After the 2001 attacks on New York City, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had to contend with thousands of bodies, many completely shattered and unrecognizable, buried among the wreckage of the crumbled buildings.
A huge 1.8 million tons was eventually moved to a landfill for workers to start sifting through, in the hopes of making positive IDs on the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks.
Nearly 11 years on, a small group of scientists are still desperately working to give grieving families the justice they crave.
More than 9,000 pieces of bone, some the size of just a Tic Tac, are kept at Memorial Park, a building on 30th Street in Manhattan, New York Magazine reported last year.
Nearly 11 years on, a small group of scientists are still desperately working to give grieving families the justice they crave
Five dedicated staff inexhaustibly sift through crushed remains of bone taken from the scene day after day, cross-referencing any clues they get with DNA samples from the victims’ families.
Last year, just two IDs were made, leaving 1,121 victims still unidentified. So far, the office has identified less than 60% of the 2,753 people who died on 9/11.
Just 17 of the remains were identified by sight alone, 305 were determined by fingerprints, 25 by photographs, 78 by personal effects, 534 by dental or body X-rays and six by tattoos.
The work also involves profiling the DNA of the victims to match against the bones. Samples were collected by taking DNA from toothbrushes or by swabbing living relatives.
Even though it is painstaking, families have praised the work as vital.
Jim Riches, a former deputy chief of the FDNY who lost his son on 9/11, told the magazine: “We recovered my son March 25, 2002 but it wasn’t all of him. I would want to bring all his parts back to Queens and put them all in one place.”
For the first time since the 9/11 attack, the federal government is on the verge of recognizing that people who lived near Ground Zero and first responders got cancer from toxic dust from the scene.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is expected to announce the findings on the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attack tomorrow.
The institute is responsible for deciding whether cancer should be among the illnesses covered by the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.
Around 50 cancers are expected to be included.
The ruling will mean thousands of people who are sure they got sick in the aftermath of the outrage will be eligible for compensation.
US federal government is on the verge of recognizing that people who lived near Ground Zero and first responders got cancer from toxic dust from the scene
Michael Barasch, a lawyer who represent thousands of first responders and residents, told the New York Post: “There’s new scientific evidence that dust is what is now linked to not only the respiratory illnesses, but all these cancers.”
John Walcott, an NYPD detective who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2003 after working months at Ground Zero and the Fresh Kills landfill said: “It’s a bittersweet thing. It took 11 years to do what should have been done a long time ago.”
The Zadroga Act – named after NYPD Detective James Zadroga, who died age 34 after working on the World Trade Center pile – was passed into law two years ago.
Under the Act $2.8 billion was set aside to compensate people made ill by exposure to toxins at the site. Another $1.5 billion has been allocated over five years to fund the World Trade Center Health Program, which treats and monitors about 40,000 first responders.
It originally did not cover cancer because there was not enough evidence linking it to the toxins emitted at Ground Zero.
“To me, it’s common sense. If you breathe in toxic fumes, you’re going to get cancer,” said U.S. Rep Carolyn Maloney, a Manhattan Democrat who helped author the bill.
But even Carolyn Maloney conceded that it is difficult to find hard data proving the connection between cancer and the dust at ground zero. That’s why in crafting the Zadroga Act, lawmakers were careful to include mechanisms that would allow for illnesses to be added based on new scientific research.
This was despite thousands of responders claiming top be sick because of their part in the rescue efforts.
About 400 first responders or people who lived near the site have died from cancer since 9/11, according to the most recent estimates.
With the inclusion of cancer in the program, there will be more victims seeking compensation yet no increase in the $2.77 billion fund – meaning individual rewards will be lower.
Thomas Gilmartin, a smoker who suffers from lung disease and sleep apnea, told the Post: “They’re going to add cancers, but are they going to add more money to the fund?
“It’s crazy. Every time, we gotta fight. It’s two years since Obama signed that bill and nobody’s got ten cents.”
The Victim Compensation Fund’s special master, Sheila Birnbaum, has been responsible for evenhandedly distributing $2.7 billion to Ground Zero responders and others who became ill after being exposed to dust and ash from the smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center.
She will be permitted to spend only $875 million of the fund’s total in the first five years after the initial payments begin.
After those five years pass, people with valid claims will begin to receive their remaining portion of the additional $1.9 billion.
In the two years since the law was passed, about 40,000 responders and survivors receive monitoring and 20,000 get treatment for illnesses as part of the World Trade Center Health Program.
With time still left to submit claims, some people are holding out in the event that they become sick in the near future. Others are waiting until the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health officially adds 14 broad categories of cancer to the list of conditions covered by the fund.
Recently diagnosed with leukemia and lymphoma, 55-year-old Brian Casse hopes he can secure money from the fund to support his wife and children in case he takes a turn for the worst.
Brian Casse, a retired firefighter who helped clear away the mountain of rubble at ground zero, believes there’s little doubt his work at the site is responsible for his illness.
“You’ve got people in this city who went down there and did what we had to do. And a lot of us got sick because of it,” Brian Casse said.
“To make us now fight for this money, it’s not right. In the grand scheme of things, this money’s a drop in the bucket.”
Jeff Stroehlin was one of 40,000 construction workers, firefighters and police officers who worked tirelessly on what became known as the Pile, the mountain of debris that had been the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
In March 2011, Jeff Stroehlein was diagnosed with a rare lymphoma, a cloud-like mass on the front of his brain.
The tumor was unusual in being a primary, the disease commonly spreading to the brain from another part of the body.
He underwent months of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant last August.
His last four MRIs have showed no sign of the cancer, he told Long Island Newsday, but he fears it is only a matter of time until it comes back.
“This isn’t just for me,” he said of the coverage.
“This is for everybody else. First of all, I’m lucky enough to be talking to you. But what about the guy who could lose his house trying to pay his medical bills?”
The North American box office has had one of its worst weekends in more than a decade, industry estimates suggest.
Total takings in the US and Canada between Friday and Sunday are thought to be as low as $65 million.
Number one film The Possession pulled in just $9.5 million, a figure described as “pretty scary” by Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com.
“In the summer, single movies had opening weekends bigger than this entire weekend gross,” he said.
