Fox News chairman Roger Ailes allegedly sent political analyst Kathleen McFarland to Afghanistan to tell then-General David Petraeus that he should run for president in 2012 and that Rupert Murdoch would “bankroll” the campaign.
Bob Woodward of The Washington Post obtained recorded conversations between David Petraeus and Kathleen McFarland, a Fox News analyst who flew to Kabul in the spring of 2011 to pitch the idea to him.
At the time, David Petraeus was the commander of the Allied Forces in Afghanistan, and Kathleen McFarland said that if President Barack Obama didn’t offer him a position like the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or something comparable, Petraeus should consider a run for the Republican nomination.
Apparently David Petraeus was unaware that the conversation was being recorded, and Bob Woodward has since gained access to those tapes.
Kathleen McFarland is heard saying that the “advice to you from Roger Ailes is…. He says that if you’re offered (JCS) chairman, take it. If you’re offered anything else, don’t take it; resign in six months and run for president,” according to The Washington Post.
“Tell him if I ever ran…but I won’t…but if I ever ran, I’d take him up on his offer… He said he would quit Fox,” David Petraeus said of Roger Ailes’ alleged offer to help run his possible campaign.
David Petraeus was apparently clear in his rejection of the offer, but also reaffirmed that he respected and liked Roger Ailes.
Fox News chairman Roger Ailes allegedly sent political analyst Kathleen McFarland to Afghanistan to tell then-General David Petraeus that he should run for president in 2012
In the light of his resignation from his CIA post and ensuing sex scandal, another one of David Petraeus’ reasonings against a presidential run is particularly interesting.
He said during the taped conversation that he would not run because “my wife would divorce me. And I love my wife… we have a beautiful house, with his and hers bathrooms, believe it or not. I just want to live in it. I’ve never spent a night in it.”
He also went on to say that in addition to heading up the Joint Chiefs, David Petraeus would consider heading up the CIA as its director if he was offered the position.
He explained that since the military efforts in the Middle East would be ramping down in the following months, much emphasis would be placed on the intelligence community, which piqued David Petraeus’ interest in running the CIA.
That prediction came true just a few weeks after the conversation took place.
When asked for comment for The Washington Post piece, Roger Ailes said that while he did ask McFarland to bring the idea up to David Petraeus, he never meant it seriously.
He explained that he suggested the conversation as a way to get a message across that he felt that, in the early stages of the Republican presidential primary, the main candidates left something to be desired and David Petraeus would shake up the field.
Jill Kelley, the Florida socialite at the centre of CIA director David Petraeus downfall, is planning a tell-all book, according to friends.
Jill Kelley, 37, is understood to have held preliminary talks with publishers to tell her side of the story that led to the resignation of General David Petraeus.
“Trust me, there is going to be a book in the New Year. You can count on it,” said a friend of the Tampa socialite.
She has not spoken about her pivotal role in the scandal which led to David Petraeus’s affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell being exposed last month.
David Petraeus, 60,resigned as CIA director when the affair became known following an FBI investigation that was sparked by Jill Kelley.
Another senior military figure, General John R. Allen, became embroiled in the scandal after allegedly exchanging inappropriate emails with the Tampa based Jill Kelley.
The mother of three had befriended David Petraeus and General John Allen when they were both stationed at US Central Command at the MacDill Air Force Base near her home overlooking Tampa Bay.
She threw lavish parties for the generals and used her connections to military to visit the White House on three occasions.
Jill Kelley was also accused of using her high powered connections to try to secure an $80 million check by brokering an energy deal between a New York businessman and her contacts with the South Korean Government.
Jill Kelley, the Florida socialite at the centre of CIA director David Petraeus downfall, is planning a tell-all book
Friends say Jill Kelley’s book will be “payback” for the humiliation she has suffered since her name became linked to the scandal.
“Jill is very angry, and it’s fair to say she wants to tell her side of the story,” said a friend.
“She has been lampooned on Saturday Night Live and feels she has been made to look like a fool.
“She said her best way of putting the record straight is a book. A TV interview only lasts a few minutes, but a book is there all the time. That is why she has said no to doing any TV. She wants it to be a matter of record and will do TV when the book comes out.”
As an apparently wealthy socialite who schmoozed some of America’s most senior military figures, Jill Kelley has an intriguing story to tell.
With its ingredients of sex, spies and lies any book would likely be a best seller – and generate a large sum of money for the cash-strapped Kelleys.
Jill Kelley and her cancer surgeon husband Scott have faced the embarrassment of having their personal financial details made public.
They owe millions to banks and facing foreclosure on their $1.3 million mansion overlooking Tampa Bay.
Jill Kelley, who enjoys shopping for designer clothes, is being chased for $25,000 in unpaid credit card bills
But despite her perilous financial state being laid bare she told friends the most humiliating part was being compared to the reality star Kim Kardashian.
Jill Kelley and her sister Natalie Khawam have been nicknamed the “Tampa Kardashians”.
A colonel at the MacDill Air Force Base said many people there were considered her a military groupie and likened her to the Kardashians.
“Of everything that has been written and said about her, that is what hurts the most,” said the friend.
“She finds it insulting as the Kardashians go out of their way to get publicity. Jill did not seek any of this.”
As part of the fallout from the scandal Jill Kelley’s role as a goodwill ambassador to the MacDill Air Force Base has been suspended.
She has also been stripped of her title of Honorary Consul that was bestowed upon her by South Korea.
Officials with the South Korean Government said she losing the title for misusing it for personal gain.
Jill Kelley received no official privileges from the title, but did try to claim diplomatic protection when the media swarmed over her house after her name became linked to the scandal.
She has also been ordered to remove the vanity license plate that says Honorary Consul from her silver Mercedes.
Zoey Belcher, the orphaned daughter of Kansas City Chief Jovan Belcher, will receive more than $1 million from the NFL.
Jovan Belcher shot Kasandra Perkins, his 22-year-old girlfriend and the mother of his child, before driving to Arrowhead stadium and turning the gun on himself.
The murder-suicide on Saturday morning means that the estate or guardian of his three-month-old daughter Zoey will receive the money under NFL’s collective-bargaining agreement.
Zoey Belcher stands to receive $108,000 annually over the next four years, $48,000 in the fifth year and then $52,000 each year until age 18.
She’ll continue to receive that amount until age 23 if she attends college.
The beneficiary of Jovan Belcher, who was in his fourth season, also will receive $600,000 in life insurance, plus $200,000 for each credited season.
There is also $100,000 in a retirement account that will go to his beneficiary or estate.
Zoey Belcher, the orphaned daughter of Kansas City Chief Jovan Belcher, will receive more than $1 million from the NFL
Players’ beneficiaries are kept confidential – the current collective bargaining agreement was ratified in August 2011.
Jovan Belcher’s mother Cheryl Shepherd, 54, has temporary custody of the couple’s baby and relatives have said she will take responsibility for the infant.
It is thought she will raise her granddaughter at the Long Island home where the 25-year-old grew up.
Cheryl Shepherd had been in Kansas City to help Jovan Belcher and Kasandra Perkins with their young daughter when the incident happened.
The couple had doted on their young daughter – they posted several photos on the internet showing Kasandra Perkins holding the infant when she was born as well as photos of the trio.
Past and present Kansas City Chiefs players turned out Wednesday for a memorial service for teammate Jovan Belcher, who killed his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins and then himself over the weekend.
