Queen Elizabeth II said she hopes Kate Middleton’s baby is born soon, because she is due to go on holiday.
The comment was made to a 10-year-old schoolgirl while on a series of engagements in Cumbria.
Wiggonby Church of England Primary School pupil Fay Batey asked if the Queen wanted the royal baby to be a boy or a girl.
The Queen replied: “I don’t think I mind. I would very much like it to arrive. I’m going on holiday.”
Queen Elizabeth II said she hopes Kate Middleton’s baby is born soon, because she is due to go on holiday
According to Buckingham Palace, the Queen will soon be heading off to her private Balmoral estate in Scotland, where she traditionally spends her summer holiday.
Hundreds of people had crowded into a market square in Kendal to see the Queen and the Princess Royal.
The royal party went on a brief walkabout during the 20 minute tour and received two posies from local schoolchildren.
The royal visitors were greeted by loud cheers and Union flags as they arrived from nearby Oxenholme railway station.
The Queen was later presented with a hamper showcasing local produce from the Made in Cumbria chamber of commerce collective.
Retail manager Tracey Graham said: “She was thrilled with the damson gin and said she would be keeping that for herself.”
Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School announce they have moved a step closer to being able to treat disorders caused by an extra chromosome.
They have “switched off” the chromosome that causes the symptoms of Down’s syndrome in human cells in the lab.
The research, published in Nature, could one day lead to new medical treatments for the condition.
Humans are born with 23 pairs of chromosomes, including two gender chromosomes, making a total of 46 in each cell.
People with Down’s syndrome have three – rather than two – copies of chromosome 21.
Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have “switched off” the chromosome that causes the symptoms of Down’s syndrome in human cells in the lab
This causes symptoms such as learning disabilities and early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, as well as a greater risk of blood disorders and heart defects.
Gene therapy, which uses genes to treat illnesses, has been attempted for problems caused by a single defective gene. But until now, the idea of being able to silence the effects of a whole chromosome had appeared beyond the realms of possibility, even in the lab.
Now scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have shown that, in theory, this might be possible but would take decades of research.
A team led by Dr. Jeanne Lawrence inserted a gene called XIST into the stem cells of a person with Down’s syndrome grown in the lab.
The gene plays a role in normal cell development by switching off one of the two X chromosomes present in female embryos, ensuring daughters avoid a double dose of X chromosome genes.
The experiments showed that the gene was able to silence the extra copy of chromosome 21, helping correct unusual patterns of growth in the cells.
Dr. Jeanne Lawrence said: “The research means that we have a new way – right away – to study the cellular basis for Down’s syndrome, that could help identify drugs for Down’s syndrome.
“At the same time we have made it conceivable – not necessarily possible or effective, that still needs to be proven – but conceivable that you could use just a single gene to correct the over-expression of the whole chromosome. So it makes genetic therapy for Down’s syndrome more conceivable where it really wasn’t before.”
Nelson Mandela turns 95 while in hospital in Pretoria, as events take place around the world and in South Africa in his honor.
South Africans are being urged to match the former president and anti-apartheid leader’s 67 years of public service with 67 minutes of charitable acts.
Nelson Mandela, who is in critical but stable condition with a recurring lung infection, entered hospital on June 8.
President Jacob Zuma said his health was “steadily improving”.
“We are proud to call this international icon our own as South Africans and wish him good health,” Jacob Zuma said in a statement.
“We thank all our people for supporting Madiba throughout the hospitalization with undying love and compassion,” he said, referring to Nelson Mandela’s clan name.
Nelson Mandela’s daughter, Zindzi, said on Wednesday he had made “dramatic progress”, and that she had found him watching television with headphones on and communicating with his eyes and hands when she visited him this week.
“I should think he will be going home anytime soon,” she told the UK’s Sky News television.
Nelson Mandela’s birthday is also Nelson Mandela International Day, a day declared by the UN as a way to recognize the Nobel Prize winner’s contribution to reconciliation.
The former statesman is revered across the world for his role in ending apartheid in South Africa. He went on to become the first black president in the country’s first all-race elections in 1994.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) said that on this Mandela Day homage was being paid to 95 years of “life well-lived”, dedicated to the liberation of South Africans and people all over the world.
Nelson Mandela turns 95 while in hospital in Pretoria, as events take place around the world and in South Africa in his honor
The day kicked off with millions of school children across South Africa singing Happy Birthday to Nelson Mandela.
To mark the former statesman’s 67 years as a lawyer, activist, prisoner and president, volunteers will spend 67 minutes renovating schools and orphanages, cleaning hospitals and distributing food to the poor.
President Jacob Zuma plans to mark the occasion by overseeing the donation of houses to poor white families in the Pretoria area.
The ANC said that on this Mandela Day homage was being paid to 95 years of life well lived, dedicated to the liberation of South Africans and people all over the world.
Events are also taking place internationally, with an image of a large Mandela painting by South African artist Paul Blomkamp featured in New York’s Times Square.
British entrepreneur Richard Branson has pledged 67 minutes of community service on Thursday to “make the world a better place, one small step at a time”, speaking in a recorded message.
Meanwhile, concerts are planned later this week in the Australian city of Melbourne, featuring local and African artists.
His illness gives extra poignancy to this year’s Mandela Day, correspondents say.
For South Africans, the best birthday present for Nelson Mandela would be to recover and be among the people who love him most.
As the family and millions around the country reflect the role Nelson Mandela played in South Africa, there will be a quiet prayer that he will return home soon.
Winnie Mandela told a local radio station her former husband’s 95th birthday was “a gift not only to the family… but to the nation”.
She rejected the “prophets of doom” who have warned of chaos in South Africa when Nelson Mandela dies.
“The country will solidify and come together,” she told Radio 702.
Nelson Mandela’s third wife, Graca Machel, said last Friday that she was “less anxious” about his health than before and that he was continuing to respond well to treatment.
Thursday also is the 15th anniversary of the couple’s marriage.
