ALICIA Keys plays a sexy superwoman in her dazzling new music video Girl On
Fire.
The single is the first from her new album, of the same name, and she's set
the bar high with a visually stunning promo.
Alicia, 31, flaunts off her curves in a series of figure-hugging outfits as
she shows she can be a lover, mother and housekeeper all rolled into one.
Green theme ... she plays a powerful woman in the stunning promo
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The video opens with her reclining on a bed in a tiny top that shows off her
bra straps, cleavage and a firm, toned tummy.
She's then shown cleaning up a children's nursery and getting her kids ready
for bed - using Mary Poppins magic to send toys flying back into their box.
Alicia completes her superwoman act by caring for an elderly woman - before
rejecting the overtures of the man in her life when she finally gets the
chance to put her feet up and slip on a pair of headphones.
Girl On Fire, the star's fifth album, is due for release next month.
It's her first since she became a mum - to son Egypt in October 2010 - and she
warns fans they should expect a very different sound this time around.
In a fiery message on her website to announce the album, she wrote: “Girl on
Fire is about new beginnings, new perspectives and fresh starts…
“I felt like a lion locked in a cage. I felt like a girl misunderstood ... I
felt like it was time to stop making excuses for any part of my life that I
wanted to change.
“Once I made that choice I became a Girl on Fire, the lion broke free!!
“Here’s to finding your power! Your FIRE!!"
BRITNEY Spears takes her barefoot boys out shopping as a court hears Justin
Timberlake blamed for the singer’s troubles.
The American X Factor judge let Sean Preston, seven, and six-year-old Jayden
James go shoeless as they ran errands in LA.
As she enjoyed the day with her sons – from marriage to Kevin Federline –
childhood sweetheart Justin was being blamed for her breakdown and past drug
addiction.
Family lawyer Leon Gladstone told a court that her 2002 split from the singer
– who
wed Jessica Biel in Italy yesterday – was the start of her troubles.
Acting for the singer’s father, Jamie Spears, in a case brought be her former
manager Sam Lufti, Gladstone said that she spiralled out of control,
marrying twice and using drugs to get over her heartbreak.
Lost love ... Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears
He said: “They had a big relationship, and it ended painfully.
“In 2003 her parents noticed that she had changed over the break-up of her and
Justin and noticed she was depressed … she went to Vegas and got married to
a childhood friend for 55 hours and they saw that she was becoming distant
with her parents and become concerned she was using illegal substances.”
Lufti is suing the singer for breach of contract, claiming she agreed to give
him 15 percent of her earnings.
He’s also suing her mother Lynne for defaming him in her book Through the
Storm – in which she claimed he drugged Britney — and her father Jamie for
allegedly punching him.
Family affair ... Britney's parents, Lynne and Jamie Spears, arrive at court
Britney has been under a "guardianship order" controlled by her father since a
breakdown in 2008 and the lawyer only ever acted in Britney’s best interest.
He said: “This is a story of a close family, but not a perfect one.
“It’s a story of a man who actually wanted nothing more for his daughter than
to live and be well.
“It’s a story of a father who has had to step up and take action that he never
thought he would have to take....actions that didn’t perhaps endear his
daughter to him.”
Earlier this week, Sam
Lufti testified that Britney popped up to 30 ampthetamine pills a day. He
said: “She liked to use amphetamines. Mostly everything that went wrong was
because of this drug.”
Heating a French home could soon require an income tax consultation
or even a visit to the doctor under legislation to force conservation in
the nation's $46 billion household energy market.
A bill adopted by the lower house this month would set prices that
homes pay based on wages, age and climate. Utilities Electricite de
France and GDF Suez will use the data to reward consumers who cut power
and natural gas usage and penalize those whom regulators decide are
wasteful.
"It's Orwellian," opposition lawmaker Daniel Fasquelle
said by telephone. "The law will create huge inequalities and infringe
on people's individual freedoms. It won't work."
Socialist
President Francois Hollande is pushing boundaries of privacy and
privilege in carrying out a campaign promise to reduce energy costs.
France, which built the world's biggest reliance on nuclear power as
other nations buckled under public anxiety over atomic energy, is now
seeking support to reward homes for "negawatts," or not using a kilowatt
of power.
The law would be unique to France and is symbolic to
the Socialists, a government official who declined to be identified said
Thursday. Households bought 35 billion euros ($46 billion) of energy in
2011, including power, gas and other heating fuels.
The
legislation drew criticism from trade unions and industry groups. It
will add layers of bureaucracy to a power system already attacked in
court and antitrust probes for being oppressive for customers and
competitors of EDF and GDF Suez, the former state monopolies that still
dominate supply, opponents said.
While the government said the
changes won't cut earnings at EDF and GDF Suez, the uncertainty may
weigh on their shares that investors have already marked down by 1.2
percent and 2.2 percent, respectively, in the past three months while
the Bloomberg European Utilities Index gained 5.2 percent.
The
proposed law was adopted by the National Assembly on Oct. 4 and is set
for Senate debate later this month. Opposition from Communist members
has pushed a Senate commission to postpone its examination until Oct. 23
so some revisions can be made. The draft contravenes the principle of
equal access to energy across France and should be completely revised,
Communist senators said in a statement late yesterday.
EDF and GDF
Suez would be the most exposed because of their dominant positions. EDF
supplies power to 28 million household clients in France, while GDF
Suez provides gas to 9.4 million customers, giving them respective
market shares of 93 percent and 90 percent by volume, according to the
regulator.
"It won't be beneficial for the utilities, it will be
neutral at best," Emmanuel Retif, analyst at Raymond James Euro Equities
in Paris, said by e-mail. "If it were to be beneficial, heating bills
would have to rise and that's not what the government is trying to do."
Investor
wariness of the planned progressive and social power rates stems from
4.5 billion euros in payment arrears that have accumulated on EDF's
books as of June 30, mostly because of renewable energy subsidies.
The
draft legislation encourages households to use less energy either by
changing their habits or insulating their homes. Thrifty energy
consumers will be rewarded with lower rates while wasteful ones will
have to pay more. The law is supposed to be financially neutral for
utilities, according to the draft.
Power and gas bills in France
and elsewhere typically vary according to the size of a dwelling, type
of heating and whether it's on a windy Alpine ridge or the warmer
Mediterranean coast.
The new French law will add income and the
number and age of occupants to the mix. Having a medical condition that
requires electricity-powered equipment like respirators or wheelchairs
will also enter into the equation.
"The principle is good, but the
law raises a whole series of practical problems," Nicolas Mouchnino,
head of energy and environmental issues at French consumer group UFC-Que
Choisir, said by phone. "It's very difficult to tell the difference
with any degree of certainty between energy use that is essential and
that which may be superfluous."
The rules could make relations
between property owners and renters more antagonistic and open the way
for fraudulent claims about energy use, he said.
The law as it
stands would create an incentive system for energy use. Households would
be granted a base volume of power or gas considered appropriate for the
dwelling. This volume would be determined by fiscal and social security
authorities from tax returns and other documents such as income
statements, studies of local weather and medical records.
Households
meeting certain criteria could be among 4 million — a fourfold increase
under the planned law — that will be eligible for reduced "social"
rates for energy. The rest will have their prices adjusted according to
volumes consumed.
The government and regulator will set the reward
and penalty incentives under which households using less than their
allotted base volume of energy get rebates while those surpassing the
limits pay higher rates. The difference could be as much as 60 euros a
megawatt-hour, according to the draft.
This could translate into
penalties of 600 euros a year for a home "leaking heat" compared to a
well-insulated one, according to opposition lawmaker Antoine Herth.
Environmental Minister Delphine Batho told senators the government will
provide its own simulations of the effects on household bills, which
will be "reasonable" so as to act as an incentive.
