Millie Mackintosh was just one of the stars who succumbed to the windy London weather on the red carpet at the Arqiva British Academy Television Awards (BAFTAs) on Sunday night as her black gown with large side split accidentally almost revealed a bit too much.
Millie Mackintosh, 32, posed for photographs obviously feeling confident in the get-up as she pouted up a storm.
The gusts of wind soon left her red-faced as she was forced to stop the Sass and Bide gown flying up to reveal her under garments.
Millie Mackintosh leads the stars suffering wardrobe malfunctions as the wind takes over on the TV BAFTAs red carpet
Although she took it in good jest as she laughed and ensured Millie Mackintosh held the dress down in front of the many stunned snappers.
The make-up artist teamed her daring dress with a pair of Christian Louboutin high-heeled sandals and carried a Swarovski clutch.
Millie Mackintosh, who is engaged to marry rapper Professor Green, had spent hours on Sunday getting ready for the appearance.
She shared numerous photos with her online fans on Twitter and Instagram as she sat in the make-up chair.
But Millie Mackintosh was clearly nervous as she prepared to step out of the car and in front of the paparazzi.
She complained: “Loving my hair and make up, can’t believe it’s raining! Here I go… Eeeeek #baftas2013.”
And fast forward a little while and Millie Mackintosh took to Twitter again to comment on the embarrassing scenario: “Wind and rain + a dress with slits = wardrobe malfunction!”
She was soon left smiling once more as Made In Chelsea picked up the gong for Reality and Constructed Factual show.
After recently enlisted Brad Pitt as the first ever male face of Chanel to give the brand a sexy revamp, now the iconic perfume house takes things even further by unveiling a rare collectible fragrance.
Chanel has announced that the bottle of perfume will be in “its rarest, most collectible form”.
Named the LesGrands Extraits, the edition trumps the previous $2,150, 7.5-ounce version as the most expensive fragrance offered by them.
The formula is the exact same as the sweet smelling stuff you can snap up at duty free for around $100, but the bottle is designed to be something quite special.
Chanel launches its most expensive perfume at $3,800 and most of that goes on the bottle
Crafted in a mould with the help of a specialized glassmaker and then placed in a “hand-assembled, artisan-crafted case”, it aims to be something of a collectible.
It was revealed back in May that Brad Pitt was going to front Chanel’s new campaign as part of a megabucks deal and Andrea d’Avack, a spokesman for Chanel, said: “To keep a legend fresh, you always have to change its point of view. It is the first time we’ve had a man speaking about a women’s fragrance.
“We think very much that the perfume is a seduction between a man, a woman and the perfume. No.5 is our leading fragrance, and we are willing to make the investment to keep it on that level.”
Brad Pitt follows in the footsteps of actresses including Marilyn Monroe, Nicole Kidman, Audrey Tautou and Catherine Deneuve.
A female passenger was kicked off from an American Airlines plane after the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing as she refused to stop singing Whitney Houston’s hit song I Will Always Love You.
Her performance began shortly into the flight from Los Angeles to New York and her crooning quickly became too much for passengers and staff on the domestic flight last Thursday.
The pilot was forced to change course halfway through the six hour flight and make an unscheduled stop at Kansas City so officers could escort the woman from the plane.
Airport spokesman Joe McBride told WBTV: “The woman was being disruptive and was removed from the plane for interfering with the flight crew.
A female passenger was kicked off from an American Airlines plane after the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing as she refused to stop singing Whitney Houston’s hit song I Will Always Love You
“There was a federal air marshal on the aircraft, who subdued the woman and put her in cuffs and removed her from the plane.”
Despite staff telling passengers they could not take photographs while on board the aircraft, one managed to briefly film the woman being escorted down the aircraft’s aisle in handcuffs – still singing the 1990s pop song.
The woman was interviewed and later released without charge.
While the song she chose to entertain her fellow passengers with is best known for Whitney Houston’s cover in the film The Bodyguard, it was originally released by country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton in 1974.
OJ Simpson is asking a Nevada judge to grant him a new trial in the 2008 armed robbery case that left him serving a 33-year prison sentence.
In his long-shot appeal, football legend OJ Simpson argues his defense lawyer was ineffective.
OJ Simpson was convicted of the robbery of what he said were stolen articles of personal memorabilia.
Separately, OJ Simpson was acquitted of the murder of his former wife and her friend in Los Angeles in 1995.
The former NFL running back is expected to testify during the five-day hearing, which begins on Monday. The former defense lawyer, Yale Galanter, declined to comment ahead of his scheduled testimony.
In 2007, OJ Simpson and five other men confronted sport memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room.
OJ Simpson appeared in court noticeably greyer and heavier than he did in his last public appearances
During the incident, two of OJ Simpson’s alleged co-conspirators carried guns.
OJ Simpson says Yale Galanter was ineffective at the subsequent trial because he had an personal interest in keeping private his own advice to Simpson.
Yale Galanter, according to OJ Simpson, had repeatedly assured him that he could take back items related to his sporting career – items Simpson believed had been stolen – as long as no one trespassed and no force was used.
The defense lawyer continued to conceal he was a witness to the crime, including during an appeal to a state court in 2010, Simpson says.
In a sworn statement outlining his planned testimony, OJ Simpson says Yale Galanter “vigorously discouraged” him from testifying and never told him that prosecutors were willing to let him plead guilty to charges that would have brought a two-year minimum prison term.
“He consistently told me the state could not prove its case because I acted within my rights in retaking my own property,” OJ Simpson said.
