Profumo Sex Scandal: Mandy Rice-Davies Dies

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 19 Desember 2014 | 20.14

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Gallery: Profumo Affair's Rice-Davies Dies

20 March 1963: Mandy Rice-Davies and Christine Keeler who became famous for their controversial involvement with War Minister John Profumo, which eventually led to his resignation

2 June 1963: Rice-Davies, a Welsh showgirl and witness in the Profumo affair, arrives at London Airport

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30 June 1963: British model Rice-Davies 'ill' in bed

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July 1963: Rice-Davies, the 18-year-old witness in the Ward case, wears a wide-brimmed, flower-trimmed hat and carries a mascot at London Airport for flight to Palma, Majorca

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Mandy Rice-Davies, a key figure in the Profumo sex scandal that rocked the British Establishment in the 1960s, has died.

A spokesman for publicist Hackford Jones said the 70-year-old had died from cancer.

The spokesman said: "It is with deep sadness that the family of Marilyn Foreman, also known as Mandy Rice-Davies, have confirmed that she passed away yesterday evening after a short battle with cancer.

"They have asked for their privacy to be respected and no further comment will be made."

Along with her friend Christine Keeler, the model and showgirl achieved notoriety in 1963 for her involvement in a sex and espionage scandal which led to the resignation of War Minister John Profumo and seriously discredited the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan.

Rice-Davies was also famous for her comment in court when told that a member of the House of Lords had denied he had ever met her.

To laughter in the court, she quipped: "He would, wouldn't he?"

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Gallery: Scandal

The scandal surrounding John Profumo rocked politics in the 1960s. He lied over his affair with Christine Keeler (R), pictured with her friend Mandy Rice-Davies

Mr Profumo was a rising star in the Conservative government. He rose to become Secretary of State for War in July 1960 and seemed destined to become a future Foreign Secretary - and possibly PM

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He also had a glamorous marriage to film actress Valerie Hobson, the star of classic Ealing comedies such as Kind Hearts And Coronets

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Born near Llanelli and raised in Solihull, Rice-Davies was a dancer and model in Soho when she met Keeler. Through Keeler's friend Stephen Ward, a well-connected osteopath, she was introduced to figures from high society, including politicians and peers.

One of their circle - whom Rice-Davies never met - was Profumo, with whom Keeler was having an affair. Keeler was at the same time involved with a Soviet attache.

When the scandal erupted, Profumo initially denied any involvement with Keeler, but was subsequently forced to resign. He withdrew from politics and dedicated the rest of his life to charitable works.

Rice-Davies testified at the trial of Ward, who was accused of living off immoral earnings, where she made her famous remark. Ward committed suicide before the verdict.

She subsequently traded on her notoriety, opening several nightclubs and restaurants. She later turned her hand to acting, appearing in films including Absolute Beginners.

The Profumo affair, occurring on the cusp of the Swinging Sixties and giving a glimpse of Establishment hypocrisy, caught the public imagination, inspiring the 1989 film Scandal, in which Rice-Davies was played by Bridget Fonda, and a 2013 musical scored by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Speaking of the scandal years later she said: "If I could live my life over, I would wish 1963 had not existed.

"The only reason I still want to talk about it is that I have to fight the misconception that I was a prostitute. I don't want that to be passed on to my grandchildren. There is still a stigma."

She was married three times and reportedly divided her time between homes in Miami, the Bahamas and Virginia Water, Surrey.

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Met Reveals Wish List Of Most Wanted Criminals

The Metropolitan Police has released pictures of the 12 most wanted crime suspects in London, with the force vowing to continue to hunt for them over Christmas.

Investigators are appealing for help in finding the dozen, who are accused of burglaries and violent crimes, including actual bodily harm.

Among them is Alan Goodin, a 64-year-old man with 27 aliases. He is wanted in Ealing for allegedly fleeing a string of bed and breakfasts without paying his bills.

Another, Jay Wheeler, is accused of attacking one of his neighbours with a metal bar following a heated row over loud music.

The Met launched two operations in October to deal with a spike in crime traditionally seen during the winter months.

Operation Bumblebee aims to target the 25% rise in home burglaries reported this time of year, while Operation Equinox is designed to crack down on violence-related offences. Anti-social behaviour fuelled by alcohol is often to blame, with many crimes taking place near pubs and nightclubs.

Commander Simon Letchford said: "We will not give up in the search to find people who flout the law and cause people misery, and we will use every means available to catch them.

"The use of fugitive teams and other daily operations will continue to ensure those wanted are caught, so they can face justice."

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Women Could Be Fighting On Front Line By 2016

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

Women could be allowed to fight on the front line from 2016, the Government has announced.

The Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, has signed off a major review that concluded females could serve in a combat role if they achieved the rigorous physical standards required.