The weekend after the Labor Day holiday is traditionally the slowest of the year.
Number one film The Possession pulled in just $9.5 million in the US box office this weekend
Yet not since the weekend of 21-23 September 2001, when revenues were $59.7 million, have figures been so low.
Revenues for the same weekend last year totalled $82 million, with new release Contagion taking the top spot with a $22.4 million haul.
“It just comes down to the movies and the marketplace,” said Paul Dergarabedian.
“This crop of movies just didn’t have that solid draw.”
Bootlegging drama Lawless, this week’s second placed film, earned $6 million, bringing its total takings in the US and Canada to $23.5 million.
Debuting in third place was The Words, a romantic thriller featuring Bradley Cooper as an aspiring writer that made $5 million between Friday and Sunday.
After four weeks in theatres, The Expendables 2 earned $4.7 million to take fourth place. Another action sequel, The Bourne Legacy, rounded off the top five with weekend takings of $4 million.
Another new release, Bruce Willis thriller The Cold Light of Day, opened in 13th place with a disappointing $1.8 million.
This weekend’s sluggish results follow a mixed summer that included blockbusters such as The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises.
Yet it also saw weak performers like Adam Sandler comedy That’s My Boy and Johnny Depp vehicle Dark Shadows.
Overall, summer ticket sales in the US and Canada fell by 4% compared to last summer.
This week’s episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians was keen on babies… with Scott Disick considering a vasectomy, Khloe seeking answers about fertility and Kim planning to freeze her eggs.
While Khloe Kardashian wants to find out how to increase her fertility, Scott Disick does the exact opposite when he pays a visit to his own doctor to explore his options when it comes to a vasectomy.
Meanwhile, Kris Jenner tackles Kendall and Kylie’s bad habit of borrowing things from their mother’s closet.
Khloe Kardashian musters up the strength to see a fertility specialist, and it turns out she may have problems ovulating.
Meanwhile Scott Disick was baffled to find out that Kourtney Kardashian wants four more children and that she never wanted to go on birth control again.
Kim Kardashian talked about getting her eggs frozen in the last week’s episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians
So Scott Disick decided to tell Kourtney Kardashian that he was going to the doctor for a physical, and headed off to find out about the procedure.
Shaken by the visceral detail, Scott Disick decided to confide in Rob Kardashian, who immediately told his sister off course.
Over to Kris Jenner, and it was time to reveal – rather disturbingly – her post op breasts to her children, in their backyard.
Kim Kardashian persuaded her sister Khloe to go see a fertility specialist but the focus soon shifted to Kim.
As she’s 31, Kim Kardashian feels that her situation is worse than that of Khloe, 28, despite her younger sister having tried for a baby for a year.
The reality star talks about getting her eggs frozen.
Her results come back fine and she’s given the go ahead but Khloe found out she isn’t producing eggs the way she should.
The episode ended with a heart broken Khloe Kardashian in tears after the bombshell development… and she still has to tell Lamar Odom.
New reports claim that Gossip Girl actress Blake Lively is now a married lady after saying “I do” to partner Ryan Reynolds.
Blake Lively, 25, and Ryan Reynolds, 35, have only been dating for a year, a rather long stretch by Tinseltown’s consideration.
The actress is believed to have walked down the aisle at a private ceremony this evening at Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, just outside of Charleston, reports People.
The publication states that the reception took place in a white tent, with good friend and chart-topper Florence Welch performing three songs before a DJ took over to spin decks at the party.
It was also confirmed that a cake had been driven down from Virginia for the event.
New reports claim that Blake Lively is now a married lady after saying I do to partner Ryan Reynolds
Despite high-profile romances with Gossip Girl co-star Penn Badgley – whom she dated for three years – and a brief flirtation with Leonardo DiCaprio, it is the first time Blake Lively has been married.
Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds has already tried his hand at domestic bliss with Scarlett Johansson.
TheProposal heartthrob tied the knot to Scarlett Johansson in September 2008, before separating just two years later when he filed for divorce in December 2010.
In July, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds sparked speculation that they had already married after a blundering law enforcer made an error while filling paperwork on a police report.
According to TMZ, the document was made after an officer attended their posh $2 million New York home on July 8, following a complaint by Ryan Reynolds that he was being followed by a photographer.
The report stated: “Upon arrival, I spoke to Ryan Reynolds and his wife,” with the name of the individual in question blanked out.
In addition, it read: “They explained that this (blank) colored vehicle was observed outside their residence, and proceeded to follow their vehicle in an erratic manner.
“They believed that this individual was a photographer attempting to obtain pictures of them.
“Mr. Reynolds and his wife were advised to contact police should any persons enter their property.”
The couple is believed to have grown close while shooting box office bomb Green Lantern together in the spring of 2010, in which Blake Lively starred as his love interest.
Before the big day, Blake Lively hinted on her Twitter page that her romance was “the dream of a lifetime”.
She wrote: “You are living in a dream of your own creation.
“Let it be the dream of a lifetime, for that is exactly what it is.”
Blake Lively later added: “Just because you’re not the prettiest girl around doesn’t mean you’re not worth it, doesn’t mean you’re not beautiful. #BECAUSEYOUARE.”
While she was initially the lesser known star, largely due to being 10 years Ryan Reynolds’ junior and only just carving out a career for herself, her notoriety has soared over the last year.
After starring in The Town in 2010, alongside Ben Affleck, it seems film bosses started taking notice of the pretty blonde and realized she wasn’t just a one-trick pony destined for teenage TV dramas.
Blake Lively was soon snapped up by the infamous Oliver Stone, for gritty thriller Savages, promoting it relentlessly this summer with appearances on all the major television sofas.
Ryan Reynolds’ popularity has wavered over the years, with his performance high back in 2009’s The Proposal opposite Sandra Bullock, which became the highest grossing romantic comedy of that year.
He has since guest-starred in Ted with Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg, as well as loaning his vocals to animated film Turbo, and taking centre stage in 2013 release R.I.P.D.
The National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center is an awesome spectacle that moved and inspired some 4.5 million visitors in its first year.
But all that magnificence comes with a jaw-dropping price tag. The foundation that runs the memorial estimates that once the $700 million project is complete, the memorial and museum will together cost $60 million a year to operate.
