Troubled starlet Amanda Bynes was stopped from boarding a private jet this weekend for not having the correct identification.
Amanda Bynes’ driving license had been suspended and she had no other form of ID so she told the pilot to search her name on Google to prove who she was.
Witnesses at Teterboro Airport where the incident that took place said it occurred on Sunday for a flight to Los Angeles from New Jersey.
According toTMZ, the pilot had to check every passenger’s IDs but Amanda Bynes had no official government identification on her.
Amanda Bynes was then informed that per TSA regulations she would not be able to fly without it, at which point the actress directed the Google, with sources reporting that she screamed: “I’m Amanda Bynes!”
Amanda Bynes was stopped from boarding a private jet this weekend for not having the correct identification
The pilot then reportedly called a representative from the airline to see if they could allow the faded starlet onto the flight, but the jet company was adamant that no special treatment was to be given.
This latest incident comes off the back of reports that she was spotted smoking what appeared to be ma***uana as she strolled around New York City last month.
And, two men, including a photographer by the name of Giovanni Arnold and another who would go only go by the name of “Joe”, claim to In Touch magazine that they witnessed the actress smoke mar**uana as she sat on top of a bare mattress in her bedroom.
But Amanda Bynes has jumped to her own defense, tweeting on Wednesday night: “That’s not my bed! Those aren’t my toes! My toes are pedicured!”
Kim Kardashian revealed in a recent interview that she has struggled to maintain her body confidence throughout her pregnancy, but one thing she doesn’t want to lose when she gives birth is her boosted pout.
Kim Kardashian, 32, shared a picture of her plumped up lips on Twitter on Tuesday, writing: “My pregnancy lips are outta control #IGuessNotABadProblemToHave.”
The image showed Kim Kardashian pouting her lipgloss covered lips at the camera.
It’s not the first time Kim Kardashian’s enhanced pout has been noticed by her fans. In March, the reality star shared a video on her Keek page which immediately sparked speculation among her fanbase.
One viewer wrote: “Why do your lips look 10x bigger than usual?”
Another added: “Not trying to be mean just worried about her. She looked swollen in this keek.sry if I hurt ur feelings.!!”
However, a further viewer contended: “The reason she’s so swollen is because she’s pregnant. She is one of the most beautiful women in the world.”
Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian has once again spoken about her pregnancy curves, insisting that she chooses outfits for comfort rather than style.
Kim Kardashian shares a picture of her plumped-up pout
The reality star said: “It’s funny because people comment saying, <<Don’t wear tight things>>, but anyone who has been pregnant knows it feels so secure being held in, and wearing something tight and supportive.”
Kim Kardashian is currently in Paris, France, visiting her boyfriend Kanye West alongside her mother Kris Jenner.
While jetsetting has been a regular part of Kim Kardashian’s schedule throughout her pregnancy, she revealed that the trip to France will be her last flight before she welcomes her child into the world.
Kim Kardashian wrote on her blog: “My final trip before I can’t fly anymore! My mom and I flew to Paris to soak in the amazingness Paris has to offer before I can’t travel anymore!
“We were doing some baby shopping and checking on our place here before heading to LA for a while.”
Members of jury for the Jodi Arias court case were sent home at 4.30 p.m. local time after spending the entire day deliberating whether or not they should sentence the convicted murderer to death or to spend her life in prison.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday the jury returned to the courtroom after deliberating for two and a half hours saying that they were unable to reach a unanimous decision, but that did not sit well with Judge Sherry Stephens.
Sherry Stephens ordered the jurors to go back and talk more until they came to a decision.
The rest of the afternoon was not enough, however, as they were sent home and ordered to return at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
There are three options going forward: they will either decide to sentence 32-year-old Jodi Arias to death, or to sentence her to spend her life in prison with the prospect of parole after 25 years. The third option would be if they fail to unanimously agree on those two sentences, making them a hung jury.
In that case, the judge will be forced to declare a mistrial and a new jury will be picked.
The new jury will not have any power to change her guilty conviction, and they will be solely tasked with determining how Jodi Arias will “pay” for the first degree murder.
The decision follows a trial that has staggered on for five months over the 2008 slaying 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 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.
Members of jury for the Jodi Arias court case were sent home after spending the entire day deliberating whether or not they should sentence her to death or to spend her life 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 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 she addressed the court in her own defense, Jodi Arias 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,” she said.
“But as I stand here now I cannot in good conscience ask you to sentence me to death.”
Jodi Arias made the statements as she tried desperately to humanize herself to jurors by sharing childhood photographs, talking about her “red-headed stage” and displaying the drawings she has created while in prison.
She followed up her case with a surprise jailhouse interview on Tuesday where she placed blame on her legal team.
The most emotional portions of the entire trial came last week, when Travis Alexander’s siblings told the court how their lives have been wrecked in the wake of their brother’s brutal murder.
The victim’s brother Stephen Alexander told how he has since been put on several different antidepressants, had to have several hospitalizations for his ulcers, and frequently wakes up in the middle of the night with vivid nightmares.
His sister Samantha told the court that even though she has been a police officer in California for 11 years, the photos of her brother’s crime scene were by far the most gra**ic she has ever seen.
They both said how difficult it was for them to see his murderer in court and on her many television appearances, so the judges’ move to force the jury to a decision deadline may be in light of the victim’s family’s wishes.
Jodi Arias tearfully pleaded with jurors to spare her from a death sentence in Travis Alexander murder case on Tuesday during a bizarre 25-minute testimony in which 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,” she said.
“But as I stand here now I cannot in good conscience ask you to sentence me to death.”
Jodi Arias, 32, made the statements as she tried desperately to humanize herself to jurors by sharing childhood photographs, talking about her “red-headed stage” and displaying the drawings she has created while in prison.
Jodi Arias was found guilty earlier this month in the premeditated murder of Travis Alexander, whose body was found slumped in the shower of his Phoenix-area home in June 2008. He had been st**bed multiple times, had his throat sla**ed and been shot in the face.
“This is the worst mistake of my life,” Jodi Arias said.
“It’s the worst thing I have ever done…Before that day I wouldn’t even want to harm a spider.”
Listing ways that she could contribute positively from prison, Jodi Arias promised to teach women how to speak Spanish and to help improve literacy among inmates, as well as start a book club.
Jodi Arias also noted that she has avoided looking at Travis Alexander’s family during the trial.
“It’s never been my intention to throw mud on Travis’s name,” she said.
Jodi Arias tearfully pleaded with jurors to spare her from a death sentence in Travis Alexander murder case during a bizarre 25-minute testimony
“I loved Travis and I looked up to him. At one point, he was the world to me.”
Jodi Arias choked up as she spoke about the impact of her crime on her own family, saying they would be destroyed if she was sentenced to death.
“I want everyone’s healing to begin and everyone’s pain to stop,” she said. She also grew emotional while talking about her the fact that she will never be able to have children as a result of her actions.
“I’m not going to have children of my own,” she said.
“I’m not going to become a mother. Because of my own terrible choices, I’ve had to lay that dream to rest.”
In closing statements later Tuesday, Defense attorney Jennifer Willmott asked the jury to consider that “people are far better than their very worst deed”.
Jennifer Willmott claimed that Jodi Arias’ personality disorder and alleged emotional abuse that she observed between her mother and father “is in no way an excuse for killing [Travis Alexander]”, but they could have contributed to her crime and should therefore be considered when weighing the death penalty.
“While what she did was absolutely horrible, you have convicted her of that,” Jennifer Willmott said.
“Two wrongs do not make a right.”
“Jodi can still contribute to this world. Her life still has value,” she continued.
“We are asking you to find that Jodi’s life is worth saving.”
Prosecutor Juan Martinez followed up Jennifer Willmott by showing jurors a photograph of Travis Alexander’s bl***ied body from the scene of the murder.
The image caused a physical reaction among members of Travis Alexander’s family who were present, with several turning their heads, shielding their eyes and letting out sobs.
“Travis Alexander was 30 years old [when he was murdered],” Juan Martinez said.
“He’s still today 30 years old, because of her.”
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens had on Monday denied requests by the defense for a mistrial and to withdraw from the case. She also denied a motion for a stay to give the defense time to appeal her decisions to the Arizona Supreme Court. The defense said it would not call any more witnesses.
The jury that convicted Jodi Arias of murder found last week she had acted with extreme cruelty and ruled her eligible for the death penalty.
