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Katherine Russell: Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s wife converted to Islam to marry him

Nancy Clayson
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Katherine Russell: Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s wife converted to Islam to marry him

It emerged today that Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s wife is Katherine Russell, who converted to Islam for him, and they have a three-year-old daughter called Zahara.

Last night, Katherine Russell’s parents, Judith and Warren, issued an emotional statement following Boston Marathon attack that left three dead and 176 injured, reading: “Our daughter has lost her husband today, the father of her child.

“We cannot begin to comprehend how this horrible tragedy occurred. In the aftermath of the Patriot’s Day horror, we know that we never really knew Tamerlane Tsarnaev.

“Our hearts are sickened by the knowledge of the horror he has inflicted.”

The 26-year-old Chechen – who was shot dead by cops last night – was regularly seen at Katherine Russell’s family home in Rhode Island.

Their home was raided by the FBI and cops before dawn this morning.

At 5 p.m. today, Katherine Russell, 24, was driven back to the house by a relative and flanked by two SUVs being driven by agents from the Department of Homeland Security.

It appears that Katherine Russell – who also uses the last name Tsarnaeva – converted to Islam shortly after starting school at Suffolk University in Boston, to marry Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

After converting to Islam, the young woman used to dress in the Islamic style, neighbors said. Her hair was covered with a white headscarf and she was wearing very baggy, flowy clothing.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev got his American citizenship on September 11, 2012. He traveled to Russia last year and returned to the US six months later, government officials told The Associated Press today.

According to the website spotcrime.com, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was arrested for domestic violence in July 2009 after assaulting his girlfriend.

Katherine Russell converted to Islam to marry Tamerlan Tsarnaev
Katherine Russell converted to Islam to marry Tamerlan Tsarnaev

Katherine Russell, who has two younger sisters Anna and Becca, grew up with parents Judith and Warren in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, before moving to Boston for college.

Local reporter Ted Nesi of WPRI-TV 12 this afternoon tweeted: “Suffolk U. confirms to me that a Katherine O. Russell of No. Kingstown RI was a student there from Fall 2007-Spring 2010. Did not graduate.”

Neighbors said that Warren Russell works as a physician, while his wife, Judith, is a nurse.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev , the older brother of 19-year-old Dzhokhar, who was captured last night after a massive all-out manhunt in Boston at its suburbs, died Thursday evening after an armed battle with police in Watertown.

Meanwhile, the brothers’ aunt Maret Tsarnaeva, who works as a doctor in Canada, was insistent as she told reporters in Toronto today that her nephew was in love with his wife and daughter.

“He has a wife in Boston and from a Christian family, so you can’t tie it to religion,” Maret Tsarnaeva said.

“At that age all they want is love, so he found his love, he married, he had a daughter, and he was very happy about his daughter.”

However, Maret Tsarnaeva admitted Tamerlan “seemingly did not find himself yet in America, because it’s not easy”.

Demanding proof the brothers were the bombers, Maret Tsarnaeva said: “We’re talking about three dead people, 100-something injured, and I do not believe, I just do not believe our boys would do that … I don’t know them in the way that they could be capable of this.”

Maret Tsarnaeva said the boys’ father, her brother Anzor Tsarnaev, had high expectations for his sons, especially Tamerlan, and was upset when he found out Tamerlan had dropped out of university.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev wasn’t a devout practicing Muslim, “but just recently, maybe two years ago, he started praying five times a day”, she said.

Maret Tsarnaeva said her brother’s family came to the US in 2002 after she helped them apply for refugee status. She said the family also has two sisters who live in Boston.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two Chechen brothers accused in the Boston Marathon bombings, once dreamed of representing the US as a boxer, but over the past year, he had turned to radical Islam and got on the path of Jihad.

Officials say Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar – refugees from the Caucasus region – were the men behind the horrific terrorist attack that took the lives of three and left 176 injured during the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Hours before his death, Tamerlan Tsarnaev called his uncle Alvi Tsarnaev and asked for forgiveness – revealing the news of his young family.

Alvi Tsarnaev told The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News that his nephew phoned him Thursday night for the first time in about two years.

The call came at 7 p.m., just a couple of hours before Tamerlan was shot dead.

“He said, <<I love you and forgive me>>,” said Alvi Tsarnaev, who lives in Montgomery Village, Maryland.

“We were not talking for a long time because there were some problems,” Alvi Tsarnaev said, without elaborating.

“We were not happy with each other.”

They spoke for about five minutes, he said. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who is Muslim, started out by saying, “Salam Aleikum”, an Arabic greeting meaning “peace on you”. He then praised his uncle for keeping up with his Muslim prayers.

They talked about family and Alvi Tsarnaev said: “I told him I was praying to Allah, not drinking, not smoking, and he told me he was happy.

“He was asking, <<Did you pay your mortgage?>> I told him I was trying to pay. I asked him what he was doing. He said, <<I fix cars, I got married, got a baby>>.”

Azmat and Diaz: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s arrested friends drive car with Terrorista #1 license plate

Nancy Clayson
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Azmat and Diaz: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s arrested friends drive car with Terrorista #1 license plate

Two students, named be neighbors by their first names Azmat and Diaz, arrested Friday night in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings drive a car with the licence plate “Terrorista #1”.

The two men reportedly drive a black BMW 330XI with the personalized plate and a sticker on the back which reads: “F*** you, you f****** f****”.

Azmat and Diaz are thought to be from Kazakhstan and had not been seen since the Boston Marathon bombings until last night when their ground floor apartment in New Bedford, Massachusetts, was raided by a dozen FBI agents at gunpoint.

One of their girlfriends was also arrested. All three are in their late teens or early 20s.

The three arrests in connection with Boston Marathon bombings took place at the Hidden Brook housing complex in New Bedford
The three arrests in connection with Boston Marathon bombings took place at the Hidden Brook housing complex in New Bedford

Their apartment was raised because police say the younger Boston Marathon bombing suspect, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, may have lived at their address.

It also appeared that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev posted pictures of the car on his Twitter account J_tsar.

In one picture the BMW is next to another dark colored sports car with the caption: “Place your bets” as if they are about to race.

In another a group of boys stand by both vehicles and a youth can be seen making a gesture that looks like a gun towards the camera.

The three arrests took place at the Hidden Brook housing complex in New Bedford.

One of their neighbors claimed that Azmat and Diaz had said the BMW was stolen or that they claimed they had rented it and were not paying the rental fee.

Inside the car was a receipt from a Ralph Lauren store, a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses, a receipt from a shipping company, a prescription, lots of crushed water bottles and a number of parking tickets.

It is thought that Azmat and Diaz were students at the University of Massachusetts and had been living in the apartment for around a year.

Their neighbor said that they used to have parties until three or four in the morning with “drinking and dancing and the police would come”.

When the police raided the apartment last night there were armed officers on the tennis court out the back on a tennis court lying down with their guns pointed towards the apartment.

The FBI later brought a U-Haul truck to the rear of the apartment but did not take anything away.

They were led away with their hands in zip ties.

Two Russian speaking men in their early 20s later arrived at the apartment and told reporters they were journalists from the Boston Globe.

The so-called journalists then entered the apartment through an unlocked patio door.

Hannibal episode pulled out following Boston Marathon bombings

Sonia Pantiss
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Hannibal episode pulled out following Boston Marathon bombings

NBC has decided to pull an episode of its serial killer drama Hannibal out of sensitivity to recent US violence, including Boston Marathon bombings.

The episode that was to air next week features a character, played by guest star Molly Shannon, who brainwashes children to kill other children.

Hannibal executive producer Bryan Fuller asked NBC to pull the episode, citing the Newtown, Connecticut, Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December and this week’s Boston Marathon attack, NBC spokesman Stuart Levine said.

