Australia

Jockey Eddie Ahern has been banned 10 years after the British Horseracing Authority found him guilty of corruption for throwing a race. The 33-year-old jockey was found guilty of three breaches following a corruption inquiry, including failing to ride the horse Judgethemoment on its own merits in a January 2011 race. The BHA also found the Irish jockey guilty of passing on information about the race for reward. Despite having a lead at the halfway point of the race, Ahern eased off on Judgethemoment and ended up finishing last of seven runners in the two-mile handicap. For that infraction the jockey was banned 10 years. In his defense, Ahern said he misjudged the pace of the horse and others in the race. But the BHA panel found that it “could not accept that a jockey of Ahern’s experience, especially on the all-weather at Lingfield, could have made an error of such an extent”. The jockey banned for 10 years said he plans to appeal the ruling. His lawyer, Christopher Stewart-Moore, said the jockey did not do anything wrong. “Eddie Ahern is absolutely devastated by the BHA Panel’s findings,” Stewart-Moore said in a statement to Press Association Sport. “He did not breach the rules of racing as found by the panel or at all and he will be appealing both the findings as well as the very harsh penalties imposed on him.” Ahern’s counsel in the proceedings, Jonathan Harvie, feels his client had been “hard done-by” but held off in criticizing the tribunal that banned the jockey for 10 years. “Justice is an imperfect thing because people decide,” he said. “Some people say one thing, some people say another, and a decision is reached. History is littered with imperfect decisions.” Though the jockey was banned 10 years, he actually came out of the ruling better off than a co-conspirator. Neil Clement, a 34-year-old former professional soccer player, was found guilty of teaming up with Ahern and others to bet on races that would be thrown. He was banned 15 years. Jockey Banned 10 Years For Throwing Race is a post from: The Inquisitr

Trevor Bolder, bassist on David Bowie’s Spiders From Mars who later joined the band Uriah Heep, has died at the age of 62. The news of Trevor Bolder’s death was posted to David Bowie’s official Facebook page, in which the star (or his social media manager) announced that Bolder had succumbed to cancer. In a statement made to Facebook, Bowie described Bolder as a capable musician second and a “great man” first, and the post to fans began: “Sad to report that Trevor Bolder has succumbed to his fight with cancer at the age of 62 … The Uriah Heep bassist was probably best known to Bowie fans for his work across four Bowie studio albums: Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and Pin Ups.” The Facebook statement continued: “Trevor also played bass as one of The Spiders From Mars on the attendant Bowie tours along with fellow Spiders, Mick ‘Woody’ Woodmansey and the late Mick Ronson.” Bowie was quoted as saying: “Trevor was a wonderful musician and a major inspiration for whichever band he was working with. But he was foremostly a tremendous guy, a great man.” Spin quotes Uriah Heep in a statement acknowledging Bolder’s death, reading: “Trevor was an all-time great, one of the outstanding musicians of his generation, and one of the finest and most influential bass players that Britain ever produced. His long-time membership of Uriah Heep brought the band’s music, and Trevor’s virtuosity and enthusiasm, to hundreds of thousands of fans across the world.” Joe Elliott of Def Leppard was quoted as saying: “ … it’s devastating because we were looking forward to finishing up some new Cybernauts recording pretty soon, that may now not happen, but our real thoughts right now are with his family. TB was one of the good guys, I’m sure Mick Box & the guys in Heep feel the same way, we have lost a brother, a great bass player, a funny, funny man who lit up any room he walked into. I guess now, him & Ronno have a bit of catching up to do… RIP my friend.” Uriah Heep bandmates say they are “numb to the core” at news of Trevor Bolder’s death. Trevor Bolder Dies, Bowie, Uriah Heep Bassist Was 62 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Xbox One won’t need to be “always online,” but it will require an internet connection to work. Now everybody’s confused again. Now being dubbed the “Xbone” over the poor decisions Microsoft has made regarding their next generation console, the Xbox One is once again in the middle of a huge amount of controversy and outrage. At least the PlayStation 4 didn’t make gamers want to jump ship and buy something else over reveal announcements. Not such a long time ago in this very galaxy, there was an online rumor that the Xbox One (then known only as Xbox 720) would require an internet connection to function, thus calling forth the “always online” rumor. This rumor was practically made fact when (now) ex-Microsoft creative director Adam Orth took to Twitter with the statement, “Sorry, I don’t get the drama around having an ‘always on’ console. Every device now is ‘always on’. That’s the world we live in. #dealwithit.” Adam Orth continued to push the topic about the Xbox One needing to be “always online” by poking fun at consumers who had a problem with it. On Twitter, he added, “Sometimes the electricity goes out. I will not purchase a vacuum cleaner.“ and “The mobile reception in the area I live in is spotty and unreliable. I will not buy a mobile phone.” He also suggested everyone move to big cities where the internet is less questionable, and considering he was working in Seattle, it really got on everybody’s nerves. Microsoft had officially apologized for his tirade, though their statement doesn’t even come close to addressing anything about the “always-online” rumors that instigated it. Later, an internal memo at Microsoft revealed that the Xbox One would not need an internet connection to function as a Blu-Ray player, a TV streaming device, or to play single-player games. Yesterday at the big reveal, Microsoft’s Phil Harrison said you would need to connect your Xbox One to the internet at least once a day for it to function. This spawned a hailstorm of confusion as we had just been told we wouldn’t have an online requirement if we’re not planning to play online. He clarified the connection timing as “I believe it’s 24 hours. There have been reports of a specific time period — those were discussions of potential scenarios, but we have not confirmed any details today, nor will we be.” So we’re right back to “you’re going to require your Xbox One to have an always online connection, deal with it” all over again. Again we refer to the new fan-given moniker, the Xbone. Do you think having the Xbox One online to function is a major issue? Will an always online requirement keep you from buying Microsoft’s latest console? Xbox One ‘Always Online’ Statement Confusing To Say The Least is a post from: The Inquisitr

