Paul Kevin Curtis has been arrested in Mississippi after letters containing suspected ricin were sent to President Barack Obama and Republican Senator Roger Wicker.
The alleged sender, Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, is a resident of Mississippi.
Initial tests on the letters, identified at remote facilities, showed the presence of ricin, a lethal toxin.
The FBI has said there is “no indication of a connection” between the letters and Monday’s deadly attack in Boston.
The letters addressed to President Barack Obama and Republican Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker were both postmarked Memphis, Tennessee, and dated April 8.
Paul Kevin Curtis has been arrested in Mississippi after letters containing suspected ricin were sent to President Barack Obama and Republican Senator Roger Wicker
According to US media citing intelligence sources, the letters read: “To see a wrong and not expose it, is to become a silent partner to its continuance.”
The letters were reportedly signed: “I am KC and I approve this message.”
The FBI said Paul Kevin Curtis also allegedly sent a third letter positively identified for ricin to a Mississippi justice official.
The contents of the letter intended for Barack Obama were being sent to an accredited laboratory for further analysis, the FBI said, with results expected in 24 to 48 hours.
Earlier, police questioned a man in the near the Capitol who had a backpack containing sealed envelopes, but he was not taken into custody.
Reports of suspicious packages and envelopes also led to areas within two Senate office buildings being cleared temporarily.
Meanwhile Democratic Senator Carl Levin said an aide had received a suspicious-looking letter and that the authorities were investigating. The staff member had no symptoms, Senator Carl Levin said in a statement, but was staying overnight in hospital as a precaution.
All congressional mail has been sorted and tested off-site since letters laced with anthrax were posted to two senators in 2001.
A spokesman for the Secret Service, which protects the US president and his family, said it was liaising with the Capitol Police and the FBI to trace the origins of the letters.
Ricin, extracted from castor beans, is 1,000 times more toxic than cyanide.
The toxin can be fatal when inhaled, swallowed or injected, although it is possible to recover from exposure.
Ricin, one of the byproducts of processing castor beans, is a toxin that is fatal to humans in extremely small doses.
Just 1 milligramof ricin is a deadly amount if inhaled or ingested, and only 500 micrograms of the substance would kill an adult if it were injected (CDC). The victim can die within 36 to 48 hours due to the failure of the respiratory and circulatory systems. There is no known cure and one molecule of ricin will kill a cell it enters.
Ricin ingestion is not always fatal. Children are at more risk than adults.
Ricin name comes from the castor bean plant (Ricinus communis) – it is present in the mash that is left over after grinding castor beans into oil.
It can be delivered as a powder, a mist or a pill.
Castor bean plant
Ricin is a ribosome-inactivating protein – it irrevocably damages the ribosomes that carry out protein synthesis in cells. The ribosome-inactivating proteins found in the castor bean plant are extremely powerful, and ricin poisoning can do serious damage to major organs.
What happens if I’m exposed?
Ricin can be fatal if it is inhaled, ingested, or injected. While skin or eye contact with ricin can cause pain, it is typically not fatal in that type of exposure.
The initial symptoms of ricin sickness, which may appear anywhere from 3 to 12 hours from the time of exposure, include coughing, fever and stomach pains.
If ingested, main symptoms within the first hours are stomach ache, gastroenteritis, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. If ingested, ricin causes internal bleeding of the stomach and intestines, followed by the failure of the liver, spleen and kidneys, and finally death by collapse of the circulatory Over the course of the first days after exposure, the victim may experience symptoms of dehydration and low blood pressure.
Ricin inhalation can manifest as lung damage, including pulmonary edema (fluid in and swelling of the lungs).
Castor bean seeds
Other possible symptoms include seizures and problems with the central nervous system.
If the exposure is fatal, the victim most likely will die within five days. If death does not occur in that time, the victim will most likely recover. There is no known antidote for ricin poisoning.
If injected, ricin causes the immediate death of the muscles and lymph nodes near the site of the injection. Failure of the major organs and death usually follows.
If a castor bean seed is swallowed whole without damage to the seed coat, it will probably pass harmlessly through the system. But if the coat is chewed or broken, then swallowed, the poison will enter the body.
Medical experts point out that ricin is nowhere near as powerful a killer as anthrax.
Princie, one of the largest pink diamonds in the world, has been sold at Christie’s auction in New York for more than $39.3 million.
The Princie Diamond was purchased by an anonymous collector bidding by phone, Christie’s said.
The 34.65 carat diamond’s origin can be traced back to the ancient diamond mines of Golconda in southern India.
The Princie Diamond once belonged to the royal family of Hyderabad, rulers of one of the wealthiest provinces of Mughal India.
“The Princie Diamond carries a fabulous provenance, which brings together the legendary names of Golconda, [the] Nizam of Hyderabad, and the Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda,” said Christie’s jewellery department head Rahul Kadakia before the sale.
The Princie Diamond once belonged to the royal family of Hyderabad, rulers of one of the wealthiest provinces of Mughal India
“The most beautiful stones discovered in Golconda were always reserved for kings and rulers as they represented the highest power, which was then magically transferred to the owner.
“It was a widely regarded belief that God’s gift to India became India’s gift to mankind and the Princie is undoubtedly one of the greatest gifts of Golconda.”
The Princie Diamond was once owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad, who was proclaimed the richest man in the world by Time magazine in 1937.
The diamond had not seen in public since 1960 when Sotheby’s sold it as the “property of a gentleman”.
All four of the world’s top pink diamonds have been found at Golconda, Christie’s says. The area has the earliest known diamond mines in the world, producing the stones as early as 800BC.
In 2010 a diamond known as the Graff pink was sold in Geneva by Sotheby’s for $44 million. At the time it was believed to be the most expensive gemstone bought at auction in history.
