Meghan Markle hit the ground running when she joined the Royal Family and was quickly able to harness the public speaking skills she had built up over the years. However, many authors and commentators have subsequently said Meghan was never able to grasp the fact that The Firm works together as one, rather than operate in individual branches.

The idea was explained in journalist Tina Brown’s book ‘The Palace Papers: Inside The House Of Windsor – The Truth And The Turmoil’ where she wrote that Meghan wanted “leading-lady” status after she and Prince Harry enjoyed a hugely successful royal tour of Australia shortly after their wedding. She added that Meghan reportedly couldn’t understand why no-one was congratulating her and felt that the monarchy “needed her more than she needed them”.

Prince Harry and Meghan embarked on their successful 16-day tour of Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji in 2018.

Throughout their visit, the newlyweds visited several landmarks including Bondi Beach, the Sydney Opera House and attended the Invictus Games. Their tour mimicked that of The Prince and Princess of Wales’ in 1983.

However, it would appear that there was a great deal of confusion taking place beneath the surface as Meghan allegedly struggled to understand the purpose of the various engagements.

A former palace employee told Tina Brown that Meghan found the numerous visits old-fashioned, and would have rather put the spotlight on causes she wanted to highlight.

Meanwhile, on the couple’s return from the tour, the book claims Meghan couldn’t understand why nobody told her “well done”. Brown wrote that Meghan drew the conclusion “that the monarchy likely needed her more than she needed them”.

She added: “She had starred in the equivalent of a blockbuster film and wanted her leading-lady status to be reflected in lights.”

Brown’s startling claims were later backed up in royal author Valentine Low’s book ‘Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown’ when he explained the couple’s confusion and lack of understanding at what they were expected to do.

Low wrote: “behind the scenes it was a different story” and Meghan “failed to understand the point” of what they were doing.

The author notes how little acts of kindness such as bringing banana bread to the home of a farming family or visiting a school programme for young Aboriginals meant Meghan was “fêted as an inspirational role model”.

However, he says that several members of staff heard Meghan saying “I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this” on at least one occasion.

Despite this, investigative author Tom Bower also claimed in his book ‘Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War with the Windsors’ that the couple felt they had been “blessed” by “Diana’s magic” when their tour was a success.

He wrote: “The Sussexes had convinced themselves that their Australian success blessed them with Diana’s magic. Meghan could not understand that Diana had won the public’s affection after years of work.

“Neither she nor Harry could grasp that emulating Diana required time, to weave a narrative and create a brand from which influence would flow.”

A massive fire tore through a 35-storey high-rise building in Dubai next to the Burj Khalifa on Monday morning.

Videos on social media showed the flames ripping up the building and engulfing the high-rise which neighbours the world’s tallest building.

Firefighters tackled the blaze which was extinguished by dawn, but the outer façade of the building could be seen covered with black char marks.

Bindu Rai, who lives in a building opposite the scene, told The National that the fire started at about 2:20 am.

She said the blaze woke up her mother immediately as it lit up the entire room.

Rai continued: “My building faces Boulevard 8 and from what appeared to us, the cladding on the left side of the building was on fire from top to bottom.

“Fire had spread inside two apartments that were somewhere midway. For the rest of the building, it was limited to the exterior.”

She said it was brought under control by 3:45 am, and they saw a large number of firefighters and emergency crews at the scene.

“A friend, who lives near the mosque that is across the Boulevard building, told me that the entire area has been cordoned off and people have been taken to Rove [a local hotel] and other places”, she said.

Witnesses said the fire broke out on one of the lower floors and then rapidly spread to the cladding.

One resident, who only moved into her apartment five months ago, told The National how she “ran for her life” after hearing the fire alarms sound.

The building is part of a tower complex called 8 Boulevard Walk by Emaar and there has been no word on the number of casualties or people injured.

Dubai police and the civil defense did not immediately acknowledge the blaze.

And Emaar, the state-backed developer in the emirate who owns the building, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the city-state’s Dubai Media Office.

Dubai Police cordoned off the area so recovery work could take place and debris cleared from the streets below.

