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Simon McCoy caught napping at his desk during BBC Breakfast show

Diane A. Wade
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Simon McCoy caught napping at his desk during BBC Breakfast show

Simon McCoy, the BBC Breakfast show presenter, has been caught apparently asleep on his desk during this morning show.

Simon McCoy, 50, looked like he was caught napping as cameras panned to the presenter ahead of his early broadcast – a claim he later joked about.

He was seen clearly resting his head on his arms as he slumped over his desk moments before delivering a bulletin with co-host Martine Croxall.

As soon as Simon McCoy realized he was live on television, he looked stunned and bleary-eyed as he jumped up and tried to regain his composure.

But viewers took to Twitter to remark on the hilarious gaffe just before 8:30 a.m.

One user, called Vikki B, said: “Did I just imagine that? £bbcnews cuts to the news desk and fella is asleep on the desk and jumps up in shock! Haha.”

Ismat Abidi added: “Never fall asleep at your desk, especially when you’re a news anchor.”

And Hannah Lindley said: “Hahahah just showed the local news and he was asleep on the desk!”

Simon McCoy, the BBC Breakfast show presenter, has been caught apparently asleep on his desk during this morning show
Simon McCoy, the BBC Breakfast show presenter, has been caught apparently asleep on his desk during this morning show

BBC officials said the journalist was “caught unawares” as the cameras moved from the studio where regular sofa presenters Louise Minchin and Charlie Stayt had been quizzing guests.

On Twitter, Simon McCoy later denied falling asleep and said: “It was a long desk head-banging that wasn’t meant to be picked up in the BBC1 opt!!”

It is not the first time Simon McCoy has caused amusement on his live broadcasts.

Two years ago the BBC also apologized after weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker was caught making a rude gesture to Simon McCoy live on air on the BBC News channel.

Tomasz Schafernaker raised his middle finger to the presenter, not realizing he was still on air.

On a YouTube clip in August 2009 he is shown acting wildly and banging on his desk during a piece on stock market news.

A month earlier the prankster was held up mid-air over his desk by a floor manager as he copies a fitness instructor showing Bill Turnbull and Kate Silverton how to do a push-up.

Fellow host Martine Croxall later posted on Twitter: “Intravenous cafeine now being administered to @simonmccoy.”

Martine Croxall added: “There’s no such thing as an incident-free shift with @simonmccoy.”

Simon McCoy himself said in a bizarre tweet on the social networking site: “I was not asleep! Had just been told The Queen wanted me to cover her NEXT visit.”

His comment prompted a flurry of what appeared to be in-jokes about his recent royal coverage.

The blooper came in the same week that Fox News presenter Doug Luzader fell asleep during a broadcast on the Republican presidential candidate Super Tuesday race in the US.

The hilarious gaffe shows the journalist with his head slumped on his chest as the studio news anchor tries without success to wake him.

A BBC spokesman said: “During a live broadcast, Simon was caught unaware by a camera shot. He subsequently made a light-hearted quip about it on Twitter.”

 

Hostages Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara killed by the Nigerian captors, after SBS rescue operation failed

Roy Siemens
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Hostages Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara killed by the Nigerian captors, after SBS rescue operation failed

British Chris McManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara, who were taken hostages in Nigeria, have been killed by their captors yesterday when a UK Special Forces rescue operation ended in tragedy.

Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara have been executed by gunmen as members of the Special Boat Service and Nigerian soldiers moved in on the Al Qaeda-inspired terrorists’ hideaway.

Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara had been held for ten months.

Fears for Christopher McManus’s welfare had intensified following the release of a video in August showing the 28-year-old engineer blindfolded alongside three armed men.

One of the terrorists said it would be the “last message” to David Cameron about the hostage.

Yesterday, British PM David Cameron broke the news of the execution to Chris McManus’s family in a personal phone call before making a public statement in which he appeared emotional.

It is the second time David Cameron has ordered a hostage rescue mission that has failed. Scottish aid worker Linda Norgrove died when Special Forces tried to rescue her from the Taliban in Afghanistan.

David Cameron had also telephoned his Italian counterpart Mario Monti to tell him of the failed operation – but last night there was growing anger in Italy as it became clear that Rome was informed of the raid to free the hostages only once it had got underway.

Further details of the rescue bid were emerging last night, but it remained unknown whether Christopher McManus and Franco Lamolinara – a 48-year-old father of two – died before or during the operation.

There were reports the men may have been held in a house in Sokoto, a city in Nigeria’s north-west.

One witness said: “The security agencies tried to break into the house but there was resistance. The people inside the house were shooting at them and they returned fire.”

British Chris McManus (left) and Italian Franco Lamolinara have been killed by their captors in Nigeria yesterday when a UK Special Forces rescue operation ended in tragedy
British Chris McManus (left) and Italian Franco Lamolinara have been killed by their captors in Nigeria yesterday when a UK Special Forces rescue operation ended in tragedy

None of the 20 strong British rescue force was injured and Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan said all the terrorists had been arrested.

The rescue was triggered when – after months of searching – the SBS found the heavily protected location where the men were being held.

PM David Cameron said authorities had decided to go ahead with the rescue after receiving “credible information about [the men’s] location”.

“A window of opportunity arose to secure their release. We also had reason to believe that their lives were under imminent and growing danger,” David Cameron insisted.

David Cameron said it was “with great regret’ that he had to announce Chris McManus, from Oldham, and Franco Lamolinara had lost their lives in the subsequent operation.

“I am very sorry that this ended so tragically,” David Cameron stressed, adding: “Terrorism and appalling crimes such as these are a scourge on our world. No one should be in any doubt about our determination to fight and to defeat them.”

Christopher McManus, a contract worker for an Italian construction company, was kidnapped by gunmen in May last year after they stormed his apartment in Birnin-Kebbi in the north-west of Nigeria.

Franco Lamolinara, a 48-year-old father of two of Gattinara near Turin, was also taken. A German colleague escaped by scaling a wall despite being shot and injured.

Last night Chris McManus’s parents, two brothers and sister issued a statement thanking all involved in the attempted rescue.

The statement said: “We are of course devastated by the news of Chris’s death, which we received earlier today.

“During this ordeal we have relied heavily on the support of our family and friends which has never waned and has enabled us to get through the most difficult of times.

“We are also aware of the many people who were working to try and have Chris returned to our family, and his girlfriend. We would like to thank all of them for their efforts.”

The family said they were confident “everything that could be done was being done’ during their ten-month ordeal and sent their condolences to relatives of the other dead hostage”.

Chris McManus and Franco Lamolinara had been working on building a bank in the city, the capital of the lawless Kebbi province.

In August a Nigerian group calling itself “Al Qaeda in the land beyond the Sahel” claimed responsibility for the kidnap and released the video showing Chris McManus, in a Manchester United shirt, with three men armed with Kalashnikov rifles and a machete.

Chris McManus pleaded for the British Government to answer the demands of the group to save his life. One of the kidnappers then said the British Government had failed to answer its demands and it was given two weeks to “take the correct decision”.

Yesterday, security officials said they believed the kidnappers were from a splinter group of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has links to Al Qaeda.

Sources said British Ministry of Defence officials approached David Cameron on Wednesday evening and made it clear they believed there was a “time-limited opportunity” to mount an attempt to free the men.

David Cameron took the decision to go ahead and then followed the operation “in real time” yesterday morning. A meeting of the Government’s emergency committee Cobra was convened, but word came back that the two men had been killed by their captors.

The Italian prime minister’s office said that it had been “constantly in touch with British authorities but that the operation had got underway with the Nigerians and British forces with Italy informed once it had begun”.

Former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema said: “I want full light to be shed on why Italy was only informed once the operation had started.”

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Sonar images show full map of Titanic on ocean floor for the first time

James J. Williams
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Sonar images show full map of Titanic on ocean floor for the first time

The Titanic disaster has been revealed in extraordinary detailed images after researchers have pieced together what is believed to be the first comprehensive map of the entire 3-by-5-mile Titanic debris field.