The two largest pink diamonds – the Darya-I Nur, weighing 175 to 195 carats, and the Nur ul-Ain, weighing about 60 carats – originally formed part of the Iranian Crown Jewels.
Experts say it has since been determined that they were cut from a single pink diamond weighing 242 carats.
Christie’s says that the Princie Diamond is believed to be the third largest pink diamond in the world and was found 300 years ago in the Golconda mines.
Actor Richard LeParmentier, known as one of Darth Vader’s first victims in Star Wars, has died aged 66, his family has announced.
Richard LeParmentier, a Pittsburgh native, played Admiral Motti in the 1977 film, the disdainful Death Star commander whose “lack of faith” Vader found “disturbing”.
The actor, who moved to the UK in 1974, also had roles in Superman II, Octopussy and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
In a statement, his family remembered him as “a talented actor and director”.
Richard LeParmentier, known as one of Darth Vader’s first victims in Star Wars, has died aged 66
Richard LeParmentier, who was based in Bath, had been visiting relatives in Austin, Texas, at the time of his death.
In a message to their “dad” signed by Rhiannon, Stephanie and Tyrone LeParmentier, the actor was described as “a warm, genuine person with an unparalleled joie de vivre”.
Richard LeParmentier’s brief Star Wars appearance saw his character extol the virtues of the Empire’s Death Star space station and pour scorn on Vader’s “sad devotion to that ancient Jedi religion”.
His diatribe brought a swift rebuke from the masked Vader, who used “The Force” to place a choke hold on his throat.
According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), Richard LeParmentier also wrote episodes of shows such as The Bill, Boon and Love Hurts.
IMDb states Richard LeParmentier was married for three years to actress Sarah Douglas, best known for playing Superman II villainess Ursa.
Sarah Douglas, who was apparently informed of her ex-husband’s death by her Twitter followers, said she was “sad to hear the news”.
Ozzy Osbourne has posted a Facebook message denying reports he and wife Sharon are divorcing but has admitted to being “in a very dark place” since 2011.
“For the last year and a half I have been drinking and taking drugs,” Ozzy Osbourne revealed in the Facebook message.
The Black Sabbath frontman apologized to his family and friends for his “insane behavior” and announced he was “now 44 days sober”.
Ozzy Osbourne’s message followed reports this week he and his wife of more than 30 years had separated and were living apart.
Ozzy Osbourne has posted a Facebook message denying reports he and wife Sharon are divorcing
Born in Birmingham in 1948, Ozzy Osbourne became known as the “Prince of Darkness” for his colorful on-stage antics and hedonistic lifestyle.
Outside of his music, Ozzy Osbourne is best known for appearing with his family on MTV reality show The Osbournes.
Ozzy Osbourne, 64, left Black Sabbath in 1979 but rejoined last year. The heavy metal band is set to release a new album in June.
In his message, posted on Tuesday, Ozzy Osbourne said sorry to his fans and that he was “just trying to be a better person”.
South Florida is battling a growing infestation of the giant African land snail, which is considered one of the most destructive invasive species, feeding voraciously on more than 500 types of plant.
African land snail is one of the world’s largest species of snail.
They can also eat through plaster walls, which provides the calcium content they need for their shells.
Experts recently gathered at a science meeting in Gainesville to seek the best way of eradicating the snails.
According to Denise Feiber, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, more than 1,000 of the snails are being caught each week in Miami-Dade county and 117,000 in total since the first snail was spotted by a homeowner in September 2011.
African land snail is one of the world’s largest species of snail
Residents could soon begin encountering them more often, crunching them underfoot as the snails emerge from underground hibernation at the start of the state’s rainy season in seven weeks, Denise Feiber told the Reuters news agency.
She added that the snails attack “pretty much anything that’s in their path and green”.
In some Caribbean countries, such as Barbados, which are overrun with the creatures, the snails’ shells blow out car tyres and turn into projectiles when they encounter lawnmower blades.
In addition, their slime and excrement coat walls and pavement.
A typical snail can produce about 1,200 eggs a year. They have been known to carry a parasitic rat lungworm that can cause illness in humans, including a form of meningitis, Denise Feiber explained, though no such cases have yet been identified in the US.
Among the solutions discussed by experts at the Giant African Land Snail Science Symposium last week, was the use of a stronger bait approved recently by the federal government.
Denise Feiber said many people viewed the snails as cute pets.
“They’re huge, they move around, they look like they’re looking at you … communicating with you, and people enjoy them for that,” she said.
“But they don’t realize the devastation they can create if they are released into the environment where they don’t have any natural enemies and they thrive.”
Many invasive species now live in Florida’s sub-tropical climate, including the Burmese python, which has been linked to a sharp decline in mammal populations in the Everglades region.
After she gained 60 lbs during her pregnancy with her first child, daughter Maxwell, Jessica Simpson has proudly revealed that she has only gained half that amount in her second pregnancy.
Jessica Simpson is due to give birth to a baby boy in a matter of weeks, and her frame has been noticeably slimmer in comparison to last year, when she prepared to give birth to Maxwell, now 11 months.
In a new interview with People magazine, Jessica Simpson, 32, says she has been working out regularly in the lead up to the arrival of her baby boy.
“Now I’m working out three times a week,” she told the magazine.
After she gained 60 lbs during her first pregnancy, Jessica Simpson has revealed she has only gained half in her second pregnancy
“I’ve only gained half of what I did in my first pregnancy!”
Jessica Simpson admits that she “let herself go” when she was pregnant with Maxwell, not paying enough attention to her diet and fitness regime.
“With my first pregnancy I really let go. I felt like I deserved to eat whatever I wanted,” she said in her interview.
