scars of the horror crash at the Hungarian GP in July. The Brazilian has been out of action since a freak crash in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix left him with life-threatening head injuries. The speed of his recovery from a fractured skull has prompted speculation he could take the wheel of the Ferrari for the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi on November 1. Indeed Massa was back on the track in a private test at Ferrari's Maranello headquarters in Italy on Monday, but the team insist that is merely a stepping stone for next season. "This is in no way a proper test session and looking at the stopwatch will not be on the agenda - there will be plenty of time for that in 2010, when, alongside Fernando Alonso, he will begin development work of the new single-seater," read a statement on the team's oficial Web site www.ferrari.com. Ferrari did reveal that a medical check up that Massa underwent in Paris last Friday proved "rather positive" but emphasized it did not signal a dream return. "Felipe and the team want to proceed gradually and without any hurry to recover as well as possible from the effects of the accident that happened in Budapest back on 25th July. "Therefore talk of a proper return to Formula One can wait until the start of the 2010 season and only at that time will the medical checks be carried out, as required by the FIA in order to allow someone who has been injured to return to racing." Giancarlo Fisichella will continue to deputize for Massa for the remaining two races of the season in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, driving alongside Kimi Raikkonen of Finland. Raikkonen is leaving the team at the end of the season to be replaced by two-time world champion Alonso, who will carry Ferrari's hopes for 2010 alongside 2008 title runner-up Massa. The 28-year-old Massa was hit in the head by a spring which fell from the Brawn GP car of fellow Brazilian Rubens Barrichello. There were fears for his life in the immediate aftermath of the horror crash as he lay in an induced for coma in a military hospital in Budapest. Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher was slated to replace him in a sensational return to Formula One, but the German superstar had to cut short his comeback due to a neck injury. Test driver Luca Badoer proved a below-par replacement and Fisichella, who will stay at the Ferrari next season as the reserve driver, jumped ship from Force India for the drive.
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Ferrari say Felipe Massa will not be returning to F1 circuit this season .
Brazilian has been recovering from injuries he received in horror crash in Hungary .
Massa will be doing private test at Ferrari headquarters on Monday .
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A kind-hearted stranger handed a £10 gift voucher to a five-year-old girl for having good manners. Property developer Anthony Roberts, 62, was taking his granddaughter Ruby Roberts to look at the toys at an Argos store on their way home from her school in Newquay, Cornwall. The mystery woman approached the couple and remarked on the polite, pleasant and well-behaved nature of Ruby, before presenting the youngster with the gift voucher. Given a gift voucher: A mystery woman approached Anthony Roberts (left), 62, and his five-year-old granddaughter Ruby Roberts (right), before remarked on the girl’s polite, pleasant and well-behaved nature . Mystery: Ruby (left) was able to buy the toy doll she had wanted from Argos (right), by combining the £10 voucher with the money she had saved taking out the rubbish at a family friend’s holiday home . Mr Roberts is now trying to track down the generous gift-giver - who approached while Ruby was spelling out the names of the toys on her wishlist, but left before she could be thanked. Ruby was able to buy the toy doll she had wanted, by combining the £10 voucher with money she had saved taking out the rubbish at a family friend’s holiday home. Mr Roberts said that he occasionally picks up Ruby from school, and they sometimes go into Argos to look at what toys she would like from the catalogue - before she has to spell them out. He added: ‘A lady who had been watching Ruby came up and gave her a gift voucher after remarking how polite, pleasant and well behaved she was. ‘Ruby did not know what it was at first until I explained that’s what you get for being a nice person. I did not get the lady’s name and she was gone before we could thank her properly. Similar recent case: The generous donation mirrors the £5 gift and a note a stranger gave single mother Samantha Welch on board a train after being impressed by her parenting of her three-year-old son Rylan . The stranger was later revealed by MailOnline to be father-of-one Ken Saunders, 50, who had handed Miss Welch and her son Rylan) the note and money at Bristol Parkway . ‘Maybe, without realising it, she has taught Ruby an important lesson about being a nice person. I think it was a genuinely moving thing to do because people do not do these sorts of things now.' The grandfather said that he later posted what had happened on Facebook and it had a 'tremendous response'. Mr Roberts added: 'I think people are pleased nice things happen.’ The generous donation mirrors the £5 gift and a note a stranger gave single mother Samantha Welch on board a train after being impressed by her parenting of her three-year-old son Rylan. The stranger was later revealed by MailOnline to be father-of-one Ken Saunders, 50, who had handed her the note and money as he got off the Birmingham-Plymouth train at Bristol Parkway. He said he gave Miss Welch the note because she was a ‘great role model’, and said Rylan had reminded him of his own daughter Romani, now 20, when she was younger.
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Anthony Roberts, 62, was taking granddaughter Ruby Roberts to Argos .
Mystery woman approached them and handed gift voucher to the girl .
She complemented child for being polite, pleasant and well-behaved .
Property developer Mr Roberts wants to track down generous gift-giver .
Do you know the mystery woman who handed the note to Ruby in Newquay? Please contact the reporter by calling 020 3615 1838 or emailing mark.duell[at]mailonline.co.uk .
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By . Neil Moxley . Click here to read our chief sports writer's debate column on Anelka's nasty strain of anti-Semitic Nazi posturing . Sponsors Zoopla have told West Bromwich Albion to axe Nicolas Anelka or lose their £3million deal. The former France striker should know early next week whether the FA will charge him over the quenelle gesture he made after scoring against West Ham three weeks ago. Albion fear he could be handed a lengthy ban and have called on the FA to speed up their investigation. Gesture: Anelka is to discover his fate after an FA investigation into his goal celebration at West Ham . Controversy: The quenelle is a gesture linked with anti-Semitism back in Anelka's French homeland . But, according to a report in Marketing Week, the property portal has contacted the club to voice their dissatisfaction following Anelka’s actions, which some say carry anti-Semitic overtures. Zoopla, owned by Jewish businessman Alex Chesterman, say Anelka must be dropped for Monday night’s game against Everton and have told the club they will want their name removed from the club’s shirts immediately if he plays. A club spokesman said: ‘West Bromwich Albion will be making no further comment until the Football Association have concluded their investigation, and the club their own internal enquiry, into the matter.’ Back in action: Anelka featured in West Brom's last game - away at Southampton . Bittersweet: Anelka performed the salute after scoring the first of two goals in a 3-3 draw with West Ham . Albion had played down the issue and kept the 34-year-old striker in their side. But they are aware of the arguments around the incident and are conscious of the club’s image. One Jewish Albion fan said: ‘I want to support the club I love, but their refusal to issue a real apology or remove Anelka from first-team selection makes that somewhat difficult.’ If Anelka does receive a long ban, it would cast a shadow over his Albion career. Signed by former manager Steve Clarke in the summer, he got off to a troubled start when he announced he planned to quit the game following the sudden death of close friend Eric Manasse. Though Clarke convinced him to play on, Anelka struggled for form, then suffered a series of injuries. National outrage: The quenelle was popularised by Anelka's 'friend', French comedian Dieudonne. Here, anti-Dieudonne protesters converge on Paris in opposition against the controversial figure . Friends: The then-West Brom acting head coach Keith . Downing says that the gesture was a dedication from Anelka (right) to . his French comedian friend Dieudonne (left), which Anelka reiterated on . Twitter . Zoopla.co.uk is a property website and is part of the Zoopla Property Group Ltd, a privately held company whose shareholders include DMG Media, a division of DMGT plc, the company which owns the Daily Mail. Mamadou Sakho . The Liverpool defender was pictured twice doing the gesture, once with Dieudonne, lastmonth. But he later said he did not know what it meant and had been ‘tricked’. Yannick Sagbo . The Hull forward tweeted a picture of Anelka’s celebration and wrote: ‘Anelka is a legend i love him is a best french striker’ and included a message of support for Dieudonne. The website’s two-year deal is due to run . out this summer and no announcement has been made about a renewal. The . latest problems almost certainly leave the club looking for a new backer . for next season, if not before. The authorities have to consider the legalities of the Frenchman’s latest predicament and the club’s sporting and technical director Richard Garlick has asked the FA to come up with a decision quickly. He said: ‘It would help everyone for the investigation to be over as soon as possible. The FA have given a statement about how quickly they would do that.’ Anelka could be short of firepower without Anelka, having sold Shane Long to Hull City yesterday. However, the club have confirmed they will not be spending during the transfer window. ‘We have a number of strikers who have emerged, including Saido Berahino,’ said Garlick. ‘If we need to get a short-term deal to solve any striking issue, then we will try to do that. ‘We have a good selection of strikers. They have all trained this week.’ Controversial: This picture of Samir Nasri (left) apparently performing the 'quenelle' was on social media sites . Defiant: A group performs the 'quenelle' salutes in front of the theatre Dieudonne's performing at . When . West Brom striker Nicolas Anelka scored the first of his two goals in . Saturday's 3-3 Premier League draw at West Ham, he celebrated by making a . gesture largely unfamiliar to fans of English football. But . the salute, known in France as 'la quenelle', is the subject of a . fierce national debate that has reached the French interior ministry and . stands accused of sparking a spate of attacks across Anelka's homeland. Here, . we explore the origins of the controversial gesture and the motives of . its self-proclaimed inventor, the stand-up comedian and political . activist Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala: .
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Zoopla say Anelka must be dropped for Monday's game at home to Everton .
Anelka should know by early next week whether the FA will charge him .
Striker performed gesture after scoring against West Ham in December .
The two-year deal with the property website is due to run out this summer .
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Des Moines, Iowa (CNN)Rand Paul kicked off his first event in Iowa this year with a rally that let him blaze through his favorite libertarian-leaning talking points and draw a contrast between himself and his potential Republican rivals. "You're going to get a choice on who the nominee is for the Republican Party. You're going to have 9, 10, 15, 20 who are eager to go and want troops on the ground," he said, talking about the war against Islamic extremism. "They want 100,000 troops on the ground. Right now. In all the countries." The Kentucky Republican had a rough week but found a friendly audience Friday night headlining an "Audit the Fed" rally at Jasper Winery in Des Moines, an event packed with many of his father's supporters and hosted by a group called Liberty Iowa. It was a curious strategy for a man who's trying to build a broad coalition of voters behind him, but he assured supporters that he hasn't strayed far from his roots. "Some of you may remember I sued the President," he said, pointing to a lawsuit he launched last year against the National Security Agency over its bulk metadata collection effort. He didn't, however, mention that the lawsuit has been put on hold, or that he voted against a reform package in Congress last year because he felt it didn't go far enough in tweaking the agency. Paul, who faced criticism this week over comments expressing doubt about the effectiveness of vaccinations and took heat over drama involving one of his advisers, is in Iowa on a quick two-day swing that puts him in front of familiar audiences. Following the "Audit the Fed" rally Friday night, he attends the Iowa State University men's basketball game Saturday, as well as a watch party with young voters and a meet-and-greet with freshman Rep. Rod Blum. Paul is one of many Republicans who will barnstorm the state in the coming months, seeking support ahead of Iowa's first-in-the-nation presidential nominating contest a year from now. While it's his first time in the state this year, Paul visited Iowa five times last cycle, and has indicated he plans to make the state a big part of his 2016 strategy. His father, ex-Texas Rep. Ron Paul, built a solid foundation of supporters in Iowa during his 2008 and 2012 campaigns, a base that Paul is trying to court while also making inroads with the mainstream and socially conservative Republicans in the state. A Des Moines Register/Bloomberg poll earlier this week showed Paul in second place at 14% support among likely Republican caucus goers, behind Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at 15%. Along with repeating familiar refrains that hammer Obamacare and the President's executive action on immigration, Paul brandished his anti-war credentials. He sought to remind the audience that he caused headaches in the Senate in December by forcing a vote that would declare war against ISIS, but stressed that he voted no. "I said we have to debate this. And they -- can I say bitched and moaned? They bitched and moaned and were so unhappy with me that I brought that up. But we made a vote," he said. "Every time we've toppled a secular dictator, we've gotten chaos and we've gotten a rise in radical Islam, and we've been less safe," he added. Paul, attempting to balance his anti-government persona with his efforts to appear bipartisan, pointed out that he's still been "willing to work with the President" on criminal justice reform, noting that the same day he sued the administration, Paul sat down for lunch with Attorney General Eric Holder. "He looks at me and says, 'I see you're suing me and the President today.' I said, 'Well, you know, we can still be friends right?' " Paul offered some rare praise for Holder, saying at the end he "did some good things on criminal justice," but warned that he may be replaced by current nominee Loretta Lynch, saying she's not strong enough on reforming civil forfeiture. The main thrust of the event was rallying support behind his new legislation to audit the Federal Reserve. It is already audited by a third-party accounting firm arranged through the inspector general and partially by the Government Accountability Office, but Paul's bill would give full auditing power to the GAO and would require regular reports to Congress. "Is there a revolving door between Wall Street, the fed, and back to Wall Street again?" Paul asked, twirling his arm in the air. The bill last year passed the GOP-controlled House with bipartisan support but was blocked by the Democratic-led Senate. Critics, including Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, have vowed to aggressively fight such efforts. Emboldened by the new Republican Congress, however, Paul feels that the legislation has a better shot at breaking through and making it to the President's desk. "I think there needs to be some sunshine. I'm going to fight 'em and we're going to get a vote on Audit the Fed," he said to applause.
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Rand Paul makes first 2015 trip to Iowa, home of first presidential caucuses .
He's trying to build a broad coalition of voters, but says he hasn't strayed far from his roots .
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At 6ft 7ins, Adam Thurkettle never has a problem getting the barman's attention when he wants to buy a pint. But he can't get served at Britain’s smallest pub after being banned because he leaves no space for other customers. Jack Burton, landlord of the 15ft by 7ft Nutshell has stopped 21st Adam, 23, from coming in at peak times. Tall order: Adam Thurkettle, 6ft 7in, fills the doorway of The Nutshell, in Bury St. Edmunds Suffolk, which has banned him at peak times because he takes up too much room . Time: Four 'normal-sized' customers can fit in The Nutshell if Adam isn't propping up the bar . Drink up: Adam has to duck his head to get through the pub door . Big problem: Adam fills the doorway of The Nutshell which is officially Britain's smallest pub . The one-bar local in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, is listed by Guinness World Records as the smallest in Britain. Mr Burton told the Sun: 'Adam’s a real gentle giant. But on a busy night he takes up such a lot of space that I have to turn away at least four normal-sized drinkers.' Tree surgeon Adam, who has to duck to get through the pub door, said: 'I love the Nutshell and the regulars are a great bunch — but not many can get in after I arrive. 'My size is a great advantage when moving tree trunks but can be a handicap when I prop up the bar.' Gentle giant: Tree surgeon Adam says: 'My size is a great advantage when moving tree trunks, but can be a handicap when I prop up the bar' No room at the inn: Landlord Jack Burton has banned Adam from the pub at peak times .
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Landlord stops Adam Thurkettle having a drink at The Nutshell at peak times .
He takes up the space of four 'normal-sized' customers .
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By . Victoria Woollaston . PUBLISHED: . 10:54 EST, 4 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 14:02 EST, 4 June 2013 . The BBC has admitted that the clock on its homepage doesn't tell the correct time because it would take 'around 100 staffing days' to put right, and it has taken the decision to remove it from the site. The confession came after a member of the public made an official complaint to the BBC Trust's Editorial Standards Committee (ESC) criticising the clock's inaccuracy. He complained after discovering that the analogue-style clock in the top left-hand corner of the site 'merely reproduces the time stored on each individual user's own computer whether this is accurate or not.' An analogue clock was added to the BBC's homepage during a redesign in 2010 yet it doesn't tell the correct time. A member of the public made an official complaint to the Editorial Standards Committee (ESC) asking for it to be fixed or be removed. The BBC admitted it wasn't accurate but said it would take around '100 staffing days' to fix . The complainant added that the clock was 'inaccurate and misleading' and readers would 'assume' it displayed the correct time. It was added to the homepage as part of the site's redesign in 2010. As explained in the report: 'The complainant said that there is no other piece of information the BBC publishes which it knows is factually inaccurate or unreliable. 'The complainant believed that the clock should either be configured in such a way as to ensure the time was correct or removed from the site.' It continued that the complainant believed visitors to the BBC website . would assume the clock was accurate and the fact it wasn't was 'not . consistent with the Guideline requirement for the BBC to do all it can . to ensure due accuracy in all its output.' The Editorial Standards Committee looked into the clock complaint but ruled that the BBC had not 'knowingly and materially' misled the public. The BBC has been told to fix the clock but can do so within a 'reasonable time frame' The BBC was forced into an embarrassing climbdown over climate change claims made in Sir David Attenborough's groundbreaking Africa series. In the last episode of the series, entitled 'Future', Sir David discussed the challenges facing the region. Speaking over footage of Mount Kilimanjaro, Sir David made the assertion that 'some parts of the continent have become 3.5C hotter in the past 20 years'. However, figures from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show that since 1850 global temperatures have risen by 0.76C, causing widespread concern among viewers. However, the ESC concluded that the BBC did not 'knowingly and materially' mislead website users in this instance. The Managing Editor of BBC Online was quoted in the reported saying that making the clock accurate would 'dramatically slow down the loading of the BBC homepage' and the work needed to do it would 'take around 100 staffing days'. Following a request for a statement, a BBC spokeswoman told MailOnline: 'The BBC takes accuracy very seriously. 'Given the technical complexities of implementing an alternative central clock, and the fact that most users already have a clock on their computer screen, the BBC has taken the decision to remove the clock from the Homepage in an upcoming update.' The BBC is governed by a charter called the BBC Charter and Agreement. Among other rules, the BBC is bound to report fairly, without political bias, and accurately. Any BBC viewer can complain about BBC shows and editorial content online. The ESC's role is to act as the final arbiter on editorial appeals made to the BBC Trust. These include complaints about editorial content, including online.
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A complaint by a member of the public criticised the BBC's homepage clock for being inaccurate and demanded it be fixed or removed .
The BBC claimed it is inaccurate because it would take 'around 100 staffing days' to correct and would make pages load slowly .
Following an investigation by the Editorial Standard Committee the BBC has decided to remove the clock .
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Brave Kurdish soldiers battling Islamic State militants in northern Syria have converted tractors and lorries into tanks by adding metal plates to create Mad Max-style road warriors. The peshmerga troops were forced to take the initiative and create their own armoured vehicles after the far better equipped ISIS jihadists repeatedly got the better of the Kurds' Soviet-era military fleet. In recent weeks hundreds of thousands of Syrian Kurds have been forced to flee across the border into Turkey, as ISIS launched an onslaught into the autonomous Kurdish territory in northern Syria. Despite the odds being against them, peshmerga forces have bravely fought back against the estimated 31,000 ISIS militants operating in Syria and Iraq - whose self-declared 'caliphate' forms an area larger than Britain with a population of four million brutally oppressed citizens. Scroll down for video . Homemade: Kurdish forces have converted tractors, farm vehicles and lorries into makeshift tanks in order to compete with the considerably better-equipped ISIS militants ravaging northern Syria . Elaborate design: Troops from the People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria previously had little more than rifles and flak jackets - making them incredibly vulnerable in the face of heavily-armed ISIS terrorists . Design: The Kurdish forces have used their homemade armoured vehicles - which are bright and elaborately decorated - to keep ISIS advances in check, and in some cases even force them to retreat . Flying the flag: Despite the odds being against them, peshmerga forces have bravely fought back against the estimated 31,000 ISIS militants operating in Syria and Iraq . Strong resemblance: The converted Kurdish vehicles look similar to the heavily-armoured lorries in the 1979 dystopian action film Mad Max (pictured) In order to resist ISIS' high-tech firepower, the Kurdish forces have converted tractors and other farm equipment into heavily-armoured vehicles fitted aging Soviet-era guns. Previously troops from the People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria had little more than rifles and flak jackets - making them incredibly vulnerable in the face of heavily-armed ISIS terrorists. Much of the weaponry and military equipment currently in the hands of the jihadists was gathered after thousands of members of the U.S. trained and expensively equipped Iraqi army melted away in the face of a lightning advance by just a few hundred ISIS militants in June. As the soldiers fled the scene, they left behind millions of pounds worth of top-of-the-range and barely used equipment - all of which was quickly swept up by ISIS. Since then the Kurdish peshmerga forces have carried out the defence of much of northern Syria and Iraq, despite the fact many of the militants only know how to operate clunky, decades-old Soviet-era weapons and are hugely under-resourced in terms of ammunition and protective equipment. Innovative: The peshmerga troops were forced to take the initiative and create their own armoured vehicles after the far better equipped ISIS jihadists repeatedly got the better of the Kurds' Soviet-era military fleet . Homemade: In order to resist ISIS' high-tech firepower, the Kurdish forces have converted tractors and other farm equipment into heavily-armoured vehicles fitted aging Soviet-era guns . Protection: An off-road vehicle is seen covered in bullet-proof metal, making it much harder for ISIS to destroy . Force: One place in which the vehicles have been deployed is Kobane - the small Syrian town that has been besieged by ISIS militants for a week . Brave: Kurdish peshmerga forces have carried out the defence of much of northern Syria and Iraq, despite the fact many of the militants only know how to operate clunky, decades-old Soviet-era weapons and are hugely under-resourced in terms of ammunition and protective equipment . Tough: A peshmerga soldier poses with one of the converted farm vehicles being used in the fight against ISIS . U.S.-led air strikes hit grain silos and other targets in Islamic State-controlled territory in northern and eastern Syria overnight, killing civilians and wounding militants, a group monitoring the war said today. The aircraft may have mistaken the mills and grain storage areas in the northern Syrian town of Manbij for an Islamic State base, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. There was no immediate comment from Washington. The United States has targeted Islamic State and other fighters in Syria since last week with the help of Arab allies, and in Iraq since last month. It aims to damage and destroy the bases, forces and supply lines of the al Qaeda offshoot which has captured large areas of both countries. The strikes in Manbij appeared to have killed only civilians, not fighters, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory which gathers information from sources in Syria. The Kurdish forces have used their homemade armoured vehicles - which are bright and elaborately decorated - to keep ISIS advances in check, and in some cases even force them to retreat. One place in which the vehicles have been deployed is Kobane - the small Syrian town that has been besieged by ISIS militants for a week. The Kurdish fighters in Iraq said that although they had been promised equipment from the U.S. and European countries, but so far most of the shipments included food - something they need far less urgently than weapons. Last week, one Kobane resident told the Independent: 'Don't send us food, we don't need food...we will eat mud if we have to. Send us weapons, send us peshmerga.' But while they continue waiting for the Western weapons to materialise, the Kurdish forces are reliant more than ever on their makeshift armoured vehicles to protect their population from the murderous fanatics who pose such a threat to their existence. In recent weeks hundreds of thousands of Syrian Kurds have been forced to flee across the border into Turkey, as Isis launched an onslaught into the autonomous Kurdish territory in northern Syria. Hard to destroy: Kurdish troops were forced to take the initiative and create their own armoured vehicles. They hope to stop the advance of ISIS militants, who are armed with high-tech weapons captured from the Iraqi army . Defence: While they wait for Western weapons to materialise, the peshmerga forces are more reliant than ever on their makeshift armoured vehicles to protect the Kurdish population from murderous ISIS fanatics . Bulk: The Kurdish fighters in Iraq said they had been promised equipment from the U.S. and European countries . Power: Brave Kurdish soldiers battling Islamic State militants in northern Syria have converted tractors and lorries into tanks by adding metal plates to create Mad Max-style road warriors . Fierce fighting has been reported on the outskirts of Baghdad where ISIS militants are attempting to seize control of the Iraqi capital - despite ongoing Western airstrikes against the terror group. The fighting is taking place just one mile to the west of the city, with government forces desperately trying to hold off the militants, who allegedly killed up to 1,000 soldiers during clashes yesterday. ISIS have held a number of towns and villages close to the Iraqi capital since earlier in the year, when government troops melted away following a lightning advance in the west of the country - enabling the terrorist group to seize further swaths of territory for their so-called caliphate. Jihadists: Fierce fighting has been reported on the outskirts of Baghdad where ISIS militants are attempting to seize control of the Iraqi capital, despite ongoing Western airstrikes against the terror group (pictured) Approaching: Reports that ISIS militants are now just one mile from Baghdad came from the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East - an organisation supporting the work of Canon Andrew White . Reports that ISIS militants are now just one mile from Baghdad came from the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East - an organisation supporting the work of Canon Andrew White, vicar of the city's St George's Church, the only Anglican church in Iraq. In a message posted on Facebook, the group said: 'The Islamic State are now less than 2km away from entering Baghdad. They said it could never happen and now it almost has. 'Obama says he overestimated what the Iraqi Army could do. Well you only need to be hear a very short while to know they can do very very little,' they added. The claims were backed up by Canon White himself, who shared the message just hours after he had earlier suggested the group were approximately six miles from the centre of Baghdad. Location: The militants are understood to have had their advance halted by airstrikes yesterday at Ameriyat Al-Falluja yesterday - a small city about 18 miles south of Fallujah and 40 miles west of Baghdad. But the clashes did not force the bulk of the fighters - with many of them now having made their way to the Baghdad suburbs . On a mission: The RAF jets seek out their terror targets in Iraq - which they failed to find and bomb, again . In a message he also posted on Facebook, Canon White had said: 'The Islamic State are now within 10km of entering Baghdad. Over a 1000 Iraqi troops were killed by them yesterday, things are so bad. As I said all the military air strikes are doing nothing. If ever we needed your prayer it is now.' The militants are understood to have had their advance halted by airstrikes yesterday at Ameriyat Al-Falluja yesterday - a small city about 18 miles south of Fallujah and 40 miles west of Baghdad. But the clashes did not force the bulk of the fighters - with many of them now having made their way to the Baghdad suburbs for this morning's fighting.
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Peshmerga troops converted old tractors and lorries into military vehicles .
They are badly out-gunned by ISIS who seized weapons from the Iraqi army .
In order to properly defend themselves, Kurds armoured their own vehicles .
Result is a fleet of elaborately designed but well-defended battle buses .
The vehicles bear a close resemblance to the vehicles in 1979 film Mad Max .
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(EW.com) -- American Idol finalists Kree Harrison and Candice Glover wowed the audience at the Nokia Theater at L.A. Live Wednesday evening with three show-stopping ballads each. After the performances, Glover, Harrison and judge Keith Urban came backstage to talk about their night, that coin flip, and singing those soulful songs. "As different as they are, they have a lot of similarities. They have a lot of vulnerability and strength that are both apparent when they perform. They both come from very roots-y, earthy, real families and I think that's what's apparent in what they do. There's no pageantry in either of them," said first-time judge Urban. "They sing because they need to sing. Not because they want to be famous." But as to what he thought of their performances, Urban said: "I was really taken with the original songs, particularly Kree's. Kree's to me was the one that just hit me." Harrison and Glover may not have Urban's luxury of distance, but both offered up insights into their performances as well. EW: Latest 'American Idol' recap . On those emotional songs and staying confident onstage . Harrison may own the stage when she's belting out those ballads now, but she admitted she wasn't always so comfortable going to those dark place. "The truth is before I committed to this competition, I wasn't so good with emotional songs," Harrison said. "I put a wall up because I didn't want to get to that point where I couldn't handle the lyrics and couldn't get it out. But I found that there's a happy medium of connecting and really showing your heart through your lyrics." Glover was no different. Her swagger, she says, is just an act. "I always feel very unconfident, but I don't show it onstage," Glover said. And it was her drive to succeed that prevented her from getting lost in the sadness of her song. "I got emotional in the middle of the song but I couldn't stop because I didn't want to go off-key," Glover said. On that fateful coin flip . Reality television devotees may be surprised to learn that as Ryan Seacrest was flipping that coin last week that would give the winner the choice to go first or second in Wednesdays finals show, Kree was whispering to Candice to ask which position she preferred. "I was very surprised. She asked me while it was spinning. I said 'I don't know? Second?' and she said 'OK, I'll go first,'" said Glover. "That's Kree. Every day. She doesn't think about herself at all. She puts everyone before herself." Harrison said, "I think it comes down to the singing, the connection, the order doesn't matter." Though Glover wasn't in the room to hear her say that, she echoed the sentiment in nearly the same words. EW: Should 'American Idol' lose the results show? On what they're going to do the day after tomorrow . Glover said that she's just relieved that they don't have to go through another round. "We've just been taking it one day at a time and doing our best, but I have to think about [plans] when I go home," she said. Harrison, on the other hand, didn't know exactly what she'd be doing, but knew that she'd have at least something to celebrate. "My birthday is the day after the finale," Harrison said, adding with a laugh: "Vote for me for my birthday!" As many know, Glover was an American Idol contestant before, but despite her success this year, she doesn't feel as though she was robbed before. "Honestly I don't think I would have won," Glover said. "I think everything happens for a reason and I don't think I would have made it as far as I did this year. I was just auditioning because I was a 19-year-old who happened to know how to sing. And this year I think I'm more of an artist and I think I know myself a little bit better." In less than 24 hours the world will know who was voted the Season 12 American Idol and who gets to go home in second place. With that kind of pressure, it's tempting to think that Harrison and Glover are enemies, just playing friendly on stage. But just ask how they spent the night before the big show. "Me and Kree watched some TV together. She fell asleep on me. I made sure she was sleeping and then I went to my room," said Glover. "We just chilled." There are no rivalries here. See the original story at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.
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"American Idol" is down to the final contestants .
Kree Harrison and Candice Glover wowed the audience .
Judge Keith Urban "was really taken with the original songs"
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The city of King is settling a lawsuit by removing a Christian flag and statue of soldier kneeling by a cross from the Veteran's Memorial at King Central Park. The Winston-Salem Journal reported the city council voted 3-2 Tuesday to approve the settlement. Under the agreement, the city will not fly the Christian flag and will remove the statue depicting a soldier kneeling before a cross-shaped marker. The city said in a news release that it had incurred more than $50,000 in legal fees and costs. Scroll down for video . The city of King is settling a lawsuit by removing a Christian flag and statue of soldier kneeling by a cross from the Veteran's Memorial at King Central Park . It estimated litigation costs would have approached $2 million, exceeding the city's $1 million insurance coverage. A U.S. Army veteran sued in November 2012, alleging King officials violated his constitutional rights by allowing the Christian flag to fly at the memorial. Fox News reports that the memorial was paid for with private donations. It estimated litigation costs would have approached $2 million, exceeding the city's $1 million insurance coverage . A U.S. Army veteran sued in November 2012, alleging King officials violated his constitutional rights by allowing the Christian flag to fly at the memorial . 'Both sides in this matter wish to avoid further costs, and this agreement will ensure that the City of King will not spend additional taxpayers’ funds to continue litigation in federal court,' the city said in a statement. Hewett said he sued because he felt his constitutional rights were being violated. He will be paid $1 in damages. 'I proudly served alongside a diverse group of soldiers with a variety of different religious beliefs,' he said. 'The City of King should be honoring everyone who served our country, not using their service as an excuse to promote a single religion.' However city councilman Wesley Carter felt the city was forced to settle. 'I feel this city has been sabotaged and bullied by folks who don’t believe in what this community stands for,' he said. 'I feel like we have been pressured by insurance companies and attorneys who have never been to King. They don’t know what we are about and what this community stands for.'
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The city of King is settling a lawsuit by removing a Christian flag and statue of soldier kneeling by a cross from the Veteran's Memorial at King Central Park .
Afghanistan War veteran Steven Hewett alleging the displays violated his constitutional rights .
The city said in a news release that it had incurred more than $50,000 in legal fees and costs .
