Only one week after announcing her fourth marriage to Barry Herridge was over after just 16 days, it appears Irish singer Sinead O’Connor has changed her mind.
Sinead O’Connor, 45, took to her newly re-opened Twitter account in the early hours of this morning to reveal she was reconciling with her husband Barry Herridge.
In rather revealing messages, Sinead O’Connor said the couple had been “love-making”.
Admitting they rushed down the aisle following their Las Vegas nuptials on December 8 after just four months of dating, Sinead O’Connor explained they would be “boyfriend and girlfriend again” – despite still being legally wed.
Under her Twitter handle “vampyahslayah”, Sinead O’Connor wrote: “Guess who had a mad love making affair with her own husband last night?
“Yay!!! we decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend again an (sic) stay married but we did rush, so we gonna return to b friend g friend and be sickenly (sic) happy an go counsellin (sic) an move in like a yr like regular people…
“But stay married an we all in love an f**k every other motherf**ker who don’t like it.. so me all happy!! me love me hubby.. he love me… f**k who no like it.. God is good!”
Sinead O’Connor, 45, took to her newly re-opened Twitter account in the early hours of this morning to reveal she was reconciling with her husband Barry Herridge
Sinead O’Connor revealed the couple’s marriage had ended in a lengthy statement on her official website on Boxing Day.
In fact, they had only lived together as husband and wife for seven days following the ceremony at the Little White Wedding Chapel.
Initially, Sinead O’Connor blamed the “intense pressure” on the couple and admitted his friends and family were unhappy with the union.
Clearly happy with her reignited lovelife, Sinead O’Connor later added on Twitter: “So Sinead got laid!!!… and all well.
“Yay!!! me husband is a big hairy cave man an (sic) came to claim me with his club : ) and now I’m in cave-land.. yay!! We both go panto!”
Barry Herridge is the latest husband in a list of short-lived marriages for Sinead O’Connor.
Mariah Carey revealed her husband Nick Cannon has been rushed to hospital in Aspen, Colorado, after suffering from kidney failure.
Despite Mariah Carey urging their fans to “pray for Nick”, she doesn’t look too fearful about his health given her Twitter activity.
Mariah Carey, 41, bizarrely posted a photo of herself posing beside an ailing Nick Cannon, 31, in his hospital bed.
The couple are clearly optimistic he will recover, with Mariah Carey describing his kidney failure as “mild”.
She posted news of Nick Cannon’s illness in the early hours of this morning.
“Please pray for Nick as he’s fighting to recover from a mild kidney failure. #mybraveman.”
Mariah Carey, 41, bizarrely posted a photo of herself posing beside an ailing Nick Cannon, 31, in his hospital bed
Mariah Carey then wrote a more detailed description of his medical drama on her official website.
“This is us in the hospital – role reversal; Last year it was me attached to the machines (after having dembabies) and Nick was there with me through it, and now here we are.
“We’re trying to be as festive as possible under the circumstances but please keep Nick in your thoughts because this is very painful. They tried to kick me out of the hospital but here I am pon de bed with Mr. C.
“We’re doing OK but we’re <<straaaaaanded in Aspen>>. #DramaticDivaPlace (I know, we could be in a lot worse places) but the truth is as long as we’re together, we’re OK.
“I’m not trying to make light out of the situation because it’s a serious moment that’s very tough on all of us so please keep us and our family in your prayers. LYM.”
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon have been spending the Christmas and New Year period in Aspen with their twins Moroccan and Monroe.
Nick Cannon’s hospitalization perhaps explains why the couple haven’t been photographed out and about in Aspen since New Year’s Eve.
Kim Kardashian’s claims that there is nothing between her and Kanye West were blown out of the water today when Amber, the rapper’s ex-girlfriend, said his affair with the reality TV star led to their split.
Amber, 28, also claimed that Kim Kardashian was seeing NFL star Reggie Bush at the same time as she was seeing Kanye West – who was in a serious relationship with Amber at the time.
In an interview with Star magazine, Amber said Kim Kardashian, 31, was one of the main reasons she and Kanye West, 34, broke up.
Amber said: “She’s a homewrecker! They were both cheating. They were both cheating on me and Reggie with each other.”
Amber also said that Kim Kardashian instigated the affair by sending sexy pictures of herself to him as well as calling and texting him.
“She was sending pictures, and I was like, <<Kim, just stop. Don’t be that person>.”
Amber said Kim Kardashian was one of the main reasons she and Kanye West 34 broke up
Amber said she also emailed Kim Kardashian asking her for an explanation but was disappointed not to get a reply.
Amber said: “I thought at least she’d be woman enough to respond to me. She never responded.
“It’s very important that us women stick together and we don’t f**k each other over like that.”
Amber does thank Kim Kardashian for helping her find true love in the arms of rapper Wiz Khalifa, 24.
Amber explained: “I want to thank her. Because if she was never a homewrecker, then I never would have met Wiz, and I wouldn’t be as happy as I am now.”
Amber’s claim comes a few weeks after Kim Kardashian and Kayne West were spotted together at a party in New York and Kayne was “all over” her – just a month after she filed from divorce from husband Kris Humphries.
In November, she hinted that the pair may have at one time been more than friends when asked on the Wendy Williams Show if Kim and Kanye.
“I mean, Come on, like, you know,” she laughed. “Come on! We’ll keep it cute.”
Last year, Kanye West made an appearance alongside a flirty Kim Kardashian on the first season of reality show Kourtney & Kim Take New York
A source told The New York Daily News: “Kanye was eating Kim up like she was a piece of cake. He was all over her – caressing her head, touching her waist.
“I think he was dying to kiss her, but there were too many people in the room.”
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, who are long time friends, were attending billionaire Ron Burkle’s party for Kanye and rapper Jay-Z who performed tracks from their hit album at LA’s Staples Centre.
Last year, Kanye West made an appearance alongside a flirty Kim Kardashian on the first season of reality show Kourtney & Kim Take New York.
And earlier this year, they filmed a Star Wars inspired skit together for U.S. network Comedy Central.
However, a source told People last year that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are “just friends”.
“There is nothing going on romantically,” the insider said.
