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QPR boss Harry Redknapp admitted his side were "hanging on for their lives" before Bobby Zamora scored the goal which took them back to the Barclays Premier League in injury time. Zamora struck in stoppage time to claim a 1-0 win over Derby at Wembley as Rangers secured their place back in the top flight at the first time of asking after they survived a tough second half following the 60th minute sending off of Gary O'Neil. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Watch QPR players celebrating Premier League promotion . Winning smile: QPR boss Harry Redknapp admits they were lucky to win the the Championship play-off final . Matchwinning moment: Bobby Zamora (right) scored the 90th minute winner to see QPR win 1-0 at Wembley . 'It was a fantastic finish,' Redknapp . said of Zamora's strike, 'We were maybe trying to take the game to . penalties with a draw and were hanging on for our lives. 'It was a fantastic goal to win the game and I couldn't be more pleased. 'I would be a liar if I said I thought I would see us scoring. They had 11 men, were probing us and we were hanging on. Remeber the name: Zamora celebrates in front of the QPR supporters after scoring their winner . Team spirit: QPR players and staff celebrate Zamora's goal against Derby in the Championship play-off final . 'That was a one off where you stand on the touchline, hanging on for grim death and get a goal like that. 'I want to do it for the people here (at Wembley), the owners and the players. They are fantastic people.' Redknapp felt that the dismissal of O'Neil was harsh, not that it mattered too much after the final whistle. 'I thought he wasn't the last man, I thought there was another defender behind him,' the Rs boss added. Pure joy: Zamora celebrates after the final whistle as QPR seal promotion back to the Premier League . 'I . thought he would get a yellow but that's life. I thought we were bang . in trouble but we showed great character and it was amazing.' Defender Richard Dunne added: 'It's amazing. It's been such a long hard season. 'We know how good we can be when we worked and we've worked really hard. Star performer: Richard Dunne (top) won man-of-the-match during QPR's smash-and-grab 1-0 victory . Distraught: Derby boss Steve McClaren (centre) consoles captain Richard Keogh after their play-off defeat . 'When the time came Bobby was there to finish it. 'It's what we've been aiming for all year and we got there through the play-offs.'
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Harry Redknapp admits his side were 'hanging on' in the Championship play-off final win against Derby .
Bobby Zamora scored a 90th minute winner to give QPR a 1-0 victory .
Gary O'Neil was sent off in the 60th minute for QPR .
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It was perhaps meant to be that Didier Drogba's first goal in his second spell at Chelsea came from the penalty spot in the Champions League - just as his first period at the club ended. And the Chelsea legend went for the same corner of the net as his winning spot kick in Munich just over two years ago, this time marking the 12th consecutive season in which he has scored in the Champions League. Only Real Madrid and Schalke's Raul has a better record, notching in 14 campaigns back-to-back, while Ryan Giggs managed 11. Didier Drogba celebrates the penalty marking his 12th consecutive year of scoring in the Champions League . Drogba's penalty against Maribor (right) was very similar to his strike that won Chelsea the Champions League . The Ivorian powerhouse raises his hands to thank the Chelsea supporters after scoring against Maribor . Drogba holds the Champions League trophy aloft after scoring the winning penalty against Bayern Munich . Drogba started his run in the 2003/04 season with Marseille before scoring in all eight of his previous seasons in the competition with Chelsea. He then grabbed goals in the past two seasons for Turkish club Galatasaray during his time there. And his 23rd minute penalty made it 12-in-a-row as well as giving Chelsea a 2-0 lead that Maribor never looked likely to overhaul. It was his seventh appearance of the season in a bit-part role in Jose Mourinho's squad, but the Ivorian could end up starting at Old Trafford against Manchester United on Sunday with Diego Costa and Loic Remy both nursing injuries. Drogba points to the sky after doubling Chelsea's lead over Maribor to put them in a comfortable position . Drogba chases down a Champions League ball for Marseille and celebrates scoring in his first Chelsea year . Drogba celebrates after scoring against Real Betis in year two at Chelsea and against Barcelona in year three . Drogba was a nightmare for Liverpool in his fourth and fifth years at Chelsea in the Champions League... A goal at Atletico Madrid sees Drogba stick his tongue out, before he converts a penalty in the 2010/11 season . Drogba finally won the big-eared trophy in 2011/12 before moving, and scoring, with Galatasaray in 2012/13 . More goals in Turkey followed before he returned to Stamford Bridge to score against Maribor . Remy came off for Drogba against Maribor with a suspected groin problem, while top scorer Costa is still wrestling with a hamstring injury suffered on international. duty. PS... The last time John Terry and Drogba scored in the same match for Chelsea was back in March 14, 2012, in the 4-1 Champions League win over Napoli. Chelsea went on to win the competition that year. What chances of Terry and Drogba replicating the feat again this season? Loic Remy limped off to be replaced by Drogba against Maribor and it is feared he could miss the next game . Diego Costa's fitness is also up in the air ahead of Chelsea's visit to Old Trafford to face Manchester United .
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Chelsea's legendary striker made it 12 years of Champions League goals .
Only Raul has scored in more consecutive Champions League seasons .
He went for the same corner of the net as his Munich final penalty .
Ryan Giggs managed 11 consecutive seasons of goals in Europe .
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(CNN) -- The head of the National Security Agency denied Tuesday that the United States collected telephone and e-mail records directly from European citizens, calling reports based on leaks by Edward Snowden "completely false." "To be perfectly clear, this is not information that we collected on European citizens. It represents information that we, and our NATO allies, have collected in defense of our countries and in support of military operations," Army Gen. Keith Alexander, the NSA director, told a House committee reviewing the agency's surveillance activities. The statement by Alexander before the House Intelligence Committee came as a number of lawmakers called for changes to the way intelligence is collected. The hearing, billed as a discussion of potential changes to the 35-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, commonly known as FISA, follows a report by the German magazine Der Spiegel that the NSA monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone. Some reports also suggest the United States carried out surveillance on French and Spanish citizens. It was the latest in a series of allegations that stem from disclosures given to news organizations by Snowden, the former NSA contractor who describes himself as a whistle-blower. Rocky relations . The allegations have rocked U.S.-European relations with a number of countries calling for investigations. Germany has threatened to cut off the ability of the United States to track bank transfers associated with terror groups. As the nation's spy chiefs testified, two ranking lawmakers from opposing parties introduced bills that call for greater transparency and oversight of the NSA's surveillance programs. But during the hearing, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said collecting foreign intelligence was important to protecting Americans and allies from terrorism. "Every nation collects foreign intelligence. That is not unique to the United States," said Rogers, R-Michigan. "What is unique to the United States is our level of oversight, our commitment to privacy protections, and our checks and balances on intelligence collection." Alexander said media outlets misinterpreted documents that were leaked. He said the NSA legally collected metadata from some phone calls, and the rest of the metadata came from U.S. allies. He said European intelligence services collected phone records in war zones and other areas outside their borders and shared them with the NSA. Alexander vigorously defended the agency's intelligence gathering activities, saying it has saved lives "not only here but in Europe and around the world." 'Fundamental given' Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said that trying to determine the intentions of foreign leaders -- by getting close to them or getting their communications -- is a "fundamental given" among intelligence services, and one of the first things he learned in his 50-year intelligence career. Asked by Rogers if he believes U.S. allies conducted espionage activities against U.S. leaders, Clapper said, "Absolutely." Snowden's revelations about U.S. intelligence-gathering activities have been "extremely damaging," Clapper said. But, he added, the activities themselves have been lawful, and "rigorous oversight" has been effective. Top senator: Obama didn't know of U.S. spying on Germany's leader . Even so, Clapper admitted there have been mistakes. "We do not spy on anyone except for valid foreign intelligence purposes and we only work within the law. Now, to be sure, on occasion, we've made mistakes -- some quite significant," Clapper said. "But these are usually caused by human error or technical problems and, whenever we have found mistakes, we've reported, addressed and corrected them." But it is those mistakes that have prompted calls for reform, including from a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee. FISA "must be reformed" to improve transparency about and restore the public's confidence in the United States' intelligence gathering activities, Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Maryland, said. "We must improve transparency, privacy protections and thereby restore the public's confidence." Yet, the reforms must preserve the intelligence community's abilities to help protect the nation, he said. Ruppersberger said authorities were considering a proposal to require a declassification review of any FISA Court decision order or opinion "to improve transparency without threatening sources and methods." The FISA Court grants or refuses surveillance rights requests from U.S. government agencies. Meanwhile, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, and Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, introduced legislation to limit the NSA's collection and analysis of cell phone calls and emails. It was an about-face for the two men, who were the leading authors of the Patriot Act in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Reporting mistakes . Alexander, the NSA director, said that of the billions of records of personal data collected last year by the agency, just 288 of them were reviewed. And technical safeguards exist to ensure that the data are not available to non-authorized personnel, he said. Only 22 people at NSA are authorized to look at certain phone numbers, he said, and about 30 are authorized to look into the database that contains those numbers. Referring to the unauthorized release of documents about the NSA's activities, he said, "Nothing that has been released has shown that we are trying to do something illegal or unprofessional; when we find a mistake, a compliance issue, we report it to this committee, to all our overseers, and we correct it." Opinion: Does Obama still have faith in Government? In his testimony Tuesday, Clapper noted that he had ordered the declassification of a series of documents in recent months to inform the public debate on the matter, and would continue to do so. "These documents let our citizens see the seriousness, the thoughtfulness and the rigor with which the FISA court exercises its responsibilities," he said, adding that the NSA comprises "honorable people." Though changes must be made, he urged lawmakers to "remain mindful of the potential long-term impact of overcorrecting." Most of the documents released by Clapper date to 2009, when the administration was pushing lawmakers to reauthorize sections of the Patriot Act that were set to expire. Most of the newly declassified documents describe the aggressive push by the NSA, FBI and the Justice Department for lawmakers to save the bulk telephone data collection effort, known as the 215 program, because it was important for their efforts to thwart terrorist threats. NSA spying claims: Five things you need to know . The collection of mobile phone data, or metadata -- including numbers called and date, time and length of calls -- began in 2006 and matched the NSA's collection of land line telephone data. At the same time, lawmakers were urged not to discuss the classified program for fear it would hurt national security, the documents say. This year, after Snowden released the cache of classified documents, including court orders detailing the 215 bulk data program, many lawmakers said they were shocked about the extent of the program. On Tuesday, Clapper said he wasn't buying their reactions. "It reminds me of 'Casablanca,' " Clapper said, referring to the movie from the 1940s. "My God, there's gambling going on here." Opinion: U.S. needs to get spying under control . CNN's Catherine Shoichet, Tom Watkins and Mariano Castillo contributed to this report.
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NEW: "This is not unique to the United States," a committee chair says .
NEW: Trying to determine the intentions of foreign leaders is a given, Clapper said .
NEW: Media outlets misinterpreted leaked documents, the NSA chief says .
"This is not information that we collected on European citizens," the NSA chief says .
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Most of us are glad to see the back of the winter season, but this group of Slovenians are keen to give it more of a nudge. To celebrate the nearing of the end of the cold snap, Slovenians and members of various ethnological groups took to the hills to perfect their moves ahead of the annual carnival, the 'pust,' to 'chase away' winter. Also known locally as Kurentovanje, locals wear traditional masks and costumes to scare off the winter and are arriving in their masses in various towns in the country to honour the tradition. Scroll down for video . The main figures, called Kurent or Korent, wear massive sheepskin garments and a chain with huge bells around its waist . The carnival celebrates ancient traditions of Slovenia, using a variety of somewhat intimidating dress . Members of the Laufarji Ethnological Society dressed as traditional native characters named 'Ta Terjast' pose ahead of the carnival . The festival will run until February 17 as townsfolk get set to welcome in the spring. People dress in all sorts of weird and wonderful designs. The main figures, called Kurent or Korent, wear massive sheepskin garments and a chain with huge bells around its waist. The Skoromati are known as one of the oldest traditional characters in Slovenia, and they help lead the charge to chase away winter. Numerous events are staged in the country over an 11-day period, and it is thought over 100,000 people will join in the celebration. A member of the Hrusiski Skoromati Ethnological Society dressed as a traditional native character named 'Skopiton', and right, a member of the Liski Pustje Ethnological Society dressed in a native mask and costume named 'Bajer . Members of the Liski Pustje Ethnological Society wearing their native masks named 'Handsome', right is fellow society member 'Ramaston' The main parade takes place on Shrove Tuesday (February 17) in Ptuj. The purpose of such events is to preserve and develop a unique cultural heritage and ethnographic tradition. Kurentovanje adds a touch of mysticism, and is one of the most important traditional events in Slovenia and middle Europe. A pair of 'Pustjes' practise their chasing as they get set to say goodbye to the winter season in the carnival celebrations . A member of the Kurent Ethnological Society dressed up as a native folklore character named 'Devil', and right, a man dresses as a 'woman carrying a man' The first festival was thought to have been on Shrove Tuesday back in 1960. The procession leaders were spearmen followed by ploughmen, a bear, fairies, cockerels, and Kurents, all dancing at the sound of music played by a local band. The performance and customs of each traditional mask were explained to the gathered crowd via loud-speakers. The event met with tremendous success and aroused general interest which encouraged the organisers to continue.
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The carnival, or 'pust' is an annual tradition known as Kurentovanje, celebrating the end of the winter season .
Over 100,000 people visit the town of Ptuj in Slovenia to take part in the celebrations .
Event organised by various ethnological groups who celebrate ancient Slovenian cultural traditions .
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Washington (CNN) -- A retired U.S. general said Thursday that the Dutch policy of allowing openly gay soldiers to serve in its military led, in part, to its failure to halt the massacre of Muslims in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, "nations like Belgium, Luxembourg, the Dutch, et cetera, firmly believed there was no longer a need for an active combat capability in the militaries," John Sheehan, former supreme allied commander - Atlantic, told a Senate hearing on the don't ask, don't tell policy under which gays are not allowed to serve in the U.S. military openly. "As a result, they declared a peace dividend and made a conscious effort to socialize their military," he said. "That includes the unionization of their militaries. It includes open homosexuality demonstrated in a series of other activities, with a focus on peacekeeping operations, because they did not believe the Germans were going to attack again or the Soviets were coming back. "That led to a force that was ill-equipped to go to war. The case in point that I'm referring to is when the Dutch were required to defend Srebrenica against the Serbs. The battalion was under-strength, poorly led, and the Serbs came into town, handcuffed the soldiers to the telephone poles, marched the Muslims off and executed them," Sheehan said. "That was the largest massacre in Europe since World War II." Asked whether Dutch leaders had told him that the Dutch military's performance was linked to its gay soldiers, he said, "Yes. ... They included that as part of the problem." He was referring to the incident that began July 11, 1995, when Serb forces overran the United Nations "safe zone" of Srebrenica and systematically executed men and boys while expelling the rest of the Muslim population. In all, 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were killed. Asked which Dutch officers had told him that the debacle at Srebrenica was in part due to the fact that gay soldiers serve in the Dutch army, Sheehan cited a "Hankman Berman," whom he described as "the chief of staff of the army who was fired by the parliament because they couldn't find anybody else to blame." A spokeswoman for the Dutch Embassy in Washington said Dutch officials did not know to whom Sheehan was referring. A former general, Henk van den Breemen, is identified in news reports as having served as Dutch chief of defense staff from 1994-1998. CNN was not able to reach him. In a statement issued after the hearing, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said, "Srebrenica was an unconscionable massacre, but it's way off the mark to attribute it in any way to the fact that gays can serve openly in the Dutch military, which failed to protect Srebrenica's citizens. "I know of no historian or commentator who has attributed this massive failure to protect the citizens of Srebrenica to Dutch policy on gays serving openly in their military. The U.S. military serves side by side with the Dutch in Afghanistan without any difficulty whatsoever." In a written statement, the Dutch ambassador to the U.S., Renee Jones-Bos, said of Sheehan's comments, "I couldn't disagree more. "I take pride in the fact that lesbians and gays have served openly and with distinction in the Dutch military forces for decades, including in leading operational positions, such as in Afghanistan at the moment," she said. "The military mission of Dutch U.N. soldiers at Srebrenica has been exhaustively studied and evaluated, nationally and internationally. There is nothing in these reports that suggests any relationship between gays serving in the military and the mass murder of Bosnian Muslims." Sheehan, who retired from the military in 1997, told the Senate Committee on Armed Services that he opposed a proposal to let gays serve openly in the U.S. military. The American Psychological Association submitted testimony to the committee that said "scientific research has demonstrated that ending the ban on openly gay people serving in the military is unlikely to reduce military readiness or unit cohesion." It said the gay ban was suspended during the Gulf War with no apparent detrimental impact on military readiness. CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr and Tom Watkins contributed to this report.
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Dutch force "ill-equipped to go to war" in early '90s, retired U.S. general says .
He tells Senate panel that led in part to failure to stop Srebrenica killings .
Dutch leaders linked poor performance to gays in military, he says .
Senate committee chairman says remarks "way off the mark"
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Danny Tickle landed the man of the match award against his old club as Widnes gave their play off hopes a huge lift with a stunning 24-10 victory over Wigan. Tickle booted six goals from six attempts and turned in a powerhouse display in the pack to dent Wigan's hopes of the League Leaders Shield. Patrick Ah Van crossed for two of the Vikings tries with Paddy Flynn grabbing the other on a night Wigan will want to forget. Best foot forward: Danny Tickle celebrates with teammates after kicking Widnes to a 24-10 victory over Wigan . Wigan, who swamped Widnes 48-4 at the DW Stadium in June, went into the clash with only one win in their last three games against Salford after a shock loss to Bradford and a draw at Hull KR. But the eighth placed Vikings had also won only three of their last 12 Super League matches and were looking nervously over their shoulders in the battle for the final play off spot. Wigan, who had lost only one of the previous 11 meetings with Widnes, welcomed back Michael McIlorum and Iain Thornley from long term injuries alongside recent absentees Gil Dudson, Tony Clubb and John Bateman but Matty Bowen, Ben Flower and Joel Tomkins were missing. Widnes skipper Jon Clarke, who retires at the end of the season, made his last home appearance with the Vikings' last two matches away at Bradford and Salford. Widnes made a fine start with only a flying Dan Sarginson tackle preventing a Chris Dean try. But the Vikings won the scrum against the head for Kevin Brown's long pass to put Ah Van over in the corner and Tickle landed the conversion before slotting over a penalty. Wigan were still recovering when Clarke's burst allowed Joe Mellor and Brown to combine and send Flynn racing in at the opposite corner. Again Tickle added the touchline conversion to make it 14-0 after 14 minutes. It would have been more embarrassing for Wigan had Ah Van been able to take a difficult pass from Rhys Hanbury with the line at his mercy. Wigan's opening try had an element of luck about it with a Blake Green pass rolling along the ground before Thornley put Dominic Manfredi over after 30 minutes. Green was more accurate with a teasing kick to the corner for Josh Charnley to outjump Ah Van and touch down - and this time Matty Smith was successful with the kick to cut the gap to 14-10. Only desperate defence prevented Charnley bagging a second try just before the break but Widnes deserved their half-time advantage although the warning signs were evident. Widnes made a perfect start to the second half with Ah Van going over for his second try after Wigan were caught napping from a kick with Tickle's fourth goal making it 20-10. The torrential rain made handling difficult, especially for Wigan, with Liam Farrell lucky to escape with only a yellow card for a high and late tackle on Mellor. Tickle struck two penalties to extend the advantage to 24-10 on the hour. Widnes looked hungrier than Wigan who can have no complaints at the final scoreline. It’s not too late to play MailOnline Fantasy Football… There’s £1,000 to be won EVERY WEEK by the highest scoring manager . CLICK HERE to start picking your Fantasy Football team NOW! There’s £60,000 in prizes including £1,000 up for grabs EVERY WEEK… .
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Widnes Vikings defeated Wigan Warriors 24-10 in the Super League .
Danny Tickle kicked six goals from six attempts against his former club .
Patrick Ah Van scored two tries with Paddy Flynn crossing for the other .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . Most people probably would like to assume that if they were awoken at 6:30 in the morning by a drunk, naked stranger in their bedroom - who'd just smeared his own feces throughout their house and tried to flood their kitchen - that the intoxicated intruder would be arrested when police ultimately show up. That, however, was not the case for a couple in Kuma, Idaho, who say that exact scenario played out in their home earlier this month - in their case, they say responding officers didn't arrest the drunken poop-smearer, they only cited him for a misdemeanor and let him go home. As if that wasn't enough, homeowners Tricia and Jake Gillaspy had just moved into the home a week prior to the alleged fecal-artist's predawn intrusion. Shocked: Tricia and Jake Gillaspy were stunned to find Matthew Coomes naked in their bedroom at 6:30 am . Crappy situation: After chasing Coomes out of the house at gunpoint, the couple found feces ground into their carpet . The incident occurred in the early hours of June 15 - Father's Day - when the Gillaspys awoke to find the drunken man standing in their bedroom at 6:30 a.m. 'My husband's like, "What the heck is going on?" And, I'm screaming in utter panic,' Tricia Gillaspy tells KTVB. The intruder, later identified as 25-year-old Matthew Coomes, had clearly been drinking. The couple says that after a naked Coomes had woken them up, he tried to run into another room and put some clothes on. 'My husband grabs the gun because we have no idea who this guy is,' said . Tricia. 'He's like, "Get out of my house, now!" But the guy wouldn't . leave. So, he puts the gun to his head, and says, "I said, get out!' '[Jake Gillaspy called 9-1-1 and] He's like, "There's a guy in my house. I'm going to shoot him, you better get a cop here now,'" she said. Art? The Gillaspys say they found feces smeared all over their walls and appliances . Feces: Coomes allegedly took aim at the couple's oven after smearing feces on the walls . Coomes eventually left the house, but remained on the couple's property until police arrived. That's when the couple discovered what Coomes allegedly had been doing prior to his waking them up. 'He took this sink sprayer out and this drawer was in there. He put it . in the drawer, turned it on full blast hot water, it filled that entire . drawer full. It flooded my entire kitchen,' said Tricia. 'He craps on my . floor, and he must have been playing in it because he streaked it down . the side of my walls. The stain is gone finally, thank goodness.' When police arrived, rather than arrest the drunk, naked man who had just terrified an innocent couple, the responding officers cited Coomes for the misdemeanors and took him back to his house. 'I go running out the door, and am like, "What are you doing!?" I'm like, 'This guy deserves to go to jail!'" Gillaspy said. Tricia says she later learned that the damage allegedly caused by Coomes cost more than $5,000 to repair. In the following days, Tricia received a call from a Kuna Police sergeant who told her the officers should have arrested Coomes on the spot. Flood: The couple says Coomes used their sink sprayer to flood the drawers in their kitchen . Gross: Not factoring in grossness, the couple says the damage cost more than $5,000 to repair . The Kuna Police Department says it is conducting an internal investigation into why Coomes was not arrested the morning of the incident. Additionally, prosecutors have since filed felony charges against Coomes for malicious injury to property for the extensive - and expensive - damage he did to the home. Investigators say it appears Coones entered the home through an unlocked backdoor. He later told police that he didn't remember going into the home or using the sprayer in the kitchen. Additionally, he says he also doesn't recall how his feces ended up on the Gillaspys carpet and how his underwear ended up on their floor.
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Tricia and Jake Gillaspy say they woke up to find a naked Matthew Coomes standing in their bedroom at 6:30 a.m.
Coomes, 25, refused to leave until Gillaspy got his gun .
When police arrived, the Gillaspys discovered what Coomes allegedly had been doing before he woke them up .
The couple found feces smeared on the walls and the drawers filled with water .
Police didn't arrest Coomes the night of the incident, they just drove him home .
The police department have since said Coomes should have been arrested and he is now charged with a felony .
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By . Bianca London . PUBLISHED: . 05:28 EST, 11 April 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 07:08 EST, 12 April 2013 . Post-sandwich guilt may become a thing of the past thanks to a baker who has created the UK's lowest calorie bread. The London-based City banker-turned-baker has launched Plan Bread - a unique sandwich delivery business that provides a virtually carb-free, low calorie super-bread... made from broccoli. Paul Shackleton, who was made redundant from his trader job at JP Morgan last year, decided to leave the bright lights of the City behind him once and for all, and turn his hand to baking. A dieter's dream: Using all natural produce and broccoli as the main ingredient, Paul created the lowest carb bread in the UK . Banker turned baker: Despite having no baking experience, former banker Paul Shackleton taught himself how to make the lowest carb bread in the UK . Despite having no experience in oven-based work, the 27-year-old set himself the challenge of creating the world's healthiest bread. He spent hours poring over books in the British Library, studying the latest medical research on how food is stored as fat, and meticulously devised more than 150 prototypes before arriving at Plan Bread's secret recipe. Using all natural produce and broccoli as the main ingredient, Paul created the lowest carb bread in the UK - as accredited by UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service). Plan Bread's special recipe has 50 per cent fewer calories and 94 per cent fewer carbs than other popular breads. Low carb: After hours of perfection, Plan Bread's special recipe has 50 per cent fewer calories and 94 per cent fewer carbs than other popular breads . As a comparison, 100g of popular, supermarket-bought seeded loaves have 300 calories and 34g of carbohydrate, while 100g of Paul's bread has only 137 calories and just 2g of carbohydrate. The bread will appeal to the likes of super health-conscious Gwyneth Paltrow, because it is also gluten-free, soy-free, and almost zero GI. Paul, who is based in central London, has spent much of the last six months rising at 2am to bake for the day ahead conducting an extensive testing and sampling programme to ensure that his recipe is perfect. Early riser: Paul has spent much of the last six months rising at 2am to bake for the day ahead . Speaking about his exciting new business venture, Paul said: 'In my old job, I always felt guilty eating unhealthy sandwiches at lunchtime. 'I discovered that my colleagues had cut them out of their diet, with no alternatives available. We all thought, surely there must be a better way. 'That's really how Plan Bread was born - the aim of the venture was always to find a truly healthy alternative to the high street sandwich, where no low carbohydrate option was available. 'It wasn't until I started baking that more and more mates started mentioning that they no longer eat bread. 'Gluten intolerance was also far more prevalent than I had realised. Zero gluten then became a key idea behind the product as well, and I feel really pleased that the sandwiches will be available to as many people as possible, not excluding anyone.' He continued: 'Some people thought I was mad, and, to be honest, at times I did feel a little like an alchemist. But I was always confident in the science behind the process, and am thrilled to have found a result which people are now enjoying. 'We have been very encouraged by the initial feedback to the business and product and will be looking to expand our menu and delivery area throughout 2013.' Plan Bread delivers platters and individual sandwiches to addresses across West and Central London as well as catering for larger corporate events and supplying office canteens. Each sandwich is priced between £3.75 and £4.50 and Paul plans to open a series of sandwich shops around London then look to move to outside London once established. He added: 'The plan is also to greatly expand the range of products. Firstly we are working on a greater line of breads (red cabbage, courgette and some others are in the test stage at the moment). 'Then want to move on to other bread like products namely pizzas.' If there was one food I had to eat forever it would be bread. So when I found out about Plan Bread I was more than excited at the prospect of being able to do 'carbs before marbs'. But with broccoli as the key ingredient, could this really taste as good as a classic hunk of Hovis? After getting over the bread's slightly green tinge, I tucked in. What can only be described as a cross between an omelet and brioche, with more bites, the bread tasted really good. And the best part? The sandwich was crammed full of fresh poached salmon, watercress and a light mayonnaise sauce all for just 219 calories (a Marks and Spencer's equivalent would see you devour over 800 calories). It may not taste as good as a crisp petite pan with slatherings of butter, but this is the perfect lunchtime fix for dieters who are partial to committing the occasional carbicide.
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Paul Shackleton, 27, made redundant from London bank job at JP Morgan .
Taught himself baking and developed Plan Bread's secret recipe .
Lowest carb bread ever created in UK .
137 calories and just 2g of carbohydrate per 100g .
50% fewer calories and 94% fewer carbs than other popular breads .
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Former Man City striker Carlos Tevez was on his way to Argentina last night after his father was kidnapped. Delivery driver Secundo Tevez was snatched early this morning on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Three men in a van are reported to have abducted him in a street in the suburb of Moron after blocking his way and taking him hostage in his Volkswagon Vento. Tevez posted a photograph on him and his father on Twitter in March . Tevez, now with Italian side Juventus, was informed after another relative received a ransom demand. He was freed last night after an eight-hour kidnap ordeal. Family lawyer Gustavo Galasso confirmed: 'He’s okay' after his kidnappers let him go. The Tevez family is reported to have paid a ransom demand. Family lawyer Gustavo Galazzo confirmed the kidnap to TV channel America 24. Tevez, 30, is understood to have spoken with his father by phone as well as his dad's kidnappers. Tevez formerly played for Manchester City but is now at Italian team Juventus . Argentine daily Clarin reported: 'The kidnappers let Secundo speak briefly on the phone to his family as proof he was alive.' It is not yet clear whether the kidnap was planned or the gang realised their victim was Tevez's dad only after they had taken him. Reports suggest they only targeted him because he was in an expensive car. An elite anti-kidnap police squad was drafted in to help resolve the crisis. Express kidnapping, where abductees are taken for a short duration and for a low ransom, occurs occasionally in Argentina, according to the U.S. State Department. Extortion kidnapping for ransom is relatively rare and has mostly affected well-off Argentines. The true rate of kidnapping is unknown but believed to be considerably lower than elsewhere in South America.
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The player is reportedly flying to country after Secundo Tevez was taken .
Delivery driver was blocked in by assailants and taken from quiet suburb .
The family lawyer confirmed the abduction on a local news channel .
He was freed after eight-hour ordeal after ransom was paid .
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(CNN)In case you didn't know, Neil deGrasse Tyson is hiring. The famed astrophysicist has a new late-night show coming to the National Geographic Channel, titled "Star Talk." That fact seemed to amuse Conan O'Brien, who jokingly wondered Tuesday on his own late-night gig, "Who would go work on a show like that?" Be careful what you ask, Conan. Quicker than you could say "total eclipse," the moon that is part of the "Conan" backdrop spoke up to say he would like to join Tyson's new project. Shortly thereafter, the man himself strode out. He was soon courting Conan's right-hand man, Andy Richter, asking whether he'd like a job on the show. "Andy may be small in time and space, but he is a universe unto himself, comprised of atoms whose origins can be traced back to the stars that exploded billions of years ago," Tyson said before leading Richter offstage. The skit helped hype Tyson's new show, which is based on his very popular podcast. "Star Talk" is set to premiere in April.
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The famed astrophysicist will be a late-night TV host .
He popped up on "Conan" to steal the moon and Andy Richter .
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(CNN) -- I'm not an auto mechanic, I'm an Army wife, a mother and -- when time permits -- a journalist. So when my car needs work, I take it to someone with oil on his hands and years of experience looking under hoods. The same is true for plumbing problems, legal issues and medical care. I don't assume that I know better than the experts. When necessary, I get a second opinion but, ultimately, I always yield to the advice of those who know more than me. With that in mind, I am thrilled that President Obama has decided to listen to his experts -- the military commanders and strategists -- and is committing more troops to Afghanistan. But as an Army wife at Fort Bragg whose husband has already done three tours of duty in Afghanistan, I can't help but close my eyes, grit my teeth and brace myself for the hard days ahead. As happy as I am that the president has finally made a move after months of deliberating, I know that this announcement is likely bad news for me. Deployments are awful -- just awful. There is no bright side and no silver lining. For most of us in the military community the luster of sacrificing for our country wore off a deployment or two ago and we are now coasting on the fumes of commitment and shared sacrifice. Many of us who are married to the military aren't even sure why we are willing to endure yet another deployment. We just are. Our spouses see the fight firsthand and are reminded daily of why this battle must be won. They get pep talks at work and enjoy the camaraderie of their fellow soldiers. We at home just hear the gripes of war-weary Americans and see the news reports of waning support. We don't experience the victories, we only see our children developing emotional problems, our marriages falling apart, our careers sidelined, our dependence on antidepressants climbing, even our houses crumbling from years of neglected repairs. That's why a troop surge in Afghanistan brings mixed feelings. More troops there means more casualties -- a word I don't take lightly. Casualties are people, people with names and faces that I know. I see their wheelchairs at my kids' schools and I've dropped flowers on their freshly dug graves. A troop surge may mean that even more of my friends will be widows and more of their children will be fatherless. It certainly means more Little League teams in my community will be missing a coach, more families here will know each other only on Skype and more pets will be abandoned. It may very well mean that I will spend more years being both mother and father, and that I'll have more conversations with my children about why their daddy is always gone when so many daddies never leave. These are not things to celebrate. But right now, after just hearing our president give an inspiring speech, I'm going to consider that this plan may mean that my friends who are in Afghanistan now will finally have what they need to stay safe. Maybe it will mean that if and when my husband has to go back there, he will be in a better and safer situation. And, more than anything else, maybe it will mean that our nation will succeed in Afghanistan and that all of these years that my husband and I have lost together, all of these friends we've buried, all of these injuries he and others have nursed -- will have been worth it. I am not a strategist. I do not know what will take us to victory in Afghanistan. I cannot say if sending 30,000 more troops is the right or the wrong decision. All I know is that the president consulted the experts and then he sought second, third, fourth -- and who knows how many more -- opinions, and this is the solution he has reached. I commend him for making a definitive plan. I will pray for his wisdom and for the strength and safety of the troops who will be going into harm's way, just as I pray for those who are already there. I will also pray for all the families back home who are about to send their soldier or Marine into the fight. Theirs is a battle I know. For many of them, their war is just starting. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Rebekah Sanderlin.
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Sanderlin glad Obama listened to experts, knows days ahead may be hard for other Army wives .
Sanderlin: "There is no bright side and no silver lining" to deployments .
Army wife hopes deployments will mean troops will get what they need to stay safe .
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An increase in the number of suicides among military personnel can be traced, in part, to a "stressed and tired force" made vulnerable by multiple deployments, a military leader said Wednesday. Long troop deployments in Iraq, above, and Afghanistan have been cited in the rise in military suicides. "We must find ways to relieve some of this stress," said Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, vice chief of staff of the Army, in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee. "I think it is the cumulative effect of deployments from 12 to 15 months," he said, adding that the longer deployments are scheduled to continue until June. He cited long deployments, lengthy separations from family and the perceived stigma associated with seeking help as factors contributing to the suicides. Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, vice chief of naval operations, said suicides are the third leading cause of death in the Navy. "We must eliminate the perceived stigma, shame and dishonor of asking for help," he said. Gen. James F. Amos, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, said his branch of the service has incorporated education and training about suicide prevention "at all levels." He said four of 55 mental health professionals deployed in the U.S. Central Command were recently embedded with Marines. He expressed optimism that that tactic would pay off, but he said he had no data to support his expectation. And Gen. William M. Fraser, vice chief of staff of the Air Force, said his branch, too, was taking steps "to ensure airmen are as mentally prepared for deployment and redeployment as they are physically and professionally." Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said the efforts have not sufficed. He noted that last year, for the first time, the suicide rate among military personnel has exceeded that of the civilian population. "What's going on?" he asked rhetorically. The panel members made clear that, whatever is going on, it is complex. Chiarelli said the Army tallied 133 confirmed suicides last year and is still investigating another seven possible ones. At least 70 percent of the suicides had "some kind of relationship problem," he said. Often, the situation was worsened by something else, such as a financial or legal problem, he said. And it wasn't just the trauma of war that appears to heighten the risk. The suicides were about evenly divided among those who had returned from deployment, those who were still deployed -- some on a third or fourth tour -- and those who had never been deployed, Chiarelli said. All of the military leaders said they had too few mental health professionals in their ranks. But Walsh said professionals are not the only people who must be trained to intervene, noting that it is often the shipmate or the battle buddy who seeks assistance for someone in need. And Navy counselors are now asking family members for feedback that often proves more illuminating than what the sailors themselves are willing to impart, he said. "If I survey the family, I'm going to get a different set of answers." One reason some service personnel are reluctant to seek help from their chain of command is because they fear they will then be passed over for promotions, the panel members said. In some cases, they pay out of their own pockets to seek help privately, Rubenstein said. And others call civilian hotlines, one of which reported getting three calls per day this year from active-duty military personnel. Representatives of all of the branches of the military said they have seen recent increases in suicides. At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary William Gates said he believes the 15-month deployments "were a real strain" on many, but expressed optimism that beneficial changes are in the works. "All the services are are addressing this problem, but the Army in particular, I think, is really going after it in a very aggressive way," he said. But some suicides appear to defy all prevention efforts. Maj. Gen. David A. Rubenstein, deputy surgeon general of the Army, cited the case of a 33-year-old soldier who was living at home with his wife and three children. He suffered a traumatic brain injury more than two years ago and had been giving weekly motivational speeches to other soldiers in a clinic. For the past two years, the soldier also had been seeing a psychiatrist. The most recent visit occurred last Friday. On Monday, he saw his primary care doctor and his nurse case manager, and also had a life-skills appointment. "On Tuesday, he apparently committed suicide," Rubenstein said. "This soldier was treated, compliant and supported in every way, and yet he's dead today." The suicide underscores that suicide is "a complex, very difficult problem that causes all of us to scratch our heads and wonder: how do we stop the next one?" Last year, at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, two cadets and two members of the staff and faculty killed themselves, said Brig. Gen. Michael S. Linnington, commandant of the cadets. He cited stress from broken relationships and, in one case, a pre-existing mental health condition that academy officials had not known about at the time of admission. None of the four had been deployed to a combat zone. Linnington called the spate of self-directed violence at the school "troubling and unacceptable" and said preventive measures there had been beefed up in recent months.
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Army Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli: "We must find ways to relieve some of this stress"
Admiral says suicides are the third leading cause of death in the Navy .
"Perceived stigma ... and dishonor of asking for help" is cited as part of problem .
Also blamed: Long deployments and lengthy separations from family .
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By . Claire Ellicott . PUBLISHED: . 13:32 EST, 19 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 20:20 EST, 19 August 2012 . Sailor's substantial sale: Princess Anne is usually known for her frugality but the keen sailor has invested £500,000 in a new yacht . She is normally known for her relative frugality and lack of flamboyance. But when it comes to her passion for sailing, it seems the Princess Royal is happy to splash out a bit. Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence are investing in a £500,000 bespoke Rustler 44 yacht. The princess has yet to reveal the name of the customised vessel, which is believed to have been built to exacting specifications and include twin cabins, a large galley and lounge areas. Her last yacht was called Blue Doublet after the horse that carried her to victory in the 1971 European Eventing Championship. It seems unlikely, though, that she will name the new vessel after her daughter Zara’s horse High Kingdom, which helped her to a silver medal during the Olympics. An associate of the princess revealed: ‘It will be called something very Scottish. Anne loves Scotland and wanted a name that celebrated a part of the world that she adores.’ Princess Anne and her husband spend most of their holidays cruising around Scotland, where their new yacht will be moored. The princess is also a keen pharologist – someone who studies lighthouses – and has vowed to see every one in the country. Her old yacht, a Rustler 36 which was on the market for more than eight months, was recently sold for a sum believed to be not far short of its £95,000 asking price. Royal's latest purchase: Princess Anne bought a new Rustler 44 yacht similar to this one but is yet to reveal the name of the customised vessel . In time for Olympic celebration: Anne and husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence will have the boat in time to celebrate daughter Zara Phillip's Olympic achievement, winning silver in in the equestrian team event . The Blue Doublet came with a bill of . sale signed by the couple and a brass plaque acknowledging that the . yacht was bought for the Princess Royal. It has a tiny galley kitchen . and a white plastic toilet. But it won’t be going far – its new . owners are believed to be planning to keep it near its old berth in . Ardfern, Argyll, where Princess Anne will moor her new vessel, as they . live in the area. Old yacht sold: Anne's old yacht Blue Doublet was on the market for eight months and was recently sold for almost the £95,000 asking price . The ‘beautifully cared for and . professionally maintained’ yacht failed to attract a single bid in the . first six months after it went on sale. At the time, Simon Jones, a director . of Rustler Yachts, told the Daily Mail that Princess Anne’s teak yacht, . with blue velour furnishings, was a good investment. ‘It is in spectacular condition,’ he . said. ‘It has been on the market since the autumn but it was probably . put on at the wrong time of year. We have had a lot of interest – all . from the UK – but no offers yet. Moored nearby: Blue Doublet's new owners are planning to keep the boat near its old berth in Ardfern, Argyll, where Princess Anne will moor her new vessel . ‘But I am hopeful it will sell in the . next month or so. For a Rustler 36 of that age it is by far and away . the best we have had.’ Falmouth-based Rustler Yachts, which is also . building the new yacht, said in the sale advertisement: ‘The . world-famous R36 “Blue Doublet” owned by HRH The Princess Royal and Vice . Admiral Sir Tim Laurence from new is looking for a new home. ‘The yacht will transfer to her new . owner with a signed bill of sale from the royal couple. Beautifully . cared for and professionally maintained, the name “Blue Doublet” will . pass to her new owner. ‘She is currently ashore at the Rustler factory and has just undergone the usual treatment to show her at her best.’ Keen sailor: Princess Anne has always loved sailing, competing in various races including the British Steel Challenge in 1992 (pictured). She also won the 1971 European Eventing Championship in her recently sold boat .