The anticipated cost has bothered some critics and raised concerns even among the memorial’s allies that the budget may be unsustainable without a hefty government subsidy.
By comparison, the National Park Service budgeted $8.4 million this year to operate and maintain Gettysburg National Military Park and $3.6 million for the monument that includes the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Running Arlington National Cemetery, which has more than 14,000 graves and receives 4million visitors a year, costs $45 million annually.
The foundation that runs 9-11 memorial estimates that once the $700 million project is complete, the memorial and museum will together cost $60 million a year to operate
Officials at the 9/11 memorial say they face unique challenges that make comparisons to other national memorials difficult.
The foundation plans to spend at least a fifth of its operating budget, or around $12 million per year, on private security because of terrorism fears. Visitors to the memorial plaza pass through airport-like security, and armed guards patrol the grounds.
“The fact of the matter is that this was a place that was attacked twice,” said Joseph Daniels, the foundation’s president and chief executive.
Just operating the two massive fountains that mark the spots where the twin towers once stood will cost another $4.5 million to $5 million annually, according to a spokesman.
Foundation officials have refused to answer to requests for information about other costs at the site, including the anticipated expense of running the museum, which is still unfinished.
The museum was supposed to open this month, but construction all but ceased a year ago because of a funding squabble between the foundation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the land the memorial sits on.
Joseph Daniels said it will take at least a year for the museum to open once construction resumes, meaning the site may not be fully complete until at least 2014.
The failure to open the museum on time has thrown off the foundation’s financial planning. Officials had expected to use the museum, being built mostly with money from various government agencies, plus private donations, as its main source of revenue.
While visitors will be allowed into the above-ground portions of the memorial for free, the foundation plans to charge people to descend into the museum’s exhibition space, where they will see portraits of the nearly 3,000 victims, hear oral histories of the tragedy and view artifacts such as the staircase World Trade Center workers used to flee on 9/11.
The admission price hasn’t been set. Foundation officials say they may also charge a ‘suggested donation’ where visitors would be allowed to enter for free but would be strongly encouraged to pay.
But if the museum gets the 2 million visitors a year the foundation expects, a $12 fee, like the one charged at the memorial to the victims of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, would cover 40% of the operating costs. More money will be generated through fundraising and the sale of memorabilia.
In addition, the foundation and several elected officials have proposed that the American public pick up one-third of the operating costs.
So far, Congress has balked. A bill proposed by Hawaii’s Senator Daniel Inouye that would have had the National Park Service contribute $20 million per year ran into opposition from Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who pointed out that the federal government had already spent $300 million on the project.
A National Park Service official testified at a hearing that $20 million is more than the agency can afford, and larger than the entire annual appropriation for nearly 99% of the parks in its system.
In theory, manicure doesn’t damage your nails in the same way a “false” gel or acrylic one can, but recent research from the U.S. suggests this type of treatment, known as a two-week manicure, may leave nails thin, brittle and peeling.
Dermatologists at the University of Miami School of Medicine were prompted to investigate after women complained their nails had been damaged after Shellac or OPI Axxium treatments.
Dermatologist Andrea Chen put the treatments to the test using various instruments to accurately measure the thickness of her own nails before and after a manicure.
Dermatologists at the University of Miami School of Medicine were prompted to investigate after women complained their nails had been damaged after Shellac or OPI Axxium treatments
The results showed a definite decrease in the thickness after the treatment, though whether it was caused by the manicure or the removal process (the manicure must be soaked off in an acetone solution) remains unclear. Beauty editor Emma Hill is convinced that removing the varnish is the problem.
“Acetone dries out your nails,” she says.
“My nails took four months to recover after I had two manicures back to back.”
Samantha Sweet, a spokeswoman for Shellac, argues that if a trained technician applies and removes the nail polish, then this shouldn’t be a problem.
“Applying Shellac shouldn’t damage the nail surface,” she says.
“The polish has a honeycomb construction, making it porous. The oils penetrate and nourish nails.”
She also says proper removal means acetone soaked cotton wool is placed on the polish and left there just long enough to soften it.
“You shouldn’t be saturating the nail with acetone, and you certainly shouldn’t soak the entire hand in a bowl of acetone,” she says.
So, if you do want a two-week manicure, pick your salon carefully.
“Definitely use a nail oil afterwards and keep them short,” says Emma Hill.
“Use hand cream and massage almond oil into the nail and cuticle daily. This should minimize damage, but there are no guarantees.”
Kristen Stewart claimed that she and Robert Pattinson are “going to be fine”, and she reinforced her statement yesterday when she jetted out of Toronto.
Kristen Stewart, 22, was wearing a baseball cap belonging to her estranged boyfriend.
She sported the Baltimore Orioles hat backwards as she prepared to head home following Toronto Film Festival.
Kristen Stewart teamed the cap with a white tank top, skinny jeans and Converse trainers.
She attempted to keep a low profile in sunglasses as she headed to catch her flight and listened to music while walking through the airport.
Kristen Stewart was wearing a baseball cap belonging to her estranged boyfriend Robert Pattinson as she jetted out of Toronto
The actress made her return to the spotlight following her cheating scandal with Snow White and the Hunstman director Rupert Sanders at the event, where she was promoting her movie On The Road.
And it seems Kristen Stewart is keen to keep Robert Pattinson close as she also wore an item of his when travelling to Canada ahead of the Festival.
Kristen Stewart had dressed in an Irie T-shirt belonging to her Twilight co-star when she flew to Toronto from Los Angeles on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Kristen Stewart alluded to her beau for the first time at a press conference, following photos published of her canoodling with Rupert Sanders six weeks ago.
“We’re going to be fine,” she said when asked about the potentially awkward public appearances the twosome will have to make in November while promoting The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2.
“We’re totally fine,” she added, as an afterthought.
It’s not clear about the status of their relationship, although they are said to have moved out of the house they shared together in Los Angeles and have both been laying low.
Kristen Stewart has since reportedly purchased a luxurious Malibu beach home for a cool $4.8 million.
The US military has decided to hand control of controversial Bagram prison housing more than 3,000 Taliban fighters and terrorism suspects to the Afghan authorities.