The team moved up its practice schedule so that players could attend Wednesday afternoon’s service at the nearby Landmark International Deliverance and Worship Center, where Jovan Belcher and his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins worshipped.
The media wasn’t allowed inside.
Afterward, a coffin was wheeled from the building and driven away in a hearse.
Retired Chiefs Hall of Famer Bobby Bell said Pioli and an uncle of Jovan Belcher’s spoke during the service.
“It’s done and over with and people need to get on with their lives, and the team needed to try to get forward,” Bobby Bell said.
“It’s tough on them. When you see somebody and play with them you’re buddies, friends.”
Many of the players boarded coach buses after the service, but a few walked to their own vehicles with their wives and girlfriends.
“It was good,” running back Peyton Hillis said of the service. He wouldn’t comment further.
Past and present Kansas City Chiefs players turned out Wednesday for a memorial service for teammate Jovan Belcher, who killed his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins and then himself
Defensive end Ropatisp Pitoitua, kicker Ryan Succop, and linebacker Derrick Johnson said they didn’t want to be interviewed.
Before the service, veteran offensive lineman Ryan Lilja said he hoped the memorial would provide some closure for the Chiefs, who will try to win their second straight game Sunday at Cleveland.
Ryan Lilja said some players have taken advantage of counseling services that have been provided by the Chiefs and the NFL and that there’s been a change in the atmosphere around the team building.
Pastor Sylvarena Funderburke, who serves at Repairers of the Breach Christian Center in Kansas City, said she was at the service to sing I Won’t Complain, a song the Belcher family requested.
“It is an honor. We don’t always understand why things happen,” she said before the service.
“That’s when you have to rely on your faith and just trust God to give you strength to make it through tough times.”
Karen Young, who belongs to the Landmark church and serves as an usher, said Belcher and Perkins went to the church “practically” every week until the baby was born but hadn’t been seen much since then.
Larry Brown, who also attends the Landmark church, said Jovan Belcher was “gentle” and “caring” and his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins “a real nice person”.
“I believed that they were made for each other,” said Larry Brown, whose brother is the church’s leader, Bishop John L. Brown.
“They didn’t appear to be the type of people who just put on facades. They were very happy. She was very genuine. Every time I saw them, they were always laughing.”
The barber shop where Jovan Belcher was a regular is in the same strip mall where the church is located. Barber Lee Garron walked over to the memorial service to pay his respects.
“He was a good person,” Lee Garron said.
“He was. He was like anyone else. You don’t know what they are thinking or what is going on in their head. It’s like you or me. You just never know.”
A memorial service and funeral have been held in North Texas for Kasandra Perkins, the slain girlfriend of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher.
Family and friends gathered at a church in Blue Ridge to remember 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins, five days after Jovan Belcher shot her multiple times before shooting himself in the head.
Life Celebration Funeral Home said a separate service will be held Saturday in Austin, followed by burial in nearby Pflugerville.
The Chiefs will be represented for at least one of the services, USA TODAY Sports reported.
Jovan Belcher shot Kasandra Perkins in the master bathroom of their Kansas City home on Saturday morning, hitting her in her chest, neck and abdomen. Her body was found by Jovan Belcher’s mother, who heard the shots.
Jovan Belcher, 25, then drove with a handgun to Arrowhead Stadium, where he thanked team officials before kneeling down and shooting himself in the head in the parking lot.
The deaths came after an increasingly troubled relationship between the pair, who friends say were struggling with the stresses of work and bringing up their three-month-old baby, Zoey.
As well as the baby girl, Kasandra Perkins is also survived by two siblings, her parents, grandparents and a great-grandmother, according to the Turrentine Jackson Morrow funeral home.
It comes a day after the entire Chiefs organization, including players, coaches, front office personnel and ownership, attended a memorial service for Jovan Belcher.
A memorial service and funeral have been held in North Texas for Kasandra Perkins, the slain girlfriend of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher
The team moved up its practice schedule so that players could attend the service at the Landmark International Deliverance and Worship Center, where Jovan Belcher and Kasandra Perkins worshipped.
Before the service, veteran offensive lineman Ryan Lilja said he hoped the memorial would provide some closure for the Chiefs, who will try to win their second straight game Sunday at Cleveland.
“You got to try to deal with it however you deal with it, and grieve the best way for the individual and I think this is the best way for us as a team to get closure and move on and focus on football.”
Ryan Lilja said some players have taken advantage of counseling services that have been provided by the Chiefs and the NFL and that there’s been a change in the atmosphere around the team building.
“There definitely is more,<<How you doing? How you feeling? How you coping?>>” Ryan Lilja said.
Jovan Belcher’s mother Cheryl Shepherd, 54, has temporary custody of the couple’s baby and relatives have said she will take responsibility for the infant.
Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who transferred a prank phone call from two Australian radio presenters about Kate Middleton, has died in a suspected suicide – two days after being duped.
Mother-of-two Jacintha Saldanha, who was working on the switchboard when 2DayFM obtained intimate details about Kate Middleton, was found dead near the King Edward VII Hospital today.
Prince William and Kate Middleton are “deeply saddened” by the tragedy and a Palace spokesman said the couple had not made a complaint about the prank call.
“Their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha’s family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time,” a statement said.
When asked if they had expressed concern, the spokesman added: “On the contrary we offered our full and heartfelt support to the nurses involved and hospital staff at all times.”
The Palace declined to say whether the Duchess met Jacintha Saldanha but it was very possible.
The King Edward VII Hospital, which was not believed to be disciplining the nurse over incident, said it announced her death with “very deep sadness”.
Their statement added: “Jacintha has worked at the King Edward VII Hospital for more than four years. She was an excellent nurse and well respected and popular with all over her colleagues.”
Jacintha Saldanha answered the hoax call at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning and transferred the call through to Kate Middleton’s ward.
Another nurse then told the giggling DJs, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who were pretending to be the Queen and Prince Charles, how the Duchess was about to “get freshened up”.
Prince William and Kate Middleton are deeply saddened by Jacintha Saldanha’s death and the couple had not made a complaint about the prank call
The station apologized for “any inconvenience caused” but provoked widespread fury and disbelief by continuing to continuing to promote its hoax, calling it “the prank call the world is talking about” before playing clips of the recording.
As the backlash grew Mel Greig and Michel Christian both deleted their Twitter accounts.
The emergency services were called and two ambulances were dispatched to the central London residence today.
But paramedics were unable to revive her and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her family, husband and two children have been informed.
The hospital said this afternoon: “It is with very deep sadness that we confirm the tragic death of a member of our nursing staff, Jacintha Saldanha.
“Jacintha has worked at the King Edward VII’s Hospital for more than four years. She was an excellent nurse and well-respected and popular with all of her colleagues.
“We can confirm that Jacintha was recently the victim of a hoax call to the hospital. The hospital had been supporting her throughout this difficult time.”
John Lofthouse, Chief Executive at King Edward VII’s Hospital, added: “Our thoughts and deepest sympathies at this time are with her family and friends. Everyone is shocked by the loss of a much loved and valued colleague.”
Lord Glenarthur, Chairman of King Edward VII’s Hospital, says: “This is a tragic event. Jacintha was a first class nurse who cared diligently for hundreds of patients during her time with us. She will be greatly missed.”
