Cindy Marie Cantu and Kyle Erwin Skinner from Marietta, Georgia, have been arrested after they kept a three-year-old boy imprisoned in a bedroom without food or water after they nailed him in, police said.
Police had to bash down the door last Monday to free the child. They found the boy “living in filth”, stuck in a dirty diaper and with acute rash, according to police reports.
Cindy Marie Cantu, 24, was arrested at Wellstone Kennestone Hospital in Marietta later that night.
The woman was reportedly receiving treatment for injuries sustained in a fight from her boyfriend, Kyle Erwin Skinner, 23.
Kyle Erwin Skinner was arrested the following day. The couple faces charges of cruelty to children and contributing to the delinquency of minors.
Cindy Marie Cantu, 24, was arrested at Wellstone Kennestone Hospital in Marietta
Warrants obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution show the couple’s northern Atlanta home to be a place of squalor.
“The condition of the home presented hazards such as insects, faecal matter, rotting food, soiled diapers, standing water in the shower, and general unclean conditions of the home,” the warrants read.
Kyle Erwin Skinner, 23, faces charges of cruelty to children and contributing to the delinquency of minors
Cindy Marie Cantu and Kyle Erwin Skinner spent Friday night in the Cobb County Jail with a $15,000 bond for Cantu and $25,000 for Skinner. It was unclear if either has an attorney.
Kyle Erwin Skinner faces additional charges of battery and assault.
His arrest warrant states that he pushed Cindy Marie Cantu – who is pregnant – to the ground and hit her several times.
Kyle Erwin Skinner has had several recent brushes with the law, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes. This is his third arrest in the last month.
According to a previous arrest warrant, Kyle Erwin Skinner was cited October 26 for driving with a suspended license, failure to maintain his lane, and for possessing Alprazolam pills, which treat anxiety disorders and panic attacks.
A citation from November 5 shows that Kyle Erwin Skinner was again arrested for driving with a suspended license.
A group of scientists from Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands is pushing to publish research about how they created a man-made flu virus that could potentially wipe out civilization.
The deadly virus is a genetically tweaked version of the H5N1 bird flu strain, but is far more infectious and could pass easily between millions of people at a time.
The research has caused a storm of controversy and divided scientists, with some saying it should never have been carried out.
The current strain of H5N1 has only killed 500 people and is not contagious enough to cause a global pandemic.
But they are fear the modified virus is so dangerous it could be used for bio-warfare, if it falls into the wrong hands.
Virologist Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Centre led a team of scientists who discovered that a mere five mutations to the avian virus was sufficient to make it spread far more easily.
A group of scientists from Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands is pushing to publish research about how they created a man-made flu virus that could potentially wipe out civilization
Ron Fouchier conducted his tests on ferrets as the animals have become a model of choice for influenza and they have similar respiratory tracts to humans.
He is so prepared for a media storm that he has hired an advisor to help him work on a communication strategy.
The research done was part of an international drive to understand H5N1 more fully.
Ron Fouchier admitted the strain is “one of the most dangerous viruses you can make” but is still adamant he wants to publish a paper describing how it was done.
The study is one of two which has caused serious debate about scientific freedom and about regulating research which might have potential public health benefits but at the same time could also be useful for bio-terrorism.
The other paper, also on H5N1, was done by a joint team at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Tokyo.
It is understood to have had comparable results to the study done by Ron Fouchier.
Both papers are now being reviewed by the U.S National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB).
NSABB does not have the power to prevent the publication but it could ask journals not to publish.
Paul Keim, chairman of NSABB, said: “I can’t think of another pathogenic organism that is as scary as this one. I don’t think anthrax is scary at all compared to this.”
Traditionally scientific research has always been open so that fellow scientists can review the work of others and repeat their methods to try and learn from them.
But numerous scientists have said they believe research on the avian flu should be suppressed.
However bio-defense and flu expert Michael Osterholm, who is director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said the work carried out was important medically.
Michael Osterholm added he could not discuss the papers because he was a member of NSABB but said if they were published certain information could be withheld and made available to those who really need to know.
“We don’t want to give bad guys a road map on how to make bad bugs really bad,” he said.
Christopher Valdez, a four-year-old toddler from Chicago, was beaten to death as his family prepared to celebrate his birthday.
Christopher Valdez was found dead in his Chicago home yesterday, shortly before his party, with cake and presents, was supposed to begin.
According to police, the toddler, who died from “multiple blunt trauma” had been dead for several hours before emergency crews found him yesterday.
An unnamed male suspect, believed to be the mother’s boyfriend, is in custody, but no charges have been made.
Police confirmed that the Christopher Valdez’s death was the result of a “domestic situation”.
Christopher Valdez (centre) was found dead in his Chicago home yesterday, shortly before his party, with cake and presents, was supposed to begin
The boy’s mother called one of her brothers yesterday “desperate for help”, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
One of her siblings is said to have restrained her boyfriend and discovered that the toddler had been beaten after arriving at the scene.
Steven Valdez, the boy’s great uncle, told NBC Chicago noted that the boyfriend of his niece, currently in police custody, is known for being anti-social and violent.
He claimed that two weeks ago the man beat a dog severely after it relieved itself in his home.
Christopher Valdez was dead when police arrived at the home about 2:10 p.m. yesterday.
Christopher Valdez was a happy, appealing boy, who loved Spiderman, and carried a toy rabbit with him everywhere, his grandfather Tom Valdez told the Chicago Tribune.
The boy’s mother and her boyfriend were last night questioned by police.
Relatives said they had a cake and presents ready to celebrate the child’s birthday but instead are now in mourning.
Last night the grieving family gathered at the nearby home of Christopher Valdez’s grandparents.
The grandfather, Tom Valdez said relatives were confused and hurt. The “entire family is in shock”.
Tom Valdez told the Chicago Sun Times: “We want everyone to know that our daughter is innocent of whatever happened there.”
The family said Christopher’s mother, Crystal Valdez, phoned one of her brothers for help on Friday afternoon.
On arriving the brother was forced to restrain his sister’s boyfriend, who also lives at the same address, family members said.
“He has created a lot of problems,” said Tom Valdez.
The boy’s great uncle Steven Valdez told NBC Chicago that the man has a reputation for being anti-social and violent.
Christopher Valdez had three siblings, his grandfather said.
Jennifer Lopez celebrated Thanksgiving on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, with her twins, other family members and her boyfriend Casper Smart.
But today it was all about one-on-one time for Jennifer Lopez, 42, and her toy-boy, Casper Smart, 24, as they cuddled up in a cabana.
Looking very much the couple, the scantily-clad pair cuddled and cavorted in the shade as the sun beat down outside.
An onlooker said: “He seemed very protective towards her, it was quite sweet… he seemed like the older one, they seemed if not love, well, very happy to be together.”
Jennifer Lopez celebrated Thanksgiving on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, with her twins, other family members and her boyfriend Casper Smart
Jennifer Lopez was reportedly been seen frolicking on a beach with her three-year-old twins, Max and Emme.
Casper Smart, whose real-name is Beau Paul Smart, has tried to remain in the shadows, until today.
Casper Smart has had numerous run-ins with the law since 2004.
Most of the charges have been minor motoring misdemeanors relating to either speeding or driving without a valid license and failures to appear in court.
In one case he was pulled over by police for speeding on his motorbike at over 100mph.
The most recent offence committed in February 2010 could potentially land Casper Smart behind bars.
The charge relates to an “exhibition of speed” a section of the law more commonly known as street or drag racing.