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Original Article

Royal commentator Neil Sean has claimed that Meghan Markle has had a “dramatic change of heart regarding titles” and is keen on “clutching” onto them for herself, Prince Harry and their two children

Meghan Markle seems to have changed her mind on taking a royal title for her children after talks with Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, a royal expert has claimed.

According to royal commentator Neil Sean, the Duchess of Sussex previously disregarded the importance of titles within the royal family.

The HRH status was taken away from both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2020 after they stepped down from royal life but they are still allowed to use the Duke and Duchess of Sussex title.

Meghan and Harry’s children currently do not have titles and are named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor and Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor with no decision on their titles since Charles became King.

Mr Sean claims Meghan had a change of heart seeing how useful titles were for both Princess Eugenie and her sister, Princess Beatrice, the Duchess is now determined to cling onto them.

But during her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, Meghan appeared to have dismissed the importance of titles altogether.

Back then, she said: “All the grandeur surrounding this stuff is an attachment I don’t personally have.

“I’ve been a waitress, an actress, a princess, a Duchess – I’ve always still just been Meghan, right?”

She also added: “I’ve been clear on who I am, independent of all that stuff, and the most important title I’ll ever have is mom. I know that.”

But now, Neil has suggested that Meghan has had a “dramatic change of heart regarding titles” believing it is important for her and her children to keep their titles.

He said: “Harry and Meghan are very, very keen to cling onto those royal titles.

“After much deliberation, Meghan decided that the titles would be a good thing, not just for her but for both her children too.”

The expert continued to say: “Meghan become very friendly with senior members of the monarchy, predominately Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice.

“After this, Meghan realised how useful a title can be, particularly when you want to move in the correct circles.

“That is the reason why they want to clutch hold of titles.”

Neil added: “It’s really down to the fact that after befriending Beatrice and Eugenie, she saw how useful those titles are to them.

“Their father, Prince Andrew, had to push very hard to make sure his children got those titles.”

It comes amid claims their Duke and Duchess titles are at risk over fears King Charles III could strip them too in retaliation for “going fully rogue” with Harry’s tell-all memoir ‘Spare’.

A royal historian has urged the royal pair to refrain from using their titles in a ‘good-faith’ move so that the King cannot remove them.

Original Article

The Andes mountains in South America are ancient, around 50 million years old. They came into existence when the South American and Pacific tectonic plates collided, creating a collection of mountain chains that span seven countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. A number of civilizations have called these mountains home for millennia, peoples like the Atacama, the Uru, the Digauita and the Quechua.

Still more have populated the perilous peaks, like the Inca, the advanced community that rose from the Peruvian highlands in the early 13th century.

Traces of these peoples in the mountains have largely disappeared. But a team of researchers once climbed Argentina’s portion of the Andes before scaling the world’s tallest active volcano, finding this to be untrue.

It was just past the peak that they stumbled across the near-perfectly preserved remains of a 13-year-old girl, tightly wrapped in a blanket.

She was accompanied by a girl and a boy, though much younger, around four and five years old: the trio appeared as if they had been frozen just the day before.

But that was not the case, as when the remains were taken away for analysis, the results showed that the group were in fact around 500 years old, placing them as part of the Inca.  

While they were buried under 1.5 metres — five feet — of rock and earth, the trio’s internal organs appeared perfectly intact on a CT scan, something more ordinarily found with the recently deceased.

Archaeologist Dr Johan Reinhard, a part of the research team, described the remains as “the best preserved of any mummy I’ve seen”.

Talking about the perilous journey and subsequent excavation during the Smithsonian Channel’s documentary, ‘Mummies Alive: The Inca Maiden’, he said on reaching the summit of Mount Llullaillaco, he heard someone cry out: “Mummy!”

He continued: “When she first came out of the ground, she was completely wrapped up. We couldn’t see any part of her body, but the textiles were just outstanding, and they were so well preserved.”

Dr. Reinhard gently began to unwrap the mummy from the top of her body down. He explained: “We had to talk while we were doing it — it was if we were afraid at some level we might wake this mummy up because she seemed so alive.

“But nothing had the impact of when we uncovered her hands — it was probably one of the most powerful experiences I’ve had in my life, because those hands were perfect.”

