Gwyneth Paltrow denied having an affair with billionaire Jeffrey Soffer, despite a false story expected to run in Vanity Fair.
On Friday, theNew York Post reported Vanity Fair has been digging into Gwyneth Paltrow’s friendship with Jeffrey Soffer, who is now married to Elle Macpherson, for its upcoming exposé on Paltrow.
Gwyneth Paltrow denied leaving husband Chris Martin for billionaire Jeffrey Soffer
A source for the paper says Vanity Fair has been asking “Miami society sources” about Gwyneth Paltrow’s trip to Jeffrey Soffer’s Fontainebleau Hotel back in 2008.
“Vanity Fair is asking if Gwyneth had an affair with Jeff back in 2008 when he reopened the Fontainebleau,” reveals the insider.
The source added: “He flew her in for the party, and she stayed at his house.”
The New YorkPost notes: “Soffer reportedly gave Paltrow a private tour of the hotel, whisking her away in his Bentley, and the following day, she joined him on his yacht with Kate Hudson.”
The paper goes on to claim that Gwyneth Paltrow and husband Chris Martin were “on the rocks” during that time.
Silver Cross is launching an Aston Martin limited edition baby stroller which will set you back a cool £2,000 ($3,000).
Babies can bask in an interior lined with Alcantara – the ultra soft Italian suede made to the same specifications as James Bond’s favorite motor.
The leather trimmed push bar and even the swish alloy wheels are based on the same design as the rare $1.9 million One-77 coupe.
The smooth air-ride suspension is said to glide over every kind of terrain from gravel drives and grass to rocky roads and pavements.
An adjustable handlebar allows mums, dads and nannies to move it into a comfortable pushing position and the travel system includes a carry cot and reclining seat.
Made in partnership with British pram firm Silver Cross, the limited edition Silver Cross Surf – Aston Martin Edition already has a waiting list with just 800 being made for sale.
Silver Cross Aston Martin edition baby stroller
Both companies say the stylish pram is “designed to perfection with every detail considered”.
Each handmade buggy will carry the prestigious Aston Martin logo on the chassis, wheels and interior and is expected to be built at the factory in Bradford.
Silver Cross which has made prams for royal babies and tots of superstars from Mick Jagger to Lily Allen reckons its latest addition is the most expensive – and exclusive baby accessory in the world.
Chairman Alan Halsall who rescued the company from administration in 2002 said: “I am thrilled that Silver Cross and Aston Martin are working together and have produced this brand new totally exclusive pram which is a great testament to two of the most famous British brands.”
Alan Halsall was keeping mum on whether parents to be Prince William and Kate Middleton had put their names down for one.
“We’re delighted if any consumer chooses a Silver Cross product,” he said.
An Aston Martin spokesman said: “Silver Cross has a long tradition of providing the finest for new families.
“The Silver Cross Surf – Aston Martin Edition has taken inspiration from our own expertise in engineering and design, with many of the materials and techniques used on the pram, also used in our own Aston Martin interiors.”
The limited edition and individually numbered prams will only be available from Harrods in April.
According to a new study, the brain uses sleep to wash away the waste toxins built up during a hard day’s thinking.
The US team conducting the new research, believe the “waste removal system” is one of the fundamental reasons for sleep.
Their study, published in the journal Science, showed brain cells shrink during sleep to open up the gaps between neurons and allow fluid to wash the brain clean.
They also suggest that failing to clear away some toxic proteins may play a role in brain disorders.
It has been shown to have a big role in the fixing of memories in the brain and learning, but a team at the University of Rochester Medical Centre believe that “housework” may be one of the primary reasons for sleep.
The brain uses sleep to wash away the waste toxins built up during a hard day’s thinking
“The brain only has limited energy at its disposal and it appears that it must choose between two different functional states – awake and aware or asleep and cleaning up,” said researcher Dr. Maiken Nedergaard.
“You can think of it like having a house party. You can either entertain the guests or clean up the house, but you can’t really do both at the same time.”
