Government forces are continuing an offensive to retake Iraq’s northern city of Tikrit from Sunni rebels.
Aircraft have struck at rebel positions and clashes have broken out in various parts of Tikrit, witnesses and officials have said.
Troops had reportedly pulled back to the nearby town of Dijla as Saturday’s initial offensive met stiff resistance.
The city of Tikrit was captured by Sunni rebels on June 11 as they swept across large parts of northern Iraq.
Government forces are continuing an offensive to retake Iraq’s northern city of Tikrit from Sunni rebels
“The security forces are advancing from different areas,” Lt-Gen. Qassem Atta told journalists.
“There are ongoing clashes.”
Insurgents, led by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), were reported to have shot down a helicopter and captured the pilot.
The witnesses said the Iraqi forces had been hampered in their bid to retake Tikrit by the large number of improvised explosive devices laid on the approaches to the city.
Iraq said on Sunday it had received the first batch of military jets ordered from Russia in order to help fight the militants.
The defense ministry said five Sukhoi aircraft would enter service in “three to four days”.
Jackson Galaxy is a cat behaviorist with more than fifteen years of experience and the host of Animal Planet’s hit show My Cat From Hell.
Like millions of other Americans, food was Jackson Galaxy’s first addiction, something he continues to battle today.
Jackson Galaxy is a cat behaviorist with more than fifteen years of experience and the host of Animal Planet’s hit show My Cat From Hell (photo Facebook)
The tipping point for the 48-year-old came when he tipped the scales at 400 pounds and almost died.
According to catwisdom101.com website, gastric-bypass surgery saved Jackson Galaxy as did A.A.
Jackson Galaxy now tries to eat healthier, exercises, stopped smoking.
The cat behaviorist never talked about his weight loss.
Jackson Galaxy, born Richard Kurschner on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, legally changed his name when he was in his twenties.
Dolly Parton took to the Pyramid Stage on day three of this year’s Glastonbury festival.
The country singer has drawn a huge crowd for her debut Glastonbury set, performing some of her biggest hits as thousands of fans chanted her name.
The audience was larger than that for Friday and Saturday’s headliners, Arcade Fire and Metallica.
Dolly Parton told the audience: “I’ve been waitin’ a long time for this.”
She sang tracks including Why D’You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That?, 9 to 5, Jolene and Coat of Many Colors.
Dolly Parton took to the Pyramid Stage on day three of this year’s Glastonbury festival (photo Getty Images)
Dolly Parton said: “I’m just glad you came to see me.”
She also performed a song about the mud that she wrote in the early hours of Sunday morning, which included the lyrics: “Mud, mud, mud, mud/Up to our bums in all this crud.”
Dolly Parton, 68, wooed the crowd with lots of classics and her encore, I Will Always Love You.
The singer played for about an hour on the Pyramid Stage.
“I grew up in the country, so this mud ain’t nothing new to me – and it ain’t nothing to you either,” she said.
Before her show, Dolly Parton was presented with a special award in recognition of selling more than 100 million records worldwide. The singer said she would hang it in her Dollywood Museum in Tennessee.
Metallica played for 90 minutes on Glastonbury’s famous Pyramid Stage on Saturday, with highlights including One, Cyanide and an extended version of Master Of Puppets.
The band is the first metal act to headline the festival since its inception in 1970.
Drummer Lars Ulrich said: “That was sensational. I don’t remember much of it… the energy was fantastic.”
Asked to describe his Glastonbury experience in one sentence, Lars Ulrich simply said: “Other-worldly.”
Even the band’s detractors would have been hard-pushed to deny their musicianship.
Fans and supporters lined the back of the stage as they ended the main set with Nothing Else Matters and Enter Sandman.
“Metallica. Glastonbury. Together at last,” declared songwriter James Hetfield.
Metallica played for 90 minutes on Glastonbury’s famous Pyramid Stage
“That felt good.”
Returning for an encore of Whiskey in the Jar and Seek and Destroy, the band launched dozens of black Metallica-branded weather balloons into the audience, triggering a giant game of dodgeball between the audience and security guards.
“Metallica loves you, Glastonbury,” said James Hetfield as the band took their final bow.
“You made us feel so good. Thank you for having us.”
Taking the microphone, Lars Ulrich added: “There’s no place on this earth like this beautiful Glastonbury Festival. Thank you for letting us be part of your experience and we hope to see you one more time.”
Formed 33 years ago, Metallica’s best-known songs include Enter Sandman, Nothing Else Matters and Master of Puppets.
