Messages

226

Off-Topic / Elvis Presley's look-alike grandson - Benjamin Keough, 27, 'shoots himself dead

« on: July 13, 2020, 10:47:37 am »Message ID: 1332174

'She adored that boy. He was the love of her life': Lisa Marie Presley is left 'inconsolable' after her son - and Elvis Presley's look-alike grandson - Benjamin Keough, 27, 'shoots himself dead' in Calabasas mansion

* Keough was found Sunday morning in Calabasas, California, according to TMZ
* He was son of Lisa Marie and musician Danny Keough and the grandson of Elvis
* Lisa Marie has previously spoken of her son's 'uncanny' resemblance to Elvis
* Benjamin's grandmother Priscilla married Elvis in 1967; they divorced in 1973
'* She is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated', Lisa Marie's manager said, 'He was the love of
   her life'

Lisa Marie Presley has been left 'inconsolable' after her eldest child - and lookalike of his grandfather Elvis - died in a suspected suicide.

Benjamin Keough, 27, was found by police with a single gunshot wound to the upper torso at around 6.30am on Sunday at his mother's Calabasas mansion in California. It is not clear whether Benjamin was alone at the house.

Lisa Marie's manager said: 'She is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twins and her oldest daughter Riley. She adored that boy. He was the love of her life.'   

Benjamin was the son of Lisa Marie - only child of superstar Elvis - and musician Danny Keough. Lisa Marie had previously spoken of Benjamin's similarity to Elvis, calling their resemblance 'uncanny'. 

A source close to the family has claimed that Benjamin had been 'struggling' for a long time and the death, though shocking, won't have come as a 'huge surprise.'

Police with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said they responded to a 'rescue response' call early Sunday, adding: 'Upon their arrival, they located the victim suffering from one gunshot wound to the upper torso. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.' 

An official could be seen outside the mansion Sunday while police and a coroner's vehicle were parked nearby.

A source told The Sun that Benjamin's family was told about his death early on Sunday morning.

'It is shocking news but it also isn't a huge surprise as he had been struggling. Everyone is heartbroken and devastated,' they said.

Nancy Sinatra tweeted: 'I have known you since before your mama gave birth to you, never dreaming you would have pain like this in your life. I'm so very sorry.'

And another friend of Benjamin's, musician DJ Ashba, wrote: 'This cuts me to the bone. Literally in shock. I loved Ben like a brother and always will. Till we meet again my friend.'

Roy Orbison Jr, whose father performed with Benjamin's grandfather, said: 'Everybody please pray for Elvis Presley's family. They have had another terrible tragedy today.'

Benjamin's mother was born in 1968, the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie lost her father just nine years later to heart failure.

Indeed, it was Lisa Marie who discovered Elvis lying face down on the carpet next to the toilet in his bathroom. She called her father's ex-girlfriend, Linda Thompson, yelling down the line: 'My daddy's dead! He's smothered in the carpet!'

Lisa Marie described her tight relationship with her own children in an interview with Healthy Living magazine in 2014.   

'We all stay together. We are all very close. Wherever I am, they have their rooms and live with me,' the mother said at the time.

'We all try to stay close as much as possible. Like, in the same room, preferably for me. I don't like it when they are far away in any way.

'I am very protective. I just smother them in love and I am also ferociously protective. They are my priority. That's what I do. That’s what I care most about. I keep them close to me and make sure they are happy and healthy.'

Lisa Marie married Benjamin's father, Danny Keough - her first of four husbands - in 1988.

The couple had two children together, Benjamin and his sister, the actress Riley Keough who is married to her Mad Max co-star Ben Smith-Petersen.

Benjamin has two younger sisters, Finley and Harper, from his mother's marriage to music producer Michael Lockwood.

He had largely kept himself out of the public spotlight, with private social media accounts, but in 2009 he was reported to have signed a $5million record deal with Universal.

'The music will be nothing like Elvis, nothing like him at all,' he had said in an interview at the time.

Aside from a few acting credits very little is known about Benjamin's career.

In 2015, he shared a picture of an Elvis outfit he had bought, writing on Instagram: 'I purchased a piece of grandad today from a collector. He wore it in 1974. I feel a lot closer to him now.'

Lisa Marie and Benjamin were said to be so close that, in 2009, the mother and son got matching tattoos. In 2012 she wrote song Storm And Grace about her son.

She once said of Benjamin: 'Ben does look so much like Elvis. He was at the Opry and was the quiet storm behind the stage.

'Everybody turned around and looked when he was over there. Everybody was grabbing him for a photo because it is just uncanny.'

Lisa Marie married Michael Jackson just 20 days after divorcing Benjamin and Riley's father in 1994. She had first met the King of Pop in 1975 when she was aged seven.

She and Jackson developed an 'adult friendship' in 1992 and were married in a secret ceremony in the Dominican Republic in May 1994.

Their marriage stunned the world and the pair were questioned over whether their union was a publicity stunt. In an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer, Lisa Marie had said: 'Do we have sex? Yes! Yes! Yes!'

It was reported that Jackson became highly dependent on Lisa Marie as allegations of child molestation were made public.

She revealed she had wanted to 'save him' but later realised this was a 'delusion.'

The couple separated just four days after Jackson collapsed on stage in New York while rehearsing for a TV special and finalised an amicable divorce after 18 months of marriage.

Lisa Marie told Oprah years later: 'He had to make a decision. Was it the drugs and the vampires or me? And he pushed me away.' 

In 2000, Lisa Marie got engaged to Hollywood legend Nicholas Cage - after breaking off a very brief engagement to singer-songwriter John Oszajca.

She and Cage married in 2002 but divorced just three months later.

Lisa Marie told Larry King Live a year later: 'We connected, we had a great connection. We were both a bit - we're sort of these gypsy spirited, you know, tyrannical pirates.

'And one pirate marries another they will sink the ship basically is what it comes down to.'

She added: 'It was kind of one of those things where you marry someone hoping that you're going to either stabilize it or it's going to, you know, accentuate all that was going on prior to what was problematic.'   

In 2006 she married her musical director Michael Lockwood with whom she had twin daughters. Those children are now said to be the subject of a nasty custody battle following's the pair's divorce after a decade together.

In June last year the mother of four shared a sweet snap with all of her children, writing: 'Mama Lion with the cubs.'

Around the same time she opened up about her struggles with 'opioids and painkillers' in an essay penned for the forward of the book The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain by Harry Nelson.

She warned of the dangers of prescription drugs as she explained how easily her addiction began after being prescribed painkillers following the birth of her twin daughters in 2008.

Lisa Marie wrote: 'I'm not perfect. My father wasn't perfect, no one's perfect. It's what you do with it after you learn and then you try to help others with it.'

227

Off-Topic / Re: The Biden family rap sheet: How Joe's relatives have been busted for drug posses

« on: July 13, 2020, 09:58:38 am »Message ID: 1332163

Biden has dementia & would not be a good president

228

Off-Topic / Rudy Giuliani claims Black Lives Matter 'will be proven to be a terrorist organi

« on: July 12, 2020, 10:19:57 am »Message ID: 1332078

Rudy Giuliani claims Black Lives Matter 'will be proven to be a terrorist organization' for its ties to radical activist who was a part of a terror group and pardoned by Bill Clinton

* Rudy Giuliani blasted the Black Lives Matter movement on Friday on Hannity
* 'It's certainly a violent organization and I believe in the course of time it will be shown to be a terrorist organization,'
   Donald Trump's lawyer said on the group
* Giuliani has previous denounced the group as racist, even though it seeks to fight against racial inequality and the
   opression of black people 
* Black Lives Matter advocates for non-violent civil disobedience
* Giuliani slammed it for its ties to Susan Rosenberg, a radical activist who was a part of terror group M19CO
* She was jailed in 1984 and pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2001

Rudy Giuliani has slammed New York Mayor Bill De Blasio's commission of a Black Lives Matter Mural outside Trump Tower and accused the group of being a terror organization.

