Prince George’s christening service on October 23 at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace could be attended by fewer than 60 people.
Prince William and Kate Middleton have broken with several traditions since their 2011 wedding, but royal christenings have always been for family, close friends and godparents.
Prince George’s christening guest list will include fewer than 60 people
All the public will see and hear of the 45-minute ceremony, conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, is the official photos and a few details that Prince William and Kate Middleton decide to release the next day.
Definitely present with Prince William and Kate Middleton will be: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, Prince Harry and Michael and Carole Middleton with Kate’s sister Pippa and brother James.
Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and their spouses have not been invited, although Palace officials insist there are no family rifts.
Nokia has unveiled its first phablets as well as its first tablet computer at a company event in Abu Dhabi.
The Windows Phone handsets introduce the ability to change which objects in a photo are in focus after it is taken.
The Windows RT tablet has a 4G data chip, unlike Microsoft’s recently unveiled Surface 2.
Nokia World in Abu Dhabi is likely to be remembered as the Finnish firm’s last major event before it completes the sale of its hardware unit.
Microsoft agreed to buy the business for 5.4 billion euros ($7.4 billion) in a deal which the companies have said should be finalized by early 2014.
Microsoft’s share of the handset and tablet markets is growing but from a relatively low level, according to market research firm Gartner.
Windows Phone took a 3.3% share of smartphone sales in the April-to-June quarter, said the firm, with Nokia proving the most popular brand.
It also forecast that about 1.7% of all tablets shipped over 2013 as a whole would be powered by either Windows RT or the full Windows 8 operating system.
Nokia World in Abu Dhabi
Nokia showed off two phablets at the UAE launch. Both the Lumia 1520 and Lumia 1320 feature 6in (15.2cm) displays, allowing extra rows of apps to be displayed on their home screens than possible on smaller models.
The firm said that the extra space would also make it easier to use the phones’ touchscreen keyboards, suggesting this would appeal to business users who used productivity software.
A new Beamer app will allow the phones to stream the contents of their screens onto to a web browser on a separate display. It works by sending data via Nokia’s computer servers.
Another new app – Refocus – lets owners determine which parts of a photograph are in focus and which are blurred after it is taken. The phones achieve this by taking a series of images in quick succession at different focus lengths rather than replicating the light field effect captured by a Lytro camera.
The Lumia 2520 becomes the only Windows RT tablet made by a manufacturer other than Microsoft.
Dell, Asus, Lenovo, Acer and Samsung had all initially backed the platform only to later change tack.
The operating system runs on an ARM-based chip allowing it to offer superior battery life to the full Windows 8 system running on tablets powered by x86 processors, but it does not support as many programs.
Nokia’s tablet is slightly more compact than Microsoft’s version and also distinguishes itself by supporting an optional 4G Sim card.
However, bearing in mind Microsoft has already taken a $900 million write-down after weak sales of its original Surface RT tablet, one analyst questioned whether the firm would want to produce two competing models.
Nokia also added three models to its Asha range of low-end handsets targeted at emerging markets and shoppers on a budget. They run Nokia’s proprietary Series 40 OS rather than Windows Phone.
The most expensive of the devices, the Asha 530, now supports 3G data in addition to 2G, allowing faster internet access.
According to latest official figures, the US economy added 148,000 jobs in September, lower than analysts had predicted.
The unemployment rate fell to 7.2%, down from 7.3% in August, the US Department of Labor said.
The release of the figures was delayed by the partial shutdown of the US government earlier this month.
Economists had predicted 180,000 job gains for September, and the lower-than-expected figure could raise fears the US economy is losing momentum.
The US economy added only 148,000 jobs in September, lower than analysts had predicted
Employment in professional and business services grew at the fastest pace with 32,000 new jobs added. Leisure and hospitality was the only sector to see a fall with 13,000 jobs lost.
Following the figures, stock markets turned higher, with the FTSE 100 up 0.5% at 6,688 and both the Dow futures and broader S&P index futures up 0.3%, as investors bet on the Fed continuing its stimulus programme at the same pace.
The dollar fell, under pressure from the expectation that the stimulus programme, which effectively creates more dollars, will continue at the same rate.
The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, maintained its economic stimulus programme last month, suggesting it was still uncertain about the strength of the economic recovery.
The Labor Department said the next US unemployment data would be released on November 8, a week later than scheduled due to the partial shutdown of the US government.