Researchers hope it will provide new clues about what exactly happened on that fateful night 100 years ago when the superliner hit an iceberg and plunged to the bottom of the North Atlantic, killing more than 1,500 people.

An expedition team used sonar imaging and more than 100,000 photos taken from underwater robots to create the map, which shows where hundreds of objects and pieces of the presumed-unsinkable vessel landed.

Marks on the muddy ocean bottom suggest that the stern rotated like a helicopter blade as the ship sank, rather than plunging straight down.

Explorers of the Titanic – which sank on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City – have known for more than 25 years where the bow and stern landed after the vessel struck an iceberg.

But previous maps of the floor around the wreckage were incomplete, said Parks Stephenson, a Titanic historian who consulted on the 2010 expedition. Studying the site with old maps was like trying to navigate a dark room with a weak flashlight.

“With the sonar map, it’s like suddenly the entire room lit up and you can go from room to room with a magnifying glass and document it,” Parks Stephenson said.

“Nothing like this has ever been done for the Titanic site.”

Researchers have pieced together what is believed to be the first comprehensive map of the entire 3-by-5-mile Titanic debris field
Researchers have pieced together what is believed to be the first comprehensive map of the entire 3-by-5-mile Titanic debris field

The mapping took place in the summer of 2010 during an expedition to the Titanic led by RMS Titanic Inc., the legal custodian of the wreck, along with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and the Waitt Institute of La Jolla, California.

They were joined by the cable History channel and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Park Service is also involved in the mapping.

Details on the new findings at the bottom of the ocean are not being revealed yet, but the network will air them in a two-hour documentary on April 15, exactly 100 years after the Titanic sank.

The expedition team ran two independently self-controlled robots known as autonomous underwater vehicles along the ocean bottom day and night.

The torpedo-shaped AUV’s surveyed the site with side-scan sonar, moving at a little more than three miles per hour as they traversed back and forth in a grid along the bottom.

The AUV’s also took high-resolution photos – 130,000 of them in all – of a smaller 2-by-3-mile area where most of the debris was concentrated.

The images were stitched together on a computer to provide a detailed photo mosaic of the debris.

The result is a map that looks something like the moon’s surface showing debris scattered across the ocean floor well beyond the large bow and stern sections that rest about half a mile apart.

The map provides a forensic tool with which scientists can examine the wreck site much the way an airplane wreck would be investigated on land.

For instance, the evidence that the stern rotated is based on the marks on the ocean floor to its west and the fact that virtually all the debris is found to the east.

“When you look at the sonar map, you can see exactly what happened,” said Paul-Henry Nargeolet, the expedition’s co-leader with RMS Titanic.

Titanic sank 100 years ago on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City after the vessel struck an iceberg
Titanic sank 100 years ago on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City after the vessel struck an iceberg

The first mapping of the Titanic wreck site began after it was discovered in 1985, using photos taken with cameras aboard a remotely controlled vehicle that didn’t venture far from the bow and stern.

The mapping over the years has improved as explorers have built upon previous efforts in piecemeal fashion, said Charlie Pellegrino, a Titanic explorer who was not involved in the 2010 expedition.

But this is the first time a map of the entire debris field has looked at every square inch in an orderly approach, he said.

“This is quite a significant map,” Charlie Pellegrino said.

“It’s quite a significant advance in the technology and the way it’s done.”

At Lone Wolf Documentary Group in South Portland, producers are putting the final touches on the History documentary. Rushmore DeNooyer, the co-producer and writer of the show, points out the different items on the map, displayed on a screen.

They include a huge tangle of the remains of a deckhouse; a large chunk of the side of the ship measuring more than 60 feet long and weighing more than 40 tons; pieces of the ship’s bottom; and a hatch cover that blew off of the bow section as it crashed to the bottom.

Other items include five of the ship’s huge boilers, a revolving door and even a lightning rod from a mast.

By examining the debris, investigators can now answer questions like how the ship broke apart, how it went down and whether there was a fatal flaw in the design, he said.

The layout of the wreck site and where the pieces landed provide new clues on exactly what happened. Computer simulations will re-enact the sinking in reverse, bringing the wreckage debris back to the surface and reassembled.

Some of those questions will be answered on the show, said Dirk Hoogstra, a senior vice president at History. He declined to say ahead of the show what new theories are being put forth on the sinking.

“We’ve got this vision of the entire wreck that no one has ever seen before,” Dirk Hoogstra said.

“Because we have, we’re going to be able to reconstruct exactly how the wreck happened. It’s groundbreaking, jaw-dropping stuff.”

 

Whitney Houston and Bobbi Kristina shared the same drug dealer, claims a shocking report

Lisa.Felice
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Whitney Houston and Bobbi Kristina shared the same drug dealer, claims a shocking report

Whitney Houston and her daughter Bobbi Kristina shared the same drug dealer, claims a new shocking report.

According to The Daily Star, Whitney Houston and her teenage daughter Bobbi Kristina were using a man “by the name of Jay” to purchase drugs right up until the singer’s death last month.

A family insider allegedly told The Daily Star that the man would deliver marijuana and cocaine to Whitney Houston’s home in Atlanta, and that the singer was taking drugs for “most of the last six months of her life”.

“Her regular dealer toward the end was a big black guy called Jay,” the family insider told the British publication.

“He would call at the house most evenings in the months leading up to Whitney’s death.

“And he earned a fortune from her.”

The reports claims that Whitney Houston never had any interaction with the man and rather had a friend make the deals.

“They would hand Jay a brown paper bag crammed with hundreds of dollar bills and Jay would hand back the bag with the top folded down,” the insider claims to the paper.

But while the dealings were taking place, the insider alleges that Whitney Houston’s 18-year-old daughter was also being given drugs and alcohol by that man, unbeknownst to her mother.

“He would give her drink and drugs, usually cannabis,” the source told The Daily Star.

Whitney Houston and her daughter Bobbi Kristina shared the same drug dealer, claims a new shocking report
Whitney Houston and her daughter Bobbi Kristina shared the same drug dealer, claims a new shocking report

The new report comes after numerous reports about Bobbi Kristina Brown’s past troubles.

Bobbi Kristina Brown was admitted to a psychiatric ward in 2008 after she tried to stab her mother during an argument before turning the blade on herself and trying to slit her wrists.

Whitney Houston’s daughter had apparently grown up seeing her mother doing drugs and now her family is concerned that she may follow in the singer’s footsteps in the more negative aspects of her life.

In 2011, Bobbi Kristina’s ex-boyfriend of more than two years was so concerned he spoke to Radar Online about her growing cocaine addiction that he says is due, in part, to her parents enabling her habits.

“I’ve tried to stop her, but all she said was, <<I’m just like my mother!>>,” he said.

Bobbi Kristina Brown will sit down with Oprah on Sunday night for her very first interview since her mother’s death.

Joining her will also be Patricia Houston, Whitney Houston’s sister-in-law and one-time manager.

In the interview Oprah Winfrey asks her whether she thought drugs were the cause of her sister-in-law’s sad demise.

“The handwriting was kind of on the wall,” Patricia Houston said.

“I would be kidding myself to say otherwise.”

However, Patricia Houston thought that before Whitney’s death, the singer was somewhat safer that she was before.

“If things hadn’t changed, but things were changing, things were really changing with her, very much so,” she said.

“It wasn’t about the substance abuse or anything like that relative to the latter days or anything like that, I think it was more of lifestyle.”

“I was afraid for other things, lifestyle more so than…” she trailed off.

Not letting a tease like that go unanswered, Oprah Winfrey pressed her on what, exactly, it was about her lifestyle that seemed so threatening

“I saw her chasing a dream, looking for love in all the wrong places.”

 

Patricia Houston: “The handwriting was on the wall for Whitney Houston”

Lisa.Felice
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Patricia Houston: “The handwriting was on the wall for Whitney Houston”

Patricia Houston, Whitney Houston’s sister-in-law and former manager, said she feared that drugs would end the singer’s life.

