Ramie Marie Grimmer from Texas, the daughter of a woman who killed herself after being refused food stamps wrote “may die 2day” on her Facebook page during the seven-hour stand-off her mother had dragged her into with police.
Ramie Marie Grimmer, 12, and her ten-year-old brother were shot and critically wounded by their mother Rachelle Grimmer.
Rachelle Grimmer, 38, entered the Texas Health and Human Services Commission office in Laredo on Monday afternoon and demanded to speak to a supervisor after trying “for months” to gain benefits for her family.
She then pulled out a handgun and started walking through the office, threatening several employees, authorities said.
Rachelle Grimmer took a supervisor hostage in a room while a SWAT team managed to evacuate three dozen people.
Ramie Marie Grimmer wrote “may die 2day” on her Facebook page during the seven-hour stand-off her mother had dragged her into with police
After a seven-hour stand off, Rachelle Grimmer allowed the male supervisor to go free, but she remained in the office with her two children.
The apparent Facebook profile of Ramie Marie Grimmer is updated regularly on Monday.
At 7:50 p.m., the girl wrote: “May die 2day” on her wall.
Ramie Marie Grimmer then accepted a friend request before writing “I’m bored” at 10:34pm and tagged her location as Laredo, Texas.
The girl then “liked” the band Evanescence and wrote “ahhhhhhhhhhahhhhhh” at 10:52 p.m.
At 11:28 p.m., she wrote “tear gas seriasly”. [sic]
Joe Baeza of the Laredo Police Department reported on Tuesday: “About 11:45 last night, she hung up the phone with negotiators, and a little bit later, negotiators heard three shots.
“What had happened was that she had shot each of her children once and herself once.
“She had issues and felt that she had been let down by social services in general.”
Joe Baeza added: “She was making all sorts of outlandish claims.”
The children were airlifted to a hospital in San Antonio in extremely critical condition. The mother was dead at the scene.
There has been no updates on the children’s medical condition so far but Ramie Marie Grimmer had accessed her Facebook page 13 hours ago to take a quiz.
Joe Baeza said Rachelle Grimmer, who was from Ohio, arrived in Laredo about eight months ago and had lived with her children in several locations around the border city.
Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Commission, confirmed that Rachelle Grimmer applied for food stamps in July and was denied.
She said Rachelle Grimmer’s application was incomplete and that she was not sure whether the woman qualified for assistance.
“We’re still trying to track down exactly what happened with the case,” Stephanie Goodman told Reuters.
“As you can probably imagine, I think she had a lot of other issues she was dealing with as well.”
Joe Baeza credited the supervisor with remaining calm and allowing officers to evacuate the other employees and members of the public who were in the building.
He had been with the state agency for 24 years and had been a supervisor since 2000, Stephanie Goodman said. She said the commission will provide counselling for its workers.
“They go into this profession because they really want to help people, so when something like this happens, it’s doubly traumatic for them,” Stephanie Goodman said.
Stephanie Goodman also said the commission will look at what it needs to do to ensure its offices are safe for staff and the public. She said there was an unarmed security guard on duty on Monday at the Laredo office, where Texans can go to apply for food stamps and other programs.
“This is the kind of thing you hear of happening in other places, but not in our quiet home town,” Joe Baeza said.
The Mythbusters busted up a California neighbourhood yesterday evening when an errant cannonball crashed through a minivan and a house.
The Mythbusters crew had themselves a close call as they were filming their latest stunt at a California bomb range.
Producers for the Discovery Channel TV show were firing a cannon, which they had built themselves, at the range, which is located near the Santa Rita Jail in the city of Dublin.
J.D. Nelson, a sheriff’s department spokesman and a consultant for the show, told the Contra Costa Times that the cannon had been used more than 50 times prior and there had been no problems.
The sheriff also told the paper that the stunt intended that the cannonball to go through several water-filled barrels and blasting through a concrete wall.
Instead, the ball missed its mark, firing past the barrels and through the wall before taking a bad hop and going airborne, bouncing toward a home on Cassata Place – 700 feet away.
But the damage was not yet done as the cannon ball crashed through the house on one side and exited through another.
The Mythbusters busted up a California neighbourhood yesterday evening when an errant cannonball crashed through a minivan and a house
The occupants of the home were sleeping at the time, and were not hurt.
The cannonball then plummeted into the minivan, breaking one of its windows and finally coming to a stop inside.
Prior to the incident, the group’s robotic and electrical guru, Grant Imahara tweeted: “Today we’re working with heavy artillery.”
The statement was re-tweeted by the show’s official Twitter account, but both posts were later removed when news of the incident came to light.
The owner of the minivan, Jasbir Gill, is thanking his lucky stars that he and his children came out of the incident alive – they had been in the vehicle moments earlier.
Jasbir Gill told the Contra Costa Times: “It’s scary. I was in the van five minutes before this happened.”
The bomb range has been shut down as authorities investigate the incident and try to determine what exactly went wrong.
Jasbir Gill told Contra Costa Times that he wants producers of the show, which has been on the air since 2003, to pay for his van and the other damage the cannonball caused.
No Dublin residents, or anyone on the Mythbusters crew, were injured in the incident.
The Mythbusters show follows the exploits of special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, who use their knowledge to prove or disprove different hard-to-believe aspects of films, TV, the internet and other rumours.
Amanda Price, wife of a Mississippi high school football coach was gunned down Monday night after she found a man lurking in the family house backyard.
Amanda Price’s husband, Ron, was also shot as he sprinted outside their New Albany home to help her, but he is expected to recover.
New Albany Police Chief David Grisham says the shooting happened just before 10:00 p.m. on Monday.
David Grisham said Amanda Price had gone outside to take their dog out and startled someone, who shot her in the chest when she screamed.
Hearing the screams and gunshots, Ron Price, who was inside the house, ran out to help when he was shot in the shoulder.
Amanda Price, her husband Ron and their 3-year-old daughter Molly
Ron Price, who was able to call 911 after he was shot, was treated and released early Tuesday morning from North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.
The couple’s three-year-old daughter Molly, who was inside the house at the time of the shooting, was not hurt.
New Albany Mayor Tim Kent told WTVA.com that the couple was always willing to help in the community.
Tim Kent said: “They just have a soft spot in their heart for everybody.”
Police have few clues about the killer, but believe he may be linked to a series of car burglaries in the area at about the same time as the shooting.
Chief David Grisham told Fox 13: “The only description we have at this time is approximately 6 foot, dressed in dark clothing, with a mask over his face.”
Ron Price had recently completed his fourth season as head coach for the New Albany Bulldogs.
Amanda Price was a speech pathologist in the same school district.
A $20,000 reward has been offered for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer.
Mario Hernandez, mayor of San Fernando, California, turned his private life into public business late last month when he stunned residents at a city council meeting by announcing he was having an affair with a city councilwoman.
Mario Hernandez then horrified his constituents in the small town when he ordered police to escort away his wife, who was sitting in the front row, as she stood up to confront her adulterous husband.
San Fernando residents are now demanding the mayor and his lover, Maribel De La Torre, to resign.
Mario Hernandez, San Fernando, Maribel De La Torre
San Fernando, a city of just 25,000, has already been plagued by sex scandals among its leaders.
The police chief is being sued by a cadet who claims they had sex in a squad car, a police dispatcher was caught exposing himself in public and another councilwoman carried on an affair with a police sergeant while the city sparred with the police union, the San Fernando Valley Sun reported.
At the end of a November 21 city council meeting, Mayor Mario Hernandez announced that his business had gone under and he had declared bankruptcy.
And then he added: “I’d like to put out there, to squash the rumors, that yes, I have been in a relationship with Councilwoman De La Torre.”
Mayor Mario Hernandez claimed he was separated from his wife.
That’s when Anna Hernandez stood up from the front row: “I’m his wife… we weren’t separated.”
As the woman tried to publicly confront her adulterous husband, Mario Hernandez ordered the city’s acting police chief to step in.
The mayor told the officer that if Anna Hernandez tried to speak again, she must be escorted out, the Sun reported.
The pronouncement drew gasps from the crowd and scorn from fellow council members.
“Ghetto,” responded Councilwoman Sylvia Ballin.
“You’re a joke. Everyone knows you’re a joke, so just be a joke,” taunted Sev Aszkenazy, the publisher of the Sun and the mayor’s brother-in-law.
At the end of the meeting, Mayor Mario Hernandez and Councilwoman Maribel De La Torre quickly retreated from the council chambers.
At a follow-up meeting this week, 150 residents turned up to lambaste their soap opera mayor and call for his resignation.
Maribel De La Torre, who has two children in college, was conspicuously absent from the gathering.
Councilwoman Maribel De La Torre
“I’m sorry I voted for you,” Dee Akemon told the mayor.
“You ain’t got no shame at all,” 77-year-old Samuel Beltran said.
Residents said the city has real problems to worry about without being sidetracked by a philandering mayor – a massive budget deficit, a proposal to spend large amounts of city money on a private firefighting force and contract negotiations with the police union.
