Princess Diana beguiles the world 20 years after death

Princess Diana smiles during an official visit to Hong Kong. (AP)
Updated 22 August 2017
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Princess Diana beguiles the world 20 years after death

LONDON: From TV documentaries and the private memories of her sons to a slew of new “revelations” and renewed theories about her death, Britain’s Princess Diana is once again front page news 20 years after she died.
Diana was killed at age 36 on Aug. 31, 1997 along with her lover Dodi Al-Fayed when a limousine carrying them crashed in a Paris tunnel as it sped away from paparazzi giving chase on motorbikes.
The first wife of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, Diana was the glittering princess at the center of a royal soap opera played out in the glare of the media, making her probably the most recognized woman around the world.
Her passing prompted the biggest public outpouring of grief seen in Britain in recent times, and few since have captivated the world like she did.
“There will never be anyone else like Diana,” said Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and author of “Diana: The Last Word.”
Previous anniversaries of her death have gone by with little fanfare, suggesting that the “People’s Princess,” as she was dubbed by then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, had perhaps lost some of her allure and relevance.
But, with her sons Prince William and Harry to the fore, the 20th anniversary has seen her dominate front pages of newspapers as she did in her prime as the world’s most photographed woman.
“There was a period in the early 2000s where very little was heard of Diana,” commented Ken Wharfe, her ex-royal protection officer. He said her two sons’ desire to continue her work by supporting causes such as helping Aids sufferers, the homeless and combating land mines, had made her relevant again.
The princes have also been increasingly willing to speak about the trauma of her death and its lasting emotional impact.
In broadcasts aired over the last six months, William, 35, said the shock of losing his mother still lingered while Harry, 32, revealed he had sought counselling in his late 20s to help deal with the grief.
“She still is our mum,” Harry said in an intimate TV documentary entitled “Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy.” “Of course, as a son I would say this, she was the best mum in the world. She smothered us with love, that is for sure.”
Ashley Gething, the documentary’s director, told Reuters he was impressed with Diana’s achievements. “What amazed me was what she would actually done... All these enormous issues like championing the homeless, often in the face of criticism of politicians and editors of national newspapers.”
Dark Days
Almost 10 million Britons tuned into that documentary, while another TV program “Diana In Her Own Words,” aired earlier this month, was watched by 3.5 million Britons, giving broadcaster Channel 4 its highest viewing figures for a year.
That program featured videoed conversations, never shown before on British TV, of Diana speaking candidly with her speech therapist about her sex life with Prince Charles and her sorrow at the spectacular collapse of her marriage.
Similar shows have been aired or are planned in the United States, where many have been gripped by Diana’s story, from her fairytale marriage to Charles in 1981 to their subsequent separation and bitter divorce. More than 33 million Americans tuned in to watch her funeral in September 1997.
The days after her death were some of the darkest in Queen Elizabeth’s 65-year reign and some monarchists fear the attention lavished on Diana will rekindle resentment toward the House of Windsor.
Many Britons were angered at how Diana was ostracized by the royal family after her 1996 divorce from Charles, with Camilla Parker Bowles, Charles’s lover who later became his wife, a particular focus of enmity.
With renewed focus on the popular Diana, an ICM poll for the Sun newspaper this month found that just 22 percent of respondents wanted Charles, 68, to be the next king while more than half wanted the next monarch to be his son William.
It also showed that 36 percent of the 2,000 people questioned felt Camilla, 70, should be Princess Consort and not queen. Only 27 percent backed her having the regal title.
“Anything retrospective can open old wounds and does open old wounds,” Seward said, although she believed the impact would soon wane. “People forget quickly and I do not think it has any long lasting effect.”
Instead she and other royal commentators say Diana’s lasting impact was a royal family more in touch with the public.
“This program of bringing the royal family into the 21st century is being continued by her two sons who, for my part, are the future of the British monarchy,” Wharfe said.


