James Wright Foley, Kidnapped Journalist, Apparently Executed by ISIS

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) claims to have beheaded an American photojournalist and has threatened the life of another American journalist if President Obama doesn't stop airstrikes in Iraq.

A graphic video obtained by NBC News purportedly shows James Wright Foley, a freelance journalist for the U.S.-based news service Global Post who was kidnapped while reporting from Syria two years ago, reciting threats against America before he is executed by an ISIS militant. The militant heard in the video speaks in English.

View the full video here:  http://www.emergingmagazine.com/#/journalist-beheading/4586140926

The terrorist video shows footage of Obama speaking from the White House on the day he told Americans he had authorized airstrikes in Iraq.

Foley was kidnapped at gunpoint near the town of Taftanaz in northern Syria on Thanksgiving Day in 2012. He had not been heard from during his time in captivity. "We’ve heard nothing. Nothing. We last knew that he was abducted on Thanksgiving Day in the Idlib province, but we don’t know who took him or why," Foley's father, John, said on TODAY last year.

Foley, a native of Rochester, New Hampshire, traveled extensively in the Middle East and North Africa. He reported about conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya, where he was once held captive for 44 days.

In May 2011, Foley recorded a video interview with The Boston Globe about his arrest and captivity in Libya. “You don’t want to be defined as that guy who got captured in 2011,” he said. “I believe that front-line journalism is important.”

In the video, ISIS claims they are holding a second journalist, Steven Joel Soltoff. After the apparent beheading, an ISIS fighter stand next to the man identified as Soltoff and declares: "The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision." Sotloff, a freelance who worked for several news organizations, disappeared in Syria in August 2013.

In a statement, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the "intelligence community is working as quickly as possible" to determine the authenticity of the terrorist video. "If genuine, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends," she said.

In a statement published on the GlobalPost website, CEO and co-founder Philip Balboni said the organization appreciates “all of the messages of sympathy and support that have poured in since the news of Jim’s possible execution first broke” and asked for “prayers for Jim and his family.” He added that the organization had been informed that the FBI was in the process of reviewing to video.

View the full video here: http://www.emergingmagazine.com/#/journalist-beheading/4586140926

By Daniel Arkin

Charlotte Dawson found dead at her Sydney home

ONE of Australia’s most popular television identities, Charlotte Dawson, has been found dead at the age of 47 after a long history of depression. 

The Kiwi-born former model is understood to have been found by a security guard in the early hours of this morning having failed to show up to a planned lunch date.

Police confirmed they were called to Wooloomooloo wharf at 11.18am and there were no suspicious circumstances to the death.

Charlotte Dawson was found dead in her apartment at Woolloomooloo today. Pictured is a police van entering the private wharf driveway. Source: News Corp Australia

 

Police at the doorstep of the apartment where Dawson died. Source: News Corp Australia

 

The tragic news led to an immediate outpouring of grief on social media networks.

Radio personalities Kyle and Jackie O were among the first to express their shock. “Heartbroken to hear news that Charlotte Dawson has died,” they tweeted.

At least one close friend contacted soon after Dawson was found dead admitted the troubled TV host and former model was in “the worst shape emotionally” they had ever seen her — and on more than one occasion had failed to meet friends at organised times in the three days leading up to her death.

It is understood it was Dawson’s failure to appear at a lunch appointment — as well as the fact her Twitter account had remained dormant for 19 hours — that alerted one friend to contact the building manager at Dawson’s apartment building early Saturday morning.

A security guard then made the discovery in Dawson’s unit, number 104, and raised the alarm, with police arriving soon after to remove the body.

Fellow Woolloomooloo wharf resident Russell Crowe was in tears as he heard the news today. Source: News Corp Australia

 

“She was in very bad shape. Terrible shape,” said a friend, who asked not to be named.
“She had failed to show up to a lunch a couple of days ago and then when I had seen she hadn’t tweeted in almost a day it was clear something was wrong.”

"She was in very bad shape. Terrible shape"

Police are believed to have entered Dawson’s up-market waterfront apartment complex through a back entrance, with diners at Woolloomooloo Wharf restaurants continuing lunch oblivious to the fact Dawson had only hours earlier taken her life in a nearby unit.

One waiter at the nearest eatery to Dawson’s apartment said there had been no visible sign of police entry.

A major anti-online bullying advocate, Dawson had long documented her struggles with depression via her Twitter account.

She had previously had one highly-publicised suicide attempt back in September 2012, after copping a barrage of abuse on social media.

Since then she had been vocal about her battle with mental illness and also wrote at length about it in her tell-all book Air Kiss And Tell.

A long-time judge on the popular cable modelling series Australia’s Next Top Model, it was announced last year that Dawson would not be returning the show after a cast shake-up.

Dawson with Australia's Next Top Model judges Alex Perry, Sarah Murdoch and Jaz Daly. Source: News Limited

 

Despite putting on a brave face at the time, friends admitted Dawson took the axing particularly hard but had recently talked optimistically about new ventures.