Vicky Bell from Tennessee and her boyfriend stood helplessly by and watched their home and valuables go up in flames because a team of firefighters refused to help – as they had not paid their “subscription fees”.
The couple managed to escape from their trailer home but did not have time to grab many personal belongings.
Vicky Bell said the blaze was terrifying – but almost as shocking was seeing fire trucks sitting in the distance and doing nothing to help.
Rural residents who want to be protected by the fire officers in their nearby town of South Fulton must pay a $75 annual subscription.
South Fulton Mayor David Crocker told Local 6 WPSD that if they don’t collect fire fees, the fire department can’t survive – and if they make exceptions to the rule, no one will ever pay the fee.
However, Mayor David Crocker added that they will always help when people are in danger.
The local fire department refused to comment on the fees.
Vicky Bell from Tennessee and her boyfriend stood helplessly by and watched their home and valuables go up in flames because a team of firefighters refused to help - as they had not paid their “subscription fees”
Vicky Bell said she did know about the fees but just didn’t think a fire would ever happen to her.
The woman told local TV station WPSD: “911 said they [the fire department] were in fact dispatched and they showed that they were on the scene.
“You could look out my mom’s trailer and see the trucks sitting at a distance.”
On the South Fulton Fire Department website their mission statement reads that “the mission… is to protect the lives and property of its citizens, and provide good public relations through fire safety education to all businesses and schools”.
October was fire awareness month at the station.
The home of Gene Cranick who also lives outside the city limits, burned down last October.
Gene Cranick said he had forgotten to pay the fee and begged firemen with money to put out the fire but they refused. His three dogs and a cat were killed and Gene Cranick and his wife Paulette lost their home.
Jorely Rivera, a 7-year-old girl, whose body was found in a Georgia dumpster, was bludgeoned, sexually assaulted and stabbed in a particularly vicious attack by a killer who police believe lives in her apartment complex.
The wounds to Jorely Rivera body were so severe Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan would not give any details.
Vernon Keenan would only say she had blunt force trauma to the head and stab wounds and that the crime as a “very horrific and brutal murder”.
Jorely Rivera was taken to a vacant apartment where she was sexually assaulted, stabbed and beaten to death, police believe.
The killer then threw little girl’s brutally disfigured body into a trash bin near her home in Canton, Georgia where it was found by police.
“It came about 60 to 90 minutes after she disappeared,” Vernon Keenan said.
“This was a very calculated and planned crime.
“A child who dies under extreme violence is absolutely the worst thing that can happen to a human being.”
Jorely Rivera was taken to a vacant apartment where she was sexually assaulted, stabbed and beaten to death, police believe
Investigators believe the killer either lives in the apartment complex or has regular access to it.
No suspects are in custody but investigations continue. DNA evidence has been collected from the child’s body and the vacant apartment.
Jorely Rivera was last seen on Friday afternoon, and her body was discovered around 12:30 p.m. on Monday.
Police and volunteers had spent the weekend combing the area around the apartment complex playground where the girl was last seen.
At the time of her disappearance, Jorely Rivera was being looked after by a teenage babysitter along with her two siblings.
She had left the park to go and collect drinks from home for her friends, and disappeared between the playground and her home at the River Ridge Apartments.
Police had sent several Coca-Cola cans found nearby for forensic testing to see if these are the drinks that the child had gone to collect for her friends.
Jorely Rivera’s mother, Joselin, had made an emotional plea for her return and her father, who lives in Florida, had flown to the city in Cherokee County.
A friend translated for Spanish-speaking Joselin Rivera to local TV station 11alive.com.
Joselin Rivera said her daughter was “friendly, sweet, had lots of friends and everyone just loved her”.
Vernon Keenan said investigators have received numerous tips from the public and said valuable evidence has come from residents at the apartment complex.
Several sex offenders living at the complex have been identified and interviewed, he said.
But Vernon Keenan added: “We have no reason to believe, at this point, that sex offenders are involved.”
About 65 local, state and federal investigators are working on the case and several hundred interviews have been conducted, authorities said.
Maria Rodriguez, a former resident of the apartment complex, said she works with Jorely Rivera’s mother at a nearby poultry plant.
“She was a very sweet girl,” Maria Rodriguez said as she held her own four-year-old daughter.
“She was the type of little girl who likes her presence to be known. It’s just so sad.”
Police have removed two other young children from the Rivera home over “concern about the supervision of Jorely,” said Lt. Jay Baker with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department.
He said no charges were expected against the mother or the baby sitter.
A prayer vigil was held late Monday at the playground, where people left flowers, balloons and stuffed animals at a makeshift memorial for Jorely Rivera.
A $15,000 reward has been issued for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the girl’s killer.
“We’re following up on every single tip,” Jay Baker said.
Alec Baldwin was thrown off an American Airlines flight for playing an iPhone game, according to some reports.
Alec Baldwin, 53, was spotted sitting at LAX airport, in the midst of what appeared to be an intense telephone conversation, after his trip back to New York had been cut short.
The 30 Rock star was then seen leaving an American Airline ticket counter after re-booking another flight home.
The ordeal had seemingly raised Alec Baldwin‘s temperature, as he appeared to have sweat stains on his T-shirt.
Alec Baldwin was thrown off an American Airlines flight for playing an iPhone game
Alec Baldwin’s obsession with a Scrabble-inspired iPhone game got him “reamed” out on an earlier AA flight yesterday.
After a flurry of reports hit Twitter, Alec Baldwin took to his own account to give his version of yesterday events.
“Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving,” Alec Baldwin tweeted yesterday afternoon, along with the hashtag, “#nowonderamericaairisbankrupt”
Before adding: “#theresalwaysunited”
Alec Baldwin then updated his flight status, writing: “Now on the 3 o’clock American flight. The flight attendants already look…..smarter.”
Alec Baldwin took to his own Twitter account to give his version of AA events
The actor later tweeted that he was finally on his way, with a dash of satirical humour.
“#theresalwaysunited Last flight w American. Where retired Catholic school gym teachers from the 1950’s find jobs as flight attendants,” Alec Baldwin wrote.
Alec Baldwin was finally arrived at JFK in the evening, after what had this time appeared to be a drama-free trip home.
TMZ reports that Alec Baldwin got kicked off his earlier flight when the actor “slammed” the bathroom door so loudly the captain had to get involved.
According to passengers, after the confrontation over his iPhone, Alec Baldwin got up to go to the bathroom and angrily slammed the lavatory door and it was so loud the captain called back to flight attendants to find out what was happening.
That’s when the captain himself made the call to have Alec Baldwin removed.
Earlier, author Grant Cardone tweeted that he saw Alec Baldwin getting kicked off, and said he was “told by an AA authority” that the actor was booted because he “Didn’t have his Capitol One card and [was] Abusive to attendant.”
Alec Baldwin appears in commercials for Capitol One credit cards.
The actor has allowed his temper get the better of him in the past.
In 2007, Alec Baldwin horrendously left a voice mail for his young daughter calling her a “rude, thoughtless little pig”.
He later apologized and wrote a book inspired by the incident.
The gossip started when Michael J. Wolf, Founder and Managing Director at www.activate.com, tweeted:
“On an AA flight at LAX. Alec Baldwin removed from the plane We had to go back to the gate. Terrible that everyone had to wait”
One joked: “Alec Baldwin should never be allowed to fly quite frankly. His liberal politics represent a clear and present danger to the U.S.”
Before another added: “I was on the plane and yes Alec Baldwin was kicked off for grabbing 2 bags of peanuts and that is clearly an FAA violation. He may do time.”
Scientists have now revealed that children’s temper tantrums can be analyzed, as having a pattern and rhythm of their own that, when understood, may help many a long-suffering parent or teacher.
While tantrums generally involve shouting, kicking, screaming, crying and whining, a new study, published in journal Emotion, looked at the noises a child makes when going through a temper attack.
Co-author James A. Green of the University of Connecticut explained to NPR that the researchers developed a specially-modified onesie, with a microphone sewn to the fabric.
Scientists have now revealed that children’s temper tantrums can be analyzed, as having a pattern and rhythm of their own that, when understood, may help many a long-suffering parent or teacher
Parents dressed their children in the suits, then recordings of all of the child’s noises were collected over the next few hours – including tantrums, if they unfolded.
After collecting around 100 tantrum recordings, the team was able to analyze sounds and build up “the most quantitative theory of tantrums that has ever been developed in the history of humankind”, co-author Michael Potegal of the University of Minnesota told the station.
Results indicated a definite pattern of various audio signatures, revealing that tantrums are a complex mixture of simultaneous emotions, including sadness and anger.
“The impression that tantrums have two stages is incorrect,” said Michael Potegal, referencing the common, and now outdated, impression that attacks begin with shouts and anger and end in crying and sadness.
The picture is rather more complicated. “In fact, the anger and the sadness are more or less simultaneous.”
The team found that there are certain sounds that often go hand-in-hand. “Screaming and yelling and kicking often go together,” said Michael Potegal.
“Throwing things and pulling and pushing things tend to go together. Combinations of crying, whining, falling to the floor and seeking comfort – these also hang together.”
The trick, the co-authors say, is to avoid the “anger trap” by letting the storm melt away of its own accord, and simply do nothing.