'Black Lives Matter is an organization run by three Marxists and financed by a convicted terrorist – who I happened to have convicted, who got 58 years in jail and got a corrupt pardon from Bill Clinton,' Donald Trump's lawyer Giuliani said on Hannity on Friday.

'This is not a benign organization. I can’t say yet that we can prove it’s a terrorist organization. It's certainly a violent organization and I believe in the course of time it will be shown to be a terrorist organization,' he added.

Black Lives Matter is an organized movement that advocates for non-violent civil disobedience to protest police brutality against African-American people.

The movement started with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of black teen Trayvon Martin in February 2012. It has regained traction following the brutal police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.

The three founders of the movement and hashtag are activists Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, who have expanded the project into a national network of over 30 local chapter between 2014 and 2016.

BLM is a network run by umbrella organization Thousand Currents, which radical activist Susan Rosenberg serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors.

Black Lives Matter and Thousand Currents is yet to reply to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

Rosenberg was an active part of far-left revolutionary terror organization May 19th Communist Organization (M19CO), which sought to over throw the US government through armed action and a people's militia. The group was a part of the Black Power Movement and the New Communist Movement.

She was arrested in 1984 in possession of weapons and explosives and sentenced to 58 years of imprisonment on the weapons and explosives charges. Giuliani was US Attorney of the Southern District of New York at the time.

She spent 16 years in jail, during which she emerged as an author and AIDS activist, and President Bill Clinton pardoned her on his final day in office on January 20, 2001.

'Susan Rosenberg, who handles their finances is a convicted terrorist who was involved with the Black Panthers who used to slaughter police officers,' Giuliani said on the show.

'This convicted terrorist was sentenced to 58 years. Clinton’s corrupt last hour pardon set her free. Now we are paying the price,' Giuliani, 76, tweeted Friday.

However, Giuliani has been vocal is his disagreement with the movement, slamming it as racist when the group advocates against the mistreatment of black people. 

Giuliani continued to blast De Blasio for slashing New York Police Department funding by $1billion and allowing the Black Lives Matter mural to be painted in front of the president’s residence.

'He’s putting "Black Lives Matter" in front of the president’s personal residence. The president he wants to …help bail out New York – [he] is only is a communist but is a stupid one,' Giuliani criticized.

He said that allowing Black Lives Matter protests to go on while all other major events in the city have been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic is hypocritical.

'I thought he was the worst mayor in the history of the city, now he will have written that like a headline in history,' Giuliani said.

'Just think of the contradiction. I mean, everybody else can't march. We have to wear masks. We have to separate ourselves. But if you are protesting, you can stand together, you can spit in each other's face, you can hug and squeeze and you're not going to get COVID-19,' he added.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8514835/Rudy-Giuliani-claims-Black-Lives-Matter-proven-terrorist-organization.html 

229

Off-Topic / The Biden family rap sheet: How Joe's relatives have been busted for drug posses

« on: July 12, 2020, 10:13:55 am »Message ID: 1332076

The Biden family rap sheet: How Joe's relatives have been busted for drug possession, credit card theft, fights with the NYPD and multiple DUIs - but have never served time

* Caroline Biden, 33, was arrested last August for driving under the influence and driving without a license in
   Philadelphia suburb, according to a report
*  In 2018, she was sentenced to two years probation by a Manhattan court for using a credit card to buy more than
    $100,000 worth of beauty products
*  In 2013, Caroline Biden, the daughter of Joe Biden's younger brother, James, was arrested for fighting her roommate
    after she was asked to pay rent
*  Despite lengthy history of run-ins with the law, no member of the Biden family has served time in prison
*  Frank Biden, Joe Biden's youngest brother, has been arrested multiple times for driving under the influence and theft
*  Joe Biden's daughter, Ashley Biden, 39, was arrested when she was a freshman in college for possession of marijuana
*  Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, 50, was cited for drug possession in 1988. He's also reported to be subject of
    investigations into alleged money laundering

Joe Biden’s troubled niece Caroline Biden was arrested last August for driving under the influence and driving without a license in a Philadelphia suburb, it has been revealed.

It's the latest run-in with the law for a member of the extended Biden family - none of whom have served time in prison.

The 33-year-old daughter of the former vice president’s younger brother, James Biden Sr, was taken into custody last year by law enforcement officials in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, according to the New York Post.

The case, which is still active, was never made public.

In 2018, she was sentenced by Manhattan Criminal Court to two years probation after pleading guilty to taking part in a scam in which she borrowed a credit card to buy more than $110,000 worth of beauty products at Bigelow Pharmacy in Greenwich Village.

Prosecutors previously said Caroline Biden asked to borrow a credit card from a victim, who was not identified in court documents, to buy a single item for $672.

But instead Biden opened an account at Bigelow Pharmacy and spent more than $110,000 between April 2015 and June 24, 2016, buying the store's lavish products.

On May 5, 2017, police arrested her and initially charged her with grand and petit larceny.

'I not only acknowledge my conduct and take responsibility but deeply regret the harm caused,' she told the judge during sentencing in July 2018.

'I can assure you that I have made amends, full restitution, completed community service and that nothing like this will ever happen again,' Biden said.

In 2013, Caroline Biden was arrested by the New York Police Department for harassment, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice after she got into a fight with a roommate who demanded that she pay rent for living in their Tribeca apartment.

While she was taken into custody, Caroline Biden allegedly took a swing at a police officer, resulting in the obstruction charge.

During her arrest, Caroline Biden was heard telling police: 'I shouldn't be handcuffed! You don't know who you're doing this to!'

As officers removed her from a precinct after her arrest, she covered herself up in a blanket and had police wheel her out on a gurney.

Caroline Biden, who was reportedly in and out of rehab for anger management and a drug addiction, also managed to escape jail at the time when the court ordered for her charges to be dropped if she behaved for six months.

In 2009, Caroline Biden was briefly detained by Amtrak police because of a 'misunderstanding over a train fare,' an Amtrak spokeswoman told the AP at the time.

The Biden family has had a history of arrests and scandals in recent years.

When asked if Joe Biden used his position of influence to intervene on behalf of relatives who have been arrested, a campaign spokesperson told the Post: ‘No he didn’t, and this entire story is garbage.’

Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden, 39, was arrested for possession of marijuana when she was a 17-year-old student at Tulane University.

Court records from New Orleans do not list any conviction for Ashley Biden.

The New York Post reported in 2009 that Ashley Biden was known for her hard partying during her college days.

The newspaper reported that it was offered footage shot from a hidden camera which purported to show a woman resembling Ashley Biden snorting cocaine.

In 2002, it was reported that Ashley Biden was arrested for making ‘intimidating statements’ toward a police officer after a brawl at a Chicago bar.