As news broke today of Dawson’s death, friends rushed to social media to share their grief — with former international modelling pal and fellow Kiwi Rachel Hunter writing; “I’m devastated, such an amazing & kind soul. Heartbreaking!”

Dawson’s former boss at Foxtel, Brian Walsh, also offered his condolences, releasing a statement that read: “This is tragic news and deeply sad. Everyone at Foxtel is devastated. Our sympathies are with Charlotte’s family and friends.”

For support and information about suicide prevention, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.

Dawson with good friend Alex Perry and Megan Gale. Source: Supplied

 

Dawson in a favourite holiday photo. Source: News Limited

 

RIP CHARLOTTE DAWSON 1966 - 2014

Leave your tributes below     Amy Harris

Devo Guitarist Bob Casale Dead At 61

Casale, a founding member of Devo, played on "Whip It" and all the group's albums

Devo guitarist Bob Casale, who played with the group alongside his brother Gerald from the original incarnation of the groundbreaking Akron new wave band in 1973 all the way through their recent tours, died suddenly on February 17th of heart failure. He was 61. 

"As an original member of Devo, Bob Casale was there in the trenches with me from the beginning," Gerald said in a statement. "He was my level-headed brother, a solid performer and talented audio engineer, always giving more than he got. He was excited about the possibility of Mark Mothersbaugh allowing Devo to play shows again. His sudden death from conditions that lead to heart failure came as a total shock to us all."

Though he often ceded the spotlight to his brother Gerald and Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Casale played on every single album and was instrumental in their production.

The original members of Devo grew up in Akron, Ohio, and were inspired form a band after personally witnessing the Kent State massacre in 1970. "We came of age in the middle of a huge cultural war. This country was basically in the midst of a new civil war — the lines were drawn very clearly," Bob Casale said in a 2012 interview with Under the Radar. "[We formed the band because] it was a more immediate way of self-expression that required less money and no outside permission. You try to make a film and you have to come up with the money, you need a big crew, you need to ask people for favors and get permission. If you have an idea for a song you can pretty much go into your basement with your band mates and do it."

Devo broke up in 1991, but reformed five years later and toured steadily over the past two decades. They released Something for Everybody in 2010, their first album in 20 years. "We wanted to be Devo again," Bob Casale said. "And so you can’t help but sound like Devo – we weren’t going to try and sound like anybody else, we were just going to do what we do and try and write good songs with the same kind of attention to lyrical content and song structure as we’ve always given all of our work."

Bob is survived by his son, Alex, his daughter, Samantha, and his wife, Lisa.

By Andy Greene
February 18, 2014 12:24 PM ET

Darren Sharper Charged With Drugging, Raping Two Women By L.A. District Attorney

Former pro football player Darren Sharper was charged today with drugging and raping two women, one in October and the other last month, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.

 Sharper (dob 11-03-75) is scheduled to be arraigned this morning in Department 30 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. He is charged in case BA421442.

Deputy District Attorney Stacy Okun-Wiese with Major Crimes said Sharper is charged with two counts of rape by use of drugs, four counts of furnishing a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance, all felonies. The complaint alleges the controlled substances were zolpidem and morphine.

Okun-Wiese will ask a judge to raise his bail to $10 million because Sharper, who lives in Miami, Fla., is suspected of raping women in Arizona, Nevada and Louisiana.

In a motion filed today to increase his bail, prosecutors said Sharper met two women at a West Hollywood nightclub on Oct. 30, 2013, and invited them to another party. On the way, Sharper allegedly told them he had to stop by his Los Angeles hotel room to pick something up and invited both women up. While there, he allegedly gave each woman a shot. Each woman passed out. Jane Doe #1 allegedly woke up naked hours later with Sharper sexually assaulting her. The second woman allegedly awoke and “interrupted his actions,” the motion states. The two women then left the hotel.

On Jan. 14, Sharper met two separate women at the same West Hollywood nightclub and invited them to a party. Stopping at his hotel, he allegedly invited both up to his room, offered them a shot , and each passed out. N E W S R E L E A S E When they woke up hours later on Jan. 15 , one woman believed she’d been sexually assaulted. Both women left his hotel and sought medical treatment.

Sharper was arrested Jan. 17 by Los Angeles police detectives, who are investigating the case. He was released on $200,000 bail. If convicted, he faces more than 30 years in state prison.

# # # About the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey leads the largest local prosecutorial office in the nation. Her staff of nearly 1,000 attorneys, 300 investigators and 800 support staff members is dedicated to seeking justice for victims of crime and enhancing public safety. Annually, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office prosecutes more than 60,000 felonies and 140,000 misdemeanor crimes. MEDIA CONTACT: Jane Robison Sr. Public Information Officer 213-974-3525 JRobison@da.lacounty.gov Twitter: @LADAOffice