Jessica Simpson also says that this time around she has also been more relaxed about her maternity wardrobe, easing off wearing her signature high heels.
“This time around I’ve been less about the fashion and more about the comfort,” she explains.
“With Maxwell I tried to wear heels the whole time but it hurt my knees. Now I’m wearing more flats.”
US officials have denied recent reports that a suspect has been detained over Monday’s Boston Marathon bombings.
The Associated Press and CNN cited law enforcement officials as saying someone was in custody, but police and the FBI in Boston denied the reports.
Earlier, officials reportedly said a suspect had been identified from security video by the race finish line.
A press conference is due to be held at 17:00 ET.
Police and journalists arrived at a courthouse in Boston amid confusion over whether a suspect had been held in connection with the attacks, which killed three people and left more than 170 injured.
US officials have denied recent reports that a suspect has been detained over Monday’s Boston Marathon bombings
“Contrary to widespread reporting, there have been no arrests made in connection with the Boston marathon attack,” the FBI said in a statement.
“Over the past day and a half, there have been a number of press reports based on information from unofficial sources that has been inaccurate.”
The Associated Press reported that the anonymous law enforcement official who was the news agency’s source for the report that someone was in custody had insisted it was true, even as it was widely disputed.
President Barack Obama, who plans to attend an interfaith service on Thursday in honor of the victims in Boston, labeled the attack an act of terrorism.
Investigators have been sifting through thousands of pieces of evidence, ranging from video recorded on mobile phones to fragments of shrapnel removed from the victims’ legs.
Officials said a circuit board and battery pack – parts of a triggering mechanism – had been recovered and the lid of a pressure cooker, apparently blown off during the explosion, was found on the roof of a nearby building.
The bombs are believed to have consisted of explosives placed in 1.6-gallon (6-litre) pressure cookers, one with shards of metal and ball bearings, the other with nails.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the bombs, which a source said had been placed in black bags and left on the ground.
Doctors treating the wounded say their injuries indicate that the bombs contained metal shards and other shrapnel. A number of victims have had limbs amputated.
Boston Medical Center trauma surgery chief Peter Burke said hospitals were saving “large quantities” of fragments extracted from victims for the police. They include metal, plastic, wood and concrete.
“We have a lot of lower extremity injuries, so I think the damage was low to the ground and wasn’t up,” Dr. Peter Burke said.
“The patients who do have head injuries were blown into things or were hit by fragments that went up.”
At least 58 of the injured have been released from various hospitals around the city, according to AP.
Of those that remain, a five-year-old child, a nine-year-old girl and 10-year-old boy were among 17 victims listed as in a critical condition.
The first explosion went off close to the finish line at about 14:50 local time on Monday.
Seconds later, as rescuers were rushing to help the injured, another explosion went off nearby.
Amanda Bynes made another bizarre comment on her Twitter page, blasting “ugly ex” Kid Cudi, and slamming Complex Magazine for putting an “awful” photo of Aubrey Plaza on their cover.
“Stop acting like I’m doing something wrong,” Amanda Bynes starts in her post to the magazine.
The men’s magazine recently posted an article titled, “Amanda Bynes Either Needs Help, Or Is Trolling Us All” about the bizarre video the oddball 27-year-old shared of herself “getting ready” for a night out.
“I’m obsessed with myself on twitter. Also, my video last night was perfection,” she wrote.
“I’m so sick of the articles u write about me. I want every fake article deleted,” Amanda Bynes continued, and went on to mention Kid Cudi, who is regularly covered by Complex Magazine.
“Ur [bleep] whipped by my ugly ex who’s looks and talent have always been questionable to me, him being the ugly duckling that he is and all,” she wrote.
“U quote him non stop, then take professional shots of him for ur covers, his best photos aren’t [bleep] compared to mine at my best.”
Amanda Bynes and Kid Cudi were linked in 2010
Amanda Bynes then directed vitriol at the magazine’s cover girl: “The photo u chose of Aubrey for her cover is awful. You make people look bad, stop acting like you know anything about what men like.”
She then boasts about her own musical ability compared to the Day ‘N’ Nite rapper, whose real name is Scott Mescudi.
“I don’t stop getting followed or hit on every place I go. I’m not trying to sing, but if I did (I got offered an Interscope record deal right after I filmed Hairspray which you might know if you sat down and did a normal interview. I still might take them up on their offer) get the facts as opposed to talking [bleep].”
“My music is going to be sicker then whatever the [bleep] kind of music Scott tries to do. Stop writing articles without speaking to me first.”
Incidentally, Complex Magazine made a 30-slide gallery of Amanda Bynes’ “Weirdest Tweets” in 2012.
A few hours after the long rant, Amanda Bynes posted a close-up of herself wearing heavy makeup and winking at the camera. She captioned the picture: “Rawr!”
Amanda Bynes and Kid Cudi were linked in 2010 after she tweeted in February: “It’s amazing how good it feels when someone knows how to love your body! I am having withdrawals from a certain guy lol :).”
She added: “So turns out i prefer chocolate over vanilla. interesting.”
In his 2010 song, Cudder is Back, Kid Cudi rapped: “Wanna know about me and Amanda Bynes (Amanda please)…It don’t matter my n***a, I love them all. As long as she don’t need stupid amounts of makeup to make up the self esteem.”
A Boston Marathon bombing suspect has been arrested and it is believed he will soon be brought to court after a “dark-skinned male” was identified from two separate videos provided to the FBI.
This afternoon, the FBI announced there had been “substantial progress” in the investigation after they analyzed surveillance footage from the Lord and Taylor department store and revealed it showed the person planting the second bomb.
Using that video – and local news footage – authorities were able to get exactly what they have been looking for – someone coming in and dropping a package in a black bag before quickly walking away again.
