Lynn Jones from Lockwood, Nevada, claims she was fired as a baggage handler at Reno-Tahoe International Airport last month after she refused to load an emaciated hunting dog on a plane.
Lynn Jones said her supervisor told her to load the dog lying in a pet carrier because the animal’s paperwork was in order and its condition wasn’t her concern.
The woman, an employee of contractor Airport Terminal Services at the time, told the Reno Gazette-Journal that she couldn’t put the dog on the plane for shipment to Texas because its paws were bloody and its body was covered with sores.
Lynn Jones said: “Everybody who saw it, the TSA people, the airport police officers, the girls at the ticket counter, was concerned.
“The dog was so weak and torn up. It didn’t look like it could survive the flight. I was crying. I kept saying that dog could not be put on a plane.”
Lynn Jones claims she was fired as a baggage handler at Reno-Tahoe International Airport last month after she refused to load an emaciated hunting dog on a plane
Lynn Jones said airport police phoned Washoe County Regional Animal Services, which took custody of the dog.
The animal is owned by a hunter who has it shipped to places he hunts, according to authorities. It was taken back to Texas after being nursed back to health.
Lynn Jones said she was fired on the spot on November 15, adding: “[My supervisor] kept yelling, <<That’s it, you’re done, you are out of here, go home>>.”
Officials at St Louis-based Airport Terminal Services, didn’t return phone calls.
Krys Bart, CEO of the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority, said she was proud of how airport police intervened.
“In all my years here, this is the first time I’m thoroughly disgusted over what I understand to be the situation this animal was put in.
“They [officers] had an affirmative responsibility to deal with this, and that’s what they did.”
Krys Bart said she was out of town when the incident occurred, but determined later that the dog had been abused prior to arriving at the airport.
County animal services officials declined to comment on the incident, citing a new state law that keeps details of animal abuse cases secret.
Lynn Jones said her job loss has been a hardship, but she has no regrets. She held the job for more than five years.
Lynn Jones said: “I just couldn’t turn my back on that dog. My supervisor said it wasn’t my concern, but animal abuse is everyone’s concern who sees it.”
Two officers from Scotland Yard investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have flown to Spain as part of a review into the case.
Detectives travelled to Barcelona two weeks ago to liaise with officers as part of a review of the whole investigation.
Officers would not confirm their specific reasons for travelling to Barcelona, however it is thought they might be looking into reports the three-year-old was abducted and smuggled over the border from Portugal to Spain.
This morning Clarence Mitchell, McCann family spokesman said: “Kate and Gerry welcome the on-going work by the Metropolitan Police and they are pleased that the investigative review is making progress.”
Two officers from Scotland Yard investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have flown to Spain as part of a review into the case
The trip is part of the Met Police’s “investigative review” into all the work done since the investigation into the missing child began in 2007.
It was ordered by David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May in May last year.
As part of the review detectives have also travelled to Portugal three times to speak with officers who worked on the original investigation.
They also spent the first five months reading all the information from the case file which had to be translated from Portuguese to English.
There are no suggestions of any major breakthroughs in the case.
According to The Evening Standard, officers could be investigating one theory that the toddler was abducted by a paedophile gang and smuggled over the border to Spain either in a vehicle or by boat.
There were sightings of a girl matching Madeleine McCann’s appearance in Spain shortly after she vanished and Portuguese authorities were criticized for not informing border officials for 12 hours after they first knew she was missing.
In September 2009, the McCanns received 1,000 reports following an appeal of a Victoria Beckham lookalike seen in Barcelona who they thought may be connected to the disappearance of their daughter.
Investigators wanted to trace the woman, said to have been acting suspiciously, who asked a witness at a Barcelona marina if he was there to deliver her “new daughter” on May 7, 2007.
The well-dressed woman was described as possibly having an Australian accent and appeared agitated.
Madeline McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, vanished from Portuguese holiday resort Praia da Luz in the Algarve in 2007. The girl was asleep in the family’s holiday apartment with her brother Sean and sister Amelie when she vanished on May 3, 2007 shortly before her fourth birthday.
Her parents Gerry and Kate McCann, both doctors, were eating at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends at the time.
A Met Police spokesman said two officers had travelled to Portugal three times for the investigative review and two officers travelled to the Spanish city between November 23 and 25.
The spokesman would not reveal any further details but added: “The investigative review is on-going.”
The official Portuguese and Leicestershire police investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance ended in July 2008. However private detectives working for the McCanns have been working to trace her ever since.
The latest episode of Kourtney & Kim Take New York opens with both Kris Humphries and Scott Disick awol, and Kim and Kourtney Kardashian surveying the damage from their Manhattan duplex.
Even Scott Disick’s parents are livid with him, while Kim Kardashian’s best friend Jonathan Cheban expresses his concern that Kris Humphries has fled to Minnesota.
Jonathan Cheban also calms Scott Disick’s father, who calls his son a “mental case” as Kourtney Kardashian sticks to plans to visit them in the Hamptons, even without their son.
Then Khloe Kardashian arrives to stage a double intervention.
“I miss my sisters so much, and it is the last big weekend of the summer and we are going to the Hamptons.”
First up, Khloe Kardashian tries to play peacemaker between Kourtney and Scott Disick, after receiving unprecedented calls from the angry Disick.
The crux of the problem for Kourtney Kardashian is soon pinpointed as Scott Disick’s drinking, and the destruction that habit wrought in Miami.
Khloe Kardashian tells Kourtney that Scott Disick wants to sleep in the same bed as her, and wants to feel like “he’s the man”.
She then turns to Kim, and tells her that she should go to Minnesota, and say: “I find it a little odd as it’s been a few months and usually the first year is when you’re most obsessed with that person.”
Khloe Kardashian also talks about how she scaled down work to focus on her relationship with Lamar Odom.
Kim Kardashian then cancels her Hampstons plans with her sisters and plans to head to Minnesota to spend time with Kris Humphries, vowing: “I will do whatever it takes to make it work.”
Kim Kardashian cancels her Hampstons plans with her sisters and plans to head to Minnesota to spend time with Kris Humphries
After a tanning session, a grumpy Kim Kardashian swears at her sisters for disrupting her lie in as they head to Long Beach for their weekend away.
Kim Kardashian rails at Khloe for not being supportive and says: “She doesn’t like Kris so she’s purposefully trying to mess with me.”
She then calls the girls in the car, and continues to vent on speaker-phone… prompting her sisters to say she is acting out of character.
“Think she’s just p***ed as she’s married to a barking dog,” Khloe Kardashian quips to Kourtney’s guffaws.
Kim Kardashian then sends Khloe messages over Blackberry messenger calling her sister an “evil troll” and “spiteful”.
Jonathan Cheban persuades Scott Disick to go to his parents’ home to see Kourtney Kardashian and their son, Mason.
Meanwhile Kim Kardashian arrives in Minnesota and initially the reunion is sweet.
But Kris Humphries said he missed his wife but not the chaos of their New York living arrangement and Kim Kardashian admits she is hurt that he is so comfortable with sleeping separately.
And the romantic tone is somewhat sullied when Kris Humphries tells Kim Kardashian he can tell she had been travelling because her armpits smelled of: “Uncooked fish and hot garbage.”
Back in the Hamptons, Scott Disick and Kourtney Kardashian are offered some alone time by Aunty Khloe, but Kourtney remains frosty to Scott.
“All she cares about is her role as a mom, but she has to remember that she has another boy, and that’s me,” Scott Disick complains.
Khloe Kardashian stages an intervention and negotiates “alone time” for Scott Disick with her sister Kourtney.
Meanwhile Kris Humphries is being told by his trainer that marriage “adds 50 pounds to you”, and Kris 6ft9 quips “and takes off inches”, before asking his trainer if he will come to New York.