Their findings build on last year’s discovery of the brain’s own network of plumbing pipes – known as the glymphatic system – which carry waste material out of the brain.
Scientists, who imaged the brains of mice, showed that the glymphatic system became 10-times more active when the mice were asleep.
Cells in the brain, probably the glial cells which keep nerve cells alive, shrink during sleep. This increases the size of the interstitial space, the gaps between brain tissue, allowing more fluid to be pumped in and wash the toxins away.
Dr. Maiken Nedergaard said this was a “vital” function for staying alive, but did not appear to be possible while the mind was awake.
Google shares have reached the $1,000 milestone for the first time after the company reported better-than-expected earnings.
Google posted a 36% jump in net profits to $2.97 billion for the July-to-September period.
Shares in the giant online search and ads company rose more than 13% to $1,006, and are now up 41% since the start of 2013.
Google’s revenues also beat forecasts with a 12% rise year-on-year.
“We are closing in on our goal of a beautiful, simple, and intuitive experience regardless of your device,” Google’s chief Larry Page said in a conference call with analysts.
The strong earnings report also helped other online companies, with Facebook shares adding 4.4% to a new high of more than $55. Amazon rose 3.4%.
Google shares have reached the $1,000 milestone for the first time after the company reported better-than-expected earnings
At $1,000 a share, Google’s market value is about $334 billion, which is still well below Apple’s $461bn.
Google was floated in August 2004 at $85 a share, giving the company a market value at the time of $23 billion.
The company reported its quarterly earnings on Thursday after US markets had closed.
Google said that paid-for clicks increased by a quarter during the July-to-September period, from a year earlier, the highest rate of growth in the past year.
This offset an 8% fall in average cost-per-click, the price advertisers pay Google when consumers click on their ads.
“We view solid paid clicks growth to be a good indicator of demand, driven by the continued shift to mobile,” JP Morgan analysts said in a note.
Paul McCartney has given an impromptu concert in Covent Garden during the lunchtime rush.
“We’re just going to do some songs from our new album so get your phones out… As if they weren’t already,” he told that assembled crowd of more than 2,000 fans.
Paul McCartney, 71, sang four songs from his latest album, New, from a truck parked on the piazza. It follows a similar stunt in New York last week.
Paul McCartney has given an impromptu concert in Covent Garden during the lunchtime rush
The London gig began at 13.30 BST, about an hour after Sir Paul announced it on Twitter.
“I’m getting ready to pop up in Covent Garden,” the former Beatle tweeted.
“This is a change from the ’60s because we would just have been coming in from the clubs right now,” he said
Paul McCartney opened with his current single, also called New, and closed with the same song approximately 20 minutes later, telling the audience: “Thank you very much. OK now, back to work!”
Edward Snowden insists he took no classified documents to Russia when he fled to Moscow from Hong Kong in June.
The former NSA contractor told the New York Times he had given all the papers to journalists in Hong Kong and had kept no copies.
Edward Snowden, who worked for two US spy agencies, also said no confidential information had been passed to China.
The US authorities want Edward Snowden extradited to face trial, but Russia has refused to hand him over.
The Russian authorities gave him a one-year visa earlier this year after he claimed asylum.
Edward Snowden, 30, told the US newspaper that he did not take any of the documents because it would not have been in the public interest.
Edward Snowden insists he took no classified documents to Russia when he fled to Moscow from Hong Kong in June
“What would be the unique value of personally carrying another copy of the materials onward,” he said.
Claims had surfaced in media reports that China was likely to have gained some intelligence from the former NSA contractor before he left Hong Kong.
Some analysts had suggested Edward Snowden was working with Chinese intelligence, while others said he was working with the Russians.
Edward Snowden rebuffed these claims, saying: “There’s a zero per cent chance the Russians or Chinese have received any documents.”
He said his last job for the NSA had focused on China, and he had “access to every target”, so he felt confident that the data was safe from Chinese agencies.