Prior to their arrival on the Pyramid Stage, Metallica played a clip of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, in tribute to actor Eli Wallach, who died this week.
Ennio Morricone’s Ecstasy of Gold, which features in the classic Western, has been Metallica’s introduction music for many years.
The band also addressed criticism of James Hetfield’s involvement with pro-hunting groups head-on, showing an extended clip of an English fox hunt, soundtracked by Sweet’s glam rock classic Fox on the Run.
At the climax of the hunt, four men in bear costumes shot the riders from their horses.
The bear’s heads were removed to reveal the four grinning members of Metallica.
Metallica rocked Glastonbury with a strange mix of arrogance and humility.
Speaking to the crowd 15 minutes into the set, James Hetfield said: “Glasto – Metallica is grateful to be invited to such an event.
“We’re very proud to be representing the heavier side of music.”
Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, the US’s most well-known compensation expert, is scheduled to reveal the terms of General Motors’ plan to pay victims of crashes caused by bad ignition switches on Monday.
GM CEO Mary Barra has said there will be no cap on payments.
Also, GM won’t have any say in Kenneth Feinberg’s awards, she told a US House subcommittee during a hearing earlier this month.
“He will have complete independence,” Mary Barra said under questioning.
“General Motors wants to reach with this compensation program everyone who lost a loved one due to this issue, or who suffered serious physical injury.”
GM says the faulty switches are responsible for at least 54 crashes and more than 13 deaths, but lawyers and lawmakers say the death toll is closer to 100, with hundreds of injuries. That would send GM’s payments into the millions, if not billions of dollars.
Kenneth Feinberg is scheduled to reveal the terms of GM’s plan to pay victims of crashes caused by bad ignition switches
The company was sitting on a $27 billion cash stockpile as of March 31. So far, it has announced or taken charges of $2 billion for recall expenses.
Kenneth Feinberg, who also administered the government’s $7 billion fund for the 9/11 victims, is likely to follow a similar plan in the GM case, with detailed formulas setting payments based on severity of injuries and age. The average award to the 2,880 families who filed death claims from September 11, 2001, was $2.1 million. The fund also paid an average of about $400,000 each for the 2,680 accepted claims of injuries; the smallest injury award was $500, the largest $8.6 million.
The 9/11 fund was set up to protect financially troubled airlines from thousands of potential lawsuits. It was a success, limiting the number of lawsuits to about 80.
The GM compensation likely will be limited to victims of crashes of older small cars, of which GM recalled 2.6 million earlier this year because the switches can cause engines to stall, shutting off power steering and brakes. That can cause drivers to lose control of their vehicles and also disables the air bags. The cars include the Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion, both of which are no longer made.
Kenneth Feinberg could use air bag activation to decide if people are paid. If the air bags deployed in an accident, that means they were not disabled by the switches, so the switches were not at fault.
GM has said Kenneth Feinberg would start taking claims August 1.
Mary Barra said she did not know how much the company would have to spend to settle the claims.
To get a payment, victims would have to agree not to sue GM. The company is vulnerable to legal claims because it has admitted knowing about the switch problem for more than a decade, yet it didn’t recall the cars until this year.
Kenneth Feinberg is scheduled to hold a news conference in Washington on Monday to release details “including eligibility, scope, rules for the program, and timing of submitting claims,” a spokeswoman for the attorney said in an email. The program also will launch a website on Monday.
A 5.2-magnitude earthquake hit southeastern Arizona near the New Mexico state line on late Saturday.
A 5.2-magnitude earthquake hit southeastern Arizona near the New Mexico state line
There were no initial reports of major damage or injuries.
According the US Geological Survey, the quake struck at 10 p.m. PT (1 a.m. ET Sunday) and was centered about 31 miles northwest of Lordsburg, New Mexico, and about 179 miles east-southeast of Phoenix. The epicenter was shallow and was in a sparsely populated area north of Interstate 10 and just south of the small town of Duncan, Arizona.
Duck Dynasty’s Si Robertson will offer another autograph session on Wednesday, July 2, at the Duck Commander Store in West Monroe, Louisiana.
Si Robertson will offer another autograph session on Wednesday, July 2, at the Duck Commander Store (photo Facebook)
Uncle Si wrote on his Facebook page: “HEY JACK! Yesterday was so much fun, I am going to take another break from napping and sign some more autographs! Next Wednesday, July 2nd! Same time, same place! (Noon-2PM at the Duck Commander Store in West Monroe). Who, knows, I may even do it again July 9th!”