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Princess Anne has bought the new, customised yacht with husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence .
The name of the new vessel is yet to be revealed .
The new boat is customised with twin cabins, a large galley and lounge areas .
Her old yacht, Blue Doublet, was sold for close to £95,000 after eight months on the market .
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By . Ashley Collman . Graduate: Cancer patient Yeatise Gaines was able to accomplish her goal of graduating high school in a special ceremony held just one day before she died . A 17-year-old Michigan cancer patient was able to achieve her goal of graduating high school in a special ceremony before she died. Kalamazoo Central High School Principal Valerie Boggan personally presented Yeatise Gaines with a cap, gown and certificate of completion at the hospital on May 14, ahead of the scheduled June 4 commencement. School administrators, teachers, and more than 20 family members gathered around Yeatise's hospital bed to celebrate her accomplishment. She passed away the next day. 'It was always something she wanted to do,' Yeatise's mother Santasha Gaines told MailOnline. 'If she made it this far she didn't want to leave this earth without the diploma in her hands.' Ms Gaines says her daughter dreamed of studying oncology in college so she could help children with cancer, just like herself. Yeatise has been battling cancer since she was just 18 months old, and it was the radiation treatment that sent her cancer into remission but weakened her lungs and ultimately killed her. The teen asked to be taken out of school for the third time after Thanksgiving, but the dedicated student continued her studies through home schooling. Her tutor, Ruby Sledge, told the Kalamazoo Gazette that she was focused girl who took school very seriously. Ms Sludge also admired the way Yeatise would stay strong even through the most painful periods of her illness. Ambitions: Yeatise wanted to become an oncologist so she could help other children with cancer. Pictured above in a photo posted on her Facebook . 'A plus on attitude': Yeatise's tutor says she never complained about her pain and was a very focused student . 'I never heard her complain,' Ms Sledge told the Gazette. 'I would give her an A plus on attitude. 'This was a case where the teacher learned from the student,' Sledge said. During her long battle with cancer, Yeatise underwent 10 surgeries, was in crutches for four years and had severe back pain. Her mother is just glad that her daughter is no longer feeling that pain. 'She's just happy now that she's with the lord,' Ms Gaines said. 'No more suffering for my daughter period. No more.'
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Yeatise Gaines, who attended Kalamazoo Central High School, died on May 15 .
The day before, the schools' principal personally delivered her cap, gown and certificate of completion .
Gaines' mother says it was her number one goal to graduate before passing away .
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(CNN) -- The husband of an accomplished Pittsburgh doctor has been arrested in connection with the death of his wife, the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, district attorney's office, said Thursday. Authorities have ruled that 41-year-old physician Autumn Klein's cause of death was cyanide poisoning. It was not immediately clear whether Klein's husband, Robert Ferrante, had retained representation. Klein was a physician and former head of women's neurology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She died on April 20. Officials said Ferrante was apprehended by West Virginia State Police after his car was stopped while heading north on Interstate 77 near Beckley, West Virginia. Ferrante is a researcher and professor of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. He has been placed on immediate and indefinite leave, according to John Andrew Fedele, a school spokesperson. As part of his position there, Ferrante managed a laboratory where he conducts trials of various drugs and chemicals, according to a criminal complaint. On April 17, Allegheny County 911 dispatch received a call from Ferrante requesting medical assistance for his wife, who he said was possibly having a stroke, the complaint read. He described her condition as "conscious and breathing, but not alert." The complaint, citing witnesses, alleges that Ferrante requested the purchase of cyanide. It was delivered one day later, on April 16. Cyanide is a naturally occurring toxic substance that can be found in seeds of different plants. It is widely distributed throughout research laboratories as a chemical used in scientific experiments. Cyanide interferes with the ability of the body to use oxygen to produce energy, which can lead to rapid death. According to the complaint, text messages were found between the couple on April 17, the day Klein fell ill. The exchange included Ferrante suggesting creatine to Klein in hopes of stimulating egg production. When paramedics arrived, they found the victim on the floor of the kitchen with a plastic bag containing creatine. According to Karl Williams, chief medical examiner of Allegheny County, there is no connection with creatine and fertility. Creatine is a supplement that bodybuilders uses to increase body mass, Williams said. Sole and legal custody of Ferrante's child has been placed with the maternal grandparents, according to a statement form the district attorney's office. His financial assets have also been frozen. CNN's Erinn Cawthon and Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley contributed to this report.
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Autumn Klein, 41, a physician, died on April 20 .
The cause of death was cyanide poisoning .
Her husband is a professor of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh .
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A statue that shows a Soviet soldier raping a pregnant woman as he holds a gun to her head has been removed and the artist arrested by authorities in northern Poland. The statue, entitled Komm Frau (Come Here Woman), appeared on Gdansk's Avenue of Victory on Saturday evening. Artist Jerzy Szumczyk told Polish Radio he had researched the subject of rape by the Red Army as it made its way across Eastern Europe between 1944 and 1945 towards Berlin. Controversial: The statue of a Soviet soldier raping a pregnant woman was removed in Poland's Gdansk . The fifth-year student at Gdansk's Academy of Fine Arts was so emotionally affected by what he read he felt compelled to express his feelings through art and created the sculpture. But the Polish artist's attempt to pay tribute to the victims was short lived and the statue was removed this morning. Police spokeswoman Aleksandra Siewert said: 'The artist was detained and released after questioning. 'The matter will now be taken up on Monday by the prosecutor's office.' Before . Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Gdansk was a free city and more than 95 . per cent of people living in Gdansk at the time were German. But millions of German women were raped by Red Army soldiers between 1944 and 1945 during the dying days of Nazis Germany. Polish women and even Russian women released from captivity were also raped with numbers reaching 100,000. Artist Jerzy Szumczyk said he felt compelled to make the statue after he researched the rape of women by the Red Army between 1944 and 1945 . Gdansk's old town where women were raped as the Red Army made its way towards Berlin . The Nazis invasion of Russia, . Operation Barbarossa, resulted in 30 million inhabitants of the Soviet . Union losing their lives while more than three million starved in German . prisoner of war camps. Rape and murder were common elements of the Nazi advance through Russia . However, the Germans also suffered a similar fate when Russian troops retook their land and swarmed into Germany. During the Battle of Berlin more than a million German soldiers were killed, or later died in captivity. The rape began as soon as the Red Army entered East Prussia in 1944. In many towns, every female between 10 and 89 was attacked. Soviet soldiers often carried out the assaults in front of their husbands and family as an added humiliation. A Red Army War Memorial in Berlin became known as the 'tomb of the unknown rapist'. It is believed that as many as 2 million women were raped by Red army officers, many of them several times over. Many had to have abortions or be treated for the syphilis they caught from being raped by different men. Children born out of the abuses were called Russenbabies and most were abandoned and left to die. Stalin explicitly condoned rape as a method of rewarding the soldiers and terrorising German civilians. His Police chief Lavrenti Beria was himself a serial rapist, a number of testimonies exist detailing how women and girls were grabbed off the streets and bundled into his limousine. It is believed that more than 100 school-aged girls and young women were drugged and raped by Beria who ran the NKVD, the feared forerunner to the KGB. The Red Army's atrocities against women in Dresden in the spring of 1945, a city that had already suffered heavily from Allied bombing, were carried out in a particularly sickening and systematic manner. Women were dragged out of their homes and raped in the street in front of their husbands who were forced to watch. Then more often than not the men were shot. As well as the estimated two million rapes in Germany, there were between 70,000 and 100,000 in Vienna and anywhere from 50,000 to 200,000 in Hungary, as well as thousands more in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. There are even accounts of women who had been liberated from concentration camps, emaciated and still wearing prison uniforms, being raped by Russian soldiers. Richard Evans, Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, wrote a book on the topic in which he recounts the extreme violence of many of the encounters. He wrote: 'Rape was often accompanied by torture and mutilation and frequently ends in the victim being shot or bludgeoned to death. The raging violence was undiscriminating.'
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Statue called Komm Frau appeared in Gdansk on Saturday .
Artist is Jeremy Szumczyk is a student at Gdansk's Academy of Fine Arts .
He said he felt compelled to create the sculpture after reading about Red Army soldiers raping millions of women between 1944 and 1945 .
The statue has been removed by authorities .
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(CNN) -- Africa is ready to host the Olympic Games for the first time despite "prejudice" against its capabilities, claims the continent's top soccer official. Issa Hayatou, who has been president of the Confederation of African Football since 1987, told CNN that several African countries could stage the four-yearly competition. South Africa has already successfully hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2010, the first African nation to do so, and Hayatou believes it can put on the other contender for the title of the planet's biggest sporting event. "South Africa can definitely organize the Olympic Games, with its infrastructure, hotels, communications, transport," he said Saturday. "I don't know if there are 10 countries in Europe that can be better than South Africa in that respect. "But there are other countries in Africa that can organize an Olympic Games like Morocco, Egypt, Algeria -- I could also include Nigeria. All those countries could organize it, but there's a prejudice -- they say, 'Oh, it's Africa, they can't organize it.' " The 66-year-old believes South Africa has done a good job of hosting this month's Africa Cup of Nations football tournament despite some small crowds and substandard playing surfaces. "The challenge was to have a successful Africa Cup of Nations because some people thought we couldn't succeed because South Africa isn't at the top of the sport at the moment," said the Cameroonian, a member of the International Olympic Committee and also a FIFA vice-president. "But the organizing committee showed a lot of effort and did everything to ensure that this competition would go well. Of course, all the stadiums are not full, unlike what happened at the World Cup but for an Africa Cup of Nations I think we've had a record attendance level. "We have sold just over 750,000 tickets which is a very good result." However, African football journalist O.G. Molefe told CNN that the tournament has been slightly disappointing despite some of the top players on show. "They had set an amount of 500,000 tickets to be sold for the tournament, but I still think it's not enough," said Molefe, a correspondent for the broadcaster eNCA. "Look at a game like Nigeria-Ivory Coast in the quarterfinals, one that you would have thought would be a sellout -- but it wasn't. It shows there is a lot of work for CAF to do to fill stadiums for such a tournament." Sunday's title match in Johannesburg will be between two-time champions Nigeria and first-time finalists Burkina Faso. "It's a competition that's created a lot of surprises," Hayatou said. "If I'm honest Nigeria is a big football team but Burkina Faso never reached that level before. "So although it's a surprise it's a good surprise because Nigeria and Burkina have produced a good quality of football and that's been satisfying to see. If they show us in the final what we saw in the quarterfinals and the semifinals it will be a very beautiful final that the whole world will enjoy." Molefe said Nigeria's "Super Eagles" had done well to reach their first final since losing on home soil in 2000, with coach Stephen Keshi leaving out several big-name Europe-based players for the tournament. "I don't think many people would have predicted that the Super Eagles would get to the final," he said. "To have reached this stage has been a big surprise but they've got a lot of great players who have played very well. Not a lot of people gave them a chance of beating the Ivory Coast." Keshi is waiting until the last minute to decide on the fitness of four-goal Emmanuel Emenike and Victor Moses, who has netted twice in the tournament, after the key forward duo suffered injuries in the semifinal win over Mali. The Burkinabe have been boosted by the rescinding of Jonathan Pitroipa's sending-off against Ghana, with officials admitting he should not have received a second booking. At the beginning of the tournament it was Cape Verde being the fairytale story but now it's moved to Burkina Faso," Molefe said. "They've done well to reach this point. I think with Jonathan Pitroipa coming back to play the final after getting that red card it's going to be a big motivation for them to go out and pull off a big upset." Meanwhile, Mali claimed third place for the second year in a row after beating Ghana 3-1 in a rematch of the 2012 playoff. Mali led 2-0 through a diving header by Mahamadou Samassa and Seydou Keita's third goal of the tournament, but Ghana's Wakaso Mubarak missed the chance to net his fifth when he blazed a 58th-minute penalty over the bar in the pouring rain at Nelson Mandela Stadium in Port Elizabeth. The Black Stars, who won the last of their four African titles in 1982, got back into the game in the 82nd minute when Mali goalkeeper Soumbeïla Diakite was completely wrongfooted by a speculative long-range shot by Kwadwo Asamoah. However, substitute Sigamary Diarra settled the match in time added on to give some cheer to a country embroiled in conflict between Islamist rebel forces, government troops and the French military.
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African football chief Issa Hayatou says continent is ready to stage the Olympic Games .
Hayatou says South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria and Nigeria could all be successful .
He believes South Africa has done well hosting Africa Cup of Nations this month .
Hayatou says 750,000 tickets sold so far is a record for the football tournament .
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By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . Warm weather has sent British Gas profits tumbling by 26 per cent, as customers turned their heating off. The energy giant made £265million less in the first half of this year than it did in 2013, despite hiking its prices at the onset of winter. Consumer groups said families were still being hit with price rises, after the watchdog Ofgem warned energy suppliers were making an increasing amount of money from the typical household, up to £106 for the coming year. British gas made £265million less in the first half of this year than it did in 2013, despite hiking its prices at the onset of winter . British Gas parent company also saw profits fall, down 35 per cent to £1.03 billion. Chief executive Sam Laidlaw said: 'With challenging trading conditions on both sides of the Atlantic in the first half, earnings will be lower in 2014 than in 2013. However, the group is well positioned to return to growth in 2015.' He went on: 'This is a business that is very affected by the weather and we had two unusual phenomena this year. 'Firstly, we had warmer weather in the UK which meant actually our average customer's consumption of gas was down 24 per cent. 'We also simultaneously had very cold weather in the US - the Polar Vortex - which resulted in generating companies charging us with a lot of additional sort of ancillary costs. 'The combination of those two meant that at the group level the profit was down. We see a much better picture for the second half of the year.' British Gas serves around 11 million homes. Last autumn it ratcheted up his prices by 9.2 per cent before trimming charges by around £50 after the government removed some so-called green levies on bills. Chief executive Sam Laidlaw blamed warmer weather and the 'Polar Vortex' for the slump in profits . But Centrica said the average bill was expected to be £90, or 7 per cent, lower this year reflecting warmer weather and energy efficiency measures. Richard Lloyd, executive director of consumer group Which?, said: 'British Gas profits are down because of a warm winter, not lower prices. Ofgem reports that supplier profit margins are set to double, while energy costs continue to be the top consumer concern. 'Energy companies must do everything they can to pass on any savings to their customers including falling wholesale and network costs. 'That's why we need the competition authority to establish whether the price we pay for our energy is fair.' British Gas has come under pressure to cut bills after Ofgem pointed to falling wholesale gas and electricity prices - while it is also facing a full-scale competition probe which could see it vulnerable to a break-up. However latest figures from the regulator suggesting rising pre-tax profit margins from household supply are disputed by industry body Energy UK. Separate figures from French-owned EDF - another of the so-called Big Six suppliers, serving around four million households - showed that operating profits in the UK rose 9.5 per cent to £560 million for the first half of the year. It said the growth was the result of higher output from its nuclear power stations, compared with a period last year when more of its generating capacity was out of service for planned maintenance. EDF said a decline in gas sales due to milder weather was partly offset by 3.2 per cent growth in customer accounts.
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Big Six supplier made £265million less in the first half of 2014 than in 2013 .
Company blames warm weather for families saving money on their bills .
Consumer groups warn charges are still too high across the industry .
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Pharrell Williams - who just scooped two awards at the 2015 Grammy Awards - turned up to the Los Angeles event with his androgynous wife Helen Lasichanh on his arm. The 41-year Happy crooner was head-to-toe in his own fashion collaboration, Adidas Originals, as he rocked a white shorts-suit - sans the statement hat he wore at the 2014 Grammys - and went sockless with a pair of matching brogues. Model Helen, 35, - who often coordinates her gentleman-inspired outfits with her husband's - towered over him in a gray form-fitting Adidas jumpsuit, which she wore with pared-down black stilettos. Scroll down for video . Matching stripes: Pharrell Williams (right) turned up to the 2015 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles with his androgynous wife Helen Lasichanh on his arm (left) E! host Ryan Seacrest declared Pharrell's athletic attire as 'shin show', to which Pharrell replied: 'I usually wear shorts. That's just like my thing.' Indeed, the rapper - who had six Grammy nominations and won Best Solo Performance and Best Music Video for his hit song Happy tonight - donned Lanvin shorts at last year's Oscars, where he and his wife matched once again in monochrome tuxes. According to Pharrell, this year's Adidas suit is actually gray, but is crafted with a 3M-made fabric that enables it to turn white in photos. Award-winning: Pharrell's suit is actually gray (pictured) but is crafted with a 3M-made fabric that enables it to turn white when photographed with a flash . Tall order: Model Helen, 35, - who often coordinates her gentleman-inspired outfits with her husband's - towered over him in a gray form-fitting Adidas jumpsuit, which she wore with pared-down black stilettos . Why so serious? Pharrell and Helen were both head-to-toe in his own fashion collaboration, Adidas Originals . Glow my goodness: Pharrell shared this snap of their high-tech outfits to his Instagram account captioned, 'Flash' Only one shade of gray: Helen (left) gives her husband a congratulatory smooch as he scoops his award . One thing noticeably absent, much to the disappointment of countless Twitter commentators, was the infamous Vivienne Westwood hat he wore to last year's Grammys. Said hat became such an online sensation that it even yielded its own Twitter account, and was later bought by American food chain Arby's due to the likeness of its logo. Arby's paid over $44,000 for the honor of owning Pharrell's hat, to benefit his charity From One Hand to AnOTHER. Still Happy! The Hip Hop mogul performed his wildly successful hit song 'Happy' to a crowd of adoring spectators at tonight's event (pictured) Entertainer: Pharrell - who had six Grammy nominations and won Best Solo Performance and Best Music Video for Happy - donned a bellboy-inspired get-up for his performance, but stuck with shorts . Gearing up: Pharrell and Helen pose at the Pre-Grammy 2015 Gala bash held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel (pictured) Statement: One thing noticeably absent, much to the disappointment of countless Twitter commentators, was the infamous Vivienne Westwood hat he wore to last year's Grammys (pictured) Shorts again: The rapper donned Lanvin shorts at last year's Oscars, where he and his wife matched once again in monochrome tuxes (pictured) Much like her hit-maker husband, Helen possess a distinctive style aesthetic. She rarely strays from pant suits, but she did marry Pharrell in a dress in 2013 - albeit a daring tartan number. Asked to describe her approach to dressing by The New York Post last year, Helen nonchalantly responded: 'I don’t choose, it’s just who I am.' While Helen always attends high-profile events with Pharrell, she consistently keeps a low profile, and almost never smiles. And it's no surprise the duo often look so samey in their red carpet get-ups. 'She just reminded me so much of myself,' Pharrell once told Oprah about what first drew him to her. 'Different, and marches to the beat of her own drum.' The couple had their son Rocket in 2008.
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Pharrell took home two Grammys for his hit song Happy, Best Solo Performance and Best Music Video .
The star, 41, took to the red carpet with his model wife Helen Lasichanh, 35 .
Both wore head-to-toe Adidas Originals from the rappers own collaboration with the sports brand .
According to Pharrell, his suit is actually gray, but is crafted with a 3M-made fabric that enables it to turn white in photos .
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(CNN) -- Lauryn Hill walked free from a federal prison Friday and -- if she has her way -- back into the musical spotlight. The Grammy-winning artist was released from a low-security all-female facility in Danbury, Connecticut, according to federal prison records. She'd been incarcerated for the past three months for failing to pay federal income taxes. The 38-year-old still faces restrictions, though: three months of home confinement and a year of supervised probation. She'd also been ordered to pay penalties and the taxes she owed. Her lawyer, Nathan Hochman, said Hill has since fully paid her taxes. Hochman confirmed his client left the western Connecticut prison, as well as the fact she started her home confinement and probation on Friday. The singer got out several days earlier than planned due to various factors, "including good behavior," Hochman said. On the same day of her release from prison, Hill released a new song called "Consumerism" -- a fast-moving track that puts the spotlight on various -isms, such as skepticism and narcissism -- via her official Tweeter feed. According to the linked page, "she wanted to get this music out while she was incarcerated, as it is a product of the space she was in while she was going through some of the challenges she has been faced with recently." The former Fugees star and solo artist has sold 16 million albums over the course of her career. But she didn't meet her tax obligations all that time: Hill pleaded guilty last year to three counts of failing to file tax returns on more than $1.8 million between 2005 and 2007. According to the prosecutor, the sentence she eventually faced also took "into account additional income and tax losses for 2008 and 2009 -- when she also failed to file federal returns -- along with her outstanding tax liability to the state of New Jersey, for a total income of approximately $2.3 million and total tax loss of approximately $1,006,517." Despite her commercial success, Hill told U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in May that she lives "very modestly" and claimed that most of the money from her music went to other people. Describing her "life of sacrifice with very little time for myself and my children," Hill insisted that she planned to pay her taxes, it was just a question of when. But, at her sentencing, the judge reminded the singer that individual citizens don't get to decide when they pay the government. The tax education of Lauryn Hill . CNN's Jane Caffrey contributed to this report.
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NEW: Lawyer: Hill got out a few days early due to "good behavior," among other factors .
Lauryn Hill is released from a federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut .
She still faces months of home confinement and supervised probation .
The Grammy winner pleaded guilty to failing to pay her federal taxes .
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Tokyo (CNN) -- Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant experienced full meltdowns at three reactors in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami in March, the country's Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters said Monday. The nuclear group's new evaluation, released Monday, goes further than previous statements in describing the extent of the damage caused by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11. The announcement will not change plans for how to stabilize the Fukushima Daiichi plant, the agency said. Reactors 1, 2 and 3 experienced a full meltdown, it said. The plant's owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co., admitted last month that nuclear fuel rods in reactors 2 and 3 probably melted during the first week of the nuclear crisis. It had already said fuel rods at the heart of reactor No. 1 melted almost completely in the first 16 hours after the disaster struck. The remnants of that core are now sitting in the bottom of the reactor pressure vessel at the heart of the unit and that vessel is now believed to be leaking. A "major part" of the fuel rods in reactor No. 2 may have melted and fallen to the bottom of the pressure vessel 101 hours after the earthquake and tsunami that crippled the plant, Tokyo Electric said May 24. The same thing happened within the first 60 hours at reactor No. 3, the company said, in what it called its worst-case scenario analysis, saying the fuel would be sitting at the bottom of the pressure vessel in each reactor building. But Tokyo Electric at the same time released a second possible scenario for reactors 2 and 3, one that estimated a full meltdown did not occur. In that scenario, the company estimated the fuel rods may have broken but may not have completely melted. Temperature data showed the two reactors had cooled substantially in the more than two months since the incident, Tokyo Electric said in May. The earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems at Fukushima Daiichi, causing the three operating reactors to overheat. That compounded a natural disaster by spewing radioactive material into the atmosphere. Tokyo Electric avoided using the term "meltdown," and says it was keeping the remnants of the core cool. But U.S. experts interviewed by CNN after the company's announcement in May said that while it may have been containing the situation, the damage had already been done. "On the basis of what they showed, if there's not fuel left in the core, I don't know what it is other than a complete meltdown," said Gary Was, a University of Michigan nuclear engineering professor and CNN consultant. And given the damage reported at the other units, "It's hard to imagine the scenarios can differ that much for those reactors." A massive hydrogen explosion -- a symptom of the reactor's overheating -- blew the roof off the No. 1 unit the day after the earthquake, and another hydrogen blast ripped apart the No. 3 reactor building two days later. A suspected hydrogen detonation within the No. 2 reactor is believed to have damaged that unit on March 15. CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki and Kyung Lah contributed to this report.
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Japan's nuclear emergency agency goes further in describing the extent of damage .
The Fukushima Daiichi plant was badly affected by an earthquake and tsunami in March .
Tokyo Electric Power Co. has avoided calling the event a meltdown .
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(CNN) -- Vote counting was under way Tuesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo after millions went to the polls in the giant nation's second postwar election amid logistical challenges. Voting was extended for a second day Tuesday in some polling stations that experienced delays, including in the capital, which had heavy police presence. In polling stations that opened on time, election workers were counting the votes. Citizens lined up Monday to vote in the presidential and parliamentary polls nationwide. In the capital of Kinshasa, citizens waded through muddy roads to cast their votes in an election that has sparked tension in the central African nation. "Some had traveled for days using motorcycle taxis and bicycles to reach polling stations," said Herman Nzeza, the Congo representative of FreeFair DRC, a nonpartisan group that raises awareness of the election. "That's why it was even more frustrating for them to get there and find their names missing. Some were being sent to other polling stations to find their names ... I saw women carrying babies walking in the mud to get to the next polling stations." With more than 30 million voters, thousands of polling stations and lack of paved roads and basic infrastructure, Congo's elections were a logistical nightmare. Issues included tardy election workers and blackouts at the end of the day despite extended vote hours, said Nzeza, who visited polling stations in the capital. "We don't know what was happening to the ballots when the lights were off," he said. There were also claims of ballot stuffing and the denial of poll access to registered voters in some areas, according to FreeFair DRC. Nzeza said his organization got reports of three deaths in Katanga over election-related chaos, and was working to get more information. Stacks of ballots with long lists of the more than 18,000 people running for 500 parliamentary seats was also a challenge for the nation whose majority citizens don't have access to education. The presidential and parliamentary polls are critical in the central African nation struggling to rebuild years after a conflict left millions dead and displaced entire regions. Incumbent Joseph Kabila, who took over after his father died in 2001 and was elected in Congo's first democratic election five years later, is one of 11 presidential contenders. Supporters of leading opposition candidate, Etienne Tshisekedi, have vowed to take to the streets in protest if the polls are not fair. "This is our version of the Arab uprising ... we want him (the incumbent) out. This country is rich in resources, but we have turned into world spectators. This frustration has lasted too long," said Paul Efambe, 42, who lives in the capital Kinshasa. Fraud allegations started before the vote. The opposition maintains that the leader of the electoral commission was picked by Kabila and thus cannot conduct a fair election, said Albert Moleka, a spokesman for Tshisekedi. Tshisekedi's party had called for delayed poll, saying the government does not have adequate resources to meet the election needs. "No country is perfect, but we should be able to conduct organized elections. We should respect the rights of the Congolese to have good elections, and our country does not have the facilities -- even roads -- to do that," he said. Analysts fear the election outcome could plunge the nation into chaos again years after a 1998-2003 conflict that left 5 million dead as a result of fighting, diseases and starvation. Clashes have erupted in days leading up to the vote, with at least two people killed when supporters of the two frontrunners hurled rocks at one another Saturday, Human Rights Watch said. Stability in Congo -- which borders nine mostly vulnerable countries -- is vital to Africa's Great Lakes region. The years of war affected at least six neighboring nations, some of which are still battling rebel movements spawned during the conflict. Despite Congo's vast resources including cobalt, gold, copper and tantalum, the fledgling democracy is mired in poverty and conflict especially in its eastern region, a hot spot for the so-called "conflict minerals" that activists say are used to fund rebel movements in the area. Results are scheduled to be announced on December 6.
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In the capital of Kinshasa, voters wade through muddy roads to cast their votes .
Logistical problems include tardy election workers and blackouts at polling stations .
Clashes have erupted in days leading up to the vote .
Results are scheduled to be announced on December 6 .
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By . David Mccormack . Whitney Houston's New Jersey mansion has changed hands for the second time in six months with the new owner claiming he is a ‘big fan’ who plans to preserve the property as a memorial to the late singing superstar. Physician and real estate investor Matthew Krauthamer has paid $1.5 million for the house in Mendham Township. Krauthamer, 33, who paid tribute to Houston's ‘amazing voice,’ plans to restore the property to its former glory as a tribute to the I Wanna Dance With Somebody singer. Whitney Houston's New Jersey mansion has changed hands for the second time in six months with the new owner claiming he is a 'big fan' who plans to preserve the property as a memorial to the late singing superstar . Physician and real estate investor Matthew Krauthamer, left, has paid $1.5 million for Whitney Houston's former house in Mendham Township, New Jersey . ‘I'm very conscious of preserving what she created there,’ he told the Star-Ledger. ‘She had a lot of love and treated people very well. Her house was her family. Some of them lived there and some of them stayed there. ‘She was generous to so many people and she spent a fortune renovating the house. The grounds are beautiful.’ Built 1986 for $2.7 million, Houston and her former husband Bobby Brown hosted their lavish 1992 wedding there. Built 1986 for $2.7 million, Whitney and her former husband Bobby Brown hosted their lavish 1992 wedding there . The home featured in several episodes of the notorious reality TV series Being Bobby Brown . Krauthamer, 33, plans to restore the property to its former glory as a tribute to the I Wanna Dance With Somebody singer . Later, as their marriage and careers stumbled amid allegations of drug abuse, the home featured in several episodes of the notorious reality TV series Being Bobby Brown. The 12,561-square-foot home has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a six-car garage, 13 skylights and 108 windows. It includes a tennis court, pool house and pool, a circular driveway and six-car garage. The singer hadn't lived there for at least five years prior to her death aged 48 in 2012. Krauthamer, who lives locally, said he plans to move in after ‘a few months’ after renovating and repainting. The doctor, who is single, plans to live in the house with family members and also intends to host plenty of guests and parties there. The 12,561-square-foot home has five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a six-car garage, 13 skylights and 108 windows . Krauthamer, who is single, plans to live in the house with family members and also intends to host plenty of guests and parties there . Last month, Houston's estate was forced to take legal action against investment company CPMG Mendham, claiming they had been blocked from retrieving personal items belonging to Houston from the house . Last month, Houston's estate was forced to take legal action against investment company CPMG Mendham, claiming they had been blocked from retrieving personal items belonging to Houston from the house. Among the possessions the estate is attempting to get back are a 'baby grand piano, a jukebox, valuable paintings, home furnishings and other items.' The dispute has since been settled amicably and the family members collected the items in question before Krauthamer purchased it. CPMG had only acquired the property last December for $999,900. Whitney's daughter Bobbi Kristina stands to inherit the late singer's entire $12m estate by the time she turns 30. In February, the 20-year-old awaited receiving the first $1.2m installment of her inheritance amid her grandmother Cissy Houston's worries that she would dwindle all the money away. The property includes a tennis court, pool house and pool, a circular driveway and six-car garage . Grandmother Cissy Houston, left, is reportedly worried that Bobbi Kristina, right, could dwindle away her mother's $12 million estate .
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Matthew Krauthamer, 33, has paid $1.5 million for Whitney Houston's 12,500 sq ft mansion in Mendham Township, New Jersey .
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By . Sam Webb . A man who murdered his sister's ex-boyfriend will spend at least the next 20 years in prison. Paul Mapps, 26, stabbed 27-year-old father-of-one Ian Davies in the stomach during a row at his sister's birthday party in Trinant, South Wales, on January 11. Cardiff Crown Court heard that the defendant and the dead man had previously been friends, but their friendship soured after Mr Davies' relationship with Mapps' sister Dawn, 30, ended. Mapps had denied murder and insisted he was acting in self-defence because father-of-one Mr Davies 'came at him' with a vodka bottle. Murder: Father-of-one Ian Davies (left) was stabbed to death by Paul Mapps at a party. The two had fallen out after Davies ended his relationship with Mapps' sister Dawn . But the jury, which came to a majority verdict, rejected his version of events and ruled that the killing was intentional. Before handing Mapps a life sentence with a minimum of 20 years, Judge Neil Bidder QC said he had shown 'no remorse' throughout the two-week trial. He told him: 'I reject any suggestion you were acting in self-defence when you stabbed Mr Davies. Before handing Mapps a life sentence with a minimum of 20 years, Judge Neil Bidder QC said he had shown 'no remorse' throughout the trial . 'You plainly have difficulty in controlling your anger. 'There is only one sentence I can impose... that is life imprisonment. 'You will serve a minimum of 20 years in jail and will only be released if you are deemed no longer a danger to the public.' Gwent Police Chief Inspector Richard Williams paid tribute to Mr Davies' family for their bravery and dignity during the trial. He said: 'Throughout the trial they have listened to some particularly upsetting details about Ian's death. 'They have remained dignified and I would like to acknowledge their bravery. 'Since Ian's death Paul Mapps has sought to absolve himself of any responsibility by first claiming someone else was responsible and, when this was disproved, claiming he was acting in self-defence. 'His attempts to deceive the court have failed. I hope the verdict brings the family some closure.' Mr Davies' older sister, Carrie, said the family felt a sense of relief that justice had been served - though they would never get over their loss completely. 'It goes without saying that this has been an extremely difficult and challenging time for the family,' she said in a statement issued by police. 'Although the outcome doesn't ease our great sense of loss, we can now start to move forward with our lives, and focus our efforts on looking after and supporting Caine, Ian's six-year-old son.'
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Paul Mapps, 26, knifed father-of-one Ian Davies, 27, in the stomach .
The pair were friends but they fell out after Davies split up with Mapps' sister .
Jailing Mapps, the judge said: 'I have discerned no real remorse in you at all'
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By . Ellie Zolfagharifard . PUBLISHED: . 07:04 EST, 7 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 11:04 EST, 7 March 2014 . Solar storms and distant stars are just some of the wonders seen by astronauts on the International Space Station. But when living so far from home, it’s the poignant marks of humanity revealed in space that really capture their attention. And from their 200-mile-high perch on the space station, far more detail about life on Earth can be seen that you might expect. This image from the International Space Station shows the Iberian Peninsula including Spain and Portugal at night. The lights from human settlements reveal where the major towns and activity are. The large mass of light in the middle is Madrid, Spain's capital city. The Iberian coastline is heavily populated with Valencia and Barcelona along the Mediterranean Sea prominent at the bottom right of this photo. The white light in the top left of the photo is a reflection of the camera flash . In this recent image from the International Space Station (ISS), the Iberian Peninsula showing Spain and Portugal can be clearly seen. The lights from human settlements reveal the major towns. The large mass of light in the middle is Madrid, Spain’s capital city. It shows how the Iberian coastline is heavily populated with Valencia and Barcelona along the Mediterranean Sea prominent at the bottom right of this photo. Portugal, to the west, shows similar lighting with the coast from Lisbon to Porto a haze of light. Portugal, to the west, shows similar lighting with the coast from Lisbon to Porto a haze of light. The green line shows Earth's atmosphere which protects the planet . Here, the capital city of Portugal, Lisbon, is shown with south at the top of the image. The brightest area is the city centre. The two bridges connecting the capital to the south - Ponte Vasco da Gama and Ponte 25 de Abril - show up as two straight lines crossing the black Rio Tejo. The peninsular city of Peniche shows up as a blob of light protruding into the Atlantic Ocean at the bottom of the picture . The city lights of Spain and Portugal define the Iberian Peninsula in this photograph from the International Space Station (ISS). Several large metropolitan areas are visible, marked by their relatively large and brightly lit areas, including the capital cities of Madrid, Spain - located near the centre of the peninsula. The astronaut view is looking toward the east . The Iberian Peninsula is in southwestern Europe and occupied by Spain and Portugal. Its name derives from its ancient inhabitants whom the Greeks called Iberians. The Atlantic Ocean hits the western and northern coasts, and the Mediterranean Sea the eastern. Cape da Roca, in Portugal, is the most westerly point of continental Europe. The Pyrenees form an effective land barrier in the northeast from the . rest of Europe, and in the south at Gibraltar the peninsula is separated . from North Africa by a narrow strait. This astronaut-image reveals how close the Iberian Peninsula is to Morocco. A thin line of blackness – the Strait of Gibraltar – separates the two. Another thin line stands out in this picture. It shows Earth’s atmosphere as a green shroud that surrounds and protects our planet. In another image from the ISS, the capital city of Portugal is shown with its south end facing the top of the picture. The brightest area is the city centre. The two bridges connecting the capital to the south – Ponte Vasco da Gama and Ponte 25 de Abril – show up as two straight lines crossing the black Rio Tejo. The peninsular city of Peniche shows up as a haze of light protruding into the Atlantic Ocean at the bottom of the picture. This image was taken using Esa’s Nightpod camera aid that compensates for the motion of the International Space Station. The target stays firmly centred in frame so the final image is in focus. Astronauts can set up the device to take ultra-sharp images automatically using off-the-shelf cameras from 400 km up. Perhaps one of the most striking recent images from the ISS shows how North Koreans really are kept in the dark. North Korea appears like a black hole in a sea of light in this remarkable Nasa satellite image of the isolated communist state. The image, taken from the International Space Station earlier this year, shows North Korea as a swathe of dark ground between China in the north and South Korea . The bright sun greets the International Space Station in this November 22 scene from the Russian section of the orbital outpost, photographed by one of the astronauts . Taken at night on January 30 from the International Space Station (ISS) this picture shows North Korea almost completely devoid of lights. In stark contrast to the south of the image South Korea is shown bathed in light as is China to the north both clearly visible bustling with energy. North Korea - which is ruled by supreme leader Kim Jong-un - is almost completely black appearing to show a distinct lack of power or energy supply. The only exception is the country's capital Pyongyang to the south east of the nation which is illuminated by city lights. However the rest of the country - which has a population of 24 million - is pitch black looking almost like a sea between South Korea and China. Other images of the planet by night have recently been released in ‘Gravity: Nasa’s real-life images from space’ series uses photos taken over the last several years. The collection was put together to celebrate the success of the 2013 film ‘Gravity’ which swept the board at the 86th Academy Awards with seven Oscars. This unique photographic angle, featuring the International Space Station's Cupola and crew activity inside it, other hardware belonging to the station, city lights on Earth and airglow was captured by one of the Expedition 28 crew members. The major urban area on the coast is Brisbane, Australia. The station was passing over an area southwest of Canberra .
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Image shows Iberian coastline heavily populated with Valencia and Barcelona visible at bottom right of the photo .
Mass of light in the middle is Madrid and Portugal is shown to the west with lights on coastline from Lisbon to Porto .
Taken from the ISS, the image shows Earth’s atmosphere as a green shroud that surrounds and protects the planet .
Previous images of the Earth by night have revealed the staggering extent that North Koreans are kept in the dark .
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MONTE CARLO, Monaco -- Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva has broken her own world record in the women's pole vault with a leap of 5.04 meters as she warmed up for her Olympic defense. Isinbayeva broke her own women's pole vault world record on her third attempt in Monaco. The record came at the Monaco Grand Prix on Tuesday on her third and final attempt at the height. Her previous record of 5.03 meters was set in Rome on July 11. Isinbayeva is the reigning Olympic and world champion. Asafa Powell claimed his third 100 meters success inside a week when he raced clear in his season-best time of 9.82 seconds. Powell shaved 0.06sec off his previous season-best of 9.88, set last Tuesday in Stockholm, where he saw off fellow Jamaican and world record holder Usain Bolt. On Tuesday Powell was too hot for Davis Patton of the U.S. (9.98) and Nesta Carter of Jamaica (10.02), the fourth best time of the season all the more impressive given the calm conditions. "I am very happy," said Powell. "I feel great, very fresh. I've got a world record in my legs. I am very confident. My goal is to be consistent." A tough headwind had compromised Powell's attempts to have a tilt at Bolt's mark although he still cruised to a weekend victory at the London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace in 9.94sec. Other Tuesday highlights saw Jamaica's Melaine Walker set a year mark in the women's 400m hurdles in clocking 53.48 sec. Walker, who shattered her own personal best of 54.14 in the process, will hope her performance augurs well for the Beijing Games, where Aussie two-time world champion Jana Rawlinson will not be competing owing to a toe injury. Kenyan Daniel Kipchirchir Komen also set a year best mark in the 1500m, crossing the line in 3 min 31.49sec to take 0.08sec off compatriot Augustine Kiprono Choge's June 1 showing in Berlin. The 23-year-old's win tempered the disappointment of missing out on an Olympic berth. Britain's Martyn Rooney also improved his personal best in the 400 meters for the second successive race, following up his win in the London Grand Prix with victory in 44.72 seconds. The Monaco Grand Prix was the last major international track and field meeting before the Beijing Olympics which start on August 8.
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Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva breaks her own women's world pole vault record .
Leaps 5.04 meters on her third and final attempt at height at Monaco meeting .
Jamaican Asafa Powell wins third 100 meters race in a week in 9.82 seconds .
