Double Identical Twins Born On Same Day

A woman has given birth to two sets of identical twin boys at the same time, a one-in-70-million chance experience.

Tressa Montalvo, 36, was not on any fertility drugs and said that she and her husband Manuel were simply trying to have a little brother or sister for their two-year-old son Memphis.

"We planned the pregnancy - I guess we just succeeded a little too much," she said.

Mrs Montalvo gave birth to the four brothers at The Woman's Hospital of Texas, Houston, via caesarean section.

When Mrs Montalvo was 10 weeks pregnant, her doctor told her she was having twins, and on a subsequent visit, the doctor detected a third heartbeat.

Tressa Montalvos: "We were blessed with four"

The Montalvos were later informed they were having four babies, not just quadruplets but two sets of twins.

The odds of delivering two sets of naturally occurring identical twins is somewhere in the range of 1 in 70 million, according to the hospital.

Two boys shared one placenta and the other boys shared another placenta.

Ace and Blaine were born at 8.51am on February 14 and weighed 3lbs 10oz (1.64 kg), and 3lbs 15oz (1.79 kg), respectively.

Mr Montalvo wants to keep trying for a girl

Cash and Dylan followed a minute later, weighing 2lbs 15oz (1.33 kg), and 3lbs 6oz (1.53 kg), respectively.

"We tried to stick to the A-B-C-D theme when naming them," Mrs Montalvo said. "We didn't expect it, we were trying for just one and we were blessed with four."

Mr Montalvo said that they would keep on trying for more children because he still wants a girl.

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Oldham Blast: Man Jailed Over Toddler Death

By Becky Johnson, North of England Correspondent

A man who blew up his house and killed a toddler who lived next door has been jailed for 10 years.

Andrew Partington, 28, admitted the manslaughter of two-year-old Jamie Heaton who died when his house collapsed due to the force of the gas explosion.

The toddler had been watching his favourite programme on TV while his mother, Michelle, was hanging out washing outside their home in Shaw near Oldham.

It is believed Partington, who lived next door, had cut his own gas pipes following a row with his partner, Tania Williams.

Partington allegedly cut his own gas pipes

Manchester Crown Court heard Partington was often violent towards her and the night before the explosion she had left with their five children and gone to stay with relatives in Rochdale.

The court heard Partington then sent Ms Williams messages from his Blackberry, including one at 11.31pm which read: "Told u next time u live me house go. Whith me u left your kids with no dad no home good bye boom gas pipe cut allredy fild up boom."

Andrew Menary QC told the court there was a "massive explosion" at 11.15am on June 26 last year which was the result of the ignition of gas which had built up over more than 11 hours.

The court heard the explosion "obliterated" Partington's house on Buckley Street and the Heaton's home next door.

Police who were patrolling nearby saw debris falling from the sky. When they arrived on Buckley Street they said the destruction was like a "scene from a warzone".

Jamie Heaton was crushed to death under the weight of falling rubble.

Victim Jamie Heaton

Partington suffered 39% burns in the explosion and spent several weeks in hospital. He also admitted destroying eight homes. The court heard the cost of repairing the damage is likely to total several millions of pounds.

When he was arrested Partington accepted he had been drinking heavily before the explosion and accepted he could have cut the gas pipes but told police his intention would have been to harm himself and no-one else.

The court was told we will never know whether the gas was ignited deliberately or whether it was done accidentally, by the lighting of a cigarette.

Adam Roxborough, defending, said Partington was truly sorry and had written "if he could give his life to bring Jamie back he would".

Jamie's parents, Kenny and Michelle, were in court to see their former neighbour jailed and wept as the details of what happened were read out.

An aerial view of the devastation caused by the gas blast

Speaking ahead of Tuesday's hearing they described their devastation at losing their beloved son, as well as "everything" they owned.

Mrs Heaton said they were "angry that (Partington) could be so selfish" and that now they were trying to focus their lives on their other two children and the charity set up in Jamie's memory, the Jamie's Something Special Memorial Fund.

Following the sentencing, Ian Rushton from the Crown Prosecution Service said the jail-term would "give Andrew Partington time to reflect on the immeasurable pain that his actions have caused Jamie's family and the extensive damage he has caused to people's homes and lives". 