Officers from Scotland Yard launched an investigation yesterday and are treating the death as “unexplained”.
The exact cause of death remained unclear. However, one source indicated that the woman appeared to have killed herself.
A former neighbor of tragic nurse Jacintha Saldanha yesterday described her as a “nice, lovely lady”.
The neighbor lived next door to Jacintha Saldanha, her two sons and partner Benedict Barboza – know as Ben – at an address in Bristol several years ago.
Even today Michael Christian was urging people to tune in to their show to hear more about #royalprank.
Last year Catherine Zeta-Jones went public about her bipolar disorder – and said just recently she hopes she can help remove the stigma from the mental condition.
But during an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America today, Catherine Zeta-Jones insisted she is tired of talking about the illness.
Catherine Zeta-Jones was treated in a psychiatric hospital last April for manic depression over the stress of her husband Michael Douglas’s battle against cancer.
At the time her publicist confirmed she was receiving help for the mood-altering illness.
Despite being very open about her condition since, during her interview today Catherine Zeta-Jones insisted she “never wanted to become the poster child” – and does not want to be seen as a victim.
She said: “You know what? I’m sick of talking about it because I never wanted to be the poster child for this.”
“I never wanted this to come out publicly. It came out,” she added emphatically.
Talking about how she copes with the illness she went on: “I dealt with it in the best way I could and that was just saying: <<Hey, I’m bipolar>>. Everyone has things going on and we deal with them as best we can.”
Very matter of factly, Catherine Zeta-Jones continued: “We can’t go jump from the rooftops shouting about I have this, look at me, victim.
“No, we all have issues in our life and I’m really lucky that I have great friends, great support and that’s all I can do.”
Catherine Zeta-Jones went public about her bipolar disorder last year
Catherine Zeta-Jones suffers from bipolar II, which unlike bipolar I, means the “up” moods do not reach full-on levels of mania.
Rather than descending into deep depressions, patients can be very outgoing, functional and often more productive than normal, one reason why it often goes undiagnosed.
Despite suggesting her reluctance to talk about her illness, Catherine Zeta-Jones spoke in detail to InStyle magazine this month about her diagnosis last year.
“It’s been an intense time, in good ways and bad,” Catherine Zeta-Jones said.
“You find out who you really are and who you are married to. You find things inside yourself you never imagined were there.”
“I’ve gained an appreciation for little things, like tea outside on a terrace and a beautiful afternoon like this.”
Catherine Zeta-Jones has been married to Michael Douglas for 12 years and the couple have two children together, son Dylan and daughter Carys.
It was reported last year that Catherine Zeta-Jones spent five days in a mental health clinic recovering, which lead to the diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
She also told the magazine that she hopes she can help other suffering with the condition.
“I’m not the kind of person who likes to shout out my personal issues from the rooftops but with my bipolar becoming public, I hope fellow sufferers will know it is completely controllable.
“I hope I can help remove any stigma attached to it, and that those who don’t have it under control will seek help with all that is available to treat it.”
Ron Woodroof’s family helped Matthew McConaughey to reveal the true story of courage that inspired actor’s breathtaking transformation in new movie The Dallas Buyers Club.
Sharon Woodroof Braden, 70, and Yvette Carroll, 42, have had years to try to come to terms with the agony of losing Ron Woodroof – Sharon’s brother and Yvette’s father to AIDS.
But Matthew McConaughey’s astonishing physical transformation to tell Ron Woodroof’s courageous story in The Dallas Buyers Club means they will soon see his brave battle relived on the big screen.
These exclusive photos of Ron Woodroof, who is described as a heterosexual, homophobic electrician, as he fought the disease show just what a remarkable resemblance Matthew McConaughey has achieved for his portrayal.
Speaking from her home in Como, Texas, Sharon Woodroof Braden said: “It’s very hard to see. I don’t go on the internet.
“It’s hard to look back whenever you’ve lived through it; it’s really hard to look back at something like that. So I don’t look at the pictures that much.
“The pictures of Matthew are breathtaking though. They look so like what Ronnie looked like when he was sick and how the disease progressed.
“Matthew is definitely looking like he’s gone down that path. His eyes, that is the main thing, the way he is doing his eyes.
“I’m not looking at his body as much as his face and his face certainly taken on the look of someone with AIDS. Matthew is so in character it is unreal.”
Ron Woodroof – who Sharon and Yvette affectionately call Ronnie – was an extraordinary character who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986 and given just six months to live.
Instead of accepting the death sentence, Ron Woodroof studied the disease
and its effects on the body, and created a business sourcing and smuggling non-FDA approved medication, experimental and alternative drugs for AIDS patients.
His determination and tenacity enabled him to live for six more years – during which time he pushed legislation through the courts, promoted awareness of the disease and helped countless other AIDS patients in the process.
“I remember he was the best-looking man I’d ever seen, even when I was little,” his daughter Yvette Carroll has said.
But that appeal all changed when he got sick, as Yvette Carroll said: “It was awful to see him like that. I couldn’t handle it, even at 21 years old.”
Ron Woodroof was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986 and given just six months to live
Over the years, several A-List stars have had their names attached to play the role of Ron Woodroof in the film – including Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling.
Sharon Woodroof Braden said: “They wanted Brad Pitt to play him and I thought <<No, that isn’t going to work because I didn’t think Brad Pitt had the personality>>.
“They talked about Ryan Gosling and I thought the same thing.
“I like Ryan Gosling but I didn’t think his personality was the right personality.
“Then a year ago they mentioned Matthew McConaughey and I thought, <<Ok … yes!>>
“He’s got that same swagger that Ron had. I’m excited because Matthew is from Texas. I really think he has that personality where he can do what needs to be done.”
Sharon Woodroof Braden says the way Matthew McConaughey has gone about losing weight to transform into Ron is another characteristic they shared – determination.
The actor has dropped more than 40 pounds for the role leading to criticism that he was risking his health by extreme dieting, though he insisted he was going it the safe and healthy way.
“I feel fine. I really do. I got the means to lose the weight in a really healthy way. I’m eating fresh fish. I’m just eating small amounts. I’m not being starved… I’m taking care of myself,” he told The Daily Beast.
Of his shocking weight loss Sharon Woodroof Braden said: “I hate that he’s having to do this, I really do. I wish there was another way for him to do it, but that is just another trait – determination – Matthew does to portray someone dying of AIDS.
“It isn’t pretty in real life and it won’t be pretty on the big screen. I think he will get an Oscar for this role.”
Sharon Woodroof Braden says that things weren’t always easy between her and Ron when he was alive. He was a drug user and had many girlfriends – leaving his family unclear exactly how he contracted HIV.
“I will say this, I love Ronnie and always have – and I miss him with all my heart – but I know where he is and I know where my cars are now!
“But he was one wonderful and unique individual; I didn’t realize how unique he was until he got sick. But he was my brother and down underneath we both loved each other a lot.”
Anne Hathaway, who plays Fantine in the hotly anticipated Les Misérables, took the opportunity to open up about starving herself for the role in a new photo shoot.
Anne Hathaway shed 25 lbs to portray the poverty-stricken factory worker forced to turn to prostitution, and it was no easy task.
She told the new issue of The Hollywood Reporter: “I just had to stop eating all for a total of 13 days shooting.”
Anne Hathaway shed the weight in two stages: she dropped 10 lbs in three weeks before filming, and then 15 lbs during production.