Dr. Norman Roitman, a Las Vegas psychiatrist, is expected to testify on Monday that OJ Simpson’s perception of what took place at the hotel room might have been muddled by football brain injuries as well as the effects of several vodka and cranberry juice cocktails.
Also expected to testify is former co-counsel Gabriel Grasso and another psychiatrist called by lawyers representing the government.
Appeals for a new trial because of ineffective counsel are seldom granted, but OJ Simpson’s history as a murder defendant in a widely-televised 1995 trial could affect the outcome, analysts say.
New reports claim Beyonce is pregnant with baby No 2.
Recent pictures show Beyonce with a rounded tummy on stage in London.
And another report claims the singer’s much derided Met Gala look was designed to conceal her growing pregnancy figure.
Beyonce – who welcomed her first child, daughter Blue Ivy Carter, into the world in January 2012 – is said to be expecting again with her rapper husband Jay-Z.
The New York Post claims “multiple sources” told them Beyonce, 31, is pregnant following her attendance at the star-studded Met Ball last week, where the star’s rumored pregnancy was the talk of the night.
Beyonce is reportedly pregnant with baby No 2
The singer is said to have “carefully” hidden her baby bump in a high-waisted Givenchy gown, but according to the report, multiple photos have surfaced of Beyonce sporting a growing stomach on her 65-date Mrs. Carter Show world tour, which touched down in Dublin, Ireland, on Sunday.
Blog Media Takeoutran photos showing Beyonce’s rounded tummy.
Beyonce and Jay-Z – real name Shawn Carter – remained tight-lipped about her first pregnancy until sensationally announcing it live at the MTV Video Music Awards in August 2011.
She recently admitted she would love to give her 18-month-old daughter a sibling, because she enjoyed such a close relationship with her younger sister Solange Knowles, 26, when they were growing up.
Beyonce said: “I would like more children. I think my daughter needs some company. I definitely love being a big sister.”
When pressed on when she may have another child, Beyonce added: “At some point, when it’s supposed to happen.”
Virgin boss Richard Branson was the brunt of a thousand jokes on Saturday night as he donned a skirt and a full face of make-up on a flight to Malaysia.
Sir Richard Branson, 62, swapped his boxer shorts for a pair of stockings after losing a Grand Prix bet with AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes two years ago.
The billionaire – who even shaved his legs for the flight – served drinks and pledged to clean the toilets on the special flight – all while sporting the red AirAsia uniform, which included a skirt suit and crisp white shirt.
Pulling his blonde locks back into clips, Branson completed his fresh new look with a sweep of red lipstick and a fetching set of false eyelashes.
Putting on a brave face, Richard Branson finally made good on the bet that he lost two years ago – after being too busy to see it through any earlier.
Richard Branson forced to dress as a stewardess after losing Formula 1 bet with AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes
“We both had Grand Prix teams and I was absolutely certain that I was going to win,” he said.
“Something went wrong. Of course the drivers of that race are no longer with us.
“I went to extreme lengths to avoid being here, but knew that one day I had to get it over with.”
The funds from the flight went to the Starlight Foundation for ill children, but as to how far Richard Branson would go for charity, he said he’d keep his famous beard.
“Have you not seen a stewardess with a beard before?” he asked before boarding the six hour flight.
Malaysian-born Tony Fernandes, who described Richard Branson as his mentor, used to work for Branson before setting up his own budget airline.
“As an AirAsia X’s flight attendant, he has to comply with our grooming standards and that includes shaving his legs, donning high heels, putting on some makeup and slipping into the AirAsia’s famous red uniform,” said the airline chief.
“He will be committed to carry out the responsibilities of a flight attendant, including offering coffee, tea and other food and beverages to guests on the special 6-hour Perth to Kuala Lumpur flight.”
Tweeting before the flight, Tony Fernandes wrote: “Anyone want a free flight up to Kuala Lumpur and be served by Richard Branson who lives in Perth. I got 2 to give.”
“I’ve done some outrageous things in my time but this will be up there with the best of them,” Richard Branson added before he boarded.
“I’ve just got to practice walking in high heels first.”
Olivia Colman was the big winner at BAFTA Television Awards 2013, taking the prizes for best supporting actress for Accused and best female in a comedy programme for Twenty Twelve.
Olivia Colman said of her win for Accused: “Turns out it does mean a lot. And I’m not going to cry.”
BBC Olympic satire Twenty Twelve also won best sitcom at the TV BAFTA Awards.
BBC One’s Last Tango in Halifax took best drama series and Channel 4’s London 2012 Paralympic Games won best sport and live event.
The Paralympics beat the BBC’s coverage of the Olympic opening ceremony, Super Saturday and the men’s Wimbledon final.
Ade Adepitan, who co-presented the award-winning Paralympic coverage with Clare Balding, thanked Channel 4 for “allowing us to show the Paralympics warts and all” and for “allowing us to be ourselves”, referring to his fellow Paralympic athletes.
Olivia Colman thanked Accused writer Jimmy McGovern and paid tribute to co-star Anne Marie Duff, adding: “If it’s alright with everyone, it’s for Anne Marie and me to share – we’re Anne Malivia Colemuff, we did it together and I couldn’t have done it without her to play off.”
When she collected her second award for Twenty Twelve, Olivia Colman praised her fellow nominees Miranda Hart, Jessica Hynes and Julia Davis, joking: “I’m not even the funniest one in our own programme.”
A tearful Sheridan Smith won best lead actress for ITV drama Mrs. Biggs, based on the true story of the wife of the Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs. She thanked the whole team behind the show, apologizing for her tears, adding: “I can’t believe it.”
