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### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 00:02 EST, 2 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:11 EST, 2 September 2013 . President Obama and his top aides began a full-scale political offensive on Sunday to persuade a skeptical Congress to approve a military strike against Syria, but faced a struggle to win over lawmakers from both parties and a war-weary American public. The President made calls to members of the House of Representatives and Senate, with more scheduled for Monday, underscoring the task confronting the administration before it can go ahead with using force in response to a deadly chemical attack blamed on the Syrian government. Dozens of lawmakers, some in tennis shirts or shirtsleeves, cut short their vacations and streamed into the corridors of the Capitol building for a Sunday afternoon intelligence briefing on Syria with Mr Obama's national security team. Crisis talks: President Obama and Vice-President Biden meet John Kerry and Susan Rise to discuss Syria on Sunday . When they emerged nearly three hours later, there was no immediate sign that the many skeptics in Congress had changed their minds. Many questioned the broad nature of the measure the President is seeking, suggesting it needed to be narrowed. 'I am very concerned about taking America into another war against a country that hasn't attacked us,' California Democrat Janice Hahn said. On the way out of the briefing, she said the participants appeared 'evenly divided' on whether to give Mr Obama approval. Most seemed convinced Syria had engaged in chemical warfare. 'The searing image of babies lined up dead, that's what I can't get out of my mind right now,' Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz said after the closed-door briefing. But the credibility of the administration's intelligence is turning out to be a less important issue than the nature and usefulness of the response. U.S. military officials are using the . delay to reassess which ships will be used for a strike, and which . sites in Syria to target. One . change was a decision to send the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and its . entire strike group towards the Red Sea to help support the Syria . strike, if needed. Earlier in the day, Secretary of State John Kerry invoked the crimes of Hitler and Saddam Hussein, and warned of a potential threat to Israel a day after Mr Obama delayed an imminent attack on Syrian targets until after a congressional vote. Debate: The President meets national security advisers to discuss possible military action . Contact: Barack Obama called members of the House of Representatives to rally support . Even as Mr Kerry took to the airwaves touting new evidence that deadly sarin gas was used in the August 21 chemical attack near Damascus, the scope of the challenge confronting the administration became apparent. Lawmakers questioned the effectiveness of limited strikes; the possible unintended consequence of dragging the U.S. into another open-ended Middle East conflict; the wisdom of acting without broader international backing to share the burden; and the war fatigue of the American public. Polls show the public is largely opposed to U.S. military action. While Mr Kerry predicted the President would win the endorsement he wants, a cacophony of congressional critics - from liberal Democratics to Republican conservatives - illustrated just how hard that will be. 'I'm not convinced that the administration's support will resolve the issues in Syria,' Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, said as he left the meeting, adding he was leaning towards a 'no' vote. 'In terms of whether not a lot of questions were really answered today? I'd say no,' he said. Mr Kerry, the administration's most impassioned voice for intervention in Syria's two-and-a-half-year civil war, was left to publicly defend Mr Obama's reversal, a decision that puts any strike on hold for at least nine days. 'This is squarely now in the hands of Congress,' Mr Kerry told CNN, saying he had confidence lawmakers 'will do what is right because they understand the stakes'. Split: Protesters for and against military action confront each other outside the White House . Call for action: Protesters demanding military action shout over those opposing it at joint rallies in Washington DC . In a round of television appearances, Mr Kerry declined to say whether the President would proceed with military action if Congress rejected his request, as Britain's parliament did last week. He echoed Mr Obama's comments in the White House Rose Garden on Saturday, insisting the President had the right to act on his own if he choses that course. Mr Obama is taking a gamble by putting the brakes on the military assault he considers essential to maintain U.S. credibility, after he had said the use of chemical weapons would constitute a 'red line' for the U.S.. The consensus on Capitol Hill is that Mr Obama has a good chance of winning approval in the Democratic-led Senate, but the vote appears too close to call in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where the President's opponents rarely miss an opportunity to block him. The White House is due to talk with House Democrats by telephone on Monday, and Mr Obama will meet the heads of several key House and Senate committees in person on Tuesday. Acknowledging that the administration has its work cut out, Mr Kerry insisted Congress could not 'have it both ways' by demanding a voice and then abdicating responsibility to uphold the international bans on chemical weapons use. Mr Kerry used the television appearances to provide further evidence backing accusations against the Syrian government. 'I can share with you today that blood and hair samples that have come to us through an appropriate chain of custody, from east Damascus, from first responders, it has tested positive for signatures of sarin,' Mr Kerry told State of the Union. Innocents: According to U.S. estimates, of the 1,429 killed in the attack, 426 were children . Responsibility: French agents say Assad's regime is behind the nerve gas attack in the Duma neighbourhood of Damascus on August 21 . It was the first time the administration had pinpointed the chemical used in the attack, which U.S. intelligence agencies said killed more than 1,400 people, many of them children. Mr Obama's efforts are sure to be hampered by his dismal relations with congressional Republicans. Another bitter face-off on government spending is looming this autumn. Lawmakers for the most part welcomed Mr Obama's decision to consult them, but looked in no hurry to reconvene early from their summer recess, which lasts until September 9. Underscoring a sense of wariness even from Mr Obama's traditional allies, many Democrats joined Republicans in saying the use-of-force resolution offered by the White House is too broad and that new language will be written for consideration. Several said they wanted it to include strict time limits, guarantee that no U.S. troops would be sent into Syria, and tie authorization for any further military action to additional chemical weapons use by Syria's President, Bashar Assad. 'The president said this is going to be limited. Yet that's an open-ended authorization to just about do anything he wants,' Democratic senator Tom Harkin said. 'The resolution as it is right now is so open-ended that it gives a blanket authority with no time limits. You can't accept it just on its face,' Republican Dennis Ross said. 'Now we have to look at what is the exit strategy if we do a strike, and I don't know if we're going to do that.' New York Republican Peter King said it . was unclear if lawmakers would sign off on an attack on Syria, but he . warned Mr Obama may have to overcome 'the isolationist wing' of the . Republican Party to prevail. Pressing issue: The President briefs senior advisers about the situation in Syria . Seeking to lay the groundwork for what is expected to be a heated congressional debate, Mr Kerry tipped his hand on one administration tactic - linking the vote to safeguarding U.S. ally Israel from the Syrian chemical weapons threat. 'I don't think they will want to vote, ultimately, to put Israel at risk,' Mr Kerry said. Lawmakers of both major political parties recognize how important it is to be seen as defenders of Israel, especially at election time.
### SUMMARY:
| Lawmakers cut short vacation to join intelligence briefing .
Most agree regime did use chemical weapons but are split on resolution .
John Kerry likens Assad to Hitler and Hussein for attack that killed 1,400 .
Polls show public is mainly opposed to strike .
USS Nimitz and entire strike group redirected to help if needed . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Michael Seamark and Jason Groves . PUBLISHED: . 18:21 EST, 9 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:39 EST, 9 September 2013 . Shamed ex-Cabinet minister Chris Huhne was still blaming everyone but himself yesterday for his spectacular downfall. Huhne was jailed in March for perverting the course of justice by persuading his then wife to take his speeding points on her driving licence so he would escape a ban. The eight-month sentence, of which he served only 62 days, brought his political career to a humiliating end. It followed months of lies in which he repeatedly denied the offence – only to admit his guilt on the eve of his trial. Ex-Cabinet minister Chris Huhne claimed that his downfall was 'payback' for speaking out about phone-hacking . But Huhne claimed yesterday that he was the victim of a Press vendetta and his downfall was ‘payback’ after he spoke out about phone-hacking. His attempt to blame the Press for his woes was quickly slapped down by Nick Clegg. Asked about Huhne’s ‘bizarre’ allegations, Mr Clegg – whom he challenged for the Liberal Democrat leadership – said : ‘It is his opinion. Is it exactly my opinion? No it isn’t.’ Huhne, 58, said the News Of The World targeted him to expose his affair with his aide Carina Trimingham, which resulted in the break-up of his marriage. The Sunday Times then ‘groomed’ his ex-wife Vicky Pryce, he said, until she told the newspaper about taking his speeding points. Miss Pryce, 60, was also convicted over the 2003 speeding incident on the M11 and jailed for eight months. Sentencing the couple, Mr Justice Sweeney, told them ‘any element of tragedy is entirely your own fault’. Huhne said the News Of The World targeted him to expose his affair with Carina Trimingham (pictured together) The judge told Huhne, whose attempt to avoid conviction ran up prosecution costs of more than £100,000: ‘Despite your high office you tried to lie your way out of trouble.’ Huhne has admitted he ‘lied and lied again’ but there was no mention of that in his column for yesterday’s Guardian, where he made his claims. Of the exposure of his relationship with bisexual Miss Trimingham, 46 – weeks after he had cynically portrayed himself as a happy family man during the 2010 election – he wrote: ‘My endgame began when Neville Thurlbeck, the chief reporter of the now-defunct News Of The World, heard gossip that I was having an affair. ‘Rather than cheapskating on the proposed investigation by hacking my phone, the News Of The World put me under extensive surveillance by a retired policeman, a more expensive exercise. 'Why was News International prepared to invest so much to tail an opposition Liberal Democrat back in 2009? Huhne and Vicky Pryce were both jailed for perverting the course of justice after she took his penalty points . Huhne claimed that his economist ex-wife Vicky Pryce was 'groomed' by The Sunday Times . ‘Maybe it was coincidence, but that . summer I was the only frontbencher who, with Nick Clegg’s brave backing, . called for the Metropolitan Police to reopen the voicemail-hacking . inquiry into Rupert Murdoch’s empire. The News Of The World sparked the end of . my marriage, but another Murdoch title, the Sunday Times, then groomed . my ex-wife until she told them about the speeding points. ‘The political editor bought dinners, sent flowers, offered breaks at smart hotels, and reassured her that she would not face any unpleasant consequences (such as prison). ‘Four successive weeks as the splash in the Sunday Times ensured our joint prosecution. 'The Crown Prosecution Service loves a celebrity trial. It was the end of my political career, and it locked up my ex-wife too.’ Huhne dismissed swapping the speeding points with his wife as something that ‘seemed like a minor matter’ and said an AA survey found that 300,000 motorists have done the same thing. But he did concede he was ‘not proud’ of his behaviour and said the ‘personal consequences were monstrous for my family and me’. On Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday, Huhne acknowledged that he had made himself ‘vulnerable’ by asking his wife to take his points. But he added: ‘Sometimes newspaper groups, media groups, have their own interests as well. ‘Murdoch in particular is exceptionally powerful and over many, many years, he has played the person rather than the issue and he has also used that political influence to bulldoze a way for his business interests. ‘The way in which this was specifically done was a very clear payback.’ Sunday Times editor Martin Ivens described Huhne’s claims as ‘bizarre,’ adding: ‘The Sunday Times pursued a legitimate story of considerable public interest.’ Nick Clegg said he did not 'exactly agree' with Huhne's claims (pictured together in 2007) Mr Thurlbeck took to Twitter to hit back. He said the Huhne was not a ‘Murdoch press target’ and that it had . taken a year to persuade his editor to run the affair story. Mr Thurlbeck added: ‘The “Murdoch press” thought Huhne was such a political minnow they didn’t want to run it. End of conspiracy theory.’ Former Labour minister Kate Hoey also criticised Huhne via Twitter. ‘So Chris Huhne blames Rupert Murdoch for his downfall. I thought he lied and broke the law. Some ex-politicians never learn,’ she said. Asked whether it was fair for newspapers to expose Huhne’s lies, Mr Clegg said: ‘Newspapers play an incredibly important job in keeping people in positions of authority on their toes, uncovering wrongdoing where that takes place, uncovering the truth where it is not revealed. ‘That is the great tradition of British journalism.’ Huhne brazenly issued denial after denial of the driving licence claims. They included: . May 16, 2011: In a statement, Huhne says the allegations are ‘incorrect’. He adds: ‘They have been made before and they have been shown to be untrue.’ July 7, 2011: On Radio 4’s Today programme, he says: ‘I am saying there is no truth in those allegations ... If Cabinet ministers resigned every time wild allegations were made about them, you would find it difficult to get enough people around the Cabinet table.’ September 20, 2011: At the Liberal Democrat conference, Huhne says: ‘I’ve very clearly denied this. I continue to very strongly deny this.’ Asked if he would ‘swear it’, he says: ‘Absolutely. I’ve made that absolutely and abundantly clear.’ February 3, 2012: Resigning as Energy Secretary as he is charged, Huhne says: ‘I’m innocent of these charges and I intend to fight this.’ Despite his protestations yesterday, the Press’s right to report on Huhne’s affair was backed by the High Court last year. In a victory for Press freedom, Miss Trimingham lost a privacy and harassment claim. Mr Justice Tugendhat ruled that a married MP’s ‘secret mistress’ is a public figure and rejected her claim for damages against the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. He said she was ‘not the purely private figure she claimed to be’ because of her involvement with Huhne ‘both professionally, as his press agent, and personally, as his secret mistress, in circumstances where he campaigned with a leaflet to the electorate of Eastleigh about how much he valued his family’. In a damning judgment, in which he accused her of seriously exaggerating some of her evidence and described her as not a ‘good or reliable witness’, the judge added: ‘Miss Trimingham has shown little sign of recognising how what she herself has done has given rise to the publicity she finds so unwelcome.’
### SUMMARY:
| Chris Huhne said his downfall was 'payback' for speaking about phonehacking .
Said Sunday Times 'groomed' his ex-wife Vicky Pryce into selling story .
Claims slapped down by Nick Clegg who said he not share his opinion .
Huhne criticised by journalists who called his claims 'bizarre' |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . James Chapman, Jason Groves and James Salmon . PUBLISHED: . 18:52 EST, 21 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 07:46 EST, 22 November 2013 . Desperate attempts by Ed Balls to distance Labour from the Co-operative Bank scandal foundered last night as startling new evidence emerged of the intimate ties between the party and the stricken lender. The Shadow Chancellor angrily attacked what he branded a 'smear' campaign over Labour’s connections with disgraced former Co-op boss Paul Flowers, who is under police investigation for allegedly buying crack cocaine and crystal meth. Mr Balls insisted that Flowers, a former business adviser to leader Ed Miliband, was 'out, out, out' of the Labour Party. Corridors of power: Paul Flowers attends a Downing Street reception in 2010 under the last government . But questions intensified over the opposition's cosy relationship with the bank after it emerged that Mr Balls had bragged about his role in rubber-stamping legislation that paved the way for a disastrous takeover deal at the Co-op. He also accepted a £50,000 donation from the group in March 2012, when Flowers was the bank’s chairman. There were also mounting questions about the extraordinary special treatment the bank gave to Labour - extending 'soft' loans with preferential rates of interest and admitting that other clients would never be allowed to keep on borrowing so much. When Labour was on the brink of bankruptcy, then general secretary Peter Watt had a meeting with a senior Co-op executive at which it was agreed that vast debts would not be called in. On another dramatic day in the spiralling scandal: . Mr Miliband yesterday hit back at what aides said was a concerted Government smear campaign over the extent of the Labour leadership’s links with Flowers. 'What this episode shows is more about the character of the Prime Minister than about the character of Labour’s relationship with the Co-op,' he said. 'Smeared'? Ed Balls tried his best to distance himself from Paul Flowers today . 'We have a Prime Minister who, when he sees a serious situation at the bank, tries to make cheap political points rather than sorting it out.' And in a series of increasingly bad-tempered TV and radio interviews, Mr Balls insisted that he had known nothing about the allegations concerning the former Co-op Bank chairman. He said Flowers had been suspended from Labour membership and was 'out, out, out'. Mr Balls said he would not repay a . £50,000 donation his office received from the Co-operative Group – . saying he was 'proud' to have received it. He claimed the donation had nothing to . do with Flowers, even though the former bank boss told MPs this month . that he had helped to arrange it. 'I am proud to have that donation,' the Shadow Chancellor insisted. 'They made a donation to me last year . which I am very proud of and was properly declared.' Mr Balls rejected Tory calls for him to . repay the cash, insisting: 'I have not got £50,000 in my office to give . back and I don’t think it would be the right thing to do. Labour past: Paul Flowers celebrates winning a seat in the 2008 local elections . He denied discussing the donation with Flowers, saying: 'I have never in my life had a conversation with Paul Flowers about that matter or any other. Paul Flowers was not involved in that in any way.' Challenged about Flowers’s evidence to MPs, Mr Balls suggested it could not be trusted. 'He was someone who was buying drugs and engaged with rent boys,' he said. 'He has made a lot of allegations. There is no truth in that at all.' However, the Shadow Chancellor faced fresh questions as it emerged that he boasted in 2010 that as a minister in the last government, he had ensured Treasury support for a 'super-mutual' deal which saw the Co-op merge with Britannia Building Society. As a result of the failed takeover, thousands of small investors face losses, 50 branches could close and job losses will be in the thousands. When he was trying to win the Labour leadership contest, Mr Balls said: 'I promoted co-operatives throughout my time in government... I was able to show this by ensuring Treasury support for a new Private Member’s Bill that led to the creation of the first ever “super-mutual”, bringing Britannia Building Society and the Co-op Bank together in the interests of customers, rather than the banking elite.' Conservative MP Brooks Newmark said: 'This raises serious concerns about Ed Balls’s relationship with the Co-op Bank and the role he played in this merger. It also proves a sham of recent attempts by Mr Balls to distance himself from the Co-op Bank.' A spokesman for Mr Balls said: 'The decision by the Co-op Bank in 2009 to merge with the Britannia Building Society was a commercial one for the bank which Ed had absolutely no involvement in.' Former general secretary Mr Watt’s memoirs give further evidence of the special treatment afforded by the bank to Labour. Recalling a meeting as he sought to fend off bankruptcy for the party in 2006, he says a Co-op executive told him: 'I’m coming under huge pressure at my end to demonstrate that we’re not going to lose all our money. Under normal circumstances, with other clients, we would not even be having this conversation. We’d just pull the plug.' One well-placed source said: 'Why did the Co-op allow the party to get into that level of debt? In 2005 the party really overspent and had a multi-million pound overdraft from the Co-op. 'The overdraft essentially stayed the same. There was no requirement to reduce it. It was just held. 'Some of the account managers were uncomfortable at the levels of the debt the party was being given. The party was in serious trouble, it had no capital - there was nothing to underwrite. There’s no doubt that preferential treatment was given because of the political friendship.' Paul Flowers has enjoyed a host of high-profile roles over the past 20 years in the Labour Party, the Methodist church, charities and the Co-operative Group. They include: . Chairman of the Co-op BankJoined the board in 2008 then appointed chairman in April 2010 on a salary of £132,000. Stepped down in June 2013. Also deputy chairman of the Co-operative Group. Trustee of investment funds and property at the Methodist ChurchStarted work as a Methodist minister as a graduate in 1976. Suspended indefinitely on Wednesday ahead of an investigation by church officials and is expected to face a disciplinary hearing. Superintendent at Methodist Church . Member of Labour’s financial and industrial advisory boardAppointed 2010. Suspended from the Labour Party this week. Chairman of Manchester Camerata, the city’s chamber orchestra . Appointed in September 2012, he was chairman for only 'a brief spell', according to a spokesman. Chairman of the Lifeline Project, a charity which helps drug abusersFrom 1992-2004, when he left after allegedly submitting false expenses. Trustee of the Terrence Higgins Trust, an HIV/AIDs charityBoard member from 2011 until he resigned this week. Member of the board at Advertising Standards Authority . Vice-chairman of the National Association of Citizens’ Advice Bureaux . Labour councillor in Bradford Elected 2002, resigned in September 2011 after pornography was found on his laptop.
### SUMMARY:
| Mr Balls attacked 'smear' campaign over Labour links to disgraced boss .
He insisted that Flowers is now 'out, out, out' of the party .
But he bragged about his role helping the Co-op to do disastrous deal .
He also took a hefty donation in March 2012, which he will not give back .
The Co-op announced a new investigation into Flowers’s expenses while chairman, after the Daily Mail revealed claims that he pocketed £75,000 in false expenses while working at a drugs charity.
The Co-op wrote to Flowers to demand he repay £31,000.
It emerged Flowers had been convicted of drink-driving – but kept his Methodist Church role and free home. |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Lizzie Parry . PUBLISHED: . 07:04 EST, 18 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:20 EST, 18 December 2013 . Joshua Makin died after taking the nicotine patch-style painkiller fentanyl as a joke at a party in September 2012 . A trainee legal clerk died after swallowing a nicotine patch-style painkiller while experimenting with recreational drugs at a party. Joshua Makin ate the single super-strength opiate patch as a joke, not realising it would give him 50 times the recommended safe dose. Hours after the 20-year-old went to bed laughing with his girlfriend about taking the drugs, which should have been attached to his hip, he died in his sleep as he lay next to his girlfriend. Waking to discover her boyfriend lifeless next to her, Summer Harrison alerted a friend who called 999. But paramedics who rushed to help were unable to revive Mr Makin, an apprentice at a solicitor's firm. Investigations into what happened revealed the patch taken by Mr Makin was from a batch of fentanyl, which had been prescribed to a former airline pilot who suffered chronic back pain. The drugs had been stolen by the man's college dropout son and sold to friends at the party, Mr Makin and his girlfriend had been at the night before his death. A coroner today recorded a verdict of misadventure after examining the circumstances leading to the 20-year-old's death. Reacting to the verdict, his mother Louise said: 'Anybody trying recreational drugs is playing Russian roulette with their lives. 'If they truly knew what we had gone through after Josh’s death, I would hope they would never do it again. It’s been hell since he died.' The hearing heard Mr Makin, from Ashton-on-Mersey in Greater Manchester, and Miss Harrison had been invited to stay at the home of his friend Jonathan Drinkhill, while his parents were away in September last year. The pair played FIFA on a games console and listened to music, while taking recreational drugs including valium and ketamine. Joshua Makin, pictured left with his mother Louise, was found lifeless in bed the morning after a sleepover party at a friend's house, by his girlfriend Summer Harrison, right . Mr Makin ate the 100mg patch of fentanyl, pictured left is a 75mg version, giving himself 50 times the recommended dose according to toxicologist Julie Evans. Right, Louise Makin arriving at the inquest . Mr Drinkhill, 21, said: 'We got 10 tablets of valium and 1g of ketamine and made it last a few hours. 'We both felt fine and happy. We played on the computer and drank some lager and then Josh’s girlfriend came round.' Ambrose Murray was jailed in November to 18 months in prison for supplying Class A drugs. He stole the fentanyl patches from his father, who suffered chronic back pain . Later former grammar school dropout Ambrose Murray, 22, turned up at the sleepover with a batch of drugs he had stolen from his father, by sneaking a key from his dressing gown to open a locked draw. Murray, from Altrincham, had already posted messages on Facebook a week earlier saying: 'Does anyone there want to buy fents?' When he arrived at Mr Drinkhill’s house in Timperley he emptied the patches out of his pocket on to a table. Mr Drinkhill added: 'I had never heard of them before this and didn’t have any idea what they were. They looked like a nicotine patch and you had to break the seal to get in. 'We took one each and placed it on our waist like Ambrose said. 'Soon after that everyone left but Joshua placed a patch on his forehead and then placed the patch in his mouth. 'He was joking around when he put it on his forehead - trying to get a laugh out of me. 'He put the same patch in his mouth and swallowed it. He then went to sleep and so did I. 'In the morning I was woken by his girlfriend who said there was something wrong with him so I rushed in the front room and called an ambulance.' Mr Makin's girlfriend Miss Harrison wept as she told the hearing: 'Ambrose had the patches and they said they were going to buy them and they were going to give him the money the next day. 'They were asking about opiates and your tolerance levels and Ambrose said you just put it on your skin. Joshua put one on his hip. I didn’t see him do any more. 'When Ambrose and the others left I was tired so me and Joshua went to go to sleep on the sofa. He did go out the room to speak to Jonathan and came in with a patch on his head and I didn’t know what it was. 'He came in again laughing saying he had swallowed it but I didn’t know what it was so didn’t know if it was anything to worry about. We were lying down and talking until we went to sleep. 'When I woke up I noticed a rash on him which looked like purple blotches or bruises on his side. 'I tried to wake him but he didn’t wake up. I ran to get Jonathon then telephoned the ambulance and tried to start CPR. The ambulance arrived but he was dead.' A toxicology report found Josh had 52.4mg of fentanyl per litre of blood. Those using the prescription painkiller for its intended purpose require between 1.9 and 3.8mg per litre. Fentanyl is an opiate painkiller, similar to morphine. The drug has a rapid onset and short duration. It is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine. Intravenous fentanyl is commonly used as anesthesia in the operating theatre. The patch is used in the management of chronic pain. They work by releasing the drug into body fat underneath the skin, which then slowly releases into the bloodstream over 48 to 72 hours. The patches provide long-lasting pain relief. A typical patch will start to take effect within eight to 12 hours. Dosage is based on the size of the patch. Toxicologist Julie Evans told the inquest Mr Makin took 50 times the recommended dose. She said: 'Fentanyl patches are designed to slowly release the drugs over three days - a trickle feed. If someone swallows them it’s released much quicker. 'The acid in the stomach breaks it down and the drug is released. A 100mg patch would contain 16,800mg of drug as it is designed to release 100mg per hour. 'It’s an opioid - a synthetic opiate. It’s a depressant for the central nervous system and slows the heart down which has a knock-on effect. 'It’s more falling asleep and not waking up as apposed to anything violent. You go to sleep and your heart rate stops.' Murray was jailed for 18 months in November for supplying Class A drugs. Coroner Joanne Kearsley said: 'Joshua was a young man who together with friends thought that using drugs was a way they wanted to spend time and money - but what happened was a highly tragic consequence. 'He was loved by his friends and he was outgoing and popular. This appears to be a mindless impulsive act which has tragically led to his death. 'Hopefully it can teach a lesson to any of his friends or young people who use drugs. I hope his death acts as a warning.' The medicine which is similar to morphine, is used for treating chronic pain and induces relaxation and euphoria. Skin patches containing fentanyl are designed to be worn like a nicotine patch for 72 hours, releasing the drug slowly into the bloodstream. It takes 12 hours for the full effects of the patch, often used for terminal illnesses, to wear off. But several patients have claimed they became addicted to the drug.
### SUMMARY:
| Joshua Makin ate nicotine patch-style painkiller as a joke while at party .
20-year-old was sold the opiate by Ambrose Murray, who stole the drugs from his father who was prescribed them to ease chronic back pain .
Murray was jailed for 18 months in November for supplying Class A drugs .
Toxicologist said Mr Makin took 50 times the recommended dose . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Lucy Elkins . Living with heart fears: Caroline and baby Zara . From . the moment her boyfriend Rob proposed, Caroline Stroud dreamed about . her big day and starting a family with the man she loved. But a year . after she said yes, Caroline was questioning whether she should call it . all off. It wasn't that she no longer loved her fiance - rather that, . aged just 30, she had been diagnosed with an inherited heart condition. Although . she had no symptoms and was fit and well, the condition meant her heart . could stop suddenly at any time - and any children she had might also . have the life-threatening condition. Caroline discovered she had the heart problem only because her otherwise healthy father had suddenly become ill. Many . others are living under the same threat, they just don't realise it. About half a million people have a faulty gene which puts them at risk . of a heart defect that could lead to a sudden premature death, says the . British Heart Foundation. 'It . is an estimate, but it may be even more common than that,' says . Professor Peter Weissberg, a cardiologist and medical director of the . charity. 'There . are dozens of types of these conditions but all are potentially deadly . because they put the patient at increased risk of having a chaotic heart . rhythm and a cardiac arrest, where the heart stops pumping.' The . most common is hypertrophic myopathy, which causes the heart to thicken . and affects 100,000 Britons. Others include long QT syndrome, which . affects the heart's electrical activity. Each year about 600 healthy people under 35 die suddenly, often as a result of an undiagnosed inherited heart disorder. Yet these conditions can cause problems at any age. The problem is that there are rarely tell-tale symptoms. 'The . biggest clue to whether someone is at risk is to examine their family . history and see if any relatives suddenly died under 35,' says Professor . Weissberg, adding that by the time people reach their 50s 'coronary . heart disease is the bigger threat'. 'Sometimes . you hear of people who have had two or three relatives who drowned - we . now know that cold water can trigger a misrhythm of the heart, leading . to sudden cardiac arrest with these inherited conditions.' While . there was no history of sudden death in Caroline's family, in November . 2008 her father Barry, 60, became inexplicably breathless and generally . unwell. Caroline . persuaded him to go to the doctor. At the surgery he became grey and . breathless again and tests showed his heart was beating so erratically . that he was at risk of cardiac arrest; he was rushed to hospital and . defibrillated to get his heart working properly again. Without this, he . could have died. Caroline Stroud of Folkestone Kent with father Barry Staines, who has inherited heart condition ARVC . Tests . revealed that the problem stemmed from an inherited heart condition, . arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) - essentially a . fault with the proteins that hold the heart muscle cells together. 'These . act like a molecular glue - if there is a fault with this, the heart . can enlarge,' explains Professor Hugh Watkins, a consultant cardiologist . based at Oxford University. Scans . showed that Barry's heart had started to enlarge and, as there was a . good chance of him having a cardiac arrest, he needed to have a . mini-defibrillator implanted in his body to jolt his heart into beating . properly again if this happened. The news was a shock. Caroline says her father 'always seemed healthy. He was slim and seemed strong physically'. Barry . got help just in time. But his diagnosis threw up bigger issues for his . children. Caroline and her brother Chris, 33, and sister Jo, 38, were . offered screening to see if they had the faulty genes. (Normally, genetic testing is also offered automatically to the relatives of someone who dies suddenly under 35.) This involved a straightforward blood test, but having it wasn't a straightforward decision. 'Part . of me didn't want to know,' recalls Caroline, now 35. Not least because . for her father's condition, until someone reaches the point of needing . an implant, as he had, there is no treatment. Genetic . testing has made a big difference, says Professor Weissberg. 'Before we . had the tests five or so years ago, we could only look at a family . history and say "It looks as if you have the faulty genes" when maybe . the person didn't.' Not everyone who tests positive will necessarily be . at risk of cardiac arrest or even have heart problems. 'What . we call the event rate (the number of cardiac arrests or actual . problems caused) is low, so you may have this genetic defect but have a . normal lifespan,' says Dr Sanjay Sharma, consultant cardiologist to the . charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY). Yet . having the test means treatment can be given or lifestyle advice . offered to help prevent the condition becoming life-threatening. 'Something like long QT can be simply treated with medication to regulate the heart rhythm,' says Professor Watkins. Another . option is having a defibrillator implant. The difficulty for those . facing gene tests is that a positive result - even if you have no . symptoms - can bar you from certain careers, such as in the Armed . Forces. It can also cause a lot of anxiety. 'Some . people - especially young men - decide they would rather not know but . tend to change their minds when they have families of their own,' says . Professor Watkins. Before they had the tests, Caroline and her siblings (their mother died 20 years ago from cervical cancer) received counselling. 'If . we had the faulty genes, there was no way of knowing when or if the . condition would start to cause changes to the heart,' says Caroline. 'There's no treatment even if we tested positive.' Before they had the tests, Caroline and her siblings received counselling . A defibrillator would be given only if the heart was showing signs of damage. 'But we were all agreed we had to find out.' Caroline . had the blood test early in 2010. The results showed she has both the . faulty genes involved in her father's condition. Her brother and sister . had only one, so their hearts wouldn't be affected. 'No . amount of counselling prepares you for getting a positive result,' says . Caroline. 'I tried to hide my distress from Dad because I didn't want . to make him feel guilty - but I was very, very upset. 'It . changed the way I felt about getting married and having a family. I . didn't want to lumber Rob with all this and I was concerned about . handing it on to our children.' She and Rob were due to marry that year, . but she told him she would understand if he wanted to call it off. 'Luckily, he told me not to be so silly.' Caroline now has a heart . check-up every six months. She still goes to the gym but exercises more . gently. 'I've bought a heart monitor and my doctor has said I mustn't . let my heart go over 150 beats per minute. A hard workout used to be my . favourite way to relax and I miss it.' The . advice to stick to light exercise is because a third of all cardiac . arrests in people with inherited conditions occur during or just after . intensive physical activity. When . Caroline became pregnant last year, she was concerned about the birth . 'but they kept a close eye on my heart rate and I was fine'. Her . daughter Zara is now four weeks old and Caroline and Rob face having to . get her tested for the defective genes. There is a 50 per cent chance . she will have them. 'It's . difficult because I don't want her to spend her life worrying about . this,' says Caroline. But she and Rob, who run a financial advice . business in Folkestone, Kent, still think they will have her tested.Meanwhile, . Caroline is appearing in television adverts starting this week to . highlight the need for more research into heart problems. 'We . need to find the people with faulty genes and treat them early - we may . one day develop treatments to halt these conditions,' says Professor . Watkins. bhf.org.uk/fight .
### SUMMARY:
| Caroline Stroud, now 35, was diagnosed with inherited heart condition at 30 .
Father Barry has arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy .
Essentially fault with the proteins that hold the heart muscle cells together .
Her daughter Zara is now four weeks old and faces getting tested . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
The two-year hunt for the man who recovered millions of dollars worth of sunken treasure only to disappear after being sued by investors is receiving renewed attention after a new expedition found the ship earlier this year. Tommy Thompson was last seen by a maintenance worker, walking on the pool deck of his Florida mansion and wearing nothing more than eye glasses, leather shoes, socks and underwear. Just over two decades earlier, Thompson appeared more like a conquering hero after he docked his ship in Norfolk, Virginia, weighed down with thousands of pounds of gold that had sat on the bottom of the ocean for 131 years. The gold remains of a wooden cargo box unearthed from the SS Central America are shown at a coin collection expo in Long Beach, California. The gold was unearthed after treasure hunter Tommy Thompson found the ship in 1988 . Thompson holds a $50 pioneer gold piece retrieved from the wreck of the gold ship in a photo from 1989. He led a group that recovered millions of dollars worth of sunken treasure only to end up involved in court cases brought by dozens of insurance companies laying claim to the treasure . Hundreds cheered his achievement on that day in 1989, but it wasn't long before companies claiming they had originally insured the gold sued him claiming it was all theirs, according to the AP. And eventually the investors who poured $12.7 million into his expedition along with his crew were demanding their shares too. It soon became too much for Thompson, it seems, and he vanished without a trace two years ago after skipping a court date to explain to investors what had happened. Since then the U.S. Marshals Service has hunted Thompson as a fugitive. 'I think he had calculated it, whatever you want to call it, an escape plan,' Marshals agent Brad Fleming told the AP. 'I think he's had that for a long time.' Thompson's adventure started in 1983 when he began to grow obsessed about tracking down the SS Central America, which carried 425 people and gold worth hundreds of millions millions of dollars when it was lost in a hurricane in 1857 off the coast of South Carolina. An oceanic engineer at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Thompson convinced 161 people to invest in his quest and eventually found his treasure on October 1, 1988. He later described it as 'otherworldly in its splendor'. Not long after, 39 companies claimed they had insured the gold back in 1857 and that it belonged to them, suing him for their right to the treasure, the AP reported. U.S. Marshal Brad Fleming in May displays a wanted poster for fugitive Tommy Thompson in Columbus, Ohio . This undated drawing made available by the Library of Congress shows the U.S. Mail ship SS Central America, which sank after sailing into a hurricane in September 1857 in one of the worst maritime disasters in American history; 425 people were killed and thousands of pounds of gold sank with it to the bottom of the ocean . In 1996, Thompson's company was awarded 92 per cent of the treasure, with the rest divided among some of the insurers. Four years later, Thompson's company made $50 million selling 532 gold bars and thousands of coins to a gold marketing group. But Thompson still hadn't paid his investors. Two of them - a now-deceased investment firm president who invested $250,000 and the Dispatch Printing Company, which put in about $1 million - sued in 2005. And the following year, nine members of Thompson's crew piled on their own lawsuit, claiming they were promised some of the proceeds. After that Thompson sank into seclusion and moved into a mansion in Vero Beach, Florida. He said he feared for his life. Thompson, left, stands at the helm of the Arctic Explorer as Bob Evans, center, and Barry Schatz look on in Norfolk, Virginia, 1991 . In this 2003 photo provided by Odyssey Marine Exploration, the company's eight-ton remotely operated vehicle, named Zeus, is launched for a descent to the ocean floor from the ship Odyssey Explorer about 100 miles off the coast of Georgia. The Florida based company used the vehicle to recover gold bars and coins from the wreck of the SS Central America . He refused to use his real name on utility bills and told realtor Vance Brinkerhoff that he had been threatened, the AP reported. 'How would you like to live like that?' Brinkerhoff recounted Thompson asking him in a court deposition. It isn't clear when precisely Thompson disappeared. On August 13, 2012, he failed to appear at the court hearing, and a federal judge ordered him found in contempt and issued an arrest warrant. James Kennedy, the maintenance worker who last saw Thompson, soon after that he went inside the mansion and found prepaid disposable cellphones and bank wraps for $10,000 bills, along with a book called 'How to Live Your Life Invisible'. The Marshals Service, which splashed Thompson's face on billboards, ran down hundreds of potential leads, including one from a guy who thought he shared an elevator with him and another that suggested the treasure hunter signed his name on a memorial website for a dead friend. This 1989 file photo shows gold bars and coins from the Central America. Columbus-America Discovery Group, owned by Thompson, has argued that it has the exclusive rights to the treasure from the shipwreck . Assorted gold bars recovered from the Central America are shown at a coin collection expo in Long Beach, California . Nothing panned out. Now a 'wanted' poster hangs inside a barge that repeated Thompson's voyage and has since Apirl been busily pulling millions of dollars in gold and silver bars and coins from the Central America, known as the 'Ship of Gold'. Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration will continue the work indefinitely, and Thompson's original investors are expected to receive a share of the recovered riches, according to the AP. to Central America now in search of the 'Ship of Gold'. There are many theories as to where Thompson, now 62, might be. Mike Szolosi, the crew members' attorney, argues that he has seen records indicating Thompson grabbed 500 gold coins worth $2 million and potentially millions more from his company, Columbus-America Discovery Group. 'Presumably all of that is still somewhere with Tommy,' he said. Attorney Rick Roble, who defended Thompson's company until he withdrew from the case last month, said there's no proof Thompson stole anything. Author Gary Kinder, who chronicled the treasure hunt in 'Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea,' said nothing in his time with Thompson gives him any insight into his whereabouts. 'I don't know what it would entail to hide like that,' he said. 'Get your teeth fixed? Buy a blond wig?' Agent Fleming believes Thompson is likely still in the U.S. If caught, Thompson would be asked to account for the missing coins and explain where proceeds from the treasure's sale went. He could face jail time and hefty fines if he refuses. Gil Kirk, a former director of one of Thompson's companies, said he put $1.8 million into the treasure hunt. Though he hasn't gotten any of that back, Kirk still supports Thompson and insists he never bilked anyone. To Kirk, Thompson remains an American hero, 'like the Wright brothers.' The tragedy, he said, is that Thompson's dream became his doom. 'Tommy used the word, what's the word?' Kirk said. 'Plague of the gold.' Thompson, right, talks with Bob Evans on the Arctic Discover in 1991. Thomson hasn't been seen in more than two years since he missed a court hearing and vanished . Pictured here is a Gold Rush-era $20 gold coin recovered from the Central America, still with some Atlantic Ocean residue on it .
### SUMMARY:
| Thompson became a conquering hero in 1989 after his ship arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, loaded with thousands of pounds of gold from a ship that had sat at the bottom of the ocean for 131 years .
But lawsuits attempting to grab a share of America's greatest lost treasure quickly mounted, including claims by insurers to every ounce of gold he recovered .
Thompson vanished two years ago and was last seen walking in his underwear near the swimming pool of his Florida mansion .
A new expedition to the so-called ship of gold located off the coast of South Carolina was begun this year and has recovered millions of dollars more of gold and silver . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Click here for all the heat maps and statistics that matter in Sportsmail's brilliant Match Zone . There was a moment before kick-off when Nigel Pearson let it be known to the officials that he thought Swansea’s goals were too big and a measuring tape was brought out. Had he called for a bricklayer, it’s unlikely that he would have improved the result. Not with finishing as sharp as Wilfried Bony’s and moves as slick and quick as the two that made his goals. Wilfried Bony finishes off his first goal to give Swansea a 1-0 lead over Leicester at the Liberty Stadium . Bony acknowledges team-mate Gylfi Sigurdsson (left) after a slick interchange between the pair led to the opening goal . Swansea (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 6; Rangel 7, Fernandez 6, Williams 7, Taylor 6; Ki 6, Shelvey 6.5; Routledge 6 (Dyer 82), Sigurdsson 7.5 (Carroll 58, 6), Montero 7; Bony 8 (Gomis 82) Subs not used: Tremmel, Emnes, Bartley, Shephard . Leicester (4-4-2): Schmeichel 5; De Laet 5, Morgan 7, Moore 6.5, Konchesky 6.5; Mahrez 6, Hammond 6 (King 67, 6), Drinkwater 6 (Cambiasso 67, 6), Vardy 6 (James 67, 6); Nugent 5, Ulloa 5 . Subs not used: Smith, Schlupp, Wasilewski, Wood . Referee: Mike Jones 7 . Att: 20,259 . MOM: Wilfried Bony . Even with all the possession Leicester managed — 51 per cent, which is no small achievement in these parts — they rarely looked like scoring. When Esteban Cambiasso had an open goal in stoppage time, he hit the post. It’s why Pearson puffed out his cheeks as he considered a fourth game without victory since that remarkable toppling of Manchester United last month. It’s why Garry Monk afforded himself a big grin after a week of big statements and mild controversy. While the past six days had been spent absorbing the fallout of his claim that Stoke’s Victor Moses cheated and his assertion that referees are not fair to Swansea, this was merely a convincing win with no incident worth complaining about. ‘It’s quite boring,’ Monk joked. Pearson was rather more subdued. ‘We didn’t perform as well as we should have done,’ he said. ‘We didn’t manage the ball well enough. You can ill afford to make too many unforced errors. It made it a frustrating afternoon for the players. ‘The bottom line is our baseline performance has to be better. The work ethic we have has always been exceptionally good and here I didn’t feel we really gave as much as we could do to stay in the game. That is the biggest disappointment.’ And on the goal posts? ‘The goalkeepers felt they were a bit high (in the warm-up),’ Pearson said. ‘I thought it was in everyone’s best interest, bearing in mind the controversy Garry has had to deal with this week, to get it checked. It was quite light-hearted.’ The rest of his day was quite heavy going. His tactic appeared to be sit, stifle and ambush, and two thirds of the plan were occasionally effectively. But with no obvious proficiency for getting the ball from back to front, Leicester spent most of the first half inviting pressure. Diving Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel is given no chance as Bony's strike is put away clinically from the top of the box . Bony laps up the adulation from Swans fans after his opening goal in their Premier League clash with Leicester on Saturday . The build up to Swansea's first goal on Sportsmail's Match Zone as Sigurdsson and Bony execute a one-two to perfection at the end . MINS PLD KM MILES . Swansea City 111.1 69.0 . Sung-Yueng Ki 90 11.9 7.4 . Angel Rangel 90 11.2 6.9 . Jonjo Shelvey 90 11.1 6.9 . Leicester City 114.4 71.1 . Riyad Mahrez 90 11.8 7.3 . David Nugent 90 11.8 7.3 . Leonardo Ulloa 90 11.1 6.9 . Swansea took the lead in the 34th minute. The goal was a brilliant blur. Angel Rangel took possession on the right and fed a ball to Bony, whose backheel inside Liam Moore found Sigurdsson. The Iceland forward returned a pass to Bony and the striker scored in his third successive match. Now, Leicester needed to attack and Swansea needed to avoid giving away a lead for a third straight game. The Leicester rush was instant and within two minutes of the second half they hit the bar, albeit directly from a Liam Moore throw, so it wouldn’t have counted. In the 57th minute Bony got his second after another move dominated by the excellence of Sigurdsson and the finishing of the Ivorian. Jefferson Montero rolled the ball to Sigurdsson, who threaded a quite brilliant pass back to the winger. Montero squared and Bony notched his 20th career Premier League goal. Monk concluded: 'It was about getting three points as we could feel that little bit of pressure on us within the crowd and amongst the players. 'It was never going to be easy, especially when Leicester threw caution to the wind, and we could have controlled the ball a bit better in the second half, but I thought we deserved it. 'We limited them to shots from distance which is credit to the shape we've been working on and how hard defensively we've been working. 'Three goals we've conceded in the last two games - two against Newcastle and the second one against Stoke - has not been the standard we've set but we got back to that to keep a clean sheet.' Jefferson Montero (right) beat Ritchie De Laet (left) continuously down the left side with his immense pace . Swansea's Ashley Williams slides in to dispossess Leicester's Leonardo Ulloa as the Argentinean striker speeds down the right wing . Marshalling the left side of defence Williams clatters into David Nugent and the ball during Swansea's win at home on Saturday . Jonjo Shelvy, who rattled the crossbar from long-range, gives Leicester's Riyad Mahrez a hard time at the Liberty . Mahrez fires a left-footed shot from inside the box in Leicester's loss to now sixth-placed Swansea . Bony guides his second goal into the back of the net from close range to give Swansea a comfortable 2-0 lead . Bony shows an image on his shirt (left) after scoring Swansea's first goal before doing a dance for the fans after slotting his second (right) Bony is replaced late in the match but there's no handshake between the winning manager and his strike . Jonjo Shelvey nearly made it three with a 20-yard drive against the bar and Paul Konchesky went to ground to stop Wayne Routledge. The winger went down, Monk’s arms went up, but no whistle, no controversy. ‘I am very pleased with the three points, a deserved win,’ Monk said. ‘There was a little bit of pressure on us to get the win but I am very pleased to get two very well worked goals against a determined side.’
### SUMMARY:
| Wilfried Bony scored in the 34th minute to give Swansea the lead at the Liberty Stadium .
The Ivory Coast striker doubled the advantage in the 57th minute with a tap in from close range .
Swansea move to sixth on the Premier League table between Arsenal in fourth and Liverpool in seventh . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
A mother-of-two who was advised to undergo an NHS gastric bypass to save her fertility was overjoyed to give birth to two sons after she lost ten stone. In total, self-employed nail technician Joanne Cooper, 31, has lost 13 stone since undergoing weightloss surgery on the recommendation of doctors. Miss Cooper, of Rotherham, who is now mother to Noah, three, and Alfie, two, also underwent an NHS-funded tummy tuck operation in June 2013 to remove irritating excess skin. Scroll down for video . New woman: Joanne Cooper, 31, of Rotherham, was advised to undergo an NHS gastric bypass to save her fertility - and she's lost 13st since . She said: 'I was nervous about having a gastric bypass, but I knew it was the only chance I had to have children. 'I thought carefully about it and knew it was the right thing to do, despite the risks.' Miss Cooper saw her weight pile on through a combination of convenience eating and the effects of polycystic ovary syndrome, which she was diagnosed with when she was 16. Before: Miss Cooper, pictured when she was around 23st, also underwent an NHS-funded tummy tuck operation in June 2013 to remove irritating excess skin and is overjoyed to have two sons . As she was: Joanne saw her weight pile on through a combination of convenience eating and the effects of polycystic ovary syndrome and saw her clothes size hit 28 . She said: 'I only had one period between the age of 12 and 17. When I got the diagnosis of PCOS when I was 16, the weight gain made more sense. 'I did not stuff my face, but did have some bad eating habits. I ate a lot of bad foods - chips, pizza, pasta and takeaways. 'I used to work in a pub, so often had fattening drinks after work, and the only places open for dinner after closing at 2am were late-night takeaways.' Taking shape: She followed the Cambridge Diet in September 2012 and began visiting the gym up to five times a week. She would go on to lose six stone in 10 months, pictured . Healthy diet: She typically ate a protein shake with banana for breakfast, with Quorn chili con carne for lunch, followed by salmon stir fry for evening meals . Happy families: Miss Cooper's perseverance was rewarded firstly when she lost 10 stone in just 18 months, and then, in the spring of 2010, when she fell pregnant with her first son, Noah, now three. Then, within eight months of giving birth to Noah, she fell pregnant with her second son, Alfie, now two . By the time she turned 23, Miss Cooper weighed 23st 7lb and wore size 28 clothing. She said: 'I was down, but put a brave face on. I suffered with back pain and got breathless when walking. I had quite a few health problems. 'I went to the doctor to ask about my future fertility because at the time I was engaged and having children was on the cards. 'I knew it would be a challenge because of the infrequency of my periods, but I was still stunned when the doctor flatly told me that the PCOS, combined with my weight problems, meant it would be practically impossible to conceive. He said a solution would be to have a gastric band. 'Preparing myself for the operation was terrifying.' Miss Cooper underwent surgery in October 2007. She said: 'It took a long time to get used to the change. If I ate anything which I wasn’t ready for, I was sick. It took about six months to start eating properly again.” Despite the challenges, Miss Cooper’s perseverance was rewarded firstly when she lost 10 stone in just 18 months, and then, in the spring of 2010, when she fell pregnant with her first son, Noah, now three. New lease on life: Speaking about her weightloss, she said it has completely transformed her life. 'I would never have been able to keep up with the children when I was bigger. I feel like a completely different, much more confident, person', she said . Tummy tuck: Miss Cooper underwent gastric bypass surgery in October 2007 but she began experiencing unbearable irritation from the excess skin left from her 13 stone weight loss so had a tummy tuck, pictured are the results . Results: She said she was more nervous about having the tummy tuck than about the bypass. Joanne, who showcases the results in this picture, said: 'It was a massive operation. I was under for four hours - they needed to cut vertically as well as horizontally' To her amazement, within eight months of giving birth to Noah, she fell pregnant with her second son, Alfie, now two. She said: “It was a huge relief to know that the plan suggested by the doctors had worked. I was over the moon to have the two boys in my life. 'After having Alfie, I was horrified to see my weight creep up. Having two children so close together meant I really struggled to lose the baby weight. I realised one day that I was back up to 17st. 'I was terrified that I would slip back into the way I was. I’d been through the surgery - I couldn’t let it happen again. I’d been on such a long journey and I felt I was letting myself down. I knew something had to be done.' Miss Cooper started on the Cambridge Diet in September 2012 and began visiting the gym up to five times a week. She would go on to lose six stone in 10 months. Before beginning her weight loss journey, she typically ate a bacon sandwich for breakfast, followed by a chip butty with a bar of chocolate for lunch, with spaghetti bolognese with garlic bread for her evening meal. She would snack on sweets and chocolates throughout the day. Under the weight loss regime, which she continues today, she typically ate a protein shake with banana for breakfast, with Quorn chili con carne for lunch, followed by salmon stir fry for evening meals. She tends not to snack. As her weight reached 10st 7lb, allowing her to fit into size eight clothing, she began experiencing unbearable irritation from the excess skin left from her 13 stone weight loss. She said: 'I was left with a lot of excess skin and was very uncomfortable. Coming down from more than 23st to 10st 7lb came with some serious consequences.' Miss Cooper was approved for an NHS tummy tuck, which she underwent in June 2013. She said: 'I was more nervous about the tummy tuck than I was about the bypass. It was a massive operation. I was under for four hours - they needed to cut vertically as well as horizontally. 'The risks of being under for so long were massive and there were a lot of risks associated with the wounds and scarring. 'Now I’m happy with the way I look. It’s hard to believe, when you put pictures side-by-side, that those old pictures used to be me. 'My life has been completely transformed. I would never have been able to keep up with the children when I was bigger. I feel like a completely different, much more confident, person.' Former self: Joanne said she did have some bad eating habits and ate a lot of chips, pizza, pasta and takeaways before her operation . Shocked: Joanne says she is finally happy with the way she looks, adding that it's hard to believe, when you put pictures side-by-side, that those old pictures used to be her . Breakfast: Bacon sandwich . Lunch: Chip butty with a bar of chocolate . Dinner: Spaghetti bolognese with garlic bread . Snacks: Sweets and chocolate . Breakfast:Protein shake . Lunch: Quorn chili con carne . Dinner:Salmon stir fry . Snacks: None .
### SUMMARY:
| Joanne Cooper has lost 13 stone since undergoing weightloss surgery .
Doctors recommended she have it to save fertility .
Now mother to Noah, three, and Alfie, two .
Also underwent NHS-funded tummy tuck operation to remove excess skin .
Follows healthy diet now to maintain figure . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Two tries in three minutes while Leonardo Ghiraldini was in the sin-bin saved Ireland before they beat Italy 26-3 at the start of their RBS 6 Nations title defence. Conor Murray and Tommy O'Donnell sneaked scores while hooker Ghiraldini was off the field, after Ireland had laboured with scant return in a tryless first hour. Sean O'Brien suffered a hamstring injury in the warm-up, so the luckless Leinster flanker's wait for his first Test action since November 2013 goes on. Ireland scrum half Conor Murray burrows over for his side's opening try following a powerful maul from the pack . Ireland flanker Tommy O'Donnell, who was called up late to the starting line-up following Sean O'Brien's hamstring injury, crosses late on . Ireland centre Jared Payne is stopped in his tracks by Italy's Luca Morisi (left) and Kelly Haimona . Italy XV: Masi; Sarto, Campagnaro, Morisi, McLean; Haimona, Gori; Aguero, Ghiraldini, Castrogiovanni, Furno, Biagi, Zanni, Minto, Parisse . Replacements: Manici, De Marchi, Chistolini, Fuser, Barbini, Palazzani, Allan, Venditti . Penalties: Haimona (1) Ireland XV: R Kearney, Bowe, Payne, Henshaw, Zebo, Keatley, Murray, McGrath, Best, Ross, Toner, O'Connell, O'Mahony, O'Donnell, Murphy. Replacements: S Cronin, J Cronin, Moore, Henderson, Diack, Boss, Madigan, Jones . Tries: Murray, O'Donnell . Conversions: Keatley (1), Madigan (1) Penalties: Keatley (3) The 27-year-old will now be an automatic doubt for Ireland's second-round clash with France in Dublin next weekend. O'Brien has only just recovered from 14 months battling two consecutive shoulder reconstructions, and the 30-cap loose-forward cut a disconsolate and broody figure on Ireland's bench. Ireland's management were just as stern-faced despite victory, because the visitors never found any control or fluency at the Stadio Olimpico. Italy lost all five Six Nations matches last year, and Ireland thumped the Azzurri 46-7 in Dublin: there would be no repeat this time. Ian Keatley landed four penalties and a conversion but failed to seize his chance to prove he deserves more time in Ireland's 10 shirt. The Munster fly-half was unable to boss his backline, all too often standing all too deep in attack: fit-again Johnny Sexton will doubtless return against France next weekend after 12 weeks missing with concussion. Ireland may live to regret not racking up a bigger score against the lowly Italians, who tend to crack as tournaments progress. Should this year's Six Nations come down to points difference, just as last year, the Irish may rue not pushing the envelope somewhat once this game broke up. All the fizzing electricity from England's tournament opening 21-16 win over Wales in Cardiff turned to dismal static in a humdrum first-half in Rome. Robbie Henshaw, making his Six Nations debut for Ireland, makes some early inroads into the Italian defence in Rome . Where Wales sparkled and England shone, Ireland could only glower in the gloom of uninspired, guileless first-half attacking play. Italy proved the architects of their own discomfort right from the off, Matias Aguero penalised for slipping his bind at the scrum. George Biagi's cheap knock-on gifted Ireland field position, and a pointless midfield offside allowed Keatley to open the scoring from the tee. Jack McGrath atoned for conceding a scrum penalty by winning a fine choke-tackle turnover, in tandem with Peter O'Mahony. Keatley endured a mixed opening, slotting his penalty calmly, but throwing a loose pass and also being charged down by Michele Campagnaro. Azzurri scrum half Edoardo Gori loses the ball under pressure from opposite number Murray (left) Keatley doubled his and Ireland's tally after Luke McLean wandered offside to retrieve Andrea Masi's knock-on. Ireland drove close from a lineout maul, but Tommy Bowe could not tap Murray's deft chip back inside with enough space for the scrum-half to wriggle home. The visitors had to settle instead for Keatley's third penalty of the afternoon. Italy then set camp in Ireland's 22 but after one driving maul Kelly Haimona opted to strike at goal. The New Zealand-born fly-half landed the goal to cut Italy's deficit to six points at the break. Ireland started the second half searching for some kind of fuel injection, but still their attack misfired. Italy captain Sergio Parisse drives forward as Ireland full back Rob Kearney tries to halt the No 8's progress . Keatley produced a neat half-break on the blindside, only to force an attempted last pass: Campagnaro knocked on trying to intercept, allowing Ireland a quick wipe of the brow. Keatley almost cut the line again in Italy's 22, but Sergio Parisse produced a fine ruck steal to ease the pressure. Jared Payne raced close after Simon Zebo's neat wide pass, but Robbie Henshaw knocked on trying to sneak through. Payne and Henshaw noticeably picked up the pace after the break, but again Ireland turned to Keatley's boot to extend their lead to 12-3. Ireland dispensed with posting penalties instead chasing the jugular just past the hour, punting to the corner for an attacking lineout. Ireland fly half Ian Keatley fires over an early penalty during a sloppy first half at the Stadio Olimpico . Keatley produced a neat half-break on the blindside, only to force an attempted last pass: Campagnaro knocked on trying to intercept, allowing Ireland a quick wipe of the brow. Keatley almost cut the line again in Italy's 22, but Sergio Parisse produced a fine ruck steal to ease the pressure. Jared Payne raced close after Simon Zebo's neat wide pass, but Robbie Henshaw knocked on trying to sneak through. Payne and Henshaw noticeably picked up the pace after the break, but again Ireland turned to Keatley's boot to extend their lead to 12-3. Ireland dispensed with posting penalties instead chasing the jugular just past the hour, punting to the corner for an attacking lineout. Italy winger Luke McLean (left) competes for a high ball with Ireland and Ulster three-quarter Tommy Bowe . Ghiraldini spoiled Ireland's maul from an offside position and was duly sin-binned for his troubles. Ireland went straight for the lineout once more, and finally broke the try deadlock. Murray wriggled home after the pack drove to the whitewash, with Keatley converting for a 19-3 lead. No sooner had Ireland scored than boss Joe Schmidt brought off Keatley, Paul O'Connell and Peter O'Mahoney, no doubt with one eye on next weekend's France clash. Ireland dominate possession and territory but cannot break the stubborn Italian defence in the opening 60 minutes as Kearney makes a charge . Ireland lock Devin Toner makes a strong charge into the Azzurri defence as hooker Rory Best arrives in support . Tommy O'Donnell then raced through Italy's porous midfield to rubber-stamp Ireland's victory. Ian Madigan slotted the conversion to gloss the scoreline, but Ireland were unable to maintain that momentum once Italy were restored to full complement. Italy's rally forced Ireland to defend with zeal and composure at the death when Schmidt's men would sooner have been attempting to boost their points-difference tally. Andrea Manici's sloppy spilled ball dented Italy's momentum, before Haimona had a try ruled out for the slightest of knock-ons from Parisse.
### SUMMARY:
| Ian Keatley kicks 14 points on his Six Nations debut .
Ireland flanker Sean O'Brien was a late withdrawal after the backrower tweaked his hamstring in the warm-up .
Conor Murray powered over for Ireland's opening try in the 64th minute .
Tommy O'Donnell raced away for Ireland's second soon after . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
In its prime, a massive steam locomotive known as Big Boy No. 4014 was a moving eruption of smoke and vapor, a 6,300-horsepower brute dragging heavy freight trains over the mountains of Wyoming and Utah. It's been silent for half a century, pushed aside by more efficient diesels, but now it's coming back to life. The Union Pacific Railroad is embarking on a yearslong restoration project that will put No. 4014 back to work pulling special excursion trains. 'It's sort of like going and finding the Titanic or something that's just very elusive, nothing that we ever thought would happen,' said Jim Wrinn, editor of Trains, a magazine that covers the railroad industry. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Spectators take pictures of the historic locomotive, Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 at Metrolink Station in Covina, California . Powerhouse: Big Boy No. 4014 was a moving eruption of smoke and vapor . Miguel Angel Warner, right, four, of Los Angeles, asks Ed Dickens Jr., senior manager of heritage operations for the Union Pacific Railroad, about the historic locomotive . 'Something that's so large and powerful and magnificent, we didn't think any of them would ever come back,' he said. The American Locomotive Co. in Schenectady, N.Y., built 25 of the monsters to Union Pacific's specifications between 1941 and 1944, and they became legendary. They were the largest steam locomotives ever to work the rugged terrain of the American West, and by most standards the largest anywhere in the world, said Gordon McCulloh, a meticulous historian of Union Pacific steam power. Even the name is legendary. An unknown worker scrawled 'Big Boy' on the front of one of the engines when it was under construction. 'It came out one day, and it had "Big Boy" in chalk on it. And from that day forward, it was Big Boy,' said Ed Dickens Jr., Union Pacific's senior manager of heritage operations, who will oversee the restoration at the railroad's steam shop in Cheyenne, Wyo. Dickens and his crew recreated the chalk inscription on No. 4014 when they began to move it. Big Boys are 132 feet long, including the tender, which carried coal and water. They weigh 1.2 million pounds with a full load of fuel. They are essentially two engines under one boiler, with two sets of eight drive wheels, each set powered by two enormous cylinders nearly 2 feet across. Big Boys are so big that the front set of drive wheels has to pivot separately from the back set to get around curves. See more on Spencer Hughes YouTube . Big Boy 4014 was a 6,300-horsepower brute that dragged heavy freight trains over the mountains of Wyoming and Utah . Fascination: Train enthusiasts gather to get a look at Big Boy No. 4014 in Salt Lake City . Boy oh boy: The 4014 hides some slick engineering, according to experts, which includes a suspension system that kept the drive wheels pressed against the rails when the locomotive straddled hills . The American Locomotive Co. in . Schenectady, N.Y., built 25 of the monsters to Union Pacific's . specifications between 1941 and 1944, and they became legendary. They . were the largest steam locomotives ever to work the rugged terrain of . the American West, and by most standards the largest anywhere in the . world. Even the name is legendary. An unknown . worker scrawled 'Big Boy' on the front of one of the engines when it was . under construction. Big Boys are 132 feet long, including . the tender, which carried coal and water. They weigh 1.2 million pounds . with a full load of fuel. They are essentially two engines under one . boiler, with two sets of eight drive wheels, each set powered by two . enormous cylinders nearly 2 feet across. Big Boys are so big that the front set of drive wheels has to pivot separately from the back set to get around curves. They were designed to run at speeds up to 80mph, but generally didn't exceed 60mph and generated the most horsepower at 35mph. And they aren't just big, McCulloh said. They were engineered to reach 80 mph, even though the railroad never intended to run them that fast. The point was to fine-tune the locomotives so they stayed in balance at any speed and didn't beat themselves up with their own powerful forces. 'You get all that machinery to live in harmony,' McCulloh said. Their enormous bulk also hid some slick engineering, including a suspension system that kept the drive wheels pressed against the rails when the locomotive straddled hills or valleys. Seventeen Big Boys were scrapped when they were pulled from service, but eight survived and are on display around the country. Union Pacific chose the 4014 for restoration because it spent more than 50 years in the friendly climate of Southern California, at the RailGiants Train Museum at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds. The museum took good care of the locomotive, Dickens said, and many of the original components are usable. RailGiants agreed to give the Big Boy back to the Union Pacific in exchange for some other equipment to display. No. 4014 has been moved from the museum to a Union Pacific shop in Colton, Calif., where a crew is preparing to tow it across Nevada, Utah and Wyoming to Cheyenne, arriving May 8. The UP maintains two other working steam locomotives there, and Dickens and his crew of seven can manufacture almost anything they need. 'This equipment, nobody's going to come in and fix it when it breaks down,' he said. 'We're it.' Restoration is expected to take three to five years. The railroad would like to have the Big Boy operating by 2019 for the 150th anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike in Utah, which linked the Union Pacific with the Central Pacific and completed the first transcontinental railroad. It's too early to predict where the restored locomotive will travel. Railroad officials said they will have to choose the routes carefully to make sure bridges and tunnels can handle the Big Boy's weight and size. Overjoyed railroad fans are following closely. Wrinn heard from an American soldier serving overseas who was watching live video of the project. People have offered to donate money or even buy lunch for the Union Pacific steam crew, Dickens said, but he allowed that the Omaha, Neb.-based railroad — No. 138 on the Fortune 500 list — can afford the project on its own. Dickens declined to say how much restoration will cost. It might be less than people think, he said, because the railroad can do much of the work in-house. Pouring money into a 73-year-old mechanical relic makes good marketing sense, said Glen Gilmore, a digital and social media marketing expert who also teaches at Rutgers University. 'Nearly everyone has a fascination with trains,' Gilmore said in an email to The Associated Press. "Giving people an image that immediately calls to mind so many good things about an industry and brand is a smart marketing move.' Full steam ahead: A Big Boy pictured hauling freight in 1941 . Big Boys are 132 feet long and weigh 1.2million pounds . Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific Railroad between 1941 and 1944 . Heavy haulage: Union Pacific Big Boy No.4014 is towed on Sunday, May 4, in Salt Lake City . Wheel-y big: Train enthusiasts look at Big Boy No. 4014 in Salt Lake City before it's taken away for restoration . Ed Dickens Jr., senior manager of heritage operations for the Union Pacific Railroad, describes maintenance work on Union Pacific No. 844, a restored steam locomotive, at the railroad's steam shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming .
### SUMMARY:
| The American Locomotive Co built 25 of the monsters to Union Pacific's .
specifications between 1941 and 1944 .
Seventeen Big Boys were scrapped when they were pulled from service, but eight survived and are on display .
Union Pacific chose the 4014 for restoration because it spent more than 50 years in the friendly climate of California .
Big Boys are 132 feet long, weigh 1.2million pounds .
with a full load of fuel and can reach 80mph . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
The media portrayal of African Americans has come under heavy scrutiny in the wake of the police killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown as many outlets used a photo of the teen throwing what could be perceived as a gang sign instead of a clearer, more thoughtful photo. The 18-year-old died after he was shot by a police officer in Ferguson, a suburb of St Louis, Missouri, sparking looting and riots across the city. Now African Americans across the country have started posting contrasting images of themselves to Twitter along with the hashtag #iftheygunnedmedown, in protest to the way the media portrays black people. Scroll down for videos . The media portrayal of Michael Brown (pictured), who was killed when he was shot by police, has come under scrutiny after a picture of him making a hand gesture (right) was used by media organisations . Lawyer CJ Lawrence was the first to use the hashtag, when he posted it to Twitter along with these two pictures of himself, to pose the question which would be used in media reports if he was shot dead . Lawyer CJ Lawrence was the first to use the hashtag when he posted it along with a picture of him speaking at his university graduation, alongside former president Bill Clinton, as well as a picture of him dressed as a rapper at a Halloween party. The question poses which picture the media would choose to use if he was shot and became the subject of a news report. According to BBC Trending, Mr Lawrence described how while the question was a rhetorical one, 'in reality it's something we ask ourselves every day as African Americans.' Mr Lawrence said he decided to raise the issue after becoming frustrated by the pictures used by the media of Mr Brown in news reports of his killing. Mr Lawrence said while a graduation picture was widely used initially, an image of Mr Brown wearing a sports top and appearing to make a hand gesture, which could have been interpreted by some as a gang-sign, became more popular in subsequent reports. The hashtag has now been used by dozens of Twitter users posting two pictures of themselves in different situations. Dozens of Twitter users have now posted images of themselves in different situations. Twitter user @WhoISdeante posted these two pictures along with the hashtag . Twitter . user @dsonoiki posted these two pictures along with the hashtag . #iftheygunnedmedown and the question 'which pic would the news use' Another Twitter user posted these two pictures along with the hashtag, and asked: 'What picture would they choose? Would they paint me as a honor graduate or bandana wearing thug?' In one picture, the poster is usually in what could be seen as a 'positive' role, while in the other image the Twitter user is in what could be regarded as a 'negative' role. The posts pose the question, which image would be used in their portrayal in the media if they were shot in a similar incident which led to the death of Mr Brown. The FBI has opened an investigation into Mr Brown's death, looking into possible civil rights violations. Witnesses have said that Mr Brown had his hands raised when the unidentified officer approached with his weapon drawn and fired repeatedly. Mr Brown's parents have been among those calling for calm. His family members, who had planned to drop him off at a technical college on Monday to begin his studies, have asked people to share any information and videos they might have related to the shooting. Authorities have so far been vague about exactly what led the officer to open fire, except to say that the shooting - which is being investigated by the St. Louis County police at the smaller city's request - was preceded by a scuffle of some kind with a man in which the officer's weapon discharged one time inside a patrol car. Investigators have refused to publicly disclose the race of the officer, who is now on administrative leave. But Phillip Walker said he was on the porch of an apartment complex overlooking the scene when he heard a shot and saw a white officer with Mr Brown on the street. The hashtag has now been used by dozens of Twitter users posting two pictures of themselves in different situations . Mr Brown 'was giving up in the sense of raising his arms and being subdued,' Mr Walker told The Associated Press. The officer 'had his gun raised and started shooting the individual in the chest multiple times.' The officer then 'stood over him and shot him' after the victim fell wounded. Dorian Johnson offered a similar account, telling KMOV-TV that he and Mr Brown were walking home from a convenience store when a police officer told them to get out of the street and onto the sidewalk. Mr Johnson said they kept walking, which caused the officer to confront them from his car and again after getting out of the vehicle. Mr Johnson said the first time the officer fired, he and Mr Brown got scared and ran away. 'He shot again, and once my friend felt that shot, he turned around and put his hands in the air, and he started to get down,' Mr Johnson said. 'But the officer still approached with his weapon drawn and fired several more shots.' 'We wasn't causing harm to nobody,' Mr Johnson said. 'We had no weapons on us at all.' A . Ferguson resident holds a sign during a protest of the shooting death . of 18-year-old Michael Brown outside Ferguson Police Department . Headquarters yesterday . Police lock down a neighborhood on Monday in Ferguson, Missouri. Police . responded with tear gas as residents and their supporters protested . about the shooting of Michael Brown . People . raise their hands in the middle of the street in Ferguson as police . wearing riot gear move toward their position in an attempt to force them . to disperse . Mr Walker said that he did not see a scuffle or the circumstances that preceded the first gunshot. Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said there's no video footage of the shooting from the apartment complex or from any police dashboard cameras or body-worn cameras that the department recently bought but has not yet put to use. Some civil rights leaders have drawn comparisons between Mr Brown's death and that of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was fatally shot by a Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who was later acquitted of murder charges. 'Instead of celebrating his future, they are having to plan his funeral,' said Benjamin Crump, a family attorney who also represented Mr Martin's relatives after he was slain in 2012 in Florida. 'I don't want to sugarcoat it,' Mr Crump added. Mr Brown 'was executed in broad daylight.' Police in riot gear last night fired tear gas into a crowd of protesters in Ferguson as tension rose even amid calls for collective calm. Lesley McSpadden, mother of 18 year-old Michael Brown, speaks during a press conference at Jennings Mason Temple Church of God In Christ, on Monday . Between two nights of unrest, a community forum hosted by the local chapter of the NAACP civil rights group Monday night drew hundreds to a sweltering church in Ferguson, a St. Louis County suburb of 21,000 that's nearly 70 per cent black. Jackson, the Ferguson police chief, said a large crowd that gathered throughout the day yesterday at the site of a burned-out convenience store turned rowdy at nightfall, throwing rocks at police. Officers used tear gas and shot 'beanbag rounds' meant to stun them, he said. St. Louis County police spokesman Brian Schellman said there were at least five arrests and no reports of looting. Nearly three dozen people had been arrested following a candlelight vigil Sunday night when crowds burned stores, vandalized vehicles, assaulted reporters and taunted officers. 'People are tired. They have reached the end of their rope,' said Ruth Latchison Nichols after the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People forum, where many more were left waiting outside once the pews reached capacity. 'Enough is enough. This is a state of emergency.' National NAACP President Cornell William Brooks implored residents to 'turn your anger into action' while condemning a violent response to Mr Brown's death. 'To sneak around under the cover of darkness, to steal, to loot, to burn down your neighborhood - this does not require courage,' he said. 'Courage is when you strive for justice.' 'Martin Luther King did not live and die so that we may steal and lie in the middle of the night,' he added.
### SUMMARY:
| Lawyer CJ Lawrence started a hashtag to protest Michael Brown's portrayal .
He said reports initially used Brown's graduation picture, but later used image of him making a hand gesture which could be seen as a 'gang sign'
Hashtag .
#iftheygunnedmedown has now become popular on Twitter .
Posters share an image of themselves composed of two different situations .
Brown, 18, was shot dead by a police officer in St Louis, sparking riots . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
From dinosaurs to dolphins and birds, one artist has been inspired by nature to create incredible images of concept airplanes. Alex Brady set out to create aircraft that look streamlined, futuristic and beautiful, but experts are not convinced that machines based on the designs would ever be able to fly. The ‘100 per cent whimsical’ drawings are also influenced by popular sci-fi films as Mr Brady, 31, from Cambridge, wanted to draw 'instantly recognisable craft’ as iconic as Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise. Alex Brady set out to create machines that look streamlined, futuristic and beautiful, but experts are not convinced that machines based on the designs would ever be able to fly. This concept is based on a swan . While he has no background in aircraft design, Mr Brady has drawn jets for films and computer games that look like they could soar though the skies on other planets and in future times. ‘They look like they might fly but are strange and silly,’ he told MailOnline. Among the creatures which Mr Brady has based his designs upon, are: Warthogs, zebras and woodlice, marine creatures like manta rays, dolphins and jellyfish, birds such as swifts and swallows as well as the pterodactyl, a new extinct ancient flying reptile. While he has no background in aircraft design, Mr Brady has drawn jets for films and computer games that look like they could soar though the skies on other planets and in future times. This fighter jet looks a lot like a manta ray . The '100 per cent whimsical' drawings like this plane with flexible wings, based on the shape of a swift, are also influenced by popular sci-fi films as Mr Brady, from Cambridgeshire, wanted to draw instantly recognisable craft¿ as iconic as Star Trek's Starship Enterprise . Artist Alex Brady said that he is fascinated by dinosaurs and this terrifying war machine is inspired by pterodactyl, as well as his favourite films such as Space Odyssey and Aliens . He set out to draw machines that also act as ‘characters’ because of their animalistic qualities and hopes one day to design futuristic transport full-time for films and games. ‘I wanted them to look instantly recognisable and to make them look kind of friendly’ despite the fact that many war planes are built to kill people. He admits that he has never grown out of dinosaurs and is ‘stealing from the best’ that nature has to offer. They might look like classic visions of UFOs, but these innovative aircraft concepts were inspired by jellyfish. However, an engineer told MailOnline that they would need a new propulsion system that has not been invented yet to fly . The mechanical-looking monster is based on a warthog and was imagined over a physical model built by Steve Wheeler, who made the knives for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit film and Mr Brady has worked with to illustrate ideas from his sci-fi books . This futuristic mode of transport came about beacuse of Mr Brady's attempts to draw a kind of zebra. It would be driven by a human inside the machine's stripy body . ‘You can’t come away from watching a David Attenborough documentary without thinking about how beautiful and interesting nature is. And I’d love cars and planes to be beautiful and sculptural – a little like yachts are. Not just about the function of sailing.’ He said that Steve Wheeler particularly inspires him because of his work for film director Peter Jackson, models of sci-fi vehicles and writing as well as films such as Star Wars and author Iain M Banks. Mr Brady creates his amazing drawings by first making 3D models using computer software called 3D Studio Max. He then draws on top of them in Photoshop and said that while the technique allows him great accuracy in his work, there are also ‘happy accidents of the pen’ that gives his work impact and lets them flow. These fighter jets with distinctive curved wings are inspired by seagulls. 'They look like they might fly but are strange and silly,' Mr Brady told MailOnline . A strange vision of the future? 'The vehicle in the foreground is something along the lines of a scarab or woodlouse. The plane is rather like a manta ray,' Mr Brady said . This design shows the wings of an imaginary aircraft flexing. 'I think from this angle it looks more like a porpoise or dolphin,' Mr Brady said . While some of the futuristic aircraft concepts certainly look like they can fly, Professor Ian Poll, of Cranfield Aerospace who is an expert in aerospace engineering and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, is doubtful that the ideas would create a real flying machine. ‘Birds and dinosaurs are nature’s ultimate evolved flying machines,’ he told MailOnline . He said that Mr Brady’s art is fanciful and creative, but would probably not make for efficient aircraft built upon engineering knowledge. While some of the futuristic aircraft concepts certainly look like they can fly, Professor Ian Poll, of Cranfield Aerospace who is an expert in aerospace engineering and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, is doubtful that the ideas would create a real flying machine. This rather convincing-looking fighter jet was inspired by a dragon and a chicken and look like it has jaws . These sleek looking concpet aircraft were based on a bird called the storm petrel. However, an engineering expert said: 'Birds and dinosaurs don't have jet engines or propellers to accommodate and their propulsion is limited by bone and muscle - meaning that they have to flap - which is not very efficient at all' Mr Brady revealed that this curvy aircraft is based on a stylised painting of a swan on wall of the White Swan pub in Cambridge, showing that inspiration really is everywhere . ‘Birds and dinosaurs don’t have jet engines or propellers to accommodate and their propulsion is limited by bone and muscle – meaning that they have to flap – which is not very efficient at all.’ Professor Poll explained that if you design an aircraft around a bird, the best thing you could come up with is a copy of a bird. ‘If you design one around a jet or propeller you get something appropriate to the power those technologies generate and probably a large wing span for efficiency as well as a blended wing and fuselage (the aircraft’s body that holds the crew, passengers or cargo). Aeronautics expert Professor Poll said that some of the designs look as if they do have wings that integrate seamlessly the body of the aircraft, which could help them to fly. A line of forbidding fighter jets are lined up for imaginary action here, but were inspired by chickens . This futuristic aircraft looks at first glance like a marine monster, but was inspired by a small starling . He did concede that some of the designs look as if they do have wings and the body of the aircraft, which could help them to fly, but the circular design inspired by a jellyfish, which also looks like many popular visions of UFOs, is ‘out of the question’ in terms of engineering. ‘It would be really inefficient and you would need a different kind of propulsion system [than currently used] to make it fly,’ Professor Poll said. However, he said that Nasa’s prototype X-48B craft - which is a blended wing body concept and a cross between a conventional plane and flying wing design – does bear some resemblance to some of Mr Brady’s designs. An expert at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) said: 'Most [of the drawings] look pretty unlikely but there is a lot of academic research into bio-inspired designs of many things. There is a lot to be learnt from nature but it is a lot more complex that copying the shape.' This cockpit-like structure was inspired by 'how starfish puke out their insides to eat', which Mr Brady finds fascinating but disgusting . Professor Poll explained that if you design an aircraft around a bird the best thing you could come up with is a copy of a bird. This drawing shows a line of planes inspired by swans .
### SUMMARY:
| Alex Brady set out to create aircraft that look streamlined, futuristic and beautiful, inspired by creatures including warthogs, swans, manta rays, zebras jellyfish and even a pterodactyl .
The Cambridgeshire-based artist is also influenced by sci-fi films such as Star Trek and wanted to draw instantly recognisable craft as iconic as the Starship Enterprise .
He makes a 3D model of the concept craft from his imagination and then draws on top of them to create the artwork .