Luckily, though, getting to that stage is rarely a long affair. James A. Green explained: “Tantrums tend to often have this flow where the build up is often quite quick to a peak of anger.”
Trying to help by asking questions will only add to the build up.
“You know, when children are at the peak of anger and they’re screaming and they’re kicking, probably asking questions might prolong that period of anger,” James A. Green said.
“It’s difficult for them to process information. And to respond to a question that the parent is asking them may be just adding more information into the system than they can really cope with.”
Once the peak of anger has been reached, the tantrum’s ebb is, thankfully, in view.
While there are families far and wide who could surely add data to the study, it’s hoped that the new findings may allow some parents to foster a sense of control when it comes to weathering out temper tantrums.
A ninth accuser of Jerry Sandusky has filed a complaint with state police alleging he was sexually abused by the former coach after gave him liquor on the Penn State campus in 2004, the alleged victim’s lawyer said yesterday.
Charles Schmidt said his 19-year-old client, whom he did not identify, went to his law firm about three weeks ago, after Jerry Sandusky was charged with sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year period.
“He suffered one incident of abuse, to use the legal term – involuntary deviate sexual intercourse – allegedly at the hands of Mr Sandusky,” Charles Schmidt said.
“That occurred on the Penn State campus, we believe in the area of the football facilities.”
A ninth accuser of Jerry Sandusky has filed a complaint with state police alleging he was sexually abused by the former coach after gave him liquor on the Penn State campus in 2004
Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer, Joseph Amendola, said he was unfamiliar with the allegations Charles Schmidt was making.
The new claim came the day a lawyer for another young man who accused Jerry Sandusky of sexual abuse said he expects his client and at least five other accusers to testify at a preliminary hearing next week.
The lawyer said he has information that the six young men whose testimony before a grand jury contributed to a report detailing allegations against Jerry Sandusky will be called to testify next Tuesday.
Jerry Sandusky, 67, is charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse, and prosecutors allege he met his victims through a charity he founded in 1977 to help at-risk children, The Second Mile.
The former coach denies being a paedophile and has vowed to fight the charges. In interviews with NBC and The New York Times, he has said he showered and horsed around with boys but never sexually abused them.
The existence of Charles Schmidt’s client was first reported by WHP-TV in Harrisburg.
Charles Schmidt told the AP that his client was 12 years old, dealing with the death of his mother and suffering emotional issues at the time of the campus incident.
The lawyer said the two met through The Second Mile and his client claims Jerry Sandusky gave him liquor while in the office on campus. The grand jury report did not allege any instances of Jerry Sandusky giving boys alcohol.
Charles Schmidt said his law firm is conducting its own investigation into the client’s claims.
“We hope to have it wrapped up within another week. We believe him to be credible,” Charles Schmidt said.
“Everything that we’ve been able to unearth since has corroborated what he told us, but we’ll continue to do our due diligence.”
The preliminary hearing, at which a judge would determine if prosecutors have enough evidence to take the case to trial, could last a day or more since the defense has the right to cross-examine the state’s witnesses.
The state attorney general’s office would not comment on the evidence authorities plan to offer to show probable cause the crimes occurred.
Joe Amendola said Tuesday that a police officer witness should not be able to testify in the place of the accusers, based on evidentiary rules that pertain to hearsay.
“Our position would be that these people have to testify,” Joe Amendola said.
“And one isn’t sufficient, because you have eight separate incidents … with eight separate alleged victims or accusers.”
Prosecutors listed eight victims in the grand jury report but didn’t know the identities of two of them when they issued the report in early November.
The report said one of those two was a boy seen being sodomized by Jerry Sandusky in a Penn State football complex shower in 2002.
Joe Amendola has said he believes he knows the identity of the boy in the shower and that the person dined with Jerry Sandusky this past summer.
He said he’s looking forward to questioning the prosecution witnesses – including any accusers.
“We will, for the very first time, have the opportunity to face Jerry’s accusers and question them under oath about their allegations,” Joe Amendola said in a statement Monday.
“We look forward to this opportunity.”
Former sex crimes prosecutor Richard DeSipio said prosecutors may have to call the six known accusers for the judge to uphold the 40 counts.
Defense lawyers sometimes waive preliminary hearings if they are worried about publicity for their clients, but Richard DeSipio said he is not surprised Joe Amendola is demanding the hearing.
“This is their first and only opportunity before trial to actually see the witnesses … to hear their tone and demeanor and to question them and see how they respond to questions and also to flush out details,” said Richard DeSipio, who is now a criminal defense lawyer in Philadelphia.
Assistant football coach Mike McQueary, who has been identified as the witness to the 2002 shower encounter, could also be called to testify.
Mike McQueary’s account wasn’t immediately brought to the attention of authorities even though high-level people at Penn State apparently were told about an incident in the showers.
In the wake of the scandal, Penn State University last month fired coach Joe Paterno and accepted President Graham Spanier’s resignation.
Joe Paterno has said he wishes he had done more about allegations against Jerry Sandusky.
Athletic Director Tim Curley has been placed on administrative leave, and Vice President Gary Schultz, who was in charge of the university’s police department, has stepped down. Gary Schultz and Tim Curley are charged with lying to the grand jury and failure to report to police.
They maintain their innocence.
Also yesterday, Penn State President Rodney Erickson told skeptical faculty members not to worry that school trustees would “whitewash” their own investigation.
Rodney Erickson pledged to the University Faculty Senate that investigators will have unfettered access to and cooperation from the school.
Rodney Erickson said the leadership of a committee checking into the allegations should lend confidence “that there will be no whitewash … no sweeping under the rug”.
David Silverstein, a wealthy chiropractor from Seattle, and his wife were living in a $1.2million waterfront home while claiming almost $2,000-a-month welfare benefits and even food stamps, according to documents.
A civil lawsuit has been filed against David Silverstein and Lyudmila Shimonova, who are accused of making false claims which included more than $1,200 in public housing vouchers, plus state and government disability cheques and even food stamps.
Prosecutors are demanding they pay back more than $135,000 in federal housing assistance since 2003 and are seeking tens of thousands of dollars in fines.
It is thought the couple has spent some of the money they claimed over the last eight years flying to Moscow, Paris, Israel, Turkey, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
David Silverstein, a wealthy chiropractor from Seattle, and his wife were living in a $1.2million waterfront home while claiming almost $2,000-a-month welfare benefits and even food stamps, according to documents
All the while, federal authorities say, David Silverstein and Lyudmila Shimonova was collecting more than $100,000 in welfare.
Lyudmila Shimonova also received benefits under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, as well as Social Security cash reserved for people who can’t work due to age or disability and whose assets fall below a certain threshold – $3,000 for a married couple or $2,000 for a single person, the complaint said.
“Defendants have separately and, it appears, in conjunction with one another made false representations to various state and federal agencies in order to obtain federally funded benefits,” assistant U.S. attorneys Harold Malkin and Kayla Stahman wrote.
Meanwhile, David Silverstein and Lyudmila Shimonova were traveling the world, according to Department of Homeland Security records.
Michael Radyshewsky, a federal welfare fraud investigator, wrote in an application to search the couple’s home that they took week-long trips to Moscow in 2003, Dominican Republic in 2005, and Mexico and France in 2009.
In 2007, David Silverstein and Lyudmila Shimonova went for 12 days to Israel, and this past June they took a two-week trip to Turkey.
The investigation included surveillance of the three-bedroom, 2,300-square-foot home on Lake Washington, during which agents observed his black Jaguar parked there frequently.
Though Lyudmila Shimonova had claimed she was single and lived there alone, David Silverstein listed it as his residence on his driver’s license and passport application, the prosecutors said.
But in documents filed so that he could receive the housing assistance, David Silverstein listed his office as his residence to conceal that he was living with Lyudmila Shimonova – not her landlord, they said.
In addition to failing to disclose the marriage or living situation, Lyudmila Shimonova also failed to disclose bank accounts in her name containing tens of thousands of dollars, prosecutors said.
The lawsuit seeks to have the couple pay $11,000 in fines for each false claim the couple made. The U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment on whether criminal charges are forthcoming.
According to Yahoo, the couple’s home includes gardens and a boat dock and that they accurately listed the address of the $1.2million property when applying for the benefits.
A federal official told the station that the couple likely took advantage of a loophole, which allows low-income individuals to receive financial assistance to help them pay their rent and move away from housing projects.
David Silverstein received the monthly benefits of $1,272 as Lyudmila Shimonova’s purported landlord, despite the fact he drives a Jaguar and has a successful chiropractor.
The government says that in gaining Section 8 housing assistance, Lyudmila Shimonova represented that she lived alone with her two children and that her household assets were less than $5,000.
On his website, David Silverstein states: “I am happily married with two children, whose careers are in medicine and Middle Eastern studies.
“As a family, we all enjoy snow shoeing, mountain climbing and ocean sports.”
At least 54 people have been killed after a bomb exploded at a packed mosque in Afghanistan as people celebrated a major Shi’ite festival in Kabul.