In a partial transcript of an interview with Oprah Winfrey scheduled to air Sunday, Patricia Houston said she would be “kidding herself” to say otherwise.

Patricia Houston was asked if she thought drugs would end up “taking” Whitney Houston. The “handwriting was kind of on the wall,” she replied.

Whitney Houston was changing how she lived, her sister-in-law said, and “it wasn’t about substance abuse or anything like that relative to the … latter days or anything like that.”

“It was just more of a lifestyle. I was afraid for other things,” Patricia Houston said.

“I saw her chasing a dream, you know, looking for love in all the wrong places.”

Patricia Houston, Whitney Houston's sister-in-law and former manager, said she feared that drugs would end the singer's life during Oprah’s Next Chapter interview
Patricia Houston, Whitney Houston's sister-in-law and former manager, said she feared that drugs would end the singer's life during Oprah’s Next Chapter interview

Bobbi Kristina, Whitney Houston’s daughter with singer Bobby Brown, also was interviewed for the episode of “Oprah’s Next Chapter” airing 9 p.m. EST Sunday on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN channel.

Bobbi Kristina Brown, 19, discusses how she wants her mother to be remembered, OWN said Thursday.

Whitney Houston was found underwater in a Beverly Hills hotel room bathtub on the eve of the Grammy Awards. Investigators found several bottles of prescription medication in the room, and tests were being conducted to determine the cause of her February 11 death aged 48.

Whitney Houston, whose hits included “I Will Always Love You,” had a history of substance abuse.

 

Vatican on the watch list as a possible centre for money laundering from criminal activity

Diane A. Wade
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Vatican on the watch list as a possible centre for money laundering from criminal activity

A report of the American State Department’s International Narcotics Control Strategy has for the first time identified the Vatican as a possible centre for money laundering from criminal activity.

The report lists the Vatican as one of 68 countries including Yemen, Algeria and North Korea, describing it as a “country of concern” for money laundering or other financial crimes.

According to US officials, the Vatican is on the watch list because of the “huge amount of cash” that flows into the tiny city state and also because it was still unclear how effective anti money laundering legislation introduced last year by Pope Benedict XVI had been.

The news comes just weeks after a series of leaked documents from within the Vatican and which were dubbed “Vatileaks”, revealed allegations of corruption and money laundering within the Holy See and which forced officials into issuing a series of denials.

The documents said that despite Pope Benedict XVI signing a new anti money laundering law to make it more difficult for illegal funds to be recycled through Vatican accounts, there was a massive loophole which made it impossible to take action against any offence committed before its introduction on 1 April 2011.

Prosecutors in Rome are currently investigating two transfers totaling 23 million Euros from the Vatican Bank, or the Institute of Religious Works to give it its proper name, to two smaller banks.

The transactions took place in September 2010 and as a result the head of the Vatican Bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi and his chief executive Paolo Cipriani, were placed under official investigation by Rome prosecutors and the 23 million Euros was also seized as part of the investigation.

Officials were tipped off about the two suspicious transactions by the Bank of Italy, as the Vatican Bank was said to have “failed to disclose fully” all the information it was supposed to regarding the transactions as per international banking laws.

Investigators involved in the case said they have met with “a deafening silence” as they try to get to the bottom of the case, with requests for information being constantly dodged – at the time the Vatican said it was “perplexed and astonished” at the allegation and gave its full backing to Gotti Tedeschi and Cipriani.

Author Gianluigi Nuzzi, who wrote a bestselling book on financial scandals at the Holy See called “Vatican Spa” said: “This news is inevitable and the Vatican really needs to follow international rules and ensure that it is transparent when it comes to banking transactions.

“The Vatican says that it is but it is still not on the internationally recognised white list of countries and until it is there will always be suspicion surrounding its financial activities. I understand inspectors were at the Vatican a few months ago and would not be surprised if the State Department’s announcement was connected to this.

“There are ongoing investigations against the Vatican Bank but every time prosecutors try and ask a question they are met with at best half answers or at worst and more often the case, complete silence.”

A report of the American State Department's International Narcotics Control Strategy has for the first time identified the Vatican as a possible centre for money laundering from criminal activity
A report of the American State Department's International Narcotics Control Strategy has for the first time identified the Vatican as a possible centre for money laundering from criminal activity

 

It also emerged last month that prosecutors in Rome have also placed four priests under investigation were aged 37, 49 and 62, with the oldest being Father Evaldo Biasini, 85, who has been given the nickname “Father Cashpoint” by detectives.

Evaldo Biasini is alleged to have laundered hundreds of thousands of Euros belonging to a corrupt businessman through accounts he opened for him at the Vatican Bank and was allowed to “keep a percentage” of the money as payment.

Meanwhile another of the priests is said to have acted as a guarantee for the transfer of 300,000 Euro to an account in Rome by a woman identified as “Maria Rossi” which later turned out to be a false name.

It is not the first time that the Vatican Bank has been linked to money laundering and criminal activities – in 1982 it was involved in a huge international scandal when its then governor, larger than life American Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, was indicted over his involvement with the collapse of Italy’s then largest private bank, Banco Ambrosiano.

Banco Ambrosiano’s chairman Roberto Calvi, was found hanged under London’s Blackfriars Bridge, with bundles of cash and bricks in his pockets and at the time his death was recorded as suicide but prosecutors in Rome later said he had been murdered by the Mafia after a bungled money laundering attempt through the Vatican Bank.

Roberto Calvi, was known as God’s Banker because of his ties to the Vatican and was also known to Paul Marcinkus but the cleric refused to answer questions always claiming diplomatic immunity and he died six years ago taking the secrets of what he knew to the grave.

 

Heidi Klum has broken her silence on shocking split from Seal

Lisa.Felice
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Heidi Klum has broken her silence on shocking split from Seal

Heidi Klum has finally broken her silence about the demise of her marriage to Seal in the April issue of Elle magazine.

Heidi Klum, 38, has likened the split to a tornado.

The supermodel says: “I feel like I’m in the eye of the tornado. It’s emotions inside of your body that are a tornado. And then the outside world doing all this craziness – with you wanting it or not wanting it – is another tornado.

“But as hard as it is, so is life. And sometimes I think a curve-ball just comes at you. Instead of something straight that you catch, it hits you in the head from the side that you didn’t expect.”

Heidi Klum admits that, though it appeared they had an idyllic, fairytale romance, their seven-year marriage was rife with problems that they tried to keep private.

She says: “To the outside world, you don’t really share all the things that happen. You kind of share just the most amazing sides.

“But I don’t really want to get into any of that stuff. With my life, my family, my business – I want to go forward.

“I feel like already there are so many things being said about us — about him, about me. I’m not going to comment.

“Otherwise it makes you angry. You can’t always call and say, ‘This is not true, but this part is true.”

Heidi Klum has finally broken her silence about the demise of her marriage to Seal in the April issue of Elle magazine
Heidi Klum has finally broken her silence about the demise of her marriage to Seal in the April issue of Elle magazine

Seal, 49, has been airing the couple’s dirty laundry non-stop while promoting his latest album, and though Heidi Klum refuses to admit she’s angry, she does acknowledge that the situation is tough.

Heidi Klum says: “He’s a grown man. I can’t tell him what to do and what not to do. It’s hard.

“People don’t need to know who did what. I don’t want to talk positively or negatively about the ups and downs that we had.

“Every couple goes through things. Unfortunately, we’re in the public, so the highs are out there.”

Heidi Klum and Seal have four children together, and she wants to protect them.

The German model says: “I’m a lioness. I have four cubs. I’m a mom. I want to take care of my kids and protect them. I don’t want to talk about them, or him, or me.”

She adds that the separation has caused her endless amounts of pain, saying: “I’m not a robot. I’m not made of stone.”

Heidi Klum and Seal announced their split in late January after seven years of marriage.

Seal spoke out two days after announcing the split.

The singer said: “I think we were shocked. You go into these things with the greatest intentions when you say <<I do>> and you say <<Till death do us part>>.

