An analyst following developments with Facebook says fake accounts that the social media giant removed from its site this week show the creators of these accounts are branching out to focus on world events, not just U.S. affairs. (Aug. 22) AP
The New York man who was charged with trying to defraud Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg was captured Thursday in Ecuador after nearly 3 1/2 years as a fugitive.
Paul Ceglia, 45, went missing from upstate New York in March 2015 after he removed his electronic monitoring ankle bracelet — taking off with his wife, two children and the family dog.
Prosecutors on Thursday notified U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick that Ceglia had been located and arrested in Quito, Ecuador’s capital. He is set to appear in court within 24 hours.
Prosecutors said they would update the presiding judge on the status of extradition attempts.
Ceglia, a former wood pellet salesman with a checkered business past, fled the country just two months before he was scheduled to go to trial in Manhattan federal court for cooking up a scheme to defraud Zuckerberg out of half of his stake in the company.
He filed a suit in 2010 alleging that while Zuckerberg was studying at Harvard, the tech billionaire signed a contract giving Ceglia partial ownership of the website that later became Facebook. He also claimed he gave Zuckerberg $1,000 in startup money as part of the software development deal.
Facebook lawyers confirmed that there was indeed a contract between Zuckerberg and Ceglia, but insisted that the social networking website was not a part of the deal.
A Buffalo judge tossed out Ceglia’s lawsuit in 2014.
Prior to vanishing, Ceglia maintained his innocence. He faces mail and wire fraud charges that would carry a potential maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
Ceglia’s lawyer, Robert Ross Fogg, was surprised his client had been located, but said that he looks “forward to his return and resuming our vigorous defense of his case.”
Media mogul Simon Cowell was joined by the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Adam Lambert, Leona Lewis, Mel B, Howie Mandel and Heidi Klum as he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Aug. 23) AP
The 36-year-old “American Idol” alum showed off her lean figure in a black and yellow floral print dress during a ceremony honoring Simon Cowell on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Wednesday. She completed her look with a Gucci belt and black tights.
Clarkson was all smiles while posing with Cowell, 58, and took a moment to thank her “best friend” at his star-studded affair.
“He appreciates authenticity even if it’s not something that he’s into,” Clarkson said. “He appreciates you being yourself. That’s very rare in this industry.”
During a June interview with Extra, Clarkson revealed she struggled with a thyroid disorder and an autoimmune disease, which caused her weight to fluctuate. She credited her new bod to a book that changed her life.
“All my levels are back up. I’m not on medicine anymore because of this book” Clarkson said, referring to “The Plant Paradox” by cardiac surgeon Steven R. Gundry.
The singer told Extra she focuses on an “organic diet,” and, surprisingly, no exercise: “Literally, I haven’t worked out at all!”
Clarkson took to Instagram to congratulate the man who judged her singing nearly two decades ago on the first season of “American Idol.”
“16 years later and I’m still a fan of this man Congrats on your star Simon!” she captioned a picture with Cowell.
Other “Idol” alums were in attendance, including Adam Lambert and Katherine McPhee, plus Britain’s “X-Factor” stars Leona Lewis and One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson.
Cowell’s “America’s Got Talent” family — Heidi Klum, Melanie Brown and Howie Mandell — was on hand, in addition to his actual family, partner Lauren Silverman and son Eric Cowell.
Hahn is the world and Paralympic champion in the T38 200m
Great Britain’s Sophie Hahn claimed her first European 200m title to put her in line for a sprint double at the World Para-athletics European Championships.
After winning gold over the distance at last year’s World Championships in London, the 21-year-old set a new championship record of 26.51 seconds.
“I’ve worked so hard for these titles and I just want to get stronger and quicker,” Hahn told BBC Sport.
The sprinter will aim for another gold in Berlin in Saturday’s 100m.
Hahn’s 200m victory was one of six golds for GB on Thursday and they top the medal table with 31, including 13 golds.
After Aled Sion Davies took F64 discus gold in the morning session, fellow veterans Graeme Ballard and Dan Greaves were victorious in Thursday’s evening session, in the T36 100m and F64 discus respectively.
