A millionaire reality TV star is being sought by police over the murder of a model whose body was found in a Californian dumpster. 28-year-old Jasmine Fiore was found dead in an unzipped suitcase in Buena Park, Orange County.
Police are seeking real estate tycoon Ryan Jenkins, 32, a contestant on the reality show Megan Wants a Millionaire, in which former Rock of Love hopeful Megan Hauserman dates several rich men with the aim of ultimately becoming the girlfriend of one of them. Jenkins reportedly met Fiore at a Las Vegas strip club and married her two days later.
Jenkins reported the swimsuit model missing hours after the discovery of her body. Since then he has not returned calls from investigators and is considered a person of interest. Police suspect he may be on the run and are trying to trace him as well as a black and white Mercedes car he may be driving.
It is thought that Jenkins may have returned to his homeland of Canada. Fiore, who had worked for Playboy, had been strangled according to police. Her body was found by someone searching for goods to recycle. She was last seen alive at 8:30 p.m. on Friday and had not contacted her family since then.
Toyota has agreed to pay a record $16.4 million fine to the US government over allegations that the automaker concealed defects in its vehicles.
Toyota has accepted responsibility for violating its legal obligations to report any defects promptly
US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made the announcement Monday, saying in an e-mailed statement that “Toyota has accepted responsibility for violating its legal obligations to report any defects promptly.” Toyota has still not admitted any wrongdoing, and said that it disagreed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which levied the fine against Toyota. In a statement, Toyota said it “denies N.H.T.S.A.’s allegation that it violated the Safety Act or its implementing regulations. We believe we made a good faith effort to investigate this condition and develop an appropriate counter-measure.”
Toyota is still at risk of lawsuits from those affected by cars that crashed due to a safety defect in the accelerator pedal. Numerous such lawsuits have been filed, and analysts said that the total cost of the lawsuits could be upwards of two billion dollars in 2010, and possibly as much as ten billion in total. While the government fine is largely symbolic, as the amount was limited by US law, it could provide support for lawyers who are filing legal charges against Toyota. If the cap on the fine was not in place, Toyota would have been fined a total of $13.8 billion; each of the 2.3 million defective vehicles sold would have had a $6,000 fine.
Additionally, the NHTSA is reportedly considering a second fine, also of $16.4 million, based on evidence that there were two separate defects in the affected vehicles, and the company is facing an investigation from both the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A UK court has remanded a man in custody after he appeared in court over a stabbing incident in the capital London. Muhaydin Mire, a 29-year-old from east London, was charged with attempted murder after reportedly at least two people were injured, one seriously, in Leytonstone tube station on Saturday. The suspect, who spoke only to confirm personal details in yesterday’s hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, is also set to appear at the Old Bailey on Friday.
The motivation for the attack is not yet clear, although prosecutors told yesterday’s hearing imagery associated with Daesh was thought to be on the suspect’s phone. Witnesses reportedly heard the suspect shout the words “this is for Syria” when the attack occurred. The House of Commons voted in favour of UK military action against Daesh in Syria three days earlier. The Metropolitan Police have said they are treating this attack as a terrorist incident.
Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday condemned the attack as “hideous” and praised the public and police response. “It’s obviously a hideous attack,” he said, “and we’ve all seen pictures of it and read about it and first of all, full credit to the person and people who took on this attacker, and full credit to the very brave police officers who managed to subdue him […] I think this event simply showed again what brilliant and brave and dedicated people there are when it comes to our police officers.” Earlier, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “The stabbing in Leytonstone is absolutely shocking. My thoughts are with the victim and his family.”
The Prime Minister also endorsed the sentiment of the phrase ‘You ain’t no Muslim, bruv’, which one man is heard to shout in video of the suspect’s arrest, and which subsequently became a Twitter trend. “Some of us have dedicated speeches and media appearances and soundbites and everything to this subject,” Cameron said, “but ‘you ain’t no Muslim, bruv’ said it all much better than I ever could and thank you because that will be applauded around the country.” Additionally, Sadiq Khan, Labour Party candidate for Mayor of London, used the hashtag in a tweet in which he added: “To defeat extremism we must directly challenge their poisonous ideology”.
