A New Zealand judge has ruled that luxury cars, giant TVs and jewellery seized during a police raid will be returned to Megaupload owner Kim Dotcom.
The property was confiscated during a dawn raid on the New Zealand home of Kim Dotcom.
The judge has now ruled that the court order used to justify the seizure should never have been granted.
The raid led to the closure of Megaupload and seizure of the web domains it used.
Judge Judith Potter said the court order should now be considered “null and void”.
On 20 January, police in New Zealand swooped on the $32 million mansion in Auckland where Kim Dotcom lived with his family.
The raid was carried out at the request of US authorities who accuse Kim Dotcom (formerly Schmitz) and his business partners of using Megaupload to engage in large scale copyright theft.
The defendants have denied the charges and said they were diligent in policing Megaupload for any content that violated copyright laws.
A New Zealand judge has ruled that luxury cars, giant TVs and jewellery seized during a police raid will be returned to Megaupload owner Kim Dotcom
Luxury cars, jet skis, jewellery and other assets were confiscated during the January raid even though it now emerges that paperwork justifying the seizure was incorrectly filed.
The seizure left Kim Dotcom briefly unable to mount a legal defense.
Government and police in New Zealand have admitted making “procedural errors” when they filed the paperwork.
Kim Dotcom’s legal team have seized on the errors saying the initial asset grab was “unlawful” and, as a result, his property should be returned.
A hearing was scheduled after the government admitted making five separate mistakes on its first court order. During that hearing Judge Potter ruled that the original paperwork had no legal power.
Alongside documents laying bare the mistake, the New Zealand government filed a second request seeking to confiscate the assets already seized during the raid. This paperwork also sought to confiscate more assets uncovered using evidence found during the original raid.
Judge Judith Potter granted this order temporarily and said she would soon rule whether the blunder would mean Kim Dotcom’s assets would be returned to him.
Heavily airbrushed photographs of Demi Moore from the latest campaign for beauty brand Helena Rubinstein are released and it is appears that any such signs of stress have been entirely erased.
More than that, thanks to an over-zealous session with Photoshop and the omnipresent airbrush, the natural contours of Demi Moore’s face are gone: her strong, angular chin; the lines running from nose to mouth, the shape of her nose – all are entirely obliterated.
Demi Moore, 49, is all but unrecognizable. In her place is a bleached, smooth, line-free version of Demi Moore that looks more like a computer generated fembot than the familiar Hollywood actress with five decades under her belt.
Demi Moore almost unrecognizable after extreme airbrushing for Helena Rubinstein campaign
Life & Style Picture Editor Craig Gunn, who studied a digital version of the images, said: “This would have had been done by someone very expert and would have been at least a day’s work.
“Without seeing the original photographs I can only speculate. But it looks as though the skintone has been heavily airbrushed, with quite a thick application of the brush. Doing this gets rid of all pit marks, pores, moles, blemishes and fine hairs on the face to create a smoother look.”
After a marriage breakdown, severe weight loss and drug-related collapse, Demi Moore has been looking less than her best
“In Demi’s case, they have left nothing behind.
“In the process they’ve also taken out a lot of her natural skintone, and made her look a lot paler than she is in reality.
“She does have good cheekbones herself, but here it looks as though they have been heavily defined in after-effects. The shading underneath is quite clearly enhanced.
“Her natural hazel eyes have been changed to a light green – probably by changing the hue in Photoshop, a simple process that takes moments.
“It’s tricky to see exactly what liquefication she has had done (a process that reshapes and slims the shape of the face, making it look narrower) because the photographer has cleverly made Demi cover the jaw area using her hands.
“But it does look as though she may have had a slight reduction of scale of her face, including a smoothing of her chin into a more almond-like, less angular shape. Her chin bone is visible in normal photos but is not at all here.
“Such subtle changes would change the resulting face shape quite dramatically, even if individually each element is quite subtle.”
Regarding her flawless hairline, Craig Gunn says this too was more than likely created in Photoshop.
“There’s only so much they can do with hair and make up,” he says.
“And here they have clearly made the hairline look very symmetrical.
“She looks quite unlike her usual self. It’s a slightly alien effect. When you start taking away people’s skintones and smoothing out their features, they look like mannequins. You’re removing the human elements of the face.
“There’s no doubt it makes celebrities and models look younger, but you lose the essence of their face.
“Still, it’s commonplace in the beauty industry. It’s all about creating symmetry – but it’s a false beauty.”
Hugh Grant has opened up for the first time about his baby daughter, who he had with former girlfriend Tinglan Hong, admitting that he likes his first child “very much”.
Hugh Grant, 51, made the admission as he revealed he and Chinese actress Tinglan Hong had decided to call the little girl Tabitha.
The famous actor told The Guardian newspaper: “Lots of people warned me that the baby period is not that exciting.
“But I am excited, actually. I thought, well, I’ll bluff through – but very little bluffing has been required.”
Hugh Grant also said he has no regrets about becoming a father for the first time.
The actor said: “I like my daughter very much. Fantastic. Has she changed my life? I’m not sure.
“Not yet. Not massively, no. But I’m absolutely thrilled to have had her, I really am. And I feel a better person.”
Hugh Grant has opened up about his baby daughter Tabitha, who he had with Chinese actress Tinglan Hong
Hugh Grant, who described his relationship with Tinglan Hong as a “fleeting affair”, added to the newspaper that he has no intention of starting a trust fund for his little girl Tabitha.
He explained: “My other worry is about – and as I say, there are few things in life I believe in 100 per cent – but another one is not giving your children money.
“I see nothing but f***-ups among my trust-fund friends. It’s like 99 per cent f***-ups. So I would not want to do that to my children, no.”
Hugh Grant, who has never married, has starred in films including About A Boy and Notting Hill.
In 1995, Hugh Grant starred alongside Julianne Moore in the film Nine Months, which told the story of a commitment-phobe who finds out his long-term girlfriend is pregnant.
Hugh Grant also dated Elizabeth Hurley for 13 years before they split in 2000, five years after he was caught cheating with Hollywood prostitute Divine Brown.