Kim Kardashian attempts to be domestic, and prepares a homecooked meal after Kris Humphries “manfully” brings home the groceries.
“Is this what it feels like to be actually married,” Kris Humphries says happily.
Kris Humphries attempts to sell Minnesota and says he misses the lake, Kim Kardashian begs him to compromise but he says he “can’t afford to fly back and forth”.
But there is a hint of suspicion as Kris Humphries asks Kim Kardashian who “put her up to” the trip and domesticity.
Kim Kardashian cuts her finger and Kris Humphries says: “You really haven’t been in the kitchen for a while.”
Kris Humphries also mentions that Khloe Kardashian left Miami for Lamar Odom and says: “It’s great you have a role model like that.”
Khloe Kardashian opens up about Kim in the Hamptons: “I don’t want the things she wants in life, I don’t compete with her, she’s in her own lane.”
Kim Kardashian finally gets the sleep she’s been craving and decides to confront Kris, she tells him it’s his “off season” and he should be living with her, but Kris Humphries blames distractions.
Kim Kardashian yells: “You have to meet me halfway,” as Kris Humphries lolls on the sofa chanting: “You don’t want me to resent you baby, do you?”
She then storms off saying she’ll skype him to “say goodbye”.
Later they share a tender moment, and Kim Kardashian tells Kris Humphries: “We’re not going to have a successful marriage if we live in separate states,” which combined with tears prompts him to act.
Scott Disick and Kourtney Kardashian enjoy a double date but he confronts her about de-cluttering his parents’ home and throwing out a beloved chess set.
But then it’s back to New York for all key players, and the showdown, “the Hump is back!” Kourtney Kardashian yells as Kris Humphries insists he will make it work.
But Kim Kardashian ignores her sister Khloe as she gushes to Kourtney about Kris Humphries, Khloe calls her insincere and the sisters part on bad terms as Khloe leaves to fly back to LA.
Scientists claim that low-calorie substitutes in food and drink may actually make fool your body into gaining weight.
An American research team from Purdue University in Indiana discovered that the taste of fat and sugar gears the body up to expect a high-calorie hit.
When low-calorie substitute doesn’t come the body’s mechanism for controlling food intake becomes confused, making us eat more.
The Purdue University research team carried out a series of experiments on laboratory rats.
Professor of psychological sciences Susan Swithers said: “Substituting a part of the diet with a similar tasting item that has fewer or zero calories sounds like a common-sense approach to lose weight, but there are other physiological functions at work.
“These substitutes are meant to mimic the taste of fat in foods that are normally high in fat while providing a lower number of calories, but they may end up confusing the body.
“Tastes normally alert the body to expect calories, and when those calories aren’t present we believe the systems become ineffective and one of the body’s mechanisms to control food intake can become ineffective.
“When the mouth tastes something sweet or fatty it tells the body to prepare for calories, and this information is key to the digestive process.
“This is a reminder to not discount the roles that taste and experience with food play in the way the body’s systems work together.”
Professor Susan Swithers, based at the Ingestive Behaviour Research Centre, added: “We didn’t study this in people, but we found that when rats consumed a fat substitute, learned signals that could help control food intake were disrupted, and the rats gained weight as a result.”
Scientists claim that low-calorie substitutes in food and drink may actually make fool your body into gaining weight
The research team fed laboratory rats with crushed crisps as a supplement to their diet, and they were then divided into two groups that were given either a low-fat diet or a high-fat diet.
These groups were then each split into two smaller groups. One group on each diet was fed a mixture of high-fat crisps and the fat-substitute crisps, containing olestra, which is a synthetic fat with no calories, while the other group received only high-fat crisps.
After 28 days, of the animals maintained on the high-fat diet, the rats given fat-substitute crisps gained more weight and developed more fatty tissue than those on regular high-fat crisps.
Study co-author Professor Terry Davidson said: “We are looking at an animal model, but there are similarities for humans, and based on what we found, we believe that our findings question the effectiveness of using fat substitutes as part of a long-term weight loss strategy.”
The study findings appear online in Behavioural Neuroscience, which is published by the American Psychological Association.
Nine year old Emanyea Lockett, a fourth grader at a North Carolina school, was suspended from school for two days when he told a friend that he thought his teacher was “cute”.
Emanyea Lockett told local WSOC news:
“I was talking to my friend and I said Miss Taylor was cute.”
“That’s all I said,” the boy continued.
Nine year old Emanyea Lockett, a fourth grader at a North Carolina school, was suspended from school for two days when he told a friend that he thought his teacher was “cute”
A substitute teacher at Brookside Elementary School overheard the remark, told the principal, and then the principal suspended the boy for two days.
Emanyea Lockett’s mother thinks that his punishment is far more severe than the crime.
“It’s not like he went up to the woman and tried to grab her in a sexual way,” Chiquita Lockett said.
“Why would he be suspended for two days?”
One local broadcast pointed out the irony that Emanyea Lockett, a fourth grader was being accused of sexual harassment, even though he does not know what the term means.
A school representative for the district, located just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, said that the details of the suspension were not available.
She did tell local reporters that the incident related to “inappropriate behavior after making inappropriate statements”.
Kathia Maria Davis, the divorced mother of a hockey player from California, is accused of having sex with one of her teenage son’s teammates and molesting another while a third victim reportedly may be coming forward.
The 44-year-old mother-of -three plead innocent in court Friday after the boys as young as 13 accused her of sexually assaulting them.
Complaints of Kathia Maria Davis throwing alcoholic parties and sleepovers for the teenage boys at her Laguna Niguel home over at least a year and a half, was just the beginning for prosecutors.
Since her surrender, Kathia Maria Davis has pleaded not guilty to the charges of sexual intercourse and lewd acts on a child in her court appearance Friday.
With a 13-year-old boy, Kathia Maria Davis is accused of kissing and fondling him after her son and daughter had fallen asleep on the floor of the room they were sharing, prosecutors tell the Los Angeles Times.
Kathia Maria Davis, the divorced mother of a hockey player from California, is accused of having sex with one of her teenage son's teammates and molesting another while a third victim reportedly may be coming forward
A 16-year-old boy, also a member of the hockey team, claims that between July 1st of 2010 and July 31st of 2011, she had sex with him four times in her bedroom.
During some of those encounters, two of her children were inside the house at the time, according to prosecutors.
The 16-year-old victim eventually came forward to his mother, telling her he’d been having sex with the woman for a year and a half.
Kathia Maria Davis is being charged with two felony counts of lewd acts on a child under 15 years of age.
The mother-of-three is additionally being charged with four felony counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with the older 16-year-old boy.
Kathia Maria Davis as well faces a sentencing enhancement allegation for substantial sexual conduct with a child.
Since her arrest KTLA-TV has reported that a third possible victim, under 16 years of age at the time of the incident, has also come forward.
The alleged third victim accuses Kathia Maria Davis of sexual contact within the past two years.
If convicted of the six felony counts, Kathia Maria Davis faces a maximum sentencing of 12 years and eight months in state prison.
It looks as if DB Cooper case, the notorious skyjacking saga that baffled US authorities for 40 years may finally be coming to a close.
Marla Cooper from Oregon, who claims her uncle was the elusive criminal known only as DB Cooper says she has been told by the FBI that the case is about to be closed.
Burdened by guilt over her knowledge surrounding the case, Marla Cooper came forward earlier this year, claiming she had a 40-year-old family secret protecting her uncle, a man named Lynn Doyle Cooper.
It looks as if DB Cooper case, the notorious skyjacking saga that baffled US authorities for 40 years may finally be coming to a close
Marla Cooper said she was eight years old when her uncle, whom she called LD Cooper, came to her home for Thanksgiving – the day after the infamous incident – and was badly injured.