“Kanye and Kim are just friends and have been forever.”
InIcons, a Chinese company, is prepared to launch a scale model of the late Apple founder Steve Jobs.
The “collectible figure” is 1:6 scale and wears Steve Jobs’ trademark poloneck, jeans and glasses.
Steve Jobs figure will retail for $99.99 and go on sale in February – Apple’s lawyers permitting.
InIcons has not released sales figures, but has already stopped taking pre-orders.
The “collectible figure” is 1:6 scale and wears Steve Jobs' trademark poloneck, jeans and glasses
In the past, InIcons has been quick to take legal action against Steve Jobs models such as one featuring the Apple guru as a ninja – poking fun at Steve Jobs alleged attempt to take souvenir ninja “shuriken” throwing stars on a plane.
Apple’s laywers said: “Mr. Jobs has not consented to the use of his name and/or image in the Product.”
If the InIcons model actually makes it to market, buyers will get “One realistic head with two pairs of glasses, one body and three pairs of hands” plus a complete Steve Jobs outfit – poloneck, blue jeans and trainers.
You also get two Apple logos – a risky move that makes the InIcons model even more vulnerable to legal action.
Simulview PlayStation television from Sony is the first flatscreen that can show each viewer something entirely different.
Both viewers of Simulview have to wear 3D glasses, as the screen uses the high-speed images of the TV screen to send a different view 2D to each pair of battery powered glasses.
The “active shutter” glasses flick open and closed in time to the television’s screen updates – so each person watching sees “their” view, and is cut off from the other person’s. So far, it only works for two.
Sony’s PS3- branded set is built for gaming – the idea being that the two views will allow two gamers to duel one another without the “cheat” of being able to see one another’s screen.
Simulview also works as a 3D TV, using the fast-flicking 240Hz screen for 3D Blu-Rays, cable or satellite TV and PlayStation games
Simulview also works as a 3D TV, using the fast-flicking 240Hz screen for 3D Blu-Rays, cable or satellite TV and PlayStation games.
The TV has no built-in tuner – so you need to add a cable, satellite or Freeview box to watch shows.
At the moment a very limited number of games work with the screen – but it includes hits such as Motorstorm: Apocalypse and Gran Turismo 5.
More titles are coming soon.
Simulview is only available in the US, but it will launch in Spring in the UK.
A new research found that stem cells can halt ageing and even prolong lifespans up to three times. An experiment of University of Pittsburgh scientists proved that a single injection of stem cells could make mice live three times as long.
The injection also made the mice grow bigger and stronger.
Scientists think that studying the proteins within stem cells might hold the key to injections that offer a “shot of youthful vigour” to human beings.
The researchers say further research could help us hold off the ageing process altogether.
The effect was even visible on cells in a lab dish where young stem cells were placed next to prematurely ageing cells.
The sick, ageing cells performed better after being placed next to the healthy ones.
The researchers conducted experiments on mice modified to age prematurely, a condition known as progeria.
Progeria also occurs in humans.
Giving these mice shots of stem cells from young, healthy counterparts allowed them to live up to three times longer than those with progeria.
Their experiment saw them first study the stem cells of the progeria sufferers.
The scientists saw there was a difference between the cells in the mice with the ageing disorder – they had fewer, the ones they had regenerated less quickly than ordinary mouse stem cells.
However, injecting stem cells into 17 day-old mice saw a huge increase in their lifespans – from an average of just 21-28 days to more than 66 days, three times longer than usual.
The modified mice given stem cell shots grew almost as large as their healthy counterparts and grew new blood vessels in their brains and muscles.
Scientists think this is because the healthy stem cells helped correct abnormalities in the cells of the rapidly-ageing mice.
Study author Dr. Laura Niedernhofer, whose findings were published in journal Nature Communications said: “Our experiments showed that mice that have progeria, a disorder of premature aging, were healthier and lived longer after an injection of stem cells from young, healthy animals.”
“That tells us that stem cell dysfunction is a cause of the changes we see with aging.”
Dr. Laura Niedernhofer added: “As the progeria mice age, they lose muscle mass in their hind limbs, hunch over, tremble, and move slowly and awkwardly.
“Affected mice that got a shot of stem cells just before showing the first signs of ageing were more like normal mice, and they grew almost as large.
“Closer examination showed new blood vessel growth in the brain and muscle, even though the stem/progenitor cells weren’t detected in those tissues.
“In fact, the cells didn’t migrate to any particular tissue after injection into the abdomen.
“This leads us to think that healthy cells secrete factors to create an environment that help correct the dysfunction present in the native stem cell population and aged tissue.
“In a culture dish experiment, we put young stem cells close to, but not touching, progeria stem cells and the unhealthy cells functionally improved.”
Gary Dobson and David Norris, the two men convicted of the racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993 after he was stabbed to death, will be sentenced later.
Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty by an Old Bailey jury after a trial based on forensic evidence.
The two men will be sentenced as juveniles because they were under 18 at the time of the attack, which happened in south-east London in April 1993.
Police say the investigation could be reopened if new evidence emerges.
Gary Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, can expect to receive sentences considerably shorter than would an adult convicted of the same crime under today’s laws.
Reports say they could serve minimum prison terms of around 12 years each.
Gary Dobson and David Norris were found guilty by an Old Bailey jury after a trial based on forensic evidence
Scientists found a tiny bloodstain on Gary Dobson’s jacket that could only have come from Stephen Lawrence. They also found a single hair belonging to the teenager on David Norris’s jeans.
Acting Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, who ordered the 2006 cold case review that led to the convictions, acknowledged that police believe there were five people involved in the murder, but there are currently no “live” lines of inquiry.
“If there was an opportunity to bring the other people who were involved in that night to justice, we would do so,” she said.
In a statement read by his lawyer outside the Old Bailey on Tuesday, Stephen Lawrence’s father, Neville Lawrence, said the convictions were a moment of joy and relief – but he could not rest until all of those who killed his son were brought to justice. He described the investigation and preparation of the case as “faultless”.
The father later told Channel 4 News: “I’m praying that these people now realize that they’ve been found out and say to themselves, <<yes I did this awful deed, but I wasn’t alone in that action that night and there are other people also guilty of what I’ve done>> and name them.