Duck Dynasty’s Uncle Si Robertson will start the 4th of July celebration early this year with a Rock Springs Church charity picnic on Sunday, June 29, in Milner, Georgia.
Si Robertson will start the 4th of July celebration early this year with a Rock Springs Church charity picnic in Milner (photo Facebook)
America’s favorite uncle wil be joined by his son, Scott Robertson, his daughter-in law, Marsha Markert Robertson, and two friends.
Si Robertson wrote on his Facebook page: “Hey JACK! I’m gonna start the celebration early this year because I love this country so much! Come celebrate with me, my son and daughter in law and my friends Diamond Rio and Mac Powell and help us raise some money for a good cause at Rock Springs Church in Milner, GA this Sunday! The party starts at 5:00pm, don’t be late, OK?! #RSPicnic.“
Facebook is fighting a New York court order in which the social media website was forced to hand over data belonging to 381 people involved in a benefit fraud trial.
Facebook said the request was “by far the largest” it had ever received from a government body.
Photographs, private messages and other information were supplied to a New York court last year, but the process was only made public by a judge this week.
The ruling defined Facebook as a “digital landlord”.
A judge said this definition meant the company must comply with search warrants.
The original case investigated fraudulent claimants of US federal disability benefits, whose Facebook accounts apparently showed that they were in fact healthy.
Facebook is fighting a New York court order in which it was forced to hand over data belonging to 381 people involved in a benefit fraud trial
The social media site was ordered to hand over information from the 381 accounts, which the court said contained “evidence of criminality”.
After an appeal was denied, Facebook complied with the request but protested that it violated the Fourth Amendment of the US constitution, which protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures”.
Facebook also voiced concerns about the lack of date restrictions on the warrant, which it argued allowed the US government to keep the data indefinitely, and the range of data requested, which it said would contain private material which bore no relation to the trial.
The proceedings have been kept private by the court, but after a fresh appeal by Facebook a New York judge has now made the court filing public.
Facebook said the government had obtained “gag orders”, preventing it from telling the account holders that it had been forced to hand over their data.
“This unprecedented request is by far the largest we’ve ever received – by a magnitude of more than ten – and we have argued that it was unconstitutional from the start,” wrote Chris Sonderby, a legal adviser to Facebook.
“Of the 381 people whose accounts were the subject of these warrants, 62 were later charged in a disability fraud case.
“This means that no charges will be brought against more than 300 people whose data was sought by the government without prior notice to the people affected.”
But a spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney defended the court’s actions.
“This was a massive scheme involving as many as 1,000 people who defrauded the federal government,” said Joan Vollero.
“The defendants in this case repeatedly lied to the government about their mental, physical, and social capabilities. Their Facebook accounts told a different story.”
In a summation of the legal justification for the court’s decision, the judge wrote: “Facebook could best be described as a digital landlord, a virtual custodian or storage facility for millions of tenant users and their information.
“Hence, the search warrants authorize the search and seizure of digital information contained within the Facebook server.”
An unofficial referendum organized by pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and denounced by Chinese authorities is now in its final day.
At least 738,000 Hong Kongers have done something China’s 1.3 billion people can only dream of: Cast a ballot to demand a democratic government.
The 10-day poll is organized by protest group Occupy Central, which says more than 700,000 have already voted online or in person.
A Hong Kong government spokesman has said the vote has no legal standing.
Campaigners want the former British colony to be able to elect their leader, or the chief executive. China has pledged direct elections by 2017.
More than 700,000 people have already voted online or in person in Hong Kong’s unofficial referendum
However, voters will only have a choice from a list of candidates selected by a nominating committee, and China’s communist authorities have said all candidates must be “patriotic”.
The voting in polling stations or on popvote.hk website began on June 20. The deadline was originally set at June 22, but was later extended after organizers claimed were several cyber attacks on the website.
Popvote.hk was designed by the University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Polytechnic University to measure support for Occupy Central’s campaign.
In the referendum, voters have the choice of three proposals – all of which involve allowing citizens to directly nominate Hong Kong’s chief executive – to present to the Beijing government.
Pro-democracy activists want the public to nominate the candidates.
But Chinese leaders believe this is illegal and would like to see a committee decide who is on that public ballot, effectively limiting the candidate field to those approved by the authorities in Beijing.
Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 following a 1984 agreement between China and Britain.
