Former London gangster Charlie Richardson has died at the age of 78.
With his brother Eddie, Charlie Richardson led a criminal gang to rival the Kray twins and during the 1960s there were violent clashes between them.
In 1967, Charlie Richardson was jailed for 25 years for fraud, extortion and assault, after a case known as the “Torture Trial”.
Jurors heard how the gang would nail their opponents to floors, pull out their teeth with pliers, or cut off their fingers and toes.
Charlie Richardson’s death was confirmed by friend Bobby Cummings.
Former London gangster Charlie Richardson has died at the age of 78
In a statement, Bobby Cummings said: “It is a great sadness to inform you, as many of you may have already heard, that my dearest friend Charlie Richardson passed away this morning.”
Charlie Richardson always claimed the torture stories heard at his trial were untrue.
He was found guilty of nine charges along with four others; his brother Edward Richardson, Roy Hall, Francis Fraser and Thomas Charles Clark.
In the dock at the Old Bailey Charlie Richardson said he was “completely innocent of these charges”, The Times reported.
One witness told the court that Charlie Richardson “screwed his thumbs in my eyes”, the newspaper said.
“It was very painful and I could not see for some moments. On Mr. Richardson’s instructions, my shoes were removed and my toes were wired up to the generator.”
He said after he was shocked, he was stripped down to his shirt and the shock treatment was repeated.
“As I rolled on the floor Mr. Richardson said the generator wasn’t working very well and orange squash was poured over my feet. Then I was bound and gagged before being given further electric shocks to various parts of my body.”
He added that when he was dressing later, Charlie Richardson pinned his left foot to the floor with a knife.
During the trial, three other men were accused of trying to get at witnesses, while jury members were put under police protection.
Charlie Richardson was finally released from prison in 1984 after serving 17 years.
He later campaigned on behalf of young offenders.
In an interview for a History Channel documentary following his release, Charlie Richardson admitted he had tried to bug Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s phone for a South African intelligence group.
He said: “MI5 went mad. I never realized what I was doing.”
His rivals, the Kray brothers Ronnie and Reggie, created a criminal enterprise that included racketeering, hijacking, armed robbery and arson.
They were jailed for life in 1969, with a recommended sentence of 30 years, for two separate murders in London.
Ronnie Kray died aged 61 at Wexham Park hospital, Berkshire, in 1995 after suffering a heart attack.
Reggie Kray died from cancer at the age of 66 at the Town House Hotel in Norwich in 2000.
A legal complaint has been filed against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which published obscene cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
The complaint accuses the magazine of inciting hatred.
A little-known Syrian organization lodged the complaint with prosecutors in Paris, who will decide if action should be taken against Charlie Hebdo.
France is braced for protests, with plans to close some embassies in foreign capitals on Friday.
Embassies, consulates, cultural centres and schools in some 20 countries are to shut as a precaution. Public protests in Muslim countries sometimes take place after traditional Friday prayers.
A tenet of Islam bans the portrayal of its founder, the Prophet Muhammad.
A legal complaint has been filed against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which published obscene cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad
Feelings in the Islamic world have already been running high over amateur video Innocence of Muslims mocking the Prophet Muhammad, which emerged in the US this month. Some 30 people have died in violent protests over the film.
Concern has been expressed by the White House over the decision to publish the cartoons.
The complaint against Charlie Hebdo was filed on Wednesday by an organization called the Syrian Freedom Association, which was registered earlier this year in France but appears to be little-known among Syrian expatriates.
It accuses Charlie Hebdo of “throwing oil on the fire by disseminating a cartoon against the Prophet Muhammad”.
While the complaint refers to “a” cartoon, there are several in the latest issue of the magazine.
Charlie Hebdo is accused of “publicly provoking discrimination, hatred or violence of an ethnic, racial or religious kind”.
Daniel Cohn-Bendit, leader of the main Green group in the European Parliament and a prominent figure in German and French politics for decades, dismissed Charlie Hebdo as “idiots” in an interview for French channel BFMTV on Thursday.
While such cartoons should not be banned, he said, there were “limits to provocation”.
“They are masochists, they must enjoy it,” he added
The French government met Muslim representatives in Paris on Wednesday as part of efforts to defuse anger over the cartoons.
Nerves were rattled after a lunchtime fire-bomb attack on a kosher grocery store in Sarcelles, a Paris suburb that is home to a large Jewish community, but prosecutors said it was too early to draw conclusions.
A French Jewish umbrella organization, the Crif, said in a statement it feared the attack, which left one person slightly hurt, was connected to the film protests.
One of the magazine’s cartoonists, Renald “Luz” Luzier, defended their publication.
They had not, he said, been aimed at provoking a violent reaction. He said the magazine had simply been doing what they usually do to cover news stories, on this occasion the uproar over the American film.
“I don’t think we decided to put oil on fire, we just did our work,” he said.
“Everybody’s looking or drawing flags like [it’s] a provocation but it’s not, it’s only drawings, it’s only a little sketch of papers, we are not in the Crusades.”
Luz said he had been under police protection since Charlie Hebdo’s Paris offices were burned down in a petrol bomb attack in November, following an edition in which the Prophet Muhammad was named as “guest editor”.
Some 20 cartoons feature in Wednesday’s Charlie Hebdo. They include graphic depictions of the Prophet Muhammad naked, with allusions to other current news stories such as the topless picture scandal involving the Duchess of Cambridge.
Cindy Lee Garcia, a US actress who appeared in amateur anti-Islam video Innocence of Muslims that sparked protests across the Muslim world, is suing the film’s suspected director.
Cindy Lee Garcia accused Nakoula Basseley Nakoula of duping her into a “hateful” film that she was led to believe was a desert adventure movie.
She is also asking a judge to order YouTube to remove the film.
A clip dubbed into Arabic provoked widespread anger for its mocking portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad.
Innocence of Muslims, which was made in the United States, has sparked protests across the Middle East, North Africa and as far away as Sri Lanka, with some demonstrations turning into destructive and violent riots.
Cindy Lee Garcia accused Nakoula Basseley Nakoula of duping her into Innocence of Muslims that she was led to believe was a desert adventure movie
Four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stephens, were killed during an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
According to Cindy Lee Garcia, the script she received had made no mention of the Prophet Muhammad or made references to religion.
She claims she has received death threats since the video was posted to YouTube, and says her association with the film has harmed her reputation.
In a court filing lodged with Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, Cindy Lee Garcia alleged fraud, slander and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Lawyers for Cindy Lee Garcia contend that changes in dialogue during post-production casts her in a false light.
“[Garcia] had a legally protected interest in her privacy and the right to be free from having hateful words put in her mouth or being depicted as a bigot,” the lawsuit says.
“There was no mention of <<Mohammed>> during filming or on set. There were no references made to religion nor was there any sexual content of which Ms Garcia was aware,” it adds.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula denies being “Sam Bacile”, a pseudonym used by the person who posted the video online.
