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By . Snejana Farberov For Mail online . and David Mccormack for MailOnline . and Associated Press . and MailOnline Reporter . and Zoe Szathmary for MailOnline . The woman whose massive personal closet supposedly full of luxury goods was robbed earlier this month has admitted some of her personal items are in fact 'costume.' The Houston Press reported that it received goods from the supposed thief that broke into Theresa Roemer's 'she-cave' August 2. That individual used a New York City-based disposable phone - and a voice modulator - to call the weekly August 12, The Houston Press said. 'I contacted Theresa Roemer and explained . to her that her items were fake,' the person reportedly told The Press. 'I . requested over half a million dollars to return her items and not . expose her to the news. During the meet, it seemed as if she contacted . authorities. The deal never went through. I'm following through with my . threat.' In response, Roemer told ABC13 'He claims that whatever it is that's in there is fake. Well, you know, if you walk into any one woman's closet there's gonna be valuable things, and there's gonna be costume things, and there's gonna be vintage things.' Scroll down for videos . Homeowner: Theresa Roemer has revealed that some of the items inside her massive 'she cave' closet are not as expensive as others. The person who reportedly robbed Roemer earlier this month has said the items in her closet are fake . Ransom plot: The bracelet and watch were among some 10-15 valuables stolen earlier this month from the home of Theresa Roemer . Personal memento: The loot included this silver heart-shaped locket with a lock of light-brown hair inside that supposedly belonged to Roemer's deceased son . Shakedown: The burglar allegedly asked Roemer to pay up $500,000 to stop him or her from revealing to the media that her valuables were worthless, but the former Miss Texas refused . 'It's one thing to be robbed but now it's . another for someone to hold me for ransom for my belongings,' she also . told the affiliate station. Roemer also defended herself to ABC13, saying 'If this crook really knew me and did the research on me, he would know I'm as authentic as they come. What you see is what you get.' Houston Press reporter Craig Malisow told The Houston Chronicle that speaking to the mysterious individual 'was kind of odd.' 'It sounded like he felt like he was wronged - because when he went to go fence this stuff, he was allegedly told this was fake ... it kind of felt like he was the victim here,' Masilow told the newspaper. Masilow, speaking about a heart-shaped locket sent to The Houston Press that supposedly held the hair of Roemer's dead son, told ABC13 'I think that hair would be the key to finding out whether or not it's fake.' Montgomery County Sheriff's Office investigators have retrieved the items sent to The Houston Press by the supposed thief - who claimed they were taken from Theresa Roemer's home and were bogus . Reporter: Craig Masilow of The Houston Press says he was contacted by an individual who claimed to have robbed Roemer's 'she cave' Police have released security camera footage showing the thief who robbed former Mrs. Texas United America of nearly $1 million in jewelry, bags, and valuables from her luxurious 'she cave' Surveillance footage recorded a small man dressed entirely in white and wearing gloves in the house, taking four trips to move all the goods outside . On Saturday, Roemer told HoustonCultureMap her closet contained both expensive and inexpensive goods. 'It's like any person's closet. You mix and match,' she told the website. 'In my closet, I have a Donna Karan dress next to one from the Gap. My stylist had some vintage jewelry there from back in the '60s. Not everything is a million-dollar design.' Montgomery County Sheriff's Office investigators have retrieved the items sent to The Houston Press. 'As soon as we got the news [about The . Houston Press], we made contact to get up there and we're trying to . identify whoever sent these items in,' Lt. Brady Fitzgerald told The . Houston Chronicle. Roemer said she used the space to host charity events and that it took her a whole 45 minutes to get ready . Happier times: Theresa Roemer's massive 'she-cave' housed a fortune's worth of expensive handbags, watches, shoes and other baubles . Cleaned out: What's likely a professional thief made off with nearly a million dollar's worth of Roemer's possessions . Citing an infrared camera, Roemer told The Houston Chronicle 'That's why it is so unclear and we can't tell the exact color of [the thief's] clothing.' Roemer told the newspaper she and her husband failed to turn on their home's security system the night of the robbery. 'I don't think anybody can go through life without doing something careless when they're flustered and hurried before leaving,' she told The Houston Chronicle. 'But now I lock all my doors and have lights on, inside and out. The alarm is set, and I'm having more lights and cameras installed.' Roemer said that because she was only away from her home a short while she did not arm the security system . Roemer said she and her husband were only away for 90 minutes to eat dinner at a nearby country club . The luxurious 'she cave' cost . roughly $500,000 to build, The Houston Chronicle reported in July. 'It . started years ago when I had a closet party and all the girls came over . and they said, "I just wish it was bigger,"' she told the newspaper at the time. 'Since then it's just been getting bigger and bigger and bigger, it's like a ''she cave.'' 'The . third floor houses all my furs and big hats, you come down the spiral . staircase to the second floor which is where I get my hair and make up . done, it also houses all the shoes from Louis Vuitton and Gucci, to my tennis and work out gear,' she said. 'Then . you come down a floating staircase, which is just magical, and the . first floor is where you pick out your jewelry and bags,' she continued. 'My daughter always says that she doesn’t need to go to the store; she can just shop my closet!' she once told Neiman Marcus's blog. 'And of course I do let a few, very special friends borrow my Birkin bags.' It appears the thief gained entrance by using a glass cutter to get into the bathroom . Violated: Roemer has compared the break in to feeling of being 'raped' The thief target high-end items like Rolex and Cartier watches .
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Theresa Roemer has admitted there are 'some costume things' inside her massive 'she cave' personal closet .
The Houston Press was contacted by the alleged burglar saying that Theresa Roemer's stolen valuables were actually worthless .
The newspaper received a package containing 10-15 items from socialite's collection, including a locket allegedly containing her dead son's hair .
Roemer was contacted last week by the burglar, who demanded $500,000 for her items - and for the thief's silence about their true value .
Roemer and her husband were away from home at dinner only 90 minutes when the closet was ransacked .
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(CNN) -- Western intelligence missed a chance to capture or kill the suspected terrorist thought to be behind the Nairobi mall massacre, according to a former informant for both the CIA and the Danish intelligence service. Morten Storm, who worked as an informant for five years, had forged a close relationship with the man -- a Kenyan called Ikrima -- who has been responsible for planning attacks inside Kenya for Al-Shabaab. Storm, a Danish national, told CNN that in March 2012 the Danish intelligence agency PET had offered him one million Danish krone ($200,000) on behalf of the CIA if he could lead them to Ikrima, the target of an unsuccessful operation by US Navy SEALs last month. The SEALs raided an Al-Shabaab compound at Barawe on the Somali coast, but Ikrima escaped. Storm's told CNN it is possible he might have got wind of the plans had he still been working for Western intelligence. But his relationship with PET and the CIA ended in mid-2012 amid disagreement about a different mission in Yemen. "I get really frustrated to know that Ikrima had been maybe involved in the Westgate terrorist attack. It frustrates me a lot because it could have been stopped and I'm sad I can't be involved in this." The CIA refused to comment on Storm's claims; a spokesperson for the PET told CNN: "We can't confirm or deny ever knowing Morten Storm." Kenyan counter-terrorism sources have told CNN they believe Ikrima had a hand in the Westgate attack as well as a string of plots targeting Kenya in the last two years, including a plot to target Kenya's parliament in late 2011. Read more: Kenya mall suspects to appear in court . Storm said he first put Ikrima on the radar screen of Western intelligence in 2008 when he met him in Nairobi for the first time. In the spring of 2009 Storm met Ikrima in Nairobi again. Abdelkadir Warsame, a senior Al-Shabaab operative, had sent Ikrima to meet Storm to pick up electronic equipment for one of Al-Shabaab's leaders. What Ikrima did not know was that Storm was working for PET, MI6, and the CIA, and that tracking devices had been hidden in the equipment, which included a laptop. The equipment, according to Storm's Al-Shabaab handlers, was for Saleh al Nabhan, one of the senior planners of the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi. Several months later Nabhan was targeted and killed in a U.S. Navy SEALs operation. Storm's Al-Shabaab contacts subsequently told him they believed Nabhan had been tracked through the electronic equipment but blamed a junior courier. After Al-Shabaab carried out a twin suicide bombing attack in Kampala, Uganda in July 2010 Ikrima told Storm it was now difficult for him to travel to meet him in Nairobi. From then on the two kept in frequent touch through encrypted emails -- which CNN has seen -- providing Western intelligence with real-time information on his movements and plans. In early 2010 Storm connected Ikrima to Anwar al Awlaki, the American-Yemeni cleric who had by then begun overseeing al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's operations against the West. According to Storm the two then began communicating over encrypted emails. They eventually came up with a joint plan of action to attack the West: Ikrima would send Shabaab recruits, including Westerners, to Yemen for terrorist training, and they would then be sent back to Somalia or on to the West. "And as for going to hooks [Awlaki's] place ... then i was told by hook that they want to train brothers and then send them back or to the west," Ikrima wrote to Storm in November 2010. Read more: Did 'White Widow' spy on Kenya mall? Storm believes Ikrima's connection to Awlaki -- and his delivery of equipment secretly supplied by Western intelligence - enabled Ikrima to quickly climb Al-Shabaab's hierarchy. "He was one of the smartest ones I met in east Africa," he told CNN. Storm told CNN that Ikrima helped oversee an intelligence apparatus -- "Amniyat" - Al-Shabaab set up in Kenya. "He's the main link between Somalia and the Al Hijra group back here in Kenya," one of Ikrima's former associates told CNN in Nairobi. Al Hijra is a militant outfit in Kenya closely associated with Al-Shabaab. Storm said that Ikrima was at the center of a spiderweb connecting terrorist operatives in Somalia, Kenya, Yemen, and the West. He said he had emerged as the chief handler of foreign fighters, including Westerners joining Al-Shabaab, placing him in a unique opportunity to plot terrorist attacks in East Africa and Europe. His intelligence, language skills and connections appear to have now made Ikrima invaluable to Al-Shabaab. Two former friends of Ikrima -- including a former member of Al-Shabaab, told CNN he was now a strategist and planner for the group, rather than a fighter. "He's part of the intelligence team. He speaks five languages - Norwegian, Swahili, Arabic, Somali, and English - and that puts him in a front seat with Al-Shabaab," one of his associates told CNN. Storm and the two former associates have shed light on how a middle class Kenyan became one of the most wanted terrorists in east Africa. Read more: Suspicion over Norwegian's roll in mall attack . Ikrima, now believed to be in his late twenties, was born in Mombasa into a middle class ethnic Somali family who also had blood links to the Al-Ansi tribe in Yemen, a connection which later helped Ikrima forge a relationship with AQAP. The family moved to Nairobi when he was young where he excelled in his studies, especially in French and other languages. His friends remembered him as not particularly religious and fond of smoking marijuana. He moved to Norway in 2004 apparently to seek out economic opportunities in Europe, taking advantage of the fact that his Somali ethnicity allowed him to apply for refugee status. He was granted temporary travel papers, but he never fit in, and started to become radicalized. A 2006 offensive by Ethiopian troops to rid Somalia of the Islamic Courts Union, an Islamist militia that had taken control of much of the country, appears to have played a significant role. Storm said Ikrima had told him he had joined the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia and experienced the invasion by Ethiopian troops first hand. He suspects the experience instilled in Ikrima a deep commitment to Jihad. According to his friends when he returned to Norway he was told his application for asylum had been rejected, and he moved to London for several months. In 2008 Ikrima left Europe for good and returned to east Africa. Western counter-terorrism officials fear his reputation in Jihadist circles worldwide will be bolstered by his escape from the U.S. operation, and he may be emboldened to plot new attacks. " Al-Shabaab will protect him to the end. They will give him bodyguards around the clock they will make sure he is safe where ever he goes in Somalia," one of the former associates of Ikrima told CNN. Read more: Inside story on Al-Shabaab commander Ikrima .
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Ex-spy says intelligence agencies missed a chance to capture suspected terrorist .
Al-Shabaab militant Ikrima is thought to have planned the attack on Kenya's Westgate Mall .
Morten Storm is a former informant for the CIA and Danish intelligence service PET .
CIA refuses to comment on Storm's claims; PET refuses to confirm or deny knowing him .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 02:21 EST, 22 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:37 EST, 23 December 2013 . Jimmy Fallon hosted the Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live for the second time last night, joined by his personal friend and rapping buddy Justin Timberlake as musical guest. The Christmas special is usually the most star-studded episode of the year and 2013 was no exception with Paul McCartney, Barry Gibb and Madonna all making surprise appearances. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also stopped by the show during his last week in office. Last visit: Outgoing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was one of the many special guests on the Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live . Seasoned pro: This was the second time that Fallon has hosted the Christmas episode of SNL . Bloomberg said he was looking forward to relaxing at the end of the year when Bill de Blasio takes over. 'I'll be fulfilling a lifelong dream of consuming a small soda on a smoke-free beach,' he said, poking fun at two of his health initiatives . While his ban on large soda drinks was ultimately unsuccessful, Bloomberg recently passed a law which bans electronic cigarettes in the public spaces of restaurants, offices and beaches. He was also able to squeeze in another ban on Styrofoam cups and trays. As usual Bloomberg was questioned about a possible presidential run in 2016, and he joked that was one of the many options he was considering along with ‘naked cowboy’. Video Source NBC SNL . Post-mayor plans: Bloomberg said he looked forward to enjoying a small can of soda on a non-smoking beach once he left office . Bloomberg, who has no job lined up after the mayorship, said he has applied to teach Spanish at a few universities but was told his accent ‘isn’t quite bueno ‘. Later in weekend update, Seth Meyers covered the story of tennis champion Billie Jean King being named by President Obama the recent story of Billie Jean King being named appointed by President Obama to lead the U.S. envoy at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Many have considered the move a jab at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent ban on ‘gay propaganda’. In the skit, Meyers interviews Kate McKinnon as a flambouyant King, who calls herself President Obama’s ‘big gay middle finger’ that’s ‘about to get flipped’. Kate McKinnon played a flamboyant Billie Jean King, ready to take Russia by storm as the head of the U.S. envoy to Russia . Coming out in Russia: President Obama's selection of King for the envoy has been interpreted by many as a critique of Vladimir Putin's recent ban of 'gay propaganda' in the country . King says she’s going to drive her Subaru Outback into Moscow’s Red Square, doing donuts and blasting Melissa Etheridge. Meyers asks if she’s afraid of getting in trouble, since homosexuality has been suppressed under Putin. ‘Get in trouble, I’m from trouble,’ King says, adding that as a 70-year-old lesbian, she only needs a clean canteen and a sweater to survive and she can summon rescued pit bulls. King goes on to mock many of the Winter Olympic sports as inherently homosexual like ice dancing, the biathlon and two-man luge. While the rest of the skits focused on Christmas or Fallon’s many-varried celebrity impressions, one other skit touched on political commentary. Fallon teamed up with Timberlake to reprise one of their popular past sketches, The Barry Gibb Talk show. Fallon plays The BeeGee's easily-angered frontman who hosts a 'no nonsense' political talk show with his silent brother Robin. Their guests this week were Fox anchor Megyn Kelly, played by Cecily Strong, Republican congressman Paul Ryan, played by Taran Killam, and Madonna as herself. The hits: Fallon and Timberlake reprised one of their old sketches, the Barry Gibb Talk Show, in which Fallon plays the easily-angered BeeGees frontman and Timberlake plays quiet brother Robin . The topic of the show was the recent bi-partisan budget deal passed last week which made certain that the government will not shut down again in the next two years. Kelly was the first to state her opinion on the matter, but accidentally made the mistake of speaking over Barry, causing him to jump out of his seat and threaten to 'take a selfie with your skeleton' and post it on Instagram. After colling down, Gibb asks Madonna to shed her opinion on the subject of bi-partisan, and she gives an eloquent statement about putting personal ideologies aside for the greater good. In a rare change of charcter, Gibb agrees, saying Madonna makes a great point. But when Madonna continues to talk, Gibb breaks again saying 'You already answered the question woman'. Outburst: Barry Gibb exploded at Megyn Kelly (played by Cecily Strong) after the Fox host accidentally interrupted him . Barry is about to go into a fully blown rage when Madonna puts in a grill and stares deep into his eyes. Barry calms down, saying Madonna has tamed him like a wild horse. He moves onto Paul Ryan next who offends Barry with a play on words involving the BeeGee brothers names. 'We're not "Robin" from the taxpayers to "Gibb" to special interests.,' he said about the bi-partisan deal. 'Did you make a pun on my show?' Barry yells before kicking his legs into the air. He asks Ryan is he thinks he's one of the Wiggles. 'I wasn't born on the Isle of Boy, I was born on the Isle of Man!' as he kicks over a vase of flowers and hands one of the petals to Kelly. As time runs out, Timberlake and Fallon wrap up the skit with an exit song and are joined by real-life Barry Gibb. Special guest: Timerlake and Fallon have played the brothers Gibb many times on SNL before, but have never been joined by the real-life Barry Gibb .
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Outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg was one of the celebrities that made a surprise appearance for the Christmas episode .
Mayor Bloomberg also joked that he applied to be a Spanish teacher at a few universities, but was told his accent 'isn't quite bueno'
As usual, Bloomberg was asked about a potential presidential run in 2016, and he said that was one of the options along with 'naked cowboy'
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By . Damien Gayle . PUBLISHED: . 04:00 EST, 11 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:13 EST, 11 November 2013 . Shiva: Katarzyna . Dryden-Chouen said the cannabis was . to have been offered to the god ahead of Dec 21 last year, when she . believed the world would end . A woman who said she grew cannabis to . sacrifice to the Hindu god Shiva because the world was about to end has . been cleared of intending to supply the drug. Katarzyna . Dryden-Chouen, 46, and her husband Clive, 60, had been accused of . making £277,000 by dealing cannabis over a six year period. Police alleged that almost £13,000 found in their home in Littledean, Gloucestershire, was also the proceeds of drug dealing. But . Mrs Dryden-Chouen, who is originally from Poland, insisted that apart . from what she and her husband smoked, the cannabis was to be burnt as a . religious sacrifice. Mrs . Dryden-Chouen, who claimed to have a talking pet mouse, said it would . all have been offered to Shiva ahead of December 21 last year, when she . believed the world would end. She . and her husband admitted growing the cannabis. Plants capable of . yielding up to 2.9lb of the drug - worth about £6,000 - were found . growing throughout their home, a former pub. But . they denied having the drug with intent to supply as well as money . laundering charges and were found not guilty adter a three-week trial at . Gloucester Crown Court. Her . husband said that the £13,000 cash and the £277,000 which went through . their hands in six years was the proceeds of his business converting . cars to run on liquid petroleum gas. He admitted he did not have a bank account and had not paid tax on income which he said he was paid in cash. The . main evidence in the trial had been detailed diaries kept by Mrs . Dryden-Chouen in which she appeared to note details of cannabis growing . and selling. But she . told the jury the notes were a fiction, created in her imagination as . she meditated for long periods at a time without eating. The couple had both pleaded guilty at the start of the trial to cultivating cannabis between January 2009 and August 2012. Mrs Dryden-Chouen denied possessing cannabis with intent to supply between November 2003 and January 2004. She and her husband both denied a similar charge between January 2004 and January 2009 and a third charge relating to the period between January 2009 and August last year when police raided their home. Mr and Mrs Dryden-Chouen further denied a money laundering offence - converting £277,559 which was the proceeds of crime between June 2006 and August 2012. They also denied that the £12,890 found near a 'shrine' in the house was criminal property - the proceeds of drug dealing. Mrs Dryden-Chouen denied a further charge of possessing diazepam tablets with intent to supply on 6th July 2012. After almost five-and-a-half hours of deliberations, a jury found the couple not guilty of all outstanding charges. But Judge Alastair McGrigor warned them they may still face jail on the cultivation of cannabis charge. He bailed them for pre-sentence reports and adjourned to a date to be fixed. The jury heard that when Mrs Dryden-Chouen was arrested in July last year she said she was a homeopath and healer and that she did not know having cannabis was illegal. She said she grew cannabis for religious purposes and medical research. She also said she believed the world was coming to an end on December 21 last year and she intended to create a Homa (a burning pit) for a ceremony to burn the cannabis. Gloucester Crown Court: Judge Alastair McGrigor warned the couple they may still face jail on the cultivation of cannabis charge. He bailed them for pre-sentence reports and adjourned to a date to be fixed . Prosecutor Paul Grumbar said that 'just about every room in the house had cannabis in it' when police stormed in. In all, said Mr Grumbar, the police recovered 15 established plants and 41 juvenile ones which would have yielded 2.866lb of flowering head cannabis. The drug sells for about £2,250 a pound. Also found in three locations in the property were 1,844 blue Diazepam tablets. And in a white metal box in an office/meditation room there was £12,890 in cash which the prosecution claimed was the proceeds of drug dealing. After the jury gave its verdict the judge asked whether Mr Dryden-Chouen might now be prosecuted for not paying income tax. He said it would be helpful to know before he passes sentence on the couple whether the Customs and Revenue will be following that up. Mr Grumbar said: 'The Revenue will no doubt be contacted.' Judge McGrigor granted Mr Grumbar's application to have all the drugs and growing paraphernalia found in the house destroyed. Bailing the couple he told them: 'This matter is not entirely over. You are going to be sentenced in relation to the material that was found in the house. All options are still open to the court.'
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Katarzyna Dryden-Chouen and her husband Clive grew cannabis at home .
Prosecutors alleged they made £277,000 through dealing in six years .
But they insisted that most of the drug was to be burnt in sacrifice .
It would have been offered to Shiva before end of the world on December 21, 2012 .
Mrs Dryden-Chouen also claimed to have pet mouse who could talk .
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15d20bf4f67c5cfb6dbf4e978c089617a1147510
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By . Suzannah Hills . PUBLISHED: . 05:30 EST, 16 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:32 EST, 16 August 2013 . A retired family doctor killed himself after he wrongly convinced himself he had cancer, an inquest heard yesterday. Dr Philip Squire, 59, was found hanged at his home where he'd left a note saying he found 'the idea of operations and long suffering just unbearable'. But the inquest in Somerset was told how test results had given the GP the all clear and he had probably brought on the symptoms on himself physiologically. Tragedy: Doctor Philip Squire, 59, was found hanged at his home in Taunton, Somerset (stock image pictured), where he left a note saying his cancer was too much to bear despite being given the all-clear . His own GP, Doctor William Chandler, said the medic lived alone and suffered depression. He believed Dr Squire feared cancer rather than actually suffering from it. Neighbours found the retired GP in his home in Taunton, Somerset, where he left two notes. One of them read: 'My last 16 months have been hell, knowing something serious is happening but not being able to convince others. I have also felt rather alone and isolated. 'The idea of operations and suffering was just unbearable.' His niece Judith Sumner said he was 'conscientious and hard working' and retired in 2010 as senior partner because he was finding life as a GP 'very stressful' and suffered anxiety and low moods. West Somerset coroner Michael Rose recorded a verdict of suicide at the Taunton hearing. He said: 'Sadly he had a phobia about dying with cancer of the pancreas. Nothing could disabuse him of the fact that he felt the symptoms. 'It is a sad end for a man who has given an awful lot of his life to this town.'
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Dr Philip Squire, 59, was found hanged .
at his home in Taunton, Somerset .
Retired GP left a note saying he found 'the idea of .
operations and long suffering just unbearable'
But inquest heard tests gave him the all clear for cancer and he brought on the symptoms on himself physiologically .
West Somerset coroner Michael Rose recorded a verdict of suicide .
If you or a family member have contemplated suicide, contact The Samaritans on 08457 909090 .
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15d23f7dcf4e092de4c9191396b3a75a7c9b5bf3
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A young black bear just overcame its own bucket challenge in western Pennsylvania with the help of some daring rescuers. The Bucket Bear, as it had come to be called, had been roaming through Perry Township, Clarion County, for over a month with a black bucket-like object stuck on its head. The Patriot-News reports that animal rescue volunteer Dean Hornberger planned the mission to free the Bucket Bear with his girlfriend Samantha Eigenbrod after seeing a photo of it on Facebook. Scroll down for video . Blinded: Krissy Elder took a photo of the Bucket Bear roaming the highway and woods of western Pennsylvania and set up Save the Bucket Bear to rally support to encourage authorities to intervene . To the rescue: A group of volunteers conducted an impromptu rescue mission in the woods of Pennsylvania to free the Bucket Bear . The two rounded up a band of volunteers to assist in the rescue and set off for the woods near where the bear was photographed. Hornberger and Eigenbrod had been searching for two hours and were about to call it quits for the day, when they came across the Bucket Bear near the highway. Hornberger approached it and attempted to wrestle off the rubber container, which turned out to be an air bag that likely broke off a tractor trailer. The bear slipped out of his grasp and led the group on a 20-minute chase through the woods towards 'the biggest mud hole in the area,' as Hornberger described it. Once the group tackled the bear, Shawn Balcita pinned it down with his body while Hornberger cut the metal ring on the cushion with a hacksaw. Eigenbrod recorded video of the brave rescue on her cellphone. Brave: Shawn Balcita posted photos to Save the Bucket Bear of scratches from the bear's claws and said he also had a gash on his chest . After Balcita released it, the Bucket Bear dashed back into the woods, freed of its cumbersome bucket. According to Save the Bucket Bear, a Facebook page set up by Krissy Elder, the Pennsylvania Game Commission was contacted but told her they could not do anything while the bear was healthy and 'mobile.' Balcita and Hornberger suffered some scratches from the bear's claws, but otherwise the group emerged unharmed.
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The young black bear was roaming Perry Township, Clarion County, in western Pennsylvania with a bucket-like object stuck on its head .
Bucket Bear was rescued by Dean Hornberger and Samantha Eigenbrod, who have done animal rescue work in the past .
The Pennsylvania Game Commission was contacted but told locals they could not do anything while the bear was healthy and 'mobile'
The 'bucket' was actually a rubber air bag normally used to cushion tractor trailers .
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15d2521365d81923e91b80b547a01cca479a17af
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A Melbourne man has prompted concern after offering women money for sex on the dating site OKCupid. Daniel, 28, asked several women if they have 'ever been offered money', before naming prices and urging them to consider the offer. None of the women reported the messages to police, as the messages are not considered illegal in Australia, reports The Age. Daniel, 28, asked several women on OKCupid if they have 'ever been offered money', before naming prices and urging them to consider the offer . On his profile, Daniel said that he was from Melbourne, with the personal description that he was 'extremely unlucky in love and not your average guy.' Daniel, who uses the account names dja86dj and daniel86dja, has since deleted the offending OKCupid account. In all of the proposals towards Melbourne based women, Daniel offered $500 then raised the sum to $1000 then $2000. One of the women said he had been messaging her intermittently from different accounts for years. However, none of the women who were messaged by Daniel reported him to police. Daniel is seen urging the women to consider his offer of money for sex . Daniel, who uses the account names dja86dj and daniel86dja, has since deleted the offending OKCupid account . A police spokesperson said that no offence had been committed in the messages: in Australia, it is legal to offer money for sex. Sheila Jeffreys, a professor of feminism and prostitution at Melbourne University, told The Age laws should be tightened up on dating sites. 'Women are in no position to know whether men who they have never met are going to be dangerous to them or not,' she told The Age. She said Daniel's messages would have been deemed illegal in Ireland, Canada, Sweden and Norway, where it is unlawful to offer money for sex. OKCupid is owned by the same US company which runs Tinder, Match.com,and Collegehumour. In March, a 65-year-old New York man sued the OKCupid after he was swindled out of $70,000 by a man he met on the site.
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Daniel, 28, offered several women money for sex on the app .
None of the women reported the messages to police since they were legal .
Daniel offered $500 to several women then raised the sum incrementally .
One woman said he has been messaging her intermittently for years .
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15d392a52eea6b0758dd25fceae519300df66e4d
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It's billed as the race that stops a nation and the Melbourne Cup didn't disappoint as racegoers turned Flemington into party central on Tuesday. More than 100,000 punters flocked through the gates and thousands more around the country enjoyed countless lunches, parties and glamorous functions to get in the spirit of Australia's biggest horse race. But as the day went on, so did the shenanigans, leaving some punters a little worse for wear. Scroll down for video . This race goer is clearly a little worse for wear after a hard day celebrating, opting for a snooze on the picnic rug . Obviously these two have had a big day, opting to relax on the picnic rug . Some opted to ditch the heels and go bare foot, while others ripped off their ties and used the floor as a seat and thank goodness for the trusty old picnic rug where a number of race goers ended up taking a snooze to sleep off a hard day. So now it's just a wonder, will these hard partying race goers get to work tomorrow, there just might be a few that call in sick! Back on the turf, British jockey Ryan Moore was celebrating after a storming finish on German stallion Protectionist landed the prize. Red Cadeaux was second, Who Shot Thebarman third while Signoff came home in fourth. There was a sad end to the day for connections of Admire Rakti as the favourite had to be put down in his return from the track after fading and finishing last. Protectionist, with Ryan Moore on board, would not be caught after producing a storming finish to the feature race . Trainer Andreas Wohler and jockey Moore enjoy their big moment after getting their hands on the prize . There may be a rubbish bag here but this is as good as place as any for this woman to be taking a nap . ZZZZZZZZZ! These two race goers have clearly had a big day and the grass looked liked a comfy place to lay their heads . Do you need some help getting up? A woman is a little worse for wear and enlists the help of a friend . Call me when we have to go! A punter, head in his arms, decides to take a little snooze by himself . Race goer, who has ditched the heels, makes herself a comfy place to lie down with suit jackets on a picnic rug . Woman pretending to do CPR on a friend who has, by the looks of it, had a very big day at the races . What a mess! The cleaners will have a big job ahead of them with the aftermath of Melbourne Cup celebrations . It's a bird, no its a race goer leaping the hoardes of rubbish left behind from Melbourne Cup day celebrations . It's been a long day! Race goers relax in the rubbish-filled area after a big day at the Melbourne Cup . Time to take off the shoes! A number of race goers had to ditch the heels after a hard day celebrating at the Melbourne Cup . Just let me lean on you for a sec! A little wounded after a big day spent celebrating the Melbourne Cup . A bit of lippy will look good! A group of friends freshen up at the races . Punters getting their groove on while listening to music at the Melbourne Cup . Ohhh what a day! One race goer is clearly beat after a hard day at the races, opting to relax on the picnic rug . Litter galore! The grounds take a bit of a battering after more than 100,000 pass through the gates for the race that stops the nation . The teenage mutant ninja turtles come to the rescue, as police, who find it a little comical, escort a man away . We've had a good day! Two race goers in very colourful attire head home after a day at the races . A day off so why not get straight on it - race goers enjoying the day with some bubbles . I wonder if these guys won? Celebrating at the Melbourne Cup . Race goer with a plunging neckline going home after the Melbourne Cup . A sneaky pash at the end of Melbourne Cup day amid the piles of rubbish left behind and the seagulls who are rummaging through . Champagne was the order of the day for a lot of race goers . OMG I won! Race day ladies, looking colourful and elegant, get into the spirit of race day . It all a little too hard! A race goer opts to take a seat on the floor . Strike a pose! A group of girls dress up in their glamorous outfits to celebrate Melbourne Cup day . You're not getting away! Race goers cannot resist getting a police officer to pose in their shot . Two friends making a statement at the Melbourne Cup . A group of friends getting a little cheeky during Melbourne Cup celebrations . Everybody dance! One punter decides to bust a move to round off Melbourne Cup celebrations . Time to go home! One race goer ditches the heels and heads home with bare feet . Look at me! Despite some who are bit weary this race goer is leaping for joy after the racing . Cheers to that! A group of friends raising a glass during Melbourne Cup celebrations . Can I have a photo with you! One race goer, with a plunging neckline, getting a bit of attention from other race goers . Equipped with colourful Mexican hats, these girls have had a big day at the races . Time to go home! Friends go in for the hug as they head home after the races . These two can definitely see the funny side of it .
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Australia comes to a standstill on this day every year for the feature race - the Melbourne Cup .
Race goers let their hair down and party hard at the Flemington track .
Plenty of punters can be seen crashed out on the ground among piles of rubbish after a hard day .
British jockey Ryan Moore won the race on German stallion Protectionist .
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Dylan Farrow's brother has broken his silence to dismiss claims that his father Woody Allen sexually assaulted her - instead saying that their mother Mia Farrow poisoned their minds against him. 'Of course Woody did not molest my sister,' Moses Farrow, who is estranged from Dylan and Mia Farrow but remains close to his father, told People magazine. Moses, 36, spoke out on Wednesday - four days after Dylan, 28, penned an open letter in the New York Times claiming Allen sexually assaulted her at age seven, reigniting a firestorm of speculation about the nature of the award-winning director's relationships with his children. Dylan has angrily responded to Moses' new claims - including that Mia Farrow hit them - lambasting him for turning against the family, and saying: 'My brother is dead to me.' Speaking out: Moses Farrow, pictured left, dismissed claims made by his sister Dylan, pictured right with her husband, that she was molested by their father Woody Allen when she was seven years old . Former family: Moses is pictured front with baby Dylan in 1986. They are with, from left, their father Woody Allen, brother Fletcher Farrow, Mia Farrow and Mia's daughter Soon-Yi, who Allen went on to marry . Moses, like Dylan, was adopted by . Allen and Farrow, but unlike his sister, he remains close to his father . and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow and . another partner. He has not spoken to his mother in years - and blames her for Dylan's claims about sexual assault. 'My . mother drummed it into me to hate my father for tearing apart the . family and sexually molesting my sister,' he told People magazine. 'And I hated him for her for years. I see now that this was a vengeful way to pay him back for falling in love with Soon-Yi.' Moses, . a family therapist, claimed that his sister was also exited to see . Allen when he visited, and only started hiding from him when Mia Farrow . successfully began turning her children against him. He added that, on the day Dylan claims she was sexually assaulted by Woody, no one went into separate rooms and 'my mother was conveniently out shopping'. Former family: Dylan Farrow, left, as a child with Woody Allen and her mother, Mia Farrow . Close: Dylan Farrow, who now lives in Florida under a different name, remains close with her mother, Mia Farrow. They are pictured together in New York City in 2003, when Dylan was 17 . 'I don't know if my sister really . believes she was molested or is trying to please her mother,' he added. 'Pleasing my mother was very powerful motivation because to be on her . wrong side was horrible.' He . said that although Mia - who has a total of 14 biological and adopted . children - was portrayed as a caring mother, the reality was quite the . opposite. 'I was often hit as a child,' he claimed, saying her rages were 'intimidating' and 'often horrifying'. Family split: Moses Farrow, in 1992, was adopted in 1980 and he remains close to Allen . Dylan . told People magazine that she was shocked by her brother's claims. She . denied that their mother hit them or coached her to make accusations . against her father. 'This . is such a betrayal to me and my whole family,' she said. 'My memories . are the truth and they are mine and I will live with that for the rest . of my life.' She added: 'I will not see my family dragged down like this. I can't stay silent when my family needs me and I will not abandon them like Soon-Yi and Moses. My brother is dead to me.' in response to the firestorm, Mia Farrow, tweeted: 'I love my daughter. I will always protect her. A lot of ugliness is going to be aimed at me. But this is not about me, it's about her truth.' The continued swipes on Wednesday came as TMZ unearthed a 1976 interview with People magazine in which Allen described a hypothetical orgy involving him and 15 12-year-old girls. Then 41, Allen said: 'I'm open-minded about sex. I'm not above reproach; if anything, I'm below reproach. I mean, if I was caught in a love nest with fifteen 12-year-old girls tomorrow, people would think, yeah, I always knew that about him.' He added: 'Nothing I could come up with would surprise anyone ... I admit to it all.' Dylan Farrow's gut-wrenching . first-person account, which was published online on Saturday, marked the . first time she directly addressed the alleged sex abuse. She . explained how, at age seven, her adoptive father, Allen, allegedly led . her by the hand to a dim attic on the second floor of their house. Denial: Allen, pictured Monday, has denied the accusations, which he found 'overwhelmingly sad' Defense: In a tweet on Tuesday, Mia Farrow said the issue was not about her relationship with Woody Allen . 'He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set,' Miss Farrow wrote. 'Then . he sexually assaulted me. He talked to me while he did it, whispering . that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we'd go . to Paris and I’d be a star in his movies.' Farrow went on to describe how the . award-winning director of 'Annie Hall' and 'Manhattan' would always find . a way to touch her and do things to her she did not like, including . sticking his thumb in her mouth, forcing her to get into bed with him . and placing his head in her naked lap. 'Anger': Farrow, pictured, and Allen split after she found naked photos he took of another daughter . 'I thought this was how fathers doted on their daughters. But what he did to me in the attic felt different,' she said. What . followed next was a drawn-out process in which Dylan was dragged from . one psychologist to the next, recounting her story over and over again . to see if she was lying. In . the end, Allen was denied visitation rights with his children, but a . Connecticut prosecutor declined to charge him, saying that while there . was enough evidence for the case to potentially stand up in court, he . was dropping criminal proceedings due to Dylan's fragile state. Farrow and Allen separated after Farrow . found nude photographs that Allen had taken of Farrow's adopted daughter . from a previous relationship, Soon-Yi Previn, when she was 20. Allen, 78, has always denied the . allegations of sexual abuse against Dylan. He was never charged with, or . convicted of, a crime in this case. Allen's publicist, Leslee Dart, said the director read the article 'and found it untrue and disgraceful'. Allen, who has stayed largely silent throughout the recent allegations, performed at a jazz concert on Monday in Manhattan's Carlyle Hotel - where he raised eyebrows with his choice of song. He played 'When You're Smiling' - which features in the final credits of 'Mighty Aphrodite', a film with incestuous themes, RadarOnline reported. As he left, one guest told him to 'hang in there', to which he responded: 'I intend to. Thank you.' New life: Allen, 78, is pictured with his wife - and Mia's daughter - Soon-Yi Previn, 43, in 2012 . Denial: Woody Allen's attorney Elkan Abramowitz told the Today show the filmmaker's adopted daughter only accused him of sexual assault because the idea was planted in her mind by her mother Mia Farrow . On Tuesday, his attorney, Elkan Abramowitz, blamed Mia Farrow for planting stories in Dylan's head. 'I think it's part of Mia Farrow's desire to hurt Woody Allen,' Abramowitz told the Today show. 'His . reaction is one of overwhelming sadness because of what has happened to . Dylan. She was a pawn in a huge fight between him and Mia years ago. The idea that she was molested was implanted in her mind by her mother. '[Dylan]'s not lying, she truly . believes this happened. That's what the vice of this is - when you . implant a story in the mind of a fragile seven-year-old... it never goes . away.' Abramowitz added . that the accusations were resurfacing now, 20 years on, because Allen's . Golden Globe lifetime achievement award had 'revived the anger [Mia . Farrow] has towards him'. Despite Allen's vehement denial, the . accusations have caused outrage and division among Hollywood including . Lena Dunham, who urged her 1.3 million Twitter followers to read . Farrow's letter. 'To share in this way is courageous, powerful and generous,' Dunham wrote . Spirited: The women of The View talked about the story - with Barbara Walters, right, defending Allen . Farrow's family, including her mother and stepbrother Ronan Farrow, have also been unwavering in their support of her. On the night of the Golden Globes . ceremony, Ronan Farrow, Allen's would-be son, brought up his sister's . alleged assault in a scathing tweet. 'Missed . the Woody Allen tribute - did they put the part where a woman publicly . confirmed he molested her at age 7 before or after Annie Hall?' the . newly hired MSNBC host wrote. But on Monday, Barbara Walters came to Allen's support on The View. The . 84-year-old co-creator of The View opened the discussion after Whoopi . Goldberg introduced the topic. Walters, a friend of Allen's, pointed out that the statute of . limitations had run out. 'I have rarely seen a father as . sensitive, as loving and as caring as Woody is and Soon-Yi to these two . girls. I don't know about Dylan. I can only tell you what I have seen . now,' Walters said.
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Moses Farrow has broken his long silence to lambast his estranged mother for 'poisoning' her children against Woody Allen .
Moses and Dylan were both adopted by Farrow and Allen; the 2 children - along with a third, Ronan - were at the center of a bitter custody battle .
He claims that his mother hit them when they were children .
Dylan Farrow denied his claims, saying: 'My brother is dead to me'
She penned an open letter in the New York Times on Saturday, detailing the alleged assault when she was 7 for the first time .
Allen has denied the claims and was not found guilty of a crime .
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(WIRED) -- From the earliest days of aviation, pilots have relied upon paper maps to help find their way. Even in an era of GPS and advanced avionics, you still see pilots lugging around 20 pounds or more of charts. But those days are numbered, because maps are giving way to iPads. The Federal Aviation Administration is allowing charter company Executive Jet Management to use Apple's tablet as an approved alternative to paper charts. The authorization follows three months of rigorous testing and evaluation of the iPad and Mobile TC, a map app developed by aviation chartmaker Jeppesen. The latest decision applies only to Executive Jet Management, but it has implications for all of aviation. By allowing the company's pilots to use the Apple iPad as a primary source of information, the FAA is acknowledging the potential for consumer tablets to become avionics instruments. The iPad has been popular with pilots of all types since its introduction last year. But until now, it could not be used in place of traditional paper charts or FAA-approved devices such as more expensive, purpose-built electronic flight bags. The iPad was OK for reference, but not as a pilot's sole source of information. The new FAA authorization changes all that. To receive FAA authorization, Jeppesen and Executive Jet Management went through a rigorous approval process. It included rapid-decompression testing from a simulated altitude of 51,000 feet and ensuring the tablet will not interfere with critical navigation or electronic equipment. Executive Jet tested the iPad and Mobile TC in 10 aircraft flown by 55 pilots during 250 flights. The first thought many pilots, not to mention passengers, may have is: What happens if the iPad or the app crashes? Jeff Buhl, Jeppesen's product manager for the Mobile TC app, says the Apple iOS operating system and the app proved "extremely stable" during testing. In the "unlikely" event of a software crash, he says, it takes but a moment to get them running again. "The recovery time for an application crashing or the OS crashing is extremely rapid," Buhl says. During the evaluation period with the FAA, the production app did not crash. But even if it did, Buhl says it's ready to go again "in 4-6 seconds from re-launch to previous state." The FAA says each individual operator -- in this case Executive Jet Management -- must develop specific procedures for dealing with system or software crashes and other issues. Under the authorization, Executive Jet Management will require a second approved electronic device, which most likely will be another iPad, in the cockpit. Pilots may get magic fingers to keep them alert . Although this authorization applies to just one company, it is a milestone for all operators, including major airlines, because it opens the door for them to embrace the iPad. Though any company wishing to follow Executive Jet's lead will have to endure equally rigorous scrutiny by the FAA. Agency spokesman Les Dorr says the process is no different from what is required for any other electronic device used to display navigation information. "As far as the iPad is concerned, we do that on a case-by-case basis when an airline applies to be able to use it," Dorr says. The FAA is already seeing more requests to use the iPad in the cockpit. Alaska Airlines began testing the iPad back in November and there are about 100 pilots currently evaluating the device according to spokeswoman Marianne Lindsey. She says in addition to the convenience, there is a practical weight-saving aspect to using the iPad as well, "it's replaced about 25 pounds of manuals and charts." Jeppesen's director of portfolio management, Tim Huegel, says several carriers are looking into using the iPad and TC Mobile, and with the FAA granting one approval, it should become increasingly easy for others to follow Executive Jet's lead. "We'll be able to reuse a lot of the documentation and the lessons learned working with Executive Jet Management to help our commercial customers as they now begin to pursue FAA authorization," he says. The charts available with Mobile TC include charts for visual flight rules and for instrument flight rules, which are more commonly used by commercial operators. The app only shows an electronic version of the paper charts Jeppesen has been producing for years, but Huegel says future versions could incorporate the iPad's GPS capability. He sees a day when tablets provide "door-to-door management" of a pilot's information, from crew scheduling to weather information to navigation charts. Subscribe to WIRED magazine for less than $1 an issue and get a FREE GIFT! Click here! Copyright 2011 Wired.com.
