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Showing posts from April 15, 2013

Osbourne split rumors

Osbourne split rumors , the Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne split rumors that bubbled up over the weekend and on Monday were painting anything but a clear picture of this nearly 31-year-old marriage. Son Jack Osbourne, however, was doing his part to unmuddy the waters. First, the rumors ... Sharon was caught on camera "moving into a new home" recently, according to the Daily Mail, which noted the activity took place just days before "The Talk" host was photographed sans wedding ring at a lunch date with daughter Kelly. The London paper showed photos of the redhead looking "downcast" — or perhaps just looking down at the ground as she busied herself around a moving van. Britain's Daily Mirror produced the same pictures but emphasized the financial twist, saying as the Mail had that the couple had broken up over financial woes, including a large tax bill. So now we compare the pics and that info with what TMZ said Monday (while alleging there are no pla

The Sun shines on Rebekah..for now: Ex-tabloid editor sips beer on Sydney yacht with the Murdochs ahead of trial

Rebekah Brooks, the former tabloid editor who faces trial later this year, soaks up the sun in Australia on a luxury yacht with her husband Charlie. The couple, guests of Rupert Murdoch’s son Lachlan and his wife Sarah, cruised round Sydney Harbour. Mrs Brooks, 44, looked pale but relaxed as she sipped beer and enjoyed a meal on the boat with her companions. Away from it all: Sarah Murdoch and husband Lachlan are joined by Rebekah and Charlie Brooks, and their children, for a cruise around Sydney Harbour Tough year ahead: Rebekah and Charlie Brooks managed to look relaxed while they paddled in a dinghy despite the forthcoming trial Both couples and their children took a four-hour trip aboard the 70ft Aquabay. Mr and Mrs Brooks also went out in a dinghy for a paddle.   More... Girl Guides say NO to Page 3: As Murdoch hints he'll drop topless models, Girlguiding UK gets behind campaign to abolish feature The ultimate Beach Bunny: Irina Shayk show

Savile probes to cost BBC £10million: 19 witnesses were allowed up to £50,000 of legal advice

The BBC is setting aside a staggering £10 million to cover the cost of the three inquiries set up following the Jimmy Savile scandal. Lawyers’ fees will account for most of the final bill but details released under the Freedom of Information Act show that a public relations firm, a corporate investigations company and a transcribing service, which charges almost £1,000 a day, are also involved. The Pollard Review, chaired by ex-Sky News chief Nick Pollard, examined why Newsnight’s Savile investigation in 2011 was axed. It reported last December, when acting director-general Tim Davie claimed it would cost £2 million. The two other inquiries are looking at the Corporation’s culture and practices during Savile’s career, and past sexual harassment claims.  The BBC said: ‘It has already been stated that the overall cost of the Pollard inquiry is likely to be approximately £2 million. ‘We will be publishing details of the costs once figures are finalised.’ Nineteen witnes

Airmiles Andy is back at the despot's table dinner table... even though trade role was axed two years ago

The Duke of York has risked  a new diplomatic row after  he claimed to be ‘representing Britain’ at a lavish dinner hosted by a brutal dictator. Nearly two years after being forced to step down as an official UK trade envoy, Prince Andrew was pictured at a summit in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, mingling with prime ministers, politicians, bankers and oil executives. During last week’s event, he gave his views on the economic prospects for central Asia – despite having no authority to do so officially. MPs and human rights groups also criticised his appearance as guest of honour at the table of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, whose corrupt regime is accused of imprisoning opponents, torturing dissidents and rigging elections. The Duke gave a short speech in which he claimed to be 'representing Britain's at the World Economic Forum's meeting In a short speech after the dinner, Andrew told guests:  ‘Mr President, ladies and gentlemen,

Parents sue after their son's remains used in police dog-training

Niagara County officials in western New York are facing a lawsuit from the parents of Roger Dunn, who allege that a coroner took a piece of his body for canine police-training after he died last year. Dunn, 32, was killed in an automobile accident in Cambria on April 13, 2012 according to the Associated Press . His body was transported to the office of Niagara County Coroner Russell Jackman, but not before he provided some of Dunn's tissue to a volunteer firefighter chief Vincent Salerno, who was trying to train a dog to track human remains. Enlarge   Dunn's parents allege in the suit that tissue was taken from their son's body by the Cambria coroner and given to a volunteer firefighter chief to train a dog to sniff human remains The Dunn's have filed their lawsuit, which does not specify damages, against the county coroner's office, the former coroner Jackman, the former firefighter chief Salerno and the volunteer fire depart

