Stephen Paddock’s Missing Hard Drive Deepens an Already Tough Case

Determining a motive for the man who committed one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern history continues to be an exasperating task for investigators. They have interviewed many of Stephen Paddock’s relatives and friends, and examined his travel, financial and health history. But they have yet to find anything that points to what drove him to kill 58 people at a concert in Las Vegas on Oct. 1.

On Wednesday, information emerged that adds to the complexity of the case. Mr. Paddock apparently removed the hard drive from at least one computer found in his room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, according to a law enforcement official.

Additionally, housekeepers had visited Mr. Paddock’s room, where he fired on the crowd below, more than once in the days before the shooting, but did not notice any sign of his large stockpile of weapons. He also ordered room service at least once, according to people with knowledge of the security response inside the hotel.

Blueberry Hill singer Fats Domino dies aged 89

Fats Domino has died aged 89, an official from New Orleans coroner's office has confirmed. The singer was one of the most influential rock and roll stars of the fifties, best known for his hits Blueberry Hill, Ain't That A Shame and Walking To New Orleans. Domino passed away at home in Louisiana surrounded by his family and friends; US media have reported that he died of natural causes.

The New Orleans singer sold more than 65 million records. His first, The Fat Man, was released in 1949 and was widely considered to be the first ever rock and roll record. His music influenced artists in the sixties and seventies, including Elvis Presley, who said "this gentleman was a huge influence on me when I started out".
Fats Domino was best known for his hits Blueberry Hill and Ain't That A Shame

Stars we've lost in 2017

Bad Rabbit: Ten things you need to know about the latest ransomware outbreak

A new ransomware campaign has hit a number of high profile targets in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Dubbed Bad Rabbit, the ransomware first started infecting systems on Tuesday 24 October, and the way in which organisations appear to have been hit simultaneously immediately drew comparisons to this year's WannaCry and Petya epidemics.
Following the initial outbreak, there was some confusion about what exactly Bad Rabbit is. Now the initial panic has died down, however, it's possible to dig down into what exactly is going on.

1. The cyber-attack has hit organisations across Russia and Eastern Europe

Organisations across Russian and Ukraine -- as well as a small number in Germany, and Turkey -- have fallen victim to the ransomware. Researchers at Avast say they've also detected the malware in Poland and South Korea.

Russian cybersecurity company Group-IB confirmed at least three media organisations in the country have been hit by file-encrypting malware, while at the same time Russian news agency Interfax said its systems have been affected by a "hacker attack" -- and were seemingly knocked offline by the incident.

A passenger was killed by a falling rock, and five teens are now charged with murder

Kenneth Andrew White was riding in the passenger seat of a van on Interstate 75 outside Flint, Mich., last Wednesday when a six-pound rock sliced through the windshield, striking him in the chest and head, police said. The 32-year-old construction worker was pronounced dead at a hospital.

“He was a good man and a good father,” Amiee Cagle, his fiancee, told news station WDIV Local 4. “For some senseless act, for it to be just a rock, just to take him so soon.”

2 young men shot dead on Grambling State University campus

Authorities are trying to find the person who fatally shot two young men at Grambling State University early Wednesday morning.

One victim was identified as Earl Andrews, 23, a Grambling State University senior from Farmerville, Louisiana, university spokesman Will Sutton said.
The other victim was identified as Monquiarius Caldwell, another 23-year-old from Farmerville. Caldwell was not a student at the university, Sutton said.
They were discovered in a courtyard between two dorm buildings, said Stephen Williams, a spokesman for the Lincoln Parish Sheriff's Office.

THAI KING HONORED LIKE A GOD AND BURNED ON MASSIVE FUNERAL PYRE AT LAVISH $90 MILLION CEREMONY

Hundreds of black-clad mourners have lined the streets of central Bangkok at the start of an extravagant five-day funeral for Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died over a year ago.