Later dubbed ‘The Maiden’, the girl’s condition stunned researchers, her hands, for example, appeared to be exactly the same as those of someone living, her nails and skin creases all seeming to be fresh.

She had been buried with a heap of ancient artefacts, things like ceramic figures and textiles.

Dr. Brown told the BBC: “From what we know of the Spanish chronicles, particularly attractive or gifted women were chosen.

“The Incas actually had someone who went out to find these young women and they were taken from their families.”

Her diet in the year before her death was also found to have changed drastically, from being almost entirely based on potato to one rich in meat and maize.

Further tests also suggested she had been plied with heavy amount of alcohol in the last few weeks of her life, suggesting she was sedated before being taken to the volcano.

There was, however, no sign of violence having been inflicted upon her or the younger children.

Dr. Brown added: “In this case we think with the combination of being placed in the grave with the alcohol and the cold ‒ the mountain is over 6,000m above sea level ‒ she would have passed away quietly.”

Original Article

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most effective, and perhaps no case exemplifies this more than that of Evaldas Rimasauskas.

That being said, his plan seriously backfired on him – but more on this in a bit.

Evaldas’ story is so extraordinary, it could be made into a film if it weren’t for the fact that his masterful scam didn’t involve any major hurdles.

You see, the tech thief managed to steal a whopping $122 million from Facebook and Google by simply asking them for the money.

Between 2013 and 2015, Evaldas from Lithuania received $99m from Facebook and $23m from Google by forging invoices for goods they hadn’t ordered.

Amazingly, both companies paid up.

Prior to this, Evaldas had set up an incorporated company in Latvia that had more or less the same name as Quanta Computer Inc, a Taiwan-based computer and electronic hardware manufacturing firm.

According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the tech giants conducted ‘multimillion-dollar transactions’ with Quanta.

But rather than paying for legitimate services, they were instead wiring money over to bank accounts in Latvia and Cyprus that were controlled by Evaldas.

To explain the massive influx of money to the banks, he used forged invoices, contracts and letters that appeared to have been signed by executives and agents from Google and Facebook.

As outlined by IGN, the most shocking part of this plan is that no one from either company looked into the legitimacy of the invoices – they just paid the money.

It must have seemed too good to be true for the scammer – and that’s because it was. In 2017, aged 50, Evaldas was caught by Lithuanian authorities before being extradited to New York.

He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and in 2019 he was sentenced to 60 months in prison for his criminal scheme.

During the sentencing, US District Judge George Daniels also ordered Evaldas to serve two years of supervised release, to forfeit $49.7 million and to pay a reimbursement of nearly $26.5 million.

In short, his house of cards came crashing down – but the fact that he got away with it for so long served as a stark warning to tech companies about cyber security.

As said by acting US Attorney Joon Kim at the time of Evaldas’ arrest: “This case should serve as a wake-up call to all companies – even the most sophisticated – that they too can be victims of phishing attacks by cyber criminals.

“And this arrest should serve as a warning to all cyber criminals that we will work to track them down, wherever they are, to hold them accountable.

“The charges and arrest in this case were made possible thanks to the terrific work of the FBI and the cooperation of the victim companies and their financial institutions.

“We thank the companies and their banks for acting quickly, coming forward promptly, and cooperating with law enforcement; it led not only to the charges announced today, but also the recovery of much of the stolen funds.”

Original Article

A young man who pocketed a whopping $22million Powerball windfall before spiraling into a life of drugs, crime and debauchery.

Joshua John Winslet was only 22 and living in New Zealand when he learned he was the sole winner of the enormous division one prize in 2017 – but it only took three years for his life to completely unravel.

In August 2020, police raided his home in New Port, Adelaide and found 27.3g of MDMA – some of which was found in a bowl in the fridge, near a box of Red Bull – 2.27g of cocaine, along with a Mauser handgun and ammunition in his bathroom.

Winslet, now 27, pleaded guilty to supplying MDMA and possessing a firearm without a licence, and was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail, with a non-parole period of 18 months in SA’s District Court in August this year.

The time behind bars was suspended on a two-year good behaviour bond, with supervision.

During sentencing, Judge Heath Barklay detailed the extent of Winslet’s drug addiction – supplying to his addict friends, and letting them trash his house and essentially use it as a squalid drug den.