Casper Smart, who was rumoured to have met Jennifer Lopez in May, pleaded no contest to the charge in March after an initial not guilty plea.
The dancer’s bail was set at $26,000 – and he is yet to be sentenced, according to the court records.
Casper Smart is due in court to be sentenced by a judge in Los Angels on January 5, 2012, and could face jail time as well as a stiff fine.
While he awaits his fate, Casper Smart has been busy with work commitments.
Last Sunday he performed alongside Jennifer Lopez at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles.
One of the most common flowering plants, foxglove, could soon be used to stop the spread of breast cancer, say scientists at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
The scientists have discovered that a drug based on foxglove (Digitalis), which produces distinctive tall spires of pink tubular bells in the summer, can dramatically slow the migration of malignant cells to other parts of the body.
The research reveals that digoxin, a long-established drug based on chemicals found in foxglove, can block the production of a protein called HIF-1, which has been implicated in the spread of breast tumours.
Digoxin has been used for decades to treat conditions such as congestive heart failure and irregular heartbeats.
The latest discovery suggests the cheap and easily available medicine could also be deployed in the fight against cancer.
Earlier this year the same team found foxglove could reduce the spread of prostate cancer in men by around 24%.
Research leader, Dr. Gregg Semenza, from the Institute for Cell Engineering at the university said: “This is really exciting.”
“Our findings warrant clinical trials to determine if the doses (used in animal studies) are enough to sufficiently block HIF-1 and slow breast cancer growth and spread.”
Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that a drug based on foxglove (Digitalis), which produces distinctive tall spires of pink tubular bells in the summer, can dramatically slow the migration of malignant cells to other parts of the body
Foxglove was one of the first plants to be used for the development of a pharmaceutical medicine.
In 1785, country doctor William Withering noticed a remarkable improvement in a patient with congestive heart failure after they took a traditional herbal remedy made from the plant.
William Withering identified that the active ingredient was a substance called digitalis and wrote about his findings more than 200 years ago in a book entitled “An account of the foxglove and some of its medical uses”.
GlaxoSmithKline eventually turned it into a tablet called digoxin, used for heart failure as well as atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm.
In recent months, new evidence has emerged that the traditional remedy could also play a vital role in treating cancer.
In April this year, the Johns Hopkins research team reported the results of a study involving 47,000 men in the journal Cancer Discovery.
These showed the drug appeared to stop the growth of prostate cancer in nearly one in four men.
But researchers warned this did not yet provide proof that digoxin was responsible for the benefits and warned against the drug, which can have side-effects such as nausea, headache and breast enlargement in men, being given to healthy people to prevent tumours.
Laboratory tests show digoxin appears to hinder the production of HIF-1, a protein that controls the genes which allow cancer cells to survive in low-oxygen environments, such as deep inside a solid tumour.
Experiments have also revealed that in women with breast cancer, an increase in HIF-1 levels is closely linked to metastasis – the spread of tumour cells – and a reduced likelihood of survival.
To see how the HIF-1 protein behaved when exposed to digoxin, researchers transplanted human breast cancer cells into mice and, two weeks later, gave them daily injections of either the drug itself or saline.
The results showed those given digoxin had fewer cancer cells spread to the lungs – one of the major sites that breast tumours migrate to – and tumours that had spread were smaller than in the saline group.
The findings could be even more significant because the research team found evidence that cancer cells start to spread from the breast to the lung much earlier than was previously thought.
This could mean that if further trials confirm the benefits of the drug, it’s possible it could be routinely used in women with aggressive tumours to try and reduce the risk of them spreading.
A new swine flu strain put U.S. health officials on alert for more cases after it was found in three children in Iowa this month.
It was reported that ten people in the U.S. have been infected since July by S-OtrH3N2 viruses that picked up a gene from the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic.
The new flu strain (S-OtrH3N2) combines a rare influenza virus (H3N2) circulating in North American pigs and the H1N1 virus from the 2009 outbreak.
New flu strains begin when flu viruses combine in new ways.
They can pose considerable health risks because people have not yet developed immunity to them, ABC News reports.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the new cases in Wednesday’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
CDC also reported that of the other seven cases of the new swine flu, three were in Pennsylvania, two were in Maine and two in Indiana.
In the seven cases all the patients or close contacts had been recently been with pigs.
According to CDC experts, the fact that the three new cases did not go near pigs shows that there may be limited person-to-person contact with the new virus.
The CDC said it has developed a “candidate vaccine virus” that could be used to make a human vaccine against S-OtrH3N2 viruses.
It has already sent it off to vaccine manufacturers.
One of the three Iowa children, a healthy girl referred to as Patient A, became sick during the second week of November.
The girl’s doctor tested her and sent a respiratory sample to the Iowa state laboratory for further analysis.
Patient B, a boy, developed a flu-like illness two days after Patient A became ill.
One day after Patient B became sick, his brother, Patient C, also became ill.
All three children had been at the same gathering on the first day Patient A became sick.
Iowa epidemiologists launched an investigation and decided that the gathering was the only common link among the three children’s illnesses.
None of their families had travelled recently or attended community events.
Eight days after Patient A became ill, Iowa state laboratory testing said that the three might have S-OtrH3N2 influenza.
The CDC went on to confirm it was that strain, which included the matrix (M) gene from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
The new flu strain is resistant to rimantidine and amantadine, both commonly used antiviral drugs.
Health experts said the new swine flu strain would most likely respond to osteltamivir (Tamiflu)
Health experts said it would most likely respond to osteltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza).
CDC scientists said they believe this year’s seasonal flu vaccine to provide adults with limited protection from the new flu virus, but that it wouldn’t protect children.
Doctors who suspect swine flu infections in their patients should treat them with Tamiflu where appropriate, CDC recommends.
Doctors should get nose and throat specimens and send them to state public health labs, which should report them to CDC.
CDC also encourages anyone who has contact with pigs and develops a flu-like illness to be tested.
Curiosity, the world’s biggest extraterrestrial explorer has been launched today on a 354 million mile journey to Mars that hopes to discover whether the desolate planet was ever capable of supporting life.
NASA launched Curiosity rover – officially called the Mars Science Laboratory – at 10:02 am ET today into a cloudy Florida sky.
Curiosity, described by one expert as a “Mars scientist’s dream machine”, will use an array of technology to probe the red planet for signs of life.
More than 13,000 curious guests crowded the space centre to view the launch, which is the first one to Mars in four years. It is the first rover launch in eight years.
Some three dozen missions have been launched to Mars, though less than half have been successful.
NASA’s assistant associate administrator for science Colleen Hartman has a theory why so many quests have failed: “Mars is really the Bermuda Triangle of the solar system.
“It’s the death planet, and the United States of America is the only nation in the world that has ever landed and driven robotic explorers on the surface on the surface of Mars, and now we’re set to do it again.”
Curiosity, the world's biggest extraterrestrial explorer has been launched today on a 354 million mile journey to Mars that hopes to discover whether the desolate planet was ever capable of supporting life
Curiosity is a mobile lab, the size of a small car, which is expected to be lowered by giant jet pack on to the surface of Mars in August 2012.
Doug McCuistion, director of NASA’s Mars exploration programme said:
“It will be the largest and most complex piece of equipment ever placed on the surface of another planet.”
NASA’s earlier Viking rovers concluded 35 years ago that there was no sign of life, but scientists hope Curiosity’s more sophisticated equipment will reveal more.
It will not be able to detect living organisms in the soil, but it can look for clues by surveying the landscape with high-definition cameras on top of a 10 ft mast.
