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By . Keith Gladdis . UPDATED: . 03:44 EST, 6 March 2012 . Heading for the baggage reclaim after a flight, most air travellers experience at a least a flicker of concern that their suitcases may not appear on the carousel. So imagine the exasperation of almost 200 passengers who arrived in Barbados from London to be told that their luggage had safely accompanied them across the Atlantic…but now had to go back again. Staff informed them that their cases were locked in the rear hold of the Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 jumbo jet and the ground crew at Grantley Adams Airport couldn’t open the door to get them out. Jumbo blunder: A Virgin 747. There were 288 people on the eight-hour VS029 flight from Gatwick Airport, the majority were tourists beginning expensive Caribbean holidays . Eventually engineers in Bridgetown gave up and the bags were flown the 4,200 miles back to Gatwick for experts to work out how to open the hold door. It meant passengers who had set off from the rainy UK in winter clothes at 10.30am on Sunday were forced to wait until 6.15 last night to get their bags. As one frustrated passenger put it: ‘The luggage was in the hold but it was as if they forgot the key that opened it.’ By the time the bags were reunited  with their owners they had travelled almost 13,000 miles. Toby Radford, the newly appointed assistant head coach to the West Indies cricket team, was on the flight and had all his clothes and sports equipment in the hold. He said: ‘It had already been a bumpy flight so we were all glad to land but when we got into the baggage reclaim area it was crazy. Ground crew at Grantley Adams Airport in Barbados, pictured, couldn't open the door of the hold to get the bags out . Eventually engineers in Bridgetown gave up and the bags were flown the 4,200 miles back to Gatwick for experts to work out how to open the hold door . ‘It was left to local admin staff to explain the situation. There were some children on board. Some passengers were boarding cruise ships and worried about not receiving their luggage in time.’ Mr Radford, from Newbury in Berkshire, added: ‘I am walking around the Caribbean in my jeans and long sleeved shirt. I have nothing other than my laptop with me. I don’t have my toothbrush and I don’t have my contact lenses.’ Former Middlesex cricketer Mr Radford, 40, has coached England captain Andrew Strauss and is helping to prepare the West Indies for the visit of Australia later this month. He was able to start work with the squad yesterday after they found him some kit, though he was forced to wear the brogues he had flown in. There were 288 people on the eight-hour VS029 flight from Gatwick Airport, the majority were tourists beginning expensive Caribbean holidays. Passengers waiting for their luggage were walking about in the tropical heat in jeans and without their holiday belongings . The 88 passengers with their luggage in the front hold were able to reclaim their bags but the remaining 200 with bags in the rear hold were left waiting. After struggling to free the hold door manually the decision was taken for the bags to return to the UK for technicians to resolve the problem. Passengers at Grantley Adams International Airport waiting to return to the UK were allowed to board the plane and their luggage was placed in the front hold. Virgin Atlantic did not detail what the fault with doors was. A spokesman said: ‘We would like to apologise to all customers affected. ‘Every effort was made to open the luggage door manually in Barbados following a technical issue but the aircraft was returned to London. Support is being provided to people in Barbados.’

Bags flown 4,200 miles back to Gatwick for experts to open the door . Bags belonging to 200 passengers had flown 13,000 miles in total .

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A man who lost his late father's treasured First World War medal on a beach when he was a child has been reunited with it - 76 years later. Ben Eggleston was a five-year-old boy when he lost the 1914 Star, known as the Mons Star, while on a day trip to Brighton in August 1938. He carried the medal in memory of his father who had died that year from lung cancer - a condition he developed after being gassed in the trenches. Heartbroken: Ben Eggleston, pictured left aged five, lost the 1914 Star, awarded to his father (right) while on a day trip to Brighton in 1938. He carried the medal in memory to his father, who had died from cancer that year . He spent decades visiting archives, antique fairs and private collections trying to find the medal, which was awarded for bravery in the Battle of the Somme. This month, Mr Eggleston, now 82, spotted the medal, inscribed with his father's name, Sergeant Stephen Eggleston, on an eBay auction. It is now at his home in Norfolk. The former engineer said it was 'incredibly poignant' that he should find it in the centenary of the start of the war. The great-grandfather said: 'After all these years of wondering what had happened to it, we just sat there in amazement looking at the screen, hardly daring to believe what we were seeing.' He added: 'I am delighted it is now back with our family. 'It serves as an emblem of my father's heroism, and of the many hundreds of thousands of men who lost their lives or were injured in this terrible conflict.' What happened to the medal, known as the Mons Star, after 1939 remains a mystery, though it was in the possession of its most recent owner for more than 30 years. Precious: Mr Eggleston spent decades visiting archives, antique fairs and private collections trying to find the medal, inscribed with his father's name (right), which was awarded for bravery in the Battle of the Somme . It will now join Sgt Eggleston's Meritorious Service Medal and his Military Medal, which were both awarded for bravery during the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He had been a private in the 4th Battalion Middlesex Regiment. Mr Eggleston, who visited the battlefields of France and Belgium researching his father’s military history, visited numerous archives, antique fairs, and medal collections in search of the medal. More recently, Ben spent hundreds of hours on the internet almost daily in an attempt to find the lost medal. And every time his family visited Brighton they looked on the beach in the faint hope the medal had washed up. His daughter Jane Bulmer, 55, said: 'Last week, he couldn’t believe his eyes when an eBay lot suddenly popped up on screen showing a Mons Star inscribed with his father’s name, regiment, and service number. 'It was part of a five-day auction by a Lincolnshire collector, who had owned the Mons Star for more than 30 years and had now decided to sell it. 'The seller had bought it himself from another collector, whose name was long forgotten, and there was no record of what had happened to the medal in the intervening 40 years before he had acquired it. 'This didn’t matter to my father as the important thing was that the Star had not been lost.'

Ben Eggleston was five years old when he lost the 1914 star in Brighton . He was carrying the medal in memory of his father who died from cancer . Mr Eggleston spent decades visiting archives, collections and fairs . Now 82, he found the medal, inscribed with his father's name, on eBay .

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New York (CNN) -- A teenage stock clerk who in 1979 left Manhattan for the solace of his mother's south Jersey home appeared shaken and then fell ill, says a relative of the man now charged in the murder of 6-year-old Etan Patz. "When he moved home, he was really nervous and shaking all the time," added the relative, who declined to be named. "He constantly had diarrhea, and he spent a lot of time just looking out the window." Etan Patz disappeared that same year after walking to a school bus in Lower Manhattan, the first time he'd walked to the bus alone. The boy's plight catapulted concern for missing children to the national forefront after authorities splashed his image across thousands of milk cartons. It's not clear whether Pedro Hernandez -- described by police as an off-the-books former stock boy turned 51-year-old murder suspect -- was ever interviewed in the initial case. But more than three decades after Etan vanished, authorities say Hernandez confessed to the boy's killing after being brought in for questioning last week. Hernandez has since been charged with second degree murder and is currently awaiting trial. But attorney Harvey Fishbein said his client -- who is currently on suicide watch at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan -- has not entered a plea due to a pending psychiatric evaluation. According to police, the former stock clerk claims he lured Etan to the store's basement with the promise of a soda before choking him to death. He then allegedly disposed of the body using a plastic bag, placing the boy inside a trash bin located a block and a half away from his work. "The detectives thought (that confession) was a feeling of relief on his part," said Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, who described Hernandez as remorseful. Prosecutors are now confronted with the task of corroborating that confession and piecing together a murder mystery that for decades has been littered with false positives. The image of Hernandez, meanwhile, has gradually come into focus as attention homes in on the reclusive suspect who, according to his attorney, apparently suffers from a "long psychiatric history" that includes schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and hallucinations. The Hernandez family -- a large clan consisting of 11 brothers and sisters -- moved from Puerto Rico to southern New Jersey in the early 1970s, a relative told CNN. Pedro Hernandez attended high school in the Camden, New Jersey, area before moving to Manhattan at the age of 18, sharing an apartment in the city's SoHo neighborhood with his older sister. Sometime after his 19th birthday, Hernandez took a job as a stock clerk at a corner convenience store. He worked in the Lower Manhattan bodega for roughly a month before returning to his mother's south Jersey home in the summer of 1979, according to family members and police. Etan disappeared roughly a month earlier on May 25. Describing Hernandez as having been a quiet young man, relatives say his demeanor changed upon his return to New Jersey. He grew further withdrawn while also frequently becoming ill, they said. Though his whereabouts after 1979 remain murky, family members say at one point he returned to New York. It's unclear for how long. Police Commissioner Kelly told reporters last week that Hernandez was injured during a construction job sometime in the 1990s and has since been receiving disability compensation. But a relative claims that the suspect was instead injured during his employment at a clothing factory in Maple Shade, New Jersey. Twice married, Hernandez fathered a daughter and settled down with a woman named Rosemary, his second wife, who relatives say had always had a crush on him. But financial troubles followed, and the couple filed for bankruptcy in 1999, according to court documents. Still, those who claim to know Hernandez offer mixed impressions of his character. Roberto Monticello, a former SoHo resident who says he knew Hernandez in New York at the time of Etan's disappearance, described him as a "very strange guy." "He was always by himself," Monticello recalled to CNN affiliate NY1. "(I) never saw him with people." His pastor, George Bowen, called him a "very quiet, unassuming, almost shy man," who attended church regularly with his wife and daughter, often sitting in the same pew. "Every Sunday morning I had a conversation with him," said Bowen, who described the interaction as "more or less a greeting." But the suspect's sister, Norma Hernandez, said their family had for years grappled with the knowledge of her brother's alleged crime. She says she once walked into a Camden police station in the early 1980s to report the murder, telling authorities that her brother confessed to killing a boy in New York and throwing the body near a dumpster. But, she says, there's no indication that anything ever came out of that report. "You feel like they didn't believe you," Norma Hernandez told CNN. "I was expecting something else." "Police asked whether I was mad" at her brother or had an ulterior motive, she said. Pedro Hernandez allegedly confided in a church prayer group that included members of his family and his then-spiritual adviser, his sister said, telling them of the alleged killing. Camden police and Tomas Rivera, a leader of the prayer group, declined to comment. But Lisa Cohen, whose 2009 book, "After Etan," is widely considered the definitive account of the case, said she remains skeptical about the man's confession, widely considered the signature element of his prosecution. "I had never heard of Pedro Hernandez before this week," she told CNN. A separate law enforcement source said Hernandez's claims were being treated with "a healthy dose of skepticism." Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance ultimately gave the green light to file murder charges against Hernandez, despite the absence of forensic evidence, witness testimony and lingering questions over his mental state. CNN's Ross Levitt and Chris Boyette contributed to this report.

Pedro Hernandez, 51, has been charged with second degree murder . Etan Patz disappeared in 1979 after walking to a school bus in Lower Manhattan . Hernandez was teenage stock clerk who left Manhattan for south Jersey in 1979 . The former stock clerk claims he lured the boy to the store's basement and choked him .

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By . Tamara Cohen . Lord Oakeshott's parting attack on Nick Clegg included the explosive allegation that the Liberal Democrats were embroiled in a potential ¿cash for peerages¿ scandal . Lord Oakeshott's parting attack on Nick Clegg included the explosive allegation that the Liberal Democrats were embroiled in a potential ‘cash for peerages’ scandal. His statement criticising the party ended with the tantalising claim that his ‘efforts to expose and end cash for peerages in all parties, including our own... have failed’. He also described the House of Lords as a ‘bloated balloon’ in urgent need of reform. Lord Oakeshott’s claim may lead to close scrutiny of some of the peerages granted by the Liberal Democrat leader. Last year Mr Clegg ennobled Ministry of Sound owner James Palumbo – now Lord Palumbo of Southwark – who has donated more than £500,000 to the party over the past nine years. Domino’s pizza tycoon Rumi Verjee was made Lord Verjee of Portobello after handing over £770,000, some via his company Brompton Capital Ltd. His donations were investigated by the Electoral Commission in 2012 and cleared. A party list also revealed Sudhir Choudhrie was put forward for a peerage last summer, after the multi-millionaire’s family and companies gave £1.2million  since 2004, but he was passed over. Mr Choudhrie, who has been entertained at Mr Clegg’s grace and favour residence, Chevening, was non-domiciled for tax reasons until two years ago, and earlier this year he and his son were quizzed by the Serious Fraud Office as part of a probe into bribery at Rolls-Royce. Lord Oakeshott’s statement said: ‘When Charles Kennedy rang to make me a peer, he wanted me to shake up the Lords. Donations: Lord Palumbo, who donated £500,000 to the Lib Dems over nine years . 'I’ve tried  – my bills to ban non-dom peers are now law – but my efforts to expose and end cash for peerages in all parties, including our own, and help get the Lords elected have failed. The unreformed Lords is now a bloated balloon…’ Angus MacNeil, the Scottish National Party MP who uncovered the ‘cash for honours’ scandal in 2006 said the claims reignited a row over an upper house ‘full of party donors’. He said: ‘His claim resurrects this whole scandal, and we need full disclosure of which members of the House of Lords he is talking about, and what they gave in return for a peerage.’ Non-domiciled peers were banned in 2010 under Labour, with cross-party support. But Mr Clegg’s plans to slash the number of peers from more than 800 to 450, with 80 per cent elected, was dropped after 91 Tory MPs rebelled and Labour refused to back the move. Lord Oakeshott fired savage parting shots at both Nick Clegg and Vince Cable . The ‘cash for honours’ scandal saw several men who loaned money to Labour – which unlike a donation does not have to be declared – nominated for life peerages. They were reported to the police by Mr MacNeil. A resulting investigation saw then prime minister Tony Blair questioned by detectives and Labour forced to repay the loans, although no charges were brought. A Lib Dem spokesman said: ‘This is absolute nonsense. Liberal Democrats have never been engaged in cash for peerages.’

Lord Oakeshott made explosive claim in devastating leaving statement . He also called House of Lords a 'bloated balloon' in need of reform . An earlier version of this article reported previously published claims that Sudhir Choudhrie is an 'arms dealer'. Mr Choudhrie has contacted us to say that he has repeatedly denied dealing in arms. We are happy to make this clear.

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By . Associated Press . PUBLISHED: . 11:17 EST, 27 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:37 EST, 27 September 2013 . After years of planning and a $100 . million fundraising campaign, George Washington's Mount Vernon estate will . formally open a new library today. It will be home to visiting scholars who will live at Mount Vernon and research specific aspects of the Founding era, including the study of America's . first president and the Founding Fathers. A rare-book vault houses dozens of books that Washington personally owned. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Regal: George Washington's Mount Vernon estate formally opened a new library on Friday . Inspirational: George Washington was the first President of the United States, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the US . Historic: George Washington's 1789 book, "Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America," which he signed at the top, is now in his library . The . library will function in some ways like a modern presidential library. But the Mount Vernon library receives no government funding and is . intended primarily to foster formal scholarship; it is not designed to . accommodate casual tourists. The estate in 2006 opened new education and . orientation centers to serve the public. A dedication ceremony is scheduled at the 45,000 square-foot library today. Exclusive: The Mount Vernon library won't receive any government funding and is intended primarily to foster formal scholarship . Historical: George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate CEO Curt Viebranz looks at once of the president's old books in the rare book library . Memorabilia: Commemorative medals from the late 1700s are part of the collection at the new Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington .

George Washington's Mount Vernon estate opened a new library on Friday . It's not open to 'casual tourists' It cost $100 million to build and receives no government funding .

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(CNN) -- The United States and Israel are on the same side when it comes to Iran, but you might not know it watching the bitter public disagreement that has broken out between the two allies over negotiations with the Islamic Republic. Is this a way for friends to handle their differences? The talks with Iran present enormous challenges for Washington. One of those challenges is to move through the process without damaging existing alliances or weakening America's already diminished standing in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that he thinks the U.S. is falling into an Iranian trap. The White House says it is moving cautiously in the interest of peace and security. The disagreement is tearing at the alliance. Both Israel and the U.S. should find a different way to make their cases. They have moved perilously close to impugning each other's character instead of debating the merits of their positions. Netanyahu strongly objects to the proposal that would ease sanctions in exchange for a slowdown of Iran's nuclear program during negotiations for a permanent agreement. He is used to wielding sharp words. His tone has suggested U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are being played for fools. When talks broke off a few weeks ago, Netanyahu sarcastically called the agreement that was almost reached between Iran and the so-called P5+1, the U.N. Security Council permanent members plus Germany, "the deal of the century" -- for Iran. France, too, another U.S. ally, called the proposal "a sucker's deal." But it's not just critics of the Obama administration position who have come perilously close to insulting those with whom they disagree. White House spokesman Jay Carney responded to criticism and to calls for new sanctions by saying "the American people do not want a march to war," as if those who don't like this agreement actually want a war. The notion that Netanyahu, that Israelis, want war with Iran is patently absurd. Some may think a war is unavoidable, but everyone in Israeli knows war with Iran would bring unspeakable suffering. In Israel, the issue is personal for every family that lives within rocket range of Iran -- every family. Many Israelis dislike Netanyahu's style, but they share his concern. Today, only 31% of Israelis think Israel can rely on the U.S. on talks with Iran. What Israel wants is a strong deal, one that truly prevents Iran from having the ability to quickly build a nuclear weapon when it chooses. That, incidentally, is what America's Arab friends also want, creating an unlikely alignment of interests between Israelis and Arabs. Instead of "dissing" each other and engaging in acrimonious debate that brings satisfaction to their enemies, Israel and the U.S. should concentrate on the substance of their disagreement. Both Israel and the U.S. -- not to mention France, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and others -- want to bring an end to what they believe is Iran's nuclear weapons program. Iran says it only wants nuclear power, but even U.N. weapons inspectors say there are indications of a military aspect to Iran's nuclear program. Israel and the U.S., of course, have different perspectives. They differ on tactics, strategy, and to some degree on goals. The U.S. is physically distant from Iran and it has a stronger military. Israel wants Iran to end all nuclear enrichment. The U.S. is apparently willing to allow some enrichment and stockpiles. America sees Iran and its nuclear program as a challenge to global stability, to the regional balance of power, to nuclear nonproliferation. Israelis believe Iran aims to destroy their country. On Wednesday, as talks restarted in Geneva, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave a televised speech in which he called Israel the "rabid dog" of the Middle East and declared that Israel "is doomed to failure and annihilation." That kind of language, and a nuclear program, a wave of terrorist attacks, and the funding of anti-Israel militias, such as Hezbollah, add up to a pretty good case for Israelis to worry. Their concerns are echoed by many members of Congress, who also question the strength of the current negotiating approach. All want to see a deal, but only a good deal. All of them, lest we forget, are on the same side. Israel, along with France and many members of Congress, believes relief from sanctions should come only if Iran completely stops getting closer to a nuclear weapon. They worry that once world powers start rolling back sanctions, even slightly, the entire system will start unraveling. The Obama administration says the interim deal would "put time on the clock." But Obama too said he wants to make "absolutely certain" the Iranians are not "busy advancing their program" during talks. On the surface, Obama and Netanyahu are saying much the same thing. It's no simple task, but if a deal can be made that convinces everyone Iran is not within reach of a bomb, that would satisfy America, Israel, America's Arab friends and -- if Tehran is telling the truth -- it should meet Iran's goals. We don't know the exact terms under discussion in Geneva, Switzerland, but some reports give reasons for concern. One element under discussion, for example, would reportedly allow continuing construction of the Arak plutonium facility, with a promise from Iran to delay operating it for six months; far from ideal. It is also unclear what would happen with the Parchin site, where U.N. inspectors suspect Iran is working on ways to develop military components to weaponize its nuclear materials. Instead of disparaging the administration's negotiating skills, Netanyahu, as a friend of the U.S., should raise questions about these issues. And instead of disparaging the motives of Netanyahu and other critics, the Obama administration should respond to the specific claims. Ironically, Israel's strong objections strengthen the West's negotiating position. It is Iran that should explain why it will not allow inspectors into Parchin and why it needs to build a plutonium reactor. Countries make alliances because they are stronger together. Israel and the U.S. need to defend their alliance as they work together to stop Iran's nuclear program. Anything else will only strengthen their enemies. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Frida Ghitis.

Frida Ghitis: U.S., Israel on same side on Iran but are at bitter odds on nuclear negotiations . She says Netanyahu says U.S. falling into trap; Obama says U.S. trying for peace, security . She says Israel has legitimate existential concerns over nukes in Iran, wants strong deal . Ghitis: Lest they strengthen their enemies, U.S., Israel need to defend their alliance .

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By . Tara Brady . PUBLISHED: . 09:52 EST, 17 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 15:32 EST, 17 May 2013 . Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has denied allegations that he was filmed smoking crack cocaine, his lawyer has said. Reporters for the Toronto Star, a rival Canadian newspaper, and Gawker Media, a U.S. media outlet, said they had seen a video that appears to show Ford smoking crack. The lawyer, Dennis Morris, told the Toronto Sun that the mayor is denying 'any such allegation.' Scroll down for video . Questioned: Toronto mayor Rob Ford speaks to the media as he leaves his home today . The video is allegedly being shopped around for $100,000 by people said to be involved in the drug trade. Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said he has . not spoken with Ford since the allegations surfaced, but he told . reporters he stands by the mayor, according to Reuters. 'Certainly, at this point, we all know . that videos can be altered and we certainly know that drug dealers . can't be trusted,' he said at Toronto City Hall. 'So I don't know what . we're dealing with here, and until we do, I don't really have much to . say.' The mayor and Morris did not immediately return Reuters' requests for comment. The MailOnline is also awaiting a comment from his office. 'We're just trying to see whether or . not such a video exists and whether or not any video has been doctored . or altered,' Morris told the Toronto Sun. A group of Somali men are believed to be demanding $100,000 for a video which allegedly shows the mayor of Toronto smoking crack cocaine . Asked if Ford planned legal action, Morris said it is at the 'bottom rung of the ladder' now. The Toronto Star said that it stands . by its reporting and that the story is just one piece of a broader . investigative report about Ford it has been working on for months. 'This isn't a story that we're going to report lightly,' said Robyn Doolittle, one of two Toronto . Star reporters who said they watched the video three times. 'This is part of an ongoing . investigation that myself and a colleague, Kevin Donovan, have been . working on for months,' Doolittle said. She added: 'The Toronto Star has a . high bar that we always make sure we meet before we run something, . especially when it comes to this mayor.' Ford, who took office more than two . years ago with a promise to 'stop the gravy train' at city hall, has . sparked controversy by skipping council meetings to coach high-school . football and engaging in a confrontation outside his home with a . reporter, among other things. He was briefly ordered out of office . in 2012 after he was found guilty of conflict of interest but won the . appeal and was allowed to finish his four-year term. Ford has not been seen in public since the allegations surfaced late on Thursday.

According to reports Rob Ford has been filmed inhaling from what appears to be a glass crack pipe . Lawyer for Ford has said the allegations are 'false and defamatory'

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(CNN) -- The Scots are talking a lot this week -- perhaps you've heard a little something about an independence referendum -- and that makes us happy. That's because we like how the Scots talk. Not necessarily what they say -- just the way they say it. Imagine the way your Scottish pals might pronounce "pour" and "poor." The Scottish accent is like no other. Then again, neither is any other accent. It's estimated that there are nearly 7,000 languages on earth. That's nearly 7,000 different ways to traipse clumsily through the English language -- or to sex it up like an old Justin Timberlake song. Of course, no accent is sexy when it's strong enough to crush a beer can. Which means not all accents are created equal. You choose: Hottest accents . All of this got us talking this week about which accents we like most. So we decided to hold a vote of our own -- a Facebook poll to ask which accents you prefer. (Trinidadian has charged to the front at the time of writing. You can cast a vote via this link:: on.fb.me/1wHkW0y.) Below is the list of sexiest brogues we came up with by deploying an admittedly unscientific methodology -- meaning we asked around the office, which does at least account for more nationalities than colors in the M&M universe. Our also-rans included Australian (as appealing as warm Foster's to some, tantalizingly exotic to others) and Japanese (the language of repressed salarymen is also strangely designed for pillow talk). Feel free to state your objections and/or rain your accolades in the comments section below and vote in our Facebook poll. Because when it comes to accents, there are no absolutes. Except that the one that makes you cringe is absolutely horrible. You know which one we're talking about. 13. Argentine . Famous tongues: Fernando Lamas, Gabriela Sabatini . A historical refuge for Spaniards, Italians and Germans, the hyper-libidinous South Ameripean melting pot of Argentina has cultivated a proud, pouty tone. With its own pronunciation of Spanish letters ("ll" sounds like "shh") and its own words ("you" is "vos"), this is a dialect that's hard to get. (Or at least plays that way.) Sounds like: A tightly tuned guitar of G-strings strummed by a lamb shank . 12. Thai . Famous tongues: Tony Jaa, Araya 'Chompoo' Hargate . With five tones comprising their native speech, the traffickers of this often fragile accent turn any language into a song of seduction. Thai is largely monosyllabic, so multi-beat foreign words get extra emphases right up until the last letter, which is often left off, leaving the listener wanting more. Sounds like: R-rated karaoke . 11. Trinidadian . Famous tongues: Nicki Minaj, Billy Ocean . For fetishists of oddball sexuality, the Caribbean island of Trinidad offers an undulating, melodic gumbo of pan-African, French, Spanish, Creole and Hindi dialects that, when adapted for English, can be sex on a pogo stick. Sounds like: A rubber life raft bobbing on a sea of steel drums . 10. Brazilian Portuguese . Famous tongues: Alice Braga, Anderson Silva . Perhaps owing to its freedom from French influence, the Brazilian Portuguese accent has a more colorful, puerile flair than its coarser European counterpart. The resulting yowl of drawn-out vowels reveals a flirty freedom of spirit that suggests a permanent vacation. Sounds like: The near, then far, then near again hum of a low-wattage vacuum cleaner that runs on dance sweat . 9. U.S. Southern . Famous tongues: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Lawrence . There's nothing sexy about being in a hurry, and you could clock the growth rate of grass with the honeyed drawl of a Southern beau or belle. Sounds like: Molasses taking a smoking break . 8. Scottish Famous tongues: Ewan McGregor, Rose Leslie . Some of the vocal strangulations heard echoing around Glasgow are registered as a danger to shipping, but in less industrial corners of Scotland melodic voices capable of ranging a full octave in a single "aye" tumble like soft rain on warm bagpipes. These are gentle, knee-melting tones that conjure cozy firesides and beguiling knitwear before their sudden swing to reproach leaves us whimpering for more. Sounds like: A stroked tartan cat . 7. Irish . Famous tongues: Colin Farrell, Andrea Corr . Valued slightly more in men than in women, the Irish brogue is a lilting, lyrical articulation that's charming, if not exotic. Fluid and uplifting, it can swing from vulnerable to threatening over the course of a sentence, restoring your faith in the world again ... right before it stabs you with a broken bottle top. Sounds like: A marauding pixie . 6. Nigerian . Famous tongues: King Sunny Ade, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde . Dignified, with just a hint of willful naivete, the deep, rich "oh's" and "eh's" of Naija bend the English language without breaking it, arousing tremors in places other languages can't reach. Sounds like: The THX intro with teeth . 5. Queen's English . Famous tongues: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley . Authoritative. Upright. Erudite. Scholarly. Few accents promise the upward nobility of the Queen's English. It's a take on the language that sets hearts devoted to James Bond and Hermione Granger aflutter. And, should the speaker fail to slake your most wanton desires, eh, at least you'll learn something. Sounds like: A crisply ironed shirt playing a harp . 4. Czech . Famous tongues: Petra Nemcova, Jaromir Jagr . Like Russian, without the nettlesome history of brutal, iron-fisted despotism, Czech is a smoky, full-bodied vocal style that goes well with most meats. Murky and mysterious, the Bohemian tone is equal parts carnal desire and carnival roustabout. Sounds like: Count Dracula, secret agent . 3. Spanish . Famous tongues: Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz . Sensual and beckoning, but with the passion to unleash hell kept just barely restrained, Castilian is like a dialectic Hoover Dam. But then there's the lisp. Tender, vulnerable and cute as a baby's hangnail -- no one owns the "th" sound formed by tongue and teeth like those who speak the language of Cervantes. Sounds Like: An outboard motor on Lake Paella . 2. French . Famous tongues: Marion Cotillard, Jean Reno . The come-hither condescension and fiery disinterest of the French tongue remains paradoxically erotic. Sounds like: A 30-year-old teenager . 1. Italian . Famous tongues: Monica Bellucci, Alessandro Del Piero . Raw, unfiltered, the Italian accent is a vowelgasm that reflects the spectrum of Italic experience: the fire of its bellicose beginnings ... the romance of the Renaissance ... the dysfunction of anything resembling a government since Caesar. Insatiable, predatory and possessive, this is sex as a second language. Sounds like: A Ferrari saxophone . Which is your favorite accent? Leave a comment and vote in our Facebook poll. First published August 2011, updated September 2014 . Jordan Burchette is freelance writer and editor based in Los Angeles.

There are an estimated 7,000 languages on earth; these ones sound sexiest to native-English speakers . Some Scottish voices "tumble like soft rain on warm bagpipes" French vs. Italian: A debate for the ages . Some of y'all know y'all are on the list .

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A man who mysteriously disappeared and was officially declared dead after a 1977 barn fire in Canada has been found alive and well, living under a different name in the U.S. Ronald Stan was 32 years old when he went missing after the blaze in rural East Williams, Canada on September 29, 1977. Nine years later, he was officially declared dead. But a routine audit in July by the Ontario Provincial Police turned up a different story. Mystery solved: A man who went missing in Ontario 37 years ago was found alive and well in Oklahoma in an audit carried out by the Ontario Provincial Police (stock photo of a department squad car above) In a Monday press release, OPP said they tracked Stan down to Oklahoma where the now 69-year-old has been living under the name of Jeffrey Walton. OPP Const Laurie Houghton told MailOnline that Walton left behind family in Canada and that they have been informed of his whereabouts in America. U.S. Authorities have also been made aware of Walton's disappearance, but Houghton would not say whether they were independently investigating. Canadian authorities do not plan to press charges against Stan and the case is now closed . Houghton would not release further details on Stan and said she could not 'speak to his motives'. According to public records, a 69-year-old named Jeffrey Walton lives in Park Hill, Oklahoma. Calls to his phone were not being accepted Monday afternoon.

Ronald Stan was 32 years old when he was reported missing after a fire in East Williams, Canada in September 1977 . Police in Canada reopened the case in July and discovered that Stan, now 69, was living under the name of  Jeffrey Walton in Oklahoma . Canadian authorities don't plan to press charges against Stan . Police have not released a motive for Stan's disappearance .

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By . Emma Innes . PUBLISHED: . 05:06 EST, 16 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:08 EST, 16 October 2013 . Five million babies have now been born worldwide with the help of fertility treatment - half of them in the last six years. The first ‘test tube baby’, Louise Brown, was born in 1978 and by 1990 there had been an estimated 90,000 births resulting from assisted reproductive technology (ART) worldwide. By 2000, the figure stood at an estimated 900,000. The first 'test tube baby', Louise Brown, was born in July 1978 at Oldham General Hospital. She is pictured with her parents and the nurses who cared for her . Since 2000, the number of births resulting from fertility treatment has rocketed and by 2007 it was estimated that more than 2.5 million children had been born using assisted reproductive technology. Since 2007, it is believed that about 2.5 million babies have been born following fertility treatment,  bringing the total to date to about five million, according to a report by the International Committee for the Monitoring of Assisted Reproductive Technology. Richard Kennedy, from the International Federation of Fertility Societies said: ‘This comprehensive report confirms that we now have over five million babies born through assisted reproduction. ‘More than that, it shows that half of them have been born in the last six years. ‘The number of babies born through ART is now about the same as the population of a U.S. state such as Colorado, or a country such as Lebanon or Ireland. This is a great medical success story.’ IVF was pioneered by Sir Robert Edwards, who died earlier this year, and by Dr Patrick Steptoe. Since 2007, about 2.5 million 'test tube babies' have been born. Louise Brown (right with her son, Cameron) is pictured with Sir Robert Edwards, one of the pioneers of IVF, and her mother, Lesley Brown . Their technique led to the birth of Louise Brown on July 25, 1978, at Oldham General Hospital. The treatment involved an egg being removed from one of her mother’s ovaries with a probe before being mixed with her father’s sperm in a petri dish – not a test tube. The resulting embryo was implanted in Mrs Brown’s womb two days later. Mrs Brown was not the first woman to become pregnant after IVF treatment, but none of the previous pregnancies had lasted for more than a few weeks. Now, about 180,000 IVF babies are born in Britain each year. Following each cycle of IVF, a woman . under the age of 35 has a 32 per cent chance of conceiving, a 35 to . 37-year-old has a 28 per cent chance, a 38 to 39-year-old has a 21 per . cent chance and a 40 to 42-year-old has a 14 per cent chance. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is one of several techniques available to help couples with fertility problems to have a baby. During IVF, an egg is surgically removed from the woman's ovaries and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised egg, now called an embryo, is then returned to the woman's womb to grow and develop. An IVF cycle starts with a woman being given drugs to suppress her menstrual cycle. Once this has happened, she is given a fertility hormone called FSH which increases the number of eggs the ovaries produce. The eggs will then be collected by using a needle to remove them from the ovaries. The eggs are then mixed with sperm in a laboratory and any fertilised eggs are left for a few days before being transferred into the womb. Currently, women under 40 are offered three cycles of IVF treatment on the NHS if they have been trying to get pregnant for more than two years or if they have not been able to get pregnant after 12 cycles of artificial insemination. Women aged between 40 and 42 are offered one cycle of IVF on the NHS if they have been trying for a baby for two years, if they have never had IVF before, if they show no evidence of low ovarian reserve and if they have been informed of the risks of IVF and pregnancy at their age. Following each cycle of IVF, a woman under the age of 35 has a 32 per cent chance of conceiving, a 35 to 37-year-old has a 28 per cent chance, a 38 to 39-year-old has a 21 per cent chance and a 40 to 42-year-old has a 14 per cent chance.

The first 'test tube baby', Louise Brown, was born in July 1978 . By 1990, there had been 90,000 births resulting from fertility treatment . In 2000, the figure stood at an estimated 900,000 and in 2007, at 2.5 million . Since 2007, there have been about 2.5 children born using assisted reproductive technology .

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If you’ve ever burnt your tongue sipping a fresh cup of coffee, this table could save your tastebuds. Created by a Japanese data researcher, the thermal mapping table uses a projector with a thermal imaging iPhone case. When items are placed on the table, the case identifies even slight changes in temperature to reveal when a beverage is safe to drink. Scroll down for videos . The thermal table (pictured) was created by Japanese data researcher Ken Kawamoto, who projected light from a Flir One iPhone case onto a table using a process known as projection mapping . Designer Ken Kawamoto used a Flir One thermal imagine iPhone case, which costs around £250 (£390). In a video, a glass of ice water is shown turning the table blue, while a glass of hot water is shown turning it red. Kawamoto also pours cold and hot water into a tray, to see how the liquids combine, and shows what a MacBook’s battery looks like under thermal imaging. Projection mapping uses video projectors, but instead of projecting the image onto a flat screen it maps the light onto any surface. This light scatters the pixels of an image, and turns any surface – in this case, a table - into an interactive display. The process is also known as spatial augmented reality and video mapping, and is typically used for adverts. The project can be created by anyone using a projector and Flir One case (pictured left). The case is fitted with its own battery and lasts for 2 hours continuous use on a single charge. Example image is pictured right . In a video, a cup of ice water is shown turning the table blue, while a cup of hot water is shown turning it red. Mr Kawamoto also pours cold and hot water into a tray (pictured), to see how the liquids combine . Mr Kawamoto began by turning the table into a display using the projector, before beaming images and light via the £260 ($349 in the US) Flir One iPhone case. Projection mapping uses video projectors to beam images, but instead of projecting them onto a flat screen, it maps the light onto any surface. This light scatters the pixels of an image, and turns any surface - in this case, a table - into an interactive display. The process is also known as spatial augmented reality and video mapping, and is typically used for adverts. Using sensor technology originally developed for military night vision, Flir One converts heat to colour images in real time. These images let users see in the dark, but also reveal slight differences in temperature. For example, it can detect minimal changes in temperature of just 0.1°C to show which areas of an object are hotter, or cooler, than others. ‘By projecting colours determined by the Flir One onto the surface of objects, you can see the temperature of objects visually,’ explained Mr Kawamoto on his YouTube channel. ‘Ice becomes blue, a glass containing hot water becomes red, and you can even see how ice water and hot water mix.’ The project can be created by anyone using a projector and Flir One case. The case is currently only available for the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s. He additionally shows what a MacBook’s battery looks like under thermal imaging (pictured). Mr Kawamoto began by turning the table into a display using a projector, before beaming images via Flir One iPhone case . Using sensor technology originally developed for military night vision, Flir One converts heat to colour images in real time. These images let users see in the dark, but also detect minimal changes in temperature of just 0.1°C to show which areas of an object are hotter, or cooler, than others (example image pictured)

The thermal table was created by Japanese data researcher Ken Kawamoto . He projected light via a Flir One iPhone case onto a table using a projector . Projection mapping scatters light onto surfaces to turn them into displays . While the Flir One case uses sensors to convert heat into colour images . In a video, Mr Kawamoto shows ice water in a glass turning the table blue . Cup of hot water is then used to turn the table red where the cup is placed . Video also shows how a MacBook’s battery appears using thermal imaging .

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A U.S. congressman from Florida was caught last week digging his finger in his ear and then eating whatever it was he found. Representative Joe Garcia was at a May 7 House Judiciary Committee hearing on government surveillance, but it was his own reconnaissance mission that C-SPAN footage has now revealed. It was a live shot, in fact, and the Key West congressman had the poor timing to undertake his treasure hunt while sitting directly behind his colleague as she took the floor. Before the cameras have left him, the first term Democrat even looks at his fingers before putting them back into his mouth yet again. Does the gentleman from Florida have something to share? Democratic congressman Joe Garcia was caught picking his ear by C-SPAN cameras last week, but it only got worse from there . First he looks at it: Garcia was sitting right behind a colleague as she addressed a House Judiciary Committee hearing on government surveillance . Then he puts it in his mouth: While the hearing was about NSA activities, Garcia appeared to be on a one-man recon mission all his own . And a thumb: Garcia takes his hand from his mouth but soon puts the finger back in, along with a thumb . Third time's the charm: Just to make sure he didn't miss anything, Garcia's returns his hand to his mouth a third time, all while his fellow congressman still has the C-SPAN cameras directly on her .

Representative Joe Garcia was at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on NSA surveillance when he went on a reconnaissance mission of his own .

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Never underestimate the healing power of a good nap. A 91-year-old woman in Poland was declared dead November 6 and sent to a funeral home, only to wake up 11 hours later in cold storage, CNN's Polish affiliate TVN reported. Now she's home and doing fine. The doctor went to the home of Janina Kolkiewicz in the town of Ostrow Lubelski on November 6 after her family said she'd stopped breathing, TVN reported. "I checked the pulse on the forearm artery, carotid artery also," the doctor told TVN. "I listened to the heart, to the breathing. I also examined the pupils. There were no reflexes. Typical symptoms of death." The doctor signed the death certificate, and Kolkiewicz's family began planning services, according to TVN. Then the funeral home called. Authorities are trying to find out what happened. "We are investigating whether the doctor exposed the woman to imminent danger of loss of life, as the lady was moved to a funeral home and kept in cold storage," Beata Syk-Jankowska, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office in Lublin, told TVN.

A doctor in Poland declared a 91-year-old woman dead, CNN affiliate TVN says . But 11 hours later she woke up in a funeral home, according to TVN . Authorities are investigating to find out what happened .

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It looks like something out of the X-Men, but the ground-breaking technology behind Eye Play the Piano has allowed this physically disabled schoolboy to make music - simply by moving his eyes. The crowd-funded project has been developed in conjunction with the University of Tsukuba’s Special Needs Education School for the Physically Challenged and headset manufacture FOVE in Japan, and uses virtual technology to track the eye movements of the wearer. In this video, high school student Kota Numajiri can be seen 'virtually' playing the piano to accompany his classmates during a Christmas carol concert at the school. The specially-designed headset uses virtual technology to track the eye movements of the wearer which is then relayed to a connected piano, which in turn plays the music . Mesmerised family and friends in the audience look on in astonishment as Kota blinks his way through the music using specially-designed panels, which is then conveyed to the connected piano triggering the sound. By tilting his head down, Kota mimics the piano pedal which in turn lengthens the selected note. A teacher helps high school student Kota Numajiri from Japan put on the FOVE headset . Second-year student Kota spent four months learning the play the piece while providing invaluable feedback to the developers . Second-year student Kota spent four months learning the play the piece while providing invaluable feedback to the developers. 'The idea of expression coming only from the actions of the human eyes does not only apply to playing the piano but we also believe that this technology can open up many new possibilities to all humans,' said Fove chief executive Yuka Kojima on the JustGiving page. Fove is now trying to raise ¥1.5m (just over £8,450) to distribute the hardware to 135 schools for physically disabled children around Japan. The crowd-funded project has been developed in conjunction with the University of Tsukuba’s Special Needs Education School for the Physically Challenged .

High school student Kota Numajiri can be seen 'virtually' playing the piano . Uses virtual technology to track the eye movements of the wearer . Project has been developed in conjunction with the University of Tsukuba and headset manufacture FOVE in Japan .

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(CNN) -- An American detained for more than two months in the United Arab Emirates faces up to seven years in prison for stealing police handcuffs, an allegation he says he only confessed to after being tortured. A judge in Dubai is expected to hand down a verdict next week against Adam Foster, 30, of Burdett, New York, whose case has become the focal point of a grassroots letter-writing campaign via Facebook that calls for his release. "It's hard to be hopeful at this point," Foster told CNN by telephone Thursday from Dubai, where he has been detained since his February 26 arrest. "I don't want to think I'm going to be getting out of here in a few days and then find I have to stay for seven years." The UAE has charged Foster with theft of government property, possession of police paraphernalia and theft at night. If found guilty, he faces up to seven years in prison. The U.S. State Department confirmed that Foster was detained. American consular officers met him on February 28 before UAE authorities released him on bail March 1. Officials in the UAE did not respond to a CNN request for comment. But investigators claim Foster stole a pair of official police handcuffs during questioning in an unrelated matter at a Dubai police station the night before was due to leave the city, according to his attorney, Yousuf Khalifa Hammad. Foster has said it was a coincidence, saying he was brought in for questioning because he was in possession of a bottle of Korean rice wine -- a parting gift from colleagues. He was released without charges. Foster said he found the handcuffs a day earlier on the ground at a mall parking lot, about a mile and half from the police station where he was questioned. "I was thinking 'souvenir,'" Foster said. "They were lying on the ground. So I picked them up." Foster, who was on his way home after a six-week stint as a contractor for Dubai Energy Water Authority, was arrested after authorities found the handcuffs in his luggage during a routine security screening at the Dubai airport. He said he was pulled off the plane, questioned and taken to a police station, where he was interrogated twice by two officers. It was during that second round of questioning, after hours of maintaining his innocence, he said he was beaten and forced to confess. Foster claims he was told to take off his shoes and socks, and handcuffed to a chair while one of two officers used a coil to whip the bottom of his feet. He also said he was punched in the face. "The pain was unimaginable," Foster said. "So I told them I did it. I told them 'I'm sorry.'" Foster said he then signed a confession written in Arabic. "I have no idea what it said," he said. Hammad said there is little recourse for Foster as there were no witnesses to the alleged torture, though court documents show he initially said he was innocent, confessed and then recanted. "It is up to the judge to consider this," Hammad said. Foster said he recanted his confession after he was released from jail. He said he did not tell U.S. consular officials who met with him while he was in jail nor did he file a complaint against the officer in the case because he was afraid he would be beaten again if he professed his innocence. Robert H. Arbuckle, a public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, declined to comment because Foster had not authorized consular officials to act on his behalf with the media. The U.S. Embassy strongly advises travelers to the UAE and those transiting through the country to avoid carrying any type of law enforcement or security item, including weapons, body armor and handcuffs, according to its web site. It warns that people caught carrying such items will face criminal charges. "I don't understand how they can do this?" Foster said. "How can they put me away for seven years with no proof whatsoever?" Foster has been living at a Dubai hotel since authorities released him on March 1. In lieu of bail, UAE officials confiscated his passport to ensure he would appear in court, Hammad said. Nearly 1,000 people have appealed to Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the United States, and Jeffrey D. Feltman of the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs to intervene on Foster's behalf. "I urge you to do everything in your power to ensure Adam is treated fairly on May 19 with consideration of his illegal torture and coerced confession," according to a sample letter posted on Facebook. "Americans all over the world are counting on you and the State Department to speak boldly in opposition to human rights violations." Hundreds of others have posted messages of support. "Imagine yourself in his place for about five minutes. Then do something to help him," urges Facebook user Bruce Varner. Foster said he was hanging on to hope that the letters from friends and family might make a difference in his case. Last year, UAE authorities detained Nicholas Moody of Nevada for more than three months on charges of possessing weapons accessories -- parts that could accompany a gun, though no firearm itself. Moody was arrested during an 18-hour layover in Abu Dhabi while heading back from Iraq. A judge later dismissed the charges. CNN's Jill Doherty contributed to this report.

