Aretha Franklin, seen here being given a kiss by Bette Midler, proved her voice is still divine at 69 as she gave a brief but rousing performance at a birthday party in her honour. Tony Bennett, Smokey Robinson, music mogul Clive Davis, Bette Midler and Gayle King were among the celebrities on hand to pay tribute to the Queen of Soul on Friday night at a late-night birthday party at a Central Park hotel in New York. (PA)
Seven missing after Swiss avalanche
Seven people are missing after an avalanche swept away 11 people near Switzerland’s southern border with Italy, police said yesterday.
One person was able to free himself and raised the alarm, and rescuers have so far managed to recover three people, Swiss news agency SDA reported citing local police.
Information about the condition of those recovered wasn’t immediately available.
The incident happened on Mont Velan, a towering 12,200-feet peak that straddles the Swiss-Italian border in the Pennine Alps. (PA)
‘Buy a TV dish and get a free gun’
A US store is offering would-be satellite television customers a free gun.
The Ravalli Republic newspaper reports customers who sign up for some Dish Network packages at RadioShack in Hamilton, Montana will receive a coupon for a pistol or shotgun and the required background check.Those not interested in a gun get a $50 Pizza Hut gift card.
Store owner Steve Strand said it took some haggling to get Dish Network to go along with the promotion, but it has tripled his business since last October.
The sign outside the business reads: “Protect yourself with Dish Network. Sign up now, get free gun.” (PA)
Geraldine Ferraro passes away aged 75
US political icon Geraldine Ferraro, the first female vice presidential candidate to run on a major political ticket, has died at age 75 after a long battle with cancer, her family said yesterday.
Ferraro made history when Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale pick her to be his running mate in the 1984, in an election that president Ronald Reagan, a Republican running for re-election, won in a landslide. (AFP)
South Africa to euthanise baboon mugger, burgler
A notorious baboon named Fred known for burglaring parked cars and mugging tourists at a scenic Cape Town look-out has been captured and will be euthanised, conservation officials said on Friday.
“The Baboon Operational Group had to make the difficult decision to euthanise a raiding baboon in the Smitswinkel Bay area, commonly known as Fred,” the city of Cape Town said in a statement.
Fred, a brazen alpha male baboon is targeting cars with bags and visible food, but it is his ability to open closed car doors that surprises passersby along the scenic route to Cape Point. (AFP)
Amanda Knox: witness gives conflicting report
A key prosecution witness testifying in Amanda Knox’s appeals trial gave conflicting reports yesterday about whether he saw the American near the crime scene the night her British roommate was murdered.
The contradicting testimony and confused dates offered by Antonio Curatolo, a self-described drug addict and homeless man now in prison for an unrelated conviction, cast doubts on his credibility.
The defence called him flat-out unreliable, while the prosecution maintained that, despite some lack of precision, the witness was lucid and clear in what he remembered.
Knox, 23, has been convicted of the sexual assault and murder of Meredith Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey in the house they shared as exchange students in Perugia, Italy and is serving a 26-year-prison sentence.
In the first trial, Curatolo placed Knox and her co-defendant and ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, in a square near the house on the night of the murder. (PA)