Robert Wagner has “declined to be interviewed” by police reinvestigating the death of his wife Natalie Wood.
Robert Wagner was quizzed after Natalie Wood’s drowning in 1981 but has refused to co-operate since the case was reopened, detectives said.
The body of the actress was found a mile away from the yacht she had been aboard with her husband and fellow-actor Christopher Walken in California.
It is claimed she had a “fight” with Robert Wagner before her disappearance.
Robert Wagner’s solicitor, Blair Berk, insisted the actor had nothing to hide.
In a prepared statement, Blair Berk said: “Mr. Wagner has fully co-operated over the last 30 years in the investigation of the accidental drowning of his wife in 1981.
“He has been interviewed on multiple occasions by the Los Angeles sheriff’s department and answered every single question asked of him by detectives during those interviews.”
Robert Wagner has declined to be interviewed by police reinvestigating the death of his wife Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood’s death was always presumed to be a tragic accident, but the case was reopened in November 2011 when the yacht’s captain, Dennis Davern, told American television shows that he heard the Hollywood couple arguing on the night of her disappearance, suggesting Robert Wagner was to blame for her death.
Blair Berk dismissed the claims as sensationalist, but earlier this week coroner’s officials released an updated autopsy report which reclassified the death from accidental drowning to drowning caused by “undetermined factors.”
The report said part of the reason for the change was because investigators could not rule out that some of the bruises and marks found on Natalie Wood’s body happened before she went into the water.
Lieutenant John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office claimed detectives have tried to interview Robert Wagner on more than 10 occasions, but had been turned down each time.
He said: “Most of the people we’ve talked to were never talked to 30 years ago. We’ve got a lot of new information.”
But when pressed on whether criminal charges could be brought, Lt John Corina claimed that would be up to prosecutors, adding: “All we can do is collect the facts. We’re still trying to collect all the facts.”
Natalie Wood, who was 43 when she died, was a Hollywood superstar best known for her roles in Miracle on 34th Street, West Side Story and Rebel Without A Cause.
On the night of her death she had been drinking with her husband and Christopher Walken on the yacht. Her body was found near an inflatable dinghy which had been attached to the craft.
In 2008, Robert Wagner, now 82, wrote in a memoir that he had argued with Christopher Walken and when he went to bed, he noticed his wife and the dinghy were missing.
“Nobody knows,” he wrote.
“There are only two possibilities; either she was trying to get away from the argument, or she was trying to tie the dinghy. But the bottom line is that nobody knows exactly what happened.”
Toyota announces it has settled a wrongful death lawsuit following a fatal crash in Utah in 2010 involving sudden, unintended acceleration.
The case was brought by the family of Paul Van Alfen and Charlene Jones Lloyd, who were killed when their Toyota Camry crashed into a wall.
Toyota did not disclose the size of the settlement.
It is thought the case marks the first of hundreds of pending wrongful death and injury lawsuits.
Last month Toyota agreed to pay an estimated $1.1 billion to settle hundreds of lawsuits from other US car-owners, who were claiming economic losses because of safety changes needed for their vehicles.
Toyota announces it has settled a wrongful death lawsuit following a fatal crash in Utah in 2010 involving sudden, unintended acceleration
Since 2009, Toyota has recalled more than 14 million vehicles worldwide over problems with accelerator pedals becoming trapped under floor mats.
Toyota said it sympathized with anyone in an accident involving one of its vehicles, but said it stood behind the safety and integrity of its electronic throttle control system.
“We are satisfied that both parties reached a mutually acceptable agreement to settle this case,” a company statement said of the most recent agreement.
“While Toyota may decide from time to time to settle select cases, we will have a number of other opportunities to defend our product at trial in multidistrict litigation and other legal venues.
“We are confident the evidence will confirm what millions of Toyota drivers prove every day: that they can depend upon their vehicles to provide safe, reliable transportation.”
Sergei Filin, artistic director of Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre, is being treated in a Moscow hospital for severe burns to his face after a masked man threw acid in his face, police say.
The attack happened late on Thursday as Sergei Filin, an award-winning ballet star, was walking home in central Moscow.
Doctors are now fighting to save his eyesight and Interfax news agency says he will be sent to a clinic abroad.
A Bolshoi spokesman said Sergei Filin, 42, had suffered months of threats.
According to local media, it is suspected that he was the victim of infighting and rows between different groups of dancers at the Bolshoi.
According to the Bolshoi statement, the assailant shouted to Sergei Filin as he was approaching the entrance to his apartment block, then threw acid in Filin’s face.
Sergei Filin then got help from a warden keeping watch over nearby cars.
The theatre’s executive director, Anatoly Iksanov, told Russian television that Sergei Filin was “uncompromising” in his management style.
“If he thought a performer was unready to play a certain role, or incapable of it, he would not let the performer do it,” he said.
Tensions at the Bolshoi over its artistic programme have been widely reported in Russian media.
Sergei Filin, artistic director of Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre, is being treated in a Moscow hospital for severe burns to his face after a masked man threw acid in his face
In 2011 two ballet stars – Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev – resigned in protest at the Bolshoi’s new repertoire.
At the time of Sergei Filin’s appointment the head of the Bolshoi’s ballet troupe, Gennady Yanin, resigned after erotic photographs purporting to be him were posted on a website.
Another celebrated performer, Nikolai Tsiskaridze, sharply criticized Sergei Filin in early 2012.
Sergei Filin:
1970 – born in Moscow
1988 – began dancing at Bolshoi
Winner of Russian and international awards
Performs abroad, including at Covent Garden, London
2008 – dancing career ends
March 2011 – takes over as Bolshoi artistic director
Sydney is experiencing its hottest day on record, with temperatures reaching nearly 115 F (46 C).
A temperature of 114.4 F (45.8 C) was recorded at Observatory Hill in the Australian city at 14:55 local time.
Some areas in the wider Sydney region were even hotter, with the town of Penrith, to the west, registering a temperature of 115.7 F (46.5 C).
Firefighters are still battling dozens of wildfires sparked by the intense heat in New South Wales and Victoria.
The small town of Licola in eastern Victoria is reported to have been cut off by a 44,500-hectare fire, as its sole access road is blocked.
Officials said dozens of people had been evacuated but 10 locals were still there.
Rob Gilder, a sheep farmer, said he and two employees had found themselves trapped on their farm and were “in grave danger”.
He told the Herald Sun they were taking steps to protect their house and farm equipment, but that he was concerned for his livestock, and that the situation could worsen.
“I am very worried. But I am hopeful that one of those helicopters will come and get us but I think the smoke might beat them.”
Sydney is experiencing its hottest day on record, with temperatures reaching nearly 115 F
Australia faces wildfires each year as temperatures climb. In February 2009, on what has come to be known as Black Saturday, 173 people were killed in fires in the state of Victoria.
On Friday, Prime Minister Julia Gillard attended a memorial service for fires in 2003 in the capital, Canberra, which killed four people and destroyed thousands of homes.
She reminded Australians to “take the appropriate precautions to stay safe and monitor information from local emergency services as they work to protect lives and property”, the AFP news agency reports.
The previous recorded high in Sydney was in January 1939, when the thermometer topped 113.5 F (45.3 C) at Observatory Hill.
The Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement that Friday’s record-setting temperatures “were not limited to Sydney, with records being set along the coast from Bega (44.6 °C) to Williamtown (44.8 °C)”.
“The highest temperature recorded in the Greater Sydney Area was 46.5 °C at Penrith, where observations started in 1995.”
Officials in Sydney have warned people to be ready for the heat, take care, avoid strenuous activity and stay out of the sun.
The heat has damaged wiring to urban railway lines, bringing delays to much of the network – CityRail have warned passengers to carry water with them.
The emergency services has received dozens of calls from people seeking help for heat-related health issues, including dizziness, fainting and vomiting, ABC News reports.