Ahead of the anniversary, Nelson Mandela’s close friend and lawyer George Bizos described them as “a loving couple”, the AFP news agency reports.
North Korea has demanded the release of its ship detained in Panama with what appear to be missile radar and other weapons loaded in Cuba.
The communist country says its ship was sailing under a legitimate deal and calling the initial suspicion of drugs on board “a fiction.”
“The Panamanian investigation authorities rashly attacked and detained the captain and crewmen of the ship on the plea of ‘drug investigation’ and searched its cargo but did not discover any drug,” North Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
“This cargo is nothing but aging weapons which are to send back to Cuba after overhauling them according to a legitimate contract,” the spokesman was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency.
“The Panamanian authorities should take a step to let the apprehended crewmen and ship leave without delay.”
North Korea has demanded the release of its ship detained in Panama
Panamanian authorities seized the North Korean freighter and found what appeared to be components for Soviet-era missile radar system under sacks of brown sugar.
The ship was stopped last week as it headed into the Panama Canal and authorities arrested the crew on Monday after finding undeclared missile-shaped objects, a potential violation of UN sanctions linked to the North’s nuclear and missile programmes.
Panama said on Wednesday that it had asked the UN to determine the legality of the cargo.
Cuba, which has close diplomatic ties with North Korea, said the cargo contained “obsolete defensive weaponry” being sent back to North Korea for repairs and included anti-aircraft missile batteries, disassembled rockets and fighter jet parts.
Security experts said there was a possibility North Korea was trying to import the equipment and the explanation about repairing the items may be a disguise.
Some reports claim the ship appears to have violated U.N. arms embargo on North Korea.
North Korea has been under wide-ranging sanctions under Security Council resolutions since 2006 that ban trade of most types of weapons after conducting missile and nuclear tests in defiance of international condemnation.
It tested a nuclear device for the third time in February that led to the adoption of the latest Security Council resolution that tightened the sanctions regime.
Kim Kardashian has finally broken her silence over the birth of North West in a blog.
Kim Kardashian, 32, who gave birth to her daughter with Kanye West at Cedars Sinai hospital in LA on June 15, wrote: “These past couple of weeks have been filled with the most exciting experiences of my life.”
Kim Kardashian has finally broken her silence over the birth of North West in a blog
“I’m enjoying this time to fully embrace motherhood and spend time at home with my family.
“I’ve been reading all of your messages and want to thank you all for your sweet thoughts and best wishes.
|It truly means everything to me. I am so blessed to have the support of my family and fans in this beautiful moment.”
Kim Kardashian says she “can’t believe how maternal she is on her own”, a source told US magazine.
“Breast-feeding is working for her and she already feels she has bonding with Nori.”
And she has apparently made her first public outing following the birth of her daughter.
Kim Kardashian was allegedly spotted as she tried to travel incognito in her nanny’s car in Southern California.
Pakistani Taliban leader Adnan Rasheed has sent a letter to schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, expressing shock that she was shot by Taliban gunmen last year.
The Taliban was universally condemned after gunmen shot Malala Yousafzai in the head.
In his letter to Malala, Adnan Rasheed stops short of apologising but says he wished the attack “had never happened”.
He also claims the shooting was not in response to Malala Yousafzai’s campaign for girls’ education, but because she ran an anti-Taliban “smear campaign”.
Malala Yousafzai – who is considered a contender for the Nobel Peace Prize – is credited with bringing the education issue to global attention.
Speaking at UN headquarters in New York last Friday, she said that books and pens scared extremists. She also urged education for all, including “for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists”.
Correspondents say Adnan Rasheed’s letter was an apparent attempt to attract media attention with a view to counter the impact of Malala Yousafzai’s speech at the UN.
A copy of the letter was obtained by Channel 4 News and other news organizations.
Pakistani Taliban leader Adnan Rasheed has sent a letter to schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, expressing shock that she was shot by Taliban gunmen last year
Writing in his “personal capacity”, Adnan Rasheed said he felt “brotherly” emotions towards Malala because they belong to the “same Yousufzai tribe”.
However, he refuses to condemn the attack, saying the judgement on whether it was correct or not should be left to God.
Adnan Rasheed says he first heard of Malala Yousafzai’s work when he was in prison, when the BBC Urdu service broadcast a diary that she wrote.
He says he wished he had been able to “advise” her before the attack, which he describes as an “accident”.
The Taliban leader also says that his group is not “against education of any men or women or girls”. Instead he claims Malala Yousafzai was targeted because she campaigned to “malign [the Taliban’s] efforts to establish the Islamic system”.
“You have said in your speech that the pen is mightier than the sword, so they attacked you for your sword, not for your books or school,” he writes.
Adnan Rasheed finishes by telling Malala Yousafzai to “come back home, adopt the Islamic and Pashtun culture and join any female Islamic madrassa [school], use your pen… and reveal the conspiracy of the tiny elite who want to enslave the whole of humanity”.
Malala Yousafzai’s family said in a statement that they were aware of the letter but had not received it directly and had no wish to comment on it.
After the shooting, Malala Yousafzai was flown from Pakistan to the UK for treatment, and now lives in Birmingham, England.
Her speech on her 16th birthday at UN headquarters in New York was her first public address since last October’s attack.
Malala Yousafzai said she was fighting for the rights of women because “they are the ones who suffer the most”.
A quarter of young women around the world have not completed primary school.
While the royal baby is yet to be born, he or she is already influencing baby name choices on a wider scale as traditionally royal monikers see a rise in popularity.
A new survey reveals that 22% of expectant parents are taking inspiration from the excitement of the impending royal babies and are strongly considering naming their child after Royals from over the years, with Harry and Sophie topping the list as the two of the most popular names.
The study asked over 2,000 expectant parents-to-be whether or not they had planned a name with any kind of Royal connotation for their unborn child, to which just over a fifth of the parents taking part said they had.
These respondents were then asked to state what these Royal names were, revealing the top five most popular Royal names amongst expectant parents for their unborn children as Harry, William and Charles for boys and Sophie, Kate and Elizabeth for little girls.