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The alleged Aussie mastermind of the Syrian jihadist network lives peacefully on welfare payments in suburbia with one of reportedly two wives in a quiet cul de sac in south-western Sydney. Hamdi Alqudsi, the 39-year-old who has been charged with recruiting seven Australians as terrorist fighters to Syria, is free on bail and living in a four bedroom brick home on a large suburban block at St Helens Park as he awaits a committal hearing. Three young Australians connected with Mr Alqudsi, a disability pensioner, have been sent to their death in Syria, including former Gold Coast private schoolgirl, Amira Karroum. Scroll down for video . Alleged Syrian recruiter: Hamdi Alqudsi (pictured on Tuesday outside a court in central Sydney) is charged with seven counts of recruiting the men to enter 'into a foreign state, namely Syria, with intent to engage in hostile activity in Syria, in particular, engaging in armed hostilities in Syria' Line up and shot: Beautiful Gold Coast private schoolgirl, Amira Karroum (pictured) secretly flew to Syria last December after her husband, Tyler Casey, was allegedly recruited by Hamdi Alqudsi. Ms Karroum and Casey were shot dead in mid-January in the northern Syrian town of Aleppo . Alleged mastermind: Hamdi Alqudsi (pictured on Tuesday after appearing briefly in the Downing Centre Local Court in central Sydney) is, police claim, the chief recruiter in Australia of young men who want to go and fight in Syria against government forces with groups such as the extremists in ISIS . Mr Alqudsi, who lives in his rented home on a large suburban block with his Australian Muslim convert wife Carnita Matthews, is briefly appeared at the Downing Centre Court on Tuesday and is due before a magistrate again this month. He is the first Australian to be charged under the foreign incursion laws since the establishment of the extemist ISIS group in Syria. He is charged with seven counts of recruiting the men to enter 'into a foreign state, namely Syria, with intent to engage in hostile activity in Syria, in particular, engaging in armed hostilities in Syria'. Another terror accused: Fatima Elomar (pictured on Tuesday outside a central Sydney court) has also been accused on planning hostile foreign incursions after she was arrested boarding an international flgiht, allegedly to go to Syria to join her husband. Ms Elomar's lawyer, Zali Burrows, plans to appeal to the High Court on her behalf . Death in Syria: Hamdi Alqudsi is accused of recruiting Tyler Casey (above, left), originally from Redcliffe, Queensland and former Australian infantry soldier, 22-year-old Caner Temel (right) to Syria where they were both killed in January, Temel shot in the head by a sniper, and Casey and his wife, Amira Karroum were reportedly lined up, shot, and their bodies dismembered . Soccer nut: Mehmet Biber, a 21-year-old Turkish-Australian from Merrylands, Sydney, who loved poetry and soccer, became radicalised and was then recruited allegedly by Hamdi Alqudsi and crossed the Turkish border into Syria, from where he has posted photographs of bloodied aid workers injured in fighting . But Mr Alqudsi, whose bail money was raised by Sydney Muslim groups, is preparing to apply to have the charges quashed by the High Court of Australia on the grounds they are unconstitutional. He is also suing Federal police for allegedly roughing him up during the recent Sydney terror raids, according to an ABC-TV report. As another Australian man charged under Australia's terrorism laws, Omarjan Azari, remains in maximum security on remand, Mr Alqudsi's alleged middleman in the Australian recruitment network, Mohamed Ali Baryalei is believed to have been killed in Syria. Police believe Baryalei left Australia to work in Turkey in conjunction with Alqudsi, the alleged main go-between for the Aussie recruits and the extremist group, Jabhat Al Nusra, which is linked to Al-Qaeda. Arrested boarding a plane: New Zealand-born Amin Mohamed (above), 23, from Lidcombe in Sydney's inner west, allegedly bought a mobile phone in a false name and made plans to travel to Syria via Turkey with Alqudsi's help. He was arrested while trying to board a plane in Brisbane last December and charged with preparing to engage in foreign hostile activities . Dawn raid: Hamdi Alqudsi was arrested last December at this four bedroom house (pictured) at St Helens Park in far south-western Sydney where he had been living quietly with his family. Police allege he was helping young Australians to go and fight in Syria . Thwarted attempt: Brisbane mother of four, Fatima Elomar (pictured outside the Downing Centre court in Sydney in July after facing charges of preparing to support a terrorist act in a Sydney court) was arrested trying to board an international flight . Police allege she intended to join her husband, Mohamed Elomar, who is fighting in Syria and would be arrested if he returned to Australia . Packed and ready: Lawyer Zali Burrows (pictured, centre) with accused terror client, Fatima Elomar, and her children covered in blankets leaving a Sydney court in July, says Hamdi Alqudsi is innocent and will apply to have his charges under the foreign incursion act thrown out as 'unconstitutional'. Ms Burrows is make a similar application to the High Court of Australia on behalf of Ms Elomar . In Syria: The husband of Fatima Elomar, Mohamed, has become one of the faces of Australians fighting in Syria since he left Australia for the war torn country and posted photographs of himself online holding up (right) the severed heads of tow men, purportedly Syrian government soldiers . Police will allege Alqudsi accessed funds for fares and expenses for the recruits, all of whom were in their 20s or early 30s. Allegedly, Mr Alqudsi would instruct the men to fly to Turkey and cross the border into Syria, where they would meet up with pre-arranged contacts. Police allege Tyler Casey was recruited between June and August last year. Casey is believed to have flown with his beautiful 22-year-old graphic arts graduate wife, Amira Karroum, to Syria before Christmas. Dangerous company: Renamed Yusf Ali and preaching (above) on Sydney streets, Tyler Casey was recruited, police allege, by Sydney suburban father and disability pensioner, Hamdi Alqudsi, and sent to Syria where he was shot and killed in the northern city of Aleppo within weeks of arriving . Road to death: Tyler Casey, who took the Jihadi name Yusuf Ali, joined the Street Dawah project where he met recruitment middleman Mohamed Ali Baryalei and took Islam to Sydney streets (pictured, left) before flying to Syria with his wife, Amira Karroum, and dying in a rebel incursion. Casey is pictured (right) with his mother, Kristine Hunt . The pair was killed in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in mid-January, Reports say Ms Karroum was lined up against a wall and shot, and her body dismembered. Police claim Mr Alqusdi recruited former Australian infantry soldier Canal Temel in the same period. Mr Temel, 22, from the Sydney suburb of Auburn, was shot in the head during a siege in January. Mr Alqusdi's next alleged recruit was Turkish-Australian Mehmet Biber - jihadi name is Abu Malik - of the western Sydney suburb of Merrylands. Dead or alive? Mohamed Baryalei, a former Sydney bouncer and actor now believed to have died in Syria, is pictured (above) in Sydney in 2012, when he was a street preacher for his brand of Islam . The 21-year-old onetime poet and soccer nut is believed to still be fighting in Syria and has posted on Facebook graphic photographs of aid workers injured in rebel battles. Another would-be soldier for the ISIS forces in Syria, Amin Mohamed, 23, from Lidcombe in Sydney's inner west, allegedly bought a mobile phone in a false name and made plans to travel to Syria via Turkey. He was arrested while trying to board a plane in Brisbane last December and charged with preparing to engage in foreign hostile activities. Authorities believe three other alleged recruits - Mahmoud Aboshi, aka Abu Alem, of Melbourne, Muhammed Abdul-Karim Musleh, aka Abu Hassa, and Nassim Elbahsa - are fighting in Syria. Mr Alqudsi was arrested at his St Helens Park home last December. Alqudsi was remanded in custody and his passport confiscated. After he claimed he only had $500 and would struggle to make the $10,000 surety imposed by a magistrate, Sydney groups Hizb ut-Tahrir and Al Risalah held an emergency protest meeting. Supporters, including those from Sydney's Muslim community, raised the funds for his bail, and he was released a day later, on strict conditions. Mr Alqudsi has claimed to live a quiet, 'modest' life with his family. Neverthless, three years ago he was part of a noisy protest outside a Sydney court where his wife was appearing. Carnita Matthews was initially found guilty of falsely accusing a traffic policemen with trying to rip off her burqa when she was pulled over for a random breath test and declined to remove her facial covering for identification. She successfully appealed the conviction, which was overturned. Mr Alqudsi, who is also known as Ibrahim Gabriel and was named in 2011 as a devotee of controversial cleric Sheik Feiz Mohammed, chanted with other men outside the Sydney District Court, calling themselves part of the ‘Islamic Brotherhood Worldwide’. The following year, Mr Alqudsi, who called himself ‘Hamdi, Father of Ibrahim’, was reportedly among participants at Sydney's 2012 Muslim protest which led to riots in Hyde Park. Court outrage: Hamdi Alqudsi (pictured, centre) among other Muslim men protesting in 2011outside the court hearing after his wife, Carnita Matthews, was accused of falsely claiming a traffic policeman ripped off her burqa during a breath test. Ms Matthews successfully appealed the charge, which was overturned . Mr Alqudsi's lawyer, Sydney solicitor Zali Burrows told Daily Mail Australia she was preparing to mount a High Court challenge on his behalf against the foreign incursion laws. Ms Burrows is also challenging the laws for her another client, the wife of Syrian-based Australian ISIS fighter, Mohamed Elomar. Elomar posted photos of himself from Syria early this year holding the severed heads of Syrian soldiers. Fatima Elomar, is facing foreign incursion charges under the Crimes Act, which deems it illegal to travel to a foreign state, or help someone to travel, with the intention of engaging in hostile activity. The offence carries a maximum ten years imprisonment. Ms Burrows said Ms Elomar and Mr Alqudsi would both strenuously defend their innocence. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
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Hamdi Alqudsi is alleged mastermind of the Australia-Syria recruit network .
AlQudsi is a disability pensioner who lives in Sydney suburbia .
He faces court charges next month of sending seven young men to Syria .
Three young Australians allegedly connected with Alqudsi have died in Syria .
Gold Coast private schoolgirl Amira Karroum was shot and dismembered .
Alqudsi is suing Federal Police and taking the Australian Government to the High Court for foreign incursion charges against him .
He once claimed a 'quiet' life but has led pro-Muslim protests .
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By . Simon Walters, Mail on Sunday Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 17:58 EST, 11 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 17:58 EST, 11 January 2014 . A scandal-hit hospital exposed by The Mail on Sunday has been savaged in a new report by health inspectors and accused of ‘failing to protect the safety and welfare of patients’. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has threatened to fine the NHS foundation trust which runs Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, Berkshire, unless it makes ‘urgent improvements’. Delivering a damning verdict, CQC inspectors, who made an unannounced four-day visit to the hospital, also said staff complained of bullying by managers and felt they could not raise concerns about standards. Blunders: The Care Quality Commission has criticised failings at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, Berkshire . In addition, they found short-staffed wards and evidence of poor record keeping. Poor standards of cleanliness and inadequate infection control were highlighted and the inspectors said patients’ privacy and dignity were not always respected. Damning: How The Mail on Sunday revealed a report detailing medical blunders dating back 14 years . The CQC plans more inspections at Wexham Park, which serves more than 440,000 people, and a spokeswoman said it could impose fines if standards stayed low. The latest verdict on the hospital follows this newspaper’s exposé of a secret report commissioned by hospital bosses into claims of medical blunders and feuding consultants dating back 14 years. Whistleblower and consultant Anil Desai said up to 50 people may have died. His claims were dismissed but the official report, leaked to the MoS, supported him. A trust spokesman said: ‘We will continue to work hard to drive the improvements we all want to see.’
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CQC has threatened to fine Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, Berkshire .
Inspectors found short-staffing, lack of dignity and bullying complaints .
MoS revealed leaked report into claims of blunders spanning 14 years .
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Ed Miliband delayed the start of the Iraq war inquiry by voting ‘again and again and again’ against it being set up, David Cameron said yesterday. The Prime Minister said the report’s conclusions would have been published ‘years ago’ had it not been for Labour MPs blocking the plans. Mr Miliband personally voted against an inquiry on four occasions. The issue erupted in the House of Commons after it emerged that Sir John Chilcot will not report until after the election. Scroll down for video . Criticism: David Cameron (left) accused Labour leader Ed Miliband (right) of delaying the start of the Iraq war inquiry during Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons in London yesterday . Despite the row dominating news bulletins all day, Mr Miliband skated over the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions – dismissing it in two sentences. The Labour leader did not even ask Mr Cameron about the issue, saying only that he agreed the report should be ‘published as soon as possible’. Labour MPs opposed a series of proposals for an inquiry in the Commons until one was ordered by Gordon Brown. Mr Miliband personally voted against starting an inquiry on four occasions as an MP, first in October 2006, then in June 2007, once more in March 2008 and again in March 2009. Several former senior Labour figures, including Mr Miliband’s brother David, will come under scrutiny when the report is finally published. At the start of Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Miliband said: ‘Let me start by saying, on the Iraq inquiry, that it was set up six years ago and I agree with the Prime Minister that it should be published as soon as possible.’ PMQs: The issue erupted in the House of Commons yesterday after it emerged that Sir John Chilcot will not report until after the election . Former prime minister: Labour MPs opposed a series of proposals for an inquiry in the Commons until one was ordered by Gordon Brown (above) He then moved swiftly on to the economy. The PM countered, saying the report would have been published ‘years ago’ had Labour MPs voted in favour of setting up the inquiry earlier. ‘So perhaps he could start by recognising his own regret at voting against the establishment of the inquiry,’ he said. Mr Miliband replied: ‘The inquiry was established six years ago, after our combat operations had ended, and frankly, my views on the Iraq war are well known and I want this inquiry to be published.’ Unlike his brother, Ed Miliband was not an MP in 2003 in the run-up to the war. At the time he was at Harvard University in the US. During his campaign for the Labour leadership he said the invasion was a ‘profound mistake’ and claimed to have opposed it in private. But according to reports, his brother dismissed this claim, saying that the only candidate for the leadership who could say they were against the war at the time was Diane Abbott.
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Labour MPs prevented report being published 'years ago', claims PM .
Party's leader Ed Miliband personally voted against inquiry four times .
Issue erupts after it's revealed Chilcot will not report until after election .
Former top Labour figures will come under scrutiny when it's published .
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By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 06:29 EST, 3 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:23 EST, 3 September 2013 . Glamour: Health minster Anna Soubry said she took up smoking because she liked the 'gorgeous' St Moritz packets . Health minister Anna Soubry today revealed ‘gorgeous’ cigarette packets persuaded her to take up smoking as a ‘symbol of glamour’. The outspoken Tory MP said she fell victim to the ‘power’ of the green, gold and silver St Moritz packet as a 17-year-old in Worksop. The coalition has shelved plans to force cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging, but Miss Soubry appeared to suggest there was a direct link between marketing and youngsters taking up smoking. Speaking during a debate in Parliament, Miss Soubry also compared nicotine addiction to heroin dependence. Earlier this year the government ditched plans for plain packets in the UK, with ministers saying they wanted more time to examine how a similar scheme has worked in Australia. But Miss Soubry, 56, revealed that as a ‘weak’ teenager working in a toy shop she had been motivated to take up smoking by the powerful appeal of the packaging. She told MPs: ‘I wanted to make it absolutely clear, like so many smokers I took up smoking before the age of 18. It's one of these moments where you always most want to confess. ‘It sounds very weak, I accept. But the power of the packet as a 17-year-old in Worksop bizarrely working in a toy shop, which in those days sold cigarettes." She went on: ‘I have never forgotten the first time I bought a packet of cigarettes and I deliberately chose a packet of St Moritz because they were green and they were gorgeous and they were a symbol of, may I say, glamour. ‘And I distinctly remember, and I admit, it was the power of that package, it was the opening of the cellophane, the gold and the silver, that is so powerfully important in many people who as youngsters take up smoking.’ However Ms Soubry, who has now given up smoking, said standardised packaging was ‘no silver bullet’ to cutting the number of young people who take up the habit. She said: ‘There is no simple solution to the difficulty and the problem that we have in persuading that remaining 20 per cent of the population to give up smoking and of course to persuade our youngsters not to smoke.’ Symbol: Miss Soubry said should was drawn to the St Moritz packet in the early 1970s . Miss Soubry was elected in 2010, but has been tipped for promotion in the forthcoming reshuffle after her straight-talking spell at the Department of Health. In a frank account of her own difficulties in giving up smoking, she suggested nicotine was more addictive than Class A drugs. ‘It's . often said that nicotine is actually more addictive even than heroin, . and whilst I've never directly experienced heroin I've experienced . enough clients when I was a criminal barrister to know how powerful the . heroin and cocaine is,’ Miss Soubry said. ‘But . goodness me, even they will tell you that when it comes to nicotine . it's a dreadful substance in its addiction, which would account for why . it is so many people, who like me smoked, found it so difficult to give . up.’ Delay: Ministers say they want to consider the impact of laws passed in Australia mean cigarette packets like these show no branding and the shocking effects of smoking . Tory MP Bob Blackman said it would be a ‘tragedy’ for children and their families to delay the introduction of plain packaging. Mr Blackman, secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, said if the Government waits three years before introducing plain packs there would be 600,000 more children smoking. He added: ‘The key here is stopping children starting smoking in the first place. The analysis produced by statisticians at Cancer Research, which I don't think is disputed, is that 207,000 children under the age of 16 start to smoke every year. ‘So if the Government wait three years, from December 2012, when standardised packages were introduced in Australia, around 600,000 children will begin to smoke before the Government take any action. ‘That's great news for Philip Morris and big tobacco. What a tragedy for the children, their families and their communities in later life.’
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The 'power' of packaging persuaded Tory MP to take up habit aged 17 .
Miss Soubry was won over by green, silver and gold St Moritz packets .
But government has shelved plans for plain packaging laws .
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Merseyside tops list with 46 per cent taking three hours to get ready . Women from Susan Boyle's hometown of West Lothian amongst those who spend just fifteen minutes getting ready . By . Bianca London . From fake tanning to applying false eyelashes, getting ready for a night on the town can be time consuming. And the glamorous ladies of Liverpool know how to do it best according to the latest research which revealed they spend the longest amount of time in the entire country getting ready for a big night out. The well-groomed women of Merseyside topped the survey with 46 per cent spending more than three hours on average getting dolled up before going out. Abbey Clancy, a notorious Liverpool glamour lady, is an example of the three hours of effort the northern girls put in before a night out compared with the ladies of Susan Boyle's hometown of West Lothian . And it isn't just the ladies of the north topping the chart. Women from Nottinghamshire (31 per cent), Bedfordshire (25 per cent), Oxfordshire (20 per cent); and - perhaps surprisingly - Essex, which scraped into fifth place, admit to spending more than three hours getting ready for a night out. The study, carried out by beauty site Escentual.com, revealed the five areas spending the least amount of time grooming as Humberside, and Susan Boyle’s home town West Lothian in Scotland, where a staggering 75 per cent of female respondents said they spent 15 minutes or less before going out. Also taking the bottom spots were Clywd, Wales, where 95 per cent of respondents said they spent less than 45 minutes, Derbyshire, (50 per cent less than 45 mins), and West Midlands (37 per cent less than 45 minutes). Surprisingly, Essex took a mere fifth place in the ranks, despite being home to the glamorous TOWIE stars who are famous for their beauty regimes . Liverpool, home of reality TV show Desperate Scousewives, is rightly famous for its glamour. Scouse girls including Colleen Rooney and Alex Curran are often spotted wearing rollers at the Albert Dock during the day before a big night out. Nottingham, in second place, is well known for its nightlife, but Bedfordshire – birthplace of Carol Vorderman - came an unlikely third. Women from Berkshire, home of the Duchess of Cambridge, spend just 45 minutes perfecting their natural look . Most surprising, perhaps, was that Essex, home of glamorous The Only Way is Essex girls Samantha Faiers and Jessica Wright, could only scrape into fifth place despite having a glamorous reputation as spiritual home of the vajazzle, big hair and fake tanning. Emma Leslie, Escentual.com’s Beauty editor, said: 'We always see strong sales from the Liverpool area, with the most popular products being false eyelashes and bronzing powders for the high glamour look, so it’s not totally surprising that Merseyside topped the poll. 'Essex was surprisingly only fifth for women spending more than three hours getting ready. Again, it’s got a very glamorous image to maintain thanks to shows like TOWIE and great nightlife and closeness to London. 'But, surprisingly, it was pipped to the top by Nottinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire. It could be because Essex girls have their beauty and going out regimes so well planned.' Emma added: 'There’s no magic number that is going to mean you’re ready to go out. We always say at Escentual.com it’s about whatever works for our customers. For some women glamming themselves up is an important part of the whole night out experience, often with friends. While others just prefer to feel more comfortable and chose a more natural look.'
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Merseyside tops list with 46 per cent taking three hours to get ready .
Women from Susan Boyle's hometown of West Lothian amongst those who spend just fifteen minutes getting ready .
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A young British man has been arrested in Bangladesh on suspicion of recruiting would-be jihadists to fight for Islamic State terrorists in Syria and Iraq. The man, who police named as Samiun Rahman alias Ibne Hamdan, is understood to be of Bangladeshi origin and was arrested near the Kamalapur Railway area of the capital city Dhaka. He is also suspected of having attempted to recruit militants in the northern city of Sylhet - where he is understood to have relatives - having reportedly first arrived in the country about six months ago to scout for potential extremists. Scroll down for video . Militants: The young British man (third from left) named as Samiun Rahmanwas was arrested in Bangladesh . The arrested man has been identified as Samiun Rahman, sources at the media wing of Dhaka Metropolitan Police told local newspapers. He is believed to have arrived in Bangladesh in February and used social media websites including Facebook to sound out local men about their interest in joining ISIS, according Monirul Islam - joint commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police - who was speaking at a press briefing today. He targetted Muslims from Myammar as well as Bangladesh, Mr Islam added, before saying: 'He also went to Morocco and Mauritania but we are yet to know the reason behind his trips'. 'From his passport we came to know that he went to Syria in September last year and took part in the demonstration against Bashar al- Assad,' the DMP spokesperson went on to say. Investigators: Dhaka Metropolitan Police believe Samiun Rahman arrived in Bangladesh in February and used social media websites including Facebook to sound out local men about their interest in joining ISIS . The news comes just days after a 22-year-old university student - who also had links to the northern city of Sylhet - was arrested in Dhaka on suspicion of recruiting would-be fighters for ISIS. Hafizur Rahman, who was studying at Sylhet's Tibbiya Government College, was arrested in the capital's Purana Paltan area of Dhaka on Thursday after being reported for recruiting militants. Just one day before Hafizur Rahman's arrest, local police detained Asif Adnan, 26, and Fazle Elahi Tanzil, 24, who were allegedly travelling to join ISIS militants in Syria, assisted by an unnamed Briton. It is understood the suspected would-be jihadists were planning to travel to a Turkish airport popular with tourists, before travelling by road to the Syrian border and then slipping across into the warzone. Porous border: It is understood the suspected would-be jihadists were planning to travel to a Turkish airport popular with tourists, before travelling to the Syrian border (pictured) and then slipping into the warzone . Samiun Rahman's arrest came just two days after Bangladeshi detectives revealed they were searching for a London-based ISIS agent who had recruited several young men arrested in recent weeks, according to the Telegraph. Three alleged recruits were arrested last week, including the son of a retired judge and the other the son of a senior civil servant. They had been told they would travel to Syria via Turkey posing as followers of Tabligh Jamaat - an Islamic religious study group not affiliated with any terror collective. Officers first learned that a 24-year-old British man from East London had been enlisting ISIS fighters when they arrested seven young Islamic extremists, the newspaper added. Among those arrested were an associate of Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis - the 21-year-old student behind the failed 2012 attack on New York's Federal Reserve Bank. Approaching: Reports that ISIS militants are now just one mile from Baghdad came from the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East - an organisation supporting the work of Canon Andrew White . Fear: Canon Andrew White, is the vicar of Baghdad's St George's Church - the only Anglican church in Iraq. Earlier Canon White had claimed the terrorist group were six miles from the city . RAF jets flew armed sorties for a second day over Iraq yesterday – but again failed to locate any suitable targets for their weapons. Defence chiefs insisted that the flights by Tornado GR4 fighter-bombers were invaluable for gathering intelligence on the Islamist jihadists who have swept across large swathes of Iraq and Syria, carrying out massacres. But the failure to unleash any firepower has fuelled concern that Britain is failing to pull its weight in the international coalition against Islamic State. It came as military commanders warned that Britain should brace itself to be dragged into a ground war in Iraq to crush IS, which is also known as Isis and Isil. Former top brass also warned that the air campaign would be futile unless the UK could target the terrorists in Syria. While the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the RAF's third mission had – like on Saturday – failed to locate any targets, US-led coalition aircraft targeted four makeshift oil refineries under IS control in Syria, as well as a command centre. The mobile refineries generate up to £1.2million a day for the militants. The news comes amid reports of fierce fighting in the Baghdad suburbs where ISIS militants are trying to seize control of the Iraqi capital - despite ongoing Western airstrikes against them. The fighting is taking place just one mile to the west of the city, with government forces desperately trying to hold off the militants, who allegedly killed up to 1,000 soldiers during clashes yesterday. ISIS have held a number of towns and villages close to the Iraqi capital since earlier in the year, when government troops melted away following a lightning advance in the west of the country - enabling the terrorist group to seize further swaths of territory for their so-called caliphate. Reports that ISIS militants are now just one mile from Baghdad came from the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East - an organisation supporting the work of Canon Andrew White, vicar of the city's St George's Church, the only Anglican church in Iraq. In a message posted on Facebook, the group said: 'The Islamic State are now less than 2km away from entering Baghdad. They said it could never happen and now it almost has. 'Obama says he overestimated what the Iraqi Army could do. Well you only need to be hear a very short while to know they can do very very little,' they added. The claims were backed up by Canon White himself, who shared the message just hours after he had earlier suggested the group were approximately six miles from Baghdad.
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Local police named arrested Briton as Samiun Rahman, alias Ibne Hamdan .
They suspect him of recruiting militants for ISIS in two Bangladeshi cities .
He arrived in the country in February, having previously spent time in Syria .
Suspected militant recruiter also recently visited Morocco and Mauritania .
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Georgine Benvenuto was left with cuts to her nose and chin after a mistletoe drone crashed into her face during a launch event at TGI Friday's . It was supposed to provide the perfect festive romantic moment: a mistletoe drone that would get diners at TGI Friday's to kiss on camera. But the restaurant's plan to lure in festive diners went horribly wrong after one of the machines smashed into a photographer's face at a launch event in New York. Georgine Benvenuto was left in shock after the machine flew into her face, slicing off the tip of her nose and cutting open a section of her lip. The ten-inch drone became so entangled in Miss Benvenuto's hair that she even feared she would lose an eye. The incident took place as Miss Benvenuto and other journalists gathered at the Sheepshead Bay restaurant to witness the four-bladed drones embark on their maiden flight. Miss Benvenuto told Business Insider: 'If that would've hit me in my eye, I wouldn't be working tomorrow. 'If this thing continued to spin, it would've taken my eye out without a doubt.' The drama unfolded after the photojournalist arrived at the restaurant to take a photo of a couple kissing beneath the remote-controlled helicopter. Miss Benvenuto admitted she had been uncomfortable with the set-up from the start - particularly when she realised the shoot would take place inside the establishment. She told the Daily Intelligencer that she felt 'uneasy' that the drone could interfere with or hurt the kissing couple while it was hovering over them. But Miss Benvenuto got to work, managing to successfully take photos of the couple kissing beneath the larger of the two drones. After that, pilot David Quiones decided to show reporter Vanessa Ogle from the Brooklyn Daily - another journalist invited to the launch - how the drone could land on her hand. But something went wrong when the reporter 'flinched' - causing the drone to 'fly into' Miss Benvenuto's face. She said: 'It kind of landed, but it did something to her hand - I don't know whether it was buzzing or what - but she flinched. 'And when she flinched - I was standing maybe a foot away from her - and this smaller toy drone for children flies into my face at that point.' A wire from the craft became entangled in Miss Benvenuto's hair as she sat with other reporters to see the drones take their first flight . A photographer has been injured by one of TGI Friday's mistletoe drones after it lost control and hit her in the face, leaving her with cuts on her nose and lip (file image) The photographer told how the fishing wire, which was used to connect the mistletoe to the drone, became trapped in her hair. It then began 'twirling and twirling and twirling' on her nose as Miss Benvenuto attempted to 'shoo it away', eventually cutting her on the chin. Miss Benvenuto was soon able to remove the drone from her hair and grabbed tissues to stem the bleeding. But she claims Mr Quiones did not help her in her moment of turmoil - and did not even remove his hands from the controls. She claims he had even told Miss Benvenuto that the drone could not cut her, prompting her to put her finger to her nose and say: 'It just did'. After the crash, Mr Quiones blamed the accident on the reporter 'flinching' when he tried to negotiate the craft's landing. He also said that diners would not be put off by the accident, because everyone is well aware of the risks. According to the Brooklyn Daily, he said: 'If people get hurt, they're going to come regardless. People get hurt in airplanes, they still fly. There is a risk involved - anything flying, there is risk.' After the accident the drone pilot blamed a fellow diner for the accident, saying she flinched when he tried to land it on her hand, which sent it careening into the woman's face . TGI Friday's was using two drones to romance diners when the accident took place - one small craft with four blades and a larger one with six uncovered propellers. The accident involved the smaller of the two. A spokesman for the restaurant chain said that events in Long Island and Texas had passed without any bloodshed and tried to reassure diners that the risk of injury is low. TGI Fridays launched the drone gimmick after research revealed that 47 per cent of Americans have never enjoyed a kiss under the mistletoe. The study also found that just 27 percent of people were planning to lock lips with someone under the festive plant this year - something the restaurant hopes to change. Pilot David Quiones said he didn't think the crash would put diners off coming to the restaurant, adding: 'People get hurt in airplanes, they still fly. There is a risk involved - anything flying, there is risk' The drone, which can fly at speeds of up to 35mph usually hovers around 8ft above couples, before swooping in for the kiss. 'Everyone loves a good Christmas party, but we all know things can be a bit awkward until someone breaks the ice,' said TGI Fridays marketing manager Rachel Waller of the drone's uses. 'We wanted to see how we could make Christmas get-together in our restaurants even more entertaining. 'We offered guests the encouragement they need to make their move. 'Our mistletoe drones are the perfect way to do this. Not only are they great fun for the entire restaurant, but they help people get a little closer at this romantic time of the year. 'Maybe we'll have had our first mistletoe drone wedding by this time next year.' A spokesman for TGI Friday's said launch events in Long Island and Texas had passed without any bloodshed, and tried to reassure customers that the risk of injury is low .
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TGI Friday launched mistletoe drone to tempt diners into kissing .
But the flying machines drew blood at launch event in New York yesterday .
Photographer Georgine Bevenuto was hit in face as she took photos .
The machine became tangled in her hair and 'would've taken out her eye'
Pilot blamed fellow journalist, saying she flinched as he tried to land craft on her hand .
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By . Lydia Warren . A trio of eighth graders from Brooklyn have rocked their way to a $1.7 million record deal with Sony. Thirteen-year-old guitarist Malcolm Brickhouse, 13-year-old bassist Alec Atkins and 12-year-old drummer Jarad Dawkins have signed a two-album deal with the option for four more records for their metal band, Unlocking the Truth. They are promised $60,000 for their first album and could get an advance of $350,000 for their second, the New York Daily News reported. They are also working on a book and a documentary. Malcolm and Jarad started the band before asking their childhood friend Alec to play bass, even though he didn't know how, their website explains. Scroll down for video . On their way up: (From left to right) Alec Atkins, Jarad Dawkins and Malcolm Brickhouse of Unlocking the Truth pose at this year's Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, where they played . After the two friends taught him how to play, they started performing in Times Square and Washington Square Park, backed by their parents. After they posted videos of their gritty performances on YouTube, they started picking up followers - including Eric Clapton's drummer who helped them get gigs across the region. In one video in Times Square last summer, Malcolm's father can be heard telling an impressed bystander: 'This is their biggest crowd... But they'll be playing a lot biggger.' He added that they weren't looking for a singer but wanted to wait until the boys' voices broke. Their voices have since deepened and they all share singing duties and are taking vocal lessons. Rocking out: 13-year-old Brickhouse performs at Coachella in April - just a few years after he started playing shows in Times Square in New York City with his friends . Rock star: He is pictured crowd surfing at the show. His band will release at least two albums with Sony . Since being picked up on YouTube, they have played at the Apollo Theater, Webster Hall, during a . Brooklyn Nets playoff game and at the Coachella music festival earlier this year. In June, they even opened for Guns N' Roses - getting a personal thanks on Twitter from the band - and will soon open for Queens of the Stone Age. Annette Jackson, Malcolm's mother . and the group's co-manager, said Sony contacted them and wanted to offer a contract over the phone but flew the boys out to Los Angeles first. They performed for Sony and papers have been filed in . Manhattan Supreme Court because the boys are minors and need court approval to sign a contract, the Daily News explained. Where it all began: The teens (and tween) are pictured at Times Square, where they first started playing . Fans: Guns N' Roses gave the boys a shout out in June after they opened for them in Las Vegas . Famous friends: The boys are pictured with Lemmy Kilmister from Motorhead, left, and Slash, right . They will complete two albums and have the option for four more. If they work with Sony on all six albums, the boys could earn as much as $1.7 million, the Daily News reported. 'It's so exciting. We're jumping over the moon,' Dawkins' mother, Tabatha Dawkins, said. But she said that despite the excitement of their music career, the boys have something else to focus on first - their education. 'School work comes first,' she said. 'If their school work is not done, they don't play.'
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Malcolm Brickhouse, 13, Alec Atkins, 13, and Jarad Dawkins, 12, have been playing with their metal band, Unlocking the Truth, for a few years .
They started by playing on the street in Times Square and other city parks .
They went on to become a YouTube success and have since played at Coachella and recently opened for Guns N' Roses .
They have signed a two album contract with Sony, with the option for four more albums, and also have a book and documentary in the works .