Chief Superintendent Ian Johns said elderly and ill people tended to suffer the most, but warned that “people underestimate the heat and overestimate their ability and that would be particularly so for younger, fitter Australians”.
The heatwave across Australia in recent weeks has been so intense that the Bureau of Meteorology has had to add a new shade to its color-coded temperature chart, so the scale now reaches above 122 F (50 C).
However, meteorologists have forecast a dramatic change in weather overnight in Sydney, with thunder storms expected to bring a rapid drop in temperatures.
In a series of tweets, 79-year-old Joan Collins has offered slimming tips ranging from the tongue-in-cheek to the frankly bizarre.
Joan Collins’s daily morsels of advice for her 100,000 followers began on January 8, starting with: “Some hot tips for losing those stubborn Xmas pounds, #1 best exercise – push yourself away from the dining table. More tomorrow.”
Since then she has recommended eating nothing but eggs one day a week, brushing your teeth with peppermint toothpaste to quash hunger pangs and drinking tequila instead of wine.
Unfortunately, not all of Joan Collins’ suggestions have been met with the respect she may feel they deserve.
In a series of tweets, 79-year-old Joan Collins has offered slimming tips ranging from the tongue-in-cheek to the frankly bizarre
One fan wrote: “I take the seafood diet: When I see food, I eat.”
And in response to her advice to eat from smaller plates, another quipped: “Have you tried dolly cutlery Joan, fools your brain into thinking you’re having a full meal!”
Joan Collins suggests eating less red meat and white foods such as bread and pasta, and ditching “bloating” fizzy drinks.
Al Vaosa was revealed as one of the key players in the Manti Te’o fake girlfriend Lennay Kekua scandal.
Al Vaosa, who tweets under the username Jay Rahz, is a youth leader at Manti Te’o’s Christian Church and former pharmacy lab technician.
He joked about Lennay Kekua and even said he was “running her profile” last December.
He has even said on Twitter that he knew it was all a hoax back in 2008.
Al Vaosa, 28, claims at that point that he severed all ties with Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, who is the main suspect of being the person behind Lennay Kekua, even though she did not actually exist.
It is not currently known what the relationship between the two of them is or when it began.
Al Vaosa, who is also known as J.R., casts himself as a responsible young adult but he has questions to answer over his role in how Manti Te’o, the star linebacker with Notre Dame college, was apparently duped – and if he was not involved why he did nothing to stop it.
Al Vaosa was revealed as one of the key players in the Manti Te’o fake girlfriend Lennay Kekua scandal
In particular, Al Vaosa tweeted that Lennay Kekua was a fake two days before Manti Te’o found out – and at one point even appears to admit responsibility for the whole thing.
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo remains the main suspect in the bizarre hoax which has led to a 24-hour cat and mouse game on the Internet after it was first reported by Deadspin.com on Wednesday afternoon.
Manti Te’o appears to have maintained a relationship with Lennay Kekua for a year before her death in September from leukemia while he was leading his team to glory in an undefeated run to the BCS championship – turning him into the season’s star.
The death was six hours after his beloved grandmother died and sparked a groundswell of support from fans and the public at large.
Manti Te’o found out about the hoax on December 6 but it has now become public and dragged in at least two other football players, former Arizona Cardinals fullback Reagan Mauia and Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.
Now the spotlight has turned to Al Vaosa.
On December 4, two nights before Manti Te’o found out the news, Al Vaosa Tweeted: “The person behind @LennayKay created the leukemia death story cause of @WhatIsCatfish.”
Catfish was the 2010 film about the dangers of Internet hoaxes.
The next night, 24 hours before the hoax was exposed, Al Vaosa appears to have become paranoid and Tweeted: “It’s so hard to tweet like nothing is going on LOL.”
He added: “I seriously believe we’re being watched!! No joke!”
Al Vaosa also added: “Omgah now I’m getting a blocked # calling me.”
The most interesting Tweet of all comes from Al Vaosa himself who on December 12 wrote to a relative named Celeste, whose tag is @ceeweezy51: “aka *goes back to running @LennayKay’s profile* lmfao.”
Algerian hostage crisis at a gas facility in the desert, where Islamist militants were holding foreign hostages, has yet to be resolved, the UK says.
The UK Foreign Office said the “terrorist incident” near In Amenas was “ongoing”.
Algerian state media said four hostages and several militants were killed when troops backed by helicopters attempted to free them on Thursday afternoon.
The militants had claimed to be holding 41 foreigners. At least four were freed but the fate of many others is unknown.
Algeria has yet to give precise casualty figures from the rescue attempt.
The state-run APS news agency cited local officials as saying two Britons and two Filipinos were killed. Two others, a Briton and an Algerian, died on Wednesday when the militants ambushed a bus that was taking foreign workers at the facility to the local airport.
A spokesman for the militants told the Mauritanian ANI news agency that 35 hostages and 15 militants had been killed by helicopter gunfire in Thursday’s operation.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said: “Parts of the plant are under Algerian authorities’ control, and other parts are not. This information is changing by the hour.”
The indications on Thursday night were that the military element of the operation had concluded, and that it had moved to the search phase.
But there are now some unconfirmed reports that a small group of militants and hostages remain, possibly near the gas compressor at the main gas plant.
It had always been reported that hostages were being held at different locations.
Algerian hostage crisis at a gas facility in the desert, where Islamist militants were holding foreign hostages, has yet to be resolved
UK government sources said they were trying to establish the fate of as many as 20 British people and were bracing themselves for multiple casualties.
Japanese officials were meanwhile cited as saying by the Kyodo news agency that at least 14 Japanese nationals were still missing. At least three managed to escape.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, expressed “deep regret” at the actions of the Algerian security forces and its foreign ministry summoned the Algerian ambassador.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said the Algerian officials had said “they felt they had no choice but to go in”.
Norway said eight of its nationals were currently unaccounted for. One is being treated at a hospital in In Amenas, while four escaped unharmed.
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said two French workers were safe. It was unclear if another two were involved, he added.
The Irish government confirmed that one of its citizens was free. Five Americans had survived and left the country, US officials told ABC News.
APS said about 600 local workers had been freed in the raid, but many of those were reportedly allowed to leave on Wednesday by the militants.
The militants said they had seized the foreigners in retaliation for France’s military intervention in Mali, where its forces have been battling Islamists since last week.
Algerian Communications Minister Mohand Said Oubelaid said the militants were intent on “destabilizing Algeria, embroiling it in the Mali conflict and damaging its natural gas infrastructure.”
Algerian officials said the group was operating under orders from Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a senior commander of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) until late last year.
The In Amenas gas field is operated by the Algerian state oil company, Sonatrach, along with the British oil company BP and Norway’s Statoil.
It is situated at Tigantourine, about 40 km (25 miles) south-west of the town of In Amenas and 1,300 km (800 miles) south-east of Algiers.
Cyclist Lance Armstrong has ended years of denials by admitting to Oprah Winfrey that he used performance-enhancing drugs during all seven of his Tour de France wins.
The 41-year-old confessed: “I view this situation as one big lie I repeated a lot of times.”
“I made those decisions, they were my mistake and I’m here to say sorry.”
However, Lance armstrong denied it was “sport’s biggest doping programme”, saying “it was smart, but it was conservative, risk averse”.
The interview with Oprah Winfrey was broadcast on prime time television on her OWN network in the US, and was streamed worldwide through her website.
The tens of millions viewers saw Lance Armstrong reveal:
he took performance-enhancing drugs in each of his Tour wins from 1999-2005
doping was “part of the process required to win the Tour”
he did not feel he was cheating at the time and viewed it as a “level playing field”
he did not fear getting caught
“all the fault and blame” should lie with him
he was a bully who “turned on” people he did not like
his cancer fight in the mid-1990s gave him a “win-at-all costs” attitude
he would now co-operate with official inquiries into doping in cycling
In response the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) called for Armstrong to detail “under oath” the full extent of his doping.