China agreed to govern Hong Kong under the principle of “one country, two systems”, where the city would enjoy “a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defense affairs” for 50 years.
As a result, Hong Kong has its own legal system, and rights including freedom of assembly and free speech are protected.
WKY Channel 3 morning meteorologist and host Hollie Strano and Alex Giangreco got married earlier this month on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the groom’s hometown.
Hollie Strano and Alex Giangreco got married earlier this month on the beach in Fort Lauderdale (photo Facebook)
Alex Giangreco work in Fort Lauderdale as a “Private Event Bartender” for Homes, Corporate events, Theme Parties, Holiday Parties , Small Office Parties, and any other event that requires a professional bartender.
He has 10 years of bartending experience as he worked at some of the best resorts , restaurants and catering companies.
Glastonbury is prepared for the arrival of Metallica on a showery Saturday in Somerset.
Metallica is the first metal band to headline. Drummer Lars Ulrich said being asked to play was “the biggest honor”.
Metallica is the first metal band to headline Glastonbury festival
The festival was beset by a downpour for an hour, but a predicted lightning storm failed to materialize.
Acts on the main stage so far have included Nick Mulvey, Lana Del Rey and ex-Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant.
Classics such as Black Dog were given drastic West African and South East Asian overhauls, but a full-throttle rock version of Whole Lotta Love triggered a crowd surge – even after it took a detour into a violin solo.
Preceding him on the Pyramid Stage, R&B star Kelis also re-tooled some of her most famous songs, giving a jazzy big-band treatment to tracks like Milkshake and A Capella.
Famous faces spotted at the festival include Stella McCartney, Laura Carmichael, Lily James and Bradley Cooper.
Two Ryanair jets collided on the ground at London’s Stansted Airport.
One plane was approaching the stand and the other was “pushing back” when the incident happened at about 06:45 BST.
The wing-tip of one plane and the tail-cone of another “made contact”, said Ryanair spokesman Robin Kiely.
Two Ryanair jets collided on the ground at London’s Stansted Airport
No passengers or crew were injured, an airport spokesman confirmed. The Air Accident Investigation Board is investigating.
Essex Police said it had conducted “routine breath tests” on both pilots after the incident, but there was no evidence of alcohol consumption.
Robin Kiely said passengers were put on other planes after a three-hour delay.
He said Ryanair’s engineering team were “investigating, and will repair both aircraft and return them to service as soon as possible”.
The crash involved a plane heading to Warsaw and an aircraft from Frankfurt Hahn that had just landed. Both were Boeing 737-800 models, which can carry up to 189 passengers.
One passenger on the Warsaw-bound flight said on Twitter: “Huge loud crashing noise and totally felt the crush sitting at the back. Thank God it only hit the wing as if it was the body of the plane it’d been apocalypse.”
Ahmed Abu Khattala, the suspected ringleader of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, has appeared amid tight security at a US federal courthouse in Washington DC.
Ahmed Abu Khattala was captured by US forces in Benghazi on June 18.
He denied a raft of terrorism-related charges. He says he was in Benghazi during the attack on the US consulate but that he did not take part.
Ahmed Abu Khattala was captured by US forces in Benghazi (photo AP)
The US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other people were killed in the September 2012 attack.
Ahemed Abu Khattala was charged with providing material support and resources to terrorists including himself; killing a person on a federal facility; and damaging property of the US by fire and explosives resulting in death.
The next hearing was set for July 8.
American media reported that Ahmed Abu Khattala was brought to court in Washington from a US Navy warship where he had been held since being captured two weeks ago.
The US has described Ahmed Abu Khattala as “key figure” in the attack on the consulate.
President Barack Obama praised the raid which led to his capture earlier this month.
Phil Collins has donated his extensive collection of Alamo memorabilia to the Battle of the Alamo historic site in San Antonio, Texas.
Phil Collins, 63, said he had amassed more than 200 artifacts after becoming fascinated with the 1836 battle as a child.
The former Genesis star said he was donating the collection – thought to be the largest in private hands – to ensure it was better cared for in the future.
It includes items such as a rifle owned by folk hero Davy Crockett.
Phil Collins has donated his extensive collection of Alamo memorabilia to the Battle of the Alamo historic site in San Antonio
At an event announcing the donation in San Antonio, Phil Collins joked he had spent “all the money I made from music” on his collection related to the battle where 1,500 Mexican troops laid siege to 200 Texans fighting for Texas independence.