“Those vows hold value. They are not just words.

“These things happen. The thing that I’m most proud about is this great woman who I married – and I really do mean that from the bottom of my heart – is that together she has given me four incredible gifts, four beautiful children.”

 

Coke and Pepsi recipes altered to avoid cancer warning label

Clyde K. Valle
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Coke and Pepsi recipes altered to avoid cancer warning label

Coca-Cola and Pepsi decided to change the recipes for their drinks to avoid putting a cancer warning label on the bottle, to comply with California laws.

The new recipe for caramel coloring in the drinks has less 4-methylimidazole – a chemical which California has added to its list of carcinogens.

The change to the recipe has already been introduced in California.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo say rolling out the new recipe across the US makes the drinks more efficient to manufacture.

“While we believe that there is no public health risk that justifies any such change, we did ask our caramel suppliers to take this step so that our products would not be subject to the requirement of a scientifically unfounded warning,” Coca-Cola representative Diana Garza-Ciarlante told the AP.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi decided to change the recipes for their drinks to avoid putting a cancer warning label on the bottle, to comply with California laws.
Coca-Cola and Pepsi decided to change the recipes for their drinks to avoid putting a cancer warning label on the bottle, to comply with California laws.

The chemical has been linked to cancer in mice and rats, according to one study, but there is no evidence that it poses a health risk to humans, said the American Beverage Association, which represents the wider industry.

The US Food and Drug Administration claims a person would need to drink more than 1,000 cans of Coke or Pepsi a day to take in the same dose of the chemical that was given to the animals in the lab test.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo account for nearly 90% of the fizzy drink market, according to industry tracker Beverage Digest.

 

Dan Emmett, former Secret Service agent, criticized Clinton administration staff in a controversial new book

Diane A. Wade
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Dan Emmett, former Secret Service agent, criticized Clinton administration staff in a controversial new book

Dan Emmett, a former U.S. Secret Service agent has launched a stinging attack on the Clinton administration staff he used to protect – branding them arrogant and claiming that ex-First Lady Hillary Clinton was aloof.

Dan Emmett has laid bare a series of anecdotes about the inner workings of the White House in a controversial book.

The former Secret Service agent tells how Hillary Clinton, now Secretary of State, never said “thank you” to agents, unlike her husband, Bill, and their daughter, Chelsea.

This trait, Dan Emmett added, was found in even greater measure among the young White House personnel, whom he said displayed “fundamental traits of rudeness and arrogance” which, at times, bordered on dangerous.

“Most of these youngsters were from wealthy families and many viewed Secret Service agents as the hired help,” Dan Emmett he wrote in the autobiography Within Arm’s Length.

One unnamed Clinton employee treated a Russian KGB agent on one presidential visit “as if he were dealing with a Wackenhut security officer in Toledo”.

Dan Emmett has laid bare a series of anecdotes about the inner workings of the White House in a controversial book “Within Arm's Length”
Dan Emmett has laid bare a series of anecdotes about the inner workings of the White House in a controversial book “Within Arm's Length”

Dan Emmett also accuses Bill Clinton of putting his own life and those of his agents at risk by insisting on a “totally pointless photo op” on the North Korea-South Korea border.

During the trip in 1993, Dan Emmett said the former President Bill Clinton went too far along the bridge separating the two nations, according to the Washington Examiner.

“No-one seemed to know if President Clinton grasped how potentially dangerous this stop on the bridge was,” Dan Emmett writes.

“The Secret Service obviously believed this move unwise.”

Dan Emmett added: “Nevertheless, he was POTUS and he wanted to stand on the bridge, so stand on the bridge he would do.”

In another account, Dan Emmett said Bill Clinton “dealt us this nightmare” by insisting on jogging in public.

Agents tried to change his mind and even went as far as building a quarter-mile track inside the White House confines.

Bill Clinton was unpersuaded and asked the presidential protective division to come up some routes outside the grounds, it was reported on Chicago Tribune News.

“The worst thing for the Secret Service is to take a sitting president into public when no one has been swept and anyone could be out there,” he said.

Dan Emmett, who also served under George H.W. Bush and now works as a teacher, has been criticized by the service for publishing his tell-all.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan told the Washington Examiner: “It causes concern because we don’t want to erode the trust that we have with our protectees.”

 

Whitney Houston’s most recent will: Pat Houston is the new executor and Cissy Houston is a trustee

Lisa.Felice
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Whitney Houston’s most recent will: Pat Houston is the new executor and Cissy Houston is a trustee

Yesterday in Atlanta, Whitney Houston’s family went into probate court and named Pat Houston, Whitney’s sister in law and manager, as executor. Mother Cissy Houston is now a trustee.

The Forbes site presented the current codicil and statement.

If the 2000 codicil had stood, Whitney Houston’s other sister-in-law, Donna, and her husband, Michael, would have been trustees and Whitney’s old lawyer, Sheldon Platt, would have been the executor.

Kenny Meiselas of Grubman Indursky Shire and Meiselas P.C. has confirmed that in Fulton County Probate Court in Georgia, Marion P. Houston (Pat Houston) was appointed as Administrator of the singer’s estate
Kenny Meiselas of Grubman Indursky Shire and Meiselas P.C. has confirmed that in Fulton County Probate Court in Georgia, Marion P. Houston (Pat Houston) was appointed as Administrator of the singer’s estate

Kenny Meiselas of Grubman Indursky Shire and Meiselas P.C., long term media and entertainment attorneys for Whitney Houston, has confirmed that today in Fulton County Probate Court in Georgia, Marion P. Houston (Pat Houston) was appointed as Administrator of the Estate of Whitney E. Houston. Bobbi Kristina Brown is the sole beneficiary.

See copy of order here

 

Whitney Houston’s last will and testament details

Lisa.Felice
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0
Whitney Houston’s last will and testament details

Whitney Houston’s last will and testament revealed the details on how Bobbi Kristina Brown will inherit her mother’s legacy.

Whitney Houston made provisions for her daughter before her death last month.

According to the legal document, Bobbi Kristina Brown, who is the beneficiary of Whitney Houston’s estate which has been placed into a trust, will receive money at the ages of 21, 25 and 30-years-old.

Whitney Houston, who passed away on February 11 aged 48, first set up the will in 1993, it was later amended in April 2000.

While Bobbi Kristina is not named, the singer stipulated that “any child of mine who survives” will receive all furniture, clothing, personal effects, jewellery and cars, as well as the balance of the estate.

Whitney Houston’s last will and testament revealed the details on how Bobbi Kristina Brown will inherit her mother’s legacy
Whitney Houston’s last will and testament revealed the details on how Bobbi Kristina Brown will inherit her mother’s legacy

 

If Bobbi Kristina dies, the estate would go to her relatives and her ex-husband Bobby Brown – who would have to decide between themselves how to divvy items up.

If the group couldn’t decide how to split the assets they would be sold and the cash would be distributed.

As well as staggering access to the trust Whitney Houston also stipulated that her trustees can release funds to Bobbi Kristina depending upon the circumstances and it is up to the trustees to allow to release the funds or not.

Presumably these would include if the teenager wanted to start a business, or pay for college.

It will no doubt come as a relief to the family that even though Whitney Houston’s former husband Bobby Brown is named in the will – he will not receive anything.

Whitney Houston’s last will and testament first page
Whitney Houston’s last will and testament first page
Whitney Houston’s last will and testament second page
Whitney Houston’s last will and testament second page
Whitney Houston’s last will and testament third page
Whitney Houston’s last will and testament third page

Whitney Houston’s mother Emily Cissy Houston is the executor of the will and her brother and sister-in-law are trustees.

Her brother Gary Houston, who was named in the will as one of family members who the estate would be divided between if Bobbi Kristina dies, has spoken out about the document.

According to TMZ, Gary Houston said: “I don’t concern myself with any of that [will stuff] … All I know is my sister’s gone.”