It is as yet unclear whether a suspect has been located and apprehended or just identified.
It also emerged today that the force of the first blast at the marathon was so strong, the lid of the pressure cooker bomb was found on the sixth-floor roof of a hotel 35 yards away from the explosion site and is now a vital clue in the investigation.
Boston Marathon bombing suspect has been arrested after he was identified from two separate videos provided to the FBI
A guest at the Charlesmark Hotel discovered the crucial piece of evidence just minutes after the blast. He picked up the twisted metal – believing it was a hubcap from a vehicle damaged in the bomb – and gave it to a policeman.
Twenty-four hours later he was quizzed by FBI agents, who revealed the mangled metal was one of biggest clues so far in the search for the terrorists who killed three and injured 183 others.
Hotel owner Mark Hagopian said: “One of the guests had been up on the roof earlier in the day. Immediately after the blast he went back up there and spotted what he thought was a hub cap.
“As it hadn’t been there earlier he thought it could have come from a damaged car, so he picked it up and took it downstairs.
“He handed it to a policeman and thought nothing more of it until the FBI contacted him and hotel manager Curt Butcher on Tuesday evening.
“They met for 35 minutes and the FBI confirmed that it was part of the pressure cooker bomb.”
Mark Hogopian, 50, was hosting a marathon party for 100 people when the first bomb exploded on Monday afternoon.
As guests rushed outside the see what was happening, the second bomb went off just yards from the hotel’s outdoor patio.
“We were knocked off our feet by the blast and all around us there were bodies – seven or eight people missing limbs” Mark Hogopian said.
“There was blood splayed everywhere. It was utter chaos.
“One of the fourth-floor guests went up to the roof to see if he could see what was happening. That’s when he found what he thought was the hubcap.
“He handed it to the cop as everyone was being evacuated – at the time it was feared there were more bombs set to go off.
“Now it turns out that piece of metal is a big piece of the evidence. Apparently, forensics should be able to get many more clues from that.
“The FBI also took away video and photos the guest had taken. They are scouring those for further evidence.”
Former British PM Margaret Thatcher was this afternoon cremated at Mortlake Crematorium in South-West London.
After a reception for the guests at her ceremonial funeral, Margaret Thatcher’s body was driven from St Paul’s Cathedral to the suburban district.
Margaret Thatcher’s ashes are due to be interred next to those of her beloved husband Denis, who died in 2003, at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
Following the spectacular funeral at St Paul’s, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh joined Lady Thatcher’s family to watch her coffin loaded into a hearse and taken to the Chelsea hospital in preparation for her final journey.
Former British PM Margaret Thatcher was this afternoon cremated at Mortlake Crematorium in South-West London
Relatives then moved on to a reception at the Guildhall to thank the funeral guests for their attendance.
After the reception ended, Margaret Thatcher’s coffin left Central London – roughly four hours after the conclusion of the funeral service.
The vehicle was accompanied by police motorcyclists en route to Mortlake Crematorium.
The convoy drove west through Central London, and crossed Putney Bridge on its way to the suburb in the Borough of Richmond.
Dozens of onlookers lined the street and applauded as the coffin entered through the crematorium gates, which were guarded by two police officers.
Another two police officers saluted as the hearse went into the grounds, followed by two Jaguar cars and a Range Rover.
Two coaches carrying guests had arrived at the crematorium half an hour earlier, for a private service before the cremation.
Margaret Thatcher’s ashes will eventually be buried with those of Sir Denis, under a marble slab in the grounds of the famous hospital.
Other well-known figures to have been cremated at Mortlake Crematorium include comedian Tommy Cooper, actor Michael Redgrave and political journalist Robin Day.
The Secret Service has intercepted a letter addressed to President Barack Obama containing a “suspicious” substance.
The service said the letter was identified at a remote facility where White House post is screened.
The letter arrived at the facility on April 16, the same day a letter intended for Senator Roger Wicker tested positive for the lethal toxin ricin.
A spokesman for the Secret Service, which protects the US president and his family, said it was liaising with the Capitol Police and FBI to trace the origins of the letter.
“This facility routinely identifies letters or parcels that require secondary screening or scientific testing before delivery,” Edwin Donovan said.
The Secret Service has intercepted a letter addressed to President Barack Obama containing a “suspicious” substance
ABC are quoting sources saying the letter addressed to Barack Obama has tested positive for ricin but that the contents would be sent to an accredited laboratory for further analysis, as the preliminary results need further verification.
Ricin, extracted from castor beans, is 1,000 times more toxic than cyanide.
It can be fatal when inhaled, swallowed or injected, although it is possible to recover from exposure.
Correspondents say there is a heightened sense of alert in the capital after the deadly bomb attacks at the Boston Marathon but there is no indication so far of any connection between the two incidents.
Queen Elizabeth II has led mourners in St Paul’s Cathedral in London at the funeral of Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s longest serving prime minister of modern times.
More than 2,000 guests from around the world paid their last respects at the biggest such occasion since the Queen Mother’s funeral in 2002.
In total, two current heads of state, 11 serving prime ministers and 17 serving foreign ministers from around the world attended.
Notable absences were former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who could not attend due to ill health, and former US first lady Nancy Reagan, who was also unable to come.