The murder trial has featured testimony and photographs as well as a s** tape and became a sensation on cable television news with the tale of an attractive, young woman charged with an unthinkable crime.
Jodi Arias has said she shot Travis Alexander with his own pistol when he attacked her in a rage because she dropped his camera while taking snapshots of him in the shower. She said she did not remember sta**ing him.
Juan Martinez said Jodi Arias had repeatedly sta**ed Travis Alexander for two minutes as he tried to escape from the bathroom. She then followed the bleeding victim down a hallway and sla**ed his throat when he was too weak to get away.
Travis Alexander, a 30-year-old businessman and motivational speaker with whom Jodi Arias said she was having an on-again, off-again affair, knew he was going to die and was unable to resist his attacker at that point, Juan Martinez said.
Michelle Robinson, the future first lady of the United States, may have dated Treasury Department Inspector General J. Russell George at Harvard Law School, a new report claims.
J. Russell George, 49, has testified in two congressional hearings about the IRS’s unethical targeting of conservative organizations with special scrutiny after they applied for tax-exempt status.
The revelation of a previous link to Michelle Obama came in a lengthy interview with J. Russell George – published a week after the IRS scandal was brought to light.
Michelle Obama has never spoken publicly about her boyfriends during the years before she met Barack Obama – the future president – at a Chicago law firm where they were both associates.
J. Russell George and Michelle Obama, then Michelle Robinson, graduated together from the university in 1988.
He told the National Journal that the two shared social circles at Harvard, and were both active in the Black Law Students Association.
But Virginia Republican Rep Tom Davis, who worked with J. Russell George as staff director of the House Oversight committee in the late 1990s and early 200s – the same committee that questioned George on Wednesday, said the relationship was more than just friendly.
“I think he actually dated Michelle at one point,” Tom Davis told National Journal.
Pressed about his purported love interest from a quarter-century ago, J. Russell George said that conclusion “is overstating it”.
“Michelle was a lovely person, and down to earth,” he said, recalling times when Black Law Student Association members “went out for pizza; we would go out together”.
Michelle Robinson, the future first lady of the US, may have dated Treasury Department Inspector General J. Russell George at Harvard Law School
“Don’t get me in trouble,” J. Russell George told the Washington newspaper, after “pausing for a beat”.
From Harvard, the future Michelle Obama got a job at a law firm in Chicago, one of just 14 black lawyers in an office of hundreds.
It is at that firm of Sidley & Austin that she met Barack Obama, who arrived as a summer associate in 1988.
For their first date in 1989, Barack Obama took her to the Art Institute of Chicago and to see the Spike Lee film Do the Right Thing.
After stopping for ice cream at Baskin-Robbins, the two shared their first kiss. A plaque now marks the location.
Barack and Michelle Obama married in 1992 at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
J. Russell George, who was born in New York City, attended Harvard Law in between stints working for then-Senator Bob Dole of Kansas and serving in the administration of President George H.W. Bush, both Republicans.
In 1995, he returned to Washington for good after he took a job at Committee on Government Reform, among other high-profile positions in government.
J. Russell George was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service before moving on to his current post in 2004.
Michelle Obama’s time at the prestigious Cambridge, Massachusetts law school put her squarely in the middle of the nationwide debates raging about race politics in the 1980s.
During her final year at Harvard, Michelle Robinson wrote an article for the Black Law Students Association’s newsletter in which she argued that the school was perpetuating “racist and sexist stereotypes” because it wasn’t hiring enough minority law professors based on the color of their skin.
The Daily Caller first reported on the essay, in which Michelle Robinson wrote that hiring on the sole basis of merit, instead of recruiting according to affirmative-action principles, “serve[d] to legitimize students” tendencies to distrust certain types of teaching that do not resemble the traditional images’ of law school.
The future first lady lauded the teaching styles of liberal academics Martha Minow and Charles Ogletree, who ignored the traditional question-and-answer “Socratic method” in favor of other habits.
She also praised critical race theory, the idea that powerful groups of people – including Caucasians – use the law as an instrument to oppress the powerless, including blacks.
Michelle Obama also wrote a message for the Harvard Law School’s yearbook in which she called for greater civility in American society.
“After three years,” wrote the graduating lawyer-to-be.
“I continue to be struck by the tremendous talent and energy among HLS students and faculty.
“The diversity of campus life challenges all of us to question our assumptions, listen to other viewpoints, and articulate our values in a spirit of mutual respect and tolerance.”
Thousands of mourners are attending the funeral of renowned author Chinua Achebe in his Nigerian home town of Ogidi in Anambra state.
Chinua Achebe’s body arrived back in Nigeria on Wednesday from the US, where he died in March at the age of 82.
Relatives and officials were at Enugu airport in southern Nigeria as the coffin was lowered from the plane.
Chinua Achebe is widely regarded as the founding father of African literature in English.
His 1958 debut novel, Things Fall Apart, which dealt with the impact of colonialism in Africa, has sold more than 10 million copies.
Writer and academic Chinua Achebe went on to write more than 20 works – some fiercely critical of politicians and what he described as a failure of leadership in Nigeria.
He had been living in the US since 1990 after a car crash left him partially paralyzed and in a wheelchair, returning to Nigeria infrequently.
Thousands of mourners are attending the funeral of renowned author Chinua Achebe in his Nigerian home town of Ogidi in Anambra state
Chinua Achebe is being given a colorful, grand send off in his home town of Ogidi.
Much of what he abhorred is on full display at the service – political patronage and the trappings of power, he says.
Local politicians were escorted into the church by men from the State Security Service wielding sophisticated weapons while a large number of men and women came dressed head to toe in political party outfits.
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan and Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama flew in by helicopter to attend the service at the packed Anglican church in Ogidi.
Thousands of mourners are following proceedings from huge marquees erected outside.
Although people are mourning, the life of the influential Nigerian writer is also being celebrated, our reporter says.
“I left my house in Asaba [a nearby city] at 05:00 this morning in order to pay my last respects for this illustrious son of Nigeria who has done his people proud,” said Sylvanus John, a 31-year-old engineer, AFP news agency reports.
Chinua Achebe’s body will be buried near his family’s home in Ogidi, a small town in the hills of Anambra state, later on Thursday.
Christine Lagarde has arrived at a court in Paris for questioning over a payout to controversial tycoon Bernard Tapie during her time as finance minister.
The IMF chief is being asked to explain her handling of a row in 2007 which resulted in some 400 million euros ($516 million) being paid to Bernard Tapie.
She is appearing before the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), which investigates ministerial misconduct.
Christine Lagarde insists the award was the best solution at the time.
“It’s a pleasure to see you,” a smiling she told reporters upon arrival.
Christine Lagarde could be placed under formal investigation for the decision to use arbitration, against advice from senior advisers, to settle a long-running court battle between the state and Bernard Tapie, a supporter of the then French President, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Christine Lagarde has arrived at a court in Paris for questioning over a payout to controversial tycoon Bernard Tapie during her time as finance minister
The case stretches back to 1993 when Bernard Tapie, a colorful, controversial character in the French business world, sold his stake in sports company Adidas to Credit Lyonnais.
Soon after the bank sold on that stake for a much bigger profit, Bernard Tapie claimed they had defrauded him.
In 2007, President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested the finance ministry – which had been overseeing the dispute and was led by Christine Lagarde – should move the case to arbitration.
Bernard Tapie won a much bigger payout than he might have expected in court.
Christine Lagarde is not accused of profiting from the payout, but she is being questioned over the misuse of public funds.
If she is placed under formal investigation it is of course embarrassing. It is a step closer to trial but it does not necessarily mean the case will end up in court.
Christine Lagarde is still one of the most popular politicians on the right in France. And after the disgrace that was heaped on the last IMF chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, few in France want to see another prominent French politician embarrassed on the world stage.
Some on the right wonder whether she could be a future candidate for first female French president, notably because she has stayed outside the conservative UMP party’s vicious in-fighting.
Christine Lagarde, a perfect English speaker, has never expressed a desire to run for president. But her five-year term at the IMF is due to finish in 2016 – a year before the next presidential election. With her acumen she may be a dangerous opponent for President Francois Hollande.
The founder of Hasidic Belz dynasty was Rabbi Shalom Rokeach, also known as the Sar Shalom, who was inducted as the rabbi of Belz in 1817. He personally helped build the city’s large and imposing synagogue which stood until the Nazis invaded Belz in late 1939.