Its workers were placed on unpaid leave during the shutdown raising fears the department will struggle to collect accurate data for October.
Cuba has decided to eliminate its dual-currency system in the latest financial reform rolled out by President Raul Castro, official media report.
Since 1994 Cuba has had two currencies, one pegged to the US dollar and the other worth only a fraction of that.
The more valuable convertible peso (CUC) was reserved for use in the tourism sector and foreign trade.
Now its value will be gradually unified with the lower-value CUP, ending a system resented by ordinary Cubans.
Cuba has decided to eliminate its dual-currency system in the latest financial reform rolled out by President Raul Castro
The Cuban economy is almost entirely state-run and the tourism sector has boomed since the collapse of the Soviet Union plunged Cuba into economic isolation and hardship.
The two-currency system was supposed to protect Cuba’s fragile economy but angered locals paid in the much lower-value CUP and denied access to goods only available for those with convertible pesos.
The policy exacerbated the creation of a two-tier class system in Cuba which divided privileged Cubans with access to the lucrative tourist and foreign-trade sectors from those working in the local economy – all-too-visibly contradicting Cuba’s supposedly egalitarian society.
The council of ministers has approved a timetable for implementing “measures that will lead to monetary and exchange unification”, the official Communist Party newspaper Granma said.
Unification is “imperative to guarantee the re-establishment of the Cuban peso’s value and its role as money, that is as a unit of accounting, means of payment and savings”, it said.
There are no details of how quickly the change would be implemented, though Reuters news agency quoted Cuban economists as saying it would take about 18 months.
Kensington Palace has refused to comment on the identity of Prince George’s six godparents.
However, three close friends have been named as likely candidates: University of St Andrews contemporary Fergus Boyd, 31; interior designer and school friend of Kate Middleton Emilia d’Erlanger, also 31, and Hugh van Cutsem, 39, one of Prince William’s oldest friends.
Contenders for the other three places include university friends Oliver Baker and Alasdair Coutts-Wood; Kate Middleton’s Marlborough school friend Alicia Fox-Pitt and St Andrews students Virginia Fraser and Olivia Bleasdale.
If Prince William and Kate Middleton want some older guardians there is former nanny Tiggy Pettifer or former private secretary Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, while Prince Harry, Pippa Middleton and Zara Phillips can’t be ruled out.
Joe Little, editor of Majesty magazine, says: “William and Kate have shown with their wedding, and now with the christening, that they will do things their way in the 21st century, and choose the people they want.
“It is a refreshing modern outlook as long as they don’t overdo it and become Mr. and Mrs. Ordinary, which would take away the magic of the monarchy and could cause people to lose interest.”
Kensington Palace has refused to comment on the identity of Prince George’s six godparents
In 1948, Prince Charles’s names were not even made public until the day of his christening, a month after his birth.
Most of Prince Charles’ eight godparents were elderly, and two, great uncles King Haakon of Norway and Prince George of Greece, could not make it to the service.
By contrast Prince William howled through his christening on August 4, 1982, watched by the Queen Mother on her 82nd birthday who said afterwards: “He certainly has a good pair of lungs!”
Prince William wore the same christening gown, made from Spitalfi elds silk satin and Honiton lace, as all the royals since Queen Victoria’s oldest daughter Victoria was baptized in 1841.
The last royal baby to wear it was the Earl and Countess of Wessex’s daughter Lady Louise but it is now in the Museum of London and a replica has been made by the Queen’s dresser Angela Kelly. This gown, which Prince George will wear at his tomorrow’s christening, was first used for Edward and Sophie’s son James Viscount Severn in 2008.
Prince William’s godparents were mainly chosen by Prince Charles, and included former King Constantine of Greece, Lord Romsey, Princess Alexandra, the Duchess of Westminster and Lady Susan Hussey, the Queen’s senior lady-in waiting.
The one big surprise was Prince Charles’s mystical mentor, the explorer and philosopher Sir Laurens van der Post, who was chosen to give a spiritual element to William’s childhood.
Princes were traditionally circumcised for hygienic reasons.
Prince George’s christening will happen tomorrow and the Archbishop of Canterbury – the Most Reverend Justin Welby – spoke for the first time about the “extraordinary moment” when he will baptize Prince William and Kate Middleton’s baby son.
In a message released by Lambeth Palace, the Most Reverend Justin Welby spoke of the “great times” Prince William and Kate Middleton will have as parents in the years to come.