Bryan Fuller said Friday that he began talking with NBC executives several weeks ago about keeping the episode off the air. His concern was prompted by Newtown and reinforced by Boston’s violence, he said.

NBC has decided to pull an episode of its serial killer drama Hannibal out of sensitivity to recent US violence, including Boston Marathon bombings
NBC has decided to pull an episode of its serial killer drama Hannibal out of sensitivity to recent US violence, including Boston Marathon bombings

Although the Hannibal story is unrelated to real-world events, the intent was “to be sensitive to where we are as a nation”, Bryan Fuller said.

The episode, the fourth for the new series, will be replaced by another Hannibal hour. Viewers will not see a plot continuity issue, Stuart Levine said.

But a “clip package” with scenes from the unaired episode will be available at NBC.com next week, without the scenes of child violence and with commentary by Bryan Fuller. That will allow viewers to keep current with the show’s larger story arcs, the producer said.

Hannibal stars Mads Mikkelsen as the title character, the brilliant cannibalistic killer seen on the big screen in The Silence of the Lambs and its sequel and introduced in the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon. Hugh Dancy and Laurence Fishburne also star in the drama.

There have been other instances of networks responding quickly to the potentially difficult overlap between fact and fiction.

ABC has delayed airing an episode of the crime drama Castle in which a main character, New York police Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), steps on a pressure-sensitive bomb. It had been scheduled to air next Monday, one week after two bombs exploded near the Boston Marathon finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 180.

In December 2012, after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, the Syfy channel pulled an episode of the series Haven that featured a campus violence story line.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev autopsy photo shows horrific injures as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ran over his body during getaway

Roy Siemens
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Tamerlan Tsarnaev autopsy photo shows horrific injures as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ran over his body during getaway

An alleged autopsy photograph of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was leaked on Friday after he was deadly wounded in a firefight with police and then reportedly run over by his younger brother, Dzhokhar.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, identified by the FBI as Suspect 1, wearing a black hat in the marathon bombings, arrived at Beth Israel Deconess Medical center around 1:20 a.m. Friday following a violent exchange of gunfire with police, during which he and his brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, hurled explosives at officers.

One witness of the firefight in which Tamerlan Tsarnaev was mortally wounded said the younger brother made his getaway in an SUV and that he ran over Tamerlan’s body as he fled.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was unconscious and handcuffed.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was pronounced dead at the hospital and his body was turned over to law enforcement so that it could be examined by forensic experts
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was pronounced dead at the hospital and his body was turned over to law enforcement so that it could be examined by forensic experts

The alleged autopsy picture of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s body shows multiple gunshot wounds and a massive open gash that spans from the center of his chest to his back. Another smaller gash is located right below the larger wound.

The victim’s right shoulder and his face show signs of hemorrhaging. Some of the injuries could have been sustained during doctors’ attempts to revive him.

David Schoenfeld was one of the doctors who tried to resuscitate Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

“There was some discussion of who’s coming in,” Dr. David Schoenfeld told the Huffington Post.

“Is it the suspect? Is this a victim? Is it a police officer?”

“Ultimately that discussion died down quickly, because it doesn’t matter who’s coming in,” the doctor said.

“We’re going to treat them as best as we can, because you really don’t know who it is until the dust settles.”

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was pronounced dead at 1:35 a.m. and his body was turned over to law enforcement so that it could be examined by forensic experts.

Some witnesses of the firefight in which Tamerlan Tsarnaev was mortally wounded said they saw his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, jump into an SUV to make his getaway and that he ran over Tamerlan’s body as he fled.

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Did Dzhokhar Tsarnaev kill his brother Tamerlan by running him over?

Roy Siemens
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Did Dzhokhar Tsarnaev kill his brother Tamerlan by running him over?

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two Chechen brothers suspected of bombing the Boston Marathon, was wounded but alive following a police gun battle when his younger brother, Dzhokhar, ran him over with a car, possibly causing his death.

Offering the first detailed account of the firefight, Police Chief Edward Deveau, of Watertown, Massachusetts, where the drama had unfolded early Friday morning, has revealed that 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev walked towards officers firing a gun before he ran out of ammunition and was tackled to the ground.

“He all of a sudden comes out from under cover and just starts walking down the street, shooting at our police officers, trying to get closer,” Edward Deveau said.

“Now, my closest officer is five to ten feet away, and they’re exchanging gunfire between them. And he runs out of ammunition – the bad guy – and so one of my police officers comes off the side and tackles him in the street.”

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was in the process of being handcuffed by two or three officers when his younger brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar, jumped behind the wheel of a black SUV the two hand allegedly carjacked earlier and barreled toward the group.

Officers who were restraining Tamerlan Tsarnaev got out of the way of the speeding vehicle, which ended up driving over the wounded suspect, the police chief told CNN.

According to Edward Deveau, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev dragged his sibling’s body a short distance down the street and drove off. He later ditched the SUV and escaped on foot.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was wounded but alive following a police gun battle when his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ran him over with a car, possibly causing his death
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was wounded but alive following a police gun battle when his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ran him over with a car, possibly causing his death

An alleged autopsy photograph of Tamerlan Tsarnaev that was leaked Friday shows multiple gunshot wounds and a massive open gash that spans from the center of his chest to his back.

Another smaller gash is located right below the larger wound. His right shoulder and his face show signs of hemorrhaging.

Some of the injuries could have been sustained during doctors’ attempts to revive him.

The results of the autopsy have not been released yet, but the preliminary description of the injuries suggests that some of the wounds may have been caused by the vehicle operated by the suspect’s brother.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured Friday evening following a tense standoff after he was spotted hiding in a boat parked in a backyard, bleeding profusely.

Violence erupted in the early morning hours Friday when police received reports of a robbery of a 7Eleven store in Kendall Square near MIT and a police officer was shot and ended up with a gun fight in a small suburban street as residents slept.

Sean Collier, 26, an MIT police officer, was shot multiple times while in his cruiser at Main and Vassar streets, near the Stata Center on the MIT campus.

The officer was pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital.

A short time later, the Tsarnaev brothers carjacked a Mercedes SUV at gunpoint.

The hostage was then driven around for half an hour as the pair decided what their next move would be.

As police moved in on the vehicle following reports of a carjacking, the pair decided to dump the driver at a gas station on Memorial Drive in Cambridge.

The search for the vehicle led to a chase that ended in Watertown, where authorities said the suspects threw explosive devices from the car and exchanged gunfire with police.

Richard H. Donahue, 33, a transit police officer was seriously injured during the chase.

In Watertown, witnesses reported hearing multiple gunshots and explosions at about 1 a.m. Friday.

Dozens of police officers and FBI agents were in the neighborhood and a helicopter circled overhead.

Speaking to CNN following Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s capture, Edward Deveau said that a single officer was the first to encounter the two cars that Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were driving, just before 1 a.m. Friday.

One of the vehicles was a Mercedes SUV the brothers had carjacked earlier that night.
Before the officer could call for backup, the two cars came to a stop and the brothers got out.

“They jump out of the car and unload on our police officer,” Edward Deveau said.

“They both came out shooting – shooting guns, handguns. He’s under direct fire, very close by. He has to jam it in reverse and try to get himself a little distance.”

Five others officers arrived on the scene in the middle of an intense shootout during which Edaward Deveau says over 200 rounds were fired in 5-10 minutes.

The chief said that one of the suspected bombers lobbed an explosive at the officers, which later turned out to be a pressure cooker bomb like the ones used in the marathon attack Monday.

The brothers also allegedly threw other explosives at police, which Edward Deveau described as “very rough devices”. Two of the bombs detonated and two did not. A sixth explosives was later discovered in one of the vehicles.