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Scores of officers from the Ministry of Defence police are under investigation for allegedly skipping vital security patrols and even taking naps while on duty at a nuclear bomb factory. As many as 50 officers are involved in the inquiry, which centres around security failures at a branch of the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Burghfield, Berkshire. There are claims that some were even sleeping on the job at the 225-acre complex, where technicians build Trident nuclear warheads. Nuclear weapons factory: As many as 50 Ministry . of Defence Police officers are involved in an inquiry into alleged . security failures at a branch of the Atomic Weapons Establishment at . Burghfield, Berkshire (pictured) The MoD has reported . the allegations to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. It . added that seven officers have resigned without facing disciplinary . charges. A source told the . Daily Mirror: 'At least some of the police were sleeping on the job when . they missed the patrols. This is highly embarrassing at such a key . facility.' Protests are . regularly held - and arrests made - at the massive high-security complex . near Reading, one of two sites where the ballistic missile warheads . have been built, maintained and decommissioned since 1992. Peter . Burt, of atomic weapons campaign group the Nuclear Information Service, . called the accusations against the armed policemen supposed to be . guarding the sensitive site complex 'astonishing'. 'The . government never misses an opportunity to tell us how sites like this . are at constant risk from terrorists,' he told the paper. 'It's clear there have been problems with security and supervision at a high level.' Armed and dangerous: The MoD called in the . Independent Police Complaints Commission after officers were accused of . failing to complete patrols and sleeping on the job at the highly . sensitive site near Reading . The MoD denied claims that staff were being investigated for sleeping on the job. The . spokesman said that disciplinary action was immediately initiated due . to the seriousness of nuclear security and where appropriate, officers . have been removed from the site to other duties pending the conclusion . of the misconduct investigation. The . MoD spokesman added: 'We can confirm a number of officers are under . investigation for failing to complete their full patrols at the Atomic . Weapons Establishment. 'The . investigation is ongoing and the Independent Police Complaints . Commission has been notified. It would be inappropriate to comment . further while the case is ongoing, however we can be clear that at no . point was the security of the site or its nuclear assets compromised.' The . spokesman said security at AWE sites is constantly reviewed and . Ministry of Defence Police will work to ensure that any improvements . needed as a result of the investigation are implemented. The allegations only relate to a small proportion of the patrolling requirement at the site, the spokesman added. Distinct . from the Royal Military Police, which is drawn from the Army, the MoD . police is a 2,700-strong civilian force which guards military and . 'Critical National Infrastructure' sites across the country. Its . officers have the same powers as normal police, but all MoD police are . trained to use guns and 90 per cent are armed at any given time - . usually with Heckler & Koch submachine guns.
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MoD calls in IPCC over accusations of failures at AWE site at Burghfield .
As many as 50 officers are involved in the inquiry, and seven have resigned .
Burghfield factory makes the warheads for Trident ballistic missiles .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 01:05 EST, 21 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 04:54 EST, 21 December 2012 . Julian Assange said that the ‘door is open’ for talks to break the deadlock over his campaign to avoid extradition to Sweden as he addressed supporters and media from a balcony last night. The WikiLeaks founder made a rare public appearance at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to mark the six-month anniversary of his sudden arrival at the building in June . The Australian has since been granted political asylum in Ecuador but has remained inside the embassy as he will be arrested if he steps outside over breaking his bail conditions. Scroll down to watch . Rare appearance: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange addressing media and supporters on a balcony at the Ecuadorian Embassy last night . Last night, Mr Assange thanked his supporters, who stood in the street outside, some carrying lighted candles. He said: ‘Six months ago I entered this building. It has become my home, my office and my refuge. ‘Thanks to the principled stance of the Ecuadorian government and the support of its people, I am safe in this embassy and safe to speak from this embassy.’ He said he had been sustained by the solidarity of his supporters and people around the world supporting WikiLeaks and freedom of the press. ‘While my freedom is limited, I am still able to work and communicate, unlike the 232 journalists who are in jail tonight.’ Feeling victorious: Mr Assange's appearance marks the six-month anniversary of him entering the central London embassy in June 2012 . Strong support: A candlelight vigil was held outside the embassy as Julian Assange took to the balcony . Mr Assange is wanted for questioning in Sweden over allegations of sexual assault, which he denies. He fears being sent to the United States to be questioned over his whistle-blowing website. He said tonight that the Pentagon claimed recently that the existence of WikiLeaks was an ‘ongoing crime’. The Australian continued: 'While that remains the case and while my government will not defend the journalism and publishing of WikiLeaks, I must remain here. ‘However, the door is open, and the door has always been open, for anyone who wishes to use standard procedures to speak to me or guarantee my safe passage.' There was an added police presence outside the embassy and TV crews from across the world filmed his speech. Wikileaks supporters outside the Ecuadorian Embassy last night were calling for Assange to be freed, believing his extradition to Sweden would lead to him being handed over to the U.S. Light for Assange: Wikileaks fans wait impatiently for Mr Assange to appear on the balcony . Some of Mr Assange’s friends and supporters listened to his speech from inside the embassy, which had a Christmas tree in the reception area and many cards dotted around. Mr Assange made special mention of Bradley Manning, the American soldier arrested over the leaking of military information. He said he wanted to salute reporters and publications which had covered arrests around the world of journalists and others. ‘It is from the revelation of the truth that all else follows. Our buildings can only be as tall as their bricks are strong. ‘And our civilisation is only as strong as its ideas are true. When our buildings are erected by the corrupt, when their cement is cut with dirt, when pristine steel is replaced by scrap, our buildings are not safe to live in.’ Mr Assange said WikiLeaks was under a continuing criminal investigation, but 2012 had been a 'huge year' for the organisation.
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Julian Assange's appearance marked six-month anniversary at the embassy .
WikiLeaks founder said 'door is open' for talks about safe passage regarding his extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual assault .
Said 2012 had been a 'huge year' for WikiLeaks and praised his supporters .
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Washington (CNN) -- Desiree Rogers, the White House social secretary, plans to step down, the Obama administration announced Friday. Her office came under scrutiny after a couple who lacked an invitation were allowed into President Obama's first state dinner. "We are enormously grateful to Desiree Rogers for the terrific job she's done as the White House social secretary," the president and first lady said in a statement released Friday. In an interview on Friday, Rogers said she was leaving voluntarily and that her decision was unrelated to the fallout over the security breach. "It has nothing to do with that," she said. "It's Secret Service's job to handle security. Not the social secretary's office." The Obamas' statement did not mention November's party-crashing incident . "When she took this position, we asked Desiree to help make sure that the White House truly is the people's house, and she did that by welcoming scores of everyday Americans through its doors, from wounded warriors to local schoolchildren to NASCAR drivers. "She organized hundreds of fun and creative events during her time here, and we will miss her. We thank her again for her service and wish her all the best in her future endeavors." Rogers said in an e-mail to CNN on Friday, "It has been incredible setting the foundation for the [White House] for this historical presidency. Headed back to private sector." "I accomplished initially what I came to do," Rogers said later. "I like strategy. I like building something. It's built... the foundation of the [social secretary's] office is good and solid." Rogers would not say where she'll be working. She said she'll be "around to work on the transition" to a new social secretary at the White House. She summed up her experiences at the White House in another note: "330 events. Halloween for 3,000. Easter egg roll for 30,000. Music series with performances and the performers teaching the students during the day. Latin, jazz, country, civil rights. " In December, the White House was accused of stonewalling as Congress investigated the party-crasher security breach at Obama's first state dinner. At issue was whether the White House was protecting Rogers from testifying about how Tareq and Michaele Salahi were able to crash the first White House state dinner. The couple did not have an invite but were allowed in. Rogers' office planned the dinner. At the time, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said his agency would take the heat for the incident. "This is our fault and our fault alone," he told federal lawmakers. "There's no other people to blame here. ... Look at me and blame me," he told members of the House Homeland Security Committee. CNN's Ed Henry, Suzanne Malveaux and John King contributed to this report .
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Desiree Rogers came under scrutiny after White House state dinner .
She says her decision is unrelated to the fallout over the security breach.
"Headed back to private sector," she says in e-mail .
"We are enormously grateful ... for the terrific job she's done," Obamas say .
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The Justice Department Tuesday announced that it has launched an investigation of the Albuquerque, New Mexico, police department involving allegations of excessive force use and use of unreasonable deadly force. At a news conference, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said investigators will try to determine whether the city's police officers engaged in a pattern or practice of excessive force in violation of federal laws and constitutional rights. Perez and other civil rights officials met with Albuquerque's mayor and police chief, who pledged their full cooperation with the probe Perez said. "Let me be clear: this is a civil investigation not a criminal investigation," Perez said. A letter from the Justice Department to Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry said the investigation was being headed by the department's civil rights division and by the U.S. attorney's office in New Mexico. Neither the Justice Department nor local officials offered specifics of any cases that were being investigated. Berry said in a statement that the Justice probe was "an investigation concerning officer use of force and systems and policies that have been in place for decades in many cases." Both Berry and Police Chief Ray Schultz issued statements in response to the Department of Justice announcement, and both local officials indicated their city and department had been cooperating with federal investigators for about a year in what Berry called "an informal inquiry" into the police department. Schultz in his statement praised his department but added, "we know that we are not always perfect and that there is always room for improvement." In 2010, Schultz said, "when we first noticed an increased number of police/citizen interactions resulting in force it was the men and women of APD who immediately began identifying ways to improve the quality of police services that we deliver. Their recommendations, along with 39 additional ones from the Police Executive Research Forum, were adopted, and to date, over 92% have been implemented." Schultz said he and his officers "look forward to working with the DOJ investigative team and its panel of experts and identifying any additional steps that we can take to improve our department and our community." The Justice Department's Perez said the Albuquerque investigation brings the total number of active Justice Department civil probes into police departments to 14 nationwide. Feds and Seattle police settle over excessive force allegations . Feds find cause to believe Portland police use excessive force on mentally ill .
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The DOJ says it now has 14 civil probes of police departments underway nationwide .
The latest is an investigation into allegations of excessive force in Albuquerque .
Both the mayor and police chief in Albuquerque pledge full cooperation .
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A man was seriously ill in hospital last night after he was bitten by an adder. The 44-year-old was flown to hospital by air ambulance after being struck three times by the snake in Dalby Forest. The victim, who has not been named, was treated at the scene by paramedics. Scroll down for video . A man is seriously ill after being bitten by an adder, file picture, at an adventure park in North Yorkshire . Alan Eves, of the Forestry Commission, said Dalby Forest has a ‘thriving population’ of the snakes. Although . an adder’s venom poses little danger to healthy adults, the bites can . be extremely painful and require urgent medical attention. The last person to die from an adder bite in Britain is believed to have been a five-year-old child in Scotland in 1975. In the wild, their venom immobilises small prey such as lizards, amphibians, nestlings and small mammals. Adders strike and then leave the venom to take effect, before returning to devour their prey. Last month, an 11-year-old boy was bitten by a poisonous snake as he went to retrieve his football from a bramble bush. Carl Jefferies was playing near his home outside Bolton, in Lancashire, when he lost the ball on a grassy area. As he went to retrieve it, an adder sank its fangs into his left leg. He was treated successfully in hospital. The man was bitten near the Go-Ape outdoor adventure site, pictured in Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire . Serious but stable: The victim was airlifted to the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough .
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Man was bitten three times by an adder, only venomous snake found in UK .
Happened while he was near a Go-Ape adventure site in North Yorkshire .
44-year-old was airlifted to Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital .
Victim from Doncaster said to be in a serious but stable condition .
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Chancellor George Osborne has flown in the face of mounting rage at Royal Bank of Scotland's decision to award it boss a £1million bonus by claiming that it 'could have been worse for the taxpayer'. To widespread fury, the taxpayer-owned bank awarded its Chief Executive Stephen Hester a bonus worth £963,000, more than many ordinary workers earn in a lifetime. While the bank insists it has shown restraint - claiming its chief executive was 'entitled' to £1.5million - the decision has become a lightning rod for public disgust at the culture of rewards for failure. Bonus: Royal Bank of Scotland's Stephen Hester was given £1m, despite a catalogue of failures and his decision to axe 3,500 jobs, but the decision was defended by the Chancellor George Osborne, right . Clear criticism is raining down from all corner; Labour leader Ed Miliband; London Mayor Boris Johnson; Bank of England Governor Mervyn King; Lib Dem Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne, trade unions and taxpayers watchdogs. However, Osborne, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, came out in defence of the decision. He excused the Government of blame but then claimed the £1m award was value for the taxpayer. 'I’ve always said that levels of pay across banking and financial services are too high,' he said. 'But this pay for Stephen Hester - the bonus - was set by the board of RBS under the arrangements that were put in place by the previous government, and of course Stephen Hester was the person brought in to sort out the mess at RBS after it collapsed. 'I think the important point for people to understand is that the alternatives would have been worse for the taxpayer. 'Either there would have been a much larger bonus, of the kind he would have got a few years ago. 'Or the British Government would have had to take over complete ownership of RBS and over-ruled the board, and I think that would have cost the taxpayer more as well. Away days: Osborne's comments came while speaking at the World Economic Forum, which is taking place in the Swiss ski resort of Davos . 'I understand people’s frustration about levels of pay across the banking sector, but the alternatives, when it came to Stephen Hester’s bonus, would have been worse for the taxpayer.' RBS, which received a £45 billion state bailout, has seen its share price slump by 40 per cent, giving the taxpayer a paper loss of billions of pounds. Osborne's comments come just days after ministers announced a crackdown on executive pay and David Cameron said a seven-figure sum for Mr Hester would be unacceptable. The Prime Minister said rewards for failure made ‘people’s blood boil’ when – in the words of Mervyn King – hard-up Britons were suffering 'a ferocious squeeze'. But Cameron has been placed in a very difficult position, not just by Osborne's inflammatory comments, but also by criticism today which has come from within the coalition government. Speaking on BBC1's Question Time, Lib Dem Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne said Hester had earned more in three days than a soldier serving on the frontline in Afghanistan would earn in a year. Angry: David Cameron said that the rewards for failure make people's 'blood boil' while Lib Dem minister Jeremy Browne, right said Hester had a duty to refuse the bonus, which is more than a soldier earns a year . ''I think he should reflect on that,' said Mr Browne. 'He . is working for a company which is five sixths owned by us, the . taxpayer, and I think he has to think like a public servant, not like . someone who's there to line their own pocket. 'He needs to think like a public servant who has a duty to his country, not just his own wealth.' 'No-one's forcing him to take this money. He could struggle on with £1.2m.' David Cameron is now facing pressure from within the coalition to back up his rhetoric with action. Labour leader Ed Miliband seized the opportunity today to pressure Cameron, saying that the pay award showed the Prime Minister had failed to live up to his rhetoric on executive pay and shareholder activism. 'It's a disgraceful failure of leadership by the Prime Minister,' he said. 'He’s been promising for months action against excessive bonuses, executive pay, and now he’s nodded through a million-pound bonus. Pressuring the PM: Ed Miliband, left, said the pay award was a clear failure of leadership from David Cameron while Boris Johnson said he was 'at a loss' to explain the size of the bonus . 'He’s also been lecturing shareholders about how they need to be more active in holding executives to account. 'He owns, through the British Government, 83% of the Royal Bank of Scotland. 'He must now explain, not least to the British people, why he has allowed this to happen.' London mayor Boris Johnson joined the condemnation, saying he was 'at a loss to justify' the scale of the payment. Protest: A man wearing a 'fat cat' suit stands outside Royal Bank of Scotland in London, with a cigar yesterday as the bank met to decide on the bonus . He said he had sympathy for Mr Hester and wanted an end to 'incessant banker-bashing'. But . he went on: 'I find it absolutely bewildering because RBS occupies the . same status in the economy as Gosbank did in the Soviet Union: it’s a . state-owned bank. 'The idea that this is not in the control of the Government seems to me to be far-fetched.' Protesters from civic campaign group . Avaaz are due to gather at the RBS headquarters in London later to call . for bonuses to be dropped. Trade union leaders have also vented . their anger at the size of the bonus, pointing out that millions of . public sector workers were facing a pay freeze and lower pensions as . well as job losses. David Fleming, Unite national officer, said: 'What planet does Stephen Hester and his banking chums live on? 'Taking almost £1 million from . taxpayers' pockets as a bonus is utterly disgusting and offensive to . every working person across the country. How can a Royal Bank of . Scotland senior banker who is responsible for sacking over 21,000 . workers be rewarded in this way?' TUC general secretary Brendan Barber . said: 'Ordinary people facing the biggest squeeze in their living . standards for decades and businesses desperate for credit will not . understand why Mr Hester should get such a huge bonus. 'The Government has been lecturing . public servants about how they must accept a pay freeze and a big . increase in pension contributions. They seem to have made an exception . for Britain's best paid civil servant.' Paul Kenny, general secretary of the . GMB union, said: 'A bonus of nearly a million pounds looks to ordinary . people like he has won the lottery - with a ticket they paid for.' David Hillman, spokesman for the . Robin Hood Tax campaign, said: 'Curbing Hester's bonus at state-owned . RBS is a small step in the right direction but nowhere near enough. Criticism: Sir Mervyn King said it would be wrong if rewards go to a small elite earlier this week, while TUC leader Brendan Barber said the Government's lectures on pay freezes clearly don't apply to Hester . It is believed any payout to Hester would be in shares rather than cash, and deferred for three years. Senior Government sources said they . were satisfied Mr Hester’s bonus, which was £2m last year, had been cut and insisted he had to be . paid well or be lost to a better-paid job in the private sector. Gary Greenwood, an analyst at Shore . Capital, agreed and argued that the real test of Hester's pay is how . much he could earn somewhere else. Sir Philip Hampton, chairman of RBS, . said the bonus was fair, adding: ‘A safer and more valuable RBS is in . the interests of our customers, shareholders and the UK economy. ‘We are progressing well toward this goal under the leadership of Stephen Hester.’ But Hester’s bonus is just the first of many for staff at a bank in the process of laying off 3,500 employees. The bank fell slightly short of its . target for lending to small firms under the government’s Project Merlin . initiative to get credit flowing through the economy, . Critics argue the Merlin goals are faulty as they measure banks’ ‘capacity’ to lend – the money they make available in theory. Small firms claim the banks have hiked up loan charges and fees, deterring businesses from taking up the funds. Under the terms of Merlin, RBS and . the country’s other four biggest banks pledged to lend small and . medium-sized firms £76billion in 2011. Between January and September, . this should have seen them hand out £57billion – and they fell £1billion . short. Lord Oakeshott said RBS, which is 83 . per cent state owned following its bail-out in 2008, was ‘the worst . culprit by far’ among the banks. RBS earlier this month announced a . further 3,500 job losses in its investment banking operation, on top of . 2,000 announced previously. The bank has shed around 30,000 staff in the . past two years, 22,000 of them in the UK.
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Chancellor flies in the face of widespread anger over £1m bonus awarded to RBS boss Steven Hester .
Lib Dem Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne said Hester earns more in three days than a soldier serving in Afghanistan would earn in a year .
Criticism from inside Coalition puts David Cameron under pressure to act .
Ed Miliband claims the award is a clear 'failure of leadership' from the PM .
Boris Johnson says he is 'at a loss' to explain the size of the bonus .
Bank claims it showed 'restraint' as Stephen Hester was entitled to £1.5m .
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Washington (CNN) -- By the time President Barack Obama walked into a packed auditorium at the White House Monday, his economic message for the day had already been eclipsed by the unfolding tragedy at the Washington Navy Yard. And that was before the city's mayor announced that 12 people and the gunman had been shot dead. As the White House shifted again into disaster-response mode, the president's already-full plate got a lot fuller. And while the executive branch is more than capable of keeping multiple balls in the air, the topics Obama has been looking to push for months are again receding into the background. Here are five things Obama thought he'd spend his Monday doing: . 1 -- The financial crisis, five years later . On September 15, 2008, that financial services giant Lehman Brothers filed for what would become the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history -- launching an economic spiral that saw the unemployment rate spike, home prices plummet and the auto industry sink into insolvency. On Monday, the president planned to mark the five-year anniversary of the financial crisis with a robust accounting of his own achievements in bringing the economy back from the brink and to warn congressional Republicans not to risk another downturn by playing politics with the country's finances. "At the moment, Republicans in Congress don't seem to be focused on how to grow the economy and build the middle class," Obama said at his Monday event, which was pushed back almost an hour as law enforcement officers flooded the Washington Navy Yard in the southeastern part of the city. His economic remarks come just weeks before major financial deadlines, including the end of the federal government's 2013 fiscal year on Sept. 30. Obama must also narrow down his list of potential replacements for Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve, a list that no longer includes Larry Summers, a former adviser who Sunday withdrew his name from consideration. But the economic message Monday came only after Obama noted the shooting that had just taken place across town, offering the now-familiar assurances that the perpetrator of the attack would be held responsible. "We're going to be investigating thoroughly what happened, as we do so many of these shootings, sadly, that have happened, and do everything that we can to try to prevent them," Obama said, before moving on to the latest developments in... 2 -- Syria. The crisis over Bashar al-Assad's chemical weapons had occupied the bulk of the president's time during the past two weeks, but on Monday the attack in Washington led his morning meetings. White House officials said Obama was briefed "several times" by his top counterterrorism officials on the unfolding Navy Yard situation. At the same time, officials at the United Nations were putting final touches on a long-awaited report that confirmed what many already suspected -- that sarin gas loaded onto rockets was used to kill more than a thousand Syrians in August. The report didn't place blame for the attacks; that didn't stop Obama's National Security Adviser Susan Rice from asserting in a statement the report "reinforces our assessment that these attacks were carried out by the Syrian regime." While a diplomatic solution hammered out over the weekend between the United States and Russia may provide a way to avoid a military strike on Syria, the accord is by no means final. "We took an important step in that direction towards moving Syria's chemical weapons under international control so they can be destroyed," Obama said at his Monday event. "And we're not there yet, but if properly implemented, this agreement could end the threat these weapons pose, not only to the Syrian people but to the world." Under the U.S.-Russia plan, Assad has a week to provide a list of his chemical weapons, where they're located and how they were made. But experts aren't certain he'll comply with the demands, leaving open the possibility of American airstrikes against his regime. That's a possibility Obama says he's ready for -- though lawmakers from both parties have shown no renewed willingness to approve military strikes in the country. An Obama administration onslaught to persuade senators and congressmen to vote for strikes was met with skepticism last week. For Congress, the Syria debate was a shift from the battle over the government's finances, which some Republicans are using to harden their opposition to... 3 -- Obamacare. The largest piece of legislation Obama can claim -- 2010's Affordable Care Act -- is only beginning to take effect amid ever-louder cries from Republicans that it's bad for patients, doctors and businesses. A group of GOP lawmakers say they'll oppose any government funding plan that maintains funding for Obamacare, effectively threatening a government shutdown if the law stays in effect. The law's health care exchanges take effect Oct. 1, and the Obama administration has been hurriedly pressing healthy young people to register. Without them, rates on the exchanges will be higher. The rollout of Obamacare hasn't always been smooth, a fact Obama has said should be expected for a large law that enacts major changes to the health insurance landscape. But as the rollout date approaches, polls show that Americans are wildly confused about the law's implications. In one survey, many weren't even sure it was still a law. Obama has deployed a parade of high-profile supporters -- including former President Bill Clinton -- to help convince Americans the law offers them a better deal on health insurance. And on Monday he noted that "just two weeks from now, millions of Americans who've been locked out of buying health insurance just because they had a pre-existing condition, just because they had been sick or they couldn't afford it, they're finally going to have a chance to buy quality, affordable health care on the private marketplace." And then there's: . 4 -- Immigration . What seemed like a momentum-fueled bill to overhaul the nation's immigration system was met with a wall of opposition in the House over the summer, and debate hasn't restarted amid the haggling over government funding and the flurry of briefings on Syria's chemical weapons. Obama has strongly urged lawmakers to take up the reform measure, and he said in an interview that aired Sunday the Senate bill would pass if it was put up for a vote in the House. 5 -- Floods out West . It's hurricane season on the East Coast, but the weather disaster over the weekend was playing out thousands of miles away in the Mountain West, where days of heavy rain caused massive flooding that cut off towns and left at least eight people dead. The catastrophe occupied much of the president's time last week; on Thursday he signed a disaster declaration for Colorado, and on Sunday he told Gov. John Hickenlooper in a phone call that he was deploying his emergency management chief to assess the damage.
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The shooting at the Washington Navy Yard led President Obama's talk about the economy .
Obama later touted his achievements since the financial crisis started five years ago .
Obama spent the last few weeks addressing the chemical weapons situation in Syria .
Obamacare's rollout, the stalled immigration bill have gotten lost in the shuffle .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 10:10 EST, 22 May 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:04 EST, 22 May 2012 . Rocketing costs: Jacquie Heal, 44, from Bristol with the paperwork from the care home Sherwood Lodge where her mother is a resident . The family of a pensioner are furious after her care home fees were more than doubled to a staggering £125,000 a year. Pamela Watts, 76, is currently paying £3,543 a month out of her savings to live at a care home in Sandford Station Retirement Village in Somerset. But her fees are now being increased to £10,355 per month, of which the Government contributes just £432. The home, run by the St Monica Trust, says Mrs Watts’ fees have increased because of her complex and challenging needs. She has been given until July to decide whether to pay the increased fees - or move out. Her daughter Jacquie Heal, 44, said her mother will now have to sell her home in Bristol to meet the astronomical costs. Mrs Heal, a housewife, is calling on the Government put a cap on fees at care homes, which are currently free to charge what they like. She said: 'It seems as when you are a privately funded patient, care homes can charge what they like. 'There seems to be no regulatory body controlling the fees or putting a cap on them. 'These fees are extortionate - you could enjoy an all-year luxury cruise or pay three live-in carers a week for the same money.' Mrs Watts suffers from lymphedema, a condition that causes swelling in the body’s tissue, and cannot walk. She moved into Sherwood Lodge in December as she requires a specialist track hoist to move her around. But her daughter says she is still able to carry out everyday tasks herself such as eating and drinking. Mrs Heal added: 'Mum’s only problem is with her lymphedema which causes swollen legs and makes it impossible for her to walk. 'She is articulate and can feed herself, brush her hair and give herself a drink. I think it is outrageous that the fees have risen so much as mum’s needs have not changed.' Sandford Station retirement village is charging a 76-year-old resident £125,000 a YEAR in fees . Mrs Heal, who lives in Cleeve, North Somerset, applied to the government for Continuing Healthcare Funding for help in paying the fees. But the application was refused - as Mrs Watts’ has savings of more than £23,000 and therefore does not qualify for help. Mrs Heal has now written to North Somerset MP Dr Liam Fox and health secretary Andrew Lansley asking for support, as well as appealing to the St Monica Trust. A spokeswoman for St Monica Trust said the price increase will only cover the actual cost Mrs Watts’ care - which is 91 additional staff hours every week, costing £1,365. She said: 'The trust has been very concerned to provide a long-term care solution for Mrs Watts, despite her extremely complex care needs which has arisen as a consequence of various health conditions, weight and lack of mobility. 'The care requirements for Mrs Watts are considerably greater than for all other residents. 'She currently receives an additional 13 hours of dedicated care every day. 'The trust has been providing this additional care, without question, and at its own cost since early December, but we hope people understand that, as a not-for-profit organisation, we cannot continue to do this on an indefinite basis.' But a spokesman for the National Pensioners Convention said the cost was “astronomical”. He said: 'These are astronomical fees. The care home usually charges around £1,000 each week - so this is more than double the average cost. 'There is no cap on fees, no minimum or maximum that care homes have to adhere to. They can charge what they like and what they think they can get away with. 'It is worse than a postcode lottery, it is a home by home lottery with each charging something different. 'It is pretty despicable and an areas that desperately needs to be controlled. In a way it is exploiting an individual who simply cannot afford to sustain such a high cost. 'If she cannot pay, she will be forced to move out and find other care, something that places a great deal of stress and strain on a person.'
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Mrs Watts ,76, has until July to decide whether to pay the increased fees - or move out .
Care home says Mrs Watts receives 13 hours extra additional care compared to other residents .
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By . Simon Jones for MailOnline . Southampton midfielder Gaston Ramirez is in talks over a season-long loan to Sevilla. The 23-year-old was a £12m signing from Bologna but does not figure in new St Mary's manager Ronald Koeman's plans. Sevilla tried to sign the Uruguay attacker last summer but could not agree terms. Now last season's Europa League winners are closing in on a loan with a view to a permanent deal should Ramirez perform well. On the move: Southampton's Gaston Ramirez is in talks over a season-long loan deal with La Liga's Sevilla . Target: The Europa League champions tried to sign Ramirez (right in Saints 2-0 win over Millwall) last summer . Ramirez was hot property signed by Southampton amid interest from Liverpool but was unable to forge a place for himself under Mauricio Pochettino. Earlier this year Ramirez was linked with Serie A club Torino amid a mass exodus of players from the Saints including starts Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana to Anfield and Luke Shaw to Manchester United. It's not too late to play MailOnline Fantasy Football… There's £1,000 to be won EVERY WEEK by the highest scoring manager .
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Gaston Ramirez could move to Sevilla on loan for the season .
The La Liga club attempted to sign the midfielder last summer .
Uruguay midfielder Ramirez as struggle for a regular place at St Mary's .
He was signed to the club on a £12 million deal from Bologna .
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(CNN) -- A wide-eyed, open-mouthed model of a dinosaur hatchling, the theft of which apparently was captured by surveillance cameras, is safely back in its nest at a North Carolina museum exhibit. Police said the statue was inside a bag left Wednesday night near a rear service entrance at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. Museum officials estimated the value of the 12- to 14-inch-long model at $10,000. Logan Todd Ritchey, 21, and Alyssa Ann Lavacca, 21, turned themselves in Thursday morning, according to the North Carolina State Capitol Police. They have been charged with two felony counts of theft or destruction of property of museums. In surveillance images taken Monday, a male in striped shorts is seen climbing over a low glass barrier into a museum exhibit and bending down. He then hops back out over the barrier and puts something in a large, multicolored purse carried by a female accomplice. Security guards discovered the replica was missing the next day. Police also suspect the pair in a similarly odd theft of items at the North Carolina Museum of History. Inventory missing from that museum included a prop cabbage head, a prop corn cob and prop doilies, along with a real medicine bottle, said Jackson Marshall, associate director of the history museum. They were later found at the sciences museum, Marshall said. Police said the suspects have been cooperative in the investigation. "I doubt these two individuals realized the seriousness of tampering with artifacts and exhibits in a public museum," said State Capitol Police Chief Glen Allen.
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Baby dinosaur replica at N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences is valued at about $10,000 .
Two people are shown in surveillance images apparently taking the replica from its exhibit .
The two are also suspected of taking prop veggies and doilies from history museum .
The items missing from the history museum are found at the sciences museum .
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This one was big but it's not the Big One. An 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of northern Chile Tuesday night, triggering small landslides, setting off a tsunami and killing at least five people. But geologists say an even larger quake in the region is lurking. "This magnitude 8.2 is not the large earthquake that we were expecting in this area," said Mark Simons, a geophysicist at Caltech in Pasadena, California. "We're expecting a potentially even larger earthquake." It could be tomorrow. Or it could be 50 years. "We do not know when it's going to occur," he said. Here's why: . Chile sits on an arc of volcanos and fault lines circling the Pacific Ocean known as the "Ring of Fire." This area sees frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The country itself has seen no shortage of seismic activity in recent years. Since 1973, Chile has had more than a dozen quakes of magnitude-7.0 and above. Powerful earthquake strikes off Chile, triggers tsunami . In 2010, about 500 people died when an 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit. That quake was so violent, it moved one whole city about 10 feet west. Simons says Tuesday's quake is of interest because the fault line along Chile's coast has constantly shifted during the last 140 years. In recent weeks, this area has seen a cluster of activity-- something like 50 to 100 smaller quakes. Then, late last month, a 6.7 and a 6.1 magnitude quake struck. When quakes happen, the surface ruptures. The two sides of the fault slip past each other. But the area to the north and south of Tuesday's quake "did not rupture in this event," Simons said. And it's "still an area that hasn't ruptured in 140-odd years." Given that it's an area of frequent quakes, and frequent ruptures, it may only be a matter of time. "We expect another 8.8-8.9 earthquake here sometime in the future," Simons said. The good news? "It may not occur for many, many years." What you need to know about earthquakes . Measuring the magnitude of earthquakes . The place where two earthquakes hit every hour .
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Geologists say an even larger quake in the region is lurking .
Scientist: "We do not know when it's going to occur"
Chile has seen no shortage of seismic activity in recent years .