When Rabbi Shalom died in 1855, his youngest son, Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach, became the next Rebbe. The Belzer Hasidism sect grew in size during Rebbe Yehoshua’s tenure and the tenure of his son and successor, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach.
Unlike other groups which formed yeshivas in pre-war Poland, Belz maintained a unique yoshvim program, developed by Rabbi Yissachar Dov, which produced many outstanding Torah scholars. The yoshvim were married and unmarried men who remained in the synagogue all day to study the Talmud, pray, and derive inspiration from their Rebbe.
With the outbreak of World War II and the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939, the town of Belz was thrown into turmoil. From 1939 to 1944 it was occupied by Nazi Germany as a part of the General Government.
Though the Germans attempted to destroy the Belz synagogue first by fire and then by dynamite, they were unsuccessful. Finally they conscripted Jewish men to take the building apart, brick by brick.
The Belz leader Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, known as the “Wonder Rebbe” was at the top of the Gestapo’s “wanted list” of rabbis targeted for extradition and extermination during the Nazi occupation of Poland.
With cash inflow from Belzer Hasidim in Palestine, England and the United States, the Rebbe and his half-brother, Rabbi Mordechai of Bilgoray, managed to stay one step ahead of the Nazis in one miraculous escape attempt after another. The brothers were driven out of occupied Poland and into Hungary by a Hungarian counter-intelligence agent who was friendly to Jews.
Shalom Rokeach is the grandson of the head of one of the largest Hasidic communities in Jerusalem, Belz Rebbe, and is expected to take his place as leader of the sect one day
Although he had lost his entire family – including his wife, children, grandchildren and in-laws and their families – to the Nazis, Rebbe Aharon re-established his Hasidic court in Tel Aviv, where there was a small Hasidic community.
Both he and Rabbi Mordechai (who had lost his wife and daughter) remarried, but only Rabbi Mordechai had a child, Yissachar Dov Rokeach (II), in 1948. Rabbi Mordechai suddenly died a year later at the age of 47. Rebbe Aharon took his brother’s son under his wing to groom him as the future successor to the Belz dynasty.
Like nearly all of the other groups originating in Poland, Belzer Hasdism was nearly wiped out by the Holocaust. Some Hasidic followers from other communities joined Belz after the war and following the deaths of their rebbes. Belz, like Ger and Satmar, was comparatively fortunate in that its leadership remained intact and survived the war, as opposed to many other Hasidic groups which suffered losses both in terms of rank-and-file supporters, as well as the physical decapitation of their leaders.
Rebbe Aharon became an acknowledged leader of Haredi Judaism in Israel. He laid the groundwork for the spread of Belzer Hasidism through the establishment of schools and yeshivas in Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak and Jerusalem.
Since 1966, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach has presided over both the expansion of Belz educational institutions and the growth of Hasidic populations in Israel, the United States, and Europe. Under the Rebbe’s leadership, the Belz Hasidut has grown from a few hundred families at the time of his accession to leadership in 1966, to over 7,000 families as of 2011.
The largest number of Belzer Hasidim outside of Israel are living in the USA, mostly in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, which has eight Belzer synagogues and ten dayanim. Belz is the largest Hasidic community in Borough Park, followed by Bobov, Satmar, Munkatch, and Ger. Belz in the USA & Canada counts over 2000 families.
Traditional Jewish weddings consist of two separate parts, the betrothal ceremony, known as erusin or kiddushin, and the actual wedding ceremony, known as nisuin.
The first betrothal ceremony sees the groom give a wedding ring to the bride. During this part of the service, the bride is prohibited from talking to all other men.
The wedding ceremony then takes place underneath a large four-poled stand with a canopy overhead known as a chuppah so the groom and his veiled bride can be married underneath the sky.
The bride’s wedding veil takes various forms among the different Jewish communities. Some Hasidic brides wear a heavy cloth veil that, Hasidic Jews believe, protect the bride’s modesty by allowing her to avoid guests’ gazes while she stands under the wedding canopy.
The veil also recalls the Matriarch Leah, whose face was covered so heavily that Jacob did not know she was not Rachel at the wedding ceremony. The bride only has to wear the veil during the ceremony.
After the ceremony the bride and groom spend an hour together before the bride re-enters the chuppah and, after gaining her permission, the groom joins her. The couple is then blessed over a cup of wine at the conclusion of the ceremony.
All the male guests dressed in black and wore traditional shtreimel hats for the occasion, which traditionally separates the men from the women.
After the wedding ceremony, the bride takes part in the Mitzvah tantz ritual – where members of the family and honored rabbis dance in front of her and then with the groom.
Tens of thousands of Ultra-Orthodox Jews of the Belz Hasidic Dynasty watch the wedding ceremony of Rabbi Shalom Rokach
The bride stands perfectly still, holding one end of a long sash while rabbis, the groom’s father, her own father or her grandfather holds the other end and dances with her.
According to the Talmud, it’s considered a great honor to entertain a new bride and to dance for her during her wedding.
Only a few women take part in this section of the celebrations.
Members of the congregation held hands and danced during the ceremony and sweets were handed out to children before the wedding party enjoyed a traditional meal.
Hasidic Jews wear clothes similar to that worn by their ancestors in 18th and 19th century Europe – and this style of attire also helps them to focus on their sense of tradition and spirituality.
The biggest Hasidic communities are found in Israel and the U.S. There also smaller groups in Canada, England, Belgium and Australia.
Their lives revolve around religious study, prayer and family – and theirs is a world without television, films, the internet or secular publications.
The men generally have beards and sidelocks (peyot).
Women tend to wear long skirts and shirts with long sleeves and high necklines as they adhere to strict guidelines of modesty.
After the women get married, they cover their heads with either scarves, hats or wigs (known as “sheitels”).
More than 25,000 Jews from around the world attended an Ultra Orthodox Jewish wedding to witness the marriage of the grandson of Yissachar Dov Rokeach, the leader of the Hasidic dynasty Belz Rebbe.
Steeped in tradition, the ceremony of 18-year-old Shalom Rokeach and his 19-year-old bride Hannah Batya Penet was held in Jerusalem, Israel.
Shalom Rokeach is the eldest and only male grandchild of the Belz Rebbe, who heads one of the largest Hasidic communities in the world. Being the only male, the newlywed is assumed to be the Rebbe’s future heir in leading the community.
Belz Rebbe is an ancient Polish-Jewish dynasty which has its roots in the 14th Century in the Polish town of the same name. The marriage of one of its descendants, who is considered aristocracy among Orthodox Jews, is big occasion and all members of the sect from all over the world are invited.
The wedding is a rare meet-and-greet opportunity for leaders of various Hasidic sects. Thousands of Belz Hasids from the United States and Europe attended the celebration, which lasted until dawn. A number of Jerusalem streets were shut down because of the size of the celebrations.
Traditional Jewish weddings consist of two separate parts, the betrothal ceremony, known as erusin or kiddushin, and the actual wedding ceremony, known as nisuin.
The first betrothal ceremony sees the groom give a wedding ring to the bride. During this part of the service, the bride is prohibited from talking to all other men.
The wedding ceremony then takes place underneath a large four-poled stand with a canopy overhead known as a chuppah so the groom and his veiled bride can be married underneath the sky.
The bride’s wedding veil takes various forms among the different Jewish communities. Some Hasidic brides wear a heavy cloth veil that, Hasidic Jews believe, protect the bride’s modesty by allowing her to avoid guests’ gazes while she stands under the wedding canopy.
Shalom Rokeach and Hannah Batya Penet wedding in Jerusalem was attended by 25,000 Ultra Orthodox Jews of Hasidic dynasty Belz Rebbe
The veil also recalls the Matriarch Leah, whose face was covered so heavily that Jacob did not know she was not Rachel at the wedding ceremony. The bride only has to wear the veil during the ceremony.
After the ceremony the bride and groom spend an hour together before the bride re-enters the chuppah and, after gaining her permission, the groom joins her. The couple is then blessed over a cup of wine at the conclusion of the ceremony.
All the male guests dressed in black and wore traditional shtreimel hats for the occasion, which traditionally separates the men from the women.
It was so full that some guests were forced to use binoculars to catch a glimpse of the service.
After the wedding ceremony, the bride took part in the Mitzvah tantz ritual – where members of the family and honored rabbis dance in front of her and then with the groom.
The bride stands perfectly still, holding one end of a long sash while rabbis, the groom’s father, her own father or her grandfather holds the other end and dances with her.
According to the Talmud, it’s considered a great honor to entertain a new bride and to dance for her during her wedding.