The 45-minute christening service will take place on Wednesday, October 23, at 3 p.m. at the Chapel Royal within St James’s Palace.
The ceremony will be conducted by the Archbishop in what he called a celebration of “the next hugely important moment” in Prince George’s life.
The Most Reverend Justin Welby said: “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have had so much advice they could probably fill a house with it.
The Most Reverend Justin Welby spoke for the first time about the “extraordinary moment” when he will baptize Prince William and Kate Middleton’s baby son
“My message to them would be <<what a treat, what an amazing gift, what wonderful times you will have>>.
“A few months ago millions of people around the world celebrated the birth of Prince George.
“Now we’re celebrating the next hugely important moment, which is his christening.”
Beneath the ornate Hans Holbein ceiling of the Chapel Royal, the third-in-line to the throne and future supreme governor of the Church of England will be christened George Alexander Louis.
The Archbishop of Canterbury said: “I will mark Prince George with the sign of the cross on his forehead and that’s exactly what every priest always does every single baptism.
“It’s an extraordinary moment because that is the sign by which we understand this person belongs to God.
“There’ll be great times, there’ll be tough times – there always are with children.
“Through christening you are bringing God into the middle of it all and I know that when he’s in the middle of it all, somehow, it’s held in his hands, and that’s extraordinary.”
He also talked about how Prince George’s baptism means he joins almost 2,000 million people around the world in what he calls the “family of the Church”.
As the church can’t host their annual trick or treat event, the Duck Dynasty cast offer to hold the Halloween event at Duck Commander.
The Robertsons all come together to decorate the Duck Commander warehouse and transform it into a “scarehouse.”
Duck Dynasty Season Finale Quack O’Lanterns will air Wednesday, October 23
Everyone dresses up and Willie Robertson desperately tries to be the scariest, but none of the kids are afraid of him.
Meanwhile, Miss Kay Robertson is decorating her house for Halloween and enlists the youngest kids to help her. When they try to get Phil into the Halloween spirit, he puts his own twist on Halloween decorating by making a Jack-o-lantern with a shotgun.
Duck Dynasty Season Finale Quack O’Lanterns will air Wednesday, October 23, at 10/9C on A&E.
Miley Cyrus VMA outfits are one of the most popular Halloween costumes in 2013.
While a lot of people are going out and buying Miley Cyrus’ teddy bear leotard, others are thinking about making their boyfriends or husbands dress up as Robin Thicke to really get the point across.
Miley Cyrus VMA outfits are one of the most popular Halloween costumes in 2013
The other most popular Halloween costumes include Duck Dynasty outfits – with beards, bandanas, and “redneck chic”.
Also, foxes (inspired by the What Does the Fox Say YouTube video), characters from Breaking Bad and minions from Despicable Me have rounded out the top 5 most searched for Halloween costumes on Google.
Breaking Bad and Duck Dynasty Halloween costumes are the most popular in 2013 and quickly selling out, according to recent reports.
Breaking Bad recently ended its fifth season, but people still can’t get enough of Walt and Jesse.
According to Google, Breaking Bad and Duck Dynasty costume searches are up 30% this Halloween.
The Breaking Bad store offered a hazmat suit for $49.99, but now it’s completely sold out.
Duck Dynasty Halloween costumes are among the most popular in 2013
For more family-certified, redneck approved Halloween looks, A&E Networks Consumer Products and In Character Costumes are selling three new costumes from Duck Dynasty.
The “Willie” and “Phil” adult costumes (one size fits most, ages 14+) includes a special Duck Dynasty camouflage vest, a beard and patriotic bandana with an attached wig. The “Uncle Si” (one size fits most, ages 14+) includes a Duck Dynasty camouflage vest and cap with an attached wig, beard and glasses. The costumes are currently available nationally at Wal-Mart and Party City and online at Buycostumes.com. Prices range from $29.98 to $39.98.
The Robertson family will celebrate Halloween with a costume party on a new episode that airs on October 23. The Duck Commander warehouse is transformed into a haunted house and everyone dresses up in costumes.
President Barack Obama helped catch a pregnant woman who was apparently about to faint while he hosted a press conference at the White House.
Karmel Allison, who has type 1 diabetes, began to swoon as she stood behind the president during his 25-minute speech in the White House Rose Garden.
“You’re OK. I’m right here. I got you,” the president told the woman.
