“Ruby” Karima El-Mahroug, the dancer alleged to have had paid s** as a minor with Italy’s ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told a court that she had lied to investigators in 2010.
Karima El-Mahroug said she had “made up” details about er***c parties held at his villa while Silvio Berlusconi was still Italy’s prime minister.
She was testifying at the trial of three former Silvio Berlusconi aides accused of soliciting prostitutes for him.
Silvio Berlusconi is being tried separately on charges of paying for underage s** with Karima El-Mahroug.
Both the dancer and Silvio Berlusconi have denied the allegations.
Karima El-Mahroug is not charged with any crime in either case and is formally recognised in both as an injured party.
On Friday, Karima El-Mahroug appeared as a witness at the trial of TV presenter Emilio Fede, celebrity agent Lele Mora and Nicole Minetti, a local councilor and former showgirl.
They are accused of providing prostitutes for Silvio Berlusconi’s so-called “bunga-bunga” party evenings.
Karima El-Mahroug, known as “Ruby the Heart Stealer”, told the court she had lied about receiving 187,000 euros from Silvio Berlusconi for attending several of his parties.
She said she “made up” the sum to show off.
“Ruby” Karima El-Mahroug told a court that she had lied to Silvio Berlusconi case investigators in 2010
The dancer also went back on testimony that young women had bathed n**ed at Silvio Berlusconi’s residence, saying they had only stripped off to their lingerie and there had been “no contact” with the ex-PM.
“I am sorry I talked nonsense when I spoke to prosecutors,” said Karima El-Mahroug who is thought to have been aged 17 when she went to the parties.
“The majority of the things I said were not true.”
Prosecutors are expected to make their closing statements on May 31.
Meanwhile, a verdict in Silvio Berlusconi’s trial on charges of sleeping with an underage prostitute is due on June 24.
Earlier this week, a prosecutor who requested a six-year sentence and a lifelong ban from office, said she received threats including a letter with two bullets.
Silvio Berlusconi already faces a four-year prison sentence and five-year ban from public office for a fraud conviction.
He is expected to appeal against the verdict to Italy’s highest court, the Court of Cassation.
Earlier this month Italian prosecutors requested a new corruption trial against Silvio Berlusconi, saying he had allegedly bribed a left-wing senator to defect to his right-wing People of Freedom party (PDL) in 2006.
Silvio Berlusconi claims he is the victim of a campaign by left-wing magistrates.
Reinforcements of Sweden’s specially trained police are being deployed to Stockholm after five nights of unprecedented rioting in the capital’s suburbs.
Police officers are being sent from the cities of Gothenburg and Malmo, both of which saw rioting in recent years, a spokesman said.
“They are trained and educated for the police tasks going on in Stockholm,” Kjell Lindgren said.
Several schools and scores of cars have been burnt in Stockholm this week.
Reinforcements of Sweden’s specially trained police are being deployed to Stockholm after five nights of unprecedented rioting in the capital’s suburbs
The nightly riots began on Sunday in the north-western suburb of Husby, a deprived, largely immigrant area. It is believed they were sparked by the death of a man nearly a week before, who was shot by police after he allegedly threatened to kill them with a machete.
The unrest has since spread around the city, with groups of youths stoning police and firefighters summoned to tackle arson attacks.
The rioting has raised questions about the success of the country’s attempts to integrate foreign-born residents, who now make up some 15% of the population.
In Husby, more than 80% of the 12,000 or so inhabitants are from an immigrant background, and most are from Turkey, the Middle East and Somalia.
Community activists have accused the police of using racist language during the unrest and prosecutors are investigating complaints. Police have tried to calm the situation by speaking to community leaders, such as in mosques.
US researchers have found that people with higher IQs are slow to detect large background movements because their brains filter out non-essential information.
Instead, they are good at detecting small moving objects.
The findings come in a study of 53 people given a simple, visual test in Current Biology.
The results could help scientists understand what makes a brain more efficient and more intelligent.
In the study, individuals watched short video clips of black and white bars moving across a computer screen. Some clips were small and filled only the centre of the screen, while others filled the whole screen.
The participants’ sole task was to identify in which direction the bars were drifting – to the right or to the left.
Participants also took a standardized intelligence test.
The results showed that people with higher IQ scores were faster at noticing the movement of the bars when observing the smallest image – but they were slower at detecting movement in the larger images.
People with higher IQs are slow to detect large background movements because their brains filter out non-essential information
Michael Melnick of the University of Rochester, who was part of the research team said the results were very clear.
“From previous research, we expected that all participants would be worse at detecting the movement of large images, but high IQ individuals were much, much worse.”
The authors explain that in most scenarios, background movement is less important than small moving objects in the foreground, for example driving a car, walking down a hall or moving your eyes across the room.
As a person’s IQ increases, so too does his or her ability to filter out distracting background motion and concentrate on the foreground.
In an initial study on 12 people, there was a 64% correlation between motion suppression and IQ scores. In this larger study on 53 people, a 71% correlation was found.
In contrast, previous research on the link between intelligence and reaction times, color discrimination and sensitivity to pitch found only a 20-40% correlation.
But the ability to ignore background movements is not the only indicator of intelligence.
“Because intelligence is such a broad construct, you can’t really track it back to one part of the brain,” says Duje Tadin, who also worked on the study.
“But since this task is so simple and so closely linked to IQ, it may give us clues about what makes a brain more efficient, and, consequently, more intelligent.
“We know from prior research which parts of the brain are involved in visual suppression of background motion.
“This new link to intelligence provides a good target for looking at what is different about the neural processing, what’s different about the neurochemistry, what’s different about the neurotransmitters of people with different IQs.”
Jase Robertson is a professional duck hunter and Duck Dynasty reality star who has a net worth of $4 million.
Born in Louisiana, Jase Robertson is one of the sons of Phil Robertson, a man who spent 25 years creating “duck calls” carved out of cedar. Phil’s son, Willie Robertson, armed with a degree in business, turned his father’s handcrafted hobby into a multi-million dollar business. The family currently appears on the reality show, Duck Dynasty, which follows them as they negotiate the business world and their personal lives.
Jase Robertson is in charge of manufacturing the duck calls, the most popular of which is the “Duck Commander”. He hand tunes all of the calls.
Jase and Missy Robertson
He is married to Missy Robertson. Missy was born and raised in West Monroe, Louisiana. She attended the Ouachita Christian School where her mother was a teacher. Today, Jase and Missy Robertson’s three children attend the same school. Missy has been married to Jase Robertson for 22 years. They are both very religious and point to their faith in God for giving them the strength to make it through all of life’s challenges. Now that Missy Robertson is a bonafide celebrity, she hopes to use the responsibility to help her church and all the various charities the Robertsons support.
Duck Dynasty is the second show that has chronicled the lives of the Robertsons. They were first featured on the Outdoor Channel program, Duck Commander.
The Turkish parliament has approved controversial legislation to ban the sale and advertising of alcohol.
The Islamist-rooted ruling AK party says the law will protect the population, particularly young people, from the harmful effects of alcohol.
Critics say it is a new move to impose an Islamic agenda on a secular, though predominantly Muslim, country.
The law bans the sale of alcoholic drinks between 22:00 and 06:00 and bans producers from sponsoring events.
To take effect, the law must be signed by President Abdullah Gul, but the politician – a member of the ruling AKP – is expected to do so soon.
Diageo Plc, the world’s largest distiller of alcoholic beverages, has expressed concern about the legislation.
In 2011, Diageo bought Mey Icki, a producer of the traditional Turkish spirit raki, for $2.1 billion.
Diageo Plc said this week it had bought the company in the belief it was investing in a country “that encouraged foreign investment”.