A senior defence source has described it as a "significant step forward".

The final decision will be made after an 18-month physiological exam. This will look at women's basic physical ability to cope in harsh environments on lengthy deployments of six months or more.

Mr Fallon told Sky News: "Other armed forces around the world are making this particular change and there's no compelling evidence that the fighting effectiveness of a section or platoon would be damaged.

"The only thing we do have to be sure of is the difference in physiology. Women on average are slightly shorter, slightly smaller, and we have to make sure that the training regimes we have and the weights they have to carry in close combat do not cause them long-term damage."

Women already serve on the front line in a variety of roles: medics, intelligence officers, fighter pilots, and on submarines.

This will open the way for them to join infantry regiments, tanks units and The Royal Marines.

Some allies - the United States, Canada and Australia - already allow women to serve on the front line.

The six-month review was ordered by the last defence secretary Phillip Hammond and has been on his successor's desk for a few weeks.

It was overseen by the Head of the Army, General Nicholas Carter.

Among many things, the review examined the possible consequences of male soldiers serving in close quarters with female colleagues including what effect this might have on the morale of a fighting unit.

It also looked at whether women are more prone to injury.

The review, while not conclusive, has removed doubts within the Ministry of Defence, although some senior military figures have strong reservations.

Major General Patrick Cordingley, a former commander of the 7th Armoured Brigade, known as the Desert Rats, said the move would be a "mistake".

He told the Daily Mail: "I can understand why politically it is a good thing to be seen to be doing - on the other hand, the practicalities of women in the infantry and armoured corps are considerable and should not be overlooked."

Colonel Richard Kemp, a former commander in Afghanistan, has previously claimed women lack the "killer instinct" necessary to fight in close combat.

He said: "Inclusion of women in the infantry is certain to result in a lowering of physical standards despite the inevitable denials that this will happen.

"This would damage the fighting capabilities of the Armed Forces. It would be harmful to the cohesion of the Army because of the nature of the role."

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PC Neil Doyle Dies After Liverpool Assault

An off-duty police officer has died after an assault in Liverpool in the early hours of the morning, his force has confirmed.

Merseyside Police said they responded at around 3.15am to reports that three men had been attacked near a city centre nightclub.

All three men were taken to hospital, where PC Neil Doyle, 36, died a short time later.

The other two men, who are being treated for facial injuries, are also police officers.

The attack happened on Colquitt Street, near the Aloha Club.

Police have launched a murder investigation and the scene has been cordoned off while forensic examinations take place.

PC Doyle was based at the Eaton Road station in the east of the city.

Merseyside Police Federation chairman Peter Singleton said he was "a good cop that any officer would be proud to call a colleague".

He added: "Neil was the kind of officer the police service is built on. This is devastating news."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the force on 0800 230 0600 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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Pump Prices: Cheap Petrol Comes With A Warning

Tumbling oil prices are resulting in lower petrol costs, but there are warnings the good news for drivers may not last.

With prices falling by more than 40% since June's high of $111 a barrel, there have been an increasing number of reports suggesting petrol prices across the UK could soon fall below £1 per litre - the lowest level since the end of May 2009.

Experts at the RAC believe petrol could fall to 99p a litre next year, while economists at Goldman Sachs also believe petrol could fall close to £1.

But AA president Edmund King insists this possibility remains "remote".

He said: "A 6.6p-a-litre drop in the price of petrol releases a potential £3m-a-day switch of consumer spending from fuel forecourts to other businesses.

"It will also lower the cost of transporting goods, hopefully also to be passed on to customers."

Mr King went on: "However, the parallels with the 2008 crash, albeit that was a market in freefall while this one has been engineered by OPEC and could be stopped any time, carry a warning from the ghost of Christmas past.

"In 2009, a new year brought a new assessment of the market and pump prices started to rise again on January 5."

Analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also suggests petrol prices are unlikely to fall below £1-a-litre in the coming months.

But while the ONS said the price consumers pay at the pumps for petrol and diesel were "strongly related to the price of crude oil", it highlighted that price changes were "less volatile and the effect of changes in crude oil prices are delayed".

Ian Taylor, chief executive and president of Vitol, the world's largest oil trading company, told Sky News' Ian King Live that although the future was difficult to predict he believes the market "will steady up".

He said: "As you know oil traders are pretty useless at predicting price, but we sort of feel that inevitably at these price levels that several areas of the world will begin to cut back on capex (capital expenditure) and we'll see some reductions in supply and a big transfer of income to the consumers - hopefully lower petrol prices in the UK etc - and that will increase demand.

"We feel at the current prices and with Brent at $60 a barrel we should begin to see some stability, but oil has been a lot lower than this and a lot higher so it's difficult to predict just at this moment - but I do begin to believe the market will begin to steady up."