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Chinese Military's 'Global Hacking HQ Found'

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

An unassuming 12-storey building in a suburb of Shanghai has been identified as the possible headquarters of a global hacking operation allegedly run by the Chinese military.

According to Mandiant, an American computer security company, extensive evidence collated over three years points to a white tower block in Datong Road, in the Pudong district of the city.

The building is reportedly the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army Unit 61398.

Mandiant has spent several years working for a number of well-known multinational companies who all believe they have been victims of state-sponsored hacking.

Sky News understands that five UK firms described as 'large companies - brand names' have previously employed the services of Mandiant.

Using evidence passed to its analysts by the multinationals, Mandiant has deciphered codes, analysed IP addresses and conducted a series of reverse-engineering processes.

"The details we have analysed during hundreds of investigations convince us that the groups conducting these (hacking) activities are based primarily in China and that the Chinese Government is aware of them," the report says.

The 74-page report - called Exposing one of China's Cyber Espionage Units - contains remarkable detail of the hacking operations.

Military staff outside (city8.com)

Mandiant has identified 20 separate hacking groups in China which it calls Advanced Persistent Threats (APT).

The report focuses on just one, APT1, which is believed to operate from inside the Shanghai building.

"From our unique vantage point responding to victims, we tracked APT1 back to four large networks in Shanghai, two of which are allocated directly to the Pudong New Area," the report says.

The company studied the area of Shanghai pinpointed by their analysis and discovered the Chinese military building.

Mandiant was not able physically to prove that the hackers were inside the building but is convinced that they could not be anywhere else.

"Either they are coming from inside Unit 61398 or the people who run the most-controlled, most-monitored internet networks in the world are clueless about thousands of people generating attacks from this one neighbourhood," the Mandiant's founder Kevin Mandia is quoted as saying.

Of significant concern is the suggestion that hackers originating in China, including the APT1 group, are far more prevalent and sophisticated than previously assumed.

Not only had groups linked to China stolen commercial property, but some had also infiltrated US state infrastructure companies giving them the ability, potentially, to manipulate critical infrastructure including power grids and water supplies.

The Chinese government has repeatedly denied having anything to do with state-sponsored hacking.

In January, the New York Times disclosed that Chinese hackers with an alleged Chinese military "footprint" had stolen the corporate passwords of all its employees and gained access to the personal computers of 53 employees.

"Reaching such conclusions for no reason with uncertain evidence and no proof and saying that China participates in relevant online attacks is totally irresponsible," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said in response to that allegation.

The alleged New York Times hacking had apparently taken place at the same time as the newspaper ran a report which suggested that outgoing Chinese premiere Wen Jiabao's family had accumulated at least $2.7 bn (£1.7bn) in "hidden riches".

Mandiant believes the activity it has uncovered represents just a tiny part of a massive hacking operation in China.

It said: "Though our visibility of APT1's activities is incomplete, we have analysed the group's intrusions against nearly 150 victims over seven years."

At Tuesday's regular foreign ministry news conference, officials shed little light on the report.

"Hacking is an international problem," Hong Lei told Sky News.

"It is neither professional nor responsible to make groundless accusations without evidence."

When pushed on the fact that the report appears to provide plenty of evidence, the spokesman said: "I don't know how this evidence in the report is tenable."

He did not elaborate.

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Reeva Steenkamp Funeral: Family Pay Tribute

The family of shot Reeva Steenkamp have paid an emotional tribute following her funeral, as one mourner said her killer must "stay in jail".

They attended a private service in Port Elizabeth as her boyfriend, the athlete Oscar Pistorius, appeared in court charged with premeditated murder.

Ms Steenkamp died from gun wounds

Mike Steenkamp, her uncle, said they would remain positive about her life: "We have to keep Reeva in our hearts forever." 

He also thanked well-wishers in South Africa and around the world for their "tremendous" compassion.

Ms Steenkamp's brother, Adam, said: "There's a space missing inside all the people that she knew that can't be filled again. We'll miss her."

Mourners including her father Barry and mother June earlier comforted each other outside a crematorium in the city, in southern South Africa, before the 29-year-old's casket was carried inside.

