Nigerian Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau may have been killed by the security forces during a shoot-out, an army spokesman has said.
An “intelligence report” showed that Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Boko Haram group, may have died between July 25 and August 3, Lt-Col Sagir Musa said.
Boko Haram, which has waged an insurgency in Nigeria since 2009, has not commented on the statement.
The US had put a bounty of $7 million on Abubakar Shekau’s head.
The intelligence report suggested that Abubakar Shekau was shot on June 30, when soldiers raided a Boko Haram base at Sambisa Forest in north-eastern Nigeria.
“Shekau was mortally wounded in the encounter and was sneaked into Amitchide – a border community in Cameroon for treatment… It is greatly believed that Shekau might have died between 25 July to 3 August 2013,” Sagir Musa said.
Nigerian Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau may have been killed by the security forces during a shoot-out
A video of Abubakar Shekau released on August 13 was “dramatized by an imposter to hoodwink the sect members to continue with the terrorism”, he added.
On August 14, the military said it had killed Boko Haram’s second-in-command, Momodu Bama, also known by his alias “Abu Saad”.
Correspondents say there is no independent confirmation of Abubakar Shekau’s or Momodu Bama’s death.
Thousands of people have died since Boko Haram began its insurgency in 2009.
A claim in 2009 that Abubakar Shekau had been killed turned out to be untrue, they add.
He became leader of Boko Haram after its founder, Muhammad Yusuf, died in police custody in the same year.
The insurgency became far more brutal under Abubakar Shekau’s leadership, with Boko Haram carrying out a wave of bombings and abductions, including that of foreigners, in its campaign to create an Islamic state across Nigeria, correspondents say.
In May, Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan declared an emergency in three north-eastern states, saying the group threatened the country’s existence.
Southern African Development Community leaders have called for the European Union and US to lift all sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe after endorsing President Robert Mugabe’s win in disputed elections last month.
Malawian President Joyce Banda said Zimbabweans had “suffered enough”.
The EU and US imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2002 after accusing Robert Mugabe of brutally cracking down on his opponents – a charge he rejected.
Robert Mugabe, 89, is due to be inaugurated for a seventh term on Thursday.
The EU has a travel ban in place against Robert Mugabe and nine other of officials of his Zanu-PF party and has sanctions imposed on two companies.
The US also has a travel ban on Robert Mugabe and other top Zanu-PF officials, and has blacklisted companies linked to them from doing business with US companies.
Robert Mugabe won with 61% of the presidential vote against 34% for Morgan Tsvangirai, the outgoing prime minister and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.
On Friday, the MDC dropped plans to challenge Robert Mugabe’s victory in court, alleging it would not get a fair hearing.
SADC leaders called for the EU and US to lift Zimbabwe sanctions after endorsing Robert Mugabe’s win
The MDC had alleged that the poll was marred by widespread fraud, a view rejected by African Union (AU) and other international observers.
Ending a meeting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in the Malawian capital, Lilongwe, on Sunday, regional leaders said in a statement that “all forms of sanctions” imposed on Zimbabwe should be lifted following the holding of “free and peaceful” elections.
“I believe Zimbabwe deserves better, Zimbabweans have suffered enough,” said Joyce Banda, Malawi’s leader and incoming chairperson of the 15-nation regional body.
In a further display of support for Robert Mugabe, regional leaders appointed him as the next SADC chairman and said the group’s next annual summit would be held in Zimbabwe, AFP news agency reports.
The EU described last month’s election in Zimbabwe as generally peaceful, but said it was concerned about alleged irregularities.
In March, the EU suspended sanctions against 81 individuals and eight entities in Zimbabwe after hailing a referendum to approve a new constitution expanding civil liberties as credible and peaceful.
However, it kept sanctions in place against two firms and 10 top officials, including Robert Mugabe.
Zimbabwe did not invite the EU and the US to monitor the elections, with Zanu-PF accusing them of bias.
The US described the vote on July 31 as “deeply flawed” and did not regard the results as a credible expression of the will of Zimbabweans.
The MDC has said that more than a million voters were prevented from casting their ballots – mainly in urban areas considered to be its strongholds, allegations backed up a 7,000-strong group of local observers, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network.
Allies of President Robert Mugabe have dismissed the allegations of voting fraud and accused Morgan Tsvangirai of being a bad loser.
Robert Mugabe’s victory heralded the end of the power-sharing government he formed with Morgan Tsvangirai in 2009 under pressure from regional leaders following elections marred by violence and allegations of rigging.
Robert Mugabe has governed Zimbabwe, a former British colony until 1964, from independence in 1980.
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Cissy Houston and Bobbi Kristina Brown’s relationship soured after the publication of a tell-all memoir about Whitney Houston’s life, career and personal struggles.
However, Cissy Houston, 79, has attempted to build bridges with granddaughter Bobbi Kristina Brown by penning a candid letter in which she offers her opinion on the 20-year-old’s current relationship, their shared grief and the controversial book that originally drove a wedge between them.
Cissy Houston published Remembering Whitney: My Story of Love, Loss and the Night Music Stopped in February, but intimate details about her daughter’s marriage to Bobby Brown, her long battle with cocaine addiction, a rumored gay affair and her eventual, untimely death at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in 2012, aged 48, enraged her granddaughter.
Writing on Twitter at the time, Bobbi Kristina Brown furiously dismissed her grandmother’s memoir as lies with the tweet: “I KNOW THE TRUTH.”
She added: “I haven’t read and won’t … I find it to be disrespectful to my mother and me being her daughter won’t tolerate it.”
Cissy Houston and Bobbi Kristina Brown’s relationship soured after the publication of a tell-all memoir about Whitney Houston’s life, career and personal struggles
Whitney Houston’s only child with Bobby Brown is currently engaged to long-term boyfriend Nick Gordon – something Cissy Houston was quick to address in her open letter, which has been published online.
Cissy Houston writes: “Do I want you to get married in the near future? No, I don’t. I think you’re too young and I wish you’d wait. But that’s because I’m Grandma.
“I’m supposed to worry about you. I’m supposed to wonder if Nick or ANY man is good enough for you, My Baby’s Baby.
“I’m not angry with Nick and I don’t think, nor did I ever say anything hurtful about him to anyone. I have NEVER publicly commented on your personal life and I don’t intend to.
“So in the future when you read or hear that Cissy Houston said this or said that, be confident in the knowledge that it isn’t true.”
Former gospel star Cissy Houston – who provided backing vocals for the likes of Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and Elvis Presley during the sixties and seventies – also touched on her book, conceding that she understand why Bobbi Kristina Brown would feel so angry about it.