Respondents were asked if they believe that the recent buzz surrounding the upcoming royal births sparked their desire to want a more traditional first or middle name for their child. Eighty two per cent agreed with this statement.
George Charles of VoucherCodesPro.co.uk, who carried out the research, said: “I must say, the result of this study really surprised us, especially with the recent trend of celebrities favoring more obscure names for their children such as Blue Ivy, Apple, Harper Seven, Suri and North.
“It seems that this celebrity obscurity doesn’t hold as much sway nowadays, and we Britons are looking to keep things traditional and follow in Royal footsteps!
“I don’t mean to sound like too much of a Katie Hopkins here, but the fact is that every parent wants their child to go on and do great things, and may feel that a strong regal name will help them achieve these things.
While the royal baby is yet to be born, he or she is already influencing baby name choices on a wider scale as traditionally royal monikers see a rise in popularity
“We certainly can’t wait to see what both impending royal babies will be named – and it will definitely be interesting to see if the chosen names make expectant parents change their minds.”
Another recent survey found a record numbers of newborn babies are expected to go unnamed this month as parents across the country wait to discover the name chosen by the royal couple.
Parents are given six weeks to register their baby’s name and that means thousands are expected to pause for thought until they hear the news from Clarence House.
Experts believe that thousands of couples are likely to find inspiration in the choice of Kate Middleton and Prince William and follow suit.
Netvouchercodes.co.uk found more than 10% of respondents in their survey of expectant mothers said they were hoping to postpone having to name their offspring until they heard the royal name.
“My baby is due before the royal baby, but I already know I definitely want it to have the same name,” one said.
“The birth of Will and Kate’s baby is such a monumental event that is going to be remembered forever, just like the royal wedding. Giving my baby the same name is my personal way of celebrating.”
Kate Middleton’s uncle, Gary Goldsmith, has predicted his niece is about to give birth to a baby girl – and when she does, he says it will be “unbelievable” for the female firstborn to make history.
“My suspicion is that they’re having a baby girl,” he told the Mirror.
“But, of course, I don’t know that for fact. I believe Kate and William have kept the gender of their child a secret to everyone but themselves.”
Gary Goldsmith said that it would be “brilliant” if Prince William and Kate Middleton’s firstborn was a girl – because thanks to the recent amendment to British succession law allowing female firstborn children to rule, a girl baby would one day be Queen.
“It would be brilliant, wouldn’t it, if they do have a little girl? To have one of my family, my niece, making history will be absolutely unbelievable.”
Gary Goldsmith went onto praise Kate Middleton and Prince William as a “very modern couple”, saying he believes William will be “as hands-on as Kate” with the parenting.
“That’s the genius of it,” he said.
“They’re modernizing the Royal Family and doing a wonderful job of it.”
The so-called King Of Fun, known to Kate, Pippa and James Middleton as Uncle G – has already been looking around for a baby gift for the new arrival – and has his eye on a £70,000 ($100,000) rocking elephant he spotted in Royal Warranted jewellers Asprey.
Gary Goldsmith has already been looking around for a baby gift for the new arrival and has his eye on a $100,000 rocking elephant he spotted in Royal Warranted jewellers Asprey
“I went to Asprey’s recently and saw an amazing, huge elephant rocker, like Dumbo, for about £70,000,” he told the Mirror.
“Or there was a chest of some first edition Tintins.
“But because family is so important to Kate – she is incredibly close to Carole and Pip – I would rather get something personal and more meaningful. Although I did like that elephant…!”
But the 48-year-old businessman brother of Carole Middleton has another trick up his sleeve too.
The self-made millionaire, who made his £30 million ($50 million) fortune in investments and recruitment consultancy, has said he plans to buy the baby shares in Chelsea football club – something that may not go down too well with William, who is a die-hard Aston Villa fan.
Gary Goldsmith, who sold his shares in recruitment consultancy firm SThree PLC for £17 million ($27 million) eight years ago, told The Sun: “I’m going to get exactly what I get for all my mates’ babies.
“As a die-hard Chelsea fan, I always get the baby Chelsea shares. Then, when it’s a bit older, I get it a full tiny Chelsea strip.
“It’s brilliant, it drives the parents mad. I love turning their kid into a true blue Chelsea fan. And Prince William is an Aston Villa fan. I thought it could be hilarious. I mean, what on earth can you get for a baby like theirs? That baby is going to have everything it could ever want. So Chelsea shares are perfect. I think William will find it funny.”
Gary Goldsmith, who was at the Royal Wedding in 2011 despite being stung months earlier in an undercover operation that revealed him to be in the possession of cocaine, says he is under no illusion he could be handed the honor of godparent to the Royal firstborn.
“I would hope to be at the christening, but I’m sure I won’t be a godfather!”
The Duchess of Cornwall has revealed the royal family hopes Kate Middleton and Prince William’s baby will be born “by the end of the week”.
During a visit to a children’s hospice yesterday, Camilla remarked: “We don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re all waiting at the end of a telephone.
“I hope by the end of the week he or she will be there.”
Prince Charles and Camilla started their annual summer tour of Devon and Cornwall yesterday in the popular tourist town of Bude.
Many mothers brought their babies to meet them – giving them ample opportunity to greet newborns before Kate gives birth.
Trudi Lindsay, from Bude, said she was “delighted” her three-week-old daughter Ellie-Mae could see the royals.
The Duchess of Cornwall has revealed the royal family hopes Kate Middleton and Prince William’s baby will be born by the end of the week
“I said <<You have got one of these coming soon>> and Charles replied <<Hopefully>>, then he laughed.
“He was very good with Ellie-Mae, he touched her cheek. I still can’t believe Prince Charles touched my baby’s cheek.
“It is really exciting to have them here in Bude, especially as the weather is so nice.”
Jenny Dawe, 62, who works in a local shop, showed the royals her selection of cards.