President Barack Obama helped catch pregnant Karmel Allison who was apparently about to faint while he hosted a press conference at the White House
Barack Obama was addressing glitches in his administration’s healthcare-insurance website during his speech.
“This happens when I talk too long,” Barack Obama quipped.
Karmel Allison – a member of White House staff – recovered and said later she was a pregnant diabetic, tweeting: “I’m ok world- just got a little lightheaded. Thanks, @BarackObama for catching me!”
Bolshoi Ballet soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko is due to go on trial over the acid attack on company’s artistic director Sergei Filin in January this year.
Pavel Dmitrichenko is accused of organizing of the attack on Sergei Filin, whose eyesight was badly damaged when sulphuric acid was thrown at him outside his Moscow flat.
The dancer denies arranging the attack. If convicted, Pavel Dmitrichenko could face 12 years in jail.
The attack revealed bitter infighting and rivalries inside the Bolshoi.
Also on trial are the man accused of throwing the acid, Yuri Zarutsky, and Andrei Lipatov, who allegedly drove the getaway car.
Pavel Dmitrichenko is accused of organizing of an acid attack on Sergei Filin
After initially admitting to masterminding the attack, Pavel Dmitrichenko later said he had discussed an assault on Sergei Filin but not the use of acid.
Following a pre-trial hearing, Pavel Dmitrichenko’s lawyer alleged that the defendant had been beaten by masked police – a claim that the Russian interior ministry has denied.
On Monday, ahead of the trial in Moscow, lawyer Sergei Kadyrov said: “Dmitrichenko does not consider himself guilty of causing grave harm to Filin’s health.”
“I hope the court will be able to distance itself from the public resonance of this case and deliver a well-grounded and just verdict.”
Sergei Filin has had more than 20 operations to try to save his eyesight.
Following treatment in Germany, he returned to Moscow for the inauguration of the Bolshoi’s season last month, wearing dark glasses.
In March, more than 300 members of the Bolshoi Ballet wrote to President Vladimir Putin, saying that the idea that Pavel Dmitrichenko was behind the crime was “absurd”.
Starbucks has come under fire in China for reportedly charging locals higher prices than in other major markets.
The official China Central Television (CCTV) claimed Starbucks earns higher margins in China due to its pricing.
Starbucks is the latest foreign company to come under scrutiny from Chinese media over its pricing practices.
Earlier this year, Apple and Nestle were also put under pressure to review their prices or customer service.
Starbucks has come under fire in China for reportedly charging locals higher prices than in other major markets
Starbucks is rapidly expanding in China, which is set to overtake Canada as its second-biggest market next year.
In the CCTV report that aired on Sunday, it said a medium-size latte in Beijing costs 27 yuan ($4.43), or about one-third more than at a Starbucks in Chicago.
“Starbucks has been able to enjoy high prices in China, mainly because of the blind faith of local consumers in Starbucks and other Western brands,” Wang Zhendong, director of the Coffee Association of Shanghai, told CCTV.
Starbucks said its prices reflect higher food and logistical costs in China.
The issue became one of the most popular talking points on Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, where many users seemed to rally to Starbucks’ side.
Venezuela has announced two light aircrafts have been shot down after entering the country’s airspace over the weekend.
These were the first mid-air attacks by fighter jets since a bill authorizing such action against illegal planes was approved earlier this month, the Bolivarian Armed Forces said.
The aircraft were allegedly smuggling drugs from Central America and refused to follow the military pilots’ orders.
Another 11 unauthorized planes have been disabled on the ground this year.
Venezuelan security forces say more than 35 tonnes of drugs have been found this year.
Two light aircrafts have been shot down after entering Venezuela’s airspace over the weekend
The head of Venezuela’s Strategic Operational Centre, General Vladimir Padrino Lopez, told the country’s state television that a plane had been targeted after “all other means of persuasion had been exhausted” in the early hours of Saturday.
“This was the first plane shot mid-air in the country since the approval of the Law and Control Regulation for the Integral Defense of the National Airspace, following the orders of our commander-in-chief, President Nicolas Maduro,” Gen. Vladimir Padrino Lopez said.
Another plane allegedly tried to evade the authorities by trying to land on an illegal airstrip in the jungle and was also shot down.
“These are drug trafficking mafias which intend to use our country as a platform for drug distribution, trespassing our airspace,” the head of the National Anti-Drugs Agency, Alejandro Keleris Bucarito said, after posting a photo of the destroyed plane on Twitter.