The actor and socialite Jemima Khan then dated for three years from 2004.
Jessica Simpson was seen showing off her blooming figure as she celebrated her baby shower surrounded by her family and famous friends.
Among those attending were Jessica Simpson’s younger sister Ashlee, Ellen Pompeo and actress and mother-of-two Jessica Alba.
According to Us Weekly the affair was themed with pink and yellow tube shaped balloons and spring tulips to decorate the location.
Jessica Simpson, 31, and her fiance Eric Johnson arrived at the venue before any of her famous guests, with Johnson suited and booted for the occasion in a black suit and baby blue shirt.
Apparently the event saw around 50 of the star’s closest friends and family from Texas show up.
Jessica Simpson was seen showing off her blooming figure as she celebrated her baby shower surrounded by her family and famous friends
A source told Us Weekly: “It was a kid friendly shower with many of her friends bringing babies.”
Jessica Alba brought her youngest daughter Haven, seven months, and Ashlee Simpson brought Bronx, three.
The source added: “She received tons of gifts mostly wrapped in pink gift wrap and boxes. There were several books, stuffed toys and clothes among other items.”
Researchers from the University of British Columbia have unlocked a secret code written on everyone’s face which reveals when people are lying.
Scientists have discovered for the first time, five tell-tale muscle groups that control facial expressions, activate differently when we are trying to deceive.
They based their study on more than 23,000 frames of television footage from 52 people emotionally pleading to the public for the return of a missing relative – half of whom were eventually convicted of murdering that person.
The first study of its kind to focus on so-called “high-stakes” emotional deception, discovered that even the most convincing of actors cannot control their facial muscles.
The paper – called Darwin the Detective: Observable Facial Muscle Contractions Reveal Emotional High-Stakes Lies – looked for emotional “leakage”, particularly via those facial muscles which are harder to control – particularly during stressful events or when great concentration is required to maintain a lie.
“Specifically, the <<grief>> muscles, the corrugator supercilli – located around the eyebrow – and depressor anguli oris – between the chin and corner of the lips – were more often contracted in the faces of <<genuine>> rather than <<deceptive pleaders>>,” researchers from the University of British Columbia found.
Researchers from the University of British Columbia have unlocked a secret code written on everyone’s face which reveals when people are lying
Researchers found subtle contraction of the zygomatic major – which runs from cheekbone to the mouth – activated during masking smiles, and full contraction of the frontalis – the brow – which flexed during failed attempts to appear sad, “were more commonly identified in the faces of deceptive pleaders”.
The study said: “During the critical lie, told by each deceptive murderer, upper face surprise and lower face happiness were likely to be expressed, attributed to the failed attempt to appear sad and leakage of happiness.
“Deception – a fundamental aspect of human communication – often is accompanied by the simulation of unfelt emotions or the concealment of genuine emotions to correspond to the false message…
“Given limited cognitive resources and the difficulty of necessary multi-tasking during deception, we suggest that emotional leakage is particularly likely to occur when the lie is complex and/or associated with strong emotions to be concealed or falsified.”
The study concluded “findings support the notion that the human face is indelibly stamped with the tale of our humble origin and attempts to mask our emotions are likely to fail when engaging in a consequential act of deception”.
Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have found that a mutation in a particular gene can lead to obesity.
Mouse experiments suggested the body’s message to “stop eating” was blocked if the animals had the mutation.
The study, published in Nature Medicine, said the brain’s response to appetite hormones was being disrupted.
US researchers hope their findings could lead to new ways to control weight.
Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have found that a mutation in a particular gene can lead to obesity
Many genes have been linked to obesity; one of them – brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene (BDNF) – has been shown to play a role in putting on weight in animal and some human studies.
However, scientists at the Georgetown University Medical Center said the explanation for this link was unknown.
In studies on mice which had been genetically modified to have the mutation, the mice consumed up to 80% more food than normal.
After a meal, hormones such as insulin and leptin should tell the brain that the body is full and should stop eating. The researchers showed that in the mutated mice the message was not being passed on from the hormones in the blood to the correct part of the brain.
One of the researchers Prof. Baoji Xu said: “If there is a problem with the BDNF gene, neurons can’t talk to each other, and the leptin and insulin signals are ineffective, and appetite is not modified.”
Prof. Baoji Xu said the discovery “may open up novel strategies to help the brain control body weight” such as finding a “drug that can stimulate BDNF expression”.
Two children and one adult have been killed in a shooting outside a Jewish school in Toulouse, south-west France.
Eyewitnesses said a man opened fire on people waiting at a school drop-off point and then fled on a scooter.
The attack is reported to have happened outside Ozar Hatorah school in the Jolimont area of the city.
The latest incident comes days after three soldiers were shot dead by a man on a scooter in the same part of France.
A 30-year-old paratrooper was gunned down in a residential area of Toulouse just over a week ago, while two soldiers were killed and a third wounded as they used a cashpoint in the town of Montauban, some 29 miles (46km) away, on Thursday.
Two children and one adult have been killed in a shooting outside Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse, south-west France
Local residents immediately linked last week’s attacks with the latest shootings.
Christopher Bockman, a freelance journalist in Toulouse, said the soldiers who had been targeted were of ethnic origin and it appeared as if the gunman was deliberately targeting ethnic minorities in the area.
He said the city was in lockdown as police scoured the streets for the culprit.
A French television correspondent at the scene said a man on a black scooter opened fire, killing three people – including two children – and badly wounding several others.
Interior Minister Claude Gueant has ordered security to be tightened around all French Jewish schools and is due to arrive in the city later in the morning, the AFP news agency reports.
UPS (United Parcel Service) has agreed to buy rival TNT (Thomas Nationwide Transport) in a 5.2 billion-euro ($6.8 billion) deal.
TNT has accepted an improved bid of 9.5 Euros a share, a 54% premium on its closing price of 6.18 Euros on 16 February, the day before the two firms announced they were in talks.
The takeover is being seen as a move by UPS to expand its business in Europe.
UPS has agreed to buy rival TNT in a $6.8 billion deal
UPS is the world’s largest package delivery company.