She never saw her uncle again after that day and was told he died in 1999.
It was the FBI’s most promising lead after the Northwest Airlines flight from Portland to Seattle was hijacked and robbed following a bomb threat on the night of November 24, 1971.
Marla Cooper also provided investigators with a photograph of LD Cooper and a guitar strap that he owned for fingerprint testing.
While the results of the fingerprint test have not yet been determined, authorities seem eager to end the investigation.
Marla Cooper told NBC affiliate WFIE: “Regardless of the findings of the fingerprints, they would be closing the case after this. He said, <<I am certain your uncle did it. I feel certain that your uncle did it. And that, what’s the point in continuing the investigation?>>”
Marla Cooper also said that her uncle was fixated on a comic book character named “Dan Cooper”, the name the skyjacker gave the airline before boarding.
Marla Cooper provided investigators with a photograph of LD Cooper and a guitar strap that he owned for fingerprint testing
FBI officials told the station that they are conducting the tests, but would not comment on their next move in the case.
As for the $200,000 ransom, the woman believed Lynne Doyle Cooper lost it all as he parachuted to earth.
DB Cooper has intrigued everyone from federal agents to amateur sleuths.
On that day in 1971, the suspect, who was wearing a suite and sunglasses, boarded the flight after buying a $20 one-way ticket to Seattle.
After getting on the plane, the mysterious man ordered whisky and lit a cigarette before passing a flight attendant a note that read: “I HAVE A BOMB IN MY BRIEFCASE. I WILL USE IT IF NECESSARY. I WANT YOU TO SIT NEXT TO ME. YOU ARE BING (sic) HIJACKED.”
DB Cooper told the captain that in return for $200,000 and four parachutes, he would allow 36 people to leave the plane when it landed in Seattle.
The FBI agreed to the swap and the plane took off again under DB Cooper’s orders to fly towards Mexico at an altitude of under 10,000 feet.
Somewhere over the lower Cascade mountains in southwestern Washington, DB Cooper stepped out of the plane with a parachute strapped to his back.
DB Cooper was never seen again.
There were more than 1,000 possible suspects considered over the past four decades.
Several people even claimed to be DB Cooper at times, but were dismissed on the basis of physical descriptions, parachuting experience and, later, by DNA evidence recovered in 2001 from the cheap, clip-on tie the skyjacker left on the plane.
Items recovered from the skyjack include $5,800 of the stolen money, in tattered $20 bills and DB Cooper’s tie.
Many believe that DB Cooper was Richard McCoy, a Vietnam War veteran, experienced parachutist and BYU political science student who staged a similar hijacking several months later.
But the FBI has said that Richard McCoy – who was killed in a shoot-out with law enforcement officers after a prison break in 1974 – simply didn’t fit the description of DB Cooper provided by two flight attendants.
Sienna Miller will be the star of a new drama about film director Alfred Hitchcock’s obsession with Tippi Hedren – star of his classic The Birds – and how it destroyed both their careers.
The new movie, The Girl, which will be screened next year, will show how an infatuated 62-year-old Alfred Hitchcock sexually harassed the 31-year-old blonde starlet, Tippi Hedren, and tried to control every aspect of her life – both on and off screen.
Tippi Hedren suffered in silence for the best part of three years but eventually walked out when her mentor made it clear her future career depended on giving in to his sexual demands.
Gwyneth Hughes, the writer of the BBC2 drama, said: “Everyone knows Hitchcock was keen on his blondes. Unfortunately for Tippi, he developed a twisted and obsessive love for her that left her feeling isolated and terrified. He made repeated sexual advances towards her and tried to take over her life.
“Today we would call it sexual harassment but that concept had not been accepted back then.”
The new movie, The Girl, which will be screened next year, will show how an infatuated 62-year-old Alfred Hitchcock sexually harassed the 31-year-old blonde starlet, Tippi Hedren, and tried to control every aspect of her life – both on and off screen
The new film is inspired by the biographer Donald Spoto’s account of Alfred Hichcock’s relationship in his 2008 book “Spellbound By Beauty”.
Alfred Hitchcock’s infatuation with Tippi Hedren began in 1961 when he spotted her by chance in a television commercial for a diet drink.
Convinced he had found the next Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock ignored the fact that Tippi Hedren had no real acting experience and signed her up for the starring role in 1963 film The Birds.
Alfred Hitchcock immediately set about transforming her into the perfect Hollywood icon and took control of all aspects of her life, including her off-set wardrobe and diet.
Divorcee Tippi Hedren – whose daughter Melanie Griffith grew up to be a major Hollywood star in her own right – was initially grateful for the director’s attention.
But Tippi Hedren grew more and more fearful as his obsession began to spiral out of control, first on the set of The Birds and then during production on their follow-up film, Marnie.
Alfred Hitchcock, who had taken to incessantly staring at Tippi Hedren between takes, banned her from sharing cars with her male co-stars and insisted that all their conversations took place in private so they could be alone together.
As well as bombarding her with unwanted gifts, Alfred Hitchcock had her followed around town and, totally obsessed, even sent examples of her handwriting to graphologists.
Tippi Hedren, who had signed a seven-year contract with the director, put up with his harassment because she was fearful he would blacklist her if she spoke out.
Tippi Hedren finally quit when Alfred Hitchcock made it clear on the set of Marnie that she would never work again unless she gave in to his sexual demands.
Her decision to walk away stalled her career because Alfred Hitchcock kept her to her contract and refused to allow her to work with other directors. But the collapse of the couple’s working relationship also had a devastating impact on the director, whose long run of hit, classic movies dried up.
Both Donald Spoto and Tippi Hedren, who is now 81 and has already met Sienna Miller, 29, to discuss the role, are co-operating with the producers of the film.
The film will begin shooting on Thursday and will be screened on BBC2 in 2012. Imelda Staunton will play the director’s long-suffering wife, Alma.
Clifton Vial from Alaska, who was stranded in snow for three days at temperatures of 1.4 F (minus 17 C), has survived by eating frozen Coors beer.
Clifton Vial became stranded in his Toyota Tacoma 40 miles outside Nome, Alaska after plunging in a snow drift.
Uncharacteristically unprepared for the situation, the 52-year-old was wearing jeans and a thin coat – not protective enough to dig himself out of the snow without getting frostbite.
With no signal on his cellphone, Clifton Vial had to sit and wait for his colleagues to realize he was missing.
Clifton Vial kept warm in a fleece sleeping bag and by wrapping a bath towel around his feet, and would occasionally start the truck to run the heater. He stuffed rags in his clothes and unraveled tissue paper, pushing it down around his feet.
After searching the truck, Clifton Vial found only three cans of frozen Coors Light.
Clifton Vial told the Anchorage Daily News:
“I cut the lids off and dug it out with a knife.
“I felt really pissed at myself. I shouldn’t have been out there by myself unprepared for what I knew was possible.”
Clifton Vial from Alaska, who was stranded in snow for three days at temperatures of 1.4 F (minus 17 C), has survived by eating frozen Coors beer
Clifton Vial said the cold was more unbearable than the hunger.
“When I was just sitting there in my coat in the sleeping bag liner I would pull my arms inside my T-shirt to try and utilize my body heat as much as I could,” Clifton Vial said.
“That worked fine for some time, as far as keeping my torso warm and my arms. But my legs and feet where getting pretty cold.”
Clifton Vial’s wife and daughter were out of town and he feared he would never see them again.
“I tried to sleep when I could, but I knew that I might not wake up,” he said.
When he failed to turn up for work the next day, co-workers patrolled the area – and alerted the police when he failed to show up for a second shift.