“I hope before the sentence is passed, they will talk and give the rest of these people that killed my son up.”
The original failed investigation into the murder led to the Metropolitan Police being branded as institutionally racist.
Stephen Lawrence was 18 when he was stabbed to death near a bus stop in Eltham, south east London, in April 1993.
Police identified five men who were later named in a damning public inquiry as the “prime suspects”.
By that time, there had already been a catalogue of police errors and two failed prosecutions, one brought by Stephen Lawrence’s parents.
In a four-year-long cold case review, a fresh team of forensic scientists uncovered microscopic evidence linking two of the five men to the murder – evidence that the police had held all along.
The material – bloodstains, clothing fibres and a single hair belonging to the teenager – were recovered from the clothes of the suspects which had been seized in 1993.
Scientists recovered the material using advanced techniques which were not available to the original case scientists.
Stephen Lawrence was 18 when he was stabbed to death near a bus stop in Eltham, south east London, in April 1993
Gary Dobson and David Norris denied the murder. They said their clothing had been contaminated as police mixed up evidence over the years. Detectives spent months establishing the movements and handling of the exhibits since 1993 – and the jury were told that contamination was implausible.
Gary Dobson, who was jailed for five years in 2010 for drugs trafficking, is among a small number of men to have been tried twice for the same crime after the Court of Appeal quashed his 1996 acquittal for the murder.
David Norris was convicted in 2002 of a separate allegation of racially threatening behavior.
In mitigation, ahead of sentencing on Wednesday, counsel for Gary Dobson said there was no evidence he had been the leader or prime motivator of the group that attacked the teenager.
David Norris’s counsel repeated his client’s pleas of innocence – and revealed his client had been beaten up while on remand at Belmarsh prison, suffering a broken nose and four broken ribs.
Justice Treacy discharged the jury and thanked them for their “dedicated service”. He told them the public owed them a debt of gratitude.
As the defendants left the dock, Gary Dobson told his family not to worry, and David Norris waved to the gallery. Members of both men’s families shouted back.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “In the 19 years since his murder, Stephen Lawrence’s family has fought tirelessly for justice.
“[The] verdict cannot ease the pain of losing a son. But, for Doreen and Neville Lawrence, I hope that it brings at least some comfort after their years of struggle.”
Matthew Ryder QC represented the Lawrence family in its civil claim against the police. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the Lawrence case was a “Rosa Parks moment” for British society.
“It was a moment when you saw the victims of injustice fighting for justice and the system letting them down and I think for that reason it profoundly changed how we view race and racism within this society,” Matthew Ryder said.
“On the face of it – it was a crude, violent form of racism – which every reasonable person would condemn – but what followed on from that, what’s always been part of the Lawrence case, was the pernicious, systemic forms of racism which caused the investigation to fail.”
Patrick White “continually harassed and chastised a woman for coughing and spreading disease” while they were on the plane last week
Patrick White from Georgia had a serious problem with a woman coughing on his American Airlines flight to Jacksonville International Airport in Florida.
Patrick White spent the plane ride harassing the sick 19-year-old, according to police.
Unsatisfied that he had made his point, as passengers were getting off the plane last week, Patrick White began calling her obscene names and telling her that she had “infected everyone” on the flight.
The man then charged her and body slammed her with his shoulder, knocking her against the wall, a flight attendant said.
Patrick White was arrested on charges of misdemeanor battery.
According to a police report, Patrick White “continually harassed and chastised (the woman) for coughing and <<spreading disease>>” while they were on the plane last week.
Patrick White was apparently so afraid of getting sick that he became enraged during the flight, police said.
As a small irony, after his arrest, Patrick White was taken to county jail.
However, Patrick White might have had a point, of sorts. A new study suggests air travelers have a 20% chance of catching a cold or other bug.
The Centers for Disease Control says travelers are most at risk from catching a virus from fellow passengers within a two seat radius.
Experts say wiping down tray tables and other surfaces with disinfectant wipes can help prevent the spread of diseases on an airplane.
And in many ways, the recirculated air is fresher than the air most people breathe in their office buildings, since it always contains air from the outside and, in modern aircraft, is passed through a filter.
The 2012 Quadrantids meteor shower is expected to peak, according to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on Wednesday, January 4, early in the morning.
Although not as famous as the Perseids meteor shower, the Quadrantids shower will nonetheless offer up “excellent meteor observing” from about 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. local time (regardless of the time zone you’re in), according to NASA.
Named after a now-extinct constellation, the shower is expected to produce 60 to 200 meteors per hour, with an average rate of about 100 each hour, according to NASA.
Meteor shower “viewing should be great over most of the country,” Weather Channel meteorologist Mark Ressler told USA Today. Exceptions are potentially cloudy spots in the Pacific Northwest, the Great Lakes and parts of the Northeast.
The Quadrantids shower was first seen in 1825, according to NASA
The Quadrantids shower was first seen in 1825, according to NASA.
“Dynamical studies suggest that this body could very well be a piece of a comet which broke apart several centuries ago, and that the meteors you will see before dawn on Jan. 4 are the small debris from this fragmentation,” said the space agency’s website.
“After hundreds of years orbiting the sun, they will enter our atmosphere at 90,000 mph, burning up 50 miles above Earth’s surface – a fiery end to a long journey!”
Only the Northern Hemisphere will be able to see the Quadrantids meteor show, NASA says.
A YouTube video presents 100 years of world events from 1911 to 2011 into a 10-minute clip using authentic footage.
The video clip, uploaded by YouTube user derDon1234 charts some of our greatest achievements, but also some terrible acts.
The footage begins with Roald Amundsen reaching the South Pole in 1911 and then takes in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, World War I, the erection of the Empire State Building in 1931, Hitler’s inauguration in 1933, World War II with Pearl Harbor and the atomic bomb attack on Japan in 1945 through to the Vietnam War, the election of Pope John Paul II in 1978, the Berlin Wall coming down, the last French atomic bomb test in 1996, the Mars Rover landing in 1997, the Twin Towers attack in 2001 and this year’s dreadful tsunami in Japan.