At one point, Tamerlan Tsarnaev came directly toward police, firing a gun at officers as he inched closer toward him. But his luck ran out along with his ammunition, allowing one of the officers to tackle him.

Moments later, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ran his brother over while fleeing the scene in a green Honda Accord.

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Giorgio Napolitano becomes first Italian president re-elected for a second term

Diane A. Wade
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Giorgio Napolitano becomes first Italian president re-elected for a second term

Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano has been re-elected following a cross-party appeal to run for office again to resolve a growing political crisis.

Giorgio Napolitano, 87, secured the required 504 votes in parliament.

Politicians had turned to the widely-respected president after five rounds of voting failed to produce a successor.

A caretaker government has been governing Italy following February’s inconclusive general elections.

The political deadlock has compounded concern about the stability of Italy whose economy, the third-biggest in the eurozone, is mired in recession.

On Saturday, Giorgio Napolitano became the first president in Italian history to secure a second seven-year term.

He easily won the simple majority of votes out of 1,007 electors.

Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano has been re-elected following a cross-party appeal to run for office again to resolve a growing political crisis
Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano has been re-elected following a cross-party appeal to run for office again to resolve a growing political crisis

Giorgio Napolitano put forward his candidacy after the appeal by main party leaders – both on the left and right.

“I consider it necessary to offer my availability,” said Giorgio Napolitano, who had been due to step down on May 15.

“I cannot shun my responsibility towards the nation,” he added.

Italian party leaders earlier expressed concern over a “grave situation”, urging parliament to “show unity” in re-electing widely-respected Giorgio Napolitano.

Outside the parliament building in Rome, protesters held a rally against the push for Giorgio Napolitano’s re-election.

Many demonstrators were supporters of Beppe Grillo, the leader of the 5-Star Movement.

Beppe Grillo denounced giorgio Napolitano’s re-appointment as a “coup d’etat”.

Parliament began trying to elect a new president on Thursday, but MPs voted five times without producing a clear winner. In increasing desperation they turned to Giorgio Napolitano, who was supposed to retire.

On Friday, the leader of Italy’s centre-left alliance, Pier Luigi Bersani, promised to step down as soon as a new president was elected.

Pier Luigi Bersani announced the news to his Democratic Party (PD) after many centre-left MPs refused to back his preferred candidate for president.

The centre-left failed to gain an overall majority at February’s general election despite coming first.

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Pervez Musharraf in judicial custody for two weeks

Diane A. Wade
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Pervez Musharraf in judicial custody for two weeks

Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has been remanded in judicial custody for two weeks over claims he illegally detained judges in 2007.

Pervez Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan between 1999 and 2007, was arrested on Friday.

The High Court ruled that the allegations amounted to an act of terrorism and ordered him to appear at Islamabad’s anti-terror court.

Pervez Musharraf has described the case against him as politically motivated.

Last month Pervez Musharraf returned from years of self-imposed exile hoping to lead his All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party into the general election next month.

However, the former prersident has so far failed in his bid to register as a candidate with election officials.

Pervez Musharraf’s lawyers said it was unclear whether he would be detained under house arrest, in policy custody, or in jail.

Pervez Musharraf has been remanded in judicial custody for two weeks over claims he illegally detained judges in 2007
Pervez Musharraf has been remanded in judicial custody for two weeks over claims he illegally detained judges in 2007

APML spokesman Muhammad Amjad said Pervez Musharraf would fight the allegations in a higher court.

Judges are determined to prosecute Pervez Musharraf over his decision to dismiss judges including Chief Justice Mohammad Iftikhar Chaudhry.

Pervez Musharraf is accused of keeping the judges under house arrest for about six months in 2007 after he imposed emergency rule.

The former leader was brought to the court under heavy security.

Angry lawyers reportedly shouted slogans calling for Pervez Musharraf to be tried for treason.

His supporters and opponents clashed inside and outside the court.

Pervez Musharraf faces several other criminal cases and had been trying to stave off arrest since he returned.

The Pakistani Taliban have also vowed to assassinate former president Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup.

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Tamerlan Tsarnaev interviewed by FBI two years prior to Boston Marathon attack

Diane A. Wade
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Tamerlan Tsarnaev interviewed by FBI two years prior to Boston Marathon attack

Federal law enforcement officials are reportedly investigating the possibility that Boston Marathon bombers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were known to the government’s terror-trackers.

Any inquiry into Boston Marathon bombing will look into whether agents could have taken action – but didn’t – to prevent the Tsarnaev brothers from obtaining the explosives that killed 3 and wounded 173 others.

CBS News reported Friday evening that two years ago, the FBI interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was killed in Thursday night’s dramatic shootout. The feds reportedly spoke to him at the request of an unspecified foreign government, but couldn’t establish that he had ties to terrorist radicals.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev left the US in January 2012 for Russia and returned in mid-July, according to records uncovered by NBC in New York.

An official inside the Department of Homeland Security with knowledge of federal law enforcement activities in Massachusetts has claimed that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was on the radar screen of agents in Boston between his return to the U.S. and the end of the fall.

The source, who has been contradicted by other officials, said that in 2012 federal law enforcement received tips from inside a Boston mosque about young Muslims, including some converts, who were becoming radicalized into anti-American zealots as their knowledge of their religion grew.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was allegedly one of those radicals, and attracted the attention of an informant working with an agency attached to the Boston-area Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). That informant communicated observations about the man to a government handler, the source said.

Two years ago, the FBI interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was killed in Thursday night's dramatic shootout
Two years ago, the FBI interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was killed in Thursday night’s dramatic shootout

A second source, formerly assigned to a US JTTF, confirmed that “there is some very quiet discussion in the Boston JTTF about this”.

The formerly JTTF-affiliated agent said that right now: “These guys are more interested in catching the younger terrorist alive, and interrogating him, than in worrying about what the different agencies knew and when they knew it.”

The Homeland Security claimed that the FBI in Boston now believes Tamerlan Tsarnaev was receiving assistance from an “organized radical element” in Massachusetts. And agents are now reviewing at least one report from inside a mosque to see if they can identify Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s associates in Boston’s Muslim community.

Law enforcement at the federal level has “practically nothing” on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Tamerlan’s younger brother.

The Associated Press reported late Friday evening that Dzhokhar  Tsarnaev was in police custody.

Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not permitted to talk about ongoing investigations.

The source also claimed that the agency said Tamerlan Tsarnaev turned up in a tip from an “undercover asset”.

Ultimately Tamerlan Tsarnaev was allegedly deemed “a low priority” and federal law enforcement “did not designate them [Tsarnaev brothers] as suspects or persons of interest in any crime”.

The Tsarnaev brothers also were not flagged for deportation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

They immigrated to the US and were granted asylum in 2002.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, now 19, received his green card two years later. He became a naturalized US citizen on September 11, 2012.

Koningslied: King’s Song for Willem-Alexander investiture sparks outcry in the Netherlands

Diane A. Wade
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Koningslied: King’s Song for Willem-Alexander investiture sparks outcry in the Netherlands

Almost 40,000 people in the Netherlands have objected to the new official King’s Song marking the investiture of Willem-Alexander on April 30.

The King’s Song, composed by Dutch-British producer John Ewbank and performed by 51 Dutch artists, was released on Friday morning.

By Saturday, an online petition entitled No to the King’s Song had attracted 37,000 signatures.

Many objected to the lyrics as well as the mix of rap with traditional music.

Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, 45, and his Argentine-born wife Princess Maxima will become king and queen when his mother, Queen Beatrix, 75, abdicates on April 30.