“The complementary strengths of both organizations will create a customer-focused global platform that will be a leader in transportation technology and customer service,” the companies said in a joint statement.
“The combination underlines UPS’s long-standing commitment to Europe by expanding its express capabilities in Europe.”
Damascus bomb blasts over the weekend have been followed by firefight between the rebel Free Syria Army and the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.
Witnesses say the sound of machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades can be heard from the district of al-Mezze.
The central neighborhood hosts several security facilities and is one of the most heavily guarded areas.
The UN estimates more than 8,000 people have now died in a year-long uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
Al-Mezze has previously been the scene of large anti-government protests.
One resident told Reuters news agency that there was “fighting near Hamada supermarket and the sound of explosions there and elsewhere in the neighborhood”.
The resident added: “Security police have blocked several side streets and the street lighting has been cut off.”
Opposition activist Amer al-Sadeq said he had spoken to a contact in al-Mezze who reported four blasts within five minutes and then heavy gunfire.
Al-Mezze is an upmarket residential area but has a substantial security presence. Close by is the Mezze 86 district, a security stronghold, whose residents are loyal to President Assad.
Early last month, residents of 86 district fired at protesters who took to the streets calling for an end of President Assad’s rule.
Damascus bomb blasts over the weekend have been followed by firefight between the rebel Free Syria Army and the forces of President Bashar al-Assad
In January the Free Syria Army briefly seized several Damascus suburbs.
The latest incident follows bomb blasts in Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo over the weekend.
The car bomb that exploded in Aleppo on Sunday killed at least two people and injured 30 others.
A day earlier, at least 27 people were reported to have been killed and 97 wounded in two explosions in the capital.
State TV described the blasts as “terrorist” attacks.
However, activists have accused the authorities of staging incidents to discredit opposition groups.
As diplomatic efforts to end the crisis continue, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Jakob Kellenberger, has travelled to Moscow to meet Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and ask the Russian government to press Syria to allow more humanitarian access.
The ICRC says that, in the worst-hit areas, a daily pause in the fighting of at least two hours was needed for the evacuation of the wounded and to allow in food and medicine.
Russia is a key ally of Syria and, along with China, has thwarted attempts to form a UN resolution condemning the repression.
Sergei Lavrov is likely to say that while Russia is engaging with Syria, it cannot tell the government there what to do.
There is some frustration in Moscow with the speed at which Damascus is responding to some initiatives, particularly that of UN and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan.
In another development, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces beat and arrested senior opposition figure Mohammed Sayyed Rassas on Sunday.
Mohammed Sayyed Rassas, a leader of the National Co-ordinating Body for Democratic Change (NCB), had been taking part in a protest march in Damascus, the group said.
President Bashar al-Assad is trying to quell an increasingly armed rebellion that sprang from a fierce crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy protests a year ago.
He insists his troops are fighting “armed gangs” seeking to destabilize Syria.
British researchers involved in Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing (OPTIMA), which studies the causes of dementia, have found that B vitamins supplements could slow shrinkage of the brain and the rate of cognitive decline.
In 2011, the researchers recruited 270 elderly people with memory problems and gave them Vitamin B tablets – folic acid (800 micrograms), B12 (500 micrograms) and B6 (20 milligrams).
The supplements were found to slow shrinkage of the brain by an average of 30% a year – and slow the rate of cognitive decline – in people with high blood levels of homocysteine. Raised levels of this amino acid can increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease three or four-fold.
By regulating homocysteine with B vitamins, the British researchers showed for the first time it is possible to slow the progress of the disease, if the treatment starts early. More trials are needed to test whether continued treatment can delay its progress indefinitely, but B vitamins have been shown to be as good clinically as Aricept (donepezil) – and better in that they slow the disease progression rather than ease the symptoms.
British researchers have found that B vitamins supplements could slow shrinkage of the brain and the rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer patients
There is no way of knowing who is predisposed to Alzheimer, apart from extremely rare familial forms of the disease.
But those with memory problems should have their homocysteine measured and be started on B vitamins, under medical guidance. Normal dietary intake isn’t enough. One (200ml) glass of semi-skimmed milk contains 2.5 micrograms of B12, and most manage to eat five micrograms a day. But we do know people with high Vitamin B intakes are less likely to develop dementia, so every little helps.
Large-scale studies are needed to see if nutrition and exercise can slow the conversion of memory impairment to Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers also need to know if they improve the response to drugs such as donepezil.
For OPTIMA, the next step is a trial of 1,000 people with MCI to see if B vitamins prevent the conversion to dementia over a two-year period.
Kris Jenner posted a Demi Moore-style photograph of herself from 1987 while she was pregnant with son Rob Kardashian.
Kris Jenner, 56, posted the picture on her Celeb Buzz blog in honor of Rob Kardashian’s 25th birthday.
The picture shows the reality star matriarch with a heavy dark fringe and longer hair, along with a large baby bump and white underwear.
The revealing picture was accompanied by a loving caption which read: “Happy 25th birthday to my wonderful, handsome son, Rob!!
“Rob, you are the best son a mother could ask for and you make me proud every day. I love you so much!!”
Kris Jenner posted a Demi Moore-style photograph of herself from 1987 while she was pregnant with son Rob Kardashian
Kris Jenner joined Rob and the Kardashian clan yesterday at the 1 Oak Club at the Mirage Hotel to celebrate his birthday.
She wore a clinging long sleeved red bandage dress and silver hooped earrings as she posed alongside Rob and Kim
They joined little sisters Kylie and Kendall Jenner for a night of fun in Sin City.
Kim Kardashian, 31, was in her usual figure-hugging style, showing off her famous curves in a cream sequinned dress.
She tweeted several photos of her mother dancing in a private booth, writing: “Mom gone wild… How pretty is my momma!?!”
However, while teenagers Kylie, 14, and Kendall, 16, had jumped in the private jet for the mini excursion, they weren’t allowed to join the party at the 1 Oak Club because they’re underage.