A YouTube video presents 100 years of world events from 1911 to 2011 into a 10-minute clip using authentic footage
A few events are noticeably absent, such as: the discovery of insulin, England’s 1966 World Cup win, Steve Jobs’ death and the formation of The Beatles.
Ronald Ball, who claimed he found a rodent’s body in a can of Mountain Dew was told by Pepsi that he must be wrong because it would have dissolved into jelly.
Ronald Ball, from Illinois, is suing Pepsi claiming the Mountain Dew he drank made him violently ill, and he began throwing up.
When it happened, Ronald Ball said he poured the fizzy drink into a styrofoam cup and to his shock out came a tiny mouse.
Ronald Ball, of Madison County, filed papers saying he bought a can of the Pepsi-made soft drink from a vending machine at work in 2009.
The man claims when he called a telephone number on the can to complain, they sent an adjuster to retrieve the mouse.
But, Ronald Ball said, Pepsi would not return the mouse until it had decomposed, ruling out additional testing by the plaintiff.
Since then, the case has gone to court and Pepsi has moved to dismiss it.
Ronald Ball, who claimed he found a rodent's body in a can of Mountain Dew was told by Pepsi that he must be wrong because it would have dissolved into jelly
According to reports, Pepsi’s expert says the mouse would have become a “jelly like” substance long before Ronald Ball ever opened it.
The case was continued by Madison County Circuit Judge Dennis Ruth, who granted the defendant 28 days to answer or otherwise plead the plaintiff’s second amended complaint.
A trial had been set to begin November 28, but was put back in an order signed by Judge Ruth on November 10.
A second amended complaint was then filed on November 21.
Ronald Ball is seeking damages in excess of $50,000. Pepsi, represented by lawyers Steven Danekas and Cassiday Schade, denies his claims.
15-year-old Amanda Cummings from Staten Island, who was “tormented by bullies”, died after she was hit by a bus while clutching a suicide note.
Witnesses saw Amanda Cummings jump in front of the city bus just two days after Christmas, a NYPD spokesman said.
Amanda Cummings was critically hurt in the collision, and eventually succumbed to her serious injuries after six days.
The teenager’s death comes just weeks after revealing posts on her public Facebook account, in which she talks about “feeling depressed” and asks “what did I do to deserve this?”
In one disturbing post on December 1, Amanda Cummings said: “I’ll go kill myself.”
Her uncle Keith Cummings told the Staten Island Advance that bullying was the ultimate cause of her tragic death.
Keith Cummings said she was being tormented by bullies who he claims picked on her at school, mocked her and took her phone, shoes and jacket.
15-year-old Amanda Cummings from Staten Island, who was “tormented by bullies”, died after she was hit by a bus while clutching a suicide note
Amanda Cummings’ uncle, who plans to use the law to hold her tormentors to account, also said that there were cruel posts and inappropriate comments being put on her Facebook wall while she was fighting for her life in hospital.
“I’m not going to tolerate this. I’m gonna go full force,” Keith Cummings told the Advance.
“Kids can’t do this to each other.”
On December 6th, in what appears to be a cry for help, Amanda posted on her Facebook: “When i say im ok i want that one person t look me in the eye, hug me & say no ur not.”
Three days earlier, the natural blonde who recently dyed her hair black, said: “Worst sat nite ever i cnt believe this is happening what did i do to deserve this.”
Amanda Cummings later talks about: “mad people are turning against me :'( im spending this sat nite alone in my room crying.”
The funeral of the New Dorp High School sophomore, who would have celebrated her 16th birthday party in September, is expected to take place this week.
Greg Walker, a 7ft tall basketball star, is undergoing a sex change and will become the world’s tallest transsexual.
Greg Walker, now 25, grew up sports-mad with beautiful cheerleaders on his arm, but said he “always felt different”.
Strapping teenager Greg Walker – who has size 16 feet and weighs around 20 stone – regularly lifted weights and would ride motorbikes to mask his true feelings.
The basketball had dozens of girls chasing him but shunned their advances, preferring to become friends instead and discuss fashion and “girly’ things.
In his early 20s, Greg Walker – now Lindsey – was unable to continue the “charade” and began wearing women’s clothes.
He then sought medical advice and began taking oestrogen to become more feminine and now boasts a curvy woman’s body – and a 38B bra size.
Now legally recognized as female after living as a woman for two years, Lindsey said: “I was one of the popular kids in high school.
“I was smart and always had girlfriends and loads of girls chasing me. But it somehow didn’t feel right, almost like it was a charade.
“I started to feel really isolated as thought here was something wrong with me and at 18 I started doing research secretly into why I was feeling so different from everyone else.
“Although I hid my feelings well I lived my life always knowing there was something different. By 21 I had hit my rock bottom and I started having emotional problems and turned to drink.
“Then one day it just clicked and I knew what I had to do. I started wearing women’s clothes and later turned to female hormones to suppress the testosterone in my body.”
Greg Walker, a 7ft tall basketball star, is undergoing a sex change and will become the world's tallest transsexual
Lindsey Walker, from Ohio, grew up as Greg and experienced a “normal boyish” childhood as a keen sportsman and gifted basketball player.
He was offered a basketball scholarship to study economics and marketing at Central Michigan College, but dropped out aged 21.
Greg Walker became increasingly isolated and changed his name from Greg to Lindsey. Lindsey then poured her heart out in a letter to her supportive parents explaining she had always felt and wanted to be a woman.
The acceptance gave Lindsey the confidence to start wearing women’s clothes and undergo a course of female hormones to become more “womanly”.
Lindsey now proudly boasts a B-cup bra size and buys her fashionable clothes and high-heeled shoes to fit her size 16 feet from specialist websites online.
She is legally classified as a woman and is now saving up for full gender reassignment surgery, which she hopes to have by the end of the year or early 2013.
Her supportive parents have accepted her decision although Lindsey is estranged from her younger brother. She has also contacted the Guinness Book of Records in the hope she will be officially recognized as the world’s tallest transsexual.
Authorities named David Pouliot, a Vietnam veteran who worked for the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services, as a “person of interest” in the disappearance of 10-year-old Holly Piirainen from Massachusetts in 1993.