 

Jamie Oliver’s foulmouthed response when he was questioned about his weight gain in Australia

Diane A. Wade
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Jamie Oliver’s foulmouthed response when he was questioned about his weight gain in Australia

The celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was not so happy when he was questioned about his own diet in Australia this week.

Jamie Oliver, 36, bristled when asked by a female reporter if he had gained a few pounds recently and called her a “b****”.

When he was questioned on whether he had filled out a bit, Jamie Oliver replied: “I don’t know. I am very healthy.

“Are you from a tabloid? Thank you for noticing, you b****.”

It wasn’t clear whether or not the father-of-four was joking during the outburst.

However, Jamie Oliver admitted he tried to watch his weight and worked out twice a week, but said there was room for improvement.

Jamie Oliver explained: “I do my best. Working in the food business is quite hard when someone is constantly asking you to try things.

“I eat fresh. I train twice a week. I could definitely do better, but I am trying to do my best like most people when they hit 30.”

The celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was not so happy when he was questioned about his own diet in Australia this week
The celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was not so happy when he was questioned about his own diet in Australia this week

Jamie Oliver’ spokeswoman Kimberly Yorio insisted her client’s weight remained the same.

Kimberly Yorio told Australia’s ABC News: “I can say for a fact he hasn’t gained any weight. They were bad pictures.”

At the Q&A session on responsible eating on Tuesday, Jamie Oliver admitted he was not thinking straight after “a few drinks” the night before.

The celebrity chef said: “I went out last night and had a few drinks after a very long day, (and) my brain did not quite understand that question.”

So they may go some way to explain his unguarded and candid response.

Jamie Oliver is in Australia to launch his second Ministry of Food, in partnership with The Victorian Government and the Good Foundation, to attack state-wide obesity.

The new scheme will see AU$5 million put towards helping teach cooking techniques and nutrition to participants in a larger attempt to attack obesity as a whole in the country.

 

Hotfile targeted by Hollywood following similar action against Megaupload

Nancy Clayson
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Hotfile targeted by Hollywood following similar action against Megaupload

Hollywood studios are calling on the courts to force the popular file-sharing site Hotfile offline following similar action against Megaupload.

Court papers unsealed this week reveal that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has filed a motion for a summary judgement.

If approved, the move could lead to action against the service without the need for a lengthy trial.

Hotfile says it removes copyright-infringing files on request.

Details of the development were revealed by Mediapost News and the Torrentfreak blog.

It marks the latest step in the Hollywood’s year-long legal effort to have Hotfile shut down.

The court papers name Disney, 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios, Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros as the plaintiffs.

They claim that “Hotfile actively fosters the massive copyright infringement that fuels its business”, adding that “more than 90% of the files downloaded from Hotfile are copyright infringing, and nearly every Hotfile user is engaged in copyright infringement”.

The studios claim that Hotfile’s business model is “indistinguishable” from that of Megaupload and draw attention to its affiliate programme.

This offered users payments based on how many times their files had been downloaded. The studios claim this encouraged “the uploading of <<popular>> [i.e. infringing] content”.

Hollywood studios are calling on the courts to force the popular file-sharing site Hotfile offline following similar action against Megaupload
Hollywood studios are calling on the courts to force the popular file-sharing site Hotfile offline following similar action against Megaupload

Panama-based Hotfile has claimed safe harbor protections under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

These offer sites immunity if they take down illegal material when asked and protect services such as YouTube from being forced offline if a member uploads someone else’s video.

However, the studios claim Hotfile does not qualify because it did not identify, keep track of or “terminate” repeat offenders. The movie makers say their own efforts to identify repeat offenders found that some had received 300 or more infringement notices.

The studios add that nearly all of Hotfile’s top affiliates who had received payments “were egregious repeat offenders”.

Hotfile website notes that it has made changes to “facilitate the identification of repeat infringers” and goes on to say it has become “more aggressive” about terminating accounts.

Hotfile adds that it has installed new “fingerprint” technology to block copyrighted files from being uploaded and has also changed the way its affiliate payments are calculated.

Although the case against Megaupload has yet to go to trial, the Media Industry Blog’s Mark Mulligan said the fact the site had been taken offline had given copyright holders fresh impetus to target other digital locker services.

“These lockers are the easiest target to hit to take out a very sizeable chunk of the piracy market,” Mark Mulligan said.

“If the service providers are serious about wanting to heed the industry’s concerns then instead of assuming that all of the content is legitimate until found otherwise, they should actually assume that most of the content is illegal and take action.

“Much of the content on these service is very high quality video files – how many consumers genuinely create large high definition videos of their own and upload them?”

However, Mark Mulligan warned that even if the studios succeed in shutting other lockers down – the victory might be short-lived.

“Closing such sites down will undoubtedly be a body blow to piracy, but the history of music piracy shows us that every time you close something down it’s like a game of digital whack-a-mole – another one pops up.”

 

Alzheimer sufferers on Aricept had a slower decline in their memory, says a new study

Kathryn R. Bown
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Alzheimer sufferers on Aricept had a slower decline in their memory, says a new study

A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that patients who stayed on the dementia drug Aricept had a slower decline in their memory.

The new research suggests that thousands of patients with advanced Alzheimer’s disease could benefit from drugs.

Aricept (donepezil) tends not to be prescribed once sufferers progress beyond moderate symptoms.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the drugs regulator in UK, said its guidelines supported continuing treatment where there were benefits.

The patent for the medicine Aricept, which is used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, expired recently. Much cheaper versions under the generic name donepezil are already available for about £12 ($19) a month.

The researchers say their new evidence could lead to twice as many Alzheimer’s sufferers worldwide being given medication.

The trial involved 295 Alzheimer’s patients in England and Scotland who had been taking Aricept.

One set were given placebo tablets while another set stayed on Aricept. A third set were given another drug, Ebixa (memantine), which is usually prescribed only in the later stages of Alzheimer’s.

The fourth batch of patients received a combination of both drugs.

The researchers assessed each group for a year, looking at their cognitive scores on factors like memory, and also at how well they coped with everyday tasks such as dressing and eating.

A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that patients who stayed on the dementia drug Aricept had a slower decline in their memory
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that patients who stayed on the dementia drug Aricept had a slower decline in their memory

Both drugs were unable to halt the decline of patients, but they slowed it down.

The study’s lead author, Professor Robert Howard from King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry, said: “For the first time, we have robust and compelling evidence that treatment with these drugs can continue to help patients at the more severe stages.

“Patients who continued taking donepezil were about four months ahead in how they were able to remember, communicate and perform daily tasks than those who stopped taking the drugs.

“It means a lot to doctors and carers to see differences like that. These improvements were sustained throughout the year.

“It’s fair to say that both drugs have independent, positive effects at this stage of dementia. I’m advising hospital colleagues to continue patients on donepezil, when it’s tolerated, and to add in memantine.”

About 500,000 people in the UK are thought to have Alzheimer’s disease – with only about 10% who are in the earlier stages currently on drug treatment.

 

Bobbi Kristina should stay out of the limelight for a while, says her family

Lisa.Felice
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0
Bobbi Kristina should stay out of the limelight for a while, says her family

Bobbi Kristina Brown’s first interview since the death of Whitney Houston is set for Sunday, March 11, but members of the 19-year-old’s family have concerns about the timing of the one-on-one chat with Oprah Winfrey.

“There is still no resolution and there has been nothing concrete on the cause of [Whitney Houston’s] death, and they were hoping for that,” a Houston family friend tells People magazine.

“There were members of the family who weren’t keen on [the interview] going down at this time.”

The source says some of Whitney Houston’s close relatives wanted Bobbi Kristina to hold off on speaking publicly this close to her mother’s death.

“There are people who just want her to stay out of the limelight for a while,” says the friend.

“This is a little girl who just needs some time.”

Whitney Houston's close relatives wanted Bobbi Kristina to hold off on speaking publicly this close to her mother's death
Whitney Houston's close relatives wanted Bobbi Kristina to hold off on speaking publicly this close to her mother's death

The next step for Bobbi Kristina Brown – who currently is spending time with her aunt Patricia Houston and Whitney’s brother Gary Houston – is up in the air.