While the conceptual craft look streamlined, one aerospace expert told MailOnline that most of the designs have little prospect of being able to fly without the invention of new propulsion systems . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
A primary school which banned pupils from using Black Country slang to halt a ‘decline in standards’ has revealed the controversial policy seems to have improved children's reading and writing. Parents were furious when school chiefs ordered children to stop speaking the dialect, saying it should be preserved to protect the local identity. Staff at Colley Lane Primary School, Halesowen, West Midlands, drew up a list of ten outlawed phrases such as 'I cor do that' instead of 'I can't do that,' and 'It wor me'. Parents including Alana Willetts with her son George, nine, were angry with the ban on Black Country dialect, but grades in reading and writing have improved . It has emerged that the ban has been a success in the classroom, with pupils achieving higher grades in reading and writing. The number of children gaining Key Stage 2 reading had improved by seven per cent with 79 per cent of pupils gaining level four. Children achieving the higher level five grade in reading has also gone up nine per cent to 41 per cent. Headteacher John White said: 'Our intention was not to remove any local culture or identity but to give our children the spoken language skills to compete against the best. Headteacher John White defended his school's dialect 'ban', saying it will help pupils achieve success . The letter sent out to parents last year gave a list of outlawed phrases, such as 'I cor do that' instead of 'I can't do that,' and 'It wor me' 'It would be great to see a more positive view on what we are trying to achieve here.' Last year Mr White enraged parents when he told them about the Black Country ban. Here are the phrases pupils at Colley Lane Primary School, in Halesowen, have been banned from using: . 1. 'They was' instead of 'they were.' 2. 'I cor do that' instead of 'I can't do that.' 3. 'Ya' instead of 'you.' 4. 'Gonna' instead of 'going to.' 5. 'Woz' instead of 'was.' 6. 'I day' instead of 'I didn't.' 7. 'I ain't' instead of 'I haven't.' 8. 'Somefink' instead of 'something.' 9. 'It wor me' instead of 'it wasn't me.' 10. 'Ay?' instead of 'pardon?' In a letter to parents, he said: 'Recently we asked each class teacher to write a list of the top ten most damaging phrases used by children in the classroom. 'We are introducing a 'zero tolerance' in the classroom to get children out of the habit of using the phrases on the list. 'We want the children in our school to have the best start possible: Understanding when it is and is not acceptable to use slang and colloquial language. 'We value the local dialect but are encouraging children to learn the skill of turning it on and off in different situations.' The Black Country includes Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, and southern parts of Wolverhampton. Other words and phrases on the prohibited list include 'ay', meaning 'pardon', and 'I day', meaning 'I didn't'. Alana Willetts, 30, whose nine-year-old son George goes to the school, said staff should be teaching pupils about the Black Country and its dialect. 'Some of my friends have gone on to be doctors and lawyers and I'm an engineer – [the accent] doesn't affect you as a person,' she said. 'I think it is patronising and insulting to say that people with a Black Country accent are disadvantaged. All the parents are outraged.' But Zheyan Kareem, 31, who moved to the UK eight years ago and whose seven-year-old son is a pupil, supported the ban, saying: ‘English is my second language. So for me … it is good if my child speaks English in the house and not slang picked up at school.’ The primary school, which has 592 children aged four to 11 and was judged ‘good’ at its last Ofsted inspection. The number of children gaining Key Stage 2 at Colley Lane Primary School, Halesowen, West Midlands, has improved by seven per cent with 79 per cent of pupils gaining level four . The distinctive Black Country dialect of the 'Yam Yams' is spoken in towns like Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Tipton and Dudley, and can be very confusing to outsiders. Scholars find it fascinating because it has preserved grammar from Early Modern English and even Middle English.'Thee', 'Thy' and 'Thou' are still in use, as is the case in parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire. 'Ow B'ist', meaning 'How beist thou?' is a common greeting, with the typical answer being 'Bay too bah', meaning 'I bayn't be too bad'.'I haven't seen her' becomes 'I ay sid 'er'. Black Country dialect often substitutes the word 'ar' for 'yes'.Several word pronunciations are also different: 'you' is pronounced 'yow' (pronounced yo with a silent w), whereas 'go', which is often pronounced 'goo' or 'gooin'' for 'going', is more in line with pronunciations in the Midlands. The heritage of the West Midlands is brought to life at the Black Country Living Museum and locals are keen to retain their distinctive dialect . It is also quite common for broad Black Country speakers to say 'agooin' instead of 'going'. Inhabitants are proud to be known as Black Country 'folk' and resist hints at any relationship to people living in Birmingham, calling Birmingham 'Brum-a-jum' (Birmingham's colloquial name is 'Brummagem', a corruption of its older name of 'Bromwicham' and hence West Bromwich) or 'Birminam' (missing the g and h out and saying it the way it's spelt). Residents of Birmingham ('Brummies') meanwhile often refer to their Black Country neighbours as 'Yam Yams', a reference to the use of 'Yow am' (or yow'm ) instead of 'You are', and not because they say 'I yam' instead of 'I am'.Dudley residents often refer to the people of Birmingham as 'Dummy Brummies'. Also, the town of Walsall can be pronounced either 'War-sall' or 'Wor-sull', with a strong Walsall accent considered to be typical 'yam-yam'. The strong Black Country dialect is less commonly heard today than in the past. However, a stronger variation of the dialect (than the one frequently used) appears to be heard quite often in conversations between older Black Country folk. The word endings with 'en' are still noticeable in conversation as in 'gooen' (going), 'callen' (calling) and the vowel 'A' is pronounced as 'O' as in 'sond' (sand), 'hond' (hand) and 'mon' (man). Other pronunciations are 'winder' for window, 'fer' for 'far', and 'loff' for 'laugh' exactly as Chaucer's English was spoken. Local dialect was (and probably still is to a lesser degree) quite distinctive between the different towns and villages of the Black Country. Although most outsiders to the Black Country can't tell this difference, Black Country folk can quiet fiercely defend the difference between the accent. Here is a glossary of Black Country vocabulary: . Aive - Lift, heave . Bawk - Confuse . Beesum - A pert young woman . Bibble - Pebble, stone . Blithyed - A fool . Bowler - A large moth . Boffle - To hinder . Bonk - A small hill . Broo'us - A brewery . Cagmag - A gossipy old woman . Caw - Cannot . Chicklings - Pig's intestines (a Black Country delicacy) Codding - Joking . Fizog - Face . Flen - A flea . Jed - Dead . Kench - Back strain . Miskin - An outside toilet . Carradiddle - A lie, fib . Tranklements - Miscellaneous items, paraphernalia . Werit - Worry .
### SUMMARY:
| A West Midlands primary drew up a list of outlawed Black Country phrases .
List includes 'I cor do that' instead of 'I can't do that' and 'It wor me'
Staff at Colley Lane Primary School revealed the ban has been a success .
Number of pupils with Key Stage 2 reading has improved by seven per cent .
Children achieving higher level five in reading has also gone up nine per cent . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
President Obama admitted Sunday that as the nation's top Democrat, he bears the blame for his party's historic losses in Tuesday's midterm congressional elections – but insisted moments later that his policies are sound, and signaled that he will double down on his most controversial plans. 'We got beat,' Obama said during a wide-ranging CBS News interview, acknowledging that his Jimmy Carter-like approval ratings – in the high 30s according to some polls – handed Republicans control of the U.S. Senate. 'Whenever, as the head of the party, it doesn't do well, I've got to take responsibility for it,' he told 'Face the Nation' anchor Bob Schieffer. 'The message that I took from this election, and we've seen this in a number of elections, successive elections, is people want to see this city work. And they feel as if it's not working.' But in what seemed like the second half of the same breath, Obama took credit for handling the not-button Ebola crisis, pledged to double-down on his plan for an intensely unpopular immigration policy shift, claimed that Friday's mini-troop-surge in Iraq will put the ISIS terror army on its heels and insisted that America's economy would be a shambles without him. Scroll down for video . President Barack Obama gave CBS anchor Bob Schieffer a rare sit-down interview on Sunday . Obama took responsibility for Democrats' historic election losses on Tuesday but paradoxically insisted on a my-way-or-the-highway approach to some of the domestic issues that got his party in trouble . 'It was worse' in 2009, he said, 'because the economy – not just here in the United States but globally – was in a freefall.' 'I have great confidence in the American people and I have great confidence in this administration being able to work through and eventually solve problems. Sometimes we don't do it at the speed that keeps up with, you know, the press cycle.'. He said his White House has 'handled Ebola well.' A MailOnline/YouGov poll published six days ago found that Americans disagree. Just 34 per cent 'told pollsters that they have faith in the president to handle the Ebola crisis effectively,' compared to 49 per cent who don't. A 55 per cent majority said the administration has been 'slow to react' to the crisis. Obama addressed his Friday announcement that he gave the Pentagon permission to send an additional 1,500 ground troops into Iraq – officially as advisers. They will supplement 1,400 already in the war theatre, and bring the total deployment authorization number to 3,100. That move, he said, 'signals a new phase' in the fight against the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, but he pledged that American servicemen and women won't find themselves taking or returning fire. A former senior Pentagon official told MailOnline on Friday that such a claim is far-fetched, and noted that America's protracted and deadly war in Vietnam similarly began with promises that U.S. troops would only be inserted as 'advisers' to South Vietnamese military planners. 'No one really believes the president and his advisers – and they're some smart people – aren't already inserting Special Operators who are armed for combat, probably in both Iraq and Syria,' the former official said. But Obama told Schieffer that 'what hasn't changed is our troops are not going to be engaged in combat.' It's only 'Iraqi ground troops,' he said, 'that can start pushing them back.' Overall, Obama described his latest battle chess move as an effort to put Iraq' forces and Jurdish Peshmerga fighters on the other side of the ball for a change. 'Rather than just try to halt ISIL's momentum,' he explained, using his own preferred acronym for ISIS, 'we're now in a position to start going on some offense.' 'The airstrikes have been very effective in degrading ISIL's capabilities and slowing the advance that they were making.' With Democrats reeling and Republicans strutting after Tuesday's seismic power shift, Obama said Sunday that he still won't back down from his threat to steamroll the GOP with an executive order changing the status of millions of illegal immigrants. On Thursday House Speaker John Boehner warned that if the president acts without the say-so of Congress, it would 'poison the well' for cooperation during Obama's last two years in office. Obama, though, framed the confrontation as if he held all the cards. FINALLY: 'Rather than just try to halt ISIL's momentum,' Obama said, 'we're now in a position to start going on some offense' 'Their time hasn't run out,' he said. 'The minute they pass a bill that addresses the problems with immigration reform, I will sign it and it supersedes whatever actions I take. And I'm encouraging them to do so.' But 'we've got to sell it,' he said of Democrats. 'We've got to reach out to the other side and, where possible, persuade.' Obama prefers a new 'comprehensive' immigration law styled after the so-called 'Gang of Eight' bill that passed last year in the Senate but was considered dead-on-arrival in the House. If Obama somehow gets what he wants, he said, 'nobody's going to be happier than me to sign it, because that means it will be permanent rather than temporary.' That's an acknowledgement that whatever he does unilaterally could disappear if a Republican president were to take power in 2017 and undo it. Overall, the president sounded more like a middle-manager than the most powerful politician in the world. 'I think that what you'll see' in his last two years in office, he said, 'is a constant effort to improve the way we deliver service to customers.' And he spoke generously of his own political acumen – and of his abilities in Washington's perpetual arm-twisting games. 'I love this job,' Obama said. 'If your name is Barack Hussein Obama, you had to have liked politics in order to get into this office. ... I got into politics because I believed I could make a difference, and I would not have been successful and would not be sitting at this desk every day if I didn't love politics.' He pointed to the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act as an example, saying it required 'a whole bunch of arm twisting' to get passed. Democrats pushed the Obamacare law through Congress without a single Republican vote. AND HE'S OFF: Obama left for China on Sunday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, where he can expect a confrontation with Russian President Vladimir Putin . On his foreign policy, Obama discussed his outreach to Iran generally but wouldn't comment on reports that he had written a personal letter to the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 'I tend not to comment on any communications that I have with various leaders,' he said. But he claimed 'significant' progress negotiating with Iran over its dangerous nuclear ambitions that have already provoked alleged military responses from Israel. Ever the negotiator, Obama said 'the question now is are we going to be able to close this final gap so that they can reenter the international community, sanctions can be slowly reduced and we have verifiable, lock-tight assurances that they can't develop a nuclear weapon.' 'But there's still a big gap,' he conceded, 'We may not be able to get there.' He also acknowledged that Iran has troops stationed in and around Baghdad, inserting itself into the Iraqi conflict with ISIS. The majority-Shiite Iran sees the terror army as an adversary because it is largely made up of Sunni Muslims. 'We let them know, "Don't mess with us. We're not here to mess with you. We're focused on our common enemy," Obama said. 'But there is no coordination or common battle plan and there will not be.'
### SUMMARY:
| President says he's to blame for Democrats' massive midterm losses but insists his economic record is solid and the US is better off with him in power .
Sticks to his guns on plan for immigration executive orders, but still wants Congress to pass 'permanent rather than temporary' change .
Obama says doubling number of 'advisers' in Iraq will allow for offense instead of 'just try[ing] to halt ISIL's momentum'
Says his administration has 'handled Ebola well'
Refers to US taxpayers as government 'customers' |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Admission: Actor Stephen Collins has admitted to inappropriate conduct with young girls in a new confessional essay for People magazine . A woman molested by Stephen Collins when she was just ten has refused to accept his belated apology and insisted he did gain sexual gratification by ejaculating while making her touch him inappropriately. The shamed actor, who played the righteous dad and pastor on long-running TV show 7th Heaven, recently came out to confirm shocking reports of sexual misconduct with young girls. The 67-year-old, who was never charged, confessed to inappropriately touching one girl and exposing himself to two others between 1973 and 1994. The former TV star insisted 'there was no gratification' - calling it an 'impulsive act.. that's haunted him ever since'. But a woman in her 50s, who cannot be named, claims to be one of Collins' victims and says he is lying, TMZ reports. She said: 'Stephen is minimizing the incident. It was not just a spontaneous touching ... that aggression resulted in him ejaculating.' She also slammed his decision not to apologize to her and another girl he targeted, adding: 'His assertion that he wanted to avoid reopening an old wound seems nonsensical to me.' The woman refuses to believe there were just three victims - as Collins stated in a taped confession leaked to TMZ by his soon-to-be ex-wife Faye Grant during their bitter divorce proceedings. She has filed a police report with the NYPD and an investigation is underway - although it's believed any case would be rejected because of the statute of limitations. Scroll down for video . Scandal: Collins is best known for playing Reverend Eric Camden on long-running family drama 7th Heaven (left). Reports about his indiscretions first came to light in October when his estranged wife Faye Grant (pictured together on the right) released a taped confession which was obtained TMZ . The woman adds: 'Why isn't he donating any disposable income, beyond what he needs to survive, to a child-abuse charity. Maybe he should at least try apologizing to his victims.' Collins admitted to three incidents in a lengthy confessional essay for People magazine, saying he inappropriately touched one girl and exposed himself to two others between 1973 and 1994, and that his actions were 'inexcusable' and have 'haunted' him ever since. While none of his victims have ever publicly come forward, and the 67-year-old never charged, reports of his misbehavior surfaced in October when his soon-to-be ex-wife Faye Grant released a taped confession which was obtained by TMZ in the midst of their bitter divorce. In the public backlash to the TMZ tapes, Collins lost parts on TV show Scandal and in the sequel to the movie Ted, while re-runs of 7th Heaven were pulled from the air. 'Forty years ago, I did something terribly wrong that I deeply regret. I have been working to atone for it ever since,' Collins wrote in People. Family values: 7th Heaven was a show about a pastor and his wife, raising their large brood of seven children. A young Jessica Biel (to Collins' right in a blue sweater) played the couple's oldest daughter. Collins says he never behaved inappropriately toward any of the young actresses on the show's set . He says he's decided to speak publicly about the reports because he believes some of his actions have been elaborated. 'On the recording, I described events that took place 20, 32, and 40 years ago,' Collins adds. 'The publication of the recording has resulted in assumptions and innuendos about what I did that go far beyond what actually occurred. As difficult as this is, I want people to know the truth.' He says the only time he touched a girl inappropriately was in 1973, when he was 25 and a pre-teen girl came to stay with him and his first wife. Collins says he exposed himself to the girl twice before, but took things to another level on the visit. 'When the girl and I were watching TV alone, I moved her hand in such a way that caused her to touch me inappropriately. It lasted less than a minute, during which there was no gratification,' Collins said. 'I then left the room. I had no further physical contact with her. It was a completely impulsive act and it's haunted me ever since to think of what I put her through.' Over the next two decades, Collins says he continued to expose himself to two more teenage girls, once in 1982 and again in 1994. Interview: Collins of 7th Heaven fame will appear on 20/20 in an interview with Katie Couric in which he confesses to his sex crimes but says he's a changed man who hasn't touched an underage girl since 1994 . 'The first instance lasted second and the second about a minute,' Collins says of the indecent exposure. 'I had no physical contact of any kind with either girl. I don't say this to excuse what I did - it was inexcusable - but to clarify what actually happened.' Collins says the exposure in 1994 was his 'rock bottom' and what caused him to finally seek help for his deviant behavior. For the past 20 years, Collins says he's been undergoing therapy and religious counseling, while praying and meditating every day. These treatments, Collins claims, have worked and kept him from harming other young girls. 'Since that day in 1994, I have not had an impulse to act out in any such way.' Collins has only apologized directly to one of his victims, who he says was 'extraordinary gracious', but has not reached out to the others for fear that he will be 'opening old wounds'. The actor also describes how the recorded confession came to be. He says he and his wife Grant were undergoing marriage therapy sessions in hopes of healing their relationship. The second follow-up session is when Collins says he and the therapist were taped by his wife without either of their knowledge. The shamed actor appears alongside Jessica Biel in 7th Heaven: The Long Bad Summer . The couple of nearly 30 years filed for divorce in 2012 but have been engaged in a heated legal battle over how to split their assets. Grant, who is also an actress, is fighting for high spousal support payments of $13,000 a month, saying she is no longer able to make a living from her career when she took a break to raise their daughter. She also says she only released the taped confession to police, when Collins allegedly denied to seek treatment for his issues. She denies ever turning the audio over to TMZ. Collins says the release of the tapes in October led to confusion over when he exposed himself to the young girls, and if it was possible one of his young co-stars on 7th Heaven was a victim. Bitter divorce: Faye Grant, pictured with Stephen Collins in both images, leaked a tape of the actor confessing to molesting girls to TMZ . 'I appeared for eleven seasons on a television series with a cast that included minor females in our TV family, and countless other young actresses throughout the show's eleven years. I never behaved inappropriately on or off that set - or on any set I've ever worked on.' When the tapes were first released, law enforcement in New York and Los Angeles said they were investigating the claims. But law enforcement sources who spoke with TMZ said that despite the taped confession, they felt Collins would not be charged and 'the cases will go nowhere'. The LAPD confirmed to MailOnline on Wednesday that they never reopened a case into Collins, and had simply been reviewing the recording in October. Calls and emails to the NYPD were not immediately returned Wednesday. Collins says he planned to release a statement after his divorce was finalized, but decided to come forward earlier when the trial was postponed. He says he owed family, friends and the public an explanation. 'I want to reassure them about who I am, and I want them to understand that I take these issues very seriously,' he said. Collins is due to speak about the essay with Katie Couric on Friday.
### SUMMARY:
| Woman claims she was molested aged ten and will not accept confession .
Now in her 50s, also says he is lying about not getting sexual gratification .
Actions came to light after his estranged wife released taped confession .
Collins, 67, recently spoke out to admit to inappropriate acts in an essay . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
London schoolgirl Hanni Blaskey has given the BBC’s Children In Need appeal a £30,000 head start - by quizzing the rich and famous on the secret of happiness. Her book, featuring the words of more than 100 celebrities, among them the Duchess of York and David Cameron, was snapped up by Sainsbury’s and has already topped their sales chart. But the simple pleasures revealed in What Makes Me Happy aren't quite as lavish as you might expect, with children, dogs, food and scenery all favourites. Sunshine and fairies: The Duchess of York cited both - and magic - in her response to Hanni Blaskey . Family man: David Cameron, pictured with his wife Samantha, said that his family made him the happiest . Comedian Michael McIntyre cites 'children in the morning when they haven’t woken up to misbehave' while BBC presenter Gaby Roslin plumps for 'my kids, my husband and a hot bath'. Ed Miliband and David Cameron also cited spending time with their children as the secret of happiness and so, in what is possibly the first time he has agreed with either party leader, did UKIP's Nigel Farage. Among the dog lovers is Andy Murray, who admits he badly misses his when away on the circuit because '…they don’t care whether I win or lose. They make me smile every day I spend with them.' 'Walking my dog makes me happy,' adds Gary Lineker. 'His utter joy at the word "walkies" never diminishes. Such enthusiasm for something so simple is strangely satisfying.’ And Imelda Staunton writes: 'Walking very early in the mornings during the summer with my little dog – either on the Heath or by the sea…heaven.' Naughty: Comedian Michael McIntyre said his children... but only when they're asleep and not misbehaving . Dog fans: Both Andy Murray and John Bishop spoke of how their pet dogs made them happy . Unusual: Nicole Scherzinger presented her happiness as a flow chart which unexpectedly included yodelling . But not everyone chose children - or dogs - as the inspiration for their happiest moments. Rocker Rod Stewart revealed that a cup of tea makes him 'uncontrollably happy', while Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger chose, rather unexpectedly, yodelling. The Duchess of York told the schoolgirl that her idea of happiness involved sunny mornings before, rather bizarrely, going on to add: 'I do believe in fairies. 'I do believe in magic and when you blow on a dandelion, you will see the light of the enchanted spreading their wings and disappearing off on their own journeys, just like you have today when you opened your eyes. 'Don't let the day go by without looking for fairies and magic.' Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman says that for him it’s: 'Eating a bacon sandwich. Sleeping in the chair. Being nice on Strictly. Getting out of bed and nothing falls off.' Contribution: Rod Stewart spoke of his love for tea while Gary Barlow opted out of writing and sent doodles . Music: Both Dizzee Rascal and Cerys Matthews cited music - albeit of wildly different kinds . Richard Madeley, who has a home in Cornwall, wrote back to 13-year-old Hanni: ‘Being up early enough to see the sun rise over Talland Bay in Cornwall. Nearest thing to paradise on earth.’ Some celebrities strayed from their brief to try and define how the feeling comes over them, with Maureen Lipman writing that 'happiness is released like a kind of gas from a rock.' Meanwhile there were some, like Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps, who weren't quite embrace the theme. ‘The rare occasion when I check my diary and there’s nothing in it for the next hour,’ he replied. Hanni, from Hampstead, North London, got her idea after watching a harrowing Children In Need documentary about a young girl caring for her bedbound mother. ‘I just wondered aloud what would make her happy,’ she said. ‘I thought I’d ask famous people because everyone identifies with them. It was an amazing response.’ Family: Like David Cameron, Ed Miliband agreed that family was the thing that made him happiest . Agreed: And in a rare instance of Nigel Farage agreeing with Cameron and Miliband, he also said family . Choices: Martin Clunes chose horses while Simon Mayo chose weather. Katherine Jenkins chose everything . Popular options: Like Clare Balding and Will Carling, most of those asked opted for either their dogs or families . 'She got the idea when Rick, her dad, suggested she raise money for Children In Need herself rather than just grab his credit card,' explained her delighted mother Simone. 'We’re very proud of her. It was a lot of hard work.’ And Hanni’s personal recipe for happiness? 'It makes me very happy to see my book on sale,’ she said. 'But also when my dad’s football team Sheffield Wednesday avoids losing. Things are pretty glum around our house otherwise.' Contribution: Sir Paul McCartney told Hanni that his family - grandchildren in particular - were most important . DAVID CAMERON . 'On a personal level, my own happiness index is very easy to explain: it is all about my family. Whether it is the everyday routines I go through with Samantha and the children; taking my youngest daughter Florence to nursery; helping Nancy complete her homework; or watching Elwen play football and rugby, I am happiest when I am with those I love the most and enjoying quality time with them.' THE DUCHESS OF YORK . 'Your eyes open and the life is a fresh, new day, the sunlight nudges through the curtains. I do believe in fairies. I do believe in magic and when you blow on a dandelion, you will see the light of the enchanted spreading their wings and disappearing off on their own journeys, just like you have today when you opened your eyes. Don't let the day go by without looking for fairies and magic. That makes me happy, as every day is, therefore, a day of exploration and adventure.' SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH . 'The sun rising in the mountains makes me happy.' DIZZEE RASCAL . 'Bass! Lots of bass!!!' ANDY MURRAY . 'Spending time at home with my girlfriend and our two dogs! I travel six months every year and miss being with my dogs a lot. So much so that I have travelled with them to some tournaments! They don't care whether I win or lose. They make me smile every day I spend with them.' ED MILIBAND . 'My family is the most important thing in the world to me so spending time with my wife Justine and my boys Daniel and Sam is what always makes me happy.' NIGEL FARAGE . 'Being with my four healthy children and thinking about how lucky we all are compared to many. This is a time to think about others less fortunate than ourselves.' CLARE BALDING . 'Walking my dog Archie every day. Whatever the weather, he makes me smile and we explore the world together.' PALOMA FAITH . 'What makes me happy is the kindness of strangers.' BORIS JOHNSON . 'Sitting in the sun and trying to paint the view, or possibly, a person.' ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER . 'My family, good wine, good musicals and my Turkish Van cats.' SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY . 'What makes me happy is to have a weekend off from my travels and my concerts and spend it with my family. I love to hear the noises in the kitchen as the meal is prepared and then my little grandson climbs on my knee and requests a bite for every bite that I take. There's nothing better to enjoy than having my wife, kids and grandkids around on a lazy weekend.'
### SUMMARY:
| The quotes appear in a charity book penned by schoolgirl Hanni Blaskey .
Sales of What Makes Me Happy? will be donated to Children in Need .
David Cameron, the Duchess of York and Andy Murray among contributors .
Cameron, Ed Milliband and Nigel Farage all, for once, agreed and said family .
The Duchess of York spoke of her love of sunny mornings, fairies and magic .
Others include Nicole Scherzinger, Sir Paul McCartney and Rod Stewart .
To purchase a copy of the book and donate to Children in Need, visit www.ocado.com . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome was awash with colour with music blaring and sequins, feathers, glitter and skin in abundance as Carnival's main event defied a tropical deluge and other dramas gripping the nation. Although the skies opened up about an hour ahead of the start of the all-night extravaganza, drenching revellers and performers and flooding streets around the arena, Rio's Mecca of Carnival. Wildly costumed performers from six Samba schools packed the Sambadrome, where tennis ace Rafael Nadal was a star guest of the parade clad in a clear waterproof poncho. Big blue hair, bikinis and chaps-style leggings that leave little to the imagination in Viradouro samba school's Carnival performance . The Vila Isabel samba school perform during the spectacular Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome on Sunday . Model Juliana Paesthe from Viradouro samba school sparkles during their performance as one of Rio's top-ranked groups . The Viradouro school opened Sunday night's parade and transformed the venue into a sea of gold and white . A lavish feather-winged costume is sported by this dancer from the Salgueiro samba school in the annual carnival parade in Rio . There was no shortage of skin on show during the most celebrated Carnival celebrations in the world on Sunday . A giant mould of a woman holds a baby at the front of this extravagant float from the Viradouro samba school . A child sleeps in a tropical setting on the Mangueira samba school's float on the first night of the First League parades . The many shades of Mangueira samba school, who are the oldest of the competing Rio samba schools . Spectators stand in plastic ponchos or umbrellas as the Viradouro samba school file past at the Sambadrome . Nadal, in town for the Rio Open tournament, was mobbed by the press during his 20-minute stay at the event where he showed some fancy samba-style footwork of his own among the performers with Spanish compatriot David Ferrer and Brazil's own former French Open winner Gustavo 'Guga' Kuerten. The year's five-day-long Carnival celebrations, which also include some 450 alcohol-soaked street parties, or 'blocos,' comes as a welcome respite from the recent avalanche of bad news afflicting Brazil. In addition to near-constant reminders of the stalled economy, Brazilians are coping with a snowballing corruption scandal at the state-run oil giant Petrobras as well as the worst drought in 80 years in the southeast, which includes Rio and the country's industrial and business hub of Sao Paulo. Some Carnival celebrations in smaller cities have even been cancelled because of the drought so Sunday's rains in Rio were widely welcomed, even if they were a hindrance to the city's biggest party. The Viradouro samba school must have looked at the weather forecast as a deluge came an hour before the parade in drought-ridden Rio . Incredible detail features in the costume worn by this dancer from Viradouro samba school, a former champion of Carnival's main event . Casts of male dancers in crisp white suits feature in another of Viradouro's lavish displays that opened proceedings on Sunday . From a cocoon in a tree into a beautiful orange and yellow butterfly - another of the vast array of colours from Viradouro . Even with the skies opening up with torrential rain about an hour ahead of the start of the all-night extravaganza, the show went on . Revellers from Mangueira, Rio's most popular samba school which won the very first parade to be held in the Sambadrome . 'It hasn't dampened the performers' spirits, and at least it's not so hot with the rain,' said Helio Abreu, a 53-year-old doctor taking shelter with his wife at a concession stand. 'I know we need it, but to tell you the truth I really wish it had started on Ash Wednesday,' the last day of Carnival. In Paraty, a colonial jewel of a city between Rio and Sao Paulo, Carnival was scaled down after a deadly shooting on Saturday night. One person was killed and nine others injured, including three tourists from Sao Paulo, in the shootout which erupted in the midst of a crowd of revellers in the historic downtown, according to local news reports. More colour from the Manguiera as music blared on the fourth of five days of parade competitions in the unique stadium . Sequins, feathers, glitter, diamantes and skin are all present and accounted for in Mangueira drum queen Evelyn Bastos's costume . An American theme is presented in this float from Mocidade samba school, the third school to delight thousands on Sunday . Perhaps the most comfortable of the performers, Mocidade school included men and women in a bed on the back of a float . The schools spend months perfecting their costumes and performances in preparation for Carnival . Mangueira, second up on Sunday on the first of two nights of shows for the top-rated samba schools . Vila Isabel drum queen and Brazilian celebrity Sabrina Sato appears to be enjoying herself no end during the school's performance . A barely there costume is worn by a performer from Vila Isabel, who entered the arena just after midnight . Vila Isabel perform as part of the five-day-long official Carnival celebrations, which also include some 450 alcohol-soaked street parties . Six samba schools were parading in Rio's Sambadrome on Sunday night, with each group required to get their thousands of participants and giant floats across the roughly 730 meter-long runway in under 82 minutes. Six other schools will perform on Monday, with all 12 groups vying for the title of the year's best. Mangueira and Salgueiro were the biggest-name samba schools parading Sunday. Last year's champion, Unidos da Tijuca, is the last parade Monday, with the winning school announced later in the week. A tribute to Japanese geisha from the team at Vila Isabel during the annual samba schools parade . Brazilian singer Martinho da Vila parades with Vila Isabel - his compositions feature as part of their Carnival performances . The Salgueiro samba school go to Egypt's lavish Pharaoh tombs for inspiration for their parade this year at the Sambadrome . The Salgueiro, along with the Mangueira, were the biggest-name samba schools parading Sunday . Opulent headdresses add to the vibrant performance from the Salgueiro school at the Sambadrome . Dancers from the Grande Rio samba school take to the straight, moving stage as Carnival celebrations near their pinnacle on Monday . A take on Alice in Wonderland featured prominantly for Grande Rio, with their Alice here encountering one of the Queen of Hearts' guards . The Grand Rio performance continued with a Joker-style character a particularly colourful addition . Giant playing cars are used as props for the dancers in their grandiose Alice in Wonderland homage . The theme takes a dark turn in the performance from the Grande Rio school with these devilish characters . Hooded creatures with giant skull and crossbones on the front is a rare moment in which the parade doesn't shine with glitter . Grande Rio is one of the newer Samba schools competing this year but has already enjoyed great success and finished sixth in 2014 . Their theme 'A Grande Rio é do baralho' means The Great River is a Desk and plays on the notion that Carnival is a game to many . Members of the Mocidade Indepedente samba sing and dance in their own elaborate get up in Rio on Sunday . Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal (left) dances during the parade on Sunday with Brazil's biggest name in the sport, Gustavo Kuerten . Nadal enjoyed the festivities with Spanish compatriot David (centre) and former champion Kuerten . Nadal is only too happy to pose for a photo with female fans during the Viradouro samba school's parade on Sunday .
### SUMMARY:
| Carnival's official celebrations run from February 13 to 17, with parades each night in the Sambadrome .
The region is gripped by drought but Rio enjoyed a tropical deluge an hour before parades on Sunday .
The parades on Sunday were the first of two nights of parades from 'first league' samba schools .
Tennis star Rafael Nadal attended the parade and showed off some fancy footwork of his own . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
The remains of a baby woolly rhinoceros, which still has its fleece, has been discovered in the ice of Siberia. Named Sasha, the extinct creature - which must be at least 10,000 years old and is the first juvenile woolly rhino to be found - was well preserved by permafrost and experts are hopeful of extracting its DNA. A local hunter found the infant woolly rhino in a ravine by a stream in Russia's largest and coldest region, the Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia, in September. Scroll down for video . As if he was sleeping: The remains of a baby woolly rhinoceros, (pictured) who has been named Sasha and still has its wool, has been discovered in the ice of Siberia. It is the first juvenile of the species to be found . Initially, he thought the carcass was a reindeer, until he saw the horn growths and realised he had made the historic discovery of the world's first baby woolly rhino. ‘The age of the calf when it died has yet to be established, but scientists estimate it to be about 18 months old,’ The Siberian Times reported. ‘Precise tests will be conducted to ascertain when Sasha died, with the results likely in six months. ‘The creature's wool is well preserved, and an ear, one eye, its nostrils, and mouth are clearly visible. The age of the calf when it died has yet to be established, but scientists estimate it to be about 18 months old. The animal's lower half is missing as it was sticking out of the permafrost and was eaten by wild animals . A local hunter found the infant woolly rhino in a ravine by a stream in Russia's largest and coldest region, the Sakha Republic, also known as Yakutia, in September. The region and its capital city is shown . Ancient beast:Based on skeletons and cave paintings, scientists believe that adult woolly rhinos (illustrated) were up to 13ft (4 metres) long . The woolly rhinoceros is an extinct species of rhinoceros that was common throughout Europe and northern Asia during the Pleistocene epoch and survived the last glacial period. The last of the species is thought to have died out around 10,000 years ago. In the Pleistocene epoch, the woolly rhino roamed across Europe and Asia from Scotland and Spain in the west, to South Korea in the east. It was well adapted to its environment, with stocky limbs and a thick woolly fleece to suit the icy tundra. Previous studies using DNA from the ancient creatures have found that its closest modern relative is the Sumatran rhino. Based on skeletons and cave paintings, scientists believe that adult woolly rhinos were up to 13ft (4metres) long and weighed as much as 4,400lbs (2,000kg). The two horns on the skull were made of keratin - the longest being 24 inches (61cm) - and the woolly rhinoceros used them for defensive purposes and to attract mates, but spent most of its time grazing on grasses. The reason for their extinction around 10,000 years ago is not fully understood, but like woolly mammoths, they may have been over-hunted by early man and affected by the receding Ice Age and the spread of disease. ‘The remnants of two horns were found on the carcass.’ Albert Protopopov, Head of the Mammoth Fauna Department, of the Sakha Republic Academy of Science, said: ‘The find is absolutely unique. ‘We can count a number of adult woolly rhinos found around the world on fingers of one hand. A baby rhino was never found before. ‘There was only one case in the 21st century when we found a frozen carcass of a grown up woolly rhino in Yakutia. It was in 2007 in Kolyma. ‘In the 20th century there were carcasses of woolly mammoths found in Verkhoyansky and Vilyuisky districts, but they were mummified and therefore not usable for studies.’ The animal's wool is well preserved, and an ear, one eye, its nostrils, and mouth are clearly visible (pictured). Albert Protopopov, of the Sakha Republic Academy of Science, said: 'We can count a number of adult woolly rhinos found around the world on fingers of one hand. A baby rhino was never found before' In the Pleistocene epoch the woolly rhino roamed across Europe and Asia from Scotland and Spain in the west, to South Korea in the east. A stock image is shown. The reason for their extinction around 10,000 years ago is not fully understood, but like woolly mammoths, they may have been over-hunted by early man and affected by the receding Ice Age and the spread of disease . Until now, scientists had no evidence of baby woolly rhinos, but now they have a skull and head, soft tissues and well preserved teeth to learn more about the prehistoric animal. Here, the baby rhino's foot and leg is shown. Scientists hope to extract DNA from the remains . Previous studies using DNA from the ancient creatures have found that its closest modern relative is the Sumatran rhino (pictured) He added: ‘Even to find a skull of a baby rhino is very lucky indeed. ‘The possible explanation to it is that rhinos bred very slowly. Mothers protected baby rhinos really well, so that cases of successful attacks on them were extremely rare and the mortality rate was very low.’ Woolly rhinos are less studied than mammoths. Dr Protopopov said: ‘We are hoping Sasha the rhino will give us a lot of answers to questions of how they grew and developed, what conditions they lived in, and which of the modern day animals is the closest to them. ‘We know nothing about baby rhinos, while the morphology of adults is better known.’ ‘So far we didn't have a chance to work even with a tooth of a baby rhino, and now we have the whole skull, the head, soft tissues, and well preserved teeth.’ Scientists will first try to extract DNA from the remains, which was kept frozen to increase the chances of this being possible. They hope to get results in a ‘week or two’. The calf’s remains weigh 132lbs (60kg) and were found by Alexander Banderov, a hunter and businessman from Abyysky district. ‘There was only one case in the 21st century when we found a frozen carcass of a grown up woolly rhino in Yakutia. It was in 2007 in Kolyma,' said Dr Protopopov. An image of Kolyma's frozen body is shown . It was named after him - Russians use Sasha as a short name for Alexander. Mr Banderov and his friend Semen Ivanov were sailing past a ravine and noticed hair ‘hanging on top of it’. He explained: ‘At first we thought it was a reindeer's carcass, but after it thawed and fell down we saw a horn on its upper jaw and realised it must be a rhino. ‘The part of the carcass that stuck out of the ice was eaten by wild animals, but the rest of it was inside the permafrost and preserved well. ‘We immediately got in touch with Mammoth Fauna Department of the Yakutian Academy of Sciences.’ In the Pleistocene epoch the woolly rhino roamed across Europe and Asia from Scotland and Spain in the west, to South Korea in the east. The reason for their extinction around 10,000 years ago is not fully understood, but like woolly mammoths, they may have been over-hunted by early man and affected by the receding Ice Age and the spread of disease.
### SUMMARY:
| Baby woolly mammoth, named Sasha, was found in Siberian ice by hunters in the Sakha Republic .
First juvenile to be found, possibly because infant mortality rate was low and the animals bred slowly .
Sasha's wool, an ear, one eye, its nostrils, and mouth are well preserved and scientists will first try to extract DNA .
The reason for the woolly rhino's extinction is not fully understood, but like woolly mammoths, they may have been over-hunted by early man and affected by the receding Ice Age and the spread of disease . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
A Captain Kirk action figure, Iron Man toys and part of a Tyrannosaurus rex are to be sent into orbit around the Earth as the ‘crew’ of the first test flight of Nasa’s next generation Orion space capsule. The spacecraft will also carry a sample of soil from the Moon, an oxygen hose from an Apollo mission spacesuit and a series of Sesame Street puppets and props. They are all part of a weird collection of artefacts and memorabilia that will be sent into space as cargo aboard the first test flight of the Orion spacecraft. Scroll down for video . The Orion space capsule, the white tip of which can be seen sitting on top of a Delta IV Heavy rocket at the Space Launch Complex 37 in Cape Canaveral, will launch on Thursday for its first test flight into space . Nasa is due to launch the capsule into orbit around Earth in what it hopes will be the first steps towards eventually using the vehicle to carry astronauts to Mars. Weather conditions for Orion’s launch on Thursday from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, scheduled for 07.05 EST (12.05 GMT), are looking favourable. Orion is Nasa's first manned space capsule since the Apollo module and will allow the US to regain its capability to launch astronauts into space, which it lost after the retirement of the Shuttle. The Orion Exploration Test Flight 1 is designed to expose the capsule to the conditions it will experience when returning from deep space missions to asteroids and Mars. Upon reentry it will reach speeds of up to 20,000 mph and its heat shield will have to bear the brunt of the scorching plasma that builds up as the spacecraft dives through the atmosphere. Temperatures can reach up to 3,300 degrees C before it slows down enough to deploy its parachutes before dropping into the sea. Astronauts in Orion will also travel through areas of space where intense radiation can be encountered and the capsule will need to protect them from this. The test flight will send Orion through the inner Van Allen belt, a deadly zone of radiation trapped by the Earth's magnetic field. Radiation experiments onboard the test flights will measure how electronics and astronauts might survive in this hostile environment if they are inside the capsule. Yet despite the crucial nature of the test flight, Nasa has packed many of the lockers inside with toys and memorabilia, including a toy figure supplied by William Shatner and a fossil from a T. rex. The spacecraft, and its cargo, will be carried into orbit on a Delta 4 Heavy Rocket, taking it 3,600 miles above there Earth, about 15 times higher than the International Space Station. During the four and a half hour flight the capsule will orbit the Earth twice before beginning its violent descent back into the atmosphere as scientists attempt to test its heat shields. Reaching speeds of up to 20,000 mph, the 16 feet wide heat shield will have to withstand temperatures of more than 3,300 degrees C (6,000 F). A suite of more than 1,200 sensors onboard the capsule will record the stresses, vibrations, temperatures, radiation exposure and acceleration it is exposed to during the descent. If it survives reentry, Orion will deploy parachutes before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, where it will be recovered by the US Navy. 'Orion is the exploration spacecraft for NASA, and paired with the Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket it will allow us to explore the solar system,' said Mark Geyer, program manager of Orion, which is based at Johnson Space Center in Houston. 'Really, we're going to test the riskiest parts of the mission - ascent, entry and things like fairing separations, Launch Abort System jettison, the parachutes plus the navigation and guidance. 'Plus we’ll fly into deep space and test the radiation effects on those systems.' Technicians pack bags to be placed into Orion's stowage lockers with items from Sesame Street including a cookie belonging to Cookie Monster, Ernie's rubber duck, Grover's cape and Slimey the Worm . A Captain Kirk figurine and Iron Man collectables are among the cargo to be carried on the 3,600 mile test flight of the Orion space capsule as Nasa tests its heat shields ability to withstand the intense heat of re-entry . Orion will travel twice around the Earth before reentering the Earth's atmosphere and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean as engineers attempt to test how the capsule will hold up against the violent descent . Although it will not carry any astronauts on the test flight, the capsule is designed to transport humans, so engineers want to find out what the conditions inside the cabin will be like. Officials at Nasa have, however, also decided to continue the tradition of taking mementos into space. While Orion Test Flight 1 will carry important radiation experiments, the other lockers have been stuffed with a strange assortment of toys, memorabilia and signed celebrity photos. Among the cargo will be props from Sesame Street including a cookie belonging to Cookie Monster, Ernie’s rubber duck, Oscar the Grouch’s pet Slimey the Worm and Grover’s cape. When they return to Earth they will take prized spots on the long-running television programme in a bid to educate millions of children about space. Lockheed Martin, the main contractor for constructing Orion, also worked with the Entertainment Industries Council to collect items from science fiction-related celebrities to fly onboard. William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek series and is a noted space enthusiast, supplied an action figure of ‘Captain Kirk in Environmental Suit’. The Orion capsule, seen here inside its launch abort system and service module outside the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, has been fitted sensors to measure the temperature, vibrations acceleration and radiation that astronauts might be exposed to inside during reentry from a mission to an asteroid or Mars . Reentry is one of the most dangerous parts of human space flight as temperatures can reach up to 3,300 degrees C as plasma builds up on the heat shield of Orion, seen here in an artists impression of the capsule as it lines up to being its race through the Earth's atmosphere at speeds of up to 20,000 miles per hour . ‘William Shatner is thrilled to send Kirk back to space and support Orion, while inspiring future generations about space travel," EIC vice president Skylar Jackson told collectSPACE. Director Jon Favreau offered an Iron Man challenge coin while Back to the Future actress Claudia Wells provided signed cast photos and a Delorean time machine model. Mayim Bialik, from The Big Bang Theory, also gave pictures of her ancestors. A collection of pins, medals and artworks will also be carried in the Orion lockers. Recordings of Mars from Gustav Holst's The Planets, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, and 'We Shall Overcome' by Denyce Graves, will also be onboard. Nasa has also placed a tiny sample of lunar soil along with a fossil from a Tyrannosaurus rex donated by the Denver Science Museum, into the capsule.. A microchip carrying the names of more than a million people who submitted their names will also be carried onboard. In a statement on its website, Nasa said: ‘Together, the artifacts chart humanity's progress and technological advancement as the nation takes a critical step forward on the Journey to Mars.’ Carrying commemorative cargo into space, however, is not a new tradition and has been done since the very early age of space flight. Nasa's Mercury astronauts carried dimes in their spacesuits while astronauts on the Apollo missions carried photos and specially stamped envelopes. The Voyager spacecraft have also carried gold discs featuring sounds of Earth along with a range of other information while the Curiosity rover on Mars carried a penny to calibrate its instruments. A microchip carrying the names of a million people will also be flown aboard Orion on the test flight after the public were given opportunity to have their names included as part of Nasa's journey to Mars .
### SUMMARY:
| Nasa's next-generation spacecraft to be launched 3,600 miles into space .
Orion will orbit the Earth twice before plummeting into the Pacific Ocean .
Capsule will carry action figures, fossils, lunar dust and celebrity photos .
Engineers hope to test the radiation and heat inside the capsule on reentry .
Space capsule is designed to carry astronauts to asteroids and Mars . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(BudgetTravel) -- Marseille, France . Bistrot d'Edouard -- At this year-old restaurant, the city's cultural mix is evident in dishes like vermicelli cooked in squid ink and fish broth, garnished with grilled squid and fromage-blanc aioli. Tapas from $7, 150 rue Jean Mermoz, 011-33/4-91-71-16-52. Cafe Populaire -- Celebrating the Marseille's mishmash of Mediterranean tastes, Populaire serves up dishes like fried chick-pea flour squares with sardines, grilled squid, and mesclun. 110 rue Paradis, 011-33/4-91-02-53-96. La Virgule -- Chef Lionel Levy, whose Une Table au Sud earned a Michelin star a few years ago, opened this small spot next door, where the bistro-meets-ethnic menu (think smoked duck breast served with hummus and sesame oil) is drawing nightly crowds. Entrees from $12, lavirgule.marseille.free.fr. BudgetTravel.com: Be a packing genius . Honolulu, Hawaii . Azure -- Executive chef Jon Matsubara graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and apprenticed at Jean-Georges in New York---but he's a local boy at heart. At Azure, in the Royal Hawaiian resort, Matsubara starts with the best seafood and produce his native Oahu has to offer and transforms it into something special. Local yellow tail ahi rises to a new level when paired with a salad made of Japanese hamachi, avocado, watermelon, and radish, topped with a ginger vinaigrette and a papadum crisp. Entrees from $22, azurewaikiki.com. Kai Market -- Chef Darren Demaya's menu at the Sheraton Waikiki is inspired by the food that was prepared on sugar plantations decades ago, a cuisine that combined local ingredients with influences from the different cultures of the plantation workers---everything from Chinese and Japanese to Filipinos and Pacific Islanders. His Chinese salt-and-pepper Kahuku head-on shrimp is simple and delicious. Prix fixe menu from $51, sheraton-waikiki.com/dining/kai. Gogi Korean Tacos -- For lower-key local fare, look beyond Waikiki's main drag. Gogi serves short-rib tacos topped with a kimchee slaw out of a bright-red truck that changes locations regularly. Tacos $2, eatgogi.com. Let Them Eat Cupcakes -- The team here offers flavors like locally inspired haupia (similar to pudding) and lilikoi---at food festivals, art fairs, and via special delivery. Cupcakes from $2.50, letthemeatcupcakes808.com. Wales . The Crown at Whitebrook -- Working here among five lush, green acres in the Wye Valley, head chef James Sommerin earned his Michelin star with dishes like loin of rabbit with asparagus and wild-mushroom mousse served with a smoked butternut squash puree. Tasting menu from $43, crownatwhitebrook.co.uk. Tyddyn Llan -- Chef-owner Brian Webb was awarded a Michelin star last year for the creations coming out of this rambling stone cottage in North Wales. Webb's constantly evolving menu features creations like roast pigeon with Savoy cabbage and foie gras. Tasting menu from $45, tyddynllan.co.uk. The Chef's Room, Fish & Cookery School -- Wales's food obsession goes beyond restaurants, too. Founded by Michelin-starred chef Franco Taruschio and food writer Lindy Wildsmith, the Chef's Room hosts guests chefs like Shaun Hill (who earned his own Michelin star at Wales's The Walnut Tree), who offer hands-on instruction. Classes, including lunch and wine, from $81, thechefsroom.co.uk. Cooking with Angela Gray -- The cooking school at Llanerch Vineyard launched last April, and includes everything from simple bread-baking classes to five-day cooking courses. Guests are also treated to wine tastings and vineyard tours. Classes from $80, angelagray.co.uk. Foxhunter -- Want to be even closer to the source? During the new foraging excursions at the Foxhunter, in Nantyderry, guests look for wild berries, mushrooms, and spinach, and then cook with their finds under the instruction of the restaurant's head chef. Foraging classes from about $100, thefoxhunter.com. BudgetTravel.com: 6 places germs breed in airplanes . Los Angeles, California . LudoBites -- Founder and superstar chef Ludovic LeFebvre refers to his creation as a "touring restaurant." Much like a band promoting its latest album, LudoBites moves from location to location (and "shows" sell out long in advance). Instead of hit songs, there are hit dishes, like fried chicken bites and "squid noodles" (sliced calamari with black radish, black grapes, bean sprouts, and raw prawns). Entrees from $10, ludobites.com. Breadbar -- A restaurant in the traditional sense, Breadbar also hosts pop-up events for outside chefs to showcase their talents with anything from soba dishes to Korean pub food. Sandwiches from $12, breadbar.net. Patagonia, Argentina . Bodega del Fin del Mundo -- When it comes to Argentine wine, Mendoza has held the spotlight for years. But these days, Patagonia seems to be the one to watch. The superstar vineyard in the Neuquen region can be found on nearly 8,000 acres of land planted with several privately owned vineyards that produce impressive Malbecs and Pinot Noirs. Free guided tour and wine tasting, bodegadelfindelmundo.com. Bodega Humberto Canale -- It turns out that Patagonia's hot days and cool nights are exactly what grapevines need to thrive---and in the mid-1990s, a few pioneers figured out that some simple irrigation could fix the chalky desert-soil problem. In Rio Negro, Bodega Humberto is a lush patch of green in an otherwise dusty landscape, and it excels in white varietals like Semillon, Viogner, and Torrontes. Guided tour and wine tasting for $20 per person, bodegahcanale.com. Houston, Texas . Taqueria El Mercado -- In a trailer just behind the farmers' market on Airline Drive (where you can sample Mexican hot chocolate and pan dulce) you'll find the place to feast on tripe and carnitas tacos. Tacos from $2, 2520 Airline Dr. Vieng Thai -- Long Point Road is another culinary hotbed, with unassuming restaurants serving everything from Thai to Korean to Mexican. Vieng Thai is a hit for its coconut-milk soup and array of curries. Entrees from $8, 6929 Long Point Rd., 713/688-9910. Where Chefs Eat -- Chefs are so enamored of Houston's ethnic food scene that a few of them have partnered up to offer culinary tours. Each tour is led by a chef---including local celebrities like Bryan Caswell of Reef, and Mark Holley of Pesce---and focuses on a different cuisine. Tours $180 per person, houstonculinarytours.com. BudgetTravel.com: Confessions of a cruise ship musician . Get the best travel deals and tips emailed to you FREE - CLICK HERE! Copyright © 2010 Newsweek Budget Travel, Inc., all rights reserved.
### SUMMARY:
| Cities all over the world are becoming destinations for foodies .
Wales has a "food obsession" which comes across through its various cooking schools .
Honolulu, Hawaii serves up a diverse offering for tourists and locals alike .
Marseilles, Los Angeles, Houston and Patagonia are also dining destinations to watch . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Warsaw, Poland (CNN) -- European football's governing body took a tough line against soccer-related disorder Wednesday, as it imposed a penalty on Russia for "improper conduct" by its fans at the Euro 2012 tournament. The ruling by UEFA relates to the opening game of the tournament in Wroclaw, Poland, on Friday. Its officials are still considering what action to take over allegations of racist abuse by Russian fans at the same game, and violence before and after a Euro 2012 game in Warsaw on Tuesday. Police detained 184 people after clashes broke out in the Polish capital before and after the Poland-Russia game, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Interior Minister Jacek Cichocki told reporters that more arrests could come. "Police officers continue to watch recordings from CCTV and police cameras to identify other hooligans who disturbed public order," he said. The suspended six-point deduction imposed on Russia by UEFA will apply to the qualifying campaign for the Euro 2016 tournament, rather than the current one. Russia's national football body was also fined 120,000 euros ($150,000), UEFA said. It has three days to appeal the decision. The penalty is in response to "crowd disturbances, the setting off and throwing of fireworks and the display of illicit banners," UEFA said. "The ruling does not take into account the alleged racist abuse of Czech defender Theodor Gebre Selassie by Russia fans during the same game or incidents of crowd violence before the game against Poland on Monday. Both incidents are currently being investigated by UEFA and could result in further penalties being handed out." Russian football expert James Appell told CNN the penalty showed UEFA was taking Russian fans' behavior "very, very seriously." UEFA earlier condemned what it called "isolated incidents" before and after Tuesday's game in Warsaw "when some groups of known troublemakers pelted the police with missiles and attacked fans irrespective of the team they were supporting." The body said its focus was to ensure that genuine football fans were able to enjoy the games peacefully, while isolating the handful who wanted to cause trouble. It is determined that the "overwhelmingly peaceful and festive atmosphere" that has so far prevailed will continue through the final on July 1, it said Wednesday. Cichocki said Tuesday's violence had been the biggest public order challenge so far of the tournament -- which Poland is co-hosting with Ukraine -- but he praised police efforts. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk dismissed those who tried to disrupt the match as "fools," according to public broadcaster Polish Radio's press agency. Law enforcement officials will be ruthless in suppressing the kind of "limited" trouble seen so far, he is quoted as saying. Joanna Mucha, Poland's sports minister, told reporters she was appalled by the violence in Warsaw. "I feel ashamed for those who came not to enjoy sport, but to cause trouble," she said. "They are hooligans, they aren't even fans -- certainly not fans wanting to support Poland. They will face charges and we will not let them ruin this celebration for us." Russian supporters had organized a march through Warsaw before the match Tuesday evening to mark Russia's June 12 national day. The disorder broke out as about 5,000 Russian fans reached Warsaw's Poniatowski Bridge, on their way to the National Stadium, the Interior Ministry said in a statement, with "hooligans" from both sides seeking to start a fight. More than 5,600 police officers were on duty in Warsaw, and riot police took "decisive" action to stop the violence from escalating, it said. Ten police officers were injured in the violence and received medical treatment. The 184 suspects detained include more than 150 Poles, more than 20 Russians, a Hungarian, a Spaniard and a citizen of Algeria, the statement said. Some of those arrested had dangerous objects with them, including brass knuckles and clubs, as well as mouth guards. Those responsible for violence can expect swift justice, the Interior Ministry statement said. "The hooligans will be sentenced by the end of the week. In the case of foreigners involved in the incidents, speeded-up penal proceedings will be instituted," it said. Those from outside the European Union's Schengen passport-free area will be deported and will receive a ban on entry to the European Union, the statement said. Their visas will also be withdrawn. Polish journalist Michal Pol, who was there when the clashes on the bridge broke out, told CNN that the Russian supporters had been moving peacefully toward the stadium when "very aggressive Polish hooligans" provoked them. Then, out of the middle of the Russian fans, came a number of "hooded and very well trained young guys who knew exactly who they wanted to fight" among the Poles, he said. Russian media focused on the role of Polish fans and police in their reports Wednesday. A headline on state news agency Itar-Tass reads, "Russian Football Union hopes Polish police will defend guests." The president of the Russian Football Union, Sergei Fursenko, is quoted as saying that "well-trained groups attacked the Russian fans," who he says were behaving perfectly correctly and should have been protected by Polish authorities. However, Appell, the football analyst, said Russia has a poor track record when it comes to soccer-related violence. Questions should be asked about why 5,000 of its fans were allowed to march through Warsaw in what could be considered a provocative act, given the long and troubled history between Russia and Poland, he said. However, when Russia hosts the 2018 World Cup, it is likely to organize it to a "micro level," he said, in order to avoid similar issues with fan violence. Russian state-run broadcaster RT reported that Polish police fired warning shots and used water cannons and tear gas as they sought to break up the clashes in Warsaw. Mikolaj Piotrowski, director of communications for Poland 2012, told CNN he felt "anger and shame" that a small group of "hooligans" were trying to spoil the tournament for Poland's 37 million citizens and their visitors. "I was really, really angry but we must be aware of the scale -- almost 200 persons were taken under custody by Polish police and at the same time, almost 200,000 people were having fun here in Warsaw," he said. He defended the policing of the game, saying officers did a good job in closing down the disorder when it kicked off, and said Poland would continue its "zero tolerance" policy on fan violence through Euro 2012 and beyond. Everyone is determined there will be no repeat of the violence seen Tuesday, he said. Authorities stress that the vast majority of football fans in Ukraine and Poland have supported their sides peacefully. In the course of Tuesday, about 150,000 fans visited the Warsaw "fan zone," an area away from the stadium where games are shown on big screens for those without tickets, Poland's Interior Ministry said. Tens of thousands of more fans watched the Greece-Czech Republic game, played in Wroclaw, from that city's stadium and fan zone, it said. Altogether, more than a million supporters have flocked to stadiums and fan zones in Poland since Euro 2012 kicked off Friday, it said. However, Russian officials had already called for better behavior from the country's supporters after the unrest during Friday's opening 4-1 win against the Czech Republic team. "Those who choose the sports arena for the declaration of their personal political and other positions have no place in the stands," read a statement on the Russian Football Union's website Monday. "The Russian Football Union and the national team of Russia kindly request all the fans of these provocative actions to confront bullies and to cooperate fully with the organizers of the match in matters of security. "We appeal to all fans who are in Poland. Remember that you represent your country. Respect yourself, your home and your team." CNN's Claudia Rebaza, Harry Reekie, Laura Smith-Spark, Stephanie Halasz and Pedro Pinto contributed to this report.
### SUMMARY:
| NEW: Poland's sports minister says the violence appalls her, but it won't spoil the event .
UEFA imposes a suspended penalty on Russia over disorder by its fans Friday .
More than 150 Poles and more than 20 Russians are among 184 people detained by police .
Poland is co-hosting the Euro 2012 soccer tournament with Ukraine . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- Manti Te'o -- one of the best defenders this season in college football -- defended himself in an ESPN interview, saying there was no way he was part of a hoax involving a deceased girlfriend. "I wasn't faking it," Te'o told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap in an off -camera interview highlighted on the network Friday night. "I wasn't part of this." For days, the linebacker has been the subject of ridicule after reports surfaced that the girlfriend he'd said died this fall of leukemia never existed. Te'o rose to national prominence by leading Notre Dame's Fighting Irish to an undefeated regular season, amassing double-digit tackle games and becoming the face of one of the best defenses in the nation. As he and his team excelled, Te'o told interviewers in September and October that his grandmother and girlfriend -- whom he described as a 22-year-old Stanford University student -- had died within hours of each other. The twin losses inspired him to honor them with sterling play on the field, Te'o said. He led his team to a 20-3 routing of Michigan State after he heard the news. Opinion: Te'o tale a mirror to our gullibility? "I miss 'em, but I know that I'll see them again one day," he told ESPN. He was second in the Heisman Trophy race and led his team to the championship game, losing to Alabama. The fairy tale story ended Wednesday when sports website Deadspin published a piece dismissing as a hoax the existence of Te'o's girlfriend and suggesting he was complicit. Te'o released a statement Wednesday saying he was a victim of a hoax, but Friday night was the first time he publicly addressed the issue. "When (people) hear the facts, they'll know," Te'o told ESPN. "They'll know that there is no way that I could be part of this." After a 2½-hour interview, veteran sports reporter Schaap said Te'o's story sounded convincing. "He made a very convincing witness to his defense," Schapp said on ESPN. "He answered all my questions pretty convincingly. If he is making up his side of the story, he is a very convincing actor." The twisted tale of Te'o and the mystery woman named Lennay Kekua has left many with questions. Te'o sought to answer many of them Friday night. Timeline: How the story unfolded . Who created the hoax? Te'o told Schaap that the hoax was created by a man named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo and that Te'o had no role in creating the hoax. He said Tuiasosopo contacted him Wednesday via Twitter and explained that he created the hoax and he apologized, Schaap said. Tuiasosopo told Te'o he created the hoax along with another man and a woman, ESPN reported. CNN has not seen the tweets Te'o allegedly got from Tuiasosopo. "Two guys and a girl are responsible for the whole thing," Te'o said, according to ESPN. CNN went to the California home of Tuiasosopo, where Titus Tuiasosopo, Ronaiah's father, declined to comment. "But just wait, (the truth) will all come out," he said. "God knows our character. People are going to say what people are going to say." Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was named in the Deadspin article. Notre Dame's investigation into the matter confirmed that two men and a woman, including Tuiasosopo, were behind the hoax, a source with knowledge of the matter told CNN. The source requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. A woman pretending to be Kekua called Te'o last month, claiming she had faked her death last fall because she was afraid of drug dealers, the source said. Following that December 6 conversation, Te'o went to his coaches with the story, which spurred Notre Dame to hire outside investigators to look into it. The investigation began the day after Christmas, and the results were presented January 4, days before the national championship game that Te'o's team lost. Who's who on the Internet? Who knows . Why did relatives say they had met her? In September and October, when the story of Te'o and his girlfriend received a lot of press attention, several stories appeared about how they met. One in October by Indiana's South Bend Tribune, the newspaper of Notre Dame's hometown, said the couple met at a football game in Palo Alto, California, in 2009. Te'o's father was quoted in the article saying they exchanged phone numbers and a love affair began. On Friday, Te'o said he lied to his father about meeting Kekua because he was embarrassed to tell his family he was in love with a woman he'd never met. The hoax over social media . "I knew that -- I even knew that it was crazy that I was with somebody that I didn't meet," he told ESPN. "And that alone, people find out that this girl who died I was so invested in, and I didn't meet her as well." The lie he told his father led his family to tell reporters that Te'o had met his girlfriend, he told ESPN. The calls from the woman continued after December 6, but Te'o did not answer, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick told reporters this week. At that point, Te'o confided in his parents and at least two friends and a girlfriend he had at the time about the calls, the source with knowledge of the matter told CNN. He and the "real" girlfriend have since ended that relationship. The Heisman Trophy was awarded December 8, and Te'o continued to make comments about losing his girlfriend. In the ESPN interview, Te'o said he wasn't fully convinced it was a hoax until Wednesday, Schaap said. Woman says her picture was part of hoax, though she didn't know Te'o . One woman whose photos were part of the hoax says that she was exploited herself. Donna Te'i told CNN earlier this week that she'd never talked to Te'o, nor did she have any involvement in the online plot involving the Notre Dame player and the woman he believed was his girlfriend. But the 26-year-old woman is part of the story. She was identified in pictures linked to a Twitter account using the name uilanirae, which has since been taken down, as the sister of the apparently nonexistent girlfriend known as Lennay Kekua, according to Deadspin. Donna Te'i acknowledged she was portrayed in the online images as Kekua's sister, but not of her own accord. Her father, Luteru Lou Te'i -- who spoke to CNN on Saturday, as his daughter was not at home -- said these pictures were illicitly taken from the Facebook page of another of his daughters. Donna Te'i herself met Ronaiah Tuiasosopo -- the Samoan-American, like her, who Mantei Te'o said created the hoax -- years ago through an acquaintance, and they came into contact again following the August death of her boyfriend, former University of Southern California football standout Fred Matua. Mutua was eulogized by Ronaiah's father, the Rev. Titus Tuiasosopo, according to Luteru Lou Te'i, who lives with his daughter in Carson, California. At some point, pictures of Donna Te'i became part of the scheme. Luteru Lou Te'i, 51, said his daughter believes Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was responsible, since he called her later to apologize for using her image. "I ... don't know what his motive was, but (Tuiasosopo) admitted to her that he did it," said Luteru Lou Te'i, noting this conversation happened "way before the story broke." Donna Te'i has been "distraught" since Deadspin first ran with the story, according to her father. Ronaiah Tuiasosopo and his family have not responded to CNN requests for comment on this and other allegations tied to the hoax. CNN's Stan Wilson, Sara Weisfeldt, Susan Candiotti, Ross Levitt, Phil Gast and Amanda Watts contributed to this report.
### SUMMARY:
| NEW: A woman whose picture is tied to the scheme says she was exploited .
Manti Te'o talks to ESPN about hoax, telling the network, "I wasn't faking it"
Notre Dame's investigation backs Te'o claim of two men, one woman behind hoax .
Te'o rose to national prominence by leading the Fighting Irish to an undefeated regular season . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- Oscar Pistorius faced another day of relentless cross-examination Friday as the prosecution challenged his account of the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel has accused the athlete of hiding the truth about the death of Steenkamp, whom he shot last year through a closed toilet door in his home in Pretoria, South Africa. His questions again sought to undermine Pistorius' reliability and credibility and to portray the Olympic athlete as someone who was inventing his version of events and "tailoring" evidence to suit his story. As Nel turned once again to the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013, he repeatedly challenged Pistorius over his actions in the moments leading up to Steenkamp's death. The prosecution's argument is that Pistorius shot Steenkamp intentionally after a heated argument. Pistorius does not deny shooting her but insists that he mistook her for an intruder. Pistorius said he thought he heard the toilet door opening before he fired. "I didn't intend to shoot. My firearm was pointed at the door because that's where I believed that somebody was," he said. "When I heard a noise, I didn't have to think, and I fired -- I fired my weapon. It was an accident." Nel, known in South African legal circles for his bulldog-like approach to cross-examination, responded to Pistorius' testimony almost with scorn. "Your version is so improbable that nobody would ever think that it was reasonably, possibly true," he said. Nel then hammered Pistorius on whether he had known Steenkamp was in the toilet when he fired. "You knew Reeva was behind the door, and you shot at her," Nel said more than once. "That's not true," Pistorius replied in a low tone. That dramatic moment was when Nel asked for the trial to be adjourned until Monday morning. Prosecutor: You wanted to shoot . Pistorius earlier denied being "ready to shoot" as he made his way to the bathroom where he says he heard what he thought was an intruder. But he agreed that he had taken off the safety catch so he could fire if needed. "I didn't want to take anybody's life. I screamed for the intruders to get out of my home," he said. "You wanted to shoot," contended Nel, who on Thursday sought to build a picture of Pistorius as an arrogant hothead who is reckless with guns. Pistorius replied that there is a "massive difference" between being ready for something and wanting to do it. Asked by the prosecutor why he approached the apparent threat rather than seeking to move out of harm's way, the athlete said it was his in his nature to respond that way. "I wanted to put myself between the perceived danger and Reeva," he said. "I wish I did all these other things put to me." Nel also argued that it was "not possible" that Steenkamp would not have responded when Pistorius screamed to her about what he thought was an intruder in the house, as he has said happened. Steenkamp was only 3 meters from Pistorius at the time, behind the toilet door, the prosecutor said. "She would've been terrified, but I don't think that would've led her to call out," Pistorius said, arguing that Steenkamp would have assumed the danger was getting closer. "She wasn't scared of anything except you. She wasn't scared of an intruder. She was scared of you," replied Nel. The prosecutor also pressed Pistorius over whether he heard a woman screaming during the shots he fired, as some witnesses have said they heard. Pistorius said he did not. Pistorius: I was fixated on the threat . As Nel went through the events leading up to the point of the shooting, Pistorius said that after getting up to close a balcony door and move fans inside, he heard the bathroom window sliding open and slamming into the frame. Nel repeatedly asked him why he hadn't at that point asked Steenkamp whether she too had heard the noise. Pistorius replied that he didn't because he was sure about what he had heard. He said he whispered to Steenkamp to get down and call police. Nel asked whether he had waited for a response, as he said would have been reasonable, pointing out that his ex-girlfriend Samantha Taylor had testified he had done that on a previous occasion when he'd heard a noise. "I never waited for a response. ... My whole body was fixated on the threat," Pistorius answered. Nel's questions then focused on the position of certain items in the bedroom, including a duvet, the fans and a pair of jeans, all of which Pistorius says were moved by police. Nel sought to argue that they do not support Pistorius' version of events. At one point, the judge reprimanded Nel for calling Pistorius a liar and told him to mind his language. More than once, Nel suggested that Pistorius had difficulty remembering what happened because he had made things up. Pistorius became emotional as the cross-examination continued, prompting Nel to ask him why. "This is the night I lost the person that I cared about. I don't know why people don't understand that," Pistorius responded. As he broke down in tears, the judge ordered a short break to allow him time to gather himself. Nel has previously accused Pistorius of becoming emotional when the questions get difficult. Pistorius quizzed about mistakes . During cross-examination earlier Friday, Pistorius made mistakes in answering questions about repair work and his alarm system. He attributed the mistakes to fatigue, prompting Nel to ask whether he was too tired to continue in the stand. Pistorius, becoming emotional, replied, "I don't need time. I am tired; that's not going to change." "With respect, Mr. Pistorius, I'm not convinced. ... I think you're trying to cover up for lies," Nel said. After Judge Thokozile Masipa pressed Pistorius on the question, the athlete said he wasn't making mistakes because he was tired -- prompting Nel to ask why, in that case, he was making mistakes. A little later, Nel made a mistake while questioning Pistorius, who pointed it out. The prosecutor said Pistorius wasn't too tired to highlight the mistakes the prosecutor himself was making in his questioning. Nel also focused on security on the gated Silverwoods estate where Pistorius lived, pointing out that despite his claimed fear of burglary, the athlete left his cars outside and had not immediately fixed a broken window in his house. Pistorius' message exchanges with Steenkamp . A day earlier, the athlete denied that he acted selfishly toward Steenkamp. In a bid to paint their relationship as rocky, he ripped apart message exchanges between the couple Thursday. Nel also sought to paint him as selfish and demanded to know why the athlete did not respond to his girlfriend's declaration of love. But Pistorius said he preferred to talk to his girlfriend over the phone rather than messaging. He acknowledged he never got a chance to tell her that he loved her. "Because it was all about Mr. Pistorius," Nel said. The runner has admitted to the killing but said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder in the bathroom when he fired through the toilet door and killed her. The prosecution alleges that Pistorius killed his girlfriend after they argued. Several witnesses have testified to hearing a man's shouts coming from the house, although they have also spoken of the terrified screams of a woman leading up to and during a volley of shots. The trial has gripped South Africa, where Pistorius is considered a symbol of triumph over physical adversity. His disabled lower legs were amputated when he was a baby, but he went on to achieve global fame as the "Blade Runner," winning numerous Paralympic gold medals on the steel blades fitted to his prostheses. Only those in the courtroom can see Pistorius because he has chosen not to testify on camera. His testimony can be heard on an audio feed. The trial is scheduled to continue until the middle of May. Masipa will decide the verdict in collaboration with two experts called assessors. South Africa does not have jury trials. CNN's Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Emily Smith contributed to this report.
### SUMMARY:
| Oscar Pistorius denies knowing that Reeva Steenkamp was behind door when he fired .
The court is adjourned until Monday at the prosecutor's request .
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel questions why Pistorius didn't ask his girlfriend about noise .
The prosecution is trying to prove beyond reasonable doubt Pistorius killed her intentionally . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- While the gaming world is focused on the new Xbox One from Microsoft, Activision is deploying its most popular franchise, "Call of Duty," for its first assault on the next generation of consoles. Developer Infinity Ward has designed new game-engine technology to take advantage of Sony's PlayStation 4 and the new Microsoft console, both due by year's end. Its "Call of Duty: Ghosts" will come to PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gamers this November 5, with next-gen release dates coming later. In a recent interview in Los Angeles, Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg showed off what next-generation gaming will mean within the new "Call of Duty" game. Rather than continuing the "Modern Warfare" storyline, the development studio decided to start from scratch with a new story and new characters. "Ghosts" sets players in an alternate-future America that's been crippled by a government in disarray. The Ghosts are remnants of the various branches of the Special Forces. They've adopted the best fighting techniques from these branches as they battle across an array of terrains and environments. Also new to the franchise is an interactive dog, which the developers created with the latest performance-capture technology. The dog promises to be a loyal and important companion throughout the game's campaign. This being a "Call of Duty" game, there will also be new multiplayer gameplay to entice players to log in and take on friends from around the world on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. "Call of Duty: Ghosts" adds dynamic maps, including natural events such as floods and earthquakes and player-activated obstacles such as doors and explosive traps. We sat down with Hirshberg to talk about what opportunities next-gen consoles will open up for gamers. Here's an edited version of our interview: . CNN: What will define what next-generation gaming is this fall? Hirshberg: It's interesting. If you look into what's happened in culture, not just in gaming but overall in culture over the last seven years that this current gen has represented, the way that we communicate, the way that we consume entertainment, the way that we connect socially through digital spheres has completely transformed during that exact time period. The current-gen games like "Call of Duty" had something to do with that. They were the tip of the sword. Playing multiplayer in "Call of Duty" is probably one of the first mass things that people did together in a digital environment. Now we do almost everything together in a digital environment. All of those ways to connect with the devices in your pockets and being able to comment on everything, categorize everything and rank everything, hasn't really made its way into gaming yet. We were ahead of the curve a little bit with "Call of Duty: Elite," which we came out with to try to create a more social experience. One of the things you're going to see with next gen is that with "Elite," we were working around the current-gen limitations in order to make a meaningful connection to the game itself. We had to find our way through an obstacle course technologically to make that happen. Next gen is being designed with that in mind. There's really a baked-in connectivity to the next-gen hardware, the way it's being conceived, that I think will create many more opportunities for social connectivity surrounding video games. CNN: What will that mean to the community of "Call of Duty" gamers out there? Hirshberg: We're seeing 40 million people a month playing "Call of Duty." Six million people played today. This is 175 days after the launch of the last game. Anything that that many people do and care about, usually there's a whole ecosystem of content to service their interest in that hobby. They don't just watch a football game. They have a fantasy sports league. They have their favorite highlight shows. They have blogs that they read. They have statistics that they view online. They're connecting with that thing on multiple devices, multiple times a day, seven days a week, not just when there's a football game on. With gaming, it's pretty much either you're playing the game or you're not playing the game, and I think that with next gen you're going to see that ecosystem spread to different devices, different times a day, with a lot more supportive entertainment content for our franchises. CNN: When you look at past transitions to new consoles, the focus has been on improved visual fidelity. Hirshberg: You're going to see that, too. But to be fair, last time it wasn't just graphical fidelity. It was the introduction of connected machines. It was the introduction of multiplayer through Playstation Network and Xbox Live. Games like "Call of Duty" took that and ran with it, and there's a certain amount of humility we all need to have. No one will see the future exactly accurately, but the creation of those connected networks with the last generation of hardware created an explosion of new games with multiplayer and that's become the primary way people are spending their hours gaming. Next gen is always a combination of hardware design and ... what developers and creative minds do with that hardware. I'm just looking at the main differences and theorizing that that's where you're going to see an explosion of new creativity. CNN: What role do you feel "Call of Duty" will play in enticing gamers to upgrade to next gen? Hirshberg: The game needs to be great, but when you have a brand of the scale of "Call of Duty" that's so popular and so massive that it has the capacity to be one of the things that people really want to see. If you look at the last console transition, the top franchises were the ones that bridged the gap between the last gen and the current gen, and I think that will happen again. We can't take that for granted and assume that people will show up just because it's a "Call of Duty." It has to be a major game, and it has to be demonstrative and emblematic of everything that the next gen is capable of and that's why we're putting this level of investment against it. That's why we're not taking the easy route in doing a sequel to "Modern Warfare." That's why we're opening up the franchise and removing the restrictions and doing all new characters and an all new world and taking a whole new approach to the game. We want to set the standard for the next gen. CNN: What are the challenges when it comes to this transition? "Call of Duty: Ghosts" is also coming out on next gen, but the majority of gamers will be playing on current generation of consoles. Hirshberg: One of the decisions we made early on, which was not a simple decision, but we think it was the right one, is that we have the same exact team developing the game for the current gen as is developing for the next gen. Some publishers have a lead developer doing the next-gen game and then some outsourcing for the current gen. We felt like it was really important to deliver what I think will be the best current-gen "Call of Duty" ever because that game's going to benefit from all of the new thinking and all of the new ideas that are going into the next gen. Some of the things from a technological standpoint won't be executable on the current gen, like the Sub D and the texture mapping and that stuff, but all of the gameplay ideas like dynamic maps, character customization, the new story, the new world; the current gen will be the beneficiary of all of those new ideas. I think it's going to be the best current-gen game we've ever made. CNN: Traditionally, with new hardware comes lower price points for current gen. How much life there is in the current-gen systems moving forward, given that PlayStation 2 had a very long tail? Hirshberg: I try to not predict these things. What I know is we're going to have great games on every platform wherever our audience is. This has been Activision's philosophy for a long time. We've always been platform agnostic. Wherever there are gamers that want to have a great experience, we're going to have a great "Call of Duty" game for them; we're going to have a great "Skylanders" game for them. Even if the next gen is off to the races on Day One, there will still be a lot of people who either are waiting to see or saving their money and who aren't going to dive in right away, and we want them to have a great experience, too.
### SUMMARY:
| "Call of Duty: Ghosts" will go on sale November 5 .
We spoke to Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg about developing the game .
Game will be available for new PS4, Xbox One consoles and current consoles as well . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN)Dwight B. Heath knows what he is about to say will sound a little crazy to most people. When asked what the minimum legal drinking age should be in the U.S., Heath says 8, or maybe even 6. No, the Brown University anthropology professor is not advocating getting kids drunk. Instead he favors a cultural model, common in countries like France or Italy, where parents serve small amounts of wine to their children at family meals. By doing this, he says, parents educate their kids about alcohol and rob drinking of its taboo allure, which can make rebellious teenagers sneak off to basements and backwoods to binge drink far from adult supervision. "In general, the younger people start to drink the safer they are," said Heath, who has written several books and hundreds of scholarly articles on cultural attitudes towards alcohol. When introduced early, he said, "Alcohol has no mystique. It's no big deal. By contrast, where it's banned until age 21, there's something of the 'forbidden fruit' syndrome." Of course, Heath's idea has no chance of becoming law anytime soon. Thirty years ago this week, Congress passed a bill that effectively raised the national drinking age to 21. Despite subsequent efforts to lower it in some states -- and the fact that most developed countries allow young people to legally drink at 18 -- that threshold has remained firmly in place ever since. Proponents of the higher drinking age says it reduces traffic fatalities and alcohol-related accidents while keeping booze out of the hands of teens, whose brains are still developing. But as the U.S. marks Thursday's anniversary of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, Heath and some other scholars still dare to ask an unpopular question: Would America be better served by reducing its drinking age -- or at least encouraging states to set their own limits? The World Health Organization cites the U.S. as one of only a handful of developed countries -- Iceland, Japan, South Korea and Thailand are others -- with a minimum drinking age over 18. Several countries, including Belgium, Denmark and Germany, even allow 16-year-olds to buy beer and wine. "I think 18 is viewed (by most countries) pretty much as a reasonable age limit," said Marjana Martinic, deputy president of the International Center for Alcohol Policies or ICAP. "The Puritan ethic has really shaped the way alcohol is regulated in the U.S.," Martinic said. "Alcohol is seen more as a drug, and not something that's integrated into everyday life." MADD about underage drinking . Two generations of younger Americans have never known anything but needing to be 21 -- or owning an ID that says you are -- to buy a six-pack or drink in a bar. But in the wide-lapeled 1970s, things were very different. After Congress in 1971 dropped the voting age from 21 to 18, many states followed suit by lowering decades-old barriers to drinking. The rationale went something like this: If young Americans could be entrusted to vote, serve on a jury and fight in Vietnam, why couldn't they order a beer? By the late 1970s, more than half the states in the U.S. had lowered their minimum drinking ages, usually from 21 to 18. But when research showed an increase in traffic fatalities in these states, state legislatures began to reverse course. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, founded in 1980, quickly gained national clout and lobbied lawmakers to raise the legal limit. On July 17, 1984, Congress passed a law that withheld federal highway funding from every state that continued to allow people under 21 to buy alcohol -- effectively forcing them to raise their drinking ages. By 1995, faced with this strong financial incentive and pressure from MADD, all 50 states and the District of Columbia had complied. Is alcohol and the teen brain a bad mix? Many studies have since attempted to gauge the law's impact on public health. One found that among young drivers (ages 16-20) killed in car wrecks, the percentage with positive blood-alcohol levels declined from 61% in 1982 to 31% in 1995 -- a bigger decline than for older age groups. "Minimum legal drinking age laws have proven to be a very effective and important countermeasure for reducing drunk driving when younger drivers are involved," said the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration in a statement. The NHTSA estimates that raising the national legal drinking age from 18 to 21 has saved more than 500 lives each year. "Research shows that it saves lives," agreed MADD National President Jan Withers. "In fact, it is one of the most researched public health laws on the books. When the law was raised to 21, alcohol-related deaths for young people decreased; when the drinking age was lowered, deaths increased." A recent study in New Zealand, which lowered its drinking age in 1999 from 20 to 18, found that drivers aged 18 or 19 now face a higher risk of being involved in alcohol-related crashes that cause death or injury. The 21-year-old limit may be less effective at curbing binge drinking on college campuses, however. A University of Indiana study of students at 56 colleges found that in the immediate aftermath of 21 becoming the national drinking age, significantly more underage students drank compared to those of legal age. A stalled movement . There's a movement to lower legal drinking ages in the U.S., and its leader is not a college student or a brewery owner. He's a university president. Weary of battling drinking on campus during his tenure as president of Middlebury College, John McCardell Jr. penned a column in The New York Times assailing the 21-year-old drinking age as "bad social policy and terrible law." "Right now we're in an impossible position (on college campuses). Why should we be expected to enforce a law that's ignored by 70 percent of students before they even come (to college)?" McCardell, now president of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, told CNN this week. "It's taking place behind closed doors, where it's much more dangerous. It's unsupervised," he said. "It's out of step with social reality." CNN Opinion: Get real, lower drinking age to 19 . Instead, he argues, colleges should be given the chance to educate students on how to drink responsibly, within campus boundaries and out in the open. In 2008 McCardell recruited more than 130 college presidents to sign the Amethyst Initiative, which pushed for a new federal transportation bill that wouldn't penalize states for setting drinking ages under 21. He said he and other college presidents were set to testify before Congress that fall when the economy tanked and legislators' priorities turned elsewhere. "We missed our moment," he said. Lawmakers in a handful of states have proposed lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, but none have gained traction so far. Experts say lowering the drinking age remains a tough sell to politicians worried about re-election. A 2007 Gallup poll found that 77% of Americans opposed lowering the drinking age in all states to 18. "There isn't much appetite to change something that appears to be working," said Martinic of ICAP. "It's not a very popular issue and it could potentially be damaging to a politician to advocate for a lower age, because nobody wants more traffic accidents. It's pretty much a no go." But McCardell is not giving up. He believes legal limits for drinking should be set by the states, not the federal government. And he proposes that American teens be eligible for an alcohol permit -- not unlike a driver's license -- upon turning 18, graduating from high school and completing an alcohol-education course. They would need the permit to buy beer, wine or liquor, and the state could revoke the permit for those convicted of alcohol-related offenses such as drunk driving.