NEW: Travel advisory warns Americans against carrying any security related items in the UAE . Investigators say Adam Foster stole a pair of handcuffs . He says he found them at a mall . Foster says he only confessed after he was tied to a chair and beaten .

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By . Peter Allen and Simon Tomlinson . PUBLISHED: . 14:46 EST, 20 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:10 EST, 21 November 2013 . The suspected gunman . arrested for shooting a newspaper photographer in Paris had lived in Britain for several years before returning to France in July, the Paris prosecutor says. Abdelhakim Dekhar, also suspected of three other attacks, had written a 'confused' letter criticising media manipulation and capitalism and including a vague reference to Syria. Dekhar is in custody in a suburban Paris hospital after police detained him on Wednesday night, ending a two-day nationwide manhunt following an attack at the left-wing newspaper Liberation and a subsequent . shooting outside the offices of bank Societe Generale. Scroll down for video . Wanted: The image shows the alleged gunman walking at the Concorde underground station in Paris, France . A shoot-out that gripped France: Bodies at the scene of a gun battle between French police and Florence Rey and her boyfriend Audry Maupin in 1994. Dekhar was convicted of buying a gun used in the serial killing . Serial killings: Three police officers, a taxi driver and one of the shooters, Audry Maupin, were killed in the shoot-out in 1994 (above) France's 'Bonnie': Florence Rey was sentenced to 20 years in jail over the shootings. She was released in 2009 . Police later found him in a . 'semi-conscious state' after an attempt to kill himself with medication, . Prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters. The . witness who led police to him said Dekhar had been staying with her and . that they had met while working in a restaurant together in London 13 . years ago. The new British link comes just a day after police revealed Dekhar had previously been . jailed for his role in a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style multiple murder that . gripped France two decades ago. Speaking on Wednesday police said his DNA matched samples from the scene of the attacks. Dekhar . was convicted in 1998 of buying a gun used in the so-called Rey-Maupin . affair which saw three policemen, a taxi driver killed along with . shooter Audry Maupin in in October 1994. In . a press conference late on Wednesday, Interior minister Manuel Valls praised . police for their handling of Dekhar's arrest, saying that 'all the . evidence today points to his involvement in the events that he has been . charged with'. He was . arrested around 7pm (6pm GMT) in a vehicle in an underground parking lot . in the northwestern Paris suburb of Bois-Colombes, after apparently . trying to commit suicide. Valls . said that 'everything appears to point to a suicide attempt' and . sources told the AFP news agency that Dekhar was semi-conscious when he . was found. Today the prosecutor confirmed Dekhar was being detained on suspicion of attempted murder and kidnapping in four offences including the shooting of an assistant photographer at leading daily newspaper Liberation on Monday. He is also being investigated about an incidents last week at the BFM-TV network in which he threatened staff with a shotgun, fired shots at the headquarters of French bank Societe Generale and briefly took a driver hostage at gunpoint and forced him to drive from a western suburb to central Paris. The head of the . Paris criminal police department Christian Flaesch said that although he was now in . custody, he was in a 'medical environment' and was not in a fit state to speak . to investigators. Wanted: Police are hunting this man, pictured on security cameras carrying a bag, red arrow on left, outside the Liberation newspaper office in Paris, France . Search: This CCTV image shows the alleged shooter sitting on a bench of a tramway station in Paris . Danger: The gunman aims his weapon and fires during an attack on a French television station BFM TV on Friday . Meanwhile the motive for the . shootings remains unclear. Valls said investigators would need more . information about the suspect's past to be able to 'understand his . motivation'. The arrest came . after a witness statement to police, who had on Tuesday released a new . photograph of the man suspected in the attacks and received hundreds of . calls from potential witnesses. After Dekhar's arrest, investigators found two letters he had left behind. One appeared to be a suicide note, and the other was described as a 'rather confused' letter evoking 'fascist plots.' In that second letter, the suspect accuses the media of 'participating in the manipulation of the masses, journalists are paid to make the citizens swallow lies with a little spoon.' He also criticises capitalism and government neglect of suburban housing projects, which he calls 'an enterprise of dehumanization of a population that the capital doesn't want.' Such projects, home to many disillusioned and jobless families with roots in former French colonies in Africa, erupted in riots in 2005, and tensions between project youth and police continue to erupt in sporadic violence. Mr Molins said psychiatrists who examined Dekhar in the 1990s described him as having 'storytelling tendencies' though 'no specific anomaly in the psychiatric sense.' He is to undergo psychiatric examination as well as police questioning. The shooting prompted cries of concern about attacks on the media. Security was tightened at media offices and on the busy Champs-Elysees. Intent: CCTV from inside the television station captures the moment the gunman, dressed in a black sleeveless top and carrying a large dark sack, calmly walks down the stairs towards the reception . Chilling: The gunman aims his pump-action shotgun at the man behind the desk and opens fire . Close range: The wanted man gets to within a few feet before firing the shotgun . Escape: The suspect, who is described as white, in his 40s, shaven-headed, fled scene and is now being hunted by police . The . man opened fire with a 12-gauge shotgun at the offices of Liberation . early on Monday, shooting a 23-year-old photographer's assistant as he . hauled gear in the lobby, then firing another blast that hit the roof . before leaving within seconds. He . then crossed the city to the La Defense business district on its . western edge, where he fired several shots outside the main office of . the Societe Generale bank, hitting no one. He . hijacked a car and forced the driver to drop him off close to the . Champs Elysees in the centre of the French capital, before disappearing. Police . say he was the same man who on Friday stormed into the Paris . headquarters of a 24-hour TV news channel, BFMTV, briefly threatening . staff with a gun before hurrying out. Dekhar was suspected of being the third man in . the so-called Rey-Maupin affair, which caused a scandal in France, with . investigators comparing the Rey and her lover Audry Maupin to the infamous American . outlaws Bonnie and Clyde. Vigilant: French police officers patrol at the Trocadero Esplanade in front of the Eiffel Tower . Cordon: Police officers patrol on the Champs-Elysees avenue as a manhunt was launched after a 27-year-old was shot at the Paris offices of French daily Liberation . Critically wounded: The attack on the offices of the Liberation newspaper left a photographer's assistant fighting for his life in hospital . Shooting spree: Police officers guard the street where left-wing newspaper Liberation is based following a shooting which injured a photographer's assistant . Security: French Interior Minister Manuel Valls is flanked by security officers as he heads to a press conference to give an update on the shooting in Paris . Witnesses . at the trial in 1998 described him as a mentor to the couple and . accused him of exploiting their youth to manipulate them. In . the early 1990s he was known to hang out at squats that were used by . left-wing radicals and were often under police surveillance. Maupin . died of injuries sustained during a shoot-out with police and Rey, a . middle-class student hitherto unknown to the police, was tried and . sentenced to 20 years in jail. She was released in 2009. Dekhar . was acquitted of armed assault but found guilty of procuring the weapon . and sentenced to four years. He was released soon after, having already . served his time in pre-trial detention. Valls . said that Dekhar had 'probably gone abroad' for several years after . serving his sentence and did not appear in official records for that . period. This week's attacks set off a major manhunt and raised concerns about violence against media outlets. The . photographer, who suffered wounds to the chest and stomach, was rushed . to surgery and appeared to be in better condition on Wednesday. Hospital officials said he had regained consciousness and was no longer in need of an artificial respirator.

Abdelhakim . Dekhar, 46, arrested for shooting a newspaper photographer . Found by officers in underground car park after 'trying to commit suicide' Police say his DNA samples match scenes of two attacks in French capital . Was jailed for four years for buying gun used in the 1994 Rey-Maupin . affair . The police shoot-out with Florence Rey and lover Audry Maupin left five dead .

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Amman, Jordan (CNN) -- Even as the world's military chiefs gathered in Jordan to debate their next move on Syria, the host nation is keen to keep the talks under wraps. Official statements have been scant, the precise date, time and location seem secret. Expect no post-meeting press conference either, we are told. The "why" is very simple: Jordan fears if it appears in any way to become a spring board for strikes on Syria, it will suffer. How it will suffer and why lies buried in layers of history as complex as the shifting desert sands here. This tiny kingdom has ducked and dived the worst of the regional roiling stirred by the 2011 Arab Spring. Yet the few protests here seem to highlight dissatisfaction with a monarchy the West has come to rely on. A U.S. defense official told CNN no agreements were signed at meetings Monday as "this was not a planning meeting, where we come ready to discuss a specific way forward." But he did say the meetings focused on ways the escalating conflict in Syria could spill over into neighboring countries and affect regional security as a whole. King Abdullah of Jordan rules over a population who have seen food and gas prices rise to the point of pain; they endured the arrival of 100,000's of refugees from both Iraq and Syria, pushing up property prices. When they want the hurt to stop they look up to Abdullah. Most still suffer. To say Jordan is not the most stable of Arab States right now might seem to fly in the face convention. Tourists are still safe here and although they don't flock in the droves they used to, the country's fabled historic sites like the Nabataean ruins in Petra are awash with all shades of international sightseers. But scratch the surface and the have-nots far outnumber the haves. Most agree that corruption is at the root of the growing divide. The Muslim Brotherhood, long a latent force for change here, exploits the inequalities. Their brothers in Egypt, now under the heel of the military, serve as both reminder and reason to wait their moment. And the often unspoken tension here between Palestinians and Jordanians finds greater voice today than in preceding decades. An Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, once again under serious debate, could turn once loyal subjects on their leaders if it upsets the careful balance here -- Jordanians in government, Palestinians in business. In short it would not take much for Bashar al Assad whose forces, an hour and a half drive to the north of Amman and well within missile range of the capital, to turn Jordan into turmoil. So no surprise that this meeting, that was, we are told, planned weeks before the alleged chemical attack in Damascus, has shrunk in profile to be almost invisible. Even U.S. officials appeared to play tag over who can say what. One directs us to the other for comment, and so on. One trusted source here told me of his surprise any details of the meeting had been leaked. For Jordan to host this meeting, at the very moment U.N. weapons inspectors in Damascus are being shot at as they try to figure out if chemical weapons were used, invites the Syrian regime to take the view their tiny neighbor is up to no good. The real fear is this. If military chiefs walk away from their secure chambers here leaving even the tiniest inkling that while on Jordanian soil they would precipitate a strike or intervention in Syria, then Jordan could face terrorist attack or worse from Syria. With chemical weapons now apparently freely in play, few would rule out the possibility those same gun barrels could be directed toward King Abdullah's people. All this said, there is no secret here that weapons are being smuggled across Jordan's border to Syrian rebels. Saudi Arabia is quite proud of its role in this, although Jordanian officials deny the help and say they work to block such smuggling. The real secrets are more intangible. For example, on how much of a hair trigger are the chemical weapons? And what about the U.S. and Jordanian special forces here, hidden away on army bases? How quickly could they be mobilized? It's a worry that many Jordanians have: how quickly could their own stability crumble. CNN's Chris Lawrence contributed to this report .

A meeting of international military chiefs is taking place in Jordan to discuss Syria . Jordan is an ally of the West but stability is being threatened by a growing divide between rich and poor . Amman, a 90-minute drive from Amman, is within striking range for Syrian weapons . Jordan does not want to be seen to be facilitating strikes on Syria, says Nic Robertson .

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By . Ryan Gorman . PUBLISHED: . 02:00 EST, 29 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:20 EST, 29 December 2013 . A New York Times investigation has found no evidence to support claims al-Qaeda or any other international terrorist organization had links to the 2012 storming of the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The six-part report published Saturday instead blamed the poorly-planned attack on local extremists outraged by an American-made video mocking Islam. The Times refutes claims made by many Republicans that al-Qaeda was involved in the attack despite Obama administration assertions to the contrary. Burned to the ground: The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames during a 2012 attack by an armed group said to have been protesting a film being produced in the United States . ‘Extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context, turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault,’ the Times report found. The 2012 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi was carried out by attackers who directly benefited from NATO funding and arms supplied during the Arab Spring uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, the Times reported. ‘The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi,’ the report continued. ‘And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam,’ it concluded. These claims come after over a year of accusations the Obama administration was working to cover up al-Qaeda involvement in the attack, which resulted in the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others. Locked and loaded, but not al-Qaeda: This armed man waving his firearm in the air was not supported by the terror group, he was a local militant, according to the New York Times . Supported by NATO: The Times also claims the militants used weapons provided by NATO during the Arab Spring uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi . Republicans took to talk shows and even held Congressional hearings on the matter, with House Rep Mike Rogers (R-MI) making al-Qaeda claims only last month. ‘It was very clear to the individuals on the ground that this was an al-Qaeda-led event,’ he said. The Times' conclusion that al-Qaeda did not aid in the attack is bolstered by a surprising phone call made from a Libyan militant to a friend close to the terror group. ‘The only intelligence connecting al-Qaeda to the attack was an intercepted phone call that night from a participant in the first wave of the attack to a friend in another African country who had ties to members of al-Qaeda,’ said the report. Totalled: A burnt car is parked at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, which was attacked and set on fire by gunmen September 12, 2012 . ‘When the friend heard the attacker’s boasts, he sounded astonished…suggesting he had no prior knowledge of the assault,’ the report continued. White House officials reached Saturday by NBC News predictably did not dispute the report’s claims. These revelations come only one month after an embarrassing series of blunders in a 60 Minutes report on the attack alleging ties to al-Qaeda that forced a retraction of the claims and the suspension of correspondent Lara Logan.

The New York Times found no ties to any terror groups outside Libya . The attack was found to have been planned and carried out by local militants outraged over an American-made anti-muslim video . An al-Qaida linked terrorist was surprised when he learned of the attack in a phone call . The White House has not refuted any of the claims made in the report .

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President Barack Obama is the first American president known to have authorized the assassination of a US citizen. On September 30, 2011, Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen by virtue of his birth in New Mexico in 1971, was killed by an American drone in Yemen along with another U.S. citizen, Samir Khan, who grew up in New York City and Charlotte, North Carolina. Al-Awlaki had played an operational role in al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- for instance, tasking the "underwear bomber," Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, to bring down an American airliner over the United States. AbdulMutallab attempted to bring down Northwest Flight 253 over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009, but luckily his underwear bomb didn't detonate correctly. Khan had played more of a supporting role for AQAP as the editor of the group's online magazine, Inspire, which has inspired a number of terrorists, including the two brothers suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon last year. The killings of two American citizens by a U.S. drone without a judicial process caused considerable outrage on both the left and the right. Since then there has been far more public discussion of the secretive drone program, both by U.S. government officials, including President Obama, and at public hearings about drones in Congress. But will al-Awlaki and Khan be the last Americans to die in a U.S. drone strike? U.S. officials are now debating whether to kill with a drone another American citizen who is part of al Qaeda and believed to be plotting attacks against the United States, a senior U.S. official tells CNN. The Associated Press first reported this development but is withholding the name of the targeted individual. There has been speculation but no confirmation about who the individual might be. At least a couple of other American citizens or permanent residents are known to play important roles in al Qaeda today. One name that has been mentioned in media reports is that of California-born Adam Gadahn, who for the past decade has operated as a leading al Qaeda propagandist. In 2006 Gadahn was the first American charged with treason in more than half a century. However, there is, at least so far, no public information that Gadahn has played an operational role in al Qaeda's terrorist plots, and therefore it is unlikely that he would be placed on a "kill list," unless his role in al Qaeda has changed of late from propagandist to operational planner. According to a senior U.S. administration official, Gadahn is not the subject of the ongoing high-level discussions about whether a new name should be added to the kill list. In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee in May 2013, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder laid out the legal rationale the government uses to determine if an American citizen can be killed in a drone strike. In the letter, Holder said that based on Supreme Court decisions during World War II, merely being an American citizen does not make one "immune from being targeted." Holder also asserted that an American who poses an "imminent threat of violent attack against the United States" and is in a location where capture "is not feasible" could be killed. Holder explained that al-Awlaki "plainly satisfied all these conditions" as he had recruited the underwear bomber and instructed him to blow up an U.S. airliner "when it was over American soil." Al-Awlaki was also killed in a remote part of Yemen where a U.S. ground operation to capture him was deemed unfeasible by the Obama administration. There is a certain irony in Holder's legal reasoning. The FBI was monitoring al-Awlaki's e-mail account for years before he was killed. To monitor his e-mail, the FBI had to get a court order. Yet the decision to target al-Awlaki for death was made without any kind of judicial proceeding. As Vicki Divoll, a former assistant general counsel for the CIA, nicely put it a year before al-Awlaki was killed in the drone strike, "Awlaki's right to privacy exceeds his right to life." Khan was killed in the same drone strike that killed al-Awlaki, but according to a senior U.S. official, that was unintentional and was merely a byproduct of Khan traveling in the same car as al-Awlaki when the drone strike occurred. In sum, Khan's role as the editor of Inspire magazine was not enough to put him on a kill list. When it comes to targeting a U.S. citizen for death, American officials, by their own account, will make particular efforts to determine how dangerous an al Qaeda operative that person really is. In the eyes of many Americans, however, a decision to kill one of their own should also be subject to judicial review.

Peter Bergen: U.S. officials reported to be considering targeting an American citizen . He says Obama authorized killing of Anwar al-Awlaki by U.S. drone in Yemen . Attorney general said U.S. citizens aren't immune to attack, put forth criteria for these cases . Bergen: Many Americans would argue such a decision requires review by courts .

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(CNN) -- For the first time, Indonesian maids working in Saudi Arabia will be guaranteed a monthly wage, time off, and contact with their loved ones, under a new agreement signed by the Gulf kingdom and Jakarta this week. Human rights groups say the pact is a step towards ensuring the protection of foreign workers' basic rights in Saudi Arabia. But it fails to address a worrying trend of domestic helpers filing complaints of exploitation and abuse only to face counter-allegations by their employers of "theft, witchcraft or adultery," according to Human Rights Watch. The penalties for these crimes are harsh in the deeply conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which practices a puritanical form of Islam. "There's a real belief, and it's something that can be prosecuted through the Saudi courts, that black magic or witchcraft is real," said Nisha Varia, senior researcher for women's rights at Human Rights Watch. "Domestic workers are especially vulnerable to these types of accusations because of cultural differences." Abuse of Asian migrants . Varia, who spoke to domestic workers as part of a report on abuses against Asian migrants in Saudi Arabia, says an amulet on a necklace may be enough for an employer to accuse a maid of plotting to bring bad luck on the family. Earlier this month, King Abdullah pardoned an Indonesian maid, who was on death row after being convicted in 2003 of "casting a magic spell on her employer and his family," a spokesman for the Indonesian Embassy told Saudi news site, Arab news. She returned to her home in West Java, but others haven't been so lucky. Some 41 other Indonesian workers face possible death sentences in Saudi Arabia on charges ranging from black magic to stealing, adultery and murder, according to the Indonesian Foreign Ministry and local non-profit groups. Many facing charges claim they suffered long-term abuse or exploitation at the hands of employers, according to the Indonesian Foreign Ministry's director for legal aid and protection of Indonesian nationals overseas, Tatang Budie Utama Razak. "When I observe why they killed their employer, most of them were not mentally ready (to work overseas)," Razak told CNN. "They have to work unlimited hours, they have take care of the children, take care of the house, (their salaries are) unpaid, they cannot go out, (and) they cannot contact their families," he said. No fair trial . Most have not been given a fair trial, said Anis Hidayah, executive director of Indonesian group Migrant Care. "Sometimes they don't have access to interpreters or lawyers who make sure they understand the trial process," Hidayah added. Hidayah's organization is campaigning for the release of Satinah binti Jumadi Ahmad, a 40-year-old maid who is on death row for murdering her employer and fleeing with SR37,500 (US$10,000). The woman reportedly admitted to killing her boss but said it was in self defense as her employer had been trying to attack her at the time. In cases like Satinah's, it can be difficult to know exactly what happened, said Varia from Human Rights Watch, since the alleged incidents often take place behind closed doors in employers' homes. Varia said many domestic workers who are being overworked or aren't getting paid won't come forward because they fear the authorities will believe their employers, who are well-connected or at least speak flawless Arabic, over a foreigner who may be unfamiliar with the language, local laws and her rights. 'Blood money' Satinah is due to be beheaded in the coming weeks, unless she can raise a hefty "blood money" payment to give to her employer's heirs. Indonesian authorities have negotiated the amount down from SR10 million (US$2.6 million) to SR7 million (US$1.8 million), according to Razak. The maid's 20-year-old daughter, who was 11 when her mother left Indonesia, sent a letter to the employer's family pleading for her release. So far, SR4 million has been raised, including a SR3 million contribution from the Indonesian government along with other donations from Indonesian citizens and an unnamed Saudi donor, Razak said. Around 1.5 million women -- mostly from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines -- work in Saudi Arabia as domestic workers, according to Human Rights Watch. They make up less than a quarter of the kingdom's eight million foreign workers but account for most of the complaints received by embassies of sending countries, the organization said. Common complaints include wages not being paid, passports being seized, brutal work hours, and forced labor along with physical and sexual abuse. Another 28-year-old Indonesian on death row, Tuti Tursilawati binti Warjuki, allegedly killed her employer in 2010 when he attempted to rape her following months of sexual violence. Workers freeze . In 2011, the beheading of Indonesian maid Ruyati binti Satubi by Saudi Arabia sparked outrage in Indonesia. Jakarta had been in the process of requesting a pardon for the 54-year old, and was not informed prior to her execution. This seemed to be the last straw for Indonesia which announced it would put a freeze on sending new workers to Gulf nation. Saudi Arabia responded by suspending visas to Indonesian domestic workers. The ban has remained in place since, but disputes between foreign workers from other countries and their employers have continued to emerge. In one of the most high-profile cases, a Sri Lankan, Rizana Nafeek, 24, was beheaded in January 2013 after being convicted of killing her employer's baby when she was 17. At the time, Amnesty International condemned the death and warned that "a disproportionate number of foreign nationals, mainly migrant workers from countries in the global South," had been executed in Saudi Arabia over recent years. New rules . Six months later, Saudi Arabia introduced new regulations that offered all foreign domestic workers basic protections including sick leave, work days of no longer than 15 hours, and paid vacation for one month every two years. The regulations also stipulated that domestic workers must respect the teachings of Islam, maintain her employer's family secrets, and follow their employers' "orders." After more than two years of negotiation, Saudia Arabia and Indonesia signed an agreement on Wednesday that clarifies, for the first time, the duties and wages of workers and responsibilities of employers, explained Razak. According to reports in Saudi media, a statement from Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Labor said the pact aims to "strengthen relations between the two countries and moderate the relationship between employers and employees." The ministry has signed similar agreements with three other countries that, combined, make up 70% of Saudi Arabia's domestic helper workforce, and has started new committees to look into foreign workers' issues, the statement added. CNN reached out to Saudi authorities for this story but have yet to receive a response. Under the new agreement, Indonesian maids must have one day off a week, be allowed to keep their passports, to communicate with family and friends outside their employers' homes, and receive health insurance. The agreement could lead to the ban being lifted, but Indonesia wants to see how it will be implemented before allowing more citizens to migrate to Saudi Arabia, according to Razak. He hopes the agreement will minimize the risk of Indonesians ending up on death row in Saudi prisons by preparing the workers better while helping employers to understand the rights of workers in their homes. Rights groups skeptical . Indonesia must also ensure potential domestic workers receive medical check ups and do not have a criminal record, and setting up these systems will take time, Razak said. There must also be a shift in how some employers perceive their workers, he said. "We thank the destination countries because they have provided jobs. At the same time the user must be thankful for the workers, because they also will be assisted by the workers." But human rights groups are skeptical that the 2013 regulations and the new pact with Indonesia will improve the lives of the workers any time soon. Varia from Human Rights Watch said there are some advances in the pact, but it fails to tackle some of the root causes of what makes domestic workers so vulnerable, such as Saudi Arabia's "kafala," or sponsorship, system. "Employers have so much control over their domestic worker by being their immigration sponsor. They have control over whether the domestic worker can change jobs (and) they have to give their approval before the domestic worker even leaves the country," she said. "This system is the cause of such a huge power imbalance that leads to a lot of exploitation and that needs to change."

Saudi Arabia and Indonesia sign pact to outline basic rights of foreign domestic workers . A ban preventing Indonesians from working in Saudi Arabia may be lifted . Rights groups say foreign workers are vulnerable to abuse and legal hurdles . 41 Indonesians in Saudi Arabia face possible execution on charges from murder to sorcery .

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John Boye and Andre Ayew scored as Ghana came from behind to defeat South Africa 2-1 and seal their progress to the quarter-finals of the African Nations Cup. Both teams were facing elimination from the tournament following Mandla Masango's fantastic first-half strike, but Boye gave Avram Grant's side hope in the 73rd minute. Ayew's header seven minutes from time ensured the four-times winners progressed as Group C winners, with Algeria also reaching the knockout stages, while Bafana Bafana finished bottom of their group with just a solitary point. Andre Ayew is overjoyed as his 83rd minute goal secures victory for Ghana against Bafana Bafana . Ghana players celebrate at the final whistle after they qualified for the quarter-finals . The Black Stars topped Group C after their thrilling comeback victory on Tuesday night . South Africa players sit dejected on the pitch as Avram Grant's men celebrate victory with their fans . Ghana's goalkeeper Razak Brimah sits dejected after Mandla Masango's stunning goal in the 17th minute . Masango (left) races away to celebrate after his right-footed shot from outside the box opened the scoring . The South Africa midfielder is mobbed by his team-mates after his early goal put his side into the lead . Ephraim Mashaba's men needed to win and hope Algeria lost to Senegal if they were to progress while the Black Stars only needed to defeat South Africa in Mongomo. South Africa were forced into desperate defending early on when Eric Mathoho brilliantly cleared off the line from Jordan Ayew, whose first strike was parried back into his path by goalkeeper Nhlanhla Khuzwayo. Ghana's profligacy came back to haunt them as Ephraim Mashaba's men took the lead in sensational style in the 17th minute. There appeared to be little danger when Masango fell after flicking on, but when the ball was headed back into his path, the Kaizer Chiefs forward was up in a flash and backpedalled before unleashing a volley over Brimah Razak. South Africa coach Ephraim Mashaba (right) shakes a joke with Ghana boss Grant before the game . Ghana fans await the start of their sides Group C clash against South Africa . It raised South Africa's hopes of progression but Ghana responded well, with Daniel Amartey missing with a header and Khuzwayo pulling off another excellent save from Baba Rahman's strike. South Africa, though, remained a threat going forward and Razak kept the deficit to one at the interval with a fine stop from Bongani Ndulula's downward header. Asamoah Gyan's free-kick went just over while Jordan Ayew's effort had Khuzwayo struggling to tip round the post, but otherwise Ghana struggled going forward. Both sides were facing the prospect of going out, with Algeria's lead over Senegal thwarting South Africa's hopes, but Ghana gave themselves a lifeline in the 73rd minute. Ghana's Andre Ayew (left) feels the full force of Anele Ngcongca's wild challenge . Ghana forward Ayew rises high to meet a header under pressure from South Africa's Rivaldo Coetzee (left) Andre Ayew's cross-cum-shot fell into the path of Boye, who turned and slotted home to level matters. The goal galvanised Ghana and they nearly took the lead immediately afterwards as Kwesi Appiah's long range strike was tipped onto the post by Khuzwayo. But it proved not to matter as they scored again seven minutes from time, with Andre Ayew just getting to Rahman's left-wing cross ahead of Khuzwayo to head into an empty net. Seconds later, Algeria doubled their lead against Senegal to ensure both they and Ghana progressed.

Ghana top Group C after late comeback . Avram Grant's side score late for second game in a row to reach last eight . South Africa crash out with one point from three games . Mandla Masango fired South Africa into the lead in the 17th minute . John Boye equalised for Ghana with 20 minutes remaining . Andre Ayew secured victory for the Black Stars in the 83rd minute .

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Former Scunthorpe boss Russ Wilcox has been named the new manager of League Two side York. The Minstermen have moved quickly following the departure of Nigel Worthington earlier this week. Chairman Jason McGill told the club's official website: 'We believe Russ is the right person to take this club forward. He has excellent managerial experience and a track record of success in League Two. Former Scunthorpe manager Russ Wilcox has been appointed the boss at League Two side York City . Nigel Worthington confirmed his resignation as York City manager on Monday after only one win this season . 'He is a hard-working individual and an excellent motivator and someone who shares our vision for the club now and in the future.' Wilcox, 50, was sacked by Scunthorpe earlier this month after a poor run of results in Sky Bet League One. He had taken over last December following a spell as caretaker boss at his former club and led the Iron to promotion last season having finished runners-up to Chesterfield in League Two. Mark Robins became the new manager of Scunthorpe after Wilcox's sacking on Wednesday .

League Two side York City are currently 22nd after a dismal run of results . Nigel Worthington resigned on Monday after only one win in 14 games . Russ Wilcox takes over having been sacked last week by Scunthorpe . Wilcox led Scunthorpe to promotion from League Two last season .

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By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 04:01 EST, 26 March 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 12:44 EST, 26 March 2013 . Virgin trains are to continue running on the West Coast mainline until 2017, five years after Sir Richard Branson was supposed to lose the right to operate Britain’s biggest stretch of track. Ministers today admitted they have torn up the timetable for awarding a dozen lucrative franchises after unearthing systemic failures in the way multi-billion pound bidding competitions were handled. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin also revealed plans to put the East Coast main line back into private hands, after it was nationalised by the Labour government in 2009. Scroll down to watch the Transport Secretary's Commons speech . More delays: In an attempt to finally get a grip on the multi-billion bidding process to run Britain's railways, it was announced Virgin trains are to run the West Coast line until 2017 . Unveiling an overhauled franchise process today, Mr McLoughlin confirmed a series of delays to stop a repeat of the debacle over the West Coast line. The contest to run South Eastern services has been put back from April 2014 to June 2018 while the Great Western franchise, run by FirstGroup and due to end in October this year, will not start until July 2016. The Northern franchise, due to end in April 2014, will not begin until February 2016. The first of the new franchises to start will be Essex Thameside, where the franchise ends in May this year and will begin in September 2014. Details of the new franchise timetable reveal a string of delays . Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin put the brakes on the entire contracts process after discovering 'significant flaws' The decision-making process about . which firms run the nation’s railways were plunged into chaos last . summer when ministers announced that Virgin had lost the West Coast . franchise. FirstGroup was awarded the £13billion, 13-year deal in August but Virgin launched a legal challenge. As . officials prepared for the High Court proceedings, ‘significant . technical flaws’ in the contract competition were unearthed. In . particular major mistakes were made in the use of inflation and . passenger numbers, with different firms given different data. Three . civil servants were suspended and the deal was halted. With taxpayers facing a compensation bill of up to £100million, Mr McLoughlin initially asked Sir Richard to continue running services until early 2014 but today the government admitted a new operator will not now take over until 2017. It was the chaos surrounding the West Coast deal which triggered two independent reviews - one on the West Coast fiasco and the other on the whole franchise process. Rail minister Simon Burns said he was confident the new contest would be 'cock-up free'. He told BBC News: 'We have learnt the lessons of past mistakes with the West Coast Mainline and so that we can move forward.' Passenger Focus chief executive . Anthony Smith said: 'The time for passenger power has come. For too long passengers have been the passive recipients of major decisions made on their behalf behind closed doors. 'The voice of the user - and main funder - of the railways should be radically boosted in a process that needs to be opened up to scrutiny. We are going to work with Government to make this a reality.' Today's announcement is the direct result of the reviews and effectively sets the franchise process back on track. Maria Eagle, Labour’s shadow . transport secretary, said: 'The full scale of the chaos caused by the . Government’s rail franchising fiasco has now been revealed with almost . every contract delayed by up to a staggering fifty months. 'Ministers have still not come clean . about the full extent of the losses facing taxpayers as a result of this . scandal, despite many industry experts putting the likely cost at well . over £100 million and a series of legal disputes yet to be settled.' The announcement is a fresh boost for Sir Richard Branson's Virgin trains, just months after being told it had lost the bidding war . In a statement to MPs, Mr McLoughlin . said: ‘This programme is a major step in delivering tangible . improvements to services, providing long-term certainty to the market . and supporting our huge programme of rail investment. ‘Above . all, in future franchise competitions we are placing passengers in the . driving seat by ensuring that their views and satisfaction levels are . taken into account when deciding which companies run our railway . services. The move to return the East Coast mainline to private hands ends the modern experiment in the government running services for the first time since the privatisation of British Rail. In . 2009 National Express walked away from the East Coast Main Line . franchise, and the Labour government took control of services. A new government-owned company, Directly Operated Railways, was created and has run the services ever since. It recorded a seven per cent rise in profits to £7.1 million in 2011-12. In the four weeks to August 19, 93 per cent of East Coast trains were on time up from 87 per cent on 2011. The four-hour Flying Scotsman express . service from Edinburgh to London (pictured) was reinstated and extra services to . Lincoln and Harrogate were introduced. The . apparent success of the state-running of services caused the RMT . transport union to call for the same to happen on the West Coast line. DOR overhauled the East Coast timetable, introducing almost 20 new weekday services. But ministers have now announced it will be run by a private company from February 2015. ‘Franchising has . been a force for good in the story of Britain's railways, transforming . an industry that was in decline into one that today carries record . numbers of passengers.’ In a surprise move, the government hopes to put the East Coast line back in private hands in less than two years. The line - a key London to Scotland . route - has been run under the control of the Department for Transport . since November 2009 after transport company National Express pulled out. Mr . McLoughlin announced the ‘immediate start of the competition’ for the . East Coast franchise with an expected start of service by the new . operator in February 2015. Rail . unions reacted with dismay to the East Coast news, pointing out that . the private sector had twice given up the franchise, with GNER pulling . out some years ago. They . also highlighted the fact that the taxpayer is likely to have to foot a . bill as high as £50 million over the botched West Coast franchise. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: ‘Despite wasting hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money on the franchising circus, and instead of learning the lessons of the privatisation disasters on the East and West Coast main lines and across the rest of the network, the Government has this morning given the green light to a whole new wave of profiteering that will have the train companies laughing all the way to the bank. ‘The proposed reprivatisation of the East Coast, after the public sector rescued the service following two private failures, proves conclusively that the political class have learnt absolutely nothing when it comes to our railways. ‘This is a politically-inspired wrecking move designed to flog off this publicly-owned intercity route before the next election regardless of the consequences.’ Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA rail . union, said: ‘The Tories are just like the Bourbons when it comes to . rail - they ignore all the lessons of history. ‘The . £50 million West Coast line fiasco revealed that private franchises are . a shambles. So they go and privatise the only successful publicly-owned . franchise, the East Coast line. ‘This . is an act of political spite to reward their friends in the City and to . tie the hands of an incoming Labour government in 2015. The most . expensive rail network in Europe is about to get even more expensive.’ The West Coast debacle pitted Virgin Trains against FirstGroup against each other, with Virgin emerging as the main beneficiary of the delays to awarding the £13boillion contract . TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady, who chairs the Action for Rail campaign said: 'This decision defies all logic. Since returning to public ownership the East Coast Mainline has flourished with passenger numbers and customer satisfaction increasing and all profits re-invested back into improving the service. 'The government, however, is not interested in evidence-based policy and is once again putting the interests of private companies and shareholders before those of commuters and taxpayers. 'This is privatisation for privatisation’s sake, as ministers steadfastly ignore what is best for the rail industry and the people who work on it and use it.'

Decision on who will run West Coast services delayed until 2017, says Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin . East Coast line returned to private hands after being nationalised in 2009 . Passenger groups hope end of uncertainty will finally secure much-needed and delayed investment . Unions attack 'wrecking move' of ending state-run services .

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(CNN)It's often said you can tell a lot about a man by the company he keeps. It's an aphorism worth remembering on arguably the most hectic day in the football calendar as clubs rush to grab a deal on transfer deadline day. And according to one football scout, a young man's friends can also tell you if he's going to make it big in the beautiful game. Lutz Pfannenstiel is a former player who now works for German club Hoffenheim, scouring the globe in the hope of finding a future star. Profiling players, and seeing how they behave off the pitch, is key to understanding whether they are right for the Bundesliga, insists Pfannenstiel -- who played for 25 clubs during a rich and varied career. "I can go to Africa, I can go to Brazil, I can find hundreds of top class players. But the question is, will they really work in Germany?" the former goalkeeper told CNN. A fan of big cats, Pfannenstiel has some David Attenbrough-like qualities in his observation of footballers. Whether they are in training, staying at a hotel, or even just socializing in a group, he watches them closely for signs of telltale behavior. "It sounds very basic, but if I see a player who walks around by himself with big earphones on, and ignores everything that is around him, then I am not sure that that's the player I would like to have," he explained. Musical head gear is not the only thing that detective Pfannenstiel checks up on, with players' social lives being put under a magnifying glass too. "Does he have bad friends? Is he going out on the weekend? Is he a really hard working professional? These are all things you can find out," he said. Networking is Pfannenstiel's modus operandi, allowing him to keep track of players across the globe without clocking too many air miles. Whether players know it or not, people close to them might be reporting back to scouts like Pfannenstiel, so it's important players are on their best behavior -- and keep the right company. "There are guys who are basically looking at every woman in the team's hotel Is that really what you want? It's good to have a personal profile, it's good to see their behavior outside the football field." Language can be another stumbling block for footballers hoping to make it big abroad, with Pfannenstiel setting a pass mark of being able to speak "at least the basics." The goal is for players to be able to gel with teammates both on and off the pitch -- if they can't then Pfannenstiel will have no qualms about waving "auf wiedersehen" to them. He hopes that they will not just communicate with other players, "but also with the coaches, with the fans. The player needs to be liked by the fans to be 100% happy." In many ways, Hoffenheim epitomize the current transfer market within football. For a provincial club with a humble history -- in 1999, their stadium held less than 1,700 fans -- Hoffenheim's status has been boosted by skilled players from abroad, recruited after some hefty investments from chief financial backer Dietmar Hopp. One foreign import who has impressed Pfannenstiel is Eugen Polanski, a Polish national player who joined Hoffenheim in 2013 and has since become an essential pillar of the team. Wilfried Bony has a similar story, originally from the Ivory Coast he was prolific with Vitesse in the Netherlands before joining English Premier League team Swansea in 2013. Bony was the top goal scorer in the EPL during the calendar year 2014 and has recently made a $42.5 million move to Manchester City. But not all players settle into foreign countries as easily as Bony and Polanski seem to have done. As Pfannenstiel argues, "Many times players from these countries fail. Not because they're bad players -- they fail because they can't adjust. They can't adjust to the life, to the culture and to the surroundings." Failure is not an option for Hoffenheim, which would rather coach their domestic players to stardom than buy brilliance from abroad. Tightening purse strings are another reason for the club to look for talent closer to home -- with some transfer fees skyrocketing during the January window. "The clubs who give players away, they know the prices are actually sometimes out of proportion," Pfannenstiel argues. The huge expense of some transfer fees means that clubs are under pressure to avoid any costly mistakes, leaving clubs like Hoffenheim to nurture local talent. "We are not that desperate anymore to bring in foreigners left, right, and center -- we'd rather give youngsters a chance." It's a tactic that Hoffenheim -- along with many other German clubs -- have used to their advantage. "The number of players coming from the under 19's into the premier league in Germany is higher than it ever was before." The search is now on for top talent in football, but Pfannenstiel won't be looking too far afield.

Lutz Pfannenstiel's transfer deadline day do's and don'ts . Don't wear earphones if you want to impress Lutz Pfannenstiel . He worries that not all players from abroad can adjust to playing in Germany . Hoffenheim aims to develop its youngsters rather than take risks on expensive foreign transfers .

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Borussia Dortmund offered reasons to suggest it won’t simply be another Bayern Munich procession in this season’s Bundesliga as they impressively beat their Bavarian rivals in the Super Cup. Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang secured victory in the curtain-raiser at Signal Iduna Park as Bayern were bossed from start to finish. But how much can we really read into this result? 12 months ago, Jurgen Klopp’s side beat Bayern 4-2 on this same ground in the same competition and duly went on to finish a distant 19 points behind, as well as losing to them in the Cup final. VIDEO Scroll down for German Super Cup highlights Dortmund 2-0 Bayern Munich . Clinical: Dortmund midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan (right) beats Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer to open the scoring . Super hero: Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (with Spiderman mask) celebrates his goal . First blood: Borussia Dortmund celebrate after winning the German Super Cup on Wednesday . Dortmund: Langerak, Piszczek, Sokratis, Ginter, Schmelzer, Kehl, Kirch, Hofmann, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang, Immobile . Subs: Alomerovic, Subotic, Bender, Jojic, Grosskreutz, Ramos, Durm . Bayern: Neuer, Martinez, Lewandowski, Shaqiri, Gaudino, Boateng, Bernat, Rode, Müller, Alaba, Hojbjerg . Subs: Reina, Dante, Pizarro, Gotze, Lahm, Badstuber . And the Bayern side that lost here were well below full strength, with Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger among the absentees from the squad and World Cup heroes Mario Gotze and Philippe Lahm starting on the bench. The team that lines up on the opening day of the Bundesliga season against Wolfsburg at the Allianz Arena on Friday week will be a completely different proposition. But this is a result for Dortmund to hold on to and their fans certainly celebrated as though the result is a good omen for the nine months to come. They fielded Ciro Immobile, the top scorer in Serie A last season who moved from Torino, and he troubled Manuel Neuer with a 10th-minute effort that flew narrowly wide. Concern: Bayern midfielder Javier Martinez lies injured on the pitch during the German Super Cup . Blow: Bayern's Javier Martinez is being carried off on a stretcher after suffering a knee injury . The World Cup-winning goalkeeper was forced into action when Oliver Kirch found space to shoot inside the box, diving to his left to deny the Dortmund man. With the vocal home crowd encouraged, it wasn’t long before Borussia took a deserved lead for their early pressure. It was a move started and finished by Mkhitaryan, who ghosted past youngster Gianluca Gaudino before playing in Aubameyang down the left. The striker’s effort was blocked but it came out invitingly for the Armenian, who rattled the ball past Neuer and into the bottom left corner. Dortmund continued to dictate the pace, with Thomas Muller surprisingly anonymous and Bayern’s midfield unable to gain any control. Gabon forward Aubameyang tested Neuer at his near post, but the goalkeeper produced a low reaction save. There was plenty for Pep Guardiola to be worried about and it got worse when Javi Martinez was forced off on a stretcher after landing heavily on his knee. Setback: Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski suffered defeat in his first game against former club . Gesture: Bayern boss Pep Guardiola tries to motivate his players during German Super Cup . Focused: Dortmund's Marcel Schmelzer, right, challenges for the ball with Munich's Thomas Mueller . Dante replaced him but the defender was unable to stem the yellow tide. Shortly before the break, Neuer saved well from Kirch and Jonas Hoffman in quick succession, though both efforts were aimed straight at the German No 1. Back on his old ground, Robert Lewandowski was well shackled but at least he was spared the ear-splittingly negative reception given to Mario Gotze when he came on. He may have delivered Germany the World Cup exactly a month ago but old club loyalties die hard in these parts. Three minutes after the midfielder’s introduction, Dortmund scored a match-killing second goal. Neat build-up down the right led to Lukasz Piszczek swinging in a perfect cross that Aubameyang headed home. The striker celebrated by pulling out a Spiderman mask, before he was swiftly replaced by Adrian Ramos. Bayern’s spirit faded and Immobile, quiet for long spells, burst into life to drag wide. But there was no late rally from the champions and Dortmund saw out time to land the first blow of the season. But, even as they lifted the trophy and paraded in front of their jubilant fans, they know the struggle to catch Bayern is only just beginning.