Olivia Colman was the big winner at BAFTA Television Awards 2013, taking the prizes for best supporting actress for Accused and best female in a comedy programme for Twenty Twelve
Ben Whishaw won best actor for Richard II (The Hollow Crown) on BBC Two, and looked stunned.
The actor, who also played the role of Q in the James Bond film Skyfall, said: “I’m really, really surprised, I was hoping it would be one of the others just so I wouldn’t have to come up here and say anything. I’m thrilled, it’s amazing – I can’t believe it.”
Simon Russell Beale won best supporting actor for Henry IV Part 2 (The Hollow Crown), but was unable to attend the ceremony.
Michael Palin, who was presented with a BAFTA fellowship by fellow Monty Python member Terry Jones, said: “This is a fantastic honor for which I feel deeply unworthy. It is an award for thoroughly enjoying myself for the last 48 years.”
He also thanked the BBC, saying: “No other broadcasting company in the world would have given me the opportunity to do what I’ve done.”
Clare Balding, who won a BAFTA Special Award, said she was “aware this would not have happened if it weren’t for the magic of last summer”, referring to the 2012 Games, when she presented for both the BBC’s Olympic and Channel 4’s Paralympic coverage.
“I’m so grateful to the BBC and Channel 4 for putting me at the heart of those events,” she said, before tearfully thanking her parents and her partner.
BBC Two’s The Shame of the Catholic Church (This World) won the best current affairs BAFTA, beating the BBC One’s Britain’s Hidden Housing Crisis (Panorama Special), ITV’s The Other Side of Jimmy Savile (Exposure) and Al Jazeera Investigates’ What Killed Arafat?.
Other winners included Murder, from The Killing director Birger Larsen, which took the prize for best single drama, beating The Girl. Game of Thrones took the prize for audience award.
Anne Reid, who starred in Last Tango with Sir Derek Jacobi, said: “I’m so happy that the BBC at last have decided to do love stories about people who are over 35. Some of us do have quite interesting lives when we get to 70.”
BBC Two’s 7/7 One Day in London won for best single documentary and ITV’s Hillsborough – The Truth at Last (Granada Reports) took the BAFTA for best news coverage.
Room at the Top won best mini-series, beating Accused,Mrs. Biggs and Parade’s End and The Great British Bake Off won best features. Alfred Hitchcock drama The Girl had been up for four BAFTAs but left empty-handed.
Graham Norton hosted the ceremony at London’s Royal Festival Hall, where he won best entertainment performance for The Graham Norton show. He thanked the BBC, the guests and his team, who he joked did not enjoy being up on stage.
Steve Coogan won best male performance in a comedy programme for Sky Atlantic’s Welcome to the Places of My Life. He was not there to collect his award but a message from him read: “Thanks very much, I’ve got five now… “.
BBC Three’s The Revolution Will Be Televised was named the best comedy programme.
Channel 4’s Alan Carr won best entertainment performance for Alan Carr: Chatty Man while the channel’s All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry won best specialist factual show.
BBC One’s EastEnders took best soap and best reality and constructed factual show went to Channel 4’s Made in Chelsea. Girls won best international show.
Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary was celebrated during the ceremony with a montage of clips from the show and a sketch with the current Doctor and his assistant, played by Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman.
Nineteen people have been wounded after three gunmen opened fire at New Orleans Mother’s Day parade, police says.
The victims included two children, a 10-year-old girl and a boy, who were grazed by bullets. Ten men and seven women are among those wounded. Police say most injuries are not life-threatening,
It is unclear what sparked the shooting in the city’s 7th Ward on Sunday afternoon. Police say three suspects were seen fleeing the area.
The incident happened at about 14:00 at the intersection of Frenchmen and Villere streets.
“Shots were fired with different guns,” a police statement said.
Nineteen people have been wounded after three gunmen opened fire at New Orleans Mother’s Day parade
“Immediately after the shooting our officers saw three suspects running from the scene.”
The shooting happened at what is known as a second-line parade – an impromptu community procession in which people dance down the street behind the official parade.
About 200 people were in the area at the time.
“It appears that these two or three people, just for a reason unknown to us, started shooting at, towards, or in the crowd,” Police Supt Ronal Serpas told reporters earlier.
“It was over in just a couple of seconds.”
New Orleans has a high rate of gun crime.
The area where the shooting happened is a poor neighborhood that is still recovering from the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Mark Sanchez, who lives in the neighborhood and shares Ariel Castro’s affinity for the bass guitar, told The Daily Telegraph that he was at the kidnapper’s home on May 2 when he heard weird thudding sounds coming from the floor above.
Mark Sanchez also saw a little girl at one point whom he claimed he had never seen before.
Ariel Castro explained that the child was his granddaughter.
Days later, he was horrified to learn about what had been going on in the house for more than a decade.
Mark Sanchez said he was at Ariel Castro’s home on May 2 when he heard weird thudding sounds coming from the floor above
Mark Sanchez told the paper that he would always have to arrange plans to hang out with Ariel Castro in advance – because he never answered the door if he showed up without letting Castro know first.
He told the Telegraph: “I have to say the guy was a demon but he played it real cool. It was the first time that I heard any noise.”
Ariel Castro, 52, is suspected of holding amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight captive in his home for a decade.
Authorities say he kidnapped all three women, raped them and fathered a child with one.
The women were found May 6 after one escaped and called 911.
Onil and Pedro Castro, the brothers of Cleveland kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro, have spoken out for the first time, saying that they would have turned him in if they knew three women were being held prisoner in his home.
Onil and Pedro Castro, who were arrested along with Ariel, say that since their release from prison, they have been faced with online death threats, a break-in at one of their homes, and vandalism.