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The FAA has approved iPads instead of paper charts for a charter company's pilots .
iPads are popular among pilots but were only OK for reference .
This allowance applies to only Executive Jet Management for now .
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(CNN)Each day, CNN producers select a user-submitted photo to be our Travel Photo of the Day. Click through the gallery above to see stunning shots from around the world, and be sure to come back every day for a new image. Have a gorgeous travel photo of your own to share? Submit it for the gallery at CNN iReport!
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See more iReport galleries: Glorious Ireland, beautiful beaches .
Follow us on Twitter @cnnireport and @CNNTravel .
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From the Zara cornflower blue dress she wore after announcing her engagement to the vibrant pink jeans she wore to play hockey in ahead of London's Olympics, whatever the Duchess of Cambridge wears generally turns to retail gold. Her wardrobe choices used to send high street sales soaring with shoppers desperate to emulate her impeccable style. But is the 32-year-old losing her touch? Seemingly so, if the latest research is anything to go by. According to a new survey women are more likely to copy reality TV stars such as Made In Chelsea's Binky Felstead, TOWIE's Lauren Pope and Jersey Shore's Snooki than the once-favoured royal. Scroll down for video . Are we over her? A new piece of research reveals that the 'Kate effect' isn't as strong as it once was and women are more influenced by reality TV stars when it comes to fashion . So is the Kate effect over? Apparently so, according to Jeetendr Sehdev, a celebrity branding expert and University of Southern California marketing professor writing for WWD. He found that movie stars, musicians, models and reality TV stars yield greater influence when it comes to fashion than the former Kate Middleton. According to his research, women in both the USA and the UK claim to be more influenced by reality TV stars, including the Kardashians, as well as Taylor Swift, Sienna Miller and Michelle Obama. Kate who? The survey found that Lauren Pope, left, from The Only Way is Essex, and Binky Felstead, right, from Made in Chelsea, scored higher as fashion influencers . First lady of fashion: According to his research, women in both the USA and the UK claim to be more influenced by the likes of Michelle Obama, left, and Taylor Swift, right . So influential is the First Lady that she has 11 times more selling power than the Duchess. Speaking about his results, Sehdev said: 'Her influence is not what it’s being made to be and, in the eyes of the modern woman in both the U.S. and the U.K., she’s not heralded in that way. 'Does she even deserve the title of style icon? The answer is no, because she doesn’t measure on the criteria of the style icon.' So why has the new mother fallen out of favour? While 68 per cent of those surveyed believe her style has a certain timelessness, Michelle Obama is seen to be fives time as daring in her dressing. Sehdev also believes that Kate's move from high street offerings such as Reiss and L.K. Bennett to designer garments such as Alexander McQueen means her style resonate less with the masses. 'Style icons today have to be enormously sexy and they have to have a great sense of style and fashion and flair and individuality and they also have to be dressing for themselves and not others,' Sehdev added. Her best fashion moments: From the Zara cornflower blue dress she wore after announcing her engagement, right, to the vibrant pink jeans she wore to play hockey in, left, whatever the Duchess of Cambridge touches turned to gold when the Kate effect was in full swing .
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Jeetendr Sehdev, a celebrity branding expert, says so .
People can relate to fashion choices of reality TV stars .
Michelle Obama is 11 times more influential than Kate .
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By . Ellie Zolfagharifard . The GOCE satellite is expected to meet its fiery death in the next few days as it plunges to Earth - but no one knows where it will land. The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) has been in its low Earth orbit for an extra two-and-a-half years on its planned mission. About 40 tonnes of manmade space debris reach the ground per year, but the spread and size mean the risk of an individual being struck is lower than being hit by a meteorite. Scroll down for video... With a sleek, aerodynamic design responsible for it being dubbed the 'Ferrari of space', GOCE has mapped variations in Earth's gravity with extreme detail . Full name: Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer . Launched: 17 March 2009 . Number of instruments: 3 . Nominal life: 20 months . Mission cost: €350 million (£295 million) Orbit: about 260 km altitude, polar, Sun-synchronous . Mass: 1100 kg . Size: 5.3 m long, about 1m body diameter . With a sleek, aerodynamic design . responsible for it being dubbed the ‘Ferrari of space’, GOCE has mapped . variations in Earth’s gravity with extreme detail. After . more than four years on its mission, the one-tonne GOCE satellite will . fall rapidly through the atmosphere, burning up as it descends. In an update earlier this week, the ESA Space Debris Office said GOCE was at at an altitude of 192km, having run out of fuel on 21 October . It added that the spacecraft is still fully functional with good attitude control. 'Interesting days may lie ahead, as several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are expected to reach our planet, which may spark storms in Earth's geomagnetic field and hence lead to a large increase in the atmospheric drag at GOCE's altitude,' said GOCE operations manager Christoph Steiger in a blog post. This is the first uncontrolled re-entry of a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite since 1987. At a height of 224km, GOCE's orbit is so low that it experiences drag from the outer edges of . Earth's atmosphere. The satellite's streamline structure and use of . electric propulsion system counteract atmospheric drag to ensure that . the data are of true gravity. While most of GOCE will disintegrate in the atmosphere, ESA expects that around 25 per cent might reach Earth’s surface. When . and where these parts might land cannot yet be predicted, but the . affected area will be narrowed down closer to the time of re-entry. Taking into account that two thirds of Earth is covered by oceans and vast areas are thinly populated, the danger to life or property is very low. The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) has been orbiting Earth since March 2009 at the lowest altitude of any research satellite. During its mission, it has produced a unique model of the ‘geoid’, which is essentially a virtual surface where water does not flow from one point to another. During its mission, GOCE has produced a unique model of the geoid, which is essentially a virtual surface where water does not flow from one point to another. The colours in the image represent deviations in height from an ideal geoid. The blue shades represent low values and the reds/yellows represent high values . Around mid-October, the mission will come to a natural end when it runs out of fuel and the satellite begins its descent towards Earth from a height of about 224km. Re-entry is expected to happen about three weeks after the fuel is depleted. An international campaign is monitoring the descent, involving the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee. The situation is being continuously watched by the European Space Agency’s Space Debris Office, which will issue re-entry predictions and risk assessments.
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GOCE has spent 4 years mapping Earth’s gravity with incredible precision .
Return will be the first uncontrolled re-entry of an ESA satellite since 1987 .
The risk of an individual being struck is lower than being hit by a meteorite .
Around 25 per cent of the satellite's parts are expected to hit Earth .
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Andy Murray has been handed a relatively benign opening to his Wimbledon title defence with the draw proving more favourable than it initially looked twelve months ago. The 27 year-old Scot was handed a first round against Belgian David Goffin, the world number 104 who might be mistaken for being the member of a boy band. He is a talented ball striker but has made his biggest career impression on clay. Murray is in the same half as Novak Djokovic, who pulled out of an exhibition match to rest his troublesome wrist on Thursday, with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the other side. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Andy Murray practising volleys at Wimbledon on court 4 . Champion: Andy Murray will start the defence of his Wimbledon title against Belgian David Goffin . The defending champion could have a major headache in the quarter finals where he might play last Sunday’s Aegon champion Grigor Dimitrov or the relentless Spanish scrapper David Ferrer. Murray’s first expected seed in the third round is Spanish baseliner Roberto Bautista Agut, although it couldbe the in-form German Tobias Kamke instead. His scheduled fourth round opponent could be tough, the big-serving South African Kevin Anderson but overall it could have come out worse. But he has managed to avoid some of the more nasty floating players in the early round, and may be pleased to have avoided his perennial semi-final nemesis Rafael Nadal before the final. Of course there is much to happen before then and the Spaniard, who flopped in last year’s first round, has an opener this time against Slovak Martin Klizan. Nadal has the nastiest looking draw of the KBig Four' with a possible second round against his 2012 conqueror Lukas Rosoi and maybe a meeting after that with the massive serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic. Focused: Rafael Nadal, who crashed out in last year's first round, will rake on Slovak Martin Klizan . VIDEO Djokovic pulls out of Wimbledon warm-up . 1R - Goffin 2R - Andujar/Rola 3R - Bautista Agut 4R - Fognini QF - Ferrer SF - Djokovic F - Nadal . Federer has a potentially nasty second round against the athletic Frenchman Julien Benetteau, who has caused him problems at Wimbledon before. Manchester’s Dan Smetihurst, one of four men in the draw making their Wimbledon debut, will play American giant John Isner. James Ward has a tough match against Russian number one Mikhail Youznhy while Dan Evans takes on another Russian, Andrey Kuznetsov. In the women’s draw the two favourites, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, could face each other in the quarter finals in what is a tough looking top half of the draw. It also includes Eugenie Bouchard taking on Daniela Hantuchova and Heather Watson tackling the talented young Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic. British unknown Samantha Murray (no relation) faces Sharapova in the first round. Novak Djokovic (Ser) (1) v Andrey Golubev (Kaz)Radek Stepanek (Cze) v Pablo Cuevas (Uru)Konstantin Kravchuk (Rus) v Gilles Simon (Fra)Robin Haase (Ned) v Vasek Pospisil (Can) (31)Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) (17) v James Ward (Gbr)Jimmy Wang (Tpe) v Alejandro Gonzalez (Col)Bradley Klahn (USA) v Sam Querrey (USA)Jurgen Melzer (Aut) v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) (14)Ernests Gulbis (Lat) (12) v Jurgen Zopp (Est)Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukr) v Carlos Berlocq (Arg)Jeremy Chardy (Fra) v Daniel Cox (Gbr)Marinko Matosevic (Aus) v Fernando Verdasco (Spa) (18)Marin Cilic (Cro) (26) v Paul-Henri Mathieu (Fra)Andreas Haider-Maurer (Aut) v Kyle Edmund (Gbr)Bernard Tomic (Aus) v Evgeny Donskoy (Rus)Victor Hanescu (Rom) v Tomas Berdych (Cze) (6)Andy Murray (Gbr) (3) v David Goffin (Bel)Pablo Andujar (Spa) v Blaz Rola (Slo)Tobias Kamke (Ger) v Jan Hernych (Cze)Steve Johnson (USA) v Roberto Bautista-Agut (Spa) (27)Kevin Anderson (Rsa) v Aljaz Bedene (Slo)Filippo Volandri (Ita) v Edouard Roger-Vasselin (Fra)Teymuraz Gabashvili (Rus) v Tim Puetz (Gbr)Alex Kuznetsov (USA) v Fabio Fognini (Ita) (16)Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) (11) v Ryan Harrison (USA)Luke Saville (Aus) v Dominic Thiem (Aut)Donald Young (USA) v Benjamin Becker (Ger)Samuel Groth (Aus) v Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukr) (21)Andreas Seppi (Ita) (25) v Leonardo Mayer (Arg)Dustin Brown (Ger) v Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp)Andrey Kuznetsov (Rus) v Daniel Evans (Gbr)Pablo Carreno-Busta (Spa) v David Ferrer (Spa) (7)Stanislas Wawrinka (Swi) (5) v Joao Sousa (Por)Yen-Hsun Lu (Tpe) v Aleksandr Nedovyesov (Kaz)Michael Russell (USA) v Julian Reister (Ger)Denis Istomin (Uzb) v Dmitry Tursunov (Rus) (32)Feliciano Lopez (Spa) v Ante Pavic (Cro)Alejandro Falla (Col) v Ante Pavic (Cro)Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) v Federico Del Bonis (Arg)Dan Smethurst (Gbr) v John Isner (USA) (9)Jerzy Janowicz (Pol) (15) v Somdev Devvarman (Ind)Lleyton Hewitt (Aus) v Michal Przysiezny (Pol)Pere Riba (Spa) v Adrian Mannarino (Fra) (23)Lukas Lacko (Svk) v Tommy Robredo (Spa)Marcel Granollers (Spa) (30) v Nicolas Mahut (Fra)Daniel Gimeno-Traver (Spa) v Santiago Giraldo (Col)Gilles Muller (Lux) v Julien Benneteau (Fra) (4)Paolo Lorenzi (Ita) v Roger Federer (Swi) (4)Milos Raonic (Can) (8) v Matthew Ebden (Aus)Pierre-Hugues Herbert (Fra) v Jack Sock (USA)Lukasz Kubot (Pol) v Jan-Lennard Struff (Ger)Dusan Lajovic (Ser) v Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spa)Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger) v Igor Sijsling (Ned)Tatsuma Ito (Jpn) v Simone Bolelli (Ita)Marsel Ilhan (Tur) v Denis Kudla (USA)Kenny De Schepper (Fra) v Kei Nishikori (Jpn) (10)Richard Gasquet (Fra) (13) v James Duckworth (Aus)Nick Kyrgios (Aus) v Stephane Robert (Fra)Jiri Vesely (Cze) v Victor Estrella Burgos (Dom)Malek Jaziri (Tun) v Gael Monfils (Fra) (24)Ivo Karlovic (Cro) v Frank Dancevic (Can)Dudi Sela (Isr) v Mikhail Kukushkin (Kaz)Benoit Paire (Fra) v Lukas Rosol (Cze)Martin Klizan (Svk) v Rafael Nadal (Spa) (2)
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Andy Murray handed favourable draw as he looks to defend Wimbledon title .
Scot will face David Goffin in the first round of the competition .
Belgian is ranked No 104 in the world .
Murray is in the same half as Novak Djokovic with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the other side .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 12:22 EST, 28 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:43 EST, 29 March 2013 . Sean Iceton, who committed 250 burglaries before he was 17, has been jailed weeks after being released from a young offenders institution . A teenager who was jailed for breaking into more than 250 homes before he was even 17 has been convicted again for the same crime just weeks after being released from prison. Sean Iceton, 19, was jailed in 2011 after pleading guilty to a vast number of break-ins and stealing goods worth £740,000 while working as part of a 'feral' gang of young criminals. Repentant Iceton even took police officers on a tour of Leeds in West Yorkshire to point out all the properties he had targeted and what he had stolen from them. But just 12 weeks after being released from a young offenders' institution, Iceton, 19, has been convicted of breaking into more homes. Duncan Ritchie, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court that Iceton and another man targeted a home in Pudsey, Leeds, in February this year. They stole car keys, house keys, an iPad, iPhone and a handbag. A tracking device fitted to the iPad led officers to nearby Bramley, where Iceton was arrested. He pleaded guilty to burglary and asked for seven other offences to be taken into consideration by the court. Richard Reed, mitigating, said Iceton could not find work as a joiner after being released from prison, so returned to burglary. Judge David Hatton QC jailed Iceton for two years and four months. Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Ian Scott, of North West Leeds police, said: 'Iceton has an absolutely appalling number of crimes to his name and behind each one there is the real human misery that burglars like him cause.' Two years ago, the thief was part of an organised team which carried out the offences over a 12-month period, using profits to fund drugs and alcohol addictions. At the time he wrote a letter which stated: 'I am sorry for all the victims. I expect a prison sentence and when I get out I am going to get a job.' Behind bars: Iceton, 19, was jailed for two years and four months at Leeds Crown Court, pictured, just 12 weeks after being released from a young offenders institution .
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Sean Iceton, 19, was jailed in 2011 for committing more than 250 burglaries .
But just 12 weeks after release, he has been convicted for the same crime .
Teenager told court he was forced to burgle as he couldn't get a job .
Iceton was jailed for two years and four months at Leeds Crown Court .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . Mechanics have created the world's longest Mini Cooper limousine - and it is almost as long as a double-decker bus. The 27ft six-wheeler British classic began life as a humble Mini Cooper S before being flown to Las Vegas for a £65,000 makeover. Specialists cut chopped the car in half and added an extra 16ft of space. Scroll down for video . A regular Mini Cooper S was given a £65,000 makeover when it was turned into a 27ft limousine . The six-wheeler vehicle is believed to be the longest Mini Cooper limousine in the world . The black and white limo seats six people . in ultimate luxury, and according to owner Kamran Akram it has become . his company's biggest head turner. Mr Akram, who owns Krystal Limousines, in Coventry, West Midlands, said: 'People, and especially children, go crazy for the car every time it drives past them in public - they take pictures, come over for a chat and get really excited. Length: 27ft . Engine: Standard 1.6litre Cooper S engine . Top speed: 100mph . Weight: Estimated there tonnes . Cost of hire: £200 per hour . 'As far as I'm aware it's the world's longest Mini limo - and that's something we're extremely proud of. 'It's certainly an eye-catching car and a lot of people are now choosing it for special occasions over the more common limos. 'And no wonder because it's absolutely bizarre - the Italian Job gone mad.' The businessman, 40, came up with the idea of the Mini limo after discovering a bespoke modification garage in the U.S. And after insisting the adapted car must represent the UK, he settled on the iconic 1960s Mini. Mr Akram shipped the factory version Mini Cooper S over to Las Vegas, where mechanics took to building the bizarre car. It can comfortably fit six people in the back and owner Kamran Akram said it is hired for proms and weddings . One of Krystal Limousines' drivers shows off the luxury interior that includes a champagne fridge . It is also kitted out with a disco ball, TVs and DVDs, blacked out windows and neon lights . They . also transformed the interior into a luxury lair for revellers - . including disco ball, champagne fridge, TVs and DVD players, neon . lights, blacked out windows and state-of-the-art music system. It is kitted out with leather interior and curved seating, which face a fully-stocked alcoholic bar to get the night started. Despite being the size of three Minis, the car can still reach speeds of more than 100mph. Mr Akram said: 'There really isn't anything else like it around. When we were designing it there really wasn't any other car we'd choose. 'The Mini is a British classic - it is recognised around the world. Now we have the longest one on the planet.' The four-year-old limo comes with its very own chauffeur to carry passengers anywhere they wish. Mr Akram said customers are 'choosing it for special occasions over the more common limos.'
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A regular Mini Cooper S was given a £65,000 specialist makeover .
It was cut in half in Las Vegas and an extra 16ft of space was added .
The 27ft six-wheeler has interior disco ball, champagne fridge, TVs and DVD players, neon .
lights and blacked out windows .
Owner Kamran Akram said it is like 'the Italian Job gone mad'
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(CNN) -- This section of CNN Business Traveller aims to keep you up to date with the latest developments in the high flying world of the road warrior. CNN's Richard Quest puts the Xshot through its paces with the help of a tourist in Basel. Each show we check out new gadgets and give you our opinion on their usefulness. The XShot . This month CNN's Richard Quest road tested the XShot, a telescopic stainless-steel rod that allows you to take pictures and videos while keeping yourself in the frame. A camera is screwed in position on the end of the lightweight rod which extends by three feet. The mount fits all compact machines. Once in position all you need to do is hit the camera's self-timer or remote, hold the stick out and say "cheese." This means you no longer have to be the martyr behind the lens on holiday snaps and you can save yourself the embarrassment of having to ask an unsuspecting member of the public to take a picture of you. Of course, you might well feel just as self-conscious dangling a camera on the end of a meter-long metal stick but at least you'll be able to trust the photographer. Quest tested the gadget against the beautiful alpine views from Mount Stanzahorn, near to the Swiss town of Lucern. After roping in a succession of tourists to try out the XShot, he decided it was easy to operate and compact, and worthy of a thumbs up from Smart Traveller. For more details visit xshotpix.com.
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This month Smart Traveller road tested the Xshot in Basel, Switzerland .
The Xshot is a three-feet long telescopic stainless-steel rod .
A camera can be mounted on the end to allow you to take pictures of yourself .
CNN's Richard Quest gave the gadget the thumbs up .
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- "Late Show With David Letterman" bandleader Paul Shaffer is a walking Wikipedia of rock 'n' roll history -- and now he's added his own story to the mix. Paul Shaffer has been David Letterman's bandleader for 27 years. Shaffer's new memoir, "We'll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Showbiz Saga" (Flying Dolphin Press) offers his take on a colorful career, from piano lessons in his native Canada to a "Saturday Night Live" stint to the gig he's had, and relished, for 27 years -- Letterman's sidekick. Oh yeah, and he co-wrote the hit disco song "It's Raining Men." Shaffer appeared this week at a Manhattan Barnes & Noble to sign books and give a performance. Among those who dropped by were the Beach Boys' Al Jardine -- who joined in for "Help Me, Rhonda" -- Martin Short and girl group belter Darlene Love. Shaffer also took questions from the audience. Though the topic of Letterman's recent troubles was off-limits, one audience member did ask Shaffer what the host was really like -- emphasis on "really." Shaffer responded that the boss he's respected and admired for nearly three decades is "very transparent on the air and you can see exactly what he's like." Shaffer talked to CNN about how he picks songs to introduce guests, his renowned Passover celebrations and his chance to be on "Seinfeld." The following is an edited version of the interview: . CNN: When guests are introduced on the "Late Show," you usually add a musical accompaniment that's an obscure reference to their name. My favorite was when Dustin Hoffman was a guest, and you played "Dust in the Wind." Can you tell me how you come up with those, and what some of your favorites have been? Paul Shaffer: We think of them in rehearsal before the show. I have about 15 minutes, and I often throw it open to the floor. And by the floor, I mean the musicians, the band [the "Late Show's" CBS Orchestra members]. And I say "Who has an idea for this?" And I pick the one that I like the best. [Once we] had a new actor named Aziz Ansari, and one of the guys in the band says, "I'm Sorry" [referring to the Brenda Lee song]. So we did it, and it cracked Dave [Letterman] up so I know that I got my one laugh -- and the most important laugh. CNN: What's the story behind using Ray Charles' "Busted" for Tom Brokaw? Shaffer: He was particularly difficult to come up with something for because he's on all the time, and we didn't want to play a news theme or a song about the news. So Will Lee, my bass player, suggested "Busted" ... "I'm broke, aw -- I'm busted." And Brokaw asked about it once: "Why do you play Ray Charles' 'Busted' when I come on?" He asked on camera, and I said, "I'm broke -- aw -- I'm busted." CNN: What is your favorite song of all time? Shaffer: As far as favorite "overall package" record of all time, I'd have to say "My Girl" by The Temptations. I like everything about it, not only the composition -- but the arrangement, the production, the lead vocals, the background vocals, the horns, the strings. That one I listen to over and over again. And, of course, "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes. Maybe that's my favorite song, and "My Girl" is my favorite record. CNN: For some reason I thought it was "He's a Rebel" by the Crystals. Shaffer: Well that's way up there. I consider that my national anthem. When I hear "He's a Rebel," I stand. CNN: Are there any musicians you regret never having had a chance to work with? Shaffer: Well, of course, Frank [Sinatra] is one, and Elvis is the other. But aside from those two I think I've done pretty well. CNN: Can you tell me a little bit about your famed "Celebrity Seders"? Shaffer: We spent a lot of time at the show during the early days of "SNL" ["Saturday Night Live"]. We had no personal lives at all. ... And, of course, we were there doing a show around Passover time, and Suzanne Miller, who was one of the writers, came up with the idea that we should have a seder for the cast and crew and writers who wouldn't be going home. So I said, "I can conduct it!" I knew how to conduct a seder at lightning speed because my parents couldn't wait to get to the matzo ball soup. So I have that skill, and I also sort of had an act, too. As a prize for finding the matzo, I gave out a pizza on ["SNL's"] "Weekend Update." [Producer] Lorne Michaels liked it so much that he had matches printed up immediately that said "Paul Shaffer's Celebrity Seder" and that became legendary. CNN: In the late 1980s, you were offered the role of George Costanza on "Seinfeld." Any regrets on not accepting that part? Shaffer: Just to be clear, I was offered the role of Jerry Seinfeld's sidekick. He had three sidekicks, and I had a feeling mine might've been that role. And any regrets? Well, I mean it was only the most beloved show of all time. ... Truthfully, though, I would have missed the opportunity to play music. CNN: How do you stay hip and current in a world where today's kids don't appreciate showbiz legends and the origins of comedy? Shaffer: I still talk incessantly about "SCTV," and I say, "Screw the kids!"
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Paul Shaffer: The David Letterman viewers see on air is who he really is .
Shaffer's new memoir has stories of "Saturday Night Live," Letterman .
Shaffer was offered chance to play Jerry Seinfeld sidekick at one point .
Bandleader legendary for his "Celebrity Seders"
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By the end the Leicester players were all smiles, cavorting in a corner celebrating a famous FA Cup victory in front of their fans. Jeff Schlupp, who might have been at the African Nations’ Cup had the Ghanaian FA pushed harder for his inclusion, was at the centre of a scrum of ecstatic players, as two goals in the last seven minutes plucked an unlikely victory from a day which had seem likely to end in bitter recriminations. And amidst all the joy, even Andrej Kramaric, by then on the bench, might have found a moment to smile. The Croatian striker has only been in England for a fortnight and his first impressions of the country can’t be altogether positive. It was the Croatian striker’s first start, having played 25 minutes last weekend in the defeat to Stoke. At Tottenham he missed a simple chance on ten minutes from close range in an otherwise energetic and good performance but that wasn’t the worst of it. Leicester City scored twice in the final 10 minutes to come from behind and dump Tottenham out of the FA Cup at White Hart Lane . Tottenham took the lead after Andros Townsend sent Mark Schwarzer, who was making his debut, the wrong way from the penalty spot . The England winger celebrates his goal for Tottenham in the FA Cup, it was his second goal in two games after he scored in the League Cup . Townsend leaps in celebration in front of the Tottenham supporters, many of whom take photographs on their phones . Leicester City striker Leonardo Ulloa scores an equaliser in the 86th minute to take the tie to a replay . Jeffrey Schlupp celebrates after scoring the winning goal in added time in north London . Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Vorm 6.5, Chiriches 6.5, Fazio 6, Kaboul 6.5, Rose 7; Capoue 6, Dembele 6.5 (Kane 87); Townsend 7.5 (Eriksen 64 - 6), Paulinho 6.5, Lamela 6.5; Soldado 7.5 (Adebayor 71). Subs not used: Friedel, Davies, Dier, Stambouli, Kane. Scorer: Townsend. Leicester (4-2-3-1): Schwarzer 6, Simpson 5.5, Morgan 6, Moore 4.5 (Wasilewski 26 - 6), De Laet 6; Drinkwater 7, King 6.5; Vardy 6 (Nugent 72 - 6.5), Kramaric 7 (Albrighton 73 - 7), Schlupp 8; Ulloa 7.5. Subs not used: Hamer, Konchesky, Cambiasso, Knockaert. Scorers: Ulloa, Schlupp. Booked: Ulloa, Kramaric, Moore. Referee: Robert Madley 4.5. Star man: Jeffrey Schlupp. Att: 35,548. His bewilderment with the mores of our game must have reached a peak on 42 minutes when he sprinted on to a through ball from Danny Drinkwater. For all the late drama, what happened next occupied centre stage of the afternoon’s entertainment. Goalkeeper Michel Vorm came charging out, missed the ball and took the man in the penalty area. A red card and a penalty seemed inevitable. Instead, referee Robert Madley reached with a flourish for a yellow card for diving and pointed in the opposite direction for a Tottenham free kick. Kramaric looked flabbergasted. Nigel Pearson on the bench looked so surprised that he bypassed anger for utter incredulity. Even Vorm looked a little apologetic, placing an arm around Kramaric. ‘He’s a bit bemused by it,’ said Pearson. ‘He didn’t quite understand. But we have to address this situation at some point. It’s an honest mistake. It’s not done on purpose but I’m a big believer in the fact we need to introduce more technology to aid the officials. 'We can have replays and you in th press have monitors and can see incidents very quickly after they occur so there shouldn’t be an issue with having another official who can see replays. ‘I don’t see any point ranting and raving about it – and I suppose you could say it’s easy to say that now you’ve won. But that’s how we were at half time. It happened; we can’t change it. It’s unfortunate but these sort of things can cost people job but if it’s a league game and we lose because of a decision like that, maybe I’d be talking a little bit differently.’ It was key moment which might have deflated worse teams. But to their credit Leicester never folded after that decision and never played like a team whose primary focus must be the Premier League. One-nil down and aggrieved they stuck to their task doggedly and on 83 minutes came the reward. When a corner fell to Schlupp, his attempted shot bounced off the feet of Leanardo Ulloa, but fell kindly for the Argentine who turned and shot from the edge of the box, beating Vorm and racing away in ecstatically to celebrate with the Leicester fans. Still, few were expecting the dramatic denouement. Time added on had just been announced when Danny Simpson broke down the right. He crossed well and Schlupp met it cleanly but still, it remained a relatively simple save for Vorm. Somehow he allowed the ball to squirm under him and then deflected the ball into the net as he attempted to recover. Poor Vorm. Early on he had made fine saves but it would ultimately have been better for him if he had received that first-half red card. Michel Vorm, who was lucky to still be on the pitch, looks at the ball after Ulloa scored his equaliser . Leicester City's record signing Andrej Kramaric holds his head in his hands after being booked for diving against Tottenham . The Foxes' Croat striker appeared to have been fouled in the box but referee Robert Madley didn't see it that way and booked him for diving . Vorm was lucky to avoid a red card and a penalty after he slid in against Kramaric but missed the ball and took the man . Tottenham's Brazilian midfielder Paulinho takes a shot while Leicester midfielder Andy king attempts to block it . Former Valencia and Getafe forward Roberto Soldado attempts an acrobatic shot on goal during the second half . As for Spurs the decision to make nine changes from the Capital One Cup semi final in midweek surely cost them. The introductions of Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane came too late and that of Emmanuel Adebayor was of limited impact and was greeted by some cheers but plenty of jeers among Tottenham fans. The manager claimed the changes were not the reason for the team’s exit but he now needs to lift them for the second leg against Sheffield United on Wednesday. ‘This is our way from the beginning of the season,’ said Pochettino. ‘I don’t think the changes are a reason to justify the result. We’re very disappointed and upset because when you analyse the game we deserved more. During the game we played well, but you need to kill the game and we always gave Leicester the possibility to stay alive.’ Pochettino has some justification in his claims – Spurs could have won this game but would have had more chance with Kane and Eriksen on from the start. And with Hugo Lloris in goal, they would not have lost. The Leicester players celebrate on the pitch after the game while a smoke bomb goes off in front of them . Leicester City players and supporters celebrate after coming from behind to seal the win in London . Leicester defender Danny Simpson rides a challenge from Tottenham's Argentine midfielder Erik Lamela . Tottenham and Leicester players clash during the second half of their FA Cup fourth round clash . Ghanaian striker Jeffrey Schlupp tackles former Fulham midfielder Mousa Dembele during the first half . Leicester centre back Liam Moore had to be substituted during the first half after sustaining an injury . Kramaric dribbles down the wing while trying to evade the challenge of Spurs goalscorer Townsend . Foxes striker Leonardo Ulloa attempts to protect the ball from Spurs duo Danny Rose and Etienne Capoue . Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy uses his pace to escape full back Rose at White Hart Lane . Vardy takes a shot during the FA Cup clash, but his effort sails harmlessly over the bar . Spurs did have to survive early scares – that Kramaric miss, which had seen Vorm react superbly to push the ball away and a dipping shot from Schlupp on 17 minutes which Vorm has tipped away one handed. But slowly they established a stranglehold on the game, gradually crafting chances. They were presented with their opening goal from the penalty spot when Liam Moore was tricked into fouling Roberto Soldado, who flicked the ball away to one side while the Leicester defender simply ploughed on with his challenge regardless, taking out the Spaniard. Andros Townsend converted from the spot. Thereafter Tottenham appeared in control without ever dominating. They had the best chances: a header from Soldado on 33 minutes; a strike from Paulinho on 35 minutes; Paulinho should have done better on 70 minutes; and 42-year-old debutant Mark Schwarzer produced an excellent save from Erik Lamela on 79 minutes before Leicester’s dramatic finale. Leicester City defender Moore clears the ball while being closed down by Tottenham striker Soldado . Former Brighton and Hove striker Ulloa attempts to flick the ball to a team-mate while tussling with Younes Kaboul . Former newcastle man Simpson tracks opposition defender Rose but fouls him while attempting a tackle . Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson (left) and Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino (right) greet each other before the game .
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Andros Townsend opened the scoring for Tottenham after Roberto Soldado was brought down for a penalty .
Veteran goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer was making his debut for the Foxes .
Leicester City's record signing Andrej Kramaric booked for diving, although he appeared to have been fouled .
But Leonardo Ulloa and Jeffrey Schlupp scored twice late on to win the tie .
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Battle: Jennifer Wederell died at the age of 27 from lung cancer. She had a transplant to try and save her from cystic fibrosis . She delayed her wedding for two years while she waited for a lung transplant to save her from the cystic fibrosis that had claimed her brother’s life. The operation was a success, and last autumn an overjoyed Jennifer Wederell walked down the aisle to marry her boyfriend of four years, David. Less than a year later, Mrs Wederell was dead, killed by cancer which her family are certain came from the donated lungs – which they found out, too late, had belonged to a 20-a-day smoker. Mr Wederell says there is no way that his wife, who died in August at the age of 27, would ever have agreed to the transplant had she known the lungs came from a smoker. Along with his wife’s parents, Mr Wederell, 28, is now campaigning for more non-smokers to register as organ donors, to prevent other families going through the same agony. While it is easy to assume that only pristine organs are used in transplants, a severe shortage of donors means that almost 40 per cent of lungs used in the operations come from donors who have smoked. Research shows that a seriously ill patient is much more likely to die from turning down a transplant than from accepting lungs donated by a smoker. Essex-born Mrs Wederell was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of two. The disease, in which the lungs and digestive system become clogged with thick, sticky mucus, is hereditary. It claimed the life of her older brother, Richard Grannell, when he was just 23. Mrs Wederell met her future husband through friends in 2007. By the time they got engaged in 2009, her health had deteriorated badly and the couple decided to delay the wedding in the hope she would get a transplant. After an 18-month wait, she was told in April of last year that a pair of lungs were available. She gave her consent to the transplant after a doctor ran through the risks. A few weeks before her operation, . transplant guidelines had been revised to say that patients should be . informed if their new lungs carried a higher than normal risk of cancer. Celebration: Jennifer with husband Dave and close family members following their wedding in Autumn 2011. The couple had delayed the ceremony by two years while she waited for the transplant . Write caption here . But Mrs Wederell was treated under the previous rules, and was not told that the lungs had come from a 20-a-day smoker. Mr Wederell, who works in IT, told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘That would have been the time to say, “The donor was a smoker, therefore there is a higher risk of malignancy. Do you want to go ahead or not?” ‘They didn’t mention it. If they had, she would have said no.’ The transplant, which was carried out at . the Harefield Hospital in Uxbridge, West London, appeared to be a . success and the couple married a few months later. Mr Wederell said: . ‘Weddings are always happy but this was something else. Love: David and Jennifer were engaged in July 2009. Prior to the proposal David sought permission from Jennifer's father who made sure David understood exactly what this commitment meant . In this picture (left) from 2007, Jennifer showed her own daily routine of medication . A few months later, however, her happiness was shattered when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was only then that she was told her new lungs had belonged to a smoker. Mr Wederell is adamant that they were the source of the cancer. She died at home in Hawkwell, Essex, on August 24. Her father, Colin Grannell, 57, said: ‘Yes, she had a fantastic wedding day but her death was horrible. ‘I would have given up the good times not to see her die like that.’ (Left) Jennifer as a proud bridesmaid for the first time aged 11-years-old in 1996. (Right) Aged two, when her condition was diagnosed . Along with his wife and son-in-law, Mr Grannell has now set up a Facebook page called Jennifer’s Choice to encourage more non-smokers to register as organ donors. Mr Grannell says he wants those who have waited years for a transplant to have the choice his daughter never had. He told the Daily Mail: ‘All we want is to give Jennifer what she would have wanted. People need to be given more information. There must be more choice and more transparency.’ The Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust said it extended its sincere condolences to the family. A spokesman added that while it was ‘very rare’ for patients to specify they do not want lungs from smokers, Mrs Wederell should have had the choice. He said that research shows that a patient’s chance of survival is higher if they receive a smoker’s lungs than if they remain on the waiting list for a transplant from a donor with no history of smoking. He added: ‘Regrettably, the number of lungs available for transplantation would fall by 40 per cent if there was a policy of refusing those which have come from a smoker; waiting lists would increase and many more patients would die without a transplant.’ NHS Blood and Transplant, which runs the organ donor register, said that all organs are examined at least twice before being transplanted and although the risks are very small, they are impossible to eliminate.
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Jennifer Wederell was given the lungs of a 20-a-day smoker .
A year after the operation she died of cancer .
Husband says she would never have agreed to transplant had she known .
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(CNN) -- Apple's Mac Pro, the high-end show horse of the company's desktop line, goes on sale Thursday, restoring some luster to deskbound computers that have been overshadowed by the mobile revolution. In some ways the Mac Pro, which will be available for preorder on Apple's website and Apple stores, is like the fancy haute couture dresses that get walked down the runways of Paris and New York. At more than $3,000, the sleek machine is more computer than most people need or can afford. But it serves as a showcase for what its creator can do. "Can't innovate any more, my ass," Apple Vice President Phil Schiller said when he unveiled the new Mac Pro in June. It was a response to some analysts who say rivals like Samsung and Google have been rolling out fresher ideas than Apple the past couple of years. The Mac Pro certainly doesn't look like anything else on the market. It's a silver and black cylinder and stands just 10 inches tall. Packing a range of Intel Xeon processors, the new Mac Pro is more than twice as fast as its predecessor, released three years ago, Apple says. And, starting at $2,999 (with custom modifications that could push prices upward of $12,000), it's for a select group of power users like graphic designers, photographers, videographers, animators and the like. The machine has six of Apple's Thunderbolt 2 ports, enabling up to 36 external devices to be attached. Apple says the Mac Pro has been designed and manufactured in the United States. Pro users are a small part of Apple's overall business. Only 19% of the company's revenue in the first quarter of this year came from Macs. That's just shy of the 21% it made selling iPads, and a far cry from the 49% Apple made on the iPhone.
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Apple's new Mac Pro starts at $2,999 .
The high-end desktop is designed for power users .
The cylinder-shaped computer stands less than 10 inches .