Queen Elizabeth II has led mourners in St Paul’s Cathedral in London at the funeral of Margaret Thatcher
Invitees include:
Prime Minister David Cameron
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair and wife Cherie
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and wife Sarah
Former Prime Minister Sir John Major
Former South African President FW de Klerk
Former US Secretary of State and Nobel Peace laureate Dr. Henry Kissinger
Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband
The first minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond
The first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones
The first minister of Northern Ireland, Peter Robinson
Lord and Lady Archer
Chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten
London Olympic chief, Lord Sebastian Coe
Margaret Thatcher’s former foreign policy adviser Lord Powell of Bayswater
Former Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
Former US Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne
London Mayor Boris Johnson
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe
Former Conservative minister Michael Portillo and wife Carolyn Eadie
Former Czech President Vaclav Klaus and current Prime Minister Petr Necas
US politician Newt Gingrich
US politician Ross Perot
Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his wife Janette
Advertising executive and former Conservative Party chairman Lord Saatchi
Conservative donor Lord Harris and Lady Harris
Conservative peer, Baroness Trumpington
Former Commons Speaker, Baroness Boothroyd
Conservative peer, Baroness Bottomley
Press baron, Lord Beaverbrook
Former first minister of Northern Ireland, Lord David Trimble
BBC director general, Lord Tony Hall
Political commentator Sir Robert Worcester
Conservative Sir Malcolm Rifkind
Former Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menzies Campbell
Labour MP Frank Field
Labour MP Keith Vaz
Conservative MP Peter Lilley
Conservative Lord Sterling of Plaistow
Lady Annabel Goldsmith, the widow of Referendum Party founder Sir James Goldsmith
Businessman and UK Independence Party treasurer Stuart Wheeler
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti
Kuwait Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Saba
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk
Crown Prince Pavlos and Princess Marie-Chantal of the Hellenes
Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmed Al Sabah, son of the ruler of Kuwait
Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis
Former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir David Richards
Former head of the Army General Sir Mike Jackson
Field Marshal Lord Bramall
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Craig of Radley
General Sir Peter Wall
Field Marshal Sir John Chapple
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach
Major General Ed Davis
Vice Admiral Sir Roy Newman
Broadcaster Sir David Frost
Broadcaster Sir Trevor McDonald
Broadcaster John Sargeant
Lyricist Sir Tim Rice
Actress June Whitfield
Actress Joan Collins
Broadcaster Sir Terry Wogan and Lady Wogan
Singer Dame Shirley Bassey
Broadcaster and journalist Jeremy Clarkson
Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber
Fashion designer Anya Hindmarch
Former Antiques Roadshow presenter Hugh Scully
Artist Michael Noakes
Writer William Shawcross
Lady Solti, the widow of conductor Sir Georg Solti
JCB chairman Sir Anthony Bamford
Senior civil servant Sir Alex Allan
Singer Katherine Jenkins
Web pioneer Sir Tim Berners-Lee
Broadcaster Andrew Neil
Actor Michael Crawford
Chef Marco Pierre White
Conservative Raymond Monbiot
Williams Formula 1 team boss Sir Frank Williams
Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre
Businessman Gerald Ronson and Dame Gail Ronson
Philip Woodhouse, Master of Grocers Hall
Michael Cox, Master of the Worshipful Company of Vintners
The Lord Grabiner QC, treasurer of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn
Mark Wood, chairman of the NSPCC
Journalist Martyn Lewis
Businessman Sir David and Lady Tang
Stephen Boateng, of International Democrat Union
Former UK ambassador Sir Leonard Appleyard
Sir George Christie, chairman of Glyndebourne
Hotelier George Goring
Among those not attending:
Ronald Reagan’s widow Nancy is understood to be too frail to travel
Former US Presidents George Bush Sr. and George W. Bush
German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not attend and instead her government was represented by Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, due to health problems
Downing Street has confirmed that Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was not invited
Argentina’s ambassador to London, Alicia Castro, has declined her invitation
Lord Kinnock – former Labour leader of the opposition
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch was invited along with other newspaper proprietors but has indicated he will not be coming
Rihanna was forced to cancel her Houston concert due to an undisclosed illness after she’s already postponed two stops on her Diamonds World Tour since it started in early March.
Promoter Live Nation was once again left having to contact ticket holders and let them know that “as a result of illness” Rihanna would not be performing.
Instead of taking to Twitter as she has done in the past to beg forgiveness from her fans, it seems Rihanna, 25, has had other things on her mind.
As well as sending her condolences to all those involved in the Boston Marathon bombings, Rihanna also sent a Happy Birthday message to her brother Rajad.
The singer wrote: “Happy Birthday to the love of my life @RjFenty15.”
Rihanna was forced to cancel her Houston concert due to an undisclosed illness
According to Hollywood Life, Rihanna has been struck down with laryngitis once again, which is what led her to cancel the Boston stop of her tour too.
A source told the website: “She feels bad, but what can she do? This cold and laryngitis … just ain’t the business, but she will bounce back. She just laying it down, trying to get better.”
Rihanna’s health has been an issue throughout the tour and she has reportedly been told to curb her party-loving lifestyle if she wants to fulfill her touring commitments.
After bowing out of the Boston and Baltimore legs of her epic seven-month tour, Rihanna is said to be taking the advice of doctors, who expressed concerns about the effect her late nights, smoking and boozing could have on her overall health.
A source told The Sun newspaper: “Rihanna’s illness was so severe that doctors warned it could take months for her to fully recover – there were worries that she’d have to cancel her entire tour.
“They’ve told her that she needs to make some serious lifestyle changes, or risk this happening again. This has given her a scare. But Rihanna knows it’s partly self-inflicted.
“She loves to smoke, drink and stay up late. Her body was bound to need a break at some point. She’s now on a mission to start looking after herself.”
Meanwhile it has been confirmed that Rihanna is not the new face of Chanel, despite much online speculation.
Jessica Simpson is only days to go until her due date and she was joined by celebrities like Jessica Alba and Ashlee Simpson as well as friends and family in celebrating her baby shower at the Bel-Air Hotel garden yesterday.