The New York Times report said its interview was conducted over several days via encrypted networks.
The information leaked by Edward Snowden has led to claims of systematic spying by the NSA and CIA on a global scale of governments, businesses and members of the public.
Targets have included rivals like China and Russia, as well as close allies like the EU and Brazil.
The NSA was also forced to admit it captured email and phone data from millions of Americans.
Saudi Arabia has rejected a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, accusing the world body of “double standards”.
The Saudi foreign ministry said the UN needs to be reformed first.
It said the Security Council had failed in its duties towards Syria as well as in other world conflicts.
Saudi Arabia has previously expressed frustration at what it sees as an international failure to act on Syria, where it staunchly backs the rebels.
There has been no official reaction from the UN, but diplomats there expressed surprise at Riyadh’s announcement.
Russia’s foreign ministry called the move bewildering, and said Saudi Arabia’s criticism of the UN Security Council about its actions over Syria “is particularly strange”.
The announcement came hours after Saudi Arabia was elected for the first time to one of the 10 rotating seats on the Security Council.
Saudi Arabia has rejected a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council
The non-permanent members sit on the council for two years, along with the five permanent members – the US, the UK, France, China and Russia.
“Work mechanisms and double-standards on the Security Council prevent it from carrying out its duties and assuming its responsibilities in keeping world peace,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Therefore Saudi Arabia… has no other option but to turn down Security Council membership until it is reformed and given the means to accomplish its duties and assume its responsibilities in preserving the world’s peace and security,” it added.
The failure “to find a solution to the Palestinian cause for 65 years” had led to “numerous wars that have threatened world peace,” the foreign ministry said.
Saudi Arabia also criticized the UN’s “failure” to rid the Middle East region of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.
It also accused the UN of allowing the Syrian government “to kill its own people with chemical weapons… without confronting it or imposing any deterrent sanctions”.
The UN Security Council last month finally broke a two-and-a-half year deadlock on how to deal with conflict in Syria after voting unanimously to adopt a binding resolution on ridding the country of chemical weapons.
Saudi observers say Riyadh would have been working for years to gain a place on the UN Security Council, so such a decision would have to have been made at the very top of the kingdom’s leadership.
One Security Council diplomat, quoted by AFP, said the announcement was “totally unexpected” and without precedent.
August Oetker – the head of Dr. Oetker company – has revealed the family firm’s links to Germany’s Nazi party.
Company chairman August Oetker was speaking ahead of a new book that studies the history of the family’s links with the Nazis.
His father, Rudolf-August Oetker, was a member of Adolf Hitler’s Waffen SS.
Rudolf-August Oetker ran the company, based in Bielefeld, northern Germany, after World War II and died in 2007.
August Oetker revealed the family firm’s links to Germany’s Nazi party
“My father was a National Socialist,” August Oetker said in an interview with Die Zeit newspaper.
“He didn’t want to talk about this time. He said, <<children, leave me in peace>>.”
August Oetker said his father, who had joined the Nazi party in the 1930s, had been influenced by his step-father, Richard Kaselowsky, who was a staunch supporter of Hitler and ran Dr. Oetker before him.
August Oetker said he welcomed the publication next week of the book Dr. Oetker and National Socialism, written by a German historian and funded by the company.
“I feel now we know the facts, now the fog has lifted,” he said.
Over the decades, many German companies have come under pressure to come to terms with their links to the Nazis and their actions during the 1930s and 1940s.
Australia wildfires claimed one life and destroyed at least 100 homes in New South Wales after forcing thousands to evacuate their homes.
Authorities warned on Friday more homes could be lost as fires burned out of control.
The blazes are continuing to burn on the outskirts of Sydney, despite the easing of temperatures and winds.
One man has died while trying to protect his home.
PM Tony Abbott visited Winmalee in the Blue Mountains, one of the areas worst-hit by the fires, around 45 miles west of Sydney.
Correspondents say bushfires are common in Australia but they have come earlier than normal this year, sparking concerns of further problems to come.