“I said <<You will need a new baby card soon>> and they laughed,” Jenny Dawe said.
New parents Poppy and Paul Steen brought their five-day-old son Lowen to meet Prince Charles and Camilla.
Paul Steen, 33, said: “We’ve had quite a busy few days. Lowen wasn’t supposed to be born today but he came on Wednesday and I had to deliver him at home.
“The midwife did joke that he might arrive on the same day as Kate’s and we might get a commemorative coin but Lowen wasn’t waiting for that.”
Senior royals will be the first to know when Kate Middleton is admitted to the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington in the early stages of labor.
Four of the jurors in the George Zimmerman trial have banded together to separate themselves from juror B37 who helped acquit the neighborhood watchman for the killing of Trayvon Martin.
The group released a joint statement after juror B37 spoke to CNN about their closed-door sessions after the trial.
“The opinions of Juror B37, expressed on the Anderson Cooper show were her own, and not in any way representative of the jurors listed below,” they said in the statement released Tuesday night.
In an effort to maintain their privacy, the four women identified themselves only as B51, B76, E6 and E40. One juror, B29, did not sign the document.
“Serving on this jury has been a highly emotional and physically draining experience for each of us,” the statement read.
“The death of a teenager weighed heavily on our hearts but in the end we did what the law required us to do.”
Even though they stepped away from juror B37’s claims, all six of the women had to agree on the not guilty verdict before it was announced on Saturday night.
One of juror B37’s most controversial claims in the Anderson Cooper interview was that Trayvon Martin “played a huge role in his death”.
“When George confronted him he could have walked away and gone home,” the woman said in the second portion of her post-trial interview.
While she was apologetic to Trayvon Martin’s family, she seemed more sympathetic to George Zimmerman’s position in the midst of the fight, as opposed to Martin’s own self defense.
“I have no doubt that George feared for his life,” she said to CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Four of the jurors in the George Zimmerman trial released a joint statement after juror B37 spoke to CNN about their closed-door sessions after the trial
“I’m 101% that he should have done what he did except for the things that he did before,” she said, referencing George Zimmerman’s decision to follow Trayvon Martin in his car and, fatefully, get out of the car and confront him.
While George Zimmerman himself never took the stand in his own defense, video recordings of him explaining the situation to police after the fatal shooting were submitted, effectively giving him the chance to tell his side without leaving himself open to a cross examination.
That was no matter for the juror: “I’m sure there were some fabrications, enhancements, but I think pretty much it happened how he said it happened.”
Initially this unidentified female juror was planning on writing a book about her experience on the trial- and even had a literary agent lined up early Monday afternoon- but after the first portion of her interview was aired that evening she and the agent decided not to follow up.
The second portion of B37’s interview was aired on Tuesday, and she went into more detail about how two specific tact used by the prosecution may have influenced the outcome.
Throughout her interview with Anderson Cooper, the woman regularly referred to the neighborhood watchman as George, and though she did call the 17-year-old Trayvon, she admitted that she felt more personally connected to George Zimmerman as opposed to Trayvon Martin.
“Trayvon wasn’t as well known to us because there wasn’t as much said about him,” she said.
Anderson Cooper brought up the fact that the two legal teams took very different visual approaches when making their closing arguments, with the defense holding up a concrete block like a portion of the sidewalk to show what they contend Trayvon Martin used to attack. On the opposite end, the prosecution held up the Arizona Iced Tea bottle and a bag of Skittles, saying that was the only thing he was armed with.
“The Skittles and the Arizona can were ridiculous to even compare it to,” she said.
“I believe he hit his head on the concrete, I believe he was trying to slam it…it was definitely enough to make you fear.
“I hope [George Zimmerman’s] family can live a normal life after a while. I don’t know how he’s ever going to do that.”
Yesterday it was revealed that the first vote that the six-woman jury took behind closed doors came as a draw, with three wanting to acquit, one ready to charge him with second degree murder and two for manslaughter.
In today’s segment, she made it clear that after hours of discussing the case and the evidence, the group had shifted to be five in favor of acquittal with one hold out.
“I wanted to find him guilty of not using his senses…you can’t charge him with anything because he didn’t do anything unlawful,” she said.
Juror B37 went on to sob while saying that she wanted to apologize to the Martin family for the tragedy that they had to go through, but she also had a message for George Zimmerman and his family- after it was revealed yesterday that his parents have been in hiding as well as the former neighborhood watchman and his wife.
“I hope his family can live a normal life after a while. I don’t know how he ever going to do that. He’ll never forget but I hope he can,” she said.
Juror B37’s interview aired just minutes before four of the remaining five jurors put out a statement saying that they want to remain anonymous and are formally requesting privacy.
According to new reports, Cory Monteith hid his deadly drug addiction even from those closest to him.
Cory Monteith’s ex-girlfriend, Mallory Matoush, told Us Weekly, that the Glee star was “just a happy guy” and that she saw no sign of the addiction that would ultimately claim his life.
“Cory kept me in the dark about his drug use,” Mallory Matoush told the magazine.
Cory Monteith’s ex-girlfriend Mallory Matoush says the Glee star was “just a happy guy” and that she saw no sign of the addiction that would ultimately claim his life
“He told me about his teenage days and his past problems but he never used anything in front of me, ever.”
“He was always so silly and funny,” she added, explaining that she only ever saw him drink and then never to excess.
Cory Monteith and Mallory Matoush met June 2011 and dated for eight or nine months.
“Cory was so normal. I didn’t even know who he was when I met him,” she recalled.
Mallory Matoush added: “I had to Google it because after the first night I stayed with him, I was on my way out of his hotel and there was a crowd of young girls waiting for him. They asked me if I had seen Cory Monteith inside the hotel and I was so confused.”
Cory Monteith was found on Saturday in his hotel room at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in Vancouver.
The Canadian actor – who completed a stint of rehab in April for substance addiction – was last pictured with his girlfriend Lea Michele just last month.
The news was confirmed by Vancouver Police at a press conference on Saturday night.
