High-Wire Artist Nik Wallenda To Cross Arizona Gorge

By Scott Neuman

Aerialist Nik Wallenda traversing Niagara Falls last June.

Nik Wallenda, scion of the famous "Flying Wallendas" family, plans to set out suspended 1,500 feet above the Colorado River Gorge in Arizona with only his legendary sense of balance and a 2-inch-thick cable between him and certain death.

Wallenda, 34, will walk the quarter-mile across the gorge, which is located near the Grand Canyon. The stunt comes a year after he successfully traversed Niagra Falls, earning a seventh Guinness World Record in the process.

One key difference between Sunday's attempted feat and last year's Niagra crossing is that this time Wallenda will dispense with his safety harness.

The Associated Press writes that "Wallenda is a seventh-generation high-wire artist. ... His great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, fell during a performance in Puerto Rico and died at the age of 73. Several other family members, including a cousin and an uncle, have perished while performing wire walking stunts."

source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/06/23/194874877/high-wire-artist-nik-wallenda-to-cross-arizona-gorge
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NSA Leaker Edward Snowden Seeks Asylum in Ecuador

By JAMES GORDON MEEK (@meekwire) , KIRIT RADIA (@KiritRadia_ABC) , LEEZEL TANGLAO (@leezeltanglao) and DEAN SCHABNER

Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who faces espionage charges for disclosing secret U.S. government anti-terrorism programs, has requested asylum in Ecuador, according to the country's foreign minister.

"The Government of Ecuador has received an asylum request from Edward J. #Snowden," Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño Aroca tweeted today hours after a plane believed to be carrying Snowden landed in Moscow from Hong Kong, where Snowden had been hiding.

The Aeroflot plane believed to be carrying Snowden arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport at around 5:10 p.m. local time. There were cars with Ecuadoran flags at the airport, but an Ecuadoran diplomat there refused to answer questions.

Ecuador has allowed WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange to spend a year in its embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning about sex crime allegations.

The anti-secrecy group released a satatement today that Snowden "bound for a democratic nation via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisors from WikiLeaks."

According to a report from the Interfax news agency, an unidentified Russian official said Snowden has no Russian visa, so he will remain in the transit area and won't come out of customs. The official was also quoted saying that because Snowden won't pass through border control, Russian authorities can't and won't stop him.

The U.S. State Department said today it had contacted several countries in the Western Hemisphere through which "Snowden might transit or that could serve as his final destinations," a State Department official said.

"The U.S. is advising these governments that Snowden is wanted on felony charges, and as such should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the United States," the official said.

Hong Kong officials said early today that Snowden left the country "on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel."

"As the HKSAR Government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr. Snowden from leaving Hong Kong," Hong Kong government officials said in a statement.

Snowden's U.S. passport was revoked on Saturday, and Hong Kong authorities were then notified -- but the U.S. notification may have occurred after Snowden already had departed the city, which is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

The Obama administration was left "scrambling" for answers for how the fugitive former NSA contractor was able to jet to Moscow, while Washington slept, despite carrying a passport that can no longer be used, an official said.

"I think it's safe to say we were not aware he left Hong Kong," a senior U.S. official familiar with unfolding events told ABC News. "We have little idea of how he left How Kong."

A State Department Operations Center alert said Snowden's U.S passport was revoked Saturday after the Justice Department finally unsealed charges on Friday that had been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on June 14, ABC News has learned.

"Consul General-Hong Kong confirmed Hong Kong authorities were notified that Mr. Snowden's passport was revoked June 22," the State Department's senior watch officer informed top officials in a new message.

But whether the U.S. embassy was able to tell Hong Kong in time before Snowden fled, or whether the Chinese officials simply were eager to wash their hands of him and let him go, remains unclear.

A State Department spokesperson said they did not have a comment at this time.

The Russian government has been notified by the embassy in Moscow that Snowden no longer has a valid U.S. passport and that the U.S. "desires to have him deported," according to another message from the Operations Center in Washington.

