A Kurdish peshmerga looks at the body of what they say is an Islamic State militant on the outskirts of Tel Ward, west of the city of Kirkuk after attacking jihadist positions around the oil-rich city . Kurdish forces drove Islamic State militants back from the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq on Monday, in an attack which was backed by heavy air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition. Speaking to a local TV channel near the frontline, Kirkuk governor Najmaldin Karim said the purpose of the offensive was to secure the city, which the Kurds have held since last summer. Peshmerga fighters began shelling Islamic State positions at dawn before advancing along a 20-mile front southwest of the city, seizing several villages and gaining around three miles in places. Monday's gains bring the Peshmerga closer to the ISIS stronghold of Hawijah, where black-clad militants have paraded the bodies of what they said were 20 Shi'ite militiamen they had executed. Speaking by telephone from the frontline near Tel Ward, Major-General Omar Saleh Hassan said: 'This morning we launched an attack on three axes. Our advances are continuing.' He said his forces faced little resistance from Islamic State militants who are also fighting to hold the city of Tikrit around 110 km southwest of Kirkuk, as Iraqi forces close in. Just north of Tikrit, home city of executed Sunni former president Saddam Hussein, Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite militia fighters began an offensive to regain control over the town of al-Alam. Military commanders said some of the attacking force were ferried across from the west bank of the Tigris river, while others were approaching from other directions. 'We have confirmed information from inside Al-Alam that a few Daesh (ISIS) fighters are still inside, mostly suiciders. 'This is why we attacked them from multiple directions in order not to give them time to catch their breath,' Al-Alam mayor Laith al-Jubouri said, referring to the fighters by their Arabic acronym. Jubouri, who has spent time with the attacking forces outside Al-Alam, said clashes were continuing in the south, west and north of the town. In the Kirkuk offensive, elite Kurdish counter-terrorism units were taking part and one official said they had managed to detonate four vehicles rigged with explosives by firing on them from a distance. Scroll down for video . Kurdish Peshmerga forces gather as they look at bodies whom they say are Islamic State militants . Kurdish forces drove Islamic State militants back from the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq on Monday in an attack which was backed by heavy air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition . The Kurds took full control of Kirkuk last August as the Iraqi army collapsed in the north and Islamic State militants overran almost a third of the country. But the city has remained vulnerable, with the frontline no more than 20 kilometres away in some places and only an irrigation canal separating the two sides. In late January, Islamic State briefly overran Kurdish defences around Kirkuk. Revenge is sweet: Kurdish Peshmerga fighters pose for a photo holding an Islamic State flag in the village of Sultan Mari west of the city of Kirkuk after they  re-took the area from the terror group . Kurdish Peshmerga forces walk past a destroyed building belonging to the Islamic State militants, on the outskirts of Tel Ward, west of the city of Kirkuk . Meanwhile, officials said the jihadist group executed 20 people who wanted to fight against them in the northern Iraqi province of Kirkuk. The killings of the men, who wanted to join anti-ISIS paramilitary forces known as Popular Mobilisation units, took place in the town of Hawijah, a police intelligence officer and two local officials said. The executions could not be independently confirmed, but a gruesome series of photos posted online and shared on social media are evidence that they took place. Kirkuk governor Najim Al-deen Omar visits the Peshmerga forces on the border city which has been recaptured from ISIS . Kirkuk has remained vulnerable to attack, with the frontline no more than 20 kilometres away in some places and only an irrigation canal separating the two sides . The photos show the bodies of more than a dozen different men strung by their feet from light poles, what appears to be a communications or electricity tower, and under a massive sign featuring the ISIS flag and name. Captions under the photos said the men were members of the Popular Mobilisation units and used a derogatory term that could either refer to the units' Shi'ite leadership, or indicate that the men were believed to be Shi'ites. ISIS spearheaded a sweeping offensive last June that overran large parts of the country north and west of Baghdad, including in Kirkuk province. Peshmerga forces take up positions in a town west of Kirkuk city after they regained the area from ISIS militants . Monday's gains bring the Peshmerga, pictured, closer to the ISIS stronghold of Hawijah, where militants have paraded bodies through the streets . Security forces backed by militia are battling to regain ground, with support from a US-led coalition and Iran. The Popular Mobilisation units -- which are dominated by Shi'ite militia but include other volunteers, including Sunnis - have played a key role in the  fight, shoring up the government's flagging troops. But Shi'ite militiamen have also been accused of carrying out atrocities targeting Sunni Arabs in areas retaken from ISIS.

Kurds launch massive offensive backed by strikes from U.S.-led coalition . Gained swathes of land southwest of the city after seizing several villages . Brings them near ISIS stronghold of Hawijah where jihadis killed 20 militia . Men reportedly strung by their feet from light poles under Islamic State flag .

 State militants out of Tel Ward on Monday, a day after the jihadist group overran the town and two others in an offensive that has raised the spectre of a bloody re-run of the sectarian war that engulfed Iraq. Photo: AFP
A group of gunmen attacked a village in northeastern Iraq on Monday, killing nine people before fleeing into neighboring Turkey, security officials said, in the first major spillover of a bloody battle raging to oust the Islamic State group from its last refuge in the region.
The attack was the latest in a campaign by the Kurds and U.S.-backed fighters from the mostly Shi'ite-dominated Popular Mobilisation units, or paramilitaries, to capture areas held by IS that were part of what is known as "caliphate", the extremist Sunni militant group that has declared a caliphate.
The attacks are likely to heighten tensions in a divided Iraq, with the Kurds seeking a semi-autonomous region of their own that has no room for a central government under a new Kurdish administration of their own.
The Kurds have so far largely left IS-held territory in north and north-eastern Iraq to the Iraqi army, but that could now change.
"A group of terrorists attacked a village near Dindar in the Dibis (area), nine people were killed and another wounded," the security officials in Sulaimaniya, a largely Kurdish region close to the border with Turkey, told Reuters.
The officials said all those killed were from a Sunni Arab community, and it was not clear which group carried out the attack.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault, which came just days after IS carried out a similar assault on a Kurdish village, killing eight men and wounding four others. IS fighters fleeing the clashes across the border into Syria were reportedly stopped by Kurdish Peshmerga near the Qandil mountains in northern Iraq, close to the borders of Iraq, Iran and Turkey.
Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said the attackers were members of a Turkish faction of the Islamic State.
Separately, a Kurdish security official said on Tuesday that Kurdish fighters and the Iraqi army were in the town of Hawijah, a small town 160 km north of Kirkuk, the main city in the disputed area. Hawijah was under IS control for more than two weeks, until Kurdish fighters launched an operation to try to expel them on Sunday.
The Islamic State group has