Only a few women take part in this section of the celebrations.
Members of the congregation held hands and danced during the ceremony and sweets were handed out to children before the wedding party enjoyed a traditional meal.
Hasidic Jews wear clothes similar to that worn by their ancestors in 18th and 19th century Europe – and this style of attire also helps them to focus on their sense of tradition and spirituality.
The biggest Hasidic communities are found in Israel and the U.S. There also smaller groups in Canada, England, Belgium and Australia.
Their lives revolve around religious study, prayer and family – and theirs is a world without television, films, the internet or secular publications.
The men generally have beards and sidelocks (peyot).
Women tend to wear long skirts and shirts with long sleeves and high necklines as they adhere to strict guidelines of modesty.
After the women get married, they cover their heads with either scarves, hats or wigs (known as “sheitels”).
Johnny Berry, Amanda Berry’s father, has revealed how his daughter is struggling to recover after ten years in captivity in Cleveland and is petrified that her accused kidnapper Ariel Castro is coming back for her.
Johnny Berry, 52, who is dying from a deadly pulmonary disease, told the National Enquirer that: “Amanda’s having a terrible time. She’s having nightmares every night, waking up screaming and crying, terrified that Castro is coming after her, or that she’s still a prisoner.
“She’s told me she’s afraid her freedom is a dream and she’s going to wake up to the horror of finding out she is still a prisoner.”
As Amanda Berry recovers from her decade-long prison ordeal, her father has spoken of his anger to declare that he would like to kill her accused kidnapper Ariel Castro.
“If I could get my hands on that monster Castro, I’d kill him myself!” said Johnny Berry from his death bed in Elizabethton, Tennessee.
Near paralyzed from recent back surgery, Johnny Berry, who is covered in tattoos and wears an uncomfortable neck brace, explained that if he can’t kill Ariel Castro, then he wants him to rot in jail for the rest of his life.
“If I can’t kill him, I don’t want the state to execute him,” said Johnny Berry to the National Enquirer.
“That would be too easy for him.”
“I want him in prison for the rest of his life. I know people in there who can make his life a living hell for what he did to Amanda. I want them to beat the s**t out of him every single day.”
Johnny Berry, Amanda Berry’s father, has revealed how his daughter is struggling to recover after ten years in captivity in Cleveland
Amanda Berry was dramatically rescued from Ariel Castro’s Cleveland, Ohio, home along with Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight and her own six year old child by Castro, Jocelyn on May 6th.
The three women had been kept prisoner by Ariel Castro for almost ten years and suffered systematic rapes, beatings and induced abortions at the hands of the 52-year-old former school bus driver.
It has been claimed that the three dogs who lived in the home with the girls were kept in better condition that they were – and the girls still have to decide whether they want to take them back.
The last time that Johnny Berry saw his daughter, she was working as a 16-year-old in the local Burger King, enjoying her time at school where she was doing well.
Now, Johnny Berry, who has served time himself in jail for s**ual battery and aggravated assault, has expressed his fears that he may never see his daughter again or the grand-daughter he has never met.
However, he told the National Enquirer that he has at least spoken to Amanda twice since her lucky escape earlier this month.
“When she called me, her voice was the most beautiful sound I ever heard,” said Johnny Berry.
“She said, <<Hi daddy. I’m still alive. I love you, love you, love you!>> We were both crying…it was the happiest day of my life.”
Amanda Berry, who is now 27 is living currently with her sister Beth Serrano in Cleveland and is said to be suffering from the horrifying memories of her ordeal at the hands of Ariel Castro.
Johnny Berry was married to Amanda’s mother, Louwana Miller up until one month before Amanda’s disappearance. Louwana Miller died in 2005.
“I can’t say I was the best dad in the world,” admitted Johnny Berry.
“I feel a lot of guilt that I wasn’t there for Amanda when she needed me.
“If I had known where she was, I would have gotten a gun and gone over there and gotten her out myself, but we had no idea. It was like she just disappeared off the face of the earth.”
Despite his confirmation that his daughter is struggling, the three women rescued after being held captive in a Cleveland house for about a decade want the community to know they are doing fine and appreciate offers of help.
The message was relayed in a letter released Tuesday by their attorneys.
The letter said Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight are happy and safe. A charity fund to help the women has raised more than $650,000 from more than 6,800 donors.
Amanda Berry broke through a locked door on May 6, yelled to neighbors for help and enabled Michelle Knight and Gina DeJesus to escape.
Ariel Castro, a 52-year-old former school bus driver, has been charged with three counts of rape and four counts of kidnapping, one for each of the three women and one for Amanda Berry’s 6-year-old daughter fathered by Castro.
His defense team says he will plead not guilty. The case is pending before a Cuyahoga County grand jury.
Kendall Jenner’s tweet on Tuesday night in which she wished “things could be easier” set the Twittersphere alight, with followers blasting the 17-year-old for being ungrateful for all her good fortune.
Chief among the detractors was Frances Bean Cobain, 20, who sounded off with a series of tweets lambasting Kendall Jenner, calling her a “f***ing idiot” for being so “self-involved”.
Courtney Love’s daughter 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**k, Humans are so self involved,” Frances Bean Cobain added.
Frances Bean Cobain slams Kendall Jenner for self-pitying tweet
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.”
The artist was obviously still stewing about the tweet, as she later wrote: “I’d like to thank my parents for providing me with a high IQ & I’d like to thank my grams for encouraging me not to be a self absorbed idiot.”
Kendall Jenner’s tweet received a slew of criticism from her followers, but she chose not to respond.
“Yeah I hate when I get lost in my closet too,” wrote someone.
Another wrote: “Did no one buy you your starbucks?”
“Just buy another range rover babes you’ll be fine x.”
The full extent of Amanda Bynes’s troubled world has been revealed after the child star opened up the doors to her Manhattan apartment for an impromptu house party last month.
Two men, including a photographer by the name of Giovanni Arnold and another who would go only go by the name of “Joe”, claim to In Touch magazine that they witnessed Amanda Bynes smoking marijuana as she sat on top of a bare mattress in her bedroom.
The action took place inside Amanda Bynes’ New York abode, which they describe as “filthy”, littered with rubbish and take-out containers and with windows that have been blacked out with spray paint.
They also claim and presented photographs of what appeared to be empty baggies strewn on the floor.
“W**d was everywhere,” Giovanni Arnold told the magazine.
“On the bed, all over the floor.”
“She probably gets so high that sometimes she won’t even leave her house,” he added.
“One minute she’s cool and down-to-earth,” Joe added to the magazine.
“The next, she’s totally different – indecisive and she can’t hold a conversation. Mentally, she is all over the place.”
The full extent of Amanda Bynes’s troubled world has been revealed after she opened up the doors to her Manhattan apartment for an impromptu house party last month
In the photographs from In Touch, Amanda Bynes is seen sprawled out on her bed, seemingly out of it with a pair of sunglasses covering her eyes.
In one snap she has a half burnt roll up in her mouth and her bare feet are covered in nasty cuts and bruises.
In the same image an empty plastic baggie sits in the corner next to her spiked Christian Louboutin shoes.
“She’ll smoke a j**nt halfway and then put it out and light a new one. Then she’ll relight the half,” Joe told the magazine.
The two men said they witnessed Amanda Bynes on several outings with the pre-rolled j***ts and claimed that she had a stockpile of the drug in her apartment.
The pair also claimed that they saw her do cocaine during their time in the apartment.
But when questioned by In Touch about the alleged d**g use, Amanda Bynes strenuously denied their story.
“They’re the ones into d**gs, so they bring drugs, but I don’t do them,” she said.
Giovanni Arnold and Joe told the magazine that Amanda Bynes’ living conditions were poor, with her house virtually unfurnished.
“Her living room is basically empty: She has two big purple chairs and a little dining room table, that’s it,” Joe said.
The photographer said that while there is one blind on the window, the rest are half spray painted black.
“It’s almost like she couldn’t bother to get more blinds,” Giovanni Arnold said.
During their night at Amanda Bynes’, the actress also reportedly obsessed about her weight.
“You can tell that she craves attention, but at the same time, it makes her feel uncomfortable because she is so uncomfortable about her appearance,” Joe told the magazine.
“She talks about losing weight constantly – she’s fixated. As weird as she is, she’s still very Hollywood: demanding and obsessed with how she looks.”
According to several past reports, Amanda Bynes’ parents have tried desperately to reach out to their daughter but to no avail.