After the approval of the airspace bill, earlier in October, President Nicolas Maduro threatened “international narco-traffickers”.
“Any plane entering Venezuela is going to be obliged to land in peace. If not, it will be brought down by our Sukhoi jets, our F-16s and by all of the Venezuelan military aviation,” he said.
During the late President Hugo Chavez’s period in power, the US Drug Enforcement Administration was expelled from the country provoking criticism from Washington that the Venezuelan authorities weren’t doing enough to tackle drug cartels operating in the country.
Australian fire fighters deliberately joined up two large fires near the Blue Mountains as part of efforts to control bushfires across New South Wales.
Extensive back-burning operations were being deployed in anticipation of worsening conditions on Wednesday, the New South Wales fire commissioner said.
On Tuesday morning more than 60 blazes were still alight, with 13 uncontained.
The region experienced light rain on Tuesday, but fire fighters say this will not be enough to quench the fires.
New South Wales declared a state of emergency on Sunday, after being caught in some of the region’s worst fires in years.
NSW Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said that the fires at State Mine and Mount Victoria had “been deliberately and tactically joined” to try and prevent them from merging with a third fire at Springwood.
Australian fire fighters deliberately joined up two large fires near the Blue Mountains as part of efforts to control bushfires across New South Wales
“We are seeing positive results of these very deliberate, very targeted, very decisive strategies being deployed particularly in relation to back-burning operations… particularly in light of [Wednesday’s] weather conditions.”
The emergency fire at State Mine has been downgraded to “watch and act” after some light rain at the fire zone.
However, Shane Fitzsimmons added that “there’s still a way to go” and that fire fighters would be braced for higher temperatures and stronger winds expected on Wednesday.
“We have got now probably 24 hours before we see the worst of the weather starting to develop and build across all these fire ground areas,” he said. The conditions on Wednesday would be “about as bad as it gets”.
A “fairly active storm cell” was heading towards the back end of the Blue Mountains, which could bring on stronger winds and “erratic weather behavior”, he added.
More than 1,500 fire fighters were tackling the blazes on Tuesday.
All schools in the Blue Mountains, and some schools in other affected areas, will be closed on Wednesday.
One man has died – possibly of a heart attack – while trying to protect his home. Hundreds of people have been left homeless by the bushfires.
Kanye West has reportedly proposed to Kim Kardashian on her 33rd birthday (October 21), and she accepted.
The rapper popped the question in front Kim Kardashian’s friends and family at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Monday night, E! Online reported.
Kanye West had attended the Hollywood Film Awards in Los Angeles just hours before, and hopped a plane to the Bay Area to ask Kim Kardashian for her hand in marriage.
According to E! Online, Yeezy rented out the entire stadium (home to the San Francisco Giants) in order to get down on one knee with a “flawless” 15-carat diamond ring from jeweler-to-the-stars Lorraine Schwartz.
Kanye West proposed to Kim Kardashian on her 33rd birthday, and she accepted
He also had a 50-piece orchestra on hand (the playlist included Lana Del Ray’s Young and Beautiful and Kanye’s own Knock You Down) as fireworks and Roman candles lit the sky.
A huge screen at the park urged Kim Kardashian to accept by flashing the message: “PLEEEASE MARRY MEEE!!!”
Kanye West also made sure he had the green light from Kim Kardashian’s mother, Kris Jenner. The rapper reportedly asked for her permission before making this Kim Kardashian’s happiest birthday ever.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West took their romance public in April 2012, several months after Kim’s infamous split from Kris Humphries after 72 days of marriage.
This will be Kim Kardashian’s third marriage and Kanye West’s first. The reality star divorced music producer Damon Thomas in 2004.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West welcomed their daughter, North West, on June 15, 2013.
President Barack Obama has said there is “no excuse” for the glitches that have plagued the rollout of an element of his 2010 healthcare law.
In a White House press conference, Barack Obama said that despite its problems, the website was delivering affordable coverage.
Those attempting to sign up for health insurance have reported persistent issues since the 1 October rollout.
Barack Obama said a “tech surge” was under way to fix the snags.
The website’s issues have been overshadowed by the recent partial government shutdown, in which Republican lawmakers attempted to gut the law through budgetary brinkmanship.