She adds: “…but I hope one day you’ll read it and understand that I just wanted to let the world see some of My Nippy – the sweet, friendly, loving little girl with the extraordinary beauty and boundless talent, who grew into the superstar and musical icon the world saw.
“I want people to know – fans and critics and ordinary people alike – Nippy was a whole person, and like all of us, she was good and bad AND she was my joy!!”
A rep speaking on behalf of Cissy Houston later confirmed there was no ulterior motive behind the 550 word letter.
It appears Bobbi Kristina Brown has dropped out of Celebrity Big Brother.
According to The Sun, Bobbi Kristina Brown, 20, had withdrawn from the program after receiving online abuse after the news broke that she was going in the house.
The paper also quoted a Channel Five insider as saying that despite having a large budget, they are having problems attracting the big US names they need to get the big ratings.
The source said: “They knew there were guaranteed fireworks with her in the house and hoped they’d also get some revelations about Whitney.”
Bobbi Kristina Brown has withdrawn from Celebrity Big Brother after receiving online abuse
Adding: “But she did a massive U-turn and sent the bosses into a panic. As it stands they’ve got loads of money to spend but they’re struggling to find anyone to give it to.”
Whitney Houston’s only daughter last month shocked fans when she announced her engagement to Nick Gordon, the boy Whitney raised as her own son, making him a brother of sorts to Bobbi Kristina Brown.
Their relationship has been the subject of much controversy and scrutiny given that the couple essentially grew up as siblings.
Bobbi Kristina’s father Bobby Brown stated that he was not happy with the news and berated Nick Gordon for not asking for his daughter’s hand in marriage.
So far, other names that have been linked with this year’s Celebrity Big Brother includes ’90s RnB star Mark Morrison and Dustin Diamond, who played Screech in 90s TV show Saved By The Bell.
And whilst they were both big stars in their heyday, they’ve largely faded into obscurity ever since.
Celebrity Big Brother is due to air on Thursday and is rumored to also be featuring disgraced former football commentator Ron Atkinson, model Sophie Anderton and Geordie Shore’s Charlotte Crosby.
Caroline Kennedy has revealed her financial information in order to be considered as the next American ambassador to Japan, and it is believed she may be worth up to $500 million.
Caroline Kennedy’s wealth has been a closely-guarded secret for decades, but now that President Barack Obama has nominated her to represent the US abroad, she has to list the sources of her massive income.
“She’s very rich, probably worth between $250 million and $500 million,” said one legal expert who had seen the financial disclosure forms.
Caroline Kennedy, who is the sole surviving member of former President John F. Kennedy’s immediate family, has avoided calls to publicly release her financial statements in the past, but as the Senate must now approve her appointment to be an Ambassador, she has no choice.
The closest she came to revealing her millions came in 2008 when she asked then-New York Governor David Patterson to suggest she take over Hillary Clinton’s empty Senate seat.
At the time, Caroline Kennedy said she would reveal what board positions make her how many millions and exactly how much her family trusts earn in interest, but only if her takeover of the Senate seat was going to happen.
It didn’t, so the curtains surrounding her bank accounts remained closed.
Now there is no such justification for privacy, as she needs to reveal what ties she will be willing to cut in order to take the prestigious position.
“I understand that a heightened prospect of a conflict of interest could exist as to companies that maintain a presence in Japan,” Caroline Kennedy wrote in a letter accompanying her disclosure statements.
According to The New York Post, said conflicts could include a number of board and trustee positions that she olds with Harvard University’s Kennedy school, her husband Edwin Schlossberg’s foundation, and the arts foundation created by her mother and father.
Caroline Kennedy has revealed her financial information in order to be considered as the next American ambassador to Japan
The biggest source of her income is from the extensive trusts that her grandfather Joe established for each of his children and grandchildren.
The untimely deaths in Caroline Kennedy’s family have led to a piling up of respective estates, as her mother Jackie inherited her father’s trusts after he was assassinated in 1963.
After leaving the White House, Jackie Kennedy married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis in 1968, though he died less than seven years later in 1975.
When he passed away, Jackie Kennedy was not entitled to as much as she would have been as a result of Greek estate laws, and after two years she agreed to accept a $26 million settlement from her late-husband’s daughter Christina in return for giving up all claims to the family fortune in the future.
People Magazine reports that Jackie Kennedy’s later relationship with financial planner Maurice Tempelsman helped her build that payout from the Onassis family into an estimated fortune of anywhere between $100 million and $200 million, though it is unclear where that money went exactly as her final estate that was passed on to her children was significantly lower.
Jacqueline Kennedy was diagnosed with cancer in 1994 and died four months later. She left her children an estimated $43.7 million, including several pricey properties including her 15-room apartment on Fifth Avenue which had a view of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as the 366-acre Kennedy estate on Martha’s Vineyard.
In May of this year, Caroline Kennedy listed 90 waterfront acres of the property for sale – with no homes included – for $45 million though it does not appear to have sold yet. She is still holding on to three lots of land for herself and her children, two that pay off the cost of estate expenses, and one that has been designated as open space. The Boston Herald reports that the lots she is keeping for her family include the home that her mother lived in and designed.
This isn’t the first time that Caroline Kennedy has made a parcel off her mother’s property. Jackie Kennedy bought the 15th floor of her Fifth Avenue apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side in 1964 following the president’s assassination, she paid $250,000. It sold for $9.5 million in 1995 after her death to billionaire David Koch.
“Mrs. Onassis was very conservative financially, and she didn’t spend much on it. We gutted the apartment and redid everything,” he said to The Observer after he decided to sell it for $32 million in 2006.
On top of her own piece of the Kennedy pie, Caroline also inherited her brother John Jr.’s trusts when he died in a plane crash in 1999.
John Kennedy Jr. left his $50 million to his relatives and a few charities, but the Kennedys are also believed to have paid the Bessette family $15 million as a result of the crash. He was the one piloting that fatal flight in his plane with his wife Carolyn and her sister Laura as passengers; investigations into the crash reported that all three died on impact and the cause of the crash was pilot error.
“From the figures, it looks like she earns between $12 million and $30 million a year from her trust and from her investments,” an unidentified legal expert told The Post.
The interest yielded from those funds is hefty, but Caroline Kennedy, 55, has not just been resting on those laurels.
She has stakes in banks like Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, JP Morgan and two oil companies that her family’s assets own.