It’s been confirmed that Cory Monteith died from a “mixed drug toxicity, involving heroin and alcohol”.
Cory Monteith had checked into the hotel on July 6 and had been due to check out on Saturday.
However, video footage had shown Cory Monteith returning to his room by himself after an evening out with friends on Friday.
The latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine cover featuring Boston bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has caused outrage online.
Thousands of people posted on social media networks calling it “tasteless” and “disgusting”.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who pleaded not guilty to all charges in connection to the bombings in April, is profiled in the forthcoming issue.
The image, which Dzhokhar Tsarnaev posted online himself, has also featured on the front page of the New York Times.
“What a disgrace, trying to make [Dzhokhar Tsarnaev] look like a rock star. Horrible,” Steve Simon posted on Rolling Stone‘s Facebook page, where more than 5,400 people have commented in the 12 hours since the cover was revealed online.
Rolling Stone magazine cover featuring Boston bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has caused outrage online
On Twitter people said the picture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev looked similar to an old cover featuring singer Jim Morrison of The Doors.
Singer Pink re-tweeted a message by radio presenter Ted Stryker who wrote: “Horrible, classless, stupid choice Rolling Stone. It’s not smart or edgy. Very disappointed.”
Boston punk band Dropkick Murphys, who recently donated $300,000 to victims of the bombings, also expressed their anger.
“Rolling Stone you should be ashamed,” the band tweeted.
“How about one of the courageous victims on your cover instead of this loser scum bag!”
Janet Reitman, Rolling Stone‘s contributing editor, spent two months interviewing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s friends and family as the basis of the article.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, faces 30 counts of using a weapon of mass destruction in the two 15 April blasts that killed three, including an eight-year-old boy.
More than 260 people were injured at the Boston Marathon when two pressure cooker bombs packed with nails, ball bearings and other shrapnel were detonated at the finish line.
It was the worst mass-casualty attack on US soil since 9/11.
Prosecutors could press for the death penalty for 17 counts.
Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has been indicted by German prosecutors on a bribery charge.
The charge relates to a $44 million payment to a German banker, Gerhard Gribkowsky of Bayern Landesbank. It was linked to the sale of a stake in F1.
Bernie Ecclestone said he had paid Gerhard Gribkowsky to avoid a UK tax inquiry into the sale of Formula 1 in 2006, but denied the payments were bribes.
Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has been indicted by German prosecutors on a bribery charge
Gerhard Gribkowsky was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail in Munich.
Speaking to the Financial Times on Wednesday, Bernie Ecclestone said: “I have just spoken to my lawyers and they have received an indictment. It’s being translated into English.”
Asked how he responded to the indictment, he said: “We are defending it properly. It will be an interesting case. It’s a pity it’s happened.”
Bernie Ecclestone said it was “inevitable” that the indictment had been served.
“If someone wants to sue you, they can do it and you have to defend it,” he said.
In 2006, Gerhard Gribkowsky was in charge of managing the sale of regional bank BayernLB’s 48% stake in Formula 1 to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, which meant the firm owned most of the sport.
CVC has since reduced its stake in a series of deals.
In evidence to a Munich court in June last year, Gerhard Gribkowsky admitted that prosecution claims he had corruptly received $41.4 million in bank commissions, and a large payment via a family trust from Bernie Ecclestone, were “essentially true”.
In his testimony, Bernie Ecclestone said he had been worried that if he had not paid the money, Gerhard Gribkowsky would have alerted the UK tax authorities to “things” that might have led to a tax inquiry.
“The only alternative was that the British tax authorities followed a case that would have been very expensive for me,” said Bernie Ecclestone at the time.
“The tax risk would have exceeded £2 billion. I paid him to keep calm and not to do silly things.”
Vatican has announced it is offering “indulgences” to followers of Pope Francis’ tweets.
The church’s granted indulgences reduce the time Catholics believe they will have to spend in purgatory after they have confessed and been absolved of their sins.
The remissions got a bad name in the Middle Ages because unscrupulous churchmen sold them for large sums of money. But now indulgences are being applied to the 21st century.
However, a senior Vatican official warned web-surfing Catholics that indulgences still required a dose of old-fashioned faith, and that paradise was not just a few mouse clicks away.
“You can’t obtain indulgences like getting a coffee from a vending machine,” Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, head of the pontifical council for social communication, told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
Indulgences these days are granted to those who carry out certain tasks – such as climbing the Sacred Steps, in Rome (reportedly brought from Pontius Pilate’s house after Jesus scaled them before his crucifixion), a feat that earns believers seven years off purgatory.
But attendance at events such as the Catholic World Youth Day, in Rio de Janeiro, a week-long event starting on July 22, can also win an indulgence.
Vatican has announced it is offering “indulgences” to followers of Pope Francis’ tweets
Mindful of the faithful who cannot afford to fly to Brazil, the Vatican’s sacred apostolic penitentiary, a court which handles the forgiveness of sins, has also extended the privilege to those following the “rites and pious exercises” of the event on television, radio and through social media.
“That includes following Twitter,” said a source at the penitentiary, referring to Pope Francis’ Twitter account, which has gathered seven million followers.
“But you must be following the events live. It is not as if you can get an indulgence by chatting on the internet.”
In its decree, the penitentiary said that getting an indulgence would hinge on the beneficiary having previously confessed and being “truly penitent and contrite”.
Praying while following events in Rio de Janeiro online would need to be carried out with “requisite devotion”, it suggested.
Apart from the papal Twitter account, the Vatican has launched an online news portal supported by an app, a Facebook page, and it plans to use the online social networking site Pinterest.
“What really counts is that the tweets the Pope sends from Brazil or the photos of the Catholic World Youth Day that go up on Pinterest produce authentic spiritual fruit in the hearts of everyone,” said Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli.
Cory Monteith will be remembered as the leading man of hit TV show Glee, but the actor had other projects in the works when he tragically died at the tender age of 31 on Saturday following a heroin and alcohol overdose.