A jury awarded Marvin Gaye's children $7.4million on Tuesday after determining singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied their father's music to create Blurred Lines, the biggest hit song of 2013. Marvin Gaye's daughter Nona Gaye wept as the verdict was being read and was hugged by her attorney, Richard Busch. The verdict could tarnish the legacy of Williams, a reliable hit-maker who has won Grammy Awards and appears on NBC's music competition show The Voice. It was previously revealed that the song had made a staggering $16million for Pharrell, Thicke, rapper T.I. and the record company, though T.I. and various record and music companies had previously been cleared of copyright infringement charges. The jury decided that the family should receive $4million in damages and $3.4 million in profits from the song, with Thicke forced to pay $1.7million from his own pocket and Pharrell $1.6million. Scroll down for videos . Robin Thicke (left) and Pharrell Williams (right) are seen leaving court last week during the trial . 'I feel free, free from...Pharrell Williams’ & Robin Thicke’s chains,' said Nona Gaye in an emotional statement outside the courtroom following the verdict . An attorney for Thicke and Pharrell has said a decision in favor of Gaye's heirs could have a chilling effect on musicians who try to emulate an era or another artist's sound. All three later released a statement, saying; 'While we respect the judicial process, we are extremely disappointed in the ruling made today, which sets a horrible precedent for music and creativity going forward. 'Blurred Lines’ was created from the heart and minds of Pharrell, Robin and T.I. and not taken from anyone or anywhere else. We are reviewing the decision, considering our options and you will hear more from us soon about this matter.' 'Right now, I feel free,' an emotional Nona said after the verdict. 'Free from ... Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke's chains and what they tried to keep on us and the lies that were told.' This was no doubt in response to the fact that Pharrell and Thicke had filed a lawsuit against Gaye's estate back in August 2013 in an attempt to stop his family from suing them for copyright infringement. 'Plaintiffs, who have the utmost respect for and admiration of Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic and their musical legacies, reluctantly file this action in the face of multiple adverse claims from alleged successors in interest to those artists. Defendants continue to insist that plaintiffs' massively successful composition, 'Blurred Lines,' copies 'their' compositions,' read the suit. This suit however was thrown out in October of that year, when a judge ruled that the family had made a sufficient showing that the two songs were similar. 'We did not start this fight… Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke started this lawsuit,” Busch said outside of the courthouse. 'We fought this fight with one arm tied behind our back.' Gaye, best known for such classics as Sexual Healing, I Heard It Through the Grapevine and How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), was tragically murdered by his father when he was just 44-years-old . Nona Gaye (second from left), daughter of late singer Marvin Gaye, and her lawyer Richard Busch (front right) speak to the media following the verdict . The Gayes' lawyer branded Pharrell and Thicke liars who went beyond trying to emulate the sound of Gaye's late-1970s music and copied the R&B legend's hit Got to Give It Up outright. He also brought up the fact after the verdict that the defense's legal team did everything they could to stop the jury from hearing Gaye's song during the proceedings, allowing them to just listen to certain snippets of the music. For this reason the infringement charge only applied to the sheet music for the two songs, making the case against Thicke and Pharrell that much more difficult for the Gaye family. Busch however pointed out during his argument that Thicke said in interviews while promoting the single that he and Pharrell were trying to write something like Gaye's Got to Give It Up. Thicke told jurors he didn't write Blurred Lines, which Pharrell testified he crafted in about an hour in mid-2012, as he was too high on painkillers and alcohol. 'The biggest hit of my career was written by somebody else, and I was jealous and wanted credit,' said Thicke. He also took time on the stand to play a variety of songs that sound similar in music and tone in an attempt to strengthen his case . Pharrell told jurors that Gaye's music was part of the soundtrack of his youth, but the seven-time Grammy winner said he didn't use any of it to create Blurred Lines and that the songs were alike in genre only. The pair's lawyer maintained their innocence even after the verdict, saying; 'They're unwavering in their absolute conviction that they wrote this song independently.' Busch, far left, walks with the late singer, Marvin Gaye's family members, from left, daughter, Nona, ex-wife, Jan, and son, Frankie . According to the Los Angeles Times, he song brought in $5.6 million for Thicke, $5.2 million for Pharrell and another $5 million to $6 million for the record company, as well as an additional $8 million in publishing revenue . Gaye's children - Nona, Frankie and Marvin Gaye III - sued the singers in 2013 and were present when the verdict was read. The family had initially asked for $40million in damages, but later lowered that number to $25million. This was based on the amount of money they believed Gaye would have been paid had he signed off on the rights to his song. Gaye's ex-wife Janis testified that as soon as she heard the song she recognized the similarities and was thrilled thinking that this would introduce the music of her late husband to a new generation of music lovers. That quickly turned to anger however when she learned the rights to Gaye's song had not been licensed. Sales of the 2013 song, which has already sold 7.3million copies in the United States alone, are still going strong too, and have seen a drastic increase over the course of the trial this past few weeks. Gaye, best known for such classics as Sexual Healing, I Heard It Through the Grapevine and How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), was tragically murdered by his father as he tried to break up a fight between his parents and protect his mother in 1984. The singer, just 44-years-old at the time, had been nominated for 14 Grammys at that point over the course of his brilliant but all too brief career, and left the rights to all his music to his three children. An appeal of the ruling is already being considered by Pharrell and Thicke's lawyer. Tom Petty Vs. Sam Smith: Smith's monster hit Stay With Me, a song which earned him three Grammys at this year's ceremony while also contributing to his Best New Artist victory, sounded a little to similar to the Petty classic I Won't Back Down, something the latter's lawyers picked up on and took to court. The two settled the entire thing like gentlemen however, coming to an agreement out of court that gives Petty and composer Jeff Lynne a writing credit on the track and 12.5% of the royalties. The Rolling Stones Vs. The Verve: The Verve became one of the biggest bands of 1999 thanks to their hit Bittersweet Symphony, a song which sampled strings from The Rolling Stone's The Last Time. The band however was told they could only use a five-note sample, and once they song was released were accused of breaking their promise and using more. As a result, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were given writing credits for the track alongside The Verve's Richard Ashcroft, and the group had to relinquish all royalties they received for the song. Queen and David Bowie Vs. Vanilla Ice: While Vanilla Ice remains a one-hit wonder, that hit, Ice Ice Baby, still receives massive play over 20 years after it was released by the rapper. The song clearly borrowed however from the David Bowie and Queen tune Under Pressure, something the rapper initially denied. The case was eventually settled out of court, and the details of the settlement were never revealed, though it is known that Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and Bowie all now have songwriting credits. Bright Tunes Vs. George Harrison: In the biggest copyright infringement case prior to Tuesday's ruling, Harrison was accused of using the Ronnie Mack song He's So Fine in creating his solo song My Sweet Lord. The case dragged on for five years, ultimately making its way to a United States federal court, where Harrison lost and was forced to pay $1,599,987, a staggering amount at the time. Isley Brothers Vs. Michael Bolton: Bolton used elements of the Isley Brothers song Love Is a Wonderful Thing in his song of the same name, and as a result ended up having to pay $5.4million, when the case went to court, which before Tuesday was the largest amount ever awarded in a copyright infringement case.

A jury awarded the family of Marvin Gaye $7.4million in their lawsuit against Pharrell and Robin Thicke . Gaye's children Nona, Frankie and Marvin Gaye III sued the singers in 2013 saying they stole the music to Blurred Lines from their father . Thicke told jurors he didn't write Blurred Lines, which Williams testified he crafted in about an hour in mid-2012 . Gaye's daughter Nona wept as the verdict was being read . 'I feel free, free from...Pharrell Williams’ & Robin Thicke’s chains,' said Nona in an emotional statement outside the courtroom following the verdict . The song made a staggering $16million for Pharrell, Thicke and rapper T.I.

 Gaye III and Frankie and Tina Gaye, the late star's children, sued the singers for copyright infringement and violation of rights under federal and state trademark laws.
But, a jury sided with Pharrell and Thicke, finding that the song does not infringe on Marvin Gaye's copyright and is a modern interpretation that does not detract from Gaye's composition. Gaye III and Frankie and Tina Gaye disagreed, claiming that "Blurred Lines" sounds identical to their father's song.
The "Blurred Lines" songwriters, Robin Thicke, and Pharrell Williams, released a statement calling the lawsuit "ridiculous and not based on fact or the merits." Thicke and Williams were in the New York courtroom for the verdict.
According to Thicke's attorney Howard King, the court has a very strong opinion, and the Gaye family's lawyers know that the Gaye family will appeal this case. King said there was no clear distinction between the "Blurred Lines" sound and the "Got to Give It Up" song, because the "Got To Give It Up" song is "all over the place" and the "Blurred Lines" song is "in a similar space."
King also said there was no evidence to prove that Williams ever heard Gaye's hit. He also said that the Gaye family's claims were weak.
In the verdict, the jury found that Thicke and Pharrell did not willfully infringe on the "Blurred Lines" song because they did not know the Gaye family was the original authors. The jury found that Thicke and Pharrell did not copy the "Blurred Lines" song from Gaye, but rather, the two composers "reached a common musical conception." This meant that Thicke and Pharrell used the same musical composition that Gaye used, but in a similar musical style, which makes the song a modern interpretation.
The "Blurred Lines" song, according to the jury, can stand alone in modern popular music without any connection to Gaye's original song.
Williams wrote or co-wrote six Grammy awards songs, including Justin Timberlake's song "Mirrors." Thicke is a producer and singer, who has worked with Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears.
Thicke, 36, and Williams, 40, were awarded no


You could be forgiven for not recognising the face (or rather the body) in Emporio Armani's latest underwear campaign. The stylish black and white photos show a torso that is suitably chiselled, immaculately groomed hair, a dash of designer stubble and, of course, the brightest - and tightest - white pants. DJ Calvin Harris, 31, has undergone a startling transformation in recent years; his once skinny frame replaced with a rippling physique that could put many a male model to shame. When images from the glamorous shoot were released, they quickly went viral. Wow! What happened to Calvin Harris? The superstar DJ, said to be worth £44million, is the star of a new underwear campaign by Armani... but he wasn't always to easy on the eye . Pre-muscles: The 31-year-old Scotsman from Dumfries, pictured here in 2007 and 2009 respectively, once favoured the skinny-boy look with longer locks and paler skin . Swoon: The DJ has all but given up alcohol and has a regular exercise routine that has honed his body...he joins David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo as one of Armani's boys in briefs . Harris, said to be the world's richest DJ with a personal wealth of around £44million, says his enviable six-pack is down to largely ditching alcohol - he hasn't drunk for a year - and a dedication to working out. The pop star, from Dumfries in Scotland, seems to be enjoying what has become known as the 'Gary Barlow effect', where men get more attractive as they advance in years. In the boy band's heyday, the Take That star was famously the least attractive member, something he himself admitted to - and trailed in the wake of his more athletically-blessed peers when it came to fan mail. Yet in the group's renaissance, Gary has captured the hearts of a new generation of  fans. Following a strict diet, the songwriter has shed the pounds that once dogged him and managed to keep the weight off. A smart haircut, light beard and personal stylist have seen his popularity soar. After the weight loss, he said: 'I’ve just not got the sort of body where I can pick and choose what I eat. I’ve got to go for one thing and stick by it. So I’ve tried not to have sugar and caffeine, etc, and it’s boring, it’s really boring. 'But it works for me. The result is that I feel good.' Better second time around: Gone is the peroxide hair of Gary in the first incarnation of Take That...replaced by a gentle quiff, light tan and more slimline figure . Not so gorgeous George: On the set of Nineties television show Baby Talk, Mr Clooney sported bouncy hair and double denim but has grown older gracefully, and bagged a beautiful lady to boot. The actor is pictured earlier this year with new wife Amal Alamuddin . Not always Prince Charming: Harry's flame-red hair, (captured left at Eton College in 2003) has softened with age and a career in the Army has ensured his slight physique is a thing of the past . Bleached hair, two earrings and a shiny jacket: The fashion disasters of a young Justin Timberlake, pictured left in 1997 and, right, spotted last month looking positively debonair in New York . Not even the thinking woman's crumpet... Hugh Laurie took a while to shine but a hit series, House, in the US transformed the way the opposite sex viewed him . Channelling Malfoy? An early shot of actor Daniel Craig (left) feels a long way from 007. Right, the actor in his more familiar guise at the press call for new Bond film Spectre in December last year . He's not the only male celebrity to have improved with age however. Universal heartthrob George Clooney's legion of adoring fans will mostly agree that the Hollywood actor/director has matured like a fine wine, suiting a smattering of grey hair much more than the more bouffant look that he sported in the Eighties. Other stars offering hope to mere mortals fearing their middle years include Hugh Laurie, who became an unlikely desirable as the front man of US television hit House. The latest incarnation of James Bond, Daniel Craig, has definitely become more attractive as he's clocked up more miles. Photos of the actor in his 20s show badly-dyed blonde hair and none of the super-fit physique that 007 fans have lusted over. Chart-topping makeover: Fear of appearing on television on a Saturday evening, on BBC show The Voice, propelled The Kaiser Chiefs lead singer, Ricky Wilson, into re-thinking his look . Hirsute suits you, sir: David Beckham (pictured left in 1999) has changed his looks many times but most will agree his brooding, bearded look since retiring from football is his best . So much better blonde: Ryan Gosling sporting darker hair and a fresher face back in 2002 and looking much more delicious last year at the Cannes film festival in 2014�� . The fashion designer Marc Jacobs hasn't been shy in showing off his gym-honed body in recent years but wasn't always quite so muscular; photos of the designer from his pre-work out stage reveal unkempt hair and an unremarkable physique. Younger stars who, like Calvin Harris, seem to have grown into their bodies as they reach their thirties include Justin Timberlake. The former N-Sync singer's youthful looks, complete with an earring in both lobes, might not have attracted the attention of now-pregnant wife Jessica Biel. And Prince Harry might not have enjoyed so much female attention without his Army training routine. Photos of the prince as a teenager, dressed in Eton gowns, reveal a slim frame and a redder tint to his hair. Other remarkable transformations from geek to god include Ricky Wilson, frontman with band The Kaiser Chiefs, who spruced up via weight loss and a beard, to appear on BBC1's The Voice. The star blamed the excesses of touring for his previously chubby appearance, saying: 'I used to drink loads and I wasn't as happy as I am now. I used to just get stuck into junk food on tour.'