During Monday’s Rose Garden event, Barack Obama conceded that healthcare.gov “hasn’t worked as smoothly as it was supposed to work”.
“The number of people who’ve visited the site has been overwhelming, which has aggravated some of these underlying problems.”
Barack Obama added: “There’s no sugar coating – the website has been too slow, people have been getting stuck during the application process and I think it’s fair to say that nobody’s more frustrated by that than I am.”
The president said that notwithstanding the website’s problems, there was “massive demand” and the homepage had been visited nearly 20 million times since its launch.
“Precisely because the product is good, I want the cash registers to work; I want the checkout lines to be smooth,” said Barack Obama.
“And there’s no excuse for the problems, and these problems are getting fixed.”
Barack Obama has said there is “no excuse” for the glitches that have plagued the rollout of an element of his 2010 healthcare law
Barack Obama was joined at Monday’s event by people who have successfully enrolled during the first three weeks.
Janice Baker, a Delaware business owner who was the first person in her state to enroll for coverage through the exchange website, introduced Barack Obama.
She said she had “a number of frustrating attempts” to use the site, but kept trying as she had been rejected from insurance plans previously because of a pre-existing condition.
Janice Baker said she expected to save $150 a month with the policy she had signed up for on the exchange.
The website is supposed to be a clearinghouse for uninsured Americans searching for medical coverage.
The site acts both as a check on whether applications qualify for government subsidies for private insurance, as well as being the first enrolment step for specific plans.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projects the exchanges will be the gateway for providing health coverage to an estimated seven million Americans during the first year.
The White House has said almost half a million people have applied for healthcare through both federal and state-run exchanges since October 1st.
Exchanges run by individual states do not appear to have been plagued to the same extent by malfunctions.
White House officials initially blamed the gremlins on heavy interest in the site, but they recently conceded the flaws were larger and involved software and system design issues.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which runs the exchanges, said in a blog post it had already begun to make improvements.
But the administration has offered few details on who was being brought in from outside the government and the specific causes of the ongoing glitches.
Passed in 2010, the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, has rolled out in multiple steps, including coverage requirements on insurance companies and future tax penalties for those who remain uninsured.
Republicans have repeatedly attempted to repeal or remove funding from the law, most recently during a 16-day government shutdown which ended with no major concessions from Barack Obama.
Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has also been criticized by Republican lawmakers for declining an invitation to testify about the snags on October 24th.
Although the law remains divisive, a recent Gallup poll suggests only 29% of the public favors a complete repeal.
Overseers of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque asked Rihanna to leave the compound after she posed for photographs considered to be at odds with the “sanctity” of the site.
The mosque staff later explained that Rihanna had been in an area that was typically off-limits to visitors and that her fashion-style shoot didn’t support the “status and sanctity of the mosque.”
Overseers of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque asked Rihanna to leave the compound after she posed for photographs considered to be at odds with the “sanctity” of the site
Images of the photo shoot, which Rihanna posted to her Instagram account, depict her in a black outfit with her hair covered striking poses and lying down around the grounds of the mosque. Rihanna, who performed in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, has yet to respond publicly to the overseers’ statements.
The Roma couple keeping mystery girl Maria in their camp have been formally charged in Greece with abduction.
The couple have been placed in detention pending a trial.
Maria was found during a raid on a Roma camp in central Greece last week.
DNA tests showed that she was not related to the couple, who insist they were given her legitimately.
Maria is being cared for by a charity in Athens, which has received more than 8,000 calls after an appeal.
The Roma couple appeared before judges on Monday to answer charges of abducting a minor and holding false papers.
The 39-year-old man and 40-year-old woman were identified by Greek police as Christos Salis and Eleftheria Dimopoulou.
The Roma community where the girl was found has rallied around the couple, saying they looked after her well.
The Roma couple keeping mystery girl Maria in their camp have been formally charged in Greece with abduction
The head of the Roma association in Farsala in central Greece says the pair treated her better than their biological children and that she loved them.
Ahead of Monday’s hearing, a lawyer representing the Roma couple, Kostas Katsavos, said that they were carrying out a search for the girl’s mother.
He said the couple claim the woman had given Maria to them because she could not look after her daughter.
“Our clients’ claim is that <<we never abducted this child, we just adopted her>> in a way that was not legal, that we can confess,” said Kostas Katsavos.
But the couple are suspected by social workers of kidnapping the girl and sending her out to beg.