The charges of obstructing a police officer were dropped after she apologized in court.

Ashley Biden is the youngest of three siblings. She is the only one born to the vice president and his second wife, Jill.

Joe Biden’s first wife, Neilia, and their 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, died in a 1972 car crash.

Her two half-brothers are Beau Biden and Hunter Biden, 50.

Beau Biden, a former attorney general of Delaware, died in 2015 from brain cancer. He was 46 years old at the time of his death.

Beau Biden was survived by his wife and two children.

Joe Biden’s youngest brother, 66-year-old Frank Biden, was arrested in August 2003 when police pulled him over after he made a wide left turn in Fort Lauderdale.

According to the Miami New Times, Frank Biden’s eyes were red and his speech was slurred. Officers said he smelled of alcohol.

Police also reportedly noticed an empty bottle of Popov vodka in his car.

When police gave Frank Biden a field sobriety test, he kept losing his balance and was unable to touch his finger to his nose, according to the New Times.

Police then ran a scan of Frank Biden’s license, which revealed that it had been suspended four times up to that point.

Frank Biden was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license. He pleaded no contest, according to the New Times.

A court sentenced Frank Biden to six months of probation and an additional six months of having his license suspended.

Just two months later, before his drunk driving case was taken up in court, Frank Biden was arrested on charge of petty theft for allegedly trying to steal DVDs from Blockbuster Video.

The alleged incident took place at the now-defunct Blockbuster location in Pompano Beach, where employees began arguing with Frank Biden after they observed him stuffing his pants with two DVDs.

Frank Biden was taken into custody by a sheriff’s deputy, but he reportedly failed to show up for a court hearing in the case.

There is no available documentation on the outcome of the case.

In November 2004, Frank Biden was arrested a third time - this time by law enforcement officials in Juno Beach, Florida.

He then pleaded no contest to driving with a suspended license. Instead of the mandatory 30-day jail sentence, Frank Biden was allowed to check into a rehabilitation center in Delray Beach, where he stayed for three months.

In 2011, Frank Biden told the Miami New Times: ‘I was an alcoholic. I'm a sober person. I'm very proud of that fact.’

Before Frank Biden’s criminal troubles, he was also on the wrong end of a costly civil judgment.

In February, DailyMail.com revealed that Frank Biden was found legally responsible for the death of Michael Albano in August 1999.

Albano was killed when he was struck by a Jaguar XK8 convertible that was driven by Jason Turton, who was then 25 years old.

Frank Biden, who was in the passenger seat, shifted the 290hp car into manual and told Turton to ‘punch it.’ The vehicle reached speeds of 80mph even though the legal limit in that section of HIghway 101 in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, was 35mph.

Albano, who was crossing the highway, was struck and killed. Frank Biden is alleged to have told Turton to ‘keep driving’ and flee the scene after the collision.

Another passenger in the car is said to have told police that everyone in the vehicle was drinking.

Frank Biden fled California leaving a trail of unpaid bills and never even turned up in court when Albano's family sued him, according to court documents.

After failing to turn up for a single court hearing in the case, Frank Biden was found to be liable by way of a default judgment. He was ordered to pay the Albano family nearly $1million.

To this day, Frank Biden has not paid the family a cent. When Joe Biden, then a senator from Delaware, was tapped to be Barack Obama’s running mate in 2008, the family appealed to the future vice president to get his brother to pay.

But the family was told that Frank Biden was broke.

After Joe Biden became vice president, Frank Biden reportedly earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from a series of positions that appear to trade heavily on his family name.

Frank, 66, describes himself as a senior adviser to his brother's political action committee, and lives in Florida.

Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s 50-year-old son, was arrested in 1988 for drug possession.

‘I was cited for possession of a controlled substance in Stone Harbor, NJ,’ Hunter Biden said in 2006.

‘There was a pre-trial intervention and the record was expunged.’

Last December, it was revealed that Hunter Biden was linked to several criminal investigations involving fraud, money laundering and a counterfeiting scheme.

The allegations were filed by a private-eye firm, D&A Investigations, in relation to Hunter's paternity case involving his baby mama Lunden Roberts.

They seek to lay bare his finances in an attempt to recoup child support.

Among Hunter's assets, as claimed by the documents, is a $2.5million home in the Hollywood Hills.

One of the claims involves Burisma, the Ukrainian oil company that was at the center of President Donald Trump's impeachment trial.

Trump came under fire for a phone call with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, urging him to investigate Hunter's work with Burisma, while withholding some $400million in military aid.

The new allegations accuse Hunter and business associates of establishing 'bank and financial accounts with Morgan Stanley … for Burisma Holdings Limited … for the money laundering scheme'.

The new allegations accuse Hunter and business associates of establishing 'bank and financial accounts with Morgan Stanley … for Burisma Holdings Limited … for the money laundering scheme'.

D&A claimed that the accounts showed a value of nearly $6.8million between March 2014 and December 2015, according to the Post.

In addition, the documents allege that Hunter and three associates attempted to con Sioux Native Americans out of $60million through the sale of tribal bonds.

It's unclear what agencies are allegedly investigating Hunter. But shortly after the allegations were filed, a judge struck them down because they were filed by an 'intervener,' according to the New York Post.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8513719/Joe-Bidens-niece-Caroline-33-arrested-year-DUI-year-probation.html

230

Off-Topic / Re: Naya Rivera's poignant selfie telling fans 'tomorrow is not promised' less than

« on: July 11, 2020, 09:39:46 am »Message ID: 1331940

Footage is released in underwater hunt for Naya Rivera's body as authorities warn she could be found 'five minutes from now or five days from now' and her devastated family say they 'need closure'

* The search for the Glee star, 33, entered its fourth day Saturday
* Naya Rivera disappeared while out boating at Lake Piru in Ventura with her 4-year-old son Josey on Wednesday and is
   now presumed dead
* Josey was found unharmed and alone in a rental boat Wednesday evening   
* Ventura County Sherriff's Department shared footage of the 'difficult' search for the missing actress on Twitter Friday
   night
* The underwater footage shows a tree limb at 30-feet deep which looks like nothing more than a long dark shape given
   the poor visibility in the water
* It shows how the search is being hampered by the lake's murky waters
* Authorities are using a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) as well as sonar, divers and specially-trained dogs
* 'We don't know if she's going to be found five minutes from now or five days from now,' Eric Buschow, Ventura County
    Sheriff's Office spokesman said Friday
* The actress's distraught family said they just 'wish' she could be found so they could get some 'closure' over what is
   believed to have been a tragic drowning 

Ventura County Sheriff's Department shared footage of the 'difficult' search for the missing actress on Twitter Friday night, which has been hampered by the poor visibility of the lake's murky waters.

The video shows the imagery picked up around 30 foot deep in the water.

In it, authorities point to a tree limb which looks like nothing more than a long dark shape given the water's poor visibility, highlighting the challenges divers are facing in trying to find the missing mother-of-one. 

'Here's an example of the underwater visibility at a 30-foot depth in Lake Piru,' the Sheriff's Department tweeted. 

A second social media post shows footage of the a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) being lowered into Lake Piru and details that specialized equipment including sonar, divers and dogs have also been deployed in the hunt.

'Here's the ROV used by @TulareSheriff in the search for Naya Rivera at Lake Piru today,' the Sheriff's Department wrote. 

