Nik Wallenda, member of a celebrated family of professional daredevils, has completed a tightrope walk across Niagara Falls in a televised stunt.
Nik Wallenda braved wind and heavy spray to make the 1,800 ft (550 m) walk from the US to Canada on a 2-inch (61 mm) wire.
Thousands watched from Goat Island, where he began the crossing, suspended 150 feet (46 metres) above the falls.
It is the first such feat over Niagara Falls in over a century.
Nik Wallenda is the seventh generation of the famed Flying Wallendas.
The family has performed for more than 200 years, including the signature act that gave the group their name, where two pairs of performers walk the wire, each supporting another aerialist on a pole.
Those two aerialists, in turn, carry a pole upon which the seventh member of the troupe balances in a chair.
The family has suffered two deaths from falls while performing, including Nik Wallenda’s great-grandfather in 1978.
Nik Wallenda, 33, wore a safety harness attaching him to the wire, a precaution insisted on by ABC, the US broadcaster which sponsored the live broadcast of his walk.
Prior to the walk, he said he had not performed with a harness before, but that it would not take away from the event.
After he arrived, Nik Wallenda was asked to hand over his US passport to officially enter Canada.
The daredevil had estimated the total cost of the walk would be around $1.3 million, including creating and installing the steel wire, as well as permits and security on both sides of the border.
Legal liability had prevented ABC from funding all of Nik Wallenda’s costs and materials, so he had taken to online site IndieGoGo to raise further funds.
As of Friday afternoon, Nik Wallenda was 45% of the way towards his goal of $50,000.
Egyptians are set to vote in the second round of their first free presidential election in a two-day run-off.
Mohammed Mursi, head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, is up against Ahmed Shafiq, Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister.
The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has promised to hand over power to the winner by 1 July at the latest.
But the build-up to the election has been marred by a Supreme Constitutional Court decision to dissolve parliament.
On Thursday, a panel of judges – appointed by Hosni Mubarak – ruled that the law governing Egypt’s first democratic elections in more than six decades was unconstitutional because party members were allowed to contest seats reserved for independents.
The Freedom and Justice Party won about 100 of its 235 seats in the People’s Assembly by running candidates for individual seats.
If parliament is dissolved swiftly by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), whoever wins this weekend’s presidential run-off could take office without the oversight of a sitting parliament, and without a permanent constitution to define his powers or duties.
A 100-member assembly appointed by parliament earlier this week to draft the new constitution may also be dissolved.
Islamist, liberals and scholars denounced the ruling as a “coup”, saying they feared the ruling generals would take back legislative power.
“This series of measures shows that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the head of the counter-revolution, is adamant to bring back the old regime and the presidential elections are merely a show,” six parties and movements said in a joint statement that also urged Mohammed Mursi to boycott the run-off.
The Supreme Constitutional Court also found a law blocking senior Mubarak-era officials from the presidency – which would have ruled out Ahmed Shafiq’s candidacy – was unconstitutional. The law was passed by parliament before the presidential election’s first round.
On Friday, the Muslim Brotherhood vowed to win the presidency despite the signs of opposition within the judiciary, which is overseeing the vote.
“Isolate the representative of the former regime through the ballot box,” said a statement referring to Ahmed Shafiq, who also served as head of the air force and minister of aviation under Hosni Mubarak.
The Brotherhood warned that the progress made since the president was forced to step down was being “wiped out and overturned”.
Egypt was facing a situation that was “even more dangerous than that in the final days of Mubarak’s rule,” the group added.
Mohammed Mursi meanwhile sought to reassure the military and its supporters within the electorate that he would work closely with the generals.
“As president, they will be in my heart and will get my attention… they will never do anything to harm the nation,” he said.
On Thursday, Mohammed Mursi warned there would be a “huge revolution against the criminals” if there was any evidence of electoral fraud.
His opponent meanwhile told a rally that the court rulings were “historic” and that the “era of political score-settling” had ended.
On Friday, Ahmed Shafiq promised to “address chaos and return stability”.
He came second in last month’s first round, in which turnout among the 52 million eligible voters was only 46%. Official results gave Mohammed Mursi 24.8% and Ahmed Shafiq 23.7%.
Polling stations are due to open on Saturday and Sunday at 08:00 and close at 19:00, but voting is likely to be extended on both days.
Final results from the Higher Presidential Election Commission (HPEC) are due by 21 June, but are expected to arrive much earlier.
Partial results from the first round were declared within 24 hours.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for the SCAF to transfer power fully to a democratically elected civilian administration as soon as possible following the announcement of the final result of the election.
“There can be no going back on the democratic transition called for by the Egyptian people,” she told reporters in Washington.
Trouble actress Lindsay Lohan was found “unresponsive” in her hotel room in Marina del Ray, California, earlier this morning.
Paramedics were called to the penthouse of the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey at 10:15 a.m. local time after Lindsay Lohan couldn’t be woken by hotel staff sent to check on her.
While medics attended to the scene, there was found to be nothing wrong with the 25-year-old actress other than exhaustion, after long days filming her TV movie Liz & Dick.
Lindsay Lohan was found “unresponsive” in her hotel room in Marina del Ray, California, earlier this morning
Lindsay Lohan’s representative, Steve Honig, told E! News: “Lindsay has been working a grueling schedule for the last couple of days.
“Last night she worked from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. She was exhausted and went back to her room to sleep. Producers were apparently concerned and called the fire department and paramedics found her sleeping but determined that she was fine, just extremely exhausted and slightly dehydrated.
“She is on her way home now to rest and will be back on set later today.”
Steve Honig added that no drugs or alcohol were involved in the incident.
Lindsay Lohan has previously battled problems with narcotics and drink, but in March was finally taken of probation for a number of offences stemming back to a 2007 arrest for DUI. She is now making her comeback with Liz & Dick – in which she plays Elizabeth Taylor – and has also been cast in movie The Canyons.
Whitney Houston’s friend, gospel singer BeBe Winans, who performed at her funeral in February, will release The Whitney I Knew on July 31, with the tome including never-previously seen photographs of the pop superstar.
Whitney Houston, who had a history of substance abuse problems, was found dead in the bath of her Beverly Hills hotel room in February and BeBe Winans has promised to use the book to reveal “heart-breaking accounts that led to her ultimate defeat”.
It was recently confirmed that Cissy Houston will release a book about her daughter next February.
Whitney Houston’s friend, gospel singer BeBe Winans, who performed at her funeral in February, will release The Whitney I Knew on July 31
Cissy Houston, 78, has signed a multi-million dollar deal to write with “candor, honesty and respect” about Whitney, who died as a result of accidental drowning in her bath and effects of heart disease and cocaine use on February 11.