In a small ceremony, Afghan officials said inmates had been transferred to their authority.
The move is part of a deal to transfer all Afghan prisons back to local control ahead of the withdrawal of NATO forces at the end of 2014.
Bagram prison has been at the centre of a number of prisoner abuse allegations.
Although Afghan President Hamid Karzai has hailed the planned handover, disagreements with the US remain.
Washington is insisting that it will maintain control over some detainees in the prison.
Bagram prison in Afghanistan has been at the centre of a number of prisoner abuse allegations
The handover took place in a brief ceremony which correspondents say was poorly attended by US and NATO officers.
“I’m happy that today we are witnessing a glorious ceremony that marks the handing over of responsibilities of Afghan prisoners to Afghans themselves,” said acting Defence Minister Enayatullah Nazari, quoted by AFP news agency.
Now officially known as the Parwan Detention Centre, Bagram prison lies about 40 km (25 miles) north of the capital, Kabul.
It was once located in one of the largest military bases for NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, but the new Parwan facility was constructed a few miles away in 2010.
More than 3,000 inmates are held there, including about 50 foreigners not covered by the handover agreement signed in March.
The US military still wants to run a section of the jail and is not handing over some detainees, saying it has the right to hold insurgents caught on the battlefield.
Privately, the US is concerned that some high-value inmates could be released if they are handed over, our correspondent says.
That has angered President Hamid Karzai, who says that full Afghan control is an issue of sovereignty.
Bagram has been described as “Afghanistan’s Guantanamo” for its troubled past of prisoner abuse and indefinite detention.
In April 2010, a media investigation uncovered allegations of prisoner abuse at a hidden facility at Bagram.
The US military denied it was operating a secret jail.
In January 2012, Afghan investigators accused the US Army of abusing detainees at Bagram.
The investigators said prisoners had reported being tortured, held without evidence and subjected to humiliating body searches.
The following month, US soldiers burned Korans at Bagram, leading to days of protests and targeted killings across Afghanistan.
A US investigation said there was no malicious intent to disrespect Islam.
The first interview has been aired with former Navy Seal member Matt Bissonette, who wrote a first-hand account of the May 2011 raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, No Easy Day.
Former Navy Seal Matt Bissonette, who uses the pseudonym Mark Owen, was interviewed by CBS television network.
He repeated his claim that Osama Bin Laden was shot as soon as he looked out of his bedroom, contrary to the official version of events.
The Pentagon has said it may sue Matt Bissonette for divulging military secrets.
In the interview, Matt Bissonnette defended what he said was the manner of Osama Bin Laden’s death.
Former Navy Seal Matt Bissonette, who uses the pseudonym Mark Owen, was interviewed by CBS television network
“If a guy sticks his head around the corner he very easily could have a gun,” he told CBS’ 60 Minutes programme.
“You don’t wait to get that AK or the grenade thrown down the hall or the suicide vest,” he added.
He said that Osama Bin Laden was still moving after the first shot and was shot again when the Seals entered the room.
“[The Seals] couldn’t see his hands. So, he could’ve had something. Could’ve had a hand grenade or something underneath his chest,” Mark Owen said.
US officials had stated he was shot only after he had ducked back into the bedroom, prompting fears he might be grabbing a weapon.
Matt Bissonette told of a later meeting with President Barack Obama at which the Navy Seals refused to tell him which of them had shot Osama Bin Laden.
“Pulling a trigger is easy…. It’s not about who that one person was, it’s about the team… that teed this whole thing up,” Matt Bissonette said.
“Who cares who the one person is. Doesn’t matter,” he added.
The book was not reviewed ahead of publication by the Pentagon, CIA or the White House – and officials had warned that criminal charges could result from the improper disclosure of secret information.
The Pentagon’s general counsel, Jeh Johnson, has written to the author to inform him that “in the judgment of the Department of Defense, you are in material breach and violation of the non-disclosure agreements you signed.”
The Pentagon is considering “all remedies legally available to us”, the letter added.
The arrest of Indian anti-corruption cartoonist Aseem Trivedi on charges of sedition has sparked off criticism.
Aseem Trivedi was held in the city of Mumbai over the weekend for his cartoons allegedly mocking the Indian constitution.
He was also charged with insulting the national flag and remanded in police custody until Sunday.
The cartoonist has been participating in the anti-corruption movement led by campaigner Anna Hazare.
India’s media and prominent citizens have condemned Aseem Trivedi’s arrest, calling it a “wrongful act”.
The arrest of Indian anti-corruption cartoonist Aseem Trivedi on charges of sedition has sparked off criticism
“From the information I have gathered, the cartoonist did nothing illegal, and in fact, arresting him was an illegal act,” Chairman of Press Council of India Markandey Katju told The Hindu newspaper.
“A wrongful arrest is a serious crime under the Indian Penal Code, and it is those who arrested him who should be arrested.”
Markandey Katju, a former Supreme Court judge, asked how drawing a cartoon could be considered a crime and said politicians should learn to accept criticism.
“Either the allegation is true, in which case you deserve it; or it is false, in which case, you ignore it. This kind of behavior is not acceptable in a democracy,” he said.
Senior journalist and the editor of CNN-IBN news channel Rajdeep Sardesai said he found it “amusing, but also very dangerous that you can get away with hate speech in this country, but parody and political satire leads to immediate arrest”.
A former senior police officer and lawyer YP Singh told the Mint newspaper that from “what I have heard, it seems he [Aseem Trivedi] can be booked at the most under a law to prevent insults to national honor and not on serious charges like sedition, which attract much harsher punishment”.
If proved, a sedition charge can invite a three-year prison term in India.
The micro-blogging site Twitter was also full of messages criticizing Aseem Trivedi’s arrest.
Police held him acting on a complaint by a Mumbai-based lawyer who said his cartoons were anti-national.
Earlier this year, a website carrying Aseem Trivedi’s anti-corruption cartoons was banned by the police in Mumbai, reports say.
In April, Indian police arrested a professor in Calcutta for allegedly posting on the internet cartoons ridiculing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He was later released.
Campaigning Barack Obama has been given a voter lift, when he was raised off the ground by an enthusiastic supporter in Florida.
