The FBI teamed up with the US Postal Service to track down ricin mailing suspect Shannon Guess Richardson using a system that snaps pictures of “every mail piece that is processed”, according to a complaint.
Filed Friday in Texas, the complaint details how federal investigators narrowed down the origin of the letters by reviewing the pieces of mail scanned before and after the ricin containing letters sent to President Barack Obama, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a gun control lobby sponsored by the mayor.
Postmarked in Shreveport, Louisiana, the letters were processed at a regional distribution facility in the city, according to the complaint. Though in Louisiana, the plant also processes mail for parts of Arkansas and Texas, where Shannon Richardson resides, the complaint explains.
By referencing two separate batches of mail processed by the postal service’s Automated Facer Canceller System (ACFS) on May 20, as well as the Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program, which takes the actual pictures of the mail, agents determined the mail came from the area around New Boston, Texas, the complaint states.
FBI and the US Postal Service tracked ricin suspect Shannon Guess Richardson down using an advanced system that takes pictures of and tracks every piece of mail sent in the US
The first of the three letters, addressed to mayor Michael Bloomberg, was opened four days later at a mail center in Lower Manhattan. The second was opened two days later in Washington, D.C., by a staffer at The Raben Group, the Bloomberg-sponsored gun control lobbying firm. The third was intercepted on May 30 before reaching President Barack Obama, having been opened at the White House mail facility, the complaint detailed.
Shannon Richardson met in Shreveport with investigators later that day, accused her husband of sending the letters and turned over a book of stamps, which investigators determined on June 3 to be the same book of stamps the ricin letters postage came from, said the complaint posted on the Smoking Gun.
Further investigation led to warrant-less searches of the couple’s New Boston home, turning up castor beans – which contain the toxic ricin poison, saved letters matching those mailed and other physical evidence, according to the report.
The nail in Shannon Richardson’s accusatory coffin was that her husband, Nathaniel Richardson, was found to have been working a 10-hour shift starting 6:30 a.m., which was corroborated by coworkers, the day the letters were postmarked, the complaint states.
Shannon Richardson’s alibi in shambles, she confessed to trying to set her husband up, she mailed the letters – a photo finish to a lie and, perhaps, her marriage.
Male train drivers in Sweden have circumvented a ban on shorts by wearing skirts to work in hot weather.
The workers, who operate the Roslagsbanan line north of the capital Stockholm, have been wearing skirts to work for the past two weeks.
Employer Arriva banned the drivers from wearing shorts after taking over the running of the line in January.
But the company has given the men its blessing to wear skirts, according to local newspaper Mitti.
Male train drivers in Sweden have circumvented a ban on shorts by wearing skirts to work in hot weather
“Our thinking is that one should look decent and proper when representing Arriva and the present uniforms do that. If the man only wants [to wear] a skirt then that is OK,” Arriva communications manager Tomas Hedenius told the paper.
“To tell them to do something else would be discrimination.”
Driver Martin Akersten said he and his colleagues came up with the idea to wear skirts after they were informed of the new company dress code in the winter.
“We have always said that when summer comes, we will get some skirts and wear them. It’s very warm weather here so we would like to wear shorts but if we can’t then we have skirts for comfort.”
The male drivers have chosen only to wear skirts on hot days, opting for trousers in cooler conditions.
“The passengers stare at us but so far no-one has said anything – well, not to me, anyway. And I don’t mind as it’s more about comfort,” Martin Akersten adds.
President Barack Obama and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have ended a two-day summit in California, which was described by US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon as “unique, positive and constructive”.
Tom Donilon said Barack Obama had warned Xi Jinping that cyber-crime could be an “inhibitor” in US-China relations.
He also said that both countries had agreed that North Korea had to denuclearize.
The talks in California also touched on economic and environmental issues.
The two leaders spent nearly six hours together on Friday and another three hours on Saturday morning at the sprawling Sunnylands retreat in California.
While briefly appearing for a stroll together on Saturday, Barack Obama described their progress as “terrific”.
After the talks concluded, Tom Donilon told a press conference that President Barack Obama had described to Xi Jinping the types of problems the US has faced from cyber-intrusion and theft of intellectual property.
He gave no details but said Barack Obama underscored that Washington had no doubt that the intrusions were coming from inside China.
Earlier, Xi Jinping’s senior foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi told reporters that China wanted co-operation rather than friction with the US over cyber-security.
“Cyber-security should not become the root cause of mutual suspicion and friction, rather it should be a new bright spot in our co-operation,” he said.
On North Korea, Tom Donilon said the two leaders had achieved “quite a bit of alignment”.
President Barack Obama and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have ended a two-day summit in California
“They agreed that North Korea has to denuclearize, that neither country will accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state and that we would work together to deepen co-operation and dialogue to achieve denuclearization,” he said.
Immediately after the summit ended, the White House issued a statement saying the two nations had agreed to work together for the first time to reduce hydrofluorocarbons – a potent greenhouse gas.
The White House appears to be delighted by the summit, with Tom Donilon repeatedly calling it “unique”.
The summit was the first meeting between the two leaders since Xi Jinping became China’ president in March.
It was billed as a chance for the two to get to know each other.
Speaking after his first session of talks with Xi Jinping on Friday, Barack Obama described cyber-security as “uncharted waters”.
On Friday, the Guardiannewspaper published what it described as a US presidential order to national security and intelligence officials to draw up a list of potential overseas targets for US cyber-attacks.
The White House has not commented on the report.
The US and China are the world’s two largest economies. The US runs a huge trade deficit with China, which hit an all-time high of $315 billion last year.
Last week, the Chinese firm Shuanghui agreed to buy US pork producer Smithfield for $4.7 billion – the largest takeover of a US company by a Chinese rival.
The deal highlights the growing power of Chinese firms and their desire to secure global resources.
US producers want China to raise the value of its currency, the renminbi, which would make Chinese goods more expensive for foreign buyers and possibly hold back exports.
Beijing has responded with a gradual easing of restrictions on trading in the renminbi.
Intellectual property is also an area of concern for US firms.
A report last month by the independent Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property put losses to the US from IP theft at as much as $300 billion a year. It said 50-80% of the thefts were thought to be by China.
Ahead of the summit, White House officials told reporters hacking would be raised, amid growing concern in the US over alleged intrusions from China in recent months.
Last month the Washington Post, citing a confidential Pentagon report, reported that Chinese hackers had accessed designs for more than two dozen US weapons systems.
The US also directly accused Beijing of targeting US government computers as part of a cyber-espionage campaign in a report in early May.
North Korean and South Korean officials are holding their first government-level talks in more than two years.
The talks are taking place at Panmunjom, a military compound in the demilitarized zone between the two countries.
The meeting comes after months of rising tension and war-like gestures from both sides.
They culminated in the suspension in April of all activity in the Kaesong joint commercial zone.
Kaesong Industrial Complex, which is seen as a symbol of North-South co-operation, had run successfully just inside North Korea for more than eight years.
With tensions between the two countries easing, South Korea invited the North to high level talks in Seoul, but Pyongyang said it wanted lower-level discussions first.
The South Korean delegation hopes to negotiate plans for ministerial-level talks later this week.
At the end of the morning session, a spokesman for the South’s Unification Ministry said the two sides had discussed technical issues for the future ministerial meeting.