If Snowden never entered Russian passport control because he was driven from the plane to a foreign embassy, "that means the Russians were looking the other way," the senior U.S. official told ABC News.

source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/nsa-leaker-edward-snowden-seeks-asylum-ecuador/story?id=19466318#.Ucd4Yzvwmzk
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Sheer delight! Miranda Kerr leaves her black underwear on show thanks to see-through red dress

By SARAH FITZMAURICE

Sheer delight! Miranda Kerr leaves her black underwear on show thanks to see-through red dress

She is no stranger to posing in her underwear and on Saturday night Miranda Kerr decided to show off her lingerie, thanks to a sheer red dress.
The lace number boasted long sleeves and was encrusted with jewels, but the see-through material left plenty of her flesh on show.
As well as a delicate black bra Miranda also sported a pair of retro high-waisted knickers, which covered more of her modesty than a thong would have done.

We can see your underwear! Miranda's lace bra and large knickers were visible through the lace dress

The Victoria's Secret stunner added a pair of Christian Louboutin mesh heels for the occasion too.
Miranda matched her lipstick to her dress and toted around a small rounded clutch bag.
She had her hair tousled to one side of her head and she ran her fingers through her hair as she strut into the restaurant.

Dazzling: Miranda was seen holding a gift box as she walked through New York

The Australian model recently said that it's important for her to sometimes let Orlando be the dominant one in their home life.
'I think it is really important not to feel as a woman that you have to do and be everything,' she explains.
'I am quite dominant in my career, so what really works for me when I come home, is to relax more into the feminine side.

Hot to trot: Miranda teamed the daring dress with a pair of Louboutin heels

'If you’re really an alpha female, you don’t allow [your partner] to have the space to feel like the man in the relationship.
'Maybe I am too traditional, but men feel important when you ask for their help, instead of thinking you can do it all on your own.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2346835/Miranda-Kerr-leaves-black-underwear-thanks-red-dress.html
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Is this ancient Egyptian statue a sign that there really is a curse of the Pharaohs? Relic of the god of death found inside mummy's tomb and kept in museum for 80 years starts SPINNING on its own

10-inch tall relic, is an offering to Egyptian God Osiris, God of the dead
It has been filmed on a time lapse, seemingly spinning 180 degrees
TV physicist Brian Cox among the experts being consulted on mystery
But some now believe there could be 'spiritual explanation' for turning statue

By AMANDA WILLIAMS

Egyptologist Campbell Price studies an ancient Egyptian statuette at the Manchester Museum, which appears to be moving on its own

It sounds like the something from the script of a Hollywood action adventure.
But the 'mystery of the moving mummy' - which has seen an Egyptian statue mysteriously start to spin round in a display case - has spooked museum bosses.
The 10-inch tall relic, an offering to the Egyptian God Osiris, was found in a mummy's tomb and has been at the Manchester Museum for 80 years.
But in recent weeks, curators have been left scratching their heads after they kept finding it facing the wrong way. They now believe there could be a 'spiritual explanation' for the turning statue.

The 10-inch tall relic, which dates back to 1800 BC, has been at the museum for 80 years but curators say it has recently starting rotating 180 degrees during the day

It is believed that there is a curse of the pharaohs which strikes anyone who dares to take relics from a pyramid tomb.
Experts decided to monitor the room on time-lapse video and were astonished to see it clearly show the statuette spinning 180 degrees - with nobody going near it.

Experts decided to monitor the room on time-lapse video and were astonished to see it clearly show the statuette spinning 180 degrees - with nobody going near it

Scientists who explored the Egyptian tombs in the 1920s were popularly believed to be struck by a 'curse of the Pharaohs'.
Now Campbell Price, a curator at the museum on Oxford Road, said he believes there may be a spiritual explanation to the spinning statue.
Egyptologist Mr Price, 29, said: 'I noticed one day that it had turned around.
'I thought it was strange because it is in a case and I am the only one who has a key.
'I put it back but then the next day it had moved again.