Blake Shelton and NBC are partnering up to put together a benefit for Oklahoma tornado victims. After Tuesday’s episode of The Voice, Shelton — who is an Oklahoma native — told reporters about the upcoming benefit. “We are actually putting together a fund-raiser right now with NBC. We’ll have more details within the next 24 hours, but definitely something with NBC that is going to happen real fast, and hopefully raise a lot of money,” he said. Earlier in the night, he also paid tribute to his home state and the people affected by performing an acoustic version of “Over You” with his wife Miranda Lambert. The couple wrote the song as a tribute to Shelton’s brother Richie, who died in 1990 when Shelton was 14. “‘Over You’ was just the perfect song to fit, and maybe help some people heal and mourn and all those things,” Shelton said. The 36-year-old Voice judge said he has family in the areas that were the most affected by the tornados on Sunday and Monday. “I spent three Christmases at my sister’s house in Moore, Oklahoma, and some of those helicopter views of the destruction, you could see her house a quarter of a mile away from there,” Shelton said. “My nieces and nephews would have gone to that school [Plaza Towers Elementary], and when you start putting it in that sort of perspective, and then thinking, ‘Oh my God, I am so glad that they recently moved away from that area.’ And then you go, ‘What about all those people that didn’t?’ It’s hard to put into words, honestly.” Shelton said the benefit would be held in Oklahoma City. Fellow Voice judge Usher, who has family in the state’s capital, said he would like to be part of the benefit. Toby Keith, who is a native of Moore, is also planning a benefit for the tornado victims. At least 24 people, including nine schoolchildren, were killed in Moore Monday afternoon. The first victim was identified as 9-year-old Ja’Nae Hornsby. Blake Shelton, NBC Plan Benefit For Oklahoma Tornado Victims is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mike Krzyzewski has agreed to coach yet another U.S. Men’s Olympic basketball team. Krzyzewski has been a force to be reckoned with on the international stage, leading the American men’s basketball team to three straight gold medals. A source close to negotiations says Mike K. will announce his official decision by tomorrow afternoon. Coach K was originally expected to step down from his post but will instead hold a news conference at Duke University on Thursday to announce his return. Coach K has led the U.S. Men’s Olympic team since 2005, taking them to three Olympics with dominating results. Krzyzewski also helped the US claim a world basketball championship in 2010. Following the US Men’s Olympic team win in London Coach K said he was planning to end his coaching duties on an international level. Not wanting to rock the boat USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo waited until the Duke Blue Devils finished their basketball season before approaching  Krzyzewski for an answer about his future with the team. Krzyzewski and his team of American basketball players will debut a new lineup next summer at the renamed World Cup of Basketball in Spain. A victory at that event will automatically qualify the US Men’s Basketball team with a spot at the 2016 Summer Games in Brazil. The anonymous source claims that Krzyzewski plans to add new names to his coaching staff. In the past NBA coaches associated with the Duke coach have included Mike D’Antoni, Nate McMillan and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. No further details have been made available by Mike Krzyzewski or inside sources at this time. Rumors about the coaches return to international basketball have been circulating for days. Do you think Coach K is still the right person to lead the U.S. Men’s Basketball Team to another victory. Mike Krzyzewski Coaching US Men’s Basketball Team For Third Straight Time is a post from: The Inquisitr