With almost zero visibility, human divers are resorting to search by feel, meaning it could take several days before crews can locate her body, Eric Buschow, Ventura County Sheriff's Office spokesman said at a press conference Friday evening.

'We don't know if she's going to be found five minutes from now or five days from now, so we're still going to be continuing this effort,' he said.

'The visibility in the water is one to two feet,' Buschow added.

Buschow said 'promising' images had shown up on the sonar Thursday night but when the ROV was dropped into the water the objects turned out not to be Rivera. 

'What they do is they go out and they tow these devices in the water that scan the bottom of the lake for any objects that might look like a body.

'Last night, they had a couple of images that showed up on the sonar that they thought might be promising to investigate,' he said.

'This morning, they sent an ROV, or a small robotic device, down into the water to examine those objects. Unfortunately, they did not locate Naya Rivera. They are still searching.'

Buschow admitted the conditions of the lake made the search 'difficult' but said he is confident Rivera's body will be recovered.

'It's very effective,' he said of the sonar system.

'They get a really detailed image and they can go down and focus on specific things rather than putting divers in the water where they're literally feeling around because they can't see.'

The search resumed at 6 a.m. Saturday morning, with authorities now focusing on the north and east sides of the lake, based on where the boat was found and the currents of the water.

A specially-trained dog is also being used in the search to sniff above the water's surface and alert handlers to a body beneath.

Authorities confirmed the mission had shifted to a recovery Thursday as hope of finding Rivera alive vanished. 

The actress's distraught family said they just 'wish' she could be found so they could get some 'closure' over what is believed to have been a tragic drowning accident.

A man thought to be 65-year-old Arnold Dorsey, the father of Rivera's ex-husband Ryan Dorsey and the grandfather to Josey, told The Sun the whole family was 'sad' and were rallying around Rivera's son.

'We are sad, we just wish they could find her so we can have some closure,' he said outside Rivera's mother Yolanda's home in Valencia.

He said Josey was having some 'good days' after the four-year-old's terrifying ordeal.   

'We still have good days [with him], I can't make any other comment at this time.' 

Josey was found asleep and alone on the rental boat Wednesday evening.

He told police his mother had 'jumped' into the water to go swimming and never came back, but police admitted it was 'challenging' to interview a four-year-old. 

The lake was said to be a ‘sanctuary’ for Rivera and somewhere she had been going to for years.

However, the waters are also known for their rip currents and for being full of debris, and eight people have drowned there since 1994.

Authorities have said there is no evidence of foul play or suicide and that everything points to the young star accidentally drowning. 


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8513047/Footage-released-underwater-hunt-Naya-Rivera-family-say-need-closure.html

231

Off-Topic / Re: Naya Rivera's poignant selfie telling fans 'tomorrow is not promised' less than

« on: July 10, 2020, 10:58:44 am »Message ID: 1331848

Swimming is allowed in some parts of the lake and authorities say there are 'really no strong undercurrents like you would have in the ocean', but warn that the cold water could cause hypothermia. 

The lake's policy states that those who choose to go swimming do so at their own risk as it's regarded as a 'hazardous recreational activity' because there are not many lifeguards on the ground.

It is not clear exactly where the boat was discovered or where Rivera and her son were when she jumped in, but the search is focusing on the northern part of the lake in an area where the water is about 30ft deep.

Later, after retrieving the toddler, investigators learned that Naya and Josey had both gone in the water for a swim, but that only Josey had climbed back on board.

How this happened is not clear and cops admitted on Wednesday night that it was 'somewhat challenging' to interview a four-year-old.

'He gave enough information to investigators to conclude that his mother never made it out of the water,' Sgt Kevin Donoghue said.

Captain Eric Buschow told ABC that it remained a mystery how Naya had disappeared, speculating that she 'could have suffered a medical episode' while 'playing innocently' in the water. He added that investigators questioning the boy wanted to 'limit the amount of trauma' that Josey is facing.

Divers and helicopters scoured the lake until night fell on Wednesday and continued their search for all of Thursday with rescuers using sonar equipment. 

Two German Shepherds from the California Rescue Dog Association have also been added to the expanding search party for Rivera, the Ventura County Star reports.

They are trained to detect gasses that are released by human cadavers, performing a search along a grid of the lake and assisting divers in potentially locating Rivera's body. 

'Investigators believe Rivera drowned in what appears to be a tragic accident,' the sheriff's office said after the four-year-old told them that his mother had not returned to the shore. There is no suspicion of foul play. 

Sgt Bill Hutton described the the search as being 'very technical,' adding that GPS data from the search would be analyzed overnight while conditions are too difficult to dive.

Authorities say they plan to release footage to show just how difficult some of the conditions have been in the search.

Sgt Kevin Donoghue from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, speaking at Lake Piru, said more than 100 police and first responders are now searching for Naya's body.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8508871/Sheriffs-release-CCTV-footage-Naya-Rivera-son-Josey-boarding-boat.html

232

Off-Topic / Naya Rivera's poignant selfie telling fans 'tomorrow is not promised' less than

« on: July 09, 2020, 10:19:48 am »Message ID: 1331729

Naya Rivera's poignant selfie telling fans 'tomorrow is not promised' less than a week before she vanished on dangerous California lake known for rip currents and chilly water after taking a boat out with her four-year-old son!

* Naya Rivera and her son Josey rented a pontoon boat on California's Lake Piru on Wednesday afternoon
* Three hours later, another boater raised the alarm after seeing the boat drifting and the child asleep on board
* Cops found Rivera's life vest on the boat and her car parked nearby, saying the 33-year-old may have drowned
* She grew up 20 miles away, in Valencia, California, and some 60 miles from Rivera's Los Angeles home
* The four-year-old has said that his mother did not climb back on the boat in 'challenging' interview with cops
* It's unclear what exactly happened when Rivera got in the water; eight people drowned in the lake between 1994 and
   2008
* It is known to have rip currents and deep columns of chilly water that can overwhelm swimmers
* The enormous lake has a surface area of 1,240 acres. It is closed to the public while rescuers search for Rivera
* Rivera starred as Santana Lopez in 113 episodes of the hit musical series from 2009 to 2015
* She was due to start filming a new season of the dance show Step Up 

The search for Glee actress Naya Rivera resumed on Thursday morning, a day after she went missing on a California lake that is known for rip currents and having cold, deep waters that at least eight people have drowned in. 

The Glee star and her son Josey rented a pontoon boat on Lake Piru, which is 60 miles from Rivera's Los Angeles home and around 20 miles from where she grew up in Valencia, on Wednesday afternoon. They were alone and their car was parked nearby.

Three hours after they took the boat out, another boater saw their pontoon drifting. When they approached it,  they found Josey on board, asleep, but there was no sign of Rivera.

Josey was wearing his life-vest but an adult life-vest was found on the boat, suggesting Rivera was not wearing hers. 

The boy later told investigators that he climbed back on the boat and his mother did not, but the circumstances are unclear and cops say it is 'challenging' to interrogate a toddler. According to TMZ, the boy says his mother 'jumped in the water and didn't come back up'.

Rivera had shared a poignant picture of herself and Josey just a day before her disappearance, with the caption 'Just the two of us', in a post which has since attracted an outpouring of sympathy and prayers.

In recent weeks, her social media has been full of posts of the pair at home. Last week, she shared a selfie about appreciating life, writing: 'no matter the year, circumstance, or strifes everyday you're alive is a blessing. make the most of today and every day you are given. tomorrow is not promised.' 