Whitney Houston’s mother said: “When I lost my daughter Nippy [Whitney Houston’s nickname], the world lost one of the most beautiful voices and an extraordinarily beautiful and charitable woman.
“In sharing our story in this book, I hope to give her fans something to treasure, the way we all treasured Whitney. We are still receiving thousands of letters each day from her fans, and I hope reading this book will provide a deeper understanding into my daughter’s true story.”
Whitney Houston famously spiraled into drug addiction alongside her husband Bobby Brown – the father of her 19-year-old daughter Bobbi Kristina – in the 90s and Cissy will talk about the issues which this caused in her book.
When producers of Grammy Awards learned of Whitney Houston’s death less than 24 hours before the live telecast, they scrapped parts of the script, added performances and puzzled over how best to honor the Grammy-winning singer who died unexpectedly at age 48.
Host LL Cool J said that addressing the Grammy audience at the Staples Center after Whitney Houston’s death was “definitely the most challenging moment I’ve faced in my career.”
He decided to open with a prayer, and producers agreed, though none could recall another network TV event that began as such.
This and other last-minute changes made to the 54th annual Grammy Awards are chronicled in a new documentary, A Death in the Family: The Show Must Go On, which premiered this week at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
The screening of the 25-minute documentary and 14-minute highlight reel of past Grammy performances was also a not-so-subtle push for Emmy votes.
“We’d love to have you consider us when you vote,” said Ken Ehrlich, executive producer of the Grammys for the past 32 years.
“We’ve been nominated before and not won.”
When producers of Grammy Awards learned of Whitney Houston's death they scrapped parts of the script, added performances and puzzled over how best to honor her
He added that executives at CBS, which broadcasts the Grammys, suggested Ken Ehrlich’s team produce the documentary, which can be seen on the Grammy.com website and at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.
Emmy ballots are due at the end of the month.
The documentary, though it deals with show changes made after Whitney Houston’s death, isn’t a downer.
Ken Ehrlich said that about an hour before he heard about Whitney Houston, he’d experienced a career high: Paul McCartney, who was set to close the show, asked if he might perform a Beatles medley from Abbey Road, and maybe it could include a guitar jam with the likes of Dave Grohl, Joe Walsh and Bruce Springsteen.
The number came together just before Whitney Houston’s death.
Ken Ehrlich said the magic of that Paul McCartney moment made him feel “like maybe there is a God.”
“God said, I’m going to give this to him, but I’m not going to let him get too cocky,” the veteran producer said in an interview before the screening.
After Whitney Houston died, the challenge was to “do something that was respectful to Whitney,” Ken Ehrlich said: “that set a tone that also didn’t lose the fact that there were thousands of people who were coming to this event because they had done something remarkable this year on their own, and they needed to be treated with respect as well.”
The documentary includes interviews with LL Cool J and Jennifer Hudson, who performed a heartfelt tribute to Whitney Houston. It also includes rehearsal footage and interviews with Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl, who said performing alongside Paul McCartney was unforgettable.
Bruce Springsteen joked that he had “been waiting since 1964” for the opportunity to play with the former Beatle. Dave Grohl said sharing the stage with such icons was like “looking at Mount Rushmore.”
February’s Grammy Awards drew nearly 40 million viewers, its second largest audience ever. The biggest Grammy audience – more than 43 million viewers – came in 1984, when Michael Jackson won a record eight awards for Thriller.
Carbon dating tests carried out at Oxford University have provided scientific evidence to support the extraordinary claim that the bones found amid the ruins of an ancient Bulgarian monastery may be of John the Baptist.
A knucklebone has been dated to the 1st Century AD – a time when the revered Jewish prophet is believed to have lived.
Researchers were said to be “surprised” when they discovered the very early age of the remains, but admit “dating evidence alone cannot prove the bones to be of John the Baptist”.
The new dating evidence will be revealed in a TV documentary to be shown on the National Geographic channel on Sunday.
The remains – small fragments of a skull, bones from a jaw and an arm, and a tooth – were discovered two years ago embedded in an altar in the ruins of the ancient monastery, on an island in the Black Sea.
They were kept inside a reliquary – a container for holy relics – on Sveti Ivan – which translates into English as St. John – off Sozopol on Bulgaria’s southern coast.
The “key” clue to the relics” origins was a tiny sandstone box found alongside the reliquary with a Greek inscription: “God, save your servant Thomas. To St. John. June 24.” The date is believed to be John the Baptist’s birthday.
One theory is that the person referred to as Thomas had been given the task of bringing the relics to the island.
Oxford professors Thomas Higham and Christopher Ramsey attempted to radiocarbon date four of the human bones, but only one of them could be dated successfully.
Prof. Thomas Higham said: “We were surprised when the radiocarbon dating produced this very early age. We had suspected that the bones may have been more recent than this, perhaps from the third or fourth centuries.
“However, the result from the metacarpal hand bone is clearly consistent with someone who lived in the early first century AD. Whether that person is John the Baptist is a question that we cannot yet definitely answer and probably never will.”
DNA tests at the University of Copenhagen on three bones confirmed they were from the same person and probably from someone of Middle East origin – where John the Baptist came from.
They also established they were probably from a man.
Dr. Hannes Schroeder, who carried out the research, said: “Of course, this does not prove that these were the remains of John the Baptist but nor does it refute that theory.”
One theory is that the person referred to as Thomas in the inscription was given the task of bringing the relics to the island monastery.
Bulgarian researchers believe that the bones probably came to Bulgaria via Antioch, an ancient Turkish city, where the right hand of St. John was kept until the tenth century.
Many countries around the Mediterranean claim to have remains of St. John, including Turkey, Montenegro, Greece, Italy and Egypt.
The new dating evidence will be revealed in a TV documentary to be shown on the National Geographic channel on Sunday
According to the Bible, he was the cousin of Jesus and a revered holy man who baptized the son of God.
He is said to have foretold the coming of Christ before being beheaded on the orders of King Herod, with his head served up on a plate.
In a separate study, another Oxford researcher Dr. Georges Kazan has used historical documents to show that in the latter part of the fourth century, monks had taken relics of John the Baptist out of Jerusalem and these included portions of skull.
These relics were soon summoned to Constantinople by the Roman Emperor who built a church to house them there.
Further research by Dr. Georges Kazan suggests that the reliquary used to contain them may have resembled the sarcophagus-shaped casket discovered at Sveti Ivan.