Bodies lie strewn on the ground after the powerful bomb killed the people at a shrine by the river in Kabul’s old city.
People rush to the scene to help those injured in the blast, people who moments earlier had been praying and chanting with scores of other worshippers.
Another 4 people were killed and 17 injured after a bicycle bomb exploded near the main mosque in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif shortly afterwards.
One witness said the bomber was at the end of a line and detonated his explosives near one of the gates to the shrine.
Bodies of the dead lay on top of one another where they fell.
At least 54 people have been killed after a bomb exploded at a packed mosque in Afghanistan as people celebrated a major Shi'ite festival in Kabul
It was the single deadliest attack in Kabul for more than three years.
Religiously motivated attacks on Shi’ites are rare in Afghanistan, although they are common in neighbouring Pakistan.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, reminiscent of the wave of sectarian violence that shook Iraq during the height of the war there.
The Ministry of Interior blamed the Taliban and “terrorists”. It said police had defused another bomb in Mazar-i-Sharif.
The Taliban strongly condemned the two attacks and said that they deeply regretted that innocent Afghans were killed and wounded.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said it was unprecendented and the first time one had been carried out during a religious event.
The blasts happened in the middle of the Ashura festival – which marks the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson Hussein in the battle of Karbala in Iraq in the year 680 – at around 7:30 a.m. GMT.
It is the biggest event in the Shi’ite calendar and features large processions that are vulnerable to militant attacks.
Afghanistan has a history of tension and violence between Sunnis and the Shi’ite minority, but since the fall of the Taliban the country had been spared the large scale sectarian attacks that have troubled neighbouring Pakistan.
Shi’ites account for some 20% of the population in predominantly Sunni Afghanistan. The Taliban insurgency has largely avoided fanning secretarian strife.
The bombing is one of the deadliest in the ten years of war since the Taliban regime was ousted.
It comes a day after a major international conference in Bonn, Germany, on the future of international involvement in Afghanistan.
President Hamid Karzai warned representatives of 85 nations at the conference that his country would need their financial support for at least another decade beyond the 2014 departure of international troops.
Hamid Karzai said: “Together we have spent blood and treasure in fighting terrorism.
“Your continued solidarity, your commitment and support will be crucial so that we can consolidate our gains and continue to address the challenges that remain.”
The conference was overshadowed by a display of bad blood between the U.S. and Pakistan – both of whom have a stake in making Afghanistan safe and solvent.
Pakistan boycotted the conference to protest after an errant U.S. air strike last month killed 24 soldiers along the border with Afghanistan.
Participating nations pledged their support for an inclusive Afghan-led reconciliation process on condition that any outcome must reject violence and terrorism and endorse the Afghan constitution and its guarantee of human rights.
Lisa Alyounes, a 4ft 9in woman was caught on video pummeling her “cheating” boyfriend on a train.
A video showing Lisa Alyounes, 26, during her brutal revenge on a man aboard a New Jersey Transit train has gone viral on the YouTube channel “Train Fights”.
Lisa Alyounes, identified by police arrest records, curses her boyfriend and thumps him in the head with her fists, kicks him in the face with her Ugg-style boots and spits on him to show her contempt.
The woman’s assault delayed hundreds of commuters and held back all trains between Camden and Trenton New Jersey.
Lisa Alyounes, a 4ft 9in woman was caught on video pummeling her “cheating” boyfriend on a train
The fight took place November 29 on the River Line train at a station in Camden, outside Philadelphia.
The train was 20 minutes late leaving the 30th Street station because police had to pull the woman off the train and arrest her, transit spokesman John Durso Jr. said.
All other trains in both directions on the route were delayed 15 minutes as a result, John Durso Jr. added.
In the attack, which was filmed by two passengers, the boyfriend, who was not identified, remains seated and tries to shield himself from the angry volley.
The man does not hit her back. Lisa Alyounes seems to hurt him, but at 4-foot-9, she doesn’t appear to inflict much damage.
Horrified passengers in her train car yelled at the woman to stop and warned her police were on their way, but stood by during her violent tirade.
“Two f****** years with me, and you’re going to cheat on me!” Lisa Alyounes screams.
“That’s all for cheating? That’s all he did?” the woman behind the camera asks.
When officers arrived, they hauled Lisa Alyounes off the train. The camera keeps rolling as she resists their attempts to handcuff her and then kicks the officers as they take her away.
Lisa Alyounes was charged with resisting arrest, assault on a police officer, domestic violence assault and disorderly conduct.
Over 50% of women are concerned about excess body hair says a report published by market research company Mintel last month.
In the online survey of more than 2,000 women, excess hair was rated just behind weight gain for body dissatisfaction.
It is also estimated that one in ten women suffers from excess facial and body hair.
What causes excess body hair?
Dr. Rina Davison, an endocrinologist from Whipps Cross University Hospital, London, with a special interest in excess hair explained:
“Sometimes race or just a family tendency to be more hairy is to blame, rather than any medical problem.
“People of South Asian or Mediterranean descent tend to have more hair than Caucasians or those with black skin, for example. It’s also possible to be quite a <<hairy>> family regardless of race.”
There are other factors – from commonly prescribed drugs to poor diet and certain ailments – that could be to blame…
Cakes and biscuits
Eating large amounts of sugary, refined carbohydrates, such as biscuits and cakes, may trigger excess hair.
These foods have a high glycaemic index, which means they release their energy quickly and can cause insulin resistance, explains Dr. Rina Davison.
Insulin is the hormone that controls blood sugar level; “resistance” means the hormone becomes less effective at lowering blood sugar, so the body has to produce more of it to get the job done.
Eating large amounts of sugary, refined carbohydrates, such as biscuits and cakes, may trigger excess hair
“The problem is that a raised insulin level may trigger growth factors which make the ovaries produce too much of the <<male>> hormone testosterone, which can lead to excess hair,” says Marilyn Glenville, a women’s health expert and nutritionist.
“Being overweight can also cause insulin resistance.”
Polycystic ovaries
Polycystic ovaries, is a condition that represents the main cause of excess hair in women.
Estimated to affect 10 to 15% of women, Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome (PCOS) is when the ovaries don’t work properly and are covered in small cysts.
As a result, eggs are released erratically or not at all, causing irregular or missed periods, and often reduced fertility and acne.
One of the most common symptoms is a high level of male hormones (androgens), which leads to hair growth.
All women produce androgens. However, sometimes women produce higher levels, or they may have normal levels, but their hair follicles are more sensitive to androgens.
“If excess hair is due to a hormonal imbalance, then it tends to occur in areas such as the chin, upper lip, sideburns, chest and inner thighs,” says Dr. Rina Davison.
“These are areas of the skin that are more sensitive to testosterone. The hair is also likely to be coarse and dark.”
Given the implications for fertility, women worried about excess hair should see their GP, advises Steve Franks, professor of reproductive endocrinology at Imperial College, London and an endocrinologist at St Mary’s and Hammersmith Hospitals, London.
“There may be other problems to investigate,” Professor Steve Franks suggests. “Often, excess hair is a symptom of PCOS, but it also can be indicative of less common, but potentially more serious, hormonal disorders, or tumours of the ovary or adrenal gland – the two parts of the body that produce testosterone.
“Many, if not most, GPs will take the problem seriously and refer to an endocrinologist if appropriate.
“Women should not be afraid to ask for a referral to a specialist.”
The alarm bells should ring for a GP if a woman comes in with a growth of facial hair that has developed within the past six months, Prof. Steve Franks adds.
Eczema
“Patients with skin problems such as eczema or psoriasis can also develop excess hair,” says Dr. Rina Davison.
“That’s because these conditions are caused by inflammation, which increases the blood supply to that part of the skin, accelerating hair growth.
“It also increases skin cell turnover – the rate at which skin cells renew themselves. With psoriasis, for example, new skin cells are produced every two to six days, rather than the normal 21 to 28 days.
“What’s important here is that it’s not just skin cell turnover that’s magnified, but hair growth, too.”
Testosterone gel
“If a woman’s partner has been given testosterone in gel form to raise his levels of the hormone, then it may inadvertently get transferred to her through skin contact,” says Dr. Rina Davison.
“Not many people realize this can happen, and that it can be enough to trigger hair growth in areas such as the face.
“The same can also happen with testosterone prescribed to women for libido purposes.
“Similarly, products for hair loss in men and women, such as minoxidil, can cause unwanted hair growth if they inadvertently get transferred to other parts of the skin during application,” says Dr. Rina Davison.
“I have seen women develop excess hair on their forehead, fingers and backs of hands.”
Furthermore, while minoxidil is often applied to the scalp as a lotion, it is sometimes taken in tablet form as a treatment for high blood pressure and can cause unwanted hair growth, says Carole Michaelides, consultant trichologist at the Philip Kingsley clinic in London.
Anorexia
People suffering from anorexia will have lanugo hair – an excess of fine, downy hair that covers the body, says Dr. Rina Davison.
“It’s not known why it happens – it’s not a hormonal issue.
“Unfortunately, the excess hair is unlikely to help the person’s already negative image of their body.”
