Twenty people escape fire at Branson's holiday home

Twenty people have escaped unhurt from a fire that broke out at Sir Richard Branson's luxury home in the Caribbean.

British actress Kate Winslet was among those staying on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands when a tropical storm broke out and lightning hit the house, said Sir Richard.

The Virgin Group boss, who was staying at a nearby property, said the fire had "completely destroyed" the building.

He said all 20 people in the house managed to escape without injury.

Sir Richard's 90-year-old mother Eve and his 29-year-old daughter Holly were also staying at the property, named the Great House, when the blaze broke out in the early hours of Monday.

"We had a really bad tropical storm with winds up to 90mph," said Sir Richard, who was staying at a nearby property with his wife Joan and son Sam, 25, at the time.

"A big lightning storm came around 04:00 and hit the house.

"My son Sam rushed to the house and helped get everyone out.

"Kate Winslet, her boyfriend and her family were there and Holly and some of her friends were also staying. My mother was there and they managed to get her out and she is fine.

"The main house is completely destroyed and the fire is not yet completely out. My office was based in the house and I have lost thousands of photographs which is very sad."


Each bedroom at the Great House has its own balcony, four-poster bed and en-suite bathroom
Winslet, 35, who won an Oscar for her role in the 2008 movie The Reader, has a daughter Mia, 10, and a son, Joe, seven.

Sir Richard, 60, bought Necker Island in the early 1980s and began building the eight-bedroom Great House in 1982.

It was expected to be the venue for the marriage of Holly and shipbroker Freddie Andrews later this year and is used by Branson and his friends, as well as being hired out.

"It's very much the Dunkirk Spirit here," said Sir Richard.

"We want to rebuild the house as soon as we can."

 

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James Murdoch has admitted that News International paid “hush money” to a phone hacking victim, despite telling MPs that they didn't try to buy his silence.

Mr Murdoch conceded that Gordon Taylor, chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association, was paid around £700,000 in 2008 in return for signing a confidentiality agreement.
However, the chairman of News International continued to deny he authorised the payment after being warned the case could expose further phone hacking at the News of The World if it became public.
The admission that money was paid to ensure Mr Taylor’s silence is likely to exacerbate claims that News International tried to cover up the scale of phone hacking at the News of the World. Mr Murdoch also admitted that News International paid a convicted criminal almost £250,000 after his employment was terminated.
Clive Goodman was given £90,503 in April 2007, three months after he was jailed for his part in tapping the phones of the Royal family. He was later given a further £153,000 and £13,000 for legal fees. Tom Watson, one of the members of the culture, media and sport select committee, said MPs were “genuinely shocked” by the scale of the payment to Goodman.
In July, when Mr Murdoch appeared alongside his father Rupert before MPs he strongly denied that News International had increased the size of the payment to Mr Taylor to maintain silence.

 

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Gerard Depardieu, has enraged fellow plane passengers after relieving himself in the middle of the aisle on an Air France flight.

One of France's best-known actors, Gerard Depardieu, has enraged fellow plane passengers after relieving himself in the middle of the aisle on an Air France flight.

A passenger on the flight told French radio station Europe 1: "You could see that he had been drinking, but there were no comments. The hostess was shocked but there was no argument, nothing."

The plane was preparing for take-off when Depardieu (star of ‘Green Card’ and the Asterix series) reportedly tried to get out of his seat to go to the toilet. When he was refused access to the bathroom and told to sit down, he urinated in the aisle in front of shocked passengers.

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Jeremy Clarkson has hit back at claims that "80%" of BBC Two's Top Gear is 'faked.

There are claims - made by a former Top Gear driver - that most of the driving on the BBC Two show is actually done by professional drivers and not the presenters of the show. The driver claimed that a sequence in 2008 showing Clarkson test driving a Lamborghini Murielago in the rain was actually the work of someone else. The former employee also accused the BBC of knowing deceiving viewers by editing together footage of professional drivers alongside that of the hosts.

The BBC confirmed that professional drivers are used on Top Gear but only for "pick up shots". Jeremy Clarkson has hit back at the claims that "80%" of Top Gear is faked and is quoted in The Mirror as saying "Any claims that I fake Top Gear road tests are utter rubbish. When I say I’m driving at 207mph, it’s because I’m driving at 207mph. If the director chooses later in the day to get a shot of the speedo reading 207mph, then good for him.”