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A patient believed to have been in a vegetative state for more than a decade has been able to communicate using the power of thought. Scott Routley, who was left severely brain damaged after a car crash, has managed to tell his doctors he is not in any pain. He is one of several such patients being treated using a pioneering technique developed by researchers at Cambridge University. Scroll down for video . Incredible development: Scott Routley (pictured) has been in a vegetative state for ten years but can finally communicate - using the power of thought . Scott’s case marks the first time a patient said to be in a permanent vegetative state has been able to answer questions relating to his care – suggesting he is aware of his condition. It also means he can communicate in a way that could help doctors improve his quality of life. Professor Adrian Owen uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans to detect changes in the flow of the blood around the brain. Scott, from Ontario, Canada, and British patient Alex Seaman both feature in a BBC1 Panorama programme on the groundbreaking approach to brain-injured patients tonight. A team led by Professor Adrian Owen (pointing at screen) study brain scans from Scott Routley . Mr Routley has been able to confirm his father's name and that he has a niece . First, patients are asked to imagine they are playing tennis. This prompts an increase in blood-flow to an area at the front of the brain called the premotor cortex, which can be detected by the scan. Patients are then told to picture themselves walking around different rooms in their house. This activates an entirely separate area of the brain, the parahippocampal gyrus, situated in the middle. A functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) machine measure real-time activity of the brain by tracking the flow of oxygen rich blood in the brain. Patients are asked repeatedly to imagine playing tennis or walking around their home. This demonstrates consciousness. In healthy volunteers imagining the scenarios produces distinct patterns of activity in the brain. Scientists have matched these to a minority of severely injured patients. Once these patterns have been established, patients can answer yes or no by imagining either walking around the home or playing tennis. They are then asked a question and told to imagine they are playing tennis if the answer is no and if yes, to pretend they are walking round the house. From the subsequent changes in blood flow, doctors can work out their answers. The technique has been successfully used on a number of vegetative patients at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge and by Prof Owen at the Brain and Mind Institute of Western Ontario in London, Canada. Prof Owen said: 'Asking a patient . something important to them has been our aim for many years. In future . we could ask that we could do to improve their quality of life.' Scott is the first to have been able . to answer whether he was in pain. On two occasions in the last six . months he has told doctors ‘no’ by imagining he was playing tennis. Until then patients had responded to basic questions such as ‘is your . father’s name Alexander?’ or ‘do you have a niece?’ Doctors hope that over the coming . weeks Scott will be able to answer questions such as what time he . prefers to be bathed or given his dinner. His family also want to know whether he likes listening to ice hockey on the radio. ‘Scott . has been able to show he has a conscious, thinking mind,’ Professor . Owen said. ‘We have scanned him several times and his pattern of brain . activity shows he is clearly choosing to answer our questions. We . believe he knows who and where he is.’ Scott's parents said they always thought he was conscious and could communicate by lifting a thumb or moving his eyes, but this was never accepted by medical staff. Professor . Bryan Young of University Hospital in London, Ontario, who has been . Scott’s neurologist for a decade, said: ‘He had the clinical picture of a . typical vegetative patient – no emotional response, no fixation or . following with his eyes. He didn’t have any spontaneous movements that . looked meaningful and I was quite impressed and amazed that he was able . to show these cognitive responses with fMRI.’ The medical team use brain scanning to detect hidden awareness in patients and to enable them to communicate . The Canadian was asked to imagine playing tennis if he wanted to answer no to various questions while he was in an MRI scanner . Not all vegetative patients can respond using this technique as it requires so much concentration. Professor Owen says that about one in five who have scans can answer questions. Alex de Martelly Seaman, 20, suffered severe brain injuries last year when he jumped off a moving bus. He had to have a large section of his skull removed due to internal bruising. Alex was too ill to have a full assessment at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability in Putney, which collaborates with the team at Cambridge University. However, despite appearing vegetative his brain scans show he is minimally conscious. He has some periods of awareness and may be able to recognise the faces of his family and friends. The Mind Reader: Unlocking My Voice. A Panorama Special, 10:35pm, BBC1 tonight.
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Scott was left severely brain damaged in a car crash 10 years ago .
His parents were convinced he was conscious and trying to respond by moving his thumb, but medical staff didn't believe them .
He has now managed to communicate with doctors by imagining playing tennis for 'No' and walking in his house for 'Yes'
Blood flows to different parts of the brain depending on what he imagines .
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By . Victoria Woollaston . From the construction of its fragile bone structure, to the development of individual organs and the sprouting of feathers - this video may make you think twice about eating quail eggs. A doctor from Lisbon created the time-lapse movie of a developing quail embryo using more than 1,000 separate images taken using a microscope. It has now been awarded first place in the third annual Nikon Instruments Small World in Motion photomicrography competition. Scroll down for the full versions of each video . A doctor from Lisbon has created a time-lapse movie, pictured, of a developing quail embryo using more than 1,000 . separate images taken using a microscope. It has now been awarded first place in the third annual Nikon Instruments Small World in Motion photomicrography competition . The Nikon International Small World . Competition launched in 1975 to celebrate photographers who use a light . microscope, also known as photomicrographers. In 2011, Nikon announced it would start accepting movies taken through the microscope as a new category. This category, called Small World in Motion accepts any video or digital time-lapse photography taken through the microscope. Photographers . can use any type of light microscopy technique, including phase . contrast, polarised light, fluorescence, interference contrast, . darkfield, confocal, deconvolution, and mixed techniques, as well as . record any subject matter. The Nikon International Small World . Competition launched in 1975 to celebrate photographers who use a light . microscope, also known as photomicrographers. In 2011, Nikon announced it would start accepting movies as a new category. This category, called Small World in Motion, accepts any video or digital time-lapse photography taken through the microscope. Photographers . can use any type of light microscopy technique, including phase . contrast, polarised light, fluorescence, interference contrast, . darkfield, confocal, deconvolution, and mixed techniques, as well as . record any subject matter. The winning embryo video was made by Dr. Gabriel G. Martins of The Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia and CBA in Lisbon. His 3D reconstruction of the embryo includes ‘virtual’ slices taken during 10 days of in-egg gestation. Michael Weber of The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Germany won second place with his video showing the beating heart of a two-day old zebrafish embryo. Michael Weber of The Max Planck Institute . of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Germany won second place with . his video showing the beating heart of a two-day old zebrafish embryo, pictured. The heart is only 250 micrometres big, or just slightly larger than the diameter of a human hair . It was reconstructed in 3D after being captured using light sheet fluorescence microscopy in the living zebrafish. The heart is only 250 micrometres big, or just slightly larger than the diameter of a human hair. In one shot, viewers can see the movement of blood cells through the heart and its adjacent vessels. Third place went to Dr. Lin Shao of . the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Farm Research Campus for . his video of a live HeLa, or cancer, cell. It . shows, for the first time, the inner details of the mitochondria in a . living cell within a 3D image and was created using 50 time points. Third place went to Dr. Lin Shao of . the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for his video of a live HeLa, or cancer cell, pictured. It . shows, for the first time, the inner details of the mitochondria in a . living cell within a 3D image and was created using 50 time points . ‘Once again, Nikon received an incredible number of entries for Small World in Motion, but this year’s crop of winners showcase truly incredible and ground-breaking techniques that push the boundaries of imaging,’ said Eric Flem, communications and CRM manager, for Nikon Instruments. ‘These videos embrace the very spirit of this competition, which aims to remind us all that cutting-edge science and imaging are not only happening every day, but can be artistically intriguing as well.’ Nikon Small World in Motion awarded three winners with a first, second, and third place prize, and will award an additional 10 entries with honourable mentions throughout 2014. The judges were science educator and journalist Cara Santa Maria and Michael W. Davidson, Director of the Optical and Magneto-Optical Imaging Center at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University. First place: Dr. Gabriel G. Martins of The Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia and CBA in Lisbon . Second place: Michael Weber of The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Germany . Third place: Dr. Lin Shao of . the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Farm Research Campus .
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Nikon has announced the winners of its photomicrography competition .
The winning video features a 3D reconstruction of a quail embryo .
Second place went to a clip showing a beating heart of a zebrafish embryo .
A video of a live cancer cell within a 3D image took the third prize .
Small World in Motion competition accepts any movie or digital time-lapse photography taken using a microscope .
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Formula One drivers are to be barred from changing helmet designs during the course of a season in a ruling aimed at helping fans identify their heroes and also pleasing traditionalists. It will be less well received by those drivers who like to change the look of their lids with some frequency. The decision was taken by the governing FIA's Formula One Commission, which met on Tuesday, one of those present confirmed to Reuters. It has yet to be ratified by the World Motor Sport Council. Jenson Button is another driver whose been known to change his designs throughout the F1 season . Lewis Hamilton will be affected by Formula One's made the decision to ban helmet design changes . 'The FIA is keen to have stability so people can identify who is in the car,' said the source. 'The new phenomenon of drivers changing helmet every few races isn't helping.' The news received a mixed response on social media, with sportscar racer and former F1 driver Alexander Wurz one of those critical of the decision. Australian Mark Webber, who left Formula One at the end of 2013 and now races for Porsche in sportscars, suggested there were 'bigger issues than this' for the sport to address. Others pointed out that one-off helmets, such as the special design worn by Jenson Button in 2011 and auctioned off to raise funds for victims of a Japanese earthquake and tsunami, would not be allowed. Nor would tribute helmets, such as the James Hunt one worn by Kimi Raikkonen in 2013. According to the autosport.com website, four times world champion Sebastian Vettel has used some 60 different designs since his debut in 2007 -- although he said recently he was likely to stick with one now he was at Ferrari. Former Red Bull driver Mark Webber dismissed the new plans and pointed out that there are 'bigger issues' Tribute helmets like this one worn by Kimi Raikkonen are no longer allowed during the course of the season . Sebastian Vettel will be recognised by his helmet with the new ban coming into place by Formula One . The frequent changes have rankled with more traditionally-minded fans, who yearn for the days when drivers were easily recognisable by helmet colours and when cars also had much bigger numbers on their sides. Britain's two times champion Graham Hill famously raced with the colours of the London Rowing Club, dark blue with white tabs, in the 1960s and 70s with son and 1996 champion Damon following the tradition. The most distinctive helmet of all belonged to the late Brazilian triple world champion Ayrton Senna, who was always associated with his country's yellow and green colours. Ayrton Senna wore his Brazilian colours of green and yellow throughout his extraordinary F1 career .
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Formula One Commission's decision to ban helmet design changes has not been well received by members of the motor racing world .
It is thought the ban is so fans will be able to identify their heroes .
Former F1 drivers Mark Webber and Alexander Wurz condemned the ban .
Click here for all the latest Formula One news .
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By . Sami Mokbel . Follow @@SamiMokbel81_DM . and Simon Jones . Aston Villa have signed free agent Joe Cole on a two-year deal. Manager Paul Lambert wants to add experience to his young squad and believes Cole's ability to retain possession could aid his side. The 32-year-old is the club's second signing of the summer after Philippe Senderos. Captured: Joe Cole has signed a two-year deal with Aston Villa after being released by West Ham . Signed: Joe Cole at Bodymoor Heath having completed a medical on Tuesday morning . Signed: Joe Cole at Bodymoor Heath having completed a medical on Tuesday morning . Free agent: Joe Cole was not given a new contract by West Ham and will now join Aston Villa . Interested: Paul Lambert thinks that the former England playmaker still has something to offer in the top flight . Cole, 32, was released by West Ham last month and has offers abroad, particularly in the MLS. The former England international failed to make the impact he wanted back at West Ham but believed he was played out of position wide as opposed to his favoured central role. But Lambert still feels Cole has a role to play in the Barclays Premier . League and has made him his second signing of the summer following the arrival of Philippe Senderos. Cole suffered from a string of injuries last season, including hamstring and groin problems. He . had also been linked with a reunion with Harry Redknapp at . newly-promoted Queens Park Rangers, while a move to Brighton had also . been mooted. The rise: Cole broke into the West Ham team as a teenager before winning trophies at Chelsea . The fall: Cole has struggled recently, having short spells at Liverpool (left) and Lille before his Hammers return . Still got it? Lambert believes that Cole still has some of the magic that saw him win 56 England caps .
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Cole out of contract after second spell at West Ham .
Injury-hit 32-year-old had also been linked with QPR .
Villa boss Paul Lambert wants to improve squad that finished 15th .
Cole is the club's second signing of the summer after Philippe Senderos .
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By . Emma Glanfield . Pop star Gary Glitter, 70, arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court this morning wearing a cream suit, pink shirt, hat and dark, tinted sunglasses . Gary Glitter was told off for wearing sunglasses as he appeared in court today charged with a string of historic sex attacks on two underage girls. The former pop star, who appeared under his real name Paul Gadd, is charged with eight sex offences against girls aged under 16 in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The allegations include claims that he plied one of the girls with alcohol so he could have sex with her. Dressed in a beige three-piece suit, pink shirt, cream scarf and wearing tinted glasses, Glitter spoke only to confirm his name, age and address during the brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London. He entered no plea during the hearing which lasted less than five minutes. Looking tanned and sporting a white goatee beard, the 1970s glam rock star removed his Panama hat before the start of the proceedings. However, he kept his dark, tinted glasses on, which his defence barrister Christopher Ware explained was necessary because of a 'medical condition'. He added that no ‘disrespect to the court’ was intended. However, deputy chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot was unimpressed and said they would not be acceptable at his next appearance. Glitter spoke slowly and in a clear voice to give his personal details, spelling out his surname, during the hearing. The 70-year-old, from Marylebone in central London, is accused of eight charges, with six relating to one girl and two to another. He is accused of four counts of indecent assault against the first alleged victim, who was aged 12 or 13 at the time, between January 1977 and December that year. Glitter is accused of administering a drug – ‘namely alcohol’ - with the intention to ‘stupefy or overpower’ the girl to enable him to have sex with her between January and May 1977. He also faces one charge of unlawful intercourse with a girl aged under 13 between the same dates. The former singer is accused of . another two counts of indecent assault against a second complainant, who . was aged 13 or 14 at the time, between October 1979 and December 1980. Judge Arbuthnot bailed Glitter until a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on July 3. He was surrounded by photographers as he left following today's hearing, before being driven off in a black taxi. Glitter was the first suspect to be . arrested by Scotland Yard’s Operation Yewtree in 2012, the investigation . set up after Jimmy Savile was exposed as a prolific paedophile. Since his arrest, Glitter has kept a low profile at his £1.2million apartment in London’s fashionable Marylebone district. Scroll down for video . Glitter, from Marylebone in central London, (pictured far left after the hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court) is accused of eight historic sexual offence charges, with six relating to one girl and two to another . The former singer was the first suspect to be arrested by Scotland Yard's Operation Yewtree in 2012 - the investigation set up after Jimmy Savile was exposed as a prolific paedophile . The former pop star, who appeared under his real name Paul Gadd, is charged with eight sex offences against girls aged under 16 in the late 1970s and early 1980s . Dressed in a beige three-piece suit, pink shirt, cream scarf and wearing tinted glasses, Glitter spoke only to confirm his name, age and address during the brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
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Former pop star is charged with eight sex offences against girls under 16 .
Offences are alleged to have occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s .
Glitter - real name Paul Gadd - was bailed until adjourned hearing on July 3 .
The 70-year-old was first person to be arrested as part of Operation Yewtree .
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A woman who endured almost a decade of failed IVF attempts and two miscarriages has finally become a mother – after taking an aspirin every day during her pregnancy. Sarah Broadfield, 34, feared she would never have children after spending £15,000 on fertility treatment and two miscarriages that left her devastated. But when she became pregnant again in November last year, she began taking the 2p aspirin each day after doctors said her miscarriages were caused by her blood being too 'sticky'. Sarah Broadfield, 34, finally gave birth to son Alfie (pictured) after seven rounds of IVF and two miscarriages . After being diagnosed with Antiphospholipis syndrome, which is known to cause miscarriages in pregnant women, Mrs Broadfield (pictured left during her pregnancy) was told to take a daily aspirin . The aspirin helped prevent a miscarriage and baby Alfie (pictured) was born in August weighing a healthy 8lb . She had been diagnosed with Antiphospholipid syndrome, which causes an increased risk of blood clots and miscarriage. However aspirin can help by thinning the blood, preventing this. Nine months later, her son Alfie was born in August 2014, weighing a healthy 8lb. Mrs Broadfield, a nurse, said: 'Finally holding Alfie in my arms after everything we've been through was the best moment of my life - and it's all thanks to me taking an aspirin a day.' She had married her 36-year-old husband Chris, an electrician, in 2006 and a year later they started trying for a baby, with hopes of eventually having two children. But, two years later, with no success, the couple went to see their GP for fertility tests. Although Mrs Broadfield had previously been diagnosed with endometriosis, doctors didn't believe this was affecting her fertility, but couldn't find another explanation. The couple were referred for IVF through the NHS but two rounds of treatment failed. 'The first failure was the most devastating because I really thought it would work,' Mrs Broadfield said. Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), which is also known as Hughes syndrome, is a disorder of the immune system that causes an increased risk of blood clots. Pregnant women with APS also have an increased risk of having a miscarriage, although the exact reasons for this are uncertain. At least 15 per cent of recurrent miscarriages (having three or more miscarriages in a row) occur as a result of APS, and it is now recognised as the most common, treatable cause. Generally, if a woman is diagnosed with APS following miscarriages, she will be treated daily with low dose aspirin (75mg-150mg). Treatment with aspirin can help pregnant women improve their chances of having a successful pregnancy. With treatment, it's estimated there is about an 80 per cent chance of having a successful pregnancy. In April this year, U.S. scientists found low doses of the drug could improve the chances of conception and of having a live birth. It can help women who have recently lost a baby to conceive again . This could be because the drug increases blood flow to the womb, they said. 'Even though I knew it wasn't my fault, I blamed myself. I felt like I'd failed as a woman.' When a third IVF cycle failed, the couple scraped together their savings, as well as getting some help from their parents, and paid for a fourth attempt at a private hospital. They were delighted when Sarah became pregnant a few weeks later. At the six week scan, everything looked fine but, two weeks later, a second scan showed that she had suffered a 'silent miscarriage' and the baby had stopped developing in her womb. 'It was heart-breaking but we were reassured that at least I'd managed to become pregnant this time. 'When it happened for a second time though, we started to wonder if there was a serious problem,' she said. Following the two miscarriages at eight weeks, the couple were referred to the Liverpool Miscarriage Clinic and blood tests showed that Mrs Broadfield had Antiphospholipid syndrome (AS), a disorder of the immune system which causes an increased risk of blood clots. People with AS are at risk of developing deep vein thrombosis and artery clots, but the condition is particularly dangerous to pregnant women as it can lead to miscarriages. It's estimated that AS is responsible for one in six cases of multiple miscarriages, as well as one in six cases of deep vein thrombosis. For Mrs Broadfield, the condition did not explain why she hadn't become pregnant naturally - but did explain why she'd miscarried twice. She said: 'It was such a relief to know what was wrong and the solution seemed impossibly simple.' Because of its blood-thinning qualities, an aspirin a day has long been hailed as a means of preventing strokes and some experts say it could also reduce the risk of cancer. Doctors advised Mrs Broadfield the daily tablet throughout her pregnancy would thin her blood and dramatically reduce the risk of her miscarrying for a third time. So, the couple embarked on their final round of IVF, with two eggs from previous attempts being implanted. Mrs Broadfield married electrician husband Chris, 36, in 2006 and a year later they started trying for a baby . At the 20 week scan doctors said Alfie was developing normally, but Mrs Broadfield said she was a 'nervous wreck' before every scan, 'waiting for them to deliver bad news' 'By that stage, we were wrung-out, emotionally and financially so we decided it would be our last go,' she added. Weeks later, she became pregnant with twins and started her 'aspirin therapy', as well as having an anti-clotting injection daily throughout the pregnancy. Sadly, at the six week scan, the couple were told that one of the foetuses had failed. But, despite their disappointment, they were relieved to see the second baby was developing normally. Aspirin, which helped her give birth to son Alfie, was 'modern day magic', Mrs Broadfield said . 'The doctors kept a really close eye on us, which was reassuring, but I was still a nervous wreck before every scan, waiting for them to deliver bad news,' she said. Superstitious, Mr and Mrs Broadfield even waited until the later stages of the pregnancy before preparing their baby's nursery. As her risk of having a stillbirth was heightened, the baby was induced at 38 weeks and the couple's baby boy Alfie came along on August 1st 2014. Mrs Broadfield described how holding her baby in her arms was a moment of both joy and terror. She said: 'Just after he was born, he went quiet and I panicked. Then we heard him cry and it was the best moment ever,' she said. She added: 'Holding him in my arms, it felt so surreal, as we'd waited so long to meet him.' The next day, they brought Alfie home and he continues to thrive. 'They have no plans to embark on more IVF but she knows what to do if another baby were to come along. 'If only I'd known that taking one aspirin a day could help me so much,' she said. 'It would have saved us a lot of heartache. 'I wanted to speak out to hopefully help any other women who might have this condition without knowing it. 'For us, the aspirin was modern day magic and we always keep a box in our cupboard now, just in case.'
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Sarah Broadfield, 34, thought she would never become a mother .
She endured 7 years of IVF treatment costing £15,000 and 2 miscarriages .
Doctors said her miscarriages were caused by Antiphospholipid syndrome .
This condition causes an increase risk of blood clots and miscarriage .
Doctors said aspirin could help thin her blood and prevent miscarriage .
The couple scraped together their savings for one last round of IVF .
She became pregnant and in August, Alfie was born weighing a healthy 8lb .
Mrs Broadfield credits the aspirin for his birth, calling it 'modern day magic'
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ANTIOCH, California (CNN) -- Two cadaver dogs working separately each showed interest in the same area of property belonging to kidnapping suspects Phillip and Nancy Garrido, a possible indication of human remains, police said Thursday. Police search for evidence relating to missing girls Ilene Misheloff and Michaela Garecht. Authorities will use ground-penetrating radar equipment on Friday to examine the area, and "we will eventually be digging in that location," said Hayward police Lt. Chris Orrey. The Garridos face a combined 29 felony counts in the 1991 kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard, then 11, from South Lake Tahoe, California. Authorities believe the couple held Dugard in a hidden compound behind their home for 18 years and have said Phillip Garrido, a registered sex offender, fathered her two children. On Tuesday, police from Hayward and Dublin, California, began executing search warrants simultaneously on the Garrido property and an adjacent property to which Garrido had access. They are seeking any evidence in the 1988 abduction of 9-year-old Michaela Garecht of Hayward and the 1989 disappearance of 13-year-old Ilene Misheloff of Dublin. Both agencies have said that while Garrido has not been named a suspect in either case, he cannot be eliminated as a suspect. Watch police search the Garrido home » . On Wednesday, authorities said they had found bones on the Garrido property as well as the adjacent property but do not know whether they are animal or human. The bones are being analyzed, Orrey said on Thursday, and no new information was available about them. In addition, a bone fragment was found on the adjacent property last week. Police said it was probably human, and it is being tested at the state DNA lab. Police said the spot that the dogs showed interest in was in "open ground" on the Garrido property. The first dog gave a tentative indication of something there, so the second dog was brought in and made a more definite indication, said Sgt. J.D. Nelson of Alameda County Sheriff's Office. The dogs, which undergo between six months and a year of training, are trained to find human remains. It is possible for the dogs to give "false positives," Nelson said -- a reason why the second dog was brought in. However, since both dogs showed interest, going forward with the other methods is recommended, he said. Orrey said the digging could begin as soon as Friday, but was not sure when it would occur. Police have disassembled some horse sheds and a deck on the properties, Orrey said, and plan to overturn the concrete slabs they were built on in order to have the dogs check the spots out. There are other slabs on the property as well, she said, some of which are "randomly placed" and "piqued our interest," she said. Authorities have seized documents from the home, apparently some writings by Garrido -- "it appears he was a pretty prolific writer," Orrey said. Learn more about Phillip Garrido's history » . Police also have taken some things for Jaycee and her family, and "a few things we want to take a second look at," she said, adding, "nothing compelling so far has been taken." Officers are "doing a lot of photo-documentation" in case anything turns out to be connected to another case, she said. The operation may wrap up midweek next week, Orrey said. The home is in unincorporated Contra Costa County, near Antioch, California. Meanwhile, officials at Contra Costa County Animal Services Department said Dugard and her daughters will be reunited with pets taken from the Garrido home after he and his wife were arrested in late August -- five cats, two dogs, three cockatiels, a pigeon, a white mouse and a parakeet. Officials said the animals appeared to be well cared-for. It was unclear when Dugard would get them back. CNN's Dan Simon contributed to this report.
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Two cadaver dogs each show interest in the same area of Garrido property .
Authorities to use ground-penetrating radar equipment Friday .
Ilene Misheloff ,13, went missing in 1989; Michaela Garecht, 9, in 1988 .
Phillip and Nancy Garrido also are accused of abducting Jaycee Dugard .
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By . Helen Pow . PUBLISHED: . 17:15 EST, 5 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 21:50 EST, 5 August 2013 . A young mother, her one-year-old son and her friend's daughter have been killed after the ATV they were traveling in crashed into a concrete wall and burst into flames. Andrea Allen, 22, from Indianapolis, was possibly drunk and speeding as she drove with her two sons Jaylen Rawls, 1, and Xavier Rawls, 2, and Nevaeh Dempsey, 2, on a rural Indiana road on Sunday evening. Jaylen and Nevaeh died on impact and Xavier was pulled out of the resulting inferno by a local fisherman who witnessed the wreck. Tragic: Jaylen Rawls, 1, pictured, was killed in the horror ATV crash . Xavier was rushed to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis where he is in stable condition. His mother was taken by helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital where she later died of her injuries. 'Preliminary investigative conclusions . indicate excessive speed and alcohol may be contributing factors,' an . Indiana Department of Natural Resources release stated. The two boys were visiting their Allen from Harvey, Illinois where their father, Steven Rawls, lives. Driver: Andrea Allen, pictured, was driving the ATV with three children on her lap . Scene: The crash happened on a country road, pictured, in Indiana, near Center Point . State Conservation Officer Lt. William Browne says the three toddlers were riding in front of Allen on . the off-road single-seat 1996 Polaris Sportsman 500 ATV at the time of . the crash. Another conservation officer, Chris Sprinstun, told the Indystar.com that the vehicle is not intended to carry that many riders. The incident occurred shortly after 6 p.m. and followed a call to the Clay County Sheriff's Office reporting an ATV vehicle was 'being operated in a reckless manner' on County Road 200 North, near the town of Center Point. Vehicle: Allen was riding an off-road single-seat 1996 Polaris Sportsman 500 ATV, similar to that pictured . The off-road vehicle struck a concrete wall adjacent to Country Road and immediately burst into flames. Fisherman, Franklin Davis Jr., from Indianapolis, witnessed the shocking accident and ran to help, pulling little Xavier from the blazing wreckage, according to the news website. The crash remains under investigation, and autopsies are planned to determine cause of death.
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Andrea Allen, 22, was possibly drunk and speeding when she crashed the ATV on Sunday evening .
She was riding the four-wheeler holding her two sons Jaylen Rawls, 1, and Xavier Rawls, 2, and Nevaeh Dempsey, 2, down a country road .
Jaylen and Nevaeh died on impact and Xavier was pulled out of the resulting inferno by a local fisherman who witnessed the wreck .
Allen was taken by helicopter to an Indianapolis hospital where she later died of her injuries .
Xavier was rushed to Riley Hospital for Children and is in stable condition .
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(CNN) -- The nominations for the 52nd Grammy Awards are listed below, with winners italicized in bold and asterisked: . Album of the year . "I Am...Sasha Fierce," Beyoncé "The E.N.D.," The Black Eyed Peas "The Fame," Lady Gaga "Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King," Dave Matthews Band [WINNER] "Fearless," Taylor Swift * . Record of the year . "Halo," Beyoncé "I Gotta Feeling," The Black Eyed Peas [WINNER] "Use Somebody," Kings of Leon * "Poker Face," Lady Gaga "You Belong With Me," Taylor Swift . Song of the year . "Poker Face," Lady Gaga and RedOne, songwriters (Lady Gaga) "Pretty Wings," Hod David and Musze, songwriters (Maxwell) [WINNER] "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)," Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash and Christopher Stewart, songwriters (Beyoncé) * "Use Somebody," Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill, Nathan Followill, songwriters (Kings of Leon) "You Belong With Me," Liz Rose and Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift) Best new artist . [WINNER] Zac Brown Band * Keri Hilson MGMT Silversun Pickups The Ting Tings . Best female pop vocal performance . "Hometown Glory," Adele [WINNER] "Halo," Beyoncé * "Hot N Cold," Katy Perry "Sober," Pink "You Belong With Me," Taylor Swift . Best rock album . "Black Ice," AC/DC "Live from Madison Square Garden," Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood [WINNER] "21st Century Breakdown," Green Day * "Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King," Dave Matthews Band "No Line on the Horizon," U2 . Best rap/sung collaboration . "Ego," Beyonce and Kanye West "Knock You Down," Keri Hilson, Kanye West and Ne-Yo [WINNER] "Run This Town," Jay-Z, Kanye West and Rihanna * "I'm On a Boat," The Lonely Island and T-Pain "Dead and Gone," T.I. and Justin Timberlake . Best country album . "The Foundation," Zac Brown Band "Twang," George Strait [WINNER] "Fearless," Taylor Swift * "Defying Gravity," Keith Urban "Call Me Crazy," Lee Ann Womack . Best comedy album . "Back From the Dead," Spinal Tap [WINNER] "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All," Stephen Colbert * "Internet Leaks," Weird Al Yankovich "My Weakness is Strong," Patton Oswalt "Suckin' It for the Holidays," Kathy Griffin "Tall, Dark and Chicano," Geroge Lopez . What do you think about these results? Other winners: . Best male pop vocal performance: Jason Mraz, "Make It Mine" Best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals: The Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling" Best pop collaboration with vocals: Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat, "Lucky" Best pop vocal album: The Black Eyed Peas, "The E.N.D." Best traditional pop vocal album: Michael Buble, "Michael Buble Meets Madison Square Garden" Best dance recording: Lady Gaga, "Poker Face" Best electronic/dance album: Lady Gaga, "The Fame" Best solo rock vocal performance: Bruce Springsteen, "Working On A Dream" Best rock performance by a duo or group with vocals: Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody" Best hard rock performance: AC/DC, "War Machine" Best rock song: Kings of Leon, "Use Somebody" Best alternative music album: Phoenix, "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" Best female R&B vocal performance: Beyonce, "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" Best male R&B vocal performance: Maxwell, "Pretty Wings" Best R&B album: Maxwell, "Blacksummers' Night" Best contemporary R&B album: Beyonce, "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" Best R&B song: Thaddis Harrell, Beyonce Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart, songwriters, "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" Best rap solo performance: Jay-Z, "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" Best rap performance by a duo or group: Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, "Crack A Bottle" Best rap song: Jeff Bhasker, Shawn Carter, Robyn Fenty, Kanye West & Ernest Wilson, songwriters, "Run This Town" (Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West) Best rap album: Eminem, "Relapse" Best female country vocal performance: Taylor Swift, "White Horse" Best male country vocal performance: Keith Urban, "Sweet Thing" Best country performance by a duo or group with vocals: Lady Antebellum, "I Run To You" Best country collaboration with vocals: Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis, "I Told You So" Best country song: Liz Rose and Taylor Swift, songwriters, "White Horse"
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Taylor Swift takes the album of the year Grammy for "Fearless"
Beyoncé, who had 10 nominations, took home six .
The Zac Brown Band lost out on the best country album Grammy, but did snag best new artist .
Kings of Leon won their third award of the night with the record of the year Grammy .
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A spat between Mo Farah and a Great Britain teammate has descended into a race row amid claims fellow 10,000 metre runner Andy Vernon suggested Farah should not be representing Great Britain. Farah, who beat Vernon to 10,000 metres gold at the European Championships in Zurich last summer, alleged his teammate suggested he did not deserve the title as he was not European. Farah made the claims when he was questioned on Friday about a Twitter spat the pair had earlier in the week. The row between Mo Farah, left, and team-mate Andy Vernon has escalated, with Vernon claiming remarks about the double Olympic champion not being European were 'tongue-in-cheek' Vernon has admitted making a remark about Farah, but said it was made in a 'jokey environment' The 10,000 metre runner has accused Farah of making an 'outrageous misrepresentation' of his comments . Vernon said any claim that he genuinely did not regard Farah as British, so he should have been given gold instead of his rival after coming second to him in Zurich, was a 'complete lie' The 31-year-old, who was born in Mogadishu in Somalia before moving to Britain as a child, has apologised for the social media row, but admitted their past contributed to his frustrations boiling over. Vernon initially admitted making the comments in Zurich, but insisted they were intended as 'a joke' among a group of people 'having a laugh' and apologised if they were taken out of context. But, after reading in full Farah's remarks, he labelled them 'an outrageous misrepresentation' of their 'tongue-in-cheek' chat and claimed they were designed to portray him in a bad light. He said in an interview with BBC Radio Solent: 'It's an outrageous misrepresentation of the chat we had at the Europeans. 'What I did say was completely tongue-in-cheek - in a jokey environment, we were all having fun, high spirits at the Europeans. 'It was after our race and I, in a joking way, said, "Mo, I'm European champion". 'That was it. I don't know where he's got that I don't discard [regard] him as British, you don't deserve to have gold, you should give it to me - it's complete lies.' Vernon added he was 'delighted' when the pair finished first and second in Europe, calling it a 'great moment for Britain' and saying he was the first to congratulate Farah. Mo Farah has spoken out about his Twitter spat with Andy Vernon, saying it was down to a comment made by his fellow distance runner that implied that he did not deserve gold at the European Championships in 2014 . Farah said: 'One comment he made, which I didn't really like, was to say that he should have won the gold' Farah is in Birmingham preparing for an indoor two-mile record attempt at the Sainsbury's Indoor Grand Prix . 'It's annoyed me that he's come out and said this, it really has,' Vernon said. Vernon said he had tried to contract Farah's management team to apologise if the athlete was unhappy with what was said and called for a joint press conference so the pair could 'discuss what happened'. Vernon added: 'He has played the cheap shot. He has played the card. I don't know what I can do. 'If that one remark that I did make in jest was so terrible all I can do is apologise, I didn't mean any offence by it.' Farah is in Birmingham ahead of a tilt at an indoor world best time over two miles at Saturday's Sainsbury's Indoor Grand Prix, but the build-up to the meeting has been overshadowed by this row. Asked about the pair's history, Farah said: 'It happened in the European Championships in Zurich where he came second in the race I won. 'We were sitting down together and there were a number of staff and athletes there too. 'One comment he made, which I didn't really like, was to say that he should have won the gold. 'I was like, "What, the gold should have been given to you?". And I was like, because he was the only European guy? You can't say something like that. I was kind of biting my tongue at the time. 'I don't know what he meant, but at that point it hurt me. But I moved on. That was private.' The pair, who finished one-two at the European Championships, clashed on Twitter earlier in the week . Vernon did not deny that he made a comment about Farah's origins, but said it was to carry on a joke . Farah says that he and Vernon will never be 'best friends' but he regrets the way he reacted on Twitter . The pair's feud became public on Tuesday when they were involved in a war of words on social media, Farah labelling his team-mate 'an embarrassment' after Vernon criticised the lack of high-level competition to face Farah in Birmingham. Farah, who with three world crowns to go with his double Olympic success is arguably Britain's greatest ever athlete, added on Friday: 'I do apologise. I should never come out publicly and say some things. 'With an athlete like him, one I've been on the podium with, it was difficult to bite my tongue. Probably the best thing to do at the time was to bite my tongue, but I couldn't do it.' A British Athletics spokesperson said the national body 'would be talking to Andy about the comment he made and reminding him of his responsibilities as a British team member'. Farah will aim to let his legs do the talking at the Barclaycard Arena on Saturday as he runs his first race of the year. The Londoner, who only returned from altitude training in Ethiopia on Thursday, could go after Kenenisa Bekele's world best time of eight minutes 4.35 seconds, which was set at the same meeting seven years ago. Farah, who holds the European best of 8mins 8.07secs and will be up against the likes of 40-year-old Bernard Lagat in Birmingham, said this week's row had given him extra motivation. 'It definitely has fired me up,' Farah said. 'What I do best is go out there and run and represent my country and to continue to win medals. 2015 is about making that bright start, then continuing through the summer.'