Gavin Venter, who used to work for Barry Steenkamp, said: "Without a doubt (Pistorius) is a danger to the public ... He must stay in jail. He's already shown how dangerous he can be for what he did to Reeva."

The model and law graduate died from gunshot wounds on Thursday.

Hundreds of miles away from the funeral, prosecutors have been laying out details of the case against Pistorius, 26, at a bail hearing in Pretoria.

They say Paralympian and Olympian Pistorius, who denies murder, put on his prosthetic legs and walked seven metres before firing four times through a bathroom door at his luxury home in Pretoria, killing her.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the packed court that an unarmed Ms Steenkamp locked herself inside the cramped bathroom because she was scared after a row.

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Diamond Heist: Raid At International Airport

Armed robbers have pulled off an audacious heist at Brussels airport, making off with diamonds worth around $50m (£32.2m).

The robbery - which took place on Monday night and lasted just three minutes - was "one of the biggest" ever, a spokeswoman for the Antwerp World Diamond Centre said, adding that the diamonds were "rough stones" being transported from Antwerp to Zurich.

Earlier reports had put the value of the shipment at about £300m.

The gang of eight  hooded thieves hit a Brinks transport truck on the airport tarmac as its contents were being loaded onto a Swiss aircraft bound for Zurich.

An airport spokesman said the robbers cut a hole in a perimeter fence but was unable to explain why it had been so easy for them to avoid security.

"We abide by the most stringent rules," Jan Van Der Crujsse said.

Brussels prosecutor's spokeswoman Anja Bijnens said the masked men, who were wearing police uniforms and carrying machine guns drove two vehicles up to the plane.

They seized at least 120 packages, which was only a partial haul from the shipment, she said.

The pilot, co-pilot and staff from a Brink's armoured car that transported the gems were held up but "no shots were fired and no-one was injured," Ms Bijnens explained.

A specialist Belgian prosecutors unit dealing with organised crime is "pursuing all lines of enquiry", she said, and is collaborating also with Swiss authorities.

"This was not a random robbery, It was well-prepared - these were professionals."

There are more than 4,500 diamond dealers in Antwerp, the hub for a worldwide industry going back at least 500 years.

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WCBS-TV News Anchor Attempts To Strangle Wife

A television news anchor tried to strangle his wife and carried on threatening her even after he was arrested, according to police.

Officers were called to the home of WCBS-TV anchor Rob Morrison after receiving a call from his mother-in-law about his treatment of her daughter, who is a financial news anchor for CBS.

Morrison had been increasingly aggressive towards his wife throughout the evening and ended up with his hands wrapped around her neck, the police said.

The attack, at the couple's home in Darien, Connecticut, left Ashley Morrison with red marks around her neck.

The arresting officers said they heard Rob Morrison threaten to harm his wife while they were dealing with him. They said his wife did not seek medical attention.

A Darien Police Department statement said: "Upon arrival, it was ascertained that Morrison had been becoming increasingly belligerent toward his wife during the course of the evening, culminating in his choking her by the neck with both hands."

Television couple: Rob and Ashley Morrison

A police mug shot of Morrison taken after the incident in the early hours of Sunday morning shows him with what appears to be a cut on the bridge of his nose and a bruise on his swollen bottom lip.

Morrison, who posted a $100,000 bond, faces charges of strangulation, threatening and disorderly conduct.

The couple's attorney said in a statement that they were cooperating fully with authorities in this "unfortunate incident".

"The Morrisons are confident that a full review of this matter will show that the allegations have been greatly exaggerated," attorney Robert Skovgaard said in the statement.

Rob Morrison, who has been a combat correspondent and was a reporter and anchor for WNBC-TV, now anchors WCBS-TV's news programmes This Morning and News at Noon.

Ashley Morrison worked for Bloomberg Television before joining CBS MoneyWatch. The couple, who have appeared on screen together several times, have a young son.

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Goal-Line Technology To Be Used At World Cup

Fifa has confirmed that goal-line technology will be in place for the 2014 World Cup.

Sepp Blatter, president of world football's governing body, had previously said he was committed to bringing in goal-line technology for the tournament in Brazil.

It was tried out at the Club World Cup in December, and Fifa will now roll it out for this summer's Confederations Cup and next year's World Cup.