But Anne Hathaway was dedicated from the start – even before she landed the role.
Anne Hathaway, who plays Fantine in the hotly anticipated Les Misérables, took the opportunity to open up about starving herself for the role in a new photo shoot
The actress said: “There was resistance because I was between their ideal ages for the parts – maybe not mature enough for Fantine but past the point where I could believably play [Fantine’s daughter] Cosette (portrayed by Amanda Seyfried).
“And I did what I do when I really want a role: I got fiery and told my agent, <<Just get me in the room>>.”
The eerie images accompanying the interview see a barefoot Anne lead her co-stars Amanda, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne and Samantha Barks.
Les Misérables hits cinemas on Christmas Day. The new issue of The Hollywood Reporter is out on December 14.
Khaled Meshaal, the exiled political leader of Hamas, has called his first visit to the Gaza Strip his “third birth”.
He said his previous two “births” were the day he survived an assassination attempt by Israeli agents in Jordan in 1997, and his actual birth in 1956.
Khaled Meshaal had not set foot in the Palestinian territories since leaving the West Bank in 1967.
His visit follows a ceasefire that ended days of violence between Hamas and Israel last month.
The Islamist militant group has governed Gaza since 2007.
Khaled Meshaal entered Gaza from Egypt at the Rafah border crossing, kissing the ground in celebration. Officials there said his wife had arrived late on Thursday.
In a statement to the media, he said: “I consider this moment my third birth, and I pray to God that my fourth birth will be the moment when all of Palestine is liberated.”
“Gaza has always been in my heart,” he said.
Khaled Meshaal is expected to visit the home of late Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, as well as that of Ahmed Jabari, the military commander killed in an Israeli strike last month.
Ahmed Jabari’s death marked the start of an eight-day Israeli offensive which Israel said was aimed at halting militant rocket attacks. Some 170 Palestinians and six Israelis were killed.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement that Khaled Meshaal’s visit was “a fruit of the victory of the resistance over the occupation”.
A huge rally on Saturday is expected to be the centrepiece of his three-day tour.
Khaled Meshaal, the exiled political leader of Hamas, has called his first visit to the Gaza Strip his third birth
Khaled Meshaal is scheduled to address the rally in Gaza City and will talk about the organization’s future strategy towards Israel.
He is also expected to discuss reconciliation moves with the Fatah movement, which Hamas removed from Gaza by force in 2007 after winning elections there. Fatah now rules parts of the West Bank.
In 2011, Khaled Meshaal and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas – the Fatah leader – endorsed an Egyptian plan to reconcile the rival factions.
Although attempts to forge a Palestinian government of national unity have since stalled, Khaled Meshaal told Reuters ahead of his Gaza visit that “there is a new mood that allows us to achieve reconciliation”.
Khaled Meshaal was quick to praise Mahmoud Abbas’s recent success in upgrading Palestinian status at the United Nations to that of a non-member “observer state”.
In response to that move, Israel announced it would move ahead with building thousands of new homes in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Correspondents say Israel – which along with the US and EU considers Hamas a terrorist organisation – appears to be turning a blind eye to Khaled Meshaal’s visit.
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said that Israel had no say over who entered Gaza from Egypt.
“We have no position on different individuals within Hamas,” he said, according to AP news agency.
“Hamas is Hamas is Hamas.”
On Thursday, Palestinian workers were setting up a stage for Saturday’s rally that included a replica of a type of rocket Hamas has fired into Israel. “Made in Gaza,” was written on it.
Khaled Meshaal was born in the West Bank in 1956. He moved to Kuwait after the 1967 Middle East war and later Jordan, where his involvement with Hamas began.
Khaled Meshaal survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Jordan in 1997 and was briefly jailed there, before being expelled and travelling to Qatar.
He became Hamas’s political leader in exile in 2004 when Sheikh Yassin was assassinated by Israel.
Khaled Meshaal ran operations from Damascus until February this year, when the unrest there prompted another move. He now bases himself in Qatar and Egypt.
Hamas was created in 1987 after the beginning of the first intifada – or Palestinian uprising – against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Under its charter, Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel. But the group has also offered a 10-year truce in return for a complete Israeli withdrawal from territories it occupied in 1967.
Khaled Meshaal
1956 – Born in Silwad in West Bank
1967 – Moves with family to Kuwait after Six Day War
1971 – Joins Muslim Brotherhood
1987 – Hamas created
1991 – Moves to Jordan after Iraq invades Kuwait. Runs Hamas fundraising
1997 – Survives Israeli assassination attempt
1999 – Expelled from Jordan. Moves to Qatar
2001 – Moves to Syria
2004 – Named Hamas political leader after assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
Lindsay Lohan has reportedly turned to selling off her extensive wardrobe of designer clothes as a way of raising funds.
The Liz And Dick star has apparently been sending her little sister Ali Lohan to hawk her wares at a Los Angeles shop that specializes in second hand threads.
According to Radar, Lindsay Lohan has been sending the 18-year-old to the popular Wasteland store loaded down with clothes, shoes and accessories.
An eyewitness told the website Ali Lohan, who apparently had a significantly larger bust than previously, turned up to the shop with bags stuffed full of items.
She then tried to broker a deal with the manager of the establishment, but was disappointed after being offered far less than she anticipated.
Ali Lohan reportedly shouted: “Thirty dollars for these? They cost $700! This is ridiculous!”
The wannabe singer then tried haggle the price upwards for the items, which included a pair of round-toe Chanel pumps and a Balenciaga purse.
Lindsay Lohan has reportedly turned to selling off her extensive wardrobe of designer clothes as a way of raising funds
Ali Lohan even tried to change her bartering tactics, arguing that because her infamous sister had worn them on red carpets and at photo shoots they are worth extra.
She said: “These have to be worth more, Lindsay was photographed wearing them, that has to add value.”
Apparently not however, as the manager refused to move the price and she left with significantly less cash than hoped for.
Lindsay Lohan may have to sell off even more of her possessions in future, as reviews of her performance in TV film Liz And Dick have been awful, with Entertainment Weekly branding it a “drab, damp little TV-movie”.
Her performance was also lambasted, with the magazine’s Ken Tucker saying: “No effort seems to have gone into Lohan’s preparation other than to have her eyes tinted.”
Meanwhile Lindsay Lohan will soon find out if she will be charged over her alleged assault of Tiffany Mitchell during a November 29 nightclub brawl.
A source told Radar: “The Assistant DA handling the case will decide next week whether or not to formally charge Lindsay.
“They’re currently going over all of the evidence and met with Tiffany and her attorney, Gloria Allred earlier this week for three hours.
“The meeting was very productive and provided the prosecutors and cops with further insight into what allegedly happened that night.
“The NYPD thinks that there is more than enough evidence to charge Lindsay with a crime and a lot of the cops think that if she isn’t charged, it will just embolden her to misbehave even more! There definitely is a sense among the investigators that Lindsay has absolutely no respect for the law, and that the only place for someone like Lindsay is behind bars.”
Lindsay Lohan was arrested after allegedly punching Tiffany Mitchell in the face after an argument at the Avenue night club.
Several eyewitnesses came forward claiming the actress had been drinking heavily and doing cocaine before the brawl
She is also set to be formally charge at court on December 12 on three misdemeanor charges of lying to cops, reckless driving and obstructing or resisting a police officer in the performance of his duty.