“Some people would buy Ferraris, some people would buy houses, I bought old bits of metal and old bits of paper,” he said.
Phil Collins explained he first became interested in the Alamo after watching the 1950s TV series Davy Crockett,King of the Wild Frontier.
“I’ve had a love affair with this place since I was about 5 years old. It’s [all] at my home, in my basement in Switzerland. I look at it every day, but no one else was enjoying it.”
The collection also includes Davy Crockett’s leather shot pouch, a pair of powder horns which the soldier is believed to have given to a Mexican officer before his death, muskets belonging to Mexican soldiers and one of the original Bowie knives, made famous by Alamo defender Jim Bowie.
Texas land commissioner Jerry Patterson said Phil Collins would pay to ship the collection to Texas with the understanding the state would use public funding and private donations to redevelop the Alamo site – including a new building to house the collection.
The collection will begin arriving in Texas in the next few months and will be displayed on a rotating basis at the museum.
Phil Collins said he would continue buying Alamo memorabilia and “once I’ve lived with whatever I buy for a month, I’ll ship it over here”.
In an unauthorized biography of Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, author Lindner Franco tells about lovers, bookmarks, money, business and power are the ingredients that make up the life of a woman of character, personality, and these same characteristics are repeated in men who choose politics.
Lindner Franco’s Los Amores de Cristina (The Lovers of Cristina) is also presenting a dialogue between Vice President Amado Boudou and banker Jorge Brito, to which the President was so convinced he was behind a run on currencies to collapse the peso.
The rumors about a possible romance between Amado Boudou and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner ran like wildfire in Buenos Aires
“Tell the president that I have nothing to do with that,” says the banker to Amado Boudou.
“Do not be problem. I talk to the mommy and I solve it” Amado Boudou responds.
But the phones were tapped and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner heard the dialogue; it was “the beginning of the end for Boudou”.
“The rumors about a possible romance between the number 1 and number 2 of the Government ran like wildfire in Buenos Aires.”
“The governor of Chaco province Jorge <<Coqui>> Capitanich was convinced he would be chosen to accompany Cristina as vice president in elections. He learned a couple of hours before the president made the announcement that it would be Boudou.”
Jorge Capitanich confided to a journalist: “That’s very disappointed. The policy makes sense. Boudou as VP doesn’t, it’s another thing.”
Amado Boudou is now being charged in a corruption case. He is suspected of using his influence when he was economy minister to ensure that a contract to print Argentina’s currency was awarded to a company he allegedly controlled.
Guangzhou Communist Party leader Wan Qingliang is being investigated for corruption, a party disciplinary commission has said.
Wan Qingliang, 50, is suspected of “serious disciplinary violations”, a term generally used to indicate corruption.
Guangzhou’s party boss Wan Qingliang is suspected of serious disciplinary violations (photo Reuters)
He is regarded as the city’s top official, ranked above the mayor.
Tens of thousands of officials have been arrested since President Xi Jinping began an anti-corruption campaign in 2012.
Xi Jinping has warned that the party’s very survival is threatened by corruption and has vowed to root out every corrupt official, whether “tigers” or “flies”.
A central government audit recently uncovered 314 serious disciplinary violations, up from 175 serious cases revealed the year before.
Correspondents say that before the investigation Wan Qingliang had been seen as a rising star in the Communist Party, developing a reputation for frugality while serving as Guangzhou’s youngest ever mayor.
Guangzhou is China’s sixth largest city and capital of the economically significant Guangdong province, which borders Hong Kong.
Thailand’s military leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha has announced that new elections will only take place after October 2015.
Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha made the announcement in a speech that an interim constitution would be adopted next month.
A temporary cabinet would then govern until elections next year.
The military seized power on May 22, saying it wanted to return stability to Thailand after months of political and social unrest.
Since then, Thailand has been run by a military junta called the National Council for Peace and Order. It insists it is a neutral player among the country’s rival political factions.
Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha said any new election in Thailand would have to take place under a new constitution (photo Reuters)
Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led the coup, said any new election would have to take place under a new constitution, which would be drafted by an appointed body.
“We want to see an election that will take place under the new constitution… that will be free and fair, so that it can become a solid foundation for a complete Thai democracy,” he said in a televised address.
“Today, if we go ahead and hold a general election, it will lead to a situation that creates conflict and the country will return to the old cycle of conflict, violence, corruption by influential groups in politics, terrorism and the use of war weapons” he added.
Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha also denied reports that the coup was planned in advance with anti-government protest leaders.