A green gown-wearing bank robber is raising some eyebrows in Stuart, Iowa. The bare-faced robber didn’t bother to wear a mask during the late afternoon robbery on Monday. Instead, she selected a distinctive green dress with a very sheer skirt that pretty much exposes everything from the waist down. As the Stuart police statement dryly noted: “The dress that she is wearing is bright green and would have been noticed.” And the whole episode was caught on surveillance camera. I guess our leggy bank robber was going for the Eva Longoria visits Cannes look — no, not the first dress, where Longoria lifted her skirt too high to reveal that she was going commando. I’m talking about the second one that the Desperate Housewives alum tweeted to prove that she’d remembered her underpants for the next night’s outing. Her sheer skirt was black, not green, and it was probably a lot more expensive, but it’s the same basic idea — see-through all the way up. Anyway, the Stuart, IA police department responded to the call from the First State Bank, but the robber had already escaped with an undisclosed amount of money. A witness told police that the green gown-wearing robber climbed into the trunk of a dark sedan that an accomplice drove away from the scene. Now, we all realize that bank robbers can be really bad guys — or, perhaps, really bad gals — but even the local press can’t report this one with a straight face. Des Moines Register blogger Regina Zilbermints couldn’t resist this title for her article: “Nice dress! Bank robber wows in green floor-length gown.” I’m not sure that “wows” is the word I’d use. I feel like I’m seeing way more of the bank robber’s legs than I usually care to. But it’s a change from gangsters lost in the 90s who reveal their underwear by wearing old school saggy pants. There’s a rumor floating around that the green gown-wearing bank robber may have been nabbed, but there’s no official statement yet. [surveillance photo of green gown bank robber by Stuart Police Department via Facebook] [bank robbery note photo by Robynrg via Shutterstock] Green Gown Bank Robber Goes A Little Too Sheer in Bare-Faced Robbery [Photo] is a post from: The Inquisitr

In a terrifying London attack, a man was beheaded with a machete and “hacked at” with meat cleavers by two other men. The London attack, which may be considered terrorism, happened in Woolwich near the Royal Artillery Barracks, where the active duty soldier was stationed. A witness to the horrifying London attack explains that two “dark skinned” men were seen dragging a victim, adding: “They started slashing him up with the knife and hitting him in the stomach with the machete. I don’t think it took long before he was dead. There were people passing by who were screaming and running away. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Witnesses to the London attack report that the assailants allegedly shouted “allahu akbar” as they assaulted the victim, and one explains: “We saw clearly two knives, meat cleavers, they were big kitchen knives like you would use in a butcher’s, they were hacking at this poor guy, we thought they were trying to remove organs from him … These two guys were crazed, they were not there, they were just animals. They then dragged him from the pavement and dumped his body in the middle of the road.” The man, named James, says police did not arrive on scene for more than a quarter of an hour after the soldier was brutally killed in broad daylight: “They took 20 minutes to arrive, the police – the armed response.” Witnesses say the men responsible for the London attack behaved bizarrely and did not attempt to flee the scene — when police eventually arrived, the pair reportedly ran at cops before they were shot down. A witness recalls: “They were oblivious to anything, they were more worried about having their photo taken, running up and down the road … They had no intention of running off or leaving or anything … In my opinion, they were waiting for the police to arrive to be shot by the police. That’s the only thing I can think … It’s horrendous what they were doing to that guy.” Authorities have indicated the London attack may have been “Islamist” in nature. The condition of the two suspects is not currently clear, but one was reportedly airlifted from the scene while the other was taken away by ambulance. London Attack: Man Beheaded With Machete In Woolwich is a post from: The Inquisitr

Strangely, this seems so applicable to all relationships. 2 Chainz Love Advice is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sometimes, you don’t even realize it is until you’re outside vacuuming the grass. One Of Those Days is a post from: The Inquisitr

Aw, that’s just mean — it like, glues the germs to everyone’s hands! Pranking Germaphobes is a post from: The Inquisitr