Close friends say that they fear for the actress who has completely lost touch with the outside world.
Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, who knew Amanda Bynes before she started with her erratic behavior last year, described the situation as “frightening”.
“She is a totally different person now,” he told the magazine.
“She’s effectively isolated herself from her family, friends and loved ones. Her life must be incredibly lonely, confusing and frightening right now.”
Ibragim Todashev, friend of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, implicated himself and Tamerlan in a 2011 triple slaying just before he was killed by an FBI agent early Wednesday, NBC and CBS News are reporting.
Authorities were pressuring Chechan immigrant Ibragim Todashev, 27, to make a full confession to the murders when he suddenly turned violent, according to CBS. An FBI agent responded by firing his weapon and killing Ibragim Todashev.
The incident happened at Ibragim Todashev’s Orlando apartment, not far from Universal Studios. Initially, authorities claimed that Ibragim Todashev had lunged at the agent with a knife, but they later backtracked, saying it was no longer clear whether he was armed.
Law enforcement sources tellNBC that Ibragim Todashev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev carried out the 2011 killings when a drug deal that turned violent. The suspects didn’t want the three victims to be able to identify them, so they slit their throats, according to the network.
Authorities had gone to Ibragim Todashev’s home late Tuesday with evidence suggesting that Todashev, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and Tsarnaev’s younger brother, Dzhokhar, were involved in the 2011 killings.
No suspects had been arrested in that case, in which three men were found in an apartment in Waltham, Massachusetts on the tenth 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 slaying. 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 marathon bombings.
Friends and family members of the 2011 murder victims reacted to news of the alleged confession on social media.
On a Facebook page dedicated to victim Raphael Teken, someone 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.”
Ibragim Todashev implicated himself and Tamerlan Tsaranaev in a 2011 triple slaying just before he was killed by an FBI
“He was funny, kind, joyful and generous,” the message continued.
“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.”
Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, confirmed to the New York Timeson Wednesday that her older son knew Ibragim Todashev.
In a telephone interview from Dagestan, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva said Ibragim Todashev moved from Boston to Florida about two years ago. She said she is devastated to learn that he has been killed.
“Now another boy has left this life,” she told the newspaper.
“Why are they killing these children without any trial or investigation?”
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.
In an interview with Orlando television station WESH, Khusen Taramov said that the two met while Ibragim Todashev was living in Boston because they were both involved in mixed martial arts and boxing.
Ibragim Todashev “wasn’t like real close friends [with Tamerlan Tsarnaev], but he just happened to know him”, Khusen Taramov said.
“But he had no idea that they were up to something like that, like bombings and everything, you know what I mean?”
Khusen Taramov says the FBI has been following him and Ibragim Todashev since the bombings. He said that they were both being interviewed by agents late Tuesday before Ibragim Todashev was killed.
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.
According to the arrest affidavit, Ibragim Todashev had gotten into an altercation with a man and his son over parking space.
Ibragim Todashev told police that the man “got into his face” so he pushed him and then the man’s son “got involved” and Todashev began fighting him.
“Todashev said he was only fighting to protect his knee because he had surgery in March,” the affidavit states.
A mall security officer arrived on scene to find the son unconscious and lying in a pool of blood on the ground just as Ibragim Todashev was pulling away in a white Mercedes.
The officer chased down the Mercedes, ordered Ibragim Todashev out at gunpoint and arrested him.
The son was later treated at a hospital with a split upper lip, several teeth knocked out and head injuries.
Jodi Arias gave a surprise jailhouse interview just hours after a jury began deliberating her fate, speaking out about her murder trial, her many fights with her legal team and her belief that she “deserves a second chance at freedom someday”.
Jodi Arias repeated many of her claims from previous interviews, testimony on the witness stand and her statements to the jury earlier on Tuesday as she pleaded for mercy.
Her further stints of self-promotion came as the jury were unable to reach a decision on Wednesday on whether she should be sentenced to death.
The judge sent the jury back out to deliberate until 4.30 p.m. (MST). If jurors are unable to agree, then the judge will declare a mistrial for death penalty phase only and a new jury will be brought in.
Jodi Arias also provided some new information about her case and how she believed 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 the hands of Travis Alexander.
She was convicted last week of first-degree murder in the June 2008 stabbing and shooting death of her one-time lover in what prosecutors described as a cold, calculated killing carried out in a jealous rage. Jodi Arias has maintained all along it was self-defense.
The jury began deliberating Tuesday as they worked to determine whether she should live or die for her crime. If the jury opts for a life sentence, the judge will have the option of determining whether she spends the rest of her days behind bars or is eligible for release after 25 years.
Jodi Arias acknowledged it was unlikely she would ever be released, but believed she deserves a second chance.
Following her conviction last week, Jodi arias told a local TV station that she preferred the death penalty.
She said on Tuesday night that she changed her mind after a tearful meeting with family members that same day, realizing that 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 said.
Jodi Arias said she fought from the beginning to keep cameras out of the courtroom to limit the media spectacle, and believes that the jury should have been sequestered. She stated flatly that she did not receive a fair trial.
“The prosecutor has accused me of wanting to be famous, which is not true,” she said.
However, Jodi Arias has sought the spotlight at every turn, providing TV interviews and even using a third-party to tweet throughout the trial.
Jodi Arias repeated her claims that she never wanted to go to trial in the first place but instead wanted to reach a deal with prosecutors on a second-degree murder count that would have carried a maximum of 22 years in prison. However, she said, “no deal was offered”.
Jodi Arias gave a surprise jailhouse interview just hours after a jury began deliberating her fate
She gave the interviews on Tuesday after the judge lifted an order barring jail officials from arranging any media requests.
The judge did not elaborate on the reason for the ruling, but Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office quickly began making the media arrangements that lasted late into the night.
A shackled Jodi Arias wore makeup for the interviews and showed up in a jail classroom with a comb in hand as she fixed her hair for the cameras. When pressed for details on some of her conflicting stories, she was mostly evasive, citing advice from her attorneys and possible pending appeals.
She was also asked about the conflicts she had had with her two court-appointed lawyers, Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott.
Jodi Arias said she wanted at least three people called as witnesses who could have testified to having seen bruises on her neck “when I was choked out” by Travis Alexander but she said she was rebuffed by her lawyers.
The prosecutor insisted her claims of self-defense were an exaggerated attempt to avoid being convicted.
Jodi Arias said her lawyers “felt a little betrayed” and blindsided by her post-conviction interview but that they gave their blessings for Tuesday night’s interviews, warning her to be cautious.
She said she sometimes wishes she’d never met Alexander, “just because of how ultimately everything ended and I say that for his sake and mine – not just a selfish thing”.
Jodi Arias said if the attack never occurred and she never crossed paths with the victim, she would likely now be a happily married 32-year-old with children, good finances and a successful wedding photography business.
Earlier on Tuesday, Jodi Arias told jurors she planned to use her time in prison to bring about positive changes, including donating her hair to be made into wigs for cancer victims, helping establish prison recycling programs and designing T-shirts to raise money for domestic abuse victims.
Jodi Arias became emotional as she displayed for jurors photos of her friends, boyfriends and family members, including newborn relatives she has met only from behind bars.
She asked jurors to reject the death penalty for the sake of her family.
“I’m asking you to please, please don’t do that to them. I’ve already hurt them so badly, along with so many other people,” she said.
“I want everyone’s healing to begin, and I want everyone’s pain to stop.”
Jodi Arias stabbed and slashed Travis Alexander nearly 30 times, shot in him in the forehead and slit his throat, nearly decapitating him, before leaving his body in his shower to be found by friends about five days later.
“To this day, I can hardly believe I was capable of such violence. But I know that I was,” Jodi Arias told jurors.
“And for that, I’m going to be sorry for the rest of my life.”
Her speech to jurors came a day after her attorneys asked to be removed from the case, saying the five-month trial had become a witch hunt that prompted death threats against a key witness in the penalty phase. They also argued for a mistrial. The judge denied both requests.
Travis Alexander’s family showed little emotion as Jodi Arias’ mother, father and sister looked on from the other side of the gallery and cried.
After Jodi Arias finished speaking, Judge Sherry Stephens explained to jurors that their finding would be final
The jury heard closing arguments later on Tuesday, with Jennifer Willmott citing Jodi Arias’ mental health problems and lack of a criminal record among the reasons to spare her life.