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who does not drink or smoke, said recently that ayran, a non-alcoholic yoghurt drink, was the “national drink” of the Turks
In other points of the new law:
Alcohol sales will be prohibited within 100 metres (yards) of mosques and schools
Images of alcoholic drinks will have to be blurred on television – something that is already done for cigarettes
There will be stricter penalties for drink-driving, with drunken drivers with a blood alcohol level above 0.1% facing up to two years’ imprisonment
All liquor bottles will have to display warning signs about the harm of alcohol
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who does not drink or smoke, said recently that ayran, a non-alcoholic yoghurt drink, was the “national drink” of the Turks.
AKP politician Lutfu Elva, head of the planning and budget commission, defended the law, saying similar restrictions were in place in Scandinavian countries.
But Musa Cam, an MP from the main opposition party, the CHP, said: “No one can be forced to drink or not to drink. This is a religious and ideological imposition.”
Quoted in an article in Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, Musa Cam said: “This is not a struggle against the ills of alcohol but an attempt to redesign the society according to their [AK party] beliefs and lifestyle.”
Hasip Kaplan, a Kurdish MP, warned the law would hurt tourism, which “can’t recover easily once collapsed”, the state-run Anatolia news agency reports.
Si Robertson is one of the stars of A&E’s newest hit show Duck Dynasty and is the younger brother of family patriarch Phil Robertson who was the original inventor and founder of the Duck Commander company.
Si Robertson is an army veteran who served in Vietnam, retired from the army in 1993 and went to work full time for Duck Commander where he designs the reeds for all the duck calls.
On Duck Dynasty, Si Robertson can be seen with his nephew Willie Robertson and the entire Duck Commander family.
“I’m the master of distractions. Do a couple of hand gestures, and bam! I’ll take the underwear clean off your butt.”
“Calling your girlfriend your <<lady friend>> is a great way to let everyone know you both met on Craigslist.”
“I live by my own rules (reviewed, revised, and approved by my wife).. but still my own.”
“Some people say I’m a dreamer, others say, <<If you fall asleep at work again we’re going to have to let you go>>.”
“Ford F150, Chevy Silverado, Dodge Ram, Toyota Tundra. As a married man, these are the only pickup lines I am allowed to use.”
“First it’s pretty tires, then it’s pretty guns…next thing you know, you’re shavin’ your beard and wearin’ capri pants.”
“A beaver is about like the ninjas… the suckers only work at night and they’re hard to find.”
Si Robertson is one of the stars of A&E’s newest hit show Duck Dynasty and is the younger brother of family patriarch Phil Robertson
“That’s a fact JACK!!!!!!”
“Hey, I’m like Aretha Franklin, I don’t get no R -S -P -E -C -T around here!”
“I know every square inch of this place like I know the back of my ham.”
“One time, hey, in high school this girl told me, hey, its not you, its me.. Ofcourse its you, you dang HEFFER!”
“I’m so dope, I am illegal in 50 states! (stating how good he looks up dressed up).”
“I sting like a butterfly and punch like a flea.”
“These boys packed so much stuff, Hey, they could survive a zombie, nuclear, a-poca-liss”
“I may not use any of this stuff but hey look I can sell it on Greg’s List!”
”Plenty of fish in the sea…stingray…gamma ray…ray-ban…”
“Look here beavers you better hide your wife hide your husband and both of you hide your kids we’re coming.”
“I’m the master of distractions. A couple of hand gestures and BAM! I’ll pull the underwear clean of your butt.”
Gerard Depardieu plays Dominique Strauss-Kahn in a new film depicting the former International Monetary Fund chief as a s**-crazed playboy, haunting or**es and chasing young women – despite the objections of his wife.
A trailer, leaked online and posted by several websites, appears to be a film festival sales pitch controversial Welcome to NY movie starring Gerard Depardieu.
Gerard Depardieu plays a “Mr. Deveraux” – modeled after powerful French politician DSK, who was once a front-runner to become the president of France.
The trailer offers several scenes of Gerard Depardieu’s character engaging in or**es, having s** with prostitutes and seducing young women.
All the while his wife, played by Jaqueline Bisset, struggles to cope with her husband’s infidelities.
The trailer opens with director Abel Ferrara’s recreation of the alleged s** assault that brought down the mighty DSK and led to his arrest in May 2011.
A woman behind a closed door screams and struggles, shouting: “No! No!”
DSK was dramatically taken off a plane and handcuffed after a maid at the upscale Sofitel New York Hotel accused him forcing her to give him o**l s**.
The charges were later dropped due to inconsistencies in the maid’s story to police, but the incident led to other accusations about DSK s****l predilections that sank his political career.
The film remains controversial because the s** assault charges were never proven and prosecutors determined that they did not have enough evidence to prosecute him.
That didn’t stop Abel Ferrara from imaging his own scenario for the incident at the hotel. The final scene of the trailer shows Gerard Depardieu’s character wrapped in a bath towel, fresh out of the shower, when the maid approaches.
The maid looks intimidated as the man asks: “Do you know who I am?”
In an interview with Swiss Television RTS last year, Gerard Depardieu revealed he agreed to play the part because he found his fellow countryman “arrogant and smug”, adding: “He is very French. I will do it, because I don’t like him.”
Gerard Depardieu, 64, will be joined on screen by Nip/Truck actress Jacqueline Bisset, 68, who will play DSK’s ex-wife, the French TV reporter Anne Sinclair.
Gerard Depardieu plays DSK in new film Welcome to New-York depicting the former IMF chief
And last month, the actors got caught in controlled chaos as they re-enacted the media storm surrounding the s****l assault trial, that ultimately collapsed in August 2011.
The scene depicted the media frenzy surrounding the case that was sparked when an immigrant hotel maid accused the then-IMF chief of s****l assault after she entered his suite to clean it.
It was filmed outside the same 6,800-square-foot, $50,000-a-month Tribeca townhouse that DSK stayed in while under house arrest as the case unfolded.
But the trial collapsed in August 2011 when prosecutors deemed the evidence of his accuser, Nafissatou Diallo, to be unreliable. She later filed a civil lawsuit.
The film is being directed by American Abel Ferrara, whose credits include Bad Lieutenant, which starred Billy-Bob Thornton in 1992 and 1996 crime thriller The Funeral, fronted by Christopher Walken.
Announcing his latest venture last year, Abel Ferrara said it would be set in New York, Paris and Washington, adding: “[It will be set] in all spots of power in fact: it’s a film about rich and powerful people.”
Gerard Depardieu himself is no stranger to the courts.
Earlier this month, Gerard Depardieu missed a hearing in Paris over an alleged drunken scooter incident.
Gerard Depardieu, who also failed to attend court for the last hearing in January, was more than three times over the drink-drive limit when he came off his moped near the Champs-Elysees in Paris last November.
He had been due to attend a “correctional tribunal” in Paris to face a charge of drink-driving, but he did not turn up because he was filming his new role as Dominique Strauss-Kahn in New York.
A judge said the case would go ahead in Gerard Depardieu’s absence, and the Oscar-nominated star of Green Card and Cyrano de Bergerac risked being sentenced to a maximum of two years behind bars and a 4,500 euro fine.
Two years ago, Gerard Depardieu was also arrested for smashing up a car parked outside a swingers’ club near his Paris home.
And he was involved in a separate scandal in France in 2011 when he urinated in the aisle of a plane in full view of disgusted passengers.
Gerard Depardieu also courted controversy in his native France this year after moving to Belgium and taking Russian citizenship to avoid a new 75% tax rate.
When Gerard Depardieu announced his plans to move abroad to avoid paying high tax rates, he was branded “shabby and unpatriotic” by PM Jean-Marc Ayrault.
But the defiant screen legend retaliated by declaring he would also hand back his French passport, and wrote an angry open letter to the French government, saying: “All those who have left France have not been insulted as I have been.”
He then told French president Francois Hollande in a personal phone call that he was “sickened at how France spits on success”.
