Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe has warned China that his country will respond with force if any attempt is made to land on disputed island.
The Japanese prime minister’s comments came as eight Chinese government ships sailed near East China Sea islands that both nations claim.
A flotilla of 10 fishing boats carrying Japanese activists was also reported to be in the area, as well as the Japanese coastguard.
Shinzo Abe was speaking in parliament hours after dozens of lawmakers visited a controversial war-linked shrine.
A total of 168 lawmakers paid their respects at the Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates Japan’s war dead, including war criminals, in a move likely to anger regional neighbors who say the shrine is a reminder of Japan’s military past.
The warning from the Japanese prime minister was the most explicit to China since Shinzo Abe took power in December.
Asked in parliament what he would do if Chinese ships tried to land on the disputed islands, Shinzo Abe said they would be expelled by force.
Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe has warned China that his country will respond with force if any attempt is made to land on disputed island
“Since it has become the Abe government, we have made sure that if there is an instance where there is an intrusion into our territory or it seems that there could be landing on the islands then we will deal will it strongly,” he said.
The warning came as eight Chinese ships sailed around the islands – called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
The Japanese coast guard said it was the highest number of Chinese boats in the area since Tokyo nationalized part of the island chain in September 2012.
China said its ships had been monitoring Japanese vessels. The State Oceanic Administration issued a statement saying three of its ships had “found” several Japanese ships around the islands and “immediately ordered another five ships in the East China Sea to meet the three ships”.
Ten Japanese boats carrying around 80 activists arrived in the area early on Tuesday, Reuters news agency reported, monitored by Japanese Coast Guard vessels. Public broadcaster NHK said the boats were carrying “regional lawmakers and members of the foreign media”.
Japan’s top government spokesman said the “intrusion into territorial waters” was “extremely regrettable”. Japan also summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest, reports said.
The territorial row has been rumbling for years but was reignited last year when Japan bought three of the islands from their private Japanese owner.
China claims the island chain, which is controlled by Japan. Taiwan also claims the islands, which offer rich fishing grounds and lie in a strategically important area.
The dispute has led to serious diplomatic tension between China and Japan, most recently in January when Japan said a Chinese frigate locked weapons-controlling radar on one of its navy ships near the islands – something China disputes.
The visit to the Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday by lawmakers marking the spring festival is also likely to hit ties between Beijing and Tokyo.
Two cabinet ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, visited the shrine on Sunday. PM Shinzo Abe did not visit but made a ritual offering.
South Korea subsequently cancelled a proposed visit by its foreign minister, while China lodged “solemn representations” in response to the ministers’ visit.
“Only when Japan faces up to its aggressive past can it embrace the future and develop friendly relations with its Asian neighbors,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday.
But Japanese lawmaker Hidehisa Otsujji said it was “natural” for “lawmakers to worship at a shrine for people who died for the nation”.
“Every nation does this. I don’t understand why we get a backlash,” he said.
It would appear Kristen Stewart has been spending time with her former lover Rupert Sanders once again, with new photographs showing her getting into a car with a man who bears an uncanny resemblance to the director.
Last year, Kristen Stewart’s secret affair with married director Rupert Sanders came to light in July causing one of the biggest celebrity shocks of 2012.
This time, Kristen Stewart, who first met Rupert Sanders when they worked on Snow White And The Huntsman together in 2011, was seen climbing into the passenger seat of a dark car after a night out with friends at Mexican restaurant Malo Taqueria in Silver Lake, California, on Sunday.
In addition to Kristen Stewart’s mystery male companion looking suspiciously like her former lover, the vehicle in question appeared to be a black Acura – the same model as the one owned by Rupert Sanders.
It would appear the incident took place on the same day Kristen Stewart’s Twilight co-star boyfriend, Robert Pattinson, jetted out of Los Angeles.
Kristen Stewart, 23, had been enjoying an evening out with a group at girlfriends at the Mexican eatery, the same location where Robert Pattinson – who she briefly split from when details of her affair with Rupert Sanders, 42, came to light last year – threw her a romantic birthday party last week.
Kristen Stewart has been seen getting into a car with man who appears to be her former lover Rupert Sanders
Details of Kristen Stewart and Rupert Sanders’s affair came to light when they were pictured cuddling and kissing in July 2012.
The actress immediately issued a groveling public apology to her long-time love, Robert Pattinson, with the pair briefly splitting, before briefly reconciling their romance.
Kristen Stewart said at the time: “This momentary indiscretion has jeopardized the most important thing in my life, the person I love and respect the most, Rob. I love him, I love him, I’m so sorry.”
Meanwhile, Rupert Sanders issued an equally gushing apology to his wife, Liberty Ross, 34, and their two children, Skyla, 8, and 6-year-old son Tennyson.
He said: “I am utterly distraught about the pain I have caused my family. My beautiful wife and heavenly children are all I have in this world. I love them with all my heart. I am praying that we can get through this together.”
While Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson managed to get their relationship back on track, British model Liberty Ross – who played Kristen’s mother in the Snow White film – filed for divorce from Rupert Sanders in January, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason behind the marital split.
Liberty Ross petitioned for joint physical and legal custody of the couple’s two children.
According to reports, Liberty Ross couldn’t move on from Rupert Sanders’s infidelity with Kristen Stewart, although the couple are understood to have attended counseling sessions late last year.
A friend said: “Liberty tried for a reconciliation but it was impossible. The mistrust went too deep. The decision to divorce was hers.”
In her only public comments about the affair – in an interview at the end of last year – Liberty Ross said: “I believe that we’re all on journeys and we are all given lessons at certain times in our lives.
“Sometimes, when things seem really bad, you have to be able to see the good and learn from it and move forward as graciously as possible.”
Kristen Stewart is set to reprise her leading role in the Snow White And The Huntsman sequel later this year, but Rupert Sanders has been dropped from the project.
Boston SWAT officers who handcuffed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev say that they didn’t “have time to be afraid” as they inched toward his hiding spot on Friday.
The SWAT officers from the MBTA held a press conference on Monday, as they were officially recognized for their efforts in taking down Boston Marathon suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after an all-day manhunt in Watertown.
Watertown was gripped with fear as the sun went down on Friday, when pops of gunfire and the booms of flash grenades were heard – all focused on a boat parked in a Franklin Street driveway.
The well-trained SWAT team then approached David Henneberry’s boat, not knowing whether Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was armed or had rigged the vessel with the same bombs he allegedly used in the attack at the marathon days prior.
SWAT Officer Jeff Campbell – who pulled Dzhokhar Tsarnaev off the boat – noted how the officers had proceeded carefully, saying: “We had no idea if the boat was rigged with explosives. He could have done anything.”
The officers admitted that they were sitting ducks – out in the open in the backyard as they moved in.
Jeff Campbell told former FBI assistant director John Miller in a CBS interview airing on Tuesday: “As we’re approaching what we call the danger zone… That’s the danger zone because there’s no cover for us except that ballistic shield.”
But as they got closer, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev suddenly stood up in the boat, acknowledging that he was ready to surrender.
Officer Jeff Campbell noted that the suspect “looked weak” and was “shaky”.
Boston SWAT officers who handcuffed Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at his hiding spot on Friday
He told John Miller: “[Dzhokhar Tsarnaev] appeared to be losing consciousness and did have some wounds to his body. You could see the blood on his body.”