Divers and helicopters were scouring the reservoir until darkness fell but no trace of Rivera has been found.

On Thursday morning, they returned to the lake at daybreak. It is closed to the public while the search for her continues. The divers focused their search to the lake's rocky shores.

At least eight other people have drowned in the lake since 1994, including a father who died in 2008 after saving his daughter who'd fallen in to the water. He was able to get her back onto their boat before it drifted away and he died.

In a 1997 Los Angeles Times article, a lifeguard at the lake described how easy it is for inexperienced swimmers to get into trouble on the water.

'Someone will come to the beach, maybe wade out a little, step into a deeper hole or get picked up in a rip current and they begin to panic,' Steve White, Ventura State Beach lifeguard supervisor, said.

The lake is more comparable to the ocean because it is so vast and deep, he said.

It holds 'deep columns of chilly water that can overwhelm people', the report said.

Some are holding out hope that Rivera will be found alive. 

Demi Lovato was among the celebrities to hold out hope last night, asking her 87million Instagram followers to 'pray for Naya Rivera to be found safe and sound'.

Rivera's former Glee co-star Heather Morris said: 'We need all the prayers we can get to bring our Naya back to us... we need your love and light.'

Glee cast member Harry Shum Jr, who played Mike Chang, simply wrote 'Praying', while Iqbal Theba (Principal Figgins) and Max Adler (David Karofsky) have also posted concerned messages on social media.

Rivera's ex-fiancee Big Sean signalled his concern this morning by liking a series of tweets praying for her safety and demanding that the search for her should continue.

Zack Teperman, a publicist who said Rivera was 'one of the first people I had the honor of working with', said he was 'in complete disbelief and shock right now'.

'Was just messaging Naya a few weeks back. This can't be true. Prayers for her little boy,' he said last night. 

Officials told NBC Los Angeles that Rivera's disappearance was 'considered to be a horrible accident', saying there was no suspicion of foul play.

Authorities believe Rivera to be 'presumed drowned,' according to Captain Eric Buschow, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. He told the Ventura County Star that authorities were searching for a body.

Reports say that some of Rivera's possessions including a purse, wallet and food were found on the boat. Another purse is said to have been left in Rivera's car,  a Mercedes G-Wagon which was still in the parking lot. 

A search and rescue dive team and a helicopter with a drone were both dispatched to the lake, around 60 miles north-west of downtown Los Angeles.

The search was suspended overnight but is due to continue 'at first light', authorities said last night.

Eric Buschow, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, told reporters after darkness fell that Rivera and her son were seen going out on the lake at around 1pm.

'Approximately three hours after they left the dock another boater out on the lake discovered the boat drifting with the [son] on board asleep,' they said.

'So they contacted the rangers and began an investigation and we've been actively searching for the mother since that time. We have both aerial search going on and our dive team as well.

'Indications are that we believe she did go in the lake. At this point it's still a search and that's what we know up to this point.

'The [son] said that he had been swimming with his mother and that she got back in the boat and her mum didn't. 'We know that the [boy] had a life vest on, there was another adult life vest found on the boat.

'You can imagine it's somewhat challenging interviewing a three-year-old and getting those kinds of details.

'We're going on the belief that she did go in the water, and we've not been able to locate her. This may well be a case of drowning.'

Buschow said it was not known how deep the water was at the spot where Rivera went into the water or what kind of conditions they might have been facing. 

'This is a big reservoir, it's deep, these kinds of things happen. We don't know all the circumstances. Investigators are working on that, getting as much information as possible,' he said.

The sheriff's office initially referred mistakenly to a three-year-old girl, but later clarified that the child is a four-year-old son. 

Investigators have made contact with Rivera's family and said they were working to 'reunite' the toddler with relatives, which they have now done.

It is not clear whether Rivera had driven from her LA home or was staying somewhere closer to the lake.

Rivera had last posted on social media on July 7, sharing a touching photo of her with her so Josey. 'Just the two of us,' she wrote as a caption.

The actress starred in Glee from 2009 to 2015, playing high school cheerleader Santana Lopez for all six seasons of the popular series.

Naya welcomed son, Josey Hollis, with then-husband Ryan Dorsey in 2015. She called her young son 'my greatest success, and I will never do any better than him' in her 2016 memoir 'Sorry Not Sorry.'

Rivera and Hollis divorced in 2018, after Rivera had earlier applied to end the marriage in 2016 but the couple had initially reconciled.

On Thanksgiving weekend 2017, Rivera was arrested in West Virginia on suspicion of domestic battery against Dorsey.  The Kanawha County Sheriff's Office said Dorsey later asked that Rivera not be prosecuted.

Dorsey, also an actor, has appeared on shows including Ray Donavan and Justified.

Former Glee co-star Matthew Morrison defended Rivera at the time of her arrest, saying she was a 'great mom'.

Before that, Rivera was engaged to rapper Big Sean but they broke off their marriage plans in 2014. Big Sean featured on Rivera's debut single 'Sorry', which was released in September 2013.

Rivera also dated co-star Mark Salling, who killed himself in 2018 after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.

In her memoir, the actress admitted that she was not surprised by his criminal record.

She wrote: 'I can’t say I was totally shocked. When Mark dumped me, I thought it was the worst thing ever, but can you imagine if that didn’t happen?... and I was laying there in bed when the battering ram came through the door?'.

The Glee cast had already been hit by tragedy in 2013, when Cory Monteith was found dead in a Canadian hotel room. A coroner's report blamed the 31-year-old's death on a fatal dose of heroin and alcohol.

Rivera later described Monteith's death as one of her toughest personal moments, saying in a 2016 interview that 'the Cory chapter really choked me up' when she was writing her memoir. 

Born in 1987, Rivera began her acting career at just months old, starring as a baby in adverts for Kmart before landing a significant role as Hillary Winston on the CBS sitcom The Royal Family at the age of four.

After years spent playing guest roles and reoccurring TV parts Rivera secured her breakthrough role in Glee at the age of 22. The role earned her award nominations for numerous accolades.

During this time, in 2011, she signed to Columbia Records and launched a solo singing career, releasing a single with rapper Big Sean in 2013 - who she was then dating - titled Sorry.

Rivera made her first film debut as Vera in the horror film At the Devil's Door in 2014, then returned to TV to play the reoccurring role of Blanca on Devious Maids in 2015.

Lake Piru is a reservoir located in the Los Padres National Forest and Topatopa Mountains, created in 1955.

Child actor and Glee star: The life of Naya Rivera

Naya Rivera was born to former model Yolanda Rivera and actor George Rivera on January 12, 1987, in Santa Clarita, California.

She began her acting career at just months old, starring as a baby in adverts for Kmart before landing a significant role as Hillary Winston on the CBS sitcom The Royal Family at the age of four.

Rivera's personal life came into in the spotlight during her stint on Glee, which began in 2009.

She started dating artist Big Sean in April 2013, becoming engaged in October 2013 but ending the relationship six months later - later hinting that she had caught him cheating with singer Ariana Grande.

Talking about the split in her book she wrote: 'We'd been fighting for five straight days while he was traveling, and then on the one day that he was back in LA, he said he didn't want to see me.

'Well, a******, I've got a key to your house. I walk in, go downstairs, and guess what little girl is sitting cross-legged on the couch listening to music? 'It rhymes with 'Smariana Schmande.''