### SUMMARY:
| Thursday is 30th anniversary of bill that effectively raised U.S. drinking age to 21 .
Proponents say higher drinking age reduces alcohol-related accidents .
Opponents say it creates a "forbidden fruit" syndrome that leads to binge drinking . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Twelve months ago, Ruler of the World made history for trainer Aiden O'Brien by capturing the 2013 Epsom Derby, arguably the world's most prestigious flat race. O'Brien's former stable jockey, Kieren Fallon, was not in contention that day. He was not even at Epsom. He was 200 miles away in Doncaster, where his best result was second place in a low-key Class 4 handicap. On Saturday, Fallon will resume his rightful place alongside the country's best jockeys when he lines up for the Derby's 235th running aboard 12-1 chance True Story. It caps a remarkable reversal in fortunes for the veteran, who turns 50 next year. Yet, like all the best true stories, this one has something of a ring of fiction about it. To many in racing, Fallon is at once the most brilliant and most controversial jockey of his generation. His numerous successes on the track are matched only by his excesses off it. Born in County Clare, in the west of Ireland, he was one of six children. Although not from a racing family, Fallon always had a natural affinity with animals. His love of horses was sparked by the wild Connemara ponies that roamed the harsh landscape near his childhood home. "I'd have to say it was a gift, because the first time I sat on a horse I was able to ride," remembers Fallon. "I rode them through the fields with no saddle and bridle, just loose and wild. They would tear off across the field and I'd stay on them as long as I could!" From there he found his way to The Curragh, Ireland's horse racing heartland. After serving his apprenticeship with trainer Kevin Prendergast, he crossed the Irish Sea and eventually wound up as stable jockey to Henry Cecil, a relationship that would prove fateful for both parties. Auspicious beginnings . In his first season with the Englishman, Fallon recorded his first Classic success, winning the 1,000 Guineas on Sleepytime, following it up with the Epsom Oaks a month later. He ended that 1997 season with 202 winners and the first of his six Champion Jockey titles. He retained the jockeys' championship for the next two seasons, during which time he also won the first of his three Epsom Derbies with Oath. However, less than two months later Fallon was summarily dismissed following allegations -- which he denied -- of an affair with Cecil's wife. It was the first of a series of spectacular highs and lows which would come to define Fallon's career. Indeed, few sportsmen can boast a résumé as checkered as Fallon's. In addition to his 16 English Classic wins, he has Group 1 victories in the United States, Dubai and Hong Kong to his name, and has twice captured Europe's ultimate prize, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, with Hurricane Run in 2005 and Dylan Thomas in 2007. But he has also served two bans for testing positive for recreational drugs, spent time in rehab for alcohol dependency, and was a defendant in a high-profile race-fixing case in 2007, although he was cleared of all charges. He suffered a potentially career-ending shoulder injury in a fall at Royal Ascot in 2000, earning him a place in the medical annals as the recipient of the world's first successful nerve graft. Then there are his fractured personal relationships: he was punched by owner David Reynolds in 2010, and banned for six months for pulling jockey Stuart Webster off his horse during a race meeting at Beverley 16 years earlier. As recently as last year, he was effectively blackballed by owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, the main patron of his then employer Luca Cumani, seemingly ending his top-flight career once and for all. "From there it just fizzled out," admits Fallon. Last season, he rode just 80 winners. A new start . Yet Fallon has rebuilt his career more times than he has rebuilt his battered body, and today he is once more a force in top-class races, 11 years after his last champion jockey title. Last month, he won the 2,000 Guineas for the fifth time in a dramatic finish aboard Night of Thunder, some 14 years after his first victory in the race. Come Saturday, he has a realistic chance of landing his fourth Derby and completing what would surely rank as one of the all-time great sporting comebacks. His road to redemption began last winter when he headed to Dubai to ride work for Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor following his dismissal by Sheikh Obaid. He picked up a chance ride in an important race on Prince Bishop, the horse he credits with saving his career. "Prince Bishop was going to be my last ride," he confesses. But then he won. Two weeks later, he won again, and Fallon was back. "From being more or less dead and buried and on the way out, that really rekindled my buzz and my love for winning," he says. Fallon was soon snapped up by bin Suroor and occupies the coveted top jockey spot at the stable. "I'm really enjoying riding for Godolphin," he says. "You couldn't be in a better place, riding better horses for better people." Hard work rewarded . Indeed, Fallon has now completed a unique full house, having been stable jockey for both Coolmore and Godolphin, as well as Michael Stoute and a pre-knighthood Cecil when their stables were at their peak of dominance. "He's one of the best jockeys in the world," explains bin Suroor. "In big races you need a guy like him who has experience. "He's very tough and he's very fit. He comes every day to ride in the mornings and knows every single horse in the stable." Fallon's work ethic is something that even his detractors appear to agree on -- even Cecil called him a very hard worker. In 2008, when Fallon received an 18-month ban for his second positive drug test, he continued to ride out for Stoute. "I spent from first lot to fourth lot riding out and I really enjoyed it," he says of that time. "I loved riding out with the lads and having a laugh, and getting physical exercise as well." Now in the twilight of his career, Fallon appears to be in the best shape of his life, both physically and mentally. "I play golf and I play squash," he says. "I like to cook -- fish, chicken, stews. I don't eat a lot but I'll eat little and often. I never let myself get hungry." Stranger than fiction . Has he finally banished the demons that haunted him throughout so much of his career? "I'm happy doing what I'm doing at the moment. This time I'm able to enjoy it because I can't really go anywhere now, this is it for me. I'm just planning to get out there this weekend and just take it from there." Fallon could not have picked a more aptly-named horse for what might prove to be the final chapter of what has been, by all accounts, a sensational career. "True Story is really going well," he says of his Derby mount. "He's a big, well-balanced horse with a turn of foot. I don't think he'll have a problem handling Epsom." Standing in the way of Fallon and his fairytale ending is Australia, trained by his former boss O'Brien and widely regarded as favorite to win the race. O'Brien's Coolmore and Godolphin are, of course, great rivals. And Godolphin, no stranger to reversals of fortune, having weathered its own doping scandal last year, is yet to capture English racing's biggest prize. These omens do not appear to faze Fallon: "I believe you make your own luck. Enjoy it while you can." From enfant terrible to master of reinvention, you would not bet against Fallon producing an ending that is stranger than fiction.
### SUMMARY:
| Kieren Fallon thought his career was over last season but is back at the peak of the sport .
Now just shy of his 50th birthday, he is targeting another prestigious Epsom Derby win .
His career has been littered by controversy both in and out of the saddle .
His targets are set on a potentially fairytale ending on board the horse True Story . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Ray Massey, Transport Editor . PUBLISHED: . 20:07 EST, 10 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 01:47 EST, 11 June 2013 . Soaring petrol prices, motoring taxes and a ‘plague’ of year-round potholes mean Britain’s ‘battle-scarred’ drivers are at their most miserable for 25 years – many of them women, a new RAC report reveals today. A boom in aggressive driving and bad manners, widespread mobile-phone abuse – not forgetting speed cameras which didn’t exist in the ‘golden age’ of 1989 when even mobiles were in their infancy and weighed a ton - has left motorists fuming – though more reliant than ever on their wheels. Price: The report charts the rise in fuel prices over 25 years. Costs have soared by 264 per cent . Reliant: Nine out of ten drivers say they are more reliant on their cars now than they were 25 years ago . Significantly, a much greater number of . drivers – 16.7 million in total - are now women as the proportion of . female licence-holders has swelled over the two and a half decades from . 40 per cent to nearly half (46 per cent). But so bad is motorists’ morale over rising costs that a third (31 per cent) say they would even accept Government plans for controversial road tolls if road tax and fuel duty were both cut in return – though this is down on nearly four out of ten (38 per cent) last year. Some 42 per cent disagree with tolls and 27 per cent undecided (compared to 43 per cent who disagreed last year with 19 per cent undecided). The snap-shot of attitudes – and how they compare with a quarter of a century ago – is revealed in the 25th RAC Report on Motoring for 2012. Some 61 per cent of drivers cited rising costs as their biggest gripe over quarter of a century: ‘The biggest perceived change in the last 25 years is the increased cost of motoring ’. But nine out of ten drivers (89 per cent) admit to being more reliant on their cars than 25 years ago with almost as many (78 per cent) saying they’d find it difficult to have a ‘car-free’ lifestyle. Just 17 per cent of drivers think motoring taxes ‘fair’, it notes: ’Nearly half of motorists (49 per cent) are unhappy with the balance and there is significant support for shifting the weighting from fuel duty and vehicle excise duty towards paying to drive on motorways an in city centres.’ ‘Almost a third of drivers (31 per cent) would support the introduction of more toll roads in return for a reduction in current motoring taxes., though this percentage has dropped from 38 per cent last year.’' Some 29per cent were prepared to pay tolls for motorway driving, while 33 per cent backed city-centre congestion charges as long as the cost of fuel and car tax was ‘significantly’ reduced. Angry: A combination of greater expense and poor driving etiquette is what frustrates drivers most . Back in 1989 – when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, US President Ronald Reagan left the White House in January, and the fall of the Berlin Wall in November marked the end of the Cold War, unleaded petrol was around a third of the price today at 38.5p a litre ( £1.75 a gallon) compared to 134.2p a litre (£6.10 per gallon) today. Diesel has also soared nearly three-fold from 36.1p a litre (£1.64 a gallon) to 138.9p a litre (£6.31 a gallon). Fuel duty has also increased from 17.7p a litre for petrol and 17.3p a litre for diesel to a standard rate of 57.95p a litre. And that’s before the VAT tax is added at 15 per cent in 1989 but 20 per cent today. There were 10 million fewer cars on the road (24.2 million compared to 34.5 million today). Top five sellers in 1989 were the Ford Escort, Ford Sierra, Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Cavalier and Vauxhall Astra. The top five sellers the year-to the end of May 2013 are the Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus, Vauxhall Corsa, Vauxhall Astra and the Volkswagen Golf. There were seven million fewer drivers. But much of the increase since then is down to women. Of the 27.8million drivers on the road in 1989, 11.1 million (40 per cent) were women, the remaining 16.7million (60 per cent) were men. Today, of the 35.2million drivers, 16.3million (46.3 per cent) are women, compared to 18.9million (53.7 per cent) who are men. And it would be around three years before the first speed cameras arrived. The RAC report notes: ’One of the biggest changes to motoring in the past quarter of a century has been the huge increase in fuel prices – a whopping increase of 264 per cent in just two and a half decades.’ And on tax it adds: ’Today the total cost of fuel duty has soared by over 240 per cent.’ In 1989 Vehicle excise duty on a family car was £100. Today under the ‘polluter pays’ policy it’s on a sliding scale based on C02 emissions from zero tax for ultra clean cars up to more than £1,000 for gas-guzzlers, with mid-range cars facing around £475 a year. On lack of courtesy, two thirds (65 per cent) of drivers think road rage has got worse with almost as many (62 per cent) bemoaning a growing lake of courtesy, with more than a quarter (28 per cent) saying driving is ‘more aggressive’ than 25 years ago. More than 1 in 5 (22 per cent are frustrated by growing jams and congestion on motorways and in towns and cities with almost as many (20 per cent) saying it’s harder to find a parking spot. And three quarters (76 per cent) point to illegal hand-held mobile phone by other drivers use as a growing source of stress. Unhappy: Road rage has increased in the past 25 years . The report notes: ‘Those who were driving in 1989 look back on this as a golden age of motoring and feel that driving in Britain in 2013 is less enjoyable. ‘Currently the harsh reality for many motorists is one where journeys to work or just to the shops are fraught with traffic jams, road works, potholes and fuel prices over £1.39 a litre.’ RAC technical director David Bizley said Britain's motorists and roads have been left ‘battle-scarred’ bearing an unfair burden: ‘The report suggests that motorists would prefer to see a higher share of motoring taxation levied on those things over which they have greater control - such as whether or not they choose to drive into city centres or use a particular motorway.’ The cost of driving was the biggest concern for 49per cent of motorists, with 41per cent saying maintenance of local roads and motorways is their top spending priority. Some 84per cent of the 1,542 drivers polled believed their local roads were deteriorating. On the positive side today’s cars are safer, less-polluting, and far more fuel efficient than 25 years ago. This is the 25th published RAC Report on Motoring. The first was published in 1989, using data collated at the end of 1988 and early 1989. RAC is calling it the ‘Silver Anniversary’ edition.
### SUMMARY:
| Britain's drivers say aggressive driving, bad manners and mobile phone use makes road experience worse .
61 per cent of drivers said rising costs have been the most noticeable negative change in the last 25 years .
Nine out of ten drivers more reliant on their cars that they were in the past . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Tom Worden . PUBLISHED: . 09:33 EST, 20 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:12 EST, 20 February 2013 . A British couple today told a court of the terrifying moment they watched a madman hacking off a woman's head in a Tenerife shop. Holidaymakers Kenneth and Susan Bennison said they were just six feet away when a deranged drug addict decapitated Jennifer Mills-Westley, 60, with a nine-inch knife. Mrs Bennison told a jury Deyan Deyanov, 29, looked 'unclean, wild and not human-looking' while repeatedly stabbing the grandmother-of-five in the neck. Evidence: A British couple told the court how Deyan Deyanov beheading 60-year-old Jennifer Mills-Westley with a nine-inch ham-slicing knife . Breaking down in tears, she said: 'We were in the aisle of the shop and we heard a very strange noise. 'When I turned to see what the noise was we saw a lady on the ground with him at the back of her with a knife in her. Victim: British grandmother Jennifer Mills-Westley was beheaded in Los Cristianos on May 13 2011 . 'She was very near to me. He was knelt on the ground with the knife in her head. I could see the knife. 'He was stabbing her in the neck.' Asked by prosecutor Angel Garcia Rodriguez if she had seen the . attacker's face, Mrs Bennison replied: 'Yes. He looked unclean, wild, . not human-looking. He didn't look human. 'We thought to see if we could help and then we just ran away. 'It was all over in seconds.' Mrs . Mills-Westley's daughter Samantha Mills-Westley, 39, wiped away tears . with a tissue while listening to the evidence from the public gallery. Her sister Sarah Mills-Westley, 43, . watched in silence as Mr and Mrs Bennison, from Warrington, Cheshire, . gave evidence to the trial in Santa Cruz, Tenerife, by video link from . the UK. Describing the horrific attack, Mr Bennison said: 'There was no argument, nothing was said between them. 'We passed her in the same shopping aisle and then saw him on her, stabbing her with a knife. 'We heard her gasp for breath. 'He withdrew the knife out of the neck and then put it back in again. Daughter: Samantha Mills listens to the terrifying account of how her mother was brutally beheaded . Grief: Jennifer Mills-Westley's brother John Smith breaks down shortly after arriving at court today . Brother: John Smith, the brother of Jennifer Mills-Westley arrives at court today with his wife Julie . Business as usual: The shop where Mrs Mills-Westley was attacked was trading again less than 24 hours after the killing . Amateur footage: After watching the CCTV footage, Deyanov . said it was 'a montage, a film' and claimed that he did not recognise . himself in the images . Jennifer Mills-Westley was described by her family as someone who was 'full of life, generous of heart and would do anything for anyone'. The 60-year-old was a mother of two daughters - Sarah and Sam - and grandmother of five who was living life to the full in the 'eternal spring' of the Canary Islands. Originally from Norwich, Norfolk, she had worked as a road safety officer with Norfolk County Council.In that role, Ms Mills-Westley taught schoolchildren cycling safety training and she was described by colleagues as 'popular and well-respected'. She had retired and settled in Tenerife, where she owned two apartments in the Port Royale complex on the hillside edge of Los Cristianos. One two-bedroom flat was rented out while she lived in the other and had been resident there for at least 10 years. Neighbours described her as 'quiet and peaceful and always immaculately dressed'. With one of her daughters living in France and the other in Norwich, she enjoyed travelling to pay visits to her family. In a poignant tribute following her death, her ex-husband Peter told The Mail on Sunday she was a 'wonderful woman, a brilliant mother and I loved her dearly.' That's when I got my wife out of the building. 'I wanted to help her but when I saw the knife coming out of her neck I knew we could do nothing. 'I saw his face, he looked calm, a . bit wild appearance but apart from that calm.' Mrs Mills-Westley, a . retired road safety officer from Norwich, was killed on Friday 13 May . 2011 in the resort of Los Cristianos on the Spanish holiday island, . where she had an apartment. Prosecutors want homeless Bulgarian Deyanov locked up for 20 years for murder. There was an outburst in court as . Deyanov yelled out 'I am Jesus Christ' in Bulgarian while a police . officer was giving evidence. Handcuffed and flanked by two armed . police officers, Deyanov, wearing a beige jumper, black tracksuit . bottoms and white trainers, twitched repeatedly while the evidence was . heard. A Chinese shopkeeper, Yiping Chen, . told the court she saw Deyanov with a knife in one hand and Mrs . Mills-Westley's severed head in the other. She said Deyanov told her: 'I've cut . the head off a crazy girl. I've cut the head off a crazy girl.' Deyanov, . covered in blood, then put down the knife, used for cutting Spanish . ham, and ran out of the shop with the head in his hands, it was said. He was overpowered outside by a security guard and passers-by. Outside a baying mob gathered, shouting 'Murderer! Kill him! Hang him!', the court heard. A police officer, who was not named in court, said: 'People were shouting 'there's a head, there's a head'. 'On the kerb opposite there was a head covered by a blanket. 'I followed a trail of blood into the . shop. Inside there was a body in a pool of blood, missing its head.' Another officer said Deyanov was repeating the same phrase over and over . in Bulgarian. The officer said: 'He was very disturbed. He wasn't behaving like a normal person. 'He looked like he was out of it.' The court heard Deyanov had been apprehended by police twice for acts of . violence in the fortnight before the gruesome murder. Once he was stopped for throwing glass beer bottles at a shopping centre in Los Cristianos. The other time he was held after having a fight with a man in the nearby resort of Playa de las Americas. On trial: The defendant said he had been using crack cocaine and LSD before his arrest, but had no memory of living in Tenerife . Drug-addled drifter: Deyanov was a drifter who had lived in Tenerife and Wales where in 2010 he was sectioned under the mental health act . On Monday Deyanov, a paranoid schizophrenic, told the court he heard voices in his head ordering him to kill and fight. He said he was told he was 'an angel . of Jesus Christ sent to create a new Jerusalem.' Deyanov claimed . security camera footage from the shop, played to the jury of nine, was a . 'montage, a movie.' He said he regularly took crack cocaine and LSD and . could not recall living in Tenerife. Deyanov's defence lawyer Francisco Beltran said the Bulgarian 'needs help, not punishment' and called for him to be acquitted. Deyanov, who denies murder, had . previously lived in Edinburgh and Wales, where he was sectioned in 2010 . under the Mental Health Act at Glan Clwyd Hospital. The trial at the Provincial Court in Santa Cruz continues. Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons.
### SUMMARY:
| Bulgarian Deyan Deyanov interrupts his trial shouting 'I am Jesus Christ'
Kenneth and Susan Bennison both broke down in tears as gave evidence .
Described how they saw the attack from just yards away while shopping .
Jennifer Mills-Westley, 60, was killed in Los Cristianos resort in May 2011 .
He claims voices 'direct' him how to act, telling him to 'kill, fight, hit, pray' |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Helen Pow and Lydia Warren . PUBLISHED: . 08:51 EST, 28 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 09:06 EST, 28 August 2013 . The father of kidnap victim Hannah Anderson has quit his job in Tennessee so he can move to San Diego to raise her in the city where she lived with her mother and brother before their murders. Brett Anderson revealed he told the company, which builds cellular phone towers, that he needed to move from Nashville for his daughter, who was rescued from the clutches of suspected murderer and kidnapper James DiMaggio two weeks ago. 'I'd hoped that Hannah would be able to return to Nashville with me, but I agreed that it was important not to uproot her at this time from everyone and everything she knows and finds to be comfortable, safe and familiar,' Anderson told People Magazine. 'There is no way I will give guardianship of my daughter to anybody – she needs her father and I need my daughter. Support: Brett Anderson, pictured with his daughter and kidnapping victim Hannah last week, has quit his job in Nashville to move to California to be with her in the city where she grew up . 'As a result, I called my company today and informed them of my decision to move back to San Diego, and my resignation. Hannah and I will be moving into a home together, and she is as excited as I am to be a family and continue our healing together.' Christina and . Ethan Anderson, 8, were found slain at the home of James Lee DiMaggio, . who police allege set it ablaze earlier this month. DiMaggio . was killed by FBI agents August 10 in the Idaho wilderness, ending a . six-day search that spanned much of the western United States and parts of . Canada and Mexico. But on Tuesday, DiMaggio's sister fiercely defended her brother, claiming there is no evidence pinning him to the alleged murders and that he 'gave his life to protect' Hannah. Tragic: Christina Anderson, left, and 8-year-old Ethan Anderson, right, were murdered earlier this month . In her first . interview since the story broke, Lora DiMaggio asked Piers Morgan: 'Do . you believe everything a 16-year-old tells you?' suggesting Hannah, who . police say was abducted by her much older family friend after he . tortured and killed her mother and brother, may not be telling the . truth. 'I . think Hannah got herself into a situation she couldn't get herself out . of and my brother gave his life to protect her,' she explained, adding . 'there are lots of holes in the case. Lots of misinformation.' Lora described how Hannah had stayed at her home just three weeks before the horrible events and that the girl weeping in TV interviews was 'certainly not the girl who stayed at my home.' 'I remember telling my brother "she is trouble, watch out for that one,"' she said on CNN's Piers Morgan Live on Tuesday night. 'She wasn't very gracious and was wearing very heavy eye make up.' Sister: James DiMaggio's sister Lora DiMaggio, pictured, has fiercely defended her brother claiming there is no evidence pinning him to the alleged murders and that he 'gave his life to protect' Hannah Anderson . Trouble: 'I remember telling my brother "she is trouble, watch out for that one,"' Lora DiMaggio, right, said of Anderson on CNN's Piers Morgan Live . Lora added her . brother had told her Hannah was 'very upset' her mother and 'she blamed . her mother for her father moving to Tennessee.' She described DiMaggio as 'one of the kindest people you've ever met' and said a troubled childhood brought the two together. 'He was my best friend, my brother, father, the person I would call for advice in life, love and everything,' she said, insisting that the authorities had not contacted her and would not return her calls asking for more information. 'The only fact is that some bodies were found on . his property,' she said. 'If there is evidence, as his only living . family member, I think they could share a little bit of that with me.' Kidnapped: James Lee DiMaggio, left, was known . as 'Uncle Jim' to Hannah Anderson and her brother Ethan. Police say he . murdered Ethan and Hannah's mother before kidnapping Hannah . The interview comes days after Hannah Anderson's mother and young brother were laid to rest. The service last Saturday for Christina Anderson and eight-year-old . Ethan Anderson at the Guardian Angels Roman Catholic Church in Santee was open . to the public. The Los Angeles Times reported that Reverend Kevin Casey told . the memorial gathering that the community was 'touched by this evil and we can . never be the same again.' Guardian Angel Roman Catholic Church . in Santee made arrangements to accommodate more than 1,000 mourners for the two slain residents. Together again: Hannah Anderson touches a family picture as she attends a memorial service for her mother Christina Anderson, 44, and her 8-year-brother Ethan last Saturday . Saying goodbye: Hannah wept while sharing a private moment with the image of her mother and brother . Smile: Hannah and her father Brett (left) greeted loved ones who attended the memorial . Tears: Hannah and her family took their places in the first row and joined in a rendition of Amazing Grace . Before the start of the service, Hannah Anderson 16, and her family greeted mourners and embraced family and friends. Hannah, . dressed in a black and white outfit with a Starbucks iced coffee in . hand, was pictured positioning a photo of her mother and brother and . weeping as she stood behind the easel. 'We . are here to pray for Tina and remember her and for Ethan. Ethan doesn't . need prayers. He is already an angel in heaven. And that is our great . belief,' Father Kevin Casey said at the opening of the service, CNN reported. 'We are touched by this evil and we can never be the same again,' the cleric told the assembled congregants. One big family: Members of the extended Anderson and Saincome families are seen in this June 2011 photo. Seated from left are Christina Anderson, Hannah (reclining), James Lee DiMaggio and Ethan Anderson (on the floor) Authorities have declined to discuss a . possible motive in the deaths and haven't addressed other details of . the case, including how Hannah was treated by DiMaggio during the . ordeal. Investigators have said DiMaggio set fire to his home using a timer, giving him a 20-hour jump on law enforcement. It was reported that DiMaggio's sister had requested paternity tests to determine if the suspect fathered the children, however she denied this to Piers Morgan. Hannah's father, Brett Anderson, gave his DNA to investigators to confirm Ethan's identity. DiMaggio . named Hannah's grandmother, Bernice Anderson, as the sole beneficiary . of his employer-issued life insurance policy, making her eligible to . receive $112,000. During an . emotional interview on the Today Show last week, Hannah offered more . details of her relationship with DiMaggio, whom she called 'Uncle Joe.' Survivor: Hannah said she will tell her entire story eventually, but now is not the time to do it . Public appearance: In this August 15, 2013 photo, Hannah Anderson arrives at the Boll Weevil restaurant for a fundraiser in her honor to raise money for her family . The . teen tearfully defended herself over letters and texts she had sent to . her kidnapper, saying that the 13 messages the two exchanged on the day . of her abduction were regarding arrangements to pick her up from cheer . camp. Authorities have also said that letters from Anderson were found at the home. Hannah said that they were written about a year ago when she was having trouble getting along with her mother and she sought advice from DiMaggio. The girl broke down in tears when talking about her slain brother and mother. 'He had a really big heart,' Anderson said of Ethan, adding that her mother was 'strong-hearted and very tough.'
### SUMMARY:
| Brett Anderson: 'She needs to be somewhere safe and familiar'
Hannah was rescued two weeks ago after family friend James DiMaggio allegedly killed her mother and brother, 8, and kidnapped her .
DiMaggio was shot dead by authorities who found them in Idaho .
His sister has defended him and suggested authorities should not trust Hannah's account . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Emma Thomas . PUBLISHED: . 14:11 EST, 9 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 15:22 EST, 9 December 2013 . A 17-year-old boy who murdered a man with a single punch just days after he wildly attacked strangers at random in the street was jailed for life today. Eden Lomax had been caught on CCTV dealing one-punch knockouts to two innocent men during what he boasted were his personalised ‘bomb’ attacks. As one victim collapsed unconscious into the entrance of the nearby bus, Lomax was overheard joking: ‘I think he wants an adult day saver’. Scroll down for video . 17-year-old Eden Lomax (left) has been found guilty of the murder of Simon Mitchell (right) with one punch . First attack: CCTV footage of the first attack where on the night of Friday, 7 June 2013, just seven days before Simon died, Lomax punched a 31-year-old man in the face as stood at a bus stop . Attack: CCTV of the second attack, four days after the first. This time Lomax punched a drunken 41-year-old man without warning after they struck up a conversation . Just three days after the assaults in Bolton town centre the ginger haired teenager fatally set about Simon Mitchell after laughing and telling friends: 'I’m going to bomb him.' Mr Mitchell, 43, was thumped in the face and sent crashing to the ground after trying to shake Lomax’s hand saying: 'What’s a bomb?' Then as the victim laying dying on the floor with a fractured skull caused when his head hit the pavement, Lomax retorted: 'That’s a f***ing bomb.' A 16-year-old boy attempted to tend to the victim but Lomax told him to leave it because 'the piece of s*** deserved it,' it was claimed. Lomax fled the scene to drink and play computer games at a friend’s house as fork lift truck driver Mr Mitchell lay in the street. He was pronounced dead in hospital just an hour later from serious head and brain injuries. Pictures from the horrifying CCTV footage emerged as Lomax was convicted of murder following a two week trial. Today, he was ordered to serve a mininum of ten years in jail. Second attack: Lomax punched the victim once in the face, the force of the punch knocked him backwards through the open doors of a waiting bus . Knocked down: Lomax punched 41-year-old Paul Caulderbank with so much force to the back of the head that he fell through the open doors of a nearby stationary bus and remained on the floor until the driver came to assistance . 'Bully': Detective Chief Inspector Pete Jackson, of Greater Manchester Police, described Lomax as a 'coward and a bully' The judge Mr Justice Peter Openshaw said: 'What he did suggests cowardly enthusiasm to resort to violence against men who through drinking were unable to defend themselves. 'Simon Mitchell was vulnerable through drink whereas the defendant is well built, physically fit and strong. Mr Mitchell was inoffensively telling him his problems. The defendant’s reaction was to deliver this punch.' Manchester Crown Court was told in the days before the tragedy on June 14 Lomax attacked ‘men he didn’t know from Adam’, leaving them prone in the street. CCTV footage was shown in court of Lomax unleashing a vicious blow to the face of 30-year-old Stephen Swanton at a bus stop on Blackhorse Street, Bolton - because he had put his arm around Lomax and a female friend. A few seconds pass before Mr Swanton is knocked off his feet by the punch, hitting his head on a nearby wall leaving him unconscious. Lomax can be then seen walking calmly away while a number of youths run quickly across the road.Further video evidence was served of the incident on June 11 at Bolton bus station, where Lomax punched 41-year-old Paul Caulderbank with so much force to the back of the head that he fell through the open doors of a nearby stationary bus and remained on the floor until the driver came to assistance. The tragedy occurred after Mr Mitchell, who lived with his father and brother, had spent the afternoon drinking in Bolton with his friend Neil O’Donnell. He bumped into Lomax who had been watching movies with friends on an Ipad at around 8pm. Mr Mitchell made innocuous remarks expressing his sadness that two of his friends had recently committed suicide. But Lomax then ‘snapped’, as his own stepfather had also taken his own life and started saying to friends who tried to calm him down: 'I’m going to bomb him. Leave me alone or I’ll fall out with you.' Mr Mitchell, sensing trouble, offered his hand for Lomax to shake and apologised but the teenager laughed and said ‘if you don’t f*** off I will bomb you.' One eye witness told the jury: 'Eden asked the man to stop talking about suicide, but he wouldn’t listen. Eden was getting annoyed, his face dropped. 'He was getting aggressive. He was bouncing up and down on his toes. We could tell he was angry by the fact his face went red and serious and he was smiling before. 'The man asked Eden what he meant by his threat to “bomb” him and I was shocked when Eden hit him. 'It was horrible, all you could hear was his head thump. The man had turned his head around and asked what a bomb was, he wasn’t aggressive. Eden punched him and said ‘that’s a bomb.' The witness rang 999 when he could see Mr Mitchell was not moving and added: 'He wasn’t breathing properly. He was making choking noises and he had turned purple.' Police attended an address in Little Lever, Bolton, two days after the attack where they arrested Lomax. In interviews he claimed Mr Mitchell was aggressive and he reacted in self-defence. Tributes: Mr Mitchell, who lived with his father and brother, had spent the afternoon drinking in Bolton with his friend Neil O¿Donnell. He was found suffering from head injuries . Killed: Simon Mitchell, aged 43, of Bolton, was found collapsed. Simon was taken by ambulance to Royal Bolton Hospital where he was later pronounced dead . He pleaded not guilty to murder but admitted manslaughter and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. After the case Detective Chief Inspector Pete Jackson, of Greater Manchester Police, said: 'Simon lost his life at the hands of a young thug, who was driven by aggression and pent-up violence and revelled in the fact that he could knock vulnerable people unconscious with a single punch, which he referred to as his "bomb". 'Like all cowards and bullies he targeted people who he knew could not defend themselves or fight back. Twice in the previous week he had knocked vulnerable men to the ground with a single punch for no reason whatsoever. 'It is was tragic way for Simon’s evening to end. It has left his father and family devastated. My thoughts are with them and I hope that the justice delivered today will provide some comfort to them. 'I hope this incident serves as a timely reminder of the real dangers to life involved when people throw a punch. Too many people have lost their lives in such incidents. I would urge people to think before they ever contemplate throwing a punch, you could cost someone their life and spend the rest of your own in a prison cell.” Prosecutor Robert Hall said: 'Mr Mitchell had the misfortune to come across Lomax and what followed was a tragic, unprovoked and thoroughly unnecessary attack by Lomax when instead he could simply have walked away. 'CCTV footage was shown at the trial as bad character evidence, this depicted the escalating pattern of violence that Lomax demonstrated in the week leading up to this fateful night should act as a severe warning to those who may be inclined to follow Lomax’s bad example. 'Whilst today’s conviction of Eden Lomax is a successful outcome in terms of justice, it does not bring back Mr Mitchell or remove the grief and distress felt by his family and friends. Our thoughts are with them.'
### SUMMARY:
| CCTV shows Eden Lomax dealing one-punch knockouts to innocent men .
Just three days after the assaults in Bolton town centre he killed a man .
He fled to drink and play computer games as Simon Mitchell lay dying . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Dominic King . Click here to read Sportsmail's Exclusive Interview with Daniel Sturridge: 'I'm not arrogant... I'm just a happy guy' There will come a point today, as Liverpool’s team bus snakes through the streets of Cardiff, when Daniel Sturridge will zone out from those around him. All conversation will stop, his phone will come out and Sturridge will devote all concentration to the small screen in front of him. If your instinct is to say this is a lack of manners, think again. It’s actually the start of an intricate pre-match routine, designed to bring him to fever pitch. For on Sturridge’s phone is a compilation of the 28 goals he has scored in his 15 months as a Liverpool player. He analyses them relentlessly, imagining how the next header, volley or tap-in will look. Clearly the studying is paying off. Sturr it up! Daniel Sturridge is the league's leading English goalscorer with 18 goals so far this season . Inspiration: Sturridge watches a compilation of his goals ahead of games to get him in the scoring mood . Can they do it? liverpool travel to Cardiff on Saturday still in the race for the Premier League title . ‘I watch the goals to get me in the mood and to give myself a vision of how I want the game to go,’ Sturridge explains, as he holds court in the media room at Liverpool’s Melwood training base. ‘I have got more clips as the season has gone on, but that’s good. ‘I will do the same routine against Cardiff. The clips now last around 15-20 minutes which is normally what the coach ride to a stadium takes, so it is perfect. I still get the same feeling every time I watch the video back. ‘After that in the changing room, I will be dancing and joking. A lot of players are straight-faced and serious, some are the opposite. It’s like that until about 10 minutes before kick-off and I am in the zone. Then there is no more joking about.’ This is a candid insight into the workings of a young man for whom the next few months will be momentous. As England’s main striker, expectation will grow the closer the World Cup comes into view but, before that, he could help his club achieve something remarkable. Main man: Sturridge looks set to lead England's attack at the World Cup in Brazil, despite his dodgy celebrations . Dynamic duo: Sturridge has formed the Premier League's most potent partnership with Luis Suarez (L) old enemy: United players are furious after Sturridge wins a penalty in Liverpool's 4-1 victory at Old Trafford . Apps Goals Assists Yellow Cards . Sturridge 19 (2) 18 7 3 . Liverpool might be outsiders but there is no disputing they are in the thick of a pulsating title race and Sturridge has done as much as anyone to get them there. His fortunes have mirrored that of his team, on a constant upward spiral since the turn of last year. If it was initially doubted whether Sturridge, who had been saddled with a reputation for being difficult, would be a good fit at Liverpool, it is now impossible to imagine Brendan Rodgers’s side operating without the 24-year-old. Anfield’s stage suits him. Before he headed north, he spoke with a striker who knew what relentless goalscoring in a red shirt could do. Fernando Torres’s love affair with the Kop ended the day he joined Chelsea in 2011 for £50million but that did not stop him giving Sturridge some significant advice. Raw talent: Sturridge began his professional career at Manchester City . Blues brother: Sturridge moved to Chelsea but became frustrated with his lack of playing time . Red leader: Sturridge has found the perfect place to develop his game at Anfield . ‘He always spoke very highly about Liverpool,’ says Sturridge. ‘When we were at Chelsea together he would say, “Liverpool are amazing”, and it wasn’t just him — it was Yossi Benayoun as well. They both said, “That club is the best I have played for”. ‘They said the fans will make you feel amazing and, at the time, I thought I need a bit of that in my life because I was low right then. ‘I need to feel good about myself, so it was an easy decision to come here. My dad (Michael), my uncle (Dean, the former Derby striker) and I all shared the same opinion: this was the best place to go. When Liverpool came in, it was one of those situations that I just wanted to get up the M6 as quick as possible, sign on the dotted line and get to work. Training day: Fernando Torres (C) told Sturridge that Liverpool were the best club he ever played for . Reversal of fortune: Torres was not the same player after leaving Liverpool for Chelsea for £50m in 2011 . Take a bow: Sturridge moved in the opposite direction and scored on his debut against Mansfield Town . ‘I was desperate to get here and show what I could do. I was hungry and I am still hungry. There is so much for us to achieve.’ What they might achieve in the next nine games, starting against Cardiff, has supporters daring to dream. Sturridge was only eight months old when Liverpool last ruled the land but this, perhaps, is their best chance since 1990 and if he and Luis Suarez keep scoring, anything is possible. Between them they have plundered 43 goals in the Barclays Premier League but that has not stopped the perception that there is some friction between the pair, not least when Suarez has been caught on camera berating his partner for not passing. Friend or foe? There have been question marks over the relationship between Sturridge and Suarez . License to thrill: Sturridge has nicknamed Steven Gerrard 'James Bond', because he can do everything . Do you wanna see a trick? Meanwhile, Sturridge as labelled Philippe Coutinho 'David Blaine' for his magical passes . ‘Yeah well, I do the same to him!’ Sturridge responds. ‘Luis does have a go at players but that’s because he wants the best. I want the best, too, the same as Stevie (Gerrard). We all do. We are at a stage now where we have to push everyone to their maximum. ‘Some players respond to shouting, some don’t. Everyone is different and that is one of a manager’s strengths to understand that some don’t respond to that. ‘But I feel that as a team, if we push each other to our limits, we can achieve something.’ Having dubbed Gerrard ‘James Bond’ — Sturridge feels there is nothing Liverpool’s captain can’t do — and Philippe Coutinho ‘David Blaine’ as he is ‘a magician’, Sturridge is working on a nickname for Suarez but only once they have taken care of the serious business. Confident: Despite manager Brendan Rodgers playing down title talk, Sturridge insists Liverpool are in the mix . Favourite: Sturridge rates his glancing header in the 3-3 derby against Everton as his best goal this season . Reach for the sky: Sturidge's goals could still help fire Liverpool to his dream of winning the Premier League . There are more goals to be scored and while Sturridge regards the glancing header that salvaged a 3-3 draw against Everton in November as his favourite so far, the best — and most important —may be yet to come. ‘At the beginning of the season the aim for everyone was to get into the Champions League,’ says Sturridge, who already has a title medal from his spell with Chelsea. ‘But as time has gone on and we have done well, now we’re getting towards the business end and we’re up there. ‘A lot of people’s perception is that maybe we can win the league. There are others in a better position so we just have to take each one as it comes and see where we end up. When I came here it was a dream, of course, to be involved in winning titles.’
### SUMMARY:
| Sturridge is the Premier League's leading English scorer with 18 goals .
England striker watches clips of his goals to fire him up before games .
Fernando Torres told him Liverpool was the best club he's ever played for .
Sturidge and strike partner Luis Suarez have scored 43 goals between them .
Sturridge's favourite goal was a glancing header in the Merseyside derby .
Liverpool travel to Cardiff four points behind league leaders Chelsea . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Dai Davies, former Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent . PUBLISHED: . 20:17 EST, 24 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 02:40 EST, 25 March 2014 . Public trust in the police is one of the essential ingredients of a well-ordered society. As a former senior officer myself, I can only regret how badly the police's reputation for integrity has been tarnished in recent years. Now another shattering blow has come with the revelations by this paper about an undercover three-year investigation into serious criminal behaviour and corruption by a group of trusted detectives in the Metropolitan Police. It appears that much of the evidence of this behaviour — such as files, videos and photographs — may have been deliberately shredded by Scotland Yard in 2003 in an attempt to thwart the anti-corruption investigation. The refusal to risk tarnishing the reputation of the Met has led to a deeply troubling culture of cover-ups. Scroll down for video . It took more than 18 years to bring two of Stephen Lawrence's (left) killers to justice. Daniel Morgan was killed with an axe in the car park of a South London pub in 1987. No-one has been brought to justice for his murder . What makes these findings all the more shocking is the possibility that this web of dishonesty could have undermined Scotland Yard's inquiries into two high-profile murder cases: that of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence and of the private eye Daniel Morgan, who was killed with an axe in the car park of a South London pub in 1987. At the time of his murder, which still remains unsolved 27 years later, Morgan was carrying out his own investigation into alleged corruption within South London detective squads. Previous official inquiries into the disastrously botched handling of the Stephen Lawrence murder case have already exposed an insidious police culture of deceit, malpractice, racial prejudice and incompetence. Now the Home Secretary has ordered another inquiry, this one into serious allegations that the Metropolitan Police sent in undercover officers to spy secretly on the Lawrence family in the aftermath of Stephen's death in 1993. This new outrage follows other major recent scandals which have shown the police at their worst. Abuses . One was the notorious Plebgate incident in which officers on duty in Downing Street allegedly conspired to destroy the career of Cabinet Minister Andrew Mitchell by making false accusations against him. Apart from the corruption itself, one of the features common to all these appalling incidents is the apparent impulse to cover up the wrong-doing, to close ranks, to frustrate and mislead investigators. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe will be quizzed by the Home Affairs Select Committee . Time after time, the instinct of the police is not to face up to the challenge of abuses in their midst, but to pretend that they do not exist. Log books are distorted; statements manufactured. In many of these cases — Plebgate is just one example — the cover-up and all that goes with it turn out to be worse than the original crime. One of the more depressing aspects of these recent scandals is that they are so reminiscent of the dark days of the Seventies, when many police forces were riddled with abuses. We had been promised that such misconduct had been consigned to the dustbin of history, that a new era of scrupulously honest policing had arrived. But the Mail's stories about the shredding of 'lorry loads' of documents and the taking of bribes could have come straight from the police force of 40 years ago, when I was a young officer. Then, just as today, the vast majority of my colleagues were honourable, decent people who had joined the force to fight crime and protect the public. Corruption, though undoubtedly practised by a few bad apples, was not endemic. Nevertheless, there was a powerful 'canteen culture' which meant that wrong-doers were often protected, particularly within certain elements of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and some specialist regional squads. They looked after their own, hostile to any outsiders or to scrutiny of their methods. Detective Inspectors were treated like gods by their men, which fed their sense of invincibility and their belief that they were a law unto themselves. In this climate, a small but significant minority were willing to bend the law, sometimes to get results, sometimes for their own selfish ends. A few even became allies of criminals. They 'fitted up' innocent men so that the guilty would go free or ensured that charges were dropped. In return for cash, they gave criminal gangs warnings of imminent raids or arrests. They were willing to lie on oath, siphon off their share of money for informants and even share in the proceeds of drug deals and robberies. Heroic . It was this culture that Sir Robert Mark was determined to smash when he took over as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 1972, having already won a reputation as a radical reformer when serving as Chief Constable of Leicester. Sir Robert was a man I admired tremendously because of his natural authority, his straight talking and his determination. When he said he was going to root out corruption, he meant it. One of his most acerbic pronouncements, which reflected the prevalence of dishonesty in the early Seventies, was: 'A good police force is one which catches more crooks than it employs.' Sir Robert Mark was determined to smash when he took over as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 1972 . As a result of his heroic efforts to reform the Met, more than 500 officers were dismissed or forced to resign. Jail sentences were given to two chiefs: Commander Kenneth Drury of the Flying Squad and Detective Chief Superintendent Bill Moody, Head of the Obscence Publications Squad. Sir Robert's actions may have caused dismay to the corrupt cliques, but his resolute campaign was welcomed by officers like me who were fed up with the way the abusers were destroying the Met's image. Sadly, Sir Robert resigned in 1977 following a row with the Labour Government, his work still unfinished. None of his successors have matched him for resolution and guts. That was all too graphically demonstrated when another investigation into Metropolitan Police corruption was held between 1978 and 1982 in the wake of Sir Robert's reforms. Called Operation Countryman, it was conducted by detectives from Hampshire and Dorset. These men complained bitterly that their investigation had been wilfully obstructed by both the Metropolitan Commissioner Sir David McNee and by the Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Thomas Hetherington. It was the same story in the mid-Nineties, when I was a Chief Superintendent. Throughout this period, the Commissioner Sir Paul Condon trumpeted his commitment to another anti-corruption drive within his force, but I sensed it was all just empty words. So I decided to challenge him. 'How many senior officers have actually been dismissed for corruption?' I asked. The answer? None. That says it all. Since Sir Robert Mark's courageous fight, real leadership has been sorely lacking at the top of the Met. That is why corrupt coppers have been able to get away with it for far too long. Since my retirement from the force, I have experienced the police's behaviour from the other side. Acting as a security consultant and adviser, I was involved in a case where the police wanted a central London nightclub to lose its licence because of allegations of disorderly behaviour. Attack . In court, I was one of the witnesses for the nightclub. I made a list of recommendations on how the club could be better run. What amazed me was how the police, opposing my stance, were willing to undermine my record, attack my credibility as an expert, and even wrongly question my former rank to ensure that they won their argument. If the police were willing to do this to me, who had once been in charge of protecting the Queen and the Royal Family, what might they be willing to do to an ordinary member of the public? Sir Robert Mark almost succeeded in cleaning up the Augean stables of the force 40 years ago. Will the present-day Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe be up to the job? If the news reports of recent days are anything to go by, the task remains Herculean.
### SUMMARY:
| Police's reputation for integrity has been tarnished in recent years .
Successive Met Commissioners have launched anti-corruption drives .
But refusal to risk tarnishing its reputation has been deeply troubling .
Will Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe be up to the job? |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Richard Spillett . A football fan who never got to see his daughter because he died in the Hillsborough disaster dreamt of being 'the best daddy ever', an inquest jury has heard. In a moving tribute to victim Steven Brown, his widow, Sarah, said words could not describe the void left by his death at the age of 25. Mr Brown, who was brought up by his grandmother in Holt, Clwyd, was one of 96 Liverpool fans who died at or following the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest in April 1989. Ninety-six Liverpool fans died at or following the Hillsborough disaster at the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest in April 1989 . Addressing jurors on the fifth day of fresh inquests into the tragedy, Mrs Brown said she first dated her future husband on her 16th birthday. Reading out a 'pen portrait' statement giving details of her husband’s hobbies and life, Mrs Brown told the hearing in Warrington, Cheshire: 'I can honestly say that he loved me with a passion that I never knew existed - the dedication and commitment that he showed towards me left me giddy. 'When I found out that I was pregnant and that his dreams were coming true, he was over the moon and full of pride. 'For Steven to have passed away when I was six months pregnant and never got a chance to meet and greet his new little baby, there are no words to describe that void.' Mrs Brown, whose daughter Samantha was born in July 1989, frequently paused to compose herself in the witness box as she went on: 'Not only was I grieving for me but for her too. 'Since that day I have tried my best to shower her with Daddy’s love, which I know would have flown in abundance for Samantha from Steven. 'She has listened to stories of him, and how we met, and how much we were in love, and how desperately he wanted a little girl and to be the best daddy ever.' Hillsborough survivor Stuart Littlewood arriving at the inquest (left), . which today heard from the family of 17-year-old victim Henry Rogers (right) Family members arrive at the inquest last week, with Margaret Aspinall (second right), the Chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group . Coroner Lord Justice Goldring has ruled that 'pen portrait' biographies of each of the 96 victims should form the first section of evidence at the inquests. Victim Henry Rogers, who was 17, was described as a 'natural person and a charmer' who was loved by adults, his teachers and his friends. 1) What was the layout of the turnstiles at Leppings Lane and structure of Hillsborough in 1989? Did it contribute to the disaster or the deaths? Were there dangers which should have been appreciated? If so, by whom? 2) Were steps taken to control the allocation and level of the crowd in general terms to prevent pens three and four becoming overcrowded? Could anything more have been done to prevent pens three and four becoming over crowded? If so, by whom? Was the system of fans finding their own level a satisfactory one? 3) What was done to manage the approach of fans to the turnstiles at Leppings Lane? Did a crush outside the entrance develop? If so could anything or anything more have been done to avoid or minimise that risk? If so, by whom? 4) When the exit gates were opened to relieve any crush at the turnstiles, should anything or anything more have been done to avoid the risk of a dangerous situation developing in pens three or four? If so, what? 5) What was the emergency response of the police and the ambulance service and the other services? Could any more have been done? If so, what? 6) What was the conduct of the fans or some of them, excluding those who died, and did that play any part in the disaster? His mother Veronica - whose other . son, Adam, died of diabetes in October 1989 after surviving the . Hillsborough disaster - said Henry was an 'entrepreneur-in-the-making' and had applied to study at the London School of Economics. During . a second day of family tributes, the jury of seven women and four men . also heard a statement from John Collins, whose 22-year-old son Gary . died at Hillsborough. In his tribute, read out by Gary’s brother Ian, Mr Collins said the death of the food factory quality controller, from Bootle, Merseyside, had robbed his son of a chance of becoming a father himself. The family’s statement concluded by saying: 'Gary’s memory is with us each and every day of our lives and it breaks our hearts even to write this statement. 'To think that the Hillsborough disaster could have been prevented is excruciating to live with. The fact we will never see Gary reach his full potential is the cruellest thing life has ever dealt us.' Jurors were given a short break between each family statement, including successive readings by the sister of two brothers from Birkenhead who died aged 16 and 26. Theresa Arrowsmith said Martin Traynor, known to his family as Kevin, and his older brother Christopher Traynor, both worked as joiners. The inquests heard that the brothers - one of four sets of siblings who lost their lives at Sheffield Wednesday's stadium - had discussed potential safety fears concerning Hillsborough following an FA Cup semi-final at the ground in 1988. Their sister told jurors that Kevin, who attended the match in 1988, had remarked 'Oh no, not that stadium again' when he heard the 1989 match was also being staged at Hillsborough. Ms Arrowsmith told the coroner: 'Christopher tried to reassure his younger brother by saying "Don't worry I will be there with you". None of them came home.' Nine pen portraits of those who died were read out at the purpose-built courtroom today. Liverpool fans lift others from the crush in the Leppings Lane End of Hillsborough . At the start of new inquests into the deaths, jurors were read 'pen portraits' of victims by their families . Liverpool-born hospital nurse Eric Hankin, who worked in Maghull, Merseyside, was remembered by his daughter Lynsey as a 'big friendly giant' who had done his best to make his family happy. Miss Hankin, who was 12 when her father died aged 33 in the crush on the Leppings Lane terracing, said: 'A big giant-shaped hole has been left in my heart since the day he died. I've learnt how to live with it but I don't think the pain will ever leave me.' Francis McAllister's brother Mark told the hearing the 27-year-old had 'found his niche' working for the fire service at Manchester Square station in central London. After relating how Francis was saved from drowning in a boating lake during a family holiday in Wales, Mr McAllister said: 'Our father died nine years after Hillsborough, always regretting that he had not been on hand to save his son one more time.' Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar leaves the pitch as fans desperately try to escape the crush on the terraces behind his goal . Supporters used hoardings as makeshift stretchers as they battled to save the lives of fellow fans . The final personal statements read to the jury were tributes to Nicholas Joynes, 27, from St Helens, Merseyside, and Hillsborough's second oldest victim, 62-year-old John Anderson. Lift company engineer Mr Joynes, known as Nick, was a talented footballer who had a trial with Liverpool FC, but did not quite make the grade. His brother Paul said: 'His death has left a massive void in our family and we miss him deeply. All our family feel such a tremendous loss.' Mr Anderson's son Brian said: 'My dad worked really hard all his life to ensure we lacked for nothing. 'We wouldn't have been considered rich in financial terms, but we were very rich as we had a loving home with a dad that placed us first, before everything else.' The inquests were adjourned until tomorrow. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
### SUMMARY:
| New inquests hear victims' families read 'pen portraits' of those killed .
Widow of Steven Brown tells how he never got to see his daughter .
Mother of 17-year-old victim Henry Rogers says he was a 'natural charmer'
Heartbroken family of Gary Collins tells jury of their 'excruciating' grief .
Daughter of Eric Hankin says a 'giant-shaped hole' left in her life . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Emily Kent Smith . The owner of Britain's only super-size restaurant which served up food deemed 'unfit for human consumption' walked free from court today - after swindling £38,000 in benefits. Inside the kitchen of Sizzle and Grill in Cardiff lay rotten 'green slimy, smelly' raw meat, Cardiff Crown Court was told but despite the findings, the restaurant remains open. When food hygiene inspectors visited the site they found an opened bag of 'foul smelling' raw frogs' legs, dirt-encrusted taps and grease smeared walls and floors. Scroll down for video . Sizzle and Grill on Cowbridge Road in Cardiff served up rotting meat in dirty grease-smeared kitchens . Behind the doors of the Sizzle and Grill lay rotting foul-smelling green meat . Super-size burgers such as this one were served up to customers unwittingly eating food prepared in the filthy kitchen . Paul Stevens, 54, has owned the restaurant since 2009 where delicacies included kangaroo testicles. Stevens, who has been in the catering industry for 30 years, walked free from court today with a two year suspended sentence. Sentencing, Mr PK Lewis said that the fact that no customers had been taken ill after eating the food was a 'stroke of good fortune'. Stevens, from Splott, Cardiff, took on the restaurant in 2009 after a brief spell of unemployment but failed to declare his new circumstances - and continued claiming benefits. Over three and a half years he claimed housing benefit, council tax benefit, carers’ allowance and incapacity benefit as the main carer for his disabled wife Cheryl. The total sum racked up to £37,380, more than £10,000 a year. While he was profiteering from the benefits claims, Stevens' kitchen was serving up 'exotic meat challenges' with zebra, crocodile and camel on the menu. But inspections over at eight-month period revealed the kitchen on Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff, to be a filthy pit, with pate past its expiry date, bags of rotting meat and only a dirty cloth for chefs to clean their hands on. When inspectors visited the site Mr Stevens admitted the restaurant was not the 'cleanest place'. His lawyer Ruth Smith said: 'He said ‘I know our cleanliness is not up to scratch. We will get it done. I am not going to kid and say it’s the cleanest place.' Paul Stevens walked free today with a suspended sentence despite serving up food which was 'unfit' for human consumption . The filthy and messy restaurant was filled with rotting food and stacked with rubbish . Pate well past its sell-by date was rotting within the kitchen . Machinery at the restaurant was filthy, like this dirt-encrusted microwave used to warm food served up to customers . Customers ordered from this lengthy menu without knowing the conditions in which their food was prepared . The fast food restaurant - whose delicacies include kangaroo testicles, scorpions, ants, and mealworms - claims to be the only place in Britain that serves huge mega-meals inspired by American TV show Man v Food, where host Adam Richman takes on a series of gut-busting gastronomic challenges. Yet during the inspections, Cardiff council’s environmental health team found raw chicken stored alongside bread rolls, raw meat and fish stored with ready-to-eat foods and inadequate disinfectantand cleaning facilities. The kitchen was also filthy with floors and walls covered in grease and food debris strewn with out-of-date meat and duck pate. Cutlery was dirty, cobwebs lined the ceiling and meals were warmed in a food-splattered microwave. Staff were also failing to wash their hands while preparing food, but instead wiped them on a cloth left strewn on food surfaces. There was also no soap at the sinks in the men’s toilets and the toilet seat, pan and flush were described as needing a 'thorough clean' by inspectors. The women’s toilet was also found in a putrid state, with cracked, dirty tiles. Filthy tiles that were rarely cleaned at the Cardiff eatery . Bags of raw meat were stored alongside bread in the juice-filled rank fridge . The kitchen was also filthy with floors and walls covered in grease and food debris strewn with out-of-date meat and duck pate. Cutlery was dirty, cobwebs lined the ceiling and meals were warmed in a food-splattered microwave . Christian Jowett, prosecuting, said that Stevens had been 'confrontational and uncooperative' during a follow-up inspection despite serving food that was 'likely to be unfit for human consumption'. 'There was no cleaning schedule and there was no training procedure for staff, although Stevens said he was the only food handler,' said Mr Jowett. 'Meat was found out of date and green, slimy and smelly.' Inspectors gave the Sizzle and Grill a food hygiene rating of 0, which means urgent improvement is necessary. The restaurant was given a hygiene rating of 0, now raised to 2, but it still remains open . Junk was stacked up inside the restaurant where inspectors found the bathrooms filthy with cracked tiles . The restaurant, where Stevens still works and employ six members of staff, has now improved its rating to 2, meaning improvement is still necessary. Ruth Smith, defending, urged the recorder of Cardiff, Mr PK Lewis QC, to consider a suspended sentence for Stevens as he cares for his disabled wife and also his mother, who has Alzheimer’s. 'I don’t agree that he said he didn’t do anything wrong,' said Ms Smith. 'He said ‘I know our cleanliness is not up to scratch. We will get it done. I am not going to kid and say it’s the cleanest place.' The benefit cheat had swindled £40,000 in benefits over a three-year-period . Sentencing Mr PK Lewis ruled that it had been a 'stroke of good fortune' that no one had been taken ill after eating the food at the restaurant . Paul Stevens pleaded guilty to 18 breaches of food hygiene regulations and two counts of benefit fraud at Cardiff Crown Court . Raw meat was stored alongside bread in the filthy fridge at the restaurant where dishes such as these huge sundae were dished up to diners . Despite the squalor, the restaurant which employs six members of staff will remain open . Ms Smith, defending, told the court that no-one reported being ill after eating at Sizzle and Grill. 'He realises what jeopardy he’s put himself into and all those around him,' she said. Stevens pleaded guilty to 18 food hygiene offences and two counts of failing to notify changes in circumstances when claiming benefits. Mr PK Lewis, sentencing, said inspectors found his restaurant in a 'shameful condition'. 'The fact that no member of the public was made unwell was a stroke of good fortune.' Mr PK Lewis sentenced Stevens to a two-year suspended sentence for the food hygiene regulation breaches and a two-year conditional discharge for his benefit fraud. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of community service. Mr PK Lewis said: 'I bear in mind that you employ a number of people at the restaurant and if I were to send you to prison they would lose their livelihood and that concerns me. 'When I read these papers my intention was to send you to prison.' The fast food restaurant - whose delicacies include kangaroo testicles, . scorpions, ants, and mealworms - claims to be the only place in Britain . that serves huge mega-meals inspired by American TV show Man v Food . Staff were also failing to wash their hands while preparing food, but . instead wiped them on a cloth left strewn on food surfaces . Paul Stevens admitted to inspectors that the restaurant was not as clean as it should be .
### SUMMARY:
| Paul Stevens' Sizzle and Grill in Cardiff renowned for super-sized portions .
Delicacies include kangaroo testicles, scorpions and mealworms .
Court heard food was 'likely to be unfit for human consumption'
Hygiene inspectors found 'green, slimy, smelly' raw meat in kitchen .
Restaurant remains open - despite initial hygiene rating of 0 .
Stevens, 54, claimed £38,000 in benefits over three and half years .
Money swindled after failed to notify council of change in circumstances . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Sarah Griffiths . and Mark Prigg . The first of four 'blood moon' eclipses lived up to expectations, proving an eerie sight across North and South America overnight as the moon was illuminated a deep red. The four-stage event, known as a 'Tetrad', is also believed to mark the the beginning of significant events - even the the end of the world - in some religions. The awe-inspiring spectacle occurs when the . Earth's shadow passes over the moon - and it will happen three more times . over the next two years as part of this cycle. The next Tetrad cycle won't occur until 2032. Scroll down for video . Extremely rare: It's only the third time the chance alignment has occurred in 500 years . The three remaining blood moons will occur in roughly six-month intervals on the following dates: . Astronomers in North and South America are viewing the blood moon from 2.06 EST (7.06 GMT) to around 4.24 EST (9.24 GMT), Sky News reported. Some Christians are concerned that the celestial event could mark the start of terrible events, based on a passage from the Bible that says: 'The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord comes.' Although lunar eclipses happen multiple times in a year during a full moon, this eclipse is a particularly fortunate viewing opportunity for North America. Blood moon rising: The opening stages of one of the world's rarest astrological events . Set alight: as the Lunar eclipse continued, it appeared as though the moon was being illuminated from within . Captivating: Stargazers the world over were transfixed by the rare event . Since the Earth's Western Hemisphere is facing the moon during the eclipse, the continent was in prime position to view it from start to finish. The eclipse also coincided with night time in North America. The entire continent won't be able to witness a full lunar eclipse in its entirety again until 2019. 'Sometimes they'll happen and you'll have to be somewhere else on Earth to see them,' Noah Petro, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter deputy project scientist at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Centre, said before the event. Beautiful: The moment was most visible across North and South America, like here above the Independence Monument in Mexico City . Fireball: The lunar eclipse was most visible in North and South America, like El Salvador (left) and Brazil (right) A bad omen? Some Christians were concerned that the strange celestial event (pictured) could mark the start of terrible events and drew on a passage from the Bible that says: 'The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord comes' Phases: Although lunar eclipses happen multiple times in a year during a full moon, this eclipse is a particularly unusual viewing opportunity for North America. This composite image shows the transition during the total lunar eclipse from the bottom left-hand corner to the top left . A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in the shadow of Earth. This is an area known as the umbra, where light from the sun is blocked by our planet. The light refracts differently in the atmosphere and, as it hits the moon, it appears red. This gives rise to its ‘blood red’ appearance during a total eclipse, when the entire moon is in shadow. If it skirts the shadow, known as a partial or penumbral eclipse, the effect is less dramatic. When the moon first enters the Earth's partial shadow, know as the penumbra, a dark shadow begins to creep across the moon. This gives the illusion that the moon is changing phases in a matter of minutes instead of weeks. At the eclipse's peak, the moon enters the Earth's full shadow; the umbra. At this stage, the Earth's atmosphere scatters the sun's red visible light; the same process that turns the sky red at sunset. As a result, the red light reflects off the moon's surface, casting a reddish rust hue over it. It's not often that we get a chance to see our planet's shadow, but a lunar eclipse gives us a fleeting glimpse. During these rare events, the full moon rapidly darkens and then glows red. At the eclipse's peak the moon entered the Earth's full shadow, the umbra. At this stage, the Earth's atmosphere scattered the sun's red visible light - the same process that turns the sky red at sunset. As a result, the red light reflected off the moon's surface, casting a reddish rust hue over it. 'It's a projection of all the Earth's sunsets and sunrises onto the moon,' Mr Petro said. The moon is seen as it nears a total lunar eclipse in Venice, California. People across North ad South America were able to witness the first of four in a rare Tetrad of eclipses over the next two years . An airliner crosses the moon's path above Whittier, California approximately one hour before the total lunar eclipse, which some people believe signifies the beginning of a number of significant religious event . Other-worldly: The incredible view from the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife . Illuminating: The moon glows orange, as seen from Milwaukee in the USA . 'It's a very subtle effect, and if any part of the moon is illuminated in the sun, you can't really see it.' 'They don't happen all the time, and the sky has to be clear. It really gives you a chance to look at the moon changing.' However, some believe the eclipse has larger significance. John Hagee, a Christian pastor who has . written a book on the Tetrad called 'Four Blood Moons: Something is . About to Change' told the Daily Express that last night marked the dawn of a 'hugely significant event' for the world. 'This is not something that some religious think tank has put together,' the notoriously outspoken church founder said. 'Nasa has confirmed that the Tetrad has only happened three times in more than 500 years — and that it's going to happen now.' Taking in the view: Astronomers in North and South America are thought to be viewing the blood moon from 2.06 EST (7.06 GMT) to around 4.24 EST (9.24 GMT). Here, people watch the 'blood moon' rising over the water in Melbourne, Australia . No show: The total eclipse is visible over most of North America, but not in most of Europe, Africa and Asia, as explained by this map . Nasa has confirmed the Tetrad started on . Tuesday night and will end on September 28, 2015. Tetrads are a relatively frequent occurrence in the 21st century, with nine sets in total, but this has not always been the case. From 1600 to 1900, for example, there were none at all. The Book of Joel in the King James Bible prophesied about the blood moons and the end of the world: 'The . sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the . great and the terrible day of the Lord comes.' According to Mr Hagee, each time the Tetrad has happened during that time, there has been a significant religious event accompanied with it. The unusual alignment of the sun, Earth and Mars happened a week before the beginning of the astrological event that some believe is associated with the end of the world . In 1493, the first Tetrad saw the expulsion of Jews by the Catholic Spanish Inquisition. The . second happened in 1949, right after the State of Israel was founded and the most recent one - in 1967 - happened during the Six-Day War . between Arabs and Israelis. Mr Hagee said the first of the blood moons takes place right in the middle of the Jewish holiday of Passover. The second, on October 8, occurs during the Feast of the Tabernacle and the third will be on April 4, 2015, also during Passover. The final one happens on September 28, 2015, which is also during the Feast of the Tabernacles.
### SUMMARY:
| Last night marked first of four blood moons, followed by six full moons .
It's an extremely rare astrological event known as a Tetrad .
The striking red moon was most visible across North and South America .
Looks red because the Earth's atmosphere scatters the sun's red light .
It's the same process that makes the sky appear red at sunset .
The Tetrad cycle finishes at the end of September in 2015 .
Some Christians believe the Tetrad is a signal the end of the world is near . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . David Mccormack . The surge . of thousands of unaccompanied children illegally crossing the border . from Mexico is being fueled by misperceptions about U.S. immigration . policy rather than growing violence in Central American, according to a . leaked report. The . report was compiled by the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) last . week. The organization focuses on the collection and distribution of . tactical intelligence concerning the southwest border and is run jointly . by the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Customs and Border . Protection. ‘Of . the 230 migrants interviewed, 219 cited the primary reason for . migrating to the United States was the perception of U.S. immigration . laws granting free passes or permisos to UAC (unaccompanied children) and adult females OTMs (other than Mexicans) traveling with minors,’ said the report, which was leaked to Breitbart Texas. Scroll down for video . The surge of thousands of unaccompanied children illegally crossing the border from Mexico is being fueled by misperceptions about U.S. immigration policy rather than growing violence in Central American, according to a leaked EPIC report . Human . smugglers - known as coyotes - are exploiting perceived changes to U.S. immigration law after the Obama administration decided in 2012 to . practice prosecutorial discretion in cases where individuals were . brought into the U.S. illegally as minors. ‘These . cartels have seen a weakness in the system. They've seen statements . coming from the administration that they have used in order to just . frankly increase the number of people coming over,’ Rep. Mario . Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., told reporters on Tuesday. ‘It's . a critical situation and if we don't deal with it urgently but well- . done right- then we're facing a crisis of just huge proportions,’ said . Diaz-Balart, who recently visited Central America. The . intelligence assessment, meant only for law enforcement, also cited . data from the United Nations office on Drugs and Crime Statistics saying . despite an explosion in the number of illegal minors, crime data . actually showed a dip in violence in Guatemala, El Salvador and most . significantly Honduras. Unaccompanied minors ride atop the wagon of a freight train, known as La Bestia (The Beast) in Mexico and now the subject of a catchy song to discourage families in Central America from sending their children with smugglers . Homeland Security projects that if current trends continue, as many as 90,000 illegal children will enter the U.S. by the end of this year and nearly double that,160,000, next year, according to a draft chart circulated on Capital Hill . Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., has warned that drug cartels in Central America are exploiting a weakness in the U.S. immigration system . Homeland . Security projects that if current trends continue, as many as 90,000 . illegal children will enter the U.S. by the end of this year and nearly . double that,160,000, next year, according to a draft chart circulated on . Capital Hill and obtained by Fox News. Homeland . Security officials have previously stressed that a combination of . factors, including a bad economy and security concerns, are behind the . unprecedented surge. Earlier . this month, the federal government launched a $1 million media campaign . to try and combat the surge by urging Central American parents not to . send their children to the U.S. as illegals. The . message aimed primarily at Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador is . two-part: The trip to the United States is extremely dangerous, and . immigrants who make it here will not be allowed to stay. ‘We . have to stem the flow,’ said U.S. Customs and Border Protection . Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske, who launched the campaign while standing . beside the Rio Grande. As . part of the Dangers Awareness Campaign, a catchy Spanish song was . commissioned to discourage families in Central America from sending . their children with smugglers to cross the U.S. border through Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske recently launched the Danger Awareness Campaign while standing beside the Rio Grande . That . song - La Bestia - has subsequently become a major radio hit in Central . America, with its legion of fans unaware it was created to 'teach' them . something. La . Bestia - translated as The Beast - refers to the notoriously dangerous . freight train that migrants ride from Southern Mexico - risking robbery, . kidnapping, rape, and murder - just to make it to the U.S. border. The track features lyrics such as: 'Migrants from everywhere, entrenched along the rail ties. 'Far away from where they come, further away from where they go. 'They call her the Beast from the South, this wretched train of death. 'With the devil in the boiler, whistles, roars, twists and turns.' The song is just one part of the Dangers Awareness Campaign which will employ hundreds of billboards . and some 6,500 public service announcements for radio and television . stations in the target countries. The television and radio spots all finish with a similar parting message: 'They are our future. Protect them' One . offering has an image of a child's footprints in the desert running . toward the horizon with the message in Spanish: ‘I thought it would be . easy for my son to get papers in the USA. ... I was wrong.’ A television spot slated to air in Guatemala shows a teenage boy preparing to leave home for the U.S. His . mother pleads with him not to go. He confides to his uncle - already in . the U.S. - in a letter that she's warning him about the dangers of the . gangs on the train that immigrants ride through Mexico, the cartels that . kidnap and the dayslong walk in the desert. Ultimately, he writes his uncle, ‘he who doesn't take a chance, doesn't win.’ The . next image is of the boy dead on the cracked desert floor. A voice-over . says smugglers' claims that new arrivals will easily get papers are . false. One offering has an image of a child's footprints in the desert running toward the horizon with the message in Spanish: 'I thought it would be easy for my son to get papers in the USA. ... I was wrong' The television and radio spots all finish with a similar parting message: ‘They are our future. Protect them.’ ‘We . want a relative that is about to send $5,000, $6,000 to a relative in . El Salvador to see this message and say, “Oh my god, they're saying that . the journey is more dangerous,'" said CBP spokesman Jaime Ruiz. ‘We try . to counter the version of the smuggler.’ Ruiz . said the campaign is scheduled to run for 11 weeks. He will be . traveling to cities with large immigrant communities in the U.S. as well . to reach the parents or relatives on this side of the border who may . help fund a child's trip. ‘Families . need to understand that the journey north has become much more . treacherous and there are no “permisos” for those crossing the border . illegally,’ said Kerlikowske. ‘Children, . especially, are easy prey for coyotes and transnational criminal . organizations and they can be subjected to robbery, violence, sexual . assault, sex trafficking or forced labor.’
### SUMMARY:
| Leaked report blames misperceptions about U.S. immigration .
policy for the surge in unaccompanied children attempting to enter the country .
Of 230 migrants interviewed, 219 cited the primary reason for migrating was the perception that U.S. immigration laws now granted free passes .
Report was compiled by the El Paso Intelligence Center and meant only for law enforcement .
Homeland .
Security officials previously blamed a combination of .
factors, including a bad economy and security concerns .
Crime data .
actually showed a dip in violence in Guatemala, El Salvador and most .
significantly Honduras .
Homeland .
Security projects that if current trends continue, as many as 160,000 .
illegal children will enter the U.S. by the end of next year .
Earlier .
this month the federal government launched a $1 million media campaign .
to try and combat the surge . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Ashley Collman . Crossing the line: University of Pennsylvania student Mikaela Gilbert-Lurie has written an essay detailing the inappropriate relationship her high school teacher Joe Koetters instigated . An English teacher who worked at two elite Los Angeles prep schools has quit his job after a former student published an essay last month, detailing the inappropriate relationship he instigated three years ago. Though Mikaela Gilbert-Lurie (now a rising sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania) didn't name the teacher or the high school she attended in her essay for xoJane, she told BuzzFeed that she received eight Facebook messages within hours from other former students who had the same issue with teacher Joe Koetters. Koetters taught English at the $35,000-a-year Marlborough School for 14 years, before leaving last year to teach at his alma-mater Polytechnic School. Amid the new allegations, Koetters has quit his job and now both schools are re-investigating the claims of sexual harassment. Gilbert-Lurie says Koetters crossed the student-teacher boundary when she was a 16-year-old junior, and asked to interview him for the school newspaper. He agreed, replying 'It's a date' to her email. When they met up later outside the school, she wrote that he dodged her questions and turned the conversation towards romantic poetry, saying he could lend her a favorite book of his. At the end of the conversation, his hands brushed against her knee. While Gilbert-Lurie said the flirting made her feel good at first, she became less comfortable with their relationship when he started getting more explicit in their email conversations. He said he knew how to draw a boundary with other students but not with her and talked about how her short uniform skirt made her 'so alluring'. So a few day later, Gilbert-Lurie wrote him saying they needed to stop so she could focus on finals and 'just being 16'. Koetters responded 'Ugh, Ok,' but continued to harass her in class and through email. That's when she decided to tell her parents. When Gilbert-Lurie and her parents went to the school to inform them about Koetters inappropriate behavior, the administration began an investigation. Accusations: Koetters taught at $35,000-a-year Marlborough School for 14 years. Several former students are now coming out to say that he sexually harassed them . Koetters was sent to sexual harassment training and stripped of his position as chair of the English department, but was not fired because it was a 'first-time offense'. But Buzzfeed discovered at least two complaints formally lodged against Koetters, not to mention all of the former students who contacted Gilbert-Lurie with similar stories after she published her essay. In 2005, a student lodged a complaint against Koetters but the administration found that the claims were unsubstantiated. Koetters received a second complaint in 2012, from a 2011 grad who accused him of bullying her about her writing. After publishing her essay, Gilbert-Lurie was contacted by several other former Marlborough students who had a similar relationship with Koetters but were too afraid to report his behavior to the administration. Most of these former students agreed to talk to Buzzfeed about their encounters with Koetters. One former student, identified as Mariah, says Koetters once told her: 'I love you in ways that are totally inappropriate for a teacher to love a student.' She also recalled the time they were discussing the book Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee, which is about an inappropriate relationship between an English professor and a student. Mariah talked about how she wanted to write an essay on the book, focusing on predators and prey. Out of the job: Koetters left Marlborough School in 2013 to start teaching at Polytechnic School, his alma mater. In a statement issued Sunday, the school says he is no longer employed . That's when Koetters told her, 'Just because someone is in a position of power over someone else doesn't mean the relationship can't be mutual.' 'He told me that if we had sex, it could be mutual, it could me love,' Mariah recalls. She says he then put his hand on her knee. Another 2012 graduate recalled how Koetters would use his power over female students to turn friends against each other. A former student identified as Stephanie says he turned their innocent conversations about help with class into a venting session where he would complain about his wife and kids. Stephanie says she felt like an adult when he talked to her about his problems, but knows how wrong it was in retrospect. 'Now that I'm close to my thirties, I realize how wrong the situation was and regret not speaking out,' she said. Koetters left Marlborough in 2013 to teach at another elite institution, Polytechnic School. Marlborough has released a statement saying they are re-investigating Koetters, but were not informed about the other claims from former students. Polytechnic says it did not know about the allegations, but Gilbert-Lurie's mother says she called them before Koetters was hired. On Sunday, Polytechnic issued a statement saying Koetters no longer works there and that they 'considered a range of information and perspectives' during the hiring process. Malborough School officials say they were never informed that Koetters touched Gilbert-Lurie's knee, a claim she refutes. The school has since notified the Los Angeles Police Department Child Protective Students about the allegations, and hired former US Attorney Debra Wong Yang to conduct an investigation. Dear Marlborough parents, alumnae, and friends, . We are writing to inform you about some difficult and deeply troubling information. On June 30, 2014, a Marlborough graduate posted an online essay detailing her account of a former teacher's inappropriate communications and behavior, which occurred during the 2011-2012 school year. The School, consistent with its long-standing policies and protocols, promptly investigated and responded to the student's concerns. The essay, however, added details not previously reported to the School. We sincerely regret the suffering our alumna expressed through her essay. Last week, another graduate came forward alleging an inappropriate physical relationship with the same teacher more than a decade ago. In response to this shocking and heart-breaking report, we immediately notified both the Los Angeles Police Department and Child Protective Services. At Marlborough, we hold ourselves to the highest academic and personal standards, and there is no priority greater than the safety and well being of our students. Our commitment to transparency and a full understanding of what occurred compels us to seek the truth. To that end, the Board of Trustees on Friday authorized an independent investigation of this matter and appointed a special investigative committee. This committee will be chaired by Trustee Debra Wong Yang, a partner at the Los Angeles law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and a nationally recognized expert in the field of internal investigations. Under Ms. Wong Yang's leadership, the committee will appoint a neutral investigator. If you have any information that may be helpful to the investigation, or if your daughters are aware of any inappropriate conduct, we encourage you to contact us. We will maintain confidentiality to the extent legally permissible. Please contact Head of School Barbara Wagner at [redacted], or Trustee Debra Wong Yang at [redacted]. Marlborough is committed to keeping you fully informed of developments and the steps the School is taking to address this matter. As it becomes available, additional information will be provided on Marlborough's website. You also should know that we anticipate the media will report on this matter in the coming days. We want to thank you in advance for your support. As a community, we can and will work through this challenging period with decisiveness, dignity, and a determination to never let this happen again. Sincerely, . Christine C. Ewell, President, Board of Trustees . Barbara E. Wagner, Head of School .
### SUMMARY:
| Joe Koetters taught English at Marlborough School in Los Angeles before leaving last year to work at Polytechnic School .
Several former students have come forward to accuse Koetters of sending them inappropriate emails and going so far as to touch them .
One former student complained to Marlborough School administration when Koetters touched her on the knee .