Top Gear is one of BBC Two's most popular shows with ratings topping 7 million viewers on occasions. The series has been remade in Australia and also America where it airs on the History channel.

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Shane takes beauty regime too far

Elizabeth Hurley is finding Shane Warne's preened new image "a little tiresome".

The 46-year-old model-and-actress - whose cricketer lover has stepped out looking wrinkle-free and considerably slimmer in recent weeks - is reportedly concerned the Australian sportsman has taken his new beauty regime a little far.

An insider told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: "It's not Elizabeth who has been telling him to diet and look after himself more - it's all down to Shane. Shane's been asking Liz about age-defying procedures like fillers and Botox and she's found it all rather bizarre.

"She loves the fact he's dropped some pounds but now it's all getting a little crazy and she's wondering what he's going to do next.

"Liz doesn't want to lose the man she's fallen in love with but all the girly chat is getting a little tiresome. Her friends are finding it all highly amusing."

Despite her worries over Shane's new look, Elizabeth is still said to be "head over heels" in love with the former cricketer.

The source added: "Liz is still head over heels about Shane. She just wants him to calm down a little."

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After Shane dropped more than two stone in recent months, the brunette beauty took to twitter to joke that it was down to her "evil regime".

She tweeted: "I've decided to take full responsibility for SW's remarkable weight loss & will be publishing my secret, possibly evil, regime shortly (sic)."

 

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Heston Blumenthal, the Michelin-starred chef, has split from his wife and is now dating a glamourous American cookery book author.

The Blumenthals appeared to have all the key ingredients for the perfect marriage.
They met when they were young and built a successful business together.
She described him as her soul mate and he described her as the reason for his success
But after 20 years of marriage, Heston Blumenthal has left his wife and is now reported to be dating Suzanne Pirret, an American cookery book author, who says her favourite things are “food and sex”.
The chef, who has three Michelin stars, has three teenage children with Zanna, and had previously paid tribute to for the sacrifices she made while he worked on building his multi-million pound restaurant business.

But, having survived the arduous commitment of turning the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, into one of the world’s leading restaurants, they last night admitted that the stress had taken its toll on their relationship.
The chef, 45, has moved out of the family home in Buckinghamshire and is now dating Miss Pirret, 45, who is America’s equivalent of Nigella Lawson having been described as a “goddess” for writing The Pleasure Is All Mine: Selfish Food for Modern Life.
She has previously worked as a pastry chef at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen, and has made no secret of her interests in life.
“Food and sex. Two of my favourite things, and the most powerful of all human drives,” she has said.
“Best one after the other in either order, I’m not picky.”
It is understood that the Blumenthals’ marriage had been under strain for several months and that the chef’s wife was aware of his relationship with Miss Pirret.
“Over the course of their marriage, they have built an extremely successful business, but one which has unfortunately taken its toll on their relationship,” a spokesman for the couple said last night.
“They remain good friends and devoted parents of their three children who are their main focus.”
They met as teenagers when Zanna, whose real name is Susanna, was working as a nurse and Heston was a credit controller.
“It sounds corny, but I knew from the outset that I’d found my soul mate,” Mrs Blumenthal, 47, said in a magazine interview four years ago.
“There was a deep connection between us and even though we were just teenagers, we knew we had found something special.
“We had very little money, but for my birthday, he took me for dinner at the best restaurant in London at the time, La Tante Claire.
“It was the first time I’d experienced fine dining and it blew me away, so food became our shared passion.”
“Zanna is the reason for my success because she has supported me every step of the way,’ he said in the same interview.
“She’s sacrificed so much and has never complained.”
Having scraped enough money to buy the 450-year-old Fat Duck in 1995, they turned it into a three-Michelin-starred restaurant.
Since then they expanded the empire to include Dinner, a critically acclaimed restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge, west London.
Blumenthal has a £1 million deal with Channel Four and stars in adverts for a supermarket chain.
He now joins the ranks of high-profile chefs who have experienced marital difficulties.
All four of the late Keith Floyd’s marriages ended in divorce, and Marco Pierre White, has been married three times, only recently reconciled with his current wife after abandoning divorce proceedings.
Rick Stein, 64, was married for more than 30 years, but separated in 2002 after his wife, Jill, discovered he was having an affair with a woman 20 years his junior.
Tom Aikens, another acclaimed chef, whose first marriage broke down after seven years, separated from his second wife, Miranda Quarry, last year.