Once the suspect was off the boat, Officer Saro Thompson said: “Officer [Kenny] Tran helped me secure the suspect along with other people from different teams that we do not know the names of.”
Sgt. Sean Reynolds, who is also part of the team, told reporters: “You don’t really have time to be afraid.”
Officer Saro Thompson added: “At a time like that, training kicks in. We don’t have emotion going into something like that.
“We ended up putting him in cuffs and we turned him over to the medics after we moved him away from the boat.”
When asked if Dzhokhar Tsarnaev spoke as he was arrested, Saro Thompson said: “I don’t think he had the energy to say anything. Once we got him on the ground, he was compliant and was going in and out of consciousness.”
One of their colleagues, transit police officer Richard H. Donahue, 33, was seriously injured during the wild shootout with the Tsarnaev brothers early on Friday morning.
Officer Saro Thompson said that when he visited Richard H. Donahue in the hospital on Monday, he proudly informed him: “We got him.”
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s older brother Tamerlan died in a hospital after that confrontation, likely from injuries sustained when he was run over by a stolen vehicle driven by Dzhokhar.
The interview with the SWAT officers came after Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was read his Miranda Rights on Monday as he was charged with using weapons of mass destruction during an arraignment while he laid in his hospital bed.
During the proceedings in his Boston hospital bed, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev only uttered the word “no” when asked if he could afford a defense attorney.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was arraigned in his hospital bed at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on Monday by a magistrate judge, court officials said.
A probable cause hearing in the case was then set for May 30.
The United States could force Internet retailers to collect sales taxes under a bill that overwhelmingly passed a test vote in the Senate Monday.
Under current law, states can only require stores to collect sales taxes if the store has a physical presence in the state. As a result, many online sales are essentially tax-free, giving Internet retailers a big advantage over brick-and-mortar stores.
The bill would allow states to require online retailers to collect state and local sales taxes for purchases made over the Internet. The sales taxes would be sent to the states where shoppers live.
The Senate voted 74 to 20 to begin debating the bill. If that level of support continues, the Senate could pass the bill as early as this week.
Supporters say the bill is about fairness for businesses and lost revenue for states.
Opponents say it would impose complicated regulations on retailers and doesn’t have enough protections for small businesses. Businesses with less than $1 million a year in online sales would be exempt.
“I believe it is important to level the playing field for all retailers,” said Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., the bill’s main sponsor.
“We should not be subsidizing some taxpayers at the expense of others.”
The United States could force Internet retailers to collect sales taxes under a bill that overwhelmingly passed a test vote in the Senate
In many states, shoppers are required to pay unpaid sales tax when they file their state income tax returns. However, states complain that few people comply.
“I do know about three people that comply with that,” Mike Enzi said.
President Barack Obama supports the bill, but its fate is uncertain in the House, where some Republicans regard it as a tax increase.
Heritage Action for America, the activist arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, opposes the bill and will count the vote in its legislative scorecard.
Many of the nation’s governors – Republicans and Democrats – have been lobbying the federal government for years for the authority to collect sales taxes from online sales, said Dan Crippen, executive director of the National Governors Association.
Those efforts intensified when state tax revenues took hit from the recession and the slow economic recovery.
“It’s a matter of equity for businesses,” Dan Crippen said.
“It’s a matter of revenue for states.”
The bill pits brick-and-mortar stores like Wal-Mart against online services such as eBay.
The National Retail federation supports it. And Amazon.com, which initially fought efforts in some states to make it collect sales taxes, supports it, too.
“Amazon.com has long supported a simplified nationwide approach that is evenhandedly applied and applicable to all but the smallest volume sellers,” Paul Misener, Amazon’s vice president of global public policy said in a recent letter to senators.
On the other side, eBay has been rallying customers to oppose the bill.
“I hope you agree that imposing unnecessary tax burdens on small online businesses is a bad idea,” eBay president and CEO John Donahoe said in a letter to customers.
“Join us in letting your Members of Congress know they should protect small online businesses, not potentially put them out of business.”
The bill is also opposed by senators from states that have no sales tax, including Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.
“Supporters of this online sales tax bill are trying to muscle it through before senators find out how disastrous it would be for businesses in their states,” Kelly Ayotte said.
“I will fight this power grab every step of the way to protect small online businesses in New Hampshire and across the nation.”
Max Baucus said the bill would require relatively small Internet retailers to comply with sales tax laws in thousands of jurisdictions.
“This legislation doesn’t help businesses expand and grow and hire more employees,” he said.
“Instead, it forces small businesses to hire expensive lawyers and accountants to deal with the burdensome paperwork and added complexity of tax rules and filings across multiple states.”
But Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the bill requires participating states to make it relatively easy for Internet retailers to comply.
States must provide free computer software to help retailers calculate sales taxes, based on where shoppers live.
States must also establish a single entity to receive Internet sales tax revenue, so retailers don’t have to send them to individual counties or cities.
“We’re way beyond the quilt pen and ledger days,” Dick Durbin said.
“Thanks to computers and thanks to software it is not that complex.”
Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been read his Miranda Rights as he was charged with using weapons of mass destruction during an arraignment while he laid in his hospital bed.
During the proceedings at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, only uttered the word “no” when asked if he could afford a defense attorney.
The teenager was officially read his Miranda Rights at the time was he was arraigned on Monday by a magistrate judge, court officials said.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was also asked several questions in which he nodded his head to respond.
The hearing began with a doctor being asked whether Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is alert.
“You can rouse him,” the doctor said, according to a transcript of the hearing obtained byThe New York Times.
Dzhokar Tsarnaev then nods his head when asked how he’s feeling.
At the end of the hearing, Judge Marianne B. Bowler said: “At this time, at the conclusion of the initial appearance, I find that the defendant is alert, mentally competent and lucid.
“He is aware of the nature of the proceedings.”
A probable cause hearing in the case was then set for May 30.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is specifically charged with one count of using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction – namely, an improvised explosive device or IED – against persons and property within the US resulting in death, and one count of malicious destruction of property by means of an explosive device resulting in death, according to the criminal complaint.
If he is convicted, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev faces the death penalty or life imprisonment. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000.
Regardless of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s sentence if found guilty, rocker Ted Nugent has weighed in on the case, arguing that his punishment be much more severe, and as America’s “Founding Fathers” intended.
In a column forWorld Net Daily entitled, “Time to Stretch Neck of Jihadist Punk”, Ted Nugent wrote: “Imagine if this jihadist punk had basically committed the same crimes 150 years ago. He would have been swinging from an oak tree in Boston Common no longer than 60 days from the date of his arrest. That would be justice.”
The charging documents reveal dramatic new details of the investigation and events following the bombings, including a list of items obtained from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s college dorm room and claims that during a carjacking at least one suspect was advertising his role in the marathon bombings.
“Although our investigation is ongoing, today’s charges bring a successful end to a tragic week for the city of Boston, and for our country,” US Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will not be tried as an enemy combatant because he is a naturalized US citizen and under federal law, citizens cannot be tried in military commissions, the White House said Monday. Instead, he will be tried in the US justice system.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been read his Miranda Rights as he was charged with using weapons of mass destruction
CARJACKING
The charging papers allege that Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev carjacked a man around midnight on Thursday and that older brother, Tamerlan, told the car’s owner that he had carried out the Boston Marathon bombings.