The teacher was sent to sexual harassment training and stripped of his English department chair, but not fired because it was a 'first-time offense'
On Sunday, Polytechnic School issued a statement saying Koetters was no longer employed . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Reuters . and Ap Reporter . The U.S. deported Honduran children as young as 1-1/2 years old on Monday in the first flight since President Obama pledged to speed up the process of sending back illegal immigrant minors from Central America. Fleeing violence and poverty, record numbers of children from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have crossed into the United States over the past year, sparking intense debate about how to solve the problem. Monday's flight from New Mexico to San Pedro Sula, the city with the highest murder rate in the world, returned 17 Honduran women, as well as 12 girls and nine boys, aged between 18 months and 15 years. Scroll down for video . First wave: Women and their children walk on the San Pedro Sula airport tarmac after being deported from the U.S. as part of the first wave of immigrants being shipped back to Honduras, Guatemala and Salvador amidst the southern border immigration crisis . Heading south again: The chartered aircraft will likely be the first of many that fly from New Mexico to points south in Central America . Watching their return: A boy watches as the plane carrying the 40 deportees taxis at the San Pedro Sula airport. The flight was the first of many according to immigration officials . The Hondurans were from among a group of immigrants who've been housed at an Artesia, New Mexico emergency detention facility opened as other centers became completely overwhelmed. The Artesia Center was opened in barracks of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. It eventually will hold about 700 women and children. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson visited the facility in a visit that seemed crafted to show detainees that America is not the welcoming place they may have thought. 'Our border is not open to illegal immigration,' he said. 'Our message to those who come illegally is we will send you back.' Looking happy, the deported children exited the airport on an overcast and sweltering afternoon. One by one, they filed into a bus, playing with balloons they had been given. Full: Child detainees in a Brownsville, Texas detention center sleep atop one another last month. The Artesia center was opened as an overflow facility as centers elsewhere have become too full to house any more . Gonzalez shows a play room in an area where immigrant families are housed in the Artesia center, which will eventually hold around 700 detainees . Overflow: Barbara Gonzalez, public information officer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, shows a dormitory where immigrant families are housed at the Artesia Residential Detention Facility inside the Federal Law Enforcement Center in Artesia, New Mexico . Nubia, a 6-year-old girl among the deportees, said she left Honduras a month ago for a journey that ended when she and her mother were caught on the Mexico-Texas border two weeks later. 'Horrible, cold and tiring,' was how Nubia remembered the trip that was meant to unite the pair with her three uncles already living in the United States. Instead, her mother Dalia paid $7,000 in vain to a coyote, or guide, to smuggle them both across the border. Once caught, U.S. officials treated them like 'animals', holding them in rooms with as many as 50 people, where some mothers had to sleep standing up holding children, Dalia said. During the eight months ended June 15, some 52,000 children were detained at the U.S. border with Mexico, most of them from Central America. Unhappy return: A bus was set to take the wary travelers back to the homes they so desperately wanted to leave . Dangerous: A girls stands next to the bus (right) that will drop the 40 Honduran deportees from the United States near their homes or at the bus station in San Pedro Sula, which has the highest murder rate in the world. At left, another mother wrangles her daughter as she gathers their belongings in a plastic bag and prepares to head home . Spectacle: Honduras' First Lady Ana Garcia de Hernandez even showed up to see the repatriated deportees off the plane . Political problem: Fleeing violence and poverty, record numbers of children from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have crossed into the United States over the past year, sparking intense debate about how to solve the problem . That was double the previous year's tally and tens of thousands more are believed to have slipped through. So . chaotic are the circumstances of the exodus that some of the children . are not even correctly reunited with their parents, said Valdette . Willeman, director of the Center for Attention for Returned Migrants in . Honduras. 'Many of the mothers are sometimes not even the real mothers of the children,' she said. Monday's flight departed as Obama faces increasing pressure to address the surge of unaccompanied minors. Immigrant . advocates urge him to address the humanitarian needs of the migrants. At . the same time, Republicans in Congress have blamed the crisis on . Obama's immigration policies and have called on him to secure the . border. Obama's . administration has stressed that Central American children who cross . the border illegally will be sent home, and last week said it would . speed up the deportation process. Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have suffered from gang violence and incursions from Mexican drug cartels using the region as a staging post for their trafficking operations. Honduran President Juan Hernandez, in an interview published on Monday, blamed U.S. drug policy for sparking violence and ramping up migration to the United States. His wife urged the United States to do more to help. 'The countries consuming drugs need to support (us) and take joint responsibility because if there wasn't demand, there wouldn't be production and we wouldn't be living like we are,' Ana Garcia de Hernandez said as she awaited the children. Obama's administration has projected that without government action, more than 150,000 unaccompanied children under the age of 18 could flee the three Central American nations next year. The proposed actions will test Obama's ability to negotiate effectively with Republican lawmakers who have blocked much of his agenda ahead of a November election when they hope to capture the U.S. Senate from his Democratic Party. Meanwhile, in Guatemala: Part of a group of 16 Guatemalan children caught in Mexico while trying to migrate illegally into the United States queue before climbing into a minibus at Aurora international airport in Guatemala City . These children likely would have become part of the thousands held at the southern American border had they not been nabbed by Mexican authorities before they were able to make the crossing. They're now headed back to Guatemala . President Obama's administration wants to take more action to send home children who cross the border from Central America on their own, writes BRYAN KEOGH. The government claims more than 150,000 children could flee three nations south of the border next year - and there is no lower limit on their ages. Last month it emerged hundreds of toddlers under the age of two were caught travelling alone in a desperate bid by their parents to get them into the U.S. The growing number of immigrants trying to make it into the U.S. is being driven in part by a misconception that children won't be deported. But this is a misinterpretation of a 2012 policy that delays the deportation of illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children prior to 2007. The sheer numbers and complexity mean unaccompanied children are more likely than adults to slip through the cracks and ultimately remain in the U.S. for months or even years. Once captured, most minors are processed and reunited with family members or a guardian in the U.S. while they await deportation proceedings. But detention facilities are generally not equipped to handle young people, especially infants and toddlers. Because of the significant backlog and lack of resources put into tracking them, few are expected to ever return and face immigration judges.
### SUMMARY:
| Around 40 Hondurans were loaded into planes in Roswell, New Mexico and flown to San Pedro Sula .
More will soon be sent back to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador .
The deported immigrants are part of the nearly 82,000 migrants from Central America who have already been returned this fiscal year .
The Artesia, New Mexico center was opened as an emergency overflow facility as immigrants have flooded the borders . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Nicole Mowbray . The bus is gasping and shuddering its way down the potholed street, causing my fellow passengers to tut and grumble. The irritating 'tssk, tssk, tssk' tinny drumbeat from someone's iPod is seeping through the cacophony of yells from school children exchanging insults at the back. Outside the bus, a police siren is wailing. But what do I care? I am cocooned in the land of nod, my head engulfed by a huge sound-proofed cushion that resembles a giant balaclava crossed with an old-fashioned diving helmet, with just my nose and mouth on display. Out there it may be chaos, but in here I am napping in style. Of sorts. Scroll down for video . Napping - in style? The Ostrich Pillow looks like a giant balaclava crossed with an old-fashioned diving helmet . I'm wearing an Ostrich Pillow, the brainchild of Key Portilla-Kawamura and Ali Ganjavian who set up a design studio after meeting at university in London in the 1990s. Their aim was to create simple solutions to everyday needs. And where better to start than with the Western world's chronic lack of sleep? 'Power-napping improves productivity by 34 per cent,' explains Ali. 'We spend so much time at work, in front of a screen or in transit, we thought: “Why not create something that helps us disconnect and dream?” 'All you have to do is find a place to nap, slip on the Ostrich Pillow and away you go.' Whether it's a noisy bedfellow, restless children, worrying about work or one too many late-night coffees, long-term lack of sleep now afflicts one in three Britons. In fact, last year's Great British Sleep Survey found that poor slumberers are three times as likely to have trouble concentrating and twice as likely to have relationship problems and suffer low moods as good sleepers. Pillow talk: Nicole catches up on some shut-eye while on a bus . As the type who wakes if there's a glimmer of light coming through the shutters and whose boyfriend snores like a train, there's little I wouldn't do for an extra 40 winks during the day. So, buoyed by the promise of 45 minutes shut-eye on my commute to work, I place an order for the £65 Ostrich Pillow - so-called because once it's on, you are 'buried' away from the outside world like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. All the pillows are handmade in Spain and it's obvious a lot of love has gone into the product. Mine arrives with its own carry bag emblazoned with the words 'Dream With Me: Dreams Are Today's Answers to Tomorrow's Questions'. The pillow is, in fact, more of a helmet, albeit one made from ultra-soft jersey padded out with 'smart micro balls' which are similar to beanbag filling but much more fine. This means you can slump against the side of . . . well, just about anywhere, and not feel the vibrations from the train, bus or plane. Despite its size, it's as light as helium and the micro balls are coated in a special silicone, meaning they don't make a beanbag-esque noise when you lean against them. Once squashed down, my Ostrich Pillow just about fits in my (admittedly sizeable) handbag and I trundle along to start my commute. Jumping on the bus, I leg it up to the top deck and into a much-coveted seat by the window, upon which I can rest my weary head. Bingo! I get out the pillow, cast a nervous glance around and pull it on. 'As the type who wakes if there's a . glimmer of light coming through the shutters and whose boyfriend snores . like a train, there's little I wouldn't do for an extra 40 winks during . the day.' I may not be able to see a thing, but I know I look daft - my boyfriend compared me to an alien when I tried it on at home. Thankfully, anyone who has ever lived in or visited the capital can testify that Londoners aren't fazed by anything. You could walk down the street barefoot in the snow and no one would blink an eye. After the faint sounds of a few sniggers fade away, my fellow passengers go back to playing Candy Crush Saga on their phones, leaving me free to nab the first of the day's power-naps. Who's silly now, eh? Shrouded from the outside world, I find my new headgear luxuriously soft and toasty. Despite the enclosed nature of the thing, the Ostrich Pillow isn't at all claustrophobic as it's not tight. And because it's physically wrapped around your head, it's not going to do that pesky thing that a regular pillow does when you're using it sitting up, i.e. falling away every time you adjust your position, leaving you crick-necked, angry and no less tired. Indeed, it's so comfortable and quiet inside one, there's a real danger you could drift off and miss your stop. Roused by the alarm on my phone as my 45-minute journey nears its end, I alight feeling refreshed, if a little silly. There's no way around it: this gizmo will ruin your hairdo. But on the upside, if you're tired enough to be wearing it, it's probable you didn't put too much effort into your barnet that morning anyway. After a morning in the office feeling a little more alert than normal, I donned the Ostrich Pillow again at Pret A Manger after my lunchtime bowl of soup - this time, popping my hands in the two holes either side of the helmet that allow you to keep your mitts nice and warm while you rest, face down, on a flat surface. Embarrassing: Nicole dons the pillow at a Pret A Manger, amusing the man sitting next to her . I think it embarrassed the man sitting next to me more than it did me. But, being a Londoner, he didn't say a word. After work, and a final five-minute snooze while waiting for a friend at the Tate Gallery (where my napping was interrupted by a security guard who looked most unamused, asking me to move along), I headed off to take the train home. People at Victoria Station were a little more inquisitive about my headwear. One lady asked me, in all seriousness, if I was wearing a dog's bodywarmer over my head. But even the inevitable signalling delays didn't get me down. They just meant another opportunity to grab 40 winks, this time while standing. Besides the embarrassment factor, there are other downsides to the Ostrich Pillow. It's warm, verging on the too warm. While it would be good for planes, sofas or in well-ventilated areas, wrapping a mini-beanbag around your face is not comfortable in a packed, sweaty train carriage. But, eager to respond to customer feedback, Ali and Key's firm, Studio Banana Things, recently unveiled the Ostrich Pillow Light. Constructed of the same jersey and polystyrene balls, this version wraps around your eyes and ears only in a Bruce Springsteen-style headband, leaving your neck and the top of your head exposed to the elements. You may look as if you're living in a virtual reality world while it's on your head, but the Ostrich Light can, at least, be pulled down and worn around the neck as a scarf when you're awake, and is much less bulky. Mock all you like, but a month after its launch, the company have 1,400 orders worth almost £50,000, so they're obviously onto something. After all, when you're that tired, and a pillow is this comfortable, who gives a damn what you look like? An adult size costs £65, children £50 (studiobananathings.com/ buy-ostrich-pillow).
### SUMMARY:
| Long term lack of sleep affects one in three Britons .
Power-napping improves productivity by 34% - cue the Ostrich Pillow .
It a £65 sound-proofed cushion that completely engulfs your head .
Much to the amusement of passerby, FEMAIL gives it a spin . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
There was a moment in the second half when Raheem Sterling lost patience with Andrea Pirlo’s dithering and cheekily dispossessed the Italian great on the edge of his own penalty area. The England flyer has not time for reputations, not when he is too busy building one all for himself. It was a fascinating contrast, with Pirlo switching the play at will with those tight balls around the corner and those cute little dummies. Sterling is old-fashioned, always looking to run with the ball, targeting defenders and trying to exploit their weaknesses. The England forward, thrust into the No 10 role, didn’t deserve to be on the losing side. No time for reputations: Raheem Sterling, here dispossessing Italy's Andrea Pirlo, was bold beyond his years . All the tricks: Sterling skips over the challenge of Matteo Darmian in England's 2-1 loss . He played as we knew he would, without inhibition or fear of failure in England’s opening group game at a World Cup in Brazil. Good for him. It is one of the great shames, then, that this didn’t quite turn out to be his night after Mario Balotelli’s second half winner for Cesare Prandelli’s side. His killer pass in the 37th minute took out four of the best defenders Italy has to offer at this tournament and ended up in the back of Salavtaore Sirigu’s net. It was a joyous moment. There was a risk about Roy Hodgson’s decision to pick him from the start, but no-one could ever stand up and be taken seriously again if they said England’s head coach got this wrong. Hodgson had the backing of the country on this one, even if it meant shifting Rooney to the graveyard shift on the left and Danny Welbeck to the right. Everybody wants to see this 19-year-old with the ball at his feet because he can pull off moves that vaporise the opposition. Ghost goal: Sterling's right-footed bullet hit the side netting but had everyone fooled for a moment . Danger man: The 19-year-old wreaked havoc with his willingness to take on Italy's experienced defenders . Close quarters: Sterling (left) in the second-man in as Italy's Mario Balotelli (centre) holds off Wayne Rooney . All over the park: Sterling's touches in the World Cup opener against Italy . In the opening minutes he flew past Gabriel Paletta before hitting the side netting with a powerful strike that many inside the stadium believed had gone in. Undeterred he went again. There was an audacious little first half chip for Danny Welbeck inside the area, the angled run at Andrea Barzagli that threatened to expose Italy’s sluggish defence for pace again. Before Sterling had time to set up another attack, Italy had wised up to him and sent Daniele de Rossi to keep him company in the middle of the park. He still had too much for de Rossi when he set up England’s equaliser, peeling off him to collect the ball midway into Italy’s half. Sterling was razor sharp, demanding the ball from senior players in this England side and trying to make a difference. When he was in possession he was rampant. He is an absolute menace to deal with, even when he was sent out to the right after the introduction of Ross Barkley midway through the second half. Too quick: Antonio Candreva grabs a handful of Sterling's shirt as he's beaten wide on the left side . Set up: Sterling's piercing pass to Rooney on the left was the catalyst for England's first-half equaliser . There was a clamour for Sterling’s inclusion, most of it based on his electrifying performances during the build up to this tournament. Hodgson has been monitoring it over the past few weeks and has compared it to the demand for Rooney to play in the opening game of Euro 2004 against France. Rooney was a kid of 17 them, scoring four times in the group stages before he was injured just 27 minutes into the quarter-final against Portugal. Here in Manaus the momentum is still with Sterling after a performance of conviction and genuine class. Tough stuff: Verratti is out-muscled by teenager Sterling in an at-times physical encounter . He plays at speed, running at opponents in a way that we almost thought was lost to the modern game. It is exhilarating to watch. Sterling carved open Italy’s defence when he sent the ball out to Rooney out on the left in the build up to England’s first half equaliser. Rooney delivered the sweetest touch from his left boot and soon enough Sturridge was performing that trademark dance in the Arena Amazonia. In the end it wasn’t enough for England, but the country will see more from Sterling in Sao Paulo on Thursday when they face Uruguay. We have to. With Sterling in the side, there is still time to get back into this tournament. 3rd Sterling shoots and scores… doesn’t he? The BBC declare ‘goal’, the fans cheer, the pubs celebrate … but his precocious drive from 25 yards swerves away from the goalkeeper’s right hand, but somehow ends up in the side netting. It deserved to be a goal, but that’s not the same. It’s still 0-0. But the Italians now know he is there. 4th Sterling has started centrally and he’s loving the space. But he loses the ball on the edge of the box as he gears up for a run, although it falls kindly for England and Henderson forces a save with a long-range shot. Sterling looks like he is making things happen. 20th As Italy begin to get more possession, England rotate their forwards and Sterling find himself on the left. He tries a dribble but runs in De Rossi and Italy break quickly. Rooney is now inside, trying to get into the game. 21st He creates space, beats the full-back and drives a low, hard cross into the six yard box with his weaker left foot. Danny Welbeck fails to get on the end of it. The BBC studio, including Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry must have been groaning. A fox in the box would have scored from that chance and Sterling’s cross deserved a finish. 45th Half time and Sterling is England’s star of the show, according to Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer. Shearer has been campaigning for his inclusion all week. And the teenage Liverpool forward hasn’t let anyone down. 46th Sterling starts the second half in the same care-free fashion, wriggling past two defenders on the left, but now the Italians know he is coming and they muscle him out with reinforcements. He then concedes the ball in centre-field too easily. 51st Sterling shows he is willing to chase after the ball and closes down Pirlo and retrieves the ball, before starting a counter attack, which may have resulted in a penalty after Danny Welbeck is felled. The referee ignores the pleas. 54th Sterling tries to shoot as he appears on the edge of the box, but it’s blocked by Marco Verratti as Italy become familiar with his threat. Verratti, who has been involved in a struggle with Sterling, is then removed to be replaced by the more defensive-minded Thiago Motta. 63rd Now Sterling is on the right… at times it seems like he is everywhere. He does look a menace with the ball and another dribble leads to an throw. 66th Sterling runs at two defenders and wins a corner. He wants the ball, he’s hungry and he’s dangerous. He’s been England’s best player and doesn’t deserve to be on the losing side. Can he conjure an equaliser? 70th Wish a dashing run into space, slicing through three defenders with his body movement and pace, Glen Johnson tries to find him and Italy are forced to concede another corner. 92nd Is shown a yellow card, taking one for the team as he break up an Italy counter-attack.
### SUMMARY:
| England lost their World Cup group D opener 2-1 to Italy in Manaus .
Claudio Marchisio opened the scoring on 35 minutes for Italy .
Sterling's incisive pass in the 37th minute set up Daniel Sturridge's goal .
The England star, thrust into No 10, didn't deserve to be in a losing side .
Mario Balotelli scored the winner with a back post header on 50 minutes .
With the ball at his feet, Sterling can pull of moves that vaporise opposition . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
A photograph uncovered among records from World War I shows a fresh-faced soldier taking a picture of himself in front of a bedroom mirror. Just months later, the 21-year-old soldier was shot down during an air battle over Germany along with a comrade from No 4. Squadron. His story, and haunting photo, has been released ahead of Remembrance Day next week, and to commemorate 2014 as the 100-year anniversary since the start of the Great War. This image was taken by Australian soldier Thomas Baker in 1918 while fighting in Europe. Mr Baker joined the war effort in France in July 1916 before training to be a pilot and becoming a flight commander for No.4 squadron at the age of 20. He died in a battle over Germany on 4 November 1918 aged just 21 . The photo was taken by Australian soldier Thomas Baker who arrived in France on 1 July 1916 at the age of 19. He was involved in the campaign to fight on the Somme and won the Military Medal near Gueudecourt on 11 December that year for repairing a telephone line in thirty separate places under intense enemy fire. A year later, he added a Bar to his military medal after putting out a fire in an ammunition store under constant artillery fire. Records reveal he was particularly praised because his quick actions prevented 'certain disaster'. Mr Baker was the eldest son of schoolmaster and farmer Richmond Baker, and his wife Annie Martha from Smithfield, South Australia, . He joined the 11th Royal Australian Engineers of the Citizens Military Force on 29 July 1915 and began the war as a reinforcement gunner to the 6th Field Artillery Brigade. Thomas Charles Richmond Baker was born in Smithfield, South Australia, 2 May 1897. He was the eldest son of Richmond Baker, a schoolmaster and farmer, and his wife Annie Martha (née Gardner). Mr Baker joined the 11th Royal Australian Engineers of the Citizens Military Force on 29 July 1915 and began the war as a reinforcement gunner to the 6th Field Artillery Brigade. Thomas Charles Richmond Baker was born in Smithfield, South Australia, 2 May 1897 . At the age of 19, Mr Baker arrived in France on 1 July 1916 and took part in the Somme offensive. He won the Military Medal near Gueudecourt on 11 December 1916 for repairing a telephone line in thirty separate places under intense enemy fire. In September 1917, Baker joined the Australian Flying Corps and applied to become an air mechanic. He was instead selected to become a pilot and was posted for flight training. He was promoted to temporary captain and made a flight commander in No. 4 Squadron on 24 October. On 4 November 1918, the whole of No. 80 Wing RAF - of which No. 4 Squadron was part - took to the sky in an effort to 'harass the German retreat on the Leuze-Ath road' and to bomb the aerodrome to the east of Leuze. Mr Baker led a formation of 'Sopwith Snipes' that had been chosen as a bomber escort when the initial raid was carried out. The battle raged for two or three minutes before dying out. As the Snipes re-grouped, they discovered that two pilots were missing. Mr Baker and fellow ace Lieutenant Arthur Palliser were initially recorded as missing, but were later found to have fallen victim to German ace, Karl 'Rittmeister' Bolle. The 21-year-old was credited with 12 victories, including seven aircraft and one balloon destroyed with an additional four planes driven down out of control. He was No. 4 Squadron's fourth highest scoring ace and on 8 February 1919, the London Gazette carried the posthumous announcement of the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross to Thomas Baker. Towards the end of WWI, Mr Baker joined the Australian Flying Corps and applied to become an air mechanic. He was instead selected to become a pilot and was posted for flight training, graduating on 27 March. On 16 August he participated in the largest Ariel attack of the war and was promoted to temporary captain and flight commander in No. 4 Squadron on 24 October. On 4 November 1918, the whole of No. 80 Wing RAF - of which No. 4 Squadron was part - took to the sky in an effort to 'harass the German retreat on the Leuze-Ath road' and to bomb the aerodrome to the east of Leuze. Mr Baker's Grave Registration Report (GRR) is pictured. It details the name, rank and date of death of Mr Baker and fellow RAF member Lieutenant J.G Leckenby who died at the age of 18. Both servicemen were buried in the Escanaggled Communal Cemetery in Belgium . Gunner Baker is pictured about to board a train from South Australia to Victoria for military training in 1915. He won the Military Medal on 11 December 1916 for repairing a telephone line in thirty separate places under intense enemy fire. He was also credited with 12 victories during his time as a pilot and flight commander . Mr Baker led a formation of 'Sopwith Snipes' from No. 4 Squadron that had been chosen as a bomber escort when the initial raid was carried out, . The squadron was intercepted by a patrol of 12 'Fokkers' and the battle raged for two or three minutes before dying out. As the Snipes re-grouped, they discovered two pilots were missing, including Mr Baker. Mr Baker's story was released by London-based genealogy website Findmypast to commemorate next week's Remembrance Day. And, with 2014 being the year of the anniversary of the Great War, Findmypast has been monitoring Twitter to build up a picture of how the UK are talking about the event. Throughout October and November, there has already been more than 31 thousand mentions of #Poppyday and #Remembranceday combined. The data also features 183 mentions of 'pride', 130 mentions of 'sacrifice', 56 mentions of 'hero' and 50 mentions of 'freedom'. The word 'support' was mentioned 674 times, 'live on' received 182 mentions and 'never forget' got 131 mentions. Mr Baker and fellow ace Lieutenant Arthur Palliser were initially recorded as missing, but were later found to have fallen victim to German ace, Karl 'Rittmeister' Bolle. Mr Baker was later buried in Escanaffles Communal Cemetery, Belgium alongside another RAF casualty, Lieutenant J.G Leckenby. It was shortly before Mr Baker left for this battle that he captured the 'selfie' in a mirror in his room. Mr Baker's story was released by London-based genealogy website Findmypast to commemorate next week's Remembrance Day. And, with 2014 being the year of the anniversary of the Great War, Findmypast has been monitoring Twitter to build up a picture of how the UK are talking about the event. Throughout October and November, there has already been more than 31 thousand mentions of #Poppyday and #Remembranceday combined. The data also features 183 mentions of 'pride', 130 mentions of 'sacrifice', 56 mentions of 'hero' and 50 mentions of 'freedom'. The word 'support' was mentioned 674 times, 'live on' received 182 mentions and 'never forget' got 131 mentions. Findmypast has more than 26 million WWI records and is opening its collection up, as well as its other historical records, for free this weekend. Findmypast's military expert Paul Nixon told MailOnline: 'The WWI was a pivotal moment for society and it is no surprise that this Remembrance Day is particularly poignant. 'Sadly no-one is now alive who fought in the WWI, and so we hope that by opening up our billions of records more people across the UK will be able to discover the history of their ancestors.'
### SUMMARY:
| The selfie was taken by Australian soldier Thomas Baker in 1918 .
He joined the war effort in France in July 1916 before training to be a pilot .
Mr Baker became a flight commander for No.4 squadron at the age of 20 .
In November 1918, the squadron was involved in an air battle over Germany .
Mr Baker died in the battle - and he was later buried in Belgium .
His story was released to commemorate Remembrance Day next week . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Thankful: Ali Stunt is a pancreatic cancer survivor who owes her life to a locum GP . Ali Stunt was bent double with crippling pains under her ribcage when she went to her GP. ‘I’d already been to the practice three times in as many weeks because it was so intense,’ recalls Ali, 47, a former geochemist who lives with her husband Phil, 49, a financial IT director, and their two sons, James, 19, and Nick, 16, in Haslemere, Surrey. ‘The pains had started in the centre of my back above my bra strap four weeks earlier. I couldn’t sit back in a chair or get comfortable in bed. ‘There was no lump sticking out as such, but it felt like I had a tennis ball in between my shoulder blades. The pain gradually moved round to my front under my rib cage and was much worse after I’d eaten. ‘I completely went off food and lost a stone in just a few weeks. I was also suffering from bouts of diarrhoea which I’d never had before. I was really worried.’ One of the regular GPs told her she had indigestion and prescribed the antacid Gaviscon. When the pain got worse and Ali went back a week later, she was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome and prescribed an anti-spasmodic drug. On her third visit, Ali told a third GP the pain had shifted from her back to under her ribcage. He said it was probably stomach irritation caused by the anti-inflammatory painkillers she’d been prescribed previously, and gave her codeine instead. ‘But this didn’t touch the pain,’ says Ali. ‘On my fourth visit, I saw a locum GP. She was a lot more thorough than the other doctors had been and asked me lots of detailed questions. She even phoned the local hospital’s A&E surgical specialist to get a second opinion. ‘I sensed the locum had a hunch it was something serious, as she urged me to go to A&E if the pain worsened.’ She went to A&E, but it was a Bank Holiday and no scans were being done. Ali was sent back to the GP. ‘I saw the same locum again and she looked very concerned and insisted I needed an urgent referral. She referred me to a pancreatic surgeon, which probably saved my life. Had I been sent to a different type of specialist, such as a gastroenterologist, it might have been too late.’ Young doctor: The locum GP who helped Ali Stunt solved her health problems despite her inexperience, and referred her to a specialist who saved her . Scans taken two days later by the specialist revealed a 5cm cancerous tumour in the middle of Ali’s pancreas. She had been just weeks away from being inoperable as the tumour was growing next to major blood vessels. ‘I’m alive five-and-a-half years later because a locum made the right call. My own GP admitted to me after my surgery that he’d never have picked up my cancer because I was young and otherwise healthy,’ says Ali. ‘You hear so many negative things about locums missing things — but I think the fact that I was seen by someone who was looking at me through a fresh pair of eyes, and who was perhaps more up-to-date in their knowledge, saved my life.’ Detailed questions: Mrs Stunt said that her own GP admitted after the surgery that he would never have picked up on the cancer because she was otherwise healthy . There are an estimated 15,000 GPs working as locums in the UK. They make up a quarter of the general practice workforce and see 36 million patients a year. A locum is a fully qualified doctor who provides temporary cover to fill a vacancy or cover sick leave, staff holidays or training commitments. Many newly qualified doctors work as locums to gain experience. There are also older doctors who want more flexibility and doctors from overseas, as well as retired doctors, who take up locum posts. ‘I’ve seen a jump in the number of GP partners leaving their regular practices mid-career to become locums, mostly from the sheer burden of extra paperwork and clinics they have to do,’ says Dr . Richard Fieldhouse, a GP locum and chief executive of the National Association of Sessional GPs. ‘Also, many more GPs these days are female. Working freelance as a locum can offer those with families a much better work-life balance.’ However, even though locums are trained to the same level as other doctors, many people are unwilling to see the ‘stand-in’. This is partly because locums tend to make the headlines only when things go wrong. For instance, German GP locum Dr Daniel Ubani was struck off by the General Medical Council in 2010 after being found guilty of serious clinical failings. One of his patients was given a fatal tenfold overdose of diamorphine. While the General Medical Council doesn’t collect figures about complaints against GP locums, experts say public perception is that numbers are high. ‘This idea that locums are somehow second-rate doctors is unfair,’ says Dr Fieldhouse. ‘I hear so much about patients wanting continuity of care — which is true — but with continuity can sometimes come complacency. If a GP is seeing a patient repeatedly about a problem, it can sometimes be hard to spot what is wrong because the changes creep up over time. ‘A locum might walk in and spot it straight away. They may also find it easier to say difficult things such as the patient needs to lose weight or give up smoking.’ Dr Richard Vautry, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association’s General Practice Committee, agrees that sometimes seeing a different doctor, whether from within the practice or elsewhere, can be a good thing. Medical students: Mrs Stunt says she owes her life to a keen locum GP fresh out of studying . But he adds: ‘The patient doesn’t have the same relationship of trust with a locum that they have with their family doctors and if a consultation doesn’t go the way they were expecting, they can be more likely to make a complaint.’ Shehnaz Somjee, a surgeon and chair of the Locum Doctors’ Association, a professional body representing 4,000 locums, says stand-in doctors are often subject to more rigorous scrutiny than regular GPs. ‘Locums have to prove themselves in every job. When you start a new post, all the other staff eye your work through the microscope. If any slight mistake is made, it creates immediate alarm.’ Miss Somjee says a locum’s varied experience can stand them in good stead. ‘I know one locum who, because of his wide experience in different general practices, was able to spot an adverse drug reaction when the patient’s own doctor failed to do so.’ Like Ali, Catherine Jones, 28, a charity worker from London, also owes her life to a newly qualified doctor at a university practice. ‘I saw my family GP in Hampshire several times over a period of a year about a mole that had appeared in the middle of my back. It was getting bigger, it was raised and was changing colour and I worried about it constantly,’ says Catherine. ‘But he just kept saying it was nothing to worry about and sent me away repeatedly. When I started university in Sheffield, I went to the university practice and saw a locum GP. Shortage: An estimated 15,000 GPs are working as locums in the UK, seeing 36million patients a year . ‘Far from fobbing me off as my GP had done previously, this doctor took one look at it and made an urgent referral for me to see a dermatologist. ‘A week later, I was seen by the specialist who told me that it was malignant melanoma — the worst and most aggressive type of skin cancer.’ Catherine had her operation to remove the cancerous mole a week later — luckily before the cancer could spread to other parts of the body. ‘It was the vigilance of the locum doctor that made that timely referral. ‘My GP was older, in his 50s, and had practised in a small rural town — maybe he had just got complacent and too set in his ways.’ Ali has since made a full recovery and set up the charity Pancreatic Cancer Action. ‘I never saw that locum doctor again — but it’s because of her being so diligent and making the referral to exactly the right specialist that I’m still here today. ‘I owe her a big thank you. Seeing a locum really did save my life.’ pancreaticcanceraction.org .
### SUMMARY:
| Ali Stunt, 47, was mistakenly diagnosed with IBS by her regular GP .
Locum referred Mrs Stunt to life-saving specialist who operated immediately .
Locums make up a quarter of the general practice workforce in Britain . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
After most of the world's population is wiped off the map by a wayward meteorite or hail of nuclear missiles, the survival of the human race might just depend on a few thousand people huddled in recreational vehicles deep in the bowels of an eastern Kansas mine. That's the vision of a California man who is creating what he calls the world's largest private underground survivor shelter, using a complex of limestone caves dug more than 100 years ago beneath gently rolling hills overlooking the Missouri River. 'I do believe I am on a mission and doing a spiritual thing,' said Robert Vicino, who has purchased a large portion of the former U.S. Army storage facility on the southeast edge of Atchison, about 50 miles northwest of Kansas City. 'We will certainly be part of the genesis.' Scroll down for video . Safe: Following a nuclear attack or a wayward meteorite, thousands of people could surivive by huddling deep in the bowels of this eastern Kansas mine . Vast: Robert Vicino is creating what he calls the world's largest private underground survivor shelter . Huge: The shelter uses a complex of limestone caves dug more than 100 years ago beneath gently rolling hills overlooking the Missouri River . Before it comes time to ride out Armageddon or a deadly global pandemic, though, Vicino says the Vivos Survival Shelter and Resort will be a fun place for members to take vacations and learn assorted survival skills to prepare them for whatever world-changing catastrophe awaits. Jacque Pregont, president of the Atchison Chamber of Commerce, said some people think the shelter plan sounds creepy or that Vicino has 'lost his mind,' while others are excited because they will finally get a chance to tour the property. Atchison is known as the birthplace of Amelia Earhart and one of the most haunted towns in Kansas, Pregont said, so the survival shelter is likely to add to the town's tourism draw. 'It's quirky, and quirky gets attention,' she said. Recent Hollywood movies have done big business exploring themes about the human race, either through climate shifts, meteor impacts or zombie invasions. And the National Geographic Channel show, 'Doomsday Preppers,' documents the efforts of Americans who are preparing for the end of the world with elaborate shelters and plenty of freeze-dried rations. Protected: A fence helps guard the entrance to the Vivos Shelter and Resort . Leisure time: Before being used during an Armageddon or a deadly global pandemic, however, the Vivos Survival Shelter and Resort will be a fun place for people to take vacations and learn survival skills . Paul Seyfried, who belongs to a group that promotes preparing for manmade or natural disasters, said Americans have become complacent ever since the death of John F. Kennedy, the last president who urged people to build fallout shelters. 'There has been no war on our soil in over 100 years, so the horror of war is not stamped indelibly in Americans' minds,' said Seyfried, a member of The American Civil Defense Association's advisory board. Ken Rose, a history professor at California State University-Chico, is an outspoken critic of underground shelters. Though he acknowledged that interest in underground shelters is growing, he called projects like the Kansas facility a 'colossal waste of time and money.' 'Some people are just obsessed by this idea,' Mr Rose said. '.. Without minimizing the terror threat here today, the threats were much greater at the height of the Cold War. At least then anxiety was based on a realistic scenario.' The Kansas caverns are 100 feet to 150 feet below the surface and have a constant natural temperature in the low 70s. Owner: Coby Cullins bought the complex and immediately started looking for ways to use it. One of his ideas was to lease the land to a company that builds survival bunkers . Large: Mr Cullins stands next to a scale model of the Vivos Shelter and Resort. The Army used the caverns for decades as a storage facility before putting them up for auction last year . They are supported by thick limestone . pillars six times stronger than concrete and will have blast doors . built to withstand a one-megaton nuclear explosion as close as 10 miles . away, Vicino said. Other . than being surrounded by more than a mile and a half of 6-foot-high . chain-link fence topped with sharp rows of barbed wire, the land above . ground isn't distinguishable from expanses of hills and trees that . surround it. The proposed shelter's entrances - nondescript concrete loading docks tucked discretely into the wooded hillside - are easily defensible against any potential intruders provided there's not a full-scale military attack, Vicino said. The Army used the caverns - created by limestone mining operations that started in the late 1880s - for decades as a storage facility before putting them up for auction last year. The winning bid in December was $1.7 million, but financing fell through and the site was put up for sale again. Springfield investor Coby Cullins submitted his winning $510,000 bid for the property in early April, and he immediately started looking for ways to use it. One of his ideas was to lease the land to a company that builds survival bunkers. Secure: The Kansas caverns are 100 feet to 150 feet below the surface. They will have blast doors built to withstand a one-megaton nuclear explosion as close as 10 miles away . Sprawling: Mr Cullins stands next to a map of the Vivos Shelter and Resort . Mr Vicino, whose company is based in . Del Mar, California, said he received an email from Cullins and flew to . Kansas two days later to check out the property. Vicino . agreed to purchase 75 per cent of the complex, rather than lease it, . while Cullins retained the rest and is marketing it to local businesses. The complex consists of two fully . lighted, temperature-controlled mines with concrete floors. The east . cave, which Cullins owns, encompasses about 15 acres and contains . offices, vaults, restrooms and other developed work spaces. The much larger west cave, which covers about 45 acres, is mostly undeveloped and will be converted into the Vivos facility. The shelter will have enough space for more than 1,000 RVs and up to about 5,000 people. Members will be charged $1,000 for every lineal foot of their RV to purchase their space, plus $1,500 per person for food. Underground: Investor Coby Cullins drives a golf cart in the darkness of one of the tunnels . That means a person who plans to park . a 30-foot vehicle in the shelter with four people inside will pay . $30,000 for the space and $6,000 for food. Actual . sales won't begin until a 'critical mass' of reservations are received . and processed, Vicino said, which hasn't happened yet at the Kansas . shelter. Vivos also owns a shelter in Indiana with room for 80 people to live comfortably for up to a year. There, members pay $50,000 per adult and $35,000 per child, so a family with two adults and two children would have to come up with $170,000 to be part of the post-apocalyptic generation. Purchasers will required to pay for the full balance before taking possession of their shelter space, though the company has offered limited financing in the past with a sizable down payment. Vicino says he won't say specifically where the Indiana shelter or any of his smaller facilities are located because he fears there would be anarchy in the event of a world-changing catastrophe. And it doesn't matter who comes knocking at the 'moment of truth,' Vicino said, they're probably not getting in. 'I've heard people say, "I will just show up at the door,"' he said. 'Our response is, "great, where is the door?" At our secret shelters, you don't know where to go, and your cash will be worthless at that time.'
### SUMMARY:
| Caves will be 'the world's largest private underground survivor shelter'
Kansas caverns are 100-ft to 150-ft below the surface .
Supported by thick limestone pillars six times stronger than concrete .
Will have blast doors built to withstand a one-megaton nuclear explosion . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Senate Democrats are urging President Barack Obama to hold off on an immigration announcement until after Congress passes legislation to fund the government through next year. Members of the Democratic caucus in upper chamber are worried that imminent action by the president will provoke Republicans and derail debate on a critical spending bill, which must be enacted by Dec. 11 to avoid a government shut down. Democrats in the House, on the other hand, are pressing Obama to act without further delay, after having put an executive order protecting millions of illegal immigration on the back burner for several months already until after this month's midterm elections. The White House had not given any indication of when the president will go public with his plans other than to say that it will be sometime this year, again refusing to discuss the topic today. A 10-point plan leaked last week by Fox News revealed that he may do it as soon as this Friday, however. Scroll down for video . To act on immigration or not to act on immigration, that is the question before President Barack Obama this week. Senate Democrats want the president to wait until Congress has passed a spending bill that will keep the government's doors open through next year, while hardcore immigration advocates want him to act before the Thanksgiving holiday . It also detailed immigrant populations the president should consider shielding from removal proceedings, including parents of citizen children and illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, defined as age 16 and under, before 2010. All told, up to five million illegal immigrants could be allowed to stay in the U.S. indefinitely under Obama's executive order if he takes the actions outlined. The impending declaration sent shudders through Congress, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told Reuters it would be his preference for Obama to wait until after the government's fiscal house was in order. 'The president has said he’s going to do the executive action. The question is when. It’s up to him,' Reid said. 'But I’d like to get the finances of this country out of the way before he does it.' Reid has since backtracked, however, saying Monday night that 'it should be done now.' Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware told The Hill on Monday that he would like to see Obama postpone his adjustments to the immigration system even beyond the end of the legislative session. 'If I were the president, what I’d say to the Congress — House, Senate, Democrat or Republican — I’m going to give you a little bit of time and in the new Congress expect you to do something,' Carper said. Rather than making vague threats to Congress about the costs of inaction, Carper told the Hill Obama should set in stone a date for Republicans in the legislative branch to come to the table with their own reforms. If they don't meet it, he said, then Obama should proceed. 'I would say not the first month, maybe the first quarter' of the new Congress, he said. The notion of continued inaction is unacceptable to influential immigration groups and their partners in the House, however. 'Waiting doesn’t make sense,' Clarissa Martínez-De-Castro, a principal at the National Council of La Raza, told The Hill. 'This is about millions of American families who’ve been waiting for a very long time for something to be done,' she said. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, center, speaks alongside US military veterans, service members and immigration reform advocates, during a Nov. 12 press conference at the U.S. Capitol urging Obama to move forward with immigration reform as soon as possible . At a press conference last week that brought together immigration reform advocates and members of Congress, Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer said, 'What the president needs to do is give immediate and significant relief to those families that are going to be wrenched apart and living in fear.' 'I will be proud to support the president of the United States in acting in a big, bold manner,' he announced. Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez also said the president needs to make a 'bold' and 'generous' statement in the coming days, especially with the holiday season just around the corner. 'I've always said that the blessings of Thanksgiving should be bountiful this year for millions of immigrants that have been waiting for the Congress to act,' Gutierrez said last Thursday on MSNBC. On Monday he implied that he may have insight into the president's plans, telling the cable network that he knows for a fact that the forthcoming proclamation is 'going to be big.' 'I don't want to say more than that. I've been, as you know, we've spoken before. I said it was going to be at least five million before. And it seems that that's going to be a number that we're looking at,' he told host Alex Wagner. 'Look, I cannot tell you any more than that.' White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest would not confirm on Tuesday if the president had even received the Department of Homeland Security's recommendations yet, let alone the existence of a detailed plan. Earnest also said the president didn't have very much time to work on the issue while he was in Asia last week but he plans to study it this week now that he is back in Washington. He did concede that the White House had weighed the pros and cons of waiting until after the spending fight, and said, 'I think the fact is you could provably argue this both ways.' The Obama spokesman said Republicans are 'well aware' that the president is going to act and his 'sense' therefore is that they will try to preemptively pass legislation trying to stop him, which Earnest said was 'unwarranted.' White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest refused to shed light today on Obama's anticipated immigration plans. He did however confirm that the White House was debating whether or not to wait until after the spending fight had concluded . If Republicans would just pass comprehensive immigration reform, he argued, the president could 'throw away' and planned executive actions. House Speaker John Boehner has stated time and time again that he will not bring the bill passed in the Senate more than a year ago, to the floor of the House. He instead prefers to tackle problems with the immigration system one by one. In anticipation of the Obama's executive action, Republicans in the House and Senate have indeed focused their immigration efforts on schemes to block Obama through the legislative process. Among those, according to Politico, is a plan to bring an immigration bill to the floor next year, when the GOP has a larger share of seats in both chambers, that would enhance border security while requiring Obama to enforce existing immigration laws. Another pathway under consideration is passage a short term continuing resolution that would fund the government through the first quarter of next year until Republicans officially hold a majority of seats in Congress. The House may also decide to fund every department of the government through the end of fiscal year 2015 except the Department of Homeland Security, which it would give short-term funding to as a stop gap until newly elected Republicans are seated. Conservatives in the House and Senate favor a measure that fund the government while explicitly stating that Obama cannot use any of the money appropriated through it to support activities associated with his executive order, which would essentially freeze DHS' ability to implement it. Boehner said Thursday at a press conference that 'all options on the table,' however House Republicans have since clarified that a government shut down is off limits. As Sen. Rand Paul pointed out on Monday evening on Hannity, however, using the spending bill as a vehicle to outmaneuver Obama has its limitations. Even if Republicans recruited enough of their Democratic colleagues in the Senate to pass a bill tying the president's hands on immigration will land itself at the top of Obama's veto list. Taking Obama to court may be Republicans' only realistic avenue to stop him from authorizing his own rules in the next two years before he leaves office. 'I think with regard to immigration reform, he’s doing something that Congress has not instructed him to do and in fact has instructed him otherwise, so I think the Supreme Court would strike it down,' Paul stated. 'That takes a while, but that may be the only recourse short of a new president.'
### SUMMARY:
| Senate Democrats are urging Obama to hold off until after Congress passes legislation to fund the government through next year .
Democrats in the House are pressing Obama to act without further delay .
A leaked document detailing the options before Obama signaled last week that the president may issue an executive order as soon as this Friday .
The White House refused to give any indication today of when the president will make his announcement .
The president's spokesman suggested Republicans will use the spending debate to influence immigration regardless of what Obama does, however . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
A VIP paedophile ring allegedly abused children at the The Elm Guest House in London . A former cabinet minister was photographed with a naked boy in the sauna of a guesthouse at the centre of historic child sex abuse allegations, an MP has said. Tory Zac Goldsmith claimed that a child protection campaigner had been told by one of the owners of the Elm Guest House, Carol Kasir, that she had photographs of 'establishment figures' at the hotel where boys in care had been 'brought in for sex'. But the evidence, along with logbooks, names, times, dates and photographs of Mrs Kasir's customers simply disappeared after a 1982 police raid on the guesthouse. Mr Goldsmith said evidence from 12 boys alleging abuse had also 'evaporated' and Mrs Kasir and her husband Haroon were eventually given suspended sentences for 'running a disorderly house'. Mrs Kasir then died a few years later in 'very odd circumstances', he said. In a backbench debate on the progress of the Government's inquiry into historic child sex abuse, Mr Goldsmith told the Commons: 'When Mrs Kasir died a few years after the house was raided in very odd circumstances, a child protection campaigner from the National Association of Young People in Care called for a criminal investigation into events at Elm Guest House. 'He said that he'd been told by Mrs Kasir that boys had been brought in from the local children's home [...] for sex. 'And that she had all kinds of photographs of establishment figures at her hotel. One of them allegedly showed a former cabinet minister in the sauna with a naked boy. 'She had logbooks, names, times, dates, pictures of her customers and so on. All that evidence simply disappeared after the raid. It no longer exists. That surely is astonishing.' It comes after Scotland Yard was urged to investigate ‘grotesque’ claims police helped to ‘cover up’ the death of an eight-year-old boy at the hands of a Westminster paedophile ring. Vishambar Mehrotra claims his son Vishal was murdered by a Westminster-based abusers after disappearing on the day of the Royal wedding in 1981. He said a male prostitute told him he was taken to the Elm Guest House where high-profile abusers attacked children. Zac Goldsmith said a child protection campaigner was told by one of the owners of the Elm Guest House that she had photographs of 'establishment figures' at the hotel where boys had been 'brought in for sex' Vishal Mehrotra's father Vishambar (right) claimed today that his son (left) was abducted, abused and murdered by the Westminster VIP paedophile ring after disappearing on the day of the Royal wedding in 1981 . Mr Mehota recorded the conversation but when he presented police with the evidence, Scotland Yard ‘pooh poohed’ it and failed to investigate, he alleged. Vishal disappeared while walking back to his home in Putney after a family day trip to watch the celebrations for Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer’s wedding on July 29, 1981. He had been walking a few hundred yards ahead of his family members and vanished less than a mile from his home. It was almost a year before his remains were found in isolated woodland in West Sussex in February 1982. Dolphin Square, where boys are said to have been taken for sex sessions in the 1970s and 1980s . He was missing his legs, pelvis and lower spine - and much of his clothing, including his Superman underpants were also gone. Four months after Vishal’s body was found, police raided Elm Guest House in Barnes, south-west London, and questioned dozens of men including a number of high profile individuals. Earlier this month, another victim came forward alleging to have witnessed the murder of three boys including one who was strangled by a Conservative MP during a sex game. The Metropolitan Police announced last week that it is investigating the possibility of murders linked to the Elm Guest House. In May 1983, as police wound up the inquiry into Vishal Mehrotra’s death. West Sussex coroner Mark Calvert Lee recorded an open verdict at an inquest but said he believed ‘foul play’ was likely. The owners of the Elm Guest House, Carole and Harry Kasir, were fined £1,000 each and given suspended nine-month sentences at the Old Bailey but were found not guilty of running a brothel. Mrs Kasir - who killed herself in 1990 - later admitted to child protection officers that children from the council-run Grafton Close Children’s Home had been taken to the brothel and gave them names of people who had visited the guesthouse. The late Liberal MP Cyril Smith is one public figure widely alleged to have abused children from Grafton Close at the Elm Guest House. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the force was ‘not in a position to comment’ about Mr Mehota’s claims. Allegations of a VIP paedophile ring 30 years ago are being investigated by Scotland Yard through Operation Fairbank, launched two years. As well as Elm Guest House, some of the abuse allegedly took place at flats in Dolphin Square, Pimlico, where some politicians had London homes. September and October 2012: Jimmy Savile abuse scandal breaks. October 2012: Labour MP Tom Watson claims at Prime Minister’s Questions there is ‘clear intelligence suggesting a powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and No 10’ and that a ‘senior aide to a former prime minister’ had links to a child sex gang member. November 2012: Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk uses parliamentary privilege to claim Cyril Smith, right, sexually abused boys. November 2012: The CPS reveals it considered Smith allegations in 1970, 1998 and 1999. It admits Smith should have been prosecuted. December 2012: Operation Fairbank set up to examine allegations that VIPs, including politicians, abused young men at Elm Guest House in Barnes, south-west London, in the 1970s and 1980s . February 2013: Operation Fernbridge begins investigating the alleged paedophile ring linked to Elm Guest House. The Mail reveals Peter Hatton-Bornshin – allegedly abused there as a teenager – killed himself in 1994, aged 28. December 2013: Ex-Labour MP Lord Janner’s home searched by police investigating historical child sex abuse. He is not arrested. June 2014: Lord Janner’s Westminster offices searched by police. Again, he is not arrested. July 3, 2014: It emerges Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens’ dossier on suspected Establishment paedophiles – sent to then Home Secretary Leon Brittan in 1983 – disappeared. But the Home Office could find no record of it, fuelling claims of a cover-up. Lord Brittan amends his story twice over his dealings with the original document. July 5, 2014: More than ten current and former politicians reported to be on list of alleged child abusers held by police investigating Westminster paedophile ring claims. The Mail reveals the Establishment protected diplomat Sir Peter Hayman, a member of the Paedophile Information Exchange, when police found child porn at his flat in 1978. July 6, 2014: Home Office permanent secretary Mark Sedwill reveals 114 files relating to historical allegations of child sex abuse, 1979 to 1999, have disappeared from the department. July 7, 2014: Home Secretary Theresa May asks NSPCC’s Peter Wanless to head inquiry into Home Office handling of historical sex abuse cases. She also announces overarching inquiry. Chairman Baroness Butler-Sloss is forced to step down amid questions over the role played by her late brother, Lord Havers, who was attorney general in the 1980s. October 2014: Replacement Fiona Woolf resigns amid criticism over her ‘Establishment links’, most notably in relation to Lord Brittan.
### SUMMARY:
| Zac Goldsmith said child protection campaigner had been told of pictures .
Elm Guest House owner allegedly had photos of 'establishment figures'
But the evidence of guest house customers disappeared in 1982 police raid . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Twenty minutes remained and the match was effectively over when the home side assembled a string of short passes. Ironic ‘Ole’s!’ echoed around the raucous old ground, followed by a chant of ‘Barcelona — We’re Coming For You!’ West Ham may be fourth at Christmas and Europe may be distantly beckoning, but their fans retain a decent sense of reality. Despite the propaganda from the usual channels, Upton Park is not yet a haven for purists. VIDEOS Scroll down to watch . West Ham striker Andy Carroll fires past Leicester City keeper Ben Hamer to give the home side the lead after 24 minutes . Carroll races away to celebrate after he opens the scoring at Upton Park . West Ham (4-4-2): Adrian 7.5; Jenkinson 7, Tomkins 7 (Collins 69, 6.5), Reid 7, Cresswell 7.5; Kouyate 7, Nolan 7 (Amalfitano 87), Song 7.5, Downing 8; Sakho 7 (Valencia 79, 6.5) Carroll 8.5. Subs not used: Zarate, O'Brien, Jaaskelainen, Cole. Manager: Sam Allardyce - 7 . Leicester (4-4-2): Hamer 5; Simpson 5, Wasilewski 5, Morgan 5, Konchesky 4 (Knockaert 62, 5); Mahrez 5, Cambiasso 5.5 (Ulloa, 62, 5), Drinkwater 6, Schlupp 6.5; King 5, Vardy 5 (Nugent 62, 5) Subs not used: De Laet, Hammond, James, Smith. Booked: King, Vardy, Ulloa . Manager: Nigel Pearson - 5 . MOM - Carroll . Att: 34,977 . Referee: Martin Atkinson - 6.5 . Andy Carroll got through a mountain of work during his side's 2-0 victory at Upton Park. Click here for our brilliant Match Zone. The ball is still pumped urgently from front to back, fresh air is routinely preferred to green grass, and Andy Carroll’s head is the target for the booming bulk of their attacking intentions. But the side is big, muscular, well-drilled and efficient. And it is currently fourth. For the moment, at least, the fans will settle for such unusual eminence. Last night’s celebrations were suitably clamorous. ‘Bubbles’ rang out like an anthem of triumph, backs were slapped and the air was punched in exaltation. It was one more scalp of a spectacular winter. Fine goals from Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing maintained a run which has seen just one West Ham defeat in 11 games. Sam Allardyce struck an untypically exultant note. ‘We’ve got to enjoy the moment for as long as it last,’ he said. ‘Hopefully, it will last for a good while yet.’ Then caution took over: ‘The end of January will tell us what we could possibly achieve. It’s about consistency of winning. You can’t afford to slip. But at the moment, we’re enjoying it’. And properly so. Carroll is congratulated by Hammers player Aaron Cresswell after his first half strike . The scenes of delirium continue after Carroll's 24th minute opener gives the home side the perfect start in London . Hamer is left grasping at thin air as Stewart Downing doubles West Ham's advantage shortly after the break . Downing salutes the Upton Park faithful after his 55th minute strike put West Ham firmly in control . Leicester had played the prettier, more precise football, but their finishing was inadequate and their physical challenge fell far short of that required of sides which come up against such a massed physical presence. Their position grows more precarious each week and, short of spectacular investment in the transfer window, survival is looking increasingly like a distant dream. In fairness, they had appeared comfortable in the opening stages, moving the ball easily and intelligently, making the half - chances, generally looking the more confident side, despite their perilous position. West Ham could offer Alex Song to counter in kind, with his own thoughtful, considered approach. Song, alongside the impressive Downing, gives them a dimension beyond the purely physical, and yesterday both men contributed richly. It was Downing who choreographed Carroll’s first chance in the 22nd minute, when he cut back a cross from the goal – line. Carroll, perhaps startled by a ball approaching less than eight feet off the ground, lifted the offering high into the stand. But his chance of redemption was presented almost immediately. Leicester were attacking with some intent when the ball was hacked out of West Ham’s area. Paul Konchesky, once a West Ham player, attempted a ludicrous back pass from half way, wide out on the touchline. Ineptly hit, the ball coasted into the path of Carroll, who strode on unopposed and casually chipped the advancing Ben Hamer. Downing celebrates with Carroll and Carl Jenkinson after he doubled West Ham's advantage . West Ham's medical staff attend to Carroll after the Hammers forward crashed into the photographer's pit during the game . Carroll (right) is in the thick of the action again as he competes for possession with Marcin Wasilewski . It was the kind of finish which breaks fragile hearts, and we could see Leicester’s shoulders sagging at such a self – imposed handicap. Things did not improve for Nigel Pearson’s side. In 32 minutes, Andy King was booked for a reckless tackle, and two minutes later Riyad Mahrez discovered Leicester’s best chance, snapping a fierce drive at the top corner, and seeing it instinctively parried by Adrian in the West Ham goal. Before half time, Jamie Vardy was harshly booked for flinging a tackle at Song. Without ever looking truly convincing, West Ham found themselves in command at the interval, while Leicester, for all the shrewd subtleties of Esteban Cambiasso, had supplied a good many reasons for their present predicament. But the tone was raised by a tremendous goal in 56 minutes. The prologue was familiar, with yet another ball pumped high to the edge of the Leicester area and Diafra Sako winning the header. It fell to Downing, 20 yards out, and he glanced up, arranged his feet and curved a measured drive beyond Hamer. It was, by some distance, the most elegantly effective manoeuvre of the match. Leicester forward Jamie Vardy (left) goes head-to-head with West Ham's Kiwi defender Winston Reid . Carroll (left) displays his aerial prowess once more as wins a header in Leicester's penalty area . West Ham midfielder Alex Song (second left) drives forward as Leicester forward Leonardo Ulloa watches on . West Ham manager Sam Allardyce (right) watches proceedings from the touchline along with Leicester boss Nigel Pearson (left) Leicester’s retaliation was meagre, largely limited to a self – made, self – wasted chance from the substitute David Nugent. But West Ham had deserved their security, just as they deserve their current status. There is a long, long way to go, and many a plot will unfold. With Chelsea and Arsenal next up, their credentials will be thoroughly tested. But, for the moment, West Ham have sound cause for celebration. “Enjoy the moment’, Allardyce exhorted. The strains of Bubbles, bellowed over and over through the chill December evening, revealed that his instructions were being faithfully obeyed. In this part of East London, it prmises to be the happiest of Christmases.
### SUMMARY:
| Andy Carroll fired West Ham into the lead in the first half with his third goal since returning from injury .
Stewart Downing doubled the home side's advantage shortly after the break to put West Ham in control .
The Hammers hold on to fourth place in the Barclays Premier League going into Christmas .
Sam Allardyce's men have lost just once in 11 games and remain firmly in contention for a top-four finish .
Leicester City remain rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table and have not won since September .
The Foxes' winless run extends to 12 matches and Nigel Pearson's side are in deep relegation trouble . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
It was a whirlwind romance, culminating in a sumptuous summer wedding in August last year, but last night Jodie Kidd confirmed that she and her husband David Blakeley were not to be. The former model and polo player revealed the pair had split after just forth months of marriage telling The Sun: 'It is with sadness that David and I have separated. My priority remains my son Indio.' The couple had been together for nearly 18 months and had spoken of their hope that they would spend the rest of their lives together. It is thought that they separated just before Christmas. In happier times: Jodie and David attended an event together in October shortly after their marriage - last night the model confirmed that they have split after just four months . Covering up: Posing with Quentin Wilson there were times when Jodie seemed to make an effort to cover her un-ringed finger . No ring: Jodie was spotted at The Classic Car Show launch today in an all black outfit having removed her wedding and engagement rings. Jodie was then spotted today at The Classic Car Show launch in London having removed her wedding and engagement rings. For mother-of-one Jodie, 35, who was previously married to internet entrepreneur Aidan Butler, it's not her first divorce. Her marriage to Butler lasted just 18 months and she was reportedly blindsided when he decided to split in 2007 - she'd similarly said that she thought she and Aidan would be together forever. Indeed the similarities between the two situations are undoubtedly glaring. When Jodie married Aidan, she described him as, 'the man I am going to spend the rest of my life with.' Then when she tied the knot with author David, 34, Jodie told Hello! magazine: 'As soon as David and I met, I went through a huge 360 in my mind. I thought, "That's it, we're going to spend the rest of our lives together." 'Everything has changed in my life. He's given me the confidence to go and conquer the world.' Speaking about Jodie, David said: 'I'm the luckiest guy in the world. With my parents being childhood sweethearts, I wanted to get married. But I did wonder is I was going to ever meet someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.' Wedding day: Jodie and David were pictured arriving at their wedding in August, however their marriage only lasted four months . Happy Families: Jodie and David took her son Indio to the Winter Wonderland VIP launch in December . After her split from Aidan, Jodie admitted that perhaps they hadn't known each other as well as they should have. She said in an interview with FEMAIL in 2008: 'It was the wedding year, then I went, "Whoa! I don't really know you and I don't think you know me either." We were complete opposites. And then we got divorced - it was a terrible, awful, awful period.' In today's reports The Sun claimed that the reason Jodie and David decided to go their separate ways was because they had rushed things and hadn't got to know each other well enough either. History repeating itself: Jodie split from her first husband Aidan in 2007, she has previously revealed that she didn't think the couple knew each other well enough to have married . Jodie got engaged to David in January 2014, after a two-month romance, after splitting from the father of her two-year-old son, Andrea Vianini. They then married at the Holy Trinity church in Plaistow, West Sussex, after just 10 months together. She wore a floor-length Grecian style Zaeem Jamal gown whilst David opted for a smart grey suit. Following a church service - where Indio played pageboy - the couple celebrated their nuptials with close friends and family at the 16th century home they lived in. So why is Jodie so quick to fall in love and rush down the aisle? One reason could be that she is trying to recreate the family unit she lost when her parents Wendy and John divorced in 2007. Splitting in the same year as she and Aidan did, Jodie has previously spoken about how damaged she felt after their break up. Jodie had a son with Andrea Vianini, pictured, getting together with David shortly after their split in 2013 . Liz Cowell, divorce lawyer at Slater & Gordon said: 'Generally when a marriage only lasts four months the court will try and put the parties back to where they were pre marriage when dividing their assets. Unless of course there is a pre nuptial agreement. 'People often think that after such a short marriage they can get the relationship annulled but in England they will have to wait a year before divorce proceedings can be started. 'And unless the marriage is unconsummated there are unlikely to be grounds for annulment. 'It can often take couples married for this short a period more time to officially separate than those who have been together longer who can get a quickie divorce in a matter of months, because they have to wait until they have been married a year before they can start proceedings.' Jodie is the great-granddaughter of Press baron Lord Beaverbrook, and one of three children born to show jumper Johnny and his wife, Wendy, herself the daughter of baronet Sir John Hodge. She revealed she was with her brother Jack, 42, and sister Jemma, 40, at the family home in Barbados for Easter when their father dropped the bombshell that he had fallen in love with an American stuntwoman almost 30 years his junior. 'Everything imploded. I didn't really know what was happening. When my parents separated, the perfect picture of our family was completely shattered,' Jodie said at the time. 'It was incredibly tough for us, and it affected us all much more than we thought it ever could.' Indeed, it was perhaps the end of her parents marriage - and the failure of her relationship with Aidan -that led her to make the wrong decisions in her future relationships. 'I was shocked, completely and utterly shocked,' she said of the experience of watching her parents split, 'Everything we knew was a lie. 'Suddenly, we were in a different dimension. My parents had always been together, and I was proud of that. As the youngest child, I suppose I never really knew what was going on. 'There had been issues for a while, which I didn't know about. It's only now that I'm really starting to speak to Mum and Dad about it.' Super slim: Jodie was incredibly slim in her modelling days - pictured here in 2004 - and was criticised for looking too thin . She loves horses: Jodie has said she is an adrenaline junkie and loves riding horses, she is pictured here with her brother Jack . And Jodie has faced her own personal battles. She was spotted at just 15 and had an incredibly successful modelling career, starting work at just 16. However in 2008 she lost several modelling contracts after she was accused of allegedly purchasing cocaine and boasting about taking the drug. She has also filled out over the years after being referred to as a 'a sick anorexic giraffe' who criticised her 'heroin chic,' looks. Despite having worked on several lucrative contracts over the years for brands like Lagerfeld and Monsoon, Jodie had always been lampooned for what people referred to as her 'skeletal' size. Jodie is currently preparing to take part in the Channel 4 show The Jump which starts on Sunday. She is up against fellow celebrities such as Chloe Madeley, Stacey Solomon, Ashley Roberts and Heather Mills. She has previously referred to herself as an, 'adrenaline junkie,' and has an attitude which is perhaps belying of how she likes to live her life. She once said: 'I love fast action. 'I'm terrible at thinking things over. I go, "Right, let's move on to the next thing." Always move forwards. 'Never regret. I have to keeping moving forwards, otherwise I think I'll get swallowed up.' A spokesman for Joddie Kidd declined to comment to FEMAIL. Fashionable couple: Jodie and David attended at Louis Vuitton party together in September with the newlywed deciding to wear white .
### SUMMARY:
| Jodie Kidd has confirmed her separation from author David Blakeley .
The couple had been married just four months after a whirlwind romance .
Friends have said the pair didn't feel they knew each other well enough . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
There are growing fears of 'lone wolf' terrorists in Australia following a string of recent incidents involving individuals who were not on security watch lists, meaning the threat is often with 'the guy next door'. The Sydney siege in December was conducted solely by gunman Man Monis. There have since been a string of arrests as police conduct terror raids across raids. On Tuesday, Omar Al-Kutobi, 24, and Mohammad Kiad, 25, were the latest to be charged as they were allegedly preparing to carry out a terrorist attack in Sydney. Neither were on security watch-lists. However, a terrorism expert in Melbourne gave a warning four years ago of the growing threat from 'lone wolf' terrorists. Scroll down for video . Mohammad Kiad, 25 (right), and his Iraqi born housemate Omar Al-Kutobi, 24 (left), were arrested on terror charges in their shared squalid granny flat at Fairfield on Tuesday . Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim Al-Jaafari (left) shakes hands with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Thursday. Al-Jaafari is in Australia to give a first-hand update on the battle against Islamic State . Noor Huda Ismail went to school with a number of the Bali bombers, and developed a program to de-radicalise jihadists returning to Indonesia. He now lives in Melbourne and says would-be terrorists who are not connected to any command structure are almost impossible for security agencies to identify. Mr Ismail, who went to the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school in Solo, central Java, along with a number of the Bali bombers, says the arrests this week are further evidence the new breed of extremist is the 'guy next door'. 'This will be the difficulty of any security apparatus at the moment,' he said. 'This is clearly now the challenge. The biggest threat will come from people like that.' Mr Ismail identified the growing the threat from so-called lone-wolf terrorists, and in 2011 contributed to a report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute warning of the increasing number of 'freelancers' inspired by groups such as al-Qaeda. In internet chatrooms, he says, these 'at risk' individuals will easily segue from conversations about 'hair gel' to talk about the 'latest beheading video'. Mr Ismail says it's almost impossible for security agencies to identify such people before they act, and authorities must 'move away from looking at this as a security issue and focus on the demographic aspect of the threat'. The comments come as details of the contents of a video allegedly made by Al-Kutobi and Kiad emerged on Thursday. During Question Time in parliament Prime Minister Tony Abbott gave a graphic description of the disturbing video. He explained that one of the men made threats about carrying out an attack on Australia and stabbing victims in their 'kidneys' and 'livers', whilst 'kneeling before the death cult flag with a knife in his hand and a machete before him'. Abbott informed parliament that the man on the video said: 'I swear to almighty Allah, blond people, there is no room for blame between you and us. 'We only are you, stabbing the kidneys and striking the necks.' Facebook pictures of Kiad, who immigrated to Australia from Kuwait in 2009, revealed his fashion interest and showed him sporting expensive watches and suits as well as making some strange fashion statements . A keen weight-lifter, the 25-year-old removalist also shared selfies of himself at the gym . Mr Ismail says the language allegedly used in the video was undoubtedly aimed at 'glory for himself and to inspire others'. Mr Abbott made his comments while arguing that the parliament should pass the government's proposed further changes to data retention laws. This comes after social media accounts of one of the two men charged with plotting a terrorist attack involving large knives on Wednesday revealed he was a fashion-loving weightlifter with a keen eye for expensive jewellery. Pictures of Mohammad Kiad on his Facebook page show him sporting expensive watches and suits as well as taking numerous selfies while at the gym. In contrast to the snaps of him in shiny sparkling tight pants, other pictures show him wearing traditional white Islamic clothing and headpieces. However in person, the 25-year-old nurse who worked as a removalist has been described as a quiet man who never mentioned his religion, according to Fairfax. Both men arrived in Australia from the Middle East seeking a better life as refugees but allegedly became radicalised in recent months, it has been claimed. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told the Today Show on Thursday Kiad, from Kuwait, and Al-Kutobi, from Iraq, were granted refugee status. Al-Kutobi was granted citizenship in 2013 and was studying to be a nurse after he arrived in Australia by plane in 2009. The Daily Telegraph alleges a senior intelligence source has confirmed he arrived in the country with false documentation. Mr Kiad entered Australia in 2012, where he had worked as a nurse - but when he arrived in Australia he found he could not transfer his skills. He was granted a visa under the family and spousal visa arrangements and recently took up a job as a removalist but was fired and was on the dole at the time of his arrest, it has been reported. A Sydney police station and officers on the street were revealed to have been the the targets with attacks scheduled for just before midnight on Tuesday, Channel Nine reported. In contrast to the snaps of him in shiny pants, other pictures show him wearing traditional white Islamic clothing and headpieces . Pictures of the duo from mid-2013 show them poking faces and smoking shisha together. Mr Al-Kutobi was granted citizenship in 2013 and was studying to be a nurse while Mr Kiad, originally from Kuwait where he immigrated from in 2009, was reported to have been recently fired from his removalist job. While some neighbours told Fairfax that he was 'friendly', 'open minded about religion' and 'never talked about Islam', others admitted he and Mr Al-Katobi had begun acting differently after the anti-terror raids in western Sydney last September. 'He began wearing a scarf, just like ISIS and Mohammad, he grew a long beard,' Neighbour Michael David said of Al-Kutobi. 'I heard them praying in [the granny flat] and reading the Koran,' said Mr David, who speaks Arabic. Ms Jeisele-Brown said the pair had fallen out with another neighbour over the last month or two for 'speaking sharp' and that she had been upset with them after finding a religious picture she owned dumped in the rubbish bin. Pictured smoking shisha in mid-2013: The mens' neighbours said they mostly kept to themselves but admitted their behaviour had changed drastically in the last few months following police raids in western Sydney and the Martin Place siege . 'I had been in hospital having chemotherapy and when I came back home my picture of Jesus Christ was missing,' she said. 'I found it in the rubbish. I don't know who dumped it but I thought ... I didn't say anything.' Neighbours Teresita Heisele-Brown said she had noticed that after the Martin place siege, the two men had had lengthy discussions in Arabic and had watched a lot of television, perhaps coverage of the a siege. She said when the police came around to arrest the pair, Mohammad had pretended he didn't speak English. She said detectives had made the men lie on the ground while they handcuffed them. Their home, workplaces and cars were all searched by police. On Thursday, accused terrorist Kiad accidentally appeared briefly in court. Their Fairfield home, a granny flat in Sydney's west (pictured) NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn and Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan said two men have been arrested on terrorism charges . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
### SUMMARY:
| Mohammad Kiad, 25, and Omar Al-Kutobi, 24, were arrested on terror charges in Sydney on Tuesday .
Like Sydney Siege gunman Man Monis, none were on security watch-lists .
A Melbourne terrorism expert predicted the rise of lone wolf terrorist attacks four years ago .
He says these people 'who are not connected to any command structure are almost impossible for security agencies to identify'
The expert also has psychological insight as he went to school with some of the Bali bombers . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
The grandfather of Alecia Pennington — the 19-year-old girl who 'doesn't exist' — has told Daily Mail Online how he dramatically rescued her from the clutches of her fundamentalist Christian parents. It happened on a regular Wednesday visit for Jim Southworth to see his daughter's family, he said in an exclusive interview at his home in Georgetown, Texas. But since that day in September last year, Jim and his wife — also called Alecia — have had no contact with their daughter and her family. 'How could I not have done it?' Southworth asked. 'She is my granddaughter.' Scroll down for video . Alecia Pennington (above) claims that she was born at home and then never sent to school, taught instead by her mother . The 19-year-old is therefore unable to show proof of her identity, and cannot get a birth certificate . James Pennington (pictured left) responded to his 19-year-old daughter Alecia's claims that she has no proof that she is an American citizen by saying in a YouTube clip that he would help her obtain necessary documents. Her grandfather Jim Southworth said she was doing well in her new life . Alecia has gone public with her story this week, saying she can't get a job, board a plane, get a driver's license, vote or do any number of everyday tasks that the rest of America takes for granted, because there is no public record of her existence. She was born at home in Texas and her birth was never registered. She was home-schooled and has never required hospital treatment, her grandfather confirmed. After a week-long standoff with her parents, her father, accountant James Pennington, has now agreed to try to help her get proper documentation to prove that she is who she says she is, Alecia revealed on Friday on her Facebook page. Jim Southworth, 71, said his granddaughter had texted him before he and his wife went to visit his daughter Lisa Pennington, her husband and their nine children in Kerrville, Texas last year. 'She said she was coming home with us. I texted her back saying she had to speak to her mother about that,' he said. After the day-long visit on September 24, Southworth found Alecia — the fourth of the Penningtons' nine children — in his car with her belongings. 'I told her she had to get out,' he said. 'She was 18 at the time and an adult, but I didn't want to be accused of kidnapping. 'But she was adamant and said she wanted to leave with us. I said we should pray on it overnight, but she insisted she wouldn't get out. I told her she had to speak to her mother and my wife and I got out the car so they could talk it over.' But Lisa Pennington failed to persuade her daughter to stay, said Southworth, and she remained in the car. 'Eventually I told my son-in-law I had to take her, she is my grandchild and that is what she wanted. He said, 'Fine, but you are not welcome back here again.' 'Since that day I have not spoken to my daughter or to my other grandchildren.' However, he said Alecia has kept in contact with her siblings with regular phone calls. Southworth said Alecia is doing fine in her new life and is helping a local family as a nanny until she can get proper documentation so she can get a real job. Alecia's mother Lisa (left with Alecia and her three sisters) claims her daughter is misleading people . He said that even before the day she left he could sense friction between Alecia and her parents — whom he described as 'living off the grid.' Alecia's story has gripped the public's imagination since she revealed her plight on Facebook and YouTube, using the handle 'Help Me Prove It.' On YouTube the teenager faces the camera and says calmly: 'My name is Alecia Faith Pennington and I am a U.S. citizen by birth. 'However, I was born at home,' she continues. 'And my parents neglected to file a birth certificate or birth record of any kind. They also never got me a Social Security number. 'I was home-schooled my entire life so I have no school records. I have also never been to the hospital so I have no medical records. This leaves me with nothing to prove my identity or citizenship. 'I am now 19 years old and I am unable to get a driver's licence, get a job, go to college, get on a plane, get a bank account or vote.' She said she has contacted authorities who have no record of her birth and a judge in the county she was born had refused to issue a delayed birth certificate because she had insufficient proof of her identity. 'But that's all the proof I have,' said Alecia. 'I didn't pick this situation for myself, I just have to deal with the consequences and I don't know how to fix it — I don't know how to get out of this. 'I want to travel, I want to get an education, I want to just be a functioning American,' she adds in the 92-second video, which her grandfather said he did not know she was making. 'But I can't until I can prove citizenship. Her mother Lisa, 49, runs a blog called The Pennington Point. She has posted her own version of Alecia's leaving, but has often removed her stories within minutes. In one post, she said: 'On Wednesday, September 24th my life was changed forever. My 18 year old daughter left home. She gave us no warning, no signs that it was coming. She didn't try to talk to us about it or work with us. She, with the help of my parents, just left. And with her she took pieces of my heart that had been torn to shreds.' In another she said Alecia had been helped by 'a godless woman who has been giving her foolish counsel and encouraging her to deceive and get out.' She added: 'Believe me, James and I are all too aware that we are not innocent in this. We played a part in this problem. 'We made mistakes and we have apologized to her, genuinely repented and are asking the Holy Spirit to guide us through this. It feels impossible to think rationally so we have sought counsel from men who give us Scripture to build us up. Alecia is one of nine children (above with their father), and left her home last September, with the help of her grandparents on her mother's side . 'We are taking each step carefully and trying to hold on to the One who knows us better than we know ourselves. I don't want to paint myself as perfect here. I am as imperfect as I can imagine anyone being.' More recently she wrote how she and her family are 'pulling ourselves together' following Alecia's departure. 'We have been making an effort to find our new normal without her. It has been really hard and we all miss her terribly, but I have learned a lot about how to deal with grief. 'I definitely have days when I feel like I can hardly breathe and just cry for no reason. Like, hard crying. I know that's part of the process. Oh, those crazy stages of grief.' On Friday Alecia said on her Facebook page that her father had now said he would help her prove she is who she says she is. 'I have some wonderful news! My father has begun cooperating with us! He states he is willing to sign any documents, and give me any information he has concerning what I may need as proof.' She then asked her followers 'not to post demeaning comments about my parents. Even though I do not agree with them on many things, I would like their reputation to be protected as much as possible.' She also revealed that she has found an attorney who is willing to help her and set out the steps she has already taken to prove her identity. Among the documents she has managed to collect are a statement from a doctor who said he saw her when she was aged 9, a 2005 statement of Baptism from the Fredericksburg Christian Fellowship that does not give a date of birth, and a notarized document concerning the family's change of their last name from Sublett to Pennington from 2014.
### SUMMARY:
| Alecia Pennington, 19, claims that she was born at home and then never sent to school, taught instead by her mother .
Her parents did not get her a birth certificate or social security card, and now she cannot become a citizen .
Her grandfather, Jim Southworth, told Daily Mail Online how he and his wife visited his daughter's family knowing there had been 'friction'
Alecia got into their car and said she wanted to leave with them, he disclosed, adding: 'How could I not have done it? She is my granddaughter.'
Alecia's parents have posted their own version of events online saying they want to help their daughter and are devastated at losing touch with her . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
More than 110 Britons evacuated from Libya because of recent deterioration in the military conflict have arrived in Malta on board the HMS Enterprise. The group including 30 children and four pregnant women entered the Grand Harbour in the Mediterranean island's capital, Valletta, this morning following their journey from Tripoli. The staff were transported from the British embassy which has been shut down as a result of the worsening security situation in the North African country. Arrival: The HMS Enterprise makes its way into the Grand Harbour in Valletta, Malta, after evacuating 110 Britons from Libya . Arrival: A flag with the St George's Cross waves at the back of the boat as it enters the ancient harbour on the Mediterranean island . Fighting in Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi is the worst since the 2011 civil war that ended four decades of Muammar Gaddafi's rule, increasing international worries Libya is becoming a failed state. Three years after the war, Libya's fragile government and nascent army are unable to control heavily armed brigades of ex-rebels who refuse to disband and have allied themselves with competing political factions to become powerbrokers. HMS . Enterprise's commanding officer, Cdr Mark Vartan, said: 'This is a . period of uncertainty for UK citizens based in Libya but we have been . proud to play our part in enabling their move to safety. 'My . ship's company have adapted to the challenge superbly, making as much . space as possible and providing essential food, shelter and security for . the journey.' Young passengers: Two infants are carried off the ship behind their mother. They were among 12 infants on board the vessel . Grasp: A child looks at a crew member as he carries him onto the Grand Harbour . Luggage: A pushchair is unloaded from the ship which transported the evacuees amid the worsening security situation in Libya . Young passenger: A crew member bends down to tie up the shoelaces of a young girl who was on board the ship . Welcome: Evacuees smile as they are handed bottles of water on their arrival . Defence . Secretary Michael Fallon said: 'I thank the crew of HMS Enterprise for . their support and professionalism in carrying out this important task.' Between 100 . and 300 Britons are said to remain in Libya. Many of the consular staff . were evacuated last Monday but the ambassador and core staff remained, . although they will now also return to the UK. The precarious situation in Libya was laid bare last week when a British Embassy convoy in Libya came under fire. Embassy . staff escaped unscathed from the attack which occurred on Sunday . between Tripoli and Zawiya, a city in northwestern Libya. Guided: A female member of the Navy personnel carries a young boy with one arm and holds the hand of girl as she walks along the Grand Harbour . Docking: A worker prepares to catch a rope thrown from the British Royal Navy ship HMS Enterprise as it arrives at Valletta's Grand Harbour . Safety: An evacuee carries documents after disembarking from the HMS Enterprise in Malta . Protection: A British Royal Marine disarms a general-purpose machine gun on board the HMS Enterprise as it arrives at the Mediterranean . Security: The St George's Ensign flies above the HMS Enterprise as Navy personnel disarm a machine gun on deck . Michael Aron, the UK's ambassador to Libya, wrote on Twitter: 'There was an attempted carjacking on a British Embassy convoy this morning. Shots were fired at our vehicles but all staff safe.' The evacuation comes as 22 people died in a day of militia fighting for control of the international airport in the capital, a spokesman for Libya's interim government said. In a statement early today, it said 'heavily armed groups' have shelled 'civilian targets' endangering thousands of citizens and leaving hundreds of families displaced. Transfer: Yesterday the Britons were taken to the survey ship from Tripoli, Libya, in a smaller vessel before making their way to sanctuary in Malta . Journey: A photo released by the Ministry of Defence shows the vessel alongside the HMS Enterprise off the Libyan coast . Islamic militiamen are seen during a clash near Tripoli International Airport . Crisis in Libya yesterday . A fighter from Zintan brigade watches as smoke rises after rockets fired by one of Libya's militias struck and ignited a fuel tank in Tripoli yesterday. 22 people have died in a single day of fighting . Flames from the fuel depot light the night sky. In the last few days, sporadic fighting between rival militias has spread northwards in capital Tripoli, including into the area where the British embassy is situated . Islamist militias from the coastal city of Misrata led the assault on airport, seeking to seize it from militias from the mountain town of Zintan. The 22 people were killed yesterday alone, the latest casualties in fighting that has claimed more than 200 lives in recent weeks. Since the overthrow in 2011 of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi by rebels supported by British and French air strikes, the north African country has descended into a state of lawlessness as rival militias struggle for power and wealth. Escape: Chinese evacuees from Libya arrive at Piraeus port in Athens, Greece . Chinese Ambassador to Greece Zou Xiaoli (in suit) welcomes his countrymen ashore . On Saturday a Greek naval frigate evacuated embassy staff and nearly 200 people from Greece, China and other countries . In the last few days, sporadic fighting between rival militias has spread northwards in Tripoli, including into the area where the British embassy is situated. The violence across Libya has prompted the closure of several foreign missions and the withdrawal of diplomats. On Saturday a Greek naval frigate evacuated embassy staff and nearly 200 people from Greece, China and other countries. Tourists have been advised against all travel to the country and the Foreign Office said an assisted departure was being prepared. Any Britons unable to take advantage of this opportunity to leave have been told they should find their way home on commercial flights, with limited departures from Misrata and Maitega airports. HMS Enterprise was launched at Appledore in Devon in 2002 and is designed to carry out a wide range of survey work, including support to submarine and amphibious operations. Since her first operational overseas deployment to the Mediterranean in late 2004, Enterprise has worked in the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin, through West Africa to the Republic of South Africa, and off Iraq. She is the second Royal Navy ship to use azimuth thrusters, where the propellers are part of a swivelling pod, allowing for precise manoeuvring. On Wednesday, British Airways suspended flights to and from Tripoli up to and including Tuesday due to the security situation at the country's main international airport. An FCO spokesman added: 'Fighting has intensified in Tripoli, including around the British Embassy compounds. 'In the light of the deteriorating security situation, we are taking steps temporarily to suspend operations at the British Embassy in Tripoli after the planned assisted departure of British nationals. 'The UK Government has changed its travel advice to reflect the ongoing security situation. 'We advise against all travel to Libya and urge British nationals in Libya to leave through commercially available means. 'The British Embassy is arranging an assisted departure for British nationals. Places are limited and requests for travel will be strictly prioritised. 'We plan temporarily to suspend operations at the British Embassy following the assisted departure. We will not be able to offer consular assistance after August 4.' On September 11 2012 U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans - information management officer Sean Smith, and former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods - were killed in a six-hour, commando-style attack on the U.S. Mission in the Libyan city, for which Al Qaeda in North Africa and Islamist militia Ansar al-Sharia were implicated.