They were released several days after their arrest due to lack of evidence linking them to the crimes.
When asked by CNN reporter Martin Savidge if the public would always suspect they had a role in the kidnappings, they answered “yes” in unison.
Onil and Pedro Castro speak out for first time and insist they knew nothing about female prisoners in brother Ariel’s home
Onil Castro said: “The people out there who know me, they know that Onil Castro is not that person, has nothing to do with that – would never even think of something like that. I was a very liked person [before the arrest], never had any enemies.
“[There is] no reason for anybody to think that I would ever do something like that. It was a shock to all my friends. They couldn’t believe it.”
Pedro Castro added: “I couldn’t ever think of doing anything like that. If I knew that my brother was doing this, in a minute I would have called the cops; cause that isn’t right. But yeah, it’s going to haunt me down. Cause people are going to think Pedro had something to do with this and Pedro doesn’t have anything to do this.”
They said that even though Ariel Castro is their brother, they would have had no choice but to turn him in – had they known.
“If I knew, I would have reported it, brother or no brother.”
Onil and Pedro Castro spoke amid new revelations of odd behavior at Ariel Castro house in the days prior to the women’s escape.
The brothers were initially taken into custody but released Thursday after investigators said there was no evidence against them.
Jasmina Baldrich and Ashley Colon, who were driving around their Cleveland neighborhood, became witnesses to a historic rescue when they shot a video of police raiding the home of kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro.
Jasmina Baldrich and Ashley Colon thought they were about to be pulled over last Monday when they noticed a police cruiser behind them, and turned onto Seymour Avenue.
There, they saw a heavy police presence, with officers approaching Ariel Castro’s house. The spectacle prompted Jasmina Baldrich to take out her iPhone and start videotaping what was going on.
In the video, cops can be seen prying open the front door of Ariel Castro’s house. Once open, they flood into the home, some reaching for their handguns.
Jasmina Baldrich and Ashley Colon became witnesses to a historic rescue when they shot a video of police raiding Ariel Castro’s home
The women also said that they saw a woman pass who claimed that she was Amanda Berry, and they couldn’t believe their ears.
Jasmina Baldrich told NewsChannel5.com: “We just seen cops and then out of nowhere all we see Amanda walking by saying, <<I’m Amanda Berry>>.”
Like others in the community, Jasmina Baldrich was familiar with the Amanda Berry case, and were shocked to find the missing woman, clutching her six-year-old daughter.
Jasmina Baldrich told NewsChannel5: “We knew like that [snapping fingers]. We both got goose bumps at the same time. We were shocked, we could not believe it but it clicked.”
Ashley Colon added: “People would die just to see these girls get saved and we just happened to be there.”
Ariel Castro, 52, is being held on $8 million bond.
The ex-school bus driver was charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape.
Michelle Knight, Amanda berry and Gina DeJesus, now in their 20s and 30s, vanished separately between 2002 and 2004. At the time, they were 14, 16 and 20 years old.
South Korea’s presidential office has apologized after official Yoon Chang-jung was sacked during a US visit over “shameful” sexual harassment allegations.
Yoon Chang-jung, who was a spokesman for President Park Geun-hye, was alleged to have groped a Korean-American intern in a Washington hotel.
The incident overshadowed President Park Geun-hye’s first visit to the US last week.
Her former spokesman denies sexually harassing the intern, putting it down to “cultural differences”.
President Park Geune-hye’s chief-of-staff, Huh Tae-yeol, told reporters on Sunday that the case was “unconditionally wrong” and “unacceptable” and he apologized to the victim, her family and all South Koreans.
Yoon Chang-jung, who was a spokesman for President Park Geun-hye, was alleged to have groped a Korean-American intern in a Washington hotel
The unnamed intern, in her early 20s, was said to have been employed by South Korea’s embassy specifically for President Park Geune-hye’s four-day trip. The incident was said to have taken place in a hotel bar not far from the embassy.
A police report obtained by the Washington Post and Yonhap news agency said a 56-year-old man had “grabbed her buttocks without permission”.
Yoon Chang-jung, 56, told a televised news conference on Saturday that “if I have hurt her, I ask for her understanding and offer an apology”.
The former spokesman, an ex-newspaper columnist, also apologized for the harm he had caused “to the accomplishments of the successful US visit”.
During the trip, President Park Geune-hye’s first foreign visit since taking office in February, she held a summit with President Barack Obama.
Barack Obama said that they both agreed on the need to “maintain a strong deterrent” towards North Korea and were not going to reward “provocative behavior”.
Andrew Moran, one of Britain’s most wanted fugitives, has been arrested in a raid on a luxury villa on Spain’s Costa Blanca.
Andrew Moran, 31, from Salford, Manchester, was detained after a pursuit by police in the Alicante resort of Calpe on Friday.
He was charged with an armed robbery of Royal Mail guards in Lancashire in 2005 but absconded during his trial.
The jury later returned a guilty verdict and Andrew Moran was convicted in his absence.
Spain’s National Police said Andrew Moran confronted officers when they tried to arrest him.
The Serious Organized Crime Agency’s (SOCA) said two handguns, 60 rounds of ammunition and a machete were recovered from Andrew Moran’s villa following his arrest.
Andrew Moran was placed on SOCA’s most wanted list after leaping from the dock and assaulting four security guards during his trial at Burnley Crown Court in February 2009.
Andrew Moran, one of Britain’s most wanted fugitives, has been arrested in a raid on a luxury villa on Spain’s Costa Blanca
He had taken part in an armed robbery, alongside Stephen Devalda, in which Royal Mail guards were threatened with a gun, machete and baseball bat in Colne in May 2005.