She then began dating actor Ryan Dorsey, who she had previously dated in her early 20s. The pair married on July 19, 2014 in Cabo, San Lucas, Mexico - using the same date set for her marriage to Big Sean. 

Seven months later they announced they were having a son, Josey Hollis, who was born in September 2015.

In November 2016 the couple filed for divorce. They briefly reconciled until November 2017, when Rivera was arrested and charged in Kanawha County, West Virginia, with misdemeanor domestic battery against Dorsey.

She allegedly hit him in the head during a row over their child, but charges were later dropped.  The couple finally divorced in 2018  and split custody of Josey.

Rivera's stint on Glee won her nominations for numerous accolades. She had secured the breakthrough role at the age of 22 after years playing guest roles and recurring TV parts  in shows including Baywatch and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

During this time, in 2011, she signed to Columbia Records and launched a solo singing career, releasing a single with rapper Big Sean in 2013 - who she was then dating - titled Sorry.

Rivera made her movie debut as Vera in the horror film At the Devil's Door in 2014, then returned to TV to play the reoccurring role of Blanca on Devious Maids in 2015.

A year later she published her memoir, at the age of 29, titled Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up. 

Rivera's brother Mychal Rivera is a former NFL player for the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars. Her sister Nickayla Rivera is a model.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8505089/Naya-Rivera-missing-presumed-dead-four-year-old-son-boat.html

233

Off-Topic / Re: Mary Kay Letoutneau died

« on: July 08, 2020, 09:47:38 am »Message ID: 1331573

I do remember her! Mary Kay Letoutneau & then husband did divorce last year!

234

Off-Topic / Re: Paper Towels

« on: July 08, 2020, 09:40:42 am »Message ID: 1331571

I was at a store yesterday & was fully stock paper towels & toilet paper!

235

Off-Topic / Cat survives 12 hot minutes in active washing machine

« on: July 07, 2020, 10:33:48 am »Message ID: 1331456

He’s a laundro-cat.

A Burmese cat named Oscar proved he had multiple lives after surviving a grueling 12 minutes in an active washing machine after apparently venturing in to take a nap.

“The poor little cat had his hands on the glass as he was doing the rotations, and he was looking at me,” Oscar’s owner, Amanda Meredith, tells ABC Sunshine Coast of the traumatic incident. The Queensland, Australia native was first alerted to the 2-year-old kitty’s ordeal when she heard a peculiar meowing sound after her husband, Angelo, loaded bed sheets into the washer.

Fortunately, despite getting beaten up by the appliance’s fins during the crisis, Oscar emerged from the incident without serious injury, albeit “very soft,” according to his grateful owner.

After a course of anti-inflammatory medication and a 24-hour stay at the vet, the lucky kitty was allowed to return home, where Amanda says he slept for a full week.

And Oscar continues to be feline fine after his impromptu whirlpool session. The cat reportedly recovered from the ordeal within several weeks, although his owner jokes that he used up “three of his nine lives.”

Unfortunately, the tumble-tuous experience hasn’t dissuaded Oscar from nosing around the washing machine. His owner suspects he might be suffering from “PTSD” (post-traumatic spin-cycle disorder, we presume) as “he has to sit at the door watching the wash cycle.”

This isn’t the first time a washing machine’s taken a kitty for a spin. Last June, a hardy Minnesota cat spent a whole 45 minutes getting sloshed about in a washer and lived to tell the tale, er, flick his tail.

Pet Cat Reunited With Its Family 12 Years After It Escaped

Amanda initially thought the noise was emanating from the cupboard, but soon realized the hair-raising truth: Oscar was in the washing machine.

His veterinarian, Dan Capps, later suspected that the cat might have crawled into the unit to escape Australia’s frigid winter weather.

“It was tragic,” said the distraught owner, who was forced to wait an agonizing two minutes for the front loader to shut off, so the door could open and she could free the feline from the hot cycle.

Amanda then phoned Capps, who said the next six hours would be “touch and go” for the cat.


https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/cat-survives-hot-washing-machine?fbclid=IwAR1BCbhTm04fCOTET2hBTCneYAh8KdSvnTMh3gPBwgUrIiW_GTQxM8u_V68

236

Off-Topic / Don't go to China: Australians are issued a chilling warning they could be LOCKE

« on: July 07, 2020, 10:27:08 am »Message ID: 1331454

Don't go to China: Australians are issued a chilling warning they could be LOCKED UP in hellhole detention centre just for stepping foot in the communist nation

* DFAT said Australians are at risk of 'arbitrary detention' if they travel to China
* Warning said China had detained foreigners for 'endangering national security'
* Australians have been urged not to travel overseas at all due to coronavirus
* The menacing message comes amid growing tensions between the two nations
* Last week China said it is 'not afraid' of Australia's plans to bolster its military

Australians have been warned they could face 'arbitrary detention' in China if they travel to the communist nation.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade released a travel advice update on Tuesday featuring a chilling message for travellers planning to head to mainland China.

Australians have already been told not to travel overseas during the coronavirus pandemic.

But the update went further and stated the Chinese government has detained foreigners who it accused of 'endangering national security'.

'China will not allow most foreigners to enter China due to COVID-19,' the DFAT update reads. 'Direct flights between China and Australia have significantly reduced.

'If despite our advice you travel to China, you'll be subject to 14 days mandatory quarantine. Quarantine requirements may change at short notice.

'If you're already in China, and wish to return to Australia, we recommend you do so as soon as possible by commercial means.

'Authorities have detained foreigners because they're "endangering national security". Australians may also be at risk of arbitrary detention.'

A 2019 Amnesty International report said China had 'legalised arbitrary and secret detention', allowing for prolonged periods of no contact with detainees, and an increased risk of torture and other ill-treatment and forced 'confessions'.

The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances continues to seek permission to visit China to get a first-hand account of the situation.

It comes amid growing tensions between the two nations after Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an inquiry into China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

China responded by calling Australia 'chronically racist' with accusations of spying on nationals and spreading fake news, while boycotting local industries and urging its students and citizens to study and travel elsewhere.

Controversial Chinese national security laws have been implemented in Hong Kong which threaten life imprisonment for conspiring against the Communist government rule.

Mr Morrison said Australia is 'actively considering' offering a safe haven for Hong Kong residents to provide support in the face of the sanctions.

China said it is 'not afraid' of Australia's plans to bolster its military after Mr Morrison unveiled a $270billion boost to the nation's defence forces last week.

The Prime Minister announced Australia will spend $75billion on the navy, $65billion on the air force, $55billion on the army, $15billion on cyber security, and $7billion on space.

China's state-owned media responded on Friday saying the communist nation won't back down to the 'provocations' and could counter by upgrading its forces.

'These weapon procurement plans have widely been interpreted as being aimed at China,' an article that appeared in The Global Times on Friday stated.

The English language newspaper is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and has recently run another article that alleges Australia is sending spies to China.

The Global Times article titled 'China prepared against military provocation from Australia' quoted 'Chinese experts' who said Australia is a 'follower of the US'.