Atari Melbourne House has been at the centre of recent speculation after head of studio Andrew Carter took charge earlier this year, and details about their current project have been limited.
A source inside the studio has confirmed that the title in development is a PS2 port of Eden’s next-generation Xbox 360 game.
Although Melbourne House established a strong reputation for driving games with the acclaimed Test Drive: Le Mans (Sega Dreamcast), recent ventures away from the genre such as Men In Black II: Alien Escape and Transformers: Armada (targeted at the high end of the market) have failed to make an impact.
However, speculation about the studio’s long term future took another turn this week when Atari CEO James Caparro resigned. Although the ambitious natural disaster themed The Big One was cancelled when former CEO Bruno Bonnell took a back seat in November last year, the project – known inside the studio as Bonnell’s “pet” – might be revived now Bonnell has been appointed interim CEO in the wake of Caparro’s resignation.
“Who knows, it might be [The Big One], it might be another port,” the source said.
Two senior game designers have resigned from the studio in the past month.
Egyptian army soldiers monitor protests over the weekend. Image: Ramy Raoof.
The president of Egypt has suffered a “devastating blow” after the country’s army announced they would not use force against their own people, who continue to protest against the government tonight. The news came hours after six journalists who reported on the protests were released from custody.
Hosni Mubarak yesterday announced a new cabinet, which does not include several figures who protesters largely do not approve of. Analysts have, however, suggested little had changed within the government; many positions, they say, are filled with military figures.
To the great people of Egypt, your armed forces, acknowledging the legitimate rights of the people … have not and will not use force against the Egyptian people.
In a statement broadcast on state media in Egypt, the army said: “To the great people of Egypt, your armed forces, acknowledging the legitimate rights of the people … have not and will not use force against the Egyptian people.” A BBC correspondent in Cairo said the announcement meant it “now seems increasingly likely that the 30-year rule of Mr Mubarak is drawing to a close.”
“The presence of the army in the streets is for your sake and to ensure your safety and wellbeing. The armed forces will not resort to use of force against our great people,” the statement added. “Your armed forces, who are aware of the legitimacy of your demands and are keen to assume their responsibility in protecting the nation and the citizens, affirms that freedom of expression through peaceful means is guaranteed to everybody.”
Earlier today, six journalists from the independent news network Al-Jazeera were released from custody after being detained by police. The U.S. State Department criticized the arrests; equipment was reportedly confiscated from the journalists.
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Egyptian officials yesterday ordered the satellite channel to stop broadcasting in the country. Al-Jazeera said they were “appalled” by the government’s decision to close its Egyptian offices, which they described as the “latest attack by the Egyptian regime to strike at its freedom to report independently on the unprecedented events in Egypt.”
In a statement, the news agency added: “Al-Jazeera sees this as an act designed to stifle and repress the freedom of reporting by the network and its journalists. In this time of deep turmoil and unrest in Egyptian society it is imperative that voices from all sides be heard; the closing of our bureau by the Egyptian government is aimed at censoring and silencing the voices of the Egyptian people.”
On Friday, Wikinews reported the government had shut off practically all Internet traffic both out of and into the nation, as well as disrupting cellphone usage. A spokesperson for the social networking website Facebook said “limiting Internet access for millions of people is a matter of concern for the global community.”
Protesters in Tahrir Square on Sunday. Image: Mona.
A reported 50,000 campaigners, who are demanding the long-time leader step down and complaining of poverty, corruption, and oppression, filled Tahrir Square in Cairo today, chanting “We will stay until the coward leaves.” It is thought 100 people have so far died in the demonstrations. Today there have been protests in Suez, Mansoura, Damanhour, and Alexandria.
Speaking to news media in the area, many protesters said the new cabinet did little to quell their anger. “We want a complete change of government, with a civilian authority,” one said. Another added: “This is not a new government. This is the same regime—this is the same bluff. [Mubarak] has been bluffing us for 30 years.”
In Tahrir Square today, protesters played music as strings of barbed wire and army tanks stood nearby. Demonstrators scaled light poles, hanging Egyptian flags and calling for an end to Mubarak’s rule. “One poster featured Mubarak’s face plastered with a Hitler mustache, a sign of the deep resentment toward the 82-year-old leader they blame for widespread poverty, inflation and official indifference and brutality during his 30 years in power,” one journalist in the square reported this evening.