“The atmosphere of today’s meeting… was such that the talks have gone smoothly without any argument,” Kim Hyung-suk told reporters in Seoul.
North Korean and South Korean officials hold key talks at Panmunjom, a military compound in the demilitarized zone between the two countries
The South’s three-person delegation – led by the director of the Unification Ministry – left Seoul just before 08:00 for Panmunjom.
Ties between the two Koreas deteriorated earlier this year in the wake of the North’s nuclear test on February 12.
Pyongyang withdrew its workers from Kaesong in April, apparently angered by tightened UN sanctions in the wake of the nuclear test and annual South Korea-US military drills.
Around 53,000 North Korean workers are employed at the Kaesong factory complex by more than 120 South Korean factories.
The zone is a key source of revenue for the North and the biggest contributor to inter-Korean trade.
Last Thursday the North offered talks with the South on the resumption of operations and said it would reconnect a Red Cross hotline if Seoul – which had been seeking such talks – agreed.
The talks closely follow a summit in California between US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Both leaders agreed that North Korea had to denuclearize and that neither country would accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said on Saturday.
Liu Hui, the brother-in-law of imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, has been sentenced to 11 years in jail on fraud charges by a court in China.
The lawyer defending Liu Hui said the jail term was out of all proportion to the alleged offence.
He said it should have been treated as a civil dispute, not a criminal matter.
Liu Xiaobo was already in jail when he won the Nobel Prize in 2010 for campaigning for peaceful democratic change in China.
Since then his wife, Liu Xia – sister of Liu Hui – has been held under strict house arrest in what she says is an official vendetta against his family.
This latest sentencing of a close family member is being seen as further political persecution.
It comes at the same time as China’s President Xi Jinping is in America for talks with President Obama, a summit at which the US side says the issue of human rights is being raised.
Liu Hui, the brother-in-law of imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, has been sentenced to 11 years in jail on fraud charges
The court in Huairou, north-east of Beijing, convicted Liu Hui, a manager in a property company, of defrauding a man of 3 million yuan ($490,000) along with a colleague.
“As Liu Hui’s defence attorney I definitely do not approve of this verdict, because we see this fundamentally as a civil issue, and it fundamentally does not constitute criminal fraud,” lawyer Mo Shaoping told reporters.
He said Liu Hui maintained his innocence.
A tearful Liu Xia accused the authorities of persecuting her family.
“I absolutely cannot accept this. This is simply persecution,” she said before being driven away from the court.
“This is completely an illegal verdict.”
She said she had “completely lost hope” in the government, adding: “I can’t even leave my house.”
Police pulled journalists away from the car as Liu Xia was driven off.
Liu Xiaobo, who won the prize despite fierce Chinese opposition, was jailed in 2009 for helping to draft a manifesto – Charter 08 – calling for political change.
He is currently serving 11 years in jail for inciting the subversion of state power.
Liu Xia, also a known activist, has been living in her Beijing apartment with no internet or phone access and limited weekly visits with family.
She had been allowed to leave her apartment to attend the court hearing.
Night Stalker Richard Ramirez, who spent 24 years in prison after a spree of murders in California, died Friday, but not before turning a shocking shade of green.
The serial killer, who left satanic signs at murder scenes and mutilated victims’ bodies during a reign of terror in the 1980s, died reportedly after “sitting up in his bed doing stretches” just the day before at Marin County Hospital.
Richard Ramirez, 53, had been taken from San Quentin’s death row to a hospital where authorities said he died of liver failure, according to a source at the New York Post.
The source said Richard Ramirez exhibited the ghastly-hued skin Thursday and was up and moving around his hospital bed.
“He was the color green,” said the Post‘s source.
“He looked like a green highlighter pen.”
Richard Ramirez had been housed on death row for decades and was awaiting execution, even though it has been years since anyone has been put to death in California. He was convicted in 1989 of 13 murders, five attempted murders, 11 s**ual assaults and 14 burglaries, which terrorized Southern California in 1984 and 1985. His charges included rape, so**my and o**l co****tion.
Though he died of liver failure, the exact cause of the ailment has not been released due to federal patient privacy laws.
At his first court appearance, Richard Ramirez raised a hand with a pentagram drawn on it and yelled: “Hail, Satan.”
Night Stalker Richard Ramirez had shockingly green skin the day before he died
His marathon trial, which ended in 1989, was a horror show. Courtroom observers wept when survivors of some of the attacks testified.
Richard Ramirez was finally run down and beaten in 1985 by residents of an East Los Angeles neighborhood while attempting a carjacking. They recognized him because his picture had appeared that day in the news media.
The trial of Richard Ramirez took a year, but the entire case which was bogged down in pretrial motions and appeals lasted four years, one of the longest criminal cases in U.S. history.
Because of the notoriety of the case, more than 1600 prospective jurors were called.
On his way to a jail bus, he sneered in reaction to the verdict, muttering: “Big deal. Death always went with the territory. See you in Disneyland.”
The black-clad killer, unrepentant to the end, made his comment in an underground garage after a jury recommended the death penalty for his gruesome crimes.
Inexplicably, Richard Ramirez, a native of El Paso, Texas, had a following of young women admirers who came to the courtroom regularly and sent him love notes.
Some visited him in prison, and in 1996 Richard Ramirez was married to 41-year-old freelance magazine editor Doreen Lioy in a visiting room at San Quentin prison.
Relatives called Doreen Lioy a recluse who lived in a fantasy world.
In 2006, the California Supreme Court upheld Richard Ramirez’s convictions and death sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court refused in 2007 to review the convictions and sentence.
Two years later, San Francisco police said DNA linked Richard Ramirez to the April 10, 1984, killing of 9-year-old Mei Leung.
She was killed in the basement of a residential hotel in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood where she lived with her family.
Richard Ramirez had been staying at nearby hotels.
He previously was tied to killings in Northern California. He was charged in the shooting deaths of Peter Pan, 66, and his wife, Barbara, in 1985 just before his arrest in Los Angeles, but he was never tried in that case.
Kim Kardashian tweeted a very special birthday message to Kanye West, the father of her unborn child, for his 36th birthday anniversary.
Kim Kardashian, 32, created a photo collage of her favorite magical moments with Kanye West on Saturday in honor of his birthday.
“Happy Birthday to my best friend, the ❤of my life, my soul!!!! I love you beyond words!” Kim Kardashian tweeted along with the sentimental collection.
Kim Kardashian tweeted a very special birthday message to Kanye West
The selection of six photos that Kim Kardashian chose to express her devotion were a balance of moments captured both in their public life dressed up in designer dresses and tuxedos, and private glimpses of them enjoying one-on-one time.
In one picture, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are seen snuggling up closely together in a sweet self portrait, while in another they are raising glasses in a cheers – no doubt to each other – over a romantic dinner.
As they stand arm-in-arm dressed head-to-toe in white, there is no doubt that the power couple are made for each other.
With their first baby due this summer and his highly-anticipated new album set for release on June 18, it is no doubt going to be a big year for Kanye West.
While Kim Kardashian was more than willing to make a very public birthday greetings to her future baby daddy, just two days earlier she complained about living life in the spotlight.
She unleashed a rather perplexing Twitter rant about the paparazzi and wanting to have a break from the spotlight 24/7.
“I get I live a public life,” she wrote on Thursday.
“I live my life on a reality show for the world to see. I love my life, but when the cameras stop, that doesn’t mean I don’t want a break too.