Australia wildfires claimed one life and destroyed at least 100 homes in New South Wales after forcing thousands to evacuate their homes
Hundreds of residents spent Thursday night in evacuation centres, with many returning home to find their houses razed.
Fire fighters described blazes as tall as 60 to 100ft.
A 63-year-old man died from a heart attack as he tried to defend his home in Lake Munmorah, in the Central Coast region of NSW, on Thursday afternoon.
Around 2,000 fire fighters across the state worked to try and contain the fires but many are still burning out of control.
PM Tony Abbott, in Winmalee, said of those helping to battle the fires: “These are ordinary people who, on an extraordinary day, come together to support their community and to protect their fellow Australians.”
At least three fire fighters have been reported injured.
The NSW Rural Fire Service said an initial assessment of the Winmalee and Springwood areas showed that 81 properties had been destroyed, with 37 damaged.
“Approximately 30% of the fireground has been assessed,” it said.
“The number of properties destroyed or damaged will rise.”
Reports estimate that as many as 200 homes could be lost in total.
The fires have been caused by unseasonably hot temperatures and strong winds. While these have now died down, more hot weather is forecast next week.
Google has reported a profit of $2.97 billion for July -September period, beating expectations.
The company missed forecasts during the last quarter.
However, a closely watched measure, cost per click – how much advertisers pay to place an advert – declined by 8% from the same period last year.
Google shares jumped to an all time high in after hours trading, rising 6% to $941.25.
The company’s boss Larry Page said in a statement that: “Google had another strong quarter with…great product progress.”
Google has reported a profit of $2.97 billion for July -September period
Overall, paid clicks increased by 28% from the same time last year, and were up 8% from the previous quarter.
This is taken as a good sign by analysts, as advertising makes up the dominant share of Google’s profits.
In a call to discuss earnings with investors, Larry Page highlighted just how dominant mobile has become among consumers.
He said that 40% of users reached YouTube through their mobile phones compared to just 6% two years earlier.
Analysts were closely watching how Google is faring in this mobile transition, particularly as it relates to advertising.
Google charges less for mobile than for its traditional web browser ads, which is why even though ad sales increased throughout the quarter, the cost per click figure declined.
Google’s market share in the ad market is $6.9%. This has recently slipped slightly as rival Facebook has made inroads. Facebook now has 14.9% of the market, a jump from 9% last year.
Toyota has decided to recall 885,000 vehicles to fix a problem that could cause a water leak from the air conditioning unit.
The carmaker said water could leak into the airbag control module, causing a short circuit and triggering a warning light.
In some cases airbags “could become disabled or could inadvertently deploy” and in limited cases the power steering function could be disabled, it added.
The models affected by the recall are the Camry, Camry Hybrid, Avalon, Avalon Hybrid, and Venza made in 2012-13.
Some 847,000 cars will be recalled in North America, while the rest will be in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Toyota has decided to recall 885,000 vehicles to fix a problem that could cause a water leak from the air conditioning unit
A spokeswoman for Toyota said that the company it had received reports of two minor injuries due to the issue, but there had been no reports of any vehicles crashing.
This is the third major recall that Toyota has issued in recent weeks.
Last month, Toyota called back more than 780,000 vehicles in the US to address a suspension defect in its RAV4 and Lexus HS 250h models, after fears that an initial recall last year did not fix the problem.
In September, it recalled 615,000 Sienna minivans in the US to fix a lever problem that could cause vehicles to shift out of park mode “without the driver depressing the brake pedal”.
Toyota said at the time that it was aware of 24 “minor accidents” due to the issue.
In recent weeks more than 2.2 million vehicles have been recalled.
Analysts said the recalls could have an impact on its reputation with the customers.
The latest move takes the total number of cars recalled by Toyota this year to six million vehicles.
Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow has been identified as the Norwegian suspect in Kenya’s Westgate shopping centre attack, the BBC revealed.
Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, 23, is a Norwegian citizen of Somali origin and he is suspected of helping to plan and carry out the attack.