### SUMMARY:
| HMS Enterprise has arrived at the Grand Harbour in Valletta .
Staff evacuated from the British embassy in Tripoli disembarked to safety .
Were removed as the security conditions in the country continue to worsen .
Between 100 and 300 Britons remain in Libya where fighting has intensified as rival militias vie for for power . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
The 3,650-year old skeleton of King Senebkay has revealed the pharaoh died a violent death. Senebkay lived at a time when rulers battled for power before the rise of Egypt’s New Kingdom in 1,550 BC and his skeleton shows 18 injuries caused by axes. Injuries to his skull, lower back and ankles, suggest he was attacked while on his horse and hacked at with the deadly weapon - dying from blows to the head. The 3,650-year old skeleton of King Senebkay (pictured right) has revealed the pharaoh died a violent death from blows to the head with axes. Archaeologists uncovered the tomb, complete with paintings, last year . The tomb of Senebkay was unearthed at the Abydos archaeological site, near the city of Sohag, Egypt last year and was identified by an inscription on the wall of this burial chamber. It was the first time that any trace of the pharaoh was found, who was only previously known about by fragments of his name on an ancient list of Egyptian rulers. Now, archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania, who came across the tomb, have revealed how the pharaoh probably died. Injuries to the skull, as well as vertical cuts on the ankles, feet and lower back, suggest the king was killed in a battle and was aged between 35 and 49 when he died, Luxor Times Magazine reported. Archaeologists from the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and the University of Pennsylvania identified the tomb of Senebkay by drawings on the wall of his burial chamber (pictured), which was unearthed in the Abydos archaeological site last year . Until this discovery, the pharaoh called Senebkay was largely unknown to historians. He ruled over a forgotten Abydos dynasty around 1,650BC. His tomb, together with an ancient cataloguing of Egyptian rulers called the Turin King List, suggests that Senebkay was the first or second of a series of approximately 20 as-yet-undiscovered pharaohs that ruled over a small kingdom. He was killed by axe blows to the head, his skeletal remains reveal. It’s thought he was between the ages of 35 and 49 when he died. The angle and direction of the lacerations show he must have been higher up than his attackers when the struck him with axes. It is likely that the king was on horseback and blows to his back and legs caused him to fall to the ground, where his enemies brutally struck his head until he died, far from his home. Josef Wegner of the university, who led the dig, said the injuries suggest that the king died a violent death. He was a ruler of Abydos for just four and a half years, at a time when dominant families battled for control of land. The angle and direction of the lacerations show he must have been higher up than his attackers when they cut him with axes. It is likely that the king was on horseback and blows to his back and legs caused him to fall to the ground, where his enemies brutally struck his head until he died, far from his home. King Senebkay’s body is believed to have been mummified a long time after his death. Historical sources suggest that Egyptians were skilful horsemen during the Second Intermediate Period, even though horses were not commonly used in battle. Dr Youssef Khalifa, head of Ancient Egypt department, said the king’s pelvic and leg bones suggest he was used to riding horses regularly. ‘It is not clear yet if Senebkay died in a battle against the Hyksos, who were occupying Lower Egypt at that time, or not,’ he said. ‘If future studies proved it so this will make him the first warrior king who fought for liberation even before Senakhtenre’ the founder of 17th Dynasty and the grandfather of Ahmos who defeated the Hyksos.’ The lost tomb (pictured) was discovered by a team of archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania, who came across it while excavating the tomb of pharaoh Sobekhotep I, who was buried nearby . The tomb was discovered at the Abydos site (pictured) near Sohag in Egypt and could lead to more royal tombs being unearthed. Archaeologists came across the tomb while excavating the final resting place of pharaoh Sobekhotep I, who was buried nearby . Archaeologists came across the tomb while excavating the final resting place of pharaoh Sobekhotep I, who was buried nearby. Senebkay’s final resting place appears to have been plundered because the skeleton is pulled apart, but it’s estimated he was five ft 10 inches (1.78metres) tall. Dr Wegner believes the find could lead to the discovery of more pharaohs and could help piece together the gaps in knowledge about the rulers of Ancient Egypt. ‘We discovered an unknown king plus a lost dynasty. It looks likely that all of the 16 kings are all buried there,’ he said. ‘We now have the tomb for first or second king of this dynasty. There should be a whole series of the others.’ The same team of archaeologists discovered a vast 3,800-year-old quartzite sarcophagus, which belongs to a little-known 13th dynasty king, Sobekhotep I. It was discovered by an international team of researchers who deciphered inscriptions to link it to its owner . Describing the moment the archaeologists came across the tomb, he explained that they found the entrance first, which led them down to the burial chamber, made of limestone and painted with cartouches of the pharaoh. ‘In Abydos there is lots of sand and everything is deeply buried. You can dig day after day, and then this….We were standing there looking dumbfounded at the colourful wall decoration,’ he said. While robbers had stripped the tomb, a re-used burial chest had the engraving of the ruler’s name on the wood. The experts said the re-use of materials suggests a lack of stability and wealth at a time when the kingdom was fragmented. A year before King Sebekay's tomb was found, a huge pink 3,800-year-old quartzite sarcophagus was unearthed. It belongs to a little-known 13th Dynasty king called Sobekhotep I, according to the Egyptian government. The 60 tonne sarcophagus was discovered by the same team of archaeologists at the Abydos site. A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry deciphered stone pieces inscribed with the pharaoh’s name, which also show him sitting on a throne, to link the tomb to its owner. ‘He is likely the first who ruled Egypt at the start of the 13th Dynasty during the second intermediate period,’ the minister said. King Sobekhotep I is thought to have ruled the 13th Dynasty but little is known about him and his kingdom or even when the dynasty began exactly, which makes the discovery particularly important. Historians believe that it began sometime between 1803BC and 1781BC but they are keen to establish a precise date. He is thought to have ruled for almost five years, which was ‘the longest rule at this time’ according to ministry official Ayman El-Damarani. Archaeologists discovered a connection between the tombs of Sobekhotep I and Sebebkay. A chest made of cedar wood that contained Senebkay’s organs, was excavated by Kevin Cahail, a PhD student in Egyptology at the university. The box had been gilded, but ancient tomb robbers had removed the gold, uncovering an inscription of a king’s name. But the name was Sobekhotep’s, not Senebkay’s. Dr Wegner and Mr Cahail realised that objects from Sobekhotep’s tomb had been repurposed to bury Senebkay.
### SUMMARY:
| The 3,650-year old skeleton of King Senebkay revealed 18 injuries by axes .
Include blows to the skull and vertical cuts on the ankles and lower back .
Pharaoh ruled the 13th Dynasty but little was known about him .
It's thought he came off his horse after the attack began and killed by brutal blows to his head, dying far from his home .
His tomb was found at the Abydos archaeological site, near Sohag, Egypt . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Washington (CNN) -- Leaders of the different branches of the U.S. armed forces gave sharply divergent answers to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Friday when asked whether the military's controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy should be repealed, and what the consequences of a repeal might be. They appeared united, however, in their belief that a repeal would be better handled if ordered by congressional legislation rather than a ruling from the courts. The strongest resistance to allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly came from Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos, who warned of potentially strong repercussions in terms of unit cohesion. "If the law is changed, successfully implementing repeal and assimilating openly homosexual Marines into the tightly woven fabric of our combat units has strong potential for disruption at the small unit level, as it will no doubt divert leadership attention away from an almost singular focus of preparing units for combat," Amos told the committee members. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey said a repeal of the policy could be implemented with a "moderate risk to our military effectiveness and the long-term health of the force." "I believe the law should be repealed eventually," he said, but the question "is one of timing." Casey said he "would not recommend going forward at this time, given everything the Army has on its plate." Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said he believes the law should be repealed "at some point ... perhaps 2012" but it would not be prudent to pursue "full implementation (of a repeal) in the near-term." Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead recommended a repeal of the policy, noting that 76% of sailors are either neutral or feel positively about a repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp noted that a majority of members in his branch of the service appeared not have a problem with a repeal, but that "prudence dictates" proceeding with caution. Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he believes implementation of a repeal would involve a "manageable risk with regard to military effectiveness." even in light of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In fact, Cartwright argued, the ongoing conflicts may make a repeal of the policy easier. During a conflict, members of the military "rely on the warrior ethos" of their fellow soldiers, and lifestyle concerns are diminished. The service chiefs were summoned to testify in the wake of a newly released Pentagon study which concluded that allowing openly gay or lesbian troops to serve in the military would have little lasting impact on the U.S. armed forces. Opposition to the change, however, appeared to be much higher in Army and Marine combat units than in the military as a whole. Arizona Sen. John McCain, the committee's top Republican, said at Friday's hearing that the divergent military opinions reinforced his view that more debate is warranted. He also predicted that 41 other senators -- enough to prevent the issue from coming up for a final Senate vote -- would oppose legislation repealing "don't ask, don't tell." "Our economy is in the tank and the American people want that issue addressed," McCain said, referencing GOP demands to extend the Bush tax cuts before Congress tackles other issues. "And the military is functioning in the most efficient, most professional, most courageous fashion than at any time in our history. ... We shouldn't be exercising a rush to judgment." But Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, the Democratic chairman of the committee, said he remains a staunch of advocate of a repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." Levin said there was greater resistance to allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the British and Canadian militaries than there is in U.S. armed forces today. But now, he noted, gays and lesbians are allowed to serve openly in both countries, and there has been "no evidence" of diminished combat effectiveness as a result. One key GOP moderate -- Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown -- announced his intention Friday to support a repeal. "When a soldier answers the call to serve, and risks life or limb, it has never mattered to me whether they are gay or straight," Brown said. "Having reviewed the Pentagon report, having spoken to active and retired military service members, and having discussed the matter privately with Defense Secretary (Robert) Gates and others, I accept the findings of the report and support repeal based on (Gates') recommendations that repeal will be implemented only when the battle effectiveness of the forces is assured and proper preparations have been completed." President Barack Obama, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen and Gates all support a repeal of the policy. Mullen told the Armed Services Committee Thursday that he believes that even among those combat forces, a transition to a new law is possible. "Should repeal occur, some soldiers and Marines may want separate shower facilities. Some may ask for different berthing. Some may even quit the service. We'll deal with that. But I believe, and history tells, that most of them will put aside personal proclivities for something larger than themselves and for each other," he said. With just weeks left for this Congress, the calendar could be the biggest factor weighing on whether the law is repealed or upheld. The House has already approved the repeal. Now, with Armed Service Committee hearings over, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, must decide whether to keep legislative language calling for a repeal in a larger Defense authorization bill or strip it off for a separate vote. Despite McCain's assertions, some Democrats have expressed cautious optimism they can find the 60 votes needed to overcome a potential Senate GOP filibuster against the measure. Gay rights groups are pressuring Democratic leaders to find a way to pass the repeal before the end of the year. Once more conservative Republicans take over the House and pick up several seats in the Senate in January, there will be little chance to change the current policy, they warn. GOP calls for more debate, many of them argue, are little more than another way to kill the measure. "I think given the testimony by members of the military that they still have serious reservations about repealing 'don't ask, don't tell,' Democrats have to be very concerned about the chances for a full repeal this session," said Wendy Schiller, a Brown University political scientist. "The last thing they need, and more acutely the last thing President Obama needs, is a long protracted filibuster by the Republicans on this issue to close out the lame duck session." A top congressional analyst, the Brookings Institution's Thomas Mann, said that there are likely enough votes in the Senate to repeal "don't ask, don't tell" and that "the only hurdle, and it's a big one, is time." "Cloture takes a lot of time and this is only one of many issues on the plate of the lame duck," said Mann, referring to the procedure by which the Senate ends debate on legislation. "If it goes over to the next Congress, it will likely take a serious threat of judicial action against (don't ask, don't tell) to get it to move." Schiller contended that, for supporters of a repeal, "what is daunting is the real possibility that 'don't ask, don't tell' falls victim to presidential politics." "Given a choice between emphasizing and winning policy battles on the economy and allowing gays to serve openly in the military, the good money bet is on the economy," she said. "If Obama is worried about getting independents and moderate Democrats back into the fold for 2012, he may give up the fight only because that core constituency will want to see all of his energy devoted to the economy and not distracted by what the public sees as essentially a gay rights issue." But on the other hand, Schiller pointed out, "what 2010 showed is that if the Democratic base stays home, Obama can't win re-election. So how tied is the Democratic base to repealing the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy? That is the $64,000 question." CNN's Alan Silverleib contributed to this report .
### SUMMARY:
| Sen. Scott Brown, R-Massachusetts, says he supports a repeal .
McCain predicts that over 40 senators will oppose a bill repealing "don't ask, don't tell"
Different service leaders present different views on repeal .
The head of the Marine Corps appeared most resistant to repealing the policy . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Moscow (CNN) -- The man claiming responsibility for last month's deadly bombing at Moscow's main international airport is the self-declared mastermind behind numerous terrorist attacks and is described by the U.S. government as "the leader of the Chechen insurgency." Doku Umarov, who says he ordered the airport blast that killed 36 people, is the head of the Caucasus Emirate, a Chechen Islamic jihadist group. In a video message posted on a website that regularly carries messages from Chechen rebels, Umarov said the message was recorded on January 24 -- the day of the suicide bombing at the airport. He wore camouflage combat fatigues and a black skullcap. "The special operation was done in accordance with my order. Similar special operations will be taking place in the future," he said in Russian. In a separate message posted over the weekend, Umarov vowed to deliver "a year of blood and tears" to Russia, saying that there were dozens of rebels prepared to carry out attacks. "I won't tell you there are hundreds of us prepared for jihad. But 50 or 60, God willing, we will find," said Umarov. "Those operations will be conducted monthly or weekly, as Allah allows us," he said. Umarov himself once expressly opposed terrorism. Now, he is designated by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist. "The emergence of Umarov as the leader of the Chechen insurgency intensified the split between national separatists and radical jihadists and led to a movement seeking to create an Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus with Umarov as the Emir," the department website says. "Umarov claimed responsibility for masterminding attacks in both Russia and the Caucasus region," including the 2009 Nevsky Express train derailment that killed 28 people and the 2010 Moscow subway bombings, which killed 40, the State Department says. In a statement in June 2010, the department's coordinator for counterterrorism, Daniel Benjamin, said Umarov poses threats to the United States and Russia and that his attacks "illustrate the global nature of the terrorist problem we face today." The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, part of the U.S. federal government, notes that the Caucasus Emirate cooperates with al Qaeda and has declared jihad on the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Israel. In Moscow, investigators say they have identified the suspected suicide bomber behind the airport attack as a 20-year-old man from the North Caucasus region. Alexander Bortnikov, the head of Russia's Federal Security Service, has refused to publicly name the suspect or identify his specific origin. But he told Russian state television the alleged bomber was under the influence of drugs before the attack. "Biological studies revealed the presence of a huge amount of highly potent narcotic and psychotropic substances in parts of the suicide bomber's body," Bortnikov said. Sitting beneath a black flag and flanked by two other bearded rebels in the message posted first, Umarov named the young man to his left as "Mujahedeen Seifullah." He said the man was being sent on a mission, although it is not clear from the video if this was the suspected Moscow airport bomber, or when the message was recorded. "I would like Putin and Medvedev and all other kaffirs and enemies to understand that there are many of us who will follow in our footsteps and give their lives for Allah," Umarov said. Umarov, thought to be 46 years old, is a seasoned fighter who has survived more than three years as the self-styled leader of the Caucasus Emirate despite a concerted campaign by Russian special forces to kill him. His video appearances reveal a stocky man with craggy features and a dense beard. Umarov was born in southern Chechnya in 1964, according to Chechen websites, and describes his family as part of the "intelligentsia." He came of age as the separatist campaign against Russian rule began to take root and joined the insurgency when Boris Yeltsin sent troops into the region in 1994. A peace deal reached with the Russian government briefly interrupted the Chechen revolt, with leading separatists -- including Umarov -- taking up positions in government. But it was a fragile truce and after a series of bomb attacks in Russia in 1999, Moscow sent its troops back into Chechnya. Umarov and others took up arms again. Russia's brutal military campaign began in 2000, soon after Vladimir Putin became president, and was widely criticized by human rights groups. In 2003, Human Rights Watch accused Russian forces of "committing hundreds of forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and widespread acts of torture and ill-treatment" in Chechnya. David Satter, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said the Russians "had little concern for civilian casualties and used all kinds of weapons in the second war they hadn't used previously." It changed the nature and the goals of the Chechen revolt. The Chechen rebellion began morphing into a jihad to liberate the Muslim lands of the Caucasus. Chechnya is about 95% Muslim. Satter said Moscow had "effectively created the conditions for Islamic terrorism while systematically eliminating those with whom it might have had a dialogue." In 2005, Umarov gave a rare interview to Radio Free Europe. He had scars on his lips and chin and walked with a limp, apparently after stepping on a landmine. "Everything they (the Russians) are doing in Chechnya is done to break the human spirit, to make people lose their humanity. And they are having considerable success with the horrific things they are doing to people," he said. The U.S. State Department said that in 2005, Chechen security forces seized Umarov's relatives "including his father, wife, and six month old son. They later released the wife and child, but the father's location remained unknown. In August 2005 security forces also detained Doku Umarov's sister, Natasha Khumadova." In November 2007, Umarov declared himself the emir of the Caucasus. In a proclamation published on a Chechen jihadist website, he declared, "It was my destiny to lead the Jihad. ... I will lead and organize Jihad according to the understanding, given to me by Allah." He began to embrace terrorism and revived the Riyad-us-Saliheen brigade for high-profile suicide missions. It had previously been involved in the siege of a school in Beslan and the takeover of a Moscow theater, both of which ended with heavy loss of life. Andrew Kuchins of the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Georgetown University said the Caucasus Emirate's targets have shown up Russian weaknesses. "These are really key transport infrastructure links that you would think would be under the highest protection possible," he said. Umarov's links with other jihadist groups, and in particular al Qaeda, have been the subject of much speculation but little certainty. Chechens have fought with al Qaeda in Afghanistan, and, along with other Muslims from central Asia, are said to have joined forces with the Taliban in northern Afghanistan. The Russian authorities say al Qaeda operatives are involved in the north Caucasus. Beyond spectacular attacks designed to bring terror to the Russian people, most analysts say the insurgents are unable to challenge the authority of the Russian state. "They're too loosely organized, the sources of the grievances of many of the groups are too different, they are more locally based," Kuchins said. But he sees no end to the instability in the northern Caucasus. "It's like a classic frontier zone, like the FATA (the tribal areas) in Pakistan," he said. "It's very difficult to govern, and it's becoming more unstable, and that zone of instability is growing." CNN's Tim Lister and Matthew Chance contributed to this report .
### SUMMARY:
| NEW: Caucasus Emirate has also declared jihad on the U.S., UK, and Israel .
NEW: Security forces once seized Umarov's 6-month-old son .
The U.S. calls Umarov the leader of the Chechen insurgency .
Umarov vows to find 50 or 60 "prepared for jihad" |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- Of all things to steal, you'd think love letters would be low on the list. But that's exactly what thieves took from Lloyd and Marian Michael -- the couple's sweet letters and the sleeping memories they stirred. "We were just overwhelmed ... so sad," said Marian, 88, about the day they discovered them missing. Still, she and Lloyd, 89, were never the type for self-pity. What could they do? They moved on. Then, several decades later, the Michaels got a strange message on their answering machine. The caller, a military veteran, had painstakingly tracked them down after his father's death. He said he had news about their letters. "We thought, 'Oh, it must be a mistake,' " Marian said. It wasn't. In love and war . Lloyd and Marian met at a California high school in the 1940s, when Bing Crosby was big, a stamp cost 3 cents, and war raged around the world. For their first date, Lloyd took Marian to a dance at a civic center. He told his family that night he'd found his girl. Marian took some convincing, but Lloyd's persistence paid off. "I think that the war situation was so intense at that time," she said. "It was just important for him to find a girlfriend and for me to find a boyfriend. That's what we were, girl- and boyfriend." They married on December 31, 1942, just about a year after the attack on Pearl Harbor that drew the United States into World War II. Lloyd had joined the U.S. Army Air Forces by that point, and had to get a weekend pass for the wedding. They were madly in love and eager to start their new life, but the war had plans of its own. After the wedding, the Army sent Lloyd to Mississippi for aircraft mechanic training, then back to California and on to New Jersey before he deployed to Europe, where Marian could not follow. To stay connected, the newlyweds wrote each other as often as they could -- open, affectionate letters describing how much they missed each other and longed to be together. "Darling, I can hear Bing (Crosby) singing over the loudspeaker," wrote Lloyd on July 6, 1944. "He is singing 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon.' Boy, he can really sing. Marian, remember the old moon down in Mississippi ... "That moon means more than ever to me now. Just right when I got into my foxhole, I could look out and see that old moon shining so very bright. It was so very full. I got a very warm feeling inside of me just sitting there, laying there, and looking at it, and thinking of you." Lloyd later explained the motif of the moon: "We had made a commitment when we left that we'd kiss the moon at night." "If you think about it ... the moon, wherever you're at, the other party will see that same moon that day," he said. "That moon would be over her." The couple made other promises too. Before Lloyd left, he and Marian bought identical maps of Europe. In his letters, Lloyd wrote the position on his map that matched, more or less, where he was. The censors never cracked their code. Lloyd was deployed overseas for 27 months. He served in England, Germany, Belgium and France, arriving in Normandy just 12 days after the historic invasion. After the war, he returned to California. He and Marian made a life in Alta Loma, outside Los Angeles, where they raised four children. The Michaels locked their love letters in a trunk for safekeeping, along with the rest of Lloyd's war memorabilia. They put the trunk in a shed. But sometime in the late 1960s, or early 1970s -- the Michaels aren't sure -- someone gutted their shed, snatching the trunk and everything in it. "We just accepted that they were gone forever, probably trashed. We never dreamed we'd ever see them," Marian said. "And when we had this message from this young man on the phone we just couldn't believe it." A mystery man . The man at the other end of the line had a plan when he dialed the Michaels' phone last fall. Using Lloyd's Army serial number, he had tracked the couple down. Apparently, there had been a number of men with the name Lloyd Michael in the service. But there was just one with a wife named Marian. He asked the Michaels to meet at a nearby In-N-Out Burger. It was about 12:30 in the afternoon when they pulled into the parking lot. "He undoubtedly saw two old, gray-haired people walk right in, and got out of his car and walked over and said: 'Are you Lloyd Michael?' " Lloyd said. "Handed me this big box he had of our letters." The man told the Michaels he had come across their correspondence as he was going through his father's things. His father, a stamp collector, had died. Maybe his father bought the letters, hoping their stamps would be worth something one day. But who knows? The man wasn't saying much, and the Michaels didn't want to pry. "I don't want to put him through that," Lloyd said. "He just did something that was a marvelous thing for him to do." As quickly as he entered the Michaels' lives, the man left. They tried to buy his lunch. But he wouldn't take a thing. Later, they sent the man a box of candy for Christmas anyway. "He'd been a veteran himself, and he had a boy that had been in either Iraq or Afghanistan and had just returned home. So he knew what letters meant to him, his family -- the same thing," Lloyd said. "He just thought ... they weren't his, and he wanted to get them back to where they belong." 'Sweetheart, all my life is yours' The letters are written in tiny print, many on thin onion skin paper. Most have upside down stamps, which was the Michaels' way of saying: "I love you." They got back 241 letters, which they say is just a fraction of the many hundreds they sent each other over the years. As they read through their letters, they often have to stop on account of tears, both happy and sad. Reading one out loud, Marian's voice broke. The emotion was raw, as if she was reading the letter for the first time and still waiting and worrying for a husband in harm's way. "They're pretty difficult for us to read. It just brings back all the agony, and the worry, and the concern," she said. Though some letters were serious, others were playful. The Michaels poked gentle fun at themselves and each other, and imagined what they were going to do when the war was over. They shared the sort of small details that make up a life. "Guess what we're going to have for supper!" Marian wrote in a letter dated December 8, 1944. "It's really going to be a treat because we haven't had any for so long. We're going to have bacon! Boy, now that's really something in this neck of the woods. ... Pork is a luxury these days." Though times were tough and being separated was hard, Lloyd said he and Marian never really wrote about their problems. "That would just burden the other party," he said. "We were always trying to give the best that we had." Reading from her December 8, 1944, letter, Marian hints at the other reason why Lloyd said they initially kept their letters under lock and key -- to keep their children's prying eyes out of their most private exchanges: . "Darling, I love you more every day. It seems as if I'm wanting your caresses more and more, and I'm wanting your kisses more ... I'm wanting you more and more. Sweetheart, all my life is yours." Her promise proved true. Surrounded by family and friends, the Michaels celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in December, shortly after they were reunited with their letters. Where the rest are is anyone's guess, but they are grateful they got back what they did. "It's bringing back all the memories. But it can't draw the two of us any closer than we are," Lloyd said. "We've been up and down life -- been to the top of it and down to the bottom. We're just a couple determined to make the best out of our lives."
### SUMMARY:
| Lloyd and Marian Michael married in December 1942, a year after the U.S. joined WW II .
During Lloyd's deployment to Europe, the couple wrote hundreds of letters to each other .
More than 40 years ago, those letters were stolen .
Exactly who took them, and why, remains a mystery . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- President Barack Obama said Friday that children from communities wracked by poverty and violence need help from the government, schools, family and clergy to have a chance to climb "ladders of opportunity" to reach the middle class and beyond. Speaking at a Chicago high school near where he used to live, Obama cited gun violence that killed 443 people in the city last year as one reason why children need community wide support to help them believe they can improve their lives through education and hard work. "In too many neighborhoods today, whether here in Chicago or the farthest reaches of rural America, it can feel like, for a lot of young people, the future only extends to the next street corner or the outskirts of town," he said, adding "that no matter how much you work or how hard you try, your destiny was determined the moment you were born." Making his third campaign-style appearance in three days, Obama again emphasized proposals from Tuesday's State of the Union address, such as raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour and providing good pre-schooling for every child as necessary to help people better themselves. The president also called for Congress to vote on a package of gun proposals aimed at decreasing shootings like ones that occur daily on streets and in homes, as well as mass killings in recent months at a school, a movie theater and even a place of worship. According to the Centers of Disease Control, there were 11,078 homicides by firearm in the United States in 2010, and 7,220 of the victims -- 65% -- were aged 15-34. In addition, 6,151 -- or 56% -- were African American, a demographic that comprises about 13% of the total U.S. population. "This is not just a gun issue," he continued. "It's also an issue of the kinds of communities that we're building, and for that we all share responsibility as citizens to fix it." It all starts at home, the president said, calling "strong, stable families" and "loving, supportive parents" the most important ingredients for reducing violence. Noting he was raised by a single mother, he called for promoting marriage and encouraging fatherhood, saying he wished he had a father around and involved when he was a boy. "By the way, that's all kinds of parents," he added, drawing applause when he specified "it includes gay or straight parents." He acknowledged the challenge, saying "it will not be easy, but it can be done." "No solution we offer will be perfect," he said. "But perfection has never been our goal. Our goal has been to try and make whatever difference we can." Obama headed to his hometown after a White House ceremony Friday morning to award the Presidential Citizens Medal -- the nation's second-highest civilian honor -- to 18 people. They included posthumous honors for six educators killed along with 20 first-graders in December's Connecticut school massacre. The president hugged family members of the slain teachers and administrators from Sandy Hook Elementary School in presenting the medals, saying: "We could not be more grateful to your loved ones, who gave everything they had" for the children in their care. In his remarks later at Chicago's Hyde Park Academy High School, Obama mentioned Hadiya Pendleton, 15, who was killed by gunfire in the city last month after returning from taking part in inaugural activities in Washington. Pendleton's parents were in the crowd Friday, just as they were at the State of the Union as guests of first lady Michelle Obama, who attended Hadiya's funeral. The president said his package of gun measures was intended to save young lives and that "they deserve a vote," repeating the phrase a few times as he did in Tuesday's address at the Capitol. Chicago's record murder rate: Don't blame guns alone . Fierce opposition by the National Rifle Association makes passage of any significant gun legislation uncertain. In response to Obama's State of the Union address, the NRA has sought to discredit the motives and impacts of legislation proposed by the president and Democrats. "They only care about their decades-old gun control agenda — ban every gun they can, tax every gun sold and register every gun owner," NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre said in a statement on Thursday. "This president has taken the art of public deception and manipulation to a whole new level." Obama seeks an updated version of the 1994 assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004, that would prevent the manufacture and sale of some semi-automatic rifles modeled after fully automatic assault weapons. Obama's emotional plea might lead to vote on guns . He also proposes limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds, expanding background checks to all gun transactions, including sales at gun shows. In addition, the president wants Congress to take steps to better screen people with mental illnesses, so they cannot obtain weapons. Legislation proposed so far also would crack down on so-called straw purchases, in which a legal buyer purchases weapons for distribution to non-legal buyers. The NRA and other opponents argue the Democratic proposals are veiled attempts to limit gun ownership and eventually take away weapons, and therefore violate the constitutional right to bear arms. In particular, opponents contend the proposed ban on semi-automatic rifles focuses on a weapon used in a tiny percentage of killings and other gun violence. Opinion: Chicago's violence took my dad, friends . Harold Pollack, co-director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, confirmed on Friday that so-called assault weapons targeted by the proposed ban account for a small fraction of murders in the United States. However, Pollack said the ban proposed by Obama can help reduce gun violence, especially what he called the psychologically impactful mass shootings such as the Newtown attack in which a lone gunman used a Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle. The combination of such weapons with high-capacity magazines "facilitates mass homicides," Pollack told CNN, noting that professional criminals generally don't use such rifles that look like military weapons. "The people who do use these weapons are often the most dangerous or most sociopathic," Pollack said. The Newtown shooter, a 20-year-old man living with his mother, took her legally owned guns and killed her before going to the school to open fire on students and teachers. New player in gun control ad wars . To Pollack, such a mass killing -- while relatively rare -- "traumatizes communities and the entire society in a way that demands attention." Studies show that street crime such as shooting deaths cost communities more than lives, Pollack said, citing emergency medical services and criminal investigation as tangible costs along with intangibles such as residents moving away to escape the threat. Obama also made that point in his remarks on Friday, saying "it's very hard to develop economically if people don't feel safe." In the aftermath of the Newtown shootings, the NRA called for putting armed guards at every school, rather than seeking to limit the ability of people to obtain weapons. It also wants tougher enforcement of existing gun laws, which Pollack agreed was necessary. "A lot of the underground gun market could be stopped if we treated guns with the same amount of determination and tools as the drug market," he said. For example, Pollack noted how committing a crime with a gun brought additional charges, and he called for similar treatment for illegally possessing a firearm. How we talk about guns in my Chicago classroom . In a Google Hangout online chat on Thursday, a participant asked Obama how renewing the assault weapons ban would help reduce gun violence caused primarily by handguns. He responded that his proposed package would affect handgun violence through the expanded background checks and cracking down on straw purchases. Renewing the weapons ban focused on what Obama called "weapons of war." "It's not going to solve every problem," the president continued, noting that some restrictions are already in place. "We can't purchase a grenade launcher from a store, although there may be some folks who want to buy those," he said. "And the reason is we think on balance, the Second Amendment does not automatically assume that any weapon that's available you can automatically purchase." NRA: Obama's State of the Union shows true colors on gun violence . CNN's Ashley Killough, Paul Steinhauser and Halimah Abdullah contributed to this report.
### SUMMARY:
| NEW: President Obama says gun violence harms economic growth .
He awards Presidential Citizens Medals posthumously to educators killed in Newtown .
The NRA opposes Obama's gun plan as a step toward unconstitutional restrictions .
An expert on urban crime says the president's package would help . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CareerBuilder.com) -- The ever-popular HBO series "Sex and the City" is rarely thought of as a workplace show, but if we take a closer look, we can see it is riddled with workplace clichés. Carrie Bradshaw, our main gal, somehow makes an extravagant living from one weekly newspaper column she often writes in her underwear while smoking what seems to be a smokeless cigarette inside her New York City apartment. Miranda Hobbes, a "busy" corporate lawyer never seems too busy for lunches, parties, shopping or long walks around the city with best pal Carrie. Charlotte York is a museum curator who rarely curates anything but her obsession with finding Mr. Right and having Mr. Right, Jr. Finally, but certainly not least in any sense of the word, Samantha Jones is a successful public relations practitioner despite a reputation the size of New York City itself. How ironic. Recently, over on the humor website, Cracked.com, one writer was fed up with the annoying clichés about women that keep popping up in movies. Tired of seeing gorgeous actresses playing the supposedly unattractive sister and an unrealistic emphasis on the glories of shopping, Christina H. penned "6 obnoxious assumptions Hollywood makes about women." The list is not only funny but also accurate if you stop and think about how many movies these annoying tropes occur in. It also got us thinking that Hollywood's not just inaccurately portraying women in movies or on TV -- it's off the mark about what it's like for the average worker in today's economy. As a result, we bring you 6 ways Hollywood lies to us about the workplace... 1. All the beautiful people . Ever notice all the long-legged, luscious haired, model-types walking around your office? What about all of the strapping, buff and impeccably dressed men? We didn't think so. Hollywood can often make it seem like unattractive, overweight or simple-humored people don't work. Skills? Who needs 'em, right? As long as you look good and utter funny, clever remarks all day, you're bound to grow business and make bushels of money. Sure statistics exist regarding attractive people getting hired over, promoted instead of or paid more than unattractive ones, but these people also have skills, education or the ability to move business in some significant way. A pretty face might help, but if that's all you got, it's not going to cut it in the real world. Hollywood examples: The In Crowd, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Grey's Anatomy . 2. Executives work? Nah... The Sarah Jessica Parker movie "I Don't Know How She Does It" in which she plays the role of an international fund manager, wife and mother, portrays an unrealistic schedule for such an executive-level job. Christina Gombar, author of fiction, memoir and literary criticism says, "No way, no way, no way, would an international fund manager get into work at 9 a.m. She would be working around the clock with her terminal from home. She wouldn't have time to shoot snarky emails to her female work mates. My pals who are traders can't talk to me on the phone and can only send the shortest texts." Beverly Solomon, a marketer, creative director and author based in Austin, Texas believes Hollywood portrays executives and entrepreneurs as "rich, uncaring crooks who made their fortunes by stepping on the regular people." Solomon, having worked for Diane Von Furstenberg and Ralph Lauren, looks down on this cliché, noting "both were great entrepreneurs who built their businesses with vision and tenacity, and are good people." Hollywood examples: You've Got Mail, Be Kind Rewind, Wall Street . 3. Your outfit? Anything goes! A suit? Slacks? Minimal cleavage? That's crazy talk. According to Hollywood, club wear is quite suitable for the workplace, and even welcome. How else do you plan to get that big promotion or spark up that all-appropriate office romance? Christina McCale, marketing academic, career coach and co-editor of "Start Your Internet Business: 36 Things You Need to Know" says, "While Millennials are changing a lot of things about the way we dress in the workplace, the reality is there is still a level of professionalism expected, and usually, that isn't reflected in 'Britney-esque' outfits." McCale cautions you should always remember who your boss is. "They're not likely to appreciate you wearing club wear to the office meeting. And even more likely -- they won't take you seriously." Hollywood examples: My Boss's Daughter, View from the Top, Legally Blonde . 4. Work is so easy . "The common [so-called 'webpreneurial'] storyline on TV shows or movies goes like this: person gets idea; they set up a website; next day money is rolling in," says McCale. Citing another unrealistic example, she adds, "Crime scene investigators strategically hold up flashlights, miraculously evidence appears. The reality is CSIs across the country aren't exactly running around in Louis Vuitton shoes. CSI work is hard, and many crime labs are not nearly as well equipped as the ones you see on TV." On TV and in movies, people make more witty remarks than they complete important projects. They hang out all day, barely ever sitting at a computer or on a phone call. Pranks are a regular part of the work day, and talking to the boss in the same way you talk to your poker buddies is acceptable. In today's economy, it's hard to imagine anyone's workday is that carefree. Hollywood examples: The Office, 30 Rock, Clerks, Will & Grace . 5. Money is no object . Wouldn't it be nice to live in a movie or TV sitcoms where you can be an out of work-actor, waitress or writer and still live in a lavish New York City apartment, buy $500 Louis Vuittons, sip on warm delights in a coffee shop all day, and barely ever go to work? TV shows like "Friends" and "Sex and the City," and characters like Rachel Green, Joey Tribbiani and Carrie Bradshaw give us the false hope that we can actually work little and live a lot. In a post-recession economy, many workers are deciding how often they can afford to buy coffee each week, but you don't see that on TV. Hollywood examples: The 40 Year Old Virgin, Cheers, The Real Housewives [of any city], Modern Family . 6. Your boss is a horrible person and/or an idiot . You've probably had a boss that wasn't the brightest bulb or even the nicest person you've ever met, but he or she wasn't necessarily worthless. In fact, unless you've had an unfortunate run of luck, your bosses probably ranged from OK people to great leaders. Your average Hollywood bosses, however, either exist to make your life miserable with outrageous demands and endless piles of work, or they're incompetent fools who can barely tie their own shoes much less manage a team. "While there are always going to be bosses who are -- "clueless" -- [it's] not a good idea to point that out to them," says McCale. "Worse, don't make how you -- "feel they are clueless" -- obvious in front of others." Hollywood examples: The Devil Wears Prada, Horrible Bosses, Nine to Five . Why it matters . "The shame is, many teens and 20-somethings base career choices on what they see on TV, and TV just isn't a great career counselor because shows aren't meant to do that," says McCale. "TV and movies are entertainment. They are geared for a shorter attention span, and to use elements of truth to propel a storyline forward." While work can be fun, and some companies might have a more informal working environment than others, you might not want to model your workplace behavior after what you see on TV and in movies. © CareerBuilder.com 2011. All rights reserved. The information contained in this article may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority.
### SUMMARY:
| Hollywood often misrepresents careers and the workplace in movies .
Work is portrayed as easy or non-existent, and any outfit is appropriate .
This can have a negative effect on younger generations deciding on careers . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- In parts of France, he is regarded as sailing's answer to David Beckham, but Alex Thomson is just happy to be alive rather than fretting about his potential celebrity status. Eight years ago Thomson was quietly lying in the bunk of his yacht in the early hours of a Thursday morning listening to his iPod when his near-death experience began. In the heart of the Southern Ocean, 1,000 miles from the nearest land, South Africa, his boat suddenly pitched completely to its side. With his keel broken, Thomson began his battle to stay alive. "Things go through your mind like 'is this it?'" he recalls of what remains the biggest low of his career during the Velux 5 Oceans race in 2006. "But then survival kicks in. What else are you going to do? Everyone else says 'that's amazing' but you don't have a choice. No one else is going to help you." Except someone did come to his aid -- his sailing nemesis Mike Golding, with whom Thomson had spectacularly fallen out with on the eve of the race. Thomson had opted not to finish the prologue race while leading -- superstitiously believing that to do so would scupper his chances of overall victory. No prologue winner had ever won the race. It meant that Golding, who was also planning a similar strategy, took the win -- and was left fuming. "He felt that I'd stitched him up on purpose," says Thomson. "Words were said, a slanging match ensued and he called me a 'jumped-up little pr**k.'" Despite the pair's spat, Golding gave up his own race ambitions -- he was second at the time -- to rescue a sailor in need. It took Golding a further 10 hours to reach Thomson, before the pair opted -- in the sleet and snow -- to undertake the rescue at first light. Wearing his survival suit, Thomson jumped ship into his life raft amid a 15-foot swell approaching the eye of a storm. Three times, Golding tried to undertake the high speed and treacherous rescue. Only to fail three times. During the fourth attempt, which was ultimately successful, Thomson broke his arm as he held on to some webbing. "I remember an albatross sat in the water next to me in the life raft as I left myself go from the boat," says Thomson. "The albatross felt like a mascot -- it gave me a warm feeling. Mike felt all the responsibility on him and he saw it differently -- he felt like it was a vulture to him." The pair hugged before collapsing, both exhausted on the deck before Thomson went into shock. Golding dressed his wounds and the pair had a cup of coffee before a 40-knot icy gust hit the boat resulting in the mast on Golding's yacht breaking. "I remember saying 'I'm so sorry' and he stood over me and said 'do you know what the moral of the story is?' and I thought he was going to punch me. 'Don't come first or second in the prologue!'" The pair worked tirelessly together for eight days to sail into Cape Town -- a city where Golding had married his wife -- and from that moment onwards understandably become the best of friends. The eight-year anniversary of their rescue has just passed but Thomson has not been put off by the perils of the high seas. When most people will be preparing to pop champagne corks on New Year's Eve, he will set off on his next quest, the Barcelona World Race, a two-man non-stop circumnavigation of the globe with Spanish sailor Pepe Ribas. Thomson is far more welcoming than the British seas on the day we meet. Boarding is done on the move from a rib (small speedboat) and seconds after the usual greeting niceties, I'm put in the driving seat. Sailing such a boat at a 35-degree angle as it creaks noisily underneath is unnerving, the steering column responsive to the slightest push from the curved blue seat from which Thomson dictates his myriad voyages. The bearded Thomson is not tall but oozes a physicality that makes you realize he is well equipped to take whatever the sea throws at him. One minute he is cracking a joke or recalling a past sailing anecdote, the next deadly serious barking instructions to his team on board. For the most part, though, Thomson likes to be alone, his long term goal a return to solo sailing in the 2016 Vendee Globe. At the back of his mind when he sets out on that particular venture, he does so knowing he may never come back again. "The emotion is horrendous," he says looking back to the start of the last Vendee Globe when he finished third. "Your family and friends are there, in fact 500,000 people are there at the start. They come to watch the start as they know that maybe you won't come back again." His long-term mentor Sir Keith Mills, who is also a key figure in Ben Ainslie's America's Cup venture, reportedly told Thomson, "I've been to Olympic Games, World Cup finals and I've never experienced anything like this." In the Vendee region of France, Thomson says he is held up on a pedestal, given superstar status like Beckham. Locals will give him free drinks and meals, while the short walk on the harbor to his boat will see him stop to sign autographs for scores of fans. Back at home, the married father of two becomes invisible among the public. "No one pays attention to me and I like that, although it's nice to be a superstar for a week or two." The Vendee is a race that no Briton has ever won before and Thomson is determined to be the first but he knows that trip and his upcoming one from Barcelona are hard to take for his family. "My wife [Kate] worries every day and not just her but the team as they are a family," he says. "Sometimes you forget to call or you say 'sorry, got to go' as you need to ease the main sheet or whatever and then you forget to ring back. "They'll be tearing their hair out as they're not in control of the situation." But the sailing, and in particular the solo sailing, is a drug that he cannot give up, and something he says he would even do for free such is his obsession with the sport. "If you're performing well, it's great. It's like every day winning the 100 meters as you always feel like you're performing. "If you're not doing well it's like hell on earth. I've had both ends of the spectrum and I just love that performing end." Thomson has gained notoriety for two sailing stunts, one in which he stood on the keel of his boat as it was titled to the side in race mode before jumping off, the other seeing him hurtle up the mast before diving into the ocean -- both times bedecked in a designer suit. Conscious of the risks involved of stunts and voyages alike, Thomson uses sports psychologist Ken Way to talk him through the emotions he is experiencing. "I use Ken if I've got a challenge that needs overcoming," he says. "When you're on deck, it's pretty scary but when you go inside your brain is screaming at you 'you're going to die.' "So to be able to go to sleep when your body's pumping adrenalin into it and keeping you alive is really quite hard." The psychologist has taught Thomson visualization exercises to keep his demons at bay. "I visualize being above the boat but not in the clouds, outside it. I can look down at the boat, I can see it's windy, the waves are big but it's not too bad. "I can see there are no icebergs, containers, whales. That allows me to calm down a bit but you have to work out what it is, how to address it and it takes months being able to deal with that." Whatever the formula, it is clearly working. Thomson remains in a select band of about 100 people to have circumnavigated solo around the globe. Now he wants to be the quickest.
### SUMMARY:
| Alex Thomson on the perils of sailing around the world and his one near-death experience .
Briton had to be rescued by his nemesis Mike Golding, breaking his arm in the process .
Thomson is preparing for his latest treacherous adventure at the end of the year .
In the sailing-obsessed Vendee region of France, he is treated like David Beckham . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN)The long investigation surrounding a mysterious battery fire that made so much trouble for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is closed. The National Transportation Safety Board report -- released December 1 -- comes nearly two years after burning and smoking batteries grounded all 50 of the world's most advanced airliners flying at the time. When you pick apart the 110-page document, it reveals how any new piece of equipment can pose dangerous problems, even a noncritical piece of equipment like batteries. In this situation, the battery created one of the worst threats possible: an onboard fire. From a broader perspective, the investigation reminds us of the heavy responsibilities shared by the world's aviation regulators and aircraft makers. The battery problems struck Boeing shortly after it had rolled out what was then a new model aircraft, with some of the most sophisticated technology available. It all started in January 2013, when an empty Japan Airlines 787 caught fire while parked at Boston's Logan Airport. A second battery incident nine days later in Japan prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to ground the entire Dreamliner fleet while the problem was fixed. Read more about the battery . Now, with more than 200 Dreamliners in service, the FAA says safer battery systems have been installed in the planes. The NTSB basically blamed the battery problem on two things: . --Overheating from an electrical short circuit that may have been caused by manufacturing defects . --Allegedly unsatisfactory oversight of the manufacturing process by both the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing . Read the full NTSB report (PDF) on the battery fire . To bring the investigation into sharper focus, here are eight questions and answers associated with the report: . 1. What was the root cause of the short circuit? It's remarkable: The investigation was unable to pinpoint the root cause of the battery cell short-circuit. Neither could Japanese investigators, although they had a theory. 2. How closely does the FAA monitor the development of aviation technology? The FAA allows Boeing and other qualified manufacturers to use their own employees to confirm that new aircraft components meet safety regulations. They follow specific FAA guidelines and submit to regular checks by FAA officials. Experts say more and more of that self-checking oversight is moving further down the supply chain to subcontractors. NTSB investigators recommended that both the FAA and Boeing "develop or revise processes to establish more effective oversight" of suppliers. The report also called on the Dreamliner's Japan-based battery maker, GS Yuasa Corp., to "review its cell manufacturing processes and ensure its employees are properly trained." Kenneth Quinn, a Washington-based attorney who represents the battery maker, said this week that "GS Yuasa had respectfully disagreed with a number of the observations NTSB made regarding manufacturing defects." He said the company is studying the report and is "eager to implement continuous quality improvements with the suggestions of the NTSB, FAA" and Japan's aviation regulators. 3. How did all this get started? The battery, like those aboard all Dreamliners, was a lithium-ion battery, a technology that airline manufacturers like as a way to save fuel costs because of its low weight. Lithium-ion batteries also power cell phones and laptops. It's a developing technology that has a history of overheating issues. Related: Watch video of the 787 that caught fire in 2013 . Related: 787 Dreamliner infographic . The FAA had already certified these batteries as safe and flight worthy. Apparently they weren't. Passenger safety and billions of dollars in Boeing aircraft orders were at risk. Officials needed to know what went wrong. That's why the FAA did something next that it hadn't done in more than 30 years: It grounded an entire type of airliner, nationwide. For about four months Dreamliners sat idle. To fix the problem, each battery was put inside a fireproof steel box to prevent the battery from catching fire. Just in case, the box includes vents that would force any smoke outside the plane. More insulation against heat was also added, and the batteries were redesigned to charge at lower levels. In the 19 months since the Dreamliner fix, there have been no reports of batteries catching fire, although a 787 battery cell did overheat while on the ground earlier this year. "The improvements made to the 787 battery system last year appear to have worked as designed," Boeing told Flightglobal in a statement at the time. Related: Beacon blamed for London Dreamliner fire . 4. Could it happen again? Boeing and the battery maker say no. Theoretically, if another Dreamliner battery short-circuits and overheats, the system will remain safe because there won't be enough oxygen in the containment box for a fire to be possible, a Boeing spokeswoman said. Does that make the battery maker comfortable with the fact that the root cause of the short-circuit remains a mystery? "GS Yuasa is very comfortable in knowing that the quality of the manufacturing processes and the redesign of the battery will prevent a situation from occurring as it did in the Boston and Japanese incidents," said Quinn. 5. How important are these batteries, anyway? They're necessary, but they have backups in case they fail. The batteries are used only before take-off to power up the cockpit computer and to start the plane's auxiliary power unit. (That's the thing that fires up the 787's two jet engines.) After takeoff -- unless there's a power failure -- these batteries are not in use because electricity to run onboard equipment is generated by the engines. Even if there is a power failure -- which is highly unlikely -- there are other ways pilots can create electrical power to run the 787's steering and other systems. For example, small wind turbines -- called ram air turbines, or RATs -- that pop out of the aircraft to generate juice via wind power. 6. Will Boeing and the FAA develop a more effective process to oversee suppliers? Boeing says it did that already, before the NTSB report. The company said it now has a "more formal flow of requirements and increased interaction between Boeing, its suppliers and sub-tier suppliers as compared to the processes in place earlier." The FAA said it also has "effective processes in place to identify and correct issues that emerged before and after certification" of the 787. But it also said it's still evaluating the NTSB recommendations "and will provide a timely response to the board." 7. Do airliner manufactures plan to use lithium-ion batteries on new aircraft models? They do. Immediately after the Dreamliner's troubles, Boeing competitor Airbus announced it was pulling lithium-ion batteries from early production models of its new A350 aircraft and going with traditional -- and heavier -- nickel cadmium batteries. But in September Airbus did a 180. It said it planned to switch back to lithium-ion batteries on A350s set to be delivered in 2016. Airbus' chief designer told Bloomberg the company can "mitigate any risks to zero." Boeing said this week it would decide whether to use lithium-ion batteries in new planes "on a case-by-case basis." 8. Were there any surprises in the report? Yes: a random, unrelated problem with a new type of cockpit voice recorder. The report revealed that a new recorder on the Japan Airlines Dreamliner didn't record voices very well, a situation that "could impede future aircraft investigations," the NTSB said. Almost all crew conversations recorded by the cockpit voice recorder were "completely obscured" by ambient cockpit noise, according to the report. The FAA should require Boeing to improve the quality of the audio on the recording device, the NTSB said. Boeing said it's still examining the NTSB recommendations. Overall, for aviation enthusiasts and fans of the Dreamliner, the report offered a mountain of insider data about the popular aircraft. As Quinn, the GS Yuasa attorney, put it, "I think we can all rest assured that this is the most investigated battery incident, ever."
### SUMMARY:
| Investigation ends into 2013 lithium-ion battery fire on Boeing 787 Dreamliner .
NTSB report blames short circuit and allegedly unsatisfactory FAA/Boeing oversight .
FAA, Boeing and battery maker are confident the problems have been fixed .
Boeing and Airbus considering using lithium-ion batteries on future airliners . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Data from communications between satellites and missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was released Tuesday, more than two months after relatives of passengers say they requested that it be made public. But criticism quickly emerged suggesting that the information provided lacks important elements that would help outside experts put the official version of events to the test. Malaysian authorities published a 47-page document containing hundreds of lines of communication logs between the jetliner and the British company Inmarsat's satellite system. The information provided isn't the whole picture but is "intended to provide a readable summary of the data communication logs," the notes at the beginning of the document say. In the weeks following the plane's March 8 disappearance, a team of international experts used the satellite data and other information, including radar data and engine performance calculations, to conclude that the aircraft ended up in a remote area of the southern Indian Ocean. Some passengers' families, unsatisfied by the official explanation of the plane's fate, say they want an independent analysis of the complex information, a process that could take some time. Michael Exner, one of the most vocal experts among those calling for the release of the data, said a very preliminary review suggested that there were gaps in the notes explaining the data. The explanatory notes at the start of the document "answer a few of the questions we have had, but leave many questions unanswered," he told CNN. CNN safety analyst David Soucie said certain key elements, which would allow independent experts to fully test the official conclusion, are missing from the data in the document. "There's not enough information to say whether they made an error," he said. "I think we're still going to be looking for more." Inmarsat CEO Rupert Pearce acknowledged Tuesday that the company didn't release the model to which it applied the data to estimate the plane's path -- and said the decision on whether to release the model lies with the Malaysian government, which is leading the search. "We'd be perfectly happy to put that model out," Pearce told CNN's "New Day." But Pearce also told CNN that the released data is enough -- along with engine and radar data -- for experienced third parties to plug into their own models and reach their own conclusions. "You shouldn't read anything into any gaps in the data," Inmarsat Senior Vice President Chris McLaughlin told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront" on Tuesday. "This is a very goodwill and focused way that we're trying to communicate our best impression of what happened." Sarah Bajc, whose partner, Philip Wood, was on the missing jet, said she was "annoyed" that Inmarsat and Malaysian authorities hadn't released everything they used to reach their conclusions. "I see no reason for them to have massaged this before giving it to us," she said. Is Inmarsat right? Data guided search . For weeks, Inmarsat said it didn't have the authority to release the data, deferring to Malaysian authorities, who are in charge of the search for the plane that disappeared over Southeast Asia while on a scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Last week, the two sides announced that they would aim to make the information available to the public. The satellite signals -- called "handshakes" -- with MH370 were part of a larger set of data that investigators have used to try to establish the whereabouts of the missing Boeing 777 with 239 people on board. The handshakes continued to take place for roughly six hours after the aircraft dropped off radar screens. Months of searching by dozens of planes and ships in the southern Indian Ocean has so far turned up no wreckage, and investigators have not been able to say for sure where the remains of MH370 might be. The underwater search for the missing plane will effectively be put on hold this week, and may not resume until August at the earliest, according to Australia's top transport safety official. Analysts have said the release of the satellite data could help discount some theories about what happened to the jetliner, and potentially fuel new ones. Relatives of people who were on the passenger jet, scientists studying its disappearance and media covering the search have become increasingly critical about the lack of public information about why the search has focused on the southern Indian Ocean. "I think far too much has been left to experts who have remained behind the curtain," said K.S. Narendran, whose wife, Chandrika Sharma, was on the flight. Inmarsat confident . Even though more than 80 days have passed without searchers finding any wreckage from the plane, Inmarsat officials say they remain confident in their data. "Yes, to a high degree of probability, we are certain that our data is right," McLaughlin said Tuesday. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Richard Quest last week, Inmarsat's vice president of satellite operations said the company's calculations have been tested by other people. "No one has come up yet with a reason why it shouldn't work with this particular flight when it has worked with others," Mark Dickinson said. "And it's very important this isn't just an Inmarsat activity. There are other people doing investigations, experts who are helping the investigation team, who have got the same data, who made their own models up and did the same thing to see if they got the same results and broadly speaking, they got roughly the same answers." Experts came to the conclusion that the plane had ended up in the southern Indian Ocean by piecing together three types of information, he said. "We have actually the messages from the ground station to the plane and back again. That essentially tells you the terminal is switched on and powered up. We have some timing information and in addition to that there were some frequency measurements," he said. The timings told them the distance between the plane and the satellite, enabling them to map out arcs. Then they factored in frequency differences, determining that the plane had headed south. 'The right work' It was a startling conclusion -- and Dickinson says investigators made sure to repeatedly check their calculations before sharing them. "You want to make sure when you come to a conclusion like that, that you've done the right work, the data is as you understand it to be," he said. Now, Dickinson says he's well aware that the entire weight of the search rests on the Inmarsat data. "This is all the data we have for what has happened for those six or so hours," he said. "It's important we all get it right and particularly that everyone looking at the data makes the best judgments on it and how it's used. And particularly for the families and friends of the relatives on board, try and make sure that we can help bring this sad incident to a close." Quest said he thinks the expertise of the Inmarsat team and the level of testing to which their work was subjected justifies their confidence in their conclusions. "It is up to the detractors and doubters to come up and say why they believe it's wrong," he said. "Not the other way around." Bajc acknowledged that independent analysis of the data may support Inmarsat's conclusions. "That would be a fine outcome as far as I'm concerned," she said. But if the independent experts come up with alternative flight paths based on the data, Bajc said, then "those need to be investigated." The wait for data . The issue of making the satellite data public has become the cause of confusion and contradictory statements. Bajc said the families had first asked for the data more than two months ago. "It seemed a relatively innocent request" at the time, she said, but authorities refused to release it. Malaysian officials told CNN earlier this month that their government did not have the data. But Inmarsat officials said the company provided all of it to Malaysian officials "at an early stage in the search." "We've shared the information that we had, and it's for the investigation to decide what and when it puts out," McLaughlin said earlier this month. But a senior Malaysian official told CNN that the government needed Inmarsat's help to pass on the data to families "in a presentable way." "We are trying to be as transparent as possible," the official said. "We have no issues releasing the data." Bajc said the delay only added to questions surrounding the information. "It's a little curious to me why this had to become such a big deal," she said Tuesday. Did Inmarsat data point Flight 370 searchers in wrong direction? Cannes: Movie maker courts controversy with MH370 thriller .
### SUMMARY:
| "You shouldn't read anything into any gaps in the data," Inmarsat official says .
Inmarsat CEO: We didn't release model we used to crunch data; it's up to Malaysian government .
The information is lacking important elements, a CNN safety analyst says .
A passenger's partner says she's annoyed more information wasn't released . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN)The estate of the late comedian Joan Rivers filed a lawsuit Monday in New York County Supreme Court detailing alleged missteps by the outpatient endoscopy facility and the physicians caring for Rivers during an August 28 procedure that the New York medical examiner said ultimately led to her death. Rivers died at Mount Sinai Hospital on September 4, 2014. Attorneys for the estate said they are suing for damages and said the family wants to "make certain that the many medical deficiencies that led to Joan Rivers' death are never repeated by any outpatient surgery center." The lawsuit alleges that the doctors who performed the procedure at Manhattan's Yorkville Endoscopy clinic were "reckless, grossly negligent and wanton." The lawsuit says they performed procedures to which Rivers did not consent. It also alleges that one of the doctors did not have credentials or privileges to treat patients at the facility. Clinic that did Joan Rivers' procedure to be cut off Medicare . The comedian went to the medical center for a procedure to evaluate her "voice changes" and to determine what was causing her stomach reflux, according to the New York medical examiner. The lawsuit says Rivers signed an authorization and gave her consent to let the doctors perform an upper endoscopy, or EGD, with possible biopsy/possible polypectomy and possible dilation of the esophagus. It was unclear if Rivers had given verbal consent to any other procedure before being sedated. The lawsuit maintains she did not. During an upper endoscopy a camera is inserted to examine the upper part of the digestive system. A doctor controls the tiny camera on the end of a flexible tube. It is used to diagnose stomach, esophagus and small-intestine problems. A biopsy would be done if a doctor found an area that looked like there was some kind of cancer. Voice changes can be a sign of throat cancer. Federal agency claims major violations by clinic that treated Rivers . A polypectomy is done to remove nasal polyps, which are benign growths originating in the mucous membrane that can block the nasal passages. During esophageal dilation doctors dilate or stretch the narrowed area of the esophagus, which they may do as part of a sedated endoscopy procedure. It's most commonly done because the esophagus has narrowed from acid reflux. Often patients with this problem have trouble swallowing and sometimes have pain. Less commonly, narrowing happens because of cancer of the esophagus. Rivers first underwent a laryngoscopy. This is a procedure she did not consent to in writing. It is used by doctors to get a look at the vocal folds and glottis. It was during this first procedure that her doctors had "difficulty maintaining" her oxygen saturation at an "appropriate and safe level to ensure that her airway was not compromised" the lawsuit says. Then Dr. Lawrence Cohen and Dr. Renuka Bankulla performed the upper endoscopy, the procedure for which they did have written consent. When Bankulla noticed the oxygen saturation level again dropped, the lawsuit says she requested that the EGD be stopped and the endoscope removed to increase Rivers' oxygen level. Once her level was raised, Cohen reinserted the laryngoscope and continued the EGD. The lawsuit argues that during this part of the procedure Cohen and Bankulla failed to ensure Rivers' airway was appropriately maintained and that they "failed to properly observe and monitor Joan Rivers' vital signs which were deteriorating" and that her blood pressure "dropped significantly" as did her pulse and oxygen saturation level according to the lawsuit. After Cohen completed the EGD he took a selife with Rivers while she was under sedation during the procedure, without her consent, according to the lawsuit. When he took the photo, the lawsuit says, Cohen announced that maybe Rivers would "like to see these in the recovery area." Dr. Gwen Korovin then said she wanted to "go down again" and take another look, doing another laryngoscopy, the procedure for which the facility did not have written consent, according to the lawsuit. E!'s 'Fashion Police' to continue without Rivers . Korovin performed the laryngoscopy despite a concern voiced by Bankulla that the procedure could compromise Rivers' airway, the suit says, adding that Cohen told Bankulla she was just "being paranoid," and the doctors proceeded with the second laryngoscopy. According to an October investigation by the medical examiner's office, the cause of death was "anoxic encephalopathy due to hypoxic arrest," a medical description of brain damage caused by lack of oxygen "that happened during the laryngoscopy." 25 of Joan Rivers' best jokes . Rivers had a laryngospasm, a spasm of the vocal cords that makes it difficult to breathe, according to the investigation. Her body was unable to take in enough oxygen and eventually her heart stopped delivering fresh oxygenated blood to her brain, which shut down. When the doctors did notice that Rivers' vital signs had dropped, as had her oxygen saturation level, they tried to get her breathing better. When 10 minutes of ambu bagging didn't work, the lawsuit says Bankulla asked another doctor to get the tracheotomy kit ready. In that case, the lawsuit says the doctors should have performed an emergency tracheotomy. Bankulla looked for Korovin to perform a cricothyrotomy, but the lawsuit says Korovin had left the room. Korovin is a well known doctor who has successfully treated an impressive list of celebrity clients who have come to her with voice trouble. The list of famous patients who have sung her praises include actors Hugh Jackman and Nathan Lane and singers Celine Dion, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. Korovin is a licensed medical doctor, but she "did not have privileges to perform surgical procedures" at Yorkville Endoscopy nor was she credentialed to perform procedures at the facility, according to the lawsuit. After Rivers started to deteriorate further, the lawsuit alleges that Korovin left the room "because she knew she was not permitted to perform medical services or procedures" at that particular clinic and wanted to "avoid getting caught." Joan Rivers gave misfit girls permission to dream . The lawsuit also says the doctors were inadequately trained to handle an emergency like the one they encountered. CNN left voice messages and emails for all the individuals and facilities named in the suit. So far, none has responded to CNN's inquiries. In relation to this case in the past, the Yorkville Endoscopy clinic has said, "Our anesthesiologists monitor the patient continuously utilizing state-of-the-art monitoring equipment, and remain at the bedside throughout the procedure and into recovery." It added that all its doctors are certified for advance cardiac life support. Korovin's lawyer sent a statement in relation to past stories that said the doctor "is respected and admired by her peers in the medical community and she is revered by her patients." "As a matter of personal and professional policy, Dr. Korovin does not publicly discuss her patients or their care and treatment. Further, Dr. Korovin is prohibited by state and federal confidentiality laws from discussing her care and treatment of any particular patient. "For these reasons, neither Dr. Korovin nor her attorneys will have any public comment on recent press reports regarding her practice. We ask that the press please respect Dr. Korovin's personal and professional policy of not discussing her patients, as well as the privacy of her patients," the statement said. In reaction to the lawsuit, Rivers' daughter, Melissa Rivers, released a statement. "Filing this lawsuit was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make," said Rivers. "What ultimately guided me was my unwavering belief that no family should ever have to go through what my mother, Cooper and I have been through. "The level of medical mismanagement, incompetency, disrespect and outrageous behavior is shocking and, frankly, almost incomprehensible," Rivers said. "Not only did my mother deserve better, every patient deserves better. It is my goal to make sure that this kind of horrific medical treatment never happens to anyone again." Debra Goldschmidt of CNN contributed to this report .
### SUMMARY:
| Joan Rivers died in September after a medical procedure went wrong .
Rivers did not consent to the procedure that may have killed her, according to the lawsuit .
One doctor took a selfie with the comedian while she was sedated, the lawsuit says . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- Rumors that U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden hitched a ride on Bolivia's presidential jet have sparked a global diplomatic feud that's roiled leaders throughout South America. The drama started Tuesday after Portuguese authorities wouldn't let Bolivian President Evo Morales' plane land in Lisbon for refueling while on his way back from a conference in Russia, Bolivian Defense Minister Ruben Saavedra told CNN en Español. France, Spain and Italy also wouldn't let the plane enter their airspace, Bolivian officials said. With no clear path home available, the flight's crew made an emergency landing in Austria. "We are told that there were some unfounded suspicions that Mr. Snowden was on the plane," Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said. "We do not know who has invented this lie. Someone who wants to harm our country. This information that has been circulated is malicious information to harm this country." Late Wednesday morning, Spain agreed to let Morales' plane stop in the Canary Islands on its way home, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said. The plane landed there as planned Wednesday, and subsequently took off for Fortaleza, Brazil, where it landed and refueled again Wednesday evening, Bolivia TV reported. The presidential plane was scheduled to return to Bolivia on Wednesday night. The state broadcaster showed crowds of supporters brandishing Bolivian flags and awaiting Morales' return. At the El Alto International Airport outside La Paz, the state broadcaster showed crowds waved signs saying, "Sovereign Bolivia, colony no more" and, "You are not alone. The people of the world are with you." Opinion: Snowden and a muzzle free press . The plane spent more than 10 hours in Vienna, where Austrian officials confirmed that Snowden was not aboard after Morales allowed an Austrian airport police officer onto his plane for a "voluntary check," Interior Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck said. As Morales resumed his journey, differing accounts emerged of what happened. France denied that it refused to allow the plane to enter its airspace. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called his Bolivian counterpart to express regrets about a delay in the confirmation to authorize the plane to fly over its territory, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The authorization was granted as soon as French authorities were informed that the plane was the Bolivian president's aircraft, the ministry said. France "never intended to deny president Morales's plane access to (its) airspace," and the Bolivian leader is welcome in France, Fabius said. Snowden's asylum options dwindle . Bolivian minister: U.S. behind Snowden rumor . Bolivian authorities are investigating the source of the rumors about Snowden. Saavedra, the Bolivian defense minister, told CNN en Español that he believed the U.S. was behind them. "This is a lie, a falsehood," he said. "It was generated by the U.S. government." Despite several attempts by CNN to get a response, Obama administration officials have declined to comment on Bolivia's allegations that the United States pressured European countries to deny landing rights to the Bolivian president's plane, referring all questions to the European countries in question. It isn't the first time Bolivian authorities have accused U.S. officials of trying to meddle with their presidential plane. In 2011, Morales said he was worried that U.S. authorities would plant something on his presidential plane to link him with drug trafficking when he attended a United Nations General Assembly meeting. Outrage in Latin America . Bolivian Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera described Morales as a "hostage of imperialism." "The president has been kidnapped by imperialism, and he is being held in Europe," he said in a televised address late Tuesday night. The vice president called for workers worldwide to protest "this act of imperial arrogance." He said Bolivia would complain about the incident to the United Nations. The situation drew a stern rebuke from Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who said the incident was "life-threatening" for the Bolivian leader. "The Brazilian government expresses its outrage and condemnation of the embarrassment imposed on President Evo Morales by some European countries," she said in a statement Wednesday. "The pretext that led to this unacceptable behavior -- the supposed presence of Edward Snowden in the plane of the president -- was fictional and a serious disrespect to the law and to international practices and standards of civilized coexistence among nations." The impact of the European countries' actions extends far beyond Bolivia's borders, she said. "The embarrassment to President Morales reaches not only Bolivia, but all of Latin America. It compromises the dialogue between the two continents and possible negotiations between them," she said. "It also requires prompt and explanation by the countries involved in this provocation." The Union of South American Nations released a statement Wednesday saying the body "rejects categorically the dangerous act" of denying Morales' plane access. The leaders of the UNASUR countries are scheduled to meet on Thursday meeting in Cochabamba, Bolivia, to discuss the matter. By Wednesday evening, the presidents of Argentina, Venezuela, Peru, Suriname, Ecuador and Bolivia had confirmed their plans to attend, said Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, who called the situation "very serious." Cuba's Foreign Ministry also condemned the incident. "This constitutes an unacceptable, unfounded and arbitrary act which offends all of Latin America and the Caribbean," the ministry said in a statement. Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner described Morales' treatment in Europe as humiliating. "This is not only a humiliation to a sister nation," she said during a military event Wednesday, "but to the whole South American continent." So where is Snowden? The situation is the latest twist in what has become a global guessing game over Snowden's next steps. Snowden has admitted leaking classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs and faces espionage charges in the United States. He has applied for asylum in 21 countries, including Bolivia. 'Unbowed' Snowden seeks new havens . Morales, a left-leaning president who has long criticized the United States, had been attending a conference of gas-exporting countries in Russia, where he told the Russia Today news network that he would be willing to consider asylum for Snowden. But Bolivian officials stressed that accusations that an official aircraft would harbor Snowden were baseless. "We cannot lie to the international community by carrying ghost passengers," Choquehuanca said. European concerns . WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange urged Europe on Wednesday to demonstrate its willingness to defend freedom of information, whatever the fear of political pressure from its "best ally," the United States. His comments came in a piece co-written with the secretary general of Reporters without Borders, Christophe Deloire, for French newspaper Le Monde. European Union states should accord Snowden their warmest welcome, their article said. If he is abandoned in the international zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, it will mean European countries are "abandoning their principles and part of the reason for the EU," it said. In recent days, a number of European nations have voiced concern about reports -- based on documents apparently provided by Snowden -- that the United States has been conducting surveillance on its European allies. France believes it would be wise to delay U.S.-EU trade talks for two weeks in light of the allegations, French government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said Wednesday. She was echoing remarks made by President Francois Hollande this week after the claims first appeared in German and British media. Germany's Economy Minister Philipp Roesler has said the reports of spying do influence the planned talks, said his spokesman, Adrian Toschev. But the spokesman declined to back the French call for a delay to the talks, which are scheduled to begin Monday. All nations collect intelligence, Obama says . CNN's Claudia Dominguez, Marilia Brocchetto, Antonia Mortensen, Richard Allen Greene, Stephanie Halasz, Stephanie Ott, Al Goodman, Ivana Kottasova, Claudia Rebaza, Laura Richardson, Jill Dougherty, Patrick Oppmann and Rafael Romo contributed to this report.
### SUMMARY:
| NEW: Crowds of supporters await Morales' return to Bolivia .
Brazil's president says she is outraged, European countries' behavior "unacceptable"
The plane leaves Austria after officials check it and say Edward Snowden isn't on board .
Bolivia says France denied the plane entry into its airspace, but France says it did not . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Washington (CNN)To gauge Jon Stewart's impact on American politics, try to imagine a presidential election without him. The last time that happened was in 1996 when Bill Clinton faced off against Bob Dole. "The Daily Show" host's hordes of millennial fans and political junkies will soon find out what a sans-Stewart election is like as they pick their way through the spin, obfuscations and outrages of the 2016 race without him. Stewart, sometimes known as "The Most Trusted Name in Fake News," made the surprising announcement on Tuesday that he would quit the Comedy Central hit before the end of the year after 16 years behind his desk. In a slice of irony almost too delicious to be true, news of the fake newsman's retirement emerged at the same time as a real newsman, Brian Williams, was suspended by NBC for six months after reports of his exaggerated war stories came to light. Over the years, Stewart has carved out a unique place at the intersection of politics, entertainment and journalism, offering a mocking take on the news with his whiplash humor and pseudo anchorman's persona. Stewart's grillings of politicians are legendary. Candidates who go on his show endure an unpredictable, high wire rite of passage and the host's sharp tongue -- all in pursuit of the young voters who form his core audience. It's been repeated so often that it's now a cliche. But plenty of studies show that many young Americans get their political news not from TV networks or newspapers but from Stewart's biting satire. In a 2012 survey, the Pew Research Center for People and the Press found that 39% of "The Daily Show's" regular viewers were between 18 and 29, but the group makes up just 23% of the public as a whole. That is a demographic politicians kill for. And it explains why those running for office -- particularly Democrats keen to connect with Stewart's urban, left-leaning audience -- brave appearing on his show. Though Stewart frequently denies his program is a news show and is merely about entertainment, his work appears to serve much the same function as traditional network news shows. His dissection of issues and forensic dismissal of political hypocrisy perform much the same roles as fact checkers in traditional media. Another survey in 2007 showed that Americans who knew most about what was going on in the world also tended to be viewers of "The Daily Show" and its recently shuttered Comedy Central spin off "The Colbert Report." Stewart has been a constant guide for a certain segment of Americans throughout the tumultuous decade-and-a-half that has opened the 21st Century, filtering events and curating opinion. In moments of farce, like the 2000 election, or instances of tragedy, such as the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and subsequent political races, Stewart was there surfing the zeitgeist and resetting conventional media wisdom. When George W. Bush had the 2000 election handed to him by the Supreme Court, Stewart voiced the frustrations of many liberals who thought the election was stolen. "I was not elected to serve one party" a young-looking Stewart showed Bush in a clip saying, before adding "you were not elected!" A year later, Stewart helped teach America to laugh again in the harrowing weeks after the terror attacks. On his first show back after 9/11, Stewart replaced his normally sardonic opening segment with a moving monologue about the impact of the tragedy on his beloved New York City. "We are going to get back to this. It is going to be fun and it is going to be funny," he sniffed through tears. When the Iraq war turned into a quagmire, Stewart turned his searing wit on the Bush administration's missteps and failures of the occupation with his long-running "Mess O' Potamia" segment. His daily lambasting of top Bush aides reflected and helped to shape the fast souring public mood on the war, which eventually provided the conditions for the rise of anti-war candidate Barack Obama in 2008. Obama, who revolutionized campaigning with his use of YouTube, social media and new digital technologies and Stewart -- with his easily sharable segments which popped perfectly for emerging media sources like Facebook -- might have been made for one another. Young voters were vital for Obama's hopes of beating the Hillary Clinton machine in 2008. And he knew where to find them -- on Stewart's show. "The Daily Show," under the guise of humor and satire, also allowed Obama to gently deal with fiercely divisive campaign issues that were off limits or were difficult to handle on regular news shows. In a 2008 Obama appearance before the Pennsylvania primary, for instance, Stewart took on the latent racism that many Democrats thought was hampering the senator in the state and elsewhere. "I am going to cut through the spin for you, sir, that's what I am here for," Stewart told a laughing Obama. "We are concerned that ultimately at the end of the day .... if you are fortunate enough to become the president of the United States, will you pull a bait and switch, sir, and enslave the white race?" In 2010, Obama was back on the show days before the midterm elections in what was seen as a transparent attempt to reconnect with the young voters who powered his 2008 campaign but had since soured. Obama, the first sitting U.S. president to appear on "The Daily Show," may have got more than he bargained for when Stewart mocked him as a shadow of his 2008 persona after he hit gridlock in Washington. "You wouldn't say 'Yes we can, with certain conditions,'" Stewart quipped, to Obama's evident discomfort. Obama often felt the lash of Stewart's tongue, most often when he fell short of the high expectations he raised in 2008. In 2013, Stewart ripped the president for what he thought was his dismissive response to perceived scandals in the IRS and over the death of a U.S. diplomat in Benghazi. "I wouldn't be surprised if President Obama learned Osama bin Laden had been killed when he saw himself announce it on television," Stewart joked. More recently, Stewart slammed Obama for not showing up to a march in Paris to honor victims of those killed by Islamic extremists on an attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. "How could the U.S. not be there?" Stewart asked. But despite the critiques of Obama, Stewart has his own critics, including Republicans who complain he favors Democrats too openly, and some pro-Israel groups, who have complained at his coverage of the Jewish state. It is not only politicians who have felt Stewart's mockery. The media gets it in the neck too. Fox News and its perceived conservative bias has been a target on Stewart's show for years. One of Stewart's most well-remembered skits was his merciless takedown of conservative commentator Glenn Beck, complete with glasses and fake blackboard. In 2010, Stewart mocked dueling protest marches engineered by Beck and civil rights campaigner Al Sharpton and drew more than 200,000 people to Washington's National Mall with the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or fear" with his Comedy Central partner Stephen Colbert. Stewart's ire often was directed at the state of political journalism itself -- and the way news shows tend to play off a conservative and a liberal pudits on opposite sides and call it balanced news coverage. CNN wasn't immune from his attention. Stewart famously came on the CNN show "Crossfire" in 2004 to skewer hosts Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala. "You're partisan, what do you call it ... hacks," said Stewart. "Stop hurting America," he blasted in an appearance on the set. Stewart, who took a sabbatical from his show in 2013 to direct a movie, appeared to foreshadow his departure from the "Daily Show" late last year in an interview with "Fresh Air" host Terry Gross on NPR. "I do feel like I don't know there will ever be anything that I will be as well suited for as this show," Stewart said. "That being said, there are moments when you realize that is not enough anymore. The minute I say I am not going to do it any more, I will miss it like crazy." Stewart's fans, not least those in politics, are already feeling the same about him.
### SUMMARY:
| Stewart hanging up mic after 16 years .