Cycling’s governing body the UCI welcomed Armstrong’s decision “to come clean and confess”, and said the interview had confirmed it was not part of a “collusion or conspiracy”.
Last year Lance Armstrong was stripped of his Tour de France titles after being labelled a “serial cheat” by Usada.
In a detailed report, the body said he led “the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme sport has ever seen”.
Lance Armstrong decided not to contest the charges, saying last year he was tired of fighting the allegations. He had always strongly denied doping.
That all changed within seconds of an explosive opening to the interview when Oprah Winfrey demanded yes or no answers.
“Did you ever take banned substances to enhance cycling performance?”
“Yes.”
“Was one of those substances EPO?”
“Yes.”
“Did you use any other banned substances?”
“Yes.”
Lance Armstrong then admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs Erythropoietin (EPO), testosterone, cortisone and human growth hormone as well as having blood transfusions.
He continued: “All the fault and blame is on me and a lot of that is momentum and I lost myself in all that. I couldn’t handle it. The story is so bad and toxic and a lot of it is true.”
Asked if doping was part of the process required to win the Tour, Lance Armstrong said: “That’s like saying we have to have air in our tyres or water in our bottles. It was part of the job.
“I don’t want to make any excuses, but that was my view and I made those decisions.”
In a key exchange Oprah Winfrey asked: “Did it feel wrong?”
Lance Armstrong replied: “No. Scary.”
“Did you feel bad?”
“No. Even scarier.”
“Did you feel that you were cheating?”
“No. The scariest.”
Lance Armstrong has ended years of denials by admitting to Oprah Winfrey that he used performance-enhancing drugs during all seven of his Tour de France wins
Lance Armstrong continued: “The definition of a cheat is to gain an advantage on a rival or foe. I didn’t view it that way. I viewed it as a level playing field. I didn’t understand the magnitude of that. The important thing is that I’m beginning to understand it.
“I see the anger in people, betrayal. It’s all there. People who believed in me and supported me and they have every right to feel betrayed and it’s my fault and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to earn back trust and apologise to people.”
On whether it was the biggest doping programme in sport he said: “I didn’t have access to anything that anybody else didn’t.
“Winning races mattered for me but to say that programme was bigger than the East German doping programme of 70s and 80s is wrong.”
Lance Armstrong said his battle with cancer in the mid-1990s turned him into a “fighter”.
“Before my diagnosis I was a competitor but not a fierce competitor,” he said.
“I took that ruthless win-at-all-costs attitude into cycling which was bad.”
Lance Armstrong denied riders had to comply to a doping programme to compete for his US Postal Service/Discovery Channel team, but admitted his personality could imply that.
He said: “Yes, I was a bully. I was a bully in the sense that I tried to control the narrative and if I didn’t like what someone said I turned on them.
“We felt like we had our backs against the wall and I was a fighter.”
Lance Armstrong said he had not been afraid of getting caught.
“Testing has evolved. Back then they didn’t come to your house and there was no testing out of competition and for most of my career there wasn’t that much out-of-competition testing so you’re not going to get caught because you clean up for the races.
“I didn’t fail a test. Retrospectively, I failed one. The hundreds of tests I took I passed them.”
However, he did admit that he received a back-dated therapeutic user exemption certificate for a cream containing steroids at the 1999 Tour to ensure he did not test positive.
Lance Armstrong retired from cycling in 2005 but returned to the sport between 2009 and 2012.
He told Oprah Winfrey that he did not use drugs after his return to the sport.
“That’s the only thing in that whole USADA report that really upset me,” he said.
Lance Armstrong said he regretted his return, and was asked if he would have “got away with it” if he had not come back.
“Impossible to say,” he replied, but added his “chances would have been better”.
However, he conceded that when he discovered George Hincapie, who was the only man to ride in the same team as Lance Armstrong for each of his seven Tour wins, had given evidence against him last year, he knew his “fate was sealed”.
“George is the most credible voice in all of this,” Lance Armstrong added.
“He did all seven Tours. We’re still great friends. I don’t fault George Hincapie, but George knows this story better than anybody.”
Lance Armstrong said he would now co-operate with USADA.
“I love cycling and I say that knowing that people see me as someone who disrespected the sport, the colour yellow,” he said.
“If there was a truth and reconciliation commission – and I can’t call for that – and I’m invited I’ll be first man through the door.”
He went on to say that he wished he had complied with the USADA investigation.
“I’d do anything to go back to that day,” he said.
“I wouldn’t fight, I wouldn’t sue them, I’d listen. I’d do a couple of things first.
“I’d say give me three days. Let me call my family, my mother, sponsors, [the Lance Armstrong Livestrong] foundation and I wish I could do that but I can’t.”
Asked if his former doctor Michele Ferrari, who was banned for life by USADA after being found guilty of numerous anti-doping violations, was the “mastermind”, Lance Armstrong said: “No. I’m not comfortable talking about other people.
“I viewed Dr. Michele Ferrari as a good man and I still do.”
He said he regretted “going on the attack” against masseuse Emma O’Reilly, who was an early whistleblower.
“She is one of these people that I have to apologise to,” he said.
“She’s one of these people who got run over, got bullied.”
He denied making a $100,000 donation in 2005 to the UCI, to cover up a failed drugs test.
“It was not in exchange for help,” he said.
“They called. They didn’t have a lot of money. I did. They asked if I would make a donation so I did.
“That story [of a cover up] isn’t true. There was no positive test. There was no paying off of the lab. There was no secret meeting with the lab director. I’m no fan of the UCI. That did not happen.”
However, Lance Armstrong refused to answer questions regarding allegations made by former team-mate Frankie Andreu, who admitted in 2006 to taking EPO before the 1999 Tour – Armstrong’s first victory – and his wife Betsy,
The duo testified in 2006 that they heard Lance Armstrong tell a cancer doctor that he had doped with EPO in 1996. Armstrong swore, under oath, that it did not happen.
Lance Armstrong told Oprah Winfrey that he had a 40-minute telephone conversation with the Andreus but he was not prepared to reveal what was said.
The Algerian military operation to free hostages being held by Islamist militants at a desert gas plant is now over, state news agency APS reports.
State TV said four foreign hostages were killed in the operation. Others were freed, but there was no confirmation of how many survived.
AFP news agency quoted officials as saying the army had not secured the whole site, which was being searched.
Al-Qaeda-linked fighters occupied the facility near In Amenas on Wednesday.
Reports suggest the facility is still being searched.
During the Algerian military intervention on Thursday as many as 600 Algerians and four foreign hostages – two from Scotland, one from France and one from Kenya – were freed, APS reported.
The Irish government confirmed that one of its citizens was free. Five American hostages had survived and had left the country, US officials were quoted as telling ABC News.
The Algerian military operation to free hostages being held by Islamist militants at a desert gas plant is now over
Earlier, the militants reportedly said that at least 34 hostages and 14 kidnappers died, and that seven foreign hostages had survived.
They had claimed to be holding 41 foreign nationals, believed to include British, Japanese, US and Norwegian citizens, in retaliation for French military intervention in neighboring Mali.
Some workers were reported to have been freed or to have escaped before the Algerian raid.
Algerian Communications Minister Mohamed Said Belaid said a “significant number of terrorists” were killed during the raid.
He added: “Unfortunately, we deplore some deaths and some people wounded. We don’t yet have the numbers.”
Details of how the raid unfolded were slow to emerge.
APS reported that the Algerian military, which had been surrounding the gas plant, had targeted two vehicles as they tried to escape from the site with an unknown number of people on board.