"The aim is to use GLT in order to support the match officials and to install a system in all stadia, pending the successful installation, and pre-match referee tests," Fifa said in a statement.

"With different technologies on the market, Fifa has launched a tender today, setting out the technical requirements for the two forthcoming competitions in Brazil."

At present, only Hawk-Eye and GoalRef have been granted a licence by Fifa.

Both are likely to compete against each other - and possibly other manufacturers - for the World Cup rights.

Hawk-Eye is already used in tennis and cricket. The English company was bought by Sony Corp., a World Cup sponsor, during the testing process.

GoalRef uses magnetic sensors in the goalposts to track an "intelligent" ball, made by Danish company Select.

Both systems relay information within one second to the referee's wristwatch.

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Oscar Pistorius: 'I Did Not Mean To Kill Her'

Oscar Pistorius said he had no intention of killing his girlfriend and loved her deeply according to an affidavit read out in court by his lawyer.

Earlier in the hearing, prosecutors claimed Pistorius got up from bed, put on his prosthetic legs and walked seven metres before shooting Reeva Steenkamp through a closed bathroom door. 

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said the details showed it was a premeditated murder, adding there was "a motive to kill".

But in a statement detailing his version of events, Pistorius said he woke up in pitch darkness to a sound in the bathroom believing an intruder had climbed through the window. He described his sense of terror.

Oscar Pistorius is charged with murdering Reeva Steenkamp

The 26-year-old didn't realise Ms Steenkamp wasn't in bed and shot at the door on his stumps, feeling vulnerable without his prosthetics.

The Paralympian said he then put on his prosthetic legs and used a cricket bat to break open the bathroom door where the 29-year-old was alive, slumped over in the toilet. He called the paramedics before she died in his arms.

"I'm absolutely mortified at the death of my beloved Reeva," the statement said.

Pistorius added that he had previously received death threats, so kept a 9mm pistol under his bed.

:: How The Hearing Unfolded In Court

In an affidavit from close friends of the pair, Ms Steenkamp's best friend said the model told her she would marry Pistorius if he asked.

The magistrate had to stop the proceedings briefly as Pistorius sobbed uncontrollably as he listened.

A gun being carried from Pistorius' home

Earlier, magistrate Desmond Nair ruled that, for the purpose of the bail hearing, the case was a schedule six offence or premeditated murder, which means it will be difficult for the sports icon to get bail. 

Outlining the prosecution case, Mr Nel said Ms Steenkamp fled to the small, cramped bathroom and locked herself in because she was scared after they'd had a row on Valentine's Day.

Ms Steenkamp was killed by three of the four shots fired by Pistorius at his home in South Africa last Thursday. The family attended her funeral in Port Elizabeth this morning.

Mr Nel said the defence had a number of questions to answer, including:

:: Why did Pistorius carry Ms Steenkamp's body down a staircase after she was shot?

Relatives and friends at the funeral of Ms Steenkamp

:: Why didn't Pistorius look for his girlfriend if he suspected there was a burglar in the house?

:: Why did Ms Steenkamp lock herself in the toilet - was she afraid of being shot or killed?

:: Why did he put on his prosthetic limbs and walk seven metres to the bathroom?

Mr Nel said: "If I arm myself, walk a distance and murder a person, that is premeditated. The door is closed. There is no doubt. I walk seven metres and I kill. The motive is 'I want to kill'. That's it."

Pistorius, who won two gold medals at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, broke down in tears at the start of the hearing.

Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford, inside the court in Pretoria, said the double amputee's "face was creased in pain" and he was "weeping" as he was formally charged with murder.

The prosecutor said Pistorius, nicknamed the Blade Runner, "killed an innocent woman".

At the start of proceedings, Pistorius, in a grey suit and tie, nodded after the chief magistrate asked if he was well. And he nodded his appreciation when his brother, Carl, pressed his shoulder in support.

Journalists jammed into the courtroom, which was full with almost 100 people, including Pistorius' father, Henke, and sister Aimee.

The hearing has been adjourned until Wednesday.

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Oscar Pistorius: Clashing Accounts Of Shooting

Two very different versions of what happened in the moments before Reeva Steenkamp's death have been heard at a bail hearing for Oscar Pistorius.