Cory Mnteith shot a starring role in All The Wrong Reasons before his untimely death, and in the wake of the tragedy, film stills from the movie have been released.
He can be seen in character as James Ascher, a store manager, in the images from the comedy/drama.
In the pictures, James Ascher navigates the store he works in while dressed in shirts, ties and smart trousers, along with spectacles and a name tag.
The plot follows Cory Monteith’s character while his wife, played by Karine Vanasse, suffers from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Cory Mnteith shot a starring role in All The Wrong Reasons before his untimely death
The ensemble movie centres around four everyday people: Cory Monteith’s store manager character, a security guard, a firefighter and a clerk, as they deal with life after a trauma.
All The Wrong Reasons will be making its debut at the film festivals when they kick off in autumn.
It is one of two movies that Cory Monteith was working on when he passed away in his Vancouver hotel room over the weekend.
Cory Monteith also portrays a drug addicted street hustler in his final role in McCanick.
And according to the movie’s director Josh Waller, the experience helped Cory Monteith come to terms with his own battle with substance and alcohol abuse.
“He looked at it as an artistic experience but also something of a cathartic experience,” Josh Waller said.
When Cory Monteith saw the final cut, the actor was “moved, emotionally”, Josh Waller told Us Weekly.
“He sent me a really beautiful email that evening just stating how much excitement he had and how much pride he had on the work that he had done,” said the director.
“Which I’m glad, because I know I thought he did an incredible job… And you know sometimes for actors it’s hard to watch themselves on screen or to acknowledge when they’ve done a good job, and he didn’t come right out and say, <<I did great!>>. But he was very proud.”
It’s not clear when or how the film will be released as it doesn’t yet have a distributor, according to the LA Times.
After Cory Monteith’s cause of death was announced by the coroner, his girlfriend Lea Michele issued a statement via her representative to People.
“Lea is deeply grateful for all the love and support she’s received from family, friends, and fans,” the statement reads.
“Since Cory’s passing, Lea has been grieving alongside his family and making appropriate arrangements with them.
“They are supporting each other as they endure this profound loss together. We continue to ask the media to respect the privacy of Lea and Cory’s family.”
Emma Roberts was arrested for domestic violence for allegedly hitting her boyfriend Evan Peters.
The niece of Julia Roberts was taken into custody on July 7 in Montreal, Canada, after getting into a fight with her beau that left Evan Peters bloody, according toTMZ.
Police were called after someone reported a fight in the couple’s hotel room and found Evan Peters, 26, with a bloody nose.
Emma Roberts, 22, was released hours after her arrest because Evan Peters declined to press charges, according to TMZ‘s report.
Emma Roberts was arrested for domestic violence for allegedly hitting her boyfriend Evan Peters
Evan Peters and Emma Roberts were said to be hitting each other and she was arrested because he had obvious physical injuries, a source told the website.
A law enforcement source said Evan Peters also had a bite mark, but a source close to Emma Roberts denied the actress bit him.
Emma Roberts and Evan Peters are now reportedly back together and are working on Peters’ hit show American Horror Story.
The pair met last year on the set of Adult World and have been spotted in public displays of affection since becoming a couple.
Evan Peters has called Emma Roberts “the love of my life” and stars in FX’s hit horror show while his girlfriend has a recurring role.
Emma Roberts is the daughter of Eric Roberts, an actor best known for his work in 1985’s Runaway Train and his troubles with drug abuse.
At least 22 children have died and dozens more have fallen sick in India’s eastern state of Bihar after eating a tainted school meal.
The poisoning occurred at a government school in the village of Masrakh in Saran district.
India’s Mid-Day Meal Scheme provides free food to try to boost attendance, but often suffers from poor hygiene.
Angry parents joined protests against the deaths, setting at least four police vehicles on fire.
An inquiry has begun and 200,000 rupees ($3,370) in compensation offered to the families of each of the dead.
Twenty-eight sick children were taken to hospitals in the nearby town of Chhapra and the state capital, Patna, after the incident.
A total of 47 students of a primary school in Dharmasati Gandaman village fell sick on Tuesday after eating the free lunch.
There are fears the number of dead could rise as some of the children, all below the age of 12, are critically ill.
Mid-Day Meal is the world’s largest school feeding programme, reaching 120 million children in 1.2 million schools across India
The father of one sick child, Raja Yadav, said his son had been vomiting after returning from school and had to be rushed to hospital.
The state education minister, PK Shahi, said a preliminary investigation indicated that the food was contaminated with traces of phosphorous.
“The doctors who have attended are of the tentative opinion that the smell coming out of the bodies of the children suggests that the food contained organo-phosphorus, which is a poisonous substance,” he said.
“Now the investigators have to find out whether organo-phosphorus was accidental or there was some deliberate mischief.”
Earlier, doctors treating the patients had said “food poisoning” was the cause of the deaths.
“We suspect it to be poisoning caused by insecticides in vegetable or rice,” said Amarjeet Sinha, a senior education official.
A doctor treating the children at a hospital in Patna said contaminated vegetable oil could have led to the poisoning.
Patna-based journalist Amarnath Tewary says villagers told local reporters that similar cases of food poisoning after having Mid-Day Meals had taken place in the area previously.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called an emergency meeting and ordered a team of forensic experts to the school.
Bihar is one of India’s poorest and most populous states.
The Mid-Day Meal is the world’s largest school feeding programme, reaching 120 million children in 1.2 million schools across the country, according to the government.
PK Shahi acknowledged “that food is not being checked before it is being served”.
He added that “the scale at which the operation is being carried out, serving food to 20 million children every day and that too in remotest village schools, checking food before it is served – that itself is a challenge”.
The Mid-Day Meal was first introduced for poor and disadvantaged children in the southern city of Chennai in 1925.
A new viral video clip shows Ahmed Ali, an incredibly smart 12-year-old Egyptian boy, excruciating the Muslim Brotherhood and relentlessly dissecting their power grab for Egypt.