“I did not join any process or take part with any side”, he said.
The denial came after reports that protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said that he had discussed overthrowing the government with Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha many times in recent years.
Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha and the army took over two weeks after PM Yingluck Shinawatra was removed from her role by a controversial court ruling.
Elizabeth Fechtel was Miss Florida for just six days after organizers realized there had been a vote count error last Saturday.
Elizabeth Fechtel, a 20-year-old student at the University of Florida, was dethroned on Friday.
Elizabeth Fechtel was Miss Florida for just six days after organizers realized there had been a vote count error
The ballot counter at the event, which was held in front of 2,000 spectators in St. Petersburg, didn’t see that one of the five judges had changed his mind, writing a new line up on the left-hand side of his ballot.
The true Miss Florida contest winner was Victoria Cowen, a 21-year-old student at Florida State University.
Mary Sullivan, executive director of the Miss Florida pageant, delivered the bad news to Elizabeth Fechtel in person on Thursday evening, traveling to her home in Leesburg, Florida.
“Our organization had to do the right thing, and the right thing is to crown the young woman that was intended to be crowned,” said Mary Sullivan.
Elizabeth Fechtel is now the runner-up, and Victoria Cowen will compete in September’s Miss America contest.
An Argentine judge has charged VP Amado Boudou in a corruption case.
Amado Boudou is suspected of using his influence when he was economy minister to ensure that a contract to print Argentina’s currency was awarded to a company he allegedly controlled.
Earlier this month, the vice-president was questioned for more than seven hours by a judge, in a closed-door court session.
Amado Boudou is accused of using shell companies and secret middlemen to gain control of the company that was given contracts to print the Argentine peso
If convicted, Amado Boudou faces up to six years in jail. He denies any wrongdoing and has rejected calls to step down.
The judge ruled that Amado Boudou would remain free while awaiting trial. Five other suspects have also been charged.
The case involves the Ciccone Calcografica printing company that has been under investigation for more than three years.
Amado Boudou is suspected of using a front man to buy the company when it filed for bankruptcy in 2010.
The company later received tax breaks to pay its debts.
It also published material used in the re-election campaign of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in 2011.
Amado Boudou was once seen as a possible successor to President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
Poland’s former honorary consul in Monaco Wojciech Janowski is being formally investigated over the murder of his wealthy mother-in-law, heiress Helene Pastor, French prosecutors say.
Wojciech Janowski, 64, had “recognized his involvement” in the killing of Helene Pastor, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said earlier.
Helene Pastor, from one of Monaco’s richest families, was shot along with her driver as she left hospital in Nice.
Wojciech Janowski’s wife Sylvia was also detained but released without charge.
Seven other suspects from a total of 23 detained in the French cities of Nice, Marseille and Rennes were placed under investigation on Friday.
Among them was the Pastor family sports instructor, Pascal Dauriac.
Poland’s former honorary consul in Monaco Wojciech Janowski is being formally investigated over the murder of his mother-in-law Helene Pastor
Both Helene Pastor, 77, and her chauffeur Mohammed Darwich, 64, were deadly wounded when a man with a sawn-off shotgun ambushed their car on May 6 as it was leaving the hospital where she had been visiting her son.
The prosecution alleges that Wojciech Janowski paid hit men to carry out the killing.
Brice Robin said Wojciech Janowski’s motive was to “lay his hands on the inheritance” of his common-law wife.
Wojciech Janowski spent 250,000 euros ($340,000) to contract the killing, the prosecutor said.
He announced earlier that Wojciech Janowski’s bank account had seen suspicious financial flows which needed explanation.
Poland dismissed Wojciech Janowski, a Cambridge-educated businessman, from his post as honorary consul after his arrest because of the “loss of his good reputation and trustworthiness”.
Two suspects in the shooting were identified after police studied DNA evidence and CCTV footage from the area on May 6, prosecutors say.
They were described as aged 24 and 31, originally being from the Comoros islands, and having a string of criminal convictions.
Video from railway stations and elsewhere showed that the two men had taken a train from Marseille to Nice on the afternoon of the shooting, gone to a hotel, and then made their way to the scene of the shooting, prosecutors say.
French media had earlier reported they had spent 500 euros ($680) on a taxi back to Marseille afterwards.
Sylvia Pastor, the dead woman’s eldest daughter, was released on Wednesday night.
Reports say Sylvia Pastor and Wojciech Janowski have been together for 28 years and have a teenage daughter.