He added: "It's a pretty big tax cut for every single consumer in the world and it's a huge transfer of income from oil producers to world consumers. It's pretty positive for the UK, Europe and other big consuming countries around the globe."

Petrol pump prices have plunged in the last month with the mid-November to mid-December fall the third biggest in 25 years, according to the AA.

The motoring group said that between mid-November and mid-December UK average petrol prices fell 6.6p to 116.32p a litre.

Only the October-November 2008 fall of 11.5p a litre and the August-September 2006 dip of 7.9p have been greater than the most recent decline.

The AA also said that average diesel prices have fallen 5.27p a litre to 122.16p over the mid-November to mid-December 2014 period.

And the fall does not include the very latest 2p-a-litre petrol reduction by the four biggest supermarkets which took effect on Wednesday.

Currently, south west England has the cheapest petrol, at an average of 116.1p a litre, while East Anglia has the dearest, at 117.1p.

The cheapest diesel is to be found in Northern Ireland, at 121.8p a litre, with the most-expensive in Scotland, at 122.7p a litre.

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Written By Unknown on Kamis, 18 Desember 2014 | 20.14

Obesity can count as a disability, the European Court of Justice has ruled in the case of an overweight man who lost his job.

The judgment said it could qualify if the obesity "hinders the full and effective participation of the person concerned in professional life".

A 25-stone (160kg) Danish childminder, Karsten Kaltoft, pursued the case after his local council sacked him in November 2010.

The court admitted there was no specific law on discriminating because of obesity.

However, it decided it could be classed as a disability if it involves "long-term physical, mental or psychological impairments".

EU employment laws make it illegal to discriminate on disability, as well as factors such as religion, belief, age or sexual orientation.

Authorities in the Danish town of Billund admit mentioning Mr Kaltoft's weight during a meeting but deny it played a part in his dismissal.

They say he was let go because there were fewer children to look after.

The case now goes back to judges in Denmark to look again and decide whether Mr Kaltoft is indeed obese enough to qualify as disabled.

If it agrees, the childminder is set to get a compensation pay-out.

Overweight workers in the UK could now also claim they are disabled because the court's decisions are binding in all EU countries.

Employers may then have to make special provisions, for example bigger desks or wider seats.

"Even if you are warned by a doctor that you are eating your way to obesity - if you bring it upon yourself - you could still be considered disabled," said Sky News' Richard Suchet.

Employment lawyer Vanessa Di Cuffa, from the firm Shakespeares, said the move would give more workers protection against discrimination.

"It is right that the EU has moved forward with enshrining this into law," said Ms Di Cuffa.

"However, employers must continue to, or start, providing appropriate support to staff with obesity issues at any level."

About 20% of European men and 23% of women are obese, according to the World Health Organisation, meaning they have a body mass index of more than 30.

Recently-announced NHS guidelines mean two million people could qualify for a £6,000 weightloss operation paid for by the Government.

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Written By Unknown on Selasa, 16 Desember 2014 | 20.14

A former public school teacher has been convicted of sexually abusing vulnerable young Kenyan street boys.

Charity boss Simon Harris, 55, had denied luring vulnerable boys using food, money and the promise of schooling to his home in the East African country where prosecutors said the abuse happened.

Harris, Pudleston in Herefordshire, has been on trial at Birmingham Crown Court for nine weeks.

The trial has seen testimony from witnesses over a 6,500-mile video link.

The jury unanimously found Harris guilty of five sex assaults, including against a victim as young as nine, and on two counts of indecent assault.

He was also found to be guilty of four counts of possessing indecent images of children.

However, jurors acquitted him of seven charges including rape, attempted rape and sexual assault.

Judge Philip Parker QC has told the jury he will accept majority verdicts on the remaining five offences, which include an allegation of rape against a child under 13.

Sky's Enda Brady said the court heard how Harris used his position as a charity worker to abuse the youngsters.

It is the first time new legislation has been used to successfully prosecute a British citizen for offences committed in Africa.

More follows...

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Written By Unknown on Senin, 15 Desember 2014 | 20.14

Businesses are furious after a piece of software used by retailers on Amazon went wrong, causing hundreds of items to be sold for 1p.

Some firms which use RepricerExpress say they risk going bankrupt because the problem has resulted in them losing so much money.

The software is designed to keep businesses competitive by automatically repricing items of stock so they are cheaper than others in the digital market.

The firm states on its website: "We are here to increase your sales on Amazon and Rakuten's Play.com and make your efforts as profitable as possible."

For an hour on Friday, between 7pm and 8pm, a problem with RepricerExpress led to hundreds of items being sold on Amazon at a fraction of their normal price. At the same time, some customers said, Amazon charged its usual fees for every item sold.