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By . Sam Webb . PUBLISHED: . 07:45 EST, 15 October 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 09:43 EST, 15 October 2012 . Albert Chambers smiles for the camera, his radiant fiancee's hand clasped in his own as they stand outside church on their wedding day. Just eight months later Mr Chambers set off in a Lancaster Bomber in the early hours of D-Day. He never returned. The crew of the Lancaster bomber – among the most highly decorated in the RAF – were all killed when their plane was shot down by a German aircraft over Normandy. Their remains have never been found. Bittersweet: RAF hero Albert Chambers on his wedding day to his new wife Vera. Mr Chambers and the crew of the Lancaster Bomber were killed in the run-up to D-day . In a spin: One of the propellers of the Lancaster, which was found at the newly-discovered crash site . Ring: A metal detector found a gold ring which bore the initials ‘AC’ and the engraved inscription ‘Love Vera’ A piece of history: Tony Graves (right, pictured with a German bullet found at the crash site) discovered the AC referred to ‘Albert Chambers’ (left) who wed Vera Grubb, 21, just eight months before he died on D-Day . Marriage certificate: Albert Chambers and Vera Grubb, who wed at a church in Normanton, Derbyshire, in 1943 . Luftwaffe ace: Oberleutnant Helmut Eberspacher in his German Foker-Wulf 190. He shot down the RAF Lancaster over Normandy on D-Day . 'We were at war and the enemy had to be combated': Eberspacher wrote in his log of shooting down three Lancasters that day . Earlier this month the mystery was solved after 68 years. Mr Chambers' signet ring was found in a marsh by a . French metal detector enthusiast, with the initials ‘AC’ and the . engraved inscription ‘Love Vera’. British aviation archaeologist Tony . Graves discovered the AC refers to a flight lieutenant called Albert . Chambers who was on board Lancaster ND 739 which went missing following a . dawn mission on June 6, 1944. The name Vera refers to his wife, Vera Grubb, whom he had married just eight months earlier. And today a wedding picture of the couple was released by relatives for the first time. Born in Derby, Flight Lieutenant . Chambers had an extraordinary career. He had flown 58 operational . sorties and had won a Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar before his . death at 23. His brother John, of Sunderland, has been searching for years to find out what happened to his sibling and was overcome when the discovery was made. The 76-year-old former mechanical engineer, who was just eight when his brother died, said: 'I had a day of sadness. 'I have personally been looking for the plane for four or five years. I remember a lot about him. 'Nine months after the flight he was registered as missing, presumed dead. Before that we kept hope that he was a prisoner of war, that somehow he had got out of the plane.' Despite his young age, he remembers Vera's reaction to the gut-wrenching news. He said: 'She was obviously grief-stricken. 'The whole family was, particularly my mum and dad. I remember being told at school to go home with my brother Tony and when I got home my parents were sobbing their eyes out. 'It was a tragic event.' John is now writing a book about his brother's exploits and hopes to visit the site of the crash soon. Chambers was 97 Squadron’s signals leader and was wireless operator and air gunner on the D-Day flight. He had flown Stirling bombers and as a . 20-year-old he was forced to bale out over England when his aircraft . ran out of fuel returning from Hanover after it was attacked by German . fighters. Mr Graves has found hundreds of . twisted parts from the Lancaster as well as a string of personal items, . including a silver-plated cigarette case and a watch. Big project: Excavating machines dig a 25ft hole on September 29 at the crash site of the Lancaster in France . Uncovered: Aviation historian Gordon Ramsey holds one of the propellers of missing Lancaster ND 739 . Dig team: The wreck is believed to be of the Lancaster which was sent on a dawn mission to attack a German coastal battery at Pont Du Hoc in the crucial hours before the Allied invasion on June 6, 1944 . Amazing discovery: Aviation historian Mark Kirby uncovers a tyre from the wreckage of the Lancaster . Astonishing: A piece of fuselage which still has traces of red paint from the RAF Lancaster call sign Z-Zebra . Well-built: A parts tag from an engine carburetor of the RAF Lancaster, which was shot down by a German . In hand: An airman's glove which has been recovered from the French field by the archaeologists . Big dig: The dramatic discovery of the missing Lancaster was made by Mr Graves, who has excavated more than 400 Battle of Britain aircraft and spent years pinpointing the exact spot . Holding history: A digging volunteer finds a piece of undercarriage from the RAF Lancaster in the field . The bomber was piloted by Wing . Commander ‘Jimmy’ Carter. His seven-man crew boasted four Distinguished . Flying Crosses and three Distinguished Flying Medals for gallantry . between them. They had taken off from RAF Coningsby . in Lincolnshire at 2.56am on D-Day and carried out a bombing mission at . Pointe du Hoc on the coast of Normandy. But their plane came under fire from . Luftwaffe pilot Oberleutnant Helmut Eberspacher, shortly after 5am as he . shot down three Lancasters in five minutes. Famous sight: Archive photo of PA474 Avro Lancaster Bomber, similar to the one discovered in France . This Lancaster is one of only two airworthy Lancasters in the world still flying. She wears the markings of EE139 ' The Phantom of the Ruhr' 100 squadron . Deadly: The newly discovered Lancaster wreck was shot down by a pilot flying a Focke-Wulf, like the one pictured . The aircraft’s last contact came at . 5.04am acknowledging a message from a controller, before falling silent. Eberspacher was scrambled to patrol the Normandy coast in his . Focke-Wulf 190 fighter as a wave of RAF bombers headed towards their . target. Carter and his crew had successfully completed their mission and turned for home when their plane came under fire. French farm workers watched as the . bomber descended in flames, but the crash site near Carentan in Normandy . had remained undiscovered. The other crew members who died were . Squadron Leader Martin Bryan-Smith, Flight Lieutenant Henry Jeffery, . Acting Flight Sergeant Guy Dunning, Acting Flight Sergeant Frank Watson, . Australian Flight Lieutenant Ronald Conley, and Canadian Flight . Lieutenant Herbert Rieger. The men are all listed on the Runnymede memorial which commemorates the 20,389 World War Two airmen with no known graves. Incredible discoveries: A newly recovered flattened RAF whistle (left), belonging to one of the crew from the Lancaster, and a silver-plated cigarette case (right) Written history: A fountain pen, with a 'Waterman' marking, belonging to one of the crew from the Lancaster . Floatation: An emergency dingy which was recovered from the wreckage of the Lancaster . Happy man: Archaeologist Mr Graves (left) with a parachute (right), which was recovered from the wreckage . War machinery: One of the two engine banks from a Merlin Packard engine of the RAF Lancaster . Up close: One of the two engine banks from a Merlin Packard engine of the RAF Lancaster . Directions: A damaged map of southern England, the English Channel and northern France that was found . Amazed: Archaeologist Mr Graves with pieces of clothing and crew belongings which were recovered . Mr Graves was informed of the . discovery of the gold ring around nine months ago. He said: ‘When I got . to the spot I found about 300 rounds of British .303mm ammunition still . lying on the surface. ‘We’ve recovered one of the . Lancaster’s huge wheel hubs, the back of an armour-plated crew seat and . all the bomb rack clamps.’ He also found a clutch of blood-stained maps . and four parachutes. But Mr Graves said it was the personal effects of the courageous crew that were the most moving. From abroad: The crew included two Commonwealth . flyers - Canadian bomb aimer Flt Lt Herbert Rieger (left), of Hamilton, . Ontario, and Australian navigator Flt Lt Ronald Conley (right), of . Annerley, Queensland . Heroes: The Lancaster was piloted by Wing . Commander Jimmy Carter (left), who also had Squadron Leader Martin . Bryan-Smith (right) on his team . Remembered: A message (right) left at the . Runnymede Missing in Action memorial for Flt Lt Henry 'Hank' Jeffery . (left) by his sister Doris. Flt Lt Jeffery was one of the crew on the RAF . Lancaster . He said: ‘We’ve found a couple of torn . RAF woollen jumpers, with one still bearing a DFM medal ribbon. 'Lodged . inside the sleeve of one jumper we discovered a single German 7.92mm . bullet. ‘There is an officer’s forage cap, a . pocket from an RAF tunic with a Waterman pen still clipped inside and a . silk flying glove.’ German base: Collect photo of the hidden airfield where Oberleutnant Helmut Eberspacher in his German Foker-Wulf 190 was based near Tours, France . Respected: Photo of Oberleutnant Helmut Eberspacher (far right) pilot of a German Foker-Wulf 190 . Teamwork: Local people and volunteer workers use excavating machines to dig a 25ft hole in the French field . In his log of D-Day, Eberspacher . wrote: ‘We were at war and the enemy had to be combated, and I was in a . favorable flying position. 'Within a few minutes, three British Lancaster bombers went down in flames.’ The discovery comes four months after . the Queen dedicated the Bomber Command memorial in London’s Green Park . to commemorate the 55,573 men who died in action.
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Poignant picture shows wedding of RAF hero Albert Chambers, who was killed in World War Two .
The flight lieutenant had only been married eight months when he was shot down .
Brother speaks of sadness he felt when he discovered the fate of his long-lost sibling .
Eight decorated servicemen died when MK III Lancaster was attacked .
Shot down by Luftwaffe ace during 1944 dawn raid in Normandy, France .
Plane lay undiscovered for almost 70 years. No bodies have been found .
British historian Tony Graves identified plane with Mr Chambers' ring .
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Washington (CNN) -- A Mississippi man was indicted Monday in the mailing of ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and two other officials. The five-count indictment charges James Everett Dutschke, 41, with producing and using the deadly toxin as a weapon, using the mail to threaten Obama, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Lee County Judge Sadie Holland. The indictment alleges Dutschke tried to implicate someone else for the crimes. That other man, an Elvis impersonator named Paul Kevin Curtis, was arrested on April 17. He claimed he'd been framed, and the charges against him were dropped less than a week later. Dutschke was then arrested April 27 and charged with producing the ricin. Curtis had said the two men knew each other and had a falling out. New poison letters put ricin under microscope . An affidavit released earlier said investigators conducted searches of Dutschke's home and former place of business and found incriminating items including latex gloves and a dust mask. The mask tested positive for ricin. According to court papers, each letter contained the same message, saying in part, "Maybe I have your attention now Even if that means someone must die. This must stop. To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance." What is ricin? The letters all ended with the words "I am KC and I approve this message." That was a phrase commonly used by Paul Kevin Curtis in online postings. The indictment claims Dutschke used such language in the messages "to make it appear that Paul Kevin Curtis was responsible" for the letters. If convicted Dutschke could face up to life in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Oxford, Mississippi, on Thursday. CNN's message to Dutschke's lawyer was not immediately returned. Ricin: Almost never deadly .
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The indictment says the defendant tried to blame another man .
The other man was arrested, then later released .
The 5-count indictment charges James Everett Dutschke with using ricin as a weapon .
Letters were sent to Obama and two others .
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Scores of young Roma women have been paraded before potential suitors at a Bulgarian 'bride market' where poor families are given the chance to arrange financially beneficial marriages for their children. Here the potential brides are provocatively dressed, donning gobs of mascara and wearing flashy jewellery, towering heels and mini-skirts. And surrounding them in the car boot-like sale event are young men whose family hope to find them a wife at a good cost. Scroll down for video . Roma boys and girls chat during the open-air 'bride market' in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria . A girl checks her makeup using a broken mirror at the market, where girls are displayed before prospective suitors . The market, which is held four times a year, is an opportunity for parents to catch up on gossip as well as play matchmaker for their sons and daughters . The families gathered in Stara Zagora are part of a community of about 18,000 Roma known as Kalaidzhi, who traditionally make a living as coppersmiths. They are among the most poverty-stricken people in a deeply impoverished region and seek to forge mutually beneficial unions that will help them weather Bulgaria's economic downturn. The 'bride market' - held four times a year on various religious holidays during the spring and summer - is a chance for the Roma's nomadic tinkers to meet and not only catch up on gossip, but also play matchmaker for their adolescent sons and daughters. Boys and girls dance side-by-side on the cars in a rare opportunity that flouts the community's conservative values, in which youths are rarely allowed to mingle with the opposite sex. Kalaidzhi, who are almost all devout Orthodox Christians, are known to remove girls from school at 15 or even earlier to keep them safe from temptation. A young girl with two gold teeth grins as she interacts with other teenagers at the open-air market . A Roma woman hugs her daughter as she speaks with a boy. The event is held four times a year and is extremely popular with teenagers among the Orthodox Christian commmunity . A young Roma girl wearing a dress smiles as she wanders through the market with her friends . It starts, like a high school dance, with groups of boys and girls in separate clumps, occasionally shaking hands and checking each other out - while mothers and fathers stay discreetly in the background. Apart from these twice-a-year bridal fairs, boys and girls only have contact in Internet chats. The event's reputation as a 'bridal market' goes back generations. It used to take place in a muddy open field next to a horse-trading market in a small village, where brides-to-be stood on stage with suitors competing for their hand. But police last year moved it into a city to avoid tension with the horse traders. Still, the flirtations which occur can lead to negotiations and a possible union a few months down the road. A group of Roma girls chat as parents (pictured far left and right) watch on . Milka Minkova, 13, poses with her husband Ivan Ankov, 17, at the event which is commonly known as the 'bride market' If the youths warm to each other, the fair can trigger complex financial negotiations about the price a young man's family must pay to a woman's parents if they are to be married. The cost of a bride - between 5,000 and 10,000 lev (£2,200 to £4,300) - has dropped in recent years as jobs have dried up. And wedding festivities are much more modest with cash so tight. But prices are said to still rise for a 'very beautiful' young woman with many suitors.
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Teenage girls are matched up with future husbands at the 'bride market'
The open-air market is held in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, four times a year .
Poor Roma families use it to arrange financially beneficial marriages .
The event's reputation as a 'bride market' dates back generations .
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15ddffc1bdb3c0c2cbe8d33bb0bc4ded45f1d0aa
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Swansea face a major striker crisis after Bafetimbi Gomis cast uncertainty over his future and indicated that promises of playing time have been broken. The 29-year-old is unhappy about the lack of starts he was given following his arrival on a Bosman transfer from Lyon in the summer. That situation has changed in the wake of Wilfried Bony’s £25m move to Manchester City, but the striker has surprised and angered Swansea staff by speaking out on Sunday about his frustrations. Bafetimbi Gomis, up against Chelsea's John Terry on Saturday, has cast doubt over his Swansea future . The comments come just days after Gomis’s agent claimed Arsenal, Newcastle and Crystal Palace are interested in the France international. Garry Monk has previously insisted he has no doubts about Gomis’s commitment to the club, though the striker appears increasingly receptive to the idea of a quick move on from the Liberty Stadium. Gomis is quoted in France as saying: 'I have been approached by clubs. When Bony was here, it was also planned that I should play a certain number of games... that wasn't the case. ‘Today, I ask myself many questions. I need time to think. It's very difficult to accept to spend my time on the bench. ‘I don’t know what will happen. Me leaving? It is possible.’ Interest in Swansea striker Bafetimbi Gomis is rising after Borussia Dortmund and Schalke entered the chase . Monk now faces a huge dilemma, with his only other senior striking option being Nelson Oliveira, who is currently on loan from Benfica. The Swansea manager went to significant lengths last week in talking down previous comments from Gomis that indicated he was unsettled. But the issue has resurfaced with curious timing, considering Bony’s departure and the fact he has started Swansea’s past four games. Gomis only started two Premier League games in the first six weeks of the season following his move from France. The Swans forward reportedly has a £8million buy out clause in his contract at the end of the season .
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The 29-year-old striker has started Swansea's last four matches .
Bafetimbi Gomis has only scored one Premier League goal this season .
Swansea boss Garry Monk's only other senior striking is Nelson Oliveira .
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15e0074a9489fb698d29d982d4208e624016b9b6
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By . Kerry Mcqueeney . UPDATED: . 05:20 EST, 23 February 2012 . Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has insisted its 787 Dreamliner jets - the world's first carbon-plastic passenger plane - are still safe to fly, despite 'flaws' found in the fuselage of one of its models. Boeing reported signs of 'delamination' on a support structure in the rear fuselage earlier this month - the latest in a series of glitches in developing the revolutionary jet. Delamination occurs when repeated stress causes laminated composite materials to begin to separate. Revolutionary: The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the world's first carbon-plastic passenger plane . The company is now examining a backlog of assembled Dreamliners to see whether they show similar signs of stress, which it has blamed on incorrect 'shimming' - a process planemakers use to fill tiny gaps when aircraft are built. James Albaugh, chief executive officer of . Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said during a media briefing in Singapore: 'All the airplanes that were built up to plane 55 have the potential for the shimming issue.' However, Albaugh said the problem was 'very fixable'. He added: 'We are in the process of fixing the airplanes that are in the (production) flow. 'There is no safety or flight issue on the airplanes that we have delivered.' Although composite parts have been in use for years, the 787 is the first airliner built mainly out of the new materials, which help airlines save fuel by reducing aircraft weight. What dreams are made of: Inside the pioneering aircraft... but Boeing has insisted the plane is still safe to fly, in spite of its flaws . Albaugh said the inspections might affect delivery of the aircraft to customers in the short term, but Boeing still expects to meet its target for this year. The first six aircraft produced are generally test models. Analysts have said the discovery of the flaw after the first delivery of the aircraft last September has raised questions about whether Boeing can meet what many already saw as an ambitious plan to raise output to 10 Dreamliners a month by the end of 2013. Kenneth Herbert, Wedbush Securities analyst, said: 'People pretty much understood when the . news came out initially that it would affect the majority of the . Dreamliners that had been produced, because it was a workmanship issue. So I don't think this will be too much of an overhang on the stock.' Boeing currently makes 2.5 Dreamliners each month and expects to boost monthly output to 3.5 in the second quarter and to five by the end of the year. Herbert said many aviation experts and stock analysts expect Boeing to miss its production rate target next year and have already priced that view into the company's shares. Boeing has so far delivered five of the aircraft to Japan's All Nippon Airways, which has put the plane into regular passenger service since December 1. Due to production problems, that was three years later than originally planned. Japan Airlines has already said it no longer expects its first Dreamliner by the end of February as a result of the manufacturing glitch. The 787 problem comes as Boeing rival Airbus investigates the cause of cracks in part of the wings of its A380 superjumbo. It also insists its jets are safe. Airbus Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders pledged last week the plane-maker would apply lessons from the A380 glitches to the development of the A350, which is the European company's carbon-composite answer to the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing will decide whether to go ahead with plans to produce a stretched, or longer, version of the 787 Dreamliner by the end of this year, Albaugh said. Most aircraft analysts expected Boeing to push ahead with the 787-10, which would carry around 320 people, 40 more than the longest 787 version currently on offer, the 787-9.
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Boeing reported signs of materials separating in fuselage .
It is the latest in series of glitches in developing revolutionary jet .
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15e167d1ef809fe7074d68886bb3374b123e9ab4
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By . Annabel Fenwick Elliott . Less than a year after giving birth to their respective babies, Jenna Dewan Tatum and Kristen Bell have taken their clothes off for Allure's May issue. 'Chan was really on board with it,' said Mrs Dewan Tatum, 33, who gave birth to Everly, her first child with Channing Tatum, her husband of five years, last May. 'He knows I'm very comfortable in my own skin.' The raven-haired dancer-turned-actress looks ravishing as she languishes naked in a pool of peach-hued water, her hand gracefully covering her breast. Smoking: Jenna Dewan Tatum poses nude for Allure's May issue, less than a year after giving birth to her first child with husband Channing Tatum, and says he was 'really on board' with the shoot . And new mom Kristen Bell, also 33, less than a year after the birth of her daughter Lincoln, with husband Dax Shepard, shows no hint of a mommy tummy as she kneels nude in the sand, her hair tousled. Ms Bell, who last week told to Ellen Degeneres that her favorite show was Discovery Channel's Naked and Afraid, admits that she 'talks a big game' about being comfortable with herself, explaining to Allure: 'I wanted to put my money where my mouth was.' Actress and Big Momma's House star Nia Long, a mother-of-two, echoes the sentiment, saying: 'When you have kids, your body changes drastically, and we have to learn to appreciate ourselves as we are.' Baring all: Actress Kristen Bell, 33, admits she 'talks a big game' about being comfortable with herself, explaining she posed nude because she wanted to 'put her money' where her mouth was . Mostly clothed: Olivia Munn graces the cover and features in a sexy spread for the magazine, although she doesn't appear nude . Also starring: Actresses Minnie Driver (left) pictured this month in California, and Nia Long (right) seen at the premiere of The Single Moms Club in March, also bare all for the Nude Issue . The 43-year-old New York-born star, who remarks that she can 'still go naked two babies later', admits: 'My boobs are not the same as they were before; I'm not going to lie.' Cover: Allure's May issue goes on sale on April 29th . Also in the all-star nude line up, actress Minnie Driver, 44, opens up about how her feelings on her body have evolved with the passage of time. 'I never could have done this when I was 25. No way,' she says. 'All I saw were the flaws. I still see flaws, but I see what's great more - and I've got a banging body.' Conversely, Ms Driver quit Twitter earlier this month after she received cruel jibes about a recent set of bikini snaps. 'I'm out of this Twittersphere for a while. It's too mean sometimes, about your body, about your soul. Not worth it,' she tweeted, confessing that he didn't have 'a thick enough skin.' The eagerly awaited Nude issue stars 33-year-old actress Olivia Munn on its cover, who sizzles in softly shimmering make-up, and appears in a spread (with her clothes on) posing in dainty stilettos and a red printed gown. Allure's May issue hits newsstands on April 29th.
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Channing Tatum's wife bares all less than a year after birth of their first child .
New mom Kristen Bell admits she 'talks a big game' about being comfortable in her skin .
Actresses Minnie Driver and Nia Long also strip down .
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15e316bf1a1ab3e2efeea1445e1d4c2297f17f2c
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(CNN) -- What Kanye West wants, he gets. After all, he wanted Kim Kardashian for years, and is now set to marry her in May. (They already welcomed their first child together, North, last June.) So should we be surprised that the rapper, who's previously campaigned for his bride-to-be to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine, can place a checkmark next to that goal? It's true. Kardashian and West are appearing on the April issue of Vogue magazine. And this, soon after West proclaimed on Ryan Seacrest's radio show that it was preposterous it had not yet happened. "There's no way Kim Kardashian shouldn't be on the cover of Vogue," West told Seacrest back in October. "She's like the most intriguing woman right now. ... and collectively, we're the most influential in clothing." "No one is looking at what Obama is wearing. Michelle Obama can't Instagram a (bathing suit) pic like what my girl Instagrammed the other day." The cover is vaguely reminiscent of Kardashian's other high-profile appearance on the front of People magazine in 2011, when she posed with her then-fiancé, basketball player Kris Humphries. Except this time, she's traded in the contemporary clothing for sumptuous luxury wares. Calling Kardashian and West #theworldsmosttalkedaboutcouple, Vogue is promising a firsthand look inside the pair's "fashionable life and surreal times," including a glimpse of how they interact as parents. The pair's daughter, North, appears with them in a behind-the-scenes video of the Vogue photo shoot. The unveiling of the issue, which arrives on newsstands March 31 and digitally March 24, was met with a mix of reactions, from stunned to supportive to upset. "Somewhere, Victoria Beckham is flipping a table," joked one observer. "Vogue negotiates with terrorists," quipped another. Vogue isn't a stranger to controversy -- earlier this year it was criticized by some for its treatment of "Girls" star Lena Dunham -- but the vitriol directed toward Vogue editor Anna Wintour regarding the April issue has been visceral. "If someone could start a petition to have Anna Wintour fired over this, society would appreciate it," said @RunBritRun. "Anna Wintour RETIRE NOW. You're mentally unstable," chimed in @Jenovia. "I just wonder what went through Anna Wintour's mind. Has she gone mad?" asked another onlooker. Given the timing of the issue, a handful wondered if Vogue was pulling some sort of elaborate (not to mention expensive) April Fool's Day prank. Fans of the couple were just as breathless as Kardashian tweeted she was when they spotted the pair's glossy cover shot. "If you're actually mad at Kim and Kanye's Vogue cover," tweeted @Kia_Mak, "go outside, start walking and don't stop until you reach the horizon." Added @PatrickSandberg, "Kim and Kanye refuse to accept the limitations people try to put on them and it's inspiring. They win." Mostly, though, it looks some are just confused by the #worldsmosttalkedaboutcouple hashtag Vogue is trying to promote. "Wait," said @NikiBlasina. "That doesn't look like Jay-Z and Beyonce."
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Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are on the cover of Vogue magazine's April issue .
West had previously said he believed there was no reason Kardashian shouldn't be on the cover .
The couple's daughter North was also present at the photo shoot .
The issue arrives digitally March 24 and on newsstands March 31 .
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Enner Valencia announced himself to the Premier League on Monday night when he scored a stunning goal for West Ham in their 2-2 draw with Hull at the KC Stadium. The Ecuadorian's effort, which was blasted into the top corner from 25 yards, left keeper Allan McGregor with no chance and put the Hammers back on level terms following Abel Hernandez's opener. After the game, Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville asked fans to name the best Premier League goals scored from distance when the ball was struck off the ground. With that in mind, Sportsmail takes a look at 10 of the best. VIDEO Scroll down to watch all 10 goals in our countdown . West Ham striker Enner Valencia scores his first goal for the club with a powerful strike against Hull City . Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville asked fans for their opinions after Enner Valencia's brilliant goal . Thierry Henry - Arsenal 1-1 Manchester United, Premier League - March 28, 2004 . Even though he was well known for his ability to generate power, Thierry Henry took everyone at Highbury by surprise when he smashed a long-range effort past Roy Carroll in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in March 2004. The Frenchman's strike was straight down the middle but United's goalkeeper had no chance given the swerve and pace on the shot. Thierry Henry beats Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll with a swerving drive at Highbury in 2004 . Cristiano Ronaldo - Porto 0-1 Manchester United, Champions League - April 15, 2009 . Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo had the last laugh on his return to his homeland when he fired Manchester United into the semis of the Champions League with an incredible strike at the Estadio do Dragao. He picked the ball up 40 yards from goal and took two quick touches before unleashing a rocket of a right-foot shot into the top corner and beyond goalkeeper Helton Arruda. Cristiano Ronaldo sent Manchester United into the Champions League semi-finals with this goal against Porto . Erik Edman - Liverpool 2-2 Tottenham, Premier League - April 16, 2005 . Swede Erik Edman will be forever remembered by Tottenham fans for his out-of-character goal against Liverpool at Anfield back in 2005. The left back, who was allowed plenty of space inside the Reds half, pushed the ball out from his feet and smashed an unstoppable left-footed shot into the far top corner. Keeper Jerzy Dudek could only watch and admire. Tottenham defender Erik Edman stunned Anfield with this brilliant goal in a 2-2 draw in April 2005 . Darren Ambrose - Manchester United 1-2 Crystal Palace, Carling Cup - November 30, 2011 . The hosts might have had youngster Ben Amos in between the sticks but no goalkeeper in the world would've saved Darren Ambrose's ferocious drive during Crystal Palace's Carling Cup quarter-final upset at Old Trafford. The former Charlton midfielder has a tendency to pull off the spectacular but this will likely go down as the best goal of his career. Crystal Palace midfielder Darren Ambrose celebrates after scoring a screamer against Manchester United . Sebastian Larsson - Tottenham 2-3 Birmingham City, Premier League - December 2, 2007 . As if scoring a brilliant goal at White Hart Lane wasn't enough, Sebastian Larsson decided to do it in the last minute to seal a dramatic away win for Alex McLeish's side. The Swedish international cut across the ball from 25 yards to swerve it just out of the reach of Paul Robinson, whose dive made it look even more impressive. Sebastian Larsson sealed a 3-2 win against Tottenham for Birmingham with this long-range effort . Obafemi Martins - Tottenham 2-3 Newcastle, Premier League - January 14, 2007 . Another 3-2 for the away team at White Hart Lane and another thunderbolt of a goal, this time by Newcastle forward Obafemi Martins. The Nigerian exchanged passes in the middle of the pitch before pushing out towards the left. He appeared to be going nowhere before powering a shot past the despairing Robinson in goal. Newcastle's Obafemi Martins (right) unleashes an unstoppable shot during a 3-2 win against Tottenham . Mario Balotelli - AC Milan 1-0 Bologna, Serie A - February 14, 2014 . Controversial striker Mario Balotelli ensured he was loved by AC Milan fans on Valentine's Day this year by netting an outrageous winner against Bologna at the San Siro. The Italy international picked the ball up on the right and took two touches before arrowing a strike into the far top corner in the 86th minute. AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli scores a stunning winner against Bologna on Valentine's Day earlier this year . Laurent Robert - Newcastle 4-0 Tottenham, Premier League - December 13, 2003 . Having already bagged a typically eye-catching volley in the first half, Laurent Robert followed it up after the break with another left-footed Goal of the Season contender. The Frenchman drove down the left before smashing a 25-yard effort into the back of Kasey Keller's net as the Magpies sealed a comfortable win against Spurs. Newcastle midfielder Laurent Robert celebrates the second of his brilliant goals against Tottenham in 2003 . Giovanni van Bronckhorst - Uruguay 2-3 Holland, World Cup - June 6, 2010 . Dutch defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst helped his side into their third World Cup final with this wonder goal against Uruguay in South Africa. The former Arsenal and Barcelona left back found himself in space 30 yards from goal and opted to shoot rather than cross. Holland boss Bert van Marwijk was glad he did. Holland defender Giovanni van Bronckhorst opens the scoring against Uruguay at the 2010 World Cup . Gareth Bale - Real Madrid 3-0 Elche, La Liga - February 22, 2014 . Some doubted whether Gareth Bale was good enough to join Real Madrid's galacticos but goals like this one have quickly endeared him to the Bernabeu faithful. One of 15 La Liga goals he scored in his debut season, this thunderous strike crashed off the underside of the bar and helped Carlo Ancelotti's men to an easy victory. Real Madrid midfielder Gareth Bale scores a stunner off the underside of the bar against Elche last season .
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Enner Valencia netted a brilliant goal against Hull on Monday night .
The striker's effort was struck cleanly off the turf at the KC Stadium .
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville asked fans to tweet him their favourite Premier League goals that where hit with the ball on the ground .
Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo feature in our countdown .
Gareth Bale, Mario Balotelli and Obafemi Martins also make the cut .
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(CNN) -- "Moments like these, terrible as they are, don't show our weakness; they show our strength." These words were spoken by Suffolk County, Massachusetts, District Attorney Dan Conley after Monday's terror attack in Boston. A day later, signs of that strength are seen in the stories of people -- you might call them heroes -- who were near the Boston Marathon finish line when two bombs exploded seconds apart. Honoring a son . Carlos Arredondo's story began nearly nine years ago, when he doused himself with gasoline and used a welder's torch to set his body on fire. Arredondo, a Costa Rican immigrant living in Florida, had just been told his 20-year-old son, Marine Lance Cpl. Alexander Arredondo, was killed in combat in Iraq. Arredondo initially thought the three Marines pulling up to his home were bringing his son to surprise him on his 44th birthday. Arredondo, now 52, recovered from his burns and became a peace activist, traveling the United States with a coffin filled with his son's possessions. This journey brought him to the marathon finish line to watch someone who was running in honor of his son. Arredondo handed out American flags to spectators. He wore two buttons on his shirt with photographs of Alexander and his other son, who committed suicide at age 24. What happened next could have been a scene familiar to his Marine son: A bomb exploded. Arredondo is seen on video, wearing a cowboy hat, helping National Guard troops, police and firefighters wrestle a fence open to allow emergency responders to reach the dozens of wounded people bleeding on the Boston sidewalk. Once there, Arredondo found a young man -- perhaps the age of his son -- bleeding from serious leg wounds. "I just concentrated on that young man and tied him up, his legs, and talked to him," Arredondo said, his hands trembling, in a video posted on YouTube. He used part of his clothing to make a tourniquet to slow the blood loss from the man's severed artery. "He was conscious," Arredondo said. "I let him know the ambulance is on the way, that it's OK." When paramedics arrived, Arredondo helped put the man in a wheelchair. A news photo that has become an iconic image of the tragedy shows Arredondo, his hands covered in blood, running alongside as the man is rushed to an ambulance. "There were so many people who lay next to me begging me for help, begging me for help, but I only can help one at a time," he said. "So I just helped that young man." The man told Arredondo his name, but he couldn't remember it later. Hours later, he still held on to an American flag, now stained with blood. Running to help . Dr. Vivek Shah was 25 yards away from finishing the 26.2-mile run when the first bomb exploded to his left. He wasn't sure "whether it was the fireworks gone bad or something that was supposed to happen," Shah said Tuesday. "Then, after the second explosion went off, we knew something was wrong because all of the spectators and fans started running away from us," Shah said. Shah's story represents the heroism of many other medical professionals who were close by when the terror began: doctors, nurses and paramedics who were running, spectators in the stands or waiting at the finish line to treat exhausted runners. Sources: Bombs were likely in pressure cookers . "My whole family was on that side where the explosions had gone off," Shah said. "So I started running towards where the bombs had gone off to check on my family and see if there was anything I could do to help." What he found on the sidewalk was beyond anything he's seen as an orthopedic surgeon. "It's nothing that you can ever describe," he said. "In all of my medical training, I've never seen anything like the amount of trauma I saw yesterday on the sidewalk there." When Shah reached the wounded, he was not alone. "By the time I got there, there were so many first responders and volunteer physicians," he said. "I've never seen anything like it in terms of the quickness of the response to that tragedy." Time is vital in saving lives, according to CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Doctors call the first 60 minutes the "golden hour" in trauma response, he said. Within the first 15 minutes, 15 patients were at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a Level I trauma center, Gupta said. Seven operating rooms were immediately cleared for the nine patients needing surgery, he said. Already a hero . Joe Andruzzi could be called a hero even before Monday. The former New England Patriots lineman helps children with brain cancer and their families pay for their treatments through his foundation. The Joe Andruzzi Foundation had a team of runners in the Boston Marathon to raise money to help more patients. Andruzzi, who was near the finish line when the bombs exploded, rushed to help, along with many others. When football fans recognized him in photos, carrying a wounded woman to a triage tent, Andruzzi was quick to downplay his role. "While I appreciate the interest in hearing our perspective on today's horrific events, the spotlight should remain firmly on the countless individuals -- first responders, medics, EMTs, runners who crossed the finish line and kept on running straight to give blood, and the countless civilians who did whatever they could to save lives," he said in a statement Monday. "They were the true heroes. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by this senseless tragedy." Andruzzi knows heroes. His brothers were New York firefighters involved in the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center attack. Anonymous hero . A Northeastern University student seriously wounded by shrapnel from the first blast is searching for her personal hero, a man she knows only as Tyler. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is helping the woman, whom he met at Tufts Medical Center, to find Tyler. Victoria -- he didn't give her last name -- was scared and, "as she described it, hysterical" when a firefighter carried her to the medical tent near the finish line, Patrick said at a news conference Tuesday. "There was a person who helped calm her down, who described himself as an Army sergeant, an Afghanistan vet," Patrick said. "I don't know whether he was assigned to medical tent or, like so many people there and elsewhere in the commonwealth, just jumped in to help." Tyler helped Victoria in a way few people could. "One of things he said to her to calm her down was to show her his own shrapnel wound or scar from ... when he was in Afghanistan," he said. An ambulance took Victoria to Tufts Medical Center, but her memory of Tyler followed. "Victoria very, very much wants to thank Tyler personally," Patrick said. "So, if Tyler is out there and listening or reading your reports, we would love to hear from Tyler so that we can connect him to Victoria." Call the governor's office, Tyler. The number is 617-725-4000. CNN's Sarah Aarthun contributed to this report.
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NEW: Wounded woman searches for her personal hero, Tyler .
NFL's Joe Andruzzi downplays carrying a victim to triage tent .
Carlos Arredondo, at the Boston Marathon to honor his late son, helped a man survive .
Dr. Vivek Shah was finishing the race; he and other medical professionals rushed to help .
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Passport Office staff received bonuses totalling nearly £700,000 this summer at the height of the backlog shambles. Taxpayer-funded payouts worth up to £5,000 were paid out to staff as the agency was mired in crisis and hundreds of thousands of holiday-makers waited for their travel documents. Details of the payouts sparked fury last night as critics accused the Government of 'rewarding failure'. Official figures released to Labour under the Freedom of Information Act showed some £674,000 was paid out in bonuses in July. A photo leaked by staff showed the boxes of passport applications which piled up in an office in Liverpool this summer as the backlog of documents grew . But despite the shambles, figures now reveal staff at the Passport Office have been paid £700,000 in bonuses . Some 3,800 members of staff including some managers received payouts for the last financial year. One staff member was paid £5,000, eight up to £2,000 and 198 up to £1,000. Only weeks earlier, in June, David Cameron apologised over the passports chaos which at one point involved a backlog of half a million documents. Outraged families deluged the Daily Mail with horror stories of missing out on their holidays because of bureaucratic incompetence. A surge in applications early this year increased during the Spring and Summer and led to staggering backlogs. Shadow immigration minister David Hanson says hundreds of thousands of pounds in taxpayers' money has been handed over as a 'reward for failure' Staff leaked photographs of boxes of applications stacked up in passport offices waiting to be processed.Some applicants were told to cough up an extra £55 to get their applications fast tracked. David Hanson, the shadow immigration minister, said: 'Ministers must explain themselves. They have signed off hundreds of thousands of taxpayer pounds to reward failure. 'Families who struggled to go on holiday because of passport chaos will be even more dismayed at this waste and extravagance as they struggle to pay day-to-day bills. 'This is yet another example of ministerial incompetence and waste.' At the time, the Home Office claimed it was dealing with record numbers of passport applications, but unions blamed staff cuts and incompetence. Paul Pugh, director of the Passport Office, told MPs on the Home Affairs Committee in June that he would not take a bonus this year. A Home Office spokesman said staff were rewarded because the Passport Office achieved seven out of its eight performance targets. He said: 'A bonus payment was made to some junior staff at HM Passport Office for reaching key targets in 2013/14 – the vast majority received less than £500. 'None of these payments was for work carried out during this financial year,' he said.
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Thousands of holiday-makers forced to wait for documents this summer .
At one point, the backlog of applications reached half a million documents .
But despite the scandal, Passport Office staff got £700,000 in bonuses .
Nearly 4,000 members of staff rewarded with payouts of up to £5,000 each .
Labour, who uncovered figures, brand the bonuses a 'reward for failure'
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Having attacked their own players last week, fans of Peruvian club Alianza Lima turned on each other as they crashed out of the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday. The oldest team in the Peruvian First Division could only manage a goalless draw with Argentina's Huracan in the second leg of South America's equivalent to the Champions League, sending them out of the competition 4-0 on aggregate. The game in Buenos Aries was marred by chaotic scenes of crowd trouble after Alianza supporters fought amongst themselves - using belts and shoes as makeshift weapons while young children were shielded from the violence. Fans of Peruvian club Alianza Lima fight among themselves during the Copa Libertadores clash . A father (right) protects a young toddler as violent scenes erupt around him at Huracan's stadium . One supporter is left covered in blood, one week after Alianza fans reportedly attacked their own players . The Peruvian supporters turned on each other as their team crashed out of the Copa Libertadores . One fan uses his belt as a makeshift weapon during the goalless draw in Buenos Aries . Both teams slowed down the game in protest and, were it not for goalkeeper George Forsyth's superb save from Ramon Abila's overhead kick, Alianza almost lost the tie to inflame fans' frustration even further. Last week, Alianza fans reportedly stormed the dressing room following the 4-0 defeat to Huracan at home and attacked their own team - wounding two leading players. Christian Cueva (left) was reportedly attacked by his own fans last week and is considering leaving Alianza . Alianza Lima goalkeeper George Forsyth blocks Agustin Torassa of Argentina's Huracan . Newspaper El Comercio reported that around 60 fans burst into the Alejandro Villanueva stadium and beat several players while pointing a gun at two others. Forward Christian Cueva and midfielder Victor Cedron were injured in the attack with local sports daily El Bocon claiming both are now considering leaving the club. Cueva was guilty of punching a fan after the first leg defeat to Huracan, but later apologised. Huracan fans unfurled an enormous banner over their stands ahead of the game . The banner covers almost one side of the stadium as players make their way on to the pitch .
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Peruvian side Alianza Lima crashed out of Copa Libertadores to Huracan .
Supporters turned on each other as violent scenes marred the game .
Fans reportedly attacked their own team after the first-leg defeat at home .
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Mitchell Starc believes Australia's Tri-Series victory over England can help 'reopen a few scars' from last winter's miserable Ashes tour. England were whitewashed in the 2013/14 Test series down under and also lost both limited-overs legs, leaving the country humiliated and downtrodden. A year later they are back for a three-way one-day contest, which also involves India, before the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Ian Bell (left) was dismissed off the bowling of Mitchell Starc (centre) in the first ball of the match . Starc (second left) celebrates with his Australian team-mates after taking the wicket of Bell in the opening over . Their time away got off to a familiar start at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where the home side claimed a three-wicket victory with a massive 61 balls to spare. Starc may not have had a big part to play in England's previous woes, but he started the rot this time by dismissing Ian Bell and James Taylor for ducks in the first over of the day. 'Hopefully we reopened a few scars tonight,' said the left-arm paceman. 'They're going to have to be out here for a few months now with this Tri-Series and the World Cup so there's no better way to kick off our campaign than getting one above them. 'I think we played really well with bat and ball, showed great intensity, and the only way to go is to try and improve on that.' Australia got off to the best possible start, and Starc (centre) hopes they can continue it through the series . Bell leaves the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch after being dismissed off the first ball of the match . Starc, who finished with four for 42, took man-of-the-match honours off Eoin Morgan and David Warner, who made 121 and 127 respectively. His speed helped rout England's top order and with Pat Cummins and the rested Mitchell Johnson also capable of serious pace, Starc feels that could be a key difference between the sides. 'I guess blokes bowling at 140-145kmph (87-90mph) plus is handy. It has that intimidation factor towards some of the batsmen,' he said. 'It's also about execution but having that pace is good. Pat bowled a few at 150kmph today and we obviously have Mitch coming back in at some point bowling rapid as well. It's a great combination.' Morgan excelled with the bat on his bow as England's permanent one-day captain, his century lifting the tourists towards respectability after slumping to 33 for four. Starc (right) took four for 42 and was named man-of-the-match after his impressive performance . Starc was all smiles at the end of the match, as Australia cruised to victory with 61 balls remaining . But the comprehensive defeat, which saw Australia claim a bonus point, meant he struggled to enjoy the moment. 'Overall I'm really disappointed,' he said. 'We came into the game with a lot of good preparation under our belt and within the side we would have had a lot of expectation on ourselves, so we have a lot of disappointed guys in the changing room. 'We're going to have to dust ourselves off and come back in four days (against India). 'There are certain positives we can take from the game but ultimately being four down so early has cost us. 'Simply, we weren't good enough to adapt the wicket and play accordingly. 'They bowled well up front, but nothing that we shouldn't be capable of dealing with.' England fly to Brisbane on Saturday before taking on the Indians at the Gabba on Tuesday.
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Mitchell Starc took two wickets in the first over of the match .
Australia beat England by three wickets to win the Tri-Series opener .
Starc says the victory can help reopen England's scars from the Ashes .
England were humiliated in the 2013/14 Test series .
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A fake paramedic jailed for tricking a terminally ill pensioner into thinking he was a real medical worker and even drove his own ambulance has been sent back to prison for 'befriending vulnerable people'. Joshua Martyn had bought a fully marked paramedic first response vehicle and medical equipment online, despite having never completed anything more than a basic first aid course. The 21-year-old from Hove, East Sussex, was jailed for 18 months in August after he admitted fraud and theft charges, but was released in September as he had served most of his sentence while on remand. Fake: Joshua Martyn (left), who bought a first response vehicle (right) and tricked pensioners into thinking he was a real paramedic, has been sent back to prison for 'befriending vulnerable people' However, he was returned to prison earlier this month after breaching his licence by 'befriending vulnerable people', Sussex Police said. Martyn first came to police attention in 2010 while pretending to be a paramedic. However, because it is not currently an offence to impersonate a health professional, police found there was little they could do to stop him. He was eventually arrested in September 2011 for fraud and assault on a 71-year-old woman he was living with in Crawley, according to police. Difficulties: Police said that because it is not currently an offence to impersonate a regulated health or care professional, they found it difficult to know how to deal with Martyn . He had moved in with the woman, convincing her that he was medically trained, but in reality had no such qualifications. In March 2012, he was convicted at Lewes Crown Court of using an uninsured and untaxed vehicle, three counts of battery in relation to the 71-year-old woman, and two counts of driving without a licence. He was sentenced to a six-month hospital order and banned from driving for six months. Kit: A stash of medical equipment used by the 21-year-old, who managed convince pensioners that he was a real paramedic . However, just two months later, police were told that he was staying with a couple in their 80s in West Hoathly, near East Grinstead, West Sussex, whose concerned family were not convinced he was a registered paramedic. Last March, Martyn was convicted of fraud and assault against a terminally ill 80-year-old man from West Hoathly but cleared of one charge of witness intimidation. He was sentenced to five months imprisonment at a youth offenders’ institution and given a restraining order banning him from contacting the 71-year-old woman in Crawley. He admitted further charges of fraud and theft when he appeared at Hove Crown Court in August this year, and received the 18 month prison sentence. 'Joshua Martyn adopted personas that put him in contact with vulnerable people and in a position of trust,' said Pc Jacqui Thornton. 'He was well known in the community and fooled people into thinking he was qualified to administer medical care. 'He dressed as a paramedic, drove a marked ambulance response vehicle and carried medical equipment. 'It is not currently an offence to impersonate a regulated health or care professional, therefore it was difficult to deal with Martyn’s activities and behaviour. 'It took me three years of investigation to obtain the evidence required to put Martyn before the court for various offences linked to his activities.' Pc Thornton said Martyn’s case was not the first of its kind and that she was working with the South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) to raise awareness and to amend legislation which protects those who are vulnerable and those who need medical care. Paramedic David Davis said: 'This case specifically highlights a current inadequacy in the law in that it is not currently an offence to impersonate a paramedic, or for that matter a nurse, doctor, physiotherapist or a social worker. 'Members of the public can always check to see if their paramedic or other allied health professional or social worker is registered, by visiting the www.hcpc-uk.org or doctor www.gmc-uk.org or nurses/midwives www.nmc-uk.org.'
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Joshua Martyn, 21, bought a first response vehicle and medical equipment .
He had never completed any training apart from a basic first aid course .