Militants told local media that Algerian forces had opened fire from the air.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said he was told by his Algerian counterpart that Algerian authorities had tried and failed to find a solution to the stand-off on Wednesday night. “The Algerian prime minister said they felt they had no choice but to go in,” he said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron was informed that the raid was under way when he called the Algerian Prime Minister at 11.30 GMT, a spokesman said.
David Cameron, who cancelled a key speech on Europe scheduled for Friday, made it clear that he would have preferred to have been told in advance, the spokesman added.
Japan’s government protested against the raid, urging Algeria “put the highest priority on people’s lives”. The US said it was “seeking clarity” on what had happened.
Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia said the kidnappers were Algerian and operating under orders from Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a senior commander of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) until late last year.
Daho Ould Kablia said they had entered Algeria from Libya, AFP reported.
Two people were killed when militants attacked the gas plant.
The Tigantourine gas facility is about 40 km (25 miles) south-west of In Amenas, which is close to the Libyan border and about 1,300km (800 miles) south-east of Algiers.
BP operates the gas field jointly with Algerian state oil company Sonatrach and Norwegian firm Statoil.
NFL player Reagan Mauia was today named in the bizarre hoax surrounding Notre Dame football star Manti Te’o and his “dead girlfriend” Lennay Kekua after he claimed to have actually met her.
Former Arizona Cardinals fullback Reagan Mauia was mentioned in a tweet from “beyond the grave”, which was sent from an account purported to be Lennay Kekua. It asked that he and another NFL star be left out of the scandal.
Reagan Mauia claimed last night that Lennay Kekua was a real person who he met before Manti Te’o in 2011, and described her as being “athletic, tall and beautiful”.
Reagan Mauia was today named in the bizarre hoax surrounding Notre Dame football star Manti Te’o and his dead girlfriend Lennay Kekua after he claimed to have actually met her
This has now raised questions as to whether or not Manti Te’o was the first to fall victim to Lennay Kekua or whoever is behind what is being called a “sick joke”.
Lennay Kekua was reported to have died in September from leukemia while Te’o was leading his team to glory in an undefeated run to the January 7 BSC championship – turning him into the season’s star.
As Michelle Obama turned 49 her office unveiled her new Twitter identity, @FLOTUS, and a second tweet revealed her new blunt bob, with heavy bangs.
Dressed in a burnt-red, elbow-sleeved patterned jersey dress, Michelle Obama showed off her new hairstyle, reminiscent of Katie Holmes’ chop in 2008, when she met with Inaugural citizen co-chair David Hall earlier today.
Michelle Obama has always had shoulder length hair, but since her entry into the White House in 2008, she has so far preferred to keep her look loose and flowing – or tied back.
Her new cut, sharper, more sophisticated, comes in the wake of supermodel Karlie Kloss’ new bob, after she cut off seven inches of hair late last year.
As Michelle Obama turned 49 her office unveiled her new Twitter identity and a second tweet revealed her new blunt bob
The New York Times coined this return to shorter hair, “The Karlie”, last night.
So far the response to Michelle Obama’s new do’ has been positive, with thousands of Twitter users agreeing in unison that they “love” her new bangs.
In an age of the overused term “style icon”, Michelle Obama proves again she is one of the few modern women to deserve it.
Two more football players have been dragged into the bizarre hoax surrounding Notre Dame football star Manti Te’o and his “dead girlfriend” Lennay Kekua after a tweet was sent from a Twitter account claiming to be hers.
Lennay Kekua was reported to have died in September from leukemia while Manti Te’o was leading his team to glory in an undefeated run to the January 7 BSC championship – turning him into the season’s star.
After the tale was revealed yesterday as a “sick joke”, it has now emerged that Manti Te’o may have not been the first victim of the fictitious Lennay Kekua, as Arizona Cardinals fullback Reagan Mauia and Pittsburgh Steelers star Troy Polamalu have been connected to her.
An ambiguous tweet was sent from a Twitter account late last night – the first since her supposed death from leukemia – defending Samoan players Reagan Mauia and Troy Polamalu.
It said: “It isn’t fair to drag Reagan and Troy into this…a lot of truths and myths need to be addressed here, and they will be at noon PST tomorrow.”
The user then announced she would be releasing a statement later today.
In another twist to the already complicated tale, Reagan Mauia told ESPN last night that Lennay Kekua was a real person and he had met her.
Reagan Mauia told the sports network: “This was before her and Manti. I don’t think Manti was even in the picture, but she and I became good friends.
“We would talk off and on, just checking up on each other kind of thing. I am close to her family.”
The sheer scale and detail that went into the hoax was exposed yesterday by Deadspin after an investigation revealed that Manti Te’o was the victim of online predators who invented not only the death of Lennay Kekua, but her actual existence.
It is an intricate and confusing story involving multiple people connected to the college football and now NFL world, though it is still not known who the ‘online predators’ are who seem intent on keeping the joke going.
Several people have since been dragged into the story as well as Reagan Mauia and Troy Polamalu.
A man who calls himself “Jay Rahz” on his Twitter account has taken to his page today to defend himself and claims he is not behind the hoax.
He names Manti Te’o’s old school friend Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, tweeting: “Everyone needs to hit up Ronaiah Tuiasosopo and get the truth.. the truth will set you free!!” and “Perhaps we should have NOT been joking about being @LennayKay cause now people are really believing and retweeting it.”
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo is also a friend of the woman whose picture was used purporting to be Lennay Kekua.
Manti Te’o may have not been the first victim of the fictitious Lennay Kekua, as Arizona Cardinals fullback Reagan Mauia and Pittsburgh Steelers star Troy Polamalu have been connected to her
Back in December, Jay Rahz – who knows Ronaiah Tuiasosopo – insinuated that he was the one behind Lennay Kekua’s Twitter account in online ‘chatter’.
On the night of the BCS title game, Jay Rahz posted: “I wonder if the real Lennay Kekua is watching the game…Cause I know the fake one that didn’t die is not watching over the Irish!”
Other tweets with took place on December 12 with user C. Tuiotimariner also hinted to the fact Jay Rahz might be behind the hoax when he posted that he “Goes back to running @LennayKay’s profile”.
C. Tuiotimariner writes back: “You’ll thank me later Lennay, I mean JayR.”
Delving back further into Jay Rahz’s Twitter history revealed a picture of Troy Polamalu taken almost three years with the caption: “First Skype victim Troy.”
Troy Polamalu is topless in the picture, hinting to the fact he may have been having an intimate Skype call with someone – someone who could have been claiming to be Lennay Kekua.
SB Nation discovered Lennay Kekua’s Twitter account was only created yesterday – meaning the original account had been deactivated and then picked back up again – after Deadspin broke the story.
The people behind it retweeted Manti Te’o’s posts to make it look like the account had been up since September 12 – the day Lennay Kekua is said to have died – because a retweet only shows the original date of the original post.
Lennay Kekua only follows four people on her Twitter feed – Manti Te’o, Troy Polamalu, Reagan Mauia and Rey Maualuga – another Samoan football player who lives in California.
In among the web of deceit is another woman who is accused of posing as Lennay Kekua’s sister U’ilani Rae Kekua.
There has been speculation that the faux-sister and her corresponding Twitter account was another invention of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.
U’ilani Rae Kekua frequently tweeted with Manti Te’o and a number of Notre Dame fans and people connected to the scandal. When she made arrangements to meet anyone, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo would often show up in her place.
U’ilani Rae Kekua would send pictures of herself sitting at her sister’s grave to Manti Te’o. Deadspin discovered that the woman in the pictures is Donna Tei – who doesn’t seem to have a relationship with anyone involved in the hoax.
Deadpsin connected her to the scandal after she contacted one of the men behind the Catfish documentary about the use of her picture.
The nation was captivated by the story of Mormon star linebacker Manti Te’o, who has been regarded as a future star of the NFL as he played an award-winning season despite personal tragedy.