Calvin Harris is the world's richest DJ and is said to be worth £44million . The star, 31, from Dumfries has undergone a body makeover . After regular workouts and a controlled diet, he models  Armani underwear . He's just the latest celebrity to get better looking with age .

ed and with that perfect amount of stubble. But this body is not that of a male model. It is that of the Italian brand's latest spokesmodel, singer, actress and model. And, on closer inspection, you can't miss the fact that it's a man's body.
This isn't the first time that Emporio Armani has chosen an androgynous model for a campaign. In 2010, it released its Sexy in the City campaign with three different male models and the same year, its women's campaigns featured male models as well. But this is a step further: the most recent campaign, shot by the acclaimed duo Luigi and Iango, is the first to show a fully nude man in an Armani ad.
This, I think, is an interesting development. For as long as I can remember, brands have relied on women as a major component of their campaigns to entice men into buying their clothing. As it turns out, men aren't all that interested in seeing women in their underwear.
In this instance, the decision to include a model that many women will feel familiar with may well have been driven by what we are seeing elsewhere in the fashion world. In the latest issue of Vogue US, a piece titled, "Boy and Beyond" examines the male face in fashion. "A recent spate of male beauty campaigns has raised the question of whether women's advertising standards should be applied to the male demographic," writes Susanna Lau. "And in answer, the male model is slowly making the transition into the traditionally feminine realm of beauty campaigns." Indeed, this is what is happening in the most traditional of brands.
The change seems to be more to do with shifting the focus in these campaigns (or at least what makes it into print) than it is about including male models. In the Emporio Armani and Dolce & Gabbana campaigns, the focus is very much on the female body (albeit a male one).
If we look at Gucci's spring 2015 campaign, we find a much stronger female presence, but it is not without a male. Here, there is a model with short hair, in a dress, with a cigarette in his hand. There's nothing overtly sexual about the photo. But then again, there are also no visible muscles. The man is dressed in a suit, but he looks like a cross between an Italian banker and a lawyer. The


Lewis Hamilton bounced back from a troubled first practice ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix to lead the way at the end of the day. The reigning champion, who began the year in stunning fashion just under a fortnight ago in Australia by claiming pole, fastest lap and victory, hit problems after just four installation laps in FP1. Hamilton was ordered to pull his Mercedes off the Sepang International Circuit after complaining of 'a click in the rear' of the car. Lewis Hamilton was fastest in second practice ahead of Sunday's Malaysian  Grand Prix . World champion Hamilton won the first race of the season in Australia and is looking for back-to-back wins . 1. Lewis Hamilton  Mercedes 1:39.790 . 2. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:40.163 . 3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:40.218 . 4. Daniil Kvyat Red Bull-Renault 1:40.346 . 5. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1:40.450 . 6. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:40.560 . 7. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:40.652 . 8. Max Verstappen  Toro Rosso - Renault 1:41.220 . 9. Marcus Ericsson Sauber - Ferrari 1:41.261 . 10. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull - Renault 1:41.799 . 11. Pastor Maldonado  Lotus - Mercedes 1:41.877 . 12. Felipe Nasr Sauber - Ferrari 1:41.988 . 13. Sergio PerezForce India - Mercedes 1:42.242 . 14. Carlos Sainz Jr Toro Rosso - Renault 1:42.291 . 15. Nico Hulkenberg Force India - Mercedes 1:42.330 . 16. Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:42.506 . 17. Jenson Button  McLaren 1:42.637 . 18. Romain Grosjean Lotus - Mercedes 1:42.948 . 19. Will Stevens Marussia - Ferrari 1:45.704 . 20. Roberto Merhi  Marussia - Ferrari 1:47.229 . Hamilton hitches a lift back to the paddock after his car stopped during first practice . Although Hamilton stated his gears worked and he could have returned his car to the pits, he was told by his race engineer that 'we have no telemetry so we didn't want to risk the engine. It's a race engine.' Hamilton's car was hoisted away from the scene and returned to the Mercedes garage, where his mechanics furiously worked on a fault with the power unit inlet system. Mercifully for Hamilton, with only four engines available to a driver over the course of the 19 grands prix, a complete engine change was not required. Hamilton did not return to the circuit until 38 minutes into FP2, at the end of a red-flag session as rookie Roberto Merhi had beached his Manor in the gravel. Hamilton returned to the circuit 38 minutes into the second practice session . Hamilton had a new helmet design for the Malaysian race but, under new rules, was not allowed to wear it . Hamilton is given a lift back to the pits by a Malaysian Grand Prix marshall after his car stopped on track . Mercedes mechanics work on Hamilton's car after he suffered an engine problem . Fifty-two minutes later Hamilton emerged the only man to dip below one minute and 40 seconds for the lap, posting a time of 1:39.790secs. As in FP1, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen emerged second quickest, with the Finn 0.373secs adrift of Hamilton, with Nico Rosberg third quickest in his Mercedes, 0.428secs off the pace of his team-mate. Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat produced a strong showing to wind up fourth, with Williams duo Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa fifth and sixth on the timesheet at 0.660secs and 0.770secs behind respectively. Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel was down in seventh for Ferrari, and the only other driver to finish within a second of Hamilton. Fernando Alonso, greets his former colleagues on the Ferrari pit-wall ahead of his second McLaren bow . The Spaniard locks up his tyres as he takes to the circuit during practice for this week's race in Malaysia . Beyond that, the rest were some way adrift, with Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen 1.430secs down, with Sauber's Marcus Ericcson and Daniel Ricciardo in his Red Bull completing the top 10. As for ailing McLaren, Fernando Alonso completed 45 laps overall for the day, finishing 2.7secs behind Hamilton in 16th position, with team-mate Jenson Button 17th and 0.131secs behind the Spaniard. For Alonso, it was his first outing in the car since his pre-season testing accident in which he sustained concussion, forcing him to miss the opening grand prix in Melbourne. After missing the race in Australia, Manor had something to cheer about as both Will Stevens and Merhi completed 34 laps between them. Although the South Yorkshire-based team travelled to Melbourne after being rescued from administration weeks earlier, they failed to turn a wheel in anger due to numerous issues. But in what was effectively the team's first test session of the season, rookies Stevens and Merhi finally hit the track. The 23-year-old Briton was 5.9secs behind Hamilton and 1.5secs up on Merhi, whose run into the gravel cost him considerable track time. Jenson Button was 17th in the second practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix . Button in the paddock with his wife Jessica on Friday .