Woman, 71, and couple in their 80s tricked into thinking he was a paramedic .
He was jailed in August for fraud, but released the following month .
Martyn has now been returned to prison for 'befriending vulnerable people'
It is not currently an offence to impersonate a health care professional .
As a result police said they found it difficult to know how to deal with Martyn .
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By . Simon Jones . Glenn Hoddle insists Luis Suarez must be banned for his alleged bite on Giorgio Chiellini, adding that such an incident is worthy of a prison sentence. 'Kids are watching the World Cup all around the world, and what Luis Suarez did is the worst thing you could see in football. If that happens on the street somewhere you’d be put in prison,' he wrote for WilliamHill.com. 'No matter how good a player Suarez is, he deserves to be banned for biting Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder. The Italian had done absolutely nothing to provoke being bitten like that, the same as with Branislav Ivanovic. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Uruguay supporters react to Luis Suarez's latest bite . Bitten off more than he could chew: Luis Suarez's tangle with Giorgio Chiellini left an unpleasant taste in the mouth . Disbelief: Suarez's Uruguay team-mate Gaston Ramirez eyes Chiellini as the Italian shows off his scrapes after the incident . 'I don’t want to see one of the best players in the world banned, but he has to be. I’m sure Fifa will review the video evidence, as the referee took no action so couldn’t have seen it. 'How many matches he will be banned for is a matter for Fifa - it could two or three games or it could be the rest of the tournament. 'I cannot believe this is the third time he has bitten an opponent, as he did it first at Ajax, before the incident with Ivanovic and now this. 'You can see the way Suarez celebrated at the end of the game after his two goals against England, compared to how he celebrated at the end of this game, he knew something had happened and he knew he would be found out.' VIDEO Suarez in another bite storm .
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The Uruguayan striker appeared to bite Giorgio Chiellini as Uruguay beat Italy 1-0 to qualify for the round of 16 .
It is the latest in a long line of controversies surrounding Suarez .
Former England boss Glenn Hoddle has called for him to be banned .
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By . Anna Edwards . PUBLISHED: . 10:58 EST, 2 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:32 EST, 2 October 2013 . Kayleigh Renwick was forced to cancel her wedding plans when she gave birth just hours after finding out that she was pregnant . Most brides dread something unexpected happening on their big day - the flowers not turning up or the rain pouring down. But those minor issues pale in comparison to one young mother - who was forced to cancel her wedding plans when she gave birth just hours after finding out that she was pregnant - for the second time. Kayleigh Renwick, 24, was unaware she was pregnant when she went into labour and gave birth to a son last Saturday. But what might sound like a once-in-a-lifetime shock was actually familiar territory for the young mum and her partner Daniel Madge, 34. Just 18-months-ago Kayleigh gave birth to her daughter Lucy, five weeks past her due date - having had no idea that she was pregnant. Now the proud parents, who have another daughter Grace, three, have welcomed baby Jacob into the brood - born just 12 minutes after his worried mum arrived at the hospital. The couple, who have been together for seven years, had spent the last eighteen months battling to make it down the aisle. But the unexpected arrival of Lucy, on May 14, 2012, saw them cancel their booking at Durham register office and swap their nuptials for nappies. Only last week Kayleigh and Daniel resumed making wedding plans, which have now been put on hold again after the weekend's unexpected arrival. Just six months before Jake's surprise . birth - when Kayleigh was two months pregnant - she and Daniel decided . that they weren't going to have any more children and gave away all of . their baby supplies. Just 18-months-ago Kayleigh, seen with partner Daniel Madge, gave birth to her daughter Lucy, five weeks past her due date - having had no idea that she was pregnant . But . after finishing work at 12.30am on Saturday morning after a long shift . in a working men's club, Kayleigh started to feel pain in her back at . her home in Stanley, County Durham. The pain became so severe as the night progressed that Daniel phoned an ambulance - by which point baby Jacob was already crowning. Daniel, a kitchen fitter, said: 'The nurse told me to check down there and I got a shock and a half. 'I’m not a midwife but I know the top of a head when I see one. 'Kayleigh was crying her eyes out. 'Lucy and Grace were climbing all over trying to see what was going on. 'She was just saying, "It can't be happening again, you're wrong". Surprise! Lucy, aged 18 months, and baby Jacob were both unexpected arrivals for their parents . Jacob was born at 6.40 am, and weighed a healthy 7lb 13 . 'The nurse said to get towels but we haven't got a tumble dryer and they were all wet. 'I was panicking then and she said, "You sit yourself down and breathe as well". 'It was total deja vu.' Remarkably, Kayleigh didn’t notice putting on any weight during either pregnancy, and friends even commented that she looked to have lost a few pounds on both . occasions. Throughout both pregnancies Kayleigh was taking the contraceptive pill every day and had periods every month. Kayleigh, who also works as a nursery nurse, said: 'I just couldn’t believe it. 'I was in total shock.“Both times there had been no clues. 'On the day Lucy was born I had been to the park, done grocery shopping and been out and about - all while being in labour. 'With Jacob I had been to work all day. 'I never thought it could happen again in a million years.' Jacob was born at 6.40 am, and weighed a healthy 7lb 13 - but 7lb 7oz Lucy’s arrival last year was far more complicated. Kayleigh didn't notice putting on any weight during either pregnancy, and friends even commented that she looked to have lost a few pounds on both occasions . 'Daniel, a kitchen fitter, said: 'I got a shock and a half. I'm not a midwife but I know the top of a head when I see one' Again, Kayleigh was suffering from backache, and after arriving at the University Hospital of North Durham, found she was 8cm dilated and about to give birth. The placenta had dried and if the pregnancy had been left undetected for just a few more days, both Kayleigh and Lucy would have died. After birth, Lucy was diagnosed with plagiocephaly - a condition which means the head is misshapen - and still has to wear a helmet 23 hours a day. Kayleigh and Daniel have also missed out on two holidays after Lucy’s unexpected birth and complications with her treatment saw them cancel trips to Fuerteventura and Bulgaria, but the happy couple wouldn’t have it any other way. 'When are you ever really ready for children?' said Daniel. 'You just get on with it. 'The girls dote on him and we couldn’t be happier.'
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Kayleigh Renwick unaware she was pregnant when she went into labour .
Gave birth 18 months after not realising she was pregnant with other baby .
Wedding plans have now been put on hold after unexpected arrival .
Throughout both pregnancies 24-year-old was taking the contraceptive pill every day and had periods every month .
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A Florida judge Friday sentenced Michael Dunn to life in prison without parole for the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis. The sentence, imposed nearly two years after Dunn shot and killed Davis during an argument over loud music, also carries an additional 90 years for three convictions of attempted murder and firing a weapon into a vehicle. "This case demonstrates that our justice system does work," Duval County Judge Russell Healey said moments before sentencing Dunn. Dunn, 47, who is white, was convicted of first-degree murder this month for shooting into an SUV full of African-American teenagers at a Jacksonville, Florida, gas station after an argument over loud music from the teens' vehicle. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty in the racially-charged case, which drew comparisons to the shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. Zimmerman, who maintained that he acted in self-defense, was acquitted last year by a Florida jury. Dunn claimed he acted in self-defense because he believed Davis was reaching for a gun. No weapon was found. "Mr. Dunn, your life is effectively over," Healey said. "What is sad... is that this case exemplifies that our society seems to have lost its way." Dunn, wearing an orange jumpsuit, showed no emotion. Healey said Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law was widely misunderstood. "We should remember there is nothing wrong with retreating and deescalating the situation," the judge said. Outside court, Davis' father, Ron Davis, said the judge sent a strong message. "We may have in this state 'stand your ground' laws but that doesn't allow you as a citizen, when you have a chance to diffuse a situation, for you to be so aggressive," he told CNN by phone on Friday. "It's basically saying to people, stop with the shoot first." In a brief statement before sentencing, Dunn for the first time apologized to Davis' family. "I want the Davis family to know I truly regret what happened," he said. "I'm sorry for their loss. If I could roll back time and do things differently, I would." He feared for his life, he said. "I did what I thought I had to do," Dunn said. "Still, I am mortified I took a life, whether it was justified or not." Davis' parents, Davis and Lucia McBath, made emotional statements at the hearing, which was attended by some of the jurors who convicted Dunn. Juror: 'Race was never a factor' In tears, McBath remembered her son. She said she forgave Dunn. "I miss his big, wide, toothy smile," she said. "For me, there will be no college graduation. There will be no daughter-in-law. For me, there will be no future generation." She added, "I too must be willing to forgive. And so I choose to forgive you Mr. Dunn for taking my son's life. I pray that God has mercy on your soul." Davis said he life was changed forever. "My life as I had known it was shattered on November 23, 2012," he told the court. "I now call it Black Friday for a completely different reason. After the longest hour of my life, the hospital confirmed that Jordan Russell Davis was deceased in the emergency room. ... The old Ron Davis died that night with Jordan." Davis called Dunn's apology "paper thin." "You can tell the defense attorney wrote that for him," he told CNN. "It was not heartfelt. There wasn't a tear in his eyes, no tremble in his voice. He had no remorse whatsoever." Unlike McBath, Davis hasn't forgiven his son's killer. "For me to forgive you, you have to have remorse," he said. "I leave it to God to forgive him. I pray that God does forgive him." Juror: 'I believed he was guilty' Dunn's family did not address the court. Dunn has said he shot at the vehicle because he thought Davis had a weapon and feared for his life, but the prosecution said Dunn was the aggressor and pointed out that he kept firing even after the teens fled. Three of the 10 shots that Dunn fired struck Davis, one of them cutting through his liver, a lung and his aorta. Investigators say Davis never had a weapon, nor was one found in the teens' SUV or in the area. A jury found Dunn guilty of four charges in February, commanding at least 60 years in prison, but the jury was hung on the murder charge related to Davis' November 2012 death. Dunn was convicted in February on one count of shooting into a vehicle and three counts of attempted second-degree murder -- one each for Davis' friends, Leland Brunson, Tommie Stornes and Tevin Thompson, who were in the Dodge Durango with Davis. After shooting Davis, prosecutors said, Dunn did not call police. He returned to his hotel, ordered pizza, walked his dog and went to sleep.
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Michael Dunn is sentenced to life in prison without parole .
He was convicted for the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis .
Death happened during an argument over loud music .
Judge Russell Healey: "Mr. Dunn, your life is effectively over"
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(CNN) -- The dreadful shooting sprees of the past few months, which claimed dozens of innocent lives, shocked and unnerved millions of Americans. The specter of some heavily armed madman turning a theater, a temple, a mall or a school into his personal battle zone has become all too real and terrifying. The latest episode still unfolding in Southern California implicates, oddly enough, a former Los Angeles police officer, 33-year-old Christopher Jordan Dorner, who allegedly is seeking redress for perceived mistreatment by the LAPD. Dorner was a member of the department for three years before losing his badge in 2008, reportedly for lying about a fellow officer. When he was unable to win back his job, murder became, as a manifesto attributed to Dorner put it, "a necessary evil" for him to prevail in the face of racism and injustice. LA cops talked by suspect, and brutal past . Other than the alleged gunman's former profession, this case is actually quite prototypical of the nearly two dozen massacres that occur each year in the United States. It is a story that my Northeastern University colleague Jack Levin and I have seen time and time again in our several decades of research on this extreme form of violence. By looking closely enough, one can usually make some sense of seemingly senseless behavior. The notion of a deranged gunman who suddenly snaps and goes berserk is more myth than reality. Rather, mass murderers act methodically and with purpose. And unlike the shooting sprees in Aurora, Newtown and elsewhere, in which victims who were unknown to their assailants had the horrible misfortune to be in the worst place at the worst time, most mass murders involve people specifically targeted for specific reasons. Mass murderers tend to be middle-aged men who see themselves as victims of injustice. Although bitter, resentful and full of despair, they see others, often the former boss or supervisor, as the people who are to blame for their miserable existence. Indeed, the workplace is one of the more familiar venues for mass murder, going way back to the 1980s when "going postal" became part of our everyday vernacular. Manhunt reminiscent of D.C. sniper case . Typically, we see a former employee in public service or private industry who feels mistreated and wronged. Believing that his firing is patently unjust, and with nothing left to lose, he decides sooner or later to become the powerful one who will do the "firing." When he is deprived of his financial security, sense of purpose and dignity, the idea of getting even becomes all consuming. As I write this on Day Six of the L.A. area manhunt, the terror enveloping the region is combined with anxious uncertainty over when the threat will finally be over and, more critically, whether the victim count will rise before the alleged assailant is found dead or alive. Already five people have been shot -- the daughter of the union representative who participated in Dorner's unsuccessful grievance hearing and her fiance were fatally wounded, as was one of three police officers gunned down in the continuing rampage. These five victims are actually surrogates, in what is known as "murder by proxy." Even when the primary targets are not readily available, others may be viewed as guilty—and may be assaulted-- simply because of their association. Meanwhile, dozens more among the alleged gunman's hit list of enemies remain on edge and in hiding until it is safe to resurface. Not surprisingly, one of the more prominent features to the usual mass-murder profile is access to a powerful enough weapon to achieve an expansive deadly plan. Particularly frightening in the ongoing L.A. drama, of course, is the marksmanship skills that Dorner undoubtedly acquired through his careers with the Navy and in law enforcement, giving added significance to the phrase, "armed and dangerous." Alleged cop-killer's manifesto details threats . Adding insult to injury, the man at the center of attention is likely thrilled. If he is like most mass murderers, it is not the spotlight that he is enjoying, but the satisfaction of payback. Others have been made to suffer, as he has in the past. The big question is how many more will be harmed in his methodical and deliberate quest for revenge. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of James Alan Fox .
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James Fox: LA rampage case is typical of mass murders; like most, planned, methodical .
He says mass murderers tend to be aggrieved middle-aged men, aiming to regain 'power'
He says in Dorner case, some killed were not actual targets, but cases of 'murder by proxy'
Fox: Assailant usually thrilled at attention, satisfaction of 'payback'
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . Last updated at 9:43 AM on 8th November 2011 . Councils should be allowed to close down betting shops which are 'blighting' traditional high streets, local authority officials have argued. Regional government officials have warned that attempts to keep betting shops away from Britain's town centres have stalled due to complex and expensive planning rules. The Local Government Association will today warn MPs that some areas of London currently have as many as eight bookmakers on a single street. The rise in betting shops has made them a 'blight' on Britain's high streets, according to local government officials . The rise of betting shops in British towns has led to increased crime and higher policing costs, according to the Daily Telegraph. But councils are finding it more and more difficult closing down shops which 'cause misery for local people'. David Parsons, chairman of the LGA's environment and housing board, told the Daily Telegraph: 'The Government must give councils new powers to stop betting shops setting up if they are likely to cause a public nuisance. Warning: David Parsons, from the Local Government Association, said the rise of betting shops has increased policing costs and health problems . 'At the moment, numbers cannot be restricted and this results in crime, disorder and misery for local people. 'We are seeing a reckless gamble with our high streets which is contributing to higher policing and health costs, in addition to reducing the quality of life for local residents.' The LGA is expected to make its comments to MPs on the culture, media and sport comittee, which is currently investigating whether current laws are effective enough in protecting children from the harmful effects of gambling. Dirk Vennix, a spokesperson for the Association of British Bookmakers, said it was important to study the evidence linked to gambling, adding that betting shops have only become an issue for 'a handful of councils'.
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More bookmakers 'lead to increased policing and health costs'
Some areas of London have eight bookies on a single street .
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(CNN) -- George Lopez told CNN's Piers Morgan that he's not ruling out the idea of running for mayor of Los Angeles -- eight years from now. The actor and comedian appeared on Tuesday's "Piers Morgan Tonight." He provides the voice for Grouchy Smurf in the new movie "The Smurfs." "This is a great city, and it's my city," Lopez said. "I believe that there are certain things that could be taken care of that you don't need a strong political background in." Lopez told Morgan he cares most about "bonding the city back." "Architecture downtown is beautiful," Lopez said, "and people live here, but they don't have a pride in Los Angeles that they did years ago, when I was growing up." Lopez's L.A. childhood didn't provide much fodder for his comedy career. The comedian never knew his father, and his mother was an epileptic illiterate who had the mental capacity of an 8-year-old. "If I was a can of soup at the store," said Lopez, summing up his childhood, "I'd have a dent in me, and I'd be in that basket that they have at the end of the hall, the end of the aisle that says, 'These are 99 cents, everything in the can.' That's how I would have considered myself." Lopez's grandmother very reluctantly took him in when he was about 10. "Everything I tried to do for her was met with negativity," he said. The comedian never heard his grandmother or either parent say "I love you." Lopez told Morgan a story about the only shred of encouragement he ever received as a child. A player for the Baltimore Orioles visited histhird-grade class. "He said that if you stay in school and you stick to what you want to do, you can become anything," Lopez recalled. The message stuck with him, Lopez said. His divorce from his wife of 17 years, Ann, was recently finalized. "Ann was great," he said. "And Ann came from a family that was very connected. Both her parents were doctors. I always used to say we're opposites, because both her parents were doctors and mine never went to the doctor. "She brought a sense of family and of home. The holidays were important to her, very important, every holiday. And it's great for my daughter to grow up with that." The couple has a 15-year-old daughter. Lopez, who recently turned 50, told Morgan, "I was fortunate enough to be married to her for 17 years. And as marriages go, it was fun. We used to look at each other and laugh, and we had nothing when we started. So it was a great period." In 2005, his wife gave Lopez a kidney when the comedian was suffering from kidney disease, which is partly why the public was so shocked when the couple filed for divorce in 2010. "I don't want to blame entertainment," Lopez said. "I don't want to blame creativity, but when you grow up a certain way, unfortunately, I was not equipped with a lot of the tools that a person would need to be a partner." Morgan asked Lopez, who graciously welcomed Conan O'Brien to take his timeslot on TBS (sister network to CNN), about the time he described Jay Leno as the "biggest two-faced dude and a back-stabber." "I do not have a personal relationship with Jay Leno," Lopez responded. "We are not friends, nor have we ever been friendly. I've heard some things said about me by him that I took exception to. There were things that he said that I was not appropriate to people of my own color." Morgan wondered whether "The Tonight Show" is still the "Holy Grail" among late night talk show hosts, and Lopez said, "if you ask me personally -- I know you didn't ask me -- who I thought should've been the host of 'The Tonight Show,' I think when Johnny Carson, -- which I was fortunate enough to do that show with him in 1991 -- I thought the heir apparent would've been David Letterman." Morgan asked whether Lopez still saw Letterman as the heir apparent. "I do," Lopez said. "David Letterman is the best late-night talk show host right now, hands down, and has been since he first took the desk." Watch Piers Morgan Tonight weeknights 9 p.m. ET. For the latest from Piers Morgan click here.
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George Lopez stars as the voice of Grouchy Smurf in the new movie "The Smurfs"
Lopez and his wife of 17 years recently divorced .
"I was not equipped with a lot of the tools that a person would need to be a partner"
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15ed8f6e176af1557fd9042cc3c70e9fb2634908
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12-year-old Tia Sharp, pictured, whose mother Natalie says she was tormented by sick pranksters in the week leading up to the discovery of her daughter's body . The grandmother of schoolgirl Tia Sharp will face no further action from police in connection with her death. Christine Sharp was arrested on August 10, on suspicion of murder after the 12-year-old's body was found in the loft of her home in The Lindens, New Addington. Police today confirmed the 46-year-old had been released with no further action. Ms Sharp's neighbour Paul Meehan remains on police bail. The 39-year-old who was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, is bailed to return in mid-December. Stuart Hazell, the partner of Tia's grandmother has been charged with her murder. The 37-year-old of New Addington, will stand trial next May. Police launched a 100-strong manhunt after the disappearance of Tia in August, with members of the public joining in with extensive searches to help find her. Her body was eventually found wrapped in a sheet inside a plastic bag in the loft of her grandmother's home in New Addington, South London, more than a week after she went missing. This was despite police visiting her grandmother's terraced property four times. Tia, who lived 10 miles away in Mitcham . with her mother and her partner David . would often spend weekends with her grandmother. Tia's grandmother, Christine, 46, was arrested in connection with Tia's death and is on bail. Christine's partner, Stuart Hazell, 37, is due to appear at the Old Bailey on November 19 accused of the child's murder. Christine Sharp, left, who joined the hunt to find her granddaughter and her partner, Stuart Hazell, right, who is accused of Tia's murder . Search: Tia's grandmother's house in New Addington, where police found the 12-year-old girl's body . Solemn: Tia Sharp's coffin arrives at Morden Cemetery last week for the funeral service of the schoolgirl . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
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Grandmother's partner due to stand trial for Tia's murder next May .
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(CNN) -- It all started with Madonna -- the original Madonna -- and the 16th-century Italian artists who paid tribute to her with chalk and pastel artwork they drew directly on the street. Madonnari, as the artists came to be called, made a living traveling from town to town and collecting coins from people who admired their work. It was the visual arts equivalent of busking, and the tradition continued until World War II, when, for obvious reasons, it became impractical to sit in the middle of a street and create art. After the war, the art of the Madonnari languished, but before it could die out completely, a group in the city of Curtatone, Italy, decided to revive it. The first I Madonnari festival in Curtatone, in the province of Mantova (Mantua), was held in 1973, with some of the prewar Madonnari among the participating artists. And that was the catalyst for a new generation of "street painters" who travel from city to city, and festival to festival, creating chalk artwork that hardly lasts longer than the handful of days required to make them. Discover the world's most visited museums . Typically, a chalk art or "street painting" festival has separate categories for "copyists," who reproduce famous paintings; "free artists," who create original two-dimensional works; and 3-D artists, whose work may be realistic or fantastical. Many festivals also make room for children, teens and amateurs. The wonder of these works of art is the way they materialize before the eyes of the onlookers. "First, there was nothing," said Denise Kowal, founder of the Sarasota Chalk Festival, which will take place in November. "Now, there is this art. And you watched it happen." In truth, the art does not spring into existence overnight. It is carefully planned by the artists, who arrive with preliminary sketches and paintings that they will turn into large-scale pieces. Where they work is also carefully planned by the festival organizers, who provide them with precisely measured spaces in which to create their work. Even the pavement is a consideration, as every patch and crack makes a difference when the asphalt is your canvas. "The quality of the street determines the clarity of detail in the work," Kowal said. Here are some of the world's top chalk art festivals that prove where the sidewalk ends, the art begins. Victoria International Chalk Art Festival, Victoria, British Columbia . September 14 and 15 . Now in its second year, this festival was inspired by local chalk artist Ian Morris, who has plied his trade on Government Street in Victoria for more than a decade. He will be joined by a roster of international artists including Dutch artist Leon Keer, renowned for his 3-D surrealist chalk art; California artists Lori Escalera and Joel Yau; Oregon artist Cathy Gallatin; and Toronto-based artist Jo Lalonde, better known as the "Chalk Chick." Festival Bella Via, Monterrey, Mexico . October 11 to 13 . Italy might have given birth to the Madonnari, but Mexico's tradition of street painting/chalk art is just as strong. "Some people don't go to museums, so we make public spaces a place for creativity and art," said Rosy Loyola, the festival's director. Equally important is the festival's commitment to fostering young artists. Among standouts to watch for are Veronica Violeta González Garza, Carlos Enrique Robledo Moreno, Margarita Botello and Omar Saenz. Parque Mirador Asta Bandera will be the venue when this festival celebrates its 10th anniversary this fall. Sarasota Chalk Festival, Sarasota, Florida . November 13 to 18 . Since its inception in 2007, the Sarasota Chalk Festival has expanded in size and scope. (This year, it will add two more blocks around Burns Square.) It has also expanded the definition of what chalk art is and can be. So, for example, the "Going Vertical" segment of the event incorporates walls and buildings in addition to pavement art. You can also expect to see the world's top 3-D chalk artists, such as Tracy Lee Stum and Kurt Wenner, who is credited with inventing the 3-D form. This year's festival overlaps with the Crystal Classic Master Sand Sculpting Competition in nearby Siesta Key Beach. Sand sculpture shindigs: A bucket list . Street Painting Festival, Lake Worth, Florida . February 22 and 23, 2014 . Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2014, this festival is known as an incubator for emerging artists and a showcase for outstanding local artists, such as Michael Las Casas and Jeanie Burns, who have gained international reputations. About 400 artists -- from children and amateurs to professionals -- will participate this year, creating 200 works of art. I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival, Santa Barbara, California . May 24 to 26, 2014 . One of the oldest chalk art festivals outside Europe, this one has been going strong since 1987, attracting more than 100 artists and thousands of visitors each year. The festival takes place in the plaza outside the Mission Santa Barbara, appropriate for an event with a heritage in religious art. Proceeds benefit the Children's Creative Project, an arts education initiative in Santa Barbara County. International Street Art Festival, Wilhelmshaven, Germany . August 2 and 3, 2014 . The North Sea port city of Wilhelmshaven in the Lower Saxony region is well-placed to attract a diverse contingent of international artists. Though the number of participants is small (about 35 to 40 in 2013), the work is outstanding and includes top names such as Germany's Frederike Wouters and Italy's Vera Bugatti. Next year will be the festival's fourth year. Geldern Strassenmaler, Geldern, Germany . August 16 and 17, 2014 . The first Strassenmaler ("street painter") festival in Geldern, Germany, took place in 1979 to commemorate the city's 750th anniversary. Sixty artists participated. In its 35th year in 2013, the festival welcomed more than 400 artists from around the world who created nearly 250 artworks at the end of August. The top artists compete for prize money with their original artwork, copies of the Old Masters or religious subjects. Fiera delle Grazie, Curtatone, Italy . Mid-August (likely) 2014 . This is the festival that started them all, and now approaching its 42nd year, it's still the most prestigious in the world. Expect about 200 artists to participate, creating original 2-D and 3-D artwork as well as reproductions of famous religious artworks. As of this writing, 2014 dates have not been announced; the festival coincides with the Feast of the Assumption in mid-August. I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival, San Luis Obispo, California . September 2014 . Like its sister festival in Santa Barbara, this one was inspired by the Italian Madonnari street painters, yet much of the artwork is contemporary and done in the bright, bold colors that have come to distinguish the California style of street painting. Artists ranging from amateur to expert will carpet the plaza at the Mission San Luis Obispo with their work. Chalk Urban Art Festival, Sydney, Australia . 2014, to be determined . This festival took a hiatus in 2013 so the organizers could work on a documentary film about chalk art. They hope to bring it back in 2014.
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Sixteenth-century Italian artists did street artwork as a tribute to Madonna .
A chalk art festival has categories for copyists, free artists and 3-D artists .
Every patch and crack is important when the asphalt is your canvas .
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(CNN) -- The two bodyguards injured in an attack on a convoy transporting Britain's ambassador in Libya are "safe and in good condition," an embassy representative in Tripoli said Tuesday. The incident took place Monday in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. One of the guards is in stable condition. Another had surgery and will leave a hospital Tuesday, the representative said. Ambassador Dominic Asquith, who was not hurt in the attack, is in Tripoli, and the "whole staff is safe and sound," the representative said. The attack occurred near a university, Libya's state news agency LANA reported, citing a spokesman for the Supreme Security Committee in Benghazi. "It was clearly involved in a serious incident, but we cannot confirm if there was an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) attack, but shots were fired," a British Foreign Office spokesman said. Libya's Interior Ministry condemned the attack as a "criminal act that serves the enemies of Libya" and portrays a negative image of the internal security situation. It issued directives to increase security around embassies and foreign missions in Libya. The ministry asked all diplomatic missions in Libya to inform security forces of their movements within Libya so they are provided with security. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.
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NEW: Libya's Interior Ministry issues a condemnation of the attack, calls for boost in security .
The incident took place Monday in Benghazi .
The ambassador was not injured in the attack .
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15f1b55754f2049e7a63a01539fb527df300a96b
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Washington (CNN) -- It's the punchline of a joke no one bothered to write the set-up for: Warren Buffett's secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does. It's a joke about the fishnet our tax code turns into when it snares a golden snapper instead of a few million sardines, a joke about the kind of man who still employs a person he refers to as his "secretary" in 2012 and a joke about a rich guy who allegedly cares enough about his secretary's tax rate that he'll get behind a government effort to raise his taxes but can't bring himself to call her an executive assistant. And it's now the punchline on which the Obama administration decided to rest its efforts to increase taxes on the wealthy in an election year. What was one semi-faceless woman on the other side of the mahogany doors of Buffett's office is now a road show featuring four wealthy Obama donors and their (at least in some press accounts) still-nameless assistants story. No one called them "secretaries," though. The word "secretary" conjures up images of a bygone era, of pearls and sweater sets, sensible heels and knee-length skirts, and the right mixture of efficiency and self-effacement to fade into the background while acting as a powerful man's right hand. Perhaps that -- and the plethora of lawyers in the city limits -- is why the phrase "Warren Buffett's secretary" didn't strike any odd notes in Washington even as most of the rest of the country would consider the word consigned to the same heap containing "stewardess," "love child" and "going steady." In 2012, we don't celebrate Secretaries' Day; we celebrate Administrative Professionals Day. We have -- when we have administrative support at all, which is increasingly rare in the post-recession hyper-productive economy -- administrative assistants, executive assistants or (if you're a celebrity) personal assistants. And while it probably goes without saying that at least a few still fetch coffee for the higher-ups, a fair number of administrative and executive assistants would probably look askance at a boss who asked them to stop answering phones, planning for meetings and dealing with the time-consuming minutiae of keeping an office functioning to do a personal task like that. Plus, in the modern economy, there's no longer a secretarial pool: More likely, a group of employees and managers will be pooled together to use the resources of one administrative assistant, who then gets to juggle not only their work demands but their desire to have their demands met before those of their colleagues. If you bring five different people coffee on demand, that's less assisting one's supervisors and more waiting on them. At its core, being an assistant -- or an administrative professional -- is framed as a career upgrade, even if many of the tasks are essentially the same: It's a way of acknowledging the importance of administrative work and support to the success of many projects and even many people. A secretary served one boss -- and it's the service nature of that categorization that perhaps rubs us the wrong way nowadays -- with both professional tasks and more than a few personal ones. "Administrative professional" denotes strictly professional assistance; "secretary" still holds the connotation of "work wife." The phrase "Warren Buffett's secretary" sounds strange. Are we supposed to conjure up a modern-day Joan Holloway, Doralee Rhodes, the "sweet" and loyal Maria of the R.B. Greaves song or the stern, all-knowing mother-figure of an assistant? Do they still get coffee, buy gifts for relatives, even take dictation? And how does Buffett's "secretary" feel about being the invisible half of his political punchline-turned-policy? If nothing else, Debbie Bosanek -- who, despite having a real name, is still known to the world as "Warren Buffett's secretary" -- seems to have a sense of humor about the whole thing. Though, when conservative commentators take her limited role in the fight to raise rich people's taxes seriously enough that they decided to speculate that she is too rich to be the poster child for the downtrodden, she'd have to be amused, if she wasn't going to get annoyed. It's probably not the first time that her boss' needs have trumped her personal desires, and at least it netted her a seat at the State of the Union. But it's interesting that, even in the wake of the Occupy movement calling for more attention to be paid to income inequality, the legislation is still called the Buffett Rule. The rule designed to even the playing field by putting Buffett's taxes on Bosanek's scale isn't called the Bosanek Rule or the Secretaries' Rule. It makes no obvious reference to the people to whom Buffett is to be made more equal. Instead, it's the Buffett Rule. It's about him; it concerns him; it affects him; it takes his name. Bosanek will probably go back to being the anonymous secretary of the story (if she hasn't already done so), and the legislation inspired by Buffett's epiphany about her unequal tax rate will get named after him. Even when legislation is intended to ding the 1%, it still bears their name, and it's still with the permission of at least some of them -- whether it be Buffett or the four donors with whom Obama shared the stage this week -- that it's even on the political agenda. It's not getting pushed because Bosanek deserves it but because Buffett thinks she deserves it. After all, that's what secretaries do: They fade into the background. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Megan Carpentier.
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Megan Carpentier: Political discussion revolves around "Warren Buffett's secretary"
She says the word "secretary" conjures up images of a bygone era, of pearls and sweater sets .
This is another case in which a secretary is in shadows behind powerful, wealthy man, she says .
Carpentier: Secretary is a "work wife," rather than "administrative professional"
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A senior Justice Department official told a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on Thursday that several agencies including the FBI are investigating partisan political activity inside the IRS, and that former official Lois Lerner's disappearing emails are on the menu. A criminal investigation, Deputy Attorney General James Cole testified, 'is being conducted by career attorneys and agents of the Department’s Criminal and Civil Rights Divisions, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Cole declined to provide lawmakers with details about what the DOJ has uncovered. 'I can, however, tell you,' he added, 'that the investigation includes investigating the circumstances of the lost emails from Ms.Lerner’s computer.' Lerner, who led the IRS division tasked with vetting and monitoring tax-exempt nonprofits until her retirement late last year, is Republicans' central bête noire in the controversy over how her sub-agency targeted conservative groups with aggressive scrutiny and years-long delays when they applied for the coveted charitable status. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Deputy Attorney General James Cole told the House Oversight Committee on Thursday that the Justice Department's investigation into the IRS tea party targeting scandal includes a probe into Lois Lerner's missing emails . Lerner (R) headed the IRS division that policed nonprofit groups, and is accused of purposely targeting right-wing organizations for unusually intrusive scrutiny . Republicans on the oversight committee hit the roof when IRS Commissioner John Koskinen confirmed last month that years' worth of Lerner's government emails, which they had been demanding since 2013, were casualties in a hard drive crash. Koskinen drew gasps during a congressional hearing when he acknowledged that after forensic experts failed to retrieve the emails, the agency recycled the drive – rendering it permanently unavailable to investigators in the legislative branch of government. He also admitted, under questioning by Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, that the IRS failed to look at a backup tape that could have provided copies of Lerner's emails for a six-month period. Cole's statement on Thursday is the first indication that the Obama administration may have moved with purpose to probe what happened, despite the GOP's hints at a partisan slow-walk – or, worse, a cover-up in which Lerner herself destroyed evidence of her alleged wrongdoing. Lerner's attorney, William Taylor III, did not respond to an email seeking comment. On July 9 he released a statement claiming that his client 'did not destroy any records subject to the Federal Records Act, she did not cause the computer assigned to her to fail, and she made every effort to recover the files on the computer.' Although Republicans learned of the email losses in June, her hard drive crashed in 2011. Some Republicans believe the data loss as happened at too opportune a time to have been an accident: Just days earlier, the GOP had begun publicly questioning the IRS's partisan activity. That was two years before Lerner herself outed the program by answering a planted question at a conference for tax professionals in May 2013. Her admission presaged a report, long in the making, that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released days later. That same year, a surviving email shows, Lerner cautioned her colleagues and underlings to communicate via instant message instead of by email, because the latter would be open to congressional inquiries. Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan reacted to Cole's written testimony late on Wednesday, telling The Wall Street Journal that it was overdue. 'Finally, someone in the administration admits that the destruction of two years of emails from Lois Lerner is fishy,' Jordan said. Clash: Republican Rep. Darrell Issa (R) has continually crossed swords with Democrat Elijah Cummings (L) over the question of whether Lerner can claim Fifth Amendment privileges and refuse to testify about her agency's partisan activities . Like other Republicans, Jordan wants the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor instead of relying on its own lawyers to conduct the investigation. That seems unlikely, as Cole's appearance at Thursday's hearing appears calculated in part to quell conservatives' fears about the DOJ's impartiality. 'This whole thing is about Democrats in power abusing Republicans,' a senior staffer to an Oversight Committee Republican member told MailOnline on Thursday morning. 'Why would we trust that another agency in the same administration will behave any better?' Lerner raised the GOP's temperature at a May 2013 committee hearing when she offered a self-serving opening statement before refusing to answer questions, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Attorneys working for the committee's GOP majority later determined that she had waived that right by offering an oral defense that wasn't subject to cross-examination. Republicans have since pushed a Contempt of Congress resolution through the House of Representatives, citing her refusal to answer questions while under subpoena. One conservative member, Steve Stockman of Texas, proposed last week that the House sergeant-at-arms should arrest her.
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Deputy attorney general testifies that the DOJ is looking into the 2011 disappearance of years of Lerner's emails following a hard drive crash .
Republicans believe the emails would show the former IRS official's leading role in a scheme to target conservative nonprofit groups .
A House Oversight subcommittee is hearing from Deputy AG James Cole on Thursday morning .
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By . Associated Press . Volunteer researchers have uncovered mass graves in a South Texas cemetery that they believe contain the bodies of immigrants who died crossing into the U.S. illegally, according to published reports Saturday. The discovery at Sacred Heart Burial Park in Falfurrias came in the last two weeks, as Baylor University anthropologist Lori Baker and Krista Latham, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Indianapolis, and their students worked as part of a multi-year effort to identify immigrants who have died in the area near the U.S.-Mexico border. Teams unearthed remains in trash bags, shopping bags, body bags or without a container at all. Mass graves: Dr. Lori Baker with the Baylor University and members of her team students, (left to right) Audrey Murchland, 20, and Marissa Salley, 21, catalog a set of bone after they were exhume from the Sacred Heart Burial Park May 20, 2013 in Falfurrias, Texas . Untimely deaths: A forensic anthropology team from Baylor University place the remains of unidentified immigrants exhumed from a cemetery on May 21, 2013 in Falfurrias, Texas . The Corpus Christi Caller Times reports that in one burial, bones of three bodies . were inside one body bag. In another, at least five people in body bags . and smaller plastic bags were piled on top of each other. Skulls also . were found in biohazard bags placed between coffins. They exhumed 110 unidentified people from the cemetery in 2013. This summer, researchers have performed 52 exhumations, but because some remains were stored together, further study will be needed to determine exactly how many bodies have been recovered, Baker said. Researchers told the newspaper that some remains were found under small, temporary grave markers bearing the name of local funeral home Funeraria del Angel Howard-Williams. Brooks and Jim Hogg county officials said they pay the funeral home to handle bodies recovered in the remote parts of South Texas, an area that's often deadly for immigrants from Mexico and Central America who set out on foot through ranchlands amid sweltering temperatures to avoid a nearby U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint. More than 300 people died crossing through Brooks County alone between 2011 to 2013 - representing more than 50 per cent of the deaths in Texas' sprawling Rio Grande Valley. Proper burial: The bodies will be examined and cross-checked with DNA sent from Mexico and Central American countries, with the goal of reuniting the remains with families . Unclaimed bodies: Teams from Baylor University and the University of Indianapolis are exhuming the bodies of more than 50 immigrants who died, mostly from heat exhaustion, while crossing illegally from Mexico into the United States . Brooks County Chief Deputy Benny Martinez said the funeral home charges $450 to handle each body. County Judge Raul Ramirez said it been handling such remains for at least 16 years. Chief Sheriff's Deputy Lorenzo Benavides in neighboring Jim Hogg County says the practice has been going there as long as he can remember, at least 22 years. A message left Saturday at Howard-Williams was not immediately returned. The funeral home referred the newspapers' questions to its parent company, Houston-based Service Corporation International. 'No matter if this is one of our client families we serve on a traditional basis or a migrant family's loved one we're serving and we don't have any identification of the loved one, I do want to let you know it is our policy to treat the decedent with care, to treat them just like we would treat anyone else,' Service Corporation International Spokeswoman Jessica McDunn told the newspaper. Puzzle: Many of the bodies were buried together in bags and piled on top of each other, making it difficult to determine how many people were buried there . Grim task: Jessica Campbell and Justin Maiers with the University of Indianapolis archeology & forensics laboratory digging up a casket at the Sacred Heart Burial Park in Falfurrias . McDunn said the funeral home has 'certain records related to these burials, but this does not amount to confirmation that Howard-Williams was involved in depositing the remains in the manner the researchers described.' The funeral home would not give the newspaper access to those records. Still, Latham called the discovery appalling. Baker said bodies that were not already skeletonized before burial were found in varying states of decomposition. 'To me it's just as shocking as the mass grave that you would picture in your head, and it's just as disrespectful,' Latham told the Caller Times. Eddie Canales, an immigrant rights advocate who has worked to try and prevent immigrant deaths on the long and arduous trail they take through Brooks County establishing water stations says the dead deserve dignity in death. 'I think it’s very hard for people to connect in the fact that these were human beings,' he told the Caller Times. 'It just goes to the language, to the words, and words mean a lot: "All these were illegals." Even in death, they wound up not getting the proper respect.'
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Researchers have discovered a mass grave they believe contains the bodies of immigrants who died crossing the border .
The grave in Falfurrias, Texas, contains bodies buried in plastics bags or sometimes without any container .
The immigrants are believed to have died of thirst or heat exhaustion while traversing the tough terrain to enter the United States from Mexico .
The researchers from Baylor University exhumed 110 unidentified bodies in 2013 .
This summer they have done 52 exhumations .
Some bodies were found beneath small, temporary grave markers of local funeral home Funeraria del Angel Howard-Williams .
The funeral home has not confirmed it deposited the remains and says it treats all bodies 'with care'
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(CNN) -- Husband-and-wife stars of the popular reality TV show "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a slew of federal fraud charges. Their trial has been scheduled for October 8. Attorneys for Teresa Giudice, 41, and Giuseppe "Joe" Giudice, 43, spoke Wednesday afternoon before the couple made their second court appearance. Attorney Miles Feinstein said the couple will not be testifying against each other in the case, which he said they expect to win. The couple is also planning to appear on the Bravo network's live after-show following the final episode of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," according to their lawyers. The Giudices were indicted on 39 counts, including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, making false statements on loan applications, and bankruptcy fraud. HLNtv.com: Read the full indictment against the 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' stars . Authorities say the Giudices exaggerated their income while applying for loans before "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" debuted in 2009. The indictment says the couple then hid their fortunes while filing for bankruptcy. The indictment also charges Giuseppe Giudice with failure to file tax returns for tax years 2004 through 2008, during which time he allegedly earned nearly $1 million. During their court appearance on July 30, the Giudices were released on $500,000 bond each, along with several restrictions: They had to surrender their passports, and they weren't allowed to leave New York or New Jersey until their next hearing, which happened Wednesday. The judge is now allowing the couple to travel out of the area with a three-day notice. HLNtv.com: 'Housewives' stars free on bond . Teresa Giudice released a statement to HLN after being charged, saying she plans to stand by her man throughout the ordeal. "Today is a most difficult day for our family. I support Joe and, as a wonderful husband and father, I know he wants only the best for our lovely daughters and me. I am committed to my family and intend to maintain our lives in the best way possible, which includes continuing my career. As a result, I am hopeful that we will resolve this matter with the Government as quickly as possible." The prosecuting attorney has also said authorities may pursue immigration charges against Giuseppe Giudice, who is an Italian citizen. He could face deportation. If convicted, the couple faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Bravo, the network that airs "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," told HLN it has no comment on the charges or the hearing.