Renters will be
able to deduct from their monthly payments a part of the higher costs
of heating a home deemed to have low energy use efficiency, maybe
because it's poorly insulated, while the elderly or households with
certain yet-to-be specified heating installations will get higher base
volumes of energy.
"It's so complicated I don't think it will ever
be implemented," said Laurent Langlard, a spokesman on energy issues
for the Confederation General du Travail. The biggest union in the
energy sector backs lower energy rates for consumers, but this plan is
"unworkable," he said.
The Man United manager says the defender let him down
Sir Alex Ferguson has reacted angrily after Rio Ferdinand refused to
wear a Kick It Out anti-racism T-shirt at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The Manchester United manager had claimed on Friday that all of his
players would wear the shirts in accordance with the country-wide FA
initiative - and even criticised Reading striker Jason Roberts for saying he would refuse to
.
However, prior to the Red Devils' 4-2 win over Stoke, Ferdinand wore a
red United tracksuit top rather than his the black 'one game, one
community' T-shirts sported by his team-mates.
Ferdinand eventually took his training top off to reveal he was wearing a United training shirt, with the DHL sponsors logo.
Speaking to MUTV, Ferguson said: "I am disappointed. I said yesterday
that the players would be wearing it in support of the PFA and that
every player should adhere to it.
"And he goes and lets us down. We will deal with it, don't worry."
In Napoleon's birthplace, riven by feuds between bandits and nationalists, a brilliant lawyer's murder brings deep pessimism
Corsica has a long
history of violence, with many of the murders blamed on disputes and
tit-for-tat score-settling by criminal gangs. Photograph: Patrick
Frilet/Rex Features
Even by Corsican standards of cold-bloodedness, the assassination of Antoine Sollacaro was shocking.
Not
because it was especially brutal on an island where a father was
recently gunned down in front of his young children and a woman was shot
eight times in the back outside a shopping centre last year. Not even
because it was that unusual; Sollacaro's murder was the 16th this year
in Corsica. Hours before he was killed, another body had been found in a
car up one of the island's many mountains.
Sollacaro's murder was
shocking because he was a lawyer, recognised as a brilliant advocate
and a man who defended Corsican nationalists, traditionally associated
with such violence. "I'd have been more surprised if the priest was shot
in his church," one lawyer said after the killing. "To shoot a lawyer,
this is very symbolic."
Marc Maroselli, the president of the bar,
described the murder as intolerable. "It is cowardly and shows the
slide into deadly madness that is covering Corsica in blood," he said.
Islanders
living with the daily drip-drip of violence believed Sollacaro's
profession was his protection, that it conferred some kind of guarantee
in the Corsican underworld's code of conduct. Except that on Wednesday
morning it didn't.
Sollacaro, 63, was driving to work in his black
convertible Porsche when he decided to pop into a Total petrol station
just outside the Corsican capital, Ajaccio, to buy his morning
newspaper. His vehicle was still moving when a BMW motorcycle came
alongside. The pillion rider drew an automatic pistol and fired at least
five shots into the lawyer's head and several more into his body. As
the car hit a wall with Sollacaro slumped dead over the wheel, the
assassin sped off.
Murderous violence is nothing new in Corsica.
The Ile de Beauté, famed for its mountains, pine groves and sandy
beaches, has a heart of darkness and a history of collective and
individual slaughter. The island has been a battleground since the first
century BC with Carthaginians, followed by Greeks, Etruscans, Romans,
Vandals, Visigoths, Saracens and other invaders spilling blood over this
extraordinarily lush and beautiful rock in the Mediterranean. It was,
after all, Corsica that spawned one of the ultimate international
braggarts and bullies, Napoleon Bonaparte.
Between 1821 and 1852,
the "vendetta" code of honour is believed to have led to 4,300 murders.
In the 1950s, the crime and bloodshed was linked to the French
Connection, a network of international heroin smugglers. In the 1970s,
it was dominated by nationalists and organised criminals and some people
who were both.
The nationalists have struggled against Paris's
rule since 1768 when Corsica became French – it is one of the country's
27 administrative regions today – but the movement reached its apogee in
1998, when members killed the prefect Claude Erignac, the French
government's highest representative on the island. Sollacaro famously
defended the man convicted of Erignac's murder, Yvan Colonna, and a
number of other leading nationalists.
Since the start of 2007,
there have been around 100 killings and at least another 100 attempted
murders, most blamed on disputes and tit-for-tat score-settling between
mafia-like gangs of what the local people call "bandits".
Few of
the killers make it to court. Most are themselves killed in revenge,
creating an endless spiral of violence and bloodshed that becomes deeply
personal. The French magazine L'Express said this made
Corsica, with a population of just over 300,000 but where there are an
estimated 30,000 weapons, the "bloodiest" region in western Europe, and more crime-ridden than Sicily.
On
Friday, Sollacaro's coffin made the slow and winding 63km journey from
Ajaccio south through the mountains and pine forests to his birthplace,
the former fishing port of Propriano. As the bells of Notre Dame de la
Miséricorde jangled and the luxury motor cruisers and yachts at the port
jiggled in their moorings, up to 1,000 friends, relatives, colleagues
and residents gathered outside the already packed church to pay their
respects.
The lawyers donned their fur-trimmed robes and looked
grim. Hard men with red eyes embraced and wept. Elegant, tanned women in
stilettos fiddled with gold jewellery.
Given the autumn sun and
the occasion, the dress code adopted by most mourners, dark glasses and
tailored black suits, was entirely appropriate. Given the setting and
circumstances, it became cinematic and vaguely ominous.
Afterwards, the mourners lined up to offer their condoléances
according to local tradition: to the women of the family inside the
church, the men outside. Some spoke of a "gangrene" or "cancer" on the
island, but most said that it was not a time for talk. Jacques, aged 81,
a retired sheep farmer, shook his weatherbeaten face but could not find
many words to say.
"I don't know what's happened to Corsica, it is terrible to see what has happened to our island. Nothing will ever be the same."
He
added: "In the past, murders have been over questions of honour, but
now life is cheap. Where is the honour in this killing? Young people use
bullets to resolve their differences, but bullets resolve nothing."
Pierre-Louis
Maurel, a former president of the bar in the northern city of Bastia,
said he was a lifelong personal friend of the dead man.
"Antoine
was a lawyer, a defender of men," he said. "We do not know if he was
targeted as a man or as a lawyer. If he was targeted for his advocate's
robes, then it is very symbolic; it is nothing less than an attack on
democracy, liberty and justice. It means the killers respect nobody and
nothing. I hope this is not true, but I fear it is. As lawyers, that
makes us very afraid."
Many Corsicans blame the French
establishment for the island's plight, complaining they have been
abandoned to crime, rising unemployment, poverty and economic decline,
which they say has left the island's youth disaffected, dangerous and
fodder for organised crime.
President François Hollande has
described the violence as unacceptable and tomorrow his Socialist
government is expected to announce measures to combat it.
If there
is stupefaction on Corsica, there is widespread incomprehension
elsewhere. "Nobody understands what's going on here and it's impossible
to explain," said one French reporter at Sollacaro's funeral on Friday.
"Before,
it was the nationalists fighting for independence, then it was
nationalists fighting each other, and some were also bandits who started
fighting each other for different reasons. Then people started getting
killed, not because they were involved in anything but because they knew
people who were ..." his voice trailed off. "As I say, impossible to
explain."
Veteran Corsican journalist Jacques Renucci described a
sense of collective resignation and pessimism. "People here are not in
fact particularly shocked by the killing, sadly. What they're shocked
about is that someone so high-profile was targeted," he said.