He has gone into hiding after telling US media he was the manager of a company that helped produce the film, but US officials believe him to be the director.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was convicted of fraud in 2010 and ordered to pay more than $790,000 in restitution. He was released in June 2011 with the provision that he did not access the internet or use any aliases without permission.
Authorities questioned him last week over whether he had violated any of those conditions.
YouTube has so far refused Cindy Lee Garcia’s requests to remove the film, according to the lawsuit, although it has blocked it in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt.
“This lawsuit is not an attack on the First Amendment nor on the right of Americans to say what they think, but does request that the offending content be removed from the Internet,” the complaint states.
Google, which owns YouTube, has blocked the film in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt.
A spokesman for YouTube said they were reviewing the complaint and would be in court on Thursday.
Giuliana Rancic has opened up about her blissful life with her baby boy Edward Duke.
Giuliana and Bill Rancic welcomed their first child, Edward Duke Rancic, into the world via gestational surrogate on August 29 in Denver, Colorado.
The 37-year-old discussed the joys of motherhood on the Today show this morning and also shared a snap of the three-week-old child.
“I look at that picture ten times a day and I still coo!” she gushed as the sweet photograph flashed up screen.
“He’s just adorable. He’s so cute!”
“We just stare at him all the time,” she continued.
“He’s got big eyes and he’ll just stare at you for ten minutes at a time. It’s just unbelievable.”
Giuliana Rancic has opened up about her blissful life with her baby boy Edward Duke
Giuliana Rancic said that rather than dreading night time feeds, she and Bill fight over who will wake up to give him his bottle.
“I love spending every second I can with him,” she said.
She also spoke about her surrogate, Delphine, whom she describes as a “wonderful person”.
“She gave us the greatest gift in the world,” she said, adding that the couple were present in the delivery room when their child was born.
“When the baby came into the world, we just started hysterically crying tears of joy,” she explained.
Giuliana Rancic admitted she was again in tears last night when she left her son with her husband in Chicago for the first time to fly to New York.
But it was for a good cause – she was on the show to promote Do It For The Girls Day, which encourages women to give themselves a breast examinations.
During Giuliana Rancic’s third attempt to get pregnant through IVF her doctor discovered she had breast cancer. But she is now cancer-free following a double mastectomy and is keen to encourage early detection in others.
She said the past 12 months have been full of mixed emotions: “It was the best year of my life, because of the baby and the worst year of my life because of my cancer.”
“It just goes to show that if you’re strong and positive, great things can come out of the darkest time of your life.”
Giuliana and Bill Rancic – who tied the knot in September 2007 – struggled to conceive for four years before deciding to turn to a surrogate.
Lady Gaga has never been one to hide away her body, but after piling on 30 lbs it seems she is reassessing her wardrobe.
Lady Gaga, 26, covered up her new curves in a long sleeved white coat as she left her hotel in Amsterdam on Wednesday night.
The star teamed it with sky-high heels and dark sunglasses with her head wrapped in a white scarf.
She signed autographs and handed out perfume samples to her fans, who had waited for hours to meet her.
The outfit was positively demure for Lady Gaga. But perhaps she had seen photos of herself the previous night.
Then the 5 ft 1 star had strutted on stage in Amsterdam in a series of typically skimpy costumes.
But rather than revealing her toned body, this time they showed bulging hips and thighs, cascading tummy and double chin.
Nutritionist Majid Ali, who has not treated the singer, told RadarOnline: “Gaga appears to have gained at least 30 pounds.”
Lady Gaga is on the European leg of her Born This Way tour, but the obvious weight gain seems to be dragging her down.
This is a far cry from what Lady Gaga looked like just a few months ago, when her muscular legs and toned, six-pack abdomen held spectators in awe.
Lady Gaga has been open about how hard she usually works to maintain her trim physique, and caused controversy earlier this year by revealing her diet habits.
Writing on her Twitter page, she said: “Just killed back to back spin classes. Eating a salad dreaming of a cheeseburger #PopSingersDontEat #IWasBornThisWay.”
Lady Gaga also admits she loves food, especially Italian cuisine, and can’t get enough of it.
“The rumors I am a dab hand in the kitchen are completely true,” she said.
“I come from an Italian family – what more can I say? I love to cook. I am really good at Italian food. So I make great meatballs, pasta and all sorts. I love it.”
Despite her weight gain Lady Gaga was polite to her fans, who had waited for hours to meet her.
Lady Gaga handed out samples of her new perfume, Fame, and signed autographs.
Star magazine in US appears to have Photoshopped a baby bump onto the Duchess of Cambridge’s slender frame.
Star magazine, which claims to reveal that Kate is pregnant with twins, published an image of the British royal from her recent visit to Singapore on the cover of its latest issue.
Kate Middleton, 30, is seen standing in what is quite a typical pose, with her shoulders back and hips forward, with her arm resting across her midriff, as she toasts Mary Tan, the wife of President of Singapore.
However, the gossip site Celebuzz suggests that Star magazine has taken the liberty of retouching the photograph, to make it appear as though the Duchess’s stomach is larger than it is.
Star magazine in US appears to have Photoshopped a baby bump onto the Duchess of Cambridge's slender frame
On comparison with what it believes to be the original photograph, the site says there are several glaring clues indicating that it has been airbrushed to suit the title’s headlines.
It reads: “Not only has is her floral slim-fit frock been mysteriously blown out…”
Star magazine accompanied the image with a sensational coverline of: “Scandal turns to joy: It’s twins!”
Two bullet points beneath add: “Pregnant Kate gets thrilling news amid nude photo uproar… Up to 125lbs and showing.”
The inside story cites a “family friend”, “insider” and a “source”, who apparently told the title that the Royal couple conceived during a “passionate night” in Wales after the London Olympics.
It is Star‘s second cover in a row claiming to reveal that the Duchess is expecting. Just last week it suggested that stitching in the waistband of one of Kate’s dresses was proof that it had been let out to make space for “mommy weight”.
The headline sparked a furious response from singer Demi Lovato who took to Twitter to slam the publication.
She wrote: “So apparently Kate Middleton (William?) is pregnant because of THIS picture… Are you KIDDING ME?!!
“And people wonder why girls/guys have body image issues.. Whether she is or not, she still has a beautiful body. Shame on you Star magazine.”
Technology titan Bill Gates has been listed by Forbes magazine as the wealthiest American for the 19th year in a row, with a fortune of $66 billion, up $7 billion from last year.
There was no change in the order of the top five richest from a year earlier.
The total wealth of the US super-rich grew 13% to $1.7 trillion, with the top 400 worth an average $400 million more in 2012.
The group’s assets are worth as much as one eighth of the US economy, and grew much faster than the economy at large.
Bill Gates has been listed by Forbes magazine as the wealthiest American for the 19th year in a row
According to the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America, the average net worth of a person on the list was $4.2 billion.
In second place with a fortune of $46 billion was investment guru Warren Buffett, who is chairman and chief executive of the insurance conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway.
He was followed by Larry Ellison, head of software maker Oracle Corp, worth $41 billion.
David and Charles Koch of the energy and chemical business group Koch Industries were tied in fourth place with $31 billion.