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Editor's Note: This is the last in a five-part series exploring Judge Sonia Sotomayor's background and life with those who know her, revealing the experiences that might shape her views as a Supreme Court justice. Sotomayor was nominated to U.S. district court in 1991 and federal appeals court in 1997. (CNN) -- Sonia Sotomayor had been a federal appeals court judge for about four months when Ellen Chapnick got a phone call in 1998. The Columbia Law School lecturer's students had worked and studied with Sotomayor as part of a program at the school, but Chapnick figured the partnership had come to an end with the judge's new job. "She called me up and said, 'You know, I really miss your students. Isn't there something we can do about that?'" recalled Chapnick, now Dean of the Social Justice Program at the school. "And, of course, a judge rarely asks a question when she doesn't know the answer." That call, and the partnership that would continue another six years, captures the essence of the woman who has spent years on the federal bench, friends and colleagues said. They remember a tireless worker spending late hours in her chambers or on projects like the college course: A tough decision-maker who would pick apart any lawyer foolish enough to come to court unprepared; a thoughtful jurist whose years as an aggressive prosecutor endeared her to law enforcement even as she developed a reputation as a social liberal; and a child of the Bronx who maintained a heart for people from all walks of life as she ascended to the legal world's loftiest positions. "Her hobby is people," said Chapnick, who became friends with the woman now going through Senate confirmation hearings on her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. "I've been in situations with her when everybody else around the table is a lot 'less important' -- if you define importance by positions of power and prestige -- and she's asking them questions." Watch Chapnick on how Sotomayor put students 'through the wringer' » . In 1984, Sotomayor, now 55, worked at Pavia & Harcourt, a "boutique" law firm in New York that focuses on international business issues. Her job included representing Fendi, the Italian luxury goods company that wanted to crack down on imposters selling knockoffs of its high-end handbags. Steven Skulnik, a colleague at the firm, remembered tagging along with Sotomayor on a police raid of a counterfeit operation in Harlem. He waited in the van. Sotomayor charged out alongside the officers. "She had no fear," said Skulnik, now with the New York firm Squire Sanders. "That's just her personality. She's the first one in." He and others also recall her working long hours with a laser-like focus as she prepared for a case. "[Co-workers] would walk by in the morning, and she'd be reading something or writing something," he said. "You'd say, 'Hi, Sonia,' and she wouldn't even look up. She didn't notice. "She would really bore in and make sure there was nothing about the case that she didn't understand." That dedication hit her private life, Sotomayor has admitted. She told ABC's "Good Morning America" in 1986 that her workload "was a contributing factor" in the divorce three years earlier from Kevin Noonan. Work also made it difficult to date then, she said: "A man who calls you three times and all three times you answer, 'I've got to work late.' ... After the third time he begins thinking, 'Gee, maybe she's not interested.'" She left the law firm to take up President George H.W. Bush's nomination in 1991 and served as a U.S. District Court judge from 1992 to 1998. President Bill Clinton nominated her for a seat on the 2nd District U.S. Appeals Court in 1997, and she was confirmed more than a year later by the Senate to the position she still holds. See Sotomayor's life in pictures » . Sotomayor's most high-profile moment on the bench -- and the one that probably brought her as close as a judge ever comes to winning fans -- came in 1995, when, with a stroke of the pen, she ended the Major League Baseball strike. The 1994 playoffs and World Series had been scrubbed because of the strike and the following season was threatened. Sotomayor, a lifelong Yankees fan, ruled in New York district court in favor of the players against the owners who she said were trying to undermine the league's labor system. She told lawyers she didn't need to hear witnesses or see more documents after their arguments. See some of Sotomayor's high-profile decisions » . Chapnick said Sotomayor later talked about the case with a touch of irritation about some of the attention that came with it. Sotomayor remembered critics saying it was "outrageous" that a woman was deciding a case about baseball, Chapnick said. "She said, 'Why don't they ask me? I'd tell them I had a mitt growing up,'" Chapnick recalled Sotomayor saying. In her attorney and judgeship years, Sotomayor has made a good living, but not an extravagant one. She earned about $230,000 in her last year at Pavia & Harcourt and not much more as a judge, according to a questionnaire filed with the Senate. Of about $1.1 million in assets, nearly $1 million is the home she owns in Manhattan -- nice, but not exorbitant by the borough's standards. At Blue Ribbon Bakery, nearby her Greenwich Village home, workers say Sotomayor, who was diagnosed with diabetes as a child, stops in almost daily for sturgeon toast or breadsticks and a cup of decaf. She's thought of as just another neighbor and customer, Sasha Acosta-Cohen said. At work, Sotomayor the judge is described as straightforward, direct and no-nonsense. See how Sotomayor might fit in with the Supreme Court justices » . A former clerk said she can be "prickly from the bench" but is friendly away from it. "When she's in oral arguments, and when attorneys show up and they're either unprepared or are maybe raising a weak argument, she's very quick, and she's very exacting and intellectually demanding," Robin Car said. Away from the bench "she's really just a warm, extremely kind and caring person." Car recalled a 2001 conference at Hofstra University at which Sotomayor introduced Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the court's most conservative members. "I think he was a little bit unsure what she was going to say or what she was going to do," Car said. "She went, and she did the introduction, and he responded, 'Wow, that was the most thoughtful introduction I've ever received.'" "Thoughtful" is a word Chapnick also used to describe Sotomayor. She remembers a letter from a former student telling her how, as a Hispanic woman from a poor background, she'd been inspired by Sotomayor during the course the two taught together. In reviews of the course, students wrote "not just how it shaped their view of the law but how it shaped their view of themselves," Chapnick said. She said the last time she saw Sotomayor, the prospective Supreme Court justice joked with her about their course, saying a possible move to Washington was no reason to quit. At least, Chapnick said, she thinks it was a joke.
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Colleagues recall Sotomayor as tireless, focused worker .
"Her hobby is people," says friend, former Columbia University colleague .
Critics call her "prickly"; former aide says tough talk is saved for the bench .
Lifelong Yankees fan's most high-profile case ended baseball strike .
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DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- Serving time for lesser crimes, Scott Kimball is leading investigators to bodies. Scott Kimball is currently serving a 48-year sentence on theft and habitual criminal convictions. Partly mummified bones thought to be those of his uncle, Terry Kimball, were discovered Monday in a remote Rocky Mountain pass near Vail, Colorado. DNA tests are pending to confirm the victim's identity, and the cause of death is pending a forensic examination, authorities said. Terry Kimball is one of several suspected homicide victims associated with Scott Kimball since his jailing in 2008. He is serving a 48-year sentence in state prison in Fairplay, Colorado, on theft and habitual criminal convictions. Kimball will also serve a 70-month federal sentence on firearms charges after the state sentence. The firearms charges led to Kimball's 18th conviction. However, Kimball probably will not be charged in any of the deaths. Sources with knowledge of the cases said Kimball's December 2008 plea to theft and habitual criminal charges, and the 48-year sentence, was part of a deal that included revealing the locations of the bodies. Authorities wanted to give victims' families resolution. Without his cooperation, authorities doubt they have enough evidence to convict him. Earlier this year, Kimball revealed where the remains thought to be his uncle's were, according to law enforcement sources close to the case. However, the search was delayed until snow had melted. The FBI would not confirm that Kimball, 42, identified the site. However, FBI spokeswoman Kathleen Wright said, "we went to (a) specific location for a specific reason. It wasn't random." Terry Kimball, 60 at the time, was last seen with Scott Kimball in September 2004, according to a 2007 federal search warrant affidavit. Scott Kimball told his wife that his uncle had won the lottery and left for Mexico with a stripper, the affidavit said, but FBI investigators think Kimball killed his uncle and dumped his body in Vail Pass, more than 100 miles from the home they shared in a Denver suburb. In March, Kimball accompanied FBI investigators to southeastern Utah to search for the body of Leann Emry, who was 24 when she vanished after departing on a camping trip in 2003. FBI agents found Emry's remains shortly after Kimball returned to jail. Kaysi McLeod was 19 when she disappeared in 2003. McLeod, the daughter of Kimball's ex-wife, was last seen getting a ride to work from Kimball, according to the 2007 affidavit. In fall 2007, a hunter found her remains in northwest Colorado. Kimball is also suspected in the disappearance of exotic dancer Jennifer Marcum, who disappeared in 2003, according to the affidavit. Sources close to the investigation say they think Kimball killed Marcum and buried her body near Rifle, Colorado. Authorities have not found her remains. "We are continuing to look for Jennifer, and we will leave no stone unturned," Wright said. Kimball drew the FBI's attention in 2002 while jailed for writing bad checks. Kimball offered authorities information about his cellmate, Steven Ennis, who was suspected in a drug ring, according to the 2007 affidavit. After Kimball served his sentence, the FBI began paying him as an informant. Kimball was supposed to report back to the FBI on Marcum, Ennis' former girlfriend, when she disappeared. The FBI would not reveal how long or how much Kimball was paid. He was arrested again in March 2006 near Palm Springs, California, after a police chase and standoff.
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Habitual felon likely to avoid charges in presumed murders of four people .
Scott Kimball's plea deal includes revealing location of bodies, sources say .
Authorities say all four people were last seen with Kimball .
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By . Kieran Corcoran . PUBLISHED: . 12:54 EST, 25 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 13:03 EST, 25 January 2014 . Rumours: Sam Gardiner posed as a freelance journalist called Samuel Rhodes, whom he illustrated with a stock photograph . A schoolboy has revealed how he fooled the world with football transfer rumours he invented, while posing as an established journalist on Twitter. Sam Gardiner, 17, set up an account using a stock photograph and the name Samuel Rhodes. He claimed to be a freelance writer for the Daily Telegraph and Financial Times, while posting football rumours designed to raise his profile among 'gullible' fans. His Twitter account was suspended last month after his ploy was uncovered by genuine journalists, but thanks to lucky guesses which seemed to confirm his insider status, he was able to rack up 25,000 followers on the site. Sam's plan initially involved pretending to be former football scout Dominic Jones, a reporter a Goal magazine, but was closed down after complaints from the title. He then switched to the Samuel Rhodes persona, and would pretend to be covering international matches on the ground, and would 'confirm' existing rumours. The told the Financial Times that he targeted fans of troubled clubs with his bogus revelations 'because they'd be the most vulnerable'. Sam said: 'At first I didn’t know what I was doing – a couple of rumours, stats... I’d take a picture of the Bernabéu [where Real Madrid play] and say "reporting live".' In late 2012 he claimed to know that Chelsea were set to sack their manager Roberto Di Matteo, and put the 'news' online one day before the club confirmed it. The fluke gave him 'a lot of credibility', and allowed him to get in touch with players from major teams via Twitter and actually discuss transfer rumours. Facade: Sam Gardiner, 16, used a fake Twitter profile to spread football rumours . A rumour he started about Mohamed Salah confirming a £9million transfer to Liverpool FC went viral in Egypt and was picked up by major news outlets despite being 'made up in my living room'. Sam has said that he never intended to make profit from the rumour-spreading, but just to get a bigger platform for his views, particularly about Arsenal. He says he feels 'a tiny bit' of guilt, but now wants to pursue journalism as a career in earnest.
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Sam Gardiner, 17, posed as a football journalist and spread bogus rumours .
He 'gained credibility' when he predicted a managerial sacking by chance .
Some of his rumours were picked up by major news outlets .
But he was unmasked as a fake by professional journalists .
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New York (CNN) -- A New Jersey man who breached airport security to give his girlfriend a kiss, causing scores of flight delays, pleaded guilty Tuesday to defiant trespass, his lawyer said. Haisong Jiang, 28, pleaded guilty to a charge that is a "petty disorderly persons offense ... it's below a crime, it's not even considered a crime in New Jersey," his lawyer, Eric B. Bruce said. Jiang apologized. "I made big mistake, and I also learned a big lesson in my life," he told reporters after the court appearance. Bruce said that Jiang, a Rutgers University Ph.D. candidate who is originally from China, ducked under a rope and entered a security area at Newark Liberty International Airport on January 3 to give his girlfriend a kiss. The security breach shut down Terminal C for hours and forced the rescreening of thousands of passengers. Scores of flights were delayed. Jiang will have to pay a $500 fine and court fees and costs of $158, as part of a plea deal reached with prosecutors, Bruce said. He also will have to perform 100 hours of community service. He is "very relieved," Bruce said. He said the nature of Jiang's community service has not yet been determined. "We hope it'll be at a hospital, soup kitchen, medical clinic, something like that," he said. Jiang was arrested on January 8, several days after the security breach. Security video from the incident shows a Transportation Security Administration officer who left his post unattended a few minutes after he asked an unidentified man in a light-colored jacket to stay behind the rope line. Moments later, the man ducks under the rope and walks the wrong way through security to greet a woman. The lawyer said Jiang and his girlfriend, who lives in California, are still together. "They are still together, and they are still very much in love," he said. Bruce said the charge will appear on Jiang's record. "It can be expunged after, I believe, five years. It's an arrest, it's going to show on his record, but it's a very minor infraction," he said. The lawyer said that the incident will not affect Jiang's immigration status, CNN affiliate News 12 New Jersey reported. He will likely finish his Ph.D. at Rutgers in May or June, Bruce said. Jiang is doing research on a cure for glaucoma, cataracts and other eye diseases. After the security breach, TSA said it would use the incident as a "hard lesson" to reinforce a "sharp focus and tight discipline" at the agency's stations across the country. The incident also prompted Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-New Jersey, to introduce legislation that would create a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for intentionally breaching airport security and a criminal penalty of up to 10 years in prison. It would also mandate the use of security cameras at all airport terminal checkpoints and secure area exits at every U.S. airport. Although the cameras are now recommended for airports, Lautenberg said they are not mandated by law. Soon after the security breach occurred, Lautenberg had called on the person who had caused the breach to turn himself in, saying "You've committed what essentially is a crime."
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Haisong Jiang, 28, pleaded guilty to defiant trespass, his attorney said .
Defense attorney: "It's below a crime, it's not even considered a crime in New Jersey"
Jiang crossed into a security area at Newark airport to kiss his girlfriend .
He will have to pay a $500 fine and court fees and costs of $158, attorney said .
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By . Amanda Williams . Whitney Berridge took an overdose after trolls texted her taunts about the death of her mother who hanged herself at their family home nearly two years earlier, an inquest has heard . A teenage girl took an overdose after a troll texted her taunts about the death of her mother who hanged herself at their family home nearly two years earlier, an inquest has heard. Whitney Berridge, 15, was still mourning the death of her mother Shanie and had told relatives that she wanted to be with her again, the inquest at Alton heard. The hearing was told that Whitney’s . mother was found hanged at the then family home in the Popley . area of Basingstoke on May 6, 2012. Leigh-Ann O’Leary, Whitney’s aunt who . she lived with, told the coroner that her mother’s death had affected . the schoolgirl deeply. She . said: 'She has said she wanted to be with her mum when she first came . to live with me and she told me the story of what really happened the . day her mum died. 'Whitney . did find it difficult, she burst out crying when she told me she found . her mother hanging. She told me she saw her mum hanging there and went . upstairs and put earphones on and stayed in bed for four-and-a-half . hours.' Ms O’Leary said that . Whitney was sensitive about any comments about her mother and had . recently received a text message from a boy taunting her about her . mother's death, which told her to go and kill herself, 'like your mother did'. She added that Whitney had left a video message saying she intended to kill herself on the day she died. The hearing was told that the schoolgirl took an overdose of medication that he had for a condition she suffered from. She died later that evening of April 19 at the North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke. Hundreds of people gathered in Basingstoke's War Memorial Park on Monday April 28 to remember the teenager on what would have been her 16th birthday. They let off pink balloons, as it was her favourite colour. Ms O¿Leary said that Whitney was sensitive about any comments about her mother and had recently received a text message from a boy taunting her about her mother's death . North Hampshire coroner Andrew Bradley . recorded an open verdict saying that because of Whitney’s age she could . not have had a 'settled intention' to commit suicide. He . said: 'It’s a sad matter. The sadness of this case is that I . adjudicated the case of Shanie Berridge who is Whitney’s mother in . circumstances which were equally sad. 'The effect that had on Whitney I think none of us can estimate because she is the one who found her. 'How much that played on Whitney’s mind we shall never know, it’s clear she missed her mum, she loved her mum very much. 'The sensitivities she felt at any criticism of her or her mum were deeply felt, she had very low self-esteem, she had previously self-harmed and had previously taken an overdose.' Flowers laid at a tree in memory of the teenager. North Hampshire coroner Andrew Bradley recorded an open verdict saying that because of Whitney's age she could not have had a 'settled intention' to commit suicide . He added: 'In order to find a verdict of suicide I have to be satisfied that she had a settled intention to die, that she no longer wanted to be with us. 'The view I take is that at 15 she couldn’t take that settled decision.' Prior to the inquest, Ms O’Leary told the Basingstoke Gazette: 'Whitney and her mum were very close. 'When Shanie died, Whitney died with her. 'Something absolutely changed her when her mum died.' Whitney had been studying for her GCSE exams at the Everest Community Academy. Julie Rose, principal, said: 'She was a lively, interesting young lady who had her life ahead of her and unfortunately has been taken away and it has hit our students very hard and we are having to work quite hard to support them.' Hundreds of friends gathered in Basingstoke’s War Memorial Park on April 28 to remember Whitney on what would have been her 16th birthday. They released pink balloons, her favourite colour, and lit candles in her memory. For confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 909090, visit a local Samaritans branch or visit samaritans.org .
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Whitney Berridge, 15, was still mourning the death of her mother Shanie .
Inquest told Whitney’s .
mother was found hanged at family home in 2012 .
Teenager received message telling her to 'go and kill herself' like her mother .
She also left video on YouTube in which she said she intended to kill herself .
North Hampshire coroner Andrew Bradley recorded an open verdict .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 13:44 EST, 31 July 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 13:46 EST, 31 July 2012 . A sex attacker convicted of raping and murdering a mother-of-two whose body has never been found has been jailed for life. Martin Stafford, 44, abducted female security guard Michelle Gunshon from a pub in December 2004, before carrying out the brutal sex attack and killing. The body of the 38-year-old has never been found since she went missing and Stafford has refused to give a location. Evil: Martin Stafford abducted Michelle Gunshon from a pub in Digbeth, Birmingham, in December 2004 before raping and murdering her . A two-week murder trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard that Stafford was employed as a glass collector in the Dubliner pub in the Digbeth area of the city when he met Mrs Gunshon. The court heard Stafford then murdered her before 'spiriting her body away' and fleeing the country. Birmingham Crown Court heard Stafford took Gunshon away 'against her will' in her own car before raping her, murdering her and disposing of her body so that she has never been seen since. Hours after the killing, Stafford was caught on a speed camera driving Mrs Gunshon’s Ford Escort around Birmingham city centre with 'something in the car' strapped in the passenger seat. Mrs Gunshon’s last contact with anyone was when she telephoned her long-term partner, who she regarded as her husband, and daughter on December 4. The next morning her colleagues noticed she was missing and when they entered her room they found her clothes and personal belongings, including her wallet, were still there. Mystery: Stafford, pictured in the dock at Birmingham Crown Court during his murder trial, has refused to reveal the location of the body . Search: Tracey Richardson, the daughter of Michelle Gunshon, makes an emotional plea for information in 2005 after her mother's disappearance . She was reported missing and police found that she had parked her car, a Ford Escort, in Mill Lane, near to the Dubliner after returning from work, police said. CCTV captured from December shows two figures, very close together, approach the car, before it is driven away towards Digbeth. Following a 13 day trial, jurors at Birmingham Crown Court today found Stafford guilty of murder - as well as false imprisonment, rape and preventing the burial of a body. Depraved: Stafford was working as a glass collector when he met Gunshon in December 2004 . After sentencing, Detective Inspector Simon Astle of West Midlands Police, who led the case said: 'This has been a long and complex inquiry and we welcome the verdict of the court today. 'We will not give up in our efforts to trace Michelle’s body. 'Clearly Martin Stafford can assist us with that and we will make every effort to provide him with that opportunity.' Police family liaison officer, Bev Wright, also delivered a tribute on behalf of Mrs Gunshon’s family. She said: 'Martin Stafford is a danger to people and should not be allowed out. 'We may have justice but our mum is still out there somewhere and only Martin Stafford knows where. 'Our only wish for the future is that mum is found and this can finally be over and we can grieve properly.' Harinderpal Dhami, from the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service, added: 'The successful conviction of Martin Stafford today marks the end of a very difficult and complex journey for the prosecution team in this case, which began over seven years ago and included the extradition of Martin Stafford following his conviction for rape in the Republic of Ireland. 'Michelle Gunshon’s body has never been found and the only person who could answer that question is Martin Stafford, who was asked this specific question during the trial having denied being responsible for Michelle’s murder. ' Mrs Gunshon, from Mill Hill, North London, worked for Special Events Security (SES), a firm which provides security at high-profile events across the country such as Cheltenham Races and trade fairs.
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Martin Stafford abducted Michelle Gunshon after meeting her in a pub in Birmingham .
He took her 'against her will' in her own car before raping and murdering mother-of-two .
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London (CNN) -- Celebrity publicist Max Clifford was found guilty at a London court Monday of a series of indecent assaults on teenage girls, according to British police. Clifford, from Hersham, Surrey, is the first person to be convicted in an investigation into sex abuse allegations against the late British TV presenter Jimmy Savile. He was convicted of eight indecent assaults against young victims -- one as young as 15 -- cleared of two, and a jury could not reach a verdict on one other. The 71-year-old denied all 11 claims of sex abuse between 1966 and 1985, calling his arrest and prosecution "a nightmare" and declaring his innocence. But prosecutors portrayed him as an expert manipulator, according to media reports, vowing to help victims' careers and introduce them to celebrities for sexual favors. He was released on bail until his sentencing Friday, but Judge Anthony Leonard warned him all options were open to him, the Press Association reported. "You must realize that the fact I have given you bail is no indication of what the final sentence will be," he said. Jenny Hopkins, deputy chief crown prosecutor in London, said: "Today's verdicts provide a long-denied justice to the victims of serious sexual offences. "I would like to thank these victims for having had the courage to come forward and give evidence. The victims of sexual abuse, whenever it may have taken place, should know that police and prosecutors will listen." Clifford was arrested in December 2012 and charged in April 2013 on suspicion of sex offenses in connection with the investigation -- dubbed Operation Yewtree -- into numerous allegations made against Savile and others after a TV documentary that aired in October 2012. In the documentary, several people came forward alleging Savile abused them, unleashing a further flood of allegations against the star, who before that was seen primarily as an eccentric but charismatic man who raised millions of pounds for charity. Clifford is Britain's most famous celebrity PR consultant, renowned for his decades-long expertise in "kiss-and-tell" clients connected to English Premier League footballers and the world of pop and showbiz. He has also represented several controversial celebrities, including O.J. Simpson, Frank Sinatra and Simon Cowell.
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Celebrity publicist Max Clifford found guilty of indecent assaults on teenage girls .
Clifford convicted in investigation into allegations against TV presenter Jimmy Savile .
He was convicted of 8 assaults, cleared of two, and a jury failed to reach verdict on another .
Clifford denies claims, calling arrest and prosecution "a nightmare"
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Lynette Nock died after taking the banned party drug GBL during a wake for her friend who was killed by the same lethal substance hours earlier . A successful accountant died after taking a party drug during an impromptu 'wake' for her friend who had been killed by the same substance just hours earlier, an inquest has heard. Aston Martin engineer Carl Fearon, 24, was found dead on a friend's sofa after taking the banned drug GBL. Just hours later his friend Lynette Nock, 28, took the same drug - which is sold as an alloy wheel cleaner - during an impromptu wake held in his honour at her home. She lost consciousness and was rushed to hospital but died later the same day. An inquest heard the pair were part of a group of 'ravers' who used recreational drugs including horse tranquilizer Ketamine and Mephedrone at weekends. Recording a verdict that both friends had died of drug-related deaths, the senior coroner for Birmingham and Solihull Louise Hunt issued a grave warning to people taking legal highs. She said: 'This case highlights the very extreme risks that people take when using legal highs, particularly in combination with alcohol. 'These substances shouldn't be taken and they do have a traumatic effect which your family is living through for the rest of their lives.' Mr Fearon, from Kings Norton, Birmingham, had returned to his friend Matthew Hayes' flat in the city centre on April 27, 2012 when he began 'swaying' and collapsed, the inquest heard. Mr Hayes told the inquest: 'He fell against the other wall and I grabbed him and lay him on the settee. 'We'd seen it a thousand times before with everybody else. It was normal.' The friend said he checked he was breathing before going to bed but was shocked to discover him dead when he returned from a trip to the shop the next morning. He added: 'I checked his pulse but there was nothing. I tried everything to make him wake up.' Mr Fearon's father Brian told the inquest he had spoken to his son on the morning before his death and warned him not do anything 'daft'. He said: 'He said he was going out with the lads for a drink. I said "don't do anything daft" and he said "I won't dad". 'We were aware that he took recreational drugs. I'd spoken to him various times about it. 'Carl's idea of recreational drugs was that they were safer. As he put it, more people die from drinking than smoking or recreational drugs. 'As far as I'm aware, for almost four months he hadn't taken anything. He was full of beans, full of life.' Miss Nock collapsed just hours later at her home in Northfield, Birmingham. Doctors worked on her for 45 minutes after she was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham but couldn't save her. Aston Martin engineer Carl Fearon, 24, was found dead on a friend's sofa after taking the banned drug GBL . The inquest heard a toxicology report found Ketamine and small amounts of methadrone were also found in her system along with GBL. Her boyfriend Graeme Cooper described her as a 'free spirit' and said he had warned her against taking any legal highs. He told the hearing: 'Before I left, the last thing I said to her was not to take any of it. 'Those were my last words to her. When I came back she was completely unconscious.' Detective Constable Julia Woodall said witnesses told them Lynette had begun to behave erratically at the wake, falling over and 'spinning around a washing pole'. The West Midlands Police officer said an extensive investigation had traced the drugs to a German supplier, who has now been shut down. She added: 'It was very cheap to buy and import in large quantities and you take it in a very small dose.' Mr Fearon, from Kings Norton, Birmingham, had returned to his friend Matthew Hayes' flat in the city centre on April 27, 2012 when he began 'swaying' and collapsed, the inquest heard . Two other men also needed medical treatment after the wake. Paying tribute to Lynette after her death in 2012, her devastated parents Dave and Tracie said: 'She was really bright, in fact school was too easy for her. 'She was like an agony aunt and was so kind that she would get into trouble with debt collectors because she would lend her friends money. 'The whole family is in shock. It's just tragic when parents lose a child.' Friends of Mr Fearon, nicknamed 'Fee', also paid tribute to him on a Facebook memorial page. The Class C drug GBL, which has a similar effect as ecstasy and alcohol, was banned in December 2009 following a spate of deaths. Nicknamed 'Coma in a Bottle', it is illegal to take as a stimulant but can be imported from Europe for its intended use as an industrial cleaner. A close relative of GBL is also used by date rapists to spike drinks because it is odourless and colourless and can be out of a victim's system within 12 hours.
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Aston Martin engineer Carl Fearon, 24, was found dead on a friend's sofa .
Just hours later friend Lynette Nock, 28, took same drug at impromptu wake .
She later died in hospital despite efforts to revive her, an inquest has said .
A coroner has now issued a stark warning over so-called 'party drug'
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By . Matt Barlow . Follow @@Matt_Barlow_DM . Steven Gerrard blamed the crushing defeat against Uruguay on England’s gung-ho quest for a glorious winner in Sao Paulo and admitted it was time to pray for help from Italy. Wayne Rooney scored his first World Cup goal to cancel out a first-half header by Luis Suarez but Liverpool’s Uruguayan striker settled the game in the 84th minute and left England teetering on the brink of an early exit. 'It is such a cruel level,' said Gerrard. 'You can’t give world class players chances – that’s one thing – and when you’re still in the game you need to be more difficult to beat. That was the disappointing thing for me. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Suarez's emotional dressing room message to wife and kids . Lonely: Gerrard walks off the field at full time after his touch put Suarez through for Liverpool's winner . Not again: Gerrard's error saw fans remembering his slip at Anfield against Chelsea in the Premier League . VIDEO Uruguay elated as England sit on the brink . Minutes Played: 90 . Shots on Target: 0 . Shots off Target: 1 . Passes: 40 . Passing Accuracy: 77.5% . Duels won/lost: 6/2 . Tackles: 3 . Clearances: 3 . Fouls Conceded: 1 . Yellow Cards: 1 . Click here for more from Sportsmail's brilliant World Cup Match Zone . 'At 1-1 as a team we sort of went for the second goal and maybe we should have been more experienced and gone for the draw. It is a big learning curve today. It’s very tough at this moment. 'We never managed the game well enough when we got the equaliser. We can’t give chances to Luis Suarez because he buries them from that position. It’s a really tough moment for everyone in the dressing room but we need to be professional, keep fighting and pray for that score-line to go for us. 'It is frustrating. Looking at the two games and how we performed, we sort of deserved something out of either one of them if not both of them. I don’t think I’m standing here saying we were poor in both games and our game-plan was wrong. 'I just thought when we got the equaliser today we just needed to be a bit more clever, a bit more cute and a bit more difficult to beat. Maybe we should accept that going for a point might have been the best option. But they were weak at the back and they were there for the taking. Once we got the equaliser we tried to use the initiative to get the second.' Suarez struck first with a header from a wonderful cross by Edinson Cavani in the 39th minute. Rooney equalised from close range after good work by Glen Johnson on the right and Suarez grabbed a late winner after Gerrard and his centre-halves failed to cut out a long ball. Staring into space: Gerrard and Leighton Baines can only walk back up the field as Uruguay's fans celebrate . Ouch: Gerrard can only watch on as the Uruguay players celebrate Suarez's decisive goal late in the game . Friend or foe: Uruguay's matchwinner and Gerrard's club teammate offers condolences at full time . 'They were sloppy goals and we have to take responsibility for that as a team,' said the England captain. 'The first one he’s peeled off onto the back-post and it’s a fantastic ball by Cavani. 'The second one, I’ve gone to try and get good contact on the ball and I haven’t good enough contact on it and I’ve been punished for it.' It his is third World Cup finals and Gerrard has felt this pain before, but he did not want to launch a full-scale inquest while England still have a slight hope of going through. Italy victories against both Costa Rica and Uruguay and a 2-0 England win in their last game 2-0 against Costa Rica will put Hodgson’s team through to the next round. They will be out if Italy and Costa Rica draw on Friday. 'I need to park the hurt and see what happens over the next four or five days,' said Gerrard. 'If we go out in the group stage it will be a very personal low for myself and the team and I am sure everyone will feel very similar. 'Who knows? Italy are a fantastic team and capable of winning both games but we’re clutching at straws. The position we’re in is the position we didn’t want to be in coming into the tournament, relying on other people's results. It’s very difficult at the moment. Grit: The England skipper slid in on Cristian Rodriguez as England started to take a grip on the game . Happier times: Rooney equalises for England and celebrates his first World Cup with the skipper . Warm embrace: Gerrard has a word in the England striker's ear after the goal that levelled proceedings in Sao Paulo . Killer blow: Suarez stole the show with Uruguay's late winner after the ball skidded off the top of Gerrard's head . VIDEO Suarez in devastating form . 'We’ll have to wait and see what happens. The manager will have to wait and see what happens before deciding what he is going to do against Costa Rica. If there’s nothing to play for then I don’t know if he’ll play a completely different team.' Suarez said he sought out his Liverpool captain after the game and told him to “keep going”, that he was 'one of the best' and should 'forget this game'. It just had to be Suarez, back after knee surgery; his first game for more than a month. 'It was no surprise,' said Gerrard. 'Everyone in the dressing room knows Luis Suarez inside out. We know what he's about. He's had two chances in the game and he's taken them both really well. That just goes to show. He hasn't played for five weeks and yet he comes back and is still as deadly as ever.' As for his own international future, the England captain added: 'It's not the moment now.' End of the world? Gerrard makes his way back down the tunnel with his head down after the 2-1 loss . Not again...: Gerrard looks dejected after watching Suarez latch onto his flick on to score Uruguay's winner . Contrasting emotions: Uruguay celebrate while Gerrard looks like he wants the ground to swallow him up .
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Suarez won the game for Uruguay with just six minutes left .
Skipper Gerrard admits that England may have thrown too much forward .
Liverpool midfielder thought Uruguay were there for the taking .
But his touch put Suarez through on goal to crush English hopes .
Gerrard and England now place their hopes in an Italian favour .
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By . Alex Ward . PUBLISHED: . 12:01 EST, 1 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:05 EST, 1 November 2013 . Food manufacturer Kraft has decided to remove artificial food dyes from its popular children’s range of mac and cheese. The packaged food giant claimed the recipe revamp was not in response to a recent petition to remove artificial food colouring which gathered more than 348,000 signatures. Paprika will be among the natural colourings used instead of artificial dyes in the pasta dish aimed at children. Au naturel: Packaged food giant Kraft has decided to remove artificial food dye from its popular children's varieties of mac and cheese . The new recipe, with pasta shapes such as SpongeBob Squarepants and Halloween, is due to hit the shelves next year. The original elbow-shaped macaroni will remain unchanged, the company said. The petition on Change.org urges Kraft to remove artificial food dyes Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 from their macaroni and cheese varieties in America. Vani Hari, the petition’s author, said that artificial dyes had been banned in countries such as Norway and Austria and that it causes hyperactivity and learning difficulties in children. Kraft’s new recipe comes as consumers increasingly opt for more natural, healthier foods. With it there is a growing trend among food manufacturers to adjust their offering to satisfy consumers. PepsiCo said earlier this year that it would remove controversial brominated vegetable oil (BVO) as an ingredient in its Gatorade Sports drink. The company’s move coincided with another Change.org petition which called for the removal of BVO, a flame retardant chemical. Appeasing customers: PepsiCo said it would remove a controversial ingredient from its Gatorade Sports drink (right) while Kraft said it will use natural colourings such as paprika (left) to replace artificial dyes . PepsiCo said it was prompted to change the Gatorade recipe because of customer complaints, not the online petition which recorded more than 206,000 signatures. Kraft vice president of marketing for meals, Triona Schmelter, said that the company was striving to improve the nutritional value in three macaroni and cheese varieties. The new recipes will add whole grains and reduce the sodium and saturated in an attempt to cater to evolving customer preferences, she said. Ms Schmelter said: ‘We’ll continue to make improvement where we can.’ Sarah Kavanagh, author of the Gatorade petition, called it a victory, writing on the website: ‘This is so, so awesome,’ after hearing of PepsiCo’s plans to remove BVO. She said: ‘As someone who loves to drink their products, I'm so glad they're making strides to put as much consideration into their customers' health.’ Growing trend: Food manufacturers are increasingly adjusting their products to satisfy customers who are opting for healthier, more natural food more and more .
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Paprika is one of the natural food dyes included in new recipes .
Kraft announced that it had changed the recipe for children's varieties of the pasta dish .
An online petition urging Kraft to remove artificial colours from their mac and cheese gathered over 348,000 signatures .
PepsiCo said earlier this year it would remove a controversial ingredient from its Gatorade Sports drink .
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Xenia, Ohio (CNN) -- Karen Shirk has spent 15 years matching people with service dogs that can help them with their special needs and disabilities. With the help of her staff, she puts a lot of thought into the process to make sure each person has the right dog for them. But one recent story -- involving an Afghanistan war veteran and a German shepherd named Gabriel -- has her convinced that larger forces are sometimes at work. It began in March, when Shirk got an e-mail from U.S. Army Sgt. Derek McConnell. McConnell had lost both his legs in an IED explosion, and he was desperate for a service dog while he recovered at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington. Shirk knew Gabriel, a dog they were training at the time, would be perfect for him. "I sent him a picture of Gabriel and said, 'How would you like this dog?' " Shirk said. "He was so excited. ... He would text me every day." She understood that McConnell was eager for the companionship of a service dog and the independence that it could provide. "Soldiers, they're not wanting people to do things for them," said Shirk, who was honored as a CNN Hero for her work with autistic and special-needs children. "If you have to ask (someone) all the time to pick things up that you drop or 'Bring me my wheelchair,' they have to depend on somebody else. ... Giving them a service dog is giving them back a means of doing it themselves." Shirk and McConnell grew to be friends, and she was struck by his generosity. Although Shirk was going to give him his dog for free, she asks civilians to contribute to help offset their dog's training costs. So McConnell had started planning ways to help raise money. Then, one day, Shirk didn't hear from him. "I went to his Facebook page, and this first post that I saw said, 'You were the most wonderful young man,' " she said. "And I'm like, "Were?' " Shirk was devastated to learn that McConnell had passed away from complications related to his injuries the previous night. But she soon decided that the best way she could honor him was to place Gabriel with another disabled soldier. She reached out to someone she knew in the military and asked for help. "I said, 'Find me another Derek!'" she recalled. Within days, Lisa Murphy heard about the dog at the Yellow Ribbon Fund, a Maryland-based charity that helps injured service members recover. "Someone basically made her aware that this group was looking for a soldier amputee to connect with a service dog," said Lisa's husband, U.S. Army Capt. Jake Murphy. "I was looking for a dog myself, so Lisa kind of jumped on it." Murphy, like McConnell, had lost both his legs in Afghanistan. But Shirk soon discovered that they had much more in common. She found out they had served in the same unit and been injured on the same day. In fact, McConnell had actually helped with Murphy's medical evacuation, just hours before suffering his own injuries. Both had also recovered at Walter Reed and become friendly during therapy together. Shirk was floored by the coincidence, as she had gotten in touch with both men through completely separate channels. "It's like a once-in-a-lifetime story that you hear," she said. "I just think it was meant to be." Murphy recognizes that it's an unusual coincidence, but he doesn't think of it in quite the same way. "If it was fate, then Derek was meant to die, so I don't really like to think of that," he said. "But if Derek can't be here, it's almost fitting that I get Gabriel as my service dog. "There's a connection between him and myself. ... Derek will always be in my thoughts." Shirk said the episode has renewed her desire to work with veterans. "Derek and Jake lost their independence, giving independence to others. ... Those veterans, that was who I wanted to help," she said. "I'm hoping more of these wounded soldiers will come to us looking for dogs. "We are ready. They can all come, and we will help them." Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2013 CNN Heroes .
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Karen Shirk, a 2008 CNN Hero, finds service dogs for people in need .
She had a dog ready for disabled war veteran Derek McConnell, but he died in March .
The dog ended up with another veteran, Jake Murphy .
Unbeknownst to Shirk, the two veterans knew each other and served together .
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Cool again? A fashion model poses with an e-cigarette, which have now been banned from a string of pubs, restaurants, coffee chains and hotels . E-cigarette users face widespread bans on the devices in pubs, restaurants and coffee chains. Starbucks, Caffe Nero, All Bar One, Nicholson's pubs and KFC have joined public transport companies and airlines in banning the use of e-cigarettes in their branches. It comes after a widely criticised World Health Organisation report this summer which bans on indoor use, advertising and sales to minors. Uptake of e-cigarettes, which use battery-powered cartridges to produce a nicotine-laced vapour, has rocketed in the past two years, but there is fierce debate about their potential risks and benefits. Because they are new, there's little scientific evidence on their safety. Some experts fear they could be a gateway to tobacco smoking, while others say they have potential to help millions of smokers kick the habit. But there's little patience for solid scientific findings. the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the Royal Opera House and the Natural History Museum have all banned e-cigarettes, The Sunday Times reports. 'The bans are shortsighted,' said Michael Clapper, chairman of the Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association and co-founder of e-cigarette company Vapestick. 'The vapour release from electronic cigarettes is not harmful to bystanders... This will alienate customers who use electronic cigarettes.' While regular cigarettes release deadly carcinogens and toxins along with their nicotine payload, and kill more than 6million people a year, e-cigarettes are said to be significantly less harmful. But in August the WHO, the United Nations health body, commissioned a review of e-cigarettes calling for stiff regulation on their use similar to that applied to normal tobacco products. A group of tobacco addiction experts who critiqued the report said the WHO's findings were riddled with errors, misinterpretations and misrepresentations, meaning policymakers may miss their potential health benefits. Risks: Because e-cigs are new, there's little scientific evidence on their safety. Some experts fear they could be a gateway to tobacco smoking, while others say they have potential to help millions kick the habit . Ann McNeill, a researcher at the national addiction centre at King's College London, said: 'I was shocked and surprised when I read it. I felt it was an inaccurate portrayal of the evidence on e-cigarettes.' McNeill said that while e-cigarettes are relatively new and 'we certainly don't yet have all the answers as to their long-term health impact', it is clear they are far safer than cigarettes. Her co-author Peter Hajek of the tobacco dependence research unit at Queen Mary, University of London, said it was vital that e-cigarettes should be assessed in relation to the known harms of tobacco cigarettes. 'There are currently two products competing for smokers' custom,' he said. 'One - the conventional cigarette - endangers users and bystanders and recruits new customers from among non-smoking children who try it. 'The other - the e-cigarette - is orders of magnitude safer, poses no risk to bystanders, and generates negligible rates of regular use among non-smoking children who try it.' But the British Medical Association said it supported bans, in line with its no-smoking policy. Sheila Hollins, chairman of the BMA's board of science, told The Sunday Times: 'Stronger controls are needed on where e-cigarettes can be used to protect others from exposure, to ensure their use does not undermine existing restrictions on smoke-free public places ... and to guarantee the use of e-cigarettes does not reinforce the normalcy of smoking behaviour.'
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Bans come after UN health body advised curbs on indoor use and ads .
Addiction experts say the WHO findings are riddled with errors .
British Medical Association supports bans in line with no-smoking policy .