Investigators stopped short of naming David Pouliot, who died in 2003, as a suspect.
Holly Piirainen was abducted during a family vacation in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, on August 5, 1993, and her remains were discovered two months later eight miles away in Brimfield.
No one has ever been charged with Holly Piirainen murder, but analysis of forensic evidence found at the scene has revealed a new suspect.
At a press conference today, Hampden County District Attorney Mark Mastroianni released the name of David Pouliot, a 49-year-old man from Springfield who died in 2003.
David Pouliot was a Vietnam War veteran, a member of the U.S. Coast Guard and worked for the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services in Westfield, Fox News reported.
The potential new suspect is the first new lead in the case for more than 10 years.
Holly Piirainen was abducted during a family vacation in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, on August 5, 1993, and her remains were discovered two months later eight miles away in Brimfield
David Procopio, a spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police, told The Boston Globe: “We hope the new evidence may spark someone’s memory, or someone’s conscience.
“Holly’s family has waited for justice for almost two decades.”
Holly Piirainen disappeared after she and her brother went to a neighbor’s house to look at a litter of puppies.
Rick Piirainen, her father, was planning to go to attend a news conference in Hampden Superior Court this morning along with sons Andrew and Zachary – who were eight and five at the time of her disappearance.
Investigators have speculated Holly Piirainen’s abduction and murder could be linked with that of Molly Bish, who disappeared on June 27, 2000, after she was dropped off at Comins Pond in Warren where she was a lifeguard.
The 16-year-old’s remains were found in 2003 in a wooded area near Comins Pond.
Aretha Franklin, the Grammy-winning singer, announced she is engaged to long-time companion William “Willie” Wilkerson.
Aretha Franklin, 69, said in a statement today that she and Willie Wilkerson are considering a summer wedding, perhaps in Miami Beach, Florida.
The singer wants to follow the ceremony with a reception on a private yacht.
Aretha Franklin joked: “No, I’m not pregnant.”
The Queen of Soul and Willie Wilkerson became engaged over the holidays.
Aretha Franklin is considering Vera Wang, Valentino and Donna Karan to design her dress.
It will be the third wedding for Aretha Franklin, who has four children.
The singer was married to her then manager, Ted White, during the ’60s and split from her second husband actor Glynn Turman in 1984 after five years together.
Aretha Franklin and her fiancé Willie Wilkerson
Aretha Franklin recently said she is feeling “fabulous” again after suffering from a serious health issue in 2010.
The singer was reported to have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer – claims which Aretha Franklin denied.
However, Aretha Franklin did undergo an unidentified surgery in December that year and she had cancelled concerts and personal appearances up until May.
Her more transformed physique has now promoted rumors she underwent gastric bypass surgery.
But Aretha Franklin said in a recent interview that she “would never” go under the surgeon’s knife for weight loss surgery.
Asked if she had had a gastric bypass, Aretha Franklin replied: “Definitely not – and would not. I heard that rumor. I said, <<That is crazy>>. It definitely was not the bariatric or, what is it, gastric… Yeah, I can’t even tell you the correct name of it.
“It’s really not necessary to talk about one’s personal medical health.”
Aretha Franklin also addressed the rumors about reports she had pancreatic cancer and said: “There was just so many wild things out there and just so many things being said that weren’t true…
“I just felt I needed to address it a little.”
“I don’t know where pancreatic cancer came from, she states. I was sitting there reading the newspaper and it was saying someone in my family said that.”
Aretha Franklin clarified: “No one in my family ever said that to anybody.”
Although she did not state what the nature of her health concerns were, Aretha Franklin said that her doctors believe the surgery she had “is going to add 15 to 20 more years” to her life.
New reports say that Beyoncé spent New Year’s Eve enjoying dinner with her baby bump still intact despite other reports saying that she has given birth.
Beyoncé, 30, saw in 2012 by dining with her husband Jay-Z at Buttermilk Channel in Brooklyn, New York, before going to her sister’s house party.
In fact, Beyoncé’s younger sibling Solange, 25, confirmed her sister was very much still pregnant when the clock struck midnight.
Solange tweeted: “Shout out to my sister for being THE cutest pregnant woman ever!’
Before the party at Solange’s rented Brooklyn brownstone house, Beyoncé and Jay-Z enjoyed a romantic meal.
According to Radar Online, the famous couple enjoyed a strictly A-list menu, but it is not known if any of the luxury dishes were at the top of Beyoncé’s cravings list.
Foodrepublic.com states that the food on the night was a “tour de force from the talented chef Ryan Angulo”.
The menu included a rich foie gras terrine with pickled grapes, butter-poached lobster, duck meatloaf with more seared foie gras and a bittersweet chocolate and duck jus.
No doubt Beyoncé has a healthy appetite at the moment and was making the most of being able to eat what she wants.
However, other reports claim that Beyoncé gorged on fried chicken while Jay-Z enjoyed some oysters.
And just because she’s expecting, doesn’t mean Beyoncé is following the traditional maternity wear trends.
A source told People that Beyoncé had dressed up for the annual event: “She looked amazing. She wore sky-high heels. It was really impressive for an enormously pregnant woman.”
“She looked like she was about to give birth,” the source added.
New reports say that Beyoncé spent New Year's Eve enjoying dinner with her baby bump still intact despite other reports saying that she has given birth
The internet rumor mill went into overdrive on December 30 with reports that Beyoncé had given birth to a baby girl.
According to reports – which neither the singer herself nor husband Jay-Z had confirmed – the U.S. star had named her daughter Tiana May Carter.
The news came after reports suggested that staff at St Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital – a private facility in New York – had been told to prepare for a VIP arrival.
Beyoncé has understandably spent the past few months in the Big Apple as she approaches her due date
No doubt Beyoncé has spent a lot of the festivities relaxing in the multi-million dollar penthouse apartment which she shares with her rapper husband.
Over 30,000 people have been protesting in Budapest over Hungary’s controversial new constitution, a day after it came into force.
The country’s governing Fidesz party pushed the law through parliament in April after winning a two-thirds majority in parliamentary elections.
Opposition say the new constitution threatens democracy by removing checks and balances set up in 1989 when Communism fell.