Renucci
added: "Every time Corsicans say 'never again', and it happens time and
time again. They hark back to a golden age on the island when everyone
lived happily together, but it is a myth, a fiction.
"The truth is we have always killed each other, and I am not optimistic that we're about to stop."
USS George Washington enters South China Sea as display of naval strength and support of smaller Asian nations claims
The nuclear-powered USS George Washington aircraft carrier cruising the disputed South China Sea. Photograph: Brian H. Able/EPA
A US aircraft carrier group cruised through the disputed South China
Sea on Saturday in a show of American power in waters that are fast
becoming a focal point of Washington's strategic rivalry with Beijing.
Vietnamese
security and government officials were flown onto the nuclear-powered
USS George Washington ship, underlining the burgeoning military
relationship between the former enemies.
A small number of
journalists were also invited to witness the display of maritime might
in the oil-rich waters, which are home to islands disputed between China
and the other smaller Asian nations facing the sea.
The visit will likely reassure Vietnam and the Philippines
of American support but could annoy China, whose growing economic and
naval strength is leading to a greater assertiveness in pressing its
claims there.
The United States
is building closer economic and military alliances with Vietnam and
other nations in the region as part of a "pivot" away from the Middle
East to Asia, a shift in large part meant to counter rising Chinese
influence.
The Vietnamese officials took photos of F-16 fighter
jets taking off and landing on the ships 1,000-foot-long flight deck,
met the captain and toured the hulking ship, which has more than 5,000
sailors on board.
The mission came a day after Beijing staged
military exercises near islands in the nearby East China Sea it disputes
with US ally Japan. Those tensions have flared in recent days.
China
claims nearly all of the South China Sea, where the US says it has a
national interest in ensuring freedom of navigation in an area crossed
by vital shipping lanes.
Vietnam, the Philippines and several other Asian nations also claim parts of the sea.
The disputes attracted little international interest until the late 1990s, when surveys indicated possible large oil reserves.
American rivalry with China has given the disputes an extra dimension in recent years.
The
US navy regularly patrols the Asia-Pacific region, conducting joint
exercises with its allies and training in the strategic region.
The trip by the George Washington off the coast of Vietnam is its third in as many years.
A
second aircraft carrier, the USS John C Stennis, has also conducting
operations in the western Pacific region recently, according to the US
Pacific Fleet.
Captain Gregory Fenton said the mission was aimed
in part at improving relations with Vietnam and ensuring the US had free
passage in the South China Sea.
China's military buildup,
including the launch of its own carrier last year and rapid development
of ballistic missiles and cyber warfare capabilities, could potentially
crimp the US forces' freedom to operate in the waters.
The United States doesn't publicly take sides in the territorial disputes among China and its neighbors.
"It
is our goal to see the region's nations figure out these tensions ...
on their own, our role of that to date is to conduct freedom of
navigation exercises within international waters," Fenton said in an
interview on the bridge.
Although claimant countries have pledged
to settle the territorial rifts peacefully, the disputes have erupted in
violence in the past, including in 1988 when China and Vietnam clashed
in the Spratly Islands in a confrontation that killed 64 Vietnamese
soldiers.
Many fear the disputes could become Asia's next flash point for armed conflict.
Vietnam
is pleased to accept help from its one-time foe America as a hedge
against its giant neighbor China, with which it also tries to maintain
good relations.
Still, the Hanoi government reacted angrily to
recent moves by Beijing to establish a garrison on one of the Paracel
islands, which Vietnam claims. The United States also criticized the
move by Beijing, earning it a rebuke from the government there.
"China
will take this (cruise) as another expression by the United States of
its desire to maintain regional domination," said Denny Roy, a senior
fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii.
"The US also wants to
send a message to the region that it is here for the long haul ... and
that it wants to back up international law."
While most analysts
believe military confrontation in the waters is highly unlikely anytime
soon, they say tensions are likely to increase as China continues
pressing its claims and building its navy.
President goes to Camp David and GOP rival studies in Florida as Ryan and Biden headline rallies in battleground states
Monday night's debate
could provide a final chance for the candidates to land a few blows in
front of tens of million voters. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty
Images
For the second Saturday running, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney
went to ground to prep for a televised debate that could prove crucial
in a tight White House race now entering its home straight.
President
Obama hunkered down in Camp David ahead of the third head-to-head with
his Republican rival. He is due to remain their until Monday night's
encounter, leaving the donkey work of the campaign to his deputy Joe Biden, who hit the stump in Florida on Saturday.
Likewise,
Romney was leaving nothing to chance ahead of the foreign policy
debate, having slipped up on the topic in the last match-up between the
pair – an occurrence that seemingly arrested his momentum ahead of the
November 6 vote.
Romney is due to spend the weekend in Florida boning up on the issues. Meanwhile his vice-presidential pick, Paul Ryan, is due to campaign in the Democratic-leaning battleground of Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Political
pundits have by-and-large scored the two presidential debates in this
race 1-1, with Obama winning the second after a poor performance in the
first initially handed the electoral running to Romney.
Monday's
debate, due to be held in Boca Raton, Florida, and moderated Bob
Schieffer of CBS News, is dedicated solely to foreign affairs.
It
should be a strong area for the president, as he consistently tops polls
as to which of the candidates is more trusted on international affair.
During his tenure at the White House, Obama has pulled American troops
out of Iraq and presided over drawdown in Afghanistan – both popular
measures in a country grown weary by more than a decade of war.
Additionally,
terror chief Osama bin Laden was assassinated by a US crack team under
the president's watch, providing a further boost to his claims of
competence in pushing forward US objectives overseas.
But the
timing of the debate isn't great for the White House incumbent, coming
just weeks after a confused response from the administration over a
deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
The assault
resulted in the death of four Americans, including ambassador Chris
Stevens. It also, so the Republicans claim, raised questions over
Obama's foreign policy and leadership after conflicting messages over
who was responsible for the assault were initially released.
On
Friday, Ryan continued to needle the president over claims that he
should have known earlier that militants were responsible for the
consulate siege, and not, as some in the administration appeared to
initially think, that it was the work of protesters angered by an
anti-Islam film produced in the US.
Ryan told Wisconsin radio
station WTAQ that the Benghazi attack and its handling by the president
represented the "absolute unravelling of the Obama administration's
foreign policy".
But some believe that the Republican ticket has already overplayed the attack for political advantage.
An
attempt to press the president over the semantic point of whether he
actually called it an "act of terror" the day after the siege, backfired
on Romney in the second debate.
Meanwhile, the White House has
been trying to put some distance between Obama and the initial confusion
over who was behind the Benghazi killings, seemingly shifting the blame
for the response on the State Department.
On Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she took responsibility over the response.
"In the wake of an attack like this, in fog of war, there's always going to be confusion," she explained.
It
is likely that any exchange over the Benghazi incident at Monday's
debate will be closely watched for inconsistencies. But whether or not
the Republicans can make enough of it to overturn a perceived advantage
for Obama on foreign policy remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, Obama
and Biden have been focusing their attack on Romney's apparent policy
shifts on issues such as women's health, dismissively referring to moves
by the Republican hopeful to appeal to the centre as "Romnesia".
With
the race now bending into the home straight, Monday night's debate
could provide a final chance for both White House contenders to land a
few blows in front of an audience of tens of million voters.
Perhaps
of equal importance, both will be eager to avoid any verbal missteps or
gaffes that could provide the 24-news networks with the equivalent of a
water-cooler moment to play relentlessly in the days leading up to 6
November.
Geoffrey Counsell, 50, from Somerset faces seven counts of manslaughter after 34-vehicle pile-up in November 2011
Emergency services at
the scene of the fatal collision near junction 25 of the M5 in November
2011. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images
The organiser of a fireworks display that was taking place next
to the site of a motorway pile up that claimed seven lives has been
charged with the manslaughter of the victims.