Hendrikh Mkhitaryan opened the scoring for Borussia Dortmund . New signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled lead with header . Bayern midfielder Javier Martinez limped off with knee injury .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Some New Yorkers may want to reconsider exclaiming "Thank God" when arriving at their destination subway station beginning Monday. A coalition of atheist groups will place ads in New York subway stations next week. Or at least that's what a coalition of eight atheist organizations are hoping, having purchased a month-long campaign that will place their posters in a dozen busy subway stations throughout Manhattan. The advertisements ask the question, written simply over an image of a blue sky with wispy white clouds: "A million New Yorkers are good without God. Are you?" On October 26, a dozen bustling New York City subway stations will be adorned with the ads as "part of a coordinated multi-organizational advertising campaign designed to raise awareness about people who don't believe in a god", according to a statement from the group, the Big Apple Coalition of Reason. New York City's subway system is one of the busiest in the world with more than 5 million riders per day and more than 1.6 billion total passengers in 2008, according to the Metro Transit Authority. Recognizing this, the Big Apple Coalition of Reason decided the "best bang for the buck" was to place posters in popular subway stations to capitalize on the amount of potential viewers, says Michael De Dora Jr., executive director of the New York Center for Inquiry, one of the associated atheist groups. De Dora says the ambitions behind the advertisements are threefold. First, the coalition hopes the promotion will enhance awareness of New York City's secular community. He explained that the coalition also hopes to encourage "talking and thinking about religion and morality," as well as support involvement in groups that encourage a sense of a social community for non-believing New Yorkers. John Rafferty, president of the Secular Humanist Society of New York, another member group of the coalition, said the ads are in no way an anti-religious campaign. They are looking to reach out to more people who have similar feelings, but might not be aware of an outlet to express their beliefs, he said. Rafferty and De Dora cite the American Religious Identification Survey, released earlier this year, as evidence of a shift away from organized religion. Those checking "none" for religion rose from 8 percent of the population in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008, effectively making "no religion" the fastest growing religious identification in the United States. De Dora said that the "million" New York nonbelievers mentioned in the advertisements is the result of an extrapolation based on the survey's findings. With more than 8 million residents living in New York's five boroughs, the organization projects more than a million potential atheist New Yorkers. De Dora said individuals "don't need religion to be good people and productive members of society" and ultimately he feels that groups of nonbelievers are "adding to cultural life of NYC." The United Coalition of Reason, which is a national organization that helps local groups advocate atheist ideas, approached the New York nonbeliever associations in August with an offer of a donation from an anonymous source to help pay for the subway station ad campaign. The donation amount was for exactly $25,000 and specifically allocated for the subway advertising promotion. Rafferty says the groups involved expect no substantial backlash over their ads. Since news of the campaign was made public early this week "reaction has been mixed," De Dora said. He emphasizes that the Big Apple Coalition of Reason ads are not "forcing issues, they're just getting ideas out there," with the hope of fostering discussion in New York. The ads are "not poking fun at religion and not being outright nasty," he said. A year ago some unease was caused by advertisements that ran inside subway cars promoting Islam. While the ads themselves weren't controversial, they were partially funded by an imam of a Brooklyn mosque who served a character witness for convicted 1993 World Trade Center bombing mastermind Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman. In a statement to CNN, Metro Transit Authority spokesman Aaron Donovan said, "The MTA maintains basic advertising guidelines with prohibitions on nudity, four-letter words, and the like. Beyond that, to accord with the First Amendment, our advertising guidelines are written so as to not prohibit the free exercise of religion or abridge the freedom of speech." According to the Big Apple Coalition of Reason in their statement, the New York City campaign is just one component of a "nationwide effort" by the United Coalition of Reason that will see billboards and postings in transit systems across the United States.

On October 26, New York City subway stations will be adorned with the ads . Group: Ads designed to raise awareness about people who don't believe in a god . Subway system one of busiest in world with more than 5 million riders a day .

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By . Tom Gardner . PUBLISHED: . 07:12 EST, 28 June 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 02:06 EST, 29 June 2012 . A bitter bride has condemned NatWest after it ruined her honeymoon and described their stunt of delivering £1,000 cash to make amends as 'too little, too late.' Newlyweds Kimberley and Dominic Proffitt were left devastated when they were unable to jet off after their wedding because of the bank's computer problems. Generous wedding guests surprised the couple by collecting £1,000 to send the pair on a romantic once-in-a-lifetime break to the Greek island of Rhodes. Joy: Kimberley Dominic Proffitt, pictured on their wedding day, had their hopes of enjoying a romantic honeymoon on a Greek island dashed when their payment was rejected because of the NatWest computer meltdown . But after banking the cash in . preparation to book an online deal, Kimberley and Dominic, 34, found . their money had been trapped by the bank's major computer ‘glitch’. They were left grounded because travel . agents could not process their debit card due to the computer meltdown, . which has caused a backlog of 100 million transactions. And Kimberley branded a gesture by local bank boss Tracy Tonry of turning up on their doorstep to hand delivering their £1,000 in cash, several days later, as 'too little too late'. Grounded: Kimberley Proffitt saw her chance at a dream honeymoon destroyed when the NatWest computer glitch meant she could not book the tickets . Insurance clerk Kimberley, 25 and from . Codsall, West Midlands said: ‘The wedding day was perfect - we had a . vintage Rolls Royce, three-course meal and I had a beautiful dress. ‘So when this happened with our bank account, we were just in shock. ‘I couldn’t believe that we would not be going on our honeymoon. We were absolutely devastated’ The couple, who have been together for . four years, chose not to have a present list, and instead asked friends . and family to contribute to the honeymoon. ‘We had everything we wanted,’ added Kimberley. ‘We didn’t want to presume, but everyone was so generous.’ Kimberley had the first inkling something was wrong on Monday evening when she and Dominic treated their bridesmaids to a meal. She said: ‘I paid by card at the bar and the card was declined, so our bridesmaids had to pay in cash and pay for us too. ‘The barman looked at the card and . said, “Oh, it’s a NatWest one” and everyone started talking about the . problems people had been having. ‘Me and Dominic didn’t have a clue. We’d been so busy with the wedding that we hadn’t watched the TV much or seen the news. ‘We rang the bank and were told that . the money would show in the account on Tuesday, so we went ahead and . made the booking because there would have been more than enough to cover . the honeymoon.’ Apologetic NatWest bosses hand-delivered the missing £1,000 to the couple’s home in cash. But Kimberley said: ‘I appreciate they were trying to make a gesture, but it felt like too little too late.’ The couple are now trying to book a . last-minute break before Kimberley has to return to work on July 8, yet . face paying an extra £400 if they still want to go to Rhodes. A NatWest spokesman said: ‘Our local CEO Tracy Tonry has spoken to Kimberley and personally delivered cash to her. Too little too late: Kimberley Proffitt, left, finally gets the money, which would should have been spent on a dream honeymoon, hand delivered by Tracy Tonry, the CEO of Coventry and North Warwickshire NatWest . ‘We are very sorry for the impact on our customers and urge them to call in at their branch.’ Millions of customers were unable to . view an up-to-date balance, make payments such as direct debits for . bills and receive their wages following a software update last Tuesday. The bank said in a statement: . 'Technical issues have caused considerable disruption to many of our . retail and business customers, as well as customers of other banks. We . have made significant progress in resolving the issues and are working . around the clock to put things right for our customers. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) warned that it could be weeks before customers see all of the issues completely resolved. The banking group had extended its . opening hours during the week as staff worked 'round the clock' to sort . out the problems, which began after a software update last Tuesday. No . money: A mother with a baby passes a NatWest cashpoint which says . millions have been left high and dry due to 'tecnical difficulties' in . Olney, Buckinghamshire . People have had their house moves and . holidays disrupted and a defendant in a court case had to spend the . weekend in prison because the RBS computer failure prevented his bail . money being transferred. In a hearing with the Treasury Select . Committee, Sir Mervyn said the Bank had been in close contact with . management at RBS since the problem arose. He said the issues were technical and not a reflection of funding issues at the bank, which is 80 per cent state-owned. He added: 'Once the current . difficulties are over, we need the Financial Services Authority to carry . out a detailed investigation to find out what went wrong - and . importantly why it took so long to recover.'

Newlyweds found they could not access cash raised to send them on a dream romantic break due to NatWest's computer glitch . Couple forced to stay at home after missing honeymoon deal because travel agents could not process their payment . Grovelling NatWest boss apologises and takes the cash to the upset couple's home .

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(CNN) -- Americans appear to actually thrive on adversity, according to a study published this week that reached the conclusion after researching the nation's biggest economic downturn. This sculpture at the FDR Memorial in Washington depicts men waiting in a Great Depression bread line. Life expectancy during the peak years of the Great Depression increased 6.2 years -- from 57.1 years in 1929 to 63.3 years in 1933 -- according to University of Michigan researchers Jose A. Tapia Granados and Ana Diez Roux. The increase applied to men and women, whites and non-whites. The team crunched data from the federal government and concluded that "population health did not decline and indeed generally improved during the four years of the Great Depression, 1930-1933, with mortality decreasing for almost all ages, and life expectancy increasing by several years in males, females, whites, and non-whites." For most age groups, "mortality tended to peak during years of strong economic expansion (such as 1923, 1926, 1929 and 1936-1937)," they wrote in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." "The finding is strong and counterintuitive," said Tapia Granados, the lead author of the study. "Most people assume that periods of high unemployment are harmful to health." The researchers used historical life expectancy and mortality data to examine the association between economic growth and population health from 1920 to 1940. Though population health improved during 1930-1933 and during the recessions of 1921 and 1938, mortality -- the death rate -- increased and life expectancy fell during times of economic expansion, such as 1923, 1926, 1929 and 1936-1937, they wrote. The researchers looked at mortality rates due to six causes of death that made up two-thirds of total mortality in the 1930s: cardiovascular and kidney diseases, cancer, influenza and pneumonia, tuberculosis, motor vehicle injuries and suicide. Only suicide went up during economic downturns, they said, citing the recession years 1921, 1932 and 1938, but suicides accounted for less than 2 percent of total deaths. Those years were marked by high unemployment; the nation experienced its highest unemployment rate of 22.9 percent in 1932, they wrote. Yet from 1920 to 1940, life expectancy increased 8.8 years. The authors speculated about possible explanations for why population health tends to improve during recessions but not expansions. "During expansions, firms are very busy, and they typically demand a lot of effort from employees, who are required to work a lot of overtime, and to work at a fast pace," Tapia Granados said. "This can create stress, which is associated with more drinking and smoking." In addition, new, inexperienced workers may be more likely to become injured; workers may sleep less and adopt less healthy eating habits, he said. Further, boom times may translate into more industrial pollution, which can take a toll on populations' health, he said. During recessions, with less work to do, employees may work slower, sleep longer and spend more time with family and friends, he said. With less money, they may spend less on alcohol and tobacco. The researchers pointed out that their work looked at the relationship between recessions and mortality on a macro level and was not predictive for any one person. The findings may apply to others, too. Tapia Granados, 53, whose work was self-funded, said he has carried out similar studies that looked at Japan, Spain and Sweden. "In the three of them, it was the same," he said.

Study: Life expectancy rose, mortality dropped during Great Depression . Opposite happened during surrounding times of economic expansion, study shows . Study examined population health from 1920 to 1940 . Speculation: In hard times, more sleep, less money for drinking and smoking .

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By . Ap . PUBLISHED: . 00:51 EST, 26 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 01:33 EST, 26 May 2013 . Some call it wishful thinking, but President Barack Obama has all but declared an end to the global war on terror.Obama is not claiming final victory over extremists who still seek to kill Americans and other Westerners. Instead, he is refocusing the long struggle against terrorism that lies ahead, steering the United States away from what he calls an equally frightening threat - a country in a state of perpetual war. In doing so, Obama recasts the image of the terrorists themselves, from enemy warriors to cowardly thugs and resets the relationship between the U.S. and Islam.His speech Thursday was designed to move America's mindset away from a war footing and refine and recalibrate his own counterterrorism strategy. Obama asserted that al-Qaida is 'on the path to defeat,' reducing the scale of terrorism to pre-Sept. 11 levels. That means that with the Afghanistan war winding down, Obama is unlikely to commit troops in large numbers to any conflict - in Syria or other countries struggling with instability in the uncertain aftermath of the Arab Spring - unless, as his critics fear, he tragically has underestimated al-Qaida's staying power. 'Over': President Barack Obama Thursday declared the war on terror to be 'over' - much to the chagrin of Republicans in Congress . 'Wishing the defeat of terrorists does not make it so,' said Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican who is vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and a member of the House Intelligence Committee.In Thornberry's view, Obama is pushing the idea that 'we can simply declare al-Qaida beaten and go back to the pre-9/11 era.'From the beginning of his presidency, Obama's centerpiece of his national security strategy has been a desire to move beyond the wars he inherited in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in the shadowy spaces occupied by al-Qaida and its offshoots now creeping up in North Africa and elsewhere. 'Too often, this president has sought to end combat operations through rhetoric rather than reality,' GOP Rep. Howard P. 'Buck' McKeon of California, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Friday. 'He has declared the war in Iraq over, but the insurgency there continues. He has declared an end to combat operations in Afghanistan, but the Taliban fight on. He has now declared the war on terrorism over, despite a terrorist attack in Britain this week, a terrorist attack in Boston last month and a terrorist attack in Libya that left a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans dead last year.'Yet the president cautioned against a return to what he called a complacency in counterterrorism before Islamic extremists hijacked U.S. jetliners and slammed them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.'Make no mistake,' he said, 'our nation is still threatened by terrorists,' noting that the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, last September and in Boston last month were tragic reminders. 'We cannot use force everywhere that a radical ideology takes root' But he also left little doubt that he thinks it is time to turn the page on the post-9/11 approach. He was referring not only to the controversial use of armed drones to target terrorists in Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries, but also the commitment of tens of thousands of U.S. ground troops in conventional fighting.'For all the focus on the use of force, force alone cannot make us safe,' he said. 'We cannot use force everywhere that a radical ideology takes root,' adding that 'a perpetual war - through drones or Special Forces or troop deployments - will prove self-defeating and alter our country in troubling way.'Some counterterrorism experts long have argued that the global war on terror should be brought to a close, and that some of the policies and programs put in place after 9/11 should be reconsidered and possibly changed.James Lewis, a national security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, argues for a more traditional approach to battling terrorism, largely through law enforcement and the intelligence community.Lewis said that ending the fight against terrorism will help reinforce the administration's message that America is not at war with Islam.'It helps, because it delegitimizes the terrorists,' said Lewis. 'They want to think of themselves as warriors. We want the world to think of them as crooks. We want everyone in every country not to think of them as terrorists defending Islam, but as people who are psychos. They are criminals, and that's what we want to paint them as.' The 'end': Republicans in Congress tend to disagree . That is closely in line with Obama's description of what remains of the terrorist threat.He said core al-Qaida, the organization formerly led by Osama bin Laden, is 'a shell of its former self.' The president said that while one of its most troublesome affiliates, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, is a force to be reckoned with, 'in the years to come, not every collection of thugs that labels themselves al-Qaida will pose a credible threat to the United States.'He also cautioned against the threat of homegrown extremists and said terrorism may never go away entirely.'But as we shape our response, we have to recognize that the scale of this threat closely resembles the types of attacks we faced before 9/11,' he said.

Obama says al-Qaida is 'on the path to defeat,' reducing the scale of terrorism to pre-Sept. 11 levels. 'Wishing the defeat of terrorists does not make it so,' said Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican .

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(CNN) -- Issam Al-Chalabi worked as Iraqi oil minister from March of 1987 to October 1990. He left Iraq shortly after the invasion by Saddam Hussein of Kuwait in August 1990 and retired from government service in 1991. Since then he has been working as a consultant in Amman, Jordan. John Defterios caught up with Mr Chalabi at the Oil and Money Conference in London this week to ask him about what's driving surging oil prices, the future of the Iraq Oil Industry, and tensions in the region. Issam Al-Chalabi: None of us had expected that £93 would be reached so quickly. There had been some speculation that maybe $100 is achievable but I think it has happened too fast within the past few weeks. It is related to so many factors, so many elements and so many reasons. You cannot just say that it is a result of the value of the dollar. Definitely it is one hell of a factor because the value of the dollar has depreciated compared with six major currencies in the world. John Defterios: But let's take a look first at demand here. Some economists are scaling down their expectations for growth in the U.S. and in Europe. Is the demand outside of the G8 strong enough to underpin the prices that we see today? IC: Yes of course, everybody now is talking about the increasing quantities and demand from China and India. China will certainly consume as much oil as the United States, maybe in 2020. The same thing with India. The rate of growth is increasing tremendously. And there is going to be a strong demand in general, maybe not as much from Europe and the G8 countries, but definitely from the new giants. JD: What is your biggest concern politically in the region right now? We're talking about tensions between Turkey and Northern Iraq and the Kurdish region. And you say there is not a lot of production coming out of that area, but the tensions could overspill into Iran. What's the potential down for here? IC: I don't think that the tension between Turkey and the Kurds will have much influence on the price of oil. But Iran, with the question of the nuclear file and the possibility of the U.S. taking military action against Iran, that is a possibility. Why? Because you have about 18 to 20 million barrels a day that are being exported through the Gulf. And whether Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz or they retaliate by attacking some oil installations in the region, then you have 18 or 20 million barrels a day off the market. If this happens, don't be surprised if you reach $150 or even $200. JD: In Iraq right now, they're talking about a national oil law. That's in draft form. Will that actually be the subject that breaks Iraq apart? IC: Oil certainly could be one major element. If the politicians who are running the country now go ahead and try to divide the oil wealth among various regions as they had drafted in the revenue-sharing law, then I would say that is going to lead to the break up of the country. JD: Meanwhile we have different regions like the Kurdish region signing contracts with U.S. and European oil companies for production agreements. Will these contracts be recognized in the next year as valid? IC: They started, or in fact they never stopped, negotiations with a number of companies. So within the last four or five weeks, they have signed five different contracts. One of them is American, and that's the one that made the news, and that is Hunt Oil. And all these contracts, according to the central government, are illegal. This is because they have not been done with the blessing of the central government. E-mail to a friend .

Issam Chalabi was Iraqi Oil Minister between 1987 and 1990 . Future demand for oil, he says, will be spurred by growth in India and China . Tension between Turkey and Kurds will not have impact on oil prices, he adds . But if U.S. takes military action against Iran, oil prices could surge .

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Atlanta (CNN) -- An American doctor infected with Ebola is making progress a day after he arrived in Atlanta from Liberia, where he contracted the deadly virus. "It's encouraging that he seems to be improving," Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "That is really important, and we are hoping he will continue to improve." The Christian charity that employs Dr. Kent Brantly confirmed that the 33-year-old received a dose of an experimental serum before leaving Liberia. "We praise God for the news that Kent's condition is improving," Samaritan's Purse said in a statement. Brantly, the first known patient with the deadly virus to be treated on U.S. soil, landed at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Georgia on Saturday and was quickly rushed to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital. He's one of two Americans sickened by the deadly viral hemorrhagic fever last month while on the front lines of a major outbreak in West Africa. Emory has said it will treat Brantly and fellow missionary Nancy Writebol in an isolation unit. Phoenix Air says its highly specialized air ambulance, equipped with an isolation unit, departed Georgia for Liberia on Sunday evening to pick up Writebol. The flight is scheduled to land in Georgia on Tuesday. Brantly's wife, parents and sister cried when they saw him on CNN walking from the ambulance into the hospital, another representative of Samaritan's Purse said on condition of anonymity. His wife, Amber, later said she was relieved that her husband was back in the United States and was "confident that he is receiving the very best care." "I was able to see Kent today. He is in good spirits," she said Sunday. "He thanked everyone for their prayers and asked for continued prayer for Nancy Writebol's safe return and full recovery." Amber Brantly visited her husband along with their daughter in Liberia, but Frieden said "they did not have contact with him when he was sick, so it does not appear that they would be at risk." Tennessee doctor who worked with Ebola patients quarantines self . Brantly, who has ties to Texas and Indiana, and Writebol, of North Carolina, became sick while caring for Ebola patients in Liberia, one of three West African nations hit by an outbreak. Treatment in isolation . This will be the first human Ebola test for a U.S. medical facility. The patients will be treated at an isolated unit where precautions are in place to keep such deadly diseases from spreading, unit supervisor Dr. Bruce Ribner said. Everything that comes in and out of the unit will be controlled, Ribner said, and it will have windows and an intercom for staff to interact with patients without being in the room. Ebola doesn't spread through airborne or waterborne methods. It spreads through contact with organs and bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, urine and other secretions of infected people. There is no FDA-approved treatment for Ebola, and Emory will use what Ribner calls "supportive care." That means carefully tracking a patient's symptoms, vital signs and organ function and taking measures, such as blood transfusions and dialysis, to keep patients stable. Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Ebola will go global . "We just have to keep the patient alive long enough in order for the body to control this infection," Ribner said. Writebol was given an experimental serum this week, Samaritan's Purse said, though its purpose and effects weren't immediately publicized. The Ebola virus causes viral hemorrhagic fever, which refers to a group of viruses that affect multiple organ systems in the body and are often accompanied by bleeding. Early symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, muscle pain, headaches and a sore throat. They later progress to vomiting, diarrhea, impaired kidney and liver function -- and sometimes internal and external bleeding. Emory's isolation unit was created with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is based nearby. It aims to optimize care for those with highly infectious diseases and is one of four U.S. institutions capable of providing such treatment. The World Health Organization reports that the outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea is believed to have infected 1,323 people and killed more than 729 this year, as of July 27. Fight against Ebola . All the concerns in the United States pale in comparison to the harsh reality in the hardest-hit areas. Even in the best-case scenario, it could take three to six months to stem the epidemic in West Africa, Frieden said. There's no vaccine, though one is in the works. The National Institutes of Health plans to begin testing an experimental Ebola vaccine in people as early as September. Tests on primates have been successful. So far, the outbreak is confined to West Africa. Although infections are dropping in Guinea, they are on the rise in Liberia and Sierra Leone. On Saturday, Ebola claimed the life of a medical director at a hospital in Liberia's capital. A Saint Joseph's Hospital statement said Dr. Patrick Nshamdze tested positive July 29 after being sick for two weeks. In the 1990s, an Ebola strain tied to monkeys -- Ebola-Reston -- was found in the United States, but no humans got sick from it, according to the CDC. Sierra Leone deploys military; screens passengers . In Sierra Leone, where government officials have asked citizens to stay away from work, the military has deployed at least 750 infantry and military medical officials to 13 locations, military spokesman Col. Michael Samoura said Sunday. Health officials are screening incoming and outgoing passengers at the country's main international airport with a device that takes people's temperature from their eyes at a distance. Anyone showing signs of fever is taken away to have their blood tested for Ebola. Experts: U.S. health care system well-prepared for Ebola . CNN's Jason Hanna and Faith Karimi reported from Atlanta; CNN's David McKenzie reported from Freetown, Sierra Leone. CNN's Christabelle Fombu and Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report .

NEW: Kent Brantly received experimental serum before leaving Liberia . NEW: Air ambulance left for Liberia on Sunday to retrieve second U.S. patient . Brantly is the first known Ebola patient in the U.S. Both Americans infected with Ebola will be treated in Atlanta .

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Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Political tensions in Thailand exploded into a major outbreak of violence this week as police opened fire on anti-government protesters near Bangkok. Thailand's capital has been at standstill during the past few weeks as the protesters seek to unseat a leadership -- led by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva -- they say is illegitimate and undemocratic. The demonstrators support Thaksin Shinawatra, who was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, before he was ousted in a bloodless coup. After his removal, he continued to play a role in Thai politics -- even from outside of the Southeast Asian nation. What is the background to the current protests? Abhisit declared a state of emergency on April 7, hours after anti-government demonstrators (known as "red shirts" for the clothes they wear) stormed the country's parliament. Three days later, the deadliest clash in more than a decade between protesters (in this case the red shirts) and the military erupted, leading to the deaths of more than two dozen demonstrators and military forces. Media and analysts in Thailand say civil war may be looming, with another group called the "multi-colored shirts" emerging. They are displeased with the disruption caused by the red shirt protests. They are generally middle-class city dwellers. They are not pro- or anti-government, they simply want the government to shut down the reds to end the violence and interruptions to daily life. The red and multi-colored shirts have clashed in Silom Road, Bangkok's business and financial district. Meanwhile, Thailand's independent election commission has recommended the dissolution of Abhisit's Democrat Party after accusing the party of accepting an $8 million campaign donation from a private company and mishandling funds allocated to it by the commission. The ruling still must be reviewed by the country's attorney general's office and its Constitution Court. A democrat party spokesman maintains the party has fully complied with all laws concerning the uses of funds during the election campaign and the party says it will fight the recommendation. Haven't these protests been going on for a long time? Yes, Thailand has been embroiled in political chaos for years and many here are growing weary with the instability. Ever since Thaksin came to power, there have been protesters opposing his allegedly corrupt and autocratic rule. Those protesters donned yellow shirts (the color of the king) and occupied the two main airports in Bangkok, until finally the pro-Thaksin government was brought down by a court ruling. In revenge Thaksin's supporters copied the yellow shirt tactics and took to the streets in red shirts. Why do the sides divide on colors? It's an easy way for them to create an identity. It all started with the yellow shirts wearing a color associated with Monday, the day of the week that Thailand's revered king was born on. That was designed to show their allegiance to the king, and more broadly the traditional elite which has dominated Thai politics for years. Thaksin's supporters then picked a color to distinguish themselves from the yellow-shirts. Why are they arguing? Essentially this is a classic power struggle. It's easy to portray this as simply rich against poor, but it is much more complicated than that, as illustrated by the fact that the reds' leader is in fact a multi-billionaire. Thaksin rode to power by enacting populist policies which gained huge support from the rural poor. His radical approach ruffled a lot of feathers among the elite, who felt he was in danger of becoming too big for his boots, and could erode their position. The "civil society" also become concerned over allegations of corruption and his brutal war on drugs, which saw summary executions. He was also criticized for his heavy handed response to violence in the Muslim-dominated south. Finally the army decided to oust him in a coup, which had the backing of the aristocratic elite and much of the middle class, who were becoming uneasy with the cult of personality growing around Thaksin. That set the stage for an embittered power struggle, between Thaksin loyalists and those loyal to the army, aristocracy and their traditional Democrat Party. What are the wider implications of the protests? If the divisions in Thailand can't be healed it could lead to a deteriorating security situation which would have wider implications for the region. Thailand's relations with Cambodia are especially frosty since Thaksin was appointed economic adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. The worst case scenario would see Cambodia drawn into the dispute, with Thaksin using the country as a political base, adding to the already considerable tensions on the border. So who is Thaksin? Visionary leader or venal despot: Opinions vary, like the color of the shirts his supporters and detractors wear. If you sport red, you think Thaksin was the only prime minister to offer the rural poor a voice and real benefits; if you wear yellow, you view him as akin to Ferdinand Marcos: greedy, self-serving and dangerous. What is not in dispute is that he won two elections, was the only Thai prime minister to serve a full-term in office and is still hugely popular. But critics say he bought his support and was only in politics to help himself. What is he accused of? In 2008 he was found guilty and sentenced in absentia to two years in prison for a land deal that enabled his wife to buy a valuable city plot for a fraction of its true value. The case currently being considered by the Supreme Court relates to the transfer of shares in his communications company Shin Corporation. The prosecution alleges he illegally transferred the shares to his family, who then sold them to the Singapore government's Temasek without paying tax. The court will also rule on whether Thaksin's government implemented policies that benefited his businesses, including a low interest loan from the Thai government to the Myanmar government to buy equipment from Shin Corp, a change in tax laws that benefited Shin Corp and changes to satellite laws that helped Shin Corp. What does Thaksin's defense team say? The defense team argues that neither Thaksin nor his wife owned the Shin Corp shares while he was prime minister, selling them to their son before he took office. It was their son who decided to sell Shin Corp to the Singaporeans. The defense also claims that the Assets Scrutiny Committee -- which has led the investigation in this case -- was politically motivated, having been appointed after the coup that ousted Thaksin, and therefore was biased against him. How much money is at stake? 76.6 billion baht (about $2.3 billion). That is the total value of his and his family's assets that are currently frozen in Thailand. But there is speculation that he has a great deal more money elsewhere. Why bother going after Thaksin when so many other Thai leaders have been perceived to be corrupt? Well, Thailand certainly has had a checkered history. But current Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva is widely believed to be honest and free from any taint of corruption. He wants to give the country a fresh start by showing no one is above the rule of law and that means ensuring Thaksin isn't allowed to get away with his alleged corruption, even though he is in exile. However, many analysts say this case is not just about corruption, but more about Thaksin's challenge to the Thai political elite that has ruled for decades. The theory goes that Thaksin was dangerously popular and refused to submit to powerful factions in the army, privy council and aristocracy -- hence the 2006 coup and the lengthy efforts to shut him down. CNN Producer Kocha Olarn contributed to this report from Bangkok .

Thaksin supporters say that he gave the rural poor a voice and real benefits . Detractors say that as prime minister he was greedy, self-serving and dangerous . Current premier Abhisit Vejjajiva keen to show no one is above the rule of law . Current court case relates to shares transfer in Thaksin communications company .

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This is the moment thieves were caught on camera stealing a couple's charity Christmas lights display. The brazen thieves, branded 'scum of the Earth' by their victims, were caught on CCTV helping themselves to about £200 worth of festive decorations, including a three-foot plastic Santa, a three-foot snowman and a large gnome. Fundraisers Geoff and Tina Patchett, who have been decking out their home in Redcar, Teesside, with Christmas lights and decorations for years, condemned the thieves' actions and said they had 'stolen from the community'. The thieves, branded 'scum of the Earth' by their victims, were caught on CCTV helping themselves to about £200 worth of festive decorations from the house in Redcar, Teesside, including a three-foot plastic Santa . Fundraisers Geoff and Tina Patchett, who have been decking out their property with Christmas lights and festive decorations for years, condemned the thieves' actions and said they had 'stolen from the community' Mr Patchett, a retired process supervisor, has raised thousands of pounds for charity with the display outside the front of his house, and regularly stays up past midnight to guard his beloved decorations. However, after he had gone to bed on Friday, the hooded thieves targeted the home at about 1.30am, and could be seen on CCTV raiding the display. Dressed in hooded tops, one suspect - with a cigarette in his mouth - took the items, while another raided the garden while allegedly carrying wire cutters. In the footage, the pair can be seen almost tiptoeing through the garden as they pick out which items to take before lifting them off the front lawn and onto the driveway. Mr Patchett, 68, said: 'I've spent a lot of time unravelling the CCTV over the weekend and I am confident someone out there will know who they are. 'They left the garden in a bit of a mess, I think they were spooked by someone because a few items that had been cut free were left behind. The thieves were caught on CCTV, dressed in hooded tops, raiding the home in the early hours of Friday . Police said one suspect, with a cigarette in his mouth, helped himself to decorations while another kept watch . 'The Santa in particular will be easy to spot as you can't get them in the shops any more. It was donated to the display a couple of years ago by a passer-by.' The couple, who between them have nine children, 21 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, said they began decorating their home for the joy it brought to the community. However, they turned it into an annual fundraising mission when people suggested they should raise money for charity. They have raised more than £3,000 over the years, including a record-breaking £1,166 last year for the Great North Air Ambulance. With this year's display their biggest and best yet, the couple had hoped to raise more than ever for their chosen good cause, the Redcar Lifeboat. Geoff Patchett has been decking out his house with festive decorations for years and often stays up past midnight to keep watch over his beloved display. The thieves struck after he had gone to bed on Friday . The couple decorate the house to raise money for charity and this year will donate to Redcar Lifeboat . Mr Patchett added: 'You try and do your bit for charity and then you get people like this ruining it for everyone. As much as this is for charity, it's for the kids to enjoy too. 'So whoever has done this has not only stole from us, but from the rest of the community. I just hope we catch them.' The couple's display this year includes a few new attractions, including a parachuting Santa and a reindeer with sleigh. Mr Patchett said the whole collection has cost them 'thousands'. Anyone who recognises the suspects, or has any information which could help Cleveland Police, should contact the force by calling 101.

Thieves caught on CCTV stealing £200 worth of Christmas decorations . Footage shows suspects taking three-foot Santa and three-foot snowman . Geoff and Tina Patchett have been decking out Teesside home for years . Condemned thieves' actions and said they had 'stolen from community'

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A British holidaymaker has captured a series of amazing photos that reveal the sheer power and brutality of a hungry leopard going after its prey. Kevin Wilson’s snaps show terror in the face of the hapless springbok, which met an unfortunate end as it was taken down by the ruthless predator at an African game reserve. In Kevin’s photos, the leopard sinks its teeth into the gazelle and clings on to its prey with its powerful paws while its whole body is lifted off the ground during the struggle at Etosha National Park in north-west Namibia. Scroll down for video . Photographer Kevin Wilson captured the scene as a leopard attacked a hapless springbok at Etosha National Park in north-west Namibia . Mr Wilson said the leopard took down its victim and completed the kill in some long grass less than 20 seconds after the attack began . After the kill the leopard ambled over to the truck Kevin Wilson and his wife, Janet, were in and sat in the shade the vehicle offered . In another frame, the big cat appears to be stood up on its hind legs like a human as it takes a commanding grip on the hind of the springbok. The leopard then takes down its victim and completes the kill in some long grass less than 20 seconds after the attack began. Afterwards, the leopard ambled over to the truck Kevin, 55, and his wife, Janet, were in and sat in the shade the vehicle offered. Kevin, from Leatherhead, Surrey, said he was incredibly lucky to have captured the display on camera. Kevin Wilson, from Leatherhead, Surrey, and his wife, Janet, witnessed the attack as they drove around the game reserve in a pickup truck . The leopard sinks its teeth into the gazelle and clings on to its prey with its powerful paws while its whole body is lifted off the ground . He and his wife were driving themselves around while in radio contact with two guides, who informed them about a leopard stalking prey near the Rietfontein waterhole. He said: ‘We headed there straight away and saw the leopard hiding in the long grass on the hunt for three springboks nearby, but they spotted it and ran off. ‘All of a sudden another springbok appeared and it didn't see the leopard and actually headed straight for it. ‘We moved position and I had time to get my camera focused on the leopard. The springbok almost walked on top of the leopard which then sprung into action.' Kevin Wilson said the springbok almost walked on top of the leopard, which then sprung into action, as it hid in the grass . Kevin added: ‘It immediately grabbed hold of its prey and swung on to it while the springbok tried to get away but in no time at all the leopard dragged it to the ground. ‘The whole thing took no more than 20 seconds. The sheer speed and power of the leopard was just breath-taking. ‘It was a fairly hot day and after it happened [the leopard] walked over to our car and sat in the shade and growled at us. We knew then it was time to make a move as we didn't want to be its next meal.’

Kevin Wilson, from Leatherhead, Surrey, witnessed the attack at Etosha National Park in north-west Namibia . His snaps show the ruthless predator clinging to its prey while its whole body is lifted off the ground . After the kill the leopard ambled over to a truck, sat in the shade and growled at Mr Wilson and his wife .

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(CNN) -- Russia's Nadia Petrova stunned Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the Pan Pacific Open final in Tokyo on Saturday winning in three sets 6-0 1-6 6-3. The 30-year-old stormed into a one-set lead, breaking the world No.3 three times in the opening set before Radwanska rallied in the second. The final set was more evenly contested with Petrova claiming a decisive break in the eighth game to lead 5-3, before holding serve to seal her second title of the season. "I feel amazing. This is the biggest tournament I ever won and this is a great accomplishment. At the beginning of the tournament I didn't expect to be here because I had a back injury, so it's delightful to be here right now," Petrova said. Defending champion Radwanska, who reached her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon earlier this year, accepted that the better player had prevailed on the day. "Her biggest weapon is her serve, for sure, but to be honest, her return was not bad today. I really had to serve very good to win my game, so her serve and return were really working for her today," the 23-year-old said. "I was really trying to get the title again this year, but unfortunately she was playing too good," she added. The victory sees Petrova move up four places in the world rankings to No.14.

Russian upsets world No.3 with a three-set victory at Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo . Two one-sided sets followed by a closer third with Petrova coming out on top . Petrova moves up four places in world rankings to No.14 .

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Nearly naked lollipop men and women have taken to the streets in a bid to promote road safety. The results were captured on video and has received over two thousand views on YouTube thus far. The video features a scantily-clad male and female model in hi-visibility underwear brandishing the classic road safety lollipop helping drunk passersby cross the road. Scroll down for video . Now you look: An experiment was conducted by Road Safety Analysis to see if drunk people were more likely to use a zebra crossing if the lollipop men were dressed provocatively . It was created by Road Safety Analysis after shocking new figures revealed one in eight pedestrians killed or seriously injured by cars were drunk. While there has been a 48 per cent reduction in the number of child pedestrian injuries in the last ten years, the number of adults being killed or injured is rising. The figures show that almost half of all drunk revellers fail to properly use a zebra crossing at night. Safety first: The experiment came after it was revealed that one in eight pedestrians involved in car accidents were intoxicated . Stop: The organisation are particularly concerned that accidents could rise of the festive period . The organisation are hoping that by 'sexing up' the lollipop men and women they might encourage more people to use a zebra crossing correctly. Richard Owen, operations director for safer roads, said that the growing number in accidents is worrying but it can be particularly concerning around the festive period. 'At this time of year there is always a big focus on drink driving but drunk pedestrians are also a serious concern,' he said. Watch and learn: The video has received over two thousand views on Youtube thus far . Success: As the video ends it is revealed that 98 per cent of pedestrians used the crossing correctly when the 'sexy' lollipop people were on duty . 'Shockingly one in eight pedestrians who are killed or seriously injured on our roads are drunk at the time of the crash.' As the video ends it points out that 98 per cent of the pedestrians used the zebra crossing correctly when the nearly naked lollipop people were on duty. Richard added that this experiment proves that people who are intoxicated can be encouraged to pay attention to road safety. 'It can be very hard to connect with young adults, especially if they have been drinking, but what we have clearly demonstrated here is that their behaviour can be influenced if we can find the right means.'

Two 'sexy' lollipop people took to the streets to help drunks cross the road . The experiment was set up by Road Safety Analysis . One in eight pedestrians involved in accidents are intoxicated . The video has received over two thousand views so far .

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By . Daily Mail Reporter and Ap Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 23:25 EST, 8 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 23:25 EST, 8 May 2013 . Shocking new data has found that suicide rates in several states have increased dramatically in the past decade, with Wyoming and North Dakota showing the most troubling rise. Wyoming reported an increase of just under 78.8 per cent over the last 10 years. Closely behind was North Dakota, with 70.5 per cent. Following those states were Rhode Island, Hawaii and Vermont. North Dakota's neighbor to the south was also represented on the list, rounding out the top 10. Troubling information: Shocking new data has found that suicide rates in several states have increased dramatically in the past decade . The findings were reported by The Atlantic Cities, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . In terms of regions, the Midwest saw the greatest climb in suicide with a 35.6 per cent increase. The Northeast was just behind with 32.7 per cent. The new CDC report is being called the . first to show how the trend is playing out nationally and to look in . depth at the racial and geographic breakdown. The suicide rate registered a statistically significant increase in 39 out of 50 states. The West and the South had the highest . suicide rates. It's not clear why, but one factor may be cultural . differences in willingness to seek help during tough times, said Thomas . Simon, one of the authors of the CDC report. Also, it may be more difficult to find counseling and mental health services in certain places, he added. The state rankings come a week after a government report revealed that the suicide rate among middle-aged Americans leaped an astonishing 28 per cent over the course of just a decade. Even more shocking is the rate among . middle aged white men and women. Suicides in that group increased an . astounding 40 per cent between 1999 and 2010. Not surprisingly, those years saw the worst recession in recent memory and the accompanying mortgage crisis, which proved catastrophic for many. Meanwhile, rates in younger and older people held steady. And there was little change among middle-aged blacks, Hispanics and most other racial and ethnic groups. One theory suggests the recession . caused more emotional trauma in whites, who tend not to have the same . kind of church support and extended families that blacks and Hispanics . do. The economy was in recession from the end of 2007 until mid-2009. Even well afterward, polls showed most . Americans remained worried about weak hiring, a depressed housing . market and other problems. During the 1999-2010 period, suicide went . from the eighth leading cause of death among middle-aged Americans to . the fourth, behind cancer, heart disease and accidents. 'Some of us think we're facing an upsurge . as this generation moves into later life,' said Dr Eric Caine, a . suicide researcher at the University of Rochester. The CDC findings were based on information from death certificates. People ages 35 to 64 account for about 57 per cent of suicides in the U.S. Sad: Over the course of a decade, suicide rates in middle aged Americans soared by 28 percent . Color lines: The rate was even higher, 40 percent, when only white middle aged people were considered . The report contained surprising information about how middle-aged people . kill themselves: During the period studied, hangings overtook drug . overdoses in that age group, becoming the No. 2 manner of suicide. But . guns remained far in the lead and were the instrument of death in nearly . half of all suicides among the middle-aged in 2010. For the entire U.S. population, there were 38,350 suicides in 2010, making it the nation's 10th leading cause of death, the CDC said. The overall national suicide rate climbed from 12 suicides per 100,000 people in 1999 to 14 per 100,000 in 2010, a 15 percent increase. For the middle-aged, the rate jumped from about 14 per 100,000 to nearly 18 — a 28 percent increase. Among whites in that age group, it spiked from about 16 to 22. Suicide prevention efforts have tended to concentrate on teenagers and the elderly, but research over the past several years has begun to focus on the middle-aged. Age: Younger and older age group statistics were unchanged. Pictured, participants in the Walk for Suicide Awareness in Kaukauna, Wisconsin .

The two Midwest states report the largest increase in suicide rates among the other states of the union . Also on the list were Rhode Island, Hawaii and Vermont . Rate among white middle aged people was even higher, up a shocking 40 per cent between 1999-2010 . Experts blame the recession and mortgage crisis on the spike in suicides . Self-inflicted gun shots by far the most common method .