President Barack Obama was lifted in a bear hug by 1.90 m-tall (6.2 ft) pizza shop owner Scott Van Duzer during a bus tour.
“Scott, let me tell you, you are like the biggest pizza shop owner I’ve ever seen,” said the president.
Despite being a registered voter of the rival Republican party, Scott Van Duzer said he would vote for the Democrat.
President Barack Obama was lifted in a bear hug by pizza shop owner Scott Van Duzer during a bus tour in Florida
“I don’t vote party line, I vote who I feel comfortable with, and I do feel extremely comfortable with him,” the 46-year-old owner of the Big Apple Pizza in Fort Pierce said.
He added that he rushed to embrace the president because he was “overcome with excitement”.
Scott Van Duzer also runs a community blood donation operation, prompting Barack Obama to say he had “a big heart, along with big pecs”.
He said that Barack Obama had stayed for about 20 minutes, and that it had been a great meeting.
The president ordered 20 pizzas and paid with cash, he said.
France’s President Francois Hollande has outlined a series of budget measures, including cuts, aimed at achieving economic recovery within two years.
“I have to set the course and the pace” to combat “high joblessness, falling competitiveness and serious deficits“, he said in a televised interview at TF1.
“My mission is a recovery plan and the time frame is two years,” the president added.
Francois Hollande has outlined a series of budget measures, including cuts, aimed at achieving France’s economic recovery within two years
Critics have accused the Socialist president of procrastination since his election in May.
During the interview, Francois Hollande outlined a series of measures, including spending cuts and extra taxes totalling 30 billion euros.
“We will not spend a euro more in 2013 than in 2012,” he said.
Francois Hollande also said that a planned 75% upper tax rate to be imposed on annual income above 1 million euros ($1.28 million) could be dropped after two years.
However, polls have shown that the public is losing confidence in the government.
The 69th Venice International Film Festival, organized by La Biennale di Venezia, has run at Venice Lido August 29th through September 8th, 2012, directed by Alberto Barbera.
The aim of the Festival is to raise awareness and promote all the various aspects of international cinema in all its forms: as art, entertainment and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and tolerance. The Festival includes retrospectives and homages to major figures as a contribution towards raising awareness of the history of cinema.
The Venice International Film Festival (Italian Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia) is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the “Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica”, the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the Lido, Venice, Italy.
The Film Festival’s principal awards are the Leone d’Oro (Golden Lion), which is awarded to the best film screened in competition at the festival, the Leone d’Argento (Silver Lion) for the Best Director, and the Coppa Volpi (Volpi Cup), which is awarded to the best actor and actress. The Jury may also choose to award a Special Lion for an overall work to a director or actor of a film presented in the main competition section.
The other sections are: Orizzonti section (Horizons), open to all “custom-format” works, with a wider view towards new trends in the expressive languages that converge in film. The awards of the Orizzonti section are: the Orizzonti Prize the Special Orizzonti Jury Prize (for feature-length films) the Orizzonti Short Film Prize the Orizzonti Medium-length Film Prize.
Controcampo Italiano section, presents a panorama on Italian cinema with 7 narrative feature-length films, 7 short films, and 7 documentaries, all world premiere screenings and all in competition in their respective categories. The awards of this section are: the Controcampo Award (for narrative feature-length films) the Controcampo Award (for short films) the Controcampo Doc Award (for documentaries).
The 69th Venice International Film Festival has run at Lido from August 29th to September 8th, 2012
Venice Film Festival 2012 winners:
VENEZIA 69
GOLDEN LIONfor Best Film: to PIETA by Kim Ki-duk (Republic of Korea)
SILVER LIONfor Best Director: to THE MASTER by Paul Thomas Anderson (USA)
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: to Paradies: Glaube by Ulrich Seidl (Austria, Germany, France)
COPPA VOLPIfor Best Actor to Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix in the film THE MASTER by Paul Thomas Anderson (USA)
COPPA VOLPI for Best Actress: Hadas Yaron in the film LEMALE ET HA’CHALAL by Rama Bursthein (Israel)
MARCELLO MASTROIANNI AWARD for Best New Young Actor or Actress: to Fabrizio Falco in the films BELLA ADDORMENTATA by Marco Bellocchio (Italy) and È STATO IL FIGLIO by Daniele Ciprí (Italy)
AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY: to Olivier Assayas for the film APRES MAI by Olivier Assayas (France)
AWARD FOR THE BEST TECHNICAL CONTRIBUTION (CINEMATOGRAPHY): to Daniele Ciprì for the film È STATO IL FIGLIO by Daniele Ciprì (Italy)
LION OF THE FUTURE – “LUIGI DE LAURENTIIS” VENICE AWARD FOR A DEBUT FILM to KÜF (MOLD) by Ali Aydin (Turkey, Germany) VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM CRITICS’ WEEK
as well as a prize of 100,000 USD, donated by Filmauro di Aurelio e Luigi De Laurentiis to be divided equally between director and producer
ORIZZONTI
ORIZZONTI AWARD FOR BEST FILM (full-length films): to SAN ZIMEI by Wang Bing (France, Hong Kong)
SPECIAL ORIZZONTI JURY PRIZE (full-length films:) to TANGO LIBRE by Frédéric Fonteyne (France, Belgium, Luxembourg)
ORIZZONTI YOUTUBE AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM: to CHO-DE by Yoo Min-young (South Korea)
EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2012-EFA: to TITLOI TELOUS by Yorgos Zois (Greece)
GOLDEN LION FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT 2012: to Francesco Rosi
JAEGER-LECOULTRE GLORY TO THE FILMMAKER AWARD: to Spike Lee
PERSOL AWARD: to Michael Cimino
L’ORÉAL PARIS PER IL CINEMA AWARD: to Giulia Bevilacqua
South Korean film Pieta has won the Golden Lion award at the 69th edition of Venice Film Festival.
The best actor award was split between Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix for The Master.
Inspired by Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard, the film also picked up the Silver Lion prize for best director.
South Korean film Pieta, directed by Kim Ki-duk, has won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival 2012
Directed by Paul Thomas Andersen, The Master tells the story of a sect leader who takes a war veteran under his wing.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, who also collected Phoenix’s award, said: “Joaquin Phoenix is a life force in this film … and I kind of rode that life force and that was my performance.