Geoffrey Counsell,
50, from Somerset, will appear before magistrates in Bristol next month
accused of seven counts of manslaughter.
On Friday 4 November last
year, seven people died and 51 people were injured on the M5 near
Taunton in Somerset following a collision between 34 vehicles.
A
statement released on Friday night by Avon and Somerset police and the
Crown Prosecution Service revealed that Taunton Rugby Club, which hosted
the display, would not be prosecuted. Nor would any of the motorists
involved.
But the statement said: "The Crown Prosecution Service
has authorised Avon and Somerset police to charge Geoffrey Counsell with
seven counts of manslaughter following the deaths of Anthony and Pamela
Adams, Maggie and Michae
l Barton, Malcolm Beacham, Terry Brice and Kye Thomas in a collision on the M5 in November 2011.
"Since
the collision we have worked closely together to thoroughly investigate
the circumstances of the collision and to carefully consider all the
evidence. This has been a complex process which has also involved
working with Taunton Deane Borough council and seeking the views of
expert witnesses.
"Having considered the evidence … the CPS
decided there was sufficient evidence to charge Geoffrey Counsell, the
provider of the fireworks display at Taunton Rugby Club on the night of
the collision, with manslaughter.
"It was clear from the
investigation carried out by Avon and Somerset police that there was
insufficient evidence to prosecute for driver error and therefore no
action will be taken against any motorists.
"The CPS also
considered the culpability of Taunton Rugby Club and reached the
conclusion that there is insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect
of conviction."
Counsell is due to appear on 12 November.
Former rebel fighters in the Libyan city of Sirte recall the capture and killing of their reviled dictator a year ago
An anti-Gaddafi
fighter points at the drain where Muammar Gaddafi was hiding before he
was captured in Sirte on 20 October 2011. Photograph: Thaier
al-Sudani/Reuters
Moustafa Zoubi trained his battered Kalashnikov on a large storm
water pipe, his gun barrel darting between the shadow at its entrance
and a frantic commotion on the ridge above. Fighters were scrambling in
every direction, shouting commands and barking orders for reinforcements
into their mobile phones. One radio call in particular was repeatedly
shouted: "Call sign one."
Some of the frantic men nearby took
cover behind a grass berm, looking towards an area past a twisted and
smouldering convoy of cars and trucks for the source of the incoming
gunfire. Others made for nearby buildings. All the time, gungho men in
war-ravaged trucks were arriving, tyres squealing on the hot black
bitumen as they neared the maelstrom on the outskirts of the Libyan city
of Sirte.
The recent arrivals were turning up with news urgently
passed on to them in phone calls from their colleagues as far away as
Misrata and Tripoli. The man they had all been hunting was cowering in
the foul-smelling hole in front of them.
Captives from the
firefight still raging around them had given up their boss, the new
arrivals were told. He had nowhere left to run.
Zoubi's heart
seemed to pound through his chest as he focused his Kalashnikov and
every bit of concentration he could summon on the shadow in front of
him. The gunfire crackling in the distance no longer mattered. Along
with everyone else, he was focused solely on the momentous drama that
was about to play out.
A hand tentatively emerged from the
drainpipe. Seconds later another slowly appeared from the shadow into
the midday light. One hand briefly dropped to the ground, and the men
outside responded with screamed orders. "Keep coming," someone said.
Someone else fired into the air.
A man's head appeared from the gloom – sporting a signature black curly mass of hair.
The
rebels surged forward and grabbed the man by the arms, pulling him
clear of the pipe and hauling him to his feet. One pulled his hair back,
forcing his face to lurch violently towards the sunlight.
"Muammar! Muammar!" one of the rebels screamed.
"What's this?" asked one of modern history's most infamous tyrants. "What's this, my sons? What are you doing?"
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi,
wearing matching tan pants and shirt, by now soaked in blood, stopped
briefly and looked around, seemingly bewildered. He had little more than
a few seconds to take in his surroundings before being grabbed by each
arm and wrenched away from his final, ignominious refuge.
The self-anointed Godfather of Libya, King of Kings of Africa,
and Leader Who Lived in All Libyans' Hearts, looked unsteady on his
feet as he was led away, his hair unkempt, wild and partly matted in his
own blood, and his legs trembling with each step.
A mob grew
around Gaddafi as he was frog-marched through the sand. While he was
being taken towards a group of rebel trucks, one fighter crouched in the
dirt behind the frightened captive and sodomised him with a bayonet.
"Haram alaikum!" screamed Gaddafi, his voice hoarse and his eyes darting wildly. Loosely translated: "It's a sin what you are doing!"
Blood
from the vanquished leader's various wounds was now caking his shirt.
Blows rained down on him. Every one of his captors seemed to want a
piece of the hobbled tyrant. Things were slipping fast out of control.
Rebels
from everywhere were converging on this industrial area outside Sirte, a
city that had become associated with his rule. The rebels held their
telephones forward like candles, filming every move of the increasingly
desperate and terrified 69-year-old. Gaddafi was thrown on to the front
of a white car bonnet, his bloodsoaked head locked between the knees of a
militiaman from nearby Misrata.
He slipped off the bonnet, his ravaged body unable to cope with the constant battering. The militiaman hauled him back up.
Around
this time, someone filmed the gruesome shot of what seemed to be a
mortally wounded Gaddafi, an image that would quickly be broadcast
worldwide.
From this point, none of the dozens who were recording
the scene seemed able to hold their mobile phones steady. Torn between
wanting to watch things unfold with their own eyes and recording for
posterity the momentous scenes playing out on what would be a famous day
– 20 October 2011 – the men surrounding Gaddafi all seemed to choose
the former.
Adam Zawbi, a 20-year-old Misrata fighter, saw what
happened next. "I had just got there," he said. "We got a call that
Gaddafi was captured and we went straight to the area. There were lots
of guys shouting and Gaddafi was in the centre of the road. I saw the
gun. I saw the hand holding it and I heard it fire."
"I know who
did it," he later said, as we drove between the central Libyan coastal
city of Zlitan and his home city of Misrata. "I know his first name
anyway." I got the impression that the young medic, by then a veteran of
eight grinding months of frontline warfare, knew a
Police also made an appeal for information about a mystery Renault Clio
and confirmed the van driver physically assaulted people with a weapon
between crashes
A disabled little girl whose mother was killed in a horrific hit-and-run rampage is on a "dream holiday" in Florida and is unaware that she has died, it has been revealed. Karina Menzies, 32, was mown down outside a fire station near her home in Cardiff.
Just
hours before she was hit by a white van as she walked home, the
mum-of-three had tweeted thanking the Dreamflight charity taking her
daughter to America.
She wrote: "completely blown away by the
opportunites u have given my child,cannot thank u enough n i kno
[daughter's name] is havin a ball!! Xx" (sic)
The revelation came as police made an appeal for information
about a mystery car seen driving on the wrong side of the road shortly
before the crashes.
Detectives are continuing to question a 31-year-old man on suspicion of her murder as well as investigating reports that he deliberately knocked people down in the Welsh capital with a white Iveco van.
Detective
Superintendent Paul Hurley confirmed reports that the suspect left his
vehicle and physically assaulted people between the crashes and also
carried a weapon.
The officer said: "We are aware the suspect
assaulted people outside his vehicle," and he added police were "looking
to identify and recover" the weapon.
He said no firearm was involved and there was no suggestion anyone had been stabbed.
Mr
Hurley urged witnesses to get in touch and asked for information about a
black Renault Clio seen driving on the wrong side of the road of
Western Avenue, not far from Cowbridge Road West, where one crash
happened.