Location of Hemel Hempstead within the UKA shot of the fire taken near the depot
A series of large explosions have occurred close to Hemel HempsteadHertfordshire, UK. The source of the explosions has been confirmed as the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal (HOSL), Hemel Hempstead, known locally as the Buncefield complex. Up to 150 fire fighters are reported to be at the scene with 10 fire appliances and 1 specialist foamer.
The first ‘blast’ was heard near Hemel Hempstead on Sunday 11 Dec at 6 am. Further smaller explosions followed at 6:24am , 6:26am, 6:30am. BBC News 24 reported an additional, fourth large explosion. Hertfordshire Police Constabulary are currently treating the explosion as an accident.
Reports say the explosion, which registered 2.4 on the Richter scale, was heard as far away as Oxford, and Whitehall, Central London which is 60km (38 miles) away. Eyewitness statements report that the explosion was heard from at least 160km (100 miles) away and as far away as France and The Netherlands. Pilots reported noticing the blast from the North Sea and the West Country area of the UK. The M1 motorway which runs close by has been closed in both directions near the blast which is causing travel chaos as other roads become congested.
Malcom Stewart, a BBC News24 eyewitness who is a tanker driver for the site has reported that the site supplies several oil companies and is a joint operation between Total UK and Texaco, it is also used by BP, Shell and the British Pipeline association. The complex is not a refinery but a storage facility for refined petroleum awaiting distribution to airports and filling stations. The eyewitness reports that the depot has approximately 20 tanks which can hold about 3 million gallons (11 million litres or 70,000 barrels) each. Another News24 eyewitness has just reported that he has seen at least 5 of these tanks on fire.
Satellite image of Hemel Hempstead fuel explosion showing black smoke from the explosion near London
The depot operates on a 24 hour basis and is split into 2 parts – aviation fuel and domestic fuel. A number of eyewitnesses have reported on UK news that the aviation fuel side appears to be the part of the site that has been affected.
Local authorities were not immediately available for comment but there have been reports of casualties.
Some reports on live television state that, “Several other neighbours said they did see a plane go into the depot.” BBC News 24 were also discussing the idea a possible plane crash as the cause of the explosions. Hertfordshire police have now gone on the record to say that there is no plane involved (BBC News24).
The police have issued a contact number 0800 096 0095 and asked that people do not call the emergency services in Hertfordshire directly unless it is an emergency.
Buncefield Fire, taken from Dunsmore, Bucks – about 20miles away.
In addition to being an oil storage depot, it is a major hub on the UK oil pipeline network with pipelines to Killingholme Lindsey Oil Refinery (LOR), Humberside (10 inch), Merseyside (10 and 12 inch), Coryton on the Thames Estuary (14 inch) and Heathrow (6 and 8 inch) and Gatwick airports radiating from it.
The disaster is believed to be the worst explosion at a petrochemical plant in the UK since the Flixborough disaster of 1974.Hertfordshire’s Chief Fire Officer Roy Wilsher said: “This is possibly the largest incident of its kind in peacetime Europe.”
A firefighting press officer said that they are stock piling foam from neighboring regions for a prolonged attach which they hope will stop the spread of the fire, however, the inferno itself will have to burn out which could take between 24 hours and a few days.
Despite the authorities saying that there is no need to panic buy petrol, filling stations have had above average queues since this morning and some small garages have ran out.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has visited the scene.
The Israeli Interior Ministry has announced today that 900 new housing units are slated to be built by Israeli officials at the Gilo settlement located in East Jerusalem.
A press release by the Interior Ministry read, “The planning and construction committee has authorised the construction of 900 housing units in the Gilo neighbourhood in Jerusalem.” Annexed after the 1967 war, East Jerusalem is what Palestinians still hope to make the capital of their future state. However, the current Israeli government has made claim to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. “Jerusalem is Israel’s capital and will remain as such,” said government spokesman Mark Regev.
