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Karen Perry faces every mother’s worst nightmare as she struggles to come to terms with losing all her three children in a plane crash on the eve of Thanksgiving at Superstition Mountains, Arizona.
Morgan Perry, 9, and her brothers Logan, 8, and Luke, 6, all died in the plane crash, along with their father Shawn Perry, 39, and two other adults.
The three children had gone with their father, who is divorced from Karen Perry, so that they could spend Thanksgiving with him.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu told ABCNews.com:
“It’s traumatic for any parent to hear this, and then just the nature of the crash is horrific.
“We just want to be there for her and love her and embrace her during this difficult time at Thanksgiving.
“No one could have survived that crash.”
Karen Perry faces every mother's worst nightmare as she struggles to come to terms with losing all her three children in a plane crash on the eve of Thanksgiving at Superstition Mountains, Arizona
The other pilot was identified as Russell Hardy, 31, of Thatcher, Arizona, and the mechanic was Joseph Hardwick, 22, of Safford.
The impact split the private aircraft, causing a massive fireball captured on video and seen for miles around, and left officials with little hope of finding survivors.
According to witnesses, there was a fireball and an explosion.
“I looked up and saw this fireball and it rose up,” Dave Dibble told KPHO-TV.
“All of a sudden, boom.”
Rescue crews flown in by helicopter to reach the crash site reported finding two debris fields on fire, suggesting that the plane broke apart on impact.
“The fuselage is stuck down into some of the crevices of this rough terrain,” Sheriff Paul Babeu said.
“This is not a flat area, this is jagged peaks, almost like a cliff-type rugged terrain.”
Shawn Perry had collected his three children from Canyon, Arizona, where they lived with their mother, to take them to Safford for Thanksgiving.
The father was about 100 miles east of Phoenix when he ran into trouble.
The tiny two-engine plane burst into flames after colliding with the Flat Iron section of the mountains, which are 45 miles east of Phoenix, just below their peak, witnesses reported.
Sheriff Paul Babeu said he was in close contact with the mother of the children.
“We have been aggressively searching and recovering,” he said.
“It’s almost like an 80 percent incline so because of that, you can imagine where debris tumbled to.”
Sheriff Paul Babeu said there are “multiple fatalities”. The body of a child between the ages of 5 and 9 has been recovered at the scene, he said. But authorities have been unable to determine whether it is the body of a boy or girl, he added.
The private aircraft was a twin-engine Rockwell AC690, authorities said.
Its registered owner is Ponderosa Aviation Inc. of Safford, Arizona, according to FAA records.
A video uploaded to YouTube from a greyscale webcam shows a small white light moving from the left side of the screen to the right.
About 50 seconds into the footage the light disappears.
A few seconds later there is a sudden flash of light, then more light remains as the fires burn on the mountain.
A local resident took the video from his home in Gold Canyon, roughly seven miles away from the crash site, ABC News reported.
The Superstition Mountains’ elevation is about 5,000 feet at their highest level.
The photogenic area near Lost Dutchman State Park and the Superstition Wilderness is filled with steep canyons.
Its soaring rocky outcroppings are popular with hikers and horse riders.
Apache myth holds that the mountains contain a hole that is an entrance to the underworld.
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Mary Ann Holder, a jilted lover from Guilford, North Carolina, shot her former boyfriend and five other people before killing herself, as was revealed by the man’s wife to 911 operators.
Jennifer Lamb, whose husband Randall Lamb, 40, was blasted in the shoulder by Mary Ann Holder, 36, after he ended their tryst, admitted to 911 operators that her spouse had been having an affair.
Jennifer Lamb, who had reportedly filed a restraining order against Mary Ann Holder in February after alleging that she would call,text and send nude photos of herself to Jennifer Lamb, told operators: “I don’t know exactly what happened, but my husband has been shot.
“He’s on his way… He’s getting ready to – umm… he just called me and said he was on the highway and that he had been shot.
“He was at – I don’t know for sure… I think he was at his work.
“And this woman who he had had an affair with… she was there when he got there and she shot him.”
Mary Ann Holder, a jilted lover from Guilford, North Carolina, shot her former boyfriend and five other people before killing herself
Mary Ann Holder went on to shoot her sons Robert Dylan Smith 17, and Zachary Smith, 14, in the head, instantly killing the eldest, before firing at Robert’s girlfriend, Makayla Woods, 15, and killing her niece, Hannaleigh Suttles, 8.
The woman also injured her her 17-year-old nephew, Richard Suttles during the rampage on Sunday.
Finally, in the final twist of her murderous rampage, Mary Ann Holder turned the gun on herself and committed suicide.
“We’ve got death. We’ve got drama. We’ve got a situation basically no one could ever imagine,” Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes said yesterday.
While Sheriff BJ Barnes expanded upon the grisly details, he called it “one of the worst situations I’ve seen in my 30 years in law enforcement”.
Mary Ann Holder left behind two notes taking responsibility for the shootings.
Sheriff BJ Barnes said she apologized for the pain she caused.
But she also said she felt “wronged”.
The tragedy began to unfold shortly before 9:00 a.m. Sunday when Mary Ann Holder met her onetime boyfriend Randall Lamb in the parking lot of the Guilford Technical Community College Aviation Centre.
They spoke briefly before she shot at him multiple times, before a bullet struck him in the shoulder, investigators said.
Randall Lamb is in stable condition.
Randall Lamb’s wife called 911, saying her husband had been shot, prompting police officers to being a search for Mary Ann Holder.
Deputies went to Mary Ann Holder’s one-level brick residence on nearby Cocoa Drive in Pleasant Garden around 9:30 a.m.
They were stationed outside her home, but a deputy spotted her car driving down the street about an hour later.
Police officer said he saw a “puff of smoke” in the car and found Mary Ann Holder dead and her son Zachary shot in the head. The boy remains in critical condition.
Deputies recovered two handguns inside the vehicle, one in Mary Ann Holder’s lap, the sheriff said.
The officers then went into her home and discovered her son Robert dead.
Robert Dylan Smith’s girlfriend, Makayla Woods was injured along with Mary Ann Holder’s niece, eight-year-old Hannaleigh Suttles, and her 17-year-old nephew, Richard Suttles.
Mary Ann Holder reportedly had custody of her nephew and niece after their mother died.
Hannahleigh Suttles died on Monday of her injuries. The other two remain in critical condition.
Investigators were trying to unravel the violent chain of events and understand why Mary Ann Holder took out her rage on children.
Sheriff BJ Barnes said: “They were obviously shot for the purpose of killing them. You can call it an execution, you can call it a shooting, you can call it whatever you want. The result is the same. We may never know exactly what her thoughts were and why.”
Authorities said Monday they were still trying to determine when the victims in Mary Ann Holder’s home were shot and whether it happened before or after she met with Randall Lamb.
Robin Gibb, the Bee Gees star, who has been diagnosed with liver cancer, was rushed to hospital this week following a 999 call from his home.
Robin Gibb, 61, was diagnosed with liver cancer several months ago, and has since cancelled several public appearances.
The singer spent five hours in hospital on Tuesday before being allowed back home, where he was joined by his mother Barbara, 91, and his older brother Barry.
Barry Gibb has flown in from the US to be with his sibling.
It has been no secret that Robin Gibb has become frail over the last few months.
Robin Gibb, the Bee Gees star, who has been diagnosed with liver cancer, was rushed to hospital this week following a 999 call from his home
Robin Gibb was treated for inflammation of the colon in October after being taken by ambulance to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
The singer was discharged after four days, but said to be in severe pain.
Robin Gibb lives in an £8 million ($12 million) 12th Century home in Thame, Oxon,with his wife Dwina.
“Robin is not good and there is a lot of concern for him,” a friend has said, according to the Sunday Mirror.
“You can use your wealth to call in the best experts but sometimes no amount of fame, prestige and money can change things when it comes to cancer.
“But Robin is a strong character, he is a fighter and has been encouraged by all the online messages from his fans.
“Dwina is doing everything possible and hasn’t left his side.”
His wife is reportedly trying to persuade Robin Gibb to visit a Native American medicine man.
“This incredible Indian tribe introduced Robin and I to something called Spider Medicine that apparently contains properties that can help you get well from certain untreatable illnesses,” said the druid priestess.
“There will be difficult times ahead but Robin will never give up and his loving family will make sure he has everything he needs. There is frustration because Robin has always looked after himself. He doesn’t drink, eats well and exercises daily,” the friend added.
Robin Gibb spoke in an interview with new Sky Arts show Living The Life, broadcast tonight, about his inability to accept the death of his twin brother Maurice.
Robin Gibb described Maurice’s death at 53 as “something I haven’t accepted”, adding:
“I just imagine he is out there somewhere and I will bump into him one day.”
The Bee Gees disbanded after Maurice’s death, having sold 200 million records worldwide with hits such as Night Fever and Stayin’ Alive.
Robin Gibb’s younger brother Andy died in 1988 aged 30 after struggling with a cocaine addiction.
“It is incredibly sad for Barbara. First she lost her son Andy, then Maurice and now she has to cope with seeing Robin like this,” said a friend, according to the Sunday Mirror.
“It is a lot for a mother, particular of her age, to deal with. Barry has also been there for his brother and a lot of friends have been rallying round.”
Robin Gibb cancelled a US tour in April due to extreme stomach pain.
The star had part of his intestine removed in an emergency procedure last year, after suffering blockage similar to that which killed his brother Maurice.
Robin Gibb was quick to squash claims last month that his condition was worsening, saying: “I’m feeling great, absolutely great. I’m working on the Titanic Requiem at the moment and it’s going really well.“
A three feet sword from Abraham Lincoln’s burial site at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, has been stolen by copper thieves.
An employee recently noticed that a statue of a Civil War artillery officer on top of the tomb was missing the weapon, which had been broken at the handle.
It was allegedly taken from the burial site at the Oak Ridge Cemetery sometime between September and early November.
Dave Blanchette, a spokesman for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency told the Springfield State Journal-Register:
“We just cannot imagine why someone would even think about doing it, let alone climb up the steps and actually do it.”
A three feet sword from Abraham Lincoln's burial site at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, has been stolen by copper thieves.
State officials plan to repair the statue.
The theft is believed to be the first to state property stolen at the Lincoln Tomb Historic Site since the same sword was thieved 101 years ago, Dave Blanchette said.
The original sword would have been bronze, which was used in all metal statues. Much of the bronze came from melted-down Civil War cannons.
The stolen sword was then replaced by the copper version.