At least 67 people died in the attack in Nairobi, which the al-Qaeda linked group al-Shabab says it carried out.
Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow has been identified as the Norwegian suspect in Kenya’s Westgate shopping centre attack
Last week Norway’s intelligence agency, the PST, said it had sent officers to Kenya to verify reports that a Norwegian citizen had been involved in the assault on the shopping centre, which began on Saturday September 21 and lasted four days.
It is unclear how many militants were involved. Police had initially estimated that there were 10-15 attackers inside the complex, but the CCTV footage which has so far been released by the Kenyan authorities shows just four men.
Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow is believed to be one of those four.
Forensic investigators are still combing through the rubble of Westgate – no bodies have yet been identified and it is not known whether the attackers are alive or dead.
Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow was born in Somalia, but he and his family moved to Norway as refugees in 1999.
Mystery continues to surround the fate of Vittorio Missoni, the Italian fashion executive, after reports that his body had been recovered from an aircraft off the Venezuelan coast went unconfirmed by his relatives.
Contrary to reports this afternoon that the body of Vittorio Missoni and the passengers travelling on his missing aircraft have been found, the families involved said they have not yet received any official confirmation or detail about their identities.
A joint statement from the Missoni, Castiglioni, Foresti and Scalvenzi families read: “With regard to the news distributed in the media this morning relating to the possible recovery of bodies off shore at Los Roques, where previously the wreck of the plane YV2615BN-2A had disappeared on January 4 carrying the Missoni, Castiglioni, Foresti and Scalvenzi families, they would like to state they have not received any official and detailed communication connected to this.”
The Italian Ansa news agency reported on Thursday morning that the remains of five people – including Vittorio Missoni and Maurizia Castiglioni – had been recovered from the Islander plane in which they were last seen in January.
Vittorio Missoni and his life partner, Maurizia Castiglioni, were returning from a Christmas holiday with two friends, Elda Scalvenzi and Guido Foresti when their plane vanished
The aircraft carrying the couple, along with two of their friends and two pilots, went missing on January 4 during the flight from the resort islands of Los Roques to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.
Ansa originally said that the remains of five bodies had been found in the plane. But later on Thursday it said that the remains of only three people had been found, and did not identify who. The recovery mission had begun today, it said, and DNA tests would need to be run on the remains.
Vittorio Missoni and his life partner, Maurizia Castiglioni, were returning from a Christmas holiday with two friends, Elda Scalvenzi and Guido Foresti when their plane vanished. Two Venezuelan pilots were also on the BN-2 aircraft.
Vittorio Missoni, who was 58 when the plane went missing, was the son of Ottavio Missoni, the man who started a small Italian knitwear shop in 1953 and turned it into a hugely successful name famed for its multicolored zigzags and other striking patterns.
Ottavio Missoni died in May, aged 92, before his son’s body was discovered.
In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, onion, egg, bread crumbs, and meatloaf seasoning. Use your hands to mix until well blended. Measure out 1/3 cupfuls of the meat mixture and mold around a cube of cheese like a meatball. Shape into a point at one end and lengthen the body a bit by rolling between your hands. Place your ”rat” into a shallow baking dish, and continue with the remaining meat. Insert pieces of uncooked spaghetti into the rounded end of the rats to make tails.
In a medium bowl, stir together the tomato sauce, sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the rats in the dish and cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Uncover the dish and continue to bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, basting occasionally with the sauce to glaze the rats.
While the rats finish baking, heat the peas and carrots in a small bowl in the microwave for about 15 seconds.
Carefully transfer the rats to a serving platter so that their delicate tails don’t fall off. Press peas into the pointy end to make eyes, and insert carrot slices to make ears. Spoon some of the tomato sauce around them and serve.
This year’s final penumbral lunar eclipse is set to take place on Friday, October 18, when the moon will appear much dimmer and redder than normal.
The lunar eclipse will be visible to people living in Europe, Africa, the Americas and parts of Asia just before midnight GMT.