Lewis Hamilton missed much of the day, but still went fastest in Sepang . Hamilton did not post a time in the morning after engine troubles . But he returned to finish almost a third of a second faster than Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen with his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg third . Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button were 16th and 17th respectively . CLICK HERE for all the latest Formula One news .

 and the win, had his first major issue of the season after a minor mistake sent his McLaren flying into the barriers at the first corner.
The double World Champion lost over a minute in the time he was out as McLaren worked to repair the damage and get him ready to race again. The Briton did just that, but it was the final piece of work, rather than his first effort of the day, that proved key.
Following that work to replace the engine cover and related parts, Hamilton took up third on the grid behind team-mate Jenson Button. Button, too, was in the ascendancy throughout practice as he looked to put his team’s first retirement of 2014 to bed. The Woking-based outfit suffered a shocker in Melbourne two weeks ago when both cars failed to start, something McLaren’s new-found reliability has yet to provide.
As a result the team has lost its three-point lead in the Constructor’s Championship following four races to Ferrari, but Hamilton has not let that affect his focus.
“After qualifying yesterday, I didn’t really do a good job and now I have to pick up myself,” the McLaren driver told reporters, but he was not the only one, with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg impressing throughout the day for second and Williams’ Felipe Massa showing real promise as he snuck his team into the top three with the best time in the closing minutes of practice.
The Brazilian has struggled throughout the season so far, but on this evidence the Woking-based team might finally be showing the form that led to them topping the 2012 Constructors’ standings.
The day was something of a struggle for both Mercedes-powered cars, both suffering with fuel pressure issues which curtailed running in the day’s opening two hours. Lewis Hamilton was a further minute off the pace after just one lap as a result, but the Briton showed what he is made of as he fought hard to close up to the leaders in the final hour of the session.
Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top five, with the German looking set to start on the front row ahead of Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who secured top spot for his team (Renault) with five minutes remaining.
Jules Bianchi was impressive in sixth for Marussia in his first Grand Prix weekend, with his team-mate Max Chilton in seventh just ahead of a good performance from Sauber’s


Ferguson police chief Tom Jackson has refused to comment on a federal report published Wednesday which found racial bias in his department - with officers routinely discriminating against African-Americans by using excessive force. The chief was asked about his future and that of his employees by CNN but would only say: 'I need to have time to really analyze this report so I can comment on it'. He avoided questions over whether he would step down but added he would 'take action where necessary'. Scroll down for video . When questioned by a reporter about the damning Justice Department report which found racial profiling present in the Ferguson police department, Chief Tom Jackson was unable to give an answer . Police Chief Thomas Jackson fields questions related to the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown on August 13, 2014 in Ferguson. The police chief and his department have been widely criticized for their bungled response to teen's death which sparked national protests . The Justice Department report  found patterns of racial profiling, bigotry and profit-driven law enforcement and court practices in the St. Louis County suburb that has come to represent the tension between minorities and American police nationwide. Most of Ferguson's police officers and top elected officials are white, but two-thirds of the 21,000 residents are black. The report uncovered racist emails from three city employees, including some that belittled black residents or President Obama. All three employees responsible for those emails left their jobs on Thursday - it's not clear whether they were fired or resigned. However the Justice Department refused to prosecute white cop Darren Wilson who fatally shot unarmed black teen Michael Brown in Ferguson on August 9, 2014. Catalyst: The Justice Department began a civil rights investigation following the August shooting of Michael Brown (left), an unarmed black 18-year-old, by white police officer Darren Wilson (right) The shooting of unarmed teen Michael Brown led to protests in Ferguson, Missouri (pictured) and across the country over racial bias in the police . A St. Louis County grand jury also found no evidence of a crime and announced in November that Wilson would face no state charges. President Obama  made his first remarks on the DOJ report on Friday saying the type of racial discrimination found in Ferguson, Missouri, is not unique to that police department, and he cast law enforcement reform as a chief struggle for today's civil rights movement. 'I don't think that is typical of what happens across the country, but it's not an isolated incident,' Obama told The Joe Madison Radio Show on Sirius XM radio's Urban View channel. 'I think that there are circumstances in which trust between communities and law enforcement have broken down, and individuals or entire departments may not have the training or the accountability to make sure that they're protecting and serving all people and not just some.' Ferguson city leaders will meet with Justice Department officials in about two weeks and provide a plan for ways to improve the police department following the scathing report, Mayor James Knowles III said on Friday. Knowles said that the goal is to work out an agreement with the federal government. A specific meeting date has not been set. 'They want to hear what we will do,' Knowles said. 'We're going to hopefully work out some sort of agreement and we'll move forward. 'We've got to come up with solutions now,' Knowles said. Knowles said city leaders were still going over the report 'line by line' before determining reforms. Asked about Police Chief Tom Jackson, Knowles said he still leads the police force, but the mayor declined to discuss Jackson's future. Further messages seeking comment from Jackson were not returned. 'I'm not here to just chop heads,' Knowles said. 'We have to evaluate everything in the report, pick out what are the systemic issues and what are the things we can fix.' The mayor said he first learned of the emails on Wednesday after meeting with Justice officials in St. Louis. He said he was so incensed that he ordered the accounts of all three employees disabled while he was in the car returning to Ferguson after the meeting. Knowles said there was no evidence that Jackson or other police administrators were aware of those emails.

Ferguson police chief Tom Jackson would not respond to the Department of Justice report 'until he had time to analyze it' The Justice Department report found patterns of racial profiling, bigotry and profit-driven law enforcement  in the St. Louis County suburb .

of his officers by reporters, but he refused to answer, instead saying he was working with the mayor's office "to evaluate all of our options". Jackson is set to retire in the next few months. His contract runs out in May. He has been under heavy pressure from activists to quit before then amid calls for a federal investigation into the police force. Activist Michael Brown, who was fatally shot by a police officer in 2014, had said during last year's grand jury deliberations that Jackson's departure would go "a long way" towards restoring public trust. He also said "this town doesn't need you" as he spoke with a friend in a now-deleted Twitter video in August 2014, a month before Jackson announced his retirement. The new report details more than 50 cases where it claims officers used excessive force. It also alleges that black residents are 11 times more likely to be killed by police than whites. The report was ordered by former President Barack Obama in the wake of the 2014 death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, and the protests that followed. Protests also erupted following the police shooting of Eric Gardner, an unarmed black man, in New York City in 2014.  The Justice Department's report paints a picture of a department struggling to integrate African Americans into the workforce, using questionable arrest tactics, and where complaints of misconduct against officers are ignored. It is the latest in a series of reports to shed light on the department which has seen four police chiefs in the last 12 months. But activists said the report is a step in the right direction but more action must be taken if it is going to change the department. "There are 50 cases identified," said St Louis activist Ja'Mal Green, who spoke to US media by phone on Wednesday, as he welcomed the report. "We are very happy to see these, but I don't see any action being taken by the mayor's office." "This needs to stop. They have to put the work in," said Green, who believes the $7.5m settlement reached with the estate of Michael Brown was not adequate. The family received $1.5m and has said it will give the rest away. He also wants to see the resignation of US Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The report has also reignited the debate over police body cameras, a tool which Ferguson is set to deploy this week. Michael Brown's death


Companies run by women performed almost three times as well than those run by men, according to a new study. Cash invested only in Fortune 1000 stocks from companies with female CEOs had a return of 348 per cent over the past 12 years, researchers found. In the same period of time, a portfolio made up of stocks from the S&P500 index would have returned just 122 per cent. The discovery was made by finance technology company Quantopian, which ran two imaginary $100,000 investment funds using stock data from 2002-2014. Bringing home the bacon: A study found that Fortune 1000 companies with female CEOs produced returns of 348 per cent from 2002 to 2014, as shown in green on the graph above. For comparison, the S&P500 index, in blue, had a return of 122 per cent in the same period . Top of the pile: Mindy Grossman, CEO of HSNi (left), Debra Cafaro of Ventas (center) and Marissa Meyer of Yahoo! (right) all brought in substantial returns for shareholders during their tenures . At the end of the experiment, the women's fund was calculated to be worth $440,158, while the S&P fund was at $222,306. The women's fund would hold stocks by all Fortune 1000 companies with female CEOs for as long as the woman was at the head of the company. It would sell the stock whenever a woman left the top spot, and buy in to new companies which appointed women. Fewer than one in 20 major companies currently has a female CEO. According to a report by Fortune magazine, the best performers were HSNi, which runs the home shopping network, and Ventas, a healthcare company which runs housing estates for the elderly. HSNi has been run by Mindy Grossman since 2006, and Ventas by Debra Cafaro for the whole 12-year period - both women returned more than 500 per cent on initial investments. Other high-performing female CEOs were Marissa Meyer at Yahoo!, Linda Lang at Jack in the Box and Carol Meyrowitz at TJX, a homeware and clothing retailer. Some women dragged the pack down, however, including New York Times CEO Janet Robinson, whose eight-year tenure saw the company shed 80 per cent of its worth. There is no definitive explanation for why female CEOs apparently bring in so much more cash for investors. It has been suggested that typically female personality traits make for better corporate leaders. Kip Tindell, CEO of The Container Store, has made 70 per cent of his executives female. He told Business Insider: 'Emotional intelligence is the key to being really successful. People who have it keep their egos in check; they're comfortable with surrounding themselves with people better than them...' However, it has also been suggested that female leaders can feel pressure more than male counterparts. Mindy Grossman, one of the best-performing female CEOs of recent times, told Forbes that high-powered women are more at risk of burning out, too. She said: 'Being female, I’d say we have tendencies to want to be perfect at everything in every moment of everyday. The challenge is understanding how to allocate your time personally and professionally, and remembering you have to be a person too.' Keeping on: Carol Meyrowitz, head of homeware and clothing retailer TJX, brought good returns for shareholders too. An exception to the rule was New York Times Company CEO Janet Robinson, who lost investors some 80 per cent of their cash . Kerrii Anderson, CEO at Wendy’s International also lost investors' money in her tenure from 2006-08. Karen Rubin, who helped build the simulation, said she believes the results are because of the so-called 'glass ceiling' holding women back from big jobs. The result, she said, is that any women who wants to lead a huge company must be extremely competent - and so good financial performance follows. She told Fortune: 'There’s a lot of the theorizing around why the results are dramatically higher for the women, but most think it has to do with how hard women have to work to become CEO at such big companies in the first place'. However, it has also been theorized that the results are also affected by the types of companies women have typically led - media, retail and consumer organizations - which benefited greatly in the recent economic upturn. The female-only index also crashed more steeply than the S&P500 during the 2008-09 recession, but remained worth more overall throughout - and rallied more strongly afterward.