Gerard Depardieu is one of the few French stars known throughout the world, and has made more than 100 films, many in English.
He also notorious in France for his battle with alcohol and his turbulent love life.
Over the past ten years Gerard Depardieu has devoted much of his time to producing wine at his Lys-de-Volan vineyard near Lyon.
Kendall Jenner has hit back after Frances Bean Cobain branded her a “f**king idiot”.
“An individual’s feelings are relative to their environment,” Kendall Jenner wrote on her micro-blogging page.
“You don’t know me, you don’t even know what I was referring to.”
Kim Kardashian’s little sister took two days to consider her reply before responding to the daughter of Courtney Love and late rocker Kurt Cobain’s Twitter outburst on Tuesday.
Kendall Jenner, 17, acknowledged her wealthy upbringing and affluent lifestyle.
She explained that she thinks about her good fortune on a regular basis and never forgets it.
“I am aware that I am very privileged and blessed, and I’m thankful for that everyday, I know there are greater problems in the world,” she posted.
Kendall Jenner added into the mix that her problems may not be life-threatening but they are still a big deal.
Kendall Jenner has hit back after Frances Bean Cobain branded her an idiot
She assured Frances Bean Cobain, and their combined millions of followers tuned in to the online feud, that she talks to God about the planet’s problems.
Kendall Jenner also emphasized that much of her time and money goes towards helping the less privileged, therefore Frances Bean Cobain didn’t need to get involved.
“I pray for those people every night and give back as much as I can,” she revealed.
“So who are u to judge me?”
On Tuesday it was Frances Bean Cobain, 20, speaking her mind as she reminded Kendall Jenner that there are youngsters in third world countries starving and thirsty.
She was responding to the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star’s tweet she wished “things could be easier”.
Frances Bean Cobain didn’t hold back with her harsh words, declaring: “I’d rather be a scumbag than a f***ing idiot. Praise high IQ’s, good taste & awareness about the state of the world.
“Oh ya, not to mention, CANCER, famine, poverty, draught, disease, natural disasters, Death. F***, Humans are so self involved,” she added.
Not content to stop at that, Frances Bean Cobain wrote: “Oh shh. There are kids on earth abandoned&homeless who forcibly drink contaminated water because clean water isn’t accessible.”
Within hours of Frances Bean Cobain’s comments on Tuesday, Kendall Jenner was bombarded with responses calling her ungrateful and “self-involved”.
It was reported today that MI5 had been monitoring the two fanatics responsible for the slaughter of a young soldier near Woolwich barracks for eight years.
The Security Service is facing an inquiry by MPs amid a raft of devastating revelations about the killers’ known links to Islamist extremism.
One of the suspects – Michael Adebolajo – was so high profile he was photographed outside Paddington Green police station six years ago behind notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary.
Michael Adebolajo was even intercepted by officials as he attempted to travel to Somalia to fight alongside Islamist terrorists last year.
It also emerged that Michael Adebolajo, 28, was a violent ex-prisoner who was a member of a banned terrorist group.
Incredibly, he was said to have been preaching jihad on the streets of Woolwich earlier this week, only a few hundred yards from where 25-year-old Army Drummer Lee Rigby – a married father – was beh**ded.
As MI5 faced accusations that they let the men slip through the net, British PM David Cameron ordered a full intelligence review by a Westminster committee.
Police chiefs described the counter terrorism investigation, one of the largest in recent history, as “complex and fast-moving”.
Michael Adebolajo and his friend remained under armed guard in separate hospitals being treated for gunshot wounds. They are expected to recover fully.
MI5 had been monitoring the two fanatics responsible for the slaughter of a young soldier near Woolwich barracks for eight years
The second suspect was reported last night by news outlets including Channel 4 News and The Times to be Michael Adebowale, 22, of Greenwich, south-east London.
The victim was named yesterday as Drummer Lee Rigby, a veteran of the Afghanistan war who has a two-year-old son.
The young soldier was run over and ha**ed to death with a meat cleaver and knives near his barracks in Woolwich, South East London.
Minutes later the two Islamists were gunned down by firearms officers after charging towards them in an apparent attempt to kill themselves.
The atrocity triggered a wave of national revulsion as British Prime Minster David Cameron branded it an attack on the British way of life and a “betrayal of Islam”.
PM David Cameron said there was no justification for the attack and the responsibility lay purely with the “sickening individuals” behind it.
He added: “This country will be absolutely resolute in its stand against violent extremism and terror. We will never give in to terror or terrorism in any of its forms.”
The list of questions faced by the authorities was growing fast as evidence of the danger the two men posed to Britain grew.
Sources said both men featured in “a number” of counter terrorism investigations in recent years but were not seen as a “threat to life”.
Yet Michael Adebolajo, who was born in South London but is of Nigerian descent, was linked to Anjem Choudary as long ago as 2003.
The former fitness instructor is believed to have been a member of Al Muhajiroun, which was led by the hate preacher until it was banned by the Government.
Michael Adebolajo was jailed at least once for violence and friends said he was a member of a gang of knife-wielding street robbers in his hometown of Romford, Essex.
Footage showed him standing directly behind Anjem Choudary during a protest outside Paddington Green police station in April 2007.
It is believed he may have also been held by the Met in 2006 after protesting outside the Old Bailey during the trial of four Muslim men.
The defendants were ultimately jailed for their part in protests at the Danish embassy in London against cartoons satirizing the Prophet Muhammad.
Morgan Freeman may have been woken a bit too early as he joined co-star Michael Caine for promotional interviews for heist movie Now You See Me.
However, Morgan Freeman, 75, could not stay awake and was grabbing forty winks during a live interview with Q13 FOX News This Morning on Wednesday.
While Michael Caine was his usual gregarious self Morgan Freeman nodded off a couple of times during the interview with This Morning crew while the pair were actually sat live on air.
The show’s presenters Kaci Aitchison and Bill Wixey chatted to Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine, 80, about the movie – but perhaps their line of questioning wasn’t quite stimulating enough.
Awkwardly the presenters never actually tried to wake Morgan Freeman – and instead just continue the interview with Michael Caine who seemed oblivious.
Morgan Freeman woke himself up about halfway through the satellite chat, but still had a hard time keeping his eyes open.
Morgan Freeman could not stay awake and was grabbing forty winks during a live interview with Q13 FOX News This Morning
However, given his long and esteemed movie career, it’s fair to say that Morgan Freeman – who plays Thaddeus Bradley in the Robin Hood style heist movie – has probably heard many of the questions before.
In Now You See Me, Morgan Freeman stars alongside Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco and Woody Harrelson as a group of illusionists known as the Four Horsemen.
They use their magic show as a cover to rob the wealthy elite and give the stolen money to people who’ve lost everything during the economic crisis. Think Robin Hood for the modern age.
Inglorious Bastards actress Melanie Laurent also stars, along with Mark Ruffalo as a federal agent determined to bring the Horsemen to justice.
Michael Caine, who previously starred alongside Morgan Freeman in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, plays a Bernie Madoff-type who wants to get his fortune back from the Horsemen.
George Michael shocked his fans last week when he was sent dramatically hurtling from a speeding car onto the M1, narrowly escaping death.
While speculation is rife as to the circumstances surrounding the incident, a friend of George Michael has insisted that the star wasn’t trying to commit suicide.
Claiming that George Michael, 49, was happy and healthy and working on new material, the source says that his bizarre near-death experience was merely an accident.
“There is no mystery – he was trying to shut the door,” George Michael’s friend told The Mirror, explaining away the high speed fall that stopped rush hour traffic.
“George has been perfectly happy and is in a great place. To insinuate that he threw himself out of the car is absurd,” they added.
Rumors over George Michael’s state of mind have been circulating sine the dramatic incident, but his pal insists that it he was just careless by opening the passenger door of the silver Range Rover while travelling in the fast lane on the M1.