The judge also told the court about the many operations Winslet had to endure as a small child to treat Duane syndrome and Goldenhar syndrome – two rare and incurable conditions he battled since birth.

Duane syndrome occurs when the eye muscles do not develop properly, which results in difficulties rolling one or both eyes outward or inward.

Goldenhar syndrome causes abnormalities in the formation of the bones in the face and head, which can lead to facial asymmetry, a partially-formed or absent ear, benign cysts on the eye, spinal issues, and can impact internal organs.

In Winslet’s case, the latter condition meant he was born with a singular horseshoe-shaped kidney, and an irregular heart beat which stopped him from being able to play contact sports.

He also underwent plastic surgery when he was very young to try and correct his physical abnormalities.

As a result of his physical deformities, he was severely bullied at school.

As a result, he left school in Year 10 and studied at Adelaide University Senior College for six months.

He then did a plumbing apprenticeship, which he finished when he turned 20, and moved to the South Island of New Zealand to find a job when the company he worked for failed.

Soon after that, he found out he won Powerball and the millions were placed in a trust fund – which was managed by his parents.

He used a large portion to buy multiple properties in South Australia and New Zealand, but he somehow managed to use the cash to fuel his drug habits.

Shocking photos from inside the property showed a bowl of white powder inside a largely empty fridge, bagged MDMA, cocaine and marijuana, nangs (nitrous oxide bulbs), several large bongs and countless empty drink bottles and cans.

Hung on one of the walls was Winslet’s winning lottery ticket while in other rooms empty bottles, cans and dirty plates cover almost every available surface. 

In another room, rubbish and clothes were strewn on a floor beside an electronic drum kit and floor-to-ceiling projector screen.

Elsewhere, the homes floors were filthy, and beds were left unmade as garbage, including empty soft drink cans and takeaway food containers accumulated in every room.

The court heard sudden wealth turned him into ‘a free ride’ for other drug users who were allowed to ‘run amok’ in his home.

Judge Heath Barklay said Winslet ‘lost motivation’ for life and preferred a ‘hedonistic lifestyle’ slipped into regular drug use after his win.

‘Because of the money that you had won, there was no motivation on your part to work or do anything other than enjoy yourself,’ he said.

‘You had lots of money so you could afford to buy large amounts of drugs, which you would use yourself and supply to your so-called friends from time to time.’

One ‘friend’ stored a firearm and bullets in his roof, which Judge Barklay said the placement in a home where heavy drug use was normal increased the chances the weapon would be used for ‘an unlawful purpose’.

Winslet defense team stated that the arrest was a “wake up call”.

See photos of the inside of the house below:

Original Article

A New York man is suing an Atlantic City casino because he claims being disconnected from their online gambling app cost him over $29 million and he was paid off to remain quiet. 

Sam Antar says he is a compulsive gambler – a fact he says was well-known to defendants in the case including the Borgata casino, MGM Resorts International, and its online partner Entain.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in state Superior Court in Middlesex County, Antar accuses the defendants of fraud, racketeering and other transgressions. 

His lawsuit asserts that he experienced thousands of disconnections from the online platforms, often when he had a winning hand that was then wiped out.

His lawyer, Christopher Gramiccioni, said Antar experienced a disconnection rate approaching 50 percent during the nine months covered by the lawsuit. 

He added Antar, 46, had lost ‘easily hundreds of thousands of dollars’ during that time.

‘It’s one thing if you have technical issues intermittently,’ said Gramiccioni, a former county prosecutor in New Jersey. 

‘It is quite another when you have them 50% of the time. The casino did not take corrective action as required. They kept doubling down and giving him $30,000 a month, feeding him extra money to try to avoid scrutiny by the regulatory agencies.’

The Borgata and MGM declined comment through a spokesman. Entain did not reply to requests for comment.

New Jersey is in the process of deciding whether to extend its law authorizing internet gambling for another 10 years.

Antar is a convicted fraudster who faces the prospect of additional prison time in November for a scheme in which he cheated friends and relatives of money he used to feed his compulsive gambling habit. In the most recent case, he has pleaded guilty to theft by deception.