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Double Olympic champion claimed Vernon said 'he should have won gold' at 2014 European Championships because 'he was the only European guy'
Vernon came second to Farah in Zurich, with the pair sharing a podium .
Teammate has slammed Farah for an 'outrageous misrepresentation', claiming he actually said 'Mo, I'm European champion', as a joke .
Said the remark was 'tongue-in-cheek' and made 'in a jokey environment'
Pair had an earlier Twitter spat over the strength of the field for Farah's appearance at a Birmingham indoor event which has since escalated .
Farah, 31, was born in Somalia before moving to Britain as a child .
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Stewart Downing has admitted he thought his England career was over before earning a recall by Roy Hodgson. The West Ham player's last cap came in May 2012 and although he went to that summer's European Championships he failed to get any minutes and has not been close to a call-up since. But his improved from under Sam Allardyce, sparked by a change in position from wing to midfield, has got him back in the international fold – and he wants to play against Slovenia at Wembley on Saturday. Stewart Downing, pictured in England training on Tuesday, feared his international career was over . Downing earned a recall to Roy Hodgson's squad after his fine form for West Ham this season . Downing is hoping to take his chance if he is given a start in Saturday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia . 'I've admitted in the past I felt my chance had passed, but I kept going and always kept trying to play well,' said Downing, 30. 'It's paid off. Roy has been watching the games and picked me. I'm very happy to be back. 'There is a lot of new talent coming through. I do feel a bit old. But he's got a good mixture here. I was a little bit nervous coming in. But it's exciting. There is some great talent. 'Every time I watch Raheem Sterling at Liverpool he seems to get better and better. Adam Lallana is someone I've not played with. They've impressed me with some good touches in training. 'The system change has helped (earn a recall). Playing in the middle adds a new dimension and I'm really enjoying it. I've got to continue my good performances and take my chance when given it.' Downing (centre) admits he has been impressed with Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling (right) Roy Hodgson gave Downing a chance after watching him help West Ham go fourth in the Premier League . Downing paid tribute to Allardyce and West Ham as a team. 'Roy has been impressed with how we've adapted to a new way of playing,' he added. 'That's why he's called me up. I need to maintain that form. I spoke to Roy a couple of times. At West Ham games he's been in the changing room with the manager and we spoke very briefly. He said, 'Yes you're going to get in the squad.' 'I'm here to play and perform, not just make the numbers up. I'm itching to get out there.' West Ham sit fourth in the table and have beaten Manchester City and Liverpool this season. Downing hopes the side can stay in the European places but admitted: 'It will obviously be difficult. We have to be realistic. But we've had a great start, which we wanted to do. 'The one we're playing we don't fear anyone and we feel we can beat anyone on our day. That's the attitude we have to take into every game from now until the end of the season.' Three Lions captain Wayne Rooney is set to win his 100th cap when England host Slovenia on Saturday .
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Stewart Downing's last England cap came in May 2012 .
The West Ham winger admits he feared his international career was over .
Downing has been impressed with Raheem Sterling and Adam Lallana .
England host Slovenia at Wembley in a Euro 2016 qualifier on Saturday .
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GLASGOW, Scotland -- Ronaldinho scored twice as Barcelona wrapped up their Scottish pre-season tour with a convincing 3-1 win over Hearts before a record 57,857 home crowd on Saturday. Two-goal Ronaldinho played a key part in Barcelona's convincing 3-1 win. The Brazilian put Barca ahead with a 21st-minute penalty and restored their lead with a 40th-minute header after Finn Juho Makela had stabbed in a quick equalizer from Christophe Berra's header across goal. Second-half substitute Thierry Henry, who scored in Barcelona's 1-0 win over Dundee United on Thursday, set up the third six minutes after the interval for Mexican teenager Giovanni Dos Santos. The Frenchman ended a fine run by squaring a pass to the 18-year-old who slotted home from close range. The friendly was played at Murrayfield, home of the Scotland rugby union team, to accommodate a bigger crowd. The previous record for a Hearts home match was 53,396 for a Scottish FA Cup match against Rangers in 1932. Arsenal were 2-1 winners over Paris St Germain and Valencia beat Inter Milan 2-0 on the first day of the pre-season Emirates Cup tournament. Both games were played at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium where the friendly tournament ends on Sunday with Arsenal playing Inter and Valencia facing PSG. Valencia recorded a comfortable win over the Italian champions. Jaime Gavilan opened the scoring, collecting a long ball forward and beating Inter keeper Francesco Toldo from a tight angle. Striker David Villa made it 2-0 before the break with a deflected free kick. Arsenal's French midfielder Mathieu Flamini put the hosts ahead on the stroke of half-time in the day's second game, with his first-time shot flashing in off the post. Danish forward Nicklas Bendtner poked home their second in a goalmouth melee in the 70th minute and Peguy Luyindula scored PSG's consolation goal 10 minutes from time before Bendtner missed a late penalty. Rangers beat Chelsea 2-0 with both goals coming in the last four minutes of their pre-season friendly at Ibrox. Spanish substitute striker Nacho Novo fired home the opening goal with a 20-meter shot, after taking a neat pass from Chris Burke in the 86th minute. Three minutes later Slovakian striker Filip Sebo cracked home another goal from 20 meters out. The ball appeared to be flying wide until it took a deflection off a defender and went into the net. The match was played in a competitive spirit with several tough tackles flying in from the two sides who finished runners-up in their respective Scottish Premier and English Premier leagues last season. Chelsea's best chance came with a first half header from Didier Drogba which flashed across the face of the goal. Darren Bent's double and a goal by Dimitar Berbatov enabled Tottenham Hotspur to end their South African tour with a 3-0 win over Orlando Pirates on Saturday. All the goals came in the first 22 minutes, with Bent opening the scoring in the 10th with a stinging shot before providing a simple tap-in for strike partner Berbatov eight minutes later, after dispossessing Pirates defender Destin Makita. Bent then hit the bar before finding the net again following a fine flowing move at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium. Tottenham won the three-team tournament having beaten the Pirates 2-1 in Cape Town on Tuesday after starting their tour last weekend with a 2-1 win over Kaizer Chiefs in Durban. E-mail to a friend .
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Ronaldinho scores twice as Barcelona beat Hearts 3-1 at Murrayfield .
Rangers score two late goals to beat Chelsea 2-0 at Ibrox Park .
Arsenal and Valencia win on the first day of the Emirates Cup .
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One post about an alleged child abduction on a mothers' group on Facebook has spawned widespread panic across Sydney's Northern Beaches. A member of Northern Beaches Mums' Group claims she saw a young girl - aged five or six years old - being taken from a bus shelter near Pittwater Golf Centre on Pittwater Road in Warriewood on Wednesday night. She posted her sighting on the page, saying it happened about 10.30pm. A concerned citizen posted on a mothers' group on Facebook, saying she had witnessed a child abduction . Urging people to be on the look out for anyone suspicious, the woman said the alleged offender was a man about 177cm tall who had dark hair, a moustache and was wearing black pants and a tracksuit top. The incident was reported to police who followed it up but did not find anything to substantiate the claims. But the post caused great alarm among the 6,000-plus members, with some driving through the streets in the Sydney suburb searching for the girl. Less than an hour after the alert went out, the post had amassed more than 340 comments, Manly Daily reported. The post caused widespread alarm but police have investigated the incident and saw there was no evidence to suggest it happened . Page founder Annika Coulson urged members not to post alleged crimes on social media but instead contact the police to ensure it was dealt with properly by the authorities. 'If you see a crime or something disturbing your first port of call is the police not Facebook,' Ms Coulson told News Corp. Northern beaches Local Area Command Acting Inspector Rob Winkler confirmed police had investigated the matter. '[We] have not found any information to suggest there was an abduction,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'We would always urge people if they have witnessed a crime to contact police immediately.' Insp Winkler said police have asked the administrator to remove the post as it was causing concern among the mothers group. Police have also said they had received phone calls from concerned citizens wanting to be updated on the situation.
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A woman posted on Northern Beaches Mums' Group on Facebook .
She claimed she saw a man dragging a young girl from a bus stop .
Alleged incident happened about 10.30pm on Wednesday in Warriewood .
Police investigated it and said there was nothing to suggest it happened .
The page administrator had been told to remove the post by authorities .
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(CNN) -- Gunmen abducted two American citizens along with their Filipino relative from a southern Philippines island Tuesday, police said. At about 3 a.m., 14 armed men snatched Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann, 43, her son, Kevin, 14, and Lunsmann's Filipino nephew, Romnick Jakaria, 19, said Nonito Asbai, the area's police chief inspector. Police and the Filipino navy have launched search operations, Asbai said. The victims were forced at gunpoint to board awaiting boats, which then sped toward the troubled island of Basilan, a stronghold of the Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf. No one, however, has claimed responsibility for the abduction or asked for a ransom. Jakaria's cousin, Alma Jakaria, said Lunsmann was adopted by Americans when she was 9 and grew up in Virginia. She married a German citizen and had her son, Kevin. Both she and Kevin are U.S. passport holders. Police suspect the son attracted attention because of his distinctive mixed-race looks in an area with few foreign tourists. The three were vacationing in Tictabon and were supposed to have returned to the capital, Manila, later Tuesday, Alma Jakaria said. Basilan serves as a base for Abu Sayyaf, which wants to establish a separate state for the Philippines' minority Muslim population. The U.S. State Department considers it a terrorist organization and says it is linked to al Qaeda. The Philippine government has been fighting to contain the militants. Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for terrorist attacks in the Philippines, including the 2004 bombing of a ferry that left about 130 people dead as well as past kidnappings. CNN affiliate ABS-CBN's Queenie Casimiro contributed to this report.
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The two Americans were abducted with a Filipino relative .
The three were forced onto awaiting boats, police say .
They headed toward Basilan, a stronghold for militants .
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By . Emma Glanfield . Hundreds . of suspected militants have been charged with carrying out a wave of . terrorist attacks in Egypt that killed 40 police officers and 15 . civilians. The . country’s chief prosecutor’s office confirmed 200 people had been . charged in connection with the attacks and with conspiring with al-Qaeda . and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. In . a statement released today, the office said the defendants - 98 of whom . remain on the run - are all suspected members of the al-Qaeda-inspired Ansar Beit . al-Maqdis group, also known as the Champions of Jerusalem. Egypt's chief prosecutor's office has charged 200 suspected militants with carrying out terrorist attacks that killed 40 policeman and 15 civilians, including an attack on a security headquarters in December, pictured . The . militant group has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks which . were carried out following the military overthrow of Islamist President . Mohammed Morsi last summer. The prosecutor's statement refers to the . group as 'the most dangerous terrorist group', and accuses the . defendants of receiving military training in the Palestinian Gaza Strip . under the patronage of Hamas, and of travelling to Syria where they took . part in fighting against government forces there before returning to . Egypt. Officials accuse Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood of orchestrating the violence - a charge the group denies. The . prosecutors, bringing one of the country's largest terrorism-related . cases, accuse the defendants of carrying out 51 attacks in recent months and . receiving training with Hamas in Gaza and in Syria. The attacks are said to include a bombing . of the capital's security headquarters in January which killed six . people, a failed assassination attempt against the interior minister in . September, and a December attack against the security headquarters in . the Nile Delta city of Mansoura which killed 16, almost all policemen. The attacks are said to include a bombing of the capital's security headquarters in January which killed six people and a failed assassination attempt against the interior minister in September, pictured . The 200 defendants have also been charged with conspiring with al-Qaeda and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in what is one of the country's largest terrorism-related cases . The attacks also include the assassination of a senior police officer, who was the main investigator and a key witness in one of the trials in which Morsi is the main defendant. The group, which had originally operated mostly in the restive north Sinai governorate, had claimed responsibility for the attacks. Since Morsi's ouster, authorities have cracked down heavily on Islamists, arresting thousands and putting hundreds on trial, including Morsi, on charges that include instigating violence and holding illegal protests. Morsi is also accused of conspiring with foreign groups to destabilise Egypt. The Brotherhood denies the charges and says authorities are seeking to associate them with violence to further undermine the group. The statement also said the prosecutor's investigation revealed that Morsi, while in office, had negotiated with the group to ensure it abstained from violence during his rule in exchange for a presidential pardon to their colleagues in prison. The prosecutors accuse the defendants of carrying out 51 attacks in recent months. Pictured: Hundreds attend the funeral of a dozen policeman and a civilian killed in an attack on police headquarters in the Nile Delta city of Masoura . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
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Egypt's chief prosecutor's office has charged 200 people with 51 attacks .
Defendants are suspected members of Ansar Beit .
al-Maqdis militant group .
Also charged with conspiring with al-Qaeda and Palestinian group Hamas .
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A security expert claims to have uncovered a major flaw in the traffic system in in major cities around the world including London and New York. Cesar Cerrudo, an Argentinian security researcher with IoActive, says he can control traffic lights and even reroute traffic. He discovered is was possible to control the sensors embedded into the road and used by control systems to monitor traffic. Scroll down for video . The Argentinian security expert claims to have uncovered a major flaw in the traffic system in in major cities around the world including London and New York. Sensys has 250+ customers in 45 US states and 10 countriesImportant US cities have deployments: New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle, etc.50,000+ devices deployed worldwide (most of them in the US)Countries include US, United Kingdom, China, Canada, Australia, France, etc. For instance, some UK cities with deployments: London, Shropshire, Slough, Bournemouth, Aberdeen, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Belfast, etc. Australia has a big deployment on one of the most important and modern freeways. He was able to take control of the sensors –Sensys Networks VDS240 wireless vehicle detection systems– which are installed in 40 U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, DC, as well as in nine other countries. The system is comprised of magnetic sensors embedded in roadways that wirelessly collect data. MailOnline contacted Sensys, but it did not respond to requests. Cerrudo saiys he was inspired by the movie Die Hard, which sees hackers contolling a city's traffic. 'Probably many of you have watched scenes from 'Live Free or Die Hard' (Die Hard 4) where 'terrorist hackers' manipulate traffic signals by just hitting Enter or typing a few keys,' he wrote in a blog post revealing the hack. Cesar Cerrudo, an Argentinian security researcher with IoActive, showing thre system off in Washington, where it was used to influence traffic patterns. 'I wanted to do that! I started to look around, and while I couldn't exactly do the same thing (too Hollywood style!), I got pretty close. 'By exploiting the vulnerabilities I found, an attacker could cause traffic jams and problems at intersections, freeways, highways.' Cerrudo said that once he bought a sensor for himself, he found it was relatively easy to control. 'After getting the devices, it wasn't difficult to find vulnerabilities. 'The vulnerabilities I found allow anyone to take complete control of the devices and send fake data to traffic control systems. 'Basically anyone could cause a traffic mess by launching an attack with a simple exploit programmed on cheap hardware ($100 or less). 'I even tested the attack launched from a drone flying at over 650 feet, and it worked!' The equipment used in the hack, which Cerrado said can even be mounted on a drone . Cesar Cerrudo, an Argentinian security researcher with IoActive, testing the system in Manhattan . Cerrudo said he even let the firm that makes the sensors know. 'What I would like to mention is that the vendor was contacted a long time ago (September 2013) through ICS-CERT (the initial report to ICS-CERT was sent on July 31st, 2013). I was told by ICS-CERT that the vendor said that they didn't think the issues were critical nor even important. 'Another excuse the vendor provided is that because the devices don't control traffic lights, there is no need for security. 'This is crazy, because while the devices don't directly control traffic control systems, they have a direct influence on the actions and decisions of these systems.' He says he will now reveal details of the hack at a conference next month after the firm failed to address the problem. 'This should be another wake up call for governments to evaluate the security of devices/products before using them in critical infrastructure, and also a request to providers of government devices/products to take security and security vulnerability reports seriously,' he said. 'By exploiting the vulnerabilities I found, an attacker could cause traffic jams and problems at intersections, freeways, highways, etc. 'It’s also possible to cause electronic signs to display incorrect speed limits and instructions and to make ramp meters allow cars on the freeway faster or slower than needed. 'These traffic problems could cause real issues, even deadly ones, by causing accidents or blocking ambulances, fire fighters, or police cars going to an emergency call.'
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Researcher claims to be able to control light patterns in Manhattan .
Say technique can be used in all major cities .
Uses special $4,000 router to control traffic sensors embedded in roads .
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By . Chris Pleasance . Just a few years ago, finding an England football fan openly supporting the German team would have been almost unheard of. So it is perhaps surprising that, for tomorrow's World Cup final, English fans are flocking to support the old rival Germany against a newer rival in Argentina. Sir Geoff Hurst , England's hat-trick hero of 1966, has already pledged his support, as has UK Prime Minister David Cameron. In a final between two old enemies of English football, English fans seem to be backing old rivals Germany over newer adversaries Argentina . The two countries have plenty of history when it comes to their relationship with England, both on and off the field. It was Germany who knocked England out of the last World Cup, beating Capello's side 4-1, inflicting England's heaviest World Cup defeat thanks in part to a disallowed goal from Frank Lampard. It was Germany that England beat 4-2 in 1966 to win the World Cup, thanks to two controversial goals from Hurst - one which bounced off the inside of the cross bar and on to the goal line, and another at the end of extra time as fans were streaming on to the pitch. Of course, in terms of real-world rivalries, the two World Wars are what made Germany into the enemy in the first place. England's hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst (left, holding captain Bobby Moore), who helped England to victory over the Germans in 1966 has come out in support of the European team over the South Americans . Meanwhile, on the Argentine side, the Falklands war and the still-bitter argument over the islands has done nothing to endear English minds to the prospect of an Argentine win. On the pitch, Diego Maradona's 'hand of God' moment, when he scored against England from an unpenalised handball in 1986, still sticks in the memory, as does the memory of Diego Simeone hitting the turf after being tapped on the leg by David Beckham in 1998. Given the animosity that most England supporters feel towards the two nations, it is almost a shame that they cannot both lose. But when it comes to picking a winner, it seems that the English are choosing to back the Europeans over the South Americans. For German fans, a win tomorrow would put an end to their status as perennial nearly-men, making the semi finals or finals of the last four World Cups without a win . If Argentina were to emerge victorious it would mark the third World Cup win in the country's history . Hurst told the Sun on Sunday: 'I know England supporters will be shocked to see me backing the Germans but they are the tournament's best team. 'They are a great football nation - very much like us in that they are determined, strong and proud.' While the Argentinians are capable of playing with flair and style, particularly their star man Lionel Messi, the Germans play a solid style of football, more akin to the English way. There may also be a sense of underdog spirit to backing the team, since the Germans have been pegged as perennial nearly-men, reaching the final or semi-final of the last four tournaments without a win. David Cameron is also lending his support to our European neighbours, though it has been suggested that this in only to curry favour with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr Cameron was rooting for Holland to beat Messi and Co. in last night's crunch semi final and had been texting the country's prime minister Mark Rutte 'furiously'. But after the Dutch crashed out in a penalty shoot out, Mr Cameron has turned his support to the Germans.
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Germany and Argentina will face off in World Cup final tomorrow night .
England has fraught relations with both nations - on and off the pitch .
However it seems that England fans are backing the Germans .
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By . Andy Tillett In Santa Cruz, California . and Ashley Collman . and Lydia Warren . Google executive Forrest Tim Hayes had extramarital relations with girls besides Alix Tichelman before he died, and the captain of the yacht who discovered his body may have tampered with evidence, police said today. The body of the married father of five was discovered after he had been injected with heroin by call girl Tichelman – who then fled the scene – on November 23, but police say they have evidence he had also been seeing other women. Santa Cruz Deputy Chief of Police Steve Clark exclusively told MailOnline: ‘We’re aware that he had other liaisons.’ 'He was meeting with people. And this wasn’t his first encounter with her.’ Scroll down for video . Heartless: Alix Tichelman, 26, appeared in Santa Cruz court on Wednesday to face manslaughter and drug charges in relation to the November 2013 death of Google executive Forrest Hayes. Prosecutors are accusing Tichelman, a call girl, of leaving Hayes to die of a drug overdose . Online connection: Tichelman (left) allegedly met Hayes (right) on the dating website Seeking Arrangement, which pairs 'sugar babies' with rich, older, men and women . Meanwhile, we can reveal police suspect the captain . who found Hayes’ body tidied up . the boat after he found Hayes’ body. On the night of his death, the . 50ft yacht had not left Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor. ‘The . captain is the one who reported finding his body,' Clark told MailOnline. 'The boat was in . pretty clean condition when we found it and we suspect he may have tried . to clean things up a bit. ‘He . did hinder the investigation initially, and it cost us a little bit of . time. I understand why he did it, he has a professional reputation, he . has high-end, wealthy clients, I’m sure he is paid well and part of that . payment is for his discretion,’ he added. The . captain also told police the main cabin camera, which allegedly showed . Tichelman failing to help Hayes after his overdose, calmly finishing her . glass of wine then collecting her things before leaving the scene, . wasn’t working. ‘The camera that was in the cabin and would show us what had happened - he told us it didn’t work,’ Clark said. Santa . Cruz police later found the video footage had all been stored on a . remote server in a media cloud, and managed to get a court order and . release a copy from the technology company that had set it up. Other flings: Santa Cruz Deputy Chief of Police Steve Clark exclusively told MailOnline that Hayes 'had other liaisons' Tichelman, 26, is accused of heartlessly leaving a client to die from a drug overdose, . wrote about her 'love' of killing sprees in a Facebook post published . just days before her July 4 arrest. She appeared in Santa Cruz court on Wednesday to face . manslaughter and drug charges in connection to the November 2013 death . of Hayes, 51. Deputy Chief of Police Clark told MailOnline Clark that when she was arrested Tichelman was ‘shocked’ but started to reveal her ‘callous’ side during interview. He . added: ‘It was pretty clear that her self-centered nature came through . in this interview, as it did in her committing the crime as well. ‘She . has had contact with people on the outside who she has been encouraging . to remove her social media information. She’s still trying to cover her . tracks and cover evidence which might implicate her. ‘It’s . shocking from the perspective of how callous and uncaring she was. That . she could be so cold and not even cry out for help or call 911 or try . to revive him in any way, it shows the type of person and how egocentric . she was.’ Surveillance . footage obtained by investigators shows Tichelman injecting Hayes with . heroin, and then casually leaving him to die when he has an adverse . reaction to the drug. And this may not have been Tichelman's first killing, as detectives are also investigating Tichelman for a similar death in another state. According to a report by Fox News, Tichelman had phoned up 911 and reported the heroin overdose death of a man named Dean Riopelle. Police in Milton Georgia are taking another look at the case. In another case, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Tichelman may have dated the lead singer of the Atlanta-based group, The Judies, Warren Ullom, who was sent to prison for manslaughter for a heroin overdose. Stone cold: The high-priced prostitute didn't look worried when she appeared in court on July 9 . No plea yet: Tichelman has not yet entered a plea, and was assigned a public defender in court on Wednesday . Tichelman was apparently fascinated with the topic of serial murders, according to posts she wrote on Facebook just last month. 'Really . nice to talk with someone about killing sprees and murdering people in . cold blood...and they love it too,' she wrote in a June 28 post. 'No judgement, Yay! F*** all of that positivity bulls***. Take a look around you. Life is hard and then you die,' she added. In court on Wednesday, Tichelman did not enter a plea and was assigned a public defender. Tichelman has been held on $1.5million bond since her July 4 arrest, when she met with an undercover cop at a Santa Cruz hotel who said he wanted to pay her $1,000 for sex. The high-priced prostitute allegedly met Hayes, the married father of five, on website 'Seeking Arrangement' which pairs 'sugar babies' with rich older men or women. Police say the two met a few times before the deadly November 26 encounter. That day, they met on Hayes' 50-foot yacht, Escape, at the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor and Tichelman brought heroin before injecting him with the drug, police said. Scene: She allegedly took the heroin to his yacht, pictured, and administered the drug but as he lay dying, she stepped over his body to finish a glass of wine before leaving the boat . Surveillance video from inside the luxury boat shows Hayes 'suffering medical complications' and losing consciousness - but Tichelman makes no attempt to help him or call 911, police said. Instead, she is seen gathering her belongings, stepping over his dying body to finish her glass of wine and then leaving the boat - pulling a window blind down to conceal his body from outside. Hayes was found dead the next morning by the boat's captain, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. 'She showed no regard for him. She was just trying to cover her tracks,' Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark said on Tuesday. Authorities launched a nine-month investigation into the incident and uncovered Tichelman's correspondence with the victim. Working girl: Tichelman was a high-price prostitute and met her clients, including Hayes, online . 'We know they've had a previous . relationship, they've shared time together before,' Clark told KION. 'This was all set up . through text messages and emails. We also know what she did in the . aftermath of this. We have her computer records, we know the Google . searches that she made, the things she did to try to get herself out of . this.' Fetish fan: Tichelman was arrested on Friday after police posed as a client and met her at a hotel . Police identified Tichelman from the video and also found her fingerprints on the wine glass, police said. They then tracked her down to her home in Folsom, where she lives with her parents, but lured her back to Santa Cruz County for the July 4 arrest. When asked if the overdose was accidental or intentional, Clark said evidence showed a level of guilt that reached second-degree murder rather than involuntary manslaughter, the Sentinel reported. 'She showed . absolutely no regard for this person she injected with heroin,' Clark . said. 'She had a responsibility to provide some lifesaving effort.' Detectives said they are also investigating Tichelman for a similar death in another state. Hayes, . who was originally from Dearborn, Michigan was married for 17 years to . wife Denise and together they had five children, according to his . obituary. He worked in the auto industry before senior roles at Apple and Google. 'Forrest . will be remembered above all as a loving husband and father. More than . anything else he enjoyed spending time with his family at home and on . his boat,' according to a January obituary. 'His brilliant mind, contagious smile and warm embrace will be missed and cherished in memories by his friends and family.' Tichelman's . Facebook profile shows she went to high school in Atlanta before . majoring in journalism at Georgia State University and attending beauty . school. She lists her occupation as a makeup artist . According to Tichelman's Facebook, she went to high school in Atlanta before attending George State University and then beauty school. She listed her occupation as a makeup artist . She called herself a 'model' in jail records. On social media, she poses in lingerie and pouts with red lips for the camera, and posts suggest she had a boyfriend as recently as a couple of months ago. In an interview with fiXE fETISH magazine, she said she loved modeling because she got to play a character. 'I have always been attracted to the darker side,' she said. 'My parents said by the time I was three I was an "intense child" and already liked horror movies.' She added that she loved fetishism and would often wear a leash when she went out with her nightclub owner boyfriend. She also posted pictures under another Facebook profile, AK Kennedy, and talks about heroin and her love of the TV show about a serial killer, 'Dexter'. Seeking Arrangement, the website through which Tichelman and Hayes met, is described as being a site for connecting 'sugar babies' with 'sugar daddies and mommas' - but the company maintains it is not promoting prostitution.
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Alix Tichelman, 26, appeared in Santa Cruz court on Wednesday faces manslaughter charges .
She is being accused of leaving client Forrest Hayes, 51, to die after he suffered an adverse reaction to heroin last November .
Police tell MailOnline that Hayes had been with other women .
The captain of the boat chartered by Hayes 'tidied up' before police arrived .
Cops in Georgia are taking a second look at her involvement in another heroin overdose .
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By . Associated Press Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 15:35 EST, 24 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:17 EST, 25 August 2013 . Tens of thousands of people marched to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and down the National Mall on Saturday, commemorating the 50th anniversary of King's famous speech and pledging that his dream includes equality for gays, Latinos, the poor and the disabled. The event was an homage to a generation of activists that endured fire hoses, police abuse and indignities to demand equality for African Americans. But there was a strong theme of unfinished business. 'This is not the time for nostalgic commemoration,' said Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the slain civil rights leader. Scroll down for video . Tens of thousands of people marched to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and down the National Mall on Saturday, commemorating the 50th anniversary of King's famous speech . Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin's mother, spoke at the ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial where posters of her slain son were everywhere . 'Nor is this the time for self-congratulatory celebration. The task is not done. The journey is not complete. We can and we must do more.' Eric Holder, the nation's first black attorney general, said he would not be in office, nor would Barack Obama be president, without those who marched. 'They marched in spite of animosity, oppression and brutality because they believed in the greatness of what this nation could become and despaired of the founding promises not kept,' Holder said. Holder mentioned gays and Latinos, women and the disabled as those who had yet to fully realize Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream. Speakers included Rep. John Lewis, left, the only surviving speaker from the 1963 March and Martin Luther King III, the oldest son of the slain civil rights leader . A man holds a sign depicting slain youth Trayvon Martin during the March on Washington rally . Others in the crowd advocated organized labor, voting rights, revamping immigration policies and access to local post offices. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., the only surviving speaker from the 1963 March on Washington, railed against a recent Supreme Court decision that effectively erased a key anti-discrimination provision of the Voting Rights Act. Lewis was a leader of a 1965 march, where police beat and gassed marchers who demanded access to voting booths. 'I gave a little blood on that bridge in Selma, Ala., for the right to vote,' he said. 'I am not going to stand by and let the Supreme Court take the right to vote away from us. You cannot stand by. You cannot sit down. You've got to stand up. Speak up, speak out and get in the way.' Organizers expected about 100,000 people to participate in the event, the precursor to the actual anniversary of the Aug. 28, 1963, march. Marchers began arriving early Saturday, many staking out their spots as the sun rose in a clear sky over the Capitol. By midday, tens of thousands had gathered on the National Mall. Marchers began arriving early Saturday, many staking out their spots as the sun rose in a clear sky over the Capitol. By midday, tens of thousands had gathered on the National Mall. Attorney General Eric Holder mentioned gays and Latinos, women and the disabled as those who had yet to fully realize Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream . Lynda Chambers, 58, gave up a day's pay to attend because her retail job does not provide paid vacation. Even as a seven-year-old at the time of the original march, she felt alienated and deprived of her rights. Remembering those feelings, she said, she was compelled to make the trip Saturday. 'I wanted to have some sort of connection to what I have always known, as far as being a black person,' she said. Speakers frequently mentioned persistent high unemployment among blacks, which is about twice that of white Americans, and the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida. Along the Mall, Martin's picture was nearly as ubiquitous as King's. 'I'm here supporting this march because there are so many injustices in this country,' said Alice Long, 59, who traveled from Huntsville, Ala. 'I'm very concerned about it because I have a 5-year-old grandson and a 13-year-old granddaughter.' 50 years ago: On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed marchers during his famous 'I Have a Dream' speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington . Students of Howard University march from campus to the Lincoln Memorial to participate in the Realize the Dream Rally . Long, a NASA administrative assistant, brought along her grandchildren to give them a close-up view of African-American and civil rights history that she said isn't being taught in schools. Those in attendance arrived in a post-9/11 Washington that was very different from the one civil rights leaders visited in 1963. Then, people crowded the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and could get close to King to hear his speech. On Saturday, metal barriers kept people away from the reflecting pool. Only a small group of attendees was allowed near the memorial. Everyone else had been pushed back and watched and listened to the speeches on big-screen televisions. Police were stationed atop the Lincoln Memorial. There was a media area and VIP seating. On the day of the anniversary, President Barack Obama will speak from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the same place King stood when he delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech. Obama will be joined by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. Churches and groups have been asked to ring bells at 3 p.m. Wednesday, marking the exact time King spoke. Former Congressman and New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner put in an appearance at the rally . On Friday, a coalition of black leaders issued what they said is the 21st century agenda for the nation as it marks the watershed civil rights event that helped bring about the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The 1963 march drew some 250,000 to the National Mall and ushered in the idea of massive, nonviolent demonstrations. The leaders named economic parity, equity in education, voting rights, health care access and criminal justice reform as national policy priorities. Organizers of Saturday's march hoped this year's event would serve to inspire people again to educate themselves about issues they see as making up the modern civil rights struggle. 'It's very difficult to stomach the fact that Trayvon wasn't committing any crime. He was on his way home from the store,' Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon's mother, said Friday as she prepared to participate in the march. 'Don't wait until it's at your front door. Don't wait until something happens to your child. ... This is the time to act now. This is the time to get involved.' Economic parity, equity in education, voting rights, health care access and criminal justice reform were all issues mentioned during the speeches .
