More questions have been raised over Tony Blair's lucrative business activities after an adviser in his role as a Middle East peace envoy said the former Prime Minister continued to operate outside a defined code of conduct. Channel 4's Dispatches, due to be broadcast tonight, claims that Mr Blair is not required publicly to disclose his commercial interests as he would if he were an MP. Mr Blair combines a £2m-a-year consultancy with the US investment bank JP Morgan with his unpaid post in Jerusalem, where he is heading international efforts in preparation for a future Palestinian state. He also advises the insurance group Zurich Financial, while his company Tony Blair Associates signed a reported £27m-deal advising the Kuwaiti government. They are among a string of globetrotting business interests that have seen him build an estimated personal fortune of £20m since leaving office in 2007. But a senior French diplomat Anis Nacrour, who advised Mr Blair on security for three years, has fuelled doubts over the former Labour leader's public accountability.
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Fashion designer John Galliano was Thursday found guilty of anti-Semitism and handed a suspended... Fashion designer John Galliano was Thursday found guilty of anti-Semitism and handed a suspended fine over a series of drunken outbursts against fellow customers in a Paris bar. The 50-year-old British designer, who was sacked from fashion house Dior over the scandal, was handed total suspended fines totalling 6,000 euros (8,400 dollars) over two incidents, in February this year and October 2010. Galliano -- who had faced a maximum of six months in jail and a fine of 22,500 euros on the charge of making anti-Semitic insults -- was not in court to hear the verdict. The Paris criminal court also ordered him to pay a symbolic euro in damages to each of his victims, as well as to five anti-racism groups that were plaintiffs in the case. He was also ordered to cover the legal costs of four anti-racism bodies. One of the most celebrated designers of his generation, Galliano had been at the creative helm of Christian Dior for 15 years, as well as running his own label, until the outburst brought his career crashing to a halt. At his one-day trial in July, he apologised for his conduct. Galliano insists he is not an anti-Semite but admits he can not remember the evenings in question, blaming a "triple addiction" to drink, sleeping pills and painkillers for his behaviour. The designer told the court he had since undergone two months of rehab in Arizona and Switzerland.
Police bail sports writer Raoul Simons A total of 16 people have now been arrested as part of the investigation into phone hacking Continue reading the main story Phone-hacking scandal Q&A: Phone-hacking scandal Key people and profiles Timeline Inquiries and legal challenges A 35-year-old man held by officers probing phone hacking at the News of the World has been bailed, police say. The BBC understands he is sports journalist Raoul Simons who used to work at London's Evening Standard before moving to the Times in 2009. The man was bailed on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept voicemails. Meanwhile, Guardian reporter Amelia Hill has been questioned under caution over alleged police leaks surrounding the hacking inquiry, the paper said. It followed the arrest of a Met Police detective constable last month who worked in the Operation Weeting team. Scotland Yard says the "investigation continues" and they are not giving a "running commentary" on events. Mr Simons was appointed deputy football editor at the Times in August 2009, having previously worked at the Evening Standard. In September 2010, he went on extended leave after material allegedly linking him to phone hacking emerged. He is still on the payroll but has not returned to work since. It is understood he has not been involved in any inappropriate behaviour while at the Times. The man has been bailed by police to a date in October pending further inquiries. A total of 16 people have now been arrested on suspicion of phone hacking - 15 of whom are still under investigation - since Operation Weeting was launched in January. Scotland Yard's fresh investigation was set up to examine the illegal interception of voicemails. Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson are among those who have already been arrested as part of the inquiry. The scandal has led Met Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and Assistant Commissioner John Yates to resign, and the News of the World to close down after 168 years.