One of the guards was assaulted before the offenders escaped with £25,000 ($40,000).
The arrest of Andrew Moran was a joint operation between SOCA, the north-west regional organized crime unit (TITAN) and Spanish National Police.
SOCA revealed Andrew Moran was located by local police officers in Los Alcazares, Spain in November but he evaded captured by ramming two unmarked police vehicles with his 4×4 vehicle and drove off at speed the wrong way down a motorway.
Detective Chief Inspector Janet Hudson, from TITAN, said: “It just goes to show that we will stop at nothing to capture criminals wherever they are in the world.”
Matt Burton, SOCA’s head of investigations, said although Andrew Moran had frequently changed his appearance and used false identities, there was “no hiding place”.
Andrew Moran was the last of seven men targeted as part of a multi-agency initiative to combat organized crime in Salford.
He was also on the most wanted list for Crimestoppers’ Operation Captura campaign and his arrest means 50 fugitives have now been caught since it was launched.
Matt Burton said extradition proceedings were under way and Andrew Moran will be appearing at a court in Madrid on Monday.
Stephen Devalda, 29, also from Salford, was charged with robbery but failed to attend court and went on the run before being captured in Spain in March 2011.
He was later jailed at Preston Crown Court for nine years and eight months.
Pope Francis has proclaimed the first saints of his pontificate in a ceremony at the Vatican – a list which includes 813 victims of an atrocity carried out by Ottoman soldiers in 1480.
The “Martyrs of Otranto” were beheaded in the southern Italian town after refusing to convert to Islam.
Their names are unknown, apart from one man, Antonio Primaldo.
Within two months of taking office, Pope Francis has proclaimed more saints than any of his predecessors.
Among those canonized on Sunday were two Latin American nuns – Laura Montoya from Colombia and Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala from Mexico – who both died in the 20th Century.
Colombia’s first saint, Mother Laura Montoya dedicated her life to helping indigenous people while the woman named by Pope Francis as Mother “Lupita” sheltered Catholics during a government crackdown against the faith in the 1920s.
Pope Francis has proclaimed the first saints of his pontificate in a ceremony at the Vatican
The Italian “Martyrs of Otranto” were executed after 20,000 Turkish soldiers invaded their town in south-eastern Italy.
There was no hint of any anti-Islamic sentiment in the homily that Pope Francis delivered before tens of thousands of worshippers gathered in St Peter’s Square.
While it was Pope Francis’s predecessor, Pope Benedict, who gave the go ahead for their canonizations, the new pope is continuing the process of honoring a new generation of modern as well as historic martyrs.
Later this month an Italian priest, Father Giuseppe Puglisi, who was murdered by the Sicilian mafia 20 years ago will be beatified – the last step before being declared a saint.
Otranto 14 August 1480:
The “Martyrs of Otranto” were 813 Italians beheaded for defying demands by Turkish invaders to renounce Christianity
The Turks had been sent by Mohammed II, who had already captured the “second Rome” of Constantinople
His fleet landed in Otranto, Italy’s easternmost city, and laid siege
Its citizens held out for two weeks, allowing the King of Naples to muster his forces and prevent the fall of Rome
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it appears likely that the new coronavirus (NCoV) can be passed between people in close contact.
This comes after the French health ministry confirmed a second man had contracted the virus in a possible case of human-to-human transmission.
Two more people in Saudi Arabia are also reported to have died from the virus, according to health officials.
NCoV is known to cause pneumonia and sometimes kidney failure.
WHO officials have expressed concern over the clusters of cases of the new coronavirus strain and the potential for it to spread.
Since 2012, there have been 33 confirmed cases across Europe and the Middle East, with 18 deaths, according to a recent WHO update.
Cases have been detected in Saudi Arabia and Jordan and have spread to Germany, the UK and France.
“Of most concern… is the fact that the different clusters seen in multiple countries increasingly support the hypothesis that when there is close contact this novel coronavirus can transmit from person to person,” the WHO said on Sunday.
French health ministry confirmed a second man contracted the new coronavirus in a possible case of human-to-human transmission
“This pattern of person-to-person transmission has remained limited to some small clusters and so far, there is no evidence to suggest the virus has the capacity to sustain generalized transmission in communities,” the statement adds.
France’s second confirmed case was a 50-year-old man who had shared a hospital room in Valenciennes, northern France, with a 65-year-old who fell ill with the virus after returning from Dubai.
“Positive results [for the virus] have been confirmed for both patients,” the French health ministry said, adding that both men were being treated in isolation wards.
Meanwhile, the Saudi deputy minister of health said on Sunday that two more people had died from the coronavirus, bringing the number of fatalities to nine in the al-Ahsa governorate in the east of Saudi Arabia, Reuters news agency reports.
WHO officials have not yet confirmed the latest deaths.
In February, a patient died in a hospital in Birmingham, England, after three members of the same family became infected.
It is thought a family member had picked up the virus while travelling to the Middle East and Pakistan.
Novel coronavirus is from the same family of viruses as the one that caused an outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that emerged in Asia in 2003.
However, NCoV and SARS are distinct from each other, the WHO said in its statement on Sunday.
Coronavirus is known to cause respiratory infections in both humans and animals.
But it is not yet clear whether it is a mutation of an existing virus or an infection in animals that has made the jump to humans.
Longest-held Cleveland kidnap victim Michelle Knight suffered such severe beatings while locked inside the house of horrors that she will require facial reconstruction surgery, her family said.
