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### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Matt Lawton . Follow @@Matt_Lawton_DM . The integrity of the World Cup was called into question on Tuesday night after Cameroon’s football federation launched a match-fixing investigation into their own players. Prompted by allegations that a convicted fraudster had correctly predicted that Cameroon would lose 4-0 and have a man sent off in their group match against Croatia, the national governing body (FECAFOOT) issued an explosive statement on Tuesday confirming that their ethics committee would probe claims of fraud by ‘seven bad apples’ in their squad. VIDEO Scroll down to watch Cameroon's Eto'o open the scoring in World Cup warm-up . Firing line: The Cameroon federation will investigate claims of match-fixing among their squad . Pointless: The African side finished bottom of Group A having lost all three games . VIDEO Cameroon to investigate match-fixing claims . The African team lost all three of their . Group A matches but the main focus is on the controversial defeat by . Croatia in Manaus. German magazine Der Spiegel claims to have had a . Facebook conversation with convicted Singaporean match-fixer turned . supergrass Wilson Raj Perumal hours before kick-off. Perumal claimed he had not predicted the result of the match before it began. Perumal . said: ‘At no time did I make reference to four goals being scored or to . a red card being issued. At no time did I suggest that I had any way of . corroborating or substantiating what was meant to be an educated guess . based on my extensive match-fixing experience. ‘I am shocked and . amazed that a respected magazine such as Der Spiegel would go so far as . to fabricate statements by yours truly with the visible aim of stirring . the row over match-fixing.’ But Der Spiegel stood by their . story that led to Cameroon football chief Joseph Owona, president of . FECAFOOT’S normalisation committee, instructing their ethics committee . to investigate. Perumal is a convicted match-fixer from Singapore with offences including forgery, assault and burglary on his record. He was jailed in his home country for match-fixing in 1995 and claims to have tried to fix British games that year. He later ran his empire from a one-bedroom flat in the shadow of Wembley stadium, rigging hundreds of matches around the world and making millions of dollars in the process. In February 2011 he was arrested in Finland and sentenced to two years in prison. WHERE IS HE NOW? After serving a year in a Finnish jail, he was released and turned over to authorities in Hungary, where he was wanted on further match-fixing charges. He is currently being held in jail in Debrecen. WHO DID HE TELL? German journalist Rafael Buschmann wrote, in an article for Der Spiegel, that he communicated with Perumal via a Facebook message. The fixer later said he made the comments after Cameroon’s match against Croatia, but the German magazine say they stand by their story. AND WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL? A 2014 report put together by more than 70 international experts over two years estimates that around $140billion is laundered through illegal sports betting. Accused: Singaporean Wilson Raj Perumal is alleged to have predicted Cameroon's 4-0 defeat . He said: ‘Recent allegations of fraud around . Cameroon’s three preliminary games, especially Cameroon v Croatia, as . well of the “existence of seven bad apples” do not reflect the values . and principles promoted by our administration, in line with FIFA Code of . Conduct and the ethics of our nation. ‘We wish to inform the general . public that, though not yet contacted by FIFA in regards to this . affair, our administration has already instructed its ethics committee . to further investigate these accusations. ‘We are strongly committed . to employ all means necessary to resolve this disruptive matter without . delay. In the meantime we legitimately request that any related . information, unless brought before our federation and/or its ethics . committee, be held for or treated as mere assumption. ‘We wish to . state that in 55 years of existence, FECAFOOT has never been sanctioned . for, involved in, or even linked to match-fixing or any fraud of any . kind.’ FIFA president Sepp Blatter confirmed that he was aware of . the allegations on Tuesday, but the world governing body issued little . more than a holding statement. ‘We are not in a position to say . whether there are any investigations into the allegations, in order not . to jeopardise any future investigation,’ said a spokeswoman. But . Chris Eaton, the Australian who has worked in sport integrity at FIFA . and Interpol and is now the sports integrity director at the . International Centre for Sport Security, suggested these are serious . allegations if Der Spiegel journalist Rafael Buschmann did receive the . correct prediction from Perumal before the game on June 18. Rout: Cameroon imploded against Croatia in Manaus and fell to a 4-0 defeat . Clash: Benjamin Moukandjo and Benoit Assou-Ekotto needed to be separated after confronting each other . Seeing red: Alex Song was given his marching orders as the African side surrendered against Croatia . It was an extraordinary tournament for Cameroon. The . squad initially refused to board their flight to Brazil over a pay . dispute. And as well as Alex Song’s first-half dismissal for elbowing . Mario Mandzukic, the Croatia game was memorable for Benoit Assou-Ekotto . seemingly trying to head-butt team-mate Benjamin Moukandjo. It raises the question of whether the Tottenham full back lost his temper because he suspected something to be wrong. FECAFOOT . had already launched an investigation into that incident but what makes . this controversy more uncomfortable for FIFA is that hosts Brazil were . in Cameroon’s group. FIFA’s security department is also believed to be looking into the claims. In . his conversation with Der Spiegel, Perumal is alleged to have written: . ‘In this team there are seven bad apples.’ Perumal, currently being held . in Hungary and fighting extradition proceedings to face a five-year . prison sentence in his native Singapore, told the magazine he believes . Cameroon manipulated all three group games. Last week FIFA security . director Ralf Mutschke said there had been no suspicious betting . patterns for any match at the tournament. But Eaton believes it would be . wrong to dismiss the story and that FIFA should instead determine, . beyond doubt, Perumal did communicate his accurate prediction before the . game. At the same time he would also question how Perumal was . allowed to communicate with journalists when he could be motivated by . revenge against those who shopped him to the authorities in Finland two . months ago and when he is in prison in Debrecen. Eaton said: ‘If it . is confirmed that the advice from Perumal was made before the match and . is accurate to the overall result and red card, then this allegation . will no doubt be treated extremely seriously by football, governments . and beyond. ‘I understand that he has made other predictions during this competition that have not proved accurate. ‘The . advice we have received from the legal or so-called regulated sport . betting industry is that there was “no observable suspicious betting on . this match”. ‘But the Cameroon match-fixing case is a grave . allegation with an alleged and strong indication of pre-match knowledge . from a well-known match-fixer.’ Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
### SUMMARY:
| Investigation after allegations fraudster Wilson Raj Perumal accurately forecast humiliating loss to Croatia .
He is also said to have predicted a player would be sent off and Alex Song was later red carded .
Cameroon finished bottom of Group A after three defeats . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Read Charles Sale's story about Mark Clattenburg being axed for this week's Premier League games after breaking protcol to see an Ed Sheeran concert . The match officials travel rules Mark Clattenburg flouted last weekend were brought in because me and my heavily pregnant wife were threatened and abused by two thugs after a game at Middlesbrough. One of them even made gesture as if to shoot me. Back then we used to drive ourselves to games, park in the club car park and walk to the ground. Unfortunately after Boro played Arsenal in 1995, two supporters approached me in a very aggressive manner. Mark Clattenburg will not officiate next weekend's games after breaking strict protocol on travelling to games . Clattenburg drove alone to West Brom v Crystal Palace at the weekend so he could see Ed Sheeran perform . Warnock wanted to discuss the incident that saw Julian Speroni (centre) injured in a clash with Craig Dawson . The procedure for match-day officials is: . 1. Match officials must meet at the designated hotel which is relatively close to the ground four hours before the advertised kick-off of the game they are due to officiate . 2. They have a meeting room for their use and have full refreshments available to them . 3. All four officials must attend and generally they will discuss the upcoming match, any previous history and individual knowledge that will be useful in the management of the match . 4. Their cars are left at this hotel for safety and security. There is a people carrier laid on for transport to the ground which drops the officials off at the players' entrance . 5. The same is done in reverse for the journey home . I was only able to escape physical harm due to the quick thinking of one of my guests. There are a number of historic incidents of referees' cars being vandalised - this wasn’t helped by the fact that some referees choose to have personalised number plates. But after this Boro incident it was clear our safety was in question and something had to change. Arsenal won that game 3-2 and I had sent off Alan Moore late on. After the game, I had a drink in the lounge which was standard practice before heading to my guest's car, with my wife in tow. It was dark and just as we got to the car, two supporters started shouting obscenities at me and calling me biased because I was a southerner. One went inside his pockets and made a gun motion to my head. At this moment, my guest opened the car and got my wife in. I used my kit-bag to protect myself from an incoming punch, threw the bag in the car and then drove away. On the Monday after I filed a report to my superiors and at the next meeting of referees - we met every fortnight - the issue of safety was raised. I wasn't the only referee to suffer trouble - I remember another ref had his car attacked after he got stuck in traffic on Tottenham High Road. Graham Poll (right) sends off Middlesbrough's Alan Moore at the Riverside against Arsenal in 1995 . It is also alleged that Clattenburg had a telephone conversation with Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock in his car and this was facilitated by him not using the people carrier back to the hotel after the game. The reason these conversation should not be taking place on a one-to-one basis is that there are no witnesses to protect the referee over allegations of what he is supposed to have said or not said. Clattenburg should be well aware of this after two previous cases of his, the John Mikel Obi incident at Chelsea and the Adam Lallana row at Southampton. It quickly became apparent that we had to change our rules and adopt the system in place from UEFA for European games, where British refs obviously didn't have their cars and were escorted to and from the ground along with their officials. The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the governing body of Premier League referees, therefore changed their rules for the start of 1996-97 season and set the new protocols for a very good reason. Clattenburg knows this and should adhere to that protocol. Last weekend, after officiating West Brom’s game with Crystal Palace, he chose to ignore a very straightforward system designed for his personal safety and his integrity - and that of his colleagues. The procedures mean: . For West Brom matches, the hotel used to be just one mile away from The Hawthorns. However, this has been changed to a city centre hotel in Birmingham that is still only four miles from the ground. So there was really no need for Clattenburg not to take the people carrier – even if he was keen to get up to Tyneside for a pop concert. Clattenburg was cleared of allegedly making inappropriate comments to John Mikel Obi in 2012 . Read Jonathan McEvoy's profile of Mark Clattenburg's controversial career . The vast majority of officials adhere to the official protocol. However, there were odd occasions when I did something similar due to personal commitments. I remember leaving Loftus Road and getting on the Tube into central London to go to a concert with my wife which, in hindsight, wasn’t wise. On another occasion I did feel it was right for me to break the protocol after a Premier League match at Chelsea in 1996 because I had to get to Heathrow airport to fly to Europe for a UEFA tournament. I was given permission to take my own car to Stamford Bridge and follow a police car immediately after the game to get me to Heathrow in time for my flight. It is very difficult planning a life outside of your refereeing duties when you only find out at 3pm on Monday which game you have the following weekend – so I do have some sympathy for Clattenburg. ADAM LALLANA ROW (January 2014) Clattenburg was cleared by the FA after Southampton complained about comments he made to midfielder Adam Lallana - which were first revealed in Sportsmail. JOHN MIKEL OBI RACE ROW (October 2012) Clattenburg was accused of using 'inappropriate language' towards Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi during their 3-2 defeat by Manchester United. Clattenburg was eventually cleared after investigations from the FA and Metropolitan Police. Mikel was fined £60,000 and given a three-match ban for threatening Clattenburg after the match. CRAIG BELLAMY ROW (Decemeber 2009) Clattenburg sent Bellamy off for two yellow cards in a match between Manchester City and Bolton, having earlier asked the City bench: 'How do you work with Craig Bellamy all week?' SACKED OVER BUSINESS DEALINGS (August 2008) He was sacked by the PGMOL board after allegations he owed £60,000 following a failed business deal. In February 2009, after an appeal, he was reinstated as a Select Group Referee but suspended for eight months from August 6 - the date of his original ban - for 'issues relating to his private business affairs'. PEDRO MENDES 'GOAL' (January 2005) Clattenburg and his assistants failed to award a Pedro Mendes goal for Tottenham at Old Trafford, despite the ball clearly going over the line before Manchester United keeper Roy Carroll fumbled it clear.
### SUMMARY:
| Poll attacked in car park after game between Middlesbrough and Arsenal .
Incident led to Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to change rules on referee protocol before and after game .
Clattenburg broke rules by not returning to hotel after West Brom v Crystal Palace on Saturday and instead driving to an Ed Sheeran concert .
officials must meet at a designated hotel four hours before kick-off .
travel to the ground together in a people carrier .
and return to the hotel together after the game. |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Smartwatches are coming in many shapes and sizes but only a few - such as Samsung's Gear S and the forthcoming Apple Watch - allow people to make calls. Now musician and technology entrepreneur will.i.am is set to reveal a rival which will let people to use the gadget like a phone, by making calls, using apps and playing music. The watch was due to launch in July, but is now set to make its debut tomorrow in San Francisco, during Salesforce.com's Dreamforce event. Scroll down for video . A rival for Apple Watch? will.i.am is set to reveal his own smartwatch, which will allow people to use the gadget like a phone, by making calls, using apps and listen to music . Will.i.am was recently seen wearing his creation during a DJ set, where he phoned a friend and told the audience: ‘Just to let you know, this is not tethered to a phone, or nothing like that,’ before seemingly using it to control the music playing. In April, he claimed in an interview with Alan Carr, that the gadget has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and apps including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, all of which will.i.am uses frequently. The device has a reflective dark grey finish and rectangular design, which is ‘a product living at the intersection of fashion, science, technology and pop culture,’ according to Salesforce. It ‘allows for a sixth sense mentality and represents a new way of being connected,’ it said. will.i.am was seen using his watch at a DJ set (pictured) three weeks ago . In April, will.i.am claimed that the gadget has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and apps including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, in an interview with Alan Carr (pictured) Will.i.am’s watch appears to have a curved display. He hasn't revealed what operating system his device runs on, but the fact it features established apps including Instagram and Twitter,suggests it could run on Android. The presence of Instagram also hints that the device will have a camera. As the watch doesn’t link with a phone, but stores music, it suggests the watch will have a substantial amount of storage - which will need to be a minimum of 4GB to be useful. If the watch has Bluetooth connectivity, it’s likely to also have Wi-Fi capabilities and may even add NFC. Due to the fact it can make calls, the watch is also likely to have a SIM card and may additionally support 3G, or even 4G. If it does come with a data plan, the storage may be reduced if music can be streamed from the cloud. The device, which is expected to run Android, has a curved screen and can store music locally, as well as coming with a digital music service from a British company called 7digital,The Telegraph reported. Will.i.am and 7digital are thought to have struck deals with large and small record labels to cover most musical tastes, which could give the wearable an edge over those with other music services. Will.i.am, the director of creative innovation at Intel showed off his smartwatch for the first time on Channel 4's Alan Carr: Chatty Man, as well as using it during The Voice. During the show, will.i.am told Alan Carr: 'I don’t carry my phone anymore, this is my phone. ‘A lot of these smartwatches need phones - mine doesn’t need a phone. 'I started the company myself, I funded it, I used my own money to develop it. 'So, it’s a phone. It has all my music in it so I can work out with it, without wires using Bluetooth headphones. It’s got Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.’ The following night, will.i.am used the watch to call Cheryl Cole during the final of talent show The Voice - although the call quality was poor and cut out shortly afterwards. The presence of Instagram hints that the device will have a camera. As the watch doesn’t link with a phone, but stores music, it will probably come with a substantial amount of storage, perhaps at least 4GB. Music to consumers' ears? The device, which is expected to run on Android, has a curved screen and can store music locally, as well as coming with a digital music service from a British company called 7digital . The wrapper and entrepreneur was recently seen wearing his creation during a DJ set, where he phoned a friend and told the audience: ‘Just to let you know, this is not tethered to a phone, or nothing like that. He also used it to call Cheryl Cole in the last series of The Voice (pictured) If the watch has Bluetooth connectivity, it’s likely to also have Wi-Fi capabilities and may even add NFC. Due to the fact it can make calls, the watch will probably feature a SIM card and may additionally support 3G, or even 4G. It has not yet been revealed how much will.i.am’s smartwatch will cost, or when it will launch. But it will be going head-to-head with Apple’s highly-anticipated wearable, which will probably not be launched until February and will cost from $349 (£216). While it is among the few wearables that will be able to be used to make phone calls, the battery is thought to be the Apple Watch’s Achilles heel, with reports that it will have to be charged daily. There is no news about will.i.am’s device’s battery life as yet. Here, will.i.am showcases his watch for the first time in April on Alan Carr's talk show . will.i.am's device will go head-to head with the Apple Watch (pictured left and right). It is not known whether the two products will be similarly priced, with an Apple Watch costing $349 (£216). There is no launch date for either of the watches, with rumours suggesting the Apple Watch will not be released until February . Aside from music, Will.i.am has a strong background in science and technology. In 2011, Intel named will.i.am as director of creative innovation and his role was to help develop the firm’s range of phones, tablets and laptops. A year later he made history by streaming a song from the surface of Mars in conjunction with Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. The song was called Reaching for the Stars. The watch has a completely new user interface, different from the iPhone, and the 'crown' on the Apple Watch is a dial called the 'digital crown.' Users can turn the crown to zoom in and out on a map, or scroll a list. The crown can also be pressed to take the user back to the home screen. Different areas on the watch face can be customised with taps and swipes, and force touches. The Glances feature shows info users would like to see, similar to Google Now, and is accessed by swiping the screen up from the bottom. Music can also be controlled on an iPhone through the Apple Watch. Built-in is a 'taptic engine' that responds to a subtle vibrations users feel on their wrist for notifications. It understands questions in messages and then offers pre-selected answers, and messages can be dictated to the iPhone. Users can also talk to the watch and send a voice reply, or have it transcribed to them. There is no keyboard on the watch, and messages can only be sent through dictation, or emoji. Siri also is built into the Apple Watch.
### SUMMARY:
| will.i.am's smartwatch will be launched tomorrow in San Francisco .
He has claimed that it can be used to make calls without a smartphone .
Gadget will also feature apps including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter .
Device was intended to a lunch in July and has been used by the musician on The Voice and at a DJ set three weeks ago .
He showcased it for the first time in April on a British talk show .
No price, launch date or small details ahve yet been revealed . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
At a cost of $350million, it aimed to revive Downtown Las Vegas and 'bring happiness to everyone'. But today, the technology-oriented Downtown Project's success bubble has burst. In the past few weeks, founder and Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has stepped down, while 30 of the project's 300 employees have been laid off. At the same time, the suicides of three prominent entrepreneurs involved in the program have sparked mystery among the community. Scroll down for video . 'Obsessed with happiness': At a cost of $350million, the Downtown Project aimed to revive Downtown Las Vegas and 'bring happiness to everyone'. But today, its success bubble has burst. Above, Fremont Street . Suicides: In January 2013, Jody Sherman (left), 48, founder of Econom, shot himself in a car as his start-up company headed toward bankruptcy. One year later, Ovik Banerjee (right), 24, also committed suicide . In January 2013, Jody Sherman, the 48-year-old founder of Econom, shot himself in a car as his e-commerce start-up headed toward bankruptcy. One year later, Ovik Banerjee, a 24-year-old Venture for America fellow who moved to Downtown Vegas as part of the project, jumped from his Town Terrace apartment. His death prompted four other employees at the Downtown Project to quit, according to Recode.net. Meanwhile, in May 2014, Matt Berman, the 50-year-old founder of Bolt Barber, was found hanged in an apparent suicide at his home. Another death: In May 2014, Matt Berman (pictured), founder of Bolt Barber, was found hanged at his home . Stepping down: In the past few weeks, founder and Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh (pictured) has stepped down from his position at the Downtown Project, while 30 of the project's 300 employees have been laid off . Although the reasons behind the suicides remain unclear, those involved in the project have said that 40-year-old Hsieh's 'obsession with happiness' could be damaging for entrepreneurs. Indeed, in his 2010 book, 'Delivering Happiness', the enigmatic businessman says his proposal to build a startup city was about creating a 'happy', connected and entrepreneurial lifestyle. He writes: 'It wasn’t just about building a business. It was about building a lifestyle that was about delivering happiness to everyone, including ourselves.' His plan saw eager entrepreneurs to move to Las Vegas and start up a company - the project gained more than 300 in total - with little emotional support if their firm began to fail. Popular: Launched in January 2012, with a five-year plan, the Downtown Project aimed to revitalize the blighted area of Las Vegas through 'several hundred investments and initiatives'. Above, Fremont Street . Kimberly Knoll, a therapist in Downtown, told the technology news site: 'The difference here is the focus on happiness - that’s a goal. But if we negate the negative emotions in our lives, it takes us away from happiness and brings around shame. 'The whole idea of Downtown is grand and wonderful and purposeful, but sometimes the way we’re going about it isn’t psychologically healthy.' She added: 'The pressures are the lack of being able to confide with people, having to put on a vest or mask, and having to say everything’s great.' Following the suicides, Hsieh was reportedly keen to keep them quiet in the community, with entrepreneurs claiming there were few resources made available and no cathartic outpouring. When asked about the deaths, the former leader is said to have snapped: 'Suicides happen anywhere. Look at the stats.' In the case of Mr Banerjee, the employee had been forced to work in a 'confusing' environment without a 'clear' job, it is reported. At one point, he was even been told to mislead city officials about the nature of the project - an order that went against his principles and 'tore him up', a friend of Mr Banerjee told the site. Before his death, he reportedly emailed Hsieh saying he was concerned about the Downtown Project and its allocation of resources, but received 'dismissive' responses to each concern. According to the LA Times, Nevada's suicide rate is among the nation's highest, with 19.1 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared to a national average of 12 per 100,000. Tragic: Following the suicides, Hsieh was reportedly keen to keep them quiet, with entrepreneurs claiming there was no cathartic outpouring. Above, Matt Berman (left) and Ovik Banerjee's online profile (right) Most of these deaths occur around Las Vegas, where the odds of suicide are said to be around 50 per cent greater than in other U.S. metropolitan areas. Because of this, Downtown Project residents are now planning to set up a dedicated hotline to help people who are thinking of taking their own lives. Jonathan Jenkins, co-founder of supply chain startup OrderWithMe, has even set up a church in Dowtown Last Vegas to cater for struggling entrepreneurs. 'A lot of the young people who do these startups, they don’t think they can be frank with each other,' he told the news site. High rate: Nevada's suicide rate is among the nation's highest, with 19.1 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared to a national average of 12 per 100,000. Most of these deaths occur around Las Vegas (pictured) Launched in January 2012, with a five-year plan, the Downtown Project aimed to revitalize the blighted area of Las Vegas through 'several hundred investments and initiatives'. In a recent statement about the laying off of employees, Hsieh said: 'We remain focused on the long-term plan and the evolution of the downtown area. 'As such, we have restructured our support team. This change has affected approximately 30 positions, the majority of which were based in our corporate office. 'We continue to directly employ more than 300 people across our various operations in downtown Las Vegas. 'We are optimistic and confident about the future of downtown Las Vegas and the continued growth of our entire portfolio of investments.' He also downplayed his role in the startup city, saying: 'I am the CEO of Zappos.com but I’ve never referred to myself as the CEO of Downtown Project, and I’ve never considered myself as being in “day-to-day management” of Downtown Project. 'My role continues to be as an investor, advisor, and equivalent of a board member that sets high-level general direction and strategy but is not involved in day-to-day management of people or projects.'
### SUMMARY:
| Founded in 2012, Downtown Project aimed to 'bring happiness' to Vegas .
But leader Tony Hsieh has stepped down and 30 staff have been laid off .
At same time, the suicides of three entrepreneurs have sparked mystery .
In past two years, Jody Sherman, Ovik Banerjee and Matt Berman died .
Hsieh's 'pursuit of happiness' is said to be 'damaging' to entrepreneurs .
Odds of suicide in Las Vegas '50% higher than other metropolitan areas' |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
A self-confessed murderer lashed out in the courtroom Monday after he was handed a 50-to-100 year prison sentence for slaying his girlfriend, a mother-of-five, and dumping her body in the garbage. Before learning his fate, Jahleel Hoskins, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, offered a weeping apology to the family of Latrice Maze, whom he killed last March, insisting he loved the woman and didn't meant to take her life. But when Kent County Circuit Court Judge James Redford sentenced him to up to a century behind bars, the handcuffed man snapped, throwing the podium toward the bench and lunging forward before security dragged him from the courtroom. Scroll down for video . Angry: Confessed murderer lashed out in the courtroom Monday after he was handed a 50-to-100 year prison sentence for slaying his girlfriend, a mother-of-five, and dumping her body in the garbage . var p = new anv_pl_def(); p.config = {}; p.config.width = 636; p.config.height = 400; p.loadVideoExpressV3('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|STAGEV3|SPSQA'); . But before he even left the premises, Hoskins' family began screaming at the family of the victim, including her mother and father, according to mlive.com. The two families surging towards each other, yelling, and additional court deputies had to tear them apart. Hoskins' devastated mother, who made an emotional statement to the court earlier, yelled at Hoskins cousin to shut up as Redford banged his gavel and demanded order. In almost as dramatic a move, the 26-year-old halted his trial on December 11 - the third day - by pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the middle of testimony. Temper: When Kent County Circuit Court Judge James Redford sentenced him to up to a century behind bars, the handcuffed man snapped, throwing the podium toward the bench and lunging forward before security dragged him from the courtroom . Brawl: The two families surging towards each other, yelling, and additional court deputies had to tear them apart . Victim: Latrice Maze, pictured left and right, was murdered by Hoskins last March . But Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Kellee Koncki urged the judge not to give the killer a lesser sentence because he confessed. Rather, she asked Redford to sentence him to what would result in a lifetime in prison. Maze went missing on March 19. Less than two months later, Grand Rapids police said they believed her body had been incinerated and dumped in a landfill after Hoskins put it in a Dumpster. According to mlive.com, Koncki argued that Hoskins' motive in the slaying was that he wanted to stop her talking to police after he allegedly assaulted the father of two of her children. She said the violent strangulation was premeditated. Apology: Before learning his fate, Hoskins, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, offered a weeping apology to the family of Maze . Lies: He insisted he loved the woman and didn't meant to take her life . Redford also admonished Hoskins for dumping the body, robbing the family of a chance to have a proper funeral for their loved one. Maze' mother, Wanda Rose, spoke before Hoskins was sentenced and recalled the difficult task of trying to explain to her grandchildren about their mother's death. Hoskins said in his piece that he loved Maze and worked hard to support her and her daughter. 'Before this happened, everybody looked at me as a good person,' Hoskins said. 'In the blink of an eye, I'm a monster.' Tragic: Latrice Maze's mother, Wanda Rose, weeps after making statements Monday January 6, 2014 .
### SUMMARY:
| Confessed murderer Jahleel Hoskins lashed out in the .
courtroom Monday after he was handed a 50-to-100 year sentence .
for slaying his girlfriend .
Latrice Maze, a mother-of-five, was killed last March and dumped in the garbage .
When Kent County Judge James Redford handed down the sentence, Hoskins snapped, throwing the .
podium and lunging forward .
Security had to drag him out of the courtroom .
His and the victim's families then surged towards each other, screaming, and additional court deputies had to tear them apart . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Extreme temperatures, flash flooding is set to become far more common towards the end of the century, a group of respected scientists has predicted. Changes in weather patterns globally will make people, especially ageing populations, far more vulnerable to extreme hot spells, according to a report published by the Royal Society. And the experts also predict that the impact of blazing summers will increase ten-fold by 2100, while the impact of flooding will more than quadruple over the same period, the report estimates. Scientists calculated the impact of climate change and population changes on the chances of people being affected by floods, droughts and heatwaves around the world. These maps reveal the estimated changes, shown as ratios for the period 2080 to 2099, compared to the period of 1986 to 2005 . Scientists calculated the impact of climate change and population changes on the chances of people being affected by floods, droughts and heatwaves around the world. Extended hot periods like that seen in 2003 - when temperatures soared to 101°F (38.5°C) and railway tracks buckled in the heat - will become far more common. More than 2,000 people are thought to have died of heat-related causes in the UK in 2003, along with 20,000 in the rest of Europe. Roads melted, trains were forced to slow down because of warped tracks, and hosepipe bans were imposed across the country. The report focuses on the risks to people from floods, droughts and heatwaves. Drier parts of the world are expected to get drier and wetter parts, wetter. Increasing population numbers in areas that are exposed to extreme weather events exacerbate the risks from floods and droughts in many regions - especially East, West and Central Africa, India and South-East Asia. Over-65s are one of the groups most vulnerable to heatwaves, which could hit the UK and Europe. Changes in temperature and humidity could result in significant reductions in ability to work outdoors across much of Africa, Asia, and parts of North, South and Central America. This would impact rural communities and food production for a growing global population. Animals in zoos were treated with sun-tan cream and their food was frozen into ice lollies. The new research suggests that such events could become much more common in years to come. Scientists adopted a ‘worst case’ scenario by assuming an increase in average temperatures around the world of up to 4.8°C by 2100. The researchers defined a heatwave as a run of five days during which night-time temperatures are at least 5°C above the norm. Professor Peter Cox, from the University of Exeter - one of the authors of the Royal Society report, said: ‘We measure exposure to individuals. That goes up because of more extreme events and because the size of the vulnerable population increases. ‘Climate change increases the risk to people by a factor of two or three and population change multiplies that by at least 1.5 and up to four times in the case of heatwaves.’ The report also found a dramatically increased risk of exposure to flooding in the UK and parts of western Europe, while the threat of drought hung over the Mediterranean. Climate change is expected to make wetter parts of the world wetter and drier parts drier. The report issued an urgent call to both governments and private companies to do more to address extreme weather hazards. Scientists adopted a ‘worst case’ scenario by assuming an increase in average temperatures around the world of up to 4.8°C by 2100. Climate change is expected to make wetter parts of the world wetter and drier parts drier (pictured) This chart shows the global average surface temperature change as predicted in the report. The blue section is based on the best case scenario, while the red section depicts how hot the globe will become if the worst case scenario happens up to 2100 . Engineering solutions such as dams, sea walls and levees were often costly and also at risk of failing ‘cataclysmically’, it was claimed. Co-author Rowan Douglas, chairman of the Willis Research Network - which advises public and private institutions on risk, said it city planners need to factor in the increased likelihood of extreme weather events. Between 1980 and 2004 the total cost of extreme-weather related events came to US$1.4 trillion (of which only a quarter was insured. Floods, droughts and heatwaves also cost lives. Populations in poorer countries make up only 11 per cent of those exposed to hazards but account for 53 per cent of disaster mortality, according to the report. It compares various practical options for the most effective and affordable defence against the impacts of extreme weather events and calls for governments and private companies to work together in order to protect people. The Royal Society report also calls for changes to regulations to ensure financial experts are aware of the risks of extreme weather events. Currently, business surveys, economic forecasts and country briefings that guide investment decisions and credit ratings are typically based on the availability of skilled labour, access to export markets, political and economic stability, and financial incentives – but there is little or no consideration of actual or potential exposure to disaster risks. Experts want this to change. ‘We will re-build most of the world’s cities in the next 30 years, literally,’ he said. ‘We have a choice whether to build them to be vulnerable or resilient.’ Professor Georgina Mace, from University College London - who chaired the Royal Society working group, said: ‘Resilience means people are able to do more than just cope with disastrous events. They’re not just absorbing the impact, they’re able to continue living their lives and to prepare for future such events.’ The report was welcomed by climate scientists and green groups, who said it is a wake-up call to governments around the world. Professor Andrew Watkinson of the University of East Anglia said: ‘This timely report reminds us that extreme weather events affect us all, that we are not as resilient to current extreme events as we could be and that the nature of extreme events is likely to change in the future. ‘It also highlights the range of actions we can take to increase our resilience in a changing world and the key roles that governments together with their agencies and the insurance industry must play. ‘At a time when deep cuts are being made in public spending it is essential that government does not lose sight of its key role in enabling resilience at both the international and national level.’ Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Guy Shrubsole said: ‘As the anniversary of Britain's wettest winter ever approaches, this Royal Society report is a timely wake-up call for politicians to get serious about protecting the country from climate change. ‘The Chancellor must use next week’s Autumn Statement to invest seriously in flood defence schemes to protect hundreds of thousands of UK households and businesses increasingly at risk from extreme weather. ‘George Osborne must also do far more to tackle climate change in the first place – ending tax breaks for dirty gas and oil and investing in a massive energy efficiency programme instead would be a good first step.' This chart reveals how sea levels are expected to rise until the end of the century. Again, the blue section is based on the best case scenario, while the red section depicts how hot the globe will become if the worst case scenario happens up to 2100 .
### SUMMARY:
| A Royal Society report claims extreme weather events will become more frequent across the world in the years to come .
Global warming could increase the risk of life-threatening heatwaves more than 10-fold by the end of the century .
Heatwaves are also expected to pose threat to ageing people in Europe .
Climate change will make wet parts of the world wetter and dry parts drier . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Ancient graffiti belonging to a relative of Walt Disney has been discovered etched into the wall of Warwick Castle's prison. Experts believe the 372-year-old piece of writing scrawled on the walls by Edward Disney proves how close Mickey Mouse may have come to never being created if Walt Disney's relative had been executed. Edward Disney was captured by the Parliamentarian Army after the Battle of Edgehill during the English Civil War and held prisoner at Warwick Castle in 1642. Ancient graffiti belonging to a relative of Walt Disney has been discovered etched into the wall of Warwick Castle's prison . Experts believe the 372-year-old piece of writing scrawled on the walls by Edward Disney proves how close Mickey Mouse may have come to never being created if Walt Disney's relative had been executed . Historians at Warwick Castle found the evidence of Edward¿s capture last month in a hidden room within the 900-year-old tower . The distant relative of Walt would have awaited execution in the castle’s Guy Tower but because he was a wealthy noble he narrowly avoided being beheaded. Historians at Warwick Castle found the evidence of Edward’s capture last month in a hidden room within the 900-year-old tower. The faded lettering simply states 'Edward Disney 1643' and is etched into an arrow slit within the prison’s living quarters. Experts say proof of the narrow escape shows how hundreds of iconic cartoons such Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Peter Pan and Snow White were almost never brought to life. Sleeping quarters in Guy's Tower at Warwick Castle where Walt Disney's ancestor was held captive during the English Civil War . Living quarters in Guy's Tower. Aaron Manning, head of historical interpretation at the castle, said: 'The name of Edward Disney first appears in a room that was used to house prisoners during the Civil War' If Edward had been executed like most other prisoners the succession of the Disney line would never have existed. Instead, it is believed Edward was sold back to his family for a hefty ransom to raise money for Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarians. Aaron Manning, head of historical interpretation at the castle, which was built by William the Conqueror in 1068, said: 'The name of Edward Disney first appears in a room that was used to house prisoners during the Civil War. 'Guy’s Tower is where only the most important visitors and prisoners were housed. 'We had known of one name written into the wall with 1642 next to it but for a while we thought it was a joke. 'But when we opened up the second room last month, which we think is a bedroom, as there was a second name of Edward with 1643 and one other name next to it we realised it was an authentic bit of graffiti. Walt Disney and his wife with Mickey Mouse. Experts say proof of Edward Disney's narrow escape shows how hundreds of iconic cartoons such Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Peter Pan and Snow White were almost never brought to life . 'We have been looking into it and have confirmed it really was Edward by checking records. 'We think he was here at the castle for a least six months to a year. 'The names of other people with Edward in the tower certainly make it a very plausible case. 'In fact, we came across a second piece of graffiti bearing Edward’s name when we invited staff into some of the locked rooms for the first time so that they could have a look round. 'All that we have been able to find out about him for sure is that he was called to muster for the Bishops War under King Charles I and that he is thought to have been one of the Norton Disneys. 'Just think, had Edward been executed then it is a possibility that Mickey Mouse might never have been born. 'It is tremendously exciting when you make a find like this. 'The rooms in which Disney’s name . have been found are securely locked, and will not be opened to the . public in the foreseeable future, allowing for us to carry out more . detective work.” Mr . Manning said that among the recently unearthed etchings on the tower’s . walls included a Hail Mary which dates back to the 1400s. He added: 'It was done about the time of the Hundred Years War and Agincourt. 'We have no indication of who did it, but the engraving was painstakingly done and must have taken a very long time to finish. The distant relative of Walt would have awaited execution in the castle¿s Guy Tower but because he was a wealthy noble he narrowly avoided being beheaded . It is believed Edward was sold back to his family for a hefty ransom to raise money for Oliver Cromwell¿s Parliamentarians . In 1642, civil war broke out between King and parliament and Royalist forces laid siege to Warwick Castle. But its defences had already been enhanced from January to May 1642 in preparation for the attack. The garden walls were raised, barricades mount artillery were constructed and gunpowder and wheels for two cannons were obtained - Royalist forces failed in their attempt to take Warwick. The Battle of Edgehill in 1642 was a bloody clash close to Warwick, which was a stronghold of Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarians. Following the first pitched battle of the English Civil War – prisoners were held in Caesar's and Guy's Towers. This was not the first time that royalist prisoners had been held at Warwick. King Edward IV was incarcerated in the castle by Richard Neville in the fifteenth century. During the Second English Civil War prisoners were again held at the castle, including those from the Battle of Worcester in 1651. 'Our best guess is that it was a guest of the Earl or a member of his family. 'This . part of the tower was reserved for important visitors, and whoever did . it didn’t just inscribe the words of the prayer but carved out the stone . around each letter. 'It is a beautiful piece of work. 'The 13th Earl of Warwick, Richard Beauchamp, went out to France to fight for Henry V, and it was he was responsible for the execution of Joan of Arc. 'He was in charge of the occupation in Rouen. 'He put Joan on trial, signed her death warrant and arranged for her to be burned at the stake.' Historical records show Edward had been fighting for ill-fated King Charles I but was captured after defeat at Edgehill. The battle was a bloody clash close to Warwick, which was a stronghold of Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarians. It is believed Edward survived the Civil War as a letter dated in the 1660s between him and a lord has been found previously. The first Disney to arrive in England was Robert d’Isigny, from Normandy in France, who came to the country with William the Conqueror in 1066. The family’s surname became Anglicised into Disney and they settled in a Lincolnshire village which was named Norton Disney after them. Walt’s great-grandfather, Arundel Elias Disney, born in Ireland in 1801, was a descendant of Robert d’Isigny and the movie legend spent much of his life trying to trace his family, a recurrent theme in his films. When Walt came to Britain in the late 1940s, trying to piece together his family tree, he headed straight to Norton Disney. Fading photographs taken in the village show Walt absorbed in the search for facts about his family name. He is pictured studying the tombs and gravestones and with the vicar, leafing through reams of ancient church registers.
### SUMMARY:
| Writing was scrawled on the prison walls 372 years ago by Edward Disney .
Disney was captured by the Parliamentarian Army after the Battle of Edgehill .
Distant relative of Walt would have awaited execution in castle's Guy Tower .
But because he was a wealthy noble he narrowly avoided being beheaded . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
When 17-year-old Kurt Coleman walks past his own reflection he stops in awe to look at the teenager staring back at him. But it's a trait his Mother has grown to love about her selfie obsessed son, who spends more time behind the camera and in front of a mirror than you care to imagine. Speaking about the teenager, Maureen Coleman has delved into the private life of a very public teenager who in an interview with New Idea told the magazine about the bullying which forced him to drop out of school. Scroll down for videos . 'Gorgeous boy' Maureen Coleman regularly poses up for selfies with her proud son Kurt, who claims to have posted more than 100,000 selfies online . 'it hasn't been easy for Kurt' Maureen Coleman says her son has been taunted online because of his overtly confident ways . But apart from a few online taunts, which his mother said he has learnt to rise above, it it has been a largely fruitful rise to stardom for the online wonder kid who is now under the wing of a full time publicist. It is claims such as the one where he declared himself god's gift to earth and that he is Australia's answer to Paris Hilton which has raised his teenage profile. Given his popularity online, he said he was once asked if his online profile was an invented character or if he really does love himself. Kurt replied: 'I do, I love who I am, I don't think it's wrong.' He said his confidence was not hiding any insecurities ... 'I do love myself.' Now and then: A photo taken of a photo of Kurt in school uniform back in 2007 . 'He's forever looking in the mirror:' Kurt Coleman's mother said the 17 year old is always talking about how good he looks . He said it: Kurt Coleman has declared that he is a bigger than life itself . And his Gold Coast mother, who has two other children, loves him just as much. The hairdresser who features in some of the 100,000 photos he claims to have posted online, said she supports her boy's obscure and overtly confident outlook on life, adding the 17-year-old is a 'gorgeous boy with a beautiful heart.' 'Kurt loves who he is, he always says how good he looks and I think it's great at least he doesn't sit there and say how bad he looks,' she told MailOnline. Naturally, comments such as the claim he is Australia's answer to Paris Hilton has elicited some strong reaction online, but Maureen supports her son's positive attitude and outgoing lifestyle. 'I don't really read it (nasty comments), Mrs Coleman said. 'I know there is some hate out there but that's their opinion. Kurt says the hate motivates him to keep doing what he does because he loves proving people wrong.' She said it's 'disgusting' to see some of the things written about him. One commenter recently reacted to a photo posted to Facebook by calling him a 'fag'. 'It hasn't been easy for Kurt, he was bullied at school and dropped out.' 'I do, I love who I am, I don't think it's wrong,' the 17-year-old doesn't hold back. Kurt's mother said he spends hours in front of the camera fine-tuning and admiring his obsessive look . She said although he has his detractors, there's plenty of positive things being said about the 17-year-old. 'I do hairdressing and when some customers find out that I'm Kurt Coleman's mum, they freak out,' she said. 'One time I was cutting one of my friend's daughters hair and she wrote on Facebook 'Kurt Coleman's mum breathed on me!' it was so funny.' While she still finds it hard to comprehend just how popular he has become, Mrs Coleman said she has always encouraged her boy to 'dream big.' 'I'm not surprised he has become successful, I've always told him to dream big.' She said she thought Kurt might one day find himself in the spotlight, but didn't expect it to come via social media - a tool which he has taken too with keen interest. 'I didn't ever think it would be from social media but I knew he would end up on TV because he has always been in front of the camera,' she said.' Even when he was really young he would make me buy him cameras for Christmas and birthdays and take photos and videos of himself all day. I'm very proud of him and everything his done.' Among his most incredible public claims, Kurt once said the only reason he remains single is because 'he loves himself too much' and noone else is 'good enough for me.' 'My Idol:' American socialite Paris Hilton is the 17-year-old's most loved female celebrity . Selfie fan: The Gold Coast sensation says he takes selfies '24/7' because he likes what he sees . 'The lunar eclipse is almost as perfect as me.' Kurt Coleman has photo shopped a variety of different photos and posted them to social media . But while this kind of self-delusional attitude has rustled the feathers of many active people on social media, the one woman closer to him than any other said there's never a dull moment when he's around. She said on one occasion she came home to find him re-arranging his room to have the end of his bed facing the mirror. His reason? so that when he woke up the first person he saw was himself. And some more trivia about the 17-year-old you probably don't already know, courtesy of his mum, is that he he's 'addicted to eating chocolate.' Did we mention he also loves spray tans? She said: 'Kurt's always testing out different spray tans that he gets sent from companies which makes for some interesting looking sheets and towels. Sometimes when he comes home his spray tan is so dark and we just laugh about it for hours.' Spray tan obsessed: Kurt said he has had more than 300 spray tans, which his mother can attest too . A quick scan of Kurt Coleman on Facebook and you'll find there's more than 20 different pages dedicated to the baby-faced Gold Coast blondie who has called himself the 'perfect' human . To put all these likes and interests into perspective, Kurt has amassed some 170,000 followers on Facebook and nearly 85,000 on Instagram. A quick scan of Kurt Coleman on Facebook and you'll find no fewer than 20 different pages dedicated to the baby-faced Gold Coast blondie. On his own personal page, there's the latest picture of him 'posing' alongside Paris Hilton which he has modeled his like on. 'She's my inspiration, she's just like me, that's why I love her,' he said. His jaw-dropping popularity has also spawned a mini-industry, with businesses set up in Australia flogging Kurt Coleman-related merchandise. The Kurt Coleman Supply Company says on its website it exists to promote 'the poster-boy to thousands of youth around the world for being who you are and not caring what anyone else thinks.'
### SUMMARY:
| Maureen Coleman has called Kurt's online taunts and bullies 'disgusting'
His mother, a hairdresser, has clients telling her they love her son .
Spray tans, chocolate, selfies among teen's obsessions .
Mrs Coleman said her 17-year-old son is a 'gorgeous boy.'
The Gold Coast teen has compared himself to Paris Hilton .
He has 170,000 Facebook followers and 85,000 on Instagram .
Claims to have posted more than 100,000 selfies to Facebook . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
1995 and 1998 videos show GOP candidate discussing contents of newsletters . Paul claims he didn't write or read the letters . Ron Paul has denied knowing what was published in racist and homophobic newsletters sent in his name until at least a decade later, but newly resurfaced videos are proving his claims false. In the latest video to surface, the Texas congressman and contender for the Republican nomination for president appears to take credit for the controversial newsletters. In the 1995 footage, uncovered by Buzz feed, the candidate said: 'I...do a newsletter, it's called the Ron Paul Survival Report,' he said. 'It's expressing concerning about surviving in this age of big government.' Scroll down for video . Contradictions: Paul is shown in 1995, left, and in 1988, right, discussing the contents of the controversial newsletters, despite claiming he had not read them . Material in the newsletters- named the Ron Paul Political Report, Ron . Paul’s Freedom Report, the Ron Paul Survival Report and the Ron Paul . Investment Letter- contained racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic rants. 'I didn't read that stuff, I was aware of it probably 10 years after it was written.' Paul told CNN in an interview this week. 'I didn’t write them. I disavow them. That's it,' he added. The . controversial newsletters, which reportedly made Paul $1m, featured a . series of racist statements, including, 'We are constantly told that it . is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational.' Referring to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, another read, 'Order was only restored in . L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks.' The . articles called Martin Luther King Jr. a 'world-class . philanderer,' criticized the U.S. holiday bearing King's name as 'Hate . Whitey Day', and said that AIDS sufferers 'enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick.' Under fire: Texas congressman Ron Paul, now a contender for the Republican nomination for president, is coming under increasing criticism . Paul is currently surging in the polls. Despite claiming he did not read the . material until years later, Paul - also appears to be knowledgeable about the contents of the newsletters in . two much earlier C-Span videos. A letter signed by Paul in 1993 warning of a 'coming race war' has also been uncovered. The . scare-mongering letter written in 1993 lists far-fetched conspiracy . theories and urges the reader to 'save their family' by forking out for . the $99 subscription. A video from 1995 shows the GOP presidential hopeful discussing the controversial newsletters. In . the resurfaced interview, Paul - then out of office and trying to . return to Congress - describes the 'educational' newsletters and appears . to be aware of their contents. 'It . covered a lot about what was going on in Washington: financial events, . especially some of the monetary events, since I had been especially . interested in monetary policy, had been on the banking committee and am still very interested in that subject,' he said. Mailer: The scare-mongering letter written in 1993 lists far-fetched conspiracy theories and urges the reader to 'save their family' by forking out for the $99 . 'This newsletter dealt with it. This . has to do with the value of the dollar, the pros and cons of the gold . standard, and of course the disadvantages of all the high taxes and . spending our government seems to continue to do.' The . video was posted on YouTube by Alexander Kaczynski, a self-described . 'political junkie' who has previously unearthed old videos of current . presidential hopefuls, reports the New York Daily News. The . candidate's spokesman, Jesse Benton, told USA Today that Paul was . talking about an investment newsletter and that the incendiary comments . were in others that he did not write. In . 1996, Paul told the Dallas Morning News that the material was accurate . but had just been taken out of context, reports the Daily News. Conspiracy theories: The 1993 letter warns that the U.S. government's redesign of currency was part of a plot to allow the government to track Americans . Scare-mongering: The letter makes far-fetched claims and urges readers to sign up to the $99 subscription to 'save their families' Controversy: The letter warning of a 'coming race war' and soliciting the 'racist' newsletters carries Ron Paul's signature, pictured . Another clip dated 1988, which was . uncovered by the Huffington Post, shows Paul talking about spending time . on his newsletter when he was away from public office. 'I . also put out an investment type of letter because I've always been . fascinated with the hard money school, and been interested in the gold . standard, so I put out an investment letter on those lines,' he said amidst his run for presidency at the time. It is worth noting, however, that most of the 'racist' text came four years after this C-SPAN interview in the early 90s.. The . 1993 eight-page letter, however, came a year after the most . inflammatory newsletter was published during the 1992 LA riots, and . appears to carry Paul's signature at the end. Oops: A 1995 video shows the GOP presidential hopeful discussing the contents of the newsletters contradicting his claims he wasn't aware of them at that time . The . letter urges readers to subscribe to Paul's newsletters so that he . could 'tell you how you can save yourself and your family' from an . overbearing government. It also warns that the U.S. government's redesign of currency to include different colors - a move aimed at thwarting counterfeiters - actually was part of a plot to allow the government to track Americans. His Iowa chairman, Drew Ivers, has repeated Paul's claims that he did not write the articles, reports Reuters. Paul has repeatedly said the articles do not reflect his views, highlighting that his public stances - such as supporting homosexuals in the military - run counter to the incendiary statements in them.. His campaign claims he also did not write the mailer, although it carries his signature. Touchy: Earlier reports made it seem like Ron Paul stormed out of the interview, while the raw footage makes it seem like it was simply over . The letter - written during a period in which Paul returned to Washington after a decade's absence - claims that Paul - through what isdescribed as a network of 'extraordinary sources' - had acquired information that would help his subscribers to 'neutralize' the plans of 'powerbrokers.' The letter goes on to describe a number of conspiracy theories that he had 'unmasked', including a 'plot for world government, world money and world central banking.' It also claims that Paul's newsletters 'laid bare' the 'Israeli lobby, which plays Congress like a cheap harmonica,' and a 'federal-homosexual cover-up on AIDS.' The letter urges readers to buy the $99 subscription to receive Paul's monthly political and investment newsletters, a copy of his book 'Surviving the New Money', an investment manual and access to his Financial hotline. Watch the video here: .
### SUMMARY:
| 1995 and 1998 videos show GOP candidate discussing contents of newsletters .
Paul claims he didn't write or read the letters . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Brave: Stephen has terminal cancer . There can't be many people who haven't heard about Stephen Sutton. I doubt it was ever his intention, but his handsome, young face, giving the thumbs up from his hospital bed, bidding the world a cheery farewell as he faced up to terminal cancer, has made him a global superstar. After sharing his story with the world on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, he has raised more than £3 million for the Teenage Cancer Trust thanks to the kindness of friends and strangers. Who could have failed to be delighted at the news he'd been sent home from hospital because he was feeling better and might have a few more months of life left after all? Not everyone, it would seem. I've seen some terrible things in my life, but nothing to compare with the response to his news from social media trolls. They have truly surpassed themselves in their vileness. 'How disappointing he hasn't actually died as he said he would,' said one on Twitter. 'It's a con.' Over on Facebook, the sneering and baiting continued: 'It feels like we're being conned. One minute he tweets he's dying and won't see the next day, then all of a sudden he's being released to go home.' How could anyone say such things about this poor boy? Stephen, now 19, has put a very brave face on it, telling them that his bowel cancer, which first struck when he was just 15, is still terminal. But how must he have felt knowing there were people out there who would want him dead? I know from experience what a fragile knife edge you're on when you have cancer, whether terminal or not, and I have written extensively about my own diagnosis with breast cancer in 2006. I remember veering wildly between courage and optimism, depression and despair. I can't imagine Stephen being any different and am aghast that anyone could risk bursting the little bubble of hope his return home must have given him and his family. I made a vow a long time ago, never to ask: 'What is the world coming to?' It was an expression my mother used to show her displeasure at anything from short skirts to decimalisation, and it marked her out as a fuddy-duddy of the 'older generation', something I never wanted to be. Support: Prime Minister David Cameron and celebrities have rallied round the teen but he's also received vile abuse from trolls . But no other expression came to mind this week. What is the world coming to when a young man, dying of cancer, who’s inspired the entire country, can be targeted by repulsive individuals hiding behind the cloak of anonymity the internet provides? The world has come to the lowest point imaginable, where cruelty has become a competitive sport that thrives unchallenged on social media sites, where there are no measures to protect the weak and vulnerable. Stephen's experience makes me certain free speech is not always the right approach. We all, I guess, have the capacity for cruelty. We can all be bullies or jealous or react violently when provoked, but we generally control it. We’re taught that there are certain rules that must be obeyed or we’ll be shamed. It's what keeps society ticking over, so we bite our tongues or sit on our hands because we don't want people to know what we may be capable of. And there's the crux: the world wide web continues to be a safe haven for online tribes who've discovered that you can get away with expressing all the horrid thoughts that you'd be too ashamed to say to anyone face to face. Speaking from experience: Jenni knows how mean trolls can be . It's not only the young who find their vulnerability exploited. My cancer was eight years ago, before social media exploded, and the response to my being open about it was generally empathetic from people who signed their letters and emails. But that hasn't been the case since Facebook and Twitter took hold. It's no secret that I'm overweight and I wear a scarf over one shoulder to cover up the slight imbalance in my chest area after my mastectomy. Even a tough old bat like me, who decided not to go through the extensive surgery of full reconstruction, can feel self-conscious that there's one breast remaining and a chicken fillet stuffed into my bra on the other side. I can't tell you how sick I am of being described by trolls as 'Jabba the Hutt with that stupid curtain over her shoulder.' Likewise, if I write about my experience in the hope of giving encouragement to others, it's pretty galling to get: 'There she goes - on about her bloody tits again' or worse: 'Shut up! Shame you didn't die, bitch!' I never spit back, telling myself such people are beneath contempt, but it still hurts. It's a game that does seem to have a uniquely British air about it; boost the ego of the ambitious on the way up - knock 'em on the way down. The world-class swimmer Rebecca Adlington, who should have enjoyed nothing but adulation after her Olympic triumphs, was told how ugly she looked by a number of wicked idiots who couldn't see the beautiful, powerful woman the rest of us saw. The brilliant classicist Professor Mary Beard merely appeared on Question Time and gave her opinions. The verbal online attacks on her were sexual, vulgar and frightening. Mary fought back, successfully closing down the website from which the comments had emerged. But it takes a lot of courage and confidence to take on people who are threatening to harm you. I like to think, as Stephen said, that 'on the whole, people are good; let's concentrate on that'. But I'm not sure he's right. The potential for nastiness is in us all and when an environment exists, such as the internet, that enables severe breaches of the moral code to go unpunished, it may, I fear, continue to be unleashed. Rebecca Adlington, left, has been reduced to tears by trolls slating her appearance while Mary Beard fought back when she received online abuse . A new low was plumbed last year following the death of leukaemia sufferer Amanda Slann, 17. She'd had a visit in hospital from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and appeared in the papers, which is perhaps why she attracted the envy of the trolls. When her parents set up a memorial Facebook page for their daughter, it was defaced by sick comments threatening to desecrate her grave. Her parents, unsurprisingly, have called for tougher laws to prevent such anonymous postings. Now, I'm not normally in favour of gagging, but in this instance I am with them all the way: shut down the cruel, pornographic sites which can only deaden humane sensibilities and work out a way of making sure the trolls are unable to hide behind anonymity. They're the ones who need to be named and shamed - not their innocent victims. I admire Stephen Sutton's response: 'Trolls and cynics exist. It's a shame, but just try not to retaliate too aggressively or get too riled.' I truly hope he is unaffected, but I think his analysis is wrong. I'm riled, and I think the Mary Beard response of fury and taking action is the correct one. Stephen's story has brought into stark focus the best and worst of humanity. There's the courage of a young man trying to make the best of what's left of his time on Earth and the heartless cowardice of those who seek to spread hate and destroy his peace of mind. It's essential we work hard to make sure it's Stephen who wins.
### SUMMARY:
| Teenager has terminal cancer .
He has shared his story to raise money for charity .
But has received abuse from trolls .
Jenni knows how it feels to be criticised by idiots online . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
A new video has emerged showing heavily armed Islamic State fighters stalking backstreets in the besieged Syrian city of Kobane while American warplanes circle overhead. The footage, which emerged on social media accounts linked to the terror group, shows jihadists wandering rubble-lined roads and entering destroyed buildings while the sound of intense gun fights is heard nearby. The video emerged as fierce street battles broke out yesterday - the first significant fighting in the city since the majority of ISIS' militants were pushed back into the suburbs two days ago by the most intense coalition bombing raids of the past few weeks. The clashes came as desperate ISIS jihadists launched a final assault 'on all fronts' to take the town yesterday, after the militants felt the full force of American air power with sustained bombing raids resulting in a series of spectacular explosions in the besieged Syrian town. Scroll down for video . Armed: Groups of Islamic State militants are seen stalking the Kobane backstreets, wandering from building to building as the sound of intense fighting is heard nearby . Threat: The video begins by showing an American warplane circling overhead while ISIS militants can be heard chanting religious slogans and asking God to keep them safe . Campaign: The militants enter partially-destroyed factories, where makeshift bedding (left) can be seen against graffiti-daubed walls - suggesting the rooms are being used to house militants while they besiege the town . The video begins by showing an American warplane circling overhead while ISIS militants can be heard chanting religious slogans and asking God to keep them safe. Masked men are then seen stalking the Kobane backstreets, wandering from building to building as the sound of intense fighting is heard nearby. The militants enter partially-destroyed factories, where makeshift bedding can be seen against the walls - suggesting the rooms are being used to house militants while they besiege the town. Militants, some of them not wearing masks, are then interviewed on camera and describe in Arabic their brutal efforts to seize the town from its largely Kurdish population. The extremists have been dramatically pushed back from the town in recent days, having as recently as last week looked like it was about to drive out the last of the brave Kurdish fighters defending it. As a fresh round of airstrikes rained down earlier this week, the US also ran a series of airdrops for the Kurdish resistance, dispatching weapons and medical supplies. Rubble: The ISIS militants are seen wandering in and out of badly damaged buildings throughout the video clip . Campaign: The video show Islamic State militants, some not wearing masks, being interviewed on camera and describing in Arabic their brutal efforts to seize Kobane from its largely Kurdish population . The video of militants wandering around inside Kobane comes as it emerged ISIS has seized at least one cache of weapons airdropped by U.S.-led coalition forces that were meant to supply Kurdish troops fighting the terrorists in Kobane. Footage released by the terror group shows a masked militant inspecting cases packed with hand grenades, ammunition and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, prompting the U.S. state department to announce it is investigating the video's authenticity. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which gathers its information on a network of activists on the ground, said the militants had seized at least one cache. However analysts have questioned the footage, saying the weapons in the film are not U.S. standard issue and suggesting ISIS may have faked the scenario using arms already in their possession in order to make the American military appear incompetent. ISIS militants have been largely pushed out of Kobane this week thanks to sustained American airstrikes . Smoke rises over Kobane after an American warplane drops bombs on Islamic State-held buildings . Kurds in southern Turkey gather on a hilltop overlooking Kobane to watch the fighting at sunset yesterday . ISIS loyalists took to social media to post sarcastic thank you notes to the United States after the release of the video, including one image that said 'Team USA.' But if the weapons in the footage prove to be authentic, the situation is more an embarrassment than a great strategic loss. ISIS already possesses millions of dollars-worth of U.S. weaponry that they captured from fleeing Iraqi soldiers when the group seized swaths of Iraq in a sudden sweep in June. The U.S. Central Command yesterday said American military forces conducted four airstrikes near Kobane that destroyed ISIS fighting positions, an ISIS-controlled building and a large ISIS unit. The video of militants wandering around inside Kobane comes as it emerged ISIS has seized at least one cache of weapons airdropped by U.S.-led coalition forces that were meant to supply Kurdish troop in Kobane . A still from an Islamic State (ISIS) video, purportedly shows an IS militant displaying the content of a crate carrying grenades near the town of Ain al-Arab, known by the Kurds as Kobane, on the Syria-Turkey border . Meanwhile the Syrian government airstrikes hit a rebel-held town along the country's southern border with Jordan yesterday, killing at least eight people. Activists with the Local Coordination Committees and the Observatory said the number of those killed was likely to rise as there are more victims under the rubble. The LCC said Syrian government planes dropped crude explosives-laden canisters on the town of Nasib on the Syria-Jordan border. The airstrikes are part of battles between Syrian government forces and Islamic rebel groups for control of the area. Syrian government forces have been heavily bombing rebel areas in recent weeks, while the U.S-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against Islamic State militants elsewhere in Syria. A young convert to Islam who killed a Canadian soldier in a hit-and-run had been on the radar of federal investigators, who feared he had jihadist ambitions and seized his passport when he tried to travel to Turkey, authorities said Tuesday. Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney said the attack Monday was 'clearly linked to terrorist ideology.' Quebec Police spokesman Guy Lapointe said the act was deliberate and that one of the two soldiers was in uniform. Police said the suspect, Martin Couture-Rouleau, called 911 to report his hit-and-run as police chased him in the Quebec city of Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu. He later was shot dead by police after his car flipped over into a ditch and he brandished a knife as he exited his car. A second soldier suffered minor injuries in the attack. Three teenage girls from suburban Denver may have been trying to join Islamic State militants in Syria after stealing their parents' money and flying to Germany, authorities said Tuesday. The girls — two sisters, ages 17 and 15, and their 16-year-old friend — were reported missing after they skipped school Friday, but the families had no indication of where they might have gone, said Glenn Thompson, bureau chief of the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department . Suspicion arose when the sisters' father realized his daughters were gone, along with $2,000 and their passports. They were stopped at the Frankfurt, Germany, airport over the weekend by FBI agents and returned to Colorado where they were reunited with their families, an FBI spokeswoman said.
### SUMMARY:
| Footage shows militants wandering from building to building in Kobane .
They stalk rubble-lined roads looking for Kurdish fighters defending city .
Enter badly damaged buildings where it appears some have been living .
Militants also interviewed in Arabic and tell of beseiging the Kurdish city . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
They were feasts of sublime asparagus - laced with fear. And for more than half a century, Margot Woelk kept her secret hidden from the world, even from her husband. Then, a few months after her 95th birthday, she revealed the truth about her wartime role: Adolf Hitler's food taster. Woelk, then in her mid-twenties, spent two and a half years as one of 15 young women who sampled Hitler's food to make sure it wasn't poisoned before it was served to the Nazi leader. She worked at the 'Wolf's Lair' - his heavily guarded command centre in what is now Poland, where he spent much of his time in the final years of World War II. Every meal that Adolf Hitler tasted was sampled by 15 young women, including Margot Woelk, to make sure it wasn't poisoned. Above, the dictator with his mistress Eva Braun . A few months after her 95th birthday, Margot Woelk revealed the truth about her wartime role, which she had even kept secret from her husband . Margot holds a photo album with a picture of herself taken around 1939 or 1940 . 'He was a vegetarian. He never ate any meat during the entire time I was there,' Woelk said of the Nazi leader. 'And Hitler was so paranoid that the British would poison him - that's why he had 15 girls taste the food before he ate it himself.' With many Germans battling with food shortages and a bland diet as the war dragged on, sampling Hitler's food had its advantages. 'The food was delicious, only the best vegetables, asparagus, bell peppers, everything you can imagine. And always with a side of rice or pasta,' she recalled. 'But this constant fear - we knew of all those poisoning rumors and could never enjoy the food. Every day we feared it was going to be our last meal.' The petite widow's story is a tale of the horror, pain and dislocation endured by people of all sides who survived the war. A pre-WWII photo from Margot's album shows the way to the later-built Fuhrer's HQ 'Wolf's Lair' where she performed her duties . 'The food was delicious, only the best vegetables, asparagus, bell peppers, everything you can imagine. And always with a side of rice or pasta,' Woelk said . Only now in the sunset of her life has she been willing to relate her experiences, which she had buried because of shame and the fear of prosecution for having worked with the Nazis, although she insists she was never a party member. She has also provided album pictures of her as a young woman, in the same Berlin apartment where she was born in 1917. Woelk said her association with Hitler began after she fled Berlin to escape Allied air attacks. With her husband gone and serving in the German army, she moved in with relatives about 435 miles (700km) to the east in Rastenburg, then part of Germany; now it is Ketrzyn, in what became Poland after the war. There she was drafted into civilian service and assigned for the next two and a half years as a food taster and kitchen bookkeeper at the Wolf's Lair complex, located a few miles outside the town. 'Hitler was so paranoid that the British would poison him - that's why he had 15 girls taste the food before he ate it himself,' said Margot. Above, Adolf the vegetarian with German officers in 1945 . Above, tourists visit the ruins of the Wolf's Lair in Ketrzyn, north-eastern Poland. It was there, on July 20, 1944, that a trusted colonel detonated a bomb in an attempt to kill Hitler . Hitler survived the assassination attempt but nearly 5,000 people were executed afterwards, including the bomber, Claus Von Stauffenberg . Hitler was so secretive, even in the relative safety of his headquarters, that she never saw him in person - only his German shepherd Blondie and his SS guards, who chatted with the women. And the Fuhrer's security fears were not unfounded. On July 20, 1944, a trusted colonel detonated a bomb in the Wolf's Lair in an attempt to kill him. He survived, but nearly 5,000 people were executed following the assassination attempt, including the bomber. 'We were sitting on wooden benches when we heard and felt an incredible big bang,' she said of the 1944 bombing. 'We fell off the benches, and I heard someone shouting "Hitler is dead!" But he wasn't.' Following the blast, tension rose around the headquarters. Woelk said the Nazis ordered her to leave her relatives' home and move into an abandoned school closer to the compound. With the Soviet army on the offensive and the war going badly for Germany, one of her SS friends advised her to leave the Wolf's Lair. She said she returned by train to Berlin and went into hiding. Woelk said the other women on the food tasting team decided to remain in Rastenburg since their families were all there and it was their home. 'Later, I found out that the Russians shot all of the 14 other girls,' she said. It was after Soviet troops overran the headquarters in January 1945. When she returned to Berlin, she found a city facing complete destruction. Round-the-clock bombing by U.S. and British planes was grinding the city centre to rubble. On April 20, 1945, Soviet artillery began shelling the outskirts of Berlin and ground forces pushed through towards the heart of the capital against strong resistance by die-hard SS and Hitler Youth fighters. Feast: Hitler and his officers sit at a table laden with fresh fruit and vegetables before the war . After about two weeks of heavy fighting, the city surrendered on May 2 - after Hitler, who had abandoned the Wolf's Lair about five months before, had committed suicide. His successor surrendered a week later, ending the war in Europe. For many Berlin civilians - their homes destroyed, family members missing or dead and food almost gone - the horror did not end with capitulation. 'The Russians then came to Berlin and got me, too,' Woelk said. 'They took me to a doctor's apartment and raped me for 14 consecutive days. That's why I could never have children. They destroyed everything.' Like millions of Germans and other Europeans, Woelk began rebuilding her life and trying to forget as best she could her bitter memories and the shame of her association with a criminal regime that had destroyed much of Europe. She worked in a variety of jobs, mostly as a secretary or administrative assistant. Her husband returned from the war but died 23 years ago, she said. With the frailty of advanced age and the lack of an elevator in her building, she has not left her apartment for the past eight years. Nurses visit several times a day, and a niece stops by frequently, she said. Now at the end of her life, she feels the need to purge the memories by talking about her story. 'For decades, I tried to shake off those memories,' she said. 'But they always came back to haunt me at night.'
### SUMMARY:
| Margot Woelk, then in her mid-twenties, spent .
two and a half years as one of 15 women who sampled vegetarian Hitler's food .
'Every day, we feared it was going to be our last meal,' she said .
Worked at Nazi HQ Wolf's Lair in Rastenburg where Fuhrer spent final years of WWII .
Margot fled to Berlin as Russians advanced on HQ - but her 14 fellow tasters were all shot by Soviets as they had chosen to remain in the area . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
It took Michelangelo four years and changed the tradition of Renaissance art forever. But one retired decorator, armed with a £2 book on painting from a car boot sale, has created his own version of the iconic Sistine Chapel ceiling and has one more room to go until he completes the entire building. Robert Burns has spent 10 years transforming his council house in Brighton to resemble the Pope's official residence in the Vatican city, which displays the efforts of Michelangelo and other Renaissance greats. And remarkably the 67-year-old has never seen the chapel which inspired his craft, or even visited Italy. Scroll down for video . Robert Burns has spent 10 years transforming his council home in Brighton room by room to decorate it in the style of the Sistine Chapel . He was inspired to create his own version of the ceiling painted by Italian artist Michelangelo after he got a book on Renaissance Art for £2 . 'I have done this all from books,' said father-of-three Mr Burns. 'I have never seen any of these paintings in situ. I never went to art classes, I just saw a guidebook to the Vatican and thought "this is amazing, I will have a go at making this."' 'The first few attempts were a bit iffy but I just painted over them. 'I am pretty quick now. I can paint a ceiling in a couple of weeks. 'I started painting my house this way 10 years ago when I bought a book about the Vatican City for £2 at a car boot sale. 'I loved the Renaissance artwork and was hooked start away - I didn't stop me that I've never been to Italy. Mr Burns said at first he did not like the Renaissance artwork in his home but he was encouraged by his wife and has decorated most rooms . The pensioner retired as an artist five years ago, giving him more time to focus on decorating his home and creating his own unique portraits . Mr Burns said he spends around six hours painting a day and can now complete a ceiling in just two weeks - a lot less than Michelangelo . The retired painter said his work is addictive and he keeps adding different pieces to his creations, such as his Renaissance-style ceiling . The Sistine Chapel ceiling, produced by Michelangelo, took four years and has seen around six million visitors a year flock to view it . 'When I first started I was working as a painter and decorator but I didn't like the Renaissance artwork in the house at first.' Mr Burns said he was encouraged to continue by his wife and has just one room left to complete at his three-bedroom home in East Sussex. It may have taken him longer than the four years Michelangelo spent painting the chapel's ceiling, but the decorator is hopeful his masterpiece will be completed by early next year. The ambitious painter has also added his own style to the transformation - with paintings of celebrities including chef Nigella Lawson and music mogul Simon Cowell. Mr Burns took his inspiration for the artwork in his home from a book he bought at a car boot sale (left) and has worked for the last 10 years . Mr Burns said he is proud of his efforts at his council home in Brighton and would now not consider moving home and leaving his works . His works throughout the 1960s terraced home in Brighton have transformed it and are in the style of Renaissance paintings . Mr Burns said he has been asked by friends, his three children and grandchildren when he will stop, but there is always something to add in . Every single room at the property in Brighton - even the bathroom has been meticulously decorated in the Renaissance style by the painter . Mr Burns said his last undecorated bedroom had been magnolia for the past five years and he had been hoping to finish it before Christmas for the arrival of three of his children and three grandchildren. He said: 'People have asked me what I will do when it is finished but Renaissance decoration was so over the top, I could just keep adding to them forever. 'I spend up to six hours a day painting in the house and I'm very proud to be living here. 'I hope to complete the whole house early next year and I don't plan on moving - unless I win the lottery.' Mr Burns' home includes his own unique twist on art, such as this portrait of celebrity chef Nigella hanging proudly in one of the rooms . Mr Burns has previously painted Russell Brand as Jesus (centre) and depicted Wayne Rooney in prayer (left), alongside his Nigella work (right) Signed paintings of Russell Brand as Jesus (left) and footballer Wayne Rooney praying (right) have earned Mr Burns his unique reputation . After news of his creations spread, Mr Burns revealed he was asked to redecorate a luxury mansion outside Horsham which took three months . Mr Burns has one remaining magnolia bedroom in his home which he plans to redecorate to complete the transformation of his entire house . Mr Burns retired as a painter and decorator five years ago, which has given him more time to focus on his own art. He has previously painted comedian Russell Brand as Jesus, football star Wayne Rooney in prayer and Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho as Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi. Mr Burns was also contacted by a Brighton millionaire in 2007 to redecorate the ballroom ceiling of his luxury mansion outside Horsham - which took three months to complete. The Sistine Chapel is in the Apostolic Palace, in the Vatican. Italian painter Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint the ceiling, which he completed between 1508 and 1512. He was originally commissioned to paint 12 apostles but demanded a free rein in the design for the scheme. The completed ceiling features a series of 9 paintings showing God's Creation of the World, God's Relationship with Mankind, and Mankind's Fall from God's Grace . Michelangelo returned between 1535 and 1541 to paint The Last Judgement on the wall behind the altar, and his works have drawn thousands of visitors to the chapel. Around six million visitors flock to see the impressive artwork of the Sistine Chapel every year, and numbers of guests are now limited . The side walls of the chapel are divided into three main tiers. Centrally there are two paintings, The Life of Moses and The Life of Christ. They were commissioned in 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV and executed by Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Cosimo Roselli and their workshops. The upper tier is also divided into two and features The Gallery of Popes and Lives. In 1515, Raphael was commissioned to design a series of ten tapestries to hang around the lower tier of the wall to depict the life of St Peter and St Paul. The works took four years to complete and were looted during the Sack of Rome in 1527. In the late 20th century a second set was assembled from other similar copies that had been produced at the time and hung in the chapel from 1983. Earlier this year it was revealed that the number of visitors to the Sistine Chapel will be restricted to 6 million a year to protect the delicate frescos.