Troopers joined the search. Rescuers looked for Clifton Vial on the ground and from the air, in planes and from a helicopter.
“When we get called on situations like this, it’s a needle in a haystack,” Jim West Jr., a Nome fire department captain and search and rescue coordinator, told the Anchorage Daily News.
More than 40 miles out of town, at about 9:30 that night, Clifton Vial’s pickup plunged into a snowdrift.
Three days after he first became stranded in the snow, rescuers pulled up behind his pick-up.
They gave him a Snickers bar – it seemed too dry to eat – and an orange soda.
Clifton Vial planned to visit a doctor Friday afternoon, then return to work. He showed no signs of frostbite.
Angelina Jolie is being sued for the second time in a month.
This time, James J. Braddock, a Croatian journalist, is accusing Angelina Jolie, 36, of stealing the story behind her directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey.
In legal documents obtained by RadarOnline, James J. Braddock claims that an article he wrote and published in 2007 is the basis for the film, which Angelina Jolie wrote and directed.
James J. Braddock gives examples of the similarities between his work and Angelina Jolie’s film in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that: “The Subject Work’s main female character is subject to continuous abuse and rape by soldiers and officers in the camp.”
“In addition to being raped continuously by soldiers and officers, she is forced to become a servant at the camp headquarters, a duty assumed by very few of the captives.”
James J. Braddock, a Croatian journalist, is accusing Angelina Jolie, 36, of stealing the story behind her directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey
James J. Braddock is demanding that a court awards him damages.
“The Motion Picture’s main female character is also subject to continuous rape by soldiers and officers in the camp and subsequently becomes a servant at camp headquarters.”
The drama revolves around a Muslim woman named Aija who falls in love with Serbian Daniijel.
In the unlikely love story, which opens in American theatres on December 23, Daniijel inadvertently becomes Aija’s jailer when the Bosnians are captured by the Serbs.
James J. Braddock isn’t the only person taking legal action against Angelina Jolie.
Angelina Jolie and partner Brad Pitt are also being sued by a former nanny.
The couple fired 45-year-old Ana Charlotiaux for allegedly taking too much sick leave.
Ana Charlotiaux worked on Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s French estate, Chateau Miraval, from 2008-2010 and is demanding fair compensation for dismissal.
At least 13 people have been injured, including two in critical condition, after thousands of fans stormed the field and tore down goalposts after Oklahoma State’s 44-10 victory over archrival Oklahoma last night.
According to emergency services, spectators were trampled and one person fell 15 feet to the concrete during the wild celebrations.
No 13 Oklahoma State routed the Sooners on Saturday night to win the Big 12 championship and play for the Bowl Championship Series national title.
The Cowboys ended an eight-game losing streak with the victory and won their first outright conference title since 1948.
Michael Authement, who heads the command post at emergency medical provider LifeNet EMS, said: “They won the game and stormed the field and ripped down the goalposts and some were jumping off the stands and hit the field and others got trampled. It was a nasty deal.”
At least 13 people have been injured, including two in critical condition, after thousands of fans stormed the field and tore down goalposts after Oklahoma State's 44-10 victory over archrival Oklahoma last night
He also said fans began storming the field with about 20 seconds left in the game.
The crowd was so large that it took police 45 minutes to clear fans from the field at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater.
Michael Authement said: “There were thousands of people. Thousands of people stormed the field. You couldn’t move there were so many people.”
Fans climbed on to the yellow goalposts and tore them down amid a crush of people on the field.
Nine ambulances took 11 of the injured to hospital while two fans in critical condition had to be airlifted from the stadium.
According to emergency services, the majority of the injured suffered leg fractures and two were treated at the scene and released.
Spokeswoman for Stillwater Medical Center, Shyla Eggers, said the hospital received six of the injured in ambulances, two in private vehicles and at least two of the patients have been admitted and would undergo surgery on broken ankles.
Shyla Eggers said: “Our staff that was on hand took care of it. They were just very busy. Game day is always busy.”
Stillwater police and the Oklahoma highway patrol also had no immediate comment.
Gladys Remigio, a teenager from Santa Ana, California, who lied to her boyfriend about being pregnant, allegedly hatched an elaborate plan to kidnap her roommate’s two-week-old baby.
Gladys Remigio, 17, allegedly asked gang members Steven Quirino, 20, and Robert Rodriguez, 19, to steal the child.
The teenager then intended to ride with the men to her boyfriend’s, where she would pass the baby off as her own.
The newborn’s mother, identified only as Norma, told police that Gladys Remigio entered her bedroom with a man armed with a gun and ordered her into the bathroom while her other children slept.
Norma managed to escape when the two men fled the scene, and she found her baby outside with Gladys Remigio.
Gladys Remigio, a teenager from Santa Ana, California, who lied to her boyfriend about being pregnant, allegedly hatched an elaborate plan to kidnap her roommate’s two-week-old baby
At first, the police thought that Gladys Remigio was also a victim of the robbery – until the story unraveled.
Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said:
“She’s engaged to a guy who thinks that she’s 8 months pregnant and working in New York City. But she’s not pregnant.
“Eight months into this lie, she’s living with these people who have a two-week old baby. So her master plan was to befriend these two hardcore gang members and have them rob the house.
“The deal was that she would pay them a little bit of cash and they could steal her iPhone and whatever else they could find in the house.”
Police believe the men did ransack the home, allegedly stealing a video game console.
“The deal was that the two gang members were going to put the baby in the back of the car and Remigio was going to drive to Chula Vista, where her boyfriend lives, and live happily ever after with her fiance and present the kidnapped baby as if she had a kid,” Anthony Bertagna said.
But the men left Gladys Remigio at the house with the baby and fled the scene.
Annoyed with the gang members for leaving her behind, Gladys Remigio told police one could be found at a nearby doughnut shop. The police tracked him down and he is now in custody.
Gladys Remigio then headed towards San Diego County, where she called her boyfriend’s mother and told her that people had kidnapped her, induced labour, and were holding her baby hostage for $10,000.
Gladys Remigio’s future mother-in-law called the police and reported the crime.
She then allegedly changed her story, telling authorities there was never a kidnapping, but that she gave birth to a still born and threw the baby in a trash can.
The police immediately called in child abuse detectives, and they searched dumpsters for the body throughout the night.
When detectives couldn’t find a foetus, they re-interviewed Gladys Remigio, who allegedly admitted she had been lying the whole time.
“She said she thought she was pregnant at one point but she wasn’t, and she wanted to keep her fiance,” Anthony Bertagna said.
The third suspect was found the following day and taken into custody.
If convicted on all charges Steven Quirino, Robert Rodriguez and Gladys Remigio face a maximum sentence of life in state prison.
France’s Interior Minister admitted today that Dominique Strauss-Kahn was stopped by police trying to “clean-up” a Paris park notorious for transvestite prostitutes five years ago.
Claude Gueant said DSK was stopped by officers patrolling the Bois de Boulogne, one of the most infamous red light districts in the city.
The incident was recorded in a police log, before being publicly announced by Claude Gueant in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.
Asked about the scandal, Claude Gueant said: “Yes, I’ve heard of this story in which Mr Strauss-Kahn was stopped in the Bois de Boulogne by the officers in charge of the area’s surveillance during a routine check.
“But there was no action taken over this matter. He wasn’t framed by the police. He was not being followed. After all, it’s not the police’s fault if he was there that night.”
Claude Gueant said DSK was stopped by officers patrolling the Bois de Boulogne, one of the most infamous red light districts in the city
The revelation comes as DSK desperately tries to prove a conspiracy theory aimed at stopping him becoming President of France.
It has been claimed that government agents were behind a “plot” which saw DSK accused of trying to rape a chamber maid in a New York hotel earlier this year.