And GB also dominated the inaugural RaceRunning events with Hannah Dines and training partner Kayleigh Haggo first and second in the women’s RR3 competition, while Gavin Drysdale and Rafi Solaiman took gold and silver in the men’s event.
There was a second gold for Northern Ireland’s Jason Smyth, representing Ireland, who added the T13 100m to the 200m title he won on Tuesday.
‘I just went for it’
After a busy year which saw her take Commonwealth Games gold in the T38 100m, Hahn came to Germany keen to add to her medal tally.
She looked strong, getting away from Hungary’s Luca Ekler early on and maintaining her lead as her rivals tried to close the gap.
“My coach told me to hit the first 100m hard and I knew I had to get out fast and just went for it,” she added.
“I concentrated on my own race and I didn’t realise how close it was.
“I have great family and friends supporting me and I am here to stay, I am not going anywhere. I just want to get faster and win more golds.
“I’m really excited for next year, I am training hard, but I know the other girls are too and there is a great rivalry.”
RaceRunners relish championship debut
RaceRunning sees athletes, mainly with cerebral palsy, use specially-designed trikes with no pedals which support you as you walk or run and allow you to run and compete independently.
Dines, who competed for GB in the trike events in the Rio Paralympics cycling programme, got away quickest in her final, finishing in 19,00 seconds and beating her Red Star club-mate Haggo by 0.46secs.
“I’m so happy and especially to do this with Kayleigh,” she said.
“My first sporting experience was RaceRunning five years ago and it gave me a pure and unimpeded sense of movement.
“It has been a long process to get it at a major championship and a lot of hard work behind the scenes.
“It would be great to see it at a Paralympics, maybe in Paris in 2024, but we just have to continue doing our stuff.”
Of all things, the simple act of thanking the bus driver became a meme this year. Beats us as to why.
Now it’s something you can do in Fortnite as your character leaves the battle bus, all because of fans who requested the feature.
The ability to thank the bus driver, who flies players over the island at the start of the game, has been added to the game’s latest v5.30 patch, and while it hasn’t been highlighted in the release notes, it was spotted by users in the game’s subreddit.
It’s likely the result of a now-deleted Change.org petition asking developers to add the feature in the game, which has been around since July.
“Since I was just a boy I have always loved jumping out of the battle bus, but all this time I have felt something was missing. And that thing is the ability to thank the driver of the battle bus, he or she is truly a great person and they provide us a great service, I think it is time we can truly appreciate [their] service, don’t you agree?” reads the petition.
Now players can hit the B key on computers, or press down on D-pad on console, to thank the driver before jumping out of the battle bus.
On the bottom left of the screen, a message will display saying “[player] has thanked the bus driver.”
That’s about it, really, and there’s no effect on the actual game if you do choose to thank the bus driver. We just hope you reciprocate it in real life.
The duo paid homage to the original, wearing neon baseball caps, sitting in rotating thrones, and even spray-painting their own graffiti. And just as Smith left West Philadelphia for Bel-Air in the 90s sitcom, Ernie left his childhood home to explore the wilds of Sesame Street, prepped with advice from his mom, “Keep your head up, be kind, and you’ll find your way.”
When Bert first saw Ernie, he broke the ice with, “Wanna be friends who laugh, learn, and share?” Ernie replied, “Sit right there.” And thus, the iconic friendship was born.
“One half of a whole, one part of a pair,” Bert raps, which could also be some pretty solid wedding vows.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blamed Democrats and the news media on Thursday for the murder of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts while arguing that lax immigration policy led to her death.
During an interview about Tibbetts’ tragic death on Fox News, Patrick focused on the alleged undocumented immigration status of suspect Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24. Patrick said those who have opposed tougher border enforcement policies, such as President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall, are responsible for the 20-year-old’s death.
Patrick specifically singled out Senate Minority Leader Chuck Leader.