### SUMMARY:
| Retired decorator Robert Burns spent 10 years redesigning his council home in Brighton in Renaissance art style .
He has painted rooms and ceiling in the style of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City and has one more room to go .
But the pensioner has never seen the Sistine Chapel or even visited Italy himself to see the real artwork .
He was inspired after he bought book on Renaissance Art and the Vatican City for just £2 at a car boot sale .
The grandfather hopes to have his creation finished by early next year and says he never wants to move house . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Master of disguise: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau points at the camera as he delivers one of his regular fanatical rants to the world . The man orchestrating the deadly Boko Haram massacres in Nigeria is a boastful lunatic who revels in slaughter and chaos and is a 'master of disguise'. Bloodthirsty Abubakar Shekau is one of the world’s most wanted men, with American authorities putting a $7million bounty on his head. Shekau – said to be to fluent in four languages – also operates under a variety of different names which has only increased the mystery surrounding his true identity. The elusive Islamist fanatic has led his brutal Boko Haram militants since 2009 into war in Africa, killing more than an estimated 16,225 people in that time. The latest outrage he has led was the massacre of an estimated 2,500 people in northern Nigeria when his thugs razed two towns. Last week, the terror group shocked the world when they are believed to have used girls as young as 10 as suicide bombers in two deadly attacks in northern Nigeria that killed at least 19 people. Experts claim psychotic Shekau rarely communicates directly with members of the terror group and instead deals only with a handful of confidantes - much like former Al Qaeda terror chief Osama bin Laden. Files on the US State Department of Justice claim he variously operates under identities that include Darul Tawheed, Abu Bakr Skikwa, Imam Abu Bakr Shiku, Abu Muhammad Abu Bakr Bin Muhammad Al Shakwi Al Muslimi Bishku and Abubakar Shakkau. Scroll down for video . Lunatic: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau rants in a still image taken from an undated video released by the Nigerian Islamist terror group . Mystery: Shekau operates under a number of different names, only adding to the mystery surrounding his true identity . Menace: Shekau glares at the camera as he delivers his chilling messages of terror to the world with a gun strapped to his chest . The four languages he speaks are listed as Arabic, Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri. Even his age remains unknown, with predictions between 38 and 49 believed to be most accurate. Shekau is believed to have a wife and three children, although their whereabouts also remain unknown. The Nigerian military has claimed several times to have killed the fanatic - only for him to appear in new videos proving he is still alive. After one recent claim, he appeared in video to taunt the military's claims and laughed: 'Here I am, alive. I will only die the day Allah takes my breath.' Boko Haram – which means ‘Western education is forbidden' in Arabic – have shocked the world with their merciless slaughter of innocent men, woman and children across the north of Nigeria. Shekau claimed leadership of the terror group in 2010, and was seen last week in a video praising the jihadists who murdered 17 people in the Paris attacks. He has been variously described as ‘fearless’, a ‘gangster’ and a ‘loner’, which security sources believe give him an air of invincibility which makes him extremely dangerous. The Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium has described Shekau as a ‘religious intellectual, yet also a gangster and vigilante as well as a mad leader’. Kidnap: A still image from a video where Shekau claimed Boko Haram were responsible for the kidnap of almost 300 schoolgirls . Innocent victims: Kidnapped schoolgirls are seen at an unknown location in this image taken from a video released by Boko Haram. The girls went missing in April 2014. Under Shekau’s leadership, Boko Haram has continually targeted young children. In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped close to 300 girls from their school in Chibok in Borno State in northern Nigeria. In a video message released three weeks later, Shekau claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, calling the girls slaves and threatening to sell them. He boasted: 'I abducted your girls. There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell.' Their disappearance prompted a social media campaign with #bringbackourgirls, which was supported by Michelle Obama, First Lady of the USA. Support: Michelle Obama supported the #bringbackourgirls campaign after the kidnap . Rumours also abound that Shekau escaped from the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri during the 1990s. The fanatic regularly appears in videos to taunt the Nigerian military over their failings to prevent his group’s killings. In one of Shekau's first videos, believed to have appeared online in 2012, the insurgent leader boasted of his bloodlust and said: ‘I enjoy killing...the way I enjoy slaughtering chickens and rams.’ It is believed the terrorist was born in Shekau village that borders Niger to poor farmer parents. They are then thought to have migrated south into northeast Nigeria. A religious young man, he studied basic Islamic theology, before focusing on more hardline Sunni ideology and becoming a preacher. In a 2012 interview, Grema Kawudima said Shekau was remembered as 'an easy-going fellow who would exchange banter with people in the neighbourhood. He was popular...a local theology student'. After his religious studies, he is then understood to have attended Borno State College of Legal and Islamic Studies for higher studies on Islam. He became increasingly radicalised and seized control of Boko Harem after founder Mohammed Yusuf was killed in a security crackdown on the terror group in 2009. Since then, Shekau has pursued a relentless campaign of terror as the group has strengthened its deadly grip in Nigeria. Recent satellite images from Amnesty International revealed the full scale of the devastation wreaked by Boko Haram when they slaughtered an estimated 2,500 people in the towns of Baga and Doron Baga in early January. In the pictures taken beforehand, the areas in red show buildings and trees in the densely packed towns in the north of the country. But in the pictures taken after the massacre, they have been decimated and the infra-red satellite images instead reveal grey areas where the militants savagely razed the towns. Daniel Eyre, Nigeria researcher for Amnesty International, said the attack was the 'largest and most destructive' Boko Haram assault his organisation has ever analysed. He added: 'These detailed images show devastation of catastrophic proportions in two towns, one of which was almost wiped off the map in the space of four days. 'It represents a deliberate attack on civilians whose homes, clinics and schools are now burnt out ruins.' Before: Infra-red images show the densely populated village of Doron Baga on January 2 - before the attack . After: This image taken on January 7, following Boko Haram's assault, shows the village transformed by death and destruction . Turmoil: map showing Nigeria and the location of Baga which was devastated by brutal Boko Haram fanatics .
### SUMMARY:
| Islamist fanatic Abubakar Shekau masterminding massacre in Nigeria .
Terror chief described as a 'gangster', 'loner' and 'mad leader'
Boasts that he 'enjoys killing' as group murders more than 16,000 people .
Appeared in recent video praising fellow jihadists for Paris killings .
Has a $7million bounty on his head for information to bring him to justice . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Asteroids contain hidden messages in their magnetic fields that could provide clues about the death of our planet. This is according to British scientists who have, for the first time, captured the dying moments a meteorite's magnetic field - a fate that could be shared with Earth. They unravelled the message by looking at tiny 'space magnets' in meteorites which retain a memory of the birth and death of the asteroid's core. British scientists have, for the first time, captured the dying moments a meteorite's magnetic field. The magnetic message contained within could provide clues to Earth's fate billions of years from now. The particular meteorites used for this study are known as pallasites (pictured), mostly made of iron and nickel . The readings, they say, provide a tantalising glimpse into how Earth's magnetic core will behave as it continues to freeze. This is of concern to scientists because the core affects the Earth's magnetic field, which has weakened by 15 per cent over the last 200 years. With a weakened magnetic field, the planet could be exposed to solar winds capable of punching holes into the ozone layer. The impact could be devastating for mankind, knocking out power grids, radically changing Earth's climate and eventually leading to the planet's demise. The magnetic field has weakened by 15 per cent over the last 200 years. With a weakened field, the planet could be exposed to solar winds capable of punching holes in the ozone layer (artist's impression pictured) Using a huge X-ray microscope, dubbed a synchrotron, scientists at Cambridge University decoded the message in meteorites. The Earth's core affects the planets magnetic field. As it freezes, the magnetic field weakens. The process has already begun. Recent research have found that the magnetic field has weakened by 15 per cent over the last 200 years. With a weakened magnetic field, the planet could be exposed to solar winds capable of punching holes into the ozone layer. The impact could be devastating for mankind, knocking out power grids, radically changing Earth's climate and eventually leading to the planet's demise. 'This is serious business', Richard Holme, Professor of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences at Liverpool University told MailOnline. 'Imagine for a moment your electrical power supply was knocked out for a few months – very little works without electricity these days.' The Earth's climate would change drastically. In fact, a recent Danish study believes global warming is directly related to the magnetic field rather than CO2 emissions. Radiation at ground level would also increase, with some estimates suggesting overall exposure to cosmic radiation would double causing more deaths from cancer. If the magnetic field continues to decline, over billions of years, Earth could end up like Mars - a once oceanic world that has become a dry, barren planet incapable of supporting life. 'Observing magnetic fields is one of the few ways we can peek inside a planet,' said Dr Richard Harrison of Cambridge's Department of Earth Sciences, who led the research. Many asteroids had liquid outer cores, like Earth's, that gave them their own magnetic fields. Just as Earth will in a billion years, the asteroids then cooled down until their cores were solid, a process which killed their magnetic fields. 'It's long been assumed that metal-rich meteorites have poor magnetic memories, since they are primarily composed of iron, which has a terrible memory – you wouldn't ever make a hard drive out of iron, for instance. 'It was thought that the magnetic signals carried by metal-rich meteorites would have been written and rewritten many times during their lifetime, so no-one has ever bothered to study their magnetic properties in any detail.' The particular meteorites used for this study are known as pallasites, which are mostly made up of iron and nickel, studded with gem-quality silicate crystals. Contained within these unassuming chunks of iron however, are tiny particles just 100 nanometres across – about one thousandth the width of a human hair. These are made of a unique magnetic mineral called tetrataenite, which is magnetically much more stable than the rest of the meteorite, and holds a message going back billions of years. 'We're taking ancient magnetic field measurements in nanoscale materials to the highest ever resolution in order to piece together the magnetic history of asteroids – it's like a cosmic archaeological mission,' said PhD student James Bryson, the paper's lead author. The study changes scientist's perspective on the way magnetic fields were generated during the early life of the solar system. In their meteorites, scientists have been able to capture both the beginning and the end of core freezing. 'It's like a cosmic archaeological mission,' said James Bryson. Pictured is the Gemind meteor shower . These meteorites came from asteroids created in the first few million years after the formation of the solar system. At that time, planetary bodies were heated by radioactive decay to temperatures hot enough to cause them to melt and segregate into a liquid metal core surrounded by a rocky mantle. Tiny particles, smaller than one thousandth the width of a human hair, are trapped within the metal of meteorites. These tiny pieces of metal have retained the magnetic signature of the parent asteroid from its birth in the early solar system. They reveal the process by which the asteroid's core froze, killing its magnetic field. It's a process that is happening on a much larger scale to Earth. In their meteorites, scientists have been able to capture both the beginning and the end of core freezing. The information will help them understand how these processes affected the Earth in the past and provide a possible glimpse of what might happen in the future. Scientists now think that the Earth's core only began to freeze relatively recently in geological terms, maybe less than a billion years ago. How this freezing has affected the Earth's magnetic field is not known. As their cores cooled and began to freeze, the swirling motions of liquid metal, generated a magnetic field, just as the Earth does today. 'It's funny that we study other bodies in order to learn more about the Earth,' said Professor Bryson. 'Since asteroids are much smaller than the Earth, they cooled much more quickly, so these processes occur on shorter timescales, enabling us to study the whole process of core solidification.' Scientists now think that the Earth's core only began to freeze relatively recently in geological terms, maybe less than a billion years ago. How this freezing has affected the Earth's magnetic field is not known. 'In our meteorites we've been able to capture both the beginning and the end of core freezing, which will help us understand how these processes affected the Earth in the past and provide a possible glimpse of what might happen in the future,' said Professor Harrison. However, the Earth's core is freezing rather slowly. The solid inner core is getting bigger, and eventually the liquid outer core will disappear, killing the Earth's magnetic field, which protects us from the sun's radiation. 'There's no need to panic just yet, however,' said Professor Harrison. 'The core won't completely freeze for billions of years, and chances are, the sun will get us first.' Using an intense beam of x-rays to image the nanoscale magnetisation of the meteoritic metal, researchers led by the University of Cambridge were able to capture the precise moment when the core of the meteorite’s parent asteroid froze. The measurements were made by the Bessy II synchrotron in Berlin (pictured)
### SUMMARY:
| Scientists have captured dying moments of meteorite's magnetic field .
Tiny metal particles revealed magnetic signature of its parent asteroid .
This signature provides clues on how the asteroid's core once froze .
A similar process is happening to Earth's core over billions of years .
If core freezes, Earth will lose its magnetic field and end up like Mars .
Scientists are now analysing the process to determine planet's fate . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
The BBC pays 11 of its most senior bosses twice as much as the Prime Minister, it emerged yesterday. A further 80 executives take home more than David Cameron’s £142,500-a-year salary. When many of the corporation’s staff have seen annual pay rises of little more than 1 per cent, the 91 bosses are taking home a combined £19million a year including bonuses. MPs said the figures would make hard-pressed families question the licence fee especially when programmes are facing the axe. Scroll down for video . BBC director general Lord Hall, pictured, earns £450,000-a-year, according to recently published information . BBC head of radio, Helen Boaden, pictured, is paid £352,900, while Charlotte Moore, right, is on £240,000 . Top earners include Director-General Lord Hall, who earns £450,000, Anne Bulford, managing director of finance and operations, who is paid £395,000, and Peter Salmon, Director of England, who takes home £375,000. The figures do not cover on-air stars, 39 of whom are paid more than £250,000 a year. Managing director for finance and operations, Anne Bulford, pictured, earns £395,000-a-year . These include Graham Norton, who is reportedly paid £2.6million for presenting his BBC1 and Radio2 shows, and Match of the Day host Gary Lineker, who is said to take home as much as £2million. Even Paul Hollywood is paid a better wage than the Prime Minister, earning £300,000 for his work on The Great British Bake Off and its various spin-offs. Tory MP Philip Davies said: ‘The BBC has recently said they have cut their senior management to the bone and there are no more savings to be made there but it’s only at the BBC where you could cut senior management to the bone and end up with more people paid more than the Prime Minister than before you started. ‘It’s just extraordinary and goes to show how much fat there is. ‘What the BBC should do is be cutting out all of these managers, most of who if they disappeared no one would notice, and start delivering some value for money to the licence fee payer.’ Angie Bray, a Tory member of the Commons culture committee alongside Mr Davies, said: ‘It will be difficult for the BBC to continue to feel loved by the public if it continues to put licence payers’ money on salaries rather than on what people want them to spend the money on, which is good programming. ‘It does make it difficult for everybody to go on justifying this kind of funding if it’s just disappearing into managers’ pockets.’ The number of BBC staff earning the entry level pay grade fell by nearly 3,000 between June 1995 and this year. Those in the top pay grade increased by almost 100, from 328 to 426 over the same timespan. An efficiency report published last week said the BBC has made savings of £1.1billion and would save a further £400million annually by 2016/17. Prime Minister David Cameron, pictured, receives an annual salary of £142,000 for running the country . Stars: Graham Norton is believed to earn around £2.5million from the BBC and Gary Lineker, pictured with wife Danielle, around £1.5million . Miss Bulford said no more savings could be made through cuts to pay, staff and property and that ‘tough choices’ would have to be made over which services were sacrificed. Through the licence fee, the BBC collected more than £3.762billion tax free last year, an increase of £70million from the previous 12 months. A BBC spokesman said: ‘Overall we have saved over £150million per year on pay and head count; reduced the number and pay bill of senior managers by more than a third; reduced talent pay by £35million since 2008; and we have cut the number of buildings in the UK and overseas – all helping to us save £1.1billion a year.’ The figures on the salary structure were obtained from the BBC website and through a freedom of information request. Tony Hall, Director General - £450,000. Took the top job at the BBC after being chief executive of the Royal Opera House. Previously he ran BBC News and launched Radio 5, News 24, BBC News Online and BBC Parliament. Anne Bulford, Managing director for finance and operations - £395,000. Lord Hall appointed his former colleague to a top post at the corporation without the job being advertised. Peter Salmon, below right, Director, England - £387,900. Joined as a trainee in 1981 and rose to run BBC1 before taking his current role. Helen Boaden, below left, Director, BBC Radio - £352,900. As a result of the Savile scandal, Ms Boaden was forced out of her previous job, head of BBC news, where she was in charge for seven years, after being criticised for her poor management skills. She was appointed BBC radio chief instead. James Harding, below centre, Director of News and Current Affairs - £340,000. Former editor of The Times Newspaper, Mr Harding took over the post which was vacated by Helen Boaden. Danny Cohen, below right, Director TV - £327,800. Former BBC 1 controller was also in charge of BBC3, where he commissioned Snog, Marry Avoid and Hotter Than My Daughter. Defending his salary recently he said: 'The executives continue to be well-paid, but if we went to commercial organisations we'd be paid roughly double'. Bal Samra, Commercial Director - £322,800. Also has the title of Managing Director TV. Once claimed £1,100 expenses on a ‘thank you meal’ for 22 colleagues to mark the end of a project. Ralph Rivera, Director, future Media - £309,000. American-born executive is in charge of BBC interactive and BBC online. James Purnell, below left, Director, Strategy and Digital - £295,000. Former Labour MP and Cabinet minister.He served as both Culture and Work and Pensions Secretary under Gordon Brown. Mr Purnell previously worked at the BBC as head of corporate planning from 1995 to 1997 under former director general Lord Birt. Valerie Hughes D'aeth, below left, Director HR - £295,000. HR boss joined in August. Alan Yentob, below right, Creative Director - £183,000 - plus £150,000 for presenting role. Last year Yentob justified his own pay by saying he was ‘valuable’ to the BBC because of his ‘relationship with talent’ and ‘understanding of the networks and the schedules’.
### SUMMARY:
| Eleven BBC executives earn twice as much as David Cameron's salary .
And 91 bosses at the corporation earn more than PM's £142,000 .
But new data does not reveal the salaries of stars earning up to £2.5m .
BBC director general Lord Hall has an annual package worth £450,000 .
Head of radio Helen Boaden earns £352,900 according to new figures .
Her colleague BBC 1 controller Charlotte Moore is paid £240,000 .
Executive BBC salary bill estimated to be at least £90million a year . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Gulfport, Mississippi (CNN) -- Ben Stone knows quite a bit about disasters. Five years ago, a 28-foot storm surge from Hurricane Katrina flattened his house and almost wiped out his hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi. Now, if a rapidly growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico comes ashore -- as some expect -- Stone will be able to see it from the front porch of his newly-built house. "You can get mad about this," he said. "I'm very disturbed about it." Like residents along the coast of Alabama and Florida Panhandle, it is a waiting game for Gulfport. Already a heavy smell of oil hung over the Mississippi beaches. "This could not have happened at a worse time in our history," said John Kelly, the town's chief administrative officer. The city has undertaken half a billion dollars in new construction since Katrina. Of that, $30 million is being spent on developing the harbor -- the third largest container port on the Gulf Coast. "Well, it if it threatens the commercial sea lanes, that's a concern because if ships don't come in and ships aren't able to go out, that stops commerce," said Donald Allee, the CEO of Mississippi State Port Authority. Equipment operator Daniel Schepens knows all too well what that will mean. After Katrina, he was out of work for a month. He is worried the fallout from the spill could be worse. "No ships, the warehouses are empty, no trucks, no imports, no exports," he said. Federal officials closed a portion of the northern Gulf of Mexico to fishing Sunday, curtailing a billion-dollar business as high winds and choppy seas hampered efforts to corral a rapidly growing oil spill. The spill cast a pall over the annual Blessing of the Fleet in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, one of many towns that make their living from the Gulf. Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana attended a boat blessing in St. Bernard, Louisiana, where fishermen have observed the tradition for decades to usher in the shrimp season. "Louisianians are resilient and understand that in times like these, it is our traditions that tie us closer together and provide the strength we need to face the challenges ahead," he said. "This tragic oil spill has reminded everyone about the valuable connection between our residents and our wildlife, fisheries and coastline." In Venice, Louisiana, a rain-spattered President Obama told reporters his administration has launched a "relentless response" to the spill, but said the problem might not be solved for "many days." A ruptured undersea well off Louisiana is spewing about 210,000 gallons (5,000 barrels) of crude a day into the Gulf of Mexico, and efforts to shut off the flow have been unsuccessful since the late April explosion that sank the drill rig Deepwater Horizon. The leading edge of the slick has grown closer to the coast of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Adm. Thad Allen, the commandant of the Coast Guard, told CNN's "State of the Union" that the slick was still nine miles off the Louisiana coast, but seas of 6 to 10 feet have made deploying booms to fend the spill off the coast "somewhat problematic." Oil giant BP, which owns the well at the heart of the problem, said it had prepared massive boxes to be lowered over the leak points, but deploying them would take about a week. The minimum 10-day fishing restriction imposed Sunday by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration covers an area between the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana to the waters off Florida's Pensacola Bay. "Balancing economic and health concerns, this order closes just those areas that are affected by oil," NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said in a statement announcing the decision. "There should be no health risk in seafood currently in the marketplace." The Gulf Coast's commercial fishing industry brings in about $2.4 billion to the region. Thomas Rodi, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Mobile, officiated at Sunday's event in Bayou La Batre and said the spill could have "widespread effects" on the area -- "not only the livelihood of people, but an entire way of life." Among those taking part in the blessing was Maurice Ryan, who said, "You have to put your trust in someone." "I really feel like, with the church and the bishop, I've got my life in good hands," Ryan said. "BP certainly isn't helping me." The oil spill started April 20, after an explosion on BP contractor Transocean Ltd.'s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform that left 11 men presumed dead. About 1.6 million gallons of oil have spilled since the explosion, the Coast Guard said. "This event is a self-feeding fire," said Richard Charter of the environmental group Defenders of Wildlife. "It is so big and expanding so fast that it's pretty much beyond human response that can be effective." The spill will have "a multidecade impact" -- a "long-term poisoning" of the area, he said. Booms were strung across the mouths of delta estuaries in Louisiana and inlets along the Mississippi coast. In Alabama, National Guard troops helped lay them out off Dauphin Island, at the southern end of Mobile Bay. In Pascagoula, Mississippi, a steady stream of customers stocked up on bags of freshly boiled crawfish, oysters and shrimp. The weekend trade was good, but owner Keith Delcambre said he was worried about the future if the oil slick hits the coast. "All I know is seafood," he said while sorting crawfish in a small workroom behind the kitchen. "I don't know what we'll do if this hits. It feels like a hurricane is coming, but what can you do to stop oil?" The cause of the blast on the Deepwater Horizon remains unknown. BP says a device known as a "blowout preventer" failed and has not responded to repeated attempts to activate it using remotely operated submarines. Frustration with BP was growing across the Gulf states, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has said the company's response has been inadequate. But BP America's president, Lamar McKay, told ABC's "This Week" that its focus "is dealing with the source of the oil, dealing with it on the surface, and dealing with it on the beach or the marsh if it occurs." McKay said the company has built a containment system to prevent the leaking oil from spreading. But it may take another six to eight days to deploy that system, which is made up primarily of massive boxes designed to capture the crude. BP spokeswoman Marti Powers said the company is trying to use remote-controlled submarines to shut off the well at the ocean floor, about 5,000 feet below the surface, and spreading dispersants on and under the water to break up the slick. The company has put out about 300,000 feet -- roughly 60 miles -- of floating booms to keep the oil away from ecologically sensitive shorelines, she said. But she said efforts to skim oil off the surface were put off because of bad weather. "We're hampered because the weather is so bad. Some of the vessels can't get out," she said. "So that slows us down a little bit. But they are still making the effort. We did get some photos back this morning that showed quite a bit of success." CNN's David Mattingly, Brian Todd, Sarah Hoye, Mark Biello and Richard Lui contributed to this report.
### SUMMARY:
| Heavy smell of oil already hangs over Mississippi beaches .
A portion of the northern Gulf of Mexico is closed to fishing .
BP said it has prepared massive boxes to capture leaking oil . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- Actor Wendell Pierce's biggest role today is running the Pontchartrain Park Community Development Corp., which is hard at work trying to rebuild the New Orleans neighborhood devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Pierce was one of the stars of HBO's "The Wire" and most recently played a jazz trombone player in "Treme," HBO's look at New Orleans after Katrina. He talked to CNN about what it's like trying to revive "the Park." Pontchartrain Park was featured in Soledad O'Brien's "CNN In America's New Orleans Rising." CNN: Tell me about the neighborhood where you grew up. WENDELL PIERCE: Pontchartrain Park started in 1952 as a result of the civil rights movement. It was the only place where blacks were allowed during segregation to purchase post-World War II homes. Two hundred acres were given over to a golf course, with 1,000 homes around it, multidenominational churches, a university and schools. We refer to it as "the Park," but I've described it as the black Mayberry. Although separate but equal, my parents' generation created something that was bucolic. It was great. It was an incubator for talent. ... It was not only an idyllic place to grow up, there were also high expectations. It was expected that everyone would go to college. In the middle of it was this wonderful golf course created by Joseph Bartholomew, who did most of the golf courses in New Orleans but couldn't play on any of them. CNN: What was it like when you first saw Pontchartrain Park after Katrina? PIERCE: It was devastation. We thought the neighborhood would never come back. And then I realized there was too much history. It was one of the most stable neighborhoods in the United States: 90 percent home ownership, less than 10 percent poverty in a city with 80 percent, no crime. I put out a call to action to people in my generation. Too many people suffered and protested and worked too hard to create Pontchartrain Park. We're not going to let this one incident destroy it. CNN: How is your initiative to bring it back going? PIERCE: It's going great. Some movement is happening with transfer of properties to us. We stand in line to get something like 250 properties, and we are up to 20 or 25 now. We put up our model homes, which are geothermal and solar. We have 200 people in line to purchase homes, and that's before any marketing. Getting the [rebuilding] money is what's holding it up. We have the properties, the homes; we have people qualified with the bank, and we are still trying to access the money. That's the last difficult step. The money to assist people comes through the state. But they keep changing the rules and the qualifications and the goal-lines all the time. So it isn't appropriated. That's because the state is hostile to the city and is trying to reappropriate the money to other parts of the state and not to the city of New Orleans. That's the political fight that you have to constantly have. Three billion dollars has been appropriated [to rebuild after Katrina] and hasn't been spent in five years and that's because there's an agenda supported by many that don't want people to move back. CNN: What are the conditions in New Orleans now? PIERCE: Right now in New Orleans, it's worse than the week of the storm. We're talking about people who own their property and who didn't receive any insurance. My parents had Allstate insurance, and they got $400 after paying premiums for 50 years. It was criminal, a criminal action. So you have people who own their property, like my parents did, whose insurance policies were not recognized. And there's $3 billion to assist them to get back in their homes, and the state is not doing anything to help them out. Why hasn't it been used? Because it's a concerted effort to reappropriate the money and keep the poor and black people out. Let's put it this way. There is no large-scale redevelopment plan by any governmental entity in Louisiana, five years after Katrina. The only large-scale thing they did was to destroy public housing and get rid of a large population of minority people and the poor. There are no large-scale initiatives. Mine is one of the largest. We plan to do 550 [homes in the Park]; compare that with the fact there are 30,000 to 50,000 blighted properties here. There is a concerted effort to redistrict the city, a concerted effort to keep thousands of people out, change the demographics of the city and hope people give up on a mass scale. In times of crisis like this, we see the best and the worst of people. It's a reminder we are not far off from the days when the ugliest aspects of the country were made into law, so it can so easily go right back into it. CNN: So who's moving into Pontchartrain Park? PIERCE: We have everyone imaginable; we have elderly, we have young couples trying to get in, we have 80-year-olds trying to get back into their properties. This is a close-knit community. Who's moving in? Look in the mirror, and that's who's in Pontchartrain Park. No matter who you are, young or old, it's a diverse group of people, a predominantly African-American community that's been stable ever since it was constructed. Meet some residents of Pontchartrain Park . CNN: The government's not rebuilding New Orleans. Do you think grass-roots groups will bring New Orleans back? PIERCE: While the government does not have a plan, it is the citizens who came to government and worked with them to lead them to reconstituting the neighborhoods. The Lower 9th and St. Bernard neighborhoods were harder hit; they have further to go. This is happening all over the city. That's the saddest part. What surprised me the most [when I began this] was the lack of skill and competence on the government's part to know how to put this together, and how strong the effort to stop people from moving back to New Orleans is. CNN: What do you mean when you talk about "onesies and twosies"? PIERCE: It's no good to build one or two houses in a city that has 50,000 blighted properties. Like, this church group says "We're doing three houses right here," a business group says it's doing two houses there, then "I'm a contractor; I've got three houses over here." We need large-scale development. My group is not put together to do a hundred houses. Our goal is 7,000 in the city, about 550 in the Park. CNN: Did the HBO show "Treme" capture the real New Orleans? PIERCE: Well -- you can't tell all the stories; there are so many, so you can't please everybody -- but there is an authenticity to our show. It's true and real. Of all the shows about the city, this comes the closest to being authentic. CNN: You play a jazz musician in "Treme" and do lots of numbers. Do you really play the trombone? PIERCE: Yes, I do play the trombone, but I play very poorly, so they turn my mic off, and my sound double plays. But I learned every song, and I'm getting better!
### SUMMARY:
| Wendell Pierce grew up in Pontchartrain Park, an idyllic community ruined by Katrina .
He runs initiative to rebuild community but frustrated with government inaction .
Pierce says holdup in funding housing is effort to keep poor, minorities from returning .
Pierce: "There is a concerted effort ... to change the demographics of the city" |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- The mysterious visitor stands in a patch of scrubland in Somalia, surrounded by Islamic militants wielding AK-47s. His face is covered by a white-and-red headscarf; he is slim and seems young. But there is something puzzling about him: His skin is fair, and when he speaks in an audio recording, his English is near perfect and spoken with a North American accent. The militants -- belonging to Al-Shabaab -- say his name is Abu Abdulla Almuhajir (the foreigner). And they say he is an envoy from the al Qaeda leader, Ayman al Zawahiri, thousands of miles away in Pakistan. Almuhajir has turned up in the desolate scrubland, they say, to offer al Qaeda's help with famine relief. Photographs show him at what appears to be an aid camp that Al-Shabaab claims it has set up for victims of the famine. The recording says he is delivering aid that al Qaeda had purportedly collected, including food, clothing and $12,000 converted into Somali currency. A video showing the images and audio recording was posted to Islamist websites last week. U.S. counter-terrorism agencies are still trying to ascertain Almuhajir's identity and whether he really was an al Qaeda envoy -- about which there is some doubt. The event, at which a large group of Somalis were shown sitting crossed-legged on the ground, was clearly a propaganda ploy by Al-Shabaab to boost its popularity -- and that of the al Qaeda brand. International aid agencies have sharply criticized the group for banning or obstructing aid in areas in central and southern Somalia worst hit by the famine. The group's brutal imposition of Taliban-like practices in territory under its control has also alienated many Somalis. If authentic, the event suggests a strengthening of the relationship between hard-line factions of Al-Shabaab and al Qaeda. Though factions of the group have long been allied with al Qaeda and share its vision of global jihad, the video of the meeting would be a rare demonstration of such ties. The so-called emissary told his Somali audience that al Qaeda felt their pain and urged Muslims to support Al-Shabaab, which is fighting Somalia's government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic law. He also recalled Osama bin Laden's long interest in Somalia, saying he "played a major role in repelling invading forces of the Muslim land in Somalia." And Almuhajir promised that al Qaeda's new leader, Zawahiri, would continue that support. "In a recent release, Sheikh Ayman brought the drought in Somalia to the attention of the Muslim Ummah (or global Muslim community) and encouraged them to support their brothers in Somalia," he said. Western counter-terrorism analysts have been puzzling over the identity of "the foreigner." Several Americans and Canadians are believed to have joined al Qaeda in Pakistan in recent years and risen through the group's hierarchy. The most prominent has been Oregon-born Adam Gadahn, 33, al Qaeda's English-language spokesman who joined forces with the group around a decade ago. But counter-terrorism analysts say that Gadahn's voice (and waistline) is very different from that of the mysterious al Qaeda envoy pictured in the Al-Shabaab video. Another candidate is Adnan Shukrijumah, 36, an American citizen born in Saudi Arabia who spent much of his youth in New York and South Florida, who joined al Qaeda around the time of 9/11 and rose up the ranks to become a planner for the group's external operations. But the envoy appears to have fairer skin than Shukrijumah. And then there is Jude Kenan Mohammed, 22, from Raleigh, North Carolina. He is believed to be still at large in Pakistan after leaving the United States in October 2008 to allegedly wage jihad. Just after he arrived, he was arrested by Pakistani officials, charged with weapons possession and released on bail. The following year, he failed to show up to his court hearing, suggesting he may have slipped into tribal areas. It may be that the whole event was manufactured in an effort to bolster Al-Shabaab's credentials after a series of military setbacks. Sending an al Qaeda envoy from Pakistan to Somalia -- especially a Caucasian -- would be risky. And there are more than a dozen North Americans (from both the U.S. and Canada) who have gravitated to Somalia to wage jihad in recent years, among them Abu Mansoor al-Amriki. The 27-year old from Alabama, whose real name is Omar Hammami, has produced Al-Shabaab hip-hop videos in an effort to extend the group's appeal to English-speaking youths. Despite several unconfirmed reports that he had been killed, Hammami remains on the FBI's most-wanted list. But his voice is not an obvious match to that of the mysterious al Qaeda envoy. Al-Shabaab still controls most of central and southern Somalia, and has recently shown ambitions to take its campaign beyond Somalia's borders. In July 2010, the group carried out a pair of deadly bombings in Kampala, Uganda, killing more than 70 people. it was the first attack the group launched outside Somalia, and was in retaliation, Al-Shabaab claimed, for Uganda's deployment of peace support forces in Somalia. In September, the U.S. Africa Command warned that Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram in Nigeria and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb were trying to synchronize their efforts to launch attacks on U.S and Western interests, but had yet to show a significant capability to export terror. There is also evidence, according to Western intelligence officials, of cooperation between Al-Shabaab and the al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen. But within Somalia, the group is under growing pressure. It has been pushed from its last redoubts in the capital, Mogadishu, even though it retains the ability to launch suicide bombings in the city. And in recent weeks, Kenya has accused Al-Shabaab of kidnapping Western tourists and aid workers in northern Kenya, allegations which the Somali group denies. Kenyan troops have launched a cross-border operation against Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia with the apparent intention of setting up a buffer zone across the border. That's prompted the threat of retaliatory strikes inside Kenya. "The Kenyan public must understand that the impetuous decision by their troops to cross the border into Somalia will not be without severe repercussions," the group said in a news release in English on Monday. Somalia analysts view this threat as real but believe Al-Shabaab will carefully weigh the costs and benefits of any such reprisal. The Somali group has an extensive presence in Nairobi -- home to a quarter-million Somali refugees -- and operates a network of safe houses in the city. "They could easily tear apart Nairobi, but they've done nothing there at all because they realize this is their golden egg," said Michael Taarnby, an Al-Shabaab expert at the University of Central Florida.
### SUMMARY:
| Recording, images on Islamist websites purport to show fair-skinned man fluent in English .
Al-Shabaab militants say he's from al Qaeda leader al Zawahiri, in Somalia to dispense aid .
Event suggests a strengthening of ties between Al-Shabaab and al Qaeda hard-liners .
But the identitiy of the man hasn't been determined, and the event may be a ploy . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Who knew what, and when? Some congressional Democrats are calling for an investigation into controversial CIA interrogation techniques. Those questions, focused on recently released Bush-era CIA memos detailing "enhanced interrogations" of suspected al Qaeda members -- are now being posed inside the Beltway, as calls by Democrats for an independent investigation into torture allegations have become louder. House Minority Leader John Boehner said Thursday that the release of what he described as the "torture" memos is politically motivated. "Last week, they [Obama administration] released these memos outlining torture techniques. That was clearly a political decision and ignored the advice of their Director of National Intelligence [Dennis Blair] and their CIA director [Leon Panetta]," Boehner said. The Ohio Republican pointed out that he saw a partial list of the number of members of the House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans "who were briefed on these interrogation methods and not a word was raised at the time, not one word." Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Michigan, also blasted concerns being raised by Democrats. "Only now that we have a new administration are people coming out who were aware of these programs saying wait a minute, these were terrible programs. In reality, two, three years ago, they signed off on it, they voted for legislation that funded these programs, and now all of a sudden these are terrible practices," he said. But when asked whether or not she raised objections to the interrogation measures at the time, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- a then-ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee -- vehemently said "we were not, I repeat, we were not told that waterboarding or other enhanced methods were used." "What they did tell us is that they had some legislative counsel ... but not that they would. And that further, further the point was that if an when they would be used they would brief Congress at that time," she added. President Obama has called waterboarding -- which simulates drowning -- torture, and has defended releasing the CIA memos. One memo showed that CIA interrogators used waterboarding at least 266 times on suspected al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Earlier this week, Obama left open the possibility of criminal prosecution Tuesday for former Bush administration officials who drew up the legal basis for aggressive interrogation techniques many view as torture. Obama said it will be up to Attorney General Eric Holder to decide whether or not to prosecute the former officials. Prosecutions of CIA interrogators carrying out Justice Department orders would not, however, be prosecuted, according to Obama and Holder. Sen. Jay Rockefeller said he agreed that CIA operatives shouldn't face prosecution, but is "not prepared to say the same for the senior Bush administration officials who authorized or directed these policies in the first place." "The focus for right now should be on finding the facts," the West Virginia Democrat added. Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has said that he wants a commission of inquiry to look into the matter. "We must take a thorough accounting of what happened, not to move a partisan agenda, but to own up to what was done in the name of national security, and to learn from it," he said. But the Senate's top Democrat said Thursday that it's important for both Democrats and Republicans to take a step back and let the appropriate investigation take place. Majority Leader Harry Reid said while he doesn't support an independent "truth commission" to look into the affair, he does want the Senate Intelligence Committee to take the lead. "I think it would be very unwise from my perspective to start having commissions, boards, tribunals until we find out what the facts are. I don't know a better way to get the facts than through the intelligence committee," he said. That position puts Reid at odds with Pelosi, who said Thursday that, "I have always been for a truth commission." Earlier this week, the Senate Armed Services Committee released a 230-page report detailing interrogation tactics used at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq -- and the methods employed at Guantanamo Bay. The report showed that top Bush administration officials gave the CIA approval to use waterboarding, a controversial interrogation technique, as early as 2002. "These are 230 pages of facts as to how abusive techniques were used, what I consider to be abominable legal opinions were written to justify those techniques," Chairman Carl Levin, D-Michigan, told CNN. Read more on the report . Levin now wants the Department of Justice to investigate exactly what happened -- something Obama called for on Tuesday. On Thursday afternoon, Holder told a House committee on the memo prosecution question, "I will not permit the criminalization of policy differences." But, he said, "it is my responsibility as the attorney general to enforce the law. It is my duty to enforce the law. If I see evidence of wrongdoing I will pursue it to the fullest extent of the law and I will do that in an appropriate way." Other Democrats are calling for criminal inquiries to be held. "It is the duty of the United States under the law to at least have an investigation," Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-New York, said. Democratic leadership sources say, however, that strong GOP resistance makes that a hard sell. Reid insisted that despite calls for investigations and even prosecutions to take place, there is no Democratic divide. "Justice must be served. Retribution ought not be what were talking about," he added. Resistance has begun to show -- coming from a top Senate Republican. Sen. John McCain -- a Vietnam War P.O.W. who was tortured -- has been a vocal opponent of the practice. But on Wednesday, he told reporters that it's important for the country to move forward. "If we prosecute individuals for providing their best recommendation to the president of the United States, it will have a chilling effect from now on," the Arizona Republican said. iReport.com:Share your take on torture . McCain -- along with Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, and Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina -- on Wednesday sent a letter to Obama strongly urging him not to prosecute government officials who provided legal advice related to detainee interrogations. "Pursuing such prosecutions would, we believe, have serious negative effects on the candor with which officials in any administration provide their best advice, and would take our country in a backward-looking direction at a time when our detainee-related challenges demand that we look forward," they said in the letter. The senators' concerns are also being echoed by Obama's defense secretary, who warns of the consequences abroad. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that he was is concerned with the "potential backlash" in the Middle East and in the war zones. He said the release might have a negative impact on the troops. But Gates said with all the congressional investigations being released and lawsuits, the release of the memos was going to happen. "There is a certain inevitability that much of this will eventually come out," Gates said. "Pretending that we could hold all this and keep it all a secret, even if we wanted to, I think was probably unrealistic." CNN's Dana Bash and Time's Mark Thompson contributed to this report.
### SUMMARY:
| President Obama recently released CIA documents on "enhanced interrogations"
New report shows that top Bush officials signed off on the controversial methods .
Democrats are calling for investigations into Bush officials .
Republicans insist that Democrats in Congress knew what was happening . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- It still makes Fatoma Dia's eyes widen whenever the Hilton hotel cleaning worker sees a bar of barely used soap on a bathroom counter. "This," she says, picking it up with a gloved hand and dropping it in a brown bucket, "is valuable where I come from." The 35-year-old grew up in a mountainous region of southern Sudan where soap can cost more than a day's wages. Because some in the region, could not wash, they got sick. Across the globe, 2.4 billion people do not have access to clean sanitation, according to the World Health Organization. An estimated 1.5 million children die every year because their immune systems are not mature enough to battle diarrheal and respiratory diseases spread in contaminated environments. Sicknesses related to contaminated water supplies and poor human hygiene tend to plague poorer regions in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South America, East Asia and the Caribbean. Water-borne illnesses such as cholera can hit countries suddenly, particularly in the wake of a natural disaster where there is little infrastructure previously in place to handle sustainable cleanup and recovery. A recent example is Haiti. Hit by an earthquake in January 2010, many Haitians were forced to live in tent camps and use water that was contaminated. Incidents of cholera plagued the country, a problem that continues today. Politically vulnerable nations or countries in the grip of war are also breeding grounds for sickness caused by poor sanitation. Illness tends to spread quicker when people are forced into cramped and overcrowded refugee camps where there are few bathrooms or none at all. Dia, who says she was the victim of religious persecution in Sudan, came to the U.S. several years ago. Her immigration liaison connected her with a job cleaning hotel rooms. In her home country, she personally had access to soap. But coming from a place with little sanitation to a hotel that observed a spick-and-span ethos was strange. "It may be hard for people here to understand because it is so easy to wash, everything is here for you, you don't ever think about it," she said. "Keep in mind that what you do every day may be the biggest task of the day for someone else." Each day she works, Dia takes a little extra time during her shift to retrieve all gently used bars of soap in each room. She and other cleaning staff at this Hilton typically collect several hundred pounds of soap each month. The nonprofit Global Soap Project, which works with more than 300 hotels across the country, relies on their hard work and many other volunteers to pick up those heavy hauls and deliver it to a reprocessing location near Atlanta, where the soap is stripped, cleaned, reprocessed and then tested to make sure there is no trace of bacteria left. The bars are then cut into smaller pieces and shipped to nations such as Haiti, Kenya, Swaziland and Uganda. The founder of the Global Soap Project, Derreck Kayongo, is a Ugandan war refugee and one of the Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2011. "I was shocked just to know how much (soap) at the end of the day was thrown away," Kayongo said. Each year, hundreds of millions of soap bars are discarded in North America alone. "Are we really throwing away that much soap at the expense of other people who don't have anything? It just doesn't sound right." Children are key . In recent years, international health organizations, including WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have had success facilitating better sanitation in needy regions and teaching people the importance of basic hand washing. Since July 2010, more than 40 countries and regions have started hand hygiene campaigns, according to the WHO. "It seems so simple, soap and water. But imagine never being taught how to do that," said Dr. Eric Mintz, who leads the Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Epidemiology team at the CDC. "Washing hands is an afterthought for us. But at some point in American history, in the early part of the century, we had to build and improve our water infrastructure." Mintz has worked in the field of water-borne illnesses for 22 years, specializing in the treatment of cholera, dysentery and typhoid fever. He has been part of projects to build latrines in villages in Kenya and Haiti. He also participated in a campaign in Kenya where school teachers encouraged students to learn how to wash their hands by making it seem cool to join a hand washing club. The children were sent home with comic books that explained when and how to wash in the hope that the kids would teach their parents. "Children are often much more receptive than their parents or other adults because they don't feel that we are outsiders judging them and telling them they're living wrong," Mintz said. "The adults feel less threatened when their children, innocently in the home, pass along what they've learned. To change a community's habits, reach the children first." Colorful messages on cleanliness . Mintz and other health care experts also stress the effectiveness of posting large, brightly colored posters in public places to advocate frequent hand washing. Many point to the recent success of Global Handwashing Day to primarily target children and schools in developing countries. The campaign has a bright, cheerful and easily recognized logo, and its website offers tools to use in classrooms and community centers. In Ghana, where children suffer as many as 35 episodes of diarrhea and respiratory infections a year, children celebrated Global Handwashing Day (October 15) by performing plays about washing with soap. Two talk radio shows made it their main topic of conversation. In Somalia, hand-washing facilities were installed in health-care clinics and schools, a huge step forward in a war-torn region that suffers from a shortage of clean water and overcrowding in displacement camps and settlements. Radio ads also encouraged good hygiene and dispelled myths about illnesses resulting from bad sanitation. One 9-year-old Somalian girl wrote in an essay that she thought getting diarrhea was a "punishment from God" until she heard otherwise on the radio. In Pakistan, a new animated character named Sabu helped teach children the importance of hand washing with soap. Watch a video of Sabu on YouTube . Haiti was a big focus of the campaign this year. More than 400,000 have been sickened from cholera since the disease emerged in October 2010. At a Port-au-Prince school that was rebuilt by UNICEF, children learned a catchy phrase: "Good morning, water! Good morning, soap! Goodbye, microbes!" They then sang a song about why it's important to wash before eating and after using the bathroom. They also practiced washing their hands, a habit the Global Soap Project hopes they'll keep after recently sending many bars of soap to the nation. Fatoma Dia thinks about her own 15-year-old daughter when she considers the children whose lives may be saved by her simple task of collecting soap every day. "I know that there are little ones who care and need this," she said, dropping another bar into a bucket. "I am proud to do this. To be so far away, but to know I reach my people in this way, this makes me happy."
### SUMMARY:
| Millions of people in developing countries don't have access to soap or clean water .
Many young children die because their immune systems can't fight diarrheal diseases .
Often, experts say, children and their parents don't even know how to wash their hands .
CDC doctor: "To change a community's habits, reach the children first" |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- For well over a century the world has come to call on Garden City, Kansas, every day of the year. "I know the town would miss it," said Garden City's mayor, David Crase. "I hope it doesn't come to that." He was talking about the Southwest Chief, the big Amtrak passenger train that runs daily between Chicago and Los Angeles. Garden City, with a population of around 28,000, has had its own daily passenger railroad service since the town was founded in rural southwest Kansas in the late 1800s. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe sent its glamorous trains through Kansas on their way east and west. Garden City built its train station right downtown. To have the station there made the town part of the grand and glorious thread that, railroad-stop-by-railroad-stop, connected the still-young nation, the thread that made the country seem, and feel, cohesive and whole. When Amtrak took over the passenger railroads in the early 1970s, many cities around the country -- some much larger than Garden City -- lost train service, and the need for their stations. But Garden City never did. Twice each day, Sundays and holidays included, the Southwest Chief pulls to a full stop downtown to let passengers get off and let passengers get on. Residents who live nearby can literally stroll over to the train station, hop on the Southwest Chief, and step off at the end of the line in Los Angeles. But even for residents who never use the Southwest Chief, its presence is a symbol. The whistle sounds, as it has since the 1800s, and it signals that men and women from large cities and small will be stopping, however briefly, in their town, at their station. "You take pride in that sort of thing," said John Doll, a member of the city commission. "Just knowing it's there. When you see that train roll in, it's like listening to an old song that you love. "When I was a boy, my father, my two brothers and I would ride the train to Kansas City every summer to see a ballgame. They were the Kansas City Athletics then; they weren't yet the Royals. We'd stay at the Muehlebach Hotel. Every time I see or hear that train, that's what I think about: my dad and my brothers and riding through Kansas on our way to see big-league baseball." Nothing is forever, though, and the possibility that the Southwest Chief may, within a few years, no longer come through Garden City is one of those stories built on dry, arcane economic facts. The great majority of tracks that Amtrak rolls over are not owned by Amtrak, but are used through financial arrangements with the freight railroads. The tracks that run through Garden City's portion of Kansas and parts of Colorado and New Mexico are owned by BNSF Railway. All across the United States, between the renowned metropolises, are smaller towns that generations ago were selected to have their own stations -- stopping-off points-- and thus were accorded a special kind of enduring identity. This spring, the Garden City Telegram reported, Amtrak and BNSF held a meeting in Garden City with representatives of the communities the Southwest Chief serves in those three states -- towns including Dodge City, Kansas; La Junta, Colorado; Raton, New Mexico. The Telegram reported that, because of the cost of maintaining the old tracks, the Southwest Chief may, within the next several years, be switched to an entirely different BNSF route, farther south. The sums involved are not paltry. According to the Telegram, if the Southwest Chief is to stay on its traditional route with its traditional stations, $10 million per year for track-maintenance costs and a total of $100 million for long-term improvements must be found. If not, the alternate, passenger-train-ready BNSF tracks many miles to the south beckon. It might not make much difference to the long-haul passengers who are riding between Chicago and California and don't much care where the train stops along the way. And it certainly won't make any difference to all the travelers who fly in jet airplanes across the country and seldom look down. But there is something about a small town that has never gone a single day, in almost 150 years, without a passenger train pulling in and pausing to see if anyone would like to step out onto the streets of Garden City, or if anyone from Garden City would like to climb aboard and join the other cross-continental travelers... "You get on the Southwest Chief downtown," John Doll said, "and within five minutes Garden City is all behind you. You're gone, just that quickly." When the interstate highway system was built, it managed to leave Garden City out, he said; it is an 80-mile drive on two-lane state roads to the nearest entrance to I-70. "It would be a setback if we were to lose the passenger train," said Matt Allen, the city manager. "We like to think we are the center of activities in western Kansas, and having the daily train service is an important part of that." And, of course, there is the romance of the rails, a romance that has somehow been able to survive all of Amtrak's struggles -- even in an era that proclaims a digital, virtual world can transport a person anywhere without that person ever leaving home. When you're boarding a long-distance train, you are not boarding a number. You are boarding a name that sounds like an orchestral overture: the City of New Orleans; the Empire Builder; the Lake Shore Limited. Or the Southwest Chief, bound for Garden City and points beyond. After the 1959 murders of four members of the Clutter family in a farmhouse in nearby Holcomb, author Truman Capote would arrive by train at the Garden City station to do the reporting that would result in the book "In Cold Blood." The young county prosecutor in the case, Duane West, who would help to send killers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith to execution by hanging, is 80 now, and still lives in Garden City. He said that he and his wife, Orvileta, have gone down to meet the Southwest Chief twice in the past few weeks. "We had friends visit from New Zealand," he said. "We went to the station to greet them, and we went to the station to see them off." Efforts are under way to find financing to maintain the old tracks so the Southwest Chief will keep arriving in Garden City every day, as it always has. And, with the clock ticking, if its time in town should end? If, before the end of this decade, the train is moved to a distant set of tracks? The world will continue to spin. The Telegram reported that in 2011, the station in downtown Garden City served 7,511 passengers. A nice number, but not one that is likely to halt cold-eyed economic decisions. Yet the importance of something like this to a place cannot be brushed aside. Mayor Crase, who also runs the local Little Caesars pizza franchise, said that from his house he can hear the Southwest Chief pulling into town on its journey across America early each morning and late each night. "I kind of enjoy listening to it," he said. "You'll hear that whistle, and on some days, when I have the windows open and the wind is right, I can hear the sound of the train idling at the station before it pulls out. "It's part of our life. And once it's gone, it's gone." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene.
### SUMMARY:
| Bob Greene says the Amtrak station is a beloved fixture of Garden City, Kansas .
He says the Chicago-to-L.A. Southwest Chief connects town to the nation .
He says townfolk are seeking alternatives to moving the tracks .
Greene: If the station closes, the world will go on, but town will lose symbol of place in U.S. |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Tony Scott's fatal plunge from a California bridge Sunday remained a public mystery Tuesday as medical investigators and his family disputed a report that the British director suffered from inoperable brain cancer. Scott, best known for the films "Top Gun" and "Beverly Hills Cop II," apparently committed suicide by jumping from the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro, California, about 12:30 p.m. Sunday, said Lt. Joe Bale of the coroner's office. Scott, 68, wrote two notes before his death, including a message left in his Los Angeles office that was apparently for family members, a coroner official said. The second note, detailing contact information for authorities investigating his death, was found in his Toyota Prius parked nearby, the official said. Investigators would not say what clues those notes may have given them concerning Scott's motivation for suicide, which Bale said was the apparent cause of death. "There's nothing to indicate it is anything else at this time," he said Monday. Director Tony Scott: An appreciation . It will be weeks before the findings of Monday's autopsy are made public, the coroner's office said Tuesday. "Our examination is complete and we will be working towards a comprehensive document once we close the case," Deputy Chief Coroner Ed Winter said. An ABC report Monday suggested the director was scripting his own death after being told by a doctor that he was dying of inoperable brain cancer. The network did not name the source of its information. "I did talk to the family yesterday late afternoon, and according to his wife, he did not have brain cancer as reported, and (she) does not know who told ABC that information, which is absolutely false," Winter said. Scott's unexplained death shocked the Hollywood stars who worked with him on a long list of successful movies over the past three decades. Denzel Washington, who starred in several Scott-directed thrillers -- including 2010's "Unstoppable" -- said it was "unfathomable to think that he is now gone." Tony Scott: Unstoppable Hollywood force . "He had a tremendous passion for life and for the art of filmmaking and was able to share this passion with all of us through his cinematic brilliance," he said. Born Anthony D.L. Scott in North Shields, England, in 1944, the director got his start as a teenager in front of the camera, starring in his older brother Ridley Scott's film "Boy and Bicycle." In 1995, the two joined forces to create the production company Scott Free Productions. Tony Scott became a household name in 1986 as director of the mega-hit "Top Gun," starring Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis. He followed that up with the Eddie Murphy action movie "Beverly Hills Cop II" in 1987. Both Cruise and Murphy released statements mourning the loss of their director. "Tony was my dear friend and I will really miss him. He was a creative visionary whose mark on film is immeasurable. My deepest sorrow and thoughts are with his family at this time," Cruise said. Scott made tense films for jittery times . Murphy described Scott as a "wonderful collaborator" and said he will be missed. Pepperdine University film professor Craig Detweiler called Scott "the supreme stylist" who "operated at the top of his game throughout each decade of his career." "He was able to make the thinnest of premises into something pulse-pounding and exciting, and he's almost a filmmaker as a magician who found drama amidst almost contrived situations," he said. Taking his own life by jumping from a bridge is "a high-adrenaline ending, which matches his dramatic style," Detweiler said. "He put Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Tom Cruise in movies where one man overcomes all struggles, triumphs over struggles, and yet it appears he was not able to write that story for himself," he said. Actor Michael Rapaport, who was directed by Scott in "True Romance," took to Twitter to praise the director. In one post, he said there hasn't been a day since the movie was released in 1993 that someone doesn't tell him how much they loved the film. "Tony Scott was a sweet enthusiastic & lovin man," Rapaport wrote. Scott cemented his reputation for big-budget action films with 1990's "Revenge" starring Kevin Costner and "Days of Thunder" with Cruise. In 1998, he directed "Enemy of the State" with actors Smith and Gene Hackman. It was on the set of "Days of Thunder" where Scott met actress Donna Wilson, whom he married in 1994. They had twin sons. Reaction to Scott's death poured out Monday, with directors, actors and fans mourning the news. 11 Scott films we'll remember . "Being around you was always the ultimate experience -- intensity, vitality and celebration. Pure rock and roll and great cigars. Your warmth and generosity was palpable to all us. You treated everyone with care and respect," said actor Edgar Ramirez, who starred in Scott's 2005 film, "Domino." "You always focused on the subtleties, taking the best out of us. I am proud to be your friend, and although I won't be seeing you for a while, you will live on in the laughter of our memories of you." "Tony Scott as a friend and a mentor was irreplaceable. Tone, wherever you are, I love you man. RIP," director and producer Joe Carnahan said on Twitter. Carnahan recounted how when his movie "The Grey" was finished, Scott called to tell him he had seen it. He told Carnahan it was great and not to allow anybody to change anything in it. "Tony always sent personal, handwritten notes & always drew a cartoon caricature of himself, smoking a cigar, with his hat colored in red," Carnahan said in a post. Psychiatrist: I hate suicide but also understand it . Scott directed his last film, the train thriller "Unstoppable" starring Washington, in 2010. "For me, it was the most challenging movie of my life, and the most dangerous because I'm shooting 90 percent of the movie on a train that is running between 50 and 70 mph," Scott told CNN at the time. Scott's reputation in Hollywood was low-key. "He wasn't a showy kind of guy," longtime entertainment reporter Jeanne Wolf told CNN. Scott was often seen sporting a frayed, faded red ball cap on movie sets and at red carpet premieres. The ball cap, Wolf said, was his trademark. While Scott's movies garnered box office success, they never received the acclaim that generated Academy Award nominations. In 2002, the Scott brothers won an Emmy for the television movie "The Gathering Storm." Scott also was nominated for the Emmy as a producer for the CBS drama "The Good Wife." "So very, very sorry to hear of the death of Tony Scott," actress Martha Plimpton, who appeared in "The Good Wife," said via Twitter. Among his last projects was serving as an executive producer on the TV miniseries "Coma," which is due to air this year. People we've lost in 2012: The lives they lived . CNN's Kareen Wynter contributed to this report.
### SUMMARY:
| Film director Tony Scott left two notes before his apparent suicide, a coroner official says .
It will be weeks before autopsy results are made public, an official says .
"Unfathomable to think that he is now gone," Denzel Washington says .
Scott is best known for the films "Top Gun" and "Beverly Hills Cop II" |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Washington (CNN) -- Less than two weeks remain before the March 31 deadline to apply for the Affordable Care Act and the Obama administration is getting creative in reminding Americans to sign up by trying to reach every demographic imaginable. The administration this month is deploying quirky stunts and niche messaging to reach as many people as possible, including those "young invincibles" considered essential to making the program work economically. So far, the administration says it has signed up 5 million people. Here's what it's doing to boost the rolls between now and the end of the month when those who don't have insurance of any kind would face a fine of $95 or 1% of their income, whichever is higher. College basketball fans: As NCAA "March Madness" kicks into high gear this week, the White House unveiled its own spin on the popular basketball tournament bracket by unveiling the ACA bracket where people can vote on the "16 sweetest reasons to get covered." Get it? A play on the NCAA tournament "Sweet 16." A video of University of North Carolina men's basketball coach Roy Williams and University of Connecticut women's coach Geno Auriemma lead off the ACA bracket with a video encouraging people to sign up. On the online bracket are 16 reasons with corresponding light-hearted GIFs. For example, the reasons "women can't be charged more than men" is combined with a GIF of first lady Michelle Obama slam dunking on NBA players. That's paired with the "accidents happen," with a GIF of a woman dressed in spandex and a headband, dancing ridiculously then slipping off a public bathroom countertop. Cat fans: Included on the page are GIFs of scary cats, adorable cats and random cats. There's also a random electronic Elmo that throws itself off the shelf because "nobody's invincible." More college hoops: The administration sees a lot of opportunity with the NCAA tourney as much of its final outreach is dedicated to the popular sporting event that concludes in early April. The White House is also attempting to parlay the popularity of the President's annual basketball bracket -- a recent tradition that registered the most views of any blog on WhiteHouse.gov during 2013 -- into tangible enrollments by updating the results of the ACA bracket based on the "winning" votes from online users. In an effort to reach "tournament fans young and old," the Department of Health and Human Services unveiled a report Tuesday about the frequency and cost of recreational sports injuries. In a blog post, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote that "a sprained ankle, for example, can cost you $2,290, and charges for a broken arm, for example, average nearly $7,700." Young YouTube fans: The bracket-mania is fresh off the heels of Obama's recent foray into viral video comedy. Last week, Obama was a guest on Zach Galifianakis' "Funny or Die" Web series "Between Two Ferns" where the President touted the Affordable Care Act and the ways to sign up. And carried on the series schtick of insulting the host. Galifianakis asks Obama if he wished he could run for a third term, Obama replied that two terms are enough -- like two of the host's "Hangover" movies probably would have been enough. After Obama asked Galifinakis if he's heard of the Affordable Care Act, Galifinakis responded, "Oh yeah, I heard about that. That's the thing that doesn't work." "The Affordable Care Act works great now," Obama retorted. Then in a radio interview with Hollywood media mogul, Ryan Seacrest, Obama said that his "Between Two Ferns" skit was a success. "The amazing thing was afterwards people actually did link to healthcare.gov and people actually signed up for health insurance," Obama told Seacrest. What we learned from Florida's special election . Pro basketball fans: The administration is betting that sports is an effective way to reach people who might not normally pay attention to politics or the machinations that happen in Washington. LeBron James, the Miami Heat star and reigning back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player, cut a 30-second public service announcement for the administration that will air widely on ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBAtv. "You never know when you might take a hit," James says in the TV spot. The White House is also coordinating with Gameplan4me.com, a website where sports stars talk about how they achieved their goals. On the home page of the site is the usual banner question, "What's your Game Plan?" followed by the subheading, "Did you know that 48 million Americans are without a health insurance plan and one accident away from the costly expenses of not being covered?" "Watch videos from sports and entertainment professionals, play games, learn how to be ready for the unexpected and find useful links to information on health care options," the site's home page says. Hispanic sports fans: To appeal to the Hispanic sports enthusiast, ESPN Deportes network will air an interview with White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, who's already given interviews to sports talk radio stations to help pitch enrolling in the federal health care exchange, on its syndicated network of stations. Scholars and researchers: The White House recently launched a campaign, #GeeksGetCovered, to reach "entrepreneurs, researchers, and graduate and postdoctoral students." Women, especially moms: Obama participated in a recent interview with WebMD, which the White House said "has enormous reach with moms and women," where he promoted the ACA. And a Web video with the first lady and mothers of celebrities Jonah Hill, Adam Levine, Jennifer Lopez, and Alicia Keys encouraged young people to sign up. The states: Rhode Island is taking a unique approach to get young people signed up for health care: teaching moms how to use social media apps like Tinder and Twitter to nag their kids. The website, called "Nag Toolkit," offers step-by-step, illustrated instructions on how to sign up for various apps or dating websites, like SnapChat, Tinder, Twitter and OkCupid. The site was launched last week by HealthSourceRI, the state exchange's site, Dara Chadwick, HealthSourceRI's chief of strategic communications and media relations, replied in an email. Tinder is a popular dating app in which users swipe left or right — "nope" or "liked" — on potential dates, based on Facebook-linked pictures. The Nag Toolkit site teaches parents how to sign up for Tinder, instructing them to "add a FaceBook profile photo with a sign saying 'get health insurance' " so Tinder will use it as its main image. The website also instructs parents to "create a provocative username" on another dating app, OkCupid, and then search their son or daughter to send them messages about health insurance. Chadwick calls the effort "a light-hearted campaign with a serious mission," and adds that its target are 23- to 33-year-old Rhode Islanders as well as moms ages 45 and up. Despite critics, Chadwick takes it in stride. "As for criticism, that's the way it goes with any advertising campaign," she said. "The good news for us is that people (including young Invincibles) are talking about the importance of health care coverage." CNN's Jim Acosta, Jason Seher, Adam Aigner-Treworgy and Lorenzo Ferrigno contributed to this story .
### SUMMARY:
| The deadline to apply for health insurance is March 31 .
White House campaign includes YouTube and sports stars, moms and cats .
Obama administration says 5 million have signed up for coverage . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(Rolling Stone) -- Relax, you legions of Hunger Gamers. We have a winner. Hollywood didn't screw up the film version of Suzanne Collins' young-adult bestseller about a survival-of-the-fittest reality show that sends home all its teen contestants, save the victor, in body bags. The screen "Hunger Games" radiates a hot, jumpy energy that's irresistible. It has epic spectacle, yearning romance, suspense that won't quit and a shining star in Jennifer Lawrence, who gives us a female warrior worth cheering. That's more than you can say for the castration job that the suits did on Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" franchise. I'll admit that "Games" isn't the scary, eruptive firecracker of my dark, Tarantino-fueled imagination. And if you're among the 26 million who devoured the Collins trilogy -- "The Hunger Games" followed by "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay" -- you know it could have been. But even wearing a PG-13 harness to ensure profitability, "The Hunger Games" gets your pulse racing. It's about something pertinent, the mission to define yourself in a world that's spinning off its moral axis. As 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, the renegade hunter who kills with a bow and arrow and stands up to take the place of her younger sister in the deadly Games, Lawrence reveals a physical and emotional grace that's astonishing. Give her the deed, because she owns this movie. It's not just that Katniss makes "Twilight's" Bella Swan look like the wimp she is, it's that Lawrence, 21, is an acting dynamo with the skills to let us into Katniss' searching mind. Last year, Lawrence won an Oscar nomination for playing an Ozark girl in "Winter's Bone." She's just as affecting this time, lending primal force to this dystopian fable of a society out of sync with human values. At 142 minutes, "The Hunger Games" can go from rushed to draggy. But director Gary Ross ("Pleasantville," "Seabiscuit") hits the high spots, using action to define character instead of obliterate it. He wisely brought in Collins to collaborate on the script he wrote with Billy Ray ("Shattered Glass"). That way, even when the book's events are condensed or characters eliminated, the feeling stays true. "The Games" are a punishment invented by the Capitol of Panem (read: North America) for the 12 districts whose rebellion against Capitol rule was crushed more than 74 years ago. The attitude of President Snow (Donald Sutherland, wily in his evil) is "You screwed us, so we'll screw you." Every year on Reaping Day, a boy and a girl (ages 12 to 18) from each district are chosen by lottery to fight to the death in a televised gladiator event devised by head Games-maker Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley). Ratings are not a problem. Even in downtrodden District 12, where Katniss hunts for scraps to feed her sister and her widowed mother, viewing the Games is mandatory. You won't need your arm twisted to see the movie, artfully shot by Tom Stern ("Mystic River") as the scene shifts from the perverse lushness of the Capitol to the stark landscape of the battle zone. And did I mention makeovers? All the Tributes (that's what contenders are called) get them. Katniss has fashion genius Cinna (Lenny Kravitz doing a fun spin on Tom Ford) to create a wow dress that bursts into flame at the hem. Nice one. Like Bella before her, Katniss is pursued by two laddies-in-waiting, in this case Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), the strapping District 12 hunk and fellow illegal hunter she leaves behind, and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), the baker's son who joins Katniss in the Games and secretly pines for her. Are you Team Gale or Team Peeta? You might not care as much, since neither has the exotic allure of a vampire or a wolf. But Hemsworth ("The Last Song," with girlfriend Miley Cyrus) quickly establishes a strong, appealing presence. And Hutcherson ("The Kids Are All Right") brings humor and a bruised heart to a boy who needs to mature fast. Dynamite actors dot the film. Stanley Tucci is a brilliant blend of mirth and malice as Caesar Flickerman, a TV host who reps the dark side of Ryan Seacrest in this lethal version of "American Idol." Elizabeth Banks brings malicious wit to the bewigged and powdered PR guru Effie Trinket. "May the odds be ever in your favor," announces Effie with inane sincerity. And the reliably stellar Woody Harrelson cuts deep as the perpetually s***faced Haymitch Abernathy, a former victor in the Games now acting as mentor to both Katniss and Peeta. When he's not falling-down drunk, Haymitch instructs his protégés on how to suck up to sponsors who send supplies into the arena when a Tribute wins audience favor. So-called reality TV is given a sharp, satirical kick as Tributes learn to play and pander to hidden cameras. Is Katniss really falling for Peeta as she nurses his wounds, or is she faking it to save her a** and his? Discuss. Sadly, the erotic heat that Collins generates between Katniss and Peeta in a hidden cave never rises above room temperature onscreen. Hand-to-hand combat does fuel the intensity as Katniss fights career Tributes trained to go medieval on enemy ass. Check out machete-wielding Cato (Alexander Ludwig) and knife-throwing Clove (Isabelle Fuhrman), not to mention a swarm of deadly, genetically engineered wasps called Tracker Jackers. The caring bond Katniss forms with Rue (Amandla Stenberg), the youngest Tribute, is just a brief break from the assaults aimed to make Katniss trade her soul for survival. For all its compromises, "The Hunger Games" is a zeitgeist movie that captures the spirit of a soul-sucking age in which ego easily trumps common cause. Ironically, the kill-to-win ethos that dominates movies from 1987's prophetic "The Running Man" to the undiluted brutality of Japan's "Battle Royale" in 2000, may find its largest viewership in "The Hunger Games." But will mainstream audiences respond to the moral challenge churning under the pop-culture razzle-dazzle? It's anybody's guess. My advice is to keep your eyes on Lawrence, who turns the movie into a victory by presenting a heroine propelled by principle instead of hooking up with the cutest boy. That's what makes Katniss revolutionary. May the odds be ever in her favor. See the full article at RollingStone.com. Copyright © 2011 Rolling Stone.
### SUMMARY:
| Critic: "Jennifer Lawrence is an acting dynamo with the skills to let us into Katniss' mind"
Reviewer says Hutcherson "brings humor and a bruised heart to a boy who needs to mature fast"
Travers: "Elizabeth Banks brings malicious wit to the bewigged and powdered PR guru Effie Trinket" |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- Enough already about "Angry Birds" -- there were plenty of great console video games in 2011. Many longtime franchises put bows on storylines that had been going on for years. It was also the year of the shooter (and the number 3) as "Battlefield 3," "Gears of War 3" and "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" brought players into combat zones with new and creative gameplay. Those titles got lots of hype and sold millions of units, but none made my list of the top games of the year. As with any top 10 list, many good games did not make the cut. I tried to include games that I never really wanted to put down until the very last scene. Of course, your list will vary. Here's my list, counted down in order, of my 10 favorite games of 2011 (feel free to disagree in the comments): . 10. "Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception" A fitting finale for Nathan Drake and his adventures, "Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception" wraps up the historical adventure franchise with possibly his greatest treasure yet. Not only does the story take a look back and reveal how Drake got started on his quests, but it also tied up many loose plot lines very well. The game feels like an Indiana Jones adventure, and Drake keeps a wry sense of humor throughout the most trying times. The designers did their research to showcase several incredible environments, historical references and lost treasures. Players will come away feeling like they've been on a grand adventure, which they have. (PlayStation 3) 9. "LA Noire" "LA Noire" puts the story to the forefront in a daring attempt to be different. Action is dictated by the narrative and the characters and not by a ploy to get the plot moving. It looks and feels like a 1940s-style detective thriller with some great voice acting and motion capture animation. It emphasizes storytelling without forcing dialogue or plot. Expect to see more games like this in the future. (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows PC) 8. "Little Big Planet 2" Sackboy returned and actually got better. "Little Big Planet 2" has a single-player story that has a good plot and supporting characters. There is actual dialogue instead of grunting or mumbles. The puzzle solving remains fun, but the creation of levels to share with the community raises the enjoyment level. And the inclusion of social-media connections increases the player's audience. (PlayStation 3) 7. "Deus Ex: Human Revolution" "Deus Ex: Human Revolution" allows players to experiment with different augmentations to enhance their human character. Creatively building and upgrading, gamers will discover new ways to complete missions even during replays. The atmosphere of the not-so-far-away future is one of hope and despair. The story is well-crafted and keeps players involved with little downtime or boredom. (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows PC) 6. "NBA 2K12" "NBA 2K12" gave hoops fans a great outlet while the real NBA resolved its labor dispute. Improved animations make the action look more realistic than ever. The inclusion of more of the NBA's greatest players from the past lets you pit superstars from different eras against each other. And the "My Player" mode lets you get drafted, work your way up the depth chart and learn to face the harsh glow of the media during press conferences. (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation PSP, Windows PC, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii) 5. "Saints Row the Third" So many games use sex and violence as a hook to draw in players. "Saints Row the Third" uses them as the canvas of a hilariously funny and sexually charged romp that also offers excellent game mechanics. Missions are ultra-violent, outlandish and filled with tons of OMG moments. Drive around with a tiger in your car. Rescue hookers from a violent gang. Converse with Burt Reynolds and Hulk Hogan. It's all tongue-in-cheek, fast-paced fun that players will enjoy. (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows PC) 4. "Bastion" An independent title that shows what the "little guy" could do, "Bastion" is a surprisingly stunning game with original weaponry, an environment that players put together as the game progresses and narration that literally tells the story of what you are doing at that time. Dialogue isn't tied to a predetermined set of events. The narrator, known as the Stranger, reacts to what your character does and makes the game seem personalized. It's a game that's fun to play but never takes itself too seriously. (Xbox Live Arcade, Windows PC) 3. "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" Let me say first that my top three could be shuffled in any order and it would still be right. But this is how I'm shuffling them (for now). "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" is an open-world, role-playing game that literally has more than 100 quests to complete. Your character can be trained in any skill at any time, thus assuring that the game is personal to each player. Sure, there are some minor bugs in it, but they are more amusing than frustrating. And any game that lets me stand at the top of a mountain while more than a dozen dragons fill the sky is a big winner in my book. It is enthralling, addictive and satisfying. (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows PC) 2. "Batman: Arkham City" The Dark Knight returns to his beloved Gotham and discovers it to be just as violent and twisted as the dark halls of Arkham Asylum. His new adventures, "Batman: Arkham City," expand the playing field dramatically and take the insanity into the open world. This allows for more freedom during combat and takes the missions away from a linear progression. The voice acting remains flawless, while the look of the game and its sense of foreboding throughout make it a pleasure to play. Love all the classic villains, too. This "Batman" game was difficult to put down, even after the main story line (which was highly dramatic) was finished. (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows PC) 1. "Portal 2" Outstanding characters? Check. Cryptic puzzle solving? Check. Great dialogue? Check. Everything you'd expect from a "Portal" title returns in "Portal 2," with some great additions. While the first title was all about the puzzles, this one keeps the puzzle-solving portion alive but mixes in a wonderful story that is fast-paced, informative and extremely humorous. Origins are discovered, new alliances are formed and there is not a crumb of cake to be had. (That's a reference to the original "Portal," in case you're confused.) If that isn't enough, a new co-op mode allows players to play as test robots that act like Abbott and Costello. It's a fantastic game from start to finish. (Windows PC, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
### SUMMARY:
| 2011 brought plenty of great video games; our gaming writer reveals his 10 favorites .