“It was an accident and he is the first person to put his hand up and say <<I’m sorry>>. He deserves more sympathy,” his friend added.
George Michael shocked his fans last week when he was sent dramatically hurtling from a speeding car onto the M1, narrowly escaping death
The accident that happened near St Albans in Hertfordshire last Thursday, is currently being investigated by police, while George Michael remains in hospital with “some bumps and cuts”.
Driver Katherine Fox has recently spoken out about how she was forced to swerve and skid to a halt in order to avoid hitting George Michael.
She said that she didn’t know how the singer survived the rush-hour fall which left him dazed, covered in blood and with his tracksuit top ripped to shreds.
Katherine Fox, 23, who was driving behind in her Mini, braked before reversing to shield George Michael from other vehicles.
An off-duty policeman directed traffic around the scene. George Michael was airlifted to hospital where he was said by his spokesman last night to be “making good progress” five days after the drama.
But Katherine Fox, a children’s nanny, said: “I honestly don’t know how he survived. He had a bad cut on his face and the blood was running down over his mouth and teeth.
“He was in shock, breathing and conscious, but looked terrible. There was so much blood on his face that I didn’t recognize him.”
George Michael hit the third of four lanes on a northbound stretch of the motorway near St Albans, Hertfordshire. His trainers and trademark designer sunglasses were flung into another lane by the impact.
Katherine Fox said: “I saw blood everywhere and he was on the ground. I thought someone had run across the road and been hit until I was told what happened.
“Someone said he tried to open the car door and shut it again because it wasn’t shut properly and apparently fell out. I was told the car wasn’t speeding and was doing 70 mph.
“I was on the phone to the ambulance and said, <<You’d better come quick. This doesn’t look good>>. An off-duty policeman was telling me what to say and re-directing the traffic which had slowed down.”
At George Michael’s home in Highgate, North London, his boyfriend Fadi Fawaz, 39, said on the day after the incident: “He is perfectly fine. Of course I was worried, but I have spoken to him and he is good. I have no idea what happened, I wasn’t there.”
George Michael, who has enjoyed a successful solo career since finding fame in the 1980s duo Wham!, was close to death only 18 months ago after being struck down with pneumonia in Vienna.
The singer is currently banned from driving. Three years ago he was jailed for eight weeks for crashing a Range Rover into a shop in North London while under the influence of drugs.
George Michael was also disqualified from driving for five years, having served a two-year ban imposed in 2006 when he was convicted of driving while on drugs after being found slumped in his Mercedes.
Once again Kanye West was absent when his girlfriend Kim Kardashian found out the gender of their unborn child.
Instead Kim Kardashian, 32, was joined by members of her family, including her mother and manager Kris Jenner and her two sisters Kourtney and Khloe in an upcoming episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
In the sneak preview clip, a heavily made-up Kim Kardashian was helped onto a bed by her mother once the clan were inside the doctor’s office.
Pulling her top up to expose her pregnant belly, the Kardashian family doctor, Dr. Paul Crane, proceeded with the ultrasound.
“Once I knew it, that is when I got so excited,” Kourtney Kardashian tells Kim as she anxiously awaits the results.
As the family look at the ultrasound monitor, Dr. Paul Crane takes them through the whole anatomy of Kim Kardashian’s baby, much to the delight of her mother Kris Jenner.
“Look at that! Look at the little ankle! Oh Kim look!” Kris Jenner shrieks in the background excitedly.
“Do you see a little pee pee?”
Before the doctor tells Kim Kardashian and her family members the gender, the camera cuts away to keep the news a surprise.
Kim Kardashian found out the gender of her unborn child
Kim Kardashian has previously said that she and Kanye West wanted to keep the baby’s gender a secret.
However, it has been widely reported and rumored that Kim Kardashian is having a girl.
And if her feminine baby shower invites are anything to go by it may well be true.
A picture of Kim Kardashian’s invite to the shower on June 2 has surfaced, revealing it to be a fully-functioning music box.
Once opened, a spinning ballerina is said to start moving to a lullaby version of her boyfriend Kanye West’s song Hey Mama.
Hilariously over the top, the ballerina also bears a striking resemblance to Kim Kardashian herself.
The invite explains that the shower is being hosted by Kris Jenner, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian, and the wife of music producer Irving Azoff, Shelli Azoff.
The recommended attire for the event is “garden chic” but hopefully Kim Kardashian will leave her love of floral print gowns alone for this occasion.
Kanye West’s absence at Kim Kardashian’s doctor’s appointment does however come after the rapper made it clear to his girlfriend that he didn’t want to appear on her popular reality show.
No reference was made about Kim Kardashian’s beau in the clip, spelling that the 35-year-old was perhaps not even in the same country as she went for the scan.
Kim Kardashian is due to give birth in a matter of weeks, but with their busy work commitments it seems the couple are still spending a considerable amount of time apart.
Currently hanging out in Paris with her momager Kris Jenner, it seems strange that Kim Kardashian is unable to join Kanye West as he currently travels around Europe.
There have been reports that the plan for Kim Kardashian’s trip was to meet up with Kanye west, who is currently in Milan.
Jodi Arias returns to a 7ft x 11ft cell in Estrella Jail each day as she awaits to find out if she will receive the death penalty for the brutal murder of Travis Alexander.
The bunk bed with thin mattress and pink sheets is where Jodi Arias slept in the night following a harrowing day in court which saw Travis Alexander’s siblings break down as they described how their brother’s horrifying death changed their lives forever.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office invited media into see the roughly 7ft x 11ft cell in Estrella Jail where Arias will be housed until Jodi Arias’ trial has concluded.
Jodi Arias is confined to the cell 23 hours a day and does not share with another inmate.
In the bare room with concrete floor, notepads, bottles of lotion and newspaper clippings litter the small space. A stack of books rests behind the bed.
On the floor, are numerous paper bags full of papers along with a copy of The Intelligent Optimist magazine.
Jodi Arias returns to a 7ft x 11ft cell in Estrella Jail each day as she awaits to find out if she will receive the death penalty for the brutal murder of Travis Alexander
The cell is next to a block of inmate showers and payphones where Jodi Arias has been calling friends who have then tweeted on her behalf to supporters.
According to azfamily.com, self-described “America’s toughest sheriff” Joe Arpaio invited journalists to view Jodi Arias’ living quarters after reports that she had it “cushy”.
Joe Arpaio said: “This is not the Hilton Hotel.”
He also said that Jodi Arias had been relatively well-behaved during her time in one of his facilities – apart from a small infraction involving crayons.
In the area where Jodi Arias is held, there are seven other inmates – but no conversation is allowed.
Jodi Arias was transferred back to the Phoenix jail last week after spending the weekend on suicide watch at another Arizona facility.
Kirk Nurmi, Jodi Arias’ lawyer, stands to make extra $200,000, paid for by taxpayer, because his bid to stop defending her was denied.
Jodi Arias, 32, killed Travis Alexander, her on-again off-again boyfriend in 2008 by sta**ing him nearly 30 times, s****ing his throat, and finally shooting him.
She is represented by Kirk Nurmi who asked to be taken off the case, but his request was denied.
Kirk Nurmi already earns $225 an hour defending the convicted murderer, but will now earn extra $100 representing her due to his request being refused.
The County Board of Supervisor’s decided to front the money in anticipation of his impending bill for his defense of Jodi Arias, Maricopa County spokesperson Cari Gerchick told The Huffington Post.
Kirk Nurmi asked a second time on Monday after his request for a mistrial was denied by Judge Sherry Stephens – it was also denied.
His claimed that Jodi Arias has not received a fair trial because the jury was not sequestered and cameras were allowed in the courtroom.
The county has spent about $1.7 million to date on Jodi Arias’ defense, Cari Gerchick said.