The majority of those on Forbes‘ list became richer in 2012. Two hundred and forty-one members of the group saw their wealth increase, while just 66 saw it shrink.
Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and financier George Soros dropped from the ranks of the top 10 into 12th place compared with a year ago.
But the biggest drop was seen by Facebook founder and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, who fell from 14th to 36th place in the wake of a disappointing stock market listing of his company.
He lost nearly half his fortune, which is now worth an estimated $9.4 billion.
Four members of one family – the heirs to the Walmart fortune – are in the top 10.
Top 10 Forbes list:
1. Bill Gates, co-founder and chairman of Microsoft, $66 billion
2. Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, $46 billion
3. Larry Ellison, co-founder and chief executive of Oracle, $41 billion
4. Charles Koch, chairman and chief executive of Koch Industries, $31 billion
5. David Koch, co-owner and executive vice-president of Koch Industries, $31 billion
In the wake of the sudden and tragic death of her mother Whitney Houston earlier this year, family worried about Bobbi Kristina Brown, particularly after her relationship with Nick Gordon was revealed.
And now fears for Bobbi Kristina and concerns over the suitability of Nick Gordon as her boyfriend, will be heightened after a picture of him brandishing a gun has emerged.
In the snap Nick Gordon, 22 is seen holding the firearm up to his face while driving a car using the other hand.
While his face is obscured by the gun a tattoo on his forearm, a Chinese symbol, can be clearly seen identifying him in the snap.
It is not clear from the image if the fun is real, or if it is a replica, but the photo certainly has a shock factor regardless.
Nick Gordon is seen holding the firearm up to his face while driving a car using the other hand
The snap which emerged on Twitter has since been taken down and Bobbi Kristina Brown’s account has become private.
A spokesperson for Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, refused to comment on the picture but said: “Nick is not her boyfriend.”
Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon are currently filming their own reality TV show while they enjoy a vacation in Hawaii.
The pair has been busy shooting beach scenes for the show ahead of the October 17 premiere of docu-series The Houstons: On Our Own.
Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon lived together as siblings for more than a decade before Whitney Houston’s death, with 22-year-old Nick considered to be the superstar’s unofficial adopted son.
Whitney Houston took him into her home when he was just 12 after his father went to prison and his mother was unable to take care of him.
However, following Whitney Houston’s death in February – having died at the age of 48 due to an accidental drowning complicated by heart disease and cocaine use – the controversial pair grew closer.
Thrilled with their holiday, Bobbi Kristina Brown tweeted on her return: “Home from Hawaii!! The trip was great! 🙂 so beautiful, cleansing, anointing & incredibly spiritual. Mom I feel you all over! IloveuALWAYS!”
As well as Bobbi Kristina Brown, the Lifetime show will feature Whitney’s sister-in-law and manager Pat Houston, Pat’s daughter Rayah, Whitney’s brother Gary, and mother, Grammy Award-winning singer Cissy.
It has been reported the main storyline will follow: “Pat and Gary as they take on their greatest challenge, supporting and guiding Bobbi Kristina as she faces the world alone.”
By the age of 30, Bobbi Kristina Brown will have inherited everything that belonged to her legendary mother.
The poster for upcoming movie Liz & Dick has been released as Lindsay Lohan finds herself embroiled in yet another DUI claim.
With Lindsay Lohan dressed as Elizabeth Taylor, the artwork boasts a salacious list about the Cleopatra legend, which also epitomize Lindsay’s latest dramas that have led to yet another arrest.
The poster for the Lifetime film reads: “Controversial. Love Affairs. Diamonds. Provocative. Scandal. Tabloid Front Page. Child Star. Beautiful. Leading Lady. Sexy. Paparazzi.”
The poster for upcoming movie Liz and Dick has been released as Lindsay Lohan finds herself embroiled in yet another DUI claim
Lindsay Lohan looks striking as the Hollywood icon, dripping with diamonds and lavished with make-up.
But unfortunately for LiLo, it seems her personal life has once again overruled her professional one, with a police run-in making front page news following an incident in New York.
Lindsay Lohan was arrested during the early hours of Wednesday morning on charges that she clipped a pedestrian with her car and did not stop.
The man she allegedly knocked down has claimed she “slurred her words and smelled like alcohol”.
Monica Lewinsky is reportedly set to write a tell-all book about her affair with former US President Bill Clinton – including her intimate love letters to the ex-president and how he had an insatiable desire for threesomes.
Monica Lewinsky, 39, reportedly wants revenge on Bill Clinton, who she believes escaped unscathed while she has never been able to shake the disgrace of their Oval Office trysts.
Friends claim publishers are scrambling to get their hands on the book, and after holding meetings, the former White House intern has learned she could get as much a $12 million if she recounts every tawdry detail.
While she has not yet secured a book deal, her apparent attempts to cash in on the affair could rattle the Clinton marriage – and wreck Hillary’s bid for the presidency in 2016.
Speaking to the National Enquirer, her friends said the memoir could even spark further health problems for the former president, who has undergone heart surgeries.
“Her book could be more than just revenge, it could kill him!” a source said.
Monica Lewinsky is set to write a tell-all book about her affair with Bill Clinton, including her intimate love letters to him
Her bids for a book deal will at least shake Bill Clinton – bringing him crashing down from the success he enjoyed after an energetic speech at the Democratic National Convention earlier this month.
“Monica has tried to move forward, but the nightmare of her affair with Bill still haunts her,” a friend told the National Enquirer.
“She’s facing 40 without a man in her life, and seething about the way her reputation was destroyed as the whole world watched.”
The book will also include never-before-seen love letters that Monica Lewinsky wrote to the president – some of which were so intimate she never sent them, another friend added.
They reportedly detail her love for Bill Clinton and how Monica Lewinsky, then just 22, could make him much happier than his wife, Hillary, who the president called a “cold fish”.
Bill Clinton also laughed about his nonexistent sex life with his wife – and said he thought he was not the only one looking for love outside their marriage.
“Monica can describe how Bill went on and on about his insatiable desire for three-way sex, orgies and the use of sex toys of all kinds,” the friend added.
As well as the heartbreak she suffered after her relationship with Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky also plans to detail the pain of ending a pregnancy at the height of her liaison with the president, the source said.
Monica Lewinsky was carrying a child fathered by a Pentagon employee called “Thomas”, she revealed in an earlier biography written by Andrew Morton.
“That void has never been filled,” said the friend.
She decided to develop the memoir after her sullied reputation meant she struggled to find work but realized she would get a generous offer for the book.
Monica Lewinsky is also writing it to get revenge on Bill Clinton, now 66, friends said.
“For years, Monica tried to protect Bill out of a misplaced sense of loyalty,” a source told the Enquirer.
“But she no longer feels that way, and her memoir is his worst nightmare.”
During her grand jury testimony against Bill Clinton in 1998, an immunity deal prevented her from exposing intimate details about their affair in the Morton expose that came out that year.
“But that agreement expired in 2001, and when Bill published his autobiography <<My Life>> three years later, Monica felt betrayed by him all over again,” said the source.