Almost 40,000 people in the Netherlands have objected to the new official King's Song marking the investiture of Willem-Alexander on April 30
Almost 40,000 people in the Netherlands have objected to the new official King’s Song marking the investiture of Willem-Alexander on April 30

In an interview broadcast on Thursday, Prince Willem-Alexander promised to be a “traditional king” but declared he would not be a “protocol fetishist”.

The five-minute song – Koningslied in Dutch – is due to be performed in the presence of the new king and queen on the day of Willem-Alexander’s swearing-in at 19:30.

The performance, via video-link from the Ahoy sports arena in Rotterdam, is to feature some of the Netherlands’ best-known stars including Marco Borsato and Trijntje Oosterhuis.

But both music and lyrics have met with disdain following the song’s launch at 08:30 on Friday by the national enthronement committee.

John Ewbank’s music, which starts gently and at one point bursts into rap, was labeled “overproduced” by one critic who condemned the rap segment as “dreadful”.

As soon as the much-hyped song hit the airwaves a petition against it went online.

“In protest at this imbecilic <<King’s Song>>, I hereby resign as a citizen of the Netherlands,” the petition reads.

John Ewbank said the response was entirely expected because the song had been put under an “enormous magnifying glass”.

While the lyrics were based on words submitted by Dutch citizens, they were put together by four writers.

Some critics complained about lines such as: “I build a dyke with my bare hands and keep the water away” and “through wind and rain I’ll stand beside you… I’ll keep you safe as long as I live”.

One signatory to the petition said the song “spontaneously turns you into a republican, if you weren’t one already”.

Despite the outcry, the song has gone straight to the top of the Dutch iTunes chart.

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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s girlfriend and two others arrested at Hidden Brook Apartments in New Bedford

Nancy Clayson
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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s girlfriend and two others arrested at Hidden Brook Apartments in New Bedford

Just hours after Boston Marathon bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured in Watertown Friday night, the FBI took into custody three others in connection with their investigation.

Two women – one of them thought to be Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s girlfriend – and one man, both of whom appeared to be college-aged, were apprehended from the Hidden Brook Apartments on Carriage Drive in New Bedford.

The FBI said they were all questioned and later released and that they were never booked into jail.

Two women, one of them thought to be Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s girlfriend, and one man, were apprehended from the Hidden Brook Apartments on Carriage Drive in New Bedford
Two women, one of them thought to be Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s girlfriend, and one man, were apprehended from the Hidden Brook Apartments on Carriage Drive in New Bedford

New Bedford Police Dept. Lt. Robert Richard said they were not under arrest, though pictures from the scene showed them being led away in handcuffs.

The Massachusetts State Police Department has not responded to an inquiry on the arrests.

The three were apprehended after the FBI conducted a search warrant on an apartment at the complex, which is about 10 minutes from the Dartmouth campus, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was a student.

Neighbors told the local ABC affiliate that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s girlfriend may have lived in the apartment complex and some reported seeing him in the area following the bombings at the marathon, which killed three people and injured more than 170.

David Henneberry: Robert Duffy tells how his stepfather found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Nancy Clayson
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David Henneberry: Robert Duffy tells how his stepfather found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

David Henneberry from Boston suburb Watertown, who discovered 19-year-old marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev cowering, bloodied, in his beloved boat “didn’t try to be a hero”, his stepson Robert Duffy revealed today.

David Henneberry, who is in his mid sixties, had stepped outside with his wife for some fresh air at around 5:45 p.m. yesterday afternoon when he noticed that a tarp had lifted off his boat and a strap had been cut.

The man climbed in for a closer look, which is when he saw a pool of blood and what he thought was a crumpled body.

“He saw something hunched down toward the forward of the boat, and his mind instantly did the right thing,” Robert Duffy said.

“He didn’t try to be a hero, he didn’t yell.”

Instead, David Henneberry dropped off his stepladder, ran inside his house and called 911, Robert Duffy told the Today show.

Having followed the rolling news coverage of the manhunt, and with SWAT teams already in his street, David Henneberry knew almost instantly what, or who, he had uncovered in the boat – and the danger that entailed, Robert Duffy said.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found hiding in the back of David Henneberry’s boat in Watertown
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found hiding in the back of David Henneberry’s boat in Watertown

“He probably just peeked his head up into his boat, his beloved prize, and saw the pool of blood and with what has taken place all day via the media 24 hours of non-stop it was just probably was one, two, three – he knew exactly what was going on,” Robert Duffy told Fox News.

“He dropped out of the boat and his first instinct was 911. Knowing gunshots had been fired, he probably just dropped off the ladder and walked away for 911.”

According to CBS, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was forced out of the boat by “flash-bangs”, had been shot in the neck and in the leg.

Based on the amount of blood David Henneberry saw in the boat, investigators believe Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was probably wounded as long as 20 hours before he was discovered, in the Thursday morning battle that left the other bombing suspect, his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan, dead.

The nightmarish 24 hours came to an end in Boston at around 8:45 p.m. yesterday as the 19-year-old suspect Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev was taken into custody alive but injured after a gun battle with police and federal agents.

The final chapter in the drama began shortly after 5 p.m. on Friday, when Boston police told the nation that the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings was still on the loose. Authorities had leads, but they didn’t know where he was.

Three hours and 45 minutes later, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev was found and captured alive after David Henneberry went outside for a breath of fresh air and to check on his boat.

About 5.45 p.m., David Henneberry stepped outside his house on Franklin Street in Watertown, less than three quarters of a mile from the center of police search in the town.

Neighbor George Pizzuto told ABC News that David Henneberry found the canvass tarp that covered his 25-foot plasure boat appeared to be askew.

“He looked and noticed something was off about his boat, so he got his ladder, and he put his ladder up on the side of the boat and climbed up, and then he saw blood on it,” George Pizzuto said.

David Henneberry fled to the home of his neighbor, George Pizzuto with his ill wife, while officers fired on his beloved boat.

“That boat’s his baby. He takes care of it like you wouldn’t believe. And they told him it’s all shot up,” George Pizzuto said.

“He’s going to be heartbroken.”

“He got out of the boat fast and called police,” the neighbor said.

By 6 p.m. cavalcades of police began arriving at David Henneberry’s house.

Authorities re-issued their orders for residents to stay inside as dozens of heavily-armed Boston police and federal agents surrounded the house.

Neighbors reported hearing dozens of rounds of automatic weapons fire as police closed on the house.

Officers said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev fired at them and that they returned fire.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a 19-year-old American citizen from Chechnya, was wounded by police at some point during a gun battle on Thursday night, authorities say.

Officers then backed off, hoping to take the suspect alive. Orders went out on Boston police radio that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was to be taken alive and that officers should not fire first and not return fire.

A robot was sent into the scene and pulled away the tarp with its mechanical arm.

That allowed a state police helicopter used an infrared camera to locate Dzhokhar Tsarnaev laying on his back in the back of the boat.

At 7.05 p.m. witnesses reported hearing police lob flash grenades, meant to stun the suspect, into the boat.

Police shouted at Dzhokhar Tsarnaev through bullhorns: “Come out with your hands up!” and “Come out on your own terms”.

By 8.43 p.m. it was over. A bloodied Dzhokhar Tsarnaev emerged from the boat and was taken into custody, loaded into an ambulance and rushed to the hospital.

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General Electric reports 16% profits rise for Q1 2013 after selling NBC Universal stake

Clyde K. Valle
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General Electric reports 16% profits rise for Q1 2013 after selling NBC Universal stake

General Electric has reported a 16% rise in its profits for the first quarter of 2013, helped by a one-off gain from the sale of its stake in NBC Universal.

GE made a profit of $3.53 billion in Q1 2013, up from $3.03 billion last year. Revenue was flat at $35 billion.