Steroids
Corticosteroids are used to reduce inflammation in the body and are prescribed to treat conditions such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
They contain a synthetic version of the hormone cortisol and levels can build up in the body over time.
The problem is that if the drugs are taken for more than four to six months, this can cause a condition called Cushing’s syndrome.
Symptoms include weight gain, a red, puffy face and excess hair growth all over the body.
The risk of developing Cushing’s syndrome is higher in people who take steroids in tablet form, although it can also affect those who use take large doses of inhaled steroids, e.g. for asthma, or steroid creams often used to treat eczema or psoriasis.
Menopause/HRT
“As the hormone oestrogen declines at the menopause, testosterone (the ‘male’ hormone) can become more dominant,” explains Marilyn Glenville.
“You don’t have more testosterone, but the ratio of oestrogen to testosterone has changed, making women prone to symptoms of male pattern baldness or other male characteristics such as facial hair and acne.”
Indeed, it’s thought that about 25% of middle-aged women regularly remove unwanted facial hair. The hair may grow on the upper lip or chin – areas that are sensitive to testosterone – or sometimes also on the cheeks, chest, stomach and back.
Treatment for the menopause in the form of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) may also trigger excess hair. The aim of HRT is to correct the drop in oestrogen and progesterone.
“There are two types of progestogens which can be included in HRT preparations,” says Marilyn Glenville.
The first group represents analogues (meaning “similar to”) of progesterone (such as dydrogesterone and medroxyprogesterone) and the second are analogues of testosterone (such as norethisterone).
If your HRT contains progestogens that are similar to testosterone, this might explain excess hair growth and you need to speak to your GP about your choices.
Another form of HRT is tibolone. “This is a synthetic steroid compound which has androgenic properties, so one of its side-effects can be increased facial hair,” says Marilyn Glenville.
Certain contraceptives, such as Yasmin, are also marketed as being hair-friendly, while the Mirena coil has been linked with excess facial hair, adds Carole Michaelides.
How you can tackle the excess body hair
“There is a myth that shaving or plucking makes hair grow back thicker and stronger, but this isn’t the case,” says consultant trichologist Carole Michaelides.
“It’s more an optical illusion – rather than being long and fine, the hair is short and stumpy.”
Endocrinologist Dr. Rina Davison adds: “There isn’t one best way to remove hair.
“In some people, waxing might cause ingrown hairs and infections, and bleaching isn’t always an option for darker skin.
“Laser is an effective treatment, but it is expensive and you must make sure the trigger of the unwanted hair has been rectified.
“If it is a hormonal condition, for example, this must be treated first or you will continue to grow the hair and the results won’t be permanent.”
If the hair is triggered by a hormonal condition, the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) recommends a range of medical treatments available on the NHS.
These include anti-androgens to block male hormones, eflornithine cream to slow hair growth, or the contraceptive pill.
Andrew Ali Aga Khan Embiricos, Rita Hayworth’s grandson died after an apparent suicide in his Manhattan apartment on Sunday.
Andrew Ali Aga Khan Embiricos had been battling a long and difficult drug addiction and had previously attempted suicide.
According to a friend, he had been in and out of drug rehab over the past few years though seemed in good spirits in the days leading up to his death.
Andrew Ali Aga Khan Embiricos was found lying on his bed in his apartment after apparently suffocating himself with a plastic bag. An investigation is under way.
According to The New York Post, Andrew Embiricos’ friend Aaron Edwards found his body around 9:00 p.m. when he went to check on him Sunday because Andrew had missed several appointments.
It was reported that no note was found in Andrew Embiricos’ apartment at 270 West 17th Street, and his mother, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan rushed to the scene when she heard the news.
Andrew Embiricos, 25, was the son of Rita Hayworth’s daughter Princess Yasmin, 61, who was a product of Hayworth’s third husband, Prince Aly Aga Khan.
Andrew Ali Aga Khan Embiricos, Rita Hayworth’s grandson died after an apparent suicide in his Manhattan apartment on Sunday (pictured with his mother, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan)
A graduate of Fordham University with a degree in psychology, Andrew Embiricos founded a Facebook charity group that provided clothing to homeless people and was also said to have worked with HIV/AIDS advocacy groups and the Alzheimer’s Association.
Village Voice reporter Michael Musto, who knew Andrew Embiricos, wrote of his death: “I’m deeply saddened by the loss of someone with such radioactive charisma. He was a strikingly handsome, personable guy who radiated charm no matter what crisis he was weathering.”
Michael Musto also said that Andrew Embiricos had been in and out of drug rehab and had attempted suicide before, though revealed he had sounded cheerful in recent Facebook comments and was planning a trip to London with a friend.
In 2007, The Daily News’ Gatecrasher column revealed Andrew Embiricos led a double life as an amateur porn enthusiast who had posted porn videos on XTube under an alias.
Andrew Embiricos is both spiritual and Hollywood royalty, as his grandfather is Prince Aly Khan who was the leader of a sect of Islam.
Though there was no specific land that Prince Aly Khan resided over, he was considered the head of the Ismaili Muslims which are a branch of Shia Islam.
Prince Aly’s father was Aga Khan III, and in a very unusual move, he skipped a generation in the line of succession and passed his leadership role onto Prince Aly’s son, Prince Karim, (Andrew’s uncle).
While Aga Khan III officially said that the reason for the move was in order for the Ismaili people to have a younger ruler, many speculate that it was Prince Aly’s playboy lifestyle that put his father over the edge.
The marriage between Rita Hayworth and the Muslim prince was the second for Prince Aly and the third for Hayworth, who had just recently divorced the director Orson Welles when she met the Prince.
Prince Aly made headlines when he married screen siren Rita Hayworth in a lavish ceremony in Cannes, France in 1949, when the movie star was already two months pregnant with Andrew Embiricos’ mother Yasmin.
Yasmin was Rita Hayworth’s second child- and her only child from her marriage to the Pakistani prince, and she was an item of debate during the couple’s acrimonious divorce.
When Rita Hayworth found out that the Prince was spotted dancing with fellow actress Joan Fontaine, she threatened to divorce him and moved to Reno, Nevada in order to expedite the process.
The couple fought over how and where Yasmin would be raised, with the Prince insisting that she be raised Muslim and Rita Hayworth fighting for a Catholic upbringing similar to her own.
At one point, Rita Hayworth rejected a $1 million offer to raise Yasmin in accordance with her ex-husband’s Muslim faith. She issued a statement expressing her clear preference for an American upbringings, saying “Nothing will make me give up Yasmin’s chance to live here in America among our precious freedoms and habits”.
Yasmin ended up being raised by her mother in America, and the Prince died in a car accident when she was only 10 years old.
Yasmin married an economist and Greek shipping heir named Basil Embiricos in 1985, and the couple had Andrew. Much of her time was dedicated to her mother who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for many years before her 1987 death.
Yasmin was the president of Alzheimer’s Disease International and her son took an interest in the charity later in his life.
There has been an official statement from the Khan side of the family, with Andrew’s uncle Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, the current leader of the Ismaili Muslims, though it is not clear how close the relatives were.
“We do not know what happened yet, and we would appreciate everyone’s privacy for the family,” said Kris Janowski, Prince Karim’s spokesman.
Andrew Embiricos graduated from Fordham University in New York and worked as a sales executive at Virgin Atlantic.
When he wasn’t working for the jet-setting crew in his role at Virgin Atlantic or previous job in travel sales at Fairmont Raffles-Swissotel, Andrew Embiricos was in New York’s jet set.
He appeared at a number of social events both in Manhattan and in the swanky Hamptons area of Long Island.
Andrew Embiricos was a constant presence at functions dedicated to raising money and awareness for Alzheimer’s disease in honor of Hayworth.
Unsurprisingly, much of his charitable work was dedicated to Alzheimer’s disease, which was the cause of Rita Hayworth’s death in 1987.
The family is organizing Andrew Embiricos’ funeral through the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel on the Upper East Side.
Artist Ron Piccirillo claims to have cracked a 500-year-old mystery surrounding the Mona Lisa – by spotting a series of zoo animals hidden in the painting.
Ron Piccirillo, an amateur oil painter and graphic designer based in New York, believes it is possible to see the heads of a lion, an ape and a buffalo floating in the air around the subject’s head along with a crocodile or snake coming out of the left hand side of her body.
He says he followed a series of instructions set out by the artist Leonardo da Vinci to decipher the image and claims his discovery cracks open the meaning of the work, painted in 1519.
The secret is that the Mona Lisa is actually a representation of envy.
The theory is likely to lead to controversy among art critics, many of whom having theories of their own about the painting and the Mona Lisa’s enigmatic smile.
Ron Piccirillo claims to have found similar hidden images in works by other Renaissance painters such as Titian and Rafael.
It was when he turned the painting on its side that he first noticed the lion’s head.
Artist Ron Piccirillo claims to have cracked a 500-year-old mystery surrounding the Mona Lisa - by spotting a series of zoo animals hidden in the painting
Ron Piccirillo said: “Then I noticed the buffalo and I thought: <<Oh my God>>. Then I realized I was really onto something. I just could not believe what I was looking at. I realized, <<this is what I’ve been looking for>>.”