Michelle Knight, 32, was released from hospital on Friday, five days after she and two other victims Amanda Berry, 27, and Gina DeJesus, 23, along with Amanda’s six-year-old daughter were rescued following a decade held captive in the dungeon-like home.
“When she was severely beaten, he beat her so badly in the face that she has to have facial reconstruction and she’s lost hearing in one ear,” Michelle’s grandmother, Deborah Knight, toldCBS.
Michelle Knight suffered such severe beatings while locked inside the house of horrors that she will require facial reconstruction surgery
Michelle Knight told police that her alleged captor, Ariel Castro, repeatedly raped her and caused her to miscarry at least five times over the years by starving her and punching her in the stomach.
The news of her condition comes after it was revealed that Gina DeJesus’ family is planning to “adopt” Michelle Knight and look after her as their daughter because of Knight’s fractious relationship with her own family.
According to a friend of Felix and Nancy DeJesus, Michelle Knight initially rejected a meeting with her own mother, Barbara Knight, though it is unclear whether they have since met in the days since she was released from hospital.
Lupe Collins, a neighbor who helped the DeJesus family look for Gina since she disappeared in 2004, said Nancy DeJesus told her in a phone call on Thursday that she and her husband are trying to convince Michelle Knight, now 32, to stay with them.
“She was Georgina’s sister for ten years in that house and she’s still her sister now,” Lupe Collins said.
“They’re going to take her in as their own family member and help her.
“Michelle doesn’t want to go back to her own family because they abused her before she was kidnapped and they only want the money now.”
Michelle Knight was taken to DeJesus’s house after she was released from hospital.
The men of Duck Dynasty reality show all sport awesomely wild and bushy beards, but there was a time in the distant past when you could see their faces before they grew in the shaggy facial hair.
Left: Jase Robertson and his wife Missy posing for a photo on their wedding day
Right: Twenty years later and Jase and Missy Robertson are still happily married.
The men of Duck Dynasty reality show all sport awesomely wild and bushy beards, but there was a time in the distant past when you could see their faces before they grew in the shaggy facial hair.
Willie Robertson without beard
Left: Willie Robertson is all business in the front and party in the back as a student at Louisiana State University.
Right: Nowadays, Willie Robertson is the CEO of Duck Commander. As the only Robertson with a business degree, he took the company from a living room operation down by the river to a premiere destination for all things outdoors. Willie Robertson says “being a redneck millionaire has its perks,” including buying new trucks, gadgets, and swanky suits, working with kin can be a headache.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is celebrating with his supporters, amid early signs that his party will be the largest after parliamentary elections.
Media projections based on partial results suggest a big lead for Nawaz Sharif’s Muslim League, and he has already claimed victory.
The election should lead to the country’s first transition from one elected government to another.
The turnout was huge but the poll was marred by violence.
In Karachi, the Pakistan Taliban said they planted a bomb which killed 11 people and wounded 40 others.
The bomb was placed outside the office of the Awami National Party.
There were also attacks in Balochistan and the north-western city of Peshawar.
Voting was extended for an hour across the country before closing at 18:00.
An election commission spokesman said they hoped for a turnout of 60-80%. In 2008 it was 44%.
No official results have yet been released, but unofficial partial results suggested that Nawaz Sharif’s party was ahead in more than 100 of the 272 directly elected parliamentary seats.
It appears that Nawaz Sharif’s party will fall short of a simple majority in the National Assembly.
But in a speech at his party headquarters in the north-eastern city of Lahore, Nawaz Sharif said that the Muslim League (PML-N) was sure to emerge as the largest party.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is celebrating with his supporters, amid early signs that his party will be the largest after parliamentary elections
“We should thank Allah that he has given PML-N [Muslim League] another chance to serve you and Pakistan.”
“I appeal for all parties to come to the table and sit with me and solve the country’s problems.”
However, the mood in the party was not one of joy, as there are so many daunting challenges facing the country.
Nawaz Sharif’s apparent victory is largely confined to his native Punjab province, which has nearly 60% of the country’s population, and so he will be compelled to look for support from the three smaller provinces for greater legitimacy.
Even if he had got as few as 90 seats he would still have been able to put together a coalition.
The prospect of Nawaz Sharif forming a new government represents a remarkable political comeback for a man deposed by General Pervez Musharraf in a coup in 1999 and subsequently put on trial and given a jail sentence.
A deal with Saudi Arabia meant he spent time in exile there before returning in 2007 to contest polls the following year.
The Movement of Justice (PTI) party of former cricketer Imran Khan has also performed well, with projections saying he had won a big victory in Peshawar.
President Asif Ali Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is in a race for second place with the PTI, but both seem likely to win fewer than 40 seats.
Outgoing PM Raja Pervez Ashraf suffered a crushing defeat in his own seat in Rawalpindi.
The PPP hardly tried because of Taliban threats against it but also because of a lack of will as it was so unpopular.
The Pakistani Taliban threatened to carry out suicide attacks ahead of the election.
About two hours after polling started, a bomb attack was reported in Karachi, apparently targeting an Awami National Party (ANP) candidate outside the party’s political office.
Eleven people were killed and more than 40 others were wounded, police said. Local ANP candidate Amanullah Mahsud was injured but not seriously.
The attack happened in the Landhi district of Karachi, which is known for Taliban activity. Another ANP candidate and his son were shot dead close to the area last week.
The Taliban have been blamed for numerous attacks throughout the campaign on Pakistan’s three most prominent liberal parties.
The PPP along with the Karachi-based Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) and the ANP have been singled out for threats, and were forced to curtail their campaigning as a result.
Although Pakistan has been under civilian rule for the past five years, the military is still believed to wield considerable power.