In numerous published reports, Manti Te’o said that while this past season brought many triumphs to his life, there were also twin tragedies – the deaths of his 72-year-old grandmother and his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, within a day of each other.
A comprehensive investigation by Deadspin.com found that while his grandmother did indeed die on September 12, 2012, Lennay Kekua did not – nor did she even exist – thus beginning a confusing tale of lies and deceit.
When Deadpsin contacted the pretty brunette used in numerous pictures sent to Te’o and posted on Twitter purporting to be Kakua, she said she had never met the football star but did send one of the pictures used to an old school friend Ronaiah Tuiasosopo.
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo is known to be a good friend of Manti Te’o and the pair are said to have went to a USC game in Los Angeles at the end of November.
Family and friends of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo believe he is the one behind the Kekua hoax and even suggested Manti Te’o was not the first to have an online relationship with her.
They told Deadspin that Lennay Kekua was created in 2008 and had an online relationship with another guy for about one month, which ended after family members grew suspicious that she could never be found on the phone.
It was also pointed out that wherever Lennay Kekua was expected to be, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was there instead.
Two other sources said it was a simple prank which blew out of control after Manti Te’o became a footballing star almost overnight in the past season.
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo comes from a huge football family.
Pakistani government has reached a deal with cleric Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri to end his mass protest near parliament in Islamabad, the two sides say.
The details of the deal are unclear. Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri’s supporters want the government to resign ahead of elections due to be held in May.
Pakistan was thrown into crisis on Tuesday by the protests and a court order to arrest PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
Analysts say that Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is unlikely to be arrested imminently.
The head of Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency has refused an order by the Supreme Court to arrest Raja Pervaiz Ashraf for allegedly taking bribes.
Fasih Bokhari of the National Accountability Bureau said investigations had not produced enough evidence to justify an arrest.
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf denies accepting bribes when he approved power generation projects as minister for water and power in 2010.
Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri signalled on Thursday that his four-day protest would end later in the day.
Pakistani government has reached a deal with cleric Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri to end his mass protest near parliament in Islamabad
Talks began in the afternoon when a delegation of cabinet ministers and government members entered the bullet-proof container where he has been holed up since Tuesday with thousands of his supporters gathered alongside.
Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira told the AFP news agency that the talks were intended to resolve the stand-off, which has paralyzed much of the centre of Islamabad.
His supporters, who have braved cold and heavy rain, reportedly broke into cheers and danced in the street at news of the dialogue.
Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri’s march from Lahore to the capital culminated in a mass rally on Monday evening.
Clashes briefly erupted on Tuesday but the mass protest has been largely peaceful.
The cleric has said he wants the military and judiciary to be involved in installing a caretaker government to oversee the forthcoming elections.
But he suffered a setback on Wednesday when the leader of the main opposition, the Pakistan Muslim League, refused to back his protests.
There has been speculation that Mohammad Tahir-ul-Qadri may be fishing for a role for the military and the judiciary when it comes to the appointment of a caretaker government to oversee over the forthcoming elections.
At least four people have been killed by heavy flooding in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, say officials.
The flooding, caused by days of heavy rain, has blocked roads and forced businesses in the capital to close.
Areas including the central business district (CBD) were inundated and traffic was grid-locked as residents struggled to move around the city.
Some 20,000 people have abandoned their homes, as officials warn that the rain could worsen in the next few days.
The governor of Jakarta, Joko Widodo, has declared a state of emergency.
He also said he was committed to making a “breakthrough” in efforts to tackle the flooding.
The CBD normally escapes damage when Jakarta experiences its heavy seasonal rains, but on Thursday, many government offices and businesses were forced to close because staff could not get to work.
At least four people have been killed by heavy flooding in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta
Local television pictures showed people wading through almost neck-high water in some parts of the city, while in others, the waters were up to 2 m (6.5 ft) deep.
The presidential palace grounds are among areas flooded, and images showed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono walking around the palace compound with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, wearing trousers rolled up above his knees.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters: “I have no problem with the palace being flooded. The most important thing is the people are protected.”
He had instructed the national police chief and the army chief to deploy their forces and evacuate flood victims, said presidential spokesman Julian Pasha.
The Jakarta Post said two of the people killed in the capital were children, aged 13 and two.
State funds are available to help those affected by the flooding following the declaration of the state of emergency, which will remain in effect until January 27.
A Transport Ministry spokesman said air travel was not disrupted.
A spokesman for state electricity company PLN said it had cut power supplies to a number of areas to minimize the danger of electrocutions, the Jakarta Globe reports.
The last severe flooding in Jakarta was in 2007, when at least 40 people were killed and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is due in Jakarta on Friday to meet top leaders and deliver a foreign policy speech.
Tens of thousands of Kurds have attended the funerals in Diyarbakir, Turkey, of three female Kurdish activists shot dead in Paris last week.
Crowds chanted as the coffins of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) members Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Saylemez were carried through the city streets to a parade ground where the funerals were held.
There was tight security at the event.
No-one has been arrested for the crime and the motive is unclear.
But a prominent Kurdish politician said the killings would not deter those seeking an end to the Kurdish conflict.
The chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, Selahattin Demirtas, told the crowd: “We say now is the time for peace.
“We shout this out in front of the bodies of our dead. Don’t let our children die any more. We can stop this bloodshed by talking.”
“If the process is to advance with confidence, these murders must be a turning point.”
Tens of thousands of Kurds have attended the funerals in Diyarbakir, Turkey, of three female Kurdish activists shot dead in Paris last week
No group has said it killed the women, who French police say were subject to an execution-style shooting. Many Kurds blame elements of the state.
There were calls for revenge as the coffins, draped in the red, green and yellow Kurdish flag, made their way through the crowds in the south-eastern Turkish city.
Some women chanted “Fighting makes you free”, and other pro-PKK slogans, as they followed the funeral procession.
But many female mourners were wearing white scarves, a symbol of peace.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had appealed for calm and suggested the deaths may have been intended to sabotage peace efforts.
Officials have been in talks with the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in an effort to put an end to the group’s armed campaign.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also said his government will continue anti-PKK operations until the Kurdish militants lay down their arms.
On Wednesday, Turkish jets reportedly bombed Kurdish targets in northern Iraq for a third consecutive day.
Last year saw some of the heaviest fighting with the PKK in decades. Since the conflict began, more than 40,000 people have been killed.
The group, regarded by Turkey, the US and EU as a terrorist organization, launched an armed campaign for an ethnic Kurdish homeland in south-east Turkey in 1984.
Turkish security forces were put on alert ahead of possible demonstrations by the Kurdish minority, but only minor clashes were reported by witnesses.
Police helicopters were in evidence over the city, which is seen as the heart of the Kurdish community and culture in Turkey.
After the ceremony the women’s bodies were to be taken to their home villages for burial.
Delhi case of five men charged with the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman has been moved to a fast-track court for trial.
Lawyers for the defendants say that the case will get under way on Monday.
A sixth suspect, who is thought to be 17, will be tried separately in a youth court if it is confirmed he is a minor.
The case has shocked India and sparked a debate about the treatment of women. If convicted, the men could face the death penalty.
In the wake of the public outcry and nationwide protests, the government promised a fast-track legal process for this and other rape cases.
It announced it was setting up six fast-track courts in Delhi to allow crimes against women to be dealt with swiftly. Legal proceedings in India sometimes involve years of delays.
The five accused have been named as Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur.
The lawyer for Ram Singh, said he would file a petition arguing for the case to be transferred out of Delhi, fearing that the proceedings might be prejudiced because of the intense media interest.
“We are sure we will not get justice in Delhi,” VK Ananad said.
Delhi case of five men charged with the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman has been moved to a fast-track court for trial
Last week another lawyer claimed that the men had been tortured and coerced into confessing they were guilty. Officials refused to comment on the allegations, citing legal restrictions.