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Photographer Daniel Sullivan endured a blistering 220-mile hike to document Hawaii's ancient King's Highway, a landmark withering away with time that he hopes to immortalise with his remarkable images. Sullivan, 39, walked the once popular coastal route in Maui during the summer of 2013 and is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to fund a book of 100 pictures of the trail entitled The Maui Coast - Legacy of the King's Highway. He crossed sheer cliffs, battled white water and dense jungle to uncover the amazing island scenery of the King's Highway, which was built over 500 years ago by King Pi'ilani who ruled the island during the 16th Century. Scroll down for video . Turtles make their way across Ho‘okipa Beach, Maui, as photographed by Daniel Sullivan on his journey along the King's Highway . The Hui Aloha Church in Kipahulu stands out like a beacon along the train, the white building among the bright green foliage among them . The sun spectacularly sets behind a preserved section of the King's Highway, a road of jagged stone built by King Pi'ilani in the 16th Century . 'I've always been interested in Hawaiian culture. And since I moved to Maui 10 years ago, I've been searching for the Kings Highway,' said Mr Sullivan. 'Several years ago a Hawaiian man by the name of Eddie Pu'u died. He was a legend here among the Hawaiian's as he used to walk the King's Highway every year barefoot because of a dream he had once had about having to preserve the Aina, or the "sacred land" as the Hawaiians call it. 'He was the only person I had ever heard of who knew the ancient trail, who had actually hiked it. The next summer my wife and two children were leaving for a 10-day trip to visit their grandparents in Idaho and I decided to walk around the island.' Mr Sullivan battled through pain as he woke up at 5am every morning and hiked until the dark of night. He said: 'Physically the hike was a bit of a challenge for me. By the end I had layers of blisters and my calves were really swollen. An oasis-like scene at the Twin Falls in Maui alongside the disappearing King's Highway that Sullivan is aiming to immortalise . An exposed section of the King's Highway in Kanio, Maui, that Sullivan hiked during the making of his book about the ancient trail . 'Water was also a challenge. The summer before I left, a hiker had died of dehydration on the trail past Kanio, which is where the lava fields are. 'I was especially nervous about this section. The lava rocks are like razors and can cut easily through skin. 'Unfortunately, I ran out of water here and was forced to make a decision to hike along the coast or climb up several miles to the road at Ulupalukua where I could find water. I decided to hike up, over the sharp rocks. The detour took me a while and by the time I reached the road, I was dizzy and exhausted. 'The first car I saw I flagged down to ask for help. It turns out it was a good friend of mine and her mother who had set out to find me and bring me food and water.' The Highway was once considered the artery of the island for commerce, trade and protection from invasion. Today, large sections of the King's Highway have disappeared into the jungle or have been completely destroyed. Mr Sullivan said: 'Along the way I stopped and asked locals and elders about the Kings Highway. The sun rises over Oluwalu, Maui, in this serene image that will feature in his book, The Maui Coast - Legacy of the King's Highway . A stark example of the blue stone at Gorge Kaupo, Maui, that locals told Sullivan to follow in his quest along the King's Highway . 'Look for the blue stones' is what they told me, so I set out looking the blue stones. Everywhere I walked I would find ancient heiau or temples coved up in the jungle, pieces of the Highway. 'In some sections the road had been covered up, by jungle, and vines, in some areas it had been paved over or developed but in others the road stood out as if each stone had been laid out yesterday.' Despite being a landmark on the island, there is no preservation or protection for this valuable historical relic, which was once at the heart of Hawaiian culture. Mr Sullivan said: 'I think much more could and should have been done to preserve the King's Highway. Large sections have been paved over, bulldozed or left neglected. The trail was an amazing feat of craftsmanship 500 years ago, laying hundreds of thousands of small stones through cliffs and gorges. Another beautiful sunset scene on the Maui trail, this time at Wailea (left) and the fishing stone shrine in Kanio . 'The fact that sections of it still remain is a testament to the people who built it. The King's Highway should be protected as a UNESCO World Heritage site, but sadly there is no state of federal protection or funds to protect most of it. 'There are so many sacred sites here in Hawaii that are not protected. Some are on private land some are in the rain forest and jungles.' For the past 20 years, Mr Sullivan has been taking photographs in Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, documenting the human spirit. His photographs and essays have explored Afghanistan's refugees, the tribes of Ethiopia's Omo River and the eagle hunters of Mongolia. Mr Sullivan added: 'When I graduated from college in 1999, I sold my car and bought a one way ticket to Jerusalem for the New Year Celebration. I spent the next year photographing in Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan and Afghanistan. 'From early on I believed in getting close to my subjects. In Peshawar, Pakistan, I lived for six weeks with a family of Afghan refugees. In Syria I lived with a group of Jesuit Monks at a sixth century monastery in the desert. I learned a lot about cultures, religion and people.'
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Daniel Sullivan has photographed the King's Highway in Maui, Hawaii, in a bid to preserve its heritage .
The trail was built 500 years ago by King Pi'ilani, but is now being left to decay and disappear .
Sullivan is compiling a book of 100 images from his journeys on the trail to record its legacy .
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Atlanta (CNN)As Bobbi Kristina Brown fights for her life at an Atlanta hospital, the public spat between her boyfriend and her family goes on. In social media posts, Nick Gordon said he's been prevented from visiting Brown, the daughter of music legend Whitney Houston. "Let me in the hospital to see my girl and let her hear my voice," he tweeted Saturday. "If she hears my voice, let me massage her, play her favorite music I believe it will help." But Brown's father slammed the accusation, saying Gordon was offered a chance to visit her. "Let me be very clear, Mr. Gordon was offered an opportunity to potentially visit Bobbi Kristina and he declined to meet the terms of any possible visit," R&B singer Bobby Brown said in a statement through his lawyers. "Obviously Mr. Gordon is not as desperate to visit Bobbi Kristina as he wants the world to believe." The statement did not specify what the terms were. Without specifying the details of those terms, Gordon's lawyers said they advised him against meeting them, "particularly in light of Mr. Brown's inability to guarantee access." "In an effort to do all he can to visit, Nick has repeatedly offered to meet with Mr. Brown privately to discuss his request in person, rather than through lawyers," lawyers Randall M. Kessler and Joe S. Habachy said in a statement. "Those offers have also been rejected. We hope Mr. Brown has a change of heart." Bobby Brown's attorney responded with another statement, saying Gordon has yet to tell Brown in writing what happened to his daughter. "Due to Mr. Gordon's failure to place in tangible form his understanding of the events that lead to the hospitalization of Bobbi Kristina, there is no reason for any additional discussion with him," attorney Christopher Brown said in a statement. "Mr. Gordon has every right to remain silent and not share his version of the events with Bobby Brown. We are only concerned with individuals that can help Bobbi Kristina and bring resolution to this investigation." Bobbi Kristina Brown, 21, remains in a medically induced coma at Emory University three weeks after she was found unresponsive in a bathtub. Doctors are attempting to slowly lift her coma, according to sources close to the family. Her breathing tube has been removed, and she will now be ventilated through a hole in her throat. Police have said they're treating her case as a criminal investigation after she was found on January 31 at her home in Roswell, Georgia. The extent of her injuries is not known. Her mother, who died in 2012, was similarly found in a bathtub. A coroner ruled Houston's death an accidental drowning, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors. Brown is her only child. CNN's Carolyn Sung, Dana Ford and MaryLynn Ryan contributed to this report.
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Bobby Brown's attorney: Nick Gordon won't put in writing what happened to Bobbi Kristina .
"Let me in the hospital to see my girl," Gordon says .
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(CNN) -- A U.S. Navy ship came to the rescue of an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean on Saturday after four suspected pirates climbed aboard. The Japanese-owned MV Guanabara reported it was under attack Friday afternoon 328 nautical miles southeast of Oman, the Navy said. The Guanabara had 24 crew members aboard. The warship USS Bulkeley, assigned to the Combined Maritime Forces' CTF-151 counter-piracy mission, was directed to intercept the Guanabara, supported by the Turkish warship TCG Giresun of NATO's counter-piracy task force. After Guanabara's master confirmed to the Bulkeley that his crew had taken refuge in the ship's citadel room, or secure compartment, the Bulkeley's specialist boarding team climbed aboard Saturday, detained the four men and secured the vessel, the Navy said. There was no exchange of fire at any time during the operation, and an SH-60 Seahawk helicopter supported the boarding team from the air, the Navy added. Officials said they are still deciding what to do with the suspected pirates. The U.S. Navy did not disclose the nationalities of those detained or where they were being taken. "Through our mutual cooperation and shared coordination, CTF-151 and our partner organizations has prevented the kidnapping of legitimate mariners who sought only to go peacefully about their business," said CMF's counter-piracy commander, Commodore Abdul Alheem. "Today, there will be a merchant ship sailing freely that would not be doing so were it not for the efforts of CTF-151." The Combined Maritime Forces is a naval partnership of 25 member nations including the United States that works to disrupt piracy and armed robbery and improve security in international waters off the Middle East.
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A team from the USS Bulkeley detained the four suspected pirates .
There was no exchange of fire .
Officials have not decided what to do with suspects .
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Hollywood film producer Scott Rudin has apologized for comments he made in some of the many emails he wrote that have been leaked over the past few days as a result of the Sony hack. 'Private emails between friends and colleagues written in haste and without much thought or sensitivity, even when the content of them is meant to be in jest, can result in offense where none was intended,' said Rudin. 'I made a series of remarks that were meant only to be funny, but in the cold light of day, they are in fact thoughtless and insensitive — and not funny at all. To anybody I’ve offended, I’m profoundly and deeply sorry, and I regret and apologize for any injury they might have caused.' Scroll down for video . My bad: Scott Rudein (above) has apologized for comments he made in leaked emails about President Barack Obama and Angelina Jolie . More emails: An email exchange between Amy Pascal (left) and Rudin (right) showed the two mocking the President's race . Bad timing: The emails were exchanged on the eve of a fundraiser attended by President Obama (above) at the home of DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg . The statement, released to Deadline, comes shortly after the most damning batch of emails were released, in which Rudin and Sony Pictures Chair Amy Pascal exchanged racist comments about President Barack Obama. Pascal also issued an apology on Thursday, saying; 'The content of my emails were insensitive and inappropriate but are not an accurate reflection of who I am.' She then added, 'although this was a private communication that was stolen, I accept full responsibility for what I wrote and apologize to everyone who was offended.' On the eve of a fundraising breakfast being attended by the President at the home of DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, Pascal and Rudin went over things she could discuss with Obama while at the event in October 2013. 'Should I ask him if he liked DJANGO?' Pascal asks Rudin, a reference to the 2012 Quentin Tarantino film Django Unchained that dealt with the subject of slavery in the antebellum South. '12 years,' responds Rudin, referencing another slavery film, this time Steve McQueen's 2013 Academy Award-winning work 12 Years a Slave, a very violent and brutal look at the injustice and abuse endured by the millions forced into slavery in America. The pair then keep going, listing as many current films starring black actors as they can name, including Lee Daniels' The Butler and two Kevin Hart movies, Think Like a Man and Ride Along. 'I bet he likes Kevin Hart,' says Rudin at one point. Racist response: Rudin suggests that Pascal maybe talk with the President about 12 Years a Slave (above) Not good: The email exchange also finds Rudin commenting that President Obama 'likes Kevin Hart' This all come just one day after Rudin called Angelina Jolie 'a minimally talented spoiled brat' in emails discussing who would direct her upcoming remake of the classic film flop Cleopatra. Jolie had wanted the director David Fincher to helm the project, while Rudin wanted to use him on a Steve Jobs biopic he was developing. In the end, Fincher passed on both. Rudin previously gave a statement to the New York Times about the hack earlier this week. 'This is not about salacious emails being batted around by Gawker and Defamer,' the disgraced producer said on Wednesday. 'It’s about a criminal act, and the people behind it should be treated as nothing more nor less than criminals.' Burn: Rudin called Jolie (above with Pascal) a 'minimally talented spoiled brat' in one email . In demand: Jolie and Rudin both wanted to use David Fincher (above) on their film projects . In other leaked emails, these having to do with the Jobs biopic, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has some not so kind words for the man now set to star in the film, Michael Fassbender. 'I don't know who Michael Fassbender is and the rest of the world isn't going to care,' Sorkin tells Pascal when informed of the studio's desire to cast the actor, who also starred in 12 Years a Slave. One man who is clearly a fan of Fassbender however is producer Michael De Luca, who says of the Irish actor in one email, 'He just makes you feel bad to have normal-sized genitalia.' The emails formed part of the November 24 cyber attack on Sony Pictures. As for the fundraising event, which took place last November, President Obama did indeed talk about the film industry, saying: 'Believe it or not, entertainment is part of our American diplomacy. 'If they’re watching an old movie — Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,The Mary Tyler Moore Show, or Will and Grace and Modern Family — they’ve had a front-row seat to our march towards progress. Even if their own nations haven’t made that progress yet.' According to public records, Pascal donated $5,000 to President Obama's re-election campaign and gave a further $30,800 to the Democtratic National Committee. Obama made no mention of the films Django Unchained, 12 Years a Slave, Lee Daniels' The Butler, Think Like a Man or Ride Along in his speech at the event. Response: Hart posted his response to the emails on Instagram Thursday . Also on Thursday, Kevin Hart took to his Instagram to respond to an email conversation between Pascal and Clint Culpepper in which he was called a 'greedy whore' for demanding more money to promote on of his films on social media. 'Knowing your self worth is extremely important people,' wrote Hart.'I worked very hard to get where I am today. I look at myself as a brand and because of that I will never allow myself to be taking advantage of. I OWN MY BRAND…I MAKE SMART DECISIONS FOR MY BRAND….I PROTECT MY BRAND….which is why I’m able to brush ignorance off of my shoulder and continue to move forward.'
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Scott Rudin has apologized for emails he sent that made racist comments about President Obama and said negative things about Angelina Jolie .
Sony Pictures Chair Amy Pascal also issued an apology, saying her comments were 'insensitive and inappropriate'
Rudin and Pascal mocked President Obama in a series of emails that were released on Thursday .
The pair implied that the President only liked movies with black actors and subject matter - such as Django Unchained and 12 Years A Slave .
Rudin is now saying that the comments were meant to be 'funny,' but he now realizes they are 'thoughtless and insensitive'
This comes one day after Rudin was revealed to have called Angelina Jolie a 'minimally talented brat' in one email .
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Saying goodbye? The Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid has featured topless models for 45 years . They have been featured among the newspaper's pages for 45 years. But The Sun appears to have dropped its topless models - with no bare breasts featured on Page 3 since Friday's edition. Today's edition features 'Hollyoaks babes' Jennifer Metcalfe and Gemma Merna in bikinis on a beach - with their breasts mostly covered. And another story below it about an actress sacked from Coronation Street is headlined 'Platt's yer lot', which could be seen as a coded confirmation of the end of topless women on the page. The images of the models have long drawn protests from feminists and a petition calling for the abolition of the controversial feature has attracted more than 200,000 signatures. Now, it appears the call to end topless women on Page 3 may have been heard. Yesterday, The Sun showed model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley wearing a bra - but it is not clear whether the cover-up is permanent. The Guardian reported that the newspaper's management had made a 'landmark decision' to drop the pictures topless women, dubbed Page 3 girls. In addition, The Times reported that it understands last Friday's print edition 'was the last that will carry an image of a glamour model with bare breasts on that page'. The Sun's Irish edition stopped using topless models in 2013. Last year, Sun owner Rupert Murdoch asked his Twitter followers for their opinion on the issue last year. He wrote: 'Aren't beautiful young women more attractive in at least some fashionable clothes?' Scroll down for video . Topless photos: Among the most famous Page 3 models is Katie Price (pictured), formerly known as Jordan . Stars in the Sun: Ex-Page 3 models Kathy Lloyd (left) and Karen White (right), pictured in the late Nineties . Mr Murdoch, 83, went on: 'Brit feminists bang on forever about Page 3. I bet never buy paper. I think old fashioned but readers seem to disagree.' Last night, Sun spokesman Dylan Sharpe cryptically tweeted that Page 3 would remain 'in the same place it's always been - between page 2 and page 4'. A spokesman for the No More Page 3 campaign said: 'We're hearing the Sun may have dropped Page 3. This could be truly historic news and a great day for people power. 'We don't know the details for sure and there's still lots to be done, but this could be a huge step for challenging media sexism. 'And we are so incredibly grateful to all of you who stood up and said 'No More Page 3'.' The newspaper's editor has defended the controversial feature in the past, saying women readers fully support it. In 2013, David Dinsmore told BBC Radio 5 Live he was 'standing (his) ground' despite pressure from politicians, anti-sexism campaigners and student bodies. Former glamour models Linda Lusardi (left) and Sam Fox (right) also had their careers launched by Page 3 . Backlash: Former glamour model Jodie Marsh wrote a series of angry messages on Twitter . Page 3 girl Rhian Sugden, 28, also lashed out at the reported move when she took to Twitter today . He said: 'I think that it is a lively issue for people who don't buy the paper and we've done the research, done the focus groups and in many ways listened to the campaigners to say: 'What does it mean to our readers?' The result comes back a resounding "keep it there, don't take it away".' The No More Page 3 campaign group was founded in August 2012 by actress Lucy-Anne Holmes. It has support from a wide variety of groups such as Girlguiding UK, Mumsnet, several trade unions including Unison, the Scottish Parliament and Breast Cancer UK. Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, who also holds the women and equalities brief, said the move was 'long overdue'. The Tory cabinet minister said: 'This is a long overdue decision and marks a small but significant step towards improving media portrayal of women and girls. I very much hope it remains permanent.' It also received the backing of Liberal Democrat women's and equalities minister Jo Swinson - though she criticised the alternative content in today's edition. 'I am delighted that the old fashioned sexism of Page 3 could soon be a thing of the past. 'I welcome this apparent step forward from the Sun, but I would encourage its editors to consider whether parading women in bikinis is really a modern reflection of the contribution women make to society. 'We need to ensure that media representation of women reflects the great achievements that women make to business, to families and to society. I'd like to see us providing positive role models for young girls instead of suggesting that women's contribution is in how they look.' Girlguiding UK's Advocates panel has today welcomed the move. They said: 'We are thrilled to hear that the Sun has decided to stop printing images of topless women on Page 3. This is a hugely positive step for girls and women and shows the difference we can all make when we speak out together. The No More Page 3 campaign group was founded in August 2012 by actress Lucy-Anne Holmes. Protesters said they wanted the feature to be 'removed voluntarily' rather than banned . Delight: A spokesman for the No More Page 3 campaign said on Twitter that it 'could be truly historic news' 'It is impossible for girls to nurture their ambitions if they are constantly told that they are not the same as their male equivalents. This is what Page 3 did. It was disrespectful and embarrassing. 'We would also like to congratulate Lucy-Anne Holmes for having the bravery to speak out about this issue and we join her in celebrating this great success.' Russell Hobby, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said: 'We are delighted by today's news that the campaign has finally been successful. 'School leaders understand the importance of protecting children and young people from inappropriate adult material, whether online, on television or within the pages of the popular press. 'Our members have told us about the problems the easy availability of pictures like these can cause. Children - especially very young children - can find such images confusing and embarrassing.' But former glamour model Jodie Marsh has led the backlash against the move, insisting on Twitter that 'telling girls they shouldn't do page 3 is not being a feminist'. In a series of tweets she said: 'So-called "feminists" really annoy me. Telling girls they shouldn't do page 3 is not being a feminist; women should do whatever they want.' Commenting on her career as a Page 3 pin-up, she said: 'I loved doing page 3, it was good money, I felt powerful, I was definitely in control and all the people (mostly women) I worked with were fab. 'I never felt exploited - in fact the opposite. I thought "Blimey, people are willing to pay to see my boobs". 'I am very much a feminist. I believe women can do it all and have it all. Women who slag off other women are just jealous and insecure. 'Women shouldn't be fighting to be equal to men. We are there already.' She said campaigners should focus on more important issues that affect women, such as female genital mutilation. Page 3 girl Rhian Sugden, 28, also lashed out at the reported move, saying: 'It's only a matter of time before everything we do will be dictated by comfy shoe-wearing, no bra-wearing, man-haters.' Cryptic: Sun spokesman Dylan Sharpe tweeted that Page 3 would remain 'in the same place it's always been' Sun owner: Last year, Rupert Murdoch said he found Page 3 'old-fashioned, but readers seem to disagree' In 2013, the media mogul also seemed to hint that he was in agreement that the idea was outdated . Former glamour model Nicola McLean said she did not think Page 3 is a 'sexual equality' issue. She told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'It has been going for many years, which is one of the reasons I feel so sad that it has seemingly come to an end. 'I don't think it is outdated. I think the girls still look fantastic on the page, they still clearly enjoy what they are doing, people still want to see it. 'Everybody still wants Page 3, apart from the feminists who are fighting an argument I just don't agree with. 'If you meet any Page 3 girl who has gone on to pose for the Sun, we are all very strong-minded women that have made our own choice and feel very happy with what we are doing. 'We certainly don't feel like we have been victimised.' The protesters said they wanted the feature to be 'removed voluntarily' rather than banned. Among those delighted at the potential news was comedian and Great British Bake Off presenter Sue Perkins, who tweeted: 'Goodbye Jugs - Hello Actual News! Congrats to No More Page 3 and all those who campaigned. Hurray!' No More Page 3 founder Lucy-Anne Holmes said last night that the group would not claim victory if scantily clad women continued to appear in the paper but it was a 'step in the right direction' if they were no longer topless. She told BBC2's Newsnight: 'I'm not going to stand here and say 'there's going to now be women in underwear on page three and isn't that great'. 'The Sun could have gone 'OK we are going to celebrate women's sport on page three because we never cover that and there are women doing great sport and we would like to use the space for that'. 'The Sun hasn't suddenly decided that women say, think and do interesting and incredible things, it's still basically saying women are here for decoration, but it's a step in the right direction.'
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Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid has featured bare breasts for 45 years .
Topless photographs of women have long drawn protests from feminists .
Spokesman cryptically says P3 will stay 'in same place it's always been'
Today's edition features 'Hollyoaks babes' with breasts mostly covered .
Girlguiding UK's Advocates panel said they are 'thrilled with the move'
Glamour model Jodie Marsh has led the backlash against the decision .
She said that 'telling girls they shouldn't do page 3 is not being a feminist'
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(CNN) -- Climate protesters demonstrating against Donald Trump's plans for a sports resort broke into a Scottish airport Tuesday, setting up a small golf course and scaling the roof of a terminal building. Climate protesters broke into Aberdeen Airport in the early hours of Tuesday to demonstrate against plans for expansion. Flights at Aberdeen airport were returning to normal by midday after the activists breached the security fence overnight, the airport authority said. Nine members of Plane Stupid, which campaigns against airport expansion and aviation-related climate change, entered the airport grounds at about 2:15 a.m. Tuesday (9:15 p.m. Monday ET), the group said. A spokesman for the airport called the protest "dangerous and highly irresponsible." By mid-morning, the seven members on the ground had been arrested, but the two protesters remained on the roof, group spokesman Leo Mullay told CNN. He explained that the group is against plans to expand the one-runway airport for the American millionaire's planned golf resort in the region. "It's going to cause a huge increase in emissions," Mullay said. "There's simply no capacity within our carbon budget for more flying." Trump's plans call for a golf resort to be built on 1,400 acres along Scotland's northeast coast, just north of Aberdeen, according to the resort's Web site. Trump International Golf Links, Scotland, is to feature two championship-caliber golf courses and a five-star luxury hotel. Trump's resort is in the planning stages, project director Neil Hobday told CNN. But he rejected the idea that the airport is expanding because of the Trump resort. "The runway issue has been going on long before we got here," Hobday told CNN. It's "nothing to do with us. They were going to lengthen the runway whether we were here or not." The protest caused a backlog of flights at the airport, a major gateway for Scotland and one of Europe's busiest heliports, airport officials said. Outbound flights resumed just after 9 a.m. (4 a.m. ET), but there remained some delays and cancellations, according to the airport's Web site. "Despite the runway being open and available for use, the earlier protest is likely to cause some knock-on disruption during the course of the day and passengers are being asked to check the status of their flight," an airport statement said.
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Protest caused a backlog of flights at the airport, a major gateway for Scotland .
Donald Trump plans a golf resort on a 1,400-acre site alongside Scotland's NE coast .
Activists claim that the airport in nearby Aberdeen will have to expand as a result .
Trump project director: Runway issue was ongoing long before we got here .
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Washington (CNN) -- In the latest salvo of a pitched political battle over Internal Revenue Service targeting, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee said Tuesday that interviews with 15 tax agency employees found no evidence of bias or White House manipulation alleged by Republicans. "Despite an extremely aggressive investigation involving thousands of documents and more than a dozen interviews of IRS employees, the overwhelming evidence before the committee reveals no political motivation or White House involvement in this process," said the memo made public by Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the panel's ranking Democrat. The committee chaired by Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California will hold another hearing on the IRS targeting on Thursday, continuing a probe that has bitterly divided its two party leaders. Cummings accuses Issa of conducting a partisan witch hunt and making false accusations about the scandal first uncovered in May by an inspector general's report that detailed how the IRS targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status for extra scrutiny. Issa and other Republicans have claimed the targeting amounted to a campaign by President Barack Obama's White House to go after political foes, with some comparing it to the Watergate scandal that forced President Richard Nixon from office. Democrats have pushed back, led by Cummings. Last week, he revealed new documents indicating the IRS subjected both liberal and conservative organizations to additional tax scrutiny in recent years. Dems highlight IRS targeting of other groups . The memo Cummings made public Tuesday was written by the committee's Democratic staff. It contained excerpts of interviews with 15 IRS employees from the committee's investigation of the targeting cited by the inspector general's report. In the excerpts, the employees who identified themselves as Republicans, Democrats and independents said there was no political motivation or outside influence involved in the agency's handling of tax-exempt requests from groups with possible or likely political affiliations. Under tax law and IRS regulations, groups that primarily engage in political activity are ineligible for tax-exempt status. According to the Cummings memo, an IRS tax law specialist based in Washington who described herself as Republican said "no, not at all" when asked if there was any evidence that the agency targeted Obama's political enemies. "That's kind of laughable that people think that," the memo quoted the woman as saying. She described the situation as a lack of guidance regarding how to deal with politically affiliated groups seeking tax-exempt status at the IRS unit based in Cincinnati that handles such applications. Thursday's hearing promises to be a fiery showdown between Cummings and Issa over the initial inspector general's report and the subsequent findings and accusations by both sides. According to the House website, the inspector general for tax administration, who wrote the report on IRS targeting, will be a witness along with past and present IRS employees in the tax-exempt division. Cummings demanded last week the inspector general, J. Russell George, be called to appear again before the committee to answer questions about why his original report failed to note that liberal groups also were targeted for extra scrutiny. The IRS probe "has been characterized by one-sided and partial information leading to unsubstantiated accusations with no basis in fact," Cummings said. George's report in May indicated that lax oversight at the IRS allowed for the singling out of some conservative groups starting in 2010 and continuing until last year. In particular, the report said IRS workers in the tax-exempt unit used "Be on the Lookout" or BOLO lists of words such as tea party to assess what applicants came under extra scrutiny. George subsequently testified that he could not specifically identify whether any liberal groups were similarly targeted. However, Cummings said the information made public last week showed that George was aware that liberal groups also were targeted. Conservative group takes IRS, top Obama officials to court . In addition, Cummings revealed a May 2013 e-mail from George's deputy that noted how 5,500 internal IRS e-mails were reviewed as part of an effort to discover any directing of staff to target "Tea Party and other political organizations," as well as any subsequent coverup. "There was a 'Be On the Lookout' (BOLO) list specifically naming these groups," the deputy inspector general's e-mail notes. "However, the e-mails indicated the organizations needed to be pulled because the IRS employees were not sure how to process them, not because they wanted to stall or hinder the application." The deputy's e-mail goes on to stress that "there was no indication that pulling these selected applications was politically motivated." In response to the documents Cummings made public last week, Issa's office said conservative groups underwent tighter scrutiny than liberal groups. "These documents, once again, refute misleading attempts to equate routine scrutiny of other groups involved in advocacy to the systematic scrutiny of Tea Party groups by IRS officials," spokesman Ali Ahmed told CNN. "As has been documented, while 100% of Tea Party applications were systematically stopped and scrutinized for a 27-month period, at the same time dozens of progressive applications were approved by the IRS," Ahmed said. 'Angry' Obama announces IRS leader's ouster . CNN's Alan Silverleib contributed to this report.
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A bitterly divided House committee holds another hearing this week on the IRS scandal .
The panel's top Democrat says no evidence so far backs GOP claims of political targeting .
Republican IRS employee: claiming White House enemies were targeted is "laughable"
Conservative groups faced more scrutiny than liberal groups, GOP Rep. Issa says .
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Israeli police blocked more than 200 far-right Israeli protesters from rushing guests at a wedding of a Jewish woman and Muslim man as they shouted 'death to the Arabs'. Several dozen police, including members of the force's most elite units, formed human chains to keep the protesters from the wedding hall's gates and chased after many who defied them. Four protesters were arrested, and there were no injuries. Scroll down for video . Bride Maral Malka, 23, celebrates with friends and family before her wedding to groom Mahmoud Mansour, 26, (not pictured) in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv . Marrying in face of adversity: Protesters, many of them young men wearing black shirts, denounced Malka, who was born Jewish and converted to Islam, as a 'traitor against the Jewish state' Muslim Mahmoud Mansour and his Jewish bride Morel Malka wait in Mahmoud's home in the Jaffa district of Tel Aviv ahead of their wedding. Their lawyer unsuccessfully sought a court order to bar the protest . A lawyer for . the couple, Maral Malka, 23, and Mahmoud Mansour, 26, both from the . Jaffa section of Tel Aviv, had unsuccessfully sought a court order to . bar the protest. He obtained backing for police to keep protesters 200 yards from the wedding hall in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Lezion. The . protest highlighted a rise in tensions between Jewish and Arab citizens . of Israel in the past two months amid a monthlong Gaza war, the kidnap . and slaying of three Israeli teens in June followed by a revenge choking . and torching to death of a Palestinian teen in the Jerusalem area. A . group called Lehava, which organised the wedding demonstration, has . harassed Jewish-Arab couples in the past, often citing religious grounds . for their objections to intermarriage. But they have rarely protested . at the site of a wedding. Tense: Israeli police blocked more than 200 far-right Israeli protesters from rushing guests at the wedding . Groom Mahmoud Mansour, 26, (centre, facing camera) celebrates with friends and family before his wedding to bride Maral Malka, 23 . The groom told Israel's Channel 2 TV the protesters failed to derail the wedding or dampen its spirit. 'We will dance and be merry until the sun comes up. We favour coexistence,' he said. Protesters, many of them young men wearing black shirts, denounced Malka, who was born Jewish and converted to Islam before the wedding, as a 'traitor against the Jewish state,' and shouted epithets of hatred towards Arabs including 'death to the Arabs.' They sang a song that urges, 'May your village burn down.' Protesters hold signs and shout slogans against the wedding of groom Mahmoud Mansour, 26, and bride Maral Malka, 23, outside a wedding hall in Rishon Lezion, near Tel Aviv . Israeli police on Sunday blocked more than 200 far-right Israeli . protesters from rushing guests at the wedding of a Jewish woman and . Muslim man as they shouted 'death to the Arabs' Protesters hold signs in support of the wedding of groom Mahmoud Mansour, 26, and bride Maral Malka, 23, outside a wedding hall in Rishon Lezion, near Tel Aviv . A few dozen left-wing Israelis held a counter-protest nearby holding flowers, balloons and a sign that read: 'Love conquers all.' Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, sworn in last month to succeed Shimon Peres, criticised the protest as a 'cause for outrage and concern' in a message on his Facebook page. 'Such expressions undermine the basis of our coexistence here, in Israel, a country that is both Jewish and democratic,' Rivlin, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud bloc, said. A Palestinian bride, Nasreen Abu Tuaima, who lost her home during fighting between Hamas and Israel, walks through the courtyard of a UN school during her wedding ceremony in Rafah in the Gaza Strip . Palestinian bride Basma Abu Rigel, who also lost her home during fighting between Hamas and Israel, is pictured at her her wedding ceremony, along with two other couples in Rafah in the Gaza Strip . Lehava spokesman and former lawmaker Michael Ben-Ari denounced Jews intermarrying with non-Jews of any denomination as 'worse than what Hitler did,' alluding to the murder of 6 million Jews across Europe in World War Two. A surprise wedding guest was Israel's health minister, Yael German, a centrist in Netanyahu's government. She told reporters as she headed inside that she saw the wedding and the protest against it as 'an expression of democracy.' Arab citizens make up about 20 per cent of Israel's majority Jewish population, and the overwhelming majority of Arabs are Muslims. Rabbinical authorities who oversee most Jewish nuptials in Israel object to intermarriage fearing it will diminish the ranks of the Jewish people. Many Israeli couples who marry out of their faith do so abroad. Derelict: A view taken of the destroyed and deserted main gate of the Gaza Strip's former international airport in the southern city of Rafah after it was bombarded in heavy fighting . Obliterated: A Palestinian boy makes his way through the rubble of the destroyed terminal of the Gaza Strip's former international airport as the death toll in Gaza rose above 2,000 . Malka's father, Yoram Malka, said on Israeli television he objected to the wedding, calling it 'a very sad event.' He . said he was angry that his daughter had converted to Islam. Of his now . son-in-law, he said, 'My problem with him is that he is an Arab.' Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday any deal on Gaza's future had to meet Israel's security needs, warning Hamas it faced 'harsh strikes' if it resumed firing into the Jewish state. Bombardment: A Palestinian boy walks among the rubble of homes in Johr al-Deek village of Gaza City after they were destroyed by Israeli shelling . With a . five-day ceasefire due to expire late on Monday, negotiators returned . after consultations to Cairo to seek an end to five weeks of hostilities . that have killed more than 2,000 people. The United Nations said 425,000 people in the Gaza Strip have been displaced by the war. The . Palestinian Health Ministry in the enclave says 1,980 Palestinians, . most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict. On the Israeli side, 64 soldiers and three civilians have been killed. Fighters from the Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, take their positions at an emplacement in Shujaya neighbourhood of Gaza City .
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Several dozen police formed human chains to keep the protesters away .
Maral Malka and Mahmoud Mansour had tried to bar the protest in court .
Protest highlights rise in tensions between Jewish and Arab citizens .
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Juventus received bids for Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba 'from top European clubs' this summer, but turned them down because the players were so important to the club. Chile midfielder Vidal was a key target for Manchester United, while Pogba was courted by several top clubs including Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain. But Juve's sporting director Giuseppe Marotta has revealed that the club decided not to let either player go, despite receiving big-money offers from abroad. Pogba (left) and Vidal (right) were both strongly linked to Premier League moves and Juve received bids . Pogba was heavily linked with Chelsea for a huge transfer fee but Juventus turned down all bids for the player . 'Yes, absolutely, some offers arrived, from abroad, from top European clubs,' he told Processo del Lunedi. 'But we decided not to indulge them. 'We were in a position not to accept and we did with great awareness of the fact that we are talking about two very important components of our squad.' Marotta would not reveal the size of the bids, but Vidal is thought to be valued at more than £30million, while Pogba could command at least that much if he chose to leave Turin. Arturo Vidal was a key target for Manchester United but Juventus refused to let him leave in the summer .
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Juventus sporting director Giuseppe Marotta reveals club received bids .
Manchester United thought to have made Vidal a top target .
Chelsea and PSG were interested in France star Pogba .
Marotta says Juve 'were in a position not to accept' the two stars .
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Members of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy say they will have to be forcibly removed from the site of a multi-million dollar redevelopment after receiving an eviction notice on Friday. The 'peaceful protest' was established in response to the commercial development of an area of land called 'The Block' in Redfern, Sydney, which protesters claim to be Indigenous land. The eviction notice was issued by the Aboriginal Housing Corporation, accusing the protesters of trespassing on land pigeon-holed for a retail and commercial redevelopment since last year. Protest: Aboriginal community members are accused of trespassing in long standing feud with the Aboriginal Housing Corporation who have issued a notice of eviction to remove them from redevelopment site . The eviction notice issued by Mick Mundine to protesters on Friday giving 48 hours to leave or risk being forcibly removed . The Pemulwuy project has been approved for commercial and retail redevelopment of the site. It consists of student accommodation for 154 people, a childcare space for 60, a gymnasium, a gallery and affordable social housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. Many protesters, such as the embassy's founder Jenny Munro, say the land is being stripped from the indigenous community in an effort to push Aboriginal people out of Redfern. 'The development of commercial and student housing does not assist the housing needs of our people in any way, shape or form,' Munro told Daily Mail Australia. Not giving up: Jenny Munro, a 59-year-old Wiradjuri woman, set up the tent embassy with community members in Redfern on May 26 2014 . Not happy: Although the group has been promised affordable housing for aboriginal families, protesters believe the site won't benefit the wider indigenous community . Jenny says a scheduled meeting for Tuesday was cancelled by the Aboriginal Housing Corporation due to to heavy media presence. She welcomes the eviction challenge saying their 'peaceful protest' will not be going anywhere. ‘They will have to move us physically,’ she said in a statement. Mick Mundine, chief executive officer of the Aboriginal Housing Company, says the land is private and as long as they are occupying it, it’s simply trespassing. Controversy: Chief Executive Officer if the Aboriginal Housing Company Mick Mundine (pictured left) with police as indigenous community members band around a fire at the Redfern site (pictured right) Flyers posted in the Redfern area attacking Aboriginal Housing Company CEO Mick Mundine for his role in the redevelopment . Mr Mundine, who leads the push for the Embassy's removal, says the development will improve social conditions and ensure ‘Aboriginal people enjoy the same standard of living as all other Australians.’ Protesters are doubtful of their future inclusion as developers had previously advertised that Aborigines had moved out of the suburb as well as stipulations that housing will not to be offered to those with a criminal history. This means many socially disadvantaged members of the aboriginal community would be excluded from the redevelopment.
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Aboriginal protesters claim site in Redfern, Sydney, is Indigenous land .
Developers want to build student flats and affordable housing on the site .
Aboriginal families say the plans do not benefit the community .
Protesters have held up development of site for nearly a year .
New eviction notice accuses them of trespassing on private land .
'They will have to move us physically,' says Aboriginal Tent Embassy .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 18:18 EST, 22 September 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 18:18 EST, 22 September 2012 . Two thousand convicts who committed crimes up to 40 years ago have been ordered to provide DNA samples under new powers granted to the police to solve cold cases. Officers have visited the homes of nearly 200 ex-offenders in the Manchester area in what is expected to be part of a nationwide police operation to bolster the National DNA Database. Under the powers drafted by Labour and brought in by the Coalition last year, the police can demand convicts provide DNA – even if they are not suspected of any crime and last committed an offence as long ago as the Seventies. Police say harvesting DNA from ex-offenders will help them solve more crime . Police chiefs say the harvesting of DNA from ex-offenders will help them solve more crime. But civil liberties campaigners warn that the new powers will disrupt the lives of former offenders who are rehabilitated. Nick Pickles, director of the civil liberties and privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: ‘This is a disproportionate use of a police power and not a very good use of police resources.’ But the police say they are only targeting ex-cons who offended before the database was created – and others who avoided being added to it. The samples - normally taken from a saliva swab - will be kept even if the suspect is not charged. Forensic scientist Jasmine Thomas prepares blood samples for DNA extraction for evidence in a sexual assault case . There are 1.8 million samples on the database, set up in 1996, and 3,000 names a month are added. Statistics show that more than 1.2 million arrests are made each year for recordable crimes, which include many motoring offences, breaching the Trade Descriptions Act, the Dangerous Dogs Act and Britain's ancient blasphemy laws. Defence lawyers have warned of the risk of innocent people being linked to an offence under the new system if their DNA was found at a crime scene by accident, such as on a stolen mobile phone.
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Officers have visited 200 ex-offenders in the Manchester area to take DNA samples .