The partial lunar eclipse will be visible Friday into Saturday night for those living from eastern Canada and the upper Northeast to Africa and most of Europe.
The eclipse will be most visible for the US and Canada at 7.50 p.m. EDT.
At 23:51 UTC, the fullest coverage of the moon by Earth’s shadow will occur, lasting for 239 minutes. Due to the timing of the eclipse, the moonrise will not be high enough for western parts of North America to view; its peak will not reach so far west and will only be visible for Africa and Europe.
A penumbral lunar eclipse is when the moon passes through Earth’s shadow – the penumbra is the wider region where only a portion of light source is obscured by the planet.
The phenomenon only occurs when the moon passes directly behind Earth into its shadow, leaving all three celestial bodies aligned. The lunar eclipse will be visible for several hours.
Stargazers in Europe look set to get the best view of the eclipse as it will occur when the night sky is at its darkest.
This year’s final penumbral lunar eclipse is set to take place on Friday, October 18
For the parts of the US and Canada that the eclipse will reach, cloud coverage will hinder the view for a large area, especially in Canada. Two slow-moving storm systems will bring rainy and cloudy conditions to much of Canada Friday evening. Some areas in the Saint Lawrence River Valley may get breaks to catch a glimpse of the moon, but most of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will miss out on the viewing. Conditions will be mostly clear for the small portion of the northeastern US that the eclipse will extend into.
During a penumbral eclipse, the moon appears darker and redder because the sun’s light is being filtered through the Earth’s atmosphere, which eliminates much of the “blue light”.
Unlike viwing a solar eclipse, lunar eclipses may be viewed by staring directly at them. They also won’t require any additional equipment, such as telescopes or binoculars. Areas that have clear skies will be able to see it the same way they’d typically view the moon. Because this eclipse will only have a partial shadow, the difference may not be as noticeable to the general public.
Most of Europe will have fair to good conditions at the time of the eclipse, where it will be visible at 12:50 a.m. WEST in Lisbon, Portugal, to 3:50 a.m. MSK Saturday in Moscow, Russia.
The best viewing conditions are expected in parts of Scandinavia as well as farther south across the Balkans. High pressure over these areas should promote mainly clear skies. These good viewing conditions will be sandwiched between two areas of poor viewing conditions. To the west, a large storm system will spread clouds across the British Isles and the western Iberian Peninsula, while another shield of clouds will cover the sky east of the Black Sea.
Elsewhere, a few clouds can spread eastward across central europe, but many people will be able to view the eclipse from Barcelona to Paris to Berlin and Rome.
Lunar eclipses occur about two to four times a year. Some of these are penumbral eclipses, which are so subtle that they hardly look like anything to the average observer.
This penumbral lunar eclipse will be the last one of the year. The next will not take place until April 2014.
Glenn Greenwald – The Guardian journalist who broke the Snowden leaks story – is to join a new media project being set up by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.
Glenn Greenwald confirmed he was leaving The Guardian for the mass media outlet being planned by French-born billionaire Pierre Omidyar.
Laura Poitras, the documentary-maker who connected Glenn Greenwald with Edward Snowden, is also expected to join.
Edward Snowden leaked details of US government surveillance programmes.
He is now living in Russia, where he was granted temporary asylum after fleeing Hong Kong in June, shortly after the revelations were published.
On Wednesday, British PM David Cameron accused The Guardian of having knowingly compromised national security by publishing the leaks.
Glenn Greenwald is to join a new media project being set up by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar
Glenn Greenwald, a US citizen based in Brazil, insists that none of the information he published could have damaged national security.
Announcing his new project in a statement, Pierre Omidyar said he wanted to support “independent journalists in a way that leverages their work to the greatest extent possible, all in support of the public interest”.
His project, he said, was in its early stages but he had approached Glenn Greenwald and found that he and fellow Americans Poitras and Jeremy Scahill, an investigative journalist, were already contemplating something similar.