On top of those eight-figure sums, she also brings in an additional $1 million from paid speeches and book royalties on a yearly basis.
Caroline Kennedy has been a perpetual consideration for a number of political posts over the years, but this one comes at a personal cost as her husband Edwin Schlossberg will not be joining her in Tokyo since his design firm is based in New York.
Their 26-year marriage has been the subject of speculation over the years since they are rarely seen together, but they were seen enjoying a beach vacation in St Bart’s over the girls’ spring break earlier this year.
If the nomination goes through, Caroline Kennedy will become the first woman appointed to the post.
Alex Band of The Calling band was abducted on Sunday morning, beaten and dumped on train tracks, it emerged today.
Alex Band, 32, was walking from his hotel room to a mini mart in Michigan at 4 a.m. when a van pulled up alongside him and snatched him off the street.
The singer was in Lapeer, Michigan, for a local music festival.
Eventually, sources toldTMZ, Alex Band’s abductors dumped him bloodied and beaten on nearby train tracks.
Later that morning, another member of the band noticed he was missing and a search party was sent out.
Alex Band was discovered a short time later.
He is recovering in hospital but his condition is not clear.
Alex Band was abducted of a Michigan street, beaten and dumped on train tracks
An investigation is underway.
The Calling’s biggest hit was Wherever You Will Go in 2001.
They split in 2005 but recently got back together.
They played a gig in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Saturday night before going to Michigan to perform at the music festival.
Prior to the Atlantic City show, Alex Band wrote on his Facebook and Twitter: “So blessed and thankful to be back on stage doing what I love!”
In 2003, when Alex Band was still with the band, he sang on the Carlos Santana single Why Don’t You And I.
The song was extremely successful, charting at number three on the Billboard Top 40 and number eight on the Billboard Top 100.
The band appeared in the movie Coyote Ugly.
The Calling was also recently named the number five song of the decade on the Adult Pop charts by Billboard.
After the band split up Alex Band also set up his own record label and released a five EP album, enjoying some solo success with his songs being used on a number of TV shows and movies.
He is believed to currently be single but was married and divorced twice.
Alex’s father Charles Band is a horror film director and has made dozens of movies spanning back to the seventies.
Prince William has described his newborn son, Prince George, as a “little bit of a rascal”.
In his first interview since the birth of Prince George on July 22, the Duke of Cambridge said he and Kate Middleton were enjoying their new role as parents.
“He either reminds me of my brother or me when I was younger, I’m not sure, but he’s doing very well at the moment,” he told CNN.
Prince William also said his son did not “want to go to sleep that much, which is a little bit of a problem”.
The duke admitted he does not get up in the night to see to the baby as much as Kate Middleton, adding that she is doing a “fantastic job”.
Prince William said he believes fatherhood has changed him already.
“The last few weeks for me have been just a very different emotional experience,” he said.
“Something I never thought I would feel myself… it’s only been a short period, but a lot of things affect me differently now.”
In his first interview since the birth of Prince George, the Duke of Cambridge said he and Kate Middleton were enjoying their new role as parents
Prince George, who is third in line to the throne, was born on Monday 22 July at St Mary’s Hospital in west London.
The world’s media had been camped outside and they got their first glimpse of the new prince the following day when he emerged in the arms of his parents.
Asked about that moment, Prince William said they were “happy to show him off to whoever wanted to see him”.
“I think I was on such a high anyway,” he said.
“As any new parent knows, you’re only too happy to show off your new child and proclaim that he is the best-looking or the best everything.
“It’s nice that people want to see George, so I’m just glad he wasn’t screaming his head off the whole way through.”
After the photo call, Prince William drove his family home to Kensington Palace, and he admitted he had practiced fixing the baby’s car seat into the back of the car.
“I know there’s been speculation about that. I had to practice, I really did. I was terrified that I was going to do some… you know, it was going to fall off or it wasn’t going to close properly,” he said.
“So, I had actually practiced with that seat, but only once before.”
The interview formed part of a full hour-long documentary – Prince William’s Passion: New Father, New Hope – and is to be broadcast on CNN and ITV next month.
At least 24 Egyptian policemen have been killed in an ambush attack in the Sinai peninsula.
Medical sources and officials said the police were in two buses which came under attack from armed men close to the town of Rafah on the Gaza border.
Three policemen were also reported to have been injured in the blast.
The military recently intensified a crackdown against militants in Sinai, where attacks have surged since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
Egyptian deployments in the peninsula are subject to the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.
There were conflicting reports about how Monday’s attack unfolded.
Security sources quoted by the Associated Press news agency say four armed men stopped the buses and forced the police to get out before shooting them.
But other reports spoke of rocket-propelled grenades being fired at the buses.
The Rafah border post into Gaza was closed in response to the attack and security increased at checkpoints on the peninsula.
Egypt’s interim, military-backed leaders have declared a state of emergency amid the nationwide unrest which has followed the ousting of Islamist Mohamed Morsi as president on 3 July.
A night-time curfew is in place in the capital, Cairo, and many other provinces.
At least 24 Egyptian policemen have been killed in an ambush attack in the Sinai peninsula
More than 830 people, including 70 police and soldiers, are reported to have been killed since Wednesday, when the army cleared protest camps set up by Mohamed Morsi supporters, many of them members of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.
On Sunday night, 36 Islamists died as they were being transported to a prison outside Cairo.
Government and military officials said they had suffocated in the back of a prison van from the effects of tear gas, which was fired when the prisoners rioted.
But there were other reports of gunfire.
The Brotherhood said the interior ministry had “decided to betray its trust and ignore its role” and had killed the detainees “for their opposition to the bloody military council”.
It said the “heinous crime shows the total disregard of the right to life by these murderous fascist thugs” and raised concerns about the safety of the hundreds of pro-Morsi activists now in detention.
European Union foreign ministers are to hold emergency talks on Wednesday to discuss the situation in Egypt. The date was agreed during preparatory talks by senior diplomats in Brussels on Monday.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and the president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy have said the EU “will urgently review in the coming days its relations with Egypt”.
In a joint statement on Sunday, they expressed regret that international efforts to find a peaceful way forward in Egypt were abandoned and a “course of confrontation” instead pursued.
“The calls for democracy and fundamental freedoms from the Egyptian population cannot be disregarded, much less washed away in blood,” they said.
Mohamed Morsi’s supporters say the removal of Egypt’s first freely elected president was a coup.
However the interim government says the Muslim Brotherhood has carried out a campaign of terror since he was overthrown.