Kim Kardashian strictly stipulated the pair were only allowed to join them for dinner as she tweeted about their attendance: “Even the little sisters are coming to Vegas! #DinnerOnly.”
When they were finally reunited with their mother and older siblings for their 3:00 a.m. flight back to Los Angeles, they made no secret of how bored they had been while waiting.
Kendall Jenner tweeted in the early hours of this morning: “Longest night ever…”
But Kim Kardashian had clearly enjoyed herself: “3am flight back home! What a fun night!”
Kris Jenner, her son Rob Kardashian and daughter Kim in the 1 Oak Club at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas celebrating his 25th birthday
It may be a long time since Kris Jenner was pregnant, but she is getting increasingly excited over pregnant daughter Kourtney Kardashian’s impending new arrival.
“I can’t stop shopping,” Kris Jenner told People magazine.
“Kourtney is now angry with me because I keep bringing stuff home.”
Kourtney Kardashian is due to give birth to a little girl in July – her second child with long time boyfriend Scott Disick.
“We’re so excited and it’s such a gift and a blessing and a new personality so for us,” said Kris Jenner.
“I’m having the best time shopping!”
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Rob Kardashian is joining his sisters in creating his own fashion line.
However, unlike his sisters’ more glamorous clothing line, Rob Kardashian will be working on socks.
“I’m working on a dress sock line. I’m very passionate about it,” Rob Kardashian told Us Weekly last week.
“I have no idea yet [what it’s going to be called],” Rob Kardashian said.
“I don’t really want it to be associated with the Kardashian brand…
“I’ve started several companies before and people don’t know about it because I don’t vocalize it. Things succeed, they fail, and that’s how you start a business venture. So hopefully this succeeds.”
King George Tupou V of the South Pacific nation of Tonga has died in Hong Kong aged 63.
King George Tupou V died at a hospital in Hong Kong with his brother, Crown Prince Tupouto’a Lavaka, at his side, Matangi Tonga Online and NZ media said.
Television New Zealand said the Tongan government had confirmed his death.
Tonga is the last Polynesian monarchy, although the king was instrumental in bringing about democratic reform. He had been king since 2006.
People across the 170-island archipelago were able to vote for their first popularly-elected parliament in November 2010, ending 165 years of feudal rule.
King George Tupou said on the eve of the vote he was granting his executive powers to the cabinet and parliament, adding that “in future the sovereign shall act only on the advice of his prime minister”.
The cause of King George Tupou’s death on Sunday was not immediately known.
King George Tupou V of the South Pacific nation of Tonga has died in Hong Kong aged 63
Many Tongans paid tribute to the monarch, after the news of his death quickly spread on the internet.
“I am saddened by the news, our beloved King of Tonga has passed away… our country has gone through major losses in the past couple years,” Tessi Leila Tolutau was quoted as saying by the New Zealand Herald newspaper.
In September 2006, King George Tupou succeeded his father King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, who died after a long illness.
But deadly riots two months later, by people angry at the slow pace of reform, delayed his coronation until August 2008.
The Oxford-educated monarch was a bachelor. He named his brother heir apparent.
King George Tupou was known for his liking of wearing military uniforms and for driving around in a London taxi.
Joachim Gauck, a former Lutheran pastor and civil rights activist from the former East Germany, has been elected as Germany’s new president.
Joachim Gauck, 72, won 991 votes out of 1,232 at a special assembly of German MPs.
The Germany’s new president has no party affiliation, but has gained a reputation as an eloquent speaker not afraid to address controversial issues.
Joachim Gauck will replace Christian Wulff, who resigned last month in a scandal over financial favors.
Chancellor Angela Merkel had supported Christina Wulff, her ally, against Joachim Gauck when they ran against each other for the largely ceremonial role of president in 2010.
This time round Angela Merkel has backed Joachim Gauck, although observers say her hand was forced by the liberal Free Democrats, whose support she needs in the coalition government.
Joachim Gauck, a former Lutheran pastor and civil rights activist from the former East Germany, has been elected as Germany's new president
Joachim Gauck was elected by an overwhelming majority at the Bundestag on Sunday, easily defeating his main rival – former Nazi hunter and journalist Beate Klarsfeld. She won 126 votes.
Lawmakers and dignitaries greeted the result with a standing ovation.
“What a beautiful Sunday,” Joachim Gauck then said, prompting loud cheers in the chamber.
The new president and Angela Merkel share a similar background.
They were both raised in the East, which disintegrated in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Angela Merkel is the daughter of a Lutheran pastor, while Joachim Gauck is both a pastor himself and the son of a pastor.
Joachim Gauck became interested in politics in the East after his father was deported to Siberia for his civil rights activism.
He became a Lutheran pastor after opting to study theology when other university courses were denied him because of his father’s dissidence and because he was not a member of the communist youth organization.
As a pastor, Joachim Gauck held services which preceded the demonstrations that eventually toppled the communist government.
After the fall of the wall, Joachim Gauck was made head of the body which investigated the activities of the Stasi, the East German secret police – earning the admiration of all but diehard communists for his work in exposing the crimes of the communist era.
In recent years Joachim Gauck has concentrated on campaigning against both left and right extremist threats to Germany’s democratic system.
Joachim Gauck describes himself as a “liberal left conservative”, and has expressed support for the policies of both Social-Democrat and Christian-Democrat coalition governments on a non-partisan basis.
A father of four, Joachim Gauck is separated from his wife.
Joachim Gauck’s partner since 2000, the journalist Daniela Schadt, will take on the ceremonial duties of First Lady.
According to an explosive new book by retired CIA agent Brian Latell, which is set to be released next month, Fidel Castro had advance knowledge that President John F. Kennedy was about to be killed in 1963.
Rumors about Fidel Castro’s involvement in a plot to murder his fierce adversary have swirled for almost half a century since communist sympathizer Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK during a trip to Dallas in November 1963.
Now author Brian Latell, who studied Cuban affairs as a CIA analyst in the 1960’s and later became the agency’s chief intelligence officer for Latin America, says he is certain that Fidel Castro at least knew the attack was going to happen.