“The question now before you is: Do you kill her? Do you kill her for the one act that she did, the one horrible act, or can you see that there is a reason to let her live? Can you see that there is value in her life?” she said.
Prosecutor Juan Martinez said that despite Jodi Arias’ claims, there were no factors in the case that would warrant a sentence other than death.
He implored jurors to look at the “whole panorama” of the case, not just Jodi Arias’ statement on Tuesday, and explained how Travis Alexander’s family will live with the pain of their loss for the rest of their lives.
“They can’t forget that what happened on that afternoon, Travis Victor Alexander suffered immense physical pain,” Juan Martinez said.
Kim Kardashian’s baby shower is scheduled for June 2 and music box invitations have been already sent out for the event.
Kim Kardashian – who is expecting her first child with boyfriend Kanye West – is having a lavish bash thrown in her honor on June 2 ahead of her due date in July and gossip website TMZ has got hold of one of the unique invites.
The white music box plays a “lullaby” version of rapper Kanye West’s track Hey Mama as a plastic ballerina – which bears a resemblance to the famous beauty – dances.
The invitations have been “given with love by Kris Jenner, Shelli Azoff, Kourtney Kardashian (and) Khloe Kardashian-Odom” and guests must RSVP by May 28 – four days before the event.
The family have chosen a “Garden Chic” theme for the bash.
Kim Kardashian’s baby shower is scheduled for June 2 and music box invitations have been already sent out for the event
Kim Kardashian, 32, is reportedly set to join Kanye West on his European tour later this year after she gives birth and the TV personality admits she feels totally prepared for motherhood after taking tips from her own mother Kris Jenner.
She recently said: “My mom is a strong and ambitious career woman that despite her busy schedule and the millions of things she has going on, she still manages to put family first and continues to look out for us every day.
“Motherhood is a gift and I know after watching my mom do it, it’s not easy especially when trying to balance a career. I can’t wait to follow in her footsteps and make her proud like I am of her.”
Considering Kim’s wedding to ex-husband Kris Humphries is reported to have cost a reported $10 million, it should come as no surprise that she’s chosen to splash out on her baby shower.
No doubt the trustee camera crew from Keeping Up With The Kardashians will be on hand to document the event too.
Polish doctors say they have performed a total face transplant on a 33-year-old man whose face was torn off in an accident with stone-cutting machinery.
Surgeons at the Oncology Center in Gliwice said the 27-hour operation was performed on May 15, just weeks after the accident.
The head of the team of doctors, Adam Maciejewski, said it was the world’s first life-saving face transplant carried out so soon after the damage.
The accident took place on April 23.
Previous transplants have taken months or years to prepare.
A computer-generated image, provided by the hospital, shows the extraordinary damage the man suffered as a result of the industrial accident.
It required surgery to reconstruct his face, jaws, palate and the bottom of his eye sockets.
But incredibly, the emergency procedure appears to have been a success.
Polish doctors say they have performed a total face transplant on a 33-year-old man whose face was torn off in an accident with stone-cutting machinery
A picture of the patient taken yesterday, six days after the surgery, showed him making a thumbs-up gesture from his hospital bed.
A Spanish farmer had the world’s first full-face transplant in March 2010.
Oscar, whose surname was not revealed to protect his privacy, had blown most of his face off with a gun in the hunting accident. He was left unable to breathe, swallow or talk properly.
Nine earlier surgical attempts to rebuild his face had failed.
He made medical history when he became the first person in the world to undergo a full facial transplant.
The 24-hour operation involved 30 surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and other medical experts at the Vall d’Hebron hospital in Barcelona.
The complicated procedure included plastic surgery and microsurgery to repair blood vessels.
Oscar required speech therapy, physiotherapy and facial therapy to help him recover full movement in his facial muscles.
There have been 11 partial face transplants carried out since Isabelle Dinoire had her face repaired by French surgeons in 2005. Five have been performed in France, two in Spain and two in the U.S, one in Egypt and one in China.
There have also been two full face transplants, Oscar and a man known as Jerome in France.
A video tonight emerged of a man with b****ied hands, carrying knives and ranting “We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you”, after a serving soldier was ha**ed to death by two men just 200 yards from an Army barracks.
The man can be seen and heard talking to the camera. The video came as terrified eyewitnesses saw two men shot by police marksmen after the machete attack in Woolwich, south-east London.
The two men are thought to have waited around for 20 minutes until Metropolitan Police officers arrived and then tried to attack them – but were swiftly shot by armed policemen, including a woman.
They apparently shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great in Arabic), and tried to film the attack, the BBC’s political editor Nick Robinson said.
British Home Secretary Theresa May tonight called a meeting of the Government’s emergency Cobra committee in response to the machete and knife attack on the man who was wearing a Help for Heroes t-shirt.
Theresa May said she had been briefed on the killing by the head of MI5 and police later confirmed they were treating the incident as a possible terror attack.
Meanwhile PM David Cameron cancelled a meeting with French President Francois Hollande to return to London. He said Britain has faced similar terror attacks before and added: “We will never buckle in the face of it.”
Before the dramatic video of the b****ied man was obtained by ITV News, eyewitnesses said the “crazed” men in their 20s launched a ferocious attack and were “ha**ing, ch***ing and cu**ing him”.
In footage released by ITV News, a man with b****ied hands carrying a knife and a machete addresses people holding a camera, where he appears to attempt to justify the incident.
Speaking to those recording the scene he says: “I apologize that women had to witness this today, but in our land our women have to see the same.
“You people will never be safe. Remove your government, they don’t care about you.”
In footage obtained by The Sun, the man can also be heard saying: “You think David Cameron is going to get caught in the street when we start busting our guns you think politicians are going to die?
“No it’s going to be the average guy, like you, and your children. So get rid of them. Tell them to bring our troops back so you can all live in peace.”
Following his outburst, the man walks back towards where the victim is lying in the middle of the road. He then speaks to another man as they stand near to the victim.
Women are later seen bravely tending to the man lying. The footage appears to have been taken before any of the emergency services have arrived at the scene.
Later footage has also emerged from shortly after police fired at two men. One of the men can be seen lying in the road, while the second is laid on the pavement.
The footage taken after the shootings was reported to have been taken by a man who had been on a bus on his way to a job interview.
PM David Cameron said on Twitter that “the killing in Woolwich is truly shocking – I have asked the Home Secretary to chair a Cobra meeting”.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The Queen is of course concerned by the report of an attack in Woolwich earlier today. Her Majesty is being kept informed.”
The spokesman also confirmed the Queen will visit the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery at Woolwich barracks on May 31, which was planned before today’s attack.
This afternoon the area’s MP, Nick Raynsford, told BBC Radio 5 Live he believed the victim, a man aged in his 20s, was a serving soldier.
The man is believed to have been hacked to death after a car crash. The scene of the attack is just 200 yards from Woolwich Barracks.
Man who killed British soldier with a machete in Woolwich
Nick Raynsford said: “We think a serving soldier was the victim. We don’t know the circumstances surrounding the incident. We do know a number of weapons have been seized.
“They include a gun, various knives, and a machete, apparently. The police clearly had to take action in order to try and arrest these individuals.”
The Ministry of Defence said it was urgently looking at the reports that the incident involved a soldier but had no further comment.
Footage from a TV news helicopter showed a large number of weapons lying in the street following the incident. A London Ambulance Service spokesman said one man had died at the scene.
He added: “Our staff treated two others. Both men were taken to hospital, one of them is in a serious condition, the other is not.”
One witness, identified as James, said he and his partner saw two black men attack the young victim with knives, including a meat cleaver.
“They were hacking at this poor guy, literally,” he told LBC.
Metropolitan Police Commander Simon Letchford confirmed tonight that the two attackers were shot by armed officers.
He said in a statement: “At approximately 1420 we were called to reports of an assault in John Wilson Street, Woolwich, where one man was being assaulted by two other men.
“A number of weapons were reportedly being used in the attack and this included reports of a firearm.
“Officers including local Greenwich officers arrived at the scene and shortly after firearms officers arrived on the scene.
“On their arrival at the scene they found a man, who was later pronounced dead. At this early stage I am unable to provide any further information about the man who has died.
“Two men, who we believe from early reports to have been carrying weapons,were shot by police. They were taken to separate London hospitals. They are receiving treatment for their injuries.
“I can understand that this incident will cause community concerns and I would like to reiterate that we are investigating what has taken place today.”
Luke Huseyin, 32, who lives in a block of flats on John Wilson Street, Woolwich, close to where the incident happened said he watched two men murder a man before being shot.