In this time lapsed video, as the museum closes for the evening, the statue can be seen in a clearly different position

'We set up a time-lapse video and, although the naked eye can't see it, you can clearly see it rotate on the film.
'The statuette is something that used to go in the tomb along with the mummy.
'Mourners would lay offerings at its feet. The hieroglyphics on the back ask for 'bread, beer and beef'.
'In Ancient Egypt they believed that if the mummy is destroyed then the statuette can act as an alternative vessel for the spirit.

By midday the next day it has turned almost a quarter of a circle to be facing to the left

'Maybe that is what is causing the movement.'
Other experts have a more rational explanation - suggesting that the vibrations caused by the footsteps of passing visitors makes the statuette turn.
That's the theory favoured by Professor Cox - but Campbell said he was not convinced.

The following morning the statue has moved again, and is facing even further away from its original position

'Brian thinks it's differential friction,' he said.
'Where two surfaces, the serpentine stone of the statuette and glass shelf it is on, cause a subtle vibration which is making the statuette turn.
But it has been on those surfaces since we have had it and it has never moved before. And why would it go around in a perfect circle?'
Campbell is urging members of the public to come along and take a look for themselves.
'It would be great if someone could solve the mystery,' he added.

By the end of the day the statue has turned almost 180 degrees and is now facing away from visitors to the museum



source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2346758/Ancient-Egyptian-statue-started-MOVING-sparking-fears-struck-curse-Pharaohs.html
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Wing walker, pilot die in crash at Ohio air show

DAN SEWELL, Associated Press, By DAN SEWELL and ASHLEY THOMAS, Associated Press

CINCINNATI (AP) — A plane carrying a wing walker crashed at an air show and exploded into flames Saturday, killing the pilot and stunt walker, authorities said.

The crash of the 450 HP Stearman happened at around 12:45 p.m. at the Vectren Air Show near Dayton in front of thousands of horrified spectators. No one else was hurt.

A video posted on WHIO-TV shows the plane turn upside-down as the performer sits on top of the wing. The plane then tilts and crashes to the ground, erupting into flames as spectators screamed.

Ian Hoyt, an aviation photographer and licensed pilot from Findlay, was at the show with his girlfriend. He told The Associated Press he was taking photos as the plane passed by and had just raised his camera to take another shot.

"Then I realized they were too low and too slow. And before I knew it, they hit the ground," he said.

He couldn't tell exactly what happened, but it appeared that the plane stalled and didn't have enough air speed, he said. He credited the pilot for steering clear of spectators and potentially saving lives.

"Had he drifted more, I don't know what would have happened," Hoyt said. He said he had been excited to see the show because he'd never seen the scheduled performer — wing walker Jane Wicker — in action.

On the video, the announcer narrates as the plane glides through the sky and rolls over while the stuntwoman perches on a wing.

"Now she's still on that far side. Keep an eye on Jane. Keep an eye on Charlie. Watch this! Jane Wicker, sitting on top of the world," the announcer said, right before the plane makes a quick turn and nosedive.

Federal records show that biplane was registered to Wicker, who lived in Loudon, Va. A man who answered the phone at a number listed for Wicker on her website said he had no comment and hung up.

One of the pilots listed on Wicker's website was named Charlie Schwenker. A post on Jane Wicker Airshows' Facebook page announced the deaths of Wicker and Schwenker and asked for prayers for their families.

A message left at a phone listing for Charles Schwenker in Oakton, Va., wasn't immediately returned.

Dayton International Airport spokeswoman Linda Hughes and Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Anne Ralston confirmed that a pilot and stunt walker had died but declined to give their names. The air show also declined to release their identities.

The show was canceled for the rest of the day, but organizers said events would resume Sunday and follow the previous schedule and normal operations. The National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating the crash.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Wing-walker-pilot-die-in-crash-at-Ohio-air-show-4616320.php
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‘Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret,’ TV review

By David Hinckley
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tania Raymonde as Jody Arias

The year 2013 isn’t half over and we already may have a winner for Worst Girlfriend of the Year: Jodi Arias.
Lifetime also may win this year’s award for “fastest turnaround of a sordid real-life story into a creepy TV movie.”
The real-life Arias, as HLN devotees remember from just a few short weeks ago, killed her ex-boyfriend because he refused to become as obsessed with her as she was with him.