The artist also said he had found either a crocodile or snake by following the instructions of Leonardo da Vinci’s journals.
Looking at the painting from a 45 degree angle from the left, the path that runs in the scenery behind the Mona Lisa appears almost serpentine.
This was supposedly where the angle of the light was best and led to the least amount of reflection. From a diagram in Leonardo da Vinci’s journals which explained this, Ron Piccirillo called it the “D-point”.
The instructions also called for the viewer to put their eyes on the same level as the horizon in the painting.
From this he was able to make sense of the line in the passage about how to paint envy which reads: “Make her heart gnawed by a swelling serpent”, as there is such a creature emerging from her right breast.
Ron Piccirillo then spent two months pouring over the Leonardo da Vinci’s journals before coming up on a passage about envy.
“It’s amazing because everyone thought that da Vinci never wrote about the Mona Lisa, but now it appears that he did.”
The passage in question talks about how the artist trying to paint envy must “give her a leopard’s skin, because this creature kills the lion out of envy and by deceit” – a reference to the hidden lion’s head.
Once Ron Piccirillo cracked that everything else fell into place.
He said: “This is really about viewing perspective. Imagine standing in front of an oval line drawing. It is obviously an oval, but if you view it from the left or right, at a large enough angle, the oval turns into a circle.
“This is the key to understanding how Leonardo and many other Renaissance artists hid subjects in their artwork. If you know to look for them, they are there.
“I don’t know why this has been missed for so long and I can’t tell you what it means – that’s one for the art historians.
“Da Vinci could have been using horses heads as some kind of religious code, but as to why they are hidden I have no idea.
“It’s not every day you spot something that has gone unnoticed for 500 years.”
Ron Piccirillo added: “It is not just in da Vinci’s works.
“I have seen these hidden images in works by Titian and Rafael and also all over the Sistine Chapel.”
Last year Italy’s National Committee for Cultural Heritage claimed revealed that magnification of high-resolution images of the Mona Lisa’s eyes has revealed letters and numbers.
Infra-red images have also revealed Leonardo da Vinci’s preparatory drawings that lie behind layers of varnish and paint.
Leonardo da Vinci began work on the painting in 1503, and it now hangs in the Louvre in Paris in a concrete, climate-controlled bunker where she can only be viewed through two sheets of bulletproof glass set 25 cm apart.
The work, also known as “La Gioconda”, is believed to have portrayed the wife of Francesco del Giocondo.
The title is a play on her husband’s name, and also means “the jolly lady” in Italian.
The fight to uncover Leonardo da Vinci’s hidden battle scene
A row between art historians over the uncovering of Leonardo da Vinci’s “hidden” but finest work is reaching a climax.
The Battle of Anghiari is believed to have been painted in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence underneath a 16th century fresco and has been the subject of an argument for the last 35 years.
The Battle of Anghiari is believed to have been painted in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence underneath a 16th century fresco and has been the subject of an argument for the last 35 years
To see if the painting really is there could see the destruction of the fresco and 150 art experts from around the world have been protested against the speculative work.
Last week a 2 cm cavity was drilled into the wall, according to the Guardian, and there were traces of an organic pigment found by a tiny camera inserted into the wall.
The work is being done by Maurizio Seracini who features in Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code.
The fresco that is currently in place is the Battle of Marciano in Val di Chiana by Giorgio Vasari and was painted in 1543, nearly 60 years after Leonardo da Vinci started his work.
The painting technique, used experimenting with an oil paint technique, was not successful and he abandoned the work, unfinished. Copies, however, have been made by other artists such as Ruben’s drawing which hangs in the Louvre.
A judge from Leicester, UK, freed a gang of Somalian Muslim girls who repeatedly kicked a young woman in the head after he heard they were “not used to being drunk” because of their religion.
The attackers screamed “kill the white slag” while kicks raining in on 22-year-old Rhea Page as she lay motionless on the ground, the court heard.
The girls – three sisters and their cousin – were told by a judge that normally they would have been sent to jail.
However, the judge handed the girls suspended sentences after hearing that they were not used to alcohol because their religion does not allow it.
Rhea Page was left with a bald patch after they pulled a chunk out of her hair during the attack on the High Street, Leicester.
Ambaro and Hibo Maxamed, both 24, their sister Ayan, 28, and cousin Ifrah Nur, 28, attacked Rhea Page, a care worker, as she walked to a taxi rank with her boyfriend after a night out.
Rhea Page, a support worker, was left so traumatized that she lost her job following repeated absences with stress and flashbacks, Leciester Crown Court was told.
The charge – assault occasioning actual bodily harm – carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
James Bide-Thomas, prosecuting, said Ambaro Maxamed, who started the violence, had called Rhea Page a “white bitch” during the incident.
The women, who are all Somalian Muslims, were not charged with racial aggravation.
The victim said: “I had gone for a drink after work and then I met my boyfriend for a couple more before heading home.
“We didn’t want to stay out too late so we went to get a taxi and all of a sudden I heard these women shouting abuse at me.
“We were just minding our own business but they kept shouting “white bitch” and <<white slag>> at me.
“When I turned around one of them grabbed my hair – she literally wrapped her fingers in my hair – then threw me on the ground. That’s when they started kicking me.
“They were taking turns to kick me in the head and back over and over. I was lying on the ground the whole time, crying and screaming. It was terrifying. I thought they were going to kill me.
“Eventually the police came but it felt like ages. Afterwards I was covered in blood and hair. I had a bald patch on my head where they had yanked my hair out and I was black and blue all over.
“I honestly think they attacked me just because I was white. I can’t think of any other reason.”
The judge freed the Muslim girls who repeatedly kicked Rhea Page in the head after he heard they were “not used to being drunk” because of their religion
Rhea Page suffered bruises and grazes to her head, back, legs and arms, and had clumps of hair pulled out.
Gary Short, mitigating for Ambaro Maxamed, said the attack was down to alcohol.
“Although Miss Page’s partner used violence, it doesn’t justify their behaviour. They’re Somalian Muslims and alcohol or drugs isn’t something they’re used to.”
Seventeen months on from the attack, Rhea Page is still undergoing counselling and suffers from panic attacks and flashbacks.
The group all admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and received six month suspended sentences.
Judge Robert Brown told them: “This was ugly and reflects very badly on all four of you.
“Those who knock someone to the floor and kick them in the head can expect to go inside, but I’m going to suspend the sentence.”
Judge Robert brown said he accepted the women may have felt they were the victims of unreasonable force from Rhea Page’s partner Lewis Moore, 23, who tried to defend her from the attack.
As well as the suspended sentence, Hibo Maxamed, who needs dialysis three times a week for a kidney complaint, received a four-month curfew between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
The others were ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.
Rhea Page said after the hearing: “It should have been immediate custody after what happened. It’s not sending out the right message about street violence.
“They were kicking me in the head right up to the minute the police arrived.
“Even after the police came and they all ran away, one of them came running back to kick me in the head one last time while I was lying unconscious on the ground.”
Rhea Page, a support worker who helps care for people with autism and learning difficulties, said the sentence was “disgusting”.
“It’s no punishment at all and sends out a message that it’s okay to do that to someone,” the woman said.
“And for them to say they did it because they were not used to alcohol is not an excuse. If they were not supposed to be drinking then they shouldn’t have been out in bars at that time of night.
“The attack has had a devastating effect on my life and they have just been allowed to get away with it.”
Last night a gunman went on the rampage in Bayonne, New Jersey, killing three people, including a baby, and then himself in an apparent murder-suicide.
According to neighbours, the violence erupted from a domestic dispute in a small, white ranch house near the Bayonne Bridge.
A fifth person was rushed to Bayonne Medical Center and was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith, who was at the scene in Avenue A late last night, said initial reports indicated that one person did all the shooting.
The suspect is believed to have first fired at two adults, then the infant, and then turned the gun on himself.
“It is a tragedy and a senseless loss of life for the family and the community as a whole,” Mayor Mark Smith said.
The mayor said two other children were in the home at the time of the shooting, but were unharmed.
A gunman went on the rampage in Bayonne, New Jersey, killing three people, including a baby, and then himself in an apparent murder-suicide
The shootings occurred around 8:00 p.m. When police turned up a woman was outside the house suffering from a gunshot wound.
The woman spoke little English but was able to convey to the officers that there were more people shot inside the home, officials said.
Police then entered the house and found a man and a woman shot dead.
According to officials, a boy, who was aged one to one-and-a-half years old, had also been shot and was rushed to the hospital, but did not survive.
Police have not identified the victims.
Officials also said that the man believed to have been the gunman died inside the home, apparently of a self-inflicted wound.
It was not clear whether he was dead when police arrived or whether he shot himself after police had entered the home.
Around 15 to 20 shots were fired, and police believe a gun recovered at the scene was the one used in the killings.
Around the neighbourhood, stunned residents were trying to get a handle on what had happened.
Has Jones, 30, said he heard the gunfire: “I heard four shots and then it stopped, and then I heard screaming and then three more shots.”
Has Jones, who lives about 50ft from the house where the shooting took place, said the person screaming was a woman.