He said: “I was at home and heard a big bang. I looked out of the window and saw a car had crashed.
“It was a blue Vauxhall. Then two black guys got out of the car dragging a white guy across the road towards the wall. One of the guys had a knife that looked about a foot long and a machete and the other bloke had a gun.
“They started slashing him up with the knife and hitting him in the stomach with the machete. I don’t think it took long before he was dead. There were people passing by who were screaming and running away. I’ve never seen anything like it.
“I’m still really shaken up. When he was dead, they dragged him out into the road and left him there. It was strange, they didn’t run off, they just stood there as if they were waiting for the police.
“It must have taken about 20 minutes for the police to arrive, I think it must’ve been because they were waiting for armed police.
“The police officers got out of the car and the two black men ran towards them with the gun.
“The police shot them. They fell to the ground. Then a helicopter landed. Think it must’ve been an air ambulance.
“The paramedics got out and I think they were working on the two men to try and keep them alive.
“I don’t know if they died, they were taken away in the helicopter. A blanket was put over the white guy lying in the road. I just can’t believe what I saw.”
Mother-of-four Julia Wilders, 51, said she was travelling past the scene and saw two men hacking at a man with meat cleavers.
“Graham was driving and we drove past the car which was up against a lamp post.
“There were two black guys that looked like they were trying to resuscitate a white guy on the floor. I thought there’d been an accident.
“But then I saw they were using meat cleavers to hack him up. We live just behind where it happened and once we got back we walked back to have a look and that’s when I saw one of the black guys pull out a handgun.
“My husband screamed at me to get back. I was petrified. As I was running back I saw the police pull up and the black guy was running towards the police car and they shot him.
“I didn’t see anything else, I just run back home.”
David Dixon is the headteacher of Mulgrave Primary School, which is located about 50 metres from the scene of the incident. He saw a body in the road after realizing something was happening and immediately locked down the school.
He said: “It was at the end of our road. As soon as we realized it was serious I went to see what had happened and then told staff to lock down the school and get the children inside. I spoke to police to ask what we should do.
“There seemed to be a body in the middle of the road. The traffic was backed up and the police were on the scene.”
EU leaders at Brussels summit say they are committed to tackling tax evasion and will push for global action to curb banking secrecy.
The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, said there was a “strong political will” in Europe to make tax systems fairer.
He said the EU would draft tougher rules this year on banking transparency. Herman Van Rompuy was speaking after summit talks in Brussels.
A key goal is to prevent multinational firms exploiting legal loopholes.
There is widespread public anger that some big corporations have minimized their tax payments at a time of economic hardship.
Tax evasion and avoidance cost EU states 1 trillion euros ($1.3 trillion) a year – more than was spent on healthcare in 2008.
The EU is now promising action against “aggressive tax planning” – that is, the complex yet legal accounting tricks used by some companies to minimize their tax payments.
EU leaders also want global standards on exchanging bank account data. The issue will be high on the agenda of a summit of the G8 industrialized nations in Northern Ireland next month.
Herman Van Rompuy said the economic crisis had injected new momentum into the debate on fair taxation. But he insisted that the EU was not seeking tax harmonization across Europe.
“It’s a real breakthrough… I am really convinced there is a strong political will by leaders not just on the European level, but on the global level, to tackle tax fraud,” he told a news conference.
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said that EU members Austria and Luxembourg – famous for their banking secrecy – agreed on the need for tax authorities to exchange information on private income. But “they attach great importance to also holding negotiations with third countries”, she added.
EU leaders at Brussels summit say they are committed to tackling tax evasion and will push for global action to curb banking secrecy
Switzerland, outside the EU, is a major competitor in the market for rich bank clients. Austria and Luxembourg want to ensure that Switzerland and other low-tax jurisdictions in Europe, such as Monaco and Liechtenstein, do not have an unfair advantage.
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann on Wednesday joined the call for a crackdown on tax evasion.
A European Parliament resolution on tax evasion on Tuesday urged the EU to halve the 1tn-euro annual losses by 2020, by curbing tax loopholes and havens.
The MEPs also called for a joint EU blacklist of tax havens.
The European Commission is pressing for automatic exchanges of people’s earnings data between tax authorities.
Some experts argue that business tax planning also reduces the revenue that developing country governments can collect, for example by shifting declared profits to countries where they are lightly taxed.
Politicians are keen to show voters that tax systems are fair, after a wave of unpopular budget cuts aimed at reducing deficits.
Starbucks and Amazon are among the companies that have faced tough questioning over their tax affairs recently.
And this week Apple came under fire in the US Congress over its low tax payments.
The other main theme at the Brussels talks was energy policy – especially the need to improve Europe’s energy infrastructure, develop renewables such as solar and wind power and remove barriers to competition. Much of Eastern Europe relies on Russia for gas – and in the past pricing disputes have led to supply shortages in mid-winter.
The Commission is urging EU governmentsto enact energy legislation that was agreed in 2011, warning that on current trends imports of gas will rise to 80% of the gas consumed in the EU by 2035.
The EU already imports 406 billion euros’ worth of oil, gas and coal annually – 3.2% of total EU economic output (GDP).
The fragmentation of Europe’s energy market makes it difficult to woo long-term investors willing to commit to multi-billion-euro infrastructure projects. The energy mix varies greatly across Europe, from nuclear-dominated France to coal-dependent Poland.
But a key goal is to connect Europe’s isolated “energy islands” – former Soviet bloc countries like Estonia and Bulgaria – to European grids and storage facilities.
The distortions in Europe’s energy market mean that Bulgarians – the EU’s poorest citizens – pay more for their electricity than consumers in the UK or Germany.
In the global economy the energy blockages threaten to put Europe at a serious disadvantage. The gas price index for EU households rose by 45% in 2005-12, compared with 3% in the US, while the figures for electricity were 22% and 8% respectively, the Commission says.
A man has been killed in a machete attack and his two assailants shot by police in Woolwich, south-east London, UK.
The UK’s government is reported to be treating the assault as a suspected terrorist incident and the prime minister said it was “truly shocking”.
Home Secretary Theresa May has summoned a meeting of the government’s emergency response committee Cobra.
Local MP Nick Raynsford said the dead man was a soldier at Woolwich barracks but this has not been confirmed.
Theresa May said she had been briefed by the director general of Security Service MI5, Andrew Parker, and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe on the “sickening and barbaric” attack.
“It has been confirmed to me that a man has been brutally murdered,” she said.
“Two other men were shot by armed police and they are currently receiving treatment for their injuries.”
One witness, identified only as James, said two men had attacked another man, aged about 20, who was wearing a T-shirt of military charity Help for Heroes.
“These two guys were crazed. They were just animals. They dragged him from the pavement and dumped his body in the middle of the road and left his body there,” he told LBC radio.
James said after the “horrendous” attack, the two men, who were also in their 20s, stood around, waving knives and a gun, and asked people to take pictures of them “as if they wanted to be on TV or something”.
“They were oblivious to anything, they were more worried about having their photo taken, running up and down the road,” he said.
Another witness, named Thomas, said: “I got there minutes after it happened because you could hear gunshots from Woolwich High Street.
“Basically two men carried out an axe attack on a young army cadet walking along the street, by the looks of things the police responded and then shot them in front of the public, at the same time I couldn’t really tell if the cadet was fatally or not hurt as police were crowded around him.”
A man has been killed in a machete attack and his two assailants shot by police in Woolwich, south-east London
Downing Street said PM David Cameron, who was planning to stay in Paris overnight after meeting the French president, would be returning to the UK tonight.
Whitehall sources said it is “a fair supposition” that the incident was a terrorist incident but police have not commented publicly on the suggestion.
It appears the police view is that the attack may have been filmed and footage may exist.
According to senior Whitehall sources, the people carrying out the attack were heard to say Allahu Akbar (God is Great).
On Twitter, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson described the attack as a “sickening deluded and unforgivable act of violence”.
Nick Raynsford, the Woolwich and Greenwich MP, said he had spoken to local police and understood a number of weapons had been seized at the scene including a gun, knives, and a machete.
Scotland Yard said the initial attack happened in John Wilson Street, the A205, at 14:20 BST.
Metropolitan Police Commander Simon Letchford said the two attackers were then shot by armed officers.
He said: “Police were called to reports of an assault… where one man was being assaulted by two other men. A number of weapons were reportedly being used in the attack, and this included reports of a firearm.