Nor did she just kill him. She butchered him. By the time she finished, it’s surprising she didn’t run him through a meat grinder and serve him on hamburger buns.
It’s a sad, tragic, awful story, of course, and viewers might wonder why we need it retold in dramatic form so soon after the real-life case ended with her murder conviction.
The question is valid. The answer is Tania Raymonde, who plays Arias with a disturbing intensity that makes her more than just another psycho stalker.

Viewers who were glued to the trial may note a misplaced detail here and there, but in general they are likely to find this 87-minute movie a solid summation of Arias’ disintegration.
That’s the core of the film. It isn’t until 15 minutes from the end that we get to the killing, while the trial is telescoped into a series of quick-cut vignettes

That’s not a problem, because by then it’s clear what happened and there’s a solid case about why.
An interesting footnote here is that Lifetime built a good part of its reputation on movies about women victimized by sociopathic men.

While Travis Alexander (Jesse Lee Soffer) won’t win boyfriend of the year honors, it’s interesting to see the psycho killer torch pass to the other side of the gender aisle.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/jodi-arias-dirty-secret-tv-review-article-1.1379149#ixzz2X0nY3qmB
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A whirlwind romance: Chelsy battles with bride's billowing dress as William and Harry lead Royal party at society wedding of year

Princes' old friend Thomas van Straubenzee has wed Lady Melissa Percy in an extravagant ceremony
A smartly-dressed Pippa Middleton among guests arriving at St Mary's Church, Alnwick
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie also among the congregation

By KERRY MCDERMOTT and ANNA EDWARDS

Bride and breezy: A gust of wind blows Lady Melissa Percy's veil into the air as Chelsy Davy (seen left) and her fellow bridesmaid attempt to keep the bride's gown under control

The Duke of Cambridge and his brother Prince Harry arrived in Northumberland today for the wedding of their old friend Thomas van Straubenzee and society bride Lady Melissa Percy.
Excitement was mounting in Alnwick as the princes arrived in the sunshine ahead of this evening's lavish ceremony.

Big day: Bride Lady Melissa is accompanied by her father the Duke of Northumberland and two bridesmaids - including Prince Harry's ex Chelsy Davy (right) - as she makes her way into St Mary's Church in Alnwick

Crowds gathered to see Lady Melissa Percy in her billowing white gown that was embellished with lace, and waved as her beaming bridesmaids - including Prince Harry's Zimbabwean ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy - walked through the town.
Dessed in pale espresso floor-length gowns and clutching bouquets, the bridesmaids helped the excited-looking bride with her full dress, which was whipped up by the north east winds.

Bridesmaid Chelsy Davy looked delighted as she walked into the church - despite having to face her ex-boyfriend Prince Harry and his new girlfriend, Cressida Bonas

Pippa Middleton, resplendent in a patterned peplum dress with co-ordinating hat and heels, was greeted at the church gates by cries of 'beautiful' from the crowd.
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are also among the Royal contingent at today's ceremony. The sisters - Beatrice wearing blue and Eugenie in green - were spotted hugging other guests at the gate before walking into the picturesque church.

Just get me to the church on time! Lady Melissa Percy makes her way to the church with her father Ralph Percy, the 12th Duke of Northumberland

Society girl Cressida chose a blue and white maxi dress, which she teamed with a blue sequinned jacket and a cream flower in her hair.
The sprawling Alnwick estate has doubled as Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter movies.

For better or worse: The couple shrugged off the rain to enjoy a kiss after their Northumberland ceremony

A snap of William apparently arriving last night at nearby Alnmouth railway station has been circulating on Twitter.
The Duke of Cambridge was without his heavily pregnant wife Kate, but there were still plenty of glamorous female guests in attendance - including her sister Pippa Middleton, Prince Harry's girlfriend Cressida Bonas, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and Holly Branson.