The head of the armed forces, Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, has warned the military will not tolerate unrest.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for Hosni Mubarak has said he expects the former leader to be released from prison within the next two days.
However, the legal situation is unclear.
Hosni Mubarak is facing a retrial for corruption and complicity in the deaths of protesters during the 2011 uprising.
The prosecutor in Oscar Pistorius case said the dates of 3 to 20 March had been mutually agreed for the trial at a hearing at Pretoria magistrates’ court.
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius is accused of premeditated murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The prosecution handed a copy of the indictment to Oscar Pistorius.
Oscar Pistorius denies murdering Reeva Steenkamp. He says he shot her after mistaking her for an intruder.
He was granted bail in February and has since resumed some low-key training.
During Monday’s brief hearing, prosecutor Gerrie Nel also said he planned to transfer case to the high court: “We have prepared the indictment.”
Oscar Pistorius was also indicted on a charge of illegal possession of ammunition.
Oscar Pistorius is accused of premeditated murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
The double amputee won gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games and also competed at the Olympics.
His arrest in February stunned many South Africans who saw him as a national sporting hero after his long legal battle to be able to take part in the Olympics.
State prosecutors are arguing that the killing was premeditated, a charge which carries a sentence of life imprisonment. They say Oscar Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp intentionally after a fight.
But the athlete says he shot his girlfriend through the bathroom door of his home in Pretoria after mistaking her for a burglar.
The prosecution handed over details of its case against Oscar Pistorius at Monday’s hearing, including a witness list and forensic reports.
Much depends on ballistic evidence from the bathroom where Reeva Steenkamp was shot.
South African newspapers have reported that at least some of that forensic evidence appears to back up OScar Pistorius’s version of events.
However, the prosecution is expected to call witnesses who will say the Olympic runner was preoccupied with guns, and had been arguing with his girlfriend.
Last week, the police wrapped up their six-month investigation into Reeva Steenkamp’s killing.
“The South African Police Service is hopeful that justice will prevail,” a statement from the office of South Africa’s national police commissioner read.
Oscar Pistorius returned to court on what would have been Reeva Steenkamp’s 30th birthday.
Jodi Arias has launched a book club from behind bars and is sharing her reviews of her favorite reads online.
Convicted killer Jodi Arias, who was found guilty of first-degree murder on May 8 for the death of her ex-boyfriend, Mormon motivational speaker Travis Alexander, announced Jodi’s Book Club on Twitter on August 5.
On a newly-launched website, Jodi Arias reviews classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – and uses the opportunity to take a few swipes at the justice system.
“I understand now why it’s a classic,” she wrote.
“There is so much quotable material in this book.
“A few that stuck out to me: <<The one place a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentment right into the jury box>>.
Jodi Arias has launched a book club from behind bars and is sharing her reviews of her favorite reads online
“And: <<It’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn’t hurt you>>. (Atticus Finch). I cried three times reading this book.”
Jodi Arias is able to upload the messages through a friend who chats to the inmate almost daily and then sends tweets out to followers under the @JodiAnnAriasaccount, NBC News reported.
On the website, Jodi Arias reveals she is also reading books about Mormonism, including Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer, which is critical of the controversial origins of the faith.
“This is an unbelievably true story of religious fanaticism taken horribly too far,” she writes.
“I typically do not read books with this type of subject matter because some of it is deeply disturbing.”
Jodi Arias adds that the LDS Church might be unhappy with her reading the critical book: “I found it very educational and in an unexpected way, I was endeared to Joseph Smith more than before reading it in spite of the book’s focus on his failures and shortcomings. It showed he was a flawed human being. Only Jesus was perfect, Right?”
“The author also clearly delineates the LDS Church and the splinter groups NOT associated with it that practice polygamy. On a side note: I crossed paths once with some bona fide FLDS polygamists in the Grand Canyon of all places. They looked plucked directly from the 19th century.”
The site says Jodi Arias is currently reading Edgar Cayce on the Akashic Records by Kevin Todeschi, and she has also posted reviews about Into the Wild, Seabiscuit and Memoirs of a Geisha.
At the foot of her site, a note reads: “When Jodi finishes reading; at her request every book, periodical and newspaper she receives is donated to less fortunate inmates.”
On Sunday, Jodi Arias tweeted to her followers to stop sending her books as she is currently “max’d out”.
Though the accused murderer has no access to a computer or cell phone in her Phoenix jail cell, close friend Donavan Bering has been tweeting on Jodi Arias’ after almost daily phone conversations.
Donavan Bering and Jodi Arias met while Bering was also in jail, and she told NBC News she has been an ardent supporter of the killer since the beginning.
Jodi Arias is now waiting for a retrial for the penalty phase of her case. A new jury will be selected and they will decide whether she faces the death penalty or life in prison.
She was convicted of killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, who was found shot and repeatedly stabbed in his shower in June 2008.
Jodi Arias’ retrial is expected to be conducted in September, and an exact date could be set at a hearing scheduled for August 26.
A new book about convicted murderer Jodi Arias reveals Travis Alexander’s inability to stay away from her helped lead to his grisly 2008 murder.
HLN TV host Jane Velez-Mitchell’s new book about Jodi Arias and the Mesa, Arizona murder of her on-again off-again lover Travis Alexander details the torrid affair that preceded the grisly 2008 crime.
Exposed: The Secret Life of Jodi Arias hits shelves August 20.
The New York Postpublished an excerpt from the upcoming book.
“Jodi elicited Travis’ reckless forbidden passion,” writes Jane Velez-Mitchell of the practicing Mormon.
Jane Velez-Mitchell’s book about convicted murderer Jodi Arias reveals Travis Alexander’s inability to stay away from her helped lead to his grisly 2008 murder
“Unfortunately for her, it was also what Travis loathed, as it came with more and more guilt each time.”
Jane Velez-Mitchell reveals a deeply unhealthy relationship between Travis Alexander and Jodi Arias that extended even after Alexander broke things off with his future murderer in 2007.
Not long after the breakup, the two began having an intimate relationship again. And according to the book, Travis Alexander was desperately torn between following the dictates of his Mormon faith and those that came from inside himself.
Desperate to stay near her obsession, Jodi Arias offered to clean Travis Alexander’s house for $12.50 an hour. And unable to stop himself from keeping her around, Travis Alexander gave Jodi Arias the keys.
“Unfortunately, giving Jodi access to his house meant Travis was able to keep his addiction to his guilty pleasure full-blown. The pusher was right there serving him his drug on a silver platter,” writes Jane Velez-Mitchell.