SpaceX says debris recovery attempts hindered after Starship explosion

Updated 27 June 2025
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SpaceX says debris recovery attempts hindered after Starship explosion

  • The Starship rocket appeared to have experienced at least two explosions in rapid succession

SpaceX said on Thursday its debris recovery efforts after last week’s Starship explosion have been hindered and it has sought cooperation from Mexico, whose president has raised the possibility of legal action against the company.
A massive Starship spacecraft by SpaceX exploded into a dramatic fireball during testing in Texas last week, which Elon Musk’s space firm attributed to a “major anomaly.”
The Starship rocket appeared to have experienced at least two explosions in rapid succession, lighting up the night sky and sending debris flying, according to video capturing the moment it exploded.
“Despite SpaceX’s attempts to recover the anomaly related debris, which is and remains the tangible property of SpaceX, these attempts have been hindered by unauthorized parties trespassing on private property,” the company said in a post on social media platform X.
“We have requested local and federal assistance from the government of Mexico in the recovery,” it said, adding that it also has offered resources and assistance in the clean-up.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that her administration is investigating the security and environmental impact of the launch of rockets, particularly for the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
A general review is being conducted to determine what international laws are being violated. “From there, we’ll start a process, because there is indeed contamination,” Sheinbaum had said during a morning press conference.
A Starship spacecraft exploded in space minutes after lifting off from Texas in March, prompting the FAA to halt air traffic in parts of Florida, in a setback for Musk’s Mars rocket program.
In January, a Starship rocket broke up in space minutes after launching from Texas, raining debris over Caribbean islands and causing minor damage to a car in the Turks and Caicos Islands. 


Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs used ‘power, violence and fear’: prosecutor

Updated 27 June 2025
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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs used ‘power, violence and fear’: prosecutor

NEW YORK:  Sean “Diddy” Combs used “power, violence, and fear” as the head of a decades-old criminal enterprise, a prosecutor said Thursday in closing arguments in his high-profile trial.
“He counted on silence and shame to keep his crimes hidden,” Christy Slavik told the jury as the government began wrapping up its case against the once-powerful music mogul.
The 55-year-old Combs was seated behind the prosecutor as she delivered her closing arguments, passing an occasional message to his lawyers.
Slavik methodically walked the jury through the charges against Combs, which include racketeering and sex trafficking.
“He used power, violence and fear to get what he wanted,” she said, and relied on a network of “loyal lieutenants” — none of whom testified at his trial — to cover up his crimes, which included forced labor, bribery and witness tampering.
“He became more powerful and more dangerous because of the support of his inner circle and his businesses,” she said. “This is Mr.Combs’s kingdom.”
Slavik told the jury the case was not about criminalizing unorthodox sex.
“It’s not about free choices at all,” she said.
The women involved were “drugged, covered in oil, sore, exhausted” as Combs made them have sex with escorts for hours, she said.
The famed producer coerced two women — the singer Casandra Ventura and later a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane — into years of drug-addled sex with paid escorts, prosecutors say.
The most serious charge, racketeering — which includes the existence of a criminal enterprise that committed a pattern of offenses — could send Combs to prison for life.
He faces two charges of sex trafficking and two more for transportation for purposes of prostitution.
Combs denies it all. His lawyers have argued that the artist’s relationships were consensual and have sought to convince jurors that many of the witnesses who testified were doing so for financial gain or jealousy.
Along with alleged victims, government witnesses included former assistants and other employees, as well as escorts, friends and family of Ventura, and a hotel security guard who said he was bribed with $100,000 in a paper bag.
Combs opted against testifying on his own behalf, a common strategy of defense teams who are not required to prove innocence, only to cast doubt on government allegations of guilt.
The government’s evidence included thousands of pages of phone and text records, and hours of testimony involved meticulous readings of some of the most explicit and wrenching exchanges.
Many of those records appear to indicate distress on the part of the alleged victims. But a lot of the messages also show affection and desire — texts the defense underscored again and again.
Jurors have seen video evidence of the sex parties prosecutors say were criminal, while the defense has exhibited exchanges they say imply consent.
Also in evidence are reams of financial records — including CashApp payments to escorts — as well as flight and hotel records.
Since early May the proceedings have gripped the Manhattan federal courthouse where they’re taking place.
And though electronics are barred from the building, dozens of influencers and content creators have buzzed around the courthouse’s exterior every day, delivering hot takes to eager social media fans.
Combs is incarcerated and does not enter or exit the courthouse publicly. But some of the high-profile attendees and witnesses do, including members of the music mogul’s family and figures like Kid Cudi, the rapper who testified that Combs’s entourage torched his car.
The closing arguments by the prosecution are expected to wrap up on Thursday and the defense is likely to start its closing on Friday.
The jury of 12 New Yorkers could get the case as early as Friday afternoon.