On the morning of November 22, 1963, the day JFK was killed, Fidel Castro ordered a senior intelligence officer in Havana to stop listening for non-specific CIA radio communications and concentrate instead on “any little detail, any small detail from Texas”, Brian Latell claims in his new book “Castro’s Secrets – the CIA and Cuba’s Intelligence Machine”, set for release next month.
Four hours later, the airwaves came alive with news that John F. Kennedy was dead.
Fidel Castro had advance knowledge that President John F. Kennedy was about to be killed in 1963, claims Brian Latell in his book
Brian Latell also claims that Fidel Castro was aware that Lee Harvey Oswald, who had been denied a visa to visit Cuba at the country’s embassy in Mexico City, told staff there that he was going to murder JFK to prove his allegiance to the communist cause.
“Fidel knew of Oswald’s intentions and did nothing to deter the act,” Brian Latell writes in the book.
In an interview published in The Miami Herald, Brian Latell, now a respected senior lecturer on Cuba at the University of Miami, says he discovered the information in interviews with former Cuban intelligence officers, backed up by declassified US government documents.
“I don’t say Fidel Castro ordered the assassination, I don’t say Oswald was under his control. He might have been, but I don’t argue that, because I was unable to find any evidence for that,” Brian Latell said.
“[But] everything I write is backed up by documents and on-the-record sources.
“Did Fidel want Kennedy dead? Yes. He feared Kennedy. And he knew Kennedy was gunning for him. In Fidel’s mind, he was probably acting in self-defense.”
Brian Latell’s book, billed as the first in-depth study of Fidel Castro’s intelligence operations in the years after the Marxist revolutionary seized power in a 1959 coup, says there is other strong supporting evidence.
The book claims, for instance, that CIA wiretaps of Cuban intelligence agents in the immediate aftermath of the assassination revealed that they already had surprising level of knowledge of Lee Harvey Oswald’s background when only scant details had been reported by the media.
But it is Brian Latell’s interview with former Cuban intelligence officer Fiorentino Aspillaga Lombard, who was in charge of Fidel Castro’s listeners at his Havana compound, which will raise eyebrows.
Fiorentino Aspillaga Lombard, who defected to the US in 1987, told the author that he informed the CIA at his debriefing that Fidel Castro personally issued the order to listen specifically for anything about Texas.
But that information was never revealed publicly, and he never repeated it until he was interviewed for the book.
After his defection, Fiorentino Aspillaga Lombard lifted the lid on Fidel Castro’s lavish lifestyle, giving details of his fleet of luxury yachts, numerous lavish properties in each of Cuba’s provinces and a secret Swiss bank account containing millions of dollars.
But he said that while the population realized that “Fidel has ruined Cuba”, a fear of their leader meant few would ever speak up.
“Who can sanction Castro? What parliament or national assembly can ask for an explanation of what is done with that money?” Fiorentino Aspillaga Lombard said.
The claim that Fidel Castro was aware of Lee Harvey Oswald’s promise to Cuban embassy officials that he was going to murder John F. Kennedy comes from several sources, including a former FBI informant and “superspy” Jack Childs, who penetrated the dictator’s inner circle.
Jack Childs said that Fidel Castro told him that Lee Harvey Oswald “stormed into the embassy, demanded the visa, and when it was refused to him headed out saying: <<I’m going to kill Kennedy for this>>.”
Meanwhile, Fidel Castro was claiming publicly that Lee Harvey Oswald’s visit to the embassy was “a minor matter” that had not been noticed by senior officials in Havana.
Subsequent investigations by the US security agencies, and the official Warren Commission inquiry into John F. Kennedy’s assassination, looked at Fidel Castro’s possible involvement but concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone gunman acting independently.
Among other issues discussed in Brian Latell’s book are the CIA’s own attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro using a variety of methods, including exploding cigars and poison pens. Brian Latell says the efforts were called off after JFK died.
Bobby Brown has written a script for a film on his life and wants daughter Bobbi Kristina to act in it.
The script, entitled “The Bad Boy of R&B: The Bobby Brown Story”, was initially being sent out to potential backers late last year but received very little interest.
According to RadarOnline, after the death of his ex-wife Whitney Houston on February 11, Bobby Brown and his writing partner Michael Pinckney have had renewed attention to the project.
“The script’s ending will now have to be re-written to include the untimely death of the <<Bodyguard>> star,” a source said.
“But the remainder of the story will stay the same as the former couple’s volatile marriage is only <<lightly touched>> on the script,” the source added.
Bobby Brown has written a script for a film on his life and wants daughter Bobbi Kristina to act in it
Michael Pinckney, a budding director and Spike Lee’s protégé, already has credits as a first or second assistant director on films like Tower Heist, Precious and Inside Man.
The director will be embarking on a “Who’s going to play Bobby Brown” search, similar to how Lee Daniels found Gabrielle Sidibe for her role in Precious as they want to cast an unknown.
Whitney Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, and her rumored fiancé and “adoptive brother” Nick Gordon have once again defied their critiques by stepping out hand-in-hand over the weekend.
Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, showed off a huge diamond on her engagement finger amid controversial rumors that Nick Gordon, 22, has popped the question.
She was spotted leaving an AT&T store with Nick Gordon, who Whitney Houston raised as her own for 10 years.
The two looked happily in love and held hands as they entered and left the store, in their hometown Atlanta, on Friday.
Bobbi Kristina Brown showed off a huge diamond on her engagement finger amid controversial rumors that Nick Gordon has popped the question
Bobbi Kristina Brown gave a nod to her late mother by wearing a Whitney Houston: Nothing But Love tour sweater, with a striped minidress and boots.
She smoked a cigarette and clutched her iPhone.
It has been claimed that Bobbi Kristina is going against her grandmother Cissy Houston’s wishes by marrying Nick Gordon.
Bobbi Kristina Brown and her rumored fiancé and “adoptive brother” Nick Gordon stepped out hand-in-hand over the weekend
Bobbi Kristina is said to be totally disregarding Cissy Houston’s wishes who has slammed their relationship as “incestuous”.