“I’m 32 yrs old now, about to be a mom. I’m not 25 clubbing around LA anymore.”
Hours after her plea for privacy, Kim Kardashian was back on Twitter posting selfies and sharing video taken inside her home.
Beyoncé posted a set of holiday pictures with her daughter Blue Ivy Carter rested atop her superstar mother’s chest in a hot tub as they vacationed on a tropical island.
Beyoncé, 31, shed her strong stage presence as she lovingly held her daughter in the bubbling waters.
Her hair was wrapped in a leopard-print turban and gigantic circular sunglasses shielded her face in the sure-to-be iconic black and white image of the pop legend and her beloved daughter.
As the series of photographs continued on Beyoncé’s Tumblr, color drenched the images.
Beyoncé and her daughter Blue Ivy Carter on a tropical vacation
In one, Beyoncé posed on her bike wearing a white top in front of greenery and palm trees, and not a trace of make-up could be seen on the L’Oreal model’s face.
Wearing the same white cover-up in another photo, Beyoncé stood and reveled a silver bikini and her toned bare legs.
Later, as the sun set, Beyoncé took to the grass to lie down in a colorful frock, her arms outstretched to her sides.
Her latest images continued with pictures of perfectly aligned palm trees and cosy knit socks with rolled-up leggings.
The singer is taking a bit of a breather before she picks up the U.S. leg of her The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour.
Beyoncé’s next tour date is in Los Angeles at the end of June, and she will then embark upon a whopping 22 other U.S. cities.
Serena Williams won a second French Open title 11 years after her first with a convincing win over defending champion Maria Sharapova.
World number one Serena Williams, 31, was pushed at times but took control midway through the first set, winning 6-4, 6-4, in one hour and 46 minutes.
Serena Williams has now claimed 16 Grand Slam singles titles, moving her to within two of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, who have 18 each.
With an unbeaten run that stands at 31 matches, Serena Williams will be strongly favoured to add to that tally at Wimbledon next month.
“Today, when I won, I was trying to win the French Open. I wasn’t trying to get to number 16,” said Serena Williams.
“I think it’s really special. I feel like I definitely want to continue my journey.”
Maria Sharapova had come into Saturday’s final promising to “try something different” after failing to beat Serena Williams in their last 12 matches, stretching back to 2004.
Key to the Russian’s hopes was defending a serve that has been plagued by double faults in recent times.
At 0-40 in the opening game, things already looked bleak for Maria Sharapova, but she dug in and fired down an ace and one terrific second serve as she saw off four break points.
The second seed took that momentum into the following game to break the mighty american serve, and looked well set in the next at 40-15 – before Williams sparked into life.
A heavy forehand winner helped her back into the game and when she thumped away a smash on break point, Serena Williams let out a “come on!” that was the equal of Maria Sharapova’s early efforts.
Serena Williams won a second French Open title 11 years after her first with a convincing win over defending champion Maria Sharapova
Four games in a row put Serena Williams in command at 4-2, but Maria Sharapova showed the grit that has taken her to four Grand Slam titles as she battled her way back to 4-4 in some fierce baseline exchanges.
With the pressure on, Serena Williams raised her intensity still further and produced the kind of hitting that even Maria Sharapova cannot live with, forcing the Russian into a forehand error in game nine before serving out the set after 51 minutes.
That was five minutes longer than Sara Errani had managed to delay Serena Williams in their entire semi-final, and Maria Sharapova continued to cling on gamely.
She saved five break points in a gripping first game of the second set but, unable to trouble Serena Williams’ serve, she found herself under pressure again moments later.
Serena Williams proved just how much she has improved her movement on clay as she slid out wide for one defensive backhand on the way to breaking in game three, and she would not relinquish the advantage.
The 15,000 spectators in the main Chatrier stadium cheered Maria Sharapova as she held serve from 30-30 with defeat looming, but she was not about to be given a reprieve by her opponent.
Serena Williams demonstrated once again that her serve is the best shot in the game, firing down an ace to secure the title and dropping to her knees in celebration.
Maria Sharapova said: “She played a great match. She played strong, she played deep, served really good; served better than I did. She took her chances.”
Princess Madeleine of Sweden turned fairytale bride today as she married her British-American banker beau Christopher O’Neill watched by European royals and the cream of New York society.
“Party princess”, 30, the youngest of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia’s three children, married British-born financier Chris O’Neill, 38, in Stockholm’s Royal Palace today wearing a breathtaking Valentino wedding gown.
The Earl and Countess of Wessex and Princess Charlene of Monaco were among those looking on as the groom placed a tender kiss on Princess Madeleine’s hand during today’s ceremony.
Blue-blooded Europe mingled with Manhattan’s elite and a sprinkling of pop aristocracy as the couple exchanged vows in the lavish ceremony.
Chris O’Neill, 38, appeared to be fighting back tears as the princess walked down the aisle with her father at the Royal Palace in the capital.
Among the high-profile guests in the chapel were Duran Duran’s John Taylor, Prince Nikolaos of Greece, Karl-Johan Persson – CEO of fashion company Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), and Roxette stars Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson.
Princess Madeleine and Chris O’Neill met after she fled to the U.S. in 2010 with a broken heart.
She crossed the Atlantic following the breakdown of her first engagement to Swedish attorney Jonas Bergstrom amid speculation that he had cheated on her.
But the radiant princess – and fourth in line to the Swedish throne – got her happy ending in the Royal Palace today, watched by a glittering congregation.
Princess Madeleine’s showstopping wedding gown – made from silk organdies with applications of ivory Chantilly lace – was created by master couturier Valentino.
Small vertical pleats at the waist opened into a full skirt with a flowing, four-metre train.
Princess Madeleine of Sweden turned fairytale bride as she married American banker Christopher O’Neill watched by European royals and the cream of New York society
Her six-metre long cathedral veil was also made from silk organdies, edged with tulle and embellished with Chantilly lace flowers.
Princess Madeleine wore her hair swept back from her face in a simple yet elegant style.
The low bun was held in place by her royal tiara, which was decorated with a delicate garland of fresh orange blossoms.
Guests enjoyed hymns in Swedish and English during the wedding, along with performances from Roxette singer Marie Fredriksson and Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera star Peter Joback.
Smiling Princess Madeleine read her wedding vows in Swedish, while Chris O’Neil delivered his in English.
The financier is a partner and head of research at Noster Capital, a hedge fund with offices in London and New York.
The couple announced their engagement in October 2012.
Their wedding celebrations began last night with a private dinner at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm hosted by the king and queen.
Following today’s ceremony a reception will be held at Stockholm’s Drottningholm Palace, the royal family’s private residence.
Princess Madeleine, who is also known as the Duchess of Halsingland and Gastrikland, lives in New York where she works for the World Childhood Foundation, a non-profit group founded by her mother.
Chris O’Neill will not hold a title after the wedding as he has elected to remain a private citizen and not be granted royal rank.
Princess Madeleine became known as Sweden’s party princess during her early 20s, when she was frequently spotted at Stockholm’s high-end nightclubs.
Countless column inches were also devoted to Princess Madeleine’s stylish wardrobe and glamorous lifestyle.
Scott Thorson, who was Liberace’s one time toy-boy companion, claims he had an even more famous lover, in the shape of late superstar Michael Jackson.