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Teresa and Joe Giudice are accused of 39 counts including mail and wire fraud .
Their trial is set for October 8 .
Their show's network had no comment .
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(CNN)It was a story that sounded like something out of a horror film: Two young brothers strangled by a 100-pound snake that came crashing through the ceiling as they slept. But this was no work of fiction. It was the all-too-real fate suffered by brothers Connor and Noah Barthe in August 2013 at a sleepover in the home of Jean-Claude Savoie, a family friend who lived above an exotic pet store that he ran in New Brunswick, Canada. Though deemed a tragic accident from the outset, the incident nevertheless remained under investigation, and on Thursday, 18 months later, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced that it had "arrested an individual in connection with the deaths of Noah and Connor Barthe of Campbellton, (New Brunswick)." Leslie Matchim, an attorney for Savoie, confirmed that his client was the one arrested. "It remains to be seen if there will be charges," Matchim said on Thursday. A call and email to the Crown Prosecutor's Office was not immediately returned. Savoie was arrested in Montreal, where he has since relocated, some 500 miles away from his Reptile Ocean pet store, according to Matchim. He remained in custody there Thursday night. According to CBC, the African rock python was kept in a glass enclosure similar to an aquarium, but on the night of the sleepover it slithered into the ventilation system. It was above the living room, where Connor, 6, and Noah, 4, were sleeping, when the ceiling caved in. Autopsy results revealed that the boys died from asphyxiation.
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Pet store owner Jean-Claude Savoie arrested in connection with 2013 deaths of young brothers .
Connor and Noah Barthe were strangled by a 100-pound python that escaped from Savoie's pet store .
The boys were at a sleepover at Savoie's apartment above the pet store .
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Incredibly deceiving images of what can easily be mistaken for snow-covered Australian mountains have been released. But do not be fooled. Instead, what the pictures really show are stunning pyramids of plain, white salt. These were taken five years ago, when Emma Phillips was on a mission to find the perfect location for her final assignment to wrap up her photography course. Scroll down for video . Incredibly deceiving images of what can easily be mistaken for mountains of snow have been released by Melbourne-based photographer Emma Phillips . For the first time, the photographer has published the photos in her book 'Salt' which shows the vastly treeless landscape of the Nullabor Plain . Phillips spent two months in the Nullabor Plain out in the Western Australian desert to find the perfect location for her final assignment for her photographer course five years ago . Her vision was to capture images of an industrial location near the city of Melbourne but this proved to be quite an arduous process. Instead, she left her hometown and spent two months in the Nullabor Plain out in the Western Australian desert. There she came across an abandoned salt refinery and found exactly what she was looking for. During her time in the desert, she paid a visit to an abandoned salt refinery and found the perfect location for her final assignment . Phillips was particularly impressed with the way 'the buildings seemed to disappear and the way the salt shimmered in the sun' The whole experience was 'desolate, eerie and beautiful', the 25-year-old told Daily Mail Australia . For the first time, the photographer has published the photos in her book 'Salt' which shows the vastly treeless landscape of the Nullabor Plain. The whole experience was 'desolate, eerie and beautiful', the 25-year-old told Daily Mail Australia. She was particularly impressed with the way 'the buildings seemed to disappear and the way the salt shimmered in the sun'. About 18 images have been published in 'Salt', which is available online. An image of a caravan, taken by Phillips, out in the middle of nowhere in Western Australia . The images can be incredibly deceiving and may easily be mistaken for snow-covered mountains . The Melbourne local says she had to leave her hometown for her assiangment as she would never find an industrial location in her city such as the pictured image . About 18 images have been published in 'Salt', which is available on the photographer's website .
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Emma Phillips took photos of a salt refinery in West Australia's Nullabor Plain back in 2010 .
This was for the Melbourne-based photographer's final assignment for her photography course .
The 25-year-old described the landscape as 'desolate, eerie and beautiful'
About 18 images of the vastly treeless Nullabor Plain have been released for the first time in her book 'Salt'
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Washington (CNN) -- The split screen told the story -- when Mitt Romney was speaking, President Barack Obama was looking down; when Obama was speaking, Romney was looking at the president. "It has killed jobs," Romney said during Wednesday's debate about the politically charged health care law pushed by Obama. "Obamacare, the Congressional Budget Office has said, will cost $2,500 a year more than traditional insurance." Romney looked at the crowd, moderator Jim Lehrer and even Obama during the exchange. Obama, on the other hand, looked down, shook his head and sporadically looked at his Republican adversary. Fact Check: Job creation versus unemployment . The directness in that one exchange -- which was one of many during the debate -- showed Romney was not afraid to go toe-to-toe with Obama. The former Massachusetts governor came across as direct and combative. Obama seemed removed and didn't return fire as Romney pulled no punches. Read the transcript of the debate . Facebook users, who rated the performance using the CNN grading application, described Obama as "meek" and "unprepared." A number of users who graded the president poorly mentioned that he was regularly looking down. "I think they had the wrong strategy," former Obama adviser Van Jones said of his boss' campaign. "I think he thought that he was going to go and have a conversation with the American people. I think he took Romney too lightly. I think he did not expect Romney to be able to throw that kind of heat." "Romney was able to out Obama Obama on the connection piece, on the authenticity piece, on being able to tell the story," said Jones. Analysis: Romney seizes the story . During the 2008 presidential debates against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Obama regularly looked into the camera when he spoke and countered the attacks of his Republican challenger. That debate style directly contrasted the way Obama appeared on Wednesday in Denver. At one point, Romney directly told viewers that "virtually everything he [President Obama] just said about my tax plan is inaccurate." "So if the tax plan he described were a tax plan I was asked to support, I'd say absolutely not," Romney said. "I'm not looking for a $5 trillion tax cut. What I've said is, I won't put in place a tax cut that adds to the deficit." Again, as Romney was answering, Obama seemed to be taking notes. Following Romney's statement, Obama shot back, accusing Romney of tossing out his plan before the debate. Five things we learned from the debate . "Well, for 18 months he's been running on this tax plan. And now, five weeks before the election, he's saying that his big, bold idea is 'Nevermind.' Critics sometimes accuse the president of being too professorial and possibly too cool. Following the debate, even supporters issued that critique. "I just got the sense that the president would have preferred to be somewhere else," said James Carville, a CNN contributor and former adviser to President Bill Clinton. "President Obama came there, he wanted to have a conversation. Takes two people to have a conversation. Mitt Romney came there with a chainsaw." At crossroads of economic crisis, debate disappoints . Carville continued with some of the same directness exhibited by Romney on Wednesday: "The president didn't bring his 'A' game tonight." And viewers agreed. Sixty-seven percent of registered voters who watched the debate said Romney won, while 25% said Obama came out on top, according to a CNN/ORC International Poll. "The president just didn't seem like he wanted to debate Romney," said CNN's Chief National Correspondent John King. "If he came in there thinking, 'I am ahead therefore I am going to stay above the fray,' that is a strategic mistake because he is not that far ahead." CNN fact checks the candidates on key issues .
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Democrat Van Jones: "I think [Barack Obama] did not expect [Mitt] Romney to be able to throw that kind of heat."
Democrat James Carville: "I just got the sense that the president would have preferred to be somewhere else."
CNN Poll: 67% of registered voters who watched the debate said Romney won.
In the same poll, 25% said President Obama came out on top.
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15f982b8f08797ca3b1f60016b2fb3af53615d6a
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A two-year-old boy has been left paralysed from the chest down just hours after walking up the stairs for the first time in his life. John James Michalowski , known as JJ, will never walk again after suffering severe spinal injuries when Daniel Thrower crashed into his family's car on March 8. Thrower, 34, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving when he appeared at Leeds Crown Court yesterday. Scroll down for video . Two-year-old John James Michalowski , known as JJ, (right) will never walk again after suffering severe spinal injuries and being paralysed from the chest down after Daniel Thrower, 34, (left) crashed into his family's car . He also admitted aggravated vehicle taking which involved him driving the Ford Mondeo dangerously on the A628 bypass in Hemsworth, West Yorkshire, and causing the accident which injured the toddler and three others travelling in a Peugeot 407. The court heard that JJ's father Igor and sisters Llacia Michalowski and Leah Darley all suffered injury in the horror crash. JJ's mum, Katy Michalowski, said: 'Although JJ had been walking since he was nine-months-old, the morning of the accident he actually walked up and down the stairs for the first time like an adult would. It breaks my heart to know now he will never walk again. 'I just want him to be able to have his own independence and play like all the other children. 'He can't sit up by himself and he gets very frustrated at times that we have to do everything with him. He needs constant care and support for his back and we don't have the equipment we need to be able to give him that. 'I've still got hope for JJ. From the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep, all he does is smile.' JJ (pictured with his mother Katy) had walked up stairs for the first time unaided just hours prior to the crash . The youngster, along with his father Igor (pictured together right) and two sisters was injured when Thrower's stolen Ford Mondeo crashed into the family's Peugeot 407 on the A628 bypass in Hemsworth, West Yorkshire . Mrs Michalowski, who is a carer at a nursing home, said she can't remember much about the day of the crash but said it has changed her life completely. She said: 'The accident has torn our family apart. 'I had no idea what had happened because I was in work. I got a phone call at work and I thought it was just a bump but when I turned up at the hospital I saw a police car and I knew it was worse.' Doctors thought the toddler had suffered brain damage but later found that he had extensive damage to his spine. Thrower, 34, (pictured outside Wakefield Magistrates' Court at an earlier hearing) will be sentenced next month after admitting the offences . He will now be paralysed from the chest down for the rest of his life and needs to use a ventilator to help him breathe when sleeping. Mrs Michalowski: 'They knew JJ was ill at the crash because he was sick instantly. He was alert until he got to the hospital and then he stopped responding. He didn't respond for five hours and they thought he had brain problems. 'He had a CT scan but that didn't show anything so they then did the MRI scan. It showed that he had back injuries and at that time he didn't have use of his legs or arms. 'We've being doing a lot of rehab and JJ shouldn't have the use of his arms, but can now use them. He is very intelligent and fantastic with his hands which is why we want him to have an electric wheelchair. He likes to do things himself and is very determined. If he can do it, he will.' Richard Davies, defending, asked for sentencing to be adjourned until September 4 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared. Judge Guy Kearl QC, bailed Thrower, until his next appearance but warned him: 'It's almost inevitable that you will be sentenced to a custodial sentence and you know that.' Members of the youngster's family were in court to hear Thrower enter his guilty pleas. JJ's family are now aiming to raise money to buy specialist equipment, including a joystick-controlled wheelchair to give him back some independence. Anyone wishing to donate to JJ can visit his Facebook page Help Bring JJ Home.
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Two-year-old left paralysed after Daniel Thrower crashed into family car .
John James Michalowski - known as JJ - will never walk again after crash .
Thrower, 34, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving on A628 in West Yorkshire .
Also admitted aggravated vehicle taking prior to crash on March 8 this year .
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15fa2ce55cc9e864666325840d8799e033b30745
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Ipswich Town have handed trials to Craig Bellamy's 17 year-old son Ellis. Like his father Ellis can play as a winger or striker and has been with Cardiff City's youth squad as well as being capped at various levels by Wales up to U17. Bellamy senior, a close friend of academy coach Kieron Dyer from their time at Newcastle and West Ham together, was spotted in Ipswich on Tuesday. Championship outfit Ipswich Town have handed trials to Craig Bellamy's 17 year-old son Ellis (right) Ex-Norwich mentor Steve Foley also coaches at Ipswich, and told East Anglian Daily Times: 'Craig rang up and asked if we would have a look at Ellis. 'He's been here a week or so and will be here next week too. He'll train with the Under-18s and 21s. If he's better than what we've got then he'll stay; it's as simple as that. 'Craig was at the training ground last week and was really good with the younger lads, answering all their questions. He's now gone on holiday and left Ellis to it.' Bellamy asked Ipswich to 'have a look at Ellis' and Ipswich Town handed the 17-year-old a trial .
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Like his father Craig Bellamy, Ellis can play as a winger or striker .
The 17-year-old has been with Cardiff City's youth squad .
Bellamy senior asked for the trial and was spotted in Ipswich on Tuesday .
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15fa6f8c1fccd0dabb9139876fbc0e4ee0420a89
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(CNN) -- Artist Damien Hirst doesn't have a problem with money. The multi-millionaire is estimated to be the wealthiest living artist, but believes he remains true to his artistic integrity. "I've always tried to be in the situation where money's a by-product of what I'm trying to do. No matter how big the money gets, you always have to make sure you're not using the art to chase the money, you're using the money to chase the art," he says. "I've always been able to take all the money in the bank and put it on one sculpture." Entitled "For Heaven's Sake" the platinum and pink diamond-studded infant's skull is the glistening centerpiece of Hirst's latest exhibition at Hong Kong's new Gagosian Gallery. Displayed alongside a series of photorealistic butterflies, it's a more upbeat show that perhaps he's known for. "I just wanted to show things I've been working on more recently. There are a few things from 2008. We just had a crazy financial meltdown so I thought I'd do a show that's a bit more optimistic than my usual shows." Hirst has never been far from controversy -- his earlier work has included dead animals suspended in formaldehyde -- and he's equally happy to go against convention in the business side of the art world. In 2008 he took a gamble by auctioning his work rather than going though a dealer. It paid off making $198 million, but Hirst is modest about the move. "Lots of people say I was a genius and I was very clever when I did that. But I think it was luck," he says. "Another week later and it could have failed miserably. It was sort of an idiotic move in a way. I say 'phew' rather than 'genius'." Some have also criticized Hirst, like many other big name artists, for not actually making much of his own work. The diamond-encrusted skull was made by London jewelers Bentley & Skinners and the butterfly pictures produced by Hirst's artisans. "People have always said things like that, and no matter how many times I answer the question people will always go but you didn't make it," he says. "(It's my work) only in the same way that a Frank Gehry can be described as a Frank Gehry house. I'm sure that Mrs. Prada doesn't make the jackets either, but we all call them Prada and are happy to buy them. And maybe if you bought one that was actually made by Mrs. Prada we might not like it as much."
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Damien Hirst is thought to be the wealthiest living artist .
Latest exhibition in Hong Kong features pink diamond encrusted baby's skull .
He does not believe that money has got in the way of his art .
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15faf65646406547d9d5340a098d86ef10924742
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By . Martha Kelner . Follow @@marthakelner . Louis van Gaal dropped the heaviest hint yet that he will appoint compatriot Robin van Persie as captain when he takes over at Manchester United, claiming the pair have a similar outlook on life. The Holland manager has grown close to the striker, who captains his country, and is set to favour him over Wayne Rooney for the skipper’s armband at Old Trafford. Rooney had looked certain to be made permanent captain under David Moyes. VIDEO Scroll down to watch RVP scoring with a sensational volley against Ecuador . Double Dutch: Louis van Gaal (right) sees Robin van Persie as his perfect captain at Manchester United . A sign of things to come? Van Persie (right) poses with Kluivert (left), Louis van Gaal's assistant manager . Class: Holland captain van Persie scored a fantastic volley in their 1-1 draw with Ecuador on Saturday . Van Gaal rarely singles his players out but he gushed about Van Persie after the 30-year-old scored a superb goal in Holland’s 1-1 World Cup warm-up draw with Ecuador. Van Persie was out injured for six weeks towards the end of United’s disappointing season after suffering a knee injury in their Champions League victory over Olympiacos in March. ‘Even coming from a bad injury, he scores a fantastic, unbelievable goal, just brilliant,’ said Van Gaal about the striker’s 37th-minute equaliser at the Amsterdam ArenA on Saturday. Van Persie is not 100 per cent fit, according to Van Gaal, but looked sharp as he sprinted to meet a superb pass from Feyenoord midfielder Jordy Clasie. He controlled the ball with his chest before volleying past the baseball cap-wearing keeper Maximo Banguera. ‘I was happy with his performance, but he is also a fantastic captain — and that is important, too,’ said Van Gaal. ‘I think you always make a player captain when you have the same morals and philosophy as they do. ‘Not only about football and tactics and what is happening on the pitch but about life as well. ‘We click and I think that’s very important. I believe that Van Persie and Van Gaal share the same philosophy.’ Superb: Van Gaal praised his star striker's scoring record in the year and a half since he took over . Future skiper? Rooney (left) was thought likely to be United's next captain but Van Persie is the new favourite . Worst start: Jefferson Mentero had put Ecuador ahead after nine minutes against van Gaal's Holland team . Van Gaal is expected to be announced as the next Manchester United manager today, his final rest day before Holland’s World Cup preparation camp begins. He will inherit a squad of players at Old Trafford in which he has had no say but will take the decision of appointing a captain very seriously. He has spoken in the past about the need for him to ‘click with’ and ‘admire’ his chosen leader on the pitch and Van Persie fits that profile most obviously. ‘He is my captain,’ Van Gaal said simply. ‘He’s my top scorer in the one-and-a-half years that he has played under me for the national side. He became all-time top scorer of the Dutch team and he plays superb football.’ It took just nine minutes for Ecuador to go into the lead on Saturday, as striker Jefferson Montero latched on to a pinpoint pass by Felipe Caicedo before coolly converting past the helpless keeper Jasper Cillessen. Holland, who were missing star names Nigel de Jong, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart and Arjen Robben, face sterner opposition in Brazil in the ‘group of death’ with Spain, Chile and Australia. If they come second in the group, Holland will most likely meet the hosts in the round of 16 .
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Louis van Gaal hinted he will appoint Robin van Persie as Man United captain .
The Holland manager looks set to favour RVP over Wayne Rooney for the skipper's armband at Old Trafford .
Van Gaal gushed about Van Persie after the Dutch striker's superb goal in Holland's 1-1 World Cup warm-up draw with Ecuador .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 18:03 EST, 27 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 12:19 EST, 28 November 2012 . Two young boys who were playing at a pool last summer discovered they looked incredibly similar – they even had the same walk. But Isaac Noltin, 12, and Dakotah Zimmer, 13, were in for the shock of their lives to discover there was more than met the eye with their similar appearances: they were brothers. Dakotah told Isaac that he knew he had a brother he’d never met who was adopted by a woman named Dawn. ‘That’s my mom’s name,’ Isaac responded. Issac (left) and Dakotah were reunited after being apart for over ten years when they met at swimming pool in Washington, Missouri . The touching story of how Dakotah and Isaac met is one of anxiety for Isaac’s adoptive mother, Dawn Noltin. Ms Noltin, who works as a manager for a dry-cleaning company, told her story to TODAY.com and the eMissourian, saying that she wrestled with when to tell her son that he was adopted. For weeks before Isaac and Dakotah met, she had been asking her friends and pastor how to tell her son that he had a brother, but knew it had to be before the boys started school. They would be attending the same middle school in Washington, Missouri and would surely find out one way or another. The night after Isaac and Dakotah met, Isaac approached his mother and asked if he was adopted. When Ms Nolting, 42, asked why he thought that, her son responded: ‘Because I think I found my brother.’ Siblings: 'I could tell because of the nose,' said Dakotah Zimmer (middle, with siblings Ashley and Issac) of how he knew that a boy he had met by chance at the pool was actually his younger brother . The mother and son both started crying. ‘I was so happy that I had a brother,’ Isaac explained to TODAY.com. ‘I . had always asked for one.’ Ms Nolting had met Isaac’s mother . several years ago when she was heading out to dinner with her . ex-husband. A friend of Ms Nolting’s ex-husband invited them to meet his . girlfriend and their newborn son. The 16-year-old mother had just given birth to Isaac nine days before, and also had a one-year-old son – Dakotah. Ms . Noltin had been a single mother herself, having her own daughter at 19. She told TODAY.com that her maternal instincts kicked in, and she . offered to take care of the newborn. Months passed, and Ms Noltin received a . call that Isaac’s biological mother was pregnant again. The woman’s . grandmother asked if Ms Noltin wished to legally adopt Isaac. Eighteen . months later, and Isaac was legally hers. Family: Issac poses for a photograph with his adoptive mother Dawn . Isaac and Dakotah's biological mother died in 2007, and their biological father died a year later. Dakotah and his older sister, Ashley, live with their's and Isaac's biological grandmother - Debi Bay. Ms Bay said that Dakotah always knew he had a brother. ‘I’m just glad they got to meet,’ she said of her grandsons’ clandestine encounter. Though the two didn’t know of each other’s existence for more than a decade, it seems as though they grew up together, Ms Noltin said. ‘It’s like they were never separated,’ she observed.
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Brothers Dakotah and Issac were separated when their 16-year-old mother gave up Issac for adoption .
Both boys biological mother died five-years-ago - but Dakotah's grandmother had told him that he had a brother who had been given up for adoption to a woman named Dawn .
Were re-united when Dakotah thought he noticed similarities between him and Issac .
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London (CNN) -- Authorities arrested eight people Saturday -- including five journalists of Britain's bestselling Sun newspaper -- as part of an inquiry into alleged illegal payments to police and officials. The other three are a police officer, an employee of the Ministry of Defence and a member of the armed forces, the Metropolitan Police said. A search was carried out at News International's offices in east London, the police said, as well as the homes of those arrested. News International, which owns the Sun, is a U.K. subsidiary of media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Following the arrests, Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corp, issued a personal assurance to one of his executives to continue to own and publish The Sun newspaper, according to an internal staff memo sent by News International Chief Executive Tom Mockridge. Mockridge also said he was "very saddened" by the arrests of deputy editor Geoff Webster, picture editor John Edwards, chief reporter John Kay, chief foreign correspondent Nick Parker, and John Sturgis, who is a news editor. The five journalists were arrested at their homes, police said. "I understand the pressure many of you are under and have the greatest admiration for everyone's continued professionalism," Mockridge wrote. "The Sun has a proud history of delivering ground-breaking journalism. You should know that I have had a personal assurance today from Rupert Murdoch about his total commitment to continue to own and publish The Sun newspaper. "Today we are facing our greatest challenge," Mockridge said. The Sun's editor, Dominic Mohan, said in a statement: "I'm as shocked as anyone by today's arrests but am determined to lead The Sun through these difficult times. "I have a brilliant staff and we have a duty to serve our readers and will continue to do that. Our focus is on putting out Monday's newspaper." Mohan has said the paper has a readership of more than 7.7 million. The arrests are part of Operation Elveden, an investigation running in parallel with a police inquiry into alleged phone hacking by the media, the police statement said. Late Saturday, all eight people were released after posting bail, police said. News Corp.'s Management and Standards Committee said it had provided the information to the Elveden investigation which led to Saturday's operation. Elveden has been widened out to include alleged corruption involving public officials, as well as the police. The five journalists, with ages between 45 and 68, were arrested at their residences in London, Kent and Essex on suspicion of corruption, aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office, and conspiracy in relation to both offenses, police said. News Corp. said in a statement that it "remains committed to ensuring that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past will not be repeated." The other three suspects were arrested on suspicion of corruption, misconduct in a public office, and conspiracy in relation to both these offenses. A 39-year-old officer with Surrey Police is being questioned at a London police station, the Met Police said. The Ministry of Defence employee, a 39-year-old woman, is being questioned at a police station in Wiltshire, as is the member of the armed forces, a 36-year-old man. The police said the operation "relates to suspected payments to police officers and public officials and is not about seeking journalists to reveal confidential sources in relation to information that has been obtained legitimately." The Ministry of Defence said it was a matter for the Metropolitan Police and that it could not comment on an ongoing police investigation. The latest arrests come two weeks after four current and former Sun employees and a London police officer were arrested in connection with Operation Elveden. News Corp. established its Management and Standards Committee in the wake of the summer 2011 scandal over alleged hacking of voicemail, which led to the closure of the News of the World Sunday tabloid. The revelation that a murdered 13-year-old girl's phone was hacked by journalists in search of stories -- and that many other crime and terror victims, politicians and celebrities had also been targeted -- prompted widespread outrage in Britain. News Group Newspapers, part of News International, paid out hundreds of thousands of pounds this week to settle lawsuits over phone hacking from celebrities and politicians, including a former Tony Blair spokesman, Alastair Campbell. The latest settlements meant News Group Newspapers has settled 59 of the 60 lawsuits against it. British Prime Minister David Cameron set up an independent inquiry into press ethics and practices in response to the scandal. Mohan defended his newspaper in testimony before the Leveson Inquiry earlier this month. "The Sun is a private enterprise that performs a public duty with a public interest: to inform a mass readership so that British democracy can function properly," he said in a written witness statement. "The Sun is occasionally boisterous and often cheeky but it is always a loyal companion to our readers, male and female. It relates to them in a more passionate way than any other title and in doing so it has become Britain's best-selling newspaper." Two parliamentary committees are also investigating the scandal. There have been 17 arrests in relation to Operation Weeting, the phone-hacking inquiry, and 21 in connection with Operation Elveden. Three people have been arrested in connection with both investigations. A third police inquiry is investigating alleged email hacking. No one has been charged. CNN's Bharati Naik contributed to this report.
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NEW: All eight are free after posting bail, police say .
Rupert Murdoch will continue to own and publish Sun, an executive says .
The executive names the five Sun employees who've been arrested .
A police officer, a member of the military and a Ministry of Defence employee were also arrested .
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The husband of the 36-year-old Brooklyn teacher charged with having repeated statutory trysts with one of her high school students wants a divorce, it has been revealed. A source told the New York Post that Jimmy Lathrop, 39, is now looking for a lawyer to help him divorce his wife Erin Sayar, who is accused of statutory rape . He was seen yesterday at Brooklyn Criminal Court, wearing a fedora and glasses, and walking several steps ahead of his wife, who looked disheveled in a bright pink track suit. Hard times? Pictured leaving Brooklyn Criminal Court yesterday, Erin Sayar, left, and husband Jimmy Lathrop, right, did not walk side by side; a source tells the Post he's looking for a divorce lawyer . Married mother: Erin Sayar, 37, turned herself in last June and was charged with rape, criminal sex act, sexual misconduct, and sexual abuse . Silent: Sayar was released from jail for now but she faces four years behind bars for alleged sexual encounters with the high school football player; she's pictured returning to her Brooklyn home . The source told the Post: ‘He’s very angry, he’s very embarrassed,’ adding that Mr Lathrop is out looking for a divorce attorney. ‘I don’ think this marriage will last,’ the source told the newspaper. Mother-of-one Sayer, who is accused of seducing football player Kevin Eng, 16, while she was a teacher at Brooklyn's James Madison High School, appeared in court yesterday for arraignment. Sayar was released on $10,000 bond after turned herself into the NYPD Special Victims Squad and was charged with eight counts of third-degree rape and criminal sexual conduct. Kevin is still a student at the high school. As Judge Kevin McGrath set bail, he also issued an order of protection for the student. Sayar - who is facing more than four . years in jail - was supposed to be tutoring the footballer in her office . while his teammates were using the weight room next door. Chaos: Numerous news crews surrounded Sayer (center) as she left court last June with husband Jimmy Lathrop (second from front) walking in front of her . Consequences: Sayer has been placed on 10-years probation and may have to sign as a sex offender for the rest of her life . A chaotic scene unfolded outside the courthouse as reporters and camera crew surrounded Sayar and her husband, Jimmy Lathrop, as they left after the woman was released from jail. The pair refused to speak with reporters. Sayar remained silent and smirked . slightly at times as she walked dressed in a pink-hooded sweatshirt, . black pants and white sneakers with pink shoelaces. Instead, Sayar got into a sedan and returned to her home. Mr Lathrop also dismissed news crews wearing a top hat and his wedding ring. The parents of the 16-year-old also filed a $10million lawsuit against the married English teacher. According to the Post, Kevin was boasting about the sexual trysts on Facebook and to other students in detention. Football teammate Eddie Reid, 16, said they quickly grew suspicious, telling the Post: 'We had weight training every day in . sixth period, but instead of going to the weight room, Kevin was going . to her office — and the door was locked. 'People would go to the door and try and open it. She’d just yell "Go to class!" and "Get out of the hallway!",' Reid said. The lawyer representing Eng is . claiming his client was traumatized by what happened and that it left him . the 'subject of scorn and ridicule'. But other students said he was proud of the affair. The school found out about the alleged sexual relationship when Kevin's girlfriend became suspicious last November. Illicit: Married teacher Erin Sayar, 36, allegedly had sex with student Kevin Eng when she was meant to be tutoring him . Allegations: She pleaded guilty to having sex with 16-year-old pupil Kevin Eng in her office at James Madison High School . After hacking Eng's Facebook account, . the girl found messages he had sent to Sayar which read, 'I love you so . much' and 'I always loved you, since last year'. Sayar replied: 'Oh no — I’m not putting myself out there again. I made that mistake last night and you couldn’t handle it.' Despite this, the teacher gave the boy her mobile number and ordered him to delete their conversations. 'We had weight training every day in . sixth period, but instead of going to the weight room, Kevin was going . to her office - and the door was locked' Devastated, the girl informed school officials of the pair's exchanges, and confronted her boyfriend. According to the school's report, Eng admitted having oral sex and intercourse with Sayar between eight to 12 times. The New York Post reports that the lovers exchanged an incredible 3,856 text messages over a 17-day period in December, an average of 227 per day. One midnight tryst apparently saw Sayar pick the boy up from his house in her car. 'Eventually, they began kissing and then engaged in sexual intercourse and oral sex inside the SUV,' the report said, adding that the boy had described tattoos on intimate parts of Sayar’s body. A spokesman for the Department of Education said Sayar, who earns just over $78,000 (£50,000) a year, is still technically employed at the school, although she was removed from the classroom in January. The school investigators have submitted their report to Brooklyn's District Attorney Charles Hynes, strongly recommending she be fired. Eng, who is now 17, is still a pupil at the school. The sordid allegations are not the first to hit James Madison High School, christened 'Horndog High' after its past sex scandals. Language teachers Cindy Mauro and Alini Brito were dismissed from their posts after an alleged lesbian romp in a school classroom in November 2009 - a claim they both denied. Prior to that, 29-year-old English teacher Craig Roffman was sacked and arrested in 2005 after he was found emailing child pornography.
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Alleged affair uncovered when 16-year-old's girlfriend hacked his Facebook account .
Teacher Erin Sayar allegedly exchanged an astonishing 3,856 text messages over a 17-day period with her student .
Now angry husband Jimmy Lathrop 'looking for divorce lawyer'
Walked out of court in front of her, not with her .
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(CNN) -- Japan's re-emergence into global motorsport has gathered pace after Suzuki confirmed it will return to elite motorbike racing in 2015. Suzuki withdrew from MotoGP at the end of the 2011 season, blaming the global recession for its decision to leave the sport, but has had a rethink to partly help develop its range of bikes. "Suzuki Motor Corporation has organized its test team to undergo more practical running tests at its advanced development stage and will participate in the official joint testing to be held at the Catalunya circuit in Spain," said a Suzuki statement. "Through continuing running tests at the circuits inside and outside Japan for further development and refinement, Suzuki will participate again in MotoGP racing from 2015. "Suzuki will feed back advanced technology to be derived through MotoGP racing activity to develop further attractive production models." Japan's Nobuatsu Aoki and current Aspar Racing team rider Randy de Puniet were in the saddle as Suzuki made its return to the track during Monday's official test event at the Circuit de Catalunya. "I am satisfied because the first test at Motegi was quite good and now we are at a GP track, with most of the other riders and running in the same conditions," France's De Puniet told the sport's official website after Monday's first run. "I think we did a great job because I'm only seven tenths slower than the best lap time today and after only 50 or 60 laps; all of the other riders have already been here for three days. I am satisfied, but think we could be even faster if we had one more day. "Anyway, it's a good start because we now go to Aragon for a two-day test, so I really hope to do the same job and have the same feeling with the bike." Suzuki's return follows Honda's decision to make its Formula One comeback by agreeing to supply engines to the McLaren team from 2015 onwards. Suzuki boasts a two-wheel racing heritage which dates back to the 1970s, with Britain's Barry Sheene winning the 500c world championship in 1976. Five further championships followed, with the last being won by American Kenny Roberts Jr. in 2000.
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Suzuki to rejoin MotoGP for the 2015 season .
The Japanese manufacturer pulled out of the sport in 2011 .
Nobuatsu Aoki and Randy De Puniet rode for the team in Monday's test .
Honda will return to Formula One in 2015, supplying engines to McLaren .
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President Barack Obama plans to nominate the first U.S. ambassador to Somalia in more than two decades, a top State Department official said Tuesday. Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman called the decision "a reflection both of our deepening relationship with the country and of our faith that better times are ahead." Sherman said the nomination would occur "soon," but did not give any specifics. Sherman said the United States has no plans in the immediate future to open an embassy in Mogadishu, the Somali capital wracked by violence from al Qaeda-linked extremist group Al-Shabaab. Last month, the group launched a deadly attack on the nation's parliament. The new ambassador would work out of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, with another dozen or so diplomats working on Somali issues, and would travel to Mogadishu. "I would hope that in years ahead ... that we will see a full presence both in Somalia and by the Somalis here in Washington," Sherman said. "It'll take some time, but we take this in a step-by-step approach." The United States and Somalia closed their embassies in each other's capitals in 1991 after the overthrow of Mohamed Siad Barre and the effective collapse of central government in the Horn of Africa nation. The United States and its European allies have strengthened diplomatic ties with Somalia since Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, a civil activist, was elected president in September 2012. The United States officially recognized the Somali government in August 2013, and Britain is operating its diplomatic mission an office at the Mogadishu airport until the rest of the UK Embassy compound is completed.
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State Dept. official: Move reflects "our faith that better times are ahead" for Somalia .
U.S. has no immediate plans to open an embassy; the ambassador would work from Kenya .
U.S. closed its embassy in Mogadishu in 1991, but has maintained diplomatic relations .
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A financial services CEO worth $70 million told the Daily Show on Tuesday that he opposes the minimum wage because workers are simply 'worth what they're worth.' 'I'm not going to say that we're all created equal,' Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital and outspoken libertarian, told correspondent Samantha Bee. Schiff said some people are only worth $2 per hour, specifically the 'mentally retarded.' Scroll down for video... In a Daily Show interview that aired Tuesday with Samantha Bee (left), millionaire financial commentator Peter Schiff said he's totally behind paying 'mentally retarded' workers $2 per hour . 'If we eliminated the minimum wage law then individuals would be free to accept jobs at whatever pay they're able to get,' said the millionaire Beverly Hills High School alum . 'If we eliminated the minimum wage law then individuals would be free to accept jobs at whatever pay they're able to get,' said the millionaire Beverly Hills High School alum. Schiff has made his outrage over minimum wage laws know before. Last month, he posted a video online in which he protested Wal-Mart workers who were demonstrating outside a store as part of a campaign that would raise the retail giant's--and largest employer in America's--hourly wage. 'Would you contribute 15 percent of the price of that TV for the Wal-Mart workers?' he shouted at a man carrying a TV out of the store. 'They are counting on you to pay higher prices!' 'You're worth what you're worth': The outspoken libertarian says that not everyone is created equal and it all just boils down to supply and demand. Besides, he said of fast food workers, 'they don¿t seem desperate and hungry to me' The workers were part of a group fighting to get full-time Wal-Mart workers paid just $25,000 per year. The U.C. Berkeley grad, who's father Irwin Schiff is serving a 13 year prison term for tax evasion, made it clear on Tuesday's Daily Show that he believes that workers are too often painted as hapless underdogs. 'They don’t seem desperate and hungry to me,' he said of fast food workers after admitting he never really eats at such chains. 'It's socialism that creates scarcity, that creates famine,' Schiff said. 'In a free market, there's plenty of food for everybody, especially the poor.'
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Investor and financial commentator Peter Schiff was on the Daily Show arguing against a minimum wage hike .
'I'm not going to say that we're all created equal': Schiff said people should be free to accept the wage the market judges them to be worth .
The multimillionaire investor attended Beverly Hills High School and leads Connecticut-based Euro Pacific Capital .
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A ceasefire negotiated between rival Muslim and Christian militias brought a brief respite Saturday to a Central African Republic town after two days of violent clashes. The truce between the Muslim Seleka militia and the Christian anti-Balaka in Bossangoa allowed aid agencies to begin assessing the needs of the population caught in the midst of the violence. At the Ecole Liberte school, where a makeshift displaced camp sprang up in September to harbor fleeing Muslims, the numbers swelled during the clashes from around 2,500 displaced to nearly 10,000. The people there are in need of almost everything: food, water and shelter. Over in a Catholic Church compound where 35,000 Christians sought refuge from the Seleka militias in September, the camp is more established, but water and food supplies are dwindling and there is very little shelter from the elements. Malaria and malnutrition are all too common among the camps' denizens. A tense standoff had developed earlier between the Seleka and the regional peacekeeping force, FOMAC, after the militia threw grenades into the compound in an attempt to storm it. A soldier from FOMAC was killed during an exchange of fire. There is still no official death toll, but witnesses at the Ecole Liberte camp told CNN at least 19 Muslims were killed in what has become a spiraling cycle of retribution between the two communities. The anti-Balaka began targeting Muslims after tens of thousands of Christians were forced to flee their homes as Seleka militias marauded through the countryside. 'Extremely dire circumstances' Julian Donald overseeing a hospital in Bossangoa managed by Doctors Without Borders, or Medecins Sans Frontieres, said the aid group had worked through the violence, almost overwhelmed by the flood of patients. "We have been fully operational the entire time," he said. "I can't give you any numbers right now, I'm sorry, all I can say is it's still ongoing." But the work he and his agency do is not enough, Donald said. The Central African Republic desperately needs more help from the outside world. "A situation where you have hundreds of thousands of people who through no fault of their own are living in extremely dire circumstances, I would hope that the international community would mobilize to provide them assistance," he said. "The fact that we haven't seen it happen yet is a tragedy." Some help could be on the way. On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution approving military intervention in the Central African Republic by an African Union-led force, backed by French troops, to protect civilians, restore humanitarian access and stabilize the country. The number of African Union peacekeeping troops in the country will increase to 6,000 -- up from the current 3,500 -- the French presidency said. Central African Republic: What's going on, what's at stake, what's next . French forces arrive . France has named this mission in its former colony Operation Sangaris, after a species of butterfly there. There will be 1,600 troops in the Central African Republic by the end of Saturday, French President Francois Hollande said at the Peace and Security in Africa Summit in Paris. By Saturday evening, some of them had arrived in the northern city of Bossangoa. France's goal is for the nation to be able to hold elections once security is restored, in the same way that France helped Mali return to democracy, Hollande said. France's intervention in the Central African Republic is for humanitarian reasons, not to fight terrorism, he said. There have not been many incidents of violence in the country Saturday, Hollande added. The start of the French soldiers' new operation in the CAR capital was announced Friday morning by Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on the French radio station RFI. About 185 miles south of Bossangoa, Bangui has also been rocked by two days of clashes. Many have flocked to the city's airport, hoping to find safety there. "We estimate at least at 400 to 500 people have been killed so far in Bangui and the killings continue," Peter N. Bouckaert, emergencies director for Human Rights Watch, told CNN Saturday. "Two hundred and eighty bodies were recovered as of yesterday, but the Red Cross tells us there are more bodies on the streets that they are working to recover." Medecins Sans Frontieres said Friday that at least 92 bodies had been brought to the morgue of a hospital where its staff is working. Another 170 people have been treated for injuries, including gunshot, machete or knife wounds, it said. Opinion: Why Central African Republic is slipping close to catastrophe . Air sorties . A French Defense Ministry statement early Saturday said three helicopters and hundreds more troops had arrived in Bangui. French troops have been out on patrol in a bid to restore calm to the city, which remains tense, as well as working to safeguard French nationals and secure the airport, the statement said. Aerial sorties have also been launched above the capital to signal the French forces' presence to armed forces thought to be opposed to them. Back at the Catholic Church compound in Bossangoa, people scattered, screaming, as the unfamiliar boom of a low-flying jet swept over them. The horror soon turned to laughs of jubilation, however, with shouts of "The French! The French!" Desperate for help from the outside world, they hoped the sonic boom was a sign from the French forces that they would soon be there too. French troops begin operation in Central African Republic as violence worsens . Fears of genocide: 10 things to know about the Central African Republic .
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The number of African Union troops will rise from 3,500 to 6,000, France says .
French troops have arrived in the war-torn northern city of Bossangoa .
A ceasefire between rival Muslim and Christian militias brings some respite there .
Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres says refugees urgently need international help .
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Linda Motten has been receiving death threats for years. On a Sunday in 1984, Father's Day, she found herself caught in the crossfire of the bloodiest bikie clash in Australia's history - the infamous 'Milperra massacre.' Linda was sitting in her car outside a pub in Sydney's South-West, when screams and gunfire erupted in the parking lot, shattering her windscreen and showering her with shrapnel. Wounded, she crawled under the car and started taking photos; photos which would become crucial to police investigations and the reason behind the death threats. She was just 22 years old. This Fathers' day, September 7, marks 30 years since the bloodbath that stunned the country and left seven people dead, including a 14-year-old bystander, Leanne Walters. Scroll down for video . The battle was thought to have been sparked by tensions to do with a split between members of the notorious outlaw Comancheros Motorcycle Club, who broke away from the brotherhood to form the first Bandidos chapter in Australia. On that Father's day in 1984, a group of heavily-armed Comancheros turned up to the Viking Tavern for a motorcycle swap meet. They were met by 30 Bandidos with a back-up van of weapons close behind. Reports tell of the two sides lining up at opposite ends of the carpark and Comancheros head William “Jock” Ross waving a machete in the air before the violence erupted. The first of 200 police arrived on the scene after receiving reports that 'a man had gone berserk with a rifle' and shots had been fired. It took them more than 10 minutes to stop the bloodshed. Seven were killed, 28 were wounded and 20 hospitalised. This Fathers' day marks 30 years since the Milperra Massacre, the bloodiest bikie gang clash in Australia's history. At the time, the 'Milperra Massacre' court case was one of the largest in Australian history, with a total of 43 people charged with murder. The New South Wales Firearms and Dangerous Weapons Act 1973 was subsequently amended as a result of the violence that day. One of those killed was 14-year-old Leanne Walters, hit in the face by a stray .357 bullet while selling raffle tickets. In a special edition of Australian current affairs program 60 Minutes this Sunday night, her father Rex will talk about his 30 year heartbreak and the Father’s Day present Leanne never got to give him. The 1984 Father's day massacre between rival bikie gangs in Sydney's South-West left 7 people dead and 28 wounded . Feared bikie boss and former Comancheros leader William 'Jock' Ross, who served five years in jail for manslaughter that day, told 60 Minutes: 'I didn't have a choice, I was marked to die'. Thirty years after the event, the program promises to take viewers inside the massacre 'like never before'. It includes interviews with the detectives who stormed the car park to disarm the bikies - and will tell the story of key witness Linda Motten and the terrifying phone calls threatening she 'would be dead' because of those photos. Feared bikie boss and former Comanchero head William 'Jock' Ross, who served time in prison for manslaughter, tells Australian current affairs program 60 Minutes: 'I had no choice, I was marked to die'
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This Fathers' Day, September 7, marks 30 years since the bloodiest bikie gang clash in Australia's history, the 'Milperra massacre'
The shootout between rival clubs the Comancheros and the Bandidos left 7 dead, including an innocent 14-year old girl .