A source told Star magazine: “Krissy has told her grandmother that she doesn’t need her blessing to marry Nick, and the more Cissy objects to the relationship, well that only cements Krissy’s decision.”
“It’s just a very sad situation. Clearly, Krissy loves Nick, but she has just lost her mother, and her entire world has been turned upside down. Krissy doesn’t think she needs to wait, and points to her mom’s sudden death as the reason to marry Nick,” the source added.
New York police cleared Zuccotti Park where the Occupy Wall Street movement was born six months ago and made several arrests after hundreds of protesters returned in an anniversary observance and defiantly resisted calls to clear out.
Some of Occupy protesters locked arms and sat down in the middle of Zuccotti Park near Wall Street after police announced on a bullhorn at around 11:30 p.m. Saturday that the park was closed. Officers then poured into the park, forcing most of the crowd out and surrounding a small group that stayed behind. Police formed a human ring around the park to keep protesters out.
Several people were arrested, police said. An unused public transit bus was brought in to cart away about a dozen protesters in plastic handcuffs. One female under arrest had difficulty breathing and was taken away in an ambulance to be treated.
For hours, the demonstrators had been chanting and holding impromptu meetings in the park to celebrate the anniversary of the movement that has brought attention to economic inequality, as police mainly kept their distance.
But New York Police Det. Brian Sessa said the tipping point came when the protesters started breaking the park rules.
“They set up tents. They had sleeping bags,” he said. Electrical boxes also were tampered with and there was evidence of graffiti.
Brian Sessa said Brookfield Properties, the park owner, sent in security to advise the protesters to stop pitching tents and to leave the park. The protesters, in turn, became agitated with them. The company then asked the police to help them clear out the park, the detective said.
“Most of the people, they left the park,” Brian Sessa said.
“People who refused to leave and were staying were arrested.”
New York police cleared Zuccotti Park where the Occupy Wall Street movement was born six months ago and made several arrests
Earlier in the day, with the city’s attention focused on the huge St. Patrick’s Day parade many blocks uptown, the Occupy rally at Zuccotti Park drew hundreds of people.
Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, who had given a speech at a nearby university, also made an appearance at the park, milling around with protesters.
With the barricades that once blocked them from Wall Street now removed, the protesters streamed down the sidewalk and covered the steps of the Federal Hall National Memorial. There, steps from the New York Stock Exchange and standing at the feet of a statue of George Washington, they danced and chanted, “We are unstoppable.”
Police say arrests were made, but they didn’t have a full count yet.
Protesters have questioned whether the group can regain its momentum. This month, the finance accounting group in New York City reported that just about $119,000 remained in Occupy’s bank account – the equivalent of about two weeks’ worth of expenses.
The world’s largest book has been put on public display in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s Dubai at IBN Battuta Mall.
The book, named “This is Muhammad”, entered the Guinness World Records as the world’s largest book on February 27. It took professional workers 16 months to finish the 5-meter-long, 4.03-meter-wide and 1.5-ton book, which is estimated to be worth 2.99 million U.S. dollars.
Depicting the life of Islam’s prophet Muhammad, the biography is the product of Saudi Arabian scholars’ three years of research.
The book will be on show in other places including Kuwait, Qatar, and Egypt, as well as countries in Europe and America. Book lovers from around the world will get a chance to enjoy the book up-close and sign their names on the pages.
The world's largest book “This is Muhammad” has been put on public display in Dubai at IBN Battuta Mall
After the world tour, the book will be on permanent display in UAE’s capital Abu Dhabi.
With the world’s largest book as blue print, more than 500,000 Arabic publications have already been released.
According to Hossam M.A. Hamid, adviser to the President of International Relationships and Marketing group, the book will be published in other languages including English, French and Chinese in the future.
Hossam M.A. Hamid said: “It’s big and we transfer it by a crane. Because it’s heavy, about one and a half ton. We put it in a big area like this, free area. We cannot put it in the hall, because it is very big as you see.”
Libya has formally requested the handover of Abdullah al-Senussi, Muammar Gaddafi’s former spy chief, following his arrest in Mauritania.
A spokesman for the new government in Tripoli “insisted” Abdullah al-Senussi be extradited to Libya to face trial.
However, Abdullah al-Senussi is also sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity.
France also wants to extradite Abdullah al-Senussi in connection with a bomb attack on a plane in 1989.
Mauritania has already said it wants to carry out its own investigation before considering any extradition requests.
Abdullah al-Senussi was held at the airport in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, after flying in from Morocco using a false passport, officials said.
However, Mauritania has not yet provided any evidence of his arrest.
It is believed he is being held at the offices of the Mauritanian intelligence agency.
Libya has formally requested the handover of Abdullah al-Senussi, Muammar Gaddafi's former spy chief, following his arrest in Mauritania
Abdullah al-Senussi, 63, fled Libya last year as Muammar Gaddafi’s regime began to crumble.
“We insist that Senussi is extradited to Libya,” said Mohammed al-Harizy, spokesman for Libya’s National Transitional Council.
“There are demands from the ICC and France to get Senussi, but the priority is to deliver Senussi to Libya.”
The arrest provoked strong feelings on the streets of Tripoli on Saturday.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International both said that Mauritania was bound by the UN Security Council to co-operate with the ICC, even though it has not signed up to its statute.
Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty’s deputy director for North Africa, said in a statement that the Libyan justice system remained “weak and unable to conduct effective investigations into alleged crimes”.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Abdullah al-Senussi last June, saying he was an “indirect perpetrator of crimes against humanity, of murder and persecution based on political grounds” committed in the eastern city of Benghazi.
Abdullah al-Senussi could also be held to account for the massacre of more than 1,000 detainees at a Libyan prison in 1996.
A French court has already convicted the former spy chief in absentia of involvement in a 1989 attack on a French plane that killed 170 people, and sentenced him to life in prison.
Abdullah al-Senussi, nicknamed “the butcher”, was one of the last significant members of the Gaddafi regime still at large.
Beyoncé, Jay-Z and their little girl Blue Ivy enjoyed a lunch together at trendy restaurant Nobu in the Tribeca area of New York.