“It was really riding his life force because it was something that was untameable and my job was to try to and it was almost impossible, which is kind of the movie.”
He also praised Paul Thomas Anderson, who was not at the ceremony, calling him: “Friend first, collaborator second. And he happens to be one of the great film-makers.”
Morality tale Pieta, directed by Kim Ki-duk, centres on a debt collector who is forced to examine his life when a woman turns up claiming to be his mother.
On accepting his award, Kim Ki-duk sang a song to the audience while thanking the jury.
Speaking after, he said: “This is a song that we Koreans sing when we are sad, when we feel alone, when we feel desperate, but also when we’re happy.”
The Venice Festival jury, which was headed by US director Michael Mann, picked Hadas Yaron for best actress for Fill the Void, a film delving into the life of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.
London will bid an “exuberant” farewell to the 2012 Paralympic Games with a closing ceremony billed by organizers as “a Festival of Flame”.
British band Coldplay will lead the show, due to start at 20:30 BST, with a live set reflecting the four seasons.
Athletes will be in the centre of the Stadium at the start, and there will be a tribute to charity Help for Heroes.
The event ends what organizers say has been the most successful event in Paralympic history.
China has finished top of the Paralympic medals table, with 231 medals – 95 gold. Great Britain cemented third place behind Russia, with a tally of 120, including 34 golds.
London will bid an exuberant farewell to the 2012 Paralympic Games with a closing ceremony billed by organizers as a Festival of Flame
Apart from Coldplay’s music, Sunday’s sold-out ceremony will feature performances by Jay-Z and Rihanna, alongside a cast of around 1,200 performers.
“The idea is the coming together as one,” said artistic director Kim Gavin.
“We are known as a nation for having the most festivals, it is something that we do – with 600 festivals a year.
“We pay tribute to the all the human spirit and achievement through this wonderful sport of the last two weeks.”
Kim Gavin hinted that would be “a few surprises” and that, “with it being a festival of the flame there will be a lot of flame – and the whole show will be very exciting”.
“The Festival of the Flame celebrates the exuberance of festivals and the changing of the seasons,” added 2012 organizers LOCOG.
Some 120 child volunteers from east London are expected to take part in tonight’s show, with disabled aerial performers from Circus Scape and The British Paraorchestra.
Organizing committee chairman Lord Sebastian Coe said: “It has been fantastic. We get Paralympics sport in this country. I never really doubted that the Paralympic Games would be anything other than a show-stopper.”
Fifty Shades of Grey’s Christian Grey has become one of the literary world’s most infamous characters.
So just where did author E.L. James get the inspiration for the man who enjoys kinky S&M sex in his red room of pain?
Certainly not from her husband said the man himself, Niall Leonard, who appeared on Lorraine Kelly’s show on Daybreak this week.
The author’s husband said this is the question he is most often asked now his wife’s erotic novels have become bestsellers so he’s keen to set the record straight.
“It’s a fantasy, it’s certainly not based on me,” he said.
“In fact perhaps being married to me helped her to fantasize about someone more interesting. You are talking about a chap with a 32 inch waist and helicopter pilot licence so it’s certainly not based on me.”
Fifty Shades of Grey’s Christian Grey has become one of the literary world's most infamous characters
Leonard Niall said he and his wife, whose real name is Erika Mitchell, are still “coming to terms” with the success of her books. Since being published last year, they have become worldwide bestsellers, smashing records for paperback sales and making Erika Mitchell a fortune.
He said the sales have been beyond their dreams given Erika Mitchell only wrote the novels “for fun”.
He said: “She wrote it for herself, all the best books are written for the person who writes them. It was her own story, her own dream. She put it down on paper for a few friends to read it and then wanted it published to have her name on it.
“It was doing ok last summer and then it got bigger and bigger and then exploded. We’re still coming to terms with it, it’s happened so quick we’re both still in shock.”
The books have been so popular the film rights have been snapped up. Who will be cast in the role of Christian remains hotly anticipated with Ryan Gosling the current favorite for the part. But Leonard Niall said he is currently none the wiser on who will be cast despite his wife being involved in the film project.
“Every actor in Hollywood wants the part but I don’t know if it’s been cast yet,” he said.
The couple, who live in Ealing, London, with their two sons are both writers and Leonard Naill has recently published his own novel, Crusher, which he describes as a modern contemporary thriller.
Leonard Niall already worked as a TV screenwriter but was inspired to become a novelist by his wife – before her books became bestsellers.
He said: “She had a really good time doing it. I saw she was enjoying it so much and she was writing the story she wanted to be told.
“I wanted to sit down and write my own story. She said <<why don’t you?>> so that’s when I did.”
Leonard Niall pointed out his novel is nothing like his wife’s although he said it does have some “naughty bits”.
This month marks the 30th anniversary of emoticons introduction to modern language.
The emoticons even have a birth-date that can be traced to an exact moment: 11:44 a.m. on the 19th of September 1982, which was when Professor Scott Fahlman of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh sent an email with a sideways smiley face.
The aim of their creation by Scott Fahlman was clear – he wanted to avoid confusion over the tone of emails that were meant to be humorous and those that were not meant to be.
Seeing how jokes and emails that were not meant to be funny were misunderstood, Scott Fahlman wrote in his email: “I propose the following character sequence for joke markers: 🙂 Read it sideways.”
The emoticons were born on the 19th of September 1982, when Professor Scott Fahlman of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh sent an email with a sideways smiley face
Amazed at how his creation took off, Scott Fahlman admitted that there was a certain playfulness in his suggestion.
“This was a little bit of silliness that I tossed into a discussion about physics,’ said the professor who still works at Carnegie Mellon.
“It was ten minutes of my life. I expected my note might amuse a few of my friends, and that would be the end of it.”
However, the note spread across the fledgling computer networks of the early 1980s and within months the usage of smiley faces had become global.
Today, emoticons are everywhere, with variations as little yellow computer graphics with faces that visibly express emotions by actually smiling, frowning or laughing.
Prof. Scott Fahlman does not like them.