Curiosity has a laser that can break rocks as far as 23ft away to determine their chemical composition and look for traces of organic compounds.
The rover also carries an instrument that detects methane, a weather station to monitor Martian temperatures, humidity and wind, and a radiation detector that can help to determine if the planet is safe for human visitors.
One of the main tasks of Curiosity, a $2.5 billion mission, will be to discover the source of the methane gas scientists have detected in the Martian air.
Some experts believe that just as cows emit methane on Earth, so micro-organisms able to live without oxygen may be producing it on Mars.
If that is the case, say NASA scientists, then life on Earth may have originally come from the red planet – making us all, in a sense, Martians.
According to their controversial theory, Mars – a smaller planet that would have cooled quicker than Earth after the solar system’s explosive creation – would have had the conditions for life to develop long before our world.
Chunks of Martian rock containing living microbes could have been blasted into space by the impact of asteroids before landing on Earth, starting life here.
Travelling at a tenth of a mile per hour, Curiosity will take two years to complete its mission.
Plane passengers could be obliged to follow a dress code after carriers received many calls from flyers’ rights groups to issue rules on what can and can’t be worn on board an aircraft.
The proposal follows a series of high profile incidents including one Phoenix man boarding a plane in lingerie.
In June this year, a 65-year-old Phoenix man, who works as a business consultant, sparked outrage after wearing the women’s underwear on a U.S. Airways flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The man, who has refused to be named, flies several times a month as a preferred customer on the airline and said that he has flown in female clothing for several years.
The business man said that he has rarely been requested to cover up by airline staff, but has complied with requests when asked.
“It has never been my intent to put people in a situation where they feel uncomfortable,” he said.
In June this year, a 65-year-old Phoenix man, who works as a business consultant, sparked outrage after wearing the women's underwear on a U.S. Airways flight from Fort Lauderdale
The incident occurred days before a college football player was arrested on a flight following a row over his baggy pants.
University of New Mexico football player DeShon Marman was arrested on a U.S. Airways flight at San Francisco airport following allegations he refused to pull up his pants.
Kate Hanni, executive director of FlyersRights.org told Fox News: “People aren’t mind readers. They don’t know what that flight attendant’s going to want to see when you get on a plane.”
Kate Hanni says the lack of consistency leaves passengers open to the flight crews discretion and they may take offense at items of clothing that wouldn’t be considered appropriate.
She added: “The airlines should step up and do this on their own, just so that passengers can predict and appropriately dress. If there’s a requirement to wear a certain type of clothing, or not wear a certain type of clothing, tell us.”
Virgin America CEO David Cush said: “In the end, the flight crew is in charge of the aircraft, and they have to make judgments based on what they think is going to create the safest and most comfortable environment for everyone on the airplane.”
Most carriers say passengers can be refused service if they’re dressed in a manner “that would cause discomfort or offense to other passengers”.
But the airlines have shied away from any specific dress codes citing the difficulty to enforce as a major detractor as well as the potential lawsuits.
Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson told Fox News: “If an airline’s going to be so unreasonable for kicking someone off a plane for wearing saggy pants or being slightly overweight, to me, it just seems impolite of the airline to behave in that way.”
An article by investigative journalist Edward Epstein published in the New York Review of Books claims that Dominique Strauss-Kahn may have been the victim of a conspiracy to derail his presidential campaign.
Edward Epstein revealed in detail the hours leading up to the arrest of the former head of the International Monetary Fund for alleged sexual assault over Sofitel maid Nafissatou Diallo.
The investigative journalist has uncovered numerous holes in the hotel maid’s story and claims DSK’s BlackBerry may have been hacked.
An article by investigative journalist Edward Epstein published in the New York Review of Books claims that Dominique Strauss-Kahn may have been the victim of a conspiracy to derail his presidential campaign
Following the incident in May at New York’s Sofitel Hotel, staff were apparently filmed giving each other a high-five and doing a “dance of celebration” following the sexual encounter, according to Edward Epstein’s article.
Sofitel maid Nafissatou Diallo claimed she had been brutally and sexually attacked by DSK, shortly before his IMF BlackBerry went missing.
DSK had reason to believe his mobile phone had been hacked after he was told a private email had made its way into the hands of Nicolas Sarkozy’s political party UMP.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn,65, was Nicolas Sarkozy’s main presidential rival in the April 2012 election and he had been warned by a friend in the French diplomatic corps that efforts would be made to derail his campaign with a scandal.
After becoming concerned his BlackBerry had been hacked, DSK called his wife in Paris from the New York hotel that May morning, to ask her to contact a friend and have it examined, the article by investigative journalist Edward Epstein revealed.
The article continued to pick flaws in Nafissatou Diallo’s statement too, which coincided with the missing mobile.
Nafissatou Diallo, 32, entered DSK’s hotel room at 12:06 on May 14 for housekeeping and claims that within the six minutes she was in room 2806 with him, she was dragged near the bathroom and forced to give him oral sex.
At 12:13 DSK made a call on his BlackBerry to his daughter Camille, whom he was meeting for lunch that same day, to inform her he was running late.
After his scheduled lunch, DSK was due to be at New York’s JFK Airport to fly to Paris, at which time he realized his IMF BlackBerry had gone missing.
Edward Epstein claims that immediately after the incident with Nafissatou Diallo, an unidentified hotel worker was filmed sitting with her before meeting the hotel’s chief engineer, Brian Yearwood.
“The two men high-five each other, clap their hands and do what looks like an extraordinary dance of celebration that lasts for three minutes”, the footage showed.
Nafissatou Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea in West Africa, had worked for Sofitel for three years at the time of her claims.
After leaving DSK’s presidential hotel suite, her electronic key card records have shown that she then entered room 2820 on the same floor – a room which she had also entered several times that morning before the incident with DSK.
Nafissatou Diallo allegedly spent around three minutes in room 2820 before going back into the presidential suite, which was then empty after DSK had left to meet his daughter for lunch.
When Nafissatou Diallo gave evidence to court though, she said that she hid in the hallway after being assaulted and had not entered any other rooms after the alleged attack and no other rooms on the 28th floor.
Prosecutors found Nafissatou Diallo’s evidence to be false after seeing the electronic key records and wrote in a motion for dismissal that “the nature and number of the complainant’s falsehoods leave us unable to credit her version of events beyond a reasonable doubt”.
What also shadowed doubt around her claims was that after asking her supervisor what would happen if a guest made inappropriate advances to hotel staff, a 911 call to report the alleged attack wasn’t made until 1:31pm.
Nafissatou Diallo then did not arrive at a hospital to be checked up until 3:57pm – which was almost four hours after what she described as a “brutal attack”.
Meanwhile, despite DSK’s IMF BlackBerry having gone missing (the phone which contained a text warning him of possible hacking), no calls were made from the phone while it was missing but it had somehow been disabled at 12:51pm.
When former IMF chief arrived at JFK airport he called the hotel at 3:39pm to see if they had found his phone and gave them his whereabouts.
But instead of locating the phone, the police were rushed to the airport, where they arrested him and took him into custody in relation to Nafissatou Diallo’s attack claims.
The new article which covers the claims in doubt, imply that DSK was a victim of conspiracy in order to derail his campaign to challenge Nicolas Sarkozy’s political party.
But last night one of Nafissatou Diallo’s attorneys, Douglas Wigdor, said the article was “preposterous” and it was “not based on facts or evidence”.
“This is like saying Neil Armstrong did not land on the moon or that JFK was shot from the grassy knoll.”
Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas’ turkey eating record was beaten by Takeru Kobayashi one day later.