Scott Thorson – whose memoir inspired HBO’s Behind the Candelabra starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon – now alleges he had a six to seven years relationship with Michael Jackson.
Liberace’s 54-year-old former partner claims Michael Jackson and the piano genius used to bond at his Palm Springs compound as they both recovered from plastic surgery.
“Liberace introduced me and Michael in the late 1970’s,” Scott Thorson toldThe Sun.
“It was right around the time Thriller was coming out and Michael and I became lovers.”
“Our relationship went on for six or seven years, Michael was very generous, too. He treated me well.”
Scott Thorson previously talked about his relationship with Michael Jackson after he gave an interview to The National Enquirer back in 2004 claiming their first s**ual encounter took place at the home of late female impersonator Danny La Rue.
Scott Thorson, who was Liberace’s one time toy-boy companion, claims he was the lover of late superstar Michael Jackson
“I was standing only a few feet away from Michael when he motioned with his hand to come over to him and join him on the bed,” Scott Thorson revealed.
“I climbed onto the bed – our lovemaking session lasted about an hour.”
Behind The Candelabra tells the story of the bizarre love affair between Scott Thorson, then 17, when he met Liberace, who was 57 at the time.
Liberace lavished his much younger lover with gifts but it came at a price as he demanded that he get plastic surgery so that he could look more like him.
After their break-up, Scott Thorson launched an unsuccessful $113 million lawsuit against Liberace who died of suspected AIDS in 1986.
Ironically, Scott Thorson has only just seen HBO’s mini-film about their relationship after he was jailed in Reno while awaiting sentencing for burglary charges.
Scott Thorson – who is currently living at The Bunny Ranch Br***el after the owner bailed him out – liked the way that Matt Damon portrayed him.
“Matt Damon did a great job playing me and he did a great job in bed with Michael Douglas too,” he revealed.
But he’s angry that he did not make more money out of the project and that the two stars did not come and bail him out recently.
“Hollywood turned its back on me. Matt Damon or Michael Douglas would not bail me out, even though I offered to talk to them about the film,” Scott Thorson complained.
Jessica Simpson is reportedly being sued for partaking in a baby picture conspiracy with OK! Magazine and Getty Images.
Jessica Simpson, 32, is being sued for allegedly posing with a Louisiana couple’s infant and passing off the child as her own on the cover of the celebrity weekly magazine.
According to the suit, originally reported by The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, Jessica Simpson was involved in the plot to make more money after she had already signed a six-figure deal with another publication for the rights to the first pictures of her actual child.
Christopher Hurst and Tracy Gregory took their teenage daughter and infant son to the Dillard’s department store in Metairie on October 2011 to meet Jessica Simpson, who was promoting her clothing line, according to the lawsuit.
As they were standing in line to get the star’s autograph, Christopher Hurst alleges a stranger suggested he allow Jessica Simpson – who was pregnant with her first child at the time – to hold the infant.
Jessica Simpson sued for passing off Christopher Hurst and Tracy Gregory’s child as her own in baby picture conspiracy
Christopher Hurst agreed, but when he handed his son to Jessica Simpson, “at least one previously unseen photographer hurriedly moved to the front of the line and began taking pictures of the child”, alleges the suit.
The couple were taken aback when months later OK! Magazine published the picture of Jessica Simpson with their child on the cover of its April 16, 2012 issue.
The headline read, My First Days as a New Mom, giving the impression that it was Jessica Simpson’s baby.
The lawsuit claims another publication had paid Jessica Simpson $800,000 to publish her first baby picture, but that she and OK! devised the plan to pass off another baby as her own in order to make more money.
The infant’s parents claim they were never offered and therefore never signed a release form allowing their son’s photo to be used.
The couple are suing Jessica Simpson, OK! Magazine, and Getty Images – who had the photos for sale or licensing on its website until March – for damages in excess of $75,000.
“What happened in this situation was wrong,” said Michael North, the couple’s attorney.
“It’s not something that ever should happen. Our immediate aim is to find out how it happened and why it happened and determine who is responsible.”
Barack Obama snapped at staffers as he realized they forgot to put his remarks on the podium moments after he tried to begin health care speech in San Jose, California.
“It is wonderful to see all of you, and I want to thank everybody who is here,” Barack Obama began.
“I think there’s only one problem, and that is that my remarks are not sitting here.”
“People!” Barack Obama barked, half-smiling.
“By Friday afternoon, things get a little challenged.”
Barack Obama was in San Jose to remind California journalists and Obamacare-watchers about a partnership between his administration and Spanish-language media networks like Univision, La Opinión and Telemundo.
The White House hopes to leverage those networks’ reach into Spanish-speaking households in California, Texas and Florida in order to encourage millions of Americans in Hispanic households to enter health care exchanges that will open for enrollment in October.
Overall, an administration official said during a background conference call Thursday, the president’s staff hopes to enroll 7 million Americans, including 2.6 million young people.
Nearly 6 million Californians will be eligible for their state’s Obamacare marketplace, 2.6 million of whom will be eligible to receive tax credits or other subsidies to pay their premium.
Nearly half of that subsidy-eligible group is Hispanic, and without their participation the effort will likely fall flat.
So what might have been a victory lap in politically comfortable territory quickly became an embarrassment.
While the president waited for a staffer to deliver his speech, a reporter in the crowd asked if he would answer a question.
“I’m going to have a – I’m going to answer a question at the end of the remarks,” Barack Obama said, seemingly unwilling to improvise, “but I want to make sure that we get the remarks out.”
“People!” he shouted again.
Barack Obama snapped at staffers as he realized they forgot to put his remarks on the podium moments after he tried to begin health care speech in San Jose
“Oh, goodness. Oh, somebody is tripping. Folks are sweating back there right now.”
After the requisite amount of laughter from the comic-in-chief, the speech arrived. But moments later the National Republican Congressional Committee tweeted: “There’s never a teleprompter around when you need one.”
The group standing behind Barack Obama, representing the Spanish-language networks and the California Endowment, which has pumped millions into a campaign to enroll low-income Californians, seemed uneasy at the outset because their issue became a secondary concern after a new scandal brewed overnight related to a U.S. digital eavesdropping program.
“You can’t have 100 percent security and also then have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience,” the president said in defense of the longstanding snooping program.
“We’re going to have to make some choices as a society.”
And minutes after protesters shouted at Barack Obama’s motorcade about the Keystone XL fuel pipeline, reporters’ interest was clearly more focused on the eavesdropping scandal than on his health care initiative.
Making matters worse for the second-term president, Obamacare itself is reaching new levels of unpopularity in the final months before it fully goes into effect.
An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released this week shows 49% of Americans say they believe the Affordable Care Act is a bad idea, compared to 37% who support it.
Barack Obama’s troubles speaking off-the-cuff have been well-documented since the days of his first presidential campaign. During one 2008 appearance in Bristol, Virginia, Barack Obama fumbled over a hypothetical description of a small child with asthma who didn’t have proper preventive health care.
“Everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma,” then-candidate Barack Obama explained, “they end up taking up a hospital bed, it costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early and they got some treatment, and a, a breathalyzer – or inhalator, not a breathalyzer.”
“I haven’t had much sleep in the last 48 hours.”