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An estimated 100,000 marched to commemorate Martin Luther King's famous speech .
Along the Mall, images of slain teen Trayvon Martin where as common as King's .
The civil rights leader's oldest son said his father's work was not yet complete .
Rep. John Lewis, the only .
surviving speaker from the 1963 March, spoke out about the Voting Rights Act .
On the day of the anniversary, President .
Obama will speak from the steps of the memorial, the .
same place King stood when he delivered his speech .
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By . Kieran Corcoran . PUBLISHED: . 13:33 EST, 23 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 14:34 EST, 23 December 2013 . Cleared: Detective constable Gary Quigley was acquitted of administering a poison or noxious substance with intent at Southwark Crown Court . A policeman who filled a Powerade bottle with screenwash as a practical joke - only for it to be drunk by an unsuspecting colleague - has been cleared of poisoning him. Detective Constable Gary Quigley, who works in the Child Protection division of the Metropolitan Police, said he was 'fed up' with his drink getting stolen from a communal fridge. So, in what he later described as 'a poorly-planed practical joke', he filled up a 500ml bottle of the berry and tropical-flavoured drink with screenwash, hoping to identify the culprit and 'teach him a lesson'. But his colleague, DC Steve Halfhide, who also drank Powerade and stored it in the same fridge, accidentally drank from the bottle of screenwash. After swallowing two mouthfuls of the drink, he felt a burning pain in his throat and vomited several times. DC Halfhide was advised to go to hospital but luckily he was not seriously hurt after drinking the toxic liquid on 29 January last year. Quigley was arrested and charged for attempting to poison his colleague with intent. But he insisted that his sole intention was to catch the thief, and not to cause any harm, which led to him being cleared of the charge today at Southwark Crown Court. He had originally admitted the office, but changed his plea and managed to convince a jury of seven men and five women that he is an innocent man. Wearing a dark jacket over a white casual shirt, Quigley, smiled to relatives in the public gallery when the verdict was announced. The court heard that Quigley bought the Powerade while he was training for a half-marathon. The pair were based at police offices in Cam Road, Straford, but did not know each other, said prosecutor Joceyln Ledward. He said: ‘The defendant replaced the blue Powerade drink in a sports-style drinking bottle with screenwash and put it back in the communal fridge in the office he worked. ‘He says his motive in doing so was the belief the drink was his, and that the person who had been stealing his drinks would be taught a lesson. ‘In fact, his colleague, Steve Halfhide, had the misfortune also to be a drinker of Powerade, and to have stored his own Powerade drinks in the fridge. Victim: DC Steve Halfhide, left, was also a Powerade drinker who used the communal fridge, and accidentally drank from the screenwash bottle, which caused burning pain and vomiting . ‘When he drank from the Powerade in question, he swallowed a mouthful or two of screenwash before experienced the very unpleasant consequences.’ Ms Ledward added: ‘Whether this drink was in fact DC Halfhide’s, or whether he thought it was, or even if he was stealing DC Quigley’s drink is irrelevant. ‘This was a dangerous and completely disproportionate thing to do in the circumstances. ‘By deliberately disguising the blue screen wash in a Powerade bottle and placing it, unlabelled, in the communal fridge, the defendant clearly intended that someone should drink from it or at least must have forseen that someone might - that was precisely his purpose.’ Quigley, from Colchester, Essex, claimed there was a ‘culture of humour’ at his office where officers would play pranks on each other. He said colleagues were aware of the Powerade being spiked with screen wash, and had suggested alternatives including Fairy Liquid and even urine. Ms Ledward said this was merely Quigley ‘trying to deflect attention from his own wrong doing.’ In a prepared statement he said: ‘I admit fully and accept all culpability for my actions. ‘I am extremely sorry and deeply remorseful for what has happened. It was never my intention to cause any injury to anyone. ‘However, I do accept that my actions were likely to cause grievance or annoyance.’
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Detective Constable Gary Quigley was 'fed up' with people taking his drink .
So he filled a bottle with screenwash in 'a poorly-planned practical joke'
DC Steve Halfhide, also a Powerade drinker, took the bottle by accident .
He experienced burning pain and vomiting, but was not seriously hurt .
But Quigley was cleared today after a jury accepted he had meant no harm .
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The Earl of Cardigan accused his son of being greedy . The Earl of Cardigan has accused his son of being greedy after he claims he went along with a decision to sell his ancestral home. The 61-year-old Earl lost his battle to stop the sale of Tottenham House in Wiltshire, a Grade I listed estate with 100 rooms. He had been embroiled in a bitter legal battle over the sale of the mansion in the 4,500 acre Savernake Estate, outside Marlborough, Wiltshire, to an unnamed buyer - Mr. A - for £11.25m. But he lost his bid at the Court of Appeal to save the dilapidated 200 year old mansion as judges ruled it should be sold, with the proceeds shared between him and his estranged son, Viscount Savernake. Lord Cardigan said he was ashamed his son had gone along with the decision. He told The Times: 'To my shame, my son has acquiesced in this appalling blow inflicted on my family's historic estate, and somehow I have to try to put that down to youthful greed and somehow forgive him.' He said he was disappointed because his father, the 9th Marquess of Ailesbury, had given the greater share of the estate to Viscount Savernake in a bid to keep it in the family. The Eton-educated Earl had claimed the estate was worth much more than the trustees were planning to sell it for and claimed the price was inadequate. The trustees, chartered accountant Wilson Cotton and John Moore, a barrister's clerk, had been trying to sell the property in Wiltshire. They claimed, much of it lay decaying because it had been unoccupied for years. Sitting at the Court of Appeal, Lord Justice Vos said he did not gain any assistance from considering whether the trustees were right to regard Mr A's 'bird in the hand' offer as preferable to an international marketing campaign. But he said they were 'justified in acting on competent professional advice.' The Earl of Cardigan has fought trustees for two years to try and save Tottenham House, his ancestral home . Judges ruled that Tottenham House, in Wiltshire, should be sold following the bitter two year battle . The Earl and Countess of Cardigan, pictured in 2002, with their children Thomas, Viscount Savernake, and Lady Catherine Brudenell-Bruce. He has since married Joanne Hill, an American . Their decision to enter into the sale to Mr. A 'was one which reasonable trustees could properly take in the interests of the beneficiaries,' and dismissed the Earl's appeal. The main beneficiary is the Earl's son Viscount Savernake, Thomas James Brudenell-Bruce, who has a controlling 51 per cent share in the estate. The 92,000 square feet mansion has been unoccupied since the 1990's and is 'extremely dilapidated,' Lord Justice Vos added. Together with Lord Justice Moore-Bick and Lady Justice Black he dismissed appeals by the Earl and his son Viscount Savernake - against High Court approval of the sale last December. The Earl's dispute with the trustees date back to 2011 when they decided to sell off some valuable paintings. They were put up for auction after he lost another High Court fight in 2012 with the trustees over the sale. During the proceedings, the Earl lived off a weekly state allowance of £71 and claimed he was forced to shower at a gym and wash his baby daughter in a sink.
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Earl of Cardigan says son has accepted 'appalling blow' to family estate .
He claims sale figure of £11.25m for Tottenham House is inadequate .
Accuses son, the main beneficiary, of 'youthful greed' in agreeing to sale .
Earl's battle with trustees over sale of mansion started two years ago .
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(CNN) -- Kenyan intelligence knows him simply as Ikrima. But his full name is Mohamed Abdikadir Mohamed, and he is regarded as one of the most dangerous commanders in the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab. U.S. officials say Ikrima was the target of a raid Saturday by U.S. Navy SEALs on an Al-Shabaab compound near the town of Baraawe in Somalia. It's believed that he escaped after the U.S. troops came under heavy fire. Ikrima, thought to be in his late 20s, is wanted by both the Kenyan government and its Western allies and was a close associate of one of al Qaeda's most important operatives in East Africa. A recent Kenyan intelligence report that was leaked just after the Westgate mall attack in Nairobi outlined several plots in which he was allegedly involved. All of them involved targets in Kenya, and all the attacks would have involved Kenyan citizens trained by Al-Shabaab. Among those conspiracies, according to the leaked report, was a planned attack on Mandera airport in Kenya's North Eastern province. Ikrima was "directing an attack targeted at Mandera airport between 25th and 28th April 2013," according to the report. He was "being assisted by Liif, an Al-Shabaab explosive expert," and the attack would have involved 11 terrorists. Wife: Terror suspect had left al Qaeda . Another plot -- in 2011 -- involved dispatching one operative to a safe house in Nairobi whose mission was "to train youth, lay down the infrastructure for a major attack and await instructions." That individual was later arrested at a house said to have contained grenades, rifles and ammunition. The Kenyan report also alleged that one of Ikrima's most ambitious conspiracies had been sanctioned by al Qaeda in Pakistan. It envisioned multiple attacks in Kenya at the end of 2011 and in early 2012 targeting the Kenyan parliament, United Nations offices in Nairobi and Kenyan politicians. There was also "financial and logistical support from a South African facilitation network." It's not clear whether Ikrima had any role in the Westgate attack, but given the involvement of some Kenyans in the siege, it seems likely. Ikrima has been at the forefront of Al-Shabaab's efforts to recruit and train Kenyans and other foreigners for Al-Shabaab -- and to develop a Kenyan affiliate called al Hijrah. Terror leader 'ruthless', 'secretive' Kenyan officials have said that he regularly traveled between Somalia and Kenya, and was in Kenya at one point last year. At least one of the plots he directed involved South Africans. Sources say Ikrima regularly changes his appearance -- at one point having very long hair, and at another a moustache similar to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's. Morten Storm, a former informant who has worked for several Western intelligence agencies, has told CNN that he developed a close relationship with an Al-Shabaab figure called Ikrima between 2008 and 2012. He said he is confident that it's the same person who was targeted over the weekend. Storm, who is Danish, described Ikrima as a Somali-Kenyan Al-Shabaab operative who had spent time in Norway. He said that Ikrima made clear to him via e-mail that he was ready to send recruits from the West back home from Somalia to launch attacks. Norwegian journalist Bent Skjaerstad told CNN his sources have confirmed that Ikrima had indeed spent time in Norway and had tried to recruit for Al-Shabaab in Europe. Skjaerstad, who reports on security and terrorism for TV2, said Ikrima had lived there between 2004 and 2008. He had failed to gain asylum status but had been given Norwegian travel papers. Skjaerstad told CNN that according to his sources, Ikrima had traveled to Somalia while living in Norway and had used about a dozen aliases. "There was a connection to Ikrima in a court case in Sweden of two Swedish nationals of Somali descent who were accused of participating in terrorist training in Somalia," Skjaerstad said. "There was phone surveillance introduced as evidence in the trial in which the two men discussed Ikrima. They spoke of him as their contact when they arrived in Kenya from Sweden," he said. Bergen: How Al-Shabaab picks its targets . Storm, who no longer works underground, has shown CNN encrypted e-mails he exchanged with Ikrima over a period of several years. Those communications show that Ikrima was involved in developing contacts between members of Al-Shabaab and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen. They included contacts between Ikrima and the America-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed in a U.S. missile attack in September 2011. This relationship was a source of great concern to Western intelligence agencies as it evolved in 2009-11, because it linked the most active and dangerous al Qaeda affiliate -- AQAP -- with an emerging terror group in Somalia, a country with an extremely weak government. One e-mail from al-Awlaki to Storm, dated December 12, 2009, said: "The brs (brothers) here eagerly want to establish connections with Somalia so these brs could be a start," a reference to Ikrima and others. Storm replied: "Ikrima from Somalia is still waiting for your questions, he just told me, that he is planning to come over to your place with some other guys." It's not over, Somali terrorists say after mall attack that killed 67 . Ikrima established contact with al-Awlaki but never ended up making the trip to meet him in Yemen, according to Storm. Instead, he stayed in East Africa, traveling between Kenya and Somalia, and becoming a key handler for foreigners, including Westerners who wanted to join Al-Shabaab, Storm said. In March 2012, Ikrima warned Storm of growing pressure from the Kenyan security apparatus. "So you need to be extra carefull (sic) they dont get a single trace of anything coz they are now tracing a sister who was a widow of one of the london 7/7 bomber," he wrote, a reference to Samantha Lewthwaite, who is believed still to be in Kenya and is wanted by Kenyan authorities. Storm told CNN that in 2012, he was offered a substantial sum to help Western intelligence agencies find Ikrima, known to his handlers at that point as Ikrima al Muhajir. He said Ikrima was in Kismayo, Somalia, when they last communicated in mid-2012, shortly before Kenyan forces pushed Al-Shabaab out of the port city. One of Ikrima's associates was Abdelkadir Warsame, who was detained by the U.S. military while crossing by sea from Yemen to Somalia in April 2011. Warsame had been involved in establishing training and weapons transfers with AQAP. Another close associate of Ikrima, according to Storm, was Jehad Serwan Mostafa, an American Al-Shabaab operative still at large. The United States has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture. Intelligence sources say Ikrima is thought to have first gone to Somalia in 2006 and subsequently worked for two Kenyans prominent in Al-Shabaab and al Qaeda: Harun Fazul and Saleh Nabhan. Nabhan was a senior Kenyan al Qaeda operative, and he was among the U.S. government's most wanted terrorists. He was suspected of helping to orchestrate the 1998 East Africa Embassy bombings, a 2002 bombing on a Mombasa resort, and a near simultaneous failed missile attack on an Israeli airliner taking off from Mombasa's airport. Ikrima became one of his trusted insiders, according to Storm. Nabhan was killed in a raid by U.S. special operations forces on a convoy traveling south along Somalia's coastal road in September 2009. A younger relative of Nabhan, Omar Nabhan, was among the gunmen killed at Westgate, Kenyan authorities say. If Ikrima survived the weekend attack by U.S. special operations forces and is able to continue operating, Kenyan authorities will be concerned about his ability to continue developing al Hijrah cells in the slums of Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya. A Kenyan expert on the group, Robert Ocholar, tells CNN that Kenyan security services have driven al Hijrah underground but in the process made the group more unpredictable and dangerous. Ocholar says he was made aware in 2011 of a camp in Kenya's Eastern Province used by Al-Shabaab as staging ground for recruits going to Somalia. Ocholar says that in Kenya, there is more radicalization among young Muslim Kenyans than among the sizable Somali community. That in part may be down to the activities of Ikrima, aka Mohamed Abdikadir Mohamed.
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Mohamed Abdikadir Mohamed was target of raid Saturday by U.S. Navy SEALs, officials say .
The Al-Shabaab commander, also called Ikrima, is thought to have escaped .
He's wanted by Kenya and its Western allies, accused of involvement in terror plots .
He's suspected of leading efforts to recruit and train foreigners for Al-Shabaab .
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Athens (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of people rallied across Greece Thursday to protest further tough austerity measures, as a general strike essentially shut down much of the country's transportation network. Clashes broke out in Athens after protesters threw stones and bottles at police and chanted slogans saying they had no place policing a peaceful demonstration. The rallies come as European leaders gather in Brussels, Belgium, for a summit where they will work on building closer ties between eurozone countries. The move is seen as critical to converting recent progress on fixing the region's debt crisis into a sustainable path to growth. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is expected to argue there for more time for Greece to implement the cuts demanded by Europe in return for the latest installment of bailout funds the country desperately needs. EU leaders talk fiscal union as Greeks protest austerity . The harsh austerity measures already in place have angered many people in Greece, which is in its fifth year of recession and has seen its unemployment rate soar to more than 25%. Thursday's general strike is the second in a month called by unions who say another round of cuts to wages and pensions are too painful for the Greek people to bear. Anger over the austerity measures have led to violent street demonstrations in the past. About 30,000 people took part in demonstrations in Athens Thursday, police spokesman Panagiotis Papapetropoulos said. The violence, which was fairly limited, lasted about 90 minutes. The protesters had largely dispersed from the city's central Syntagma Square by mid-afternoon. A 65-year-old man died after fainting during the rally, an official with the PAME union said. "The union's doctors tried to revive the man but this was not possible," Giorgos Pondikos said. "He was taken to hospital where his death was confirmed. The incident is not related to any violence." Rallies were also staged in mainland cities including Thessaloniki and Patras, as well as on the Greek island of Crete. "We are here to protest the cuts 'they' are making, the misery they are imposing on the people," said a PAME union member protesting in Athens. "I am here to ensure that the measures won't go through and because I feel Greek people should have a say on what is being done," a fellow demonstrator said. Read more: Protestors rally as Merkel voices support for austerity-hit Greece . "There is no other way. The only way is for the working class to understand that we must change things. That what is happening is a result of a flawed system. And we must make sure that it stops to exist." Some demonstrators waved the flags of Spain and Portugal, alongside those of Greece, in an apparent display of solidarity with other nations laboring under tough austerity programs. Shops were closed Thursday as a result of the strike, while hospitals operated on skeleton staffing and the transport system was badly affected. Greece's coalition government is struggling to nail down all of the €11 billion of spending cuts it needs to satisfy the conditions of its bailout. Athens is also reportedly at odds with the International Monetary Fund over the outlook for the economy and the likelihood it will achieve its deficit reduction targets. Samaras is pushing for a two-year extension of the nation's bailout program, which the previous government agreed to in March. In a show of support, German Chancellor Angela Merkel met earlier this month with Samaras in Athens, suggesting that Berlin is softening its stance on Greece. The so-called troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF are due to report on Greece's troubled economy in the coming weeks, with the release of the next tranche of bailout money dependent on its findings. Barroso: Europe federation 'unavoidable' The troika said Wednesday at the end of a visit to Greece that agreement had been reached on "most of the core measures needed to restore the momentum of reform and pave the way for the completion of the review." Its representatives and Greek authorities "had comprehensive and productive discussions on the policies needed to restore growth, employment and competitiveness, secure fiscal sustainability in a socially balanced manner, and strengthen the financial system," the statement said. In Brussels, Europe's leaders will discuss an interim report outlining steps to strengthen the eurozone, including proposed reforms of the banking sector and more integrated budget policies, according to a letter from European Council president Herman Van Rompuy. Greece's long-running economic woes have shaken global markets and led to fears the country could crash out of the 17-member eurozone single currency if it defaults on its debt. The turmoil in the eurozone has exacerbated concerns about other ailing nations such as Spain and Italy, which are also struggling with high unemployment and debt. Read more: Greeks fearful of what will follow U.S. election . CNN's Diana Magnay, Elinda Labropoulou and Ben Rooney contributed to this report.
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NEW: Violence flares in Athens as protesters rally against a new round of cuts .
NEW: A 65-year-old man dies after fainting during the protest, a union official says .
Union leaders have called the country's second general strike in a month .
European leaders will discuss the continent's economic situation at a summit .
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(CNN) -- When EMS workers arrived at the Pleasant Grove, Utah, home of Michele and Dr. Martin MacNeill, they found a tragedy. Michele MacNeill, a mother of eight children, was unresponsive in her bathtub, and Martin MacNeill, according to law enforcement at the scene, was hysterical and angry, cursing his wife for having had a recent face-lift. Michele MacNeill was pronounced dead later on April 11, 2007. The autopsy report determined she died of natural causes due to cardiovascular disease. But three years later, at the urging of her children, there was a new analysis of a toxicology report that changed everything. Combinations of medications found in Michele MacNeill's system were determined to have contributed to her death. Diazepam, Oxycodone, Promethazine and Zolpidem were all found in her system. Although none of the drugs alone was at toxic levels, Dr. Todd Grey, chief medical examiner of the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office, determined that, in combination, the drugs could have led to sedation and heart arrhythmia, resulting in cardiac death. On October 6, 2010, Michele MacNeill's cause of death was changed to "combined effects of heart disease and drug toxicity." The manner of death was changed from natural to undetermined. As investigators began to reopen the case, they realized they had a suspect: Michele MacNeill's husband. Prosecutors paint picture of a double life . Michele and Martin MacNeill seemed to live the American dream. He a doctor and lawyer, she a former beauty queen, had raised their family in Utah. Four of their eight children were adopted. Devoted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Martin MacNeill also had taught Sunday school. Deadly remedy: Notorious doctors accused of murder . But prosecutors say that behind closed doors, what seemed to be the perfect union was anything but. Martin MacNeill, they say, led a double life, seeing women on the side. Legal documents state he announced to his wife and family several times in the years preceding his wife's death that he wanted out of the marriage. He never took that step, but prosecutors say that his affection for one woman in particular, Gypsy Willis, was the root of his motive for murder. Willis will be a star witness for the prosecution as Martin's trial begins in Provo, Utah. He is charged with the murder of his wife and obstruction of justice. Martin MacNeill case: The key players . Michele MacNeill had turned 50 in 2007. She and Martin had been married nearly 30 years. Legal documents state that it was Martin MacNeill's idea in March of that year that she undergo a face-lift. Family members say Michele MacNeill pushed back, not because she was refusing, but because she wanted to lose some extra weight and wanted to control her high blood pressure. But prosecutors say Martin MacNeill was relentless, even finding a plastic surgeon who was new to town and had advertised in the local paper. Martin MacNeill accompanied his wife on every presurgical visit to Dr. Scott Thompson. According to the affidavit for an arrest warrant, the last consultation with the plastic surgeon before the procedure took place was on April 1, 2007. Martin gave Thompson a list of medications he wanted for Michele. They included Lortab (Hydrocodone) in liquid form, Zolpidem, Valium (Diazepam), Phenergan (Promethazine) and Percocet (Oxycodone). Martin MacNeill: Suspicious or not? Documents state Thompson admitted that the Valium and Oxycodone "were out of my usual routine." After the cosmetic surgery on April 3, 2007, Thompson required Michele MacNeill to spend the night at the hospital. According to prosecutors, Martin MacNeill exchanged 24 text messages with Willis on the day of Michele's surgery. On April 4, Michele MacNeill was released to go home. Her daughter Alexis MacNeill was on spring break from medical school and attended to her mother at home. Martin told the daughter to get some sleep, and he would look after his wife through the night. The next morning, Alexis MacNeill told investigators she found her mother unresponsive. Martin MacNeill allegedly told his daughter he may have overmedicated his wife through the night. Alexis MacNeill then took over keeping a notebook of what medications she gave to her mother and when. Messages and medicines add to mystery . On April 5, legal documents state that Michele MacNeill told Alexis MacNeill that she believed her husband was trying to overmedicate her. Because her eyes were still bandaged from the surgery, she asked her daughter for help in identifying pills by feel. The daughter later told authorities her mother had told her that Martin MacNeill kept giving her pills, telling her to swallow. In an important pretrial ruling, Judge Derek Pullan determined that jurors will not be allowed to hear what Michele allegedly told her daughter that night: "if anything happens to me, make sure it wasn't your dad." Prosecutors intend to show jurors the numerous text messages Martin MacNeill exchanged with Willis in the days preceding his wife's death. On April 6, Michele MacNeill confronted her husband about phone records her daughter had researched, which showed one phone number repeatedly called day after day and night after night. Prosecutors say that number belonged to Willis. On April 10, Alexis MacNeill returned to medical school in Nevada, feeling her mother was now well enough. The next day, April 11, her mother was dead. The defense says that Michele MacNeill's death was an accident and that she died of natural causes. Conflicting timelines . Martin MacNeill says he has an alibi because he was at work the morning of his wife's death. According to an affidavit, Martin MacNeill dropped his youngest daughter, Ada, off at school at 8:30 a.m. on April 11. At 8:41 a.m., Alexis MacNeill called the home phone. Three minutes later, Michele MacNeill called Alexis MacNeill from her cell phone. According to Alexis MacNeill, her mother was in good spirits and optimistic about her future with Martin MacNeill. Martin said he went back to work around 9 or 9:30 a.m. He says he left his wife alone for approximately two hours. At 9:10 a.m., Alexis MacNeill received a phone call from her father, who called from his office phone. He asked his daughter to check in with her mother because "Michele was not listening to him and getting out of bed." Starting at 9:14 a.m., Martin MacNeill called his wife's cell phone with no answer. Several subsequent calls were made with the same result. Did doctor use medical know-how to kill wife? Legal documents state that Martin MacNeill was supposed to be working at a booth that day for the Developmental Center Safety Fair associated with his work, but he did not show up when he was supposed to. Employees say they do not know where he was from approximately 9:30 to 11 a.m. At 11 a.m., Martin MacNeill arrived at the safety fair. According to legal documents, witnesses say he was intent on getting his photograph taken there and appeared "short tempered" and "belligerent." Martin MacNeill left to pick up Ada at about 11:35 a.m. According to documents, they arrived home between 11:35 and 11:46 a.m. Martin MacNeill went to the kitchen, and Ada went to find her mother. Ada said she found her mother fully clothed in the tub with her head next to the tub's faucet, above reddish-brown water. She estimated the water was about one-quarter of the way up the tub. Her mother's hair was floating toward the drain. Ada went to get her father. Martin MacNeill's recounting of how he found his wife is strikingly different from Ada's and will be something prosecutors focus on to show MacNeill's alleged lack of veracity. He told authorities his wife was draped over the side of the tub, head first, with her head in the water. Autopsy results later showed Michele MacNeill's blood had pooled after death toward her lower extremities, which gives credence to Ada's version and discounts Martin MacNeill's. According to legal documents, Martin MacNeill told paramedic Marc Sanderson that his wife overdosed on medication and that was the cause of her death. In an interview, the girlfriend of Martin MacNeill's son Damian, Eileen Hang, told authorities that Martin MacNeill directed her to discard all of his wife's medications upon returning home from the hospital the day Michele MacNeill died. Additionally, the journal that Alexis MacNeill had used to keep a running tally of her mother's medications after surgery mysteriously disappeared. The trial begins with jury selection on Tuesday, and although prosecutors have laid their case out with numerous legal filings and a 2012 preliminary hearing, the defense has won many pretrial arguments keeping out statements and actions by Martin they feel are prejudicial and irrelevant. Critical rulings handed down in MacNeill case . What the defense has in its back pocket are the determinations of several experts set to testify in the trial. According to filed documents, not one conclusively states that Michele MacNeill's manner of death was by homicide. Forensic pathologists will only conclude to a degree of medical certainty that the manner of death is undetermined. Now, it will be up to a Utah jury of Martin MacNeill's peers to determine if his wife died at the hands of another -- specifically at the hands of her husband, who is now on trial for his life.
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Jury selection begins Tuesday for Dr. Martin MacNeill's murder trial .
MacNeill is charged with the murder of his wife and obstruction of justice .
Prosecutors point to another woman as a motive .
Trial could pit daughters against father .
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(CNN) -- Puffing on electronic cigarettes is already a no-no on flights, but the government wants there to be no doubt. The Department of Transportation is proposing to explicitly ban the use of the devices on planes. "Airline passengers have rights, and this new rule would enhance passenger comfort and reduce any confusion surrounding the use of electronic cigarettes in flight," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Electronic cigarettes look like the real thing, but they're actually battery-operated devices that turn nicotine into a vapor that is inhaled by the user, according to the FDA. They're a potential cause for concern because "there is a lack of scientific data and knowledge of the ingredients in electronic cigarettes," the DOT said. But the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association criticized the move, insisting that the devices only emit water vapor. "It makes absolutely zero sense," said Ray Story, the group's CEO. "It only gives the smoker a dosage of nicotine, but it doesn't do anything else to the innocent bystander. ... I have sat next to people who wore a particular type of cologne that was far more intrusive than what this particular product is." The DOT believes its current ban on smoking of tobacco products is broad enough to include electronic cigarettes, but wants to eliminate any confusion. Some airline passengers have been "vaping" on planes, convinced that the devices are exempt from the ban. In July, a Sandy, Utah, man was arrested after an altercation that began when he started using an electronic cigarette on board a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City. The story prompted hundreds of comments from CNN.com readers, many defending electronic cigarettes and arguing they're a smoke-free way to provide relief for passengers suffering from nicotine withdrawals during a flight. "The problem is not with the people using this device, but with the people around them who are psychologically affected by the fact that it LOOKS like a cigarette and someone is sucking on it," one commenter wrote. But others worried about the safety of using the devices at 35,000 feet, as well as their health effects on others. "I sat next to someone who was e-smoking and it's impossible to contain all of the nicotine mist. I don't want to breathe that stuff and shouldn't have to sit next to someone on a plane who is spewing chemically loaded mist. Get a patch or nicotine gum if your addiction is that bad," a commenter wrote. The DOT's proposed rule would apply to all U.S. and foreign airlines on scheduled flights to and from the United States. Officials are also considering whether to extend the ban on smoking to charter flights. Amtrak has already banned the use of e-cigarettes on trains and in any area where smoking is prohibited, the DOT said, and the U.S. Navy doesn't allow them below decks in submarines. The government will accept public comments on the proposal until November 14.
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Government proposes to explicitly ban the use of electronic cigarettes on planes .
E-cigarettes look like the real thing, but they're actually battery-operated devices .
There's been confusion whether they're covered by the DOT's ban on smoking .
Some airline passengers have been "vaping" on planes despite the ban .
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By . Nina Golgowski . PUBLISHED: . 02:12 EST, 12 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 09:16 EST, 12 December 2012 . After surviving nearly 150 years locked from public eye this astonishing collection of exceptionally preserved and rarely seen Civil War photographs, letters and all 56 signatures of the Declaration of Independence have been revealed at auction this week . Among 97 items slated to fetch tens of thousands before Thursday, original portraits of future U.S. presidents, soldiers and handwritten documents detailing imminent surrender highlight the gallery. Topping bids as of Tuesday night, a handwritten letter from Gen. Robert E. Lee in 1865 documents his final attempt at securing Virginia from Lt Gen Ulysses S Grant. Scroll down for video . Auction highlights: Among the runner ups in top bids are these pictures, from left, of James A. Garfield, future U.S. president, and Jefferson Davis, leader of the Confederacy . This rare photo of Lt Gen Ulysses S Grant, left, is currently fetching more than $1,300 in bids while right, a photo of Union General George B. McClellan is seen while currently selling for more than $1,100 . Sending off his worried outlook to Gen J.E. Johnston in North Carolina he writes in one line: ‘We cannot fight Grant to advantage as long as he holds his entrenchments.’ Crisp and golden with age, the document has promised more than $10,000 from one of 25 eager bidders. Banding . behind that letter are the portraits of dozens of civil war soldiers, . including Lt Gen Ulysses S Grant prior to his presidency in 1869. 'Wartime portraits of Garfield in uniform are exceptionally scarce and highly desirable,' RR Auction writes with the item. That portrait, as well as several others, has racked up more than $1,300 in bids. Top bids: Left, this letter written and signed by Gen. Robert E Lee is looking to fetch more than $10,000 at auction this week while this letter right by Confederate Gen James Longstreet is currently selling for $477 . Highlight: On Saturday this document showing the signature of Button Gwinnett will mutually be up for auction, as one of the rarest signatures of all 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence . Top prize: This book compiling all signers' autographs and portraits will be sold in a live auction on Saturday in New Hampshire . Original photos: This vintage sepia 8 x 5 photo of Butterfield posing with General Joseph Hooker and several other officers at Lookout Valley, Tennessee in 1863 is looking to fetch $525 by Thursday . Union Generals: From left Union Generals Henry W. Halleck, currently selling for more than $500 along with Abner Doubleday, often credited for the invention of baseball, who's photo is currently fetching more than $900 . Just ahead of Grant in highest bids are bust portraits of James A. Garfield, future 1881 U.S. president, and Jefferson Davis, leader of the Confederacy holding its presidency until its fall in 1865. At a current bid of $2,244, Garfield's bust is the second highest priced item up for sale with Davis’ stamped at $1,531 in third. ‘Wartime portraits of Garfield in uniform are exceptionally scarce and highly desirable, and this is the only example of such a photograph that we have ever offered,’ they write with Garfield’s image. Offering a second exquisite opportunity . of owning a piece of time after the U.S. nearly broke into two, . signatures of all 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence are . also up for bidding come Saturday. Cherokee colonel in the Confederate States Army Elias Boudinot is seen left beside nephew of Robert E. Lee, Fitzhugh Lee, who was a Confederate cavaly . Portrait of the heavily-fortified quarters of Fort Sedgwick, generally known as Fort Hell, is dated May of 1865 from Gardner's photographic sketch book of the war . Fancy dress: Jefferson Davis is drawn in both images seen on the left alongside his wife while right, drawn as his enemies imaged him to have been found when captured by the Michigan Calvary . War ship: A sketch of the Confederacy's most famous warship The Virginia is seen as the first steam-powered ironclad warship of the Confederate States Navy . Appearing in the live auction in Nashua, New Hampshire, the assortment of signatures appear in various forms while most prominently said to be displayed in historically significant letters, detailing the words and thoughts of the nation's most important Founding Fathers. Monumentally as the auction house notes, is the rarest autograph of all of them with only 51 other examples believed to exist. That signature is of Button Gwinnett, captured in a historic 1773 document signed by the Georgia Signer. 'This is a rare opportunity to . acquire a complete set of the Signers of the Declaration of . Independence, one of only forty collections known to exist,' RR Auction . writes with the event. John Adams: This letter written and signed by John Adams would be included in Saturday's live auction . Benjamin Franklin's signature is beautifully printed in a letter addressed to a friend in 1783 . Touted as the Proctor-Sang-Newell Collection, the signatures are from three privately owned collections, the first completed by Thomas R Proctor in 1905 before its gradual sale. Purchased by Richard Newsell in 2002 in a private sale from Philip D. Sang before transitioning to auction this week, the auction house writes: . 'It is believed that together with the additions made by Richard Newell, this will be the largest offering of individual Signers in the past fifty years.'