Archaeological and written records suggest that these reliquaries were first developed and used at Constantinople by the city’s ruling elite at around the time that the relics of John the Baptist are said to have arrived there.
Dr. Georges Kazan said: “My research suggests that during the fifth or early sixth century, the monastery of Sveti Ivan may well have received a significant portion of St John the Baptist’s relics, as well as a prestige reliquary in the shape of a sarcophagus, from a member of Constantinople’s elite.
“This gift could have been to dedicate or rededicate the church and the monastery to St John, which the patron or patrons may have supported financially.”
The scientific analysis of the relics undertaken by Tom Higham and Christopher Ramsey at Oxford, and their colleagues in Copenhagen was supported by the National Geographic Society.
The documentary Head of John the Baptist, featuring the scientists’ work is due to be shown on the National Geographic Channel at 8:00 p.m. on 17 June 2012.
John the Baptist – the prophet who foretold the birth of Jesus Christ
John the Baptist was the son of Zachary, a priest of the Temple in Jerusalem, and Elizabeth – who was related to the Virgin Mary.
He lived as a hermit in the desert of Judea until about A.D. 27.
When he was 30, John began to preach on the banks of the Jordan against the evils of the times and called men to penance and baptism “for the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand”.
John anticipated a messianic figure who would be greater than himself and, in the New Testament, Jesus is the one whose coming John foretold.
When Christ came to him, John baptized Him, saying: “It is I who need baptism from You.” When Christ left to preach in Galilee, John continued preaching in the Jordan valley.
Fearful of his great power with the people, Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Perea and Galilee, had him arrested and imprisoned at Machaerus Fortress on the Dead Sea after John denounced his adulterous and incestuous marriage with Herodias, wife of his half brother Philip.
John was beheaded at the request of Salome, daughter of Herodias, who asked for his head at the instigation of her mother.
John is presented in the New Testament as the last of the Old Testament prophets.
When Jenna Bush Hager interviewed her grandfather, former US President George H.W. Bush about growing old – they both broke down in tears.
Visibly choked up at points throughout the interview, which marked the former President’s 88th birthday, Jenna Bush Hager couldn’t help blubbing when her grandfather read out an emotional poem he’d written for his family.
In the heartbreaking poem George Bush began crying as he told his family: If you need me I’m here.
Before the interview is shown Jenna Bush Hager confessed on NBC’s Today show: “I tried as hard as I possibly could not to cry, but we are the family criers.”
In the revealing interview George Bush told how he still has one more wish he wants to fulfill – to see his great granddaughter grow up.
George Bush said that being around 10-month-old Georgia Bush “just takes me back” and that he longed for more time with her.
He also told how he is not scared of death and looks forward to being reunited in heaven with daughter Robin, who died of leukemia aged four in 1953.
In the seven-minute interview, George Bush was by turns funny, reflective and honest about his life.
He said that being married to wife Barbara, 87, for the last 63 years has been a “challenge and a reward” and that she is a “wonder”.
George Bush said that the couple “rejoice” in their six children, 17 grandchildren and great grandchild Georgia Bush, who arrived last year.
The former President said: “She’s a beautiful girl and she just takes me back. I just wish I were going to be around to see her grow old. I won’t be…
“…I think about death. I wonder what it’s like. There’s people in heaven I want to see, definitely.”
As for who he wants to see first, George Bush said: “It depends if Barbara pre-deceases me.
“Probably go with her, but I think my mum and my father, and maybe Robin our little girl that died.”
When Jenna Bush Hager interviewed her grandfather, former US President George H.W. Bush about growing old - they both broke down in tears
In the poem, which brought George Bush and Jenna Bush Hager to tears, he writes of how in his life the summer is fading out and the “wind is a little colder” – but that he still has a zest for life.
He writes how he’d love to wind back the clock and overcome his failing health and do all the things he used to.
The final, deeply poignant passage reads: “There’s so much excitement ahead, so many grandkids to watch grow, If you need me I’m here, Devotedly, Dad.”
Asked about how he feels about turning 88, George Bush said: “It’s pretty darn old. I never thought I’d get this old.
“Ageing is alright, better than the alternative, which is not being here.”
With characteristic good humor he added that nowadays he sometimes pretends that he can’t hear what people are saying and just tells them “what?” – just to “keep them on the ball”.
As a Navy pilot George Bush was shot down over the Pacific on September 2nd 1944 but survived and grabbed his “second shot at life” with both hands.
Reflecting on his career he said: “I’m sure I could have done a lot of things better.
“It’s been a fulfilling time with a lot of experiences, including being president of the United States. [That’s] not too shabby.
“I want somebody else to define the legacy. I’ve kind of banned use of the L word. History will point out some of the things I did wrong and some of the things I did right.”
George Bush said one of the things which still stings was the suggestion made by some that he did not try his hardest during his 1993 election defeat to Bill Clinton.
He said it was a “terrible feeling, awful feeling”, adding: “I really wanted to win and worked hard and later people said I didn’t care, it was just crazy.
“I worked my heart out and it was terrible to adjust but then you figure life goes on, just do what the next challenge is.”
Recently George Bush returned to the White House to see the portrait of his son George W. Bush hung close to his own, a ceremony he described as filling him with “awe and wonder”.
Going back into the White House caused “a lot of memories to come flooding back” – but for many people it was George Bush’s brightly socks that were the talking point.
Speaking to NBC George Bush admitted he likes a “colorful sock”, going so far as to describe himself as a “sock man”.
Asked by Jenna Bush Hager if he sees the comparison to Justin Bieber, who also wears bright socks, George Bush said: “Bieb? Is he a sock man. I don’t know much about the Bieber. Never seen him, I don’t know what he does.”
Jenna Bush Hager then sang Justin Bieber’s hit Baby, to which George Bush replied: “Is that his song? I don’t know it. I don’t think I’d like it.”
TNT’s Dallas reboot has proved a hit in the US, with an average of 6.8 million viewers tuning in for its debut episode.
Wednesday’s show secured the highest ratings for the premiere of a scripted series on a cable channel this year.
Shown on TNT, the reboot reunites former Dallas stars Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray as JR, Bobby and Sue Ellen Ewing.
A new generation of Ewings includes former Desperate Housewives actor Jesse Metcalfe.
TNT’s Dallas reboot has proved a hit in the US, with an average of 6.8 million viewers tuning in for its debut episode
Jesse Metcalfe plays Christopher Ewing who, along with cousin John Ross Ewing (Josh Henderson), continues the legendary family rivalry on Southfork ranch.