In the wake of the scandal, Monica Lewinsky became the centre of a political storm and gave a series of high-profile interviews.
But unable to escape the shake the reputation, she moved to England in 2005 where she earned her master’s degree and worked as a news correspondent for the UK’s Channel Five News.
Though it has been 14 years since Monica Lewinsky claimed she had nine sexual encounters with the president, her presence still looms in the life of Bill Clinton’s post-presidency and Hillary’s political career.
In what was an unfortunate and awkward schedule at the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina earlier this month, Monica Lewinsky’s former rabbi – who publicly condemned Bill Clinton during the sex scandal – gave the benediction minutes after the former President took the stage.
ABC News reported that the awkward pairing was likely overlooked by organizers because Rabbi David Wolpe is such a well-known figure in the Jewish community.
And in July, during a visit to Egypt as U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was taunted by her husband’s affair by protesters as they chanted “Monica, Monica!”.
Venomous reptiles may provide a good source for new drugs for human diseases, British researchers in Liverpool say.
Venom has already been used to create drugs, but the chemicals in it are often too deadly for human consumption.
However, a study, published in the journal Nature Communications, has shown snakes and lizards have “reclaimed” some toxins and used them, safely, elsewhere in their own bodies.
Scientists think these reclaimed toxins could make safe and effective drugs.
Venomous reptiles may provide a good source for new drugs for human diseases
Researchers compared the genomes of venomous snakes and lizards to see how the animals’ venoms had evolved.
They said it was an “unexpectedly dynamic” process, with chemicals in venom being formed through evolution and then later being adopted by parts of the body for other uses.
Dr. Nicholas Casewell, from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said: “Our results demonstrate that the evolution of venoms is a really complex process.”
He said venom seemed to evolve a lot of new functions, possibly to overcome resistance in prey.
“The venom gland of snakes appears to be a melting pot for evolving new functions for molecules, some of which are retained in venom for killing prey, while others go on to serve new functions in other tissues in the body,” he said.
Dr. Wolfgang Wuster, from Bangor University, said: “Many snake venom toxins target the same physiological pathways that doctors would like to target to treat a variety of medical conditions.”
The cardiovascular system, heart and blood vessels, is one of the main targets of snake venom when attacking prey and it has played a role in the origins of some blood pressure drugs such as ACE inhibitors.
The nervous system is another similar area. The challenge has been to overcome the toxic effect of the toxins.
“This means that drug developers have had to modify toxins to retain their potency and make them safe for drug use,” said Dr. Nicholas Casewell.
However, the scientists involved in the study believe nature may have already done the hard work, with reptiles making the toxins safe for their own use.
Dr. Nicholas Casewell said it would be a “whole new source” for drug discovery.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has suspended the country’s entire prison staff, amid protests over video footage showing prisoners apparently being abused by guards.
Prisoners are shown being badly beaten, one sexually assaulted with a broom.
In an announcement live on national TV, President Mikhail Saakashvili said police would be deployed in all jails.
Relatives of inmates have tried to storm the prison where the alleged abuses took place.
The ruling party has said the video was staged by the opposition to discredit the government ahead of key elections.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has suspended the country's entire prison staff
For critics, though, this is graphic proof that the authorities’ tough approach to crime has become unaccountable and heavy-handed.
Mikhail Saakashvili demanded a complete overhaul of the prison system.
“Patrol police must immediately enter all prisons,” he said.
“There must be zero tolerance to any violations of human rights, because we are building a civilized and humane country, rather than discipline based on violence.”
The film showing abuse in the Gldani prison No. 8 was broadcast on TV on Tuesday.
It triggered overnight protests in Tbilisi and also in the southern city of Batumi, Georgian media say.
In the capital, anti-government demonstrations were held in various places, including outside the national broadcaster’s headquarters.
Angry protesters have been demanding the resignation of Khatuna Kalmakhelidze, the minister in charge of prisons.
On Wednesday, Khatuna Kalmahelidze said she had decided to step down because her efforts to protect human rights in prisons had “proved insufficient”.
Later, an opposition TV station released more videos which appear to show the abuse of underage inmates in a juvenile detention centre.
It has long been suspected that prisoners in Georgia are mistreated, our correspondent says.
When Mikhail Saakashvili swept to power after the Rose Revolution in 2004, he clamped down heavily on crime.
But his critics say Georgia has now swung to the other extreme, accusing his government of becoming authoritarian.
The abuse videos come as Georgia is preparing for parliamentary elections on 1 October, seen as the biggest test facing the country’s democracy since the revolution.
President Mikhail Saakashvili’s party faces a challenge from Georgia’s richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who has vowed to oust the government from power.
With a reputation for benevolence and philanthropy, Bidzina Ivanishvili is popular among many poorer voters who are struggling in modern Georgia’s neo-liberal economy, correspondents say.
HTC has unveiled two Windows Phone 8 handsets at an event in New York.
HTC has said that it intends to promote the 8X, which features a 4.3″ (10.9 cm) display, as its flagship device alongside the Android-powered One X.
The firm is also offering a smaller 8S model with a 4″ (10.2 cm) screen.
HTC’s share price has fallen more than 50% since February after the firm experienced weak sales of earlier models despite positive reviews.
Analysts have said the firm had a weak advertising campaign which was compounded by the fact that its South Korean rival, Samsung, had a much bigger marketing budget.
HTC has unveiled two Windows Phone 8 handsets at an event in New York
Nokia and Samsung have already shown off alternative Windows Phone devices which will launch after Microsoft releases the operating system.
HTC said the 8X would launch in 50 countries in early November across 126 mobile operators, while the 8S would be available in 52 countries with more than 146 operators.
Such detail was notably lacking at Nokia’s recent Lumia 920 launch, where it did not confirm the date or number of countries the smartphone would be sold in.
HTC made much of the devices’ design at the US event saying they had “a remarkably unique profile” thanks to the way their edges tapered, becoming thinner at the bottom, to make them feel thin in their users’ hands.
It said its top-end model featured an 8 megapixel camera on its rear supported by a dedicated chip for “faster focus speed and clearer, sharper shots”. The 2.1MP front camera – used for video chats – has also been designed to provide a wide-angle view.
The firm also hopes to distinguish both models by including Beats Audio sound equipment which it said offered “deeper bass and crisp vocals”. The handset maker owns a 25% stake in the company.
The 8X has an NFC (near field communication) chip for touchless payments, but the 8S does not.
The bet on Microsoft’s technology carries risks – the firm’s phone systems only accounted for 3.1% of global smartphone shipments in the April to June months, according to research firm NPD.
But one of the company’s analysts said HTC had an opportunity to grow that number.
“The reception from operators is quite good,” said Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research manager.
“The market wants another alternative to Android as vendors don’t want to face the kind of problems that have arisen out of the lawsuits between Apple and Android device manufacturers – products being withdrawn or delayed.
“But HTC has to compete against Nokia and Samsung which also have Windows Phone 8 products.