In what appeared to be an endorsement of democracy, Pakistan’s most powerful military officer Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani was filmed live on TV casting his vote in a polling booth, rather than sending it in by post as many expected.
Tens of thousands of troops had been deployed at polling stations to ensure security. In the run-up to the election, more than 100 people died in election-related violence.
Before polls opened, Pakistan sealed its borders with Iran and Afghanistan in an effort to keep foreign militants at bay. Officials said the borders would remain closed for the next three days.
Aesha Mohammadzai has made international headlines in 2010 when she appeared on the now-iconic cover of Time magazine with a gaping wound in the center of her face where a nose should be.
Aesha Mohammadzai’s tragic tale of mutilation and abuse is well known by now: her Taliban husband and his family chopped off her nose and ears to punish her for trying to escape the family compound in Afghanistan.
The girl, known also as Bibi Aisha, was left for dead in the mountains, but survived and was brought for treatment to an American military base. A charity organization eventually helped bring Aesha Mohammadzai to the US, where she was taken in by an Afghan family from Maryland, CNN reported.
Over the past year, the raven-haired, vivacious young woman has undergone a serious of painful surgeries and treatments that have set the stage for Aesha Mohammadzai getting a new nose.
“It was very difficult in the beginning, but then I got used to it,” Aesha Mohammadzai told CNN.
Now, 22-year-old Aesha Mohammadzai is only a few minor procedures away from her dream becoming a reality. This summer, she will have a new face, but she will still have many challenges ahead of her.
Back in Afghanistan, Aesha Mohammadazi was not allowed to attend school and as a teenager was forced into marriage by her father, serving as a peace offering to the family of her new husband to make up for her uncle’s transgressions.
In 2011, Aesha Mohammadzai arrived in the US unable to read or write in any language. While her adoptive family, the Arsalas, say that she is a bright girl, they admit that she can be impulsive and easily distracted, preferring to work on her line of jewelery or watch movies on her laptop rather than study her ABCs.
Aesha Mohammadzai has been living with Mati Arsala, his wife Jamila Rasouli-Arsala and their daughter since November 2012, nearly two years after she arrived in the US.
She told CNN that people in Maryland often laugh at her because of her nose, but she responds to questions about what happened to her with: “It’s none of your business.”
Her first few months in the US Aesha Mohammadzai had spent in California preparing for reconstructive surgery, which ended up being scrapped because she was deemed too emotionally volatile.
She then spent several months in New York at a group home for Afghan women, where she was offered therapy and English classes, before finally moving to Frederick, Maryland, to live with the Arsalas.
Aesha Mohammadzai has made international headlines in 2010 when she appeared on the now-iconic cover of Time magazine with a gaping wound in the center of her face where a nose should be
Her first surgery took place last June, making it her first step towards getting a new nose. Over the past 11 months, Aesha Mohammadzai had the skin on her forehead expanded to provide doctors with additional tissue for her new nose.
Surgeons at Walter Reed Medical Center, where she has been treated free of charge, also had to take skin, bone and cartilage grafts from various parts of her body in preparation for her reconstructive surgery.
To avoid the risk of contracting an infection, Aesha Mohammadzai has been staying indoors, which led her to stop going to her weekly English classes. These days, she stays up late at night watching Bollywood films and sleeps during the day.
In the coming months, Aesha Mohammadzai’s nose will be complete, at which point doctors will be able to move on to her mutilated ears.
Aesha Mohammadzai ‘s surrogate parents say that they want to give her more time to heal both physically and emotionally, but once her face is whole again, Aesha will have to move forward and forge her own path in her adoptive country.
As part of Aesha Mohammadzai ‘s life-changing treatment, her forehead has ballooned and dark, drooping flesh covered the space where her nose once was – before her husband sliced it off.
Doctors placed an inflatable silicone shell under the skin of her forehead and gradually filled it with fluid in order to expand her skin and provide them with extra tissue for her new nose.
They have also taken tissue from her forearm and transplanted it to her face to form the inner lining and lower part of the nose.
Aesha Mohammadzai ‘s wounds are healing, but she lives with the scars of an ordeal few could imagine. Speaking for the first time on television to ITV’s Daybreak in February, she told the story behind that Time photograph.
She said: “Every day I was abused by my husband and his family. Mentally and physically. Then one day it became unbearable so I ran away.
“They caught me and put me in jail for five months. When I came out the judge sent me back to my husband. That night they took me to the mountains.
“They tied my hands and my feet. They said my punishment was to cut my nose and ears. And then they started to do it.”
Aesha Mohammadzai, who has never attended school or celebrated her birthday, now lives in America. Helped out of Afghanistan by a charity, she now has a new family who care for her as one of their own.
She said she is “happy” with her new nose and wants her experience to tell a new story, this time one of hope.
She said: “I want to tell all women who are suffering abuse to be strong. Never give up and don’t lose hope.”
Aesha Mohammadzai’s story was first told in August 2010 by Time magazine, who published a harrowing cover photo of her – horrifying people around the world and symbolizing the oppression of Afghan women.
When she was 12, her father promised her in marriage to a Taliban fighter to pay a debt.
Aesha Mohammadzai was handed over to his family who abused her and forced her to sleep in the stable with the animals.
The UN estimates that nearly 90% of Afghanistan’s women suffer from some sort of domestic abuse.
But when Aesha Mohammadzai attempted to flee, she was caught and her nose and ears were hacked off by her husband as punishment.
“When they cut off my nose and ears, I passed out. In the middle of the night it felt like there was cold water in my nose.