“We had a lot of overlap in terms of our ideas, and decided to join forces,” said Pierre Omidyar.
Pierre Omidyar said his new outlet would be independent of other media with the focus on allowing independent journalists to “pursue the truth in their fields”.
“And, I want to find ways to convert mainstream readers into engaged citizens,” he said in the statement.
Pierre Omidyar’s existing projects include the US-based Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm which operates in some of Africa’s most troubled countries.
Forbes magazine estimated Pierre Omidyar ‘s net worth to be $8.5 billion (6.3 billion euros) last month.
Announcing his departure in a statement on Tuesday, Glenn Greenwald said he was embarking on a “once-in-a-career dream journalistic opportunity”.
Amnesty International has urged Iran not to go ahead with a repeat execution for drug smuggler Alireza M who survived a botched hanging.
Alireza M was found alive in a morgue after being hanged at a jail in the north-eastern city of Bojnord last week.
The condemned man is now being nursed to recovery in preparation for his repeat execution.
“The verdict was the death sentence, and it will be carried out once the man gets well again,” an official said.
Human rights groups believe Iran is second only to China in the number of people it puts to death for crimes ranging from murder and rape to spying and drug-trafficking.
Amnesty International has urged Iran not to go ahead with a repeat execution for drug smuggler Alireza M who survived a botched hanging
In a separate incident reported by Iranian media on Monday, relatives of a condemned murderer in the western province of Ilam tried to stop his execution at a prison by hurling a grenade.
Around 30 people were injured but the hanging went ahead.
Alireza M, 37, was left to hang for 12 minutes, after which a doctor declared him dead.
But when the prisoner’s family went to collect his body from the prison morgue the next day, they found he was still breathing.
“We found him alive again, which made his two daughters very happy,” an unnamed family member told Iranian state media.
Alireza M was then moved to a hospital where he was being kept under armed guard.
“The horrific prospect of this man facing a second hanging, after having gone through the whole ordeal already once, merely underlines the cruelty and inhumanity of the death penalty,” said Philip Luther, director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, in a press release.
Philip Luther called for both a stay of execution for the hanging survivor and a moratorium on all executions in Iran.
According to Amnesty International, at least 508 people may have been executed in Iran this year to date. Most of those killed had been convicted of drug trafficking, it said.
Duck Dynasty’s Si Robertson reveals his daughter Trasa Cobern’s biography in his latest book Si-cology 1: Tales and Wisdom from Duck Dynasty’s Favorite Uncle.
Trasa Robertson was born on August 30, 1975, at a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
Trasa was named after her mother Christine Robertson’s father, Asa Lee Raney.
Si Robertson’s daughter has a double citizenship as she was born in Germany while he was stationed there.
From the time she was born, Trasa was Daddy’s girl.
Trasa Robertson met her future husband, Kyle Cobern, during her freshman year at Texas A&M
When she was only a toddler, her parents realized she was an exceptional child.
Trasa Robertson graduated from high school in 1993 and she received a Presidential Scholarship to Texas A&M University in College Station.
In high school she was named a student delegate to the United Nations and visited the Hague in the Netherlands. As a National Merit Scholar, Trasa was invited to the White House where she met First Lady Hillary Clinton.
During her sophomore year of college, Trasa became a model in advertisements around the country.
Trasa Robertson met her future husband, Kyle Cobern, during her freshman year at Texas A&M.
Kyle Cobern, now 47, and Trasa Robertson, have been married for 17 years now.
Trasa Cobern has four sons – Brady Silas, Caden, Jaxon and McCrae – and she teaches middle school in Hurst, Texas.
The latest episode of Duck Dynasty shows John Luke Robertson totaling his father’s truck, and how Willie Robertson realizes he may be raising the two worst drivers in all of Louisiana.
John Luke Robertson did a number of Willie’s pick-up truck, so Korie and Jessica drive him to the Chevy dealer to pick up a loaner. In a rush to get to their mani-pedis, the women leave niece and nephew, Silla and River, with Willie Robertson.