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By . Tom Goodenough . PUBLISHED: . 09:15 EST, 10 July 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 01:42 EST, 11 July 2012 . A circus acrobat who starred in Britain’s Got Talent lost his 'Wheel of Death' stunt act after a disgruntled nephew stole it and sold it for scrap, a court heard today. Wayne Vanderwesthuizen, 46, was planning to use the machine after he got through to the second round of the ITV talent show. But it went missing from storage in Blackpool, Lancashire, after a row with his nephew Jeremy, 26, over £3,500 unpaid wages, it was said. The Vander Brothers performing on the Triple Wheel of Death before the act went missing . Jeremy took the 'Wheel of Death' machine to the scrap yard - selling it for just £585 then sold his uncle’s Ford van on eBay to a man in London for £2,500, the court heard. It emerged Wayne had originally paid £3,000 for the act but then added to it adapting it through the years, spending a further £3,500. The fallout occurred last November after South African-born Wayne employed Jeremy to help run his circus act in which three acrobats walk, skip and jump on a set of triple revolving wheels whilst blindfolded. Preston Crown Court heard Wayne spent his winters in South Africa and summers touring around England attending agricultural shows, outdoor shows and festivals with his death-defying act. Jeremy Vanderwesthuizen, pictured left leaving Preston Crown Court is accused of stealing The Wheel of Death, worth £29,000, from his uncle, Wayne Vanderwesthuizen, pictured right also leaving court . The Wheel of Death is a steel construction of two or three wheels connected by spokes which revolve at high speeds . He would occasionally get bookings over New Year and Christmas and Jeremy was paid per event but during 2010 business began to slump and Wayne fell behind paying wages. Wayne told the jury: 'I have been doing it since 1984. Jeremy is my sister’s son. I brought him over in 2005, I trained him up with the hope eventually, one day, he would take over from me. 'I was hoping to keep it in the family, I was hoping to pass it to the next generation. 'I paid him £250 for each performing day and he took care of his own tax situation. 'In the recession, in 2009, bookings were hard to come by and I was struggling a bit, I was in some debt in South Africa as well. The Wheel of Death went missing from its storage location in Blackpool in November last year . Wayne Vanderwesthuizen bought the Wheel of Death in 1984 and has been touring with it ever since . 'I asked if I could pay him back at a later stage. '2010 was worse: I went to work in a traveling circus in Israel because there were no bookings. In 2011 he worked with me from April 25 to July 9. I terminated it (his contract). 'A booking on a triple wheel came up, there was a guy I was using that he didn’t like - but there was a contract. I told him it doesn’t matter whether you like him or not, I need to make sure I fulfil the contract. 'He eventually did agree but (he) said only if he could work the rest of the season and I said as long as you are clean-shaven, but he refused.' Wayne returned to South Africa in the second week of September last year, putting his van and equipment into storage in Blackpool, whilst Jeremy remained in England. Jeremy Vanderwesthuizen denies two charges of theft in relation to the disappearance of the Wheel of Death . Wayne Vanderwesthuizen said that the recession led to a decline in bookings for the Wheel of Death . He said he had been in touch with the man managing the storage to say they would be back in the beginning of the New Year to practice because they had gone through to the second round of Britain’s Got Talent. Wayne said he bought the van in July 2011 for £2,750 and had bought the Wheel of Death in 1987. He said the only communication he had with Jeremy since last July was an email saying that he would clear the debts with any bookings he got, which included the Abu Dhabi Grand prix. Wayne said he had already repaid his nephew £1,100, through £100 pay outs and still owed him £1,300. He has since bought another Wheel of Death from Holland at £5,500 and was still paying it off. The truck has been returned to him after police tracked it down a short time afterwards. Jeremy denies two charges of theft. Paul Hague prosecuting said: 'He accepted that he took it but he felt like he was entitled to do so because he had no money.' 'The question is his honesty. He says he was entitled to do so, or he believed he was entitled to do so - the crown say he told lies that he must’ve known that he was not entitled to scrap this piece of equipment or sell the van to some innocent third party down in London.' The trial continues. Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons.

Wayne Vanderwesthuizen, 46, spent £6,500 on the 'Wheel of Death' but his nephew sold the act for just £585, it is alleged . Court also hears that Jeremy Vanderwesthuizen sold his uncle's van on eBay after claiming he was owed money for performances . Vanderwesthuizens were set to star in the second round of Britain's Got Talent before the act went missing .

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From his lavish contemporary mansion to the Aston Martin sports car parked outside it, Lottery winner John Noakes is surrounded by the trappings that come with having millions in the bank. As part of a syndicate of 12 struggling bus drivers who shared a £38million jackpot, Mr Noakes, from Corby, thought all his dreams had come true when their numbers came up a year ago. But the multi-millionaire, who still lives in the Northamptonshire town with his second wife Jean, has told how the windfall brought with it hardship as well as happiness, adding: 'Sometimes I wish I'd never won.' 'Tough': Former bus driver John Noakes, seen with his wife Jean, said there have been some downsides to scooping a share of a £38million Lottery fortune . The former Bus Driver of the Year, 50, told the Sunday People how the members of the syndicate - who each scooped over £3million - had been beset by problems since their win; from family feuds to health scares. Mr Noakes told how various troubles forced four of the former colleagues to move out of the Northamptonshire town - with two leaving Britain altogether. He and Jean are now preparing to leave Corby for a new life in Cyprus. 'Becoming multi-millionaires changed our lives – but not all for the good,' said Mr Noakes, who said he recently started smoking again due to stress. While he is 'glad' he won the money, 'the transition from being broke to rich has been tough', he said. 'Tough': John Noakes said he and his wife Jean have not forgotten their former frugal ways . Pros and cons: Mr Noakes, who has a racing car simulator, left, and a pet parrot, right, at his Corby home, said many of his old friends 'don't want to know' since his Euromillions windfall . The former Stagecoach driver said he has had to learn to keep track of his money to ensure it lasts, and that many of his old friends now 'don't want to know'. He said he is approached by strangers in the street who ask him for money, and claims his former employers snubbed his offer to help out free of charge during last year's Olympic Games. Mr Noakes added that it was 'tough' trying to be 'equally fair' to members of his family without upsetting anybody. He and his wife are now planning to start a new life in Cyprus. Lavish: The couple have bought six houses with the proceeds of their lottery win, including their contemporary Corby mansion . Luxury: The snooker table at the couple's Corby home is overlooked by prints of Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn . The 50-year-old, who quit his £18,000 a year driving job after scooping £3,169,553, insists he hasn't changed a bit since the win, and claims he and wife Jean still shop at Poundland. His Aston Martin is second-hand, while Mrs Noakes said she still looks for bargains when clothes shopping. Life-changing: Mr Noakes is seen on the left with other members of the syndicate celebrating their huge Euromillions win in March last year . Nonetheless, Mr Noakes' life today is almost unrecognisable from his days of driving buses. The couple have bought six houses, including their own contemporary mansion complete with tennis court, and four for their children from previous marriages. Another member of the syndicate, Alex Robertson, 58, is moving to Spain to escape family feuds after the lottery win, according to the report.

John Noakes won more than £3million as part of a syndicate a year ago . Said transition from 'broke to rich' had been 'tough' He and his wife are planning to start a new life in a villa in Cyprus .

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(CNN) -- Two concerned mothers have been all over TV screens recently, but unlike most of the mothers who have made appearances on TV of late, they are not concerned about health care reform. Kate Gosselin, here smiling at a press event in April, has been making the talk show rounds. "Jon & Kate Plus 8's" Kate Gosselin -- minus estranged husband Jon and the kids -- did a teary interview with Meredith Vieira on NBC's "Today" last week; and on Wednesday, Fox will air a two-hour special featuring Nadya "Octomom" Suleman, the single California woman who gave birth to octuplets in January. Suleman and Gosselin have already received more than their proverbial 15 minutes of fame -- so should the media, particularly the news media, continue to fill the airwaves with stories and interviews of these two women? Howard Kurtz posed this question to a panel of media experts Sunday on CNN's "Reliable Sources." Lisa Bloom, a CNN legal analyst, said the media may be feeding a public appetite for these stories, but not without a price. Watch the debate over the TV moms » . "How sad, really, that there's this insatiable appetite among American news consumers for stories like that -- about people's shortcomings. Is this the first time somebody has had a divorce, or in Octomom's case, is this the first time that somebody has been a lousy parent?" Bloom asked. "We are fiddling while Rome burns, covering these stories ad nauseam." David Zurawik, television and media critic for The Baltimore Sun, said there is a legitimate sociological debate occurring about why there is public interest in these "characters," and why the media continue to cover them. "That's not enough just that [the audience cares] about them," Zurawik said. "But here's what's going on with Kate Gosselin, at least. People are judging their own lives. They're judging themselves as parents. They're judging themselves as wives. They're judging themselves as families against her. And that's really important. "Look," he continued, "she is the most talked-about, the most discussed representation or image of motherhood on American television. Think back to the '50s, with Barbara Billingsley from 'Leave It to Beaver' and all those books and dissertations are written about them. We should care about her." Zurawik said critics of the coverage are voicing "a nice high-minded argument for Sunday morning TV." Gosselin, who also appeared on "Live! with Regis & Kelly" on Thursday, has her fair share of critics, particularly in the tabloid media (who have, nevertheless, been willing to follow her every move). However, few mothers have been criticized more in the press than Nadya Suleman. Suleman, who gave birth to octuplets January as a result of being implanted with six embryos, has a total of 14 children under the age of 8. News of her collecting public assistance for some of her children outraged many taxpayers. Suleman has not been portrayed as a sympathetic figure in the press, but could the "Octomom" special on Fox do anything to turn her image around? Lola Ogunnaike, a popular culture reporter, is skeptical. "I doubt it. I highly doubt it. I think that she's hoping that this will, in many ways, lead to something even bigger. But people really do see her as a villain," Ogunnaike said. "Fox is also banking on that, and that's why they didn't actually give her a full reality series. They're sort of testing the waters with this show and seeing -- if she does, indeed, draw ratings." Bloom said she has personal experience in trying to get what she believes are important stories about people in remote countries on the air, only to be passed over for tabloid stories. "I have personally pitched stories like the Cambodian war crimes tribunal. ... That's an important legal story. You can't get those stories on the air," she said. "Why? Because we want stories with sex, with bad parents, with people like Octomom." Kurtz asked if either "Octomom" or the "Jon & Kate Plus 8" sagas could fade from the media spotlight after Gosselin and Suleman's TV shows this week. Ogunnaike said the opposite is likely true. "There could be more, unfortunately," she said.

CNN's "Reliable Sources" focused on Kate Gosselin, Nadya Suleman coverage . Legal analyst Lisa Bloom: "We are fiddling while Rome burns" Baltimore Sun TV critic David Zurawik: "We should care about [Gosselin]"

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By . Alex Greig . PUBLISHED: . 10:06 EST, 8 November 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 13:06 EST, 8 November 2013 . A solemn occasion turned into a violent attack on Tuesday after mourners beat a driver who honked his horn outside a church where the funeral was to be held. A witness caught the incident outside La Iglesia de Dios in Mount Holly, New Jersey on camera. Emotions were already running high when the driver of a red Chevrolet, irritated at funeral-goers who were holding up traffic, honked his horn. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Funeral gathering: The driver of the red car honked his horn as mourners congregated outside a New Jersey church . On edge: A group of young men angrily swarmed the red car and one began to punch the driver through the window . Beating: The man managed to lay several punches on the driver through the open car window . Footage shows a group of eight or more young men, some wearing memorial t-shirts, swarming the car angrily. Several of the men slam the car with their fists, and another runs up and begins to lay into the driver through his open car window. The man appears to land at least five hits on the driver of the red car before he is pulled away by fellow mourners. Other mourners approach the group of men and appear to by trying to calm them down. The witness who filmed the confrontation told NBC that other mourners encouraged the driver of the red car to leave before the young men could approach the car again. Pulled away: The main aggressor was dragged from the car window by other members of the group . Calming: It took five men to convince the angry mourner to leave the driver of the red car alone . Getaway: Other funeral attendees managed to convince the driver to to leave the scene . 'Some of the elders walked up next to the car to kind of keep the younger guys away, to kind of like, of nudge him on,' he said. 'But he never stuck around.' According to NBC, the incident was reported to local police, but the driver was long gone by the time they arrived. The witness said police ushered the mourners back into the church. As of Thursday night, no charges had been filed.

A driver was beaten after honking his horn at a group of mourners . The incident was caught on camera outside a New Jersey church . One mourner punched the driver five times through his open window . He was dragged off and the driver had disappeared by the time police arrived .

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By . Sarah Griffiths . PUBLISHED: . 07:54 EST, 2 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 07:54 EST, 2 August 2013 . American scientists claim the planet is undergoing one of the largest changes in climate in the past 65 million years. Climatologists at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment have warned the likely rate of change over the next century will be at least 10 times quicker than any climate shift since the dinosaurs became extinct. If the trend continues at its current rapid pace, it will place significant stress on terrestrial ecosystems around the world, and many species will need to make behavioral, evolutionary or geographic adaptations to survive, they said. Climatologists at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment have warned the likely rate of change over the next century will be at least 10 times quicker than any climate shift since the dinosaurs became extinct and this could have a negative impact on some animals, such as polar bears . The findings come from a review of climate research by Earth system science expert Noah Diffenbaugh and Chris Field, a professor of environmental Earth system science and the director of the Department of Global Ecology at the Institution. The work is part of a special report on climate change in the current issue of Science. However, the research is part of a . much bigger picture and other scientists have recently claimed that . global warming has 'paused' for the time being. The professors in this latest study reviewed scientific literature on aspects of . climate change that can affect ecosystems, and investigated how recent . observations and projections for the next century compare to past events . in Earth's history. If temperatures continue to rise at their current rapid pace, it will place significant stress on terrestrial ecosystems around the world, and many species like the giant panda in China will need to make behavioral, evolutionary or geographic adaptations to survive, the scientists said . Scientists from the Met Office take a different view when it comes to the future of our planet . They have claimed global warming has 'paused' but this is not unexpected and temperatures will still continue to rise. Heat going into the deep ocean is part of the reason global average surface temperatures have increased at a lower rate in the past 10 to 15 years than in previous decades, they explained. Recent low solar activity and volcanic eruptions, which send particles into the atmosphere that reflect heat, have also contributed to a slowing in temperature rises, while natural climate variations also play a part. But experts and climate scientists believe global warming has not stopped but paused - with the average rate of warming just 0.04C per decade between 1998 and 2012, compared with 0.17C per decade from 1970-1998. The scientists said periods of slow-down or 'pauses' in surface warming are not unusual in temperature records and are predicted in climate models, which suggests such periods could occur at least twice a century because of natural variation. For instance, the planet experienced a sharp rise in temperature by 5 . degree Celsius 20,000 years ago, as Earth emerged . from the last ice age. This is a change comparable to the high-end of . the projections for warming over the 20th and 21st centuries, according to the reserachers. The geologic record shows that, 20,000 years ago, as the ice sheet that covered much of North America receded northward, plants and animals recolonised areas that had been under ice. As the climate continued to warm, those plants and animals moved northward, to cooler climes. Professor Diffenbaugh said: 'We know from past changes that ecosystems have responded to a few degrees of global temperature change over thousands of years. 'But the unprecedented trajectory that we're on now is forcing that change to occur over decades. 'That's orders of magnitude faster, and we're already seeing that some species are challenged by that rate of change.' Some of the strongest evidence for how the global climate system responds to high levels of carbon dioxide comes from paleoclimate studies. 55 million years ago, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was elevated to a level comparable to today, the scientists said. The Arctic Ocean did not have ice in the summer and nearby land was warm enough to support alligators and palm trees. The scientists said that 55 million years ago, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was elevated to a level comparable to today. The Arctic Ocean did not have ice in the summer (as pictured) and nearby land was warm enough to support alligators and palm trees . 'There are two key differences for ecosystems in the coming decades compared with the geologic past,' Professor Diffenbaugh said. 'One is the rapid pace of modern climate change. 'The other is that today there are multiple human stressors that were not present 55 million years ago, such as urbanisation and air and water pollution.' The professors also examined results from two-dozen climate models to describe possible climate outcomes from present day to the end of the century. In general, extreme weather events, such as heat waves and heavy rainfall, are expected to become more severe and more frequent. For example, the researchers said that, . with continued emissions of greenhouse gases at the high end of the . scenarios, annual temperatures over North America, Europe and East Asia . will increase by two to four degrees Celsius between 2046 and 2065. A cracked lake bed in Texas. Extreme weather events, such as heat waves and heavy rainfall, are expected to become more severe and more frequent, according to the research . With that amount of warming, the hottest summer of the last 20 years is expected to occur every other year, or even more frequently. The scientists claim that by the end of the century, should the current emissions of greenhouse gases remain unchecked, temperatures over the northern hemisphere will be five to six degrees Celcius warmer than today's averages. Diffenbaugh said: 'It's not easy to intuit the exact impact from annual temperatures warming by six [degrees Celsius]. 'This would present a novel climate for most land areas. Given the impacts those kinds of seasons currently have on terrestrial forests, agriculture and human health, we'll likely see substantial stress from severely hot conditions.' The scientists also projected the velocity of climate change, defined as the distance per year that species of plants and animals would need to migrate to live in annual temperatures similar to current conditions. Around the world, including much of the United States, species face the need to move toward the poles or higher in the mountains by at least one kilometer per year.

American scientists said if temperatures keep rising at the current rapid pace, significant stress will be places on terrestrial ecosystems . Animals face needing to move toward the poles or higher in the mountains by at least one kilometre a year, the study claims . Climatologists at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment believe extreme weather events are expected to become more severe and frequent .

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By . Michael Zennie . A top Indian diplomat has been arrested in New York after she paid her house-keeper only $3.13 an hour and lied to get her into the country, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade, 39, has publicly campaigned for women's rights and gender equality. But the woman she hired to clean her house and look after he two young daughters says Khobragade paid her less than $600 a month - $3.31 an hour - despite telling U.S. immigration officials the staffer would be paid $4,500 a month. Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade, 39, has publicly campaigned for women's rights and gender equality but allegedly paid her housekeeper $3.31 an hour . Khobragade is a prominent diplomat who has been posted in Pakistan, Italy and Germany before being given an assignment in Manhattan . Khobragade's lawyer on Thursday said that his client enjoys diplomatic immunity and said he would moved to have the charges dismissed on those grounds. But U.S. Attorney for Manhattan  Preet Bharara was adamant. 'Foreign nationals brought to the United States to serve as domestic workers are entitled to the same protections against exploitation as those afforded to United States citizens,' he told the New York Daily News. 'The false statements and fraud were designed to circumvent those protections.' Prosecutors allege that Khobragade falsely signed visa documents for the worker saying that she would be paid $4,500 a month. Then, when the housekeeper came to the United States, Khobragade told her that she would be making only 30,000 rupees a month - less than $600, according to prosecutors. Khobragade works at the Indian Consulate General in Manhattan. She was arrested Thursday and released on $250,000 bail . Khobragade faces one count of visa fraud and one count of making false statements. If convicted, the charges carry a total maximum penalty of 15 years in prison . Khobragade had the worker sign the second contract, which she kept, the charges state. She was arrested Thursday and released on $250,000 bail after surrendering her passport so she can't flee the country. She faces one count of visa fraud and one count of making false statements. If convicted, the charges carry a total maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. However, the Indian embassy is already fighting the charges, asking the American government to have the case dropped on the grounds of diplomatic immunity. 'The US side have been urged to resolve the matter with due sensitivity, taking into account... the diplomatic status of the officer concerned,' said a statement from the Indian embassy in Washington DC. Further, when the allegations against Khobragade first surfaced, an Indian court issued an order against the housekeeper, ordering her not to take legal action against the diplomat, according to the Hindustan Times. When it became apparent that the woman was cooperating with American authorities, the court issued an arrest warrant for the housekeeper and requested the U.S. officials have her detained and extradited back to India. Before being posted in New York, Khobragade service with the Foreign Service in Germany, Italy and Pakistan.

Deputy Consul General Devyani Khobragade, 39, has publicly campaigned for women's rights and gender equality . She was cuffed and arrested Thursday and later released on $250,00 bail .

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Travellers appear to be warming up to Ryanair’s effort to revamp its image as the airline announced Thursday that it is expecting more passengers and higher profits than originally forecast this fiscal year. Europe’s largest budget airline has long been criticised for its surcharges and customer service, but it has softened its stance on baggage charges and booking conditions and introduced allocated seating and a new business class service in a bid to win over passengers. Michael O’Leary, the controversial chief executive of the Dublin-based airline, informed shareholders Thursday that Ryanair now expects to fly 87 million customers in the year to 31 March, an increase of one million from the previous forecast. Ryanair now expects to fly 87 million customers in the year to 31 March, a million more than originally forecast . Mr O’Leary, who revealed that he is nearing a deal to remain chief executive for another five years, also raised the no-frills airline’s full year net profit towards the upper end of its previously guided range of £484m to £507m. He said in a statement: ‘Our customers and shareholders have responded favourably to our improving customer experience, our better digital platform and the positive initial uptake of our Business Plus Service.’ He said the airline expects ‘slightly stronger traffic growth’ this winter with new bases in primary airports in Cologne, Gdansk, Glasgow and Warsaw (Modlin). Ryanair has also announced plans to increase its flight frequencies and schedules from Dublin to UK cities and European capitals. Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary says customers have 'responded favourably' to its initiatives . But Mr O'Leary warned there was still uncertainty over the full-year performance due to little visibility on fare yields in the October to March period. Ryanair's post-tax profits were 8 per cent lower at £408m in the year to 31 March after a price war left average fares 4 per cent lower at a time of rising fuel costs. After announcing a deal with Spain’s Amadeus on Wednesday, Mr O’Leary suggested that Ryanair and other budget carriers could become feeder airlines for legacy airlines such as Lufthansa in the future. Ryanair's CEO says low-cost airlines could become feeder airlines for legacy airlines such as Lufthansa . He believes low-cost airlines could fill in the gap as legacy airlines increasingly focus on long-haul routes amid competition from rival Gulf airlines such as Etihad and Emirates . Earlier this month, Ryanair announced that it has agreed to purchase up to 200 new Boeing 737 Max 200 passenger jets in a deal worth as much as £22bn. Ryanair said the more-efficient planes will allow it to carry more passengers, fly to new markets and trim its operating costs.

Dublin-based airline has introduced 'Always Getting Better' initiatives . Effort includes allocated seating and relaxed baggage rules . Controversial CEO Michael O'Leary is nearing a new five-year deal .

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Two of the biggest beer makers in the world have posted details of what goes into Budweiser and Miller Lite after pressure from a food blogger. Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors detailed the ingredients of some of their most popular brands on Thursday, and promised to be more transparent in the future. The announcements come a day after blogger Vani Hari posted a petition on FoodBabe.com to get major brewers to list what goes in their beverages. Info on tap: Food blogger Vani Hari managed to get two major breweries to disclose their ingredients . Because the Treasury department rather than the Food and Drug Administration oversees alcoholic beverages, no law exists to force brewers to list the ingredients they use. Since Hari highlighted the discrepancy, Anheuser-Busch listed ingredients for . its two top-selling brands on its website, tapintoyourbeer.com. It . lists the same ingredients for Budweiser and Bud Light: water, barley . malt, rice, yeast and hops. The company, which also makes Beck's, Busch . and Michelob beers, said it will list the ingredients for all of its . other brands online 'in the coming days'. Thursday's disclosure was the first time . Anheuser-Busch had detailed the ingredients of its beers. MillerCoors posted the ingredients of Miller Lite, Coors Light and six other brands on its Facebook page. Most are made from water, barley malt, corn, yeast and hops, the company said. 'We also value transparency and are happy to comply with the request for additional information,' MillerCoors said in a statement. The company says that consumers can call to ask what ingredients are in their beer, and it will also put more information online 'in the days ahead'. Its other brands in the U.S. include Peroni and Redd's Apple Ale. Both companies said that they are not required to list ingredients, but are doing so voluntarily because customers want it. Hops to it: The makers of Budweiser listed what goes into its drinks after an online campaign . An online petition, started Wednesday by Hari, has more than 44,000 signatures. Hari has become a powerful voice in the food industry. She is the same blogger who successfully pushed sandwich chain Subway to remove an ingredient in its bread that is also used in yoga mats. She chose to petition beer makers because her husband drinks beer, and she wants to be able to see what she is buying. Representatives from Anheuser-Busch invited Hari and her family to visit its brewery in St Louis to see how its beers are made. Hari said she is working with the company to schedule a visit.

Budweiser and Miller Lite agree to reveal what goes in popular drinks . Campaigner Vani Hari challenges law that lets brewers hide what they use .

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Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israeli security forces and intelligence officers raided a Palestinian television station overnight and took computers, tapes, transmitters and paperwork, the director of the station said Wednesday. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called it "piracy." The raid began at 2 a.m., Wattan TV director Muamar Orabi said. "Four night-shift employees were detained for more than three hours inside the offices after their mobile phones were taken," he added. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the raid had taken place. Israeli Ministry of Communications spokesman Yehiel Shavi said Wattan broadcasts "were interfering with the signals of Israeli broadcasters" and said the interference had been stopped "with the assistance of the IDF." The IDF said repeated requests had been made to Wattan to stop its broadcasts because they interfered with Israeli broadcasters and flight communications at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. But Orabi said his station had never received a complaint about transmission frequencies, and said the response was disproportionate even if that was the reason for the raid. "Why destroy the TV station when they could have just confiscated the two transmitters?" he asked. "This is not the first time this has happened. Wattan TV was destroyed 10 years ago, in March 2002," he said. The station called the raid an act of piracy and vowed to continue its work. "Wattan TV deplores this aggressive behavior against an efficient and effective media organization and will work through its contacts with local and international media and human rights organizations to expose this criminal act," the station said in a statement. "Wattan will work on restoring all the stolen equipment and transmitters and continue interrupted broadcasting." Fayyad issued a statement saying: "This piracy and raids of Palestinian media institutions brings back to mind the practices during the beginning of the second Intifadah when Israeli occupation forces raided and sabotaged many Palestinian media institutions including Palestine TV, Voice of Palestine, and Wattan TV." He said officials will work to put the station back on air immediately. Fayyad also said the Middle East Quartet -- the United States, the United Nations, the European Union, and Russia -- bears responsibility for not preventing Israel from carrying out such actions, according to the statement. "These dangerous violations of the Israeli occupation forces reveal the extent of failure and shortcomings of the Quartet" and the "clear incapability of the Quartet to perform its duties," Fayyad said. CNN's Enas Muthaffar contributed to this report .

NEW: Palestinian PM calls it "piracy" and slams the Middle East Quartet . Israeli security forces take transmitters, tapes, computers and paperwork, Wattan TV says . Israel says the station's broadcasts interfered with Israeli TV and flight communications . Wattan TV vows to continue broadcasting .

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(CNN) -- A man accused of an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States was too disorganized to have been a part of the scheme, a friend said. Manssor Arbabsiar is accused of conspiracy to murder a foreign official, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism. Known as "Jack" because of his affinity for the whiskey Jack Daniels, the 56-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen wasn't much of a businessman, according to David Tomscha, who owned a car lot with him for about a year in 2000. "If they wanted 007, I think they got Mr. Bean," Tomscha said. "He was very disorganized, he would lose most anything and he would get the dates of the cars wrong," Tomscha said. "He'd tell you it was an '89 and maybe it was an '85. One thing you could be sure, whatever date he told you, it wasn't that year." The disorganization extended to his personal life. "He wouldn't pay his bills, not because he didn't have the money necessarily, but because he would forget to pay them," Tomscha said. "If it wasn't for his wife, he'd be homeless on the street." Earlier this week, another friend Mitchel Hamauei, who has known Arbabsiar for 20 years, said he didn't seem to have strong views on politics or religion. "It was shocking because it didn't seem like he would be the type of person to do something like that," Hamauei said, adding that he met Arbabsiar through mutual Iranian friends. Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri, an Iran-based member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, are accused of a conspiracy to murder a foreign official, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism, the FBI said Tuesday. Arbabsiar was arrested in September. Shakuri remains at large, the bureau said. The two were in a group that began planning this spring to kill Saudi Ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir, the FBI said. "I don't think he's the Manchurian candidate," said Tomscha. "He came over. He liked this country. He made money here." Arbabsiar has had prior brushes with the law, but they were for minor infractions. Public records show three arrests for Arbabsiar over the past 25 years. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail for evading arrest in 1987, and he pleaded "no contest" to a lesser charge in 2004 after he was arrested for driving on a suspended license. Arbabsiar also received a speeding ticket in 2007 for going more than 10 mph over the limit. A 2001 theft charge against Arbabsiar was dismissed, CNN affiliate KIII-TV reported. According to the allegations he now faces, Arbabsiar and an undercover informant discussed using explosives to kill the Saudi ambassador and possibly attacking a crowded restaurant, according to an FBI affidavit released Tuesday. The informant named $1.5 million as his price, it said. Arbabsiar allegedly sent $100,000 intended as a down payment, telling the informant his "cousin" had deep pockets, court documents said. "He didn't strike me as the kind of guy who would want to go out there and murder hundreds of innocent people," Tomscha said. "That takes a real callous person and he never stuck me like that." CNN's Jim Spellman and Erin Burnett contributed to this report .

Man earns nickname "Jack" for his affinity for the whiskey Jack Daniels . Friend says Manssor Arbabsiar is too disorganized to take part in a killing plot . He is accused of plotting to kill the Saudi ambassador to the United States . Arbabsiar has had prior brushes with the law for minor infractions .

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(Oprah.com) -- On a legal pad next to my father's armchair, I see my name in his handwriting. It's between "Atlanta tickets" and "taxes," on a list that also includes such excellent questions as "Sicily?" and "wine?" -- and it's crossed off. And sitting in the half dark, with my own two children asleep in the next room, it occurs to me that the details of parental devotion are nothing you can quite put into words. I mean, you could stand all day in an aisle of Hallmark cards, reading four-line stanzas about paternal strength and character, and plenty would be true enough. "I was an ungrateful louse, but you still sent me to college -- thanks," they assert in various rhyming couplets, with maybe something about ice fishing and neckties. "You taught me to throw a football; you gave me away at the altar; you left our house with a briefcase every day and we never knew where you were actually going." Sure. But where's the part about the flush of care you feel when you see your own grown-up self on your dad's to-do list? You worry, you call me, you cross me out. Because as a father there's none more devout . than you, Dad. I would buy that card. Or the one about perching your little-girl self on the closed lid of the toilet to watch your handsome father shave -- his lips pressed together in the mirror while foam disappeared in wide stripes like a mown lawn. Although I would want the card to skip the part about how, years later, your future husband would also use Old Spice, and the clovey smoothness of his cheek against your neck would fan the flames of passion into something more like a bonfire of heebie-jeebies. Oprah.com: The best Father's Day gifts . The same way you felt when you realized that Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Daddy" was actually about somebody's lover -- not their dad, like you'd always imagined. Not really about somebody's father. And yet I was exactly the kind of kid who imagined that you grew up and married your own actual dad. (Did he still walk you down the aisle? What did your mom wear? I hadn't worked out the details.) I wandered the house to be wherever he was: on the carpet at his feet while he rattled ice in a glass and shared pretzel Goldfish with me; on a kitchen stool while he soft-boiled eggs; flung across the bed with my chin in my palms while he emptied the pockets of his suit -- subway tokens, handfuls of change, a clacking box of mints. He seemed like a cross between a magician and a billionaire philanthropist. ("Would you like a Tic Tac?" "Would I!") Plus, there was the omniscience. Oprah.com: Are you turning into your father? Even now, if we're heading downtown, he cheerfully shakes open the subway map to show us the L train, to remind us to get off the N before it zooms into Queens. I watch his finger point here and there along the colored veins of the city, and I feel like we'll never be lost; I feel like if we were ever lost he'd come out to Far Rockaway and get us; I'm knocking on 40's door and I have two children of my own and what I feel like is somebody's kid. "There's a great sushi place near there," he might recommend, or "I would take the Major Deegan," and his confidence fills me with something like relief crossed with something that can only be described as a kind of preemptive grief. I want to always feel like somebody's kid. Explain the IRT . To me . Again, Dad. If he was in the shower when we left for school, he drew a circle and a dot on the fogged-up glass of the door for "goodbye." If we flew somewhere without him, he met us at the airport, always wearing the same red-and-blue-checked cotton shirt that jellied my knees with the gladness of seeing him again. "Who do you love most?" I asked, "Robert or me?" And he said, "Don't be silly -- your mother, of course." He was not exactly kidding, and we screamed with indignation and glee: Our beautiful mother! We felt the same way! Years later, though, our father would fall unpredictably and somewhat dottily in love with a brown Standard poodle. What a relief to raise a dog after the worry and complexity of children! Or so I imagine. Oprah.com: Books men want . Opinions did not need to be proffered about the dog's tone of voice, length of shorts, or sulky posture at her grandmother's dinner table -- or about how close to her eyeball the dog penciled in a smudge of black liner. The dog needed to be on a leash, sure, but not to keep her from growing up too quickly. And the dog was able to spend her whole life just wagging around our father in her needy way -- "Look at me! Look at me! I'm your dog! Aren't I great?" -- without even pretending to mature and make adult conversation. You didn't want me to grow up too quickly . Only now I'm not sure I can at all. Uh-oh, Dad! Oprah.com: Men Who Behave Dadly: The life of the full-time father . These days I watch my own young children with their father. Our daughter rubs her cheek on his and complains dotingly about its roughness; our son curls up in his lap, big-kid legs folded up like a giraffe's. They reach sleepy arms from late-night car seats, and their dad lifts them, carries them, whispers "I've got you" and means it in every possible way. Years later, maybe they'll roll their eyes when he counts the holes in their earlobes or frets over their berserk finances; maybe they'll rage and rebel and grow more independent than I ever have. But one day these kids, too, will scan the drugstore aisle for the right card that won't be there -- the one that says, . I know it's a pain in the neck, . Dad, . But it means the world to me -- . Your agreeing to live . Forever. Oprah.com: How does a daughter talk to her dad? Subscribe to O, The Oprah Magazine for up to 75% off the newsstand price. That's like getting 18 issues FREE. Subscribe now! TM & © 2010 Harpo Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Author: A personal Father's Day message that says more than a card . Catherine reminisces about watching her dad shave and empty change from his pockets . She was one of those girls who imagined she would marry her dad when she grew up .

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Baby wipes are leaving children with an itchy, scaly and red rash which is often misdiagnosed as a more serious skin condition, a study revealed today. An allergic reaction to moist wipes is believed to be behind the rash which is being mistaken for conditions such as eczema, impetigo and psoriasis. Dr Mary Wu Chang, a professor of dermatology and pediatrics at the University of Connecticut . School of Medicine, said that she has seen six children with the mysterious rash over the past two years. A study published today has found that a mysterious, itchy rash affecting children may be caused by a chemical in moist wipes . The study which Dr Chang co-authored was published on Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics. Her first patient was an 8-year-old girl who had a rash around her mouth and on her buttocks. Dr Chang treated the child with antibiotics and steroids but the rash came back time and time again. After investigating the child's medical history, the doctor realized she could be suffering from an allergic reaction. The doctor explained that she remembered a Belgian study which was done after a patient reacted badly to methylisothiazolinone - a chemical that is often found in baby wipes, hand creams and lotions. In recent years, some manufactures have also upped the concentration of the chemical in cosmetic products, often by up to 25 times. Overuse of moist wipes might also lead to greater intolerance of the chemical which is used on a plethora of household products. After an allergy test and laying off the wipes, the little girl's rash disappeared. Following the initial patient, Dr Chang saw five other similar cases in the next two years. The doctor told NBC that parents need not throw away packets of wipes but just limit their use. She told NBC: 'I have three kids, so I know how hard it . is to do the changes, especially when you’re traveling. But maybe when . you’re at home, it would be better to use a gentle cleanser and water. That way you minimize exposure.' Some children have suffered itchy, red rashes after an adverse reaction to methylisothiazolinone - which is found in baby wipes along with other household products like hand cream and lotion (stock image) Dermatologist Dr Chang said that parents should be careful not to overuse moist wipes on children .

Connecticut dermatologist Dr Mary Wu Chang has seen 6 children with condition over the past 2 years . Study explores a reaction to methylisothiazolinone which is found in household products like baby wipes, hand creams and lotions .

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J.Crew customers have accused the retailer of cutting back on shoe quality, while failing to lower prices. After newsletter subscribers were alerted that the $125 Cece Ballet Flat, which was discontinued in early 2014, had returned last week both in the brand's US and UK stores, customers immediately began noticing differences in the new shoes. The blog J.Crew Aficionada pointed out that the ballet flats, still priced at $125 - and an even pricier £125 in the UK - are no longer made in Italy, and customers have described their 'disappointment' on J.Crew's website. New CeCe:  After newsletter subscribers were alerted that the $125 Cece Ballet Flat, which was discontinued in early 2014, had returned last week, customers immediately began noticing differences in the new shoes . A woman from Colorado ordered a pair of her beloved CeCe ballet flats in red leather and said she noticed differences 'immediately'. '[They are] overly wide at the center, no reinforcing leather strip up the heel, a pieced sole rather than a solid one, 1/2 to 3/4 inch lower at the top of the heel. 'The resulting quality and fit are poor ... excessive width makes them difficult to keep on when walking, the lower-hitting heel results in my heel slipping in and out, the original interior wedge has been replaced with an interior bump at the instep. How disappointing.' Another customer notes that her new Cleo loafers are no longer made in Italy either; now, they're made in Brazil. And for one anonymous reviewer who said she 'doesn't care where it's made,' but she does 'care about the quality', the new CeCe flats are unsatisfactory. Old CeCe: Made in Italy, customers say the original CeCe ballet flat was of much higher quality, and far superior in comfort . '[They are] not as buttery soft as before and stretches out too easily. It's also cut wider and falls off the back of my feet,' she wrote. To prove their point, J.Crew Aficionada compared the shoes' old and new descriptions from J.Crew's online store. 'New: We resurrected one of our most popular ballet flats from the J.Crew archives—and for good reason. With a cushioned insole for maximum comfort, a rubber sole for maximum flexibility and an elasticized topline so they hug your feet just so, they feel as good as they look. Import. 'Old: Beautifully styled in sumptuous suede (from Italy, of course). Our designers deliberated over every detail to ensure our ballets are the most comfortable you'll ever wear, adding more padding, removing the shank and finishing them with an arch-hugging wedge. We think they've nailed it. Made in Italy.' However a J. Crew representative said the company hasn't changed anything about the shoe. In fact, the retailer told Daily Mail Online that the new CeCe flat is made with the same last, same sock, same upper, same materials, and same fit – the only difference being, it said, is that a pull tab in the back of the shoe, which customers said was causing discomfort, was removed.

The Cece Ballet Flat, which was discontinued in early 2014, has been made available again in the brand's US and UK stores . But customers have complained that the shoes are no longer made in Italy and have criticized their 'poor quality'

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By . Paul Bentley . Tragedy: Gloria Smith died after she drank cleaning fluid which had been left in a water bottle in her hotel room . A mother died on a five-star holiday to Cyprus after she drank from a bottle that a maid had filled with cleaning fluid. Gloria Smith, 60, was on a two-week break with her fiancé when she returned to her £199-a-night room and took a sip from what appeared to be a bottle of  mineral water. Moments later, she collapsed on the bathroom floor, screaming to her partner, Raymond Francis: 'It's poison, help me.' An inquest yesterday heard that the maid at the Salamis Bay Conti Resort Hotel in Famagusta, Northern Cyprus, had filled the bottle with a stain remover and left it behind when she had finished cleaning their room. She was arrested following Mrs Smith's death but released without charge when it became clear that she had made what Mr Francis describes as a 'stupid' and 'negligent' mistake. The couple were on the fourth day of their holiday in September 2010 when they returned to their hotel room to shower after a morning on the beach. After declaring she was thirsty, Mrs Smith took the water bottle from a table of drinks in their room and walked to the en suite bathroom, where she suddenly fell to the floor, screaming for help. Mr Francis, 62, came after her and tasted the discarded bottle, which burned his lips, before calling the hotel reception to demand  an ambulance. The hotel's doctor had finished work for the day. Mr Francis's fiancée, who was a retired hairdresser, was rushed to hospital but died of a heart attack in an ambulance while being transferred to a specialist unit on the holiday island. The toxic cleaning fluid was said to have caused a build-up of fluid in her lungs and brain. Speaking from the home he had shared with Mrs Smith in Walsall, Mr Francis said she had had so much to live for. 'She was an emotional lady but very loving, we had spoken about getting married,' he said. 'She had so much to live for, she was very happy. She said: “I have a future to look forward to.”' The retired antiques dealer added: 'Gloria should not have died. It was negligence. It was a stupid, careless mistake. 'We'd come back from a morning on the beach and I suggested we go to the Turkish baths for a sauna. 'Negligent': The retired hairdresser was on the fourth day of her holiday when she drank the poisonous liquid, which had been siphoned into a water bottle by a cleaner . 'She had so much to live for': Mrs Smith with her partner Raymond Francis on a previous holiday in Goa . 'When we came back to the room Gloria . said she was going to have a shower and she said she was thirsty. She . went over the table which had little bottles of vodka and soft drinks on . it and picked up a bottle of water. 'Gloria went into the bathroom and a . few seconds later I heard her screaming, shouting: “It's poison', help . me”. She'd dropped the bottle into the sink and was on all fours. 'I picked up the bottle and tasted it . and it burned. I tried to help her straight away.' Mr Francis said the . bottle looked exactly like a regular small water container. Luxury: Mrs Smith had been staying at the five star Salamis Bay Conti Resort Hotel & Casino in North Cyprus . Resort: The bottle had been filled with toxic fluid by a cleaner who had mistakenly left it in the room . Grief-stricken: Mrs Smith's partner Ray Francis who was on holiday with her when she died . After an ambulance was called, Mrs . Smith was taken to Famagusta hospital where she was initially thought to . have been hyperventilating. She was given a paper bag by a nurse who . spoke no English. She was then examined by doctors . before dying of a heart attack while in another ambulance being . transferred to a specialist hospital. An inquest at Walsall coroner's court . on Monday was read a statement from the hotel maid in which she said the . bottle 'had not been intentionally left on the table'. Recording a narrative verdict, coroner . Robin Balmain spoke out against the hotel's 'grossly negligent . practice' of transferring cleaning fluids to drinking bottles, which led . to Mrs Smith's death. He said that if the tragic accident . had occurred in the UK the hotel would have faced criminal charges. He . added: 'Anyone seeing the bottle would assume it contains water. 'If that happened in this country then . irrespective of any action against the cleaner the hotel would find . themselves prosecuted.' Mrs Smith, from Reedswood, Walsall, was a widow and had one adult daughter. The Salamis Bay Conti Resort Hotel has 392 rooms and overlooks the Mediterranean. The hotel is located close  to Roman . ruins and boasts a lagoon swimming pool, Turkish bath, sauna and massage . rooms, tennis courts, a casino and a private beach.

Gloria Smith drank from the container thinking it was water . But the liquid was actually highly toxic cleaning fluid . Partner Raymond Francis found her gasping in agony in bathroom . She was taken to hospital but nurses thought she was having panic attack . Doctors were able to do nothing to save her .

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(CNN) -- Step into any of the countless nightclubs in Lagos and you're bound to find yourself immersed in a sonic journey of pulsating beats, groovy samples and hip-hop kicks. In a megacity where everybody loves to dance, the tone is set by the infectious sounds of Afrobeats -- a growing music movement that's struck a chord with youth in West Africa and outside the continent. Although its name sounds similar to Afrobeat -- the eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary sounds pioneered by firebrand multi-instrumentalist Fela Kuti -- Afrobeats is a new genre on the Anglophone West African music scene. Back in late 1960s, Kuti, one of Africa's biggest music stars, used his electrifying grooves and sharp-tongued lyrics as a political vehicle to oppose Nigeria's military governments. Read: Blind music pioneer fires up Nigeria's modern sound . Afrobeats, however, tends to steer clear from politics. Its mission, says well-known Nigerian music promoter Cecil Hammond, is to make people forget their everyday troubles and have a good time. "Africa can be very stressful," he explains. "So you need things to make you loosen up and make you happy -- and music makes Nigerians happy." Hammond says that Nigerian music today has changed a lot since the days of Kuti, who died in August 1997. "Nigerian artists don't really want to get into politics," says Hammond. "They tend to stay far away from it because at the end of the day, you have different political parties, you don't want anyone to say you belong to this party or that party. "The more neutral you are, the better -- so just focusing your music, give us good music, let everybody dance and that's it." Kanya King: MOBO founder's top 5 pop picks . Musically, however, the influence of Kuti is clearly evident on the new generation of Afrobeats artists. DJ Abrantee, a UK-based Afrobeats champion, says the new sounds derive from Afrobeat, having evolved over the years with various Afrobeats musicians experimenting to suit their individual styles. "[With] the inclusion of non-traditional instruments, electronic sounds, grooves, synths, hip-hop kicks, it has become more than just the one typical style of beat used in the 1970s," he explains. "It is now an amalgamation of beats." But who are some of the hottest names making strides in the Afrobeats scene? Here, Abrantee picks five stars whose are breaking through commercially on the world stage. WizKid . "WizKid is without a shadow of doubt on the verge of a worldwide explosion," declares Abrantee, who describes the Nigerian Afrobeats singer as a "young talented guy who not only sings but pens some of the most musically catchy hooks in that genre." WizKid was recently signed by UK star Tinie Tempah's management company. D'Banj . The Nigerian rapper is at the forefront of the Afrobeats scene, having enjoyed big international success with "Oliver Twist," a global hit that made it to the Top 10 in UK charts. Abrantee says "his music is infectious, fun, dynamic and appeals to the masses." In recent years, D'Banj has won several prestigious awards, including the Best African Act at the 2012 MOBO Awards. May7ven . Nigerian May7ven is a UK-based Afrobeats artist and singer-songwriter who is well known for her dancing. "Her bold and catchy anthems in a predominately male-dominated industry have been leading the way and carrying the international flag for the ladies in Afrobeats," says Abrantee. Atumpan . The Ghanaian artist, also known as "the talking drum," has had success with "The Thing," a massive hit on dance floors in Africa and beyond. "The dexterity and distinctness of his soulful voice complements his records and puts him in a firm position to have a long lasting career," says Abrantee. R2Bees . R2Bees is a super group featuring Ghanaian artists Paedae and Mugeez, produced by Killbeats, who is responsible for some of the biggest hits coming out of the West African country. Abrantee says they are the "Afrobeats group to watch" in 2013, pointing to the anticipated release of their new single featuring UK star Tinchy Stryder.