“I look at Chuck Schumer and, in my view, for pure politics, the blood of her and Kate Steinle – and the thousands across America in the last decade or more who have been killed by criminal aliens, many of them here illegally – The blood is on Chuck Schumer’s hands, and every Democrat,” Patrick said.
.@DanPatrick: “We in the Republican Party honor legal immigration but the President has to get the funding for this wall.” pic.twitter.com/q4bGrE5cNR
Patrick argued that as a politician from a border state, he understood the issue better than most. Then, without explanation, he blamed the American news media for Tibbetts’ death.
“The CNNs, the MSNBCs, most of the print media in this country, and the Democrats, they are all accomplices in the death of this young girl and the death of everyone else,” he said.
Even Fox News was at fault, Patrick said, because host Geraldo Rivera expressed an unwillingness to blame Tibbetts’ murder on immigrants. And Patrick said he is willing to debate Rivera on the topic, adding Rivera seems to have a “good heart.”
“And I’ll be happy to debate Geraldo Rivera anytime anyplace anywhere on this issue,” he said. “We have to secure the border and protect the lives of American citizens.”
Patrick is not the first conservative to pounce on Tibbetts’ murder as a political issue.
Fox News host, and former Utah congressman, Jason Chaffetz said Tuesday that while he doesn’t believe the story of Trump associates Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen being convicted on multiple felonies “moves the meter” with voters, the Tibbetts murder will.
“What does touch people’s emotion is what happened to Mollie Tibbetts because they can relate to her, and she was murdered. And all the polls are showing that the number one issue is immigration,” Chaffetz said.
Trump, who was reticent to mention Cohen and Manafort, cited Tibbetts in a rally Wednesday as a victim of current U.S. immigration policy.
“You heard about today with the illegal alien coming in very sadly from Mexico,” Trump said at an appearance in West Virginia. “And you saw what happened to that incredible, beautiful young woman.”
34-year-old Shanann Watts, her unborn child and her two daughters, 4-year-old Bella Watts and 3-year-old Celeste Watts, were honored at a candlelight vigil outside their family home in Frederick, Colo. on Friday, Aug. 17. Mikaela Rodenbaugh
Friends, neighbors and social media describe the Watts family as “perfect,” but after the Colorado husband was arrested on suspicion of killing his pregnant wife and two young daughters, many are left wondering how and why.
Christopher Watts, 33, is accused of killing his wife, 34-year-old Shanann Watts, and their two children, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, after Shanann returned from a business trip in the early morning hours of Aug. 13.
Watts told police he and Shanann spoke “emotionally” about possibly separating early that morning, and after that conversation Shanann strangled both children. Watts then admitted to strangling Shanann in a fit of rage, according to arrest documents.
Police were first alerted to Shanann’s disappearance on Aug. 13 by a friend who said Shanann wasn’t answering her phone just hours after she had dropped Shanann off at home from the business trip.
Shanann, who worked as a brand promoter for a nutrition and supplement company Le-Vel since January 2016, was always on her phone for work so it was unlike her to miss calls, her friend Nickole Atkinson told ABC News.
“It wasn’t making sense to me,” Atkinson told ABC.
Atkinson also told ABC she was concerned that Shanann missed a doctors appointment the morning of Aug. 13, since she was 15 weeks pregnant with the couple’s third child.
An expectant couple
Shanann and Chris met in North Carolina after a mutual friend introduced them on Facebook in 2010, Shanann said in a live video she posted in May. They got married in North Carolina on Nov. 3, 2012, according to her Facebook page.
In the live video, Shanann said that she met Chris while going through a health crisis.
“I met Chris because of those health challenges,” she said in the video. “Because I got so sick, I let him in … He’s the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
Prior to meeting Chris, Shanann was married and had the last name King, according to public records. She was divorced in 2009.
In a video posted to Shanann’s Facebook page on June 11, she surprises Chris when he comes home from work with the news that she’s pregnant with their third child. She’s wearing a shirt that says “Oops, we did it again.”
Earlier this summer, Shanann and her daughters went to North Carolina for six weeks to visit family. Chris stayed behind in Frederick for the most part, but was on the East Coast at the beginning of August.