Which of these PMs sacked the most miners? (Clue: It wasn't Lady Thatcher)... The amazing facts that make a mockery of the rabble who want to wreck her funeral

As ever, it was Winston Churchill, our greatest of wartime Prime Ministers, who put it best. ‘I am ready to meet my Maker,’ he wrote, but ‘whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.’ There will be many who will be thinking that the sentiment could equally apply to Lady Thatcher, albeit for different reasons. Her achievements were primarily about economic policy, and therefore remain the object of bitter controversy. But while Wednesday’s funeral will be a solemn send-off for a Prime Minister who we can at least all agree transformed Britain, rather than a day of national mourning for the passing of a war hero, let us also hope that the country is allowed to judge her on her actual accomplishments, uncontaminated by her opponents’ propaganda. Judging by some of the recent coverage, Thatcher’s enemies have successfully spread a series of damaging myths about her. Many of these sound plausible, and are even accepted by some of her

Premier stars face massive losses in £200m Moroccan villa nightmare: Embarrassment for Terry and Ferdinand as project they backed flounders

England footballers Rio Ferdinand and John Terry are among hundreds of Britons who face  losing millions of pounds after investing in a holiday villa project in Morocco. They and other star players, including Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and football pundit Gary Neville, ploughed money into the £200million project believing they would now have the keys to stylish beachside homes – but nothing has been built at the site for four years. What they were assured would be a luxury resort featuring 1,342 properties, three golf courses and a sports complex is today an abandoned building site. Investors fear there is little prospect of it ever being completed. And to the embarrassment of the players, many British investors were won over by promotional work they did in return for discounted properties at Le Jardin de Fleur in Saidia. Trevor Cockrell, 55, a semi-retired textile importer from Bolton, faces losing his deposit on a two-bedroom apartment at the resort in Morocco’s B

Cameron's gay marriage guru Andrew Cooper quits after power battle with 'foghorn fixer' Lynton Crosby

The architect of David Cameron’s policy on gay marriage is leaving Downing Street after losing a power battle with the Prime Minister’s new Election supremo. Andrew Cooper, Mr Cameron’s personal polling guru and a key modernising figure at No 10, is returning to his private business after being usurped by outspoken Australian ‘fixer’ Lynton Crosby. Mr Cooper, who became Director of Government Strategy two years ago, is a former member of the now defunct Social Democratic Party and lobbied Mr Cameron to ditch traditional Right-wing Tory values and policies on Europe, tax and crime in a bid to ‘detoxify’ the Conservatives’ ‘Nasty Party’ image. In contrast, Mr Crosby, who took charge of the Tory campaign machine in January on a £200,000-a-year deal, specialises in ‘dog whistle’ tactics – subtle appeals to voters’ underlying prejudices over issues such as immigration – which are designed to appeal to core Conservative voters. Defiant Mr Crosby denies using ‘dog-whistle’

New police chiefs are a wilful waste of money' said boss of youth tsar... before taking £85k job

Embattled Police and Crime Commissioner Ann Barnes is spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on staff and personal advertising campaigns – despite describing her job as a ‘wilful waste of public money’. A week after being humiliated following the resignation of Paris Brown, her £15,000-a-year youth crime tsar, who posted a series of racist and foul-mouthed Twitter rants, a Mail on Sunday investigation can reveal that Mrs Barnes is using a further £90,000 of taxpayer funds to hire a chief of staff. The development comes just months after the 67-year-old recruited two special advisers on £5,900-a-month salaries, as well as paying a former Police Authority colleague £300 a day to advise her. More trouble ahead: Ann Barnes is facing calls to quit after losing the confidence of her officers She has spent a further £15,000 on a battle bus which she has dubbed ‘Ann Force One’. Her 30-page budget plan includes 16 photos of herself. Mrs Barnes, who from June 2005

The Walking Dead... the cookery show: TV execs casting for contestants for post-apocalyptic food-themed show