The bright and colorful shower, which was planned by renowned event planner Mindy Weiss, featured flowers by Mark’s Garden with yellow roses, yellow ranunculus, bunches of lavender and cabbage leaves surrounding the party.
Jessica Simpson is only days to go until her due date and she was joined by friends and family in celebrating her baby shower
Jessica Simpson received a bunch of gifts for her little boy’s arrival (daughter Maxwell got some goodies, too) including bath toys, a new video monitor, a high chair, a Baby Bjorn kid carrier and an activity play gym.
Jessica Simpson recently told Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM show she’d like to stop having kids after her andEric Johnson’sson is born, but she can’t say that will be the case for sure.
A Cairo appeals court has ordered former Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak back to prison from military hospital.
Hosni Mubarak’s retrial will open on May, the court ruled.
The former leader is charged alongside his former interior minister and six former security chiefs with complicity in the murder and attempted murder of hundreds of protesters in January 2011.
Former Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak has been ordered back to prison from military hospital
The retrial was meant to begin on April 13 but collapsed when the presiding judge withdrew from the case.
AFP news agency quotes judicial sources as saying that Judge Mahmud al-Rashidi will preside over the case at the North Cairo Criminal Court.
Hosni Mubarak will also face corruption charges, along with his sons, Alaa and Gamal, and businessman Hussein Salem.
Lü Lingzi, the third person killed in the Boston Marathon attacks, was a 23-year-old Chinese graduate student at Boston University who came to the U.S. because it was her “dream to get a better education”.
Lü Lingzi was attending the Boston Marathon with her friend Zhou Danling, a student of actuarial science at BU, who was originally said to be in a coma at Boston Medical Center but showing signs of improvement after suffering serious injuries in the blast.
On Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Consulate General in New York said they were not releasing the victim’s name at the request of the family.
But later, Boston media quoted a Chinese Consulate General official as saying Chinese national Lü Lingzi was missing in the wake of the bombings that killed three and wounded more than 180 people.
Li Luquan, who is an operations research student at New Jersey State University said that Lü Lingzi, who is from Shenyang, Liaoning, was studying hard at BU and enjoyed cooking, going to the gym and to play the piano.
Lü Lingzi, the third person killed in the Boston Marathon attacks, was a 23-year-old Chinese graduate student at Boston University
“She came the U.S. last August and studied at Boston University because she wanted a better education. America has a better education system and better research opportunities,” Li Luquan said.
“Coming to America to study was her dream. She was living her dream.
“In the future she might stay in the U.S. or go back to China. She said she might work for a big company in America.
“She has an aunt who lives elsewhere in the U.S. and I think she has come to Boston to find her.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Colin Riley, a BU spokesman had declined to release the student’s name pending a discussion with her family.
On Wednesday however, The Shenyang Evening News reported her name on its official Twitter-like microblog account.
The Associated Press reported that an editor at the newspaper said that Lü Lingzi’s father confirmed his daughter’s death when reporters visited the family home.
According to the Boston Globeon Tuesday, BU did confirm that three of their students had attended the marathon and that one was sadly deceased, one was injured and another escaped unharmed.
Danling Zhou, who was reported to have fallen into a coma, was now doing well and was conscious.
The Chinese Consulate in New York had earlier confirmed that Zhou Danling was injured and a survivor of the attacks which killed two others and left 183 others injured.
“She cannot talk now but can communicate with pen and paper,” the consulate said in an e-mailed statement previously on Tuesday.
In that earlier statement, the consulate said another Chinese student, identified by the consulate as Lü Lingzi, was still missing.
“We are following the case closely and are trying to reach our colleagues in Boston. I believe they will release further information on site if anything comes up,” the consulate said. Then adding: “Our hearts goes out to all the families who had been affected.”
Zhou Danling is reportedly a graduate of Wuhan University in central China, and currently a student at Boston University in actuarial science, according to a Xinhua report.
Boston is filled with colleges and there are a handful of students among the 183 injured.
Three Tufts University students, 7 Emerson College students, 3 Northeastern University students, 2 Boston College students, and one Berklee College of Music student, according to the schools.
European car sales were 10.3% lower in March 2013 from a year earlier, the 18th consecutive month of falls.
The figures, from the Association of European Carmakers (ACEA) showed most carmakers saw sales drop, with Peugeot Citroen and Toyota suffering the most.
Continuing economic stagnation across Europe has depressed sales for almost six years.
The UK was the only country in Europe where sales rose, with registrations up by 5.9%.
Germany, the best performing economy in the eurozone, saw the biggest fall in sales of 17.1%, with France just behind with a drop of 16.2%.
European car sales were 10.3 percent lower in March 2013 from a year earlier, the 18th consecutive month of falls
“The car industry is suffering just as the European economy is suffering,” said motor industry analyst Christian Stadler, associate professor of strategic management at Warwick Business School.
The falls came despite hefty incentives on offer to buyers of new cars.
The Reuters news agency said that average retail sales incentives in the top five markets – Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain – had risen 13% to almost 2,400 euros ($3,200) per vehicle.
Last month, 1.31 million cars were registered in Europe.
Peugeot and Toyota were the worst affected manufacturers, with sales falling more than 16% from a year earlier, Volkswagen also suffered a sharp drop, with sales down 15% and the US carmaker General Motors saw sales fall by 12.8%.
Peugeot has forecast a sales fall of up to 5% this year, although since that guidance was given the chief executive has said that the outlook has worsened.
Jaguar was the only carmaker to see serious gains, with sales up by 21%. Mercedes also saw sales rise, although only by 0.8%.
“There are firms bucking the trend, like Jaguar Land Rover who are positioned well in the emerging markets, and you see that those high-end brands aimed at richer customers are not doing as badly,” said Christian Stadler.