“What they’ll say is, <<Well, it costs too much money>>,” Barack Obama continued, “but you know what? It would cost, about… It – it – it would cost about the same as what we would spend – It – Over the course of 10 years it would cost what it would cost us – All right. Okay. We’re going to – It – It would cost us about the same as it would cost for about – hold on one second. I can’t hear myself. But I’m glad you’re fired up, though. I’m glad.”
Observers at the event noted that few in the crowd were cheering, yelling or otherwise interrupting Barack Obama.
The president later made history when his handlers persuaded the Indian government to allow him the use of a teleprompter when he addressed that nation’s parliament in November 2010. The device had never been permitted there before.
“It looks like a podium,” one mystified Indian lawmaker said, according to a Washington Post reporter on the scene.
According to the UN’ food agency, around 1.3 billion tonnes of food, or one third of what is produced for human consumption, gets lost or wasted every year.
Pope Francis denounced this week what he called a “culture of waste” in an increasingly consumerist world and said throwing away good food was like stealing from poor people.
“Our grandparents used to make a point of not throwing away leftover food. Consumerism has made us accustomed to wasting food daily and we are unable to see its real value,” Pope Francis said at his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square.
“Throwing away food is like stealing from the table of those who are poor and hungry,” he said. Since taking office in March, Pope Francis has said he wants the 1.2-billion-strong Roman Catholic Church to defend the poor and to practice greater austerity itself.
He has also made several calls for global financial reform.
Pope Francis denounces a “culture of waste” in an increasingly consumerist world
In the industrialized world the majority of waste is by consumers, often because they buy too much and have to throw away what they do not manage to eat.
A UN-backed study released on Wednesday said simple measures such as better storage and reducing over-sized portions would sharply reduce the vast amount of food going to waste.
In US restaurants, diners wasted 9% of the meals they bought, partly because of a trend to increase the size of everything from cheeseburgers to soft drinks, said the report by the World Resources Institute and the UN Environment Programme.
Pope Francis said the “culture of waste” was especially deplorable given the prevalence of hunger in the world. The UN says hunger affects some 870 million people, while 2 billion suffer from at least one nutritional deficiency.
The Argentinean-born pontiff warned that too much focus on money and materialism meant financial market dips were viewed as tragedies while human suffering had become normal and ignored.
“In this way people are discarded as if they were garbage,” Pope Francis said.
Vladimir Putin and his wife of 30 years Lyudmila Putina had gone on national television to tell the world their marriage was over.
But it appears many Russians still refusing to believe that a Russian president could even contemplate getting a divorce.
People think that Vladimir Putin, 60, and his 55-year-old wife had responsibilities to the Russian people and to God and could never divorce.
Such disbelief is understandable after all, it’s 300 years since the last time a Russian leader annulled his marriage.
That was Peter the Great, who dispatched his spouse to a nunnery.
Vladimir Putin and Lyudmila Putina interview, during an interval at the ballet, was the strangest affair and came across as highly stage-managed.
Up until this interview, the private life of Vladimir Putin had been taboo for Russia’s state media.
Reporters would never dare to ask the Kremlin leader about his marital problems.
Vladimir Putin and his wife of 30 years Lyudmila Putina had gone on national television to tell the world their marriage was over
On Thursday night, though, a state television correspondent posed the hitherto unthinkable questions: was it true that the president and his wife were living apart? Were they divorced?
It’s hard to believe such uncomfortable quizzing could have gone ahead without official say-so.
The reporter sounded nervous; at one point she apologized for mentioning the D-word – “divorce”.
So why is the marriage over?
Judging from what was said in the interview, it comes down to Vladimir Putin spending too much time at work and Lyudmila Putina’s loathing of being in the public eye. But could there be another reason?
On Moscow radio, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked about “rumors” that another woman had come into the president’s life. Dmitry Peskov denied it, dismissing claims as “gossip, rumors and speculation”.
It’s unclear how the divorce will affect Russia’s perception of their president.
Some Russians will clearly be disappointed that the Kremlin leader is pushing ahead with plans for a divorce.
Yesterday’s edition of Izvestia warns that President Vladimir Putin risks alienating a key section of his supporters – married women.
And yet there has been a degree of sympathy and support for Vladimir Putin in the media and in blogosphere; some Russians praise him for being honest about his private life and his marital problems, and for showing that a Russian president is no demigod: he’s just human, like everyone else.
Texas actress Shannon Richardson has been charged with threatening President Barack Obama after allegedly posting ricin-laced letters to him.
Shannon Richardson, 35, a pregnant mother of five, first accused her husband Nathaniel of sending the letters, but authorities say she sent them.
Agents in protective suits searched her home in New Boston on Wednesday.
Shannon Rogers has had small roles in The Vampire Diaries and The Walking Dead, according to the film database IMDB.
On Friday, Shannon Richardson made a brief appearance in a courtroom in Texarkana, Texas, accused of sending a threatening communication to the president.
The federal charge carries up to 10 years in prison, according to US attorney’s office spokeswoman Davilyn Walston.
Officials say Shannon Richardson contacted the FBI on May 30 to implicate her estranged husband in the letters, which were also sent to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
But investigators found a number of inconsistencies in her story and she failed a lie-detector test, according to an FBI affidavit.
During an interview with authorities on Thursday, Shannon Richardson is said to have admitted posting the letters, knowing they contained ricin.
Shannon Richardson has been charged with threatening President Barack Obama after allegedly posting ricin-laced letters to him
But she claimed her husband Nathaniel Richardson had typed them before making her post them, the affidavit states.
Three letters were sent from Shreveport, Louisiana, on May 20, without a return address.
No charges have been filed against her husband, Nathaniel Richardson.
His lawyer, John Delk, told the Associated Press news agency on Friday his client was innocent and pleased with his wife’s arrest.
John Delk said his client, a 33-year-old military mechanic at a Texarkana Army depot, was in the process of getting a divorce from his wife, whom he married in October 2011.
The lawyer said the couple were expecting their first child this October and that Shannon Richardson has five other children from previous relationships.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued a statement on Friday thanking investigators “for their outstanding work in apprehending a suspect”.
The letter sent to him referenced his support of stricter gun control, reportedly containing a threat to “shoot in the face” anyone who came for the sender’s guns.
In a separate case, a Mississippi man was charged earlier this month with sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama, a judge and a state senator.
In that case, James Dutschke is accused of sending the letters to frame a local Tupelo Elvis impersonator, with whom he had reportedly fallen out.
Another man has been arrested in Washington state in connection with letters sent to a judge, a local air force base, a post office and the president.
Princess Madeleine of Sweden, the fourth in line to the throne, is set to marry US-British businessman Christopher O’Neill in a ceremony in Stockholm on Saturday.
Princess Madeleine, 30, has returned to the Swedish capital from New York, where she met Christopher O’Neill two years ago.
The ceremony is not expected to be as lavish as the wedding of her sister, Crown Princess Victoria, in 2010.
Sweden’s royal family, particularly Princess Victoria, enjoys wide support among members of the public.
Princess Madeleine, also known as the Duchess of Halsingland and Gastrikland, met Christopher O’Neill, 38, in New York while she was working for the non-profit organization, World Childhood Foundation.
The youngest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia has been keeping a low profile since moving to the US in 2010 after her engagement to a Swedish lawyer came to an abrupt end.
Princess Madeleine has also had a complicated relationship with the Swedish press, who dubbed her the “party princess” when she was spotted frequenting high-end Stockholm clubs in her early twenties.