Takeru Kobayashi managed to scoff 7.5 lb of turkey in 10 minutes in Turtle Bay, New York, on Wednesday, beating Sonya Thomas’ 5.25 lb effort.
Dan Rollman, of Recordsetter.com, told the Huffington Post: “Never in my life have witnessed food disappear like that. The man is true culinary Houdini.
“It was a true honour to be so close to such a legend as he showed off his skills.”
Takeru Kobayashi told onlookers after the event that he thought the turkey was dry, making it harder to swallow.
Takeru Kobayashi, who is 5ft 8ins and weighs 128lb, was just pleased to notch up another record.
He said: “I have been blessed to be able to eat for a living, while many in the world go hungry.
“I hope I can use my talent to raise awareness and funds to combat hunger across America and across the globe.”
On Thanksgiving Day Takeru Kobayashi did not sit down to enjoy more turkey, he volunteered at the Bowery Mission’s Thanksgiving Day Banquet in New York.
Sonya Thomas, 42, who is 5ft 5in and weighs 105lb claimed her record as part of the Wild Turkey 81 Eating World Championship, held in Times Square, New York.
She beat her nearest rivals – all men – by more than a pound of meat.
Sonya Thomas’ feat saw her collect a cash prize of $1,581 and adding another title to her collection of world records.
Speaking after her victory, she told the New York Daily News: “I left only bone. I’m so happy.”
“I’m not normally a fan of turkey… but their turkey today was very tasty, moist and warm. That’s why I ate most of the meat.”
Sonya Thomas, 42, who is 5ft 5in and weighs 105lb claimed her record as part of the Wild Turkey 81 Eating World Championship, held in Times Square, New York
Sonya Thomas, who is from Alexandria, Virginia, and works as a restaurant manager, used a less frenzied technique to eat the turkey during the contest.
While no competitor uses cutlery, Sonya Thomas stripped handfuls of meat from the bird and placed the pieces in her mouth while drinking water in between.
Sonya Thomas’s technique differed vastly from Eric Booker, who claimed second prize in the contest.
The 400-pound man, nicknamed “Badlands”, picked up the bird in one hand and gnawed away using a technique more suited to a chicken leg.
Eric Booker said of his strategy: “I just ripped the bird apart and ate the innards. I think I ate the wishbone by accident.”
Eric Booker, who holds his own world record for eating pumpkin pies, praised his fellow competitor.
“I’m definitely in awe of her abilities, to be so small and eat so much.”
Sonya Thomas’ success in New York follows several other world records.
In September, Sonya Thomas managed to eat 183 chicken wings in just 12 minutes, breaking her own record.
And in July she became the first Female World Hot Dog Eating Champion by swallowing 40 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
Sonya Thomas also has records for eating in several other categories including cheesecakes, crayfish, oysters and jalapenos.
And for anyone wondering what Sonya Thomas is having this Thursday – she is planning a feast with Korean food.
Jason Witten, a 6’6” NFL player weighing 265lbs, took down Melissa Kellerman, a cheerleader rooting for his own team, Dallas Cowboys.
Tight end Jason Witten, 29, ran out of bounds in a game and ended up taking down cheerleader Melissa Kellerman, 22.
Jason Witten caught a Tony Romo pass but was forced out in the fourth quarter of a 20-19 win over the Miami Dolphins, reported the Los Angeles Times.
Jason Witten, a 6’6” NFL player weighing 265lbs, took down Melissa Kellerman, a cheerleader rooting for his own team, Dallas Cowboys
However, the NFL player could not stop as he left the field and pulled the cheerleader over with his right arm. Some viewers speculated that he was trying to protect her.
“Jason saved her – with his momentum and the defenders momentum, she could have really gotten hit badly,” YouTube user cowboys4life956 said.
“So by him grabbing her he didn’t bulldoze her,” he added.
Melissa Kellerman later tweeted about the incident and said she was feeling fine.
“Not hurtin’ today, like some of y’all thought I would be! Our TE isn’t as tough as he looks … That or I’m WAY tougher than I look,” she tweeted.
Jason Witten, who is married and originally from Knoxville, Tennessee, is playing in his ninth season with the Dallas Cowboys.
Melisss Kellerman, a student originally from Beaufort, South Carolina, has been a cheerleader in the squad for four years.
She wants a successful career and marriage, children and would like to work in a hospital, school or be a wedding planner, her squad profile says.
The home of Bernie Fine, a Syracuse University basketball coach involved in a sexual abuse investigation, has been searched by police.
Police were at the house of Syracuse University assistant coach Bernie Fine last night but refused to say what they were looking for.
New York State Police spokesman Jack Keller said troopers were called to assist the U.S. attorney’s office in their investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Pericak said he “can’t confirm or deny” an investigation.
“We don’t comment on whether or not search warrants are being executed – we only comment at the time of public events.”
William Pericak said the goal was to avoid “a trial in the press”.
The home of Bernie Fine, a Syracuse University basketball coach involved in a sexual abuse investigation, has been searched by police
The local newspaper in Syracuse, The Post-Standard, reported that four state troopers were at the end of the driveway at Bernie Fine’s home in DeWitt on Friday afternoon.
At least six police cars were also parked on the street and officers were looking through a trash can.
Syracuse police spokesman Sgt Tom Connellan wouldn’t comment on any of the activity at the house.
Two former ball boys for the Syracuse basketball team, Bobby Davis and his stepbrother, Mike Lang, have said they were molested more than 25 years ago by Bernie Fine, who is on paid administrative leave from the university.
Bernie Fine has called the allegations “patently false”.
Bobby Davis, now 39, told ESPN earlier this month that Bernie Fine molested him from 1984, when he was around ten, until he was 27.
Bobby Davis, a ball boy for six years, said the alleged abuse occurred at Bernie Fine’s home, at Syracuse basketball facilities and on team road trips.
His stepbrother, Mike Lang, also told ESPN that Bernie Fine molested him from when was around nine years old. Mike Lang, now 45, also was a ball boy at the college.
Head coach at Syracuse, Jim Boeheim, has voiced his support for Bernie Fine and told Sportingnews.com that the assistant’s primary accuser is looking to capitalize on the recent Penn State sex abuse scandal surrounding assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
Jim Boeheim told ESPN: “I know this kid… It is a bunch of a thousand lies that he has told.
“You don’t think it is a little funny that his (stepbrother) is coming forward?
“He supplied four names to the university that would corroborate his story. None of them did … there is only one side to this story. He is lying.”
Syracuse police are investigating allegations and the inquiry is ongoing.
Richard Brian Suttles, who was shot by his aunt Mary Ann Holder died on Friday, bringing the death toll from last weekend massacre outside in Guilford, North Carolina, to six, including the shooter.
Richard Brian Suttles, 17, who had been shot on Sunday along with four other minors and one adult by his aunt Mary Ann Holder, died shortly before 1:00 p.m. on Friday, Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes said.
Along with Richard Brian Suttles, Mary Ann Holder killed her two sons, eight-year-old niece, and the 15-year-old girlfriend of one of her sons before killing herself.
Mary Ann Holder, 36, also shot her married lover, Randall Lamb, in the shoulder, and police say he’s expected to recover, the Associated Press reports.
She had been having an affair with Randall Lamb, 40, for almost 4 years, but it was coming to an end after months of bitter accusations between her, Lamb and his wife, including allegations of stalking and harassment.
Mary Ann Holder shot Randall Lamb on Sunday morning at a community college parking lot, and then drove away to pick up her son, 14-year-old Zachary Smith.