Meanwhile jurors in the murder trial resumed deliberations today after they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be sentenced to life in prison or death for killing her one-time boyfriend, prompting the judge to instruct them to keep trying.
The panel reported its impasse Wednesday after only about two and a half hours of deliberations. Judge Sherry Stephens told jurors to try to identify areas of agreement and disagreement as they work toward a decision.
The jury then continued deliberating until late afternoon, when it adjourned for the day without a decision.
Kirk Nurmi, Jodi Arias’ lawyer, stands to make extra $200,000, paid for by taxpayer, because his bid to stop defending her was denied
Under Arizona law, a hung jury in the death penalty phase of a trial requires a new jury to be seated to decide the punishment. If the second jury cannot reach a unanimous decision, the judge would then sentence Jodi Arias to spend her entire life in prison or be eligible for release after 25 years.
In the event of a hung jury in the Jodi Arias trial, the case could drag on for several more months, said former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley.
“If that happens, this jury would be dismissed and a second jury would be impaneled, and you’d literally have to go through the whole case again,” Rick Romley said, adding the murder conviction would stand and the new panel would be considering only the sentence.
However, the new jury would have to review evidence and hear opening statements, closing arguments and witness testimony in a “Cliffs Notes” version of the trial, Rick Romley said.
Rick Romley also noted that if the current jury deadlocks, the prosecutor could decide to take the death penalty off the table. If that happens, the judge would determine whether Jodi Arias spends her entire life in prison or is eligible for release after 25 years.
The judge cannot sentence Jodi Arias to death.
The panel heard emotional comments last week from Travis Alexander’s family as the prosecutor argued Jodi Arias should be executed for his gruesome killing.
Jodi Arias responded Tuesday by pleading for mercy, saying she can become a model prisoner by teaching inmates how to read and speak Spanish and helping the prison launch recycling programs.
She also wants to be an advocate for domestic violence victims.
The same jury of eight men and four women convicted Jodi Arias of first-degree murder two weeks ago. Jodi Arias sta**ed and sla**ed Travis Alexander about 30 times, shot him in the forehead and s**t his throat in what authorities said was a jealous rage.
Jodi Arias claimed it was self-defense.
She spoke to media outlets in jailhouse interviews Tuesday night just hours after the jury began deliberations.
Jodi Arias talked out about her murder trial, her many fights with her legal team and her belief that she “deserves a second chance at freedom someday”.
She said her lawyers let her down by not calling more witnesses who could have bolstered her claims that she was a victim of domestic violence at Travis Alexander’s hands.
Following her conviction last week, Jodi Arias told a local TV station that she preferred the death penalty.
However, Jodi Arias said Tuesday night that she changed her mind after a tearful meeting with family members, realizing her death would only cause them more pain.
“I felt like by asking for death, it’s like asking for assisted suicide, and I didn’t want to do that to my family,” Jodi Arias told the AP.
Some statins, drugs taken to protect the heart, may increase the risk of developing type-2 diabetes, according to researchers in Canada.
Their study of 1.5 million people, in the British Medical Journal, suggested powerful statins could increase the risk by 22% compared with weaker drugs.
Atorvastatin was linked to one extra case of diabetes for every 160 patients treated.
Experts said the benefits of statins still outweighed any risks.
Powerful statins increase type 2 diabetes risk by 22 percent
Statins are a group of commonly prescribed drugs that lower the levels of bad cholesterol in the blood. This reduces the chances of a heart attack or stroke.
A team of researchers from hospitals in Toronto said there had been controversy around the risk of diabetes with different statins.
They looked at medical records of 1.5 million people over the age of 66 and compared the incidence of diabetes between people taking different statins.
Their report said: “We found that patients treated with atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, or simvastatin were at increased risk of new onset diabetes compared with those treated with pravastatin.
“Clinicians should consider this risk when they are contemplating statin treatment for individual patients.
“Preferential use of pravastatin… might be warranted.”
Commenting on the study, Prof. Risto Huupponen and Prof. Jorma Viikari, from the University of Turku, in Finland, said: “The overall benefit of statins still clearly outweighs the potential risk of diabetes.”
However, they said, the different statins should be targeted at the right patients.
They said: “The most potent statins, at least in higher doses, should preferably be reserved for patients who do not respond to low-potency treatment, but have a high total risk of cardiovascular disease.”
Amanda Bynes has been arrested for reckless endangerment after throwing a foot-long b**g out of the window of her 36th floor New York apartment.
The incident came after police arrived to speak to Amanda Bynes about her alleged mar***ana use on Thursday night.
Amanda Bynes, 27, was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation then to a police station for booking for criminal of possession of mar***ana, reckless endangerment and tampering with evidence.
Sources told NBC News in New York that police were called by the doorman who reported Amanda Bynes was smoking mar***ana in the lobby of her building on West 47th Street.
Officers responding to the call went to Amanda Bynes’ apartment where sources said they noted a “heavy smell of mar***ana and smoke”.
The officers were allowed inside by Amanda Bynes and when they noticed a b**g – a device used to smoke mar***ana – she allegedly threw it out of the high-rise window in front of the officers.
This led to the further charges. Under New York state law, reckless endangerment occurs when a person creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury to another person.
Nobody was injured by the falling b**g.
Amanda Bynes has been arrested for reckless endangerment after throwing a foot-long b**g out of the window of her 36th floor New York apartment
Following her treatment at Roosevelt Hospital, Amanda Bynes was taken to a Midtown police station where she is expected to spend the night before a Friday court appearance.
Amanda Bynes was photographed in police custody on Thursday night as an officer escorted her out of a police station.
The actress was wearing her platinum blonde hair extensions and a black Versace sweatshirt.
The former Nickelodeon star has been exhibiting erratic behavior of late with some eyebrow-raising public outings and online postings.
Amanda Bynes was also arrested in April 2012 in West Hollywood, California on drunken driving charges after the black BMW she was driving struck a black-and-white Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department patrol vehicle.
She has been on probation for driving on a suspended license related to an incident in Burbank, California in 2012 in which her car was impounded.
TMZ reported earlier this year Amanda Bynes was evicted from her apartment for being a “building nuisance”, as neighbors complained about smelling mar***ana smoke from her abode.
Amanda Bynes moved to the Big Apple to become a fashion designer last year, but the fruits of her labor have yet to surface.
French singer and composer Georges Moustaki, who wrote Edith Piaf’s 1958 hit song, Milord, has died aged 79.
Georges Moustaki, whose real name was Giuseppe Mustacchi, sang in several languages and penned in the region of 300 songs.
Born in Egypt on 3 May 1934, he changed his name in honor of his idol, the French singer Georges Brassens, after he moved to Paris in 1951.
French singer and composer Georges Moustaki, who wrote Edith Piaf’s 1958 hit song, Milord, has died aged 79
Among the French stars who sang Georges Moustaki’s compositions were Yves Montand, Juliette Greco and Pia Colomba.
Georges Moustaki was the son of an immigrant Jewish couple from Greece who settled in Egypt.
He was known for his romantic ballads, his repertoire included songs in French, Italian, English, Greek, Portuguese, Arabic and Spanish.
The song, Milord, was a number-one hit in Germany in 1960.
Milord has been covered by various artists over the years, including Cher, appearing on her second solo album, The Sonny Side of Cher, released in 1966.
Last night the judge declared a mistrial over the sentencing of Jodi Arias after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict over whether or not she should be executed for murdering her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander.
The jury was dismissed from the courtroom after spending five months on the case, and while they did decide that Jodi Arias was guilty of the premeditated murder of Travis Alexander, they could not decide whether she should spend life in prison or be put to death.
The next step in the lengthy trial will now come on July 18, when an entirely new jury panel is determined and tasked with delivering the final verdict in the case.