The horrific events began when police received calls about an incident in Crossways Road in Ely at 3.30pm.
This
was soon followed by other reports of hit-and-run collisions in several
locations in the west of the city, including Grand Avenue, Cowbridge
Road West and the Leckwith Retail Park.
There was no full registration details for the Clio but officers said it carried on 05 plate.
Fourteen people were injured in the crashes, nine remain in hospital.
Five are children and two adults remain in a critical condition.
Seventy officers are working on the investigation. Floral tributes have been laid at the scene where Ms Menzies was killed.
Among those paying their respects this morning was local Labour MP Kevin Brennan.
He said: "It's absolutely shocking what has happened and the fact that someone has appeared to use a vehicle as a weapon.
"Karina was a well-liked mother who had three children.
"One of her children is disabled and is currently on a dream holiday in Florida.
"This incident is beyond senseless and has rocked the whole community." Scores of tributes have been paid to Ms Menzies on social networking sites.
Facebook
user Katy Johanna Benson wrote: "Rest in piece Karina Menzies. Sleep
tight beautiful angel and may the scum responsible for this senseless,
evil murder be brought to justice. Cant imagine what her family are
feeling."
Facebook user Marine Thomas wrote: "r.i.p karina i didnt
know u personally but from what ive heard u were a fab mum and will be
missed very much :( this is a cruel world we live in and its always the
good ones that go first. sleep tight angel."
Facebook user Jeff
Cornwall wrote: "I never knew you but such a vile tragedy I live not far
from this awful mess rest in peace pet."
Ely sub-postmaster Shady
Taha, 29, had just served two girls aged about 10 and a woman in her
mid-20s moments before one of the hit-and-runs in Grand Avenue,
immediately outside a row of shops.
He said: "All of a sudden I
heard a bang. I looked out and across the road one girl was on the floor
and the other girl was screaming.
"I heard a van speed off but I did not see it." Lynda Paterson, who lives in Cowbridge Road West, described the scene outside her house as chaotic.
"I
was going to pick my children up from school and I could see there were
police and someone was lying on the floor, on the pavement," she added.
"I could see police running back and forth along the road and I now know a child had been hit."
Other eyewitnesses said pedestrians were deliberately targeted by someone driving a white van.
"We
had a customer in our shop who said the van mounted the kerb like the
driver wanted to run down young kids with their parents," a female shop
worker in Grand Avenue, who did not want to be named, said.
The
A&E department at the University Hospital of Wales was initially
shut to anyone not involved in the incident but has now reopened.
Dr Grahame Shortland, medical director at the hospital, said those being treated mostly had fractures and head injuries.
The
crime scenes included Ely fire station, an area near the Merrie Harrier
pub in Llandough on the outskirts of Cardiff, where the suspect was
arrested, and Leckwith Retail Park - next to the Cardiff City Stadium.
Superintendent
Julian Williams said: "This is a tragic incident that has affected a
large number of people, and we thank the people of Cardiff for their
help and support.
"Incidents like this are extremely rare here, as
they are across South Wales, and we want to reassure the public that a
significant number of officers are working on the investigation,
including a number of specialist resources.
"Whether the actions were deliberate or reckless is a matter for the inquiry and the person will obviously be spoken to."
Anyone with any information about the incidents is urged to contact police on 01656 655555.
The victims
Police have released details of the 14 victims of a hit-and-run rampage in Cardiff.
The youngest was a toddler aged 23 months while the oldest was a 49-year-old woman.
There
were five different crash sites - spread out over an area of around
three miles - and officers believe the terrifying spree lasted around 30
minutes.
Here are details of the sites and the casualties: :: Crossways, Ely
Boy, aged 9 - arm and leg injuries
Girl, aged 8 - head injury
Woman, aged 29 - walking wounded :: Reptile Centre, Ely
Woman, aged 22 - leg injuries
Girl, aged 2 - facial injuries
Man, aged 24 - minor injuries :: Ely Fire Station
Woman, Karina Menzies, aged 32 - killed
Girl, aged 23 months - observations only
Girl, aged 8 - head injury :: Grand Avenue Shops
Man, aged 32 - multiple injuries
Girl, aged 10 - arm injury
Girl, aged 12 - back injury :: Leckwith Retail Park
Woman, aged 27 - head injury
Woman, aged 49 - multiple injuries
Ryan Seacrest says we might know by Monday if the rapper and reality star are engaged. We want to know NOW!
You know when people put up a really cryptic Facebook status and then
refuse to tell you what it means? It's very annoying. But Ryan Seacrest
has done the celeb version of that by hinting that Kim Kardashian's
about to get engaged ... then stopping talking. Annoying, Ryan!
On his breakfast radio show, Ryan Seacrest's co-host was talking
about a news story, saying Kanye was "desperate to propose to Kim" and
had already picked out an engagement ring. Ryan, who is the producer of all of the Kardashian's shows,
including Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Kourtney and Kim Take
Miami (which is currently being filmed) then hinted: "I think we could
definitely see an update on this story on Monday." Oooh! If anyone
knows, it'd be Ryan, and this is the biggest hint we've had yet.
Kim's in Rome with Kanye at the moment as part of his surprise for
her 32nd birthday. "I got whisked away to Rome for a birthday week
surprise," she blogged yesterday. "Italy is so beautiful! Best Birthday
ever!!" So if Kanye proposed, Kim's keeping quiet. He'll probably have to propose again on camera for her TV show.
Kanye's reportedly designed a ring for Kim already, and she's already talked about what kind of wedding she wants (on an island, private)
. Kanye's even committed his desire to see Kim "in a white dress"
to song (obviously) and Kim's tried on her sister's wedding ring for size
. Oh, and they've been househunting
too. There's only one thing left ... she needs to get divorced from
her last husband Kris Humphries. Small detail. But not one that'll
stand in the way of Kim and the Kardashian empire, we're sure.
Want to know who has got married? That'll be Justin Timberlake and the lady with the hottest bum in Hollywood, Jessica Biel. Come right this way for details.
The suspect, who has been named on social media sites but not by police,
has yet to be arrested after former England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland
was shoved in the face
A hooligan who ran on to the pitch and assaulted a goalkeeper during a Championship football match
last night has been identified by police.
The suspect, who has been named on social media sites but not by
police, has yet to be arrested after former England goalkeeper Chris
Kirkland was shoved in the face amid ugly scenes at the game between
Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United at Hillsborough.
The FA is also investigating crowd trouble at the Yorkshire derby and is awaiting the referee's report.
Kirkland, who was playing for Sheffield Wednesday, was assaulted by a Leeds fan after the visitors had equalised.
The shocking scenes were broadcast live on Sky Sports and fans were
quick to condemn the trouble on Twitter and Facebook. That led to a
suspect being named on sites, and a mobile phone number being
circulated.
South Yorkshire Police's senior investigating officer, Detective
Inspector Mark Monteiro, said: "With the public's assistance we have
clearly identified the offender who ran on to the pitch during last
night's game between Sheffield Wednesday FC and Leeds United FC and who
is suspected of assaulting the Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper.
"We are dealing with the complaint made by the player and we are
currently taking statements, collating evidence and making inquiries to
locate and arrest the offender.
"We are also using CCTV footage from around the ground to identify
suspects who may have been responsible for other offences before, during
or after the match.
"I'd like to thank the supporters and general public who have provided information and assisted with our inquiries."
An FA spokesman said: "The FA condemns the scenes at Hillsborough
last night. We have begun an immediate investigation and have been in
contact with both clubs.
"We would call for the authorities to identify and bring before the
courts anyone who was involved in any form of criminal disorder." Kirkland required medical treatment before he could continue.
