A cellphone of Osama bin Laden's trusted courier recovered in the U.S. raid last month that killed both men in Pakistan contained contacts to a militant group that is a longtime asset of Pakistan's intelligence agency, The New York Times reported late Thursday.
In a story posted on the Times website, senior American officials and others briefed on the findings said the discovery indicates bin Laden used the group, Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen, as part of his support network inside Pakistan.
It raises questions about whether the group and others helped shelter and support the al-Qaida leader on behalf of Pakistan's spy agency.
The officials and analysts told the Times that Pakistan's intelligence agency had mentored Harakat and allowed it to operate in Pakistan for at least 20 years.
In tracing the calls on the cellphone, U.S. analysts have determined that Harakat commanders had called Pakistani intelligence officials, the senior American officials said. One said they had met. The officials added that the contacts were not necessarily about bin Laden and that there was no "smoking gun" showing that Pakistan's spy agency had protected bin Laden.
Beyond providing leads about why bin Laden was able to live comfortably for years in Abbottabad, a town dominated by the Pakistani military just 35 miles from the capital city of Islamabad, the discovery also may help shed light on bin Laden's secret odyssey after he slipped away from U.S. forces in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan nearly 10 years ago.
Casey Anthony's mother, Cindy, made a shocking revelation in court today when she said that she, not Casey, had conducted Internet searches for "chloroform" in March 2008.
The bombshell testimony came during day 25 of the trial. Casey Anthony is accused of multiple charges, including capital murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and misleading law enforcement for the death of her daughter, two-year-old Caylee.
The prosecution is seeking the death penalty.
Called to the stand on behalf of the defense, Cindy Anthony explained she conducted the computer searches in an attempt to figure out why her Yorkshire terrier was "extremely tired all the time." The dog was known to eat bamboo plants, so Cindy Anthony said she started out searching for chlorophyll, a green pigment that is found in most plants.
The search for chlorophyll led to a search for “chloroform” because some species of algae produce a natural form of chloroform, Anthony said.
Anthony also told defense attorney Jose Baez that she conducted searches for "chest injuries" and "head injuries" around that same time because a friend of hers had been in a car accident.
"[I was] looking up specific terminology that someone had asked me to look up," Anthony testified
A student with a rare condition that caused her to faint every time she stood up over 14 years is finally back on her feet.
Lizzie Rees, 22, suffers from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which affects the body's ability to adjust to the pull of gravity.
The condition causes her heart rate to speed up whenever she stands, causing her to pass out up to five times a day.
Even getting up from a chair would cause her to collapse and she often had to crawl around on her hands and knees or use a wheelchair.
But after countless medical experts failed to cure the problem she is finally enjoying a normal life after a heart specialist prescribed a drug to control her blood flow.
Miss Rees, from Bristol, said: 'I would pass out up to five times a day and was constantly getting injured banging my head and have to go off to A&E.
'I have seen cardiologists and doctors of pretty much every speciality going, but it is great to know that this is treatable.
'I remember feeling so much better after I started treatment. I still pass out occasionally but going to college now shows how far I have come.'
POTS is a form of dysautonomia - an abnormal functioning of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), which controls many subconscious bodily functions including breathing and balance.
When the average person stands their blood pressure drops slightly but the ANS recognises this and causes their heart rate to momentarily increase.
But in POTS patients, their blood pressure plummets when they stand, causing the heart to race. Blood supply is not able to reach the brain quickly enough, resulting in dizziness, vision loss and fainting.
TMZ is reporting that Bieber was actually knocked down by an undercover cop who had lept to his defense when a crowd got rowdy; not realizing he was a police officer, Bieber got defensive, and his security team tried to pull the police officer away.
Things were cleared up, however, and disorderly conduct charges against one of his bodyguards were dropped. Scroll down for a photo, and click over to COED Magazine for more.
Justin Bieber was jumped and knocked down by a man outside a New York City Macy's where he was signing autographs, ABC 7 Eyewitness News in New York reports.
Bieber, who appeared on "The Late Show" in the city Wednesday night and appeared on "The View" earlier Thursday, was assaulted after coming outside to tell fans that they would not be able to access his cologne debut and autograph signing; only fans who had waited in line to receive a ticket were allowed in.
When he stepped out, ABC reports, a man took him to the ground after jumping over a barrier; the teen star was uninjured, but "very shaken up," a source told the news station.
The man was taken away by police.
When director David Wain let loose the news that he was in the planning stages of a prequel to his star-studded, cult classic comedy "Wet Hot American Summer," fans were ecstatic, but perhaps a bit doubtful that it would really happen. After all, would stars like Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks really want to go back and do that?
Rudd and Banks, along with a number of other co-stars from the 2001, 1980s-set camp film, told Entertainment Weekly with great enthusiasm that they'd be up to return to their roles -- and that there's already been talk about it.
"It's been discussed over the last decade in various forms and incarnations," Rudd told EW. "I think we would all be up for doing it."
Rudd also that he'd work for basically free, something he'd have to do given the last film's budget of $1.8 million.
Banks was even more excited about the possibility of a summer camp reunion.
"Look, any chance to get that group of people all together in a room I will take," the actress said. "It's been such a blessing on my life that I got to be included in that circle of people."
Two men intent on attacking a military recruiting station to inspire Muslims to defend their religion from U.S. actions abroad were snared by FBI agents in a terror plot sting, authorities said Thursday. Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, also known as Joseph Anthony Davis, of Seattle, and Walli Mujahidh, also known as Frederick Domingue Jr., of Los Angeles, were arrested Wednesday night after they arrived at a warehouse garage to pick up machine guns to use in the attack, an FBI agent wrote in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.
The machine guns had been rendered inoperable by federal agents and posed no risk to the public.
The two suspects appeared in federal court Thursday in tan prison garb and listened as prosecutor recited the charges against them. Detention hearings were set for Wednesday.
Their court-appointed defense lawyers declined to comment. The suspects could face life in prison if convicted.
Authorities learned of the plot early this month when a third person recruited to participate alerted the Seattle Police Department, the complaint said. Investigators immediately began monitoring the men, and the confidential informant continued to string them along by promising to obtain weapons.
The building, the Military Entrance Processing Station on East Marginal Way in Seattle, also houses a daycare. Recruits for all military branches are screened and processed there.
If you're trying to get Erin Andrews' autograph, it's probably not a good idea to mention the peephole video.
That is exactly what happened at the NCAA College World Series when a couple of fans kept calling out for Andrews to sign an autograph. After spending a few minutes calling her name and trying to grab the ESPN reporter's attention, one of the kids shouted, "I’m gonna watch your video tomorrow."
That didn't sit well with Andrews, who immediately looked over to the fans and stared them down.
She walked over to the stands and confronted the fan. She asked him to repeat himself, but he refused.
"If you are going to be cool enough to say that, man up to it," she said.
In the summer of 2009, Andrews was secretly videotaped while she was naked in her hotel room. The video was posted on the internet by a man named Michael David Barrett.
Barrett, 49, admitted to stalking Andrews for 18 months and was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison.