“Officers including local Greenwich officers arrived at the scene, and shortly after firearms officers arrived on the scene.
“On their arrival at the scene they found a man, who was later pronounced dead….
“Two men, who we believe from early reports to have been carrying weapons, were shot by police. They have both been taken to separate London hospitals. They are receiving treatment for their injuries.
“I can understand that this incident will cause community concerns and I would like to reiterate that we are investigating the circumstances.”
Meanwhile, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) confirmed it had been informed.
In a statement, the IPCC said: “Investigators have been deployed to the scene and to the post-incident process.”
London Ambulance Service confirmed one man had been found dead at the scene.
It said two men had been taken to hospital – one by air ambulance – and one of them was a serious condition.
David Dixon, a local head teacher, said he walked out of the school gates and saw a body lying in the road a short distance away.
He then heard gunshots and instructed staff to lock all the gates of his school.
The air ambulance landed in the playground and most of the children have now gone home, David Dixon said.
Alec Baldwin picked up wife Hilaria during a photocall for Seduced and Abandoned at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday.
Alec Baldwin, 55, was seen grinning with delight as he toted his stunning wife, who placed a protective hand on her stomach as she was hoisted into the air.
Beaming widely, Alec Baldwin certainly didn’t appear to be struggling as he lifted Hilaria, 29, who smiled somewhat indulgently at her husband’s antics.
Alec Baldwin looked as dapper as ever in a navy jacket, open-neck blue shirt and grey trousers for the photocall, teamed with smart black shoes and a pair of sunglasses.
Hilaria Baldwin picked up by husband Alec during Cannes 2013 photocall
Hilaria Baldwin, meanwhile, opted for teal silk sleeveless dress with a black waistband detail and sky-high black heels – clearly not suffering enough with her pregnancy to forgo heels for flats.
The pair’s appearance at the photocall came after they made a stunning appearance on the red carpet for the premiere of new movie Blood Ties on Monday night.
Hilaria Baldwin, who was recently named on Vanity Fair‘s list of the best dressed pregnant celebrities, tweeted ahead of her arrival to the festival that she would be missing her two dogs, saying: “It’s even harder leaving them while I’m pregnant. Their cries make me cry!”
Alec Baldwin’s HBO documentary Seduced and Abandoned – directed by his friend James Toback – was filmed during last year’s film festival and follows the actor running between yachts and hotels trying to pitch a movie he hopes to finance and make.
It also includes interviews conducted by Alec Baldwin with directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Polanski and Martin Scorsese, as well as actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain.
A Tunisian man has died of the novel coronavirus (NCoV), in what is believed to be the first such case in Africa.
Tunisia’s health ministry said the 66-year-old had visited Saudi Arabia, which is badly affected by the virus.
About 20 deaths and 41 cases have been reported worldwide since 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
NCoV is from the same family of viruses as the one that caused the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, killing about 770 people.
However, NCoV and SARS are distinct from each other, the WHO says.
It appears likely that the virus can be passed between people in close contact, it adds.
A Tunisian man has died of the NCoV, in what is believed to be the first such case in Africa
The Tunisian man, a diabetic, had been complaining of breathing problems since he returned from Saudi Arabia and he died in hospital in the coastal city of Monastir, AFP news agency reports.
Two of his children also contracted the virus, but had responded to treatment, the health ministry said, in a statement.
“These Tunisia cases haven’t changed our risk assessment, but they do show the virus is still spreading,” said WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl, AP news agency reports.
Cases have been detected in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Germany, the UK and France.
“All of the European cases have had a direct or indirect connection to the Middle East, including two cases with recent travel history from the UAE,” the WHO Update says.
Twenty-two of the 41 cases reported worldwide are in Saudi Arabia, it adds.
Out of the 20 deaths, nine of them have been in the kingdom, WHO says.
Microsoft faces a backlash from some gamers after it emerged the company may charge a fee to play pre-owned games on its new Xbox One console.
The move would also mean borrowing a game from a friend will require a payment to play, possibly the full price.
Microsoft has said gamers will be able to trade their used games online – but refused to give more details.
Microsoft’s director of programming, Larry Hryb, admitted there had been some “confusion” around the policy.
An official Xbox support account on Twitter had initially told fans that no fee would be needed for used games, but a later comment from Larry Hryb sought to clarify the situation.
He wrote on his blog: “While there have been many potential scenarios discussed, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail.
“Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific scenarios.”
Larry Hryb added that gamers could bring their games to a friends’ house to play without paying a fee – but only if the game’s owner is signed in to the Xbox Live account with which it is registered.
If the player wanted to lend the game to that friend, a fee would be required in order to play the title on a different Xbox Live profile.
Microsoft faces a backlash from some gamers after it emerged the company may charge a fee to play pre-owned games on its new Xbox One console.
The company advises against the sharing of Xbox Live account details with other people, and only one gamer can be signed in on a single profile at any one time.
Speaking to games news website Kotaku, Microsoft’s corporate vice president, Phil Harrison, said the company would soon announce further plans for pre-owned games.
“We will have a solution – we’re not talking about it today – for you to be able to trade your previously played games online,” he said.
The move will mean Microsoft is able to gain control of what is a massively profitable market in pre-owned games across the world.
Possible models for Microsoft could include allowing gamers to relinquish their ownership of a game in order to receive discounts on new titles bought through the Xbox Live store.
This may prove popular with sports games that have yearly updates, with fans often trading in the old version to get money off the latest edition – a process that traditionally required a physical retailer that would pocket any profits on re-sales.
“This is mainly a question of control,” said Ed Barton, director of digital media at research firm Strategy Analytics.
“The margin on second-hand games is enormous, and the games industry has always been a little bit annoyed that it’s a few retailers that dominate the market for games.”
The move could have a damaging effect on shops who rely on pre-owned sales not only to turn profit in their own right, but to also spur sales of new titles.
“The retailers could quite fairly say that around 70% of the value of pre-owned games is subsequently spent on new games,” Ed Barton added.
“There’s a fair point that the trade-in business is pretty significant in driving new games sales. It remains to be seen whether that process will still continue.”
Sony, which will show off the PlayStation 4 at next month’s E3 event in Los Angeles, has remained fairly tight-lipped on their plans for dealing with pre-owned games.
Its worldwide studios president, Shuhei Yoshida, told news site Eurogamer used games would not be “blocked” on the console, but would not specify whether there would be a fee for using pre-owned titles.
Ed Barton said Sony could use the situation to gain a considerable competitive advantage over its rival.
“If Sony doesn’t follow suit, I think for a reasonable proportion of the gaming market, this will be a big plus for the PlayStation console.”
Also keeping a close eye on the pre-owned debate will be games developers and publishers, who may be able to boost their earnings through Microsoft’s plans.
Scientists have found that vitamin C can kill multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) in the laboratory.
The surprise discovery may point to a new way of tackling this increasingly hard-to-treat infection, the US study authors from Yeshiva University say in Nature Communications.
An estimated 650,000 people worldwide have multidrug-resistant TB.
Studies are now needed to see if a treatment that works using the same action as vitamin C would be useful as a TB drug in humans.
In the laboratory studies, vitamin C appeared to be acting as a “reducing agent” – something that triggers the production of reactive oxygen species called free radicals. These free radicals killed off the TB, even drug resistant forms that are untreatable with conventional antibiotics such as isoniazid.
Scientists have found that vitamin C can kill multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) in the laboratory
Lead investigator Dr. William Jacobs, professor of microbiology and immunology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, said: “We have only been able to demonstrate this in a test tube, and we don’t know if it will work in humans and in animals.
“This would be a great study to consider because we have strains of tuberculosis that we don’t have drugs for, and I know that in the laboratory we can kill those strains with vitamin C.
“It also helps that we know vitamin C is inexpensive, widely available and very safe to use. At the very least, this work shows us a new mechanism that we can exploit to attack TB.”
It might be that vitamin C could be used
alongside TB drugs. Alternatively, scientists could create new TB drugs that work by generating a big burst of free radicals.
Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, has many important functions in the body, including protecting cells and keeping them healthy.
Good natural sources of the vitamin include oranges, blackcurrants and broccoli and most people get all they need from their diet.
What is drug-resistant TB?
TB is caused by infection with the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Increasingly, doctors are discovering that the drugs they normally use to treat the infection no longer work because TB has developed resistance
Drug resistance arises due to improper use of antibiotics – for example, when patients do not finish the full course of their medicine