The boy in the video shrugs and gesticulates, the familiar words tumbling forth – the constitution, the social objectives of the revolution, the problems of the “fascist theocracy”.
In the background is a sight now equally familiar: a demonstration with people milling around, waving Egyptian flags, engaging in the on-again, off-again struggle to redefine the most-populous Arab country in the way they see fit. In Egypt, whose divisions have in the past week deepened into street fighting between supporters of an elected Islamist government and the military who have deposed them, politics has become part of daily life.
Ahmed Ali, an incredibly smart 12-year-old Egyptian boy, excruciating the Muslim Brotherhood and relentlessly dissecting their power grab for Egypt
For children like this boy, identified in a video uploaded to YouTube by El Wadi newspaper as Ahmed Ali, aged about 12, it also seems to have become part of their upbringing. In the video, which was posted in October last year, Ahmed Ali explains why he has come to the demonstration.
“I’m here to prevent Egypt from becoming a commodity owned by one person and to protest the confiscation of the constitution by a single party,” Ahmed Ali declares.
According to a translation on the pro-secularist website Free Arabs, which posted the video in March, Ahmed Ali dismisses the government, then dominated by Islamist parties, as attempting to “enforce extremist regulations in the name of religion”.
As the world has been mesmerized by Egypt’s metamorphosis in the past two weeks from an Islamist-led democracy to a country where a huge popular movement led to a military decision to depose President Mohamed Morsi, the video has gone viral, with hundreds of thousands watching it. Some commenters are cynical the child could have come up with his analysis on his own, but others seem inspired.
When it was first posted, the comments reflected a divided country. One disapproving viewer said the boy’s mother should, “have some fear of God. I would advise you to teach your child how to defend Islam”. Another was jubilantly supportive: “The president of Egypt in the future, inshallah!”
Ma Ailun, a 23-year-old woman from northwest China, died after being electrocuted while using her iPhone 5, her family has claimed.
Ma Ailun, a flight attendant with China Southern Airlines, was picking up her handset to answer a call last Thursday when she received an electric shock, police said Sunday, in reports carried by the state-run Xinhua news agency. “(I) hope that Apple Inc can give us an explanation. I also hope that all of you will refrain from using your mobile devices while charging,” the older sister of victim said on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.
Ma Ailun, a flight attendant with China Southern Airlines, was picking up her iPhone 5 to answer a call when she received an electric shock
The post has gone viral online, with many forwarding the message and warning others of the dangers of using mobile devices while they are being charged.
Ailun’s father, Ma Guanghui, confirmed that his daughter was electrocuted, adding that her body showed signs of electrocution.
Ma Ailun’s sister said she hopes to seek justice from Apple.
Apple said Sunday the company felt “deeply sorry for the unfortunate accident” and expressed condolence to the victim and her family.
The company said it would have a thorough probe into the case.
Kanye West’s A.P.C. menswear collection sold out within a matter of hours after it went on sale on the brand’s website – and the heavy stream of traffic even caused the site to crash.
The collaboration – which features T-shirts, sweatshirts and jeans priced between $120 and $280 – was available for pre-order, and it is not known when a second drop of products will be expected.
APC creative director Jean Touitou, who worked with Kanye West on the new collection, toldW Magazinethat because of Kanye West’s “strong obsessions”, it took two years to create just three items.
“Basically, he wants to redo the whole universe,” explained Jean Touitou.
“When we finally finished this collection, I felt like, Okay, if I made this happen, then I can achieve peace in the Middle East.”
Kanye West’s A.P.C. menswear collection sold out within a matter of hours after it went on sale on the brand’s website
Jean Touitou said the resulting jeans, T-shirt and hoodie are “precious” pieces to both he and Kanye West “because it took time and thoughts to get there”.
He admitted to GQthat he had no idea who Kanye West was when they first met more than two years ago.
“A visitor to the A.P.C. studio was announced to me as <<Kenny>>. He wanted my advice on the fashion industry. . . He had nice manners and spoke about losing his mother in a surgery accident, about losing his girlfriend too, and about how difficult doing the right thing in fashion was.
“After a while, I was curious to know what this gentleman was currently doing in his life. I simply asked him: <<May I know what your trade is, sir?>> He took his shades down, so that finally I could see his eyes, and answered me: <<I am a hip hop artist>>.”
The collaboration between Kanye West and Jean Touitou was announced on last weekend via the APC Instagram feed, with an image of blue jeans featuring a red label bearing the words “A.P.C. KANYE”.
The caption read: “A.P.C. KANYE CAPSULE COLLECTION, JULY 14. #apc #kanyewest [sic].”
According to People magazine, APC has restocked some items and is accepting pre-orders for other sold-out items.
The A.P.C. collaboration follows the launch of Kanye West’s high-end womenswear line, which was widely panned by critics when it launched in 2011.
Kanye West, 36, who moved to Rome to work as an intern for Fendi as part of his research, was accused of “lack[ing in] creative marksmanship” and his efforts a “stupendously vacuous enterprise”.
His follow-up collections have since received a warmer reception, though Kanye West believes that the press has it the wrong way around.
“The first collection was way better than the second,” he said.
“It was more artful. It was 30 collections in one. It just takes time for me to slow down and think like a normal person.”
Cuba has admitted providing a stash of weapons found on board a North Korean ship seized in the Panama Canal.
The Cuban foreign ministry said the ship was carrying obsolete Soviet-era arms from Cuba for repair in North Korea.
The North Korean ship was seized by Panama last week after “undeclared military cargo” was found hidden in a shipment of sugar.
United Nations sanctions prohibit the supply of arms to North Korea in the dispute over its nuclear programme.
Cuba has admitted providing a stash of weapons found on board a North Korean ship seized in the Panama Canal
A Cuban foreign ministry statement said Cuba reaffirmed its commitment to “peace, disarmament, including nuclear disarmament, and respect for international law”.