The pricey eatery Nobu is a popular choice for celebrities although it is doubtful that many patrons take young babies with them.
But Blue Ivy is already a star in her own right – she is already the youngest artist ever to be on the Billboard charts after appearing on Jay-Z’s record – she will no doubt have received the full VIP treatment.
As the family left the restaurant Jay Z was seen beaming with pride while Beyoncé carried the two-month-old baby in a harness.
The singer had also wrapped a light colored blanket around her little bundle as the family made their way to the chauffeur driven car waiting for them.
Beyoncé, Jay-Z and their little girl Blue Ivy enjoyed a lunch together at trendy restaurant Nobu
Beyoncé was looking as stylish as ever in a black fedora hat and matching blazer.
She climbed into the back of the large SUV and was seen cradling Blue Ivy tenderly.
Beyoncé’s bright blue nails, no doubt a tribute to her only child, could be seen as she held her daughter.
In fact the singer has been stepping out in a series stylish ensembles for the walks with Blue Ivy.
Beyoncé ‘s father Matthew Knowles has recently spoke about his granddaughter at an event in London.
Matthew Knowles, 60, said: “She’s already the youngest artist ever to be on the Billboard Charts. I just saw Beyoncé and Blue Ivy two days ago.
“She has already got fifty per cent growth in three weeks. She is going to be a really tall kid.”
“You just want to love and kiss her but the great thing with grandkids is that you can give them back.”
Robert Bales, the soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in Kandahar, including nine children, was trying to leave active service in response to financial problems, it emerged yesterday.
Bypassed for a promotion and struggling to pay for his house, Robert Bales, 38, was eyeing a way out of his job at a Washington state military base months before he was deployed to Afghanistan.
While Robert Bales sat in an isolated cell at Fort Leavenworth’s military prison, classmates and neighbors from suburban Cincinnati, Ohio remembered him as a “happy-go-lucky” high school football player who took care of a special needs child and watched out for troublemakers in the neighborhood.
But court records and interviews show that the 10-year veteran – with a string of commendations for good conduct after four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan – had joined the Army after a Florida investment job went sour, had a Seattle-area home condemned, struggled to make payments on another and failed to get a promotion or a transfer a year ago.
Robert Bales’ legal troubles included charges that he assaulted a girlfriend and, in a hit-and run accident, ran bleeding in military clothes into the woods, court records show.
He told police he fell asleep at the wheel and paid a fine to get the charges dismissed.
Military officials say that after drinking on a southern Afghanistan base, Robert Bales crept away on March 11 to two slumbering villages overnight, shooting his victims and setting many of them on fire. Nine of the 16 killed were children and 11 belonged to one family.
Robert Bales hasn’t been charged yet in the shootings, which have endangered complicated relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan and threatened to upend U.S. policy over the decade-old war.
Robert Bales, the soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians in Kandahar, was trying to leave active service in response to financial problems
He joined the Army after studying business at Ohio State University – he attended three years but didn’t graduate – and handled investments before the market downturn pushed him out of the business.
Florida records show that Robert Bales was a director at an inactive company called Spartina Investments Inc. in Doral, Florida; his brother, Mark Bales, and a Mark Edwards were also listed as directors.
Robert Bales was struggling to keep payments on his own home in Lake Tapps, a rural reservoir community about 35 miles south of Seattle; his wife asked to put the house on the market three days before the shootings, real estate Philip Rodocker said.
“She told him she was behind in our payments,” Philip Rodocker told The New York Times.
“She said he was on his fourth tour and it was getting kind of old and they needed to stabilize their finances.”
The house was not officially put on the market until Monday; on Tuesday, Philip Rodocker said, Robert Bales’ wife called and asked to take the house off the market, talking of a family emergency.
Robert Bales and his wife bought the Lake Tapps home in 2005, according to records, for $280,000; it was listed this week at $229,000. Overflowing boxes were piled on the front porch, and a U.S. flag leaned against the siding.
Neighbors said Robert Bales was a loving father two his two children, daughter, Quincy, and son, Bobby, adding that there were no signs that the Army sergeant was troubled.
The best case scenario for the next phase in their family’s life, Robert Bales’s wife wrote, would be an Army assignment in an adventurous location like Germany, Italy or Hawaii, and barring that, possibly an assignment in Georgia, where her husband could become a sniper instructor.
“We are hoping that if we are proactive and ask to go to a location that the Army will allow us to have some control over where we go next,” she wrote.
It would seem she was greatly looking forward to the promotion, which would allow him to be home with her and their children.
But when Robert Bales was passed over for the position, his wife was understandably upset.
Sgt. Robert Bales, who served as an Army sniper, joined the military after the September 11th terrorist attacks.
His attorney, John Henry Browne, described the couple’s marriage as “fabulous”.
John Henry Browne said on CNN that marital problems were “totally bogus”, adding that his client had a “very strong marriage and, frankly, we’re all taking offense at that”.
McLaren’s Jenson Button won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as his team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished third.
Jenson Button, who qualified second to his team-mate, beat him into the first corner and pulled away to win.
Lewis Hamilton lost second place to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel after an unlucky break with a safety car, and the German was able to hold him off.
Red Bull’s Mark Webber was fourth, ahead of the surprisingly quick Ferrari of Fernando Alonso.
Williams driver Pastor Maldonado was on course to take a close sixth, but he lost control while chasing Alonso on the last lap and crashed at the Turn Seven kink.
That handed sixth place to Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi. The Japanese won out in a seven-car fight to the flag.
McLaren's Jenson Button won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as his team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished third
In a chaotic final lap, Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, impressive on his return after two years in rallying, took seventh ahead of the second Sauber of Sergio Perez, the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo, Force India’s Paul di Resta, Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, who had been eighth until Maldonado’s crash led to frantic place-swapping.
Jenson Button was serenely unaware of the drama behind him – he was in a league of his own throughout the race after making a better start than Hamilton and passing him down the inside into Turn One.
“As a team it really shows how important the winter is,” said Jenson Button, who kicked off his 2009 championship-winning year with victory in Australian.