The scene in the Phoenix, Arizona courtroom on Thursday afternoon – when the jury came back to the judge with their inability to agree – was not one of relief.
Jodi Arias herself looked upset and began crying, though not necessarily tears of joy.
Travis Alexander’s siblings, who have been a constant presence throughout and have all uprooted their lives in California to focus on the trial, were all crying as well.
One female juror was at least sympathetic to them, and she was seen mouthing the word “sorry” toward the Alexanders.
Judge Sherry Stephens, who showed some tough love to the jury yesterday, was very complimentary to them today.
“This was not your typical trial. You were asked to perform some very difficult duties,” she said.
The jury began deliberating Tuesday, and on Wednesday afternoon they told the Judge that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Jodi Arias jury cannot decide on death penalty in Travis Alexander murder case and judge declares mistrial
Sherry Stephens ordered the jurors to go back and talk more until they came to a decision, but that was still not enough time as they came back later yesterday afternoon still at an impasse.
The new jury will not have any power to change Jodi Arias’ guilty conviction, and they will be solely tasked with determining how she will “pay” for the first degree murder.
The decision follows a trial that has staggered on for five months over the 2008 sl**ing of Travis Alexander, Jodi Arias’ on-again off-again boyfriend who she killed in his home in 2008. She sta**ed him nearly 30 times, s**t his throat, and shot him.
Even for the most fastidious of court followers who have developed a sense of who Jodi Arias, 32, is over the past five months of the trial, her behavior in the past week has been confusing as she gave conflicting statements about her desire thoughts on a possible death sentence.
Immediately after her guilty verdict was handed down two weeks ago, Jodi Arias granted a local news station an interview where she said that she was “in shock” and that she would rather be given the death penalty as opposed to a life sentence in prison.
Speaking to the local Fox affiliate KSAZ, Jodi Arias said that she would “prefer to die sooner than later”.
“Longevity runs in my family, and I don’t want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place. I’m pretty healthy, I don’t smoke and I’ll probably live for a long time so that’s not something that I am looking forward to.
“I believe death is the ultimate freedom and I’d rather have my freedom as soon as I can get it.”
Those comments prompted courthouse officials to order that Jodi Arias will be placed in a psychological hold and on suicide watch, which inevitably delayed the second portion of the sentencing- where jurors were forced to decide if the murder was especially aggressive.
During the ensuing testimony, called the aggravation portion of the trial, jurors heard from both sides who were able to call witnesses arguing that she should and shouldn’t be forced to die, respectively.
When Jodi Arias addressed the court in her own defense, she pledged, if allowed to live, to donate her hair to cancer patients and start a prison recycling program.
“I have made many public statements that I would prefer the death penalty to life in prison,” Jodi Arias told jurors.
“In each of those cases, I lacked perspective,” she said.
“Until very recently I could not imagine standing before you all and asking for you to give me life,” Jodi Arias said.
“But as I stand here now I cannot in good conscience ask you to sentence me to death.”
A Psy impersonator duped organizers and celebrities at Cannes Film Festival.
The Psy imposter managed to sneak into several A-list parties and other exclusive venues over the course of two days earlier this week until finally being discovered yesterday when the real Psy appeared on US talk show Live with Michael and Kelly, which is filmed in New York City.
The impersonator reportedly scammed free drinks and bottle service while lunching at the Torch Beach Club, a hotspot which has been frequented by Justin Timberlake and Mark Ronson during their time in Cannes, and was even surrounded by three security guards, according to the New York Post newspaper.
Among the celebrities duped by Psy impostor was Skyfall actress Naomie Harris
Later, the man partied at an A-list bash hosted by socialite Goga Ashkenazi at Château Garibondy, where the guest list included Trance actress Rosario Dawson and supermodel Karolina Kurkova.
While the fake Psy was enjoying the luxury on offer in Cannes, the real Gangnam Style hitmaker attended the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday and later jetted to New York City to film a TV appearance.
Acknowledging his trouble-making doppelganger, Psy wrote on Twitter: “Seems like there’s another ME at Cannes…say Hi to him.”
Among the celebrities duped by the impostor were Skyfall actress Naomie Harris, who thought she had met Psy at a party thrown by Chopard on Tuesday, and tweeted a snap of them together.
Princess Charlene of Monaco boarded designer Roberto Cavalli’s yacht in Cannes on Wednesday evening as the designer invited a number of big names to let their hair down for the night.
Princess Charlene, 35, ensured she fitted in with the A list crowd by turning up in a stylish number.
She opted for a sleek black trouser suit with wide legs and a stylish blazer for the outing.
The princess even dared to flash some flesh with the plunging cut, while she wore her hair to the side in a sleek fashion.
To complete her look Princess Charlene carried a green clutch bag to give the ensemble a flash of color.
Obviously happy to be on the guest list, she grinned widely as she made her entrance on the boat
And once aboard she truly came into her own, happily mingling with the stars and even taking pictures with them.
Princess Charlene of Monaco boarded designer Roberto Cavalli’s yacht in Cannes
Princess Charlene even got the chance to chat to actress Sharon Stone, who she photographed during the evening as they chatted amongst themselves.
Throughout the rest of the night she was spotted chatting and giggling to pals at the bash as she managed to fit in with the prestigious guests.
While on board Princess Charlene would have also rubbed shoulders with the likes of Uma Thurman, Paris Hilton, Kylie Minogue and Adrien Brody, who all happily arrived at the yacht ready to party for the evening.
Earlier on in the night Princess Charlene had mingled at another event, where she posed for photographs alongside Julian Lennon.
Princess Charlene and Julian Lennon were at the exclusive LOVA World Images Exhibition, which showcased twenty photographs donated by five world class photographers, including Lennon, the Grammy Nominated Director and Wildlife/Fashion Photographer Kristian Schmidt and Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran to raise funds for The Lovaganza Foundation.
Following the LOVA World Images exhibition, a VIP beach party closed the bash at the Baoli Beach Club.
Other guests included the likes of Rick Yune, Kimberly Garner, Sid Owen and Julie Henderson.
US President Barack Obama has defended the use of drones in a “just war” of self-defense against deadly militants and a campaign that had made America safer.
In a wide-ranging speech on a programme shrouded in secrecy, Barack Obama said there must be “near certainty” that no civilians would die in such strikes.
In a renewed push to shut Guantanamo Bay, the president said he had lifted a moratorium on prisoner transfers to Yemen.
Barack Obama also defended the use of drones to kill four US citizens.
“We are at war with an organization that right now would kill as many Americans as they could if we did not stop them first,” he said in Thursday’s address at the National Defense University in Washington DC.
“So this is a just war – a war waged proportionally, in last resort, and in self-defense.”
He added: “And yet as our fight enters a new phase, America’s legitimate claim of self-defense cannot be the end of the discussion. To say a military tactic is legal, or even effective, is not to say it is wise or moral in every instance.”
Declaring America at a “crossroads” in its efforts to combat militancy, Barack Obama also said his administration would be willing to accept increased oversight of drone strikes outside war zones like Afghanistan.
Human rights groups have long condemned the use of unmanned drones to carry out killings.
Barack Obama warned that a “perpetual” US war on terror, whether through drone strikes, special forces operations or troop deployments, would be “self-defeating”.
In a Republican rebuttal later, Senator John McCain argued the US remained at war with al-Qaeda.
“Al-Qaeda will be with us for a long time,” John McCain said.
Barack Obama has defended the use of drones in a “just war” of self-defense against deadly militants and a campaign that had made America safer
As the president addressed efforts to close the detention centre at the US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he was interrupted by a protester shouting about the current hunger strike at the prison.
“I’m willing to cut the young lady who interrupted me some slack because it’s worth being passionate about,” he said.
Barack Obama told his audience: “Guantanamo has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law.”