Lindsay Lohan is not however expected to attend the proceedings unless ordered by the judge.
The Cadger family from Idaho is showing their Christmas spirit through their annual light display – but they aren’t using any old holiday jingle.
The Cadger family is having a very “dubstep” Christmas after they synced their extensive light show on their Meridian, Idaho, house to a mix of Bangarang and Cinema, both of which are by Skrillex. The video, which was posted on YouTube on November 24, has taken off with more than 500,000 views until now.
The family must be fond of Skrillex’s electronic-style beats because a year ago, their house had the light display synced to the artist’s First of the Year (Equinox).
It takes the Cadgers two months to set up the display, which involves laying out more than two miles of extension cords to decorate the home with nearly 40,000 lights, according to a Huffington Post story.
Cadger Dubstep Christmas Lights House 2012
The display is powered by four 16-channel “Light O Rama” controllers hooked up to a computer, according to the family’s website. They make an effort to use energy-efficient LED lights, according to the site.
The lights are active on Friday and Saturday night from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. the rest of the week. The Cadgers ask that visitors bring food to donate to the Idaho Food Bank.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are finally about to walk down the aisle and they could be married any day now after the pair reportedly picked up their wedding rings.
In Touch magazine is reporting that Brad Pitt, 48, and Angelina Jolie, 37, are gearing up to walk down the aisle sending their stylist pick up wedding rings.
“On November 27, a stylist for the actress picked up wedding rings from Neil Lane jewelers for the couple,” the magazine reports.
The bands arrived at the Jolie-Pitt home just a day after Brad Pitt made it clear at the premiere of his new film, Killing Me Softly, that he planned to make an honest woman out of Angie – at the request of their children.
“I am getting more pressure from my kids, and it is something I want to do within their lifetime, but I also feel like the time has come,” Brad Pitt said at the New York premiere.
“The time is nigh. It’s soon. I got a good feeling about it.”
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are finally about to walk down the aisle and they could be married any day now after the pair reportedly picked up their wedding rings
According to People magazine, Brad Pitt said the fact they have been together for so long does not lessen the importance of a wedding.
“We’ve had a family, we’ve raised the kids,” he said.
“I am surprised how much it meant to me once you had that.”
The couple have six children three whom they adopted – Maddox, 11, Pax, 8, Zahara, 7, – and three biological children – Shiloh, 6, and 4-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s wedding has often been speculated over with many believing they were set to marry in August this year.
It was thought the pair were to tie the knot in a civil ceremony at their recently renovated multimillion dollar French estate, Chateau Miraval.
Japan has issued a tsunami warning after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the country’s eastern coast.
The quake was felt in the capital Tokyo, media report.
The tsunami warning was issued for the coast of Miyagi Prefecture, which was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
The wave hit the city of Ishinomaki, while the quake was also felt strongly in the capital, Tokyo.
The epicentre of the quake was about 245 km (150 miles) south-east of Kamiashi at a depth of about 36 km, the US Geological Survey said.
Miyagi was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
The US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat to the wider Pacific Ocean but that a tsunami could be generated that was destructive for local coastlines.
There have been no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.
Warnings of the tsunami height have varied between 50 cm and 2 m.
Any such height would represent a far lower risk of devastation than the 10-11 metre tsunami that struck in 2011 but that since then the country has clearly become jittery about any shaking of the earth.
At the moment, he says, the damage appears to be on a limited scale, although even a one-metre tsunami could be a significant event.
Japan has issued a tsunami warning after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the country’s eastern coast
Evacuations have been ordered from some of the affected areas.
A presenter on state broadcaster NHK told viewers: “Remember last year’s quake and tsunami. Call on your neighbors and flee to higher ground now!”
Buildings were reported to have swayed violently in Tokyo.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda cancelled campaigning for the 16 December election to return to his office.
Communications to Miyagi have proven difficult, with the high volume of telephone calls. Trains in the prefecture have been halted and the runway at Sendai airport closed.
English teacher John Heritage, who is in Tagajo in Miyagi Prefecture, said the earthquake was not as powerful as some he had experienced but was worrying as it went on so long.
“We’re now at an official evacuation centre with about 50 other people waiting to hear what to do next,” he said.
Other people reported being alerted to the earthquake prior to its arrival by Japan’s mobile phone-based warning system.
One tweeted that he was given 10 seconds and was able to slow his car before the shaking struck.
The USGS reported three aftershocks in the same area, of 6.2, 5.5 and 4.7 magnitudes.
The 9.0 magnitude quake that struck on March 11th, 2011, caused a devastating tsunami and left more than 15,000 people dead, with more than 3,200 missing.
That quake triggered a meltdown of fuel rods at the Fukushima nuclear plant, causing radiation leaks and mass evacuations.
The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power, told Agence France-Presse there were no reports of problems there this time, although workers have moved to higher ground.
The US is moving navy ships into position to track North Korea’s rocket due to launch later this month.
The warships were moved to achieve “the best situational awareness”, the US military chief in the region said.
Japan’s government, meanwhile, has formally issued an order to its military to shoot down any rocket debris that infringes on its territory.
North Korea plans to launch its rocket between 10 and 22 December, saying it will put a satellite into space.
The US and other nations say the launch constitutes a test of long-range missile technology banned under UN resolutions.
North Korea conducted a similar launch in April 2012, but the rocket flew only for a short time before crashing into waters off the Korean peninsula.
This launch window includes two key dates – 17 December marks the first anniversary of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and 19 December is when South Korea’s presidential election takes place.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency – citing unidentified sources – reports that all three stages of the rocket are now in place at the launch site and that fuel is being injected into a storage tank, after which the rocket will be fuelled.
But a US think-tank says preparations may not be this far advanced, citing satellite images of the launch site.
The US is moving navy ships into position to track North Korea’s rocket due to launch later this month
Snow had forced a temporary halt to work on 4 December, the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University said on its 38 North website, but the North Koreans still had time to complete preparations on schedule.
Based on co-ordinates provided by Pyongyang, the rocket is expected to fly south – with stages dropping into the sea west of the Korean peninsula and then east of the Philippines.
Admiral Samuel Locklear, head of US forces in the Asia-Pacific region, said preparations for the launch were being watched “very closely”.
On the warships, he said it “should seem logical that we’ll move them around so we have the best situational awareness”.
“To the degree that those [navy] ships are capable of participating in ballistic missile defense, then we will position them to be able to do that,” he said.
The rocket’s flight plan also takes it close to parts of Japan’s Okinawa prefecture. The Japanese government has pledged to shoot down any debris that falls over its territory.
It is deploying three warships equipped with missile interceptors and is also positioning PAC-3 missile interceptors on the ground at four locations in Okinawa prefecture, Kyodo news agency said.
All Nippon Airways, meanwhile, says it is adjusting flight plans to avoid the area off the Philippines where the second stage of the rocket may fall.
Similar preparations by the US and Japanese militaries were seen ahead of the failed launch in April. But the 30 m (100 ft) Unha-3 rocket is thought to have flown for only minutes before breaking up.
North Korea has not yet successfully launched a three-stage rocket, despite four attempts since 1998. It is believed to be working on the development of a long-range missile capable of reaching the west coast of the US mainland.
The US and its allies say the rocket launches represent banned tests of ballistic missile technology because the basic technology is the same.