The conglomerate has been trying to put its focus back on core industrial businesses, which include aviation and energy infrastructure.

General Electric said orders for its aviation equipment jumped 47%.

Orders for oil and gas equipment and services, such as turbines and plant maintenance, rose 24%, said GE chairman and chief executive Jeff Immelt.

GE made a profit of $3.53 billion in Q1 2013, up from $3.03 billion last year
GE made a profit of $3.53 billion in Q1 2013, up from $3.03 billion last year

“In growth markets, equipment and service orders grew 17%. We ended the quarter with our biggest backlog in history,” he said.

Orders grew to $216 billion in the first quarter from $210 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012.

In the first three months of 2013 GE was awarded a $620 million maintenance contract for QGC’s Queensland Curtis liquified natural gas plant off the east coast of Australia.

It also won a contract to provide power equipment for the Emirates Aluminum smelter complex in Abu Dhabi, and another maintenance contract for a LNG project in Russia.

But the company said it had been affected by weaker-than-expected sales in Europe, especially in sales of power and water equipment.

“GE’s markets were mixed. The US and growth markets were in line with expectations. We planned for a continued challenging environment in Europe, but conditions weakened further with Industrial segment revenues in the region down 17%,” said Jeff Immelt.

“We always anticipated that the first half of 2013 would be our toughest comparison,” he added.

During the first quarter of 2013, GE sold its 49% stake in NBC Universal to Comcast for $18.1 billion.

Glee to air for two more seasons through May 2015

Sonia Pantiss
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Glee to air for two more seasons through May 2015

Fox has renewed Glee for two more seasons, meaning the TV series will air at least six in total, through May 2015.

“Glee debuted as the first and only successful musical comedy series on television, and more than four years later, it continues to defy genres, break new ground and have a significant impact on popular culture,” said Fox chairman Kevin Reilly in a statement.

Fox has renewed Glee for two more seasons, meaning the TV series will air at least six in total
Fox has renewed Glee for two more seasons, meaning the TV series will air at least six in total

“Week in and week out … the entire Glee team deliver a series that not only delights and surprises fans, but also inspires them to talk about, share, debate and engage with the show – and I’m absolutely thrilled to have them on board for another two seasons.”

The current season features some of the school’s graduated seniors, played by Lea Michele and Chris Colfer, scattering from Ohio to New York City.

Glee is averaging 8.7 million viewers this season, including viewing delayed up to 7 days. That’s down from last season but the show remains one of Fox’s most popular as it weathers a steep decline by American Idol.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is a 9/11 denier, reveals his Twitter account

Nancy Clayson
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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is a 9/11 denier, reveals his Twitter account

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s nonchalant attitude in the wake of Monday’s attack was witnessed on his Twitter page.

At 5 p.m. on Monday – just hours after he and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, were caught on surveillance footage coolly walking away from the bomb site – he tweeted: “Ain’t no love in the heart of the city, stay safe people.”

The next day Dzhokhar Tsarnaev replied to a tweet claiming one of the fatalities in the bombings was a woman whose fiancé was proposing to her.

“Fake story” he wrote on the social media website.

The same day the suspect added: “I’m a stress free kind of guy.”

According to the page, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a 9/11 denier and in a chilling post in August wrote: “Boston marathon isn’t a good place to smoke tho.”

The account, confirmed to friends to belong to the terror suspect, makes for haunting reading.

Just months before the tweet Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said he was changing majors to try and become a nurse and talked about his work “saving lives” as a Harvard lifeguard.

“I didn’t become a lifeguard just to chill and get paid, I do it for the people, saving brings me joy,” he wrote on May 29.

However, it has emerged Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sacked last summer after he suddenly stopped turning up for shifts, according to a Buzzfeed report.

The Chechen has been described by friends as a “careful and jovial” student, who has lived in the US for a decade and partied “like a normal American kid” – painting a conflicting picture of a man now accused of terrorism.

It appears Dzhokhar Tsarnaev became increasingly radicalized by his older brother Tamerlan with whom he is said to have carried out the deadly attack at Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring more than 180.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s cousin, Zaur, told the Boston Globe that he “used to warn Dzhokhar that Tamerlan was up to no good” while Tamerlan’s boxing coach said the younger brother would watch him train, “he idolized him”, according to the Boston Herald.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Twitter account portrays two contrasting pictures and hints at a man who suddenly changed sometime last year.

Many of his posts are innocuous references to pop culture, college and women.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev posts hip hop lyrics, talks about his love for TV show Breaking Bad and chats to college friends.

But others are serious and appear to suggests of events to come.

In 2012, April 21, he wrote in Russian: “I will perish young.”

Last month Dzhokhar Tsarnaev tweeted: “Never underestimate the rebel with a cause.”

Last year, in a July 17 post at 10.45 a.m., he wrote: “3rd zombie apocalypse dream in a span of like 2 weeks, I’m no golden boy but maybe, just maybe we should be expecting something soon, tbc..”

This was the same day his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, is believed to have returned to the US after a mysterious six month absence.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev also made plain his feelings on 9/11.

Family and friends said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appeared to be a party-loving guy, who was never a troublemaker
Family and friends said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appeared to be a party-loving guy, who was never a troublemaker

He also posted: “Idk [I don’t know] why it’s hard for many of you to accept that 9/11 was an inside job, I mean I guess f*** the facts y’all are some real #patriots #gethip.”

Other post reads: “September 10th baby, you know what tomorrow is. Party at my house! #thingsyoudontyellwhenenteringaroom.”

Reports yesterday suggested Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had convinced his mother too.

A former client of Zubeidat Tsarnaeva told the Huffington Post the mother of the bombers was also a denier.

Alyssa Kilzner said: “It’s real. She said, <<My son knows all about it. You can read on the Internet>>.”

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev also posted pictures of himself in Times Square and wrote about visiting New York in November.

Another particularly hateful comment reads: “You guys know that the suicide rate for active duty american soldiers is at an all time high for 2012, a suicide a day, whats the #problem?”

The terror suspect also wrote: “A decade in America already, I want out.”

The context of the Boston Marathon message is not known as the recipient’s account and responses are locked and therefore private.

But half the conversation can be seen on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ‘s site.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was attending the University of Massachusetts after graduating from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, former high school of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

Up until Monday, family and friends said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appeared to be a party-loving guy, who was never a troublemaker and appeared grateful to America for taking in his family.

His father described him as a “true angel” yesterday as news emerged his two sons were terror suspects wanted for the atrocious attack on Boston on Monday.

Anzor Tsarnaev spoke with The Associated Press by telephone from the Russian city of Makhachkala.

“My son is a true angel,” he said.

“Dzhokhar is a second-year medical student in the US. He is such an intelligent boy.”

Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev were legal permanent residents of the US who hailed from Chechnya, which has been plagued by an Islamic insurgency stemming from separatist wars.

But the two brothers took to their adoptive country very differently.

It appears Tamerlan Tsarnaev became radicalized in recent months. Despite his many years here, he said he had “one single American friend”.

Five months ago, Tamerlan Tsarnaev created a YouTube playlist dedicated to terrorism. Named simply “Terrorists”, it included a pair of videos, which are now no longer available.

Among the songs was one called I will dedicate my life to Jihad.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev also featured videos recorded by recent converts to Islam.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the other hand, who grew up in the US from a much younger age, seemed to have entirely immersed himself in American life.

High school friends expressed their shock that he would have anything to do with terrorism.

One friend told CNN: “He is a normal kid, he parties, he sometimes smokes – if you know what I mean. He was as American as I am – he was born and raised here. This kid was a walking angel.”

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was born in Kyrgyzstan after the family fled Chechnya. The family, which also included two daughters, Bella and Amina, had refugee status.