“Nokia offers extra services on top such as its transport and augmented reality City Lens facility, while Samsung has a bigger marketing budget.”
Another analyst praised HTC for the industrial design and materials used to build its new devices, saying they would prove eye-catching on store shelves, but was not convinced that would be enough to improve its fortunes.
“HTC has had problems standing out in the Android market, and it could be even more difficult on Windows Phone 8 as Microsoft controls more of the experience on the platform,” said Gartner’s research director, Roberta Cozza.
“HTC needs to add further value to the ecosystem similar to what Nokia has done with its imaging and navigation resources.
“Unless that happens I don’t suspect things will change a lot for the firm.”
HTC’s press conference is the last of the big smartphone launches that had been scheduled ahead of the Christmas shopping season.
The nominations for 2013 Academy Awards will be revealed two weeks earlier than this year’s were.
The next year nominees will be unveiled on 10 January – five days earlier than normal and three days ahead of the Golden Globes.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) said it would “provide members and the public a longer period of time to see the nominated films”.
The 85th Academy Awards will be held in Hollywood on 24 February.
The nominations for 2013 Academy Awards will be revealed two weeks earlier than this year's were
In recent years the Golden Globe Awards, hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), have preceded the Oscar nominations announcement.
According to industry website Deadline Hollywood, bringing the latter forward could “blunt the impact” of the HFPA event.
“The Academy’s nomination announcement will get enormous attention just as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is drumming up attention for its own big night,” wrote columnist Pete Hammond.
In The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Feinberg suggested the Academy’s board of governors hoped “to grab back some of the thunder that has been stolen in recent years by the ever-increasing number of awards shows”.
The changes, he said, “could have a major impact on awards season and on the viewing experiences of the Academy’s own members”.
As part of the Oscars shake-up, many of the Academy’s 6,000 members will also have the opportunity to vote online for the first time.
From 17 December a new system will allow them to vote on their preferred films, actors and technical film achievements by email.
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) had planned to announce its award nominations on 10 January but will now do so two days earlier.
Two Swedish women could be able to give birth using the wombs in which they were carried, doctors say, hailing the world’s first mother-to-daughter uterus transplants.
The weekend procedures were completed by more than 10 surgeons at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg.
The names of the patients have not been revealed.
Doctors caution they will not consider the operations successful unless the women achieve pregnancy.
Two Swedish women could be able to give birth using the wombs in which they were carried
“We are not going to call it a complete success until this results in children,” said Michael Olausson, one of the Swedish surgeons told The Associated Press.
“That’s the best proof.”
Both women started in-vitro fertilization before the surgery, he said, adding that their frozen embryos will be thawed and transferred if the women are considered in good enough health after a year-long observation period.
Both recipients, who are aged in their 30s, were tired after the surgery but recovering well, said the university in a statement.
One had her uterus removed due to cervical cancer and the other was born without a uterus, they added
“The donating mothers are up and walking and will be discharged from the hospital within a few days,” said Mats Brannstrom, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the university.
He is the leader of a research team – comprising 20 scientists, doctors and specialists – which has been working on the project since 1999.
Turkish doctors said they had performed a successful uterus transplant last year, giving a womb from a deceased donor to a young woman, but Dr. Michael Olausson said he was not sure whether the recipient had yet started undergoing fertility treatment.
The first widely reported womb transplant from a live donor was performed in 2000, in Saudi Arabia, but the organ had to be removed three months later because of a blood clot.
Last year, 56-year-old Eva Ottoson, who lives in Nottinghamshire, said she hoped to become the first woman to have her womb transplanted into her daughter, Sara, 25, who lives in Sweden and was born without reproductive organs.
It remains unknown whether they were involved in the weekend’s procedures.
Further heavy fighting took place today in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the northern city of Aleppo.
Activists said government forces had stormed Hajar al-Aswad, a southern suburb of Damascus, and that the situation for residents was desperate.
State media said troops had killed many of what they called “terrorists”.
Earlier, Amnesty International warned that indiscriminate air and artillery strikes were causing a dramatic rise in civilian casualties in Idlib and Hama.
The report said the plight of people in the two provinces had been under-reported because world attention had focused on Damascus and Aleppo.
Further heavy fighting took place today in Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi held talks with President Bashar al-Assad and other officials in Damascus.
Ali Akbar Salehi said a solution to the conflict, which the UN estimates has left at least 20,000 people dead, lay “only in Syria and within the Syrian family”.
Rebels have also taken full control of the Tal al-Abyad border crossing with Turkey after a lengthy battle with government forces overnight, according to Turkish officials and witnesses.
The crossing is further to the east than any of the others previously captured by rebels, and could make it easier for them to get fighters and ammunition in and out of Syria.
On Wednesday, opposition activists said the military was attacking the south-western Damascus suburbs of Muadhamiya, Jadidat Artouz and Kanakir, Qudsaya to the north-west, and the southern districts of Qaddam, Assali, Yalda and Hajar al-Aswad.
They posted videos online which they said showed helicopter gunships firing rockets on Hajar al-Aswad, as well as the bodies of some of the more than 20 people they said had been killed in the assault. The army was destroying and setting houses on fire, they added.
State media said troops had moved into Hajar al-Aswad and clashed with an “armed terrorist group” near a cemetery, eliminating “a number of its members”, and that others had been killed as streets were “cleansed”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group, later said rebel fighters had announced their withdrawal from Hajar al-Aswad, Qaddam and Assali after weeks of violent clashes.
Activists also reported that the bodies of at least 20 people executed by government forces had been found in the north-eastern district of Jobar.
In Aleppo, government forces had bombarded several central areas surrounding the Old City, including Bab al-Hadid and Bab al-Nasr, and also attacked the outlying districts of Hananu and al-Bab, they added.
The Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist network, said more than 62 people had so far been killed across the country on Wednesday, including 30 in Damascus. It put the death toll on Tuesday at 160.
The reports of violence came as Amnesty International said indiscriminate air attacks and artillery strikes by Syrian government forces are killing, maiming, and terrorizing civilians in the Idlib, Jabal al-Zawiya and north Hama regions.
Donatella Rovera, Amnesty’s senior crisis response adviser, who recently returned from northern Syria, said there was evidence that the army and air force were increasingly using battlefield weapons in residential areas where government troops had been forced out by opposition forces, with disastrous consequences for civilians.
“They are using in equal measure air-delivered, large, old, Soviet-era unguided bombs – free-fall bombs – the opposite of smart bombs,” she said.
“They are dropped over an area. There’s no way you can target them at a specific target or specific building.”
“They fall over people’s houses, over markets, in the street. Many of those who were killed and injured are children. Every day, in the field hospitals, on the ground, in the streets and in people’s homes I was seeing the disastrous consequences of these attacks on civilians.”
Amnesty’s report says the group carried out first-hand field investigations in the first half of September into attacks which killed 166 civilians, including 48 children and 20 women, in 26 towns and villages.
In a separate development, a Syrian general who defected to the opposition told the Times newspaper that the president had discussed using chemical weapons in the conflict, and even whether they should be transferred to the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement, Hezbollah.