 

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Senior Tories have voiced fears that Boris Johnson may have damaged his campaign to be re-elected London mayor next year after delaying his return to Britain from a family holiday in North America.

Tory MPs criticised Johnson after he was heckled in Battersea on Tuesday by local residents who shouted that he should have come back sooner.

A woman told Johnson he should resign because he is racist. The mayor responded by turning to a man who had challenged him on Mark Duggan to say: "It is time that people who are engaged in looting and violence stopped hearing economic and sociological justifications for what they..."

As the man asked whether his remarks were aimed at him, Johnson walked away from the crowd. "Why are you here now?" another man shouted. The man added: "Three days too late." Tory MPs were scathing. "Boris should have come back from his holiday earlier, he should have come back as soon as Tottenham erupted," a senior MP said. "It is fine that the prime minister did not come back until it was clear that London was burning.

"People have been talking about whether this is a [Hurricane] Katrina moment. It is not David Cameron's Katrina moment. But I would not be surprised if it becomes Boris Johnson's Katrina moment. I hope that this does not damage his re-election chances. But I fear it will.

"Boris's only advantage at the moment is that Ken Livingstone has gone completely over the top and blamed government cuts for causing the riots. Every London Labour MP has been measured."

Theresa May, the home secretary who cut short her holiday, also faced criticism for a highly cautious interview on Radio 4's Today programme on Tuesday. Tim Montgomerie, the founder of the ConservativeHome website, tweeted: "I don't think a single @ConHome contributor thinks Theresa May got response right earlier. Cameron will need to show much more steel."

May later faced criticism from Labour after she quietly abandoned Johnson while he was being harangued by the crowd in Battersea. Labour MP Tom Watson tweeted: "It's the way the home secretary sneaks off at about one minute 55 seconds that says it all."

But a Tory MP said: "Theresa May is a consistent performer. She is a no-nonsense politician who is as tough as old boots."

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Boris Johnson heckled in Clapham Junction over London riots

Boris has now returned, and addressed people on the streets of Clapham. But he struggled. Almost drowned out by heckling, he defended his own response and that of the police to Monday night’s riots.

Amid calls of “Why are you here now? Why weren’t you here earlier?” and “You talk about robust policing. What does that actually mean?” Boris didn’t really have a clear message, saying at one point:

I think it is time that people engaged in violence and looting stopped using economic and sociological justifications.

“Economic and sociological justifications”? Hardly the kind of reassuring words many Londoners were hoping to hear.

At the moment, however, Boris is being rescued by equally vociferous criticism of Ken’s reaction, which has been called overly-partisan and point-scoring. But if Ken starts to sound like the voice of Londonders while Boris struggles to connect, it could be a problem for the mayor.

One final point however: Boris’ aides are banking on a poll boost in early summer 2012 as London prepares for the Olympics. They will have to hope it does not end up being too little, too late.

 

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Sofia Vergara's Drug Addict Brother Deported

Just goes to show you that even the rich, famous and stunningly beautiful have problems like the rest of us. Sofia Vergara, the Colombian beauty who plays Ed O'Neil's trophy wife Gloria, on ABC's hit comedy Modern Family, has had to deal with some very painful episodes involving her younger brother Julio.

According to Star magazine, Julio Vergara has been arrested 30 times over the last 10 years -- primarily on drug related offenses. Of her younger brother's drug affliction, Vergara, who moved to Florida from her native Colombia in 1994, recently told Parada magazine that "to see somebody dying, little by little, over 10 years -- that is the worst punishment."


The Emmy-winning Pepsi spokesmodel thinks that her other brother, Rafael's shooting death on the streets of Bogata is what precipitated Julio's dalliance -- and subsequent addictions -- with drugs. She tried to help him, got him to go to college in Michigan, but he was never quite able to get his act together.

The taboid reports that after his latest arrest for pot possesion in April, Julio was deported to Colombia after being handed over to Immigration and Customs officials by a Miami judge who decided that he should no longer have the priveledge of remaining stateside.