The athlete has been charged with the premeditated murder of his girlfriend in the early hours of Valentine's Day. He denies murder.

Below are the key arguments from the prosecution, along with Pistorius' account of events as read from his statement in court.

:: The Prosecution

Pistorius fired his gun four times into the door of a bathroom, knowing that Ms Steenkamp was inside after an argument.

She had locked herself in the room after fleeing down a seven-metre passage from the bedroom following the row at Pistorius' luxury home in Pretoria, South Africa.

Pistorius followed her with his 9mm pistol, first putting on his prosthetic legs.

He shot his gun four times through the door, killing an "unarmed and defenceless" woman. The door was then broken open from the outside.

There was "no possible explanation" to support Pistorius' claim of mistaken identity - that he believed the person inside the bathroom was a burglar.

If that were the case, prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued, why wasn't Pistorius' first thought to the whereabouts of his girlfriend?

Mr Nel argued there was a motive for the killing.

:: The Defence

Pistorius had "no intention" of killing his "beloved" Ms Steenkamp and he is "absolutely mortified" by her death.

In the early hours he heard a noise and thought an intruder had come through a bathroom window and was hiding there. He felt vulnerable and shouted for the intruder to get out and for Ms Steenkamp to call police.

It was dark and Pistorius thought Ms Steenkamp was lying on her bed, not that she was in the bathroom. He wanted to protect her.

Pistorius hobbled to the bathroom on his stumps and fired his gun, a 9mm pistol he kept under his bed because he had received death threats.

After the shooting, he returned to his bed and saw that Ms Steenkamp was not there.

He shouted for help, broke open a door with a cricket bat and found her still alive. He carried her downstairs.

He had got up to fetch a fan from the balcony when he heard the noise in the toilet earlier, which is why he did not notice Ms Steenkamp was not on the bed.

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Mantel's Speech On Duchess Causes A Storm

Hilary Mantel has caused a furore after giving a speech in which she appeared to criticise the Duchess of Cambridge.

The Daily Mail ran a front-page article hitting out at the two-times Booker Prize winner for her "venomous attack" on the former Kate Middleton.

In a speech earlier this month, Mantel said she saw Prince William's wife becoming a "jointed doll on which certain rags were hung ... a shop-window mannequin".

Mantel said that as a royal consort, Kate "appeared to have been designed by committee and built by craftsmen, with a perfect plastic smile and the spindles of her limbs hand-turned and gloss-varnished".

Even David Cameron - who is on a trip to India - commented about the affair, saying Mantel's comments were "completely misguided and completely wrong".

Kate on a visit to a treatment centre in London on Tuesday

But the author's remarks, which were reprinted this week in the London Review Of Books, seem to have been taken out of context.

Her speech was about the British public's complex relationship with royalty over the centuries - a relationship both symbiotic and voyeuristic.

It looked at the way the public and the press glorify and destroy royals, from Anne Boleyn to Diana, Princess of Wales, casting them in roles and stories in which "adulation can swing to persecution within hours".

Nevertheless, the Daily Mail labelled it an "astonishing and venomous attack" on Kate.

It quoted Mantel's speech at length, although it did not point out that Mantel was describing what she saw as a view of Kate constructed by the press and public opinion.

In her speech, Mantel said Diana "passed through trials, through ordeals at the world's hands".

She also said Prince Harry "doesn't know which he is, a person or a prince" - a confusion on which Harry himself recently remarked.

The author called Kate's eyes in her official portrait "dead"

And she said Kate, whose first child is due in July, finds herself cast by the press as someone whose "only point and purpose (is) to give birth".

Mantel ended her speech with a plea for people to "back off and not be brutes".

The speech - and its subsequent reporting - were quick to draw comments on social media.

One user tweeted: "You have to admire the genius of the Daily Mail in turning Hilary Mantel's attack on them into an attack on the Duchess of Cambridge."

Sixty-year-old Mantel won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2009 and 2012 for Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies.

The novels are set in the time of King Henry VIII, focusing on the King's search for a queen who will give him a male heir.

Mantel said Kate was "so different" to Princess Diana

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