Within a half-hour, a sheriff’s deputy found Mary Ann Holder dead inside her SUV with a gun in her lap and her son mortally wounded in the back seat.
Police went to her home in the Pleasant Grove community south of Greensboro and found her son, 17-year-old Robert Dylan Smith, dead.
Her newphew, Richard Brian Suttles, 17, her son girfriend, Makayla Leigh Woods, 15, and her niece, Hannaleigh Suttles, 8, were all suffering from wounds that would prove to be fatal.
Along with Richard Brian Suttles, Mary Ann Holder killed her two sons, eight-year-old niece, and the 15-year-old girlfriend of one of her sons before killing herself
Hannaleigh Suttles died on Monday. She was followed by Mary Ann Holder son Zachary Smith a day later and Makalaya Leigh Woods on Wednesday.
The victims at Mary Ann Holder’s home appeared to have been shot while they slept in a bedroom and the living room, according to Chief Deputy, Col. Randy Powers. The woman left two notes taking responsibility for the killings.
Police officers found two handguns inside the vehicle, including one in Mary Ann Holder’s lap.
Police are continuing to investigate the case. An autopsy has been performed on Mary Ann Holder and police are waiting for the results of toxicology tests, but Col. Randy Powers said it initially appears there were no signs of drug use.
Mary Ann Holder, Randall Lamb and his wife had spent months trading accusations of stalking and harassment in court documents. Randall Lamb’s wife had recently threatened to file an alienation of affection lawsuit against Holder, investigators said.
Police are investigating a $10,000 cheque made out to Randall Lamb’s wife that Mary Ann Holder gave him the day before the shootings, according to an application for a search warrant obtained by The News & Record of Greensboro.
Police say the cheque may have been for an out-of-court settlement of some kind.
Despite that, and despite two notes left by Mary Ann Holder taking responsibility for the shootings, police say a definite motive is not yet clear.
“This will be the $64,000 question, because we don’t have anyone alive who can answer it,” Col. Randy Powers said.
“A couple of theories have gone up in the air, but we really don’t know yet.”
Mary Ann Holder reportedly had custody of her nephew and niece after their mother died.
An unconscious grandfather on the floor of a Wal-Mart in Phoenix, Arizona, with a bloody face is shown in a video after the latest pepper spray incident that happened on Black Friday sales across the U.S.
Jerald Allen Newman, 54, is shown unconscious after an officer took him to the ground, as cops are seen trying to sop up blood and outraged customers yell expletives.
Jerald Allen Newman’s wife and other witnesses say he was trying to help his young grandson after the boy was trampled by shoppers, and only put a video game in his waistband to free his hands to help the boy.
Jerald Allen Newman, 54, is shown unconscious after an officer took him to the ground, as cops are seen trying to sop up blood and outraged customers yell expletives
Yesterday crowds of shoppers trying to bag a bargain from a Wal-Mart store during the Black Friday sales were drenched in pepper spray during a scramble for Xbox 360 console deals.
It was just one of scores of shootings and outbreaks of violence as tempers frayed in the rush to secure a Black Friday bargain. At least two shoppers have been shot and scores more injured in fights.
Police in Los Angeles is now hunting a female shopper who allegedly injured 20 people at Wal-Mart after a confrontation just 20 minutes after the shop had opened its doors.
Meanwhile gunfire erupted at Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville, North Carolina, at around 2:00 a.m. last night near a food court entrance as holiday shoppers gathered.
Police is looking for two suspects. Several more shots were fired after one of the suspects ran inside the mall. But there are no reports of any injuries and no evacuation was ordered.
An off-duty police officer hired by Wal-Mart had to use pepper spray as he tried to make an arrest and quell a disturbance during shopping at a local store in Kinston, North Carolina.
Shopper Angel Bunting says the incident began when a man waiting in line for mobile phones marked down from $200 to $35 fell into a display.
Tonia Robbins, 55, was in serious condition after being shot by two robbers who demanded her purse at a mall in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Another shopper was shot in a robbery at a Wal-Mart in San Leandro, California. Elsewhere police were investigating a possible shooting in the car park of Valley West Mall in West Des Moines, Iowa.
One man was charged with disorderly conduct after a brawl broke out at a Wal-Mart in Rome, New York state and an explosive device was found at a Wal-Mart in Cave Creek, Arizona.
A robot took away the suspicious device from a fridge that led to the evacuation of that Wal-Mart as police dogs combed the store.
An estimated 152million people are expected to shop over Black Friday weekend, up 10 per cent from last year, according the National Retail Federation.
Paul Mason, a British man who at one time was the fattest in the world is pleading with the NHS to remove unsightly flaps of flesh after he managed to lose more than half of his body weight.
Paul Mason, 50, a former postman from Ipswich, who weighed 60 stone (840 lbs) two years ago, underwent a gastric bypass after he was told he otherwise faced certain death.
The man has been left with rolls of unsightly excess skin after the extreme weight loss and now needs an operation to remove the flaps hanging from his stomach, arms and legs.
NHS has refused to perform cosmetic surgery, insisting that Paul Mason needs to maintain a stable weight before it can be considered.
Paul Mason, who can now leave the house in a motorized wheelchair, said: “I just need a little bit more help. I feel like I have been just left high and dry.
“I need this operation to be able to get my life back, to be able to get back into society. It is stopping me living a reasonable life.”
Paul Mason, who weighed 70 st – or half a ton – at his heaviest, used to consume 20,000 calories a day, 10 times the normal for the average man. He said his binge eating was spurred by heartbreak in his twenties at the time of his father’s death and deterioration of his mother’s health.
He quit his job as a postman when his weight prevented him from completing his deliveries. Paul Mason was transferred to a sorting office, where he worked until 1989 when he was sacked and imprisoned for six months for stealing from customers’ letters.
The man spent around £30,000 ($45,000) a year on food and sometimes went naked to avoid having to get dressed.
Then in 2009, Paul Mason underwent a £30,000 ($45,000) operation on the NHS at Chichester Hospital which drastically reduced the amount he could eat.
Paul Mason, who weighed 70 st - or half a ton - at his heaviest, used to consume 20,000 calories a day, 10 times the normal for the average man
Now Paul Mason’s frame has shrunk so much that he has been left with swathes of loose skin.
Surgery can be used to remove the excess skin but as the treatment is for cosmetic and not clinical reasons, it is not automatically available on the NHS.
Paul Mason will have to pay around £1,500 ($2,300) to £6,000 ($9,200) if he wants to have the surgery privately depending on the amount of flesh that needs to be removed.
His care bill costs taxpayers an estimated £100,000 ($150,000) a year and it is believed to have topped £1million ($1.5 million) over the past 15 years.
On one occasion firefighters had to be called out to demolish the front wall of his former home so they could drive a fork lift truck inside to lift him out and put him into an ambulance when he needed a hernia operation in 2002.
Paul Mason, who has a new target weight of 23 stone (322 lbs), is angered by the NHS’s decision.
“My consultant says he’s always seen there is a skinny man waiting to get out but it is so frustrating to have got so far and just be at the final hurdle.
“I have times when I just sit and cry but then I think <<I’m not going to let it get me down>>.”
NHS has remained firm about its decision, stating that Paul Mason, who also suffered a heart attack following his gastric bypass, must wait before he has further cosmetic surgery.
An NHS Suffolk spokesperson said: “Before a patient has an operation it is important to take a balanced decision that is in the best interest of that patient.
“In cases like this NHS Suffolk has a panel of people – including clinicians – who decide whether the patient should have such an operation.