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A collection of 97 Civil War era photographs and handwritten documents are aiming to fetch tens of thousands of dollars by Thursday .
On Saturday a collection of signatures of all 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence is also slated to be sold .
Earning the highest bid as of Tuesday is a rare letter by Gen Robert E Lee currently fetching more than $10,000 .
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By . Chris Parsons . Updated: . 04:44 EST, 28 January 2012 . They are some of the world's greatest ever horse racing names, but new research has suggested that the likes of Seabiscuit, Man O'War, Secretariat and Seattle Slew may all have a distant genetic connection. Researchers have claimed that all the best thoroughbreds of racing are all very distantly related after tracing the 'speed gene' they all share to a single ancestor from the 17th century. Experts at University College Dublin analysed DNA from nearly 600 horses and 22 modern breeds, and were able to predict what the horses had in common genetically. Scientists analysing horse DNA traced the 'speed gene' back to a single British mare in the 17th century . Their results showed how the 'speed gene' which saw racing greats like Man O'War and Seabiscuit power to victory was passed to the famous horses from a single founder, a British mare around 300 years ago. The British ancestor was racing in the mid-17th century at a time when local British breeds were pre-eminent in racing horses and before the foundation of the thoroughbred racehorse. In finding the 'speed gene', a C type myostatin gene variant, researchers studied genetic data from hundreds of horses, as well as the skeletal remains of 12 thoroughbred stallions born between 1764 and 1930. Their research also included DNA from 330 elite performing thoroughbreds, 40 donkeys and two zebras. Legend: U.S. thoroughbred Seattle Slew remains the only horse to win the Triple Crown while undefeated . Iconic: Man O'War, thought to be one of the greatest thoroughbreds of all time, won 20 of his 21 races. Record breaker: U.S. horse Secretariat set records in two Triple Crown races which still stand to this day . Famous: Seabiscuit became the subject of a book and two films followings its success . Modern variants recently traced successful thoroughbreds back to legendary mare Nearctic, who lived between 1954 and 1973. The variant branched out to Nearctic's son Northern Dancer, which according to LiveScience was the most bred stallion of modern times. Norther Dancer never finished lower than third and won 14 of his 18 races. But the new research has now traced the success of modern thoroughbreds back to a single horse over 300 years ago. Researcher Emmeline Hill, a genomics scientist at University College Dublin who led the study, said: 'Changes in racing since the foundation of the Thoroughbred have shaped the distribution of 'speed gene' types over time and in different racing regions. Research: Dr Emmeline Hill, pictured with Irish trainer Jim Bolger, conducted the study to discover the genetic links between successful thoroughbreds . 'But we have been able to identify that the original 'speed gene' variant entered the Thoroughbred from a single founder, which was most likely a British mare about 300 years ago. 'Having first identified the 'speed gene' in 2010, we decided to see if we could trace the origin of the gene variant using population genetics coupled with pedigree analysis. 'We wanted to understand where speed in the Thoroughbred came from.' Researchers said all great sprinting horses shared two genes associated with muscle development. The genetic combination was not present in regular farm horses, donkeys or zebras.
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Gene traced back to single 17th century British mare .
Experts analysed data from nearly 600 horses .
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A young mother died less than a month after the birth of her longed-for first child as a result of ‘extremely rare’ complications, an inquest heard. Hayley Constable and her partner Martin Fitzpatrick were thrilled when son Alfie was born by Caesarean section a year after she suffered a miscarriage. But the 27-year-old’s scar became infected after she took him home. Despite being given antibiotics by her GP, her condition deteriorated and she died in hospital. Now Alfie is at nursery and asks his father why he doesn’t have a mother like his classmates. Grief: Martin Constable with son Alfie. Heartbreakingly, Alfie sees other children with their mothers and asks his father why he doesn't have one of his own . Hayley Constable (pictured just after the birth), 27, was said to have been 'absolutely thrilled' when son Alfie was born - a year after she suffered a miscarriage . Mr Fitzpatrick, 31, who gave up his . job as a newspaper sales executive to look after his son – now two and a . half – said: ‘He’s started nursery and asks why he doesn’t have a mummy . like the other kids. ‘He’s a lovely little boy, a normal happy two-year-old, but it’s incredibly sad to hear him asking questions about Hayley.’ Yesterday her family claimed doctors had failed to treat the infection promptly and missed a chance to save her life. But a pathologist told the inquest Miss Constable’s death was due to an extremely rare set of complications that caused respiratory failure and a stroke. Mr Fitzpatrick said: ¿He¿s a lovely little boy, a normal happy two-year-old, but it¿s incredibly sad to hear him asking questions about Hayley' Hayley with her Neice Molly when she was born. Just one week after she came home with her own baby she was rushed back into hospital in severe pain, caused by an infection from the scar on her caesarean wound . Miss Constable, who had miscarried in February 2010, went into labour in March 2011 and was taken to Fairfield Hospital maternity unit in Bury. After she spent two days in labour, doctors decided to deliver Alfie by C-section. Two days later Miss Constable a claims technician, was allowed to take Alfie home to Ramsbottom, near Bury. Her mother Anne Constable, 52, a health visitor, told the inquest at Heywood, Rochdale: ‘She was thrilled to become a mum. She was so happy, she was breastfeeding and everything appeared fine.’ Five days later Miss Constable texted her mother to say that she had lumps on the sides of her scar. The community midwife reassured her that the wound appeared to be healing. Mr Fitzpatrick gave up his job as a newspaper sales executive to look after his son . Hayley with partner Martin Fitzpatrick in 2010. Hayley died two weeks after the birth with her family at her bedside after suffering a stroke following a series of medical complications . But the following day she began to suffer worsening pain and a GP prescribed painkillers and antibiotics, Mrs Constable said. The . pain continued to worsen and she was admitted to Fairfield Hospital, . where her blood pressure dropped and she was unable to move. Because she was allergic to penicillin, doctors were initially restricted in their choice of antibiotics to treat her. The following day she was transferred to North Manchester General Hospital, where the infection was drained. That afternoon she was struggling to breathe and was put on a ventilator. Doctors told the family she was suffering with acute respiratory distress syndrome. ‘They told us she might have hours to live or days, or she could recover,’ said Mrs Constable. She was transferred to Glenfield Hospital in Leicester but suffered a stroke and died. Pathologist Dr Alan Padwell told the inquest he had never seen a sequence of events where an infected caesarean section wound had resulted in breathing failure in this way. Pictured while pregnant at her baby shower. Her family said 'she was thrilled to become a mum' Recording a narrative verdict, coroner Simon Nelson said Miss Constable died ‘due to a rare but recognised complication of necessary surgical intervention’. Although the coroner did not criticise the doctors who treated her, Miss Constable’s family are taking legal action against Fairfield Hospital alleging that she could have lived if guidelines on identifying potentially serious infections had been followed. Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Fairfield, said: ‘The Trust would like to express its sincere condolences to Miss Constable’ s partner, son and family in relation to these rare, but tragic circumstances.’ An inquest into her death recorded a narrative verdict. A coroner said she died due to a rare but recognised complication of necessary surgical intervention .
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Hayley Constable, 27, was 'absolutely thrilled' when son Alfie was born .
But week after she came home with baby she was rushed back to hospital .
Her Caesarean wound had become infected and she suffered a stroke .
Alfie now asks his father heartbreaking questions about his mother .
She died with family present - an inquest has recorded a narrative verdict .
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By . Matt Blake . PUBLISHED: . 04:29 EST, 15 March 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 06:38 EST, 15 March 2012 . A 'wheel-chair-bound' benefits cheat who claimed £62,000 has been jailed after it emerged he was an international archer who had travelled to Thailand to pick up a bride. Terry Peake, 64, said it took him 30 minutes to walk 50 to 75 yards since a car accident in 1994 left him 'disabled'. He even claimed he couldn't dress, bathe or go to the toilet without help. But when the Department of Work and Pensions discovered he had represented Britain at the World Masters Games in Melbourne in 2002 - and set up his own business - he went on the run around the world. Scroll down to see video . Peake physical fitness: Terry Peake said he needed help to dress, bath and go to the toilet but meanwhile he represented Britain at archery . Peake, of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, . was eventually arrested in February this year, at Birmingham Airport . after a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was a member of the Rochdale Company of Archers and, in 1999, won the Grand Northern title. Investigators secretly filmed him lugging a trailer across a field for the business he had set up, trading specialised licence plates over the web. When he was caught, Peake fled Britain and went to Thailand where he married a local woman and jetted off to Australia. But he was unmasked as a cheat when pictures of him surfaced frolicking in a swimming pool. Caught: Investigators secretly filmed him as he pulled a trailer across a field as he operated a business, trading specialised license plates over the web . At Bolton Crown Court he was jailed for nine months after he pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming a total of £62, 941.29, between October 2002 and May 2007. Mr Kenneth Grant, prosecuting, said Mr Peake claimed he had not been able to work after the accident and when he started claiming disability allowance in 1994. New love: When he was caught, Peake he did a runner from Britain went to Thailand where he found himself a Thai bride . He also used a wheel chair when he went out because he had trouble standing up. He said claimants, like Mr Peake, were under a duty to notify the DWP of any changes in their circumstances which might affect their entitlement. In early in summer 2006, the DWP became aware that Peake had started a business, trading specialised license plates over the web - which he did not report to the department. Mr Peake failed to attend his first court hearing in October 2007, but attended in June 2008 after being arrested at Birmingham airport. And for the next four years nothing was heard of the defendant - who was living in Thailand with his Thai wife. He was again arrested in February this year, at Birmingham airport. Mr Colin Buckle, defending, added: 'The defendant, prior to these matters, was a man of exemplary character, in full-time employment, until 1991 when he had a, what can only be described as, devastating car accident.' Mr Peake spent the following 18 months in hospital, where he underwent treatment for his injuries. He added: 'He had five separate sites of injury on his spine and was declared disabled and confined to a wheelchair. This was the case for the ten years.' Jet-setter: After marrying he jetted off to Australia where pictures of him emerged frolicking in a swimming pool . But Mr Peake’s condition gradually started to improve from 2000. Mr . Buckle said: 'There came an improvement, the improvement was gradual, . but for all the time the defendant had been claiming benefits.' And . so gradual was this improvement, Mr Buckler said there was no trigger . for the claimant to identify a point to notify the DWP. 'The original claim was quite genuine and received because of the severe injuries the defendant had', he said. Arrested: Peake, of Rochdale, Greater Manchester was eventually arrested in February this year, at Birmingham Airport after a warrant was issued for his arrest . Caged: He was jailed for nine months after he pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming a total of £62, 941.29, between October 2002 and May 2007 . Mr Buckle said after leaving hospital, Mr Peake felt hard done by - and so he became involved with those who had suffered the same fate he had. Mr Peake became involved in the Commonwealth Games, for which he became a senior communications officer. He even visited all the schools in the Isle of Man, encouraging disabled people to take part in sport - an initiative backed by former gold medalist Tanni Grey Thomspon, who worked very closely with him. Lies: The court heard he started claiming disability allowance in 1994 after a car accident left him 'unable to work' First clue: In early in summer 2006, the DWP became aware that Peake had started a business, trading specialised license plates over the web - which he did not report to the department . Mr . Peake, who limped into the dock, bowed his head as Judge William Morris . told him: 'You are a man of 64. You are a man of good character. You . are a man of positive good character.' He said Mr Peake’s condition had improved and he had failed to notify the DWP, of those changes and changes in circumstances. 'It may not have been a considerable business, but a business it was', he added. He stated suspicion had surrounded Mr Peake, after photographs of him in Australia had surfaced. He added: 'You quite deliberately claimed benefits. This is serious because of course, it’s the tax payer who pays such benefits - that hard-earned money is simply being passed to somebody that had no entitlement to it.' On a website Peake said: 'I took up Archery after a serious car accident which left me in a wheelchair. This was a therapeutic sport which I could do, however over the years I have regained the use of my legs and can now walk for short periods of time with the help of medication. 'I still have disabilities and am registered disabled I no longer work, so I spend my time promoting archery and coaching people who wish to take up the sport. 'I still compete from my wheelchair and shoot all over and have been fortunate to win a selection of trophies , medals over the years. One thing about archery is that any one can do it, whether they have a disability or not. Any age from 8 to 80 it is also a very sociable sport you meet all sorts of people from all walks of life . But DWP Minister for Welfare Reform, Lord Freud, said: 'It’s cases like these that show us why welfare reform is needed. We have a duty to the taxpayer and our customers to make sure that these vital benefits only go to those who need them. 'Benefit fraud takes money away from the most vulnerable. It is a crime and we are committed to stopping it by catching criminals at the front line and making sure our reforms make the benefit system less open to abuse.'
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Terry Peake, 64, represented Britain in World Masters Games in Melbourne .
He claimed he needed help to dress, bathe and go to toilet .
When caught he went on run with new Thai bride .
Judge jailed Peake for nine months for fraudulent claims .
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Three Staten Island men are charged with violating voting rights, accused of assaulting African-Americans after Barack Obama's win in the November presidential election, authorities said Wednesday. A grand jury indicted Ralph Nicoletti, 18, Michael Contreras, 18, and Brian Carranza, 21, on charges of conspiracy to interfere with voting rights. All three pleaded not guilty in federal court Wednesday afternoon. According to the indictment, the three "knowingly and intentionally" conspired to intimidate African-Americans "in the free exercise and enjoyment of a right ... and because of having so exercised that right, to wit, the right to vote." Nicoletti and Carranza are white, and Contreras is Latino. They face up to 10 years in prison if convicted. At the arraignment, Nicoletti and Contreras were ordered held without bail, while Carranza was released on a $200,000 bond but ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device. Contreras' attorney, public defender Len Kamdang, could not be reached for comment. Nicoletti's attorney, Bob LaRusso, had no comment. Prosecutors said in court filings that on the night of November 4, the defendants were at a "makeshift outdoor clubhouse" in the Rosebank section of Staten Island when they learned of Obama's victory. At that point, prosecutors said, Nicoletti drove Contreras, Carranza and another friend to the predominantly African-American Park Hill neighborhood in Staten Island. Their purpose, prosecutors said, was to assault African-Americans because of Obama's win. Their first victim, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, was 17-year-old Ali Kamara, whom they beat with a metal pipe and a collapsible police baton. Kamara escaped after suffering a concussion and injuries to his legs. "The first swing that swung -- it hit my head. It cut my head," Kamara told CNN affiliate WABC. "I got staples on my head now." Kamara said he hid in a neighbor's backyard until the boys moved on. Continuing to the Port Richmond section of Staten Island, the group assaulted a second African-American man, pushing him down, the federal prosecutors alleged. They then allegedly accosted a Latino man, demanding to know how he voted, and shouted profanities about Obama at a group of African-Americans at a hair salon. Next, prosecutors said, the group targeted Ronald Forte, a man they mistakenly believed to be African-American who was walking along Blackford Avenue in predominantly African-American Port Richmond. Forte is white, but because he was wearing a hoodie, the men were unable to identify his race and assumed that he was African-American. According to the indictment, the men decided to assault Forte with the police baton as they drove by, but at the last moment, Nicoletti swerved the vehicle directly into the 38-year-old man instead. Forte was thrown onto the hood of the car, shattering the front windshield. According to Staten Island Real Time News (silive.com), Forte was in a coma for 45 days, returning to his family's home in New Jersey in mid-December, said his mother, Eileen. She added that her son now has serious brain damage and motor control problems. "He's not good. He's never going to be good," she said. "Every day, I just see something different, and it's so scary." U.S. Attorney Benton J. Campbell decried the attacks. "Violence and intimidation aimed at interfering with the constitutional rights of every citizen, including the right to vote, will not be tolerated," he said in a written statement. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Nicoletti has an extensive history of violent criminal activity including burglary, car break-ins, firebombing, assault, and marijuana and cocaine distribution. He is also a member of the "Rosebank Crew" (RBK) founded by his now-incarcerated younger brother, Anthony Nicoletti. Investigators found a cache of weapons and police batons stolen from vehicles owned by police, as well as letters from Nicoletti's brother urging Ralph to maintain RBK loyalty and not cooperate with authorities. Nicoletti and three others approached Contreras three weeks ago at his house, believing he was cooperating with authorities, according to a filing with the U.S. Attorney's Office. They allegedly attacked him and called him a snitch, according to a letter from Assistant U.S. Attorneys Pamela Chen and Margo Brodie to the judge in the case. The letter petitions for home confinement, drug testing and other pretrial release conditions for Nicoletti and Carranza. The judge has not responded to the request. CNN's Mythili Rao and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.
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Indictment says three men conspired to intimidate African-Americans .
They've pleaded not guilty of conspiracy to interfere with voting rights .
Two held without bail; other out on bail with monitoring device .
Prosecutors: Men went to African-American neighborhoods, assaulted 3 people .
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By . Ellie Zolfagharifard . Tiny bats in Central and South America use rolled-up leaves as ear trumpets to improve their hearing. Other than its use by humans, this is the first time this crafty technique has been seen in nature. The behaviour was observed in a species known as the Spix's disc-winged bats- distinguished by suction cups on their thumbs and hind feet. Tiny bats in Central and South America use rolled-up leaves as ear trumpets to improve their hearing. Other than its use by humans, this is the first time this crafty technique has been seen in nature . These tiny bats can often be found nestled inside tapered, unfurling leaves of plants such as Heliconia or Calathea in groups of about five or six. Leaves of these plants only remain curled for around a day before they open up and the bats have to find a new home. To find where a group has moved to, Spix's disc-winged bats have a special social call. Bats on the outside of the leaves send an enquiry, while their friends send a response signal. The behaviour was observed in a species known as the Spix's disc-winged bats- distinguished by suction cups on their thumbs and hind feet . Spix's disc-winged bats are distinguished by suction cups on their thumbs and hind feet which allow them to cling to smooth surfaces.They can be found in South America, and in countries including Venezuela, Tobago, Trinidad, Brazil and Bolivia. They can often be found nestled inside tapered, unfurling leaves of plants such as Heliconia or Calathea. Leaves of these plants only remain curled for 24 hours before they open and the bats have to find a new home. While studying these bats, biologists Gloriana Chaverri and Erin Gillam from the University of Costa Rica in Golfito found that individuals inside the leaves were often unable to recognise calls made from their friends on the outside. They recreated the tapered leaf environment in a lab and found that the call emitted by flying bats was amplified to those inside the furled leaf. According to the researchers, the calls from outside the roost were amplified by as much as 10 decimals as sound waves were compressed down the tapered tubes- the same way an ear trumpet amplifies sound. But although flying bats almost always recognise their group members' response calls, bats inside a leaf seemed unable to tell the difference between the inquiry calls of friends and strangers. Chaverri claims this is because, as well as amplifying the sound, the leaf distorts incoming calls. She added that bats inside the leaves are likely to respond indiscriminately. The reason why bats can still find their group, claim scientists, is because the ‘response call’ is more complex and easier to identify, even if the quality of the sound is reduced by the leaves. The researchers now hope to study how characteristics of the leaf, such as length, width and plant species, affects sound transmission, and how bats may choose their roost because of this. According to the researchers, the calls from outside the roost were amplified by as much as 10 decimals as sound waves were compressed down the tapered tubes - the same way an ear trumpet amplifies sound .
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Spix's disc-winged bats roost inside leaves of plants such as Heliconia .
Due to their shape, these leaves can amplify sounds by up 10 decibels .
The leaves, however, also cause messages to become muffled which may have caused the bats to develop a more complex response call .
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House Republican leadership is standing by Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 3-ranking House Republican, in the wake of a firestorm of criticism surrounding his 2002 speech to a white supremacist group. Scalise's position as House majority whip has been thrown into doubt by the revelation, and the congressman had been calling members to gauge the level of support he had from his party, according to a senior House Republican source. But House Speaker John Boehner, in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, said Scalise has his "full confidence" as whip. "More than a decade ago, Representative Scalise made an error in judgment, and he was right to acknowledge it was wrong and inappropriate. Like many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I know Steve to be a man of high integrity and good character. He has my full confidence as our Whip, and he will continue to do great and important work for all Americans," he said. His message came shortly before a similar message of support from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The controversy surrounding Scalise's address to a group founded by former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke had become a major distraction for Boehner and his leadership team since the story drew national attention on Monday. The fallout: What you need to know . In a statement issued Tuesday, Scalise said he spoke to the group while he was barnstorming the district to build support for a piece of legislation — and that speaking to them was a "mistake I regret." "One of the many groups that I spoke to regarding this critical legislation was a group whose views I wholeheartedly condemn. It was a mistake I regret, and I emphatically oppose the divisive racial and religious views groups like these hold," he said in the statement. "I am very disappointed that anyone would try to infer otherwise for political gain," he added, and decried the group's "hateful bigotry." The statement did not address how much Scalise knew about the group at the time of the speech. Duke himself has said he doesn't know Scalise. Duke's former campaign manager, who said he organized the event, also said the congressman likely wasn't aware of the controversial history of his group. However, a Roll Call report from 1999 suggests Scalise knew Duke well, and was critical of his beliefs. At that time, both were considered potential contenders in a House special election, and Scalise panned him in comments to the paper. "The novelty of David Duke has worn off," Scalise said. "The voters in this district are smart enough to realize that they need to get behind someone who not only believes in the issues they care about, but also can get elected. Duke has proven that he can't get elected, and that's the first and most important thing." In a coordinated move Tuesday, Boehner and McCarthy issued statements supporting Scalise within minutes of Scalise's new statement. There was frustration, according to the aides, that Scalise's initial statement, in which he blamed sloppy staff work for his appearance before the group in 2002, made it appear he wasn't taking full responsibility for the incident and moving to get it passed him. It is unclear at this point how much blowback Scalise will get from rank-and-file Republicans, and that might now be fully visible until lawmakers return to work next week after digesting the unfolding situation. While the only public expressions from Republicans to this point have been supportive, the aides predicted Scalise still needs to work hard in the days ahead to maintain the confidence of his colleagues. Critics of Scalise have been bipartisan, but so have his defenders. He's received strong support from Louisiana politicians, with African-American Rep. Cedric Richmond — the state's only Democratic House member — defending him from charges of racism. "I don't think Steve Scalise has a racist bone in his body," Richmond told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "Steve and I have worked on issues that benefit poor people, black people, white people, Jewish people. I know his character." But national Democrats have pounced on the episode, and as Boehner remained silent on the issue for most of Tuesday, ramped pressure on House Republican leadership to weigh in . House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's spokesman, Drew Hammill, said the news of Scalise's speech is "deeply troubling" for a GOP leader, but also declared that "actions [of the House GOP caucus] speak louder than whatever" Scalise said during the forum. "Just this year, House Republicans have refused to restore the Voting Rights Act or pass comprehensive immigration reform, and leading Republican members are now actively supporting in the federal courts efforts by another known extremist group, the American Center for Law and Justice, which is seeking to overturn the President's immigration executive actions," he said in a statement. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued a scathing statement charging Scalise "chose to cheerlead for a group of KKK members and neo-Nazis at a white supremacist rally" and slamming House leadership for their silence on the development. "While David Duke defends Scalise, Speaker Boehner and Leader [Kevin] McCarthy are refusing to condemn Scalise's choice of allies," said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee National Press Secretary Josh Schwerin. Schwerin said the incident made it "clear their leadership has a history of embracing anti-Semitic, racist hate groups." According to an agenda for the event and notes attendees posted afterward, Scalise appeared at the National/International EURO Workshop on Civil Rights, a white nationalist organization founded by David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. The appearance was first reported on Sunday on CenLamar.com, a Louisiana politics blog run by Lamar White Jr. But Scalise vehemently disavowed the group's beliefs in his interview with the Times-Picayune, and said he "spoke to any group that called" — comparing it, as an example, to the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan group known for helping to register new voters. "When you look at the kind of things they stand for, I detest these kinds of views. As a Catholic, I think some of the things they profess target people like me. At lot of their views run contradictory to the way I run my life," Scalise added. Scalise also suggested the appearance was in part due to staffing issues. "I had one person that was working for me. When someone called and asked me to speak, I would go. I was, in no way, affiliated with that group or the other groups I was talking to." CNN has learned that the staffer at the time was Cameron Henry, who currently holds Scalise's former state House seat. Henry rushed CNN off the phone Monday night and declined to discuss the situation, but did not deny his work for the congressman. Henry's brother, Charles Henry, is Scalise's current chief of staff. Neither responded to requests for comment on Tuesday. The controversy comes just days before Republicans take full control of Congress with House Majority Whip Scalise poised to play a key role in shepherding through conservatives' legislative priorities. But even conservatives have expressed frustration with Scalise, who they believe hasn't stood strong on their priorities — pointing most recently to his vote for the government funding measure that drew heavy opposition from conservatives because it didn't address President Obama's immigration executive action. Some, however, expressed support for him Tuesday. Rob Maness, the former Louisiana Senate candidate backed by the Tea Party, has been named as a potential primary challenger to Scalise but backed him in a statement to CNN. "As Congressman Scalise has already conceded - attending this event was a mistake. I think we are all currently taking him at his word that this was an isolated incident that happened some 12 years ago," Maness said. He added that if that's true, "this is clearly an orchestrated attack designed to distract" from the real issues, including "fighting back against President Obama's executive amnesty, correcting a weak and feckless Foreign Policy and stopping the massive expansion of government growth and spending." More broadly, however, the establishment silence has infuriated conservatives still smarting over their loss in the Mississippi Senate race, when their chosen candidate, state Sen. Chris McDaniel, was narrowly defeated by Sen. Thad Cochran after establishment Republicans lodged racially-charged attacks against him. McDaniel came under heavy fire from establishment Republicans for being billed as a headliner for a rally alongside a white nationalist, though he never ultimately attended the rally. In an email to CNN, McDaniel said that "of course there is a double standard for the GOP establishment." He noted that former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour "has a long history of despicable comments, some of them overtly racist," pointing to a Politico article outlining some of the more salacious. "And yet, he receives a free pass from establishment politicians because of his perceived influence. All the while, others are forever tarnished for less serious deeds," McDaniel said. He added: "The establishment wings of both parties are more hypocritical than fair, seeking to crush anyone -- friend and foe alike -- who would threaten their hold on power." Politicians in Scalise's home state of Louisiana rallied to his defense on Monday, however, saying they don't believe he agrees with the white supremacist group's ideology. "I know Congressman Scalise to be a good man who is fair-minded and kindhearted. I'm confident he absolutely rejects racism in all its forms," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said in a statement. But Scalise's alleged appearance at the event drew a harsh rebuke from Erick Erickson, the conservative RedState.com blogger and former Louisiana resident who asked of the congressman: "How do you not know? How do you not investigate?" "How the hell does somebody show up at a David Duke organized event in 2002 and claim ignorance?" Erickson wrote in a post Monday. He said Trent Lott -- the former Senate majority leader who was driven from his post after praising Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential campaign -- lost his gig "for something less than this" in 2001. And he pointed to Republicans who hit Mississippi Senate candidate Chris McDaniel in 2014 for attending events hosted by the Sons of Confederate Veterans and for making plans to attend a rally where he was billed along with a white nationalist.
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House Speaker John Boehner and other GOP leaders say they'll stand by Steve Scalise .
Leaders were initially frustrated with Scalise's first response to the story .
Scalise called GOP members of the House on Tuesday .
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(CNN) -- Chinese mobile technology leader Huawei unveiled the latest additions to its stable Sunday in Barcelona, ahead of the 2014 World Mobile Congress, including its "hybrid" fitness band/smart watch. CEO Richard Yu presented the TalkBand B1 at the company's launch press conference. Connected to a smartphone via bluetooth, the device functions as both a fitness tracker and a phone -- a detachable bluetooth headset adds voice and text functionality. It also improves upon existing fitness trackers by housing a USB port in its wristband for charging. It is touted to retail at $136 and expected to go on sale in China in Q1 2014 before being rolled out gradually across the rest of the world, although some in the tech community are less than enamored with its appearance. It is currently designed to work with Huawei smartphones but its compatibility will be expanded upon in the future. While it seems the world may be getting sick of smart watches that don't seem all that smart, and "glassholes" showing off their obtrusive technology, market research firm Canalys predicts that "2014 will be the year that wearables become a key consumer technology." Along with fitness applications -- Samsung's recently-unveiled followup to its much-derided Galaxy Gear smartwatch includes fitness-tracking -- the next generation of smart watches has considerable potential for the medical market. Huawei also released a number of other products at the media launch, including the MediaPad X1, a 7-inch Android-powered "phablet" that is expected to challenge Samsung's Nexus 7 and Apple's iPad mini. Samsung is set to unveil its latest product -- widely understood to be its Galaxy S5 -- on Monday.
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Chinese mobile giant unveils first wearable technology .
Will go on sale for €99 ($136)
2014 crucial year for wearable technology .
Launch also includes 8-inch tablet and 7-inch "phablet"
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Editor's Note: Benjamin Todd Jealous is the president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which advocates for the rights of all persons and for an end to racial hatred and discrimination. NAACP President Benjamin Jealous and wife Lia Epperson Jealous at the Image Awards in February. (ESSENCE) -- My 3-year-old daughter scampers into my lap. "You are a silly goose ball, Daddy," she says laughing, delighted with her characterization of her father, who she thinks is a president just like Obama . When I explain to her that he is the big president and I am a little president, she gazes up at my 6-foot, 4-inch frame and says, "You aren't little, Daddy , you are a big president, too." The love I hold for my precocious daughter defies words. I already know that when my baby starts dating, no man will be good enough for her. I'm not one of those dads who will hold her to some racially imposed requirement. I want her to choose whoever makes her happy, complements her soul, and respects her dignity as a woman. If that person happens not to be black, so be it. But I do want her to have a choice of African-American men. The disproportionate number of black men swept into the prison system threatens that hope. Watch concern about marriage, apology for slavery » . According to The Sentencing Project, one in three black men born today can expect to go to prison, if the current trend continues. It goes without saying that we have to take responsibility for instilling values in our children that will help them stay out of the criminal justice system. It's a fact that the majority of young African-American men are not in jail, and millions are in college or working. Still, on any given day, one in every ten black men between ages 25 and 29 is incarcerated. And while black men remain disproportionately targeted by the criminal justice system, black women are one of the fastest growing prison populations. Much of this growth has come as a result of nonviolent drug offenses. Kemba Smith's now-familiar story is typical. She fell in the wrong crowd at school and got drawn into an abusive relationship with a drug dealer. Eventually, after enduring the relationship for four years, she was indicted and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. She was sentenced to 24½ years behind bars with no parole. Kemba served nearly seven years in a federal prison, gave birth to her son in jail, and only regained her freedom after former President Clinton granted her clemency following a worldwide outcry over her case. While Kemba is free today, raising her son, writing and advocating for other young women, her story is not unusual. One of every 100 African-American women 35 to 39 is in prison or jail, compared with 1 in 358 white women of that same age group. As more young black mothers get caught up in this dragnet of incarceration, many of their children are doomed to a foster care system that may bounce them from home to home, then kick them out at 18 to fend for themselves. Changing this paradigm is our moral responsibility and it's fiscally smart. It is cheaper to send nonviolent drug offenders to a drug treatment facility where they can get help than send them to prison. This is a perfect storm for change, a rare confluence of moral imperative and fiscal necessity. The economic and political shifts in our country have opened the door to advance policies that we thought would take decades to push through. President Obama has already indicated his support for eliminating the crack and cocaine sentencing disparity that metes out mandatory prison time to poor black people while letting whites go with a slap on the wrist for basically the same offenses. We triumphed this year in overturning the draconian Rockefeller drug laws in New York, which for 35 years forced long mandatory prison terms on first-time nonviolent drug offenders, most of them blacks and Latinos. This month we are celebrating our Centennial Convention in New York, our birthplace. Like the dreams of the past that many insisted were beyond reach, the struggle to right our nation's criminal justice wrongs is a bold vision. For the sake of our sons and daughters in the next 100 years, we cannot rest until this dream is embraced and won. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Benjamin Todd Jealous.