His big sister maintains that she'll fight to get him back here and to help him all she can.

Sofia Vergara's mother, sister and 19 year-old son, Manolo, all live in the U.S.

 

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Singer Kem ‘Shares His Life’ And Past Struggles With Addiction

With a pair of gold albums and a list of Grammy nominations under his belt, it’s surely safe to say that R&B crooner Kem has found success. Kemistry, his debut album on Motown Records, earned tremendous praise with its single “Love Calls.” His sophomore effort, Album II, sold over 500,000 copies nationwide and hit the top of Billboard’s R&B charts in 2005. In 2010, Kem released Intimacy: Album III. After selling 74,000 copies in its first week in the United States, it debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts. But prior to his ascent, the Detroit native’s life was plagued by hardships. In addition to being homeless, he also faced drug and alcohol addiction. Fortunately, he made an escape.

Kem shared his story at the opening ceremony of the 17th annual National Association of Drug Courts Professionals’ training conference on July 18 at the Gaylord National Harbor Hotel, located in a suburb of Washington, D.C.

Drug courts are alternatives to the traditional court system, wherein eligible persons are sent there and are provided with intensive treatment and other services that help them stay clean and sober. Throughout the country, 75 percent of Drug Court graduates remain arrest-free for at least two years after leaving the program, and Drug Courts are six times more likely to keep offenders in treatment long enough for them to recover.





The NNPA spoke to Kem following his speech at the opening ceremony and discussed with him his thoughts on Drug Courts, his personal struggles and his career.

NNPA: You shared a lot about your hardships prior to your breakout in the music industry. When did you finally get a breakthrough?

Kem: My last drink and drug was July 23, 1990. I was sleeping outside on the streets of Detroit and I was trying to get back into a treatment center that had discharged me for using while I was in their program previously. As we say in recovery circles, I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was in my early 20s and I could no longer continue the life I was living. Then, I surrendered. I gave up on my ideas on how to change my life and that made me open to allowing someone else to come in and show me how to live.

NNPA: You know about the struggles that people with drug addiction experience. Why do you believe the Drug Court system is vital in this country?

Kem: Drug Courts are important because they give an addict an option. It gives them support—and not just support to stay out of jail, but support to live. It restores them and gives them life. It helps them build lives for themselves and their kids as opposed to going to jail where the chances are greater for them to continue to repeat the same thing that planted them in jail in the first place. I think it’s a good alternative and it costs less money. You’ve got to love that! [Laughs].

NNPA: Explain how you try to convey your messages of encouragement to your audiences and fans.

Kem: My faith is my foundation. The principles that I’ve used to maintain my recovery are principles that anybody can use to overcome anything that they are dealing with in their lives. So, if you listen to my records you hear that in my music. When I’m on stage I talk about it. Myself and everyone who works on my behalf looks at [our job] as a ministry. We want to uplift people—we don’t just want to entertain you. Now, we want you to be entertained, but we want to add something of value to your lives. It’s very important that we do that and I try to do that in everything I do.

NNPA: Your last album was quite a success. What’s up next for you?

Kem: We’re out on the road doing shows. We’re just keeping it pushing and being creative. I’m trying to be a good steward in all that God has given me. Hopefully he’s pleased with what we’re doing—at least some of the things. [Laughs].

 

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Scottish first minister has met with media mogul or his News International executives 25 times since taking office

Alex Salmond has been accused of trying to "seduce" Rupert Murdoch and News International after it emerged that he offered the media baron a series of gifts and has met him or his executives 25 times since becoming Scotland's first minister.

Labour's Scottish leader, Iain Gray, said Salmond was guilty of "highly questionable behaviour", adding: "What is now clear is Alex Salmond has waged a four-year campaign since he became first minister to seduce Rupert Murdoch and News International, which has included gifts.

"It has been a top priority and he has spent more of his media time in the last year with News International than any other party leader in Britain."

In the latest set of ministerial disclosures in the News of the World hacking scandal, the Scottish government revealed that Salmond had met or spoken to Murdoch senior four times and his son James once since becoming first minister. The latest meeting with Murdoch senior was in June in London, shortly before the hacking scandal erupted.

Salmond's officials insisted the latest contacts with the Murdochs, including a private meeting with James Murdoch in London in January, were "perfectly proper and reasonable". They discussed BSkyB's investments in Scotland, where it employs 6,000 people and is one of Scotland's largest private employers.