President Barack Obama and his family have flipped the switch for the 90th annual lighting of the National Christmas Tree, marking the holiday season in Washington.
Barack Obama was joined by his daughters, Sasha, 11, and Malia, 14, and wife Michelle. All were bundled to shield themselves from the cold December night.
Also helping in the festive ceremony was actor and singer Neil Patrick Harris, who hosted the tree-lighting ceremony
“Merry Christmas, everybody!” the president began. He was wearing a black wool overcoat and a maroon scarf tucked loosely in his jacket. He was then interrupted by Neil Patrick Harris, who said that it was wonderful to see Barack Obama’s daughters out and about.
“It’s wonderful to see you, Mr. President,” he added.
Barack Obama feigned confusion.
“Is it time?” he asked.
“I hope everybody’s ready,” Barack Obama said.
“We gotta do the countdown.”
President Barack Obama and his family have flipped the switch for the 90th annual lighting of the National Christmas Tree
The crowd then counted down from five, before the first lady and her daughters switched on the blue spruce’s magnificent lights.
After the lighting, Neil Patrick Harris continued to banter with the president, and joked with actor Rico Rodriguez of ABC’s Modern Family about joining the Obamas in Hawaii this Christmas.
Singers Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Ledisi, Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat and James Taylor, along with the band The Fray, performed Christmas songs before a crowd of about 17,000 on the Ellipse, a park that sits between the White House and the National Mall.
The president said in a brief speech he has been inspired by Americans’ response to Hurricane Sandy, which ravaged the Northeast in late October. He told a story of a street in Staten Island, where houses and businesses were devastated by the storm.
“A great big Christmas tree shines out of the darkness,” he said.
“A local nursery donated the tree, another business chipped in for lights and a star, and 70-year-old Tom Killeen and his friends planted it at the end of the street, overlooking the town beach.”
“As Tom says, the tree has one message: It’s Christmas time, not disaster time,” the president concluded.
The National Christmas Tree ablaze with white lights and stars, Barack Obama joined the singers on stage in a singalong version of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town before heading home, a short motorcade ride away.
This year’s giant blue spruce is new and was transplanted in October on the Ellipse, a park that lies between the White House and the National Mall.
The previous tree died from transplant shock after just a year. Before that, a tree that stood for more than 30 years was destroyed by winds in February 2011.
Actor Stephen Baldwin was charged on Thursday with failing to pay New York state taxes for three years, amassing a $350,000 debt.
Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said Stephen Baldwin, of Upper Grandview, skipped his taxes in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
The youngest of the four acting Baldwin brothers pleaded not guilty at an arraignment and was freed without bail. His lawyer, Russell Yankwitt, said Stephen Baldwin should not have been charged.
“Mr. Baldwin did not commit any crimes, and he’s working with the district attorney’s office and the New York State Tax Department to resolve any differences,” Russell Yankwitt said.
The district attorney said Stephen Baldwin could face up to 4 years in prison if convicted. The actor is due back in court on February 5th, 2013.
Stephen Baldwin was charged with failing to pay New York state taxes for three years, amassing a $350,000 debt
Thomas Zugibe said Stephen Baldwin owes more than $350,000 in tax and penalties.
“We cannot afford to allow wealthy residents to break the law by cheating on their taxes,” the district attorney said.
“The defendant’s repetitive failure to file returns and pay taxes over a period of several years contributes to the sweeping cutbacks and closures in local government and in our schools.”
Thomas Mattox, the state tax commissioner, said: “It is rare and unfortunate for a personal income tax case to require such strong enforcement measures.”
Stephen Baldwin, 46, starred in 1995’s The Usual Suspects and appeared in 1989’s Born on the Fourth of July. He is scheduled to appear in March on NBC’s The Celebrity Apprentice.
His brothers Alec, William and Daniel Baldwin are also actors.
In October, Stephen Baldwin pleaded guilty in Manhattan to unlicensed driving and was ordered to pay a $75 fine. Earlier this year, he lost a $17 million civil case in New Orleans after claiming that actor Kevin Costner and a business partner duped him in a deal related to the cleanup of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The actors and others had formed a company that marketed devices that separate oil from water.
Stephen Baldwin co-hosts a radio show with conservative talk figure Kevin McCullough.
Drew Barrymore revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show how she chose her daughter’s name when she was the “size of an olive”.
Drew Barrymore, 37, and her husband Will Kopelman welcomed their daughter Olive into the world 10 weeks ago and the actress has revealed she was inspired to pick the moniker when she was in the early stage of her pregnancy.
Speaking on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Drew Barrymore said: “I never would have guessed that would have been the name.
“But I was reading a book with my husband. I was three months pregnant and they said your baby is the size of an olive, and that was it. We never looked back.”
Ellen DeGeneres then joked: “It could have been the size of a peanut or a grapefruit.”
Drew Barrymore replied: “It could have been. It was a lot fruit and vegetables.”
Drew Barrymore revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show how she chose her daughter’s name when she was the size of an olive
The actress did consider a number of names, but as soon as they thought of Olive, they didn’t deliberate anything else.
Drew Barrymore explained: “We were shopping a few [names] as all people do who are so blessed to get to do this. And then once the light was shed, there was just no turning back.”
Mario Balotelli is said to be “delighted” after becoming a father for the first time after his ex-girlfriend Raffaella Fico gave birth to a baby girl.
Little Pia had been due on Christmas Day but was born just under three weeks early after Raffaella Fico was rushed to hospital after having contractions while at home with her mum.
Mario Balotelli himself was not present at the birth but Raffaella Fico’s brother Francesco and her mum Pia were and the baby weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs, 4 oz (3.8 kg) and was registered in her mother’s name.
There was no official comment from Mario Balotelli following the “nappy” news although sources close to the Manchester City star said he was “delighted” with the birth which took place at the private Clinica Mediterranea in Naples.
Ex underwear model Raffaella Fico and Mario Balotelli had split up in April following a furious doorstep bust up after she flew to Manchester from Italy to confront him over his cheating.
Two months later Raffaella Fico called Mario Balotelli to say she was expecting his child and initially he refused to accept the baby was his and demanded a DNA test to prove he was the father.
The couple then played out a furious slanging match via the Italian media over the summer with a shocked Raffaella Fico expressing anger and surprise that he should question whether he was the father.
Mario Balotelli is said to be delighted after becoming a father for the first time after his ex-girlfriend Raffaella Fico gave birth to a baby girl
Two months ago Mario Balotelli then revealed he was going to “try again” with Raffaella Fico and he flew to her home near Naples where the two were pictured kissing passionately on the balcony of her home.
However, since then Mario Balotelli has not been in touch with Raffaella Fico and only this week she had issued an ultimatum to the player saying: “If you love our child and me then marry me.”
On Thursday a source at the clinic said: “Pia was born on Wednesday night and both mother and baby are doing well.”
Raffaella Fico, who has dated Cristiano Ronaldo in the past and also appeared in Italy’s version of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, is said to have sold exclusive first pictures of Pia to glossy Italian weekly Chi – the magazine that published photographs of a topless Kate Middleton this summer.
Euro 2020 championship finals will be held in a number of cities across Europe, UEFA has announced.
It means there will be no one country hosting the tournament, which will have expanded to 24 teams by then.
The Football Association has already put forward Wembley to European governing body UEFA as a possible venue for the final.
A spokesperson for the Football Supporters’ Federation said the move was “one which will divide fans’ opinions”.