The recent theft probably occurred after the cemetery was closed to visitors, Dave Blanchette said, pointing out that a chain blocks daytime visitors from climbing the stone stairs to the balcony level.
“Anyone who would have gone up would have been noticed by a worker,” he said.
Aside from the sword thefts, the tomb suffers an incident of vandalism about once every decade, Dave Blanchette told the Springfield State Journal-Register.
In 1987 racist graffiti was spray-painted on the tomb, leading to the arrest of five teenagers.
A guard used to be stationed at the tomb overnight, but the position was cut amid budget problems.
The tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery serves as the final resting place of the 16th U.S. president and his wife, Mary.
Three of his four sons – Edward, William, and Thomas – are also buried at the cemetery. His fourth, Robert, rests at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.
When Abraham Lincoln died in April 1865, Springfield citizens formed the National Lincoln Monument Association to raise funds for a memorial.
After Abraham Lincoln’s funeral in May 1865, his coffin was placed in a temporary vault at the cemetery.
In 1871, three years after construction began on the tomb, Abraham Lincoln’s body was moved inside the unfinished structure, and when the memorial was complete in 1874, his remains were put in a burial room at its centre.
In 1887, the bodies of Abraham Lincoln and his wife were reburied in a brick vault beneath the floor of the burial room to deter body snatchers.
Joe Frazier, the former heavyweight box champion, died Monday night at 67 after a brief final fight with liver cancer.
The family issued a release confirming the boxer’s death.
Joe Frazier, who handed Muhammad Ali his first defeat yet had to live forever in his shadow.
The boxer, who took on Muhammad Ali in three momentous fights in the 1970s – including the epic “Thrilla in Manilla” – had been under home hospice care in his Philadelphia home after being diagnosed just weeks ago with the cancer that took his life, a family friend said.
Until then, Joe Frazier had been doing regular autograph appearances, including one in Las Vegas in September.
Boxing promoter Don King called Joe Frazier a giant among men.
Smokin’ Joe was a small yet ferocious fighter who smothered his opponents with punches, including a devastating left hook he used to end many of his fights early.
It was the left hook that dropped Muhammad Ali in the 15th round at Madison Square Garden in 1971 to seal a win in the so-called “Fight of the Century”.
Joe Frazier, the former heavyweight box champion, died Monday night at 67 after a brief final fight with liver cancer
Though he beat Muhammad Ali in that fight, Joe Frazier lost the final two and for many years was bitter about the role Ali forced him to play as his foil.
“You can’t mention Ali without mentioning Joe Frazier,” said former AP boxing writer Ed Schuyler Jr.
“He beat Ali, don’t forget that.”
They fought three times, twice in the heart of New York City and once in the morning in a steamy arena in the Philippines.
They went 41 rounds together, with neither giving an inch and both giving it their all.
In their last fight in Manila in 1975, they traded punches with a fervor that seemed unimaginable among heavyweights.
Joe Frazier gave almost as good as he got for 14 rounds, then had to be held back by trainer Eddie Futch as he tried to go out for the final round, unable to see.
“Closest thing to dying that I know of,” Muhammad Ali said afterward.
Muhammad Ali was as merciless with Joe Frazier out of the ring as he was inside it. He called him a gorilla, and mocked him as an Uncle Tom.
But he respected him as a fighter, especially after Joe Frazier won a decision to defend his heavyweight title against the then-unbeaten Muhammad Ali in a fight that was so big Frank Sinatra was shooting pictures at ringside and both fighters earned an astonishing $2.5 million.
Joe Frazier, who handed Muhammad Ali his first defeat yet had to live forever in his shadow
The night at the Garden 40 years ago remained fresh in Joe Frazier’s mind as he talked about his life, career and relationship with Muhammad Ali a few months before he died.
Joe Frazier told The Associated Press: ”I can’t go nowhere where it’s not mentioned. That was the greatest thing that ever happened in my life.”
Though slowed in his later years and his speech slurred by the toll of punches taken in the ring, Joe Frazier was still active on the autograph circuit in the months before he died.
In September he went to Las Vegas, where he signed autographs in the lobby of the MGM Grand hotel-casino shortly before Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s fight against Victor Ortiz.
Joe Frazier was small for a heavyweight, weighing just 205 pounds when he won the title by stopping Jimmy Ellis in the fifth round of their 1970 fight at Madison Square Garden.
But he fought every minute of every round going forward behind a vicious left hook, and there were few fighters who could withstand his constant pressure.
His reign as heavyweight champion lasted only four fights – including the win over Muhammad Ali – before he ran into an even more fearsome slugger than himself.
George Foreman responded to Joe Frazier’s constant attack by dropping him three times in the first round and three more in the second before their 1973 fight in Jamaica was waved to a close and the world had a new heavyweight champion.
Two fights later, he met Muhammad Ali in a rematch of their first fight, only this time the outcome was different.
Muhammad Ali won a 12-round decision, and later that year stopped George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire.
There had to be a third fight, though, and what a fight it was. With Muhammad Ali’s heavyweight title at stake, the two met in Manila in a fight that will long be seared in boxing history.
Joe Frazier went after Muhammad Ali round after round, landing his left hook with regularity as he made Ali backpedal around the ring.
A woman from Miami found her father’s dead body inside a home he was trying to renovate and which contained at least 60,000 bees.
Miami Police are not sure whether the father, who has not been named, fell from a ladder or died as a result of bee stings after he was found in the upstairs bedroom of the home.
The woman said her father was renovating the house – which had been in the family since 1924 – so that she could move in.
When he couldn’t be reached his daughter went to the home and found his body.
“We’re not sure if he fell, had a medical condition or if it was bee stings,” Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Ignatius Carroll told Local 10.com.
“But you can imagine how devastating this was for her to find him.”
A woman from Miami found her father's dead body inside a home he was trying to renovate and which contained at least 60,000 bees
Willie Sklaroff, who runs a bee eradication company, said at least 60,000 bees were living in the walls of the home and were disturbed during the renovation process.
Willie Sklaroff said: “He probably opened up the hole and was gonna fog it and what happened is that the bees probably came out, scared him and he fell off the chair.“
He said he will return at another time to remove all of the bees.
Willie Sklaroff said by the sounds and the number of holes in the wall there are probably more than 60,000 there.
Neighbours described the victim as a “really nice person and a kind soul”.
Elizabeth Lightfoot, a 22-year-old hairdresser from Denton, Texas, was found dead in the driving seat of her torched car following a girls’ night out with other stylists.
Police believes Elizabeth Lightfoot was murdered, but are trying to determine exactly how as her body had been too burned to immediately tell.
Dallas firefighters discovered Elizabeth Lightfoot charred remains at around 2:30 a.m. on Friday morning after putting out a blaze engulfing the silver Sedan, which was parked nose-first in a small ravine beside a strip shopping centre in the north of the city.
Dallas Police Sergeant Warren Mitchell said:
“The fire at the scene made it impossible to determine the cause of death.”
“At this time, we’re waiting on answers from the medical examiner’s office.”
Elizabeth Lightfoot, a 22-year-old hairdresser from Denton, Texas, was found dead in the driving seat of her torched car following a girls' night out with other stylists
Elizabeth Lightfoot had recently started a job at Salon Republic in Addison, having worked at Salon D just three miles for the last two years.
Arden Keshishian, her boss at Salon D said she had been out to a restaurant on Thursday evening with some female colleagues from her former hairdressers the night of her death.
“They went to a restaurant down the street from here, which they normally do,” he told NBC 5 News.
“It wasn’t anything crazy – they left at 12, and everyone made it home but her.”
“It’s a shame, it’s a waste, a life cut so short,”Arden Keshishian told Fox News.
“She was very outgoing, very talented stylist, she was an angel. I just can’t believe somebody would do that.”
The group had been eating at Farmers Branch restaurant Yourway Burgers and left at around midnight.
Elizabeth Lightfoot, who studied at Toni and Guy Hairdressing Academy, was not seen again until her car was found burning in the 16000 block of Preston Road, less than a mile from Salon Republic.
Police are speaking to the manager of Yourway Burgers and her friends in a bid to retrace the steps she took that night and have analysed surveillance footage from the restaurant. There are no CCTV cameras at the scene of her death.
According to her Facebook page, Elizabeth Lightfoot has a boyfriend, Tuan "RudeBoy" Le
“It was nothing out of the ordinary from what I’ve found out,” Arden Keshishian told Fox News.
“Everything was just the same. I don’t know if she saw anybody there, we’re just puzzled.
“She wasn’t stupid, she wouldn’t have been uncareful.”
According to her Facebook page, Elizabeth Lightfoot has a boyfriend, Tuan “RudeBoy” Le, and pictures posted on the site show a fun-loving young woman with a flair for style.
“She had everything going for her,”Arden Keshishian told NBC 5 News.
“I don’t know why this happened. It’s horrible.
“It would be really hard to imagine some random person. I would look at people she knows, the people closest to her.”
Elizabeth Lightfoot’s mother, Barbara Lightfoot, issued this statement:
“Elizabeth was a kind, considerate and beautiful young woman who needs everyone’s help now. Everyone loved her.”
Barbara Lightfoot is urging anyone with information to call police.
Shylah Silbery, a three-year-old girl from Wellington, New Zealand, survived for two days on eating cheese and leftover lasagne after her mother died suddenly leaving her locked in her home.
The little girl hugged her favourite toy – a teddy bear named Possum – as she waited alone in the house near her mother’s body.
Shylah Silbery was rescued when her mother’s relatives alerted the authorities when they had not heard from her for two days.
Police who went to the property managed to coax the little girl to drag a coffee table to the door so she could climb up and unlock it.
Shylah Silbery told police: “Mummy won’t wake up.”
Lauren Silbery, 28, was found face down next to her bed. Her daughter had been able to drink milk and feed herself with whatever she could find in the fridge.
Shylah Silbery, a three-year-old girl from Wellington, New Zealand, survived for two days on eating cheese and leftover lasagne after her mother died suddenly leaving her locked in her home
Shylah Silbery spent several days in hospital recovering from dehydration and urine burns before attending her mother’s funeral.
Shylah’s uncle Peter Silbery, 24, said: “I can only imagine her in there for that long, trying to wake Mum up.
“She’s doing okay now. She’s still bubbly. When we lowered the coffin into the grave at the cemetery, though, she pointed at it and said, <<Mummy’s in there>>. It was pretty heartbreaking.”
Lauren Silbery, 28, was found face down next to her bed
Peter Silbery spoke every night to his sister, but he nad his mother grew so concerned after failing to reach her for two days they rang a friend who lived nearby.