Although eventually cleared of attacking Nafissatou Diallo, DSK’s bid to challenge Nicolas Sarkozy as Socialist candidate for president is in tatters.
Now Claude Gueant has made clear that Nicolas Sarkozy’s government is sick and tired of the “conspiracy theories” and wants DSK to shut up about his stolen smart phone, which he thinks may have been hacked by the authorities.
“I am shocked when I read that entire conspiracy theories are being concocted just because Mr Strauss-Kahn lost his phone,” said Claude Gueant.
“Mr Strauss-Kahn was not being spied on by the French police – it is scandalous to suggest that today.”
In turn, DSK admitted that he had been stopped by the police in the wood, but said he was with his wife, the former TV presenter Anne Sinclair, and only because they lived nearby.
Richard Malka, a lawyer for DSK, said: “It was nothing more than a routine check”, and that during 15 years living near the wood, the Strauss-Kahns had been “stopped several times”.
Earlier this week, DSK claimed that his “uninhibited” sex life cost him his chance to become president.
DSK, 62,denied paying to sleep with prostitutes but admitted attending “sex parties”.
He was also investigated but then cleared over the attempted rape of writer Tristane Banon, now 32, in 2001.
DSK is now at the centre of judicial enquiry into a prostitution ring operating out of the Carlton Hotel in Lille, northern France.
DSK said: “I have a horror of prostitution and pimping. Can you imagine the damage caused to my wife, our children?”
He is now set to meet prosecutors so he could clear his name of “dangerous and malicious insinuations” connected to the Carlton Affair – a move welcomed by Claude Gueant.
It came as new links emerged between Nicolas Sarkozy and the Accor Group, which owns the Sofitel hotel where DSK was accused of attempted rape.
One of Accor’s senior directors has had a close bond with the French president since Nicolas Sarkozy – then the mayor of a prosperous Paris suburb – helped rescue his three-year-old daughter from a school siege.
Sebastien Bazin’s daughter, Fleur, was one of 21 children taken hostage at their nursery in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1993.
The friendship between Sebastien Bazin, 50, and the president is so strong that Bazin often jokes he has known Nicolas Sarkozy “since kindergarten”. They are also united by a shared passion for the Paris Saint-Germain football club.
Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham launched an online attack against reality star Kourtney Kardashian her family yesterday.
Farrah Abraham, 20, wrote on her Twitter page: “Im Shocked Kourtney Kardashian is pregnant again, Did she not learn anything from TEEN MOM? Maybe its a fake pregnancy like kims wedding SAD.
“Double standards in this world? Yes & guess what !age and money honestly do not change a persons poor choice . Quit making excuses:).”
Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham launched an online attack against reality star Kourtney Kardashian her family yesterday
Kourtney Kardashian, who announced her second pregnancy with boyfriend Scott Disick earlier this week, wasn’t going to take that particular slight lying down.
“Why would I have anything to do with Teen Mom? I’m 32 years old!” Kourtney Kardashian responded.
She added: “I may look young, honey, but don’t get it twisted.”
Kourtney Kardashian announced her second pregnancy with boyfriend Scott Disick earlier this week
Scott Disick, 28, also jumped in to defend the situation, though his retaliation involved a bit of name-calling.
“We’re teenagers, y a f***ing moron,” Scott Disik wrote.
When Kourtney Kardashian’s younger sister Khloe asked Scott Disik if he had ever heard of Farrah Abraham, his response was more than a little bit blunt.
“I just thought she was some s**t stain on Twitter, no?” he said.
Khloe Kardashian, 27, didn’t respond, but sweetly noted that she had “never met a better mother than Kourtney”.
After realizing that she wouldn’t win in a battle against the Kardashian clan, Farrah Abraham decided to retract her former comments.
“4 all who misunderstood: regards to kourtney K.~ I hope she takes her relationship w/her boyfriend more serious 4 their children-takecare,” Farrah Abraham wrote late last night.
Aside from dealing with hostility from Farrah Abraham on Twitter, Kourtney Kardashian daughter has been enjoying her pregnancy.
Kourtney Kardashian glowed with happiness as she and Scott Disick stepped out for breakfast and some Christmas shopping at Neiman Marcus in Los Angeles yesterday.
Seeing as she is just nine weeks pregnant, there was little sign of a baby bump under her tuxedo style outfit, which consisted of a cream shirt, black bow tie and black trousers.
Hilary Neiman, a former lawyer from Maryland has been jailed for five months for her part in an international baby-selling ring that paid women to have babies to sell.
Hilary Neiman, 32, is one of three women who pleaded guilty to the scheme and she was sentenced on Thursday and condemned for preying on couples.
The woman was ordered by U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia to forfeit $133,000 – profits that prosecutors said she made from her role in the fraud, reports the San Diego Tribune.
Hilary Neiman, a former lawyer from Maryland has been jailed for five months for her part in an international baby-selling ring that paid women to have babies to sell
Anthony Battagalia sentenced Hilary Neiman to five months in prison and another seven in home confinement. The woman had pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The judge told Hilary Neiman:
“You preyed upon the weak. You preyed upon the desperate.”
Anthony Battaglia also condemned her for betraying her position of trust as a lawyer, saying she sold her “reputation and dishonoured the practice of law”.
Hilary Neiman was charged along with Poway lawyer Theresa Erickson and Las Vegas resident Carla Chambers with running a fraud that took advantage of California’s legal framework covering surrogacy, and the desperation of couples who cannot conceive.
State law allows potential surrogates to enter into an agreement with prospective parents to take the baby and assume parental rights.
But the agreement must be made before the surrogate becomes pregnant.
After a woman is pregnant, parental rights cannot be transferred and the parties have to go through an adoption, a more complicated and time-consuming process.
In this case, prosecutors said the three women got around that restriction and created an inventory of babies, then recruited unknowing parents to take them by telling them that the original intended parents had dropped out.
They recruited women, known as “gestational carriers”, to travel to the Ukraine and undergo in vitro fertilization and become pregnant. They would be paid $38,000 to $45,000, reports The Tribune.
Once back in the U.S., Theresa Erickson and Hilary Neiman found parents and told them they could have the baby if they “assumed” the nonexistent surrogate agreements for $100,000.
The three women, who sold 12 babies, got caught when some of their surrogate mothers tipped off federal investigators.
The scheme ran from 2005 to 2011, but Hilary Neiman did not become involved until 2008, said her lawyer, Joseph McMullen.
Joseph McMullen said she got involved when Theresa Erickson and Carla Chambers duped her – asking her if she had clients who could step in and take a baby, whose bogus intended parents had changed their minds.
Hilary Neiman made the arrangements, Joseph McMullen said, believing it was true.
When Theresa Erickson kept calling with more babies in need of parents, the lawyer said, Hilary Neiman realized something was amiss but “stuck her head in the sand” and continued on.
Joseph McMullen argued Hilary Neiman did so because she was motivated to satisfy desperate clients who wanted a child.
Prosecutor Michael Merriman disagreed saying; “This was a fraud designed to make money,” and Hilary Neiman should not be seen as a victim.
Hilary Neiman told the judge she regretted what she had done.
“I knew better than this,” Hilary Neiman said, reports the Tribune.
“I didn’t listen to myself. And I’m sorry.”
Theresa Erickson and Carla Chambers will be sentenced in January.
Russian and Japanese scientists believe it may be possible to clone a woolly mammoth within five years after finding well-preserved bone marrow in a thigh bone recovered from permafrost soil in Siberia.
Teams from Japan’s Kinki University and Russia’s Sakha Republic’s mammoth museum will launch fully-fledged joint research next year aiming to recreate the giant mammal, Japan’s Kyodo News reported from Yakutsk, Russia.