Willie Robertson, 40, then remembers that all kids are trouble when he takes his niece and nephew for a ride in his loaner, a 2014 Chevy Silverado, and they cover it in ice cream.
John Luke Robertson totals his father’s truck, and Willie Robertson realizes he may be raising the two worst drivers in all of Louisiana
Despite River’s constant whacking on his leg with a toy sword, Willie Robertson explains: “I’m gonna win points with Korie.”
The kids want ice cream and Willie Robertson wants to be “the best uncle in the world.” As he explained: “Saying no is a lot more difficult than saying yes, especially when they’re not your kids.”
Before Willie Robertson drives the new loaner truck out of the ice cream shop’s parking lot, Silla has had the first spill in the back seat. That eventually degenerates into the kids actually pouring melted ice cream onto the seats.
Lucky for Willie Robertson, John Luke shows up as he’s beginning to clean the truck cab.
This week’s Robertson family moral came from Willie: “Things are replaceable. Family isn’t. Especially Si.”
Duck Dynasty’s Si Robertson discovered YouTube for the first time, and, after watching a series of instructional videos, decided he can make something better.
Uncle Si notes: “They got everything in this thing. Fainting goats. Sneezing pandas. Double rainbows, all the way to both ends… Where’s this thing been all my life?”
Jase, Jep, John Godwin, and Justin Martin helped Uncle Si shoot an instructional golf video, and upload Si’s “four point philosophy” to the web.
Si Robertson discovered YouTube for the first time
He’s so hooked on the videos that he skips lunch with the gang from the Duck Commander warehouse and then is shocked when he learns he’s been watching the laptop screen for an hour when they return.
Si Robertson decides he will make some instructional videos on subjects like “training dogs, how to walk, how to talk, how to eat a hard-shell taco,” but eventually settles on a golfing video because he was once a greens keeper at a golf course.
Dressing the part, Si Robertson later shows up in stereotypical golfing garb, including loud plaid pants, bright sweater-vest and a flat-cap.
Uncle Si explains: “You can’t go out there dressed like a baffoon.”
With Jep Robertson manning the camera, Uncle Si begins his video: “I am an amateur golfer, but a professional golf instructor.”
The final product includes Si Robertson’s four steps to better golf: Stance, swing, long putts and “don’t overdo it.”
A British research has concluded that the legendary Himalayan yeti may in fact be a sub-species of brown bear.
DNA tests on hair samples carried out by Oxford University genetics professor Bryan Sykes found that they matched those from an ancient polar bear.
Prof. Bryan Sykes subjected the hairs to the most advanced tests available.
He says the most likely explanation for the myth is that the animal is a hybrid of polar bears and brown bears.
Prof. Bryan Sykes conducted the DNA tests on hairs from two unidentified animals, one from Ladakh – in northern India on the west of the Himalayas – and the other from Bhutan, 800 miles further east.
The legendary Himalayan yeti may in fact be a sub-species of brown bear
The results were then compared with the genomes of other animals that are stored on a database of all published DNA sequences.
Prof. Bryan Sykes found that he had a 100% match with a sample from an ancient polar bear jawbone found in Svalbard, Norway, that dates back to between 40,000 and 120,000 years ago – a time when the polar bear and closely related brown bear were separating as different species.
The species are closely related and are known to interbreed where their territories overlap.
The sample from Ladakh came from the mummified remains of a creature shot by a hunter around 40 years ago, while the second sample was in the form of a single hair, found in a bamboo forest by an expedition of filmmakers around 10 years ago.
Prof. Bryan Sykes said that his results were “completely unexpected” and that more work needed to be done interpreting them.
He said that while they did not mean that “ancient polar bears are wandering around the Himalayas”, there could be a sub-species of brown bear in the High Himalayas descended from an ancestor of the polar bear.
“Or it could mean there has been more recent hybridization between the brown bear and the descendant of the ancient polar bear,” Prof. Bryan Sykes said.