Princess Madeleine of Sweden is set to marry US-British businessman Christopher O’Neill in a ceremony in Stockholm on Saturday
The couple will tie the knot in Stockholm’s Royal Chapel before a horse and carriage procession through the medieval old town of Gamla Stan.
Despite some 600 guests, the wedding is expected to be more low-key than her sister’s ceremony in 2010, when the whole of the Swedish capital was transformed for the celebrations.
“It won’t be anything like [Crown Princess] Victoria’s wedding. Firstly, because Madeleine is not a successor to the throne,” Roger Lundgren, the editor of a Swedish magazine about royalty told Associated Press news agency.
“Secondly, this is a private wedding – the king is paying for it himself,” he adds.
The royal guest list is said to include the UK’s Earl and Countess of Wessex, Prince Edward and Sophie, Princess Takamado of Japan and princes and princesses from Norway, Denmark, Greece, Luxembourg and Monaco.
The Royal Court said on Friday that Princess Madeleine’s wedding dress was made by Italian designer Valentino Garavani.
Her fiancé, who enjoys dual British-American citizenship, has declined a royal rank in Sweden which would have required him to become a Swedish citizen.
Princess Madeleine and Christopher O’Neill are expected to return to the US and continue working after the wedding.
Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro was indicted on 329 charges on Friday including kidnapping and rape.
The indictment covers the period from August of 2002, when the first of the three women discovered in his Cleveland home last month disappeared, until February of 2007.
Ariel Castro, 52, was indicted for one act of aggravated murder – for purposely and with prior calculation and design causing the unlawful termination of another’s pregnancy.
He was also indicted on 139 counts of rape, 177 counts of kidnapping, seven counts of gross sexual imposition, three counts of felonious assault and one count of possession of criminal tools.
Ariel Castro will be arraigned on those charges next week and a trial judge will then be assigned.
“Today’s indictments represent a first major step in the criminal justice process,” said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty.
When the indictment process is complete, the County Prosecutor’s Capital Review Committee will consider whether this case is appropriate to attach the death penalty.
Ariel Castro is accused of kidnapping Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight and holding them captive along with 6-year-old Jocelyn he fathered with Berry.
His attorneys have said he will plead not guilty to any indictment.
Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro was indicted on 329 charges including kidnapping and rape
Ariel Castro has been in the Cuyahoga County Jail since his arrest on May 6. He was charged on May 8 and was jailed on $8 million bond.
He was taken off “suicide prevention” watch on Wednesday after being monitored for the past month.
Jail logs released on Wednesday also show Ariel Castro has been visited multiple times by relatives, but did not list which family members paid a visit to the suspect, News Channel 5 reported.
They also reveal that he watched a lot of television, spent a lot of time running in place and has met with his defense attorneys. He has refused time out of his cell on at least two occasions.
They show his cells being checked for contraband items – and none being found.
Jail logs last month noted that Ariel Castro spends most of his time in his cell resting or asleep, with breaks for pacing, showers and cell cleaning.
The logs, made every 10 minutes while he was on suicide watch, documented his movements at the Cuyahoga County jail.
Ariel Castro’s attorney, Craig Weintraub, described Castro’s cell as a 9-by-9-foot cell containing a metal bed with a thin mattress covered in plastic, a metal sink, and some kind of mirror.
Previous logs said Ariel Castro walked around the cell naked early in his confinement, though he later covered up.
The logs show Ariel Castro periodically asks for the time, looks out the window and stares at the ceiling. Other entries show him thanking guards for bringing his breakfast and wishing them a good day.
Ariel Castro, a former school bus driver, was arrested May 6 after one of the women, Amanda Berry, kicked out part of a locked door of his house and yelled to neighbors to help her and call police.
Police quickly arrived and found Amanda Berry in the street before racing through the house, freeing Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight. The women were admitted to a hospital but have been released.
The three disappeared between 2002 and 2004, when they were in their teens or early 20s, authorities said.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been admitted to hospital with a lung infection.
Nelson Mandela, 94, is in a “serious but stable condition”, a spokesman for the current president, Jacob Zuma, says.
He has been ill for some days but deteriorated overnight and was transferred to a hospital in Pretoria.
Nelson Mandela led the fight against apartheid, became South Africa’s first black president, and is widely regarded as father of the nation.
He has recently suffered a series of health problems and this is his fifth visit to hospital in two years.
In April Nelson Mandela was released from hospital after a 10-day stay caused by pneumonia.
His illness was described on Saturday as a recurrence of a lung infection, which has troubled him repeatedly.
Nelson Mandela was taken to hospital, from his home in a suburb of Johannesburg, at about 01:30 local time.
Mac Maharaj, South Africa’s presidential spokesman, said he was receiving expert medical care.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been admitted to hospital with a lung infection
Doctors were doing everything possible to make him comfortable and better, he added.
Mac Maharaj said at least one close member of Nelson Mandela’s family was with him in hospital.
“Naturally the immediate members of the family have access to him and it’s always good for the patient that he has been accompanied by one or other of them, and that has happened,” he said.
“President Jacob Zuma, on behalf of government and the nation, wishes Madiba a speedy recovery and requests the media and the public to respect the privacy of Madiba and his family,” Mac Maharaj said in a statement, using the clan name by which Nelson Mandela is often known.
Nelson Mandela served as president from 1994 to 1999.
He was previously imprisoned for 27 years, and is believed to have suffered damaged lungs while working in a prison quarry.
He contracted tuberculosis in the 1980s while being held in jail on the windswept Robben Island.
Nelson Mandela retired from public life in 2004 and has been rarely seen in public since.
There was a row in April when South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) – Nelson Mandela’s party – filmed a visit to see him and broadcast the pictures of him with President Jacob Zuma and other party figures.
Critics called it an invasion of his privacy.
Nelson Mandela awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 jointly with former President FW de Klerk for ending apartheid and bringing democracy to South Africa.
Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin were once Hollywood’s most glamorous couple who became bitter enemies, but now the actor has paid the ultimate compliment to his ex-wife by dubbing her “one of the most beautiful women that ever lived”.
Now happily married to his stunning new wife Hilaria Thomas, Alec Baldwin, 55, seems to no longer bear any hard feelings towards Kim Basinger.
Alec Baldwin, who is expecting a new baby with 28-year-old yoga instructor Hilaria Thomas, was gushing when he spoke about Kim Basinger, 59, to Access Hollywood.
“Ireland’s mother is obviously one of the most beautiful women that ever lived – and even divorce doesn’t muddy my view of that,” the actor said.
“Kim is one of the most beautiful women that ever lived and even Ireland sees that.”
And despite their differences in the past, Alec Baldwin believes his 17-year-old daughter has the perfect role model in her famous mother as she tries to make a name for herself in the modelling world.
Alec Baldwin has paid an ultimate compliment to his ex-wife Kim Basinger by dubbing her one of the most beautiful women that ever lived
The 30 Rock star revealed he is not worried about any potential pitfalls that await stunning Ireland because he believes that she has what it takes to succeed.
He said: “The good news is my daughter is someone who somewhat understands .. it’s hard at that age to have that wisdom that beauty comes and goes.”
During the 1990s Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger were one of the hottest couples at Hollywood before their marriage imploded and they divorced in 2002.
The pair went on to have a bitter custody battle over daughter Ireland which lasted many years, although now an apparent truce has emerged.