“We had a strong winter and qualifying really shows that. It’s nice to come away with a win in the first race of the season.
Two golden retrievers prove that dogs are clever animals by learning how to play a duet on the piano and a video of their performance became viral on YouTube with over 147,000 hits in three days.
The musical dogs enthusiastically play The Flea Waltz on an over-sized keyboard.
The duetting dogs aren’t quite clever enough to play the piece on their own, though.
The golden retrievers’ owner plays an ocarina to guide them to the correct notes.
The musical dogs enthusiastically play The Flea Waltz on an over-sized keyboard
Hundreds of YouTube users have left glowing reviews of the video, with “david007max” saying: “Bravo! Great job by your retrievers, they deserve a treat, so gifted.”
And “Ghostwhisperer2011” said: “This cannot be possible! I want those two goldens!”
The Flea Waltz is a simple piano piece played all over the world – though its composer is unknown.
The International Pop Music Festival for Children and Youth
“Crystal Star” begins registrations!
Starting on March 15, 2012, talented children and young singers, aged between 6 and 25 can apply online on the website www.steauadecristal.ro for participation in the International Pop Music Festival for Children and Youth “Crystal Star “. The festival will take place from July 12 to 15, 2012, at Gura Humorului, Romania.
The Cultural Association “Melos”, in collaboration with Events Management Company organizes in the town of Gura Humorului, the county of Suceava, Romania, from July 12 to 15, 2012, the first edition of The International Pop Music Festival “Crystal Star”. The festival includes two sections: Vocal (solo and group) Interpretation and New Song (Original Song). Competitors may register in one or both sections: vocal interpretation or/and new song , in one of the five age groups: 6-8 years old, 9-11 years old, 12 -14 years old, 15 to 18 years old, 19 to 25 years old.
The festival aims to promote young pop music performers, to bring the spotlight on the most talented children and young singers from Romania and abroad, in a real competition, marked by objectivity and transparency.
We invite all talented children and young singers to attend the International Pop Music Festival “Crystal Star”, a truly international competition in a holiday atmosphere, in one of the most beautiful tourist areas of Romania, Bucovina.
All information on the organization of festival, event program, rules and regulations are available online at www.steauadecristal.ro.
Ordos is a new city in Inner Mongolia that stands largely empty after the great Chinese building boom, which did so much to fuel the country’s astonishing economic growth, is over.
A huge statue of the mighty warrior Genghis Khan presides over Genghis Khan Plaza in Ordos New Town. The square is vast, fading into the snowy mist on a recent Sunday morning.
Genghis Khan Plaza is flanked by huge and imposing buildings.
Two giant horses from the steppes rise on their hind legs in the centre of the Plaza, statues which dwarf the great Genghis Khan himself.
Only one element is missing from this vast ensemble – people.
There are only two or three people in this immense townscape. Because this is Ordos, a place that has been called the largest ghost town in China.
Most of the new town buildings are empty or unfinished. The rampant apartment blocks are full of unsold flats.
If you want to find a place where China’s huge housing bubble has already burst, then Ordos is the place to come.
The story started about 20 years ago, with the beginning of a great Mongolian coal rush.
Private mining companies poured into the green Inner Mongolian steppe lands, pock-marking the landscape with enormous opencast holes in the ground, or tunneling underground.
Local farmers sold their land to the miners, and became instantly rich. Jobs burgeoned. Ceaseless coal truck convoys tore up the roads.
And the old city of Ordos flourished as the money flowed in.
The municipality decided to think big, too.
It laid out plans for a huge new town for hundreds of thousands of residents, with Genghis Khan Plaza at the centre of it.
Ordos is a new city in Inner Mongolia that stands largely empty after the great Chinese building boom
Ten years later Ordos new town is an empty new city.
And it is merely the most spectacular example of a new Chinese phenomenon, in many cities – unsold flats, unlet shops, empty office blocks.
It looks to outsiders as though the great Chinese building boom is over, the real estate extravaganza that shook the world.
Western financial experts who fear a bursting of the Chinese real estate bubble point out that the Chinese economy is more dependent on house building than the United States economy was, before the sub-prime lending bubble burst in 2007.
Many Chinese local authorities seem to have become dependent on the proceeds of big land sales to developers.
In the eyes of the critics, China’s housing boom is becoming a disaster.
The authorities in Beijing have taken notice of the direst warnings. They have been taking official action to rein in the speculative buying of multiple apartments over the past two years.
Chinese economic commentators seem much less concerned than the Western doom-mongers. They are still confident that the technocrats in Beijing who have guided China’s 30 years of spectacular economic growth will soon be able to balance supply and demand in the housing market.
The same relaxed attitude was apparent in a couple in a spacious apartment in Ordos, in the middle of a building site.
They were buying the place as an investment, even though the delivery date keeps on slipping.
It is only some 25 years since Chinese people were permitted to buy and sell homes at all.
Decades of pent-up demand are still being satisfied as the great wheel of Chinese urbanization continues to bring millions of people in from the countryside to work in the cities.
Right now there are other worries in the Chinese system, typified by Li, a man I met in Ordos, who had prospered when the local council bought up the land on which his family’s shop had been located.
Li invested the compensation with local private financiers.
It is common practice in China where there is a big grey market in private loans to private businesses who cannot get money from the big, official, state-owned banks.
Li’s private financier naturally invested the money in property, and paid him interest every three months at the rate of about 40% a year.
He had put the equivalent of over $1 million into such schemes.
For two years they paid out, but last year the interest payments began to dry up.
Then one of the financiers disappeared.
This has become a very familiar story in China now, one that is making big headlines as some famously rich private finance people come up for trial on charge of huge financial irregularity. China’s 68th richest woman, Wu Ying, is facing the death penalty for schemes she ran in her 20s.
At least half of Li’s money now seems to have disappeared.
As a Mongolian, Li said he was very angry when it happened last year. But now his mood has changed to a curious, fatalistic resignation, quite unlike Genghis Khan.
“Once we were rich, and now we’re poor again,” said Li, with something like a wry grin.