'Chinese experts said on Thursday that while the Chinese military has no intention of provoking Australia, it is also not afraid of Australian provocations.' the report reads.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8497197/Australians-warned-face-arbitrary-detention-travel-China.html

237

Off-Topic / Delta flight from Florida with 43 passengers on board makes an emergency landing

« on: July 07, 2020, 10:18:37 am »Message ID: 1331453

Delta flight from Florida with 43 passengers on board makes an emergency landing at JFK after bird strike completely caves in the nose of the plane

* Delta Airbus A319 was travelling from Palm Beach Airport in Florida to LaGuardia Airport in New York
* Bird hit the nose of the aircraft as it traveled just outside of New York City, damaging the plane's radar equipment
* Pilots performed an emergency landing at nearby John F. Kennedy Airport, safely landing all 43 passengers on board

A Delta flight from Florida has been forced to make an emergency landing at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York after a bird strike damaged the front of the aircraft.

The Airbus A319, which was carrying 43 passengers, was en route to nearby LaGuardia Airport from Palm Beach on Monday evening when the incident occurred. 

The front cone of the aircraft, which protects the plane's radar equipment, was bent out of shape when it was hit by a flock of birds, prompting pilots to make the emergency landing.

The Airbus managed to touch down safely at JFK around 7pm. No passengers or crew were injured in the incident.

Pilots initially believed that heavy hail may have been responsible for the damage, before they determined that birds were the likely cause.

After the safe landing, ABC7 filmed vision of the plane on the tarmac, which showed its front cone completely pushed in.

The Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating the accident.

Bird strikes are uncommon in the New York City area - but they cause serious damage to planes flying in midair.

Back in 2009, a US Airways flight was forced to make an emergency landing in the waters along the Hudson River after the plane lost engine power after being struck by a flock of Canada Geese following take-off from LaGuardia.

 All 155 people on board the aircraft were safely evacuated onto boats, prompting the event to be dubbed 'The Miracle on the Hudson'.

The National Transportation Safety Board dubbed the landing the 'most successful ditching in aviation history', and hailed pilot - Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger - a hero.

A feature film based on the event was released in 2016. The blockbuster, which was directed by Clint Eastwood, featured Tom Hanks in the lead role.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8498523/Delta-flight-makes-emergency-landing-JFK-bird-strike.html

238

Off-Topic / Real-life The Terminal: Tourist has been stranded at Manila Airport for more

« on: July 07, 2020, 10:10:19 am »Message ID: 1331449

Real-life The Terminal: Tourist has been stranded at Manila Airport for more than 100 days after getting stuck due to coronavirus in echoes of Tom Hanks film

* Roman Tromifov has been stranded in Manila's departures hall since March 20
* Philippines stopped issuing tourist visas and AirAsia scrapped all its flights
* His ordeal echoes the 2004 film The Terminal starring Tom Hanks and set at JFK

A tourist is pleading to be rescued after spending more than 100 days living in a Philippine airport during the coronavirus crisis.

Roman Tromifov has been stuck in the departures hall of Manila International Airport since he arrived from Bangkok on March 20. 

He was denied entry to the country after the Philippines suspended entry visas because of the virus pandemic, but he could not get out either because AirAsia cancelled its entire schedule and there are no flights back to his home in Estonia.

His ordeal echoes the 2004 film The Terminal in which Tom Hanks plays an Eastern European tourist left stranded in JFK Airport after a coup in his home country.

The film was loosely based on the true story of Iranian refugee Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who lived in limbo at Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport from 1988 to 2006.

Trofimov took an AirAsia flight from Bangkok to Manila on March 20, just as the world was becoming engulfed by the pandemic.

The Eastern European tourist had been travelling in south-east Asia but his schedule was thrown into chaos when the Philippines shut its borders.

When he arrived in Manila he was told that the Philippines was no longer issuing tourist visas, meaning he was unable to enter the country. 

He had an onward flight to Cebu province booked for the same day on March 20 and a return flight to Bangkok for April 2, but both were cancelled.

According to Estonian broadcaster ERR, Trofimov was travelling on a so-called 'grey passport' for people of unclear citizenship.

Estonian authorities say the document - also known as an 'alien's passport' - is issued to people with Estonian residence rights who cannot get another passport. 

Trofimov claims that AirAsia took the passport when he arrived at the airport, meaning that only AirAsia can fly him back.

However the airline cancelled all its flights in the Philippines in March because of the virus pandemic, and has yet to resume its international schedule.

Trofimov says the Estonian embassy was unable to arrange for his repatriation, although officials claim he declined an evacuation flight.

'It is important to note that he flew to the Philippines during a time when countries had announced emergency situations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had given a travel warning,' a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Trofimov says the embassy offered him a flight to Amsterdam but claims he was asked to pay for the €1,500 ticket from his own pocket, which he could not afford.   

He has now been living in the airport for 110 days, from March 20 to July 7.   

The tourist likened his situation to being a prisoner. He said: 'I've been stuck here for more than 100 days. I need help getting out.'

'The airline said I need to wait for Enhanced Community Quarantine to be over before I am allowed to fly,' he said, referring to the Philippine lockdown order.   

Trofimov has been sleeping in an airport departures hotel room and surviving on food and snacks donated by staff.

He added: 'I am a person with disability, my health is getting worse because of malnutrition, lack of sun, and fresh air. I have no other choice, but to go public.'

The Tom Hanks film was inspired by the story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who spent almost two decades at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. 

After being denied entry to Britain in 1988, he was sent back to France where authorities ruled he could not enter the country nor be deported from the airport.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8497463/Tourist-stranded-Manila-Airport-100-days.html

239

Off-Topic / Sailing into a storm: Two US aircraft carriers conduct drills in the South China

« on: July 07, 2020, 10:02:37 am »Message ID: 1331448

Sailing into a storm: Two US aircraft carriers conduct drills in the South China Sea just days after Beijing threatened to destroy the strike group as tensions rise in the hotly contested region

* The Navy's USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan are conducting exercises in the contested South China Sea
* Navy hasn't brought carriers together for such shows of force in the region since 2014 when the USS George
   Washington and USS Carl Vinson sailed there side by side
* But this year's drill comes amid heightened tension as US criticizes China over its novel coronavirus response and
   accuses it of taking advantage of pandemic to push territorial claims in South China Sea
* China's foreign ministry said the US had deliberately sent its ships to the South China Sea to flex its muscles
* China officials have also accused the United States of trying to drive a wedge between countries in the region
* The US show of forces comes just days after Chinese state media said the country could destroy the US aircraft
   carriers at any moment with missiles in chilling threat 

Two US Navy aircraft carriers have been pictured for the first time together on operations in the contested South China Sea just two days after Beijing threatened to blow them up.

The USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan came together along with their attendant strike groups, carrier-launched F-18 fighters and a B-52 bomber for military exercises.

The US Navy hasn't brought carriers together for such shows of force in the region since 2014 when the USS George Washington and USS Carl Vinson sailed there side by side.

But this year's drill comes amid heightened tension in the region, as the US continues to criticize China over its novel coronavirus response, and after Donald Trump threatened the country with a trade war.

The US has accuses China of taking advantage of the pandemic to push territorial claims in the South China Sea and elsewhere.

The vessels were in sight of Chinese naval vessels, which were spotted near the flotilla.

'They have seen us and we have seen them,' Rear Admiral James Kirk said in a telephone interview from the Nimitz, which has been conducting flight drills in the waterway with the Seventh Fleet carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, that began on July 4.

Images of the exercises, which were first released on Monday, show a B-52 bomber flying in formation with the two strike groups over the South China Sea.