The friend went to the house and saw the little girl inside but no sign of Lauren .
Lauren Silbery’s mother, Heather, said: “Lauren and I were very close – she would ring me every morning.
“One day I was in the garden and that afternoon at about four o’clock… her brother Peter and I said, <<Well, we haven’t heard from Lauren>>.
So we got a friend to go around there and [the grandchild] had come to the cat door, but Lauren hadn’t, so I dialled 111.”
Heather Silbery said she knew Lauren was dead the instant she heard that neighbours couldn’t contact her.
“Lauren wouldn’t have done anything silly. She loved Shylah so much and was a devoted mum. But I knew exactly what had happened. It’s a mother’s instinct.
“Her daughter was everything to her. She was the type of person who has a nice way of bringing people together.”
Officers saw the little girl inside the house and taught her how to open the door by getting her to stand on a coffee table.
Shylah Silbery’s grandmother said: “[She] is still a bit quiet, but she still smiles and she’s one of those kids that makes you laugh and you love to have her around.
“When we started cleaning and taking Lauren’s stuff out of the flat, she did say <<Mummy won’t wake up>> and when we went back in, she had shut her mother’s bedroom door.
“She goes all around the flat happy, but she would not go in that room.”
The death of Lauren Silbery at her house in the Upper Hutt area of Wellington is as yet unexplained.
Police and the family believe that she died of natural causes but an investigation on behalf of the coroner has now been started.
They said the fact Lauren Silbery was face down next to her bed was consistent with her having a heart attack or stroke and falling out of bed, but they said they need to wait for the results of an autopsy.
Shylah Silbery is now awaiting a Child, Youth and Family decision about whether she will be returned to her family.
The toddler was placed in CYF care after the discovery.
Yesterday, central regional director Karen Petrie said she hoped to place Shylah back with her family.
“This is an absolutely tragic event and our sympathy goes out to this family. Child, Youth and Family’s preference in these situations is to place children in the care of extended family members as long as this is in the best interests of the child, and circumstances permit.”
“Shylah Silbery was in regular contact with her family, and the agency was working with them to care for her immediate needs,” Karen Petrie said.
An engaged South African couple who dated for five years found out they are brother and sister after their families met.
The woman is due to give birth next month, is devastated by the discovery that the father of her child is her brother.
They met at university and had decided they wanted to introduce their single parent families to each other before they got married.
At the family meeting it emerged they were brother and sister who had been separated as small children.
The unnamed couple are still in shock after making the discovery last Saturday.
An engaged South African couple who dated for five years found out they are brother and sister after their families met
A local newspaper, the Sowetan reported that the siblings had been raised separately after their mother and father went through an acrimonious divorce.
The newspaper wrote: “Their parents separated when the woman was eight months old and the man was two years old.
“The man’s father said he dumped his wife in 1983 because she was cheating on him. The girl was raised by her mother, while her brother was raised by his father.
“Neither of them knew they had a sibling.”
The newspaper also reported that the children grew up separately with their single parents near the towns of Nelspruit and Bushbuckbridge, which lie 50 miles apart in South Africa’s eastern Mpumalanga province.
The couple reportedly met again at university in 2006 and fell in love.
Their families did not meet throughout their five-year relationship, until they were brought together last week to discuss wedding arrangements.
In many African cultures it is traditional for the family of a male partner to pay a lobola, or “bride price”, to that of his fiancée.
Traditionaly, the two families arrange a summit at which they are formally introduced and able to conduct the negotiations.
The couple’s plans were derailed when their parents came face to face and revealed their bombshell.
The woman told the Sowetan she was devastated by the revelation.
“It was love at first sight. We were studying together at Tshwane University of Technology in Nelspruit.
“When I first saw him, we connected. We fell in love and since that day, we never looked back.
“All we wanted to do was just to have a family and many kids.
“So you can imagine how shocked we were when they broke the news. We are going to have a child together. We do not know what we will tell him when he grows up.”
The couple decided to split after hearing the news and were discussing how to handle the shock with their separated parents.
The man said: “We can’t think straight at the moment and will just take everything one step at a time.”
Incest remains one of society’s last taboos and is an unthinkable concept to most people.
A Sudanese man was publicly beheaded last month in Saudi Arabia for being a “sorcerer”, as is shown in a shocking video.
Abdul Hamid Bin Hussain Bin Moustafa al-Fakki, who was crouched on his knees and blindfolded was executed in a car park Medina, in the west of the country, as dozens looked on.
The shocking video shows the executioner lining his sword up on the back of Abdul Hamid’s neck, before one swift stroke decapitates him.
Abdul Hamid, a Sudanese man was publicly beheaded last month in Saudi Arabia in a car parking for being a "sorcerer"
Abdul Hamid Bin Hussain Bin Moustafa al-Fakki, who was killed on September 20, is believed to have been the 44th person executed in Saudi Arabia this year – and the 11th foreign national.
This year, a total of 17 people were executed in Saudi Arabia, which is more than for the whole of 2010.
Lebanese TV host Ali Hussain Sibat, who was sentenced to death over making predictions of the future on his show, had been scheduled to be beheaded on Friday.
Ali Hussain Sibat’s attorney May El Khansa said the execution did not take place on that day – but that did not mean he has been given a reprieve.
The alarming rise in the number of executions in Saudi Arabia has led to criticism from a number of human rights charities.
It is said that Saudis prefer beheading by a sharp sword, as they think it more humane and quicker than electrocution and lethal injection.
The crime of “sorcery” is undefined in Saudi Arabian law, but it has been used to punish people for the legitimate exercise of their human rights.
The Sudanese man, Abdul Hamid is understood to have been arrested in 2005 after he was entrapped by a man working for the Mutawa’een (religious police).
Abdul Hamid was asked to concoct a spell that would cause the officer’s father to leave his second wife.
According to the officer’s account the Sudanese agreed to carry out the curse in exchange for 6,000 Saudi Arabian riyals (approximately $1,500).
Abdul Hamid was beaten after his arrest and thought to have been forced to admit to acts of sorcery.
In a secret trial, where Abdul Hamid was not allowed legal representation, he was sentenced to death by the General Court in Medina in March 2007.
Few details are available about Abdul Hamid’s trial but he is reported to have been tried behind closed doors and without legal representation.
At the time of Abdul Hamid’s arrest, English language daily The Saudi Gazette ran an article entitled Magic Maids which said that “we must face up to the threats from some maids and servants and their satanic games of witchcraft and sorcery, their robbery, murder, entrapment of husbands, corruption of children and other countless stories of crime that have been highlighted by both experts and victims of these crimes”.
Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa, heavily criticized the killing.
“Abdul Hamid’s execution is appalling as is Saudi Arabia’s continuing use of this most cruel and extreme penalty.
“That he should have been executed without having committed anything that would appear to constitute a crime is yet another deeply upsetting example of why the Saudi Arabian government should immediately cease executions and take steps to abolish the death penalty.”
Amnesty International had campaigned on Abdul Hamid’s behalf following his arrest and had urged Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah to prevent his execution.
But the campaign has been to no avail, and since the end of the holy month of Ramadan a few weeks ago, the Saudi Arabian authorities have resumed executions at an alarming pace.
Amnesty International said that seven people have been executed since the killings resumed on September 5.
Currently, 140 prisoners are believed to be facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, which was one of a minority of states that voted against a United Nations general assembly resolution calling for the worldwide moratorium on executions on December 2010.
Warning: video has graphic content!
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Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York City remained in their tents overnight despite snowstorm and low temperatures which plunged below 40 degrees F.
In the footage from thermal imaging cameras taken late on Friday night in New York, the presence of body heat from humans is represented by yellow and red inside the tents.
On Friday, NYC authorities took away the generators they were using to keep warm and power electronic devices.
According to an Occupy Wall Street spokesman, this was “a pretext to make the protest less sustainable and more difficult for us”. But authorities insisted they had to remove the equipment for safety reasons.
Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York City remained in their tents overnight despite the snowstorm and low temperatures which plunged below 40 degrees F
A blanket of cold air that brought the first flurries of the season to Colorado on Wednesday is continuing to spread south and east, bringing the lowest temperatures to the Northeast since spring.
The unusually early snow is bad news for those camping in city centres across the country, as critics speculate that the days of the Occupy movement may now be numbered.
In the footage from thermal imaging cameras taken late on Friday night in New York, the presence of body heat from humans is represented by yellow and red inside the tents
It was reported that several Occupy Denver protesters had to be taken to hospital on Thursday night to be treated for hypothermia.
Occupy Wall Street demonstrators have erected tents and tarpaulins over parts of Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan, but appeared to be failing in their battle to keep warm and dry.
It seems that authorities will welcome the dramatic weather forecast. Law enforcement officials in some cities such as Oakland, California, have cleared out protests.
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there is little he can do about the New York protest until the owners of the park where the camp is located, Brookfield Office Properties, file a complaint.
Meteorologists said that temperatures will plummet with some areas of the north east such as Syracuse reaching lows of 27 at night. In major cities such as New York and Boston overnight temperatures will remain in the 30s.
Snow this heavy this early is highly unusual along and near I-95 in the Northeast. In Philadelphia, the average date for the first accumulating snow is December 18.
Volunteers are being vigilant and do nightly checks for signs of hypothermia among the faithful.
The cold weather will add to the Occupy movement’s existing problems. On Tuesday, police evicted activists in Oakland using used tear gas and stun grenades.
In New York mediation is under way between demonstrators and some of the movement’s musicians, who were drumming up to 10 hours a day.
Protesters staffing the camp’s kitchen, which Occupy Wall Street says feeds up to a 1,000 people daily, have downsized their menu to deter the homeless and freeloaders who have been taking advantage of the hospitality.
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An unseasonable snowstorm warning has been issued for US East Coast on Halloween weekend, with forecasts of up to 10 inches (25 cm) of early snowfall.
A winter storm warning has been issued by the US National Weather Service (NWS) starting with Saturday morning until Sunday.
The NWS also says travel conditions may be hazardous.
About 10,000 people in Pennsylvania, as well as in Maryland and West Virginia, are without power after heavy snow has begun falling across.
In October 1979, southern New England received a record 7.5 inches of snow.
A region of low pressure brewing off the mid-Atlantic coast is expected to produce heavy, wet snow as it moves north-east, according to the NWS.
A winter storm warning has been issued by the National Weather Service from Saturday morning to Sunday
The Massachusetts Berkshires, north-western Connecticut and southern New Hampshire could see the most snow.