He also is the nephew of Eddie Antar, who founded the Crazy Eddie electronics stores in the 1970s and 1980s, who defrauded investors out of more than $74 million. Eddie Antar died in 2016.

In 2013, Sam Antar was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for taking $225,000 in a fraudulent investment scheme.

‘I’ve been in prison once, and I’m probably facing prison again, and it all had to do with me not being able to admit to myself I was a compulsive gambler,’ Antar said in an interview with The Associated Press Thursday. ‘When I look at what I did, I’m sick about it. A lot of people have this problem and they need help.’

In his lawsuit, Antar claims he alerted numerous employees and officials with the gambling companies to the fact that there was a serious, recurring problem with disconnections, but that they knowingly kept malfunctioning games available to the public because they were too profitable to take down.

He says his complaints were made to local supervisors and VIP hosts, an online complaint portal, and even to the president of the casino and the CEO of its parent company.

He also claims the companies paid him near-daily bonuses totaling $30,000 a month to keep him playing and to entice him not to report problems with the games to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. His lawyer says Antar never contacted the enforcement division, which did not respond to requests for comment.

Antar played live dealer blackjack and online slots, sometimes for 24 hours straight, he said in his lawsuit; he bet more than $5 million in one 16-day period in January 2020. During the nine month period covered in the suit, he made more than 100,000 online bets.

Original Article

An Indianapolis father and his three young children who were found dead in a pond July 12 died by accidental drowning, according to the Marion County Coroner’s Office. 

The father also had acute ethanol intoxication, the office reported Wednesday.

Kyle Moorman, 27, 5-year-old Kyle Moorman II,  2-year-old Kyannah Holland, and 1-year-old Kyran Holland were found in a pond on Bluff Road after they had been missing for about a week. 

Members of the Indianapolis Fire Department Dive Team and Department of Natural Resources had located Kyle Moorman’s vehicle, a black Saab, using sonar technology. 

Authorities later announced they recovered the bodies of three children inside a vehicle submerged at the bottom of the pond.

Family and friends had searched the pond, where the father often went fishing, and the area near the intersection of Bluff Road and West Troy Avenue for several days before the bodies were recovered.  

Original Article

A dad pronounced brain dead by doctors showed signs of neurological activity moments before his organs were about to be harvested for donation.

Ryan Marlow spent two weeks in Atrium Health Wake Forest Bapist Medical Center in North Carolina, USA, suffering from listeria when doctors declared him “clinically deceased” on August 27.

The 37-year-old dad-of-three’s condition had taken a sharp turn for the worse after swelling on the brain.

This led to a “neurological death” his wife Megan said on a social media livestream as she documented his story.

The mum was told that because Ryan was an organ donor, he would be kept on life support whilst his lung, heart and liver recipients could be located.

Wife Megan Marlow said that the organ harvesting team were basically beside Ryan’s bed before the miracle sign

His family gathered to say farewell to him on August 30 and Megan found she almost couldn’t bring herself to say goodbye at the hospital in Winston-Salem, USA.

She said: “My heart could not bear it,” but when she got to the hospital she was told by a niece that Ryan had moved his feet when he was shown videos of his children.

A doctor then told her that a CT scan had shown signs of brain activity.

Megan went on: “Because of his rare circumstance, they called in an expert panel and discovered that they made a mistake and that my husband, in fact, did not pass away.

“Literally the (organ removal) team was waiting there to take him…I told the nurse ‘stop everything right now’”. Ryan, Megan and their children – Ryan remains in a precarious condition

Megan was told that he had still suffered a traumatic brain stem injury and was in a critical condition in a deep coma.

She added: “Long story short… he’s not brain dead, my friends. He’s not brain dead.

“God’s kept him here. He’s supposed to be dead, he’s supposed to be at the funeral home right now according to these doctors.”

Since the miracle scan Ryan’s condition remains precarious, but he has shown signs of an elevated heart rate and twitching she said.

Megan said that another hospital had agreed to take her husband in – but the move had been delayed.

Her livestreams have attracted thousands of viewers as she documents her husband’s condition.

Ryan, a piano technician and pastor, caught listeria which is usually caused by eating contaminated foods and kills around 1,600 people a year in the US.

Donate to the family’s GoFundMe here