But as Travis Alexander began to date other women and distance himself from his fiery former lover, Jodi Arias became progressively unhinged.
“Whether it was because of his upbringing or Jodi’s skills in the bedroom,” writes the TV host, “Travis clearly had a difficult time deciding what he was going to do about Jodi.”
And Travis Alexander’s forays into the “dark side” were hurting his chances of leading the normal Mormon life he so desired.
Jodi Arias’ behavior became progressively erratic – she began stalking Travis Alexander when he was with other women and hacking into his Facebook account. She would show up to his home unannounced.
Though she eventually moved back to her home town in California, the world would soon learn how quickly Jodi Arias returned to Travis Alexander’s Arizona home.
On June 4, 2008, Jodi Arias would stab her former lover some 29 times, shoot him in the face, and slice him ear-to-ear.
South Korea and the United States have begun a new round of joint military exercises on Monday, officials say, the second round to take place this year.
Thousands of soldiers are taking part in computer-aided drills designed to test defense capabilities.
South Korea says that North Korea, which was angered by the previous drill, was notified well in advance.
The drills come as the North agreed to family reunions and reached a deal with the South on an industrial zone.
The drills, known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian, are expected to last for 12 days and mobilizes about 50,000 members of the South Korean military and 30,000 US servicemen, reports Yonhap news agency.
South Korea and the US have begun a new round of joint military exercises on Monday, the second to take place this year
They are intended to help “ensure stability and security on the peninsula and reaffirm the US commitment to the north-east Asia region”, says a statement from the United States Forces Korea.
The drills come as tensions are starting to ease in the peninsula.
On Sunday, North Korea agreed to a South Korean proposal to resume in September reuniting families separated since the 1950-1953 Korean War.
Many families were separated at the end of the war by the dividing of the peninsula. The two sides remain technically at war, because the conflict ended in an armistice and not a peace deal. The last reunions were held in 2010.
Last week, officials of the two Koreas also reached an agreement about re-opening the Kaesong joint industrial zone – the last functioning inter-Korean joint project and a key source of revenue for Pyongyang.
The Kaesong Industrial Complex, which lies just inside North Korea, is home to 123 South Korean factories which employ more than 50,000 North Korean workers.
North Korea withdrew its workers in April, angered by the expansion of UN sanctions after its February 12 nuclear test and annual US-South Korea military drills.
The accord came after six rounds of talks ended unsuccessfully.
Oscar Pistorius is due to reappear at Pretoria magistrates’ court over the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The prosecution is expected to serve the South African athlete with an indictment for the premeditated murder of his girlfriend. A trial date will also be set.
Oscar Pistorius, 26, denies murdering Reeva Steenkamp, saying he shot her after mistaking her for an intruder.
He was granted bail in February and has since resumed some low-key training.
The double amputee won gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games and also competed at the Olympics.
Oscar Pistorius’ arrest in February stunned many South Africans who saw him as a national sporting hero after his long legal battle to be able to take part in the Olympics.
Oscar Pistorius is due to reappear at Pretoria magistrates’ court over the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
State prosecutors are arguing that the killing was premeditated, a charge which carries a sentence of life imprisonment. They say he killed Reeva Steenkamp intentionally after a fight.
But Oscar Pistorius denies committing murder, claiming he shot his girlfriend through the bathroom door of his upmarket house in Pretoria after mistaking her for a burglar.
The prosecution is expected to hand over details of its case against Oscar Pistorius at Monday’s hearing, including a witness list and forensic reports.
Much depends on ballistic evidence from the bathroom where Reeva Steenkamp was shot.
South African newspapers have reported that at least some of that forensic evidence appears to back up OScar Pistorius’ version of events, he continues.
However, the prosecution is expected to call witnesses who will say the Olympic runner was preoccupied with guns, and had been arguing with his girlfriend.
Prosecutors told the Associated Press news agency that additional charges might be added to the indictment but did not offer any details.
Last week, the police wrapped up their six-month investigation into Reeva Steenkamp’s killing.
“The South African Police Service is hopeful that justice will prevail,” a statement from the office of South Africa’s national police commissioner read.
In June, Oscar Pistorius resumed “low-key” training as a way to help him “process the trauma”, a statement on his website read.
Oscar Pistorius was freed on a bail of R1million ($110,000).
A court in March eased Oscar Pistorius’ travel restrictions, allowing him to leave South Africa to compete as long as he complied with certain conditions.
Select a baking tray with shallow sides and grease it lightly. Alternatively, you can use a greased loaf tin measuring about 22cm x 12cm x 6cm (8½ in x 4¾ in x 2½ in). Have the blanched green vegetables ready. Using a mandoline or swivel vegetable peeler, thinly slice the courgette lengthways into even ribbons. Squeeze off excess water from the spinach. Beat the spinach with the cheese, crème fraîche, garlic, nutmeg and seasoning.
Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Lay about 4 slices of courgette lengthways, overlapping slightly, to make a rectangle on the baking sheet (or in the loaf tin). Spread a quarter of the goat’s cheese mixture on top. Cover this with half the vegetables and top with a quarter more of the cheese mixture. Arrange more overlapping slices of courgette on top. Repeat the layers, ending with courgettes. Brush the top with olive oil and season. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until heated through and just beginning to turn golden on the top.
Combine 4 tbsp olive oil with the lemon juice and mint. Steadying the top of the lasagne with your fingers, cut into thick slices using a serrated knife. If made in a loaf tin, allow to cool slightly before slicing or carefully turning out. Serve with the minty lemon dressing.
Usain Bolt guided the Jamaican team to victory in the sprint relay in Moscow to become the most successful athlete in the history of the World Championships.
Usain Bolt, 26, added 4×100 m gold to his 100m and 200m triumphs and now has a total of eight golds and two silvers.
Carl Lewis and Allyson Felix also have 10 medals but have eight golds, one silver and a bronze respectively.
Jamaica won in 37.36 seconds with the US second and Canada third after Great Britain were disqualified.
Usain Bolt’s latest triumph meant he joined Americans Michael Johnson, Felix and Lewis on a record-equalling eight world titles overall.
The 100 m and 200 m world record holder also secured a sprint triple in World Championships for the second time, matching the trebles he completed at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
Usain Bolt guided the Jamaican team to victory in the sprint relay in Moscow to become the most successful athlete in the history of the World Championships
“It is just great,” Usain Bolt said of the comparison.
“I’ll continue dominating. I’ll continue to work hard. For me, my aim is to continue into the greatness thing.”