“A patient must have a stable weight before he or she is considered.”
Paul Mason also claimed that the NHS failed to help him as his size soared and instead of receiving a treatment programme to manage his weight, he said he was told in 1996: “Ride your bike more.”
The man now hopes to learn how to drive and to use his experience to help others with eating disorders, including anorexia.
Paul Mason has also set up his own craft company to produce Christmas tree decorations and birthday cards.
The heaviest man of all time was American John Minnoch, who weighed 100.2 stone (1402.8 lbs). He died in 1983 aged 42.
Paul Mason’s old diet:
Breakfast: A packet of bacon, four sausages, four eggs, bread and hash browns.
Lunch: Four portions of fish and chips with two kebabs.
Dinner: A takeaway such as a curry or pizza
Snacks: Pastries, chocolate, crisps
Paul Mason’s new diet:
Breakfast: Toast
Lunch or dinner: Now he has just one main meal a day usually consisting of lean meat fresh fruit and vegetables
Two female carers take up to four hours to wash Paul Mason because his size makes it impossible for him to clean himself.
The women, who visit him three times a day, have to apply cream to every inch of his bulging body to stop chafing.
He manages to soap his upper body himself and the nurses wipe him down.
They used to look after him from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00p.m., but Ipswich NHS was forced to axe the service because of cutbacks.
Paul Mason, who wears incontinence pads, has not walked properly since 2000 and wears size XXXXXXXXL clothes.
Zainab Bibi has been arrested in Karachi, Pakistan, on suspicion of murdering her husband, chopping his body to pieces and boiling it in a bid to get rid of the evidence.
Zainab Bibi, 42, from Karachi, allegedly told police she killed her husband Ahmad Abbas because he tried to sexually assault her 17-year-old daughter from another marriage.
The wife told authorities she sedated Ahmad Abbas by mixing sleeping pills in his tea and strangled him with rope before dismembering him.
Police said that the landlord found Zainab Bibi at the stove, cooking a korma with flesh from her husband’s arm and leg
Police discovered Zainab Bibi’s plot after neighbors complained about a bad smell coming from her home.
Zaheer Ahmed, her 22-year-old nephew, has also been arrested in connection with dismembering Ahmad Abbas’s body.
Pakistan’s ARY News spoke to Zainab Bibi from her cell at the Shah Faisal police station, where she said: “I killed my husband before he dared to touch my daughter.”
The alarm was raised by Zainab Bibi’s landlord, Behzad, who lives on the ground floor of the two-storey Green Town house.
The landlord was so upset by the bad cooking smells coming from upstairs that he went up to complain.
Police said that the landlord found Zainab Bibi at the stove, cooking a korma with flesh from her husband’s arm and leg – because she believed it was the only way to practically dispose of his body.
Pakistani paper The Express Tribune said Zainab Bibi had been living at the house with her 17-year-old daughter Sonia and Ahmad Abbas, who she married 5 years ago and who used to be the girl’s teacher when she was at school.
Zainab Bibi was quoted in the paper as saying: “When he finally died, I felt shudders of fear for the first time.
“I didn’t have the courage to approach his body for the next half an hour.
“It occurred to me that if I cooked the body in parts with spices and aromatic ingredients that would curb the stench.”
Zainab Bibi insisted she had no plans to eat the resulting dish, or to feed it to others, adding: “I had a plan to do away with the cooked stuff by throwing it in a gutter. I would say to people that it had spoiled.”
The woman claims she had stopped Ahmad Abbas from molesting her daughter on several occasions, admitting that he had never actually laid a hand on her but had said suggestive things about her when he was drunk.
The rest of Ahmad Abbas’s body was found in an aluminium trunk on the premise.
Libby Spires of Nashville, Tennessee, who bought a turkey from Apple Market grocery store at Lebanon Pike this week was surprised to find the product had expired in November 2007.
When Libby Spires got the turkey out the freezer to begin preparing dinner, she double-checked the packet.
The woman told local news station News2: “I was shocked because it said November 23, 2007. I said, <<Oh my gosh, I can’t eat this turkey!>>”
Libby Spires returned the expired turkey to Apple Market on Tuesday afternoon and was given a complete refund.
She then bought another turkey for Thanksgiving dinner from another store – but made sure to check it was fresh.
Libby Spires of Nashville, Tennessee, who bought a turkey from Apple Market grocery store at Lebanon Pike this week was surprised to find the product had expired in November 2007
General Manager of Apple Market, Ken Osborne, told News 2: “This is an honest mistake. We donate unused food to needy families and area churches. I don’t know how this was mixed up. It never should have happened.”
Ken Osborne urged customers to double check their produce and said he would be reinforcing the importance of this to his staff.
Libby Spires said she will still continue to shop at apple Market.
“I understand. It’s okay. I will shop there, but I will always look at the dates though,” Libby Spires added.
Tatyana Limanova, the Russian TV presenter who gave President Barack Obama the finger live on air has been fired.
Tatyana Limanova, a presenter at Russian station REN TV, was reading a segment about the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation conference when she made the offensive symbol – just as she said the U.S. president’s name.
The TV presenter was looking down as she spoke about how Russian president Dmitry Medvedev would be assuming the head of the conference as part of the rotating chairmanship.
But as Tatyana Limanova read that the post was previously held by Barack Obama, she distinctly raised her arm – and then her middle finger.
Tatyana Limanova was reading a segment about the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation conference when she made the offensive symbol, just as she said Barack Obama's name
Today, REN TV, which is controlled by close associates of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and is transmitted to roughly 120 million people in Russia, described Tatyana Limanova’s behavior as “unprofessional” and “unacceptable”.
“On 14 November during the News 24 programme the presenter Limanova made an unacceptable gesture that was a synonym for an offensive expression,” REN TV said in a statement.
“It had no subtext and was not linked with the news that Limanova was reading at that moment,” REN TV added.
“A decision has been taken that T Limanova cannot and will not continue to work on the REN TV channel as a presenter.”
According to sources, Tatyana Limanova, a mother of one married to a cameraman, protested her innocence, saying she thought she was off-camera at the time.
But that appears not to have saved the award-winning journalist from a sting in the salt mines.
Three Europeans have been abducted and a fourth has been killed by an armed gang of kidnappers in the city of Timbuktu in northern Mali, security sources said.
The three hostages’ nationality is not known. The man was shot dead trying to resist the gang, reports said.
It is believed to be the first time foreigners have been abducted in Timbuktu, once popular with tourists.
Three Europeans have been abducted and a fourth has been killed by an armed gang of kidnappers in the city of Timbuktu in northern Mali
The incident comes a day after two French geologists were kidnapped by an armed gang in the eastern village of Hombori.
The gunmen burst in as the four were dining in a restaurant on the central square of the ancient city of Timbuktu.
They ordered the Europeans there to follow them, a customer at Amanar restaurant told the Associated Press.
One of them, an elderly man, refused to get inside the car and was killed on the spot, the witness said.
Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed government source as saying the dead man was German.
The incidents are the latest in a series of abductions of foreigners believed to be the work of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim).
Aqim has bases in the northern Mali desert from which it organizes raids and kidnappings, and traffics weapons and drugs.
French soldiers have joined Mali’s army in the hunt for the French pair kidnapped in Hombori, according to AFP.
They were the first Westerners in Mali to be kidnapped south of the River Niger.
The captives were named as Philippe Verdon and Serge Lazarevic, in documents seen by AFP.
They had been sent by the company Mande Construction Immobiliere to take soil samples in the Hombori region where it planned to build a cement factory.