It said the vessel was carrying 240 tonnes of obsolete defensive weapons – two anti-aircraft missile complexes, nine missiles in parts and spares, two MiG-21bis fighter planes and 15 MiG engines.
The Cuban statement said they were all made in the mid-20th Century and were to be repaired and returned to Cuba.
“The agreements subscribed by Cuba in this field are supported by the need to maintain our defensive capacity in order to preserve national sovereignty,” the statement went on.
Cuba said the ship’s main cargo was 10,000 tonnes of sugar.
The vessel, called Chong Chon Gang, left Russia’s far east on April 12 and travelled across the Pacific Ocean before entering the canal at the start of June, with Cuba as its stated destination.
Panamanian officials said the ship was carrying a cargo of sheet metal on its journey through the canal.
However, the vessel disappeared from satellite tracking systems after it left the Caribbean side of the canal, resurfacing on July 11.
Experts say this may indicate that the crew switched off the system that automatically communicates details of their location.
Panamanian officials tried to communicate with the vessel, suspecting it could be carrying illegal goods initially thought to be drugs.
The crew did not respond, so the ship was boarded and the weaponry was uncovered.
North Korea and Cuba are both nominally communist states and are known to have relatively close relations.
A high-level military delegation from North Korea visited at the end of June and was received by President Raul Castro.
Cuban media said they discussed “the historical ties that unite the two nations and the common will to continue strengthening them”.
Arms trafficking expert Hugh Griffiths told the BBC the ship’s voyage could be seen in the wider context of renewed military co-operation between the two nations.
Announcing the seizure of the vessel on Tuesday, Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said it contained suspected “sophisticated missile equipment”.
Ricardo Martinelli posted on his Twitter account an image of a large green object inside a cargo container.
However, the Cuban statement suggests that the cargo was five decades old Soviet-era weaponry.
Panamanian officials said they had so far searched just one of the ship’s five container sections, and a full inspection would take at least a week.
The crew faces possible charges of illegal weapons smuggling in Panama.
Ricardo Martinelli said the 35-strong crew had resisted the search and the captain had tried to kill himself.
The US “commended” Panama for its actions, and said it strongly supported a full inspection of the ship.
The vessel was stopped near Manzanillo on the Atlantic side of the canal last week.
Kim Kardashian has apparently made her first public appearance after the birth of her daughter North West.
Kim Kardashian, 32, had been keeping a low profile over the last month while she settled into motherhood with baby North West, who she gave birth to on June 15.
She was allegedly spotted as she tried to travel incognito in her nanny’s car in Southern California.
An onlooker told Radar Online: “Kim looks amazing, she really does. She’s dropped a lot of the baby weight already.
It appears that Kim Kardashian tried to travel incognito in her nanny’s car in Southern California
“Not to say she still doesn’t have a ways to go, but she looked slim and was glowing.”
Kim Kardashian and boyfriend Kanye West are yet to give the world a first glimpse of their baby daughter North and the star made sure no one caught a peek during the outing.
The source continued: “As for the baby, Kim and her helper kept a blanket over North’s car seat so nobody could catch a glimpse.”
Kim Kardashian’s outing is the first time she has been spotted in public since giving birth to baby North prematurely, but reports suggest the normally publicity eager star has been getting claustrophobic at home.
A source said: “Kim is excited to have the whole world see her baby, she is saying that she knows that everyone will love her as much as she does and she wants people to see how beautiful she is.”
It was not, however, little North West’s first reported outing.
It was claimed earlier this month that Kim Kardashian took her newborn to stepfather Bruce Jenner’s Malibu beach house where he was hosting a family Fourth of July party.
The world is waiting with bated breath for Kim Kardashian to be photographed with her youngster for the first time, after they were released from hospital together on June 21.
Lindsay Lohan is reportedly negotiating a $2 million deal for reality TV series on Oprah Winfrey’s network.
Lindsay Lohan, 27, has allegedly been negotiating the lucrative deal for the past four months, managing to wrangle the huge sum for spilling her secrets in an eight-part documentary for Oprah Winfrey’s OWN.
According to TMZ.com, when Lindsay Lohan films the TV specials – after she completes her court ordered 90-day stint in rehab next month – she will be given two assistants to wait on her hand and foot as well as a personal stylist to ensure she looks her best on set.
The series will focus on Lindsay Lohan’s past struggles with addictions and fame, as well as her film career and her hopes for the future.
Lindsay Lohan is said to have signed the deal with Oprah Winfrey at the Betty Ford Clinic last month – from which she has subsequently been transferring from – even before she was properly on the road to recovery.
Lindsay Lohan negotiates $2 million deal for docu-series on Oprah Winfrey’s network
Her mother, Dina Lohan, is thrilled her daughter is set to follow in the footsteps of Lance Armstrong and Rihanna by being given a chance to tell Oprah Winfrey her story.
Dina Lohan recently gushed: “Oh, it’s fantastic. If anyone is going to help mentor you, it’s going to be Oprah.”
Oprah Winfrey’s network announced the news on Friday that it would be airing an eight party reality series after Lindsay Lohan emerges from court enforced rehab.
In an attempt to distance the program from the negative connections connected to reality television, OWN have dubbed the eight-part television event a docu-series.
Entertainment Weekly revealed that the cable channel had not only secured the rights to the first interview with Lindsay Lohan after she finishes her 90-day stint at the Ciffside centre in Malibu, California, but the likely to be highly anticipated series as well.
A spokesperson for Oprah Winfrey’s network told Entertainment Weekly: “OWN will air an exclusive interview with Oprah and Lindsay Lohan that will tape and air in August.”
Lindsay Lohan’s fans will have to wait a lot longer for the docu-series, with the spokesperson confirming it will not air until 2014.
However, those expecting an inside view of the shambles the star’s life has become since her multiple arrests may be disappointed.
The eight-part series is sold as more of an inspirational show than a side show, described as following “the actress as she works to rebuild her career and stay healthy”.
Lindsay Lohan, who turned 27 last week, is set for release from rehab on July 31.