The US team gave the Jamaicans a scare but Rakieem Salaam’s handover to Justin Gatlin left the individual 100m runner-up off balance.
He clearly strayed into the Jamaicans’ lane outside him but somehow escaped disqualification.
It made no difference to Usain Bolt, who streaked clear to complete victory in the sixth-fastest time ever.
“I wasn’t really worried about Justin. I knew if he got the baton in front of me, I could catch him,” he said.
“So it was just going out there to run as fast as possible.”
Usain Bolt delighted the crowd with a celebratory Cossack dance before parading round the track with team-mates Nesta Carter, Kemar Bailey-Cole and Nickel Ashmeade.
After Kylie Jenner celebrated her Sweet Sixteen on August 10 with a fun family meal at Nobu in Malibu, it was time to do some serious partying with her pals on Saturday night.
But while Kylie Jenner may have been the guest of honour at the Alice In Wonderland-themed festivities in Los Angeles, California, it seems she may have had to compete for attention with half-sister Kim Kardashian, who appears to be officially out of hiding.
Kim Kardashian posted her long-awaited first selfie with Instagram co-creator Kevin Systrom
Taking to her various social media pages during the evening’s proceedings, Kim Kardashian posted a photo of herself with Instagram co-creator Kevin Systrom.
While you can’t see more than the new mom’s head and hand in the dark shot, it does mark her return to the “selfie”.
It’s been a blissfully selfie-free nine weeks since Kim Kardashian welcomed her first child, daughter North, with partner Kanye West on June 15.
Making her first public outing on Wednesday, looking svelte and happy as she went make-up free during the low-key excursion, it seems Kim Kardashian, 32, is now ready for her close-up.
The L.A. County Coroner’s Office finished Lisa Robin Kelly’s autopsy on Saturday, but the toxicology results will take another two weeks to complete, TMZreported.
Lisa Robin Kelly died in her sleep aged 43 on Wednesday night while staying at a treatment centre for alcohol abuse – a few days previously she was admitted to hospital with a blood/alcohol reading of .34 (almost fatal).
The toxicology tests will help determine her exact cause of death.
The L.A. County Coroner’s Office finished Lisa Robin Kelly’s autopsy, but the toxicology results will take another two weeks to complete
That 70’s Show star was not taking any withdrawal drugs at the time she died, according to the rehab facility where she was staying.
According to TMZ, L.A County Coroners went to Pax Rehab House in Altadena, California on Thursday afternoon where they were told Lisa Robin Kelly wasn’t given any drugs.
Lisa Robin Kelly’s death seems mysterious as there were “no drugs or alcohol in her room, no vomit in her airway and no obvious sign of trauma”.
Her spokesman confirmed her death toTMZ on Thursday saying: “She had been fighting demons for a while and finally lost her battle.”
Lisa Robin Kelly’s manager, Craig Wyckoff, told FOX411 he had spoken with the troubled star on Monday and she was “hopeful and confident, looking forward to putting this part of her life behind her”.
Craig Wyckoff also confirmed that she had voluntarily checked herself into the centre after being in and out of treatment facilities for alcohol addiction – she vehemently denied taking drugs – trying to get on the road to recovery.
Lisa Robin Kelly is reported to have fallen off the wagon following a huge dispute with her estranged husband, Robert Gilliam.
“She was battling the addiction problems that have plagued her these past few years,” Craig Wyckoff said.
He added: “Cause of death has not been issued yet and no death certificate has been issued either.”
August Schellenberg, who was best known for starring in all three Free Willy films, has died from cancer at the age of 77.
August Schellenberg’s agent said the Canadian-born actor died at his Dallas, Texas, home after suffering from lung cancer.
He first played whale trainer Randolph Johnson in 1993’s Free Willy, reprising the role for the sequels released in 1995 and 1997.
August Schellenberg also starred in Terrence Malick film The New World opposite Christian Bale.
Born in Montreal, August Schellenberg was a champion diver and boxer in his youth. He graduated from Montreal’s National Theatre School of Canada in 1966 and later moved to Dallas.
Known for playing Native American roles, August Schellenberg – who was half Mohawk and half Swiss-German – earned an Emmy nomination in 2007 for his role as Chief Sitting Bull in the HBO movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
August Schellenberg has died from lung cancer at the age of 77August Schellenberg was also nominated for three Genie awards over his career, which recognise the best in Canadian cinema, winning once for 1991 adventure Black Robe.
His other big screen credits include 1978 Donald Sutherland film Bear Island, 1994 film Iron Will opposite Kevin Spacey and 2006 family film Eight Below.
While on TV, August Schellenberg had roles in series such as The Littlest Hobo, Due South, Grey’s Anatomy and Stargate Universe.
As well as teaching acting workshops at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in Toronto, August Schellenberg also played the lead in an all-First Nations cast of Shakespeare’s King Lear at the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa last year.
“I got a call this morning from the NAC saying they have lowered their flags to honour him,” August Schellenberg’s agent Jamie Levitt said.
NAC president Peter Herrndorf added: “August Schellenberg had been thinking about mounting King Lear in 1967, just two years before the NAC opened its doors in Ottawa.
“Through his friendship and collaboration… that dream was realised in our theatre in 2012. It was a ground-breaking and proud production.”
August Schellenberg is survived by his wife, actress Joan Karasevich, and three daughters.
When a Nebraska woman faced with a court order to pay her ex-husband $50.12 as part of a divorce settlement, the aggrieved spouse ponied up the money in pennies delivered in Tupperware filled with rice and beans.
To add insult to injury, the unnamed woman wrote her husband a stinging farewell note.
“Andy, Here’s forty seven dollars and twelve cents in pennies,” the note read.
“The other three dollars paid for the containers that I used. Receipt is included if you want to return them…
“Oh! one last thing, I added beans and rice to remind you that you married a beaner : ) I hope you have a fab life! B/C I know mines 20x better without you in it!”
Photos of the coins divided into three plastic containers were posted Tuesday by the husband, identified only as Andy from Omaha, Nebraska.
The ex-husband clarified that the “beaner” reference – a racially charged slur used to describe people of Mexican heritage – comes from his wife’s tendency to call herself that in a show “pride”.
“She thought every single person looked at her negatively because she was Hispanic,” the man claimed.
The story has stirred much interest among the users of the popular site, with many commenters siding with Andy and condemning his ex-wife’s stunt.
At least one attorney has even offered to go after the woman to collect the $3 she supposedly owes him, claiming that she had no right to pay him in Tupperware.