43 people were charged with murder .
Feared bikie boss and Comancheros leader tells Australian Current Affairs program: 'I didn't have a choice, I was marked to die'
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This is the shocking moment an alleged mistress was stripped naked and brutally kicked, punched and slapped in the street by a gang of ruthless stiletto wearing love rivals. The incident is the latest in a spate of copycat attacks in which young women have been beaten and stripped in a humiliating punishment for attracting the wrong man's affection. Sometimes the attackers are the wives of the men and at other times jilted former girlfriends who have either spotted their rival by chance, or else laid in wait and ambushed her outside homes or work. Scroll down for video . The woman desperately tries to hold on to her top as one of her fierce attackers moves in to rip it away . And most shocking is the fact that passers-by in almost every case do absolutely nothing - apparently believing the punishment of a woman who has an affair is justified, even if the person accusing her is a rival. In the latest attack, which happened in Jinan city, in eastern China's Shandong Province, three women, including two wearing stilettos, strip the clothes off the other woman and kick, punch and slap her while a fourth woman films the whole thing. At one point the young woman appears to give up trying to hold her tattered clothing and fights back, but has no chance against her three ruthless tormentors. Passers-by again refused to intervene after the three attackers shouted that the victim was a marriage breaker. They screamed that she deserved to be punished as they subjected to her to the ordeal, which lasted several minutes. At one point the victim, topless by this point, attempts to fight off her attackers but she is knocked back to the ground again after being overpowered and outnumbered . Locals on social media website Weibo, where the video was shared, have criticised the three women for their violent behaviour . But most of those who witnessed the event in daylight either ignored it or simply stood by and watched. One online commentator wrote: 'Who gives them the right to decide? 'For all we know the women attacking could be the mistress in the woman on the ground the wife!' The platform-wearing victim remains hunched on the floor as one her tormentors swings back a stiletto to land another kick .
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Incident took place in Jinan city, in eastern China's Shandong Province .
Shocking clip one of many love rival gang beatings to have surfaced on web .
Women either wait in hiding for alleged mistress or meet her by chance .
As one films, others slap, punch, kick and strip victim in ultimate humiliation .
After her top is ripped from her, she tries to fight back but is overpowered .
Amazingly, despite attack unfolding on a busy street, no-one intervenes .
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Billionaire Texas fund manager Fayez Sarofim - one of the richest men in America with a net worth of $2 billion - has furrowed some brows among Houston's wealthy social set after reportedly proposing to his son's mother-in-law. The 85-year-old father-of-five - born into Egyptian royalty and co-owner of the Houston Texans - proposed over the weekend to glamorous businesswoman Susan Krohn, according to CultureMap Houston. It was only in May that Sarofim's son, Phillip, 27, married Krohn's 33-year-old daughter Lori in Hawaii. However once their parents are married, they will be considered step-siblings. Life son, like father: Fayez Sarofim, a Houston-based billionaire fund manager, has reportedly proposed to Susan Krohn, his son's mother-in-law . Bride-t-be: Susan Krohn- pictured here with ex-boyfriend Rudy Avelar - is believed to have accepted a marriage proposal from Fayez Sarofim, whose son recently married her daughter . Married: Lori Krohn, 33, married Phillip Sarofim, 27, in Hawaii in May. Their parents are now engaged . Sarofim and Krohn are believed to have met through their children, with a romance forming over time. No wedding date has been set. Sarofim was recently named the 273rd richest American by Forbes magazine. Krohn, a staple in the Houston social pages, is a New Orleans transplant. Her ex-husband, Tracy Krohn, with whom she had two daughters, is an oil magnate currently ranked at 278 on Forbes list of richest Americans. Krohn is successful is her own right, however, as the founder and owner of Brooke Staffing Companies and of New Orleans Auction Galleries. Last year she was named among Houston's best dressed by The Chron. Part owner of NFL team Houston Texans Fayez Sarofim attends the Allen & Co Media Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho July 12, 2012 . 'I love to drive motorsport,' she told the publication at the time. 'There is nothing more fun than hanging out at a racetrack and driving.' The engagement ring was from Valobra Jewlery & Antiques. Sarofim is said to have wanted something 'grand' for his bride-to-be, however she chose something that 'could be worn day-to-day'. Sarofim goes by the nickname 'The Sphinx' for his stoic disposition. Seen here is the entrance of Sarofim's home in the blue ribbon Houston suburb of River Oaks . Comfortable surroundings: Fayez Sarofim is an Egyptian American billionaire fund manager. This is one of his Houston homes . Fayez Sarofim also owns this seaside villa in Honolulu, Hawaii . He moved to Houston in the early fifties from Harvard's MBA program. He is described as a 'fincial genius' and is famed for steering clients away from Enron, Texas Monthly reported. Sarofim is among the largest shareholders in Kinder Morgan. Both he and Krohn are known for their philanthropy. She is the cofounder of the Knowledge Arts Foundation and is a board member of Houston Community College Foundation and Memorial Hermann Foundation.
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Egyptian American fund manager Fayez Sarofim, 85, considered 273rd richest American .
Proposed to Houston businesswoman Susan Krohn over the weekend .
Sarofim's son and Krohn's daughter were married in May .
Sarofim's net worth estimated at $2 billion .
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16006c1f5206699553a10c488a697f91c2d12a21
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Egyptians head to the polls to vote for their next president on Monday and Tuesday. There will be just two candidates, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Hamdeen Sabahi. Egypt had an election recently. So why are they having another one? Egyptians are voting again because Mohamed Morsy -- Egypt's first freely elected president -- was removed from power last year in a popular military coup. Morsy's ouster last July was the culmination of a months-long petition campaign to remove him from office and days of mass demonstrations against the former Muslim Brotherhood leader. Critics accused Morsy of hijacking the 2011 revolution, pushing aside moderate and liberal voices, and botching Egypt's already ailing economy. Morsy rejected the allegations and accused Egypt's military backed establishment and Mubarak-era loyalist of undermining his presidency. In a remarkable reversal of fortune the man who removed Morsy from power - then army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi - is now heavily favored to win the presidential election. Morsy and scores of fellow members of the Muslim Brotherhood are in prison facing a variety of charges. How will Muslim Brotherhood supporters vote? The Muslim Brotherhood is not represented in the election, which is due in large part to an aggressive campaign by Egyptian authorities to eliminate the movement from Egypt's political landscape. Despite initial promises of an inclusive transition to a democratically elected government, Egypt's military backed interim government banned the Muslim Brotherhood last year and declared it a terrorist organization. Today most of the group's leadership is either in jail, in hiding, or taking refuge outside Egypt. Both candidates - Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Hamdeen Sabahi - have promised to keep the Brotherhood out of Egyptian politics if elected president. The Strong Egypt Party - led by former Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh - has decided to boycott the vote. The ultra-conservative Salafist Nour Party supported the 2012 election of Mohamed Morsy but is now drawing criticism from Islamist groups for supporting candidate el-Sisi. What are the policies of each candidate? Both candidates have generally remained vague on policy details, choosing instead to make populist promises that play well in television interviews. And, both promise to fix Egypt's failing economy, though neither has detailed how they plan to create jobs, generate revenue, and cut costly food and fuel subsidies -- a move many fear will anger Egypt's poor. El-Sisi vows to keep Egypt safe by continuing the "war on terrorism," a reference to the recent rise in low-level insurgent attacks against security forces. Critics fear el-Sisi will exploit that narrative to stifle free speech and continue a crackdown against dissent that has been sharply criticized by international rights groups. Sabahi promises to release what rights groups describe as thousands of political prisoners and ban a controversial protest law, which says groups of ten or more cannot gather in public without prior government permission. Who is likely to win? And will the winner finally bring stability to the country? El-Sisi is heavily favored to win due in large part to widespread support from Egypt's powerful establishment, which includes the military, the private and state media apparatus, and Egypt's political and financial elite. El-Sisi also has popular support from Egyptians who see him as the man who saved Egypt from a Morsy presidency that was perceived by many to be pursing an Islamist agenda. Less certain, however, is whether the next president can bring stability to Egypt, and lure back millions of tourists who have stayed away due to more than three years of political unrest. To establish stability Egypt's next president must make tangible improvements to the economy, improve security, and address mounting criticism from rights groups and pro-democracy activists who fear a return to a Mubarak-era style police state. How will the election result affect the region and the rest of the world? The outcome of the vote will likely bolster Egypt's relations with key allies Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates -- Gulf states that poured in billions of dollars in funding to support the Egyptian government after the ouster of former President Morsy. Relations with Qatar and Turkey -- staunch supporters of Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood --- will remain tense. The United States and Western powers will likely continue to voice concern about Egypt's alleged human rights violations but will continue relations as long as Egypt honors its peace treaty with Israel and isn't viewed as a disruptive force in an already volatile region. An el-Sisi presidency would be a potential blow to pro-democracy movements in other Arab states who hoped the 2011 Arab Spring would mark the end of regimes led military strongmen.
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There are just two candidates in Egypt's presidential election, with polling due on May 26, 27 .
Ex-general Abdel Fattah el-Sisi faces left-leaning politician Hamdeen Sabahi .
The election follows last year's ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsy .
CNN's Reza Sayah says both candidates have generally remained vague on policy details .
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By . Damien Gayle . PUBLISHED: . 11:34 EST, 5 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 02:00 EST, 7 May 2013 . The body of a 52-year-old woman who fell to her death in the Pyrenees was devoured by Griffon vultures before emergency services were able to retrieve it. Furious locals are demanding that authorities take action against the endangered carrion-eaters after they left only the woman's bones, clothes and shoes for burial. Fear of the birds has been growing in recent years, which have reportedly also begun attacking live animals since a European edict that dead livestock must not be left in the fields. Protected: A Griffon vulture in flight. The body of a 52-year-old woman who fell 1,000ft to her death in the Pyrenees was devoured by the carrion eaters before emergency services were able to retrieve it . Farmers want to be given the right to shoot the protected birds, which they say have started to prey on live sheep and cows. The campaign is gathering pace after the latest incident, in which a woman slipped and fell down a 1,000ft slope on the Pic de Pista after taking a short cut while walking with two friends. Major Didier Pericou of the gendarmerie told The Times that they believed the woman died in the fall, but added that there was little left of her by the time a search party found her body. 'When we first went out in the helicopter looking for the body, we saw numerous vultures without realising what they were doing,' he said. 'There were only bones, clothes and shoes left on the ground. 'They took 40 to 50 minutes to eat the body.' 'Conservation issue': An EC ruling that dead animals must be burned due to danger of BSE transmission has critically lowered the vultures' food supply . The incident is the latest in a series to cast the griffon vulture in a villanous light, which has prompted rural French and Spanish of the region to ask for the right to shoot the protected birds. For centuries, the Pyrenean farmers lived in symbiotic harmony with the griffon vulture. Wheeling over their flocks and fields, the birds were seen as neither a threat nor even a nuisance, but as a vital part of the ecosystem. When farmers had to dispose of a dead animal, they would simply take it to one of hundreds of carcass dumps scattered across the moutains where the scavengers gathered to do their work. But now, after an EC ruling that dead animals must be burned due to the danger of BSE transmission, the vultures' food supply has been critically lowered and they have been forced to spread further afield. Fear of vultures has been growing in recent years as they have spread from their mountain eyries. French . news weekly Le Nouvel Observateur, in 2007 reported of 'mutant . vultures', with one woman saying that a group of the birds, whose . wingspans can exceed seven feet, gathered menacingly near to where her . children were sitting. One . farmer, Alain Larralde, said he saw a group of vultures attack and start . eating an adult cow. There have been reports of live animals carried . off. 'You can't imagine what it is like to see an animal eaten alive,' Mr Larralde was reported to have said. But ornithologists say the real threat is not posed by the birds, but rather to them. Grahame . Madge, European bird of prey expert at the Royal Society for the . Protection of Birds, said: 'We are seeing three-figure vulture flocks . over Belgium and Holland. These birds are fanning out across Europe in . search of food. 'There is a conservation issue here.'
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Carrion-eaters swooped on the woman after she fell from the Pic de Pista .
Only bones, clothes and shoes were left, local police reported .
Fear of the protected birds is growing and farmers want right to shoot them .
EC ruling means their traditional prey, dead livestock, must now be burned .
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1602e1b939060067be19edb59697310003dfbb87
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Inside a former church on a suburban London street, a room has been designed to recreate the conditions found in Siberian salt mines. CNN writer Anouk Lorie relaxes in Britain's first salt cave, in Wandsworth, London. The floor and walls are covered with a thick layer of natural sea salt while particles of dry rock salt are pumped into the room. Welcome to an Eastern European style salt cave which claims to rid asthma and allergy sufferers of their breathing problems through "salt therapy," also known as halotherapy. With the sound of waves playing in the background and the sand-like mound of salt underfoot, the place could easily be mistaken for an exotic snow beach. Before entering the salt chamber, visitors are required to wear a shower cap to cover their hair and shoes to preserve the salt's purity. During each hour-long session they simply sit back, relax and put their feet up while soaking up the saturated air and tranquil atmosphere. Salt therapy claims to work by clearing the airways of mucus and reducing inflammation triggered by allergies to dust, pollen or pollution. Minerals including potassium and magnesium are said to clean out mucus blocking the airways. The treatment is widely used in Eastern Europe and Russia, where people with chronic breathing disorders often spend two to three hours per day in underground salt grottos. The Russian government even approved "salt caves" for medical use in 1995. In the U.S., the trend has been adopted in the Chicago area with the popular Galos Cave. Several spas in other parts of the country have also installed salt breathing rooms. In 2006, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study on patients with cystic fibrosis who used this kind of saline therapy for 48 weeks. The study found that it was a safe and effective additional therapy for patients. The benefits of salt therapy were first discovered in the late 1800s when workers in Siberian salt mines were found to suffer from a surprisingly small number of respiratory problems. Familiar with such treatments in her hometown, Sofia Benke from Hungary was therefore surprised when she moved to the UK two years ago and discovered there were no salt caves in the country. Have you used the salt cave? Did it work for you? Would you visit one? Tell us in the SoundOff box below . "I was suffering from sinus problems and antibiotics didn't work. I had heard so many stories of how salt caves had treated friends' problems, so I decided to open one in London," the 30-year-old told CNN. The salt, which has no additives, is shipped in from Lithuania. Benke's patients vary from six-month-olds to 65-year-olds and most are asthmatic children who come in with their parents. Ideally, treatment lasts one to two weeks and patients need to be in the cave for one to two hours every day, Benke says. The room's temperature and salt concentration depending on the patients' condition. The benefits are then said to last for up to 12 months. Each session costs around $56 and the first one is free. Many of the patients have reported positive results. Twenty-eight-year-old yoga instructor Tish Webster, who has always suffered from hay fever and severe allergies to dust, told CNN she noticed results after three sessions. "I noticed first thing in the morning I wasn't as congested as I usually am. Having now done ten sessions, I haven't yet taken an allergy tablet this year, which is incredible for me." Despite the positive testimonials, the therapy has not yet been recognized by the UK's National Health Service (NHS) and at least one study suggests the therapy should be used as a complementary therapy, not as an alternative. Dr Elaine Vickers of Asthma UK, said: "It's currently impossible for us to say whether or not salt caves are beneficial for people with asthma. However, some people say they find them helpful. "Our advice to people with asthma is to follow the recommendations of your doctor or asthma nurse, and to keep them informed if you decide to try a complementary treatment such as halotherapy." Other health practitioners say stopping medication like steroids for asthma and only opting for alternative care can be dangerous and counter-productive. But, according to Benke, some of her patients have stopped medication, not because she urged them to. "I would never do that," she said. The reason for this is because their symptoms were no longer present after undergoing salt therapy, she said.
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A salt cave clinic in London says it can treat respiratory illnesses like asthma .
Treatment is based on a room recreating the conditions of Siberian salt mines .
The process is called salt therapy, also known as halotherapy .
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16032c5ee785586dd13cf05818718744c15f9bea
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By . Jill Reilly . PUBLISHED: . 06:29 EST, 20 February 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 08:21 EST, 20 February 2014 . Harrowing footage has emerged of the moment a thug stamped on his victim's head three times before leaving him unconscious in the middle of the road. CCTV shows Lee Harvey punching, kneeing and kicking a man the middle of a terraced street in Middlesbrough last August. The 26-year-old admitted stamping on the man and wanting to 'neutralise' him and 'take him down'. Scroll down for video . Harrowing footage has emerged of the moment a thug stamped on his victim's head three times before leaving him unconscious in the street . He told the jury at Teesside Crown Court he thought he was doing the 'right thing' during the horrific attack last year. Sentencing him yesterday to five years in prison, Judge Peter Bowers said: 'You did stamp on his head while he was unconscious, and left him there lying in the road.' The video showed the victim knocking on a house door in Enfield Street, Gresham. The video showed the victim knocking on a house door in Enfield Street, Gresham. He argued with a woman at the house before Harvey emerged from the home and pushed him into the road . Prosecutor Rachel Masters said it was a sustained attack where the victim tried to defend himself but Harvey overpowered him . Sentencing him yesterday to five years in prison, Judge Peter Bowers said: 'You did stamp on his head while he was unconscious, and left him there lying in the road' The prosecutor said Harvey pushed, held and punched the man, putting him to the ground.Then he kneed him and kicked him on the ground, one witness said 'like a football' Lee Harvey has been jailed for five years for the vicious attack . He argued with a woman at the house before Harvey emerged from the home and pushed him into the road, Teesside Crown Court heard. Prosecutor Rachel Masters said it was a sustained attack where the victim tried to defend himself but Harvey overpowered him. She said Harvey pushed, held and punched the man, putting him to the ground. Then he kneed him and kicked him on the ground, one witness said 'like a football'. The footage showed the victim unconscious in the middle of the road until another man dragged him to the side. He suffered a punctured lung and bruises to the eye and jaw. He had fractured ribs, but it could not be proved that Harvey was responsible as he had also been assaulted two days earlier. Harvey, of Valley Road, Grove Hill, Middlesbrough, admitted affray, but denied attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm with intent. He was convicted of that charge by a jury after a short trial earlier this month. Harvey told jurors the victim tried to grab him and threatened to stab the woman. He said: 'I thought he was going to stab me as well. I thought I’ll just take him down.' He claimed he was in fear of his life when he had the man on the ground. He said he acted to prevent an assault, stop the man reaching into his pockets and keep him on the ground. The footage showed the victim unconscious in the middle of the road until another man dragged him to the side . He suffered a punctured lung and bruises to the eye and jaw.He had fractured ribs, but it could not be proved that Harvey was responsible as he'd also been assaulted two days earlier . He added: 'I didn’t put full force but I did stamp on his head. I didn’t intend to cause any injury to him. I just tried to shock him, to give him a warning, to say leave her alone. 'I thought I was doing right at the time but obviously I wasn’t.' Harvey was previously jailed for three years for grievous bodily harm in 2006 and received an extended sentence for assault and affray in 2009. At the time of the attack he had been out of prison for three years and just finished his licence period. Brian Russell, defending, said yesterday: 'Trouble came to his door rather than him seeking it out. 'It doesn’t excuse what happened thereafter. 'He felt at the time he was doing the right thing. He realises he lost control. 'He’s now demonstrating a degree of maturity and realises that he can’t behave in this way.'
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Lee Harvey is seen punching, kneeing and kicking a man in Middlesbrough .
The 26-year-old admitted wanting to knock him out, to 'neutralise' him .
Harvey was jailed for five years by Teesside Crown Court .
Harvey told jurors the victim threatened to stab the woman at the house .
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16034f0532acd7a1ecc02c4862b5c3cf8fa68106
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(CNN) -- Last month, two political scientists published one of those rare op-eds that gets the political community talking. The thesis of the piece was contained in the title: "Let's just say it: The Republicans are the problem." In case that was not clear enough, the authors elaborated: "We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. "In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party. "The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition. "When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country's challenges." The piece drew its authority from the authors' identity: Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein, two of Washington's most veteran watchers of Congress. Both men have hard-earned reputations for nonideological independence of mind despite their institutional affiliations: Mann works at the liberal Brookings Institution, Ornstein at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. (Ornstein is a friend of mine, and was a colleague until I was given the heave-ho from AEI in March 2010.) Now they have backed their provocative op-ed with a new book, "It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism." The book backs the arresting op-ed with a battery of depressing research, substantiating their charge that congressional Republicans now act in a uniquely irresponsible way. The debt showdown last summer was the ultimate case: congressional Republicans nearly forcing a default on the obligations of the United States to get their way on a budget agreement. But the pattern manifests itself in almost all the business of government, down to the most mundane. For example: Because Senate rules often require unanimous consent to move to the next order of business, a determined minority can force delay on almost any action it opposes. Since 2009, Republicans have used this power of delay hyper-aggressively. Compare and contrast the treatment of executive-branch nominees. Sixteen months into the George W. Bush administration, Memorial Day 2002, only 13 executive-branch nominations awaited confirmation by the Senate. At the corresponding moment in the Obama administration, Memorial Day 2010, 108 nominees were awaiting action by the Senate. This comparison is supported by another academic study. The confirmation process got gradually slower between the 1960s and the 1990s. Then, suddenly, in the second Clinton administration, the confirmation process seized up. Under the elder Bush, a Republican president facing a Democratic Senate, 92% of nominees were confirmed within an average of 57 days. In the second Clinton administration, facing a Republican Senate, only 74% of nominees were confirmed, taking an average of 110 days. Ornstein and Mann offer a convincing array of explanations for the trend toward radicalism within the GOP, including changes in campaign finance and in the electorate itself. They offer too a range of proposals to work around GOP radicalism and restore the effective functioning of Congress. If those proposals have a faint wistful air to them, blame the inherent difficulty of the problem, not Mann and Ornstein. But one thing is missing from their powerful and important book, and it's a thought I'd like to enter here into the record: The radicalization of the GOP is a function of changes, not only in U.S. politics, but also in the U.S. economy. Americans are living through an era of disappointment. It's becoming obvious that the U.S. government cannot meet all the expectations that built up in better times. The tax status quo, the Medicare status quo, the social safety net status quo, the defense status quo -- they can't all be sustained. Something must give, and almost everybody senses it. In good times, we debate whether government should expand programs or cut taxes -- new benefits in either case. In these times, we are debating whether government should impose large reductions in programs or impose big increases in taxes -- taking from people benefits that they now enjoy. Human beings will typically fight much more ferociously to keep what they possess than to gain something new. And the constituencies that vote Republican happen to possess the most and thus to be exposed to the worst risks of loss. The Republican voting base includes not only the wealthy with the most to fear from tax increases, but also the elderly and the rural, the two constituencies that benefit the most from federal spending and thus have the most to lose from spending cuts. All those constituencies together fear that almost any conceivable change will be change for the worse from their point of view: higher taxes, less Medicare, or possibly both. Any attempt to do more for other constituencies -- the unemployed, the young -- represents an extra, urgent threat to them. That sense of threat radicalizes voters and donors -- and has built a huge reservoir of votes and money for politicians and activists who speak as radically as the donors and voters feel. Which means the solution to the problems so astutely diagnosed by Mann and Ornstein must ultimately be found outside the American political system -- and will not be solved until America's rich and America's elderly become either less fearful or more generous. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Frum.
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Op-ed from respected political observers says the core problem with government is GOP .
It says GOP is extreme, won't compromise, is irresponsible, ignores evidence .
David Frum: GOP's radicalization is the result of changes in politics and economy .
Frum: Rich GOP voters could lose the most, others fear change in their lives .
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1603598bb616d6d017b732422d84ceb96938c82b
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LANSING, Michigan (CNN) -- Mike Green's family is good at making things. Through four generations of putting cars together, they've built a city, created a community, and forged a legacy. Portrait of an auto worker legacy -- three generations of the Green family gather at Lansing's UAW meeting hall. Green, 48, is president of United Auto Workers Local 652 in Lansing, Michigan, where General Motors has been building cars for more than 100 years, first under the Oldsmobile name and later expanding to include Cadillac, Buick and Pontiac models. Following his grandfather, both parents, two uncles, an aunt and his sister into the Lansing factory complex, Green knew from the start that he would be held to high standards on the assembly line. "When you went in there you not only were a part of something, building something and putting it together, but as a family coming from there you didn't want to let anybody down," Green said. "You knew you needed to do a good job. You knew that you were afforded the opportunity because of your father and maybe your grandfather before you. ... You don't want to disappoint your parents, you don't want to disappoint your family." The Greens' GM dynasty is in jeopardy if General Motors doesn't survive the current crisis that has U.S. automakers asking Congress for financial help. That dynasty includes 10 family members -- all current or former autoworkers -- who gathered around a table at the Local 652 hall in west Lansing recently. Together they have close to 300 years of service with GM. Watch the Green family say what future they see for GM » . Green's uncle Bob Evans, 73, started at Oldsmobile in 1961, having served 10 years in the Army's 11th Airborne Division in Germany, Lebanon and the early days of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Evans, a skilled tradesman, met his future wife, Pat, working in a plastics department. "From the beginning, it's been quite evident that what General Motors has done for my family and for the rest of us is put food on the table and [provide] a steady job," Evans said as sentiment clutched his voice. That steady job has been no small thing, Green's sister Cindy DeLau, 49, added. "Along with the good standard of living, we've had health care, we went through braces," she said, casting a sidelong smirk at her brother, "all the good things that having a decent-paying job brings to a family." The family and others like it weren't just working for themselves, though. "There was a lot of pride in what we did in General Motors through the years," said Mike Green's father, Marine Corps veteran Richard Green, 73. "My father [Kenneth Green] hired in in '45; he was part of the great group that won the Second World War. When I hired in, the Korean War was in full bloom. We built jet engines here to help the war effort. ... "We were one of the spokes that helped win the Second World War, the Korean War and the Cold War with what we manufactured at General Motors. We've done more through the generations than just build cars." At the other end of the family spectrum is Mike Green's son Rollin Green, 23, who came to work for General Motors full time in June of this year. Because of concessions the UAW has made to help GM stay afloat and preserve jobs, he's paid at half the rate of the older generation. Still, he's confident about the future of GM and Local 652. "I would like to think we could sit back and weather the storm and hopefully come out of this stronger than we went into it," he said, adding that it won't be easy. "We've sacrificed a lot in terms of pay, and we're doing everything that we can on our side to help save the corporation," Rollin Green said. "The corporation needs to continue trimming the fat, and they need to take precautions, and they need to take a little [pain] like we did." The GM-UAW family ties reach beyond bloodlines. "You develop all these relationships in the plant. You spend so much time with these people, they're like family," Mike Green said. "You form bonds that are lifelong." "It's people you've grown up with," DeLau agreed. "I've got 31 years in, and there are people I hired in with, and I'm still with them. I know their kids, their grandkids. It's a huge family." Their cousin Ed Sawyer, 48, a GM carpenter, recalled having to leave work in a hurry when his daughter's birth came early. "When I came back the next day, I had about six pink sacks sitting on the bench," he remembered with a wide smile. "There were afghans and clothes. You know, we are a big family." See where else GM has plants » . Stereotypes of autoworkers as lazy or sloppy irk DeLau. "I would invite [critics] in to an assembly plant to see the hard work that goes in. I have never once seen a car put itself together. ... It is very physical, hard work," she said. This family takes pride not only in being a part of GM in Lansing, but just as strongly in being a part of the UAW. "That goes way back; it's up through the generations," Mike Green said. "What it means to me is I'm a part of something where people stick together through the good, through the bad. ... "We've talked about family sitting around this table, both your blood relatives and your extended family in the plant. And that's what the UAW brings to you: It teaches you how to stick together through thick and thin. And that's what you've seen through the generations."
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Four generations of one family have worked for General Motors .
Legacy at risk of ending if GM doesn't survive financial crisis .
Michigan family proud of contributions to industry, military, community, union .
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1603607ea925bb0bc4ff10f49039b63c37991921
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Water with trace amounts of radioactivity may have leaked for months from a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine as it traveled around the Pacific to ports in Guam, Japan and Hawaii, Navy officials told CNN on Friday. The USS Houston arrives in Pearl Harbor for routine maintenance, during which the leak was found. The leak was found on the USS Houston, a Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine, after it went to Hawaii for routine maintenance last month, Navy officials said. Navy officials said the amount of radiation leaked into the water was virtually undetectable. But the Navy alerted the Japanese government because the submarine had been docked in Japan. The problem was discovered last month when a build-up of leaking water popped a covered valve and poured onto a sailor's leg while the submarine was in dry dock. An investigation found a valve was slowly dripping water from the sub's nuclear power plant. The water had not been in direct contact with the nuclear reactor, Navy officials said. Officials with knowledge of the incident could not quantify the amount of radiation leaked but insisted it was "negligible" and an "extremely low level." The total amount leaked while the sub was in port in Guam, Japan and Hawaii was less than a half of a microcurie (0.0000005 curies), or less than what is found in a 50-pound bag of lawn and garden fertilizer, the officials said. The sailor who was doused, a Houston crew member, tested negative for radiation from the water, according to Navy officials. Since March, the Houston had crisscrossed the western Pacific, spending a week in Japan and several weeks in both Guam and Hawaii, Navy officials said. See a timeline of the sub's movements » . The Navy on Friday notified the Japanese government of the leak, the officials said, and told them it was possible the ship had been leaking while in port in Sasebo, Japan, in March. While Japan has agreed to allow U.S. nuclear-powered ships in Japanese ports, the decision was a not popular in Japan. The Houston incident comes at a time when the Navy is trying to smooth over a problem with a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The USS George Washington was due to replace the aging, conventionally powered USS Kitty Hawk this summer as the United States' sole carrier based in Japan. While en route to Japan this May, a massive fire broke out on the George Washington, causing $70 million in damage. The fire was blamed on crew members smoking near improperly stored flammable materials. There was no damage or threat to the nuclear reactor, but the ship was diverted to San Diego, California, for repairs. It now is expected to arrive in Japan at the end of September. The Navy this week fired the captain and his deputy, saying an investigation into the fire led to a lack of confidence in the leadership of both men. Just two weeks ago, thousands of Japanese protested the pending arrival of the George Washington.
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Leak was found on the USS Houston during routine maintenance last month .
Navy officials say amount of radiation leaked into water was virtually undetectable .
Sub spent time at ports in Guam, Japan and Hawaii .
Officials: Radiation was "negligible" and an "extremely low level"
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Manchester United midfielder Anderson is in danger of becoming European football’s most unwanted man after it emerged there has not been a single official enquiry for him during the current transfer window. The 26-year-old – who cost in the region of £20m when United bought him in 2007 – has not played a game for the club since he was given a 20 minute run out by Louis van Gaal against Burnley in the Barclays Premier League back in August. The former Brazilian international is officially for sale, just as he has been virtually since David Moyes took over as United manager Sir Alex Ferguson in the early summer of 2013. Manchester United midfielder Anderson is in danger of becoming European football’s most unwanted man . Anderson, pictured in 2013, has not played since a 20 minute cameo against Burnley in August and is for sale . Mna United are yet to receive a single official enquiry for Anderson during the current transfer window . However it is understood that – with three weeks of the January transfer window already gone – United have not had a single serious enquiry for a player who the club hoped would be the mainstay of the midfield at Old Trafford when he arrived from Porto seven-and-half years ago. While many clubs would understandably wish to wait until the summer when Anderson will be a free agent, he is available for a knock-down fee now and would certainly be allowed to go on loan. However, it seems that clubs around Europe have been put off by stories of Anderson’s lifestyle and weight issues. At United he is privately lampooned, for example, for his liking for fast food. Anderson was pictured last week having been for lunch with a female friend in Manchester . Anderson's career at Manchester United appears doomed with the midfielder appearing just once this season . Attached to the Gestifute stable of influential agent Jorge Mendes, Anderson should in reality have little problem finding a new club. However his spell on loan at Fiorentina last spring saw him start just four games and there was little interest from mainstream clubs in him during the summer that followed. One option for United this month would be pay up Anderson’s contract and effectively allow him to walk away from Old Trafford.
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Manchester United midfielder Anderson has not played since August .
Former Brazil international's officially for sale but no bids have been made .
Anderson is available on a free when his contract runs out in the summer .
Click here for Manchester United transfer news .
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By . Associated Press and Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 22:47 EST, 11 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:45 EST, 12 February 2013 . A Republican congressman in Texas asked Ted Nugent, who has referred to President Obama's administration as 'evil' and 'America-hating,' to attend the State of the Union address with him- and the rocker has accepted. Rep Steve Stockman of Texas said Monday on his website that Nugent will be his guest for the president's speech on Tuesday night. Stockman has previously spoken of impeaching Obama over his gun control and immigration proposals, and has numerous sections of his website that say 'Obama vs Texas.' Advocate: Ted Nugent, who sits on the board of the National Rifle Association, will be Rep Steve Stockman's guest for President Obama's speech on Tuesday night . Speech: President Obama, pictured on Monday during a Medal of Honor presentation ceremony, will deliver his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night . Pals: Nugent, left, was invited to attend the speech by Texas Rep Steve Stockman, right . Nugent, an NRA boardmember, has not made his opposition to Obama's gun control push a secret. Stockman's website also identifies Nugent as a supporter of his campaign. In a speech to the NRA during the 2012 campaign, Nugent said that if Obama were re-elected, he would either be 'dead or in jail.' In the incendiary speech, Nugent urged supporters to vote for presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney and called Obama 'vile,' 'evil' and 'America-hating.' He also compared the Obama administration to a 'coyote' that should be shot. And on election day, he said encouraged his supporters to 'chop [Democrats'] heads off.' But neither dead nor in jail, the 'Cat . Scratch Fever' singer will be in the crowd as Obama delivers his remarks . before a joint session of Congress. Nugent . tweeted on Monday: 'Well well well, there will be a freedom addicted . all American uppity Motown guitarplayer facing the POTUS at the SOTU . addresss tomoro-lovely.' Sounding off: Ted Nugent talks about attending the State of the Union address on his official Twitter page . Republicans: Rep Stockman, of Texas, is pictured during a mock swearing-in ceremony House Speaker John Boehner last month . Nugent's comments led to meetings with representatives of the Secret Service. Rep Luis V. Gutierrez said another guest would be Gabino Sanchez of South Carolina. Gutierrez described Sanchez as a husband, father and an illegal immigrant fighting deportation. The president will press a politically-divided Congress to approve more tax increases and fewer spending cuts, as well as an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws and tighter gun measures. The agenda Obama will outline Tuesday before a joint session of Congress will include more money for infrastructure, clean energy technologies and manufacturing jobs, as well as expanding access to early childhood education. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama would outline 'his plan to create jobs and grow the middle class' as the nation struggles with persistently high unemployment. Couple: President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were pictured on Monday during a Medal of Honor presentation ceremony at the White House .
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Nugent, who sits on the board of the NRA, has not made his feelings toward gun control a secret .
Rocker invited by Rep Steve Stockman, a Texas congressman who's also anti-Obama .
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Proud of her job: Rebekah Brooks leaving the Phone Hacking trial at the Old Bailey in London . Rebekah Brooks spent £159,000 to buy the story of a prostitute caught performing a sex act on Hugh Grant, the phone-hacking trial heard yesterday. Divine Brown was paid $100,000 (£64,000) directly by the News of the World for her sordid story and the tabloid lavished another £95,000 flying her and her entire family by private jet to a luxury resort in the Nevada desert. Brooks, then the features editor, said this was to prevent rival newspapers spoiling their exclusive story about Grant. But she denied there was a ‘dark arts department’ for phone hacking at the News of the World, which she later edited. Brooks, 45, told the Old Bailey she knew nothing of the illegal interception of voicemails by the tabloid’s private investigator Glenn Mulcaire and had never heard his name mentioned when she was editor. It was her first chance to defend herself after four months of prosecution claims that she was central in a conspiracy at the News of the World and The Sun to hack phones and to corrupt public officials. While recounting her rapid rise through the ‘old school misogyny’ of the newspaper world, Brooks told how as the News of the World’s features editor, her speciality was buying up celebrities for exclusive stories. When Four Weddings And A Funeral star Grant was arrested with Miss Brown in a car on Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard in June 1995, the paper’s US editor and a colleague managed to track down the prostitute after she was released from custody. Brooks said she spent her entire weekly budget of £60,000 chartering a plane for Miss Brown – real name Estella Marie Thompson – and her family. ‘Miss Brown had been traced to her family home by one of the paper’s reporters, a former private investigator, after her arrest with Mr Grant in Los Angeles. Divine Brown: Flown into hiding . Hugh Grant: Arrested in LA in 1995 . ‘We flew them to a place in Nevada – the desert’, she added, breaking into laughter. ‘It seems silly now, but it was really important. ‘She was very smart. She wanted all her family relocated so we had to hire a plane because there were so many of them... it ended up costing around $200,000... $250,000. It was probably one of the biggest expenses I had done, which is why I have a relatively clear memory of it.’ She later had to explain the ‘huge cost’ to the paper’s editor and managing editor. Brooks moved to The Sun in January 1998 and said she brought her contacts with her. One was Spurs footballer Paul Gascoigne, whom she paid £50,000 to £80,000 for an exclusive interview about his domestic violence towards his former wife Sheryl. She also ‘dealt a lot’ with PR guru Max Clifford, who ‘brokered stories’ to her. Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and her husband Charlie Brooks leave the court . Brooks – one of the most influential women in Britain until her arrest over the hacking allegations – had smiled as she entered the witness box, moments after hearing one of the charges against her had been dropped. Dressed in a demure cream cardigan with pearl buttons and a knee-length royal blue shift dress, and with her red curls pinned back off her face, she spoke softly and hesitantly of how her career began sweeping newsroom floors and making tea but took her into the corridors of power by the age of 29. It included meetings with Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson before they entered Government and careers advice from Rupert Murdoch. The media tycoon entered her office when she was appointed deputy editor at the News of the World and told her: ‘You’ve got a long career ahead, take your time and learn on the job.’ He told her to avoid publicity and that he did not want her ‘spouting forth opinions’ on current affairs programmes. She said: ‘He gave good advice – you are a newspaper executive, it’s hard work, keep your head down.’ Initially faltering and hesitant, Brooks had been warned she was likely to spend a long time in the witness box. She appeared to grow in composure as she was challenged directly about the phone-hacking allegations. The jury has heard that Mulcaire has admitted targeting dozens of celebrities on the orders of former News of the World journalists Greg Miskiw and Neville Thurlbeck. The three have admitted conspiring to hack phones. Jonathan Laidlaw QC, for Brooks, asked her if she had ever heard any of her journalists talk about Mulcaire while she was editor, between May 2000 and January 2003. ‘No,’ she answered immediately. She said she had known the tabloid used private detectives – as did other newspapers, City firms and lawyers – but insisted she had never heard Mulcaire’s name mentioned, nor had any knowledge of his involvement in phone hacking. Mr Laidlaw said the prosecution had alleged she had established an investigations unit dubbed the ‘dark arts department’ specifically to hack phones. ‘That’s not true,’ Brooks replied, adding: ‘I don’t recognise that description.’ Brooks said she was proud of the undercover work carried out by the News of the World, which had been in the public interest. She told the jury it was ‘impossible’ for an editor to know the source for every article in their newspaper. She described the ‘incredibly competitive’ atmosphere inside the tabloid – once Britain’s best-selling newspaper – and said her rapid promotion had exposed her to sexist jibes. ‘There was probably a bit of old school misogyny added into the competition there would have been if I was a bloke,’ she said. ‘The competitiveness was engrained into the News of the World... It was a tough world.’ Brooks denies four charges of conspiring to hack phones, commit misconduct and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Her husband, racehorse trainer Charlie Brooks, and her former lover, ex-News of the World Andy Coulson, watched from the dock as she gave her evidence. They also deny all the charges against them. The trial continues. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
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Divine Brown was paid £64,000 and was also paid £95,000 for a private jet .
Payments were made to ensure News of the World had exclusive .
She denies there was a 'dark arts' department for phone hacking .
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By . Liz Hull . PUBLISHED: . 19:30 EST, 27 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:42 EST, 27 December 2013 . The makers of Full & Slim claim that of 500 women who drank it before every meal, 70 per cent lost a stone or more in six weeks (file picture) It sounds too good to be true. A diet drink which claims to help people lose up to a stone in weight by mimicking the actions of a gastric band is to go on sale in Britain. The makers of Full & Slim say it works by expanding in the stomach to convince the drinker that he or she is full. They claim it can help overweight people lower their cholesterol, absorb fats more efficiently and reduce their chance of developing diabetes. The drink contains l-carnitine, an amino acid which helps burn fat in the body and turn it into energy, and glucomannan, a natural ‘super-fibre’ derived from the tuberous roots of the konjac plant. When glucomannan comes into contact with water in the intestine it increases in volume, becoming almost gel-like, causing food to move more slowly through the digestive system. This, in turn, helps control levels of sugar in the bloodstream. The makers say that of 500 women who drank the supplement before each meal, around 70 per cent lost a stone or more in weight within six weeks. Even women who simply took the drink, without dieting or completing any exercise, lost up to 3lbs a week.Full & Slim director James Harrington said: ‘The combination of ingredients suppresses appetite and mimics the effects of a gastric band, without undergoing the trauma of invasive surgery.’ However experts are sceptical about the benefits of natural foods and supplements that claim to speed up weight loss, with many studies claiming over-the-counter drinks and shakes produce no more weight loss than a placebo. But one recent survey found that, on average, volunteers given 4g of glucomannan a day for five weeks recorded a 5.1 per cent reduction in body weight, as well as a 5.54 per cent drop in their body mass index and 14 per cent drop in cholesterol. L-caratine in the drink expands the stomach, making the drinker feel full, similar to a gastric band (pictured) By contrast, slimmers offered a dummy drug or placebo reported drops in weight of just 1.93 per cent, a 1.97 per cent fall in BMI and 12 per cent drop in cholesterol. The drinks, which come in fruit-flavoured sachets, cost around £1.38 each or £28.95 for 21. Slimmers are advised to drink one with water 30 minutes before every meal. They will be sold at Boots from next month. Last month scientists revealed they had developed an implant containing genetically engineered cells which could replace the need for gastric band surgery. It responds to fat in the bloodstream by producing a hormone signal that tells the brain: ‘You’re full, stop eating’.
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Full & Slim is a new health drink containing amino acid l-caratine .
The acid makes the stomach expand so the drinker feel full .