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By . Lizzie Parry . A new Australian study has found mixing alcohol with energy drinks increased revellers' appetite to binge drink . Mixing energy drinks with alcohol increases a person's urge to down more booze, leaving them at risk of assault, serious injury and one night stands, experts have today warned. A new study has examined the effects of mixing high-caffeine soft drinks with vodka. And the findings show revellers' appetite for alcohol was boosted when compared to other soft drink mixers. Australian scientists said the increased desire to binge drink leaves people at risk of dangerous levels of intoxication, which may leave them susceptible to alcohol-related injuries, attacks and one night stands. The research found those who drank caffeinated cocktails had a 'stronger desire to keep drinking than if they drank alcohol on its own'. It noted the effect was noticeable even when the mix of energy drink and a spirit was diluted with fruit juice. But the experts warned there may be added cause for concern because the restrictions on volunteers drinking in experiments mean the problem could be much worse out of the lab in pubs and clubs. Psychologist Peter Miller, associate professor of psychology at Deakin University in Melbourne said: 'A greater urge to drink has substantial implications when we think about the nature of drinking episodes. 'As people become intoxicated, even at low levels, they show less inhibitions and are likely to drink more in a cycle of greater intoxication. 'Of course, the drunker you get, the more likely you are to get injured, be a victim or perpetrator of an assault, or even drive home while drunk, let alone making bad choices about the people you associate with and possible sexual behaviour.' The study saw 46 women and 29 men drink either a cocktail containing 60 ml of vodka and a market-leading energy drink or the same measure with soda water instead. Both cocktails were mixed with 200 ml of a fruit drink in the random experiment that compared their urges before and afterwards with questionnaires and a breath alcohol concentration (BAC) test. Co-leader of the study Rebecca McKetin, a fellow at the Australian National University's Centre for Research on Ageing, Health and Well-being, said: 'We found that when people drink alcohol and energy drinks that they have a stronger desire to keep drinking than if they drank alcohol on its own. 'This would mean that someone who drinks alcohol and energy drinks would want to keep drinking more than their friends who don't.' Their results are published in the online journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. She added: 'What we can't say is whether this translates into people drinking more. 'Obviously . other factors would play a role there - people can over-ride their . desires and many things play into a decision about whether someone would . keep drinking or not. 'However, . if it did translate into greater alcohol consumption, we would expect . to see people who drink alcohol and energy drinks drinking more than . their peers who don't.' The study comes after other similar research indicated a link between energy cocktails to binge drinking in young people. The researchers warned cocktails containing energy drinks could leave people more susceptible to attacks, serious injury and one night stands, by encouraging their appetite for alcohol and resulting in dangerous levels of intoxication. File picture . Ms McKetin said: 'A number of studies show that young adults who mix alcohol with energy drinks have higher levels of alcohol consumption than their peers who don't mix energy drinks with alcohol, and some studies suggest that this practice increases the risk of binge drinking. 'However, it may simply be the case that people who drink more often are more likely to drink alcohol and energy drinks among other things. 'Yet if it is the case that energy drinks increase binge drinking, the popularity of alcohol and energy drinks could exacerbate alcohol-related harms among young people, particularly harms related to intoxication, such as car accidents and injuries from fights or falls.' 'As people become intoxicated, even at . low levels, they show less inhibitions and are likely to drink more in a . cycle of greater intoxication' - Psychologist Peter Miller . Other research conducted in Australia indicated that the risk of harm increased generally when people were drinking energy drinks. The scientists referred to Lithuania, where laws have been introduced banning the sale of energy drinks to under-18s. They called for governments to do more in creating policy that helps to avoid the potential bad effects of widespread over-consumption of the energy drink cocktails. They also warned that their study was not a true reflection of the impact binge drinking had outside the laboratory due to regulations. Professor Miller said: '[It's] worth noting that the very low levels of alcohol and energy drinks used in these types of experiments are due to the restraints of ethics committees, yet people are using far more than this on average out on the street. 'This difference between what is acceptable in a strictly controlled and monitored experiment versus unregulated pubs and clubs tells us about the worrying degree to which unsafe behaviour is occurring and the need for regulators to act.' Gavin Partington, British Soft Drinks Association director general, said: 'The authors acknowledge that this study does not establish a link between energy drink consumption and increased alcohol consumption. 'However, anybody drinking alcohol should do so in moderation, whether or not it’s mixed with an energy drink.'
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Study found revellers' appetite for alcohol was boosted when they mixed energy drinks with vodka, compared with soft drinks .
Australian researchers warned increasing the desire to binge drink could leave people at risk of alcohol-related injuries, attacks and one night stands .
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Thanks to its large reserves of oil, the small Gulf state of Kuwait has transformed over the decades from a humble pearl-farming backwater into one of the world's richest countries per capita. But too much of a good thing, as many of Kuwait's 2.6 million inhabitants are discovering, can be problematic. In recent years, Kuwaiti waistlines have swollen to make them among the most obese people on the planet. Nearly 70% of Kuwaiti males over 15 are overweight or obese, according to the World Health Organization. For women, the figures are even worse -- slightly over 80%. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine recently placed Kuwait second only to the United States on a league table ranking countries by the amount of food they consumed per capita to sustain being overweight. The country's weight gain has led to an unprecedented rise in obesity-related health problems, including heart disease and diabetes. It's a phenomenon being reported in other Gulf countries -- several of Kuwait's neighbors also appear in the top 10, with Qatar coming in 4th, the United Arab Emirates 6th, and Bahrain 10th on the table. Many attribute the weight problem to rapid changes in lifestyle propelled by oil revenues that have transformed Kuwait into prosperous modern consumer society. "I think it started with Kuwait being a rich country," said fitness expert Yousef AlQanai, who was overweight himself until getting in shape eight years ago. "We have a lot of oil, so this transcends to how we live our lifestyles. It made our lives much easier. We don't have to work in order to survive." Chief among these changes has been the introduction of fast food. American fast food outlets arrived with the U.S. troops during the first Gulf War, becoming a permanent fixture on the country's culinary landscape. Some have tailored their menus to cater to bigger appetites in the region, such as a best-selling Pizza Hut dish that features a cheese pizza with a cheeseburger crust. Rania Al Mutawa, a 36-year-old Kuwaiti woman who is training for a 10-kilometer race being organized alongside Kuwait's first marathon, said the love affair with fast food was leading many in her country to pile on the pounds. Many lacked awareness of the health consequences of eating fast food regularly. "People in Kuwait consider McDonalds and Burger King as full meal restaurants -- and not junk food," she said. "The average Kuwaiti does not know what goes into that type of food. It's just like a home-cooked meal." The popularity of fast food over the past decade has been "unprecedented," she said. And for the generation of children growing up eating it regularly, the consequences would be severe. "(The mentality is) it's OK to bring the kids. It's OK to have it two or three times a week," she said. AlQanai agrees. "Some kids grow up not knowing that this is not good for them." McDonalds, which opened its first outlet in Kuwait in 1994, now has 65 restaurants across the country. Spokesman Steve Mazeika said McDonald's was "just one choice in the eating-out market" and offered "a wide array of choices for consumers." "We trust them to choose menu items that are right for their lifestyles," he said. But there are other factors contributing to Kuwait's weight problem. The country's harsh climate -- in which daytime temperatures can reach over 50 C, or 122 F -- makes it difficult to undertake physical activity during the day, encouraging a sedentary lifestyle and car culture. "It doesn't encourage people to go out and walk or exercise," said Bader Al Failakawi, a 37-year-old father who is also training for the race as part of a concerted effort to get in shape. He said Kuwaiti culture also placed strong emphasis on eating at communal gatherings -- with little value placed on moderation. "If you eat less, it means you didn't like it and whoever invited you is not a good host," he said. But while some are embracing a new fitness culture of marathons and gym membership, others are turning to more drastic measures. Stomach stapling procedures are becoming increasingly popular in Kuwait, with enough demand to prompt the country's first conference for medical professionals involved in weight loss surgery last year. According to a report in Businessweek, the number of bariatric surgeons in Kuwait has increased tenfold over the past decade, with at least 5,000 patients receiving the procedure in Kuwait last year -- compared with 3,000 in Canada, which has more than 30 times the population. The report added that the legal barriers to surgery in Kuwait are lower than in the United States. But for AlQanai, the only lasting solution to obesity comes not from the shortcut of surgery, but hard work in the gym. "Day by day, minute by minute, you have to work on it. You have to sacrifice things sometimes," he said. "It does take a lot of work." But "once they get there," he said, "it becomes easier and easier. Then what actually makes them happier is going out for a run." Follow the Inside the Middle East team on Twitter: Zain Verjee: @zainverjee, producer Jon Jensen: @jonjensen, cameraman Paul Devitt: @cameramanCNN, writer Tim Hume: @tim_hume and digital producer Mairi Mackay: @mairicnn.
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Oil-rich Kuwait has become one of the world's fattest countries .
Many blame the love affair with U.S. fast food outlets, which arrived during the first Gulf War .
Stomach stapling procedures have become a popular way to slim down .
But many are beginning to turn to old-fashioned exercise to get in shape .
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(CNN) -- Crews in North Dakota were testing the air Tuesday morning for any dangerous fumes a day after two trains wrecked, sparking a large fire. The results of the tests will help determine when it is safe for residents to resume their routine activities. One of the trains was carrying crude oil, which sent dangerous smoke into the air, officials said. The incident occurred one mile west of Casselton, a town of 2,300 residents about 25 miles west of Fargo. Authorities issued an evacuation order, which was not mandatory, but "strongly, strongly recommended," Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney told CNN. He estimated that 65% of area residents heeded the call to leave their homes. There were no injuries in the wreck, and everyone is accounted for, Laney said. "When you see the fireball and you see the damage and the aftermath, that's amazing that nobody was hurt," he said. "There were people inside their homes that could feel the heat from the explosion in their homes." Firefighters were forced to let the fire burn out. The extreme heat made it impossible for them to get close enough to the flames to battle the blaze. CNN's Steve Almasy, Aaron Cooper and Carma Hassan contributed to this report.
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Crews are testing the air near Casselton, North Dakota .
They are testing for any toxic fumes .
A train wreck on Monday created an oil fire .
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New York (CNN) -- Everyone remembers the iconic image of Brandi Chastain on her knees after the U.S. women's soccer team won the 1999 World Cup Championship. Hope Solo was only 17 then, inspired by the American women on the field. Now, Solo, the goalie of the 2011 team, is poised with her teammates to repeat the drama of all those years ago. After winning several games in dramatic fashion, the U.S. women face Japan Sunday for the championship in Frankfurt, Germany. The 1999 team set the bar high, Solo told CNN Friday. But she wanted to set the record straight: her team wants its own bragging rights. "Twelve years later, this team wants to write their own storybook ending," Solo said. "We want to end with our legacy and we are a very different team from the '99 team. So, you know, we do hope that looking forward, people remember the 2011 U.S. women's soccer team." Sunday's game will determine what kind of lasting memories Solo's team will be able to etch, but it was hard not to know Solo's name Friday. She became somewhat of an instant celebrity, especially on Twitter, where a trending topic was "marrymehope." She dodged the question about the topic on CNN's "American Morning," instead focusing on the team spirit that catapulted America to the finals. Others may find it surprising that the United States emerged as the new darling of 2011 soccer, she said, but not the team. "We came into this tournament with one goal," Solo said. "It wasn't to beat Brazil in the quarterfinal. It wasn't to make it to the final. Our only goal of this tournament was to win the whole thing. I think when you get this close, you would have a lot of regrets if you walked away and you didn't win it all." Japan may have world's collective sympathy after the devastating earthquake and tsunami, but America is not going down to the sentimentality, Solo said. "This team is truly a team, and, as cliche as that is in sports these days, this team will fight until the bitter end to find a way to win," she said. "It's not always pretty but everybody on the field is trying to find a way to win," she said. "I think it's the American way. It's the American spirit. I think America is so behind us because you can feel that spirit and you can feel the fight in our team. And people kind of grab on to that." If they win Sunday, the U.S. women would become the first team to win the Women's World Cup three times, after taking titles in 1991 and 1999. Just as she was inspired by the 1999 team, Solo hopes to awaken the thrill of soccer among the next generation of American women. "You can't not think about it when you see the kids come to our games, when you see all of the inspirational signs that are at the training fields, at the playing fields," Solo said. "I do my best to be a good role model and I do my best to inspire people, especially the youth of America." She wants to give back, she said, because the fans instill confidence, give her joy. And that's what will make her thrive come the all-important game Sunday.
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Hope Solo was only 17 when the U.S. women won the 1999 World Cup .
She says she was inspired by her predecessors .
But the 2011 team wants to leave its own legacy .
In turn, she wants to be a good role model to younger Americans .
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A now-former teacher at a Texas high school was arrested this week after authorities say she had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student and then asking others to lie to the police about the alleged misconduct. In at least one case, the unidentified student told authorities that he and 26-year-old Kelly Lynn Thompson had sexual contact in her car is it was parked in front of the boy's parents' home. According to court documents, the Cypress Lakes High School's Independent School District Police received a call from a witness who said Thompson had been having a relationship with a student. Inappropriate: 26-year-old Kelly Thompson is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student and with witness tampering . The witness told the ISD police that Thompson had said she and the boy were in love. After authorities began questioning Thompson about the relationship, investigators say there's text message evidence that shows she pleaded with some of her close friends to deny that they knew anything about the alleged relationship. The teen involved in the alleged relationship was interviewed by police and admitted to having a sexual relationship with his teacher - and he told them about the time in front of his parents' house. 'Cypress-Fairbanks ISD is very concerned about the serious nature of . the allegations against a former Cy Lakes teacher,' the school district said in a written statement. 'Inappropriate . behavior or misconduct will not be tolerated by any staff member. The . safety of our students is always our highest priority, and we will . continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement.' Cypress Lakes High School: School officials say they are cooperating fully with the police investigation into Thompson . Parents at the school aren't rushing to judgment, with one parent telling ABC13.com, 'I think it could be both ways. It could be a student . making something up, or it could be you know, wrong that the teacher is . having an inappropriate relationship with a student.' Thompson was booked on charges of having an inappropriate relationship with a minor and tampering with witness. She's due back in court on Thursday.
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Authorities say 26-year-old Kelly Thompson told friends that she and the boy were in love .
After authorities started questioning Thompson about the relationship, she allegedly told friends to lie to police about it .
Thompson is due in court on Thursday .
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By . Mark Wilson . Under blazing sunshine in a tiny town in . Upper Austria, it took just 70 seconds for the first goal of the Ronny . Deila era to arrive. He can only hope it is an omen for the far greater . challenges that lie ahead. The . quaint little Hofmaninger Stadion in Bad Wimbsbach, with a crowd of . around 200, is a world away from the famous and imposing venues Celtic . again hope to visit in the new season’s Champions League. But . it was here that Deila began his preparations for the forthcoming vital . qualifiers and there were early signs of what he wants to see from his . side. Watching brief: Ronny Deila takes charge of his first match as Celtic manager . Celtic (4-2-3-1): Zaluska; Lustig, Van Dijk, Mulgrew, F Twardzik; Brown, Johansen; McGeouch, Commons, Boerrigter; Stokes. Subs: Fasan, Matthews, O’Connell, Waters, Findlay, Kayal, McGregor, Pukki, Griffiths, Atajic, Fridjonsson, Balde, Watt . An accomplished second-minute finish from . Anthony Stokes set the Norwegian on his way to a worthwhile victory over . opponents who finished fifth in last season’s Russian league. Operating . a 4-2-3-1 system, Deila fielded an entirely different team for each . half as he seeks to filter through his options before the first leg . against KR Reykjavik in 11 days’ time. He watched calmly but intently . from the sidelines throughout, frequently offering vocal encouragement . to those now under his charge. Deila’s . reign as the 17th permanent manager of the Parkhead club is up and . running. It was a landmark moment for the 38-year-old, but he kept his . cool amid the soaring temperatures. ‘I . didn’t feel any nerves,’ Deila insisted afterwards. ‘I was quite calm. Of course when the game starts you want to win. But I was okay. It was . good to get the first victory. ‘I can also look at the game and know there are things we need to improve - and we will work on them.’ It . didn’t take long for Deila to have a goal to celebrate. Some neat . passing out from the back saw the ball switched wide right to Mikael . Lustig. Quick-fire:Striker Anthony Stokes gets Celtic off to the best possible start with an early goal . He swept it forward from deep to send Stokes in behind a static Krasnodar defence. A nimble touch over the advancing goalkeeper provided an impressive finish to the first scoring move of a new management tenure. ‘It was good, I thought I don’t have to do anything,’ said Deila, breaking into a laugh. ‘It was a good goal as well, it was a good start but we gave them some chances when we lost the ball in dangerous areas. We have to work on being relaxed in those areas and in time that will come.’ With Efe Ambrose enjoying some time off following his World Cup exploits with Nigeria, Charlie Mulgrew was selected to partner Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the Celtic defence. There were more than a few signs of rustiness on display as Krasnodar levelled after 19 minutes. Kris Commons played Mulgrew into trouble with a poor pass and the Scotland international was unable to prevent Odil Akhmedov from scampering through to beat Lukasz Zaluska. Cool head: Stefan Johanssen (centre) rounds the keeper to score Celtic's second goal . Ricardo Laborde then sent a snip of a chance over the bar as Celtic wobbled before Zaluska was required to block out Brazilian midfielder Wanderson. The Parkhead club were back in front before the break, though, as Stefan Johansen capitalised on a defensive mix up to calmly angle home a shot. Deila opted to change his entire line-up at half-time amid punishing conditions, with a raft of youth players joined by the more experienced figures of Adam Matthews, Beram Kayal, Teemu Pukki and Leigh Griffiths. It was one of the kids who extended Celtic’s lead five minutes after the restart as Callum McGregor – who enjoyed a profitable loan spell at Notts County last season - produced a fine, sidefoot finish to despatch a Matthews cross. Setback: Celtic keeper Lukasz Zaluska fails to stop Odil Akhmedov scoring an equaliser . Krasnodar began to press more and more as the second half wore on, but Celtic goalkeeper Leo Fasan produced a clutch of impressive saves to seal a two-goal winning margin. Next up on their four-match Austrian tour is Sunday’s visit to face old foes Rapid Vienna in the capital. Deila hopes to see a process of continual improvement as he tries to imprint his style on the squad. ‘We met a very good team tonight and the result was very good, if a little bit flattering,’ he admitted. ‘We didn’t deserve to win the match as we did but we’re allowed to have good goalkeepers, as well. clear thinking: Deiladoes does his team talk on the pitch due to the intense heat . ‘There were some good attacks and the young boys in the second half played very well, the attitude was good throughout the whole match. ‘We have some way to go physically - and with the play from back – but the times we got it right we got big chances. ‘There were Celtic strips in the crowd and that tells you all about the size of the club. But I was focusing on the team and I know how I want my team to perform. ‘We are at the beginning of that and I am really looking forward to getting us the way I want. When we do that, we will play some good matches because there are a lot of good players here. We need more possession but in one year you will see a different picture to what you saw here.’
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An accomplished finish from Stokes set the Norwegian on his way .
Operating .
a 4-2-3-1 system, manager Deila fielded an entirely different team for each .
half .
Next up on their four-match Austrian tour is Sunday’s visit to face old foes Rapid Vienna .
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(CNN) -- London 2012 Olympic organizers said Wednesday they oversold thousands of tickets for the synchronized swimming events at this summer's Games. The committee said it discovered the error while comparing final seating configurations at Olympic and Paralympic venues against the millions of ticket orders placed. They found that four synchronized swimming sessions were oversold. Organizers last month contacted around 3,000 customers who had applied for tickets to the four sessions and told them of the error. "We are exchanging their synchronized swimming tickets for tickets in other sports that they originally applied for," a London 2012 spokesman said in a statement. It was not immediately clear whether the committee discovered oversold tickets in other events. The newly-built Aquatics Center, with its giant wave-like roof, is located at the Olympic Park and will play host to synchronized swimming and other water sports, including swimming and diving. The majority of spectators for those events will be seated in two temporary wings that will be taken down after the Games, the committee said. The London Olympics are scheduled to take place July 27 through August 12. The Paralympics go from August 29 to September 9.
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The error affects four synchronized swimming events .
About 3,000 customers were told of the error .
The Olympics are scheduled to open July 27 .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 18:57 EST, 7 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 19:00 EST, 7 March 2014 . A Pittsburgh lawyer's online ad showing smiling robbers, drug dealers and prostitutes flashing thumbs up and thanking him for getting them off the hook has garnered tens of thousands of views and drawn fire from a local bar association. One fictional criminal pauses while climbing out a window, carrying a laptop to say 'Thanks Dan,' to the camera, while a pair of men carrying handguns offer a similar message before pulling ski masks over their faces in the three-minute, 27-second ad posted on YouTube by criminal defense attorney Daniel Muessig. Muessig, 31, was a freestyle rapper before getting a JD at the University of Pittsburgh Law School in 2012. Scroll down to see ad . Freestylin': Daniel Muessig said he decided to make the subversive ad to extent his criminal client base . Youtube commercial features many fake thugs saying 'thanks Dan!' to the camera either before or after committing crimes . 'Thanks Dan!': One of the men impersonating a criminal burglarizing a home talks to the camera . In an interview with Slate website on Friday, Muessig said he created the cheesy commercial because criminal defense law is 'stale' in terms of how clients find their lawyers. At one point during his ad, he turns to the camera and says: 'Trust me, I may have a law degree, but I think like a criminal.' The spot has been viewed more than 80,000 times since Muessig posted it on Thursday, and the attorney believes the tongue-in-cheek approach will extend his client base. 'I wanted to connect with my potential clients in a way that people from my generation could understand,' Muessig told Reuters on Friday. 'I wanted to give people something that would be memorable and entertaining.' Tom Loftus, spokesman for the Allegheny County Bar Association, said he found the ad 'insulting to Pittsburgh lawyers and lawyers across the country, who take great pride in their profession'. Muessig, a former rapper, said in an interview Friday that it is essential for lawyers to have street knowledge and hopes that will work in his favor . He said he worried that the video could be misinterpreted. 'There could be kids watching it, or people who don't even understand what tongue-in-cheek means, and what they'll see is: if you commit a crime this attorney will get you off without any explanation,' Loftus said. Muessig defended the spot but said he would take it down if law enforcement or a legal professional organization asked him to. 'It's a send-up of the cartoonishly amoral Jewish criminal defense attorney,' he said. Muessig said that rapping allowed him to become good at 'improvisational argument' and said he understands that people, particularly lawyers, will be angry over his ad . 'The criminal justice system is broken, it creates a system where we are basically putting people on a conveyor belt to prison. 'If you want to get your ire up, get your ire up about that.'
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Daniel Muessig, 31, said he hit a 'quarter life crisis' after working as a rapper and decided to become a lawyer .
He said rapping taught him how to be proficient at 'improvisational argument' and writing .
Muessig has created a self-promoting YouTube ad so that more criminals will hire him .
The tongue-in-cheek commercial features criminal impersonators thanking him for getting them off the hook before committing other crimes .
It has angered fellow attorneys, with a local bar association saying the ad undermines both lawyers and the law .
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(CNN) -- Try to imagine New York or California dealing with a situation like this: The tap water's only good for toilets, not drinking, washing, cooking or showering; more than a dozen people have been hospitalized for complaints related to water that's been contaminated with a somewhat mysterious chemical; and residents wait in line for bottled water -- or for ice to melt -- in order to have something to drink. That's been life since Thursday in West Virginia's capital city, Charleston, where 300,000 people were left without safe water -- again, except for toilet flushing -- after chemicals contaminated the Elk River. Some of the taps have started coming back on; cleanup and testing are underway, according to the news reports on Monday. But the spill, which has been attributed to a leak in a chemical-storage tank not far upriver from the city's water treatment plant, continues to paralyze Charleston. A Washington Post reporter described living in the city as "a lot like camping." A resident was blunter: "It's like a zombie apocalypse here." Where's the national outrage? Our collective indifference is troubling. It's like we think: It's OK, the water's safe to flush. Or: Whatever, it's just West Virginia. This would be the story everyone in America's talking about if chemicals used for cleaning coal were spilled into a river in a state with more political clout and media presence. Take New Jersey, where Gov. Chris Christie's administration is accused of jamming up traffic as payback for a rival politician. The public has been ravenous for that story; meanwhile, West Virginia matters just as much. At least it does to real people -- people who value safe drinking water. Sure, I understand why the Christie scandal -- which we're all calling "Bridgegate" these days -- matters. He's a national figure who has (or had) a good shot at being the Republican front-runner for the 2016 presidential race. There's an alleged cover-up, a trough of juicy e-mails, calls for a federal investigation, and real people were inconvenienced. I'm not arguing the bridge scandal is insignificant. But it's sad that disasters seem to need brand strategists these days. "If we called West Virginia 4-methylcyclohexane-methanol leak 'Watergate,' do you think the political press would pay more attention?" asked Ana Marie Cox, a columnist for The Guardian. The answer, as she implies, is yes. Jason Linkins wrote for the The Huffington Post that none of the major Sunday morning news shows gave much -- if any -- coverage to the chemical spill. "Sunday shows to West Virginia: Drop Dead!" his headline blared. They were too obsessed with Christie, which, as he points out, has plenty of time to play out before the presidential elections, two years from now. This stuff goes way beyond the media and its handling of events. Major newspapers and television networks, including CNN, sent reporters to West Virginia to cover the story. Information is out there. It's not that no attention has been paid. But West Virginia is so maligned in our national consciousness that some people probably expect environmental contamination like this to happen there. The country should be in the middle of a national debate about how to ensure chemicals are kept out of our drinking water. It's one of the most basic of government services. Some people in West Virginia are trying to advance that conversation. Take Angela Rosser, executive director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition. She told The New York Times that, "We need to look at our entire system and give some serious thought to making some serious reform and valuing our natural resources over industry interests." She and others also are asking the tough questions: Why was a chemical storage tank allowed to be on a river that's used for drinking water? And why wasn't the tank inspected since 1991? Then there's Ken Ward Jr., from The Charleston Gazette, who reported that the U.S. Chemical Safety Board had recommended three years ago that West Virginia "create a new program to prevent hazardous chemical accidents." It didn't, of course. It should now. Let's join Rosser and Ward in their search for answers. That's needed to ensure a spill like this never happens again. The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of John D. Sutter.
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Noncontaminated tap water is coming back for some West Virginia residents .
John Sutter: Our collective indifference to the disaster is troubling .
300,000 people were without water after a chemical spill .
Sutter: U.S. needs to debate how to keep chemicals out of drinking water .
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(CNN) -- President Obama is about to send up to 300 military advisers to Iraq in an attempt to stabilize a situation that is rapidly disintegrating. Obama had hoped that the end of the Iraq war would be a key accomplishment of his administration. But just as he thought it was safe to get out, the President is finding himself drawn back, as violence has been spreading throughout Iraq. Understanding that American patience for another war is limited, President Obama promises this mission will be contained. But mission creep is difficult to avoid. The history of military involvement shows that many operations that start small end big. While the United States initially entered Korea to try to get the North Koreans out of South Korea after an invasion, President Harry Truman found himself presiding over a full-scale military mobilization that lasted three years, cost over 30,000 lives and helped bring down his administration. Vietnam started small, with military advisers under Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. Even when President Lyndon Johnson requested from Congress the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that granted him broad authority to use military force, he didn't imagine how big the conflict would become, resulting in the death of nearly 60,000 U.S. soldiers and dramatically undermining America's role in the world. Examples of mission creep continued. George H.W. Bush had 30,000 troops enter into a peacekeeping mission in Somalia. The mission didn't go so well. As a result of an attack on U.N. forces by a warlord in the country, the operation expanded and President Clinton found himself ordering more expansive operations. Although George H.W. Bush was determined to stick to his goal of kicking Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait in 1990 and 1991, once troops were in the region, the United States became committed to ongoing engagement with Hussein as he flouted U.N. resolutions. In Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11, the United States vastly broadened the scale and scope of its operations as challenges of post-regime reconstruction proved immense. Why does it prove so difficult to contain operations? Why is mission creep so common? Most importantly, war inherently involves many moving parts, most of which are not under the control of the commander in chief. Often, as was the case with South Vietnam in the 1960s, allies prove difficult to rely on and cause problems of their own, while opponents frequently are capable of causing far more trouble than expected, even when they have fewer resources than the United States. Although a mission might seem small at first, the logic of war creates new dangers for advisers or soldiers in the field and makes it very difficult to avoid pouring more resources into a problem. Domestic politics also matter. Very often the political pressures to escalate intensify once a president has committed forces to a region, particularly in the early years of a conflict. Both parties, as was the case with the Cold War and in the aftermath of 9/11, vie to be the party that will be tougher against the nation's adversary. Neither party wants to look weak, to be the party, as Republicans said of Democrats after 1949, that lost China to communism. Finally, in this day and age, many of the missions that involve U.S. troops are not clear-cut or well defined. It is unclear what victory even looks like anymore. During the war against terrorism, the United States has found itself drawn into operations where it is trying to create stable government structures that will not house terrorist networks or work on a continuous basis in countries to fight against fundamentalist forces. None of this lends itself to a quick end or to limited involvement. President Obama might get lucky and find that the advisers he sent to do the job get the job done. But history shows that mission creep can also happen quite quickly, and the President could easily find himself forced to send more troops than he expected into the quagmire of Iraq.
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President Obama plans to send 300 military advisers to Iraq to stabilize conflict .
Julian Zelizer: History shows us that mission creep is difficult to avoid .
He says many operations - in Korea, Vietnam, Somalia - start small but end big .
Zelizer: Obama could find himself forced to send more troops than he expected .
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Celtic face competition in their efforts to land Stuart Armstrong after Sporting Lisbon emerged as rival bidders for the Dundee United midfielder. As Sportsmail exclusively revealed last week, Scotland’s reigning champions are poised to reignite their interest in the 22-year-old when the January transfer window opens. Celtic assistant manager John Collins went on a specific scouting mission to watch Armstrong in action for Dundee United against Motherwell in the Scottish Cup. Celtic face competition in their efforts to land Stuart Armstrong after Sporting Lisbon emerged as rival bidders . The player’s strong running and eye for goal — he showed great composure to find the net at the end of a brilliant counter-attack in Friday night’s league win away to Ross County — have made him an obvious target for Ronny Deila. But reports in Portugal now suggest that Sporting are keen to land yet another promising Tannadice youngster, having swooped to sign Ryan Gauld on a six-year deal in the summer — and immediately slapping a £48million buy-out clause on the attacker. It is understood that, while the Lisbon side always intended to ease Gauld into the club by fielding him mainly for their B side, Scotland Under-21 star Armstrong is viewed as a player capable of making an immediate impact. Scotland’s reigning champions are poised to reignite their interest when the January transfer window opens . Celtic assistant manager John Collins scouted the 22-year-old midfielder against Motherwell .
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Celtic are tracking Dundee United midfielder Stuart Armstrong .
John Collins went on a scouting mission to watch him against Motherwell .
Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon are also tracking the 22-year-old .
Sporting signed Ryan Gauld from Dundee during the summer .
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By . Paul Newman . Follow @@Paul_NewmanDM . Jimmy Anderson came under fire from India again as he began preparing for a ‘home’ Test at Old Trafford that could take him to the brink of English bowling history. Anderson, dramatically cleared of abusing and pushing Ravindra Jadeja last week, will go into Thursday’s fourth Test needing only 13 wickets to become England’s leading wicket-taker of all time but with India still seething over his behaviour at Trent Bridge. The speed with which judicial commissioner Gordon Lewis threw out a Level Three charge against Anderson on Friday was an embarrassment for India, but they are showing little sign of taking it on the chin and moving on. Common sense prevails: James Anderson has been cleared lf physically assaulting Ravindra Jedeja (R) Spat: Anderson and Jadeja were embroiled in a row as they left the Trent Bridge pitch . Delight: Anderson cannot hide his emotions after dismissing Jadeja at the Ageas Bowl . VIDEO Jadeja and Anderson cleared of wrong-doing . An unnamed BCCI official was scathing in his criticism of England’s attack leader on the respected Wisden India website and it is clear that a country who are used to getting their own way still hope to force an appeal. ‘Clearly the judgment is incorrect,’ said the Indian official of a verdict made by Lewis in just 10 minutes after six hours of expensive evidence. ‘And it sets a very bad example. There were a series of errors. The level of abuse has been ridiculous and the ICC have a lot to answer for. What example does it set for kids and others watching? It sends the message that it is OK to abuse and push and you’ll still go scot-free. ‘The umpire (Bruce Oxenford) has mentioned in his witness statement that Anderson used the ‘f’ and ‘c’ words repeatedly. Why haven’t the officials reported him to the ICC? If they have, why has no action been taken?’ The comments confirm that the crux of India’s high-handed complaint, which was driven by captain MS Dhoni despite attempts by the ICC, ECB and even his own Board to talk him out of it, was sparked by Anderson’s sledging. The man who could overtake Sir Ian Botham by the end of this series is quiet, almost shy, off the field but gets himself into ‘battle mode’ when he steps on to it. Anderson has talked about the two sides to his personality and his work with a sports psychologist, calling himself Jimmy on the field and James off it. England feel Anderson is at his best when he is Jimmy but also in control of his emotions. He is already England’s leading wicket-taker in all international cricket and, just 32, he looks poised to break every record in the book, testament to his exceptional competitiveness, skill and work ethic. The question now is whether the Lancastrian can keep his aggression in check and still bowl as well as he did at the Ageas Bowl when he reached heights not seen from him for over a year. And avoid any more flashpoints. Leader of the attack: Anderson was man of the match in England's third Test win at the Ageas Bowl . For fourth Test vs India at Old Trafford, starting on August 7 . Cook (c), Ali, Anderson, Ballance, Bell, Broad, Buttler (wkt), Jordan, Plunkett, Robson, Root, Stokes, Woakes. Any appeal against the Australian judge’s verdict — and Lewis also cleared Jadeja of all wrong-doing — can only come through ICC chief executive David Richardson and there seemed little appetite for official intervention on Monday despite India’s huffing and puffing. The deadline for an appeal and a further twist in this acrimonious tale is Friday. England’s perfect script sees Anderson driving England to victory in this series and overtaking Botham in the final Test at the Kia Oval, his 99th and the last England will play until they tour the Caribbean next April. Yet Anderson has never taken five wickets in an innings on his home ground. It now seems certain that Stuart Broad will be fit enough to take his place, while Chris Woakes looks sure to get another chance, leaving three bowlers competing for the last seam place. Chris Jordan is in possession and was exceptional at Old Trafford in the one-day international against Sri Lanka this season, while Ben Stokes is a strong contender on what is expected to be the quickest pitch of the Investec series. England have to be careful they do not chop and change too much but there is a strong case for Steven Finn, added to the squad on Sunday when Liam Plunkett pulled out with injury, to leapfrog Jordan and Stokes on a pitch where his extra pace could well prove a handful. Ulterior motives? England believe that Ravindra Jadeja's accusations were a purely tactical move by India .
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James Anderson was found not guilty of Level Three offence by ICC .
England seamer is free to play remaining Tests at Old Trafford and The Oval .
India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was also found not guilty of any offence .
Verdict was reached in 10 minutes by Australian judge Gordon Lewis .
Peter Moores is delighted to have Anderson for rest of Investec series .
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(CNN) -- Wayne LaPierre, the nation's most visible gun-rights advocate, rallied supporters on Saturday for a renewed fight against gun control, saying membership is up since the Newtown massacre, and calling the effort to stop new limits a "long war" and a "fight for everything we care about." The National Rifle Association's executive vice president vowed in remarks at the group's national convention that "we will never surrender our guns." He implored members to step up their outreach to members of Congress as part of a fight against "elites" and others who "use tragedy to try to blame us, to shame us" into compromise and who "want to change America, our culture and our values." LaPierre delivered a speech heavy on militaristic and sweeping patriotic rhetoric. It was a signature moment at the weekend event, which sought to embrace a culture war theme in its so-far successful fight in Washington against recent gun-control initiatives. LaPierre singled out President Barack Obama, who has pushed for new firearms restrictions following the December 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, which left 20 children and six adults dead. The killings jolted the nation and energized gun-control advocates, while putting pressure on LaPierre's group and testing its political muscle anew. Polls have shown most Americans favoring some kind of new restrictions. LaPierre said NRA membership has spiked, reaching a record 5 million, and he implored members to counter efforts by leading gun-control advocates, like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Obama, and Democrats in Congress. "We are in the midst of a once-in-a-generation fight for everything we care about. We have a chance to secure our freedom for a generation, or to lose it forever," LaPierre said. "We must remain vigilant, ever resolute, and steadfastly growing and preparing for the even more critical battles that loom before us," he said. LaPierre disparaged what he called Obama's "all-out siege against our rights" and efforts in Congress to enact new gun control measures, calling it "political posturing." "Mr. President, you can give all the speeches you want. You can conjure up all the polls you can and call NRA members all the nasty names you can think of, but your gun control legislation won't stop one criminal, wouldn't make anyone safer anywhere," LaPierre said. "And that flawed failure lost on its merits and got the defeat it deserved," he said, referring to the setback sustained by gun control advocates last month when a bipartisan compromise to expand background checks failed in the Senate. The outcome was considered a victory for gun rights advocates, who lobbied hard to block its passage. Obama has vowed to keep pursuing new restrictions, and a co-author of the ill-fated legislative amendment is working to revive it. LaPierre and the NRA propose, instead, that current laws be enforced, that schools include armed guards, that the government rebuild a "broken mental health system," and "for God's sake, leave the rest of us alone!" LaPierre said the failed compromise background check proposal by Sens. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, and Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, were ineffective. "The Manchin-Toomey bill you later backed wouldn't have prevented Newtown, wouldn't have prevented Tucson or Aurora," he said of other deadly mass shootings in Arizona in 2011 and Colorado last July, "and won't prevent the next tragedy," "None of it, any of it have anything to do with keeping our children safe at school anywhere," he said. LaPierre also struck out specifically at Bloomberg, who has poured funds into the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, for acting as a "national nanny" and criticized the media for, as he said, failing to hold Obama accountable. Incoming NRA President Jim Porter is setting his sights on congressional midterm elections in 2014 as crucial in the gun rights debate, urging members to support House and Senate members who have voted against recent efforts to instate a background check system.
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NRA executive rallies supporters; says "we will never surrender our guns"
Says membership in group up since the Newtown massacre, at record high .
LaPierre goes after President Obama, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg .
Says ill-fated background check proposal in Senate was ineffective .
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Loic Remy insists Chelsea remain well placed to pursue silverware on four fronts despite a mixed festive period. Jose Mourinho's team still top the Barclays Premier League but a lead that once numbered eight points has been reeled in by Manchester City, with a draw at Southampton and a 5-3 defeat at Tottenham over Christmas weakening their position. A 3-0 victory over Watford on Sunday has secured passage into the fourth round of the FA Cup, but it took the second-half arrival of Diego Costa and Willian to ignite a flat performance. Loic Remy believes Chelsea can win the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup . Remy believes that now Chelsea have negotiated a mini slump, they can continue chasing multiple trophies. 'It will be hard but we want to win every competition. That's where the mentality and quality of the squad can make the difference. Every player has to be ready,' Remy told Standard Sport. 'The mood is really positive. We are still focused on all the targets. Every team will be in trouble at some time and I hope ours is behind us now with the last two games. Remy celebrates with Willian and Diego Costa after scoring Chelsea's second goal against Watford . Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho could guide Chelsea to glory on four fronts . 'There is no problem inside the camp, the players are still happy at training. We have shown everyone that we can react after two bad results. 'Was our confidence badly affected by what happened at Tottenham? No. We are still in first and top of the League. We have qualified for the next round of the FA Cup, so there is no point to be negative or anything like that. 'We just try to be a strong squad because a lot of things can happen in the season. We are just focussed on winning games.'
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Chelsea beat Watford 3-0 in the FA Cup to progress to the fourth round .
The Blues are still at the top of the Barclays Premier League .
Jose Mourinho's side are also in the Champions League last 16 and League Cup semi final .
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By . Lizzie Parry for MailOnline . Weight-loss surgery can also reap positive effects on brain activity, new research suggests. The team of scientists behind the study also said there is evidence the operations could reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. They found the procedures can curb changes in the brain associated with weight gain and improve cognitive function involved in planning, strategising and organising. A new study by scientists in Brazil has found evidence that weight-loss surgery can help improve brain function. They found gastric bypass procedures can curb changes in the brain that are associated with obesity . Bariatric . surgery is generally used as a last resort to help people who are . dangerously overweight. It involves either reducing the size of the . stomach or shortening the distance food travels through the digestive . tract - limiting the time it has to be absorbed. The procedures, available on the NHS, are known to be highly effective in cases of serious obesity. But they also appear to have a positive influence on brain activity, according to the new findings. A . study of the impact of bariatric surgery on 17 obese women found it . produced distinct improvements in mental functions linked to planning, . strategy and organisation. Professor . Cintia Cercato, from the University of São Paulo in Brazil, said: 'When . we studied obese women prior to bariatric surgery, we found some areas . of their brains metabolised sugars at a . higher rate than normal weight women. 'In . particular, obesity led to altered activity in a part of the brain . linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease - the posterior . cingulate gyrus. Since bariatric surgery reversed this activity, we . suspect the procedure may contribute to a reduced risk of Alzheimer's . disease and other forms of dementia.' Past research has shown that obese individuals are 35 per cent more at risk of developing Alzheimer's than people of normal weight. The new . research focused on a procedure known as a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass . (RYBG) which combines the two types of bariatric surgery. Brain scans and a range of psychological . tests were used to assess its effect over a period of six months. Results . from the obese women were compared with those from a 'control' group of . 16 lean women who did not undergo bariatric surgery. The researchers also noted evidence the surgery reduced the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease . The . scans showed that the excessive brain activity regarding sugar seen in the obese women . disappeared after the procedure. Six months post-surgery, brain . metabolism levels were similar in both groups of women. In addition, bariatric surgery seemed to improve the performance of the obese women in a test of 'executive function'. This . is the brain's ability to connect past experience and current action, . and is involved in planning, organising and making strategic decisions. Other tests measuring various aspects of memory and thinking ability showed no change after bariatric surgery. The results appear in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, published by the Endocrine Society. Professor Cercato said: 'Our findings suggest the brain is another organ that benefits from weight loss induced by surgery. 'The . increased brain activity the obese women exhibited before undergoing . surgery did not result in improved cognitive performance, which suggests . obesity may force the brain to work harder to achieve the same level of . cognition.' Dr Simon Ridley, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity, said: 'Although obesity has been linked to an increased risk of dementia, this very small study doesn’t tell us whether weight loss surgery could prevent the condition. 'This research involved people in their 40s and did not look at dementia, and we don’t know whether the changes in brain activity seen in this study would affect a person’s risk of developing the condition. 'The people included in this research were severely obese, so it’s hard to know how these results might relate to people whose obesity does not warrant this type of surgery. 'Continued investment in research is important if we are to fully understand the mechanisms underlying the links between obesity and increased dementia risk. 'A better understanding of how factors such as obesity may affect our risk of dementia could give us important clues for preventing the condition. 'In the meantime, research shows we can lower our risk of dementia by eating a healthy, balanced diet, exercising regularly, not smoking, and keeping blood pressure and weight in check.'