Big coastal cities are set to be hit, forecasters say, with New York expecting four inches (10 cm) on Saturday, and Boston 3 inches.
Winds along East Coast could reach 45 mph (72km/h), further damaging powerlines, the NWS said.
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy has warned some residents could lose power, while NWS meteorologist Bill Simpson said the snowfall could break records.
Mountainous areas in Pennsylvania could see as much as six to 10 inches of snow while more than 6 inches of snow are predicted to fall in Maine on Saturday night.
“This is very, very unusual. It has all the look and feel of a classic mid-winter nor’easter. It’s going to be very dangerous,” John LaCorte, a NWS meteorologist in Pennsylvania told the Associated Press.
John LaCorte added that the last time Pennsylvania saw a major storm so early was in 1972.
In New England it is usual for measurable snow to fall in early December.
Six inches snowfall in Vermont on Friday morning
Meteorologist Bill Simpson said temperatures could return to normal by the middle of next week.
“This doesn’t mean our winter is going to be terrible. You can’t get any correlation from a two-day event,” Bill Simpson said.
Dan Wheldon’s funeral has taken place today in his adopted hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida.
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner funeral service began at 10:00 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church in St Petersburg, and well-wishers lined surrounding streets as the procession passed by, en route to a private burial.
Order of Service wrote on the front page “Lionheart Forever”, underneath a picture of Dan Wheldon kissing one of his many trophies – in reference to the driver’s nickname, earned for fearless racing.
Dan Wheldon, 33, died in a fiery 15-car crash at Sunday’s season-ending IndyCar race in Las Vegas.
In a statement on Thursday, Dan Wheldon’s wife, Susie said:
“Though we won’t be able to fit everyone inside, I know that Dan would have wanted the community to share in the celebration of his life and to grieve his passing.”
Order of Service wrote on the front page “Lionheart Forever”, underneath a picture of Dan Wheldon kissing one of his many trophies - in reference to the driver's nickname, earned for fearless racing
Susie Wheldon thanked fans for offering support over the past few days, which she described as “unbearable” for the family.
Dan Wheldon is survived by his wife and two young children, Sebastian and Oliver.
Dan Wheldon was one of IndyCar’s most popular drivers and he developed a special bond with fans in both American cities that he called home – Indianapolis and St Petersburg – after moving from his native England.
Fans from Indianapolis and St Petersburg dropped off notes of condolence and items ranging from teddy bears to chequered flags at impromptu memorial sites this week.
“Although the last few days have been unbearable for our family, the overwhelming love and support we have received are rays of sunshine during these dark days,” Susie Wheldon said.
“The outpouring of sympathy and condolences has been so comforting, and I want to thank everyone for their kind notes, letters, gifts and flowers.”
Holly Wheldon, champion’ sister, tweeted yesterday: “Thank you so much to everyone who emailed and tweeted me amazing messages. Really appreciate it. Dan would be proud of all of you. :)”
Dan Wheldon’s funeral took place today at First Presbyterian Church in St Petersburg
During his service, country music star Wynonna Judd sang “I Can Only Imagine” and “Amazing Grace” in tribute to Dan Wheldon, known as Lionheart.
Writing on a sponsor’s blog in 2010, Dan Wheldon explained the moniker: “When I first started racing, a lot of the guys said that I raced with a lot of heart, occasionally not my head, but always with a lot of heart, like the way that Richard the Lionheart fought in battle.”
Dan Wheldon was born in Emberton, England. The future champion raced go-karts at the age of four. Dan Wheldon’s father was a go-kart racer and his mother was the timer at a local track.
Dan Wheldon was an IndyCar rookie in 2003 and won his first Indianapolis 500 two years later.
NASCAR drivers will honour Dan Wheldon with a special decal at this weekend’s race in Talladega, Alabama.
Meanwhile, St. Petersburg city council was scheduled to honour Dan Wheldon with a resolution on Thursday afternoon, and IndyCar officials are holding a public memorial service on Sunday afternoon at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indy.
Indy memorial service for Dan Wheldon will open its doors to the public on Sunday at 2:30 p.m., 90 minutes before the service is scheduled to start.
A trust fund for Dan Wheldon’s family has been established. Donations can be sent to Fifth Third Private Bank, attention Dan Wheldon Family Trust, 251 North Illinois St., Suite 1000, Indianapolis, IN 46204.
People wishing to send their condolences to Dan Wheldon family can address letters to The Wheldons, 9600 Koger Blvd N, Ste. 105, St Petersburg, FL 33702.
Mariah Carey has shared the pictures of her beautiful twin babies Moroccan and Monroe for the first time after six months she became a mother.
Mariah Carey created a website called Dembabies.com to give fans a glimpse into the never-before-seen family album of her adorable children.
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon wrote on the website: “We deliberated for so long about how to reveal the first pictures of our babies to the world.
“We just didn’t want to do the typical thing and display them in a tabloid (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
“We decided to share this beautiful experience with you in a special intimate portrait of our family.
“Parenthood is absolutely the most life changing experience we could ever have imagined. The love we feel for these babies is above and beyond anything we’d ever dreamed of.”
Mariah Carey has shared the pictures of her beautiful twin babies Moroccan and Monroe for the first time after six months she became a mother
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon shared the website after the twins made their TV debut with Barbara Walters on TV show 20/20 last night.
They opened up their New York home to Barbara Walters, also giving an interview about their relationship and attitude towards parenthood.
Mariah Carey created a website to give fans a glimpse into the never-before-seen family album of her twins, Monroe and Moroccan
Twins Moroccan and Monroe, who their parents have nicknamed “Roc and Roe”, were dressed in smart clothes for their first television appearance.
The little boy, Moroccan wore a smart beige suit, while Monroe, named after Marilyn, looked pretty in white dress and a matching bow in her hair.
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon shared the website after the twins made their TV debut with Barbara Walters on TV show 20/20 last night
Mariah Carey, 41, revealed details of a difficult pregnancy and admitted she underwent fertility treatment after suffering a devastating and “really tough” miscarriage.
“The main thing I did that was tough, was to go on progesterone like every month… and then when I was pregnant, I had to stay with the progesterone for 10 weeks,” Mariah Carey told Barbara Walters.
“It minimizes the chance of miscarriage by 50 percent.”
Nick Cannon, 31, admitted during the interview that he had concerns about his wife, whom he married in April 2008.
“It was good news but it was scary news at the same time,” Nick admitted.
The singer added: “I don’t think I understood the enormity and the magnitude of what it really does to your body. Like it’s not just, <<Oh, you don’t look pretty and you have a bump.>>
“Unless somebody’s been through it, it’s difficult to understand what I went through because my pregnancy was very unique in terms of what happened to me.”
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon also discussed their own relationship and her attitude to marrying for the second time after her first marriage to record executive Tommy Mottola ended.
The singer said that experience made her “afraid of the concept of marriage”.
“But this is a different situation and I’m a different person,” Mariah Carey said.
“It’s a different time in my life. And nobody will ever be able to steal my spirit again. So I’m just happy to be in love and to be here.”
Nick Cannon also showed the View star where he proposed to Mariah Carey with a sparkling diamond ring, before Barbara Walters quizzed Mariah on whether she trusted her husband.
“Sometimes. Can I trust you – you tell me?” she said.
“When he’s nice, he’s the best guy in the world.
“Other times he’s not nice. He’s a man, Barbara!” Mariah Carey joked.
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon welcomed twins Monroe and Moroccan on April 30, on their third wedding anniversary, at a Los Angeles hospital.
Nick Cannon also recently said that his children’s personalities were already showing through, with Monroe a lot like her famous mother.
“My daughter is a diva. My son is laid back. When he wakes up, he wakes up smiling. He’ll wait for a minute and if he’s hungry, he’ll let you know.”
Christopher Thomas Johnson, an Alabama man who has spent just 4 years on death row for the fatal suffocation and beating his baby son, was put to death by lethal injection on Thursday evening.
Christopher Thomas Johnson, 39, has been executed last night at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama.
The death row intimate had a turkey bologna sandwich with cheese and tomato, a grape Sunkist, french fries, Reeses peanut butter cups and pretzels for his last meal and his only visitor was his brother, Thomas Eugene Lagos.
Christopher Thomas Johnson made the rare move of pleading guilty to capital murder in 2005 for killing his six-month-old son Elias Ocean Johnson.
His situation is one of the quickest death penalty case in recent memory, as it only took six years for the murderer to be put to death after the crime.
Christopher Thomas Johnson, 39, has been executed last night at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama
Christopher Thomas Johnson himself requested the death penalty, which was granted in February 2007, and waived all appellate and intervention measures on his behalf.
The inmate represented himself at trial. Christopher Thomas Johnson testified he killed his son because “he hated his wife, didn’t want to be near her and didn’t want to worry about her threats of putting him in jail for alimony or child support”, according to documents filed by the state Attorney General’s Office.
Christopher Thomas Johnson offered no mitigating circumstances for his crime, and the trial court found the “the heinous, atrocious and cruel” nature of the murder outweighed any justifications that could have been offered, records show.
According to court documents, Christopher Thomas Johnson tried to quiet his son while his wife slept.
After several unsuccessful attempts in the early morning hours, the father “laid on top of Elias, covered Elias’ mouth with his hand for extended periods of time, and forced his fingers into the child’s mouth and down his throat to stop the crying”.
Father also struck the child with his hand.
During his trial, Christopher Thomas Johnson said that “You go see Jesus”, were the last words he said to Elias.
When the child’s mother awoke, the child was unresponsive and cold to the touch.
According to the forensic pathologist who performed Elias’ autopsy, the infant suffered at least 85 separate injuries.
Suffocation and head trauma were cited as the Elias’ causes of death.
The intimate’s ex-wife Dana spoke to a local Alabama newspaper for the first time since the murder, saying that she welcomes his death.
“Although I normally do not agree with capital punishment, I will not lose any sleep over this particular execution. Whether it is right or wrong I feel that a weight will be lifted from my soul on Thursday, and finally I will feel relief,” she told NorthEscambia.com.
“I am scarred by this, and Christopher took away my son, my trust in other people, and even my desire to ever have another child. I still have a hard time being around children because of the sorrow it makes me feel. Every day I see children that are Elias’ age, and I wonder what he would have been like,” Dana said.
She has since moved to an unidentified city out West and is currently studying to become a nurse.
“My son was the most delightful calm little boy I have ever known. Christopher Johnson took him from me. I have spent years trying to heal from this unimaginable pain.”