One of the sellers, Judith Blackford of Kiddymania, told Sky News she could be forced out of business as result of the error.

She said: "I started using Repricer Express - a repricing tool as did a lot of other businesses a few months ago.

"Last night through an error in their programme they listed my stock on Amazon at 1p per item including delivery.

"I have lost about £20,000 overnight. Having asked Amazon to cancel the orders they are still sending them out and charging me horrendous fees.

"Surely someone has to be accountable for this. I will be bankrupt at this rate by the end of January."

Another online trader Belle thinks her company, which sells toys and games, will lose around £30,000 and she will probably be put out of business.

She told Sky News: "It's disgusting really because this third party software, that is their business, this should not have happened, this is 2014.

"We have to pay for this software every month, we've been using it for 18 months no problem.

"At the busiest time - this was predicted to be our busiest weekend of Christmas - turnover is zero."

As a result of the error, several buyers commented on Twitter at how pleased they were to have bought the items for so little.

One person wrote: "Amazon are having a glitch on their site and loads of stuff is selling for 1p. I just bought an incense holder, don't even need it."

An email to some customers from the CEO of RepricerExpress, Brendan Doherty, said the problems with the software caused incorrect pricing to be sent to Amazon.

A statement on the company's website from Mr Doherty said: "I am truly sorry for the distress this has caused our customers.

"We have received communication that Amazon will not penalise sellers for this error. We are continuing to work to identify how this problem occurred and to put measures in place to ensure that it does not happen again.

"Everyone here is devastated and disappointed that you have experienced this problem.

"We understand that you are angry and upset and we will endeavour to work to make good on this issue."

A spokesman for Amazon said: "We are aware that a number of Marketplace sellers listed incorrect prices for a short period of time as a result of the third party software they use to price their items on Amazon.co.uk.

"We responded quickly and were able to cancel the vast majority of orders placed on these affected items immediately and no costs or fees will be incurred by sellers for these cancelled orders.

"We are now reviewing the small number of orders that were processed and will be reaching out to any affected sellers directly."

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Written By Unknown on Minggu, 14 Desember 2014 | 20.14

UKIP Candidate Sorry For Offensive Remarks

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A high-profile UKIP Westminster hopeful has been forced to apologise over making racist and homophobic remarks.

Kerry Smith, a member of both Essex County Council and Basildon District Council, issued a statement just days after being reinstated as the party's general election candidate in one of its top target seats.

He suggested he had been stressed at the time of the comments and taking strong pain killers.

In recordings of phone calls obtained by the Mail on Sunday, Mr Smith is said to have mocked gay party members as "poofters", and referred to someone as a "Chinky bird".

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Gallery: The UKIP History In Pictures

1993: UKIP is founded by Alan Sked in response to the Maastricht Treaty, which set out the modern day EU and paved the way for the Euro. He left the party in 1997 saying it had become a "racist party for the far-right". He is now the leader of New Deal, which has been called UKIP of the Left.

1999: The party takes its first three seats in the European Parliament, under the leadership of the millionaire businessman Michael Holmes. Nigel Farage is one of those MEPs.

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2000: Michael Holmes resigns and Jeffrey Titford takes over as leader of UKIP. He leads the party to field 420 candidates at the 2001 General Election and secure 1.5% of the vote.

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2002: Former Conservative Roger Knapman takes over at the helm.

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2004: The party wins 12 seats at the European Elections, among the UKIP MEPs is the chat show host Robert Kilroy Silk.

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He also joked about shooting people from Chigwell in a "peasant hunt".

After his words - which he claimed were made two-and-half years ago - became public, Mr Smith said: "I wish to issue a wholehearted and unreserved apology to those I have offended within the party and anyone else."

In a bid to explain his comments he pointed out "at the time of this recording I was considering my resignation due to major management changes which I have since discovered I completely misread and misunderstood".

"For the record I was also on a strong morphine based prescription medication for a back injury," he said.

Mr Kerry also accepted claims he made in the calls about party leader Nigel Farage and other senior figures were "completely wrong" and "fuelled by frustrations at the time".

Mr Smith was deselected as the candidate for South Basildon and East Thurrock in October - with Neil Hamilton, the former Tory minister who is now UKIP's deputy chairman, in the running to win the nomination.

But Mr Hamilton ended up endorsing the Essex county councillor in his hustings speech after Mr Smith was reinstated.

It led the ex-Conservative to hit out at party insiders over a "dirty tricks" campaign being run against him.

His broadside against the "cancer at the heart of UKIP" came after a letter from the party's finance committee about his expenses claims was leaked.

Mr Hamilton called for the party's national executive committee (NEC) to take action against those involved in the "black arts of selective briefing, misrepresentation and outright lies".

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