A new TV cookery show is in the works which aims to feed on the current popularity for all things post-apocalyptic - including The Walking Dead - and the growing ‘prepper’ movement readying itself for the end of civilization as we know it. According to advertisements placed on the Reality Wanted website, a ‘major TV network’ has decided the time is right for an experimental cooking challenge show featuring contestants making ‘unexpectedly delicious’ meals from whatever is close at hand rather than worrying about what is currently in season or what has been sourced locally. TV production company Schweet Entertainment is looking for chefs to compete in ‘post-apocalyptic cooking challenge scenarios’ that will include using whatever is available to whip up a tasty meal without electricity or a fully stocked grocery store to help you out. An experimental new cooking challenge show is in the works that will feature contestants making delicious meals from whatever t

Anguish of the parents who came so close to saving free-spirited Sarah who went off to explore India: So many of us have been there. But this story had an impossibly cruel twist...

Victor Groves took the call at 5.43am last Saturday. The time is important, because at that moment life as they knew it stopped for Victor and his wife, Kate. Now their lives will forever be defined by ‘before and after’ 5.43am — when they learned that their daughter, Sarah, had been murdered while travelling in Kashmir. They had begged 24-year-old Sarah not to go to the region. Ownership of the territory is under dispute by India and Pakistan, and the area has for many years been targeted by terrorists and militants. So fearful were Mr and Mrs Groves for their daughter’s safety that they had booked a trip to Nepal, where they were planning to meet her at the base camp of Mount Everest next Friday. Scroll down for video Tragic: Sarah Groves, 24, from Guernsey, was found stabbed to death on a house boat in Dal Lake, in Srinigar, Kashmir The trip was arranged specifically to persuade Sarah to leave Kashmir, but tragically she died before that planned reunion w

Paris was 16 when she wrote vile sex and drugs tweets. So why is her ex-boss still insisting she was only 14?

Police started investigating 17-year-old former Youth Police and Crime Commissioner Paris Brown after discovering she used a racial slur in her Twitter profile. Miss Brown resigned last week after The Mail on Sunday revealed she used her personal Twitter account to make a series of offensive, racist and anti-gay posts. Kent Police are understood to be looking at tweets where Miss Brown uses the word ‘n*****’ – an offensive term for black people – in alternative spellings. The force also confirmed it has received more than 50 complaints but is yet to decide whether Miss Brown has committed any offence. Her account, where she posted or circulated more than 4,000 messages, was deleted last Saturday after this newspaper asked her to explain messages referring to drug use, underage drinking and threats of violence. Just hours after The Mail on Sunday revealed the foul-mouthed rants, Miss Brown’s boss, Ann Barnes, attempted to defuse the outrage by falsely claiming the me

Now violent DVDs banned in prison perks crackdown

Justice secretary Chris Grayling has banned prisoners from watching 18-rated DVDs as part of his plan to turn jails into ‘no-frills’ institutions. Violent and sexually explicit movies will be removed from prison libraries and inmates will no longer be able to receive them from visitors. Any such material found in cells will in future be confiscated. Computer and video games for over-18s were banned in prisons several months ago and now the Government has widened the net. Chris Grayling says he wants prisons to be 'spartan' places which people do not want to return to It comes after Mr Grayling, who took up his current post last September, told The Mail on Sunday that he wanted prisons to be ‘spartan but humane’ places to which people had ‘no particular desire’ to return.   More... London's ring of steel: Preparations in full swing ahead of Baroness Thatcher's funeral as police get ready to launch biggest security operation since the Ol

Mitchell blames Theresa May for forcing him out over 'Plebgate' and demands a personal apology for 'prejudging' him

Former Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell is demanding an apology from Theresa May after privately accusing the Home Secretary of masterminding his exit from Government over ‘Plebgate’. He is convinced he lost his job last autumn because of a police conspiracy – and that Mrs May was instrumental  in turning the Cabinet against him when his fate hung in  the balance. And he also believes she let her view that his position had become untenable become known to the media. Former Chief whip Andrew Mitchell (right) wants a personal apology from Theresa May (left) because he believes she turned Cabinet members against him during the 'Plebgate' row Mr Mitchell has admitted swearing when asked to take his bicycle through a side gate at Downing Street last September, but has always insisted police fabricated claims that he called them ‘f****** plebs’. He resigned in October after a police log, which appeared to corroborate the officers’ account, was leaked