The EU and U.S. had also asked for the law to be withdrawn.
The dispute has cast doubt over talks on a new financing agreement with the EU and IMF, seen as vital for market confidence in the central European country.
But the economic crisis facing Hungary overshadows both the government’s policies and the opposition protests.
Over 30,000 people have been protesting in Budapest over Hungary's controversial new constitution, a day after it came into force
Fidesz party won the elections promising to create a million workplaces – but there has been no growth so far.
As the public mood worsens, so do the country’s ratings, the chances of attracting foreign investment, and creating more jobs.
Several centre-left opposition parties joined in the protests, held near a gala event organized by the government to celebrate the new constitution.
Protesters chanted slogans denouncing the centre-right Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, and carried placards denouncing his “dictatorship” as officials arrived for the event.
“Viktor Orban and his servants turned Hungary from a promising place to the darkest spot in Europe,” said Socialist MP Tibor Szanyi, quoted by AFP news agency.
Aspects of the new constitution and accompanying laws which have come in for criticism include:
• A preamble committed to defending the intellectual and spiritual unity of the nation, which experts warn could be a future source of tension;
• The inclusion of social issues – like the rights of the unborn child, marriage between a man and a woman, and the definition of life sentences – which experts say should be left to ethical debates within society;
• The rewriting of the electoral system, in a way which opponents say favors Fidesz;
But Fidesz says the new constitution, or basic law, improves the legal framework of life in Hungary.
“Despite political debates we think it is an important value that for the first time, a freely elected parliament created the Basic Law,” said Fidesz MP Gergely Gulyas, quoted by the Reuters news agency.
Gergely Gulyas co-wrote the new law and shepherded it through parliament.
A newborn was found abandoned in a trash can in a town called Country club Hills, south of Chicago, Illinois, on Sunday.
The baby boy’s 13-year-old mother wrapped the newborn in bloody jeans before leaving it in the outdoor trash can.
The baby was taken to nearby Advocate South Suburban Hospital and pronounced dead at 8:17 p.m.
The teenager told police that she didn’t know she was pregnant. Her name has not been released- likely because she is a minor- and was in hospital Monday morning.
When the baby was found, he was full term and only 4 pounds and 2 ounces. Newborns generally tend to weigh between six and eight pounds.
Found in the garbage around 7:00 p.m., the boy had to fend for himself through a very cold and snowy New Year’s Day, something that lawmakers and children’s advocates have been hoping to prevent.
A newborn was found abandoned in a trash can in a town called Country club Hills, south of Chicago, Illinois, on Sunday
In 2001, Illinois established its Safe Haven law which allows new mothers to drop their baby off anonymously at a number of designated locations- like police stations, fire houses, and college campuses- and have the children put up for adoption, no questions asked.
A group called the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation was instrumental in establishing the law, and, with exception of this latest incident, have been markedly successful.
Since the law was enacted, 64 newborns were abandoned illegally, not including this Sunday’s boy.
Of those 64 cases, 31 of the abandoned children died while the others were found and treated in time. Now that number rises to 32.
By contrast, 74 had been put up for adoption after being dropped off at the designated Safe Havens.
Dawn Geras established the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation after reading a news article about Alabama women abandoning babies in hospital emergency rooms.
She thought there was a way that she could make a difference in Illinois, which at the time did not have any abandonment laws. Now, theirs is considered one of the strongest Safe Haven laws across the states.
Dawn Geras’ sister Diane Jannetto is now the treasurer of the foundation, and when told of the latest incident, she was shocked at the age of the mother.
“That’s probably the youngest,” Diane Jannetto said when told of the 13-year-old mother.
After checking records, Diane Jannetto confirmed that in their organization’s statistics, they have never heard of a case of anyone younger than 14 years old abandoning a newborn in Illinois.
“The average age is 18-24 or something.
“It makes us all cry when we hear of a baby dying this way,” she said.
“It’s not necessary to die like that.”
The state’s law allows mothers to go to designated areas and hand their baby, who must be younger than 30 days old, over to an official at the location and the child will then be passed over directly to adoption agencies.
The only question the officials are allowed to ask the mother is whether or not she would like medical attention, and they are not able to ask for any personal information.
The biggest problems facing advocates like Dawn Geras and Diane Jannetto is education and awareness. Diane Jannetto said that many people have a misconception that churches are designated drop-off points but that is not the case.
“They’re just not staffed all day,” Diane Jannetto said, recalling a recent case where someone left a baby in a church parking lot.
“It’s always the awareness issue, that’s why we take every advantage we can to talk about it,” she said.
A new wave of “silent camera” applications – some specifically designed for voyeurism – has been blamed for a huge rise in illicit photography in Japan.
Most smartphone cameras have a built-in shutter noise to prevent the camera being used to take pictures without people’s consent.
There were 1,741 incidents last year in Japan, according to a report in Mercury News, with an increase of 60% on the figure five years ago.
The problem is blamed on the rise in “silent camera” apps – including ones which deliberately conceal what the user is doing by putting an innocent-looking email or text message on screen while he or she photographs.
Most smartphone cameras have a built-in shutter noise to prevent the camera being used to take pictures without people's consent
There are dozens of silent camera applications already available on Android Market and iTunes store – and on Android particularly, and several that appear to market themselves as being for stealthy photography.
Mercury News report says: “The latest applications include <<upgraded versions>> that enable people to silently take photos while an email or website is displayed on the phone’s screen to provide cover for the surreptitious picture-taking.”
Japanese academics have called for regulation of silent photography applications – saying that they are being used for crimes.
With Google’s “anything goes” policy on Android, where applications are not vetted before publication on Market, and users can also download apps from elsewhere on the web, it will be very difficult to police.
Most smartphones also include a way of disabling the noise of camera applications even in the built-in apps.
Lalita Tati, a seven-year-old girl from India was murdered and had her liver cut in a ritual sacrifice to ensure a better harvest.
Police said that two men, both poor farmers, have now been arrested in central India for allegedly carrying out the murder of the girl.
Lalita Tati disappeared in October and her dismembered remains were found a week later, said Rajendra Narayan Das, a senior police officer in the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh state.