The original Dallas, which aired from 1978 to 1991, centred around Ewing brothers JR and Bobby’s long and bitter battle over the family fortune.
US critics gave it mixed reviews, with some accusing the show of “cashing in” on the original, and the actors of turning in “wooden” performances.
The US Department of Homeland Security announces that illegal immigrants who came to America as children may be eligible for work permits and will not be deported.
Under a new plan, those aged between 16 and 30 who have lived in the US continuously for five years would be eligible for amnesty from deportation.
Eligible candidates will also be able to apply for a work permit.
The move is seen as addressing a top priority for many Latino voters in a presidential election year.
The US Department of Homeland Security announces that illegal immigrants who came to America as children may be eligible for work permits and will not be deported
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said deportation laws were not designed to be “blindly enforced without consideration given to the individual circumstances of each case”.
“Discretion, which is used in so many other areas, is especially justified here,” Janet Napolitano added.
In order to be eligible under the new initiative, illegal immigrants must:
• have arrived in the US when they were under the age of 16
• have lived continuously in the US for at least five years
• must be in school, or have graduated from high school or be honorably discharged veterans of the US military
A young man who turned up in Berlin last year saying he had been staying in woods for years is a Dutch 20-year-old who was living in the Netherlands until last September, German police say.
According to German police, his Dutch stepmother identified him from police photos.
His real name is said to be Robin.
The boy called himself “Ray” and was dubbed the “forest boy” by German media.
Forest boy who turned up in Berlin last year saying he had been staying in woods for years is a Dutch 20-year-old who was living in the Netherlands until last September
He had said he and his father had lived in the woods for five years, following the death of his mother in a car crash.
“Ray” told police he had left the forest after his father died and he had buried the body.
But officers failed to locate the remains and said they had doubts about the story.
It is not clear why he left the Netherlands and ended up in Berlin.
He spoke only English and a few words of German at the time, but quickly picked up the language.
German news agency DPA says he was last seen in the Dutch town of Hengelo in September – just days before he surfaced in Berlin.
A Dutch school friend told Dutch television that the man had “personal problems”.
In recent years, all other major football nations have been playing catch up as they attempt to find a way of coping with the brilliance of the Spanish team. The combination of brilliant technique, fast pass-and-move football, and robust physical presence on the ball has made the Spanish team appear almost unstoppable over the last half decade. Having first captured the European Championships in 2008, to overcome the psychological nightmare of decades of underachievement, they went on to clinch the World Cup two years later and cement their status as the dominant force in international football. So with another major tournament in full swing, the question those watching the games and/or those involved with Euro 2012 Football Betting on sites like Bwin are asking is: will this domination continue?
When looking at the all-conquering achievements of the Spanish national team over the last half decade, it should be noted that this has been paralleled by a similar dominance in club football of the Spanish side Barcelona. Perhaps the apex of this was the final of the Champions League in 2011, when Barcelona took on the best team in England – Manchester United – and made them look second rate. However this season has seen frailties begin to appear in Barcelona’s armory, as they failed to win their domestic league and were knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-finals. When you consider that Spain’s other major team – Real Madrid – also fell at the same stage, this may offer some hope to the other teams.
Throw in the continued problems being experienced by Fernando Torres, and this is further grounds to think that Spain may not have things all their own way. However, we must keep things in perspective: Torres was struggling in 2010 and Spain still won the World Cup, while Champions League semi-final appearances by both Barcelona and Real Madrid hardly constitute a collapse in Spanish domestic football. The biggest encouragement for those hoping for a genuine challenger to Spain comes in the form of the strength of other sides – most notably Germany and the Netherlands – rather than the weakness of Spain.
Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino boss, who was one of Newt Gingrich’s top backers, has become Mitt Romney’s largest donor.
Sheldon Adelson has handed a $10 million donation to Restore Our Future, a super PAC devoted to the election campaign of the former Massachusetts governor, according to the Wall Street Journal.
While the gift could make a big difference to Mitt Romney’s election hopes, it is little more than a drop in the ocean for Sheldon Adelson, whose fortune is believed to add up to $20 billion.
Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino boss, who was one of Newt Gingrich's top backers, has become Mitt Romney's largest donor
Sheldon Adelson made his fortune with Las Vegas Sands, which owns enormous casinos in Macau and Singapore as well as in Las Vegas.
The tycoon was by far the biggest supporter of Newt Gingrich’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, propping it up almost single-handedly with around $21 million worth of funding.
Sheldon Adelson, who appears to be primarily motivated by support for Israel, has apparently pledged to give a total of $100 million to Republicans this election year.
US President Barack Obama had a busy day yesterday as he appeared at not just one, but two A-list fundraising events in Manhattan – raising a total of $4.5 million.
However, Barack Obama’s re-election campaign will not have to pay the full cost of his jaunt to New York City, because he combined the trip with an official event which will be charged to the taxpayers.
Before the fundraisers, one at Sarah Jessica Parker’s house and one at the five-star Plaza Hotel, Barack Obama scheduled a visit to the World Trade Center site.
Following his visits across New York Barack Obama headed home to the White House in Washington DC aboard the presidential helicopter, Marine One.
Barack Obama has now held more fundraising events than the last six presidents combined, leading to his opponents coining the derisive nickname “Campaigner in Chief”.
He frequently combines the events with his official duties, which allows his re-election campaign to defray the President’s travel costs by charging part of them to the public purse.
For a trip like yesterday’s, involving both official duties and campaign events, a formula is applied so that the campaign pays part of the costs – but it still works out cheaper than making a trip purely for campaigning.
Barack Obama must be accompanied by Secret Service protection and fly on Air Force One at all times for security reasons, further increasing the cost of his travel.
The World Trade Center, which Barack Obama has visited several times before, is a major building project and recipient of generous federal aid, as well as an iconic national memorial.
It is unclear what prompted Barack Obama to return to the site – where he took the chance to hail “the American spirit” – on this occasion.
Before the fundraisers, one at Sarah Jessica Parker's house and one at the five-star Plaza Hotel, Barack Obama scheduled a visit to the World Trade Center site
The intimate dinner at the house of Sarah Jessica Parker and her actor husband Matthew Broderick banked about $2 million, with 50 people paying $40,000 each to attend.
Speaking in a dimly-lit, art-filled room, Barack Obama told supporters they would play a critical role in an election that would determine a vision for the nation’s future.
“You’re the tie-breaker,” he said.
“You’re the ultimate arbiter of which direction this country goes.”