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Scientists in Brazil found gastric bypass surgery can affect brain activity .
Found the operation curbed changes in the brain associated with obesity .
They noted improvements in planning, strategising and organising .
Researchers also found evidence operation could reduce risk of Alzheimer's .
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(CNN) -- Israel reached the Davis Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 1987 after a dramatic 3-2 victory over Sweden staged behind closed doors and against a background of violent demonstrations in Malmo. Swedish riot police face an anti-Israeli demo outside the Baltic Arena in Malmo where a Davis Cup tie took place. Dozens of protesters clashed with police outside the Baltic Arena at the weekend as violence erupted on the sidelines of an authorised demonstration of some 10,000 people against Israel's recent offensive in Gaza. Israel's next tie is at home to Russia in July after Harel Levy held his nerve to defeat Andreas Vinciguerra 6-4 4-6 6-4 3-6 8-6 in just over three and a half hours after Israel began the final day of the World Group first round tie 2-1 down. Earlier Dudi Sela also needed five sets to fire Israel onto the comeback trail with a 3-6 6-1 4-6 6-4 6-2 success over Thomas Johansson against an eerie background after Malmo city council refused to allow spectators because of security fears. World number one Rafael Nadal clinched a 4-1 win for holders Spain against Serbia when he defeated Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-4 6-1 on Benidorm's clay court. Spain now have a home date with Germany who edged Austria 3-2 thanks to Nicolas Kiefer defeating Jurgen Melzer 7-6 6-4 6-4 in the first of Sunday's singles. Andy Roddick delivered the decisive point as the United States wrapped up a 4-1 victory over Switzerland at Birmingham, Alabama. Victory sent the 32-time winners America into a quarterfinal away to the 2005 champions Croatia in July -- the weekend after Wimbledon - with the Europeans holding a 2-0 record in the series. With the U.S. taking a 2-1 lead into the final day of action, Roddick hammered out a 6-4 6-4 6-2 victory over Stanislas Wawrinka in Sunday's first reverse singles. Croatia whitewashed Chile 5-0 at Porec with Mario Ancic and Marin Cilic doing the damage, . Radek Stepanek sent the Czech Republic into a last eight meeting with Argentina, beating top ten player Gilles Simon 7-6 6-3 7-6 as France suffered their first opening round defeat for nine years. Argentina demolished the Dutch 5-0. Russia travel to Israel courtesy of a 4-1 win over Romania at Sibiu where Dmitry Tursunov tied up the outcome by beating Victor Hanescu 4-6 5-7 6-3 6-4 6-2.
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Israel reach the Davis Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 1987 in Malmo .
Dramatic 3-2 victory staged behind closed doors because of security fears .
Holders Spain and beaten finalists Argentina also progress to the last eight .
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A Santa Claus has been sacked from a garden centre grotto after he allegedly told children, 'I'm not real, it's your mum and dad'. The Father Christmas also told the three siblings about the US school massacre - before they burst into tears. Their mother, Wendy Kennett, said what was supposed to be a fun festive day out turned into the 'worst day of her life' as her children lost their faith in Santa. Bad Santa: Santa, pictured, told 10-year-old Ryan that Father Christmas was not real. Ryan is pictured with his sisters Amy, 7, centre, and Katie, 6, right, who were there at the time . Mrs Kennett, 33, and her . husband Steven took their children Ryan, 10, Amy, seven, and Katie, . six, to visit Santa on Saturday at Notcutts garden centre in Nuneham Courtenay, near Abingdon, Oxon. The excited youngsters sat on Santa's knee and promised him they had been good boys and girls this year. But during their conversation the Santa started telling the schoolchildren about the US school massacre in which a gunman shot dead 20 innocent children and six adults who tried to stop him in a school in Newtown, Connecticut. He said: 'Well there are bad people in the world and bad things happen, like what happened to those children in America.' Mrs Kennett said he had just started telling the children more about what happened in the US, and assuming he was talking about the Sandy Hook school shooting, Mr Kennett interrupted. She said the Santa then asked the two girls to leave so he could 'have a word with their brother'. After whispering something to Ryan, which his parents could not hear, the 10-year-old ran out crying before telling her: 'Santa told me he is not real, it's just you and dad.' The two girls were stood next to their parents listening at the time. Mrs Kennett, who paid £5.99 per child, said: 'I was totally furious. I now had three children in tears.' A spokesman for the garden centre said the Santa was under the impression the boy was playing along for his siblings and wanted to thank him. Notcutts spokesman Jim Hawker said: 'We have accepted the customers’ version of events and have dismissed the Santa, apologised and refunded the family. Upset: Mother Wendy Kennett with her children Katie, 6, left, and Amy, 7, right, who went to visit Santa to be told he was not real . 'Clearly the family were upset and the Santa who we have had for over 10 years and never had a complaint has been dismissed and a new Santa has replaced him. 'Notcutts certainly feel this was an error of judgment on behalf of the individual.' He added the firm had also bought them tickets to Winter Wonderland in London. Mrs Kennett said she went to the manager to ask that the Santa be sacked on the spot, but he was kept on for the rest of the day. Mr Hawker added: 'There was a massive queue of children waiting to see Santa and we did not want to disappoint them.' To make matters worse, after hours of trying to restore their children's faith in Santa, Mr and Mrs Kennett took them to a restaurant in Kennington, Oxfordshire for a meal. But Mrs Kennett said a children’s . entertainer at the Tandem Hungry Horse restaurant told the children Santa did not waste his . time reading their letters. Notcutts Garden Centre in Nuneham Courtenay where the Santa worked before he was sacked for telling a child he wasn't real . She said when the children told the balloon artist they had written to Santa, he said: 'That was a waste of time. 'Santa is my best friend, we went skiing last weekend and he told me that he doesn’t bother reading letters because he has got better things to do.' By this point, Mrs Kennett said the children were so shaken up they did not feel like eating and the family left the restaurant and went back home to Abingdon. A spokesman for the Hungry Horse said: 'Hungry Horse is saddened and disappointed . to hear our young diners had been upset by a hired entertainer, . especially so close to Christmas.' The family were offered a complimentary meal. Mrs Kennett said the family were today trying to reignite the spark back into Christmas and had travelled to Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland for the day. Mrs Kennett said: 'The girls are really emotional - they've been all up and down since it happened. We're trying to get them excited about Christmas again. 'At the moment they just don't want anything to do with anything which involves Santa.'
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Father Christmas also allegedly told children about US school massacre .
Three children from Abingdon, Oxon, were reduced to tears .
Entertainer in a pub then told them Santa doesn't read their letters .
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By . Julian Robinson . Andrew Salmon, who has avoided a jail term after locking his wife in a shed . A postman who locked his wife in the shed after she insulted his late mother by singing “ding dong, the witch is dead” has been spared jail. Grieving Andrew Salmon, 42, packed up his wife Beverley’s belongings and refused to let her into their home for allegedly mocking his mother’s passing. When she tried to come in through the back door he bundled her into the garden shed and bolted it shut - just to “p*** her off”, a court heard. The mother of-two, 42, managed to escape through a window and let herself into their home in Truro, Cornwall. Magistrates in Truro heard how she raced upstairs and began throwing her husband’s clothes out of the window. Salmon later told police he was depressed and unhappy his wife of 19 years had not been supportive enough after his mum’s passing last December. The court heard he also suspected she was having an affair, calling her 'nothing but a common prostitute' during the explosive spat on February 6. Salmon told magistrates he merely locked . his wife in the shed to 'p*** her off' after she kept saying: 'Ding . dong, the witch is dead.' Salmon, 42, from Truro in Cornwall said he had put his wife in the shed to 'P*** her off' (file image) After she left the shed he responded . by holding her down by her throat on their bed, punching her, ripping . open her top and violently twisting her breasts. Magistrates handed him a community order for 24 months and ordered him to take part in a building better relationships programme. Salmon, who had no previous convictions, was also fined £100 and told to pay £145 in costs. Salmon said he had suffered depression since the row on February 6 and has been told to attend a relationship course . Mrs Salmon, a receptionist, refused to comment on his conviction. But Salmon continued to blame his wife for not showing enough respect over his mother’s death. The couple, who have two children aged nine and 11, have since split and Salmon has moved out of their marital home. He said: 'She never really got on with my mum or any of my relatives and when my mum died she was horrible and offered me no support - she was extremely unsympathetic. 'She would sing ‘ding dong the witch is dead’ from time to time and didn’t even come to her funeral. It was a really difficult time for me and my family. 'I decided to lock her in the shed as I knew it would really annoy her and that she would be able to get out. 'I shouldn’t have done it and I am sorry but I was provoked into doing it and she gave as good as she got. The things she was saying about my mum were horrible.' He added after the hearing in Truro: 'She was kicking, biting and screaming. I’m sorry the argument ever happened but I never punched her.' Truro Magistrates Court: Salmon earlier pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife but was spared jail .
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Andrew Salmon locked wife Beverley in shed during furious bust up .
He acted after his wife allegedly mocked his mother's passing .
Postman claims Mrs Salmon kept chanting 'Ding dong the witch is dead'
42-year-old, from Truro, claims he bolted her in just to 'P*** her off'
Father-of-two spared jail but fined and must attend relationships course .
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By . Simon Cable . PUBLISHED: . 20:44 EST, 18 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 20:46 EST, 18 November 2013 . Hard times: Esther Rantzen, pictured, has said elderly people are 'discarded like rubbish' and thrown away . Coming home at the end of a busy day, Esther Rantzen puts the key into her front door and finds herself in a dark, empty flat. There is nobody for her to make a cup of tea for, nobody to ask her about her day and nobody to sit on the sofa with to watch TV. It is for the TV presenter a lonely time and has been since her husband, Desmond Wilcox, passed away 13 years ago. The 73-year-old, best known for presenting BBC television series That’s Life!, has admitted she has found it difficult to adapt to life on her own and knows she is not alone as yesterday she said older people are often treated like ‘discarded rubbish with a sell by date’. And with Christmas approaching, Miss Rantzen is only too aware that this is the loneliest time for some of the UK’s 10 million people now over 65. With this in mind she is rolling out The Silver Line, a 24-hour helpline service aimed at elderly people who are struggling to cope with loneliness, nationally on Monday November 25. Talking about her decision to set up the service she said in a new interview with the Radio Times: ‘Recently I received a letter from Ellen, clearly a clever woman who has brought up a family and held a responsible job, and yet who feels that in her old age “my days are pointless and I’m a waste of space”. ‘Reading it, I felt a surge of anger. Something must be done to assure our older population that they are valued. We must reach out to them, link them back into their communities, and convince them that older people are a resource, a national treasure. There must be no sell-by date, no moment when older people become rubbish to be discarded, thrown away. Loneliness is, according to the Department of Health, as dangerous physically as smoking or obesity. Mentally and emotionally, it is utterly destructive. ‘This is the generation that does not readily ask for help. They don’t want to be a burden. Loneliness is a creeping enemy, it isolates, erodes confidence, until it becomes more and more difficult to step outside the front door.’ Loneliness: Miss Rantzen lost her husband Desmond Wilcox, pictured, 13-years-ago and has struggled with life alone ever since . Miss Rantzen’s late husband, documentary-maker Mr Wilcox, died from heart disease in 2000. Their relationship began as an affair in 1968, when he was her head of department at the BBC. They married in 1977 and spent 30 years together until his death, aged 69, and had three children together. However, the presenter has been living on her own for the past two years after her youngest child Joshua, now 32, moved out. She sold the family home and now lives in a two bedroom flat in London. It was earlier this year that Miss Rantzen spoke of her own sadness at being a widow, saying she would give up a decade of her life to spend just ten more minutes by her late husband’s side. Miss Rantzen has also revealed she had . even once pleaded with her daughter Emily, 34, to move back in with her . in a bid to help her overcome her loneliness. However, she admitted it . never happened, adding ‘What was I thinking? She’s a young woman who . values her independence and has every right to live by herself.’ Family: Documentary maker Desmond Wilcox, who died from heart disease, with his wife and their children Emily, 4, Rebecca, 3, and Joshua, 2 . For Miss Rantzen loneliness is linked with loss, she states in her Radio Times piece: ‘The loss of a partner, of a job, of a neighbourhood, of friends. ‘Some people are alone all their lives and never feel it. But Bob wrote to me: “I have just said goodbye to my wife who died of Alzheimer’s. It’s 65 years since we married, but more to the point, 72 since we first kissed. And she waited for me throughout the war, and I for her. Loneliness… tell me about it.”' Having successfully set up the . ChildLine telephone service, Miss Rantzen knew providing a similar . service for the eldery would prove just as invaluable. She . said: ‘ChildLine has shown that a helpline that’s free, safe and . confidential can transform lives. Over the last 27 years, 3.2 million . children have rung 0800 1111 and found the support and comfort they . desperately needed. Now we are launching a helpline for older people, . The Silver Line. We have been running a pilot service for the past year, . funded by Comic Relief. It has already transformed lives. As one . gentleman told us, “When I put the telephone down, I feel like I belong . to the human race.” Help at hand: The television presenter, pictured working at a ChildLine call centre, is launching 'Silver Line' - a helpline for the elderly - on November 25 . The Silver Line has been running as a pilot for a year but will now be available nationally. Callers will be provided with information, friendship and advice linking them with projects in their communities. Volunteers will also be trained up to become Silver Line Friends, making regular calls to older people to talk, discuss their hopes and dreams, pick over the news and share views. Miss Rantzen added: ‘Our hope for the future is that The Silver Line will find its place in enriching older people’s lives, and counteracting loneliness, the most terrible poverty of all.’ Pensioners need to realise there is more to life than having a nice garden, an expert on ageing said yesterday. Tom Kirkwood, of Newcastle University, said that society was sidelining the elderly, leading to a ‘criminal waste’ of their knowledge and experience. But retirees who settle for ‘tending the roses’ also have to shoulder some responsibility. He said: ‘This is a massive personal resource that is being parked in the potting shed, or wherever.’
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73-year-old said Christmas can be lonely for UK's 10 million people over 65 .
Television presenter lost her husband Desmond Wilcox 13 years ago and has struggled with life alone, she said today .
Launches 24-hour helpline for elderly people on Monday November 25 .
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(CNN) -- The imprisoned former mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, was charged with sexual misconduct during a visit by his wife on July Fourth, according to a report released by the Michigan Bureau of Prisons. "A correctional officer observed him touch the wife on her breast," said Russ Marlan, a spokesman for the bureau. "All prisoners know it's against the rules," Marlan said of such contact. The report states that a correctional officer observed via a prison video feed Kilpatrick touch his wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, on her breast with his right hand in the prison visiting room at Oaks Correctional Facility in Manistee. If found guilty of the misconduct Kilpatrick could lose certain privileges, including a loss of visitations from his wife. According to Marlan, the incident also will be discussed during a parole hearing for Kilpatrick in a year. Prisoners are allowed one kiss with visitors and are allowed to hold hands in photographs. Anything else is considered to be misconduct, the prison spokesman said. "To many it may seem like not a big deal, but we do have people passing contraband back and forth, as well as children in that room," said Marlan. Kilpatrick currently is serving a maximum five-year sentence in Michigan for violating probation in a 2008 case against him. That case involved two felony counts of obstruction of justice stemming from Kilpatrick's efforts to cover up an extramarital affair. He also pleaded no contest to charges of assaulting a police officer attempting to serve a subpoena on one of his friends in that case. On Tuesday, the former mayor was arraigned in federal court on 19 counts of felony fraud and tax charges. He is accused of using the Kilpatrick Civic Fund -- a tax-exempt fund meant to pay for voter education -- to make cash payments to himself, his family and friends.
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Kwame Kilpatrick is serving 5-year sentence in Michigan .
His wife visited him in prison on July Fourth .
Prison officials say he touched his wife on her breast .
The sexual misconduct charge could lead to a reduction in privileges .
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(CNN) -- An Arlington, Texas, police officer was among three people killed in a shooting at an apartment complex Tuesday night, officials said. It was at least the second fatal shooting in two days of a law enforcement officer in the United States. On Monday, a Georgia state trooper was fatally shot after a traffic stop in northwest Atlanta. In the Arlington incident, the officer had been dispatched to an apartment complex to check out a report of domestic assault, city spokeswoman Tiara Richard told reporters. "Shortly afterwards, officers received a call of a shooting at the same location. When officers arrived, they found three people deceased here in an apartment at the complex. One of those people was an officer," she said. Authorities did not immediately release the name of the victims. "It's a tragic situation. Our hearts are broken tonight," Mayor Robert Cluck said in a statement. In January, another Arlington police officer died in the line of duty, Richard said. Officer Craig Story was killed when his motorcycle struck a school bus about a mile away from Tuesday's shooting scene, CNN affiliate WFAA reported. "Any time you lose an officer who is working in the line of duty -- or not in the line of duty -- it's hard on the department," Richard told reporters. "It's hard on the city as a whole. These are people who day in and day out, they go out and do their job and they are doing it to protect the citizens here. It's a hard loss for anyone...especially during this time of year." Meanwhile, Georgia officials have arrested a suspect in the fatal shooting of the state trooper late Monday. Trooper Chadwick LeCroy, 38 was shot twice in the face following the traffic stop and he died en route to a hospital, a state patrol spokesman said. The suspect escaped in the trooper's patrol car, which was found abandoned about half a mile away. Shortly afterward, he was taken into custody, the spokesman said. CNN's Samuel Gardner contributed to this report.
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The officer was dispatched to the apartments on a domestic assualt report .
He is the second Arlington officer to die in the line of duty this year .
On Monday, a Georgia state trooper was killed after a traffic stop .
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The moon has been orbiting Earth for more than four billion years. But our planet’s faithful companion may not be alone. A new object, dubbed 2014 OL339, has been found masquerading as Earth’s ‘second moon’. The new ‘moon’, which is in fact a 490ft (150 metre) asteroid, takes about a year to orbit the sun and is close enough to Earth to look like its satellite. Scroll down for animation . A new object, dubbed 2014 OL339, has been found masquerading as Earth’s ‘second moon’.The new ‘moon’, which is in fact a 490ft (150 metre) asteroid, takes about a year to orbit the sun and is close enough to Earth to look like its satellite. Pictured is its elliptical orbit . The peculiar object was accidentally discovered on July 29 by astronomer Farid Char of the Chilean University of Antofagasta. According to Rebecca Boyle writing in New Scientist, 2014 OL339 has been travelling near to our planet for about 775 years and it will continue to do so for another 165 years. It has an elliptical orbit and takes around 364.92 days to circle the sun once, meaning the asteroid and Earth are in ‘resonant orbits’. This happens when two orbiting bodies exert a gravitational influence on each other due to their orbits being closely related. For instance, Pluto and Neptune are in an orbital resonance of 2:3. This means for every two times Pluto goes around the sun, Neptune makes three trips around the star. Asteroid 2014 OL339 orbits the sun in a similar timeframe to Earth, but our planet’s gravity pushes it into an eccentric wobble. Nasa has plans to capture an asteroid and bring it closer to Earth for astronauts to study. And in a series of new papers, which can be found here, the agency has revealed just how - and why - it might be done. Nasa’s ultimate goal is to send humans to Mars, and they say the Asteroid Redirect Mission (Arm) will be an important stepping stone towards getting there. A number of new spaceflight capabilities will be tested in the 2020s as part of the mission, which will involve redirecting an asteroid to orbit the moon and sending humans to explore it. Nasa plans to launch an Arm robotic spacecraft to rendezvous with, capture and redirect an asteroid by the end of this decade. The spacecraft will redirect it to a stable orbit around the moon called a 'Distant Retrograde Orbit' - one that orbits the moon very widely, coming quite close before extending out much further away. Astronauts aboard Nasa's Orion spacecraft, launched from the upcoming Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, will then explore the asteroid in the mid-2020s at the furthest point in its controlled orbit around the moon. Looking up with powerful telescopes from Earth, OL339 appears as though it is in orbit around our planet, moving backwards relative to the stars. A number of other space rocks have fallen into orbits that make them look as though they are circling the Earth. Like 2014 OL339, many of these take around one year to orbit the sun in elliptical orbits, according to Phil Plait writing in the Bad Astronomy blog. The most famous is 3753 Cruithne, a three-mile (5km) asteroid that was discovered in 1986. However, it wasn’t until 1997 that scientists uncovered its unusual path. Our planet has also had a number of ‘minimoons’, which are small asteroids that are affected by Earth's gravitational pull and orbit the planet, but for a much shorter timeframe. These minimoon are often only a few feet across, and each tends to do a stint of around a year in orbit - before resuming their previous lives as asteroids. Scientists hope to one day 'catch' a quasi-satellite which could offer a valuable sample of material largely unchanged since the dawn of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. In 2012, a team led by University of Hawaii at Manoa calculated the probability that at any given time Earth has more than one moon. They used a supercomputer to simulate the passage of 10 million asteroids past Earth. They concluded at anyone one time, there should be at least one asteroid with a diameter of at least one meter orbiting Earth. Scientists hope to one day 'catch' a quasi-satellite which could offer a valuable sample of material largely unchanged since the dawn of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Pictured is an artists's impression of Earth rising above lunar horizon . Our planet has also had a number of ‘minimoons'. These space rocks are often only a few feet across, and each tends to do a stint of around a year in orbit - before resuming their previous lives as asteroids .
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The 'moon’ is in fact a 490ft asteroid that takes a year to orbit the sun .
It was discovered accidentally earlier this year astronomers in Chile .
Asteroid is in 'resonant orbit' with Earth and travels in an elliptical path .
From Earth, OL339 appears as though it is in orbit around our planet .
Scientists hope to sample material from one of these 'semi-satellites'
Material could offer clues about how planets and solar systems form .
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By . Suzannah Hills . PUBLISHED: . 06:34 EST, 16 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 07:47 EST, 16 August 2013 . Two brazen thieves were caught on camera lounging on a sofa while swigging stolen wine after breaking into a house in broad daylight. Craig Law, 34, and Luke Smith, 22, can be clearly seen on the footage searching the front room of the house in Dudley, Birmingham, before complaining there's nothing to steal from the property. They call the owner ‘cheap’ and whinge that they will only get ‘a tenner’ for the Freesat box. The pair were caught on police cameras . which had been set up in the property, a decoy house to catch burglars, . which is one of many houses, sheds and garages in the area being used to . ‘blitz’ crime in the West Midlands. Scroll down to watch video . Caught on camera: Luke Smith, 22, pictured left holding a stolen bottle of wine and Freesat box, and Craig Law, 34, pictured right, were both filmed breaking in to a property before complaining there wasn't much to steal . Brazen: Craig Law, 34, then decided to take a few minutes to relax on the sofa while swigging wine stolen from the kitchen - before tipping it over the floor when he realised it had been filled with water . The 34-year-old then disappears from the screen before returning with a wine bottle and plonks himself down on the sofa. The thief then opens the bottle of wine before complaining it has been filled with water and chucks it on the floor. He then tries to wipe off his fingerprints with his top. Eventually Smith, in a coat, suggests they should leave before neighbours raise the alarm. Law, 34, who lived in the same street as the targeted house, was arrested within hours of the offence on 24 June. Complaining: The pair can be heard on the video footage calling the owner of the property in Dudley, Birmingham, cheap while whinging they will only get a' tenner' for the Freesat box . In no rush: Craig Law can be seen sitting on the sofa in the property - apparently unconcerned about being caught by the owners . Smith handed himself in weeks later - bringing the Freesat box with him. Law was jailed for eight months and Smith was given a ten-week suspended sentence after both pleaded guilty to burglary last month. Sergeant Matt Morgan, from Dudley CID, said: 'The pair were completely unaware that their every move was being filmed by the cameras that were dotted around the property. 'We are using more and more of these sites to catch unsuspecting thieves - houses, sheds garages and outbuildings can be fitted with equipment which is portable and easy to install, meaning any property in a burglary hot spot area can be quickly converted to capture thieves. Ignorant bliss: The pair eventually decide its time to leave - completely unaware that everything has been caught on camera . In court: Craig Law was jailed for eight months while Luke Smith was given a 10-week suspended sentence for burglary . 'The cameras also work on infra-red meaning we can download clear images - even ones filmed at night. 'We also work with the local community to reduce the likelihood of being a victim of crime in the first place and officers continue to offer crime prevention advice and encourage people to register property through the online property recording website immobilise. 'As police officers we see the negative impact crime can have on, not only people’s property but also their sense of safety and their quality of life. That is why we will relentlessly pursue burglars and ensure they are brought before the courts.'
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Craig Law, 34, and Luke Smith, 22, broke into decoy home set up by police .
They were caught on hidden cameras lazing around the property and drinking wine while whinging there was nothing to steal .
Law was jailed for eight months while Smith was given an eight month suspended sentence .
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Nigerian women are being trafficked to Italy hoping for a better life – but often end up working the streets as prostitutes. Their plight has been highlighted by Paris-based photographer Elena Perlino, originally from Italy, who began to notice the presence of young African women working on the streets during her commutes from Turin. She said: 'I decided to start from this surreal vision to tell a story. I have been working on the topic for several years, focusing mainly on the Italian connection.' Police control find a Nigerian woman working as a prostitute in the outskirt of Turin . Nigerian woman Fatima shows the scars on her body due to vicious fighting with collegues working as prostitutes in the outskirts of Acerra . A Nigerian in Italy waits for a client in the countryside during the winter season . A Nigerian cultural mediator offers condoms and psychological support to some of the younger prostitutes working close to Acerra . Perlino reveals that many Nigerian women come to Italy hoping to make enough money to support their families back home, but often they get trapped or tricked by traffickers into working in the sex trade. Arrests, violence and abuse often follow. Traffickers demand on average more than 50,000 euros (US $60,000) for travel expenses and accommodation, with the women having to work as prostitutes until their debts are paid off. As Claudio Magnabosco, former official of the European Parliament, explained: 'The women are still coming: they are younger than ever and arrive here with massive debts to pay off. 'They are forced into prostitution and are now increasingly reinventing themselves as madams or working for the traffickers, also trafficking men, children for adoptions and organs and drug dealing. 'These are the activities of the powerful Nigerian mafia, which is also involved in arms dealing. What has changed is that the madams are now less violent towards the girls, having understood that if they mistreat them the girls run away: the girls forced into the sex industry now get to keep a little of the money they earn and this makes their lives a little bit more tolerable. 'As they cannot find a real way out, they get used to life as prostitutes and prostitution becomes their only source of income.' Nigerian women working as prostitutes in the North area of Turin . Nigerian women in a Catholic shelter for victims of trafficking . A Nigerian woman in a temporary detention centre . Italian police review the documents of a Nigerian woman working as a prostitute . A Nigerian woman, working as a prostitute in the countryside, is taken to a police station because she was found without a passport . A Nigerian called Faith having a blood test at the Amedeo di Savoia Hospital in Turin . Eighty per cent of women trafficked to Italy come from Benin City, Edo State, in south Nigeria. The photographer explained: ‘My work attempts to show a complex phenomenon that crosses Italy from North to South. ‘This involves many cities including Turin, Milan, Genoa, Rome, Naples and Palermo and thousands of Nigerian and Italian people.’ The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime declared Nigeria among the top eight countries with the highest human trafficking rates in the world. This photograph shows a Nigerian woman waiting for a client in the summer season . A Nigerian woman commuting between Turin and Milan on the 4am train .
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Nigerian women trafficked to Europe are often forced into the sex trade .
Traffickers force them into prostitution to pay back debts .
Their plight has been highlighted by photographer Elena Perlino .
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Bare legs are a badge of honour in the cycling world – a sign that you have finally joined the ranks of elite bikers. Until now it wasn't known whether shaving your calves really made you any more of a contender for the Tour de France. But a recent study has found that, far from being a bizarre trend, there may be a scientific basis to picking up the razor before cycling. Scroll down for video . A recent study has found that, far from being a bizarre trend, there may be a scientific basis to picking up the razor before cycling. Earlier this year, California-based manufacturer, Specialised Bicycle Components, posted a video claiming that shaving legs could reduce drag by seven per cent. That means a cyclist can exert 15 watts less power and still go at the same speed. The saving is equivalent to changing from a round-tube frame to an aero-style one. ‘We were shocked,’ Mark Cote, who heads aerodynamics at the firm, toldOutside magazine. ‘The numbers dropped so much it set my b******* meter off. I had to immediately check the equipment to make sure it was real.’ Doctors have reported a sharp rise in the number of men wanting cosmetic treatment to have unsightly thread veins removed from their legs. In the three months following Bradley Wiggins’ Tour De France victory in July, 10,000 new members joined Cycling UK, donned their lycra and took to the roads. However, many also decided to replicate their cycling heroes by shaving their legs. These unsuspecting men were surprised to discover red and blue thread veins previously hidden by the hairs on their legs. Thread veins are typically thin spidery veins which are prominent and can be unsightly. Dr Peter Finigan, specialist thread vein practitioner at Dr Newmans Clinic, a nationwide doctor-led consultancy which specialises solely in removing thread veins, has treated more than 50 male cyclists since September 2012 at his practice in Manchester. The reports emerged not long after doctors noted a sharp rise in the number of men requesting cosmetic treatment to reduce the effect of 'drinker’s nose' - unsightly thread veins on the face often blamed on heavy drinking. The experiment began when pro-triathlete Jesse Thomas showed up for a tunnel testing session with very hairy legs. His legs were so hairy, that the Specialised Bicycle team placed him on the high-end of something they called the ‘Chewbacca Scale.’ As a joke, he decided to shave his legs and see how much time it knocked off during his tests in the wind tunnel. ‘For me, a half Ironman is a four-hour race, and the winning margin can often be less than a minute, even 30 seconds,’ Mr Thomas told Jason Gay at Wall Street Journal. ‘If you can find something that shaved 15 seconds or 30 seconds - or maybe a minute or two - is huge.’ The experiment began when pro-triathlete Jesse Thomas (pictured) showed up for a tunnel testing session . Mr Thomas' legs were so hairy, that the Specialised Bicycle team placed him on the high-end of something they called the ‘Chewbacca Scale'
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The test was done by pro-triathlete Jesse Thomas in a wind tunnel .
After shaving his legs, he reduced his drag by around seven per cent .
That means cyclist can exert 15 watts less power and go at same speed .
‘For me, a half Ironman is a four-hour race, and the winning margin can often be less than a minute, even 30 seconds,’ said Mr Thomas .
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Editor's note: Maury Klein is professor emeritus of history at the University of Rhode Island. He is the author of 15 books, including "Rainbow's End: The Crash of 1929" and most recently "The Power Makers: Steam, Electricity, and the Men Who Made Modern America." Historian Maury Klein says it's important to remember that psychology plays a huge role in financial markets. (CNN) -- Friday marks the 79th anniversary of the day that launched the stock market crash of 1929. As an unprecedented wave of selling threw the floor of the New York Stock Exchange into pandemonium on a day that became known as Black Thursday, a show of organized support by a coterie of leading bankers halted the panic. But on the following Monday, the market collapsed in a tsunami of selling. Every intense convulsion of the stock market raises primal fears spawned by the Great Crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression, which dragged on for a full decade and has haunted Americans ever since. The Panic of 2008 is no exception. In the past year, the market's fall has at times rivaled that of 1929. Are there connections or similarities between those earlier national traumas and our current crisis? First some facts about that earlier experience. The Great Crash and the Great Depression were two separate events. The Crash was a financial panic, the Depression an economic downturn. The one does not necessarily lead to the other; the market has collapsed several times in American history without bringing on a depression. Great Depression holds lessons for surviving a tough economy . The Crash began in October 1929, and the worst of it was over in three weeks; the Depression did not fasten itself on the nation for another year. To this day, the connection between them remains unclear, which makes it difficult to draw lessons or analogies from them. The Dow plunged 39 percent between October 23 and November 13, 1929, but it regained 74 percent of that loss by March 1930. Only when the economy failed to gain momentum in the spring did the market slip back. By fall the country had slipped into a depression, and the market resumed a downward course that did not touch bottom until July 1932. It did not again return to the levels of 1929 until 1954. The Depression did not end until increased military spending revived the economy in the spring of 1940. The bull market of the 1920s was unique in that it marked the first time large numbers of ordinary people participated. The market moved from Wall Street to Main Street and aroused intense interest even among people who were not active in it. The new investors, or "fish" as the pros called them, were prone to panic when the market fell sharply. Could it happen again? History never repeats itself, but historical patterns do -- though always in a new context. Here are just a few of the similarities and differences between the earlier crisis and its modern version. During the 1920s, the financial industry underwent a great expansion, bringing into the business many inexperienced people and new investment vehicles -- most notably the investment trust, the forerunner of the modern mutual fund. Nobody knew what impact they would have on the market with their buying and selling on a large scale. The business world hailed the 1920s as the "New Era," one with new rules in which the old pattern of cyclical depressions would no longer occur and prosperity would be continuous. Compare this delusion with the "New Economy" of the 1990s. The 1920s marked the beginning of the consumer economy, and with it a broad expansion of credit. Installment buying made its debut on a large scale. Credit also was used to buy stocks on margin, greatly increasing the market's volume and volatility. The banking system was shaky throughout the 1920s, and failures escalated steadily after 1929. The Crash exposed many cases of fraud that led to investigations and passage of the most significant banking reform in American history. The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., or FDIC, gave rise to the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, and separated investment banks from commercial banks. The latter reform was repealed in 1999, giving banks free rein to perform both activities once again. Some differences between the eras are worth noting. Prior to 1933, the federal government played virtually no active role in relieving the banking crisis of the 1920s. The stock market did not have giant institutional buyers moving huge blocks of stock. Nor did it operate on a global scale, though it was deeply influenced by international events. After the crash, the banks had plenty of money to lend but no takers, the opposite of today's situation. Deflation became the mortal enemy as people removed their cash from banks and hoarded it. A familiar pattern emerged from these events. Business and the Republican Party in the 1920s demanded and got a "free" market unrestrained by government. Neither Wall Street nor the New York Stock Exchange was regulated by the government. The resulting disaster prompted outraged demands that Washington "do something." Regulation was then forthcoming. Later, as prosperity returned and the market began soaring, the restraints were gradually removed and the pattern of excess began anew until it collapsed once again in our own time. With the fall comes renewed pleas for government to "do something." Finally, it is important to remember that psychology plays a huge role in financial markets. Every panic has been at bottom a crisis of confidence. So too with the economy. As Frederick Lewis Allen observed, "Prosperity is more than an economic condition; it is a state of mind." The trick is always to find out what exactly is needed to restore it. We are still fishing for the answer to that riddle. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Maury Klein.
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Maury Klein: The 1929 market crash and the Depression were separate events .
Many financial panics have not led to depressions, Klein says .
Before 1933, the government wasn't active in trying to save banks, he says .
After crisis, people demanded regulation, which eventually faded, Klein says .
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By . Ruth Styles . PUBLISHED: . 11:57 EST, 11 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:57 EST, 11 October 2013 . If you are faced with a dirty floor but don't have the energy to clean it, Japanese company Sugoi might just have the solution you've been searching for. The RC Sugoi Mop works like a regular mop but is operated by remote control, which means you can clean the floor from the comfort of your sofa. Amazingly, the robo-mob, which comes in colourful canary yellow plastic, costs just £19 - similar to traditional mops and far less than high-tech steam versions. Scroll down for video . Dream clean for lazy people: The RC Sugoi Mop is remote controlled and lets you clean the floor from the comfort of your sofa . For those with a smaller space to clean, the mop also comes in a mini version for £18, available in a choice of pink, purple, orange, green and black. And if one remote controlled kitchen gadget isn't enough to satisfy your technological cravings, the company also makes a remote controlled dustbin - seen zooming around like a mini R2D2 in Sugoi's promotional video. Bizarre though the mop might seem, it's not the first automatic floor cleaning product on the market. Robotic vacuum cleaners, that zoom around a room cleaning a floor at the touch of a button, have been around for years. Although they have not taken off to replace the traditional vacuum, the makers of the robo-mop have not been deterred. The invention is arguably more useful than other gadgets that have come from of Japan in recent years. The country is famous for its technological creations, among them the 'crisp picker-upper' immortalised by An Idiot Abroad star Karl Pilkington during an episode set in Japan. Colourful: Sugoi's time saving gizmo also comes in an £18 mini version that works similarly to the original . Other wacky inventions include the Ear Wax Camera, a tiny camcorder designed to be inserted into the ear to check for wax deposits and the Slim Mouth Piece intended to reduce the size of your mouth. For beauty conscious women with a shaky hand, there's the lipstick mask, which, when laid over the mouth, acts as a template for clumsy lipstick fans. More useful, particularly for those living in the UK and Republic of Ireland, is the full body umbrella which combines a brolly with a tube of clear PVC that extends to the feet - ideal for driving rain. Less so are the odd Pee and Poo dolls - designed to resemble the contents of your toilet - and the unwieldy Swiss Army shovel, which combines a spade with a rake, clippers and a pickaxe. And action! The mop works equally well on rubbish and spillages according to the rather odd promotional video .
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The time-saving RC Sugoi mop is operated by remote control .
A mini version is also available and comes in an array of hues .
The Japanese company behind it also makes a remote controlled bin .
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(CNN) -- At first glance, the death of Trayvon Martin seemed to be a straightforward example of ugly, racial conflict resulting in the killing of an innocent black teenager by a white man, George Zimmerman. But now, as evidence continues to come forward, the facts seem much more complicated and the "obvious truth" premature. At first, it was thought that Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, was the aggressor because he followed Martin, got into a physical scuffle with him and shot him. But then, some witnesses claim that Martin attacked Zimmerman first, and the initial police report said that Zimmerman had blood on his nose and the back of his head after the incident. However, surveillance video footage that surfaced from the police station is leading to questions about the extent of Zimmerman's injuries. To make matters more complex, we found out that in the past several months, Martin was suspended from school three times, once for the possession of drug paraphernalia. The Miami Herald reported that in the gated community in which Zimmerman patrolled, there were eight burglaries, nine thefts and one shooting in the past year. Neighbors of Zimmerman described him as being passionate about security and credit him with thwarting and cracking some crimes. It was also revealed that Zimmerman identified himself as a Hispanic and was a registered Democrat. The facts are confounding and inconclusive. But the tendency in the first days by some, including Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and an angry chorus of followers, was to rush to judgment with little regard for fairness, due process, or respect for the terrible death of a young man. A mob mentality seems to be in the ascendancy. The New Black Panther Party offered a bounty for Zimmerman's capture. Jackson said that Martin's death shows how "blacks are under attack" and "targeting, arresting, convicting blacks and ultimately killing us is big business." Apart from the obvious incendiary nature of such comments, what in heaven's name could Jackson mean? Spike Lee fueled the flames by tweeting Zimmerman's home address, which turned out to be the wrong address and resulted in an older couple fleeing from their home and fearing for their lives after threats and crowds outside their residence. Lee, realizing his folly, has since apologized to the couple. These actions and words illustrate a problem in dealing with Martin's death: Many people are not on an impartial hunt for justice but are exploiting this crisis for personal or political gain and claiming that it is representative of larger societal problems. MSNBC political analyst and Democratic fundraiser Karen Finney blamed Martin's death on Republicans. She said, "[Republican politicians] reinforce and validate old stereotypes that associate the poor and welfare as criminal behavior with African-Americans and people of color, calling us lazy, undeserving recipients of public assistance. In the case of Trayvon, those festering stereotypes had lethal consequences." Martin's own mother, Sybrina Fulton, filed applications for trademarks on two of the popular phrases used at rallies for Martin, "I Am Trayvon" and "Justice for Trayvon." Democrats politicized the event with a hearing on Capitol Hill in which Martin's parents testified. Later, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Illinois, wore a hoodie on the House floor. It's clear that some of the people raising the most noise are trying to make this less about the horrible death of a young man and more about claims of racial resentment that may or may not exist. The loudest voices should be particularly careful not to rush to conclusions. Remember the Duke lacrosse case, in which members of the team were accused of a gang rape. The public rushed to judgment long before the young men were eventually acquitted. Zimmerman may or may not be guilty; there may or may not be racial motivations. We do not know yet. In the absence of complete evidence, inflammatory comments and belligerent reactions will not aid the search for justice. An angry crowd should not be in charge. Lastly, why is there so much selective outrage on the part of so many? The leading cause of death for black male teenagers is homicide, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Of all the black homicide victims, about 93% are killed by other black people. In 2011, nearly 85% of all people murdered in Philadelphia were black. Where are the marches and protests for these victims? Is it justice people seek or are they looking and even hoping for signs of white racism so they can exploit it? In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, "Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust." While we wait and respect due process of law, we should do our part to uplift human personality. We can do so by giving both Martin and Zimmerman a just weighing of the evidence, both in the court of law and public opinion. Let us not assume the worst of anybody but be guided by the facts. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of William J. Bennett.