These days Alec Baldwin seems to be settling for a more settled domestic life as he prepares to welcome his first child with his second wife Hilaria.
“I never imagined I would be sitting at a table with my wife having a baby and I have a daughter that’s almost 18 years-old. It’s bizarre,” Alec Baldwin admitted.
China’s President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama have begun a two-day summit in Palm Springs, California.
The two leaders spoke of overcoming differences and forging a new relationship between their countries.
Barack Obama spoke of “areas of tension” and mentioned their rivalry in the Pacific, North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, and cyber espionage.
The meeting is the first between the two since Xi Jinping became president in March.
The informal setting is seen as a chance for the leaders of the world’s largest economies to build a rapport amid a slew of high-stakes issues.
The two men – looking relaxed and informal – met and shook hands under a shaded walkway at the Sunnylands estate just outside Palm Springs.
“Our decision to meet so early [in Xi Jinping’s term] signifies the importance of the US-China relationship,” Barack Obama said.
He said the US welcomed the rise of a peaceful China and wanted “economic order where nations are playing by the same rules”.
He also called for both countries to work together to tackle cyber security.
“Inevitably there are areas of tension between our countries,” he added.
Xi Jinping said he and Barack Obama were meeting “to chart the future of China-US relations and draw a blueprint for this relationship”.
He added: “The vast Pacific Ocean has enough space for two large countries like the United States and China.”
China’s President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama have begun a two-day summit in Palm Springs
US lawmakers and human rights groups have also urged Barack Obama to call for the release of 16 high-profile prisoners, including jailed Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo.
Xi Jinping’s US stop is the fourth leg of a trip that has taken him to Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico.
Accompanied by his wife – folk singer Peng Liyuan – President Xi Jinping arrived at California’s Ontario International Airport on Thursday.
The summit, at the sprawling estate in Rancho Mirage, begins with a bilateral meeting followed by a working dinner. Additional talks will take place on Saturday morning.
The meeting comes months earlier than expected – Barack Obama and Xi Jinping had been expected to meet at an economic summit in Russia in September.
“I have the impression that both sides are willing to re-examine their premises, and to see whether they can achieve a relationship based on some perspective that goes beyond the moment – in other words that goes beyond solving immediate problems,” said former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
Ahead of the summit, White House officials told reporters hacking would be raised, amid growing concern in the US over alleged intrusions from China in recent months.
Last month the Washington Post reported that Chinese hackers had accessed designs for more than two dozen US weapons systems, citing a confidential Pentagon report. The US also directly accused Beijing of targeting US government computers as part of a cyber espionage campaign in a report in early May.
China denies any role in state-sponsored hacking – earlier this week its internet chief said China had “mountains of data” pointing to US-based cyber attacks.
Trade issues are also expected to be a priority, as is North Korea – which conducted its third nuclear test in February. Beijing – Pyongyang’s nominal ally – is seen as the only nation capable of bringing meaningful pressure to bear on the communist state.
Other topics up for discussion may include territorial disputes in Asia and human rights in China.
Activists and relatives have urged the US president to raise the issue of the “China 16” – a group of individuals detained on political or religious grounds.
Analysts see the informal talks as a welcome departure from the more formal protocol adopted in US talks with former Chinese leaders.
Xi Jinping is said to have developed a warm relationship with Vice-President Joe Biden after the latter’s China visit in 2011. He also has ties to the US, having spent time in an Iowa town in 1985 as a part of a Chinese farming delegation.
During his US visit in February last year, the then vice-president called for deeper “strategic trust” with the US in a speech.
Observers will be waiting to see whether the summit with Barack Obama will be a first step in that direction.
At least five people were killed and several others injured after a gun rampage in the beachfront city of Santa Monica, California, police say.
The attack began at a house and ended on a college campus where police say they shot the gunman in the library.
Police initially put the death toll at six, but later revised it to five people dead, including the shooter.
The gunman was in his late 20s and had been carrying an assault-style rifle, say witnesses.
President Barack Obama was at a fundraiser not far from where the shooting unfolded just before noon on Friday.
The gunman, dressed in black and wearing an ammunition belt and bullet-proof jacket, began by firing shots at the house, witnesses said.
The property was then engulfed by fire although it is not clear how the blaze started.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the first two victims were the gunman’s father and brother.
Neighbor Jerry Rathner said she witnessed the shooting from her veranda, the Associated Press reported.
The gunman then walked to the street corner, pointed his gun at a driver and told her to pull over.
He signaled to another car with a female driver to slow down and fired into the car several times.
At least five people were killed and several others injured after a gun rampage in the beachfront city of Santa Monica
Authorities say the violence then moved to a street corner near Santa Monica College where the suspect fired at passing vehicles.
The gunman then entered the campus where he is said to have shot a woman as he made his way toward the college library, where students were studying for final exams.
“We saw a woman get shot in the head,” administrative assistant Trena Johnson told the Associated Press.
“I haven’t been able to stop shaking.”
Witness Lisa Peters said she was at the campus radio station when they received a call that shots had been fired.
“We were on lockdown and we all tried to remain calm. I was there for about two and a half hours, but it seemed much longer than that,” she said.
“Suddenly I heard police and swat teams yelling and saying to us that we had to evacuate.
“It was very dramatic. On leaving the campus, we walked right passed a body which we think was the gunman.”
Police Chief Jaqueline Seabrooks said the gunman entered the college library and fired at people but did not hit anyone.
“The officers came in and directly engaged the suspect and he was shot and killed on the scene,” she said.
Student Jimes Gillespie, 20, said he saw a car riddled with bullet holes, shattered glass and a baby seat in the back.
Authorities also took into custody a second man dressed in black with the words “life is a gamble” on the back of his shirt.
“We are not convinced 100% that the suspect who was killed operated in a solo or alone capacity,” Chief Jaqueline Seabrooks added.
Three women were taken to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where a doctor said one patient had died, one was undergoing surgery and the third was in a serious condition.
Three more patients were taken to the UCLA Medical Center Santa Monica to be treated for minor injuries.
The shooting unfolded a few miles from where President Barack Obama was speaking at a political fundraiser.
The Secret Service, which protects Barack Obama, said the incident did not affect his schedule.
A court in Peru has sentenced Florindo Flores, the last of the original leaders of the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) rebels to life in prison.
Judges in the Peruvian capital, Lima, found Florindo Eleuterio Flores Hala, who’s known as Comrade Artemio, guilty of terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering.
Florindo Flores was also ordered to pay a fine of $183 million.
The Shining Path rebels were severely weakened in the 1990s after failing to install a Communist state, but some remain active in southern Peru.
After hours of sentencing, Judge Clotilde Cavero said: “It was proven that he (Artemio) ordered the execution of a number of civilians, police and soldiers.
“It was proven that he belonged to the Central Committee of the Shining Path.
“It was proven that he was the top leader in the (Alto) Huallaga (Valley),” she said.
During the trial which lasted six months, Comrade Artemio, 51, had denied the terrorism charges but referred to himself as a “revolutionary”.
A court in Peru has sentenced Florindo Flores, the last of the original leaders of the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) rebels to life in prison
He was captured and wounded last year after a clash with troops in Alto Huallaga, a former rebel stronghold and cocaine-producing region.