Nicole Poesl, 33, who walked several blocks from her home to the scene tonight, said she saw a police officer exit the house, cradling a young girl in his arms.
She said she asked police: “What’s going on? Murder-suicide?” and an officer shook his head, “yes”.
Some residents said a “lady with two kids” lived in the home.
Chris Myers, the married Republican mayor of Medford, New Jersey, has quit – two months after he was accused of having sex with a prostitute at a California hotel.
The anonymous allegation against Chris Myers, a father-of-two, was posted on a website and included a photo of a man who appeared to be him, in his Calvin Klein underwear.
The person making the allegation claimed to be a prostitute.
The man said Mayor Chris Myers contacted him through a male escort website and they met at hotel in Newport Beach, California.
The man also complained Chris Myers paid him $500 but didn’t fulfill promises of a car and other gifts. He said on the website that the broken promise was the reason he was taking his story public.
The anonymous allegation against Chris Myers, a father-of-two, was posted on a website and included a photo of a man who appeared to be him, in his Calvin Klein underwear
The website was taken down soon after becoming public.
Chris Myers, in an interview with a reporter for the Courier-Post newspaper in October, refused to comment on the allegations but didn’t deny them.
At a November township council meeting, Chris Myers denied the claims, calling the internet “a murky, anonymous place”.
Chris Myers’ resignation letter submitted to town officials Monday did not mention the scandal.
“My work commitments will not allow me to devote the time that is needed in the months ahead,” he wrote.
Some other council members have complained that the allegations against Chris Myers have gotten in the way of the business of Medford, a town of 23,000 residents about 20 miles east of Philadelphia.
Chris Myers missed one township council meeting and postponed another after the allegations surfaced.
He won the GOP nomination for a congressional seat in 2008 but lost the general election.
Chris Myers has been suspended as a vice president at technology manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp.
Arts writer Charlotte Cripps from Ladbroke Grove, London, UK, was off to a private beauty therapist for a lovely session of pampering when a botched procedure left her forever “permanently scared”.
Charlotte Cripps, 40, underwent Intense Pulsed Light treatment – where light is used to smooth the complexion – for a newspaper story in 2008.
With the treatment recommended by a friend, Charlotte Cripps was shocked when she felt “excruciating pain” as the technician ran a hand-held machine over her chest and face at a London spa.
“I left the department store and got home within about 20 minutes. I looked in the mirror and I screamed,” Charlotte Cripps said.
“My chest was covered in red burn marks that look a little like when you brand an animal.
“I couldn’t put a duvet over me or anything because it was just so raw and painful,” Charlotte Cripps told the BBC’s Inside Out London programme, which was broadcast last night at 7:30 p.m.
Charlotte Cripps was shocked when she felt “excruciating pain” as the technician ran a hand-held machine over her chest and face at a London spa
Charlotte Cripps, who is a writer for The Independent, spent months in pain after the treatment in 2008 and has now been given a five-figure sum in compensation by the spa’s insurers.
The woman said: “I think there should be laws brought in so you can’t have IPL or Botox unless it is administered under the supervision of a doctor.”
1.5 million cosmetic surgery procedures will be carried out in the UK this year, many in lunch breaks or at parties.
Heidi Worman, a paramedical cosmetic make-up practitioner, said recent moves by the Government to deregulate IPL and the laser industry were a step in the wrong direction.
“We need these regulations just to protect the public,” she said, adding she was finding a greater need for treatments to correct cosmetic surgery.
Israeli scientists warn that sitting down for too long may give you a big bottom.
Not just eating junk food put your bottom at risk – sitting all day in the office is just as likely to broaden your rear.
The warning comes from a scientist who usually researches bed sores which can affect those bedridden or in a wheelchair due to paralysis.
Israeli scientists warn that sitting down for too long may give you a big bottom
Scans of their buttocks showed the muscles there shrinking and breaking down due to lack of exercise.
More surprising was the discovery that fat cells seemed to thrive on the inactivity, infiltrating the muscle, and creating thick “stripes” of fat.
Israeli researcher Professor Amit Gefen, whose findings are reported in the American Journal of Physiology – Cell Physiology, experimented on fat cells in a dish to test his conclusions.
Professor Amit Gefen spread a layer of fat cells on a piece of elastic and stretched the elastic, along with the cells.
The stretching was meant to mimic the constant pressure placed on the buttocks by being confined to a wheelchair or bed-ridden. A second layer of cells was fed exactly the same nutrients but not stretched.
After two weeks, the stretched cells contained noticeably more fat, and after four, the fat levels were 50 per cent higher. So the researcher’s advice to those sitting down on the job – Get up and go for a walk!
Researchers found that preadipocyte cells – the precursors to fat cells – turn into fat cells and produce even more fat when subject to prolonged periods of “mechanical stretching loads” – the kind of weight we put on our body tissues when we sit or lie down.
By studying MRI images of the muscle tissue of patients paralyzed by spinal cord injuries, they noticed that, over time, lines of fat cells were invading major muscles in the body.
This spurred an investigation into how mechanical load – the amount of force placed on a particular area occupied by cells – could be encouraging fat tissue to expand.
A team stimulated preadipocytes with glucose or insulin to turn them into fat cells. They then placed individual cells in a cell-stretching device, attaching them to a flexible, elastic substrate – or underlying – layer.
The test group of cells was stretched consistently for long periods of time, representing extended periods of sitting or lying down, while a control group of cells was not.
The researchers noted the development of liquid droplets in both the test and control groups. However, after just two weeks of stretching, the test group developed significantly more – and larger – droplets.
By the time the cells reached maturity, the group that received mechanical stretching had developed 50% more fat than the control group.
Professor Amit Gefen said: “Obesity is more than just an imbalance of calories. Cells themselves are also responsive to their mechanical environment. Fat cells produce more triglycerides [the major form of fat stored in the body], and at a faster rate, when exposed to static stretching.
“There are various ways that cells can sense mechanical loading. It appears that long periods of static mechanical loading and stretching, due to the weight of the body when sitting or lying, has an impact on increasing lipid [fat] production.”
These findings indicate that we need to take our cells’ mechanical environment into account as well as pay attention to calories consumed and burned, said Professor Amit Gefen.
Amit Gefen warned that, while there are extreme cases of people confined to wheelchairs or beds due to medical conditions, many people live a too sedentary lifestyle – spending most of the day behind a desk.
Enmac is an Islamic smartphone that has been launched with a compass pointing permanently to Mecca and the Koran already downloaded.
Indian inventors of the Enmac said they focused on religious technology when designing the new phone.
And the market is heaving as India has the fastest growing mobile phone users in the world with more than 850 million subscribers including farmers and rickshaw drivers.
Enmac is an Islamic smartphone that has been launched with a compass pointing permanently to Mecca and the Koran already downloaded
Anuj Kanish, who has launched the Enmac in India, told The Telegraph: “India has around 180 million Muslims and the penetration of mobile phone in that community is less.
“But when a compelling product or service is available, it has a potential to increase the number of users. So far, we have had a tremendous response for the product.
“Religion has a very important place in Indian society, so has the mobile phone. Our aim was to bring a device which caters to both the sections, the product is a combination of both technology and religion, the first of its kind in India.”
Enmac translates the Koran from Arabic into 29 languages, and includes the Hadith sayings of the Prophet Mohammed, and a guide for Indian Muslims on how to perform the Hajj rituals in Mecca and Medina.
Anuj Kanish said his company had focused on “religious technology” to help customers with busy lives “remain connected with God”.
Brooke Fantelli, a transgender woman from Romano, San Diego, claims she was tasered in the stomach and the crotch by rangers after they found out she was born a man.
Brooke Fantelli, 43, was stunned by the taser gun by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) while she was participating in a photo shoot in the desert near El Centro late last month.
During the disturbing incident, which was captured on cell phone, Brooke Fantelli can be seen standing with her hands up talking to police before they taser her in the stomach.
Brooke Fantelli, 43, was stunned by the taser gun by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) while she was participating in a photo shoot in the desert near El Centro late last month
Brooke Fantelli is then seen rolling around in agony on the ground before the rangers taser her for a second time in the crotch.
Speaking to News10 about the incident, Brooke Fantelli said: “There’s no way to put it, it’s just plain out brutal, plain out brutal.”
Brooke Fantelli said the BLM ranger ordered her to lie down in the dirt but she refused, though she did tell him she would not resist being arrested.
“You can see I’m obviously not threatening him as my hands are in the air.”
She said the ranger allegedly first accused some in her group of taking nude pictures in the desert and demanded everyone’s IDs.
Brooke Fantelli said once the ranger saw her license – which still has her registered as a man – everything changed.
The 43-year-old told News10: “He actually looked me straight in the eye and says, <<You used to be a guy>>, and I said, <<Yes, I did>>. There was no way around it. I could see it in his eyes. He wanted to tase me.
“I wasn’t giving him any problem. He’s got another officer there with him. All he had to do was put the handcuffs on.’’
The rangers eventually arrested Brooke Fantelli for public intoxication.
The BLM issued a statement to 10News which said their ranger acted appropriately.