Salmond's spokesmen did not deny that the first minister also discussed the significant political support for the SNP from the Sun and News of the World's Scottish editions in the run up to Salmond's landslide victory in the Holyrood elections in May. The titles are now Scotland's highest-selling papers.

Amongst 25 meetings with NI and News Corp executives since June 2007, Salmond met editors and executives from the Sun, NoW, Times, Sunday Times and Sky, including Rebekah Brooks in 2008when she was editor of the Sun. The frequency of those meetings increased sharply this year, before the Sun and NoW announced they were backing the SNP in March.

Pressed several times on whether the tabloids' editorial backing for the SNP was discussed at either meeting with the Murdochs, Salmond's spokesman said: "All I can say is, not to my knowledge."

He insisted that Salmond's lobbying of the Murdochs was to press for increasing BSkyB investment and jobs, and to highlight his government's transport investments. This year the broadcaster has added a further 150 jobs in Scotland.

 

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Piers Morgan is facing calls to return to the UK to answer questions about phone hacking

Piers Morgan is facing calls to return to the UK to answer questions about phone hacking as the controversy over how much he knew about the practice showed no signs of abating.

John Whittingdale, the Conservative MP who chairs the Commons culture, media and sport committee, said it was right that the former Daily Mirror editor should return from the United States, where he hosts a CNN chatshow.

Whittingdale said: "Therese Coffey [a Tory member of the committee] said he should come back to this country to answer questions and I think that is absolutely right. He certainly should."

Harriet Harman, Labour's deputy leader, said Morgan had questions to answer, citing a column he wrote five years ago in which he wrote that he had once been played a message left on a mobile phone belonging to Heather Mills.

Harman said: "Hacking is a criminal offence and … every allegation has got to be thoroughly investigated by the police. We started off with just the News of the World … it's clearly been much more widespread than people have been prepared to admit."

Morgan, who edited the Daily Mirror for nearly 10 years until 2004, said in a Daily Mail column in 2006 that he had heard the message, which was left by Sir Paul McCartney on Mills's phone after the couple had an argument. He said the former Beatle sounded "lonely, miserable and desperate".

Mills told the BBC's Newsnight this week that a senior journalist on a paper owned by Trinity Mirror, the Daily Mirror's parent company, conceded to her in 2001 that he had obtained information about an apology left by McCartney by listening to her phone messages.

According to Mills, the journalist rang her and "started quoting verbatim the messages from my machine".

She said she challenged him, saying: "You've obviously hacked my phone and if you do anything with this story … I'll go to the police."

Mills said he responded: "OK, OK, yeah, we did hear it on your voice messages, I won't run it."

Morgan has consistently denied he has ever hacked a phone, ordered any of his journalists to do so, or published any story obtained from the hacking of a phone.

He issued a statement through CNN, for whom he records Tonight with Piers Morgan, in response to Mills's claims pointing out that a high-court judge had described her as a unreliable witness.

"No doubt everyone will take this and other instances of somewhat extravagant claims by Ms Mills into account in assessing what credibility and platform her assertions are given," he said.

Morgan used Twitter to ridicule the prominence of the story on Thursday, posting: "Morning all, lovely day in LA. Anything going on back home in UK? Seems a bit quiet over there … so heart-warming that everyone in UK's missing me so much they want me to come home."

Trinity Mirror, which also owns the Sunday Mirror and the People, said on Thursday: "All our journalists work within the criminal law and the PCC code of conduct and we have seen no evidence to suggest otherwise."

Meanwhile the FBI is widening its investigation of News Corporation's activities within the US to look at whether allegations of computer hacking by one of its subsidiaries was an isolated case or part of a "larger pattern of behaviour", Time magazine is reporting.

Time suggests that the FBI inquiry has been extended from a relatively narrow look at alleged malpractices by News Corp in America into a more general inquiry into whether the company used possibly illegal strongarm tactics to browbeat rival firms, following allegations of computer hacking made by retail advertising company Floorgraphics.

In a civil lawsuit against News Corp in 2004 Floorgraphics told a court that its website had been breached 11 times over four months without authorisation. The source of the alleged hacking was traced back to an IP address registered to News America in Connecticut.

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