World’s first digital camera that allows multiple refocuses after the picture was taken, Lytro light field camera, becomes available to customers.
The camera uses a concept developed by Professor Ren Ng, the light field. The light travels with an enormous speed in lots of directions. The immense number of rays rapidly changing directions make us to see an image in different shapes, depths, and color intensity. Lytro light field camera captures instantly a great part of this field of light and reproduces it in the digital picture.
Lytro's desktop application allows the user to focus on various points of the picture after it was downloaded to computer.
Lytro light field sensor captures 11 million light rays of data (11 megarays) per shot. It also captures the direction of each ray. With no focus needed, the image capture is almost instantaneous. The result is 4-dimensional image capture. Light field imaging engine processes the data producing HD quality images. The pictures are displayed in 2D, but in 2012 a special algorithm will be applied to the light field and the photos will be displayed in 3D. The viewers will be able to shift the perspective of the scene.
Lytro light field camera also can shot images in low light without the use of a flash. The pictures taken are 11 megarays (around 22 megapixels). For the first customers Lytro offers free storage of images on its servers.
“Light field photography was once only possible with 100 cameras tethered to a supercomputer in a lab. Today it’s accessible to everyone in a camera that’s small and powerful, but incredibly easy to use. Our goal is to forever change the way people take and experience pictures, and today marks our first major step,” said Professor Ng.
Lytro has an original design. It was compared to a lipstick case both in shape and dimensions.
It measures 1.61 inches x 1.61 inches x 4.41 inches (41 mm x 41 mm x 112 mm) and weighs 7.55 ounces (214 g). It has an anodized aluminum frame and a rubber back-end with two buttons (one for shutter and the other for power). Its 1.46 inches (33 mm) back-lit LCD display with glass touchscreen (1.46-inch) allows the user to change the focus on-camera, compose shot, set exposure and view picture. Power button, Shutter button, Zoom slider and touchscreen are the controls.
Lytro light field cameras come in two models 8GB (blue, graphite) and 16GB (red).
Lytro has an internal lithium-ion battery and non-removable flash storage. It has an f/2 aperture and 8x zoom lens. Its storage capacity is from 8GB to 16GB and the battery can last till the memory is filled with images.
Lytro’s desktop application is a free download editing software. With this special photo interface the pictures can be downloaded to computer via USB and then manipulated. Lytro’s desktop serves also for sharing pictures on social networks. Picture shared from Mac (OS X) computer allows the recipient to shift the focus without other special software. Images “become interactive, living pictures,” said Professor Ng. A version for Windows will be available in 2012.
Lytro's desktop application allows an user to interact with a photo shared by someone with no need of other software. (Mac only till now)
Lytro, a Silicon Valley company, was founded in 2006 by Professor Ren Ng. In 2006 Association for Computing Machinery Dissertation awarded his research on light field photography and he won Standford University’s prize for best thesis in computer science.
Lytro light field camera can be pre-ordered starting from October 19, 2011 on Lytro.com, but it will be shipped in early 2012. There are two models: 8GB (350 images), price $399, available in electric blue or graphite, and $499 16GB model (750 photos), red hot.
New Lytro 3D Living Picture Demo (video)
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New York police has arrested more than 70 people yesterday in Times Square during a march of 20,000 of Occupy Wall Street protesters from the city’s Financial District to midtown Manhattan.
The demonstrators swamped Times Square, stopping traffic, in what was thought to be the largest Occupy demonstration in the U.S. so far.
The arrests come one day after the Zuccotti Park’s owner backed down from an attempt to move the demonstration.
Many of the Occupy demonstrators in the iconic square of New York City came from around US and did not come up from the encampment.
20,000 demonstrators swamped Times Square, stopping traffic, in what was thought to be the largest Occupy demonstration in the US so far
Meanwhile, other demonstrators held marches across the world. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at more than 950 demonstrations in more than 80 countries as Occupy protesters marked four weeks since the rallies against the global financial system began.
In New York, the place where the protests first started, 20,000 of people are preparing to occupy Times Square in what is being called “The Occupation Party”.
In Rome, shop and car windows were smashed, reporters attacked and at least two cars were torched as the global “day of rage” erupted into violence. Others burned Italian and European Union flags.
Italian police fired tear gas and water cannons as protesters who had smashed shop and bank windows, torched cars and hurled bottles.
During the Occupy demonstration in Rome shop and car windows were smashed, reporters attacked and at least two cars were torched
The Rome demonstration came a day after Premier Silvio Berlusconi barely survived a confidence vote as Italy, with a national debt ratio second only to Greece in the 17-nation eurozone, is rapidly becoming a focus of concern in Europe’s debt crisis. Italian government has passed a 60 billion-euro austerity package that has raised taxes and will make public health care more expensive.
Demonstrators worldwide shouted their rage against bankers and politicians they accuse of ruining economies and condemning millions to hardship through greed and bad government but most other protests were carried off peacefully.
The Occupy movement protests began in New Zealand, rippled round the world to Europe, before returning to the starting point in New York.
One of the biggest gatherings was seen in Spain where 60,000 people joined demonstrations in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol and 20,000 marched through Seville.
One of the biggest gatherings was seen in Spain where 60,000 people joined demonstrations in Madrid's Puerta del Sol
Several hundred people marched up the main street in Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, joining a rally at which 3,000 chanted and banged drums, denouncing corporate greed.
Other 200 gathered in the capital Wellington and 50 in a park in the earthquake-hit southern city of Christchurch.
In Sydney, Australia, about 2,000 people, including representatives of Aboriginal groups, communists and trade unionists, protested outside the central Reserve Bank of Australia. About 1,000 gathered in Melbourne.
In Tokyo, hundreds marched on the streets of Japanese capital, including anti-nuclear protesters.
Participants marched outside the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, chanting anti-nuclear slogans, while opposing the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade bloc that Japan is considering joining.
In Philippines, about one hundred people marched on Manila’ streets in front of the U.S. embassy under the Philippine left-wing alliance, Bayan, waving banners reading: “Down with U.S. imperialism” and “Philippines not for sale”.
In Taiwan, more than 100 people gathered at the Taipei stock exchange, chanting “we are Taiwan’s 99 percent”, and saying economic growth had only benefited companies while middle-class salaries barely covered soaring housing, education and healthcare costs.
In UK, protesters also converged on the City of London under the banner “Occupy the Stock Exchange”.
In Greece, protesters called an anti-austerity rally for Saturday in Athens’ Syntagma Square.
In France, protests were expected in Paris to coincide with the G20 finance chiefs’ meeting there.
In Germany, where sympathy for southern Europe’s debt troubles is patchy, the financial centre of Frankfurt and the European Central Bank in particular are expected to be a focus of marches called by the Real Democracy Now movement.
In South Korea, activists began gathering on the streets of Seoul with the country’s paper, the Korea Herald reporting that a coalition of 30 local civic groups planned to hold a two-day protest in the main financial district of Yeouido and other parts of the capital.
Seoul police warned that damaging public facilities, occupying roads and assaulting police officers would not be tolerated, the Korea Herald reported.
In Canada, protests were planned for Saturday in cities including Montreal and Vancouver. In Toronto, demonstrators plan to gather at Canada’s main stock exchange.
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French prosecutors have dropped the investigation into Tristane Banon’s claim that former IFM chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn attempted to rape her through a lack of proof.
According to prosecution, DSK admitted to sexual aggression against journalist and writer Tristane Banon, but that it was too late to prosecute for that charge because the incident happened in 2003.
Tristane Banon, 32, claims DSK attempted to rape her during an interview for a book, but he called the claim imaginary.
According to prosecution, DSK admitted to sexual aggression against journalist and writer Tristane Banon, but that it was too late to prosecute for that charge because the incident happened in 2003
The prosecution decision comes after journalist Tristane Banon finished a fictional account of her ordeal, in which she referred to her alleged attacker as “the pig”.
“Eight years ago, the pig stole my life,” she wrote at the beginning of “Le Bal des Hypocrites” (“The Hypocrites’ Ball”).
The 62-year-old former IMF chief quit his job earlier this year after a New York hotel maid accused him of attempted rape. Prosecutors later dropped that case.
According to France law, the statute of limitations for attempted rape is 10 years and only three years for sexual assault.
French judges confirmed that the “sex acts” exchanged between DSK and Tristane Banon had taken place, and that Dominique Strauss-Kahn had been unnecessarily violent.
“There is not enough evidence to pursue the attempted rape case after 10 years, but sexual aggression was recognized,” said a spokesman for the Paris prosecutors’ office.
Tristane Banon now intends to pursue her case against DSK through the civil courts, rather than the criminal courts.
She refers continually to the alleged crime in her 126-page book, but leaves out the name of DSK.
Tristane Banon, 32, claims DSK attempted to rape her during an interview for a book
The tactic she used is a common one among French authors as they try to avoid libel charges relating to what they have written.
Despite this, publicity for the book makes it perfectly clear that the book is auto-biographical.
“With a dignity and sincerity that earns our full admiration, Tristane Banon tells the story of the six weeks that changed her life,” said a spokesman for publishers Diable Vauvert.
Tristane Banon first spoke out after DSK was arrested on charges of attempting to rape a maid at Sofitel Hotel in New York.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn has always denied Tristane Banon’s allegations and is suing her for defamation, although he does admit kissing her and making a pass at her.
Referring to her lawyer, David Koubbi, in her book, Tristane Banon writes:
“I was offered lots of money to go on American TV to say I was making a complaint. I told David to tell them to get lost.”
The journalist claimed she was attacked while interviewing DSK in 2003, describing him as a “rutting chimpanzee”.
After four years, Tristane Banon said during a Paris TV talk show:
“We ended up fighting. It finished really violently. We fought on the floor.”
Dominique Strauss-Kahn could have received a prison sentence of up to 15 years if found guilty of attempted rape in France.
FBI arrested Christopher Chaney from Florida after he had allegedly accessed Scarlett Johansson and other 50 celebrities’ phones and email accounts.
Several n**e photos of Scarlett Johansson appeared on an Internet site earlier this year and TMZ.com reported that hackers stole them from her cellular phone.
Christopher Chaney, 35, from Jacksonville was arrested this morning on charges that stem from a year-long probe known as Operation Hackerazzi.
Christopher Chaney was charged with hacking into the emails of Christina Aguilera, Scarlett Johansson, Renee Olstead and Mila Kunis in a computer invasion scheme that targeted Hollywood celebrities, federal authorities said Wednesday.