“We discussed this as a last resort – such as if the regime lost control of an important area such as Aleppo,” General Adnan Sillu said.
South African police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters near a mine owned by Anglo American Platinum, a day after a deal ended a strike in Marikana.
“We are not tolerating any illegal gatherings,” a police spokesman said.
Workers at the Lonmin-owned Marikana platinum mine ended their six-week strike after accepting a 22% pay rise.
The strikes have spread to other mines in South Africa, one of the world’s biggest producers of precious metals.
On Monday, South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma said that the disruption had cost the industry $548 million in lost output.
The unrest came as Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world’s largest platinum producer, re-opened its mines after they were closed last week following huge protests.
South African police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters near a mine owned by Anglo American Platinum
Amplats spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole said the mines in Rustenburg, the centre of South Africa’s platinum mining – about 80 km (50 miles) north-east of Johannesburg – were operational.
She said the police had “dispersed a group of people gathering illegally at Sondela informal settlement [near the mine]” and said it was not clear if they were Amplats workers.
“Police utilized tear gas and stun grenades, and rubber bullets were used at the squatter camp,” said police spokesman Captain Dennis Adriao.
“As we have said, we are not tolerating any illegal gatherings,” he said.
After weeks of unrest, the government last week announced that it would clamp down on the protests.
In the nearby Marikana mine, where police last month shot dead 34 protesters, workers were celebrating the end of the strike, reports the AP news agency.
Riddick Mofokeng, another miner, said he felt good about the deal.
“It is not what we expected to get, but it is great,” he said.
“Most of the people, we are ready to go back to work.”
The miners had been demanding a monthly salary of 12,500 rand ($1,513) – they currently earn between 4,000 and 5,000 rand.
As well as a pay rise of 11-22%, they will get a one-off payment of 2,000 rand to help cover the weeks of not being paid while they were on strike.
Analysts had warned that the Lonmin deal could encourage other mines to down tools to obtain pay hikes.
Some 15,000 miners at Gold Fields remain on strike.
Last month, police opened fire on demonstrators at the mine in Marikana, killing 34 striking workers. Ten people, including two police officers, had already died in the protests.
President Jacob Zuma has ordered a judicial inquiry into what has become known as the “Marikana massacre” – the deadliest police action since the end of apartheid in 1994.
Lady Gaga has been sporting a much fuller figure of late, but she looked decidedly meaty as she took to the stage on Tuesday night in Amsterdam, Holland.
Wearing her cherished carnivorous corset, Lady Gaga, 26, flaunted her new curves for all to see as she hit the Netherlands for the latest stop on her Born This Way tour.
Looking much bigger than usual around her thigh and hip region, Mother Monster was also sporting a fuller face as she belted out her biggest hits.
And as the Alejandro hitmaker later changed into a pair of high-waisted khaki trousers and a black bralet, her weight gain around her waist was clear to see.
Lady Gaga has been sporting a much fuller figure of late, but she looked decidedly meaty as she took to the stage on Tuesday night in Amsterdam
But it wasn’t her figure that was grabbing people’s attention as she took to the stage in Amsterdam.
Lady Gaga was seen mid-show lighting a big joint of marijuana and inhaling it during a break.
Praising the “wondrous” drug, Lady Gaga told fans she had cut down on drinking alcohol because she prefers smoking the substance.
Lady Gaga was seen mid-show lighting a big joint of marijuana and inhaling it during a break
She was quoted as telling The Sun newspaper: “I want you to know it has totally changed my life and I’ve really cut down on drinking.
“It has been a totally spiritual experience for me with my music. It’s like saying everybody needs to take a breath and it’s going to be OK.”
Lady Gaga has been open about how hard she usually works to maintain her trim physique, and caused controversy earlier this year by revealing her diet habits.
Writing on her Twitter page, Lady Gaga said: “Just killed back to back spin classes. Eating a salad dreaming of a cheeseburger #PopSingersDontEat #IWasBornThisWay.”
However, the star has previously admitted she can’t resist hearty Italian food.
She said: “The rumors I am a dab hand in the kitchen are completely true.
“I come from an Italian family – what more can I say? I love to cook. I am really good at Italian food. So I make great meatballs, pasta and all sorts. I love it.”
China’s state-run news agency has linked fallen politician Bo Xilai to a criminal act for the first time, alleging he knew his wife Gu Kailai was suspected of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood.
Xinhua quoted witnesses at the trial of his former right-hand man, Wang Lijun, suggesting that Wang had tried to tell Bo Xilai about his suspicions.
Wang Lijun was “angrily rebuked and had his ears boxed”, Xinhua reports.
Bo Xilai’s downfall exposed the biggest political crisis in China for years.
His wife, Gu Kailai, was found guilty in August of murdering Neil Heywood. She was given a suspended death sentence.
Bo Xilai has been linked to a criminal act for the first time, as he knew his wife Gu Kailai murdered Neil Heywood
Wang Lijun was the former police chief and deputy mayor in Chongqing, where Bo Xilai was Communist Party chief until the scandal erupted.
Earlier this week Wang Lijun pleaded guilty to defection, abuse of power and bribe-taking charges during a two-day trial in the nearby city of Chengdu. A verdict is awaited.
He tried to tell “the Chongqing party committee’s main responsible person at the time” about his suspicions about Gu Kailai, says Xinhua in its official published account of his trial, without naming Bo Xilai.
As Chongqing Communist Party chief, Bo Xilai was tipped for promotion to the top leadership ranks at China’s forthcoming leadership congress before his downfall.
Wang Lijun’s flight to a US consulate in Chengdu in February sparked the events which led to his downfall.
According to the UK Foreign Office, Wang Lijun made allegations about Neil Heywood’s death while at the US consulate.
Shortly afterwards, Bo Xilai was sacked.
He has not been seen in public since the scandal erupted and is said to be under investigation by the party’s disciplinary officials.
Wang Lijun, 52, began his career in law enforcement in the Inner Mongolia Region in 1984 and moved to the south-western city of Chongqing in 2008.
Lindsay Lohan was arrested in New York during the early hours of Wednesday morning on charges that she clipped a pedestrian with her car and did not stop, police have confirmed.
The man Lindsay Lohan allegedly knocked down has claimed that the actress was “slurring her words” and “smelled like alcohol”.
Manhattan chef Jose Rodriguez also said people at the scene “acted like I was nothing”, telling the New York Daily News: “[It was like] no one could touch her because she was rich and powerful.”
Lindsay Lohan, 26, was preparing to park her Porsche Cayenne at the Dream Hotel in Manhattan at 12:30 a.m. when she allegedly hit the knee of Jose Rodriguez.
One of Lindsay Lohan’s passengers got out and checked her vehicle for damage, and then the group continued into the hotel to attend an event it was reported.
When Lindsay Lohan emerged from the venue at 2:30 a.m., police were waiting for her and she was arrested.
The actress was booked for the misdemeanour offence of leaving the scene of an accident and released with a desk appearance ticket – meaning she did not have to pay bail before her release.