“When the idea of a pan-European tournament was first proposed our primary concern was that supporters across the continent were properly consulted before anything was set in stone.
“The FSF will speak to Football Supporters Europe to see what fans from across the continent make of this move.”
UEFA’s executive committee took the decision at a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday.
Euro 2020 championship finals will be held in a number of cities across Europe
UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino told a press conference after the meeting: “Some important decisions have been taken.
“Uefa Euro 2020 will be staged across the continent, in various major cities, following a decision taken today. A Euro for Europe follows an initial idea by UEFA president Michel Platini, who described it as <<an idea I feel really passionate about>>.
“The response has been extremely positive from all the national associations.”
Gianni Infantino confirmed that only Turkey, who had had initially bid to host Euro 2020, opposed the decision through the country’s UEFA vice-president Senes Erzik.
The next competition in 2016 will be hosted by France and will be played with 24 qualifiers at the finals.
Gianni Infantino added the bidding process for the host cities would start in March and decisions would be made in the spring of 2014.
Michel Platini, who won the tournament in 1984 with France, floated the idea as a way of avoiding high costs at a time of financial hardship in many countries.
Higher than expected costs and building delays caused problems for the 2012 tournament in Poland and Ukraine.
“It will be a lot easier from a financial perspective for all the countries,” Michel Platini said in June.
“If you need to build airports or 10 stadiums in a country, this would be rather easy because it would be one stadium per host city.”
Antisa Khvichava, a Georgian woman who claimed to be the world’s oldest living person as she lived through the Russian Revolution, has died at the age of 132.
Antisa Khvichava, who lived in the remote mountain village of Sachino in Georgia, held Soviet-era documents which said she was born on 8 July 1880, but her age was contested and never proven.
The woman, who lived with her 42-year-old grandson in an idyllic vine-covered country house in the mountains, retired from her job as a tea and corn picker in 1965, when she was aged 85.
Antisa Khvichava was said to have had 12 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren – and attributed her good health to drinking a small amount of local brandy every day.
Her 72-year-old son Mikhail was apparently born when his mother was 60. Antisa Khvichava said she also had two children from a previous marriage – but they died of hunger during World War Two.
Antisa Khvichava lived through two world wars along with the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. Officials, neighbors, friends, and descendants have backed up her claim as the world’s oldest living person.
Her birth certificate was lost – one of many in the past century amid revolutions and a civil war which followed the end of the USSR – but she had two Soviet-era documents which attested to her age.
Experts doubted her claim, substantiated on birth documents much younger than her. Georgia became part of the Soviet Union in 1921 – and was part of the Russian empire when she was “born”.
Antisa Khvichava, a Georgian woman who claimed to be the world’s oldest living person as she lived through the Russian Revolution, has died at the age of 132
Without 130-year-old documents, University of California lecturer and Gerontology Research Group member Stephen Coles said the claim will “remain a curiosity in a newspaper or floating on the internet”.
She only spoke in her local language of Mingrelian, and said in 2010 through a translator at her 130th birthday party: “I’ve always been healthy, and I’ve worked all my life – at home and at the farm.”
Antisa Khvichava had trouble walking, stayed largely in bed over the past decade and her cramped fingers meant she could not maintain her love of knitting – but relatives said her mind stayed sharp.
To mark her 130th birthday, a string group played folk music out on the lawn, while grandchildren offered traditional Mingrelian dishes such as corn porridge and spiced chicken with herbs.
“Grandma has a very clear mind and she hasn’t lost an ability to think rationally,” her granddaughter Shorena, who lives in a nearby village, said in an interview at the time.
The world’s oldest living person verified by Guinness World Records was Besse Cooper, of Monroe, Georgia, who celebrated her 116th birthday in August and was born in Tennessee in 1896. She also died this week.
But the oldest person fully authenticated by Guinness was the French woman Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122 years and 164 days before dying in August 1997 at a nursing home in Arles.
Socialism and capitalism are the two words sharing head rank of Merriam-Webster’s most looked up words in 2012, in a most unlikely unity.
Socialism and capitalism have been announced as the online dictionary’s most searched words, with their traffic about doubling this year from the year before as the health care debate heated up and discussion intensified over “American capitalism” versus “European socialism”.
According to editor at large Peter Sokolowski, the choice revealed on Wednesday was a “kind of a no-brainer”.
The side-by-side interest among political candidates and around kitchen tables prompted the dictionary folk to settle on two words of the year rather than one for the first time since the accolade began in 2003.
“They’re words that sort of encapsulate the zeitgeist. They’re words that are in the national conversation,” said Peter Sokolowski from company headquarters in Springfield, Massachusetts.
“The thing about an election year is it generates a huge amount of very specific interest.”
Democracy, globalization, marriage and bigot – all touched by politics – made the Top 10, in no particular order. The latter two were driven in part by the fight for same-sex marriage acceptance.
Last year’s word of the year was austerity. Before that, it was pragmatic. Other words in the leading dictionary maker’s Top 10 for 2012 were also politically motivated.
Harken back to October 11th, when Vice President Joe Biden tangled with Mitt Romney running mate Paul Ryan in a televised debate focused on foreign policy – terror attacks, defense spending and war, to be specific
“With all due respect, that’s a bunch of MALARKEY,” declared Joe Biden during a particularly tough row with Ryan. The mention sent look-ups of malarkey soaring on Merriam-webster.com, Peter Sokolowski said, adding: “Clearly a one-week wonder, but what a week!”
Actually, it was more like what a day. Look-ups of malarkey represented the largest spike of a single word on the website by percentage, at 3,000 per cent, in a single 24-hour period this year.
The company won’t release the number of page views per word but said the site gets about 1.2 billion overall each year.
Socialism and capitalism are the two words sharing head rank of Merriam-Webster’s most looked up words in 2012
Malarkey, with the alternative spelling of “y” at the end, is of unknown origin, but Merriam-Webster surmises it’s more Irish-American than Irish, tracing it to newspaper references as far back as 1929.
Beyond “nonsense”, malarkey can mean “insincere or pretentious talk or writing designed to impress one and usually to distract attention from ulterior motives or actual conditions”, noted Peter Sokolowski.
“That’s exactly what Joe Biden was saying. Very precise,” especially in conversation with another Irish-American, Peter Sokolowski said.
“He chose a word that resonated with the public, I think in part because it really resonated with him. It made perfect sense for this man to use this word in this moment.”
An interesting election-related phenomena, to be sure, but malarkey is no dead Big Bird or “binders full of women” – two Romneyisms from the defeated candidate’s televised matchups with Barack Obama that evoked another of Merriam-Webster’s Top 10 – “meme”.
While malarkey’s history is shaded, meme’s roots are easily traced to evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, a Brit who coined the term for a unit of cultural inheritance, not unlike genes and DNA. The retired professor at the University of Oxford made up the word in 1976 for The Selfish Gene, a book he published light years before the Internet and social media’s capacity to take memes viral.
Peter Sokolowski said traffic for “meme” more than doubled this year over 2011, with dramatic spikes pegged to political-related subjects that included Mitt Romney’s Big Bird and binders remarks, social media shares of images pegged to Hillary Clinton texting and Barack Obama’s “horses and bayonets” debate rebuke of Mitt Romney in an exchange over the size of the Navy.
Dawkins, reached at home in Oxford, was tickled by the dictionary shoutout.