"Portal 2," "Batman: Arkham City" and "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" top the list .
Also ranked: "Little Big Planet 2," "LA Noire" and "Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception" |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
If your romantic partner pointed you to an application for a one-way trip to Mars, would you be upset -- or thrilled? When Dr. Leila Zucker's husband sent her such an e-mail last spring, he said that he didn't want her to go but that he'd be a lousy husband if he didn't tell her about it. Fast-forward to today: Zucker has made it past the first round of cuts for Mars One, a nonprofit organization that aims to send four people to the Red Planet in 2024 and subsequent groups in later years. "Most of us want to explore, want to go new places, and then it's just a question of: How much are you willing to give up to do it?" she said. Zucker is one of 705 candidates selected from a pool of 200,000 applicants for the mission. The select group has been narrowed from 1,058 people as some prospective astronauts dropped out for personal or medical reasons, Mars One said recently. All of the remaining candidates will be interviewed by the Mars One selection committee. Eventually, only four will be picked for the first trip. Apparently, none of them is scared off by the idea that, because of technological and financial limitations, Mars One astronauts would probably never come home. It might not actually happen . Despite growing excitement surrounding this effort, it is not clear that sufficient money will be raised to follow through. Mars One CEO Bas Lansdorp has said the company is looking at "a range of funding scenarios." A reality TV concept is one way Mars One may make good on its $6 billion budget for getting the first four humans to Mars. Lansdorp hopes the unprecedented video opportunities will attract sponsors, partners and media coverage. But since no one has ever been to Mars, the technology to fly people there and keep them alive has not been tested there, either. Lansdorp said last year that "no new inventions are needed to land humans on Mars," and the website says the "plan is built upon existing technologies available from proven suppliers." But the company will need to show that key systems involved in transportation and life support will work in untraversed territories. Mars One announced in March that it will soon begin constructing the first of its "simulation outposts" to train selected astronauts and teams, giving them experience in an environment made to feel like a Martian home. Zucker, 46, an emergency medicine physician in Washington, is doubtful that Mars One will deliver on the trip at all. But if it does happen, she is on board. "There's no question." Settling away from your spouse . You might think that trying to emigrate from our planet might put some pressure on Earth-based relationships. Zucker and her husband have been married for 21 years and have no children. If she goes to Mars, she said, she will probably offer her husband a divorce but will wear her wedding ring regardless. He doesn't want her to go, she said, but supports her following her dreams. "Both of us are space enthusiasts," she said. "Humanity needs to expand off Earth if we expect the human race to succeed in any way beyond just basic survival." Dan Carey, 52, another candidate, also believes humans should be spreading to other planets -- but his wife is not happy about Carey taking part in the mission. The couple, married 28 years, has two college-age children. "She's concerned that she's going to have to watch me die on television," Carey said of his wife. It's hard for Carey to think about leaving his wife and kids behind forever and never meeting future grandchildren. Still, he likes the idea of making history and seeing things that no one has seen directly before. Sachin Desai and his wife, Ankita Ritwik, are getting around the marital tension issue by applying together. Desai says he could not go to Mars without her. Sure, Mars might challenge their marriage, but enough marriages are strained on Earth already, he said. "One thing we do really well together is travel, and this would be a trip lasting the rest of our lives. I think we also are very good at helping each other out when we are stressed; I would be a far worse space cadet without her." A 'social experiment' When you live far from people you've known for a long time, you manage to make friends in your immediate area, and that's what Marina Santiago thinks will happen on Mars. The Harvard University Ph.D. student says Mars One crew members may take the place of friends, family and significant others. Even if Mars One doesn't land people on Mars in 2025, it serves as a "social experiment" to get people talking and thinking about a Mars mission, she said. "What I learned in grad school is that you never really know what problems you're going to come across until you actually try and do something. And the fact that they're actually trying to plan it, means that they'll come across the problems," she said. "I believe that there are no problems humanity can't solve." Some candidates draw analogies to the early waves of European settlers in North America. Immigrants didn't have a rover on Plymouth Rock telling them about local conditions before they arrived, says Gregory Sachs. "You even couldn't necessarily send a letter back to your family," Zucker said. "You were leaving everything for good. We at least will have the ability to use e-mail." Still, it's a hard sell for friends of Brian Robles', a Mars One candidate who studies public health at Rutgers University. "Usually, every time I tell somebody about the trip, they say it's a 'suicide mission' and 'you're going to die on Mars,' " Robles said. "Well, we're going to die here, too. So might as well live your whole life to the fullest." Funny he should mention that: The United Arab Emirates' religious watchdog, the General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments, recently issued a fatwa to warn Muslims against the mission because "the chances of dying are higher than living." Mars One responded in a statement, asking the authority to cancel the fatwa. "The Fatwa prohibits Muslims from going to Mars, but not from applying to Mars One's mission or training for the mission. In the next ten years, Mars One is open to working with the GAIAE to assess the risk of the mission as the unmanned settlement is under construction," Mars One said. Sachs is hopeful that his trip wouldn't actually be one-way. He believes it would be in the best interest of the mission to send the astronauts back: "Imagine only the cost and tax on resources to care with someone elderly on a Mars One colony," he said. But the way that the mission is currently set up -- with no return plan -- he's still interested. Making happy Martian meals . Spending the rest of your life on another planet might make a person miss certain Earthly conveniences like favorite foods. Carey said he'd lose weight just to be able to take more chocolate with him, since there would be a limit of how much weight each person could contribute to the mission. Michael McDonnell, another applicant, said he wants to make the first pizza on Mars. Zucker would miss hamburgers but has high hopes for being able to grow them herself, perhaps from cow stem cells using a technique demonstrated last year. How test-tube meat could be the future of food . "The first hardest thing to give up would obviously be my husband," Zucker said. "The second hardest thing would be meat." But for this opportunity, she would kiss them both goodbye. A one-way ticket to Mars, apply now . 501 days in space with your spouse: Could you handle it?
### SUMMARY:
| Mars One will select four astronauts for its first mission .
Candidate pool in current round stands at 705 .
Some say humanity needs to leave Earth for survival .
One man's wife "concerned that she's going to have to watch me die on television" |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
An Al Jazeera correspondent who has been held for nearly a month by Egyptian authorities calls his detention an attack on press freedoms, according to a letter posted online Saturday by the news network. Peter Greste, an Australian, is one of three Al Jazeera employees who have been held since December 30 by Egyptian authorities, who have accused the three for allegedly meeting with members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood. "How do you accurately and fairly report on Egypt's ongoing political struggle without talking to everyone involved," he wrote. The network did not say how it obtained the letter from Greste, who has previously worked for CNN, Reuters and BBC. He is being held along with producers Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed. Western leaders, human rights groups and journalists have repeatedly called on Egypt to release the men, saying their arrests were a violation of human rights and press freedoms. Fahmy worked for CNN and The New York Times prior to joined the Qatar-based network. Mohamed is a Cairo-based producer for the network. International media demand Egypt release detained journalists . Text of the letter, entitled "A letter from Tora prison," released by Al Jazeera: . I am nervous as I write this. I am in my cold prison cell after my first official exercise session -- four glorious hours in the grass yard behind our block and I don't want that right to be snatched away. I've been locked in my cell 24 hours a day for the past 10 days, allowed out only for visits to the prosecutor for questioning, so the chance for a walk in the weak winter sunshine is precious. So too are the books on history, Arabic and fiction that my neighbours have passed to me, and the pad and pen I now write with. I want to cling to these tiny joys and avoid anything that might move the prison authorities to punitively withdraw them. I want to protect them almost as much as I want my freedom back. That is why I have sought, until now, to fight my imprisonment quietly from within, to make the authorities understand that this is all a terrible mistake, that I've been caught in the middle of a political struggle that is not my own. But after two weeks in prison it is now clear that this is a dangerous decision. It validates an attack not just on me and my two colleagues but on freedom of speech across Egypt. All of a sudden, my books seem rather petty. I had been in Cairo only two weeks before interior ministry agents burst through the door of my hotel room, that of my colleague and producer Mohamed Fahmy, and into the home of Al Jazeera's second producer Baher Mohamed. Accuracy, fairness, and balance . We had been doing exactly as any responsible, professional journalist would -- recording and trying to make sense of the unfolding events with all the accuracy, fairness and balance that our imperfect trade demands. Most of the time, it is not a difficult path to walk. But when the Egyptian government declared the Muslim Brotherhood to be "terrorist organisation", it knocked the middle ground out of the discourse. When the other side, political or otherwise, is a "terrorist", there is no neutral way. As George W. Bush loved to point out after 9/11, you are either with the government or with the terrorists. So, even talking to them becomes an act of treason, let alone broadcasting their news however benign. The following day, the government fleshed out its definition of the term. Anyone caught handing out Muslim Brotherhood leaflets, or simply participating in protest marches against the government could be arrested and imprisoned for "spreading terrorist ideology". The Muslim Brotherhood has lost much of the support and credibility once had when its political leader Mohamed Morsi became Egypt's first democratically elected president just over a year and a half ago. And many here hold it responsible for a growing wave of islamist violence, but it remains the single largest and best organised social and political force in Egypt. What then for a journalist striving for "balance, fairness and accuracy?" How do you accurately and fairly report on Egypt's ongoing political struggle without talking to everyone involved? I worried about this at the time with Mohamed Fahmy, but we decided that the choice was obvious -- as obvious as the price we are now paying for making it. The three of us have been accused of collaborating with a terrorist organisation [the Muslim Brotherhood], of hosting Muslim Brotherhood meetings in our hotel rooms, of using unlicensed equipments to deliberately broadcast false information to further their aims and defame and discredit the Egyptian state. The state has presented no evidence to support the allegations, and we have not been formally charged with any crime. But the prosecutor general has just extended our initial 15-day detention by another 15 days to give investigators more time to find something. He can do this indefinitely -- one of my prison mates has been behind bars for 6 months without a single charge. 'The prisons are overflowing' I am in Tora prison -- a sprawling complex in the south of the city where the authorities routinely violate legally enshrined prisoners' rights, denying visits from lawyers, keeping cells locked for 20 hours a day (and 24 hours on public holidays) and so on. But even that is relatively benign compared to the conditions my colleagues are being held in. Fahmy and Baher have been accused of being Muslim Brotherhood members, So they are being held in the far more draconian "Scorpion prison" built for convicted terrorists. Fahmy has been denied the hospital treatment he badly needs for a shoulder injury he sustained shortly before our arrest. Both men spend 24 hours a day in their mosquito-infested cells, sleeping on the floor with no books or writing materials to break the soul- destroying tedium. Remember we have not been formally charged, much less convicted of any crime. But this is not just about three Al Jazeera journalists. Our arrest and continued detention sends a clear and unequivocal message to all journalists covering Egypt, both foreign and local. The state will not tolerate hearing from the Muslim Brotherhood or any other critical voices. The prisons are overflowing with anyone who opposes or challenges the government. Secular activists are sentenced to three years with hard labour for violating protest laws after declining an invitation to openly support the government; campaigners putting up "No" banners ahead of the constitutional referendum are summarily detained. Anyone, in short, who refuses to applaud the institution. So our arrest is not a mistake, and as a journalist this IS my battle. I can no longer pretend it'll go away by keeping quiet and crossing my fingers. I have no particular fight with the Egyptian government, just as I have no interest in supporting the Muslim Brotherhood or any other group here. But as a journalist I am committed to defending a fundamental freedom of the press that no one in my profession can credibly work without. One that is deemed vital to the proper functioning of any open democracy, including Egypt's with its new constitution. Of course we will continue to fight this from inside prison and through the judicial system here. But our freedom, and more importantly the freedom of the press here, will not come without loud sustained pressure from human rights and civil society groups, individuals and governments who understand that Egypt stability depends as much as on its ability to hold open honest conversations among its people and the world, as it does on its ability to crush violence. We know it is already happening, and all of us are both moved and strengthened by the extraordinary support we have already had, but it needs to continue. Peter Greste . Tora Prison . Read the letter on Al Jazeera .
### SUMMARY:
| Peter Greste is an Australian journalist who is working for Qatar-based Al Jazeera .
Greste was arrested along with producers Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed .
Egyptian authorities have accused the men of meeting with the Muslim Brotherhood .
Greste says he was doing his job, telling a balanced story of Egypt's political struggle . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Luke Salkeld and Andy Dolan . Last updated at 12:53 AM on 29th October 2011 . The parents of Joanna Yeates spoke of their regret that her killer could not be hanged yesterday after he was found guilty of murder. And they expressed the hope that Vincent Tabak would spend the rest of his days in ‘a living hell’. David and Teresa Yeates spoke out after it emerged that 33-year-old Tabak was a dangerous pervert who was sexually aroused by pornography depicting violence towards women. He regularly trawled the internet for films which showed girls being strangled. Grief: Joanna Yeates' parents, David and Teresa, wish Vincent Tabak could have been handed the death penalty after he was convicted of murdering their daughter . Yet evidence of his sick fixation was not put before the jury who rejected his plea of guilty to manslaughter, and nor were they told that he paid prostitutes for sex when he was on trips away from his live-in girlfriend. His victim’s parents wept at their home after learning that their daughter’s murderer had been jailed for a minimum of 20 years for the ‘dreadful, evil act’ he committed on December 17 last year. For the first time in the three-week trial neither Mr Yeates, 64, nor his 59-year-old wife had attended Bristol Crown Court as the jury considered their verdict for a third day. Afterwards they said they regretted that capital punishment was not an option for the judge, and they hoped the rest of Tabak’s life ‘is a living hell, being the recipient of all the evils, deprivations and degradations that his situation can provide’. They said: ‘We have lost our daughter, and our son has lost his sister. ‘Our main sorrow is that Jo was not allowed to start her own family, have children and achieve her potential. 'We will never get over our loss, how she was murdered, and the total lack of respect with which her body was treated. We so miss hearing her happy voice and seeing her living life to the full.’ Strangled: Joanna Yeates (left) was attacked in . her own flat by neighbour Vincent Tabak - his actions following his despicable act have shocked many and led to Joanna's parents wishing for the death penalty . After meticulously researching the legal difference between murder and manslaughter, Tabak claimed he never intended to kill the 25-year-old landscape architect before bundling her body in the boot of his car, driving to Asda to do some shopping, then dumping the corpse by the side of a country road where it lay under snow undiscovered until Christmas morning. Jo’s parents David and Teresa Yeates, issued this statement yesterday. We attended the trial of Jo’s murderer not to see justice handed out to him, but to learn what we couldabout what really happened from the time when Jo disappeared to when Jo’s murderer was arrested. The last four weeks have been more stressful and intense than we ever imagined. Although we had been made aware of the nature of much of the evidence against Jo’s killer, some of the details which came out were a surprise. There was never any doubt in our minds that Jo had been murdered and that we fully expected him to lie when he went into the witness box. We came here with little hope or expectation of hearing what happened on the 17th of December, but needed to see him and to hear what he had to sayfirst hand. We saw no emotion or remorse or regret for what he did to Jo. We felt that all emotions expressed by him were false. All we heard were words of selfpity. Thus, it is with regret that capital punishment is not a possible option for his sentence. The best we can hope for him is that he spends the rest of his life incarcerated, where his life is a living hell, being the recipient of all evils, deprivations and degradations that his situation can provide. During the fatal attack he inflicted 43 injuries on his next-door neighbour, who was alone in her flat in Clifton, Bristol while her boyfriend Greg Reardon was away visiting family. Despite admitting squeezing her throat for 20 seconds he insisted he had meant only to stifle the screams heard by several witnesses outside, a claim rejected by the jury yesterday. He then moved her body into his car and drove to Asda, where he sent a text to his girlfriend to say he was ‘bored’ – and to create an alibi that he had been away from the flat. Carefully following the investigation into Miss Yeates’s disappearance, he looked at pornography after viewing websites featuring her image. Mr Justice Field told the murderer: . ‘When you entered her flat you did not even know her name and had . virtually nothing to do with her. ‘You . proceeded to strangle her, intending to kill her, a dreadful, evil act . committed against a vulnerable unsuspecting young woman in her own home. ‘That wicked act ended the life of a young woman who was entitled to expect a life of happiness and fulfilment. ‘In my judgment you are very dangerous and also thoroughly deceitful, dishonest and manipulative. ‘You . have caused devastation, heartache and distress to Joanna’s family and . her partner Greg Reardon, not only by taking Joanna’s life but also by . hiding her body with the result that they had to go through seven days . of anguish, wondering what happened to her.’ The judge added: ‘On your . own evidence and after an acquaintanceship lasting just a few minutes . you moved to kiss Joanna, and I’m quite sure you did not intend to stop . there and wanted to go much further. ‘It was because of her screams that your sexual purpose was frustrated. ‘You killed Joanna when she was alone in her own home where she was entitled to think she was safe and secure. Sickening: Theresa and David, front centre, have been put through an horrific ordeal following the discovery of their daughter's body . Together: Miss Yeates and her boyfriend Mr Reardon - Vincent Tabak put a cruel end to their happiness . ‘Joanna died a dreadful death at your hands. She died in pain, beset with fear, struggling desperately for her life. You went to Asda as cool as may be with her body in the boot of your car before hiding it under leaves in a country lane hoping it would decompose before it was discovered. ‘You attempted to divert attention away from yourself and cynically implicated your landlord, Christopher Jefferies in her murder.’ Tabak, in dark suit, white shirt and blue tie, stood with his hands clasped, closed his eyes and bowed as the verdict was announced by the jury who had deliberated for 13 hours and 56 minutes before announcing their 10-2 majority verdict. Tabak, an architectural engineer, could now face further criminal charges after it emerged that police were examining suspicious material on his computer hard drives. Court: An artist's impression shows Tabak holding his head in his hands, with Joanna's parents unable to look at the killer of their daughter . His girlfriend at the time of the murder, Tanja Morson, did not give evidence. Her father Geoffrey, who lives in Cambridge, said after the verdict: ‘Our immediate thoughts, as always, go out to the Yeates family. Our priority is that we have a daughter still.’ Ann Reddrop, head of the Complex Case Unit, said Tabak had used the internet to keep ‘one step ahead of the investigation prior to his arrest’ and then sought to cast Miss Yeates in an unfavourable light when giving evidence to the jury. Outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones said Tabak would be behind bars for a long time but Joanna’s parents ‘still have to face each Christmas with the memory of a daughter taken from them’.
### SUMMARY:
| David and Teresa Yeates hope Tabak spends rest of his days in 'a living hell' |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Brian Dowling was videotaped 'placing his genitals on an LSU fan's face' By . Louise Boyle and Jill Reilly . Last updated at 2:29 PM on 20th January 2012 . An Alabama man has been arrested in connection with a video appearing to show a college football fan inflicting a horrifying sexual assault on a rival supporter after he passed out in a fast food restaurant following the game. Brian Downing, 32, of Smiths Station, Alabama, was booked on charges of sexual battery and obscenity. He was videotaped on January 9 'placing his genitals on an LSU fan's face. The LSU fan appears to be heavily inebriated and practically unconscious,' a police statement said. Arrested: Brian Downing, was booked on charges of sexual battery and obscenit after being videotaped 'placing his genitals on an LSU fan's face' Captured: Downing is a second cousin of Russell County, Ala., Sheriff Heath Taylor, who said that he learned from other family members Thursday morning that Downing had been identified in the video and called his father to bring him down to the station . Sinister attack: An Alabama University football fan climbed onto an unconscious student from Louisiana State and rubbed his genitals in his face following a game in New Orleans . V for victory: The attacker raises his arms in celebration after he shoved his genitals into another man's face - he then returns to assault him again at the packed fast food restaurant in New Orleans . The footage was uploaded to the Alabama University sports channel . BamaSportsForum on YouTube - and promptly deleted after it swept the . Internet. Police said sex crimes detectives met . Downing at his attorney's office in New Orleans, where officers . arrested him. Downing looked at the ground as officers escorted him in . handcuffs into the jail. Neither he nor the officers answered questions. Police said LSU and Alabama University campus police helped them collect . information and evidence needed to get a warrant for Downing's arrest. Downing is a second cousin of Russell County, Ala., Sheriff Heath . Taylor who turned him in. Taylor said that when he heard the allegation from his family that he had no choice but to . arrest Downing or send him to New Orleans. 'I wasn't going to let . anybody say that because he's my family I wasn't doing anything about . it. Mr Taylor said, he called Downing's dad . and told him to bring him to the sheriff's office in Phenix City, Ala. It wasn't a hard decision, he said. 'You've just got to do the right thing.' Downing's actions were videotaped about 11:45 p.m. Jan. 9, at a restaurant on Bourbon Street, police said. 'Person of interest': New Orleans police have release the photograph of this man who they would like to speak to following the incident in New Orleans on January 9 . Getting into the spirit: Alabama student Ellen Cassin, dressed in the team's shirt, poses for a picture over the unconscious LSU student (left) and having more fun (right) A video taken on a camera phone . showed a group of students from Alabama University surround the . Louisiana State University student who is slumped over a table passed . out, at a Krystal restaurant in New Orleans on January 9. The . footage was uploaded to the Alabama University sports channel . BamaSportsForum on YouTube - and promptly deleted after it swept the . Internet. It shows a man climbing on top of the rival fan and rubbing . his genitals repeatedly in his face. The alleged sexual assault happened . following a game between the two colleges during the Bowl Championship . Series where Alabama beat LSU 21-0. The clip, which lasts for five . minutes shows a group dressed in crimson Alabama shirts placing cartons . on the young man's head while whooping and cheering, snapping pictures . on their camera phones. One voice, off camera, says: 'This guy's life is over.' The hazing continues with rival fans . sticking straws up the man's nose and leaning over him while football . chants echo around the fast food joint, where hundreds of fans have . gathered. Another man adds: 'Seriously, I don't see him moving' before adding, 'someone has to pour water on him.' The man shifts slightly in the seat with his head slumped on the table but remains unconscious. It is then that a rival fan, dressed . in a baseball cap, red hoodie and khaki shorts pulls his genitals out of . his pants and climbs over the other man, grinding into face. Scott Myers, a spokesman for Birmingham, Ala.-based Hibbett Sports Inc., . confirmed Thursday that the company fired Downing on Wednesday because . of his part in the video. He said the company had been aware of the tape but did not identify the . person on it until Wednesday. He refused to say what the man did for . Hibbett or how the company became aware of his alleged involvement. Hibbett Sports lists about 800 stores in 26 states. 'We were made aware of this situation late yesterday afternoon. We . conducted our own investigation, and after the investigation was . concluded, we made the determination to terminate his employment,' Myers . said. College graduate: Patrick Setterstrom (left) at first tries to reveal himself before he is stopped by his more sensible girlfriend Ellen Cassin. He recently left college (right) Two students in the clip have been identified by Deadspin.com - Patrick Setterstrom and his blonde girlfriend Ellen . Cassin. He appears to attempt to expose himself at the start of the . video before his girlfriend restrains him. Since the clip appeared both . have deleted their Facebook profiles. The . recent college graduate is the son of Alabama's WKRG TV station's . sports director Randy Patrick Setterstrom. The station admitted that it . was their director's 22-year-old son. Remi Braden, director of public . affairs at New Orleans Police Department, told MailOnline: 'We were . alerted to the video last Sunday and immediately started a preliminary . investigation. 'No one in the restaurant where the . incident occurred contacted police but the investigation is ongoing. Because this is a possible sexual battery case, we are not in a position . to release more information at this time.' The victim may not necessarily have to come forward as charges can be brought in the name of the state. However Ric Simmons, a criminal law professor at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, points out that this is a far from a straightforward case. He told MailOnline: 'Technically a prosecutor does not need a victim to prosecute a crime, as long as there is other evidence sufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 'But although it is possible to obtain a conviction in a case like this without a victim, it will be difficult to do so. A jury may not take the case very seriously if there is no victim willing to testify. 'In this case, as reprehensible as the conduct may appear to some, others may see it as merely a crude college prank which does not rise to the level of criminal behavior. 'That perspective will only be reinforced if the victim does not care enough about the case to come forward. Given this challenge, a prosecutor’s office may be reluctant to commit their scarce resources to prosecuting such a case.' Professor Simmons teaches criminal law at Ohio State. Prior to becoming a law professor, he was an assistant district attorney for New York County. Disgrace: Male and female students from the university in Alabama put their fingers into the nose and ears of the unconscious student but not one offered him assistance .
### SUMMARY:
| Brian Dowling was videotaped 'placing his genitals on an LSU fan's face'
Suspect was turned in by family member who is a Russell County Sheriff . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Matt Lawton . Last updated at 1:00 AM on 4th February 2012 . John Terry was stripped of the England captaincy for the second time yesterday and a number of team-mates believe he should not be picked by Fabio Capello while allegations of racism persist. The decision, taken by the 14 members of the FA board, was communicated first to Capello on Thursday night and then to Terry at 10am yesterday in a call from FA chairman David Bernstein. The news was broken by Mail Online. Terry faces trial on July 9, having been accused of a racially aggravated public-order offence against Anton Ferdinand. Terry denies the charge, but the FA have decided it would be inappropriate to let the 31-year-old Chelsea defender lead England at this summer’s European Championship. Given the boot: John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy - for the second time - because he faces criminal charges over allegations he racially abused QPR defender Anton Ferdinand . On a dramatic day… . Losing the England armband has left the defender considering retirement from international football, and Sportsmail understands Terry was made aware a number of his black England team-mates had an issue with him — over his clash with Anton Ferdinand at Loftus Road on October 23 — during their last get-together. Yesterday, former Fulham striker Leroy Rosenior became the latest black football figure to speak out against Terry — joining Jason Roberts and Emmanuel Frimpong. TV pundit Rosenior told the BBC: ‘They have made the right decision. I just found it incredible that John could think he could lead England into the European Championship. I don’t even think he should go to Euro 2012 — I don’t think it would be good for the team.’ Family man: Father-of-two Terry with his wife Toni . Terry, stripped of the captaincy two years ago amid the controversy of his affair with Vanessa Perroncel and Sportsmail’s revelation that the Wembley box he was given at a discounted rate was being offered on the black market, is said to feel betrayed by the FA. But he may also feel it is difficult to face hostility in the dressing room when he is no longer skipper. The decision to delay his trial until July 9 makes it additionally complicated for him. The FA made the unprecedented move of cancelling the pre-match handshake at last Saturday’s FA Cup tie between QPR and Chelsea because Ferdinand and his team-mates were planning to snub Terry and it is believed Manchester United players, with Rio Ferdinand among them, were planning to do the same at Stamford Bridge tomorrow before Terry was withdrawn through injury. The issue is a nightmare for Capello. He reinstated Terry as captain a year ago, ignoring warnings that the move could come back to bite him. Now he has lost his captain in chaotic circumstances for the second successive tournament, and is left with problems when it comes to appointing a replacement. After the way Capello handled replacing Rio Ferdinand with Terry last year, it is no surprise that the United defender does not want the job. He tweeted yesterday: ‘I don’t want to be England captain after the last episode, just want to concentrate on playin for utd & if I make the squad then as ever I’ll be delighted.’ Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard is the right man if he is fit and in form. He captained England at the 2010 World Cup and handled his media responsibilities extremely well. But concerns over Gerrard’s fitness do not make him the automatic choice, even if Capello (right) would prefer to go with one of the senior players. Barry is a major candidate, with the likelihood Jack Wilshere will miss the tournament through injury making the Manchester City man’s place in the side more secure. Beyond that, Capello may well consider Tottenham’s Parker; an experienced club captain and someone now among the first players on the England team sheet despite missing out on World Cup selection. Frank Lampard could also be a contender if he can prove himself worthy of a place in England’s first XI. Wayne Rooney would have been considered had he not been suspended for the first two games in Poland and Ukraine. Ashley Cole would be a reluctant skipper and Joe Hart, while a certainty to start every game, is likely to be dismissed on the grounds he is too young. Capello, while accepting the FA’s right to strip Terry of the captaincy, is far from happy. The decision has been taken while he is in Italy and his stance on Terry has not changed. The manager made a recent visit to Chelsea’s training ground just to see Terry. But Bernstein and the FA board have made the correct call. They have to consider the public image of the England team. It is believed they stopped short of suspending Terry from international football altogether because it would set a dangerous precedent ahead of Terry’s case at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Race row: The moment Terry (in the black shirt) is accused of racially abusing QPR defender Ferdinand (centre left). He denies any wrong-doing . An FA statement read: ‘Following the decision to adjourn the court case against John Terry to July, the FA confirm he will not captain the England team until the allegations against him are resolved. ‘The FA board expected the trial to be concluded prior to the European Championship. Further to Wednesday’s confirmation that the trial will not take place until after the tournament, the board has collectively decided it is in the interests of all parties that John has the responsibilities of captaincy removed at this time. ‘This decision has been taken due to the higher profile nature of the captaincy, on and off the pitch, and the demands and requirements expected of the captain leading into and during a tournament. ‘The FA board can confirm that he has not been excluded from the squad and that Fabio Capello is free to select him for the Holland fixture on February 29 and the European Championship. ‘FA chairman David Bernstein has spoken to John Terry and Fabio Capello to explain the facts to them. Fabio Capello has not been involved in the FA board discussions which reached this conclusion, but understands that the FA board has authority to make this decision. ‘Fabio Capello will take the decision as to who will be made captain moving forward. ‘This decision in no way infers any suggestion of guilt in relation to the charge made against John Terry. The FA will not be making any further comment on this matter.’ Steven Gerrard is the odds-on favourite to take John Terry's armband for the Euro 2012 opener, according to Ladbrokes. The Liverpool skipper is a warm 2/5 favourite to take over from Terry should he be stripped of captaincy, with Joe Hart next in at 5/1. Hart's teammate Gareth Barry earns an 8/1 quote while Chelsea's Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole are outsiders at 20/1 and 33/1 respectively. Terry is also now odds-on (8/11) to not start the opening match against France. Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes said: 'Gerrard appears the obvious choice with the odds reflecting that. 'Should the armband be passed to another Chelsea player punters will be in for a bumper payday.'
### SUMMARY:
| Chelsea defender, 31, informed of FA's decision this morning .
Move comes two days after court sets trial date for Terry to answer charge of racially-abusing QPR player Anton Ferdinand .
It emerged England manager Capello was not consulted and does not agree with the decision.
Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand — brother of Anton and Terry’s predecessor as England captain — ruled himself out of contention to be the new skipper.
Capello began deliberating over Terry’s replacement, with his options limited. Gareth Barry and Scott Parker are among the leading contenders.
Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas backed Terry and said he would remain Chelsea captain. |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Kimberley Dadds . PUBLISHED: . 09:09 EST, 24 September 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 01:47 EST, 25 September 2012 . It appears all Simon Cowell has to do to boost ratings of his UK version of The X Factor is appear on it himself for just a few minutes. Sunday night's Boot Camp show was the most watched programme in Britain that day... and even notched up audience viewers to make it the second highest ratings of the series so far. And it seems it could have been the addition of Cowell back on screens as he made a (very small) comeback. He'll be happy! Simon Cowell is all smiles as he momentarily appears back on Sunday's X Factor... causing viewing figures to be given a boost . The music mogul hasn't been seen on Britain's The X Factor since he quit two years ago. But on Sunday he must have pleased fans of the show as he made a return... although not on the judging panel as some would perhaps like. He instead appeared looking relaxed as he phoned the current panellists, consisting of Nicole Scherzinger, Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow and Tulisa Contostavlos, from the comfort of sunny Miami during a break from filming the US version of the talent programme. That's better: Sunday's show averaged at 9.4 million viewers, with it at 10.8 million at its highest - the second highest rating of the season so far . Cowell was seen smiling as he delivered news to the judges about which group of acts they would be mentoring and taking care of on this year's series. And as a result an average of 9.4 million viewers, including those tuned into ITV1 and ITV+1, while it peaked at 10.8 million viewers at one stage. Although it still failed to draw in the numbers it did from last season. Meanwhile, Downton Abbey on ITV1 averaged around 8.4 million viewers, although that did mean it was down from the previous week's ratings and form its popularity a year ago. It managed to notch up an average of 8.6 million viewers in its debut episode for the new series the week before. The girls! Tulisa was seen squealing with delight as Simon informed her she'd be taking care of the females, consisting of Ella Henderson, Amy Mottram, Jade Collins, Lucy Spraggan, Leanne Robinson and Jade Ellis . The ratings statistics come as the final 24 X Factor contestants going through to the live show part of the programme have been revealed. During Sunday's episode Tulisa, who is the reigning judge from last year, was seen jumping around with joy after the mogul informed her she would be looking after the females. She gushed: 'Get in there. Thank you very much Simon, I won’t let you down.' She added: 'Before, I said to myself there is no way I can win two years in a . row, never going to happen. But my category is so strong that it’s . actually possible.' Tulisa's . group includes 16-year-old Ella Henderson, Amy Mottram, Jade Collins, . Lucy Spraggan, Leanne Robinson and Jade Ellis, who all wowed the judges . with their vocal ability, originality and personality. The boys: Nicole Scherzinger will be mentoring James Arthur, Jahmene Douglas, Nathan Fagan-Gayle, Adam Burrdidge, Rylan Clark and Jake Quickenden . Gary Barlow was given the over 28's, Nicole Scherzinger took the boys while Louis Walsh was handed the groups. The Take That singer and writer seemed pleased with the mature group of singers and said: 'Oh wow. Brilliant! That is good news to my ears.' 'I feel like in recent years, the overs has become a bit of a joke . category and I really want to restore what the overs should be this . year. There are people over 28 with talent!’ The over-28s: Gary will be working with Kye Sones, Melanie Masson, Nicola Marie, Brad Shackleton, Carolynne Poole and Christopher Maloney . Gary will be working with Kye Sones, Melanie Masson, Nicola Marie, Brad Shackleton, Carolynne Poole and Christopher Maloney. Nicole had expressed that she wanted the girl category but after being given the boys she said: 'I wasn’t expecting that. I’m stoked. I’m super stoked. I’m excited.' The groups: Mitsotu, GMD3, Duke, MK1, Poisonous Twins, and Rough Copy will be taken care of by Westlife manager Louis Walsh . Overs: Melanie Masson, Carolynne Poole, Christopher Maloney, Kye Sones, Nicola- Marie, Brad Shackleton . Boys: Jake Quickenden, Rylan Clarke, Adam Burridge, Jahmene Douglas, James Arthur, Nathan Fagan- Gayle . Girls: Ella Henderson, Jade Ellis, Jade Collins, Lucy Spraggan, Leanne Robinson, Amy Mottram . Groups: MK1, Union J (Formally Triple J), Mitsotu, Poisonous Twin, GMD3, Duke, Times Red . The former Pussycat singer will be mentoring James Arthur, Jahmene Douglas, Nathan Fagan-Gayle, Adam Burrdidge, Rylan Clark and Jake Quickenden. Louis, who managed Westlife and Boyzone got the groups - a category he wasn't prepared for. He said: 'I got the groups. I wasn’t expecting the groups. But I’m happy. I’m going to work hard, and yeah, it’s going to be great.' When the judges deliberated over the . groups they told five acts they had made it through before asking two . bands to battle it out for the final place. Mitsotu, Duke, MK1, Poisonous Twins, and Rough Copy all landed spots at the next stage of the competition but Gary Barlow told GMD3 and Triple J that they must battle it out in a sing off. But diehard fans will know Rough Copy failed to make it to judges houses after member Kazeem Ajobe, 23,who was born in Nigeria, submitted his application for leave to remain in the UK which is being viewed by the UK Border Agency, but he left it too late and was unable to head to the judges' houses abroad. He was told he would not be able to re-enter the UK. Upset: Boyband Rough Copy were axed from The X Factor after one member failed to secure a visa . And there was more changes as Union J and Times Red were added to Louis' category while George Shelley added to Union J and the group was renamed Triple J. Louis Walsh sad: 'When Rough Copy left, I found it difficult to choose between two groups to fill their place. In the end I invited boyband Triple J to come to Judges Houses, but still felt that as I’d lost such a strong group in Rough Copy that I wanted to make sure the category was the best it could possibly be. 'I asked Gary, Nicole and Tulisa if they minded if I took a seventh act. They were happy as they felt they’d got the right six acts for their Judges Houses trips so I asked Times Red to come along and they said yes.' She's happy! Tulisa Contostavlos was ecstatic when it was revealed to her by Simon Cowell that she'd be in charge of the girls this year to attempt to continue her reign as champion judge . They'll do! She originally wanted the girls but Nicole Scherzinger was happy to accept taking charge of the boys category .
### SUMMARY:
| But it was all change from bootcamp to judges houses as Rough Copy left the competition after visa issues .
Union J renamed Triple J after one new member was brought in by Walsh .
Full list of 24 contestant revealed today . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Daniel Bates and Associated Press . PUBLISHED: . 14:31 EST, 11 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:50 EST, 12 February 2013 . President Obama is set to make gun control - as well as taxes and spending - a key part of his State of the Union speech after the first lady invited the parents of the slain Chicago teenager who has become the poster child for gun violence in the president's home city. The president is also expected to press Congress for additional tax hikes, fewer . spending cuts, outreach for military families and immigration . reform, which is shaping up to be a key part of his second term agenda. The . agenda Obama will outline 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. Central topic: Barack Obama is set to make gun control of a key part of his State of the Union speech after the First Lady invited along the parents of the slain Chicago teenager who has become the poster child for gun violence . Recent tragedy: 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was shot dead just a mile from Mr Obama's Chicago home and only a week after she performed at his second inauguration . Some . of Obama's job ideas will be repackaged versions of proposals he made . during his first term, though aides say there will be some new . initiatives, too. All of . the economic proposals are expected to echo themes from Obama's . re-election campaign, which focused on using increased spending to . generate jobs, protecting programs to help the middle class, and . bringing down the deficit in part by culling more tax revenue from the . wealthiest Americans. Obama has called for raising more revenue through closing tax breaks and loopholes, but he has not detailed a list of targets. He . and his aides often mention as examples of unnecessary tax breaks a . benefit for owners of private jets and tax subsidies for oil and gas . companies. But no portion of Obama's remarks may . be more poignant than the renewed call for tougher firearms laws with . Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton and Nathaniel Pendleton looking on. Their . 15-year-old daughter Hadiya was shot dead just a mile from Mr Obama’s . Chicago home and only a week after she performed at his second . inauguration. Chicago police announced Monday evening that they had arrested two men in the case. Mr and Mrs Pendleton have been invited . to make the painful return trip to Washington D.C. by First Lady . Michelle Obama, who offered them a seat in her box. There they will be joined by others who suffered tragedy and loss as a result of gun violence. Mr Obama has already pledged to ban the sale of assault weapons, introduce tougher background checks and reduce the capacity of magazines. He was moved by the shooting of 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December. Mrs Obama attended the Hadiya’s funeral along with Education Secretary Arne Duncan and White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, who are both from Chicago. A handwritten note to Hadiya's family from the Obamas was even published on her funeral program. It read: ‘Dear Cleopatra and . Nathaniel, Michelle and I just wanted you to know how heartbroken we are . to have heard about Hadiya's passing. 'We . know that no words from us can soothe the pain, but rest assured that . we are praying for you, and that we will continue to work as hard as we . can to end this senseless violence. God Bless, Barack Obama.' In attendance: Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, Hadiya's mother, will attend the State of the Union address as one of Michelle Obama's guests . Funeral guest: Michelle Obama attended Hadiya Pendleton's funeral service in Chicago . Hadiya was shot dead January 29 while sheltering from the rain in a Chicago park, the innocent victim of a gang shootout. Her death made her the 42nd person to be gunned down in the city this year alone. In . a bitter irony, she was not only an honors student but an advocate for . her fellow pupils who said in a video posted online: 'It is your job as . students to say no to gangs and yes to a great future.' Chicago police said Monday evening . that two reputed gang members, Michael Ward,18, and Kenneth Williams, . 20, have been charged with her murder. They . were arrested after police used video surveillance and tips from . community residents during their investigations, sources told DNAinfo.com/Chicago. 'I’m ecstatic. The whole family is ecstatic,' Hadiya’s mother, Cleopatra, told The Chicago Sun-Times. Other main topics: In his State of the Union speech Mr Obama is also expected to speak about military families and immigration reform, which is shaping up to be a key part of his second term agenda . 'I just pray they are penalized to the full extent of the law.' Meanwhile, Republicans have shown little sign of falling in line behind the president ahead of his speech tonight, particularly when it comes to taxes. 'Clearly . the president wants more revenue for more government,' Senate Minority . Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in an interview. 'He's gotten all the revenue he's going to get. Been there, done that.' The . backdrop for Obama's address will be a March 1 deadline for averting . automatic across-the-board spending cuts, known as the sequester. The president wants lawmakers to push . that deadline back for a second time to create space for a larger . deficit-reduction deal, one he hopes would include a balance of targeted . cuts and increased tax revenue. Republicans want to offset the sequester with spending cuts alone. Couple: President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were pictured on Monday during a Medal of Honor presentation ceremony at the White House . 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 . As he addresses lawmakers and the American people, Obama is expected to say that government entitlement programs should be on the table in deficit reduction talks. But he will also make the case that programs that help the middle class, the poor and the elderly must be protected. In keeping with that approach, the White House said Monday that Obama would not consider increasing the Medicare eligibility age as a way to reduce spending. The president's focus on the economy and deficit reflects the top concerns of many Americans. A Quinnipiac University poll out Monday showed than 35 per cent of registered voters are most interested in hearing the president during the State of the Union address the economy, more than any other issue. The federal deficit came in second, with 20 per cent saying that was the issue they were most interested in hearing Obama discuss. The poll also suggested that the slow but steady economic gains throughout Obama's first term may not be trickling down to many Americans. More than 50 per cent of registered voters said they thought the economy was still in a recession and 79 per cent described the economy as 'not so good' or 'poor.'
### SUMMARY:
| The president will make renewed call for strict gun control measures .
Parents of slain 15-year-old will be in attendance .
She had performed at Obama's inauguration a week prior to her murder .
Chicago police announced tonight arrests for her murder . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Michael Seamark and Christian Gysin . PUBLISHED: . 16:49 EST, 19 April 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 02:39 EST, 20 April 2013 . She is the glamorous brunette dubbed the ‘thinking man’s Pippa Middleton’. He is the barrister to the stars frequently pictured with his VIP clients. Now, the conduct of these two key lawyers at the Leveson Inquiry into media standards has been called into question – after the revelation that they are having an affair. Twice-married David Sherborne, 44, who represented Hugh Grant and other phone-hacking victims, is in a relationship with mother-of-two Carine Patry Hoskins, junior counsel for Lord Justice Leveson. Scroll down for video . In a relationship: Carine Patry Hoskins, left, who is junior counsel for Lord Justice Levseson and lawyer to the stars David Sherborne, right . The couple admit going on holiday together to the Greek island of Santorini in August – days after months of public hearings at the Inquiry ended – but claim their affair did not begin until after the controversial Leveson report was published in November. The disclosure raises concerns over whether their relationship undermined the integrity of the Leveson Inquiry. The pair have already been the subject of gossip in legal circles for several months, with rumours including sightings of the couple late at night in a London bar and breakfasting together at a fashionable brasserie near the Royal Courts of Justice. But they did not tell Lord Justice . Leveson or Robert Jay QC, the Inquiry’s senior counsel and Miss Patry . Hoskins’ immediate superior, of their relationship, with the Santorini . trip brought to the men’s attention only in recent days. Twitter frenzy: Carine Patry Hoskins trended on Twitter when she appeared on television in the Leveson Inquiry . It is understood the couple claim that they went on holiday together simply to ‘discuss the possibility of a future relationship’. In a joint statement, the judge and the QC confirmed: ‘Neither Lord Justice Leveson nor Robert Jay QC was aware of the fact that Ms Patry Hoskins went on holiday with Mr Sherborne or that they had a developing relationship. 'Mr Jay first learnt there was a persnoal relationship of any sort on 18 March 2013 and he later informed Lord Justice Leveson. The Santorini holiday has only been mentioned this week.' Miss Patry Hoskins, 40, and her husband, QC Mark Hoskins, 45, put their £4million home on the market in December and are understood to be divorcing. As junior counsel for the Inquiry – her fees paid by the taxpayer – Miss Patry Hoskins was required to be totally independent. Her job was to test the evidence given to the Inquiry on behalf of the public and assist proceedings without any undisclosed conflict of interest. Details of her affair will prompt questions about her objectivity. At the hearings she questioned witnesses, including Mr Sherborne’s clients, with grievances against the Press. Among them were singer Charlotte Church and ex-footballer Garry Flitcroft. During the Inquiry and once the public hearings concluded at the end of July, Miss Patry Hoskins was also heavily involved in drafting important legal correspondence between the Inquiry and individuals and organisations that gave evidence – including newspapers and editors who had been subject to fierce questioning by Mr Sherborne. She also collated facts for parts of Lord Justice Leveson’s report, published on November 29. Bar Council guidelines warn barristers it is very unwise to have relationships with counsel involved in the same cases because clients might perceive ‘a danger of breach of confidence or other conspiracy’. Any relationship was also likely to breach the Council’s code of conduct. Miss Patry Hoskins and father-of-three Mr Sherborne both featured prominently in the televised live proceedings of the Inquiry, which began in September 2011. Mr Sherborne was also frequently photographed entering the High Court alongside some of his high-profile celebrity clients. Mr Sherborne spoke of 'conflicts of interest' in his closing submissions to the Inquiry. He said: 'Coupled with the evidence . we've heard of the overly close relationship between the Press and . police, the accounts of excessive hospitality, is it any wonder there . was the perception of bias or conflict of interest?' A spokesman for the barristers said Mr Sherborne's involvement with the Inquiry ended on July 24. The barrister – part of whose Leveson fees will also be paid out of the public purse – has represented dozens of phone-hacking victims at both the Inquiry and in damages claims against News International, including actor Jude Law, Sarah Ferguson and the parents of Madeleine McCann. Mr Sherborne, paid £400 an hour for appearing at the Inquiry, has also represented comedian Frankie Boyle and Kate Winslet’s husband Ned Rocknroll in recent High Court cases against newspapers. He was Max Mosley’s lawyer when he successfully sued the now defunct News of the World for invasion of privacy in 2008 after it ran a sexual exposé on him, which wrongly suggested that consensual S&M scenes seen on video footage had a neo-Nazi connotation. David Cameron set up the Leveson Inquiry in July 2011 at the height of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. He appointed Lord Justice Leveson to run the investigation into the culture, practice and ethics of the press. The High Court judge had the power to summon newspaper proprietors, journalists, police and politicians to give evidence under oath. Victims of phone-hacking and press intrusion – including many celebrities – also appeared. The final cost of the Inquiry has yet to be announced but it is estimated to be approaching £6million. More than £1million of that is expected to be on legal fees for lead counsel Mr Jay and his two junior colleagues, Miss Patry Hoskins and David Barr. In his opening remarks, Lord Justice Leveson stressed that ‘complete transparency’ should be one ‘of the principal objectives’ of the Inquiry. A stickler for the rules, in June he was close to quitting after Education Secretary Michael Gove criticised him, arguing the Leveson Inquiry was a threat to press freedom. Mr Sherborne’s profile on the 5RB Chambers website describes him as a media and entertainment barrister and gives a long list of famous names he has represented, including the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and the Blairs. It says he is ‘particularly well-known for his extensive reputation management practice’ and has also ‘carved himself a niche advising in relation to high net-worth or high-profile divorces, especially in respect of media, confidentiality and disclosure issues’. The son of a QC, Mr Sherborne has two children from his first marriage to Helen, who he wed in 1993. He got married again in 2006, to 36-year-old Charlotte Leyshon, who he has now divorced. The couple lived in a £1.5million converted barn near Shenley, Hertfordshire, but she has since moved to south Wales with their young child.
### SUMMARY:
| David Sherborne, 44, is in a relationship with Carine Patry Hoskins, 40 .
Twice-married Sherborne represented phone-hacking victims .
Miss Patry Hoskins was junior counsel for Lord Justice Leveson .
They claim affair did not begin until after Leveson report was published . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 20:14 EST, 11 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:45 EST, 12 June 2013 . These are the shocking images which further detail Michael Jackson's tragic spiral into prescription pill dependency, revealed as his family pursue a lawsuit against his concert promoters. The evidence pictures, released by the Los Angeles Police Department this week, show numerous pill bottles, oxygen tanks and medical supplies littered around the superstar's bedroom at the time of his death on June 25, 2009. One image, which was not among the dozens of pictures shown as part of the Conrad Murray manslaughter trial, reveals a metal stand with a hanging bag of intravenous fluids attached. In the background are numerous portraits of unidentified babies along with a small picture of Charlie Chaplin. Several canisters of what appears to be oxygen stand next to a wooden dresser topped with gilded mirror. Unseen: New evidence pictures of Jackson's bedroom were released this week including this shot of an IV bag, oxygen canisters and a bizarre series of baby portraits . Stash: A medical bag, believed to be Dr Conrad Murray's is tucked away in Jackson's grand closet . Emptied: Several empty pill bottles could be seen rolling around the floor of Jackson's opulent room . Michael Jackson's mother Katherine is suing AEG Live, . claiming it failed to properly investigate her son's personal doctor . Conrad Murray and missed warning signs about his failing health. Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 after giving Jackson a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol. In the new photo collection, prescription pill bottles are seen lined up on a nightstand alongside over-the-counter products and a bottle of water while empty containers roll around on the floor. Along with propofol, the names of drugs Diazepam and Lidocaine are marked on some bottles' labels. In one telling image, which appears to have been taken in a car, there is a list of nearby 24-hour pharmacies and the phone numbers. Conrad Murray's medical bag is also indicated in one picture, according to RadarOnline, stashed high in a closet in the superstar's dressing room. There are also similar images from Murray's trial including shots of Jackson's iconic embroidered jackets hanging in a closet and stacks of movies on a nightstand. Close at hand: A list of the nearby pharmacies was discovered on what appears to be a car seat . Tragic demise: The new round of photographs from the bedroom of Michael Jackson after he died in 2009 were submitted into evidence at his wrongful death trial this week . The shocking new set of images came . as jurors in the Jackson case were shown an email on Monday in which the . top executive at AEG Live LLC expressed grave concerns about treatments . Jackson was receiving from his longtime dermatologist. The email sent by AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips said the company was 'scared to death' of drug injections given to Jackson. Phillips told jurors that the email . was a response to a $48,000 bill that Jackson's manager received for the . treatments by Dr Arnold Klein. 'He scares us to death because he is shooting him up with something,' Phillips wrote. Medicated: Jackson's bedroom was an array of prescription pill bottles and over-the-counter drugs at the time of his death in June 2009 . Dependency: Four bottles of Propofol and a variety of other drugs line Jackson's night stand . The end: Michael Jackson died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home in LA in 2009 . Heavy dosage: A medical bag full of bottles that was found in the medical superstar's bedroom . The email was sent to Jackson's business manager Michael Kane after a meeting was held at the singer's house to address his health and missed rehearsals. The treatments included numerous shots of cosmetic drugs such as Restalyne and botox, as well as other unidentified intramuscular shots, Phillips said, citing the bill. Klein's attorney has defended the doctor's treatment of Jackson. AEG denies any wrongdoing, and Phillips and other executives have testified during the trial that it would have been inappropriate to ask about or intervene in Jackson's medical care. Phillips was told by a judge to answer questions posed by a lawyer for Katherine Jackson without arguing and that his demeanor might be hurting his case. Immense talent: Michael Jackson speaks at a news conference in London on March 2009 ahead of his scheduled shows for AEG. He would never perform and died three months later . Waste: Various empty bottles and medical supplies were found in the room following the singer's death almost four years ago . Investigation: Police quickly arrived on the scene at Jackson's mansion following his tragic death in 2009 . Jurors were sent from the courtroom before Superior Court Judge Yvette Palazuelos addressed Phillips, who has sparred with attorney Brian Panish throughout his testimony. The lawyers have been repeatedly warned by the judge about the behavior. 'Arguing with the lawyers isn't really going to help,' Palazuelos told Phillips. 'It's not going to help your case. It's not going to help anybody.' Phillips said Panish was repeatedly asking him questions about the same subject. 'I'm just trying not to say the wrong thing,' Phillips said. The admonition by the judge came after Panish asked Phillips about characterizations of Murray that Phillips made in an email sent five days before the singer died. Overdose: The singer died at home, aged 50, from Propofol intoxication . Concoction: Jackson had been taking a variety of prescription pills and remedies at the time of his death . Phillips acknowledged that some of the statements - including that AEG Live had checked out Murray and that the former cardiologist didn't need the job - turned out not to be true. When Panish asked if Phillips had acknowledged that some of his statements to the director of Jackson's This Is It shows weren't true, the executive said: 'Honestly, only to stop you from badgering me, yes.' Palazuelos briefly stopped the testimony and issued the warning. Jessica Stebbins Bina, a defense attorney for AEG Live, said some of Panish's questions had been argumentative. The judge disagreed. Battle: Michael's mother Katherine Jackson (left) is pursuing a lawsuit against AEG. In an email from 2008, AEG CEO Randy Phillips (right) wrote he was 'scared to death' of one of the singer's doctors . Hidden away: A medical bag belonging to Conrad Murray can be seen in a high cupboard in Jackson's dressing room . The ultimate showman: Jackson's iconic embroidered jackets hang in a closet, in an image released this week by the LAPD . Battle: Empty bottle lie on the floor under a nightstand in Jackson's bedroom which holds stacks of DVDs . Last moments: The Emergency Services report of what ended up being the end of Michael Jackson's life at his Carolwood residence in California .
### SUMMARY:
| Katherine Jackson suing AEG Live .
claiming concert promoter failed to properly investigate her son's doctor .
Conrad Murray .
The images were released by the LAPD this week showing prescription bottles for drugs including Propofol .
Jackson died aged 50 on June 25, 2009 at his LA mansion . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Matt Chorley and Ray Massey . PUBLISHED: . 21:58 EST, 10 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:48 EST, 11 September 2013 . The troubled High Speed Rail project has hit the buffers again after it emerged the man in charge of championing it has been forced to take three weeks off work with a bad leg. As David Cameron ordered a 'fightback' to rescue the £42billion scheme from a growing opposition, its chairman Douglas Oakervee has torn a calf muscle and will be absent from work as the first legislation is introduced to Parliament. The revelation added to the mounting sense of chaos around the project as it enters a critical stage. Scroll down for video . Fast route: The scheme plans to use 225mph trains to link London with Birmingham and other major northern cities . Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin . will today launch a fresh defence of the HS2 project, . highlighting a report claiming that it will boost the UK economy by . £15billion. In his bid to . keep the flagship policy alive, he will say it . is as vital as a ‘heart bypass’ for the clogged arteries of Britain’s . overcrowded railways. In a . combative speech, the he will highlight new . analysis by top City accountants showing that the true benefits of the . Y-shaped HS2 line linking the capital to the Midlands and the North . could boost the UK economy by £15billion a year – with regions gaining . ‘at least double’ the benefit of London. The . accountants say it provides ‘hard evidence’ that HS2 will pay for . itself within a few years putting the Government’s case ‘beyond . reasonable doubt.’ Staunch supporter: Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin will defend the Government's controversial HS2 rail scheme in a speech today . Ministers say the previous Whitehall cost-benefit analysis failed to take account of the full benefits to the regions which the new KPMG study has addressed. But the Taxpayers’ Alliance said the minster was simply getting sharp accountants to dress up the figures in a ‘propaganda exercise’ based on ‘dodgy assumptions in the Government’s own business case’ to protect an expensive and unnecessary ‘white elephant’. Mr Oakervee as previously warned that it would be 'catastrophic' for the country if the project did not go ahead. But according to The Independent, there was already concern that he was not doing enough to publicly support it. The news that his leg injury will mean he is away from work for three months will only add to the sense of a lack of leadership. 'Captain Invisible gets even more time hiding in his garden,' one industry source told the newspaper, referring to a nickname given to Mr Oakervee by his critics. Today’s speech by Mr McLoughlin marks the official start of a Government ‘fightback’ against detractors including residents blighted by the line, MPs, taxpayer and protest groups, who say it’s a waste of money. Controversy has dogged the 351 mile scheme which is planned to run through leafy Tory heartlands in Warwickshire and Buckinghamshire using 225mph trains to link London to Birmingham and beyond to Manchester and Leeds. On . Monday a damning report by the powerful Commons’ Public Accounts . Committee said ministers had failed to make a ‘value for money’ case for . the scheme whose costs were ‘spiralling’. The . spending watchdog said the Government’s case was based on ‘fragile . numbers, out-of-date data and assumptions which do not reflect real . life’. And it feared it would simply ‘suck’ more money into London . rather than benefit the regions. But in his keynote speech today, Mr McLoughlin will argue that only a new high speed rail line will reduce worsening overcrowding on the railways and that the alternative of an upgrade to the already stretched West Coast Main Line would be like ‘trying to run the M1 up the Old Kent Road’. He will hail HS2 as ‘our chance to level the playing field between North and South’. Highlighting new research published by City accountants KPMG on the economic benefits of the scheme, he will say: ‘High Speed Two will make Liverpool stronger. Manchester stronger. Leeds stronger. 'Britain stronger - a £15 billion annual boost to the economy - with the north and midlands gaining at least double the benefit of the South.’ KPMG accountants calculate that the boost to Birmingham's economy will be equivalent to between 2.1 per cent to 4.2 per cent of the city region's economic output (Gross domestic product or GDP). Anger: The scheme has attracted much opposition particularly in the rural areas that the line will run through . There will be between 0.8 per cent and 1.7 per cent benefit to Manchester, 1.6 per cent for Leeds and 0.5 per cent for Greater London. The Exchequer could also benefit from £5billion a year in extra tax receipts as a result of the boost to the economy, says the KPMG report. It adds that the vexed debate about the ‘lap-top’ effect on the value of time saved on rail journeys is ‘a red herring’. Passionate: David Cameron has expressed his full support for the scheme in the face of an 'unholy alliance' of opposition . Mr McLoughlin has already admitted that the Government ‘got it wrong’ when making speed and faster journey times the biggest selling-point for HS2, and should have concentrated on benefits. To critics who complain of a spiralling budget he will hit-back:’Let me spell it out. The budget for HS2 is £42.6 billion. Not £70 billion. Not £80 billion. Not the scare stories from opponents. But £42.6 billion. 'And that is an upper limit with a £14.4billion contingency in reserve which we are determined to bear down on.’ He believes the report provides the ‘hard evidence’ needed to convince sceptics. Richard Threlfall, KPMG's head for infrastructure, building and construction said his firm's analysis ‘shows beyond reasonable doubt that HS2 brings net benefits to the country of many times the scheme's cost’. He added: 'The UK will be £15 billion a year better off with HS2, recovering the cost of the scheme within just a few years.' But Matthew Sinclair, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said it was ‘an expensive propaganda exercise’ adding: ‘The Government has squandered taxpayers’ money on a cynical attempt to win over the many, many people who think this white elephant is the wrong way to spend tens of billions of pounds of their money.’ Prime Minister David Cameron has expressed ‘passionate’ support for HS2 in the face of an ‘unholy alliance’ of sceptics. Vocal: Alistair Darling, left, has spoken out against HS2 despite first approving it as Chancellor, while Labour shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle has said the Government must redouble its efforts to make HS2 a reality . High profile critics have included Labour's Alistair Darling who first approved it as chancellor, and the Institute of Directors which dismissed it as ‘a grand folly’. But Labour has given conditional support to HS2 providing costs are capped. Shadow transport Secretary Maria Eagle said: ‘The Government must now redouble their efforts to make the new north-south rail line a reality and ensure it remains on budget and on track.’
### SUMMARY:
| HS2 chairman Douglas Oakervee will be absent from work as just as David Cameron orders ministers to launch a 'fightback'
Patrick McLoughlin describes scheme as a 'heart bypass' for UK's railways .
Analysis suggests £42bn project could boost economy by £15bn a year . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Adrian Durham . PUBLISHED: . 03:06 EST, 2 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 07:02 EST, 2 March 2014 . I was at Craven Cottage on Saturday for Felix Magath’s first home game in charge of Fulham, but he took a beating and learned a lesson from Jose Mourinho. It’s Oscars weekend – and no I’m not talking about the Brazilian Chelsea man. So these are the footballing Oscars from Chelsea’s 3-1 win at Fulham. The Jekyll and Hyde Award…. Andrea Schurrle. A performance so bad it made me want to cry in the first half, he was awful. He couldn’t kick the ball properly. Just before half time Ramires was in acres of space 40 yards out with time to pick a pass. Schurrle was waving like a crazed windmill on the left unmarked, Ramires looked at him, and couldn’t bring himself to pass to the useless German. Game of two halves: Chelsea's Andre Schurrle was ineffective in the first-half but then scored a hat-trick as the Blues ran out 3-1 winners in the west London derby at Fulham . Off the pace: Schurrle couldn't get into the game before half-time and here is muscled off the ball by Fulham's Dan Burn . Changed man: But after the interval, Schurrle was unplayable, scoring three times as Chelsea went four points clear at the top . After listening to Mourinho’s expletives at half time, Schurrle turned into a very good professional footballer. His movement was excellent, his finishing even better. He bagged a hat-trick, his second of the season after scoring three for Germany in a qualifier in Sweden. His goals at Craven Cottage were his first in a Chelsea shirt in nearly three months. The Real Player of the Season Award…. Should go to Eden Hazard. If you want to just count up goal totals then give it to Luis Suarez. But if you love football then Hazard is the only winner. Wizardry: Eden Hazard was Chelsea's stand-out performer and should be named player of the season . For the purists: Hazard should win the accolade for the manner in which he controls games from midfield . CLICK HERE TO READ ROB DRAPER'S REPORT FROM CRAVEN COTTAGE . Hazard was quiet first half but then ran the game after the break. His vision and execution were perfect. Fulham were totally bamboozled by this genius. Eden Hazard? More like Eden Wizard. Massive Understatement Award… . Fulham Chairman Shahid Khan said before the game that appointing a third manager this season might be considered “unconventional or unpopular.” No, really? He justified it by saying he had to do it to prevent a “non-stop slide in the table.” Well he’s certainly done that. Fulham are bottom and can’t slide any further down the table. Fooling nobody: Fulham owner Shahid Khan is onto his third manager of the season but the club's fortunes have still not improved . The Ineffective Mind Games Award… . Felix Magath. He said before the game that Chelsea have “the mentality of champions.” Was that designed to undermine the opponents? Make them feel over-confident or even complacent? Well it didn’t work. Chelsea didn’t even bother turning up for the first-half yet still made Fulham look like a Championship side, which is probably what they’ll be next season. Message to Magath – don’t mess around trying to play mind games with Mourinho. Pointless. Psychological warfare: Fulham manager Felix Magath tried the mind games to try and unsettle Chelsea before the match... but his ploy failed miserably . Mulling it over: Magath troops off looking dejected after the 3-1 defeat, which left Fulham firmly rooted to the bottom of the table . The Ineffective Mind Games Bonus Award… . To Jose Mourinho who refused to acknowledge after the game that Chelsea are top of the table. They’re not only top, they’re four points clear. He’s normally so adept at the football psycho stuff, but nobody is fooled by this one, poor effort Jose. All in the mind: Nobody is fooled by Mourinho's claims that Chelsea are not genuine Premier League title contenders . Sitting pretty: Chelsea opened up a four-point lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League following the win . The Stupid Hard man Award… . Brede Hangeland. Determined to head a ball away he went in full force, no nonsense, and smashed his temple into the top of team-mate Kieron Richardson’s head. Ouch. Remarkably the Norwegian tried to carry on. But couldn’t. Obviously. It was daft to even think he could carry on. A bonus “bottler” award for Fernando Torres during this incident. The Spaniard saw the Richardson/Hangeland sandwich coming and bottled out of it in good time - wise move. Groggy: Brede Hangeland collided with teammate Kieron Richardson and had to go off with concussion . The World Cup Hopes Fading Fast Award… . Goes jointly to Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole. Bizarrely Jose Mourinho claimed this week that both “deserve” a place in Roy Hodgson’s squad for Brazil. Er…why? Just because they’ve both played over 100 times for England? I don’t think so. Much respect to both of course, but it’s not a jolly. Roy has to balance building for the future with putting on a respectable show this summer. I’m sorry but for Frank and Ashley that means no trip for them in my opinion. Mourinho put both of them on the bench at Fulham, and they stayed there for the full 90 minutes. Benched: Ashley Cole was an unused substitute at Craven Cottage as his chances of going to the World Cup fade further . Waning influence: Frank Lampard was also kept on the bench at Fulham . The Premier League Title Award… . Goes to Chelsea. Or at least, it could do. I tipped Chelsea pre-season and I see no reason to change that. I’ve seen them play terribly this season – I was at the Britannia Stadium to watch them beaten 3-2 by Stoke. But it seems that when they’ve learned a lot from that kind of result. They were so bad in the first-half at Fulham but still ended up winning comfortably. Mourinho keeps insisting they can’t win the title, but he won’t mind being wrong on this one – if Chelsea are crowned champions he can heap praise on his players, and they will love him even more. Meantime Mourinho’s ego will privately soak up all the praise that will inevitably head his way. Bound for glory: Chelsea are clear favourites to win a fourth Premier League title now . Jose has one massive advantage over Pellegrini and Rodgers (forget Wenger. Seriously, forget Wenger. Do I need to explain why?) – he knows how to win the title in England, he knows how to finish the job. I can’t see it happening but if another manager finishes above Mourinho come the end of this season then they’ve done a brilliant job.
### SUMMARY:
| Magath was taught a lesson by Mourinho in first home game .
Schurrle made me cry with frustration in first half .
But hat-trick hero was unstoppable after the break .
If you're a soccer lover, Hazard is player of the season .
There's no reason why Lampard and Cole should go to Brazil . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Graham Poll . There was nothing surprising or unexpected in watching Alan Pardew explode with rage at St James’ Park this weekend. The Newcastle United manager has two distinct sides to his character: a sort of Jekyll and Hyde. The one seen away from the heat of battle is a smiling, charming, innocent ‘cheeky chap’ who is ‘doing ever so well’ on limited resources at Newcastle. The other will do whatever is needed to try to wring out any advantage for his team. As we have seen, he is also prone to combustible behaviour — and he seems to think that whatever is said or insinuated when under pressure can be forgiven and forgotten with an apology. Blast: Manuel Pellegrini (left) was on the receiving end of an absuive tirade from Alan Pardew (right) Unsavoury: Pardew later apologised for calling Pellegrini a 'f****** old c***' Bone of contention: Pardew was raging because referee Mike Jones disallowed Cheick Tiote's goal . I remember Pardew best for his comments in the tunnel at half-time, when he was always looking to sow seeds of doubt and open up the possibility of gaining his side an advantage. He would try to influence you by painting the picture that his team were already getting the rough end of the stick. Those observations were delivered ‘in passing’ and usually out of earshot of others, which tended to make them hard to ignore and impossible to report. He certainly put his own slant on one particular match when I was refereeing his Charlton team and the whole episode left me open to accusations of favouring his team. After that game at The Valley between Charlton and Reading, Pardew said how well I had done in signalling to the bench that one of his players, the on-loan Alex Song, was one foul away from a red card. This, he said, had afforded him the opportunity to replace Song. I had no issue with what had happened, but he made it appear that we had arranged the whole thing in the tunnel at half-time, which was untrue. Giving some back: Pellegrini and Pardew had a fiery exchange of words on the touchline . It's not over yet: Pardew pointed the finger as Jones made his way down the tunnel at half-time . History: Graham Poll (left) talks to then West Ham manager Pardew after a 0-0 draw at Fulham in 2004 . Before the 2004 First Division play-off final, when he was manager of West Ham, Pardew had a word with me about Tomas Repka at the exchange of team sheets. We all knew Repka was a physical player whose effectiveness was often nullified after a yellow card, so Pardew tried to pressurise me into not cautioning him on such a big stage. Repka was the first West Ham player cautioned that afternoon. Pardew had every cause to complain after Mike Jones disallowed a perfectly good goal for offside on Sunday. It would have equalised Manchester City’s opening effort and put Newcastle back in the match. But there can be no defence of the disgraceful outburst to which Pardew subjected City manager Manuel Pellegrini. One can only assume that Martin Atkinson, the fourth official, did not hear the comment, which was picked up on TV. Perhaps Atkinson’s hearing was muffled by his ‘beanie’ hat. Being the fourth official in the middle of warring managers is an almost impossible task, made even more difficult by the trend not to report players — let alone managers — for abusive or insulting comments. The last thing the referee needs is to be called over to the technical area to dismiss a manager, particularly the home one after denying them a goal. He’s better off in the middle, away from the angry crowd — and there are few more vocal than the Toon Army. Imagine the reaction if Atkinson had reported Pardew to Jones and they had removed him from the technical area. Friend or foe? Jose Mourinho, during his first spell at Chelsea, gives Graham Poll an earful at Stamford Bridge . On the receiving end: Sir Alex Ferguson was renowned for his bullish approach with match officials . Atkinson found himself in a tough position, one that wasn’t helped by the fact that there really has been no clear directive on what is and what is not seen as acceptable behaviour. Too much is left to interpretation, which encourages managers to push their luck. Pardew was not the first, nor the only manager, to try to get inside my head. Arsene Wenger adopted a similar approach, carefully making a comment at a time he thought it would have maximum impact and might influence your thinking. His demeanour and gravitas meant he was more effective than Pardew, complaining and pleading for more protection for his players. It was delivered so well that you often found yourself giving more free-kicks to Arsenal early in the second half. Sir Alex Ferguson was quite the opposite: subtlety was not a tool he employed. It was full-frontal, in-your-face fury. The first season I refereed at Old Trafford he was into my dressing room after the final whistle to give me the full ‘hairdryer’ treatment over the fact that I had not added on enough time. United drew that game! Wily: Mourinho's preferred tactic was to befriend officials in a bid to curry favour on the pitch . Jose Mourinho worked quite differently: he wanted you to think of him as a friend — and as a result he expected favours, which meant he would be hurt when you dealt with his team in exactly the same way as any other. In his first pre-season at Stamford Bridge he invited me to a meeting with all of his players and introduced me as the best referee in Europe! As for Pardew, he is well aware that he went way too far and his apology should not have prevented the FA from imposing a touchline ban. Whatever the provocation, however bad the decision, all managers must remember their position and keep their composure and dignity. Game over: Alvaro Negredo netted City's second goal to kill off Pardew's Newcastle side at St James' Derided: Mike Jones (centre) deals with Tim Krul (right) and Tiote during the clash . Bad day: Mike Jones made the wrong call for Newcastle's 'goal' The incident has led to calls for the offside law to be revised. But the law is clearly defined and needs no adjustment — it just needs to be applied correctly. This is the law in its simplest form: . When the ball is played forward to a colleague in the opponents’ half of the field: . WHY MIKE JONES GOT IT WRONG . Three Newcastle players were in offside positions when the ball was played forward, but they should not have been penalised as they did not touch the ball, interfere with opponents or obstruct Joe Hart’s line of sight. Pardew's previous... Alan Pardew has managed to get himself in plenty of touchline scrapes – here are three... Hammer blow: the then West Ham manager tussles with Arsenal¿s Arsene Wenger in 2006 . Angry Alan: Pardew vents his fury at then Sunderland manager Martin O¿Neill in 2012 . When push comes to shove: Pardew nudges linesman Peter Kirkup against Spurs in 2012 . For more of Pardew's touchline tantrums, CLICK HERE .