Earlier this month the Palestinian Authority insisted that all negotiations with Israel would be put permanently on hold until settlement expansion and home demolitions were halted. The UN reports that 1,500 home demolition orders in East Jerusalem are currently pending in Israeli courts. At least 600 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in East Jerusalem since the beginning of this year. Nearly 500,000 Israelis live in more than 100 different settlements located in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
U.S envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, asked President Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel settlement expansion plans, however his request went unheeded. Settlement expansion has soured relations between the U.S and Israel, however Israel is still the largest recipient of U.S aid annually. Responding to requests by the U.S government that settlement expansion be halted Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said that he, “strongly objects to the American demand to halt construction in Jerusalem and will allow construction for Jews, Muslims, and Christians in any part of Jerusalem without prejudice. The demand to halt construction by religion is not legal in the United States or in any other free place in the world.”
Under international law building settlements in occupied territory is illegal. The UN has deemed Israeli settlements to be a violation of the Geneva Convention.
Rafael Calderon, the former president of Costa Rica, was sentenced to five years in prison after he was convicted of corruption while in office.
Calderon, who served as head of state from 1990 to 1994, is the first ex-president to be tried for corruption. He had been arrested in October 2004, charged with taking an illegal commission after the government bought medical equipment from Finland. Calderon denied the charges.
The former president was convicted on Monday. The head of the social security programme under Calderon, Eliseo Vargas, was sentenced to five years in jail as well. Prosecutors had originally wanted a 24-year jail term for Calderon.
The judge hearing Calderon’s case, Alejandro Lopez McAdam, refused requests by the prosecution to send Calderon to jail immediately, pending the outcome of an expected appeal.
India is the latest of the countries where the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) experiment has started. Children from the village of Khairat were given the opportunity to learn how to use the XO laptop. During the last year XO was distributed to children from Arahuay in Peru, Ban Samkha in Thailand, Cardal in Uruguay and Galadima in Nigeria. The OLPC team are, in their reports on the startup of the trials, delighted with how the laptop has improved access to information and ability to carry out educational activities. Thailand’s The Nation has praised the project, describing the children as “enthusiastic” and keen to attend school with their laptops.
Recent good news for the project sees Uruguay having ordered 100,000 of the machines which are to be given to children aged six to twelve. Should all go according to plan a further 300,000 machines will be purchased by 2009 to give one to every child in the country. As the first to order, Uruguay chose the OLPC XO laptop over its rival from Intel, the Classmate PC. In parallel with the delivery of the laptops network connectivity will be provided to schools involved in the project.
The remainder of this article is based on Carla G. Munroy’s Khairat Chronicle, which is available from the OLPC Wiki. Additional sources are listed at the end.
OLPC in Galima (Nigeria) showing children with their lime green XO laptops.
Thomas Jefferson, painted by Charles Willson Peale (1791)
George W. Bush, the president of the United States, yesterday marked the anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States.
Bush speaking at the event
In the East room of the White House, Mr. Bush made a speech to mark the occasion. Mr. Bush started the speech by discussing Mr. Jefferson. “We’re here tonight to commemorate the 265th birthday of Thomas Jefferson, here in a room where he once walked and in a home where he once lived,” he said.
“In this house, President Jefferson spread the word that liberty was the right of every individual,” continued Mr. Bush. “In this house, Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark off on the mission that helped make America a continental nation.”
Mr. Bush continued his speech by claiming that “with a single sentence, Thomas Jefferson changed the history of the world.” Bush continued, “After countless centuries when the powerful and the privileged governed as they pleased, Jefferson proclaimed as a self-evident truth that liberty was a right given to all people by an Almighty.”
Mr. Bush then said that the ideas of Jefferson were not quickly fulfilled. “Here in America, that truth was not fully realized in Jefferson’s own lifetime. As he observed the condition of slaves in America, Jefferson said, ‘I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just’ and ‘that his justice cannot sleep forever.’ Less than 40 years after his death, justice was awakened in America and a new era of freedom dawned.”
Mrs. Bush also made a speech. “Thomas Jefferson believed that education is the cornerstone of a free society, so it’s therefore little surprise that he viewed the founding of the University of Virginia as one of his top achievements,” she said.