Finance technology company plotted how companies with female CEOs performed from 2002 to 2014 . Imagined $100,000 was invested in Fortune 1000 companies led by women, vs performance of S&P500 index . Women's index was ultimately worth $440,158 - return of 348% - while the other was worth $222,306, a 122% return . High performing female CEOs included Yahoo!'s Marissa Meyer and HSNi's Mindy Grossman . Expert who ran experiment suggested results are because only most competent women make CEO .

, as compared to 108 per cent for those with all-male leadership teams. (Representational)
Women leaders are now outperforming men as CEOs globally, a new research has said, indicating that greater inclusivity across all corporate functions in a company also translated to a higher bottom line.
The study, conducted by the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Management, found that companies led by women performed almost three times as well as those run by men, after accounting for key characteristics of the companies and their markets.
The researchers defined a female CEO as one who has made it to the highest corporate position.
Cash invested only in Fortune 1000 stocks from companies with female CEOs had a return of 348 per cent over the past 12 years, as compared to 108 per cent for those with all-male leadership teams.
"Investors who buy these stocks are buying into a world where women-owned firms are operating in more sustainable ways with less risky investment portfolios and better environmental, social and governance records," said study co-author Jennifer Lerner, Professor at the University of Maryland.
Researchers further determined that the companies with more women as C-suite executives, the more likely they were to outperform the competition.
," Lerner added.
The study also found that companies who increased representation of women at senior leadership levels experienced higher economic performance.
This is consistent with findings about the influence of gender-diversity on business performance, noted the researchers.
For the study, the researchers used data on all companies included on the S&P 1500 index (1,501 firms) in 2010 and 2019, excluding financial companies. Data includes stock prices for the first and last day of the year, and the firm's percentage gender diversity in executive positions (CEO, president, chief financial officer, and chief operating officer) and board members (independent/non-CEO and independent/non-male).
Further, the study found that the firms with female CEOs were three times more likely to outperform the S&P 1500 over 2000-2019 period.
The researchers added that this is consistent with the results of prior research showing that a higher number of women in leadership roles correlates with better corporate performance.
The results of the study have been published in journal Management Science.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyReport247 editorial staff and is


Sex offender: Andrew Hutchinson, 29, pleaded guilty to 27 counts of rape and voyeurism when he appeared at Oxford Crown Court this morning . A senior nurse who filmed himself raping unconscious patients in an A&E ward is facing a lengthy jail sentence after admitting a string of offences on victims as young as ten. Andrew Hutchinson, 29, abused women under general anaesthetic as they lay in hospital beds behind curtains at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. The nurse even stole a medical camera from the hospital so he could film up a woman’s skirt as she stood by her sick friend’s bedside. Away from the hospital, Hutchinson volunteered as a paramedic at the trendy Wilderness festival in Oxfordshire where he groped two young women who had passed out in the medical tent. He also used the medical camera – which is routinely used by doctors to examine the internal organs of patients – to film girls as young as ten getting changed at his local leisure centre. The nurse was eventually caught by police after two girls at the White Horse Leisure Centre in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, saw him lurking near the women’s changing rooms and raised the alarm. Hutchinson was arrested in November 2013 by police officers outside the leisure centre. Detectives found footage of his attacks on his mobile phone, computer, a memory stick and a camera. They also found 1,786 indecent images of children on his computer and phone. When officers contacted his victims, none had any idea that she had been sexually abused because they were either unconscious, anaesthetised or being secretly filmed. Hutchinson appeared at Oxford Crown Court yesterday where he pleaded guilty to all 28 charges put to him. He admitted two counts of rape, four counts of sexual assault, one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity, 12 counts of voyeurism, five counts of making indecent images of children, one count of outraging public decency, two counts of theft and one count of possession of a Class B drug. The court heard that police had identified ten victims – females aged from ten to 35. Police have been unable to trace one of the victims who was attacked at the hospital and they have been unable to establish the identities of a further 18 victims who were filmed by Hutchinson at the leisure centre. Caught on camera: This CCTV image shows Hutchinson, top, in the leisure centre where he was found to be spying on women . His rape victims were an 18-year-old woman attacked in October 2011 and a 35-year-old woman abused in February 2012. Both were under general anaesthetic at the time in the A&E department. Hutchinson, who had a girlfriend, became a nurse on the A&E wing of John Radcliffe Hospital in 2006. At some point he was promoted to the rank of senior nurse which meant he was trusted to treat patients on his own. The court was told he had no previous convictions and was thought to be a reliable and diligent member of staff. His barrister Claire Fraser said her client had described his behaviour as an ‘addiction he has had over a number of years’. Crime scene: Hutchinson raped two women as they lay unconscious in the A&E department he worked in at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford (pictured) Caught: The nurse was found to be filming victims at the White Horse Leisure Centre in Abingdon, which led to police discovering his other crime . Judge Zoe Smith remanded him into custody and adjourned sentencing until April 27. She ordered a senior probation officer to prepare a report on Hutchinson to enable her to assess his level of danger to the public. Theft: The nurse stole this Nasopharyngoscope - used for inernal examinations - and used it to film up a woman's skirt as she visited a friend in hospital . Outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Johns from Thames Valley Police said: ‘I am pleased that Hutchinson has pleaded guilty to his offences and spared his victims having to endure a trial to receive justice. This has been a complicated and unusual case as the victims of his sex offences were not aware that offences took place because they were not conscious. ‘The victims showed great courage when informed of such distressing news. I have no doubt that Hutchinson would have continued to offend had he not been arrested.’ Mark Power, of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, added: ‘We have been shocked and horrified by the behaviour of the individual, who so badly let down both the patients he was entrusted to care for and his fellow colleagues and who totally failed in his professional duties and responsibilities as a nurse. ‘I would wish to reassure members of the public that the welfare and safety of our patients is always our first priority.’ Mr Power added: ‘Thames Valley Police has been conducting an extensive investigation and we have done everything possible to support this process. ‘Since his arrest, the individual has not worked in any part of the Trust and is no longer an employee of ours.’

Andrew Hutchinson abused women as they lay unconscious in hospital . He stole a medical camera from hospital so he could film up woman’s skirt . Also used it to film girls as young as ten getting changed at leisure centre . Police later found footage of him raping victims and 1,786 indecent images . He admitted 27 charges including rape, sexual assault and voyeurism . The 29-year-old was a senior nurse at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford .

a minimum term of 11 years behind bars. Oxford Crown Court heard on Tuesday that former NHS nurse Andrew Hutchinson, 36, has pleaded guilty to 27 charges including rape and voyeurism. Andrew Hutchinson, 36, of New Street, St John's, Oxford, appeared in the crown court in Oxford this morning. On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to 27 counts of rape and voyeurism, involving up to 27 incidents. On Monday, he denied 10 counts of rape and one of sexual assault of girls. Oxford Crown Court heard on Tuesday that the 36-year-old will be sentenced on 17 December. The judge, Justice Timothy Holroyde QC, adjourned sentencing until Friday when it will be heard by a panel of judges including Lady Justice Sharp and Recorder of Oxford, Anne Arnold. Judge Holroyde said the case was "probably one of the worst I have come across for rape" and added that "it will be a minimum of 11 years in prison". The judge said that Hutchinson was in "no position" to be sentenced as he had "not shown any real insight". Justice Holroyde said: "He's in denial about the number of victims. He's in denial about the level of penetration. He's in denial about having any sexual interest in his victims. "There's no real insight and you need insight before we can even think about sentence. "The court can see little reason to deviate from a starting point of 11 years in prison." At a previous hearing, Hutchinson admitted 10 counts of rape, one of sexual assault and four of sexual assault. He denied nine counts of rape and one of sexual assault. The prosecution said: "These were crimes which were characterised by their brutality and the defendant's apparent lack of awareness of the consequences of his actions. "These offences caused untold suffering and anguish to the victims. It is hard to imagine a more serious case of sexual abuse and voyeurism." The court heard the first offence was an attack on a 17-year-old in the back of a cab at St. John's roundabout at about 4.10pm on 23 January 2011. The court also heard that Hutchinson was jailed for 14 years in May 2003 after admitting eight rapes and one sexual assault. Justice Holroyde said: "I am quite happy to see this defendant before the sentencing judge on