“She’s so very young and impressionable,” says the source.

“She has to start finding herself as a woman on her own as opposed to defining herself as Whitney’s daughter and Whitney’s support. It’s kind of interesting to see what’s going to happen to her from here on in.”

The source, who says Bobbi Kristina Brown “has definitely wanted to walk in her parents’ footsteps,” and pursue singing and acting, would have a tough act to follow. The source explains that “she will always have to deal with the constant comparison.

“I think she needs to find her own niche,” says the source.

Bobbi Kristina Brown’s interview, which also features Oprah Winfrey’s interviews with Patricia and Gary Houston, airs Sunday, March 11 on OWN’s Oprah’s Next Chapter.

 

Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston’s cousin, talked about the late singer on Good Morning America

Lisa.Felice
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0
Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston’s cousin, talked about the late singer on Good Morning America

Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston’s cousin, appeared on Good Morning America Thursday morning to talk about the late singer, who died last month.

“She basically was the little girl I never had,” Dionne Warwick told the show’s host Robin Roberts about her close relationship with Whitney Houston, who died at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on February 11.

“I’m heading toward being OK,” Dionne Warwick said.

“I have not had the opportunity to really mourn, to completely break down, which I will do, I know that. I think the comfort comes from knowing she’s in good hands now. She’s in the best hands now.”

Dionne Warwick, who spoke at Whitney Houston’s funeral, also gave an update about the singer’s mother, Cissy.

“I am so proud of her. She is really holding up so very well. She has her moments, of course, and she’ll continue to have her moments. But I think she’s come to terms with it just about now, the realization that it happened.”

“It’s not an easy thing for a parent to lose a baby,” Dionne Warwick added.

Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston’s cousin, appeared on Good Morning America Thursday morning to talk about the late singer, who died last month
Dionne Warwick, Whitney Houston’s cousin, appeared on Good Morning America Thursday morning to talk about the late singer, who died last month

Dionne Warwick recalled how she spoke to Whitney Houston the day she died and that she flew out to Los Angeles from New Jersey in order to attend Clive Davis’ annual party before the Grammys.

“She was so up and ready and happy,” Dionne Warwick said of Whitney Houston, hours before she died.

“She had everything in the world to live for. She had a new film, that was an absolute dream to make and do, and completed that, thank God. She was getting ready to go back into the studio to record, she was getting her vocals together.”

“It’s very, very surreal,” Whitney Houston’s cousin added.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

It was revealed Wednesday that Whitney Houston’s estate will go to her daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, and Dionne Warwick gave a short update on how she’s doing since her mother passed away.

“That’s the one thing I love about my family: We are a family, so she has the support that she actually needs,” Dionne Warwick said.

[youtube Xlj8P-3Bft4]

 

Whitney Houston left Bobby Brown to marry Jermaine Jackson, claim new reports

Lisa.Felice
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0
Whitney Houston left Bobby Brown to marry Jermaine Jackson, claim new reports

Whitney Houston allegedly called Jermaine Jackson in the wee hours of the morning about five years ago, confessing that she was leaving then-husband Bobby Brown to marry him.

According to a source, Jermaine Jackson, who was then married to his second wife, Alejandra, considered Whitney Houston’s offer, the New York Daily News reported.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Jermaine Jackson and Whitney Houston enjoyed a year-long affair in the early ’80s while Jackson was married to his first wife, Hazel Gordy.

Whitney Houston allegedly called Jermaine Jackson in the wee hours of the morning about five years ago, confessing that she was leaving then-husband Bobby Brown to marry him
Whitney Houston allegedly called Jermaine Jackson in the wee hours of the morning about five years ago, confessing that she was leaving then-husband Bobby Brown to marry him

Another source, who knew the late Tupac Shakur, said that the rap icon was also obsessed with Whitney Houston.

The source said that Tupac Shakur, who was murdered in 1996, asked her to track down Whitney Houston’s cell phone number.

“He told me that if a brother with money like him stepped to her she would leave Bobby,” the source said.

 

Osama Bin Laden’s widows charged in Pakistan

Diane A. Wade
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Osama Bin Laden’s widows charged in Pakistan

Pakistani authorities charged Osama Bin Laden’s three widows with illegally entering the country.

According to Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik, the women, reported to be two Saudis and a Yemeni, had been charged but did not say when the hearing took place.

The three women and about 10 children were taken into custody last May when US commandos raided their compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The women had been living in the compound in Abbottabad that Navy Seals attacked, killing Osama Bin Laden.

Rehman Malik told reporters in Islamabad that “only the adults had been charged” and the children were free to return to their native countries if their mothers agreed.

Legal experts say the maximum term the women could get is five years.

Pakistani authorities charged Osama Bin Laden's three widows with illegally entering the country
Pakistani authorities charged Osama Bin Laden's three widows with illegally entering the country

It is not clear if these three women are Osama Bin Laden’s only widows – it has been reported that he had up to six wives.

In June 2011, a Pakistani commission was charged with investigating how the al-Qaeda leader had managed to stay in Pakistan undetected.

The commission said his wives should not be allowed to leave the country until they had been interviewed.

Despite having a $25 milliom bounty on his head for his role in organizing the 9/11 attacks on the US, Osama Bin Laden managed to live in the Abbottabad compound with his wives and children for nearly five years.

 

American Idol: Jessica Sanchez performed Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”

Lisa.Felice
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American Idol: Jessica Sanchez performed Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”

American Idol’s last remaining contestants offered a great show last night, as song choices were limited to Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston hits.

Jessica Sanchez created shock and awe in equal measure when she brought the house down with Whitney Houston’s greatest hit, I Will Always Love You.

Joshua Ledet did kick off the show with an incredible performance of I Wish, but Elise Testone brought the mood down when she failed horribly with I’m Your Baby Tonight.

“Whitney’s a beast,” Jennifer Lopez stated oddly, though it was clear to understand what she meant despite the odd choice of metaphor.

Whitney Houston’s vocals seemed insurmountable to the spirited young girls struggling desperately to emulate her.

A similar fate befell Shannon Magrane, who was understandably having trouble catching her breath throughout I Have Nothing.

“I think your nerves got the best of you, baby,” Steven Tyler told Shannon Magrane.

“You kind of crashed and burned.”

Jeremy Rosado’s beautiful voice struggled last night on Ribbon in the Sky, which was the song Stevie Wonder himself sung at Whitney Houston’s funeral last month and therefore probably doomed to failure by comparison.

Even “gentle giant” Jermaine Jones was nitpicked for “forcing” the chorus on Knocks Me Off My Feet.

Heejun Han turned in an adequate All in Love Is Fair, and Colton Dixon ably sailed through Lately, looking every bit the pin-up.

“The song started out shaky for me, but by the last eight bars, you were flawless,” critiqued Randy Jackson, who said that Colton had the most trouble staying on pitch when he was singing “soft and low”.

Jessica Sanchez created shock and awe in equal measure when she brought the house down with Whitney Houston's greatest hit, I Will Always Love You
Jessica Sanchez created shock and awe in equal measure when she brought the house down with Whitney Houston's greatest hit, I Will Always Love You

Jessica Sanchez and Hollie Cavanagh fared the best.

Jessica Sanchez had a surprisingly good performance of Whitney Houston’s best-known hit, I Will Always Love You, while Hollie Cavanagh gave a heartening performance of All the Man That I Need.

Randy Jackson told Jessica Sanchez that it was one of the most difficult songs to sing and that she was the best “vocal of the night and one of the best vocal talents” in America.

While Steven Tyler added: “You may be the one. You just made 40 million people cry.”

Skylar Laine turned Where Do Broken Hearts Go into a lilting country ballad which worked better for this personal touch, though Jennifer Lopez felt she got “nasally” despite her offering the “biggest moment of the night” up to that point.

While Erika Van Pelt on I Believe in You and Me gave the judges goosebumps.