The lawyers for two of the suspects have said they will plead not guilty. It is unclear how the three accused will plead. Prosecutors have said they have extensive forensic evidence.
The victim, a physiotherapy student who cannot be named in India for legal reasons, and a male friend were attacked on a bus in south Delhi on December 16. She died two weeks later in hospital in Singapore.
Campaigners are calling for tougher rape laws and reforms to the police, who – critics say – often fail to file charges against accused attackers.
The government has said that it will bring in stronger sexual assault laws and has established several committees to recommend changes in the law.
Al Pacino and Brian de Palma are teaming up for the first time in 20 years to make Happy Valley, a film about disgraced American football coach Joe Paterno.
Al Pacino and Brian de Palma, who worked together on Scarface and Carlito’s Way, are joining forces for Happy Valley, which tells the story of Joe Paterno.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who died last year, allegedly covered up child sex abuse by his assistant Jerry Sandusky.
The film will be produced by Edward R. Pressman of American Psycho fame.
Edward R. Pressman, who has acquired the movie rights from Joe Posnanski, author of the best-seller Paterno, said: “Happy Valley reunites the Scarface and Carlito’s Way team of De Palma and Pacino for the third time.
“And I can’t think of a better duo to tell this story of a complex, intensely righteous man who was brought down by his own tragic flaw.”
Al Pacino and Brian de Palma are teaming up for the first time in 20 years to make Happy Valley, a film about disgraced American football coach Joe Paterno
In July last year, six months after Joe Paterno’s death from lung cancer, all of Penn State’s results from 1998 to 2011 were expunged from the records as the result of the child abuse scandal which saw Sandusky jailed for 30 years after being found guilty of 45 counts of sexual abuse.
Al Pacino and Brian de Palma originally worked together on 1983’s Scarface – a remake of a 1930s film – which saw Pacino portray a Cuban refugee who becomes a drug cartel kingpin in the US before his life gradually unravels.
Ten years later the pair reunited for Carlito’s Way – the tale of a career criminal whose determined bid to go straight hits the buffers.
Conrad Bain, best known for playing a white millionaire who adopts two young black boys in 80s sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, has died aged 89.
Actor Conrad Bain, who starred opposite a young Gary Coleman in the show, died in California of natural causes, his daughter said.
The comedy, which played on the contrasting lifestyles of rich white and poor black communities in the US, was seen as groundbreaking in the 70s.
It ran for eight seasons, over six years, coming to an end in 1986.
Its success was largely attributed to the play-off between the mischievous young Arnold (played by Gary Coleman) and Conrad Bain’s character, Phillip Drummond, a rich, widowed industrialist who takes in the two young sons of his housekeeper after she dies.
Gary Coleman’s oft-repeated line to his brother, “What you talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” became a catchphrase of the era.
The younger stars of the show were later caught up in controversy, with Gary Coleman dying following a brain haemorrhage at the age of 42, after years of financial and legal woes.
Conrad Bain, best known for playing a white millionaire who adopts two young black boys in 80s sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, has died aged 89
Co-star Dana Plato, who played Phillip Drummond’s daughter in the show, died in 1999 after an apparent drug overdose, while Todd Bridges, who played Gary Coleman’s elder brother in the show, revealed that years of childhood abuse led to drug addiction.
“It’s painful,” Conrad Bain once told a journalist.
“It is really painful. It leaves you with such a helpless feeling. I can’t bear the thought. I love them all.”
Todd Bridges, who eventually conquered his addiction, told a magazine that Bain had become like a real father to him.
Conrad Bain would revive his character for a one-off episode of the 1990s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, starring Will Smith – whose storyline, about a rapper from the mean streets of Philadelphia who moves into a life of luxury in California, in many ways echoed the earlier show.
Success for the Canadian-born actor began on the stage and daytime television – notably in the cult vampire drama Dark Shadows – recently made into film by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp.
His first prime-time role was opposite The Golden Girls’ Bea Arthur in Maude (1972-78), playing an uptight physician. The success of the show led to his casting in Diff’rent Strokes.
After becoming a household name in the 1980s, Conrad Bain starred in the short-lived political comedy Mr. President, and returned frequently to the stage throughout his career, last appearing on Broadway in 1992.
Conrad Bain is survived by his daughter, Jennifer, and two sons, Mark and Kent. His wife Monica died in 1999.
Prince Albert II of Monaco has criticized the upcoming Hollywood film Grace of Monaco about his late mother, Grace Kelly, saying it is historically inaccurate.
Prince Albert and his sisters released a statement after producers told a French magazine the Palace had supported the film, starring Nicole Kidman.
The Palace said the film contained “major historical untruths and a series of purely fictional scenes”.
The film, titled Grace of Monaco, is due for release next year.
“The Princely family wishes to emphasize that this film is by no means a biopic,” the statement said.
“It recounts one rewritten and needlessly <<glamorized>> page in the history of the Principality of Monaco and its family.”
The film follows the High Society actress in 1962 after she married Prince Rainier III, becoming Princess Grace.
It is said to focus on a six-month period when Monaco was in a heated tax dispute with France and director Alfred Hitchcock offered the former actress a chance to return to acting.
Prince Albert II of Monaco has criticized the upcoming Hollywood film Grace of Monaco about his late mother, Grace Kelly, saying it is historically inaccurate
The Palace said it had been “surprised” when it received the script for the film, as it had “in no way been associated with this project”.
It added it had submitted to producers a number of requests for changes, however they were not all taken into consideration.
“The Palace of Monaco cannot accept that the producers of this film imply they have received Their Highnesses’ support in any way whatsoever, since this is not the case,” the statement concluded.
The film’s producer, Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, told AFP the production was meant to be a work of fiction.
“The palace was aware of the script and made requests for changes. We took most of their remarks into account, but not all,” he said.
“The film is not intended to tell the true story of the principality,” he added.
Facebook has added a feature in its mobile phone app that allows free calling for US iPhone users.
Users can now make calls to each other via the Facebook Messenger app anywhere they have a Wi-Fi or a cellular-data connection.
The feature could be a boon for heavy talkers as they would avoid carrier call charges.
Facebook said it was working on adding the feature to its Messenger app for Android and BlackBerry users.
Facebook has added a feature in its mobile phone app that allows free calling for US iPhone users
Within the app, all a person needs to do is open a conversation with a partner, tap the “i” icon in the upper right hand corner and select “Free Call”.
The calls, however, can only be made to another user who has Messenger installed on their iPhone. Users can neither call a Facebook friend who is logged in through the website or call a landline.
The latest mobile-to-mobile development was independent of the free video-calling software Skype, which was already integrated into Facebook’s website, a spokesman said. The Messenger app is limited to voice calling.
The official said Facebook was expected to roll out the feature in its Messenger app for other operating systems and expand it overseas.
On Tuesday, Facebook unveiled a smart search engine – called Graph Search – that allows users to make “natural” searches of content shared by their friends.
Black Berry 10 media event will take place on January 30, but pictures of BlackBerry X10, the touchscreen, QWERTY-equipped smartphone, and a hands-on video of the full-touch screen Z10 have already reached the internet.
Known as the BlackBerry Nevada or N-series, the X10 has a traditional BlackBerry Qwerty keyboard, but loses the trackpad and soft keys that were above the keyboard on previous phones, and makes more room for a bigger screen.
The photos showing off BlackBerry X10 appeared on Instagram and were posted on fan forum CrackBerry. Pictures may not show the finished device (slightly different models have been provided to developers to get their apps ready for BlackBerry 10). However, they give a clear indication of RIM’s desire to match the physical keyboard with the versatility of a decent-sized touchscreen.