“The victim stated that while he was sitting in his car on a road in Cambridge, a man approached and tapped on his passenger-side window,” according to the charges.
“When the victim rolled down the window, the man reached in, opened the door, and entered the victim’s vehicle. The man pointed a firearm at the victim and stated, <<Did you hear about the Boston explosion?>> and <<I did that>>.”
The gunman, identified by the FBI as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, removed the magazine from his firearm to show the victim that it was loaded, then re-inserted it and said: “I am serious.”
Tamerlan Tsarnaev then allegedly forced the victim to drive to a location where they picked up Dzhokhar.
One of the suspects then got behind the wheel of the car and demanded money and an ATM card from the victim. The suspects drove to a gas station and got out of the car to withdraw money, at which point the victim managed to escape.
FIREFIGHT
The stolen vehicle with the two suspects inside was located by authorities a short time later in Watertown, Massachusetts. As police cruisers descended on the scene, the men threw at least two small IEDs from the car windows, sparking a firefight.
During the exchange of fire Tamerlan Tsarnaev got out of the car and was shot several times. Meanwhile, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev managed to escape in the car – but not without first running over Tamerlan’s body.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, and authorities launched a manhunt for Dzhokhar, who apparently abandoned the carjacked vehicle shortly after making his getaway.
CACHE OF EXPLOSIVES
From the scene of the shootout, the FBI recovered two unexploded IEDs, as well as the remnants of numerous exploded devices. Another in-tact device was found inside the abandoned vehicle.
A preliminary examination of the explosive devices that were used at the Boston Marathon revealed that they were low-grade explosives housed inside pressure cookers with metallic BBs and nails. Many of the BBs were contained within an adhesive material, authorities said.
Investigators discovered the exact same type of explosives at the scene of the firefight and inside the abandoned getaway car.
MANHUNT
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was on the run for nearly a full day when authorities located him hiding in David Henneberry’s boat parked outside his home in Watertown.
The bomber engaged in a firefight with police from inside the boat before he was eventually coaxed out of the vessel, authorities said.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had visible injuries, including apparent gunshot wounds to the head, neck, legs, and hand. He was searched and authorities found several means of identification in his pockets, including credit cards and a Dartmouth student ID.
“At the end they were just making demands of him: Show your hands, lift your shirt. And eventually that’s what he did,” Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau told ABC News.
“He was very slow and lethargic in every move that he made and they could see that there was no device on his chest. They kept creeping closer to him and then they felt it safe enough to pull him away from the boat.”
Authorities initially said they couldn’t question the terror suspect because of his severe throat wound.
Authorities conducted a search at Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Dartmouth dorm, where they found a pyrotechnic as well as a white hat and black jacket like the ones he is pictured wearing in surveillance footage from the scene of the marathon bombings.
MARATHON BOMBINGS
The charging documents also contain new details about the marathon bombings and allege that at least one of the suspects was using a cell phone shortly before the explosions.
The documents state that at approximately 2:41 p.m. – about 8 minutes before the explosions – both bombing suspects were standing together about a half-block from the Forum Restaurant on Boylston Street near the finish line, according to footage from surveillance cameras.
About one minute later, one suspect – believed to be Tamerlan Tsarnaev – appears to break away from the crowd and begin walking east on Boylston street toward the finish line.
At 2:45 p.m. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev – referred to in the charging documents as “Bomber Two” – walks in the same direction but stops short of the finish line, directly in front of Forum Restaurant.
“He appears to have the thumb of his right hand hooked under the strap of his knapsack and a cell phone in his left hand,” FBI special agent Daniel R. Genck wrote in the documents.
About 15 seconds later, “Bomber Two” appears to drop his knapsack to the ground.
The suspect stays in that position for about four minutes, occasionally looking at his cell phone and once appearing to snap a picture with it.
“At some point he appears to look at his phone, which is held at approximately waist level, and may be manipulating the phone,” the charging papers state. “Approximately 30 seconds before the first explosion, he lifts his phone to his ear as if he is speaking on his cell phone, and keeps it there for approximately 18 seconds.
“A few seconds after he finishes the call, the large crowd of people around him can be seen reacting to the first explosion.”
As others are reacting to the explosion, “Bomber Two” “calmly but rapidly” begins moving away from the finish line – without his backpack, which he had left on the ground.
About 10 seconds later, an explosion occurs in the location of the discarded knapsack.
Two North African suspects thought to be linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) have been arrested in Spain, according to police.
An Algerian identified as Nou Mediouni was arrested in Zaragoza, northern Spain, the interior ministry said.
The other suspect, a Moroccan named Hassan El Jaaouani, was arrested in Murcia in the south.
Two North African suspects thought to be linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb have been arrested in Spain
They have “a similar profile to the two suspects who carried out the Boston attacks”, the ministry said. French police had helped to track them down.
AQIM is among several Islamist groups fighting French and West African troops in Mali.
It has its roots in the bitter Algerian civil war of the early 1990s, but in 2007 it emerged as an international jihadist group linked to Osama Bin Laden’s network. AQIM says its aim is to spread Islamic law and it is known for kidnapping Westerners and extracting ransoms.
It is not clear whether the men arrested in Spain are suspected of planning any attacks. Their similarity to the Boston marathon bombers was not explained in the ministry statement.
Moroccan Islamists linked to al-Qaeda were found guilty of the 2004 Madrid train bombings which killed nearly 200 people and injured more than 1,800.
A car bomb has exploded outside the French embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli, wounding two guards and causing extensive damage.
The blast completely destroyed the embassy’s reception area and parts of neighboring homes.
One official told Reuters news agency: “We think it was a booby-trapped car.”
An investigation is under way into what French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called an “odious act”.
A car bomb has exploded outside the French embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli, wounding two guards and causing extensive damage
Laurent Fabius said French officials were working with the Libyan authorities to identify those responsible.
The explosion happened shortly after 07:00 in a smart, residential area of Tripoli.
The blast took place in a small side street, causing extensive damage to the buildings and parked cars.
Diplomatic missions in Libya have been attacked in the past, the most notable being the US consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi in September 2012 that led to the death of its ambassador Christopher Stevens and three Americans.
This is the first major attack on a foreign embassy in the Libyan capital, observers say.
London police is haunting a woman who launched a tirade of foul-mouthed racist abuse towards another passenger on an eastbound District line train.
The unidentified woman swore repeatedly repeating “If your country is so good, f*** off back there” at a man sitting next to her on the train.
Another passenger filmed the three-minute rant and posted it on YouTube which prompted British Transport Police to launch an investigation into the shocking alleged incident.
While it is unclear what provoked the attack or what the victim says during the video, the woman repeatedly swears, makes rude gestures and stands threateningly over the man
The woman screamed: “You come in this country you f***ing mother f***ers c***. You want everything on a plate f***ing c*** and expect us to take this.
London police is haunting a woman who launched a tirade of foul-mouthed racist abuse towards another passenger on an eastbound District line train
“You are all racist c***s, you want to take over the world.
“You’re so thick you don’t even get it.”
On April 22, the police released an image of the woman. They said the date and time of the alleged attack is unclear. The video was posted on April 11.
Detective Constable Lawrence Murphy said: “We have isolated images of a woman we believe may be able to help us with our investigation into the incident.
“We believe the footage was filmed on an eastbound District line train, which passed through Stepney Green Tube station and Mile End station.