“I think they are ugly, and they ruin the challenge of trying to come up with a clever way to express emotions using standard keyboard characters,” said Scott Fahlman to The Independent.
“But perhaps that’s just because I invented the other kind.”
The professor unfortunately could not retrieve the original email from the university records and has faced claims that he was not the first to invent them.
So in 2002, an engineer from Microsoft went back through the back-up tapes and uncovered the original email.
However, some people have uncovered an edition of the New York Times from 1862 which has a transcript of a speech by Abraham Lincoln which contained a ;-), which sent conspiracy theorists into overdrive debating whether it was a typo or not.
Iraq’s fugitive vice-president Tariq al-Hashemi has been sentenced to death in absentia after a court found him guilty of running death squads.
The court ruling came as at least 45 people were killed in a wave of about 24 attacks across Iraq.
Tariq al-Hashemi was the most senior Sunni Muslim in the predominantly Shia Iraqi government until he was charged last December and went on the run.
The charges against him sparked a political crisis in Iraq.
Iraq's fugitive vice-president Tariq al-Hashemi has been sentenced to death in absentia after a court found him guilty of running death squads
Other Sunni politicians denounced Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki – who issued the warrant for Tariq al-Hashemi – as a dictator, accusing him of deliberate provocation that risked plunging the country back into sectarian conflict.
Correspondents say the fragile government coalition between Sunnis, secularists and Shia has seemed in danger of collapse ever since.
Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaeda have been blamed for much of the recent violence in Iraq.
The Iraqi government issued the warrant for Tariq al-Hashemi’s arrest on 19 December 2011, the day after the last US troops left the country.
He fled first to the largely autonomous Kurdish north of the country, and from there to Qatar and on to Turkey.
Prosecutors said Tariq al-Hashemi was involved in 150 killings. During his trial in absentia in Baghdad, some of his former bodyguards said Tariq al-Hashemi had ordered murders.
He says the charges against him are politically motivated and has accused PM Nouri al-Maliki of fuelling sectarianism.
On Sunday, an Iraqi court found Tariq al-Hashemi and his son-in-law guilty of two murders and sentenced him to death by hanging. The judge dismissed a third charge for lack of evidence.
Although violence has decreased since its peak in 2006 and 2007, attacks have escalated again after the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq at the end of last year, amid increasing political and sectarian tensions.
The Iraqi government has been hampered by divisions between Sunni, Shia and Kurdish political groups.
The Iraqi government said July 2012 was the deadliest month in nearly two years, with 325 people killed.
Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was a Sunni, and many Sunnis believe they are being penalized by Shias, who have grown in influence since the US invasion.
Sunnis have accused Nouri al-Maliki of taking an authoritarian approach to government.
Jewish and Muslim organizations in Germany have staged a joint protest in Berlin over a regional court’s ruling that the circumcision of young boys constituted bodily harm.
The protest was prompted by the news that a rabbi in Bavaria was being investigated over the practice.
The ruling on circumcision was handed down by a court in Cologne in June.
However, the German government has since announced it will legislate to explicitly legalize the practice.
Jewish and Muslim organizations in Germany have staged a joint protest in Berlin over a regional court's ruling that the circumcision of young boys constituted bodily harm
About a thousand people joined the protest to hear speeches from the chief rabbi of Berlin and other religious leaders.
“I’m here to stand for the freedom of religious rights,” said protester Fereshta Ludin.
The court in Cologne had declared that the ritual circumcision of a Muslim boy, in accordance with his parents’ faith, had caused the child bodily harm.
The German Medical Association then told doctors across the country to stop performing the procedure.
Both Jews and Muslims feel that, whatever the court intended, the ruling will be used as a way of attacking their religions.
On Wednesday, the state government in Berlin announced that circumcision was legal there, as long as it was properly carried out.
The federal government, perhaps in response to international condemnation, has also said it wants to legalize the procedure explicitly.
There has also been renewed debate over the practice in the US, one of the countries where it is most prevalent.
Last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published a review of scientific evidence on the circumcision, saying that “the health benefits of newborn male circumcision outweigh the risks of the procedure”.
However, the AAP added it did not recommend it for all newborn boys, saying the decision was best left to parents, in consultation with doctors.
Heidi Klum has spoken publicly for the first time during an interview for the new Katie Couric TV show to deny she had an affair with her bodyguard while married to Seal claiming she never looked at another man when they were together.
Heidi Klum, 39, broke her silence to tell Katie Couric that she had been completely faithful to Seal during their seven-year marriage and has been left devastated by claims she cheated on him.
Seal had suggested his estranged wife was sleeping with bodyguard Martin Kristen after they were photographed together in Italy.
He said: “I would have preferred Heidi to have shown a little bit more class and at least waited until we separated first before deciding to fornicate with the help.”
Heidi Klum broke her silence to tell Katie Couric that she had been completely faithful to Seal during their seven-year marriage
A spokesman for Heidi Klum denied the claim, and Seal later retracted his statement and said he had not meant to suggest she had cheated on him during their marriage.
In her sit-down interview with Katie Couric, Heidi Klum insisted she had been faithful.
According to the New York Post, the German born model said of Seal’s comments: “It was a unique choice of words. I’m used to it. Other people aren’t. When we were together, I never looked at a another man.”
The full interview will be shown on Wednesday, two days after Katie Couric’s chat show makes its anticipated debut.
The revelation came a day after Heidi Klum was pictured looking relaxed in Los Angeles after returning from New York Fashion Week.
The supermodel landed back in California after strutting down the catwalk at New York Fashion Week last night, modelling an incredible and revealing gown at the Project Runway 2013 Spring Collection.
Following the success of last night’s shenanigans, Heidi Klum tweeted: “We shot the @ProjectRunway Season 10 finale today! Was a great show…but, you have to wait till Oct 18th to see it!”
The fashion show will become Project Runway’s series ten season finale.
Alongside Jennifer Hudson and Nina Garcia, Heidi Klum walked after a series of models, who were showcasing the designs of the three finalists, Fabio Costa, Melissa Fleis and Dmitry Sholokhov.
Cheetah robot has set a new world speed record for legged robots, running faster than Usain Bolt, who is considered the fastest human.