### SUMMARY:
| Toon manager labels Manuel Pellegrini a 'f****** old c***' at St James' Park .
FA remind Alan Pardew of his responsibilities after blast .
Cheick Tiote's disallowed goal sparked Pardew's rage .
Manchester City went on to beat Newcastle 2-0 .
Pardew should not be exempt from touchline ban despite apology . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Anna Edwards . Lee Broadbent fled to Spain's Costa del Sol and continued to operate a major cocaine supply ring is behind bars . A drugs baron who fled to the Costa del Sol and headed up a major cocaine supply ring is behind bars after he was finally arrested at a water park. Lee Broadbent, 33, led a lavish lifestyle in Malaga as a result of his drug dealing business, selling class A substances in huge quantities. Police observed one of his associates completing a deal to sell two kilos of cocaine with at least £259,000, and found the packages stuffed under the seat of a car. He was eventually caught by the Spanish national police at a water park in Torremolinos after English police obtained an international arrest warrant. He was then formally charged and brought back to the UK. The gang were today jailed for over 80 years for their part in supplying drugs in the north west of England. Lancashire policed launched Operation Oriole in September 2011 to dismantle the gang, their supply chain and to remove potentially harmful substances from the county’s streets. Preston Crown Court heard that as head of the crime group, Broadbent’s role was to organise the supply and distribution of cocaine in Lancashire and Greater Manchester. In October 2011, Broadbent and one of his associates David Wignall, were seen supplying cocaine to another criminal, Gary Gairns, on a car park at Tesco in Blackpool. A search of Gairns’ vehicle revealed a package hidden under the front passenger seat containing 1,003 grams of cocaine of 87 per cent purity, with a street value of £130,000. Cuaghtout: Broadbent and one of his associates David Wignall (right), were seen supplying cocaine to another criminal, Gary Gairns (left). After Gairns was arrested, Broadbent fled to Spain . Gary Gairns was subsequently arrested and charged with possession with intent to supply cocaine. That evening, Broadbent fled the country to Malaga, Spain via Glasgow and then Belfast. Despite being abroad, he still continued to distribute cocaine around the North West, giving orders to other drugs suppliers via pay-as-you-go mobile telephones which he believed were unlikely to be traced. The police operation continued and one occasion Wignall was seen walking with a concealed package under his jacket after visiting an address in Blackpool. He then got into a vehicle and after a short drive, Wignall exited the car without the item. A cocaine package which was seized. Lancashire policed launched Operation Oriole in September 2011 to dismantle the gang and their supply chain . In one raid two kilos of cocaine (1002g at 70 per cent purity, 1010g at 78 per cent purity) worth approximately £259,000, along with around £10,000 in cash was found in a vehicle . Police observed one of his associates completing a deal to sell two kilos of cocaine with at least £259,000, and found the packages stuffed under the seat of a car . Drugs discovery: Oakden car which was stopped by police who discovered cocaine inside . The vehicle was stopped by police, and over two kilos of cocaine (1002g at 70 per cent purity, 1010g at 78 per cent purity) worth approximately £259,000, along with around £10,000 in cash was found in the vehicle. Officers were working to locate Broadbent and bring him back to the UK to be charged with drugs offences. He managed to evade capture until he was eventually caught by the Spanish National Police at the Aqualand water attraction in Torremolinos on 15 August 2012. He was formally charged on 14 September 2012. Lee Broadbent, 33, of Poulton-le-Fylde was given a 16 year sentence following a seven-week long trial at Preston Crown Court earlier this month, where he was found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs - cocaine. Kevin Cawdrey (left) was jailed for five years, having pleaded guilty of conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Jeremy Lowe (right) was jailed for four years after being found guilty of the same charge . Paul Gairns (left) was jailed for six years after pleading guilty of conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs and Waseem Afzal (right) was jailed for eight years after being found guilty of the same offence . Michael Johnson, 32, of Partington, Manchester was jailed for 11 years after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs - cocaine. Adam Boyd, 44, of Manchester, was jailed for nine years after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs - cocaine. David Wignall, 44, of Blackpool, was jailed for six years, four months after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs - cocaine. Jamie May, 38, of Blackpool, was jailed for six years, four months after previously being found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs - cocaine. Gary Gairns, 33, of Miles Platting, Greater Manchester, was jailed for six years after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs - cocaine. Kevin Cawdrey, 28, of Irlam, Manchester, was jailed for five years, six months having previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs - cocaine. Jeremy Lowe, 44, of Manchester, was jailed for four years after previously being found guilty to conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs - cocaine. Adam Boyd (left) was jailed for nine years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs and Jamie May (right) was jailed for six years after being found guilty o the same charge . Michael Johnson (left) was jailed for 11 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs while Michael Oakden (right) was jailed for three years for the same offence . Michael Oakden, 38, of Little Hulton, Manchester, was jailed for three years, six months after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs - cocaine. Waseem Afzal, 32 of Nelson, was jailed for eight years after previously being found guilty of conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs - cocaine. Paul Gairns, 35 of Manchester was jailed for six years after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs - cocaine. Broadbent’s partner Jacqueline Thomas, 31, of Poulton-le-Fylde was also given a two year suspended sentence after having previously been found guilty of money laundering following a previous trial at Preston Crown Court. Police swoop: The £69,179.80 in cash seized from Boyds home when it was raided . Big find: Around £10,000 cash was found in Oakden's vehicle .
### SUMMARY:
| Lee Broadbent, 33, led a lavish lifestyle in Malaga as a result of his drug dealing business, selling class A substances in huge quantities .
Despite being abroad, he continued to distribute cocaine in UK .
He was eventually caught by the Spanish national police at a water park in Torremolinos after English police obtained an international arrest warrant .
His gang were today jailed for over 80 years for their part to supply drugs into the north west of England . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Emma Innes . A mother-of-two has a terrifying condition which causes her body to swell up so dramatically she looks like she has been punched, . Izzy Richards, 32, has an extremely rare and potentially fatal genetic condition called hereditary angioedema. This causes her hands, legs, face, stomach and back swell regularly and, worryingly, her tongue and throat can also swell up, meaning she struggles to breathe because her airways are constricted. Scroll down for video . Izzy Richards, 32, has a rare condition which causes different parts of her body to swell up dramatically . The condition can affect Ms Richards' legs, hands, face, stomach and back. She said:' People think my partner Chris (right) has hit me - it's so humiliating for both of us' She told MailOnline: ‘It is terrifying when my tongue and throat swell up. ‘Once my tongue did it and doctors thought I was a goner – I couldn’t breathe and I thought I was going to die. 'And when my face swells up it's really humiliating - people stare at me and assume my partner Chris has hit me. 'I get very defensive and I don't like going out when it's swollen.' Ms Richards, from Nottingham, started to experience symptoms when she was just four. She suffered a bout of German measles and her knees swelled up for a few days. The condition can also cause Ms Richards' tongue and throat to swell up making it hard for her to breathe . However, at the time, her symptoms were dismissed as an allergic reaction to the medication she was given for the illness. She then experienced no more symptoms until she was seven. At this point, her hands swelled up temporarily but again her symptoms were dismissed – this time as a reaction to a cold she was suffering from. When she was 14 or 15 her condition became much more severe. She started to suffer crippling stomach cramps and vomiting for about three weeks in every four. The condition is a rare inherited disease that causes swelling in various body tissues. Some people have many attacks each month, while others will go months or years without a swelling attack. The swelling is caused by the poor functioning, or lack of, a protein in the immune system. If a person does not have enough of it, blood vessels can become leaky, allowing fluid to build up in the tissues. This can cause swelling anywhere in the body but is most common in the limbs, intestines, face and voice box. The . swelling in the intestines often causes severe stomach cramps and . swelling in the voice box can be life-threatening if it causes the . airway to be blocked. The illness is inherited and a person can develop it if just one parent is a carrier. In this situation, the child will have a 50 per cent chance of developing it. There is no cure but it can often be managed by avoiding triggers and taking medication. Triggers can include stress and some medications. Source: All About HAE . During this time she also occasionally noticed that her legs would swell up. As a result of her illness, she was barely able to attend school and left with very few qualifications. She says that despite the severity of her symptoms, doctors never really investigated her illness thoroughly. Over the years, she was given various diagnoses including a virus and iirritable bowel syndrome. Ms Richards’ mother experienced similar symptoms so believed she and her daughter must have a genetic condition which caused them to be allergic to their own hormones. When Ms Richards, a customer services executive, was 16 her face swelled up for the first time and the swelling spread to her throat. She said: ‘I was choking on what I was saying – I couldn’t get any words out. It was terrifying. ‘I felt like I had something caught in my windpipe.’ Finally, when Ms Richards was 21, she saw a locum GP who noticed her hands were swollen. He asked her about the swelling and she explained the symptoms she'd been suffering from for so many years. Amazingly, this doctor believed he knew of a very rare condition she could be suffering from. He took some blood tests and a couple of weeks later, she was diagnosed with hereditary angioedema (HAE). The condition is a rare inherited disease that causes swelling in various body tissues. In Ms Richards’ case, the swelling tends to be triggered by stress. Some people have many attacks each month, while others will go months or years without a swelling attack. Ms Richards says the swelling on her face is sometimes so bad that people think she has been punched . The swelling is caused by the poor functioning, or lack of, a protein in the immune system. If a person does not have enough of it, blood vessels can become leaky, allowing fluid to build up in the tissues. This can cause swelling anywhere in the body but is most common in the limbs, intestines, face and voice box. The swelling in the intestines often causes severe stomach cramps and swelling in the voice box can be life-threatening if it causes the airway to be blocked. She said: ‘It was a bit surreal to be diagnosed after all those years but it was a relief to know what it was. ‘It was also scary because I then knew the full extent of my illness. Ms Richards first experienced symptoms when she was four but she wasn't diagnosed until she was 21 . ‘I was also a bit annoyed that I had been misdiagnosed so many times.’ As the condition is genetic, Ms Richards’ mother was also tested for it and the results confirmed her symptoms were also caused by hereditary angioedema. By this time, Ms Richards had two daughters – who are now 14 and 11 – and devastatingly, they were both diagnosed with the condition as well. Ms Richards said: ‘It was guilt beyond belief when they were diagnosed – I couldn’t believe I'd cursed them for life.’ Today Ms Richards, who lives with her partner Chris, still experiences swelling every couple of weeks and each time it happens it lasts for a few days. Ms Richards has to use walking sticks to help her get around when her legs have swollen up . 'Sometimes the stomach cramps are so painful I can't walk, and need crutches when my legs swell.' However, . things have improved slightly for Ms Richards as, since her diagnosis, . she has been taught how to give herself an injection when she starts to . swell up. These injections prevent the swelling worsening after it has started, but they do not stop it altogether. When Ms Richards' hands swell she loses her dexterity, and when her feet swell she struggles to get shoes on . She said: ‘My medication has never failed me yet but I am terrified that one day it could – if I left it too long when my tongue was swelling it could one day not work. ‘My partner gets really very worried – he is very attentive and will do everything he can to help me but I would like to think that maybe one day they could cure it. ‘I don’t think anyone should have to suffer with it.’ She added: ‘I want to raise awareness so everyone who has it gets diagnosed and gets the treatment they need.’ For more information about HAE, visit www.allabouthae.co.uk .
### SUMMARY:
| Izzy Richards has hereditary angioedema which causes her body to swell .
It can cause swelling of her stomach, back, legs, feet, hands and face .
It can cause her tongue and throat to swell putting her at risk of suffocating .
The condition is caused by the lack of a protein in the immune system - and can be triggered by stress . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . David Williams . Updated: . 19:31 EST, 11 January 2012 . Target: Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan who was killed in Tehran today when two motorcyclists attached a magnetic bomb attached to a car . Iran yesterday blamed the U.S. and Israel for the assassination of a university professor and scientist who played a key role in the country’s controversial nuclear weapons programme. Two hitmen on a motorcycle were said to attached a magnetic bomb to the car of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan killing him and a passenger instantly as they sat in the Iranian-assembled Peugeot 405 in northern district of the capital Tehran. A 32-year-old chemistry expert and director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, Roshan was said to have been involved in the development of Tehran’s atomic programme. The assassination had strong similarities to other executions in recent years of scientists linked to the programme and underlined the belief that a major covert operation is underway against it. Iran has accused Israel’s Mossad, the CIA and Britain’s spy agencies of engaging in an underground “terrorism” campaign against nuclear-related targets, including at least three killings since early 2010 and the release of a malicious computer virus that temporarily disrupted controls of some centrifuges - a key component in nuclear fuel production. All three countries have denied the Iranian accusations. Yesterday Tehran pointed the finger at . the US and Israel as being behind the latest ‘terrorist’ attack but . promised it would not be a setback to the expanding nuclear programme. ‘The bomb was a magnetic one and the . same as the ones previously used for the assassination of the . scientists, and the work of the Zionists (Israelis),’ Deputy Tehran . Governor Safarali Baratloo was quoted as saying. Assassinated: Ahmadi-Roshan's car is taken away for examination after he was killed . Plot: Two people on a motorbike pulled alongside the vehicle before attaching the bomb and riding away . Target: Tehran has blamed Israel for the death of Mr Roshan, the director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in the centre of Iran . First Vice President Mohammad Reza . Rahimi added that Israeli agents were behind the attack, but cannot . ‘prevent progress’ in what Iran claims are peaceful nuclear efforts. Israeli officials have hinted about covert campaigns against Iran without directly admitting involvement. On Tuesday, Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz told a parliamentary panel that 2012 would be a . “critical year” for Iran - in part because of “things that happen to it . unnaturally’. Explosion: A cloth covers a blood stain on the road as onlookers watch police on Iran's state-run Al-Alam TV . Covert: A satellite image of a suspected uranium enrichment facility near Qom. The West has accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons . Capability: A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran was likely attempting to develop weapons . Roshan, a graduate of the prestigious . Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, was deputy director of . commercial affairs for the Natanz uranium enrichment plant and in charge . of purchasing and supplying equipment for the facility. Natanz is Iran’s main enrichment site. The U.S. and its allies are pressuring Iran to halt uranium enrichment, a key element of the nuclear programme that the West suspects is aimed at producing atomic weapons. Uranium enriched to low levels can be . used as nuclear fuel but at higher levels, it can be used as material . for a nuclear warhead. Iran denies it is trying to make nuclear weapons, saying its programme is for peaceful purposes only. Spate: Four scientists apparently involved in Iran's nuclear programme have been killed in the last two years . Defiant: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shakes hands with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega at the latter's swearing in ceremony in Managua yesterday. Ahmadinejad has insisted his country's nuclear programme is purely for peaceful means . Since December, Iran has held or . announced a series of war games that included threats to close the . Gulf’s vital Strait of Hormuz - the passageway for about one-sixth of . the world’s oil - in retaliation for stronger U.S.-led sanctions. ‘Assassinations, military threats and . political pressures ... The enemy insists on the tactic of creating fear . to stop Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities,’ lawmaker Javad . Jahangirzadeh said after yesterday’s blast. ‘Instead of actually fighting a . conventional war, Western powers and their allies appear to be relying . on covert war tactics to try to delay and degrade Iran’s nuclear . advancement,’ said Theodore Karasik, a security expert at the . Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. He said the use of magnetic bombs bears the hallmarks of covert operations. Scientists involved with Iran's nuclear programme have been the subject of UN sanctions in the past. But . four have been killed in the past two years and others have also been . attacked or allegedly kidnapped - with Iran blaming the west. June 2009: Shahram Amiri claimed to have been kidnapped while on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and transferred to the U.S. Said . he was offered $50million to 'spread lies' about Iran's nuclear work. Amiri worked at Iran's Malek Ashtar University, but Tehran initially . denied he was involved in nuclear programme. Returned to Iran in July . 2010. January 2010: . Nuclear scientist Massoud Ali Mohammadi killed by remote-controlled bomb . in Tehran. Lectured at Tehran University and linked to two men . subjected to UN sanctions because of their work on suspected nuclear . weapons development. November 2010: Two car bomb blasts killed a nuclear scientist and wounded another in Tehran as Iran blames Israel or U.S. attack. Majid . Shahriyari killed and his wife injured. Shahriari was a member of . nuclear engineering faculty at Shahid Beheshti University. In . the other blast, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and his wife were both . injured. Abbasi-Davani, head of physics at Imam Hossein University, has . been personally subject to UN sanctions because of suspected involvement . in nuclear weapons research. July 2011: Physicist Darioush Rezai, 35, shot dead by gunmen in eastern Tehran. University lecturer had a PhD in physics and had been linked to nuclear programme. January 2012: Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, 32-year-old chemical engineering graduate, killed by a bomb placed on his car in Tehran. Victim . was a nuclear scientist who supervised a department at Natanz uranium . enrichment facility. Iran blamed Israel and the U.S. for the attack. Tensions: Type 45 Destroyer HMS Daring was sent to the Strait of Hormuz by the British Navy last week after Iran threatened to block it because of attacks on its nuclear programme .
### SUMMARY:
| Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan was a director of Natanz uranium enrichment facility .
Fourth nuclear scientist killed in Iran in the past two years .
Nuclear plants in country have also experienced two 'mystery' explosions .
Tehran accuses Israel of assassinating chemistry expert to halt its nuclear programme .
Israeli military warns Iran to expect more 'unnatural events' in 2012 . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Daily Mail Reporter . A crowd of thousands gathered yesterday for the memorial service of Melissa Jenkins, the teacher who went missing last weekend and was found murdered on Monday. More than 2,000 people attended the memorial service at St.Johnsbury Academy, Vermont, the school where she taught, to remember the beloved teacher and single mother. Allen and Patricia Prue were charged with her murder on Wednesday. The married couple allegedly lured Jenkins out of her home claiming their car had broken down before beating and strangling her to death. Jenkins' 2-year-old son was found unharmed in his mother's idling SUV the night she went missing. 'Extraordinary': Friends, family and former students paid tribute to Melissa Jenkins, who was found dead on Monday . The crowd of mourners wore pink, hundreds of pink balloons were put up and the whole community donned pink ribbons in tribute to the young mother who was described as ‘extraordinary young woman’. Earlier in the day, President Barack Obama sent his condolences to Jenkins’ family and friends during a campaign stop in Burlington. Family, friends and Jenkins' former students remembered her warmth and expressed disbelief at her brutal murder. Single mum: Melissa leaves behind her 2-year-old son, Ty, who was found alone in his mother's idling SUV the night she was killed . Beloved teacher: Thousands of people gathered yesterday to remember 33-year-old Melissa Jenkins . ‘The memory of her bright smile, her infectious personality and her warm heart will always be with us,' her cousin Eric Barry said. 'She was always just a bubbly person,' said former student Kimber Galdding. 'She would always be the one you could go to. You could talk to her about anything. It's just really a tragedy that this happened to such a great person.' Students have written letters to Jenkins' two-year-old-son, Tyrell Javon . Robertson, known as Ty, so he could eventually know how she had changed . their lives, the school's headmaster Mr Lovett said. Jenkins taught science and had served as the freshman girls basketball . coach at the academy, a school of about 970 students. 'She just had such a good personality,' said former student Ashley Coburn. 'I don't know how anyone could do this.' Memorial: The community wore pink in remembrance of the single mother who was murdered last weekend . Victim: Students paid tribute to their former science teacher and have written letters to her 2-year-old son so he knows how much of a difference she made to them . Last weekend police began searching for the single mother when a friend found her unharmed two-year-old son abandoned in her idling SUV on a remote back road and raised the alarm. She was found in the Connecticut River on Monday and Allen Prue, 30, and his wife Patricia Prue, 33, face 2nd degree murder charges and . charges of improperly disposing of a body. They have pleaded not-guilty to the charges. The couple allegedly called the 33-year-old mother out to help them on Sunday night before they strangled and beat her to death. Having killed her, they allegedly doused her in bleach and dumped her naked body into the Connecticut river. Allen Prue told police that he wanted to ‘get a girl’ on Sunday night and he had asked Jenkins out in the past, according to the court documents. The only motive suggested in the court documents was that Allen Prue told police he wanted to 'get a girl' on Sunday night, although 'they didn't plan to get one forcefully.' Charged: Allen and Patricia Prue appeared in court this week charged with the school teacher's murder . 'They knew Miss Jenkins and had snow plowed her driveway a couple of years ago,' Vermont State Police Major Ed Ledo said. Jenkins' former boyfriend told police she had told him she had gotten a call . from a person who used to plow her driveway and she was going to help . them, the documents say. The ex-boyfriend told police Allen Prue had once asked Jenkins out on a date, and she felt uncomfortable around him. Allen . Prue later told police he and his wife were driving along the remote . road when Patricia Prue called Jenkins and told her they had broken . down. In court: Allen Prue told police he wanted to 'get a girl' and had asked the victim out before . Charged: Patricia Prue, 33, and her husband face charges of 2nd degree murder and of improperly disposing of a body . When 33-year-old . Jenkins arrived to help, Allen Prue grabbed her and strangled her. They . then put the body in the backseat of their car and drove to their home. At some point Patricia Prue strangled Jenkins as well, the documents . said. Back at their home, . they put Jenkins' body on a tarp, removed all her clothes and poured . bleach on her body. The Prues also removed their clothes and put them on . the tarp. They then drove . to a boat access at the Connecticut River, which separates Vermont from . New Hampshire, and put Jenkins' body in the water, weighing it down with . blocks and concealing it with brush. They took the tarp and the clothes to New Hampshire where they burned it. Arrested: The married couple appeared in court on Wednesday accused of strangling and beating their victim to death . Allen . Prue later told police he and his wife were driving along the remote . road when Patricia Prue called Jenkins and told her they had broken . down. When 33-year-old . Jenkins arrived to help, Allen Prue grabbed her and strangled her. They . then put the body in the backseat of their car and drove to their home. At some point Patricia Prue strangled Jenkins as well, the documents . said. Back at their home, . they put Jenkins' body on a tarp, removed all her clothes and poured . bleach on her body. The Prues also removed their clothes and put them on . the tarp. They then drove . to a boat access at the Connecticut River, which separates Vermont from . New Hampshire, and put Jenkins' body in the water, weighing it down with . blocks and concealing it with brush. They took the tarp and the clothes to New Hampshire where they burned it. The . Caledonian-Record reported that Allen Prue also worked for the . newspaper as a deliveryman who turned up for work an hour late on the night of . Jenkins’ death. 'Allen Prue . completed his delivery route for the Caledonian Record on both Sunday . and Monday nights. Route drivers reported, however, that the Prues . arrived an hour late on Sunday night,' the newspaper said. The accused couple pleaded not -guilty and were not granted bail. Investigation: Vermont State Police investigate at Allen and Patricia Prue's home . Abandoned: Jenkins' two-year-old son was found inside the car with the engine running . Jenkins grew up in Danville, a tight-knit town west of St Johnsbury . where she attended the Danville School, which has about 300 students. 'All the kids go through K-12 school together. They play basketball . together. Most of them have worked at my store or here at The Creamery,' said Marty Beattie, Jenkins' uncle through his first wife, and the . owner of Mary's Quick Stop a store on U.S. Route 2. 'They've laughed together, they've played together,' he said. 'So it's not all just genetic, but we're one big family.'
### SUMMARY:
| Memorial service held at the Vermont school where the single mother taught .
Community wore pink as part of the tribute to an 'extraordinary woman'
Allen and Patricia Prue face 2nd degree murder charges for her death . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
A mother-of-three infected with HIV by a boyfriend who hid his diagnosis from her says her life has been ruined by the attack which has condemned her to 'a life sentence of misery'. Kara Wilkinson, 42, began a relationship with undertaker Alan Mason, 45, in 2010 without realising he had been diagnosed as HIV positive two years earlier. Mason only revealed he had the illness in October 2011, 18 months after the pair began dating, when Miss Wilkinson became ill following a holiday to Spain. Since being diagnosed Miss Wilkinson, a . former counsellor from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, has suffered . from heart attacks, pneumonia, osteoporosis and severe hair loss. Scroll down for video . Kara Wilkinson, 42 (pictured left in 2009, and right today), says she has suffered four heart attacks, pneumonia, osteoporosis and severe hair loss since she was infected with HIV . Today Mason starts serving two years and . eight months behind bars for grievous bodily harm, but Miss Wilkinson . says she has blasted the sentence for being too lenient. She said: 'He’s ruined my life. I’ll never forgive him for what he’s done. 'He should have been sent to prison for five years. And what’s to stop him doing it to another woman when he gets out?. He’s given me a life sentence of misery. 'Before I had HIV, I was never ill and had loads of energy. Now I seem to be permanently ill. My long blonde hair has started to fall out and I look much older than I am. Alan Mason, 45, was diagnosed with HIV in 2008 but didn't tell Miss Wilkinson about his diagnosis when they began dating in April 2010 . 'I don’t even have a mirror in my house as I can’t stand to look at my reflection. 'He’s taken my life away. I won’t ever forgive him for what he’s done to me. What he’s given me will never go away. 'I don’t think I’ll ever have another relationship - how could I ever trust another man? And, unlike Alan, I’d hate to put anyone else at risk from catching HIV.' Miss Wilkinson met Mason in April 2010 at a pub in Kendal. The single mum had been on her own for two years and the couple swapped numbers before going on a first date at a crazy golf course. Two months later Alan moved from his parents' house into Miss Wilkinson's rented maisonette. But during a two-week holiday in Benidorm, 18 months after they met, she started to feel unwell. Back in the UK, in October 2011, she made an appointment with her doctor, who suggested that she might be HIV positive. 'At the beginning of the second week away, I woke up feeling sick, had diarrhoea and felt weak and dizzy when I stood up,' she said. 'When the doctor said I might be HIV positive, it didn’t make any sense. I told her that I was in a long term relationship but agreed to have a blood test taken just in case. 'When I got home, I told Alan what the doctor had said. He just shrugged, but the next day, he told me he had something important to say. 'He dropped the bombshell that he thought I was HIV positive, as he’d had the same symptoms for years before. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My first thought was, "I’m going to die."' Miss Wilkinson (pictured left in July 2010) says she now has to take daily medication to keep the HIV from developing into AIDS, and to prevent more heart attacks . Miss Wilkinson says she first felt ill in October 2011 after going on holiday with Mason to Benidorm (pictured). It was only after doctors tested her for HIV that Mason confessed to what he had done . As she had been sterilised after having three children from a previous relationship, the couple hadn’t used protection through their relationship, and often had sex every day. After having the diagnosis confirmed, Miss Wilkinson quizzed her boyfriend on where he’d caught the virus, how it affected him and why he hadn’t told her he was infected before they slept together. 'All he could tell me was he’d caught it after a one night stand with a girl and that he hadn’t told me because he didn’t want to lose me,' she said. 'He’d even stopped taking his medication when we moved in together so that I wouldn’t get suspicious. He told me that it wouldn’t make any difference to my life, as long as I took the medicine. 'Eventually after my questions, he snapped and accused me of being selfish for talking about HIV so much. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, so I kicked him out.' Miss . Wilkinson said Mason has 'ruined her life', adding that she will never . have another relationship because she is unable to trust men and is . frightened of giving someone else HIV . Miss Wilkinson began dating Mason (pictured together) in April 2010 after the pair met at a pub in Kendal and went on a date to a crazy golf course . Since her diagnosis, 5ft tall Miss Wilkinson has struggled to keep her weight up, dropping to 5st 7lb at one point. She was forced to quit her job and in June 2012, she started to suffer chest pain and was rushed by air ambulance to hospital in Blackpool, where she was treated for a heart attack. She added: 'I couldn’t understand why I’d had a heart attack at my age, but the doctor explained that having HIV meant I was more susceptible to heart attacks and strokes. 'Since then I’ve had four heart attacks and had two shunts fitted to open up the arteries in my heart.' Miss Wilkinson has been treated in hospital for pneumonia and has recently been diagnosed with osteoporosis. She now takes a clutch of tablets every day, to keep the AIDs infection at bay, and she prevent another heart attack. Mason, a divorced father-of-two appeared in Carlisle Crown Court on September 1, 2014, where he admitted causing Miss Wilkinson grievous bodily harm by giving her HIV. Within . two months of meeting Miss Wilkinson, Mason moved from his parents' house to her rented masionette (Miss Wilkinson pictured in July 2010, a . month after Mason moved in) Passing sentence, Judge Paul Batty QC told him: 'I am of the view that you deliberately targeted this hapless, vulnerable victim.' After the hearing, Det Con Damian West of Cumbria Police said: 'This is a unique case and the sentencing imposed highlights the disregard Mason had for his actions. 'Even though the victim has to live with this virus, modern medication means there should be no impact on life expectancy - however, the virus has a significant day to day impact on those who have to live with it.'
### SUMMARY:
| Kara Wilkinson, 42, met Alan Mason, 45, in April 2010 and pair began dating .
Mason had been diagnosed with HIV in 2008 but hid illness from Wilkinson .
Only confessed in October 2011 after Miss Wilkinson fell ill following holiday .
After she told him she was HIV positive, Mason just shrugged his shoulders .
Mason jailed for two years but Wilkinson says HIV is a 'life sentence'
She has suffered four heart attacks, pneumonia, osteoporosis and hair loss .
Must also take handful of pills every day to stop HIV developing into AIDS . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
A mother-of-three diagnosed with an 'inoperable' brain tumour has defied medics after undergoing radical surgery in the USA to have it successfully removed - and could now live another 15 years. Laura Fischer-Beards was just 37 when she was given the devastating diagnosis after developing pains in her neck. The nurse was told the tumour was benign but that it was too deep within her brain to operate - and she had between just three to 12 months to live. Scroll down for video . Laura Fischer-Beards, with husband Mark and sons Elliot, Henry and Sebastian, was just 37 when she was given the devastating diagnosis she had an inoperable brain tumour - and just months to live . She underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which proved unsuccessful. An attempted biopsy also caused her to have a bleed on the brain, temporarily paralysing her down her right side . NHS Doctors in Birmingham and London told her the tumour was like a 'spider wrapping round her brain' and warned her there was nothing more they could do. Instead, they tried to manage her condition with chemotherapy and radiotherapy - which proved unsuccessful. But the now 39-year-old refused to give up for the sake of her three boys and researched alternative treatments not provided on the NHS or privately in Britain. Mrs Fischer-Beards, and husband Mark, 41, a police officer, found a pioneering treatment available in the USA for £80,000 called 'awake craniotomy with mapping'. Without hesitation, she flew to Chicago two weeks ago. Last Wednesday she underwent the procedure - which involved cutting open a slice of skull - while awake. Incredibly, to avoid injury to her language, motor and sensory functions, she had to recite her children's names and birthday's so during surgery. NHS Doctors in Birmingham and London told Mrs Fischer-Beards the tumour was like a 'spider wrapping round her brain' and warned her there was nothing more they could do . Instead, Mrs Fischer-Beards, and husband Mark, 41, a police officer, found a pioneering treatment available in the USA for £80,000 called 'awake craniotomy with mapping . And after the five hour operation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital she was delighted to be told doctors had successfully removed 100 per cent of the enhanced tumour. Doctors say the surgery could have extended her life by up to 15 years. Mrs Fischer-Beards, from Berkswell, near Coventry, West Midlands, said she was desperate to survive so she could be there for her children . She said: 'It was a choice of giving up or fighting and I am not a defeatist. 'I couldn't just give up when I have three young children who need me to be there for them. 'I think anyone in my position would do the same and fight as hard as they can to stay alive.' She and her husband said they were left with no option after a 42-day course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy failed to get her condition under control. An attempted biopsy caused her to have a bleed on the brain and temporarily paralyse her down her right side. A scan then showed the tumour's progression had not slowed. After meeting a doctor at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital, in Chicago, she took the brave decision to undertake the radical surgery last week . After the five-hour operation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital she was delighted to be told doctors had successfully removed 100 per cent of the enhanced tumour - which could extend her life by up to 15 years . Consultants admitted they had run out of ideas and encouraged her to look for more radical treatment elsewhere. After meeting a doctor at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital, she took the brave decision to undertake the radical surgery. Mrs Fischer-Beards added: 'I had private healthcare, so it wasn't about taking money out of the NHS, just about their belief in my chances of survival which they thought were virtually nothing. 'I have to admit it was a risk and I was really scared because I had to remain awake throughout the surgery so they could check my brain was functioning normally. 'But you do what you have to do to survive.' Mrs Fischer-Beards is now fundraising to pay for treatment, not covered by health insurance . She is now recovering in hospital and is expected to return to the UK soon. But the family is now left with a crippling bill of £80,000 for U.S. surgery, not covered by UK private healthcare. Mr Fischer-Beards has been forced to stay in the country to look after the couple's three children - Elliot, 8, Henry, 7, and Sebastian,4. He said: 'You can't put a price on life. Nowhere else does this kind of procedure because it is so tricky and risky - but I couldn't be prouder of how brave she has been. 'She was awake the whole time while they sliced open her skull and removed the tumour. 'The whole time they asked her to count and recite the boy's birthdays and names, so that they didn't disturb a part of the brain that deals with her memory. 'But she's speaking fine and they said they had removed it OK, so it looks like its been successful. 'Me and the boys just want her back home now.' To meet the steep cost of surgery, Laura's local community has begun a Facebook campaign entitled £onebravemummy to raise awareness of her situation and raise money to help the family. They have helped raise more than £7,000 online in a matter of days as the campaign gains momentum. Any donations to help pay for Laura's treatment can be made via the Justgiving page . When a tumor is near critical speech areas of the brain, it may be important to determine the exact location of these speech-related areas . Although functional MRI (fMRI) can show the various areas of activation during speech functions, it does not pinpoint the most important areas. These critical areas must be located using special speech mapping techniques while the patient is awake in the operating room. Awake speech mapping involves applying mild electrical current to the surface of the exposed brain while the patient performs various tasks, such as reading. If the stimulation hinders the task, then that area of the brain is marked and preserved. How a sleep-awake-sleep craniotomy works . The operation is begun while the patient is deeply asleep under general anesthesia (on a breathing machine). This is for the comfort of the patient and is safer. When the brain is exposed and the neurosurgeon is ready to begin mapping the speech areas, neuroanesthesiologists carefully lighten the sedation, and then remove the breathing tube and allow the patient to talk and interact with the neuropsychologist. Typically, the patients feel minimal or no discomfort while awake . Once the speech mapping is complete, often the tumor is removed while the speech testing continues. The procedure lessens the risk of undercutting the white matter fibers connecting speech areas. When appropriate, the anesthesiologist skillfully places the patient back under general (deep) anesthesia, allowing the neurosurgeon to complete the operation safely with no discomfort to the patient. Source: UCLA .
### SUMMARY:
| Laura Fischer-Beards was just 37 when she was given the diagnosis .
Told tumour was benign but too deep within her brain to operate .
Chemotherapy and radiotherapy proved unsuccessful for mother-of-three .
Instead, NHS doctors advised her to try other radical treatments elsewhere .
Last week underwent £80,000 'awake craniotomy with mapping' in the US .
Procedure was successful and removed 100% of the tumour,' doctors say .
Her life expectancy could now be extended by up to 15 years .
Is now fundraising to pay for treatment, not covered by health insurance . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
The mother of a pregnant teenager murdered by her abusive boyfriend has shared her harrowing story in the hope it will prevent future tragedies. Samantha Shrewsbury, mother of the late Jayden Parkinson, opened up on today's This Morning. The distraught mother, 47, told how she tried to protect Jayden from her abusive boyfriend, Ben Blakely, who killed the teenager in December last year. Scroll down for video . Loss: Jayden Parkinson, 17, left was murdered by her ex-boyfriend after finding out she was pregnant with his child. Her mother Samantha Shrewsbury appeared on This Morning today, right . The bereaved mother described how Blakely isolated her daughter from her family. She said: 'He took her away from everyone in the family – her sisters, brother, me, her dad. He used to cut up her SIM card and smash up her phone.' Blakely was abusive towards his girlfriend throughout their relationship. He would burn her with cigarettes, punch her and starve her. 'He was physically abusive from day one,' said Samantha. 'But . when she was living in the flat with him and his cousins he'd go . away for a couple of days to another girlfriend, have a roast dinner . there and come back and tell Jayden all about it.' 'At one point she hadn't eaten for four days. She rang Childline, they called the police and social services took her some food round because she hadn't eaten for that long,' she said. Trying to explain why her daughter stayed in the relationship, Samantha from Didcot, Oxfordshire, said: 'She was 17 and totally in love with him. I think she thought, "I can change him". 'I think also because of the threats towards towards our family – her nieces and nephews and me. She probably thought, "If I stay away from the . family they'll be safe".' The mother told of the great lengths she went to in an attempt to keep Jayden from her destructive relationship, even locking her in the house. Fought for her child: Samantha tried to protect her pregnant daughter from her violent boyfriend, Ben Blakely . ‘She’d get out through windows,' she said. 'I sent her to her sister's for six weeks, but he would always find a way of getting to her - either by phone or he’d get a little note to her.' Eventually the distraught mum tried tough love, telling her daughter: 'It's either him or me'. But Jayden, who was living back at home at the time, still refused to finish the relationship and ended up moving to a hostel. ‘For two days she slept outside my front door. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do is to step over my daughter in the morning and carry on with what I wanted to do to prove a point.' But the ultimatum didn't work and Jayden refused to leave her violent lover. Remembering her beloved daughter, Samantha said: ‘She was quirky, funny, spontaneous - could be like any ordinary teenager, a pain in the backside. She hated me sometimes, loved me sometimes - but she was a good kid all in all.' Describing the first moment she laid eyes on Blakely, Shrewsbury recalls how he whistled at her daughter across the road and she immediately had a bad feeling about him. 'I said to Jayden, "Urgh, who's he?" and Jayden said, "He's my friends brother – he's a rat anyway".' Murderer: Ben Blakely, left, and a police tent in the Great Western Cemetery by All Saints' Church in Didcot where Jayden's body was found . When they first started dating Samantha thought the relationship wouldn't go anywhere, but when Jayden turned 16 things progressed. 'In the beginning I tried to let them both get on with it to see. But I warned him, "You harm a hair on my daughter’s head you’ll rue the day you ever met my family." And he said, "I promise Mrs Shewsbury, I won't". He came round and had a bacon sandwich with us and he seemed pretty genuine.' The concerned mother had heard Blakely had a bad reputation but wasn't sure what to believe. 'The stories I heard beforehand about him decapitating a cat all seemed pretty farcical – although it came out in court that they were true,' she said. Jayden finally plucked up the courage to . end the relationship in November last year, with Blakeley threatening to . pose intimate photographs online to "humiliate" her. But shortly afterwards she found out she was pregnant. On 3 December 2013, a few days after telling Blakely she was carrying his baby, the teenager was murdered. Her body was later found on 18 . December, buried in Ben's uncle's grave. Fighting back the tears, the heartbroken mother described the days leading up to her daughter's brutal murder. Grieving: Samantha couldn't hold back the tears on ITV's This Morning . 'She was scared,' she said of her daughter discovering she was pregnant. 'She was crying . on the phone and didn’t know what to do. I arranged to meat on the . Tuesday – that fateful day – to discuss her options. 'I gave her the three . options - adoption, abortion or keeping it. I explained through each option . and there was no other choice for her but to keep the baby. 'She would have been a brilliant mum - she loved kids, she loved her nieces and nephews dearly. 'I said my goodbyes to her and arranged to met her that Friday to go Christmas shopping and to get maternity clothes. 'She was still living in a hostel and didn't want to come back – she didn't want to bring any more drama to anybody's home. That was the last time I saw my daughter.' In June this year, Blakely was . sentenced to life with a minimum term of 20 years and Samantha attended everyday of the trial and witnessed every traumatic testimony. 'I did it for my daughter. No matter how harrowing, I needed to know all that – I didn't want my mind to make it up. At some point I'm going to do the walk to where they murdered her – but not just yet. I'm not ready.' She added how disappointed she was with the sentence. 'I was wanting 30 years but he got a minimum of 15, then eight for perverting the course of justice. Then he had three years knocked off for being "nice",' she said ironically. 'He's got a life now – he has three meals a day. I've lost my daughter, I've lost my grandchild, I've lost a big part of my future and our families future. 'It does make me angry that when he's 42 he could be free. Although it doesn’t mean that when he goes for parole he’s going to get it. I will fight my damnedest for him not to to.' The brave mother has now launched charity Jayden's Gift, to help 16-18 year-old's who might find themselves in trouble, but not have access to social services. She hopes to sponsor houses for teenagers in need to help them through college and to set up mentoring programmes. 'Rest in peace Jayden, but I will never forgive,' said the heartbroken mother. 'There will never be any forgiveness from my family - ever.'
### SUMMARY:
| Jayden Parkinson was murdered by boyfriend Ben Blakely .
Jayden's mother, Samantha Shrewsbury, has spoken of her heartache .
She tried to rescue her daughter from the abusive relationship .
She has now set up charity, Jayden's Gift, in her daughter's name . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Kyle Richards, 45, reveals she has suffered dry eye syndrome for five years . Fans of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills will know it’s an emotional show. Viewers have seen tears of anger, sadness and joy across the last four seasons. But for one cast member, tears weren’t a problem - but a lack of them. Kyle Richards has revealed she has been suffering with chronic dry eye syndrome for the past five years, which made her constantly uncomfortable and made filming difficult. Five years ago she began noticing her eyes were painful and she needed to use eye drops that helped her eyes stay temporarily moist. Her condition became so bad she had to use eye drops every five minutes. She told MailOnline: ‘I first started noticing about five years ago. It was so uncomfortable I couldn’t see. 'My eyes would be blurry unless I blinked. They bothered me all the time’ she said, . ‘I was using false tears [eye drops] every five minutes. 'I kept thinking I was dehydrated, I put water in my eyes - but that made it worse. It was just so uncomfortable.' She says not knowing what was wrong made the situation even more infuriating. 'I would say to my girlfriends "Do you have this?" ‘When I was shooting I’d have to use false tears all the time then my mascara would run’. It made me irritable.’ Eight months ago she went to the doctor who diagnosed her with dry eye syndrome, or dry eye disease. This is a common condition that occurs when the eyes dry out and become inflamed, red and swollen. It happens when the eyes don't make enough tears or the tears evaporate too quickly. Kyle lives in LA, which is hot and windy, and wears contact lenses – two known causes of the condition. It can also be caused by other eye diseases or underlying conditions, side effects to certain medications and by hormonal changes, such as during the menopause. Kyle said before was diagnosed, she wasn’t aware the condition existed - and then became concerned it was a sign of ageing. ‘I thought "Am I too young to be getting this? Does it mean I’m getting older?" Before she was diagnosed, Ms Richards had no idea the condition existed, and kept asking her girlfriends 'Do you have this?' Kyle and husband Mauricio Umansky in Beverly Hills. The star says dry eye syndrome left her constantly uncomfortable and irritable . Before she was diagnosed, Kyle had to use eye drops every five minutes to moisten her eyes . 'But I’ve learned from my doctor that it affects people of all ages. People don’t realise it’s a diagnosed condition.' As the fifth series of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is about to come out, news reports reveal the 45-year-old is in great shape - despite having four children. She says she maintains her enviably trim physique through a no-sugar diet. ‘It’s about a healthy lifestyle,' she told MailOnline. 'I avoid sugar, carbs, dairy. I’m always trying to be a healthy as I can be. I’m constantly learning more about nutrition.’ And when she commits to a diet she sticks to it, she added. ‘There are times in my life when I fell off and then you don’t see any results. It makes such a difference by sticking to it. There has been a lot of crying in the past four seasons of the show, but Ms Richards says the fifth season about to air is 'the best season ever' Kyle lives in LA, which is hot and windy, and wears contact lenses – two known causes of the eye condition . 'My husband and my kids notice. It used to be about looking good, but now it’s about feeling healthy and living a long time. ‘It used to be about looking cute in that dress, now it’s about being here a long time. ‘You start realising you’re fragile.’ She is equally disciplined when it comes to exercise, never skipping a workout she has planned in favour of watching some reality TV. ‘Spinning, circuit training and hiking and I take off one day a week. I tell myself it’s not an option. I just make myself. It’s easy to slack off. I keep going. I never cancel a workout.’ When asked whether surgery is something she would recommend for her own daughters, she said although she did not regret going under the knife, it’s not something she’d recommend for her own children. Dry eye syndrome, or dry eye disease, is a common condition that occurs when the eyes do not make enough tears or the tears evaporate too quickly. This leads to the eyes drying out and becoming inflamed (red and swollen) and irritated. Dry eye syndrome is also known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca, or simply 'dry eyes'. The symptoms of dry eye syndrome usually affect both eyes and often include: . -feelings of dryness, grittiness or soreness that get worse throughout the day . -red eyes . -eyelids that stick together when you wake up . -temporarily blurred vision, which usually improves when you blink . Source: NHS Choices . ‘I’m not pro-surgery but I’m honest and open about what I’ve done. 'If my daughters wanted it I would be against it. I would be dead against it. To me, they are perfect.’ Speaking of the new season of the show, she said rumours that she gets into a fight with fellow housewife Brandi Glanville at a cast party are ‘inaccurate’. She is diplomatic, avoiding questions about allegations the two new members of the show, Lisa Rinna and Eileen Davidson, are already creating drama. ‘It’s a very intense season,' she said. 'It’s going to be the best season ever. I’m not allowed to say a lot about, but it’s been very interesting to say the least.' But despite her new fitness regime, she has openly admitted that she has had both a nose job and liposuction in the past, in order to improve her self-esteem. Kyle was prescribed Restasis, a prescription drug which helps the body produce more tears. ‘After using it daily for six months, I noticed I was making more of my own tears.' ‘You take twice a day, once in the night once in the morning. I make it part of my routine.’ 'Now my eyes are comfortable, I might have to use artificial tears in air conditioned room, but apart from that I can throw them away.’ A diet that includes omega-3 fats can help with dry eyes. Kyle said she included these in her diet, but the pills didn’t make much of a difference. ‘I took vitamins before anyway but it didn’t work’ she added. Serious cases of the condition can be treated with surgery to prevent tears from draining away easily, but Kyle said this was not an option for her. Kyle (right) pictured with fellow members of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast Lisa Vanderpump (centre) and Yolanda Foster (left) in LA. The next season of the show is 'intense', Kyle told MailOnline .
### SUMMARY:
| Kyle, 45, has been suffering with dry eye syndrome for five years .
Condition made her eyes dry and uncomfortable and needing eye drops .
Used drops so regularly she had to carry them everywhere she went .
Her eyes were so dry that using drops on set made her mascara run .
Diagnosed eight months ago and was prescribed the drug Restasis .
Condition is common with age and causes eyes to become red and inflamed .
Added she maintains her enviably trim physique through a no-sugar diet .
Told MailOnline the upcoming fifth season of the show is 'intense' |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
The Ebola virus is continuing its rampage throughout West Africa with the number of people infected doubling every three to four weeks. So far, more than 8,000 people are thought to have contracted the disease, and almost half of those have died, according to the World Health Organisation. In the battle to stem the virus, health organisations are turning towards data generated by social media and mobile technology - with some hoping it may even help find a cure. Scroll down for video and interactive map . Text messages are helping in the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leon with people receiving public health text alerts and sending messages about food security to aid agencies . For instance, text messages are helping in the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone, with people receiving public health text alerts and sending messages about food security to aid agencies. The initiative was started by the Word Food Programme (WFP) in an effort to source information about household food security for those at risk. So far, more than 850 people have responded to a survey which was sent to mobile phone subscribers randomly by location, and involved answering ten text messages. '[An] advantage of mobile data collection is that is it quicker than sending around teams to do face to face surveys around the country,' said Jean-Martin Bauer, a WFP food security analyst. Researchers are collecting mobile phone mast activity data from operators and mapping where calls to helplines are located. Pictured is an example of mobile phone data collected from Côte d'Ivoire to monitor Ebola by Flowminder.org . The Ebola virus is continuing its rampage throughout West Africa with the number of people infected doubling every three to four weeks. So far, more than 8,000 people are thought to have contracted the disease, and almost half of those have died, according to the World Health Organisation. Pictured on the left is a health worker, and on the left a demonstration hoping to stem the spread of Ebola . Big data is the term used to describe extremely large data sets that can be analysed to reveal widespread patterns, trends, and associations. The amount of data is usually so large that it requires a computer to process the information, rather than just a person or group of people. Big data is usually used to better understand human behaviour and trends within society - both on the small scale and globally. 'In a public health emergency, where the situation of communities is changing by the week, this helps WFP have more timely information to shape our response.' The Red Cross and Red Crescent also hope to extend a text message-based system used to advise people about Ebola in to seven West African nations. The facility will allow the charities to send SMS messages to every switched-on handset in an area by drawing its shape on a computer-generated map. Meanwhile, the BBC has started sending Whatsapp alerts that include short audio clips and low-resolution photos to people threatened by Ebola. Within just four hours of launching the service, more than 1,000 people signed up for its Ebola alerts, which are sent in both English and French. As well as sending alerts, technology is helping health agencies monitor trends in outbreaks by their speed, number and location. Zoom in on the interactive map to see areas affected by the Ebola outbreak. Move the markers on the bottom bar to change the date . This year has seen the worst outbreak in history of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). The outbreak has a mortality rate of around 50 per cent. This scene shows bodies being taken away in Sierra Leone . One example is Harvard University's HealthMap which flagged up a 'mystery haemorrhagic fever' nine days before the World Health Organisation announced the Ebola epidemic. The fever was seen developing in the forested areas of southeastern Guinea by a free online tool known as HealthMap on March 19. Ebola emerged in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks in Sudan and near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are several strains which vary in how dangerous they are to humans, but death rates have reached as high as 90 per cent. In the current outbreak that is just over 50 per cent. It is introduced into humans through direct contact with the blood, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals including fruit bats, which are eaten as a delicacy. The virus then spreads between humans through direct contact with blood, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people. Symptoms include fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. People are infectious as long as their blood and bodily fluids contain the virus and the incubation period can range between two and 21 days. Although the disease has no cure, modern medical treatment and quick isolation help hugely to bring the death toll down. The US group behind the software started putting out alerts and providing information to the World Health Organisation, which reported its first confirmed case of Ebola on March 23. Since then, the HealthMap team has created an interactive Ebola map, free to use by anyone who wants to see where the disease is spreading. The map, run by scientists in Boston, uses algorithms to scour tens of thousands of social media sites, local news and government websites to detect and track disease outbreaks. It then filters out irrelevant data to identify dangerous diseases and map their locations with the help of health experts. 'It shows some of these informal sources are helping paint a picture of what's happening that's useful to these public health agencies,' said HealthMap co-founder John Brownstein. Ebola is transmitted by human contact, which means knowing where people are moving can provide valuable insight to researchers trying to contain the outbreak. 'Big data has really changed epidemiology,' Madhav Marathe, director of Virginia Bioinformatics Institute's Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Laboratory told International Business Times. Mr Marathe has been working with the U.S. Department of Defense for almost a decade to help track diseases like and predict how they might spread. In addition to using information send via text message, the team have turned to updates on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. A project by the group, dubbed '#HackEbola', gathers the data put out by local ministries of health and publishes the results online. Meanwhile, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is collecting mobile phone mast activity data from operators and mapping where calls to helplines are located. While this data has proved valuable, experts claim that more resources are needed to analyse the data faster. If they manage this, scientists believe big data analytics could help provide an off-the-shelf Ebola vaccine. But that may still be some way off. 'We're learning all this from scratch - we've never had this level of data before,' Qlik's David Bolton told the BBC. 'So it's probably too early to say whether big data analytics is having a meaningful impact on the rate and spread of the disease, but at least it is helping us decide where to allocate our resources.' Ebola is transmitted by human contact, which means knowing where people are moving can provide valuable insight to researchers trying to contain the outbreak. Liberia and Guinea are thought to be the worst affected areas .
### SUMMARY:
| So far, more than 8,000 people are thought to have contracted the disease, and almost half of those have died .
Text messages are helping in the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leonne with people receiving health text alerts .
BBC has started sending Whatsapp alerts that include short audio clips and photos to people at risk from Ebola .
As well as sending alerts, social media is helping health agencies monitor trends in outbreaks by their location .
Harvard University's HealthMap flagged a 'haemorrhagic fever' nine days before Ebola was formally announced . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Britain awoke to a blanket of frost this morning after temperatures plummeted to almost -4C on what was one of the coldest nights of the season so far. Large swathes of the country experienced sub-zero temperatures as millions of people headed outside to enjoy Bonfire Night activities and firework displays. The coldest temperature recorded last night was -3.8C in South Newington, Oxfordshire, which was closely followed by -3.7C in Topcliffe, North Yorkshire. The mercury also dropped to -2.8C in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire. Red sky in the morning: The spectacular scene as the sun rises on this frost covered hill in Malmesbury, Wiltshire . Britain awoke to frost today after temperatures dropped to -3.8C in parts of the country overnight. Pictured: London's Richmond Park . Much of the UK was greeted by cold mist this morning, including the River Cray at Foots Cray Meadows in Sidcup, Kent (pictured) The Met Office said last night's temperatures were some of the coldest seen so far this season. Pictured: Sunrise at Sidcup, Kent, today . A jogger embraces the chilly start as he runs through a very frosty Richmond Park in west London following a drop in temperature . Deer stand in long frost-ridden grass at Richmond Park in west London as Britain recovers from overnight temperatures of almost -4C . Although last year’s Bonfire Night was slightly colder, at -5C, yesterday was colder than the same night in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Forecasters at the Met Office said widespread frost caused by last night’s plunging temperatures would be replaced by heavy rain across large parts of the country this afternoon. Severe weather warnings have been issued for parts of Northern Ireland, where 80mm of rain is predicted to fall within the next 24 hours, and in Scotland where localised flooding is a possibility. However, despite last night’s chilly temperatures, forecasters said the mercury would rise again this week, with temperatures returning to the November average of between 10C and 12C. Mark Wilson, meteorologist for the Met Office, said: ‘Last night was a cold night, one of the coldest nights of the season far. ‘There’s been widespread frost this morning but cloud is thickening from the west and that heralds wet and windy weather pushing through. ‘If you’re in the south east, it will stay dry until after dark but elsewhere in the country it will turn wetter throughout the course of the day. ‘Weather warnings have been issued and in eastern parts of Northern Ireland we could see as much as 80mm of rain over the next 24 hours.’ Despite the heavy rain forecast for much of the UK today, Mr Wilson said the country would experience some respite from last night’s cold weather. He said: ‘Tonight will be much, much milder than last night. The lowest temperature will be in the Scottish highlands and that will be around 4C to 5C so much milder. 'Over the coming days, temperatures are looking closer to average. Last night would have been the coldest night for the next few nights. 'By day, temperatures will be in the 10C to 12C range generally. 'The weather remains largely unsettled though. 'Tomorrow, the persistent rain will clear away, leaving a day of sunny spells and showers with strong, breezy winds. 'As we head into Saturday, unfortunately we see a pretty wet day across much of England and Wales. ‘There’s a band of rain pushing up towards the north east, affecting much of England and Wales during the day, but Scotland and Northern Ireland will see the best of the weather. ‘However, if you’re looking to get out and about this weekend, Sunday is definitely the better day. There will be one or two isolated showers but mostly sunny spells and lighter winds.’ Forecasters said it would get milder and temperatures would not plummet to below zero again this week. Pictured: Richmond Park . Heavy rain is set to replace the widespread frost which greeted much of Britain today including Richmond Park in west London (above) Many people wrapped up warm to get a glimpse of the sunrise in Richmond Park this morning despite the chilly temperatures and frost . One cyclist stopped to take a picture of today's sunrise during an early morning bike ride alongside the River Cam in Cambridge . The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland today (left) and tomorrow (right) With severe weather warnings in place for Northern Ireland from 10.30am today until 8am tomorrow, Mr Wilson warned of the potential risk of localised flooding. A less-severe weather warning is also in place for much of Scotland today, which warns of heavy rain until 6pm on Friday. Mr Wilson added: 'The public should be prepared for the risk of localised flooding. It’s not going to widespread but there is a risk of localised flooding – especially in the eastern areas of Northern Ireland.' Rowers were greeted by a beautiful sunrise as they practiced on the River Cam in Cambridge despite this morning's widespread frost . The rowers made the most of the dry weather this morning, which is set to be replaced by heavy rain across England and Wales later . A beautiful autumn sunrise was captured over allotments in the St. Werburgh area of Bristol this morning ahead of the forecasted rain . The sunrise in Bristol looked stunning over the city, but forecasters have warned wet and windy will swamp much of England and Wales . The sun rises in Seaham, County Durham, above the statue of 'Tommy' depicting a solider sat with his head bowed and a rifle in hand . The first migrating Siberian swans of this year landed in Britain this morning - heralding the belated arrival of winter. Each year around 300 Bewick swans flock to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, after flying more than 2,500 miles from Arctic Russia. This year's arrival - coinciding with the first cold snap of the season - is the latest for 45 years. It traditionally marks the beginning of winter as the birds head to Britain to escape the Arctic weather which follows closely behind them. The first family of two adults and two cygnets touched down at 7.15am and the adults were identified as regulars Nurton and Nusa, who have been visiting the spot for the last five years. The first migrating Siberian swans arrved in Britain today at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire . Slimbridge swan expert Julia Newth said: 'This is the latest arrival date since 1969. 'It is no coincidence that their arrival has coincided with a change from the mild temperatures and south-westerly head winds that have dominated in recent weeks. 'We are excited to see that the first arrivals are a family because the swans desperately need more cygnets to bolster the dwindling population.' The Bewicks - the smallest and rarest members of the swan family - live in Siberia during the summer. In winter they migrate west - aided by chilling easterly winds - to escape winter temperatures of -25C. They normally arrive at Slimbridge in a steady stream between October and January.
### SUMMARY:
| Temperatures dropped to -3.8C in South Newington, Oxfordshire, and -3.7C in Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, last night .
Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for Northern Ireland and Scotland today with heavy rain on the way .
Despite last night's sub-zero temperatures, much of the UK will experience milder weather over the coming days . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
In a year littered with trophies, baubles, mementos and achievements, a simple letter perhaps means as much as anything to Stephen Gallacher. That European team captain Paul McGinley should take time to write to one of his Ryder Cup rookies, the local lad who left Gleneagles without a point but with a headful of memories, said something about more than just the Irishman’s inspired leadership. If some might feel that Gallacher may have regrets over his contribution to the home win, a foursomes defeat alongside Ian Poulter on the opening morning and then a singles loss to a turbocharged Phil Mickelson on the Sunday, the 40-year-old is at pains to dispel the myth. Stephen Gallacher poses with the Dubai Classic Trophy after his triumph earlier this year . The Scot, whose best year as a pro was rewarded with honorary membership of the PGA yesterday, says even that dysfunctional pairing with Poulter — something McGinley concedes was never given the pre-event time to develop — remains a fond recollection of his week in the Perthshire hills. ‘I wouldn’t take it back,’ said Gallacher. ‘It was absolutely brilliant, playing with Ian. Paul’s reasoning was that he told me I was playing the first morning. ‘And he said: “You’re standing there with the Saltire on and Poulter hasn’t been on form as normal — and the big crowd is what he loves to get him up to play his best. He’s out with you and you’ll have a massive following”. Gallacher savoured the home support at Gleneagles despite his disappointing display . ‘He just thought that would be the spur and it obviously didn’t work. But neither of us played well. We only had one birdie. But I have no negativity about the Ryder Cup — only positives. I wouldn’t change it for anything. ‘Paul sent me a text first and then a letter at the Race to Dubai. He wrote everybody a letter. I’ll probably not show it to many people because it’s personal and it’s a mark of the man. ‘He talked to me about how I handled being left out on the Saturday, as did a few of my peers. There are 12 guys and you leave your egos at the door. It’s purely the result that you want and it doesn’t matter how it happens. ‘Yes, I would have liked to have played a bit more. But would I swap that and get beat? No, I wouldn’t. Gallacher (left) jokes with Phil Mickelson during the pair's foursomes match at the Ryder Cup . ‘Against Mickelson, that was probably as good as I’ve played all year. But you are playing one of the top guys outwith Tiger — what is it he’s got, five or six majors? Also, if he doesn’t go out and beat me, he can’t have a go at Tom Watson, who would have just turned around and said: “Well, you got beat...” ‘I held my head up high and I enjoyed it. I desperately want to play in the Ryder Cup again. ‘Paul’s given me a lot of confidence, not just with the letter and text. We’ve been in contact a lot. The stuff he said has been brilliant.’ Rory McIlroy took to Twitter to show off his Scottish-themed outfit with Scotland's Gallagher after the win . Gallacher ends 2014 as world No 35, up 31 places in 12 months, while his European Tour earnings of £1.35million have been bolstered by eight top-10 finishes — including becoming the first player to defend the Dubai Desert Classic. More impressive than anything, though, was his ferocious — and exhausting — charge to the brink of automatic Ryder Cup qualification. Missing out by the narrowest of margins, he was, the captain has since admitted, McGinley’s first pick as a wild card. ‘I’m definitely ready for a break,’ said the third member of Bathgate Golf Club’ s great Ryder Cup trio, following Eric Brown and his own uncle, Bernard Gallacher, into the famous team event. ‘This year, it’s one that’s going to be hard to top, you know. I’m going to have to work even harder and really be on the ball. Europe quartet (from left) Rory McIlroy, Stephen Gallacher, Jamie Donaldson and Henrik Stenson celebrate as Europe win the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles . ‘But the key is not to panic and try to do too much. I’ve done a lot this year. I think I had a first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth. ‘I’m very close. I just need to keep doing what I’m doing. ‘You never look back. You know you’ve had a good year — but all you’re trying to do is bottle that formula. ‘You don’t end up 34th or 35th in the world by having one good year. You’ve got to have two or three good years, or it cascades away. Team Europe take time out amid wild celebrations to pose for group photo at Gleneagles . ‘I’m getting more consistent. I just want to improve slightly in places — that wee bit here and there — and who knows, you could be in the top 10 as quick as that. It’s such a fine margin. ‘Last year I had to chase the world points, so I was a wee bit out of my comfort zone playing in America when I didn’t really want to then, at the end, I played eight out of nine weeks. ‘But it’s testament to the physical work I’ve done that I could do that. One of the keys at the start of the year was having no injuries so I could dictate my schedule, play more if I need to. I’ve not had a twinge for a year. That’s a massive breakthrough. McGinley and his players pose for disheveled group photo after living up to their bill as favourites against the USA . ‘You look at a football player who spends three weeks out. It can sometimes take them four or five weeks to get back. So, if I had to miss three of the biggest weeks, then there’s more pressure on me when I come back. And, if I don’ t settle right away, that’s two months lost, isn’t it? ‘I didn’t want any distractions. I wanted to play when I wanted, not when I felt like I needed time off. I feel as fresh at the end of the year as I did at the start of the year. That’s a massive change. ‘Generally, I get to the end of the year and feel a wreck. I cannae hit a shot. Now, I’ve had a week and a bit off just to give the golfing muscles a break. It didn't take long for the champagne to start flowing after the trophy had been raised . ‘The one thing I’ve learned this year is that my bad shots are better. I’m swinging better and hitting the ball better, so I’m pin high more. All the good putters give themselves chances. It’s hard if you’re hitting it to 40 feet. ‘My game is improving, and it comes down to putting. ‘I went to see (short game guru) Dave Stockton and he made a difference, so I’ ll try to see him again in January for a refresher.’
### SUMMARY:
| Stephen Gallacher failed to register a point during Europe's Ryder Cup triumph at Gleneagles .
Gallacher lost to Phil Mickelson in the singles .
The 40-year-old was captain Paul McGinley's first pick as a wild card .
The Scot also crashed to a foursomes defeat alongside Ian Poulter .
Gallacher has finished 2014 as world No 35, up 31 places in 12 months . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Defence chiefs have attempted to block the production of a new film about the death of a British soldier in Afghanistan – because it portrays how the RAF botched a rescue mission. Corporal Mark Wright died in September 2006 after becoming stranded in an unmarked minefield during a mission against Taliban fighters near the strategically important Kajaki Dam in Helmand province. But tragedy struck when a Chinook helicopter sent to rescue Cpl Wright and other British soldiers set off mines in the area as it attempted to land, causing him fatal injuries and injuring others. Corporal Mark Wright died in 2006 after becoming stranded in an unmarked minefield during a mission against Taliban fighters . The Ministry of Defence was heavily criticised at the inquest into Cpl Wright’s death in 2009, with the coroner saying officials should ‘hang their heads in shame’ over the failure to send a properly equipped aircraft. Now the incident has been depicted in a new film, Kajaki: A True Story, which will be released next month. The movie, which stars Game Of Thrones actor Mark Stanley as a medic who tries to save Cpl Wright, is backed by Help For Heroes and other military charities which will receive a percentage of the box office takings. But the makers have told The Mail on Sunday that they were blocked in their attempts to research key parts of the story, because MoD officials refused permission to speak to any of the air crew involved. Cpl Wright, 27 took command when two paratroopers at the front of a patrol were blown up by mines. He sent a radio request for a helicopter equipped with a winch to lift the wounded to safety. Cpl Wright also warned the helicopter should not attempt to land in case the downdraught from its engines caused more explosions, the inquest said. But this instruction was ignored and instead a Chinook without a winch was sent, which led directly to his death and to more paratroopers being wounded. Producers from Pukka Films wanted to understand every aspect of the incident, including why the Chinook crew seemingly ignored Cpl Wright’s attempts to wave it away. Last night, Defence sources confirmed the MoD turned down repeated requests to speak to officers aboard the helicopter that day. Survivors: Stuart Hale (right) was on the minefield with Cpl Wright when disaster struck. He is pictured with colleague Hugh Keir at Camp Bastion . The film is poised to shock cinema audiences with its retelling of how Cpl Wright and his fellow paratroopers were let down by military officials. Disabled troops who recently competed in the Invictus Games – a sporting festival set up by Prince Harry – are expected to attend the premiere on November 12. They will meet Cpl Wright’s parents, who are fully behind the movie even though they admit they may find some of the scenes too shocking to watch. Last night, the soldier’s father Bob Wright, 67, from Edinburgh, said he hoped makers had got over obstacles put in their path by Defence officials. ‘They weren’t trying to bring the MoD down in any way, they’re just trying to show the bravery of the guys,’ he said. ‘We’re excited and nervous. I’m not going to watch the whole film, but I may go in for the start. If it gets too heavy I’ll come out.’ The Mail on Sunday was given an exclusive preview of the film which portrays the events of September 6, 2006. On that day, Cpl Wright and colleagues from the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 Para) became trapped in a minefield which was not marked on their maps. With his colleagues L/Cpl Stuart Hale and Sgt Stuart Pearson lying in agony after being blown up, Cpl Wright, played by David Elliot, sends an emergency radio message requesting a helicopter should be dispatched to lift them out of the minefield. But UK commanders tell Cpl Wright no British helicopters fitted with the necessary equipment are available. Instead, they suggest he should move the casualties to an area where it would be safe for the Chinook to land. As the soldier explains, this is not an option due to the number of mines. The film then recreates the tragic moment when a twin-rotor Chinook hovers over Cpl Wright, the wounded paratroopers and the medic, Cpl Paul ‘Tug’ Hartley. The Chinook produces powerful blasts of air and – just as Cpl Wright had warned – more mines explode. As the dust settles, Wright is seen lying on the ground, his gaping wounds and charred face providing a harrowing reminder of the reality of war. Gasping for breath and in excruciating pain, he continues to issue orders to his colleagues, six of whom are now wounded. He insists they should not allow themselves to sleep because this will accelerate their physical decline. ‘No snoozing boys, OK?’ he croaks. It takes commanders six hours to send US Black Hawk helicopters fitted with winches to rescue the casualties. In the film, this period is boiled down to a harrowing 45 minutes as Wright and his colleagues desperately fight their injuries. A tear-jerking scene based on the testimony of survivors of the incident sees Cpl Wright tell ‘Tug’ Hartley he can feel himself getting colder. Fearing the onset of death, he issues a series of requests about his fiancee Gill Urquhart and family, which make for gripping viewing: . ‘Tell Gill I love her. Tell her to marry someone else and to be happy. Tell my parents to have a big party with a cash-free bar. Tell them I was a good soldier, tell them I died like a good Para.’ Desperately, Hartley seeks to reassure Cpl Wright that he will pull through, but by the time the US helicopters arrive he is only just clinging to life. In a selfless gesture typical of Cpl Wright, one of his last actions is to offer words of support to a casualty who is in a much better state than himself. Wright dies moments later. At the time of his death, he was preparing to marry Ms Urquhart, his fiancee of nine years. She has followed the wishes of her former partner and has since married and is now a mother of two children. For his actions that day, Cpl Wright was awarded a posthumous George Cross, the UK’s highest award for bravery not in the face of the enemy. Sgt Pearson was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal and Tug Hartley the George Medal. At an inquest held into the causes of Cpl Wright’s death, coroner Andrew Walker made a withering attack on the MoD. The inquest heard the helicopter did set off the mine which killed Cpl Wright while the coroner highlighted three factors which caused his death – the downdraught from the Chinook, the lack of appropriate British helicopters fitted with winches, and the delay in sending a suitable helicopter. Other criticisms included the failure of the officer responsible for passing updated information about the mine threat being unable to interpret the maps, and that local knowledge had been ignored. Cpl Wright’s death also led to the RAF fitting Chinook helicopters with winches. A MoD spokesman said last night: ‘It is untrue to suggest the MoD has withdrawn its support or attempted to block the Kajaki film in any way. We agreed to provide a specific amount of support to this project and we honoured that agreement.’
### SUMMARY:
| Corporal Mark Wright died in an unmarked minefield in Afghanistan in 2006 .
Paratrooper had been stranded with colleagues when army Chinook arrived .
Warned pilots the aircraft would set off more explosions but was ignored .