Afrobeats is a West African style of music making waves internationally . It is distinct from Fela Kuti's Afrobeat sound . Scene's biggest names include D'Banj, Atumpan, Wizkid, May7ven and R2Bees .

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By . Mark Prigg . Amazon is believed to be working on a phone with a glasses-free 3D screen for release in June. According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, the device will use retina-tracking technology to make images on the smartphone's display appear to 'float above the screen like a hologram and appear three-dimensional at all angles.' The handset will be revealed in June and launched in September, the report claims. Scroll down for Video . Following Amazon's foray into the tablet market with the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD - being shown off here by CEO Jeff Bezo - the company is said to now be working on a smartphone with a 3D screen . Amazon's most reent launch was the Fire TV box. It features: . Quad-Core Processor and Graphics Engine . 2GB of memory, 4x the memory of Apple TV . Streams in High Definition 1080p with Dolby Digital Plus Surround Sound . Box is 0.7” thin . Fire TV’s remote uses bluetooth . Voice search using microphone on remote . Average price of paid games is $1.85 . This would pit it directly against Apple's upcoming iPhone 6, which is also expected to go on sale in September. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also believes the firm will launch a phone. 'We predict Amazon (US) will launch its own brand smartphone in 3-6 months, using the same hardware strategy as used for its e-reader and tablet,' he recently wrote. 'The supply chain will start stocking up materials in Q2 2014 for production.' It comes just weeks after the firm launched Fire TV, a set top box that doubles as a games console. The box allows users to download films and TV shows, along with apps.To play games, users can use a remote, or buy a separate game controller for $40.Mike Frazzini from Amazon Games said each game will be priced like a phone app, costing on average $2. Games available at launch will include Minecraft, driving game Asphalt 8 and first person shooter Sev Zero, created by the games studio double Helix Microsoft bought recently. Peter Larsen from Amazon said the firm wanted to 'invent and simplify' with the box. 'It's incredibly powerful, and it's unbelievably simple,' he said. The move would pit Amazon in a battle with Google and Apple, which is expected to unveil its latest iPhone in September . 'Tiny box, huge specs, tons of content, incredible price—people are going to love Fire TV,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. The service uses Amazon's existing Prime TV and film on demand service, along with Hulu Plus. The gadget, costing $99, is aimed squarely at Amazon and Roku's products along with google's Chromecast. The firm said it plans to add more services in the future. Amazon already offers on-demand TV shows and movies free to customers who are members of Amazon's premium shipping service Prime, in both the UK and US. Speculation about Amazon smartphones began in 2011.

Phone rumoured to show images that 'float above the screen like holograms' Will go on sale in September - the same time Apple is expected to unveil its iPhone 6 . Back to Mail Online home . Back to the page you came from .

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(CNN) -- You can't Google this. OK, maybe you can. But MC Hammer doesn't want you to. The venerable rapper, who helped usher hip-hop into the pop mainstream in the early '90s, has rolled out a search engine he hopes will outperform Google, Bing and other established tools. The project, called WireDoo, has been two years in the making, said Hammer (real name Stanley Burrell) Wednesday at the Web 2.0 summit in San Francisco. At the conference, he said what will make his search tool better than Google (or, too legit to quit, if you will) will be its "deep search" ability. "It's about relationships beyond just the keywords," he said, according to Mashable, a CNN.com content partner. The rapper-turned-entrepreneur (after some late-90s difficulties) said a search would render not just direct results, but also information on possibly related topics. Its tagline is: "Search once and see what's related." Other details about the product were scarce. WireDoo, which Hammer said he has a team developing, is still in pre-beta. Its website is currently letting people sign up to test the search engine when a beta release is ready.

Say what? Rapper MC Hammer launches a new ... search engine . WireDoo will give search results, plus results for possibly related topics, Hammer says .

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By . Trevor Quinn At Mailonline . Most parents are keen to avoid their children screaming, but father Josh Fairbank was so proud of his prank to scare his son in the shower that he posted the 29-second video on YouTube. Mr Fairbank appears in the opening seconds of the footage, which was posted on Monday, looking into a mirror and wearing a gas mask while holding a camera and a glass of cold water. The prankster then puts his finger to his lips as he gestures to be quiet and moments later he is creeping up on his unfortunate son in the Armageddon-like attire. Logan screams in horror as he is confronted by his dad in the gas mask . Eleven-year-old Logan - who lives with his father in Hartford, Michigan - is singing loudly in the shower and is completely oblivious to his father's plan to scare him. As Mr Fairbank approaches the shower and tips the glass of water over the top - and his son shouts: 'Dad you've got to be kidding!' The terrified boy then opens the shower door, and lets out a bellowing scream - sounding like a hawk's screech - as he sees his father dressed up. Mr Fairbank describes the video on YouTube, which has had more than one million views, as 'just a good-natured prank'. Mr Fairbank, who is wearing the gas mask, looks into the mirror holding the camera and the glass of water . Mr Fairbank's son Logan shouts 'Dad you've got to be kidding!' after being covered in cold water .

Father appears in gas mask as he captures 29-second prank on camera . Stricken son shouts, 'Dad you've got to be kidding!' before he screams . His dad describes the video on YouTube as 'a good-natured prank' Footage posted on Monday has more than one million hits in first 48 hours .

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The Missouri church attended by Michael Brown’s father and his family was one of a dozen or so buildings burned to the ground during Monday night’s protests in the wake of a grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson. While the majority of the buildings destroyed on Monday were in downtown Ferguson, the Flood Christian Church is located some three miles away from the protests in a remote section of Country Club Hills. Pastor Carlton Lee, who has been a vocal advocate for the Browns since their son was shot in August, has said he believes that white supremacists rather than protesters were to blame for the destruction. What's more, this all happened just one day after Michael Brown Sr. was baptized, attending a service at Flood Christian Church and then undergoing the actual religious rite at the nearby West Calvary Mission Baptist Church. Scroll down for video . Flood Christian Church, the church attended by Michael Brown’s father and his family, was one of a dozen or so buildings burned to the ground (above) during Monday night’s protests in Ferguson . The church was destroyed just one day after his baptism at the nearby West Calvary Mission Baptist Church (above) Pastor Carlton Lee, who has been a vocal advocate for the Browns since their son was shot in August, has said he believes white supremacists rather than protesters were to blame for the destruction . Brown was joined by his wife, Cal, and their children for his baptism on Sunday. 'It's just been so much stuff going on, we haven't had a chance to do it,' said Michael Sr. 'After all the stuff that's been happening, we have to keep doing positive things...it's just something we needed to do for our family.' Rev. Lee told NBC News that he believes Flood church was targeted because he has repeatedly called for the arrest of Officer Wilson. 'I'm very vocal in regards to the Michael Brown case,' said Lee, who has participated in rallies and press conferences with Michael Brown Sr. and claims to have received 71 death threats. 'The police called me and told me the church was on fire,' Lee said. 'I was in complete disbelief. I didn't think anyone would set a church on fire. 'I feel like one of my children has died. I put my blood, my sweat, my tears into this church, getting this church built from the ground up. 'To see that it was taken down in a few minutes is really heartbreaking.' Rev. Lee said Michael Brown Sr. was 'just devastated again' about the extensive damage. He then brought up how close it happened to Brown Sr.'s baptism. 'Sunday, we do the baptism, Monday, the church is one fire. It just doesn't add up.' While the majority of the buildings destroyed on Monday were in downtown Ferguson, the Flood Christian Church is located some three miles away from the protests in a remote section of Country Club Hills . He suspects his church was targeted by white supremacists who wanted to punish him for his support of the Brown family. Pastor Lee told Mail Online that he had known the Brown family for several years after officiating at their wedding. He said he remembered Michael Jr. as a ‘big jokester.’ ‘He was a fun loving guy to be around,’ he recalled. On Sunday Lee had baptized Michael Brown Sr, his wife, Cal, and their children. The event, which had taken place at a different church, had been planned months ago and Michael Jr. was supposed to be there, too. 'Sunday, we do the baptism, Monday, the church is one fire. It just doesn't add up,' he said. He said Brown had pledged his help in repairing the damage to the storefront church that was once an automotive shop. The building and been a non-denominational church since February 2013. 'We rebuild,' Lee said. 'We do not stop.' Watch the full interview on NBC News here. Pastor Lee said Michael Brown Sr. has pledged his help in repairing the damage to the storefront church, pictured above right before it was destroyed .

Missouri church attended by Michael Brown's father's family was one of a dozen or so buildings burned to the ground during Monday night's protests . Michael Brown Sr. had just been to the church, Flood Christian Church, the day before, prior to his baptism at West Calvary Mission Baptist Church . While the majority of buildings destroyed were in downtown Ferguson, the Flood Christian Church is located some three miles away . Pastor Carlton Lee said he believes that white supremacists rather than protesters were to blame for the destruction . 'I'm very vocal in regards to the Michael Brown case,' said Lee, who claims to have received 71 death threats .

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By . Sara Malm . Jailed: Teacher Simon Knowles filmed school children in the changing room and shared thew video and pictures online . A teacher who filmed young children as they undressed in shower cubicles and dormitories and spreading the images online has been jailed. Simon Knowles, 52, made hundreds of videos and possessed nearly 20,000 indecent images of children, some of which were as young as three. Knowles was jailed for four-and-a-half-years after admitted 13 counts of making and distributing images of children being abused, as well as 11 charges of voyeurism. Knowles, who gave his address as a caravan park in Leeds, used covert cameras to capture school children getting changed for swimming lessons, York Crown Court heard today. The charges against the teacher included making indecent images of children, possessing indecent images of children, distributing indecent images of children and recording a person doing a private act. Officers investigating the case found 19,541 indecent photographs of children on Knowles' computer along with 174 indecent videos. They also found evidence that he had distributed 147 indecent photographs of children. Knowles' committed his vile offences from 2009 up until his arrest in April 2012. The school he worked at cannot be named for legal reasons. Detective Sergeant Mark Jackson, of North Yorkshire Police, said: ‘On the face of it, Simon Knowles was a well-liked teacher who had the respect of his colleagues and aspired to be an assistant head teacher. 'In reality, he was a calculating and deceitful man who completely abused his position of trust for his own sexual gratification. ‘The level of betrayal, falseness and dishonesty he has displayed over a number of years is rarely seen. ‘He . filmed innocent children while they were getting changed, using covert . methods which highlights the lengths he was prepared to go to indulge . his twisted fantasies.' York Crown court heard Paul Rishworth, 27, committed the attacks 'without justification and without provocation' ‘The fact that he was also sharing images on the internet, some of them at the highest level of seriousness, shows that Knowles is a sick and depraved man who I am extremely glad that we have caught. ‘He betrayed his family, his colleagues, his profession and, ultimately, the children he was entrusted to educate and their parents. ‘He has shown no remorse for his actions throughout the investigation which was a long and difficult process for the officers involved, everyone connected with the school and, of course, his victims. ‘Simon Knowles is an intelligent man which makes his conduct all the more abhorrent and quite frankly prison is the best place for him.’ In a statement North Yorkshire County Council said: ‘The school and the local authority have fully cooperated with the police throughout the investigation, and the school has supported parents throughout this terrible ordeal. ‘Child protection remains the highest priority for the county and all proper child protection procedures and safeguards are followed by the local authority when employing staff to work with children.’

Simon Knowles made videos of children at his school sharing them online . Police found 20,000 indecent images of children as well as 174 videos . Teacher jailed for four-and-a-half years after admitting guilt .

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(CNN) -- Flames danced hundreds of feet in the east Texas sky hours after a fire broke out at a natural gas and chemical facility. There were no injuries reported at the fire in Mont Belvieu, about 35 miles east of Houston, said Rick Rainey, a spokesman for Enterprise Products. A worker who was unaccounted for was believed to be away from the site, but the company was conducting a search, Rainey said. The fire broke out shortly after noon at a facility used to store natural gas liquids. The cause was not known. A two-mile perimeter was cleared around the plant. A nearby school restricted outdoor activities. "The plant is within five miles of the school and according to the emergency command center, there is no indication that the fire is of a toxic nature, since they believe the fuel driving the flame is natural gas," said Barbers Hill Superintendent Greg Poole. "Additionally, the wind is blowing away from us." "We don't believe this is a safety issue," Poole said. "However, we do have a lot of parents here at the school who are employees over at Enterprise, so that's caused a lot of concern for us here." According to its website, Enterprise Products owns or has interest in approximately 19,200 miles of onshore natural gas pipelines that provide for the gathering and transmission of natural gas in Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming. CNN's Vivian Kuo contributed to this report.

Fire breaks out at a portion of a Texas natural gas facility . No injuries or deaths are reported, but officials are looking for one worker . School stops outdoor activities .

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PUBLISHED: . 19:09 EST, 14 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 19:09 EST, 14 January 2014 . A Connecticut engineer with dual, U.S.-Iranian citizenship was arrested by federal authorities last week after it was learned that he was attempting to smuggle thousands of secret documents - including blueprints for one of the U.S. Air Force's most advanced fighter jets - to Iran, prosecutors confirmed Monday. According to authorities, Mozaffar Khazaee had labeled boxes containing the documents as 'household goods' when he shipped them from his home in Connecticut to California on their way to Hamadan, Iran. Smuggler: Mozaffar Khazaee is accused of trying to smuggle plans for a top-secret fighter jet to his home country, Iran . Khazaee was arrested last week at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey as he was attempting to travel to Germany and then on to Iran, where he planned to meet a contact and turn over the boxes containing 'sensitive technical manuals, specification sheets, and other proprietary material' related to the F-35 and its engines to agents presumably with the Iranian government, according to an affidavit filed by a Special Agent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations. Authorities say the documents labled as 'household goods' initially was discovered in November, when Customs agents inspected the truck Khazaee had used to ship the boxes of documents across the country en-route to Iran. The shipping company Khazaee used described the boxes as containing 'books and college-related items, two suitcases, a vacuum cleaner and some other items,' Pricey: Developing the F-35 fighter jet has cost the U.S. government roughly $400 billion . According to authorities, however, the boxes contained 'thousands of pages contained in dozens of manuals/binders relating to the JSF [F-35 Joint Strike Fighter] program.' Khazaee has worked as an engineer for several defense contractors across the U.S. None of the defense companies are specifically named in court documents, but his latest employer - identified in court records as 'company A' - has been identified by the Blaze.com as Connecticut-based Pratt and Whitney. 'Pratt & Whitney has been cooperating fully with the government on this matter and will continue to do so,' Matthew Bates, Communications Manager at Pratt & Whitney Military Engines tells the website. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is reportedly the most expensive defense program in U.S. history. According to ABC News, the program costs roughly $400 billion, and is intended to 'replace the air-to-ground fighter attack fleets of the Navy and . Marine Corps, and work in tandem with the Air Force's next-generation . F-22 Raptor, an air-to-air fighter.' Future: Officials in charge of the F-35 program have called the plane the future of American air power . The program has been the subject of criticism for poor planning and production. But the Air Force maintains that it is 'the future of American air power.' Other nations appear to have taken notice of the program - even prior to Khazaee, and his link to Iran. According to published reports, the F-35 is listed as one of several major U.S. weapons system designs that has been at least partially compromised by defense hackers in China. According to court records, Khazaee has traveled to Iran at least five times in the last seven years. He's been charged with interstate transportation of stolen property of the value of $5,000 or more. If convicted, Khazaee faces a fine and up to 10 years in prison.

Mozaffar Khazaee has worked for at least three U.S. defense contractors over the last several years . The F-35 fighter jet program has cost the U.S. at least $400 billion . Defense officials call the F-35 program the future of U.S. air power .

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Rugby bosses will on Thursday unveil a plan to tackle the threat posed by concussion. Players, support staff and referees in the professional game will have to complete an online course or face fines or suspensions, in what is another victory for the Mail On Sunday’s concussion campaign. ‘There will be a process of fining in place for non-completion,’ said Corin Palmer, Premier Rugby head of operations. All people involved in professional rugby, including players, coaches and referees, must do a new online course on concussion so everyone is on the same page for incidents such as this with Saracens' Charlie Hodgson . ‘After 14 days if it is still not completed the fine will be doubled. Then the right to coach, play or indeed officiate will be taken away until they have completed it.’ Campaigners have called for medical staff to be allowed to make decisions without being pressured by coaches. ‘In the old days concussion was a badge of honour and you played on without knowing really what was wrong,’ said Harlequins director of rugby Conor O’Shea. ‘Those days are gone.’ The deadline for the online course to be completed is December 11, after which sanctions will be imposed. Harlequins director of rugby Conor O'Shea says playing on with concussion is nothing to be proud of anymore .

An online course must be completed by all professional rugby staff . Premier Rugby head of operations Corin Palmer said fines will be imposed for those who don't finish the course in required time . Those who ignore the rules will be stripped of accreditation in the sport . Harlequins' Conor O'Shea said playing with concussion is not an option .

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By . Daily Mail Reporter . Comedian Jim Davidson has been criticised by anti-racism campaigners after he described his old stand-up routines as 'cartoon racism'. The former Generation Game host, who is appearing in the current series of Celebrity Big Brother, made the comments in an expletive-laden podcast on his website. In the podcast Mr Davidson described impersonating a West Indian accent as 'a vehicle to help us all really'. Scroll down for video . Comedian Jim Davidson has been criticised by anti-racism campaigners after he described part of his old stand-up routine as 'cartoon racism' Matthew Collins, of anti-racism group Hope Not Hate, however has criticised Mr Davidson for the comments and told The Mirror: 'No racism is ever acceptable.' In the podcast, Mr Davidson, 60, tells fellow comedian Richard Digance: 'There was cartoon racism in them days. It was the type of stuff you'd do in front of a load of black people.' He goes on to say: 'I thought that the West Indian accent - especially Chalky White - was a vehicle to help us all really. 'I don't want to sound like a vicar and I'm certainly not apologising, but it was picking on one stupid, black West Indian accent and always making this guy loveable and the winner.' He later adds: 'He sometimes lost, but he lost with great style.' Mr . Davidson also said using the word 'poof' to describe gay men can . be acceptable as 'sometimes they like to be called poofs and sometimes . they don't'. Mr Davidson described impersonating a West Indian accent as 'a vehicle to help us all really' He added: 'Sometimes they have a laugh with themselves and other times they don't. It's all in the protected species act nowadays.' Mr Davidson was axed from Hell's Kitchen in 2007 after making homophobic comments in which he branded gay men 'shirtlifters'. On Sunday evening's episode of Celebrity Big Brother, Mr Davidson revealed the true extent of his past cocaine addiction while taking part in the first task of the series - Building Block of Celebrity, which saw each celebrity tell stories from their lives. He said: ‘My life has always been in excess, I’ve always drank to what my job allowed me to do and eventually I found myself falling foul of the old Columbian marching powder, I didn’t know what to do.' He continued: ‘I had to make a difficult choice. I crawled from the pub to my ex wife’s bed and said "if you don’t help me now I am going to die". She took me to somewhere, and I met up with a guy…it was me a guy and a few other people and a bible. ‘Even though I still drink a lot, I drink in a different way now. And I thank God everyday; I don’t go near any of the strong drugs. With the help of love from people and God I’ve overcome those demons.’

Comedian criticised by anti-racism campaigners following comments . Comic says impersonating West Indian accent was 'vehicle to help us all' But campaigners declare 'no racism is ever acceptable' in stinging rebuke . He has revealed extent of past cocaine problem on Celebrity Big Brother .

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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has slapped a £20million price tag on Winston Reid — even though the defender could be available for free next summer. Reid has been a regular in the Hammers team that has had a superb start to the season, climbing to fourth in the table. But the centre back is yet to sign a new deal and, with his contract expiring at the end of the season, has been linked with a January move to Arsenal or Liverpool. West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has slapped a £20million price tag on New Zealand defender Winston Reid . Reid has played a key role in helping the Hammers to fourth in the Premier League table . However, Allardyce has revealed he has no plans to sell Reid during the upcoming transfer window — unless another club decides to splash the cash. ‘He ain’t going anywhere. He is not going anywhere unless someone bids £20m or something like that,’ said Allardyce. ‘There is obviously not a lot I can do about that. ‘If somebody flirts around with a measly offer because he is in the last year of his contract, we would make more money by keeping him and finishing where we are in the league — rather than selling him and putting our good season in jeopardy. ‘Because replacing him in January — replacing anybody in January — is a very difficult job indeed.’ Hammers manager Allardyce said it would not be worth selling Reid for a small sum in January . Reid's contract expires in the summer, meaning he would be available to leave on a free transfer . Talks over a new deal between Hammers owners and Reid have been rumbling on since the summer. But despite the wait Allardyce is still hopeful the 26-year-old will commit himself to the club and sign a new deal at Upton Park. ‘I just don’t pay too much attention to it now it has gone on so long,’ added Allardyce. ‘I just hope that the phone call is a yes when the chairman rings me up at some stage. ‘At the moment it is neither a positive nor a negative. It is neither a yes or a no from Reidy at the moment.’

The New Zealand defender's contract expires at the end of the season . But Allardyce said they will only accept bids of around £20million . The Hammers boss said selling him would jeopardise their season .

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Parents want to believe their babies are capable far more than their young age would suggest, but a company that claimed it would teach infants to read is being sued for hundreds of millions of dollars. For years, consumers were peppered with infomercials and internet ads claiming that parents and caregivers could give their youngsters 'Your Baby Can Read' products. The company claimed the program was essentially 'supercharging' their brains in order for them to learn more whilst becoming confident and proficient readers. A load of nonsense: Your Baby Can Read, created by Dr. Robert Titzer, raked in more than $185 million from the sales of its $200 kits . It was even suggested that toddlers would be reading Harry potter novels by the ages of three or four. However, the federal government has decided it was all a load of nonsense. In a settlement announced Friday by the Federal Trade Commission, the founder of 'Your Baby Can Read,' Dr. Robert Titzer, along with his company, Infant Learning, agreed to judgments of more than $185 million to resolve charges filed by the agency alleging the program had no scientific evidence to make the claims. Outside research, however, shows it's unlikely kids will be able to read by the time they start preschool. What's more, a recent study out of New York University finds that babies don't develop any reading skills when they're exposed to reading-readiness products like DVDs, flash cards and flipbooks. Read after me: The program made claims in ads, infomercials, and on social media that it could teach babies to read as early as nine months out of the womb . Most children learn to read on their own by the time they're 7 years old, although some learn a bit earlier. The company claimed that through the 'Your Baby Can Read' flash cards, lift-a-flap books and videos that as early children as young as nine-months-old could start to read. The program cost about $200. The FTC settled on that figure because $185 million was amounted to Infant Learning's gross sales from Baby Can Read. The company that marketed the program went out of business in 2012 when the agency first took action against it. No proof: The FTC said the makers of YBCR lacked competent and reliable scientific evidence showing the program could teach babies to read, or that the program helped very young children of a preschool age . However, the FTC said it was still selling copies of the program online after that time. 'Marketers and expert endorsers must have adequate substantiation for the claims they make, and the FTC will continue to pursue those who fail to abide by this basic rule,' FTC Consumer Protection Director Jessica Rich said in a statement. Parents have are advised that simply because the FTC has debunked the marketing claims of 'Your Baby Can Read' doesn't mean you should stop reading to your baby. The American Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement this year for all parents to crack a book open with their little ones early and often, since research has shown children who are read to during the infant, toddler and preschool years have better language skills when school starts.

The company’s massive ad campaign featured 14-month-olds mastering vocabulary flashcards and two-year-olds reading books . An array of charts, graphs, and studies purported to show that Your Baby Can Read! was scientifically proven to work . The Federal Trade Commission fined the company saying its claims its weren’t supported by evidence .

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Boris Johnson last night launched a crowd-pleasing demand for a return to grammar schools. The London Mayor sought to boost his standing with the Tory faithful by announcing his ‘strong belief in competitive education’ and selective admissions. It is the first time in more than a decade that a Conservative heavyweight has advocated a return to selection. There was a scrum of TV crews, photographers, reporters and fans waiting for Boris Johnson at Birmingham New Street Station . The London Mayor's taxi was surrounded by photographers in scenes usually reserved for popstars and A list celebrities . Mr Johnson, who does not control the . capital’s schools, again hinted at his  prime ministerial ambitions by . saying he was not able to shape party policy in  education ‘yet’. He was given a rock star reception at the Birmingham conference. A crowd chanting ‘Boris, Boris, Boris’ gathered at New Street station when he arrived by train and he faced a scrum of delegates and media at the conference hotel. At a rally in his honour attended by around 1,000 grassroots Tories, Mr Johnson said: ‘I’m a strong believer in competitive education. What was the Olympics? It was a pageant of competition. We should be allowing children to compete academically. ‘I personally have no objections to selective admissions at some stage.’ He said ‘some people object’ to the 11 plus, which divides pupils at that age, but he said it should be possible to select at later ages. And in a clear hint that he wants a wider national role, Mr Johnson concluded: ‘As far as party policy is concerned I’m not in a position to do this – yet.’ Mr Johnson tonight received a standing ovation from hundreds of activists at a ConservativeHome fringe meeting . The Boris Johnson circus threatened to overshadow the main keynote speech today from Chancellor George Osborne . He also said he would continue to . speak out in favour of a new hub airport, an idea the Coalition has . punted into the long grass. His provocative intervention on . education may not please David Cameron, who decided against reopening . the grammar school debate back in 2007. Conference: Boris Johnson takes centre stage . But not everyone has been swept up in Boris-mania. Veteran minister Ken Clarke today said Mr Johnson had to grow up. 'If he really wants to be a . prime minister for serious reasons and not just getting his picture in . the paper more often, he really does have to settle down and demonstrate . he can seriously deliver on some complicated subjects,' he told a meeting hosted by . Channel 4 on the fringe of the conference. He added it would be 'disastrous' if Mr Johnson could not get the 'fashionable' speculation under control. Health minister Anna Soubry also played . down the idea that the public was gripped by Borismania: 'Not one person . in my constiuency ever has said anything to me about Boris.' But the Boris Johnson circus still threatened to overshadow the main keynote speech today from Chancellor George Osborne. Mr Johnson refused to say . if Mr Cameron was a better Prime Minister than he would be, insisting . the claim was ‘unverifiable’. And  the London Mayor used his . newspaper column to claim the government had left the 'struggling . middle' feeling 'utterly ignored. Last night he addressed hundreds of supporters at a rally organised by the ConservativeHome website under the triumphal banner 'Re-elected and Olympotastic'. He was careful to praise Mr Cameron, and said he was one of the first Tory MPs to back him as party leader. Boris Johnson battled through crowds and a media scrum to arrive at The Hyatt Hotel . Mr Johnson had to battle through camera crews at Birmingham New Street station (left) before being confronted by more cameras when he passed through security at the conference venue (right) The London Mayor said the Conservative party had to remain squarely on the centre ground and claim back the One Nation mantra from Ed Miliband. But he refused to rule out publicly challenging policy drawn up by the coalition. Mr Johnson said: ’Of course I am going to fight what I think might be ill-conceived Lib Dem plans for a mansion tax when I read about it. 'Of course I am I going to continue to lobby for a long overdue solution to our aviation capacity problems. The rise and rise of his old friend has given David Cameron plenty to think about while in the conference hall earlier today . 'No-one, as a result of that, should have any cause to doubt my admiration of David Cameron. 'He, George Osborne and the government are doing exactly what is needed to clean up the country and the mess Labour left.' But . in a direct challenge to Mr Cameron he warned against thinking a third . runway at Heathrow would solve Britain's aviation capacity crisis. 'I say to my friends who secretly think a third runway:you need to move away from that idea. 'None of these solutions is easy but we can't do is turn a blind eye to what is happening in other European countries.' And he raised the prospect of a return to grammar schools, an issue which threatened to destabilise Mr Cameron's leadership in 2007. 'I am a strong believer in competitive education,' Mr Johnson said. 'We should be able to allow children to compete academically in my view in that way. 'I personally have no objection to selective admissions at some stage in a child's development.' The success of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games on his watch has boosted Mr Johnson's popularity just as Mr Cameron's has waned. Mr Johnson joked: 'I sometimes think after the great success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is we need more things like it. What's next? The Politicians Olympics.' 'Jeremy Hunt would be wanging the bell end. Me for the zip wire, Seb Coe for the 800m, William Hague for the judo. 'And Ed Miliband for the high jump.' The remarkable scenes as Mr Johnson arrived in Birmingham contrast with the . low key arrival of Mr Cameron at the conference centre on Saturday and . confirm Mr Johnson's reputation as political box office. Asked if he was in Birmingham to make trouble for Prime Minister, Mr Johnson replied: 'I'm here to support the party.' He ignored further questions as he was chased through the hotel. Then today he will make a more traditional speech from the main conference stage. Mr . Cameron has been repeatedly forced to answer questions about the threat . to his leadership posed by his old schoolfriend from Eton. This week the PM said he 'was relaxed . about having the blond haired mop sounding off from time to time' after . Mr Johnson challenged him over Europe, aviation policy and tax. On . Sunday a a survey by pollsters Opinium for The Observer gave Mr Johnson . him a net +30 rating among voters, compared to -21 for the Prime . Minister. Asked if he was planning to make trouble for David Cameron, the London Mayor replied: 'I'm here to support the party.' The extraordinary scenes confirm Mr Johnson's reputation as the Tory party's biggest star .

Rail passengers chant mob the London Mayor as he arrives at Birmingham New Street rail station . His taxi to the conference centre is surrounded by media and fans . Scrambling into a lift, photographers and TV crews block the doors . He uses rally to give fulsome backing to David Cameron, but fails to quash speculation of a leadership challenge . Calls for a return to grammar schools and tells the PM to give up on a Heathrow third runway . Veteran minister Ken Clarke says Mr Johnson is not 'serious enough' to be Prime Minister and should quell 'disastrous' speculation .

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Leonardo Ulloa, Leicester City’s club-record signing, says he has drawn strength from his opening day goal against Everton that he can succeed in the Premier League. The Argentinian striker drove home on his competitive debut to help his side claim a point and believes there is enough quality in Nigel Pearson’s squad to stay up. Ulloa only has played one season of top-flight European football in his career, while at Almeria in La Liga, but earned his £8million move to Leicester after averaging a goal every other game for Brighton in the Championship. Off the mark: Leonardo Ulloa is confident he will be a success at Leicester after an £8m move . ‘It’s more confidence for me, this goal,’ he told the Leicester Mercury after the 2-2 draw with Everton. ‘I enjoy the Premier League because this is new for me. I enjoy it all the time, in training, during play, and for the team. ‘It is important for us and the strikers because it is more confidence for us. For me, it is important but it is also very important for the team. I want wins but I think the team played really well for the first game.’ Leicester are expected to encounter a tough season and Ulloa admitted he needed to adjust to the fast pace, but his physique and height ultimately proved a handful. He believes Leicester’s manner of performance bodes well. Off the mark: Ulloa scored on debut in Leicester's 2-2 draw with Everton at the King Power Stadium . ‘It is different because there is more intensity than the Championship, but this team have quality and really good players,’ he added. ‘I don’t worry because we have a good team. ‘I enjoy the team, the club, I want to say thank you to the fans because I am really happy here. ‘I came here to play. I want to play, I want to help. Sometimes I can score goals, sometimes not, but I want to work all the time.’ VIDEO Pearson content with Leicester start .

Ulloa scored opening goal in 2-2 draw against Everton on Saturday . Argentine moved to Leicester from Brighton for club record £8million . Ulloa confident of being a success in Premier League .

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By . Daily Mail Reporter . Last updated at 10:58 AM on 13th July 2011 . Gordon Brown was locked in an extraordinary war of words with News International last night. In an unprecedented attack by a former prime minister on a leading business, Mr Brown claimed Rupert Murdoch’s media group has ‘links with the criminal underworld’ and accused it of using ‘disgusting’ methods to gain access to personal information. He said he and wife Sarah had been left ‘in tears’ when Rebekah Brooks, then editor of The Sun, contacted them to tell them she was going to publish a story about his son Fraser’s diagnosis with cystic fibrosis. War of words: Gordon Brown is locked in a battle with News International after an unprecedented attack on the company in a television interview . However, The Sun last night claimed that . there had been no wrong-doing and that the story came to them through a . good old-fashioned method - a tip-off from a member of the public. Mr Brown also claimed his bank accounts and legal files had been accessed by investigators working for the Sunday Times. The former Prime Minister said: ‘News International were using people who were known criminals,’ he said. ‘People who had in some cases criminal records, and... News International as a result were working through links that they had with the criminal underworld.’ But News International hit back last night, categorically denying allegations that The Sun had accessed medical records. It also claimed Mr Brown and his wife Sarah gave senior staff at the paper consent to publish the November 2006 article. A spokesman for the firm said: ‘We are able to assure the Brown family that we did not access the medical records of their son, nor did we commission anyone to do so. News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch photographed with his wife Wendi and Prime Minister Gordon Brown and wife Sarah - just months after the story about the Browns' son Fraser's condition was printed in The Sun . 'On receipt of the information, The Sun approached Mr Brown and discussed with his colleagues how best to present it. 'Those colleagues provided quotes which were used in the published piece which indicated his consent to it. 'We continue to inquire into other allegations made by Mr Brown.' In an article published today in The Sun, the unnamed member of the public said he contacted reporters with information about Fraser's cystic fibrosis in an attempt to raise awareness about the condition. He said: 'I felt vindicated in contacting The Sun. I just felt at the time that we could have made something positive out of the tragedy and I believe the truth would have come out eventually anyway. Cosying up with the Murdochs: Brown shakes Elisabeth's hand inside No 10 in March 2008. Rebekah Brooks, right, who was then editor of The Sun watches on . 'It is tragic for the Browns like . many other people throughout the years who have children diagnosed. But . the fact that they are so high profile could have made a difference.' The father, who is said to have links . with the Brown family, learned about Fraser's condition just weeks . after he was born, the paper said. However, he did not immediately pass on the news because he expected it to be widely reported. 'I was very surprised it didn't come . out before it did," he added. 'I did it with the best of intentions and I . totally stand by that decision. 'I have no regrets. I just wanted to . highlight this. It's happened to many people and it's just sad that it's . happening to another family. A very high profile family.' The source also said he did not have access to the Brown family medical records. 'I have not had access to the medical records of the child at any time,' he said. The Sunday Times also denied Mr Brown’s claims, insisting it had investigated a story about his purchase of a flat, which it published in January 2000, in the public interest. ‘We were told that Mr Brown had bought a flat cheaper than any normal valuation and that he obtained it through a company in which Geoffrey Robinson, a close ally, had been a director,’ the newspaper said in a statement. A convicted conman, Barry Beardall, is said to have been commissioned by the paper to ‘blag’ information on the apartment. But the statement said: ‘We had reasonable grounds to investigate this matter and followed the PCC Code on using subterfuge. ‘We believe no law was broken in the process of this investigation, and contrary to Mr Brown’s assertion, no criminal was used.’

Red-top claims story about Brown's son having cystic fibrosis was handed to it by a 'member of the public'

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Washington (CNN) -- Jordan's King Abdullah met Tuesday with U.S. President Barack Obama to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the conflict in Syria, which borders Jordan. The two leaders told reporters after their White House talks that they would continue working together to bring about a resumption of Middle East peace talks, with King Abdullah citing the need to "keep our fingers crossed" for progress. In recent months, King Abdullah has taken a more active role in trying to bridge the gulf between Israelis and Palestinians, filling the vacuum created by the removal of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. Earlier this month, Palestinian and Israeli negotiators met in Amman with representatives of the Middle East Quartet -- made up of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia -- in an effort to relaunch negotiations after more than a year of deadlock. No significant breakthrough was made, but the two sides agreed to meet again. Obama said Tuesday he wanted to express his appreciation for the monarch's leadership in the region amid the change of what is known as the Arab Spring that has toppled governments in Egypt and Libya. On Syria, Obama noted that King Abdullah was the first leader of an Arab state to call on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down over excess brutality against his own people. Obama thanked the king "for his willingness to stand up," and for Jordan's role in Arab League efforts to encourage a needed peaceful transition in Syria. "Unfortunately, we're continuing to see unacceptable levels of violence inside that country, and so we will continue to consult very closely with Jordan to create the kind of international pressure and environment that encourages the current Syrian regime to step aside so that a more democratic process of transition can take place inside of Syria," he said. In addition, Obama noted what he called the "extraordinary efforts that have been made by his majesty" and Jordan's prime minister "in guiding political reform in Jordan," putting them "ahead of the curve in trying to respond to legitimate concerns both politically and economically." "We have said we want to be as helpful as we can," Obama said of Jordanian reform efforts. In his remarks, King Abdullah expressed his gratitude for U.S. support for Jordan's political reforms, as well for its economic support. Obama, in his comments, said the United States is providing "timely assistance in areas like food security this week." "As we move into political reform, obviously the economy and the situation that challenges the livelihood of Jordanians is very, very important as we move forward. But we are very, very optimistic," said King Abdullah. Outside the White House, however, the Jordan National Movement, a group that says it seeks to promote democracy in the country, protested King Abdullah's "absolute monarchy system in Jordan." Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians fell apart more than a year ago over disagreements on the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. In September, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made a bid for the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state, a move Israel called premature without direct talks to address its long-standing security concerns. In November, King Abdullah made a rare visit to the Palestinian political capital of Ramallah in the West Bank, followed by a meeting in Amman a week later with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

President Obama praises King Abdullah's leadership in the Middle East . King Abdullah has taken a more active role in the talks . Jordan hosted Palestinian and Israeli negotiators earlier this month . No significant breakthrough was made, but they agreed to meet again .

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David Cameron has issued a humbling apology to the Queen for letting slip her ecstatic reaction to the Scottish referendum result. The Prime Minister said he was ‘very embarrassed’ and ‘extremely sorry’ to have revealed the Queen’s private views during a conversation he did not know was being picked up by microphones. His public apology to the monarch is thought to be without precedent for a serving premier. He said he would be following it up with a personal phone call. Scroll down for video . David Cameron said he was ‘very embarrassed’ and ‘extremely sorry’ to have revealed the Queen’s views during a conversation with Michael Bloomberg, which he did not know was being picked up by microphones . In the extraordinary sequence, David Cameron could be heard talking to American billionaire Michael Bloomberg about the moment he rang the Queen at Balmoral to give her the news about the Scottish vote . Despite being just feet from the cameras, Mr Cameron revealed his private discussions with the head of state . In the most astonishing remark, Mr Cameron was heard to claim that the Queen 'purred down the line' The blunder was widely condemned by constitutional experts and one predicted his personal apology to the Queen ‘will be the most awkward call of his career’. He was caught on camera on Tuesday telling American billionaire Michael Bloomberg that the Queen had ‘purred down the line’ when he called her last week to say Scotland had voted by 55 per cent to 45 to remain part of the UK. In New York for a UN meeting last night, Mr Cameron said he was mortified to have breached the long-established protocol that content of conversations between the Queen and prime ministers is never discussed. He said Downing Street officials had already been in touch with Buckingham Palace to offer his apologies, and indicated that he would personally say sorry to Her Majesty when he next has his regular face-to-face audience with her. But the conversation may have to wait unless he makes it by telephone as they are not due to meet until she returns from Scotland in early October. Asked if he regretted discussing the Queen’s thoughts and whether he would apologise to her, he replied: ‘Yes and yes.’ During the walkabout, Mr Cameron also vowed to 'sue' polling companies who suggested the Yes campaign was ahead in the referendum campaign, claiming the stress and worry had given him 'stomach ulcers' Mr Cameron said he regretted discussing the Queen's personal views and said he would personally apologise . In the video recording, David Cameron can clearly be heard discussing his private conversations with the Queen. He said: 'The definition of relief is being the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and ringing the Queen and saying 'It's alright, it's okay'. That was something.... 'She purred down the line... 'But it should never have been that close. 'It wasn't in the end, but there was a time in the middle of the campaign when it felt… . 'I've said I want to find these polling companies and I want to sue them for my stomach ulcers because of what they put me through. 'It was very nervous moments.' He added: ‘Look, I’m very embarrassed by this. I’m extremely sorry about it. It was a private conversation, but clearly a private conversation that I shouldn’t have had and won’t have again. My office has already been in touch with the palace to make that clear and I will do so as well.’ A Buckingham Palace source said archly: ‘We are, of course, happy to facilitate any telephone call from the Prime Minister to Her Majesty.’ The apology came as Mr Cameron faced intense criticism over his gaffe. Dr Andrew Smith, teaching fellow of modern history at University College London said: ‘While it doesn’t seem unnatural for the Queen to have an opinion … it was a particularly sensitive phone call telling her that her kingdom was intact. ‘It does seem like Cameron has been terribly indiscreet, as if he was playing up [to] the bigger boys.’ He added: ‘It was very naive not to think there was a chance of the conversation being picked up … given his choice of language, the [description of her] purring and the fact that there is an important constitutional convention here, I have to say it will be the most awkward phone call of his political career.’ In his apology, Mr Cameron said: 'Look, I’m very embarrassed by this. I’m extremely sorry about it. It was a private conversation, but clearly a private conversation that I shouldn’t have had and won’t have again' The royal gaffe is not the first time that David Cameron has put his foot in it. He once let slip that the Queen had teased him about a play in which she is depicted falling asleep at one of their meetings. The Queen assured him it had never happened in real life before adding – after a pause for comic effect – ‘Yet!’. Mr Cameron revealed the joke when he met Andy Harries, one of the producers of The Audience, starring Helen Mirren. Mr Harries told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Mr Cameron told it in a most amusing way.’ In January 2011, the Prime Minister let slip that Prince William had been lobbying against defence cuts. The second-in-line to the throne was angry at plans to close four air-sea rescue bases in a move designed to save millions of pounds. Last December the judge overseeing the fraud trial of Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi’s former personal assistants was forced to tell the jury to ‘ignore’ Mr Cameron after the Prime Minister declared he was a secret fan of the chef. The Prime Minister admitted in an interview in The Spectator – published midway through the trial – that he was a member of #TeamNigella, used by those rooting for the Domestic Goddess in her very public battle with her former husband. And in June this year Mr Cameron was rebuked by the judge presiding over the hacking trial after his comments about Andy Coulson nearly led to the collapse of the remainder of the case against his former spin doctor. Footage emerged on Tuesday showing the Prime Minister laughing and joking with Mr Bloomberg. Although the pair knew they were being filmed, the fact their comments were picked up by microphones appears to have taken them by surprise. Mr Cameron can be heard to say: ‘The definition of relief, if you are Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is ringing up Her Majesty the Queen and saying, “Your Majesty, it is all right, it’s OK.” That was something. That’s relief. She purred down the line.’ By longstanding convention, any discussion between the monarch and their prime minister should remain private, enabling the sovereign to ‘advise, encourage and warn’ with complete confidence. The fact the Prime Minister revealed details of such a sensitive conversation with the Queen simply to make idle chit chat will likely concern and anger her senior aides. Leading up to the referendum, Buckingham Palace stressed the Queen’s neutrality and firm belief that the vote was a matter for the people of Scotland. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said Mr Cameron should ‘hang his head in shame’. The former SNP leader, who led the defeated nationalist campaign, gleefully told BBC Scotland: ‘David Cameron has been prime minister for four years and he hasn’t learned basic civility on not gossiping about what Her Majesty the Queen thinks … That’s absolutely pathetic and he should hang his head in shame.’ Labour MP Paul Flynn described Mr Cameron yesterday as a ‘gossiping motormouth’, adding: ‘I think it’s a major blunder … particularly embarrassing because he was speaking about a sensitive and divisive political issue.’ But Professor Robert Hazell, director of the Constitution Unit at University College London said: ‘[Mr Cameron] had not intended his private remark to Bloomberg to become public. He will be embarrassed … but no lasting damage has been done.’ Andy Zaltzman made the remark on Radio 5 Live . The BBC is under fire after a comedian suggested live on air that there should be a referendum on whether the Queen should be beheaded. The tasteless remark by comedian Andy Zaltzman, on Radio 5 Live, follows the beheadings of Western hostages by IS extremists. He was on The Christian O’Connell Manifesto, discussing the independence vote in Scotland, when the guests were asked what else could there be referendums on and Zaltzman suggested a vote on whether the Queen should be beheaded. Listener Becky Robbins said: ‘It was outrageous. It not only shows a complete lack of respect for the Queen but is also insensitive. The timing could not be worse.’ A BBC spokesman said: ‘We have received four complaints.’