erstwhile associate kinesiology professor at California State University at San Bernardino remains on the lam after police raided his home last week and found a pound of methamphetamine and a cache of guns. Police are charging that Stephen Kinzey, who had been on the San Bernardino faculty for a decade, was leading a double life: teaching and researching by day; directing the local chapter of an outlaw biker gang, and its drug business, by night. Not long after the manhunt began, Albert Karnig, the university’s president, emphasized that no one on the Southern California campus saw this coming: “To our knowledge, this is the first notice that anyone on our campus has had regarding this situation,” Karnig said. “…If the allegations are indeed true, this is beyond disappointing.” newspaper accounts described neighbors, students, and even Kinzey's father as having little or no sense of the professor's alleged outside activities. The Contra Costa Times quoted Kinzey's father as saying that he knew that his son belonged to a motorcycle gang and was not "thrilled" about it (the father taught him to ride). But Hank Kinzey also described his son as "a good Catholic boy" and a Republican, and added: "Everybody's always in denial when it's something to do with their family, but this is really surreal," he said. How could a full-time college professor run a drug ring on the sly without tipping his hand? Tom Barker, a professor of criminal justice at Eastern Kentucky University and leading scholar on outlaw biker gangs, says it is not hard to imagine. “It’s not uncommon for leaders or members of motorcycle gangs to hold down seemingly legitimate lives,” says Barker, even if part of their responsibility is to oversee an illegal drug business. “A college professor could easily pull it off.” Barker says he knows of at least two other college professors who are members of outlaw biker gangs, though he would not disclose their names because he says it could cost him his life. If Kinzey is the kingpin that police suspect he is, “he’s not actually that much involved in actual delivery of drugs,” says Barker. “He’s probably setting up the networks, and he can do that in the way he’s away from the classroom very easily.” In such crime organizations, most of the number-crunching falls to the secretary-treasurer, Barker says. The actual distribution falls to the members and their associates, the enforcer handles the dirty work, and the president’s leadership duties can be delegated to the vice president when necessary. While the chapter head is like the CEO of a small company, the illegal nature of the business means “there’s not a lot of paperwork,” says Barker. Barker says he is familiar with the Devil’s Diciples [sic], the gang Kinzey is alleged to have been running. And while he does not know specific details about the San Bernardino chapter, he says that the president of that chapter would have been in charge of anywhere between seven and 25 full-fledged gang members and a broad network of associates and business partners. He guessed the president of the chapter would personally pull in about a million dollars per year. As an associate kinesiology professor at San Bernardino, Kinzey was probably making around $70,000, according to the annual data produced by the American Association of University Professors. So if Kinzey was indeed the head of a lucrative drug ring, why continue to teach? Barker says that it may have been a fallback in case the kinesiology professor ever wanted to get out of organized crime. Heading the Devil’s Diciples might pay well, but it lacks the stability and retirement benefits of a state teaching job, Barker says. Another theory, he adds, is that Kinzey just loved to teach. Terry Rizzo, the chair of the kinesiology department at San Bernardino, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview; neither did Kinzey’s other colleagues. But student reviews on RateMyProfessors.com suggest that Kinzey had been popular among many students and passionate about his work. “Dr. Steve Kinsey is an amazing [professor], who helps his students in every situation, including in their greatest need,” wrote one student in 2007. “He is a good friend of mine and we continue to get together on a quarterly basis to catch up on life. Thank god for him, because I wouldn't be a graduate without him!!!!!” “He's so awesome!” wrote another, later that same year. “He has a passion for everything he does and it shows in his desire for students to succeed and understand.” More recent reviews paint a less flattering portrait, however. Kinzey “seems like he does not care anymore,” reported one reviewer in 2008. “im sure he is good at what he does he just isnt clear at all. talks all class and does not get anything done. kinda unorganized, but nice enough.” In 2010, a student wrote: “the professor sucks, he comes in late and doesn't care, if he try's to help you he'll end up rambling about himself.” And the last review before Kinzey became a fugitive, written last May, depicts a perpetually distracted instructor: “He's a really good guy and would give you the shirt off his back,” the reviewer wrote. “But something serious must have happened to him because he shows up late, and rambles on about random and controversial topics. He lost his focus & passion for teaching. His behavior lately makes it seem like he wants to get fired.” “Sad,” the student added, “because I really enjoyed all of his classes.”
Amy Winehouse's fortune was worth just over £2 million when she died. Although the late singer made The Sunday Times Rich List in 2008 with an estimated fortune of £10 million, the accounts for two companies she owned that were published yesterday suggested her financial value had decreased in the last several years. The figures showed that Winehouse’s Cherry Westfield company was worth £2,004,963 at the end of last November, which is £20,000 less than it was valued at in 2009. Her CW Touring company, meanwhile, dropped in value from £142,012 to £8,032 during the same period. Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back To Black’ becomes UK’s biggest-selling album of the 21st centuryMark Ronson toasts Amy Winehouse at his weddingDrug overdose ruled out as cause of Amy Winehouse's death According to The Daily Star, a source close to Winehouse claimed that she had spent thousands of pounds on drink and drugs. They said: Even though Amy spent thousands on drink, drugs and hangers-on, she was still a rich young woman. Had she beaten her issues with drink, she would almost certainly have lived a worry-free and comfortable life. It is sad that having beaten drugs, she never got a chance to enjoy the money she worked so hard to produce.