Christopher Chaney is expected to appear in a Florida courtroom later Wednesday and charged with 26 counts of identity theft, unauthorized access to a protected computer and wiretapping.
Christopher Chaney was arrested this morning on charges that stem from a year-long probe known as Operation Hackerazzi
If convicted, Christopher Chaney faces up to 121 years in prison. It wasn’t immediately known if he had retained an attorney.
According to authorities Christopher Chaney was responsible for stealing nude photos taken by Scarlett Johansson herself and were later posted on the Internet. Steven Martinez, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office said the hacker offered some material to celebrity blog sites but there is no evidence that he profited from his scheme.
“Celebrity information is highly marketable,” said Steven Martinez, who added LA office continues to receive complaints about celebrities having their personal information breached.
Many of them were named only by initials as only those who were named as victims in the indictment agreed to have the identities made public.
“It helps get out the message that cyber-hacking is a real threat,” said U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte, who called those who engage in such activity as “scum”.
Christopher Chaney hacked Google, Apple and Yahoo email accounts beginning November 2010 through February 2011, then hijacked the forwarding feature so that a copy of every email received was sent, “virtually instantaneously”, to an email account he controlled.
Christopher Chaney allegedly used the hacker names “trainreqsuckswhat”, “anonygrrl” and “jaxjaguars911” and also used the victims’ identities to illegally access and control computers.
The hacker is accused of damaging email servers that caused losses of at least $5,000 per instance.
Authorities wouldn’t say whether Christopher Chaney was able to access email accounts via cell phones, but he was able to figure out secure passwords to various celebrity accounts through information that had been made public.
A hacking group has claimed responsibility for allegedly accessing Scarlett Johansson’s phone however this has not been verified.
Scarlett Johansson’s or other celebrity’s representatives did not comment on the news until now.
Michael Jackson’s three kids have joined thousands of his fans for a memorial concert at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
Prince Michael, 14, Paris, 13, and 9 year-old Michael Joseph Jr., known as Blanket, watched acts including Christina Aguilera, Smokey Robinson, Leona Lewis and boy band JLS.
The three kids took to the stage dressed in outfits reflecting Michael Jackson‘s career and were greeted by rapturous applause.
The Michael Forever gig honored the star who died in 2009, aged 50.
Prince Michael, Blanket and Paris took to the stage dressed in outfits reflecting Michael Jackson's career at the Michael Forever Tribute Concert at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff
Michael Jackson’s three children introduced Beyonce’s performance, with his youngest looking stunned by the noise and lights, but the elder two seeming at ease on stage.
Paris told the audience: “We’re very happy to be here on this special night to honor our father.”
Beyonce, who wore her hair in a Jackson Five-style afro, played one of the group’s hits, Where You Are, saying it was the first song she had performed with her former group Destiny’s Child.
Michael Jackson‘s brothers, Tito, Marlon and Jackie, performed at the event, which was hosted by actor Jamie Foxx and presenter Fearne Cotton.
Michael Jackson’s sister, La Toya, came out after almost 20 years of retirement to perform.
“I have put musical performance behind me for roughly two decades,” La Toya said.
“But there will never be another magical moment such as this to celebrate Michael with his fans to perpetuate the importance of his legacy.
“I am honored to share the stage with the incredible performers in this line-up, and I’m certain nothing would make my brother smile bigger or brighter than this tribute concert.”
Michael Jackson's sister, La Toya, came out after almost 20 years of retirement to perform
However, not all the Jackson family members were behind the concert.
Two other Michael Jackson’ siblings, Jermaine and Randy Jackson, said the concert was “inappropriate” and “ill-timed” because it was held during the criminal trial of Conrad Murray, the doctor charged with involuntary manslaughter over the star’s death in June 2009.
Michael Jackson’s sister Janet Jackson also decided not to attend.
Marlon Jackson said he respected their decision and added:
“Each one of us grieves differently. We want to celebrate the positive side of his life, the positive things that he did.”
R&B star Ne-Yo, who gave a rendition of Billie Jean, said:
“It’s not about the controversy. It’s not about the trial. It’s not about his death. It’s about celebrating his life. It’s about celebrating his music.”
Paul King, one of the organizers, said there had been a slow start to ticket sales, but added:
“All of a sudden this week it exploded and we were selling 1,000 tickets an hour yesterday.”
The show was expected to have sold out.
Chart-toppers Black Eyed Peas withdrew from the line-up of the Michael Forever concert last week.
Paul King said that losing Black Eyed Peas from the bill had allowed the show to be “tightened up”, and extra songs allocated to some of the “major artists” involved.
Amanda Knox made a dramatic plea for her freedom in a tearful way as she addressed the judge and jury today in her appeal trial and told them: “I did not kill, I did not rape, I did not steal.”
Amanda Knox, 24, spoke for just over ten minutes and needed to pause frequently for breath, at one point the judge asked her if she wanted to speak sitting down.
But Amanda Knox, who is fighting to avoid a possible life sentence, turned down his offer and after a gentle encouraging squeeze of her hand from her lawyer Luciano Ghirga she addressed the court.
Speaking in Italian, Amanda Knox pleaded her innocence for the brutal murder of Meredith Kercher and said:
“Esteemed people of the court, it has been said many times that I am a person different than what I am.
“I am the same person I was four years ago, the same person, the only thing that distinguishes me from four years ago is the four years that I have suffered.
“In four years I have lost a friend in a brutal and unexplained way. My faith in the police has been betrayed. I have had to face accusations, injustice and suggestions without foundation and I am paying for my life for something that I did not do.”
Tearful Amanda Knox in the court room in Perugia, Italy, this morning on the final day of her appeal
“I am not what they say I am. I am not perverse, violent, disrespectful towards life, people, these things do not apply to me and I have not done the things that have been suggested.
“I did not kill, I did not rape, I did not steal. I was not there. I was not present at this crime.”
According to court watchers who have been covering the trial, her plead was a powerful delivery and much better than the one Amanda Knox had made at her original trial two years ago when she confused the court by saying she did not want the “mask of an assassin forced upon me”.
Crucially for her this time Amanda Knox also said that she did not kill Meredith Kercher – something she failed to do at her original trial and as she spoke her parents, Curt Knox and Edda Mellas, were in tears.
As Amanda Knox spoke there was complete silence in court and the packed chamber listened intently to her who added:
“I had never faced such tragedy, suffering, I didn’t know how to tackle it, how to interpret it.
“When we learnt Meredith was dead, we just could not believe it. How was this possible ?
“Then I felt scared. A person who I was sharing my life with, who had the bedroom next to me, she was killed in our house and if I was there that night I could have been killed.
“I wasn’t there. I was at Raffaele’s.”
Police asked the media to leave the court room this morning before Amanda Knox hearing began
Amanda Knox then criticized the police who had questioned her that night. She said: “I had a sense of duty towards justice, the authorities who I put my trust in.
“They were there to find the guilty and to protect us. I put my faith in them absolutely.
“I made myself available for them in those days but I was betrayed – the night of 5/6 November I was pressured, stressed and manipulated.”
Amanda Knox has already told the court how she was questioned for 14 hours without a lawyer or an interpreter and was even cuffed twice around the back of the head by police as they demanded answers from her.
Her version of the events that evening is crucial to the appeal as prosecutors say Amanda admitted being on the scene and had also provided – wrongly – the name of bar man Patrick Lumumba who was wrongly arrested and held in jail for two weeks before being freed.
Amanda Knox also insisted that despite prosecution claims she did not know Rudy Guede who has already been convicted of the murder and added: “I have never done what they say I have done, it is not as they say it was.”
“I had a good relationship with all my flatmates. I was messy, carefree but we had a good relationship we were all ready to help each other.
“I shared my life with Meredith, we had a friendship, she was worried for me when I went to work, she was always gentle with me.
“Meredith was killed and I have always wanted justice for her. I am not fleeing from the truth and have never fled. I insist on the truth. I insist after four desperate years for our innocence because it is true. It deserves to be recognized.
“I want to go home. I want to return to my life, I don’t want to be punished and deprived of my life, future for something I have not done because I am innocent, Raffaele is also innocent.
“We deserve our freedom. We have never done anything not to deserve it.”
Earlier in his declaration Raffaele Sollecito had spoken and had told the court:
“I have so much to say but I don’t think I have enough time. I just want to tell the court how much I have been suffering.
“I just want to say i never hurt anyone, never in my life,”. He added: “I hoped that this would have all been cleared in a short time – instead it did not happen this way.”
Raffaele Sollecito paused several times and took several sips of water as he spoke and said: “Amanda and I have been in jail for 1,400 days. These 1,400 days have been spent 20 hours a day in a space 2.5m by 3m – it’s difficult to imagine that situation.”
Then turning to the night of Meredith’s murder Raffaele Sollecito said: “I was in a beautiful situation. I was about to hand in my dissertation for my final degree.
“During that period I met Amanda Knox, she was beautiful, sunny, lively and sweet and that was supposed to be our first weekend together.”
Painting a romantic picture Sollecito said: “We were free that night. Our only aim that night was to have an evening of tenderness and cuddles. The other descriptions just did not happen. This was our simple desire.”
After Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito had addressed the court judge Hellman also spoke sternly to the packed chamber and said: “We will now retire but I to ask you to reflect on something. This is a court room and not a football match there is no room for supporting when the verdict is read.
“Let’s remember that a beautiful girl was murderered and the lives of two other young people are in the balance. So I say again when the sentence is read, respect and silence. Having said that we will now retire and the verdict will not be before 8pm local.”
The final day of the 10-month appeal trial began with Amanda Knox’s lawyer, Luciano Ghirga, making his final rebuttal, stressing how the investigation had been carried out in a climate of “hostility” towards his client.
Amanda Knox, 24, is serving 26 years for the brutal murder of British student Meredith Kercher, 21.
There are four possible outcomes for Amanda Knox today:
1. Conviction upheld and she serves remaining 22 years
2. Conviction upheld and sentence increased to life
3. Conviction upheld and sentence reduced
4. Conviction overturned and she is released from prison
John Hemming, the Liberal Democrat Member of British Parliament has two “homes” in Moseley, a leafy and affluent suburb of Birmingham.
Less than a mile separates the two houses, but one is rather grander than the other.
The first home is an eight-bedroom, three-bathroom affair and is the residence of Christine Hemming, 53, John Hemming’s wife of nearly 30 years. The couple has three children and six contented cats.