Makers claim that 70 per cent of women drinking it before every meal lost a stone or more in six weeks .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 12:59 EST, 3 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 13:00 EST, 3 January 2014 . President Obama took a break from the golf course during his Hawaii vacation yesterday to make a brief visit to his grandfather's grave. The president, who has played eight rounds of golf since arriving on December 20, spent just four minutes at the grave of Stanley Dunham. His motorcade then left the National Memorial Cemetery and took Mr Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha to the zoo for a private tour. Flying visit: The presidential motorcade, pictured at the National Memorial Cemetery on a visit last year, dropped the First Family off briefly yesterday . Close: Barack Obama with his grandparents, Stanley Armour and Madelyn Lee Payne Dunham . It took 30 minutes for the First Family to be driven from their vacation home to the cemetery, where they stayed for just a few minutes, according to the Weekly Standard. Hero: Second World War veteran Stanley Dunham helped raise Obama . As he visited the grave, Mr Obama could not be seen by the press pool following him on the 17-day vacation. Mr Dunham became a father figure to the president as he was growing up, after his own father left. The Second World War veteran died, aged 73, in 1992. The White House pool report recorded the visit, stating: 'President Obama's motorcade made its way . to Honolulu, passing by stunning vistas while occasionally being slowed . by congested roads.' It added: 'After a 30-minute drive, Obama and daughters Sasha . and Malia arrived at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at . Puowaina Punchbowl Crater.' The family went on to Honolulu Zoo, . arriving just after 5pm for what is believed to have been a private . visit as the tourist attraction closes at 4.30pm. Earlier in the day the President was pictured playing golf with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key today. The . two leaders teed off on a sunny and breezy morning at a course at a . military base on Oahu, the Hawaiian island where Obama is renting a . vacation home. New Zealand media has reported that Mr Key owns a home in Hawaii. Scroll down for video . Leading the pack: Obama played with New Zealand's prime minister John Key (right) who has a house in Hawaii and was there for the holidays with his family, just like the Obamas . In the hot seat: President Obama generally plays golf with close friends, and on rare occasions, political allies, but Mr Key is now one of the few foreign leaders who can add his name to the list . The golf outing put Mr Key in rarified company as President Obama, an avid golfer, prefers to limit his playing partners to a close circle of friends and advisers. Among those who have also scored invitations to play with Mr Obama in the past are former President Bill Clinton and Republican House Speaker John Boehner. Rounding out the foursome Thursday were Max Key, the prime minister's teenage son, and Marvin Nicholson, Mr Obama's personal aide. Media access to Mr Obama's rounds is typically restricted, though reporters and photographers were permitted to briefly watch the two leaders Thursday. Looking for the win: The President has played eight rounds of golf during the family vacation .
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First Family makes brief visit to Stanley Dunham's final resting place before private zoo tour .
Second World War hero was father figure to Obama when he was a boy .
Earlier in the day president played golf with New Zealand's prime minister .
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(CNN) -- Nico Rosberg capped a memorable week by winning the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim but Sunday's race will also be remembered for a frightening opening lap incident involving the unfortunate Felipe Massa. The veteran Brazilian was clipped from behind by McLaren's Kevin Magnussen and his Williams performed a spectacular somersault before ending in the safety gravel at Hockenheim. There were immediate fears for his safety but soon allayed by the Twitter account of his team. "Big crash for Felipe but he is out the car and heading back to the garage," it said. It was the second race in a row in which the 33-year-old Massa has been the victim of a first lap incident, his hopes at the British Grand Prix ended when Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari careered off. Earlier in the season, Massa was also involved in a 300 kph collision at the Canadian Grand Prix, accusing rival driver Sergio Perez of being "dangerous" as they battled for fourth and both ended in the barriers. The safety car was immediately deployed but on the resumption Rosberg, who had been on pole, took command and drove untroubled to take the checkered flag for his seventh career F1 victory. Since retiring while in the lead at Silverstone, Rosberg has married his long-time girlfriend Vivian Sibold, signed a contract extension at Mercedes and seen his beloved German football team win the World Cup. The victory extended his title lead over teammate Lewis Hamilton to 14 points. "It's fantastic," he said in the post race interviews. "It's an amazing feeling to win at home. It's a very special day." Britain's Hamilton had the rub of the green in his home grand prix, but his luck deserted him this weekend, crashing out in qualifying with a brake problem. It led to a change of brake disc and a five-place grid penalty so starting from 20th. He cut a swathe through the field and initially looked to be on a two-stop strategy which may have given him the opportunity to challenge Rosberg. His second stop came on lap 32 of 67, but he pitted for a third time just seven laps later after Adrian Sutil spun his Sauber and was left stranded in the middle of the track. Race stewards decided not to put the safety car out out for the second time and at this point Hamilton's engineers pulled him in for a third stop. He still looked set to overtake Massa's teammate Valtteri Bottas for second, but the Finn drove superbly to hold him off in the closing stages. Reigning four-time champion Sebastian Vettel got the better of great rival Fernando Alonso of Ferrari for fourth place. Vettel's Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo of Australia took sixth.
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Nico Rosberg wins German Grand Prix at Hockenheim .
Extends lead in Formula One title race .
Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton fights his way through field for third place .
Felipe Massa survives spectacular first lap crash .
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By . Daily Mail Reporter and Associated Press . PUBLISHED: . 01:23 EST, 31 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:18 EST, 31 May 2013 . Chilling video from Chicago reveals the moment a Lebanese immigrant planted a bomb near iconic Wrigley Field - hoping to kill dozens of revelers in September 2010. Fortunately, the bomb was a fake, supplied to him by undercover FBI agents. However, authorities say that if it had been real, it would have made the Boston Marathon bombings look like a 'minor incident.' A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Sami Samir Hassoun, a 25-year-old Lebanese immigrant, to 23 years in prison for the planting what he believed was a paint can bomb wrapped in C4 and filled with shrapnel. Caught: This is the moment Samir Hassoun dropped a backpack, containing what he thought was a bomb that would level a city block, into a garbage can on a crowded Chicago street . Hassoun coldly carried the backpack from his car to the crowded street. He was being monitored the entire time by FBI agents . 'Let's give the elephant in the room a name: It's called the Boston . Marathon,' U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said. 'What would have happened had his bomb been . real would have made Boston look like a minor incident.' Indeed, Houssoun's plot has shades of the April 15 attack on the Boston Marathon in which three people died and dozens were injured and maimed when two pressure cooker bombs in backpacks were planted near the finish line. Samir Hassoun, 25, was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the attempted bomb attack . Hassoun dropped a backpack containing the bomb in a trashcan near an 'L' train stop in the bustling Wrigleyville neighborhood of Chicago near the Chicago Cubs' stadium. Hassoun was told by undercover FBI agents, the prosecutor said, that it would destroy half the city block and kill dozens of people. Minutes before the sentence was announced, Hassoun, a 25-year-old one-time Chicago baker and candy-store worker, apologized for what he'd done in a five-minute statement. Crying, he asked the judge if he could address his family and friends, and then turned to look at them on a nearby bench. 'I am sorry for the actions that I made and the shame I brought on you,' Hassoun said, struggling to keep his composure. 'I promise I will become a better person... and make it up to you.' His mother sobbed aloud and when Hassoun finished, she said in an audible voice to her son, 'I love you!' Gettleman said he accepted the defense depiction of Hassoun as a uniquely gullible youth and that an informant may have been eager to please his FBI handlers by leading him on – though the judge said that was no excuse for Hassoun's crime. During the hearing, prosecutors played secret video recordings of Hassoun during the sting in which he talks about killing people. He explains that one reason to stage the attack along bar-strewn Clark Street is that late-night revelers will be so drunk they wouldn't notice him dropping a bomb into the trash bin. In another chilling video shown in court, Hassoun smiles and hums a tune to himself on the night of Saturday, September 18, 2010 - moments before heading off to what he thought would be a major terrorist attack. 'You feel good?' an undercover agent asks. 'Yeah, I'm (doing) great man,' Hassoun responds. In another video, Hassoun rambles incoherently about then-Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and the need to overthrow him in a revolution. 'When you see Mr. Hassoun on these tapes, all you can think of is that – this guy is really out to lunch,' Gettleman said before turning to look at Hassoun. 'I don't know what was going through your mind – and maybe you didn't know either.' This is the bar near Wrigley Field that would have been directly in the blast of the bomb Hassoun planted . Prosecutors also played a surveillance video of Hassoun, wearing a black hoodie, dropping the device into a trash bin at about 12.20am on September 19, 2010 – while people crowded the sidewalk and music blared from area bars. FBI agents arrested him moments later. As part of an agreement with the government, Hassoun pleaded guilty last year to two explosives counts. In return, he faced a sentencing range of 20 to 30 years, rather than a maximum term of life in prison. One of Hassoun's attorneys, Alison Siegler, argued in court Thursday that the difference between two decades and three decades behind bars was enormous – and that a sentence of around 20 years would give Hassoun the chance to start a family, to go to school and see his parents as a free man again. After court adjourned, Hassoun appeared to express relief as he smiled and hugged his attorney. Before Thursday's sentencing, Hassoun also apologized in a seven-page letter to Gettleman. He also insisted he's worked hard at becoming a better person, including by doing yoga in jail. The Beirut-born Hassoun blamed his actions in part on childhood trauma living in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. During civil strife there, Hassoun, then 11, witnessed machete killings from an apartment balcony, he wrote. His family moved from Lebanon to the U.S. in 2008. To dampen his lingering emotional pain, he wrote that he drank alcohol 'all day, every day' for months before the would-be stadium attack in 2010. He favored whole bottles of Johnnie Walker Black, he wrote. The bomb was planted in the shadow of the Cubs' Wrigley Field in a popular nighttime area . The defense suggested investigators may have come close to entrapping Hassoun, arguing the informant egged Hassoun on to acquiesce to ever-more ominous-sounding plots. '(The informant) preyed on Sami's fantasies ... and agents helped make that fantasy come true,' another of Hassoun's attorney's, Matthew Madden, told the court Thursday. 'If left to his own devices, nobody would ever have heard of Sami Hassoun.' Prone to boasting and eager to impress, Hassoun even made absurd claims he could make a gun out of two pieces of wood and a spring, and a bomb out of baking soda, Madden said. But so inept was Hassoun, he bought a backpack, walkie-talkies and some batteries agents asked him to buy and the FBI then incorporated it into the dud bomb fashioned at its lab in Quantico, Virginia, he added. Prosecutors concede Hassoun did waffle about his plans, allegedly talking about profiting monetarily and then broaching the idea of poisoning Lake Michigan or assassinating Daley. But prosecutors say Hassoun himself concluded that maximum damage could be inflicted by a blast next to the popular Sluggers World Class Sports Bar, just steps from Wrigley Field. 'Undercover agents also repeatedly asked Hassoun if he wanted to back out, telling him there would be no shame in doing so. But he repeatedly declined, saying he wanted to press ahead,' Hammerman told the court Thursday. 'It was his understanding that in 15 minutes (after placing the backpack in the bin), there would be death and carnage all over Clark Street,' the prosecutor said.
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Samir 'Sami' Hassoun, 25, believed the bomb he planted on a crowded Chicago street in September 2010 would have destroyed a city block .
Judge said attack would have made Boston Marathon bombing look like a 'minor incident'
Hassoun was given a fake bomb by undercover FBI agents .
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They were once the proud centrepiece of a family's Christmas decoration decked in fairy lights and baubles. But now, with the festive season well and truly over, these trees were left discarded in the street along with the other rubbish ready to be taken away by the bin men. Over the past few days, homes up and down the country have taken down their festive decorations after welcoming in 2015. A forlorn looking unwanted Christmas tree is left out on the street with bags of rubbish and recycling boxes in London . These trees will have once been decked the fairy lights and baubles, but are now left out to be taken away by bin men . Once the centrepiece of one families Christmas decoration, this tree is left dumped on the street with a bag of rubbish . And in Twickenham, London people left their now forlorn looking trees outside their houses, ready for them to be taken away with the rubbish. The scene was mirrored up and down the country as people returned to work and school following the Christmas break. According to the tradition, Christmas decorations should come down on the Twelfth Night which officially falls on January 5. Up and down the country, people were throwing away their old Christmas trees after the festive season came to an end . A lonely-looking fir tree is propped up outside a house before it is taken away by refuse collectors . Most people were throwing out their trees following the Twelfth Night earlier this week, which officially marks the end of Christmas . There is a widely-held belief that it is bad luck to leave Christmas decorations, including the tree, up past Twelfth Night – an idea previously attached to the festival of Candlemass in early February. There is also some debate over when exactly Twelfth Night falls, with some arguing it is the evening before the Twelfth Day, also known as the Epiphany. Others say it falls the following evening, as Twelfth Day itself draws to a close. There is a widely-held belief that it is bad luck to leave Christmas decorations, including the tree, up past Twelfth Night . An unwanted Christmas trees lies in the middle of a path in Trafalgar Road in Twickenham, south west London . However, earlier this week, one Cambridgeshire zoo came up with a novel idea for people wanting to get rid of their old Christmas trees. Linton zoo were urging people to donated their unwanted fir trees as toys for their lions. According to the zoo, the lions love playing with the trees, with them being described as like 'catnip' to the big cats.
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With festive season over, Christmas trees have been left out for collection .
Across the country, families have been taking down their decorations .
Comes after the Twelfth Night, when according to tradition all decorations should be taken down .
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By . Rob Davies . PUBLISHED: . 05:19 EST, 25 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:03 EST, 25 October 2013 . Eight hundred jobs at the Grangemouth petrochemical plant were saved yesterday after an 11th-hour climbdown by Unite. Owner Ineos had announced it was going to close the operation after the union rejected a survival plan – including a pay freeze and watered down pensions. But staff were told of the reprieve after Unite was forced into a humiliating change of heart. The union has accepted a three-year pay freeze and committed not to strike during that period. It also agreed to scrap gold-plated ‘final salary’ pension schemes for staff, who earn an average salary of £55,000. Delight: Worker Eddie Heaney celebrated after the announcement by owners Ineos to keep the Grangemouth petrochemical site open . Decision: The owners of the plant, Ineos, said the site had to be shut down because it is losing £10m a month . The deal means Ineos – majority owned by reclusive billionaire Jim Ratcliffe – will invest £300million in the Falkirk plant in Scotland. He said: ‘This is a victory for common sense. The Unite union advised employees to reject change and vote for closure. Thank goodness people finally came to their senses. Grangemouth now has a great future.’ Prime Minister David Cameron added: ‘On a day when the economy is picking up it’s excellent news that a really important petrochemical plant will stay open, saving thousands of jobs not just at that plant but in the supply chain, and also seeing the refinery reopen, it’s good news. 'I think sense has been seen which is that, when you have challenges and costs, you need reform.’ Anger: Grangemouth Petrochemicals chairman Calum Maclean (R) and Gordon Grant, Ineos site manager blamed the Unite union for the crisis, but insisted commonsense had prevailed . Saved: 800 jobs at the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland, would have been lost if the closure had gone ahead . Unite initially advised staff to reject the company’s cost-cutting plans, winning support from 65 per cent of its members. But the union’s general secretary, Len McCluskey, said it had now decided they had to ‘embrace’ the survival plan, ‘warts and all’, to prevent the loss of 800 jobs. It emerged last night that BP, which sold the Grangemouth plant to Ineos in 2006, was also instrumental in helping to secure its survival – agreeing new financial terms to help stem losses of £10million a month. Cheers: Workers who thought their jobs had been axed just two days ago were quick to share the news that the decision had been reversed . Changes: Employees at the Grangemouth petrochemical plant will still face changes to their pay and pensions as part of the cost-cutting deal to save the site . Energy Secretary Ed Davey said: ‘This is a very positive result. We can now look forward to a future of growth at Grangemouth.’ The dispute, which was also said to threaten the adjacent oil refinery, began over Ineos’s treatment of Stephen Deans, the union shop steward and local Labour Party chairman who was under investigation over allegations linked to the Falkirk vote-rigging affair. He was cleared of wrongdoing but Ineos conducted its own probe against a backdrop of proposed new working practices – triggering industrial action. Grangemouth (UK) chairman Calum MacLean said: ‘Unite risked 800 jobs and one of the UK’s largest manufacturing facilities. Today’s U-turn means Grangemouth now has an excellent future.’ Desperate: Staff stage a protest at Grangemouth in a last ditch attempt to save the refinery .
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Ineos revealed plans to shut the petrochemicals division of the plant .
Followed stand-off with unions over demands for cost-cutting .
Unite last night agreed to accept changes 'warts and all' to save 800 jobs .
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PUBLISHED: . 05:07 EST, 26 April 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 05:24 EST, 26 April 2012 . Neglected: Molly Darby, seen shortly before her death in 2007, had been a resident at the Beeches home for just a few weeks . A coroner has launched a scathing attack on a care home after an emaciated pensioner was admitted to hospital weighing less than five-and-a-half stone. Just five weeks before, 'sprightly' 94-year-old Molly Darby had walked into a privately-run care home in good physical health. But she deteriorated to such an extent at the Beeches Residential Care Home, in Wath-on-Dearne, South Yorkshire, that she was taken out on a stretcher and died shortly after. When she was admitted to hospital as an emergency case her family claimed she resembled a 'concentration camp victim'. Staff nurses were shocked to find the . widowed mother-of-six had a chest infection, pneumonia, pressure sores, . septicaemia and ear and urinary infections. Staff thought she would not . make it through the night but she survived for another two and a half . weeks. Rotherham coroner . Nicola Mundy yesterday said: 'I find it very alarming that such a . vulnerable person who relied on professionals for her care and support . was presented to hospital in the way she was. 'The . vulnerable in our society must be properly cared for on all levels and . their dignity protected. I think that Mrs Darby was not afforded the . care and dignity she deserved on this occasion.' Nurse . Julie Norton who received Mrs Darby on a general medical ward at . Barnsley District Hospital said: 'It was quite upsetting. She was . really, really frail. There were some issues we were really concerned . about. 'When I was changing her bedding with another nurse we were all quite upset and distressed. Her right ear was impacted with ear wax and she had a pressure sore, her hair was thin and wispy and badly stuck to her face and neck and her eyes were completely shut. It took quite a lot of bathing with water to open them.' When old people’s matron Karen Sharpe saw Mrs Darby she immediately contacted social services. Endocrine specialist Dr Elizabeth Uchegbu, who examined Mrs Darby, reported: 'She appeared neglected and unkempt, there was a discharge from both eyes, a smell of urine and she was distressed. She was covered in faeces when she first arrived.' Deterioration: Jim Darby, 72, at his mother's bedside in 2007. The retired miner said Mrs Darby was 'sprightly' when she entered the home . The doctor wrote later: 'I got the impression she was neglected. She was weak and thin and it could not be explained.' Tissue viability nurse Tracy Green, who carried out an investigation after Mrs Darby’s death, said there were no notes about her pressure sores yet Molly was at 'high risk' of skin damage. 'I believe there had been neglect by omission,' she said. 'This is in the absence of any proof that there was any intervention.' The Rotherham hearing was told Mrs Darby had a lower than normal body mass index and had been assessed at risk of malnutrition four months before she went into the home. Her son Jim Darby, 72, a retired miner, told the inquest his mother was 'sprightly' when she was at home in West Melton, near Rotherham. 'Her carers used to say my mum could get up the stairs better than they could,' he said. But the great-grandmother developed dementia and needed 24-hour care so her family decided to put her in the Beeches. She went into the home on July 6, 2007. Failings: An inquiry found the widowed mother of six suffered unintentional abuse through 'neglect by omission' Mr Darby said: 'They kept saying they were feeding her and I had no reason not to believe it but it turned out it was wrong. The nurse at the hospital said she had never seen anybody come into hospital from a care home in such a bad state.' The former care home manager Julie Morgan said in a statement that staff helped Mrs Darby with her personal hygiene and toileting, but her diet was poor and she would often refuse to eat. Care assistant Michelle Burkinshaw told the inquest the elderly patient had mobility problems and she was refusing food and fluids. She regularly washed her, bathed her eyes and put cream on her sores. Pathologist Dr Caroline Quincy said Mrs Darby died on August 29, 2007, from broncho-pneumonia contributed to by coronary artery atheroma. She said her reduced mobility could have played a part in increasing the risk of pneumonia and there was also evidence of malnourishment. The 44-bed Beeches was run by the Winnie Care Group at the time of Mrs Darby's death but last year it was sold to new owners MHA. An inquiry by Rotherham Council’s social services department found the previous owners negligent by 'omission of care' for Mrs Darby in February, 2008. Moira Ockenden, area manager of the Beeches at the time, denied Mrs Darby was emaciated. In a letter to the family read at the inquest she said: 'The references to a concentration camp victim are unjustified.' She said staff claimed to wash or bathe Mrs Darby on a daily basis and they regularly brushed her hair. The widow had a poor appetite and would refuse food, she said. She admitted the old woman had sores on her heels, right hip and lower spine when admitted to hospital and that she should have been referred to a dietician. Sam Newton, Rotherham Council’s safeguarding service manager said an inquiry found Mrs Darby had suffered abuse through 'neglect by omission' but it was not intentional. 'It was based on poor recording, little or no evidence in respect of the care she was receiving, there were no weight charts, fluid or diet recordings and there was no evidence of professional visits.' Tom Parramore, service manager for the current owners of the Beeches said all the staff were now fully trained and there was regular auditing of residents’ hygiene, nutrition and medication needs. Cause for concern: The Beeches Residential Care Home, in Wath-on-Dearne, South Yorkshire, has been taken over since Mrs Darby's death, but former operator Winnie Care still runs other homes . Recording a narrative verdict the coroner said: 'Her basic care and medical requirements were not satisfactorily met and her decreased mobility during her time at the Beeches increased her risk of developing a chest infection.' Ms Mundy went on: 'Her nutritional status compromised her ability to cope with the effects of the chest infection, the latter of which led to her death.' After the hearing, Mrs Darby's granddaughter Pearl Green, 56, said: 'The coroner confirmed everything we knew as a family. Neglect did contribute to her death. The care she was provided with in that place was absolutely disgusting. It was inhuman.' Mrs Darby’s son Ray, 68, said: 'Her life was shortened by this. There was a total lack of care. She hardly saw a doctor in 40 years before she went into that home. She did all her own shopping and was very active for her age.' The coroner is also writing to Winnie Care, which still operates other care homes, asking them if they have reviewed all their procedures, documentation and training following Mrs Darby's death.
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Molly Darby, 94, was suffering from pneumonia, sores and infections after just a few weeks in a privately-run care home in South Yorkshire .
Previous inquiry into her death in 2007 found the mother of six had suffered abuse through 'neglect by omission'
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By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 05:53 EST, 3 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 06:09 EST, 3 March 2014 . Birmingham FC owner Carson Yeung is facing 14 years in prison after being found guilty of five counts of money laundering by a court in Hong Kong. The 54-year-old had denied laundering £55.4million through his bank account between 2001 and 2007. But judge Douglas Yau said he was 'self-contradictory' in his evidence and was 'making it up as he went along'. Guilty verdict: Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung could face 14 years in jail after being found guilty of money laundering by a Hong Kong court . Gasp: Yeung wearing a mask as he leaves court in the back of a police van . Denial: Carson Yeung denied he was guilty of money laundering but was convicted by a Hong Kong court . 'I find the defendant not a witness of truth,' Judge Yau told a packed court room. 'I find that he is someone who is prepared to, and did try to, lie whenever he saw the need to do so.' Yeung will be sentenced on Friday. The case shone a spotlight on how Yeung made his fortune but the judge said he exaggerated the amount of profit made by his hair salon business. The trial has also revealed Yeung's close links to Macau's casino world, both as an investor and gambler, and how that enabled business investments that helped him amass his wealth. He maintained that he built a fortune of hundreds of million of dollars through stock trading and business ventures in China. Millionaire: Yeung, who bought Birmingham in October 2009, resigned as the club's president and director lats month - he is still their majority shareholder . Tycoon: Yeung surrounded by the media at an earlier hearing in his money laundering trial back in June 2011 . But prosecutors said he was unable to show where £7.7million in his bank account had come from. The Judge's verdict said there was reasonable doubt to believe that various business deals represented 'proceeds of an indictable offence.' Yeung bought Birmingham in October 2009 for £81.5million from David Sullivan and David Gold, now the co-owners of West Ham. He is still the majority shareholder but resigned last month as the club's president, director and director and chairman of the club's parent company, Birmingham International Holdings Ltd (BIHL) to await the verdict. Happier times: Yeung poses with the Birmingham shirt after purchasing the club in 2009 . All smiles: A beaming Yeung after being unveiled as the new president of Birmingham City . short-term success: Yeung lifts the League Cup with manager Alex McLeish after beating Arsenal at Wembley in February 2011 . In a statement released at the time to the Hong Kong stock exchange, BIHL said: 'Mr Yeung, with his foresight, aspiration and clairvoyance, has steered the board successfully through landmark projects such as the acquisition of Birmingham City Football club, for which the board is profoundly indebted. 'Mr Yeung unequivocally confirms that he has no disagreement with the board and that there are no other matters relating to his resignation that are required to be brought to the attention of the shareholders of the company.' Yeung's father and co-accused, Yeung Chung, died in 2012.
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Carson Yeung denied laundering the money between 2001 and 2007 .
Prosecutors say £55.4 million was 'criminal proceeds'
Judge said he found the tycoon, 54, 'was not a witness of truth'
Yeung was accused of exaggerating profit made by his hair salon business .
He will be sentenced on Friday and faces 14 years in jail .
He bought Birmingham in October 2009 for £81.5million .
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One video shows more than 100 prisoners paraded across the desert in their underwear, then lying face down as militants unleash a hailstorm of bullets into their bodies. Other images show crucifixions and public executions in towns overrun by terrorists. And recent footage showing the beheading of a second American journalist proves that ISIS wants the world to know how brutal it can be. The insurgents are experts at using footage of their crimes as propaganda to terrify those who disagree with their radicalism and to threaten foreign leaders. The visuals are as much a part of ISIS' terrorism as its bloody march across the Iraq and Syria. In the video of American Steven Sotloff's decapitation, the executioner has a stern warning for the U.S. President: . "I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State," the man says in the video, released just days after fellow journalist James Foley was beheaded. "Just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people." Even a 7-year-old child was photographed holding a severed head. The picture was reportedly taken in Raqqa, the ISIS stronghold in Syria, where the boy's Australian father had taken his family to join the fight. More decapitations . Publicized beheadings had actually stopped in years past . A decade ago, al Qaeda -- the terror group that spawned ISIS -- made headlines with a series of decapitations, including those of Americans Nicholas Berg and Eugene "Jack" Armstrong. Top al Qaeda official Ayman al-Zawahiri criticized the gruesome antics, and the decapitations stopped. But al Qaeda has since disowned ISIS, and al-Zawahiri has not condemned Foley's execution. That means the beheadings could continue. But it's not just Western captives who fall victim. Last week, a Kurdish man was executed in front of a mosque in Mosul in a video called "A message written in blood," notes Charlie Cooper, Middle East researcher at the Quilliam Foundation. But because that message "was directed at the President of Iraqi Kurdistan, this particular piece of propaganda did not receive widespread coverage in the international media," Cooper wrote in a piece for CNN.com. "They have shown their willingness to kill anyone in their path -- not just Americans, not just Westerners, but Iraqis of all faiths, of all sects," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said. "They've shown their complete barbarism in doing that." The media's role . Cooper said the media has a responsibility to treat ISIS propaganda carefully. "Every time a still or clip from an ISIS video is shown, the group gets what it wants: the oxygen of publicity," he wrote. "Of course, it is necessary that people the world over are aware of the atrocities occurring at the hands of ISIS, but journalists must be careful not to do the jihadists' job for them." The decision on whether to publicize parts of the recent beheading videos have even divided journalists. International broadcaster Al Jazeera said it had decided not to show any images of Sotloff from the video -- a more conservative position than other TV networks. "We suggest all media do the same," Al Jazeera's public relations account said via Twitter, using the hashtag #ISISmediaBlackout. And while the video has been blocked from various video sharing platforms, they have also reappeared as many times, Quilliam senior researcher Erin Marie Saltman wrote. She said that kind of trend "once again emphasizes that the new frontline for counter-terrorist practitioners is online extremism." Glossy recruitment tools . Part of the problem is the radicals are extremely tech- and media savvy. "We are way behind. They are far superior and advanced than we are when it comes to new media technologies, social media, when it comes to video production qualities, and in disseminating their propaganda over the Internet," said Maajid Nawaz, a former jihadi and author of "Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism." Some videos used by the terrorists rival the production quality of Hollywood films. One hourlong video shows a collection of bombings, executions, kidnappings and beheadings. As one roadside bomb blasts a vehicle into the sky, two men in the background of the video chuckle. The recruitment tactics can be both blatant and subtle. For about $10, supporters can buy a shirt with ISIS' logo and phrases such as, "We are all ISIS" and "Fight for Freedom, Until the Last Drop of Blood." And it may be no accident that a militant with a British accent fronted the video of Foley's death. That kind of tactic could inspire more foreign jihadists, a former ISIS fighter told CNN. "It is possible that the goal was to project the image that a European, or a Western person, executed an American so that they can showcase their Western members and appeal to others outside Syria and make them feel that they belong to the same cause." MAPS: Where do jihadis come from?
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ISIS militants are getting increasingly tech- and media savvy .
Some of their videos rival Hollywood features in production quality .
Beheadings by ISIS have increased after al Qaeda disowned the group .
"Our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people," a militant warns Obama .
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(CNN) -- A Malaysia Airlines passenger jet crashed in a rebel-controlled part of eastern Ukraine on Thursday, spurring swift accusations from Ukrainian officials that "terrorists" shot down the aircraft. The United States has concluded a missile shot down the plane, but hasn't pinpointed who was responsible, a senior U.S. official told CNN's Barbara Starr. The Boeing 777 with 298 people aboard fell from the sky near the town of Torez in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, officials said. A top Ukrainian official said the plane, which was on the way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was flying at about 10,000 meters (nearly 33,000 feet) when the missile hit. A radar system saw a surface-to-air missile system turn on and track an aircraft right before the plane went down, the senior U.S. official said. A second system saw a heat signature at the time the airliner was hit, the official said. The United States is analyzing the trajectory of the missile to try to learn where the attack came from, the official said. The Obama administration believes Ukraine did not have the capability in the region -- let alone the motivation -- to shoot down the plane, a U.S. official told CNN's Jake Tapper. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the plane never made a distress call. He called for an international team to have full access to the crash site. "We must and we will find out precisely what happened to this flight. No stone will be left unturned," he said. "If it transpires that the plane was indeed shot down, we insist that the perpetrators must swiftly be brought to justice," Najib said. Ukrainian officials maintained that pro-Russian separatists were behind the crash. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Ukraine's military campaign against the separatists was to blame. "This tragedy would not have happened, if there had been peace on that land, or in any case, if military operations in southeastern Ukraine had not been renewed," Putin said in televised remarks. "And without a doubt the government of the territory on which it happened bears responsibility for this frightening tragedy." Ukraine's state security chief accused two Russian military intelligence officers of involvement and said they must be punished. Valentyn Nalyvaichenko said he based his allegation on intercepts of phone conversations between the two officers. "Now you know who carried out this crime. We will do everything for the Russian military who carried out this crime to be punished," he told reporters. The jet plunged toward the ground in a fireball, leaving a trail of black smoke behind in the sky. Emergency crews scrambled to what witnesses described as a staggering scene of death and utter destruction. "People said the plane kind of exploded in the air, and that everything rained down in bits and pieces, the plane itself, the people inside," said Noah Sneider, an American freelance journalist who interviewed witnesses at the scene. Charred wreckage stretched for kilometers, he said. Stunned rescue workers and rebel fighters combed the area, Sneider said, planting sticks with white cotton ribbons where they found bodies in the fields. "As you walk through the fields, you see a man with his cracked iPhone sticking out of his pocket. You see sort of people's clothing everywhere. Most of it's kind of ripped off by the air. There's some suitcases and stuff in a pile by the road," Sneider said. There were many bodies left to be found as night fell, he said, and people were trying to figure out what to do next. Locals in the rural area trying to help were overwhelmed, he said. Firemen who rushed to put out the flames found they had a hose with holes in it, spraying water everywhere, he said. "One man said to me, 'Nothing's happened in this village for 30 years, and now this,'" Sneider said. As details emerge, accusations fly . Details -- and accusations -- quickly poured in about Thursday's crash, which came the same week that Ukrainian officials said a Russian fighter shot down a Ukrainian military transport plane while the aircraft was in Ukrainian airspace. Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, said in a Facebook post that "terrorists" fired on the plane operating a Buk surface-to-air missile system. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko described the crash as a "terrorist action." "We do not exclude that the plane was shot down and confirm that the Ukraine Armed Forces did not fire at any targets in the sky," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said, according to his website. CNN's Richard Quest, an aviation expert, said that it would be "extremely unusual" for an airliner at nearly 33,000 feet to be shot down. From the ground, one could simply look up and tell whether a plane was a commercial aircraft, he said. "So something is absolutely appalling that's gone on here." U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said that Ukraine's president had accepted an offer of U.S. experts to help investigate the crash. "They will be on their way rapidly to see if we can get to the bottom of this," he said. Biden said the plane was apparently shot down, adding "not an accident, blown out of the sky." Who was on the plane? The 15 crew members on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 were all Malaysian nationals, officials said. Malaysia Airlines also gave a breakdown of the known nationalities of the 283 passengers: 154 were Dutch, 27 were Australians, 28 were Malaysians, 12 were Indonesian, nine were from the United Kingdom, four were from Germany; four were from Belgium, three were from the Philippines and one was Canadian. Authorities were still trying to determine the nationalities of the other passengers. The International AIDS Society said in a statement that "a number of colleagues and friends" were on the plane, on the way to attend the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia. "At this incredibly sad and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy," the statement said. Russia-Ukraine dispute . The route the Malaysian plane was on, between Kuala Lumpur and the Netherlands, is a common one, CNN aviation safety consultant Mary Schiavo said Thursday. She said that the plane was flying over a troubled area and that close communication with air traffic controllers would be a key necessity. Torez is in a rebel-held area. In hostile or disputed areas, "any alteration from your course, and you can have a problem," Schiavo said. Tensions have been high between Ukraine and Russia since street protests forced former pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych from power in February. Russia subsequently annexed Ukraine's southeastern Crimea region, and a pro-Russian separatist rebellion has been raging in Ukraine's eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Ukrainian forces have been struggling to quell the separatist unrest. Ukraine's government has accused Russia of allowing weapons and military equipment, including tanks, to cross the border illegally into the hands of pro-Russian separatists. The Pentagon said Wednesday that Russia now has 12,000 troops on the border with Ukraine, as well as some heavy weapons. The troop numbers had fallen to about 1,000 previously from a high of an estimated 40,000 forces earlier this year. On Thursday, CNN reported that Ukrainian officials said a Russian fighter shot down a Ukrainian jet Wednesday as the jet flew in Ukrainian airspace. Tensions are high over that incident, separate from the breaking news of the Malaysian flight Thursday. Three months ago, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration prohibited U.S. airlines from flying in areas not far from where Flight 17 reportedly crashed Thursday. "Due to the potential for conflicting air traffic control instructions from Ukrainian and Russian authorities and for the related potential misidentification of civil aircraft, United States flight operations are prohibited until further notice in the airspace over Crimea, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov," the FAA said in April. Thursday's plane crash reportedly was in eastern Ukraine, scores of miles north-northeast of the Sea of Azov. On Thursday, French transportation official Frederic Cuvillier ordered that French airlines avoid Ukrainian airspace until the cause of Thursday's Malaysia Airlines crash is known, the French Transportation Ministry said in a news release. Airline's troubles . Thursday's crash marks the second time this year that Malaysia Airlines has faced an incident involving a downed plane. On March 8, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared. That Boeing 777 had 239 people on board. Searchers have found no trace of 370 or its passengers, despite extensive search efforts. Flight 370 probably flew into the southern Indian Ocean on autopilot with an unresponsive crew, Australian authorities said last month. During the early phase of the search for Flight 370, aircraft and ships scoured vast stretches of the surface of the southern Indian Ocean but found no debris. Pings initially thought to be from the missing plane's flight recorders led to a concentrated underwater search that turned up nothing. A new underwater search, farther south, will be broadly in an area where planes and vessels had already looked for debris on the surface of the water. It is expected to begin in August. The first Boeing 777 entered service in June 1995, and the airplane has flown almost five million flights, accumulating more than 18 million flight hours, according to Boeing's web site. The plane is capable to flying up to 43,100 feet. What next? Aviation experts cautioned against jumping to conclusions about Thursday's crash at this early stage. But all agreed that a massive investigation should be launched, involving parties not involved in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, . The families of people on board will demand a transparent international investigation, and so will the global community, Quest said. In the coming days, finding and examining the plane's data recorders will be key -- but the fact that the crash occurred in such a volatile region makes what comes next anything but certain, CNN aviation analyst and pilot Miles O'Brien said. "The big question will be, in whose hands will they fall, and will this be a really objective, international investigation?" he said. The wreckage path, O'Brien said, will reveal a lot. If a plane breaks up in midair, which is likely what would happen in a missile strike, there would be a large swath of wreckage, he said, but if it breaks down due to mechanical failure, the debris field would be more concentrated. MAPS: The approximate route of MH17 . CNN's Jim Sciutto, Dana Ford, Laura Smith-Spark, Mitra Mobasherat and Michael Pearson contributed to this report.
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NEW: U.S. official: Obama administration believes Ukraine didn't have capability to shoot down plane .
Analyst: In volatile region, will there be "a really objective, international investigation?"
Ukrainian officials accuse pro-Russian separatists of shooting down the plane .
Putin: Ukraine's military campaign against separatists is to blame .
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160e7b2da8eb52d39b11b326bf1d255327d0c787
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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Sunday night's "2009 MTV Video Music Awards" will feature a personal tribute from Janet Jackson to her late brother, MTV said. Michael Jackson receives the Legend Award during the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards. Michael Jackson fans also will get their first peek during the MTV show at the behind-the-scenes documentary of the pop star's final three months, the network said. MTV announced this week that Janet Jackson "will help open" its video music awards show Sunday night with a tribute to her brother. No other details about her "special appearance" were released. The trailer for the upcoming documentary "Michael Jackson: This Is It" will also debut on the MTV show. It comes a month after concert promoter AEG Live handed over to Sony Pictures about 100 hours of video captured between April and June, when Jackson was preparing for his concert comeback. Fans who miss the MTV show, which will air live at 9 p.m. ET Sunday at New York's Radio City Music Hall, can preview the documentary online at www.thisisit-movie.com beginning Sunday night, the network said. See guests arrive to awards show » . British comedian Russell Brand will return to host Sunday's Video Music Awards for the second straight year. It will be the first time the awards show has aired from New York since 2006.
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MTV says Janet Jackson will give tribute to her late brother .
Also promised: First look at documentary of pop star's final three months .
The show airs live starting at 9 p.m. ET Sunday .
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160e917c0d109ee84f6e4d2505668e3f910f4714
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A pub has created the world's meatiest burger made with 15 kinds of bacon and containing a whopping 2,500 calories - to raise money for charity. The 15 Shades of Bacon burger is made from chicken-fried bacon, unsmoked and smoked back and streaky bacon, and a generous slice of mortadella (Italian sausage). The gut-busting meal, costing £15, is topped with bacon cream cheese and bacon crisps and also has turkey bacon, prosciutto, pancetta and a sausage patty. Matt Spencer, owner of Custom House in Barnstaple, Devon, with the 15 Shades of Bacon burger . The gut-busting meal includes chicken-fried bacon, unsmoked and smoked back and streaky bacon, and a generous slice of Mortadella. It is topped with bacon cream cheese and bacon crisp . Proceeds from the limited edition burger, which will be available throughout February at Custom House, Barnstaple, Devon, will go to the North Devon Hospice. 1. Unsmoked back bacon . 2. Unsmoked streaky bacon . 3. Smoked back bacon . 4. Smoked streaky bacon . 5. Turkey bacon . 6. Bacon-infused cream cheese . 7. Prosciutto . 8. Mortadella . 9. Baconaise . 10. Pancetta . 11. Bacon burger . 12. Sausage patty . 13. Bacon crisps . 14. Chicken fried bacon . 15. Bacon dusted chips . 'The charity is close to my heart. My mum was there last year and they did a great job of looking after her,' pub-owner Matt Spencer said. 'We try and do as much for them as we can. Their fundraising guys who help us are absolutely brilliant. 'We did try and raise money for the British Heart Foundation as we're giving people so many calories but they wanted none of it. They didn't seem to find it funny!' He will donate £5 from every burger sold to North Devon Hospice. Bacon-dusted chips are also served alongside the three-pound monstrous meal. Mr Spencer even imported Baconnaise (bacon mayonnaise) from America to top the burger. 'I am a bacon fiend,' he said. 'I made roses out of bacon for Valentine's Day last year and handed them to customers. They went down really well. 'Anything to do with bacon, I adore.' The self-confessed 'bacon fiend' will donate £5 from each £15 burger sold to North Devon Hospice . The bacon-crazy 32-year-old said the meal is 'something for the blokes' following the hype around the Fifty Shades Of Grey series. 'My head chef came up with the initial idea and it was to coincide with the hype around Fifty Shades Of Grey,' he said. 'It's a bit quirky, a bit different. We're giving something back for the blokes, but women are more than welcome to try it.' Mr Spencer was particularly keen to stick to pork products due to his own love for it. Other ingredients include unsmoked back bacon, unsmoked streaky bacon, smoked back and smoked streaky bacon, turkey bacon, prosciutto, pancetta and a sausage patty. The burger bar has already raised £350 for the hospice in November 2013 with the same tasty treat. 'We have had people asking when it is coming back since the first time,' he said. 'It's great that people get so involved.' It's not the first calorific challenge Mr Spencer has set his customers. The restaurant also offers a 8,500-calorie totem burger - made of four huge burgers, a toasted cheese sandwich and chili-cheese fries.
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15 Shades of Bacon burger available at Custom House, Barnstaple, Devon .
Pub owner Matt Spencer created burger to raise money for local hospice .
Topped with bacon cream cheese and served with bacon-dusted chips .