Both sons had immense pride in their “home country” with Dzhokhar describing himself as Chechen and speaking the language.

The family moved around Eastern Europe with their young family.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev went to a school in Makhachkala, the capital city of the Republic of Dagestan, between 1999-2001.

His former teachers at his first school described him as a “normal child” yesterday.

“He arrived at our school in the first form and departed in the second,” Irina Bandurina, the secretary at Makhachkala’s School No.1, told RT.

“They arrived from Kyrgyzstan and departed to the US. I’m telling you they lived here for a year. Not the whole year. They arrived at the school in 2001 and departed in March 2002 … There were four of them – two sisters and two brothers… It’s written here that they are from Kyrgyzstan.”

In high school Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a young wrestling star – a member of the team for three years and captain for two.

Sanjaya Lamichhame, a team-mate, refused to speak against his friend and said: “He always motivated me. He was a very nice guy. I knew him for four or five years.”

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev also showed intellectual promise – winning a scholarship of $2,500 from the city of Cambridge.

His page on Vkontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, shows pictures of him with friends and posing for the camera.

On that site Dzhokhar Tsarnaev mentions his interest in Islam but makes no suggestion he was radicalized.

It has now been overrun with people asking him how he could have committed the bombing, and wishing him dead.

The first brush with police for the family appears to been have made in June 2012, when the boys’ mother Zubeidat Tsarnaeva was arrested for stealing $1,624 in clothes from Lord and Taylor.

His high school friend Eric Mercado said there was only one time he remembered Dzhokhar Tsarnaev discussing terrorism.

“A friend of mine remembered a conversation he had had with Dzhokhar. It was along the lines of when justified, terrorism is not necessarily a bad thing.”

“It was a red flag but people say things all the time and you don’t take it out of context. You don’t believe someone’s going to be a terrorist because of these conversations,” he said.

Eric Mercado said friends were in disbelief when they identified Dzhokhar Tsarnaev from FBI pictures by his trademark backwards white cap.

Dexter Season 8 Finale: New season debuts on June 30 and ends drama series

Sonia Pantiss
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Dexter Season 8 Finale: New season debuts on June 30 and ends drama series

Dexter’s producers have confirmed drama series Season 8 will be its last.

In a post on the show’s Facebook page, producers said they wanted fans to be the “first to know” that the upcoming series will be the finale.

Dexter, about a forensics expert who moonlights as a serial killer, began in 2006.

In 2010, Dexter‘s star, Michael C. Hall, won the Golden Globe for best actor in a Drama.

Dexter’s producers have confirmed drama series Season 8 will be its last
Dexter’s producers have confirmed drama series Season 8 will be its last

The show, which airs on cable network Showtime, has been one of its most successful programmes, with steady ratings throughout its run.

Dexter Season 8 will debut on June 30.

The new season will feature British actress Charlotte Rampling as a neuropsychiatrist specialising in serial killers.

Speaking before the announcement, Michael C. Hall told Entertainment Weekly: “I don’t imagine I’ll jump right back into something, but such amazing things are happening on television, to rule it out entirely would be silly.

“I look forward to finding out what life feels like without Dexter.”

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Biffy Clyro forced to cancel US tour dates due to Simon Neil’s respiratory problems

Sonia Pantiss
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Biffy Clyro forced to cancel US tour dates due to Simon Neil’s respiratory problems

Biffy Clyro have been forced to cancel their US tour dates as the band’s lead singer, Simon Neil, has been rushed back to the UK after suffering serious respiratory problems while on tour.

The band has released a statement which said doctors had advised Simon Neil “he was endangering his long term health if he chose to continue performing on this run.”

Biffy Clyro also confirmed they will no longer be performing at Coachella or continuing to support Muse across America and Canada.

The Scottish rockers do hope to continue with UK and European dates in the summer.

Biffy Clyro canceled their US tour dates due to Simon Neil’s respiratory problems
Biffy Clyro canceled their US tour dates due to Simon Neil’s respiratory problems

The band’s statement said: “Biffy Clyro have today been forced to cut short their North American tour and return to the UK immediately.

“Simon Neil has been struggling with a serious respiratory problem on the shows, including two nights supporting Muse at Madison Square Garden on Monday and Tuesday of this week, and was advised by doctors that he was endangering his long term health if he chose to continue performing on this run.

“Thus, further dates with Muse across the US and Canada, plus a second weekend performance at the Coachella Festival this coming Saturday, have now been cancelled.”

The statement, which was also posted on Biffy Clyro’s website, continued: “The band wish to express how sorry they are that they aren’t able to carry out the full run of shows, and hope to confirm a new run of North American shows shortly.

“All UK and European dates this summer should, however, remain unaffected.”

Biffy Clyro are due to headline this year’s Reading and Leeds Festivals. They have been touring their number one album Opposites since February.

Fitch downgrades UK rating from AAA to AA+

Clyde K. Valle
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Fitch downgrades UK rating from AAA to AA+

Fitch Ratings has downgraded the UK’s credit rating from AAA to AA+, owing to a weakened economic outlook.

The move, after Moody’s downgrade in February, came as British Chancellor George Osborne defended the government’s austerity plan.

Fitch said its downgrade primarily reflected a weaker economic and fiscal outlook.

George Osborne has said his was the “right plan” and that the economy was “healing”.

The credit ratings agency said its downgrade “primarily reflects a weaker economic and fiscal outlook” but returned its outlook to “stable”, removing the threat of further rate action in the near term.

In its twice-yearly World Economic Outlook published on Wednesday, the IMF slashed its forecast for growth to 0.7% in 2013 after saying in January that the country’s economy could expect 1% growth.

Moody’s became the first major agency to downgrade the UK’s sovereign debt rating in February, although Standard & Poor’s reaffirmed its AAA rating earlier this month.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded the UK’s credit rating from AAA to AA+, owing to a weakened economic outlook
Fitch Ratings has downgraded the UK’s credit rating from AAA to AA+, owing to a weakened economic outlook

Regarding the latest downgrade from Fitch, the UK Treasury said: “This is a stark reminder that the UK cannot simply run away from its problems, or refuse to deal with a legacy of debt built up over a decade.

“Fitch themselves say the government’s ‘continued policy commitment to reducing the underlying budget deficit’ is one of the main reasons UK debt now has a <<stable>> outlook.

“Though it is taking time, we are fixing this country’s economic problems. The deficit is down by a third (since 2010), a million and a quarter new private sector jobs have been created and the credibility we have earned means households and businesses are benefitting from near record low interest rates.”

IMF delegates visit the UK next month for annual consultations that allow it to monitor member countries and issue recommendations about economic policy.

Some IMF officials have recently raised doubts over George Osborne’s strategy.

IMF’s managing director Christine Lagarde said: “With this medium-term strong anchoring of fiscal consolidation, the pace has to be adjusted depending on the circumstances and given the weak growth that we have observed lately because of reduced demand addressed to the economy, now might be the time to consider.

“But we want to have the dialogue. I don’t think it’s fair on any of our members… to actually pass a final judgement, and the words used matter and the grammar that is applied to words matters so when we say <<may consider>>, we are opening the door.”

“But now is the dialogue,” she said, referring to the IMF’s upcoming visit to the UK.

Christine Lagarde’s comments were in line with those made by IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard earlier in the week, when he warned that George Osborne was “playing with fire” if he continued his current strategy.

But the chancellor is sticking to his plan, saying he would defend his case when the IMF officials visit.

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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev partied with college friends just two days after Boston Marathon terror attack

Roy Siemens
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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev partied with college friends just two days after Boston Marathon terror attack

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old Chechen terror suspect in Boston Marathon bombings, partied with college friends on Wednesday night and was said to “look relaxed” just two days after the horrific attack.