Utah became the only state to allow firing squads for executions when the governor signed a law on Monday approving the method when no lethal injection drugs were available, even though he called it 'a little bit gruesome'. Utah is a capital punishment state and needs a backup execution method in case a shortage of the drugs persists, Republican Governor Gary Herbert said. 'We regret anyone ever commits the heinous crime of aggravated murder to merit the death penalty, and we prefer to use our primary method of lethal injection when such a sentence is issued,' the governor's spokesman said. Scroll down for video . The firing squad execution chamber at the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah in June 2010. Utah became the only state to allow firing squads for executions when Governor Gary Herbert signed a law Monday approving the method for use when no lethal injection drugs are available . However, enforcing death sentences is 'the obligation of the executive branch'. The governor's office noted that other states allow execution methods other than lethal injection. In Washington state, inmates can request hanging. In New Hampshire, hangings are fallback if lethal injections can't be given. Ronnie Lee Gardner, pictured above, was the last person killed by firing squad in the U.S. after choosing this method of execution. Gardner, 49, was executed on June 18, 2010, at 12.15am at Utah State Prison in Draper. In 1984, Gardner had killed Melvyn John Otterstrom, shooting him in the face during a robbery in Salt Lake City and leaving his body to be found by his wife. In April 1985, he shot dead attorney Michael Burdell at a court hearing as he tried to escape. He was given a life sentence for the first murder and condemned to die for the second. The firing squad was made up of police officers who had volunteered. One gun was loaded with non-lethal wax bullets so it would not be known who fired the kill shot. And an Oklahoma law would allow the state to use firing squads if lethal injections are ever declared unconstitutional. Utah's new approval of firing squads carries no such legal caveat and represents the latest example of frustration over botched executions and the difficulty of obtaining lethal injection drugs as manufacturers opposed to capital punishment have made them off-limits to prisons. Death by firing squad requires detailed preparations. The prisoner is strapped into a chair at the ankles and by the arms and chest in front of a wood panel with sandbags piled high on either side to prevent the bullets ricocheting. A target is pinned to the prisoner's heart with the intention that shots be fired into the heart rather than the head and the individual will bleed out quickly. The shooters are picked from volunteer police officers. The inmate has two minutes to say any final words before five shooters line up behind a slot in the wall, 25 feet from the chair. The shots are fired from .30 caliber Winchester rifles until the prisoner is declared dead. The bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Paul Ray of Clearfield, argued that a team of trained marksmen is faster and more decent than the drawn-out deaths involved when lethal injections go awry - or even if they go as planned. Though Utah's next execution is probably a few years away, Ray said wants to settle on a backup method now so authorities are not racing to find a solution if the drug shortage drags on. Ray didn't return messages seeking comment Monday. Opponents of the measure say firing squads are barbaric, with the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah saying the bill makes the state 'look backward and backwoods.' Utah lawmakers stopped offering inmates the choice of firing squad in 2004, saying the method attracted intense media interest and took attention away from victims. The last person executed by firing squad was Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010. He was executed on the metal chair at the right side of this chamber in Utah State Prison.  Narrow rifle ports can be seen on the left . Utah is the only state in the past 40 years to carry out such a death sentence, with three executions by firing squad since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The last was in 2010, when Ronnie Lee Gardner was put to death by five police officers with .30-caliber Winchester rifles in an event that generated international interest and elicited condemnation from many. Gardner killed a bartender and later shot a lawyer to death and wounded a bailiff during a 1985 courthouse escape attempt. The bailiff's widow, VelDean Kirk, who witnessed Gardner's execution, said she supports the new law. 'I don't think it's barbaric,' she said. 'I think that's the best way to do it.' Gardner's brother recently has spoken out against the method. Randy Gardner of Salt Lake City said Monday that he doesn't condone his brother's actions, but he opposes the death penalty and said firing squads make the state look bad. 'My god, we're the only ones that are shooting people in the heart,' he said. One person nearing a possible execution date is Ron Lafferty, the state's longest-serving death row inmate, who claimed God directed him to kill his sister-in-law and her baby daughter in 1984 because of the victim's resistance to his beliefs in polygamy. Lafferty has already requested the firing squad — an option available to him even before this new law was passed because he, like Gardner, was convicted prior to 2004, when lawmakers stopped offering inmates the choice of firing squad. The other Utah death row inmate who could be next up for execution, Doug Carter, has chosen lethal injection. Under this new law, Carter would get the firing squad if the state can't get their hands on lethal injection drugs 30 days before. The state doesn't currently have lethal injection drugs on hand. Utah became the only state to allow firing squads for executions when Gov. Gary Herbert signed a law Monday approving the method for use when no lethal injection drugs are available (February 2015 file photo)

Republican governor Gary Herbert has said Utah needs a backup execution method in case a shortage of the drugs persists . Opponents of the measure say firing squads are barbaric and makes the state 'look backward and backwoods'

. The other methods of execution available in the state are lethal injection (which requires a lethal injection drug, but can be difficult to find), asphyxiation, and firing squad. The US has executed only 12 people in the 16 years since capital punishment was resumed, the last execution took place in 2010 in Oklahoma and was of a convicted triple murderer. It's not as if lethal injection is without its problems, the most recent one was just 2 years ago when Oklahoma used a lethal injection with an unapproved sedative that took 43 minutes to kill the condemned man and caused his body to twitch in agony for several minutes, before finally dying. A witness, a doctor, said that the inmate was 'crying out in pain' the whole time. Since then the Oklahoma prison system has changed hands to another private firm, and the company that they are using this time has made some changes to their drug cocktails to ensure that the inmate suffers no pain. Lethal injection, it seems, is not always painless. As to the alternative methods of execution - asphyxiation is an ancient method, with the last documented execution by this method in 1937 in the US, the last execution in the UK was in 1965, there have been 2 hangings in the US since 2000 and none in the UK in the modern era. Firing squads are another ancient method, with the last execution in the US taking place in 1966, 4 in the UK, and the last being in 2011. The US has put 1 man to death by firing squad since 1981, in 2006 in Utah, when a man was executed by firing squad for a double murder. The most recent firing squad execution in the UK took place in 1964, when a double murderer was executed by the method in Wandsworth Prison in London - the last prisoner to be hanged in Britain was in 1965. The US has yet to execute anyone by firing squad, not since the final use of lethal injection in 2000. The state of Utah has not used the firing squad since 1921, 91 years ago, when one of the 2 men killed in the shooting of another was a Mexican citizen and the other a Chinese man. The state's attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, says that firing squads are sometimes less expensive than lethal injection, in his words 'we can't afford not to have


Frustrated commuters spend the equivalent of 16 working days a year sitting in traffic jams, a survey reveals today. It says gridlock in major cities has ‘worsened considerably’ over the past 12 months. In the most congested areas, evening rush hour journeys last 80 per cent longer than they would in free-flowing traffic. Frustrated commuters spend the equivalent of 16 working days a year sitting in traffic jams, a survey reveals today. Pictured: Traffic on the M25 anti-clockwise towards the Dartford Crossing . The poll is published ahead of the Easter Bank Holiday getaway, when 16million people are expected to hit the road. It found that last year, 14 of the UK’s 17 biggest cities had worse congestion than they did in 2013. Delays at morning and evening rush hour are wasting 129 hours a year – the equivalent of 16 eight-hour working days. Belfast has the worst jams, with the average journey lasting 39 per cent longer than it would if the roads were clear. London was the next-worst city for hold-ups with average journeys taking 37per cent longer than in free-flowing traffic and 67per cent in the evening peak. 1 - Belfast: 82 per cent . 2 - London: 67 per cent . 3 - Edinburgh: 71 per cent . 4 - Brighton/Hove: 59 per cent . 5 - Manchester: 72 per cent . 6 - Bristol:  56 per cent . 7 - Nottingham: 57 per cent . 8 - Liverpool: 49 per cent . 9 - Newcastle: 51 per cent . 10 - Leicester: 52 per cent . 11 - Sheffield: 54 per cent . 12 - Leeds/Bradford: 55 per cent . 13 - Cardiff: 49 per cent . 14 - Birmingham: 50 per cent . 15 - Glasgow: 48 per cent . 16 - Southampton: 51 per cent . 17 - Portsmouth: 45 per cent . Source: TomTom Traffic Index 2015 . Other cities where gridlock has got worse include  Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and Southampton. Bristol the only destination where jams had eased slightly in 2014 compared to 2013. Figures for Sheffield and for Leeds/Bradford ‘failed to improve’ and were about the same over the period. Analysis of 12 trillion pieces of traffic data worldwide revealed, perhaps not surprisingly, that the evening rush hour is the most congested time of day. Worldwide, the worst city was Istanbul, with average journeys taking 58per cent longer than in free-flowing conditions, rising to as high as 109per cent in the evening peak. At 55 per cent, Mexico City was the second-worst world city, followed by Rio de Janeiro which was 51 per cent. The survey was carried out by sat-nav firm TomTom, which analysed 12trillion pieces of traffic data worldwide. Its vice-president for traffic, Ralf-Peter Schaefer, said: ‘Road authorities and local governments can use traffic data to better manage traffic flow and businesses can plan smarter working hours.’ Roads over the long Bank Holiday and extended school-holiday break are set to be 'twice as busy this Easter', says traffic information firm INRIX which monitors flows on the nation's highways. And journey times to major airports like Heathrow and Gatwick are set to quadruple from Thursday as gridlock on the key M25 orbital motorway between Leatherhead J9 and the M1 at J21 suffers delays of two hours.