Among the celebrities on hand to hear Barack Obama’s remarks were Oscar winner Meryl Streep, fashion designer Michael Kors and Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who moderated a private question-and-answer session between the President and the guests. Matthew Broderick, who was starring in a Broadway musical, was absent.
The night’s second glitzy fundraiser, which included a performance from Mariah Carey and a speech by singer Alicia Keys, yielded the Obama campaign at least $2.5 million.
Some New Yorkers reacted with anger at the prospect of footing the bill for Barack Obama’s fundraising visit to the city.
Much of downtown Manhattan was temporarily sealed off for the duration of Barack Obama’s visit, and the street in the West Village neighborhood where Sarah Jessica Parker’s house is situated was closed to pedestrians.
Some pedestrians bemoaned the disruption caused to the New York streets by the presidential motorcade – Mary Grach told ABC that Barack Obama’s visit was “really inconveniencing a lot of commuters”.
She added: “There has to be a better way to go about it rather than putting out how many thousands of riders out of commission, and having to find another way home.”
In 2004, Democrats criticized George W. Bush for combining fundraisers with official duties, and Republicans have responded in kind this year.
Barack Obama has been furiously fundraising ever since a Supreme Court decision removed most restrictions on spending by super PACs, outside groups which raise money to promote causes and candidates.
The President initially opposed super PACs, but earlier this year he relented and allowed top officials to speak at fundraising events organized by such groups.
The Republican party has officially complained about Barack Obama’s campaign activities.
In a letter, Reince Priebus, Republican National Committee chairman, alleged: “Throughout his administration, but particularly in recent weeks, President Obama has been passing off campaign travel as <<official events>>, thereby allowing taxpayers, rather than his campaign, to pay for his re-election efforts.”
During the 2008 election, Barack Obama declined public money for his campaign, allowing him to raise an unlimited amount privately.
He ended up spending around $730 million, almost double the amount raised by his rival John McCain.
Neither Barack Obama nor his Republican opponent Mitt Romney is expected to take public financing for November’s election.
Parties in Greece are making their last pitch for votes ahead of a repeat election on Sunday seen as crucial to the debt-laden country’s future in the eurozone.
New Democracy, the pro-bailout conservative party which narrowly led at the ballot last month, is due to hold its last big campaign rally.
Syriza, the anti-bailout bloc which surged to second place in May, held its final rally in Athens on Thursday.
Unofficial opinion polls suggest a fall in support for anti-bailout parties.
Under Greek election law, official opinion polls are banned in the two weeks before the election.
Tough austerity measures were attached to the two international bailouts awarded to Greece, an initial package worth 110 billion Euros ($138 billion) in 2010, then a follow-up last year worth 130 billion Euros.
While five of the seven main political groups reject the last bailout, only one – the Communists – wants the country to abandon the euro.
Syriza, the anti-bailout bloc which surged to second place in May, held its final rally in Athens on Thursday
Germany, which has the eurozone’s most powerful economy, insists Greece, like other member-states which have received international bailouts, must abide by the austerity conditions.
German Bundesbank (central bank) chief Jens Weidmann repeated the warning on Friday, adding that the eurozone could not allow any country to “blackmail” it with the threat of financial contagion.
At Thursday’s rally, Syriza leader Alexis Tspiras renewed his pledge to tear up the bailout conditions, which involve drastic spending cuts, tax rises, and labor market and pension reforms.
“The memorandum of bankruptcy will belong to the past on Monday,” he told supporters in Omonia Square.
“Brussels expect us, we are coming on Monday to negotiate over people’s rights, to cancel the bailout.”
He pointed to the huge bank loan package deal between the EU and Spain on Sunday, arguing a bailout was possible without the kind of drastic cuts demanded of Greece.
“Spain negotiated and succeeded in taking financial support without a fiscal consolidation package, despite the lenders’ threats and blackmail,” Alexis Tsipras said.
Interviewed by Spanish daily El Pais, Jens Weidmann called for the eurozone to impose broad conditions on Spain over its loan package, worth up to 100 billion Euros.
He warned that Greece, but also the Irish Republic and Portugal, had been given the impression that this was a “rescue with no conditionality outside the financial system” and this was “already eroding the commitment to the terms of the existing programmes”.
“But foot-dragging on addressing the structural problems will perpetuate the crisis, and the market reaction reflects this concern,” Germany’s top banker said.
On Friday evening, New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras is expected to address his supporters in the capital’s Syntagma Square, near the Greek parliament.
Antonis Samaras, who wants to ease the bailout conditions, has accused anti-bailout parties of “playing poker” with Greece.
“There is the path of responsibility, in which you are clear about what you want, and we say we want the euro and re-negotiation [of the bailout],” he said, quoted by Reuters news agency.
Researchers have found that red dots, hand stencils and animal figures represent the oldest examples yet found of cave art in Europe.
The symbols on the walls at 11 Spanish locations, including the World Heritage sites of Altamira, El Castillo and Tito Bustillo have long been recognized for their antiquity.
But researchers have now used refined dating techniques to get a more accurate determination of their ages.
One motif – a faint red dot – is said to be more than 40,000 years old.
“In Cantabria, [in] El Castillo, we find hand stencils that are formed by blowing paint against the hands pressed against the wall of a cave,” explained Dr. Alistair Pike from Bristol University, UK, and the lead author on a scholarly paper published in the journal Science.
“We find one of these to date older than 37,300 years on <<The Panel of Hands>>, and very nearby there is a red disc made by a very similar technique that dates to older than 40,800 years.
“This now currently is Europe’s oldest dated art by at least 4,000 years,” he told reporters.
Researchers have found that red dots, hand stencils and animal figures represent the oldest examples yet found of cave art in Europe
It is arguably also the oldest reliably dated cave art anywhere in the world.
The team arrived at the ages by examining the calcium carbonate (calcite) crusts that had formed on top of the paintings.
This material builds up in the exact same way that stalagmites and stalactites form in a cave.
In the process, the calcite incorporates small numbers of naturally occurring radioactive uranium atoms. These atoms decay into thorium at a very precise rate through the ages, and the ratio of the two different elements in any sample can therefore be used as a kind of clock to time the moment when the calcite crust first formed.
Uranium-thorium dating has been around for decades, but the technique has now been so refined that only a tiny sample is required to get a good result.
This enabled the team to take very thin films of deposits from just above the paint pigments; and because the films were on top, the dates they gave were minimum ages – that is, the paintings had to be at least as old as the calcite deposits, and very probably quite a bit older.
The oldest dates coincide with the first known immigration into Europe of modern humans (Homo sapiens). Before about 41,000 years ago, it is their evolutionary cousins, the Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis), who dominate the continent.