The statement also said: “When deploying Tasers, rangers target the subject’s lower center mass, legs or back if possible. It appears the ranger targeted appropriately in this case.”
Brooke Fantelli is allegedly filing a civil lawsuit.
According to LGBT Weekly Brooke Fantelli was previously known as Rodd Fantelli, and was a well known off-road race driver who won numerous races.
Brooke Fantelli owns Fantelli Racing Products in Ramona, a custom off-road fabrication shop with 20 years of fabrication and racing history – she’s still a well known figure in the off-road racing community.
David Gray, a very successful JP Morgan investment banker has thrown away his career by stalking his beautiful colleague Daniela Rausnitz.
David Gray, 28, is almost certain to be fired from his prestigious position at JP Morgan after a passionate affair became an uncontrolled obsession.
The young and wealthy American analyst was yesterday convicted of harassing Daniela Rausnitz, 25, after she transferred to the global finance giant’s London offices to escape him.
David Gray, a very successful JP Morgan investment banker has thrown away his career by stalking his beautiful colleague Daniela Rausnitz
David Gray deluged Daniela Rausnitz with hundreds of texts, emails and phone calls as he repeatedly flew across the Atlantic to pursue her when their one-year relationship turned sour.
He used his old key to get into her Chelsea flat, falsely said his sister had died and even claimed he was critically ill in a desperate effort to attract her attention.
Daniela Rausnitz told police David Gray planted a tracking device in her phone and hacked her email, leaving her afraid that his campaign would never end.
When officers confronted David Gray at a Park Lane Hotel where daniela Rausnitz was hiding with her family he told them he was an agent for the Israeli secret service.
Even on the eve of his trial David Gray was accused of breaching his bail by turning up at the same Notting Hill restaurant as his former lover.
David Gray deluged Daniela Rausnitz with hundreds of texts, emails and phone calls as he repeatedly flew across the Atlantic to pursue her when their one-year relationship turned sour
West London Magistrates’ Court heard the couple met while working in adjacent cubicles at JP Morgan’s investment banking division in New York. David Gray, a graduate of Ivy League Cornell University, had been working for the firm since 2004.
Daniela Rausnitz worked as an unpaid intern before completing her studies at Duke University, ranked as one of the best in the world, where she set up a high-profile organization dedicated to supporting women in business.
When she returned as an employee she began an affair with David Gray, despite the fact he was married. In a strange twist, their relationship was cemented after she confided that she was being sexually harassed by a senior banker at the firm.
The court heard they were at one point “very much in love with each other” as David Gray considered leaving his wife.
But his behaviour became stifling and when Daniela Rausnitz transferred to London to further her career and put distance between them, he followed her.
The tipping point came in August as David Gray flew to London four times and subjected his victim to a relentless barrage of visits and messages.
David Gray was extremely jealous after discovering she had a new boyfriend during one visit and caught them together at her Chelsea flat.
At one stage David Gray sent Daniela Rausnitz 176 text messages and 23 emails over just 16 hours. He even used his key to enter her Onslow Gardens home and take two candlesticks that belonged to his grandmother.
Daniela Rausnitz accused him of trying to change his flights so they were on the same aircraft, putting a tracking device in her bag and breaking in to her email account.
David Gray collapsed in front of her at Heathrow Airport –something she accused him of faking and which he said was brought on by stress.
And in a bizarre confrontation at the Intercontinental Hotel in Park Lane, David Gray was arrested after telling police he was an Israeli secret service agent.
Carrying two bottles of whisky and Cuban cigars, David Gray said he travelled to the hotel to apologize to Daniela Rausnitz and her father.
David Gray told a police officer that he had received tapes of conversations recorded by a hidden bug under the bed at her home and urgently needed to speak to her.
Speaking in his defense, David Gray admitted the story was a complete lie which he concocted in a desperate attempt to evade arrest.
David Gray also admitted claiming falsely that his sister had died and that he was seriously ill in a Paris hospital after an accident. He described himself as a “broken man”.
David Gray’ solicitor Dan O’Callaghan described him as a “pathetic lovelorn fool” who was sent “mixed signals” by the victim.
Daniela Rausnitz wept in court as she described how David Gray’s actions left her scared, unable to sleep and forced her to take a leave of absence from work.
In a statement, Daniela Rausnitz said: “His erratic and obsessive behaviour began to frighten me and I was hopeful that moving to London would put an end to it. Unfortunately it escalated.
“His unwarranted, unprovoked and unrelenting actions have caused me extreme distress.”
Sentencing David Gray to a conditional discharge at West London Magistrates’ Court, District Judge Andrew Sweet said Gray could face a serious penalty if the harassment continues.
The judge said David Gray will be arrested if he contacts Daniela Rausnitz by any means and then visits Britain.
The court has no powers to stop David Gray contacting his victim from America but can arrest him if he returns having done so. David Gray is free to come to Britain if he does not contact Daniela Rausnitz before or during the visit.
A teenage British Airways stewardess got pregnant with a married pilot after the airline company launched “Hug A Pilot” programme.
British Airways launched a programme to boost morale among cabin crew by encouraging them to mix more.
The initiative – dubbed “Hug A Pilot” – was taken to extremes by the married man and the stewardess on a foreign stopover between flights.
The pilot’s wife is also believed to be a British Airways employee but is apparently standing by him, The Sun reported.
The stewardess, based at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, has now been moved to a regional engineering base. She is planning to keep the baby.
When the pilot, who earns £100,000 ($150,000) per year, discovered that the young employee was pregnant he apparently denied it was anything to do with him but later confessed.
A teenage British Airways stewardess got pregnant with a married pilot after the airline company launched “Hug A Pilot” programme
A spokesman for British Airways declined to comment.
The pilot and his wife are also apparently based at Terminal 5.
A source at the airline told The Sun: “The girl’s pregnancy and move to engineering is the talk of the airline. She was stunned to find she was expecting, but wants to keep the baby.
“She will be looked after financially because of the captain’s pay.”
British Airways employee 3,000 pilots and 13,500 cabin crew.
As part of the “Hug A Pilot” scheme, all staff are being urged to mix more to boost morale.
BA’s mandatory Safety and Emergency Procedures three-day training session for staff now has a new 90-minute team work discussion.
One crew member posted on an internet forum: “It transpires at SEP on the first day, BA have now introduced how to interact and socialize with the <<pilot community>>.
“The session includes pre, during and post flight interaction, you will now be advised it’s inappropriate and bad mannered not to include everyone on the crew and pilots while socializing in the bar or down route.”
Following the pregnancy the source, speaking to The Sun, added: “The Hug A Pilot edict was not supposed to lead to this.”
Lauren Scruggs, a fashion model from Plano, Dallas, had her hand sliced off and suffered severe facial injuries after accidentally walking into a spinning airplane propeller.
Lauren Scruggs, 23, sustained horrific wounds to her head and shoulder but is now in a stable condition after undergoing emergency treatment where surgeons were forced to amputate her left hand.
The fashion model, who writes a fashion blog, was injured as she climbed out of a two-seater plane at Aero County Airport in McKinney, Texas, after a flight to see Christmas lights across the state.
Lauren Scruggs was taken to the Parkland Memorial Hospital where her family gathered at her bedside.
Fashion model Lauren Scruggs had her hand sliced off and suffered severe facial injuries after accidentally walking into a spinning airplane propeller
Family friend Janee Harrell said: “Speaking for the entire Scruggs family, your prayers are greatly appreciated and felt every moment.
“Many of you know, our beautiful Lauren was in an accident. After exiting a propeller plane, an accident occurred where she walked into the front of the prop.
“Struck on the left side of her body, Lauren’s hand, head, and shoulder area were hit.
“Following multiple surgeries, Lauren has received facial and shoulder reconstruction, as well as the loss of her hand.
“We are currently praying for healing on the left eye and brain. She is in a stable condition with ongoing surgery. Keep praying!”
In a later blog post, Janee Harrell wrote that Lauren Scruggs was “currently resting peacefully in ICU”.
Janee Harrell added: “Earlier in the night, there was a victory. With her eyes closed, Jeff [her father] asked Lauren to respond by squeezing his hand, moments later that is exactly what she did! Praise the Lord.
“Tomorrow, Lauren will be heading back into surgery so that the doctors can finish up the work on her left hand area. Pray that the surgery goes flawlessly, as well as there will be no infections.”
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating the incident.
A FAA spokesman said in a statement: “According to our preliminary information, the woman was a passenger in a 2011 Aviat Husky.
“She had just exited the aircraft when she walked into the propeller around 9.30 pm on Saturday at Aero Country Airport. We are still investigating and will interview the pilot and any other witnesses.”
The identity of the pilot would not be revealed while the FAA investigation was ongoing but he was believed not to have been injured.
The plane is believed that have been fairly new and the pilot was in the process of changing passengers when the accident happened.
Lauren Scruggs is a part-time model and has also worked in the wardrobe department of the TV show Gossip Girl. She is also an editor an online fashion magazine Lolo.com and recently interviewed Twilight star Kellan Lutz at New York Fashion Week.