A security guard at their hotel said that “the kidnappers were armed to the teeth”.
“I was tied up and told to point out the rooms of the Frenchmen, whom they brutally took away,” the security guard said.
Al-Qaeda-linked fighters have in the past brought hostages into northern Mali from neighbouring countries, such as Niger where four French nationals – still being held – were kidnapped in September 2010.
Huge swathes of the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert have been rendered off-limits to foreigners.
Timbuktu is one of the many former tourist destinations in Mali that have been deemed too dangerous to visit by foreign embassies due to the risk of kidnapping by the local chapter of al-Qaeda.
For 40 years, D.B. Cooper has remained one of America’s most elusive fugitives.
Back in 1971, D.B. Cooper commandeered a plane claiming he had dynamite, eliciting a $200,000 ransom, before parachuting out of the plane and disappearing forever.
New physical evidence the FBI believe could help them close in on D.B. Cooper, has emerged recently.
The new lead is a titanium particle from the clip-on tie D.B. Cooper left when he jumped from the Seattle bound-plane in skies above Washington, NBC affiliate KING 5 News reported.
An elite group of scientists have been examining evidence from the infamous case for the last three years.
Tom Kaye the lead scientist in the private team said: “One of the most notable particles that we’ve found, that had us the most excited, was titanium metal.”
The titanium was found by team members studying D.B. Cooper’s tie with an electron microscope.
Titanium is now integral in numerous household items from golf clubs to cookware, but was very rare in 1971.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing was one of the first manufacturers to use titanium in a civilian aircraft.
Boeing canceled its Super Sonic Transport project shortly before the hijacking.
D.B. Cooper commandeered a plane claiming he had dynamite, eliciting a $200,000 ransom, before parachuting out of the plane and disappearing forever
Tom Kaye told KING 5 News: “In 1971 there was a big upheaval in the titanium industry with the cancelling of the SST project, which happened to be at Boeing, and that laid a lot of people off in the industry. So Cooper could have been part of the fallout.”
He said that the titanium is pure, not processed like the sort used in the manufacture of planes.
So the team believes D.B. Cooper was probably not a Boeing worker but employed at a titanium production plant.
Alternatively D.B. Cooper may have worked at chemical plants where titanium was mixed with aluminum.
Tom Kaye said aluminum particles were also found.
“Because he wore a tie, we think he was an engineer or manager who went out on the shop floor regularly.”
The new leads could be instrumental, Tom Kaye believes.
“Coming up with a profile that narrows him down to hundreds of people instead of millions we think is pretty significant.”
FBI reopened D.B. Cooper case in 2008. And earlier this year the agency believed it finally had the mysterious fugitive in its sights, when a woman claimed her uncle was the missing fugitive.
There have been more than 1,000 suspects over the past forty years.
D.B. Cooper has intrigued federal agents and amateur sleuths.
A man calling himself Dan Cooper boarded the Northwest flight after buying a $20 one-way ticket to Seattle.
After getting on the plane wearing sunglasses, the man ordered whisky and lit a cigarette before passing a flight attendant a note that read: “I HAVE A BOMB IN MY BRIEFCASE. I WILL USE IT IF NECESSARY. I WANT YOU TO SIT NEXT TO ME. YOU ARE BEING HIJACKED.”
Cooper told the captain that in return for $200,000 and four parachutes, he would allow 36 people to leave the plane when it landed in Seattle.
The FBI agreed to the swap and the plane took off again under Cooper’s orders to fly towards Mexico at an altitude of under 10,000 feet.
Somewhere over the lower Cascade mountains in southwestern Washington, Cooper stepped out of the plane with a parachute strapped to his back.
Several people have claimed to be D.B. Cooper over the years but were dismissed on the basis of physical descriptions, parachuting experience and, later, by DNA evidence recovered in 2001 from the cheap tie the skyjacker left on the plane.
Items recovered from the skyjack include $5,800 of the stolen money, in tattered $20 bills and D.B. Cooper’s tie.
Many believe that D.B. Cooper was Richard McCoy, a Vietnam War veteran, experienced parachutist and BYU political science student who staged a similar hijacking several months later.
But the FBI has said that Richard McCoy – who was killed in a shoot-out with law enforcement officers after a prison break in 1974 – simply didn’t fit the description of D.B. Cooper provided by two flight attendants.
In 1980, a boy walking near the Columbia River found $5,800 of the stolen money, in tattered $20 bills.
Dozens of Black Friday bargains hunters from a Wal-Mart store in Porter Ranch, Los Angeles were last night drenched in pepper spray when a woman looking for Xbox 360 console deals turned ugly.
Police is now hunting a female shopper who allegedly injured 20 people after a confrontation at 10:20 p.m. – just 20 minutes after Wal-Mart had opened its doors.
One witness described an “absolutely crazy” scene where the video games display was torn down and customers trampled over the computer games and DVDs that had fallen on the floor.
“I heard screaming and I heard yelling,” Matthew Lopez, 18, told the Los Angeles Times.
“Moments later, my throat stung. I was coughing really bad and watering up.”
Dozens of Black Friday bargains hunters from a Wal-Mart store in Porter Ranch, Los Angeles were last night drenched in pepper spray when a woman looking for Xbox 360 console deals turned ugly
Meanwhile gunfire erupted at Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville, North Carolina, at around 2:00 a.m. this morning near a food court entrance as Black Friday shoppers gathered.
Detectives are looking for two suspects. Several more shots were fired after one of the suspects ran inside the mall. But there are no reports of any injuries and no evacuation was ordered.
Back in Los Angeles, a police spokesman said the woman was using the spray to “gain an upper hand”. A fire spokesman said the injuries to least 10 people were due to “rapid crowd movement”.
The woman had been trying to keep fellow shoppers away from the electronics she wanted – and people were injured as they jostled trying to escape the spray in the crowded store, authorities said.
“People started screaming, pulling and pushing each other, and then the whole area filled up with pepper spray,” Alejandra Seminario, 24, told the Los Angeles Times.
“I just stayed in the toy aisle.”
Alejandra Seminario added that people started pulling the plastic off pallets on the floor and were “pushing and screaming” as they were shoved over.
“It was definitely the worst Black Friday I’ve ever experienced,” Joseph Poulose told LA Times.
Authorities are still looking for the pepper spray woman – who was one of millions of American rushing to the shops last night to snap up a bargain before Thanksgiving Day was even over.
An estimated 152million people are expected to shop over Black Friday weekend, up 10% from last year, according the National Retail Federation.
And in New York, Occupy protesters formed human barricades to try and block shoppers from entering stores – in particular targeting Macy’s department store.
The first chain to open up was Toys ‘R’ Us, which let customers – many of whom camped outside – in at 9:00 p.m. yesterday. An hour later, retail giant Wal-Mart unlocked its doors up amid a flood of customers, while low-cost rival Target let shoppers in at 11:00 p.m.
And at midnight, electronics retailer Best Buy along with departments stores Macy’s and Beall’s all opened – all hours before the traditional daybreak starts.
The early openings combined with greater than usual media coverage has prompted retail experts to predict record-breaking number of customers in U.S. stores.
As a record 212million actually showed up last year when the LRF estimated 138million, other analysts are predicting even more people hitting the shops this weekend.
“Black Friday will be strong because so many stores are opening Thursday and that gives consumers at least six more hours to shop,” Candace Corlett, of WSL Strategic Retail, told CNN.
“It will also attract people who may be willing to go out Thursday night, but aren’t about to get up early Friday morning.”