Husband and wife: The Duke and Duchess of Northumberland's daughter Lady Melissa Percy is seen with her newly-wed husband

The Duchess of Northumberland, mother-of-the-bride, told The Journal newspaper ahead of today's ceremony: 'We are really excited.
'The weather forecast is not great but Melissa and Thomas do not seem to mind. Whatever the weather it is going to be a wonderful day.'
Lady Melissa is a 26-year-old tennis coach while the groom is a chartered-surveyor and long-time friend of both William and Harry.

Prince Harry braves the rain, while his girlfriend Cressida Bonas...

...Cressida Bonas seemed in a sunny mood, laughing out loud after the service

Prince William and his brother's ex-girlfriend, graduate Chelsy Davy, gathered together to applaud the newly weds

The couple appeared to have plumped for a woodland theme, with the young members of the bridal party sporting Robin Hood and green woodland fairy outfits

Read more http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2346423/A-whirlwind-romance-Chelsy-battles-brides-billowing-dress-William-Harry-lead-Royal-party-society-wedding-year.html
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Solstice Supermoon Fills Sky This Weekend

This weekend's full moon will be the biggest and brightest of 2013.

Andrew Fazekas
for National Geographic News

This moon, seen from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, was the largest of 2012. This year's supermoon will occur on June 23, and appear 8 percent larger and 17 percent brighter.

Editor's note: Share your best #supermoon photos with us and our editors may include one in a NationalGeographic.com gallery.

This weekend, skywatchers looking up at the full moon may sense it's a bit more striking than usual—and they won't be imagining it.

On June 23, the moon will be at its closest distance to Earth for 2013 while in its full phase. As a result, it will appear 8 percent larger and 17 percent brighter than usual—an event widely known as a supermoon.

And making it a bit more special, thanks to coincidental timing, this supermoon will be coming on the heels of the June solstice, which takes place only two days before.

Armchair astronomers can also catch the sky show virtually via a live high-definition webcast of the supermoon through SLOOH telescopes in the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa, starting at 9 p.m. EDT or 6 p.m. PDT on June 23.

The monthly full moon always looks like a big disk, but because its orbit around the Earth is egg-shaped, there are times in the lunar cycle when the moon is at its shortest distance from Earth (called perigee) and times when the moon is at its farthest distance from Earth (called apogee).

Likewise, because the size of the moon's orbit varies slightly, each month's perigee is not always the same distance from Earth.

Two years ago, the so-called supermoon was the closest it's been in two decades—only 356,575 kilometers from Earth.

For this weekend's perigee, the moon will be a tad farther from us at 356,991 kilometers. That's a bit closer than the typical 364,000 kilometers distance, and is set to occur on June 23 at 7:09 a.m. EDT. (The official full moon phase occurs at 7:32 a.m. EDT.)

"The exact moment when the moon is at perigee, it will be overhead in the southern Pacific Ocean," said Anthony Cook, an astronomical observer at Los Angeles's Griffith Observatory. "The western portion of the Americas will see this at sunrise/moonset, while the eastern portion of Asia/Australia will see it at sunset/moonrise."

Super-Effects?

While some are calling it a supermoon, the astronomical community prefers to use the term "perigee full moon."

And they're not exactly rare, since the alignment between the full moon phase with perigee occurs every year, said Adler Planetarium astronomer Mark Hammergen.

But next year's show on August 10, 2014, might be more specular than this one. That's because it's expected to be even closer—clocking in at just 356,896 kilometers from Earth, said Hammergren.

As for a supermoon coinciding with the solstice, that's more unusual.

"This kind of celestial geometry repeats roughly every 14 years," said Hammergren.

And if you thought a supermoon might bring out "super-effects" on Earth, think again. There is no scientific evidence for any connection between a supermoon and natural disasters.

It is, however, well known that tides are highest during new and full moons -- which means if there is a storm surge during a new or full moon, then unusually high coastal flooding may occur.

"When the full or new moon occurs near perigee, there is a slightly stronger effect on the tides," said Hammergren. "There have been coastal floods associated with storms hitting near spring tide at the time of perigee."

Read more http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130622-supermoon-solstice-biggest-science-space-2013-june/
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