“I’m very pleased that it’s one of the 10 words that got picked out,” he said.
“I’m delighted. I hope it may bring more people to understand something about evolution.”
The book in which he used meme for the first time is mostly about the gene as the primary unit of natural selection, or the Darwinian idea that only the strongest survive. In the last chapter, he said, he wanted to describe some sort of cultural replicator.
And he wanted a word that sounded like “gene”, so he took a twist on the Greek mimeme, which is the origin of “mime” and “mimesis”, a scientific term meaning imitation.
“It’s a very clever coinage,” lauded the lexicographer Peter Sokolowski.
Other words in Merriam-Webster’s Top 10 for 2012:
Touché, thanks in part to ‘Survivor’ contestant Kat Edorsson misusing the word to mean “tough luck” rather than point well made, before she was voted off the island in May. Look-ups at Merriam-webster.com were up sevenfold this year over 2011.
Schadenfreude, made up of the German words for “damage” and “joy”, meaning taking pleasure in the misery of others, was used broadly in the media after the election. Look-ups increased 75%. The word in English dates to 1895.
Professionalism, up 12% this year over last. Peter Sokolowski suspects the bump might have been due to the bad economy and more job seekers,
Naked protestors stormed San Francisco City Hall to show their anger after a controversial ban on public nudity was narrowly approved by city officials.
San Francisco sheriffs were forced to cover up the bare activists who stripped off their clothes during a San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting at San Francisco City Hall, California.
The board voted to pass legislation that will amend the city’s police code to ban nudity on city streets, plazas, sidewalks and other public spaces. Nudity during permitted parades, fairs and festivals will still be allowed.
About a half dozen angry protesters stripped down to their socks but sheriff’s deputies quickly covered up the demonstrators and led them from the majestic beaux-arts chamber.
Protesters, one wearing only rainbow knee socks and another sporting black nylons, chanted, “body freedom” and “shame on you” as they were escorted out.
Some residents and business owners say nudists, and specifically a group known as the Naked Guys, have gone too far with their constant presence at a square in the Castro District.
But nudists claim a right to bare all and say politicians in San Francisco, which has often celebrated the bizarre and unconventional, should leave them alone.
San Francisco lawmakers narrowly approved the proposal to ban public nakedness, rejecting arguments that the measure would eat away at a reputation for tolerance enjoyed by a city known for flouting convention and flaunting its counter-culture image.
The 6-5 Board of Supervisors vote means that exposed genitals will be prohibited in most public places, including streets, sidewalks and public transit.
Naked protestors stormed San Francisco City Hall to show their anger after a controversial ban on public nudity was narrowly approved by city officials
Scott Wiener, a city supervisor representing the Castro District, introduced the proposal which would stop backsides and genitals being exposed in public.
“This has been a very difficult issue, a lot of strong views on both sides,” Scott Wiener told Reuters after the vote.
“But it was an issue that needed to be addressed, and I addressed it in a very narrow way.”
The ban would prohibit most nudity in public, but it would continue to allow marchers at special events, like the San Francisco Pride Parade, to bare all. Children under 5 can be naked in public and sunbathers can continue to strip down on nude beaches.
California state law prohibits indecent exposure, but law enforcement must show evidence of lewd behavior rather than simple nudity. A number of cities, including San Jose and Berkeley, already have nudity bans, Scott Wiener said.
Four nudists, including a former San Francisco mayoral candidate, have filed suit challenging the ban. Attorney Christina DiEdoardo, who represents the plaintiffs, says the city is depriving nudists of their constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection.
“Now the city is going to have to spend considerable time and money to defend an ordinance that didn’t have to be passed,” Christina DiEdoardo said.
San Francisco last year required nudists to cover the surfaces they sit on in public places and to wear clothes in restaurants. Residents say the restrictions spurred defiant exhibitionism.
Violators under the city’s nudity ban would be fined up to $100 for a first offense and $200 for a second. Three-time offenders would face up to a year in jail and a $500 fine.
Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has celebrated his six million dollar pay-off to New York hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo, who accused him of trying to rape her – by cavorting with three blonde models at a Paris nightclub.
DSK, 64, was caught on camera brazenly posing with the attractive young women during a night out with pals in Paris.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn hit the town with five friends on Saturday after reaching the deal with Nafissatou Diallo to settle her civil action for sexual assault.
They are both expected to appear before a judge in the Bronx on December 7 to sign the papers that will end all legal action against him in the US.
But DSK is so hard up he may have to borrow half the money from his multi-millionaire estranged wife, French daily Le Monde said.
Meanwhile in France, DSK – a self-confessed sex addict – is also waiting to learn if he will face charges of conspiring with pimps to procure girls for sex parties around the world.
A judge in Lille will rule on December 19th whether he should stand trial over the accusations.
DSK was caught on camera brazenly posing with the attractive young women during a night out with pals in Paris
Dominique Strauss-Kahn – once tipped as a future president of France – seemed unworried by his ongoing legal woes as he relaxed at the chic Le Matignon night spot.
He and his friends mingled with models, who were at the club to promote a new ready-made cocktail called Sex on the Beach.
A reveler at the club told France’s Europe 1 radio: “Strauss-Kahn arrived at the club at about 10:30 p.m. with five or six other men and two bodyguards.
“They sat at a table in the VIP area before going down to the nightclub floor itself.”
Jean-Albert Vergnaud, boss of the Sex on the Beach drinks company, added: “Mr. Strauss-Kahn seemed to love our brand, and happily posed for pictures.
“Despite what some people have said, these photos are not faked and he was genuinely there that evening enjoying himself.
“It was a bit of a marketing coup for us too.”
DSK has been embroiled in a catalogue of sex scandals since being arrested in May 2011 for trying to rape Guinea immigrant Nafissatou Diallo, 29, when she came to clean his suite in New York’s Sofitel hotel.
He was charged with attempted rape, sexual abuse, a criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and forcible touching and held at the city’s notorious Ryker’s Island prison.
He claimed Nafissatou Diallo Diallo had consented to sex but later described the encounter as “a moral failure” that he would regret his whole life.
All charges were then dropped a month later over concerns about the cleaner’s credibility.
Prince Charles today said he was “thrilled” at Kate Middleton’s pregnancy, after the beaming Duchess of Cambridge left hospital following four days of treatment for acute morning sickness.
The Prince of Wales expressed his delight at the “marvelous” news and added: “It’s a very nice thought to become a grandfather in my old age. I’m very glad my daughter-in-law is getting better, thank goodness.”
Prince Charles also alluded to a prank call to the hospital by two Australian DJs on Tuesday morning that duped a nurse into revealing details about Kate Middleton’s health, joking to reporters: “How do you know I’m not a radio station?”
Kate Middleton, 30, was discharged from the King Edward VII Hospital in central London – where she smiled and told reporters she was “feeling much better” – and headed to Kensington Palace to rest.
Prince Charles said he was thrilled at Kate Middleton’s pregnancy
Kate Middleton, who is less than 12 weeks pregnant, was wrapped up against the cold in a coat and scarf, and the royal couple will now spend time at their London home to allow for her to recuperate.
She was admitted on Monday after developing the condition of hyperemesis gravidarum, and was suffering from the effects of dehydration.
For medical staff to allow Kate Middleton to go home, her severe vomiting must be under control and they are likely to have given her anti-sickness medication.