North Carolina mother, Michele Greer, said she met Shanann in line for a ride at Myrtle Beach. She later noticed Shanann in one of her photos from the day. In the image Shanann and her father, Frank Rzucek, are watching one of Shanann’s daughters playing on a bungee trampoline. Chris Watts is seen behind Shanann.
Michele said the picture she took is chilling to her now — a happy moment frozen in time before the tragedy unfolded.
Financial troubles
Public records show Shanann and Chris bought their Frederick home in 2013.
Chris started a job at Anadarko Petroleum in early 2015, according to a June 2015 bankruptcy filing. He was reportedly fired from the company the day of his arrest Aug. 15.
Bankruptcy documents indicate Chris and Shanann made a combined income of about $100,000 per year when they filed in 2015, and they were paying about $3,000 per month for a mortgage on their house they purchased for nearly $400,000.
The family was also being sued by their homeowners association, Wyndham Hill Masters Association, Inc. for $1,533.80. They were due for a court appearance in that case on Aug. 24.
Life in Colorado
Shanann’s Instagram and Facebook show her and Chris going on trips to places like San Diego, Las Vegas and Puerto Vallarta, all paid for by Shanann’s employer, Le-Vel.
Most of Christopher Watts’ online presence has been removed since his arrest.
Since then, a video of him giving a speech in 2009 on relationship deterioration and repair for a communications class in Broomfield has surfaced.
“Sometimes when you have children and your relationship starts to deteriorate, a child could help repair it,” Watts says in his speech.
Chris — who according to arrest documents admitted to having an affair with a coworker prior to Shanann’s death — also talks about fidelity in the presentation.
“Even at the job. You might meet a new person and (it) could strengthen into something else and could weaken the bond you have with the partner you have.”
“And you feel that you might be better with someone else that you’ve met,” he declares. “You think that you can no longer do – that your partner is someone that you can’t be with.”
Since Chris Watts’ arrest, friends and neighbors have reported that they had no idea he was capable of the crimes he’s accused of.
“They were always hugging or holding hands or kissing,” Amanda Thayer told Coloradoan sister station 9News of the couple. “They had the perfect family.”
Nick and Amanda Thayer, who took Chris Watts into their home in between Shanann’s disappearance and his arrest, said their families spent many holidays together and their children were all close as well.
“If we had any inclination that he was involved at all, no way would I have let him into my house,” Nick Thayer told 9News.
CLOSE
Nick and Amanda Thayer took in Chris Watts when his family went missing. The couple is in shock after learning that he’s accused of killing his pregnant wife Shanann and two young daughters. 9NEWS, Fort Collins Coloradoan
Christopher Watts has been formally charged with nine felonies, including three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree murder of a child under the age of 12 by a person in a position of trust, one count of unlawful termination of a pregnancy and three counts of tampering with a deceased human bodu
He is scheduled to appear in court again on Nov. 19. He’s being held in Weld County Court without bond.
All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in court. Arrests and charges are merely accusations by law enforcement until, and unless, a suspect is convicted of a crime.
Watch Kent seamer Mitchell Claydon accidentally throw the ball backwards while in his delivery stride during the T20 Blast quarter-final against Lancashire at Canterbury.
Russia’s biggest gun manufacturer is looking to take on Tesla with its new electric concept car.
Kalashnikov, maker of the AK-47 assault weapon, has gone retro with its new “supercar,” the CV-1, unveiled at a Russian defense show near Moscow Thursday.
According to media outlets reporting at a press event at the expo, a Kalashnikov media rep said the car will “let us stand in the ranks of global electric car producers such as Tesla.”
It certainly looks retro, with the design and body of an old-school IZh 21252 “Kombi” car — the Kombi came from a Soviet era car maker from the 1970s. It’s a bold design decision, a vintage throwback akin to the Fujifilm Instax camera.
The CV-1 supercar has a rather old-fashioned design.