In response to several requests from curious Redditors asking him to share the tale of his failed marriage, Andy wrote a lengthy post laying out the facts.
When ordered by a judge to pay her ex-husband $50.12 as part of a divorce settlement, an ex-wife ponied up the money in pennies delivered in Tupperware filled with rice and beans
According to the Nebraska resident, he and his ex-wife had a great relationship before they got married, but everything changed soon after they said “I do”.
Andy wrote that his once hard-working and dedicated spouse quit her job, failed out of school, started neglecting her chores around the house and morphed into an all-around “angry person”.
The first signs of trouble appeared during the couple’s honeymoon, when, according to Andy, his bride declared that she is not happy with the location of their romantic getaway and forced him to take her home ahead of schedule.
And that was only the beginning. The already rocky relationship took a turn for the worse when the husband said he discovered that his newlywed wife had invited another man to stay with her for two weeks while he was visiting his parents.
The couple turned for help to a marriage counselor, and for a time things seemed to be looking up for the two, if it weren’t for some lingering trust issues.
Andy wrote that a year into their marriage, his spouse revealed that when they first started dating, she had been pregnant with a baby fathered by her old flame, but lost the child.
It all came to ahead when Andy decided to take a peek at his wife’s Facebook account, which she had gone to great lengths to shield from him.
“I found a conversation with the guy she was pregnant with had been talking our entire relationship,” he wrote on Reddit.
“Wat [sic] they were saying was she only married me because he got married, she had already signed divorce papers and was just waiting for me to sign (she didnt).
“Worst was that I found a conversation about her still planning to <<sleep with>> him two weeks from when I was reading the messages which was when the relationship was strongest.”
The jilted husband said that the final straw came when his wife threw a glass bottle at him, missing him by a few inches, and then shattered their entertainment center.
However, Andy has admitted that his wife was not entirely to blame for the failure of their marriage, and that he too had issues – like his tendency to play video games for days on end.
Thousands of Syrian refugees are pouring over the border into Iraqi Kurdistan, the UN refugee agency says.
Up to 10,000 crossed at Peshkhabour on Saturday, adding to an earlier influx of 7,000 on Thursday.
The UN agencies, the Kurdish regional government and NGOs are struggling to cope, correspondents say.
The UN says the reasons are not fully clear, but there has been a sharp rise in clashes between Syrian Kurds and anti-government Islamist militants.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says this is one of the biggest single waves of refugees it has had to deal with since the uprising against the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.
The latest refugees are mainly families and have come from a broad stretch of territory in northern Syria.
They have been taking advantage of a new pontoon bridge over the Tigris.
Thousands of Syrian refugees are pouring over the border into Iraqi Kurdistan
Some 150,000 Syrian refugees are already registered in Iraq, of the 3 million said to have fled Syria in total since the uprising began.
The UNHCR says its field officers spotted the first group of 750 Syrians before noon on Thursday but in the afternoon, some 5,000 to 7,000 people followed.
The UN said the latest refugees had come from Aleppo, Hassakeh, Qamishli and other areas of conflict.
On Friday, UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards told reporters in Geneva: “The factors allowing this sudden movement are not fully clear to us.”
The UN said it was working with the Iraqi Kurdistan government and other agencies to establish a camp at nearby Darashakran.
“This should open in two weeks, and our hope is it will relieve pressure,” Adrian Edwards said.
The ethnic make-up of the latest wave has not been detailed.
Kurds make up about 10% of the Syrian population and are largely concentrated in the north-east.
They staged their own anti-Assad protests after the Syria conflict began in 2011 and their areas have been run by Kurdish local councils and militia since government forces withdrew last year.
But the Kurdish militias have recently been fighting jihadists of the anti-Assad al-Nusra Front, leaving dozens dead.
The president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, recently threatened to intervene to defend the Kurdish population caught up in Syria’s unrest.
Massoud Barzani said if Kurds were “under threat of death and terrorism” then Iraqi Kurdistan would be “prepared to defend them”.
Iraqi Kurdistan comprises three provinces in northern Iraq. It has its own military and police force.
North Korea has agreed to South Korea’s proposal to resume reunions of families separated since the 1950-1953 war, official media in Pyongyang say.
The reunion meetings would take place in the Chuseok holiday on September 19.
South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye called last week for the resumption of the reunions, last held in 2010.
Her appeal followed an agreement to reopen a joint industrial plant, the latest step in the easing of tension between the two countries.
The latest statement on the reunions came from North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea.
North Korea has agreed to South Korea’s proposal to resume reunions of families separated since the 1950-1953 war
It said: “The reunion of separated families and their relatives shall be made in Mt Kumgang resort on the occasion of the upcoming Harvest Moon Day.”
Talks will take place on August 23 at Mt Kumgang to prepare for the reunions.
The statement also called for the resumption of tourist trips to Mt Kumgang.
It said: “The Kaesong Industrial Zone and the tours to Mt Kumgang resort are valuable works common to the nation which should not be delayed as they are symbols of reconciliation, unity, reunification and prosperity.”
The Kaesong Industrial Complex is home to 123 South Korean factories which employ more than 50,000 North Korean workers. The inter-Korean joint project is a key source of revenue for Pyongyang.
North Korea withdrew its workers in April, angered by the expansion of UN sanctions after its 12 February nuclear test and annual US-South Korea military drills.
Chinese politician Bo Xilai will go on trial on Thursday, August 22, being charged with bribery, corruption and abuse of power, according to state media.
Bo Xilai, formerly the Communist Party chief of Chongqing, was expelled from the party after a scandal surrounding the murder of a British businessman.
His wife Gu Kailai was jailed last August for the killing of Neil Heywood.
The Bo Xilai scandal rocked China with claims of corruption at the top of the Communist Party.
Bo Xilai has been accused of taking advantage of his office to accept money and property, as well as embezzling public money.
Bo Xilai will go on trial on August 22 being charged with bribery, corruption and abuse of power
The trial will start on Thursday morning at the Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern city of Jinan, Shandong province, state-run news agency Xinhua said.
Correspondents say it is common for high-profile political trials to take place away from their home province to stop them getting beneficial treatment.
The trial date comes amid a high-profile crackdown on corruption.
Xinhua news agency also reported on Sunday that Liu Tienan, a former top Communist Party economic official, has been placed under investigation for suspected bribe taking.
Bo Xilai’s fall began in February 2012, when his former chief of police in Chongqing, Wang Lijun, briefly fled to the US consulate in Chengdu.