“Car firms positioned in this way will be able to avoid the worst of the European slowdown.”
In a separate announcement, Toyota, which was a pioneer of petrol-electric hybrid vehicles with its Prius model in 1997, said sales of these and its other hybrid models had now passed five million.
Toyota said it had sold a total 5.125 million hybrid vehicles by the end of March, and they now accounted for 14% of its global sales.
Fox’s adult cartoon Family Guy depicts mass deaths at the Boston Marathon in a recent episode aired last month.
Family Guy Boston Marathon episode, which first aired on March 17, was removed from Fox.com and Hulu.com and the network has no plans air it again, Fox spokeswoman Gaude Paez said Tuesday.
The Boston Marathon episode features the show’s main character, Peter Griffin, unwittingly befriending a terrorist who is planning to blow up a bridge and then accidentally detonating two bombs using a cell phone the friend gave him. The sounds of screams follow the detonations.
In a separate and unrelated scene, the episode depicts peter Griffin reminiscing about how he won a former Boston Marathon by mowing over runners in his car.
Adult cartoon Family Guy depicts mass deaths at the Boston Marathon in a recent episode aired last month
“I’ll tell ya, Bob, I just got in my car and drove it,” Peter Griffin says.
“And when there was a guy in my way, I killed him.”
As he talks, Peter Griffin is illustrated driving his car across the finish line with a trail of bloody carnage behind him.
Internet users mashed the clips together and suggested that the Family Guy episode had either predicted or influenced the tragic explosions at the marathon on Monday that killed three people and injured 183.
FamilyGuy‘s creator, Seth MacFarlane, called the edited clips “abhorrent”.
“The edited Family Guy clip currently circulating is abhorrent,” Seth MacFarlane tweeted on Tuesday.
“The event was a crime and a tragedy, and my thoughts are with the victims.”
Lü Lingzi has been identified as the third person killed in the Boston Marathon bombings.
Lü Lingzi was a 23-year-old Chinese graduate student at Boston University (BU) Mathematics and Statistics, who came to the U.S. because it was her “dream to get a better education”.
The young woman has been identified by her father in China.
Lü Lingzi has been identified as the third person killed in the Boston Marathon bombings
Lü Lingzi was attending the Boston marathon with her friend Zhou Danling, a student of actuarial science at BU, who was originally said to be in a coma at Boston Medical Center but showing signs of improvement after suffering serious injuries in the blast.
The other two fatalities in the bombing have been identified as 8-year-old Martin Richard, the son of a Dorchester community activist, and 29-year-old restaurant manager Krystle Campbell.
As the latest official tally suggested, 183 people were injured and three killed in Monday’s terror attacks at the Boston Marathon.
Hundreds of people gathered to hold candlelit vigils in tribute to the victims.
Vigils were held across the city as FBI investigators admitted their range of suspects remained “wide open”.
Amanda Bynes has changed her outrageous hair extensions which covered up her shaved head after she said her hair was damaged.
Amanda Bynes, 27, stepped out on Tuesday morning for another trip to a New York salon where a miraculous transformation occurred getting new matted hair extensions.
Earlier a number of dreaded ropes hung messily down the actress’s shoulders.
Amanda Bynes has changed her outrageous hair extensions which covered up her shaved head
The blonde tangle was kept in place by a red Obey trucker hat but strangely she didn’t ditch the cap after she had her follicles fettled into good shape.
Amanda Bynes wore a camouflage army jacket, black tights, and leather high heeled boots.
The former teen idol sported a thick gold watch and toted a Louis Vuitton gold handbag as she stretched her hands out in front of her while making her way along the street.
By way of explanation for her increasingly outrageous hairstyles, Amanda Bynes wrote on Twitter: “I had to shave my head because of hair damage from someone @ John Barrett so I’m not loving my paparazzi pics for a few years!”
Psy’s new single Gentleman has been viewed by more than 100 million people on YouTube in just four days.
Gentleman music video clip was published on YouTube on April 13 and has since broken the record for first day song views.
The follow-up track of Gangnam Style had around 20 million hits in the first 24 hours.
The previous record for first day views of 8 million was set by Justin Bieber’s Beauty and a Beat, which was viewed 10.6 million times in 24 hours.
Gentleman video features South Korean rapper Psy wearing his signature glasses and playing practical jokes on women such as pulling their chairs away as they are about to sit down and increasing the speed on a treadmill while it’s being used.
Psy’s new single Gentleman has been viewed by more than 100 million people on YouTube in just four days
The video also shows a new hip swivelling dance move. His previous horse riding move was copied by people all over the world including The Wanted, Britney Spears and President Barack Obama.
Psy has insisted that he’s not trying for another worldwide hit with Gentleman.
The singer said: “I’ve been doing this for 12 years. Would it be fair to call me a one-hit wonder just because my next song falls flat?”
Psy’s debut single Gangnam Style became the most-watched YouTube video of all time with more than 1.5 billion views since it was published in July 2012.
Fox has decided to pull a recent episode of Family Guy from its websites that depicted people being killed at the Boston Marathon.
The television network says it has no plans to air the episode again soon.
Fox spokeswoman Gaude Paez said Family Guy Boston Marathon episode had been removed from Fox.com.
In the episode, main character Peter Griffin has a flashback about crashing into runners with his car and making friends with a terrorist plotting to blow up a bridge.
When Peter, who is voiced by Seth MacFarlane, dials a mobile phone a friend has given him, explosions and screams are heard in the background.
The episode was originally aired on March 17 in the US.
Fox has decided to pull a recent episode of Family Guy from its websites that depicted people being killed at the Boston Marathon
On some websites in America, an edited clip has been circulating that mixes the two scenes together, making it seem as though the explosion was at the marathon.