Prime Minister heard making indiscreet comments about the head of state . Was talking to the former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg on walkabout . Revealed the moment he called the Queen to give her result on referendum . Today said he was 'very embarrassed’ and ‘extremely sorry’ for comments . He confirmed Downing Street had already apologised to Buckingham Palace . But he said he would be making his own person apology to the monarch .

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By . Sarah Griffiths . PUBLISHED: . 08:03 EST, 23 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:20 EST, 23 September 2013 . Prosthetic rubber fins have given a turtle injured in a shark attack a new lease of life. Yu, a loggerhead turtle, lost her front flippers in 2008, but is now enjoying her prosthetic fins, having received over 27 pairs of the specially designed prosthetics. The rubber limbs are attached to a soft vest that slips over the turtle's head. Scroll down for video... Yu, a loggerhead turtle, lost her front flippers in a shark attack in 2008, but is now enjoying her prosthetic fins fitted earlier this year . Here, Yu is fitted with her 27th pair of artificial front flippers attached to a soft vest that slips over the turtle's head . Yu lives at the Suma Aqualife Park near Kobe in Japan after her front flippers were torn off in the wild ina  suspected shark attack. While there have been various attempts to fit turtles with prosthetic limbs around the world, the aquarium believes Yu is the only turtle to enjoy swimming using her rubber limbs without any problems, ABC News reported. The 200-pound female turtle wears a black vest to which the rubber flippers are attached, after aquarium staff had previously tried other versions, which squeezed her stumps and caused her discomfort. Yu lives at the Suma Aqualife Park near Kobe in Japan after her front flippers were torn off in the wild . While there have been various attempts to fit turtles with prosthetic fins around the world, the aquarium believes Yu is the only turtle to enjoy swimming using her prosthetic limbs without any problems - and she has got through 27 pairs of rubber flippers . Naoki Kamezaki, the aquarium’s curator said: 'We have worked hard to design the vest in a way that prevents the turtle from taking it off unwittingly.' 'It can flutter the limbs as the vest is soft.' Yu has become a tourist attraction and is thought to be approximately 25-years-old, but she could live to over 50 years of age. The 200-pound female turtle wears a black vest to which the rubber flippers are attached, after aquarium staff had previously tried other versions, which squeezed her stumps and caused her discomfort . Researchers release Yu the 25-year-old loggerhead turtle with artificial flippers into a tank at the Suma Aqualife Park in Kobe . Loggerhead turtles are an endangered species that are threatened by fishing nets, ships' propellers and warming ocean currents - as well as natural predators, including sharks, which are partial to a meal of turtle. The sea turtles are the world's largest hard-shelled turtle and regularly swim some 8,000 miles across oceans and back 'home,' using the Earth's magnetic field to navigate vast bodies of water. Adults have a weight of between 80 and 200kg and typically measure almost one metre long. Naoki Kamezaki, the aquarium's curator said: 'We have worked hard to design Yu's vest in a way that prevents the turtle from taking it off unwittingly. It can flutter the limbs as the vest is soft' Here, Yu enjoys a swim in the aquarium with her new vest . Yu has become a tourist attraction and is thought to be approximately 25-years-old, but she could live to over 50 years of age . The largest loggerhead turtle discovered, weighed a hefty 545kg, while another had a shell measuring 2 metres 13 centimetres long. Unusually for threatened species they are distributed across the world, inhabiting the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans as well as the Mediterranean Sea. In the Atlantic Ocean, the greatest concentration of loggerhead turtles is along the southeastern coast of North America and in the Gulf of Mexico. Loggerhead turtles like Yu (pictured) are an endangered species that are threatened by fishing nets, ships' propellers and warming ocean currents - as well as natural predators, including sharks, which are partial to a meal of turtle . The sea turtles are the world's largest hard-shelled turtle and regularly swim some 8,000 miles across oceans and back 'home,' using the Earth's magnetic field to navigate vast bodies of water . Florida is the most popular nesting site with over 67,000 nests built every year but they have been found as far north as Virginia and as far south as Brazil. The largest Indian Ocean nesting site is Oman, on . the Arabian Peninsula, which hosts around 15,000 nests, giving it the . second largest nesting population of loggerheads in the world, while between 1,000 and 2,000 nests are built on the coast of Western Australia every year. Pacific loggerheads live in temperate to tropical regions, foraging in the East China Sea and southwestern Pacific an nesting in Eastern Australia and Japan. The rubber limbs are attached to a soft vest that slips over the turtle's head. Here, Yu the turtle co-operates with a staff member at the aquarium. Here, Yu, who weighs 200 pounds, begins a swim with her 27th pair of artificial flippers. She is small compared to the largest loggerhead turtle that has been discovered weighing 545kg, while another had a shell measuring 2 metres and 13 centimetres long . After nesting, females like Yu often make their homes in the East China Sea and 95 per cent of turles in the area hatch on the Japanese Islands in the Western Pacific. The turtles are transported by the prevailing currents across the full length of the northern Pacific, one of the longest migration routes of any marine animal.

Yu, a loggerhead turtle, lost her front flippers in 2008 but has since got through 27 prosthetic fins swimming around her new home . The 25-year-old turtle has become a tourist attraction at Suma Aqualife Park near Kobe in Japan . She wears rubber limbs attached to a soft vest that slips over her head .

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(CNN) -- This year, it's hip to be dead. The deaths of so many celebrities in recent months have highlighted the continued public fascination with stars -- even beyond the grave -- and the booming industry surrounding dead celebs. "It's been a crazy year," said Scott Michaels, who runs findadeath.com, a site devoted to tales of dead celebrities, as well as the "Dearly Departed Tour" in Los Angeles, California, where enthusiasts can visit sites of some of the city's most notorious deaths. "It's weird because even [stars], who are already dead, like Anna Nicole Smith, are back in the news. Death has become trendy." It's also a gold mine. Mark Roesler, chief executive officer and chairman of CMG Worldwide -- which markets and manages several deceased celebrities (some more easily managed dead than alive) -- said fans often feel connected to stars long after they are gone. "I think that with celebrities, we feel like we own a piece of them," he said. "It's almost like being part of the family." That family expanded during what some have dubbed the "summer of death." From May to September, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, David Carradine, Walter Cronkite and Patrick Swayze all died. The fascination with such celebrities can mean big bucks for their estates. And if death is the new black, Michael Jackson is poised to become the new arbiter of style. With the release of the documentary "Michael Jackson's This Is It," and a companion double CD, the legendary pop icon's estate stands to add millions to its coffers. Jackson will join the realm of Elvis Presley, Heath Ledger and John Lennon who rake in the cash and keep fans enthralled even from the grave. Have you seen "This Is It"? Share your review. At the end of October, Forbes releases its list of "top-earning dead celebrities." Last year's top 13 -- Elvis Presley, Charles M. Schulz, Heath Ledger, Albert Einstein, Aaron Spelling, Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel), John Lennon, Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, James Dean, and Marvin Gaye -- earned a combined $194 million in 2008, according to the magazine. Not bad for a group that is unable to make personal appearances or sign autographs. Roesler's company represents two stars on the list (Monroe and Dean) and quite a few living clients (people as varied as Scott Baio and boxer Roberto Duran) as part of its roster of more than 300 entertainment, music, sports and historical figures and organizations. Roesler, who declined to comment on whether he or his company is working with the Jackson estate, said dead celebrities are often less risky for companies to use in marketing campaigns. "The fact that they are deceased, it's not possible to have any more scandals. Andin today's day and age, companies are becoming less of a risk taker," Roesler said. "Even for someone like Michael Jackson, people have thrown a lot of dirt around Michael Jackson and we all know what that landscape is ... and it's unlikely that anyone is going to bring up anything that would derail any type of major promotional effort." Share reviews of "This Is It" Some people take their fascination with dead celebrities to the outer limits. These fans make pilgrimages to the scene of their favorite celebrity's death, their grave, and where they lived. In the case of Elvis Presley, it's the same location, which has made Graceland one of the most popular destinations in the United States. Michaels' findadeath.com is a favored destination of those who refer to themselves as "death hags." From visiting grave sites to collecting autopsy photos, death hags are part of a fan culture that can rival a star's fan club in life. "Stars' lives are pretty spectacular and we followed their careers," said Michaels. "So it makes sense that we follow their deaths." Why the attraction? Well, death is the great equalizer, said Alan W. Petrucelli, author of "Morbid Curiosity: The Disturbing Demises of the Famous and Infamous." "It reminds us that despite all of the money, glamour and fame, [celebrities] are going to die just like we all are going to die." Petrucelli has a collection of memorabilia which includes photos of some famous people after their deaths: singer Selena, President John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Sharon Tate and actor River Phoenix. "Some people think it's gruesome," Petrucelli said. "People also collect memorial cards and programs if the funeral or memorial service is open to the public. The day after a celebrity dies I go on Ebay and you will see lots of different items available. "And of course, a star's family can make money off of their likeness," Petrucelli added. "Death sells." Karen Bard, eBay's pop culture expert, said the site sees an uptick in items related to a celebrity after their death. Bard said the star doesn't have to be someone who is popular at the moment. While her site was flooded with Michael Jackson memorabilia after his recent death, Bard said there has also been a great deal of interest generated by the sale of the crypt above the final resting place of Marilyn Monroe, who died almost 50 years ago. "[A death] clearly incites a buying and selling cycle in an accelerated fashion," Bard said. "We see unique things pop up that are always capturing the public's attention and there are people out there willing to buy them." Alex Roman counts himself among the death devotees. He proudly wears his "Death Hag" t-shirt, visits Hollywood Forever Cemetery -- where several stars are buried -- and blogs about old Hollywood on his web site "Alex Living in L.A." Roman said he loves learning the history behind the lives and deaths of celebrities, and understands the allure. "There is a definite fascination and people are drawn to it on many levels," Roman said. "The fascination with death is that it's a frightening thing, yet it is something you are curious about. So there's that juxtaposition that makes it so interesting." Michael's business has attracted some breathing celebrities. He said he's even given Ryan Seacrest a tour. As the old saying goes, death is one of only two guarantees in life. And with the number of stars moving on these days, there could be more business opportunities for Michaels and those in his industry. "God has been very generous to Dearly Departed Tours," Michaels said, laughing.

Fan fascination can continue well after a celeb's death . Industry built around dead stars benefits from that popularity . Forbes:Top earning dead celebs racked in $194 million in 2008 . "Death hags" buy memorabilia including death photos .

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(CNN) -- Richard Sherman made several things very evident last Sunday night: . He's confident. Brash. Competitive. A "dogged mentality" helps, too, when it comes to lining up against the other guy. That other guy in the NFC Championship Game was Michael Crabtree, the object of the cornerback's rant after the Seattle Seahawks earned their way to the Super Bowl by beating the San Francisco 49ers. "Don't you open your mouth about the best," Sherman barked on national TV, "or I'm going to shut it for you real quick." In the days since the outburst stirred controversy, Sherman has become something akin to the upcoming Super Bowl's unofficial provocateur-in-chief. But in an in-depth interview with CNN's Rachel Nichols -- which aired Friday night -- Sherman expressed some regret about the rant while showing a far more gentler side when he's off the field. "I've always been a square, a nerd. Kind of odd, kind of awkward," he said. "I still am to this day. People just think I'm a lot cooler 'cause I play football." Sherman said he likes the History Channel and "Animal Planet" on TV. The Stanford University grad lauded his parents, saying they set an example of going to work every day and not complaining. With his can-do attitude and philosophy "you gotta be who you are," it's fitting that one of his heroes is one of sport's most outspoken athletes -- Muhammad Ali. Like Ali in his day, Sherman may now be the biggest newsmaker in sports following the Seahawks' playoff victory. When he was about 7 or 8 years old, Sherman saw Ali for the first time on the screen. Ali struck him as "so much different than everybody else in the world," Sherman said. "It was one of his interviews," Sherman said. "And he was just so clever, so well-spoken, so articulate -- so off-the-cuff. "He kind of went against the grain . ... and that takes a lot of courage to go against the grain, to say what you really want to say." Cornerback stunned by rant reaction . As the Seahawks and Denver Broncos prepare for the Super Bowl on February 2, Sherman took a break from practice to speak with Nichols. He spoke of defying all odds by growing up in a Los Angeles neighborhood -- Compton -- where violence is documented in rap songs, and working in school so hard and successfully that he later attended and played football at Stanford. 5 things you should know about Richard Sherman . "How almost oxymoronic does it sound that a kid from Compton is going to Stanford?" Sherman said. "I was just trying to show 'em anything's possible." Sherman has been publicly excoriated, particularly on social media, for his postgame comments. He told Nichols he probably should not have attacked Crabtree. "And that was immature and I probably shouldn't have done that. I regret doing that." Still, he was shocked by some of the racists responses he received. "It was really mind-boggling the way the world reacted," Sherman told Nichols. The NFL All-Pro defensive back told Nichols he still feels the sting of not going in the 2011 NFL draft until the fifth round -- the 24th cornerback chosen. "You don't know what to expect. You don't know if your phone's supposed to ring or if somebody's supposed to text ..." he said. "When your phone just doesn't ring, doesn't have any activity, it's really disheartening. " In the days since his rant, the phone is ringing for Sherman. His agent said the incident has ended up being more positive than negative for Sherman's image. "I think that he's more likeable," said Jamie Fritz. Fritz told CNNMoney that interest in his client for endorsements has boomed since the remarks. "We have some new (corporate) players who have come to the table who are starting the conversation," Fritz said. Sherman told CNN he is concentrating on moving forward, preparing for Denver superstar quarterback Peyton Manning. For now, he has one objective. "On the football field, you're still going out to there to win. And if you're not going out there to win, what are you going out there for?" CNN's Chris Isidore contributed to this report.

Richard Sherman talks with CNN about his NFL career, growing up . "I've always been a square, a nerd," athlete says . He pays tribute to his parents, talks of his neighborhood . Agent says his image is now more positive than negative .

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By . Nick Enoch . PUBLISHED: . 13:48 EST, 20 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 13:54 EST, 20 December 2013 . A Batman impersonator who was caught on CCTV handing in his friend to the police earlier this year has been spared jail today after being found guilty of burglary. Stan Worby, 40, took Daniel Frayne, 27, to a Bradford police station in February to answer an arrest warrant issued over claims he tried to cash a stolen cheque. Just like with the real Batman, the public wanted to unmask the hero - and father-of-five Worby was eventually identified. But today Worby stood in the dock - minus his costume - to be sentenced for a burglary seven weeks later in which he and Frayne stole almost £800 worth of power tools from a garage. Scroll down for video . Batman impersonator Stan Worby, who was caught on CCTV handing in his friend to the police earlier this year, was spared jail today after being found guilty of burglary . This image of Worby handing over Daniel Frayne to police in Bradford, West Yorks, in February caught the public imagination - but seven weeks later they were both charged with stealing £800 worth of power tools from a garage . During a one-day trial last month, a jury at Bradford Crown Court found Worby guilty of burglary after hearing that just after 4am on April 14, police found him and Frayne in a silver Mondeo car 50 metres away from a garage that had been burgled. Stashed in the boot was £770 worth of power tools including a drill set worth £150, three grinders worth between £50 and £80, a socket set worth £100 and a box of screwdrivers worth £40. Worby claimed he knew nothing about the stolen goods, and that Frayne had piled them into his car  while en route to a car boot sale. The jury took just half an hour to convict Worby, and Judge David Hatton QC handed him a six-month jail sentence suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours in unpaid work and pay an £80 victim surcharge. The court heard that Worby had a 'lengthy record' which started at the juvenile courts, and included burglaries, battery, drug offences and motoring offences. He was given a suspended jail term in 2010 for possession with intent to supply cannabis, and last appeared before courts in September 2011 where he was given an absolute discharge for depositing environmental waste. Frayne, left, was previously sentenced to eight months in prison for . burglary, handling stolen goods and breach of a community order.  Worby was handed a six-month jail sentence suspended for 12 months . Mitigating, Simon Hustler said that Worby had been employed at the time of the burglary by Kirklees Council but was let go from this job after a local paper printed the story of the burglary on their front page. Judge Hatton told Worby: 'You have committed no offences of burglary or attempted burglary for 13 years. 'That is what prevents you going to prison immediately. 'The offence is so serious that it passes the custody threshold, but I impose a sentence of six months' imprisonment suspended for 12 months.' Frayne was previously sentenced to eight months in prison for burglary, handling stolen goods and breach of a community order.

Stan Worby, 40, was filmed in February handing Daniel Frayne to West Yorks police . Worby and Frayne were charged with burglary seven weeks later . Pair were found by a car stashed with power tools near to where a garage was burgled, in April . Worby given six-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months; Frayne was previously sentenced to eight months in prison for burglary, handling stolen goods and breach of a community order .

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By . Baidurjo Bhose . PUBLISHED: . 17:51 EST, 28 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:51 EST, 28 July 2013 . In name at least, he is the former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). But N. Srinivasan stole the show at the meeting of the cricket body's working committee in Kolkata on Sunday. The meeting lasted for almost three hours and paved the way not only for Srinivasan's return as president of the BCCI, but also his re-election at the body's September annual general meeting (AGM). It was announced in advance that Srinivasan wouldn't attend Sunday's meeting, but even then he was the talking point throughout it. Triumphant return? BCCI sources say N. Srinivasan (left) may soon be back in charge after the commission appointed to examine fixing claims against his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan (right) found him guilty only of betting . Hours before the meeting began, BCCI . secretary Sanjay Patel had received the report of the commission set up . by the board to investigate the spot-fixing scandal that had rocked the . sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 6. The commission consisted of former Madras High Court judges Jayaram Chouta and R. Balasubramaniam. Sneered . at by Srinivasan's critics even before it began the probe, the . commission was called eyewash by those opposed to Srinivasan, who said . that the BCCI would close ranks against 'foreign interlopers'. On Sunday, critics vented their frustrations again. "Friends time to move on. With people so . hungry to hang on to there chairs and will stop at nothing. Justice and . judicial process mocked- sad," [sic] tweeted former IPL chief Lalit . Modi, following it up with: "Seen the Bcci decisions. All I can say is i . am glad i am not part of this lame duck absolutely shameless . organisation anymore." While a final decision on the . president's position will be officially taken only after the IPL . Governing Council (GC) meets in the Capital on August 2, a senior BCCI . official told Mail Today that the report has absolved Gurunath . Meiyappan, team principal of Chennai Super Kings, of fixing allegations . while finding him guilty of the relatively minor offence of betting. The . Rajasthan Royals and its co-owner Raj Kundra have also been given a . clean chit, thereby paving the way for Srinivasan's return to the hot . seat sooner rather than later. "The . secretary received the report in the morning and it was tabled in the . post-lunch session. With the Mumbai Police refusing to depose before the . panel, the commission couldn't make much headway into the allegations . of fixing levied against Meiyappan and Kundra. All that they could . establish was charges of betting against Meiyappan. But not much will be . made of it," the official said. He . went on: "While the report has been handed over to Arun Jaitley, he is . set to go through the findings ahead of the IPL GC meeting on Friday, it . is just a matter of time before Srinivasan is back at the helm of . affairs. Basically it was felt that it is only proper that the final . call is taken in the IPL GC meeting as the matter involves IPL." The . official further revealed that the findings of the report were obvious . once the police had refused to depose before the commission, making . Srinivasan's position stronger and weakening any claims against him. "Mumbai Police had refused to . co-operate with the commission, so there was no way in which the . commission could have pointed finger at any of the accused. So at no . point was Srinivasan under any threat. Also, it wasn't a case of him . stepping aside because he was directly involved in any illegal activity. He had stepped aside as his son-in-law had been accused of wrongdoing. So the moment it was clear that the police wouldn't depose, the road for . Srinivasan returning to the hot seat was clear," he said. The official clarified, however, that Srinivasan would in all likelihood not chair the working committee meeting on August 2. "The Working Committee is set to meet . post the IPL GC meeting, but it is unlikely that Srinivasan will chair . that meeting. It seems that he will wait till his name has officially . been cleared by the Board before he takes over responsibilities from . interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya," he said. Even Dalmiya refused to divulge much when it came to who would chair the meeting on August 2. "Let Srinivasan take his decision," is all the interim chief said. By Qaiser Mohammad Ali in New Delhi . Mail Today has learned that N. Srinivasan signed the appointment letters for new BCCI interim secretary Sanjay Patel and treasurer Ravi Savant . When N. Srinivasan famously 'stepped aside' from day-today working of the BCCI at the June 2 working committee meeting, following the IPL spot-and match-fixing scandal, some key board officials raised a pertinent question: who installed the new BCCI secretary and treasurer following the resignations of Sanjay Jagdale and Ajay Shirke? That question now has an answer. Mail Today has learned that Srinivasan signed the appointment letters for new interim secretary Sanjay Patel and treasurer Ravi Savant several days after critics accused the BCCI of ignoring its own constitution. At the acrimonious working committee meeting on June 10 in New Delhi, the house passed a resolution, authorising Srinivasan to sign the appointment letters. "In fact, five resolutions were passed at the Delhi meeting, and two of them related to the new appointments. One resolution was about the appointment of the secretary and treasurer and other was that Srinivasan would sign the letters," a top official told Mail Today. "The second resolution said that Srinivasan, 'exercising his rights as per the BCCI constitution', would issue the appointment letters to Patil and Savant," he said. Senior Board officials like I.S. Bindra, C.P. Joshi and G. Vinod questioned the "invalid" route taken by Srinivasan to 'step aside', after Delhi cricket chief Arun Jaitley suggested this "unconstitutional" way, as Bindra termed it, to give the beleaguered BCCI president the much-needed relief. Srinivasan, who was under tremendous pressure because of his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan's alleged involvement in the fixing scandal, was not present at the Delhi meeting. In his absence, Jagmohan Dalmiya, after being vehemently opposed by Bindra and Joshi, was elected to chair the working committee meeting. Hyderabad Cricket Association president G. Vinod also protested, saying that he was not aware of the steps that led to Srinivasan stepping aside. Even as the two-member probe commission submitted its report to the BCCI on Sunday, a top board official told Mail Today that the Mumbai police did not depose before the panel. "The Mumbai police didn't depose before the commission as they felt that it didn't have any legal standing," he said. But the Mumbai police claimed that they had written to the BCCI regarding the legal position of the commission and hadn't received a reply from the board.

BCCI official claims spot-fixing commission has absolved Gurunath Meiyappan, team . principal of Chennai Super Kings, of fixing allegations . But report allegedly finds . him guilty of betting, a lesser offence . Rajasthan Royals and co-owner Raj Kundra also got a clean chit . Insiders say the way is now clear for Srinivasan's return as BCCI President .

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If you have ever grimaced at your petrol bill and dreamed of a car that runs on fresh air, your prayers are about to be answered. French car giant PSA Peugeot  Citroen believes it can put an air-powered vehicle on the road by 2016. Its scientists say it will knock 45 per cent off fuel bills for an average motorist. And when driving in towns and cities costs could be slashed by as much as 80 per cent because the car will be running on air for four-fifths of the time. Saving the planet: The Hybrid Air technology could allow a car the size of a Citroën C3 or Peugeot 208 to emit as little as 69g/km of CO2 . Cutting costs: A look inside the 'air engine' which could cut 45 per cent off the petrol bill for the average driver . The system works by using a normal internal combustion engine, special hydraulics and an adapted gearbox along with compressed air cylinders that store and release energy. This enables it to run on petrol or air, or a combination of the two. Air power would be used solely for city use, automatically activated below 43mph and available for ‘60 to 80 per cent of the time in city driving’. By 2020, the cars could be achieving an average of 117 miles a gallon, the company predicts. The air compression system can re-use all the energy normally lost when slowing down and braking. The motor and a pump are in the engine bay, fed by a compressed air tank underneath the car, running parallel to the exhaust. The revolutionary new ‘Hybrid Air’ engine system – the first to combine petrol with compressed air – is a breakthrough for hybrid cars because expensive batteries will no longer be needed. Lift-off: The air power will be automatically activated below 43mph and can be used for up to 80 per cent of driving time in urban areas . Cars fitted with Hybrid Air will be about £1,000 cheaper to buy than current hybrid models. For more than two years, 100 elite scientists and engineers have been working on the air-powered car in top-secret conditions at Peugeot’s research and development centre at Velizy, just south of Paris. Hybrid Air is the centrepiece of Peugeot chief executive Philippe Varin’s efforts to restore the fortunes of the historic car maker. The revolutionary system will be able to be installed on any normal family car without altering its external shape or size or reducing the boot size, provided the spare wheel is not stored there. From the outside, an air-powered car will look identical to a conventional vehicle. A spokesman said: ‘We are not talking about weird and wacky machines. These are going to be in everyday cars.’ Peugeot, which unveiled its prototype yesterday, envisages introducing it in smaller models such as the 208 at first. Running on air: The Peugeot 208 is one model that may use the air engine technology in future . The company said that as well as being greener and cheaper to run, the air system created no extra dangers in a collision. Motorists never run the risk of running out of compressed air late at night on a deserted country road because the car will be fitted with a sophisticated artificial brain that ensures it replenishes itself automatically. The air compresses and decompresses of its own accord as the car speeds up and slows down. Spacious interior: Allows for full-sized passenger compartment without surrendering boot volume. Driving comfort and road handling: Hybrid Air promises to deliver nimble response with the boost effect as well as first-class road handling thanks to its automatic transmission. Worldwide potential: The technology is viable in all markets, making it possible for energy efficient cards in all types of climate and regardless of the state of the roads. Boot: No space for a spare tyre once the Hybrid Air motor is installed. As well as the revolutionary air car, . Peugeot also unveiled plans for new larger cars such as the Peugeot 508 and the . Citroen C5 that will save 20per cent on fuel bill through the use of new . materials such as lightweight steel and aluminuim composites. They will also deploy other innovations such as electric power steering instead of hydraulic and new tyres with reduced drag. These . will be introduced from this year. The first cars to feature them will . be the replacement for the Citroen C4 Picasso produced at the company’s . plant in Vigo  Spain and the replacement for the 308 built at Sochaux in . France. The audience gasped as the covers were . removed from the prototypes at a packed ceremony attended by French . politicians and business leaders. The innovations are crucial to chairman Philippe Varin’s efforts to revamp the ailing automaker that has suffered badly due to the crisis in southern european markets including Italy, Portugal and Spain that account for a large chunk of its sales. The economy in its home market of France has also been hard hit in the single currency crisis. It has lost its triple-A credit rating and socialist President Francois Hollande has earned international ridicule through his plans for a supertax on the wealthy. The Peugeot company was founded in 1810 and the family still has a controlling stake. Thierry Peugeot drafted in Varin - widely hailed in the UK for rescuing Corus, the former British Steel, from the brink of ruin - in 2009. Varin’s attempts to revive the marque have been hit by the euro meltdown and militant French unions. Worldwide sales for 2012 were down 8.8per cent to 2.82m. The company has been hindered in efforts to improve its performance by France’s rigid labour laws. It has also been plagued by violent industrial action at its Aulnay plant near Paris which is due to close next year with the loss of thousands of jobs. It is embroiled in controversy with rival European car makers over a French state guarantee given to its financing arm last year.

Peugeot Citroen invents technology for air car ready for the market by 2016 . 'Hybrid Air' engine system runs on petrol and air, instead of electricity . Company predicts 'Hybrid Air' to achieve 117 miles per gallon by 2020 .

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By . Dan Bloom . A humble bungalow which a family bought for just £1,000 almost a century ago has been turned into a luxury holiday home worth £5million. Dr Edward Andreae paid just £40,000 in today's money for the home on Dorset's Sandbanks peninsula, an exposed spit in Poole Harbour which many people feared would be too unstable to live on. But the home soared in value as the tiny enclave's popularity soared, becoming what is now the fourth most expensive property hotspot in the world. The way we were: This is the humble bungalow bought for just £1,000 in the 1920s on the prime Sandbanks peninsula in Dorset. The site is now worth £5million . Luxury: The bungalow, bought by the current owner's great-grandfather, was demolished and replaced with this luxury seven-bedroom house which is let out to holidaymakers for £4,000 a week. Owner Tim Baldwin said he will bring his 10-month-old daughter to the house to have the same experiences he did as a child . History: The peninsula and its modest huts around 100 years ago in a postcard. Tim Baldwin's great-grandfather bought his bungalow for just £1,000 in the 1920s . Idyll: The approximate location of the house on the peninsula, whose millionaire residents include QPR manager Harry Redknapp and Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis . Desirable: Houses began to be built on the spit in the late 1800s, but the current boom only took off in the 1960s. Pictured: A plan of the area from 1896 . The bolthole was passed down through four generations of the same family until it fell into a state of disrepair. In . 2011 Dr Andreae’s great-grandson, Tim Baldwin, and his father Jonathan, . made the drastic decision to demolish the 90-year-old home and erect a . new one in its place. They . spent £580,000 creating a luxurious beachfront house that is now worth . 5,000 times (500,000 per cent) more than the original holiday home. The two-storey property, named Hook Sands after the old bungalow, has seven bedrooms and five bathrooms. It is clad in larch wood, powered by solar panels and has a garden that backs onto the beach. Interior . designer Mr Baldwin, 33, from Bath, rents the house to holidaymakers . from April to October each year for up to £4,100 a week. He . said: 'For the last 90 years the bungalow has been in my family. It was . originally purchased by my great grandfather, so that there was a place . that everyone could go on holiday together. Bolthole: The luxury home is now available to rent for up to £4,000 a week - four times more than the amount the plot was originally bought for in the 1920s . Luxurious: Sandbanks, a spit measuring less than half a square mile and jutting into Poole Harbour, has the fourth-highest land value in the world . Pristine: But many people were unwilling to move into homes on the peninsula in the early 1900s because they were concerned about the stability of the land . 'It was a much loved place and I have good memories of spending every summer there as a child, and it wasn’t for a long time that I had a holiday abroad. 'It has been passed through my family and over the years it has had various additions and alterations and was rather like patch work. 'There was no central heating in the bungalow which was difficult in the colder months and we wanted a house that could be used year round. “We decided that instead of trying to fix the various problems that there were with the house, that we should take it to the ground and build it back up. 'It was a very special place to me and when the bulldozers came in and the house came down I thought I would be a lot sadder, but it’s all about the location and the views. 'We wanted to create a contemporary house that was going to last for another 100 years. 'I’m really looking forward to taking my daughter, who is 10 months old, to the property for holidays so she can do the same things I did as a child.' Houses were first built on Sandbanks in the late 19th century, but it was not always such . a popular place to live. Luxurious: Sandbanks as the area is today. Last month an old bungalow which would be worth just £200,000 elsewhere went on the market for £2.25million . Sea view: Once a humble holiday bungalow, the sprawling seven-bedroom luxury house looks out over the English Channel and a secluded beach . £1,000 was a common sale price for houses there despite the average price of a five-bed family home being more than double that (£2,074) in 1930. Even a three-bed semi was more expensive at £1,192. Only in a property boom in the 1960s did the peninsula - measuring less than half a square mile - become more and more built-up, turning into a Millionaires' Row filled with luxury beachfront mansions. Sandbanks is home to QPR manager Harry Redknapp, Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis and computer magnate Sir Peter Ogden. Last month a tatty 1950s three-bedroom Sandbanks bungalow which would be worth just £200,000 in most other parts of the country went on sale for an eye-watering £2.25million. And in March, an empty plot on the exclusive enclave went on sale for £3million - double what it had sold for before its old bungalow was knocked down. Adrian Dunford, of Tailor Made Estate . Agents, said: 'If this property was to come onto the market we would . look to market it at circa five million pounds. 'A lot of the plots in Sandbanks were purchased for less than 1,000 pounds in the early 1900s.'

Bungalow bought cheaply in 1920s on Dorset's Sandbanks, when it was feared surface was too unstable to live on . But since then the peninsula in Poole Harbour has become fourth most expensive property hotspot in the world . Buyer's great-grandson Tim Baldwin turned home into luxury beachfront retreat in 2011 with work costing £580,000 . He said: 'I'm really looking forward to taking my daughter for holidays so she can do the same things I did as a child'

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By . Steve Robson . PUBLISHED: . 06:03 EST, 2 July 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 11:49 EST, 2 July 2013 . The forecast was for blue skies and sunshine, but weathergirl Wendy Hurrell's reaction was a face of thunder. The presenter was caught revealing her frustration shortly after her 10.30pm report on BBC London last night. The 31-year-old had been all smiles as she predicted warm weather for London the rest of the week. But when the camera remained on her, Ms Hurrell could be seen rolling her eyes and flicking her hair in an apparent display of contempt. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Not amused: Weather presenter Wendy Hurrell makes her feelings known without realising the camera is still on her . Cold front: The forecast had been for warm, sunny weather but Ms Hurrell displayed a frosty stare . Gloomy: Viewers quickly took to Twitter to speculate as to what had upset weathergirl Wendy Hurrell . Ice cold glare: Some viewers thought the grimace may have been aimed at news anchor Riz Lateef . Viewers were quick to take to Twitter to speculate as to what had brought on the cold front as clips of the candid moment were posted on YouTube and Facebook. Some thought that her anger was directed at news anchor Riz Lateef. One wrote: 'OMG! Did anyone see the eye rolling from Wendy Hurrell at the end of the weather tonight. Tut tut! Me thinks you don't like Riz Lateef' Another said: '@WendyHurrell you should wait till the camera is off you before you pull the 'I couldn't give a s***' face' '@WendyHurrell providing much amusement on this sofa with a post-weather eye roll and 'what evs' face,' wrote another. Plenty of viewers noticed the candid moment caught on camera and took to Twitter to make comments . Twitter user Dom Vizor was among those who found Ms Hurrell's unimpressed expression amusing . Reaction: Ms Hurrell quickly went onto Twitter herself to explain her 'roll of the eyes' Sense of humour: The presenter was able to see the funny side of being caught venting her frustration on camera . Change of heart: Earlier Wendy Hurrell had seemed bright and breezy during the forecast . Hiding her feelings: Ms Hurrell said she had been frustrated at a series of technical problems during the broadcast . But Ms Hurrell soon took to Twitter . herself claiming that she was simply frustrated at a series of technical . faults which had hampered the broadcast. She wrote: 'The roll of the eyes was because I had to do the whole forecast without being able to see any graphics - it wasn't at Riz Lateef! #techfail' 'And clearly I was kept cut up in frame while I took out my frustration on the nearest and inanimate object (green wall of the studio)!' The presenter was able to see the funny side of the gaffe, even comparing it to the Will Ferrell film Anchorman. 'It's actually really funny, even I have to admit. Our world is just like Anchorman,' she later Tweeted. Support: Wendy Hurrell, left, sparked a Twitter storm with her eyeroll but she was given support by her colleague and news anchor Riz Lateef, right, who said she had been frustrated by technical problems . And Ms Hurrell was backed up by her news anchor Riz Lateef who tweeted that her explanation was true. She Tweeted: 'Thankfully it was not me phew! she was not impressed with the technical fail of having no weather graphics.' 'Ok so it was one of the more 'interesting' late bulletins shall we say. And your comments made @WendyHurrell and I chuckle.' BBC spokesperson said: 'BBC London has recently moved very successfully into a new studio. Last night we had a couple of technical problems which meant that Wendy couldn’t see the weather graphics and the camera lingered on her too long at the end of the forecast. 'Wendy unfortunately didn’t realise she was still in shot.'

Presenter Wendy Hurrell, 31, caught revealing face of thunder after report . Smile quickly faded as she rolled eyes and flicked hair on BBC London . Viewers took to Twitter to speculate as to where her anger was directed . Ms Hurrell later claimed she has been annoyed at technical problems .

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(CNN) -- Did a "U.S. special force" commit acts of "torture" and "murder" in Afghanistan? That suggestion came out of a meeting of the ruling Afghan council led by President Hamid Karzai. NATO said Monday it has found no evidence to support the allegations, which appeared in a statement Sunday from Karzai's office. "It became clear that armed individuals named as U.S. special force stationed in Wardak province engage in harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people," said the statement. It didn't indicate who identified the attackers as "U.S. special force." Nine people "disappeared in an operation" recently by a "suspicious force" in Wardak province, west of Kabul, according to the statement from Karzai's office. Wardak is important because it's often used as a main route for insurgents trying to gain access to Kabul. The statement also described an incident in which a student was taken from his home at night. His "tortured body with throat cut was found two days later under a bridge," the statement said. "Such actions have caused local public resentment and hatred," said Karzai's office. The shocking allegations follow months of U.S. Special Operations raids that have deeply offended some Afghans angry about foreigners entering their homes. U.S. officials have said the raids are vital to NATO's operation against insurgents. The U.S. military has said it is investigating and officials of NATO's International Security Assistance Force plan to hold talks about the allegations with Afghan officials. A joint investigation will be conducted by a commission made up of U.S., NATO and Afghan officials, ISAF spokesman Jamie Graybeal told CNN. "We have spent the day in discussions with the Afghan government and agreed to a joint commission that will look into the concerns of the people of Wardak," he said. ISAF said Monday via Twitter, "We will not start with the assumption that the allegations are true. We looked into the allegations" and "found no supporting evidence for them." Local officials told CNN the allegations came from residents in Wardak. Hazrat Janan, a member of the local provincial council, told CNN that dozens of people complained to him and a visiting delegation from Kabul about alleged attacks on civilians by "U.S. special forces." The delegation then reported it to Karzai, Janan said. NATO's response came a day after the Afghan government demanded that U.S. Special Operations Forces leave Wardak province. The Afghanistan National Security Council also said the ISAF must stop all special forces operations in the province. "Until we have a chance to speak with Afghan officials, we can't comment further on the statements of yesterday," ISAF said Monday. Janan told CNN that until recently, there had always been good coordination between the Americans and the Afghans. "But in the last several months this coordination had vanished and caused so many tensions including all these civilian causalities and complaints against them," Janan said. Wardak provincial spokesman Ataullah Khugyani told CNN there have been "too many complaints against U.S. special forces in different districts of the province." Another local official told CNN Karzai's order for U.S. Special Operations Forces to leave the province may have helped to avoid more trouble. "If President Karzai's hadn't made the decision, the people of the province were planning big riots and they wanted to block the Kabul-Bamyan and Kabul-Kandahar highways," said Esmat Hotak,a resident of Wardak's Jalriz district. "Just a month ago U.S. special forces blew up the gates of 12 houses in a single night and beat up 20 young men in Zewalat area of the province." However, some Afghans fear a Taliban resurgence if there are no U.S. special forces in the region. "In the last year U.S. special forces destroyed almost 70% of the Taliban and other insurgents in Wardak province without causing any civilian casualties," said an Afghan political analyst in Wardak who asked not to be identified, fearing retribution. "If the U.S. special forces leave the province, I am sure that the province would completely fall into the hands of the insurgents in less than a year and that would definitely have a negative impact on the security in Kabul and other neighboring provinces." Last April, the United States and Afghanistan signed a deal that effectively gave Afghan authorities veto power over controversial special forces missions. The agreement prevents ISAF from conducting such operations without the explicit permission of Afghan officials, a senior NATO official said. Special Operations Forces will operate under Afghan law, said a statement from Karzai's office. The complex system fully "Afghanized" such operations, putting Afghan commandos in the lead and giving American Special Operations Forces a "training and support role," a senior Afghan official said. Under the deal, U.S. Special Operations Forces would be on the ground but would not enter Afghan homes unless specifically asked to do so by Afghan commandos leading the operation, or by other Afghan officials, a senior NATO official said. CNN's Masoud Popalzai reported this story from Afghanistan, CNN's Barbara Starr reported from the Pentagon, CNN's Thom Patterson, Catherine E. Shoichet and Greg Botelho reported from Atlanta and Nick Paton Walsh contributed to this report.

NEW: A U.S.-NATO-Afghan joint probe will look at allegations against U.S. "special force" NEW: Local Afghan officials tell CNN the allegations came from upset residents . The Afghan president's office didn't indicate the source of the allegations . "We found no supporting evidence," NATO says .

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A family of 12 are facing having to eat microwave Christmas dinners after claiming Homebase has left them without a kitchen. Katie Sutton and her fiance Alfie Johnson paid £6,000 for a brand new kitchen for their first home together in West Malling, Kent. The couple ordered everything including counter tops, a new sink, fridge, dishwasher, cupboards and even an oven from their local branch in Aylesford, Kent on September 8. Scroll down for video . Katie Sutton, shows the hole which has been left after the oven that was due to be delivered with her new Homebase kitchen failed to arrive . But despite ripping out all of their old appliances ready for their new kitchen to be fitted on October 23, the delivery men only arrived with just the hob and a sink. Miss Sutton, 28, and Mr Johnson, 32, a grocer, were then forced to wait for the rest of the appliances to arrive on December 4 before they could be fitted on December 8. But when the kitchen fitters arrived to install their appliances, their oven had still not arrived. They also added that most of all their other items had been cut to the wrong measurements, meaning the new kitchen would not fit. Their cooker is due to arrive tomorrow but there are no fitters around to install the kitchen for at least five weeks - well into the new year. Without an oven or a hob, Miss Sutton is now unable to cook Christmas dinner for the 12 people her and her fiance Alfie Johnson had invited to their new home . Miss Sutton, a beautician said: 'The kitchen was fitted and plans were drawn up so we couldn’t believe it when they said it wouldn’t fit. 'We found out cupboards were much bigger than they were supposed to be and the Homebase worker had not taken into account the size of the pipes. 'We’ve been having takeaway and ready meals everyday. Homebase said they would pay for that but we don’t have money to pay for them in the first place. 'I’ve rung the man who I drew up the plans and who came to measure the kitchen 46 times but he still hasn’t called me back. 'I took it further and we had a meeting with Homebase and I’ve called them every day but they have haven’t apologised. 'They’re quick enough to sell a kitchen but act completely evasive when it all goes wrong. I’m devastated. 'At any other time than Christmas I’d be a bit understanding but we’ve just bought a house and want our friends and family to enjoy Christmas with us. 'I wanted to cook for them in my new kitchen but now I don’t know what to do. 'At the moment it just looks like Christmas is cancelled.' The couple had invited both of their parents, Mr Johnson's two sisters and their partners and three children as well as one family friend to spend Christmas Day with them. The group had all wanted to be together and none of the other family homes are big enough. Miss Sutton has already bought most of her family's Christmas dinner, which is being kept in a freezer - but it cannot be cooked without an oven and now looks set to go to waste. Though Homebase have admitted fault, the couple say they have been 'arrogant' and 'unapologetic' and have ruined their Christmas. A Homebase spokeswoman said: 'Homebase would like to sincerely apologise to Miss Sutton and Mr Johnson for the issues they have experienced with the delivery of their new kitchen. 'We have spoken to the customer and are working with them and the third party delivery firm to ensure the problem is resolved as soon as possible.'

Katie Sutton and Alfie Johnson paid £6,000 for new Homebase kitchen . Couple ordered the appliances for their new home in West Malling, Kent . They were due to be fitted on October 23 but kitchen never arrived . A new delivery date was scheduled for December but oven still didn't come . It is due to arrive tomorrow but nobody is available to fit it for five weeks . Couple had invited family to their new home to spend Christmas with them . But without an oven, they might have to serve guests microwave dinners . Homebase say they are working to resolve the problem as soon as possible .