The day after Thanksgiving, or Black Friday, kicks off the holiday shopping season. Each year, retailers open their doors early and offer shoppers deals of up to 70% off on everything from electronics to clothes. And shoppers typically turn out in droves.
The day after Thanksgiving, or Black Friday, kicks off the holiday shopping season
Before you head out to the stores this year, there a few things you should know about Black Friday:
Q:How did the day get its name?
A: Accounts differ on the origin of the term. One theory is that it had roots in the 1960s in Philadelphia where it was used to describe the heavy pedestrian and car traffic on the day after Thanksgiving. The most common theory, though, is that the day got its name because it’s usually when retailers turn a profit for the year, or operate in the ‘black.’
Q.Is Black Friday the biggest shopping day of the year?
A. ShopperTrak, which monitors customer traffic and sales at 25,000 stores nationwide, says that Black Friday has been the top sales day every year but one since it started monitoring holiday data in 2002; the only exception was in 2004, when the busiest day was the Saturday before Christmas.
Q. What’s new?
A. Black Friday mania is seeping into Thanksgiving Day. Nearly 1,000 Gap stores will be open on Thanksgiving. Toys R Us will open at 9 p.m. And several other stores will open at midnight that evening, including Target, Best Buy, Kohl’s and Macy’s. Wal-Mart, whose supercenters already operate around the clock, also is opening most of its other stores by 10 p.m. Thanksgiving evening.
Q. Will you get the best deals of the season on Black Friday?
A. Not necessarily. Stores have discounts that are just as good throughout the holiday season. And there are even better deals to be had after Christmas Day. But the problem is if you wait too long, you might not get exactly what you want since stores have kept their inventories lean this year.
Bargains Galore: The Best of the Black Friday Deals
• Amazon is offering top of the range smartphones for just one penny between November 22 and November 28.
• Best Buy is offering dig discounts on tech items from midnight tonight. It is slicing $200 off the cost of 42in Sharp LCD TVs and $150 off Nikon Coolpix digital cameras.
• Gap has cut 60% off selected items in its outlets since Wednesday, until tomorrow.
• Old Navy is offering Kodak EasyShare Sport digital cameras free to the first of its Black Friday shoppers who spend more than $40. The cameras are worth about $100.
Old Navy is offering Kodak EasyShare Sport digital cameras free to the first of its Black Friday shoppers who spend more than $40
• Office Depot has cut the price of Blackberry’s Playbook tablet computers by $100 from today and is offering 15.6in Toshiba laptops with Intel processors for just $399.99.
• OfficeMax is offering discounts on printers, including Canon MX870 Colour Inkjet wireless models worth $250 for just $80 and HP Colour Photosmart Inkjets for $79.99, reduced from $199.99.
• Staples is slashing the price of Targus Leather iPad Covers from $50 to just $9.99 and offering HP Photosmart Plus wireless printers at a special price of $49.90, down from $149.99.
• Target will be selling Nikon L105 Digital Cameras for just $99.99, less than half the usual retail price of $199.99, while the more domestically oriented will be drawn to the KitchenAid Ultra Power Stand Mixer for $199, cut from $249.99.
• Macy’s, the department store, is to open at midnight tonight – the first time in its history it has opened early on Black Friday – to offer selected items at between 20 per cent and 50 per cent off.
• Toys’R’Us will open at 9:00 p.m. tonight with a range of discounted video games. The chain is also expecting massive demand for classic toys like Barbie and Hot Wheels.
• Walmart is offering a range of deals including video games and big screen televisions, including Xbox 360s with Kinect and a $50 gift card for the knock-down price of $199.96.
Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday Mr. President” is among the most famous and suggestive songs ever sung in public.
Now it appears that her sexy rendition of “Happy Birthday Mr. President” had a more mundane reason why it was so provocative – she was out of breath.
Marilyn Monroe apparently got lost while heading toward the stage at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1962 to sing for John F. Kennedy.
As the actress ran around trying to find the right door she ran out of breath – so was unable to sing properly – as she got to the stage so late.
Instead Marilyn Monroe’s version of “Happy Birthday” came across as rather more sensual than she may have intended, earning it an unintended place in history.
Marilyn Monroe apparently got lost while heading toward the stage at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1962 to sing for John F. Kennedy
The surprising disclosure was made by American actress Joan Copeland, 89, who was there on the night.
Joan Copeland is the younger sister of playwright Arthur Miller, Marilyn Monroe’s former husband.
She said that Marilyn Monroe was so late to go on stage that night that she missed her cue.
Watching her “running around trying to find a door”, Joan Copeland noticed that Marilyn Monroe was out of breath and anxious.
Rat Pack singer Peter Lawford announced her entrance but when she did not emerge he joked that she was the “late Marilyn Monroe”.
Upon finally coming on stage, Marilyn Monroe stunned the audience with her backless flesh coloured gown with 2,500 rhinestones sewn into it.
The Jean Louis dress was apparently so tight that it had to be sewn on to her naked body – yet it was the rendition of the song which caused all the attention.
Marilyn Monroe performance was given an extra charge because of rumors of an affair between herself and JFK, which have been picked over by fans of both ever since.
When Marilyn Monroe had finished singing JFK came on stage and, in reference to the highly suggestive performance, said: “I can now retire from politics after having had Happy Birthday sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way.”
The event, which was not attended by Jackie Kennedy, took place on May 19 1962 to mark his 45th birthday, which fell ten days later.
The following November JFK was gunned down by Lee Harvey Oswald.
The dress worn by Marilyn Monroe, who died in 1962 at the age of 36, has since become as famous as the song itself.
In 1999 it went up for auction in New York and sold for $1.26 million, a record for a gown worn by her at the time.
Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi are looking for a new house and are said to be eyeing on Brad Pitt’s Malibu mansion.
Ellen DeGeneres, 53, just put her $49million Beverly Hills compound up for sale and is now looking for something smaller.
Sources told People Magazine, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, 38, are very interested in buying Brad Pitt’s $14million Malibu home.
Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi are looking for a new house and are said to be eyeing on Brad Pitt's Malibu mansion
Brad Pitt’s Malibu property consists of two separate houses, a pool, a tennis court and expansive lush gardens.
The sprawling 4,100 square foot property also has private beach access and is set back off the Pacific Coast Highway by a long private driveway.
The main house has four bedrooms and four baths, a large chefs kitchen with stainless steel appliances, bamboo floors, three fire places and a top of the range security system.
The house has had extensive renovations in the past couple of years with an additional story added by the environmentally conscious designer Christopher R. Sorensen.
Malibu mansion is just one part of a property portfolio belonging to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie that also includes homes in Los Angeles, New Orleans, France and Italy.
No one knows why Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have chosen to sell the property, which is set into a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Reese Witherspoon, 35, was spotted looking at the home this past summer.
But in the end, she and her new husband, Jim Toth, decided not to buy it.
While the home is pricey, even by Hollywood standards, the $14million price tag is certainly no problem for Ellen DeGeneres.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi is said to have a net worth of about $85million.
Forbes Magazine recently listed Ellen DeGeneres as one of the wealthiest women in Hollywood.
According to Reuters, last year alone Ellen DeGeneres made $45million thanks to her syndicated talk show and endorsement deals, including a contract with Covergirl Cosmetics.
Ellen DeGeneres got her start as a stand-up comedienne and has appeared in a number of films including EDtv and The Love Letter.
The comedienne also provided the voice of Dory in the Disney-Pixar animated film Finding Nemo and was a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season.
Portia de Rossi, a native of Australia, most recently co-starred on the TV series Better Off Ted and she also earns a sizeable income.