Dr. Alistair Pike’s and colleagues’ work therefore raises some intriguing questions about who might have authored the markings.
If anatomically modern humans were responsible then it means they engaged in the activity almost immediately on their arrival in Europe.
If Neanderthals were the artisans, it adds another layer to our understanding of their capabilities and sophistication.
The great antiquity of the paintings leads co-author Joao Zilhao, a research professor at ICREA, University of Barcelona, to think the Neanderthals produced the motifs. Finding even older paintings than the red dot at El Castillo might confirm that “gut feeling”, he said.
“There is a strong chance that these results imply Neanderthal authorship,” Prof. Joao Zilhao explained.
“But I will not say we have proven it because we haven’t, and it cannot be proven at this time.
“What we have to do now is go back, sample more and find out whether we can indeed get dates older than 42, 43, 44,000.
“There is already a sampling programme going on. We have samples from more sites in Spain, from sites in Portugal and from other caves in Western Europe and so eventually we will be able to sort it out.”
Tracing the origins of abstract throught and behaviors, and the rate at which they developed, are critical to understanding the human story.
The use of symbolism – the ability to let one thing represent another in the mind – is one of those traits that set our animal species apart from all others.
It is what underpins artistic endeavor and also the use of language.
Angelina Jolie has invited the Duchess of Cambridge to the Olympics party she is throwing alongside fiancé Brad Pitt.
The Hollywood couple has hired out London’s Victoria and Albert and are hosting an Olympics-themed Night At The Museum.
The party, to take place on 25 July, two days before the official Olympics party, is to be held in honor of sporting heavyweight Muhammad Ali.
The glamorous soiree is intended to raise funds for the couple’s chosen charity, Sports for Peace.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, who are currently renting in London while Angelina is filming for her movie, Maleficient (and rumored to be moving to the UK on a more permanent basis) plan to throw open the doors to their $30 million townhouse for the mother of all after-parties.
Angelina Jolie has invited the Duchess of Cambridge to the Olympics party she is throwing alongside fiancé Brad Pitt
A source told the Daily Mirror: “The who’s who of British and American celebrity will be in attendance, and invitees have been ordered not to take any photos from their phones.”
Other invited A-listers include David and Victoria Beckham, Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones and Prince Harry.
Whether Kate Middleton and Prince William accept the invitation remains to be seen but one thing’s for sure, if Kate does make an appearance, all eyes will be on the wardrobe choices of the event’s two leading ladies.
After much speculation surrounding the name of Beyonce’s daughter with Jay-Z, Blue Ivy, the singer has now hinted at her reasons behind choosing it.
Beyonce, 30, posted a passage on her official Tumblr from Rebecca Solnit’s 2005 novel, A Field Guide to Getting Lost.
The excerpt focuses on the significance of the color blue, beginning: “The world is blue at its edges and in its depths.”
And the final sentence Beyoncé posted seems to summarize the power of the color as it reads: “The light that gets lost, gives us the beauty of the world, so much of which is in the color blue.”
After much speculation surrounding the name of Beyonce’s daughter with Jay-Z, Blue Ivy, the singer has now hinted at her reasons behind choosing it
A picture of the descriptive words sits on Beyonce’s website above an image of her resting her hand, which is decorated with teal nail varnish, against her cheek.
It seems Beyoncé is a big fan of Rebecca Solnit and the author may have had some influence over the Love on Top singer when it came to naming her first child.
Beyonce posted a passage on her official Tumblr from Rebecca Solnit's 2005 novel, A Field Guide to Getting Lost
Blue Ivy was born on January 7 and ever since fans of Beyoncé and Jay-Z have been speculating the symbolism behind the unusual name.
Some have thought it may not be a coincidence that Jay-Z has released three Blueprint albums in the last ten years.
And the color features in the lyrics of the star’s track Go Crazy, where he raps: “My favorite hue is Jay-Z blue.”
Meanwhile it is widely believed that the name Ivy is intended to reference the Roman numeral IV, as the number four bears lots of significance for the power couple.
The pair was married on April 4, 2008 and 4 is the title of Beyoncé’s latest album.
In addition Beyonce’s birthday is September 4 and her hip hop star beau’s is December 4.
City officials in Ankang, China, have apologized to Feng Jianmei, the woman who was forced to have an abortion in the seventh month of pregnancy and suspended three people responsible, state media reports.
This came after photos showing a foetus and the mother, Feng Jianmei, shocked web users.
Feng Jianmei was made to undergo the procedure in Shaanxi province in the seventh month of pregnancy, local officials said after investigating.
Chinese law clearly prohibits abortions beyond six months.
The Ankang city government said it decided to suspend three officials in Zhenping county following initial investigations. It also urged the county government to conduct a thorough review of its family planning operations, said Xinhua news.
City officials in Ankang, China, have apologized to Feng Jianmei, the woman who was forced to have an abortion in the seventh month of pregnancy and suspended three people responsible
On Thursday night, the city officials apologized to Feng Jianmei, 27, and her family, the report said.
She was ”forced to terminate her pregnancy” at a hospital in Zhenping on 2 June, said Xinhua.
Officials in Zhenping county claimed she agreed to the abortion because she was not allowed to have a second child by law. She already has a daughter, born in 2007.
But activists said she was forced into the abortion as she could not pay the fine for having a second child.
Rights groups say China’s one-child policy has meant women being coerced into abortions, which Beijing denies.
“Feng Jianmei’s story demonstrates how the One-Child Policy continues to sanction violence against women every day,” said Chai Ling of the US-based activist group All Girls Allowed.
The group says it spoke to Feng Jianmei and her husband Deng Jiyuan after the incident.
Deng Jiyuan said his wife had been forcibly taken to hospital and restrained before the procedure.
Media reports from China say Feng Jianmei has been traumatized by what has happened.
The photos sparked outrage among Internet users.
“This is what they say the Japanese devils and Nazis did. But it’s happening in reality and it is by no means the only case… They [the officials] should be executed,” one reader on news website netease.com said, according to the AFP news agency.
A US report has found that images of patients on ventilators on cigarette packets help smokers heed the health warnings about smoking.
A study of 200 smokers in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that 83% were able to remember the health warning if it was accompanied by a graphic image.
This compared with a 50% success rate when text-only warnings were viewed.
Using eye-tracking technology, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania measured how long smokers spent viewing each part of a cigarette advertisement containing warning labels.
A US report has found that images of patients on ventilators on cigarette packets help smokers heed the health warnings about smoking
After looking at the advertisement, each participant was asked to write down the warning to test how well they remembered the information.