Some commenters have since implied that the show “predicted” the bombings.
Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane criticised the edited clip on Twitter and offered his condolences to the victims of Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon.
Seth said: “The edited Family Guy clip currently circulating is abhorrent. The event was a crime and a tragedy and my thoughts are with the victims.”
Meanwhile, Film4 has taken the film Four Lions out of its schedule next week after the Boston Marathon bombings.
Chris Morris’s comedy is about a group of British Muslims planning a bomb attack at the London Marathon.
A tight London security operation involving more than 4,000 police officers is under way for the funeral of former British PM Margaret Thatcher.
Margaret Thatcher’s coffin will travel from Westminster and be taken in procession through central London for the funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral at 11:00 BST.
Some 2,300 people, representing 170 countries, are expected to attend.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will be among them.
Scotland Yard said it was expecting some protests along the funeral route.
Margaret Thatcher’s coffin will travel from Westminster and be taken in procession through central London for the funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral
Margaret Thatcher, who was Conservative Prime Minister from 1979 until 1990, died on April 8, following a stroke, at the age of 87.
Baroness Thatcher has been accorded a ceremonial funeral with military honors, one step down from a state funeral.
Police were out early on Wednesday with metal crowd control barriers in place along the main route in Westminster.
Margaret Thatcher’s coffin will initially travel by hearse from the Palace of Westminster, where it has lain overnight, to the Church of St Clement Danes – the Central Church of the RAF – on the Strand.
The coffin will then be transferred to a gun carriage to be drawn by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, who will lead it in procession to St Paul’s.
The processional route will be lined by more than 700 armed services personnel. A gun salute will be fired from the Tower of London every minute while the procession is taking place.
The Dean of St Paul’s said the funeral would be “relatively humble” in line with Margaret Thatcher’s wishes.
The Very Rev Dr David Ison said Margaret Thatcher had played a large part in planning the funeral over the past six years.
He said the “simple” service would be in contrast to the “pomp and ceremony” surrounding the transit of the coffin.
“Mrs. Thatcher wanted something that was very simple and it is not at all triumphalist,” he said.
“There is no eulogy, she is only mentioned once or twice in the service. It uses the book of common prayer, which is actually quite austere in places.”
As well as the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, all 32 members of the current cabinet will attend the service, along with more than 30 members of Margaret Thatcher’s cabinets from her time as prime minister.
There will be more than 50 guests associated with the Falkland Islands, including veterans from the 1982 conflict with Argentina, but Argentina’s ambassador to London, Alicia Castro, has declined an invitation to attend.
In total, two current heads of state, 11 serving prime ministers and 17 serving foreign ministers from around the world will attend.
Six police forces from outside London have sent specialist officers to help with escorting foreign dignitaries.
Various roads along the route were closed from 07:30 BST, and Transport for London (TfL) has advised drivers to avoid Westminster and the City of London. The roads are expected to be re-opened as soon as possible following the funeral.
Hours before the funeral, people began to gather outside the cathedral.
There were union jacks on display, as well as flags from the US, Canada, Scotland, Poland and the Falkland Islands.
The Metropolitan Police said it had been contacted by a small number of protesters to say they were planning action on the funeral route in protest at the impact of some of Margaret Thatcher’s policies while she was in power. Other protests are expected elsewhere.
Although Monday’s bomb attack at the Boston Marathon was not believed to have led to any significant changes in security for the funeral, it was expected that the police and public would be more vigilant.
Senior officers acknowledged they had a “difficult” balance to strike between allowing people to express their opinions and maintaining order.
Police have powers to arrest those who use “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior”, but Scotland Yard said it was not for the police to “uphold respect”.
Margaret Thatcher’s union jack-draped coffin was placed in the Palace of Westminster’s Chapel of St Mary Undercroft overnight on Tuesday.
A short service, led by the Dean of Westminster, was held for members of the family, senior parliamentarians, and staff from Parliament and Downing Street.
The House of Commons speaker’s chaplain kept vigil in the chapel through the night.
The chimes of Big Ben will be silenced for the duration of Margaret Thatcher’s funeral.
The FBI has released images from the probe into the deadly attack on the Boston Marathon showing details of the bombs used.
Images from a joint Homeland Security and FBI bulletin show the remains of a dark colored backpack and remnants of what appears to be a pressure cooker.
Three people died, including an 8-year-old boy, and more than 180 were injured when two bombs exploded near the finish line of Monday’s race.
The FBI has released images from the probe into the deadly attack on the Boston Marathon showing details of the bombs used
FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers told a news conference that pieces of nylon had been recovered from the scene, along with fragments of ball bearings and nails that were “possibly contained in a pressure-cooker device”.
He said they were being sent to the agency’s laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, where experts would reconstruct the devices to determine their make-up and components.
Richard DesLauriers added: “The investigation is in its infancy. There are no claims of responsibility and the range of suspects and motives remains wide open.”
He urged people to report anyone they had seen acting suspiciously.
“Someone knows who did this,” he said.
Associated Press quoted a source close to the investigation as saying that the bombs consisted of explosives placed in 1.6-gallon pressure cookers, one with shards of metal and ball bearings, the other with nails.
The bombs were put into black bags and left on the ground, the source said.
It has also been reported that a circuit board and battery pack – parts of a triggering mechanism – were also recovered.
Doctors treating the wounded say their injuries indicate that the bombs contained metal shards and other shrapnel. A number of victims have had limbs amputated.
Speaking at the same news conference, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick said the Boston community would “recover and heal” from the attack.
“This is one community. We are all in this together,” he said.
President Barack Obama will address an interfaith service in Boston for the victims on Thursday morning.
The White House said Barack Obama had cancelled a planned trip to Kansas to speak.