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NAACP Pres. Benjamin Jealous: Wants daughter to be able to marry black man .
Notes that one in every ten black men between ages 25 and 29 is incarcerated .
Says justice system targets blacks and treats them more harshly for drug offenses .
Points out that treating drug addicts is cheaper, better than imprisoning them .
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Days after he fatally shot an unarmed black teen in August, Officer Darren Wilson was cutting grass when he was told his home address was circulating online. Within three hours, he'd grabbed some bags and gone into hiding, according to his attorneys. "He had to leave the grass, literally, half mowed," his lawyer, Neil Bruntrager, told CNN's Don Lemon late Wednesday. Since then, he's stayed under the radar by moving from house to house, including briefly living with one of his lawyers, and spending time watching movies in dark theaters to avoid detection. Wilson says he's sorry but his conscience is clear . 'Not a question of if ... but when' His lawyers revealed details about his time in hiding to CNN and The Washington Post newspaper Wednesday. They told CNN that Wilson is in talks to leave the Ferguson Police Department and may give up being an officer altogether -- after a grand jury decided not to indict him in the death of Michael Brown. "It's not a question of if, it's a question of when," Bruntrager said about his leaving the Police Department. Bruntrager confirmed what CNN originally reported last week. His time in hiding . Wilson's shooting of the teen sparked days of sometimes violent protests in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. As a result, the officer's address was shared online, forcing him to flee his home, his attorneys said. "There were death threats out against him," Bruntrager said. "There were bounties that had been placed upon his life." His client, he said, resorted to various measures to hide his identity. "He's had to learn to live in a way that makes him completely unnoticeable. As a consequence, there are several techniques that he utilizes that make that happen," Bruntrager said without elaborating. "It's an odd way to live your life. But for him, it's all about his family." Except for his getting married last month, Bruntrager told The Washington Post on Wednesday that Wilson mostly stayed out of the public eye. Wilson preferred going to the movies because it was dark, Bruntrager told the paper, jokingly saying that the officer "cross-dressed a lot." Keeping him safe was the first priority, he said. Future uncertain . Immediately after the shooting, Wilson maintained that he wanted to return to his job as a police officer, his lawyers said. But his officer days may be behind him. "Realistically, he can't go back to being a police officer," Bruntrager said. "He knows that. There's no illusion about any of this. But it's the way in which he leaves ... that's important to him on different levels." "We want to make sure when he does, it's amicable," he told CNN. "He's on paid leave, and there are discussions that are going on right now to separate from the department in an amicable fashion." Another attorney told The Post that Wilson's safety had a lot to do with his decision to leave. "I think I expressed to him, 'Do you realize your first call (back on the job) will be to a blind alley where you're executed?' He took a pause for a minute, thought about it and said, 'Oh.' That is the reality," his attorney, James Towey, told the paper. Wilson, 28, spent six years with the Ferguson Police Department before being placed on leave after the shooting on August 9. Before his stint in Ferguson, he worked for two years at another police department. Last week, CNN reported that Wilson told associates he would resign to help ease pressure and protect his fellow officers. Wilson had expressed concern about resigning while the grand jury was hearing evidence for fear it would appear he was admitting fault. His many interviews . Wilson has said he killed the 18-year-old out of fear for his life during their encounter. He maintains he did nothing wrong and was forced to shoot Brown after the teen attacked him and tried to take his gun. "I just felt the immense power that he had. And then the way I've described it is, it was like a 5-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan," Wilson told ABC News on Tuesday. "That's just how big this man was. He was very large, very powerful man." His lawyers said his story has remained the same throughout. "I met Darren Wilson approximately one hour after the incident," his attorney, Greg Kleoppel, told CNN. "That statement has been consistent one hour after the shooting, the following interview with the St. Louis County detective and on August 10 when it was recorded at the St. Louis County Police Department." Bruntrager said the officer went through a series of interviews. "Before he testified before the grand jury, he was also interviewed by the FBI and the Justice Department. They came in and gave him an exceedingly rigorous interview, where they didn't leave any question unasked," he said. Called a 'murderer' Brown's father, Michael Brown Sr., didn't mince words when he spoke about the officer. He described him as a "murderer" during an interview with CNN. "He understood his actions. He understood exactly what he was doing. You know, he didn't have a second thought, a pushback thought, or nothing. He was intending to kill someone. That's how I look at it," the elder Brown said. "He was going to kill someone at that point." Next steps . Wilson's legal fights may not be over. There's a federal investigation under way. "So we have a civil rights charge potentially down the road," Kleoppel told CNN. "However, that's going to be very difficult to prove, because on a civil rights violation, you must prove that he intended to violate an individual's rights, and in this case, his life. Civil suit ... we'll have to wait and see." But his legal issues are the least of Wilson's worries. "He still has to deal with so many other issues because of all this," Bruntrager said. 'Sorry for your loss' Though he has not said much, Wilson sympathizes with Brown's family, his lawyers said. "His remorse and his sadness about what happened is there, and it's real," Bruntrager told CNN. "But in respect to the Browns, he's been very careful to sort of stand back. He knows that whatever he says, it's not going to be read as he means it. He thought it's better to say, 'I'm sorry for your loss.' It's simple, but it's direct. And if you knew him, you'd understand that's the kind of guy he is." Complete coverage of what's happening in Ferguson .
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Lawyer: Wilson may give up being an officer altogether .
"It's not a question of if, it's a question of when," attorney says .
Wilson, 28, spent six years with the Ferguson Police Department .
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(CNN) -- South Korea's Seung-Yul Noh recorded his maiden PGA Tour victory despite a sustained challenge from a clutch of Americans at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. The 22-year-old Noh carded his first bogeys on the TPC Louisiana course during the final round as he carded a one-under-par 71 for a total of 19-under 269. That left him two shots clear of Andrew Svoboda and Robert Streb, with U.S. Ryder Cup player Jeff Overton a further shot back. All three threatened to prevent Noh's breakthrough triumph, but were unable to overhaul him on a tense final day. Noh, who played with a yellow insignia on his cap as a mark of respect to the ferry tragedy in his country, may have owed his victory to a fortunate pitch shot on the 13th. His effort from 81 feet away struck the flag full on and fell to just three feet away before he made a crucial birdie. But a three-putt bogey on the 15th saw his lead over Streb slip to a single shot after the home player birdied the 16th. Noh responded with a birdie of his own on the 16th and a clutch putt to save par on the 17th ultimately kept him two shots clear. Last day playing partner Keegan Bradley suffered a nightmare final round on the greens, lipping out several short putts to see his challenge fade with a 75. England's Justin Rose showed encouraging form ahead of his defense of the U.S. Open title in June with a final round 68 to finish in a tie for sixth on 13-under, the same mark as Bradley. Meanwhile on the European Tour, Frenchman Alexander Levy scored his maiden victory by taking the $3.2 million China Open. The 23-year-old was the overnight leader and carded a three-under 69 on Shenzhen's par-72 Genzon Golf Club for a score of 19-under-par and the $530,000 winner's check. He finished four shots clear of England's Tommy Fleetwood with Spain's Alvaro Quiros in third place. Levy held the lead since a superb second round 62 Friday and kept his nerve on the final day.
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Seung-Yul Noh wins maiden PGA Tour event .
Noh finishes on 19-under 269 in New Orleans .
Andrew Svoboda and Robert Streb two shots back in joint second .
Alexander Levy claims first win on European Tour in China .
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By . Chris Pleasance . A mural in a Thai temple has been criticised as 'totally inappropriate' for depicting the 9/11 terrorist attacks alongside comic book characters and celebrities. The White Temple at Chiang Rai is the bizarre pet project of controversial Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat . As well as depicting planes flying into the Twin Towers, the mural at Chiang Rai features fictional characters such as Spiderman and Harry Potter, celebrities like Michael Jackson, as well as fighter jets and spaceships. Scroll down for video . 'Totally inappropriate': A mural in the Thai temple of Chiang Rai depicting the 9/11 terrorist attacks . The surreal painting, by Chalermchai Kositpipat, also features celebrities like Michael Jackson alongside fictional film characters, like the Terminator . Sci-fi films such as Star wars and The Matrix provide a lot of inspiration for the painting, which includes traditional Thai an Buddhist symbols such as demons and dragons . Po, the character voiced by Jack Black in Kung Fu Panda, also appears next to Jigsaw from horror series Saw . It is not just American blockbusters which adorn the walls, as Harry Potter also features riding a broom . The huge painting appears opposite a wall featuring a large Buddha and traditional Buddhist statues. Photography inside the temple is forbidden, but one tourist managed to take this picture using a camera phone. The 31-year-old insurance broker from Nottingham, who did not want to be named, said: 'The whole place is very strange. There's a pit full of hands and skulls outside that looks like something from the Walking Dead. 'Inside I was shocked to see a painting of planes flying into the Twin Towers. I just think it's totally inappropriate.' The bizarre imagery continues outside the temple itself, with a sculpture of Predator sunk into the ground . In order to enter the temple visitor pass over a bridge surrounded by a pit full of demonic hands and skulls . Kositpipat first drew up designs for the temple in 1997 and began working on it with a team of assistants . The whole structure is not due to be completed until 2070, though it already serves as a tourist attraction . Designed by Kositpipat in 1997, the surreal temple is still under construction and isn't due to finish until 2070. Kositpipat uses a team of 60 other artists to help him work on the building, and has passed designs on to them so they can continue working after he dies. Another visitor to the temple, 38-year-old business owner Alexey Statsenko, said: 'It was so different from anything I had seen before. 'When we entered I was pretty shocked to see all those images from American popular culture- Michael Jackson, Terminator, Kung-Fu panda, Harry Potter and more. 'I did not know what to think of it. It seemed some kind of a mockery. Posting on his blog, he added: 'Generally speaking it is an very out-of-the-box (for a Buddhist temple) and creative way of expressing one’s ideas.' Like Dali's cathedral in Barcelona, Kositpipat has given designs to his staff to keep working after he dies . The artist claims he is emulating traditional Thai temple art, which features scene of ancient Thai life alongside Buddhist symbolism. But he has been heavily criticised for his approach . Artwork around the temple ranges from the macabre to the magnificent to the downright bizarre . Unlike most other Thai temples which are usually brightly painted, the outside of the White Temple is plain . The outside of the temple is covered with intricate artwork and thousands of tiny mirrors to reflect sunlight . Traditional Thai art symbols, such as dragons, also feature as part of the immense artwork . 'Only death can stop my dream, but cannot stop my project,' he said in 2003, adding that he believes the work will give him 'immortal life'. He is also behind the Wat Buddhapadipa temple in Wimbledon, London, which contains another controversial mural charting the life of Buddha from birth to death. However, mixed in with symbols from traditional Thai culture are punks sporting Mohicans and leather jackets, Charlie Chaplin, and Margaret Thatcher. Spiderman, Superman, Elvis Presley and other cartoon characters all adorn this wall inside the temple . Captain Jack Sparrow, Jonny Depp's character from Pirates of the Caribbean, surfs down Predator's arm . The temple also features Buddhist statues and paintings which sit opposite the mural . The artist claims this is in keeping with conventional Thai temple art which portrayed scenes from ancient Thai life alongside figures from Buddhist mythology. However his work has attracted strong criticism. Speaking in 1998, shortly after the London murals were finished, he said: 'I got complaints from everybody – from the [Thai] government, from monks and from other artists, saying that what I was doing was not Thai art.'
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Tourist criticises mural of Twin Towers as 'completely inappropriate'
Features burning buildings alongside comic book characters .
Bizarre temple is the pet project of Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat .
He drew up designs for it in 1997 and it won't be finished until 2070 .
He has passed details on to team of assistants to continue after his death .
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Fresh intelligence led the United States to conclude that operatives of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula were in the final stages of planning an attack against U.S. and Western targets, several U.S. officials told CNN. The warning led the U.S. State Department to issue a global travel alert Friday, warning al Qaeda may launch attacks in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond in coming weeks. The U.S. government also was preparing to close 22 embassies and consulates in the region Sunday as a precaution. The chatter among al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives had gone on for weeks but increased in the last few days, the officials said. Taken together with a warning from Yemeni officials, the United States took the extraordinary step of shutting down embassies and issuing travel warnings, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. While the specific target is uncertain, U.S. officials are deeply worried about a possible attack against the U.S. Embassy in Yemen occurring through Tuesday, the officials said. The warnings also come as news has surfaced that al Qaeda's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has appointed the head of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Nasser al-Wahishi, as his overall general manager of the terror network, Seth Jones of the Rand Corporation said. With al-Zawahiri, the man who succeeded Osama bin Laden, and al-Wahishi linked, the United States may be taking a cautious but necessary approach by closing the embassies, Jones said. But as with so much in the intelligence world, there is disagreement over what may really be happening. Officials have told CNN that some analysts believe the threat is solely in Yemen, while others are convinced plots are under way in several countries. Even so, security has been greatly tightened across Yemen as a result of local intelligence that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was planning attacks in major cities, such as the capital, Sanaa, or Aden, a senior Yemeni national security official told CNN Friday. Yemeni intelligence agencies alerted authorities of the threat two days ago, when the Yemeni president was in Washington, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Britain, France and Germany said their embassies in Sanaa would also be closed on Sunday and Monday over security concerns. The UK Foreign Office warned its citizens Friday against all travel to Yemen, and it strongly urged British nationals to leave now. "If you don't leave the country now while commercial carriers are still flying it is extremely unlikely that the British government will be able to evacuate you or provide consular assistance," according to the Foreign Office warning. The steps showed heightened security concerns about intelligence that indicates a potential attack in Yemen. According to three sources, the United States has information al Qaeda in Yemen was in the final stages of planning for an unspecified attack. "The threat appears much worse than it has in a long time," the Yemeni official said. Yemen has tightened security across the country, deploying security forces at all major government institutions, foreign embassies, foreign residential compounds and international organizations, the official said. According to the Yemeni official, recent U.S. drone attacks may generate reprisals. "We take these threats seriously, especially since al Qaeda has been dealt many blows over the last few days," the official said. In 2011, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives filmed buildings linked to U.S. personnel in Sanaa, according to a source who has seen the video. While the incident is not related to this week's terror warnings, it shows al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's capabilities, CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives filmed video of the building, which is near the U.S. embassy in Sanaa, and the U.S. personnel who were in it, the source told Cruickshank.
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Germany, France and Britain also close their Sanaa embassies Sunday and Monday .
Chatter among al Qaeda operatives has increased in recent days, officials say .
The chatter comes as new man is named al Qaeda's No. 2 .
Yemeni intelligence agencies say al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is planning attacks .
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f787d1bfc5d36ebfa216a574eb368b0311e83204
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . UPDATED: . 17:48 EST, 28 February 2012 . Molly Wei, who spied on Tyler Clementi's romantic encounter with another man, testified Tuesday that she was 'overwhelmed with sadness' when police told her he was missing and had likely committed suicide. Wei is the star prosecution witness in the trial of Dharun Ravi, who is accused of invading Clementi's privacy by recording the Rutgers University freshman in the dorm room they shared in 2010. The 19-year-old has known Ravi since middle school and two friend watched Clementi with his male companion on a computer in her room. Wei's testimony was the first mention of Clementi's suicide at the trial in three days of testimony. The prosecution has made the case about the 15 charges Ravi faces for the secret video recording, not about whether those actions drove Clementi to jump off the George Washington Bridge. Scroll down for video . Key witness: Molly Wie points out to defense lawyer Steven Altman where she saw Tyler Clementi kissing another man . Standing trial: Ravi, who turned 20 Tuesday, faces 15 criminal counts after he allegedly spied on his Rutgers University roommate via webcam . Wei, 19, said campus police called her, then picked her up in an unmarked car after class in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on September 23, 2010 — after Clementi went missing. At . first, she said, she was nervous about being told to get into a beige . Cadillac and texted her boyfriend at another school to get in touch with . police if he didn't hear from her within several hours. She said that what she learned there rattled her so much that she had her parents take her home for the night. 'At . the end of the conversation, the police officers told me that Tyler was . missing and that he had possibly committed suicide,' she said. 'I was sad, overwhelmed. I felt very bad if anything had happened. I just was overwhelmed with emotions of sadness. I just felt so bad for what happened.' Wei was charged and arrested initially but entered a . program that will allow her to keep her record clean if she meets a . list of conditions, including doing community service, working or . attending school full-time. She . also agreed to cooperate with authorities and testify truthfully in . Ravi's trial. She said she has completed about 250 of the 300 hours of . community service required. Cover up: Ravi and Wei discussed over text message how they would spin to police their Clementi viewing party . However, Ravi's lawyer, Steven Altman, pushed Wei to admit that police made an error when she was at first charged with broadcasting and recording the encounter. She said Ravi streamed the video to her computer, but never recorded it or posted it to the wider Internet. On Monday, Wei testified that Ravi texted her multiple times as she was being interviewed by police and told her to make the webcam video broadcast seem like an accident. ‘I think that he thought we were going to get in trouble, so he wanted to make it seem like it was more of an accident,’ she told the court. Both she and defendant Dharun Ravi, who turned 20 today, viewed the web images of Ravi’s roommate, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi. Testifying: Molly Wei is seen testifying today against her former friend Gharun Ravi who's accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate, Tyler Clementi . The accused: Dharun Ravi listens to the testimony in court Monday which includes Miss Wei's who was initially charged in the case as well prior to making a deal with the court . She said Ravi was worried about what she was telling police, and asked her multiple times via text message what exactly she revealed to them. ‘Did you tell them we did it on purpose? What did you tell them when they asked why we turned it on? I said we were just messing around with the camera,’ Ravi said in some of his messages, ABC News reported. Wei responded saying that she told investigators ‘everything’ that happened the night of September 19, 2010 when Ravi set up a webcam in his and Clementi’s room after Clementi asked to have the room for himself. Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge days after that, as the rumours abounded that he was gay. Wei also testified Monday that she agreed to keep it a secret because it was so shocking to see the images - but that it wasn't under wraps for long. ‘First of all, it was shocking. It felt wrong. We didn't expect to see that. And now that what we did, it was like we shouldn't have seen it,’ Wei told the jurors. ‘We didn't want people to know what had happened.’ But within minutes, she testified, she and defendant Dharun Ravi were online chatting with friends about seeing two men kissing. Others knew: Defense attorney Steven Altman cross examined witness Scott Xu, a friend of Ravi's who played Ultimate Frisbee with him and claimed was told during a practice, among other teammates, that he had set up the webcam . Within the hour, Ms Wei said, she agreed to show a few seconds of the video stream to four other women who visited her dorm room. Still, she said, Ravi did not intend to humiliate his roommate. Ravi faces 15 criminal counts, including invasion of privacy and bias intimidation. To convict him of bias intimidation- the most serious charge he faces- prosecutors would have to persuade jurors that Mr Ravi acted out of bias toward gays. Witness: Rutgers student Pooja Kolliri testified saying she saw seconds of the webcam's stream of two men kissing which she says shocked her . Unlike other more casually dressed . college students who have testified so far in the trial, Ms Wei wore a . black business suit. And unlike the others, she kept her voice audible . even during the most uncomfortable moments. She said that she invited Ravi, whom . she had known since middle school, to her dorm room for a snack a few . minutes after 9pm on September 19, 2010. When Ravi tried to go back, . she said, Mr Clementi told him that he wanted the cramped dorm room to . himself for a few hours. So Ravi returned. Family's attendance: Tyler Clementi's mother, Jane Clementi, attended the trial today (center) listening to a witness testify that her son had requested a room change days after his roommate set up the webcam . Charges: Middlesex County prosecutors are seen discussing the case that charges Ravi with invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and other crimes . Within a few minutes, she said, he . used her computer to view live images from his webcam. It was then, she . said, that she saw about two seconds of Mr Clementi and an older man . kissing. Even though she said they initially . agreed not to talk about what they had seen, she asked Ravi to tell a . friend about it during an online chat that began at 9.20pm and within . minutes, word got around the dorm. She said she agreed to turn the webcam back on at the request of a woman who was among a group dropped by her room. ‘It was the exact same image, except that they had taken their tops off,’ she said. ‘As soon as they saw it, I turned it off.’ Ms Wei was expected to be back on the witness stand for more cross-examination on Tuesday. Also Monday, jurors heard from university official William O'Brien that Mr Clementi requested a room change about 30 hours after the alleged spying - and a day before he killed himself. Mr O'Brien, associate director of residence life at Rutgers, told jurors that his staff did not see Mr Clementi's request for a new roommate until after he was reported missing from campus. The trial: Ravi is being tried at the Superior Courthouse of New Jersey in New Brunswick . Watch the video here: .
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Latest testimony about suicide of Tyler Clementi, the 18-year-old college student who killed himself after his roommate filmed him kissing a man .
Molly Wei, 19, said Dhauran Ravi sent her text messages demanding to know what she told investigators .
Also 'wanted to make it seem like an accident'
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f78870bfd0e809634ff3fd3ec5036ae445949923
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By . Nina Golgowski . PUBLISHED: . 13:40 EST, 26 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 15:18 EST, 26 March 2013 . A 21-year-old Michigan man flagged down to help a woman who . had just given birth on the side of the road is being credited for saving her baby's life after successfully performing CPR on the . child. Ryan Cornelissen, 21, says he was driving to the bank in Macomb Township on March 16th when he discovered the baby's frantic father on the side of the road, signaling him to stop. Pulling his car to the side, the troubled man, who appeared to speak only a little English, immediately handed him a phone already connected to 911. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Unexpected: Ryan Cornelissen, 21, says it was the child's father standing on the side of the road waving for help that led him to find the woman who had just given birth on the side of the road . Saved: The college student did exactly as police dispatch told him to do, gently tilting the baby's head back and performing CPR, which got this little girl breathing . Looking inside the car, Mr Cornelissen discovered the man's wife and his newborn daughter who didn't appear to be breathing. 'Something’s wrong with his wife, he doesn’t speak very good English. He stopped me on the side of the road,' Mr Cornelissen is heard saying in the 911 call obtained by WDIV. Looking inside the car he says he saw the woman seated in the front seat with a blanket. Also with her, the head of a newborn baby girl. 'She just had a baby,' Mr Cornelissen calmly tells police as a woman's cries are heard behind him. 'She just had a baby?' dispatch asks. 'Yeah,' he answers. What happened next, however, took a lot more from him than just pulling over and talking to 911. Realizing the baby wasn't breathing, dispatch informed him that he'd have to perform CPR. Help: It was on the road that Mr Cornelissen discovered the father and his wife needing help for their baby who wasn't breathing . Relief: The baby is pictured shortly after with her mother in the hospital, a stay that will last several weeks as she improves . Mr Cornelissen, a man who weighs 290lbs and played football in high school, was told to take the baby’s tiny head in his hands - a child weighing a mere 3lbs, 8oz - and do exactly as they instructed. 'Tilt its head back just a little, but not too much, OK? ... You're going to cover the baby's nose and mouth with your mouth,' a dispatcher instructs him. 'I did the second breath and I stepped back and he goes, "is the baby breathing?" I said no. And then all of a sudden the baby made a crying face.' 'Yes!' Mr Cornelissen is heard exclaiming in the phone call. 'I remember the face to a T,' he later said before making a scrunched up wailing face and then smiling. 'That was the face. I swear to God. That was the face. It was awesome.' The baby is said to be doing fine but will have to stay in the hospital for several weeks. In the meantime the baby's parents have already welcomed Mr Cornelissen into their home and say they hope he'll stay in their little girl's life. Meeting: Mr Cornelissen meets the baby's father for the first time, in an emotional reunion the father says he hopes won't be the first . Premature: The little girl was born premature, weighing just 3lb, 8oz but is said to be doing well . No big deal: Mr Cornelissen, a local college student hoping to one day become a police officer himself, says that he doesn't think what he did was a big deal . Seen greeting the new dad outside his home, the father embraced him with a big hug telling him, 'I'm very happy to see you again.' He then whipped out his digital camera and showed Mr Cornelissen a number of pictures since taken of his little girl. In one photo, taken next to her mother, the baby’s seen wearing a bright pink bow in her black hair. 'I didn't think it was that big of a deal but apparently everyone else does,' Mr Cornelissen laughed. Mr Cornelissen is currently a student at Macomb County Community College but he hopes to become a police officer one day. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE: . video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player .
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Woman had just given birth to infant on side of the road .
Ryan Cornelissen, 21, followed police dispatch's instructions and calmly performed CPR on the baby born weighing 3lbs, 8oz.
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f7889b994df1665de597f9405a59dfe847d97a13
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . A pair of Italian designers have come up with a rather ingenious way to keep your cookbooks free of sauce, flour and any other baking supply or byproduct that could potentially end up covering a good meatloaf recipe: Tattoos. Designers Marina Cinciripini and Sarah Richiuso have designed a collection of temporary tattoos that can be applied to a cook's forearm and act as guides for several classic Italian meals. The duos slogan: 'Roll up your sleeves.' Tats: Italian designers have created temporary tattoos that are recipes you can apply to your arm . Designers: Italian designers Marina Cincirpini and Sarah Richiuso created the tattoos for a design contest in 2013 . Cinciripini and Richiuso initially designed the tattoos for a design competition in 2013. The pair came in second in that contest in the 'ritual' category. 'The project plays down traditional behavior, that of food preparation . through cookbooks,' the pair says of their idea. 'Food conveying a message through the original use of . the body, which becomes support of image guidance for the creation of a . recipe.' Some of the current recipes are for classic Italian meals like grandmother artichokes and spaghetti with dried tomatoes and anchovies. Temporary: The tattoos come in packs of four that cost about $14 per pack . Traditional: Most of the recipes are traditional Italian cuisine like pastas with peppers and artichokes . The tattoos are currently available in four packs that cost about $14 a piece. The only downside is each tattoo is only for a single use - assuming the cook showers regularly, of course. Cinciripini and Richiusoare are hoping to expand their fledgling business and are raising money for the venture on the crowd-funding site Eppela.
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The tattoos were designed by Italian designers Marina Cinciripini and Sarah Richiuso .
The recipes are primarily traditional Italian meals like pasta with artichokes and peppers .
The tattoos are temporary and can be applied to the skin with water .
Currnetly the tattoos are sold in packs of four and cost about $14 per pack .
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f788eae861e6ed9b2f2a76b96470d745dd0aa00a
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British passengers told of their terror today after their flight home was forced to make an emergency landing due to loss of cabin pressure. The Jet 2 flight LS516 started to rapidly descend just an hour after departing from Paphos, Cyprus, to Newcastle last night. The plane dropped thousands of feet in minutes, while oxygen masks were deployed for passengers. Terror: Jet 2 flight LS516 started to rapidly descend just an hour after departing from Paphos, Cyprus, to Newcastle last night. Above, the plane drops thousands of feet in minutes, while oxygen masks are deployed . The aircraft was forced to divert to Sofia Airport in Bulgaria, where emergency crews were waiting on the tarmac. Passengers then had to spend the night in the Bulgarian capital, before boarding an early replacement flight to Newcastle this morning. Today, Vicki Standing, who was travelling home after a two week holiday in Paphos, said the experience had left her 'shaken up'. “It was really scary, I was shaking and I felt sick,' said Ms Standing, who was joined on the flight by her parents Jan, 60, and Neil, 67, and her two sons, Thomas, 14, and three-year-old James. Response: The aircraft was forced to divert to Sofia Airport in Bulgaria, where emergency crews were waiting . Flight: The Jet 2 plane was forced to make an emergency landing due to loss of cabin pressure (file picture) 'I said to my my oldest son "there is something wrong here". My ears were popping and we were losing altitude. 'Then the seat belt signs came on, but there was no turbulence. The next thing I remember is hearing the word emergency and that made me panic. 'I thought we were crash landing. Everyone’s mask deployed apart from mine. I clawed at it until it came down. 'It was about five minutes of not knowing what was happening. I spent the five minutes cuddling my youngest son and holding the mask to his face. If he didn’t have it on he may have gone unconscious. Diversion: Passengers were forced to spend the night at Sofia Airport (above) following the emergency landing . 'After five minutes were up, we must have reached 10,000 feet. It is like something you see in movies, I didn’t think it would happen to us. 'It kind of spoiled my holiday a little bit, but it gave us something to talk about.' Ms Standing, from Darlington, said she and the other passengers had been forced to wait at Sofia Airport for around seven-and-a-half hours before boarding the replacement flight. 'We got to the airport at half past seven, their time, and did not leave until three o’clock in the morning,' she said. 'My dad is scared of flying and he was getting chest pains just thinking about getting back on the flight home. We had to get a different flight which was sent from Manchester. 'Everyone was chatting a lot about it. People were saying there was a man on board in his twenties who had to be hypnotised and take medication to fly. 'They were saying he refused to get back on a flight again and they had to get him back to Newcastle by not flying. 'A lot of people were shaken up.' Maxine Reed, who was also travelling on the Jet 2 flight, said: 'They lost cabin pressure. The oxygen masks fell down for us and we landed in Sofia for safety measures. 'The plane’s altitude dropped. The plane was nearly full and there was kids on board. Home: The traumatised travellers then boarded a replacement flight to Newcastle Airport (above) this morning . 'I had a flashing thought of "this is it". They let us know what was happening as soon as it was stabilised. 'We were taken in to terminal and separated from other passengers so we didn’t need to clear security again. We got back to Newcastle at about 5am this morning.' A Jet 2 spokesman said today: 'Flight LS516 from Paphos to Newcastle diverted to Sofia Airport yesterday afternoon as a precautionary measure due to a technical issue. 'The aircraft landed safely and passengers returned to Newcastle on a replacement aircraft early this morning. 'We would like to apologise to passengers for any inconvenience this may have caused.'
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Flight LS516 was travelling from Paphos, Cyprus, to Newcastle last night .
Started to rapidly descend just hour into flight after loss of cabin pressure .
Plane dropped thousands of feet in minutes, while oxygen masks deployed .
Diverted to Sofia Airport, Bulgaria, where emergency crews were waiting .
Today, passengers said experience had left them feeling 'shaky and sick'
A Jet 2 spokesman has issued an apology to Britons on traumatic flight .
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f78904a72aecdfc4f931eef2af04a5b30536d124
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A young Indian mother has been burned to death along with her infant daughter by her husband and in-laws for failing to pay dowry. Police in eastern Indian state of Jharkhand said 22-year-old Annu Devi was set ablaze while she was breastfeeding her daughter. They have now arrested her husband, Gunjan Masat, who allegedly poured fuel over Devi and her baby daughter before setting them on fire. WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT . Annu Devi, 22, (far right) was burned to death in India by her husband and in-laws in a dispute over dowry which started when she gave birth to a girl . Gunjan Masat, Devi's husband, allegedly poured kerosene over her while she was breastfeeding her baby daughter before setting the pair alight. They were taken to hospital (pictured) but died on arrival . According to Raghuni Rana, Devi's father, the couple were happily married for more than a year, but problems started after Ms Devi gave birth to a baby girl. Devi's mother-in-law holds the body of her grand-daughter who was also burned to death in the attack . Mr Rana told police: 'They wanted a son, but didn’t realize that giving birth to a girl was not Devi’s fault. 'They started harassing and torturing her till things reached this pass when they decided to end her life.' Mr Rana added: 'Now they were demanding a TV set and a motorcycle. I had already given them two bighas (1.6 acres) of land in dowry.' To pass off her murder as an accident, the accused made the badly burned Devi sit beside a fireplace and placed a water container over it. Early in the morning on January 30, a local spotted Ms Devi and her daughter lying in a courtyard at the house, still alive despite suffering 90 per cent burns. The mother-daughter duo were rushed to the nearest hospital but the doctors declared them dead on arrival. Devi's brother-in-law, who has also been accused in the police complaint, is still at large. Calling . it a heinous crime, Superintendent of Police, Nirmal Kumar Mishra, . said: 'All the accused will be arrested and prosecuted according to the . law.' Dowry is one of the reasons why boys are preferred over girls in Indian culture. Thousands of girls are aborted every year after ultrasound scans reveal the sex of the foetus. Masat allegedly set Devi alight in the courtyard of this house, before allegedly placing her still-living body next to a fireplace to make it look like an accident . Gunjan Masat has been arrested, while his father Mahendra Basat (pictured), was interrogated. His other son has also been named on the police complaint but is on the run . A woman is killed over dowry ‘every hour’ in India, according to the data released by the country’s National Crime Records Bureau. '8,233 young women, many of them new brides, were killed in so-called 'dowry deaths' in 2012,' the report said last year. Domestic violence largely motivated by dowry demands is very common in the area, but killing of Ms Devi along with her baby girl has shocked the locals.
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Annu Devi, 22, burned to death while breastfeeding her daughter .
Husband Gunjan Masat poured fuel over the pair before lighting it .
Masat then allegedly moved the still-living Devi close to a fire to make it look like she had accidentally set herself on fire .
Mother and baby were discovered the next morning with 90 per cent burns .
They were taken to hospital but were pronounced dead on arrival .
Devi's father claims in-laws became angry when she gave birth to a girl .
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