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(CNN) -- A young Indiana mother was gagged with chloroform and held captive for two months, forced to wear a dog collar tethered to an "intricate restraint system" and kept in a wooden cage built by one of her "sadist" captors, police said. The woman was repeatedly beaten and raped until a stranger risked his own life to rescue her, officials said. CNN does not name victims of sexual assaults, but the woman's accused captors are now behind bars, charged Monday with a litany of offenses. Police said the victim's ordeal began July 9, when the 30-year-old left the Evansville, Indiana, apartment she shared with her boyfriend after the two had a booze-fueled argument. She meandered the city's streets that night, bouncing between groups of friends before being spotted by Ricky House Jr., a man who was familiar to her, according to Chief Deputy Tom Latham of the Posey County Sheriff's Office. House offered her a ride. She accepted. Three days later, police said the woman's mother reported her missing after she failed to show up to a planned family outing. Over nearly two months, Latham said Evansville Police followed up on plenty of leads, "they just never got the right lead," he said. The ride with House on July 9 became a 40-mile drive to the mobile home he shared with girlfriend Kendra Tooley in the small town of Stewartsville and the victim decided she wanted to leave, according to a police affidavit. "(The victim) got up to leave," Evansville detective Tony Mayhew recounted in court documents, but "Ricky placed chloroform over her mouth and nose (which caused) her to lose consciousness. (The victim) awoke to find her clothing cut off and she was bound to a bed within the trailer." Throughout July and August, police said, House and Tooley kept their victim bound to the bed with zip ties or with "an intricate restraint system." Her captors treated her like a dog, forcing her to wear "a red dog collar with a rope or leash attached to it," and forced her to stay inside a "locked wooden cage" that House built, according to court documents. Throughout her captivity, she was raped and beaten, she told police. Tooley told police that House, whom she described as "a sadist," was "attempting to impregnate (the victim) because (Tooley) was old and unable to have children of her own." The victim was under constant restraint and supervision, according to police, and had seen nobody other than her captors until September 4, when Tooley invited her ex-husband to the trailer to show off the captive. "(Tooley) slid over on the couch beside me and said 'I've got a girl back here in a cage.' Ronald Higgs told CNN affiliate WEHT. "I said 'you got a girl back here in a cage? What are you talking about?" The prisoner pleaded with Higgs to help free her. "I didn't really know what I could do because I'm nowhere near the man I used to be," the 61-year-old father of girls told WEHT, "but (I wasn't) leaving (that) house without her." After his attempts to buy her freedom were rejected, police said the encounter turned violent and House retrieved his sawed-off shotgun. "He stuck that shotgun right here under my chin with his finger on the trigger," Higgs told WEHT. "I said if you're going to effing kill me you better do it now or I'm going to take this away from you and beat you to death with it." Higgs said he was able to head butt House, who retreated into another room. It was then he was able to safely escape with the victim. House, 37 is facing 14 counts of rape, kidnapping, criminal confinement and battery, according to charging documents filed Monday by the Posey County prosecutor's office. Tooley, 44, was charged with 10 counts of rape, kidnapping and criminal confinement. A judge set House's bond at $500,000 and Tooley's at $150,000, according to the sheriff's office. WEHT reported the pair were assigned public defenders and the court entered a preliminary not guilty plea. The couple are due back in court October 1, but Higgs said he already knows what he'd like their sentence to be. "I told the police ... I hope you all have some real small cells," he told WEHT. "That's where they need to spend the rest of their lives, in a real small cell." Police: Mother chained son to radiator for two weeks . Caged and doomed, boy leaves sad account of his life .
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30-year-old Indiana woman returns home safely after being missing for two months .
Couple charged with holding her against her will inside their mobile home .
Victim says she was repeatedly raped and beaten, forced to wear a dog collar .
A stranger risked his life to rescue her after seeing her in a dog cage, police say .
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As authorities attempt to contain home-grown terrorists and stop them from leaving the country, it seems some have still managed to slip through the cracks. Australian Federal Police commissioner Neil Gaughan told a parliamentary committee on Thursday that a group of people managed to leave the country this week, but were 'not on anyone's radar', the Guardian reported. 'We got wind of it after the fact, but the fact is there are still people travelling,' said Gaughan - the national manager of counter-terrorism for the Australian Federal Police. Scroll down for video . More Australians have slipped through the cracks and fled overseas to join the fight with Islamic State . This comes just days ahead of the G20 summit to be held in Brisbane, which will be attended by a large number of world leaders. According to The Daily Telegraph, counter terrorism officers have been deployed to all Australian international airports. Gaughan also told the committee he believed that federal police officers needed greater controls urgently, so they were better able to track the movements and interactions of suspects. Authorities argue they need more tools to monitor suspects and prevent them from being radicalised . Many foreign fighters have already left the country including Mohamed Elomar (pictured) 'But the fact is there’s still people travelling and regardless of what we’re doing, we’re not stopping that so we need some other tools,' he said, according to The Telegraph. Thought he did not reveal from where or to what destination the group travelled, Gaughan said officers are now virtually powerless to stop them unless they resurface elsewhere. 'Unfortunately, once they get into Syria or into Iraq, there is nothing the AFP can do except wait for them to basically pop their head up somewhere on the way back.' Khaled Sharrouf is also fighting with IS militants in the Middle East, and made headlines when he posted a photo of his young son brandishing a severed head . Australian Federal Police commissioner Neil Gaughan speaking at the investigation into new legislation in Canberra on Thursday . Gaughan was speaking at an investigation into new legislation which aims to give security agencies power to issue control orders on people who are enabling or supporting terrorism. He also revealed that authorities were struggling to keep up with the sheer number of people being radicalised in such a short time - often less than six months. Authorities said the ability to put restrictions on who suspects can communicate with and where they can go would allow them to greatly reduce the change of an attack on home soil.
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A group of Australians left the country undetected this week .
Authorities were only alerted 'after the fact' and are now powerless .
AFP officer Neil Gaughan told parliamentary committee authorities need more powers .
He also said authorities were struggling to keep up with the number of those being radicalised .
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(CNN) -- Singaporeans don't normally gather in public protest. Decades of single party rule and an iron hand when it comes to dissent has shaped a somewhat meek public. But a proposal by the government to allow more immigrants to come to Singapore in the next few decades to make up for a population shortfall has emboldened citizens to go public. On Saturday, several thousand Singaporeans gathered in a small downtown park near an area known as "Speaker's Corner" to vent their anger. Organizers estimated the crowd to between 3,000 and 4,000 and said it was the largest gathering since post-independence Singapore in 1965. Singapore police told CNN they don't give crowd estimates. At the heart of the issue is a so-called "White Paper on Population" recently issued by the government that proposes allowing the population to rise from 5.3 million to as high as 6.9 million by 2030 in order to keep the economy growing and to keep it a magnet country for business. The government also says foreigners are needed to take care of the country's own rapidly aging population. Protesters on Saturday insisted they didn't fear foreigners but worry about the loss of Singaporean jobs to foreigners, depressed wages and overcrowding that has taxed Singapore's infrastructure, including housing and transportation. Protesters also say the government's plans will make them a minority in their own country. "Imagine a place where you can be a stranger in your own home," a protester said. Like many developed nations, not enough people are having babies. For more than three decades, the country's fertility rate has been below replacement level, meaning Singaporeans aren't having enough babies to replace themselves. This has had a huge impact on a tiny country striving to be a booming economy. The government has relied on foreigners to fill executive ranks, as well as to perform low-wage jobs from construction to cleaning. While the country is one of the world's wealthiest, it also has an enormous income disparity between rich and poor. Protesters say Singaporeans would have more babies if they were more confident of their economic prospects, and that the government should rely less on cheaper foreign labor and improve the wages of Singaporeans.
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Singapore government wants to increase population by allowing more immigrants .
Protesters say they worry about losing jobs, overcrowding .
Government says foreigners are needed to take care of rapidly aging population .
"Imagine a place where you can be a stranger in your own home," protester says .
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By . Jill Reilly . A 30-year-old has admitted he was killed his girlfriend's unborn child by crushing an abortion-causing medication over a pancake she ate. Scott Bollig, 30, of WaKeeney will be arraigned September 9 after prosecutors provided ample evidence during a two-day preliminary hearing to have him bound over for trial. He is accused of causing Naomi Abbott to lose her fetus on January 31 by lacing her food with the drug, The Salina Journal reported. Scott Robert Bollig, from Wakeeney, Kansas, allegedly crushed up the drug on January 26 before giving it to his girlfriend, 36-year-old Naomi Abbott, who was between eight and ten weeks pregnant . Trego County District Judge Glenn Braun said a hearing will be scheduled on a motion to suppress statements Bollig made to law enforcement. The motion alleges the statements were made before he was properly advised of his rights. During Bollig's preliminary hearing, prosecutor Jessica Domme, an assistant Kansas attorney general, said medical evidence showed that the drug Abbot ingested, mifepristone, caused bodily harm with lasting effects like nausea and pain. On Thursday, WaKeeney Police Chief Terry Eberle testified that Bollig admitted to lacing a pancake he served to Abbott without her knowledge on January 26 or 27, and that she ate three-fourths of it. Home: Bollig lives in Trego County, Kansas (pictured), where the alleged crime occurred . Bollig told investigators he purchased five pills for $60 over the Internet on January 14 and picked them up January 22 at the post office, Eberle said, adding that Bollig said he threw the other four pills away after Abbott lost the 8- to 10-week-old fetus. Other recent cases have involved Misoprostol, also known by its commercial name, Cytotec. Misoprostol was initially FDA approved for the prevention and treatment of ulcers, but can also be used to induce labor or miscarriages of early-term pregnancies. It is about 88 per cent effective up to eight weeks gestation, and is believed to be a cheaper and less invasive alternative to surgical abortion, if taken early enough. An investigation began almost immediately after the fetus' death, Eberle said, because an officer had informed him that Abbott - a Trego County jailer - had expressed concerns to another officer that her boyfriend might be putting something in her food to terminate her pregnancy. On Friday, Hays pathologist Dr. Lyle Noordhoek, who performed an autopsy on the fetus, said a sample of blood serum taken from Abbott had tested positive for mifepristone, which should be administered under a doctor's supervision because of the risks associated with its ingestion. Noordhoek said he had reviewed a copy of instructions he was told came with the pill that Abbott consumed, and that they appeared to have been written by someone for whom English is a second language and did not meet Food and Drug Administration requirements. During the hearing's two days, Bollig's attorney, Daniel Walter, questioned investigators about the tactics they used when interrogating Bollig, including whether they had properly read him his rights or coerced him to make incriminating statements. He also questioned why no audio or video recordings were made of a February 20 interview conducted by Eberle and Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent Kevin Campbell that concluded with Bollig's arrest. 'I guess I'm from the old school,' Campbell said. 'If there's two cops in a room interviewing a person, you don't need a recording.'
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Scott Bollig, 30, admitted putting the pill in his girlfriend's food .
Gave it to Naomi Abbott, 36, who was between eight and ten weeks pregnant .
Charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery .
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1612697a8397b50b0667d5a7d6357a3fff217ba3
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United Nations (CNN) -- The wives of the British and German ambassadors to the United Nations have taken on Syria's first lady in an online video, calling on Asma al-Assad to "stop your husband" and "stop being a bystander." The roughly four-minute video, posted to YouTube, juxtaposes pictures of an elegant al-Assad, the wife of Bashar al-Assad, against images of other Syrian women, and dead and wounded children. "We want her (al-Assad) to speak out for the end of violence. That is what we want. Stop the bloodshed. Stop it now. We know this is a risk for you, but take this risk," Huberta von Voss-Wittig, the wife of Germany's U.N. ambassador, told CNN. Speaking to CNN in interviews Tuesday and Wednesday, Voss-Wittig said the Syrian first lady "should get her act together" and "not worry so much about her husband but worry a little bit more about women in her country." A U.N. diplomat said the video was produced by Voss-Wittig and Sheila Lyall Grant, the wife of Britain's U.N. ambassador, "on their own initiative." Voss-Wittig stresses that the video isn't a U.N. product or "done by us as spouses." "It's done by us as women who care and as women who have an international profile ourselves," she said. Profile: Asma al-Assad, Syria's first lady . Syria has been engulfed in violence for 13 months as a national uprising spread after the government began cracking down on peaceful protests. The United Nations estimates at least 9,000 people have died since the demonstrations began, while others put the death toll at more than 11,000. The video comes days after U.N. and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan forged what has become a fragile cease-fire. "We think it's a good moment now that the cease-fire has been installed. It's very wobbly, it's not quite working yet but we think she should not hide behind her husband's back anymore and should come forward with a straight message for peace," Voss-Wittig said. "Stand up for peace, Asma," a voice in the video demands. "Speak out now. For the sake of your people. Stop your husband and his supporters. Stop being a bystander." In one clip, the Syrian first lady can be seen bending down to kiss a young girl stepping off a bus. The next image is of a woman embracing what appears to be a dead child. "Asma, when you kiss your own children goodnight, another mother will find the place next to her empty," the narrator says. The video is the latest in a series of professionally produced videos aimed at stirring or shocking people into action. It asks viewers to sign a petition. Other recent examples that went viral include "Kony 2012," a documentary on a notorious Africa warlord's use of child soldiers in Uganda, and a video showing Mexican children acting out the roles of drug traffickers, kidnappers and victims. Once described by Vogue magazine as "a rose in the desert," the London-born al-Assad graduated from King's College with a degree in computer science. She worked for JP Morgan as an investment banker before marrying Bashar al-Assad in 2000, just months after he became president. According to a cache of e-mails leaked to CNN, the first lady appears to have spent much of the past year shopping online for expensive jewelry, art and furniture, and e-mailing boutiques in London and Paris. In one e-mail exchange with an art dealer in London, she -- apparently using a false name -- inquired about six artworks that feature butterflies. The dealer responds that the works cost between £5,000 and £10,500 ($7,800 and $16,500). The art inquiry was sent October 28, the same day Syrian protesters staged a massive demonstration in the city of Hama in which they called for an end to the Syrian president's rule. "No one cares about your image," the voice in the video says. "We care about your action."
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NEW: Asma al-Assad should "get her act together," Voss-Wittig says .
The video contrasts images of Asma al-Assad against pictures of dead and injured children .
It is the latest in a series of polished videos aimed at stirring people into action .
"We want her to speak out for the end of violence," says Voss-Wittig .
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161378c48b01d2c7809627427f654520977536da
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By . Paul Donnelley . There are some bizarre friendships in the animal world and probably none more bizarre than that between a green tree frog and a snail. The unlikely pair living in Jakarta, Indonesia and the frog is a pet belonging to photographer Lessy Sebastian, 50. Mr . Sebastian went into his outdoor studio to take some pics of his pet frog when he . saw the snail approaching the amphibian as it sat on a tree branch. Nice and easy does it: The snail approaches the green tree frog . The snail reaches out as the frog seems happy to give the mollusc a helping head . He was shocked when the frog lowered its body so the snail could slither up and onto its head where it perched happily, and the new friends even posed for photographs. 'This green tree frog is my own frog and on this occasion I went outside to try and snap some nice photographs of him enjoying the sun,’ said Mr Sebastian. Upsy daisy: The frog waits patiently as the snail clambers aboard . Top o' the world, ma, top o' the world: The snail sits happily on the amphibian's head .
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Frog is pet of Indonesian photographer Lessy Sebastian, 50 .
Decided he wanted some photos of pet frog enjoying the sun .
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16137a4fe0dcade3f8a6ca618a97c21423e57aa0
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Atlanta (CNN) -- Twice-convicted killer Warren Lee Hill was granted final-hour stays of execution on Tuesday, his attorney said. The stays came from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Georgia Court of Appeals. "I think we were within about a half hour of the execution," said Brian Kammer, an attorney for Hill, whose supporters say is mentally disabled. The Georgia Court of Appeals acted on a appeal of a challenge to the way the prison handles the lethal injection drugs used in executions, while the federal appeals court issued a stay "ordering a further briefing on the issue of mental retardation," Kammer said. Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution, as did the state Supreme Court, while the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles similarly denied a request for clemency. Listen: Asking for mercy in the end . The execution had been scheduled for 7 p.m. ET at a state prison in Jackson, about 45 miles south of Atlanta. Hill was sentenced to death for the 1990 killing of Joseph Handspike, another inmate in a Georgia state prison. He was convicted of beating Handspike to death with a nail-studded board while serving a life sentence in the 1985 killing of his girlfriend, Myra Wright. His lawyers have argued that Hill's IQ of 70 means he should be spared under a 2002 decision that barred the execution of the mentally disabled. But a string of state courts has said Hill doesn't qualify under Georgia law, which requires inmates to prove mental impairment "beyond a reasonable doubt." "This is the strictest standard in any jurisdiction in the nation. Even Warren Hill, a man with an IQ of 70 who is diagnosed as mentally retarded by every doctor who has examined him, found it impossible to meet this standard of proof," Kammer said. Handspike's family has called for the execution to be called off. The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities also weighed in against the execution, stating, "No other state risks the lives of those with developmental disabilities to this extreme." Three doctors who examined Hill for the state "have now revised their opinions and find that Mr. Hill does meet the criteria for mental retardation," his lawyers argued in court papers. But lawyers for the state have said that Hill served in the Navy, held a job and managed his money before Wright's killing -- signs that he didn't necessarily meet the legal standard for retardation, even though he has a low IQ. Hill had previously been scheduled for execution in July, but the state Supreme Court halted the execution on procedural grounds. Georgia has executed 52 men since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1973, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. There are currently 94 men and one woman under death sentence in the state. CNN's Dana Ford, Bill Mears and Dave Alsup contributed to this report.
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The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Georgia Court of Appeals grant the stays .
Warren Lee Hill's attorney says they came within a half hour of the scheduled execution .
Hill's defenders say he's mentally disabled .
Hill was convicted of beating to death another Georgia inmate in 1990 .
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1613d62fb26acd60456c13afe66a6101c3aaa79e
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Philosopher Neil Van Leeuwen states there are two 'beliefs’ - religious and factual - that co-exist because we can form 'secondary cognitive attitudes' Proponents of science and devout disciples of religions around the world regularly clash about their views. But Georgia-based philosopher Neil Van Leeuwen believes it may be possible for seemingly conflicting views to overlap, and for people to believe in aspects of both - so long as we reassess what we mean by the term ‘belief.’ In his latest paper he writes that there are two interpretations of the word 'belief' - one religious and another factual. Professor Van Leeuwan compares the belief in religion with the way our brains handle imaginative play. In his essay ‘Religious credence is not factual belief’, he uses an example describing a situation where a child is playing with a Playdoh cookie. The child knows it is made of Playdoh because it is 'tangible and evident' - they have a factual belief in what it physically is. However, the child can suspend a certain amount of reality to imagine the cookie is real for the purposes and context of the game. Another, more complex example quoted in the paper, is to imagine a statue falling from a boat into the ocean. Professor Van Leeuwen writes that people typically imagine the statue sinking. They do this because factual beliefs form the basis, and supplies missing information, for any outcomes while imagining the scenario. But people asked to imagine the scene don’t factually believe a statue is currently sinking into the sea because if they did, they would alert the authorities and take action to stop it from doing so – even though the scenario is hypothetical. Professor Van Leeuwen describes a situation where a child is playing with Playdough cookies. The child knows it is made of Playdough because it is tangible; they have a factual belief in it. However, they suspend a reality to imagine the cookie is real, for the purposes of the game. This can be applied to relgiion and science . This belief system is reliant on human capacity to generate 'secondary cognitive attitudes', explained the philosopher. Professor Van Leeuwen said imaginative representations, such as religious views, co-exist with a factual belief, such as those held by scientists, or 'thoughts about reality', without being confused with it . Professor Van Leeuwen said this suggests the distinction between the beliefs only works one way – and that there is ‘is an anti-symmetric relation’ between factual belief and imagining, which the philosopher calls cognitive governance. Professor Van Leeuwen believes this is a significant distinction, and it can be applied to religion versus science. With this theory it is possible for the human brain to imagine and hypothesise about religious teachings, while also believing in evolution when looking at evidence to suggest as much. In his paper ‘Religious credence is not factual belief’, Georgia-based philosopher Neil Van Leeuwen describes a situation where a child is playing with a Playdough cookie. The child knows it is made of Playdough because it is tangible and evident; they have a factual belief in it. However, the child can suspend a certain amount of reality to imagine the cookie is real for the purposes and context of the game. Professor Van Leeuwen believes there is a distinction, and it can be similarly applied, in principle, to religion versus science. He states it is possible for the human brain to imagine and hypothesise about religious teachings, while also believing evolution happened when looking at evidence to suggest as much. This is reliant on human capacity to generate ‘secondary cognitive attitudes’ and that imaginative representations co-exist with a layer of factual belief - also known as thoughts about reality - without being confused with it. This, he says, relies on the human ability to generate ‘secondary cognitive attitudes’ and that imaginative representations co-exist with a layer of factual belief without being confused by either. Professor Van Leeuwen, using the example of children again, said that during any pretend play a child has two 'maps' - one representing what he or she takes to be reality and another representing the contents of a fantasy world. ‘She uses the two maps in conjunction, since she must pretend in the physical space of the real world,' continued Professor Van Leeuwen. 'But she does not confuse them, contrary to popular myth. ‘We see a similar structure - two maps - in the relation between religious representations and factual beliefs. ‘There is a corresponding myth to be debunked: quite simply, the myth that the two maps are run together - that there is only one kind of “belief.”’ Addressing concerns that, by looking at belief in this way, causes religion to be linked with fiction, Professor Van Leeuwen wrote: ‘This conclusion is startling, causing us to ask: how can something so serious as religion be rooted in the same capacity that yields something as frivolous as fiction? ‘But the question contains a misguided assumption. 'Humans, in fact, take many fictions incredibly seriously.’
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The claims are presented by Georgia-based philosopher Neil Van Leeuwen .
He states there are two interpretations for 'belief’ - religious and factual .
Professor Van Leeuwen compares religious belief with imaginative play .
For example, a child playing with a Playdough cookie knows not to bite it .
It imagines it's a cookie, while playing, but factually believes it's not real .
The same can be applied to religious and factual beliefs .
Put simply, it is possible to imagine and hypothesise about religious teachings, while believing evolution happened .
This is based on our mental capacity to form 'secondary cognitive attitudes'
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CERN's Large Hadron Collider will be restarted in March after a £97 million upgrade that could help solve some of the universe’s greatest remaining mysteries. The world's biggest particle collider, located near Geneva in Switzerland, has been undergoing a two-year refit. Its two proton beams — each with a diameter less than a third that of a human hair — will now contain energy equivalent to the detonation of 154 tons of TNT. Scroll down for video . Upgrade: The LHC's computer screens are dark, but behind the scenes, work gave the vast machine a mighty upgrade, which will enable the collider to advance the frontiers of knowledge even farther . CERN: A worker stands below the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS), a general-purpose detector at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, during maintenance works . It was shut down in February 2013, and will be turned back on in March 2015 - at double power, scientists revealed. Experts believe that the souped-up power will allow them to explore aspects of high-energy physics — such as dark matter, the suspected existence of new fundamental particles and gravity. It may even be possible to produce microscopic black holes. In 2012, a less powerful version of the collider confirmed existence of the Higgs boson particle, 'the God particle' which explains how fundamental matter took on the mass to form stars and planets. It led to worldwide fame for Peter Higgs, an emeritus professor of physics at Edinburgh university, who first suggested it existed and shed tears as he was awarded the Nobel prize for physics. That discovery was a landmark in physics but there are still plenty of other mysteries to be unraveled, including the nature of 'dark matter' and 'dark energy'. Mystery: How the LHC could delve into the universe's deepest secrets and reveal the hidden mysteries that have baffled scientists . New frontier: When experiments resume in 2015, scientists at CERN will use its enhanced power to probe dark matter, dark energy and supersymmetry . Scientists: A year ago, the world's largest particle collider made one of the greatest discoveries in the history of science, identifying what is believed to be the Higgs Boson -- the long-sought maker of mass . Work is now 'in full swing' to start circulating proton beams again in March, with the first collisions due by May, the European Organization for Nuclear Research said. 'With this new energy level, the (collider) will open new horizons for physics and for future discoveries,' CERN Director General Rolf Heuer said in a statement. 'I'm looking forward to seeing what nature has in store for us.' CERN's collider is buried in a 27-km (17-mile) tunnel straddling the Franco-Swiss border at the foot of the Jura mountains. The entire machine is already almost cooled to 1.9 degrees above absolute zero in preparation for the next three-year run. The old machine had several drawbacks. However, there are many other unsolved questions that could now be answered. DARK MATTER . Mysterious dark matter is one of the greatest mysteries in modern astrophysics. It cannot be seen directly with telescopes; and it does not emit or absorb light. The total mass–energy of the known universe contains 4.9 per cent ordinary matter and 27 per cent dark matter and 68.3 per cent dark energy. Experts believe that the souped up power of the collider will allow them to make dark matter. HIGGS BOSON . The existence of the Higgs boson was put forward in the 1960s to explain why the tiny particles that make up atoms have mass. Theory has it that as the universe cooled after the Big Bang, an invisible force known as the Higgs field formed. This field permeates the cosmos and is made up of countless numbers of tiny particles – or Higgs bosons. As other particles pass through it, they pick up mass. In 2012, a less powerful version of the collider confirmed existence of the Higgs boson particle, which explains how fundamental matter took on the mass to form stars and planets. ANTI MATTER - Antimatter is material composed of antiparticles, which have the same mass as particles of ordinary matter but have opposite charge and other particle properties such as lepton and baryon number, quantum spin, etc. There should be as much anti matter as matter but it has disappeared. Now scientists hope that the LHC could locate it. Energy: The LHC's particle collisions transform energy into mass, the goal being to find fundamental particles in the sub-atomic debris that help us to understand the universe . As engineers focus on the technical mission, physicists are sifting through data that the mighty atom smasher has churned out since 2010 . These include the relative lack of antimatter in the universe, when equal amounts of matter and antimatter were created in the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, and the possible existence of other new kinds of particles. Tara Shears, a physics professor at the University of Liverpool said: 'We have unfinished business with understanding the universe.' Shears works on one of the four main experiments at the collider. CERN's work can baffle non-scientists, but researchers want to find ways to make it simple to understand the work done by the large Hadron collider. The new collider uses magnets to accelerate subatomic particles called protons to near light speed. Each proton has similar energy to that of a small fly, but each bunch contains 115 billion protons and has as much energy as a 330 pound motorbike travelling at over 90 mph. There are 22,208 bunches in each beam and two beams travel in opposite directions through the tunnel and have the equivalent energy of the Eurostar train at maximum speed. Scientists aim to smash the beams together inside detectors to recreate conditions similar to the conditions existing after billionths of a second after the Big Bang. The latest Large Hadron Collider (LHC) replaced the Large Electron-Positron Collider (LEP), which ran from 1989 to 2000. It came online in 2008, but ran into problems, forcing a year-long refit.
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The world's biggest particle collider is located near Geneva, Switzerland .
It has been undergoing a two-year refit at a cost of £97 million .
It was shut down in February 2013, but will be switched on in March 2015 .
A year ago, the Large Hadron Collider identified the Higgs boson .
Physicists are sifting through data that it has churned out since 2010 .
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1617ec144c5cac7a67eda17d4795e235630ebcf6
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A grandmother, three grandchildren and the children's mother died early Tuesday in a house fire, New Orleans firefighters said. Fire Chief Timothy McConnell said the fire was reported around 12:15am Tuesday at the yellow, two-story home in the city's Broadmoor neighborhood. McConnell said first responders on the scene found the house engulfed in flames. He said the children's father, Derrick Anderson, tried to re-enter the house to rescue the family, but the flames blocked his way. He was not injured. Tragic: New Orleans firefighters say a grandmother, three grandchildren and the children's mother died in the two-story house fire - there was no smoke detector in the home . Firefighters said Anderson identified himself as the mother's boyfriend and said the house did not have smoke detectors. Officials identified the victims as Martha Anderson, 77, and her grandchildren, Jade Anderson, 12; Jason Anderson, 11; and Jayla Anderson, even. The mother was identified as 33-year-old Christina Squire. Outside the charred house, Derrick Anderson's brother, 51-year-old Frederick Anderson, said he lost his mother, two nieces and a nephew. Frederick Anderson said he lived in the house but was away at the time of the fire. He arrived to find investigators at the scene. 'I saw the ambulance here. And it was pretty much a done deal.' McConnell said the grandmother's body was found in a first-floor bedroom and the mother and children were found in a second-floor bedroom. Fire Department spokesman Michael Williams said it appears the fire started on the first floor in the rear of the home. Roaring blaze: Fire Department spokesman Michael Williams said it appears the fire started on the first floor in the rear of the home . Team effort: It took firefighters about an hour and a half to bring the fire under control . Williams said it took firefighters about an hour and a half to bring the fire under control. The fire gutted much of the corner-lot house near the Andrew H. Wilson Charter School where McConnell said the three children attended school. David Winkler-Schmit, president of the association that runs the school, said the school community was in shock. 'The staff, the principal are just crushed,' Winkler-Schmit said as he stood outside the school building. 'The family has live in the Broadmoor neighborhood for over 40 years. The dad went to Wilson. The kids went to Wilson. They were good kids.' Broadmoor is a racially, mixed working-class area that was hit hard by flooding from Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. It has recovered, but signs of post-storm blight remain. One nearby house is shuttered, its roof collapsing. Investigators with the state fire marshal's office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting in the investigation, but firefighters said the cause did not appear to be of suspicious origin.
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A grandmother, three grandchildren - aged seven to 12 - and the children's mother died early Tuesday in a house fire in the Broadmoor neighborhood .
The children's father, Derrick Anderson, tried to re-enter the house to rescue the family, but the flames blocked his way .
It took firefighters around an hour and a half to bring the blaze under control - the house did not have smoke detectors .
An investigation is underway to determine the origin, but firefighters said it did not appear to be suspicious .
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16181abac9417e57a3d385b9b7daf548dbd7cdfa
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Swansea City will dig their heels in to prevent unhappy Bafetimbi Gomis from plunging the club into a major striker crisis this month. Sportsmail has been told by senior sources at the club that despite their anger with the Frenchman’s apparent agitations for a move, they are forced by sheer necessity to keep the 29-year-old, who is Swansea’s only senior striker in the wake of Wilfried Bony’s exit. However, that marriage of convenience does not remove any of the ill-feeling caused on Sunday when Gomis used a television interview in France to indicate promises of playing time had been broken. He also said he planned discussions with his representatives to ‘find the best solution’. VIDEO Scroll down for Bafetimbi Gomis scoring a screamer for France vs Ecuador . After the sale on Wilfried Bony Swansea are expected to hold on to want-away striker Befetimbi Gomis (right) The striker has scored just once in 18 Premier League appearances this season, making only six starts . Senior members of the club’s hierarchy feel they are being ‘held to ransom’ and have been stunned by the timing of the striker’s comments, which came after Bony’s move to Manchester City had cleared the way for a regular starting berth in the side. Gomis’s remarks have been noted by Crystal Palace, who are actively keen, while his camp have also claimed that Arsenal, Newcastle, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke are interested. The Welsh club would have to pay Gomis the rest of his £8m signing-on fee as part of his transfer from Lyon . But Swansea insist there will be no move, and even in the unlikely event that they are able to sign a senior striker before the transfer window closes, there would still be major obstacles to offloading Gomis. Namely, Swansea are obligated to pay him the remainder of his £8m signing-on fee agreed as part of his Bosman transfer from Lyon last summer. The huge sum is to be spread across his four-year, £55,000-a-week contract, with £1m of the signing fee believed to have already been paid. He is due the balance of that fee regardless of whether he leaves now or later, though there would likely be a settlement in the event that an acceptable offer came from a rival club. The Frenchman claims that Swansea broke their promise of an agreed amount of playing time . Gomis, who has scored only once in 18 Premier League appearances, of which only six have been starts, told Canal Plus at the weekend: ‘When Bony was here, it was planned I should play a certain number of games. That wasn't the case. Today, I ask myself many questions. I need time to think. ‘I have been approached by clubs. I don't know what will happen. Me leaving? It is possible.’ Swansea, meanwhile, have agreed a fee worth close to £5m for Tottenham full-back Kyle Naughton.
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Bafetimbi Gomis is forcing a move away from Swansea City .
Senior members at the Welsh club believe they are being 'held to ransom'
Gomis took to a French media outlet to air his ill-feeling towards the club .
The Frenchman claims Swansea broke their promise of agreed game time .
Sources close to the 29-year-old claim that Arsenal are interested in him .
Swans insist Gomis will stay due to a multi-million pound buy out clause .
Click here for more transfer news .
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161834a92ca9c2df36eeca99165c5499594bdfc7
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Srinigar, Indian-administered Kashmir (CNN) -- Indian authorities flooded the streets of Srinagar with security forces Thursday to quell four days of violence sparked by the death of a schoolboy. Authorities were attempting to disperse anti-India protesters Sunday when a tear gas shell hit the 13-year-old boy, Whamiq Farooq Wani, in the head and killed him as he played cricket in a stadium, protesters say. While a formal curfew has not been declared, security forces have been keeping people off the streets. Police said having security forces deployed has kept down violence over the last four days. A senior police officer said more than 100 people, including members of the Indian security forces, were wounded in the violent clashes between the Muslim protesters and security forces -- who used tear gas and baton charges to disperse the mobs. Two young protesters were hit by tear gas and smoke shells in Wednesday's violence in the old city, and hospital sources said their conditions are serious. Clashes and incidents of stone-throwing by anti-India protesters continued to be reported from various points in Kashmir Thursday. Srinagar, the capital city, remained shut along with other towns in protest of the teenaged boy's death. Shops, businesses and government offices were closed. Indian police and paramilitary troops, as well as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), erected barricades at road intersections in Srinagar's old city to cut off pedestrian and vehicular traffic, witnesses said. "The people were not allowed to go out of their homes to buy milk and other essential items this morning. The security forces are enforcing tight restrictions in our area," said resident Ayub Zargarc reached by telephone. The security restrictions were not as stringent outside the old city, where some vehicular and pedestrian movement was seen on the streets patrolled by the Indian police. "Barring a few stone-pelting incidents, the overall situation in Kashmir remained peaceful today," Farooq Ahmad, inspector general of police in the Kashmir zone, told CNN. Authorities arrested two senior leaders of the pro-dialogue moderate separatist conglomerate All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and placed its chairman, Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq, under house arrest today, according to police. Authorities said they were arrested to prevent them from fomenting trouble in the city.
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Indian security forces in Srinagar to quell violence sparked by death of schoolboy .
Authorities trying to disperse anti-India protesters when tear gas shell hit 13-year-old .
Police say 100 people wounded in clashes between Muslim protesters and security forces .
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16183e3cf997373e3fbc9647c404e505d0c495fe
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Missing: While one teenagers in Oklahoma has been charged with the murder of Anne Hill, 16, her body has not been recovered . Nine months after the disappearance and alleged murder of Oklahoma teen, Anne Hill, her parents are pleading for the public's help to find her body. In October, authorities charged 16-year-old Chadd Raymond with first degree murder and Chloe Marie Thomas, 17, with accessory to commit murder, but no trace of the missing teen has since been found. Thomas has allegedly told investigators that Raymond dumped Hill's body with her assistance in a 'wooded area in an unknown location', but claims to not remember exactly where in rural Edmond that place was. Sunday would have been Hill's 17th birthday and PI, Darcie Scoon, coordinator with the Center for Search and Investigation has been charged by her family with finding her body. She says they have already scoured 2,000 rural acres and covered more than 200 miles without success. And last month, the state dropped its charges against Thomas pending another case in juvenile court. Prosecutors allege that Hill, Raymond and Thomas were watching a movie at either Thomas or Raymonds house when Raymond fatally strangled Hill. Thomas has allegedly told investigators that her and Raymond dumped Hill's body in the back seat of her white Chevrolet and drove her to a location she can't remember and dumped the body. Recovery: The Edmond teenager was last seen in April after driving to see a film at a friends house . Campaign: The family of Anne Hill want to find the body of their daughter so that they can bury her nine months after she disappeared . Thomas has reportedly told police they covered the body with sticks and leaves and then left her car abandoned in an Edmond neighborhood. Raymond denies all of this and has entered a plea of not guilty. Scoon has issued a map which reveals where she believes the body could have been dumped and issued the following advisories of where to keep a look out. • Oil or pump site areas in a largely open field; . • Is rural with wooded areas in the perimeter; . • Is in close proximity of a highway — a 5-mile or less drive; . • Has a white building (possibly a house) of some type between the highway and well site; and . • Could possibly be near an exit with a natural or manmade rock formation. (information from the Edmond Sun) Scoon has said that some locations are higher priority than others. Detained: Chadd Raymond, 16, (left) and Chloe Thomas, 17, (right) from Edmond, Oklahoma, were arrested and charged with murder in connection with the disappearance of 16-year-old Anne Hill. Charges against Thomas have since been dropped . Search area: Thomas has allegedly told investigators that Raymond dumped Hill's body with her assistance in a 'wooded area in an unknown location', but claims to not remember exactly where in rural Edmond that place was. The honor student at Casady School in Oklahoma City was reported missing nine months agp from her home in Piedmont after she told her mother she was going to watch a film at a friend's house but never returned. Known to her friends as Annie Jo, she had just received the keys to her first car, a white Chevrolet, and seemed to be upset by an early curfew, so she stopped answering her phone at 11pm the night she vanished. Her car was found in the Edmond, Oklahoma, more a week later when a resident recognized it from a flier that had been handed out in the area. A week after she vanished, her mother Lori Hill told KFOR NewsChannel 4: 'Vivacious, outgoing, never met a stranger,' said Lori Hill in April. 'That's not a kid that's planning on running away. That's not a kid that doesn't want to be with her family. That's my Annie Jo.' While she was missing, her mother also left a voice mail message on her phone which said: 'Anne, I hope that’s you, I love you and miss you. 'I’ll come get you wherever you are, just leave me a message or call your brothers, we all want you home. Anne, I hope it’s you.' River sites: Scoon has issued a map which reveals where she believes the body could have been dumped and issued the following advisories of where to keep a look out. Charged with search: Sunday would have been Hill's 17th birthday and PI, Darcie Scoon, coordinator with the Center for Search and Investigation has been charged by her family with finding her body.
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Anne Hill, 16, went missing in April last year and her body has not been found .
The Edmond, Oklahoma teenager was allegedly strangled by Chadd Raymond, 16 .
Chloe Marie Thomas, 17, has allegedly told investigators she helped Raymond dispose of the body .
The teens dumped the body in a rural area outside of town but Thomas cannot remember where .
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161924a2cc05a65cd69d0ac9fdf3a362fbd59736
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(CNN) -- Calling capital punishment in California an "empty promise," the father of murdered teen Chelsea King said he supported a deal to take death off the table for his daughter's killer in order to bring closure to the community. "We stand here because of a despicable evil act committed against our beautiful daughter, Chelsea, committed against our family and committed against our community," Brent King said in a news conference Friday. "While our unequivocal first choice is the death penalty, we acknowledge that in California that penalty has become an empty promise." San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said the family's blessing contributed to a plea deal with registered sex offender John Gardner III in Chelsea's death and two other cases. Gardner, 31, pleaded guilty Friday to the murder of King, the murder of Amber Dubois, and assault with intent to commit rape of a third person. King, 17, was last seen alive leaving Poway High School in suburban San Diego on February 25. Her car, with her cell phone inside, was found at Rancho Bernardo Community Park, where she was known to run on the trails. Her disappearance sparked a massive search that ended a few days later with the discovery of her remains in the park. Dubois, 14, disappeared in February 2009 while walking to school in Escondido. She was considered a missing person for more than a year, until her remains were found in March. Prosecutors revealed in court Friday that Gardner led authorities to Dubois' body in exchange for assurances that it would not be used against him in court. In exchange for his guilty pleas, Gardner is to be sentenced to two consecutive terms of life without the possibility of parole. He also waived his right to appeals, ensuring that he will die in prison, Dumanis said at the news conference. Superior Court Judge David Danielsen accepted the plea and scheduled sentencing for June 1. A gag order is in place until then. The surprise change of plea came during a hearing Friday, after prosecutors charged him with murder with a special circumstance of rape for Dubois's death. Gardner was facing the death penalty on one charge of murder with a special circumstance of rape for King's death. Dressed in dark blue jailhouse garb, his wrists chained, Gardner nervously responded "yes" several times to the judge's questioning of whether he understood his rights and was entering his plea willingly. He cast his gaze downward as the judge read brief descriptions of how he raped and murdered Dubois and King. Gardner made no statement. According to court documents, on February 13, 2009, Gardner abducted Dubois and brought her to a remote area of Pala, where he raped and stabbed her, and buried her in a shallow grave. Gardner admitted to attacking King while she was running and dragging her to a remote area, the documents said. He raped and strangled her, and also buried her body in a shallow grave. Gardner also admitted to attacking another female on December 27, 2009, while she was running. In a news conference after Friday's hearing, Dubois' father, Moe, expressed gratitude over the case's resolution. "As you can imagine, this turn of events in the case came as a surprise to all of us when we were informed about the details yesterday," he said. "As a parent I am thankful [for] the work put forth by the district attorney's office and the defense team in coming forth with a resolution in the case and allowing us to have justice and closure for Amber's case." Without the plea deal, Dumanis said her office did not have enough evidence to charge Gardner in the death of Dubois. Her remains were not found until Gardner led authorities to her body, three days after he was charged in King's death, Dumanis said. "The only promise made to him in exchange for this information was that we could not use it against him in court. This was a somber decision," the district attorney said in a press conference after Friday's hearing, surrounded by tearful family members. "To end the anguish of the unknown for the Dubois family and to bring Amber home, we agreed we would not use this information against Gardner in court." Further efforts to collect evidence linking Gardner to Dubois' death were unsuccessful, Dumanis said, leaving her office otherwise unable to pursue charges against him -- until he offered to plead guilty. "Accepting this plea has been an extremely difficult decision. We have the evidence to pursue a murder charge against the defendant for Chelsea's murder, but not for Amber's murder," she said. "By accepting this guilty plea, we are obtaining a conviction for the murder of Amber that we otherwise would not have been able to obtain." The prosecutor also echoed the sentiments of King's father on the death penalty in California, where 13 executions have been carried out since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976. "Most of us realize a death sentence at this time is a hollow promise in California. Even if death was imposed, Brent, Kelly and their family would have to endure a preliminary hearing, a trial, decades of appeals and the pain of reliving the murder over and over again," she said. "In addition, as parents they realized what Amber's parents were facing. Her case would have no legal closure." A resolution for the Dubois family also figured into the King family's decision to support the plea, Brent King said. "We find ourselves in a position to help give another grieving family a measure of closure. The Dubois family has been through unthinkable hell the past 14 months. We couldn't imagine the confession to Amber's murder never seeing the light of day, leaving an eternal question mark," he said. "There's nothing, nothing satisfying about this moment. It's only one more unbearably painful day that we'll have to carry in our memory as long as we live."
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John Albert Gardner III admits to raping, murdering Chelsea King, Amber Dubois .
Plea deal sparing Gardner the death penalty also includes attack on jogger in December .
Without plea, not enough evidence to charge Gardner in Dubois' death, prosecutor says .
Chelsea King's dad says he wanted to avoid agony of trial, bring closure to Dubois family .
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