There were five arrests for various offences including public order
before and after the game, while three people were ejected from the
ground and 12 were subject to dispersal orders.
Leeds issued a statement after the game pledging to identify the man involved in the incident.
It read: "Leeds United Football Club would like to publicly apologise
and condemn the action of the fan who came on the pitch and attacked
Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland.
"The club will fully co-operate with the police and the football authorities in identifying the individual concerned.
"After the week football has endured there is no place for this type
of behaviour and the majority of Leeds supporters will be ashamed of his
actions."
The match was marred by vicious chanting from some Leeds fans about
Wednesday manager Dave Jones, who was cleared of child abuse allegations
in 2000.
Wednesday fans replied with songs about two Leeds fans killed in
Turkey in April 2000. Leeds supporters responded by throwing bottles on
to the field and clashing with police.
Jones called for Leeds fans to be banned from "every away ground".
He went on: "You talk about racism, the chanting, that's a form of
racism. And then (for the Leeds players) to go and wave at them... not
in my book. You don't wave at them after that.
"I thought it had gone out of our game. The authorities have to look
at it and sort it. I'm talking about an incident when we should be
talking about the football. We're talking about vile animals. That's
what they are. We talk about racism, but that, we need to sort that."
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
The footballer's lawyer urged the court not to ban Lampard as he needed
to drive regularly to see his children who live with his former partner
England and Chelsea
footballer Frank Lampard has been fined £850 and handed six penalty
points on his licence after he admitted speeding at 84mph on a 50mph
road.
Staines Magistrates' Court was told that the 34-year-old
midfielder had changed his plea from not guilty to guilty after being
sent video footage of the offence, which happened on the London-bound
carriageway of the A3 Esher Bypass in Claygate on January 17 this year.
Prosecutor
David Owen told the court a police "speed scope" caught Lampard's Land
Rover travelling at 34mph over the limit, and the player later confirmed
in writing that he had been at the wheel.
Lampard, who was absent
from court, was defended by Nick Freeman who urged the bench to
consider points rather than a ban, as the footballer needed to drive
regularly to see his children who live with his former partner.
Mr Freeman said: "I think this is one of the few roads where there is a 70mph limit one way and a 50mph limit the other.
"To be honest, he [Lampard] doesn't recall the offence."
In March 2011 Lampard served a 60-day driving ban after being clocked at 91mph on the same stretch of the A3.
Mr
Freeman told the court that more points on his licence would act as an
incentive to drive within the law, because any further offence inside
three years would mean an accumulation of 12 points and a 12-month ban.
He
said this was "hugely significant", adding: "He [Lampard] had made a
massive effort since the offence you heard about, to comply with the
speed limits.
"He has been using his cruise control and is
particularly disappointed in himself. He has had his driving licence
since he was 17.
"This will be a Sword of Damocles hanging over
him and it would be a very heavy sword, as he would be off the road for
12 months rather than six."
Lampard, of Tregunter Road, Chelsea, west London, was also ordered to pay £130 costs and a £15 surcharge.
The woman and two relatives - a boy aged four and a two-year-old girl -
were pronounced dead by firefighters while a 23-year-old man and a
15-month-old baby were taken to hospital
Detectives investigating a house fire which killed a young mum and
two children have arrested their neighbours on suspicion of murder.
The
victims - a 20-year-old woman, a boy aged four and a two-year-old girl -
died after the blaze broke out in their first-floor flat in Maes Y
Groes, Prestatyn, last night, a North Wales Police spokeswoman said.
She added that the arrested pair live underneath them on the ground floor and were a man, aged 45, and a woman, aged 42. .
The force said the female victim was related to the two children but was not their mother.
The
dead woman's 15-month-old baby boy is in a critical condition in
hospital and her 23-year-old boyfriend is also in hospital being treated
for serious injuries.
The man is not related to the two dead children, North Wales Police said. .
.Detective Superintendent John Chapman said: "We would appeal
for anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the Maes y Groes
area of Prestatyn yesterday evening to get in contact as soon as
possible by calling us on 101.
"We are deploying family liaison officers to work closely with the next of kin at this difficult time.
"There is a team of dedicated officers working on specific lines of inquiry in relation to this incident."
Firefighters were called to the scene at 10pm last night and recovered the five people.
Andrew "Plebs" Mitchell's resignation took a little heat off freeloader George Osborne
No greater sacrifice can a Chief Whip make than to lay down his job for the Chancellor. Andrew "Plebs" Mitchell
's resignation took a little heat off freeloader George Osborne.
But the ConDemNation government is a rolling disaster. Blunder upon blunder exposes how out of touch this clique are.
Mitchell looked down his nose at police and admits he swore.
Osborne's a hypocrite for wanting a free ride after smearing welfare
claimants as scroungers. And Cameron, riding to country suppers on a
retired police horse, is an incompetent PM.
His mob get all the big decisions wrong. Reckless cuts plunged Britain into a living standard-destroying recession.
He's put the NHS up for sale.
Today I'll be compering speeches at London's TUC march for A Future That Works.
One Nation Ed Miliband now has a glorious chance to offer a better tomorrow.
Many witnesses were shaking as they described the three-mile trail of carnage that left a woman dead and 11 other people injured
Shocked witnesses wept today as they told how pedestrians were deliberately mown down when a van driver went berserk.
Many
were still shaking as they described the three-mile trail of carnage
that left a woman of 32 dead and 11 other people – including seven
children – in hospital, some with serious injuries.
They were
stunned as the driver deliberately ploughed into innocent pedestrians in
five separate incidents as it sped through Cardiff’s crowded streets.
A
man of 31 was being held on suspicion of murder last night as it was
revealed that the horrific rampage in the city’s Ely and Leckwith areas
followed a forecourt bust-up at an Asda petrol station at around 3.30pm.
A
white van suddenly screeched off, tyres smoking, and began mounting the
pavement, driving at terrified pedestrians and children on their way
home from school.
Two women were said to have been dragged 250 yards after being hit.
It was also claimed that after smashing into other victims, the driver stopped, then reversed over them.
Gail Harford, 40, said: “He was backing up over them again – it’s too horrendous for words.”
Shopkeeper Phil Jones added: “The van aimed straight at a mum and two children walking on the pavement and mowed them down.”
Three of the injured were named as mum Annie Lewis, 22 and her daughter Amelia-May, two.
Witnesses
said Annie and partner Adam, 23, were pushing Amelia-May in her pram
when they were “deliberately” targeted after the van swerved across four
lanes.
Amelia-May was left covered in blood from facial injuries which were not thought to be life threatening. Student Annie, who suffered a broken leg, was put in one of the fleet of ambulances at the scene.
Retail worker Adam was shocked but uninjured and travelled to hospital with them.
His
grandmother Maureen Lewis, 80, said: “It was total mayhem out there –
the driver of the white van was driving fast and furious at anyone in
his path.
Adam, Annie and Amelia were hit by the white Transit further down the road.
“I just didn’t know what the hell was going on. The driver was just running people down at random.”
Fighting back tears she added: “Thank God Annie and Amelia-May weren’t killed.”
A fleet of ambulances struggled to keep up with the stream of casualties.
And the A&E department at the University Hospital of Wales had to be closed to anyone not involved in the incident.
Crashes were reported at a number of locations, including Grand Avenue in Ely, Cowbridge Road West, and Leckwith Retail Park.
The
condition of the injured was not known late last night. Ely
sub-postmaster Shady Taha, 29, had just served two girls and a young
woman moments before the collision in Grand Avenue.
He said the
girls aged about 10 and the woman, in her mid-20s, had been browsing
birthday cards in his store before stepping out on to the pavement
He
said: “All of a sudden I heard a bang. I looked out and one girl was on
the floor and the other girl was screaming. I heard a van roar off but I
did not see it.”