The state is the tenth largest in the country and beliefs in traditional healers run deep.
Police arrested the men last week and they told officers they killed Lalita Tati to appease their gods and get a better harvest.
Lalita Tati was walking home after watching TV at a neighbor’s house when she was kidnapped, Rajendra Narayan Das said.
The two men confessed to cutting the girl open and removing her liver as an offering.
Rajendra Narayan Das said the police had gathered enough evidence, apart from the confessions, to charge the two with murder.
The two men would face life in prison or even the death sentence if convicted.
They were described as “tribals”, a term referring to the region’s indigenous people, most of whom remain mired in poverty and illiteracy.
The loose-knit Anonymous movement, who stole thousands of credit card numbers from U.S. security firm Stratfor, has now published the email addresses of more than 860,000 of its clients.
Hackers released the data – which included information on former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger – online.
The lists of emails included scrambled details of their passwords – which experts said could be cracked within a matter of seconds by using software downloaded for free.
People working for big corporations, the U.S. military and major defense contractors were all contained on lists stolen from the intelligence company often dubbed the Shadow CIA.
The Antisec faction of Anonymous said last weekend it had hacked into the firm and promised that the release of the stolen data would cause “mayhem”.
A spokesperson for Anonymous said via Twitter that yet-to-be-published emails from the firm would show Stratfor, which gathers non-classified intelligence on international crises, “is not the <<harmless company>> it tries to paint itself as”.
Antisec has not disclosed when it will release those emails, but security analysts said they could contain information that could be embarrassing for the U.S. government.
The loose-knit Anonymous movement, who stole thousands of credit card numbers from U.S. security firm Stratfor, has now published the email addresses of more than 860,000 of its clients
Jeffrey Carr, chief executive of Taia Global Inc, said: “Those emails are going to be dynamite and may provide a lot of useful information to adversaries of the U.S. government.”
Stratfor issued a statement on Friday confirming that the published email addresses had been stolen from the company’s database.
The statement said it was helping law enforcement probe the matter and conducting its own investigation.
It said: “At Stratfor, we try to foster a culture of scrutiny and analysis, and we want to assure our customers and friends that we will apply the same rigorous standards in carrying out our internal review.”
John Bumgarner, chief technology officer of the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, said: “There are thousands of email addresses here that could be used for very targeted spear phishing attacks that could compromise national security.”
The Pentagon said it saw no threat so far.
In a posting on the data-sharing website pastebin.com, Anonymous said the list included information from about 75,000 customers of Stratfor and about 860,000 people who had registered to use its site.
The hackers also said that the list included some 50,000 email addresses belonging to the U.S. government’s .gov and .mil domains.
The list also included addresses at contractors including BAE Systems Plc, Boeing Co, Lockheed Martin Corp and several U.S. government-funded labs that conduct classified research in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Idaho Falls, Idaho; and Sandia and Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Corporations on the list included Bank of America, Exxon Mobil Corp, Goldman Sachs & Co and Thomson Reuters.
The entries included scrambled versions of passwords. Some of them can be unscrambled using databases known as rainbow tables that are available for download over the Internet, according to John Bumgarner.
He said he randomly picked six people on the list affiliated with U.S. military and intelligence agencies to see if he could crack their passwords.
John Bumgarner said he was able to break four of them, each in about a second, using one rainbow table.
A new research suggests that a diet rich in vitamins and fish may protect the brain from ageing while junk food has the opposite effect.
Elderly people with high blood levels of vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids had less brain shrinkage and better mental performance, a Neurology study found.
Trans fats found in fast foods were linked to lower scores in tests and more shrinkage typical of Alzheimer’s.
A UK medical charity has called for more work into diet and dementia risk.
The best current advice is to eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, not smoke, take regular exercise and keep blood pressure and cholesterol in check, said Alzheimer’s Research UK.
The research looked at nutrients in blood, rather than relying on questionnaires to assess a person’s diet.
US experts analyzed blood samples from 104 healthy people with an average age of 87 who had few known risk factors for Alzheimer’s.
They found those who had more vitamin B, C, D and E in their blood performed better in tests of memory and thinking skills. People with high levels of omega 3 fatty acids – found mainly in fish – also had high scores. The poorest scores were found in people who had more trans fats in their blood.
Trans fats are common in processed foods, including cakes, biscuits and fried foods.
The researchers, from Oregon Health and Science University, Portland; Portland VA Medical Center; and Oregon State University, Corvallis, then carried out brain scans on 42 of the participants.
They found individuals with high levels of vitamins and omega 3 in their blood were more likely to have a large brain volume; while those with high levels of trans fat had a smaller total brain volume.
Study author Gene Bowman of Oregon Health and Science University said: “These results need to be confirmed, but obviously it is very exciting to think that people could potentially stop their brains from shrinking and keep them sharp by adjusting their diet.”
Co-author Maret Traber of the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University said: “The vitamins and nutrients you get from eating a wide range of fruits, vegetables and fish can be measured in blood biomarkers.
“I’m a firm believer these nutrients have strong potential to protect your brain and make it work better.”
Commenting on the study, Dr. Simon Ridley, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:
“One strength of this research is that it looked at nutrients in people’s blood, rather than relying on answers to a questionnaire.
“It’s important to note that this study looked at a small group of people with few risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, and did not investigate whether they went on to develop Alzheimer’s at a later stage.
“There is a clear need for conclusive evidence about the effect of diet on our risk of Alzheimer’s, which can only come from large-scale, long-term studies.”
George magazine, founded by John F. Kennedy Jr., famously featured on its covers Cindy Crawford as George Washington and Drew Barrymore as Marilyn Monroe.
Now is said that JFK’s late son asked Madonna to pose for the cover of his political lifestyle magazine in 1996, as his conservative mother Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
But, Madonna flirtatiously declined his offer, insisting she could “never do [Jackie O.] justice”.
As the New York Post reports, JFK Jr. told his assistant RoseMarie Terenzio about his idea for a photo shoot that would see Madonna portraying the former First Lady for the September “Women in Politics” issue.
RoseMarie Terenzio recalls in her upcoming book, “Fairy Tale Interrupted”, suggesting instead then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton shoot for the issue.