DeAndre Brackensick showed a different side of his voice with a reggae version of Master Blaster and was praised for his “Jamaican patois” by Steven Tyler.

Phillip Phillips gave Superstition a rock makeover.

The first elimination will run a little differently than in year’s past.

On tomorrow’s show, host Ryan Seacrest will announce the boy and the girl who got the least votes, then let the judges pick which one stays and which goes.

 [youtube ayYNAEs0few]

Whitney Houston’s will: the singer left everything to her daughter Bobbi Kristina

Lisa.Felice
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0
Whitney Houston’s will: the singer left everything to her daughter Bobbi Kristina

Whitney Houston’s will has been made public and it has revealed that the late superstar has left everything in her possession to her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown.

All of Whitney Houston money, as well as her personal effects, has been willed to Bobbi Kristina Brown.

According to a court document, which was obtained by Inside Edition, Whitney Houston, who died on February 11 aged 48, first set up the will in 1993.

The singer then amended it in 2000, while she was still married to Bobby Brown.

Bobby Brown will not receive anything, although he is mentioned in the document itself.

Allegedly, money left by Whitney Houston to Bobbi Kristina will be put into a trust which the teenager will be given access to when she turns 21.

At that time, in 2014, Bobbi Kristina Brown will receive a portion of the inheritance, before being given another chunk at the age of 25.

Bobbi Kristina will receive the rest of her inheritance in a final installment on her 30th birthday.

All of Whitney Houston money, as well as her personal effects, has been willed to Bobbi Kristina Brown
All of Whitney Houston money, as well as her personal effects, has been willed to Bobbi Kristina Brown

According to BANG Showbiz, Whitney Houston’s mother Patricia “Cissy” Houston is the executor of the will and her brother, Gary, and sister-in-law, Pat, are trustees.

Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown were married for 14 years, but they signed a prenuptial agreement before they tied the knot in 1992, which banned Bobby from accessing her will.

The prenuptial agreement stated: “Houston shall have the right to dispose of her Separate Property by Last Will and Testament in such manner as she may, in her own uncontrolled discretion deem proper.

“All future earnings, income, and accumulations resulting from each of the party’s respective personal activities, skills, efforts and work (including but not limited to each party’s respective earnings, income and accumulations derived from recording contracts, movie contracts, other media contracts, concert tours, endorsements, personal appearances….shall remain separate.”

It has emerged that Bobbi Kristina Brown will inherit everything from her mother’s will – but her family are hoping she doesn’t inherit Whitney Houston’s fame.

Whitney Houston’s family reportedly wants Bobbi Kristina out of the “limelight”.

A source told People magazine: “There is still no resolution and there has been nothing concrete on the cause of death, and they were hoping for that.

“There were members of the family who weren’t keen on [the interview] going down at this time.

“There are people who just want her to stay out of the limelight for a while. This is a little girl who just needs some time.”

 

Toyota recalls 681,500 cars in US over faulty steering wheels and silicon grease leaks

Clyde K. Valle
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Toyota recalls 681,500 cars in US over faulty steering wheels and silicon grease leaks

Toyota has decided to recall 681,500 vehicles in the US dealing a blow to its efforts to rebuild its image after a number of safety issues in recent years.

The company is recalling 70,500 Camry and 116,000 Venza cars to fix silicon grease leaks that may cause starting problems.

Another 495,000 Tacoma vehicles need repairs to faulty steering wheels that may deactivate the driver’s air bag.

Toyota is the world’s third-largest carmaker.

“Toyota is currently obtaining the necessary replacement parts. Once the replacement parts are available, we will notify owners,” the carmaker said in a statement.

The recall comes at a time when Toyota is not just seeking to rebuild its brand image but also trying to win back its market share that it lost to competitors after last year’s earthquake and tsunami.

Its image took a beating after the carmaker, once known for its quality and safety controls, recalled almost 12 million vehicles over the past two-and-a-half years for various reasons.

Toyota has decided to recall 681,500 vehicles in the US dealing a blow to its efforts to rebuild its image after a number of safety issues in recent years
Toyota has decided to recall 681,500 vehicles in the US dealing a blow to its efforts to rebuild its image after a number of safety issues in recent years

There were 14 separate recalls in 2010 alone.

Analysts said while the latest announcement will hurt the company, it will not derail its recovery process.

“It looks bad for Toyota especially after the recall problems it has had in the past,” said Hans Greimel of Automotive News.

“But it is a road bump in their path to recovery and not a major road block.”

Toyota’s sales numbers were dented after it had to curb or suspend production last year, not just at its Japanese plants but also at its North American facilities, due to a shortage of parts after the twin natural disasters.

However, Toyota has returned to normal production and seen a revival in its sales in the US, one of its biggest markets.

According to the latest data, Toyota’s sales in the US increased by 12% in February versus last year. Analysts said the upward trend was likely to continue in the coming months despite the latest recall.

“We will see a lot of new products coming out this year and next year. That will do a lot to invigorate the brand,” said Hans Greimel.

 

Strong solar storm expected to hit Earth today causing disruptions

James J. Williams
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Strong solar storm expected to hit Earth today causing disruptions

US weather specialists warn that a strong solar storm is expected to hit Earth shortly and it could disrupt power grids, satellite navigation and plane routes.

The solar storm – the largest in five years – will unleash a torrent of charged particles between 06:00 GMT and 10:00 GMT, specialists say.

The experts say it was triggered by a pair of massive solar flares earlier this week.

It means there is a good chance of seeing the northern lights at lower latitudes, if the skies are clear.

The effects will be most intense in polar regions, and aircraft may be advised to change their routings to avoid these areas.

“It’s hitting us right in the nose,” said Joseph Kunches, an expert at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

US weather specialists warn that a strong solar storm is expected to hit Earth shortly and it could disrupt power grids, satellite navigation and plane routes
US weather specialists warn that a strong solar storm is expected to hit Earth shortly and it could disrupt power grids, satellite navigation and plane routes

Joseph Kunches described the storm as the Sun’s version of Super Tuesday – in a reference to the US Republican primaries and caucuses in 10 states.

“Space weather has gotten very interesting over the past 24 hours,” Joseph Kunches added.

The charged particles are expected to hit Earth at 4,000,000 mph (6,400,000 km/h), and NOAA predicts the storm will last until Friday morning.

Images of the Sun’s region where the flares happened show a complex network of sunspots indicating a large amount of stored magnetic energy.

Other solar magnetic storms have been observed in recent decades.

One huge solar flare in 1972 cut off long-distance telephone communication in the US state of Illinois.

 [youtube 4xKRBkBBEP0]

Velociraptor’s last meal has been discovered

Diane A. Wade
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Velociraptor’s last meal has been discovered

A bone of a large flying reptile found in the gut of a Velociraptor is believed to be the dinosaur’s last meal.

Velociraptors have previously been described as “hyper predators”.

However, scientists suggest this pterosaur was too large to be the Velociraptor‘s intended prey but could have been scavenged.

The findings are published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology.

An international team of scientists revealed the drama of 75 million years ago with a detailed analysis of the skeleton found in the Gobi desert, Mongolia.

“It would be difficult and probably even dangerous for the small theropod dinosaur to target a pterosaur with a wingspan of 2 metres or more, unless the pterosaur was already ill or injured,” said co-author of the study Dr. David Hone, from the University College Dublin, Ireland.

“So the pterosaur bone we’ve identified in the gut of the Velociraptor was most likely scavenged from a carcass rather than the result of a predatory kill.”

Velociraptors were not much taller than domestic turkeys but were thought to be voracious predators.

A bone of a large flying reptile found in the gut of a Velociraptor is believed to be the dinosaur's last meal
A bone of a large flying reptile found in the gut of a Velociraptor is believed to be the dinosaur's last meal

A famous fossil unearthed in 1971 known as the “fighting dinosaurs” shows a Velociraptor and larger Protoceratops apparently locked in combat.

But evidence of feeding by theropod dinosaurs, such as Velociraptor or Tyrannosaurus rex, is scarce in the fossil record.