Hours before the deadly shootout which claimed his brother Tamerlan’s life Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev was seen on a night out on campus.

A fellow University of Massachusetts student told the Boston Globe: “He was just relaxed.”

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev partied with college friends just two days after Boston Marathon terror attack
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev partied with college friends just two days after Boston Marathon terror attack

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s nonchalant attitude – a possible attempt to cover his tracks – in the wake of Monday’s Boston Marathon attack was also witnessed on his Twitter page.

At 5 p.m. on Monday – just hours after he and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, were caught on surveillance footage coolly walking away from the bomb site – he tweeted: “Ain’t no love in the heart of the city, stay safe people.”

The next day Dzhokhar replied to a tweet claiming one of the fatalities in the bombings was a woman whose fiancé was proposing to her.

“Fake story” he wrote on the social media website.

The same day the suspect added: “I’m a stress free kind of guy.”

Chechnya: A history of terror

Roy Siemens
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Chechnya: A history of terror

Muslim militants from Chechnya have a long history of unleashing separatist terror attacks on Russia – but the allegations of Chechen origin brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s involvement in the Boston Marathon explosions would mark the first time they have targeted the West.

Buried in the heart of Russia’s Northern Caucasus, the Islamic state has fought against Russian rule for centuries.

But it culminated in a bloody and chaotic civil war with the Russian government in 1994 that left tens of thousands dead and the region in ruins.

As a result, the area became a hotbed for extremism, and was soon infiltrated by foreign Islamic militants, including those with ties to al-Qaeda.

Terrorists have since unleashed a string of attacks on Russian soil and, more recently, abroad.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old Chechen terror suspect in Boston Marathon bombings
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old Chechen terror suspect in Boston Marathon bombings

Russian troops withdrew from Chechnya in 1996 after the first Chechen war, leaving it de-facto independent and largely lawless, but then rolled back three years later following apartment building explosions in Moscow and other cities blamed on the rebels.

Chechnya has stabilized under the steely grip of Kremlin-backed local strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, a former rebel whose forces were accused of massive rights abuses.

However, the Islamic insurgency has spread to neighboring provinces, with Dagestan, sandwiched between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, becoming the epicenter of violence with militants launching daily attacks against police and other authorities.

Militants from Chechnya and neighboring provinces have launched a long series of terror attacks in Russia.

On October 23, 2002, over 40, mostly female, terrorists took more than 700 hostages prisoner at a Moscow theater, demanding an end to the Russian presence in Chechnya. Dressed from head to toe in black hijabs, they became known as The Black Widows.

But when Russian security forces stormed the theater, guns blazing, the hostage takers responded by detonating homemade bombs strapped to their bodies, killing more than 100 innocent theater goers.

Then on September 1, 2004, a group of 32 heavily-armed, masked men seized control of Middle School Number One and more than 1,000 hostages in Beslan, North Ossetia.

Most of the hostages were children aged from 6 to 16 years old.

After a tense two-day standoff, that was beamed around the world, Russian forces raided the building.

A violent, two-hour gunfight followed bringing an end to a siege that ultimately claimed the lives of 331 civilians, 11 commandos and 31 hostage-takers.

The rebels have since claimed responsibility for an array of terrorist attacks, including last year’s double suicide bombing of the Moscow subway system that killed 40 people.

In March 2010, two women suicide bombers killed 40 commuters when they blew themselves up on two packed tube trains during the busy rush hour.

In January 2011, a Chechen suicide bomber unleashed terror on Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport when they blew themselves up killing 36 people.

In recent years, however, militants in Chechnya, Dagestan and other neighboring provinces have largely refrained from attacks outside the Caucasus.

The allegations of Chechen brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s role in the Boston’s explosions would reinforce long-held claims by Russian officials that insurgents in the Caucasus have been linked to al-Qaeda.

Mariah Carey and daughter Monroe step out in complementary pink dresses

Lisa.Felice
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Mariah Carey and daughter Monroe step out in complementary pink dresses

Mariah Carey shared a series of intimate snaps of herself joined by her daughter Monroe for a stroll down a stone walkway in complementary pink dresses.

Monroe, 23-month-old, joined Mariah Carey as the singer left for a taping of American Idol on Thursday afternoon.

Mariah Carey, 43, showed off a set of toned legs in a salmon mini dress with a fluttered hem, a khaki trench coat and metallic heeled sandals.

Monroe, 23-month-old, joined Mariah Carey as the singer left for a taping of American Idol
Monroe, 23-month-old, joined Mariah Carey as the singer left for a taping of American Idol

Monroe matched mum in a pink floral frock worn over a pair of blue jeans and accessorized with trainers, a hair bow and glasses in the same shade of pale bubblegum.

Mariah Carey wrote of her photogenic daughter: “Ms. Monroe walking me out #divaintraining.”

The singer added: “Hate leaving dembabies, be back soon!!!”

Earlier this year, Mariah Carey told Barbara Walters of her daughter: “I call her Miss Monroe, and that kind of dictated her personality. She’s a total diva. She’s into jewelry. She’s fascinated by jewelry.”

Later, the singer posted a photograph of herself reclining against a shelf, captioning it: “Off to mix my new single. #music=life (that’s not the song title ha ha).”

Though reportedly in the studio, Mariah Carey has not released an album since 2010.

Mariah Carey told Billboard of her latest effort: “It’s about making sure I have tons of good music, because at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing.

“Wherever we go with this project, I’ve tried to keep the soul and heart in it, with me obviously as the through-line.”

Snooki weight loss: Jersey Shore star shows off her slim new look after losing 40 lbs since giving birth

Lisa.Felice
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Snooki weight loss: Jersey Shore star shows off her slim new look after losing 40 lbs since giving birth

Snooki shows off her sleek new look and posts a triple image of herself on Twitter after she managed to lose 40 lbs since giving birth last August.

Jersey Shore star spent some time stitching the striking photographs together, featuring herself in a lumberjack shirt, black vest, leggings and boots.

Snooki, 25, looks back to her best after giving birth to her first child Lorenzo with fiancé Jionni LaValle.

Snooki shows off her sleek new look and posts a triple image of herself on Twitter after she managed to lose 40 lbs since giving birth last August
Snooki shows off her sleek new look and posts a triple image of herself on Twitter after she managed to lose 40 lbs since giving birth last August

She said the latter had teased her about her look, saying: “Jionni called me a cowgirl.”

Snooki later posted an image of herself with a frozen dinner on her leg, saying: “Icing battle wounds from the gym.”

But Snooki, real name Nicole Polizzi, has not only been boasting about herself on the social networking website. She also gave her fans a thrilling update on her boy’s progress yesterday.

The reality star said: “My son’s officially crawling! Yay.”

Last weekend Snooki showed off her fabulous new figure in a metallic dress split to the thigh at the MTV Movie Awards.

David Henneberry from Watertown finds Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding out in his boat parked in backyard

Nancy Clayson
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David Henneberry from Watertown finds Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding out in his boat parked in backyard

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the student wanted in the Boston Marathon bombing, was captured wounded but alive after hiding out in a boat parked in David Henneberry’s backyard in Watertown on Friday evening.

The arrest of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev signaled the end of five days of terror set-off by the double bombing at the Boston Marathon finish line.

His older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, lay dead in a furious 24-hour drama that transfixed the nation and paralyzed the Boston area with fear.

Relieved law enforcement officers began cheering and clapping after Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was arrested and is now in a serious condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and is reported to have lost a great deal of blood.