Wang Lijun, who has since been jailed for 15 years, triggered an investigation into the murder of UK businessman Neil Heywood.
Gu Kailai has been convicted and given a suspended death sentence for Neil Heywood’s death.
Bo Xilai was suspected of trying to cover up the murder, and was stripped of his party positions.
Naomi Watts says she really believes Princess Diana gave her “permission” from beyond the grave to play her in a new film about her love life.
Naomi Watts, 44, admits the claim will sound unusual, but says the experience left her feeling more comfortable in the title role of the movie Diana.
Playing the Princess was, says he British-Australian actress, her hardest ever role.
“I kept wondering to myself <<Would she like it?>>,” Naomi Watts reveals.
“So I found myself constantly asking for her permission to carry on. I had saturated myself with Diana and her life and I felt this enormous responsibility of playing this iconic woman.
“It felt like I was spending a lot of time with her. There was one particular moment when I felt her permission was granted. That won’t sound right in print, I know.”
Naomi Watts, whose previous film roles have included The Impossible and Mulholland Drive, feared that she was not physically similar enough to Princess Diana, who died in 1997.
The biopic, which opens next month, focuses on the final two years of Princess Diana’s life and includes details of her relationships following her divorce from Prince Charles – notably with Dodi Fayed and with heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Khan.
Naomi Watts says she really believes Princess Diana gave her “permission” from beyond the grave to play her in a new film about her love life
Dr. Hasnat Khan, played by Lost actor Naveen Andrews, met Princess Diana in 1995 and their relationship is understood to have grown very intense – even talking of marriage together and starting a new life in Australia.
Producer Robert Bernstein has explained how the film-makers approached the relationship sensitively after discussions with Dr. Hasnat Khan and his family.
He said: “The way we are treating the relationship is one of a romantic and tender nature, in keeping with how we feel about Diana and her life.
“It’s a very aspirational, sympathetic portrait and not voyeuristic. Our sense of their relationship was that it was very spiritual and sensitive, as well as difficult, obviously. We are handling it very sensitively.”
Princess Diana’s secret affair with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan ended when they both realized that they couldn’t live a “normal” life, says the film’s screenwriter, Stephen Jeffreys.
“I think Diana was very attracted to Hasnat because of what he did. He had wonderful surgeon’s hands and eyes and she was tremendously excited to be near someone who was doing good work.
“However, in order to do that good work he couldn’t possibly be in the eye of a media storm.
“When you are doing 12-hour-long heart operations you can’t come out of that and then have a her towards him meant they couldn’t stay together.
“I think that it was a relationship, which I’m sure we’ve all experienced, where you go on longer with it than rationally you should.
“You kind of know it’s not going to work and there are clear reasons why, but the heart overrules the head.”
Stephen Jeffreys, who based his script on journalist Kate Snell’s book, Diana: Her Last Love, and his own extensive research, believes there was a chance that, had she lived, Diana and Khan would have got back together.
“There was an escape plan that they would go to South Africa or Australia when the boys were older. But in the end I think it was a love affair that was defeated by practicalities.”
Stephen Jeffreys’ screenplay centres on the relationship between Khan and Diana. Her more publicized romance with Dodi Fayed, who died in the same Paris car crash that killed her on August 31, 1997, only features briefly at the end of the film.
“Our view is, that relationship is less important – it was a summer romance; having looked at what she said, you feel that it was a bit of fun for her.”
The British police announced last night they were assessing the credibility of new information relating to the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed including an allegation that they were murdered by a member of the British military.
Scotland Yard said it was “scoping” the information, which surfaced in the second court martial of Sergeant Danny Nightingale, the SAS (Special Air Service) sniper convicted of illegally stashing a pistol and 338 bullets in his bedroom.
The allegation was contained in a letter from the parents-in-law of Soldier N, Sgt Danny Nightingale’s former housemate, which was sent to the SAS’s commanding officer in September 2011.
It is understood the information was passed to the Metropolitan Police through the Royal Military Police.
The letter says Soldier N claimed the SAS “was behind Princess Diana’s death” and it had been “covered up”, the Sunday People has reported.
A statement issued by Scotland Yard said: “The Metropolitan Police Service is scoping information that has recently been received in relation to the deaths and assessing its relevance and credibility.
“The assessment will be carried out by officers from the specialist crime and operations command.
“This is not a re-investigation and does not come under Operation Paget.”
Metropolitan Police is assessing credibility of new claim made in court martial of SAS sniper Danny Nightingale that Princess Diana was murdered by a British soldier
Police said they are not prepared to discuss the matter further, while a royal spokeswoman said there will be no comment on the matter from Prince William or Prince Harry, or from Clarence House.
Princess Diana, Dodi Al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul died after their Mercedes crashed in the tunnel, which left the Ritz Hotel on the morning of August 31 1997.
The hearing into the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed lasted more than 90 days with evidence from around 250 witnesses.
The inquests concluded on April 7, 2008, with a jury returning a verdict that Princess Diana and her boyfriend were unlawfully killed.
After the hearing, Metropolitan Police said they had spent £8 million ($12.5 million) on services arising from the inquest and the Operation Paget investigation from 2004 to 2006.
That money includes the cost of the legal team which represented the force’s commissioner at the inquest, police protection for the inquest jury and paying for the Paget inquiry, reported to have cost £3.6 million ($5.6 million).
Former Met Police Commissioner Lord Stevens’s Paget investigation was launched in 2004 at the request of Michael Burgess, the Royal Coroner, who was then overseeing the future Diana inquest.
The former top policeman published his report in December 2006, rejecting the murder claims voiced by some, including Dodi Al-Fayed’s father Mohamed Al-Fayed.
Lord Stevens’s investigation found that Princess Diana was not murdered by British spies nor by the Duke of Edinburgh and she was not pregnant nor engaged to Dodi Al-Fayed.
Operation Paget concluded, just like the French investigation in 1999, that driver Henri Paul was drunk and driving at excessive speed.
The investigation dismissed the endless conspiracy theories sparked by the fatal accident.
Henri Paul had an alcohol level of around 1.74 grams per litre at the time of the crash.
The black type S280 Mercedes was being driven through the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris at around 61 to 63mph – twice the speed limit for that section of road.
Lord Stevens said allegations that Princess Diana was murdered were “unfounded” and that he found nothing to justify further inquiries with members of the Royal Family.
A spokesman for Mohamed Al-Fayed yesterday said he had no comment to make, but said he will be “interested in seeing the outcome”, adding that he trusts the Met will investigate the information “with vigor”.