“At this stage, we urge anyone who witnessed this incident, or who recognizes the woman, to get in touch and help us build up a full picture of exactly what took place.
“We treat all allegations of racism very seriously and urge anyone with information about this incident to contact us.”
Anyone with information should contact British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
In 2012, Jacqueline Williams, 47, was charged with a racially aggravated public order offence after she was filmed hurling racist abuse at train passengers. After the video, which shows a woman taunting a group of black passengers, was posted on YouTube she was arrested.
Giuliana Rancic appears to have lost even more weight sparking concern at the E! 2013 Upfront event held at the Manhattan Center in New York on Monday.
Giuliana Rancic, 38, chose a slinky black dress which did little to hide her shrinking frame and sinewy limbs.
When the Fashion Police host turned to the side to pose for cameras, her waist looked miniscule.
Giuliana Rancic appears to have lost even more weight sparking concern at the E! 2013 Upfront event held at the Manhattan Center in New York (Photo Startraks)
Giuliana Rancic paired the long-sleeved frock with matching patent court shoes, a statement white necklace and lots of vampish red lipstick.
It is certainly not the first time Giuliana Rancic’s thin figure has caused worry and she famously was involved in a “skinny war” with LeAnn Rimes back in 2011.
Giuliana Rancic was also forced to defend reports that her infertility was caused from her being skinny.
Her fellow Fashion Police host Kelly Osbourne was also in attendance, dressed in a matronly navy dress with white ruffled collar.
A slew of other E! stars were in attendance, including Chelsea Handler, Ryan Lochte, Kevin Jonas and, of course, the Kardashians.
Thousands of well-wishers witnessed an honor guard of firefighters standing to attention to salute pallbearers carrying Boston Marathon attack victim Krystle Campbell’s casket into church today.
The line outside St. Joseph Church on Monday for the 11 a.m. funeral of 29-year-old Krystle Campbell stretched down the block as 23 officers on motorbikes joined the procession.
Krystle Campbell was one of three people killed near the Boston marathon finish line on April 15. The restaurant manager had gone to watch a friend finish the race.
In addition to the mourners, union members and a local motorcycle club showed up to stop a church group from disrupting the funeral.
Teamsters Local 25 President Sean O’Brien says the union members planned to stand in front of protesters to block them from the Campbell family’s view.
The Westboro Baptist Church, whose members are known for protesting outside soldiers’ funerals with anti-gay messages, issued a statement on Saturday vowing to protest Krystle Campbell’s funeral.
Mourners made up a quarter-mile long parade to say goodbye to Krystle Campbell – who was killed as a result of the deadly Boston bombings.
Different pictures of Krystle Campbell, some of her wearing a Red Sox shirt, some of her at her high school graduation and some as a child at her communion were pleaded on a slide-show loop.
The Lumineers’ hit Ho Hey was played as mourners, family and friends walked past her open brown casket.
Firefighters honor guard salute as pallbearers carry the casket of Boston Marathon bomb victim Krystle Campbell into St Joseph’s Church for her funeral in Medford
Krystal Campbell’s heartbroken mother Patty Campbell, who memorably declared: “It doesn’t make sense” after learning of her daughter’s death, bravely attended the service today.
Speaking to and hugging as many mourners as she could meet, Patty Campbell drove away from the church in tears.
Krystle Campbell’s parents were too upset to speak at any point during the funeral, so pastor Chip Hines spoke for them during the service, saying: “Krystle was always there for people.”
Cardinal O’Malley said the final prayer, said parishoner Phyllis Patten.
The hour long funeral service ended with a choir singing a proud version of God Bless America.
Some in the crowd outside St. Joseph’s Church in Medford said they had driven as far as 100 miles to attend the funeral, where officials including Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick were in attendance.
As she waited for the funeral, Renee Arsenault, a 28-year-old hairdresser, said she had gone to middle school with Krystle Campbell.
“I am so happy this many people showed up in her honor,” Renee Arsenault said.
The hearse carrying Krystle Campbell’s red-tinted casket was escorted by about 20 police motorcycles and an honor guard of uniformed law enforcement officers stood in front of the church as pallbearers carried the casket in.
A wake for Krystle Campbell was held on Sunday at a funeral home in Medford, where the 29-year-old restaurant manager was raised and graduated from high school in 2001.
After the funeral Mass in St Joseph’s Church on Monday, Krystle Campbell was then buried in Medford’s Oak Grove Cemetery.
Krystle Campbell’s funeral was the first of the memorial events planned for the day. Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino had called for the public to observe a moment of silence at 2:50 p.m., to mark one week since the bombing. Boston University scheduled a 7 p.m. memorial service for graduate student Lu Lingzi, who also died in the blast.
The governors of nearby states including Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine also said they would observe the moment of silence.
No public funeral has yet been scheduled for the bombing’s youngest victim, Martin Richard, or for Sean Collier, a member of the MIT police who the two suspected bombers gunned down on Thursday night.
Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was in custody at a Boston hospital on Monday after being apprehended on Friday night. He was badly injured in a gun battle with police that led to the death of his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26.
Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Stewart says her divorce was such a surprise that she found out about it on Twitter even though she was still living with her estranged husband, Kordell Stewart.
After watching herself defend Kordell Stewart on part three of The Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion, Porsha took the chair on Watch What Happens Live to dish all about the breakdown on the marriage.
Porsha Stewart revealed that they’re still living together but horribly, they no longer speak at all.
“I’m blessed. I’m good. I’m here, I’m standing and I’m just being strong right now,” Porsha Stewart said positively as she began her chat.
The reality star then recalled the first moment she knew she was getting divorced after said she got a phone call from her sister, telling her to check Twitter.
“I thought, <<this is just a crazy joke!>>” Porsha Stewart, who had thought that the couple were working it through, said.
“I asked my husband … had he filed, and just a long story short, I felt very disappointed and let down,” the reality star told presenter Andy Cohen.
“When I got married, I meant it for life. … I was heartbroken,” Porsha Stewart added before explaining that she still lives with Kordell.
Porsha Stewart says her divorce was such a surprise that she found out about it on Twitter even though she was still living with her estranged husband, Kordell Stewart
But it doesn’t sound like much of a choice, as she added: “It’s a difficult situation right now. It’s something I did not want at all.”
“What you saw on the reunion was a wife trying her last try,” Porsha Stewart said.
“When you’ve made a vow to that man and that child in your home, you owe him that. … It was a betrayal I suffered from, and that’s something I’ll have to move on with.”
Former NFL quarterback Kordell Stewart, 40, lodged legal papers at Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia on March 22, TMZ reports.
Just three months ago Real Housewives Of Atlanta Porsha Stewart, the granddaughter of civil-rights leader Hosea Williams, defended her husband during a radio interview when asked about rumors he was gay.
Power 105 FM’s Breakfast Club host Charlemagne Tha God asked Porsha Stewart in the December exchange: “You know there were a lot of gay rumors about Kordell at one point. He [allegedly] got caught in the park in Pittsburgh and the police didn’t want to turn him in because he was a star quarterback.”
Porsha Stewart responded: “I don’t know any details of all that. There’s lies out there on the Internet about all kinds of celebrities.
“One thing I do [know] is my husband loves me, and he puts it down and I will be with him forever. He’s more man to me than I have ever met.”
Porsha and Kordell Stewart married on May 21, 2011. Early in 2012 Porsha suffered a miscarriage due to uterine fibroids.