For millions of Thai people it is the first funeral of a ruling monarch of their lifetimes, given that Bhumibol, also known as King Rama IX, was the world’s longest reigning monarch, ruling for 70 years and 126 days before his death on October 13 last year, aged 88.

Following his death, the country’s prime minister announced a one-year mourning period that was extended twice and will conclude on October 29, during which all government officials were made to wear black—a provision also observed by some members of the public who avoid wearing colourful clothing.
The monarch’s son King Maha Vajiralongkorn, known as Rama X, inherited the throne but won’t officially be crowned until the end of his father’s funeral rites.

The new king spends large portions of his time abroad and especially in Munich, Germany, where his son is at school, but was seen on Wednesday arriving at the palace with his two daughters. He lit candles in front of his father’s coffin and a symbolic royal urn, Reuters reported.

Queen banks £6.7million in horse racing prize money over 30 years to sit 11th in rankings

The Queen has bagged £6.7million in prize money over her 30 years involved as an owner in flat racing.

Her majesty's most successful year was 2016, proving she is getting better with age, when she scooped £557,650.

Her prolific run and longevity in the sport sees her rank 11th amongst flat racing owners having secured 451 wins at a win 15.9 percent win ratio.

The data assembled by myracing.com has been verified by British Horse Racing Authority for accuracy.

The records only date back to 1988, which means the royal has won even more having been heavily invested in the sport right back to the 1950s.

Pussy Riot shuts down Trump Tower in New York - and says Westerners are too obsessed with sexism

Trump Tower was shut down by Russian activists Pussy Riot as they occupied the hotel in a protest.

According to reports, the tower was shut down for half an hour yesterday as the punk band, which has previously sparked the wrath of President Putin with its provocative material, hung banners from the tower.

Pussy Riot has asked Western supporters to join them on its "fabulous and bold path" as it protests the Kremlin and calls for the release of political prisoners.

The band also criticised Westerners for focussing on "sexist bulls---" instead of working to free prisoners.

MPs are have demanded that Facebook reveal details of alleged Russian meddling in the Brexit vote

  
A group of MPs is has demanded that Facebook reveal any evidence it holds that Russia tried to influence recent major votes in the UK, including the general election and EU referendum.

The House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Select Committee published an open letter on Tuesday to Mark Zuckerberg asking for details of political adverts funded by the Russian state.

The letter, agreed by the committee, was written by Damian Collins MP, the body's chairman, on official House of Commons paper. It is addressed to "Mark Zuckerberg, Esq." at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
In the letter Collins said he needs the information for his committee's investigation into fake news

Deathbed confession may crack case of the 'Crazy Brabant Killers'

A murder mystery that has gripped Belgium for 30 years may be on the verge of being solved after a former policeman apparently confessed on his deathbed to being one of the “Crazy Brabant Killers” – a group that killed 28 people in a string of robberies in the early 1980s.

During a three-year spree, the Brabant Killers staged more than a dozen raids on supermarkets, hostels and a gunsmiths, during which they shot customers, staff and even children. Then they suddenly ceased their activities and disappeared in 1985.

The killers’ proficiency in handling weapons raised suspicions at the time that there was a link with the gendarmerie, a former paramilitary police force of Belgium. Conspiracy theories circulated that the group was part of an attempt by the far left or right to undermine the state.

Female footballer accuses married Premier League star of trying to rape her when she passed out in his hotel room

A TOP female footballer has told how a Premier League star attempted to rape her after she passed out in his hotel room, leaving her horrified, angry and ashamed.

Ex-QPR Ladies striker Alexandra Nord said she woke to find the married international was naked and lying on top of her.
Swedish Alexandra had gone to the hotel with the married international to sober up after a clubbing session in London.

She fell asleep fully clothed on the bed before waking to find he had stripped off her tights and underwear and was naked on top of her.

The 25-year-old said: “The guy has body parts on parts of my body where they can absolutely not be without my permission. He tried to have sexual intercourse with me.