By replacing the nuclei of egg cells from an elephant with those taken from the mammoth’s marrow cells, embryos with mammoth DNA can be produced, Kyodo News said, citing the researchers.
The researchers will then plant the embryos into elephant wombs for delivery as the two species are close relatives, the report said.
Securing nuclei with an undamaged gene is essential for the nucleus transplantation technique, it said.
Russian and Japanese scientists believe it may be possible to clone a woolly mammoth within five years after finding well-preserved bone marrow in a thigh bone recovered from permafrost soil in Siberia
For scientists involved in the research since the late 1990s, finding nuclei with undamaged mammoth genes has been a challenge.
Mammoths became extinct about 10,000 years ago.
The discovery in August in Siberia has increased the chances of a successful cloning.
Global warming has thawed ground in eastern Russia that is usually almost permanently frozen, leading to the discoveries of a number of frozen mammoths, the report said.
Amanda Billiris from Texas was arrested after relatives said they caught her having sex with a 15-year-old boy on Thanksgiving Day.
The scene unfolded at a family gathering held on the holiday at a house in Oakridge Forest Lane in Spring.
Amanda Billiris, 23, an avid motorcycle racer, was arrested after relatives said they witnessed her having sexual intercourse with the boy, the arrest report states.
She has been charged with sexual assault of a child, a second-degree felony, reports the Houston Courier.
Amanda Billiris from Texas was arrested after relatives said they caught her having sex with a 15-year-old boy on Thanksgiving Day
According to the Texas Penal Code, if convicted, Amanda Billiris faces between two to 20 years in prison.
Amanda Billiris may also be fined up to $10,000 if she is found guilty of the offence.
She has been released on bond from the Montgomery County Jail.
The investigation continues, MCSO Lt. Dan Norris said in a statement to The Courier.
According to her own statements on the message boards at Motohouston.com, Amanda Billiris, suffered serious injuries in a 2009 motorcycle crash when she was returning from a RideSmart event at Texas World Speedway which left her in a critical condition.
The woman said she received a severe blow to the head and kidney injuries.
Amanda Billiris, who once owned a white and pink Honda, would regularly make posts on Motohouston.com, which is a discussion forum for Houston’s local motorcycle riders.
On her Facebook page, Amanda Billiris lists her college major as “Communication Studies – Interpersonal”.
Herman Cain, one of the US presidential hopefuls, announced he is suspending his campaign for the Republican nomination.
Herman Cain blamed political and media pressure on his family in the wake of “false” allegations of sexual harassment and a 13-year-long extra-marital affair.
He told supporters in his home city of Atlanta, Georgia:
“I am not going to be silenced and I’m not going away.”
Next month, voters in Iowa will begin the process of choosing a Republican presidential candidate for 2012.
Herman Cain, one of the US presidential hopefuls, announced he is suspending his campaign for the Republican nomination
Herman Cain said the allegations against him had taken a toll on his family, but added: “I am at peace.”
“I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused on me and my family,” Herman Cain told supporters at what had been billed as the opening of his campaign headquarters.
“These false and unproved allegations continue to be spinned in the media and in the court of public opinion so as to create a cloud of doubt over me and this campaign and my family.”
Herman Cain said he would endorse another candidate at a later date but gave no hint of where he would direct his supporters to go.
On Friday, Herman Cain discussed with his wife, Gloria, whether to press on with his campaign.
Last week, an Atlanta woman, Ginger White, 46, came forward to claim she had a 13-year affair with him.
Speaking to MSNBC on Thursday, Ginger White denied they had been in love, saying: “It was a sexual affair – as hard as that is for me to say.”
While rejecting any suggestion of an affair with Ginger White, Herman Cain has acknowledged helping pay her monthly bills and expenses, and that his wife did not know about the friendship.
Sources say even before the questions arose about Herman Cain’s private life, there were doubts about his plans for tax reform and his understanding of foreign affairs.
The former pizza executive went from obscure long shot to unlikely frontrunner to tabloid fodder.
While Herman Cain’s ratings slumped, support for former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich has surged.
Newt Gingrich has now overtaken frontrunner Mitt Romney in some opinion polls on who should be the Republican candidate to challenge Barack Obama for the White House in November 2012.
Within minutes of his speech, rival Republican candidates Michele Bachmann and Jon Huntsman, as well as Newt Gingrich, had tweeted their praise for Herman Cain.
“Herman Cain provided an important voice. His ideas & energy generated tremendous enthusiasm for the conservative movement,” Michele Bachmann tweeted.
Newt Gingrich tweeted: “I am proud to know Herman Cain and consider him a friend and I know he will continue to be a powerful voice for years to come.”
Herman Cain made his announcement before the series of state-by-state contests, known as primaries and caucuses, begins next month in Iowa to choose the Republican nominee.
Herman Cain, the former Godfather’s Pizza chief executive – who has never won an election – was propelled by conservative Tea Party support to the front of the Republican field in October.
Portraying himself as a business-savvy, anti-establishment outsider, Herman Cain captured the spotlight with his folksy charm and catchy 9-9-9 tax reform proposal.
Supporters were also alarmed when Herman Cain made confusing comments about abortion and badly fumbled a question on Libya policy in a recorded interview.
Mindy McCready was found hiding in a closet with her five-year-old son last night after defying a court order to return him to legal guardian.
Police raided the Arkansas home of Mindy McCready’s boyfriend at around 8:00 p.m. after tracking the pair down.
The country singer has been accused of stealing the boy from her mother, Gayle Inge, who has had custody of the grandson since 2007, during a recent visit to her Florida home.
Mindy McCready was found hiding in a closet with her five-year-old son last night after defying a court order to return him to legal guardian
A judge had signed an order for Mindy McCready’s son, Zander, to be taken into custody if he was not returned to his legal guardian by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Florida Department of Children and Families spokeswoman Terri Durdaller said that her agency was working with Arkansas state officials to bring the youngster back to his maternal grandmother in Florida.
Officials say the boy is safe and in good health.
Gayle Inge was tearful when she spoke about the news last night.
“I’m real excited that he’s safe,” Gayle Inge said.
“But I can’t explain what this is like. We feel for Mindy and we feel for Zander.”
Gayle Inge said that her son – Mindy McCready’s half-brother – texted his sister, who responded with a text which said her mother would never see her again.
“I want to wrap my arms around her and tell her that I love her,” Gayle Inge said, adding that her daughter and grandson were found by authorities “hiding in a closet”.
The evening’s developments capped a days-long struggle between Mindy McCready – who is seven months pregnant with twins – and child welfare authorities and her own mother.
Authorities say Mindy McCready – who turned 36 on Wednesday – took the boy during a visit late last month to her father’s Florida home, where she was allowed to visit the boy.
Mindy McCready’s parents are divorced.
A Florida judge signed an order on Thursday telling authorities to take the boy into custody and return him.
It’s not yet clear whether the country singer could face criminal charges.
Mindy McCready said earlier in the week that she would not bring her son back from Tennessee, where she has a home, despite violating the custody arrangement.
The singer said that her son had suffered abuse at her mother’s house, a claim that Gayle Inge vehemently denies.
“I’m doing all this to protect Zander, not stay out of trouble,” Mindy McCready wrote in an email to The Associated Press (AP) on Thursday.
“I don’t think I should be in trouble for protecting my son in the first place.”
Mindy McCready told the AP on Wednesday night she was in Tennessee and could not travel because she is pregnant.
The boy’s father, Billy McKnight, told NBC’s Today show on Friday that he spoke on the phone with Mindy McCready and their son after the judge’s 5:00 p.m. Thursday deadline expired.