Delays at morning and evening rush hour are wasting 129 hours a year . Evening rush hour journeys can last 80% longer than  in free-flowing traffic . 14 of the UK’s 17 biggest cities had worse congestion than they did in 2013 . Poll published before Easter Bank Holiday getaway, when 16m will hit road .

ed urban areas, such as London, it takes an average commuter 31 hours in ‘lost time’ – about 10 days a year – due to sitting in traffic jams.
This is almost twice as long as the UK average – which stands at 18 hours – with traffic across London contributing to commuters’ misery. The average length of time they spend in traffic in the capital was 20 hours last year, an increase of nine hours from 2006.
However, the survey found many Britons continue to tolerate their journey to work. The average motorist spends 12 hours a year stuck in traffic jams and 11.6 hours sitting in traffic lights.
The survey was carried out by a car breakdown company to promote the launch of a ‘congestion charging’ device called the TomTom.
It found that the average cost to road users of the ‘wasted time’ was £1,500 in lost salary, fuel, time and other costs.
It added that congestion was costing the UK economy £3billion a year.
According to the AA, motorists spend more than £2billion on petrol, car maintenance, wear and tear and other vehicle costs in an average year stuck in traffic jams. In contrast, congestion costs the UK’s economy an estimated £60billion.
However, traffic congestion has been ‘significantly reduced’ by the rise of congestion charging schemes, according to the survey. In fact, the AA is proposing congestion charging for London, Birmingham and Manchester.
The car breakdown organisation is calling for the charges to be introduced before 2010.
It estimates that the scheme could cut traffic jams by up to 70 per cent by charging cars to use the roads in central London, where drivers pay £8.50 to enter the central business district.
At present, only London taxis and buses have to pay £8.50 during the rush hour.
However, in a recent report on the city’s congestion, Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander announced that a road pricing scheme to cut congestion in the capital would be introduced, in association with congestion charging schemes, by 2010.
And according to a study commissioned by the AA, 52 per cent of people support charges to enter London’s city centre. However, some critics have pointed out that the AA is in a commercial partnership with the TomTom, the GPS and traffic information company which produces the devices.
The AA chairman, Bob Mackenzie, said he wanted to see the Government


London (CNN)The discovery of the remains of Richard III beneath a car parking lot in the English city of Leicester in 2012 sparked excitement around the world. Now those bones are to be reburied following a series of commemorations full of the pomp and circumstance befitting of a royal farewell. In the years since it was exhumed, the King's skeleton has given up plenty of secrets -- and research continues to find out more. Say the name Richard III to most people, and the image that will spring to mind is of Shakespeare's villain, a cruel, conniving figure whose nasty character is reflected in his physical abnormalities, a "poisonous bunch-backed toad." History, they say, is written by the victors, and according to the Tudors and their most famous playwright, Richard was hunchbacked, with a withered hand and limping gait, "deformed, unfinished ... and that so lamely and unfashionable that dogs bark at me as I halt by them." For the archaeologists searching for Richard's remains, the sight of the freshly-uncovered skeleton's twisted spine was the moment the hairs began to stand up on the back of their necks; tests later revealed the King suffered from idiopathic adolescent-onset scoliosis. But while the skeleton's curved vertebrae are striking, experts say the resulting disability would not have been obvious in Richard III when he was alive. It would have meant his right shoulder was slightly higher than the other, but this was likely disguised by clothing, and so only apparent to the King's closest family and confidantes. READ MORE: Richard III's spine twisted, not hunched . The most famous portraits of Richard III depict him as dark-haired and steely eyed, but they were painted some 25 to 30 years after his death, and DNA tests on the remains suggest they are far from accurate. Genetic specialist Turi King, from the University of Leicester, said analysis of various genetic markers offered clues to the King's appearance, suggesting he was actually fair haired and had blue eyes. "[There are] genes that we know are involved in coding for hair and eye color," she told CNN in December 2014. "The genetic evidence shows he had a 96% probability of having blue eyes, and a 77% probability of having blond hair, though this can darken with age." This would mean that the painting of Richard III held by the Society of Antiquaries of London is the closest approximation we have to his real appearance: It shows him with grey-blue eyes and lighter brown hair than other portraits. READ MORE: DNA clue to Richard III's appearanceREAD MORE: Is this the face of Richard III? It is perhaps not surprising that a monarch would have a taste for the finer things in life, but heron -- really? Well yes -- in the medieval period wildfowl such as heron, egret and even swan would have featured heavily on the high-protein menus of the aristocracy. Scientists at the British Geological Survey measured the levels of isotopes including oxygen, strontium, nitrogen and carbon in Richard III's remains, revealing clues to what he ate and drank. They spotted a dramatic change in the last few years of his life -- suggesting his dietary habits became markedly richer once he became King. "Obviously, Richard was a nobleman beforehand, and so his diet would be reasonably rich already," explained isotope geochemist Angela Lamb, who led the study. "But once he became king we would expect him to be wining and dining more, banqueting more. "We have the menu from his coronation banquet and it was very elaborate -- lots of wildfowl, including real 'delicacies' such as peacock and swan, and fish -- carp, pike and so on." READ MORE:  King's bones reveal luxury lifestyle . Something in that rich diet made Richard III sick: Scientists from the University of Cambridge and the University of Leicester found evidence the King was suffering from a roundworm infection when he died. Researchers examining soil samples from the pelvis and skull of the skeleton spotted roundworm eggs in the area where the dead monarch's intestines would have been. Roundworm eggs -- in this case Ascaris lumbricoides -- are ingested via contaminated food, water or soil; once hatched and matured, the worms can grow up to a foot long. "Despite Richard's noble background, it appears that his lifestyle did not completely protect him from intestinal parasite infection, which would have been very common at the time," said Dr Jo Appleby, from the University of Leicester, who exhumed the King's remains. "We would expect nobles of this period to have eaten meats such as beef, pork and fish regularly, but there was no evidence for the eggs of the beef, pork or fish tapeworm," said Dr Piers Mitchell of the University of Cambridge, adding that the lack of tapeworms suggested the food Richard III ate was thoroughly cooked. READ MORE: Richard III had roundworm infection . Richard III was the last English King to die in battle, at Bosworth on August 22, 1485. In his "Anglica Historia," the Italian Polydore Vergil, recorded that: "King Richard alone was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies." When archaeologists studied the remains unearthed in Leicester, they found evidence of 11 of wounds inflicted at or around the time of his death: Nine to his skull and two to other parts of his body. The position of the injuries suggest that Richard had lost both his horse and his helmet when he was set upon by opposition troops. "The most likely injuries to have caused the king's death are the two to the inferior aspect of the skull -- a large sharp force trauma possibly from a sword or staff weapon, such as a halberd or bill, and a penetrating injury from the tip of an edged weapon," said Professor Guy Rutty, who said the wounds were consistent with accounts of what happened to him at Bosworth. Tests also found an injury to the inside of Richard III's pelvis which supports contemporary reports that his body was subjected to acts of ritual humiliation after his death. READ MORE: Richard III's fatal wounds revealed .

Skeleton of Richard III found under English parking lot in August 2012 . Remains have been examined and researched, yielding some surprising discoveries . The king -- the last English monarch to die in battle -- will be reburied in Leicester .

 of symbolism and sentiment.
The medieval king was famously killed in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and, after being buried at nearby Greyfriars Church, the skeleton was later moved to a grave that is still the focus of many of the celebrations.
"Richard III: the king in the carpark" was unveiled at the site Saturday (November 1) with Richard's great-great grandson Nicholas Brownley and local historian David Score unveiling a commemorative plaque.
"What a journey from death and destruction in an underground car park, to a place of prominence and love, with a thousand people gathering to celebrate his life and the joy that he is bringing to many people," said Score.
The remains were recovered with a DNA test and a DNA analysis confirmed the remains as Richard's in February 2013, nine months after their discovery.
Richard -- Richard III will be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral.
A short distance away from the cathedral Saturday is a small, plain memorial, the first to be built for Richard, which contains the inscription: "Richard III the king and martyr."
His bones will be reinterred there on Sunday (November 2) at 3 p.m.
The city of Leicester has held a week of tributes, from a Shakespeare marathon to poetry readings and a "Richard III rap."
Leicester is not the only UK city that has had its profile raised since Richard's discovery.
At the time, an international team was formed to carry out a four-year archaeological dig beneath the city's municipal car park to carefully unearth the remains.
The city of Leicester is now reaping the rewards -- an annual cultural tourism boom estimated at 6 million pounds (around $9 million) has been generated by the city's new royal connections.
And now that the king is returning to a place of prominence, the city plans on celebrating the former Leicester resident 365 days a year.
The Leicester council has made a "bold decision" to fund the creation of a Richard III visitor attraction and a new cultural building on the site where he was reburied, said Leicestershire County Council leader Nick Rushton.
The council announced its plans at a special event Saturday (November 1) in Leicester's cultural quarter which was attended by a number of dignitaries, including Prince Edward and Sir Rod Stewart.
Rushton said the plans would "ensure