In the divorce documents, Kordell Stewart says the marriage is “irretrievably broken” and that they separated, according to TMZ.
He also says there are no marital assets to be divided, suggesting a prenuptial was signed, writing: “[She’s] an able-bodied person, earning income and is capable of supporting herself.”
Kordell Stewart, who is now a radio sports talkshow co-host with Atlanta’s WZGC 92.9 The Game, has a son Syre from a previous relationship with Tania Richardson.
Ann Curry debuted a new, shorter hairstyle on NBC News on Friday – without informing the networks executives – in what has been called an act of defiance.
Amidst criticism over Ann Curry’s physical appearance by her former Today bosses, the 56-year-old “just decided to cut it”, according to RadarOnline.com.
“Ann was always told by her bosses that her hair had to be long, and she just didn’t like to wear it at that length,” a source revealed.
“She is a no-fuss gal, and doesn’t want to spend a ton of time styling her hair. About a week ago, she just decided to cut it.”
They continued: “It’s a much shorter style, and doesn’t take as long to do. Ann didn’t tell her bosses she was going to do it beforehand.”
Ann Curry debuted a new, shorter hairstyle on NBC News on Friday without informing the networks executives
Like many other networks, any NBC on air talent is required to notify management before changes are made to their physical appearance.
But Ann Curry was often the victim of jokes at the hands of Today show executive producer Jim Bell, according to New York Times reporter Brian Selter‘s new book, Top Of The Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV.
Brian Stelter reported that Jim Bell was an instigator to “a general meanness on set” toward the former Today co-host.
In the months leading up to her teary-eyed departure from the morning show last summer, Ann Curry is said to have been “tortured”.
In one instance, a yellow dress Ann Curry wore on air was pictured next to Big Bird, and was captioned: “Who Wore It Best?”
Ann Curry’s live report on NBC News was her first appearance on air in nine months, where she was covering the capture of Boston marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, on Friday evening.
Canadian authorities have arrested and charged two people with conspiring to carry out an “al-Qaeda inspired” attack on a passenger train in Toronto.
At a news conference, the authorities said the suspects Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, were arrested in Montreal and Toronto on Monday.
They allegedly planned to derail a VIA passenger train in the greater Toronto area. It was not clear when.
The suspects will now appear in court on Tuesday for a bail hearing.
Canadian authorities have arrested and charged two people with conspiring to carry out an “al-Qaeda inspired” attack on a passenger train in Toronto
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the surveillance operation leading to the arrests of the two suspects was “a result of extensive collaborative efforts”.
They said the two men were not Canadian citizens and were supported by “al-Qaeda elements in Iran” but there was no evidence of state sponsorship.
Their plan was to derail a train and “kill and hurt people”.
Chief Spt. Jennifer Strachan said the two men had sought to target “a specific route, but not necessarily a specific train”.
VIA operates passenger rail services across Canada.
At the same time, the RCMP said they believed the plot was in the planning stage and “there was no imminent threat to the general public”.
“Each and every terrorist arrest the RCMP makes sends a message and illustrates our strong resolve to root out terrorist threats and keep Canadians and our allies safe,” Assistant Commissioner James Malizia said.
The RCMP also said that FBI agents from the US were involved in the operation to foil the attack.
There was no connection between the plot and last week’s Boston Marathon bombings, a US justice department official was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
A newly released photo of David Henneberry’s boat, where Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was discovered, shows a bloodied, bullet-ridden port side.
The damage has undoubtedly devastated 66-year-old David Henneberry, whose adoration for the rare 21-foot Seahawk boat is widely known among family and friends.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who was pulled from the boat after a two-hour standoff with police, was shot in his head, neck, legs and hand, according to federal authorities. He’s now in serious condition in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where on Monday he was charged in the twin Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people and injured more than 180.
David Henneberry, meanwhile, has been deemed a hero by local and national authorities after he inadvertently discovered Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Friday evening.
During the standoff, David Henneberry and his wife fled to the home of his neighbor, George Pizzuto, while officers fired on his beloved boat and helicopters swarmed overhead, using infrared lights to peer through the tarp and locate the suspect’s body.
A newly released photo of David Henneberry’s boat, where Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was discovered, shows a bloodied, bullet-ridden port side
Several hours later, following a brief exchange of fire and some negotiating, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was taken into custody.
It is unknown whether Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sustained all of his injuries during Friday night’s standoff or during the running gun battle with police early that morning. His brother and suspected accomplice in the bombings, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in the Friday morning gun battle.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s neck wound is reportedly self-inflicted. He is believed to have put his pistol in his mouth and fired, but he survived because the bullet passed through his throat instead of his brain.
Officers believe he sustained at least one of the leg wounds on Friday morning.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged on Monday with one count of using and conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction – namely, an improvised explosive device or IED – against persons and property within the US resulting in death, and one count of malicious destruction of property by means of an explosive device resulting in death, according to a criminal complaint.
If he is convicted, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev could face a penalty of death or imprisonment for life.
Since the standoff that centered around his beloved boat, David Henneberry has tried to stay out of the media spotlight.
He stayed with relatives over the weekend to avoid reporters swarming outside his home and he declined Watertown officials’ invitation to be honored at Saturday’s Boston Bruins hockey game.
But David Henneberry’s stepson, Robert Duffy, has gladly shared the story of his stepfather’s courage and quick thinking with a number of television networks and newspapers.
His neighbor, George Pizutto, said David Henneberry would be “heartbroken” by the damage to his 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 told ABC affiliate WHAM-13.
“He’s going to be heartbroken.”
George Pizzuto later told reporters that David Henneberry feels overwhelmed by all the attention and that he isn’t ready to talk about what happened or his role in finding the suspect.
A fund set up online to help David Henneberry buy a new boat has raised $256 with a goal of raising $50,000.
Chrissy Amphlett of Australian band the Divinyls, known for their hit I Touch Myself, has died at the age of 53.
Husband and former Divinyls drummer Charley Drayton said Chrissy Amphlett died after battling breast cancer and multiple sclerosis.
Russell Crowe, who starred alongside Chrissy Amphlett in a 1988 production of Blood Brothers in which she played his mother, has led tributes.
The Oscar-winning Australian said he will remember The Oscar-winning Australian “loving life and reciting verse”.
Russell Crowe said: “Dear Chrissie, the last time I saw you was in the Botanic Gardens… That’s how I’ll remember you, your boy, R.”
Chrissy Amphlett founded the Divinyls in 1980 in Sydney and they went on to record five studio albums between 1982 and 1996, when they split.
Chrissy Amphlett died after battling breast cancer and multiple sclerosis
I Touch Myself was released in 1991 and was a No 1 hit in their native Australia. It climbed the charts in Britain to No 10 and No 4 in the US Billboard Hot 100.
The song was featured in the 1992 film Prelude to a Kiss and 1997’s Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Pop singer Pink covered the song in 2009 on her Funhouse Tour.
“Chrissy’s light burns so very brightly,” said Charley Drayton.
“Hers was a life of passion and creativity; she always lived it to the fullest”.
The statement on the Australian Recording Industry Association’s (ARIA) website added: “With her force of character and vocal strength she paved the way for strong, sexy, outspoken women.”
Chrissy Amphlett announced she had multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2007 and made public her battle with breast cancer in 2010.