Microsoft and OpenAI dueling over artificial general intelligence, The Information reports

Updated 26 June 2025
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Microsoft and OpenAI dueling over artificial general intelligence, The Information reports

  • The report comes at a time when one of the most pivotal partnerships in the field of AI is under strain

Microsoft and OpenAI are at odds over a contractual provision related to artificial general intelligence, The Information reported on Wednesday.
Under the current terms, when OpenAI achieves AGI, Microsoft’s access to such a technology would be void. Microsoft wants OpenAI to remove that clause but so far OpenAI has refused, the report said.
“We have a long-term, productive partnership that has delivered amazing AI tools for everyone. Talks are ongoing and we are optimistic we will continue to build together for years to come,” OpenAI and Microsoft said in a joint statement emailed to Reuters.
The report comes at a time when one of the most pivotal partnerships in the field of AI is under strain.
OpenAI needs Microsoft’s approval to complete its transition into a public-benefit corporation. But the two have not been able to agree on details even after months of negotiations, according to sources.
Microsoft partnered with OpenAI in 2019, investing $1 billion to support the startup’s development of AI technologies on its Azure cloud platform.

 


An Alaskan brown bear has a new shiny smile after getting a huge metal crown for a canine tooth

Updated 25 June 2025
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An Alaskan brown bear has a new shiny smile after getting a huge metal crown for a canine tooth

  • The 360-kilogram Tundra was put under sedation Monday and fitted with a new crown
  • “He’s got a little glint in his smile now,” zoo marketing manager Caroline Routley said

MINNESOTA: An Alaskan brown bear at the Lake Superior Zoo in northeastern Minnesota has a gleaming new silver-colored canine tooth in a first-of-its-kind procedure for a bear.

The 800-pound (360-kilogram) Tundra was put under sedation Monday and fitted with a new crown — the largest dental crown ever created, according to the zoo.

“He’s got a little glint in his smile now,” zoo marketing manager Caroline Routley said Wednesday.

The hour-long procedure was done by Dr. Grace Brown, a board-certified veterinary dentist who helped perform a root canal on the same tooth two years ago. When Tundra reinjured the tooth, the decision was made to give him a new, stronger crown.

The titanium alloy crown, made by Creature Crowns of Post Falls, Idaho, was created for Tundra from a wax caste of the tooth.

Brown plans to publish a paper on the procedure in the Journal of Veterinary Dentistry later this year.

“This is the largest crown ever created in the world,” she said. “It has to be published.”

Tundra and his sibling, Banks, have been at the Duluth zoo since they were 3 months old, after their mother was killed.

Tundra is now 6 years old and, at his full height on his hind legs, stands about 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall. The sheer size of the bear required a member of the zoo’s trained armed response team to be present in the room — a gun within arm’s reach — in case the animal awoke during the procedure, Routley said. But the procedure went without a hitch, and Tundra is now back in his habitat, behaving and eating normally.

Other veterinary teams have not always been as lucky. In 2009, a zoo veterinarian at Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska, suffered severe injuries to his arm while performing a routine medical exam on a 200-pound (90 kilogram) Malaysian tiger.

The tiger was coming out of sedation when the vet inadvertently brushed its whiskers, causing the tiger to reflexively bite down on the vet’s forearm.


Bears get paws on the honey in UK wildlife park escape

Updated 24 June 2025
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Bears get paws on the honey in UK wildlife park escape

  • The pair made a beeline for their food store where they scoffed snack’s including the seven-day supply of honey
  • During the hour-long drama, the bears were “continuously monitored both on the ground and via CCTV“

LONDON: Two young bears escaped from their enclosure at a UK wildlife park and devoured a week’s worth of food store honey before falling asleep, the attraction said on Tuesday.

Mish and Lucy, both aged four, got out of their enclosure at Wildwood Devon in southwestern England on Monday afternoon.

The pair made a beeline for their food store where they scoffed snack’s including the seven-day supply of honey, a park statement said.


The bears “posed no threat to the public at any point” although visitors on site were escorted to a secure building as a precaution.

During the hour-long drama, the bears were “continuously monitored both on the ground and via CCTV” until they were returned to their enclosure by keepers and promptly “fell asleep,” Wildwood added.

Police attended the scene and an investigation was underway to determine how the animals managed to break out, it said.

The park spread across 40 acres (160 hectares) of gardens and woodland is home to an array of wildlife including brown bears, wolves and arctic foxes.