“I opened my eyes and I couldn’t even see because of all the blood,” she told CNN reporter Atia Abawi.
Left for dead in the mountains, she crawled to her grandfather’s house and her father managed to get her to an American medical facility, where medics cared for her for ten weeks.
They then transported Aesha Mohammadzai to a secret shelter in Kabul and in August 2010, she was flown to the U.S. by the Grossman Burn Foundation to stay with a host family.
She was taken in by a charity in New York called Women for Afghan Women who supported her and helped pay for her education.
But Aesha Mohammadzai soon became unhappy and her behavior gave rise to concern. During one outburst during, she threw herself to the floor and slammed her head against the ground, grabbing at her hair and biting her fingers.
Her primary guardian figure at the center Esther Hyneman, who witnessed the tantrum said no one was able to prevent her from inflicting the injuries and they had to call 911 for help.
Nowadays, Aesha Mohammadzai still prefers watching Bollywood films rather than American TV.
The men of Duck Dynasty reality show all sport awesomely wild and bushy beards, but there was a time in the distant past when you could see their faces before they grew in the shaggy facial hair.
Si Robertson without beard
Left: Get a load of Uncle Si sans specs and beard! Didn’t Si Robertson look dapper when he was in the military?
Right: Si Robertson’s most famous war story as a Vietnam veteran is that while serving overseas, his mother sent him a blue mug. Thirty years later, it’s still hanging from his back pocket and Si Robertson continues to only drink from this cup, every day.
The men of Duck Dynasty reality show all sport awesomely wild and bushy beards, but there was a time in the distant past when you could see their faces before they grew in the shaggy facial hair.
Phil Robertson without beard
Left: This young boy grew up to become Phil Robertson: Duck Commander.
Right: Phil Robertson’s love for the outdoors and duck hunting lead him to create the Duck Commander Duck Call in 1973, forgoing a career in the NFL. During the ten-week duck hunting season, Phil Robertson follows a strict routine of no showering, no shaving, and no clothes washing of any kind to ensure a bountiful haul.
Parliamentary elections are under way in Bulgaria with opinion polls predicting no outright winner.
Mass protests against low living standards and widespread corruption forced the government of the centre-right Gerb party to resign in February.
However, the run-up to Sunday’s election has been marked by voter apathy and claims of fraud.
On Saturday prosecutors said they had seized 350,000 illegal ballot papers at a printing house.
The election campaign had already been marred by revelations of illegal wiretapping of politicians.
Latest opinion polls suggested the Gerb party – headed by former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov – and its main challenger the socialist BSP party were running neck-and-neck.
Gerb has pledged to keep debts under control while the socialists say they will spend more and create jobs.
Parliamentary elections are under way in Bulgaria with opinion polls predicting no outright winner
Other parties expected to pass the 4% threshold needed to enter parliament are the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) – which represents Bulgaria’s ethnic Turkish minority – the ultra-nationalist Ataka, and the centrist Bulgaria of the Citizens.
However, the prospect of an election with no outright winner has raised fears of a hung parliament and further instability in the EU’s poorest country.
Polls opened at 07:00 local time and are due to close at 20:00.
Bulgaria’s 6.9 million eligible voters can choose between 36 parties but turnout is predicted to be below 50%.
Despite the large number of parties competing, it is an election that no-one appears to want to win.
Boiko Borisov has said he would be happy to go into opposition and BSP leader Sergei Stanishev has said that if his party wins, he will not be prime minister.
Bulgaria faces a major economic and social crisis with unemployment officially close to 12% but – unofficially – over 18%.
A day before the election, prosecutors revealed they had raided a printing house near the capital Sofia and seized 350,000 ballot papers that were printed over the legally fixed number.
Sergei Stanishev described the discovery as a “scandal”.
He said it showed there had been “preparation for total falsification of the elections”.
The discovery triggered a protest by members of some opposition parties outside parliament on Saturday.
The election campaign has also been marred by revelations of illegal wiretapping of political opponents, with prosecutors pointing the finger at former Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov.
More than 250 international observers will monitor Sunday’s election.
Elida-Marie Caraballo, the niece of sadistic Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro, has revealed how she innocently played in his “house of horrors” while his three torture victims were chained up in the cellar beneath her.
Elida-Marie Caraballo, 19, said she would visit “Uncle Ariel” with her cousin Arlene – Ariel Castro’s daughter – but he would demand they wait outside the back door until he “fixed things” inside.
“He would play the radio real loud and told me never to leave the kitchen,” she said.
“I thought he was weird but I had no idea he was a monster. It gives me chills to think I was playing with my toys on the kitchen floor while those poor girls were locked in the basement.
“My uncle and aunt were separated so I would go round with Arlene to visit her daddy.”
Elida-Marie Caraballo, 19, said she would visit “Uncle Ariel” with her cousin Arlene
Elida-Marie Caraballo’s mother, Elida, 44, is the sister of Ariel Castro’s common-law-wife Grimilda Figueroa who died last year of a brain tumor the family say was brought on by vicious beatings by Castro.
The couple bought the house where the three women were held captive, built in 1950, in 1992 and raised their four young children there until they split in 1996.
Elida-Marie Caraballo says her uncle’s behavior “became weirder” after he split from her aunt and that he may have abducted his victims to replace the family he lost.
“He was a bully and used to beat my aunt badly but when she finally got the courage to leave and come live with us he cried and begged her to come home.”
Recalling her visits there, Elida-Marie said: “I had no idea those poor girls were chained up in the basement.
“Now I wonder what would have happened if I’d heard something. Would he have locked me in the basement too? I was only a kid but the house gave me the creeps.”