A hands-on video of the BlackBerry Z10, known as the L-series, was published by the Austrian website Telekom-Presse. The all-touch BlackBerry Z10 has a 4.2-inches display size, 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, according to the video. The website has also posted pictures of the smartphone and the interface.
Pictures of BlackBerry X10 prototype leak on the internet.
Details about the BlackBerry 10 L-Series smartphones, from a RIM training manual, were published on the web.
TechRadar website says according to the documentation BlackBerry Z10, has a 1,280 × 768 4.2-inch HD display, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and an 1,800mAh battery.
The X10 should have similar internal specs and, along with the Z10, two cameras. The front-facing camera will be 2 MP with a 2× digital zoom and 720p video recording. The back camera should be 8 MP and include a flash, auto focus, 1080 p video recording and a 5× digital zoom. BlackBerry X10 also said to have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS, as well as NFC.
Also, a training document from Canadian carrier Rogers, which details RIM’s next-generation operating system features and devices was posted on Crackberry forum. Most of it has been explained by RIM already. Very interesting is the Time Shift mode in Story Maker, which takes multiple photos milliseconds before and after the shutter is pushed. The best picture can be chosen from the frames before and after your photo where everyone blinked.
BlackBerry World has 70,000 apps and more than 15,000 apps have been submitted in the last days.
The Canadian BlackBerry-builder Research In Motion announces that 15,000 apps have been submitted in less than two days and its Secure Element Manager (SEM) solution for NFC (Near Field Communication) mobile payments has been approved by Visa. Because of its enhanced security features, RIM has been a popular choice for corporations, and recently with the upcoming smartphones, 1,600 companies have signed up for the BlackBerry 10 training program.
Prospective carriers to host the handsets have leaked worldwide in the last months: T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T in the U.S., Vodafone in the UK, and Virgin Mobile in Canada.
BlackBerry 10 global launch on January 30 will include press events in cities worldwide: New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Johannesburg and Dubai.
You can read more news and interesting reviews on mobile phones and other devices on phones4u website, where you can compare prices and find useful information.
An amateur prospector in the Australian state of Victoria has astonished experts by unearthing a gold nugget weighing 5.5 kg (177 ounces).
The unidentified man, using a handheld metal detector, found the nugget on Wednesday, lying 60 cm underground near the town of Ballarat.
Its value has been estimated at more than A$300,000 ($315,000).
Local gold experts say gold has been prospected in the area for decades, but no such discovery had been made before.
“I have been a prospector and dealer for two decades, and cannot remember the last time a nugget over 100 ounces (2.8 kg) has been found locally,” said Cordell Kent, owner of the Ballarat Mining Exchange Gold Shop.
“It’s extremely significant as a mineral specimen. We are 162 years into a gold rush and Ballarat is still producing nuggets – it’s unheard of.”
An amateur prospector in the Australian state of Victoria has astonished experts by unearthing a gold nugget weighing 5.5 kg
A video of the Y-shaped nugget was posted on YouTube on Wednesday by user TroyAurum.
He wrote that the man who found it had said it “sounded like the bonnet of a car through the headphones.
“It was lying flat [broad side up] and he carefully dug it up.”
Gold currently trades in Australia at about A$1,600 per ounce, meaning the discovery would be worth about A$283,200, but its rarity and the fact it weighs more than a kilogram would add a premium, said Cordell Kent.
He told Australian media the prospector had been using a state-of-the-art metal detector, which meant he was able to find the gold relatively deep underground in an area which had been searched many times in the past.
The man had only made small finds before, he said, but was a “person that really deserved it”.
“A finding like this gives people hope. It’s my dream to find something like that, and I’ve been prospecting for more than two decades,” the Ballarat Courier quoted him as saying.
“I’ve got no doubt there will be a lot of people who will be very enthusiastic about the goldfields again, it gives people hope,” said Cordell Kent.
“There’s nothing like digging up money, it’s good fun.”
Britney Spears’ friends fear that she will not be able to handle a long-term stint in Las Vegas after being dropped by the X Factor and splitting from her fiancé Jason Trawick all in the space of a week.
The star is on the brink of signing a mega $100 million deal with one of the Caesars group properties – after Jason Trawick formally resigned as her conservator.
Britney Spears, 31, confirmed her departure from the X Factor on the same day as her split from Jason Trawick and the source said: “She’s a homebody, she loves her sons and has her daily routine. At this time, she may need to concentrate on her health and happiness – not rebuilding her career.”
Britney Spears and Jason Trawick announced the end of their one-year engagement on Friday and the singer said in a statement: “Jason and I have decided to call off our engagement. I’ll always adore him and we will remain great friends.”
Jason Trawick added: “As this chapter ends for us a new one begins. I love and cherish her and her boys and we will be close forever.”
The couple were so entwined that Jason Trawick accompanied Britney Spears nearly everywhere. Indeed, on the rare occasions she was seen alone it was to go shopping or get coffee near her California home.
Indeed, shy Britney Spears only seen in public six times without ex-fiancé Jason Trawick in the past year.
One source told how Jason Trawick had helped immeasurably in helping Britney Spears to get her life back on track and was a constant by her side during filming on the X Factor, saying: “At auditions, Jason would calmly escort Britney by the hand back and forth to her seat during breaks. He was there for her.”
Britney Spears’ friends fear that she will not be able to handle a long-term stint in Las Vegas after being dropped by the X Factor and splitting from her fiancé Jason Trawick all in the space of a week
Painting a picture of a rather nervous woman, another source recalled being at an industry party at Soho House in Los Angeles in September where Britney Spears was a guest, saying: “Britney stood in a corner and hid.
“She didn’t speak to anyone – you wouldn’t even have realized she was there. She’s a shy, shy girl.”
Britney Spears and Jason Trawick had been staying at the W Hotel in Hollywood during the X Factor filming, but a friend told how they had their own rooms as they had become “just friends”.
Britney Spears is now believed to be back at her home in Calabasas with her sons Sean, 7, and Jayden, 6, and Jason Trawick has moved out.
Jason Trawick also acted as Britney Spears’ manager, and the pop star has now changed management to CAA, indicating the pair have also severed ties in their business relationship.
Court papers just release show resigned as Britney Spears’ co-conservator, but her father Jamie Spears will remain as conservator.
Reports had suggested that Jamie Spears had in fact brokered his daughter’s break-up with Jason himself, and a friend confirmed: “I did hear this.”
Radar Onlinereported: “Jason wanted out, and in the fragile state that Britney is in, it’s not like he could have a rational conversation with her about it, so it was really between him and Jamie.
“They decided how the relationship needed to end and how to go about the technicalities, such as removing Jason from the conservatorship, when he would move out and how to announce the split. Britney was left out of everything and really didn’t even know what was going on.
“Jason and Jamie wanted to make sure that Britney didn’t lose it, so they had to water things down for her a bit.”
Britney Spears had raked in $15 million for her judging role on the X Factor.
Announcing her departure from the Fox talent show, Britney Spears said: “I had an incredible time doing the show and I love the other judges and I am so proud of my teens but it’s time for me to get back in the studio.
“Watching them all do their thing up on that stage every week made me miss performing so much! I can’t wait to get back out there and do what I love most.”
However, her team has already begun “serious talks” for a lucrative Vegas concert deal.
Khloe Kardashian has become increasingly frustrated with what she has deemed “false stories” in U.S. tabloids about her marriage and efforts to become pregnant.
Khloe Kardashian, 28, took to her Celebuzz page to refute recent reports in a strongly worded post, saying: “These blatant lies are distasteful and shameless.”
“It is disgusting that Life & Style and InTouch magazines continue to print these false stories about my life: the status of my marriage, false reports about a miscarriage, the horrible lie that my dad is not my biological father, jealousy over my sisters’ lives, etc,” Khloe Kardashian writes.