Aside from making guns, Kalashnikov had previously built electric motorcycles and electric “Ovum” vehicles that were used at the World Cup in Russia this summer. The electric motorcycles had been used last year for police patrolling roads. But mostly the company builds weapons. And the occasional salt-and-pepper shaker.
So, will the company’s CV-1 “supercar” stand up to Tesla’s electric empire?
A limited number of Tesla vehicles have been sold in Russia in the past few years.
Kalashnikov didn’t give any pricing details for the potential vehicle, but the specs that the company provided didn’t exactly stack up with Tesla.
Tesla’s electric vehicles boast much more impressive stats. The CV-1 claims to have about a 200-mile range and go from 0 to 60 mph in 6 seconds. Tesla’s newest affordable sedan, the Model 3, has a 220-mile range and a long-range battery that reaches 310 miles. The Model 3 can reach 60 mph in 3.5 seconds.
If the concept car isn’t that impressive to you, check out the gun maker’s walking robot named Igoryok, also unveiled at the defense show this week.
Hopefully more Top Gun means more sweaty slow-motion shirtless volleyball sequences, but even if it doesn’t, the new movie sequel from director Joseph Kasinski (Oblivion, TRON: Legacy) hopes to reclaim some of the 1986 movie’s magic.
Paramount Pictures is bringing some new and familiar faces together to continue the saga of reckless fighter pilot Lieutenant Peter “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick. Peter Craig, Justin Marks, and Eric Warren Singer are on screenplay duties and the production began filming in May, as evidenced by Tom Cruise’s photo of Maverick gazing longingly at his airborne chariot.
We know you have questions. We have answers… for the most part. Here are all the updates on Top Gun: Maverick (so far) neatly compiled together.
Where did we leave off in the Top Gun cinematic universe?
After both wowing and angering the Top Gun flight academy, Maverick was offered any job he wanted for his part in fending off Russian MiGs in a “crisis situation.” He chose to return to Top Gun as an instructor.
The headstrong pilot’s rule-breaking aero-acrobatics inadvertently contributed to the death of his comrade Nick “Goose” Bradshaw. The incident threw him into a moment of self-reflection that brought the emotional payoff of the final rescue mission — and earned Maverick the respect of Iceman, his former flight academy rival.
Who from the first film is returning for Maverick?
Cruise, obviously, is back in the saddle. Anthony Edwards, meanwhile, probably won’t be. (Goooooose!)
Val Kilmer has been talking about a Top Gun sequel for years and will now return in his role of Lieutenant Tom “Iceman” Kazansky. In 2015, Kilmer wrote in a Facebook post that he had been offered a role in the movie, but admitted shortly thereafter “I jumped the gun.” In 2017, he donned an Iceman shirt and teased, “Still got it… just sayin…” It’s all now official.
Who are the newcomers?
The list of actors joining Top Gun: Maverick continues to stretch, but the biggest addition is Miles Teller (Whiplash, Only the Brave) as the son of Goose.
Other new cast members that EW can confirm include Jon Hamm, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Lewis Pullman, Glen Powell, Charles Parnell, Jay Ellis, Bashir Salahuddin, Danny Ramirez, and Monica Barbaro. Thomasin McKenzie, the breakout star of Leave No Trace, had also been attached to the production at one point but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. The 18-year-old is in demand!
What is the sequel about?
Official plot details are under wraps, but that’s not to say there haven’t been clues.
Connelly will play a single mother working at a bar near the air base, while Ellis, Ramirez, and Barbaro will play pilots and Salahuddin will play an engineer. According to Deadline, Maverick is now an instructor at the flight academy who reportedly takes Goose’s son under his wing.
There’s a brief moment in the first film where we see Goose’s baby boy. Does this kid grow up to resent Maverick for the part played in his father’s death? Does he seek Maverick out to learn more about the father he lost? Does he see Maverick is a father figure?
When will Maverick open in theaters?
Top Gun: Maverick is scheduled to open in theaters on July 12, 2019.
Congrats on your star Simon!” she captioned a picture with Cowell. 
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