“He did sound healthy and ok. He wasn’t crying or scared,” Billy McKnight said about their son.
“I think she believes she has a case and doesn’t realize she’s pushing her luck on this one.”
Mindy McCready and her mother have had a long custody battle over the boy.
The singer had provided a series of emails to the AP with Lee County Judge James Seals’ ruling to return the boy.
“Mom has violated the court’s custody order and we are simply restoring the child back into our custody,” the judge wrote.
“Nothing more. Nothing less. The court makes no judgment about whether Mom will or will not competently care for the child while in her custody.
“It only wants the child back where the court placed him.”
Mindy McCready found fame in the mid-1990s when she moved to Nashville at the age of 18, armed with only her karaoke tapes.
Her first album, “Ten Thousand Angels”, sold two million copies.
Mindy McCready’s next four albums weren’t as successful. Her personal troubles began encroaching on her professional success.
According to her website, Mindy McCready suffers from severe depression.
In August, the singer filed a libel suit against her mother and the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc., over a story published in the tabloid newspaper that quoted Gayle Inge.
In 2008, Mindy McCready was admitted to a hospital after police said she cut her wrists and took several pills in a suicide attempt.
While ordinary Americans get only a few days off for Christmas, President Barack Obama has announced his Christmas vacation to Hawaii – for a staggering 17-day trip.
Barack Obama, who visited Hawaii just two weeks ago for an economic summit, will head to Honolulu on Saturday December 17 until Monday January 2.
The American president, who was raised in Hawaii until he was six, will be joined by his wife Michelle and their daughters, Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10.
The White House travel office announced Barack Obama has no public events scheduled for the trip.
Barack Obama, who visited Hawaii just two weeks ago for an economic summit, will head to Honolulu on Saturday December 17 until Monday January 2
Obama family covers the cost of a private beach front residence in Kailua, Oahu, for their vacation – a “Winter White House” that costs up to $3,500 a day, or $75,000 a month.
But the local and federal taxpayers help pay the bill for president’s family travel and security.
In 2010, Obama family’s trip cost more than $1 million, according to the Hawaii Reporter.
A hotel bill of $134,400 covered 24 White House staff staying in the Moana Hotel at a rate of $400 a day.
The estimate, by the Hawaii Reporter, also included $250,000 for local police overtime, $1 million for the president’s own round trip flight to Hawaii on Air Force One, and $10,000 for a local ambulance to accompany the presidential motorcade.
Barack Obama announced the trip during a campaign fundraiser on Oahu’s Leeward Coast during his stay on the island last month.
“It is great to be home, great to feel that Aloha spirit,” Barack Obama said.
“And Michelle and the girls will be back shortly for Christmas vacation, as we do every year. We’ll see if Washington gets its business done, so I can get here as well. But that’s always a challenge.”
Obama family’s trip to Hawaii last year was followed by an 11-day stay in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, earlier this year, which is also believed to have cost the U.S. taxpayer millions.
Next week, Barack Obama will be saving a few cents by hosting a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Barack Obama will speak with Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the White House about economic competitiveness, security and key global issues.
Stephen Harper has urged Barack Obama to support an oil pipeline from western Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
However, Barack Obama administration said last month it was delaying a decision on the project until it can study new potential routes that would avoid environmentally sensitive areas in the Midwest. The decision is expected to be delayed until 2013.
A British research suggests that women are thriftier than men and manage to build up larger savings pots despite earning less.
The fairer sex typically has £7,981($12,210) put aside, or 40% of their gross average earnings.
The figure for men, meanwhile, is £7,657 ($11,715), or 23% of their typical salary.
The only British areas where men were found to have saved more than women were Scotland and the North of England.
A British research suggests that women are thriftier than men and manage to build up larger savings pots despite earning less
Researchers at the Halifax suggested women’s savings were likely to have been boosted by wealthier partners transferring cash for tax purposes, as well as the numbers of older women inheriting money after their husbands had died.
Halifax economist Martin Ellis said: “While women typically have slightly higher savings balances than men, the difference as a proportion of earnings is quite substantial.
“Female savers seem to be managing to devote more of their earnings to savings.”
The research found that, overall, customers in the South had a typical balance of £8,734 ($13,365) – 29% of gross annual earnings for those regions.
Those in the rest of the UK had a slightly lower £7,759 ($11,870), but put a higher proportion of income away – typically 33%.
The Halifax used its savings database to compile the report, alongside official statistics on earnings.
The report found that overall, customers in the south of England, including Greater London, the south east, the south west and East Anglia, had a typical balance of £8,734 ($13,365), equating to 29% of gross annual earnings for those regions.
People in the rest of the UK had a slightly lower balance of £7,759 ($11,870) but put a higher proportion of their average income away, the equivalent of 33% of typical local earnings for those areas.
Savers in Hambleton, North Yorkshire, bucked the north/south trend, by building typical savings balances amounting to £11,316 ($17,315), the equivalent of 58% of average earnings in the area.
Savers in five other local authority districts in the UK also had average balances equivalent to at least half of local earnings – Eden in Cumbria, Christchurch in Dorset, North Norfolk, Waveney in Suffolk and West Devon.
The Halifax report said these were all popular retirement areas, boosting average savings levels among inhabitants.
In contrast, savers in Islington, a diverse community popular with young professionals, had an average of £7,133 ($10,915) put by, a figure only slightly below the national average but the equivalent of 12% of average local earnings and the lowest proportion in the study.
Nine out of 10 districts with the smallest savings to earnings ratio were in London, the study found.
In the most recent filmed interview with The New York Times, former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky revealed several new disturbing details in regards to his 40 charges of sexual assault against young boys.
Jerry Sandusky did little to discredit the claims of his inappropriately close relationship with young boys, admitting to showering and sleeping in the same bed as them, yet denying that anything further happened.
This is the second interview of Jerry Sandusky since the scandal broke, and in the first he fumbled when asked if he was sexually attracted to young boys, repeating the question and issuing a shallow denial.
In the latest interview with The New York Times, Jerry Sandusky did not improve his answer, only making it worse.
“What in the world was that question,”Jerry Sandusky said referring to the first interview.
“If I say <<No, I’m not attracted to boys>> that’s not the truth because I’m attracted to young people- boys, girls.”
Joe Amendola, his lawyer, who was present for the interview, then jumped in and clarified that Jerry Sandusky did not mean he was sexually attracted to children.
“I enjoy spending time with young people, I enjoy spending time with people,” Jerry Sandusky then said.
In the most recent filmed interview with The New York Times, former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky revealed several new disturbing details in regards to his 40 charges of sexual assault against young boys
There were more surprises in store as well, as Jerry Sandusky discussed the role that other coaches and school officials played.
Legendary head coach Joe Paterno was fired by the school in the wake of the scandal, along with three other university officials. Two of those officials, including athletic director Tim Curley, were arrested for perjury.
Of the eight alleged victims that Jerry Sandusky reportedly abused over the course of 15 years, one incident stands above the rest because it relates to the chain of command at Penn State which is now under review.
In 2002, graduate assistant coach Mike McQueary claims that he saw Jerry Sandusky raping a young boy in the team showers. He then told Joe Paterno, and Joe Paterno told Tim Curley.
This was not the first time that concerns about Jerry Sandusky had been brought to the attention of university officials- there was a complaint filed by the mother of another boy in 1998 that was investigated by campus police- but little seems to have happened.
In the New York Times interview, Jerry Sandusky said that Joe Paterno never spoke to him about either incident.
“I never talked to him about either one. That’s all I can say. I mean, I don’t know,” Jerry Sandusky said.
Throughout the interview, Jerry Sandusky repeatedly said that his actions and relationships with children were motivated by a pure love of children- in a protective and fatherly way as opposed to that of a paedophile.