The bomber flew from Louisiana on July 4 and participated in a maritime integration exercise with the two strike groups before landing at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. 

The US show of force comes after Chinese state media said the double US aircraft carrier deployment to the South China Sea is 'at their pleasure'.

In a tweet The Global Times also warned: 'China has a wide selection of anti-aircraft carrier weapons like DF-21D and DF-26 'aircraft carrier killer' #missiles.'

The state run Global Times said analysts noted that they could destroy the carriers at any moment with missiles in a chilling threat.

The paper wrote: 'The South China Sea is fully within the grasp of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), and any US aircraft carrier movement in the region is solely at the pleasure of the PLA, which has a wide selection of anti-aircraft carrier weapons like the DF-21D and DF-26 'aircraft carrier killer' missiles.'

In response, the Navy Chief of Information shared on Twitter: 'And yet, there they are. Two @USNavy aircraft carriers operating in the international waters of the South China Sea. #USSNimitz & #USSRonaldReagan are not intimidated.'

China's foreign ministry said Monday the US had deliberately sent its ships to the South China Sea to flex its muscles and accused it of trying to drive a wedge between countries in the region.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the exercises were performed 'totally out of ulterior motives' and undermined stability in the area.

'Against such a backdrop, the US deliberately dispatched massive forces to conduct large-scale military exercises in the relevant waters of the South China Sea to flex its military muscle,' Zhao said at a daily briefing.

The Pentagon, when it announced the dual carrier exercise, said it wanted to 'stand up for the right of all nations to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows', describing its 100,000-ton ships and the 90 or so aircraft they each carry as a 'symbol of resolve'.

Over the weekend, the Navy said the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan along with their accompanying vessels and aircraft conducted exercises 'designed to maximize air defense capabilities, and extend the reach of long-range precision maritime strikes from carrier-based aircraft in a rapidly evolving area of operations'.

About 12,000 sailors are on ships in the combined carrier strike groups.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, through which some $3trillion of trade passes a year. China routinely objects to any action by the US military in the region. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have competing claims.

China has sought to shore up its claim to the sea by building military bases on coral atolls, leading the U.S. to sail warships through the region in what it calls freedom of operation missions.

Contact with Chinese ships had been without incident, Kirk said.

'We have the expectation that we will always have interactions that are professional and safe,' he said. 'We are operating in some pretty congested waters, lots of maritime traffic of all sorts.'

Washington does not officially take a stand on the rival territorial claims in the region, but is closely allied with several of the claimants and insists that the waters and the airspace above be free to all countries.

Rear Admiral George M. Wikoff said of the exercises: 'The purpose is to show an unambiguous signal to our partners and allies that we are committed to regional security and stability.'

Wikoff, commander of the strike group led by the Ronald Reagan, said the exercises were not a response to those being conducted by China, which the Pentagon criticized this week as 'counter-productive to efforts at easing tensions and maintaining stability'.

China dismissed the US criticism of its drills on Friday and suggested the United States was to blame for increasing tensions.

China announced last week it had scheduled five days of drills starting July 1 near the Paracel Islands, which are claimed by both Vietnam and China.

Vietnam and the Philippines have also criticized the Chinese drills, warning they could create tension in the region and impact Beijing's relationship with its neighbors.

The US accuses China of trying to intimidate Asian neighbors who might want to exploit its extensive oil and gas reserves.

And while the US show of force is strong this week, in recent months, the Navy has taken some hard hits amid the pandemic.

The spread of the coronavirus aboard the carrier while on deployment in the Pacific in March exploded into one of the biggest military leadership crises of recent years.

More than 1,000 members of the crew eventually became infected, and one sailor died. The ship was sidelined for weeks at Guam but recently returned to duty.

The outbreak led to the firing of then captain Brett Crozier after he sent a letter to Navy leaders asking that most of the crew be taken ashore.

That letter was subsequently leaked to the press. Last month, after a two-month investigation, the Navy decided that Crozier would not return to the Roosevelt and not be eligible to captain another ship.

The COVID-19 outbreak on the Roosevelt was the most extensive and concentrated spread of the virus across the US military.

It eventually sent all of the 4,800 crew members ashore for weeks of quarantine, in a systematic progression that kept enough sailors on the ship to keep it secure and running.

More broadly, it put out of commission a massive warship vital to the Navy´s mission of countering China's power in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Roosevelt spent weeks in port in Guam, as crew members rotated ashore for quarantine and isolation at the military base and in hotels around the island.

After about two weeks of training at sea, the carrier returned to operations at sea with a reduced crew on June 4.

Sailors have continued to fly back to the ship from Guam after they have recovered from the virus or completed two-weeks of quarantine.

Meanwhile, tensions between China have remained, partly due to President Donald Trump claiming that China may have spread the coronavirus intentionally.

Last month, the president made the claim in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. 'There's a chance it was intentional,' Trump said of the coronavirus spread that started in Wuhan and traveled around the globe earlier this year.

Without providing any evidence, the president speculated China may have had economic motivations letting the virus escape.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8496833/Two-Navy-aircraft-carriers-conduct-exercises-South-China-Sea.html

240

Off-Topic / Gunman 'cordoned off' after a 'shooting' at the largest Marine Corps base in the

« on: July 07, 2020, 09:50:12 am »Message ID: 1331445

Breaking:  Gunman 'cordoned off' after a 'shooting' at the largest Marine Corps base in the US in Southern California

* A shooter opened fire at the Twentynine Palms Marine Base at around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday morning
* The suspect has been 'cordoned off' by military police but the Corps could not confirm whether they have been taken
   into custody
* There are no details yet about injuries or victims 
* Early reports said it was an active shooting situation but San Bernardino Sheriff's Department spokeswoman later said
   it was not but was a shooting on base

A gunman has been 'cordoned off' after a shooting at the largest Marine Corps base in the US in Southern California.

A shooter opened fire at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, early Tuesday morning.

The Corps said the suspect has since been 'cordoned off' but could not confirm whether they have been taken into custody.

There are no details yet about any potential injuries or victims.

The Corps confirmed on Twitter that gunshots rung out at the base at around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Military police are investigating and the area has been cordoned off. 

Early reports said there was an active shooter on the base and that an individual had been taken into custody.

Captain Nicole Paymale later clarified that a suspect has been 'cordoned off'.

She said this is a military term and could not confirm the suspect has been taken into custody.

A San Bernardino Sheriff's Department spokeswoman said the base told them it was not an active shooting situation, but that a shooting had taken place on base.

The base did not require Sheriff's assistance, the Department added. 

The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center did not immediately return DailyMail.com's request for comment.

Residents on the base were sent an alert message, telling them to shelter in place as the incident unfolded, reported the Express.   

'Please shelter in place until notified,' it said.

'Code White: There is an Active Shooter in the A M C C. Remain calm.

'Silence your cell phone. Run, hide, fight. Help is on the way.'

Another urgent alert message warned 'you are at serious risk' and told peopleto 'lock and barricade the door.'

One terrified resident took to social media to tell how they were on lockdown in the base.

'Active shooter on the base in 29 Palms. We are locked down here with the kids,' one woman tweeted.   

The vast Twentynine Palms base is located in the desert 125 miles (201 kilometers) east of Los Angeles.

It is the largest Marine Corps base in the world, with around 8,500 people estimated to live there.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8498769/Gunman-custody-shooting-Marine-Corps-base-Southern-California.html