Inquest into his death heard how officials should 'hang heads in shame'
Attempts to research incident for film Kajaki: A True Story blocked by army . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Sportsmail takes a look at 10 things we learned from the Premier League and Football League this week, including a sense of deja vu at Stamford Bridge. Click here to follow @ralphellis56 . 1) Calum Chambers had never been booked in 25 senior appearances for Southampton before his £16million move to Arsenal this summer. Maybe he is trying too hard at his new club, because the yellow card the 19-year-old collected from referee Michael Oliver for fouling Aaron Lennon five minutes from the end of the north London derby was his FIFTH in 11 games this year. Not that Tottenham were angels. The 16 fouls that Mauricio Pochettino’s team committed was only one less than were made by both sides put together in the Merseyside derby. Calum Chambers (right) picked up his fifth booking since arriving at Arsenal for a foul on Aaron Lennon . 2) Ronald Koeman proved that having a go in the Capital One Cup needn’t harm your Premier League chances with the team that beat QPR 2-1 to keep Southampton in second place in the early table. In a week when most clubs changed their entire team in midweek, Koeman used nine of the players who had started in the win at Arsenal in his opening line-up. Ryan Bertrand, who got the opening goal against Rangers, had also been on the pitch at the Emirates, where he came on as a late sub. Ronald Koeman stuck with largely the same team that played in the Capital One Cup to win against QPR . 3) Chelsea’s blistering start to the season has seen the bookies install them as odds-on favourites to regain the Barclays Premier League title – and sparked discussion on whether Jose Mourinho’s side can stay top from start to finish as Arsenal did the last time they won the competition in 2004. A word of caution before the blue bunting is being set out and the open top bus booked for the King's Road, though. Only once since then have the side who topped the table at the end of September gone on to be crowned champions. Who did that? A certain Mr Mourinho with Chelsea in 2006. We shall see if he can do it again. Jose Mourinho could repeat the feat of winning the title after leading the league from end of September . 4) Keith Stroud was considered one of the country’s brightest refereeing prospects when he was promoted to the Premier League list back in 2007, but struggled to handle top flight games and got knocked back down to the Football League list after barely a year. The 45-year-old is back in the big time this season, though, and had his first Premier League game since 2008 when he took charge of Crystal Palace’s clash with Leicester. It was a good choice of game for him, coming through without any major controversy as Palace won 2-0. Referee Keith Stroud (third left) speaks to Kasper Schmeichel after his first game back in the Premier League . 5) There are signs that Louis van Gaal isn’t afraid to go down the Sir Alex Ferguson route of applying pressure on referees at Old Trafford. His Match of the Day moan to Gary Lineker about a mythical foul on David de Gea in the build-up to West Ham’s goal was rather peculiar. More worrying was the way United’s players chased referee Lee Mason trying to get Diafra Sakho in trouble for a foul on Rafael when the home team were already down to 10 men. Not as bad as the infamous time Roy Keane led a charge on Andy D’Urso, but not pretty either. Manchester United players argue that Diafra Sakho should have received a yellow card . 6) West Brom’s five midfield players – Graham Dorrans, James Morrison, Stephane Sessegnon, Craig Gardner and Chris Brunt - are all fairly similar in style and stature, and in theory the combination shouldn’t have enough balance to work. But they combined brilliantly against Burnley to keep the ball for long periods and help Alan Irvine’s side dominate the game. Collectively the five played 312 passes and found their own man with 283 of them – a success rate of nearly 91 per cent. Graham Dorrans (left) is one of five similar sized players striking the right balance at West Brom . 7) Albert Adomah suffered a miserable end to a bad week after missing the Anfield penalty that meant Liverpool survived that epic 14-13 shoot-out in the Capital One Cup. The former Bristol City striker was possibly still dwelling on the disappointment when he picked up two silly yellow cards and the inevitable red as Middlesbrough battled out a goalless draw at Charlton. It’s the first time the 26-year-old has ever been sent off in 311 senior games since he made his League debut for Barnet in January 2008. Albert Adomah (right) was sent off in the same week he missed a decisive penalty in the Capital One Cup . 8) Bryan Ruiz spent the last part of the summer trying to get away from Fulham as one of several experienced players who fell out with Felix Magath. For different reasons moves to PSV Eindhoven, Besiktas and Werder Bremen all fell through – which turns out to be good news for whoever gets the job to follow Magath as Craven Cottage boss. Caretaker Kit Symons has put the 29-year-old star of Costa Rica’s World Cup campaign straight back into his starting team, and Ruiz played a major role in the 2-1 win at Birmingham. Bryan Ruiz has his confidence back after being handed back his place by Kit Symons at Fulham . 9) Coventry are getting back to reality all too quickly, just three weeks after 27,306 packed the Ricoh Arena to the rafters to celebrate the club’s return to the city. Just 11,085 were at the next game to see them beat Yeovil, and that had fallen again to 10,006 for Saturday’s 2-0 defeat by Preston. Coventry concede a goal to Preston North End's Joe Garner in front of empty seats at the Ricoh Stadium . 10) Young Charlton striker Joe Pigott is using a loan spell at Newport to help get his head together after being involved in a car crash while on holiday in South Africa during the summer in which his close friend, goalkeeper George Howard, was critically injured. Howard, who played with 20-year-old Pigott at Gillingham, is recovering slowly from what were life threatening injuries and gets MailOnline’s best wishes. Pigott, meanwhile, has made a strong impression at the start of a three-month loan in South Wales and his two goals against AFC Wimbledon lifted Justin Edinburgh’s team to within two points of the play-off zone. Like our Manchester United Facebook page here.
### SUMMARY:
| Calum Chambers has picked up five bookings since moving to Arsenal .
Ronald Koeman kept faith with his Southampton side to beat QPR 2-1 .
Jose Mourinho is on course to repeat Chelsea's 2006 title winning season .
Referee Keith Stroud handled his return to the Premier League well .
Manchester United are back to putting pressure on officials at Old Trafford .
West Brom have found unlikely balance between five similar players .
Albert Adomah's week for Middlesbrough has gone from bad to worse .
Bryan Ruiz has been given a new lease of life under Kit Symons at Fulham .
Coventry attendance figures dip after return to the Ricoh Stadium .
Charlton striker Joe Pigott is getting back on track with Newport loan . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
The BBC has been urged to reveal its plans for Scottish independence amidst fears the licence fee could double in the event of a 'Yes' vote in next week's referendum. The Corporation has so far refused to speculate on what could happen after Thursday's vote, insisting that no contingency plans have been drawn up. However, senior politicians have called for transparency over the future level of the licence fee, in order to ensure that Scottish voters can make a well-informed decision at the polls. There are also questions over the future of the many BBC programmes which are currently produced at the Corporation's Scottish headquarters in Glasgow - including hit sitcom Mrs Brown's Boys and political flagship Question Time. Scroll down for video . Threat: Popular programmes such as Mrs Brown's Boys and Question Time, starring David Dimbleby, are currently based at the BBC's Scottish headquarters in Glasgow . Licence fee: Alex Salmond insists that an independent Scotland would keep the BBC, but there are fears the cost could soar . The latest news comes after businesses continued to speak out against the risks posed by independence, while UKIP leader Nigel Farage suggested that the Queen should intervene in a last-ditch attempt to save the Union. The Scottish National Party has repeatedly insisted that an independent Scotland would be able to keep the BBC, along with other UK institutions such as the NHS and the Monarchy. But as the Corporation would no longer be able to subsidise Scottish services from the rest of Britain, it is not know how the level of the licence fee would be affected. The Guardian reported today that a secret internal document produced by the BBC in 2011 suggested the fee might have to double from £145.50 to nearly £300 in an independent Scotland. A source told the paper: 'In Scotland, revenue raised is well south of the value of services they receive.' The BBC is believed to raise around £320million from the 2.2million Scottish licence fee payers, according to the latest available figures. Most of that money goes on programmes and services broadcast to the whole of the UK, but £102million is spent every year on content intended for an exclusively Scottish audience. The BBC's Gaelic-language TV station, BBC Alba, is part-funded by the Scottish government, but its other services in the country draw from the overall pot of licence fee payments. Silence: Rona Fairhead, incoming chairman of the BBC, has supported the Corporation's policy of refusing to plan for an independence vote . In other countries of a comparable size to Scotland, such as Ireland and Denmark, public broadcasting is nearly twice as expensive per head of population as it is in the UK. The licence fee is Denmark is 2,414 krone, around £260, while in Ireland the €160 (£130) fee makes up only half the income of the public broadcaster RTÉ. BBC channels which are broadcast outside the UK, such as BBC World and BBC America, are funded by advertising. The Last Night of the Proms is one of the key dates in the calendar of British patriotism - but this year, the BBC is keen to keep politics out of it altogether. Presenter and stars of tomorrow night's concert, including Katherine Jenkins and Terry Wogan, are set to be reminded that they must focus on the music - and not mention the Scottish independence referendum. Politicians and cultural figures have called for the Last Night of the Proms to be a celebration of Britishness ahead of next Thursday's poll. But the BBC is adamant that it must remain an apolitical event, and will brief those appearing to remind them not to talk about 'things that aren't music related'. The Corporation insists that this is standard guidance issued every year, but tomorrow's concert is considered particularly symbolic due to the impending referendum. Historian Simon Schama said this week that the Proms 'might be the last time' for the UK to come together as a whole, and suggested that the historic occasion should be celebrated. Politicians such as Culture Secretary Sajid Javid, and entertainers including Vera Lynn, agreed that the concert should display the strengths of the Union and Scotland's contribution to national culture. 'The best way of sharing our cultural lives is to stay together,' Dame Vera told the Telegraph. 'Rule Britannia was written by a Scot! This concert is a wonderful opportunity to share our musical heritage.' However, the BBC is so intent on staying impartial that several of its best-known personalities are believed to have refused show support for the Union in case they breach the Corporation's rules. 'It's business as usual for the Last Night of the Proms,' a BBC spokesman said. 'There is no heavy edict not to mention the referendum - as is standard, if it was editorially justified on the night it would be reflected. 'In line with previous years presenters and artists will be reminded that the BBC Proms is a music event not a political platform.' Ben Bradshaw, the former Culture Secretary, urged the BBC to publish information about the future of the licence fee before the referendum vote. 'The future of the BBC in Scotland and the level of the licence fee was raised with me on the doorstep when I was campaigning in Scotland this week,' he told the Guardian. 'If Scots wish to keep a Scottish BBC or something like it in the event of independence, they will lose the BBC's economy of scale and will face paying much more if they wish to keep quality public service broadcasting.' A BBC source told MailOnline that there had been no attempts to supress any internal reports, adding that the Corporation had made no decisions on the future of the licence fee. The BBC's incoming chairman Rona Fairhead told MPs this week that it was right to delay plans for the future until after the referendum vote, in order to remain impartial during the independence campaign. A spokesman said: 'As we have consistently stated we have done no planning about the future of BBC services after the referendum, including any calculations about the level of a licence fee.' As well as questions over the licence fee, a 'Yes' vote in the referendum could cast doubt over the future of BBC programmes which are produced in Scotland. Mrs Brown's Boys, starring Irish comedian Brendan O'Carroll, is filmed in a studio in Glasgow, and Question Time's producers are based in Scotland although the programme moves around the UK for each episode. Other popular programmes produced by BBC Scotland have included school drama Waterloo Road and detective series Wallander. Last month, Scottish TV producers spoke out against the BBC's refusal to plan for the future, saying it could leave the creative arts industry in limbo for up to two years. A spokesman for Better Together, the anti-independence campaign group, said the uncertainty over the BBC could jeopardise the 'good deal' currently enjoyed by Scottish audiences. 'The BBC is one of the most respected national institutions we have and people in Scotland don't support Alex Salmond's plan to break it up,' he said. 'Licence fee payers in Scotland contribute around £320million a year but we benefit from programming and production worth £3.6billion. That's a good deal for Scotland.' But Blair Jenkins, chief executive of Yes Scotland, said: 'The current Scottish Government has made it absolutely clear that the licence fee payable in Scotland at the point of independence will be the same as the rest of the UK. 'In an independent Scotland, viewers will continue to receive the programmes and channels currently enjoyed, but with significantly more programmes being commissioned and produced in Scotland.'
### SUMMARY:
| Reports suggest licence fee in Scotland could double to nearly £300 .
But the BBC insists it has made no contingency plans for the possibility of a 'Yes' vote in Thursday's referendum .
Ex-minister urges the Corporation to publish plans before the vote .
Popular programmes like Mrs Brown's Boys and Question Time are currently produced in Scotland .
Businesses today spoke out against costs of independence while Nigel Farage called on the Queen to step in . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
It has come under fire in recent months for becoming ever-more intrusive into the lives of the people who use it. However Facebook's most revealing revamp yet will unveil the lives of its millions of users like never before as it delves into people's histories and publishes the information in a 'magazine-style' format. Mixed reaction has met the social networking site's impressive new revamp, with some labelling it as 'creepy but beautiful' and other critics raising concerns about privacy. Facebook's new 'timeline' feature - a . new, deeper profile which allows you to 'fill in' more of your life . pre-Facebook - was announced with some fanfare in September. The 'timeline' view will give your Facebook page a more 'magazine-like' feel - and will, Mark Zuckerberg promises, 'tell the story of your life' Timeline allows you to organise your life into a chronological view - and you can even add the years 'pre-Facebook' Today, the company announced, 'Starting today, timeline is now available everywhere.' Mark . Zuckerberg described timeline as letting you 'tell the whole story of . your life on a single page'. At present, the 'new look' is voluntary - . but a company spokesperson said it will become compulsory in 'a few . weeks'. PaidContent described the makeover as . 'creepy but beautiful', adding: 'Facebook appears to have gained at . least a minor awareness of how intrusive the site can feel. 'With timeline, it is letting users . have a week grace period to tweak and review the page before they spring . their entire life on the rest of the world. 'I strongly recommend everyone use this one week to understand how timeline works before hitting the ‘Publish Now’ button.' In a move which appears to try and reassure users of the timeline feature, both Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and pop idol Britney Spears both now boast the new-look format on their profiles. The redesigned pages have a more magazine-like photo-heavy feel, with a large 'cover photo' at the top of the page. On . the right of the page there will be a timeline that breaks down all . posts from a person's time on Facebook and allows viewers to jump back . to people's earliest posts with a break down month-by-month. Facebook's new 'timeline' profiles highlight pictures from years ago - but deleting pictures you don't like may be no defence . Facebook's creator Mark Zuckerberg led by example by opting-in to the new profile feature . Tech site CIO.com commented, 'Facebook's . new timeline has the potential to expose status updates and wall posts . from years ago,' and published a guide to 'Important Privacy Settings to . Adjust Now.' You can choose to 'feature' or 'hide' posts that you particularly want highlighted or hidden - but from the . moment you opt in, you only have seven days to do so. 'When you upgrade to timeline, you'll . have seven days to review everything that appears on your timeline . before anyone else can see it,' the site says. 'If . you decide to wait, your timeline will go live automatically after . seven days. Your new timeline will replace your profile, but all your . stories and photos will still be there.' The all-inclusive, show-everything . approach has clearly made some users nervous, 'Time to untag some old . photos,' commented one user via Twitter in the minutes after launch. The redesigned Facebook 'timeline' has also been popular with users - although not with privacy advocates . Exposed: Even people's hobbies, such as film interests (left) and which games they enjoy playing (right), will be revealed for all to see as part of the new-look site . Connections: Facebook's links with music site Spotify will also reveal exactly what bands you are listening to . American business magazine Forbes commented, 'This is going to force users to do some privacy housekeeping. Limiting items to just your friends seems like a good privacy control, but that depends on how liberal you’ve been in friending people.' A technology class at Yale has already created a quiz called 'What's Her Face-book' to work out exactly how well they know people who they are connected to via the site. The new look is much more 'picture-heavy' - and your profile suddenly becomes a showcase for everything you have ever posted. Friends become big pictures, and the site also posts much larger versions of pictures you've taken, shared or been tagged in. Timeline . will also be open to app developers, so that the information can be . used to supercharge apps such as music-sharing application Spotify. Timeline . has been available to a million developers in an early test version . already - but so far has only been available to the public in New . Zealand, chosen as a test bed, presumably, because it has a relatively . low . population - just 4.4 million - and is English-speaking, allowing . Facebook to iron out early problems with the service. One of the new features is 'Cover' - a big picture that you pick to represent yourself, and which forms the top of 'timeline', which replaces your old profile . Facebook are keen to trumpet the fact you can 'hide' features from your 'timeline' You can also edit your timeline for specific Facebook users - but the site only gives you seven days to edit before 'going live', so this feature may be too fiddly for many . The Activity Log lets you review and manage everything you share on Facebook . The . new-look format may prompt many to re-evaluate how much they want to . share on Facebook, with some users proclaiming this latest change is one . step too far. Early reactions suggest this . development could drive users away from the site, with some fearing the . privacy settings could be so confusing it might be easier to leave . Facebook altogether. The biggest piece of advice . offered so far on the changes is make sure you understand how timeline . works before hitting the 'publish now' button. This may force many to carry out some privacy housekeeping on the site. When . profiles migrate to the timeline magazine format, users will have seven . days to scrutinise and approve its content before it is published . online. But it will be up to you to decide who sees this information. To friend or not to friend? The What's Her face-Book quiz helps users establish how many of their connections they truly know . Users are advised to use this . week-long grace period to study the contents meticulously and to make . the necessary privacy adjustments to ensure their life history is not . published for the world to see. After seven days, the timeline format . will automatically be published to your profile. Every . picture, comment and piece of information contained within timeline . will feature a privacy drop-down menu, asking who you want to view it, . whether it be the public, close friends, colleagues or any other . sub-group of users on Facebook. Many . users might think they are being cautious by limiting their information . to only their 'friends' list, but this throws up another dilemma: How . many of your Facebook 'friends' do you actually know? If . you have been too liberal in adding and accepting 'friends' on . Facebook, there's a chance you'll be sharing information with people you . barely know. A new quiz called What's Her Face-Book . tests users on how many people they really know on the site by showing . them randomly-selected pictures of their 'friends' and asking them to . identify them. Based on . your score at the end of the quiz, users will be advised on whether to . keep friends or delete them before allowing them unrestricted access to . personal pictures and other information in the timeline feature.
### SUMMARY:
| Update fills in life 'pre-Facebook'
Automatically replaces old profile .
Month-by-month view gives profiles a 'magazine' feel .
Users given seven days to 'edit' their past before site publishes it .
Timeline is 'opt-in' now - but will be compulsory . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
One of the last remaining survivors of the largest Jewish revolt of the Second World War has died at the age of 93. Boruch Spiegel, who is believed to have given the signal to launch the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of 1943, was described by his son Julius as a 'reluctant hero', following his death in Montreal. Mr Spiegel was among 750 Jews who managed to hold off heavily armed German soldiers for more than a month as they tried to storm the Polish ghetto, intent on transporting its occupants to Nazi death camps. 'Reluctant hero': Boruch Spiegel, seen in a family photograph taken in the 1970s or 1980s, fought the Nazis during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of 1943 . With Mr Spiegel's death on May 9, the tiny group of . survivors of the legendary World War II revolt that was crushed 70 years . ago this month grows even smaller. The then 23-year-old was one of about 750 Jewish fighters who on April 19, 1943, launched an uprising that took the Germans off guard. The fighters were overwhelmingly outnumbered and outgunned and the revolt never had a real chance of victory, but the determined insurgents still managed to hold out for a month - longer than some countries invaded by Hitler. 'Modest': Boruch Spiegel, seen before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, escaped the ghetto through the sewers along with his future wife as the Germans began to crush the rebellion . 'He was very modest, a reluctant hero,' his son Julius Spiegel said of his father. 'He was given an opportunity and he took it. I don’t think he was braver or more resourceful than anyone else.' By the end of May German forces had crushed the uprising, by which time Mr Spiegel had escaped the ghetto through the sewers along with a few dozen other fighters - among them his future wife, Chaika Belchatowska. They trawled through underground sewage canals to reach the so-called 'Aryan side' of the Polish capital. Those left behind were sent to death camps such as Treblinka, where most died. Their struggle endures as a symbol of resistance against the odds and a desire to maintain human dignity in the worst of possible conditions. Ultimately, though, the German revenge was brutal; the Warsaw Ghetto was systematically burned down building by building, culminating in the demolition of the Great Synagogue of Warsaw. After surviving the ghetto uprising, Mr Spiegel and his future wife joined the Polish partisans and also took part in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, a larger city-wide revolt against the occupying Germans. 'He was essentially an ordinary guy forced by circumstances to do things that were out of character,' Julius Spiegel said. Born in October 1919, Mr Spiegel grew up in Warsaw, the son of an Orthodox woman and a leather worker father, according to a New York Times report. After the Germans invaded in 1939, Mr Spiegel and his brother Beryl became involved in the Bundist underground. The Spiegel family managed to hold out for a period as Jewish families were deported around them, thanks to a steel door on their apartment, but his father died of malnutrition and his mother, two sisters, and brother Beryl died in a manner he never learned. Mr Spiegel himself was once taken to the staging area for the Treblinka camp, but managed to escape and return to the ghetto, the report said. Even after the Germans crushed the 1943 uprising, Mr Spiegel fought with Partisans before returning to Warsaw to fight with Poles in a further revolt from August to September 1944. Warsaw was liberated in January 1945. The Spiegels moved to Canada in 1948, where Mr Spiegel followed in the footsteps of his father by working in the leather industry, eventually establishing his own factory. Resistance: Fire breaks out on a city street during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943 . Crushed: German troops stand over a group of Jews captured in a basement in the ghetto in May 1943 . It's not clear how many of the Warsaw Ghetto fighters are still living, but the number is certainly small. When . Poland held national ceremonies last month marking the 70th anniversary . of the start of the ghetto uprising, officials in Warsaw said they . believed there could be four survivors left. Only . one, Simha Rotem, was visibly present at the ceremony, giving a speech . and accepting a high state honor from the Polish president. However, Havi Dreifuss, a historian and Holocaust expert with Tel Aviv University and Yad Vashem, the Jerusalem-based Holocaust research institution and museum, warned against trying to put a number on how many fighters remain, in part because it's sometimes hard to distinguish fighters from other resisters. She noted that aside from those with weapons, there were others who were entrenched in hiding places and refused to obey Nazi orders to show up for transportations to labor or concentration camps, and that an appreciation has grown over time for their resistance during the uprising. Borech Spiegel is survived by his son, Julius, a retired parks commissioner for Brooklyn, daughter Mindy Spiegel of Montreal, and four grandchildren. His wife died in 2002. During the Second World War as many as 400,000 Polish Jews were crammed into the confines of the Warsaw Ghetto. Within its walls they lived under the shadow of rampant disease and starvation, even before German troops began transporting Jews en masse to the Treblinka extermination camp. The seeds were sown for the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in January 1943, when German soldiers arriving to implement a second deportation of Jews to the camp were met by Jewish resistance fighters who engaged them in clashes. Battle of honour: A Jewish rebel is seen leaving a house surrounded by German soldiers inside the Warsaw Ghetto, during the uprising that peaked during April and May 1943 . The deportation was halted after a period of days and only saw 5,000 - rather than the intended 7,000 - Jews taken away. The occupants of the ghetto were ready to fight what was regarded as a battle of honour for the Jewish people, led by two resistance organisations; the ZZW and the ZOB. On 19 April 1943 the police and SS auxiliary forces entered the ghetto for a further deportation action intended to last three days. They were ambushed by Jewish insurgents firing and tossing Molotov cocktails and hand grenades from alleyways, sewers, and windows. The Germans suffered casualties and their advance was halted. German forces resorted to systematically burning down the ghetto, building by building, prompting thousands of surviving Jews and fighters to take cover in underground bunkers or the sewer system. Many were forced out of their hiding places by troops who dropped in smoke bombs. On May 8, the Germans discovered a large dugout located at Miła 18 Street, which served as ŻOB's main command post. Most of the organisation's remaining leadership and dozens of others committed a mass suicide by ingesting cyanide. The suppression of the uprising officially ended on 16 May 1943, with the demolition of the Great Synagogue of Warsaw.
### SUMMARY:
| WWII resistance fighter Boruch Spiegel died in Montreal aged 93 .
Mr Spiegel survived the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of 1943 .
Saw outnumbered Jewish fighters hold off Nazis for over a month . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
A panda cub could be born in Britain for the first time within the next month. Zookeepers have found signs that Tian Tian, the UK’s only female giant panda, may be pregnant. Changes in her protein and hormone levels have been detected and her nesting behaviour has also changed. Scroll down for LIVE feed from the enclosure . New arrival? Keepers believe that Tian Tian may be pregnant after she was artificially inseminated in April . Tenterhooks: Hopeful keepers at the zoo have observed Tian Tian's lack of appetite, moodiness, and 'nesting behaviour' Who's the daddy? Only blood tests on the cub would determine whether Yuang Guan, left, or Bao Bao, right, is the father . Edinburgh Zoo said the signs were encouraging – but warned there is still a chance it could be a phantom pregnancy. Ian Valentine, director of the zoo’s panda project, said: ‘It is possible Tian Tian could give birth in just two weeks. ‘The window we are looking at starts on August 24 but it looks like it may be towards the end of the month or later.’ The zoo artificially inseminated ten-year-old Tian Tian after she was reluctant to mate with her male companion Yang Guang. Something to celebrate? The team at the zoo artificially inseminated Tian Tian, or Sweetie, after she was reluctant to mate with her male companion Yang Guang, or Sunshine . Precious: Tian Tian, seen rolling backwards in her enclosure at the zoo today, and male Yang Guang are the UK's only pair of giant pandas . 'Moody': The team at the zoo have not been able to carry out an ultrasound, but if their suspicions prove correct Tian Tian could give birth to a cub as soon as next month . Keeping us guessing: Tian Tian and Yang Guang arrived from China in December 2011 . New Mum: Tian Tian's hormones have changed, suggesting she is pregnant or in a stage of pseudo-pregnancy . Motherly? Tian Tian relaxes today after it was announced that she may be pregnant . The pair arrived in Scotland in 2011 on a ten-year loan from China. There was no way to be certain Tian Tian is pregnant because she has resisted an ultrasound scan. She has been showing a lack of appetite and restlessness, and has made a bed of straw in apparent nesting behaviour but pandas are prone to pseudo pregnancies. Mr Valentine said: ‘Confirming a female panda’s pregnancy is never straightforward and we would encourage people to try not to get too excited just yet. 'Indications are good': Keepers in Edinburgh described signs Tian Tian could be pregnant as 'hugely exciting' ‘The overall picture is looking quite good. We have to assume she will give birth not just to one but to twins. Quite often pandas in captivity give birth to twins, and she gave birth to twins the last time.’ If the pregnancy is confirmed, an expert from China will fly over before the birth. Sperm from a giant panda in Berlin, Bao Bao, was used in the attempt to inseminate Tian Tian. However, only a blood test on the cub will determine whether he or Yang Guang is the father. The cub, or cubs, would officially be the property of China and be sent there after two years. The panda pair have been a popular attraction, with visits from around 500,000 people in their first year . Ready to mate: Yang Guang relaxes in as he prepares to mate with Tian Tian in the window of opportunity . Tian Tian enjoys the pool in her enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo as she . approaches her annual window of opportunity when her hormones are high . Male Yang Guang (pictured) and Tian Tian are kept separate as pandas can be territorial . Tian Tian and Yang Guang will stay in Edinburgh for a decade. Any child will be sent to China after two years . Giant pandas are native to the mountain forests of Chinese provinces Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. Estimates suggest only between 1,000 and 2,000 giant pandas remain in the wild. Tian Tian and Yang Guang are the first to live in the UK for 17 years. They are staying at Edinburgh Zoo for a decade. The zoo grows about 15% of the bamboo needed to feed the giant pandas. The rest is imported from Amsterdam. Yang Guang goes through 55kg of bamboo a day and Tian Tian around 30kg. Female pandas ovulate once a year, giving a window of just 36 hours in which they can get pregnant. Normal breeding season for pandas is from mid-April to May. Tian Tian was artificially inseminated in April using semen from Yang Guang and frozen semen from Bao Bao, a 'genetically important' panda which died in Berlin Zoo last year. Gestation period is typically five months and the panda will give birth to one or two cubs. Panda cubs are born blind, hairless and unable to move, making them dependent on their mother for survival. After six to eight weeks, cubs open their eyes for the first time. They feed on their mother's milk for the first year and start eating bamboo at around six months. Big eater: Panda Yang Guang needs 44lb of bamboo shoots every day . August 24 2003: Tian Tian born and reared at Ya'an reserve in Chengdu, China. Yang Guang born 10 days earlier. 2011 . December 4: Pandas arrive in Scotland on Boeing 777F flight dubbed 'panda express'.December 16: Hundreds of visitors queue to see pandas on display at Edinburgh Zoo for first time. 2012 . January 12: Yang Guang found to be suffering from colic and is temporarily removed from public view. Tian Tian later suffers from same ailment. February 1: Zoo says visitor numbers up 200% thanks to pandas. Around 70,000 people have seen Tian Tian and Yang Guang since their arrival. April 3: Pandas brought together for first time in 'love tunnel' as Tian Tian judged ready to mate. Arrival: The freight aircraft that transported giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang at Edinburgh Airport last year . April 5: Zoo says 'sparks flew' between the pandas but they fail to mate. December 2: Just before the pandas' first anniversary at the zoo, keepers say they have had more than 500,000 visitors, including Nicole Kidman and Princess Royal. 2013 . February 28: Surveillance cameras ('panda cams') placed in enclosure to monitor them as mating season approaches. April 17: Keepers wait for Tian Tian's hormone levels to peak before planned reunion with Yang Guang. April 21: Zoo announces that female artificially inseminated after it displays behaviour not 'conducive to mating'. July 15: Rise in progesterone levels detected in Tian Tian. August 9: Keepers say Tian Tian showing signs that she may be expecting cub.
### SUMMARY:
| Zoo experts say that Tian Tian is showing hormonal signs of pregnancy .
She was artificially inseminated after failed attempts at natural mating .
There have been changes to her protein and progesterone levels .
Experts say they will not know for certain until closer to the birth .
The zoo had attempted to mate her with male companion Yang Guang .
They also artificially inseminated her with sperm from a German panda . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Celebrities, businesses and even the U.S. State Department have bought bogus Facebook likes, Twitter followers or YouTube viewers from offshore 'click farms,' where workers tap, tap, tap the thumbs up button, view videos or retweet comments to inflate social media numbers. Since Facebook launched almost 10 years ago, users have sought to expand their social networks for financial gain, winning friends, bragging rights and professional clout. And social media companies cite the levels of engagement to tout their value. But an Associated Press examination has found a growing global marketplace for fake clicks, which tech companies struggle to police. Online records, industry studies and interviews show companies are capitalizing on the opportunity to make millions of dollars by duping social media. Celebrities, businesses and even the U.S. State Department have bought bogus Facebook likes, Twitter followers or YouTube viewers from offshore 'click farms' For as little as a half cent per each click, websites hawk everything from LinkedIn connections to make members appear more employable to Soundcloud plays to influence record label interest. 'Anytime there's a monetary value added to clicks, there's going to be people going to the dark side,' said Mitul Gandhi, CEO of seoClarity, a Des Plaines, Illinois, social media marketing firm that weeds out phony online engagements. Italian security researchers and bloggers Andrea Stroppa and Carla De Micheli estimated in 2013 that sales of fake Twitter followers have the potential to bring in $40 million to $360 million to date, and that fake Facebook activities bring in $200 million a year. Big business: Indonesian students share a tablet computer to check their Facebook accounts at a hotspot in Banda Aceh, Indonesia . As a result, many firms, whose values . are based on credibility, have entire teams doggedly pursuing the . buyers and brokers of fake clicks. But each time they crack down on one, . another, more creative scheme emerges. When . software engineers wrote computer programs, for example, to generate . lucrative fake clicks, tech giants fought back with software that . screens out 'bot-generated' clicks and began regularly sweeping user . accounts. YouTube wiped . out billions of music industry video views last December after auditors . found some videos apparently had exaggerated numbers of views. Its . parent-company, Google, is also constantly battling people who generate . fake clicks on their ads. And . Facebook, whose most recent quarterly report estimated as many as 14.1 . million of its 1.18 billion active users are fraudulent accounts, does . frequent purges. That's particularly important for such a company that . was built on the principle that users are real people. Hotspot: Indonesian students check their Facebook accounts at a hotspot in Banda Aceh, Indonesia . Twitter's Jim Prosser said there's no . upside. 'In the end, their accounts are suspended, they're out the . money and they lose the followers,' he said. LinkedIn . spokesman Doug Madey said buying connections 'dilutes the member . experience,' violates their user agreement and can also prompt account . closures. Google and YouTube 'take action against bad actors that seek to game our systems,' said spokeswoman Andrea Faville. Dhaka, Bangladesh, a city of seven million in South Asia, is an international hub for click farms. The . CEO of Dhaka-based social media promotion firm Unique IT World said he . has paid workers to manually click on clients' social media pages, . making it harder for Facebook, Google and others to catch them. 'Those . accounts are not fake, they were genuine,' Shaiful Islam said. A . recent check on Facebook showed Dhaka was the most popular city for . many, including soccer star Leo Messi, who has 51 million likes; . Facebook's own security page, which has 7.7 million likes; and Google's . Facebook page, which has 15.2 million likes. In . 2013, the State Department, which has more than 400,000 likes and was . recently most popular in Cairo, said it would stop buying Facebook fans . after its inspector general criticized the agency for spending $630,000 . to boost the numbers. Growing industry: Indonesian youths browse their social media accounts at an Internet cafe in Jakarta, Indonesia, which has become a hotbed of so-called 'click farms' where fake Facebook likes are generated . In one case, its fan tally rose from about 10,000 to more than 2.5 million. Sometimes there are plausible explanations for click increases. For example, Burger King's most popular city was, for a few weeks this year, Karachi, Pakistan, after the chain opened several restaurants there. While the Federal Trade Commission and several state attorney generals have cracked down on fake endorsements or reviews, they have not weighed in on clicks. Meanwhile, hundreds of online businesses sell clicks and social media accounts from around the world. BuyPlusFollowers sells 250 Google+ shares for $12.95. InstagramEngine sells 1,000 followers for $12. AuthenticHits sells 1,000 SoundCloud plays for $9. It's a lucrative business, said the president and CEO of WeSellLikes.com. 'The businesses buy the Facebook likes because they're afraid that when people go to their Facebook page and they only see 12 or 15 likes, they're going to lose potential customers,' he said. The company official spoke on condition of anonymity, saying he recently moved his company offshore to avoid litigation or cease-and-desist notices. In Indonesia, a social media-obsessed country with one of the world's largest number of Facebook pages and Twitter users, click farms are proliferating. Social network: Teenagers browse their social media accounts at an Internet cafe in Jakarta, Indonesia . Ali Hanafiah, 40, offers 1,000 Twitter followers for $10 and 1 million for $600. He owns his own server, and pays $1 per month per Internet Protocol address, which he uses to generate thousands of social media accounts. Those accounts, he said, 'enable us to create many fake followers.' During an interview at a downtown Jakarta cafe, Hanafiah - wearing a Nike cap, blue jeans and a white T-shirt - said large social networks can boost a business' public profile. 'Today, we are living in a tight competition world that is forcing people to compete with many tricks,' he said. Tony Harris, who does social media marketing for major Hollywood movie firms, said he would love to be able to give his clients massive numbers of Twitter followers and Facebook fans, but buying them from random strangers is not very effective or ethical. 'The illusion of a massive following is often just that,' he said. The fake click market has generated another business: auditors. Robert Waller, founder of London-based Status People, helps clients block fakes. 'We have had a lot of people who have bought fake accounts, realized it's a stupid idea and they're looking for ways to get rid of them,' he said. David Burch, at TubeMogul, a video marketing firm based in Emeryville, California, said buying clicks to promote clients is a grave error. 'It's bad business,' he said, 'and if an advertiser ever found out you did that, they'd never do business with you again.'
### SUMMARY:
| Music companies make millions of dollars from duping social media .
Fake LinkedIn connections make users appears more employable .
Sales of fake Twitter followers brings in $40 million to $360 million .
14.1 million of Facebook's 1.18 billion active users are fraudulent accounts . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Barack Obama's former nanny has been revealed as a gay transgender man who made the future president laugh by trying on his mother's lipstick. 'Evie' cared for the boy she called Barry when his mother Ann Dunham moved to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta in the late 1960s. Openly gay, she would leave the house dressed in full drag - but was very careful that Barack never saw her. 'He was so young and I never let him see me wearing women's . clothes,' Evie said. 'But he did see me trying on his mother's lipstick, sometimes. That used to really crack him up.' Cared for: Barack Obama (left) was looked after by transgender man Evie (right) when he lived in Indonesia . Former life: Barack Obama's former nanny Evie, who was born a man but believes she is a woman, on the left of this picture . The nanny, who turned to prostitution after the family left and now lives in a slum, met the future commander-in-chief's mother at a cocktail party in 1969. Dunham, who had moved to the country two years earlier with her second husband Lolo . Soetoro, sampled Evie's beef steak and fried rice and was so impressed that she offered her a job. It . did not take long before she was also eight-year-old Barack's carer, playing with him and bringing him to and from school. Neighbours . recalled they often saw Evie, who believes she is really a woman, leave the house in the evening fully made . up and dressed in drag. But when the family left in the early 1970s, things started going downhill. Evie . moved in with a boyfriend. That relationship ended three years later, . and she became a sex worker. She said: 'I tried to get a job as a maid, but no one would hire me. I needed money to buy food, get a place to stay.' Poverty: Evie has suffered taunts and beatings throughout her entire life. She now lives in a tiny hut in a Jakarta slum . Young leader: Barack Obama (circled) as a child at his school in Jakarta, Indonesia . It . was a cat-and-mouse game with security guards and - because the country . was still under the dictatorship of General Suharto - soldiers. They . often rounded up 'banshees' or 'warias', as they are known locally, . loaded them into trucks, and brought them to a field where they were . kicked, hit and otherwise abused. Indonesia's attitude toward transgenders is complex. Nobody knows how many of them live in the sprawling nation of 240million, but activists estimate seven million. Because Indonesia is home to more Muslims than any other country in the world, the pervasiveness of men who live as women and vice versa often catches newcomers by surprise. They hold the occasional pageant, work as singers or at salons and include well-known celebrity talk show host Dorce Gamalama. But societal disdain still runs deep - when transgenders act in TV comedies, they are invariably the brunt of the joke. They have taken a much lower profile in recent years, following a series of attacks by Muslim hard-liners. And the country's highest Islamic body has decreed that they are required to live as they were born because each gender has obligations to fulfil, such as reproduction. 'They must learn to accept their nature,' says Ichwan Syam, a prominent Muslim cleric at the influential Indonesian Ulema Council. 'If they are not willing to cure themselves medically and religiously' they have 'to accept their fate to be ridiculed and harassed'. Many transgenders turn to prostitution because jobs are hard to find and because they want to live according to what they believe is their true gender. In doing so, they put themselves at risk of contracting AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The raid that changed everything came in . 1985. Evie and her friends scattered into dark alleys to escape the . swinging batons. One particularly beautiful girl, Susi, jumped into a . canal strewn with garbage. When things quieted, those who ran went . back to look for her. 'We searched all night,' said Evie, who is still . haunted by the memory of her friend's face. 'Finally ... we found her. It was horrible. Her body swollen, face bashed in.' Evie decided, then and there, to live . the rest of her life as a man. She ditched her tight, flowery dresses, . brocade vest and bras. Now . 66, she said: 'I knew in my heart I was a woman, but I didn't want to . die like that. So I decided to just accept it. I've been living like . this, a man, ever since.' Several longtime residents of Obama's . old Menteng neighbourhood confirmed Turdi had worked there as Barack's . nanny for two years, also caring for his baby sister Maya. Evie, who like many Indonesians goes . by a single name, now lives in a closet-sized hovel in a tightly packed . slum in an eastern corner of Jakarta, collecting and scrubbing dirty . laundry to pay for food. She wears baggy blue jeans and a white T-shirt advertising a tranquil beach resort far away in a place she has never been. She speaks softly, politely, and a deep worry line is etched between her eyes. As a child, Evie was often beaten by a father who could not stand having such a 'sissy' for a son. She said: 'He wanted me to act like a boy, even though I didn't feel it in my soul.' Teased and bullied, she dropped out of school after the third grade and decided to learn how to cook. She made her way into the kitchens of several high-ranking officials by the time she was a teenager. And then she met Obama's mother. Evie now seeks solace in religion, . going regularly to the mosque and praying five times a day. She said she . is just waiting to die. She . added that she did not know the boy she helped raise won the 2008 U.S. presidential election until she saw a picture of the family in local . newspapers and on TV. She blurted out that she knew him. As a child: Barack Obama seen riding a tricycle in his youth (left) and with his mother Ann Dunham, who moved him to Jakarta after her divorce (right) Her . friends at first laughed and thought she was crazy, but those who live . in the family's old neighbourhood confirmed it is true. 'Many . neighbours would remember Turdi. She was popular here at that time,' said Rudy Yara, who still lives across the street from Obama's former . house. 'She was a nice person and was always patient and caring in keeping young Barry.' Evie . hopes her former charge will use his power to fight for people like . her. Obama named Amanda Simpson, the first openly transgender appointee, . as a senior technical adviser in the Commerce Department in 2010. For . Evie, who's now just trying to earn enough to survive each day on . Jakarta's streets, the election victory itself was enough to give her a . reason - for the first time in a long time - to feel proud. 'Now when people call me scum,' she says, 'I can just say: 'But I was the nanny for the President of the United States!'
### SUMMARY:
| Evie, 66, cared for future Commander in Chief she called Barry in late 60s .
Offered job after she impressed Obama's mother with steak and rice .
When family left Indonesia, she became a sex worker and now lives in a slum . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Far beyond the orbit of Neptune, trillions of comets left over from the formation of the solar system lie in wait in a region known as the Oort cloud. Here they are kept in relatively stable orbits around the sun, posing little threat to Earth save for the occasional icy rock that ventures inwards. But in the blink of a cosmic eye that could all change, as stars have been found that could pass near our solar system in 240,000 years - and it they might shower us with thousands of deadly comets. A scientist from the Max Planck Institute in Germany says a star could have a closer encounter with Earth 'soon' - in cosmic terms. Dr Coryn Bailer-Jones says there is a 90% chance one will come within 0.6 light-years of Earth in 500,000 years. This could send comets towards our planet (illustrated) According to Dr Coryn Bailer-Jones from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany, there are several stars that could pose a danger to our solar system. As our sun performs its cosmic dance around the Milky Way, it comes closer to and further from other stars in the vicinity. The star of most danger is Hip 85605, a star slightly smaller than our sun that has a 90 per cent chance of coming between 0.13 and 0.65 light-years of Earth in 240,000 to 470,000 years. The Oort cloud is a vast and mysterious region that is thought to surround our solar system. It contains trillions of comets left over from the birth of the universe - and possibly larger objects like dwarf planets as well. It begins at about 0.08 light-years from the sun - 170 times the orbit of Neptune - and extends out to about 0.8 light-years. Occasionally, comets from the region make their way into the solar system, known as long-period comets. One of the most famous this year was comet Siding Spring, which brushed past Mars on 19 October. However, apart from these brief visitors, not much is known about the Oort cloud. It has never been directly observed, and it is not exactly known how large it is - although it is thought to define the gravitational influence of the sun. This may sound distant, but considering the Oort cloud extends to about 0.8 light-years, it is clearly too close for comfort. Dr Bailer-Jones says an approaching star could disturb this region and be a threat to Earth. ‘Stars which pass close to the sun can perturb the Oort cloud, injecting comets into the inner solar system where they may collide with the Earth,’ he wrote in his paper. He used data from Esa’s Hipparcos spacecraft, which scanned the sky in the 1990s, to study the future of 50,000 stars. The possibility that an incoming star could disturb the Oort cloud in such a way to threaten the planets has been known for a while. But this is one of the most accurate estimates yet for when and where a star will actually approach the solar system. It should be noted that the position and motion of Hip 85605 may be incorrect, meaning it will not pass so close. But even so, there are other stars that will take its place. A dwarf called GL 710, for example, has a 90 per cent chance of coming within 0.3 to 1.4 light-years in 1.3 million years. The Oort cloud (illustrated) is a vast and mysterious region that is thought to surround our solar system. It contains trillions of comets left over from the birth of the universe - and possibly larger objects like dwarf planets as well. Long-period comets originate here, while short-period comets come from the Kuiper Belt . Speaking to MailOnline, Dr Bailer-Jones said that while the star could come close in cosmic terms, it might not be obviously noticeable to our distant descendants. In addition, he says the process through which comets are sent into the solar system will take millions of years, and will likely increase the current rate of 10 or so comets a year to a hundred. ‘If there are people around at that time in the future and they look up in the night sky, they wouldn’t particularly notice the star,’ he explained. ‘Calculation of one object suggests it would be slightly brighter than Venus, which is pretty bright, but not as bright as the moon or sun or anything.’ But he says such an encounter is ‘inevitable,’ although the chances of a star actually entering the solar system is close to zero. Using Hipparcos data, Dr Bailer-Jones has been able to look forward and back in to the future about 20 million years. With data from the Gaia spacecraft, however, he hopes to extend this to about 50 million years - which will likely reveal more stars that once encountered our solar system, or will do in the future. Dr Bailer-Jones used data from Esa’s Hipparcos spacecraft, shown left, which scanned the sky in the 1990s, to study the future of 50,000 stars. He plans to use data from the Gaia spacecraft (illustrated right) in 2016 to create even more accurate models of future and past stellar encounters with Earth . It's believed that a stellar encounter in the past may have caused comets to come towards Earth, possibly even causing the rock that killed the dinosaurs (illustration shown) to hit our planet. Dr Bailer-Jones hopes to use data to look 'back in time' and see if this is true . It is not just a disturbance in the Oort cloud that would threaten life on Earth, but also radiation from the stars themselves. ‘If intense enough - and in particular if the star turned supernova during an encounter - then such ionising radiation could kill organisms outright, erode the Earth’s ozone layer to expose life to harmful solar UV radiation, or induce long-term global calling through the nitrogen dioxide produced in our atmosphere,’ wrote Dr Bailer-Jones. He notes that there are several events throughout history that have been linked to cosmic events. The mass extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, for example, was almost certainly formed by some form of large impact. A layer of iron-60 radioisotopes deposited at the bottom of the ocean 2.8 million years ago, meanwhile, is suspected to be the result of a nearby supernova. And other nearby supernova have been blamed for more mass extinctions on Earth. Dr Bailer-Jones says to truly know how much danger we will be in, though, more data is needed. This will hopefully be returned by Esa’s Gaia spacecraft in 2016, which is currently mapping one billion stars in the Milky Way - one per cent of its total stars. And he also wants to use the data to look backwards in time, and see if any craters on Earth could be explained by close passes of stars.
### SUMMARY:
| A scientist from the Max Planck Institute in Germany says a star could have a 'close' encounter with Earth in as soon as a quarter of a million years .
Dr Coryn Bailer-Jones said the closest approaching star has a 90% chance of coming within 0.6 light years of Earth in 500,000 years .
Other stars could also come close in 240,000 to 470,000 years .
This could disturb the orbits of comets - sending them towards Earth .
Radiation from a star could also kill organisms if it went supernova during the approach - although none such have been found yet .
But he says the event of a star having a close encounter with our solar system - even if it doesn't explode - is 'inevitable' at some point . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
With much fanfare and theatrics, Etihad has unveiled its brand new flagship aircraft, the behemoth Airbus A380, which boasts the world's only penthouse in the sky, and the Boeing B787 Dreamliner. Stepping onto the A380 is more like arriving at a chichi business hotel than a plane. Even the galley is like an elegant reception with chocolate brown and champagne-hued décor and ‘food and beverage managers’ looking as if they’re about to go to a ball. Turning left (something most of us never do on an aircraft) and ascending to the upper deck, one is taken straight to the airline’s piece de resistance: The Residence – a 125-square-foot, three-room private suite, which comes with a Savoy-trained butler and, according to the airline bosses, is already booked up and has had encouraging sales so far. Scroll down for video . The Residence is a one-of-a-kind, three-room suite that costs £12,500 for a one-way flight . In addition to a bedroom, The Residence boasts a private ensuite bathroom (pictured) and living room . Journalists tour the first class section on Etihad Airways' new Boeing B787 Dreamliner at Abu Dhabi airport . A journalist sits in one of the first class suites on Etihad Airways' Boeing B787 Dreamliner . Etihad has unveiled its revolutionary Airbus A380, with the interior more like a luxury hotel than a plane . The living room is suitably glamorous, with gold cushions strewn over a leather-clad sofa; and the shower and bathroom put other airline facilities to shame. Guests will certainly avoid the usual hold-your-nose-and-think-of-England approach needed in most airborne lavatories. And it’s hard to believe a double bed can fit on a plane, even the gargantuan A380. But there it is, beckoning weary and heavy-walleted travellers into its comfy fold. But it’s all actually a little smaller than one might imagine, so as well as a seven-figure salary you'll require a relatively trim physique to enjoy it. The airline declined to comment on who is on the waiting list to fly in The Residence but with the hefty one-way price tag of £12,500 for single or double occupancy, the names Mr and Mrs Beckham spring to mind. Super-rich, celebrities, perhaps even royalty will grace this quite unreal space – a design feat unchallenged by any other airline. Guests who book The Residence wake up to breakfast in bed and have their own private living room . Etihad Airways says The Residence has sold out for its initial flights between London and Abu Dhabi . Etihad's Boeing B787 Dreamliner will enter commercial service with a flight from Abu Dhabi to Dusseldorf . Etihad's Airbus A380 offers the world's first penthouse in the sky - but costs £12,500 each way . Peter Baumgartner, Chief Commercial Officer of the United Arab Emirates' national airline, said: ‘For a three-room cabin, it’s not overpriced. Effectively it’s four times the price of a first class ticket, so that’s double if you’re travelling in a couple.’ To regain its prestige, The Residence will not be available for upgrade. ‘It would lose its aspirational value,’ said Baumgartner. The A380 is also the only Etihad aircraft to offer the new First Apartment – a complete living space with reclining lounge chair and an ottoman which opens up to become a separate 80.5-inch fully flat bed. New gig: On Saturday Nicole Kidman was announced as be the new face of Etihad Airways . First class passengers can get total privacy, but if they’re travelling together – or just want to get a little closer to their neighbour – the centre seats can be joined to create a double bed. In economy, the seats are no bigger with no added legroom, but passengers will benefit from revolutionary new pillows, which split in half to become comfortable travel pillows. The A380 enters commercial service on December 27 with daily flights between Abu Dhabi and London Heathrow Airport. Journalists tour the first class cabin of a Dreamliner, which enters commercial service in February . The economy class cabin on Etihad's new A380 feature ergonomically-designed seats for added comfort . The A380 is also the only Etihad Aircraft to offer the new First Apartment – a complete living space . Etihad presented its new aircraft during a glitzy event at Abu Dhabi's airport, where 200 members of the press gathered in a hangar draped in black. With a spectacular curtain drop, the A380 was unveiled to the sound of Richard Strauss’ Sprach Zarathustra. The big event showcased The Residence, Etihad's revamped first class and business suites as well as a slightly tweaked economy cabin, and the carrier’s fancy new livery – a mixture of ‘desert’ inspired browns and beiges and new interiors. The unveiling was followed by a fashion show featuring 22 cabin crew, who strutted down a catwalk donning the airline’s brand new uniform. The airline has replaced its steely grey number with an autumnal, slightly seventies get-up designed by Italian haute couturier, Ettore Bilotta. Etihad Chief President and Chief Executive Officer, James Hogan, said: ‘As we have done so many times in our short history, we are reshaping the landscape of modern air travel in our own way. 'Today is the culmination of many years of hard work and tremendous endeavour by hundreds of people both in our airline and outside.' Perfectly suited for the launch of Etihad's new aircraft, the cabin crew showed off their new work attire . Etihad has also revealed a total makeover for its cabin crew, from the classic steely grey skirts and jackets to browns and purples – and most notably, there is no longer a veil attached to female cabin crew’s hats. Chief Commercial Officer, Peter Baumgartner, told MailOnline Travel: ‘The modern Arabic brand is rooted here, from the patterns in the ceiling inspired but the Louvre, we are very respectful of the local culture. ‘Modern Arabia is what is going on in Abu Dhabi, we are inspired by what’s going on in the rest of the world, but through the lens of the local DNA. 'The new uniform designs are an opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves from other airlines – whether there is a veil or not.’ But the brown is not to everyone’s tastes. One female cabin crew member told Mail Online Travel: ‘I like the purple, it’s more colourful than the old uniform. ‘And the brown goes with the new interiors. But with a cabin crew of 124 different nationalities, it’s not going to suit everyone’ While another admitted: ‘When we saw it on the hanger, we weren’t sure.’ Despite mixed opinions, the crew certainly looked impressive, in keeping with what must be one of the most lavish revamps in the history of air travel.
### SUMMARY:
| Etihad launch the behemoth Airbus A380 and the Boeing B787 Dreamliner .
Aircraft ooze luxury, even the galley represents an elegant reception .
Airbus A380 has the world’s first 125-square-foot penthouse in the sky .
The Residence has three private rooms, costing £12,500 for one-way flight . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
The head of self-driving cars for Google expects real people to be using them on public roads in two to five years. Chris Urmson says the cars would still be test vehicles, and Google would collect data on how they interact with other vehicles and pedestrians. Google is working on sensors to detect road signs and other vehicles, and software that analyzes all the data. Scroll down for video . Google is talking to car giants including General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp, DaimlerAG and Volkswagen AG in a bid to bring self driving cars to the road in 2020. The small, bulbous cars without steering wheels or pedals are being tested at a Google facility in California. Urmson wouldn't give a date for putting driverless cars on roads en masse, saying that the system has to be safe enough to work properly. He told reporters Wednesday at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit that Google doesn't know yet how it will make money on the cars. Urmson wants to reach the point where his test team no longer has to pilot the cars. 'What we really need is to get to the point where we're learning about how people interact with it, how they are using it, and how can we best bring that to market as a product that people care for,' he said. Google may face state regulatory hurdles depending on where it chooses to test the cars in public. Under legislation that Google persuaded California lawmakers to pass in 2012, self-driving cars must have a steering wheel and pedals. Several other states have passed laws formally allowing autonomous cars on public roads without that restriction. The company in December announced that it had a fully functioning prototype that's been driving on its test track. The small, bulbous cars without steering wheels or pedals are being tested at a Google facility in California. It hoped to see the cars on the road in northern California this year, but they would have to have safety drivers and temporary manual controls. Google also confirmed that it has hired Roush Enterprises Inc., a Detroit-area company that designs and builds prototypes for the auto industry, to build 150 prototype Google autonomous cars. Urmson said Google is making laser and other sensors for the cars smaller and less costly. He predicted that the cars would fail at some point on public roads, but said Google's cars have been driven more than 700,000 miles on public roads without causing a crash. Google has begun discussions with most of the world's top . automakers in a bid to get self driving cars on the road by 2020. 'We'd be remiss not to talk to ... the biggest auto . manufacturers. They've got a lot to offer,' Chris Urmson, . director of Google's self-driving car project, said. Google's prototype two-seater 'bubble' cars have buttons to begin and end the drive, but no other controls. An on-board computer uses data from sensors, including radar, a laser and cameras, to make turns and negotiate its way around pedestrians and other vehicles. Under the vision unveiled by Google, passengers might set their destination by typing it into a map or using commands. The cars are also expected to be electric, capable of going 100 miles (160 km) before needing to be recharging. The front of the vehicle has a soft foam-like material where a traditional bumper would be and a more flexible windscreen, in an attempt to be safer for pedestrians. The prototypes are restricted to speeds of 25mph (40 km/h) and the ability to self-drive will depend on specifically designed Google road maps tested on the company's current fleet of vehicles. But ultimately the vehicles will be faster and will be able to use Google's extended maps service, using GPS technology to locate the vehicle's exact position on an electronic map. A combination of radar, lasers and cameras sitting on top of the roof give the car a 360-degree 'view', with sensors linked to computer software able to 'see' and identify people, cars, road signs and markings and traffic lights. Those manufacturers, he said, include General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp, DaimlerAG and Volkswagen AG. 'For us to jump in and say that we can do this better, . that's arrogant,' Urmson said. Google has not determined whether . it will build its own self-driving vehicles or function more as . a provider of systems and software to established vehicle . manufacturers. Google's self-driving prototype cars, he said, were built in . Detroit by engineering and specialty manufacturing company . Roush. GM is open to working with Google on self-driving cars, Jon . Lauckner, GM's chief technology officer, said on Monday. Urmson's expectation that the first fully autonomous . vehicles will be production-ready within five years mirrors the . view expressed a day earlier by another Silicon Valley . entrepreneur, Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla Motors Inc . . Musk, who spoke Tuesday at the Automotive News World . Congress conference, said he expects the lack of clear federal . regulations covering self-driving cars could delay their . introduction until 2022 or 2023. Urmson, however, said his Google colleagues 'don't see any . particular regulatory hurdles.' Google has been briefing the National Highway Traffic Safety . Administration, the chief U.S. auto regulator, 'from early on in . our program,' Urmson said. 'The worst thing we could do is . surprise them.' Google has already adapted cars to include its self driving technology . Urmson said Google is developing and refining self-driving . systems and components with such auto parts suppliers as . Continental AG, Robert Bosch, ZF . and LG Electronics. Google's prototype cars use . microprocessors made by Nvidia Corp, a Silicon Valley . chipmaker that also supplies Mercedes-Benz and other automakers. Continental said it began discussions in 2012 about . supplying parts for Google's self-driving car. Google asked the . German supplier to provide tires, some electronics and other . components, according to Samir Salman, chief executive of . Continental's NAFTA region. Google shortly will begin deploying a test fleet of fully . functioning prototypes of its pod-like self-driving car, which . dispenses with such familiar automotive parts as steering wheel, . brakes and accelerator pedal. While each of the Google . prototypes will have a 'test driver' on board, the cars have no . provision for human intervention in steering or braking. Urmson suggested the no-frills look of the Google . prototypes, a far cry from the opulent appearance of the . self-driving F015 concept vehicle unveiled last week by . Mercedes, does not necessarily reflect the final design for . production. He described the Google prototype as 'a practical, near-term . testing platform' that will evolve over time. 'Airliners today don't look like the Wright brothers' flyer' of 100 years ago, he said. Urmson said self-driving cars represent a 'transformative' moment in the evolution of transportation, an opportunity to . extend motoring to blind, elderly and disabled persons who . otherwise could not drive. 'You're really changing the relationship you have with . transportation. You're changing what it means to get around.' Regarding Google's desire to partner with traditional . automakers and suppliers, Urmson said Detroit is more innovative . than is sometimes acknowledged. Automakers are 'doing something . incredibly complicated.' 'You look at a car ... and people forget just how much magic . there is in that thing.'
### SUMMARY:
| Cars would still be test vehicles built by a Detroit carmaker .
Google would collect data on interactions with vehicles and pedestrians . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Ed Miliband’s hopes of winning the General Election were fading last night after his leadership came under heavy fire from his own party. The embattled Labour leader faced a new crisis as the party’s biggest private donor joined the withering attacks on his NHS policies. And Mr Miliband was described as looking ‘haunted’ because he knew that his party was on course to lose the Election, according to the editor of Britain’s leading Labour-supporting magazine. Scroll down for video . Missing the point: Ed Miliband’s speech on the NHS last week failed to stop Labour’s electoral rot . The twin blows came as Labour MPs privately admitted they feared Miliband’s Election campaign was in danger of collapsing. His credibility was further eroded as it was revealed that: . The new pressure on Miliband over his controversial vow to reverse Coalition NHS reforms came from millionaire businessman John Mills, the brother-in-law of former Minister Tessa Jowell. Mr Mills backed the attack on the policy made by former Labour Cabinet Minister Alan Milburn last week, exposing rifts within the party. The tycoon said Labour was wrong to decry the increasing involvement of the private sector in the NHS, adding: ‘I agree with Milburn – if you look at the Continental model, they have a much greater mix of public and private provision.’ Mr Mills, the chairman of consumer goods giant JML, gave Labour £1.65million in 2013. He also condemned Mr Miliband’s plan to use a mansion tax to provide much of the extra £2.5billion a year he plans to inject into the NHS. ‘I am not convinced of the case for a tax on expensive properties,’ he told The Mail on Sunday. ‘And it certainly should not be hypothecated for the NHS. It would be much better to introduce extra council tax bands and spend the money on local needs, such as affordable housing.’ Miliband faced another devastating critique from Jason Cowley, editor of the Left-leaning New Statesman magazine, who said Labour knew it was heading for defeat in May – but had no idea how to stop the rot. Writing in today’s Mail on Sunday, Mr Cowley says Miliband is at war with his campaign chief Douglas Alexander, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has ‘all but given up’ on the party leader, and Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham is busy promoting his own leadership ambitions. The mood of Labour MPs is ‘not so much one of despair, it’s worse than that – resignation,’ says Mr Cowley. Labour appeared to be ‘willing itself to defeat. The party knows it is losing an Election that it should be winning, and doesn’t know what to do about it.’ Mr Cowley says ‘haunted’ Miliband has ‘grown distrustful of colleagues’ adding: ‘There are splits over strategy between Miliband and Alexander, and between Miliband and Balls. Balls has “all but given up on Miliband,” I was told by a friend of the Shadow Chancellor.’ Mr Cowley says Miliband is ‘decent and intelligent’ and could yet scrape home with more seats than the Tories – though not achieve an overall majority – but only thanks to Britain’s voting system which favours Labour. A measure of the anxiety in Miliband’s inner circle is the claim that they have already discussed how to prop up his leadership in the event of defeat on polling day, in a series of so-called ‘war gaming’ sessions. ‘A group of Ed’s advisers have talked through what to do if they wake up on May 8 and Cameron is still PM,’ said an insider. ‘They know Ed’s Shadow Cabinet enemies are waiting to strike and their plan is to buy time by arguing that Cameron will be in a very weak position if he fails to win an outright majority. Ed’s people will say that Cameron may be unable to form a new Coalition and there could be a second Election very soon. ‘If that happens, they will say that Labour needs stability, not a divisive leadership contest lasting months, and that Ed would provide that stability.’ Ed Miliband’s hopes of winning the General Election were fading last night after his leadership came under heavy fire from his own party . Further signs of Miliband’s embattled position emerged from reports of an Election ‘pep talk’ he delivered to Shadow Ministers. According to one witness, he said: ‘I know they will be coming for me and I am ready for it. Even the liberal BBC appears to be losing the faith. First, on Tuesday’s Newsnight, Kirsty Wark skewered Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham over his NHS policy. Then on yesterday’s Today programme on Radio 4, James Naughtie, who once used the term ‘we’ on air to describe Labour, repeatedly likened Mr Miliband’s efforts to the party’s doomed 1992 campaign during a challenging interview with Roy Hattersley. ’Some thought he was referring to growing attacks on him by former Ministers such as Milburn, who served in Tony Blair’s Government and backed David Miliband in the 2010 Labour leadership contest. A source close to Miliband said: ‘He is very angry at the number of Labour politicians who are prepared to criticise him publicly.’ One senior Labour MP pointed the finger of blame at Lord Mandelson, who enraged Miliband by criticising the mansion tax. ‘The sniping against Ed [Miliband] has all the hallmarks of a Mandy campaign,’ said the MP. ‘Ed despises him for what he said on the mansion tax. Mandelson cannot get over the fact that Ed has turned his back on his precious New Labour project.’ Friends of Mandelson said it was ‘nonsense’ to suggest he was behind a campaign to undermine Miliband. One MP, a long-standing ally of Miliband, said: ‘You sometimes wonder whether these Blairites actually want us to win the Election. Maybe they would rather Ed loses so they can say “We told you so” and replace him with another Blairite.’ Ed Miliband became a laughing stock when his clumsy attempts to eat a bacon butty slavered in ketchup were captured on camera. And it appears that his Shadow Chancellor isn’t quite prepared to forget the embarrassing incident. Yesterday Ed Balls tweeted the ‘bliss’ of finding a ‘cafe which does proper bacon sandwiches’ after two hours of canvassing Yorkshire. His post triggered a tsunami of sarcastic comments, including, ‘Can you eat it without looking like an alien????’ and ‘You aren’t giving the other Ed lessons in eating a bacon sandwich are you?’ In the end, Mr Balls joined in, pointedly revealing he had ordered ‘bacon on a big bap, no sauce…’
### SUMMARY:
| Ed Miliband's leadership comes under heavy fire from his own party .
Labour leader faces crisis as biggest private donor attacks NHS policies .
Millionaire donor John Mills says Labour is wrong to decry privatisation .
Miliband looks 'haunted' as he knows his party is set to lose the Election .
His aides are already discussing how to keep him as leader if he loses vote .
Insiders said Miliband’s aides had held secret ‘war gaming’ talks on how he could cling on as leader if David Cameron wins in May.
Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy accused of defying Miliband by ordering Labour’s Scottish MPs to quit Westminster now and return to their constituencies to fight for their seats in May’s Election.
Allies of Miliband accused former Blairite Cabinet Minister Peter Mandelson of masterminding a plot to ‘destablise’ him.
Miliband faced claims of paranoia from Shadow Ministers after telling them: ‘I know they’re coming for me and I am ready for it.’ |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Kent's police and crime commissioner Ann Barnes, who started her £85,000-a-year post in November 2012, spent thousands on PR consultants . Kent's gaffe-prone police and crime commissioner who had to apologise after making a 'toe-curling' appearance on a 'disaster' TV documentary has used £16,000 of taxpayers' money to pay for media training, it has emerged. Ann Barnes, who started her £85,000-a-year post in November 2012, spent thousands on PR consultants who were hired to give the force communications advice to improve its 'brand'. It has also emerged that £2,400 was spent providing media training for youth commissioner Kerry Boyd, who was twice suspended after admitting having an affair with a Tory councillor more than twice her age. The revelation is the latest embarrassment for the embattled crime tsar after a string of controversies under her watch. This year, she was forced to apologise after being filmed saying she had 'no idea' what her taxpayer-funded job entailed - a storm which culminated in a rented plane flying over Maidstone, where she works, dragging a banner reading '#annbarnesout - resign'. Her tenure has also included the resignation of her foul-mouthed youth commissioner - the first appointed in Britain - Paris Brown, who had to stand down after sending a series of controversial tweets about her sex life, violence, drinking binges and drugs. According to the Kent Messenger, invoices published by the commissioner’s office under transparency regulations show one company was paid nearly £14,000 to provide recommendations on how to improve the force's 'brand' so it was better engaged with the public. It says PR firm Finn Communications was paid £11,590 for work in June 2014, having previously been paid £2,146 in January last year for 'briefing and recommendations on communications consultancy project'. The commissioner also paid £2,228 to consumer research company The Buzzz for work in October 2014. A further £1,450 was paid to a company called DWP for 'media advice' while £3,370 was spent on providing staff with Freedom of Information advice. But Mrs Barnes was quick to defend the bill, saying it was important 'to get an independent view on the communications being provided by Kent police'. In a statement, she said: 'I am committed to providing value for money for services that the public pay for. 'I believe it was important to get an independent view on the communications being provided by Kent Police and I was pleased to see recognition for the wealth of information being issued through various channels.' The amount of money spent on media training is the latest embarrassment for the embattled crime tsar (pictured) after a string of controversies under her watch since she took the post in November 2012 . Last year, the commissioner was forced to make a public apology in the aftermath of a fly-on-the-wall Channel 4 documentary broadcast last May, which was branded a 'disaster from start to finish'. In Channel 4's Meet The Police Commissioner, she was compared to David Brent and accused of making Kent Police a 'laughing stock'. The next month, she was forced to appear before the Kent and Medway Police Panel, who scrutinise her role, where she admitted what an embarrassment the show had been - but refused to resign. The documentary had showed Mrs Barnes travelling in a van she dubs 'Ann Force 1' and bringing her dogs into the office. In one clip Mrs Barnes was seen drawing an onion in an attempt to explain what types of crime Kent Police prioritises. But when asked what the rings meant she said: 'Oh God, I've got no idea - I can't tell you actually - I wasn't thinking I'd be talking about the actual onion (the concentric circles) as we call it - umm I don't know know really - everything's important.' She was then asked: 'So what would be an example of the kind of crime on the outside of that ring?', to which she replies that she had 'no idea'. The controversial crime tsar spent more than £2,000 on media training for Kent's youth commissioner Kerry Boyd (right), who was suspended twice after admitting having an affair with a Tory councillor twice her age . Mrs Barnes, who is paid £85,000 per year, with Britain's first youth crime commissioner Paris Brown, then 17 . She was also asked: 'What is a police commissioner?' to which she replied: 'Oh dear, what is a police commissioner? Right, well it's not the Police Commissioner, it's the Police and Crime Commissioner.' She later said: 'It's a strange job because there is actually no description at all - there are certain responsibilities you have to do, but there is no actual job description.' She was also filmed painting her 'flaky' nails and compared the force to a tin of paint that she wanted to 'prise' open. Mrs Barnes was also criticised for spending nearly £200,000 on moving her office when her force was trying to make cuts of £20million a year . The other huge scandal to have marked her tenure was the resignation of youth commissioner Paris Brown, who was investigated by the force after posting controversial comments about her sex life, violence, drinking binges and drugs. The teenager, who had been appointed to the £15,000-a-year taxpayer-funded position just one week earlier, was forced to resign following a tearful apology about her behaviour. Brown's successor Kerry Boyd, 20, was then suspended twice after admitting having a relationship with a married former Tory councillor more than twice her age, Robert Burgess, 50. Mrs Barnes was also criticised for spending nearly £200,000 on moving her office less than two miles at a time when her force was trying to make cuts of £20million a year. She is also due to be quizzed over a car crash five months ago, amid claims she was uninsured and hindered the investigation. Ms Barnes crashed her Mercedes soft-top into another car before hitting a tree as she drove to a meeting and has been facing an Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) inquiry. But she has still not been interviewed following the incident in September last year. Barnes was uninjured in the collision in Dartford, Kent, but on Twitter she admitted 'not feeling too bright' afterwards. An IPCC spokesman previously said: 'The IPCC is investigating whether the police and crime commissioner for Kent, Ann Barnes, may have committed a criminal offence by not having in place appropriate insurance to cover business use of her own car when she was involved in a road traffic accident on 16 September 2014. 'The investigation will also determine how long the relevant insurance was not in place, if that is the case, and how many miles the PCC travelled on business use while uninsured. 'The IPCC is also investigating whether a police constable was obstructed in the execution of their duty when initial inquiries into the PCC's insurance cover were being made by Kent Police.'
### SUMMARY:
| Controversial Ann Barnes hired PR consultants to improve her own 'brand'
Also spent £2,400 on media training for youth commissioner Kerry Boyd .
20-year-old was suspended over affair with Tory councillor twice her age .
Mrs Barnes said she is 'committed to providing value for money for public'
It follows Mrs Barnes's 'toe-curling' appearance on Channel 4 documentary .
Inaugural youth commissioner Paris Brown also forced to stand down under her tenure . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Tragic: David Silva, pictured, was allegedly beaten to death by sheriff's deputies on Wednesday . A shocking video has captured the moment a father-of-four was savagely beaten to death by a group of sheriff's deputies who found him passed out in a Bakersfield, California, street. The explosive footage comes as the Kern County sheriff's department is accused of trying to cover up the alleged murder of David Silva, 33, apparently seizing cell phones of witnesses who filmed the horrifying incident. Family members aren't sure why Silva came to be intoxicated, sleeping in the road opposite Kern Medical Center last Tuesday night, though he had told his mother earlier that evening he was having 'personal issues.' A . statement from the sheriff's department said a deputy and K9 were sent . to the area . after someone reported a possibly intoxicated man. The deputy called for backup and another seven officers plus two members of the California Highway Patrol showed up. The statement said Silva resisted when the . deputies tried to restrain him, forcing them to use their batons on him. However, multiple witnesses, many of whom filmed the violent scene unfolding, claim the attack was completely unprovoked. Sulina Quair, 34, called 911 and can be heard saying: 'There's a man laying on the floor, and your police officers beat the **** out of him and killed him... 'I got it all on video camera and I'm sending it to the news. These cops have no reason to do this to this man. You've got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 sheriffs. The guy was laying on the floor and eight sheriffs ran up and started beating him up with sticks. The man is dead, laying here right here, right now.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEOS . Beatings: The dark footage, captured left and right, shows the man laying on the street being beaten repeatedly with batons . Injustice: The explosive footage comes as the Kern County sheriff's department is accused of trying to cover up the alleged murder of David Silva, 33, pictured with tree of his children . Another witness, Ruben Ceballos, 19, . said in a Monday interview he was woken up by the sounds of police . batons cracking Silva's head. 'I saw two sheriff's deputies on top of this guy, just beating him,' Ceballos told the LA Times. 'He was screaming in pain... asking for help. He was incapable of . fighting back – he was outnumbered, on the ground. They just beat him . up.' Sheriff's . investigators later seized cellphones from witnesses and in two cases . witnesses were detained for hours until they agreed to hand over their . phones, according to David Cohn, a lawyer for Silva's devastated family. 'It makes it look like a coverup,' Cohn told the Times. 'What we're all concerned about is, "Are these . videos going to be altered? Are they going to be deleted?"' The . latest footage was supplied to 23 ABC News on the condition of . anonymity. It is grainy and dark but shows the outline of men using . batons to brutally beat another man laying in the street. Sheriff Donny Youngblood told the newspaper it was too early to reach any conclusions about Silva's death. But he said the deputies' decision to confiscate the phones was the right thing to do. Crime scene: Silva was beaten by police on a street in Bakersfield, pictured . 'We still have to secure the . evidence, especially when the evidence can tell us whether we did it . right or wrong,' Youngblood said. A . statement from the sheriff's department said a deputy and K9 were sent . to an area across from the Kent Medical Center at 11:55 p.m. on Tuesday . on reports of a possibly intoxicated man. They . said Silva resisted when the . deputies tried to restrain him, forcing them to use their batons on him. The statement said Silva stopped breathing and was taken to the . hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The police department identified seven deputies involved in Silva's arrest as Sgt. Douglas Sword, Deputy Ryan Greer, Deputy Tanner Miller, Deputy Jeffrey Kelly, Deputy Luis Almanza, Deputy Brian Brock, and Deputy David Stephens. Two California Highway Patrol officers also responded, though they haven't been identified. All officers are still working, something which has outraged Silva's family. On Monday, CHP spokesman Robert Rodriguez told KBAK/KBFX Eyewitness News that the car that arrived on the scene got dashboard camera video of the incident but he said he was unable to reveal what that video captured. Rodriguez said the footage has been turned over to the sheriff's department. Silva's brother Chris Silva said it 'hurt his head' to watch the disturbing video, given to him by the witness who captured it. Family man: David Silva, pictured with his family, was pronounced dead just after midnight after the alleged attack . Unprovoked: Witnesses said the man, pictured right, was laying on the ground and at no point provoked officers . 'Constant bashing, this is constant bashing,' Chris Silva told Eyewitness News. 'You can count, you know -- I can't keep track. And it hurts my heart looking at this.' The incident took place across the road from Kern Medical Center. Chris Silva told Eyewitness News . that it wasn't clear why David Silva was at KMC, but they . believe he went there because he needed help. The victim's brother said Silva was . at their mother's house at around 5 p.m on Wednesday at which time he . told her he was dealing with some 'personal issues.' Chris Silva told the news station his . brother gave their mother a hug then left, and that was the last time . any of them saw him alive. Silva's uncle, Ralph Silva, identified his nephews body and told KGET what he saw. '(He had a) bruised up face, chin, ear, busted lip, broken nose, black eye, all marks all over his face,' he said. Cohn has six months to file a civil lawsuit against the Kern County Sheriff's Department in Fresno federal court. Chris Silva said the family want to know why . an ambulance wasn't called to help his brother as he was laying on the . street, rather than police. 'Instead of calling police on a man . that's on the ground, why wasn't an ambulance called?' Chris Silva said. 'Why wasn't there assistance given?' While the video is dark and captured at a distance, Chris Silva has labeled it a 'gift' and hopes it will help get the truth out about what happened to his brother. 'Are we rushing to conclusions or judgment?' he said. 'No, we're just trying to get the truth told. I just want people to ask why? And the question is, why did my brother have to die?' He added: 'I'll do anything to get that story out, and I'll do anything to make sure this wouldn't happen again to anybody.'