He carved out unique role at intersection of real and fake news . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 10:50 EST, 23 April 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 17:33 EST, 23 April 2012 . The White House announced Monday none of its staffers were involved in the Colombian prostitution scandal, as it revealed a 12th military serviceman is being investigated -- bringing the number of government employees entangled in the embarrassing case to 24. Press Secretary Jay . Carney said an investigation had cleared all of Obama's political staff . of wrongdoing. 'There . was no indication that any member of the White House advance team . engaged in any improper conduct or behavior,' Carney said. Scroll down for video... Security breach: The latest agent suspended in the Secret Service scandal reportedly brought a prostitute back to the Hilton Cartagena Hotel where President Obama stayed five days later . Keeping a distance: White House Press Secretary Jay Carney took pains to explain that the newly-revealed staffer under investigation is a US serviceman -- not a member of the Obama White House . The newest man under scrutiny in the scandal is a member of the White House Communications Agency, a military unit that provides secure communication between government officials. Sources said the staffer is an enlisted US Army soldier. The agency works closely with the White House, but is based in the Department of Defense. Earlier in the day, the Secret Service scandal spread to a second hotel as it was revealed that a 12th suspended agent reportedly brought a prostitute back to the Hilton where President Barack Obama stayed in Cartagena, Colombia. The 11 other agents who were sent home to Washington in disgrace were staying at the Hotel Caribe. Some White House staffers and reporters roomed at the luxury resort, but the president never set foot there. But the new allegation brings the potential security breach closer to the president than previously realized. Obama stayed at the Hilton Cartagena Hotel while he attended the Summit of the Americas, just five days after the agent allegedly invited the hooker there. The White House struggled to keep an arm's length from the scandal, which has only built up speed and scope since broke up two weeks ago. Carney took pains to describe how the White House Communications Agency, despite its name, is staffed entirely by personnel hired by the military and that it is not an arm of the Obama administration. First-class accommodations: This is the hotel that housed the president during his visit to Colombia for the Summit of the Americas . Luxury accommodations: The Hilton Cartagena Hotel offers beach-front views and luxury amenitites . 'The Hilton is significant because that's where President Obama was going to stay,' Sen Joseph Lieberman said Sunday on Face the Nation. 'It just gets more troubling,' he added. 'To act as these people did in Cartagena as if they were college kids on spring break, it is reprehensible.' The embarrassment for the agency continues to grow. The Secret Service hasn't said why it suspended the 12th agent, but CBS News reports it was because he brought a prostitute back to his hotel room. Eleven agents were recalled to Washington and suspended after many of them brought Colombian prostitutes back to their hotel rooms April 11. The agents were in Colombia to prepare security in advance of the president's arrival. Second hotel: The original 11 agents were staying at the Hotel Caribe, where the president never set foot . 'Not in danger': The Secret Service claims that despite the scandal, President Obama's security in Colombia was never compromised . The agents' booze-fueled partying was exposed when Dania Suarez caused a commotion the next morning after one of the agents refused to pay her the $800 she says he agreed to. Local police and hotel security guards were called and word got back to Secret Service superiors. Authorities are also investigating whether some of the 20 prostitutes the agents hired are underage girls. Of the 12 agents allegedly involved, including two supervisors, six have left the agency, either fired, resigned or retired. One has been partially cleared with minor disciplinary action. Five remain suspended. 'It just gets more troubling... To act as these people did in Cartagena as if they were college kids . on spring break, it is reprehensible.'Sen Joseph Lieberman, speaking on the Secret Service scandal . The US military is investigating 12 servicemen who were in Colombia helping the agents, as well. The Secret Service's disgrace was due, in part, to the quick response of one of the agency's few female agents. Paula Reid, who is in charge of the Secret Service's Miami office, quickly conducted an investigation at the Hotel Caribe, sent 11 agents home and notified her superiors in Washington when she received news of her colleagues misbehavior. Her praiseworthy performance led some lawmakers to argue that scandals like this one might not happen if the Secret Service had more women in its ranks. The embarrassing scandal has drawn the attention, and ire, of lawmakers, who are demanding answers from the Secret Service. Iowa Sen Chuck Grassley said that more 'heads have to roll' for the . Secret Service to avoid 'mistakes.' 'Troubling': Sen Joseph Lieberman says the new allegations are even worse because they put a potential security breach directly in the president's hotel . Center of the scandal: Sex worker Dania Suarez, 24, claims she made a commotion at the Hotel Caribe after one of the Secret Service agents stiffed her $800 . Rep Peter King, chairman of the powerful Committee Homeland Security, wants the names of the government employees embroiled in the incident. King has also demanded to know whether . federal money was used and if agents had weapons or classified material . in the rooms where they brought the women in Cartagena earlier this . month. He put a deadline on . director Mark Sullivan for the information within five days according to Fox news - and answers . as to whether the scandal reaches as high up as the Executive Office of . the President. Grassley said the Secret Service must enact major reforms in the wake of the scandal. 'If the culture of an organisation is . going to change or mistakes like this are not going to be repeated, . heads have to roll and that is why I think you are going to find more . heads rolling,’ the he said. Rep King told Fox News: 'I would think you'll see most of the 11 either resign, retire or will be forced to leave. 'I doubt, no matter what happens, you're going to see any of these 11 ever involved in any kind of detail like this again.' The Secret Service, which is tasked . with protecting the president, senior administration officials and other . prominent figures, said last week that a 12th employee had been . implicated in the probe and another had been cleared of 'serious . misconduct' in Cartagena but would face administrative action. King, whose committee was probing the Cartagena incident, said the employee was involved in a separate incident that happened 'five or six days before the president arrived.' The New York Republican said he had four investigators on the case and had spoken several times with Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan about the agency's own investigation. 'We want a full record (of the probe), so at the end we can decide if the Secret Service acted appropriately once they found out about it,' King said. Demands: Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep Peter King has sent a list of questions to the head of the Secret Service over the prostitution scandal in Colombia . Two of the original 11 Secret Service employees involved in the scandal were supervisors, he added. 'They should have been in control of everything. Instead, they were accessories. They were part of it,' King said. 'Among those eleven, besides what they did, they also are in trouble, if you will, for what they didn't do. And what they didn't do is report it,' King said. A former director of the Secret Service said the Colombian prostitution scandal was an extraordinary incident at the agency. He told CBS today that while agents had been disciplined in the past - none had been taken out of service. W. Ralph Basham, who ran the service between 2003 and 2006, said: 'I don’t believe in the past these types of things have happened. They certainly didn’t happen on my watch.'
### SUMMARY:
| Revealed a Secret Service agent 'brought a prostitute back to the Hilton Hotel where President Obama stayed'
Newest accused staffer is member of the White House Communications Agency, a military command .
Concerns that the women were exposed to classified material and paid using federal funds .
Former Secret Service director denied similar incidents happened on 'his watch' |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 11:04 EST, 9 October 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 11:04 EST, 9 October 2012 . The local news anchor who spoke out after a viewer criticised her for being overweight has now leapt to the defence of her attacker. Jennifer Livingston sprang to national fame after she denounced Kenneth Krause for saying that her weight meant she was not a 'suitable example' for her younger viewers. He apologised for the attack last week after Ms Livingston received a flood of supporting her brave stand against the bullying behaviour. But she now seems to have accepted his apology - and even said, 'I hope people leave him alone.' Scroll down for video . Weighty issue: Reporter Jennifer . Livingston responded to a viewer email that chided her over her weight . The anchor for WKBT in Wisconsin told TMZ she had 'no hard feelings' towards Mr Krause despite his unprovoked attack on her. 'I hope people kinda leave him behind and leave him alone,' she continued. Ms Livingston said she was pleased to have started a national debate about bullying, adding: 'I just think it's a discussion that needs to happen across the country.' Mr Krause on Friday told ABC News of his regret at criticising the anchor's weight, saying: 'I'm in no position to bully her.' He continued: 'She's a big media personality - I'm just a working stiff. If Jennifer's offended then I truly apologise to Jennifer, that's the last thing I wanted to do.' No offence: Kenneth Krause apologised for the attack which provoked a nationwide response . In his initial email to Ms Livingston, first published by her husband and fellow anchor Mike Thompson, the security guard wrote: 'Surely you don't consider yourself a suitable example for this community's young people, girls in particular.' An ABC reporter asked Mr Krause: 'She says she has a thyroid problem - did you consider any of that before writing the email?' 'Of course, I was obese as a child - I've been fighting with that all my life,' he said. 'Boy I can sure empathise with that.' Speaking about Mr Krause and his letter on the Today show, . Ms Livingston said she was more insulted by being called a . bad role model to young girls than by being called fat. 'The person called me obese and I can deal with that and being called fat, . but it was calling me a bad role model that really rubbed me the wrong way,' she said. Weight control: Mr Krause claims he was obese as a child and has had a life-time fight with his weight . 'Not . only for our community but in particular for young girls, I am a mother . of three young girls and I felt that was an unfair judgement of someone . who didn't know me. 'I have a pretty thick skin, I'm a tough gal and can handle this type of thing, but what I was . thinking instead was that I'm having conversations with my 10-year-old daughter right now about bullying. 'I'm trying to inspire her and teach her that if she sees bullying - the importance of taking a stand. 'But . what kind of message am I teaching her if my husband and I are talking . about this mean email I've received and I'm not taking a stand for . myself?' The letter that Mr Krause wrote to Ms Livingston states that he was 'surprised indeed to witness that your physical condition hasn't improved for many years. 'Surely you . don't consider yourself a suitable example for this community's young . people, girls in particular.' Aftermath: Jennifer Livingston spoke to the . Today show about the comments saying she is trying to inspire her . daughter to take a stand against bullying . Husband's support: Anchor Mike Thompson, pictured left and with his wife Ms Livingston on the right, said he found the email infuriating when he first published it on his own Facebook page . After the issue became national news, Mr Krause was asked to explain why he made his comments. Though he refused to go on air, he released a statement saying: 'Given this country's present epidemic . of obesity and the many truly horrible diseases related thereto, and . considering Jennifer Livingston's fortuitous position in the community, I . hope she'll finally take advantage of a rare and golden opportunity to . influence the health and psychological well-being of Coulee region . children by transforming herself for all of her viewers to see over the . next year. 'And to that end I would be absolutely pleased to offer her any . advice or support she would be willing to accept.' His harsh words drew much criticism and caused a major debate across the U.S. Ms Livingston said on the Today show that though Mr Krause made a valid point about the dangers of obesity, she blasted his approach for being 'totally inappropriate'. 'I have never gone in public saying I am the shining example of what your health should be', she said. 'I've never said girls should aspire to have a body like mine, I've never told anyone to eat the way I do or exercise as much as I do. 'If someone wants to talk to me about the story I've covered then I am all about that. My job is to go out and report the news. But when you attack someone on a personal level it's not fair at all, I don't care if I'm in the public eye or not.' Admission: The anchor said, 'The truth is, I am overweight. You can call me fat' Hi Jennifer, . It's unusual that I see your morning show, but I did so for a very short . time today. I was surprised indeed to witness that your physical condition hasn't improved for many years. Surely you . don't consider yourself a suitable example for this community's young . people, girls in particular. Obesity is one of the worst choices a . person can make and one of the most dangerous habits to maintain. I . leave you this note hoping that you'll reconsider your responsibility as . a local public personality to present and promote a healthy lifestyle. In a special four-minute broadcast that aired before the news Ms Livingston spoke directly to her critic. She said she tried to laugh off the comment as she was so used to criticism from being in the public eye, but was encouraged by hundreds of supporters to speak out. She acknowledged: 'The truth is, I am overweight. You can call me fat - and yes, even obese on a doctor's chart. 'But to the person who wrote me that . letter, do you think I don't know that? That your cruel words are . pointing out something that I don't see? 'You don't know me. You are not a . friend of mine. You are not a part of my family, and you have admitted . you don't watch this show. 'You know nothing about me but what you see on . the outside, and I am much more than a number on a scale.' And perhaps to address the writer's comment that she was not a good role model for young people, she used the opportunity to focus on bullying, pointing out that October is anti-bullying month. Ms Livingston said: 'That man’s words mean . nothing to me, but really angers me about this is is there are children . who don’t know better - who get emails as critical as the one I . received, or in many cases even worse, each and every day. 'The internet has become a weapon and is passed down from people like that man to those who don't know any better. 'If . you are at home and you are talking about the fat news lady, guess . what? Your children are probably going to go to school and call someone . fat.' Standing up: Ms Livingston refused to give in to those who criticised her over her appearance . Viral: After Mr Thompson revealed the letter, messages of support for the couple started to flood in . She then thanked the hundreds of messages of support and courage she received from those in the community and further, saying it was 'overwhelming' and 'inspiring'. She finished the broadcast with a strong and powerful message: 'To all of the children out there who feel lost, who are struggling with your weight, with the color of your skin, your sexual preference, your disability, even the acne on your face, listen to me right now. 'Do not let your self-worth be defined by bullies. Learn from my experience - that the cruel words of one are nothing compared to the shouts of many.' VIDEO: Bullying debate ignited as news anchor responds to viewer who called her fat .
### SUMMARY:
| Jennifer Livingston was accused of being a bad role model .
Viewer Kenneth Krause apologised for attack and said he used to be obese .
Anchor now says she hopes people 'leave him alone' |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Larisa Brown . PUBLISHED: . 08:01 EST, 17 December 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 09:06 EST, 17 December 2012 . Setting foot on the platform, you could be forgiven for thinking . you had travelled back in time and arrived in the golden age of steam. It's all there - the smell of burning coal, the hissing of the steam and the clanking of the wheels as an engine is shunted back and forth. But this is no 1930s fantasy. It's Baker Street station - and it's all happening in the here and now. For the first time in more than 100 years, a steam train was carrying passengers on the Tube yesterday. Scroll down for video . A restored original locomotive hauls a Victorian first-class carriage through Baker Street station in a test run for London Underground's 150-year anniversary celebrations . In a test run for London Underground's 150-year anniversary celebrations, a restored original locomotive hauled a Victorian first-class carriage from Earl's Court to Moorgate. Billowing clouds through the capital's oldest tunnels, the weekend's recreation followed some of the route of the world's first underground railway journey in 1863. Shortly after 1pm on January 9 in 1863 the inaugural train pulled out of Paddington station to begin a 3.5mile journey under the capital's streets and into the history books. The weekend's recreation followed some of the route of the world's first underground railway journey in 1863 . In all its glory: The train was built in 1898 and withdrawn from the tracks in 1963 . It was a novelty that thousands of Londoners were eager to experience for themselves and to admire what one newspaper called 'the most stupendous engineering undertaking yet achieved in the railway world'. And as on the very first journey in the 19th century, railwaymen, enthusiasts and a few dignitaries were aboard the train and riding inside the restored Metropolitan 353 carriage in the small hours of yesterday morning. The train was built in 1898 and withdrawn from the tracks in 1963. 1898 . Built in 1898, Met Loco No. 1 is the only survivor of a class of seven engines designed by the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Met, Mr T. F. Clark, for use on the Baker Street to Verney Junction service. It was the last locomotive constructed at the Met’s Neasden Works. 1904On 4 July 1904, decorated with flags and bunting it headed the first passenger train on the opening of the Uxbridge branch from Harrow-on-the-Hill. 1933The locomotive is taken into London Transport ownership when the Metropolitan Railway was taken over by the London Passenger Transport Board on 13 April 1933. 1936The locomotive is renumbered L.44 and is repainted in London Transport livery. 1963The locomotive was withdrawn, after a final moment of glory when in took part in the Metropolitan Centenary parade at Neasden on 23 May 1963, where it hauled four Ashbury bogie coaches and a milk van.1964Purchased by the Quainton Railway Society. 1975The first major overhaul started on 13 August 1975. 1987Met Loco No. 1 is loaned to the Mid Hants Railway in September 1987 for the line’s 10th anniversary. 2007Met Loco No. 1 is loaned to the Bluebell Railway in July 2007 as part of the celebration of the completion of their rake of four Metropolitan Chesham vintage coaches. 2008Met Loco No. 1 is loaned to Barrow Hill in August 2008 for their Rail Power 2008 event and to Llangollen Railway for their suburban weekend in October 2008. 2010Met Loco No. 1 came to the end of its boiler certificate, with a special farewell event 17 October 2010. 2011Start of restoration at the Flour Mill workshops in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. 2013The return of steam to the London Underground and the first steam passenger journey on the original stretch of the Metropolitan line since 1905. Source: London Transport Museum. One person who has very fond memories of the Metropolitan Steam Locomotive No. 1 is 90-year-old Celia Dunn. She was a cleaner on the locomotive at Neasden, north west London, for thirteen years from 1950 to 1963. She told MailOnline: 'We used to have good fun when we were cleaning, especially the interiors. 'There were two to each cart in the afternoon and when you finished your cart, you would help the couple next door to you and carry on until you reached the end of the train. 'We used to have laughs and sing alongs. Sometimes we would tell stories. 'They were happy those days at Neasden.One of the best. 'Perhaps when I was cleaning the windows I used to burst into song myself. I like the Beatles. 'On New Years' night we would gather in the canteen and sing and eat and I would play the piano. At midnight we would sound the hooter (steam trumpet) in the driver's cab - everyone would on all the different lines.' Mrs Dunn said the train inspector would always check the carriages to see if they were clean enough. She said: 'He would go through the train after you were finished, run his finger along the top, by the adverts and check for dust. 'If you hadn't done it properly he would tell you off.' Mrs Dunn met her late husband, Robert, while working on the train. She added: 'My late husband was a traffic controller at Baker Street. 'I used to have to phone his office every day to let him know what stock we had - and what we wanted back. 'We met, we had a coffee and within 12 months we were married.' The ground-breaking line had been built and financed by a . private company, the Metropolitan Railway, to link the mainline stations . at Paddington, Euston and King’s Cross with the business district of . central London. The very first underground railway journey took place through the new tunnels of the . Metropolitan line between Paddington and Farringdon, which are now part . of the Circle & Hammersmith Line. The opening of the railway took . place only 26 years after Queen Victoria came to the throne and was . considered a great novelty. The journey will be recreated on Sunday 13 and 20 January 2013 when a series of special . trains will be hauled by the newly restored Met Steam Locomotive No. 1 along part of the original route. No 1 was the last locomotive to be . built at Neasden in 1898 by the Metropolitan Railway. It will pull the . Metropolitan Railway Jubilee Carriage No 353 - the oldest operational . underground carriage in existence - which has also recently been . restored with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, as well as the . Chesham Shuttle Coaches from the Bluebell Railway. It is complete with wood and gas light fittings. Former Metropolitan . Railway electric Locomotive No. 12 Sarah Siddons will also be part of . the train. No. 1 will also run throughout the year across the Metropolitan line network on special occasions. No 1 was the last locomotive to be built at Neasden in 1898 by the Metropolitan Railway . Shortly after 1pm on January 9 in 1863 the inaugural train pulled out of Paddington station to begin a 3.5mile journey under the capital's streets and into the history books . The original plan was for a 'light steam' simulation - where an electric locomotive did the pushing. But Transport for London insisted on having a full working locomotive, which burned approximately one tonne of coal for yesterday's journey. The last regular steam services ended in 1905 as electric alternatives were pioneered in the later Victorian era.
### SUMMARY:
| Metropolitan Steam Locomotive No. 1 was built in 1898 at Neasden, London .
Train will follow some of world's first underground railway journey in 1863 .
'They were happy those days at Neasden', says 90-year-old former cleaner . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Daily Mail Reporter . UPDATED: . 06:15 EST, 8 February 2012 . The entire staff at a Los Angeles school where one teacher is accused of feeding his semen to students and another allegedly abused two girls will be removed, it emerged today. The 88 teachers and 40 support staff at Miramonte Elementary School are being replaced because a full investigation of allegations is disruptive and staffers will require support to get through the scandal, Superintendent John Deasy told parents. The move comes after three dozen parents and supporters protested in front of the main doors of the school earlier in the day, some carrying a banner that read: 'We the parents demand our children be protected from lewd teacher acts.' Outrage: Ivis Urbina (right) and her granddaughter Alexa Agillon (front) join other parents and supporters outside Miramonte Elementary school in protest over allegations that two teachers committed lewd acts with pupils . Anger: About three dozen parents gathered outside the school yesterday morning before joining a 100-strong group for a meeting with the school's administrators last night . Accused: Mark Berndt, 61, (left) was charged with carrying out lewd acts on 23 children who were aged six to 10. His colleague Martin Springer (right) has been held on $2m bail over claims he fondled two girls. Their outrage comes after teacher Mark . Berndt, 61, was charged with carrying out lewd acts on 23 children who . were aged six to 10. He . allegedly blindfolded the students in his classroom and fed them his . semen with a spoon. Children were allegedly told it was a 'tasting . game'. Teacher . Martin Springer, 49, was arrested on Friday - just four days later - on . suspicion of fondling two girls in his classroom. An . entire staff has been trained to come into Miramonte's classrooms to . take over teaching for the time being and there will be a psychiatric . social worker in every classroom to help students and staff cope with . any issues. Worried about the students: Los Angeles School District Superintendent John Deasy announces that the entire teaching staff of Miramonte Elementary School will be relocated in the wake of the arrests of two teachers over child sexual abuse allegations . Voicing concerns: A student passes protesting parents on his arrival at Miramonte Elementary school yesterday. More than a quarter of students were absent yesterday while parents demanded more protection . Furious: Parent Tessi Garcia airs her grievances to reporters over the sex abuse scandal that has rocked the school . 'The last thing I'm worried about is a budget issue,' Deasy said. 'The No 1 thing I'm worried about is the students.' All employees will be paid during the investigation, district spokesman Tom Waldman said. Officials didn't know how long the investigation will take. School officials cancelled classes at the school on Tuesday and Wednesday as a cooling-off period, Waldman said. All current staff members will report to another location, where they will be interviewed, he said. Deasy emphasized that all staff members being brought into the classroom went through a 'very rigorous screening process.' Deasy told reporters after the meeting that he was trying 'to govern emotion, because that's important.' Uncertain times: A student carries a class project to school yesterday as parents and the media gather outside . Comforting: A parent hugs her child at the start of the school day. School bosses say they are trying to 'govern emotion' as the investigation continues . Driven to act: The protest was an unusual event in the poor, overwhelmingly Latino neighborhood, where many parents and students struggle with the English language . Reassurances: Mr Deasy emphasised that all staff members being brought into the classroom went through a 'very rigorous screening process' United Teachers Los Angeles said in a statement that union leaders and staff have met with instructors at Miramonte. 'We support a thorough, vigorous and fair investigation of all allegations,' the statement said. 'It's everyone's responsibility to ensure that any and all allegations are thoughtfully and carefully investigated.' Maria Jimenez, 51, said the parents of children enrolled at Miramonte are divided over the move. 'Some are in favor. Others are against it because they did this without advising us or consulting us,' she said. More than a quarter of the students at Miramonte were absent from school Monday while parents demanded more protection at the school, with attendance reaching just 72 percent, according to figures from the Los Angeles Unified School District. The protest was an unusual event in the poor, overwhelmingly Latino neighborhood, where many parents and students struggle with the English language. Many people finally gathered around . former state senator-turned-lawyer Martha Escutia, who lectured them in . Spanish about how to organize for the media and suggested a catchy name . for their fledgling movement: Mothers of Miramonte. As night fell, about 100 angry parents marched from the elementary school to the nearby meeting with administrators. School police watched and sheriff's deputies were on hand, but there was no violence. Berndt, . who worked at the school for 32 years, was charged with committing lewd . acts on 23 children, ages six to 10, between 2005 and 2010. Heated: Los Angeles Unified School District police guard the front door of Miramonte Elementary school as parents protest outside . Mixed emotions: Parents are divided over the move to remove all the school's staff. Some feel they should have been consulted first . Mobilising: Protesting parents were given advice by former state senator-turned-lawyer Martha Escutia on how to organize their movement . The acts cited by authorities include blindfolding children and feeding them his own semen in his classroom in what children were allegedly told was a tasting game. Berndt, 61, remains jailed on $23million bail and could face life in prison if convicted. Springer, 49, was arrested on suspicion of fondling two girls in his classroom. He was being held on $2million bail. Springer taught at Miramonte for his entire career, which started in 1986, the district said. He taught second grade. The school board is scheduled to discuss firing him in a closed-door meeting Tuesday. Furore: Members of the media gather outside the Miramonte last Friday following the arrest of Springer, who was pulled from a classroom just days after Berndt was charged . Concern: Students are escorted to a bus outside Miramonte, which will be closed for two days this week . Investigators said they know of no connection between the Miramonte cases. Berndt and Springer know each other and took their classes on at least two joint field trips in the past decade, according to the Los Angeles Times. The district set up a toll-free hotline on Monday to receive reports of suspected abuse at Miramonte, said school board President Monica Garcia in a statement. Garcia added that the district would step up efforts to ensure students and staff realized the importance of reporting misconduct. In the same school district, a janitor at a San Fernando Valley elementary school was arrested on suspicion of committing a lewd act with a child on a campus. Accused: Berndt, pictured with a student in 2003, is suspected of blindfolding children in his class and spoon feeding them his semen . Paul Adame, 37, was taken into custody after a mother told police on Sunday that he had inappropriate contact with her child during school hours Friday at Germain Elementary School in the Chatsworth area north of Los Angeles, police Capt. Kris Pitcher said at a news conference. The captain declined to provide details but urged anyone who might know of other possible victims to contact police. Adame was booked and released on $100,000 bail Monday. It could not be immediately determined if he had an attorney. There was no immediate connection between the arrest of the janitor and the cases at Miramonte, which is 15 miles (24 kilometers) away in an unincorporated county area of South Los Angeles.
### SUMMARY:
| New workforce will take over from 88 teachers and 40 support staff at Miramonte Elementary School .
Social worker in every classroom to help pupils cope with issues .
Dozens of parents protest outside school with banners saying: 'We demand our children be protected from lewd teacher acts'
Mark Berndt, 61, accused of blindfolding students and feeding them his own semen .
Martin Springer, 49, arrested on Friday for allegedly fondling two girls in the classroom . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 09:38 EST, 18 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:17 EST, 18 February 2013 . The biggest snake captured during the month-long 'Python Challenge' in Florida is to be released back into the wild. In total, three pythons are going to be let back out into the Everglades, each equipped with two transmitters. Officials hope that these trick snakes will direct them to thousands of pythons hiding in the swamps and, most importantly, to breeding females. 'It's breeding time and females attract males and we have three eager young lads sitting out there with radio transmitters on them who can lead us to the breeding female and we can catch her,' Frank Mazzotti, wildlife professor and organizer of the competition, told ABC News. Scroll down for video . Sixty-eight Burmese pythons have been killed during month-long public hunt for the non-native species in the Florida Everglades . Fred Merrell, 48, hunts for pythons in the Big Cypress National Preserve during the Python Challenge in the Florida Everglades . 'Python Challenge' officials announced on . Saturday that just 68 snakes were killed during the public hunt that . attracted 1,600 people from over 30 states in the hope of cash prizes. No one is quite sure how many of the non-native species live in the Everglades but estimates have ranged up to 100,000 animals. Though . the final body count for the Python Challenge was fairly small, . organizers say they were very happy with the outcome of the hunt. 'Thanks to the determination of Python Challenge competitors, we are able to gather invaluable information that will help refine and focus combined efforts to control pythons in the Everglades,' Florida wildlife commission executive director Nick Wiley told CNN. As well as culling South Florida’s . population of the invasive snakes, the purpose of the hunt was also . to raise awareness about non-native species and their detrimental . effects on the local ecosystem. The pythons can grow up to 18 feet in length, but finding the camouflaged pythons in Florida's swampland wasn't easy. 'You can go out there for days and days and days and not see one python,' hunter Justin Matthews told CNN last month. 'I don't care how much experience you have. It is going to take some luck.' Officials said that challenge competitors had covered a million acres of swamp, brush and sawgrass. But these efforts weren't without rewards for the proud winners. Brian Barrows of Fort Myers, Florida, won a $1,500 grand prize in the amateur category for killing six pythons. In the professional category, Ruben Ramirez of Miami won the same amount for notching up 18 snakes. Paul Shannon, also from Florida, took home $1,000 for bagging the longest python (which was later realeased), which measured 14 feet, 3 inches. Captain Jeff Fobb, of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Venom One unit, explains the infestation problem to the media with the help of an 85-pound python . Two young men who became 'stranded and disoriented' while taking part in the hunt were rescued on February 7 by police piloting a chopper. The Broward County Sheriff's Office said units responded to a call about the missing men at about 4 p.m. Air rescue units began a search of the area, and the hunters were found a half-hour later. A helicopter landed in the Everglades and transported the two men to rescue units a few miles away. The victims, ages 22 and 25, 'complained of lightheadedness and weakness and were suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration,' according to the news release from the sheriff's office. Firefighters were told they were from Tennessee. The men, who have not been identified, were treated at the scene and declined to be transported to a hospital. Hunters were restricted to four state wildlife management areas; Everglades National Park was off-limits. They were allowed to use some firearms, as well as captive bolts and machetes to kill the pythons. Florida state offered cash prizes to whoever brought in the longest python and whoever killed the most snakes . Captain Jeff Fobb displays a python during the kick-off ceremonies in January. This 13-foot snake was captured a year ago swimming in a backyard pool . Before the start of the hunt in January, dozens of would-be python . hunters showed up for some last-minute training in snake handling at the University of Florida. The training came down to common sense: Drink water, wear sunscreen, don't get bitten by anything and don't shoot anyone. Many of the onlookers were dressed in camouflage, though they probably didn't have to worry about spooking the snakes. They would have a much harder time spotting the splotchy, tan pythons in the long green grasses and woody brush of the Everglades. 'It's advantage-snake,' mechanical engineer Dan Keenan concluded after slashing his way through a quarter-mile of scratchy sawgrass, dried leaves and woody overgrowth near a campsite in the Big Cypress National Preserve, which is about 50 miles southeast of Naples and is supervised by the National Park Service. Keenan, of Merritt Island, and friend Steffani Burd of Melbourne, a statistician in computer security, holstered large knives and pistols on their hips, so they'd be ready for any python that crossed their path. Dan Keenan battles through thick brush in search for Burmese pythons, also described as the 'zombies of the Everglades' The most useful tool they had, though, was the key fob to their car. Burd wanted to know that they hadn't wandered too far into the wilderness, so Keenan clicked the fob until a reassuring beep from their car chirped softly through the brush. The recommended method for killing pythons is the same for killing zombies: a gunshot to the brain, or decapitation to reduce the threat. (The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals doesn't approve of the latter method, though.) Pythons are kind of the zombies of the Everglades, though their infestation is less deadly to humans. The snakes have no natural predators, they can eat anything in their way, they can reproduce in large numbers and they don't belong here. Florida currently prohibits . possession or sale of the pythons for use as pets, and federal law bans . the importation and interstate sale of the species. Wildlife . experts say pythons are just the tip of the invasive species iceberg. Florida is home to more exotic species of amphibians and reptiles than . anywhere else in the world, said John Hayes, dean of research for the . University of Florida's Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences. Careful lookout: Another hunter, BR Slocum, uses a golf cart as he searches for snakes with his son . Roughly 2,050 pythons have been harvested in Florida since 2000, according to the conservation commission. It's unknown exactly how many are slithering through the wetlands. Officials hope the competition will help rid the Everglades of the invaders while raising awareness about the risks that exotic species pose to Florida's native wildlife. Keenan and Burd emerged from the Everglades empty-handed, but they planned to return the next day, hoping for cooler temperatures that would drive heat-seeking snakes into sunny patches along roads and levees. Burd still deemed the hunt a success. 'For me, I take back to my friends and community that there is a beautiful environment out here. It's opening the picture from just the python issue to the issue of how do we protect our environment,' she said. On the trail: Dan Keenan (right) and Steffani Burd (left) head into the Everglades in the search of pythons .
### SUMMARY:
| Around 1,600 people signed up in the hope of prizes in 'Python Challenge'
Only 68 animals caught during month-long competition .
Up to 100,000 snakes estimated to have invaded Everglades region and they are thought to menace native species .
Now three pythons equipped with trackers will be released back into wild to direct hunters to breeding females . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Jenny Stalland . PUBLISHED: . 15:28 EST, 17 April 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:30 EST, 17 April 2013 . Baggy black T-shirts, vice-like sports bras and a collection of thigh-high mini skirts to re-route male attention southwards. I’ve tried everything to divert the opposite sex from staring at my rather ample chest. But no matter what I attempt, I’ve always been known as Jenny With The Big Boobs. That’s the thing about having a 34F bust: it’s the first thing people see. So, almost inevitably, it becomes your defining characteristic. Curvy curse: Jenny Stallard hates people staring at her cleavage . But more often than not the dubious attention attracted by my bangers/ puppies/fun bags — oh yes, I’ve heard all the ‘hilarious’ euphemisms — is entirely unwelcome. Please don’t think me po-faced or ‘ungrateful’ (as some of my more petite friends have labelled me), but the lascivious stares and lewd comments seem to be on the rise — even in this supposedly politically correct age. And I blame the likes of TV presenter Holly Willoughby — who is said to be a size 34DD — who recently declared: ‘I don’t mind people fixating on my cleavage.’ The more that Ms Willough-booby, as she’s apparently happy to be known, pouts and preens and pretends she’s fine with the fact her fame revolves around her mammary glands, the more people think it’s fine to gawp at the rest of us big-breasted girls. Holly Willough-booby: The TV presenter recently declared, 'I don't mind people fixating on my cleavage' Just the other day, I encountered a man in a bar who couldn’t peel his eyes away from my cleavage: ‘God! I mean wow! Seriously — wow!’ I wanted to shout: ‘I do have an entire body — not to mention a brain — you know!’ But, of course, I didn’t say anything. Unlike any other part of your anatomy, when the joke’s about your heaving bosom, you’re simply supposed to laugh along. Despite Holly’s declarations to the contrary, a sizeable bust quickly becomes the bane of your life.Quite apart from the physical discomfort of lumbering around a 9lb bosom (yes, I once weighed them), I can’t go for a run without teenagers shouting ‘Bouncy, bouncy!’ and am yet to speak to a man who has been able to meet my gaze for any length of time. 'I'm sure there are many women who would imagine such attention boosts your confidence, but in reality it's uncomfortable' All this has made me — like everyone else — utterly obsessed with my boobs. If only they were smaller, I muse, I could for once look elegant in a dainty bikini. It wasn’t until I was 14 that my breasts began to grow out of all proportion. Those early days of shopping for bras left mental scars, with me sobbing ‘I hate my boobs’ to my mum. Two-inch-wide straps carved pink grooves into my shoulders and the cups struggled to contain my curves. ‘We all love you as you are,’ Mum would say. ‘Try not to worry.’ She meant well, but as a neat B-cup, how could she ever understand my trauma? I’m 35, but when I was a teenager more generous sizes weren’t readily available. I was consigned to an old ladies’s lingerie store near where we lived in Reigate, Surrey, which only emphasised my freakishness. I’d go home and prod my breasts in front of the mirror. They weren’t round and voluptuous: they were more teardrop-shaped and droopy. Bane of my life: Jenny believes her 34F boobs mean she can never look elegant while she's had to endure taunts of 'bouncy, bouncy' when going for a run . Recently, I flicked through an old diary and was shocked to see that such was my paranoia back then that I’d drawn a diagram of everything I hated about what I called my ‘old lady boobs’. And this was before I’d had to contend with the bewildering reactions of the opposite sex. It wasn’t until I moved from my girls’ school to a sixth form college at the age of 16 that I became painfully aware of the rubbernecking and widening eyes that my breasts elicited from hormonal young males. That’s when I started wearing the baggy black T-shirts. I’m sure there are many women who would imagine such attention boosts your confidence, but in reality it’s uncomfortable, humiliating and you just want to run away and hide. So distraught was I with my breasts in my late teens that I visited the doctor to inquire about a reduction. My GP warned me such operations come with big risks and suggested that, in time, I might grow to love my breasts. After his well-meaning words, I didn’t pursue the idea of a breast reduction, but I continued to torture myself with physical comparisons to my svelte best friend, Christine. Size matters . The best-selling bra size is 34DD - that compares to 34B in 2010, according to Debenhams . Whenever we had sleep-overs, I’d watch how she slipped effortlessly into her pyjamas. When I got changed, my breasts swung from side to side in cumbersome and clumsy unison. When I went to university in Hull, I found myself gravitating towards other busty girls. My housemate’s cleavage was as eye-popping as mine. We endured vulgar taunts about our bosoms, but took comfort in the fact we were not alone. I never dressed revealingly for dates when I was young and, even now, I refuse to display my cleavage when meeting potential suitors. I just want a man who will love me for me — and that includes my whole body and my brain. Meanwhile, my nights out in bars and clubs continue to be dominated by vulgar comments about my chest. As a woman with a larger-than-life personality, I tend to laugh off such comments. But there are times when I go home feeling genuinely upset. Would these men say anything if I was flat-chested? Or big-bottomed? I don't think so. Thanks to Holly Willoughby and her ilk, curvy women with big boobs are considered to be fair game for ribald comments from strangers. As at this time of year, I’m dreading having to strip down to a bikini on holiday. Unwelcome attention: Christina Hendricks' character in Mad Men flaunts her womanly curves but Jenny is not proud of hers . Girls with big busts tend to look like budding porn stars, even if they choose the classiest two-piece on the block (which will have to employ heavy scaffolding and cost at least £50). The extent to which my god-forsaken breasts put a dampener on everything is best summed up by a recent phone call. It was my sister Pamela, 25, ringing to tell me she was engaged and she’d like me to be her matron of honor. Of course, I congratulated her, but my very first question was: ‘Do I have to wear a strapless bridesmaid’s dress?’ Forget inquiries about the venue, the number of guests, how she was feeling — my fears about my figure clouded my reaction to her happy news. I admit this makes me feel silly, childish and a bit sad. I do wish I could learn to accept my body.Thankfully, Pamela is very laid-back and assured me that I could wear whatever made me feel most comfortable. So I would say to Holly Willoughby, and all those women who revel in comments about their breasts, to think again and realise that not every big-busted girl is happy to be judged by her boobs alone. I, for one, feel better having got that all off my chest.
### SUMMARY:
| Jenny Stallard admits she hates having big boobs .
They attract unwelcome attention .
'Thanks to Holly Willoughby I'm considered fair game for ribard comments' |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Daily Mail Reporter . UPDATED: . 10:52 EST, 14 October 2011 . Raj Rajaratnam, a self-made hedge fund tycoon convicted in the biggest Wall Street trading scandal in a generation, was ordered to serve 11 years in prison, the longest sentence ever in an insider-trading case but far less than prosecutors sought. Today sentencing caps a prosecution, marked by secret wiretaps of Rajaratnam and his associates, that shocked the investment world. The Sri Lanka-born fund manager once stood atop a $7billion New York hedge fund, but was found guilty of running a network of informants who supplied him with corporate secrets. Defeated: Raj Rajaratnam, co-founder of Galleon Group LLC, leaves Federal Court with his attorney Terence Lynam, after his sentencing on Thursday in New York . The sentence was lighter than the . 19-and-a-half year minimum term that prosecutors had sought, and was . only slightly more than the 10 years handed down recently to a former . Rajaratnam employee at the now-shuttered Galleon Group hedge fund. The judge, in rejecting calls for a tougher sentence, said Rajaratnam, 54, faces 'imminent kidney failure' due to advanced diabetes. He referred to a report from the defence describing Rajaratnam's doctors as recommending dialysis soon. The report said the doctors had begun the process for obtaining a kidney transplant. 'Prison creates a more intense form of punishment for critically ill prisoners,' U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell said. He added, however, that illness does not provide 'a get-out-of-jail-free card'. The judge also cited the multimillionaire's charitable work including helping victims of natural disasters in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and in the United States. Rajaratnam, standing with his lawyers and looking straight ahead, was expressionless after hearing the sentence. Before the judge announced his ruling, Rajaratnam said 'No thank you, Your Honor,' when asked if he wanted to make a statement. Rajaratnam's lawyers, whose client showed no obvious signs of poor health during the 80-minute hearing on Thursday, have said that a long prison term would amount to a death sentence. Media storm: Camera crews follow the Sri Lanka-born fund manager, who once stood atop a $7billion New York hedge fund, outside of the courtroom on Thursday . The judge granted Rajaratnam's . request to recommend he be sent to a prison in Butner, North Carolina, . best known for housing Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff, who is . serving a life term. The prison, whose inmates range from white-collar . offenders to child molesters and gang members, has a hospital. Rajaratnam was the key figure of a sprawling criminal case, unveiled in October 2009, that touched some of America's top companies, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Intel Corp, IBM and the elite McKinsey & Co consultancy. Prosecutors have placed him in a dubious pantheon of Wall Street power players such as takeover specialist Ivan Boesky and junk bond financier Michael Milken, principal figures in a mid-1980s insider-trading case. Both men served about two years in prison. Rajaratnam's actions were 'brazen, pervasive and egregious,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Reed Brodsky said in court on Thursday, urging for the maximum punishment. Holwell also decried Rajaratnam's offenses, saying 'the government is absolutely correct that insider trading is an assault on the free markets that are a fundamental element of our democratic society.' Rajaratnam was ordered to surrender on November 28. The judge rejected his request to remain under house arrest at his luxury Manhattan apartment while he pursues an appeal over the legality of the wiretaps. Expressionless: Rajaratnam is shown in this courtroom sketch during his sentencing. He declined to make a statement before the ruling . Federal inmates typically must serve at least 85 per cent of their terms before being eligible for release. Rajaratnam's wife, Asha, who has never attended court in the two years since his arrest, sat in the third row of the courtroom's public seats while the judge imposed sentence. Rajaratnam was convicted in May on 14 charges of securities fraud and conspiracy. He did not testify in his own defence at his two-month trial, but his voice was heard repeatedly on the 45 recorded phone calls played for the jury. The judge also fined him $10million and ordered him to forfeit $53.8million, which Holwell said approximated the illegal profits and avoided losses from the trading scheme. The Galleon case sent shock waves through Wall Street and the hedge fund industry, where traders can try to get an edge at all costs. Prosecutors say Rajaratnam and others crossed the line by pumping corporate insiders for corporate earnings or details of mergers that had not yet been announced. The investigation featured extensive use of secret FBI phone taps. Such tactics usually are reserved for Mafia and drug trafficking investigations. Guilty: A courtroom drawing shows Raj Rajaratnam (L) with Judge Richard Holwell at Federal Court. Rajaratnam was ordered to surrender on November 28 . In court: Rajaratnam (R) with Judge Richard Holwell (upper C) Defense Attorney William White(L), Assistant US Attorney Reed Brodsky, and Defense Attorney Samidh Gudh (2ndR) today . The case has been a major victory for the Justice Department. Out of 26 people, including traders, lawyers, executives and consultants charged in the case, 25 have pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial of supplying or trading on illicit stock tips. One is at large. 'We can only hope that this case will be the wake-up call we said it should be when Mr Rajaratnam was arrested,' Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. One conspirator caught on the phone taps was Danielle Chiesi, a former high school beauty queen who became a hedge fund trader at New Castle Funds. 'They're gonna guide down,' Chiesi told Rajaratnam on a July 24, 2008 recording of them discussing Akamai Technologies Inc's full-year outlook. 'I just got a call from my guy. I played him like a finely tuned piano.' At the trial, several of Rajaratnam's former friends and associates, including former McKinsey consultant Anil Kumar and former Intel executive Rajiv Goel, testified against him. Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein also testified that disclosure of boardroom talks to Rajaratnam by a Goldman board member went against the bank's confidentiality policies. Insider-trading defendants often get sentences lower than what is prescribed in federal guidelines, out of the view that their crime is less harmful than other types of misdeeds. Judges have handed down some tough insider-trading sentences recently. A former Galleon employee, stock trader Zvi Goffer, 34, was sentenced last month to ten years in prison. In a 2008 case, former Credit Suisse investment banker Hafiz Naseem also was sentenced to ten years. Rajaratnam drew only a slightly longer term. 'I think it's a fair sentence,' said Thomas Dewey, a defence attorney at law firm Dewey Pegno & Kramarsky. The judge 'balanced the seriousness of the crime and the need for deterrence with his medical issues and the good works Raj has done to come out at the right place.' Rajaratnam founded Galleon in 1997 and built it into one of the world's largest hedge funds. Galleon made all of its investors whole when it was wound down after his arrest.
### SUMMARY:
| Sri Lanka-born fund manager once stood .
atop a $7billion New York hedge fund .
Found guilty of running a .
network of informants who supplied him with corporate secrets .
Judge rejected calls for a tougher sentence .
Said Rajaratnam, 54, faces 'imminent kidney failure' due to advanced diabetes .
Recommend he be sent to a prison with a hospital in Butner, North Carolina, .
best known for housing Ponzi scheme operator Bernard Madoff . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Harriet Arkell . PUBLISHED: . 05:18 EST, 14 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:45 EST, 14 June 2013 . A juror in the trial of the disgraced son of socialite Brooke Astor has recanted her guilty vote and pleaded for him to be spared jail at the last minute. Judi DeMarco, who was Juror No.8 in the high profile trial of Anthony Marshall, 89, says she went along with a guilty vote that she did not believe in because of 'fear and exhaustion'. She has now signed an affidavit saying she believes Marshall, who is due to begin a jail term of up to three years on Monday, is innocent of plundering his mother's millions, . Juror Judi DeMarco, pictured in long grey scarf, has recanted her guilty vote in the Anthony Marshall trial . A New York state appeals court has upheld the conviction of Anthony Marshall, who was found guilty in 2009 of siphoning off millions of dollars from the estate of his mother, philanthropist and socialite Brooke Astor . Conviction upheld: Anthony Marshall, son of late philanthropist Brooke Astor, sits in Manhattan Supreme Court where opening arguments were delivered in his trial . Anthony Marshall (left), arrives at Manhattan State Supreme Court for his 2009 sentencing with his wife Charlene, and his attorney Ken Warner while (right) the late New York socialite Brooke Astor is pictured at the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Philanthropy lunch in New York in 2001. Astor died in August 2007 aged 105 . Marshall had petitioned the Court of Appeals to overturn his 2009 conviction for attempting to con his late philanthropist mother's estate out of $60million, but lost his case last week. The parties were notified by mail last week and Marshall was told to surrender for execution of sentencing on June 17. Today juror Ms DeMarco called for Marshall to be spared jail as she said she only voted guilty because she was bullied into it. In a 10-page affidavit seen by the New York Post, she wrote: 'I changed my vote out of fear and exhaustion, not because I had been persuaded beyond a reasonable doubt of guilt. 'I wished I had stood my ground and not changed my vote to guilty.' Lawyers are now expected to file a motion today to delay Marshall's surrender to jail, and a further hearing is likely to take place to look into the juror's allegations over the conviction. Vast wealth: Brooke Astor's Westchester home - most of the furniture was auctioned at Sotheby's last year and the proceeds went to philanthropic causes in New York City . Taken: While the furniture was initially given to Marshall from Brooke Astor's will, he will now not see any of the money after being found guilty of defrauding the elderly woman . Ms DeMarco also cast doubt on the reasoning behing the conviction of Marshall's fellow defendant, lawyer Francis X Morrissey, who was found guilty of helping Marshall con his mother by forging Astor's signature on her 2004 will. She said that her fellow jurors, whom she accused of using emotion rather than reason in their deliberations, decided the pair were guilty and came up with a theory around the signing of the will to suit that. Ms DeMarco also claims she was verbally . attacked by other jurors, whom she accuses of swearing at her and . threatening her during deliberations. She says she has come forward on the eve of the defendants' imprisonment because she did not vote according to her conscience. 'My only purpose in submitting this affidavit is to let the court know the truth' - juror Judi DeMarco . She said: 'My only purpose in submitting this affidavit is to let the court know the truth — that defendants did not receive what the judge told us they were entitled to: the fair and honest verdict of 12 jurors regarding the charges against them.' Marshall has been outcast by New . York society since he was convicted of conning his philanthropist mother, who died in 2007 aged 105, out of millions. He and wife Charlene have kept . to a frugal life of solitude in their Upper East Side apartment during the appeals process and they have rarely seen in public . as he awaits his one to three year sentence. A lower court judge wrote in March that he took advantage of Astor 'when they knew her physical and mental condition' were deteriorated. Marshall also gave himself a $2million pay raise and bought a 55ft long yacht with his mother's money. The wheelchair-bound son had begged judges to spare him the jail time given his age, health, military service and lack of prior criminal history. Marshall,who is in poor health following open heart surgery, is estranged from his twin sons. Setting sail: The Titanic leaving Southampton on her ill-fated maiden voyage on April 10, 1912 . John Jacob Astor IV was a millionaire . and decorated Spanish-American war hero who died in the sinking of the . Titanic in 1912 . John Jacob Astor has become one of the most fabled characters to emerge from the 1,517 passengers who died when the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912. The 47-year-old American tycoon, who built the Astoria Hotel in New York, was returning from his honeymoon on the doomed vessel with his 19-year-old pregnant wife Madeleine. When the Titanic struck the iceberg, Astor helped his wife into a lifeboat but remained onboard. He was last seen smoking a cigarette on the top deck. Half an hour later, the ship slipped beneath the ocean waves. His wife survived. Astor's was one of the 333 bodies recovered on April 22 by a cable ship. He was identified by the initials sewn into his jacket along with his engraved gold watch. Astor's son Vincent inherited the piece and wore it for the rest of his life before passing it on to his son, Anthony. JJ Astor is buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in New York City. Madeleine gave birth to a son on August 14, 1912 who was named after his father. They testified that their father and . stepmother were abusing Astor, withholding medical treatment and leaving . her to lie drenched in her own urine. Marshall was found guilty of . defrauding his mother out of money she had inherited from her . third husband, hotelier and realtor Vincent Astor. Vincent Astor's father John Jacob Astor IV famously died on the Titanic after it sank on April 15, 1912, and he was the one to go claim . his father's body in Nova Scotia after the wreck. Brooke Astor had devoted her life to philanthropy, giving eye-watering sums of . money to the St Regis Hotel, the New York Public Library and the . Metropolitan Art Museum. The multimillionaire, who had . Alzheimer's, was left to spend her last days in heart-breaking . conditions - her dogs messing over her Park Avenue apartment while she . napped in her own urine with no one to help, the Post previously . reported. The jury convicted Marshall of 14 counts, including first-degree grand larceny and scheming to defraud. Marshall . did not appear to have learned a lesson from his conviction. In March, . Marshall was allegedly hawking a fake gold watch that he claimed . belonged to his famous relative who died on the Titanic. He and his current wife Charlene made . a rare public appearance three months ago at a lavish party for a new cruise . ship called the Titanic II. At the party, he reportedly showed . guests a gold watch that reportedly belonged to John Jacob Astor and was . trying to sell it for $1million. However, the story was claimed to be Marshall's latest con, as a California collector has said that he . bought the real watch in an auction over a decade ago.
### SUMMARY:
| Anthony Marshall, 89, due to start prison on Monday for up to three years .
In 2009 he was convicted of plundering his late mother's millions .
But juror Judi DeMarco signs affidavit saying she voted guilty out of 'fear'
She accuses jurors of bullying her and says Marshall should be spared jail . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Guy Adams . PUBLISHED: . 19:25 EST, 26 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 21:38 EST, 26 August 2013 . Yesterday was a picture-perfect Bank Holiday in the Berkshire village of Cookham. Hundreds of day-trippers took advantage of the summer sunshine to wander along grassy meadows next to a meandering River Thames. On the High Street, just a brisk walk from the historic house where local author Kenneth Grahame wrote The Wind In The Willows, a steady trickle of customers came seeking refreshment at Diane Bryant and Magda Wencel’s newly opened tea shop, the Teapot. As they poured Earl Grey into bone china cups, and carved into magnificent cakes, Diane and Magda’s customers could reflect that they were enjoying a quintessentially English moment on what is rightly regarded as one of the country’s most beautiful High Streets. Victims: Magda Wencel and Diane Bryant opened the cafe only two weeks ago but had someone post 50 exotic cockroaches through their letterbox on Thursday . Unspoiled Cookham is, after all, famed for everything from its 11th-century church to the higgledy-piggledy houses that grace the oil paintings of famous landscape artist Sir Stanley Spencer, a local resident who used to call it his ‘village in heaven’. Yet behind the comforting smell of brewing tea and freshly buttered scones, another, less savoury, aroma could be detected in the airy back room of the Teapot. It was the unsettling whiff of a bizarre and increasingly ugly scandal. Trouble began on Thursday morning, when the owners arrived to discover that no fewer than 50 cockroaches had been posted through their letterbox during the night. The large red insects were crawling around on the floor, making a vigorous hissing sound that one eye-witness has compared to ‘something out of a low-budget horror movie’. Creepy crawlies: Magda and Diane went to open The Teapot on Cookham High Street on Thursday morning to find the floor covered in insects . The bugs were later collected by police and taken away for tests which have established that they were Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches, an exotic species which can grow up to three inches long. Health officials closed the tea shop for the day, and baffled detectives are now attempting to establish who might be responsible for attempting to sabotage the Teapot. The incident has stunned well-heeled villagers, and left Diane and Magda, in their words, ‘worried and thoroughly disgusted’. ‘It was a terrible, revolting thing to do, and people here just can’t believe someone could do it,’ said Magda, 38, when we met. ‘We can’t blame anyone, or point the finger. We just don’t know who might be responsible. But obviously we want to find out. This wasn’t just some kids messing around. It was a planned attack, by someone who wanted to cause harm.’ The crime has appalled and enthralled the village in equal measure. A string of conspiracy theories are already swirling around Cookham, which sits in London’s commuter belt, has a thriving Horticultural Society and, according to the Land Registry, is the second most wealthy village in the country. ‘It’s Midsomer Murders, with cockroaches in place of a corpse,’ declared one drinker, darkly, at the village’s Kings Arms pub, a hostelry occasionally frequented by such celebrated locals as rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward, singer Chris Rea, Rolf Harris and TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson. Saving grace: It was fortunate that the 50 roaches were Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches as they are easier to get rid of . Like many residents of this tight-knit community, my informant was reluctant to give his name in connection with the incident. But he was also happy to outline at some length several exotic theories regarding the Madagascan cockroaches, which are prized by pet owners for their habit of hissing noisily when disturbed. He, and several other interviewees, took the view that the bugs were planted by someone loyal to a rival business. They pointed out that the lucrative trade in providing tea and coffee to day-trippers in Cookham has hitherto been dominated by three or four nearby village pubs, along with a single coffee shop, Infusions, which is situated directly next door to the Teapot. But there is no evidence to support such claims. Indeed, when I visited Infusions, the manageress, who also declined to give her name, said she had ‘no comment’ to make about the cockroach incident, but added, pointedly, that she would ‘never have anything to do’ with any such attack. ‘I can’t stand cockroaches. They give me the heebie-jeebies,’ she said. ‘I can’t go near them. I saw them at the zoo once, when I visited with my children, and was too scared to even go near their tank. I would certainly never touch them.’ A second popular theory regarding this unsolved ‘whodunnit’ revolves around the fact that Magda Wencel hails originally from Poland. Could racism be a motive? I found nothing to support this theory, although Cookham certainly has form when it comes to taking issue with exotic incomers. A few years ago, when it was reported that rock-star Liam Gallagher had brought a house just outside the village, locals held a meeting at the Jolly Farmer pub to raise fears about the former Oasis singer and his urbanite friends lowering the tone of the community. Criminal activity: Police are investigating incident but have yet to find the culprit . Yesterday, locals were at pains to describe the village as a tolerant place which welcomes outsiders. And Diane Bryant said that she has experienced ‘nothing but goodwill’ since arriving in Cookham. ‘A lot of people have been coming in saying how awful the incident is, how sorry they are, and staying for a cup of tea,’ she said. A third theory posits the idea that the attack was the work of a homophobe who might have leapt to the conclusion that Bryant and Wencel are domestic, as well as business, partners. This thesis, aired in online forums over the weekend, was presumably inspired by Cookham’s last brush with infamy, in 2010, when a churchgoing local couple, who run a B&B, were prosecuted for refusing to allow two gay men to stay at their residence. Yet it must be discounted because both women are in happy, heterosexual relationships. Diane has a husband and a young daughter, while Magda lives with her fiancé in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. ‘That theory is very funny, but we’re business partners and nothing else,’ Magda said. ‘Not that it matters in this day and age, of course.’ The police investigation continues but, as yet, has made little progress. I understand that no fingerprints were found on the Teapot’s letterbox, and footage from CCTV cameras at either end of the High Street shows no more than a blurry image of individuals walking past the tea shop after dark, which is when the attack happened. Inquiries at local pet shops — including one in Maidenhead, about four miles away — have drawn a blank, since none is believed to stock Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches. The insects are, however, widely available over the internet, and police are working on the assumption that they were purchased online and shipped to the attacker via mail order. Whoever the cockcroach culprit was, and however well their tracks were covered, he or she also appears to have made at least one big mistake. ‘The pest control guy who visited the shop after the attack said we’d been very lucky that they had used this type of cockroach, because the insects all stayed in a relatively small area by the door,’ says Magda. ‘If they had been normal cockroaches it would have been different. Within a short time they would have been all over the shop and we would probably have been closed for days.’ Did the mysterious attacker make other crucial errors that will eventually see them unmasked? As with any high-profile, unsolved crime, only time will tell. In the meantime, sinister conspiracy theories will continue to flourish in this outwardly idyllic corner of rural England.
### SUMMARY:
| Newly opened Cookham tea shop victim of cruel sabotage .
Owners had 50 cockroaches posted through the letterbox . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 11:04 EST, 24 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:04 EST, 24 October 2013 . When Darlene Yasick's husband Gene died in 1989 aged 48, the family was at a loss over what had claimed him so suddenly. Only years later did they learn he was killed by a rare and deadly genetic disease called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome - and that it was only just beginning to devastate the family. In 2006, Darlene's son Steve died aged 40 and in 2010, it claimed another son, 42-year-old Tom. Still the disease continued to ravage her family - claiming the life of her son Michel, 49, this spring. And then on Saturday her grandson - Michael's son - Christoper passed away, aged just 25. Scroll down for video . Heartbroken: Darlene Yasick has lost her husband, three sons and grandson to the same genetic disease . Loss: In 2006, her son Steve, 40, died followed by Tom, 42, in 2010. A third son Michel, 49, died in Spring . The family, who live in Chicago, Illinois and Wyoming, Michigan, have just learned that Darlene's six-year-old grandson also has the condition. Speaking with WoodTV from her Michigan home, Darlene said it is like 'a nightmare and you can't wake up from it.' All of the men suffered from the most severe form of the disorder, vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which can cause the walls of the blood vessels or intestines to rupture. The condition - for which there is no cure - can also weaken the heart's largest artery, the aorta, as well as the arteries to the kidneys and spleen. Missed: Most recently, her 25-year-old grandson Chris, pictured, died from the disease on Saturday . Sudden: When her husband Gene, pictured, died in the 80s the family were not aware of the disease . Sufferers of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome have faulty collagen - which usually acts as a glue in the body - in their connective tissues. It means that EDS weakens the bonds that hold organs, vessels and arteries together. There are six different kinds of EDS. All five of Yasick's family members who died had the Vascular Type, which is the most serious form. It can lead to the sudden rupturing of arteries or organs as the result of even minor trauma. There is no cure for the condition. According to the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation, the vascular form of EDS affects about one in every 250,000 people. It is thought many more die from the disease but many victims don't know they had it. It is genetic and if you have it, there is a 50 per cent chance your children do too. The disease affects connective tissues . such as the skin, joints and blood vessel walls and its cause is . genetic; if you have it, there is a 50 per cent chance your children . will have it too. 'There is no treatment,' Darlene told WoodTV. 'There is no therapy. Right now, there is nothing if you have it you have it. 'For us, it's like, what's the end? It just keeps happening and happening until there is no one left for it to happen to.' Despite the family's struggles, she said she is proud of the men in her family and the legacy they have all left behind. 'There . is no way that I could have been prouder of them,' she said. 'Even . though they were not here as long as we would have like them, they've . left us with so much in memory and faith and the things they have . accomplished.' The family is still struggling with Christopher's death at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago on Saturday. Ripped apart: Chris, right, and his father Mike, left, died within months of each other this year . Fears: Darlene, pictured with Mike, said she does not know how long they will continue to lose loved ones . They . remembered him as a promising photographer who achieved a civil . engineering degree from the University of Texas before working towards a . structural engineering Master's degree at the University of Illinois. His devastated grandmother is trying to stay strong during this tough time. 'If you don't have hope, then there is nothing,' she said. 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### SUMMARY:
| Darlene Yasick lost her husband, 48, three sons, aged 40, 42 and 49, and grandson, 25, to Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome .
Another of her grandchildren, aged 6, also suffers from the condition .
EDS weakens connective tissues meaning that arteries can rupture .
There is no cure and Darlene said it 'keeps happening and happening until there is no one left for it to happen to' |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 08:23 EST, 3 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 07:44 EST, 4 March 2014 . Prince Harry today led tributes to Nelson Mandela as it emerged a memorial stone will be laid for the former South Africa in Westminster Abbey. Almost 2,000 people gathered at the abbey this lunchtime for a memorial service to the late leader's life and work. Mr Mandela, who died on December 5 last . year, was welcomed to the abbey in July 1996 when, during a state visit, . he laid a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior. Prince Harry represented the Queen at today's . service, which was also attended by actor Idris Elba who played Mandela . in a biopic last year . Daughters of the former President Zenani Mandela-Dlamini (left) and Zindzi Mandela travelled to the UK for the service . Prince Harry shakes hands with Archbishop Desmond Tutu before the service . Prince Harry left the service with the Dean of Westminster the Very Reverend John Hall . The service attended by politicians, celebrities, campaigners and family of Mr Mandela heard South African singing and drumming . Prime Minister David Cameron gave a reading from the Gospel according to St John and prayers were led by the Archbishop of Canterbury . Others present included former British Prime Minister Sir John Major and members of the Cabinet including Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow . Ahead of the service it was announced that a memorial stone to Nelson Mandela will be laid in Westminster Abbey . Prime Minister David Cameron gave a . reading during the service, where the congregation also included deputy president of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema . Motlanthe, and Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, the Most Reverend . Desmond Tutu. Mr Mandela's daughters Zenani Mandela-Dlamini and Zindzi Mandela were joined by politicians, celebrities and race campaigners for the service, where Prince Harry represented the Queen. Stars who attended included actors Richard E Grant, Joanna Lumley and Idris Elba, who played the former president in the biopic Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom. In an address to the congregation, the Most Rev Tutu, the former Archbishop of Cape Town thanked "splendid" and "amazing" anti-apartheid campaigners for their efforts in changing the "moral climate" over apartheid. "What would have happened had Mandela died in prison as was the intention and hope of the upholders of apartheid," he said. "I suppose most would have regarded him as no better than a terrorist - after all, persons in high positions in Britain and the US did dismiss him as such." Singling out the anti-apartheid movement for praise, he thanked those who had picketed South Africa House, the South African High Commission in London. "Thank you, you who regularly picketed South Africa House, thank you elegant ladies who boycotted South African goods, thank you to all those who followed the long haired Peter Hain to stop South African sports, thank you all those incredible young people in other parts of the world," he said. Archbishop Desmond Tutu thanked 'splendid' and 'amazing' anti-apartheid campaigners . A woman in traditional African dress holds an order of service at Westminster Abbey . Actress Joanna Lumley joined almost 2,000 people to pay tribute to the former South African President . News of Mr Mandela's death broke as Prince William . and the Duchess of Cambridge attended a screening of the film in London. Today's service heard South African singing and drumming and an address to the congregation by Kgalema Motlanthe, South African deputy president, and Peter Hain MP, the veteran anti-apartheid campaigner. Among those attending were senior politicians including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Labour leader Ed Miliband and former Prime Ministers Sir John Major and Gordon Brown. Prime Minister David Cameron gave a reading during the service, also attended by Deputy PM Nick Clegg . Deputy President of South Africa Kgalema Motlanthe, waves to the media as he arrives for the ceremony . Among the congregation were former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown (left) former Labour leader Lord Kinnock (right) and his wife Baroness Kinnock . Today Dr John Hall, Dean of Westminster the Very Reverend, announced a ledger stone will be placed in the abbey later . this year. Dr Hall said: 'Nelson . Mandela was one of the most remarkable world leaders of the last . century. His remarkable constancy under suffering stand as an example to . everyone. 'In addition, his capacity for forgiveness and his generosity of spirit show what humanity at its best can achieve. 'His . memorial in Westminster Abbey, justified in itself, standing amongst . memorials to many of the greatest men and women of the world, not all of . them British, will also prove to be a focus of contemplation and prayer . for the gift of forgiveness and reconciliation in many communities and . places in our troubled world.' Others at the service included actor Richard E Grant (left) and race campaigner Baroness Lawrence . Barry and Margaret Mizen, the parents of murdered teenager, Jimmy Mizen, were invited to attend . Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Lord Boateng, the British High Commissioner to South Africa . Senior Tories at the service included former Prime Minister Sir John Major, senior minister Ken Clarke and London Mayor Boris Johnson . Former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown joined the congregation along with former Labour Cabinet minister Peter Hain, who grew up in South Africa and campaigned against apartheid . Mr Cameron's . reading was from John 10:10-16, which includes the lines: 'I am the good . shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth . me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.' When Mr Mandela died in December, Mr Cameron said: 'A great light has gone out in the world. Nelson Mandela was a hero of our time.' The Most Rev Tutu, the former . Archbishop of Cape Town thanked 'splendid' and 'amazing' anti-apartheid . campaigners for their efforts in changing the 'moral climate' over . apartheid. He told the . congregation: 'What would have happened had Mandela died in prison as . was the intention and hope of the upholders of apartheid. 'I . suppose most would have regarded him as no better than a terrorist - . after all, persons in high positions in Britain and the US did dismiss . him as such.' Former Commons Speaker Baroness Boothroyd (left) and Lib Dem peer Floella Benjamin outside the abbey . Mr Mandela, a former lawyer, spent 27 years in . apartheid prisons for his political beliefs before becoming South . Africa's first black president. His . critical role in both achieving full democracy in South Africa and then . keeping the peace when it arrived in 1994 earned him a Nobel Peace . Prize. Mr Hain, a former Northern Ireland . secretary, told the congregation that Mr Mandela never forgot his . connection with Britain - which he 'revered' - even during his harshest . years in jail on Robben Island. While . behind bars the apartheid regime was at its most ruthless, Mr Hain . said, and there was a majority in the House of Commons against him and . the African National Congress. Nevertheless, 'tens of thousands' of British citizens had supported Mr Mandela's fight for freedom, Mr Hain added. He . said campaigns such as those for the abolition of slavery, for the . women's vote and the anti-apartheid movement were 'invariably unpopular . at the time they most need support only to be glorified, indeed . sanctified once they have triumphed,' he said. Mr Hain spoke of the 'great privilege' of having known Mr Mandela and his 'impish and mischievous' sense of humour. He said Mr Mandela had been unable to attend Mr Hain's second wedding in 2003 but had joked: 'Perhaps I can come next time?'
### SUMMARY:
| Tributes paid to former South African President who died in December .
Almost 2,000 people gathered at Westminster Abbey for the service .
Congregation includes politicians, celebrities, royals and campaigners .
Prince Harry represented the Queen, David Cameron gave a reading .
Mandela's daughters Mandela-Dlamini and Zindzi Mandela attended . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . James Nye . Amateur-sleuth: Lois Duncan arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of 'Hotel For Dogs' at the Grove Pacific Theatres on January 15, 2009 in Los Angeles, California - Duncan has spent the past 25-years investigating her daughter's death . While you may not have heard of author Lois Duncan or the tragic and unsolved murder of her 18-year-old daughter in 1989, you definitely know the 1997 cult movie, I Know What You Did Last Summer. Written by Duncan, 80, in 1973, the hit, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sarah Michelle Gellar, spawned sequels and spoofs as the 90s most memorable horror film, along with Scream. Despite the success of her fiction, in reality, Duncan has been battling for the past 25-years to discover the truth behind her girl, Kaitlyn's death in Albuquerque, New Mexico - a journey which has taken her to the doors of organized crime and a possible police cover-up. Indeed, as . life began to imitate art, Duncan's dogged pursuit of the truth of her . daughter's murder began on the night of July 16th, 1989. Her . teenage daughter had just graduated high school and left a girlfriend's . house in her 1984 Ford Tempo at 10.45pm. after watching Valley Girl. Kaitlyn, . who had just been accepted into the University of New Mexico to study . medicine braked as she approached a railway crossing in Albuquerque at . around 10.45pm. Suddenly . she was shot twice, once through the temple and once through the cheek . by a shooter who opened fire on the driver's side of the vehicle. She was rushed to hospital, placed on life support and put into a medically induced coma. Sadly, she died the next day and for the past quarter century, Duncan has used all her amateur sleuth skills to decipher any possible suspects and motives related to the act. The official police investigation determined that the lethal assault was a random act of violence, perpetrated by drive-by shooters. Duncan however, found evidence that suggested otherwise. Murdered: Kaitlyn Arquette was shot dead at a railway crossing while she was sitting on the drivers side. Two bullets hit her in the head . Capable student Kaitlyn was seeing Dung Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant at the time of her murder. Ten years her older, Nguyen was one of his nation's boat people - who fled the war torn nation after the United States pulled out in 1975. He was dismissed as a suspect in the killing because his fingers tested negative for any gun residue. Furthermore, the police found a letter from Kaitlyn in the apartment she lived in with Nguyen that said, 'Hon, where are you? I know you're still mad. I'm so sorry OK! I miss you today. I went to the mom's house to return these books. I'll see ya. Love.' Because of this note the police ruled out fighting between the couple as a motive for her murder. But, five days later, Nguyen was discovered to have stabbed himself in the stomach in the middle of the night, in what he claimed was a suicide attempt. This raised the suspicions of Duncan, who wondered why anyone would try and kill themselves so painfully by stabbing themselves in the midriff? Digging deeper, Duncan found that Nguyen was part of a multi-million dollar insurance fraud in Southern California. The scam was to stage a car accidents with both parties involved to claim fraudulent insurance money. This was a burgeoning business among Vietnamese immigrants in Southern California and Nguyen would sometimes take Kaitlyn along with him when he carried out the fraud. Promising student: Kaitlyn Arquette was preparing to study medicine at the University of New Mexico before her murder in 1989 . This set her mind racing and she rushed to visit Nguyen in hospital, where he was recovering from his self-inflicted stabbing. Duncan told Buzzfeed's Tim Stelloh that while heavily sedated, Nguyen told her that he didn't kill Kaitlyn, but he was 'deciding' whether he loved he enough to tell police who did. Hiring private investigators and even psychic detectives to aid in her search, Duncan then discovered that Albuquerque police knew that Nguyen was involved in fraud and had decided not to investigate his association with Vietnamese gangs. Things became even more skewed when Duncan was finally shown the note that Kaitlyn had written for Nguyen. She was adamant that this was not her daughter's handwriting and then, staggeringly, the case became even murkier. A close friend of Kaitlyn's told Duncam that Nguyen phoned her on the night of the shooting screaming 'Kait's dead!'. However, police did not travel to notify Nguyen of his girlfriend's death until 3am - several hours after that panicked phone call. Then, the case twisted even further when two men, Miguel Garcia and Juvenal 'Juve' Escobedo, 18 and 21-years-old, were arrested and charged with the killing. Police told Duncan that the two men had randomly killed her daughter after one of the men bet the other to shoot Kaitlyn - and he did. I Know What You Did Last Summer: The hit 1997 movie starred Freddie Prinze Jr, (left) Jennifer Love Hewitt (center left), Sarah Michelle Gellar (center right), Ryan Phillippe (right) and was based on Lois Duncan's 1973 bestseller . However, despite the insistence of district attorney Robert Schwartz that the two men were guilty, there was no evidence and no motive aside from random violence. A jury agreed and dismissed the charges against Garcia and Escobedo. Duncan now feels that the police were inept and willfully incompetent in the case and missed a key detail discovered by private investigator, Pat Caristro years later. On the night of Kaitlyn's murder, the first detective to respond to the scene found a man called Paul Apodaca standing by the car, who claimed to be just walking by. According to Caristo, 'standard procedure would have required police to run Apodaca's name,' which they did not. If they had they would have discovered that Apodaca had been charged with 'committing multiple violent attacks against women, including robbery and beating a young girl with a baseball bat.' His car matched the make and model, although not the color, of what eye-witnesses said was a car which dashed away from the scene. Duncan became obsessed by the crime and returned frequently to psychics and private investigators to solve the murder of her daughter. She wrote two books, Who Killed my Daughter? and One to the Wolves, about the killing. Tragically there is no answer for Duncan. Stelloh asks, 'Was there a relationship between Apodaca, the 'Vietnamese connection' and Escobedo and Garcia? Had the crime scene been derailed by incompetence or by a cover-up? Had Kait stumbled onto something even more sinister than insurance fraud?' Duncan herself believes that her daughter was targeted and police tried to cover their tracks after they discovered that Apodaca had not been stopped at the time. For their part, the Albuquerque Police believe that Duncan is becoming a hindrance to the still unsolved murder. 'When she puts out stuff that’s not factual, it’s not helping the case,' Major Anthony Montano said to Stelloh at Buzzfeed. 'Montano would not say which details were not factual, nor how they had 'compromised” APD’s investigation, as he put it.'
### SUMMARY:
| Author Lois Duncan, 80, lost her daughter, Kaitlyn, on July 17, 1989 in Albuquerque, New Mexico .
Kaitlyn, 18, was shot once in the temple and once in the cheek at a railway crossing .
Her murder has never been solved and Duncan has devoted 25-years of her life investigating the crime .
Duncan suspects that her daughter may have been murdered because of a multi-million dollar insurance scam .
Kaitlyn's Vietnamese boyfriend, who was ten years her senior was allegedly causing car accidents in fraudulent scam .
Duncan also believes the police failed to check on a potential suspect found near the scene .
Thinks they may have covered this up in the years afterwards . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Victoria Woollaston . Gothic cathedrals, such as the Ulm Minster in Germany, pictured, with soaring spires are built with a low centre of gravity to keep them upright . Gothic cathedrals, with their soaring spires and structural beauty, were once pioneering architectural wonders - appearing to defy the laws of gravity. And now the principles of these awe-inspiring buildings could help build a stairway to the skies. Engineer Peter Debney has proposed a theory that borrows the methods by which cathedrals control their centre of gravity - by tapering at the top - and applied it to the concept of an elevator that take humans into space. The space elevator concept was first suggested by Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1895. In principle it sounds simple - extend a tether from the surface of Earth into space and travel along it. In practice, however, it’s difficult to construct. There are few materials strong enough, or that can be manufactured in sufficient quantities, to create a cable long enough to reach. Secondly, the tether would need to be anchored at a geostationary station, as well as attached to a counterweight further out into space, to ensure it doesn’t break and keep the system balanced. When building any tall structure - from gothic cathedrals to skyscrapers, and eventually a space elevator - the sturdiness and balance comes from its centre of gravity. In humans, for example, the centre of gravity is around the stomach. The higher this centre is above the ground, the harder it is balance. However, if the centre of gravity is lowered, it becomes easier to balance and maintain a sturdy footing. Engineer Peter Debney proposes a system that uses these principles to create a space elevator. Firms could lower a cable from a satellite in geostationary orbit. A counterweight would balance the system, pictured. The cable would taper, to adjust the centre of mass and it would sit on the Equator, to minimise the gravitational pull . All tall buildings, from gothic cathedrals to skyscrapers, stay upright because their centre of gravity is as low as possible. The centre of gravity determines balance, for example. This graphic shows that by digging deep foundations, and securing them with piles of metal and a concrete raft, this centre is underground . This is the same theory that applies to all tall and 'super-tall' buildings. By creating strong, far-reaching foundations deep into the Earth, the centre of gravity is shifted from above the ground, to below it. Structural engineer Peter Debney, from Arup explained to the MailOnline: ‘The gravity we experience here on the Earth's surface is the result of two components. ‘The first is our distance from the centre of the Earth, that is, the Earth's centre of gravity. ‘As the Earth is not actually a sphere, the spin of the Earth causes there to be more material at the Equator and less at the poles, this means the Equatorial radius is higher than the Polar one. 'Thus the force of gravity is least at the Equator and maximum at the North and South Poles.’ In addition to that, Debney explained that because the Earth is spinning, there is a centrifugal force acting on everything, which is maximum at the Equator and zero at the poles. Engineer Peter Debney proposes a system that uses the principles from gothic cathedral and skyscraper architecture to create a space elevator. He claims firms could lower a cable from a satellite that is say in geostationary orbit above the Earth. A counterweight, such as a suitably-sized asteroid, would be used at the other end of the cable to balance the system. The cable would need to be made of graphene, or carbon nanotubes, because these materials are capable of holding heavier loads and bearing their own weight more effectively. By anchoring the cable at the Equator, the gravitational acceleration on the system would be at a minimum. The elevator itself would then extend from low to high Earth orbit, and would be kept taught by tidal forces. The cable would taper, to adjust the centre of mass, but from the top down, rather than the bottom up, as seen in pyramids and spires. ‘Combine these two effects together and the effective gravitational acceleration is least at the Equator, and maximum at the poles.’ He continued: ‘If the centrifugal force from the Earth's rotation offsets the force of gravity; what happens when you get higher up a tall building? ‘The first effect is that gravity is reduced as you are now further from the centre of gravity, and the second is that centrifugal force increases. ‘There will, therefore, come a point when the centrifugal force exactly cancels out gravity. 'If you are on the Equator, this occurs at a height of approximately 18,000 km. ‘This height is commonly known as the geostationary orbit, because if you position a satellite at this altitude over the equator and give it the right velocity, it will orbit within a 24-hour period, and remain over a fixed point on the Earth.’ Debney said the solution is to place a satellite in geostationary orbit, and lower a cable from it to the ground. But, he continued, as soon as the cable lowers, it changes the centre of gravity of the satellite, placing it at a lower orbit and causing it to move relative to the ground. To keep the whole thing in orbit, Debney added a cable would then also need to be extended up at the same time, to keep the system balanced. Because this would make a nonlinear system, the cable would need to extend out almost twice as far as it is brought down. The alternative is to use a counterweight, such as a suitably sized asteroid, beyond geostationary to balance the cable and save the excessive length. The cable would also need to made of a material that can hold its own weight at such heavy loads, such as graphene or carbon nanotubes. In 2012, Tokyo-based company Obayashi Corporation announced plans to build an operational space elevator by 2050, concept image pictured. It uses similar technology proposed by Debney, and seen in supertall buildings . The same principle applies to buoys, pictured. The taller they are, the stronger the counterweight needs to be to keep it afloat. Both buoys, and spires on churches, taper towards the top to reduce the load on the materials beneath it, more evenly distribute the weight, and reduce the wind resistance . Although the lift would cause the weight to distribute, the cable would be able to maintain being top heavy, in the same way Seattle's Space Needle, pictured, does, due to the lower centre of gravity . Graphene has a breaking length of 3,568 km, but because breaking length assumes a constant force of gravity, and at that altitude the force is lower, this allows for extra length. Debney continued that the space elevator cable will instead need to be a ribbon that tapers. Just as the pyramids and spires of a cathedral taper towards the top to support the weight efficiently - the cable would need to taper towards the ground. ‘It is almost certain that early versions of the space elevator will not reach the ground but instead extend from low to high Earth orbit,’ said Debney. ‘These will be kept taught by the tidal forces induced by the two ends orbiting at different altitudes: low orbits move at a higher angular velocity than high orbits. ‘Curiously, despite the high orbits having a lower angular velocity, they have a higher tangential velocity, which means that if you want to go round the Earth slower you need to speed up.’ The accidental damage risks of installing a space elevator include space debris and micrometeorites, but the width of the ribbon cable, according to Debney, would minimise the risk from these impacts. The risk from the falling cable is less than might be considered, too, as the ribbon would be 'both light and have a reasonable air resistance'. Any cable falling from this height should burn up before reaching the ground and studies have shown that the whiplash effect experienced by upper parts of the cable are likely to snap sections and put them into orbit for recovery later. In 2012, Tokyo-based company Obayashi Corporation announced plans to build an operational space elevator by 2050.
### SUMMARY:
| Cathedrals and skyscrapers stay upright by lowering their centre of gravity .
They do this by placing the centre underground, counteract the height .
A space elevator would use a similar principle using an anchor at Earth's Equator, with a counterweight in space to keep it balanced .
The cable would taper, similar to how spires do, to increase load-bearing .
These logistics have been proposed by structural engineer Peter Debney .