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(CNN) -- Former Super Bowl champion Brett Favre was back on the football field wearing his No. 4 jersey and throwing touchdowns in front of a cheering crowd. But while his fans from Green Bay, New York and Minnesota will be able to see him in action at 8 p.m. ET August 26 on NBC, he's not making yet another comeback to the NFL. Favre was on the field in Grant Park in downtown Chicago recently with other NFL greats such as Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, Marcus Allen and Barry Sanders, playing in the annual EA Sports "Madden" Pigskin Pro Am flag football game. Favre said he was happy to be back on the gridiron in organized play. "It's kind of exciting," Favre said. "Obviously, it's different. Some of these guys I've played against and had some battles (with) over the years, but it's always nice to regroup and swap some old stories. It's always fun to play football." Before the high-scoring affair, which included video game-style gold balls for 12-point scores and special bonuses for touchdowns thrown in certain spots in the end zone, the 11-time Pro Bowler wasn't promising a return to his glory days. "I wouldn't expect too much, but we've got a lot of pride. No one's an athlete like Deion (Sanders); he's in a class by himself. The rest of us are just trying to show we still have a little bit of skills," he said. Favre was gunslinging against veteran quarterback Donovan McNabb, who's not ready for retirement yet. The annual event, which also featured celebrities such as Josh Henderson ("Dallas"), Terry Crews ("The Expendables 2"), Jesse Williams ("The Cabin in the Woods") and singer Nick Jonas, helps drum up awareness for what gamers believe is the true start of the new NFL season -- the launch of EA Sports "Madden NFL 13" on August 28. "I hope EA doesn't judge us off of today," Favre said jokingly. "The kids I work with back at the high school back home, they were giving me a hard time. They said I'm real slow on Madden. I'm hoping to change that today." Favre played video games back in the day such as Pong and Pac-man, but he says he's seen gaming come a long way since then. And he believes video games such as "Madden" can help aspiring quarterbacks. "I think it's beneficial," Favre said. "I also think that kids should get out and play, actually get out and do some physical stuff. I think Madden does teach them a lot about the sport. The fan base that video games have reached is amazing. The advancements that they've made are just unbelievable. I think in a lot of ways it's good, as long as the kids will get out and participate in some of the things that they're playing (onscreen)." Favre was on the cover of "Madden NFL 09" back in 2008, which marked the 20th anniversary of the bestselling game franchise. Favre was originally seen in his Green Bay Packers uniform, but Electronic Arts changed subsequent cover art to reflect his New York Jets uniform after he came out of retirement to play again. "I wasn't jinxed (being on the cover); I wouldn't say that," said Favre, referring to the "Madden Curse" that has seen more than its fair share of cover athletes suffer injuries or other mishaps the season after they appear. "I consider it a huge honor." Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson graces the cover of the new "Madden NFL 13." Electronic Arts says it has completely overhauled the game, making the most changes to the franchise in its history. One of the additions is a new online mode that allows players to take former greats all the way to the Hall of Fame. When asked what it's like to remain in the Madden franchise after retirement, Favre replied, "It's nice to know I'm alive and kicking, let's just put it that way." Another new feature that armchair quarterbacks will be happy with is that the new Madden game allows players to lead the receivers -- just like Favre did during his career. When it comes to technology and video games, Favre has no idea what's next for "Madden NFL 14" or beyond, he said. "I don't even want to guess," Favre said. "Just when you think you've seen it all, something else comes out. I think that as great as it is now, the advancements that have been made; I just think it's going to grow tremendously." While Favre is from the original generation of arcade gamers, today's NFL players have grown up with controllers in their hands. "They play video games all the time," said Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, who was also on the field with Favre. "They play Madden more than they want to practice for the real football game. It just shows that it's a great game and that you can get consumed by it. You've got to be smart, make decisions, and do all of that stuff, but it's an unbelievable game." One current player, and the coach of one of the two Pigskin Pro Am teams, said that he doesn't play as much any more. "I used to be really big into Madden, but it's gotten kind of complicated now," the Chicago Bears' Lance Briggs said. "When you're getting skunked by some of your friends, teammates and peers, it's not as fun as it used to be. So I watch and buy the game so that I can find out what my rating is. I'm either cursing out Madden for my rating being too low, or I'm semi-happy because they raised it up a little bit." With real playbooks featured in Madden and constant input by John Madden himself, the 'x's and o's' of football are being taught to the next generation of gridiron greats. "What I love about Madden is that it teaches kids like my sons Michael and Elijah how to read man in zone defenses at an early age," Hall of Famer Irvin said. "I'm taking them on the field now and explaining things, and they're like, 'Yeah, I understand, Dad.' I say, 'That's right, from the video game.' It really is amazing how much the game teaches." Technology is advancing to the point where the new Madden game on Xbox 360 will allow players to design custom calls on their tablet and import them into the game. Kinect owners will also be able to call audibles using their voice. "In a few years, if the players in the video game aren't speaking and disagreeing with their coaches' calls and things like that, I would be really surprised," Super Bowl Champion Marcus Allen said. "It has advanced that far. You can be a general manager, a coach or a player. You can do just about anything in the game." And the Madden game still has enough pull to bring former NFL greats back to the field to play the sport they continue to love, even if these days they're only making those amazing highlight reel plays virtually.

Brett Favre will play in a "Madden NFL 13" Pigskin Pro Am flag football game August 26 . Favre says as long as kids are athletic in real life, Madden games can teach them a lot . "Madden NFL 13" is updated with an online mode and other features . EA Sports releases "Madden NFL 13" on August 28 .

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Hong Kong (CNN) -- To the casual observer, the Chinese Communist Party may seem like a monolithic, united entity. In recent years, its leadership has ruled collectively, rather than by the hand of a paramount leader, which was a characteristic of the Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping eras. But while the party outwardly stresses harmony and unity, political analysts believe its estimated 80-million-strong members are divided along deep-rooted factional lines with varying perspectives on social, economic, political, military and foreign affairs. CNN looks at what makes the Chinese party machine tick. Who are the key factional powers within the party? The Chinese Communist Party is broadly divided between informal "elitist" and "populist" coalitions, according to China expert and Brookings Institution analyst Cheng Li. Other analysts conceive of the split in different terms, such as between liberal-minded reformist and conservative hard-liner camps. Li argues the core elitist faction is the "taizidang," or so-called "princelings" -- the offspring of former revolutionary leaders and high-ranking officials. Another elite, albeit fading, faction is the so-called "Shanghai Gang," or followers of Jiang Zemin, who served as mayor of Shanghai before becoming China's supreme leader in 1989. The populists are dominated by the "tuanpai" -- politicians who cut their teeth in the Chinese Communist Youth League, the party's nation-wide organization for youth aged 14-28 to study and promote communism. The league is also a training ground for party cadres. But any analysis of these factional allegiances must be treated with caution -- as an educated but speculative discussion at best -- given the lack of official information and the complexities influencing politicians' backgrounds. "Factional lines are often unclear, shifting or overlapping, conditioned by old alliances, family interconnections, conflicts, rivalries, shifting loyalties and pragmatic tactical considerations," according to CNN's Beijing bureau chief, Jaime FlorCruz. "In some cases, these affiliations are also conditioned by the members' work patron/protégé experience, i.e. with or under whom they worked and rose to power." How are these factions oriented? Broadly speaking, the factions run along socioeconomic and geographic divides. The elitist coalition tends to represent business interests, including entrepreneurs and the rising middle class of China's affluent coastal regions, according to Li. The princelings typically have prestigious backgrounds as the descendents of former party heroes, tending to have credentials governing affluent provinces along China's eastern coast. For example Bo Xilai, the disgraced politician once tipped for political stardom in China, is the son of Bo Yibo, a former Politburo member who last served as vice-chairman of the Central Advisory Commission during the Deng era. Some politicians have sought to round out their resumes with credentials across geographic and socioeconomic lines. Bo famously adopted a populist approach invoking Mao nostalgia during his tenure as party secretary of Chongqing, while Xi Jinping -- widely expected to become China's next president -- left a prestigious post in Beijing to work in rural Hebei for three years. Li says the elitists are currently headed by Wu Bangguo, Chairman and Party Secretary of the National People's Congress (the national legislature) and Jia Qinglin, Chairman and Party Secretary of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (the advisory body of delegates from different political parties and parts of Greater China.) Both are protégés of former president, Jiang. As the name implies, the populist coalition tends to promote an agenda representing the concerns of the urban and rural poor, including migrants and farmers. The tuanpai core faction typically comes from humble backgrounds and worked their way up the ranks via the Chinese Communist Youth League in Beijing and inland provinces. Li says the populists are currently led by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, who have accordingly promoted policies such as eliminating agricultural taxes, developing inland cities and promoting affordable housing. A further contrast, Li says, is that princelings tend to have a great depth of experience in economic policy, including banking and foreign trade and investment, whereas the tuanpai tend to be more skilled in rural administration. Hu's heir apparent, Xi, is a princeling, whereas Wen's likely successor, Li Keqiang, represents the tuanpai. What is the Politburo Standing Committee? The 18th Congress of the Communist Party will officially unveil the new members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the innermost sanctum and supreme decision-making body of the Communist Party — and by extension the leaders of China's government. Party members typically occupy its highest positions. Members are typically drawn from those already on the standing committee, as well as the broader Politburo overseeing the Communist Party. The standing committee is a subset of the Politburo. It is also possible that a non-Politburo member could be promoted directly into the standing committee, as in the case of Xi and Li Keqiang during the 17th party congress. Members must also fall within the unofficial retirement age of 68 (i.e. born from 1945 onward), says Li. Beyond these basic criteria follows what Li calls an "extraordinarily complicated and multi-faceted deal-making process" to narrow the pool to nine members. Speculation is rife that the upcoming committee will be cut to seven members. While the closed-door process involves complex factional negotiations and power struggles that few in the outside world are privy to, Li says the overriding factor is "patron-client" ties, meaning departing members attempting to prolong their influence and protect their interests by placing their protégés onto the committee. This involves compromise and deal-making behind the scenes. How will these factions be represented in future? China watchers widely expect that two of the current standing committee members, Xi and Li Keqiang, will retain their membership. Their factional inclinations are reflected in their policy priorities, says Li of the Brookings Institution. Xi is focused on the private sector, market liberation in foreign investment, and Shanghai's role as a financial and shipping center. In contrast, Li Keqiang emphasizes affordable housing, basic health care and clean energy. This equilibrium extends within the upper echelons of the leadership, which is about evenly split between the elitists and populists, according to Li. Most analysts concur that the era of charismatic, paramount leaders ended after Deng Xiaoping, replaced by relatively colorless technocrats who governed through collective leadership. What does this mean for China's future? Out of necessity, this balance has led the elitist and populist coalitions to adopt a collaborative approach of collective leadership rather than a zero-sum game mentality, underpinned by shared fundamental goals: "to ensure China's socioeconomic stability as well as the survival of Chinese Communist Party role at home, and to enhance China's status as a major international player," Li said. The analyst says this collective leadership style is the "defining feature of today's Chinese elite politics."

Chinese Communist Party not monolithic, united entity . Analysts say party broadly divided between informal "elitist" and "populist" coalitions . Upper echelons of Chinese leadership about evenly split between the elitists and populists . Party adopts collaborative approach of collective leadership rather than zero-sum game mentality .

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By . Jennifer Newton . Randall Charlton III is said to have tattooed a smiley face and swear word on the 12-year-old's forearm (file picture) A man has been arrested and charged after tattooing a smiley face and a derogatory word on to a 12 year-old girl's arm. Pennsylvania man Randall Charlton III allegedly tattooed the girl's left forearm on Wednesday night. It is thought the incident occurred at a house in Centerville, Pennsylvania where she was spending the night, state police told the Erie Times-News. Police say he tattooed the smiley face with a derogatory word above it. He has now been charged with felony assault, endangering the welfare of a minor, corruption of minors, simple assault and tattooing a minor. Charlton is now confined in Crawford County Prison after being unable to post $20,000 bail, according to online records after appearing in court on Friday . No lawyer is listed for him. Under state law in Pennsylvania, tattooing a person under the age of 18 without the consent of a parent or guardian is considered an offence. It is an offence in Pennsylvania to tattoo a person under the age of 18 without parental consent (file picture) The state's consolidated statutes says: . 'A person commits an offence if he tattoos any person under the age of . 18 years without the parent or guardian of such person giving consent . for the tattooing of the person and being present at the time of the . tattooing of the person.' The code adds: 'A person who commits an offence under this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanour of the third degree for the first offence. 'A person who commits a second or subsequent offence under this section within one year of the preceding offence commits a misdemeanour of the second degree.' Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.

Randall Charlton III allegedly tattooed the girl's left forearm . Has now been arrested and is in prison, unable to post $20,000 bail . Been charged with felony assault, endangering a minor and tattooing minor . It is an offence to tattoo a person under 18 without consent in the state .

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By . Associated Press and Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 05:20 EST, 14 August 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 05:22 EST, 14 August 2013 . The parents of an Atlanta Braves baseball fan who died after he fell 65ft from the upper deck of his team's stadium in Atlanta have blamed the building's design for their son's death. Ronald Lee Homer Jr. fell six storeys onto a parking lot during a rain delay before a game between the Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday. His mother, Connie Homer, said the safety railings at the Braves's Turner Field stadium in Atlanta were only 3½ft high, and her son was about 6½ft tall. Scroll down for video . Fatal fall: Ronald Lee Homer Jr. plummeted 65ft to his death from the upper level of stands during an Atlanta Braves game on Monday night in Georgia . Concerns: Homer's parents say Turner Field Stadium is unsafe and that changes should be made . She said: 'I wouldn't be surprised if he was . leaning over looking at the cars in the players' parking lot. 'He might have had one or two beers but no more than that,' she . told NBC Atlanta affiliate WXIA, adding, 'He was tight with his money. He's a good guy.' According to WBSTV, Homer fell from the 400-level upper deck and landed in the players' parking area outside the stadium. Homer's father, Ronald Homer Sr., told The Associated Press: 'I would like to see the building . built to prevent something like this happening to another family. 'It should have . been better engineered from the jump-street when they built that . stadium. 'This this is going to hurt us for the rest of our life," he said. "When . you lose a kid, not only your kid but your best friend, too, it's bad.' The Fulton County Medical Examiner on Tuesday said Homer’s death was . solely the result of blunt force trauma. The medical examiner’s report . said further investigation, witness’ accounts and toxicology testing . would be necessary to determine why Homer fell over the railing. Ronald Lee Homer Jr. (pictured here with his girlfriend Crystal Bracewell) spoke to his mother before he died and told her that he loved her . Tragedy: Ronald Lee Homer Jr., was a life-long fan of the Braves, according to his parents . Witnesses told police no one was standing with Homer when he fell over the upper deck, the Associated Press reported. Atlanta Police spokesman John Chafee said, 'There is no indication of foul play and the fall appears accidental.' In a statement on Tuesday, the team said: 'The Atlanta Braves extend our . sincerest and heartfelt condolences to Mr. Homer's family and friends. 'We are saddened by this tragic incident and will continue our . investigation along with the Atlanta Police Department. 'We will have no . further comment until the investigation is complete. 'The Atlanta Braves will observe a moment of silence for Mr. Homer before tonight's game.' The 30-year-old landscape gardener . spoke to his mother before his fatal fall to tell her that the game had . been postponed for two hours because of rain. Connie Homer said he ended the phone call telling her that loved her. 'He said, "I love you Mom," and I said "I love you too" and that was . it,' Mrs Homer said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday morning. 'He was big-hearted, just a great guy, very . respectful,' she said. 'It didn’t matter if they were winning, losing or . what — he’s been a Braves fan forever.' According to Homer Sr., his son went to see the Braves play a few times a month and never missed a game on TV. Homer's mother said she’s heard nothing from authorities as to what might have . caused her son's fall. She told The Associated Press her only son was . probably smoking a cigarette while he passed the time of a rain delay. Tragic turn: Baseball fans look over the railing at Turner Field where Homer fell onto the parking lot . 'I'm just sick,' she said. 'We're a very close family. He was big-hearted.' Homer, who grew up in Conyers, . Georgia, graduated in 2001 from Rockdale High School, where he was . involved in student government, according to his mother. He was her only son and leaves behind one sister. There’s no indication of foul play, and the fall appears to have been an accident, Atlanta police spokesman John Chafee said. An autopsy was planned for Tuesday, the Fulton . County Medical Examiner’s Office said. An Atlanta Braves spokeswoman declined to comment on Monday night, referring calls to the Atlanta police. The tragedy occurred when the game had . just begun after heavy rains caused an almost two-hour delay from the . scheduled start time at 7.10pm. At 11pm, police were still at the stadium trying to piece together how Homer fell. Mr Chafee said witnesses described the . fall as accidental, and added that he was not sure whether wet . conditions or alcohol had contributed. 'At this time there's no indication of foul play and the fall appears accidental,' Mr Chafee. 'It appears he fell from an upper-level platform to a secured lot below.' This wasn't the first accident of its kind to happen at Turner Field, and was the third time a . sports fan has fallen from the stands in Atlanta in about a year. Ballgame falls: Several falls in sports stadiums have troubled Georgia recently, such as Isaac Grubb's fatal fall at the Georgia Dome . In May 2008, a 25-year-old man from Cumming, Georgia, suffered head injuries when . he fell down a stairwell at Turner Field during a game against the New . York Mets. He later died. Police found that alcohol had factored into . that accident, which the Braves said was the first non-medical fatality . to happen at the ballpark. Isaac Grubb, 20, of Lenoir City, . Tennessee, died after falling over a railing at the Georgia Dome during a . football game between Tennessee and North Carolina State on August 31, . 2012. Authorities said he landed on another man seated in the lower level, and that alcohol was a factor. A man fell about 25ft over a staircase railing at a Georgia Tech-Miami football game on September 22, 2012 and was not seriously injured. Turner Field became the home of the Braves in 1997, a year after serving as the site of major events for the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Life-long Braves fan Ronald Lee Homer Jr. fell from the stands at Turner Stadium in Atlanta . Parents say 3½ft safety railings were too low to save their 6½ft son . The 30-year-old fell 65ft, or six storeys, landing in the players' parking area . The game between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies had been delayed almost two hours due to rain . Homer called his mother just before his death and told her he loved her .

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Yes and No campaigners voted in 'incredible' numbers - pushing turnout to the highest-ever recorded level. Some 84.6 per cent of Scots exercised their right to vote at polling stations across the country. This was higher than any election in the United Kingdom since the introduction of universal suffrage in 1918. Scroll down for video . A record 84.6 per cent of Scots took part in yesterday's independence referendum, with almost four million votes cast . Alistair Darling (left) and Alex Salmond (right) celebrated the level of participation in the referendum . Politicians said the turnout was a 'triumph of the democratic process' and showed that people would vote if they believed there was something worth voting for and that their efforts made a difference. The previous highest UK turnout was 83.9 per cent in the 1950 general election, when Clement Atlee's Labour Party beat Winston Churchill's Conservatives for the second time. In Scotland, the previous record was 81.2 per cent in the 1951 election, when the result was reversed. But turnouts in recent general elections - and Scottish Holyrood elections - have been much, much lower. The last Westminster election, in 2010, saw a turnout of just 65.1 per cent per cent; while the 2011 Scottish Parliament election saw Alex Salmond gain a majority on a turnout of only 50.4 per cent. However, in the historic referendum battle, a total of 3,619,915 people voted Yes or No - a turnout of 84.59 per cent. A total of 4,285,323 people were registered to vote, including 16- and 17-year-olds for the first time. Turnout reached 91 per cent in East Dunbartonshire, 90.4 per cent in East Renfewshire and 90.1 per cent in Stirling. But turnout was lower in 'yes' areas such as Glasgow (75 per cent) and Dundee (78.8 per cent). Mr Salmond, Scotland's first minister, said the turnout was 'one of the highest in the democratic world for any election or any referendum in history'. 'This has been a triumph for the democratic process and for participation in politics,' he said. The previous highest UK turnout was 83.9 per cent in the 1950 general election, when Clement Atlee's Labour Party beat Winston Churchill (above) for the second time . Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour deputy leader, said voters had set politicians a challenge to respond to the desire for change. 'What we are all struck by, whether Yes or No campaigners or supporters, is the incredible turnout that we've seen in this referendum campaign,' he said. 'The challenge for all of us is to tap into that real desire for change and to take on the task of unifying our country whatever the result, and bringing people together to create a better future for ourselves and for future generations.' Colin Fox, from the Scottish Socialist Party, said: 'The big story tonight is the astonishing levels of turnout in a political contest in Scotland, which is on a par with North Korea, China, Cuba and those places.'

Turnout higher than any election in the UK since universal suffrage in 1918 . Some 84.6% of Scots exercised their right to vote at polling stations . Previous highest UK turnout was 83.9 per cent in the 1950 general election .

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By . James Gordon . A woman from New York found a bracelet commemorating the life of an FDNY firefighter who was killed on September 11th 2001, washed up on a beach in Long Island. The bracelet was made to celebrate the life of Michael Otten, an FDNY firefighter who died on 9/11. His widow Marion Otten, of East Islip, gave it to her son Jonathan, but he ended up losing ot 10 years ago. Found! The bracelet honoring fallen 9/11 firefighter Michael Otten was found 10 years after it was lost . Recovered: It was found by Marlene Quinn, who was mourning the death her brother, a volunteer firefighter . Treasured possession: Marion Otten said her son, Jonathan Otten (seen here on the right)  now keeps the bracelet bearing his father's name on his bedroom dresser . It was when Marlene Quinn was out walking on Robert Moses Beach when she found the treasured possession. 'I was walking along and a wave came up. It went away and that bracelet was there,' she said. The bracelet bore Michael Otten's name, and she instantly recognized the name as a local firefighter. 'Michael J. Otten,' the inscription read. 'F.D.N.Y. LADDER 35 9/11/01.' In memorium: The bracelet was made in memory of Michael Otten, an FDNY firefighter who died on 9/11 . Marlene Quinn put the bracelet in the mail, along with a note . When the bracelet arrived, Otten's widow, Marion, didn't even know it was missing, she said . The item also had special significance for her because her own brother, Michael O'Neill, who was also a firefighter, had just died unexpectedly in the spring. 'I clutched it and held on to it for the longest time,' said Mrs Quinn said to NBC News. She tracked down the Otten family address and learned even more remarkable coincidences. Not only were the late Mr Otten and her brother both firefighters, they both lived in East Islip and at one time, lived just a block apart. Her brother also attended grade school directly across the street from Otten's family home, Mrs Quinn learned. She sent the bracelet back to the Ottens with a handwritten note. The two women met up on Friday, convinced the bracelet discovery was fate . 'Why now? Why did it wash up now?' Otten said to Quinn. 'You needed it. We needed it.' 'I knew they needed it and I thought it was my brother coming through,' Quinn said. 'There is another firefighter in heaven.' Marion Otten initially felt shocked, and then overwhelmed, she said, 'because people still remember, think about it.' When the bracelet arrived, Otten's widow, Marion, didn't even know it was missing, she said. Her son Jonathan had worn it in honor of his father. He lost it on the beach nearly a decade ago, when he was 11 or so. 'It was just a bracelet to me back then,' he said. 'It didn't have such a big meaning as it does now.' 'Things happen for a reason,' Marion Otten says. 'I see it as a sign.' 'There are no coincidences,' said Otten. 'There's a reason why it happened. It brings us together for whatever reason' "We have a connection, I feel," said Marion Otten, who will visit her late husband's firehouse on the 9/11 anniversary on Thursday . Jonathan Otten now keeps the bracelet on his bedroom dresser. He's afraid to lose it again, she said. 'It's another tie to his dad and the department,' Marion Otten said. The two women have since met up to discuss their loving families and those that they lost. 'To think all the poor souls we did lose on 9/11, it's someone from my hometown,' said Quinn. 'Why now? Why did it wash up now?' Otten said to Quinn. 'You needed it. We needed it.' 'There are no coincidences,' said Otten. 'There's a reason why it happened. It brings us together for whatever reason.'

Bracelet honoring fallen 9/11 firefighter is found 10 years after it was lost . It was found by Marlene Quinn, who was mourning the death her brother, a volunteer firefighter . She returned it to Marion Otten, whose husband perished in the Twin Towers collapse .

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By . Matt Chorley, Mailonline Political Editor . PUBLISHED: . 11:23 EST, 16 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:42 EST, 17 September 2013 . Nick Clegg issued a blunt warning to David Cameron today that the Tories cannot claim credit for the government’s biggest tax cut. The Lib Dem leader revealed his fury that the Conservatives have produced a poster claiming the ‘tax cut for 25 million’ as their own. Mr Clegg, who earlier showed off his skills playing table tennis, vowed to bat away any attempts by the Tories to steal a policy which they had warned was unaffordable. Backhand: Nick Clegg, who tried his hand at table tennis today, hit back at Tories trying to claim the income tax policy was theirs . Parliamentary ping pong: Mr Clegg played against Greg Robertson, 14, at Scotstoun Sport Centre with members of Dunbarton Table Tennis club . The Lib Dem manifesto promised that ‘you will not have to pay any income tax on the first £10,000 you earn’. During the TV leader’s debates before the general election, Mr Cameron told Mr Clegg: ‘I would love to take everyone out of their first £10,000 of income tax, Nick...We cannot afford it.’ But during coalition negotiations, Mr Clegg insisted on the policy being implemented and it will have been delivered in full by next April, making everyone £700 better off. A poster produced for the Conservative party conference later this month lists policies which the party says are ‘for hardworking people’. Alongside reducing the deficit, crime and immigration, it also boasts of ‘a tax cut for 25 million people’. Swipe: This Conservative party poster suggested the tax cut was a Tory policy . Speaking at the Lib Dem conference in Glasgow, Mr Clegg told delegates they had to be vigilant to the threat of Tories stealing their policies. He said: ‘I saw on the news this afternoon that the Conservatives, when explaining what their top message is for their conference the week after next, (said) it's raising the income tax allowance," said Mr Clegg. ‘That was our manifesto commitment. It was not the Conservatives' commitment. David Cameron told me - and you can look it up on YouTube - in one of the leader's debates in front of millions of people, he said it can't be done. ‘We did it, not them. We did it. We must never, ever, ever allow the great progressive reforms that we are introducing in this Government to be appropriated by others.’ Taking part in a Q&A session, Mr Clegg suggested the Lib Dems will go into the next election promising to protect the NHS and schools budgets from further cuts. The Deputy Prime Minister said retaining the ring-fencing as fresh cuts were made to public spending would be an expression of Liberal Democrat values. The party would suffer at the polls if it was seen to be merely a 'passive recipient' of tough Tory fiscal discipline. Anger: Mr Clegg told delegates at the Lib Dem conference in Glasgow that they had to protect their policies from being stolen . Mr Clegg said he had fought after the last election for schools budgets to be given the same protection as the health service. 'We have done that between 2010 and 2015," he said. 'My personal view, and we will have to discuss it, but my personal view is we should do that again for 2015 to 2020. 'And make sure that one of the bedrocks of our approach, our Liberal Democrat approach, is that as we continue to make savings, as we clear the decks up to 2018, we do not make savings in the schools budget and the NHS budget - which I do not think is consistent with our views.' It is also increasingly likely that the Lib Dems would insist in any future coalition that a mansion tax would be introduced to ensure that anyone on the minimum wage paid no income tax.

Tories release poster listing Lib Dem tax cut as a Conservative policy . Lib Dems promised workers would pay no tax on first £10,000 of earnings . During TV debates David Cameron insisted: 'We cannot afford it' Nick Clegg tells party they must be alert to Tory raids on popular ideas .

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By . Shari Miller . PUBLISHED: . 05:41 EST, 20 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 07:03 EST, 20 January 2013 . The former partner of a benefits fraudster, who swindled as much as £100,000 from taxpayers to enjoy a lavish lifestyle, claims the ex-Moulin Rouge showgirl was also a love cheat who drained his finances. Company director Marc Lissimore, 46, today spoke of his relationship with mother-of-two Dawn Orton, who used taxpayers' cash to buy a convertible Mercedes and go on 41 holidays in 13 years. Orton was jailed for 12 months for wrongly claiming widowed mothers' allowance, plus an additional month after she initially refused to turn up for her trial at Hull Crown Court earlier this month. Dawn Orton, once a Moulin Rouge dancer who travelled the world, was found guilty of benefit fraud . The 47-year-old had in fact fled Britain to Malaga. An international arrest warrant was issued and Orton handed herself in to police last Friday. In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, Mr Lissimore reveals the full extent of her deception, which left him cash poor and fighting for her affection after discovering Orton had an American lover. He said: 'She was a devil in disguise. She was beautiful and I was an overweight businessman who thought he was lucky to have her, and she made sure I knew that.' The heartbroken businessman met Orton, who once performed as a dancer all over Europe and Japan, through his ex-wife Betsy. When Mr Lissimore's marriage ended, he was contacted by Orton, who told him that her husband Robert had committed suicide. He travelled from Hull to Tamworth, Staffordshire, to attend the funeral in October 1996 and offered support to the newly-widowed Orton. A relationship quickly developed: by Christmas she had moved into his home with her sons Reece, 19 and CJ, 23, and by New Year's Day 1997 the pair were engaged. Mr Lissimore, who owned and ran haulage firms in Hull said the couple enjoyed a wealthy lifestyle and he often lavished her with extravagant gifts and foreign trips. They also bought a £280,000 house in the leafy village of Cottingham, as well as a craft shop which Orton ran. But he was unaware that throughout the 13 years they were together, Orton had continued to claim an allowance for widowed mothers. This should have stopped when she moved in with Mr Lissimore. She had also previously received incapacity benefits for an injured shoulder. Prosecutors believe Orton's deception amounts to at least £29,000 - and as much as £100,000. The situation began to unravel following the death of Orton's mother in May 2010 from breast cancer. The otherwise devoted wife told Mr Lissimore that she needed to get away for a few weeks and that she would travel to America and stay with an old friend from school called Roger Bailey. Love cheat: Marc Lissimore claims he was left devastated when he discovered Dawn Orton was having an affair with yacht salesman Roger Bailey (pictured) But the father-of-two was suspicious and decided to check his wife's emails, discovering that the two were in fact lovers. 'I couldn't resist opening a couple of their email exchanges and I felt sick when I read one from Dawn, saying, "How am I going to introduce you to my children?" When I confronted her she denied it all. She said she loved me and when she returned we would get married...something she'd been putting off for 13 years.' Mr Lissimore believed Orton and even took her to Manchester airport for her flight in June 2010. But she then refused to return and asked for her son, Reece, to join her. When she finally returned home, Orton claimed she had made a mistake and begged for the company director to take her back. It was a pattern that would repeat itself many times over, as she continued to pay her long-term partner against her American lover. The deceived businessman also said Orton often used sex as a 'weapon' to get her own way. Mr Lissimore then claims Orton, who had fears about becoming pregnant, promised she would leave her lover if he had a vasectomy. In desperation, he agreed to the procedure, but it was not long before Orton left him for good and returned to yacht salesman Bailey. Deception: Prosecutors believe Orton claimed at least £29,000 - and as much as £100,000 to fund a lavish lifestyle and frequent holidays abroad . He said: 'I was devastated. I'd done everything, everything I could, to keep this woman, but she was cold and callous. What she did to me was terrible, but what she did to her two sons was even worse. They are both disgusted and neither of them talk to Dawn any more.' Within weeks of leaving him, Mr Lissimore discovered she was being investigated for benefit fraud. And worse was to come - when he tried to recoup some of the money from his house and shop, he was told he had no rights because both were in Orton's name. Mr Lissimore had agreed to do this, because of debt issues - and he said he had no reason to distrust his partner at that time. Following Orton's conviction last week, Mr Lissimore said: 'Dawn expects the world to run around her. She will not believe she has done anything wrong. He added: 'Her whole life has been about greed. Taking as much cash as she can from anyone.' Orton now faces an investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act to claim back her ill-gotten gains and will appear for a hearing at Hull Crown Court on April 4.

Heartbroken Marc Lissimore claims Dawn Orton was 'cold and callous' Mother-of-two may have swindled as much as £100,000 in taxpayers' cash . Businessman 'devastated' by her affair with American lover Roger Bailey . International arrest warrant issued after Orton fled to Malaga . Dancer jailed for 12 months for fraud and another month for absconding .

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Of all the rumours that dogged Princess Diana’s life, it was surely the one that hurt her the most: that James Hewitt – not Prince Charles – was the father of her second child. Now that painful insinuation has been reignited after Hewitt gave his backing to a controversial new West End play suggesting that he could indeed be Prince Harry’s father. The Mail on Sunday can reveal the former cavalry officer has allowed himself to be portrayed in the production Truth, Lies, Diana, which contains explosive revelations about his relationship with the Princess. Fond looks: James Hewitt and Diana (left) watch Prince Harry (far right) during a visit to an Army base in 1989 . The author of the play, which makes its debut at London’s Charing Cross Theatre on January 9, says it is based on extensive interviews with figures who knew Diana ‘in their own words’, including Hewitt and Paul Burrell, her former butler. In one sensational scene Hewitt tells a journalist: ‘Diana and I started our relationship more than a year before Harry was born. Now that doesn’t prove that I am his father. It’s just the... inconvenient truth.’ Hewitt, 56, last night confirmed that he knows author Jon Conway and spoke to him about his relationship with Diana, and said he had no doubt the play would be ‘accurate’. He said he had not seen the play or read specific scenes even though Conway claimed he had sent him 15 pages of the script for his approval. Conway said: ‘I have been talking to James over a period of two years. I met him and he told me some quite remarkable things that have never been said in the public domain, particularly about when his relationship with Diana started. ‘There is a startling revelation that James Hewitt makes and he has allowed me to make it in the play. This is the fact that his relationship with Diana started 18 months before Prince Harry was born.’ He added: ‘We are not saying he is Prince Harry’s father although the audience may take their own view on that. Hewitt gave his backing to the West End play - which suggests he could indeed be Harry’s father . ‘I don’t know if James Hewitt is Prince Harry’s father and James Hewitt has always denied it either because it isn’t true or out of some sense of loyalty.’ The play, about a journalist trying to find out the truth about Diana’s death in 1997, does not feature a depiction of the Princess herself, but it does include claims about her life, including the unfounded suggestion she was pregnant with Dodi Fayed’s baby when she died. But it is the references to Prince Harry’s paternity which are likely to be the most shocking. In the play, the character of Hewitt insists that he has always denied being Prince Harry’s father, but the play still includes several references to the issue. When the journalist, who is played by Conway, asks Hewitt if he knows who Prince Harry’s father is, he pauses before answering: ‘Of course I do.’ The subject is touched upon again when Hewitt discusses his decision to pursue a military career like his father. He is asked if he would like his own son to follow family tradition before two pictures of him and Harry in near identical military uniform appear on screen. Royal commentators last night branded the play as ‘a nonsense’. But Conway, previously a producer who wrote the successful 2010 musical All The Fun Of The Fair which starred David Essex, said all the revelations in the play were either taken from official documents or were based on interviews with key figures from Diana’s life. Conway said he had shown Hewitt the scenes in advance and that the former officer had approved them. Rumours about Prince Harry’s paternity first began to circulate in 1994 when revelations about his mother’s affair with Hewitt became public. For more than a decade Hewitt denied the claims and insisted that his affair with Diana did not start until 1986 when the Prince was already two years old. Princess Diana pictured with Harry. The rumour that Hewitt is Prince Harry's father - and not Prince Charles - dogged Diana's life . But in 2005 the disgraced publicist Max Clifford claimed in a biography that Hewitt had confided to him that the relationship predated Prince Harry’s birth. Royal commentators last night rubbished the new claims and insisted there was no way Hewitt was the Prince’s father. Penny Junor, who has just published an acclaimed biography of Prince Harry, said: ‘I have spoken to people around at the time and they all say that James Hewitt wasn’t in the picture before 1986. Diana didn’t hide Hewitt when the relationship began. She kept him in plain sight.’ Respected Royal author Margaret Holder said the claims in the play were a ‘nonsense’ and that Hewitt was simply trying to raise his profile. She said: ‘I think this will put him back in the spotlight and it tells producers of reality TV programmes, “Hello, I’m here.” It’s a nonsense but it’s all a game.’ Biographer Hugo Vickers said the play’s claims were not surprising given the people who had been interviewed by Conway. He said: ‘If you talk to certain people you will get a version of events these people are keen to peddle. They have an agenda of their own.’ The controversial play is to be staged at Charing Cross Theatre in London. It makes its debut on January 9 . Hewitt last night confirmed he knew Conway but he declined to be drawn on the play’s contents. He said: ‘I do know Jon. I am aware that he has done a play and I am sure that it is accurate. I obviously have not seen it yet.’ When pushed on the specific line in the play about the timing of his affair with Diana, he said: ‘That is not my quote.’ He also insisted that he had not seen the script for the play. He said: ‘I have not seen the script. Neither have I seen the play. It would be foolish to comment on it before doing so.’ Hewitt last night refused to say when his relationship with Diana began and declined to be drawn on the issue of Prince Harry’s parentage. He said: ‘I wish this subject would go away. It’s never going to and that’s just the way of life.’ A spokesman for Clarence House last night declined to comment.

Rumour that James Hewitt was Prince Harry's father dogged Diana's life . Hewitt has now backed controversial play which suggests rumour is true . Truth, Lies, Diana is based on interviews with figures who knew Princess . Author claims Hewitt told him 'remarkable things' and that he sent him 15 pages of the script for approval . Hewitt said play would no doubt be 'accurate' but denied that was his quote . Former officer previously said Diana affair did not start until Harry was two . Royal commentators last night branded the West End play as ‘a nonsense’

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Jack Wilshere has been full of praise for Mario Balotelli ahead of England's World Cup opener against Italy on Saturday. However, despite describing Balotelli as a great player, Wilshere is confident England's defensive players will be able to cope with the Italy frontman. England know all about Balotelli after he spent two-and-a-half seasons playing in England with Man City and Wilshere insists Roy Hodgson's men are more than capable at keeping him quiet. VIDEO Scroll down for Wilshere in Miami and Balotelli's missus celebrate their engagement . Full of praise: Jack Wilshere insists Mario Balotelli is a great player but is sure England can cope with him . Eyes on the prize: Balotelli is expected to face England when Italy take on the Three Lions on Saturday night . 'First and foremost, we have to worry about him as a player,' Wilshere told Sky Sports. 'He is a great player. We have seen that in the past. But we have got players who have played with him like Joe Hart, and we have defenders who have played against him in the Premier League. 'I don't think that will be a problem.' Wilshere's comments come four years after Balotelli claimed he had never heard of the Arsenal youngster after beating him to the Golden Boy trophy, organised by Turin newspaper Tuttosport and voted for by European journalists to acknowledge the best players under the age of 21. Beating Wilshere into second place, the former Inter Milan frontman said: 'What's his name? Wil ... ? No, I don't know him, but the next time I play against Arsenal I will keep a close eye on him. Perhaps I can show him the Golden Boy trophy and remind him that I won it.' Back then: Balotelli claimed he had never heard of Wilshere after beating the midfielder to the Golden Boy trophy back in 2010 .

Jack Wilshere full of praise for Italy frontman Balotelli . Current AC Milan striker spent two-and-a-half seasons in the Premier League with Man City . Wilshere confident England can cope with Balotelli . Comments come four years after Balotelli claimed he had never heard of Wilshere .

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By . Alex Greig . PUBLISHED: . 00:09 EST, 28 January 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 00:33 EST, 28 January 2014 . Multi-millionaire venture capitalist Tom Perkins has appeared on Bloomberg TV to address the outrage over his comments in an op ed to the wall Street Journal comparing the 'progressive war on the one percent' to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. The appearance was less an apology and more a re-assertion of his viewpoints, with some bragging about his wealth thrown in. Perkins said he 'regrets' using the word Kristallnacht but said he does not regret the message 'at all.' In danger: The 'creative one per cent' says Perkins, is being threatened . After mentioning that he had spoken to Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League - twice - Perkins said that Kristallnacht was a 'terrible word to have chosen,' but apparently did not regret the broader comparision of the 'demonization' of the one per cent with Nazism. Perkins said he used the word because during Occupy San Francisco, 'they broke the windows at Wells Fargo bank, they marched up to our automobile strip and broke all the windows in the luxury car dealerships.' He noticed police standing by watching, he said, and thought, 'Well, this is how Kristallnacht began.' Interviewer Emily Chang questions Perkins as to the relevance of the analogy, to which Perkins responds: . 'The Jews were only one per cent of the German population. Most Germans had never met a Jew. And yet Hitler was able to demonize the Jews,' he said. 'My point was that when you start to use hatred against a minority, it can get out of control. 'The creative one per cent are threatened.' Useful: Perkins with his 'underwater airplane' He goes on to say that his friend and former business partner Eugene Kleiner, who fled to Austria to escape the Nazis, would have agreed with him - if he was still alive. When asked what should be done to improve the lives of 'the 99 per cent,' Perkins said, 'I think that the solution is less interference, lower taxes, let the rich do what the rich do — which is get richer, and along the way they bring everybody else along with them, when the system is working.' Bafflingly, Perkins took the opportunity to point out that his watch - a Richard Mille - 'could buy a six-pack of Rolexes' and smugly corrected Chang on his 'underwater airplane.' The final nail in his coffin may have been when he spoke of the reason for his inflammatory letter in the first place: someone called his ex-wife romance novelist Danielle Steele a 'snob.' This offensive slight sent the self-described 'classical self-made man' into defense mode. 'So I thought since I'm a knight - I'm a literal knight of the Kingdom of Norway - I would get on my horse and charge forth in her defense,' he told a bemused Chang. 'Six pack of Rolexes': The incredibly expensive Richard Mille watch - yours for the price of a family home - that Perkins wears . Shining armor: Perkins didn't appreciate his former wife Danielle Steele being labeled a snob - so wrote an inflammatory letter comparing the one per cent to persecuted Jews in WWII . Perkins, who repeatedly spoke of his 'message' helpfully boiled it down to the viewer to this: . 'It's absurd to demonize the rich for doing what the rich do, which is get richer by creating opportunity for others. 'I think the solution is less interference, lower taxes, let the rich do what the rich do.' The California one per center was widely ridiculed after the Wall Street Journal published his letter comparing criticism of the super-rich to the Holocaust. He wrote another letter Sunday, this time to Bloomberg, in which he compared the 'Occupy' movement to pre-Nazi rise to power fascism in Germany. 'In the Nazi area it was racial demonization, now it is class demonization,' wrote the Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers venture capital firm co-founder. He also expressed 'shock' over the windows broken at luxury dealerships and banks in San Francisco while the press 'focuses its wrath on the one per cent. The letter was written as a KPCB spokesperson immediately moved to distance itself from Perkins. 'Tom Perkins has not been involved in KPCB for years,' the firm tweeted. 'We were shocked by his views expressed today in the WSJ and do not agree.' Today, Perkins suggested the firm had 'thrown him under a bus,' and hinted that it was suffering in his absence. 'As I’ve distanced myself from the firm, there’s been a corresponding decline in the firm,' he told Chang. Not backing down: Billionaire Tom Perkins clarified his Saturday Nazi reference by comparing the 'Occupy' movement to pre-Nazi rise to power fascism in Germany . The second letter was written after Bloomberg contacted Perkins to clarify what he meant in his original letter to the Wall Street Journal, according to Business Insider. Perkins opened his letter to the Journal: 'Writing from the epicenter of progressive thought, San Francisco, I would call attention to the parallels of fascist Nazi Germany to its war on its "one per cent," namely its Jews, to the progressive war on the American one percent, namely the "rich."' Mr Perkins describing the hatred attracted by Google workers in San Francisco and an incident in which his former wife author Danielle Steele was branded a 'snob' in the San Francisco Chronicle in a row over the height of her hedge. 'This is a very dangerous drift in our American thinking. Kristallnacht was unthinkable in 1930; is its descendent "progressive" radicalism unthinkable now?' he continued. Kristallnacht translates as 'The night of broken glass' and refers to coordinated attacks on Jews in Germany on November 9 1938, as authorities looke on and did nothing. Superyacht: Mr Perkins commissioned the $150m yacht Maltese Falcon which he later sold . Mr Perkins, 82, was educated at MIT before gaining an MBA from Harvard. He founded Venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in 1973 and has served as a director on boards of companies including Compaq. He recently spent $150 million building a super yacht called Maltese Falcon and lives on a 60th floor, 5,500ft penthouse overlooking San Francisco Bay. Before that, he was a general manager . credited with building Hewlett Packard into the huge company it is known . as today and started a successful laser company based on his own . invention. Comparisons: Mr Perkins referenced the Kristallnacht attacks on Jews in Germany in 1938 . Protests: Mr Perkins also discusses the protests in San Francisco against Google buses and tech workers driving up the area's cost of living . His comments comparing criticism of the rich to the Nazis persecution of the Jews that resulted in six million deaths raised many an eyebrow. 'The parallel of Nazi Germany and some people getting kind of annoyed by the tech bro dudes is exactly ZERO,' Kaili Joy Gray wrote on the Wonkette blog. Author and New York Times writer Steven Greenhouse tweeted: 'As someone who lost numerous relatives to the Nazi gas chambers, I find statements like this revolting & inexplicable.'