The singer wrote on her Facebook page last March: “Unfortunately the last 18 months have been a real challenge for me, having breast cancer and MS and all the new places that will take you.
“My illnesses have really exhausted this little body of mine that I have thrown from one end of a stage to another and performed thousands of shows.”
“Chrissy expressed hope that her worldwide hit I Touch Myself would be utilized to remind all women to perform annual breast examinations,” said Charley Drayton.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were “failed” by their parents, especially their “controlling” mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, who encouraged their move towards Islamic radicalization, claims their uncle.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev looked up to their mother as an “angel” but, according to one of their uncles, she was the one who allowed them to be introduced to hardline Islamic views.
Boston marathon bombers’ uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, claimed that Zubeidat Tsarnaeva allowed a firebrand cleric into their house to give one-on-one sermons to Tamerlan over the kitchen table during which he claimed he could talk to demons and perform exorcisms.
It appears that the boys’ father, Anzor Tsarnaev never stood up to his wife as she was the “boss” of their house.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s story began in the mid 1980s when a young Kazakh soldier called Anzor Tsarnaev, now 47, met his future wife Zubeidat , now 45, whilst completing his two years of military service.
Anzor Tsarnaev was aged 19 or 20 at the time and Zubeidat 17 or 18. She was from Dagestan, which borders Kazakhstan to the West.
They got married and had four children.
The oldest child was Tamerlan, followed by daughters Bella, now 24, Alilina, now 22, and finally Dzhokhar.
In 2002 Anzor Tsarnaev and Zubeidat Tsarnaeva came to the US on tourist visas with a young Dzhokhar and claimed asylum.
The rest of the family joined them a year later, having spent 12 months living with Ruslan Tsarni at his home in Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, where they used to go to private school and were visited every week by the grandmother.
Ruslan Tsarni recalled Tamerlan Tsarnaev being a “joyful guy with a lot of ambition” during that time.
The boys’ uncle said: “They grew up nice because their grandmother was close to them, our family was close to them.
“Grandmother kept them so they were always under supervision.”
When the Tsarnaevs moved to Cambridge their new life was not much of an American dream.
With minimal language skills their parents had to take whatever work they could get so their mother began offering facials in their cramped home.
At one point there were at least seven people living in a humble semi-detached property.
Another uncle, Alvi Tsarnaev, did minimum wage shifts whilst Anzor started working two jobs including at a car mechanic.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev tried to make a career out of being a boxer but failed and dropped out of Bunker Hill Community College.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev however seemed to excel at school and eventually won a place at the University of Massachusetts where he was studying Marine Biology.
According to Alvi Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar led a quiet life and never went anywhere other than his home on Norfolk St and his school.
Ruslan Tsarni had always had Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s ear and said that like the other children he “came to America for a bright future”.
He remembers seeing him in 2006 when he was 21 and had just graduated high school.
Rusland Tsarni said: “He was asking me questions and I was happy to give him the answers. I told him the best way to start your way in a country, I’d start with the Army. Give [your country] something.
“We’ve not been brought here, give to it.
“I told him that you don’t have good English so you can’t make it to a good school, but later. He can go there, while you serve you improve your English and with English you improve your education and the Army will give you the path.
“At the time he seriously considered it. And in 2009 when I said why are you doing nothing, join the Army, why don’t you be useful, he laughed at me for killing our brother Muslims.”
That year turned out to be a turning point.
After that Ruslan Tarni could no longer act as a proxy parent as he always had done.
Ruslan Tsarni said: “The change of the older boy, one of the biggest causes is her.
“First she started playing into this religious c*** they say is a devotion to Islam.”
Ruslan Tsarni dismissed Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, who was arrested last year for stealing $1,600 of lingerie from a department store, as a “bad character”.
Life took a bad turn for one of her daughters who, according to reports, was set up by Zubeidat Tsarnaeva in an arranged marriage.
It fell apart two years later after her husband supposedly beat her up. Zubeidat Tsarnaeva’s other daughter was also married but got divorced too. Both have one child that lives with the father’s family.
Ruslan Tsarni said: “I never liked her, but not for personal reasons. These kids, I thought she’s not doing enough. She’s not doing them right, especially when they grew up.”
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva may encouraged her sons Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev move towards Islamic radicalization
According to Ruslan Tsarni, Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s radicalization was well underway by 2007 – right under the nose of his mother.
He claimed that the man responsible was a cleric aged around 30 called Misha and that he was an Armenian who, unusually for such a largely Christian people, had converted to Islam.
As far as he knew Misha was based in a mosque that was a short drive from Cambridge and that he was new to Islam.
A leader from the 50,000 strong Armenian community in Boston however cast doubt on the claim.
The Rev Gregory Haroutunian said he be “stunned” if anyone in the area would have had such hatred for America.
Ruslan Tsarni said: “People who lack morals but have big ambition always want some attention to themselves or certain respect to themselves.
“All they do is just change a tyre. You wear a hijab and you start dropping every other word Insha’Allah and all of a sudden that makes you a godly person.
“She [Zubeidat Tsarnaeva] supported it [in the boys), some really bad person [started it].
“She was not able to teach them anything. The introduction came from new Muslim convert of Armenian descent.
“He claimed to be an exorcist who is fighting with demons.”
It was in 2007 one evening around midnight as Anzor Tsarnaev came home from work to find the cleric in his kitchen, claimed Ruslan Tsarni.
“It was all the same talking, God, God, how he’s talking to demons, how he’s an exorcist, how he’s healing people. Tamerlan was absolutely in his possession. All around people considered him just another prick.
“Then my brother comes in from work, very late and Anzor is talking to his wife saying what is this person doing here so late?
“Tell him to get the hell out. And she says: <<You’d better shut up, this person is teaching wise things to your son>>. This is the mother. After that Tamerlan went over his place, he changed his views. It started from people like that.”
Ruslan Tsarni said he offered to send Tamerlan Tsarnaev to a school in Almaty and pay for it, but he declined. He gave him $3,000 to buy a car and drive to his home in Maryland just to watch over the house, but he did not do it.
The uncle said he tried “anything but not to be with his parents” because his opinion of them was so low.
He said that he would get phone calls from Ailina Tsarnaeva’s college saying she was in detention, having already been told by Zubeidat that she was in the library. Similar instances happened with Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
By 2009, Ruslan Tsarni had had enough. He told Zubeidat Tsarnaeva and her family they were no longer welcome in his home. Only his brother would be allowed in were they to visit.
It was the last time he would speak to his nephew.
A family friend said that the split happened because Ruslan Tsarni became frustrated when his attempts to change the direction of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s life fell on deaf ears.
As Muslims, the way they traditionally resolved such disputes was that men would talk to men and that words would be said to the wife and the children.
As Zubeidat Tsarnaeva was in command in her house, such pleas fell on deaf ears when made to Anzor Tsarnaev.
A family friend said: “It drove a wedge between them. Ruslan couldn’t help Tamerlan because Anzor told him to stay away from his wife and not tell her what to do.
“It was very upsetting for Ruslan. He loves Dzhokhar and Tamerlan so much and to not be able to do anything really upset him.
“Anzor is so in love with his wife that he will do anything that she says. He will go to the ends of the Earth to be with her.
“For Anzor, them being together is more important to him than anything else.”
At some point Anzor Tsarnaev appears to have moved back to Kazakhstan, or possibly Dagestan.