David Henneberry, an avid boater who is a member of the Watertown Yacht Club, found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev inside his boat covered in blood
David Henneberry, an avid boater who is a member of the Watertown Yacht Club, found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev inside his boat covered in blood

Police cornered Dzhokhar Tsarnaev around 7 p.m., less than an hour after police lifted a stay-indoors order for the city and its suburbs.

A resident in his 60s, believed to be called David Henneberry, reportedly went outside to smoke and saw the tarpaulin cover of his 22-foot pleasure boat was disturbed off the top.

Checking to see what was wrong, David Henneberry, an avid boater who is a member of the Watertown Yacht Club, investigated and saw Dzhokhar Tsarnaev curled-up inside covered in blood.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured wounded but alive after hiding out in a boat parked in David Henneberry’s backyard in Watertown
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured wounded but alive after hiding out in a boat parked in David Henneberry’s backyard in Watertown

David Hanneberry then “freaked out” and ran inside to call police – who dispatched a helicopter which used thermal imaging to confirm there was a person inside the boat.

“He looked and noticed something was off about his boat, so he got his ladder, and he put his ladder up on the side of the boat and climbed up, and then he saw blood on it, and he thought he saw what was a body laying in the boat,” David Henneberry’s neighbor, George Pizzuto said to ABC News.

“So he got out of the boat fast and called police.”

“That boat’s his baby. He takes care of it like you wouldn’t believe. And they told him it’s all shot up,” George Pizzuto said.

“He’s going to be heartbroken.”

Within minutes police, ATF, SWAT and K-9 units had descended upon 67 Franklin Street and engaged Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in a vicious gun battle – over 40 shots rang out in the quiet suburban neighborhood.

“There was an exchange of gunfire,” confirmed Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis at a news conference.

Authorities, using a bullhorn, had called on the suspect to surrender: “Come out with your hands up.”

“We used a robot to pull the tarp off the boat,” David Procopio of the Massachusetts State Police said to CNN.

“We were also watching him with a thermal imaging camera in our helicopter. He was weakened by blood loss – injured last night most likely.”

Unconfirmed reports suggest that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was shot twice by law enforcement in the terrific gun battle which raged until his capture at approximately 8.45 p.m.

Law enforcement sources have suggested that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev gave himself up voluntarily after realizing continuing resistance was fruitless.

The standoff and subsequent arrest came only minutes after authorities said during a news conference that the manhunt for the suspect appeared to come up empty.

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Sichuan earthquake kills at least 46 people and injures other 400 in China

Diane A. Wade
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Sichuan earthquake kills at least 46 people and injures other 400 in China

A powerful earthquake hit China’s south-western province of Sichuan killing at least 46 people and injuring at least 400, state TV reports.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake, which had a 6.6 magnitude, was centred 31 miles west of the town of Linqiong.

The tremor occurred at a depth of 7.4 miles.

There are fears the death toll could rise further.

An 8.0 magnitude quake in Sichuan in May 2008 killed nearly 90,000 people.

An 8.0 magnitude earthquake in Sichuan in May 2008 killed nearly 90,000 people
An 8.0 magnitude earthquake in Sichuan in May 2008 killed nearly 90,000 people

The latest quake – initially reported as a 7.0 magnitude, and then at 6.9 – struck at 08:02 local time, the USGS said.

The earthquake was felt 71 miles away in the provincial capital, Chengdu, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua.

People ran into the streets wrapped in blankets, according to photos posted online. Other pictures showed buildings that had collapsed.

A resident in Chengdu told Xinhua he had been on the 13th floor of a building when he felt the quake. The building shook for about 20 seconds and he saw tiles fall from nearby buildings.

Electrical and water supplies have reportedly been cut to the affected area.

Telephone lines are also believed to be down.

Xinhua said 2,000 soldiers had been dispatched to the area to help with rescue efforts.

The city of Ya’an, close to the epicentre, has a population of 1.5 million.

The USGS noted that “significant” casualties were likely and that “extensive damage is probable and disaster is likely widespread”.

“Past events with this alert level have required a national or international level response,” it added.

The 2008 disaster in Sichuan left 5 million people homeless.

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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in serious condition at Boston hospital

Nancy Clayson
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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in serious condition at Boston hospital

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the student wanted in the Boston Marathon bombing, was captured wounded but alive after hiding out in a boat parked in a backyard in Watertown on Friday evening.

The arrest of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev signaled the end of five days of terror set-off by the double bombing at the Boston Marathon finish line.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the student wanted in the Boston Marathon bombing, was captured wounded but alive after hiding out in a boat parked in a backyard in Watertown
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the student wanted in the Boston Marathon bombing, was captured wounded but alive after hiding out in a boat parked in a backyard in Watertown

The bloody endgame came four days after the bombing and just a day after the FBI released surveillance-camera images of two young men suspected of planting the pressure-cooker explosives that ripped through the crowd at the marathon finish line, killing three people and wounding more than 180.

His older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, lay dead in a furious 24-hour drama that transfixed the nation and paralyzed the Boston area with fear.

Relieved law enforcement officers began cheering and clapping after Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was arrested and is now in a serious condition at
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and is reported to have lost a great deal of blood.

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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev captured alive after hiding in a boat in David Henneberry’s backyard in Watertown

Diane A. Wade
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0
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev captured alive after hiding in a boat in David Henneberry’s backyard in Watertown

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Suspect 2 in the Boston Marathon bombings, has been captured alive in Watertown and taken into custody, police have said.

Gunfire was heard as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was reportedly found hiding in a boat in a backyard in Watertown.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, had escaped on foot early on Friday after a police shootout that claimed the life of his elder brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Three people died and more than 180 were hurt in Monday’s Boston Marathon bombings.

Boston Police Department tweeted: “CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody.”

A law enforcement official told the Associated Press news agency that suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was covered in blood.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Suspect 2 in the Boston Marathon bombings, has been captured alive in Watertown and taken into custody
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Suspect 2 in the Boston Marathon bombings, has been captured alive in Watertown and taken into custody

Police helicopters buzzed overhead, and bomb squad vans and ambulances were in position around the house in Franklin Street in Watertown on Friday night.

CNN reported that a family of ten were removed from the scene and officers were seen carrying children.

The home reportedly belongs to Mr. Henneberry and Elizabeth Henneberry, a couple in their mid-sixties.

At one stage a series of about 15 explosions erupted, which local television channels speculated could have been flash-bang grenades used by the authorities.

A local resident, Anna Bedirian, told Reuters news agency: “There’s about 50 guys there with machine guns and they all got bulletproof vests on, some of them are holding shields.

“There are a couple of armored cars and they’re all standing around.”

Friday night’s breakthrough came less than an hour after authorities lifted a city-wide order for residents to stay indoors, and reopened the transport system, as the trail appeared to have gone cold.

Thousands of SWAT team officers scoured the streets all day in a manhunt that virtually shut down the city.

Officials had shut down all mass transit and warned close to one million people in Boston and some of its suburbs not to leave their homes.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a college student, had fled on foot following a gun battle that left 200 spent rounds and a car chase in which he and his brother hurled explosives at police, authorities said.

Brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev also shot and killed an MIT policeman and severely wounded another officer late on Thursday, authorities said, hours after the FBI released images of marathon-bombing suspects.

Law enforcement officials and family members have identified Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev as ethnic Chechens who had been living in America for about a decade.

The FBI interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011 after a request from a foreign government, US law enforcements officials have confirmed. But agents closed the case after finding no reason for concern.

Boston Marathon attack killed Martin Richard, 8, Krystle Campbell, 29, and Lu Lingzi, 23, a postgraduate student from China.

Authorities have taken three people into custody in connection with the Boston bombings in New Bedford, Massachusetts, 65 miles south of the city, the Boston Globe reports. It is unknown how they were connected to the case.

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