### SUMMARY:
| Witnesses say Kern County Sheriff's deputies repeatedly struck David Silva, 33, with their batons in an unprovoked attack as he lay passed out on the ground in Bakersfield, California .
The new footage, though very dark, shows the violent incident unfolding .
Witnesses and lawyer's for Silva's family have accused the sheriff's department of attempting a cover up after they confiscated cell phones of people who saw the brutal attack .
A sheriff's statement claims Silva provoked police but witnesses deny this . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- BP is doing all it can to respond to the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, a top BP official said Monday, even as criticism of the company's handling of the crisis was growing. "We are going to clear every drop of oil off the shore," Tony Hayward told reporters at Fourchon Beach, Louisiana, where cleanup efforts were under way. "We will remediate any environmental damage and we will put the Gulf Coast right and back to normality as fast as we can." The company's next effort to plug the leak is to come at dawn Wednesday. BP plans to pump thick, viscous fluid twice the density of water into the site of the leak to stop the flow so the well can then be sealed with cement -- the "top kill" procedure. Hayward, noting that the attempt will be carried out on the seafloor a mile below the sea surface, estimated the odds of success for the method at 60 percent to 70 percent. Asked about the company's continued use of an oil dispersant in the face of an EPA request that it use a less toxic alternative, Hayward said, "Everything that we do with dispersants is with the explicit approval of the EPA." But EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said she was not pleased with BP's response to the government's request. "The answer we got back from BP, to me, seemed more like a defense of their current choice -- reminded me a little bit of that old commercial 'I'd rather fight than switch,'" she told reporters in Venice, Louisiana. "We need to ask ourselves whether there's not a better product out there." Federal officials told BP that "we expect to see a substantial reduction in the overall amount of dispersant used," from 50,000 gallons or more per day to less than 15,000 gallons per day, she said. That can be accomplished by releasing the dispersant below the surface of the water, she said. She said tests showed that the dispersant, Corexit 9500, was more toxic to baby shrimp and baby silverfish than were any of five other dispersants. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen, the Obama administration's point person in the Gulf, called the decision to use dispersants a tradeoff. "It means we're willing to accept the effect of the oil in the ocean rather than on land," he said. Hayward acknowledged that BP's reputation has taken a beating, but said the company is being straightforward about its efforts. "We're trying to communicate openly and transparently about everything that we've done," he said. As the environmental impact of the disaster was just beginning to unfold, he noted that BP will set aside a half billion dollars to open a research program to study the effects of the spill. Hayward's comments came a day after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar expressed frustration with the delay in stopping the spill, asserting that BP has "from day one, frankly, not fulfilled the mission it was supposed to fulfill." He said the company has missed "deadline after deadline" and that he was not confident that BP knew what it was doing. "If we find that they're [BP] not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we'll push them out of the way," Salazar said. BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles acknowledged Monday that the federal government could take over the effort, but said the results would be no better. "I don't think anyone else could do better than we are," he said. If the "top kill" procedure does not work, he said, BP will try to fit a second, smaller containment dome over the ruptured pipe, Suttles said. A first containment dome failed to stop the leak. If the second dome does not work, he said, the company would "still have plenty of other options." The company could try a "junk shot," which would involve plugging the well with rubber and other substances, BP Managing Director Robert Dudley said Sunday. However, a permanent solution could take until August -- the estimated completion date for a relief well, said Allen. By the time the runaway well is capped, the amount of oil discharged could be comparable to the total released in the Exxon Valdez environmental disaster 20 years ago, Allen said. But he expressed no appetite for suggestions that the federal government should take over the project. "You need to do very technical work at 5,000 feet," he said, referring to the depth of the leak. "You need equipment and expertise that's not generally within the government -- federal government -- in terms of competency, capability or capacity." The administration vowed to persevere. "We are going to be tireless in working to do everything we can to support the community and everybody whose livelihoods have been imperiled down in the region," President Obama said at a reception celebrating Asian-American and Pacific-Islander Heritage Month. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke on Monday declared a fishery disaster in the Gulf of Mexico because of the economic impact of the oil spill on fisheries in the region. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has closed nearly 20 percent of the commercial and recreational fisheries in the area because of the spill, and Locke's declaration will allow the federal government to put additional resources into the Gulf states to soften the blow. Meanwhile, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Salazar -- each on a fourth visit to the region since the April 20 spill began -- toured the spill area Monday accompanied by a phalanx of politicians. "We are going to do everything we can to protect these lands, to protect these parishes, to make sure that claims are paid," Napolitano told reporters in Galliano, Louisiana. Read about Louisiana's closed oyster harvesting areas . With an armada of more than 1,000 vessels and the efforts of more than 22,000 people who have put into place hundreds of thousands of feet of boom, the response to the oil spill is the largest in U.S. history, said Napolitano. That did not satisfy Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who called Monday for more resources to be mobilized against the oil and reiterated his call for the Army Corps of Engineers to move quickly to approve a plan to protect threatened marshland by building sand booms. "We've got to take matters into our own hands if we are going to win this battle to protect our coast," he said. "Every day we are not dredging sand gives one more day for oil to enter the ecosystem." He bemoaned the fact that nearly 70 miles of Louisiana coast has been hit by oil. Read about a lawsuit filed by oil rig victims, families . "BP is the responsible party and we need the federal government to make sure they are held accountable," he said. "Our way of life depends on it." Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry, the federal on-scene coordinator for the response effort, told reporters the barrier island project was under review. Environmental and wildlife officials "are weighing in on the impact to endangered and threatened species, and other impacts this large-scale project could have," she said. Since the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon in late April about 40 miles off Louisiana, oil has been gushing into the Gulf at an estimated rate of at least 5,000 barrels a day (210,000 gallons). Some estimates are far higher. Eleven workers are missing and presumed dead after the sinking. The cause of the explosion has not been determined.
### SUMMARY:
| NEW: U.S. declares fisheries disaster in oily Gulf .
Homeland security chief pledges help, Louisiana governor seeks resources .
BP to set aside $500 million to study spill's effects .
"Top kill," latest effort to plug the leak, set to start Wednesday morning, company says . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- LeBron James is a grown man who made a grownup decision to take his massive basketball-playing ability from Cleveland to Miami in a desire to get the one thing every true baller desires: the opportunity to call yourself a champion. Forget all the nonsense about him "owing" his hometown and how his legacy could have been cemented had he stayed in the Midwest and continued to try to win a title in Cleveland. LeBron had the absolute right to pick up his things and go where he thought it was best to win, and he did it. Enough with all of this ridiculous chatter that he's a selfish, spoiled basketball prodigy. LeBron was an employee of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He had no ownership stake and no control. Everyone talks about what his presence meant to the Cleveland economy. Did he own any of those businesses? No. But he made them, and the Cavaliers, richer by his play. There is undoubtedly a tradeoff, because being a star athlete is a two-way street. You become richer by virtue of folks coming to see you play, and the league, team, marketers and surrounding businesses get to piggyback off of your success. LeBron gave them a solid seven seasons, and everyone enjoyed the ride. Say thank you for the LeBron gravy train, and now, like any smart business owner, you need to figure out your next revenue stream. Now, let's deal with the fans. I read with fascination about how LeBron "owed" the fans. Really? What exactly did he owe them? We need to stop with this belief that fans in a city "own" a particular player. We get to sit back and enjoy the skills of these modern-day gladiators in our gleaming new Colosseums, while they bust their butts, play injured and have to take all of the criticism when things go bad. As fans, we justify it all by saying, "Well, he's getting millions to play, so he should shut up." We need to grow up and realize that once his playing days are over, we will say, "Thanks, LeBron, now move over so we can worship the next stud." In fact, when a particular athlete has overstayed their welcome, the fans are the loudest in telling him to leave the court. To me, there is a huge difference between a player like LeBron James and Albert Haynesworth of the Washington Redskins. Albert has pocketed nearly $40 million and has refused to show up at training sessions with Washington because he doesn't like the defensive scheme. That is dumb. LeBron showed up and did his part, and when his contract was up, he exercised his free will to do as he pleased and shop his talents. He did what every single American wants: to go to a new job where the desires you always wanted can be fulfilled. So how is that wrong? No one -- athlete, stockbroker, Wal-Mart greeter, grocery store clerk, secretary, journalist -- wants to be treated like they are a piece of property. We all desire the freedom that comes with making our own choice as to where we want to work and achieve the goals in life that we all set. I can identify with that. In 1993, I decided to leave the Austin American-Statesman, where I was the county government reporter. The then-city editor sat across from me and said, "I felt like it was a punch in the gut when told you were leaving." He had an indignant, paternalistic tone that I found offensive. See, I was making $24,000. When the Houston Chronicle pursued me for a job a few months earlier that would be around $27,000, I was told I was talking myself out of a job in Austin. So when the Fort Worth Star-Telegram offered me a gig at $32,000, I didn't even bother seeing whether Austin wanted to counter. The new job allowed me to go to a bigger market and have the upward mobility I desired, so I took the job. So I told the city editor, "Look, you didn't take some kid off the street, teach him how to talk, write and dress. You paid me for a service, and I delivered. Now I'm choosing to take my skills elsewhere." I then got up and left the meeting. It was offensive to me that my bosses at the paper felt like I was being an ungrateful employee. I wanted to do more with my talents, and I refused to allow someone to make me feel bad about my decision. It's my life, my career, my choice. So how is that bad? Now I get folks who didn't like LeBron having a one-hour special to announce his decision. But we are all used to the hype in sports. Do we really need a six-hour pregame show for the Super Bowl? Can't we play the NBA All-Star Game without all of the side attractions? Would boxing be boxing without the wild and crazy news conferences? Hype and sports go hand-in-hand. That's why I found the letter written by Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert so pathetic. Here is a man who was enriched by the play of LeBron James; according to Forbes, the value of the franchise increased by $100 million with his on-court performance. Yet instead of being a gracious owner and simply reaffirming his commitment to the fans to put a winning team on the court, Gilbert ripped LeBron to shreds, calling him "narcissistic" and his decision to leave a "cowardly betrayal" and "a shameful display of selfishness." Gilbert even went on to trash all athletes by saying, "It's time for people to hold these athletes accountable for their actions. Is this the way you raise your children?" In an interview, Gilbert later said LeBron quit on the team in the playoffs the past two years. Really? So if he was all of that, Dan, why did you want to re-sign him? Who wants a quitter on his team? If LeBron had chosen to stay in Cleveland, rich boy Dan would have been all smiles, slapping his back, getting ready to count the money he could make off of the back of LeBron. So who would have been the real selfish, narcissistic individual, Dan? Gilbert now says it's time to speak out against LeBron, yet as long as James made him richer, he would have kept quiet. Sorry, Dan, you've pimped LeBron long enough. LeBron showed Dan Gilbert that only LeBron owes LeBron an explanation. No owner, CEO or boss has the right to demand that someone stay as an employee. The employee has a right to live their life as they see fit. As the CEO of LeBron James Inc., he did what's in the best of interest of him. And as the most important shareholder, isn't that what he's supposed to do? I'm sorry, folks, but the loyalty that used to exist from teams and companies is gone. Some still believe in it, but for many of us, we're simply a dot on the spreadsheet. Business is cutthroat, and we have to accept that reality. So, King James, go to Miami and do your thing. Grow your corporation to be as big as you want it to be. And never look back at the haters who are mad you chose not to act like a highly paid indentured servant or 21st-century slave, held in place by the invisible shackles dressed up as loyalty to a city, owing the fans and satisfying someone who is clearly an ungrateful owner. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland Martin.
### SUMMARY:
| Roland Martin says LeBron James is a grown man who made a grownup decision .
He says James doesn't owe his former employer or city loyalty .
Martin: James acted in his own interest, as he should .
Cavaliers owner was wrong to rip James as "narcissistic," Martin says . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(EW.com) -- The changes to Fox's singing competition shows have only just begun. After weeks of dramatic headlines about "Idol's" slipping ratings and "Factor's" talent departures, Fox's president of alternative entertainment Mike Darnell spoke to EW about the challenges faced by "American Idol" and "The X Factor" -- and his strategy for remaining on top. Given their large number of hours and consistent ability to win time periods, one could argue that "Idol" and "Factor" are the No. 1 network's most important shows. So what does it mean when the bulk of the "Factor" cast abruptly gets pink-slipped and "Idol" has CBS' "Big Bang Theory" nipping at its heels on Thursday nights? With "Factor", the sudden exodus of host Steve Jones, judge Nicole ‪Scherzinger‬ and executive producer Simon Cowell's longtime TV-spouse Paula Abdul may have stunned observers (L.A. Reid will return). Yet the move was somewhat less surprising to followers of the UK version, which sheds judges every few seasons. In a genre where tough-love auditions are the heart of the format, Darnell described being a star on "Factor's" debut as not entirely dissimilar to being a contestant. "Season one was basically an audition act," said Darnell late last week. "Simon got one big new star out of it -- L.A. Reid, and that was great casting. There's going to be a natural reassessment." Viewers largely accepted the departure of Jones and ‪Scherzinger, yet the loss of Abdul raised concern. She may not have been the strongest contributor to the show, the reasoning went, but she didn't seem to be an overt problem either. "Paula was an interesting call," Darnell said. "She and Simon are great friends, so it was just a dynamic conversation about what's the nature of the group going to be. And I think we decided to pull the Band-Aid off as quickly as possible." Fox hopes to fill the spots over the next several months. It's reasonable to expect the network will pursue big music stars, with the caveat that prospective judges also should also have workable chemistry with Cowell. The bottom line is that Fox wants to take a show that was already typically winning its night and find every way possible to improve it -- including brainstorming creative changes apart from the on-air talent. "There definitely will be lots of different changes in the show," Darnell said. That said, Darnell dismissed one TV critic complaint that the show seemed "inauthentic." "That's the kind of stuff that pundits talk about that doesn't mean anything to the audience," he said. "It was a very consistent audience for that show. The audience that stuck with the show loved it." Over on "Idol," Darnell faces the trickier challenge of keeping an 11-year-old hit feeling fresh and compelling without altering its popular fundamentals. Asked why "Idol's" ratings have softened, Darnell agreed with TV analysts who point to the flood of singing competition shows. Idol used to be an annual event. Now there's wide-eyed young singers, brutal judges and suspenseful eliminations on TV all year around. The other programs include Fox's own "Factor," of course (when Cowell decided to launch a U.S. version of his UK hit, Fox had little choice but to get on board, lest risk losing him to a rival network). "There's no question there's a glut of [singing competition shows that are] affecting the numbers for Idol," Darnell said. "It's the granddaddy, it's run is unprecedented. I think that considering all the other shows and its age, it's doing quite well. Having both shows on our air has put us in an incredibly strong position as a network." "Idol" is still a No. 1 for the season and averages about 20 million viewers a week. While "Big Bang" and ABC's "Modern Family" are closing the gap, "Idol" generates more than 50 hours per season compared to roughly 11 for half-hour comedies (no drama series come close to Idol's numbers). Like with the recent "Factor" headlines, Fox has weathered plenty of second-guessing media coverage over the past several years of "Idol" panel changes. Some pundits predicted Cowell exiting the show two years ago would be a fatal blow, especially since the ratings were already declining. Yet when looking at the ratings, "Idol" changes over the years seemed to help offset audience erosion. "Idol" typically only dropped about 10-12 percent each season despite its age, often returned better than most industry observers expected. After last year's well-received addition of judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez, making further alterations would have appeared foolish -- why fix a show that wasn't broken? But with the new season's ratings down more than 20 percent, it raises the question: Is "Idol" at a point where it now requires major changes each season to keep fans' interest? Though making a judgement on next year's "Idol" panel is months away, Darnell noted viewers can expect to see some twists this season. "There's always freshening up," he said. "We've done rule changes, we've eliminated the middle rounds, we put in the judges' 'save.' And there will be some changes coming to the show this year that no one knows about yet, [though] they're more modest than last year. What you try to do generally is if you have a year of big changes, you try to let those settle for at least another year. Change can help, or it can kill you if it's the wrong change. You never want to change the core of the show, no matter what the competition is doing, because that's what people come back for." One frequent point of viewer debate is the number of good auditions vs. humorously bad auditions. As with every aspect of his shows, Darnell has given the matter plenty of thought and experimented with different possibilities. "We used to have more bad than good," he said. "Over the last three years we've gone the opposite direction. I think it's a balancing act. One of the things that separate 'Idol' from the other shows is that we have the fun and funny auditions, that's why those [opening weeks] numbers are usually big. If you go too far in one direction or the other, that's a mistake. And you have to be careful about which bad auditions are shown. The William Hungs of the world work, but people dressed as bananas don't. They have to be sincere auditions." And if the unthinkable happens. If "Idol," after eight seasons as TV's top-rated entertainment program, should slip ... Darnell predicted the network -- and the show -- will survive just fine. "It would be nice to reign forever as No. 1," Darnell said. "But if 'Idol' ever becomes a second- or third-place show, it still has a much bigger impact and value than most other shows because it accounts for so many more hours. Obviously all shows come down, but to still be at this level is amazing, and we're really grateful for that." See the full article at EW.com. CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.
### SUMMARY:
| "American Idol" and "X Factor" are the No. 1 network's most important shows .
Fox executive on "Factor": "There definitely will be lots of different changes in the show"
Fox executive on "Idol": "You never want to change the core of the show" |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- When it comes to saving money on travel, we all know to check discount sites, follow our favorite airlines on social media and monitor our frequent flier points. But did you know that you can save big bucks just by opening your mouth? It turns out that some honest-to-goodness human-to-human interaction can help you win discounts on hotel, cruise and flight bookings. We asked four travel experts -- Matt Kepnes of NomadicMatt.com; George Hobica, founder of AirfareWatchdog.com; Jaime Freedman of Travelzoo.com; and Clem Bason, president of Hotwire.com -- for simple questions every traveler should be asking to save money. Their answers, er, questions, are below. 7 gross wonders across America . Is there an upgrade available? Though it may not be in our nature as Americans to haggle or barter for a deal, never feel too shy to request upgrades at airports and hotels. "Just ask all the time," says Clem Bason, president of Hotwire.com. "Ninety-eight percent of people simply don't ask. The worst answer you'll get back is no." Jaime Freedman of Travelzoo.com says, "I've seen instances where at the very last second they had business class available, so they offered it as an up-sell incredibly inexpensively." Budget Travel: Top 10 most-visited cities in the world . George Hobica, founder of AirfareWatchdog.com, notes that airlines would rather up-sell you a seat in business or first class at a fraction of the cost than be forced to give away those expensive seats for free to members of loyalty programs. US Airways, for example, runs a last-minute program called GoUpgrades; beginning 24 hours before your flight, unsold first-class seats can be purchased for ¬between $50 and $500 depending on the length of the flight. When it comes to hotels, the same policy applies: Ask and you (may) receive. "Always say what you're celebrating," says Freedman. "Drop that it's your honeymoon, your birthday. You just never know what kind of little special things a hotel has in store." If you have kids, she says, ask about a suite upgrade. And if you're a member of a hotel chain's loyalty program, Bason recommends asking for waived fees, free parking, kids' meals, breakfast or Wi-Fi. Travel snapshots: Autumn color around the world . Has the price changed for my seat/room? "Most people don't realize that there's a pretty good chance that a hotel booking is going to go down in price between the time you book it and the time you arrive," says AirfareWatchdog's George Hobica. Hotel rooms and airline seats fluctuate in price, so once you've booked, it (literally) pays to check the price for a ticket or room every day until your vacation. If you see that the price has gone down, call the airline or hotel directly to see what they can do for you. In many cases, you may be able to cancel your reservation and rebook at a lower price. According to a 2011 post by Hobica on AirfareWatchdog.com, airlines like JetBlue, Southwest and Alaska Airlines may offer you a travel voucher for the difference in price. Others, depending on policy, might simply allow you to cancel your flight and rebook at the lower rate. But buyer beware: Change fees can apply to rebooked flights, so be sure your discount is worth it. Budget Travel: 10 places you'd rather be on a Wednesday . Are you running any local deals? Being savvy with social media can obviously pay off when traveling. Restaurants, spas and museums may use local deal sites -- like Groupon or LivingSocial -- to offer discounts on admission or services. It's always a good bet to sign up in advance for such websites to begin tracking where deals are occurring in your vacation destination. "Go where the deal is," says Freedman. "More and more companies are starting [to offer local deals] as the competition increases." Don't know where to start? Ask your friendly neighborhood concierge, says Bason. This especially applies at resort hotels, he says, where the concierge is likely to have or know about promotions and specials that might not be otherwise advertised. The added benefit is that you get to experience your destination like a local. "When [deals] are sourced locally, it means you're going to places that aren't designed for tourists," says Freedman, and are consequently less expensive. Hey, why should locals have all the fun? Budget Travel: 30 irresistible photos of fall . What's the resident rate? What you don't know about booking a cruise can cost you. One hidden savings gem: the resident rate. You may be able to cruise for less if you're willing to depart from a port in your own state. And with ports of departure now in over a dozen states, you have a better chance than ever before of being able to leave from your home state. If you live reasonably near a cruise port, ask your agent about the rate for in-state residents, which Freedman says cruises offer at a deep discount to increase sales. "It's wonderful when you can cruise from home. Basically you're going on a Caribbean vacation with no airfare." Freedman notes that while discounts for residents can vary, in-staters may be able to save up to 25 percent on a cruise. In addition, when it comes to cruises, negotiate with your travel agent when you cruise, says Hobica. Agents are offered incentives from the cruise line and can pass that along to you. Don't be afraid to ask for perks like shipboard credits, which will help you save you on amenities. Is there a tourism card available? Matt Kepnes of NomadicMatt.com suggests always asking at the tourism office about a city pass. Popular destinations like Paris, London and New York offer passes that include admission to high-profile attractions. Some even include free public transportation or allow you to skip notoriously long lines at tourist hotspots. New York City offers several varieties of passes that allow you to tailor your experience. The CityPass ($89 for adults, $64 for children) gets you admission to six main attractions including the Empire State Building Observatory, the American Museum of Natural History, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island. You save 46 percent on combined admission -- that's $76 per adult! Where are you going tonight? Ok, that question may sound a little creepy. But don't let that stop you from asking tourism board or visitor center staffers for their own personal recommendations -- not where they send tourists, but where they go themselves. They'll know where to find the best off-the-beaten-path venues and cultural events, says Freedman, as well as which ones are running deals. When it comes to sustenance, chances are they won't point you in the direction of expensive tourist traps. As Kepnes says, "You're not going to find New Yorkers eating in Times Square." Eating at local restaurants or buying at markets the locals use will save you a huge mark-up and give you a more authentic taste of the area. What strategies do you use to trim costs on vacation? Get the best travel deals and tips emailed to you FREE - CLICK HERE! Copyright © 2011 Newsweek Budget Travel, Inc., all rights reserved.
### SUMMARY:
| Ask if the price has changed for your seat or room; you may receive an adjustment .
Inquire about local deals from sites like Groupon or LivingSocial .
Find out about tourism cards that package attractions . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Washington (CNN) -- You want close? We've got close! Seven of the eight national polls released since Sunday indicate the race for the White House is in a dead heat, like most have shown for weeks. More importantly, it's a similar story in the key battleground states that will decide whether President Barack Obama or Republican nominee Mitt Romney will be victorious on Tuesday. According to the final CNN/ORC International poll released before the election on Sunday night, 49% of likely voters questioned in the survey say they support the president, with an equal amount saying they back the former Massachusetts governor. What to watch for . But it's not just the horse-race numbers that show how equally divided American voters are over the two candidates. According to the CNN poll, the president's favorable rating stands at 52% in the poll, with Romney at 51%; 51% say they agree with Obama on important issues and 50% say the same thing about Romney; 56% say that Obama has the personal qualities a president should have, with 55% feeling the same about the Republican nominee. Does either party have an edge on enthusiasm? "The CNN survey indicates the answer is no. Seventy percent of registered voters who describe themselves as Democrats say they are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting, with an equal amount of self-described Republicans saying the same thing," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. Margin of error: Two candidates, two journeys, one race of lost dreams . And the survey indicated that 49% say they will vote for the GOP candidate for Congress in their district; with 48% saying they will choose the Democrat. That's where the similarities end. There are also some stark differences. When it comes to the racial breakdown, 40% of white voters questioned in the CNN poll said they are supporting Obama, with 57% backing Romney. The vote by race could be crucial to determining which candidate wins the White House. "The formula for victory for Obama is to win at least 80% of minorities and around 40% of whites, if minorities represent the 26% of voters that they constituted last time," said CNN Senior Political Analyst and National Journal Editorial Director Ron Brownstein. Poll of Polls: Margin is thin in New Hampshire, Iowa . "The final wave of public polls all show Obama running right around that tipping point, among both whites and minorities, which means nothing looms larger than the racial composition of the electorate." Obama obviously benefits if the minority share of the vote increases even by a point or two. The flip side is that if the minority share declines at all, the math gets better for the GOP challenger. "And if it remains unchanged, we're on the knife's edge," Brownstein added. "But just remember, the minority share of the vote has increased, and the white share has decreased, in every presidential election since 1992. Just holding the minority share steady, much less seeing it decline, will require a huge turnout among older and conservative whites, which is the last hope for Republicans looking at most public polls showing Obama holding a narrow, but steady, edge, especially in the battleground states." CNN Poll of Polls: Ohio a close contest on eve of election . The CNN poll was one of seven national nonpartisan, live operator surveys released Sunday and Monday to indicate the battle for the presidency either a dead heat or virtually tied. A Politico/George Washington University survey has it tied at 48%; an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll indicates Obama at 48% and Romney at 47%; the latest ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll puts Obama at 49% and Romney at 48%; Gallup's latest daily tracking poll had Romney at 49% and Obama at 48%; American Research Group had it deadlocked at 49% and Monmouth University had it all tied upat 48%. A Pew Research Center survey released Sunday indicates the president at 50% and the GOP challenger at 47%, which is within the survey's sampling error. While the national polls are revealing, the battleground state surveys are what matter most, since the race for the White House is a battle for electoral votes. And it's the eight swing states that will end up determining which candidate comes out on top on Tuesday. Of all the toss-up states, Ohio and it's 18 electoral votes has gotten the most attention because many scenarios see the election being decided there. Both the president and the former Massachusetts governor hold campaign rallies in Columbus, the state's capital, on Monday, the final day of campaigning. Provisional ballots could be key if Ohio margin razor thin . A new CNN Poll of Polls compiled and released Monday show Obama at 50% and Romney at 47% among likely voters in the Buckeye State. The CNN Poll of Polls is an average of three Ohio polls of likely voters conducted in the last week: Ohio Poll/University of Cincinnati; CNN/ORC International and NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist. The Poll of Polls does not have a sampling error. Florida, where 29 electoral votes are up for grabs, is also getting outsized attention and two polls released on Friday tell very different stories. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist survey gave the president a razor-thin 49%-47% edge, within the poll's sampling error. But a Mason-Dixon survey conducted for many of the Sunshine State's major newspapers indicated Romeny ahead 51%-45%. Four years ago Obama become the first Democrat to capture Virginia in a presidential election since 1964. The battle for the state's 13 electoral votes appears to be extremely close this time around. An NBC/WSJ/Marist survey released early Monday morning indicated Obama at 48% and Romney at 47%. The president closes his campaign on Monday night in Iowa. Then-Sen. Obama's victory in the 2008 Iowa Democratic caucuses launched him towards the White House. The Hawkeye State is also a general election battleground, and a new CNN Poll of Polls that averages all three non-partisan, live operator surveys conducted over the past week indicates Obama with a 48%-45% edge. Romney closes his campaign Monday night in New Hampshire, the state were he officially launched his bid for the White House nearly a year and a half ago. Besides holding the first in the nation primary, the Granite State is also a general election battleground, and a new CNN Poll of Polls that averages all three non-partisan, live operator surveys conducted over the past week indicates Obama with a 50%-38% edge. In the two Western battlegrounds, the most recent polls in Colorado (by CNN/ORC and American Research Group) indicated the race all knotted up. And in Nevada, an NBC/WSJ/Marist survey indicated the president with the edge and an ARG poll gave Romney a slight advantage. The only state where the president appears to have a solid single digit advantage according to public opinion polls is Wisconsin, home to GOP running mate Rep. Paul Ryan. A CNN Poll of Polls of the three most recent surveys indicates the president with a seven point advantage in Wisconsin. Of course the only numbers that really matter are the numbers we'll get on Tuesday. Romney breaks tradition with Election Day campaigning .
### SUMMARY:
| Seven of eight national polls show race is in a dead heat .
Others including issues, favorable ratings polls, show a razor-thin margin .
Polls diverge by race, with 40% of white voters for Obama and 57% for Romney .
Polls in battleground states -- where candidates are finishing their campaigns -- also are close . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
LONDON, England (CNN) -- We've become used to a world where what we buy is determined by what products are stocked by a handful of chain stores, but there are signs that may be changing. The future could be one of thriving cottage industries and skilled artisans lovingly producing custom-made wares. An "apple jacket," by jacquelineknits, is just one of the handmade items you can find on Etsy. That's the vision of Etsy, a U.S.-based Web site that describes itself as "an online crafts fair." But unlike your local Sunday-morning market, Etsy's crafts fair has some 200,000 stall holders, who have this year sold just under $50 million-worth of their homemade goods. The site was conceived and launched in 2005 by Rob Kalin, a carpenter, among other things, who was looking for somewhere to sell his work online. At the time, the only real outlet was eBay, but Kalin was looking for something different, something that would provide a place for small-time artisans to sell their creations. But according to Etsy, the site is more than simply a good business opportunity. "One of our goals is to change the way the economy works. It's become normal for people to buy online and the spread of the online buying culture means it has become very democratic. If you have a computer and camera and you like to make things, you can make and sell anything you want. I consider it liberating for people," an Etsy spokesman told CNN. If the site's popularity is anything to go buy, it's a model that's proved tremendously successful. But the reason for that success is that Etsy has tapped into a growing pool of crafters and a demand for handmade goods. In the U.S. especially, there has recently been a resurgence in the popularity of handmade goods. The idea has even emerged of crafting as a form of political activism -- the term "Craftivism" has been coined to describe the idea of 'making your own' as a statement against runaway consumerism and the homogeneity of mass production. A survey carried out by Etsy earlier this year revealed the average age of its crafter/sellers to be 35 -- a far cry from the stereotypical image of grandma knitting a scarf in her rocking chair. Tapping into that zeitgeist, Etsy has tried to create a crafting community by hosting online crafting workshops and offering advice on how to turn a hobby into a business. The site encourages interaction between crafters, but crucially, it enables interaction between buyers and sellers. "Anyone can go to, say, H&M and get a sweater, but then you have the same sweater as millions of people, but there's no real meaning to it. It's really great to be able talk to the person who made something that you now own -- it gives it another layer of meaning and specialness that a lot of people are looking to find," said the spokesman. Do you prefer handmade to mass produced? Interestingly, Etsy also offers a service called Alchemy, where buyers request a specific product they want made, along with a deadline and price range, and sellers bid to provide that product for a certain fee. That concept of 'merchandise on demand' turns the idea of mass production on its head, but British Web site Kings of Neon takes the idea one stage further. Designer Adam Duffy set up Kings of Neon when he realized there was a demand for customized sneakers. As well as adorning plain white plimsolls with his own colorful creations, Duffy lets his customers send him their own graphics, which he turns into a design for them. "Personally, I've never bought anything mass produced. I think fashion is about being individual and not wearing the same thing as everything else, otherwise it almost becomes a uniform," Duffy told CNN. Next month he intends to launch a new site that will allow users to create their own designs online, an extension of the shoe customizing offered by NikeiD and Vans, which let you personalize your sneakers' color scheme online. The design-your-own trend is growing and it's not just limited to sneakers. Zazzle.com lets you customize your own T-shirts, mugs, plates, skateboards, postcards, ties, aprons and pretty much anything else that has a printed image on it. It's just a matter of importing the image you want to use, adding some text, if that's what you want, and clicking 'ok.' The result won't make Gucci lose any sleep, but it will be unique. While it's very different experience from that offered by Etsy, Zazzle does have tools that let you sell your designs on their Web site. At first glance, U.S. online T-shirt firm Threadless is a similar proposition, but what sets Threadless apart is the way it determines which T-shirt designs it sells. Threadless lets members of the public send in their own T-shirt designs, which are then displayed on its website. The site's 800,000 users can view the designs and vote for the ones they'd like to see printed. Each week, six designs, selected from around 800 submissions, make it onto T-shirts, which are then sold on the Web site. The designers receive $2,000 in cash and $500 in gift certificates. What's clever about the Threadless method is that it means the T-shirts it manufactures have always been extensively market tested -- by the same target market it's pitching its product to. It's an example of what has become known as 'crowdsourcing' -- getting members of the public to collectively perform a task usually done by a professional. Although the term has been applied to some very different projects, at its best it's profoundly democratic -- and it's made possible by the Internet. Kings of Neon, Zazzle and Threadless can only exist because the Internet allows interaction between buyer and seller. Similarly, Kalin started Etsy because he couldn't afford to rent a physical shop in New York to sell his work from. By providing a virtual shop floor, and a potentially huge passing trade, the internet is a leveler that allows the artisan to compete with the chain store. With the idea of designing-your-own gaining currency, the emergence of a growing army of crafters, and a way for them to sell their product, all that's needed for a shopping revolution is a consuming public ready to ditch the chain stores in favor of the artisans. EBay recently announced a new web venture called Worldofgood.com, which will provide a shop front for all manner of mostly handmade, ethically supplied goods from around the world. The idea is similar to Etsy, but with a global, 'fair trade' spin, and the involvement of web giant eBay is a sure sign that handmade has gone mainstream. "In my opinion, in the U.S. and the western world there is a backlash now. Brand names were really popular in the 80s and 90s, but now I think people are kind of tired of that -- they want something that's more tailored to them," Etsy's spokesman said. If he's right, and we see a growth in craftspeople and artisans selling directly to the public, then the commerce of the future may bear an uncanny resemblance to that of the past.
### SUMMARY:
| U.S.-based Web site "Etsy" is 'an online crafts fair' with 200,000 sellers .
There is a growing demand for handmade and personalized products .
"Threadless" lets it users design T-shirts and vote for the best ones .
The Internet gives artisans an outlet to sell their handmade products . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Santiago de Compostela, Spain (CNN) -- Police in Spain have accused the driver of a train that derailed in northwestern Spain, killing at least 78 people, of "reckless homicide," the country's interior minister said Saturday. The judge has until Sunday evening local time to decide whether to press formal charges against Francisco Jose Garzon, Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz told reporters in Santiago de Compostela. The driver, who spent the past two days under detention in hospital, guarded by police, is now at the police headquarters, he said. The data recorders from the train are still with police, he added. Separately, a spokesman for the Galician regional Supreme Court told CNN Saturday morning that the judge had not yet questioned Garzon. Questions have focused on the speed at which the train was traveling as it entered a curve in the track near Santiago de Compostela on Wednesday evening. The crash on the outskirts of the city, which is popular with tourists and Christian pilgrims and was preparing to celebrate a saint's day Thursday, shocked the Galician region and the nation. Fernandez Diaz told reporters earlier Saturday there are "rational indications" that the accident is the fault of the driver. Pressed on what those indications are, he declined to give more details. The driver is not scheduled to appear in court Saturday. But a statement from a regional court said, "The intention, if it is possible, is that he makes an appearance in the courts." Galicia regional police chief Jaime Iglesias told reporters Friday that the driver was under police detention because of "a crime." Asked what crime, he responded: "Well ... in connection to the accident, in connection with his recklessness, in connection with causing the accident." The crumpled wreckage of the eight train cars sent careering onto their sides when the train derailed has now been removed from the tracks, but the grim task of identifying the dead continues. Maria Pardo Rios, a spokeswoman for the Galicia regional supreme court, told CNN late Friday that 75 victims had been identified from at least 78 people killed. At least 63 of the dead are Spanish, she said. Also among them is one U.S. citizen, Ana-Maria Cordoba from Arlington, Virginia, and a number of people from Europe and Latin America. As they are identified, most of the bodies are being returned to their grieving families, a statement from the regional justice department said. DNA testing is to be done on some remains to establish their identity and to how many people they belong, it said. Police forensic experts said at a news conference Saturday that there are 37 body parts that must still be tested to see whether they belong to bodies that have already been identified, or to others not yet known. About 80 people who were injured in the crash remained in hospital Saturday, about a third of them still listed in critical condition. At least five U.S. citizens were injured, said State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf. Local newspaper La Voz de Galicia said that a funeral service for the victims would be held on Monday evening in the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. Going too fast? Spanish news agency Efe and national daily El Pais cited sources within the investigation as saying that the driver had said the train was traveling about 190 kilometers per hour (120 mph). Elena Garcia, a spokeswoman for national railway Renfe, on Friday did not disclose the speed the train was traveling on an express track, where cars can move as fast as 250 kph. She did say, though, the speed limit for the bend of track where the crash occurred is 80 kph. Rafael Catala, secretary of state for transport and housing, told Spanish radio network Cadena SER that the "tragedy appears to be linked to the train going too fast," but that the reasons it was going so fast are not yet known. The express passenger service was nearing the end of a six-hour trip from Madrid to the town of Ferrol in northwest Spain when the crash occurred, the state railway said. Security footage revealed how, as the train hurtled around a bend, its cars derailed and slammed on their sides into a concrete support structure for a bridge. Flames burst out of one train car as another car was snapped in half in the crash. Rescue crews and fellow passengers pulled bodies through broken windows and pried open doors as stunned survivors looked on. Maria Vigo, whose home is on the bank above the rail tracks, told CNN how she heard a crash, and then the deafening squeal of metal on concrete. "When I saw the rail car flip into the air, I imagined something just horrible had happened," she said. She and husband Suso sought to help the injured, taking bed sheets to wrap round the injured and ropes to haul the survivors off the tracks. Firefighter Miguel Angel Bello said the first four minutes after he arrived on the scene were a desperate race against time. He and fellow firefighters smashed windows and kicked in doors to pull out the passengers trapped inside as rail cars went up in flames. A young girl in the wreckage called out to him. "She was under wreckage she said she wanted to get out and go home but she died," he said. Survivor: We looked like the walking dead . Stephen Ward, an 18-year-old from Bountiful, Utah, who is in Spain serving on a Mormon religious mission, was one of the lucky ones. Still patched up and wearing a neck brace, he told CNN's "New Day" show of his ordeal -- and his relief that he made it out alive and without permanent injury. Ward blacked out when the car he was in slammed on to its side, regaining consciousness only as he was being helped out of the train. It took him a couple of minutes to grasp that what he was seeing outside was not a dream -- and that people were dead. "They were helping out other people -- there were bodies, there was screaming, there was smoke." The survivors looked like the walking dead, he said. "I've got staples all over my scalp, I was covered in blood. They've scrubbed most of it off me now but everyone was just covered in their own blood and occasionally the blood of others. It was gruesome to say the least." Another victim, speaking from a hospital bed with his arm in a sling, told CNN affiliate Atlas that it seemed like the train was going fast. "But we didn't know what was the maximum speed, so I thought it was normal," he said, "And suddenly there was a curve, the suitcases fell, and everything went dark. And I hit my head a ton of times, and 10 seconds later I was wedged between seats, and I had people's legs on top of me." As he waited for rescuers to pull him from the wreckage, he heard other passengers yelling. "I heard little children screaming. ... I also heard two girls that yelled out, one supporting the other," he said. The derailment came on the eve of a public holiday to celebrate a saint's day, when more people than usual may have been traveling in the region. Planned festivities in Santiago de Compostela and across Galicia were canceled after the crash. CNN's Karl Penhaul reported from Santiago de Compostela and Laura Perez Maestro from Galicia. CNN's Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London. CNN's Al Goodman, Lindsay Isaac, Jonathan Helman, Catherine E. Shoichet, Elwyn Lopez, Patrick Sung, Jill Dougherty and Mariano Castillo contributed to this report.
### SUMMARY:
| NEW: Forensic experts must carry out DNA tests on body parts to see who they belong to .
NEW: The judge has until Sunday evening to decide whether to press formal charges .
Interior Minister says police have accused the train driver of "reckless homicide"
At least 78 people died in the train crash near Santiago de Compostela in Galicia . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- At least 24 people -- including nine children -- were killed when a massive tornado struck an area outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, officials said. Read more: Heartbreaking scenes in Oklahoma City after disaster . At least seven of those children were killed at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma, police said. Emergency personnel on Tuesday continued to scour the school's rubble -- a scene of twisted I-beams and crumbled cinder blocks. The tornado was 1.3 miles wide as it moved through Moore, in the southern part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, the National Weather Service said. The estimated peak wind ranged from 200 to 210 mph -- which would make it an EF5, the most powerful category of tornadoes possible -- according to the agency. Click here for our latest full story. Latest update: . -- About 2,400 homes were damaged in the Oklahoma cities of Moore and Oklahoma City, said Jerry Lojka of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. Some 10,000 people were directly impacted by the tornado, he said. Follow the severe weather tracker . Previously reported: . -- Gov. Mary Fallin said the tornado was "one of (the) most horrific storms and disasters that this state has ever faced." Oklahoma "will get through this. ... We will overcome. We will rebuild. We will regain our strength," she said. -- Officials are working on legislation for an emergency fund that would help the state's recovery. -- Insurance claims will likely top $1 billion, Kelly Collins of the Oklahoma Insurance Commission told CNN. The cost would be higher than that from the May 3, 1999, tornado that hit the same area. -- Moore Fire Chief Gary Bird said searchers planned to search every affected structure and vehicle three times by Tuesday night. A few hours later, Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis told CNN that he doesn't expect the death toll will rise past 24, saying, "I think that will stand." "We feel like we have basically gone from rescue and searching to recovery," Lewis said. -- Mick Cornett, Oklahoma City mayor, said full electric service should be restored to the Draper Water Treatment Plant on Tuesday. Customers should eventually notice normal water pressure, he said. The storm knocked out power to the plant and authorities put the facility on generator power. -- Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will travel to Oklahoma on Wednesday to meet with state and local officials and "ensure that first responders are receiving the assistance they need in ongoing response and recovery efforts to the severe weather that impacted the region, " DHS announced. Napolitano also will travel to Joplin for the second anniversary of the devastating tornado that struck that community. -- Kevin Durant, star of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder, pledged $1 million through his family foundation to American Red Cross disaster relief efforts in Oklahoma, the Red Cross said Tuesday. -- The tornado tore through a 17-mile path, the National Weather Service said. The agency said survey crews indicated that the twister began 4.4 miles west of the city of Newcastle and ended 4.8 miles east of the city of Moore. -- At least 237 people were injured, the state's Office of Emergency Management said Tuesday, citing the Health Department. -- Oklahoma officials revised the death toll to 24, down from 51. Nine of the fatalities are children. -- One of those is Janae Hornsby, who was among those killed at Plaza Woods Elementary School, her father told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "She was the best kid anybody could have. She was Janae," Joshua Hornsby said. "She was a ball of energy, a ball of love." -- State Rep. Mark McBride, a Republican, said he and his family have endured tornadoes for decades but "this is the worst thing" he's ever seen. -- President Barack Obama said he doesn't yet know the "full extent" of the damage. "We don't know both the human and economic losses that may have occurred," he said Tuesday. "Oklahoma needs to get everything it needs right away" to recover, he said. -- New York's governor expressed his sympathy for Oklahomans in the aftermath of the "horrific tornado." "Here in New York we know firsthand the devastation and pain caused by natural disasters, and in difficult times like these we, more than ever, stand with our fellow Americans," Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday. -- The storm system behind Monday's twister and several on Sunday is threatening a large swath of the United States on Tuesday, putting 53 million people at risk of severe weather. In the bull's-eye Tuesday are parts of north-central Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and northern Arkansas and Louisiana, according to the National Weather Service. -- Oklahoma first and foremost needs donations to rebuild, Fallin told CNN. -- About 34,000 customers remained without power Tuesday night after a powerful tornado slammed the Oklahoma City region . -- Personnel have rescued 101 people from rubble, Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management representative Terri Watkins said Tuesday morning. Watkins cited an Oklahoma Highway Patrol tally of rescues from all agencies. -- Some of the children killed at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, drowned in a basement area there, Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told CNN on Tuesday morning. "My understanding, this school ... Plaza Towers, they had a basement. Quite frankly, don't mean to be graphic, but that's why some of the children drowned, because they were in the basement area," he said. Officials have said the storm killed at least seven children at the school. -- Obama signed a disaster declaration Monday night, a White House statement said. The declaration means federal emergency aid will supplement local recovery efforts. -- World leaders, including those in France, Germany, Pakistan and Spain, passed along their condolences. Britain's Queen Elizabeth II expressed her "deepest sympathies" to those affected and Pope Francis urged people to pray for families of those who've died, "especially those who lost young children." -- The three high schools in the school district of Moore still will have graduation ceremonies on Saturday at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Superintendent Susan Pierce said Tuesday. -- Otherwise, though, the city's public schools will be closed for the rest of the year, school district spokeswoman Anna Trowbridge tells CNN. The last day of school was supposed to be Thursday. -- The superintendent of schools in Joplin, Missouri -- which was struck by a tornado in 2011 -- is expected to fly to Oklahoma on Tuesday night, said Oklahoma education department spokeswoman Sherry Fair. Joplin's C.J. Huff is set to discuss the situation in Moore with the Oklahoma education chief Janet Baresi, on Wednesday. -- Country singer Toby Keith said his sister's house was among those hit by Monday's tornado. "She gets to keep her stuff, but her house is not livable," Keith said. While there's no date, lineup or location set, Keith says he's gotten "500 text messages from people all over the music world" asking about a potential benefit concert. Tornado brings back terrible memories of 1999 . Heartbreaking scenes in Oklahoma City area after twister . CNN's Joe Sterling, Greg Botelho and AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report.
### SUMMARY:
| At its strongest, the tornado was an EF5, the National Weather Service says .
At least 24 dead, more than 100 people rescued after tornado hit, officials say .
Insurance claims will likely top $1 billion, state insurance official says .
The mayor says "we (have) gone from rescue and searching to recovery" |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- Opening a third week of testimony, a gun dealer said South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius had to know gun safety laws before purchasing his firearms and getting his gun licenses. Sean Patrick Rens, who sold guns to Pistorius, said the athlete correctly answered a questionnaire. Rens said Pistorius knew that it's not legal to shoot at unknown person seen breaking into your house, not legal to shoot at them if burglar bars separate you, but it is legal to shoot at them if there's no protection and they approach you with a weapon. For it to be legal to fire, Rens said, "the attack must be against you, must be against a person, must be unlawful." These points are important, because the Pistorius defense team must show that not only did he made a mistake but that the mistake was reasonable in order for him to be cleared of killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Prosecutors and the defense are jockeying over whether Pistorius intentionally murdered Steenkamp, or killed her in a terrible but understandable accident. There's no question that he shot her through a bathroom door in his house early on Valentine's Day last year, hitting her with three hollow-tipped bullets, one of which probably killed her almost instantly. But for two weeks in court, his defense team has chipped away at every witness who casts doubt on his story that he thought Steenkamp was a burglar and mistakenly acted in what he believed was self-defense. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel has put up witnesses ranging from the pathologist who performed the autopsy, to ex-girlfriend Samantha Taylor, who said Pistorius kept a gun by his bed and went to investigate a sound in the night, weapon in hand, at least once while she was dating him. The senior police officer on the scene the night of the killing testified Friday, but it's not clear he did much for the prosecution case. The police investigation sounded in court like a catalog of bumbling, bad judgment, poor memory and petty theft. Former police Col. G.S. van Rensburg described how he found a police ballistics expert handling Pistorius' gun without wearing gloves and reprimanded the officer, who apologized and put a pair on. And he said he was "furious" when at least one of the Olympic athlete's valuable wristwatches disappeared from his bedroom as police investigated the crime scene. He "body searched" his fellow officers, their bags and their vehicles but was unable to find the watch, which was worth several thousand dollars. He also said he had ordered the bathroom door through which Pistorius shot Steenkamp removed from the house, placed in a body bag and taken to his office, explaining, "The door is the most valuable evidence because the deceased was behind the door." Earlier in the week, the defense attacked police handling of the door, implying that the evidence was unreliable because it was contaminated. Van Rensburg resigned from the force in December after three decades, under fire for his handling of the door. Asked what he now did for a living, he choked up and said, "I am now coaching sports, and sports is my life." Gory details lend Pistorius trial a 'CSI' flavor . Golden boy turned defendant . He's the 13th witness to testify for the prosecution in the murder trial of Pistorius, once South Africa's golden boy for the stellar track success that made him the first double amputee runner to compete in the Olympics. Pistorius, 27, has pleaded not guilty to murder and three other weapons charges. Steenkamp, a model, was 29 when she was killed. On Friday, Pistorius' lawyer Barry Roux ripped into van Rensburg's chronology of events on the night of the killing, presenting witness statements from three police officers whose accounts differed from van Rensburg's. The former officer was so startled by the statement of police Sgt. Ntome Sebetha that he stared at Roux and said, "Amazing." Later, Roux rattled van Rensburg so severely, pointing out clear differences between two pictures that the former officer said were the same, that van Rensburg refused to answer a question about how many keys were in another photograph. "It's not a trick question," Roux said. "There's one key there." Gruesome images . The former police colonel first took the stand Thursday and said paramedics were there when he arrived at Pistorius' address about 3:55 a.m., but Steenkamp was dead. As he testified, the prosecution showed more than 100 police photographs taken at Pistorius' house after the killing, including the sprinter's 9 mm handgun, still cocked and ready to fire, on a bloody towel or bathmat on a blood-spattered floor. On Friday, the court was shown a photo of a toilet covered in blood, but only van Rensburg saw photos of Steenkamp's body and closeups of her injuries. Those gruesome pictures were not displayed on courtroom monitors. Even so, Pistorius kept his head down, shielding his eyes with one hand, while prosecutor Nel talked the former police officer quickly through the sheaf of photos on the witness stand. Pistorius vomited several times last week as pathologist Gert Saayman described Steenkamp's fatal wounds, and again when pictures of the injuries were accidentally displayed on monitors in court. Gun at his bedside . The case against Pistorius is largely circumstantial, Nel said in his opening statement last week. Pistorius and Steenkamp were the only people in his house when he killed her. Nel has been building a picture of what happened through the testimony of experts, neighbors who heard screaming and bangs that night, current and former friends of Pistorius' and a security guard who sped to the scene because of reports of gunshots. Many prosecution witnesses' accounts are consistent with Pistorius' version of events: that he got up in the night, went out to his balcony to get a fan, came back inside and heard noises in the bathroom that he thought came from an intruder. He said he took the gun and fired while calling for Steenkamp to call police. When she didn't answer, he realized she could have been the person in the bathroom, he said. Neighbors said they heard a woman screaming before the shots were fired. But the defense is proposing that what neighbors thought was Steenkamp screaming in fear for her life was in fact Pistorius when he realized what he had done. And the defense says that the sounds neighbors heard were not the gunshots, but the cricket bat hitting the door as he tried to rescue her. Pistorius and at least two neighbors made phone calls to security after the shooting, allowing the defense to use phone records to establish a timeline of events. Judge Thokozile Masipa will decide the verdict. South Africa does not have jury trials. In South Africa, premeditated murder carries a mandatory life sentence with a minimum of 25 years. Pistorius also could get five years for each gun indictment and 15 years for a firearms charge he also faces. If he isn't convicted of premeditated murder, the sprinter could face a lesser charge of culpable homicide, a crime based on negligence. The sentence for culpable homicide is at the judge's discretion. The trial looks set to go on for several more weeks. CNN's Ed Payne contributed to this report .
### SUMMARY:
| NEW: Dealer says Pirstorius knew gun safety laws .
Pistorius shot his girlfriend to death last year; the question in court is whether it was intentional .
Last week, former police colonel's testimony did little to help prosecution case .
Judge Thokozile Masipa will decide the verdict; South Africa does not have jury trials. |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- An elaborate kidnapping plot that targeted a Wake Forest, North Carolina, man ended with his dramatic rescue in Atlanta by an FBI hostage squad about midnight Wednesday, law enforcement said Thursday. Frank Arthur Janssen is receiving medical treatment but is safe after being held captive for five days by five people who face federal kidnapping charges, according to law enforcement officials who held a news conference in Wake Forest. The kidnappers sent demands to Janssen's family "for the benefit" of Kelvin Melton, an inmate at Polk Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, read an affidavit in support of a search warrant related to criminal complaints against the defendants. Melton is serving a life sentence without parole, said FBI North Carolina Special Agent John Strong. It was not immediately clear for what. Janssen's daughter, an assistant district attorney in Wake County, had prosecuted Melton, officials said. The affidavit details threats sent via text to Janssen's wife and daughters, a drama that underscores Strong's description of the kidnappers at the news conference. He called them "very dangerous people." On Monday at 1:51 a.m., Janssen's wife, Christie, began to receive text messages from a phone number with an Atlanta area code, the affidavit says. The messages said her husband had been kidnapped. One text said her husband was in the trunk of a car en route to California. Another threatened her, saying that if she contacted law enforcement, "we will send (Janssen) back to you in 6 boxes and every chance we get we will take someone in your family to Italy and torture and kill them ... we will do a drive by and gun down anybody...and throw a grenade in your window." If the kidnappers' demands were not met, her husband would be hurt, the texts promised. The five facing charges are: Jenna Paulin Martin, Tiana Maynard, Clifton James Roberts and Jevante Price -- also known as "Flame" -- and Michael Montreal Gooden -- also known as "Hot" -- according to court documents. Don Connelly, law enforcement coordinator with the U.S. attorney's office, said pleas have not been entered. Authorities said that none of the defendants has retained counsel. Threatening texts to wife . On April 5, a woman knocked on Janssen's door, and when he opened it, several people jumped him and used a Taser to subdue him, according to the affidavit. The attackers dragged him to their car and took off, crossing into Georgia, the document shows. Janssen's wife knew that her husband was going out for a bike ride Saturday, but when she came home that day after a shopping outing to find he'd not returned, she grew alarmed, according to a news release from Wake Forest. She saw what appeared to be drops of blood outside their house, it said, and called police. On April 9, Christie Janssen received another text from a different number that also had an Atlanta area code, the affidavit said. That message included a photo of her husband bound and seated in a chair. Another text came: "Tomorrow we will call you again an (sic) if you can not tell me where my things are at tomorrow i will start torchering (sic)" Frank Janssen. "If we find out the police seen this will kill both people now and go for you (sic) family," the text read, suggesting that another person had been abducted. One of the numbers connected to the kidnapping was identified as transmitting messages from Polk Correctional Institution, according to the affidavit, and the user of that particular number placed 99 calls to Melton's daughters. Melton's girlfriend told law enforcement that that number belonged to the inmate, the affidavit said. 'Get a bag, put it over his head' Law enforcement monitored calls between that number and another involved in the kidnapping, the affidavit detailed. According to the document, two male callers could be heard saying: . "The first spot we are checking out is close to the house." "We want to make sure it's in a secluded area and the ground is soft so we can go 3 feet deep." "Get a bag, put it over his head, and stuff something in his mouth." "However you feel like doing it, just do it." "Make sure to clean the area up. Don't leave anything. Don't leave any DNA behind." "Get some night time medication and make him go to sleep." "Make him drink the whole bottle of Nyquil." "Let's do it in the wee hours of the morning." "Make sure it is not a half-assed job. Get bleach and throw it on the walls. Maybe do it in the closet." After that conversation, authorities tried to enter Melton's prison cell to find the phone number used in the communications. Melton tried to bar the door and smashed the phone, the affidavit says. Later, at 10:40 p.m. April 9, law enforcement monitored a conversation between two callers who stated, "FBI helicopters are outside. We gotta get rid of holmes." A woman can be heard saying, "I'm not going anywhere, FBI are all over." While the search was on for Janssen in Atlanta, law enforcement traced one of the phone numbers to a residence in Austell, Georgia, belonging to Tiana Maynard. She was not there, but her children were, and law enforcement took them into protective custody, the affidavit said. Shortly after Janssen was rescued, Clifton Roberts drove a blue Chevy Tahoe with Maynard and Jenna Martin to a police station to get Maynard's children. Inside the Tahoe, law enforcement saw picks, shovels and a .45-caliber pistol, according to the affidavit. In connection with the search of Atlanta residences linked to the threatening text messages, officers questioned Price and Gooden, the affidavit details. Price "revealed his awareness of the kidnapping and acknowledged that he and Gooden were supposed to be the 'night watch' over the victim," the document states. Price led agents to the Forest Cove apartment complex in southeast Atlanta, where Janssen was rescued, according to officials. A father reunited with family, a shaken DA office . Janssen has been reunited with his family, officials said Thursday. After he was freed, doctors evaluated him, Strong said, adding that he is receiving medical care. The FBI in Charlotte and Atlanta, the Wake Forest Police Department and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation are continuing to investigate the case, along with other law enforcement agencies in North Carolina and Georgia. Ned Mangum, district attorney for Wake County confirmed to CNN that Colleen Janssen works in his office. "This is different from anything we've ever had to my knowledge in the state of North Carolina," he said. "I've been in this court house for 16 years, and unfortunately, from time to time, there are threats made to courthouse officials. You rarely see threats against people's family and certainly rarely see something with this much precision." He said his staff is "incredibly professional" and handles serious cases, but "this one really affected us because it's one of our own," he said. "I've never seen our office as anxious as the past several days, and I'm so proud of them for not saying anything to compromise the investigation."
### SUMMARY:
| FBI: Frank Arthur Janssen was abducted from his home five days ago .
FBI rescue team freed him from an Atlanta apartment building Wednesday .
Demands sent for "benefit" of inmate whom daughter prosecuted, officials say .
Five people face federal kidnapping charges, law enforcement officials say . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- With more than 1,000 hot springs gurgling beneath 80% of the country, a trip to Hungary isn't complete without one thing: a visit to a spa. The Romans chanced upon Hungary's healing waters more than 2,000 years ago, but the Ottoman Turks really got things going in the 16th century, importing their social spa culture. While the word "spa" can conjure images of being pampered in a luxurious setting, in Hungary it's quite different. There's an emphasis on health and well being, so many of the facilities are more functional than plush. A few charge for towels, although the fee can be less than $2. That said, the natural beauty of the country's spas makes up for a certain clinical air. And admission prices, even for a full day, are often less than $15. Bathing and board games . Whereas the French pop into their cafes for a coffee and a chat, Hungarians catch up with the latest gossip while having a soak. They can be seen playing chess in the warm waters of the huge Szechenyi complex in Budapest -- one of the biggest in Europe and one of the most beautiful. They're also taking advantage of the restorative properties in the thermal water. Szechenyi, Allatkerti korut 11, Budapest; +36 1 363 3210 . Salty soaking . One of Hungary's most unusual spas is the open-air complex at Egerszalok, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) east of Budapest . It's obvious why they've nicknamed it Salt Hill: centuries of mineral deposits left by flowing springs have turned the surrounding mounds white. Visitors can take a dip in these hot springs or use the 17 indoor and outdoor pools at the adjoining Saliris Resort. Just five miles away is the incredibly pretty town of Eger, which has a 16th-century Turkish bath and outdoor thermal pools. On offer is the heavy-handed pummeling of the Turkish massage experience, or a chance to relax and gaze at the ornate interior of bright mosaics. The outdoor pools are more boisterous, with plenty of play areas for kids. Egerszalok Spa, Forras ut 4, Egerszalok Hungary +36 36 688 500 . Salaris Resort, Forras ut 6, Egerszalok, Hungary; +36 36 688 600 . Eger Thermal Bath, 5 Frank Tivadar ut, Eger; +36 36 510 552 . Subterranean spa . Another 40 miles (64 kilometers) east past the Bukki National Park is the underground water world at Miskolctapolca. The name doesn't trip off the tongue easily, so many simply call it the Cave Bath. Thermal waters flow through a huge series of limestone caves, all heated at a comfortable 84 F (28.9 C). In summer months, there's an outdoor complex with family pools. Cave Bath, Pazar Istvan setany 1, Miskolctapolca; +36 46 560 030 . Thermal lake . West of Budapest lies the opportunity for a leisurely swim in the largest thermal lake in Europe. Heviz Lake is just beyond the westernmost point of Lake Balaton, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) southwest of Budapest. Hot springs fill this 10-acre lake surrounded by woods and parkland -- these springs work hard enough to change the water every three days. Bathers share the lake with some flora and fauna, namely the resident ducks and water lilies. They must also tolerate the whiff of sulfur that comes from the mineral-rich water. There's a lot going on indoors at the large complex overlooking the lake: seven thermal pools, mud baths and treatments for conditions that can be helped by a therapeutic dip. Heviz Lake tourist information office; +36 83 540 131 . Vast baths . A different bathing experience can be found at Europe's largest bath complex at Hajduszoboszlo, 13 miles (21 kilometers) southwest of Debrecen, Hungary's second city. Hungarospa is a giant shrine to water and all the fun that can go with it. It includes Aquapark, where children of all ages -- including babies -- can frolic on water slides and in the bathing pools. Its indoor thermal baths offer treatments for people with various ailments that can be alleviated by water therapy. The Aqua Palace has 20 themed pools recreating everything from a Roman bath to a tropical pool. From May to September, the park's 75 acres become an enormous outdoor water playground. Thirteen pools sprawl around the park, including a mammoth one built to resemble a Mediterranean beach. It's all topped off with an immense pirate ship to keep kids entertained. Hungarospa, Szent Istvan Park 1-3, Hajduszoboszlo; +36 52 558 558 . Super-sized sauna . About 130 miles (210 kilometers) west of Budapest toward the Austrian Alps is Bukfurdo, Hungary's second-largest spa. Within the 35-acre complex are 32 pools, a sauna big enough for 150 people and plenty of paddling pools for small children. The town is also home Greenfield Golf, Hungary's first 18-hole championship course, so golfers haven't got far to go to soothe tired muscles after a game. Bukfurdo spa, Termal krt 2, Bukfurdo; +36 94 558 080 . Slides and style . A glimpse into a vintage, elegant world of bathing beyond Budapest can be found 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of the capital in Szeged, near Hungary's borders with Serbia and Romania. Among the city's charming 19th-century architecture is the neo-Renaissance Anna Thermal Bath. These warm bubbling pools, steam rooms and saunas evoke the charm of Budapest's famous spas such as Szechenyi and Gellert. Across the Szeged Tisza River lies the Napfenyfurdo Aquapolis water park. While the kids zoom down Europe's longest all-year water slide, adults soak in the thermal baths and pulsating waterfalls of the adventure pool. Anna Thermal Bath, Tisza L. krt. 24, Szeged; +36 62 553 330 . Napfenyfurdo Aquapolis, Torontal ter 1, Szeged, +36 62 566 488 . Mary Novakovich is an award-winning travel journalist who specializes in European destinations. She writes for UK newspapers and has written guidebooks for Frommer's, Insight Guides and Berlitz. CNN Travel series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries and regions we profile. However CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports. Read the policy.
### SUMMARY:
| Hungary owes its spa culture to Romans and Ottoman Turks, and the country's extensive hot springs .
Admission price for most spas is less than $15, although facilities can be more functional than plush .
Budapest's Szechenyi complex is one of the largest spas in Europe . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- Ukraine has been hit by protests during the past few weeks, as the country finds itself split between the rest of Europe and Russia. What sparked the protests? The protests began in November, when Ukraine's president, Viktor Yanukovych, did a U-turn over a trade pact with the European Union that had been years in the making. Yanukovych refused to sign the agreement, which would have strengthened cooperation with the European Union, opting instead for closer ties with neighboring Russia. Since November 21 hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have taken to the streets of Kiev to demand that the EU deal be signed. The epicenter of the protest has been in the city' central Independence Square, known as the Maidan. The demonstrations are the biggest the country has seen since the Orange Revolution which toppled the country's government nine years ago. Protesters in Ukraine see the demonstrations as a way of choosing between Europe and Russia. CNN contributor David Frum says the stakes are even higher now than they were in 2004-05: "Upholding Ukrainian independence is a deep concern, not only to the Ukrainians, but to all the free countries of Europe -- and thus to the United States... What's at stake in the streets of Kiev is the future of the European continent." Why did Yanukovych refuse to sign the EU deal? Viktor Yanukovych, who has been in power since 2010, said he could not sign the trade and political association deals with the EU because of Ukraine's "complex economic situation." He said Ukraine could not afford to sign the deal, alluding to economic pressure from Russia, which had threatened its neighbor with trade sanctions. "The Ukrainian government will suspend the negotiations for signing the Association Agreement with the EU, until we find a solution for the situation is found and when the drop in industrial production and our relations with CIS countries are compensated by the European market, otherwise our country's economy will sustain serious damage," said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Boiko when the EU deal was suspended. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not publicly admitted pressuring Yanukovych into foregoing the agreements, which would have moved Ukraine further from Russia's sphere of influence, instead insisting he wants the country's difficulties to be resolved. "I very much hope that all political forces of the country will manage to come to an agreement in the interest of the Ukrainian people and solve all the piles of problems," Putin said in his State of the Nation address on Thursday. But as Ulrich Speck, visiting scholar at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels, wrote in a piece for CNN, Putin wants to see Ukraine -- and other former Soviet republics -- brought back into line with Russia "through integration into a Moscow-led customs union which in the future shall be transformed into a fully-fledged 'Eurasian Union'." Another factor in Yanukovych's decision not to sign the deal is likely to have been the EU's demands that he free former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, his political opponent, from jail. Russia said Thursday December 12 that the European Union is trying to bully Ukraine into signing a free trade deal against the wishes of the majority of Ukrainians. "The EU offers a token package, which is not of any interest to the Ukrainian government," Alexei Pushkov, head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russia's Parliament, told CNN's Hala Gorani, who was sitting in for Christiane Amanpour. Tymoshenko was found guilty of abuse of office in a Russian gas deal two years ago, and sentenced to seven years in prison in a case widely seen as politically motivated. On Thursday December 12th, The EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, spoke to Yanukovych and told CNN afterwards that he "still wishes to sign the association agreement with the European Union." Pushkov said he was not so sure. "He never actually rejected the possibility of signing a deal with the European Union," he said. "But he said on many occasions that he is not happy with the content of the deal." Why is Ukraine torn between the EU and Russia ? Ukraine is the biggest frontier nation separating Russia and the EU. Once part of the Soviet Union, the country gained its modern Independence in 1991 following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Since then, Ukraine has made an effort to move towards Western ideals when it comes to politics and human rights, but the nation is still ranked 144th out of 177 countries in Transparency International's corruption index. The Ukrainians who have taken to the streets in recent weeks say they want to see a better-governed, less corrupt and politically liberal country, more closely aligned with its western neighbours. "People see a prosperous, well-governed EU next to their borders -- in sharp contrast with their own economic and political misery," wrote Speck, in his piece for CNN. "That's why they are on the streets now, in Kiev and elsewhere." Under Soviet rule, many Ukrainian farmers lost their lands and homes, and many ethnic Russians settled in the Ukraine. Under Soviet Rules the country's people their language and culture all suffered. "No nation suffered more from Soviet communism than the Ukrainians," wrote Frum in his recent piece for CNN. "Ukrainian farmers lost their lands and homes to Soviet collectivization... millions died in the man-made famine that followed... their language and culture were stunted under Moscow rule; their intellectuals and writers were suppressed, banished, murdered, and defamed." This caused a split which still exists in the Ukraine today, where a strong east-west divide remains, with the East of the nation being mostly Russian-speaking, with a large ethnic Russian population, and the West of the country being Ukrainian. Ukraine's economy has been slow to follow its western neighbours who were also under Soviet control-- Poland, for example, where the economy has grown exponentially. Poland was not part of USSR, but can say "also part of the Soviet Union or under Soviet control -- for example, Poland, where the economy has grown exponentially." By contrast, Ukraine's economy has deteriorated further and has suffered its worst years since the fall of the Soviet Union.. Many Ukrainians hope that an EU deal would offer the chance of economic recovery. Why is Russian gas a key issue? Ukraine with a population of over 45 million is heavily dependent on Russian gas to keep the country running during its bitterly cold winters. Its geographic location it is also a key transit country through which gas flows to many countries in Europe. This puts Russia in a commanding position -- energy is a lever the Russians have used in the past, either by cutting off supplies in mid-winter (most recently in 2009) or by promising price cuts or increases. Ukraine, with a population of 45 million, is heavily dependent on Russian gas to keep the country running during its bitterly cold winters. How does the situation affect the rest of the region? The West -- the EU, together with the US -- has been working on its relations with former Soviet Bloc countries for over two decades, with the aim of restoring democratic rule and improving quality of life for Ukrainians. It views the decision by Ukraine, the largest of the former republics, not to partner up with the EU as bowing to Russian pressure. Ukraine is something of a pawn between Russia and the West. For the West, the deal would mean its reach would spread further east; by contrast, the Russians see the Ukraine as key to holding on to their turf. When asked about the situation in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted it was a "domestic issue" and that it is the prerogative of the government to decide whether to sign the agreement.
### SUMMARY:
| Ukraine protests are the country's largest in nine years .
The country finds itself split between closer ties with the EU and cooperating more with Russia .
The country is heavily dependent on Russian gas, especially during its bitter winters .