The faster a smoker’s eyes were drawn to the text in the graphic warning and the longer they viewed the image, the more likely they were to remember the information correctly, the study said.
Dr. Andrew Strasser, lead author of the study and associate professor at the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said the findings were important.
“In addition to showing the value of adding a graphic warning label, this research also provides valuable insight into how the warning labels may be effective, which may serve to create more effective warning labels in the future,” said Dr. Andrew Strasser.
Dr. Andrew Strasser said that he hoped graphic warning labels would help people become better informed about the risks of smoking and lead to a decision to stop.
In the US, health officials ordered that graphic warning labels should appear on cigarette packets from September this year, but tobacco companies are challenging the decision in court.
Australia is currently the only country which has so far agreed to plain packaging and a ban on branding on cigarette packets.
US scientists have recently identified a possible genetic link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.
It has been known for some time that people with diabetes have a much higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s, but not why this is so.
Now researchers writing in Genetics say a study of worms has indicated a known Alzheimer’s gene also plays a role in the way insulin is processed.
Dementia experts said more work in humans was now needed.
US scientists have recently identified a possible genetic link between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia.
There are medications which can slow the progress of the disease, but none that can halt its progress.
A key indication of Alzheimer’s, which can only be seen after death, is the presence of sticky plaques of amyloid protein in decimated portions of patients’ brains.
Scientists have already found mutations in a gene involved in the processing of amyloid protein in Alzheimer’s which run in families.
In this study, a team from the City College of New York looked at a similar gene in the nematode worms (C. elegans).
These worms are often studied because they, perhaps surprisingly, a useful model for human research.
The researchers, led by Prof. Chris Li, found the gene in the worms also affected the insulin pathway – the chemical reactions involved in its production and processing.
Prof. Chris Li said: “People with type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of dementia.
“The insulin pathways are involved in many metabolic processes, including helping to keep the nervous system healthy.”
She said more work was needed to investigate this potential link and its effects further.
Mark Johnston, editor-in-chief of the journal Genetics, said it was “an important discovery”.
“We know there’s a link between Alzheimer’s and diabetes, but until now it was somewhat of a mystery.
“This finding could open new doors for treating and preventing the disease.”
A bottle-throwing brawl reportedly took place between hip hop stars Chris Brown and Drake in W.i.P nightclub in Manhattan in the early hours of Thursday.
Now police are investigating whether shots were fired during the fight.
Witnesses told the NYPD they heard a gun go off amid the ruckus in the early hours of Thursday, although none said they saw the weapon.
“We are investigating the possibility of gunshots fired at the club,” NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told the New York Daily News.
“We have several eyewitnesses telling detectives they heard what they believed to be shots fired during the disturbance.”
Witnesses claimed the brawl – which saw at least five people hospitalized – came after Chris Brown and Drake scrapped over their former flame, singer Rihanna.
On Thursday night, Chris Brown’s lawyer reportedly gave detectives “physical evidence” allegedly proving Drake was involved in the fight – even though the hip hop artist said he had been outside.
Lawyer Mark Geragos went to the NYPD late on Thursday night to present evidence showing that Drake was one of the aggressors, law enforcement sources have claimed.
Chris Brown is also reportedly being treated as a “witness and victim” rather than a suspect in the melee, which turned the New York City nightclub, W.i.P, into a war zone.
He spoke to detectives about the incident late on Thursday night, yet Drake has not.
There have been conflicting reports about what happened at the SoHo nightspot.
Witnesses claimed the two recording stars started fighting after Chris Brown sent Drake a bottle of champagne as a peace offering – which was promptly snubbed by Drake.
He reportedly sent the bottle back with a note: “I’m f****** the love of your life, deal with it.”
Chris Brown, 23, dated Rihanna until she dumped him after he savagely beat her in 2009. After their breakup, Rihanna was romantically linked with rapper Drake.
The New York Police Department is investigating the fight.
A spokesman said investigators believe Chris Brown, his bodyguard and a woman with him were trying to leave the club about 4:00 a.m. when they were confronted by five members of Drake’s posse.
As they were squaring off, someone – police don’t know who yet – threw a bottle.
Drake, whose real name is Aubrey Drake Graham, was not in the group that confronted Chris Brown, said NYPD Lt. John Grimple.
One of the club-goers caught in the middle of the fracas was Hollie C., an Australian tourist who was rushed to Bellevue Hospital after she was smashed in the head with a flying bottle during the fight.
A gruesome photo shows a gash in her head and her face covered with blood. She needed 16 stitches to close the wound.
Hollie C. told TMZ.com she went to W.i.P. with friends on Wednesday night, unaware they were sitting in between two angry rappers and their entourages. Suddenly, all hell broke loose.
“Within a few moments of noticing glass being thrown around, I saw a glass bottle headed towards me, consequently hitting me in the head,” she told TMZ.
“I immediately started to bleed and proceeded to fall in and out of consciousness.”
She was one of eight people treated as a result of the fight. Hollie C. and four others had nothing to do with the bar brawl.
Tony Parker, the French basketball player who was once married to actress Eva Longoria, also claimed he was hurt during the fight.
“I was quietly with my friends when a fight broke out. Bottles started flying everywhere. I tried to protect my girlfriend and I got everything,” Tony Parker told French website Direct Star.
“The cornea is affected. I cannot do anything for seven days. Wear a therapeutic contact lens and I get drops. I was lucky, that I almost had to get stitches.”
Chris Brown posted a picture of a gash on his chin, apparently sustained from the fight with Drake
Big Pat, Chris Brown’s bodyguard, was photographed laying in a hospital bed with a bloody wound on his head. He was seen out in Manhattan on Thursday with the cut visible on his head.
Chris Brown was also injured. He posted a picture of a gash on his chin, apparently sustained from the fight with Drake. His female companion was also hurt.
In the wake of the horrific injuries, the New York City Council has called for an emergency meeting with nightclub owners and police to look into policies for selling bottled drinks.
City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn released a statement on Friday that read: “I am deeply concerned by reports of the bottle throwing melee that injured more than five people in SoHo this week.
“That is why I have immediately convened an emergency meeting next week between my office, the NYPD, and the nightlife industry.
“The purpose of this meeting is to send a clear message to all nightclub patrons that bottles cannot be used as weapons and to determine if the guidelines surrounding bottle service need to be updated or reworked.”
After Drake snubbed Chris Brown’s bottle of champagne, Brown reportedly flew into a rage and confronted Drake, according to website Global Grind.