Using similar techniques, a Japanese firm plans to launch a space elevator by 2050 . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Ben Spencer . and Sarah Griffiths . It is Britain’s most famous murder mystery and a puzzle that has occupied criminologists for more than a century. But modern crime experts think they have finally decoded part of the Jack the Ripper conundrum using a computer algorithm - and suggest detectives may have been very close to solving the murders at the time. Dr Kim Rossmo, a former Canadian police officer who has pioneered the use of geographical profiling, thinks he has pinpointed the very street where the Ripper lived while he was terrorising London in the autumn of 1888. Warning: Graphic content . A former Canadian police officer who pioneered the use of geographical profiling, thinks the Ripper lived on Flower and Dean Street in Whitechapel, East London. The bustling street is pictured here in 1902 . Using mathematical computer models which take the murderer’s known movements and calculate his likely geographical base, Dr Rossmo has worked out that the killer probably lived in Flower and Dean Street. It was part of a slum in Whitechapel, East London. 'This was the vice-ridden neighbourhood that East End social reformers referred to as the “wicked quarter-mile,"' Dr Rossmo said. All five victims lived in doss houses within 200 yards (183 metres) of the road and frequented the nearby Ten Bells Pub at Spitalfields Market. The street was destroyed in the Blitz. Using mathematical computer models which take the murderer’s known movements and calculate his likely geographical base, Dr Rossmo has worked out that the killer probably lived in Flower and Dean Street, a slum area in the Whitechapel area of East London. In 1888, detectives conducted door-to-door inquiries along Flower and Dean Street in the wake of the five murders, but came up with nothing and turned their attention to other areas. Dr Rossmo, speaking at the Cheltenham Science Festival yesterday, said that each of the five victims had lived in doss houses within 200 yards (183 metres) of the road and had each frequented the Ten Bells Pub at Spitalfields Market, which was close by. The criminologist, whose geographical profiling techniques are now used by police forces around the world, said: ‘Flower and Dean Street was destroyed in the Blitz and no longer exists as it used to. But in 1888 it lay between Commercial Street to the west and Brick Lane to the east, north of Whitechapel Road. Flower and Dean Street (marked) was destroyed in the Blitz. But in 1888 it lay between Commercial Street to the west and Brick Lane to the east, north of Whitechapel Road. This map also reveals the locations of each victim's murder and the Ten Bells pub, believed to be where Jack the Ripper used to frequent . Speaking at the Cheltenham Science Festival yesterday, Dr Rossmo said that each of the five victims had lived in doss houses within 200 yards of the road and had each frequented the Ten Bells Pub at Spitalfields Market, which was close by (pictured). The pub as it appeared in 2013 is shown . Jack the Ripper murdered five victims in 1888. ‘During the time of the Whitechapel murders it contained several doss houses. ‘This was the vice-ridden neighbourhood that East End social reformers referred to as the “wicked quarter-mile”.’ Using the sites of each of the murders and the location of a scrap of bloody clothing found nearby, Dr Rossmo used an algorithm to calculate the likely routes the killer had taken on the days of each murder and his most probable base. He found that Flower and Dean Street is likely to have been his home, and at the very least would have been a frequent haunt. Dr Rossmo, who helped West Yorkshire Police capture and prosecute serial rapist Clive Barwell in the 1990s, said: ‘I would be very surprised indeed if the Ripper had not had some involvement with Flower and Dean Street. He might have lived there, drank there, picked up prostitutes there, he might have had a relative there. There is a high chance it was within his area of activity.’ Using the sites of the murders . and the location of a scrap of bloody clothing found nearby, Dr Rossmo . used an algorithm to calculate the likely routes the killer had taken on . the days of each murder and his most probable base. An image of victim Elizabeth Stride is pictured left, and a letter purporting to be from the Ripper (right) He said police at the time and ‘Ripperologists’ since had wrongly built their investigations around their suspects, rather than strictly following the evidence. ‘This is one of the biggest cause of wrongful convictions – choosing an early suspect and building a case around that. You need to follow the evidence.’ But he said the killer, who mutilated his five female victims after strangling them, will now almost certainly never be identified. ‘The only way we could find who the Ripper is now is if there is a piece of evidence squirrelled away in the Scotland Yard files, which we might get a piece of DNA from. You would then need to find a relative to compare it to, it is a very long shot.’ He said the Ripper probably died, was taken into a mental asylum or was imprisoned for another crime – and dismissed theories that suggest the killer was linked to the Royal Family. Using mathematical computer models which take the murderer's known movements and calculate his likely geographical base, Dr Rossmo has worked out that the killer probably lived in Flower and Dean Street, a slum area in the Whitechapel area of East London. A still from the 1959 film Jack The Ripper is pictured . ‘This man was almost certainly anonymous. His psychological profile suggests he was poor, he lived or worked in Whitechapel and he had a menial job. He was not an aristocrat.’ Dr Rossmo, who started his career as a police officer with Vancouver Police and is now based at the criminal justice department at Texas State University, is working with British academics to apply his geographical profiling techniques to disciplines of healthcare and wildlife conservation. Dr Steven Le Comber, a biological mathematician at Queen Mary University in London, has refined Dr Rossmo’s computer model to track populations of invasive species, outbreaks of infectious diseases and even mosquito breeding grounds. He told the Cheltenham audience: ‘This is genuinely exciting – using these techniques can really make a difference for public health.’ Detectives investigating crimes including gruesome murders may have a new tool in their crime fighting kit soon as Dutch forensic experts have discovered how to accurately date fingerprints. They think their innovation could let police date crime scene prints from years ago. ‘It's not quite the Holy Grail of fingerprinting, but it's a very important discovery,’ Marcel de Puit, a fingerprint researcher at the Dutch Forensic Institute (NFI), told AFP. ‘Being able to date the prints means you can determine when a potential suspect was at the crime scene or which fingerprints are relevant for the investigation.’ Fingerprints leave nearly-unique marks on a surface that can be copied and compared to a database to identify a suspect - a police technique that rose to prominence in the early 1900s. The prints themselves are made up of sweat and grease, including a complex mix of cholesterol, amino acids and proteins. ‘The chemicals in these fingerprints can be analysed. Some disappear over time and it's the relative proportions of these chemicals that allow us to date a fingerprint,’ De Puit said. Previous attempts to crack the formula for dating fingerprints failed because they focused on the amounts of chemicals, rather than their relative proportions. Taking into account the temperature of the original prints' surroundings, which affects the speed of deterioration, forensic experts can now date fingerprints to within ‘one or two days’. The new technique needs to be extensively tested on real crimes scenes, leading to the creation of a database, before it can be used in prosecutions.
### SUMMARY:
| A former Canadian police officer who pioneered the use of geographical profiling thinks the Jack the Ripper lived on Flower and Dean Street .
The street was part of a slum area in the Whitechapel area of East London .
Street was destroyed in the Blitz, but was near the sites of the murders .
Detectives conducted door-to-door inquiries at the addresses in 1888 .
Each of Ripper's victims lived in doss houses within 200 yards of the road .
Expert used sites, the location of a scrap of bloody clothing, and an algorithm to calculate the Ripper's likely routes on the days of the murders . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
By . Lawrence Booth . Follow @@the_topspin . The first Test at Lord’s provided plenty of material for both sides of the Great Divide. If you think the new era is a land of milk and honey, you’ll have gone home cuddling your positives. And if you regard the ECB and Alastair Cook as devils incarnate, you’ll be smugly shaking your head. The truth is somewhere in the middle. For while there were moments when Cook’s captaincy reverted to the type we winced at in Australia, the fact remains that England almost took seven wickets after tea on one of the flattest surfaces in the world game. Oh, and it turned into an amazing game of cricket – a nine-down special which England, as if attempting to keep Test cricket alive all by themselves, seem to produce about once a year. Can't believe it! Stuart Broad and England came within a whisker of winning the first Test against Sri Lanka . Contrast: Nuwan Pradeep (left) and Shaminda Eranga fist bump after guiding the tourists to a draw at Lord's . Of course, some perceptions refuse to be altered by the facts. England’s first innings rattled along at 4.4 runs an over, their fastest run-rate in a Test innings of 40 overs or more since India’s bowlers kept laying out buffets in 2011. Yet still some called it boring. Then there was England’s second innings, condemned in some quarters as the period of the game which cost them the chance of victory. Arriving at the ground that day, Kevin Pietersen tweeted his wish: a lead of 380 by stumps. He got 389. Despite this, others argued that England should have declared earlier, and that Cook’s desire to allow Gary Ballance to complete a maiden Test hundred obscured the team goal. It is an argument that ignores a couple of important points. The first is that England spent much of the fourth afternoon trying to prevent their collapse of 6 for 75 from turning into something terminal. Shaminda Eranga’s probing spell earned Sri Lanka the right to scupper an early declaration. It wasn’t until the final few overs of the day that Ballance felt comfortably about hitting out. If Cook had given himself half an hour to bowl at Sri Lanka on the fourth evening, the target would have closer to 330 – not inconceivable on a surface that remained flat and with Kumar Sangakkara batting like Superman. The chances are that Sri Lanka would have been only three down at tea on the final day in any case. And it was a minor miracle that England came so close to forcing a win. But, yes, there were issues too. Cook’s field placings on the fourth morning, when England needed three quick wickets to cement their huge first-innings advantage, smacked of a team that had not yet got the Ashes whitewash out of their systems. Cook began with four men on the fence for Angelo Mathews, and later increased that to five. As Nasser Hussain pointed out, boundary fielders are not necessarily a problem – so long as attacking fielders are in place too. Yet Mathews twice nibbled Anderson between keeper and a floating slip for four. The field was not so much in-out as shake-it-all-about. The last hour also included a couple of curious calls. Why give an over to Joe Root, which for a minute or two took the sting out of the situation? And why bring on Liam Plunkett for the ante-penultimate over when this was precisely the kind of scenario beloved of Stuart Broad? We shouldn’t be shocked by these quibbles (though the over-rate from both sides was appalling): Cook will never wake up to discover he is Mike Brearley. And at least he showed willing while setting an 8-1 off-side field on Monday afternoon – even if he later admitted the idea was Jimmy Anderson’s. Pumped up: James Anderson was in devastating form for England in the final session on the fifth day . For more cricket-related snippets, feel free to go to twitter.com/the_topspin . Besides which, there was plenty at Lord’s to enthuse about. Ballance conveyed a rare kind of calm for a 24-year-old in only his second Test, and Moeen Ali batted with assured elegance in the first innings. Joe Root’s double-hundred, meanwhile, has glossed over his winter travails. Yes, the attack lacks a proper spinner - England must hope Monty Panesar gets his act together for the arrival of India - but Chris Jordan took five wickets in his first Test, and Plunkett’s impression of a battering ram ought to receive its due on a more conducive pitch. England began the Test ready to be written off as a rabble, and came within an inside edge of pulling off one of their most memorable wins for years. It’s not a bad start. That's better: Alastair Cook tried to think up some more imaginative fields as the hosts searched for wickets . THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS . Everyone knew what he meant, but that didn’t stop Moeen Ali’s assessment of Sam Robson, his fellow Test debutant, making an early bid for Freudian slip of the year. ‘I don’t think of Sam as an Australian,’ said Moeen of the Sydney-born opening batsman ahead of the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka. ‘I just think of him as a normal person.’ It’s the kind of accommodating approach England’s new era is crying out for. He's a... person! Moeen Ali (right) claimed he doesn't see Australian debutant Sam Robson as an Australian . Alex Hales should be careful. Not only is he in danger of getting picked for the one-day series against India later this summer on account of being one of the cleanest hitters in the land, but he has also been shredding his reputation as a white-ball specialist. Sent to Coventry (and, briefly, Worcestershire) after averaging under 14 in the 2013 County Championship, Hales has been causing a stir back in Nottinghamshire’s first-class colours, smashing 167 off 133 balls against Sussex, then 96 off 110 against Middlesex. Much more of this and the selectors may be left with no choice but to accept he is indeed capable of batting in innings that last more than 20 overs. Blasting: Alex Hales has been in sensational form for Nottinghamshire in all formats of the county game . A fortnight at the World Twenty20 not so long ago provided a reminder that no cricket nation lives in hope so eternally as Bangladesh. The expectations are so very real – and the inevitable disappointment is so utterly crushing. Many would give up. But captain Mushfiqur Rahim is made of sterner stuff, subjecting his troops to classes from a ‘life success coach’ and calling for more eloquent ‘body language’. And what have his team learned? ‘We have learned that in ODIs, you have to play good cricket for 100 overs. You can't win by just playing well for two hours.’ There should be no stopping them now. Cricketers, heal thyselves . Do the players know the laws? Sri Lanka’s captain Angelo Mathews felt Rangana Herath didn’t realise he was not out after the ball cannoned off a glove unattached to the bat handle and was caught down the leg side by Matt Prior in the final over of last night’s thriller at Lord’s. This is amazing on two counts. One, it’s hardly one of cricket’s more obscure laws. Two, it suggests he doesn’t own the DVD of the 2005 Ashes, in which Michael Kasprowicz is given out by Billy Bowden at the end of the Edgbaston nail-biter in the same circumstances. A couple of winters ago, Jonny Bairstow trudged off in a Test in Mumbai after he was caught by Gautam Gambhir at silly point. But the ball had nestled in Gambhir’s grasp only after ricocheting off the helmet – not out, in other words. Yet neither men knew the law. Is it time Test cricketers were given a crash course? Thinking man: Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has been passing on pearls of wisdom to his players .
### SUMMARY:
| England drew the first Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's .
Stuart Broad and James Anderson weren't able to force final wicket .
Rangana Herath should be sent on a laws of the game crash course . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Upheaval must suit Wasps. They were braced for mass protests at Adams Park on Sunday, after announcing a mid-season relocation to Coventry, but there was euphoria rather than anger as Bath were beaten. In the build-up to this Aviva Premiership match, there had been talk of demonstrations following the confirmation that Wasps will be based at the Ricoh Arena from December. Yet, any groundswell of angst was well disguised. There was one banner describing the nomadic club as a ‘franchise’, but even that had vanished by the second-half as Dai Young’s team stormed into a commanding lead. Ultimately, Wasps had to withstand a late Bath rear-guard action as the visitors recovered from 29-0 down to earn a losing bonus point, but there was a collective desperation among the home players to end a turbulent week on a high, which they duly did. Their feat was all the more remarkable as the controversy surrounding their imminent move was not the only disruption. Wasps captain James Haskell (right) celebrates his side's 29-22 victory over Bath on Sunday . Andy Goode kicks a penalty for Wasps during their win at Adams Park - he scored 16 points in total . Sailosi Tagicakibau slides and stretches out of the tackle from Anthony Watson to score for Wasps . Wasps celebrate after Sailosi Tagicakibau scores a try during their impressive victory over Bath . WASPS: Masi; Tagicakibau, Daly, Leiua (Bell, 61), Wade; Goode (Miller, 72), Simpson; Mullan, Festuccia, Cittadini (Cooper-Woolley, 61); Gaskell, Davies (Jones, 66); Johnson (Jackson, 70), Hughes, Haskell (capt). Tries: Penalty, Tagicakibau. Cons: Goode (2). Pens: Goode (4), Daly. BATH: Henson; Rokoduguni, Joseph, Eastmond, Watson; Ford, Cook (Young, 45); James (Catt, 45), Webber (Batty, 49), Wilson (Thomas, 56); Hooper (capt. Day, 52), Attwood; Fa’osiliva, Houston, Mercer (Thomas, 46-56; Sisi, 65). Tries: Joseph, Young, Sisi. Cons: Ford (2). Pen: Ford. Yellow cards: Houston, Wilson, Young. REFEREE: JP Doyle. ATTENDANCE: 7,397. England lock Joe Launchbury was withdrawn from the team on Sunday morning after being involved in a car crash - just as his team-mate, Christian Wade, was last month. Young, the Wasps’ director of rugby, said: ‘There’s never a dull moment here. ‘Joe is fine. Him and his girlfriend were involved in car accident on the way to the game. They were a little bit shaken up. They went to hospital for a check-up and they’re both fine.’ So the last-minute loss of a key forward was a setback for Wasps, but they were glad to avoid the spectre of off-field unrest among their supporters. If anything, the announcement that they are off to the West Midlands seemed to have unexpectedly positive consequences - as they were vociferously backed by their biggest home attendance of the season. Captain James Haskell was evidently delighted by the reception accorded to he and his team-mates, saying: ‘I don’t know about protests - that’s the biggest crowd we’ve had this season. 'Perhaps we should say we’re moving somewhere else next week and we’ll get another big crowd.’ A Wasps fan holds a flag protesting against their move from Adams Park to Coventry's Ricoh Arena . Wasps supporters hold up a banner before the match against Bath at Adams Park on Saturday . Christian Wade (right) chases the ball for the line but is taken out by Micky Young, who was carded . England star Joe Launchbury missed Wasps' victory over Bath after he and his pregnant partner were involved in a car crash. Launchbury tweeted: 'Great win Wasps Rugby today. Gutted to have missed out. Thanks for all your messages of concern. 'Had to go to hospital and check all was ok with my pregnant partner and baby after someone crashed into us. Luckily all is good!' Young added: ‘I totally understood the frustrations of the supporters early in the week, but once we explained everything properly, I saw a real change in their attitude to the move. It was a tough week for them but they got behind the team today and they should be commended and thanked for that.’ If Wasps’ early matches in Coventry are as entertaining as this, they may soon attract decent crowds to the Ricoh Arena. They routed Bath at the scrum as Matt Mullan turned the screw on England’s current first-choice tighthead prop, David Wilson, and from that platform they surged into a 15-0 lead courtesy of four Andy Goode penalties and one long-range shot from Elliot Daly. The visitors were all at sea in the set piece and they were in deeper disarray when three of their players were sent to the sin bin - Leroy Houston, Wilson and Micky Young. The latter man’s off-the-ball tackle on Wade as he chased through a kick by Daly led to a penalty try for Wasps in the 47th minute and left Bath down to 13 men. Moments later, Haskell released the outstanding Ashley Johnson from the back of a lineout on halfway and the flanker's superb off-load sent Sailosi Tagicakibau through a gap and he tore away to score by the posts. Goode converted again and any prospect of protests had been blown away as Wasps seized a 29-0 lead. Kyle Eastmond jumps over the line to score a try for Bath's but they ultimately lost the game at Adams Park . Tempers flare early on in the game as the forwards get into a fight during the match at Adams Park . But Bath have spirit to go with their attacking artistry and they rallied impressively. Kyle Eastmond’s pass picked out Jonathan Joseph on the left and the in-form centre fended off James Gaskell to touch down. Sixteen minutes from time, the deficit was down to 17 points as Young swerved over from close range and George Ford converted. The West Country side kept coming - sensing a way back from a seemingly hopeless position - and after another thunderous drive by Houston, David Sisi scored. Again, Ford added the extras and he followed that up with a 76th-minute penalty, but Wasps held firm to deny their rivals a draw. Young was relieved, saying: ‘That’s pretty much us all over - we either start really poorly and come back, or we end poorly, like we did today. We’re still searching for an 80-minute performance, but for 65 minutes we were outstanding.’ Bath’s head coach, Mike Ford, added: ‘We were just a bit off today - we didn’t have that edge. Our scrum wasn’t as good as it has been for the last two years. They wanted it more than us.’ Bath's Leroy Houston drops Wasps' Joe Simpson past the horizontal and is sin binned as a result . Wasps' Andrea Masi (centre) gets sandwiched by Dave Atrwood (left) and Stuart Hooper (right) in a tackle . Bath's Alafoti Fa'osilva (left) hands off Wasps winger Wade as he tries to evade his tackle . Micky Young goes over to score for Bath as they added a burst of points during the second half . Wasps' Alapati Leiua is stopped by George Ford (left) and Semesa Rokoduguni (right) during the match . Wasps fans wave flags and sing the name of their club as they celebrate a try at Adams Park on Sunday . Wasps fans arrive at Adams Park before the match with Bath, one of the last before they most to Coventry .
### SUMMARY:
| Wasps ensured they ended a difficult week with a 29-22 victory over Bath .
Their decision to relocate to Coventry caused some fan protests this week .
But Andy Goode scored 16 points with the boot in win at Adams Park .
Sailosi Tagicakibau scored try, Elliot Daly a penalty, as well as a penalty try .
Jonathan Joseph, Micky Young and David Sisi scored tries for Bath .
Bath shown three yellow cards to Young, David Wilson and Leroy Houston . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Colin Scotts was the biggest Australian name in NFL for many years and says rugby league star Jarryd Hayne has 'zero point one chance of making it but yes he can make it'. And if he does, the former Arizona Cardinals defensive end believes Hayne can look forward to a $US3million annual salary. 'Are the odds against him, yes they are. Is it going to be difficult, yes, but if anyone can a super athlete like him can,' Scotts said. Scroll down for video . Colin Scotts is the first ever Australian to find great success in American Football ranks. Opportunity came knocking when he was spotted by NFL scouts playing rugby for the Australian Schoolboys side in 1981 . 'He (Jarryd Hayne) is an inspiration, we should support him because what he's trying to do takes big balls,' says Colin Scotts . 'He's walking into the most intense complex explosive game anywhere in the world at the age of 27 but I just think this country needs more people that decide life starts when you get out of your comfort zone,' the former NFL star added. 'He's an inspiration, we should support him because what he's trying to do takes big balls. 'Can he do it? Yes he can, you gotta believe, you know.' Australian athletes have transitioned from AFL to American Football, from soccer and rugby union to NFL and even track and field - but never from rugby league to NFL. Hayne would be blazing a trail not unlike Scotts, who became the first local rugby union player to make the transition. Scotts now spends much of his time on the public speaking circuit - but still has personal and business interests in American Football - he says special teams would suit the former Parramatta player. Colin Scotts was offered a scholarship to play college football and would go onto the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals. Scotts played five years of college football and five years as a professional . Colin Scotts says Jarryd Hayne faces two big challenges. Firstly, dealing with the American psyche who will see him as potentially taking a position away from one of the locals and secondly, being able to play on synthetic surfaces . 'They would have him straight away, like punt return, keep it simple for him,' he said. 'And he'd be great at it and then possibly a fullback position that blocks for the running back or even a running back, but he's gonna have to be quick because they're all like him over there.' Scotts has urged Hayne to find out everything he can and learn from those who have blazed the trail before him. His two biggest challenges, he insists, are dealing with the American psyche who will see him as potentially taking a position away from one of the locals and training on synthetic grass. 'As an outsider, I had to earn it and fight for acceptance by some who thought I'd stolen a place meant for an American,' he said. 'That's always going to be there, at the end of the day if he earns that respect as I did, it's a long road with that respect. 'And preparing himself for the different surface of synthetic grass, he should be talking to me number one, I know a lot about both issues and I'm here to help. 'He (Jarryd Hayne) can earn 2 to 3 million a year American, easily. Yes it's zero point 1 chance of happening, the guy's nearly 27 but I think the guy is the most humble bloke, has a good head on his shoulders and a lot of things going for him' says Colin Scotts . Scotts, pictured with the Cardinals in 1987. The Australian is wearing a number 69 jersey (third from the right in the second last row) 'He's got to get as much knowledge about what he is trying to do and that's about the athletic application and study of the game, he needs leads for the teams, has he got somewhere to go. 'This is a superstar of Australian sport migrating over to my sport, if I can help I will be happy to. I will enjoy watching this. 'Life starts at the end of your comfort zone and being afraid of not having a go and Australia needs to get behind him and it's inspirational for all of us to hear this. 'He can earn 2 to 3 million a year American, easily. Yes it's zero point 1 chance of happening, the guy's nearly 27 but I think the guy is the most humble bloke, has a good head on his shoulders and a lot of things going for him. 'He's certainly got a beautiful confidence, he's a beautiful athlete and he's one of our greatest athletes, has beautiful balance, good hands and stocky legs and calmness when he does his stuff. 'Put it this way, he is playing a level above everybody else here so why not go and chase it?' Scotts, was the first Australian to win an American Football scholarship to play the game in the US with the Arizona Cardinals. He was spotted playing rugby for the Australian Schoolboys side in 1981 and his life changed forever. He went on to success as defensive end for the University of Hawaii, the St Louis Cardinals, the Arizona Cardinals and the Houston Oilers. He played five years of college football and five years as a professional. Colin Ridgeway (Dallas) 1965 . Colin Scotts (Arizona Cardinals) 1987 . Darren Bennett (San Diego) 1995 . Nathan Chapman (Green Bay) 2004 . Mat McBriar (Dallas Cowboys) 2004 . Ben Graham (New York Jets) 2005 . David Lonie (Washington) 2006 . Sav Rocca (Philadelphia Eagles) 2007 . Anthony Rocca (Philadelphia) 2007 . Jy Bond (Miami Dolphins) 2009 . Chris Bryan (Green Bay) 2010 . David King (New England Pats) 2010 . Jesse Williams (Seattle) 2013 . Brad Wing (Philadelphia Eagles) 2013 . Tom Hornsey (Dallas Cowboys) 2014 . Sources - Wikipedia/Databasefootball.com . On the Celebrity Speakers website they describe his breakthrough as an achievement which 'catapulted him into the world of professional American sport where he thrived for the next four years until, playing for the Houston Oilers, a freak injury taught him why the NFL is known as the Not For Long League'. 'Colin stayed on in the States, living the high life, taking on the world as a pro-wrestler, becoming a successful businessman in the area of natural gas, telecommunications, and home health care, before returning to Sydney for the Olympics.' While Colin Scotts and the likes of Jesse Williams (Australia's first ever Super Bowl winner) of the Seattle Seahawks have battled through the college system and in the line of scrimmage, most success for Australians making the transition has been via AFL and into a punting role. Darren Bennett played 159 games and can also lay claim to being among the most successful of the Aussies, having enjoyed a decorated career in San Diego Chargers colours. The Rocca brothers, Sav and Anthony both followed him into roles as a kicker, Sav making a mark as the oldest rookie to play the game professionally in the US. 'Strong minds and brave hearts, let's not just sit around and not have a go or knock people who are having a go,' Colin Scotts said. 'If Jarryd was to make it, whether on special teams or otherwise, wow it'd be some achievement.' Jesse Williams is the only Australian to ever win a Super Bowl ring after success last season with the Seattle Seahawks. He's currently on the sidelines with a knee injury . Darren Bennett enjoyed a successful AFL career at home before launching his kicking career in the NFL to become one of the most successful Antipodeans in American Football with the San Diego Chargers . Talking about old times back home. Australian punters Ben Graham (left) of the New York Jets and Sav Rocca (r) of the Philadelphia Eagles leave the field at Giants Stadium after a game in 2007 .
### SUMMARY:
| Colin Scotts had a stellar 10 year career playing American Football .
The defensive end says Jarryd Hayne would be suited in special teams or as a fullback or running back .
Scotts has urged Hayne 'to call me and I will help you'
He says the rugby league star has two great challenges, earning the respect of the Americans and learning how to play on synthetic grass .
Hayne 'can earn $US3million a year easily' |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
A man has confessed to killing his girlfriend's mother in a Bali hotel, and his girlfriend has admitted to helping him stuff the bludgeoned body into a suitcase, Indonesian police have claimed. Heather Mack, 19, and Tommy Schaefer, 21, from Chicago, were arrested on August 13, a day after Sheila von Wiese-Mack's body was found in a blood-splattered suitcase outside their luxury resort. Police Chief Colonel Djoko Heru Utomo said today that Schaefer confessed to killing his girlfriend's mother during an interrogation on Monday. He said he killed her after an argument. The chief added that Heather Mack, who is two months pregnant, acknowledged her role in separate questioning later this week. Scroll down for video . 'Confession': Tommy Schaefer, pictured left being escorted by an Indonesian police officer during his arrest on August 13, has reportedly confessed to killing his girlfriend's mother at a luxury Bali resort last month . 'Killers': He is pictured with his girlfriend Heather Mack, who has reportedly admitted to helping dispose of her mother's body. Sheila von Wiese-Mack's body was found stuffed into a suitcase . Attempts to reach their Indonesian lawyers were not immediately successful. The couple has yet to be formally charged. Utomo said officers hoped to complete their investigation and file their case with prosecutors before the couple's detention period ends in mid-October. Police say they have interviewed dozens of witnesses, including the taxi driver and hotel employees. The butchered, half-naked body was discovered on August 12 inside the suitcase that Heather and Schaefer had allegedly taken from the luxury St. Regis hotel down to a taxi, saying they would return. But they failed to return after two hours and the driver began to get suspicious when blood started to seep from the case. He went to the police station where the grisly discovery was made. The young . lovers, who both come from the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, . were arrested asleep in each other's arms in a hotel near the Bali . international airport, after allegedly attempting to get hotel staff to . open her mother's safe deposit box so they could retrieve their . passports. Police . claim the young couple initially told them that they been taken captive . at the St. Regis by an armed gang who killed Mrs Mack. They said they . managed to escape the gang’s clutches and fled to the hotel in the Kuta . area of Bali. Murdered: 62-year-old Sheila von Wiese-Mack (pictured) was reportedly heard arguing with her daughter (pictured left) over the hotel bill the night before she was found murdered . Behind bars: Heather Mack, from Chicago, stands at the police district headquarters after she was arrested . Heather . is two months pregnant with what is believed to be Schaefer's child. Indonesian authorities say if she is convicted, the child could grow up . in prison with her mother. Due to this, the unborn baby has been granted a lawyer to look after his or her interests. Attorney Vanessa Favia arrived on Bali last week along with Mack's Chicago-based lawyer Michael Elkin to make sure the baby, due in early spring, gets all the help it needs. Mack's Indonesian lawyer Raja Nasution told MailOnline that Favia will 'ensure that the humanitarian and governmental interests of Heather's unborn child are safeguarded now and in the future.' Mack has claimed she was put in solitary confinement in the jail and was sexually assaulted 'multiple times' by guards, her lawyer said. 'She is emotionally and mentally drained, and told me, "I don't know how long I can take this",' her Chicago attorney said. Authorities say her had been hit repeatedly . about the face with a heavy blunt object. They say the 62-year-old was folded into the silver-colored case, with her back arched forward at an almost impossible angle and her legs bent up around the sides of her head. But because she had been lowered into the 3ft-long suitcase on her side, the lid would not close completely over the body of the murdered 5ft 5in woman. In a panic, her alleged killers wrapped the suitcase in a sheet and pulled the cloth tight around it in the hope that it would disguise the fact that it was not closed. Gruesome: von Wiese-Mack's body was found inside a bloodied suitcase left in a cab outside their hotel . Shocking: An image shows investigators looking inside another case containing blood-stained sheets . Pathologists say she suffered . asphyxiation, a broken neck and a broken nose and that she had probably . been killed between 6.45am and 10am local time. During . her autopsy, several defensive wounds were also discovered - suggesting . Mrs. Mack, the widow of Chicago musician James L. Mack, who died in . front of Heather during a family vacation to Greece in 2006 - had fought . back while being attacked. Dr . Dudut Rustyadi, the forensic chief at Sanglah hospital morgue in the . Balinese capital of Denpasar, said: 'From the wound, we found violence . using blunt objects. 'We found many wounds, open wounds and bruises, including wounds on her left arm. We allege that the victim fought.' In the hours leading up to her murder, Mrs Mack had been seen on CCTV footage walking around the hotel lobby at 3.45am. Authorities say one sequence caught on hotel security cameras shows Mrs Mack arguing with her daughter and Schaefer about who should pay the hotel bill. She was heard by staff telling her daughter that she had paid for Schaefer’s air fare to Bali so the two of them should pay the bill. After the . murder, police in Mrs Mack's hometown of Oak Park revealed that they had been . called to the family's former home 86 times over a ten-year period — an . average of once every six weeks — to help calm fights between her . and her daughter. They never made an arrest in all of those visits even though Mrs Mack was found with a broken arm on one occasion in 2011. It . was also revealed that Mrs Mack called cops just last month after her . credit card company told her about an unauthorized charge. Police went . to the Conrad Hotel in downtown Chicago, where they found Tommy, Heather . and seven other youngsters partying in an eighth-floor suite. Schaefer . was arrested and was due to appear in court in September on charges . related to the incident. Mrs. Mack's brother, William Wiese told the Chicago Tribune that Heather . grew more difficult after her father's death, which the family alleged . resulted from an injury he suffered on an earlier cruise in 2006. Mrs . Mack won a $1.5 million settlement from Royal Caribbean Cruises. Taken to custody: An . Indonesian police officer escorts American Tommy Schaefer (left) as he . is brought to the police station for questioning in relation to the . death of his girlfriend's mother . Wiese told the Tribune he believed Schaefer showed up in Bali without his sister's knowledge as she was trying to make a fresh start with her daughter by taking her on the vacation. 'She was such an optimist,' he said. 'She was forever trying to help that girl.' 'I think my sister loved Heather more than anything,' Wiese added. 'She would seek our input and advice. She tried so hard to help Heather through the years with therapists and psychiatrists. It was always a struggle to get Heather to (cooperate).' Mrs Mack sold the five-bed, five-bath Oak Park mansion to a developer for $650,000 last year. After extensive renovations it is now back on the market for $1.68 million. At the time of her death, she and her daughter were living in a 18th-floor luxury apartment on Chicago's Gold Coast area with stunning views overlooking Lake Michigan.
### SUMMARY:
| Body of U.S. socialite Sheila von Wiese-Mack was found stuffed in a suitcase at a luxury Bali resort last month .
Police say Tommy Schaefer, 21, - the boyfriend of von Wiese-Mack's daughter - has now confessed to killing her during an interrogation .
His 19-year-old girlfriend Heather Mack, who is two months pregnant, also confessed to helping dispose of body in a separate questioning .
The victim had been hit repeatedly with a heavy blunt object and pathologists found she suffered .
asphyxiation and a broken neck . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
At least they weren’t knocked out. Liverpool’s fans can be thankful for that at least on arguably the grimmest day for ‘giant’ teams in FA Cup history after their team played out this stalemate to keep themselves in the competition, pending a replay at Bolton of the Championship. The club from the lower level thoroughly deserve a second shot at a scalp, not least because of the multiple heroics of goalkeeper Adam Bogdan, magnificent as he thwarted the hosts time and again. Referee Kevin Friend made two poor decisions just after the break, first giving Liverpool a free-kick after Manquillo tripped Darren Pratley. Then he failed to give Liverpool anything when Mills tripped Markovic running into the box. Whether this was to even things up quickly, or because Mills was already on a yellow card, or just in error - who knows? Emile Heskey showed he had lost little of his appetite for an aerial battle with the totemic striker winning a header against Emre Can . Jordan Henderson saw penalty appeals waved away following this tackle by Liverpool old-boy Jay Spearing in the area . Bolton's world stops for a second as Henderson falls to the ground following Spearing's intervention . And Lazar Markovic fumed after referee Kevin Friend was equally unmoved by this collision with Matthew Mills just after the break . Outstanding Bolton keeper Adam Bogdan bravely rushes off his line to deny Raheem Sterling a goalscoring opportunity . Fabio Borini sees his shot saved by Bogdan with the Bolton keeper keeping the Liverpool front line at bay . Bolton look relieved as Borini holds his head in his hands after letting a crucial chance go begging . Liverpool: Mignolet, Can, Sakho, Johnson, Manquillo (Borini 68), Henderson, Allen (Lucas 67), Jose Enrique (Markovic 45), Coutinho, Lallana, Sterling. Subs not used: Lovren, Lambert, Lucas, Rossiter, Ward. Bolton: Bogdan, Mills (Spearing 73), Dervite, Ream, Vela, Danns, Pratley, Moxey (Wheater 83), Feeney, Gudjohnsen, Heskey (Wilkinson 56). Subs not used: McNaughton, Hall, Trotter, Lonergan. Booked: Mills, Vela, Dervite . Attendance: 43,847 . Referee: Kevin Friend. Sterling kept threatening, making Bogdan dive to smother as he ran onto a Countinho ball. Then his shot deflected off Moxey for a corner, leading to a double attempt from Coutinho in the 57th minute, both blocked. Moments later Coutinho shot again; the excellent Bogdan saving before Manquillo blasted wide a follow-up. Heskey, meanwhile, was subbed off to warm applause from all, a few minutes before Gudjohnsen skied an effort in sight of goal. Bogdan kept frustrating Liverpool, saving wonderfully from Fabio Borini. Before kick-off, neutrals might reasonably have expected this match to provide one of the more eyebrow-raising outcomes of the day. No Premier League club since the top-division revamp in 1992-93 has been knocked out of the FA Cup by opponents from a lower division more than Liverpool: eight times. Bolton themselves did it in 1993, winning 2-0 at Anfield, and were followed by Bristol City in 1994, Blackburn in 2000 and Crystal Palace in 2003 (all at Anfield), then in 2005 by Burnley (at Burnley), in 2008 by Barnsley and in 2010 by Reading (both at Anfield) and by Oldham at Oldham two years ago. So an upset of a team without their rested talisman Steven Gerrard, being kept fresh for League Cup duty against Chelsea on Tuesday, by Neil Lennon’s revitalised Bolton, wasn’t totally out of the question. Emile Heskey shows a clean pair of heels to Mamadou Sakho as the 37-year-old striker makes an unexpected return to Anfield . Heskey has a smile on his face as he is substituted by boss Neil Lennon in the 56th minute for Conor Wilkinson . Former Chelsea team-mates Glen Johnson and Eidur Gudjohnsen were on opposing sides as they scrap for possession . But on a day of some of the most seismic shocks in the grand history of the world’s oldest football competition, not least at Chelsea and Manchester City, whatever happened here was never likely be more surprising. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers made five changes to the starting XI who drew 1-1 in the first leg of their League Cup semi last midweek, replacing Martin Skrtel, Lucas, Alberto Moreno, Lazar Markovic and Gerrard with Glen Johnson, Jose Enrique, Javier Manquillo, Adam Lallana and Joe Allen. Lennon made changes to the Bolton line-up who won 2-1 away at Sheffield Wednesday last weekend, with Adam Bogdan, Dean Moxey and Eidur Gudjohnsen coming in for Andy Lonergan, David Wheater and Mark Davies. Bolton skipper Matt Mills wrestles Liverpool's Sterling to the ground with the challenge resulting a yellow card . Jordan Henderson battles for the ball with Neil Danns and Darren Pratley as the contest begins to heat up . Northern Irishmen Brendan Rodgers and Neil Lennon are close and the pair share a moment before kick-off . Gudjohnsen, 36, whose first English club was Bolton when he arrived from Reykjavik 17 years ago, was partnered up front with another blast from the past, Emile Heskey, 37, who almost 15 years ago was Liverpool’s most expensive ever purchase to that point, costing £11m from Leicester. Both forwards have had long and winding careers, Gudjohnsen at Chelsea and Barcelona among 13 clubs on his CV, and Heskey at Birmingham, Wigan, Aston Villa and Newcastle Jets in Australia before an unlikely comeback - having been playing Masters football for Liverpool’s old boys. Heskey’s last goal at Anfield was in May 2004 for Liverpool in a league win over Middlesbrough while Gudjohnsen last scored here for Barca in a Champions League win in March 2007. The away fans let off a smoke bomb during the game in the hope of providing a background for another FA Cup upset . Heskey returned to Anfield after leaving Liverpool in 2004 with the much-travelled 37-year-old leading the line for Bolton . Steven Gerrard (right) shares a joke with Brad Jones in the directors' box as the Liverpool duo watch proceedings . The Kop was in good voice ahead of the game with flags and banners unfurled by the home fans . Bolton started well, dominating the early possession and keeping the hosts mostly in their own half before Matt Mills’ 11th-minute shot, laid on by Heskey, was the first clear sign of danger. At the other end Bogdan then saved from Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho before a strong run from Jose Enrique down the left, holding off Liam Feeney, ended with a cross that flew woefully high and wide. Raheem Sterling took a while to grow into the match but by the half hour was buzzing on the edge of the Bolton box, running and shooting, with Mills blocking. Bolton best first-half chance came from a Feeney cross from the right, headed down to Dean Moxey, who hit thunderous shot that swerved just wide of the left post. Glen Johnson had his own powerful strike held by Bogdan minutes later, as did Lallana shortly after. Another former Liverpool old boy, Jay Spearing, might have conceded a penalty for a push on Jordan Henderson, who was bearing down on goal in the 81st minute. But Friend gave nothing.
### SUMMARY:
| Former Liverpool striker Heskey started for Bolton and led the line against his former club .
Trotters keeper Adam Bodgan made some tremendous saves with the visitors deserving another shot at Liverpool .
Referee Kevin Friend did not endear himself to the home faithful by waving away a penalty shout after Matt Mills collided with Lazer Markovic in the box .
Steven Gerrard was rested with the League Cup semi-final, second-leg against Chelsea in mind . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Rich Russians stuffed wads of cash into the pockets of Costa Concordia crew members to bribe them for coveted places on the lifeboats, it has been claimed. Italian investigators are looking into eyewitness accounts that 'expensively dressed Eastern Europeans' paid off staff as 'the disabled were left to fend for themselves'. Giglio resident Franca Anichini also said the first residents to reach dry land on lifeboats were not 'wounded women and children' - instead, she saw 'healthy men and elegant women in evening gowns who were speaking Russian' being the first to be saved, RadarOnline.com reported. The claims came as dramatic pictures emerged showing accounts describing the disaster's aftermath as like a scene from the Titanic were not far wrong. Scroll down for video and list of missing and dead... Disaster: Lifeboats can be seen fleeing the doomed Costa Concordia moments after it hit rocks off the Italian island of Giglio on January 13 . Fleeing: The boats can be seen in the waters near the island of Giglio while passengers wait to board others still on board. At the prow of the ship, holidaymakers can be seen attempting to make their way to safety . The bodies of three German passengers were identified this morning. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far and 22 people are still missing. Divers are keeping up the search for bodies, but officials acknowledged it would take 'a miracle' to find any more survivors. Salvage experts also continued work today to begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship. In the pictures, that emerged last night, lifeboats can be seen spilling from the sides of the boat into the gloomy waters off the island of Giglio as the cruise liner sinks into the sea.Passengers at the rear on . the starboard side wait to climb aboard those lifeboats which haven't . already been deployed. And holidaymakers, . who moments earlier had been enjoying dinner on the luxury vessel, make their way around the heavily-banking prow of the . ship. Escape: A boat is seen near the front of the ship being lowered into the water, containing holidaymakers who minutes earlier had been enjoying dinner . Dramatic: The listing ship moments after she ran aground, with the lights giving the gloomy waters an eerie glow . Passengers at the rear on the starboard side wait to climb aboard those lifeboats which haven't already been deployed . The whole . dramatic scene is lit up like a Hollywood movie by the many lights on . the Concordia, which would soon plunge into darkness as it sank into the . water, claiming at least 16 lives. Today, search efforts aboard the doomed liner continued, but an official overseeing the operation acknowledged for the first time that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Franco Gabrielli, head of Italy's national civil protection agency, said rescuers would keep searching the ship, which is half-submerged in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the island, until every reachable area is inspected. 'Finding someone alive today belongs in the realm of miracles,' Gabrielli said. 'But since none of us, at least inside, wants to give up on that possibility, we will continue.' Operations today saw search teams set off more explosions on the submerged third floor deck to allow easier access for divers. Clean up: An oil recovery platform is seen next to the ship this evening, allowing ease of access for rescuers to the liner and assuring no fuel can escape . Checks: A firefighting team perform operations around the ship today. The officers were assessing anti-oil spill booms, seen in the foreground . Seventeen people are still . unaccounted for, but the last person to be found alive was on January 15 . when a senior crew member was discovered less than 36 hours after the . grounding. A hairdresser was the last person to leave the stricken Costa Concordia, it has emerged. Giovanni Di Mauro, 35, shamed the ship's Captain Coward by reportedly staying on board for seven hours to help hundreds of passengers to safety. His heroic efforts came as disgraced Francisco Schettino, 52, was ferried to shore just two hours after the vessel hit the rocks. He claims he fell into a lifeboat. Giovanni defied danger to organise the ferrying of survivors in rescue boats as the ship listed at a crazy angle off Italian isle Giglio, investigators have been told. He has shrugged off praise by telling Rome's Il Messaggero newspaper: 'At some point I thought I might die but I was there to help.' The Concordia ran aground after . Captain Francesco Schettino veered from his approved course and gashed . the ship's hull on a reef, forcing the panicked evacuation of the 4,200 . passengers and crew. On . Wednesday, the chief executive of Costa Crociere SpA, Pier Luigi Foschi, . insisted that Schettino didn't have approval to change the ship's . routing and was going far too fast to be so close to shore. But . he defended the practice of so-called 'tourist navigation,' whereby . enormous cruise ships steer close to shore to give passengers a look at . the sites. He said it was part of the 'cruise product' that passengers . demand and that cruise lines are forced to offer to stay competitive. 'It's . something that enriches the cruise product,' Foschi told a . parliamentary committee. 'There are many components of the cruise . product, and we have to do them like everyone else because we are in a . global competition.' Foschi stressed that such deviations . from charted routes are supposed to follow strict protocols that ensure . safety: ports are informed, the company is informed, and certainly no . ship of the Concordia's size would be charging 200-300 yards off shore . at 16 knots. 'For anyone who knows that zone, that ship with those characteristics shouldn't have been there,' he said. Schettino . is under house arrest, facing accusations of manslaughter, causing a . shipwreck and abandoning a ship before all passengers were evacuated. His . lawyer filed a motion challenging the house arrest, saying Schettino . wasn't a flight risk and asserting that there was no risk that he would . repeat the crime since no cruise line would hire him, the ANSA news . agency reported. Operations: A coast guard team pulls up alongside the ship earlier today. Divers have today used explosives to help access to decks . Preparations: Members of an Italian firefighting department share notes ahead of the beginning of their operation, while a colleague, right, gets ready for another diving mission close to the ship . Pictures from when Concordia went down were reminiscent of the 1912 sinking of Titanic, recreated here by the 1997 James Cameron film . CONFIRMED DEAD (16): . Sandor Feher, Hungary, 38, crew // Horst Galle, Germany // Jeanne Gannard, France // Pierre Gregoire, France // Egon Hoer, Germany // Giovanni Masia, Italy, 85 // Thomas Alberto Costilla Mendoza, Peru, crew // Jean-Pierre Micheaud, France, 61 // Francis Servil, France, 71 // Guillermo Gual, Spain, 68 // Maria Dintrono, Italy, 30 // Josef Werp, Germany // Luisa Antonia Virzi, Italy // Three other bodies that have been recovered from the wreckage but not identified. UNACCOUNTED FOR: (22) Three bodies still awaiting ID // Dayana Arlotti, Italy // William M. Arlotti, Italy // Elisabeth Bauer, Germany // Michael M. Blemand, France // Christina Mathi Ganz, Germany // Norbert Josef Ganz, Germany // Girolamo Giuseppe, Italy, crew // Gabriele Grube, Germany // Barbara Heil, United States // Gerald Heil, United States // Mylene Litzler, France // Margarethe Neth, Germany // Russel Terence Rebello, India, crew // Inge Schall, Germany // Erika Fani Soriamolina, Peru, crew // Siglinde Stumpf, Germany // Brunhild Werp, Germany // Margrit Schroeter, Germany // Maria Grazia Trecarichi, Italy .
### SUMMARY:
| Search efforts continuing but officials say it will be a 'miracle' if anyone is found alive .
Hero hairdresser Giovanni Di Mauro, 35, was last to leave after helping evacuation for seven hours .
Names of confirmed dead and missing revealed in list . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Nestled in tranquil countryside, Nixon’s Cottage was a treasured landmark for 600 years. Now it is facing demolition after a 174mph Audi estate car careered off the road – smashing straight into the living room of owners Andy and Karen Rattray. Structural engineers are examining the locally-listed wattle and daub thatched cottage to see if its ancient oak frame was twisted in the smash. Even if it is salvageable, the couple will have to move out for up to a year while the front of their home is rebuilt. Fortunately, Mrs and Mr Rattray were not in at the time of the crash at their home in Over Peover, . Cheshire, and the driver of the £55,000 Audi RS4 car was uninjured. Scroll down for video . Inspection: Structural engineers attended to assess the damage before the Audi car could be removed . Damage: Andy, 46, and Karen Rattray, 44, were out at the time of the crash in Over Peover, Cheshire . Smashed: The Audi car went into a 600-year-old oak-framed wattle and daub section of the living room . No injuries: The driver of the Audi - worth £55,000 - and the couple's three cocker spaniels were unhurt . Long wait: Mr Rattray said it will be up to 12 months before the couple can go back into their cottage home . Somewhere to stay: Mrs Rattray said the driver 'gets to go home to his nice warm house and we don't' The . Audi driver had been going along the A50 towards Knutsford just before . 9.40am on Monday, when a Volkswagen appeared to be travelling on the . wrong side of the road in the opposite direction. Cheshire Constabulary officers said . the Audi driver took evasive action, mounting the grass verge before . going across the road, through the hedge and coming to a halt in the . lounge of the building. The driver of the 2012 Audi and the couple’s three cocker spaniels - who were inside the house - were unhurt. The . couple's living room is completely destroyed however, along with . several antiques including a grandfather clock which Mr Rattray said is . still standing but beyond repair. Police are now trying to trace the driver of the Volkswagen, which was a dark blue car. Mrs Rattray said: ‘This is the third time we have had a car come through the hedge but this is by far the worst - we live in fear. Thank God we weren’t in the living room. The method of constructing buildings . using the wattle and daub technique dates back to the Neolithic period . and is thought to have helped develop later methods of construction . including lath and plaster and even cob. Wattle and daub was used in parts of central Europe, western Asia, and north and south America. It involves woven lattice strips of wood, called the wattle, being daubed with a sticky paste to hold it together. The paste was traditionally made from materials at hand, including animal dung and straw or mud and clay. ‘If we were we would have all been in the lounge and we had a great big unit in front of the window. That’s obliterated and there are bricks embedded in the wall. ‘We have to find somewhere to stay . now and that’s hard with three dogs. The driver gets to go home to his . nice warm house and we don’t.’ Fortunately for the couple and their dogs, a local farmer has offered to rent them a house while work continues on theirs. Structural engineers attended the scene to assess the damage before the car could be removed. Mr . Rattray said: ‘It is going to be six to 12 months before we can go back . in - we don’t know yet if the house will have to be knocked down. ‘The . part the car went into is 550 to 600 years old - it’s just wattle and . daub, and we don’t know if the oak frame has been twisted.’ ‘We . heard a noise the night before and my dogs had been going mad. We . thought a car had gone through the hedge so I went to look the morning . after and there was a hole in it. ‘I . got there and just saw this car sticking out of the hedge and the . driver was just stood there looking very pale and shaken. I thought it . had happened the night before but it had happened literally a few . minutes before.’ Whatever happens to the old house, Mr Rattray may have a job on his hands persuading his wife to move back to the property. Historic: The part of the Cheshire cottage that the Audi car went into is an astonishing 550 to 600 years old . Evasive action: Cheshire Constabulary officers said the Audi driver mounted the grass verge before going across the road, through the hedge and coming to a halt in the lounge of the building . Crash: Mrs Rattray said it was the third time the couple have had a car come through the hedge in Cheshire . Shock: Mr Rattray (left) said he 'just saw this car sticking out of the hedge' next to the property in Cheshire . Accident: The Audi RS4 was driving along the A50 towards Knutsford at around 9.40am on Monday . Carnage: The cottage was an absolute mess following the crash which took place on Monday morning . Worry: Mr Rattray said the couple were unsure as to whether the house will have to be knocked down . He told MailOnline: 'If the building has to be knocked down, it would be nice to rebuild further back from the road as it's a lovely area. 'But my wife is afraid to live here again, so I don't know if we'll return.' Mr Rattray described the dangerous stretch of road as 'crazy' with several motorists killed in crashes since he moved in to the house 14 years ago. He said that the road is particularly busy when the motorway is closed and large lorries use the route as a diversion. 'A truck would have gone straight through the house,' he said. The last serious incident on the road before the Audi crash saw an 18-year-old girl killed in a crash close to Mr Rattray's home. Danger spot: A previous crash at the cottage saw a car come over the hedgerow upside down. It was only stopped from hitting the property by another parked car . The house came close to suffering serious damage last year when another car came over the hedgerow. Mr Rattray said: 'It came through the hedge upside down and it was going to hit the property, but fortunately we had a car parked there and it hit that and was pushed along the side of the house instead.' The technique of wattle and daub dates back 6,000 years. Wattling is the building of walls by weaving sticks in and out of upright posts - and daubing is the weather-proofing with manure, earth and clay. The house, known as Nixon's Cottage, is thought to have been home to local prophet Robert Nixon. Born in the 15th century, he became known as the Cheshire Ploughboy Prophet and is said to have predicted the Battle of St Albans and the outcome of the Battle of Bosworth field. He is even said to have foretold his own death. Nixon was summoned to the court of Richard III but refused to go saying that he would be 'clemmed' - or starved - to death. King Richard ordered that he be keep in the court's kitchens but he was caught stealing food from the pantries and locked in a cupboard by the cook. He was left in the cupboard and starved to death when the cook was called away. Close call: A previous crash saw a car land on its roof just inches from the house . Before: The interior of Nixon Cottage before the car plowed through the wall . Ruined: The car came through the wall into a 600 year old part of the house . No protection: The historic cottage is hidden behind a row of bushes, but it isn't enough to stop cars ploughing through it . Dangerous stretch: The Rattray's home is situated right next to the busy A50 road .
### SUMMARY:
| Damage to Andy and Karen Rattray's cottage in Over Peover, Cheshire .
Car went into 600-year-old oak-framed wattle and daub section of room .
Audi RS4 driver tried to evade driver allegedly going wrong way on A50 . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Olympic swimming champion Grant Hackett has spoken about his life-changing five-week stint in an Arizona rehab clinic this year, confessing that his addiction to Stilnox sleeping pills played a major role in him seeking help. The gold medallist also said that a 'sustained amount of pressure and stress' and his bitter divorce from Australian singer Candice Alley led him to get treatment. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline about his rehab experience for the first time, he said he was reluctant and 'scared' to go to the US clinic - but was persuaded to go by his dad. 'I was in denial about [help] for a long time, I thought I could manage everything and anything,’ he said on Thursday. Scroll down for video . Better than ever: Grant Hackett is looking forward to returning to the spotlight this weekend after his time away in rehab . His spell in rehab followed a bizarre incident in February when he was filmed half-naked in the foyer of Melbourne's Crown Casino. After his initial reluctance, the 34-year-old admitted he formed ‘great relationships’ from the experience. 'There was a bit of reluctance because you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,’ Hackett said. He confessed he was a ‘little bit frightened’ and a ‘little bit scared’ before boarding the plane to America but he has now described his time away as a ‘great personal development’ lesson and has spoken about the great friends he made inside the clinic. 'I got a real insight into myself, what motivates me, where I’ve had difficulties throughout my life,' he said. 'A lot of people in there were really high-achieving individuals who had just been through tough periods. 'It's a very safe environment where you feel you can make yourself vulnerable and recover properly. Through the course of that vulnerability you do make great relationships,' he said. It was initially reported Hackett entered rehab because of an addiction to Stilnox, a prescription anti-anxiety drug and sleeping pill that is given to patients to treat insomnia and anxiety. Until now he has declined to say that the drug actually led to his admittance. 'It wasn’t really that to be honest, I have to steer a bit clear of that because of legal proceedings… but what I can tell you is that yes, definitely, I was using sleeping medication for a little while there, but that wasn’t the only thing,' he confessed. Divorced: The Olympian's troubles came after his divorce from Australian singer Candice Alley in August 2013 . Panicked: The Olympian was seen wondering the foyer of Crown Casino, Melbourne, half-naked in February . He also said his hectic life as an executive at Westpac bank, a presenter at Channel Nine, studying for a master’s degree and 'going through a very very public divorce that was extremely difficult to cope with' meant he didn’t give himself the time to rest. 'I was doing that not for weeks or months – I did that for years, it’s just not a sustainable way of living.' Hackett and Alley first announced their separation in 2012 and divorced in August 2013. 'Because of my athletic background I thought it was a weakness to say "I need help",' he said. Hackett’s father Neville previously said the family staged a form of intervention to get the former sportsman into ‘one of the best’ rehab facilities in the world. Long term use: Hackett was first prescribed Stilnox over ten years ago by doctors to help him wind down after competitions . 'Extremely difficult': Hackett confessed he was going through 'a very very public divorce' and did not give himself enough time to rest . He said what rehab really helped him to do was get to the root of his problems and thus rid himself of his reliance on the medication. 'Why wasn’t I sleeping? Why wasn’t I feeling like I was on top of it?... It’s more getting to the crux of it and also getting rid of those band aid solutions.' Doctors first prescribed Hackett Stilnox over ten years ago, to help him switch off at night after competitions. 'Sometimes you can't come down after those events. That's why I used Stilnox back then. It was the particular medication that doctors prescribed. 10 odd years ago they said "this is the medication to use" because it doesn’t have too many side effects… and it's got no hangover effect,' he explained. Hackett has battled with an addiction to the drug previously and in 2012 he called it 'evil'. He said when he was first prescribed the pill it was ‘absolutely innocent’ and he holds no grudges against the doctors who gave it to him. 'You could wake up the next morning and compete at the highest level again, so that was the rational and logic behind it.' 'Sometimes you can't come down after those events': Hackett is one of Australia's most decorated Olympians but said he's also an 'over thinker' Sleeping aid: Hackett has battled with an addiction to Stilnox previously and in 2012 he called it 'evil'. He said when he was first prescribed the pill it was 'absolutely innocent' Hackett said although not all athletes have trouble switching off at night he is the 'sort of person with a very analytical mind'. 'I’m a real thinker so often for me to do that, switch off, is not necessarily as easy as it is for the average person,' he explained. His advice to any young athletes looking for help now would be to 'avoid it all costs'. These days Hackett turns to more natural remedies, including meditation and mindfulness to wind down. 'It's not the sort of stuff I was a big believer in before… but I try and do that at the end of each day just to get out of my own head so to speak.' And his personal life is also back to a 'very happy place'. He refused to go into detail about his children, twins Jagger Emilio and Charlize Alley, because of legal proceedings. 'But of course, they are the absolute centre of my world as you can imagine,' he said. Moving on: Hackett knows his public image has taken a battering in recent years but hopes he will be judged by his 'actions moving forwards' Hackett is spending most of his time in Queensland with family and friends at the moment and revealed he is currently single . 'I'm always dating someone here and there but I haven’t actually dated anyone yet. I’m just laying low.' Hackett knows his public image has taken a battering in recent years but hopes he will be judged by his 'actions moving forwards'. 'I'm the sort of person that if you give me a second chance, I'll take it with both hands,' he said. 'I'm always going to make mistakes but I’m going to try and keep them to an absolute minimum.' The swimmer said what matters most to him is his very close friends and family and making them proud. Life-changing: The 34-year-old, seen here with his parents, has found new ways to cope with his 'chaotic' lifestyle and is glad that he finally got help . 'They're there if I win gold medals or if I’m seen at the Crown or whatever it may be that stems from that,' he explained. Hackett will return to the public spotlight on Sunday, when he appears on Channel Nine’s Wide World Of Sports alongside former cricketer Michael Slater. 'I'm in a really good healthy physical and mental state and I feel like I’m in a place where I’m ready to jump back into that chaotic life,' he said. Four months after he was filmed wandering in the Crown casino foyer wearing a singlet over his underpants, he said: ‘I don’t think I need to go around with my head down or anything like that. 'I'm going to get on with the job. I made a mistake. I put my hand up and take full accountability and responsibility for that. Now I’ve just got to get on with it.'
### SUMMARY:
| Swimmer confessed he was reluctant to go to U.S. rehab in March .
Was first prescribed Stilnox over 10 years ago to 'switch off' at night .
Was sent to clinic by family after bizarre half-naked incident in Melbourne's Crown Casino in February .
Says he lost control after bitter divorce from Candice Alley in 2013 .
Said he formed 'great relationships' inside the clinic .
Now meditates before he goes to sleep instead of using pills . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
A Detroit family is being ripped apart after immigration officials gave a 40-year-old married mother 24 hours to leave the country despite having no criminal convictions, a husband who has lived here for decades and three U.S.-born children. Cile Precetaj, who came to the States seeking asylum 13 years ago, was ordered to report for deportation at Detroit Metro Airport at 10:30 a.m. today for a flight back to her native Albania, after receiving a letter from authorities Monday telling her to pack her bags. However, in a desperate bid to buy time, she deliberately missed the deadline, and is now waiting at home, with her family around her, until authorities take her to jail where she will be held until another flight is organized. Devastating: Cile Precetaj, pictured right, who came to the States seeking asylum 13 years ago, was ordered to report for deportation at Detroit Metro Airport at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday for a flight back to her native Albania . Tears: Precetaj, pictured with her three U.S.-born children Mikey, 11, right, Migena, 6, center, and Martina, 4, left, was told Monday that she had to leave . 'There is a level of insanity in this . case,' her New York-based immigration attorney Andrew Johnson told . MailOnline as he fights against the clock to keep Precetaj with her . husband and children. 'Someone is not doing what is ordinarily done. There is an abuse of power.' Precetaj . came to the U.S. through Canada in 2000 fearing that if she stayed in . Albania she would be kidnapped and sold into prostitution. She . immediately turned herself in and sought asylum. While here illegally, . she married Pjetero Gojcevic, who was born in Yugoslavia but moved here . 40 years ago, and the couple had three kids, Mikey, 11, Migena, 6 and . Martina 4, all U.S. citizens. Precetaj . is the sole carer of her elderly mother-in-law, another U.S. citizen, . whose toes were amputated and needs help eating, walking and washing. But . her case for political asylum was rejected after a judge said her . testimony about fearing the prostitution trade lacked credibility. He . said even if her concerns were warranted 'young, attractive women are . not a social group for asylum.' Packing up: Precetaj, pictured center with her kids, chose not to go to the airport and remained at home with her packed bags, waiting for authorities but they didn't come . Seeking asylum: Precetaj came to the U.S. through Canada in 2000 fearing that if she stayed in Albania she would be kidnapped and sold into prostitution. She immediately turned herself in and sought asylum . After losing her appeal, she was given a deportation order. An estimated 500,000 people are . living in the U.S. with a deportation order, however, U.S. Immigrations . Customs and Enforcement only acts on a portion of cases and the Obama . Administration specifically said targeting people with criminal . convictions was the priority. Precetaj . has none. In fact, she's a glowing member of her community, described . by friends and her children's teachers as a hard-working mother who pays . her taxes and helps her kids with schoolwork, not to mention keeping . her elderly mother-in-law out of a government-funded home. 'Detroit . has gone off the map here,' Johnson said. 'They are doing something . that has not been done around the country. This person probably has as . many positive evaluations as you can, she has three children who are . U.S. citizens and has been here for a long time. I'm just baffled.' Settled in: While here, she married Pjetero Gojcevic, who was born in Yugoslavia but moved here 40 years ago, and the couple had three kids, including Migena, 6, pictured . Precetaj . became concerned about two weeks ago, when at her regular six-month . check in with the deportation department she was fitted with a GPS ankle . bracelet. But the mother-of-three was convinced ICE wouldn't deport a . woman whose three kids are American-born. 'That is strange they put an ankle . bracelet on a mom with three kids,' Johnson said, referring to the low . risk of her fleeing. 'Then the day before her scheduled flight they said . "You're flying out tomorrow, here's your information." They didn't want . the bad press. 'I . think they wanted it to look as natural as possible because they . understood how egregious this case is. It just doesn't make sense.' Now, the authorities will be forced to collect Precetaj from her home and take her into custody. At midday Tuesday, she was pictured there, with her family surrounding her awaiting ICE officers. Precetaj . and her children were crying as they hugged by the Christmas tree, and . the woman's mother-in-law was asking what would become of her if her . daughter was sent home. Other relatives, including a cousin, were . visibly upset at the heartbreaking situation the family has been thrown . into. Hugs: Precetaj has not decided, if she is in fact deported, whether to take the kids, who have never been to Albania, with her . Review: The mother's case will be reviewed . 'They will jail . her for one to three weeks, however long it takes to organize another . flight,' Johnson told MailOnline. 'Then border guards will drive her to . the airport and take off her ankle bracelet like she's a mass murderer . or a terrorist going to Guantanamo.' In the meantime, Johnson and the family are working desperately for someone in Washington D.C. to interject. 'We need somebody in the White House, connected to ICE, to say "stop this immediately. This is wrong." If someone in DC hears about this, that is our best chance. Her story just hasn't been heard.' Understandably, Precetaj is beside herself, and is still trying to work out if she will take her children, who are enrolled in school and have never been to Albania, with her. Her husband works as a cook at restaurant in Detroit and said he can't afford to raise the children on his own. 'She is an emotional mess,' Johnson explained. Deportation: Precetaj was informed Monday that she had to report at Deport's McNamara terminal at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday as per the above order . Empty: But the terminal, pictured, was empty at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, as the mother-of-three defied the order by staying home . 'What she has been told by numerous people was that they don't deport women with three US citizen children and that is exactly what they're doing. 'She is crying all the time, trying to work out who she can take and who she can't. She's going back to Albania and that is not a good place to bring a 6-year-old girl, particularly.' He added: 'It happened in one day, she has no idea what to do.' Gojcevic told the Detroit Free Press Monday night the family was 'hoping for a miracle.' 'Let her stay with her children and raise them in a country that they know,' he said. 'She loves this country.'
### SUMMARY:
| Cile Precetaj, 40, of Detroit, Michigan, was ordered to report for deportation at Detroit Metro Airport at 10:30 a.m. today for a flight back to Albania .
She received a letter from authorities informing her of her deportation on Monday, a day before her scheduled flight .
However, in a desperate bid to buy time, she deliberately missed her flight, instead staying at home with her family around her .
She will now likely be taken to jail as the authorities organize another flight .
Meanwhile, her lawyers are fighting to keep the hard-working mom in the country she's called home since 2000 .
Her husband has lived in the U.S. for 40 years and her three children, aged 11, 6 and 4, are U.S. citizens enrolled in the local school .
She is also the sole carer for her elderly mother-in-law who can't eat or walk on her own . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
A two-year-old boy who suffers with a severe facial deformity and may never learn to walk or talk has baffled doctors with his undiagnosable condition. Despite suffering with a number of distinct symptoms, medical experts are unable to pinpoint exactly what is wrong with Aidan Jackoviak Smith. His mother, Vikki, 40, says that specialists are now forced to work out what is wrong with him by a process of elimination as test after test comes back negative. Scroll down for video . Parents Vikki and Karl Smith had no idea that there was anything wrong with son Aidan when he was born eight weeks prematurely on Boxing day 2010. But they soon discovered he had been born with a grown and after three weeks he began fitting . ‘At first they thought it was Proteus Syndrome, but after a biopsy six months ago, the results came back negative,’ Vikki told ITV’s This Morning. ‘But now they think it might be CLOVES syndrome.’ Proteus Syndrome is a genetic condition that John Merrick, the Elephant Man, suffered from. CLOVES Syndrome is also a genetic condition and causes blood vessel, skin and spinal abnormalities. Aidan was born eight weeks prematurely weighing 4lb 10oz on Boxing day 2010 after an uneventful pregnancy. He was immediately whisked away by nurses at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary because he was premature. Vikki and husband Karl, 35, had no idea that their newborn son was in fact very ill with a rare condition. Aidan had been born with a growth on his face, back and leg and three weeks later he started to experience seizures with alarming regularity. Doctor then broke the news that he had suffered brain damage. Karl said the enormity of the his son's situation hit him when doctors told him Aidan was brain damaged and may never learn to walk or talk . When Daniel, 13, (right) was asked what it was like to have a brother like Aidan, he said: 'It's just the same to have him as a brother. I look past what he looks like. He's my brother' ‘That’s when it hit home,’ said . father Karl. ‘The enormity of it hit me when the words ‘brain . damage’ were mentioned. 'We realised he might never walk or talk and were . worried he would never recognise us. It’s just terrifying.’ The parents, who also have a son . called Daniel from Vikki's previous marriage, were also overwhelmed when doctors . gave them CPR lessons in case Aidan stopped breathing. ‘You suddenly realise the responsibility of the little life you are looking after,’ explained Karl. Doctors are unable to work out what is wrong with Aidan and are hoping to diagnose him by a process of elimination. At one point they thought he suffered with Proteus syndrome, a genetic condition that John Merrick, the Elephant Man, suffered from. But tests came back negative.Now they believe he may suffer with CLOVES Syndrome. There are only 130 people in the world known to have the condition. CLOVES stands for for Congenital Lipomatous Overgrowth Vascular Malformations Epidermal Nevis Spinal/Skeletal Anomalies/Scoliosis. It was discovered in 2006 by Boston doctor Ahmad Alomari. Dr Alomari reviewed decades of data and photos of children who had been given different diagnoses for a specific combination of symptoms. Although the cases were rare, he noticed a definite pattern when comparing them. In 2009, Dr Alomari published a paper describing his findings which established CLOVES syndrome as a recognised disease. There is currently no test for the condition and doctors must rely on recognising the symptoms to make a diagnosis. Symptoms include skin, limb, torso and spinal abnormalities such as like fatty masses or scoliosis (spinal deformity). There can also be vascular (blood vessel) abnormalities such as a birthmark too. It is not entirely clear what causes CLOVES syndrome but experts have discovered that up to 60 per cent of cells in patients' affected tissues contain mutations in a gene called PIK3CA. There is no known cure for CLOVES but many of the associated problems can be managed or prevented successfully with the right medical and surgical care. Council housing finance officer Vikki, 40, admitted she never wanted a mentally and physically disabled child. ‘I always thought I was a bit superficial, I knew some people could cope with a disabled baby, I just never thought I was one of them,' she told the Mirror. ‘But thanks to Aidan I’ve discovered I can because he gives me so much love and I know he loves his family to bits,’ For Aidan’s parents now, the biggest worry is the unknown – not being able to put a name to his condition. ‘You wake up and try to work out if there is something different [in his symptoms]. But he’s proved to us he’s a fighter,’ added Karl. The family remain positive, especially as their fear that Aidan would never recognise them has not been realised. Vikki said that Aidan recognises exactly who they are and that his face lights up when he sees his parents after a day at school. Aidan's parents said they were worried he would be so brain damaged that he would never recognise them. But thankfully, their fears haven't been realised and his face lights up when he sees them. He also laughs and blows kisses to them . ‘He blows kisses, laughs and giggles,’ she said. 'We hope that once day he will walk and talk.’ Aidan . is due to undergo facial surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital in August this year. Later in the interview, half-brother Daniel, 13, is asked how it feels to have a little brother like . Aidan. He responded: 'It’s just the same to have him as a brother. I . look past what he looks like. He’s my brother.’ Vikki and Karl also explained how ignorant . members of the public can be when they see Aidan for the first time. Karl recalled one incident at the British Museum when a person came up very close to Aidan to look at his face. Karl then pointed out the the inquisitive man that the 'artifacts were on the wall and not in the pushchair.' But Karl added that he doesn’t want . to come across as 'bitter and twisted' and said that he does his best to . try and ignore insensitive onlookers. The family remains upbeat despite the emotional and financial strain that Aidan's illness puts on the family. They say that Aidan's arrival has been difficult but it has also been a blessing . The . parents said in a previous interview that Aidan’s condition has not just been an emotional drain but have provided financial . problems too. Karl was forced to give up his job as a salesman . to become Aidan's full-time carer and Vikki has taken a 20 per cent pay cut to . her £25,000 wage after switching from full-time to a four-day week to . help with Aidan.She also fears she may be made redundant. Aidan still needs nappies and has to be fed baby food, which push up the family’s living costs. The couple are £10,000 in debt on their credit card and Vikki said without a definitive diagnosis they cannot approach the right charity for help or even set up an internet JustGiving page. Vikki added that because they don't know if Aidan will ever walk, their house may be unsuitable for them once he’s too heavy for them to carry him upstairs to bed. 'If I lose my job we will lose this house. If we knew what Aidan’s problems are I’d at least feel there was some progress. But I do know that I love my son and just want to do whatever I can to give him the best possible life.'
### SUMMARY:
| Aidan Jackoviak Smith was born prematurely with a growth on his face and at 3-weeks-old he started to suffer regular fits that left him brain damaged .
Doctors remain unable to diagnose him but hope to work out what is wrong with him by a process of elimination .
They now suspect he suffers with CLOVES Syndrome, a rare condition that causes blood vessel, skin and spinal abnormalities .
Parent say illness has been emotional and financial strain - father Karl had to give up work for become full-time carer and mother Vikki works part-time .
Until Aidan is definitively diagnosed they cannot approach a charity for help and are in £10,000 of debt because of increased living costs . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Prince Albert II of Monaco paid a visit to the hospital to visit his wife Princess Charlene and their new twins Prince Jacques Honore Ranier and Princess Gabriella Therese Marie. The babies were delivered at the Princess Grace hospital in Monaco, named after their late grandmother. Princess Gabriella was the first born baby, but her younger brother will inherit the Principality's throne. Scroll down for video . Prince Albert II, pictured left, visited his wife and their two children earlier this afternoon in hospital . The Prince waved at crowds outside the Princess Grace Hospital in Monaco, named after his late mother . The Prince, right, and Princess Charlene, left, were married in 2011, eleven years after they had first met . The Royal Palace was illuminated in red and white, pictured, to celebrate the arrival of the baby twins . Each of the twins received their own 21 cannon shots after the official announcement. Prince Albert said: 'I wish to share this moment of happiness with the Monegasque people and more widely with all my country's residents. It is understood that Princess Charlene will remain in hospital until Monday having delivered the twins by caesarean section. Last night's announcement saw hundreds of people take to the streets, waving their flags in jubilation, and beaming as 42 cannon shots rang out around the city. The official announcement of the birth came this morning, with two placards, one in French and one in English, hung on the outer wall of the flag-festooned Palais Princier by a battalion of carabinieres. Official announcement: The Palais Princier officially announced the birth this morning via a placard affixed to the wall . Solemn: The statement spoke of Prince Albert and Princess Charlene's delight at the birth of the royal twins . Formal: Two placards, one in French and one in English, were used to announce the royal birth . Jubilant: News of the birth was met with scenes of jubilation in the principality, the second smallest independent country in the world . Royal salute: The babies' arrival was also celebrated with a royal salute from a battalion of carabinieres . The statement read: 'It is with immense joy that TT.SS.HH the prince and princess of Monaco have the great pleasure to announce the birth of their children named: Gabriella, Thérèse, Marie (born at 17h04) Jacques, Honoré, Rainier (born at 17h06).' Babies Gabriella and Jaques arrived within minutes of each other last night, with the little girl born first at 5.04pm and her brother following two minutes later at 5.06pm. Despite being the younger, it will be Prince Jacques who succeeds his father on the throne, thanks to Monaco's continued embrace of Salic Law which states that male heirs always take precedence over their older sisters. She will, however, get a title, becoming the Countess of Carlades, while Crown Prince Jacques will get the traditional style of Marquis of Baux - a name always given to the first born son. The children, who are the first for 36-year-old Princess Charlene, were delivered at the Princess Grace Hospital - named after their late grandmother - where members of the media are currently gathering as they await the babies' first public appearance. Recovering: Princess Charlene, who was last seen on Monaco's National Day in November, is recovering in hospital after the birth . Respect: The placing of the placards was followed by a salute from the Carabinieres - watched by a crowd of photographers . Thrilled: Monaco's citizens and residents have spoken of their delight following the birth of the twin heirs . Assured: The birth of two children means Monaco's future is assured, with Prince Jacques set to succeed his father . Excitement: It isn't only Monaco's residents who are thrilled - news of the birth brought messages of congratulations from around the world . While they wait, residents of Monaco are celebrating by covering everything - including homes and yachts - in national flags, which will remain in place until the babies are formally presented to the public from the balcony of the Palais Princier. For Fabienne Guenoune, president of the Le Rocher residents' association, 'the 42 cannon shots announcing the birth seals more than ever the future of the country'. 'A boy and a girl, it's the wish of a king,' added Michele Mattoni, another resident of The Rock, as Monaco is also known. 'This is an explosion of joy for all Monegasques,' said Marguerite-Marie Bergonzi, who comes from one of the oldest families in the world's second smallest independent state. Charlene, who is said to be doing well, gave birth by caesarian section and is likely to remain in hospital for at least another four days as she recovers from the birth. Her husband Prince Albert remains by her side and was there when she gave birth to the babies, which replace their aunt Caroline as heirs to the throne. Standing to attention: Carabinieres stand guard outside the Palais Princier in Monaco this morning . Festooned: The front of the Palais Princier was awash with national flags, hung to celebrate the birth . Colourful: Yachts in the marina were also given the flags treatment and provided a colourful sight . Jubilant: Last night saw ecstatic locals take to the streets to celebrate after the royal birth was announced . Overjoyed: Residents took to the streets after hearing the 42 cannon shots that heralded the twins' birth . Excited: The babies will be officially presented to the populace on the balcony of the Palais Princier once they leave hospital . Although females are not allowed to inherit under Salic Law, the late Prince Rainier III rewrote the constitution after becoming ill in 2002 to make it possible for one of his daughters to inherit if his son - who has two illegitimate children - failed to produce a legitimate heir. That all changed after Albert, 56, married former Olympic swimmer Charlene, 36, in 2011 - 11 years after the pair first met. Early this year, the couple finally announced they were expecting after a three-year wait. The gender of the twins had been kept a secret during Charlene's pregnancy, including from their father who said last month that he was looking forward to being surprised. During the same interview, he also made plain that should the twins turn out to be a boy and a girl, it would be the boy who succeeded him, regardless of birth order. Albert, who was once considered one of the world's most eligible bachelors, succeeded his father Prince Rainier in 2005 at the age of 47. He already had a daughter, Jazmin, 22, after a fling with former waitress Tamara Rotolo. He denied being her father for years before DNA tests proved otherwise when she was a teenager. The prince also has a younger son, Alexandre Coste, 11, from an affair with Nicole Coste, a Togolese former Air France hostess. Under Monaco's inheritance laws, neither of them have any claim to royal titles or to be considered as heirs to Albert because they were born outside of marriage. They do however have legal rights to a share of his huge personal fortune, estimated by Forbes magazine to exceed $1 billion (800 million euros). Colourful: Red and white Monagasque flags hang from every window at the Palais Princier . Quick fix: A member of Palais staff adds to the already vast collection of celebratory flags . Need some help? The man gets a little help from one of the maids as he struggles with the banner . Almost there: With the flag in place, he finally manages to complete the job . Boom! The first of a series of cannon shots announcing the royal birth is fired over the Mediterranean last night . And again! The blast lights up the city skyline - including one impressively large yacht moored in the marina below . Tradition: Royal births are usually announced with 21 cannon blasts but because there are two babies, 42 cannon blasts were fired . Expectant: Photographers wanting to catch a glimpse of the new babies have begun arriving outside the hospital . Interest: As news of the birth spread, hordes of photographers and camera crews began to descend .
### SUMMARY:
| Princess Charlene of Monaco gave birth to twins by caesarean section .
Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella were born yesterday evening .
Princess Charlene is expected to remain in hospital until Monday .
Prince Albert visited his official first born children earlier today .