Russia says the situation in Ukraine is a "domestic issue" |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Washington (CNN) -- Although all 435 House seats are up in November's midterms, redistricting has reduced the number of swing races and made it easier for political watchers to keep up with those seats truly up for grabs. But redistricting has made it more difficult for Democrats to retake control of the chamber for the first time since 2010. With fewer seats in play, they must capture 17 held by Republicans. Adding to the challenge for Democrats is that a traditionally older midterm electorate tends to favor Republicans. Regardless, they are still making a play and Republicans are defending their turf. Here are 5 key races to watch: . 5 Senate races to watch in 2014 . Florida 13 . Take a vacant House seat in a swing district in a purple state and you get what many see as a March 11 special election that could serve as a bellwether for midterms. The national political spotlight will shine on the 13th Congressional District race to fill the remainder of the term of Republican Rep. Bill Young of Florida, who died in October. The district covers most of Pinellas County and parts of St. Petersburg and it's up for grabs: While Young grabbed 58% of the vote in his 2012 re-election, President Barack Obama narrowly carried the district. Obama also won it 2008, grabbing 51% support. "It almost goes without saying, but this is the type of seat and race Democrats have to win in order to have any chance of gaining the 17 seats they need in 2014 to get back to the majority," wrote Nathan Gonzales, deputy editor of the Rothenberg Political Report. Alex Sink, the former chief financial officer of Florida and the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, is her party's consensus candidate. David Jolly, who served as a former general counsel for Young and also worked as a lobbyist, will face off against state Sen. Kathleen Peters in the January 14 Republican primary. Arizona 2 . A rematch in swing district in southern Arizona will receive plenty of national media attention in 2014. Democratic Rep. Ron Barber is running for re-election in the Tucson area district that he won by less than 2,500 votes in 2012. Barber will face off against the same Republican challenger he edged out last time - retired Air Force Col. Martha McSally. The top 12 campaign questions of 2014 . While Barber came out on top in the 2012 contest, GOP nominee Mitt Romney narrowly captured Arizona's 2nd Congressional District in the presidential election. It's been in the headlines the past four years. Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords pushed back against the GOP wave in the 2010 midterms and won re-election. But two months later, Giffords was seriously hurt in a shooting that left six people dead. She left Congress in 2012. Barber, a top Giffords aide and who was also injured in the shooting, won the special election to succeed her. Democrats are determined to keep the seat, but Republicans see it as a prime pickup opportunity. Massachusetts 6 . This is a race in the Northeast that could produce a lot of intrigue. Incumbent John Tierney has held the solidly Democratic Massachusetts seat since 1997, but nearly lost it in 2012 after his wife's conviction for her role in her brother's illegal gambling venture. Displeased Democrats saw an opening after Tierney's narrow victory, so now he faces a primary test from Seth Moulton, a Marine who served four tours in Iraq and has been able to raise a significant amount of money. The primary winner could face Tierney's rival last time out, Republican Richard Tisei. He is a longtime state legislator and would be the first openly gay member of the GOP to be elected to Congress. Mostly ignored, shifts emerge in the politics of poverty . Idaho 2 . There is no question that a Republican is going to win this race but who will it be? The contest in Idaho's 2nd Congressional District illustrates the deep friction within the Republican Party. Incumbent Mike Simpson has served in the House for 14 years, leads an Appropriations subcommittee, and is a close friend of Speaker John Boehner. But the tea party wing of the GOP wants him out. The influential outside group, Club for Growth, has listed Simpson as one of its primary targets. One of the many things it doesn't like about him is his vote to reopen the government following the 16-day shutdown in October. The group is backing tea party activist and Idaho Falls attorney Bryan Smith. But Simpson has his friends. The Main Street Partnership, run by former Rep. Steve LaTourette, has vowed to spend $1 million dollars helping him win re-election. When moderates fight back: GOP civil war could be brutal in 2014 elections . "This May 2014 GOP primary has already turned into an all-out proxy war between the GOP's ideological purists like the Club for Growth .. .and Speaker John Boehner," Cook Political Report wrote. This is likely to be one of the most expensive - and closely watched - primary House races. California 10 . This electoral mood in the central California district currently favors Republican incumbent Jeff Denham. But this race is interesting because it could be closely tied to what happens -- or doesn't happen -- in Washington this year. The 10th Congressional District includes the city of Modesto and parts of the San Joaquin Valley. It is largely farm land. More than 40% of its residents are Latino, so immigration reform is going likely to be a critical factor for these residents. 4 ways immigration reform could happen - or not . Denham has been pushing fellow House Republicans to take up the issue but its fate is uncertain. Bee farmer Michael Eggman has already jumped in the race, running as a Democrat, and Denham's 2012 challenger, Jose Hernandez, the first Latino NASA astronaut in space, could also be a factor. While Obama won the district with just over 50% of the vote, Cook Political Report predicts the electorate will be more Republican in a non-election year. Honorable mention... Utah 4 . The election in Utah's 4th Congressional District will be in the national spotlight not because it's considered a close contest - it's not - but because of the candidate who's expected to come out on top come November. Republican Mia Love, an African-American Mormon, lost the 2012 race in the district that stretches from central Utah to the southern suburbs of Salt Lake City to longtime Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson by less than 800 votes. Love, who had the support of tea party activists and other grassroots conservatives, was featured prominently by the national party with a prime speaking slot at the 2012 GOP convention. Love announced in 2013 that she would once again challenge Matheson. But last month, Matheson announced he would retire at the end of his term, making Love the instant frontrunner. If everything goes as scripted, the House will say hello to its first-ever black female Republican. Your district . Want to know who his running for your district's House seat? Go to Democracy.com and type in your zip code. All of the candidates will be listed.
### SUMMARY:
| All 435 House seats are up in midterms and Democrats must win 17 GOP seats to regain control .
The tea party is mounting a challenge against senior Republicans .
Democrats won't have the down-ballot help from President Obama this election . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
It's August when the Cape feels like summer to me. The rest of the summer, the ocean water feels a little cold to me. In August, however, I can convince myself I could live there all year long. I've been visiting the Cape Cod town of Provincetown and nearby towns since the early 1990s, when graduate school in Boston made it an easy two-hour trip. Traveling single with friends, a significant other and eventually with my family, I've listened to Provincetown's Broadway-quality cabaret, eaten a dozen times at Arnold's Lobster and Clam Bar in Eastham and staked out my place on the beaches in Sandwich and all along the Cape. That's why I'm headed back to the Cape this year, although we'll fly this year instead of driving because of our recent move South. And this year, we'll stay in Wellfleet and hopefully swim in the town's freshwater kettle ponds carved out by retreating glaciers. Five guys take same photo for 30 years . As summer winds down and parents prepare for another round of getting back into school routines, there's often one last trip to soak in the season before alarms and homework and fall set back in. It seems everyone has a favorite summer spot. Ask a handful of friends and you're likely to get a different answer from everyone. I asked a few friends and colleagues to share the places they'd happily visit again and again. Do you have a favorite summertime destination? Please share your recommendations below. Rehoboth Beach: Where politicos go to relax . My pal Julianna Gonen can remember her first trips to Rehoboth in the late 1980s, traveling to the Delaware town for affordable weekend escapes with college friends. A graduate student on a budget in the early 1990s, she went with friends to play in beach volleyball tournaments and to enjoy the state park beach by Gordon's Pond. More than 20 years later, the Washington lawyer co-owns a home there and often makes the two-hour drive to spend relaxing weekends. These days she enjoys the side of the state park close to Lewes, biking on the wide, flat roads, and playing golf at the Rookery in Milton and Marsh Island in Lewes. Her "tried and true favorite" for a nice dinner is Eden, but she also loves Mixx, Nage and the new Shorebreak Lodge. Bin 66 Fine Wine & Spirits has free tastings Friday evenings (at the downtown store) and Saturday evening (at the Highway One location). "I like how the landscape shifts from urban to suburban to rural as I leave D.C. and head toward the ocean," says Gonen. "I like the wide open spaces that I drive by on the way to Rehoboth. Once there, I like the dunes, the old watch towers and kayaking on the Delaware Bay watching the Cape May-Lewes Ferry arrive and depart." 10 budget-friendly all inclusives . Premier spots "Up North" Every spring and summer, after those long, snow-buried Michigan winters, city and suburb dwellers inevitably crave a new view. And so, they head toward a place everyone simply calls "Up North." To locals, it encompasses everything in the northern part of the state's lower peninsula. The Great Lakes offer more than 10,000 miles of coastline, but some of the most popular are the soft sand beaches around Traverse City. One favorite: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Empire. The top always looks so close, but the climb can take hours. Afterward, cool down in the clear, crisp water of Lake Michigan. Inland lakes sprinkled around the upper part of the state usually feel warmer, and a little more private. My pal and CNN colleague Jamie Gumbrecht's choice? The shores of Higgins Lake, near Roscommon and Grayling. Her grandparents once owned one of the tiny cottages tucked in the woods around the lake. "How many happy hours were spent building kingdoms from perfectly damp sand, burning marshmallows over beach bonfires or floating in the water near South State Park?" she writes. "Didn't we beg every morning to shuffle over the fuzzy rocks, through the minnows and beyond the edge of the dock?" She caught her first fish there, a humble rock bass she remembers for its tough magenta gills and pearlescent copper scales. "The more memorable fish were the perch dinners provided by the lake -- small fillets grilled with flour, butter, lemon, salt and pepper." There's a cruise for everyone . Landlocked beachgoers head to Florida . Atlanta resident Laura Cooper, a pal from our children's preschool days, grew up on the beaches of Long Island and still needs to get her toes in the sand. She started going to WaterColor and Seaside on Florida's highway 30-A when she moved to the South nine years ago, and it's "hands down the best beach vacation anywhere," she says. "The sand is soft and white, and the water is turquoise - really beautiful." Cooper's family and friends usually rent a house with a gourmet kitchen for a week in May, when the weather is just right. There are just enough beach areas, pools, restaurants and ice cream shops for the family within walking or biking distance. (Her husband likes the Camp Creek golf course in Panama City Beach). "I want my kids to play on the beach, not have to schlep them to rides and toy stores," she says. The group likes to food shop at Modica's in Santa Rosa Beach for groceries and head to Bud & Alley's in Seaside for drinks. (Sitters are easy to find, she says.) San Diego: Summer all year . If I need summer anytime of year, I sometimes take the plunge for the transcontinental flight to my hometown of San Diego, where the weather is often warm enough for swimming (the water is always cold, so jump in quickly). Many tourists will head to La Jolla Shores or Torrey Pines for quality sunning, swimming and surfing. Others might head to Pacific Beach or Mission Beach, near Sea World and many of the beach area hotels. I won't argue with them. I spent many a high school weekend on those beaches, depending on who was organizing the bonfire. My favorite spot was practically in my Point Loma backyard, when I was prepared to walk. During the last days of summer and into fall, we'd cut through the campus of Point Loma Nazarene College and hike down Sunset Cliffs toward a somewhat secret staircase to the tide pools. In the daytime, scattered surfers would try to catch a wave in the distance while children played in the shallow waters. If you want a view of the point where Juan Cabrillo became the first European to step foot on what is now the West Coast of the United States, head to Cabrillo National Monument and pay the National Park fee to see the most spectacular view of San Diego. Military buffs can enjoy the views of warships under repair and pay their respects at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. For my favorite seafood joint, head to Point Loma Seafoods and watch the fishing boats pull right up to the restaurant dock to unload their catch. Where do you go to capture those last days of summer? Do you like to visit the spots of your childhood or do you prefer to explore new places?
### SUMMARY:
| Cape Cod offers beaches, freshwater ponds and lobster rolls .
Kayak on the Delaware Bay, watching the ferries go by .
The Great Lakes have more than 10,000 miles of coastline .
Swimming, tide pools and seafood entertain beachgoers in Point Loma . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced a 2010 Pentagon budget Monday that reflects major changes in the "scope and significance" of Defense Department priorities. One of the high-profile programs on the chopping block is the . Air Force's most expensive fighter, the F-22 Raptor. The proposed budget cuts several traditional big-ticket items while investing in programs designed to bolster the military's ability to wage an ongoing conflict against terrorists and other extremist elements in multiple regions at the same time. Gates acknowledged that parts of the budget are likely to run into significant opposition on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are concerned in part about preserving valuable defense contracts for their districts and states. "This is a reform budget, reflecting lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan," Gates said. "There's no question that a lot of these decisions will be controversial." He called on Congress to "rise above parochial interests and consider what is in the best interests of the nation as a whole." House Armed Service Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Missouri, acknowledged that congressmen have concerns about job losses in their home districts but said that ultimately, "the national interest overrides anything." "The buck stops with us," he said. "We still have a lot of hard work ahead of us." Three key priorities are reflected in the changes, Gates said. The priorities are a stronger institutional commitment to the military's all-volunteer force, a decision to "rebalance" defense programs to better fight current and future conflicts, and "fundamental overhauls" of the military's procurement, acquisition and contracting process. Among other things, Gates called for production of the Air Force's most expensive fighter, the F-22 Raptor, to be phased out by fiscal year 2011. He also called for terminating a proposed fleet of 23 presidential helicopters estimated to cost more than $13 billion. The proposed fleet, he noted, was originally projected to cost $6.5 billion. It "has fallen six years behind schedule and runs the risk of not delivering the requested capability," he said. Gates maintained that a new fleet of presidential helicopters will still ultimately be necessary, however. See a list of winners, losers and break-even programs » . At the same time, he said he did not want to pursue a development program for a new Air Force bomber "until we have a better understanding of the need, the requirement and the technology." Gates did request 50 Predator and Reaper-class unmanned aerial vehicles by fiscal year 2011, translating to a 62 percent increase in capability over the current level and 127 percent from a year ago. The Predator has been used extensively by the military in operations along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. Turning to the military's overall troop levels, Gates proposed spending an additional $11 billion to complete a planned expansion of the Army and Marine Corps while halting reductions in the Air Force and Navy. A planned 547,000 troop increase, while capping the growth of Army brigade combat teams at 45 as opposed to a previously discussed level of 48, will be sufficient to "ensure that we have better manned units ready to employ and help put an end to the routine use of stop-loss," Gates maintained. "This step will also lower the risk of hollowing the force," he said. Gates also proposed a reduction in the use of support service contractors from 39 percent of the Pentagon work force to a pre-2001 level of 26 percent. The contractors, Gates added, would be replaced with full-time government employees. To help create a more mobile, flexible force, Gates proposed boosting special operations personnel by 2,800, or 5 percent, as well as purchasing aircraft designed to provide greater lift mobility and rapid transportation of those forces. Among other things, he cited a proposed increase in the purchase of "littoral combat ships, a key capability for presence, stability and counterinsurgency operations in coastal regions," from two to three ships. The Pentagon's ultimate goal, he said, is to acquire 55 of these ships. Another $500 million is directed toward boosting "global partnership capacity efforts" through enhanced initiatives for "training and equipping foreign militaries to undertake counterterrorism and stability operations." In what may prove to be one of the most controversial aspects of his proposed budget, Gates announced the cancellation or reduction of key elements of the Pentagon's missile defense system, including the installation of additional ground-based interceptor missiles in Alaska. The proposed overall missile defense system budget was trimmed by $1.4 billion. A bipartisan group of senators released a letter during Gates' announcement that urged him "not to allow deep cuts in U.S. missile defense programs that are critically important to protecting our homeland and our allies against the growing threat of ballistic missiles." "The threat from ballistic missiles is significant and on the rise. [It] has been underscored by Iran and North Korea's recent missile tests," they argued. The letter was signed by both senators from Alaska -- Republican Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Mark Begich -- among others. Although Gates was initially appointed Pentagon chief by former President George W. Bush, his overall budget received what appeared to be a mixed reception from congressional Republicans. "Republicans appreciate Secretary Gates' effort to shape the Department of Defense so that we more effectively fight the wars our troops are engaged in today. However, we are concerned about the tradeoffs involved in re-balancing the Department," New York Rep. John McHugh, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services committee, said in a written statement. "It remains the Congress' responsibility to provide for the common defense," he warned. Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, however, said Gates' budget "is a major step in the right direction." "It has long been necessary to shift spending away from weapon systems plagued by scheduling and cost overruns to ones that strike the correct balance between the needs of our deployed forces and the requirements for meeting the emerging threats of tomorrow," he said. "I believe Secretary Gates' decision is key to ensuring that the defense establishment closes the gap between the way it supports current operations and the way it prepares for future conventional threats." Georgia Republicans slammed President Obama for Gates' announcement about the phase-out of the F-22 Raptor, which is assembled in Cobb County, Georgia. Rep. Tom Price, whose district includes the Raptor production facility, called the cut "outrageous" and said Obama's "priorities are deeply flawed." Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss said he was "disappointed" in the cuts and accused the administration of being "willing to sacrifice the lives of American military men and women for the sake of domestic programs." Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut, was also dismissive of the F-22 phase-out, although he said he generally supported Gates' moves to modernize the military. Some F-22 production takes place in Connecticut as well. The proposed overall fiscal year 2010 Defense Department budget is almost $534 billion, or nearly $664 billion when including the costs of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The current Pentagon budget totals slightly over $513 billion, or almost $655 billion including the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. CNN's Adam Levine, Mike Mount and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report .
### SUMMARY:
| NEW: Budget receives mixed reception from congressional Republicans .
Defense Secretary Robert Gates calls for phasing out production of F-22 .
Budget reflects "lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan," Gates says .
Budget includes stronger institutional commitment to military's all-volunteer force . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Egypt's former longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak was cleared of charges in a retrial Saturday and could soon be released -- a stunning reversal for a man who faced life imprisonment or worse after a revolution toppled him in 2011. A Cairo judge dismissed charges linking Mubarak to the deaths of hundreds of protesters during the 2011 revolt and found him not guilty of corruption. Mubarak, who ruled Egypt as president for 29 years, was stoic as his supporters in the courtroom cheered the decision that capped a months-long retrial. The 86-year-old, reclining on a hospital gurney in a defendants' cage, nodded while fellow defendants kissed him on the head. Later, he told the country's Sada ElBalad TV station in a brief phone interview that he "didn't commit anything." "I laughed when I heard the first verdict," he said of the first trial. "When it came to the second verdict, I said I was waiting. It would go either way. It wouldn't have made a difference to me either way." Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat will appeal the verdict, Egypt's government-controlled Al-Ahram newspaper website reported early Sunday. Mubarak was convicted in 2012 of issuing orders to kill peaceful protesters during the country's 2011 uprising and was sentenced to life in prison. He appealed and was granted a new trial last year. Also acquitted Saturday were Mubarak's former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly and six of el-Adly's aides, who'd been accused of being connected to the deaths of 239 protesters as security forces cracked down on them in 2011. Mubarak's two sons also were acquitted Saturday of corruption. Mubarak still has a three-year sentence for a previous conviction for embezzlement, but it wasn't immediately clear how much time he's already been credited with, and therefore when he will be free. CNN's efforts to reach Mubarak's lawyer Farid El-Deeb for comment weren't immediately successful. Both sides have alleged that Mubarak's trials have been politicized, with supporters arguing he was unfairly vilified and opponents fearing that he'd be acquitted as memories of the revolution faded. His legal fortunes did seem to parallel the political climate -- just last year, Mohamed Morsy, the Islamist who became Egypt's first democratically elected president, supported a retrial with the backing of his supporters, who argued Mubarak should have received a death sentence rather than life in captivity. But Morsy himself was deposed by the military in July 2013, as opponents accused him of pursuing an Islamist agenda at the exclusion of other factions. And now the Arab Spring revolt that ousted Mubarak has come nearly full circle -- Mubarak appears close to freedom; Morsy is jailed, his Muslim Brotherhood banned; and Morsy supporters allege the current government has returned to Mubarak's authoritarian practices. Explaining the verdict . Judge Mahmoud el-Rashidy said he dropped charges against Mubarak because Cairo Criminal Court didn't have the jurisdiction to try him for the protesters' deaths. The judge said the case that prosecutors initially referred to the court listed only el-Adly and his aides as defendants -- not Mubarak himself. But after mass protests pressured the prosecutor general to question Mubarak, a second referral was made to the court, and the two cases were merged into one. Lawyer Hoda Nasralla, who represents the families of 65 slain and injured protesters, said the inclusion of Mubarak in a second referral should have trumped his exclusion in the first. "The judge shied away from directly acquitting Mubarak even though he was accused of conspiring with Adly, and Adly was acquitted," she said. "The judge resorted to formalities instead." 'I want only God's retribution' Salway El-Sayed, mother of one of the slain 2011 protesters, sat down on a sidewalk outside the court after she heard Saturday's verdicts, praying to God to deliver justice. She broke down in tears, her hands shaking, as she recalled her son Tamer Hanafy, who was killed in January 2011 at Cairo's Tahrir Square, epicenter of the uprising. "I'm worried my son's blood would go in vain," she said. "Our children's blood isn't cheap. Their blood is precious, like any other blood." "I don't want execution," she continued. "This won't bring back my son ... I want only God's retribution. Nothing more." Tahrir Square was closed to traffic following Saturday's verdicts. One man was killed and nine people were injured as several hundred demonstrators clashed nearby with Egyptian security forces, Egyptian Ministry of Health spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar told CNN. Police fired tear gas and bird shot at the protesters. The Ministry of Interior said police were pelted by rocks before the incident escalated. The human rights group Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, whose lawyers represented more than 60 civil plaintiffs in the case, said that Saturday's verdict solidified the impunity that it says security forces and their leaders enjoy. "Justice was dealt another severe blow," the group said in a news release. How it started . In January 2011, throngs of Egyptians filled the streets of Cairo to decry the country's poverty, unemployment and repression. Protesters called for Mubarak to step down but were met by a fierce and often violent government crackdown. Mubarak eventually stepped down in 2011. That freed up long-supressed Islamist movements, including the Muslim Brotherhood, to run for office. Morsy, backed by the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, became president in June 2012. But Morsy was ousted in a coup about a year later amid widespread protests against his rule. Since then, Cairo's military-installed government has banned the Brotherhood, calling it a terrorist group -- an allegation it denies -- and accusing it of being behind a wave of deadly attacks on police and the military. Many Islamist and secular activists have been arrested and given lengthy sentences. A restrictive protest law and repeated deadly crackdowns on demonstrations followed. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the general who led Morsy's ouster, was elected president in May after leaving the military to run for the office. Not free yet . Since Mubarak stepped down in February 2011, the ailing former ruler has appeared in court numerous times on a variety of charges, often wheeled in on a gurney. His lawyers say he suffered health problems after his 2011 arrest, including a stroke, and he has served much of his prison time at a military medical facility. In May, a Cairo court sentenced him to three years in prison for embezzlement. His sons Gamal and Alaa were sentenced to four years each on the same charge. All three were convicted of embezzling $18 million that was allocated for the renovation of presidential palaces. The Mubaraks have insisted they are not guilty.
### SUMMARY:
| Mubarak tells Egyptian TV station: "I didn't commit anything"
The 86-year-old is still serving a three-year sentence for embezzlement .
One man killed, nine people injured in protest near Tahir Square .
Prosecutor tell state media he will appeal verdict . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Daily Mail Reporter . Last updated at 10:08 PM on 17th July 2011 . As the debt ceiling deadline draws . dangerously close, Barack Obama was spotted heading to church with his . family in Washington this morning. Perhaps . he was praying for a solution - or better a resolution - to the small . task of securing a multi-trillion-dollar deal that House Democrats and . Republicans can agree on before the Government defaults on August 2. If the President was feeling the strain of last week's gruelling debt meetings, he didn't show it. Looking resplendent in their Sunday Best the Obamas laughed and joked with each other as they made their way back to the White House after the service at St John's Church. Mr Obama also told reporters he would 'absolutely' be watching the women's soccer world cup final between USA and Japan today. While the First family gathered around the television White House and congressional aides were continuing discussions to find a solution for increasing the nation's borrowing authority while reducing long-term deficits, behind the scenes. This . comes after the failure to get a deal after five straight days of . meetings last week between Mr Obama and congressional leaders at the . White House. But there was hope today that congressional leaders still had time 'to get something big done' with Mr Obama. 'I . think that what is encouraging is that the leaders in Congress seem to . have all agreed that we can't push to a default,' White House budget . director Jack Lew said. Sunday best: The Obamas head home after attending a service at St John's Church in Washington, while Congress leaders worked behind the scenes to try and seal a debt deal . 'So I think that there are many conversations going on in order to make sure that doesn't happen.' The . government will exceed the current $14.3trillion debt ceiling in 16 . days, after which it will be in default of its obligations. The . consequences could be far-reaching, with potentially higher interest . rates on mortgages and car loans, a halt in Social Security checks and . unsettled world financial markets. Talks have continued over the weekend and White House spokesman Dan Pfeiffer . said on Twitter that Mr Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and other White . House officials were discussing 'various options' with lawmakers . throughout the day yesterday. Meanwhile Republican House Speaker John Boehner is 'keeping the lines of . communication open,' his spokesman, Mike Steel told Bloomberg. 'Meetings have been . occurring.' Republicans have rejected any plan that contains tax increases. Lew said on NBC's Meet The Press that the president 'made clear he wants the largest deal possible.' Back to the White House: The President shakes hands with Reverend Luis Leon before he, First Lady Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha head home . Not much to smile about: Mr Obama shares a joke with his wife who looks less than impressed, as the family walk out of the church gates . Stroll: Mrs Obama is seen with daughter Malia, left, while the President walks with the couple's other daughter Sasha after the service . 'He wants to do the most we can to . reduce the deficit,' Lew said. 'But he also said that if we can't get . the most done, then in addition to extending the debt we should do as . much as we can.' House Republicans are preparing to . vote this week on allowing an increase in the government's borrowing . limit through 2012 as long as Congress approves a balanced-budget . constitutional amendment. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., called that . proof Republicans are willing to compromise and 'hardly a radical idea' but the Senate's No 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said that bill . doesn't have the needed support in the Senate. 'This notion that we have to change the Constitution to do what we were elected to do is just plain wrong,' Durbin said. Lew also did not like the idea. In the background: The Obamas head back to the White House where talks between congressional leaders were thought to be ongoing throughout the weekend . 'What these ideas do is say let's . kick the can down the road so that others will deal with it,' he said. 'The challenge is for Washington now to do the job the American people . sent us here to do.' DeMint said the U.S. is on course for . a financial disaster and that lawmakers have 'to draw a line in the . sand now because a day of reckoning is going to come.' 'And the longer we put it off the bigger the problems are going to be for our country,' DeMint said. Holding the fort: Meanwhile White House Budget Director Jack Lew revealed there were 'many conversations' going on as the battle to secure a deal before August 2 carried on . However, if it comes down to it, . White House officials who say Congress won't let the U.S. default are . 'probably right on that,' DeMint said. Senators are working on a bipartisan . plan that would allow Mr Obama to raise the debt limit without a prior . vote by lawmakers. The talks focused on how to address long-term deficit . reduction in the proposal in hopes of satisfying House Republicans. 'Lines of communication remain open with all parties,' said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner. Mr Obama admitted that . compromise was needed in talks with Republicans to solve the . crisis, during his weekly radio and internet address yesterday. He said it would take 'shared sacrifice' for . Democrats and Republicans to come to an agreement. 'Let's be honest. Neither party in this town is blameless,' he said in . his broadcast to the nation. 'Both have talked this problem to death without . doing enough about it. That's what drives people nuts about Washington.' He attempted to reach out to the middle class in the address, repeating his . call for higher taxes on the wealthy and reforms to politically popular . entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare. 'We are all . part of the same country. We are all in this together,' he said. But Republicans renewed their call for an amendment to require a balanced budget. 'The only reason this administration doesn't want a constitutional . amendment is because they want to keep spending the American people's . money,' Senator Orrin Hatch said in the Republican response. 'And the only . reason congressional Democrats would refuse to pass it, is because they . know the people of this country would rise up and quickly ratify it.' In his weekly broadcast Mr Obama continued to insist that it was necessary to remove some tax breaks. 'Simply . put, it will take a balanced approach, shared sacrifice, and a . willingness to make unpopular choices on all our parts,' he said. 'That . means spending less on domestic programmes,' the President said. 'It . means spending less on defence programmes. ... And it means taking on . the tax code, and cutting out certain tax breaks and deductions for the . wealthiest Americans.' 'The truth is, you can't solve our deficit without cutting spending,' Mr Obama said. 'But . you also can't solve it without asking the wealthiest Americans to pay . their fair share - or without taking on loopholes that give special . interests and big corporations tax breaks that middle-class Americans . don't get.'
### SUMMARY:
| White House and congressional aides were continuing discussions over the weekend .
There is hope that congressional leaders still had time 'to get something big done'
Obama calls for 'shared sacrifice' in a deficit reduction package to clear the way for raising of the debt ceiling .
Said he's willing to compromise and called on members of Congress to do the same .
Republican Senator Orrin Hatch responds that constitutional amendment requiring balanced budget is needed . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Associated Press Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 10:46 EST, 15 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:00 EST, 15 January 2013 . Shoppers face higher produce prices nationwide because of unseasonably chilly weather in the western United States. As an unusual cold spell gripped parts of the West for a fifth day, some California citrus growers reported damage to crops and an agriculture official said national prices on lettuce have started to rise because of lost produce in Arizona. The extreme chill in the West comes as the eastern U.S., from Atlanta to New York City, is seeing spring-like weather. Citrus crisis: Icicles form on an orange tree during the five-day cold snap in California . Fruit growers are struggling to protect the $1.5 billion crop but some wastage is now inevitable . An orange is encased in ice at a grove in Redlands, California. Farmers are hopeful that the thaw is not far away . In California's San Joaquin Valley, . where farmers are fighting to protect about $1.5 billion worth of citrus . fruit on their trees, Sunday temperatures dropped to 25 degrees in some . areas and stayed low longer than previous nights. Prolonged temperatures in the mid-20s or below cause damage to citrus crops. 'It was our coldest night to date,' said Paul Story of Exeter-based . California Citrus Mutual, an association of the state's 3,900 citrus . growers. 'I think mandarin growers are going to see a range of significant damage, enough that they will have to separate their crops.' Mandarins are more susceptible to cold than other citrus and start to freeze at about 32 degrees, Story said. Growers are doing everything they can to protect the crops, including harvesting early and using air blowers to keep warm air moving . On Sunday temperatures dropped to 25 degrees in some areas and stayed low longer than previous nights . Because many mandarin trees were . planted in recent years as the fruit's popularity soared, they are grown . in colder areas outside the traditional citrus belt. Other citrus crops saw little or . minimal damage, Story said. This year's high sugar content in oranges . helped protect them, he said, because sugar inhibits freezing. Growers deployed wind machines to keep the warm air closer to the ground and irrigation to raise the temperature in the groves. Rows farthest away from the protection could be damaged, Story said. And farmers who do not have wind machines could lose crops. Lindsey-based . Robert LoBue — who grows 1,000 acres of citrus, including mandarins — . said wind machines were critical in his groves, but saving the crop . doesn't come cheap. LoBue runs one wind machine for every 10 acres and . has to employ a crew to operate them. The forecast for Tuesday suggests more mild temperatures but the western states have suffered freezing weather for the last five days . 'We're . very diligent, we run the wind and water all night,' LoBue said, 'but . we're spending thousands of dollars to protect these crops.' And . farmers are on the hook for a fifth cold night: a freeze warning . remains in effect until 10 a.m. Tuesday for central California. In . Southern California, where strong winds helped keep some crops out of . danger by keeping the cold from settling, farmers said any damage would . negatively impact workers and consumers. 'We have between 170 to 200 employees . and if we can't pick we have to lay off our picking crews,' said John . Gless, a third-generation Riverside-based grower. And if there's less . fruit to pick, he said prices will go up. Frost covers the ground in a grove east of Clovis, California. Five days of cold temperatures have put citrus crops in danger . Temperatures in downtown Los Angeles fell to 34 degrees, breaking the previous record of 36 degrees set on Jan. 14, 2007. In Angeles National Forest, where overnight temperatures have been dropping into the 20s, Arcadia hiker Danny Kim, 28, was found Sunday night after surviving 26 hours in the frigid West Fork wilderness. Kim was airlifted to a hospital for treatment of hypothermia. In Beverly Hills, fans brought heavy coats and scarves as they waited along the red carpet hoping to catch glimpses of stars arriving for the Golden Globes ceremony Sunday evening. Some of the actors shivered but weren't complaining. 'I'd rather be nippy than boiling hot,' said actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who arrived in a strapless dress. 'No, I'm not wearing any leggings or long underwear.' In San Diego, zookeepers offered extra heat and shelter for some animals. To . the east, the freezing temperatures already have done enough damage to . southwestern Arizona lettuce crops that prices are increasing, said Kurt . Nolte, a Yuma, Ariz.-based agricultural agent for the University of . Arizona. 'I'd rather be nippy than boiling hot,' said actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who arrived at the Golden Globes awards in Beverly Hills in a strapless dress . The area provides much of the nation's leafy greens during the winter, and farmers are reporting damage to many romaine and iceberg lettuce crops. The cold is freezing the heads of the lettuce and affecting the quality and yield, Nolte said. The price for a carton of lettuce in Yuma two weeks ago was $7 to $8. As of Monday, it cost around $20 per carton, he said. 'That's a result of cold weather in the Yuma area for the last six weeks,' Nolte said. Overnight temperatures this week have dipped into the 20s around Yuma, and Nolte said lettuce farmers can't protect their crops. 'With lettuce, you don't have the luxury of wind machines to stir up the atmosphere,' he noted. 'You have to live with what Mother Nature brings. 'Very little can be done other than maybe running some water to protect what's going to be harvested the next day.' Farm workers are worried that a large percentage of the crop could be destroyed . Nolte said Yuma farmers haven't seen much damage so far with other crops such as spinach, cauliflower and broccoli. Metropolitan Phoenix marked one of its coolest stretches since 1988 and Sunday morning's low of 7 degrees in Douglas, Ariz., broke a record for January in the Mexican border town. Farther north, a school district on the Navajo Nation cancelled all classes Tuesday because of freezing temperatures. Temperatures in Window Rock, Ariz., were expected to be well below freezing Tuesday with a high of 21 degrees and a low of minus 5 degrees. The Window Rock School District posted the cancellation notice on its website Monday, saying heating the schools has been a problem. In Nevada, the temperature in Ely plummeted to 24 below zero early Monday and wind chills were expected to drop to near 40 below into Tuesday. And in northern New Mexico, parts of Interstate 25 and some other highways were snow packed and icy Monday, and officials warned travelers that additional light snow could lead to hazardous driving conditions when coupled with the freezing temperature.
### SUMMARY:
| Extremely cold spell freezes western states for fifth day running as the east basks in spring-like conditions .
Citrus growers fear for their fruit in California, while the price of lettuce has risen from $7 to $20 due to crop damage in Arizona . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Stewart Maclean . UPDATED: . 09:04 EST, 11 January 2012 . Crushed: Gloria Sekwena, 47, died in a stampede yesterday as she tried to register her son for a place at the University of Johannesburg. She was a nurse who lived and worked in London . A mother who died in a stampede as she tried to register her son for a place at university in South Africa was a nurse who lived and worked in London, it emerged today. Gloria Sekwena, 47, travelled back from Britain to South Africa late last month to help secure her son Kgositsile, 18, a position on a medicine course at the University of Johannesburg. But she died yesterday after being crushed amid a frantic scrum caused when a crowd of around 5,000 people stampeded through the institution's gates. Two other people were critically . injured and at least 17 more needed medical attention following the . chaotic scenes yesterday morning. Today . University of Johannesburg spokesman Herman Esterhuisen confirmed . university officials had since made contact with the dead woman's . family. He said: 'We can confirm that the woman who sadly died was Gloria Sekwena, who worked as a nurse and lived in London. 'It is our understanding that she returned to South Africa at the end of December to help her son get a place at university. 'It is obviously very sad indeed that she became caught up in what happened yesterday.' Mr . Esterhuisen said University of Johannesburg leaders had arranged to . meet Mrs Sekwena's family later this week and had offered to pay her . teenage son's tuition fees if he decided to study at the institution. He added: 'We are in contact with the family and we are offering all the support we can. 'As part of that we have offered to pay for the boy's tuition.' It . was reported today that Mrs Sekwena lived in London with her husband . Joseph, who remained in Britain and was informed of the tragedy . yesterday. Scroll down for video of the stampede . Evasion tactics: Students clamber over fences in a desperate bid to escape the crush as thousands surge through the gates of the University of Johannesburg yesterday morning . Tragedy: The mother of one student hopeful was killed and at least 20 other people were seriously hurt . Frantic: Around 5,000 prospective students had lined up outside the institution in the desperate hope of securing the remaining places for the next academic year . The couple, from Krugersdorp west of Johannesburg, are believed to also have another school-age son. South . Africa's Sowetan newspaper reported that Mr Sekwena was now making . arrangements to return to Johannesburg to support his son. The . publication quoted an unnamed family member, who told how Kgositsile . became overwhelmed by grief after realising his mother had died. Help at hand: Paramedics treat an injured woman among discarded clothing, shoes and litter . Melee: Some students fall to the ground as others desperately try to make room for themselves amid the chaos . The Sowetan reported: 'A sobbing Kgositsile was consoled at the university's centre for psychological services where he had to be tranquillised by a nurse and attended to by a psychologist. 'An emotional family member said they received a frantic call from a 'confused' Kgositsile, who screamed: "My mum is unconscious. I need help. Please come". 'We immediately switched on the TV and heard that someone had died. We didn't know what to think. Keen learners: Aspiring students queued for hours in the hope of gaining a sought-after place for next year . Patient: Places are highly competitive, leading some critics to call for entrance criteria to be raised . 'I wasn't sure what was going on and the next minute he called again, crying, saying, "My mother is no more".' The relative added that the teenager later explained the final frantic moments of his mother's life. They said: 'He said people started pushing and shoving, and that chaos erupted when someone jumped the fence to get into the university. 'He said he fell to the side and his mother was still in the crowd, people were stepping on her and pushing her. She disappeared in the crowd. 'He was looking for his mother and when he found her she was unconscious already. He was crying. She died within minutes. 'He just said, "I don't have a mother anymore".' The Sowetan reported that Mrs Sekwana sustained no significant visible injuries during the stampede but died from internal bleeding and shock. Her son was taken to a Johannesburg mortuary yesterday to identify her body. The South African government has ordered a full enquiry into the tragedy, which happened around 7.30am yesterday. University officials told how around 5,000 people formed a deadly crush as they rushed to enter the campus. Security chiefs opened a gate after realising people at the front of the crowd could be in danger, but several people were trampled amid the resulting stampede. Johannesburg emergency services yesterday confirmed at least 20 people had been injured in the incident, including two who remained in serious conditions in hospital. The institution's vice-chancellor, . Ihron Rensburg, said the tragedy happened as hopeful students and their . parents pushed to get through the university's main gates for the chance . to secure late registration for the new academic year, which starts . later this month. Moving on up: Hundreds of thousands of students received the results of the country's school-leavers exams last week . Addressing . a press conference yesterday, he said: 'When we opened the gates this . morning, the rush to get in created an unbearable crush on those at the . front. 'The outcome was that there was a lady who was the front who was crushed and she passed away. 'Two other people suffered very serious injuries and we fear for their lives.' Speaking about Gloria . Sekwena's death, he said: 'The situation was particularly tragic as the . young man was inside the registration tent and had no idea that this . had happened. 'We are offering counselling and support to those who have been affected by this. Experts have said they believe the stampede reflected the desperation among many South Africans to access higher education. The country's university system is believed by many to be under-resourced, with most institutions significantly over-subscribed for courses. The lack of widespread internet . access and poor careers advice in rural or township areas means . thousands of prospective applicants are forced to turn up in person to . register their interest in further studies. Experts believe the problem is . symptomatic of a higher education system which has failed to expand . adequately to South Africans' growing demand for university places . following the end of apartheid. Before the advent of democracy in 1994, university places were limited largely to the white population and a tiny black elite. However, students from all backgrounds . are now able to apply for further studies, with many choosing to do so . in a country where poverty and unemployment remain common. Some critics argue that standards at . South African universities have fallen in recent years and suggest . entrance criteria should be raised. The University of Johannesburg describes itself as a 'comprehensive' institution which offers diplomas alongside degrees. Last year, it received more than 85,000 applications for fewer than 12,000 places on its undergraduate courses. The tragedy on its campus came as it offered an opportunity for high-achieving students who had not already registered to do so at the last minute.
### SUMMARY:
| Devastated teenage son cried 'I don't have a mother anymore' when he realised she was dead .
Gloria Sekwena left London at the end of December to help get her son a place at university .
Frenzy symptomatic of country's failure to meet university demand . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Larisa Brown . PUBLISHED: . 16:29 EST, 28 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:56 EST, 28 January 2013 . George Barker arriving at court today where jurors heard he exposed himself in front of a sleeping teenager so his team-mates could take a photograph . A footballer told a court today that he had exposed himself in front of a sleeping teenager so his team-mates could take a photograph. George Barker, 21, said he and five other footballers were 'laughing and joking' in the Brighton hotel room where the 19-year-old had joined them. Barker told the Old Bailey that his friend Anton Rodgers, 20, was the first to pull his boxer shorts down and pose for a picture. Brighton and Hove Albion players Barker, Rodgers, Lewis Dunk, 21, and former team-mate Steve Cook, 21, who now plays for Bournemouth, deny sexual assault and voyeurism. The offences are alleged to have taken place in July 2011 after the Brighton players went clubbing to celebrate a win. The woman, who is now 21, admitted telling police 'a pack of lies' after missing work the next day but said she revealed what happened after a row with her boyfriend months later. Barker, the first of the players to give evidence, claimed that the alleged victim was . ‘openly pursuing’ Brighton footballers that night and kissed different . members of the team. In a prepared statement he said he left the club early with Rodgers and they returned to their room at the Jury’s Inn Hotel and went to bed. He was woken by the sound of voices and saw the woman sitting on their double bed. He said: 'She was talking to us, having a laugh and joking, getting involved in the banter. 'She got into the bed and got in between us under the duvet. We carried on laughing and joking for about 15 minutes. 'Then she started kissing Anton, kissing his lips, snogging. She then rolled over and started kissing me on the lips. 'It was a bit of a shock to start with. She rolled back to Anton and started kissing him again, then she rolled back again and then started kissing me again. Then she fell asleep.' He added: ‘She appeared to want to have sexual intercourse. I did not want to have . sexual intercourse with her. She initiated kissing and cuddling. ‘I felt very awkward as a result of her actions towards me. I was embarrassed by her advances towards me in front of others.’ He said fellow players Ben Sampayo and Leon Redwood were also in the room. Barker said: 'I remember there was talking, suggesting photographs would be taken. 'I remember someone saying, "Anton, you have got the biggest d***, so get it out". 'It was to make the boys laugh, I guess.' Steve Cook, 21, left, who now plays for Bournemouth, and Anton Rodgers, right, the 19-year-old son of Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, pictured today outside court . Lewis Dunk outside court today. The four footballers are alleged to have committed the offences at a hotel in Brighton in July 2012 . He said Rodgers posed for a photograph standing on the bed next to the woman with his genitals exposed. 'I was laughing at him,' added Barker. He said he also pulled his boxer shorts down and posed but, like Rodgers, did not touch her. Barker added: ‘I stood next to her and had my photo taken. I did not have any sexual gratification from doing so.’ Barker said he left the room and when he returned he saw someone had written his initials in foam on the woman’s thigh, and he posed with his thumbs up next to her. He said he saw four pictures taken before leaving the room, and the only time he saw any of the pictures was some days later when Rodgers allegedly sent him a copy of the GB picture. The court was told it was the only picture found by police on any of the players’ phones. Barker denied that the Brighton . footballers described the alleged victim as a ‘slag’ but admitted he . thought she was a ‘bit of a slapper.’ He said: ‘After kissing Ronald [Bergkamp] in the club, texting Leon . [Redwood], then kissing me and Anton, I was thinking... she liked to . kiss.’ Prosecutor Richard Barton asked what was . funny about taking a picture of the alleged victim sprawled out on the . bed, Barker replied: ‘The fact she was passed out, that was it.’ Mr Barton said: ‘You ended up masturbating over her... group shots of you masturbating over her unconscious body.’ Barker replied: ‘No.’ Mr Barton: ‘The purpose of these photos was that they were humiliating . for her. You were humiliating this slapper, as far as you thought... and . you were all in that together.’ Steve Cook, 21, admitted that two of his teammates exposed themselves . while taking photos of the ‘half asleep’ woman. But he denied they touched her with their genitals and added: ‘It was just a laugh, just a bit of boy banter.’ The Old Bailey has heard how Cook and Rodgers, the . 19 year-old son of Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, Lewis Dunk, 21, and Barker, 21, met the alleged victim at a club while celebrating a . cup final win in July 2011. She said she woke up to find herself lying half naked next to Rodgers and discovered the ‘humiliating’ photos on his phone. They showed the footballers touching themselves while standing around . her and putting their genitals on her hand and face, jurors heard. Allegation: Jury's Inn, Brighton, where the assault is alleged to have taken place following a night out . During his interviews in January and February 2012, Cook told police . that he did not touch the 19 year-old and was fully clothed. But he admitted that he saw some of his teammates taking a couple of photos with their genitals ‘out’. Summarising the interview, prosecutor Richard Barton said: ‘He wasn’t . sure who was taking them. They had a laugh, she was half asleep. She was . half and half, drifting to sleep. ‘When the two people had their penises out they were just laughing and joking. He thought one of those was Anton Rodgers. ‘He believed a couple of photos were taken. No-one touched her with their penises. It was just a laugh, just a bit of boy banter. ‘The defendant did not pose for any photographs and had his clothes on all night.’ Cook also denied seeing any photos posted on the internet or hearing discussions about it around the football club. Asked whether he was one of the men masturbating over her chest, he . replied: ‘No, not a chance, no. I never got my penis out in that room . that night. I never took a photo.’ Dunk told police that he did not see any photos being taken. ‘All I saw was the shaving foam,’ he added, claiming that another . player, Leon Redwood, sprayed the letters GB in foam on the woman’s leg . while she was asleep. The trial was adjourned to tomorrow. Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons.
### SUMMARY:
| George Barker, 21, said he and five other footballers were 'laughing'
Barker said friend Anton Rodgers, 20, was first to pull boxer shorts down .
Footballer claims he woke to woman sitting on their bed in hotel room .
She allegedly kissed Anton on the lips then rolled over to kiss Barker . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 07:19 EST, 15 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:25 EST, 15 January 2013 . Bank of England chief Sir Mervyn King said bankers had to realise they 'can¿t just exist on their own' Goldman Sachs has abandoned plans to delay paying out bonuses to help bankers avoid the 50p tax rate. The u-turn came hours after Bank of England boss Sir Mervyn King branded the idea 'depressing' and accused bankers of mis-judging public anger at the damage caused by the financial crash. The investment bank had considered waiting to . award equity bonuses deferred from previous years, due to pay out this . month, until after April 6. It would mean tax on the payouts would have been paid at the 45p . rate instead of the 50p rate for high earners. But people familiar with the bank's deliberations said the Comp Committee of the board met today and ruled out the idea. In a devastating attack on attitudes in the City, Sir Mervyn accused the super-rich of thinking it was 'exciting' to use a loophole which could cost the taxpayer millions. 'I find it a bit depressing that people who earn so much seem to think it's even more exciting to kind of adjust the timing of it to get the benefit of a lower tax rate which they will benefit from in the long run to a very great extent,' he told the Treasury Select Committee. Sir Mervyn, who will stand down as Bank of England Governor in June, said City firms had to consider the reputational damage the move would cause. 'I think it would be rather clumsy and rather lacking in care and attention to how other people might react and , in the long run, financial institutions, like all large institutions do depend on good will from the rest of society, they can’t just exist on their own.' British taxpayers could lose out on . millions of pounds if super-rich bankers press ahead with the idea of delaying their bonuses until after the 50p tax rate . is scrapped. Chancellor . George Osborne came under pressure to take action to close the loophole . which could lead to a massive shortfall in Treasury coffers. The revelation will . add to the sense of public fury after it emerged bankers at the firm are . expected to reward themselves £8.3 billion in bonuses tomorrow. Staggering: Bankers at Goldman Sachs are expected to share £8.3billion in bonuses . Shadow . treasury minister Chris Leslie said: 'Goldman Sachs has made the right decision, but the fact remains that from April thousands of bankers and millionaires will get a huge tax cut from David Cameron and George Osborne.' The . American investment bank, which employs 5,500 staff in the UK, will be . the first to unveil its telephone number-sized rewards – an average of . £250,000 a person – as part of the latest round of bonus updates. The . increase, up from £230,000 last year, comes as British families are . still struggling to make ends meet five years after banks brought the . economy to the brink of meltdown. About half of the top 20 banks in the City had considered delaying UK payouts, the Financial Times reported. In . 2010 bankers brought forward their bonuses by a few weeks ahead of the . introduction of the 50p rate for people earning more than £150,000, . costing the taxpayer £16billion. Chancellor George Osborne will be urged to act to stop bankers avoiding tax by delaying their big bonuses until after April 6 . By delaying a bonus until after April 6, a banker with a salary of £150,000 awarded a £100,000 bonus would save £5,000 in tax. Lib . Dem MP John Hemming said any bank caught dodging tax in this way should . be banned from being awarded lucrative government contracts. Calls for restraint by politicians, who have used taxpayers cash to bailout many of the banks, have fallen on deaf ears. At . taxpayer-backed Lloyds Banking Group, which is expected to make a loss . this year, its boss is likely to be entitled to a multimillion-pound . bonus. Some of the reward . for chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio is linked to the share price, . which has doubled, and customer satisfaction, which means he could be in . line for a £4.4 million fortune. But . most of the anger will be directed at Goldman Sachs whose vice chairman . said back in 2009 ‘inequality is a way of achieving greater opportunity . and prosperity for all’. The . comments by Lord Griffiths echoed those of fictional banker Gordon . Gekko in the film Wall Street - whose mantra ‘greed is good’ came to sum . up the excesses of the 1980s. Griffiths . was of the view that taxpayers should ‘tolerate the inequality’ and . insisted banks should not be ashamed of rewarding staff. True . to this ethos Goldman is likely to have boosted its salary and bonus . pot to £8.3 billion from £7.6 billion the previous year due to increased . profits. The last three months have been strong with share trading and bonds performing well. Global profit could top £3.79 billion up from £2.73 billion. The . lavish windfalls come as new research shows pay rewards are failing to . incentivise Britain’s big bosses to improve the long term success of . their businesses. 'Prosperity for all': The American bank (London offices pictured) employs 5,500 staff in the UK and will be the first to unveil its massive rewards . Executive pay packages across . Britain’s biggest firms are ‘overwhelmingly’ linked to short-term . financial measures such as earnings and share price movement, according . to research from the High Pay Centre lobby group. However . it shows chief executive pay has trebled to £4.8million, on average, in . ten years without any accompanying long-term increase in share values. At . Lloyds, the bank has experienced a short term stock rise, but given the . political tensions over banking bonuses, the Lloyds directors may . decide not to pay the full amount to the Portuguese banker, who last . year waived his bonus following a prolonged period of sick leave. Lloyds shares were the second best performing of Europe’s banks last year and closed last week at 54p, up from 25.5p in May. But . the bank is still expected to make a full year loss of about £1.4 . billion, as it continues to suffer from bad debts from corporate loans . and a big bill over the mis-selling of payment protection insurance. The . 40 per cent state-owned lender was pushed to a £144 million loss in the . three months to 30 September, as it took an additional £1 billion . charge for dealing with the scandal, taking its total to £5.3 billion. Lloyds froze basic pay for 500 senior staff for the third year in a row on Friday.
### SUMMARY:
| Bank governor accused bankers of thinking they 'exist on their own'
Warns the City of further reputational damage if bonuses are delayed .
Goldman Sachs will be first to unveil its rewards worth £8.3billion .
50p tax rate for anyone earning over £150,000 cut to 45p from April 6 .
Delaying bonus payouts until mid-April would cost the Treasury millions . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Rob Preece . PUBLISHED: . 04:26 EST, 24 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 13:39 EST, 24 August 2012 . Rough justice: Oliver Pettman, 12, was shot in with the head with an airgun. When his father took the yob responsible to a police station, he was arrested . A businessman was arrested and held in a cell for seven hours after he frogmarched a yob to a police station for shooting his son with an airgun. Stuart Pettman, 43, was furious after his 12-year-old son Oliver was surrounded by older youths and shot in the head, back and leg. Within hours, Mr Pettman had found the boy his son claimed was responsible and brought him to Bexleyheath police station, South London, to be questioned. But he was stunned the next day when police asked him to return to the station - and then arrested him on suspicion of assault and possessing a deadly weapon. The boy Mr Pettman had apprehended had falsely alleged that he was threatened with a hacksaw. Mr Pettman, who runs an internet service for financial traders, said that officers treated him 'like a criminal' by photographing him, taking his fingerprints and making him give a DNA sample. Police have told him he will not be charged, but he has decided to move his family from their £800,000 detached home in Bexley, South London, to Singapore, where he is opening a new office. 'This is typical of broken Britain, and I have just had enough,' he said. 'I work hard, I don’t break the law, I’m polite, I try to do the right thing all the time and they treated me like a criminal.' Mr Pettman’s son Oliver was in Golden . Acre Park, just yards from his home, last Saturday when he was . surrounded by a gang of seven youths who stole biscuits from him and a . friend. Suffering: Oliver Pettman (left) has endured headaches and nightmares since being shot three times and, as a close-up picture of his leg shows (right), he still has scars from the attack . The group also falsely accused Oliver of being racist. When Oliver denied he was racist, one of the thugs shot him three times with an airgun. Mr Pettman said: 'They said to him now you’re going to be my slave and told Oliver to kiss their feet.' When Oliver refused, they left him alone. Later that evening, Oliver and his father were walking down a street when he spotted the youth who had shot him. Mr Pettman insisted that the youth . accompany him to Bexleyheath police station, where the boy was arrested . and questioned before being released. Mr Pettman returned to the police . station the following day after officers called him to say they wanted to ask a few . more questions. Shortly after he got there, he was arrested. He said: 'I couldn’t understand it. I had done everything I could to help them, to get justice for my boy, and this is how I was repaid. Attack: Oliver Pettman was shot in the head, back and leg after being approached by a group of youths in Golden Acre Park, in Bexley, South London . Allegations: Oliver said he was attacked in the park after a group of youths accused him of being racist . 'It was very deceptive of the police. I thought I was only going to be there a couple of minutes so I’d even . taken my 14-year-old daughter Stephanie with me. 'They ushered her into the waiting room and took me into another office and that’s when they told me I was under arrest. 'My . son had a doctor’s appointment about his head where he had been shot. No one else could take him. I told them this but it didn’t seem . important to them. 'It was all very intimidating. For someone who’s not got a criminal record I didn’t know what the hell was going on. 'I . just couldn’t believe they’d took the word of someone who’d shot my son . over and above me and the fact my son might have had a head trauma and I . couldn’t take him to be looked at by a doctor.' Oliver's father, Stuart, frogmarched the boy his son claimed was responsible to Bexleyheath Police Station (above), but the 43-year-old was himself arrested when he was asked to return to the station the next day . After her father was arrested, Stephanie had to make her own way home. Oliver has been too scared to leave the house . and suffers from headaches and nightmares. He is awaiting a doctor's . assessment of his head wound. The case has enraged the leader of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage, who says he has known Mr Pettman for 25 years. Mr Farage has written to the Metropolitan Police's borough commander for Bexley, Chief Superintendent Victor Olisa, demanding an explanation for Mr Pettman's arrest. In the letter, Mr Farage alleges that police searched Mr Pettman's home for 'weapons' and studied CCTV footage of the moment the businessman asked the teenager to accompany him to the police station. Mr Farage wrote: 'People rightly feel let down by a justice system which treats criminals as if they were victims and victims like they are the perpetrators of crime.' Outraged: UKIP leader Nigel Farage has written to the Metropolitan Police asking for an explanation for Mr Pettman's arrest . In a statement, Scotland Yard said that, at about 4.15pm on August 18, officers in Bexley were approached by a 12-year-old boy who alleged that he had been threatened and shot by a youth with a BB gun. The officers searched the area, but found no trace of the gunman. 'Shortly after 8pm that day a 43-year-old man brought a 14-year-old boy to Bexleyheath police station and alleged he was a suspect in the shooting and threatening allegation,' the statement continued. 'The 14-year-old boy [A] was arrested by officers on suspicion of ABH and possession of an imitation firearm. 'Under interview "A" alleged that the . 43-year-old man had assaulted him and was in possession of an offensive . weapon. A separate investigation into this allegation was started. 'On Sunday, August 19, the 43-year-old man was asked to attend Bexleyheath police station. 'Upon attendance he was arrested on suspicion of common assault and possession of an offensive weapon. 'The 43-year-old man was subsequently released with no further action.' Police . said a second boy, aged 15, was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of ABH . and possessing an imitation firearm and later bailed. A . Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'The Metropolitan Police Service is . committed to serving and protecting all sections of the public. 'This involves investigating allegations of crime in an impartial manner based on the facts which are known to us at the time.'
### SUMMARY:
| Stuart Pettman, 43, frogmarched the youth to a station after his son Oliver was shot three times in a park in Bexley, South London .
But police arrested the businesman on suspicion of assault, after the youth falsely alleged he had been threatened with a hacksaw .
Mr Pettman's 14-year-old daughter had to make her own way home from Bexleyheath police station following his arrest .
Mr Pettman has decided to move his family to Singapore, saying he has had enough of 'broken Britain'
UKIP leader Nigel Farage, a friend of Mr Pettman, has written to police demanding an explanation for his arrest . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . James Chapman . PUBLISHED: . 08:03 EST, 18 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 16:32 EST, 18 June 2013 . Swimmer: Before chairing meetings of world leaders, David Cameron stripped off to go swimming in Lough Erne . David Cameron dragged a reluctant police protection officer on an early morning swim in the freezing waters of Lough Erne. The Prime Minister, a fan of so-called 'wild swimming', decided he fancied a dip just after dawn today. 'He joked with the police that they are supposed to give him "close protection" and so they had to come in, and one did,' said a Downing Street source. The Prime Minister told colleagues that his swim, which took place just after 6am, had been 'early, brisk and cold'. To the delight of Number Ten officials, Russian president Vladimir Putin, who normally delights in macho displays at international summits, apparently decided the Northern Irish waters were too chilly and stayed in bed. Mr Cameron said as the summit ended: 'I can recommend a swim in the lough. That's what I did. 'I have the photographic evidence but I am not going to share it with you. It certainly wakes you up and gets you going for a hard day chairing this summit.' The Prime Minister later tweeted that there had been 'no sign of the Russian President when I was swimming in a cold Lough Erne this morning, but his sporting prowess is clear'. The waters of Lough Erne are currently around 14 degrees and the lake has also been overrun by zebra mussels, an invasive species which poses a hazard to the bare feet of swimmers. However, Mr Cameron 'has a Labrador-like tendency to jump into water, no matter how cold', according to his biographer Francis Elliott. He has said that ‘I spent all my early years swimming in Polzeath and I know what wonderful waters there are in Cornwall'. More recently, the Prime Minister has spoken of swimming in the sea off his father-in-law Lord Astor’s estate on the Isle of Jura. He also has a fondness for swimming in the lakes of Cumbria, particularly the notoriously chilly Ullswater. 'I have a guilty secret - every year since being prime minister I tell myself that I have to get to Cumbria and swim in one of the lakes. So far I have managed it,' he has said. Talks: British Prime Minister David Cameron joked that the lough was cold but good preparation for chairing meetings . Scenery: The lake has provided the backdrop for many of the photo opportunities of the summit, including this snapshot of US President Barack Obama and Mr Cameron, walking with Ireland's Taoiseach Enda Kenny . Dressed: Mr Cameron had his suit on for the traditional family photo with world leaders. Left to right: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama, France's President Francois Hollande, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Italy's Prime Minister Enrico Letta and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy . How many police officers does it take to secure a G8 summit? Not as many as the authorities thought, if the scenes around Enniskillen have been anything to go by. With no disorder to deal with some of the 8,000 policemen and women deployed in this quiet corner of Northern Ireland have found innovative ways of keeping occupied. A group on duty at one landmark had a competition to see who was the best bannister slider. Others have spent their breaks enjoying the welcome sun on the town’s riverbanks. And mischievous local officers reportedly broke the ice with Yorkshire colleagues by driving past playing the theme tune to the TV soap Emmerdale. The Prime Minister is patron of the Chipping Norton lido in his constituency, and once dived into the sea to save historian Andrew Roberts, a friend, from a school of dangerous jellyfish. Mr Roberts said it was a moment that showed the Prime Minister's 'great physical as well as moral courage'. Mr Cameron was 29 and on holiday in Miramar, in the South of France, with his wife Samantha when they joined friends for a boat trip. Also on board the vessel, which belonged to Daily Mail journalist Robert Hardman, was writer and socialite Petronella Wyatt, Andrew Roberts and his girlfriend, now his ex-wife. Mr Roberts, then 33, insisted on swimming 100 yards from the boat to reach two local landmarks known as Les Deux Freres - 80ft tall volcanic monoliths. 'The sea was swarming with a horrible, menacing school of large jellyfish, one of which had stung me,' he added. 'It was frightening. They were transparent with a green tinge and had very long tentacles. There must have been 40 or 50 of them, so large that you would have struggled to squash one into a bucket. 'I yelped and squealed and waved desperately at the boat, but because of the rocks Robert couldn't bring it in to reach me. 'I knew that if I had to swim blind through the jellyfish, many of which were hiding under the surface, I would be repeatedly and badly stung. Things weren't looking good.' Action man: Swimming in lakes has previously been seen as the recreation of choice for Russian President Vladimir Putin, pictured taking a dip in 2009 . Fortunately, Mr Cameron leapt from the boat. 'I realised he was coming to my rescue. He had goggles and had grabbed a spare pair for me. I still don't think it's something most people would have done,' Mr Roberts added. 'He swam within about 20 feet of me, through some of the jellyfish, to perform an Olympian throw. It was pretty impressive - it's not easy to throw any distance or with any accuracy when you're in water. He played cricket at Eton, I think, so that no doubt helped. 'I grabbed the goggles and then I could see where the jellyfish were, so I could navigate through them. Dave was doing the same. 'It seems funny now, but at the time I was terrified. The welt on my arm stung for about two days. If Dave hadn't rescued me and I'd been forced to swim through the jellyfish, I would probably have been hospitalised. It would certainly have ruined my holiday. 'I told him he was a hero, and I was serious. But he quite typically brushed it off. He's always downplayed it whenever I've mentioned it.' * Perhaps it was David Cameron's attempt to show the G8 he wanted to call the tune. The Prime Minister adopted a musical theme for his personal gifts to the other leaders. Among them was a USB stick featuring songs by lesser-known British acts, such as Jake Bugg, Alt-J and Lianne La Havas. He also gave to each of them the best-selling album by a UK artist in their respective countries.Other gifts were designed to highlight Northern Irish brands, producers and artists. They included a book of photography by local artist Chris Hill, bottles of 12-year County Antrim Old Bushmills Distillery reserve whiskey with a personalised G8 label, Co Couture chocolates from Belfast and handmade oak pens by County Down-based Tulip Woodcrafts.
### SUMMARY:
| Prime Minister drags protection officer into freezing waters .
G8 summit being held in at five-star resort at Lough Erne in Enniskillen .
Global action man Russian President Vladimir Putin stayed in bed . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Tim Shipman, Deputy Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 05:27 EST, 28 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 20:08 EST, 28 March 2013 . John Hayes is to move to Number 10 to act as a 'parliamentary greybeard' for the PM . David Cameron moved to build bridges with his backbenchers yesterday by appointing a right-winger to be his eyes and ears in Parliament. Energy Minister John Hayes – who has battled with the Lib Dems over windfarms – become a Cabinet Office Minister. As Mr Cameron’s senior Parliamentary adviser, Mr Hayes, a flamboyant and popular right-wing veteran, will channel concerns from MPs to the Prime Minister. It is a role last carried out by Andrew Mackay when the Tories were in opposition. Mr Hayes’s surprise appointment follows mutterings about a potential Tory leadership challenge and complaints from ministers about an increasingly rebellious Parliamentary party. His energy responsibilities will pass to Business Minister Michael Fallon, one of the Tories’ toughest ministers. The move comes on the day the Spectator magazine reported that Cabinet ministers believe 25 MPs have written to Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee demanding a leadership election. The rebels would need 46 to prompt a vote. Mr Brady refused to comment on the claims. Mr Hayes’s appointment is an admission that Mr Cameron and his circle of aides have failed to engage productively with a growing section of his party. Mr Hayes proved a controversial energy minister, when he ruled out any more onshore wind farms, declaring 'enough is enough' The move is seen as a pre-emptive . measure by Mr Cameron ahead of difficult local elections in May, where . the Tories are expected to lose hundreds of council seats to Labour and . the UK Independence Party. Allies of backbencher Adam Afriyie . have been openly advancing his leadership prospects and Home Secretary . Theresa May is also putting a campaign together in private. Both say . they would not challenge Mr Cameron, but his aides admit they need to . raise their game. The Prime Minister took to Twitter to say he was 'delighted' by the shake up to his team . Business minister Michael Fallon adds energy to . his responsibilities, as David Cameron moves to strengthen his team's . links with the Tory backbenches . John Hayes . John Hayes could not be more different to the privileged elite who are said to dominate the upper echelons of the Tory party. Boxer, . union member, antiques collector, jam maker: he is one of a handful of . working class, grammar school-educated Conservative ministers in the . government. He has strong . views on almost everything, from gay marriage and most famously wind . farms to the right way to decorate a Christmas cake. (I just think real . icing is very important.) The . son of a power station worker, he grew up on a council estate in south . east London and is 'very proud' of his working class roots. In . Who's Who he lists his interests as: 'The arts (particularly English . painting, poetry and prose), good food and wine, many sports (including . darts and boxing), gardening, making jam, antiques, architecture, . aesthetics.' A former county councillor in Nottinghamshire, he was elected as MP for South Holland and the Deepings in Lincolnshire in 1997. Within . two years William Hague appointed him as vice-chairman of the Tory . party, responsible for campaigning before becoming shadow schools . minister in 2000 and served on the opposition frontbench for Iain Duncan . Smith, for whom he was once a speech writer, Michael Howard and later . David Cameron. However, he was also an outspoken critic of Mr Cameron's style in the early days of the leadership. In . 2006 he dismissed plans for an A-list of high-flying Tory candidates 'a . bizarre theory of people who spend too much time with the pseuds and . posers of London's chi-chi set and not enough time in normal Britain'. He is chairman of the Cornerstone Group of traditional conservatives, whose motto is 'faith, flag and family'. His . rise through the political ranks passed almost unnoticed until last . year he declared war on wind farms, and gained a reputation for speaking . for many Tory backbenchers who felt Downing Street was not listening to . their concerns. ‘Do we want to strengthen our . relations with the Parliamentary party? Of course we do,’ said a Downing . Street source. ‘John’s going to be a massive asset.’ Mr Hayes is a founder member of the . Cornerstone Group of socially conservative Tories and will be expected . to calm anger on that wing of the party about Mr Cameron’s support for . gay marriage. Whether he can also get Eurosceptics and Thatcherites demanding tax cuts back on board remains to be seen. One minister who is close to Mr . Cameron said of Mr Hayes: ‘We’ve needed someone like that for a long . time. John reaches parts of the party that others do not reach. It shows . the PM is aware that he needs to do more to keep MPs in the loop.’ Mr Hayes becomes a minister of state . without portfolio in the Cabinet Office and has been appointed to the . Privy Council. But some MPs said it will take more than his appointment . to repair relations with the party. ■The Tories would be neck and neck with Labour if Boris Johnson replaced Mr Cameron as leader, a poll revealed. The YouGov survey put Labour’s lead . at six points, on 37 per cent to the Tories’ 31. But when voters are . asked how they would vote if the Mayor of London was Tory leader, the . parties are tied on 37 per cent. Crucially, a Boris leadership would . lure a third of UKIP voters to the Tories. Business minister Michael Fallon adds energy to his brief . Michael Fallon has been brought in to give the Energy Department a ‘business mindset’ and calm tensions about wind farms and rising fuel bills. Anti-turbine campaigners will be cheered by his remarks yesterday that he would concentrate on nuclear power, oil, gas, and offshore wind. But he failed to mention the controversial topic of onshore windfarms. Party sources understand he is ‘very aware’ of concerns about the impact of turbines on the landscape. They say that, while he will back the growth of green industries, he will take a ‘very robust’ approach to attempts to overburden other sectors of the economy with environmental taxes and rules. Mr Fallon, a rising star of the Conservative party, is renowned for driving projects through. His brief is to help the Energy and Climate Change Department attract the £110billion of private sector investment it desperately needs for new energy generation, particularly in nuclear power stations. Fears are growing that failure to do so could see further increases in electricity bills and even blackouts. There are tensions between his new boss, Lib Dem Energy Secretary Ed Davey, who wants to build up the renewable energy sector, and the Treasury which says this would burden other sectors with green taxes and regulations. Mr Fallon has been urged to stand up to Liberal Democrats and EU ministers who want to increase the target for the amount of energy which must come from ‘green’ sources – currently 15 per cent by 2020. Mr Fallon will retain his role as a business minister.
### SUMMARY:
| Tory will move from energy to new role as senior advisor to No. 10 .
Business minister Michael Fallon adds energy to his brief .
Move is designed to rebuild relations between Downing Street and disaffected backbenchers .
Hayes has warned the Tories must win back working class voters . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Kerry Mcdermott and Mario Ledwith . PUBLISHED: . 04:58 EST, 30 November 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 07:39 EST, 30 November 2012 . The . photograph of a 19-year-old aspiring lingerie model from Colorado who . has been missing since October appeared on a Las Vegas escort website, . the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said. The photograph of Kara Nichols was likely lifted from another source . and added to the website MyRedBook.com, Detective Cliff Porter said. The . ad promised that the girl in the picture was the actual escort, but . Porter said that claim was clearly not true. "We have no evidence that supports the claim that she's in Las Vegas," he said. Those close to the investigation said that calls were made to the . number posted in the advertisement, and family members confirmed that . the voice of the woman who answered the call did not match Nichols'. It . is not uncommon for prostitutes to use random pictures of beautiful . women in their ads and misrepresent themselves in photos to solicit . potential clients, Porter said. Missing: A photograph of missing Kara Nichols, 19, appeared on a Las Vegas escort website but police said that Miss Nicols did not post the picture . A photograph of missing teenager Kara Nichols has appeared on a Las Vegas escort website. The picture of the 19-year-old aspiring model appeared on MyRedBook.com but police said the photograph was taken from another source and that Miss Nichols did not post it. The advert promised that the girl pictured was the actual escort. But when officers called an accompanying phone number, members of Miss Nichol's family confirmed it was not her voice on the other end of the phone. Police leading the search for the model said that claims she was in LA were untrue. El Paso County Sheriff's Detective Cliff Porter told Fox News that escorts and prostitutes often use random pictures lifted from the Internet to advertise online. He said: 'We have no evidence that supports the claim that she's in Las Vegas.' She went missing after leaving her Colorado Springs home on October 9 and was last seen with a brown-haired woman who detectives believe may have information about the young woman's whereabouts. El Paso County Sheriff's Office previously called the case suspicious and said that Miss Nichols may have been exploited by an individual or group claiming they could further her modelling career. Police are thought to have interviewed . one woman who travelled with Miss Nichols but have not have not released . her name. They are still looking for second woman. Scroll down for video . Aspiring model: Police called a number linked to the advert but Miss Nicols's family said the voice was not hers . 'Even if this young lady has no information, just the simple fact that she could tell us how they parted, what her parting words might have been, could be huge,' Detective Cliff Porter previously told ABC News. Police are also seeking a second brunette who they said associated with Nichols, however they would not elaborate on the nature of their relationship or frequency of their contact. Mystery: Police in Colorado say it is 'really uncharacteristic' for Kara Nichols not to be in contact with friends and family . Miss Nichols told her roommate she might go to Denver on the day she vanished but left behind her purse. Friends and family said the woman was active on social media and regularly used her cell phone, but neither have been used since she went missing. 'All of a sudden that stopped -- no communication since then, especially from a person who was an extrovert, who was always reaching out to people,' Sheriff Terry Maketa said, adding that this made the case 'more concerning'. According to ABC News, images of the unnamed brunette released yesterday have resulted in numerous leads and the El Paso Sheriff's Office has recruited the help of external investigators to help with the case. 'Tuesday's press conference has resulted . in a number of valuable leads, and we are working tirelessly to follow . up on these leads. They are labor and manpower intensive, and we have . called on other units to assist us,' Detective Porter told the . station. Police said there was a strong possibility Ms Nichols was targeted by an organised group designed to exploit wanna-be models. Vanished: There has been no trace of the 19-year-old lingerie model since she made a call from her mobile phone at 11.45pm on October 9 . 'These . aspirations, we believe, have caused Kara to fall prey to a subculture . of modeling-business fronts that many times involve illicit drugs and . prostitution,' Sheriff Maketa said. This subculture could have exploited . a teenage girl who may have lacked the life experience to see the . inherent risks.' The 19-year-old lingerie model disappeared more than a month ago on her way to work. Police searching for the missing teen . said the young woman never made it to her job, and added that it was . 'really uncharacteristic' of her not to get in touch with family and . friends. There has been no trace of Ms Nichols since she made a call from her mobile phone at 11.45pm on the day she vanished. Person of interest: Police have been searching for an unnamed brunette, pictured, who was last seen with Ms Nichols . 'What causes us concern is that it is really uncharacteristic of her not to be in contact with her friends and family,' Sergeant Joe Roybal, from the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said earlier this month. Officers' attempts to reach Ms Nichols on her phone or to establish the phone's location have proved unsuccessful. The teenager's devastatedfamily have set the 'Help Us Find Kara Nichols' Facebook page and teamed up with the National Women's Coalition Against Violence and Exploitation to raise awareness of her mysterious disappearance. Friend Rachel Buster told KKTV News she was 'very scared' for the 5ft 8in 19-year-old, who is understood to have taken up underwear modelling in February of this year. Her Model Mayhem profile says that, while she is new to the profession, she is 'very passionate' about modelling. 'Currently I'm working on building my portfolio so I'm always looking for modelling opportunities in my area,' it reads. 'I've done mostly lingerie shoots so far but I'm extremely open-minded.' Search: Police are hoping somebody will come forward with clues as to the 19-year-old's whereabouts . Sgt Roybal earlier said there was nothing to indicate that a crime had been committed or any evidence of foul play though they are now calling the disappearance suspicious. 'We really don't have any indication as to why she hasn't been in contact,' he said. 'The only thing that concerns us is that she has not been in contact with anybody.' The officer said police want to raise awareness of the case in the hope that somebody might come forward with information on the whereabouts of the teenager. 'We're hoping for a best case scenario,' he added. Ms Nichols is 5ft8ins tall and weighs 120lbs. She has blonde hair and green eyes, and tattoos on her wrist and ankle. Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.