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William Bennett: The death of Trayvon Martin is much more complex than first thought .
Bennett: Some are not looking for justice, but are exploiting this terrible death .
He says we don't know if Zimmerman is guilty or if racism was a motivating factor .
Bennett: We should not rush to conclusions, and should be guided by the facts .
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By . Victoria Woollaston . PUBLISHED: . 10:40 EST, 18 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 14:32 EST, 18 September 2013 . BlackBerry's new Z30 handset, pictured, has a 5-inch touchscreen, 25-hour battery life and new antenna designed for low-signal areas . BlackBerry has officially unveiled its next-generation touchscreen smartphone as it ramps up attempts to claw back its share of the market. Over the past year, BlackBerry has lost 7.5 per cent of its share in the UK to rivals Android, iOS and Windows Phone. The BlackBerry Z30 comes with a 5-inch screen and the largest battery ever to be built into a BlackBerry handset, which the company claims makes the device last for around 25 hours. New antenna technology has also been added, designed to boost signal in areas where reception is low. BlackBerry’s announcement comes just days before Apple’s new iPhones hits shelves on Friday. Findings from market research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech show BlackBerry was the third most popular operating system this time last year. However, the Candian-based firm now owns just 3.5 per cent of the share in the UK, down from 11 per cent. With the majority of rivals releasing full-touchsreen devices, BlackBerry has had to take a further step away from its trademark physical QWERTY design seen on previous models. The five-inch Super AMOLED Display is . powered by a 1.7 GHz processor with quadcore graphics that 'makes . browsing web pages faster and games more detailed.' BlackBerry's Z30 also has the firm's Priority Hub built in, which works in a similar way to the notification centres of Android and iOS but with more advanced features. Scroll down for video . The Z30 handset, pictured, is the second full touchscreen device to be sold by BlackBerry. The Canadian-based firm is hoping the device will boost flagging sales. Findings from market research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech show BlackBerry now owns just 3.5 per cent of the share in the UK, down from 11 per cent . In the UK, Android has 55.2 per cent of the market share. This is ahead of iOS with 31.1 per cent. Windows Phone makes up 9.2 per cent of smartphone OS sales - up from 4.2 per during the same period last year. BlackBerry now accounts for 3.5 per cent, down from 11 per cent last year. For example, the hub is said to be . able to find and filter messages from a person's favourite contacts by . 'learning what conversations and what people are important'. In . theory, the more a phone is used, the better the hub becomes at knowing . which messages should be flagged and which can wait. This includes post . and messages across social networks. BlackBerry Messenger conversations now appear in any app. Users can swipe to dismiss them, or click to open them in the BBM app. The new antenna on the BlackBerry Z30 is said to tune reception in low-signal areas to make sure the user gets the fastest speeds possible. BlackBerry also claims that the new technology means fewer dropped calls. Elsewhere, the handset has a 2880 mAh battery - dubbed 'the largest battery ever built into a BlackBerry smartphone' - and combined with battery enhancements made to the BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2, is said to be capable of lasting up to 25 hours. VIDEO: BlackBerry's new Z30 handset . Carlo Chiarello, for BlackBerry, said: 'The new BlackBerry Z30 smartphone builds on the solid foundation and engaging user experience of the BlackBerry 10 platform with features like the powerful BlackBerry Hub, its exceptional touchscreen keyboard and industry leading browser. 'The smartphone rounds out the BlackBerry 10 portfolio and is designed for people looking for a smartphone that excels at communications, messaging and productivity. 'Having apps like the full Documents To Go suite that comes pre-installed, together with its 5” touch display, the BlackBerry Z30 smartphone gives you a best in class productivity experience on the go.' The Z30 will be available from select networks and retailers in the UK and Middle East from the beginning of next week. It will then be rolled out to other regions before the end of the year.
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The Z30 has a 5-inch screen and the 'largest every battery in a BlackBerry'
New antenna technology said to boost signal in places with poor reception .
Priority Hub collects messages from favourite contacts in one place .
BlackBerry hoping to recoup market share in UK after losing 7.5% in a year .
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Australians who join forces with Islamic State are being used as 'cannon fodder' by militants, the government has warned. Around a quarter of those who have fled to the Middle East to fight with Islamic State have been killed, as new warnings say that key battlegrounds such as the town of Kobane on the Turkish-Syrian border are fast becoming 'graveyards' for naive foreign fighters. The Australian reported that five or six Australians have been killed in Kobane in recent weeks, as Attorney General George Brandis revealed those who travel to fight with IS are being misled about their role. Scroll down for video . Queensland man Zia Abdul Haq (right), 33, was reportedly killed while fighting with IS in October . 'They (Islamic State) are simply using them as frontline cannon fodder, suicide bombers and propaganda tools,' Senator Brandis told The Australian. He also revealed that the death toll for Australian fighters had risen since last count in September by ASIO, one of those being that of Mohamed Ali Baryalei - a senior Islamic State recruiter. 'The government is aware of around 20 Australians who have died in the conflict in Syria and Iraq', Senator Brandis said. Ginger Jihadi Abdullah Elmir has appeared in two propaganda videos released by Islamic State . Around 20 Australians have now been killed in Iraq and Syria, such as senior IS recruiter Mohamed Ali Baryalei . It is understood nearly 100 Australians are now fighting in Syria and Iraq, such as Khaled Sharrouf (right) The war is fast turning into one of propaganda and publicity, and IS is said to be deliberately exploiting Western recruits by leading them to believe they are crucial to the fight. Queensland man Zia Abdul Haq, 33, is one of the most recent casualties, killed while fighting with IS in October. Around 90 Australians are believed to be still fighting in the area including Australian-born ginger jihadist Abdullah Elmir who has appeared in two propaganda videos released by Islamic State. The 17-year-old, who grew up in Bankstown in Sydney's west, is seen in the latest video on the banks of the river Tigris, surrounded by dozens of men dressed in black wielding weapons. The production, titled An Evening On The Banks Of The Tigris River In The Province Of Nineveh In The Islamic State, is more than six minutes long and shows throngs of militants praying and chanting. Mohamed Elomar was a champion boxer before he joined the brutal Islamic State . Elomar gained notoriety after he tweeted pictures of the severed heads of Syrian soldiers. Professor Greg Barton, from Monash University's Global Terrorism Research Centre, said Elmir was recruited by another wanted terrorist, Mohammad Ali Baryalei, an Australian based in Syria. He said terror recruiters lured targets by making friends through social media, like many sexual predators. He said the boy appeared as a 'pawn in the machine' in the first chilling video. Elmir is not the only Aussie jihadist to have been used for Islamic State publicity. Sydney friends Mohamed Elomar and Khaled Sharrouf gained notoriety after they tweeted pictures of the severed heads of Syrian soldiers. Former boxer Elomar, the son of a successful 1970s Lebanese migrant, previously appeared on pay-per-view TV while championing at the combat sport. This year the 30-year-old’s smiling face was splashed across the news as he held up decapitated heads in Syria and threatened Australia with a terrorist attack. Sharouff a former Sydney resident, is thought to be fighting with IS and took his young sons to the Middle East with him . Sharrouf will be arrested on terrorism-related charges if he ever returns to Australia . Elomar and Sharrouf – who posted a photo on his Twitter account showing his seven-year-old son holding a severed head - are fighting with the al-Qaeda off-shoot and will be arrested on terrorism-related charges if they ever return to Australia. After one Twitter user told him not to come back, he replied: 'No u idiot injured, dnt worry wouldn't want to go bk u should be more worried about wats coming to australia! [sic]' Meanwhile, there are also reports that 20 fighters have returned home. An Australian man who has spent time on the frontline in Syria supported Senator Brandis' comments. Yehye El Kholed has been on numerous humanitarian trips to the area and warned that Australians were dying for the 'pride' of the leader of Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Kholed also echoed the claims that Western fighters were being deliberately misled, saying many militants often do not even know who they're fighting. The Australian government has warned Australians who flee to fight with Islamic State are being treated as expendable by the militants . Around 90 Australians are believed to be still fighting in the area, and there are also reports that 20 fighters have returned home . Militant Islamist fighters take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province in June .
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Western foreign fighters are being treated as expendable by Islamic State .
At least 20 Australians who fled to fight with the militants have now died .
Attorney General George Brandis has warned they are simply being used as 'cannon fodder'
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(CNN) -- President Barack Obama Tuesday delivered his second back-to-school message to the nation's students -- an event marked by far less controversy than the first time around. The speech -- delivered to a thunderous round of applause from students at Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- encouraged students to make the most of their educational opportunities. "Nobody gets to write your destiny but you," Obama said. "Your future is in your hands. Your life is what you make of it. And nothing -- absolutely nothing -- is beyond your reach, so long as you're willing to dream big, so long as you're willing to work hard, so long as you're willing to stay focused on your education -- there is not a single thing that any of you cannot accomplish." The president said education "never has been more important." "I'm sure there are going to be times in the months ahead when you're staying up late doing your homework or cramming for a test, or you're dragging yourself out of bed on a rainy morning and you're thinking, oh boy, I wish maybe it was a snow day," he said. "Let me tell you, what you're doing is worth it. ... Nothing is going to have as great an impact on your success in life as your education." Last year, his first as president, Obama's plan to deliver a similar message prompted an unexpected backlash from conservatives who worried he would push students to support his political agenda. However, the speech Obama delivered at a Virginia school included no political references and was welcomed by conservatives. This year's speech also focused on urging students to work hard in order to achieve their goals. "More and more, the kinds of opportunities that are open to you are going to be determined by how far you go in school," Obama said. "The farther you go in school, the farther you're going to go in life. And at a time when other countries are competing with us like never before ... your success in school is going to determine America's success in the 21st century." He called on students to meet their responsibilities for school by showing up on time, paying attention in class, doing their homework, studying for exams and staying out of trouble. "I wasn't always the best student when I was younger. I made my share of mistakes," Obama said, going on to describe a scolding from his mother about the need for more effort. "It was pretty jolting, hearing my mother say that," the president said. "But eventually, her words had their intended effect, because I got serious about my studies. I started to make an effort in everything I did. And I began to see my grades -- and my prospects -- improve. And I know that if hard work could make the difference for me, then it can make a difference for all of you." He also urged students to take on new challenges, with specific encouragement to rebound from disappointment and failure to try again. "So, what I want to say to every kid ... [is] that life is precious, and part of what makes it so wonderful is its diversity," the president said. "We shouldn't be embarrassed by the things that make us different. We should be proud of them. Because it's the things that make us different that make us who we are." Obama also announced a second "commencement challenge," where a high school making positive changes and advancements is selected by the White House to have the president deliver its graduation speech. Obama addressed graduates from a high school in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 2009. Some of the controversy surrounding the president's education address last year involved a proposed lesson plan created by the Education Department to accompany the speech. An initial version of the plan recommended that students draft letters to themselves discussing "what they can do to help the president." The letters "would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals," the plan stated. After the criticism from conservatives, the White House distributed a revised version encouraging students to write letters about how they can "achieve their short-term and long-term education goals."
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The president urges students to make the most of their education .
Obama announces a second "commencement challenge" for high school graduates .
Obama travels to Philadelphia for his second back-to-school speech .
Last year, conservatives worried Obama would push a political agenda .
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(CNN) -- Twenty-five years ago I read a newspaper article which said that one day, reused syringes would be one of the major causes of the spread of AIDS. I thought this was totally unacceptable and decided to do something about it. Sadly, it's come true. The toll from the reuse of syringes now exceeds that of malaria, with deaths due to this practice estimated at about 1.3 million each year. Every 24 seconds a child dies as a result of receiving an unsafe injection. The transmission method is crude -- blood-borne viruses are transmitted from patient to patient as body fluid is transferred by reusing a needle and syringe multiple times. In 1984 I was living in the Caribbean, sailing on yachts, almost waiting for inspiration. Then on a visit home, I read the article predicting the problem and my life changed instantly. For about 30 months, I studied all the areas related to the subject, and then it was clear what the ideal solution needed to be. My invention, the K1 Auto-Disable (AD) syringe, can only be used once and thereby helps stop the spread of blood-borne diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis. I set up Star Syringe to globally license K1. Fourteen licensees now distribute syringes to more than 70 countries, and from our sales figures, we can estimate that 9 million lives have been saved. This syringe is as cheap as all other standard syringes -- about 5 cents, a tenth of the cost of a Coca-Cola, to give you an idea -- but can only be used once and will lock and break if a doctor or nurse tries to reuse it. Outside of our 14 licensees, there are another 10 factories producing single-use syringes in different designs around the world. But an invention is only a starting point for change, and so in 2006 I set up the SafePoint Trust to generate awareness, petition for consistent regulation, and ensure compliance. (SafePoint takes care never to promote K1, which would benefit Star Syringe and its licensees. SafePoint does create awareness -- and so demand -- for AD syringes on a generic basis, and our mission is aligned with others who wish to bring about global adoption of safe injection practices.) We are a small but expanding team, and are incredibly proud to have single-handedly rolled out one of the largest global health campaigns ever, reaching an audience of over 500 million people in India in November 2008. This unprecedented awareness campaign included 14 press conferences attended by 250 newspapers; nationwide radio broadcasts (more than 10,000); and short film screenings on television (more than 5,000) and in 350 cinemas. It featured the moving story of Sachin, a little boy who contracted HIV through a reused syringe. As a result of this campaign, the Indian Health Ministry made it mandatory for all government health facilities to use AD syringes starting April 30, 2009. To ensure continuing momentum and build on the awareness from the previous activity, another campaign will run in India in April 2010, using shocking footage of syringes still being reused in some hospitals. We have a dedicated team in place that will launch a new campaign focused on Africa next year. Taking the lessons learned from the experience in India, and then adapting the framework to suit the different audience and their preferred media, we will initially focus on Swaziland, Tanzania, Nigeria and Ghana. If an injection is given safely, there is no risk of further infection and therefore there are no additional costs linked to further treatment for secondary, treatment-caused infection. Staff are happier and valuable bed space is kept free. Hospital staff have reported to my team that for every $1 they spend on 20 AD syringes, they can expect, typically, to save $280. Finally, I'm working to launch a new and distinctive LifeSaver logo. I'm asking other AD manufacturers to unite behind it and use it on their packaging, so that a safe injection can be immediately recognized, asked for and administered. Needle reuse is, for all practical purposes, effectively murder on a global scale. Medical practitioners are blindly giving unsafe injections because they don't have the resources to do otherwise, or they simply don't understand the consequences it can have. We need to push for change at the highest levels in society, government and right through to staff at the grassroots level. Bring it on! The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Marc Koska.
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Reuse of syringes costs an estimated 1.3 million lives a year, Marc Koska says .
Syringes can spread blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis, he says .
Koska says low-cost syringes that can be used only once are produced .
He says India has mandated use of auto-disable syringes in government facilities .
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Target Corp and Neiman Marcus are not the only U.S. retailers whose networks were breached over the holiday shopping season late last year, according to sources familiar with attacks on other merchants that have yet to be publicly disclosed.Smaller breaches on at least three other well-known U.S. retailers took place and were conducted using similar techniques as the one on Target, according to the people familiar with the attacks. Those breaches have yet to come to light. Also, similar breaches may have occurred earlier last year. Personal information: The attackers stole information including customers' credit card details . The sources said that they involved retailers with outlets in malls, but declined to elaborate. They also said that while they suspect the perpetrators may be the same as those who launched the Target attack, they cannot be sure because they are still trying to find the culprits behind all of the attacks. Law enforcement sources have said they suspect the ring leaders are from Eastern Europe, which is where most big cyber crime cases have been hatched over the past decade. Under attack: Neiman Marcus has also come forward to admit it too was a victim of cyber attacks . Only one well-known retailer, Neiman Marcus, has said that they too have been victim of a cyber attack since Target's December 19 disclosure that some 40 million payment card numbers had been stolen in a cyber attack. On Friday, Target said an investigation found that hackers stole the personal information of at least 70 million customers, including names, mailing addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses. Neiman Marcus said it was not sure if the breach was related to the Target incident. Theft: Target says that personal information including phone numbers and email and mailing addresses was stolen from as many as 70 million customers in its pre-Christmas data breach . Most states have laws that require companies to contact customers when certain types of personal information is compromised. In many cases the task of notification falls on the credit card issuer. Merchants are required to report breaches when certain types of personal information, including social security numbers are compromised. It was not immediately clear if that was the case with the retailers who were attacked around the same time as Target. The Secret Service and Department of Justice, which are investigating the Target breach, declined comment.
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Target and Neiman Marcus had their networks breached by cyber thieves who stole the credit card details of millions of customers .
According to sources close to the attacks, at least three other retailers were affected by security breaches .
The other stores attacked have not yet been made public .
Authorities believe the hackers are from Eastern Europe .
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By . Rachel Quigley . PUBLISHED: . 12:18 EST, 7 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 12:26 EST, 7 December 2012 . The mother of a woman who allegedly had a child with her father claims she tried to tell authorities about the incestuous relationship more than five years ago but was ignored. Vikki McConvey, from Bethel, Connecticut, said she went to police in January 2007 after she suspected there was more to her daughter Tiffany Hartford's relationship with George L. Sayers, 46, than just father and daughter. But she said police told her that because Tiffany was over 18 at the time, nothing could be done about it. The pair were charged on Monday with . third-degree sexual assault after DNA tests proved they are father and daughter and parents to their child. Related: Tiffany Hartford, 23, and George . Sayers, 46, of Bethel, Connecticut, were charged on Monday with . third-degree sexual assault. They lived in the same home with a number . of other relatives . Arrested: George Sayers, right, and his daughter Tiffany Hartford, 23, were charged on Monday with third-degree sexual assault after police discovered they had a child together . Ms McConvey said she moved back to Connecticut in 2006 so Tiffany could be near to her father who she hadn't seen since she was three years old. She broke up with Sayers in 1991. She wanted to list her as a runaway after Sayers took his daughter to Florida but again police said because she was 18 there was nothing they could do. 'I said to them, "Even if she was having . relations with her father?"' It was something McConvey suspected . 'because they insisted on sharing the same bed.' She also revealed to The News Times that Tiffany was abused for years by another person who was later prosecuted for the crime. 'That is why she turned out the way she is,' Ms McConvey said of the 23-year-old. Although she hadn't seen her daughter for several months before her arrest, McConvey said she instinctively knew something was wrong. 'It was just the way that they were always together. Like they both put on their Facebook pages that they were married but didn't mention who their spouses were,' she said. Reported: Hartford's ex-girlfriend went to police when she learned Sayers was selling videos of the former couple having sex when they were just 16 . Incest: Both Sayers and Hartford initially denied knowing they were father and daughter, but DNA tests confirmed this and that they had a son together . 'I didn't know what to think. I'd hope that it was just a father-and-daughter thing and nothing else. 'I tried to talk to Tiffany into coming home with me. She wouldn't. She wanted to get to know her father more, she told me.' The . couple were shopped to police this week by Tiffany's ex-girlfriend who . was angry that Sayers was selling pictures of sex videos of her. A search of Sayers' computer turned up similar images, as well as a commercial video of Hartford dressed in risque outfits and . posing in sexually provocative positions, crediting . him with being the producer, police said. Because she was over 16 when they were taken, they are not considered to be child porn. The father and daughter were also charged with obscenity and conspiracy. They have pleaded not guilty to all charges. Hartford, . who would introduce Sayers as her 'husband/father', told police she had . dreams of being a porn star - this was before she became pregnant with . her father's child. In separate interviews, both Sayers and Hartford initially denied knowing they were father and daughter, according to the NewsTimes, although Sayers said at one point he believed that Hartford was the daughter of his deceased brother, police said.
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Tiffany Hartford and her father George Sayers were arrested and charged with incest .
Prior to the arrest, Hartford wanted to become a porn star and had Sayers film videos and take pictures of she and her ex-girlfriend together .
Police started investigating the family when her ex-girlfriend complained that Sayers was trying to sell the videos and pictures without permission .
Sayers initially denied he was Hartford's father, said he didn't know what his relation was to her and even said his dead brother could be the dad .
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(CNN) -- Somalia's Al-Shabaab has brushed aside accusations from Human Rights Watch that the Islamist militia recruits child soldiers, saying that Islam considers people to be adults from the age of 15. "The allegations from Human Rights Watch say that Al-Shabaab recruits young children at the age of 14, 15 and 17 as soldiers. In Islam, a person becomes adult at the age of 15 so he or she must do what all other adults have to do,'' said Abu Musab, the group's military spokesman. ''If the territories of the Muslims are attacked, it is incumbent on the women and children to take up arms to fight the enemies, so we don't care what Human Rights Watch says,'' Abu Musab said, speaking to Alfurqan radio, which supports the group. Islamic scholars consider a boy becomes a man at 15, or even younger if signs of puberty appear before then. Human Rights Watch said this week that children as young as 10 increasingly face horrific abuse in war-torn Somalia as Al-Shabaab targets them to replenish its diminishing ranks of fighters. The Somali insurgent group's recruitment of child soldiers is not new, but the report said the scale of child abductions over the past two years is like nothing documented in the past. Shocking patterns have also emerged of children serving as human shields on the battlefields, according to the Human Rights Watch report released Tuesday. "We're beginning to see more and more instances where children are essentially being used as cannon fodder," Tirana Hassan of Human Rights Watch told CNN. The head of the Somali national army, Gen. Abdulkadir Ali Diini, said Wednesday the government does its best not to recruit children as soldiers. The government has discharged children who are mistakenly recruited, he told journalists in Mogadishu. Human Rights Watch charged in its report that Al-Shabaab fighters abduct young girls and boys from their homes or schools, in some cases taking entire classes. Children can be sent out to recruit other children, according to the organization. One survivor told Human Rights Watch a group of kids asked him to play football at a nearby field. When he arrived, he and others were gathered up and sent to training camps, the survivor told Human Rights Watch. The camps are places where children live in fear, said Hassan, an emergencies researcher for the international human rights group. "They see injured and dead fighters, many of them children, coming back from the battlefield," Hassan added. Recruits are taught to use weapons and to throw hand grenades and are subjected to a myriad of abuses, including rape, assault and forced marriages, according to Hassan. Dozens of recruits, mostly ages 14 to 17, are driven by truckloads to the front line, where they are told to jump out -- only to be mowed down by gunfire while Al-Shabaab fighters launch rockets from behind, according to Hassan. A 15-year-old boy recruited by Al-Shabaab from his school in Mogadishu in 2010 told Human Rights Watch that "out of all my classmates -- about 100 boys -- only two of us escaped, the rest were killed." "The children were cleaned off. The children all died and the bigger soldiers ran away," the youth told Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch also criticized Somalia's transitional government for not ending its use of child soldiers. "Al-Shabaab's horrific abuses do not excuse Somalia's Transitional Federal Government," said Zama Coursen-Neff, the group's deputy children's rights director. "The TFG should live up to its commitments to stop recruiting and using children as soldiers, and punish those who do." The 104-page report, released two days ahead of a Somalia conference hosted by the British government, grimly details countless violations against children based on more than 160 interviews conducted over two years with Somali youngsters who escaped from Al-Shabaab forces as well as parents and teachers who fled to Kenya. "For children of Somalia, nowhere is safe," Coursen-Neff said. On Thursday, senior representatives from more than 40 governments will converge on London in a diplomatic push to find political solutions to restore stability in Somalia. CNN's Jonathan Wald contributed to this report.
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Al-Shabaab says Islam considers people to be adults at the age of 15 .
The Somalia Islamists are responding to Human Rights Watch criticism .
The group says Al-Shabaab is using children as young as 10 as cannon fodder .
Somalia's government denies intentionally recruiting child soldiers .
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By . Bianca London . The infamous resort of Magaluf may be less than 12 miles away, but, as last night proved, royal . holidays on the Spanish party island of Mallorca tend to be more sedate. The Spanish . royals enjoyed the cultural side of the Balearic island in the beautiful city of Palma for dinner last night. Queen Letizia of Spain, her husband King Felipe and his mother, the former Queen Sofia, attended an official reception at the Almudaina Palace in Palma de Mallorca last night. Royal night out: Spanish King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and former Queen Sofia arrive at the Royal Palace of La Almudaina in Mallorca, Spain . Dressed in a stylish one-shoulder white crepe dress, the 41-year-old showcased her summer tan as she walked arm-in-arm with her husband along the cobbled streets in the pretty capital. The mother-of-two bared her toned legs in a pair of strappy gold sandals and wore her hair in its trademark loose style. Still so in love: The Royal King and Queen walked arm-in-arm as they arrived to meet locals and authorities at the Palace in the cultural centre of Palma . Stylish, as always: The 41-year-old Queen looked chic and elegant in a white knee-length dress and gold strappy sandals as she navigated the cobbled streets . Photocall: The Royals showed off their summer tans as they posed for snaps outside the Palace last night . Royal ladies: Queen Letizia of Spain (R) and Queen Sofia of Spain (L) show off their fashion credentials as they attend an official reception at the Almudaina Palace . Nice to meet you! Queen Letizia greets Air Europa's Juan Jose Hidalgo at the Royal Palace of La Almudaina . Meet and greet: Spanish King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and former Queen Sofia greet people during a meeting with local authorities and businessmen . Sofia of Spain, 75, looked younger than her years showcasing some serious style credentials in a floral co-ord and wedged sandals. The Royal trio were in good spirits as they greeted people during a meeting with local authorities and businessmen in the city centre. The Spanish royals, who have a house in Mallorca, spend most of the time on their yacht, Fortuna, and the . rest enjoying private dinners or wandering through the winding streets . of the pretty Mallorcan capital. Close: The mother and daughter-in-law showed their closeness as they enjoyed a quick chat . Stylish ladies: Sofia of Spain opted for a colourful co-ord while Letizia played it safe in chic white . Family night out: The Royal trio looked smart and chic as they enjoyed a night out in the city centre of Palma . Night off: The couple's two young daughters stayed at home while the loved-up husband and wife enjoyed a night out . Combining work and pleasure: The royal pair are expected to travel to other parts of the island with Pollença in the north and the wine-growing town of Felanitx among likely destinations . Although, . unlike the Queen's summer residence Balmoral, the Marvient is publicly . owned, the royals' Mallorcan holiday is considered family time and . rarely do visiting heads of state get to see inside. One . group of visitors who did get to see inside, however, were the Prince . of Wales and the late Princess Diana, who joined the Spanish royals for a . holiday in Mallorca in 1988. While . Queen Letizia and King Felipe won't be getting a visit from the British . royals this summer, they will be spending time with their daughters and . splashing around in the sea. Although . a visit to Magaluf is unlikely, the royal pair are expected to travel . to other parts of the island with Pollença in the north and the . wine-growing town of Felanitx among likely destinations. Elegant: The stylish Queen is yet to make a fashion faux pas and has fast become the most trend-setting Royal in the world . Home from home: The Spanish royals will be spending their holiday in their Palma de Mallorca royal residence .
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Trio attended an official reception at the Almudaina Palace in Palma de Mallorca .
Met local authorities at the Palace .
Queen Letizia, 41, looked elegant in a white dress .
Sofia of Spain, 75, opted for a colourful co-ord .
Royals been enjoying holiday in Mallorca, where they have a house .
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(CNN) -- Before she was a princess, she was a child - shy but affectionate, respectful but mischievous. Diana Spencer, shown on her first birthday, grew up at Park House, a country estate leased from the royal family. Ten years after the death of Princess Diana, two women who helped raise the future princess are providing a new, intimate portrait of the girl who would become the "People's Princess." Diana Frances Spencer was born into a life of privilege. She grew up at Park House, a country home leased from the royal family's Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England. Her parents, Johnnie and Frances Spencer, were well-known members of the English aristocracy. Inge Crane came to Park House as an au pair when Diana was just 3 years old. "There's always been something special about Park House. It's difficult to put a finger on what it is," she said in her first interview, given exclusively to CNN. Life at the house wasn't entirely normal -- the queen's estate was about a mile away, and the young Princes Andrew and Edward (Diana's future in-laws) frequently visited to swim in the pool. When the butler would ring the gong for dinner, the children would rush to the stairs, slide down the wooden banister and run into the dining room. Despite growing up in the shadows of royalty, Crane and Mary Clarke, Diana's nanny starting at age 9, describe an "ordinary" childhood for Diana, a tomboy who loved going outdoors, climbing trees and playing with animals. "She was quite a lovable child," Crane said. "She was very, very cuddly." Watch Crane share her memories of the young Diana » . Inside Park House, however, the marriage of Diana's parents was falling apart. The divorce was finalized in 1969. Clarke said the failed marriage had a resounding effect on Diana. "When Diana walked towards me at school, she had these downcast eyes," Clarke said of their first meeting, when Diana was just 9. Diana's broken home made her feel different from her classmates, Clarke said. Divorce was uncommon at that time in England. Even more unusual -- Diana's father got custody of their four children. Nearly 40 years later, Clarke still remembers their first conversation. "She said, 'I will never marry unless I'm really in love because if you're not in love, you're going to get divorced -- and I never intend to be divorced,' " Clarke said. "This was quite a profound statement for a little girl to come out with." "Diana's dreams all through her childhood really were just to be happily married and to have a large family," Clarke said. Her dream, specifically, was to marry Prince Charles, 12 years her elder. While other 13-year-olds loved pop stars, Diana's boarding school room was decorated with pictures of Charles. See family photos as CNN's Soledad O'Brien recounts friends' stories of Diana » . The young child's dreams seemingly came true when she married him just seven years later, but, like her parents' relationship, her marriage unraveled. From that first candid conversation about her aspirations, Clarke and the future princess of Wales connected. "We always clicked from the word go," Clarke said. "We worked together as a team." Clarke had heard rumors about a mischievous Diana -- how a flurry of nannies had come and gone, including the one she locked in a bathroom. But, Clarke said, the Diana she knew never gave her "any headaches whatsoever." Clarke, who was 21 and had no previous experience, was given "sole charge" of Diana and her younger brother Charles. Diana often helped around the house and was especially nurturing toward Charles. Charles would describe his sister as the "very essence of compassion" at her funeral. Diana's motherly instincts were evident as she matured. As a teenager, she would become a nanny, then an assistant kindergarten teacher, and then a mother of two sons, William and Harry. Clarke remembers observing Diana's impartial love at a young age. She played with children from royalty as well as children from the village. "They were all treated completely as equals, which is why I feel that in Diana's adult life, she ... found it so easy to interact and to mix with everyone, because to her, each person was an individual," Clarke said. Diana would become famous for that openness. She was photographed holding hands with a patient who was HIV positive in 1987 -- when many still believed the virus could be spread by touch. Diana devoted herself to her volunteer work, visiting the sick and campaigning for an international ban on landmines. Even as a teenager visiting patients at a mental hospital, she bonded with people -- ordinary people, disabled people -- in a way no other student could. In his funeral oration, Charles said his sister told him "it was her innermost feelings of suffering that made it possible for her to connect with her constituency of the rejected." She remained, he said, a "very insecure person at heart." As the Princess of Wales, Diana captivated the world with the same qualities that stood out to her nannies -- her affection, her vulnerability and her private misery. These qualities changed the face of the monarchy, and they keep the shy girl from a broken home just as much in the public eye, a decade after her death. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Soledad O'Brien contributed to this report .
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Princess Diana was born into life of privilege but grew up in broken home .
At 9, Diana told her nanny, "I never intend to be divorced"
Diana had a crush on Prince Charles when she was 13 .
The future princess's openness, vulnerability evident from an early age .
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A week after veteran CBS news correspondent Steve Kroft admitted to a lengthy affair with a much younger New York City attorney, a snap has emerged of the pair together last month. Standing awkwardly on a Manhattan street on December 17, the 69-year-old newsman can be seen looking at his lover, 41-year-old Lisan Goines, who is grinning back at him - just blocks from the Upper West Side home he shares with his wife, Jennet Conant, author of 'A Covert Affair'. The pair, who are both married, met for drinks at the five-star Essex Hotel and were later seen kissing in the back of a cab, according to the National Enquirer. Kroft has admitted to the affair, calling it 'a serious lapse in personal judgment' after the magazine revealed that the duo had carried on a three-year relationship and published their raunchy texts. Scroll down for video . Together: Steve Kroft is pictured with his attorney lover Lisan Goines in New York City on December 17. The CBS news correspondent has admitted to the affair, calling it a 'serious lapse of personal judgment' 'My wife and I are committed to each other and are working hard to get past this,' he told the New York Post. The 60 Minutes correspondent, who is married with one son, and Goines hooked up in hotels across Manhattan and Washington, D.C. after meeting at a bar in 2011, it reported. Kroft had spotted Goines - who was then engaged to be married - from across the room in the St Regis and went to talk to her and her friend. While her friend was using the restroom, 'Steve quickly told Lisan, "I have to see you again",' a source said. A few weeks later, they arranged to meet for cocktails and afterwards, he handed her a room key so he could be alone with her, convincing her he was in a sexless marriage, the Enquirer reported. Throughout their affair, Kroft and Goines exchanged a series of racy text messages, including one in which he told her he 'would rather be eating your pudding' than be at work. 'Don't work too hard this week bc I wanna wear you out afterward,' Goines reportedly replied. 'Mistress': 41-year-old Goines, who is also married, met 69-year-old Kroft in a hotel bar in 2011 . Together: Kroft, pictured with his wife in May 2014, said they were working hard to get past the affair . In another message, he told her: 'Miss you and all that goes with it. Especially my favorite tastes and colors... pink and brown,' according to the publication. He also asked her what her 'preference' would be, and she reportedly responded: 'U all over and deep inside of me,' she reportedly responded. Sources also revealed the couple's bedroom habits, including his use of Viagra and how he poured champagne in her behind before drinking it. But while their affair began at the $700-a-night Four Seasons hotel, it quickly lost its luxurious edge and went 'kind of low end', a source said. She would often meet him while he was working in Washington D.C. and once asked him to buy her a ticket, and he agreed but only footed the bill that once, the report added. 'The whole thing soured because she got to the point where it was only about Steve,' a source said. They added that Goines never had any intention of leaving her husband and did not want Kroft to leave his wife, so ended it - until they were spotted out in Manhattan together on December 17. Questions: Kroft, pictured left in 1992 with Al Gore (center) and Bill Clinton (right) famously confronted Clinton about his womanizing during an interview during his election campaign in 1992 . The reports come more than two decades after Kroft confronted Bill Clinton over his womanizing when he was Arkansas governor. He has been married to Conant, 55, for 23 years. She is a journalist and author of four books about World War II, including three New York Times bestsellers, including 'A Covert Affair: Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS'. The couple lives in New York and they have one son, John. Kroft joined CBS in 1980 and has been with 60 Minutes for 26 years. His reporting has earned him three Peabody Awards and nine Emmy awards, including a lifetime achievement award. He told the New York Post that his 'personal failure' has no impact on his job as a journalist. Watch full interview on CBS .
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CBS newsman Steven Kroft and Harvard-educated Lisan Goines were snapped outside a five-star hotel in Manhattan on December 17 .
He met her in a New York bar in 2011 and told her: 'I have to see you again'
They met in hotels across New York and Washington D.C.
In their racy text messages, he told her 'I would rather be eating your pudding' than working late, while she promised to 'wear him out afterward'
Kroft admitted to the 'serious lapse of personal judgment' and said that he and his wife, author Jennet Conant, were working to get past it .
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By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 07:42 EST, 11 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:38 EST, 11 November 2013 . David Cameron has taken personal charge of trying to avert an A&E winter crisis. The Prime Minister has ordered live updates on waiting times and treatments to ensure the NHS can cope with a surge in demand as temperatures fall. It follows warnings that the number of patients waiting up to 12 hours on trolleys has almost doubled in two years, with Labour seize on the figures to claim the health service is struggling to cope. Charge: David Cameron has asked for live updates on waiting times in the NHS . Downing Street has ordered unprecedented levels of planning for the winter, including £500million for the most stretched A&E departments to cope over the next two years. Dr Cliff Mann, president of the College of Emergency Medicine, which represents A&E doctors, warned last week: ‘All the worrying indicators are up already. And they seem to indicate that this winter will probably be worse than last winter, which was the worst we have ever had. It’s a tipping point for the NHS’s delivery of acute care. ‘It’s not chaos in emergency departments, but it is a crisis.’ The latest figures from NHS England, the body in charge of the health service, show there were 87,186 trolley waits of between four and 12 hours from April to October 2013. This figure is up from 47,644 for the same period in 2011. And the numbers having to wait up to four hours in A&E - the Government’s target time - has increased by 43 per cent in two years. However, the government insists that targets for 95 per cent of people to be seen within four hours is still being met, and the average waiting time in A&E is now 50 minutes, compared to 70 minutes under Labour. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has sought to blame GPs for not seeing patients out of hours, forcing many more to go to casualty departments. Mr Cameron is now ‘working very closely’ with Mr Hunt with ‘a particularly focus around A&E’, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said. ‘A&E departments can come under particular pressures during the winter period. He does want to and continues to be updated on the very latest available NHS performance statistics, including the A&E statistics.' Warning: Accident and emergency units across the country are at 'tipping point', senior doctors have warned . The spokesman added: ‘We know that A&E has seen 1.2million more people compared to three years ago, a significant increase. ‘Over the recent period the NHS A&E departments have been meeting the 95 per cent performance measure. ‘The Prime Minister has already announced across the next two years £500million of extra resources, particularly targeted at those trusts with the A&E departments that may face the greatest pressure.’ Labour leader Ed Miliband has accused Mr Cameron of being ‘clueless’ about the winter crisis facing the NHS. Mr Miliband claimed the NHS ‘isn’t safe’ in Mr Cameron’s hands, and blamed the government’s reorganisation for diverting health funding to pay for six-figure pay-offs for managers.
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Prime Minister demands updates on pressures in the NHS .
Number of patients waiting up to 12 hours has almost doubled in two years .
'This winter will probably be worse than last winter,' says expert .
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London (CNN) -- Shopping is a serious business in London whatever the season -- but it doesn't get much more serious than this time of year. The UK capital's January sales sees throngs of dedicated shopaholics cram its countless department stores, quirky boutiques and market stalls, keen to get their hands on the latest fashion trends and product offers. But it's not just domestic spend that's keeping the tills ringing in London. While the vibrant city's high-end stores are no strangers to overseas visitors, with those from the Middle East typically spending the most, a surprising new contender has emerged in recent times as a big spender in the international market -- Nigeria. "Africa is growing from strength to strength and particularly in the last 12 to 18 months we've seen Nigeria come through incredibly strongly," explains Sue West, director of operations at up-market London department store Selfridges. "It is a very broad base so we still very much have a strong Chinese base, a strong Middle East base, Russia is there, the BRICs nations as you imagine, but Nigeria seems to be coming through very strongly at the moment as well," she adds. Read: Web savvy Africans fuel growth in online shopping . The former British colony is Africa's most populous nation as well as the continent's top oil producer. According to African Economic Outlook (AEO), Nigeria's economic growth has averaged about 7.4% annually over the past decade, creating a wealthier Nigerian elite with a large spending power. At the same time, however, AEO says that robust economic growth has not reduced poverty in the country, with about two thirds of its population living on less than $1 per day. Home to a large African diaspora, the UK is a popular travel destination for Nigerians visiting friends and relatives, going on holidays or conducting business. Daily flights between Nigeria and the UK have increased in recent years, with airlines such as British Airways allowing Nigerian customers an additional 23kg of baggage free of charge. Read: Private jets spread their wings in Africa . According to the UK's Office for National Statistics, some 142,000 Nigerians visited the UK in 2011, spending an average £107 ($172) per day. From January to September last year, Nigeria's tax-free spend in the UK grew by 11% year on year, according to tourism services provider Global Blue. The trend has not gone unnoticed by UK retailers, some of which have responded by tailoring their offerings to their growing Nigerian customer base. "More recently we're starting to introduce a lot more niche brands," says West. "We've worked in collaboration with some very popular Nigerian brands," she adds. "I think it's not only important to demonstrate we can bring the big brands such as Louis Vuiton and Chanel, but we can also really appeal to more of a niche market too." Read also: Rise of Africa's 'repats' One such collaboration helping Selfridges further engage with its growing number of Nigerian customers is its recent team-up with Style House Files. The Lagos-based fashion company has just opened an installation inside Selfridges, giving Nigerian designers a chance to widen their market and showcase their creations outside the West African country. Omoyemi Akerele, director of Style House Files, says that Nigeria is an emerging market, with Nigerians are among the five biggest spenders at the department store. Akerele argues the collaboration is a win-win situation for both parties. "This will give our designers a platform, an opportunity for their pieces to be in Selfridges, that's a dream come true," says Akerele. "For Selfridges, on the other hand, it would endear their Nigerian customers -- and not just Nigerian customers, African in general -- more to the brand." Read: African CEOs look to bright future . Akerele says that although the reality in Nigeria is that most people live in poverty, the rise of sectors such as telecommunications and the diversification of the Nigerian economy beyond oil and gas has created an emerging middle class with bigger spending power. "Their earning capacity is increasing and they're spending on more things and not just the basic food and clothing," she explains. "They're getting on a plane and coming to London to buy things they cannot immediately find in Nigeria." Teo Kermeliotis contributed to this report.