The headless machine, funded by the Pentagon, reached 28.3 mph (45.5 km/h) when tested on a treadmill.
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt’s top speed is 27.78 mph (44.7 km/h).
The project is part of efforts to develop robots for military use. One robotics expert said that it was “unfortunate” the Cheetah was made primarily “to kill people”.
It has been created by the Massachusetts robotics company Boston Dynamics and backed by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Cheetah robot has set a new world speed record for legged robots, running faster than Usain Bolt
According to DARPA, the aim is to “more effectively assist war fighters across a greater range of missions”.
The Cheetah, which is powered by a hydraulic pump, broke its own record of 18 mph (29 km/h), recorded in February.
“The Cheetah had a slight advantage over Bolt as it ran on a treadmill, but most of the power Cheetah used was to swing and lift its legs fast enough, not to propel itself forward,” DARPA said in a statement.
The agency plans to test the robot in the field in 2013.
The machine’s design has been inspired by the real cheetah, the fastest land animal, which can reach speeds of 75 mph (121 km/h).
“Cheetahs happen to be beautiful examples of how natural engineering has created speed and agility across rough terrain,” said Gill Pratt, DARPA programme manager.
“Our Cheetah bot borrows ideas from nature’s design to inform stride patterns, flexing and unflexing of parts like the back, placement of limbs and stability.”
“What we gain through Cheetah and related research efforts are technological building blocks that create possibilities for a whole range of robots suited to future Department of Defense missions.”
Noel Sharkey, professor of artificial intelligence and robotics at the University of Sheffield, has mixed feelings about the development.
“It’s an incredible technical achievement, but it’s unfortunate that it’s going to be used to kill people,” he suggested.
“It’s going to be used for chasing people across the desert, I would imagine. I can’t think of many civilian applications – maybe for hunting, or farming, for rounding up sheep.
“But of course if it’s used for combat, it would be killing civilians as well as it’s not going to be able to discriminate between civilians and soldiers.”
DARPA’s press release for the Cheetah project suggested that the robots might ultimately be used in “emergency response, humanitarian assistance and other defence missions”.
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, who died in January, is about to be immortalized in a new movie starring Hollywood legend Al Pacino.
Al Pacino has agreed to take on the controversial role in a film based on the New York Times bestselling book Paterno.
The movie is still in the early stages of development, but respected Hollywood entertainment blog deadline.com is reporting that it will be shopped around Los Angeles early next week.
Joe Paterno was fired for his alleged role in covering up the child molestation scandal involving assistant coach Jerry Sandusky who was revealed to be a pedophile.
His death came just two months after he was let go by Penn State in November of 2011.
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is about to be immortalized in a new movie starring Al Pacino
The new book, which was penned by former Sports Illustrated columnist Joe Posnanski, takes an in depth look at Joe Paterno’s relationship with Jerry Sandusky.
Jerry Sandusky was convicted and awaits sentencing on child sexual abuse.
As the scandal erupted, it was revealed that Joe Paterno had been told by graduate assistant Mike McQueary that jerry Sandusky had raped a boy in the Penn State locker room showers.
In addition, an independent report conducted by former FBI director Louis Freeh, concluded that Joe Paterno, as well as other Penn State bigwigs, “failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade”.
Joe Posnanski’s book, however disputes those claims, saying that Joe Paterno did not know Jerry Sandusky had sexually abused children, and when he read the list of charges against Sandusky, he asked his son Scott: “What is sodomy, anyway?”
Jerry Sandusky was convicted in June of sexually assaulting 10 boys over 15 years.
Google has decided to base its first Latin American data centre in Chile, near the capital Santiago.
The computer server base is expected to cost $150 million and will employ up to 20 people, Google said.
Google said it chose Chile because of its reliable infrastructure and skilled workforce.
The country has been trying to become a tech hub, with initiatives such as Start-Up Chile attracting entrepreneurs from around the world.
The search giant said the data communications centre would make its products faster to access, and more reliable for the local population.
Google has decided to base its first Latin American data centre in Chile, near the capital Santiago
Chile’s selection is a coup for the nation bearing in mind Brazil has a much larger population, is more centrally located and contains a fast-growing tech sector.
“Chile… fosters an atmosphere of innovation, and in recent years has developed cutting edge policies and programs that encourage the growth of the internet,” Google said.
“As with all of our facilities around the world, we chose Quilicura, Chile, following a thorough and rigorous site selection process, taking many technical and other considerations into account including location, infrastructure, workforce, reasonable business regulations and cost.”
Google already has data centres in the United States, Finland and Belgium, and plans to build more in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan by next year.
The centre in Chile is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013.
Opening a data centre in Latin America may help Google’s ambitions in the region.
Orkut, a social network operated and owned by Google, used to be number one in Brazil and several other places in Latin America.
But according to digital media analytics company Comscore, it has now slipped to third place, behind Facebook and Twitter.
A bible which once belonged to Elvis Presley has sold for $94,000 at auction in Greater Manchester, UK.
The 1,600 page book was given to the singer by his Uncle Vester and Aunt Clettes for his first Christmas at his Graceland home in 1957.
It contains annotations by Elvis Presley, who died on 16 August 1977 aged 42.
A pair of Elvis Presley’s unwashed pants is also on sale at the Omega Auctions in Stockport were not sold as bids failed to reach the reserve price.
The 1,600 page book was given to Elvis Presley by his Uncle Vester and Aunt Clettes for his first Christmas at his Graceland home in 1957
Bids for the stained underwear reached £5,000 ($8,000) but the reserve price was £7,000 ($11,000).
The bible was among more than 100 lots of Elvis memorabilia on sale.
It was sold on behalf of a British Elvis collector who is selling a quarter of his collection.
Karen Fairweather, from the auctioneers, said: “It was a really exciting atmosphere in the room, we had 300 people and there was bidding online and on the telephone across the world.
“You could hear a pin drop when it sold for that price.
“There were three rival bidders on the phone and once it got over £20,000 [$32,000] each bid was taking a while, because they each had a price in mind for the bible and they were thinking about it.
“There was a round of applause when the hammer went down. It was incredible.”
The winning telephone bidder, who did not want to be identified, was an American man based in the UK.