Humans started dominating the planet causing irreversible damage around the year 1610, scientists claim. Experts have been divided on when mankind caused a lasting impact on the Earth's geology with some suggesting 1964 when the fallout from atomic testing became apparent. But British researchers have now pinpointed 1610 because of the impact felt by an irreversible transfer of crops and species between the New and Old Worlds. British researchers have now pinpointed 1610 because of the impact felt by an irreversible transfer of crops and species between the New and Old Worlds . The Anthropocene is the name of a proposed geological epoch that may soon enter the official Geologic Time Scale. It refers to a time in which human permanently changed the planet. According to the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS),  we are officially in the Holocene epoch, which began 11,700 years ago after the last major ice age. Some experts argue we should now change the name to 'Anthropocene'. This is from from anthropo, for 'man,' and cene, for 'new'. But up until now, experts have been divided on when mankind caused a lasting impact on the Earth's geology with some suggesting 1964 when the fallout from atomic testing became apparent. Researchers at UCL said that 1610 - when William Shakespeare's Cymbeline was first performed - marked the start of the human-dominated geological epoch known as the Anthropocene. Previous epochs began and ended due meteorite strikes, sustained volcanic eruptions and the shifting of the continents. The study, published in Nature, said human actions are now changing the planet producing a new geological epoch. But to define an epoch scientists must pinpoint and date a global environmental change that has been captured in natural material, such as rocks, ancient ice or sediment from the ocean floor. Such a marker - like the chemical signature left by the meteorite strike that wiped out the dinosaurs - is called a golden spike. Comparing the major environmental impacts of human activity over the past 50,000 years against these two formal requirements just two dates were in the running - 1610 when the impact of the discovery of The Americas began to be felt and 1964. Scientists said the 1492 arrival of Europeans in the Americas, and subsequent global trade, moved species to new continents and oceans on an unprecedented level, resulting in a global re-ordering of life on Earth. They also found a golden spike that can be dated to the same time - a pronounced dip in atmospheric carbon dioxide centred on 1610 and captured in Antarctic ice-core records. Geologists have named the 1610 dip in carbon dioxide the 'Orbis Spike'. They chose the Latin word for 'world' because this golden spike was caused by once-disconnected peoples becoming globally linked. According to the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), we are officially in the Holocene epoch, which began 11,700 years ago after the last major ice age . Humans started dominating the planet causing irreversible changes during the reign of King James I (right) and the era of Shakespeare (left), scientists claim . Dr Simon Lewis said: 'In a hundred thousand years scientists will look at the environmental record and know something remarkable happened in the second half of the second millennium. 'They will be in no doubt that these global changes to Earth were caused by their own species. 'Today we can say when those changes began and why. 'The Anthropocene probably began when species jumped continents, starting when the Old World met the New. 'We humans are now a geological power in our own right - as Earth-changing as a meteorite strike. 'Historically, the collision of the Old and New Worlds marks the beginning of the modern world. 'Many historians regard agricultural imports into Europe from the vast new lands of the Americas, alongside the availability of coal, as the two essential precursors of the Industrial Revolution, which in turn unleashed further waves of global environmental changes. 'Geologically, this boundary also marks Earth's last globally synchronous cool moment before the onset of the long-term global warmth of the Anthropocene.' He added while 1964 saw a peak in radioactive fallout following nuclear weapons testing, it was not - in geological terms - an Earth-changing event. An official decision on whether to formally recognise the Anthropocene, including when it began, will be triggered by a recommendation of the Anthropocene Working Group of the Subcommission of Quaternary Stratigraphy, due in 2016. Scientists said the 1492 arrival of Europeans in the Americas (pictured), and global trade, moved species to new continents and oceans on an unprecedented level, resulting in a global re-ordering of life on Earth .

Date was decided on because of the impact felt by the transfer of crops . Arrival of smallpox saw 50 million native north and South Americans die . A dip in atmospheric carbon dioxide centred on 1610 was also found . Scientists argue this should now be regarded as start of Anthropocene . 'We humans are now a geological power in our own right - as Earth-changing as a meteorite strike,' the researchers said .

, and others suggesting the impact was less than a century earlier. The evidence came from a comparison of the mineral signatures found in 20 samples of rock from around the globe. In fact, the data suggest mankind's environmental impact began roughly 11,500 years before the first humans appeared in Europe - and long before the use of iron and bronze. Dr Steven J. M. Smith of the University of Manchester, who led the research, said: "The evidence for the environmental impact of humans reaches back far further than previous studies had suggested." The team also found human activity had begun to significantly impact the planet's magnetic field around 6,000 BC - roughly 1,000 years before the beginning of the Holocene geological epoch, when the natural world was free of human impact. The human impact had not been felt since the last of the Ice Ages ended. The data suggests the impact of man has increased since around 6,500 BC, and has steadily grown since humans first evolved.
Scientists have found evidence that mankinds impact on the planet started 11,000 years ago. (Pic: PA)
In fact, the rate of change in the Earth's magnetic field - a product of the geomagnetic field - is one of the most useful ways to identify environmental changes. Dr Smith said: "The magnetic signature can be used as a kind of time-line to see when environmental changes have occurred. In other words, as the magnetic field changes, so the Earth changes." His research has been published in the journal Science. He is one of 13 scientists who looked at the magnetic signatures of 20 samples of rock. In total, the team looked at rock that were up to 6,000 years old and they found all the signatures were roughly the same. The researchers said that if the Earth's magnetic field were a record of the planet's health, "our Earth is in poor condition." Dr Smith added that the magnetic field, along with other ways of understanding the Earth, "are all providing evidence that the environment around us, and the planet we know, is in terrible shape." The research team added that they had been "struck" by the "consistency" of the findings. Dr M. Eugene Parker of the University of Chicago believes man's impact on the planet began in a way which had little effect on the environment. Dr Parker was once a proponent of the idea the magnetic field protects the Earth from


A bank worker tried to murder his topless masseuse girlfriend after he quit his job to start a business with her but then became jealous when a man smiled at her in a club. Amish Kansagra opened a massage parlour with his Polish lover Anna Imporowicz, but he was angry that she attracted interest from other men, including her ex-boyfriend. The couple fell out when a man smiled at Miss Imporowicz in a salsa club - and the next day Kansagra turned up at her home and stabbed her in the throat, saying: 'You will die today.' He was today convicted of attempted murder at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court, after a jury heard he had 'eyes like the devil' during his violent rampage. Attack: Amish Kansagra, left, tried to murder his masseuse girlfriend Anna Imporowicz, right . Judge Susan Tapping said that Kansagra, 28, would face a 'lengthy sentence' for the crime after being found guilty. The couple first started dating when Kansagra became a regular client of Miss Imporowicz, 35, who would give massages to naked customers while she was topless or wearing skimpy underwear. He left his job at a bank and opened a massage parlour with her in Ealing, west London, but their relationship fell apart last June after the incident in a Holborn salsa club. The court heard that the pair went home together that night, but Kansagra shoved Miss Imporowicz against a fridge, destroyed her phone and laptop and posted a picture of her on Facebook with the caption: 'I'm a prostitute and proud of it.' The next day, he turned up at her house in nearby Brentford armed with a knife which he had taken from the massage parlour. Victim: Miss Imporowicz met the defendant because he was a massage customer of hers . Prosecutor Julian Jones told the jury: 'She saw Amish with the knife in his hand and he shut the kitchen window and put the knife to her throat and said, "You've made the wrong decision. You will die today." 'He was trying to stab her neck and she felt him cut her neck and and she saw her blood and fell to the floor saying, "I love you. Don't do this." 'She described him as having gritted teeth and eyes like the devil, and he cut her neck again, harder and deeper, and used the tip of the knife to cut her gum.' Miss Imporowicz tried to flee out of the front door, but was pulled back by the defendant, Mr Jones continued. 'He still had the knife in one hand and the other hand around her neck and stabbed her in the side. 'She escaped via a window and while she had one leg out Amish tried to stab her everywhere.' A retired nurse came to her aid, and as Kansagra fled the scene he told witnesses that Miss Imporowicz had inflicted the horrific injuries on himself. The defendant initially ran away to Manchester, but he later turned himself in to police and claimed not to remember anything thanks to a three-day vodka binge. 'He said she was the first person he had ever loved and that there was something inside him,' the prosecutor said. 'He recalled stabbing Anna in the neck and seeing the blood and confirmed he was not acting in self-defence.' Kansagra was convicted by the jury of one count of attempted murder, but was found not guilty of assaulting Miss Imporowicz. Before the trial he pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage, possessing a bladed article and inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent. Kansagra was remanded in custody for sentencing on March 19.

Amish Kansagra, 28, met Anna Imporowicz when he became a customer of hers at topless massage parlour . He quit his bank job to set up a business with her but was violently jealous . After a man smiled at her in a salsa club he slashed her throat with a knife . Kansagra  convicted of attempted murder at Kingston Crown Court .

Kateryna Stetson as part of their plan to move to California to start a new life. But when he quit his job 11 years ago he turned to violence against Kateryna, 28, who he accused of flirting with men to get money for the pair. When he discovered she was in a relationship with a Polish friend, who was in the country illegally and was working at a bar, Amish became angry and told her he would kill her, London’s Old Bailey was told yesterday. Mrs Stetson, an English teacher who is studying for a PhD in international law, had been with Amish for 12 years. She told jurors: ‘There were moments when I wondered if I would ever be free from his control – and there were times when I didn’t think I would. ‘The only thing I can do is make sure he never hurts anyone else, so please pass the strongest sentences on him.’ The Old Bailey was told Amish, 44, had used a knife to try to kill the mother-of-two in their £900,000 flat in Highgate. He stabbed her 28 times but she managed to run into the street with injuries to her stomach, neck and upper arms. Amish, formerly a bank manager at Barclays, used a 30cm kitchen knife to slash Kateryna as she was about to take a bath. The court was told the couple had a close friendship that began four years before Kateryna quit her £50,000 a year job at Lehman Brothers bank to work with Amish in his massage parlour. The business did well and was able to employ five other people. But Mrs Stetson said they had a stormy relationship. She said: ‘Amish’s jealousy, his inability to admit fault and his temper were my major complaints. ‘I often went to bed upset because of the way he spoke to me. ‘I always knew deep down inside he would not physically hurt me. I just did not want our friends thinking he was a madman.’ As well as being jealous Amish would accuse her of cheating and in a moment of madness attacked her with a knife as they slept in bed, she said. Mrs Stetson said: ‘When I was on the verge of falling asleep he attacked me, stabbed at me and cut at my skin. He just kept screaming “you’re cheating, you’re cheating”. ‘I could feel the knife going into me and I thought I