The second home, a mere 20-minute walk away, is a modest red-brick semi, inhabited by John Hemming’s 36-year-old mistress, Emily Cox, their five-year-old daughter, Isabel, and a solitary cat, Twinkle.
When he is not on parliamentary business in London, John Hemming, the Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham Yardley spends week nights at Emily Cox before returning to the marital home at weekends.
The relationship is, as Emily Cox admits, an “unconventional” set-up and one which has been subject to much tension over the years.
But even the most colorful imaginations would struggle to summon the affair’s latest chapter, which unfolded in Birmingham Crown Court this week.
MP John Hemming’s wife, Christine Hemming was yesterday found guilty of burgling the home of Emily Cox and stealing a four-month-old kitten called Beauty.
The court heard how Christine Hemming crept through Emily Cox’s back door, scooped up the tabby and tootled away with her through the back garden. Beauty has not been seen since, leaving Twinkle as the sole feline in the house.
Christine Hemming was found guilty of burgling the home of her love rival and stealing a four-month-old kitten called Beauty
And although Christine Hemming denied the charges, the act was caught on CCTV. In footages bordering on farce, she is seen sneaking around in the shadows of her love rival’s garden. As she passes a window, where a light shines from inside, she gets down on her hands and knees to avoid being spotted.
After several minutes, Christine Hemming enters through the unlocked back door, then, she leaves with Beauty, worth £20 ($30), under her left arm. As she walks back to her car, bespectacled Christine Hemming looks up – straight into one of the four cameras installed by Emily Cox.
16 minutes of footage were played to the jury on Friday, the day three of the trial and called “compelling evidence” by prosecutor Jason Pegg.
For the past few years, John Hemming has openly divided his living arrangements between the homes of his wife and mistress. They, in turn, have veered from begrudging tolerance to open warfare, with no love lost between the two women.
“Mrs Hemming has not and never will be welcome in my home,” Emily Cox said. “The way she has behaved is appalling.”
This accusation could be leveled at all parties in this set-up – particularly MP John Hemming, a bespectacled and slightly portly figure who makes for a rather unlikely Casanova.
Even now, friends say John Hemming remains a ‘committed flirt”, who likes nothing better than the company of pretty young women.
MP John Hemming recently posted footage of himself playing the keyboard alongside a sextet of young female saxophonists at this year’s Liberal Democrat party conference. Billed as “John Hemming And The Sisters Of Jazz”, the MP looks like the cat who got the cream.
John Hemming’s wife, Christine is described as more determined than most; in the words of one friend, she “decides what she wants and makes it happen”.
This seemed to be the case when it came to her husband, whom she set her cap at more than 30 years ago after reading an article John Hemming had written for the Oxford University magazine Isis in 1981.
John Hemming was at Magdalen College studying physics, while Christine pursued her studies in Edinburgh.
So impressed was Christine by John Hemming’s weighty rhetoric that she travelled from Scotland to Bridlington to meet her future beau at a student conference where he was speaking.
Six months later, the couple was married, John Hemming only 21 and Christine just 23. They settled in Birmingham, where John Hemming started to pursue his political career at a local level, while establishing the software business that would make him a millionaire.
Christine and John Hemming had three children – Marion, 21, Alex, 18, and Alice, 11. Christine worked as John Hemming’s company accountant.
MP John Hemming’s wife, Christine with one of her six cats
By the late ‘80, Christine realized her husband had a roving eye. John Hemming apparently confessed to a number of flings and she agreed to ignore them for the sake of their children.
By the ‘90, the strain was too much and Christine served judicial separation papers.
One of her friends said this week: “She didn’t want to go the whole hog and file for divorce, but she did want to draw a line.”
In what would soon become a pattern, Christine changed her mind and they decided to try again for the sake of the children. The arrival of the couple’s third child, Alice, in 2000, seemed to herald a period of calm. However, Christine was not to know John Hemming had by then already been romancing Emily Cox.
A Devon-born history graduate from Warwick University, Emily Cox was John Hemming’s personal assistant – a position that had become vacant in 2000 after Christine Hemming decided to step back from overseeing her husband’s financial affairs.
MP John Hemming with his mistress Emma Cox
Christine Hemming told the court this week: “I had access to his financial affairs, but when I served the judicial separation papers I don’t think he felt it appropriate I should be in that position anymore.”
Initially, Christine was not threatened by her successor, Emily Cox, despite the fact she was staying in the top-floor flat of John Hemming’s £600,000 detached office premises in Birmingham. In 2004, Mrs. Hemming grew suspicious.
Mrs Hemming related in court: “It was normal for me to accept John had late nights, but when it came to a Sunday and it was 11 pm and I didn’t know where he was – and then I tracked it back to the office in Birmingham where there was also a flat where Emily lived – I thought there was more going on than paperwork.”
This time not only was John hemming less forthcoming when she confronted him, but she felt less accepting, too.
“At this point we had quite severe arguments about what he was doing,” Christine Hemming said.
In 2011, things came to a head when Emily Cox came to “have it out” with her love rival at the family home. Although the police were called, nothing more came of it – unlike last year, when an irate Christine Hemming turned up at Emily Cox’s home.
As the latter claimed in her court evidence, Christine Hemming set upon her wielding a pair of garden secateurs and later received a police caution.
“She assaulted me and committed criminal damage to my garden, which some of the plants are still recovering from,” Emily Cox claimed.
In June 2005 – one month after John Hemming had been elected to parliament for the first time – Christine learned Emily Cox was four months pregnant with her husband’s child.
Publicly, at least, Christine remained stoic, implying her rival had entrapped John Hemming and describing the affair as “about number 26” on her errant husband’s list of infidelities. John Hemming said this number had been “plucked out of thin air” by Christine, as it is also the date of her birthday.
John Hemming, meanwhile, pledged to stand by both women and “do the right thing”, although this did not preclude him later showing a degree of braggadocio about his activities.
At the end of 2005, John Hemming voted for himself in a competition run by tabloid to find the year’s greatest love rat.
“People used to think of me as a bit of a geek,” John Hemming declared.
“But I’ve turned into some kind of James Bond character.”
Despite such insensitivity, John Hemming’s marriage seemed to be flourishing. In 2008, John Hemming booked a two-week trip to Mauritius for his wife’s 50th birthday – a “second honeymoon”.
In 2009, Emily Cox expressed a desire to move out of her top-floor flat, triggering yet more aggravation. John Hemming discussed the dilemma with his wife.
Christine Hemming revealed to the jury that after learning that her husband wanted to purchase a small house for Emily Cox, they pored over a local map to identify streets his mistress should avoid, to prevent her having to encounter the mistress.
What wife did not know was that John Hemming went on to purchase a £212,000 property for Emily Cox in December 2009, using what Christine called “marital assets’.
Either way, in Christine’s view, John Hemming had effectively taken money out of the marital purse to fund his mistress and, after discovering his purchase last summer, she finally asked her husband to move out.
“I came to a decision on September 26 – my birthday – that I wanted John to leave,” Christine told the court.
“I asked him: <<As a birthday present, can you go?>> ”
Three days later, after a telephone argument with her husband, Christine Hemming arrived at Emily Cox’s home, apparently to deliver some post.
What she did instead was make off with Emily Cox’s cat after crawling through the undergrowth of her back garden.
Christine Hemming now must wait to find out if she will receive a custodial sentence after the judge adjourned sentencing until October 28.
The case went to Crown Court, as magistrates decided earlier this year it was not suitable for summary trial because their sentencing powers are limited to six months.
Burglary carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in jail, but sentencing guidelines state the starting point in Christine Hemming’s case will be nine months’ custody. That could be reduced to a conditional discharge or a community sentence.
John Hemming, who was not at court yesterday but arrived with Emily Cox on the first day of the trial, said:
“I’m not commenting on the case until I have spoken to both Emily and Christine.”
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Walter Payton, Chicago Bears running back, is described in Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton, which is set to be released on October 4.
The book, written by Jeff Pearlman, contributor to Sports Illustrated, alleges the American football player constantly made drug abuse when he was playing and after his retirement, he had affairs and felt into a depression that almost led him to suicide.
The author said he worked on the book two and a half years and interviewed 678 people. Sweetness narrates Walter Payton‘s life, from his childhood in Mississippi, his college years at Jackson State, his NFL career (13 years) and his life after his career ended in 1987, to his death at 45 from cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) in 1999.
Walter Payton, Sweetness, became the first African American to break a record that was held only by whites in the NFL during modern football.
Walter Payton had primary sclerosing cholangitis, a rare and deadly autoimmune liver disease liver disease, and some of his painkillers abuse might be related to this illness.
“Payton popped Darvon robotically during his playing days—says [Bud] Holmes, “I’d see him walk out of the locker room with jars of painkillers, and he’d eat them like they were a snack”—and also lathered his body with dimethyl sulfoxide, a topical analgesic commonly used to treat horses. Now that he was retired, the self-medicating only intensified. Payton habitually ingested a cocktail of Tylenol and Vicodin. […] in 1988, Payton visited a handful of dental offices, complaining of severe tooth pain. He received several prescriptions for morphine and hit up a handful of drugstores to have them filled. When one of the pharmacists noticed the activity, he contacted the police, who arrived at Payton’s house and discussed the situation.” read an excerpt published in Sports Illustrated.
The painkiller Darvon is an opioid narcotic used to treat mild to moderate pain was first approved in the 1950s and It has been pulled by the market. Walter Payton also obtained Ritalin from a friend whose son was prescribed pills.
Walter Payton used nitrous oxide prior and after retirement.
“Back when Payton drove his own RV to Bears training camp, he used to load the rear of the vehicle with tanks of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas. At nights and during breaks in the action, players sneaked into Payton’s trailer, loaded the nitrous oxide into balloons, then carried them around while taking hits. The goofy laughter could be heard throughout the training facility.”
After his rigorous fitness regime during his playing career (running up and down a steep hill repeatedly) once he retired, he started drinking beer and eating tons of junk food. Wendy’s gave Payton a card granting a free lifetime supply of hamburgers at the fast food chain, Payton dumped 10 sugar packs into each cup of coffee and enjoyed pork rinds with hot sauce.
Walter Payton rushed for 16,726 yards and scored 110 touchdowns.
Walter Payton’s both estranged wife (Connie) and girlfriend (Lita) attended his Hall of Fame, wife in the front row and mistress in the second.