The 75 mm-long pterosaur bone shard was found within the rib cage where the Velociraptor‘s gut would have been.

According to Dr. David Hone, the contents of dinosaur’s stomachs often elude scientists as they are rarely preserved.

“Gut contents are pretty rare and pterosaur bones are rather fragile and don’t preserve well, so it is an unusual find.”

In addition to proving that velociraptors took advantage of ailing animals, Dr. David Hone suggests that the evidence provides a further revelation: that small dinosaurs ate relatively large bones.

By analyzing the bones, researchers also found out that the Velociraptor died shortly after feeding on the pterosaur.

The smooth surface of the reptile bones suggest it was not eroded by stomach acids and the team discovered the Velociraptor itself suffered from a broken rib.

“Pretty much all carnivores are both predators and scavengers as the situation dictates – actually getting evidence for that from the fossil record is rather hard [to get] though,” said Dr. David Hone.

 

Their bravery is the Syrian people’s gift to us

James J. Williams
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Their bravery is the Syrian people’s gift to us

Dear friends,

 

This morning, 4 western journalists are home safe with their families, the echoes of the horror and heroism of Baba Amr still ringing in their ears. Over 50 Syrian activists, supported by Avaaz, volunteered to rescue them and scores of wounded civilians from the Syrian army’s killzone. Many of those incredible activists have not survived the week.

Abu Hanin is one of the heroes. He’s 26, a poet, and when his community needed him, he took the lead in organizing the citizen journalists that Avaaz has supported to help the voices of Syrians reach the world. The last contact with Abu Hanin was on Thursday, as regime troops closed in on his location. He read his last will and testament to the Avaaz team in Beirut, and told us where he had buried the bodies of the two western journalists killed in the shelling. Since then, his neighborhood of Baba Amr has been a black hole, and we still don’t know his fate.

It’s easy to despair when seeing Syria today, but to honour the dead, we must carry forward the hope they died with. As Baba Amr went dark and fears of massacre spread, Syrians took to the streets — yet again — across the country, in a peaceful protest that showed staggering bravery.

Their bravery is our lesson, the gift of the Syrian people to the rest of us. Because in their spirit, in their courage to face the worst darkness our world has to offer, a new world is being born.

And in that new world, the Syrian people are not alone. Millions of us from every nation have stood with them time and time again, right from the beginning of their struggle. Nearly 75,000 of us have donated almost $3 million to fund people-powered movements and deliver high-tech communications equipment to help them tell their story, and enable the Avaaz team to help smuggle in over $2 million worth of medical supplies. We’ve taken millions of online actions to push for action from the Security Council and the Arab League and for sanctions from many countries, and delivered those online campaigns in dozens of stunts, media campaigns and high-level advocacy meetings with top world leaders. Together we’ve helped win many of these battles, including for unprecedented action by the Arab League, and oil sanctions from Europe.

Our team in Beirut has also provided a valuable communications hub for brave and skilled activists to coordinate complex smuggling operations and the rescue of the wounded and the journalists. Avaaz does not direct these activities, but we facilitate, support and advise. We have also established safe houses for activists, and supported the outreach and diplomatic engagement of the Syrian National Council — the opposition movement’s fledgling political representative body. Much of the world’s major media have covered Avaaz’s work to help the Syrian people, including features on BBC, CNN, El Pais, TIME, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, AFP and many more, citing our “central role” in the Syrian peaceful protest movement.

Today, a dozen more nightmares like that visited on the city of Homs are unfolding across Syria. The situation will get worse before it gets better. It will be bloody, and complicated, and as some protesters take up arms to defend themselves, the line between right and wrong will blur. But President Assad’s brutal regime will fall, and there will be peace, and elections, and accountability. The Syrian people simply will not stop until that happens — and it may happen sooner than we all think.

Every expert told us at the beginning that an uprising in Syria was unthinkable. But we sent in satellite communications equipment anyway. Because our community knows something that the experts and cynics don’t — that people power and a new spirit of citizenship are sweeping our world today, and they are fearless, and unstoppable, and will bring hope to the darkest places. Marie Colvin, an American journalist covering the violence in Homs, told Avaaz before she died, “I’m not leaving these people.” And neither will we.

With hope, and admiration for the Syrian people and courageous citizens everywhere,

Ricken, Wissam, Stephanie, Alice, David, Antonia, Will, Sam, Emma, Wen-Hua, Veronique and the whole Avaaz team

P.S. If you want to do more, click here to help keep our lifeline of hope into Syria open:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/smuggle_hope_into_syria_rb/

AntiSec attacked Panda Labs site after Anonymous arrests

Nancy Clayson
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AntiSec attacked Panda Labs site after Anonymous arrests

A group of hackers identifying themselves as AntiSec has attacked the website of Panda Labs’ anti-malware products.

The internet attack comes after yesterday’s arrest of an alleged member of the movement alongside others linked to the LulzSec hacking collective.

Panda Labs’ front page was replaced with a message saying: “Love to LulzSec/AntiSec fallen friends”.

AntiSec accused Panda Labs of having helped police arrest other hackers last month. The company denies the claim.

The group LulzSec and hackers involved with “Operation AntiSec” all identify themselves under the wider Anonymous heading.

Panda Lab’s Spanish parent company, Panda Security, said it was investigating the intrusion but said it could assure its customers that none of their information had been compromised.

The company added that an external server hosting some of Panda Labs’ content had been targeted. Visitors to the site no longer see the hackers’ posting.

AntiSec has attacked the website of Panda Labs' anti-malware products
AntiSec has attacked the website of Panda Labs' anti-malware products

The hackers’ message had claimed that: “Pandasecurity.com… has earned money working with law enforcement to lurk and snitch on Anonymous activists. They helped to jail 25 Anonymous in different countries and they were actively participating in our IRC channels trying to dox [obtain personal information about] many others.”

The attackers went on to claim that the firm’s services had been used to target activists campaigning against “injustices” who had not been involved in hacking.

However, Panda Security’s technical director, Luis Corrons, said that the firm had not been involved in February’s arrests in Spain, Argentina, Chile and Colombia.

“If I could have had the opportunity I would love to have collaborated with the law enforcement officers to arrest those people – but we didn’t in this case,” he said.

“We do not have a problem with activism. I find that it is not a bad thing – it may be good and healthy for a society. My main problem with Anonymous people is the way they act.

“If you are doing illegal things like stealing information that’s something that is a crime and we are always willing to help law enforcement stop cybercrime.”

Luis Corrons said he believed his firm had been attacked because of a blog he wrote yesterday in which he described the latest arrests as “good news”.

His comments were quoted in the message posted to his firm’s site which added: “Lol he asked for the Lulz!!!”

Officials have said that Tuesday’s action marked the first time core members of Anonymous had been identified and charged in the US.

The FBI said a total of six men had been charged – including two in the UK and two in the Republic of Ireland.

British police also charged one of the men and a further unidentified 17-year-old from South London with hacking-related crimes – but said that their decision to launch court proceedings was “completely unrelated” to the actions taken in the US.

The arrests and accusations followed the suspected leader of LulzSec’s decision to co-operate with the authorities last year.

Court papers unsealed on Tuesday revealed that Hector Xavier Monsegur – known as Sabu – had pleaded guilty to 12 criminal charges in August. The FBI said he faced a maximum sentence of more than 124 years in prison.

The papers said Hector Xavier Monsegur had been involved in attacks against Visa, Paypal and government computers in Tunisia, Algeria and Yemen among others. He is currently free after being released on a $50,000 bond.

The Panda Labs’ attackers commented on Hector Xavier Monsegur’s action saying: “It’s sad and we can’t imagine how it feels to look at the mirror each morning and see the guy who shopped their friends to police.”

The court papers also revealed how the hackers are suspected of being able to access and disclose a private conversation between the FBI and Scotland Yard recorded in January.

One of the accused, Donncha O’Cearrbhail, is said to have found out how to access the call by breaking into the personal email account of an officer with Ireland’s national police force.

 

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