The Prince has two other children who have no claim to the throne . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Airbus may stop making its super-jumbo, the A380, because sales figures have been so poor, the company's finance director revealed. Making its first commercial flight in 2007 to great fanfare, the A380 is the world's largest and most glamorous passenger airliner, with two decks that run the entire length of the fuselage. The A380 has entered service in the fleets of several major airlines, including Emirates, Singapore Airlines, British Airways and Qantas, but the future of the plane was thrown into doubt amid a slump in orders. Scroll down for video . Airbus may stop making its super-jumbo, the A380, because sales figures have been so poor . In an unusually frank remark, Airbus finance director Harald Wilhelm told analysts on Wednesday that Airbus would break even on the A380 through 2018, 'if we would do something on the product, or even if we would discontinue the product'. The unusually frank remark reflected an internal debate over the future of the world's largest airliner but is the first time Airbus has publicly contemplated winding down the project, according to Reuters. It's one of several scenarios that it's contemplating, the agency said. Others include slowing production or investing together with Rolls-Royce in an improved engine. The only new A380 customer Airbus has managed to win this year is lease firm Amadeo shares in Airbus suffered their worst drubbing in more than six years on Wednesday after the planemaker predicted flat profits in 2016. Industry sources said it is in talks to try to shift a handful of planes no longer destined for Japan's troubled Skymark Airlines to larger Japanese carrier ANA. Airbus said it would not comment on specific discussions. At the moment Airbus has 318 firm orders for the aircraft lined up, with 147 having been delivered. The biggest customer is Emirates, which is flying 55 A380s, with another 85 additions to the fleet planned, according to Aviation Week. The site's Managing Editor, Jens Flottau, told MailOnline that Airbus is facing several issues, including the limit to how many carriers can afford them. He said: 'The A350 and 787 Dreamliner are coming close to the A380 in unit costs so there is little incentive to buy a larger aircraft from the cost perspective. Airlines also shy away from the risk of having to fill another 150 seats per flight. Excess capacity by definition leads to lower fares and often to below-cost fares which airlines obviously seek to avoid. 'The A380 was launched in 2000 and planned in the late 1990s so it is one generation older than the new aircraft. It has four engines, which makes it more expensive to operate and maintain. 'Emirates has become so dominant that a good part of the Europe-Asia market is shifting via Dubai so there is less left for the rest - smaller aircraft are sufficient. 'Finally, it's a huge investment that not many can afford and there's only a limited number of routes that are big enough to justify the aircraft - unless you happen to be Emirates with a huge number of connecting passengers.' The head of Dubai-based Emirates reacted angrily to the suggestion that Airbus might stop making the A380, which took 15 years to develop at a cost of $25billion. Tim Clark told Reuters it could double its investment if the planemaker agreed to upgrade the A380 instead. The A380 has entered service in the fleets of several major airlines, including Emirates, Singapore Airlines, British Airways and Qantas . Cost: £270million ($400m) Length: 72.7m (238 feet 8 inches) Wingspan: 79.8m (261 feet 10 inches) Height: 24.1m (79 feet) Top speed: 587mph . Seats: 469 seats (14 First, 97 business, 55 premium economy, 303 economy) Range: 9,755 miles . Max take-off weight: 560 tonnes . Pilots: Two to four (depending on length of flight) Cabin crew: 22 . Number in BA fleet: First of 12 on order (Three arrive this year and five more in 2014). Legroom:- 31 inches in economy- 38 inches in premium economy- 6ft long bed in Business class (Club World)- 6ft 6 inch long bed in First Class . Manufacturer: Airbus Industries, ToulouseEngines: Four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines built in Derby. Wings: Built at Airbus factory in Broughton, North Wales. 'I am not particularly happy as you can imagine,' Clark said. 'We are on the hook for this plane. I get pretty miffed when we have put so much at stake.' Clark said that if Rolls-Royce and Airbus went ahead with upgrading the engines on the A380 Emirates would eventually replace all the 140 superjumbos it has ordered with the newly upgraded version, as fuel consumption would be lowered by 12 to 15 per cent from 2020. But he suggested Emirates would hold Airbus to delivering the A380s it has sold if it decides to halt the programme. Airbus would in that case probably ask Emirates to forego some of its future deliveries, he said, adding, 'That is not a conversation I would like to have'. Clark said he was worried about the effect Airbus's sombre message would have on future A380 purchases by other airlines, as well as the supply chain and the European aerospace industry which has been a darling of politicians by creating jobs. He also said the stance would not help the future second-hand value of A380 aircraft. Clark called on Airbus to step up its A380 marketing efforts, saying it was flying 'full to the gunwales' and making good profits if configured correctly. The aircraft was designed to help airlines cope with airport congestion. 'This is where Airbus needs to be going, to persuade airlines in the long haul business that this definitely has a place,' he said. Airbus immediately sought to defuse the row. 'The entire Airbus top management continues to believe strongly in the market prospects of the A380, but any investment by Airbus requires a sound business case, which we will continue to study,' head of corporate communications Rainer Ohler said. However, Clark raised broader questions about Airbus's strategy for wide-body jets, citing poor sales of the smallest type of A350 and its replacement by an upgraded version of the older A330. Airbus says this has extended a successful product. 'What is happening over there? I would like a first-hand understanding on where they are going,' Clark said, suggesting that Airbus risked being over-dependent on its smaller A320. The sweeping criticism from one of the airline industry's most influential figures will ring further alarm bells in Toulouse, after Emirates recently cancelled an order for A350s. However Clark ruled out a broader decline in the relationship and said Emirates would soon consider making an order for 50-70 mid-sized Airbus or Boeing wide-body jets. He said Emirates wanted to look at in-service performance data on the A350 before deciding whether to place a new order. In January 2012 Australian aircraft engineers called for A380s to be grounded, after Singapore Airlines and Qantas found cracks in the wings of their super-jumbos. Both airlines, and Airbus, admitted that they had discovered cracks, but maintained that the aircraft were safe. Luxury: A passenger relaxes on a Singapore Airlines A380. Because of their size, the aircraft can be configured with very spacious seating .
### SUMMARY:
| The A380, the world's largest airliner, was launched in 2007 to great fanfare .
It entered service in the fleets of several major airlines, including BA .
The company's finance director, however, hinted it may be discontinued .
His comment came amid a slump in sales of the double-decker aircraft .
The CEO of major customer Emirates said he was 'miffed' at the news .
Airbus has 318 firm orders for the aircraft, with 147 having been delivered . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
The wife of the Sydney siege gunman has arrived in court as authorities push for her to be placed behind bars over alleged murder charges. Wearing a tan trench-coat and white beanie, Amirah Droudis, 35, refused to condemn her husband's crimes when given the opportunity by the media outside Downing Centre Local Court. 'Leave us alone!' her brother John Aspros said. Droudis was granted bail by a local court after she was charged with the murder of gunman Man Haron Monis's estranged wife Noleen Hayson Pal in 2013. Pal was found dead in a western Sydney stairwell, having been stabbed eighteen times and set alight. Scroll down for video . Amirah Droudis, 35, arrived at Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on Monday morning . After it was revealed Monis was on bail when he took 18 people hostage at the Lindt cafe in Martin Place last Monday, NSW Attorney General Brad Hazzard demanded a review into Droudis bail decision. The matter will be heard by the Chief Magistrate, Judge Graeme Henson. Hostages Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson, and the gunman died when police stormed the cafe more than 16 hours after the siege began. An autopsy of Monis's body has now been completed and a burial order will be made on Monday, which means the body will be released to next of kin to organise burial. Monis was on bail charged with being an accessory to Ms Pal's murder. The wife of the Sydney siege gunman is in court as authorities push for her to be placed behind bars over alleged murder charges . Wearing a tan trench-coat and white beanie, Droudis, refused to condemn her husband's crimes . A court was told earlier this year that Droudis and Monis vigorously denied the murder allegations and would plead not guilty. 'The charges laid against Amirah Droudis are extremely serious and her alleged actions involve a murder,' Mr Hazzard said in a statement last week. 'This week I asked the DPP to review any cases where bail had been granted where there may have been any similarity to the circumstances of Man Haron Monis. 'In this case the allegation is that he and she had involvement in the murder of Monis' ex-wife. Amirah Droudis, pictured here with friends, was known by her traditional Greek name Anastasia before she converted to Islam after meeting Man Haron Monis . In her youth Anastasia Droudis worked as a hairdresser in the Kings Cross nightclub district . 'On behalf of our community I want to know whether every aspect of her being on bail has been examined in all possible detail.' NSW Premier Mike Baird said he shared everyone’s rage that Monis was out on bail. 'The public need to know: We have already taken action and strengthened the bail laws. The new, tougher laws come into effect next month. I am advised that these laws would have succeeded where our old laws have failed us,' he said in a statement. 'The advice I have from NSW Police is that the hostage taker did not have a gun licence. Questions remain around how he was in possession of a weapon. We will get to the bottom of it. 'I am determined that we will learn from these events. I’ve announced, along with the Prime Minister, that we will be having a full review of the events leading up to the siege. 'I assure you: If we have to do anything more, we will.' Before Droudis married self-styled Sheikh Monis she was known by a different first name - Anastasia, a nod to her Greek heritage. Born to Greek Orthodox migrants who live in Belmore, south-west Sydney, Droudis worked as a hairdresser in Sydney's Kings Cross during her late teenage years. As a young adult, she would often visit bars, drink and party with friends, a source previously close to her told Daily Mail Australia. But after she met the Iranian fanatic in the mid-2000s, Droudis dropped her birth name in favour of Amirah, an Arabic name, and converted to Islam. 'She's been Anastasia for 30 years,' the source said. 'You can't just turn around and say, 'I'm whatever now''. The source said she became 'influenced' by Monis after the two struck up a relationship following the collapse of her former relationship with her previous partner of eight years. Amirah's brother, John Aspros, told Daily Mail Australia this week that Monis often spent time at the home of Amirah's parents, which was raided by NSW Police officers following the bloody end to the Lindt cafe siege on Tuesday. Droudis declined to comment outside her home this week and later reported to Campsie Police Station where she is required to appear each day as part of her bail conditions. Sydney lawyer Manny Conditsis, who represented Monis and Droudis in court, told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday that Droudis was a pleasant client to work with. 'She's always extremely courteous, pleasant,' he said. 'But… it's also fair to observe that she would defer to Monis.' Attorney General Brad Hazzard has expressed concern to the Director of Public Prosecution over Droudis' bail after two people died when her husband took 18 people hostage in the Lindt cafe on Monday . Amirah Droudis remains free despite being charged with serious crimes, including murder . Man Haron Monis, pictured, was the gunman who took 18 hostages and terrified Sydney in a sixteen-hour siege . Droudis declined to comment outside her home last week. She was pictured attending Campsie Police Station last week, where is required to appear each day as part of her bail conditions. Four years before the alleged murder, a woman believed to be Droudis, posted a series of chilling videos on YouTube in which she described acts of terrorism as God's will. The videos bear the address of Monis' website. 'I regret to say I am a terrorist. I admit and formally confess that for many years I have been a terrorist, but I'll try not to be anymore,' says the woman, 'Amirah', in one of the videos, whose face is mostly covered by a niqab. In another video post, the women describes acts including the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and the Bali bombings as 'acts of God.' Bailed: Droudis was pictured at Campsie Police Station last Tuesday, hours after her family's home in Belmore was raided by authorities following her husband's siege. Reporting to police is part of the condition of her bail on charges of murdering Noleen Hayson Pal, Monis' ex-wife . 'Yes, we are happy about the punishment of September 11. Yes, we are happy about the punishment in Bali. Yes, we are happy about the punishment of the Holocaust and any other punishment that God sends to us.' The video provoked a media storm at the time they were first posted, but no charges were laid. At around the same time both Monis and Droudis were charged with sending offensive letters to the families of Australian soldiers killed by insurgents in Afghanistan. Relatives said the letters accused the troops of killing innocent children, among other things. Monis and Droudis were eventually convicted and sentenced to community service. In addition to the murder accessory charge, Monis was facing more than 40 sexual assault charges involving seven women that allegedly took place while he posed as a 'spiritual adviser'. Droudis was not involved in that case. Mother: Amirah Droudis is pictured here around a decade ago . Daily Mail Australia understands that Droudis, pictured, worked as a hairdresser in her teenage years . Transformed: In 2009, a female follower of Sheikh Haron, identified as 'Sister Amirah' made a series of videos including in which describes herself as a terrorist . This is the introductory message at the beginning of the video that was posted on the Sheikh Haron website . Raid: Police executed a search warrant at the Belmore property belonging to the Droudis family on Tuesday afternoon, hours after the Sydney siege came to a bloody end . Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
### SUMMARY:
| Authorities are pushing to revoke Amirah Droudis' bail .
She has been charged with the murder of Sydney siege gunman's ex-wife .
Noleen Hayson Pal was found dead in a stairwell in 2013 .
She had been stabbed 18 times and set alight . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
We may have barely polished off the Quality Streets and still be recovering from New Year's Eve, but that doesn't stop thousands of us rushing to the shops for the latest fitness DVD. As we do every year, thousands of women vow to overhaul our figures and shed the Christmas pounds after the festive binge. And here are FEMAIL's top picks of new workout programmes from reality TV stars and fitness professionals to help you blitz that mince pie muffin top. Scroll down for videos... Before and after: Charlotte Crosby's DVD promises to help you lose 5lbs a week with a three-minute routine . Charlotte Crosby's 3 Minute Belly Blitz . Charlotte Crosby went on an intense fitness regime after a series of unflattering pictures emerged of her on a beach in July, and she went from size 16 to a size 8 in just six months. The Geordie Shore star has been showing off her new slimline frame on social media just in time for the nation's New Year fitness resolutions. The Sunderland-born beauty has lost 2.5 stone and achieved admirable washboard abs. Her new DVD features a combination of fat-burning three-minute workouts and exercises designed to help tone up the midsection - promising to burn 5lbs in just one week. The routine builds up every time you use the DVD working through 12 stages, and there's also a diet plan included. Charlotte's first DVD topped the fitness DVD charts a day after her new weight-loss programme was released. It follows in the footsteps of co-star Vicky Pattison's best selling exercise DVD, 7 Day Slim last year. Charlotte Crosby’s 3 Minute Belly Blitz is available at amazon.co.uk priced at £11.20 . Charlotte in June with a friend while in Portugal (l) and on December 24 hiting her home town of Sunderland . Made In Chelsea MIC: Fit . The stars of TV's poshest show - and a host of top trainers - have joined forces for the E4 show’s first official fitness programme, MIC:FIT. Ollie Proudlock, Binky Felstead, Spencer Matthews and Lucy Watson are hoping to help kick-start your fitness regime this New Year with four 20-minute workouts. The DVD reveal the cast's secrets to 'looking hot with a hectic lifestyle and how they keep fit when not partying in Chelsea'. 'Featuring the hottest fitness trends with four fun, high-energy 20-minute workouts that will have you looking toned for the King's Road, MIC:FIT is perfect to fit into your busy schedule. 'It gets results and will help keep you looking and feeling amazing during the festive season and beyond,' reads the description. Choose from the fat-burning Tabata Wake Up Call; the body sculpting Toned In Time For St.Tropez; the high-intensity HIIT The King's Road; or the Chelsea Morning Power Stretch. Made In Chelsea MIC: Fit is available at amazon.co.uk priced at £9 . Ollie Proudlock, Binky Felstead, Spencer Matthews and Lucy Watson feature on MIC : FIT . Zalsa: The Ultimate Dance Fitness Work Out . Russell Grant joins forces with his Strictly dance partner Flavia Cacace for a fun fitness DVD. The DVD sees the famous TV astrologist team up with the Strictly Come Dancing dancer to take viewers through some of the most famous dances in the world. From salsa and the cha cha, to the jive, Russell and Flavia show you how to get fit while having fun. With this DVD you'll get fit and learn a new skill. It features steps to popular ballroom routines and helps improve stamina and strength at once. Zalsa: The Ultimate Dance Fitness Work Out is available at amazon.co.uk priced at £5.95 . Russell Grant joins forces with his Strictly dance partner Flavia Cacace for a fun fitness DVD . Fitsteps: Dance Yourself Fit . If you've been inspired by the dramatic weight loss you've seen on your screen over the years, this DVD is for you. Fitsteps is the brainchild of former Strictly professional dancer Ian Waite, Natalie Lowe and former Strictly contestant and Olympic swimmer Mark Foster. The workout combines a number of ballroom and Latin dance moves and claims to burn 700 calories in 40 minutes. The fun and fast dancing style routine of this DVD is said to make it seem like you're not even exercising as you'll be too busy concentrating on getting the steps right. Fitsteps: Dance Yourself Fit is available at amazon.co.uk priced at £6 . This one's for you if you've been inspired by the dramatic weight loss you've seen on Strictly . Roxy Shahidi: Yoga For Weight Loss . Emmerdale star Roxy, who plays Layla, has choreographed a yoga DVD to help women lose excess weight and gain strength without doing fast-paced cardio. 'Yoga for Weight Loss was choreographed by Roxy Shahidi to help women lose those unwanted pounds and get them looking and, most importantly, feeling their best,' says the description. 'There are times in all of our lives where we may have extra inches we want to shed. This DVD practice has been designed for you to do every day to help you stay in shape and keep you emotionally balanced.' Fitsteps: Dance Yourself Fit is available at amazon.co.uk priced at £12.25 . Emmerdale star Roxy, who plays Layla, has choreographed a yoga DVD to help women lose excess weight . Joey Bull's 7 Day Shed . British Fitness champion turned adventure athlete Joey presents what promises to be a no-holds barred, high-intensity interval training fitness DVD for those who want amazing results, fast. It pledges to get you 'fitter, firmer and more energised', but you'll have to put in the gruelling effort. Joey writes: 'My programme will provide you with the knowledge and instruction you need to keep yourself wonderfully maintained well into the future. Join me to tone and tighten, shed fat and fire up hidden reserves of energy and zest and start seeing and feeling the results within days. 'The workouts are accessible for all standards and intensity can easily be altered to suit the exerciser. So whether you are a novice or an experienced gym goer, you will still benefit from 7 Day Shed. 'You can be fitter, stronger, with terrific posture and confidence without compromising curves or femininity.' There are six 'compact workouts' on the DVD, with the first day dedicated to preparation and nutritional diet tips. Joey Bull's 7 Day Shed is available at amazon.co.uk priced at £12.96 . 'This is a no-holds barred HIIT fitness DVD for those who want amazing results, fast' Davina's 7 Minute Fit . Fitness DVD superstar Davina McCall is back with her new 7 Minute Fit programme promising biggest results in the shortest space of time. The lovable former Big Brother host's new venture is based on last year's 15 Minute Fit but was created with a brand new trainer and a brand new concept for 2015. 'My lovely new Personal Trainer Ed Lumsden has created 10 new workouts to help you to tone up and get fit. We love a bit of fat burning and the most amazing thing is they're 7 minutes long,' writes the ultra triathlon achiever. 'We've been doing these workouts for the last few months and you just can't believe the difference you can make in 7 minutes. The workouts are tough, but the techniques Ed uses makes sure they are fun too. 'There's loads of variety. We have a boxing based routine, a tone and sculpt workout, not to mention The Ultimate Abs Workout.' Davina's 7 Minute Fit is available at amazon.co.uk priced at £13 . Fitness DVD superstar Davina McCall is back with her new 7 Minute Fit programme .
### SUMMARY:
| Top picks of celebrity DVDs include Charlotte Crosby and Made In Chelsea .
Strictly Comes Dancing stars bring out two DVDs to help slimmers .
Dancing competition show often sees remarkable weight loss on TV . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Rick Perry delivered a scathing indictment of Barack Obama on Thursday night in Washington, teeing up a presidential run with a speech that took little notice of presumptive Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton and instead castigated the president as feckless, clueless and gutless. Just 16 days removed from the 10,000-square-foot Texas governor's mansion, Perry is on the road and shaping the messages that will accompany a White House campaign. He stopped in Washingtonto deliver rhetorical red-meat to a friendly and very conservative audience. The early going has been kind to the Texan: While reporters can't let go of his calamitous 'Oops!' moment in 2011, he raised political eyebrows on Thursday by unveiling a list of 80 financial power brokers who will shake the trees and make rain for him. One of those financiers, who requested anonymity, told Daily Mail Online on Thursday – in advance of the governor's address to the conservative American Principles Project – that Perry is confident he can win. 'He and his wife believe they are touched by God, and that this is his time,' the donor said. 'It's like – they can't lose – that's the sense of it.' 'I don't know if he'll win the nomination, but I'm absolutely sure he'll be one of the last two Republicans standing,' he added during a phone interview. Perry got a warm reception in Washington on Thursday with themes that hammered President Barack Obama and pointed toward a second presidential run . PRESSING THE FLESH: Perry mingled in a room full of hundreds of right-wingers at an event hosted by the American Principles Project, which opposes abortion and gay marriage . Perry shunned reporters on Thursday night after his speech – Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal held a press conference after his lunchtime remarks – but his turn at the podium during the nighttime gala brimmed with that confidence – half campaign stemwinder, half inaugural address. He lifted a line from Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration, where the 41st president said, 'There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right with America.' Perry's version took aim at Barack Obama. 'There is nothing wrong in America today,' he said, 'that can't be fixed with a change in leadership.' That change is sure to come in January 2017, but it's anyone's guess who will move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. 'Our nation is on a slow glide-path to decline,' Perry said Thursday night. And Republicans see eight more years of a Democratic administration as a political doomsday. The GOP has a deep bench, with no fewer than 20 would-be nominees talking about running. They include governors, senators, former CEOs and diplomats, and a pediatric surgeon. Democrats, on the other hand, have Hillary Clinton, the former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state. And few others judged as powerful enough or daring enough to challenge her. Knowing who will likely await them in America's political Super Bowl has allowed GOP White House hopefuls to keep their anti-Hillary powder dry and hold their best attacks until 2016 when they will matter most. Instead Perry and others are focusing their energy on Obama. The governor's speech on Thursday could have been the one he delivered on the stump in 2012 if his first presidential bid hadn't imploded when he couldn't remember which three federal cabinet agencies he had said he would close if he won the presidency. He hit Obama on foreign policy, on energy, on the economy and jobs, and on that distinctly Texas concern: illegal immigration. And he slapped Republicans, as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal had earlier in the day during an American Principles Project lunch, for risking the loss of their congressional majorities by straying too close to the political middle. THREE YEARS AND ONE 'OOPS' LATER: Perry was all smiles in October 2011 when he filed the paperwork for his name to appear on the New Hampshire primary ballot . CAMPAIGN MODE: The Texas governor wound up his crowd with reliable conservative themes and spent most of his time at the podium railnig against the Obama administration . READY TO RUN? Perry is road-testing themes for future speeches when the political stakes will be as high as any in American history . Americans, he said, rejected the Obama administration in November – citing 'the VA allowing our heroes to die, the IRS targeting citizens, the administration trading five terrorists for a military deserter, the rise of ISIS, the lies upon which Obamacare was passed, (and) the weakest economic recovery in history.' 'But let’s be clear about something,' he said in the Mayflower Hotel just a mile from the U.S. Capitol: 'The American voters’ rejection of the Democrats does not mean they embraced Republicans.' 'A congressional majority is a terrible thing to waste.' Similarly, Jindal had warned against the GOP slouching toward status as 'Democrat-lite.' Both men are rock-ribbed conservatives. Along with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, they will inhabit the right flank of the Republicans' march through next year's political playoffs. Perry spat out a litany of anti-Obama sentiments that could have come out of a tea party convention platform. 'Six years of study on the Keystone Pipeline, and still nothing happens,' he said. 'When Vladimir Putin was invading Ukraine, the president dithered when he could have sent a powerful message to the Russian president.' 'Our broken, outdated tax code has become an incubator of corruption, favoritism and bureaucratic harassment.' 'We need to stop strangling small businesses with over-regulation.' Perry, seldom soft-spoken, took special umbrage at Obama's plan to mainstream more than 5 million illegal immigrants with residency cards and work permits while hundreds of thousands more pour across the U.S.-Mexico border with drugs and human chattel. 'Those who smuggle children, enslave women, destroy lives by peddling illegal drugs and weapons, they are the face of evil,' Perry boomed. 'Texas has done more to secure the border than any state in the nation,' he exclaimed. 'And the message is clear: as long as Washington will not secure the border, Texas will.' 2016 STARTS NOW: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal spoke earlier in the day to the American Principles Project, the same group Perry appeared with at night . Perry was loose on Thursday night, free-wheeling his words as he boasted about his state's economic boom.. 'More people have moved to Texas than any other state,' he said. 'Lemme give you a little news-flash here – it's not because of our great weather in August.' At times he strayed near the eccentricities of an infamous October 2011 speech in New Hampshire that was so disengaged and free-spirited that political observers suspected he was drunk. Perry spent a week denying it, and was rescued from the biggest headlines only by businessman Herman Cain's sexual harassment scandal. The 'Oops' collapse came less than two weeks later. On that occasion, he said later, he was on painkillers for a back ailment. But Perry has never styled himself as a practiced orator or a charm school graduate. 'If you're looking for a slick politician, or a guy with great teleprompter skills, we already have that,' he said in one 2011 commercial. 'And he's destroying our economy.' 'I'm a doer, not a talker.'
### SUMMARY:
| Perry appeared at the annual gala of the American Principles project, an anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage group in Washington, DC .
He unveiled a list of 80 high-powered fundraisers who will work for him as he explores the presidential landscape .
One of them said 'he and his wife believe they are touched by God, and that this is his time'
Perry warned that 'Our nation is on a slow glide-path to decline' and cautioned other Republicans that 'a congressional majority is a terrible thing to waste'
Free-wheeling style was nearly as loose as October 2011, when Perry was so off-the-cuff in New Hampshire that pundits suspected he was drunk . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
The Church of England is advertising for low-paid jobs, including three at Canterbury Cathedral, the seat of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby . The Church of England has been accused of hypocrisy for demanding a minimum 'Living Wage' of £7.85, despite offering potential staff as little as £6.50 per hour. In an unprecedented intervention into the general election campaign last week, Church leaders hit out at the 'burgeoning' poverty of people in work and said it 'backed the concept of a Living Wage.' The letter, which sparked a political row, also rallied against the market economy, consumerism, and the legacy of Margaret Thatcher. But it has now emerged that a string of churches are advertising for jobs at the lowest possible legal minimum wage, which is currently £6.50. Among those advertising for the low-paid jobs is Canterbury Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, which is recruiting two kiosk assistant vacancies for £6.70. The third low-paid job which has been advertised at Canterbury Cathedral is for a kitchen porter, who would be paid £7.75 per hour. Other cathedrals offering less than the Living Wage are Lichfield Cathedral and Pickering Church. A source close to Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith told The Sun: 'They should practise what they preach. It is hypocritical of them to admonish others when they don't seem to be able to put their own house in order.' Tory MP Charlie Elphicke added: 'It's astonishing that the Church of England can call for the Living Wage to be paid by employers but don't pay it themselves.' Elsewhere in the UK, a listing on the Lichfield diocese website says it is looking for a 'cook/chef' who would work on a pro-rata salary of £11,830-£13,650. If the person works the full 25 hours a week, they would be paid between £6.50 and £7.50 per hour. The cathedral is also advertising for waiting staff under a listing entitled 'Casual Waiting-On Staff (National Minimum Wage)'. The advert asks for candidates with previous waiting experience, who are willing to cover weekday, weekend and Bank Holiday shifts. Meanwhile, an advert posted by the Diocese of York is offering £7.65 to a pastoral worker at Pickering Church - 20p less than the Living Wage. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said today: 'It's embarrassing, of course, I won't say otherwise. 'But in the light of transparency, which I welcome, I will say we are a complex institution and every parish church and cathedral is an independent charity, as is every diocese. 'We don't have a centralised method of control. I'm not very keen on centralised control where, from far away, you tell people what to do.' Among the adverts is one for kiosk assistants at Canterbury Cathedral, who would be paid £6.70 per hour . He said change to a living wage would come 'gradually', because each of the independent charities lacked the resources to move more quickly. He added: 'As charities they have to do that gradually. You'll see that - and you'll see the accusations of hypocrisy, but make up your own mind as to what it is.' A spokesman for the Church of England said it had been 'at the forefront' of campaigning for the Living Wage. But she admitted that every parish, diocese and cathedral reaches its own decision on pay, because each is a separate legal entity. The spokesman added: 'The vast majority of those employed by or sub-contracted to the central institutions are already paid at least the Living Wage and all will be by April 2017.' Canterbury Cathedral said that it is committed to introducing the Living Wage when 'economically feasible' and said 'well over half' of the staff were paid at least the Living Wage. The letter from the House of Bishops, published last week, was criticised as being a 'shopping list' of left-wing demands, which led to ministers mocking the 'dwindling relevance' of the Church's bishops. They called for 'new direction' in politics to replace a society that they said is self-interested, fragmented and badly led by politicians. Referring to 'in-work poverty', the letter read: 'We have seen the burgeoning of in-work poverty - people cannot earn enough to live decently. A job advert listed on the Diocese of Lichfield website asks for experienced waiting stuff to work for national minimum wage . Another listing on the site asks for an experienced cook/chef who would be earning between £6.50 and £7.50 per hour . 'This is why the Church of England has backed the concept of the Living Wage - an agreement with employers to ensure that all their staff earn a modest hourly rate that is sufficient for a full time worker to live decently.' The Church insisted that the letter was meant to counter the message – promoted by comedian Russell Brand – that taking part in politics is useless. The bishops claimed their intention was not to tell people how to vote. But the 'letter to the people and parishes of the Church of England' suggested inequality and social injustice had increased under the Coalition. They said the burden of austerity has fallen on the poor and that worklessness is 'corrosive of human dignity and sense of identity'. The document, published in the name of the CofE's 51-member House of Bishops, called for continued membership of the EU, a re-think of the nuclear deterrent, and the end of the first-past-the-post voting system. The bishops also declared that there has been 'an ugly undercurrent of racism in every debate about immigration' and said that to cut the international aid budget would be 'globally irresponsible'. An advert posted by the Diocese of York is offering £7.65 an hour to a pastoral worker at Pickering Church . The letter, entitled Who Is My Neighbour?, called for a new vision in politics to move the country on from the welfare state introduced by Labour after 1945 or Lady Thatcher's drive to break the grip of the unions after 1979. It criticised the welfare state because voluntary efforts were 'marginalised' and because 'dependence on state provision can undermine individual initiative and responsibility'. However, it directed its main fire at the market economy. Meanwhile, a new study has found that half of workers in some parts of the country are earning less than the living wage. Research for the TUC discovered that one in five jobs in Britain pays less than the £9.15 an hour in London and £7.85 elsewhere - well above the national minimum wage of £6.50. A source close to Iain Duncan Smith said: 'They should practise what they preach' In some areas, including parts of Birmingham, just over half of workers receive less than the living wage, rising to almost two thirds of women, said the report. In contrast, fewer than one in 10 workers in parts of London, Surrey, Cambridgeshire and Edinburgh earn less than the living wage. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: 'Extending the living wage is a vital step towards tackling the growing problem of in-work poverty across Britain. 'Working families have experienced the biggest squeeze on their living standards since Victorian times, and these living wage figures show that women are disproportionately affected. 'Pay has been squeezed at all levels below the boardroom, and the Government's mantra about 'making work pay' is completely out of touch with reality.' Shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves said: 'The growth of low pay under David Cameron shows the Tory plan has failed millions of working families. A Business Department spokesman said: 'The Government is committed to improving living standards - particularly for the lowest paid through preventing exploitation, reducing taxes for the lowest paid and increasing employment.'
### SUMMARY:
| Church last week hit out at the 'burgeoning' poverty of people in work .
Leaders 'backed the concept' of a £7.85 Living Wage in 52-page open letter .
Church is advertising for low-paid jobs, including at Canterbury Cathedral .
Jobs include waiting staff for £6.50 per hour and kiosk assistant for £6.70 .
DWP source says church should 'practise what they preach'
Archbishop of Canterbury admits pay revelations are 'embarrassing' |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- Just when it seems all rivers have been charted, seas explored and canals crossed, secret backwaters move into the limelight. While cruise companies have traditionally focused on more popular circuits, increasing attention is being paid to off-the-radar bodies of water. Cruise providers are noticing an uptick in enthusiasm for offbeat boating. Orient-Express Trains & Cruises is adding its second ship to river itineraries in burgeoning Myanmar (also known as Burma ). "Our decision to introduce our newest river cruiser, Orcaella, in July 2013 is evidence of our commitment to Myanmar, one of the few places yet to be fully discovered," says managing director Gary Franklin. "So we wish to use our experience to delve farther off the beaten track." Travel photos you wish you'd taken . Micato Safaris, which offers bespoke tours to India, has seen a recent spike in inquiries about river cruising in the country's southern state of Kerala. "Cruising Kerala's backwaters provides a wonderful contrast to the hustle and bustle of India's cities," says managing director Dennis Pinto. "A sail through reveals a serene and peaceful world, where one can observe the quieter lifestyles of the villagers who make their living in these resource-rich backwaters." There is something to be said for drifting along uncharted waterways and quietly observing the shores. The silent distance adds a special touch to a voyage, whether it separates you from the African bush or picturesque Swedish landscape. It also comes as no surprise that many of these waterways are quickly morphing from secretive to spotlighted—such as Myanmar's Irrawaddy River—while others remain rarely plied. Bon voyage. Departures: Cruising the Mediterranean . Amazon River, Peru . While the Amazon River is not a secret, many of its tributaries are. Aqua Expeditions does three-, four- and seven-night cruises on M/V Aqua and M/V Aria, two boutique river vessels that travel deep into the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve at the headwaters of the Amazon. Tour the jungle town of Iquitos before plying the untouched waters of the Maranon, Ucayali and Yanallpa rivers. Experience piranha fishing and walks through the rainforest to spot playful monkeys or relax on the rooftop deck and view neon-brilliant birds and rare pink dolphins. Panoramic windows wrap around the large design suites; Peruvian-European fusion fare is served onboard. Prices start at $2,685; 866-603-3687. Chobe River, Namibia and Botswana . Few experiences match the thrill of a river safari along the Chobe River between Botswana and Namibia on the five-star Zambezi Queen. The cruiser provides an ideal vantage point from which to view the African grasslands and the river itself, which teems with hippos and crocodiles. Private balconies connect each of the 14 cabins to the outdoors and a contemporary dining room showcases three-sided views. After an exhilarating game drive, travel in a traditional mokoro canoe to visit local villages for a boma dinner, with a barbecue and dance performance under the stars. Sip a sundowner cocktail by the onboard pool while observing elephants, leopards, lions and buffalo along the riverbank. Prices start at $905 (two nights). Departures: Sailing the Aeolian Islands . Danube River . Experience the "Romance of the Blue Danube" aboard the MS River Splendor as it makes its way through the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Germany. Inaugurated this month, the 176-passenger vessel offers intimate cruising with plush suites and private French balconies. Guests take in Budapest's imperial cityscape before embarking on an 11-day sail during which they witness a knight tournament and savor Tokaj wines before arriving in Vienna for a private concert at the Kursalon concert hall. Wend through vineyard-dotted Wachau Valley and meet a Habsburg descendant at Artstetten Castle. Stop in Mozart's hometown of Salzburg and, in Passau, hear the tunes of the world's largest church organ before traveling through forested gorges to reach the city of Regensburg. Prices start at $4,249. Gota Canal, Sweden . Simply Sweden hosts three- to five-night cruises between Gothenburg and Stockholm on one of three period ships from the 1800s. These sailings go between the Baltic and North seas along three canals, across eight lakes and through 66 locks. (A hotel stay on either end allows guests to explore Sweden's two largest cities.) Glide through the Swedish countryside on a charming old cruiser with humble cabins and meals that star Nordic herring specialties. Excursions travel to never-invaded Karlsborg Fortress for a war re-enactment and to the canal museum in Sjotorp village for an introduction to the fascinating science of lock systems. In between the culture-packed outings, mingle with curious locals as the ship descends and ascends the lock staircases. Prices start at $2,158. Departures: Top Alaska cruises . Irrawaddy River, Myanmar . Winding down the Irrawaddy, the scenic waterway that cuts right through Myanmar, is the most serene way to explore the Golden Land. Relive the journey in Rudyard Kipling's poem "On the Road to Mandalay" aboard Orient-Express' luxury Road to Mandalay cruiser, with three- to 11-night trips. Get a bird's-eye view of this forgotten land on a hot-air-balloon ride over the ancient kingdom of Bagan or see lacquerware being made. Unwind with a soothing east meets west massage and savor mohinga, the region's staple fish soup. Orient-Express is adding a second ship on the Irrawaddy River in July—the 50-guest Orcaella will take to the more remote sections of western Myanmar along the Chindwin River toward the Indian border. Prices start at $2,520. Kerala Backwaters, India . For a unique ramble through the backwaters of Kerala, a southern Indian state that edges the Arabian Sea, pick a two- or three-night itinerary on The Oberoi Motor Vessel Vrinda. In Malayalam, the official language of Kerala, vrinda means beautiful and serene (or a bunch of flowers) and aptly describes the sojourn on this luxe backwater cruiser. Onboard find eight deluxe cabins with panoramic picture windows and a rich repertoire of events, such as a performance of Kathakali, a local dance interpretation of ancient Hindu epics. Culinary highlights include sadya, a traditional feast of a dozen small dishes served on a banana leaf, and available daily outings on a small traditional rice boat float past brightly colored houses, rice paddies and tea shops. Prices start at $1,641. Departures: Most luxurious new cruises . Mekong River, Vietnam and Cambodia . Discover former Indochina aboard an array of boutique liners that travel the Mekong River between Vietnam and Cambodia. Luxury Cruise Mekong brings you the most luxe selection of colonial cruisers and traditional sampan skiffs. The showstopper is The Jayavarman, a French-colonial-style vessel with silky Indochine design accents. Choose between two- or seven-night cruises, which both kick off with an awakening tai chi lesson. Voyages down this living waterway wind through floating villages and rustic catfish farms and meet villagers as they prepare coconut candies and rice cookies. Alternatively, opt for a private cruise on a Song Xanh sampan (two nights, from $880), which goes deep into the Mekong Delta with visits to 19th-century French estates, temples and dinh, Vietnamese community halls. Prices start at $732. © 2010 American Express Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.
### SUMMARY:
| Watch hippos and crocodiles along the Chobe River between Botswana and Namibia .
Trips between Gothenburg and Stockholm go along three canals and through 66 locks .
Discover former Indochina on boutique vessels traveling the Mekong River . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- Stakes have been raised in the museum world with the reopening after 10 years of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum. Enough old masters were dusted down and rehung during the renovation to get a room of Russian oligarchs panting. The chance to see Rembrandt's huge and glorious "The Night Watch" painting once more -- it has a whole room to itself in the refurbished gallery -- is reason enough to plan some serious museum crawling on your next European trip. But do you always want to follow the crowd to the obvious treasures? Your Mona Lisas, your Van Goghs? Sometimes those artistic icons are obligatory sights but experts reveal that -- from a two-million-year-old stone tool to a life-size Roman equestrian statue made entirely of bronze -- some of the most remarkable museum and gallery highlights take a little digging. What: The Olduvai stone chopping tool. Where: The British Museum, London (Great Russell Street, +44 (0)20 7323 8299). Jeremy Hill, research manager at the British Museum, says one piece he always takes people to is a two-million-year-old stone tool from the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. "The lump of grey rock does not look much but it is one of the oldest humanly made objects in the world and the oldest thing in the British Museum's collection," he says. "It's the starting point for who we all are today." What: Rembrandt's "The Night Watch." Where: The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Museumstraat 1; +31 20 6621 440). When the Rijksmuseum reopened this year after a decade-long refurbishment there was no question about the key exhibit. Wim Pijbes, the museum's director, told CNN that Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" "is the altarpiece of the Rijksmuseum. The whole place is arranged around this beautiful masterpiece." The 1642 painting of Amsterdam's local militias is the only artwork in the museum with a trapdoor underneath, allowing it to be removed to safety in the event of fire or other danger. What: The Marcus Aurelius statue. Where: The Capitoline Museum, Rome (Piazza del Campidoglio 1, +39 060 608). Rome's greatest treasures tend to be outdoors -- it's a giant open-air museum. But Agnes Crawford, art historian and owner of Understanding Rome tours, reckons the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius alone is worth the entrance fee to the Capitoline Museum. "The giant, totally intact bronze is the most Roman of statues," she says. "It's from the high period of empire so it's of the finest quality, and it's a heroic survivor of medieval 'recycling.'" What: Filippo Lippi's Madonna and Child and the Two Angels. Where: The Uffizi Gallery, Florence (Piazzale degli Uffizi 6; +39 55 238 8651). The sheer size and grace of Michelangelo's "David" in the Galleria dell'Accademia makes it the most famous single piece in Florence. But Pier Carlo Testa, director of the Italian cultural walking tours company Artviva highlights Filippo Lippi's "Madonna and Child and the Two Angels." "It's all in the way the artist has managed to depict the Madonna as modeled by his wife -- with every tenderly detailed feature, ever strand of hair, you can see he is in love with her," Testa says. What: The Pergamon Altar. Where: The Pergamon Museum, Berlin (Bodestrasse 3; +49 30 2 6642 4242). Few pieces are great enough to have an entire museum named after them. The Pergamon Museum in Berlin isn't exactly short of massive ancient monuments either -- but the Pergamon Altar trumps the rest. Transported from modern day Turkey, this monumental stone altar dating back to the 2nd century BC cows visitors with its size, then draws them in with astonishingly detailed friezes depicting the battles between gods and giants. What: Théodore Géricault's "The Raft of the Medusa." Where: The Louvre, Paris (4 Place du Louvre; +33 01 40 20 53 17). Courtney Obee Delaunay, art historian and docent for Context Travel, goes beyond the "Mona Lisa" to pick Géricault's monumental marriage of high art and journalistic sensationalism. "The dramatic scene vividly depicts the makeshift raft holding the emaciated and even corpse-like survivors of French shipwreck The Medusa, abandoned by its politically appointed captain," she says. "Géricault represents the figures in a very realistic, yet also heroically classical way. It creates the perfect bridge between earlier masterworks found in the Louvre and the early modern works on display at the Musée d'Orsay." What: "The Saliera." Where: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Burgring 5; +43 1 525 240). The Kunsthistorisches Museum is home to masterpieces by the likes of Vermeer, Rembrandt, Raphael and Caravaggio but Sabine Haag, the museum's director-general, points to Benvenuto's "Saliera" as the must-see. "A unique work of goldsmith art, the complex pictorial program culminates in an allegory of the cosmos with the god of the sea and the goddess of the Earth, animals, the four winds and the four times of the day," says Haag of the piece returned to the museum this year after another decade-long renovation. "'The Saliera' is a truly virtuoso piece -- we know from Cellini's autobiography that he hammered the figures from gold foil with every refinement he could imagine." What: Picasso's "Guernica." Where: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (Calle de Santa Isabel, 52; +34 917 74 10 00). Four of the 15 most expensive paintings ever sold are by Picasso, yet the work widely regarded as his greatest masterpiece would almost certainly smash all records if put up for auction. Guernica's size -- 3.5 meters by 7.8 meters -- makes it unusual, but it's the political commentary about Nazi bombing during the Spanish Civil War and the layers of symbolism piled within that make it arguably the most famous artwork of the 20th century. What: The Parthenon sculptures. Where: The Acropolis Museum, Athens (15 Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, +30 21 0900 0900) There's no greater symbol of Ancient Greek classicism than the Parthenon, and most of the treasures from Athens's hilltop temple are inside the Acropolis Museum. Dr Tom Flynn, author of "The Universal Museum," says the Parthenon sculptures are the pinnacle of Greek high classical sculpture. "Their location in the Parthenon Gallery of the New Acropolis Museums allows us to appreciate them in the context of the Parthenon itself. You can faithfully recreate their original disposition on the temple, which is visible from the gallery," he says. What: Mantegna's "Dead Christ." Where: Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan (Via Brera 28; 00 39 02 722 631). "Leonardo da Vinci's 'Last Supper' is Milan's outstanding artwork, but it's on a convent wall, not in a museum," says Donald Strachan, co-author of Frommer's Italy. His favored alternative is Mantegna's "Dead Christ," which was regarded as genuinely shocking when painted in the 1480s. "It is brutal in its simplicity, unsentimental in its treatment of Jesus's pallid corpse on a slab and a masterclass in realistic foreshortening, which was a relatively recent innovation in art," Strachan says.
### SUMMARY:
| Competition in museum world heats up with reopening of Dutch treasure house .
Greatest treasures not always where crowds are .
British Museum cites its oldest object -- a chopping tool .
In Florence, a Madonna portrait modeled on artist's beloved wife is alternative must-see . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- Alex Rodriguez will never be remembered as the greatest slugger in baseball, or as the greatest third-baseman, and -- despite the recent headlines -- probably not even as the biggest cheater. But he will go down in record books for something: Having the worst contract in American professional sports history. This is not a title that we hand out lightly, because teams have handed out some doozies over the years. Michael Vick got $135 million over 10 years from the Atlanta Falcons, and for that money, they got a quarterback who completed 54% of his passes and went to prison for animal cruelty. Jerome James signed with the Knicks for $30 million, then averaged a grand total of three points a game. Barry Zito got $126 million from the San Francisco Giants and essentially forgot how to pitch. Rick DiPietro signed a $67 million contract with the Islanders, but now the goaltender couldn't stop a beach ball -- which is an issue because that deal doesn't run out until 2021. And then, there is Bobby Bonilla's deal with the Mets. The money-strapped baseball team in Queens is still paying the retired outfielder more than 18 players on their active roster and will continue paying him $1.2 million through 2035 (when Bonilla is 72) as part of a mind-blowing buyout deal. Still: The Rodriguez deal tops them all for its sheer size and stupidity. On December 13, 2007, the Yankees signed him to a 10-year, $275 million contract loaded with incentives that, five years later, is an anvil on the payroll for even the richest team in baseball. Why is it the worst? Let us count the ways: . 1. The Yankees had a chance to move on. They had moved on, in fact, if you believed the strong words that came out of the team's Tampa, Florida, offices during a tumultuous two weeks. Scott Boras, who was Rodriguez's agent at the time, announced in the middle of a World Series game that his client would void the remaining three years and $72 million of the massive and ill-fated $252 million deal he had signed with the Texas Rangers as a free agent. In some corners of the Yankees organization, the news was met with a sigh of relief. Rodriguez was productive in his time with the team, but controversial. And he had, at that point, wilted in the postseason. The idea that the team would bring him back was scoffed at. The Rangers were still paying $7 million a year from the original contract as part of the trade terms to the Yankees, and GM Brian Cashman insisted that the team had no intention of losing that subsidy. "If a player doesn't want us, we don't want them," said Hank Steinbrenner, who had assumed control of the team as his father, George, had started to decline. "That chapter is closed." But Rodriguez, who had 54 home runs and 156 RBI in an MVP season in 2007, was a big star the team wanted for its profitable YES Network and its new $1 billion stadium. So that chapter was reopened. 2. They had no competition. Bringing back Rodriguez, in itself, wasn't an awful move. He was still a productive player in his prime. But somehow, the Yankees were given all the cards in the negotiation and still tossed them face-up onto the table. All around baseball, teams were scoffing at the idea of giving A-Rod a reported $350 million deal. The White Sox didn't want him. The Angels didn't want him. There were so few landing places, it seemed entirely possible, if not probable, that Rodriguez's gamble to opt out of the deal would backfire. So what did the Yankees do? They crawled back to the table and gave him a raise, a deal that would pay him $27.5 million a year with a series of $6 million bonuses for climbing up the all-time home run list. To quote Newsday at the time: "(Hank Steinbrenner) wanted Rodriguez back so badly that he not only reversed a very loud and public proclamation, he wound up bidding against no one but himself in his mad rush to secure A-Rod's services." All it took was an apology from Rodriguez (who says it doesn't pay to say you're sorry?), and A-Rod had his 10-year deal. 3. His production failed to meet the salary from the start. Make no mistake: The numbers were very good. A-Rod earned $95 million in the first three years of his deal, and for that he batted .286 with a .537 slugging percentage, 95 home runs, 256 runs and 328 RBI. And the Yankees won the 2009 World Series, with Rodriguez a driving force during an epic postseason run. Some will say that one October justified the entire contract. Still, the decline began quickly. In 2011-12, Rodriguez missed 103 games to injury and saw his batting average dip to .274 with 34 home runs and just 119 RBI in the two seasons combined. Despite his 647 career home runs, he was so bad in the postseason last October, Yankees manager Joe Girardi dropped him from the lineup entirely, and he hasn't played since after offseason hip surgery. Nobody is sure when he'll be ready again. Which is bad enough. But the Yankees still owe Rodriguez, who turns 38 next month, $28 million in 2014, $21 million in 2015 and $20 million each in 2016 and 2017. If he can't get on the field now, what can the team possibly expect to get from him in his early 40s? And that doesn't even factor in ... 4. The cheating scandals. Note that the word scandal is plural here. After insisting for years that his success was not a product of the "Steroids Era" in baseball, a Sports Illustrated report reveal that he had, in fact, failed a test for illegal substances in 2003. Bleacher Report: Rodriguez responds to latest allegations . So more than 200 journalists packed a news conference in Tampa in February 2009 to listen as Rodriguez explained that, from 2001 to 2003, he had used steroids while with the Texas Rangers. But only with the Rangers. "My mistake was because I was immature and I was stupid," Rodriguez said. "I blame myself. For a week here, I kept looking for people to blame, and I keep looking at myself." He insisted that he was clean during his time with the Yankees. But now, according to an ESPN report, Major League Baseball plans to suspend him 100 games for his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs obtained through a Miami-area anti-aging clinic. The Yankees? Disappointed is the word managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner used. "There have no doubt been times when we've been disappointed in him and we've conveyed that to him and he understands that," he said. "But look, everybody's human and everybody makes mistakes. If you've got a guy over the course of 10 years, there's going to be times any of us make mistakes. "It's a big contract," Steinbrenner said. "We all hope he's going to act like a Yankee and do the best to live up to it." The founder of the clinic, Tony Bosch, is reportedly set to meet with baseball officials Friday. Does he have enough credibility or evidence to support the suspensions of a reported 20 players? Many people around the sport aren't sure. For the Yankees, the question is something else entirely: If A-Rod actually is suspended, will it be enough to get them out from under the worst contract in professional sports history? A-Rod denies performance-enhancing drugs reports . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Steve Politi .
### SUMMARY:
| Steve Politi says Alex Rodriguez's contract is the worst in sports history .
The Yankees still must pay him more than $90 million over the next four years .
Rodriguez will be 42 when the contract finally runs out .
Rodriguez has hit 647 career home runs but has yet to play this season because of injury . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- In the '90s a certain joke became very popular in the streets and homes of Cuba. It began with Pepito -- the mischievous boy of our national humor -- and told how his teacher, brandishing a photo of the U.S. president, launches into a harsh diatribe against him. "The man you see here is the cause of all our problems, he has plunged this island into shortages and destroyed our productivity, he is responsible for the lack of food and the collapse of public transport," the teacher says. After these fierce accusations the teacher points to the face in the photo and asks her most wayward student, "Do you know who this is?" Smiling, Pepito replies, "Oh yes, ... I know him, it's just that without his beard I didn't recognize him." Photos: Cuba -- a sense of home in a timeless place . The joke reflects, to a large measure, the polarization of national opinion with regard to our economic difficulties and the restrictions on citizens' rights that characterize the current Cuban system. While the official discourse points to the United States as the source of our greatest problems, many others see the Plaza of the Revolution itself as the root of all the failures of the last 53 years. True or not, the reality is that each one of the 11 administrations that have passed through the White House since 1959 has influenced the course of this island, sometimes directly, other times as a pillar of support for the ideological propaganda of Fidel Castro's government (and now that of his younger brother Raúl). Hence the growing expectations that circulate through the largest of the Antilles every time elections come around to decide who will sit in the Oval Office. Cuban politics depends so greatly on what happens in the ballot boxes on the other side of the Florida Straits -- and some share the view that we have never been so dependent on our neighbor to the north. Postcard: Why India longs for U.S. election . Cuban diplomacy seems more comfortable contradicting America than seeking to solve the problems between the nations, which is why many analysts agree it would be easier for Raúl Castro to cope with an aggressive policy from Uncle Sam than with the more pragmatic approach of Barack Obama. Obama's easing of the rules on family remittances, reestablishing academic travel, and increasing cultural exchanges add up to an unwieldy formula difficult for the Castro regime's rhetoric to manage. But the regime has also tried to wring economic and political advantages from these gestures from Washington. The real question in this dispute is which approach would more greatly affect democratization in Cuba -- to display a fist? Or to offer a hand? To recognize the legitimacy of the government on the island? Or to continue to treat it as a kidnapper holding power over 11 million hostages? Postcard: Can Tokyo learn from election "matsuri?" When the Democratic party, led by Barack Obama, came to the White House in January 2009, our official press was faced with a dilemma. On the one hand the newly elected president's youth and his African descent made him immediately popular with Cubans, and it was not uncommon to find people walking the streets wearing a shirt or hat displaying the face of the former senator from Illinois. It was the first time in decades that some compatriots dared to publicly wear a picture of the "enemy" (the U.S. president) himself. For a population that saw the top leaders of our own government approaching or passing 80, the image of a cheerful, limber, smiling Obama was more consistent with the myth of the Revolutionary than were the old men in olive green standing behind the national microphones. Obama's magnetism also captivated many here as well, and disappointed, of course, those who hoped for a heavier hand toward the gerontocracy in Havana. Farewell socialism ... hello to pragmatism . Beyond the political issues, the measures undertaken by the Obama administration were felt quickly in many Cuban families, particularly in their economy and relations with their exiled relatives in America. With the increased cash from remittances, the small businesses that emerged from Raul Castro's reforms were able to use the money coming from the north for start-up capital and to position themselves. Meanwhile, thousands of Cuban-Americans arrived at José Martí airport every week loaded with packages, medicine and clothes to support their relatives on the island. Those who see the Cuban situation as a pressure cooker that needs just a little more heat to explode feel defrauded by these "concessions" to Havana from the Democratic government. They are the same people who suggest that a hard line -- belligerence on the diplomatic scene and economic suffocation -- would deliver better results. Sadly, however, the guinea pigs required to test the efficacy of such an experiment would be Cubans on the island, physically and socially wasting away until some point at which our civic consciousness would supposedly "wake up." As if there are not enough historical examples to show that totalitarian regimes become stronger as their economic crises deepen and international opinion turns against them. No wonder Mitt Romney is a much talked about figure in the official Cuban press. His strong confrontational positions feed the anti-imperialism discourse like fuel to a fire. The Republican candidate has been the focus of numerous articles in the official organ of the Communist Party, the newspaper Granma. His photos and caricatures appear in this same daily that was stymied when trying to physically mock Obama. Given the high rate of mixed marriages among Cubans, it's quite sensitive to enlarge the ears and fatten the lips of the U.S. president without it reading as racist ridicule. Postcard: Parisians marvel at Obama's "coolitude" If, in the eighties, the media's political humor was honed in the wrinkled face of Ronald Reagan, and later the media had a field day with the physique of George W. Bush, for four years it has been cautious with the current resident of the White House. All this graphic moderation will go by the wayside if Mitt Romney is elected as the next president of the United States. There are those who are already laughing over the possible jokes to come. But whoever scores the electoral victory will find Cuba in a state of change. The reforms carried out by Raúl Castro lack the speed and depth most people desire, but are heading in the irreversible direction of economic opening. Havana is full of private cafés and restaurants, we can now buy and sell homes, and Cubans are even managing to sell the cars given to them during the era of Soviet subsidies in exchange for political loyalty. The timid changes driven by the General President are threatening to damage the fundamental pillars of Fidel Castro's command. Volunteerism at any cost, coarse egalitarianism, active adventures abroad, and a country kept in a state of constant tension by the latest economic or political campaign appear to be gradually fading into things of the past. On the other hand, citizens themselves have begun to experience the most definitive of transformations, that which occurs within. Public criticism is on the rise, although it has not yet found ways to be heard in all its diversity, but every day the fear of police reprisals diminishes. More: Cuba disputes reports of jailed American's health . The official media have unquestionably lost a monopoly on the flow of information and thanks to illegal satellite dishes Florida television now comes to Cuba. Alternative news networks circulate documentaries, films, and articles from independent journalists and bloggers. It's as if the enormous ocean liner of Revolutionary censorship was taking on water through every porthole. Young people are finally pushing to have Internet access, while the retired complain about their miserable pensions and almost everyone disagrees with the travel restrictions that prevent our leaving and returning to our own country. In short, the illusion of unanimity has fallen to pieces in Raúl Castro's hands. More: Raul Castro's daughter endorses Obama . To this internal scenario, the result of the American elections could be a catalyst or obstacle for changes, but it is no longer the most important factor to consider. Although the billboards lining the streets continue to paint the United States as Goliath wanting to crush little David who represents our island, for an increasing number of people the metaphor doesn't play out that way. They know that in our case the abusive giant is a government that tries to control the smallest aspects of our national life, while his opponent is a people who, bit by bit, is becoming more conscious of its real stature.
### SUMMARY:
| While Castro regime blames U.S. for Cuba's ills, many Cubans blame regime .
Sanchez: Cuban politics depends greatly on U.S. presidential elections .
Sanchez: Whoever wins the race to the White House will find Cuba in a state of change . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- Katie Goldman's universe extends from her home to her first-grade classroom. She is a big sister to Annie Rose and Cleo, a piano player, a Spanish student, a wearer of glasses. She loathes the patch she has to wear for one lazy eye. She loves magic and princesses and "Star Wars," an obsession she picked up from her dad. The 7-year-old carried a "Star Wars" water bottle to school in Evanston, Illinois, every day, at least until a few weeks ago, when Katie suddenly asked to take an old pink one instead. The request surprised Katie's mom, Carrie Goldman. It didn't make any sense. Why would her little sci-fi fan make such a quick turn? Goldman kept pressing for an answer. She wasn't expecting Katie's tears. Kids at school insisted that "Star Wars" was only for boys, Katie wailed. Her daughter said she was different enough already -- the only one who was adopted, who's Jewish, who wears glasses, who needs a patch. If sacrificing Yoda for the color pink would make her fit in again, so be it. Goldman's heart sank. These weren't nameless, faceless bullies who taunted her daughter. They were good kids Katie ran around with on the playground. They were getting older, though, and starting to see what made people the same -- and different. Now, it was about "Star Wars," but Goldman wondered what lunchroom teasing would progress to in middle school, high school or college. "Is this how it starts?" Goldman wrote in her blog, Portrait of an Adoption. "Do kids find someone who does something differently and start to beat it out of her, first with words and sneers? Must my daughter conform to be accepted?" 'I need your help' A few days later, in Orlando, Jen Yates clicked on a link that led to Goldman's blog. Yates couldn't shake Katie's image when it flashed across the screen -- a little girl with long blonde hair, no front teeth, square-rimmed glasses. "When you hear about bullying, it's like an abstract concept," Yates said. "When you put a face on it, an adorable little girl's face, with glasses, it brings it home." Yates remembered the isolation of being the weird kid at her high school. She was the teen who hit "Star Trek" conventions on weekends and got snide comments about it the rest of the week. She was the lone geek girl among her friends, mostly geeky boys. Bullying tragedies dominated headlines this year after a spate of suicides. Studies revealed how deeply the bullies at school, home or online can traumatize kids. The federal government laid out new anti-bullying guidelines for educators trying to combat the issue. It's tough to lay out anti-bullying rules for kids so young, but tougher still to know how to protect the bully's perennial target: geeks, nerds and anybody whose interests stray from the norm. Whole genres of pop culture are devoted to ridiculing them and Yates knew that Katie's story was how it starts. Katie isn't alone. Girl geeks are a growing force. "We've all had those kinds of experiences, if you call yourself a geek," Yates said. "It was about Katie, but it was about every girl out there, every geek out there. It transcended gender, it transcended age. "I know a Katie. I was Katie." So Yates did what any geek would -- she went back to her computer. "My fellow geeks," she wrote on her blog, Epbot.com, "I need your help." 'You are not alone' Later that day, in yet another time zone, Catherine Taber clicked Yates' post about a little girl and her "Star Wars" water bottle -- Katie. Taber grew up on science fiction and fantasy, from Stephen King to "Star Wars," but she wasn't bullied. She was an Army brat, always the new kid at school. With each new place, her parents reminded her to be whatever she wanted, and be proud to share it with the world. "I immediately had to say something," Taber said. "The whole theme of the 'Star Wars' universe is an anti-bullying theme. It's good versus evil, standing side by side with your friends, doing what's right. One of the most important things to stopping bullies in their tracks is to empower kids to stand up for themselves." Taber found Katie's mom's blog, sent it to everyone she knew, and left a comment she hoped would help. "I am [the] actress who has the great honor of being Padme Amidala on 'Star Wars: the Clone Wars!' I just wanted to tell Katie that she is in VERY good company being a female Star Wars fans," Taber wrote. "I know that Padme would tell you to be proud of who YOU are and know that you are not ALONE! "THE FORCE is with you Katie!" 'Part of a very tight community' Back in Evanston, Carrie Goldman was feeling good. Since she had written about the water bottle incident, other parents at Katie's school had talked to their kids. School leaders were supportive, and working on an anti-bullying program. Something else was happening, too: Traffic on Goldman's blog was exploding. Some 1,200 people had left messages there for Katie. Readers were coming from Yates' blog, where more than 3,000 more comments stacked up. There were links from "Star Wars" message boards, parenting blogs, tech sites. A Twitter hashtag, #maytheforcebewithkatie, streaked across social media. Guys and gals of all ages wrote about how they'd been bullied, and how life had gotten so much better since then. They shared that they loved "Star Wars," that they wore glasses, that they were adopted -- just like Luke, just like Leia, just like Katie. ThinkGeek, a nerdy online retailer, sent Katie a lightsaber. Artist Scott Zirkel sent a cartoon of Katie as a Jedi, glasses and all. A first-grade class in California sent letters to Katie as a show of support. Taber and the rest of the cast of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," sent "Star Wars" merch. Ashley Eckstein, who voices the female Jedi Ahsoka Tano, sent Her Universe clothes tailored for girls. Tom Kane, who voices Yoda, escorted the Goldmans to a screening near their home. The thousands of comments left online will be bound into a book for Katie to read whenever she needs it. To keep a sense of normality at home, the family reads just a few every night. Katie, and her parents, have learned that the universe is so much bigger than the first grade. "You realize how, if you want someone who has something in common, all you have to do is reach out," Goldman said. "It feels really, really good. What we want is for it to feel good for other people." Katie is donating many of the books and toys to other kids. A fan created a Facebook event suggesting that people wear "Star Wars" gear on December 10 to support Katie. The Goldmans also asked participants to donate Star Wars toys to charities for the holidays. About 20,000 people have signed up. "What strikes me is how these individuals who were once so isolated are now part of a very tight community," Goldman wrote on her blog this month. "They have found each other; they are plugged into each other, and they have each other's backs. Now they have Katie's back, too." Katie isn't doing any more interviews. There are scales to practice, Spanish words to memorize, baby sisters to play with. She still has to wear the dreaded eye patch, and eat lunch with the kids in her class. She is very busy being 7. But on December 10, her school will host Proud To Be Me Day. Kids will be encouraged to wear something that shows what they're interested in, whether it's princesses, sports, animals and anime. Katie will have the force of thousands behind her, and a "Star Wars" water bottle.
### SUMMARY:
| Katie Goldman, 7, was pressured at school for liking "Star Wars"
Carrie Goldman blogged about her daughter's story, which went viral online .
Catherine Taber, the voice of Padme on "The Clone Wars," was moved by Katie's story .
Thousands of people are wearing "Star Wars" gear on Dec. 10 as a show of support . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- "MasterChef" runner-up Joshua Marks was in "the battle of his life fighting mental illness" when he killed himself Friday, his family said Sunday. His family blames the lack of mental health treatment facilities and the easy access to guns as factors in his tragic death. "It is overwhelming to think that with proper, intensive treatment, Joshua may still be with us," his lawyer, Lisa Butler, said Sunday. "He was a jewel with so much talent to offer this world. But, in his state of mind, he turned to the streets for a gun and easily got it." Marks, 26, died from a gunshot wound to his head. His death has been ruled a suicide, a spokesman for the Cook County, Illinois, medical examiner said Sunday. He was charged with aggravated battery in July after scuffling with police officers who were called to the scene after he suffered serious facial wounds from a self-inflicted gunshot, according to his lawyer. His mother believed that incident was a call for help, not a suicide attempt, Butler said. But getting Marks help was not easy because of the lack of full-time mental health facilities in Illinois that would accept his insurance, she said. Marks' mother, Paulette Mitchell, found him dead in an alley on Chicago's south side Friday evening after a neighbor called to say he was walking around with a gun, Butler said. His family is now hoping to help others suffering from mental illness by talking about what happened to Marks in the three months since his arrest, she said. 'The battle of his life' Marks -- who, at 7 feet 2 inches tall, was known by friends as a "gentle giant" -- was diagnosed with bipolar disorder a year ago, the same month he lost to to winner Christine Ha in the final round of the Fox reality cooking competition's third season. A doctor diagnosed Marks with schizophrenia just last week, Butler said. "Joshua was so kind, so gentle," his mother told CNN Sunday. "He loved life. He loved people. He would never hurt anyone; never. He was just a gentle, sweet soul; but he hurt himself. That breaks my heart, that he hurt himself." "But, behind that huge smile, Josh was in the battle of his life fighting mental illness," a family statement said. "It was extremely tough, but Josh was always positive, focused on his faith in God and determined to win; pushing forward through his illness to follow his passion for cooking and dream of being a renowned chef." That battle apparently began just as Marks was achieving celebrity status on television. "I hadn't noticed any signs of anything wrong or any mental illness until after Josh completed filming 'MasterChef,'" his mother said. "The time he was away filming was extremely stressful on him." Marks' stepfather Gabriel Mitchell, in a statement to CNN, described "the toll that being on a reality show puts on people." "Josh had a following of fans and was put on a 'celebrity' type pedestal, with the expectation from others that there was money and fame; but, his personal reality was that he was struggling mentally and financially," he said. "I think people expect that you come away from a reality show and have it made. That's not necessarily the case." Marks spoke about his mental illness in a public service video he recorded in February for the Make a Sound Project, a nonprofit suicide awareness project. The project promotes "how to use music as an alternative to the crazy thoughts you may have going in your mind," Marks said in the video. "Me, personally, I have bipolar disorder, so, you know, I'll get a little anxious sometimes. And how I cool out is, I listen to music and just listen to the words and just relax and, you know, find my melody. I wish we had some music going on in here right now." 'A mental break' But last summer Marks suffered "a mental break" that led to his arrest on July 29, his lawyer said. Marks told police he had been possessed by "MasterChef" judge Gordon Ramsay, who turned him into God, the Chicago Tribune reported. "What people don't know is that on the night Josh was arrested in July, he had just shot himself and had called police for help from the emergency phone," his mother said. "He wasn't himself, he was in a manic state, calling the police to help him after having shot himself." When police arrived, a scuffle ensued. "They said that Josh lunged at them and attempted to disarm an officer," his other said. "In addition to his gunshot wound to the face, Josh suffered a fractured jaw and injury to his face and head." He was treated at a hospital for the facial and ear wounds caused by a bullet that he fired and then transferred to the Cook County Jail, where he was placed in the general population, his lawyer said. He got no mental health treatment and no medications while in jail, Butler said. "I think people look at mental illness as if it is a crime instead of treating the illness," Gabriel Mitchell said. "They knew of his mental illness, yet they throw him in jail with no treatment?" His mother, a Chicago public elementary school teacher, bailed him out after more than a week. She desperately sought a full-time mental health program for Marks, but she could not find a one with an available bed, Butler said. "After this, Josh was determined to get well," his mother said. Mitchell "continually ran into roadblocks" as she put her focus into finding help for her son, Butler said. "Access to long-term, in-patient mental health care is extremely limited. How can you appropriately treat your loved one's mental health challenges if access to necessary care is virtually non-existent?" She "felt as if her hands were tied" but "she was doing everything she could to get him in treatment," Butler said. Mitchell enrolled her son in an outpatient program that was "the best available through insurance," she said. A new diagnosis: Schizophrenia . That program concluded Thursday, with a doctor informing Marks that he believed he was suffering from schizophrenia. The new diagnosis upset him, Butler said. "That's not what I am, that's not what I am," he told his mother, the lawyer said. "He was very distraught by this new diagnosis," his mother said. "He was just coming to terms with having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but he just couldn't handle this new diagnosis." Mitchell stayed home from her teaching job Friday to be with her son. "I was concerned about him; he just wasn't himself, so I stayed with him at my dad's home Thursday night after we left the hospital and all day on Friday," she said. "I only left for a couple of hours to pick up my daughter from school Friday afternoon." She was stuck in Chicago's rush-hour traffic when she got a call from her brother saying that a neighbor saw her son walking around an alley with a gun. "I rushed back to the south side to get to the neighborhood, and just started driving through the alleys near my dad's house looking for him," Mitchell said. "All I could think was I have to get to him in time." She frantically drove through alleys searching. "I saw Joshua laying there in the second alley that I turned down," his mother said. "I screamed for help and held him. I just didn't get to my boy on time. I didn't get to my boy." Mitchell is determined to set up a foundation in her son's memory to help people with mental illness to address the same issues as Marks. "I am not done, this is not over," she said. "I am going to make sure that Josh's voice and dream live on by fighting for mental healthcare treatment." While police work to trace how Marks got the handgun he used to kill himself, his family is also seeking answers. "We live in a country where anyone can buy a gun on the streets at will," Butler said. "We know that Josh paid little or no money for that gun, because he just didn't have it; he was unemployed and in treatment full time. So with no money, how did he get this gun?" For help please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or call 1-800-273-8255 and they will put you in touch with someone in your area. People we've lost in 2013 . CNN's KJ Matthews contributed to this report.
### SUMMARY:
| NEW: Family blames the lack of mental health facilities, easy access to guns as factors .
His mother struggled to get Josh Marks mental health treatment, lawyer says .
Marks' family hopes talking about his suicide will help others suffering from mental illness .
He was diagnosed with schizophrenia a day before his death . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
(CNN) -- It's perhaps the most iconic scene in the most iconic Hong Kong movie of all time. The slender silhouette of the beautiful heroine, Su Li-zhen (Maggie Cheung), emerging from the darkness, revealing herself in a figure-hugging cheongsam. The man she passes, newspaper editor Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung), can't help falling in love with such a figure of feminine elegance. Set in the 1960s, the golden era of the cheongsam in Hong Kong, Wong Kar Wai's hit movie, "In the Mood for Love" (2000), which won multiple best foreign movie awards, was a powerful showcase for how elegant and sexy the classic Chinese dress can be. Wong has said 20 to 25 cheongsam alone were made for the character played by Maggie Cheung. "A Century of Fashion: Hong Kong Cheongsam Story," now running at the Hong Kong Museum of History until March 3, features 130 exhibits showcasing the history and evolution of the cheongsam, particularly the eras featured in popular films such as "In the Mood for Love" and "The World of Suzie Wong" (1960). Early cheongsam a feminist statement . The exhibition is a study in the history surrounding the iconic Chinese dress that can be confusing even to Chinese -- the proper use of "cheongsam" and "qipao," for instance. "We prefer to call it cheongsam -- not qipao," says Osmond Chan, assistant curator of the exhibition. "Cheongsam means long robe in Cantonese and actually only became a common woman's wear after the May Fourth Movement (1919), or the New Culture Movement," he says. "Women started wearing men's long robes as a feminist statement and trend during that anti-Qing era. "Therefore, it's a bit of an oxymoron to continue calling the dress qipao, which refers to the robe of the Manchu (the ruling power of Qing Dynasty)." Early cheongsam didn't have the tight, figure-hugging shape the dress is known for today, but was originally worn loose on the body. The shape changed and became tighter in Shanghai in the 1920s and '30s, a time often referred to as the golden age of the cheongsam in Shanghai. With the rise of the Communist Party in the late 1940s and '50s, however, the dress, and the decadent Shanghai style it invoked, was restricted. Shanghai tailors fled to Hong Kong, bringing the cheongsam with them. The trend picked up quickly and Hong Kong experienced its own golden age of the cheongsam in the 1950s and '60s. Cheongsam master . Founded in 1966, Linva Tailor is one of the longest-standing cheongsam shops in Hong Kong. While it's often assumed that owner and master tailor Leung Ching-wah made some of the costumes for Maggie Cheung in "In the Mood for Love," he says he can't talk about it. Leung represents the old guard -- tailors who recognize the beauty of a boar-shaped cut or a sword-shaped binding on a side slit. His wife, Joana Fung, dissects a cheongsam the way a sommelier talks about wine. "The beauty of a cheongsam is not in the fabric -- fabrics can be purchased, but not the skills," says Fung. Leung started apprenticing under a Shanghai tailor when he was 16. He opened Linva Tailor seven years later. "I spent the first few months only learning to hold a needle properly," says Leung. "One can only start making a cheongsam after a year of apprenticeship." "In the '60s, every woman wore a cheongsam," says Leung. As Western culture and fashion became more influential among Chinese in Hong Kong in the 1970s, the cheongsam lost its popularity. Will the cheongsam survive? The craft is diminishing. At least in Hong Kong. All of Leung's in-house tailors are in their sixties. Many have reduced their workloads. Despite often being referred to as a sunset industry, however, Leung says he doesn't worry that cheongsam culture won't last for another century. In Hong Kong and China, the cheongsam is still popular for evening parties and company conferences. "All brides will still don one at their weddings," says Leung. "If you look at Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant, a section featuring candidates in cheongsam has been a must," says Chan. Most cheongsam manufacturing has moved to factories in mainland China, where more than 15 manufacturers and suppliers have an online presence. Although global sales are difficult to track, several Chinese makers advertise shops with a capacity for thousands of garments sewn monthly by staffs of 250 or more garment makers. Brands like Shanghai Tang and Blanc de Chine, which carry cheongsam priced at about $400, are making their marks with modern twists on the cheongsam. Opened in 1994 in Hong Kong with the idea of creating a modern Chinese chic style, Shanghai Tang has swelled into a multi-national fashion brand with 45 outlets. The business is expanding both in China and around the world, according to Raphael le Masne de Chermont, executive chairman of Shanghai Tang. The main elements of the dress's original silhouette -- high collar and flower buttons on the placket -- make it easy to incorporate into new designs, says Chan. Inspiration still crosses over to Western runways cheongsam designs have been included in a 2011 Ralph Lauren collection, a 2012 Gucci collection and Emilio Pucci's 2013 spring/summer collection. Unlike kimono or hanbok . Though modern, hybrid versions of the cheongsam are popular, there remains an appetite for the more traditional shapes. "Classes teaching how to make cheongsam are offered in Hong Kong," says Chan, adding that the continuity of passing down the skills for cheongsam-making shouldn't be reserved for great tailors. YMCA HK's cheongsam classes for the public are conducted by Mong Kar-mo, a former tailor for the Miss Hong Kong Pageant. Linva Tailor receives five or six orders per day and Leung hasn't thought of retiring. "I started out in this business just hoping to make a living, but then I grew to learn the beauty of cheongsam," says Leung. "It's different from ethnic costumes like the kimono and hanbok, as cheongsam has a highly flexible design," says Chan. "Elements like dress length, different materials and different levels of complexity make dresses suitable for a variety of occasions." "As one Chinese saying goes, 'cheongsam is practical enough for the kitchen but presentable for the living room,'" says Chan. "The reason it's been able to last for a century is because cheongsam is really beautiful on its wearer." Ordering a cheongsam . At Hong Kong cheongsam shops, customers first choose a style off the rack before deciding on details such as fabric, flower buttons on the placket, sleeve length and slit depth. The tailor then takes measurements and customers return for another fitting after a few days. Final adjustments are made before decorative bindings and flower buttons are added and the dress can be properly finished. The entire process usually takes two months. Visitors who don't have as much time can choose a ready-made cheongsam and have it altered. The finished product can be mailed to them. Basic styles start from HK$2,000 ($260). Linva Tailor, G/F, 38 Cochrane St., Central, Hong Kong; +852 2544 2456 . Shanghai Tang Mansion, 1 Duddell Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2525 7333 . A Century of Fashion: Hong Kong Cheongsam Story; January 29 to March 3; 1/F Lobby, Hong Kong Museum of History, 100 Chatham Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon; +852 2724 9042; free admission .
### SUMMARY:
| The Chinese cheongsam has a long history, but some worry its days are numbered .
Hong Kong's cheongsam industry boomed in 1960s .
The assistant curator of a Hong Kong cheongsam exhibit believes the dress will live on .
Most cheongsam manufacturing has moved to mainland China . |
### SUMMARIZE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Sendai, Japan (CNN) -- Wednesday broke in Japan with news of a new blaze at the damaged nuclear plant that crews have struggled to control since last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami, adding to radiation fears in a country racing to avoid a full-on nuclear crisis. The fire was discovered Wednesday morning in the northwestern corner of the No. 4 reactor building at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, an official with Tokyo Electric Power Company told reporters. It was the latest setback for a country struggling to dig its way out of the wreckage wrought by last week's earthquake and tsunami. At least 3,676 people have died, the National Police Agency said Wednesday morning. Another 7,558 people are missing and 1,990 were injured, it said. Shell-shocked survivors huddled in cramped shelters, grieved over lost loved ones and worried about relatives who are missing across villages and towns inundated by the tsunami waves spawned by Friday's 9.0-magnitude quake off the east coast of Honshu. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called the disaster the country's worst crisis since World War II, and one firm says that the earthquake and tsunami are likely to surpass Hurricane Katrina as the most expensive disaster in history. Stocks in Japan opened higher Wednesday morning, one day after the nation's main market index suffered one of its biggest drops on record. Tuesday, the Asian economic powerhouse reeled as stocks plummeted, sending shock waves through global markets. "The scale of this event has taken everyone by surprise," said Patrick Fuller, a Red Cross spokesman. "It's stretched resources to the max." The latest fire at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan comes one day after another fire there and an explosion at the plant's No. 2 reactor. Radiation level readings spiked at the building gate during the first fire but went down after the blaze was extinguished. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said amounts returned to a level that would not cause "harm to human health." Radiation levels in Tokyo were twice the usual level Tuesday, but they were too negligible to pose a health threat, officials said. But Japanese authorities could not rule out the possibility of a meltdown at the troubled reactors. While sea water was being pumped into the reactors in an effort to prevent further damage, "it cannot necessarily be called a stable situation," Edano had said Tuesday. A meltdown occurs when nuclear fuel rods cannot be cooled, thus melting the reactor core and causing a release of radioactivity. In the worst-case scenario, the fuel can spill out of the containment unit and spread toxic radioactivity through the air and water. That, public health officials say, can cause both immediate and long-term health problems, including radiation poisoning and cancer. The plant's owners have taken precautions to protect the people in Fukushima Prefecture, where the reactors sit. The plant is about 138 miles (225 kilometers) from Tokyo. They evacuated all but about 50 workers from the facility and urged people within 18.6 miles (30 kilometers) of the plant to remain indoors. The government imposed a no-fly zone over the 30-kilometer radius "because of detected radiation after explosions" there, the country's transportation ministry said. Edano said analysts also have their eyes on reactors No. 5 and 6 at the plant, where cooling systems weren't functioning well, though the temperature had dropped slightly Tuesday. Concerns about hot radioactive fuel boiling off cooling water and catching on fire continued into Wednesday, with plant operators and government officials considering a plan to use helicopters to drop water into the cooling pond through the damaged roof of the reactor building, according to a Kyodo News report. For many across Japan, calming jittery nerves is becoming increasingly difficult as the situation at the damaged facility looks increasingly dire. "I think, from a sanity standpoint, I'm trying to side with the cool-headed point of view because I don't want to think about the possibly of a full-blown meltdown," said Osaki resident Tyler Martin. "So far, the winds are blowing north-northeast, so if a lot of radiation leaks, Tokyo shouldn't get a lot of the exposure," said Robert F. Mendel, who lives in suburban Tokyo. "Of course, if the winds change, that's a different story. We've been advised to wear long sleeves, a cap, a surgical mask to reduce the amount of exposure -- that is, cover as much skin as possible." Across the country, emergency workers from Japan, foreign governments and international aid groups continued to scour tangled and displaced piles of debris, searching for survivors. Ninety-one countries and regions and six international organizations have offered assistance, according to the Japanese foreign affairs ministry. Public broadcaster NHK reported that 450,000 people were living in shelters, and many schools had turned into emergency shelters. In the area of Sendai, the capital of Miyagi Prefecture, several tractor-trailers with cars on top had flipped over. Personal belongings -- a child's doll, an empty shoe, wedding photos covered in mud -- lay in heaps where houses once stood. Cold weather has increased the hardship for disaster victims and rescuers. Rescuers report that some victims have been exposed to cold weather and water, in some cases for days. Conditions are expected to worsen, with temperatures forecast to drop below freezing by Wednesday across portions of the earthquake zone, accompanied by snow, heavy rain and the threat of mudslides. Already in Sendai, cold rain and sleet fell on the decimated city Tuesday, and snow fell in parts of northeastern Japan. Rescue work is also being complicated by the hundreds of aftershocks that have rocked Japan since Friday's quake. The U.S. Geological Survey reported Tuesday at least three quakes with magnitudes of 6.0 or greater, and more than a dozen others greater than 5.0 or greater. Experts predict that the earthquake and tsunami will rank among the costliest natural disasters on record. Jayanta Guin, senior vice president of research and modeling for AIR Worldwide, said it is clear that the total losses will "be far greater than we experienced in Katrina." That 2005 hurricane, which devastated New Orleans and the U.S. Gulf Coast, had estimated losses of $125 billion, according to the Insurance Information Institute. While agencies are working to raise money, donations have been slow to come. The Chronicle of Philanthropy, a newspaper covering nonprofit organizations, says donations to nonprofit organizations have reached about $25 million so far. The total is far below the first four-day totals of other recent natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina and the crisis in Haiti, it said. Wide-scale economic problems also loom. Japanese stocks closed down 10.55% Tuesday, the third steepest percentage fall in the Nikkei's history. That was on top of a 6.2% drop Monday, the first full trading day after the quake. Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index, the most prominent measure of Tokyo market stocks, rose 520 points, or 6%, shortly after the market opened. All three of the major U.S. stock indexes closed down about 1.2% Tuesday, after plunging much deeper earlier in the day on fears of the Japanese economic downturn. Friday's quake was the strongest in recorded history to hit Japan, according to USGS records that date to 1900. The USGS revised the magnitude of the quake from 8.9 to 9.0 on Monday. CNN's Gary Tuchman, Anna Coren, Jill Dougherty, Kyung Lah, Anderson Cooper, Paula Hancocks, Dean Irvine, Stan Grant, Kevin Voigt, Jaime FlorCruz, Sean Morris, Holly Yan and Alanne Orjoux contributed to this report.
### SUMMARY:
| NEW: More than 11,000 are dead or missing in the wake of the disaster .
A new fire is discovered at the Fukushima Daiichi plant .
A fire and explosion Tuesday at the nuclear plant led to temporary radiation spike .
One company says the disaster could be the most expensive in history . |
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