The Democratic president made shutting the prison a top priority at the beginning of his first term, but his effort foundered amid strong bipartisan opposition in Congress.
Calling on Congress not to block his efforts to transfer the facility’s inmates to American high-security jails, he added: “No person has ever escaped from one of our super-max or military prisons in the United States.”
Barack Obama said he was appointing envoys from the defense and state departments to negotiate transfers of detainees to other countries, and said he would lift a moratorium on transfers to Yemen.
After the speech, Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss told reporters Barack Obama was wrong to lift the Yemen moratorium because Yemeni authorities could not be trusted to “handle them”.
“We’ve got 166 of the meanest nastiest killers in the world located at Guantanamo Bay today,” he said.
“If we were to transfer them to Yemen, it would be just like turning them loose. We should try those individuals at Guantanamo in the courtrooms and then make a decision about what to do with them.”
Meanwhile, Yemen welcomed the move, a spokesman at the country’s Washington embassy said.
Barack Obama’s speech coincides with the signing of new “presidential policy guidance” on when drone strikes can be used, the White House said.
The policy document curtails the circumstances in which drones can be used in places that are not overt war zones, such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.
In an outline of the new policy released to the news media, the administration said it preferred to capture terrorist suspects, with drone strikes used only amid a “continuing, imminent threat” to the US.
Beyond that, the administration listed criteria for the approval of a drone strike:
“Near certainty” the target was present and that civilians would not be injured or killed
Capture would not be feasible
Authorities of the country in question could not or would not address the threat
No other reasonable alternatives were available
On Wednesday, the US disclosed that four Americans had been killed in drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan since 2011, marking the first formal public acknowledgement of the US citizen deaths in drone strikes.
In a letter to the Senate judiciary committee, US Attorney General Eric Holder defended the targeted killing in 2011 of Anwar al-Awlaki, whom he described as a “senior operational leader” of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Anwar al-Awlaki, who was born in the US state of New Mexico, was killed in a missile strike from an unmanned plane in Yemen in September 2011 along with Samir Khan, a naturalized US citizen who produced an online al-Qaeda magazine.
Anwar al-Awlaki’s 16-year-old son Abdulrahman, born in Colorado, was killed in Yemen a month later.
Eric Holder also confirmed Jude Kenan Mohammad, a North Carolina resident, had been killed in a drone strike. He is thought to have died in a strike in November 2011 in Pakistan’s South Waziristan region.
Eric Holder said only Awlaki had been “specifically targeted and killed”, and that the other men “were not specifically targeted by the United States”.
A De Grisogono necklace reportedly worth 1.9 million euros has been stolen during the Cannes film festival, in the second such theft to hit this year’s event.
The expensive piece by Swiss jeweller De Grisogono vanished after a celebrity party at a five-star hotel in the resort town of Cap d’Antibes.
The theft occurred despite “large security measures”, including 80 security guards, the jeweller said.
Last week, thieves ripped a safe with jewels from the wall of a hotel room.
The latest robbery happened after an exclusive gala held at the exclusive Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc on Tuesday night.
The high-profile event celebrated De Grisogono’s 20th anniversary, and was attended by international movie stars like Sharon Stone and Ornella Muti.
The expensive piece by Swiss jeweller De Grisogono vanished after a celebrity party at a five-star hotel in the resort town of Cap d’Antibes
The jeweller house regularly loans its jewels to celebrities, including Paris Hilton and Cameron Diaz.
“It is actually the first time it has happened in our 20-year history,” the company said in a statement.
It added that the theft occurred “despite the large security measures set in place: over 80 security guards plus police”.
Last Friday, thieves stole jewels by Swiss jewellers Chopard from the Novotel hotel.
The precious goods were worth more than 770,000 euros.
Chopard is an official sponsor of the festival and also makes its top award, the Palme d’Or. But the trophy was not among the stolen items.
At least two apartments rented by film executives have also been burgled during the festival, according to the AFP news agency.
Michael Adebolajo, 28, and an unnamed accomplice are believed to have knocked off duty Drummer Lee Rigby down with a Vauxhall Tigra as he walked back to the Woolwich Barracks at 2.20 p.m. yesterday, crushing his body against a road sign.
Government sources confirmed that the names of both suspects were on a list maintained by the security services, but stressed it was unclear what level of surveillance they were under.
The blood-soaked man identified as Michael Adebolajo, who was still holding a number of weapons in his red-stained hands, then ranted on camera in a clear London accent saying: “You people will never be safe” before telling a passer-by they had not fled because they were waiting to “shoot the police”.
Within 20 minutes armed officers arrived and the fundamentalists charged at them wielding firearms, knives and a machete.
Police opened fire, shooting six bullets, leaving one seriously injured. The pair remain under armed guard in two separate London hospitals.
Police today defended their response to the killing after eyewitnesses claimed they took up to 20 minutes to arrive at the scene.
Assistant Commissioner Simon Byrne, said: “One point I would like to address is around some of the speculation as to how long it took the Met to respond yesterday as this incident started to unfold.
“We first received a 999 call from the public at 2.20 p.m. stating a man was being attacked, further 999 calls stated that the attackers were in possession of a gun. We had officers at the scene within nine minutes of receiving that first 999 call.
Michael Adebolajo named as suspect over Lee Rigby killing in Woolwich attack
“Once that information about a gun or guns being present was known firearms officers were assigned at 2.24 p.m. Firearms officers were there and dealing with the incident 10 minutes after they were assigned, 14 minutes after the first call to the Met.”
Police were today seen outside a detached house in a Lincolnshire village where they raided a home where Michael Adebolajo is listed as having lived in the past.
There was no answer at the address believed to be that of Michael Adebolajo’s father, named by neighbors as Anthony Adebolajo.
Michael Adebolajo was born in Lambeth, south London, in 1985 to a Christian family of Nigerian descent.
At the age of 15 or 16 he started getting involved in Islam and started to speak about Jihadi ideas.
Michael Adebolajo joined several extremist groups – including Al Muhajiroun – that were banned in Britain and in 2003 converted to Islam, calling himself Mujaheed while at Marshalls Park School.
Fearing he had become radicalized, his parents moved him away from Romford to a village in Lincolnshire.
Michael Adebolajo then went to university in Greenwich, living in Eltham while he was a student.
A former friend told the Evening Standard that Michael Adebolajo was a Christian.
The friend said: “He started getting involved with Islam aged about 15 or 16, and that is why his parents moved him away out of the area. It is utterly shocking to see what he has done. It’s unbelievable.”
The security services, including MI5, were aware of him and his accomplice, who has not been named but is believed to be from Harold Hill, close to Romford.
Drummer Lee Rigby of the 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is the soldier killed in the London machete attack near Woolwich Barracks.
Lee Rigby, 25, from Manchester, leaves behind a two-year-old son.
Two men are under arrest in hospital after police shot them near Woolwich Barracks on Wednesday afternoon, in the aftermath of the attack.
The suspects, believed to include Michael Adebolajo, were known to security services, sources have said.
The victim’s name was announced by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) pending formal police identification.
“An extremely popular and witty soldier, Drummer Rigby was a larger than life personality within the Corps of Drums and was well known, liked and respected across the Second Fusiliers,” the MoD statement said.
“He was a passionate and life-long Manchester United fan.”
Lee Rigby had joined the Army in 2006, and is described as a “loving father to his son Jack” and someone who would be “sorely missed by all who knew him”.
He had taken up a post with the Regimental Recruiting Team in London in 2011.
“An experienced and talented side drummer and machine gunner, he was a true warrior and served with distinction in Afghanistan, Germany and Cyprus,” said 2nd Fusiliers commanding officer Lt Col Jim Taylor.
“His ability, talent and personality made him a natural choice to work in the recruiting group.”