Thomas Perkins, 82, appeared on Bloomberg TV to address his controversial op ed letter to the Wall Street Journal . He compared the 'progressive war on the one per cent' to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany . He also likened Occupy San Francisco with Kristallnacht . Perkins said he 'regrets' using the word Kristallnacht but is not sorry for his 'message' 'My point was that when you start to use hatred against a minority, it can get out of control,' he said . The minority in question, one percenters, are 'threatened' Perkins added that we should just 'let the rich do what the rich do - get richer and create opportunities for others' Perkins is worth $8 billion and recently built a superyacht worth $150 million .

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The father of dead teenager Michael Brown made an emotional plea for calm yesterday as he walked the tense streets of Ferguson with Thanksgiving turkeys to hand out to residents as the town braced for a grand jury announcement many fear could lead to more violence. Traveling the same streets where his son was gunned down, many residents were surprised when he knocked on their doors, Saturday. 'I had to come and just give back to the people,' Brown told reporters. He wore a red T-shirt bearing a picture of his son's face and the messages 'Gone Too Soon' and 'I Will always Love You.' Michael Brown Sr. (L), the father of 18-year-old Michael Brown who was shot dead by a police officer, greets a neighbor as he distributes turkey for Thanksgiving where his son was killed in Ferguson, Missouri . 'Everyone is suffering over this,' he added. 'I just feel that this was needed, so I came back to make sure that people have a nice Thanksgiving.' Looking across the street, over the memorial of flowers and stuffed toys placed on the spot where his son fell in August, he held up a bird and called to a young woman: 'You get one yet?' She smiled and waved back, yes. St. Louis prosecutors have said they will hold a news conference to announce the outcome of the grand jury, although the date, time and location remained undetermined. The 12-member panel met behind closed doors again on Friday. However, CNN reported that the weekend passed with a decision, and the jury will not reconvene until Monday. St. Louis prosecutors have said they will hold a news conference to announce the outcome of the grand jury, although the date, time and location remained undetermined . A grand jury in St. Louis meets for a standard four months, but went beyond that time frame on Sept. 10. Their service was extended by two months along with an additional 60 days. Prosecutors say the full term, which ends on January 7, will no be necessary. Anthony Gray, an attorney for the Brown family, told reporters on Friday that the deliberations could last an hour, a day, a week, or a month. "No one can forecast when that decision will actually be reached," Gray said. This was not Brown Sr.'s first attempt to keep the peace. On Friday, Brown Sr appealed for restraint in a somber video plea. 'Hurting others or destroying property is not the answer,' he said. On Friday, Brown Sr appealed for restraint in a somber video plea: 'Hurting others or destroying property is not the answer' Cal, the dead teenager's stepmom, said they gave out more than 60 turkeys ahead of Thanksgiving next week, some bought by the family and the rest donated. 'Hopefully, we'll have big things come out of this,' she told AFP, adding the family would particularly miss Michael during the holiday season. 'Of course we'll miss him, his wittiness, his pranks. Him with his big plate of food sitting there like a king. We'll miss all of that, but despite it all, we have to try to have the normal for the other children.' In the United States, grand juries meet in secret to review some cases before deciding whether criminal charges should be brought. Anthony Gray, an attorney for the Brown family, told reporters on Friday that the deliberations could last an hour, a day, a week, or a month. The jury could indict Wilson, meaning he could face trial, or it could determine there is no case for him to answer. St Louis County prosecutors have made arrangements for a press conference to announce the decision, but no date or time has yet been confirmed. Schools in the area announced they would close Monday and Tuesday due to potential unrest. Thanksgiving will keep them closed for the rest of next week. Some residents doubt the jury will indict Wilson. Thomas Bradley, a 24-year-old barber, predicted that protests would be worse than in August if the officer is cleared. 'If that's the case, I believe they will burn this city down. They'll burn it down. For sure,' he said while finishing off a young boy's buzz cut. Schools in the area announced they would close Monday and Tuesday due to potential unrest. Thanksgiving will keep them closed for the rest of next week . Shopkeepers and residents have boarded up stores and homes preparing for the decision, as Brown Sr. hopes to ease tensions . Yahoo compared the preparation to 'hurricane watch.' 'We’ve never seen anything like this,' shoe repairman Quentin Virgil, who works across from the St. Louis Police Department, said. 'The law office next door is boarded up. That’s not normal.' The headquarters was boarded up Saturday morning while stores were flooded with residents stocking up on supplies. 'I try not to think about it, but if they break my window, they’ll put me out of business,' said the owner of Busy Bee Alterations & Shoe Repair, Maria Mathias. 'They've really got my heart pumping right now.' Mathias said she was terrified to see the police department being boarded up and to think of the damage her store could endure if a riot did break out. One person tried to charge her $2,000 just to out plywood on her windows. 'I can't afford that,' she said. A small gaggle of protesters braved the cold late Friday to demand that Wilson stand trial for shooting Brown dead. Brown, a high-school graduate planning on attending technical college, was shot at least six times by Wilson. His body was left in the street for hours. Wilson reportedly told the grand jury he acted in self-defense after tussling with the youth. Others say Brown had his hands in the air when he was shot. 'I'm here for justice. If we don't get justice, ain't nobody gonna get no peace,' said 22-year-old Ebony, who works in security and refused to give a second name. 'We're going to keep protesting until we know what's right gets done,' she said. 'I want to see Darren Wilson go to jail.' Brown, a high-school graduate planning on attending technical college, was shot at least six times by Wilson. His body was left in the street for hours . Some demonstrators in August complained that police used undue force during peaceful protests . 'There's going to be violence, I do believe,' said Jo Ann Davis, a government employee who said she would not take part if rallies turn ugly. Some demonstrators in August complained that police used undue force during peaceful protests. There was widespread criticism of military-style weapons and protective gear deployed by local officers. 'If protesters are not violent, police will not be aggressive. But if some protesters turn violent or threatening, police will respond to keep everyone safe,' St Louis Mayor Francis Slay said.

He wore a red T-shirt bearing a picture of his son's face and the messages 'Gone Too Soon' and 'I Will always Love You' St. Louis prosecutors have said they will hold a news conference to announce the outcome of the grand jury, although the date, time and location remained undetermined . Residents and business owners have been fearful of violent outrage over the verdict as they fortify their shops and homes .

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Syria-Turkey border (CNN) -- The dead are everywhere. Nonexistent until last June, the encampment of about 1,600 people now is a haven of peace compared with the terror experienced in the country just 300 yards away. Housed in neat, white tents in southern Turkey, with cooking stations in between, people here do not have to worry about being silenced, tortured, arrested or killed. In other words, they don't live in fear of what they say happened all around them on a daily basis -- and still happens -- in their war-torn nation of Syria. EU slaps new santions on Syria . They are, however, left with the memories of people killed. And they share them freely, in the form of grainy videos showing their loved ones' funerals, pictures on cell phones of their missing sons and stories about the horrors they escaped but many of their countrymen still endure. "They want the world to understand them. They want the world to bear witness," Fouad Ajami, a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, said Monday from the camp. "They also see the camera as a way of holding onto the memory of this lost world, a world that is very achingly close." The fighting has prompted thousands to flee Syria, setting up new lives in a number of makeshift camps in neighboring nations. The United Nations estimates at least 9,000 people have been killed over the past 14 months in Syria. President Bashar al-Assad's government blames the violence on "armed terrorist gangs," while the opposition and many in the international community say it is the result of the regime's bloody crackdown on dissent. Not including arrests, opposition groups actually estimate the death toll is at more than 11,000 and growing. A month after 'cease-fire,' where does Syria stand? Two of those killed are sons of Abu Mohammed, who recalled from the camp in Turkey how they had been fatally shot by security forces while demonstrating in Syria about a year ago. Another son is missing, believed to be arrested and possibly killed without ever having never met his 7-month-old son. Mohammed cannot justify why Syrian security forces killed his sons and the children of so many others. But he knows why they spoke up, and why many are still fighting. "We had young men that cried out and shouted, 'Freedom!', and they were killed for that?" he asked rhetorically. "We just want freedom. What's wrong with asking for freedom?" Through a hole in a fence, past olive groves and across rolling farmland, that sense of freedom lives -- albeit tenuously. While the Syrian government exerts control over most of the country, there are exceptions. The police station of one town, for instance, was turned into makeshift barracks for fighters from the rebel Free Syrian Army. At a school, where al-Assad's government still pays the teachers' salaries and for textbooks, students in blue uniforms burst into chants slamming their president. Outside town, opposition fighters take up positions along roads. They take a 19-year-old prisoner who, they say, was headed to enlist in al-Assad's armed forces, sparing him only after he vows to join their fighting force instead. Even with this sense of ownership and fragile freedom, there is little sense here that the end is near. That's especially true back at the refugee camp in Turkey, where expectations are low that they will return home safely anytime soon. The cease-fire that was to take effect last month hasn't ended the violence. One Syrian activist, identified as Zaidoun, says the government is "playing games" even with the scores of unarmed U.N. monitors in the country. Zaidoun said the government decreases attacks wherever the monitors are, then fills the void after they leave by pounding communities with mortars and gunfire. Zaidoun says he has all but given up hope that people from outside Syria will intervene and stop his people's suffering. But he still has faith that the dreams of he and other opposition will be realized. "It's OK. We know now that world is happy watching us being killed, and we will do it on our own," he said. "Even if it takes 10 years, we are on the streets and we will not change, we will not retreat, and we will not give up."

Hundreds of Syrians pack a camp in Turkey, one of several set up for refugees . They came here to flee violence that U.N. says has killed at least 9,000 people . Rebel fighters control some areas in Syria . A man whose two sons were killed asks: "What's wrong with asking for freedom?"

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A homeless man who spent five hours dangling upside down after getting stuck in a window has been cleared of burglary after a court heard he had 'just been trying to find somewhere to sleep.' Carl Attar scaled two fences and shimmied up a drainpipe to reach the window 10ft above the ground of a university building. But the 27-year-old homeless man got his legs caught and he was left suspended upside down by his ankles in freezing conditions. Scroll down for video . Carl Attar, left, was found not guilty of burglary at Nottingham Magistrates' Court after he claimed he got stuck in a window at Nottingham Trent University, right, because he was looking for somewhere to sleep . Two passing students rang the Fire Brigade to rescue Mr Attar after they heard his panicked screams . He was found by two students who initially thought he was playing a prank, but dialled 999 when they realised he was stuck. Mr Attar was arrested and charged with attempting to break into the Nottingham Trent University building on January 22. He was found not guilty of burglary after Nottingham Magistrates' Court heard he was simply trying to find shelter warm for the night. Chair of the bench, Keith Taylor, said: 'We are not satisfied that you entered the building with intent to steal.' The court heard Daniel Dei Niet and fellow student Tom Burdett were passing the university's Arkwright building at 3am when they heard Mr Attar's cries. They took photos of the man and made a video before realising the seriousness of the issue and deciding to phone emergency services. A fireman eased Mr Attar through the window after his five hour ordeal at Nottingham Trent University . In a 34-second video, which has since received more than 70,000 views on the internet, the students can be heard asking Mr Attar if there was any way they could help. He was freed by firefighters and spent two days at Queen's Medical Centre before being charged with burglary with intent to steal. Magistrates heard Mr Attar had nowhere to stay on the night and after taking amphetamines, found himself in Nottingham city centre. Doctors told Mr Attar that they would have needed to amputate his leg if he spent a further 30 minutes suspended upside down from the window . Mr Attar said he saw the open sash window and decided to climb inside to find somewhere to sleep, but his plan went wrong when he became wedged. Now the drug addict has vowed to 'change his ways' after medics told him he could have lost his legs if he had been suspended any longer. Mr Attar, of no fixed address, said: 'Something trapped me in there. 'I don't know what it was. My legs just got caught and after a while I lost the circulation in my legs. I thought I was going to die. 'I had been there so long, my legs had pins and needles and my shins felt like they had been cut badly. 'Then I saw this guy and he asked me what I was doing up there. I said 'It doesn't matter what I'm doing, please help me'. 'I wasn't bothered about the students laughing, I just wanted to get down. Doctors told me another half an hour and I would have to have my legs amputated. 'I'm not a burglar. I was just trapped. It's like a lesson being taught. I'm changing my ways.' The court heard Mr Attar had 40 convictions for 69 previous offences, mainly shop thefts, and that he had been served with an anti-social behaviour notice, having previously been found on University of Nottingham premises. Ian Carter, defending, said: 'He was a homeless drug addict loner who had nowhere else to go. The question is, did he intend to steal? 'No. What he intended to do was find somewhere warm to go to sleep. He had no gloves and no means of carrying any items.' During the trial, Mr Attar said he had not bothered looking for a hostel because he was not registered. But a spokesman for homelessness charity Framework said: 'Help is available for people who find themselves in this situation. Tom Burdett, left, who is studying History, said he initially thought Mr Attar, top right, was a drunk student . 'We will make every effort to find them accommodation in such cold weather. 'For this reason we would urge anyone who is about to sleep rough to contact our street outreach team by calling our rough sleepers' hotline on 0800 066 5356.' Tom Burdett, 19, who is a first year student studying History, said: 'We initially thought it was a drunk student, because we've got friends who would probably end up doing something like that. 'But when we heard he was 27 I thought it might be a bit more sinister and he must have been trying to burgle the place. 'But I didn't know he was homeless, so I guess that makes a lot of sense. 'If you were in that situation you would just be desperate to find somewhere warm to sleep - it just went spectacularly badly for this bloke..' Daniel Dei Niet, 20, a Property investment and Finance student, added: We had been walking home from a night out when we literally stumbled across the guy. 'All I could see was the lower half of the person's legs poking out through the open part. 'I called out 'are you OK?' The man's voice was crying: 'I've been here five hours, help!' ' 'He was crying out shouting 'Let me go' and I dialled 999 and told the operator what had happened. 'Two fire engines and three police cars arrived and they had to cut the guy out of the window. 'The police took him away in handcuffs and we carried on home.'

Carl Attar was stuck hanging upside down from a window for five hours . The homeless drug addict said he was looking for somewhere to sleep . Mr Attar was found not guilty of burglary by Nottingham Magistrates' Court . The court heard that Mr Attar was not equipped for carrying out a burglary . Doctors said he could have lost his legs if he was trapped any longer . Mr Attar, who has 40 previous convictions, vowed to 'change his ways'

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Louisville, Kentucky (CNN) -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell uses sports metaphors to describe why he should be re-elected and not sacked by Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, who would be Kentucky's first woman senator. "Change the U.S. Senate and make me the offensive coordinator instead of the defensive coordinator," McConnell said to a small but enthusiastic crowd in Bowling Green. "Sports fans know you can score on defense, but it's hard. When you're on offense, you get to call the plays and set the agenda for Kentucky and for America. That's what makes a big difference." Translation: After two straight elections in which GOP fumbles kept Republicans in the minority, McConnell has another chance at running the Senate as majority leader, but that won't happen if he's defeated here at home and knocked out of the game. 2014 midterms: Key races to watch . On the eve of primary day here, McConnell appears confident he has crushed his challenger from the right, Matt Bevin. But it remains to be seen how much of a toll the manpower and money he has spent against Bevin will take -- whether it will weaken him in what is expected to be the toughest campaign against a Democratic challenger in the three decades he has been in office. General election: Who can better define Grimes? It is also unclear whether the Republicans who don't support McConnell in the primary will end up voting for him in the fall. McConnell's campaign points out that Republican primary voters largely rallied around Rand Paul after a divisive GOP battle in 2010 and hope the same will happen this year for McConnell. Grimes, a 35-year-old attorney and Kentucky's secretary of state, has a classic campaign strategy against the 72-year-old, five-term Senate incumbent: it's time for change. "We've had 30 years of failed leadership under Mitch McConnell; we cannot afford six more," Grimes declared emphatically to a packed house at her campaign headquarters here in Louisville. 5 key primaries to watch on Tuesday . To counter that, McConnell is using a classic strategy for a longtime incumbent. He is trying to paint his seniority as a plus and warn Kentuckians about the perils of a junior senator with little clout in Washington representing them instead of a potential Senate majority leader. "My opponent, I certainly agree, is a new face, but a new face for what? New face for the status quo. Same majority leader, same agenda, no change at all. A new face for no change at all," McConnell argues on the stump. But Grimes' full-throated assault on McConnell goes beyond a call for change. She is using McConnell's GOP leader status and his frequent moves to block legislation to make him the symbol of gridlock in Washington. We put that to McConnell in a brief interview. "What Kentuckians have to decide is which direction they want the country to take," McConnell told CNN. "Do we want to go in a different direction, or do we want Harry Reid to continue to be the majority leader? Do we want a vote for Barack Obama in a state that he carried four out of 120 countries? That's what's really at stake in the fall election," McConnell told us. Poll: Democrats competitive in key Southern showdowns . Like Republicans all over the country, McConnell is trying hard to make this election a referendum on Obama, who lost Kentucky big in 2012 and is highly unpopular now. The problem for McConnell is that he too has a high unfavorable rating, and Democrats here are hoping that will be his ultimate downfall. But McConnell has already been working hard to soften his image with positive television ads. He is also almost always accompanied at campaign stops by his wife, former George W. Bush Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. At their appearance in Bowling Green, she introduced McConnell by calling him her "soul mate." Republicans hope that helps another challenge he has in his race against Grimes: women. Grimes is unabashed in her quest to get female voters to the polls by reminding them that she would be their first female senator, but also by ripping McConnell on issues relating to women, such as his opposition to equal pay legislation like the Lilly Ledbetter Act. "I hope you will spread the word not just across Jefferson County but the Commonwealth of Kentucky that this woman, well, she's not an empty dress, she's not a cheerleader, she's not a rubber stamp, she's an independent Kentucky woman that stands on her own two feet," Grimes yelled to her crowd here. Grimes edges out McConnell in cash battle . When asked about what polls show is a wide gender gap between him and Grimes, McConnell turned to Obamacare. "Women in Kentucky have been treated just as badly in this environment as men have. Obamacare, you know women are typically those who manage their family's health care. They've been adversely impacted by Obamacare in a serious way. Surveys indicate women object to Obamacare even more than men. I think it ought to be pulled out from the root of the grass, and we ought to start over. I know that's not the view of my opponent in the fall," McConnnell told CNN. As for Grimes, she may be trying to make Washington's problems all about McConnell, but she also clearly knows she has to overcome deep opposition to the President by separating herself from him. "This election is not a referendum on the President. Nothing about this election is going to change who our President is, but we can actually change who is in Washington, D.C., and put someone there who fights for the people of this state instead of looking out for his own job," Grimes told CNN. She has been trying to aggressively criticize the President's policies on coal, seen in this coal-producing state as punitive. Like other Democrats on the ballot this year, she sidestepped our questions about whether she would welcome the President's help. She did, however, tell us she would love to campaign with Hillary Clinton, whom she called her "role model." Grimes' father was a prominent supporter of President Bill Clinton during his campaigns and presidency. The former President, whom she called "family," has already been to Kentucky to raise money for Grimes.

Mitch McConnell seems set to cruise to a primary win, but the cost remains to be seen . It's also unclear whether tea party Republicans who opposed McConnell will vote in the fall . Challenger is using classic campaign against McConnell: It's time for a change .

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Drama teacher Simon Parsons, 52, (pictured) had a long-term affair with a pupil and even had a child with the girl, but his wife is standing by him . The wife of a teacher who embarked on a five-year affair with a pupil of 17 has vowed to stand by him, insisting: ‘He is not a monster.’ Drama master Simon Parsons, 52, had sex with the girl in school and at his home during the ‘immoral’ relationship – and she later had his baby. But despite the deceit, his wife of 12 years has pleaded with a judge to show leniency when he is sentenced today. ‘He is a gentle man who made a massive mistake,’ she said in a statement read in court. Parsons is said to have met the girl when she was 13 and he was teaching at the Castle School in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire. Their friendship developed over several years and they began a sexual relationship when she was 17, Bristol Crown Court heard. It continued after she left school and resulted in the birth of a child when she was in her early 20s. The teacher’s behaviour came to light only after the former pupil, who cannot be named, ended the relationship and her family realised what was happening. The age and gender of her child were not revealed in court. Parsons is also believed to have a daughter with his wife, who the court heard 'bore' the affair. He returned to the family unit after the girl ended the relationship. He has admitted five counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust. Defending, David Scutt said Parsons and his wife, whose name was not given, had grown closer since the affair ended. 'She knew about it while it was going on and bore it,' Mr Scutt said. 'Since it finished the family unit has got closer and closer. 'His career has gone and that will result in a drastic change of lifestyle for her and for their daughter. 'She says that he has lost his self-esteem and feels constantly humiliated.' James Ward, prosecuting, told the court: ‘This relationship began in the way that normal relationships do and resulted in the defendant having full sexual intercourse with the complainant. Sexual intercourse took place within the school.’ He added: ‘She acknowledged she did have a crush on the defendant and thought it was maybe her fault that this happened. Eventually she thought to herself, “Well this is a relationship then”.’ At times, he said, the schoolgirl felt ‘grossed out’ by what was happening. Parsons, a drama teacher at Castle School, in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, first met the teenager when she was 13 and began a relationship with her at 17 . The court heard Parsons would take her out for meals and weekend theatre trips, and they stayed in a hotel. But when she was in her early 20s, the relationship ended and she was interviewed by police. She was said to have been encouraged to speak out by her aunt, as Parsons was still teaching children. When he was arrested he admitted the improper relationship and having intercourse with the girl, starting when she was 17. Mr Scutt said: ‘He accepts responsibility for what he has done. He thought it was something that had been wanted and pursued. He thought, wrongly, that it was mutual.’ Mr Scutt said there was no suggestion his client acted inappropriately with other pupils. He added: ‘[Parsons] was, on any view, a passionate and committed teacher. He created, developed and set up the drama department. That is now over.’ The teacher is generally remembered fondly by pupils on the RateMyTeachers.com website. But one former charge wrote in December 2007: ‘Well we all know he focused on one student.’ Parsons has admitted five counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust at Bristol Crown Court. He will be sentenced tomorrow . Another comment, from October 2011, described him as ‘one of the few teachers that treated his students as adults’. Approached yesterday at his converted barn home in Dursley, Gloucestershire, Parsons said it was a ‘very upsetting’ time for him and his family, and that his wife did not wish to comment. Last week, a judge provoked an outcry when she said RE teacher Stuart Kerner, 44, had been groomed by a 16-year-old pupil before he took her virginity in a store cupboard. Kerner, who was supported by his wife Katherine, was given an 18-month suspended sentence by Judge Joanna Greenberg QC, who is now being investigated.

Simon Parsons, 52, was a drama teacher at Castle School, Thornbury . He met pupil at 13 and they began sexual relationship when she was 17 . Teacher would take her on weekend trips to London and had sex at school . Relationship continued after she left school, and she had a baby by him . Affair only came to light some time after the affair ended . Parsons has admitted five counts of sexual activity with a child . Court told his wife was standing by him and says he 'is not a monster'

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There must be something in the water. These little rays of sunshine appear to be smiling at just days old. The tiny rays have arrived during a baby boom at Great Yarmouth’s Sealife Centre, Norfolk, drawing in visitors from far and wide. At least six Thornbacked rays have hatched over the last three days alone. Happy tots: These tiny newborn thornback rays appear to be smiling at the visitors . The fascinating little creatures were born during a baby boom at Great Yarmouth Sea Life Centre, in Norfolk . And visitors eager for a glimpse of their seemingly happy faces have been shocked to find what looks like eyes are in fact gills. Curator Christine Pitcher said: 'We took more ray eggs out of our main display tank this morning, and at least 20 of them seem to be fertile. 'It’s the right time of year for a baby boom, but I don’t recall ever having so many youngsters appearing at once before. The miniature rays might appear to be smiling but in fact what looks like eyes are in fact tiny gills . A closer look at the 'face' reveals that there are no eyes on the underside of the tiny fish - there are on the upper side of the flat fish . 'It’s the ultimate endorsement for our husbandry techniques and the quality of water and theming in our displays,' she added. Though . the fish appear to be smiling, what looks to be it’s eyes are in fact . gills for breathing on it’s underside. The rays' real eyes are on the . front of it’s body. The fish will live in a nursery tank until they are big enough to join the adult rays in huge open top tank. Staff at the Sea Life Centre are delighted with the sudden arrival of so many newborn rays, and are hoping the baby boom will extend to the centre's nurse shark which they have been trying to mate . Thornbacked rays are the most common of nine species of rays in British waters. They can grow up to 1.2metres. They get their name because their upper body is covered in tiny prickles. Christine and her team are hoping the . baby boom will rub off on their largest resident Aphropdite the nurse . shark who has been mating with male Hercules. 'That would certainly be the "happy event" of the year,' she said. Disguised: The tiny thornback rays will eventually look like this one, brown and speckled on top, where their real eyes are clearly visible .

Six tiny thornback rays have hatched at Great Yarmouth Sea Life Centre, Norfolk, in the last three days during a 'baby boom' Cute little creatures appear to be smiling but their 'eyes' are in fact gills .

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(CNN) -- In focus: OPEC quota cuts . OPEC, which pumps 40 percent of the world oil, is set to announce this week plans to cut its output when it meets in Oran, Algeria. CEO Naguib Sawiris is expanding his mobile phone services into North Korea, an area where few businessmen venture. The cut in crude is hoped to stabilize prices and will be the third cut in quotas since September. So what's behind the supply cuts? Is it just a matter of price stability? Or is OPEC trying to protect the cost of future investments? Facetime with Naguib Sawiris, Chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom . Amidst the economic downturn, one company is venturing into markets where others fear to tread. Orascom launches its mobile phone services in North Korea this week. CEO Naguib Sawiris tells MME about the company's ambitious expansion plans and the effects of the international financial crisis. Watch the show this week at the times (GMT) below: . Friday: 0915, 1945 Saturday: 0645 Sunday: 0815 .

OPEC, which supplies 40 percent of world oil plans on cutting more output . This is the third cut since the fall and is supposed to stabilize prices-will it? Or is OPEC just looking out for its own interests? Plus, CEO Naguib Sawiris talks about his North Korea expansion plans .

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By . Neil Ashton . PUBLISHED: . 17:32 EST, 3 March 2014 . | . UPDATED: . 03:23 EST, 4 March 2014 . Cardiff City face a Premier League investigation after owner Vincent Tan offered his players a £3.7million bonus before Sunday’s defeat by Tottenham. Sportsmail can reveal Tan broke Premier League rules, which state every team must lodge their bonus schedule before the start of the season, when he gave his players a financialincentive to avoid relegation. It is understood Tan did not offer the Cardiff squad a bonus to avoid the drop before the campaign began because he did not believe they would be in a relegation fight after his significant investment. VIDEO Scroll down to watch VINCENT TAN: If Cardiff fans p*** me off again, I'm off . Under scrutiny: Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan made an illegal offer to players . More misery: Roberto Soldado's goal consigned Cardiff to another defeat on Sunday . Instead, the controversial owner . walked into Saturday evening’s team meeting at the Hilton Hotel on . London’s Park Lane and stunned the players with his extraordinary offer. Tan told the Cardiff squad they would ‘need to shoot more’ if they wanted the bonus at the end of the season. He . promised the squad, who were sitting open-mouthed, £3.7m to share . between them if they survived their first season in the Barclays Premier . League. At the start of . the campaign every club must register any bonuses not mentioned in . players’ contracts with the Premier League to protect the integrity of . the game at the highest level. The . regulation is designed to stop owners such as Tan using financial . inducements to motivate players and other staff outside of their . existing agreements. However, clubs were given a month’s grace this year because of the new TV deals. Dejected: Cardiff's players look gutted after Soldado scores for Spurs . No joy: Tan's team talk couldn't inspire Cardiff at White Hart Lane . Many . players believed they should take a bigger slice of the TV pool and . several clubs could not reach agreement with them before the first game. Premier League chiefs gave every team a month to settle their affairs . but they were not allowed to alter or make verbal agreements after these . had been lodged. Now the . Premier League are to investigate the Cardiff owner after sources close . to Tan confirmed he had made the offer to his players. Tan breached Premier League rules T12 and T13 by offering a financial inducement outside of the players’ contracts. According . to T12: ‘Full details of a player’s remuneration, including all . benefits to which he is entitled, whether in cash or in kind, shall be . set out in his contract.’ Looking glum: Cardiff boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer saw his struggling side lose again . Gutted: Fabio Da Silva looks to the ground as Spurs celebrate Soldado's winner . T13 says: ‘The terms of a contract between a club and a player shall be strictly adhered to. ‘According . to those players’ contracts, the bonus schedule agreed with the squad . at the start of a season and lodged with the Premier League cannot be . changed during  the season under any circumstances.’ Tan’s . offer did not have the desired effect on Sunday at White Hart Lane, . where Cardiff lost 1-0 to Tottenham following a first home goal in open . play from £27m striker Roberto Soldado. On Monday night the Premier League confirmed they would write to Tan to ask him for his observations. Unhappy: Disgruntled Cardiff supporters protest against Tan . Left for dead: Aaron Lennon ghosts past Cardiff defender Ben Turner . The Premier League board have a number of options available to them if they  find Tan guilty of an offence, including a fine. If . the matter is deemed serious enough, it can be taken to an independent . regulatory commission, where the sanctions - including fines and points . deductions - are almost unlimited. Cardiff . seem to be hurtling towards relegation and are second from bottom in . the Premier League table after losing three of their last four league . games. Malky Mackay’s . sacking in December after a series of clashes with Tan over transfer . policy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s appointment as manager have resulted . in a dramatic drop-off in form. Getting stuck in: Declan Jones challenges Emmanuel Adebayor during Sunday's game . Out of luck: Craig Bellamy can't help to boost his boyhood club . The . players are in open revolt against the club hierarchy and Solskjaer, in . his first job in the Premier League, seems unable to motivate them. The . former Manchester United striker’s authority was significantly . undermined on Saturday evening when Tan arrived at the team hotel and . announced he would be addressing the players. As the Norwegian stepped aside, Tan declared his offer to the Cardiff squad. A . spokesman for the billionaire Malaysian businessman said on Monday night: . ‘We didn’t realise it was against regulations. Vincent Tan has now . rescinded the offer.’

Cardiff chief stuns strugglers with incentive ahead of last Sunday's clash with Spurs . Tan broke Premier League rules by offering bonus during the season . Owner encouraged players 'to shoot more' if they wanted cash . Premier League to investigate Tan . Malaysian 'didn't realise it was against regulations' Cardiff are second bottom of the top flight .

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(CNN) -- Crews in Taiwan have found body parts as the search unfolds for victims of rock slides unleashed by Typhoon Megi last week, official media said. Four sets of body parts have been found, with DNA testing to be done, Taiwan's official Central News Agency said. Nineteen tourists from southern China, a Chinese tour group leader and a Taiwanese bus driver went missing Thursday along the Suhua Highway, in northeast Taiwan. Sections of the scenic highway, which is perched along a cliff on the island's eastern coast, gave way. Three dozen family members of the missing Chinese tourists arrived in Taiwan on Monday night. They were to visit the site of the rock slides on Tuesday, China's state media said. Megi killed at least 13 people and injured nearly 100 others in Taiwan last week. It struck the Philippines earlier in the week, affecting an estimated 258,844 people and leaving thousands homeless. Typhoon Megi made landfall in China's southeastern province of Fujian on Saturday, affecting nearly 650,000 people and destroying 500 houses, China's Xinhua news agency said. About 270,000 people had evacuated. Damage in Fujian from the strongest typhoon of the year was estimated at 1.59 billion yuan ($238 million). No deaths or significant injuries were reported, thanks to rigorous typhoon precautions in Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces, the state-run China Daily said.

Four sets have been discovered, with DNA testing to be done . Typhoon Megi unleashed the slides last week . Nineteen tourists from southern China are among the missing . A search also is on for a Chinese tour group leader and a Taiwanese bus driver .

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Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama on Thursday placed the United States squarely on the side of democratic reform in the Middle East and North Africa, declaring in a major policy speech that the wave of change sweeping the region "cannot be denied." Addressing a global audience, Obama condemned the use of force against Arab Spring protesters by longtime allies and adversaries alike. He also said the eruption of demands for greater opportunity in Arab nations could be used to kick-start stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. At the same time, Obama applied his own pressure by declaring as policy the long-held idea that a future Palestinian state should be based on borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war. In the past, the United States has unofficially supported a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict based on the borders in place prior to the war 44 years ago in which Israel seized the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. Obama became the first president to formally endorse the policy, but he acknowledged the need for modifications through the negotiating process due to conditions on the ground. Obama also dismissed the notion of al Qaeda-style extremism appealing to future generations of Muslims, asserting that the organization was "losing its struggle for relevance" long before the killing of Osama bin Laden on May 2. The president's speech -- the subject of intense speculation in recent days -- was a long-promised overview of America's changing Middle East policy in the wake of the Arab Spring that started unfolding in Tunisia last December. In recent months, Washington has often appeared to struggle to keep up with the pace of events not only in Tunisia, but also in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, and elsewhere. Administration officials have also wrestled with an Arab suspicion of U.S. motives fueled by decades of American support for the region's autocratic regimes. "Shouts of human dignity are being heard across the region," Obama declared, speaking in front of a group of diplomatic and military officials at the State Department. "We support political and economic reform in the Middle East and North Africa that can meet the legitimate aspirations of ordinary people throughout the region." The president acknowledged that "there will be times" when America's "short-term interests do not align perfectly with our long-term vision." "But we can -- and will -- speak out for a set of core principles" including freedom of religion and expression, and equality under the law, he promised. "It will be years before this story reaches its end," Obama said. But "the events of the past six months show us that strategies of oppression and strategies of diversion will not work anymore." Among other things, Obama accused Iran of hypocrisy for publicly supporting protests in parts of the Arab world after violently cracking down on protests at home. He blasted the Syrian regime for reacting to dissent by choosing "the path of murder and the mass arrests." "The Syrian people have shown their courage in demanding a transition to democracy," Obama said. President Bashar al-Assad "now has a choice: he can lead that transition, or get out of the way." On Wednesday, Obama imposed new sanctions against al-Assad and other top officials in Damascus. Obama also criticized the crackdown against Shiite protesters in Bahrain -- a key Persian Gulf ally and home of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. The president made no mention of struggles for greater rights in neighboring Saudi Arabia, another close ally. A large portion of the president's speech was devoted to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The administration's strategy for a comprehensive settlement has been seemingly derailed in recent months. Former Sen. George Mitchell unexpectedly submitted his resignation as the president's Mideast envoy Friday, and deadly clashes broke out Sunday between pro-Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces. Ongoing Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and Palestinian steps toward a unilateral declaration of statehood have driven the two sides further apart since Obama took office. Additional doubts about the viability of the stalled peace process were raised this month in the wake of a formal reconciliation agreement between the two largest Palestinian factions: President Mahmoud Abbas' party, the West Bank-based Fatah; and the Islamist group Hamas, which rules Gaza. Both Israel and the United States consider Hamas a terrorist organization and have voiced strong opposition to the inclusion of the group in any unity government, demanding that it first renounce violence, recognize the state of Israel and abide by all previous agreements. Nevertheless, the president renewed his push for a two-state solution Thursday, declaring that the borders of Israel and a future Palestinian state should be based on pre-1967 lines "with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states." "The full and phased withdrawal" of Israeli security forces from the West Bank has to be accompanied by evidence of a Palestinian state that can help secure the peace and prevent attacks against Israel, he said. But a continued Israeli presence in the West Bank is inconsistent with long-term dreams of a secure Jewish and democratic state, Obama said. "The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state," the president said. Neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis offered a warm response to Obama's speech. Hamas called Obama's remarks "empty of concrete significance" and promised not to recognize "the Israeli occupation." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office stated that Washington should stand by previous U.S. commitments relating "to Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines, which are both indefensible and which would leave major Israeli population centers ... beyond those lines." On a broader regional level, Obama stressed the importance of economic development to accompany political reforms. Toward that end, he announced $1 billion in debt forgiveness for Egypt, as well as another $1 billion in loan guarantees for Cairo. He also promised a new "comprehensive" trade and investment partnership initiative with the Middle East and North Africa. Europe will play a key role in moving the initiative forward, he said. Obama also defended U.S. and NATO intervention in Libya, arguing the move was necessary to prevent an imminent massacre. "Time is working against (Libyan leader Moammar) Gadhafi," he asserted. When Gadhafi goes, "decades of provocation will come to an end" and a democratic transition can begin, he said. Thursday's speech came nearly two years after Obama delivered an address in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, that called for "a new beginning" between the United States and the Muslim world. Today, many in the Middle East and North Africa consider the Cairo speech a collection of lofty ideals that lacked sufficient follow-through, and they have been looking for Obama to signal substantive and concrete policies that support the aspirations of the region's people. Marwan Muasher, a former Jordanian foreign minister and longtime advocate of Arab reform, said Wednesday that the Middle East is a new environment now, where young men and women are laying their lives on the line for democracy throughout the region. They need to be told their cause is just and how the United States will support them. If Thursday's address is viewed as just "another Cairo speech, forget it," said Muasher, now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It was great two years ago, and even then the feedback was mixed, because people wanted to see what he would do. If he doesn't have much to add this time, people will not be fooled by it." Gigi Ibrahim, a 24-year-old Egyptian activist and blogger, predicted Obama's words will have little impact in her country. "At this point, whatever President Obama will address will really be irrelevant to what the situation is now because we're really building democracy from the bottom up," Ibrahim told CNN, adding that "America is not the model of democracy that we are striving for." She called U.S. policy on the Middle East "hypocritical" because, she said, the United States "will support a dictatorship if it's aligned with its interests." That attitude is still rife throughout the Middle East and North Africa, noted CNN senior political analyst David Gergen. With Egypt facing economic crisis, the Libyan conflict at a stalemate, an ongoing harsh crackdown on demonstrators in Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process at a standstill, there is little belief in the region that Obama or the United States can do much to help, Gergen said. "I think it's going to be very difficult in the near term to generate excitement about his policies in the Middle East," Gergen said. Obama's speech came in a week when the White House is strongly focused on Middle East issues. He met Tuesday with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House, and will meet Friday with Netanyahu. CNN's Elise Labott and Matt Smith contributed to this story.

Events show oppression will not work in the Middle East anymore, Obama says . The president announces $2 billion in assistance for Egypt . He announces a trade plan for the region . A two-state Arab-Israeli solution should be based on 1967 borders, Obama says .

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Paris (CNN) -- With his razor-sharp cheekbones and youthful appearance, Olivier Rousteing looks like he could be fresh out of design school. Instead, the 28-year-old is at the helm of one of the most venerable fashion houses in the world -- Balmain. Since taking over in 2011, the Bordeaux-born prodigy has been credited with bringing a fresh, popular-culture aesthetic to the house, while staying true to its spirit and tradition. His richly embroidered, luxurious designs have earned him legions of fans, and his so-called "Balmain Army" of supporters includes some of the most glamorous women in the world, from Naomi Campbell to Rosie Huntington-Whitely. Rousteing, who at 25 was the youngest creative director of a Parisian label since the legendary Yves Saint Laurent took the top job at Christian Dior in the 1950s, has also been hailed as a champion of diversity, casting mixed-race and Asian models in his catwalk shows and advertising campaigns. The designer tells CNN about his love of "wonder women," the meaning of luxury, and his friendship with his muse, Rihanna. CNN: What is at the heart of the Balmain DNA? Olivier Rousteing: Pierre Balmain has always been a big designer like Christian Dior or Monsieur Saint Laurent, and when I had this opportunity to take (on) the house I just felt so flattered ... it was an honor for me. And at the same time I wanted to bring back the archives because Pierre Balmain was known for the Jolie Madame silhouette, amazing tailoring and the most incredible embroideries, but I wanted to twist it with my edge, my generation. And I was excited to express all these feelings -- all my culture I had today with all the past of the house which is so huge and so interesting and impressive. CNN: How does your style differ from former creative director Christophe Decarnin? OR: I learned a lot from Christophe. And when I was working at Balmain as an assistant and managing the studio, my job was translating everything he wanted in a fashion way. But Christophe was from another age, another generation, loving different muses and icons. He was more into Kate Moss, rock and roll and Sex Pistols, the 1980s. What I loved about him was all the sex appeal that he wanted to introduce to the house. But my generation is all hip hop, a different culture. Even top models that inspire me didn't inspire him -- it is just a matter of generation. And I think what is important for me today is underlining the luxury of the house, maybe less jeans, less street wear, but keeping the DNA of Pierre Balmain and pushing the embroideries and the craftsmanship because this is something that I think is part of me, and part of the house at the same time. CNN: What is it about Rihanna that inspired you? OR: Rihanna has been my muse from the beginning. I have been listening to her albums since I was young and followed her career. I love women and I love wonder women -- those kind of women who have no boundaries and no (limits) and have this power to express themselves. And I had the chance to meet her two years ago and it was love at first sight -- literally. She showed me how to believe in myself and push the boundaries and limits at the same time keeping control of your life and that I think is the best I could learn from her. CNN: Did you feel pressure for your first show for Balmain in 2011? OR: Actually, I think the first show is the easiest one because you don't know what you expect. But the first minute that I went out on the runway I just realized that my life is going to change. From the second show you realize what it means to be a creative director -- you are more exposed and people don't see you just as a designer -- your personality is really important and they sometimes don't judge you only on your clothes. CNN: What has been the greatest advantage -- and hindrance -- of your youth in this industry? OR: For me it is really important not to lose faith. When you are a baby you just dream to be the President -- you dream to be Miss Universe or whatever -- you don't have boundaries. And I think youth helps (me) to just believe and think there are no boundaries and no (limits). If I had this job at 45 or 40, I don't think I would do the same clothes, I don't think I would express myself in the same way and thanks to my youth I believe so much and I push my boundaries so strongly . CNN: Is it hard to stay grounded? OR: No, because I am close to people who are true and down to earth, and so for me it's not like, 'Oh I am only with celebrities or the woman who is 60 and wearing my clothes.' I have met so many celebrities who are arrogant and hardcore -- they are not my friends. I am just a simple person and maybe it seems weird to say that but sometimes the greatest luxury is to remain true to yourself. CNN: Tell us about your love of Instagram. OR: What is important in my career and my way of being a designer is Instagram. Obviously people see I am selling a dress at $25,000 and that I have this life with celebrities, taking flights all the time ... but with my Instagram people can realize who I am. I can wake up and do a selfie in my flat, go to the gym like 75% of the population, you know, just be normal! CNN: Talk about the inspiration behind this collection. OR: When Rihanna came to my after party last winter she was dressed in my leather skirt a beautiful see-through top, and she was kind of naked underneath. That inspired the whole collection. But it is a happy, joyful collection showing the state of my mind today. I am enjoying my work, I am celebrating my youth, my generation. There is a lot of work behind it, still keeping the couture element, still keeping this dreamy thing that I always have. CNN: What are the last minute preparations in the atelier ahead of the show like? OR: I'm really a control freak! At Balmain, everything needs to come five days before -- that is my limit. But it is still very last minute but really exciting because obviously we get some (pieces) that are really well done, but with others you are like, 'Oh my God, I need to redo it!' I have an amazing team that believes in me and the brand. CNN: What, for you, is the sign of success? OR: When people who I am close to tell me that something is good. You know, in fashion you can't trust too many people. But the people who you trust, you can be sure of, and they are going to tell you the truth, when it's bad and when it's good and that's what I want. But the most important thing is to please myself. If you are sure of yourself, if you like your show people are also going to love it. Look: Paris Fashion Week in photos .

Balmain's creative director Olivier Rousteing has brought a note of hip-hop to the venerable house . He has been the youngest creative director of a Parisian fashion house since Yves Saint Laurent . Rousteing cites Rihanna as his muse and inspiration behind the latest collection .

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