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Wealthy Nigerians traveling to London to spend big money .
Their spending power is prompting UK retailers to tailor products to African customers .
Selfridges: Nigeria is coming through 'very strongly' in the last 12-18 months .
Yet, most people in Nigeria country live on less than $1 a day .
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By . Kerry Mcdermott . PUBLISHED: . 02:03 EST, 4 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 22:12 EST, 4 March 2013 . Four live mortar bombs were intercepted by police in Northern Ireland minutes before being launched, according to a senior police officer. They were discovered in the back of a van which had part of its roof cut back as part of plans to bomb a police station in Londonderry. Chief Supt Stephen Cargin said the bombs could have caused mass murder. Three men, all in their 30s, were arrested - two at the scene. One was detained in searches afterwards. Scroll down for video . A police officer walking away from a van that was found with four live mortars inside destined for a police station in Londonderry . A forensics officer examines what appears to be four missiles from inside the van . 'Reckless': The mortar tubes recovered after police officers foiled the attack in Londonderry . The officer said the mortars were 'primed and ready to go'. 'These were people who were mindless, totally reckless, willing to drive four live mortar bombs through a built-up area with no regard to the people, the residents and the families living in the area,' he said. 'We believe those devices were destined for one of the police stations here in the city. 'I have no doubt they would have caused mass fatalities. They were on their way to a target. These are crude home-made devices. There is no way the people who planned their attack would have known they would have hit their target.' 'Mass fatalities': The crude home made devices were on their way to a target, police in Northern Ireland said . Investigation: Four mortar rounds were discovered in the van seized by police officers in Northern Ireland . Bomb alert: An army robot beams light into the white van intercepted by police in a foiled terror attack in Londonderry . Security alert: Army bomb disposal experts were called to the scene after police intercepted the vehicle carrying the devices . Arrests: Two men in their 30s were arrested when the mortars were found last night, and a third, also in his 30s, was detained following a search of a property in the city . It is understood one of the men had . been on a motorcycle following the van when police intercepted it near . the city centre last night. More than 100 homes had to be evacuated in the Brandywell area. Officers intercepted the van in the . Letterkenny Road area of Londonderry last night, prompting the . evacuation as army bomb disposal experts were scrambled to the scene. The roof of the van is believed to have been removed and the mortars mounted on the back in preparation for an imminent attack. Threat: Chief supt Stephen Cargin said the devices discovered in Londonderry could have caused mass murder . Evidence: It is thought a police station in Londonderry was the intended target of the foiled attack . 'Suspicious': Part of the roof of the van is understood to have been cut back as part of plans to bomb a police station . Evacuation: Around 100 properties in the area were evacuated after the suspicious objects were discovered on the back of a van . Emergency: Letterkenny Road residents were evacuated to the Brooke Park Centre in the wake of the major bomb alert . Two men, aged 35 and 37, were arrested after the van was intercepted by officers. A 37-year-old man was detained today following a search of a property in the city, police said. A PSNI spokesman said: 'Approximately 100 homes have been evacuated and army technical officers are at the scene. 'Two males aged 35 and 37 have been arrested and taken to Antrim serious crime suite where they are helping with inquiries. 'Detectives from PSNI serious crime branch are dealing with the incident and are linking it with dissident republican activity.' Alert: Residents gathered to watch forensic investigators examine the scene in the Letterkenny Road area of the city, where around 100 homes were evacuated . The incident comes just days before a by-election to replace Martin McGuinness as MP for Mid Ulster, after Stormont's Deputy First Minister resigned his Westminster seat as part of his party's policy to end double-jobbing in politics. The four contenders for Thursday's by-election are Sinn Fein Assembly Member Francie Molloy, independent Nigel Lutton, the Social Democratic and Labour Party's Patsy McGlone and Eric Bullick of the cross-community Alliance Party. Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons.
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Police intercepted van carrying at four mortars in Londonderry .
Part of roof of van cut back as part of plans to bomb a police station .
Sparked huge security operation in Letterkenny Road area .
Around 100 properties evacuated as bomb disposal experts called in .
Two men, aged 35 and 37 arrested following discovery .
Third man, 37, arrested today after search of property in the city, PSNI say .
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By . Sam Greenhill . PUBLISHED: . 10:21 EST, 22 June 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 12:09 EST, 22 June 2012 . Facing prison: Handcuffed Lianne Smith leaving the court after being found guilty . Killer mother Lianne Smith today vowed to appeal after being found guilty of murdering her two children in Spain. Her lawyer said she was in 'a bad way' after the verdicts but would fight her conviction for smothering Rebecca, five, and baby Daniel, 11 months. Jenifer Lahoz Abos said: 'Lianne suffers from psychosis and cannot be held criminally accountable for her actions. No mother in her right mind would chose to end the lives of her children. 'She needs help. I spoke to her immediately after the conviction and she is in a very bad way. She has found the trial extremely difficult as it has brought back awful memories for her.' Smith suffocated the children with a plastic bag in the Hotel Miramar in the seaside resort of Lloret de Mar in May 2010. Last night at Girona Provincial Court, north-east Spain, a jury of seven men and two women unanimously found her guilty of double murder. Today she is on suicide watch in a Spanish prison. Smith, 45, from Lichfield, Staffordshire, is under constant supervision in a secure psychiatric hospital inside a jail called Brians 1 Penitentiary Centre near Barcelona. She is facing up to 34 years behind bars. Smith, a former county council children's services manager, is being watched 24 hours a day and will be assessed regularly by a prison psychiatrist. The hospital unit can house up to 60 male and female prisoners suffering from psychiatric illnesses. The jury rejected defence claims Smith was criminally insane, after hearing testimony from three psychiatrists during a four-day trial at Girona Provincial Court. Scroll down for video . Unanimous verdict: The jury rejected Smith's defence claim that she was mentally ill . Appalling case: Smith is led into the court in Girona, Spain, for the final day of her trial . The jury ruled Smith was 'fully conscious of what she did and that it was wrong'. Smith feared social services would take the children from her after her fugitive partner Martin Smith, a TV psychic, was arrested on child sex charges at their home in Barcelona. Girona Provincial Court heard the couple, who shared a surname but were not married, made a pact that they would kill themselves if they were ever separated. Blank stare: Lianne Smith looked impassive as the unanimous verdict was read out. Her TV psychic partner, Martin Smith (right) was found dead in his cell in January . Martin Smith, 46, from North Shields, was later jailed for 16 years for repeatedly raping his stepdaughter Sarah Richardson, now 24, but hanged himself in HMP Manchester in January, believing his partner had killed his young son and daughter. However the court heard DNA tests proved he was not in fact the father of either child. After killing them, Smith spent the night in the hotel room alongside their lifeless bodies writing a series of notes, including one to her children which read:" ' love you very much. I wanted to give you a lovely life together. I'm very sorry.' She failed in several suicide attempts before asking a hotel receptionist to call police to the room. Martin Smith was previously thought to be the father of Daniel and . Rebecca, whom his partner has admitted killing in a Spanish hotel room . Smith, pictured with her son Daniel, was placed on suicide watch after learning of her partner's hanging in prison . Smith had become obsessed with the idea social services would take her children from her and put them into care - which she considered a fate 'worse than death'. Prison psychiatrist Harry Barker told the court Smith viewed the children's deaths as an 'unavoidable catastrophe'. She suffers from an unspecified psychosis and was 'pathologically obsessed' with Martin Smith. But prosecutor Victor Pillado Quintas told the jury her crimes were 'the most abominable, despicable, vile and horrific' imaginable. He called on the judge to jail her for 17 years for each count of murder. Judge Adolfo Garcia Morales will sentence her at a later date.
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Smith facing 34 years jail after being unanimously convicted of two counts of murder last night .
Her lawyer claims Smith is 'in a very bad way'
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(CNN) -- WWE superstar wrestler Darren Young publicly came out as gay during an unplanned interview with the news entertainment website TMZ late Wednesday. He is the first openly gay wrestler in the organization -- which is the premier professional wrestling company -- according to a tweet by WWE Executive Vice President Stephanie McMahon. Young made the statement while at an airport baggage carrousel in Los Angeles after being asked if "a gay wrestler could be successful within the WWE." "Absolutely. Look at me. Ya know. I'm a WWE superstar and to be honest with you, I'll tell you right now, I'm gay. And I'm happy. I'm very happy," Young said in response to the question. The revelation, which is not thought to be part of the wrestler's onscreen character, apparently caught the cameraman off guard. He stumbled over his response. "Man, that's in ... that's ... sorry. I'm kinda' of flabbergasted man. I think ... I didn't know and obviously I think that's just ... I commend your bravery," the cameraman said. "I don't think it matters. Does it matter? Does it matter to you?...Does it change what you think about me?" Young rhetorically asked after making the statement. "Not an iota," TMZ's cameraman said. "In fact I commend you even more that you would share something so beautiful and personal with me." "We're all adults. All sports are physical. When I come to work, I come to work," Young said. "Business is business." He added, "Some people might not like it, and some people will like it. When contacted by CNN for comment, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., said, "[The] WWE is proud of Darren Young for being open about his sexuality, and we will continue to support him as a WWE Superstar." On Thursday, Young was expected to participate in an anti-bullying event in Los Angeles "to teach children how to create positive environments for everyone regardless of age, race, religion or sexual orientation," WWE added in its statement. While Young's public disclosure made headlines, he is not the first wrestler to come out. In a posthumously released 2011 book, WWE and WCW star Chris Kanyon wrote about being both a gay man and pro wrestler. He committed suicide in April 2010 after battling with mental illness.
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Darren Young made the revelation in an impromptu interview on TMZ late Wednesday .
"I'm gay. And I'm happy," he said when asked whether a gay wrestler could succeed in WWE .
WWE says it is "proud of Darren Young for being open about his sexuality"
Young was expected to participate in an anti-bullying event in Los Angeles on Thursday .
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A train security guard, who was allegedly the subject of a vile onslaught of racial abuse from a passenger, has received an outpouring of support from the community. 'Joe' has been commended for 'holding his own in a professional and peaceful manner' as a teenager, who has now been charged along with another man, hurled a tirade of abuse at the guard on a Brisbane train with the shocking footage going viral. It shows a teenager screaming obscenities at the Queensland Rail Security guard, who is from Zimbabwe, after he was told to take his feet off the seat just before midnight at Indooroopilly station last week. SCROLL DOWN TO VIDEO . Shocking footage of an intoxicated young man hurling a tirade of racist abuse on a Brisbane train at a security guard went viral. The guard 'Joe' has been commended for his calm actions during the incident . Train passengers are seen looking outraged as the teenager utters racial insults before his friend grabs his top and tries to drag him off the train. 'Joe' the security guard remained poised and professional . Elijah Buol, president from the Queensland African communities council said 'happens all the time, that African people in Australia are attacked'. 'Someone might throw eggs at you or pull up alongside while you're driving, it's happened to me, I've been verbally attacked because I'm African,' he said. 'The man 'Joe' who was from Zimbabwe has been 'overwhelmed' by the incident.' 'It is one of the challenges of living in Australia but when there is an attack on a member of our communities we go through all the channels to try and find the culprit. 'Joes' employers, Securecorp, who are contracted by Queensland Rail, say they are extremely proud of 'Joe' in a 'de-escalating situation'. 'Securecorp would like to highlight and commend in particular, our security customer service officer who was personally subjected to this abuse on his 'professional conduct and adhering to correct protocol whilst managing the situation in regards to the safety of all involved,' said Securecorp's Craig Harwood. 'SECUREcorp would also like to thank the passengers and the general public for their support in this matter.' Queensland Rail have condemned the video clip saying they have taken it off their social media site due to its extreme language and content. 'We are disgusted at the anti social behaviour of this passenger towards one of our contracted security guards,' said a Queensland Rail spokesperson. The security guard walks over and stands in front of the commuters, as he gestures his hand to the passengers to stand back. 'Joe' has been commended for his calm and peaceful way of dealing with the teen who was hurling abuse at him . The 17 year old has been charged for his racial outburst and appears in Brisbane magistrates court Monday . 'Joe' received an out pouring of support following the incident for his calm and professional manner in dealing with the racial outburst . 'Joe' has been commended for his actions during the racial abuse . 'We strive to provide a safe workplace for our people and to see this is appalling.' 'We congratulate the train guard on his response to ask the passenger to immediately leave the train. We have contacted the security company to offer our support to the guard.' 'We were pleased to hear that the offenders have been charged by Queensland Police,' they said. 'We would like to thank members of the community who have left many messages of support on our social media sites.' One facebooker said she has traveled on the Ipswich to Rosewood line with Joe on patrol many times and credited him on doing an excellent job. 'Well done security guard 'Joe' for holding his own in a professional and peaceful way,' she said. 'Thankyou for the long hours you work 'Joe' and for ensuring a safe environment for us all on the train. Another said he wanted to pass on his regrets to the fellow 'Joe' who was vilified by a detestable 'young pup'. 'Joe' has more than earned our respect and admiration, with the admirable restraint and dignity he has shown.' 'He is a fine example of a man and a citizen and I would be proud to call him 'fellow Australia'. Others expressed their delight in police making charges against the accused while others congratulated 'Joe' for his professional manner in such a 'disgraceful attack'. The incident has seen a strong response from social media one facebook user saying there should be 'zero tolerance' against racism . 'Joe' has earned our respect' said one facebook user . As he continues to explode into a racist rant, other train passengers are heard in the video but 'Joe' stands between passengers and the teenager who goes on a racial outburst . 'Joe' received an out pouring of support from the community . The vile incident has sparked rage within the community, a facebook page called 'Man Hunt To Find Racist Kader Boumzar' has been set up. Before the teen was charged it said, 'If there is anyone who knows where this pr**k lives, his phone number or anything. Post it here. He has to apologize and suffer for his actions. He was very keen to fight the security guard. Lets see how good his fighting skills are.' A woman who made a comment on one of the posts said her husband also worked for rail security, the same company as 'Joe'. 'This poor guard that was involved is a fantastic person that really didn't deserve this s**t to happen. Man this d**kh**d should never step foot on Queensland rail again! All the guards know who he is!' The rail spokesperson said staff were working with police to ensure safety and security was a priority across the network. 'Their right to come to work and be treated respectfully is something we take very seriously and a right everyone deserves.' 'We hope that this sends a message to those who disregard that right.' Queensland Rail wanted to also remind passengers that more than 8200 CCTV cameras are installed across the rail network including railway squad police officers, mobile security, dog patrols and transit officers who are patrolling. Kader Boumzar, a 17-year-old Brisbane man has been charged with two counts each of assault occasioning bodily harm and creating a nuisance on a railway and one count each of threatening violence, common assault and using a carriage service to menace or harass. 'Well done security guard 'Joe' for holding his own in a professional and peaceful way,' said one facebook user . The video shows a drunk 17-year-old - who has now been charged by police - hurling abuse at a security guard who is professional during the incident . An 18-year-old Ipswich man has been charged with one count of creating a nuisance on a railway. Both men are due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court Monday. The vile incident has even prompted a response from Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who slammed the teenager in the video, labeling his behaviour as 'deplorable'. Mr Abbott said he had been briefed about the incident, which he labelled as 'un-Australian', by Queensland Premier Campbell Newman. 'Just as I think it's un-Australian to defend death cults, I think it's un-Australian to abuse people in a public place just because you don't like the way they look, or you don't like the way they dress, or you make assumptions about what they believe,' Mr Abbott told reporters in Brisbane on Sunday. Mr Campbell who spoke to 'Joe' personally about the incident said he conveyed two things to the guard. 'Firstly, I thought he showed admirable restraint. I think he, from what I could see, responded very professionally in what was a very difficult situation and I have thanked him for his great job as part of the Queensland Rail team,' he said. 'Secondly, I have conveyed to him my absolute disgust at what he was subjected to. I've told him how totally unacceptable it was.' 'And I have said that whether or not he makes a complaint is up to him but I have assured him that on behalf of him and indeed the entire Queensland Rail team that we will be going after the individual or perhaps other individuals responsible for this racist attack.' 'It' s not on. It's unacceptable.'
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Train guard 'Joe' praised for his professional manner as vile racial slurs were hurled at him .
Footage of a tirade of racial abuse on a Brisbane train, went viral, sparking angry from the community .
'Joe', who is from Zimbabwe was 'overwhelmed' by the whole incident .
Queensland Rail have condemned the video and taken it off their social media site due to the language .
'I would be proud to call him 'fellow Australia', there was an out pour of support for 'Joe' from the community .
A 17 year old Brisbane man is in court Monday charged with assault and threatening violence, an 18 year old man is also charged .
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A dream beach house in Florida has turned into a nightmare for a Missouri couple after the $680,000, five-bedroom home was built on the wrong lot. Six months after the custom house was built along the Atlantic Ocean near Palm Coast, Mark and Brenda Voss learned it's on the wrong lot in the gated Ocean Hammock community. Mark Voss tells the Daytona Beach News Journal they're in 'total disbelief.' Scroll down for video . Custom-made disaster: Six months after their custom house was built along the Atlantic Ocean near Palm Coast, owners Mark and Brenda Voss learned it's on the wrong lot in the gated Ocean Hammock community . Big, misplaced house: The Florida dream home boasts five bedrooms and over 5,000 square feet of living space . 'We may have moved (to Ocean Hammock) someday. But, with this headache and grief, we're not so sure. The Midwest is looking pretty good right now,' he said. The couple own 18 other residential lots in the community, but the mistake managed to be made on a lot owned by someone else. They bought the lot in 2012 for $160,000 and hired Keystone Homes to build a three-story, 5,000-square-foot vacation rental. The other lot was purchased for $355,000 by a North Carolina couple way back in 2003. Keystone and Voss say the error can be traced to a 2013 survey. The mistake was uncovered in September after the house had been rented frequently. Tough mistake to make: While the Voss family own over a dozen lots in the Ocean Hammock community, the builders managed to build on one owned by another couple--one that cost a great deal more . In June 2012 the Vosses purchased the lot of 23 Ocean Ridge Blvd for $160,000. They then commissioned Keystone Homes to build the 5,000 square-foot home to be used as a vacation rental but the contractors mistakenly began construction next door at 21 Ocean Ridge Blvd. North. Andrew Massaro and his wife Brooke Triplett, who live in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina purchased that lot in 2003 for $355,000, but never built their own property there. Keystone claim the mistake is down to a land survey conducted last year when a simple mistake led to the wrong lot being assessed. Mark Boyce, who is Flagler County's chief building official, told The Ledger in Florida that the mistake, though regretable, is understandable. He says the west side of Ocean Ridge Blvd North has a long stretch of around 10 vacant lots all with short grass, with no clear landmarks or markers for builders or surveyors. Keystone vice president Robbie Richmond says the company is trying to negotiate a settlement. The couple hired a lawyer. 'We are in the process of trying to schedule a conference call and find a fair resolution without the lawyers,' Richmond said. 'I have built about 600 homes in Flagler County and this has never happened to me before. It does happen, but it's rare.' We are 100 percent committed to finding a resolution that is fair,' he said. What that resolution will be remains to be seen. Richmond thinks the best solution would be for the owners to switch lot, but Voss sounds as if he could be open to other fixes. 'We have some ideas and plans, but I'm not going to discuss them here,' Voss said. 'We're working all channels to deal with this. We have an attorney.'
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Mark and Brenda Voss learned their 3-story vacation home in Ocean Hammock, Florida was misplaced six months after it was completed .
Voss and the builder agree say the error can be traced to a flawed 2013 .
The mistake was uncovered in September after the house had been rented out for months .
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The companies that make 3-D printers want a spot in your home. They're just not sure exactly why you need one of their futuristic devices yet. The 3-D printing industry is taking aim at entry-level customers with cheaper, easier-to-use hardware and online marketplaces filled with predesigned files. At the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the 3-D printing section was larger and busier than in previous years and had an increased focus on consumer-friendly products. The technology is trying hard to become mainstream, but first it needs to figure out what average people will really want to create. What is a 3-D printer for? Entry-level 3-D printers are popular with makers and crafters, people who want to get their hands dirty and create prototypes, figurines and small toys. People are constantly experimenting with the devices, trying out unconventional uses like printing guns, fashion accessories and fine art. These hobbyists are a fairly minor market when compared to the lofty aspirations of the consumer 3-D printing industry, which imagines a 3-D printer in every home, like paper printers were before people realized printing on paper was passé. "There's no killer app yet," said Trevor Townsend, co-owner of Matterform, a 3-D scanner company. The people selling printers, files and scanners aren't discouraged by the lack of an obvious use case. They seem confident that it will come in the next few years as more people get their hands on the devices and start experimenting, and as the technology becomes more advanced and takes on a wider range of materials. Plastic is the most commonly used material, but it is just the beginning. 3DSystems demonstrated its ChefJet 3-D food printer at CES, which creates complex shapes out of edible materials such as sugar and chocolate and will cost less than $5,000. The company also is working on a product that prints ceramics. The CeraJet concept device would take pottery to another level with complex designs that can be glazed and fired. Even at this early stage, the demand for 3-D printers is rising. Shipments of 3-D printers will grow 75% in 2014, according to market research firm Gartner. It expects the consumer 3-D printing market to hit $133 million this year, which is still far less than the $536 million companies will spend on the product. New crop of consumer products . At CES, the printer companies were focusing on a more immediate problem: 3-D printing is too complicated for the average person. Designing a model and creating a workable file takes skill, and the machines themselves can require technical know-how and adjustments like leveling to get a decent final product. The newest hardware is trying to make 3-D printing simple. MakerBot announced a new one-button 3-D printer called the MakerBot Mini. Files can be sent directly to the compact printer from a mobile phone or tablet over WiFi. One push of a button and the Mini will start creating the object in PLA plastic. A big barrier to mass adoption of 3-D printers is price, and hardware costs are falling every year. When it comes out in May, the Mini will cost $1,375. That is around $1,500 less than the company's flagship product, the MakerBot Replicator. There are a number of less expensive 3-D printer options already on the market, some as cheap as $200. To make 3-D printing completely hassle free, there are companies that handle the actual dirty work of printing. Services like Sculpteo create small batches of 3-D printed objects and let the designer control the process online. UPS and Staples are testing in-store 3-D printer services. A number of companies are trying to make the design process easier, too; 3-D scanners can take precise photographs of existing objects from every angle to create a printable 3-D file. Matterform showed off its consumer-friendly 3-D scanner at CES. The $579 scanner looks like a portable record player and can scan objects up to 9.8-inches tall. MakerBot also recently released an entry level scanner called the MakerBot Digitizer. Another twist on scanning comes from 3DSystems, which demonstrated a 3-D photo booth. The 3DMe booth scans a person's face and then prints it on an existing figurine body such as a "Star Trek" crew member. MakerBot is betting that many people will pay to use existing 3-D files instead of having to create their own. The company announced its new MakerBot Digital Store at CES, a sort of iTunes for 3-D content. Prices start at 99 cents, and the first designs are focused on kids and families. There are cars, characters, animals and other cute 3-D models, all original content created by MakerBot. The future might break the law . The MakerBot Digital Store doesn't carry replicas of existing products or commercial characters. That's because without licensing deals, it could step into the murky world of 3-D intellectual property law. While it's still a couple years off, the threat of litigation will become a major issue in 3-D printing down the line. One of the more practical future uses for a 3-D printer includes replacing broken parts, say a cracked plastic base to an Oster blender. The part costs a few dollars online, but in the future it could be easier, faster and cheaper to simply print out a replacement at home. But unless you buy the file from Oster, are you stealing it? If companies decide to crack down on user-created files, 3-D objects could be pirated like movies and music. Whatever the legal, technical and practical challenges, 3-D printing has its eyes on the future. It's still a long way from being an in-home "Star Trek" style replicator, but the industry is confident it will have enough uses to warrant a spot in your home office or kitchen.
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3-D printers are aiming at consumers with cheaper, easier-to-use devices .
A number of 3-D printing companies introduced personal printer tech at CES .
The devices are mostly used by hobbyists, but a mainstream use could be around the corner .
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If you can hold your breath all the way to the bottom here, you are in a very small minority - this is Y-40 The Deep Joy and with a staggering depth of -40 metres it is the world's deepest pool. The incredible swim centre, designed by renowned architect Emanuele Boaretto, is located within the four-star Hotel Terme Millepini in Montegrotto Terme, Italy. Operating since June, the pool has a diving height of a 12-storey building, or nine double decker buses placed on top of each other. Wet suits aren't required here as swimmers can enjoy a regular temperature of between 32-34°C. Scroll down for video . Record breaker: Y-40 The Deep Joy is the world's deepest pool with a staggering depth of -40 metres . There are several platforms, ranging from -1.3m, to -12m. The pool at the surface is 21m by 18m but it becomes a narrow well-like hole as the depths plummet straight down. Visitors are able to use the facilities for free diving and scuba diving, with underwater caves for cave diving beginners. There is also a unique suspended underwater tunnel which is entirely transparent, so non-swimmers can experience the pool without getting wet. There is a sunbathing deck with loungers on the roof, where swimmers can recover from their deep-diving experience. Dry dock: The underwater tunnel runs right through the middle of the pool . Plunging: One of the first divers to use the pool is filmed from the depths of the Y-40 . Overtaken: The Y-40 surpassed the Nemo33 in Brussels, Belgium, which had a maximum depth of 34.5 metres . Afraid of depths? The pool features several depth platforms before narrowing into a deep descent . Activities: As well as free diving, the pool offers opportunities for scuba divers to practice cave diving . Notable figures from Italian water sports helped to launch the facility this year, including Italian free diver Umberto Pelizzari, and Enzo Maiorca, the ‘father’ of freediving in Italy. Freediver Ilaria Molinari even donned a mermaid tail to dive down to 40 metres to wow spectators. 'Y-40 is unique in its field thanks to the spa water, which cannot be outsourced,' says architect Emanuele Boaretto. 'We want to open up new medium and long term work prospects to try and guarantee prosperity, not only for my company but also for the surrounding land and society.' Other-worldly: Free diver Ilaria Molinari dresses as a mermaid to swim through the artificial cave-diving area . Launch: Molinari dove the depths of the pool at its opening with the help of a mermaid's tail . The pool is situated in a regional natural park of the Euganean Hills in Italy. Mr Boaretto is planning to cover the pool with lawn to b;lend the structure into its environment. Y-40 is open all year round and offers the equivalent of diving the height of a 12-storey building. Activities at the pool include scuba diving, free diving, aqua fitness, watsu, hydro-kinesi therapy and special activities for pregnant women. The four-star hotel within the region of Villa Duodo boasts 100 air-conditioned rooms. Spectator sport: A 13-metre transparent tunnel allows non-swimmers to experience the pool . Temperate: 4,300 cubic metres of thermal water are kept at a temperature of 32-34 degrees celcius . Nemo 33 in Brussels, Belgium, was the deepest indoor swimming pool in the world before Y-40 was completed. Its maximum depth is 34.5 metres (113 ft) and it contains 2,500,000 litres of non-chlorinated, highly filtered spring water maintained at 30C. The pool also holds several simulated underwater caves at the 10 metres depth level. Due to the warm temperature in the pool, divers can dive for extended periods without a wet suit. It was designed by a Belgian diving expert, John Beernaerts, and is used for recreation, scuba diving practice and instruction and by film-makers and scientists. Architectural marvel: The pool is designed by renowned architect Emanuele Boaretto . The world’s largest swimming pool, completed in 2006, is located at the San Alfonso del Mar resort in Algarrobo, Chile. It is estimated to have cost more than £613million to construct and covers nearly 20 acres. Swimming a length in this would mean stroke after stroke for more than three fifths of a mile - that's 20 Olympic-size swimming pools. The enormous man-made lagoon is set halfway up the country's Pacific coast and is filled with 66 million gallons of crystal clear seawater. It uses a computer-controlled suction and filtration system to suck water in from the ocean at one end and pump it out at the other, while the sun warms it to 26C - nine degrees higher than the sea. Tourist attraction: Y-40 The Deep Joy is housed within the four-star Hotel Terme Millepini .
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'Y-40 Deep Joy' is located at the Hotel Terme Millepini in Italy .
The pool is 21m by 18m at the surface, but narrows -40m .
The 4,300 cubic metres of thermal water averages 32-34°C .
The Y-40 overtook Brussels' Nemo33 as the world's deepest pool .
It is used for free diving and scuba diving training and recreation .
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(CNN) -- Thirteen-year-old Anjali didn't just pack her bags and run away to the circus, she signed a 10-year contract with a circus master after fleeing from long hours of domestic servitude in Nepal. Taken to India, she then endured years of appalling and dangerous working conditions for no pay. A British charity helped Anjali finally say goodbye to the circus. Anjali's story is not the same as other victims, but there are disturbing similarities: threats, sexual and labor exploitation, often cruelty, sometimes brutality. (To read Anjali's story, please go to UNODC's 2013 publication, Hear Their Story. Her name was changed to protect her identity.) Despite her terrible experiences, Anjali is one of the fortunate ones. There are millions of women, children and men across the world who face similar experiences. Human trafficking is now worth around $32 billion annually to the criminals and their networks. It is one of the world's most profitable crimes. I recently attended a debate on human trafficking at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Other speakers included Oscar-winner Mira Sorvino, UNODC's good will ambassador against human trafficking. She spoke with dignity and with passion, which found echoes in the words of many of the other speakers, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The debate ensured that this crime remains on the radar screens of U.N. member states, one decade after the Trafficking in Persons Protocol entered into force. There is also some good news. Today, 83% of countries have proper legislation to combat human trafficking. In 2009, this figure was only 60%. So far, 175 states are parties to the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and 154 are party to the Trafficking in Persons Protocol that is the foundation for our work against this heinous crime. Fifteen countries have also ratified the protocol since 2010. This, however, leaves 39 member states who still have to ratify the protocol and unite the entire world against human trafficking. Impunity is another festering issue. Sixteen percent of countries have never recorded a single conviction for human trafficking. Conviction rates remain low. CNN Freedom Project: Rescued Nepalese find new life in circus . Based on UNODC's Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2012, between 2006 and 2009, the number of detectable cases of human trafficking for forced labor doubled from 18% to 36%. It shows that more action against this crime is being undertaken by law enforcement bodies, but there is room for improvement. There are also problems with data collection and analysis. Our human trafficking report contained information from 132 Member States. Almost a third of countries failed to provide information to the report. Fortunately, there is an international road map: the 3-year-old Global Plan of Action. The plan created the Victims Trust Fund managed by UNODC. So far, the fund has enabled 11 grass-roots organizations to aid victims in situations similar to that of Anjali. But the improvements, while encouraging, are coming too slowly to help the millions of victims. What is needed is a catalyst. My suggestion is an inspirational, but realistic goal: a decade of concrete action to end human trafficking. Action founded on international cooperation and coordination. Arrests made in modern slavery case . If we are truly serious about confronting this issue, I would suggest four steps to immediately improve the situation: . First, increased victim protection and support, second, universal ratification and full implementation of the U.N. Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, as well as its protocol; third, fresh contributions to the Trust Fund from governments, the private sector and the public to assist field organizations; and fourth, the provision of comprehensive data to understand the nature of this global crime. Legislation, however, is only the springboard for action. Every country needs a national action plan closely linked to regional and international efforts to counter human trafficking. We also need to hunt down the proceeds flowing from this ugly crime. Preventing money laundering means working closely with banks and the financial sector to report suspicious financial movements and creating a virtuous circle among financial intelligence units, law enforcement bodies and prosecution authorities. But, it is not good enough to simply imprison the guilty traffickers, we must take their money and close down the networks and trafficking routes for good. I am aware of the dangers of making unrealistic promises, but I believe we can achieve this goal. After all, our reach should always exceed our grasp. Let's turn the hourglass over and begin a decade of action to try to rid the world of the misery and suffering caused by human trafficking. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Yury Fedotov .
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Millions of people fall victim to human trafficking, says Yury Fedotov .
The world has made progress in reducing this profitable crime, he says .
Fedotov: Many countries have passed legislation against trafficking .
He says improvements coming too slowly; a decade of action is needed .
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The Gulf may still be booming but inflation - and skyrocketing prices - is making life tough for the workforce. Working in the Gulf is less profitable for expatriate workers because of inflation . Many expats initially drawn by the region's tax-free salaries and high standard of living are now feeling the effects of inflation in high rent and living costs. All this is making work in Dubai, Qatar and the surrounding countries a less attractive proposition than it was a few years ago. "The working population here is growing restless and the reasons are obvious," said David Westley, Editorial Director at ArabianBusiness.com. "Inflation has become a real issue across the region... salaries have risen but they haven't risen as fast as inflation, which in real terms means you've had a pay cut," he continued. This means workers are finding it harder to save money and are experiencing a decrease in their standard of living. Add to that a lack of key social infrastructure like schools and some of the major incentives for people to stay in the region are disappearing. ArabianBusiness.com recently conducted an online survey which found that more than two thirds of workers who responded were more inclined to look for another job this year than in 2007. With the Gulf's economic explosion largely dependent on a combination of skilled and unskilled expatriates -- 20 percent of the workforce in some parts of the region -- there is the added worry that increasingly dissatisfied workers could start looking for jobs in other parts of the world. A lack of indigenous workers who can lead the complex infrastructure projects currently being undertaken in the Gulf is already a problem, and a mass exodus of disenchanted expatriates would have serious knock on effects for business in the region. The problems of inflation and keeping experienced workers in the region are intimately connected, according to Richard Thompson, Editor of the Middle East Economic Digest. "Probably the top two issues for the Gulf at the moment are a skills shortage and inflation and they're two sides of the same coin. The economy has grown too fast ... and that has delivered inflation. The other aspect of that growth is the need to bring in and recruit skills to deliver infrastructure projects," he said. And tougher conditions also mean that it could be harder to continue attracting workers from other parts of the world to the region. But workers in the Gulf are not completely motivated by financial concerns, according the the ArabianBusiness.com survey. It found that while salary is an extremely important motivating factor for employees -- 33 percent of survey respondents said money was their key concern -- it is not the only consideration. For the majority of workers, opportunities for promotion -- which remain a strong incentive in the Gulf's vibrant market -- are the single most important condition for staying in a job, according to Wetly. "One of the things [companies] should try to do is to encourage an environment where you think you can get somewhere. That way you don't have to rely on just handing out the money to get people to stay in your organization," he said. Pressure is also mounting on governments to find solutions to inflation. "If governments depend on expats, then how are you going to train and recruit and develop the local work force? So there is a dichotomy for governments here they have to think for the long term to keep the boom growing," said Thompson. There are a number of initiatives being talked about, ranging from proposals to set a minimum wage to governments setting rent caps on property prices. "We're beginning to hear an increasing amount of businesses calling for a more managed approach to the economic boom particularly on the implementation of infrastructure projects," Thompson explained. "Growing economies such as Abu Dhabi are learning from Dubai's mistakes and looking to a much more structured, strategic approach to development," he continued. Wetly believes many of the region's problems are short to medium term -- like expensive housing which will resolve itself by 2010 when more accommodation comes onto the market quenching demand and therefore reducing prices. He is convinced huge growth and an exciting environment will continue to bring expatriate workers to the Gulf. "Walk around ... Dubai or Abu Dhabi or Doha, Qatar and you find these cities buzzing and for many people that is the most important thing, so I think you will always find people coming here," said Westley, "This region needs expatriate workers just as much as expatriate workers need this market. And I think that's ultimately the truth." E-mail to a friend .
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Inflation and skyrocketing prices in Gulf making life tough for workers .
A survey found two thirds of workers may look for another job in 2008 .
A mass exodus of expatriate workers would have a serious effect on business .
Pressure is mounting on Gulf governments to find solutions .
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By . William Turvill . PUBLISHED: . 09:56 EST, 1 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:34 EST, 1 October 2013 . Students in the UK could be paying up to £90,000 over three years on university halls of residence. One student block in London is charging just under £30,000 for a year - or close to £90,000 overall should students stay for three years. Another in Paris Gardens, near London's South Bank, charges more than £60,000 over three years offering views of the Shard and Big Ben. Scroll down for video . Students at Paris Gardens accommodation, on London's South Bank, would have to pay £60,000 for three years . The digs offer spectacular views over London, including of the Shard and Big Ben . It also has a penthouse communal lounge and a roof terrace as well as sun loungers, flat screen TVs and a bar serving drinks and ice cream. Flats at this hall cost up to £409 per week, which works out at £20,859 a year or £62,577 for three years. This year just two of its 250 or so rooms were left empty, with company Victoria Hall claiming students of 50 different nationalities are represented in the building. The firm has a more modest accommodation blocks nearby - where students pay a mere £339 a week (£17,289 a year). Luxury - but at a cost. Students at this South Bank accommodation could be paying up to £409 a week . As well as the Paris Gardens accommodation, the company offers cheaper living nearby - at £339 a week . North of the river in London, meanwhile, deluxe studio rooms at Mansion Bloomsbury are offered for 51 weeks at a rate of £575 a week. This means a monthly bill of £2,443.75, more than double the average rent for a private sector property in the capital. The total cost for the year is £29,325 - nearly £3,000 more than the average salary in the UK - while a three-year stay is just shy of £90,000. The rooms include a fridge freezer, flat screen television, and internet access, private showers and toilets, with 24-hour security inside the building. The company also has accommodation around the country, including Oxford, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Bristol and Manchester. At the South Bank accommodation just two of 250 rooms were not taken up this year despite the price . Student Rebecca Chow, 22, from Singapore, who is studying language and cultural studies at Kings College and staying at the Paris Gardens flats, said: 'It is a great place to live, the facilities are excellent. 'I don't think the price is unreasonable. It is quite expensive but it is similar to the private sector, the facilities are excellent.' Jochen Viegener, 21, from Germany, has jumped ship from the university halls where he had been staying the previous year. The graphic and media design student also staying at Paris Gardens, said: 'The accommodation was just not up to scratch but here everything is new and well-organised. 'I share with another student so we can divide the cost that way and it makes it much more affordable - I've found you get what you pay for.' 'Incredibly, there is no shortage of those willing to cough up such prices, with the building almost full.' Best years of their lives: A student relaxes in a communal area, complete with huge television . Lucky: The students pay prices much higher than their counterparts who stay in ordinary halls .
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Students in UK paying up to £90,000 on accommodation over three years .
In return, they are offering spectacular views, flat screen TVs and pool tables .
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By . Freya Noble . After a game of schoolyard football took a nasty turn last week, one teenager was left with such a severe injury he had to be rushed to hospital. The school maintain when James Webb disfigured his right arm after he snapped the two bones in his forearm, it was an unfortunate accident, but the 13-year-old's mother thinks something more sinister was at play. Photographs show James' forearm completely warped and bent as though it was made from play-doh. James Webb snapped both bones in his forearm after a game of schoolyard football turned nasty . The x-ray revealed the teenager had completely snapped both his radius and ulna, the two main bones that make up the forearms. Vikki Webb told The Northern Star her son was targeted by bullies who had set out to deliberately injure him during a game of 'grab football' last Tuesday. A group of year 7 students at Ballina High School were taking part in the game at recess, when they began swinging James around by his arm, Ms Webb said. James was then apparently pinned to the ground while another boy jumped on top of him, which is when onlookers are said to have heard the loud snap of his arm breaking. The teenager's mother said her son was a victim of a violent and unprovoked attack from bullies . While still on James' back with his arms around his neck, the boy then allegedly kicked the victim's broken arm - sending it flying in the opposite direction. Ms Webb said her son doesn't remember anything about the incident, which is where the conflicting stories arise. However after speaking to onlookers the boy's mother reached the conclusion that the attack was deliberate and unprovoked. One student told Ms Webb the attacker laughed during the incident and said the whole ordeal was 'fun'. The x-ray revealed James had snapped his forearm after another student allegedly jumped on his back and kicked his broken arm . A spokesman for the Department of Education, on behalf of Ballina High School, told the publication that the accident occurred when James was pushed over and other student fell on top of him. 'The evidence of student and staff reports does not suggest a deliberate attempt to break the victim's arm,' the spokesperson said. A formal complaint had been made to police and the investigation is ongoing, while James' alleged attacker had been suspended for four days.
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James Webb snapped his forearm in a schoolyard football game last week .
The teenager's mum says he was targeted by bullies and it was no accident .
Ballina High School maintains the injury was not deliberately inflicted .
Onlooker told James' mother the alleged attack said incident was 'fun'
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