Drummer Lee Rigby of the 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is the soldier killed in the London machete attack near Woolwich Barracks
Capt. Alan Williamson said: “Drummer Rigby or <<Rigger>>’ as he was known within the platoon was a cheeky and humorous man, always there with a joke to brighten the mood.”
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said: “This was a senseless murder of a soldier who has served the Army faithfully in a variety of roles including operational tours in Afghanistan.
“Our thoughts today are with his family and loved ones who are trying to come to terms with this terrible loss.”
Speaking earlier outside 10 Downing Street, PM David Cameron said the attacks were “solely and purely” the responsibility of the individuals involved.
Philip Hammond was asked if the attack showed how vulnerable soldiers were, whether they were in uniform or not.
He replied: “I think it reminds us how vulnerable we all are, but it also reminds us, by the response of the public, that we are not going to be cowed by this kind of terrorist action.”
Chief of Defence Staff General Sir David Richards said: “It’s always a tragedy, it’s particularly poignant that it happened on the streets of this capital city of ours.
“We’re absolutely determined not to be intimated into not doing the right thing – whether it’s here in this country or in Afghanistan or wherever we seek to serve the nation.”
Security at Woolwich Barracks and others in London has been increased, and Gen. David Richards said: “I’m confident that base security is as tight as it’s every been, and necessarily so.
“It’s a very difficult balancing act. We are very proud of the uniform we wear, we have huge support around the country, this is a completely isolated incident.”
Shortly after the killing a man, thought to be 28-year-old Michael Adebolajo, was filmed by a passer-by, saying he carried out the attack because British soldiers killed Muslims every day.
Sources said reports the men had featured in “several investigations” in recent years – but were not deemed to be planning an attack – “were not inaccurate”.
It appears that Michael Adebolajo, a Briton of Nigerian descent, comes from a devout Christian family but took up Islam after leaving college in 2001.
Since British forces intervened in Iraq and Afghanistan, they and their families have been well aware they might be targets at home.
At least two plots by Islamist extremists to kill soldiers in the UK have been foiled in recent years.
Abdul-Baki Todashev, father of a Chechen immigrant Ibragim Todashev, who was shot dead by an FBI agent while being questioned about his ties to Boston Marathon bombings suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, said Thursday that he regrets allowing his son to go to the U.S.
Ibragim Todashev, 27, was a mixed martial arts fighter who had trained with Tamerlan Tsarnaev in Boston, and his father said they had bonded because of their shared interests and heritage as Chechens from southern Russia.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a shootout with police days after the April 15 terrorist attack.
Ibragim Todashev was killed Wednesday after an altercation with an FBI agent during a meeting with the agent and two Massachusetts state troopers at his home in central Florida. Law enforcement officers say that during the meeting, he had implicated himself in an unsolved 2011 triple murder.
Abdul-Baki Todashev said he was worried that with his son was dead, the FBI could now pin any crime on him.
“Out of fear of the lawlessness in Chechnya, I sent him to the U.S., because it seemed like the safest country at the time,” the distraught father told the Associated Press.
“Now I’m thinking about how to bring home his body. As it turns out I sent him to his death.”
Abdul-Baki Todashev said his son Ibragim, who has a previous arrest for aggravated battery after he left a man unconscious following a fight over a park spot, is “not capable” of killing anyone.
“There is a clear picture emerging that this is all fabricated,” Abdul-Baki Todashev told the Boston Globe.
“They killed my son and then they made up a reason to explain it.”
Friends and family members of the 2011 murder victims reacted to news of Ibragim Todashev’s alleged confession on social media.
On a Facebook memorial for victim Raphael Teken, the moderator of the page wrote: “Whether we ever know exactly what happened, there is one thing we surely know and that is that Rafi deserved a much better fate.
“He was funny, kind, joyful and generous.
“All of us that knew him knew [his death] couldn’t have been about anything he did, but are now horrified by what it may have been about.”
Facebook user Tony Porter wrote: “I’m disappointed that we will never really get to experience true justice for our friend or know the reasons for what happened despite the fact that both alleged suspects are now deceased.
“I don’t know how you are supposed to feel when your friend’s killer gets killed, but I don’t feel <<relieved>> like I thought I would.”
Moderators of a Facebook memorial for victim Erik Weissman wrote: “Hoping for some closure” and posted a photo of him with the caption: “Forever young, forever beautiful, forever in our hearts.”
Ibragim Todashev was shot dead by an FBI agent while being questioned about his ties to Boston suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev
A friend who said he went to high school with Erik Weissman commented: “That playful grin is the Erik that will live on in my memory… Let’s hope [this] represents at least a small step towards some kind of <<closure>> – if that even exits – for his nearest and dearest.”
Ibragim Todashev’s estranged wife, Reniya Manukyan, denied her husband’s alleged involvement in the 2011 triple murder, but she noted that he did travel back to Boston in the summer of that year.
“He wasn’t involved. So he was not even nervous [to talk with the FBI].”
Reniya Manukyan and her husband separated in November. She said they lived in Atlanta before moving to Orlando in late 2011.
She also said that agents had questioned her several times and even stopped her at the airport when she returned from a trip to Chechnya several weeks after the Boston bombings.
Abdul-Baki Todashev said his son – the second of 12 children – was at university when he got an opportunity to go to the U.S. to study English about five or six years ago. He said he later agreed to his son’s request to remain in the U.S. “because it seemed like the safest country”.
Chechnya has been ravaged by two wars between separatist fighters and Russian federal troops since 1994, and remains troubled by periodic outbreaks of violence. The family’s red-brick house on the outskirts of Grozny, the Chechen capital, still bears the marks of shrapnel.
Abdul-Baki Todashev said his son gave up martial arts because of an injury and later held a number of jobs, including as a driver at a retirement home, before moving to Florida within the last year. The father said Ibragim had planned to come to Chechnya this week to visit his extended family, but was asked by the FBI to delay his trip.
Abdul-Baki Todashev said he had learned of his son’s death from a phone call from one of his son’s friends, who also had been questioned by the FBI. He said the friend, whom he didn’t name, told him that both of them had been pressured to confess to the murders, but that they were innocent.
The FBI gave no details on why it was interested in Ibragim Todashev except to say that he was being questioned as part of the Boston investigation. However, two officials briefed on the investigation said he had implicated himself as having been involved in a 2011 triple murder in a Boston suburb; investigators now suspect that Tamerlan Tsarnaev may have been involved in the unsolved crime.
Law enforcement officials believe, partly based on Ibragim Todashev’s alleged confession, that Todashev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev carried out the 2011 killings after a drug deal turned violent. The suspects didn’t want the three victims to be able to identify them, so they s**t their throats, sources told NBC.
Authorities had gone to Ibragim Todashev’s home late Tuesday with evidence suggesting that Todashev, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and Tsarnaev’s younger brother, Dzhokhar, were involved in the 2011 killings, according to reports.
No suspects had been arrested in that case, in which three men were found in an apartment in Waltham, Massachusetts on the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks with their throats cut and marijuana covering their bodies.
Massachusetts investigators had reported earlier this month that they were uncovering “mounting evidence” that Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, were involved in the sl**ing. One of the victims, Brendan Mess, was a close friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s.
Authorities said they have no reason to believe that Ibragim Todashev had any involvement in the Boston Marathon bombings.
The FBI has been investigating Ibragim Todashev for the last month, questioning him several times regarding his ties to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed by police in a shootout following the deadly April 15 marathon bombings. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, has been charged in connection with the bombings and is being held at a prison medical center outside Boston.
Khusen Taramov, a friend of Ibragim Todashev’s, confirmed that Todashev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev knew each other. He said they had been in contact via phone or Skype about a week before the bombings.
Ibragim Todashev was arrested in an unrelated incident on May 4 for aggravated battery after he left a man unconscious in the parking lot of a shopping mall.