Some reports have suggested Anzor Tsarnaev and Zubeidat Tsarnaeva separated but relatives claimed that they are still together.
The last time Ruslan Tsarni spoke to Tamerlan Tsarnaev was in August 2009. He did not even go to his wedding to Katherine Russell, with whom Tamerlan Tsarnaev has a 3-year-old daughter, and found out about it a year or so later.
Reflecting on their last conversation, Ruslan Tsarni said: “I asked him why he wasn’t at work, what happened with your college, why are you not in college.
“He changed his life views and he’s on the path of God…he was all the time in the path of Jihad.
“My brother lost control of it [his family] a long time ago. The mother was very influential. She says they would share everything with her, she had a very strong influence over them. She was controlling them.
“Tamerlan absolutely controlled Dzhokhar, he was under his influence. This is how in our tradition, the older one has to control but take care of the younger ones.
“The taking care didn’t happen and he wasted his brother’s life and he made him involved in this massacre.
“Me as an uncle I hold responsible for what turned out with these kids, the parents. Had Tamerlan been closer to me, had I heard any of his talking I would have cut it and been harsh with him.”
With no uncle to watch over him, Tamerlan Tsarnaev appears to have become even more radical and, on a personal level, more angry with the world.
In 2009 Tamerlan Tsarnaev was arrested after slapping his girlfriend and leaving her crying “hysterically”, according to the arrest report, because she suspected he was cheating on her.
In 2012, Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother Dzhokhar began attending a local mosque, the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Centre, but were not regulars.
About three months ago Tamerlan Tsarnaev was thrown out after he shouted at the imam during a Friday prayer service because he held up a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. and said he was a good man who they should emulate.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev called him a Kaffir, or non-believer, and said: “You cannot mention this guy because he’s not a Muslim!”
Alvi Tsarnaev said that Ruslan Tsarni gave Tamerlan and Dzhokhar a great start in life and ‘put those children in a good place’.
But he also agreed that when it came to family affairs, they treated their mother “like an angel” – and that what she said was the law.
Alvi Tsarnaev said: “They would do anything for their mother. They are not going to listen to their father but they are going to listen to their mother.
“They are very close to their mother….she is the family boss. She is the boss in the family.
“Usually in Muslim people the boss is the man, but in their family, she is the boss.”
Alvi Tsarnaev also revealed that the hate which swept up his two nephews is now reached his doorstep too.
Since the bombings he has received a string of voicemail messages which have left him deeply disturbed.
He has deleted most of them, but the one he has saved is a man’s voice which says: “Leave our country you Cechnic Chechen Muslim motherf******s.”
For her part Zubeidat Tsarnaeva is unrepentant about encouraging Tamerlan to become more religious and even brags about how it has “changed” her for the better.
Zubeidat Tsarnaeva told the Wall St Journal that at Tamerlan’s request she wore Islamic clothes around the house, even though her husband did not want her to.
She said: “I told Tamerlan that we are Muslim, and we are not practicing our religion, and how can we call ourselves Muslims?
“And that’s how Tamerlan started reading about Islam, and he started praying, and he got more and more and more into his religion.
“I started reading and started learning, I started reading with my Tamerlan.”
In fact their bond was so close, that it was her that Tamerlan Tsarnaev chose to phone in the early hour of Friday morning in the middle of the gun battle with police that would claim his life.
With a suicide vest round his neck and explosions going off around him, Tamerlan Tsarnaev dialed his mother’s number and said: “The police, they have started shooting at us, they are chasing us.”
Then, finally, before hanging up Tamerlan Tsarnaev said: “Mama, I love you.”
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev , the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction, the US Department of Justice has announced today.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, who was charged in hospital, could face the death penalty.
A White House spokesman has said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will not be treated as an “enemy combatant”, as suggested by some Republican members of Congress.
The twin bomb attack near the Boston Marathon finishing line killed three people, and injured more than 180.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured on Friday evening after a huge manhunt during which his older brother and suspected fellow bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev , the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction
He has been unable to speak because of a throat wound, though he has reportedly responded to questions in writing.
As well as a count of using a weapon of mass destruction, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev faces one count of malicious destruction of property resulting in death, the Department of Justice said in a statement.
In addition to federal charges, prosecutors for the state of Massachusetts, which does not have the death penalty, could file their own.
“He will not be treated as an enemy combatant,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
“We will prosecute this terrorist through our civilian system of justice.”
The city of Boston is due to observe a moment of silence for the victims at 14:50 local time, exactly one week after the attack.
Also on Monday, a private funeral was being held for 29-year-old restaurant worker Krystle Campbell, who was killed at the marathon finish line after going to watch the race with a friend.
A memorial service was scheduled later for another victim, Lu Lingzi, a 23-year-old graduate student from China.
Dutch police have arrested a suspect following a threat, posted on the internet, to carry out a shooting at a school in the city of Leiden.
The suspect has been identified as a former pupil of the British School, which has a site in neighboring Voorschoten.
More than 20 schools were told to stay closed on Monday in Leiden in response to the threat posted on internet forum 4chan.
The anonymous writer said they would shoot their teacher “and as many students as I can”.
He or she said they would be carrying a 9 mm Colt Defender gun and a note “which will explain why I did it”.
The threat was picked up by Swiss police during internet checks at the weekend, Dutch media report.
Dutch police have arrested a suspect following a threat, posted on the internet, to carry out a shooting at a school in the city of Leiden
Dutch police said on Monday morning that some 22 secondary schools – covering the 12 to 16 age group – had been closed for the day.
Some schools, such as the Da Vinci College and Driestar College, had police officers outside them.
Following reports of an arrest, the British School in the Netherlands issued a statement saying: “We have been informed that a former student… has been arrested in connection to threats made against a Dutch school in Leiden.”
The school said the suspect left its senior school in October 2011 as a result of inappropriate behavior, Dutch broadcaster NOS reports.
The British School in the Netherlands has four schools based in and around The Hague. The senior school site is based in Voorschoten, close to Leiden.
Earlier Leiden Mayor Henri Lenferink said the decision to close the schools had been taken because police had not been able to immediately establish the perpetrators of the threat following the tip-off from Zurich.
“It could just be a morbid joke but we don’t want to take any risk,” Henri Lenferink told Dutch broadcaster NOS.
But some questioned the police decision to close the schools, which affected thousands of students.
“Every idiot who sticks a threat on the internet can paralyze half of society,” said Ton Duif, chairman of head teachers’ association AVS.
Leiden lies some 13 miles north-east of The Hague, and is home to the Netherlands’ oldest university.
French Yoann Galeran has managed to escape a saltwater crocodile that latched on to his head as he swam in Australia’s Northern Territory.
Yoann Galeran, 29, said he was “very lucky” to have survived the attack.
He was swimming from shore in the remote town of Nhulunbuy to retrieve a dinghy when the crocodile – estimated to be 8ft in length – attacked him on Sunday.
The Frenchman needed stitches for bite wounds on his head, neck and shoulders.
Yoann Galeran, a deckhand, said he kept punching the crocodile as it tried to roll and drown him.
“It went straight away to the top of my head and diving under the water he tried to do that spinning thing,” he said.
Yoann Galeran has managed to escape a saltwater crocodile that latched on to his head as he swam in Australia’s Northern Territory
But he fought his way free and made it to the dinghy, and then back to shore.