Lindsay Lohan was arrested on charges that she clipped a pedestrian with her car and did not stop
Jose Rodriquez was not knocked down by the vehicle and had no visible injuries, but was still taken to Bellevue Hospital after calling 911.
He claims doctors said he had “torn tendons” and gave him morphine for the pain.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly confirmed no Breathalyzer test had been carried out at the time as law enforcers believed Lindsay Lohan was sober.
Though the offence is a misdemeanour, it could trigger a probation violation in her 2011 jewellery theft case as one of the conditions of probation is that she obeys all laws.
Lindsay Lohan is allegedly describing the incident as “really fishy”. And believes she is the victim of a “set up” and plans to fight the claims.
Fortunately, Lindsay Lohan may have back-up in the guise of a surveillance video, which TMZ are reporting “shows the guy… is grossly exaggerating”.
The video is said to show LiLo driving down a ramp as she entered the hotel, with the alleged victim walking in the pedestrian path – an area the actress had to cross to get into the building.
TMZ state her car was “traveling at a crawl” and it is “unclear” if it makes contact with the man.
However, once she has driven off, the video sees the pedestrian in question “sprinting after her”.
When Lindsay Lohan emerges from her car, she “doesn’t seem flustered or aware’ she may have hit someone”.
Notoriously outspoken father Michael Lohan has waged in on the debacle, to stand by his daughter.
Adamant she was sober at the time of the incident, he told Radar Online: “I am happy that she is away from other people and was NOT drinking last night.
“[I am] so happy that Lindsay had confidence in me. I love her; I will always be there for her.”
A source told Radar Online that LiLo told police to call her father when they arrived at the scene.
This is not the first time the actress had been involved in a car crash.
In June of this year Lindsay Lohan smashed up another Porsche after claiming she was cut up by a truck.
The actress later blamed the manufacturing of the vehicle but tests carried out after the crash found the breaks were working fine.
In May of 2007, Lindsay Lohan was arrested on suspicion of drinking under the influence and this led to her heading for rehab for 45 days.
In July of that year, Lindsay Lohan refused to take a sobriety test and was taken to a police station where her blood alcohol level was over the limit. She also had some cocaine in her pocket.
Lindsay Lohan, who spent 23 days in jail after violating her probation agreement following a DUI, took to her Twitter page recently to blast law enforcement officers for not doing more to stop actress Amanda Bynes who was caught driving with a suspended licence recently.
She tweeted: “Why did I get put in jail and a nickelodeon star has had NO punishment(s) so far?”
Just last month, Lindsay Lohan was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department over the purported theft of $100,000 worth of luxury items from the home of her multimillionaire friend Sam Magid.
The L.A. County District Attorney dropped burglary charges due to “insufficient evidence”.
After being charged with misdemeanor theft and probation violation in February 2011 following the shoplifting of a necklace from a Venice Beach store, Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to 120 days in jail and 480 hours of community service.
In addition, the actress was also ordered to remain under supervision whilst completing all of her community service.
She pleaded no contest in court, and was put under house arrest complete with ankle bracelet monitor due to jail overcrowding.
Lindsay Lohan was then later sentenced to 30 days in jail and 400 hours of community service in November, after she was found guilty of violating her probation because she failed to perform her community service at a Los Angeles morgue.
She entered jail on November 7, 2011, but was released after just under five hours, again due to overcrowding.
The actress finally ended her supervised probation in March this year after fulfilling all of her community service and therapy requirements.
And despite being involved in the hit and run and car crash earlier this year, has remained relatively out of trouble.
Lindsay Lohan is currently trying to get her life and career back on track, and recently completed filming Liz & Dick, the Lifetime Elizabeth Taylor biopic, and independent film, The Canyons, written by Bret Easton Ellis and directed by Paul Schrader.
Lindsay Lohan’s spokesman Steve Honig said: “While some of the facts are still being gathered, it appears that this is much ado about nothing.
“We are confident this matter will be cleared up in the coming weeks and the claims being made against Lindsay will be proven untrue.”
Robbie Williams’ wife Ayda Field has given birth to a baby girl Theodora Rose.
The Take That star took to his Twitter page on Tuesday night to announce the pair had welcomed baby Theodora Rose Williams into the world.
Announcing the happy news on his blog, Robbie Williams wrote: “Praise be, it’s Theodora Rose Williams, affectionately known as Teddy….. Born 3:33 p.m. on 18.9.12, 7Ibs 4oz…
“Baby, Mummy and Daddy are all rockin…. Thank you for your best wishes XXXX.”
It is the first child for the couple, who married two years ago.
Robbie Williams and Ayda Field welcome baby girl Theodora Rose
Following the birth, Robbie Williams’ Take That bandmate Gary Barlow was quick to lead the congratulations to the singer and his wife.
He tweeted: “Massive congrats Rob and Ayda. So happy for you.”
Boyzone singer Ronan Keating tweeted: “Congrats to Robbie Williams and Ayda.”
And Chris Moyles wrote on his Twitter page: “Congratulations Robbie & Ayda!”
And singer and actor Jonathan Wilkes, who is a long-standing friend of Robbie Williams, said: “Right bed time !!! Got a big day Tomorrow I’m meeting a new little lady !! X”
Robbie Williams recently expressed concern he could miss his baby’s birth due to his concert schedule over its birth due date.
He told radio DJ Chris Evans last week: “I’ve had a bit of a falling out with the wife.”
He continued: “So I’ve got gigs this week, the baby could come at any minute, the wife has said, <<If I go into labor and you’ve got a gig in say Leeds or Dublin, you’ve got to cancel it and come home>>.”
Robbie Williams recently revealed the couple had chosen a name for their daughter and was pleased it was a traditional moniker.
He said: “Right now I’m ecstatic. We do have a name but we’re not going to get it out in case it gets tweeted.
“And as a celebrity we’re supposed to call them Aubergine or something like that aren’t we?
“I do have a sort of celebrity name but it’s not Apple-esque. It’s a very solid, old-school name.”
Robbie Williams also said he is planning to move back to England from Los Angeles because he doesn’t want his daughter to go to school with the “f***ing idiots” in the city although he admitted he and American born Ayda are still discussing their future living arrangements.
He said: “I don’t want to educate our baby in LA because I would much prefer her to have English sensibilities.
“They are idiots in L.A. schools. They are f***ing idiots. They are a breed of idiots that only exist in Los Angeles and she would be surrounded by them. It’s not like one or two either. It’s not like the Big Brother house, where you pick the worst ones.
“I think kids there have a massive sense of entitlement, are dull and dumb. It means me coming back to the UK for good but I can live with that. It’s worth being pestered for her to have a good school.
“I want the baby to have an English passport, we’re still figuring out exactly whereabouts the baby is going to be brought up.
“I had a conversation with the wife last night about where we’re going to end up but we still don’t know.”
Giuliana and Bill Rancic are revealing the identity of the surrogate mother who helped them bring their son into the world.
A clip from the couple’s reality show Giuliana & Bill shows the mom and dad-to-be being coached in the delivery room with their surrogate, Delphine.