“It is a complete waste of time to address these reports every time they print these ridiculous and absurd tabloid stories, but not only are these stories untrue, they’re also unfair to the people who buy the magazines expecting to read accurate reports.”
Khloe Kardashian is referring to allegations that the late Robert Kardashian is not her biological father, claims vigorously denied by her mother Kris Jenner.
A magazine also this week published a picture of Khloe Kardashian under the caption “Cheating Scandals” along with the allegation that she and husband Lamar Odom had split.
Khloe Kardashian has become increasingly frustrated with what she has deemed false stories in US tabloids about her marriage and efforts to become pregnant
Last year, Khloe Kardashian, who has made no secret of her desire to have a baby, was forced to deny rumors that she and Lamar Odom had suffered a miscarriage.
“Anyone who pays attention to these things can easily see the incredible bond that everyone in my family shares,” she adds in the post.
“I’m happily married to a wonderful man and fall in love with him more and more each day, and we’ll have a baby when god wants us to and when the time is right.”
Later, Khloe Kardashian reiterated her point on her Twitter page, posting: “People say the truth hurts, but the truth is not what makes the tabloids money. I will admit the false might cut a little deeper. At least the truth I can respect and grow from.”
Meanwhile, Kris Jenner also joined in the furor on a post on her own Celebuzz page : “I do my best to ignore the harmful, nasty and often mean-spirited tabloid rumors surrounding me and my family, but I can no longer remain silent amid the blatant lies I am constantly being asked about.”
Kris Jenner then cited “lies” published in a U.S. tabloid regarding her reaction to Kim Kardashian’s pregnancy, another story alleging Robert is not Khloe’s biological father, and the unfounded rumor that she and husband Bruce Jenner plan on getting a divorce.
“The continuous spread of egregious misinformation is just plain wrong, and it would be irresponsible of me and a disservice to my family to not address it at this point,” Kris Jenner continued.
“I want to say loud and clear that these are toxic, baseless and disgusting rumors and none of them are true.”
The tear-jerking story of Notre Dame football player Manti Te’so standout who excelled on the field in spite of the death of his girlfriend has been revealed as an elaborate hoax.
In a press conference tonight, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said that Manti Te’o was the victim of online predators who took advantage of the athlete’s generosity and kindness.
Jack Swarbrick pointed to the documentary film Catfish and an MTV program of the same name in explaining how easy it can be to fool somebody into believing an online relationship is real.
The nation was captivated by the story of the star linebacker, who has been regarded as a future star of the NFL, who played an award-winning season despite personal tragedy.
In numerous published reports, Manti Te’o said that while this past season has brought many triumphs to his life, there were also twin tragedies – the deaths of his 72-year-old grandmother and his girlfriend, Lannay Kekua, within a day of each other.
A comprehensive investigation by Deadspin.com found that while his grandmother did indeed die on September 12, 2012, Lannay Kekua did not – nor did she even exist.
Jack Swarbrick said that Manti Te’o approached his coaches on December 26, saying that he had gotten a call from the number he knew to be Lannay Kekua’s – and a voice at the other end of the line said: “I’m not dead.”
The school conducted its own investigation and found that Manti Te’o had been taken for a ride by what Jack Swarbrick calls a sophisticated hoax orchestrated by “a remarkable number of characters – both male and female”.
He said: “It was real to Manti. There was no suspicion that it wasn’t. The pain was real, the grief was real, the affection was real – and that’s the nature of this sad cruel game.”
Jack Swarbrick added that Manti Te’o himself will likely speak on Thursday.
“This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online,” Manti Te’o said in a statement.
“We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her.”
However, he stopped short of saying he had ever met her in person or correcting reports that said he had, though he did on numerous occasions talk about how special the relationship was to him.
“To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone’s sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating,” he said.
“In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was.”
The tear-jerking story of Notre Dame football player Manti Te’so standout who excelled on the field in spite of the death of his girlfriend has been revealed as an elaborate hoax
Among the evidence collected in Notre Dame’s independent investigation was “online chatter” that showed some people knew about the prank and were “taking joy in it”, Jack Swarbrick said.
On the night of the BCS title game, one Twitter user, @jayRahz posted: “I wonder if the real Lennay Kekua is watching the game.. Cause I know the fake one that didn’t die is not watching over the Irish!”
But despite the university’s claims, there is still substantial doubt that Manti Te’o could have been fooled so easily – and for so long.
The story goes that “Lennay” had tweeted Manti Te’o after a college football game between Stanford (where she was a student) and Notre Dame in 2009.
It sparked a friendship, and over the next few years, Manti Te’o would often tweet to a person with the Twitter handle LovaLovaLoveYOU – a name that was later changed to LennayKay and finally LoveMSMK.
On October 10, 2011, Manti Te’o tweeted to lovalovaloveYOU: “Nice to meet you too ma’am.”
The relationship progressed from there, with the football star and his “friend” becoming a couple sometime in January 2012, according to Deadspin.
But the relationship only existed online and by phone, and the two had never met face-to-face, Jack Swarbrick said. He added that they had plans to meet several times, including in Manti Te’o’s native Hawaii, but she never showed up.
The courtship took a tragic turn when it was reported that Lennay Kekua was involved in a serious car accident in California sometime last year.
Lennay Kekua had tweeted Manti Te’o after a college football game between Stanford, where she was a student, and Notre Dame in 2009
After recovering from the accident, she was apparently diagnosed with leukemia.
In September, the South Bend Tribune reported that Manti Te’o’s grandmother, Anette Santiago, had died. Hours later, he learned of Lennay Kekua’s death.
Major media outlets, including the Associated Press, New York Times, the Tribune, Sports Illustrated and ESPN took the bait, and reported on the death of “Lennay Kekua”.
Manti Te’o did not attend Lennay Kekua’s funeral, insisting that she “made me promise that I would stay and play”.
ESPN reporter Gene Wojciechowski, who had reported Lennay Kekua’s death for the network, said on Wednesday that he too found it odd that there was no obituary or death notice.
He said that when he brought his concerns up to Manti Te’o, he was told to “back off”, according to Deadspin.
Numerous online donations were pledged to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, according to Deadspin.
But the photos of Lennay Kekua on Twitter are actually of a California woman known only as “Reba” who told the sports website that she does not know Manti Te’o and is alarmed that she has emerged as the dead woman’s face.
She did, however, reveal that one of the pictures posted to Lennay Kekua’s Twitter account was a photo she took of herself that she sent to a former high school classmate, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo at his request.
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, 22, a former California student athlete and the son of a pastor, is revealed to be in on the hoax.
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo comes from a huge football family.
His father Titus, now pastor at the Oasis Christian Church of the Antelope Valley, is a former USC football player himself.
An uncle, Navy Tuiasosopo, played three games with the Los Angeles Rams in 1987. Another uncle and cousins also played the game.
The connection between Ronaiah Tuiasosopo and Manti Te’o is not clear, but they were acquaintances who exchanged birthday greetings and other pleasantries, according to Deadspin.
At Roniah Tuiasosopo’s home in Palmdale, California, a person who answered the door refused to comment.
Notre Dame spokesman Dennis Brown told WSBT: “On December 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Te’o and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia.
“The University immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax.
“While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators.”
It was claimed that Manti Te’o came up short in the Heisman trophy voting because the storied award favors offensive players.
But his impressive season was not without merit, as Manti Te’o won each of the seven other awards he was nominated for, including the Butkus and Lombardi awards.
Manti Te’o finished second in the voting, and leading Notre Dame to its first appearance in the BCS championship.
Manti Te’o and the Irish lost the title game to Alabama, 42-14 on January 7.
He has graduated and was set to begin preparing for the NFL combine and draft at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, this week.
Four days ago Manti Te’o posted on his Twitter account: “Can’t wait to start training with the guys! Workin to be the best! The grind continues! (hash)Future.”