“Shortly after he learned he’d been voted into the Hall of Fame, Payton spoke with Lita Gonzalez [not her real name], a New Jersey-based flight attendant with whom he’d been in a tempestuous relationship since they’d met at the Michael Spinks-Mike Tyson heavyweight title fight in Atlantic City in 1988. […] “She was insisting she be seated in the front row,” says Tucker. “We said, ‘Lita, are you insane? We’re marketing this man as a family-friendly spokesperson. His whole image is based around decency. You will ruin him.“
Holmes and Payton’s executive assistant, Ginny Quirk, recall receiving suicidal calls at all hours during the mid-1990s. The threats came after fights with Connie or Lita or when he worried about finances. Payton refused to see a therapist.
Payton said he imagined murdering those around him, then killing himself and he ended the letter to an unnamed friend by admitting that he needed help but that he had nowhere to turn. The excerpts do not indicate doctors think Payton suffered brain damage while playing, affecting his mental state.
Andre Agassi also in his recent autobiography detailed his previously unknown drug use.
Walter Payton caught 492 passes for 4,538 yards and 15 touchdowns and set team records, most career rushing yards, receptions, touchdowns.
Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton contains both fact and fiction said Walter Payton’s family.
“Walter, like all of us, wasn’t perfect. The challenges he faced were well known to those of us who loved and lived with him. He was a great father to Jarrett and Brittney and held a special place in the football world and the Chicago community. Recent disclosures — some true, some untrue — do not change this. I’m saddened that anyone would attempt to profit from these stories, many told by people with little credibility,” read a statement signed by Connie Payton and family.
“When we take the field each Sunday, we represent the great players like Walter who helped build the rich tradition of our organization. Nothing will change our feelings for a man we have the deepest respect for and miss having around Halas Hall to this day,” said The Chicago Bears.
“There’s something important about learning that even the greatest among us have their burdens. Whether you’re a Hall of Fame running back or a guy moving cement, we all have issues. No one lives up to the pedestal. . . . The goal is to find out who he was and how he lived. I’m very defensive about that. You want to write an honest and accurate biography,” Jeff Pearlman said.
NFL named its Man of the Year Award after him, the Walter Payton Award, the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
The book includes also brighter stories about Walter Payton.
Walter often insisted on first playing catch with kids who asked him for autographs and then offer them words of inspiration. Walter Payton also delighted a cancer-ridden youngster on a flight.
He was graceful on the field and he was strong when facing terminal cancer. Walter Payton grew up in segregated Mississippi and calmed racial tensions there with his on-field heroics.
Quirk tells Pearlman that, after he appeared thin and gaunt at a 1999 news conference announcing his son’s decision to attend Miami University, many people asked her if he was dying of AIDS.
Brittney, Jarrett and Connie Payton at Walter Payton Man of the Year Press Conference (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Walter Payton had been diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis at the Mayo Clinic in December 1998. He gathered his family in the basement of their South Barrington home, told them about diagnosis and said a liver transplant would solve the problem. He told his fans about his diagnosis three days after his son’s press conference.
Payton reached out to his children as he was dying. Walter Payton, who also kept a home in West Dundee, had moved back into the South Barrington home in July 1999 and took turns staying in Jarrett’s and Brittney’s rooms.
“At the time I didn’t get it, but now I think it’s so cool he wanted to share himself with us,” Jarrett says in the book.
Walter Payton was born in July 25, 1954 and died on November 1, 1999 from terminal cancer, he married Connie Norwood in 1976.
Walter Payton was known around the NFL as Sweetness. He was a nine-time Pro Bowl selectee. He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. He started his professional career with the Bears in 1975. Walter Payton (34) won two NFL Most Valuable Player Awards, and won Super Bowl XX with the 1985 Chicago Bears. Walter Payton rushed for 16,726 yards and scored 110 touchdowns. He became the first African American to break a record that was held only by whites in the NFL during modern football (1955–present). He caught 492 passes for 4,538 yards and 15 touchdowns, set team records, most career rushing yards, receptions, touchdowns.
His cancer was in a stage that did not benefit from liver transplant, but Walter Payton spent his final months as an advocate for organ transplants.
Although his cancer was in a stage that did not benefit from liver transplant, he spent his final months as an advocate for organ transplants.
Don Yaeger worked with him during the last weeks of his life to create his autobiography, Never Die Easy, the title was his motto which he attributed to Bob Hill, his coach at Jackson State (2000).
NFL named its Man of the Year Award after him, the Walter Payton Award, the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
Walter Payton’s Roundhouse in West Dundee is an entertainment center and includes authentic memorabilia at the Walter Payton Museum.
Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton trailer
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Walter Payton biography, the cancer diagnosis (video)
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Walter Payton Don Yaeger Never Die Easy (video)
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A report on managing cancer costs, made by 37 cancer experts (economists, patient advocates and physicians) from developed countries (U.S., UK, Germany, Australia), was published in the Lancet Oncology on September 26 . The study highlights the need of a judicious medication for terminal cancer patient.
Professor Richard Sullivan, of the King’s Health Partners Integrated Cancer Centre, London, has presented the study at the European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress in Stockholm.
Input from drug-makers, payers and educators will be key to future discussions, David Collingridge, the journal’s editor, said.
“With an aging global population and an endless conveyor belt of expensive new drugs and technologies and increasing financial pressures, the cost of cancer care in high-income countries is becoming unsustainable,” The Lancet Oncology said.
Developed countries have varying levels of GDP assigned to health, but the percent of cancer care cost is between four and seven in the majority of countries.
Around 12 million people worldwide are diagnosed with cancer annually, the costs of the new cases was at least $286 billion in 2009, according to the report. By 2030, about 22 million people will be diagnosed with the disease annually. More than half of the $286 billion in costs was related to treatment, while a quarter was linked to lost productivity.
"We over-diagnose, over-treat, and over-promise. This extends from use of complex technology, surgery, and drugs to events related to the acceptance of treatment side-effects." say experts, making a special reference to terminal cancer.
In UK around 310,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every year and by 2030 this is expected to have risen to 400,000. The National Health Service spends over £5billion annually on cancer treatments, up from £3billion in 2002.
“All health systems face budget limitations, while at the same time the cancer burden and expenditures are increasing steeply. Every cancer patient, now and in the future, must have fair access to quality cancer care and to innovation. This can only be safeguarded by transparent and evidence-based analysis and policy development,” said Professor Michael Baumann , president of the European cancer organization, ECCO.
The cancer experts have criticized a “culture of excess” that gives false hopes to patients with terminal cancer.
“In developed countries, cancer treatment is becoming a culture of excess. We over-diagnose, over-treat, and over-promise. This extends from use of complex technology, surgery, and drugs to events related to the acceptance of treatment side-effects.” the cancer experts said.
They emphasized the importance of choosing a right treatment strategy for terminal cancer patients. The life-extending medication should not be use as it shows no benefits for terminal cancer, and has dangerous side-effects.
The life-extending medication should not be use as it shows no benefits for terminal cancer, and has dangerous side-effects, said the cancer experts.
“Special consideration must be given to costs of cancer care at the end of life. Many forms of cancer are currently incurable and patients will eventually die from their disease.”
“In fact studies suggest that a substantial portion of the total cost of cancer care is for care delivered in the last weeks or days of life, and that much of this care is futile and potentially inconsistent with patients’ wishes.”
“If we could accurately predict when further disease-directed therapy would be futile, we clearly would want to spare the patient the toxicity and false hope associated with such treatment, as well as the expense.”
The scientists said a more rigorous evaluation of the relative benefits of surgery to treat cancer and of the less invasive robotic surgery had to be done.
Reducing the cost of cancer services or reducing the number of people using them, especially terminal cancer patients, are the two ways the authors proposed to solve the problem.
The best cancer treatments would be the preserve of the rich because they would be too expensive for the Health Service, warned last week Professor Karol Sikora, one of the 37 cancer experts.
Molecular bio-markers could be used to pre-screen patients for treatments and imaging methods should be used to select only those patients who could benefit from a treatment. Early-stage studies could also help to remove marginally effective or ineffective drugs faster, researchers said.
“We are at a crossroads for affordable cancer care, where our choices, or refusal to make choices, will affect the lives of millions of people. Making individual patients more sensitive to the costs of care is necessary for an informed public debate around this critical issue,” Professor Richard Sullivan said.
MRI performed prior to surgery predicts the follow-up treatment for advanced rectal cancer, recent study shows. Generally the doctors will not abandon drugs for terminal cancer patients, despite the costs.
Cancer diagnosis and treatment has became more complex, with imaging, surgery, radiation and drug therapy. Specialists need to come together and discuss with patients, insurers and industry players the best ways to lower costs without compromising care, they said.
A group of six British-born Muslims who allegedly planned to commit “mass murder” with suicide bombing missions against Britain appeared in court on Monday.
The six men, who prosecutors claimed had formed a terror cell, are accused of training in explosives, weapons and poisoning techniques during trips to Pakistan.
Some of the group members are accused of raising money for terrorism during collections on British streets.
The six men who are accused of training in explosives, weapons and poisoning techniques: from left, Mohammed Rizwan, Bahader Ali, Ifran Nasser, Rahin Ahmed, Ifran Khalid and Ashik Ali
The six defendants, who are all from Birmingham and aged from 25 to 32, were arrested a week ago by the West Midlands police counter-terrorism unit.
The six men, each wearing black jumpers and jogging bottoms, spoke only to confirm their names, ages and addresses at the hearing in West London Magistrates’ Court, Hammersmith.
Deborah Walsh, prosecuting, said: “The terrorist ideology behind these offences is to commit mass murder in the UK.”
Two of the group – Ifran Nasser, 30, and Ifran Khalid, 26 – have been charged with a string of offences dating from Christmas Day last year to September 19.
They are accused of planning a suicide-bombing campaign, making a martyrdom film, recruiting others for terrorist acts, collecting money for terrorism, travelling to Pakistan to learn how to make bombs, weapons and poisons, and advising others on explosives and how to build a home-made bomb.
Ashik Ali, 26, is accused of planning a suicide bombing, constructing a home-made bomb, recruiting others for terrorist training, collecting money for terrorism and stating his intention to be a suicide bomber.
His brother, university graduate Bahader Ali, 28, and Mohammed Rizwan, 32, are accused of failing to disclose information which could prevent terror attacks.
Rahin Ahmed, 25, is accused of helping to fund terrorism acts and assisting others to travel to Pakistan for training in terrorism.
All were remanded in custody. Ashik Ali, Rahin Ahmed, Khalid and Nasser Ifran will appear at the Old Bailey on October 21.
Bahader Ali and Mohammed Rizwan will appear before City of Westminster magistrates on October 24.
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