Delphine, who carried the Rancic’s son Edward Duke to term, is seen with the couple and a hospital worker who talks them through the process of what will happen the day of delivery.
While Giuliana and Bill Rancic bicker over who will first get to hold the child, and who will cut the umbilical cord, Delphine seemed at ease and open to letting the pair be as much a part of the process as possible.
Delphine, Giuliana and Bill Rancic surrogate mother, seemed at ease around the couple
Delphine eventually gave birth at a Denver, Colorado hospital on August 29 with the Rancics by her side.
Edward Duke Rancic was born at 10:12 p.m. and the baby’s umbilical called was cut by Giuliana and Bill moments before they held him ahead of anyone else.
The couple named the tot after Bill Rancic’s father, who was called Edward, and Giuliana’s dad, Eduardo.
The American entrepreneur and reality star tweeted the news of the then-anonymous surrogate going into labor.
“It’s game time,” Bill Rancic posted on his Twitter account.
After little Edward was born, the couple said they felt “blessed beyond words” to have become parents for the first time.
Giuliana Rancic, 37, took to Twitter, writing: “It’s true what they say (and what u all told us)…. @BillRancic and I couldn’t love little Duke anymore than we do. He’s a dream….”
Bill Rancic, 41, tweeted: “The <<Duke>> has landed! Edward Duke Rancic was welcomed into the world last night at 7 lbs 4 oz. G& I feel blessed beyond words…We did it!(sic).”
The happy arrival came after Bill Rancic and his E! News host wife struggled to conceive naturally, undergoing three failed cycles of IVF.
Then last year during her treatment Giuliana Rancic was diagnosed with breast cancer, putting their dreams of a family on hold.
She underwent a lumpectomy followed by radiation before undergoing a double mastectomy.
Following her recovery the couple decided to use a surrogate to try for a baby, and they were thrilled when their attempt ended in a pregnancy.
Bill Rancic earlier this year opened up about the journey, telling the TODAY show how he and his wife “hit the gestational carrier lottery”.
Presenter Giuliana Rancic, meanwhile told E! News: “Bill and I are blessed beyond words to welcome Edward into our lives.
“Thank you so much to everyone who supported us along the way. We are so in love with the little guy already!”
Giuliana & Bill is scheduled to premiere on the STYLE network on October 2 at 8:00 p.m. EST.
President Barack Obama has rebuked Republican candidate Mitt Romney, saying that anyone seeking to be president needs to work for all Americans.
Barack Obama told chat show host David Letterman that Mitt Romney was wrong to describe 47% of Americans as “victims”.
Earlier, Mitt Romney defended his remarks after secretly filmed video of a speech to donors became public.
He told Fox News he knew those “dependent on government” would not vote for him in November’s election.
Mitt Romney also decried the notion of government “redistribution”, calling it an “entirely foreign concept”.
Barack Obama told David Letterman that Mitt Romney was wrong to describe 47 percent of Americans as victims
More leaked video emerged on Tuesday, showing Mitt Romney saying Palestinians do not want peace in the Middle East.
The full video of the Florida fundraiser was also published by liberal investigative magazine Mother Jones.
In Tuesday’s Fox interview, Mitt Romney stood by his comments about the 47% of Americans who do not pay income tax. He said they support President Barack Obama and would never vote for him. He said his statement was “about the campaign”.
“I’m talking about a perspective of individuals who are not likely to support me,” he said.
“Those that are dependent on government and those that think government’s job is to redistribute, I’m not going to get them,” Mitt Romney said.
Mitt Romney says he expects Barack Obama to receive about half of the vote in the November election because of these voters.
The real problem, he added, was that so many people were not eligible to pay income tax because they had fallen into poverty.
Recent polls indicate that the election is likely to be a close contest, although an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Tuesday evening showed that Barack Obama’s approval rate has hit 50% for the first time since March.
In addition, the poll put the president ahead of Mitt Romney by 5% among likely voters polled across the nation. The poll had a margin of error of 3.6%.
On David Letterman’s show, Barack Obama said he told the US on election night in 2008 he would work for everyone, including those who did not vote for them.
“One thing I’ve learnt as president is you represent the entire country,” he said.
“There are not a lot of people out there who think they are victims” or simply entitled to benefits, Barack Obama said.
Barack Obama’s rebuke came at the end of a day in which more clips of Mitt Romney’s fundraising address emerged. In one, Mitt Romney said the Palestinians are “committed to Israel’s destruction”.
“The Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace,” he says in the video, adding that “the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish”.
But chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters news agency that Mitt Romney was wrong to accuse the Palestinians of not seeking peace.
“Only those who want to maintain the Israeli occupation will claim the Palestinians are not interested in peace,” he said.
In another clip, the former Massachusetts governor is shown discussing Iran’s nuclear programme, and warning that America itself could come under attack.
The first clips released on Monday showed the Republican candidate saying those who did not pay income tax would never vote for him.
“There are 47% who are with him [Barack Obama], who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it,” he said.
Mitt Romney said in the video that his role “is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
The video clips provided to Mother Jones are said to have been filmed at a $50,000 per head fundraiser at some point after Mitt Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee.
They were made public as the Romney campaign announced a new shift in strategy after several difficult days for the candidate.
Campaign advisers told the US media on Monday that Mitt Romney would speak more specifically about his budget plans and tax policy.
Daniel Barrera, one of Colombia’s most notorious drug traffickers, has been captured in Venezuela.
Daniel Barrera, known as “Crazy Barrera”, was captured in San Cristobal across the border from Colombia with the help of Venezuelan, British and US intelligence agencies.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos described him as “perhaps the most wanted kingpin in recent times”.
Colombia is one of the world’s main producers of cocaine.
Daniel Barrera, one of Colombia's most notorious drug traffickers, has been captured in Venezuela
Daniel Barrera’s criminal empire delivered cocaine not only to the US but around the world, especially to Europe.
The reward offered for his capture in the US was $5 million – the same as Osama Bin Laden. Colombia added $2.7 million to that.
The trafficker was a legend in the cocaine business, not only for his longevity but also for his ability to work with all sides in Colombia’s 48-year civil conflict.
“He has dedicated 20 years to doing bad things to Colombia and the world, all types of crime, perverse alliances with paramilitaries, with the Farc [rebel group],” President Juan Manuel Santos said in a televised speech.
Daniel Barrera’s arrest was the third detention of an alleged Colombian drug baron over the past year.
In June, Venezuelan authorities captured the alleged head of the Los Rajostros drug cartel, Diego Perez Henao, better known as Diego Rastrojo.
His gang has become a major exporter of cocaine to the US via Mexico in recent years, according to police.
Perez Henao is said to have controlled half the members of the paramilitary criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking in Colombia.
The cartel’s previous leader, Javier Antonio Calle Serna, handed himself to US authorities on the island of Aruba in May.
He is accused of the murder in 2008 of Wilber Varela, a Colombian drugs baron whose drug-smuggling routes he supposedly took over.