“I just feel that I’ve been lucky and I just think [if it was] a bigger crocodile, I maybe wouldn’t have any head,” he told ABC News.
A Northern Territory official echoed Yoann Galeran’s sentiment, saying the outcome could have been “a lot more dire”.
Lisa Heathcote, Yoann Galeran’s boss, said the crocodile had been in the area for weeks.
“We’ve walked out on the back deck and Jo’s [Yoann] standing there with a big grin on his face and blood pouring out of him,” Lisa Heathcote told ABC News.
Fatal attacks in Australia by saltwater crocodiles – a protected species since the 1970s – remain rare.
But the crocodiles are especially abundant in the Northern Territory, where deadly encounters have been reported.
A boy was killed in December after he was dragged into the water by a crocodile at a swimming spot. Weeks before the incident, human remains were found in a crocodile’s stomach in the state after a girl disappeared.
Nike has decided to remove its T-shirts emblazoned with “Boston Massacre” from shelves after outcry over their insensitivity in the wake of the city’s bombings.
The T-shirts, worn by Yankees fans, show blood-splattered lettering – a reference to when the team overcame a massive game deficit to beat the Boston Red Sox and win the World Series in 1978.
The insensitive garments were brought to Nike’s attention when Eric Stangel, an executive producer and writer for the Late Show with David Letterman, tweeted an image of the shirt.
“Saw this @ Nike Outlet,” Eric Stangel, who lives in New York, wrote on Saturday.
Nike has decided to remove its T-shirts emblazoned with “Boston Massacre” from shelves after outcry over their insensitivity in the wake of the city’s bombings
“Told them they shouldn’t be selling it.”
Eric Stangel added that a staff member responded, somewhat cryptically: “We’ve been taking them down. But somehow they keep ending up back on the rack.”
“Who thought that was a good idea?” one follower wrote.
Another said: “Rip off the rack!”
Many others questioned the point of the T-shirt before the even massacre occurred.
Among the responses on Twitter, Eric Stangel also heard from a representative from Nike, Heidi Burgett.
“Thank you Eric,” she wrote.
“We took action earlier this week to remove the shirts. We are immediately on it again thanks to your tweet.”
The T-shirt has a double meaning; the name “Boston Massacre” was originally used to describe an attack by the British Army in 1770, in an incident which left five civilian men dead and six injured.
The phrase was later adopted by baseball fans to refer to a series between the Red Sox and the Yankees in 1978, when the Yankees battled back from a 14-game deficit to equal the Sox.
After winning a one-game playoff against the Boston team, the Yankees played the Los Angeles Dodgers and won the World Series.
Boston is still recovering following the bombings at the finish line of the marathon, which left three dead and injured more than 180 people a week ago.
One suspected bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was later killed in a police shoot out, while the second, his 19-year-old brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is recovering in hospital with a throat wound after apparently trying to kill himself.
Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev told a man whose Mercedes SUV they hijacked on Thursday night that they planned to go to New York, it has emerged.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and his younger brother Dzhokhar, 19, seized a Mercedes-Benz SUV and held the driver hostage as they sought to flee from police late on Thursday.
Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev told a man whose Mercedes SUV they hijacked on Thursday night that they planned to go to New York
The Boston Marathon bombers told the driver that they planned to head to New York, a senior official revealed, but it is not clear if they told the man what they intended to do there, the New York Timesreported.
The latest detail emerged as police confirmed Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev likely planned more attacks, and suggests they could have wrought even greater devastation on the US after being undetected by the FBI.
Boston police commissioner, Edward Davis, said on Sunday that police believed they had planned more attacks beyond the bombings at the marathon finish line.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev may have also murdered his “only American friend” Brendan Mess in an unsolved triple killing in 2011, it emerged today.
Brendan Mess was found with his “throat slit” alongside two other men in a Massachusetts apartment in 2011 in what police described as a “very graphic crime scene”.
Former associates of Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev didn’t initially suspect him of carrying out the gruesome attack, but thought it was strange he didn’t attend his friend’s funeral.
Now one man who knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev through the gym where they trained said some of their social circle “without even speaking about it beforehand have all been thinking” he could be involved.
One friend, who gave his name only as Ray, told BuzzFeed Politics: “At the time, none of us would have thought it was Tam.
“It was just so emotional and we thought we had someone else who had done it.”
Brendan Mess was found with his “throat slit” alongside two other men in a Massachusetts apartment in 2011
But since Tamerlan Tsarnaev was identified as the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three and injured 180, Ray believes his sudden disappearance after Brendan Mess’s death may be a clue.
“Tam wasn’t there at the memorial service, he wasn’t at the funeral, he wasn’t around at all,” Ray said.
“And he was really close with Brendan. That’s why it’s so weird.”
Ray said he met Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2010 when they were part of a social circle that centered on the Wai Kru Mixed Martial Arts gym in Allston, Massachusetts, where Tsarnaev trained as a boxer and had a shared interest in the Boston hip-hop group FlyRidaz.
He said they had a friendly, but not particularly close relationship and described Tamerlan Tsarnaev as a “normal guy who wore regular American-ish clothes”.
Their contact stopped when Brendan Mess and two other men – Raphael Teken and Erik Weissman – were murdered on September 12, 2011.
Their bodies were found covered in marijuana in an apartment in Waltham, Massachusetts, and had their throats slit with a knife or ice pick and around $5,000 was left at the scene.
Brendan Mess’s girlfriend discovered the bodies, she ran from the house screaming.
Initially police said two other people had been there on the day and they were looking to question them, although no one has ever been charged.
Ray said there had been no forced entry, so police believe the killer was known the victim and was let into the apartment.
Investigators at the time said the murders were “targeted and not a random act of violence”.
Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone issued a statement soon after the murders saying: “Based on the present state of the investigation, it is believed that the victims knew the assailant or assailants, and the attacks were not random.”
Neighbors described Brendan Mess and his two roommates as quiet, nice people who were a welcome change of pace from previous residents who often had loud parties late into the evening.
Indeed, at the time of the killing, police and Brendan Mess’ friends suspected his girlfriend, an immigrant from Somalia that Ray describes as a “transient” who “latched onto Brendan”.
Ray described her as having a good relationship with Tamerlan Tsarnaev and that they would have “conversations about religious things and lifestyles”.
In 2008, Erik Weissman was charged with marijuana possession and intent to distribute, according to a report.
Police pulled Erik Weissman over for failing to yield and smelled marijuana smoke in the vehicle.
When asked about it, Erik Weissman said: “I knew you would smell it,” and handed the officer a brown paper bag filled with bags of marijuana, police said.
A year earlier, Tamerlan Tsarnaev claimed to have just one American friend despite spending much of his life in the US.
Indeed, Tamerlan Tsarnaev introduced Brendan Mess as his best friend to the owner of the gym.
Wai Kru Mixed Martial Arts center owner John Allan said Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Brendan Mess used to work out at his gym together but Tsarnaev stopped coming after Mess was murdered.
The event clearly still haunted Tamerlan Tsarnaev as recently as last week when he suddenly returned to his old gym and started acting unusually.
The business owner who was traveling in Thailand at the time said he received an e-mail saying Tamerlan Tsarnaev had been in, but acted rudely and disrespectfully to other gym-users.
“It was a clear indication that something was up,” John Allan told the Boston Globe.