Lynda Paterson, who lives on Cowbridge Road West, said the scene outside her house was chaotic.
She added: “I was going to pick my children up from school and
I could see there were police everywhere and someone was lying on the
pavement.
"The officers were running back and forth along the road and I now know there was a child who had been hit.”
Police were also called to Crossways Road and Sloper Road. Ely Fire Station was sealed off by a team of forensic officers.
Leckwith Retail Park, next to Cardiff City’s football ground, was also temporarily closed.
The
altercation that is believed to have sparked the rampage was witnessed
by Dr Elizabeth Haywood – wife of Labour politician Peter Hain.
She
said: “I was filling up with petrol and I saw a taxi driver going to
help another guy who had been hit on the head with a steering wheel
immobiliser. I think he got hit as well.
“The guy who was hitting them walked over to his white van which was parked at the petrol pumps.
"I
checked his registration number and meanwhile the taxi driver ahead of
me at the pump got back into his car shaken up and drove off.
“Just
as I was making the phonecall to the emergency services the white van
that had been sitting there suddenly sped off, screeching and with smoke
coming from the tyres.
"The next thing I heard was a scream and a thump.
There
was a woman who was in front of his van who was hitting the front of
his bonnet because he had hit her. She then went under the wheels of his
van.
“So we were all screaming ‘back-up, back-up’. There were a
lot of people there. So he did back up and then he ran over her again.
“This
other woman came up to the van to get him to stop and he ran over her
as well and he dragged them both to the corner of the roundabout and out
into the road which leads back on to the main road and he hit another
man coming the other way who opened his car door to stop him.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mirror, he recalled how he spent
endless hours searching land around the remote rundown farmhouse
They were words which shook Eddie Needham awake in the middle of the night 21 years ago.
He and his family had spent days and nights searching for his grandson Ben on Kos when he heard the toddler speak to him in his sleep, pleading: “Please come and find me, Grandad, I’m here.”
Back on the Greek island, Eddie, now 63, says those words still haunt him today.
So
too does the guilt he feels that Ben ever disappeared at all – he had
persuaded daughter Kerry to up sticks and join the rest of the family in
Greece in the first place.
Now the retired builder hopes the search led by UK police will finally end their nightmare.
Yesterday he returned to the spot where he last saw his fun-loving 21-month-old grandson playing.
Speaking
exclusively to the Daily Mirror, he recalled how he spent endless hours
searching land around the remote rundown farmhouse where Ben
disappeared in 1991.
He said: “The biggest thing that’s haunted me is I used to hear him in my head, ‘I’m here, Grandad. Come and find me, I’m here’.
"I searched everywhere; the ravine, the brambles, the outbuildings, the well.
“I had to give up searching for Ben for my own sanity. It was sending me mad. I couldn’t think or operate properly.”
Eddie
and his wife Christine, now 60, fell in love with Kos during their
first holiday abroad together in September 1990 and quickly made the
decision to sell up in Sheffield and move to their island idyll.
They
bought a second-hand caravan, a battered old Land Rover and headed off
with their sons Stephen, then 16, Danny, 10, and their pet dog. Eddie said: “We drove there and for two days in France we went in the wrong direction.
"We spent Christmas Day in a motorway service station and had turkey Chris had cooked but that was it because the gas ran out.
“When
we got to Kos we had a great life at first, fishing all the time
catching octopus and eels and cooking them. We thought, ‘What a life!’”
Son Danny, now 33 and a singer, chipped in: “I loved it too. It was brilliant, I got to swim and play on the beach.”
But the family, who are incredibly close, desperately missed their first grandchild and Kerry.
They constantly wrote letters home to 19-year-old Kerry telling her about their new wonderful life.
Danny
explained: “We told her Ben would have a fabulous life over there. It
was so free and not at all like England with all the crime.
“Kerry’s heart had been broken by Ben’s dad and we told her to come out. She agreed and we picked her up from the airport.”
The family rented a small olive grove and set about starting the renovations.
Eventually Stephen and Kerry decided they wanted some independence and moved into an apartment together with Ben.
Kerry got a job as a waitress and Christine looked after Ben when she was working.
On
the morning of July 24, 1991, Kerry went to work and Christine and
Danny pushed Ben in a pushchair on the half-an-hour trip to visit the
building site.
It was the tot’s first trip there to see his grandad Eddie and uncle Stephen working, while a digger driver moved rubble.
It was only after work had finished for the day that it became apparent Ben was missing.
Eddie said: “The last time I saw Ben he was playing just outside.
"He had a stick and was poking the mud and throwing water over himself.
“For some reason I thought Danny was outside with him but Danny said he was inside eating.” It was Christine who eventually raised the alarm.But
in a devastating misunderstanding Eddie’s Greek boss said Stephen must
have taken him when he’d left earlier on his motorbike.
Back then there were no mobile phones allowing the family to quickly check.
In
the days that followed local police led the hunt for Ben, feared
accidentally buried under the mountain of rubble when the digger was
clearing the site.
Eddie recalled: “I had to stand and watch as
police got a JCB and tipped the pile of building dirt from the site next
door very slowly.
"Every bucketful felt as if my guts were falling out.
“They moved the dirt from A to B, and the police expected Ben’s body to roll out. Then they moved it back again.
"There was never a proper investigation or a proper search. It was never treated as a crime scene.
“There
was a man from the BBC based in Athens at the time and he said he could
try and get heat-seeking equipment from the UK to search but the police
officer in charge said ‘no’ because he didn’t think Ben was on the
island.
“He said if he was the birds would have alerted them as they come in huge numbers even if a small animal is dead.
"He said the ground was too hard for someone to have buried him.”
Referring
to the fresh search, Eddie went on: “If they find anything I will be
angry because they could have stopped two decades of pain and suffering
of not knowing.
“Every time we left Kos I felt as if we were leaving him behind all over again.”
The guilt they still carry remains the most crippling aspect their ordeal.
“I
feel so much guilt because I wish I had been strong enough to say ‘no’
we are not moving abroad, I still blame myself,” Eddie said.
“If we hadn’t persuaded Kerry to join us with Ben this would never have happened and he would still be with us.
"It was us who wanted Kerry to come live with us.”
Fighting back tears Christine added: “We told her to come out as it would be a wonderful life for her and Ben.
Kell Brook knows he must stay focused on his next opponent, Hector
Saldivia, or he'll miss out on world title opportunities - and possible
superfights with Amir Khan and Ricky Hatton
Sheffield fighter Kell Brook insists he's remaining focused on the
task in hand against Hector Saldivia, despite knowing victory could see
him thrust into big-money superfights with fellow Brits Ricky Hatton and
Amir Khan.
Brook's bout against Saldivia - an IBF welterweight
world title eliminator - could catapult "The Special One" into the upper
echelons of the welterweight division
Both Hatton, making his
comeback after retirement, and Khan, looking to rebuild his reputation
after losing his own light-welterweight belts in July, have been cited
as possible opponents for the unbeaten Brook.
His promoter, Eddie
Hearn, admitted tentative talks had started with Khan's camp and, should
Brook beat Saldivia tonight and then take the belt early next year, a
domestic tear-up would surely be on the cards.
The 26-year-old is
not looking that far ahead, preferring to concentrate on the immediate
Argentinian wall ahead of him, but does acknowledge big things will lie
ahead if he gets the job done.
"I don't think about those two at
all but there is me, Amir Khan, Ricky Hatton and some mega-fights out
there," he told Press Association Sport.
"Hector Saldivia is on my radar and I am fighting him on Saturday and that's all that is on my mind."