RoseMarie Terenzio, JFK Jr.’s former assistant, recalls in her upcoming book, “Fairy Tale Interrupted”, how he asked Madonna to pose as Jackie Kennedy for the George magazine cover
But JFK Jr., who founded George with Michael J. Berman in 1995, had more sensational ideas.
“We’ll have her in a pillbox hat, sitting on a stack of books,” RoseMarie Terenzio recalls her then-boss saying.
RoseMarie Terenzio says she was hesitant to support the idea, warning her then-boss he would create a “media s***storm” putting Madonna on the cover, given the pair’s once-rumored romance.
They drafted a letter to the Madonna anyway, asking the singer to pose as America’s beloved Jackie O.
But the photo shoot never came to fruition. The next day, RoseMarie Terenzio said, they received a handwritten reply from the star via fax declining the offer.
According to a letter published by the Post, addressed with a wink to “Johnny Boy”, Madonna quipped: “My eyebrows aren’t thick enough, for one.
“When you want me to portray Eva Braun or Pamela Harriman, I might say yes!” Madonna wrote, referring to Hitler’s mistress and the British socialite.
Drew Barrymore took Madonna’s slot for that issue, portraying another blonde bombshell – JFK Jr.’s father’s rumored lover, Marilyn Monroe.
“Fairy Tale Interrupted”, which chronicles RoseMarie Terenzio’s five years as JFK Jr’s publicist, is due out later this month.
RoseMarie Terenzio said she worked for him until JFK Jr. died in 1999 at the age of 38.
Nigerian people and trade unionists have condemned the government for withdrawing a fuel price subsidy which has led petrol prices to more than double in many areas.
Nigerians are angry at the announcement, fearing the price of many other goods will also rise.
The main trade unions have called people to prepare for a strike.
Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer, but imports refined petrol.
Years of mismanagement and corruption mean it does not have the capacity to refine oil, turning it into petrol and other fuels.
Analysts say many Nigerians regard cheap fuel as the only benefit they get from the nation’s oil wealth.
Several previous governments have tried to remove the subsidy but have backed down in the face of widespread public protests and reduced it instead.
The IMF has long urged Nigeria’s government to remove the subsidy, which costs a reported $8 billion a year.
Early in the morning, many petrol stations in Nigerian capital Abuja were closed as the owners were not sure what price they should charge, but they have since opened.
Prices have increased from 65 naira ($0.40) per liter to at least 140 naira in filling stations and from 100 naira to at least 200 on the black market, where many Nigerians buy their fuel.
There are reports that petrol prices have tripled in some remote areas, while commuters have complained that motorcycle and minibus taxi fares have already doubled or tripled.
The government finance team led by respected pair central bank governor Lamido Sanusi and Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala have long argued that removing the subsidy would free up money to invest in other sectors and relieve poverty.
In a statement, it urged people not to panic-buy or hoard fuel.
“Consumers are assured of adequate supply of quality products at prices that are competitive and non-exploitative,” the statement said.
The government recently released a list of the biggest beneficiaries of the subsidy, who include some of Nigeria’s richest people – the owners of fuel-importing firms.
Nigerians are heavy users of fuel, not just for cars but to power generators that many households and businesses use to cope with the country's erratic electricity supply
Nigeria’s two main labor organizations, the Trades Union Congress and the Nigerian Labor Congress, issued a joint statement condemning the move.
“We alert the populace to begin immediate mobilization towards the D-Day for the commencement of strikes, street demonstrations and mass protests across the country,” the statement said.
“This promises to be a long-drawn battle; we know it is beginning, but we do not know its end or when it will end.
“We are confident the Nigerian people will triumph.”
Labor activist John Odah told the BBC’s Network Africa programme that, judging from past experience, he doubted that the government would use the money saved by removing the subsidy to help ordinary people.
John Odah said that the subsidy should have been retained until Nigeria’s refineries had been brought up to scratch.
“As an oil-producing country, we ought not to be importing fuel in the first place,” he said.
John Odah also pointed out that Nigeria does not have many commuter railways, so people have little choice but to use motorcycle and minibus taxis, whose prices are closely linked to the price of petrol.
Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer but most of the available 2 million barrels per day are exported in an unrefined state.
The country lacks refineries and infrastructure so has to import refined products such as petrol, which is expensive.
However, with the price of fuel much cheaper in Nigeria than in neighboring countries, the subsidy led to widespread smuggling.
Nigerians are heavy users of fuel, not just for cars but to power generators that many households and businesses use to cope with the country’s erratic electricity supply.
The measures just announced could add to the difficulties faced by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who declared a state of emergency on Saturday in areas hit by Islamist violence.
While men are more likely to chat up a fair-haired lady on a night out, they actually find brunettes more attractive, a study has shown.
University of Westminster researchers sent a woman to three London nightclubs with her hair dyed brunette, blonde and then red, and watched how many men approached her.
The researchers then returned to the clubs and asked 130 men to rate pictures of her in the three guises.
The woman was chatted up the most as a blonde. But she was rated most highly for attractiveness and intelligence when brunette, the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology reports.
University of Westminster researcher Viren Swami said that his results may reflect a shift in fashion, with brunettes now being idealized in the way that blondes were several decades ago.
Dr. Viren Swami said: “In the Sixties and early Seventies, when Jackie Kennedy was the ideal, brunette hair became the ideal for women generally. Then, in the Seventies and Eighties, blondes became the ideal.
“But more recently, there has been a backlash against blondes and the dumb blonde idea has become dominant.”
As a blonde, the woman was chatted up 60 times in total. This compared with 42 approaches as a brunette and 18 as a red-head.
Speculating on why the woman, or “confederate” in researcher-speak, was rated more attractive when brunette but chatted up more as a blonde, Dr. Viren Swami said: “One possible explanation is that men were more likely to assume sexual intent on the part of our confederate when she was blonde.
“Perceptions of the blonde confederate as being more needy may have reduced men’s fear or rejection or fear or an aggressive response, which increased their likelihood of approaching her as a blonde.”
It is also possible that men link blonde hair with youth and vitality, and so the ability to bear children.