“On top of that I have no clothes on the lower part of the body.
“I understood that it was he who had taken off my clothes. I do not know exactly how far he had gone.

“The first thing I thought was to get him away.

"My first reaction was anger, then I was ashamed and thought maybe I had agreed to something?”

But Alexandra, who has not named the footballer, said she knew she had not consented to sex.
She added: “I had tried to get rid of this guy several times before. I did not give him ANY right to touch my body without my permission.

Wayne Rooney party girl jokes about footballer’s manhood and dubs him Shrek

Laura Simpson has since deleted the posts where she made reference to Rooney's manhood after the pair's now notorious night out in Cheshire.
The 29-year-old reportedly said the striker had "tekkers" and referred to him as "Shrek", the Metro reports.

She was asked "was he hung like a hamster or ogre?" and she replied "like an ogre".

The odd messages were swiftly deleted before she claimed a friend had got hold of her phone and had also posted tweets about drink-driving.

She later wrote: "I deleted the very insensitive tweet that my friend thought was funny at the time…obviously wasn’t, apologies #verystupidstory."
Her friend Jordan replied: "Couldn’t resist when she left her phone on the table…I could have put something far worse to be fair haha."

Simpson was with Rooney when he was stopped by police while drink-driving, after they met on a night out.

Police Say 3 Deaths Could Be Work Of Serial Killer 'Terrorizing' Tampa

A string of murders in Florida is sparking fears that a serial killer is targeting Tampa residents.

According to police, three people have been shot and killed this month, apparently at random. The victims have no known connections to each other and were all bus riders who were killed within a 1-mile radius of each other in central Tampa’s Seminole Heights neighborhood.

“When you look at the time frame, the proximity, that there is no apparent motive, that they are alone ― the victims are a lot of the time ― it’s clear to me that they’re all linked,” interim Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said at a Friday press conference.
The victims have been identified as Monica Hoffa, 32; Benjamin Mitchell, 22; and Anthony Naiboa, 20.

Barack Obama couldn't stop laughing after George W. Bush whispered in his ear

All five living former U.S. presidents gathered at a hurricane relief concert in Texas to raise money for victims of Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria on Saturday night -- and the Internet can't stop obsessing about one moment between George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

During his time in office, Obama was known for his composure and, at times, even disposition. But over the weekend, the former president completely lost it at the relief event hosted by One America Appeal.
While Bill Clinton delivered a speech discussing the enduring disaster in Puerto Rico, the younger Bush smiled and appeared to whisper something to Obama, making him laugh behind Bill Clinton.

A Russian Ghost Submarine, its U.S. Pursuers and a Deadly New Cold War

The Krasnodar, a Russian attack submarine, left the coast of Libya in late May, headed east across the Mediterranean, then slipped undersea, quiet as a mouse. Next, it fired a volley of cruise missiles into Syria.

In the days that followed, the diesel-electric sub was pursued by the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, its five accompanying warships, MH-60R Seahawk helicopters and P-8 Poseidon anti-sub jets flying out of Italy.

The U.S. and its allies had set out to track the Krasnodar as it moved to its new home in the Black Sea. The missile attack upended what had been a routine voyage, and prompted one of the first U.S. efforts to track a Russian sub during combat since the Cold War. Over the next weeks, the sub at points eluded detection in a sea hunt that tested the readiness of Western allies for a new era in naval warfare.
An unexpected resurgence in Russian submarine development, which deteriorated after the breakup of the Soviet Union, has reignited the undersea rivalry of the Cold War, when both sides deployed fleets of attack subs to hunt for rival submarines carrying nuclear-armed ballistic missiles.

When underwater, enemy submarines are heard, not seen—and Russia brags that its new subs are the world’s quietest. The Krasnodar is wrapped in echo-absorbing skin to evade sonar; its propulsion system is mounted on noise-cutting dampers; rechargeable batteries drive it in near silence, leaving little for sub hunters to hear. “The Black Hole,” U.S. allies call it.