### SUMMARY:
| Photo of missing Kara Nichols appeared on MyRedBook.com .
Police said that the picture was taken from another source .
The phone number was called but family said voice was not Kara's .
The 19-year-old vanished on October 9 on her way to work in Denver .
Believed she's been targeted by crime group exploiting aspiring models . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Neil Ashton . PUBLISHED: . 17:00 EST, 19 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:43 EST, 20 August 2013 . When Ivan Gazidis began the final negotiations to sign Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Southampton, Arsenal’s chief executive arrived with a battery of lawyers and accountants by his side. They all went into a private meeting room with Saints officials, breaking off for hushed conversations in corridors whenever the selling club raised the stakes. By then Oxlade-Chamberlain had, unknowingly, been the subject of a complicated economic formula established by the Harvard business boffins employed on a sizeable retainer by the club. Problems: A resigned Arsene Wegner looks on from the bench as Arsenal lose to Aston Villa . The bid Arsenal have submitted for . Newcastle and France midfielder Yohan Cabaye appears, on the surface, to . be a knee-jerk reaction to the injury crisis and the pressure put on . them by fans to ‘SPEND SPEND SPEND’ during their defeat against Aston . Villa. Instead, he has been . on the radar of Arsenal’s European scout Gilles Grimandi for some time. But the businessmen across the pond slow down the recruitment process. Gazidis’ belief in their academic acumen is total, although he has always been . reluctant to explain how players as bad as Nicklas Bendtner, told he . could skip training to go back to Denmark three weeks ago, is earning . £55,000 a week. Arsene . Wenger, who earns £7.6million a year at the Emirates, authorised . Bendtner’s contract when the striker was still boasting about becoming . the best player in the world. Arsenal are proud of their due diligence, . justifying frugal spending in the Kroenke years by the business brains . brought in to put every potential recruit through a complicated . financial model. Crocked: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could be out for six months after his knee injury . Wenger . believes in the scientific principles established at the Emirates, . although his team of scouts around the world still work to the formula . he brought with him in 1996. His . scouting team, headed by Steve Rowley, are asked to identify players . with three distinctive characteristics: pace, power and football intelligence. If only they had added a fourth — the mentality of champions — they really would be in business. The . dynamic training-ground environment, which was once the envy of the . world when Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires were pushing . each other to reach new targets each day, has slowly been eroded. There . is tension in the air between Rowley and Bob Arber, Arsenal’s head of . youth. At games, they don’t even speak to each other. Glory days: Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp were iconic figures during Arsenal's success . They . should be in constant communication, preserving the future of the club . by monitoring the progress of young players at Arsenal’s academy and . bringing in the next generation. Instead, the young Gunners are on the . end of some hidings, losing 7-0 to Conference club Luton and beaten by a . scratch team of Colchester kids 5-1 before the start of the season. This is no way to run a football club and most people know that there is room for improvement in every area at Arsenal. Wenger has too much power — given the freedom of the football club because of his achievements at Highbury. There . he won three Barclays Premier League titles, four FA Cups and took . Arsenal to within a whisker of beating Barcelona at the Stade de France . in 2006. He knows the inner workings of every area of the club, which is rare in the modern game. Spend, spend, spend: An Arsenal fan makes his feelings known to Wenger . Wenger’s . detailed knowledge of every player’s contract even created an issue . when Oxlade-Chamberlain was making substitute appearances for Arsenal . last season. Written into . the England winger’s deal is a clause stating that Arsenal must pay . Saints £10,000 every time Oxlade-Chamberlain appears for more than 20 . minutes. Incredibly a trend . emerged, with Wenger bringing him off the bench after 72 minutes (v . Stoke), 73 minutes (Liverpool), 72 minutes (Coventry), 65 minutes . (Norwich), 76 minutes (Fulham), 86 minutes (Tottenham), 67 minutes . (Swansea), 73 minutes (West Ham), 71 minutes (Swansea), and 75 minutes . (Reading). Arsenal’s . accounts department were stunned to receive an email from Southampton . demanding payment for the appearances, with the south coast club . justifying their argument based on stoppage time. Eventually . Arsenal agreed to pay for the appearances and the story worked its way . around the offices at the Emirates with bafflement among staff. They know Wenger calls the shots, but he is slow to move for targets. Slow: Arsenal were too late when it came to trying to sign Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace . Last . season Rowley was a regular at Crystal Palace matches, following . Wilfried Zaha around the country as Arsenal stepped up their interest. Rowley . would pop up at Leicester or Burnley, watching Zaha closely as Palace . headed for the play-offs and promotion back to the Barclays Premier . League. When it came to the . crunch, Wenger’s assistant manager Steve Bould picked up the phone to an . old friend at Palace to ask for his assessment of the £15m forward. By then it was too late. Zaha had been given permission to meet Sir Alex Ferguson and the deal was wrapped up within a day. The . England winger is another one to get away, but everyone at Arsenal . knows that Wenger — a thoroughly charming and decent guy — has failed to . keep pace with the modern game. Managers need technical assistance and expertise, something the top clubs in the Premier League have finally accepted. Partnership: Jose Mourinho works with director of football Michael Emenalo to recruit players at Chelsea . At . Chelsea, Jose Mourinho has returned to Stamford Bridge on the . understanding that he must work closely with director of football . Michael Emenalo on transfer targets. Manuel . Pellegrini is working under the technical team — Ferran Soriano and . Txiki Begiristain — as Manchester City plan for five trophies in five . years. Tottenham have . recruited Franco Baldini from Roma to work with Andre Villas-Boas as . Daniel Levy returns to the two-tiered European management structure he . has always favoured. Wenger . has never been interested, preferring to rely on his own judgment and . using Dick Law’s contacts book when they make a move on a player. Law, . who is based in Dallas, met Wenger when he was working in south America . and they became close during David Dein’s time as vice-president. He . is popular with agents around the world, but they become frustrated . when he pulls the plug on deals because Wenger must always have the . final word. As Arsenal fans are aware, nothing adds up at the Emirates any more.
### SUMMARY:
| Wenger failing to keep pace with big rivals .
Arguments with Southampton over Oxlade-Chamberlain's appearance fee .
Tension between coaches is ruining Arsenal's youth teams .
Gunners' transfer policy decided by Harvard boffins' economic formula . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Lucy Waterlow . PUBLISHED: . 10:42 EST, 3 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 10:58 EST, 3 January 2014 . Get running even if you hate it: Ruth Field offers a no-nonsense approach to exercise (posed by model) If your New Year's resolution is to get fit, eat healthily and lose weight, it's time to stop making excuses and start getting tough on yourself according to author Ruth Field. The criminal barrister from North London believes running is the answer for anyone who wants to get in shape. In her book, Run Fat B!tch Run, she offers a no nonsense approach to getting moving in the guise of her 'inner b***h' The Grit Doctor. She writes: 'Really I am just naming that voice we all have inside our heads. Yours may be lying dormant or suffocating under all that excess weight but it is there. It's that nagging little voice which makes you feel just a tad uncomfortable about helping yourself to another biscuit.' Ruth said people have to tap into this nagging voice and use it to motivate themselves to get off the sofa. And not by going to low intensity exercises or by joining a gym (then never going) but by running. The 38-year-old mother of twins took up running herself in her mid twenties after agreeing to do a marathon. And while she's now a convert to the sport, she's not always evangelical about it. She told MailOnline: 'I wouldn't say I enjoy running but I enjoy the benefits that running brings such as getting outdoors and feeling healthier. I certainly didn't enjoy it when I first started. I can honestly say I hated every single one of those early runs as they were incredibly difficult and I was out of breath within minutes feeling like I was on the verge of a heart attack.' As she's loathe to call running 'fun', Ruth will not take anyone complaining that they 'hate running' as an excuse for not giving it a go. 'Everyone hates it until they have practised it religiously for sometime,' she admits. She also has a comeback for the other excuses people peddle out for not being active, such as 'I don't have time' ('Everyone has the same 24 hours a day, President Obama finds the time and I guarantee he has more to get done in a given day than you do in an entire week') and 'I don't have the right build for running' ('There's no such thing as the right build. It's an excuse often used by large breasted ladies but I once ran with a double E cup friend who wore two sports bras.'). Despite the title of the book, Ruth has never been obese in her life but admits there have been times when she has needed to lose a few pounds. And she's learnt the best way to tackle weightloss is not through faddy diets. She again points to running being the answer here as runners tend to crave less sugary treats because of the feel-good factor they can get from running and tend to seek healthy foods as fuel to help them run. Toughen up: Ruth, left, had to embrace her 'inner b***h' The Grit Doctor in order to run a marathon and reveals how you can do the same in her book . For those who haven't reached this stage yet and are failing to lose weight despite taking up running, The Grit Doctor has some tough but honest advice: 'If you are consuming fizzy drinks, crisps and takeaways as part of your daily diet, this is the reason you are not losing as much weight as you would expect from running alone. Frankly, as an adult you should be ashamed of yourself if you are still buying sweets and fizzy drinks on a weekly basis. Stop it now.' Ruth said her tips are just common sense - move more and eat less junk food - but believes many people need to stop deluding themselves in order to achieve it. Thus she has no time for people who say they are overweight because they are 'big-boned' ('You may be big-boned but you may also be fat. Being big-boned is no excuse for being overweight') or 'have a slow metabolism' ('Bulls***. You are overweight because you eat too much of the wrong food.') Stop kidding yourself: The book takes a common sense approach to weightloss and advises against making excuses over food indulgences . Run Fat Bitch Run contains recipes to help readers stay on track and advice on the right foods to eat to help them run better. The book was first published in 2012 but has been re-released this month to include a marathon training plan and is also now available as an eBook. It's through her own marathon training - for London and then New York - that Ruth finally discovered she could enjoy running - or at least enjoy the sense of achievement and lifestyle changes it brings. 'The real joy of the marathon is that you have done it and having done it is going to become a metaphor for you and the rest of your life. A metaphor that says you can achieve anything that you set your mind to provided you put in the effort,' she said. Ruth intends to tackle another marathon to celebrate her 40th birthday but in the meantime is happier running shorter distances. Persevere: Ruth admits she hated running at first but it does get easier and the benefits are multiple (posed by model) For anyone who does take up running this January, she advises not trying to go too fast too soon and not just entering a marathon. She said: 'Many people decide to go out for a run and then go sprinting off down the street at a pace they are only able to maintain for a minute. They then give up and go home because they can't keep it up. It's much better to start at a slow pace, not much quicker than walking, and then speed up as you get fitter.' On entering a marathon she added: 'Having the marathon as your goal will certainly motivate you - it worked for me. But there are plenty of other races of other distances that you can target. The most important thing is just to get started and then make running become a habit.' A new and updated version of Run Fat B!tch Run is now available as a paperback and Ebook via Amazon, published by Sphere . Despite the best intentions, many people may take up running this week and give up by mid January due to lack of motivation and support. But it doesn't have to be that way thanks to Jantastic - a free running challenge for all abilities that's being launched on Monday. Jantastic.me is a new socially integrated website where runners around the world can link up to share advice and keep one another going. The challenge has been developed by the founders of the podcast Marathon Talk and is supported by England Athletics and Adidas. Participants sign up as individuals or as part of a team, then set themselves goals to strive for in January, February and March. Miles run can be logged as you go along and experiences shared with other users so you don't feel alone when you're pounding the pavements. Martin Yelling, founder of Jantastic and host of Marathon Talk explains: 'Jantastic is all . about getting people active, keeping them motivated and supporting them . through the tough winter months when it's harder to head outside and go . for a run. 'Through the new Jantastic website we will create an . online community to allow people to share their experiences, get . support and motivation, to help them reach their running targets.' Visit www.Jantastic.me for more information and to sign up for free .
### SUMMARY:
| Ruth Field believes running is the way to break bad habits .
She took up running to complete a marathon .
Admits she hated it at first but now loves health benefits it brings .
Offers honest advice on how to get started and stay motivated in book . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Louise Eccles . PUBLISHED: . 18:09 EST, 15 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:48 EST, 16 August 2013 . It was hardly the reunion William Reid had imagined when he waved his daughter Melissa off to Ibiza seven weeks earlier. In a police station in distant Peru, he tries to comfort his distraught child, stroking her hair and kissing her head as she sobs into his chest. She cannot hug him back because her hands are cuffed. When he sees the chains around her wrists, he breaks down too. Scroll down for video . William Reid hugs his daughter Melissa as he reunites with her in Diandro police station . This is the first time Mr Reid has seen his daughter since she and Michaella McCollum Connolly, 20, were arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle £1.5million worth of cocaine out of Peru. Police officers believe they were knowingly involved in smuggling, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in jail. The women claim Colombian gangsters forced them to act as drug mules. Exhausted from travel, Mr Reid confesses it takes him a few seconds to realise it is his child rushing towards him. Her face is thin, there are deep bags under her eyes and she is almost unrecognisable from the happy, tanned teenager he saw in the photographs of her holiday she posted on Facebook. Today Melissa turns 20, but there will be no celebrations at Lima’s maximum security Dirandro police station, where Mr Reid, 54, was allowed only 15 minutes with his daughter on Wednesday night. He says he is living his worst nightmare, and can scarcely believe what is happening. While he flew out to Lima, his wife Debra, 53, a National Grid administrator, remained at their home in Lenzie, Glasgow, to look after their other children Liam, 22, and twins Stephanie and Jennifer, 18. The pictures capture the first time Mr Reid has seen his daughter since she and Michaella McCollum Connolly, 20, were arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle £1.5million worth of cocaine out of Peru . Still holding the Ugg boots he brought her from home, the father hugs his daughter - who cannot embrace him back because her hands were tied . Seven weeks earlier, he dropped off his ‘bubbly, intelligent’ daughter at Glasgow airport for her flight to the Spanish party island of Ibiza, where she planned to work in bars and clubs for a season. Mr Reid, a manager for a gas company, told her to ‘have fun but be careful’. On August 6, Melissa and Michaella were caught at Lima airport with nearly six kilos of cocaine hidden in their suitcases as they waited to board a flight to Madrid. Melissa claims Colombian gangsters took her from Ibiza to Palma in Majorca, and then Madrid. At least one gang member escorted her on each flight. Physically shaking, Melissa tells her father: ‘They made me do it.’ But as he breaks down, she tells him soothingly ‘I know Dad’ and reaches for his hand. She talks quickly as she tells him how one of her new female friends in Ibiza had introduced her to a charming British man who gave his name as Jake. She said he had seemed ‘really nice and friendly’, and he came back to the apartment she shared with a close friend from home, 20-year-old Rebecca Hughes. There, she claimed, he became aggressive. ‘I felt really scared because I was alone in the flat. He told me I had to come and meet some of his friends and pressured me to get into a taxi.’ Then she was bundled into a flat and confronted by a group of Colombian gangsters, who put a gun to her head. She says: ‘I could feel the metal against my temple. I thought they were going to kill me. They said they knew all about me and my family. I was so scared they were going to hurt them if I didn’t do as I was told. I didn’t know they wanted me to take drugs or money or guns at that point.’ Melissa Reid, 19, and Michaella McCollum Connolly, 20, were found with £1.5million worth of cocaine as they waited for a flight out of the South American country . Melissa says she first met Michaella, from Northern Ireland, in one of the gangsters’ dingy hideaways in Palma. They were kept captive in a flat, she said, then flown to Lima separately. Officers suspect they were recruited by a cartel allegedly operated from behind bars by Philip Austin Collins, the nephew of singer Phil Collins. The 38-year-old was arrested in Peru last year after £3million worth of cocaine was found on a yacht he and two other British men were trying to sail across the Atlantic. During the first visit, Melissa tells her father: ‘I wanted to tell the air hostesses or anyone in the airports, but the men said they would know if we had spoken to anyone, that they were watching all the time. ‘It was a choice between doing what I was told and getting it over and done with and hopefully getting back to Spain or trying to escape and being killed.’ The two women are in separate concrete cells, but are able to communicate when they visit the shared bathroom. Melissa says she is ‘freezing’ at night, but that staff are treating them well. The women are trying to help the police to find the mystery Briton, who is believed to work finding ‘drugs girls’ in Ibiza. She tells her father that they expect to be questioned formally by police for the first time within the next 24 hours. Melissa also says she fears evidence has already been contaminated, claiming police officers did not wear gloves as they handled the food bags in which the drugs are said to have been stored. As she talks to her father about her fears, a detective tells her that she must return to her cell. Mr Reid quickly gives her a few comforts he and his wife chose from her bedroom at home – a navy blue spotted onesie from Next, a pink fleece and her grey Ugg Boots. She puts them on immediately. Coerced: Melissa Reid, left, and Michaella . McCollum Connolly, right, say they were forced into carrying drugs by a . violent gang who threatened their families . The father and daughter look anguished as she stands up to leave and Mr Reid whispers in her ear: ‘We will do everything we can to get you out of here. We will work something out.’ As they separate, armed guards lead Melissa down to her cell and she shouts to her father, ‘I need to learn Spanish’. As the metal doors leading to the prison shut, she shouts: ‘I love you dad’. Mr Reid was able to return to visit his daughter and Michaella last night. They described how they tried to escape in Palma, when they saw the door to the flat was ajar. Michaella said: ‘We looked at each other and said “let’s run away and escape now”. ‘We didn’t think the men spoke English but then one of the guys ran over to us and said: “Be nice my friends, or my friends will shoot you in the head’ and he made a shooting gesture. ‘We were so scared that we didn’t try to run after that.’
### SUMMARY:
| Melissa Reid, 19, and Michaella McCollum Connolly, 20, found with £1.5m .
The girls from Northern Ireland and Scotland were 'caught' at Lima airport .
Reid 'was forced to fly there with Connolly after being kidnapped in Spain'
They claim they were not smuggling out of choice but feared for their lives .
William Reid was reunited with his daughter at Diandro police station . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Sophie Jane Evans . They have killed off 500 actors, encouraged 'a moment's violence' at the Queen Mother's funeral and given pigs an unusual diet of, er... willies. These are the hilarious subtitle blunders that have aired on the BBC - leaving both staff and viewers lost for words. They are among many mistakes to have prompted a crackdown on the quality of subtitles - with a report set to be published by Ofcom this spring. One gaffe sees the broadcaster mark the Chinese New Year by welcoming viewers into the 'year of the whores'. Embarrassing: The BBC marks the Chinese New Year by welcoming viewers into the 'year of the whores' during a bulletin in January. The channel later insisted the error was acknowledged and quickly corrected - to 'horse' Error: A reporter's comment that 'pigs nibble anything, even wellies' takes on a different meaning when the last word is substituted for 'willies'. The mistake in 2011 later fuelled a Mock the Week subtitles gaffes segment . Mistake: Another blunder sees a court reporter quoted as saying: 'And the cat's pornography reading was low' The subtitling error, which happened during a bulletin at around 7pm on January 31, saw BBC News declare: ‘Welcome to the year of the whores. People around the globe . celebrate.’ However, the channel later insisted that the error was acknowledged and quickly corrected - to the 'year of the horse’. Another blunder sees a reporter's comment that 'pigs nibble anything, even wellies' take on a completely different meaning when the last word is substituted for 'willies'. The mistake, which happened during a news report in 2011, soon went viral on Twitter - and even fuelled a Mock the Week subtitles gaffes segment. Lost in translation: Last Sunday, the BBC struggled to get to grips with the name of footballer Adnan Junazaj - misspelling his name as 'Janet jazz, jazz jam'. However, it correctly spelled the names of other players . Hot prospect: Januzaj broke into the Manchester United team as a winger this season - despite only being 18 . And last Sunday, the BBC struggled to get to grips with the name . of 18-year-old winger, Adnan Junazaj, who broke into the . Manchester United team this season. The broadcaster correctly spelled the names of other United players Javier Hernandez, Robin van Persie, Wayne . Rooney and Juan Mata - before stumbling over the youngster's name. Seventy channels in the UK currently provide subtitling services, according to watchdog Ofcom. Most of these air pre-recorded programmes - for which, subtitling can be prepared in advance. This means that subtitles can be synchronised to images, edited to a reasonable reading speed and checked for errors. However, live programming and some pre-recorded programmes have to be subtitled live - leaving them prone to mistakes. These subtitles are delayed by several seconds and typically scroll across the screen. Source: http://media.ofcom.org.uk . Its hilarious attempts at janet, jazz, jazz and jam left those watching the . programme with subtitles scratching their heads as they tried to work out . what was actually being said. And it isn't the first time the BBC has misspelled a name to amusing effect. The broadcaster has previously . referred to Italian prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as 'Mr Beryl Beryl' - while Labour leader Ed Miliband became 'Ed . Miller Band'. Meanwhile, former chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson was once dubbed 'Silly . and Admundsen' - with the National Union of Students renamed as the . National Union of Stew Departments. Other . blunders have seen the Ireland rugby team referred to as Island, the sale . of millions of puppies - not poppies - in Britain on Remembrance Day, a 'cat's pornography reading' disclosed during a court report and . a solemn call for silence become 'a moment's violence' during the Queen . Mother's funeral in 2002. During . one particularly toe-curling moment, many viewers would have been . left wondering how a man could have possibly named his 10-year-old son 'phrase whore' - only to realise his name was . actually 'Fraser'. Shocking: A man sees his son Fraser's name changed to 'phrase whore' in one particularly toe-curling blunder . Fox or frost? The gaffes are not just restricted to News and Sports channels - with one of the broadcaster's Weather presenters previously subtitled as saying: 'they would be a few more mist and Fox patches' And when one BBC announcer revealed the Government was ‘making helpful . decisions’, deaf members of the audience would have been confused as to why politicians . were ‘making holes for surgeons’. The embarrassing gaffes are not just restricted to the BBC's News and Sports channels - with one of the broadcaster's Weather presenters previously subtitled as saying: 'they would be a few more mist and Fox patches'. And most of the blunders have not gone unnoticed with the public - with celebrities also picking up on the bizarre mistakes. Not just the BBC: ITV has previously misquoted star Engelbert Humperdinck as 'engle Bert humper distinct' Blunder: And This Morning once accidentally confused the word 'rate' for 'rape' during a fashion segment . In . June last year, Dr Christian Jessen tweeted: 'The typos on BBC news . subtitles are quite funny sometimes. Today "500 actors are set to be . killed" later corrected to "500 badgers". Phew!' However, the BBC is not the only broadcaster to have suffered hilarious subtitle gaffes - with 70 channels in the UK now providing a subtitling service. ITV has previously misquoted Eurovision star Engelbert Humperdinck as 'engle Bert humper distinct', while This Morning once accidentally confused the word 'rate' for 'rape' during a fashion segment. Last year, Ofcom demanded that broadcasters monitor the quality of subtitles, which are used by more than a million people, every six months for two years. Victims: The BBC has previously referred . to Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi (left) as 'Mr Beryl Beryl', . while Labour leader Ed Miliband (right) became 'Ed Miller Band' during . one of the broadcaster's news reports . A consultation which started in May suggested that problems began when pre-recorded programmes were delivered to broadcasters too late to allow subtitles to be prepared in advance. Ofcom will publish a report based on its findings in spring 2014, and use the evidence to decide is changes to the current guidelines are needed. A BBC spokesman said: 'We recognise that subtitling is a hugely important service, and we endeavour to ensure it is as accurate as possible. 'As with all broadcasters, there are occasions - particularly during live broadcasts - when mistakes inevitably occur, but we do all we can to keep this to a minimum and are constantly striving to deliver a reliable service.'
### SUMMARY:
| Blunders have aired on broadcaster's News, Sport and Weather channels .
One gaffe sees BBC welcome Chinese viewers into 'year of the whores'
Another features news report on pigs that 'nibble anything, even willies'
And footballer Adnan Junazaj's name translated as 'Janet jazz jazz jam'
Seventy television channels in the UK now provide a subtitling service .
Last year, Ofcom demanded that broadcasters monitor quality of subtitles .
BBC said it strives to keep mistakes 'to minimum' and 'improve accuracy' |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Meghan Keneally . Newly declassified documents have revealed that the American military was not ready to deal with an imminent threat in Benghazi on the night of the 2012 attack because they always operated under the assumption that host countries would protect diplomatic forces for a few hours attack should an attack occur. The hundreds of pages of declassified material are transcripts of hearings held by the House Armed Services Committee in the wake of the fatal attack that left Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others dead in the early hours of September 12. A general and top members of the Department of Defense revealed that while they relied heavily on the understanding that Libyan forces would come to the American consulate’s aid for long enough to scramble jets from other bases in the Middle East, they also did little to prepare for the anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks. Chaos: The House Armed Services has released hundreds of pages of transcripts from hearings about the security preparedness- or lack thereof- leading up to the September 11, 2012 attack on the American Consulate in Benghazi . ‘We actually did an analysis of since 9/11 of 2001, how many attacks that we have actually had on 9/11, the anniversary of 9/11. The answer is one, and it was September 11 of 2012,’ Major General Darryl Roberson told the committee in a hearing on May 21, 2013. ‘Prior to that event at Benghazi, there had not been an attack on 9/11 that (the Department of Defense) had to respond to in any way. ‘What we thought, which turned out tragically unreliable, was that the Libyan security force would provide a defense of our diplomats, as is done around the world everywhere, and that failed.’ Adding to the scramble was the fact that the closest team that could theoretically fly in to help the security forces at the Benghazi compound was in Tripoli. Two people from that six-person team . were immediately dispatched to Benghazi while the rest stayed in Tripoli . to maintain a secure presence there, said Garry Reid, the principal . deputy assistant secretary of Defense for special operations and . low-intensity conflict. ‘We didn't have a tactical setting to say let's get a military force in there now,’ Mr Reid told the committee. Expert opinion: Major General Darryl Roberson told the committee that earlier security analysis told Defense Department officials that September 11 was not a day that was picked for a terrorist attack except in 2001, meaning that an increase of security was not necessarily justified on that specific date . ‘By the time our forces were in a . position to be able to get into Libya and to do something everything was . coming out of Benghazi, everybody was retrograding to Tripoli. And so . we were working on getting the wounded out. We knew by then that the . Ambassador was dead, and that he was on his way from the hospital to the . airfield.’ Aside from that . six-man AFRICOM team in Tripoli, there were no f-16 fighter planes . anywhere near the Libyan attack zones and the closest air refuellers . that could ready other, closer planes were in England- a 10-hour flight . away. The logistics of the developing attack . also prompted hesitation on commanders’ parts because even if there was . a plane ready to send in an attack drone or drop mortar fire on the . terrorists because the targets were not clear. ‘We . didn't know who was friendly and who was enemy,’ Major General Roberson . said, going on to defend his commander, General Carter Ham who is in . charge of American forces throughout the African continent. Unprepared: Garry Reid, the principal deputy assistant secretary of Defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, said that there was no system in place that would allow Defense Department officials to send support immediately . 'There was no way that we would have been able to drop weapons in that environment, from a drone or from an airplane. All of this, given this environment, was considered by General Ham and dismissed fairly quickly. And personally, from my experience, I believe his decision was correct.’ One of the first fixes that was identified in the aftermath of the attack was a lack of marine security guards on the premises, and Major General Roberson said that the Department had 'made a commitment to increase the coverage' in light of the attack. 'They are not going to be out on the perimeter chasing bad guys down the street, they are defending the hard line, they are defending within our secure areas, defending our people, defending our diplomatic facilities,' he described. Dozens of pages of testimony remain redacted in the files, released today by the House Armed Services Committee. The hearings were done behind closed doors, as they gave the elected officials a chance to ask questions about the spread of military forces at the time of the attack. The volatility of the region- in light of the toppling of Qaddafi's regime months before- led to examinations of the security of the American consulate, including one spearheaded by Ambassador Chris Stevens. The members of the Armed Services Committee concluded that the Ambassador's suggestions would have come too late, as the terrorists struck before he had time to make the reforms. 'I know the ambassador had an effort in place to strengthen and have a diplomatic presence. It wasn't full-time. And to that he lost his life. No pretense that this is a full on operation on the diplomatic side whatsoever,' Congressman Andrews said. Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was questioned- by both the House and Senate- in a far more public display that led her to scream at accusations that the State Department did not do enough by failing to question other evacuees as they left Libya in the days following the attack. ‘We had four dead Americans! Whether it was attack preplanned by terrorists or it because of a guy out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill Americans- what difference at this point does it make?!’ Mrs Clinton responded at her late January hearing. Angry: Mrs Clinton was extremely emotional throughout the nearly-three-hour-long hearing in January, which, unlike the hearings that were just declassified today, were televised . The May 21 House hearings that were just . declassified were part of a series that were held in order to try to . ascertain what failings allowed a group of armed terrorists to breach . the American consulate in Benghazi. The uncertainty surrounding the chain of events was also another major point of contention as White House officials blamed the attack on a video portraying Muslims in a bad light. The attack was later determined to be a pre-planned event, though the investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made to date. ‘It is a very dangerous world. And we are present in many parts of that dangerous world,’ said Congressman Adam Smith, a ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, during the May 21 hearing. ‘And also, we should remember that in the days before the Benghazi attacks, there were attacks on a number of our embassies that were, ironically, in fact inspired by a video, in Cairo, in Sana' a, in Tunis, in Pakistan, and a lot of other places. The threat environment was very complex and very difficult.’
### SUMMARY:
| House Armed Services Committee held hearings about the security levels at the American consulate in Benghazi which have now been declassified .
Defense Department officials revealed that there was no system in place to immediately dispatch extra support in the case of a sudden attack .
Normally depend on host country- in this case, Libya- to help defend American consulates in time of attack but 'that failed'
The fighter jets in nearby countries were all unarmed and needed to be refueled, but the nearest plane that could do that was in England .
Four died in the 2012 attack including Ambassador Chris Stevens . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . Two legal highs linked to a string of deaths in Britain are to be banned. The government’s official drugs advisers said NBOMe would be outlawed permanently as a class A substance, meaning dealers could face up to life in prison. It also recommended that Benzo Fury - once marketed as a legal form of ecstasy – be controlled as a class B substance. Deadly: A sample of 251-NBOMe - a recently discovered psychedelic substance which is to be banned . Both drugs have been subject to temporary bans after concerns about their health effects. Crime prevention minister Norman Baker, who recently took up the post in the last coalition reshuffle, said: ‘I am grateful to the ACMD for its advice on Benzofury and NBOMe and we will respond in due course.’ NBOMe, known on the street as N-Bomb and Smiley Paper, is a popular club drug mainly bought over the internet. Its effects, which can last six to 10 hours, include euphoria and feelings of love but also confusion, shaking, nausea, insomnia and paranoia, the ACMD said. Last week an inquest heard how . father-to-be Jake Harris died after slitting his own throat with a . broken wine glass when he suffered a devastating reaction to the drug. The 21-year-old is said to have gone 'crazy' at an all-night party after taking a mind-bending drug known as N-Bomb. Jake Harris, 21, is said to have gone 'crazy' at an all-night party after taking a mind-bending drug known as N-Bomb. As . he was suffering terrifying hallucinations, Mr Harris, a leisure centre . lifeguard, was heard shouting and pleading: 'I want it to stop.' He then broke a wine glass on a bedside cabinet and used a thick shard to slice his throat open. An inquest heard that Mr Harris and . friend Steven Higgins, 27, had gone to a party at the luxury flat of . Heather Turner, 28, near Manchester city centre. The . court was told she had already picked up some cocaine and vodka to . share with revellers but Mr Higgins supplied the N-Bomb drug to his . friend. He believed it was LSD and said he wanted to 'test' its effect . before visiting the Glastonbury festival. N-Bomb is also known to have killed at least five people in US states including Arizona, North Dakota and Louisiana. NBOMe was temporarily banned in the UK just days after the incident and has also been blamed for half a dozen deaths in the US. Surrey Police reported the death of an 18-year old man in February, which is thought to be related to NBOMe although this is awaiting confirmation, while Avon and Somerset Police have reported a death where a 22-year old man drowned after taking the drug. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has recommended that compounds of the drug, seen as an alternative to the hallucinogen LSD, are controlled as class A substances. This is the most serious category with possession punishable by a jail term of up to seven years. Earlier this year, seven intoxication cases linked to NBOMe were identified in hospitals across the north east of England, including two patients who needed intensive care. Evidence from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), which was recently taken into the new National Crime Agency (NCA), suggests large amounts of the drug have already arrived in the UK for distribution in blotter and powder form. The substance appears to have arrived via a well-established link to producers of the drug in China, the ACMD said. NBOMe is also potentially a highly profitable drug, the drug advisers said, since a relatively small amount of powder can generate many doses at prices between £2 to £4 - with up to 20 million doses available from just 1kg. The ACMD also recommended that BenzoFury be banned as a class B drug. It is often sold as powder or as tablets, known as pellets, with powder sold at GBP35 a gram and pellets GBP10 each. Earlier this year, psychology graduate Jennifer Whiteley, 27, died after she took ‘bombs’ of BenzoFury at her family home. Ten ‘legal highs’ were identified last year for the first time in the UK by a specialist Government system that targets music festivals and tobacco shops. A total of 27 new psychoactive substances - also known as legal highs - have now been detected by the Home Office's Forensic Early Warning System (FEWS) since it was set up in January 2011. Official figures also showed the number of deaths involving legal highs soared by 80% last year to 52, from 29 in 2011. Earlier this year, ACMD chairman Professor Les Iversen warned Britain is being swamped by a 'potentially dangerous’ influx of new legal highs. And a United Nations report found the UK to be the largest market for legal highs in the European Union. Tragedy: Jennifer Whiteley died of an accidental drug overdose while celebrating her new NHS job with boyfriend Andrew Tunnah . A psychologist who was celebrating . the offer of a job working with drug addicts died after taking a legal . high bought from a notorious website. Jennifer Whiteley, 27, took Benzo Fury with her boyfriend, which he had bought on online drugs marketplace The Silk Road. At . an inquest into the death of the former A-star pupil’s death, . her parents said they were shocked she had taken drugs as it was . completely out of character. Her mother, Claire Whiteley, condemned those who peddle legal highs. ‘I . just want to publicise as much as possible as to how dangerous it is . and that people who are selling them don’t give a toss,’ she said. ‘All . they want to do is make more money. They’ve made millions out of these. People now think that it’s not going to happen to us. It obviously . happens to us.’ The . inquest heard Andrew Tunnah, Miss Whiteley’s boyfriend of eight years, . bought the drug legally on The Silk Road in January. Web users could . purchase any kind of drugs on the website, which was shut down by the . FBI last month. Mr Tunnah . bought 5APB and 5MAPD – 5APB is also known as Benzo Fury. Miss Whiteley – . who was working as a mental health carer and had seen her articles . published in the Journal of Health Psychology – received a job offer . from the Pennine Trust in Lancashire in July. She . decided to spend the weekend celebrating at her parents’ house in Sale, . Greater Manchester, with Mr Tunnah while her parents were away. Miss . Whiteley consumed both 5APB and 5MAPD as well as cocaine and a small . amount of alcohol. At about 5am Miss Whiteley started sweating profusely . and collapsed after going into the bathroom to cool down. She was unconscious when an ambulance arrived and died the next day.
### SUMMARY:
| Government's drug advisers call for permanent ban on two substances .
NBOMe to be a outlawed as a class A drug with dealers facing life in jail .
BenzoFury, dubbed a legal form of ecstasy, to be a class B substance .
Follows reports of deaths across the country and in the USA .
Jake Harris, 21, slit his own throat with a wine glass after taking NBOMe .
Trainee psychologist Jennifer Whiteley, 27, died after taking Benzo Fury . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Richard Spillett . A mayor has been swindled by his own deputy in a cowboy building scam which left him with a £6,000 repair bill. Civic leader Mike Kennedy, 60, had to pay another builder to fix his leaky roof after town hall colleague Paul Jones failed to complete the work during months of delays. Father-of-five Jones, who made a string of excuses for delaying the job and then failed to finish it, has now been given years to repay the money he owes Mr Kennedy and another victim. Mike Kennedy, Mayor of Winsford, Cheshire (left), was ripped off by his own deputy, Paul Jones (right) Despite taking more than £1,000 from his senior colleague and repeatedly insisting he would mend his roof, Jones failed to fix the leak . Mr Kennedy, pictured with his wife Hilary cutting the ribbon at an opening ceremony, was left with a £6,000 repair bill . After Jones admitted fraud by false representation, magistrates ordered the compensation come out of his benefits at a rate of £5-a-week. Mr Kennedy, mayor of Winsford, Cheshire, hired Jones to stop rainwater getting into his garage after the Labour councillor bragged about his successful construction firm. But after Mr Kennedy handed over £1,600 towards the work, Jones gave his colleague and another disgruntled customer a string of excuses for delays. Jones, 36, falsely claimed he was undergoing treatment for testicular cancer, had been been undergoing psychiatric treatment and had lost his building materials in a fire. When trading standards were called in, it emerged Jones was a penniless bricklayer and did not employ anyone. The disgraced official, who campaigned against dangerous dogs and fly tipping during his time in office, has since quit as deputy mayor and given up his council seat. Jones, who has since stepped down from his civic role, was ordered to pay £7,000 to his two victims at a rate of £5-a-week . Mr Kennedy has hit out at the 'two years of lies' spun by Jones . Mr Kennedy, who will get a £4,250 share of the £7,000 compensation Jones was ordered to pay, said: 'I now firmly believe Jones only wanted to be the mayor of the town for his own kudos and self-esteem. 'I cannot believe how anyone on earth could fantasise to the extent he did. The lies he has told in the last two years have been unbelievable. In fact, so unbelievable they were believable. Mr Kennedy and his wife Hilary during civic duties in Winsford, Cheshire . 'Once he came to the council he said he had a building company and had his own business cards and t-shirts. Our garage roof was leaking so I asked him to do it because I thought I could trust him. 'He seemed believable and told us what he would need to do. 'But over the next 18 months every excuse under the sun came out. He was phoning some fictitious person at Dover docks who had supposedly been in touch about rubber for the roof. It allegedly came from Holland. 'He even came to my house phoning someone called Gary who was supposed to be his foreman saying "oh right Gary, I want to make sure nobody gets the new vans filthy", but there weren't any. There was absolutely no work force.' Jones was . elected to Winsford Town Council in Cheshire in 2011 and urged . colleagues and voters to address him as 'Councillor Jones' whenever they . saw him. He . was elected as Deputy Mayor in May 2013 with his wife Kelly acting as . Deputy Mayoress at the same time Mr Kennedy was elected mayor with his . wife Hilary, 66, serving as Mayoress. But . trouble began when former furniture shop owner Mr Kennedy hired Jones . in September 2011 and handed over a deposit of £1,400 in cash, with a . further £200 for 'materials' and payments for his 'workers'. Jones initially told the mayor he had to meet a man at Dover Docks to retrieve materials being sent from Holland. He . also claimed he had just bought two JCBs for his builder's yard so was . short of money to purchase materials for the job and he was currently . working on three barn conversions so had little time on his hands. He . also claimed he had lost building materials in a fire at the yard of . his supposed company 'New Images Construction & Build'. Later Jones placed tarpaulin in the leaking areas - forcing Mr Kennedy to leave buckets on the floor to collect the rainwater. Mr Kennedy asked Jones to carry out the work after his deputy bragged about his 'successful construction firm' But Jones repeatedly delayed the work, citing a range of excuses which Mr Kennedy described as 'so unbelievable they were believable' He . eventually rang the Kennedys while they were holidaying in Torquay last . September claiming the work was completed and 'brilliant' but, when they . got back home, they discovered the roof had not been touched and contacted . the authorities. Chester magistrates heard Jones also accepted £730 from another householder, Margaret Kernick, after he promised to undertake guttering work on her home - only to never start the job. Adam Simpson, prosecuting on behalf of Cheshire West and Chester Trading Standards said: 'Mrs Kernick approached the defendant as a builder and town councillor and asked for a quote and was quoted £730. She paid £300 up front and she believed he would be a trustworthy source. 'In the following weeks he said he had bought the materials and would start soon but made excuses about poor weather for not starting. He went to her house and said he was ill and undergoing tests for testicular cancer. 'He said he wouldn't be able to make money if he was going to hospital so she gave him money to assist. He then texted her saying he would return to start the work. But he did not honour the promise so she went to the town council. Jones placed plastic sheeting over the leak, which had led to rainwater dripping down into the Kennedys' home . The roof of the Kennedys' home after it was eventually fixed by another builder . 'He later said he was sorry he was messing her around and would come round with a full refund but did nothing.' Jones, now of Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, who is currently on Employment Support Allowance pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation. He resigned from the council citing 'personal reasons' in October last year. In mitigation, defence lawyer Guy Dodd said his client suffered from depression, bipolar disorder and OCD. He added: 'The victims approached him in both cases because they knew him in his capacity as a councillor at the time and knew he had previously worked in the building industry. 'He accepts he was never going to be in a fit state to carry out the work. He has been very seriously in debt. It is currently about £40,000 so he is effectively insolvent and considering the option of bankruptcy.' Jones was sentenced to six weeks in prison, suspended for 12 month and given a 12 month community supervision order. He was made to pay £730 compensation to Mrs Kernick, £4,250 to Cllr Kennedy, £2,295 prosecution costs and an £80 victim surcharge.
### SUMMARY:
| Mayor of Winsford Mike Kennedy was scammed by his deputy, Paul Jones .
Jones claimed he had a building firm but continually delayed roof work .
Mr Kennedy was left with £6,000 bill and will get compensation from Jones .
But court lets debt-ridden Jones pay off sum at £5-a-week from his benefits .
Jones also avoids jail and has been handed a suspended six-week sentence . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Associated Press . and Daily Mail Reporter . Billions of dollars in U.S. taxes are going unpaid because Americans are exploiting Swiss bank accounts - and the U.S. government has failed to aggressively pursue the bank helping them to do it. The bank, Credit Suisse, has provided accounts in Switzerland for more than 22,000 U.S. clients totaling $10 billion to $12 billion, according to a report issued by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on Tuesday. So far the government has received only 238 names of U.S. citizens with secret accounts at Credit Suisse, or just 1 per cent of the estimated total, the investigation concluded. Credit Suisse recruited U.S. clients between 2001 and 2008, helped them conceal the . accounts from the Internal Revenue Service and enabled misconduct by . bank employees, the subcommittee said. Hidden cash: Switzerland's second largest bank, Credit Suisse, has provided accounts in Switzerland for more than 22,000 U.S. clients totaling $10 billion to $12 billion, helping them skip U.S. taxes . On Tuesday, Senator John McCain said the offshore tax practices operated by Credit Suisse and other institutions had cost US taxpayers $337.3bn in potential revenue - 'the largest amount of tax revenue lost due to evasion in the world'. For five years, the Senate panel has been examining Swiss banks' use of secrecy laws to enable tax evasion by Americans. The main focus of its latest report was Credit Suisse. The Senate subcommittee asserted that . the Swiss government, with its famous banking secrecy, has continued to . obstruct U.S. authorities' ability to learn the names of U.S. bank . customers and former customers. The . report detailed cloak-and-dagger tactics used by Credit Suisse bankers . who were said to travel to the United States to secretly service . accounts and recruit customers - including at golf tournaments in . Florida and the annual 'Swiss Ball' in New York. Anger: Senator Carl Levin, the subcommittee's chairman (pictured in 2013) said the bank 'aided and abetted U.S. tax evasion' at a press conference on Tuesday . Over . breakfast at a hotel, one banker handed a U.S. customer bank statements . hidden in a Sports Illustrated magazine, the report said. The bank . filed visa applications for employees that falsely portrayed them as . tourists and maintained a New York office with lists of middlemen who . set up offshore shell companies for some U.S. customers, the committee . asserted. Credit Suisse . 'aided and abetted U.S. tax evasion, not only from behind a veil of . secrecy in Switzerland, but also on U.S. soil by sending Swiss bankers . here to open hidden accounts,' Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich), the subcommittee's chairman, said at a news conference Tuesday. Levin . said the Justice Department has failed to use the U.S. legal tools with . Credit Suisse that were used earlier to pry the names of U.S. account . holders from No. 1 Swiss bank UBS. Last week, ahead of the release of the Senate's report, Credit Suisse agreed to pay out $197 million to regulators after admitting to serving thousands of U.S. clients without approval. The settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claimed that Credit Suisse never registered cross-border securities that served 8,500 clients between 2002 and 2008. The accounts were valued at around $5. 6 billion and the bank collected $82 million in fees, it said. Analysts have said they expect a possible settlement with the US Department of Justice following the investigation may produce an even higher fine. It comes after seven Credit Suisse bankers were indicted in 2011. The senator's report said that neither the bank nor its bankers have yet been held accountable. The Justice Department has instead used treaty requests for the names, relying on Swiss courts and getting stymied, he said. 'It's time to ramp up the collection of taxes due from tax evaders on the billions of dollars hidden offshore,' Levin urged. Responding . to the report in a statement, the Justice Department said it is . investigating up to 14 Swiss financial institutions, 'and we won't . hesitate to indict if and when circumstances merit'. It did not name the . banks. In its statement, the Justice . Department said that since 2009, it has charged 73 account holders, and . 35 bankers and advisers with violations related to offshore tax evasion. Justice . officials are scheduled to testify and explain the government's actions . at a hearing Wednesday by the subcommittee. Also expected to testify . are four executives of Credit Suisse, including CEO Brady Dougan. Credit Suisse has responded to the report, saying that suggestions that the bank's executives aimed to improperly report financial figures were inaccurate. It claimed it has been 'working hard' to get rid of undeclared U.S. assets since an investigation began in 2008. The . spotlight on Americans' use of Swiss accounts comes amid a debate in . Washington over whether and how to raise revenue to help reduce the . budget deficit. Many . Democrats say the government is missing out on billions because . companies are stashing profits abroad to avoid taxes. Republicans want . to cut the corporate tax rate and ease the tax burden on money that U.S. companies make abroad to encourage companies to invest at home. 'Working hard': Brady W. Dougan, CEO of Credit Suisse, (pictured earlier this month) called the claims 'inaccurate' and said the bank had been working to get rid of undeclared U.S. assets . In the UBS case, the Justice Department threatened the bank with criminal prosecution. UBS entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the department in 2009. It agreed to pay $780 million in fines and turn over 4,400 names of customers suspected of evading U.S. taxes. Some of those individuals have been prosecuted. Others have paid penalties and back taxes under an IRS voluntary disclosure program that lets those who come forward pay less than they owe. The program has resulted in 43,000 taxpayers coming forward about their offshore accounts and paying $6 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties, according to the government. But Justice has failed to pursue most of the UBS account holders and hasn't actively pursued Credit Suisse, Levin and Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the panel's senior Republican, said at the news conference. Credit Suisse disclosed in 2011 that it was the target of a criminal investigation by Justice. Credit Suisse and UBS are on a list of 29 'global systemically important banks' whose failures would be considered a threat to the entire financial system. Credit Suisse shares fell 3.165 to 27.31 Swiss francs in Zurich on Wednesday. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
### SUMMARY:
| A Senate investigation has found Credit Suisse has provided accounts in Switzerland for 22,000 Americans totaling $10 billion to $12 billion .
The set-up allows these wealthy Americans to evade U.S. taxes .
Investigation also found that the government has failed to pursue Credit Suisse; so far it only knows 1 per cent of the names of people involved .
Credit Suisse employed sly tactics to get accounts - such as recruiting at golf tournaments and handing over paperwork hidden in magazines .
The bank claims it has been working hard to get rid of the accounts . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Lydia Warren for MailOnline . Hundreds of mourners wore Kevin Ward Jr's racing colors to say farewell to the young driver at his funeral today, five days after the driver was killed . by NASCAR champion Tony Stewart. Extra chairs had to be placed inside the 700-seater auditorium for his funeral at South . Lewis Senior High School in Turin, New York - where Ward Jr., 20, graduated just two years ago. Standing in front of a large orange and white flower arrangement in the shape of a number 13 - Ward's racing number - friends and family remembered the kind-hearted, talented driver. His sisters said they often joked that Ward was 'spoiled rotten' as the only boy in the family, but that he had a 'caring and loving soul'. Saying goodbye: Loved ones release orange, white and black balloons - Kevin Ward Jr's racing colors - after his casket was loaded into a hearse following his funeral on Thursday afternoon . Remembered: Before the funeral, a casket carrying his body was seen being taken inside . Somber: The casket also bore the number '13' along its side - Ward's dirt-track racing number . Pained: Somber friends gather outside the high school following the service before heading to the burial . 'We love you and you will never . be forgotten,' his sister Kayla Herring said, Syracuse.com reported. 'If there wasn’t a dirt track in heaven before, there sure is now. From all of us, Kevin, please watch over us. Drive fast. Turn left and Godspeed. You will never be forgotten.' Earlier, . she had explained to reporters that she and other mourners were wearing . orange and white because 'even against black, orange and white does . shine through'. During the service, she joked that he wore a cologne he called 'Pimp Juice' because 'the ladies love it' - before she sprayed the cologne over his body, which was dressed in a white suit, the New York Post reported. Pastor Kevin Westcott, who officiated the funeral service, spoke about how, in 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul wrote that to win the . race you must run to win. 'Run . to win, that exemplifies . Kevin's attitude in a race car,' he said, Syracuse.com reported. 'How . we run the race, and who we run it for, is really what's important. Missed: 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. is pictured with his parents, Kevin Sr and Pam, at an earlier race . Mourned: Kayla Herring, Ward Jr's sister, wears a ribbon bearing his racing colors and number . Remembered: A man wearing a sweater in support of Ward walks past a hearse before the funeral . Quiet: People walk to the high school five days after the promising young driver was hit by racer Tony Stewart . Loved: A picture of Ward Jr is seen outside South Lewis Senior High School, from where he graduated in 2012. His funeral is being held at the location as his family expected hundreds of mourners . 'Kevin . ran every race with everything he had. Today I want . to say: Well done, Kevin. He finished well, he won his race.' After . more speeches - including jokes at his 'Justin Bieber haircut' - and . music, the crowd went outside and watched solemnly as Ward's casket . was carried to a waiting hearse. They then counted to 13 and released orange and white balloons outside the high school. Earlier, . pace cars from the tracks where Ward raced were seen parked outside the . Trainor Funeral Home, where stony-faced loved ones attended visitation . hours. Cars from . Utica Rome Speedway, Can-Am Speedway and Glen Ridge Motorsports Park . were among them as well-wishers from the New York racing community paid . their respects, USA Today reported. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who lost his father in a racing accident in the 2001 Daytona 500, was among the people who gave flowers. Farewell: The crowd watches as Ward's casket is carried from the high school after the service . Saying goodbye: Mourners gather for the burial for Ward at the Port Leyden Cemetery after the service . Support: A Kevin Ward Jr. racing sticker is displayed on a vehicle outside the service. A tribute will be held to him at the racing course on Saturday night . Ward . was killed on Saturday after he got in to a crash at the Canadaigua . Motorsports Park on lap 14 of a 25-lap Empire Super Sprint race. A . video of the incident apparently shows Stewart's car apparently making . contact with Ward's car before the younger driver's vehicle spins out . and comes to a stop near a wall. Ward . can then be seen getting out of his crashed car and walking towards . other cars on the track before pointing a finger, apparently at Stewart. A car . swerves to avoid him, but when Stewart's car passes close to Ward, his . right rear tire apparently hits him, and Ward was pulled beneath the car . and thrown in the air. He later died. Dean Reynolds, from Empire Super Sprints, told the crowd at the funeral that, in the future, the race will be known as the Kevin Ward Memorial Race. On Saturday, Canandaigua Motorsports Park will hold a tribute to the tragic young driver. The service came one day after Kevin Ward Jr's family revealed found out that they learned about his death on Facebook. Confrontation: Ward Jr was hit after he was nudged off the course and walked on the track, pointing his finger angrily at Stewart. Stewart's car then fatally hit him when it came around the track . Kevin Ward . Sr. said his daughter learned of the heartbreaking news online and broke . it to him over the phone as they waited for updates in the hospital, Syracuse.com reported. Mr Ward also expressed his anger at Stewart, saying only he knows the truth of what happened on the track at the Canadaigua Motorsports Park on Saturday night. 'The one person that knows what happened . that night is possibly facing 10 years in prison. Is he going to say . what he done?' Mr Ward said. He said that all the other drivers on the track saw the young man walking - but Stewart still hit him. 'Apparently, Tony Stewart was the only one driving out there who didn't see him,' he said. Ontario . County sheriff's deputies, who have met twice with the Ward family, are . still investigating the crash and are looking at another video of the . incident. Questions: Ward's father said that all the other . drivers managed to see his son walking on the track on Saturday night . but for some reason, NASCAR star Tony Stewart (pictured) failed to see . him . Sheriff Philip Povero has said that his . initial findings have turned up nothing that would indicate criminal . intent in the crash - but legal experts agree that does not mean Stewart . is in the clear. He . could be charged with second-degree manslaughter under New York law if . prosecutors believe he 'recklessly caused the death of another person,' with negligent homicide another possibility, criminal law professor . Corey Rayburn Yung of the Kansas University School of Law told the . Associated Press . After the investigation is completed, the evidence will be turned over to the district attorney. Even if he is cleared by prosecutors, though, Stewart could face a civil . suit.
### SUMMARY:
| Hundreds of mourners gathered at South Lewis Senior High School in Turin, New York - where Kevin Ward Jr. had been a student - on Thursday .
They wore orange, white and black - his racing colors .
Ward Jr. was killed after he was hit by NASCAR champion Tony Stewart during a race in upstate New York on Saturday night .
Ward Jr. had climbed out of his car after crashing and was on the track - gesturing at Stewart - when the driver fatally hit him . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is healthy - and ‘there is no doubt about it’, one of the country’s most senior officials has insisted. The Communist regime’s ambassador to the United Kingdom became one of the first to offer a direct answer to increasing questions over the regime’s leader, who has not been seen since September 3. The lack of public appearances by the usually widely-photographed Kim Jong-Un, 32, has led to speculation that he is either ill or even that he has been deposed. A picture released on 4 September 2014 shows Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju watching a performance by the Moranbong Band in Pyongyang. This was the last time the North Korean leader was seen in public . Speculation has been rife that Kim's younger sister Kim Yo-jong (left) is currently running the country . However speaking to the BBC, Ambassador Hyon Hak Bong, said: 'Our respected leader Comrade Kim Jong-Un is healthy, no doubt about it.' But it is unlikely that the assurances will bring an end to the flurry of rumors surrounding the whereabouts of the North Korean dictator. In the five weeks since Mr Kim was last seen in the state media at a September 3 concert, he has missed several high-profile events that he normally attends. An official documentary released late last month then made a single reference to Mr Kim's 'discomfort' and showed video footage from August of him overweight and limping. Speaking to the BBC, the North Korean ambassador devoted more time to questions about human rights abuses than to the whereabouts of the country's leader. In the five weeks since Mr Kim was last seen in the state media at a September 3 concert, he has missed several high-profile events that he normally attends . He said such allegations of abuses were false and driven by the United States as the country wants to bring down the regime in Pyongyang. The ambassador took particular exception to the idea that there are labor camps in North Korea. He said there are no labor camps and there are no political prisoners. He added that there are institutions which rectify people's behavior through labor but they do not amount to 'labor camps'. Many analysts believe that while Mr Kim may have some health issues, he is probably not in serious trouble . North Koran defectors prepare to release balloons carrying leaflets condemning North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and his government's policies. One theory is that the dictator has been toppled from power in a political coup and is currently languishing under house arrest - although there is little evidence to show this . He also said US missionary Kenneth Bae was being held in a 'reform institution', which was not the same as a labor camp. Mr Bae was sentenced to 15 years' hard labor in 2013 after he was convicted by North Korea on charges of planning to overthrow the North Korean government. The ambassador said in an email to the BBC: 'We have reform institutions where offenders sentenced to penalty of reform through labour by the relevant laws are held and educated through labour. His sister is in charge: Speculation has been rife that Kim's younger sister Kim Yo-jong is currently running the country . He is under house arrest: A more dramatic possibility is that the dictator has been toppled from power in a political coup and is languishing under house arrest . He 'hurt his leg': Thee have been rumors that Kim is out of action after injuring himself on a military visit or taking part in a military manoeuvre. There is no evidence to back this up, however. He has gout: Kim's poor health has been the focus of many theories. He is clearly unfit and was last seen limping and overweight. Official North Korean media have cited unspecified personal 'discomfort' as grounds for his absence from public view . He broke his ankle playing basketball: One of the more bizarre theories - spawned from an episode of Saturday Night Live - is that the cause of his mysterious absence is that he broke his ankle 'dunking over Michael Jordan' He is ill due to diabetes, heavy smoking, endocrine problems, 'eating too much cheese': Various other health explanations have been put forward including a number of ailments . He's simply laying low: There is nothing particularly unusual about North Korean leaders stepping out the public eye for extended periods . 'Some Western media interpret them as 'labour camps', but they are reform institutions. 'If I take an example, the place where American citizen Bae Jun Ho (Kenneth Bae) is being held is a reform institution.' But in February the United Nations found that there were widespread and serious abuses of human rights to be taking place in North Korea. In a recent online post titled 'North Korea Misinformation Bingo', Adam Cathcart, a University of Leeds history lecturer, suggested that the absence of Kim Jong-Un could be North Korea's attempt to change the subject from its human rights abuse . But he later added that there are lots of rumors floating around, and 'most of them are probably wrong'. Many analysts believe that while Kim may have some health issues, he is probably not in serious trouble. But his possible ill-health has led to speculation. Other commentators have noted that there is nothing particularly unusual about North Korean leaders laying low for extended periods. Kim's late father, Kim Jong Il, who was no fan of the limelight in his later years, would disappear at times. Kim Jong-Un, who seems to genuinely like being at the center of things, took off without a word for three weeks in 2012. Other reports have suggested from a range of ailments including diabetes, a brain hemorrhage, a heart ailment, a leg injury that required surgery from a French doctor and even a cheese addiction that made his unwell. 'Within North Korea, the people feel Kim's presence even when he is absent,' Scott Snyder, a Korea expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in a recent blog post. 'Externally, North Korean propaganda has made Kim's presence so critical that international media regard his absence as disquieting, even ... without supporting indicators of instability or upset in Pyongyang.' Kim's disappearance from the public eye 'does not appear likely to shake the regime, but it reveals the vulnerabilities the regime faces', Snyder said. Last week, Saturday Night Live addressed the North Korean dictator's mysterious disappearance, with a bizarre skit in which the cast mocked his claims that he is still in power but just 'hurt his leg'. Bobby Moynihan, playing Kim, screams at a room full of soldiers: 'I broke my ankle dunking Michael Jordan! The movie Space Jam is about me, we all know that!' North Korea's ambassador to the UK told the BBC that the country's 32-year-old leader is well, despite having been absent from public view for more than 38 days . One of the more bizarre theories - spawned from an episode of Saturday Night Live (pictured) - is that the cause of his mysterious absence is that he broke his ankle 'dunking over Michael Jordan'
### SUMMARY:
| Envoy refuses to reveal the whereabouts of Kim but insists he is healthy .
Speculation rife across world's media as to what has happened to the leader .
Ambassador devoted more time to questions about human rights abuses .
He took exception to the idea that there are labor camps in North Korea .
Said there are institutions which rectify people's behavior through labor but they do not amount to 'labor camps'
Kim has been absent from public view since a concert on September 3 .
A number of theories as to his whereabouts involve his rumored poor health .
Also reports his younger sister Kim Yo-jong has taken leadership of affairs .
There has even been speculation that the dictator has been deposed . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Colin Montgomerie is tipping bookies’ favourite Rory McIlroy to take advantage of Tiger Woods’ absence and win the US Open. The world No 6 celebrated his first-ever major triumph back in 2011 when he won the US Open at Congressional and his form of late, despite his high-profile break-up with tennis ace Caroline Wozniacki, has improved considerably. The 25-year-old showed his strength and class to win the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last month and he shot six-under par to finish tied-15th at the recent Memorial Championship.VIDEO Scroll down for Rory McIlroy practising his swing ahead of the US Open . Prepared: Rory McIlroy talks with his dad Gerry at Pinehurst as he builds up to the US Open starting on Thursday . Chillaxed: Colin Montgomerie believes that McIlroy can storm the US open in the absence of Tiger Woods . McIlroy will begin his quest for glory on Thursday and Friday alongside two fellow former US Open champions in Webb Simpson and good friend Graeme McDowell, completing a field buoyed by the absence of former world No 1 Woods who remains sidelined with a back problem. And Montgomerie believes the Northern Ireland native will be in contention for a third major success come Sunday’s final round. ‘Pinehurst is a ball strikers course and he [McIlroy] being the best ball striker in the world has to start as favourite. ‘Without Tiger [Woods] there, Rory McIlory is the favourite and you’d expect him to be right there. 'Who can say he’s going to win because golf is one of these things. But Rory will be in contention. Definitely.’ McIlory has admitted he will be making some equipment changes to his bag this week, opting to put a three-iron in and go with a three-wedge system comprising of a pitch wedge, 54 and 59 degree clubs. And Montgomerie, who was McIlroy’s Ryder Cup-winning captain at Celtic Manor four years ago, has warned Pinehurst will be a difficult beast to tame. Absent: Tiger Woods will miss the even with a back injury . Victors: Montgomerie, McIlroy and their Europe team-mates celebrating their Ryder Cup win in 2010 . ‘The US Open is seen as the toughest to win.’ he said, speaking exclusively to Sportsmail at Gleneagles, venue for this year’s Ryder Cup extravaganza, where he launched the Johnnie Walker Blue Label limited edition whiskey on Monday. ‘Pinehurst is very different this year. They’ve cut back all of the rough - in fact, there’s no rough at all really. ‘Ben Crenshaw and his team have been asked by the USGA to put Pinehurst back to its original state. ‘So, on all of the greens, you may run off and there’s no rough to stop it. Instead of stopping short in the rough to give you a flop shot, the ball will now run 30 yards extra down a slope. ‘What is means is, you’ve got all sorts of options. Do you chip it? Do you putt it? It’s very difficult. If it’s at all breezy it could be near impossible. ‘This is a real, real challenge and the greens are firm too. A true test.’ Swinger: McIlroy hits his tee shot on the seventh hole during a practice round at Pinehurst on Tuesday . Balls: The Northern Irishman smiles on the practice range as he gears up for his tilt at the trophy . Justin Rose ended the 43-year hoodoo of an English champion when he became the first since Tony Jacklin in 1970 to win the US Open at Merion last year. Montgomerie, 50, reckons Rose has every chance of defending his title in North Carolina and claims it’s all thanks to the benchmark set by Padraig Harrington. Harrington won back-to-back Open championships in 2007 and 2008 before landing the PGA Championship in the same calendar year. And Montgomerie said: ‘Justin’s chances of retaining are very high. ‘I think that Padraig Harrington gave those types of players belief that, “Look, I can do this lads, I’ve won three out of four majors... and so can you”. ‘I think it’s helped Rory, it helped Graeme McDowell and helped Justin Rose in winning these major championships since. They all have a great opportunity again. 'Rory, I think, is one of the favourites. But Justin Rose is returning to form following his shoulder injury. ‘Going back to a championship that you’ve won, albeit at a different venue, as a defending champion you feel you’ve got a chance to do it again. And, obviously, Justin is up there with the favourites to win.’ Pointer: Rose points to the sky after his final putt of his US Ope triumph last year . Throwback: He was the first Englishman to do so since Tony Jacklin in 1970 . Montgomerie, who will be summarising the play for Sky Sports in North Carolina this week, is refusing to rule out the heavyweight American stars though. ‘Who could discount Bubba Watson?’ he added. ‘You never know what’s going to happen. He could just blast it round there and get away with it. ‘And then there’s Phil Mickelson. We’d all love for him to finally win the US Open. Six times runner-up in the one event he’s not won. ‘This time he’s playing a course that could suit him, especially with the short game wizardry that he has. ‘There’s a number of guys potentially who could win it really.’ So, what about the chances of a Scottish success in the States on Sunday? ‘Well, I like the look of Stephen Gallacher right now,’ he said. ‘It would be great if he gets in the Ryder Cup team at Glenagles for Scotland’s sake. He’s hitting the ball extremely well.’ Diamond in the rough: Two-times Masters champion Bubba Watson is a contender for his first US Open . Haunted: As is Phil Mickelson, who has come second six times in the event without ever winning it . Perhaps Gallacher will take inspiration from Montgomerie in his pursuit of a first ever major. Montgomerie, after all, was the last Scot to return home victorious from across the Atlantic after his stunning Senior PGA Championship victory at Harbor Shores last month. ‘It was wonderful,’ said Montgomerie. If you lead going into the last round and shoot a 65 you’d be unlucky not to lose really. ‘But at the same time, it was great to win in America. It has been a long time coming and I’m thrilled. ‘I guess it was a relief more than anything. 22 years I’ve been playing in America, playing in a 130-odd tournaments, so it was nice to finally win a stroke play event!’ Plug: Montgomerie poses at Gleneagles at a Johnnie Walker publicity event .
### SUMMARY:
| Colin Montgomerie backs Rory McIlory to win US Open at Pinehurst .
The Northern Irishman, who won his first major in 2011, is the favourite .
Ryder Cup hero Montgomerie also backs Justin Rose to shine .
Rose is the defending champion, having won the event at Merion last year .
Colin Montgomerie was at Gleneagles as Johnnie Walker, Official Partner of The 2014 Ryder Cup, announced the creation of the Johnnie Walker Blue Label ‘Ryder Cup Limited Edition’, a run of just 2,350 bottles of luxury blended Scotch Whisky (www.alexanderandjames.com) |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Gunmen fired indiscriminately at homes, burned down a church and raided a police station in two attacks on Kenyan coastal towns overnight, killing at least 29 people. Twenty of the victims were killed in an attack in the Gamba area of Tana River county, where gunmen rushed the police station and freed suspected al-Shabab militants. Another nine were killed in a separate raid at the Hindi trading centre in neighbouring Lamu county, near the town of Mpeketoni where 65 people were killed last month. Islamist al-Shabab gunmen apparently placed a Bible on the back of this man after they killed him during the attack on Hindi village, in Lamu county on the coast of Kenya, in which nine people were killed . Residents of Hindi look at the body of another man killed in the attack on their town last night . The Somali Islamist militant group . al-Shabab, which last September attacked the Westgate shopping mall in . Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, claimed responsibility for the attacks. Mwenda . Njoka, a spokesman for the interior ministry, told Reuters: 'There were . two attacks in Lamu and Tana River last night. In Lamu we have nine . people dead and in Tana River we have 20. The number could rise.' Sheikh . Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, told . Reuters in Mogadishu that the Somali group was behind both attacks on . Saturday night. It had also said it was responsible for the June raids in Lamu County, around Mpeketoni. But . President Uhuru Kenyatta dismissed al-Shabab's claim last month and . blamed local politicians, stoking an already fierce row with the . opposition, which denied any role. Policemen and medical workers recover the slain body of a man killed when gunmen attacked Hindi village . A woman rummages through ruins of her home burned down when gunmen torched a Hindi trading centre . A shell-shocked family gathers in their home after an attack by gunmen in Hindi village . A man looks at a the ruins of the church in Hindi village which was set ablaze during the attack last night . Regardless . of who is blamed this time, the violence will hammer an already . beleaguered tourist industry that has been hit by a wave of militant . attacks. And they will . deepen public frustrations about poor security in Kenya a day before a . big opposition rally is planned for the capital. At . a news conference, police deputy inspector general Grace Kaindi said a . blackboard, ripped out of a school, was found at a junction near Hindi . with scrawling that could implicate the coastal separatist group, the . Mombasa Republic Movement (MRC). 'At . first we thought it was al Shabaab, but now it is turning out that it . is MRC as they have put it there clearly,' she said, adding other . scribbled phrases seemed to back opposition leader Raila Odinga. Slogans included 'MRC - You are sleeping,' 'Muslims your land is being grabbed', 'Raila is adequate' and 'Uhuru down'. The . MRC swiftly denied any role. 'The government should stop using us as a . scapegoat,' Randu Nzai Ruwa, the MRC Secretary General, told Reuters by . telephone. A police officer walks past blood stains on the ground at the Gamba police station in Gamba, Tana River county . Three Islamist suspects were released in the raid on the police station, and another five inmates were killed . Soldiers in front of a burned out truck in Gamba. Police said the gunmen got to the police station by car-jacking a truck and killing its three occupants. Five officers were wounded in the attack and one was killed . Officials said a . group of 10-15 men struck at Hindi, situated nine miles from the town of . Lamu, and close to the town of Mpeketoni, which was nearly destroyed in . one of the attacks in June, at about 10 pm on Saturday. 'They went around shooting at people and villages indiscriminately,' Abdallah Shahasi, the area chief, told Reuters. Al-Shabab . announced that at the same time it had broken into the police station . at Gamba and freed suspects from the detention cells. A Kenyan police . source, who asked not to be named, corroborated that account. He . told Reuters: 'They killed some of our colleagues and freed Muslim . detainees. Some of those freed were linked to the Mpeketoni attacks two . weeks ago. 'We still don't know how many detainees were freed until we verify with registers at the station.' A . senior police source who also asked to remain anonymous told the . Associated Press that the nine victims of the raid included five inmates . said to be non-Muslim. He said three other inmates escaped with the . gunmen. The officer said the . gunmen got to the police station by car-jacking a truck and killing its . three occupants. Five police officers were wounded in the attack and . one officer was killed, he said. The left picture shows a trail of blood smeared along the floor of of a corridor leading to the door of the Gamba police station. Right, a policeman stares down at the blood stain where his colleague was killed in the attack . Miiri . Njenga, the Lamu county commissioner, said the attackers targeted . government offices and some properties, including a church, were burned . down. Lamu County police chief Ephantus Kariuki said victims were shot in the head with their hands bound. 'It . seems the attacks are more associated with land disputes and . resources,' he told Reuters, speaking of a region where rival ethnic . groups have long rowed over land ownership. The . Kenyan Red Cross said three people were taken to hospital with . injuries, from both areas, adding another one was reported missing in . Gamba. One of three victims who made it to hospital after the attacks lies in King Fahad hospital in Lamu county . Another of the victims receives treatment at the King Fahad hospital after he was shot in Hindi village . Militant attacks on . the coast have fanned an already tense political atmosphere in Kenya, . which has sent troops to join African troops battling al-Shabab in . neighbouring Somalia. Veteran . opposition leader Odinga, defeated by Kenyatta in last year's election, . has held rallies over the past month criticising the government over . frequent militant attacks. Kenyatta . stepped into an already heated debate by accusing local politicians of . being behind strikes on Mpeketoni. Opponents saw his statement as . fingering Odinga, who has promised a major rally on Monday in Nairobi. Religious . leaders have urged Kenyans to avoid rallies that could deepen divisions . in a nation scarred by political violence in the recent past. Political . allegiances in Kenya tend to follow ethnic lines. The . nation is haunted by the 2007 presidential election, when 1,200 died in . weeks of ethnic blood-letting - over which Kenyatta still faces trial . at The Hague this year for crimes against humanity. However, last year's vote went off calmly.
### SUMMARY:
| WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT .
Twenty killed in Gamba, where militants raided a police station .
Another nine were killed in Hindi, in the neighbouring county .
Three people taken to hospital with injuries from the attacks .
Al-Shabab are the group behind last year's Westgate mall massacre .
Its military spokesman in Somalia claims responsibility for attacks .
But there are also claims attacks were mounted by Kenyan groups . |
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