Brook
is heading to the Motorpoint for what will be his sixth fight out of
Hearn's Matchroom stable, and his third bout in a row at the Steel
City's main arena.
It is a far cry from his first appearance under
Hearn, which came at Hillsborough Leisure Centre against Lovemore Ndou
in June last year.
Since then he has taken to the ring at Ponds
Forge and also in Atlantic City when he saw off Luiz Galarza on the
undercard to Khan's controversial loss to Lamont Peterson.
"I've
come over some hurdles and learned along the way," Brook added. "I have
boxed into America and now I am coming to the finished article and am
ready to explode."
His new-look physique gives a nod to that. He
has been put through a rigorous 12-week training programme designed to
leave no stone unturned after his close shave against Carson Jones in
July.
"I'm in the best shape I have ever been in. It's the best I
have ever felt and the easiest I have made the weight. I'm feeling
strong and I can't wait for Saturday night," Brook said.
"You
never stop learning and I have taken my body to places it's never been
before. It's been crying in pain, not wanting to be there but it's had
to go there because that's what I have been told to do."
The
winner of tonight's duel will then await news from Brooklyn where Devon
Alexander will meet the current belt holder, Randall Bailey, with the
two winners likely to meet in the spring.
Ethan had a whole chain of saviours: the man who dug him up, the
firefighters who rushed him off and a vet who nursed him back to life
A Jack Russell terrier has survived after being poisoned and buried alive - and he can thank the man who saw the ground wiggle.
Ethan came back to life on his third birthday after someone tried to kill him.
He had a whole chain of saviours: the man who dug him up, the
firefighters who rushed him off and a vet who nursed him back to life.
Sabrina Zamora, president of an animal association in
Charleville-Mezieres, 125 miles northeast of Paris, said today the
little white dog with a black ear was "flat as a pancake" when he was
dug up from his grave on Tuesday near a lakeside pedestrian path.
"It's extraordinary. We only see this in TV movies," said vet Philippe Michon.
"He came back to life and without a scratch. It's rather miraculous."
The vet said when firemen brought the dirt-covered terrier to his office "he was completely cold, he was barely breathing".
Michon used hot water bottles to warm up Ethan's seemingly lifeless body.
The dog was so cold his veins had collapsed and it was hard to find
one to hydrate him but within 24 hours the dog was back on his feet.
According to the vet and Zamora, a man walking by just happened to
see the ground moving - an apparent result of convulsions from the dog's
poisoning. The man then got a shovel and dug the dog up.
Ethan was identified through a microchip that showed all this happened on his third birthday.
His owner says he had given the dog away but police are investigating, Zamora said.
"(Ethan) had an unbelievable chain of luck," Michon said. "If the
ground hadn't trembled, no one would have taken a shovel to it."
Justin and Jessica Biel's wedding was clearly a good party as he emerged
this morning clutching a packet of cigarettes, a drink and wearing
sunglasses ...
Justin Timberlake got married last night in Italy
, and today he emerged from his suite at the Cala Masciola beach resort
to go into the town of Fasano wearing his wedding ring. It's er, gold
and circular. Sorry - boy's rings are generally boring.
Although, we can expect it's an expensive ring: Justin was rumoured
to have had Jessica's engagement ring custom made. So, basically, it's
no Argos last-minute job. Clearly the wedding was a good party - Justin was holding what
looked like a packet of cigarettes, a juice and wearing sunglasses.
Justin and Jessica Biel tied the knot last night at 7.30pm in
Southern Italy, and celeb guests included Andy Samberg, N*SYNC and
apparently, producer Timbaland. We hope he performed at the reception -
that would have confused the older relatives ... They flew all their friends out in secret to Germany, then
put them on a private plane to Naples, and then took them to the posh
beach resort. Sneaky.
Then, they treated them to a pre-wedding party on Thursday night
before the big day. Some relatives were also spotted sightseeing, bike
riding and generally having the best time ever. Why aren't we related to
a celebrity? JT and Jessica (hang on, will she be Jessica Timberlake now?)
have already issued a statement on the wedding to People magazine,
saying: "It's great to be married. The ceremony was beautiful and it was
so special to be surrounded by our family and friends."
And the whole thing will be in People magazine on Wednesday. We cannot WAIT to see the dress.
Robert Peter Moore, 31, was given a six-month suspended sentence after
pleading guilty to possessing child and animal porn - but refuses to
accept he has a sexual deviance
A pervert has walked free from court after pleading guilty to
possessing a hoard of child and animal porn – including videos of sex
with an OCTOPUS.
Robert Peter Moore, 31, had amassed a massive collection of
pornography including 35 images and 79 videos of humans having sex with a
range of animals also including a pig, a goat and a horse.
Judge Colin Burn declined to view the pictures of the extreme animal
porn after prosecution counsel Jeremy Hill-Baker said the images "speak
for themselves".
During his mitigation at Bradford Crown Court today, Robin Frieze,
for Moore, quipped: "If the prospect of a human being having sex with an
octopus speaks for itself then my learned friend certainly has a better
imagination than I."
Moore, who does not accept he has a sexual deviance, pleaded guilty to 14 counts of possessing child and animal pornography.
Police had also found 82 indecent images or videos of children on his
hard drive ranging from levels one to four in terms of seriousness
although it was accepted he had stumbled across that by accident.
Mr Frieze added: "This is an unusual case as there's been no attempt to look for child pornography.
"These images have come to him from a very comprehensive attempt to collect adult porn."
Sentencing Moore, of Long Preston, North Yorks., Judge Burn said:
"This is a large collection of pornography which features some very
unpleasant images.
"The basis of your plea is that you never meant to collect the child pornography.
"Possessing the extreme pornography, as it is described now, carries a
sentence of imprisonment but much more serious are the images of
children being abused."
Moore was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work.
He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for seven years.
Because he did not admit that he had a problem he was not eligible
for any sex offender treatment programmes which are provided by the
probation service.
She still looks amazing without any slap on. Maybe she left her make-up bag at home in the rush to pack for her flight?
Selena Gomez might not have any make-up on, but she still looks
good. That's annoying. Without make-up we look like a scared mole. Then
again, we're not a 20 year old millionaire.
Selena was running errands in LA before she boarded a flight at LAX
airport (a clever Twitter follower spotted her going through security)
and we think she's flying out to see her boyfriend Justin Bieber, who's
got a concert in Minneapolis tonight.
We're sure Selena's sudden interest in seeing her boyfriend in action has NOTHING to do with these pictures
of him holding hands with Carly Rae Jepsen onstage this week. Nope. Not one thing. It's Selena's second trip to see Justin on his 80 date tour -
the first time she flew out to join him in Canada. They went for dinner
and played pool in Edmonton, and the nice man who owns the diner they
went to said this: "They
came in to get a bite to eat. They like to play pool. They’re big pool
players. They came down; they were coming to chill out. No disguise.
They had one bodyguard with them. I happened to recognize Selena Gomez. I
was asking for their ID," he said. That's right: he was checking they
were old enough to go in the venue. In Canada, they're OK to go into a
bar: the legal age is 18 in Alberta, where Edmonton is. Thanks,
Wikipedia! It's sweet of Selena to go and see Justin, anyway, as he's admitted he gets lonely on tour
- and misses his mum. Awww. He told Daybreak: "I do miss her yeah, I
mean especially like now being 18 and you know when before when I was
round her all the time like every day, so I was getting sick of her and I
would look forward to her leaving, like ‘yes mom’s leaving tomorrow!’.
And now I’m like, ‘When is mum coming back?’ because I don’t see her
that often so you know it’s funny how those things change.”
Oh, JB. That's not very cool. At all.
Talking of people called Justin (tenuous!) here are all the details on Justin Timberlake's Italy wedding
.