Drake allegedly threw a punch but before the singer could retaliate, another man hit Chris Brown in the face with a bottle.
A source told the New York Post: “They were on opposite sides of the room, Drake went over to the middle of the club to talk to someone, then words were exchanged with Chris and his entourage.”
The source said someone from Drake’s entourage, possibly the singer himself, threw a bottle.
“Once the bottle was thrown, all hell broke loose and there were more bottles thrown.”
The fight allegedly kicked off as the last song was playing, just before 4:00 a.m.
Police were already at the scene because it was closing time and that they “were on it in seconds and began getting everyone out of the club”.
Pictures of the aftermath show the club floor strewn with broken glass.
Chris Brown was pulled out of the situation by his own security and helped out of the club while Drake was pulled to the back of the club, the source said. “[Drake] was one of the last out of W.i.P.”
Police were looking at surveillance footage and talking to patrons who witnessed the melee. No arrests have been made and no complaints filed.
In a separate incident, just a day after the brawl, the bar’s owner Jonathan Cantor was arrested after out-of-control music at his other venue, Greenhouse in SoHo, the New York Post reported.
Drake has denied he was involved in “any kind last night at W.i.P.”. His spokeswoman said in a statement: “He was on his way out of the club when the altercation began.”
Chris Brown and Drake have had a war of words since both being romantically attached to Rihanna. The fight will further fuel rumors regarding the closeness of Rihanna to Chris Brown.
Earlier this week the pair partied at the same club for the second time in as many days, leaving within minutes of each other.
TMZ reported the pair was in the club together for around 30 minutes and Chris Brown spent some time with Rihanna at her table.
Sitting in different booths, the couple still “kept a close eye on each other” – and Chris Brown sent her over two bottles of Ace of Spades Champagne.
A video surfaced earlier this week of the pair leaving the club minutes apart.
The lovelorn pair has been linked together several times already this year, after it emerged that they had recorded songs with each other.
Grisly photos of Chinese young woman Feng Jianmei as she was lying beside her baby which had been aborted by force in her seventh month of pregnancy have caused outrage in China.
Pictures purporting to show Feng Jianmei and her blood-covered baby have shocked anti-abortion groups in China – and fury is spreading around the world.
The mother told local media that she was forceably injected with a chemical to induce an abortion and her child was stillborn 36 hours later.
Because Feng Jianmei already had a child, she said, local birth-control authorities ordered her to pay a fine of $6,500.
She didn’t have the money, she said, so a team from the local family planning authority in Shannxi province came to collect her from her home and take her to hospital for the forced abortion.
Recounting the horror, Feng Jianmei said she told the family planning department she could not pay the fine because her mother-in-law needed money for cancer treatment.
It was then, she claimed, the authorities began their action against her.
Because Feng Jianmei already had a child, she said, local birth-control authorities ordered her to pay a fine of $6,500
Feng Jianmei said no less than 20 staff from the family planning department came to her home and placed her under arrest.
As they drove her to the hospital for a forced abortion, she began to resist – resulting in her being beaten.
At the hospital she was restrained and given an injection that would be lethal to the foetus. None of her family was allowed to be present during the traumatic time, she said.
Feng Jianmei said that her father-in-law heard about her being taken away but when he rushed to the hospital he was prevented from entering the obstetrics ward.
As outrage spread around anti-abortion groups in China, the authorities strenuously denied Feng Jianmei’s version of the events.
Li Yuongjou, deputy chief of Ankang’s family department, said the reality was that “Feng was not forced to abort”.
He said: “A lot of us tried for days to educate her. She agreed to the abortion herself.”
Li Yuongjou added that in China an abortion is allowed up to 28 weeks, saying: “It’s not illegal to conduct <<medium term>> induction of labor.”
And he admitted, however, that in his town the local target of enforcing the one-child policy had not been achieved for two consecutive years and the authorities were acting more strenuously to see that the target covering 95% of the population was reached.
Local media said it was most likely that Feng Jianmei had been injected with a chemical commonly known as Lifannuo – a powerful bactericide used in the late 1980s and early 1990s when China’s one-child policy was strongly pursued by authorities.
It is not known how Feng Jianmei managed to obtain photos of herself beside the aborted child, but anti-abortion groups said they were convinced the pictures were genuine.
Tycoon Allen Stanford has been sentenced to 110 years in jail for operating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of more than $7 billion.
The scheme was described as one of the largest in US history.
In court, Allen Stanford denied any guilt, telling the judge at his sentencing hearing: “I did not defraud anybody.”
Allen Stanford, a Texan banker, rose to prominence outside the US when he bankrolled international cricket competitions in the UK and Caribbean.
But after the collapse of his agreement to stage Twenty20 cricket in England, his financial empire began to crumble amid investigations by US regulators.
Forbes Magazine listed him as the 605th richest man in the world in 2006.
Allen Stanford has been sentenced to 110 years in jail for operating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of more than $7 billion
However, since his arrest in 2009 he has spent three years in detention after being denied bail.
Allen Stanford’s Ponzi scheme centred on his banking operation based in the Caribbean island nation of Antigua.
Some 30,000 individual investors were swindled, it was alleged. Prosecutors failed to find as much as 92% of the assets Stanford International Bank claimed to have.
In his statement in court on Thursday, which ran for some 40 minutes, he told the judge: “I’m not here to ask for sympathy or forgiveness or to throw myself at your mercy.
“I did not run a Ponzi scheme. I didn’t defraud anybody.”
US District Judge David Hittner, who presided over Allen Stanford’s trial, called his actions “egregious criminal frauds” during the hearing.
Two victims of the scheme spoke during the hearing, including Angela Shaw, who told the court Stanford was worse than convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff because he preyed on middle-class investors.
“He stole more than millions,” Angela Shaw said.
“He stole our lives as we knew them.”
His sentence is 40 years shorter than the jail term handed down to Bernard Madoff, who pleaded guilty in 2009 to a Ponzi scheme targeting wealthy investors.
Allen Stanford was convicted in March on 13 of 14 charges against him, despite his lawyers attempting to shift most of the blame on his chief financial officer.
Prosecutors had asked for a 230-year sentence, with defense lawyers arguing for a lenient term of 44 months.
Three other former executives at Allen Stanford’s company are awaiting trial, while a former Antiguan financial regulator is expected to be extradited to the US for related charges.
While a jury has cleared the way for access to about $330 million in stolen funds sitting in Allen Stanford’s frozen bank accounts across Canada, England and Switzerland, legal wrangling could make it years before investors recover any of that money.