Florindo Flores admitted in December 2011 that the Shining Path had been defeated, and told reporters in his jungle hideout that the remaining rebels were ready to have talks with the government.
But President Ollanta Humala has been adamant that his government will not “negotiate with terrorists”.
“They are cold-blooded killers, who kidnap children, don’t respect basic rights, and try to use terror and extortion to change the democratic nature of the country,” Ollanta Humala said last September.
Inspired by Maoism, the Shining Path tried to lead a “People’s War” to overthrow what they called “bourgeois democracy”.
Almost 70,000 people died or disappeared in more than a decade of internal conflict.
But the rebels were severely weakened after the capture of their founder Abimael Guzman in 1992.
They now remain active in the Ene-Apurimac Valley, a remote jungle region near Cuzco in southern Peru that is dominated by the cocaine trade.
National Doughnut Day is celebrated on June 7 in the U.S. after the Salvation Army established this sweet holiday in 1938 to raise funds during the Great Depression and honor the “lassies”.
They called the female volunteers, who supported the soldiers on the front lines during World War I, serving them delicious meals, and of course, doughnuts. Approximately 250 “lassies” provided assistance to American soldiers in France in 1917.
In 2013, many national chains and smaller shops are offering free doughnuts to celebrate the day.
Krispy Kreme
Krispy Kreme will be giving away a free doughnut of any variety to every customer at participating locations, while supplies last. No purchase necessary.
Dunkin’ Donuts
At Dunkin’ Donuts, customers will receive a free doughnut with any beverage purchase. The chain’s much-buzzed about Glazed Donut Breakfast Sandwich also makes its debut on the permanent menu at Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants today. The 360-calorie sandwich features bacon and a pepper fried egg on a glazed yeast ring donut.
National Doughnut Day is celebrated on June 7 in the U.S. after the Salvation Army established this sweet holiday in 1938 to raise funds during the Great Depression
Tim Hortons
The chain is offering a free doughnut with any purchase on Friday, but be sure to print this Facebook coupon and bring it with you to redeem the deal.
LaMar’s Donuts
LaMar’s is giving away one free doughnut per person with no purchase necessary. Plus, a portion of this week’s sales are being donated to The Salvation Army to the Oklahoma tornado relief effort. (Eat well and do good!)
Entenmann’s
For the third year in a row,Entenmann’s will donate $1 to the Salvation Army for every new “Like” on the company’s Facebook page through June 15, up to $30,000. You can also enter for a chance to win free Entenmann’s doughnuts for a year.
Be sure to check your local and regional doughnut shops for more special promotions and fried freebies. And don’t forget to be social. Pick up a box of doughnuts for co-workers and friends and post about it with the hashtag, #ndd13 and #donut.
In the late 1960s in Ruston, Louisiana, two Bulldog quarterbacks’ life paths diverged sharply.
One was Terry Bradshaw, who went on to attain the top pick in the 1970 NFL Draft, a lengthy career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, four Super Bowl victories, a spot in the Hall of Fame and a second career in front of the camera.
The other one was Phil Robertson, who was ahead of Terry Bradshaw on Louisiana Tech’s depth chart but gave up football with one year of eligibility remaining because the game and any future in it interfered with his heart’s dearest passion: duck-hunting season.
“At the time, no one quite understood what exactly was my problem because I didn’t put football as the ultimate goal, being this stud hoss football player, but what they didn’t see then, they get it now,” Phil Robertson said.
“Because as it turns out, what am I talking about now?”
Phil Robertson, now 67, was referring to the duck call business he started out of his home, which became the Duck Commander regime and led some 40 years later to the creation of Duck Dynasty, which airs on A&E.
Coming out of Vivian, Louisiana’s North Caddo High School, Phil Alexander Robertson said he fielded offers to join the football programs at LSU, Ole Miss, Baylor and Rice, but chose Louisiana Tech to remain close to home. After redshirting his freshman year, he was joined by some soon-to-be famous company on the depth chart.
“The quarterback playing ahead of me, Phil Robertson, loved hunting more than he loved football,” Terry Bradshaw wrote in his autobiography, It’s Only a Game.
“He’d come to practice directly from the woods, squirrel tails hanging out of his pockets, duck feathers on his clothes. Clearly he was a fine shot, so no one complained too much.”
Asked whether there was any truth to the squirrel tails anecdote, Robertson one-upped his own legend:”Squirrel guts! Squirrel guts hangin’ out my pocket!”
He spoke fondly of Terry Bradshaw and of his time with the Bulldogs, though he’s never been back since giving up football. “Bradshaw’s a great guy,” Phil Robertson said.
Phil Robertson was ahead of Terry Bradshaw on Louisiana Tech’s depth chart but gave up football because the game and any future in it interfered with his heart’s dearest passion duck-hunting season
“I was the one that named him the Blond Bomber, and while he was at Tech, I said <<Son, you’ve got the want to and the drive to play in the NFL, you got a great arm>>, and I said <<You got brains>>, and when I got to brains, Bradshaw said, <<Are you serious about the brains?>> I said, <<Well, you have enough sense to play in the NFL>>. As it turned out, I put it this way, he must’ve been smart enough to win four Super Bowls.”
After three letter-winning seasons and with one year of eligibility remaining, Phil Robertson had had enough. He says he spurned interest from the Washington Redskins and went after the ducks full time in the fall while completing his undergraduate degree. “Bradshaw will tell the story better than I do,” Phil Robertson said.
“To put it bluntly, he was very happy that I chose ducks because he moved up a slot. I was blessed with a good arm, or Bradshaw wouldn’t have been playing second string to me.
“But you gotta remember, my heart was then and to this day — let me put it this way: Throwing a touchdown pass to a guy running down the sideline, and he runs down with the ball for six, it was fun. However, in my case, it was much more fun to be standing down in some flooded timber with about 35 or 40 mallard ducks comin’ down on top of me in the woods. That did my heart more good than all the football in the world.”
Phil Robertson went to work as a schoolteacher for several years after graduating from Tech, obtaining his master’s degree in education via night classes, with a concentration in English.
“I kinda liked ol’ Shakespeare and them guys, you know,” Phil Robertson said.
“I went back and got my master’s just in case. I thought, if I ever needed it, I’d have the sheepskin to show people no matter how dumb I looked, actually I was about half intelligent. I got the degree to let ‘em know I wasn’t as dumb as I acted.”
And all the while, Phil Robertson continued to hone his hunting craft. Dissatisfied with commercial duck calls, he began producing and selling his own about 40 years ago. These led to a series of duck-hunting videos that began 25 years ago, which led in turn to stints on the Outdoor Channel. Then came the call from A&E.
“Let’s face it, the bar has been set pretty low for you to get on American television these days. I think they said, <<Why don’t we try a functional family>>, and somebody said well, that’s a novel idea. Round here, you know, there’s no outbursts, belligerence, cursing, gettin’ drunk, dope, no, we’re all Godly people, so maybe it’s a little switch for a change. We’re not actually rednecks, but we probably could be called goodoleboys,” Phil Robertson said.
The Duckmen are under no-shave, no-laundry policies during the 10-week season.
“We shower our bodies during the hunting season, but under no circumstances do we ever wash our clothes,” Phil Robertson said. “We hang ‘em up and let ‘em air dry. We begin to look like the landscape around us, you know what I’m sayin’? Oh, they’ll get it. Hey, life is good, life is good.”