Police initially raided the Roma camp to search for drugs and weapons.
They noticed the lack of resemblance between the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, pale-skinned little girl and her parents, and found further discrepancies when they investigated the family’s documents.
The couple had registered different numbers of children with different regional family registries.
The Greek authorities say the couple were in possession of false papers which suggested the woman had given birth to six children within a 10-month period.
When questioned about how they came to have Maria, the couple made “constantly changing claims”, Thessalia Province Police Director Vassilis Halatsis said.
Through Interpol, Greece has requested assistance from other European countries.
Police decided to appeal internationally as the girl looked as if she might be from northern or eastern Europe.
Porter Ridge stars are now taking pre-orders for Country Auto Parts baseball caps.
As seen on Porter Ridge!
The distressed baseball caps are embroidered with the Country Auto Parts logo. Hats are $20, with $6 shipping. If you would like to have the hat autographed by your favorite Porter Ridge cast members, you will have to add an extra $5 per autograph.
Porter Ridge stars are now taking pre-orders for Country Auto Parts baseball caps
Hats can be autographed by Terry Porter, Jeff The Bear Man, Dirty Andy, Elvis Larry, Danny Bob, Kayla Wood, Barry, and/or Kenny.
Orders can be sent via a private message on Porter Ridge’s Facebook page.
Shipping time is estimated to 6-8 weeks due to high demand, the Porter Ridge’s Facebook page writes.
According to new reports, Ashley Judd is getting back together with her reportedly estranged husband, Dario Franchitti.
Ashley Judd and Dario Franchitti were giving their relationship another try, sources confirmed to Us Weekly.
According to Contactmusic, Dario Franchitti was recently discharged from the hospital after undergoing surgery to treat injuries he received after being in an accident at the Houston Grand Prix in Texas.
Ashley Judd is getting back together with her reportedly estranged husband, Dario Franchitti
“They are going to give it another try after he recovers,” a source told Us Weekly.
“His accident made her realize how much she loves him.”
Ashley Judd reportedly rushed to the hospital after learning about Dario Franchitti’s accident.
Dario Franchitti suffered from a concussion, a fractured spine and a fractured right ankle after colliding with Takuma Sato, a fellow driver, and slamming into a fence on October 6.
Kanye West kicked off his Yeezus tour on Saturday night in Seattle.
Kanye West, 36, performed mainly selections from the new album on a spectacular Key Arena stage that featured a 60-foot tall white mountain as a centerpiece with a gigantic circular projection screen hanging above.
Kanye West kicked off his Yeezus tour on Saturday night in Seattle
The rapper wore a series of masks while performing On Sight, New Slave and Send It Up, along with some of his older material.
Toward the end of the show the stage mountain split apart and spewed clouds of white smoke – along with the Virgin Mary and a large crucifix as Kanye West sang I Wonder.
Carol Burnett has been honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts on Sunday.
Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett and Tina Fey were among those who performed in her honor at the Kennedy Center.
Carol Burnett’s variety show began in the 1960s and ran for 11 years, averaging 30 million viewers a week.
“This is very encouraging… it was a long time in coming,” Carol Burnett, 80, joked as she accepted the prize.
She added: “I understand because there are so many people funnier than I am, especially here in Washington.
“With any luck, they’ll soon get voted out, and I’ll still have the Mark Twain Prize.”
Tina Fey – creator and star of 30 Rock – applauded Carol Burnett for opening doors for other female comedians. When Carol Burnett first launched her own show, a TV executive told her the genre was “a man’s game”.
Carol Burnett has been honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
“You mean so much to me,” Tina Fey said.
“I love you in a way that is just shy of creepy,” she joked.
Carol Burnett got her first break when she was talent-spotted by bookers for the Ed Sullivan Show.
She then landed a role on Broadway and began to appear on The Garry Moore Show.
This led to Carol Burnett signing a 10-year contract with CBS to do guest slots on sitcoms and perform in one TV special a year.
The comedian launched the Carol Burnett Show in 1967, with guest stars including Lucille Ball, Jimmy Stewart and Ronald Reagan.
Carol Burnett Show won 22 Emmy awards. The comedian was best known for her “Tarzan” yell and for ending each show by tugging her ear, which was a personal message to her grandmother.
Tim Conway, one of Carol Burnett’s co-stars on her show, joked that he now spends his time travelling around the US for Burnett to receive awards.