“It was, you know, almost an extended family,” the former coach said.
Jerry Sandusky admitted to wrestling, hugging, and, in a strange move, blowing on boys stomachs, all of which are details included in the charges against him.
“I think a lot of the kids really reached out for that,” Jerry Sandusky said referring to the wrestling and rough housing.
“I would call kids on the phone and work with them academically. I tried to reward them sometimes with a little money in hand, just so that they could see something. But more often than not, I tried to set up, maybe get them to save the money, and I put it directly into a savings account established for them.”
As he waits for his preliminary hearing on December 13, Jerry Sandusky is very aware of all that he has lost, both at Penn State, at the children’s charity The Second Mile that he founded and allegedly used as a way to find potential victims.
“I’ll miss coaching, I’ll miss Second Mile, I’ll miss Second Mile kids. I’ll miss the relationships with all kinds of people. I’ll miss my own grandkids, I’ll miss my dog,” Jerry Sandusky said.
In December 1993, Judith Bello of Stanwood, Washington, vanished from her work place – she did not return home or pick up her three-year-old son from day care.
At the time, a massive police search was sparked into finding the 28-year-old mother.
Judith Bello’s car was later found abandoned outside a post office in Stanwood triggering a major crime investigation that would last almost two decades.
Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives feared Judith Bello had been the victim of a crime as it was deemed unlikely she would have voluntarily left her son.
Eventually Judith Bello’s profile was added to a deck of cards of unsolved homicides or missing persons.
The mystery stretching over 18 years was finally brought to a close last week when Judith Bello herself called detectives to say she was alive and well and had started a new family in California.
Judith Bello’s profile was added to a deck of cards of unsolved homicides or missing persons
Judith Bello, who was last seen on December 13, 1993, when she suddenly left her work at the National Food Corporation in Silvana, had spotted her profile on the sheriff’s website.
The woman is featured on the eight of hearts in the county’s deck of cold-case playing cards, among seven other people who vanished under suspicious circumstances.
Judith Bello is the first missing person in the 52 cards to be located.
Since receiving last week’s call, detectives worked to confirm her story and verify her identity.
Through multiple interviews with Judith Bello and her family, detectives are confident that she is alive and has three new sons, sheriff’s Chief Kevin Prentiss said.
The investigation revealed that Judith Bello left her family because of marital problems and has escaped the state in August 1994.
It is not known why Judith Bello did not contact her family or the sheriff’s office until now.
“There are a lot of reasons why people go missing, and not all of them are bad,” Kevin Prentiss told HeraldNet.
“Sometimes people just don’t want to be found.”
Detectives have since put Judith Bello in contact with her family, who had helped to confirm her identity.
“Everybody is happy,” her brother Roberto Bello told HeraldNet.
The family had much to celebrate when they gathered for Thanksgiving last week, Robert Bello said.
“We finally found out that she is alive. We also have three (new) nephews,” he added.
Judith Bello explained that she left because of serious problems with her husband and did not reach out to her family because she was scared of her husband and feared that he would cause problems for her siblings, Robert Bello told HeraldNet.
Three months after her disappearance, Judith Bello’s husband left town with their son. Police for years were unable to locate the man.
Robert Bello said the family had not heard from his sister’s son until several years ago, when he called his grandmother in Mexico before she died.
They have remained in contact with their nephew, now 21.
The family is hopeful that they will be physically reunited with Judith Bello soon and several of her brothers are planning to go to Fontana to be with her for Christmas, Robert Bello said.
“I think it gives hope to other people whose loved ones are missing,” Kevin Prentiss said in the HeraldNet report.
Detectives created the deck in 2008 in hopes of generating leads on unsolved homicides and missing-persons cases.
The cards were handed out in jail and prisons with a reward offered for viable tips.
Shawn Sullivan, one of the world’s most wanted paedophiles, and a senior British Ministry of Justice official have married in a secret ceremony behind bars.
Shawn Sullivan, 42, and Sarah Smith, 34, wed while the man was fighting extradition to the United States on rape charges.
It is feared Shawn Sullivan will use their union to dodge extradition by proving he has a family life in Britain under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act.
Sarah Smith is a policy manager in the British Ministry of Justice, which is in charge of the prisons system.
Shawn Sullivan, one of the world’s most wanted paedophiles, and a senior British Ministry of Justice official have married in a secret ceremony behind bars
It is not known exactly how and when Sarah Smith met Shawn Sullivan. Officials said last night they were monitoring the case but were not aware of any wrongdoing.
Shawn Sullivan was on remand in a category A prison last November when they wed in a civil ceremony witnessed by two prison officers.
A judge later bailed Shawn Sullivan with an electronic tag and the couple live at Sarah Smith’s family’s £1million ($1.5 million) home in London.
The marriage certificate reveals Sarah Smith and Shawn Sullivan married on November 3, 2010. The address for the ceremony is given as the prison and Shawn Sullivan is described as a property consultant whose previous marriage was dissolved.
Shawn Sullivan is wanted by the authorities in Minnesota over claims he raped a 14-year-old girl. He is also accused of molesting two 11-year-olds in attacks that took place almost two decades ago.
A warrant for Shawn Sullivan’s arrest was issued in 1994 after a woman and her cousin accused him of exposing himself and then sexually assaulting them at their grandmother’s house in Egan, Minnesota.
Shawn Sullivan is also accused of raping a 14-year-old girl after plying her with vodka and peach schnapps. The girl told police she blacked out in the back of his car and woke up to find him on top of her.
Yesterday Sarah Smith’s 71-year-old father Michael, a company director, refused to discuss the marriage.
Asked what he thought of his daughter’s decision to marry Shawn Sullivan, Michael Smith replied: “I have absolutely no comment.
“I would not discuss my daughter’s private life with anyone – and certainly not discuss it with a journalist. That is all I have to say.”
Shawn Sullivan left the U.S. before police could arrest him and he travelled to Ireland where he married.
While his Irish wife was pregnant, Shawn Sullivan was accused of sexually assaulting two 12-year girls at his home in Dublin. He pleaded guilty after the court heard he plied them with drink and abused them.
Astonishingly, Shawn Sullivan walked free with a five-year suspended jail sentence.
The authorities were unaware of the U.S. allegations.
Shawn Sullivan then used his Irish ancestry to obtain an Irish passport in the name Sean O’Suilleabhain and went on the run around Europe for more than a decade.
In 2007, Shawn Sullivan was arrested in Switzerland – but not detained – when he used an identity card with the U.S. spelling of his name.
The following year, Interpol added him to its most wanted list and he was finally picked up by the Metropolitan Police in June 2010 following a move to England.
Shawn Sullivan was bailed last December on condition he wears a tag and observes a curfew. If found guilty in the U.S., Shawn Sullivan faces jail terms of 25 years for each count.
Article 8 of the Human Rights Act protects the right to a “private and family life”.
Britain’s courts have allowed a string of serious offenders to avoid being deported back to their home countries after committing horrendous crimes here.
Until now, Article 8 has never successfully been used by an alleged offender to avoid extradition for a trial.
But its use could drag out any action almost indefinitely. The case is due before the courts in January.
One of Shawn Sullivan’s alleged American victims, Jessica Schaefer, now 29, has waived her right to anonymity and says she is shocked at the idea he could escape justice.
“What about our human rights?” Jessica Schaefer said.
“It seems like he has more freedom than we do. It’s sickening.
“When I found out he married this lady that has connections with the Ministry of Justice… it was like, no more.
“I mean, it’s not fair that he’s living his life the way that he intended to and not have any consequences or be held accountable for his actions.”
A British Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We are not aware of any wrongdoing on the part of this member of staff, but we are monitoring the situation closely.”
