Sunday, December 29, 2013
Thursday, December 26, 2013
New Bomber Can Nuke US Military Bases, Brags Chinese State Media
Beijing’s bellicose rhetoric intensifies
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
December 26, 2013
Infowars.com
December 26, 2013
Chinese state media is once again bragging about Beijing’s military prowess, touting the fact that China’s new H-6K strategic bomber can attack U.S. military bases in South Korea as well as the Japanese mainland using long range nuclear cruise missiles.
Image: H-6K strategic bomber (YouTube).
The report features on the prominent pro-Communist Party news website Want China Times.
“With a range of between 1,500 and 2,000 kilometers, the CJ-10 meets the requirements of the PLA Air Force to possess the capability to launch strategic missile attacks against US military facilities and those of its allies in the Western Pacific,” states the report.
The article also lauds the fact that the H-6K can target the Japanese mainland without even leaving Chinese airspace, in addition to Russian cities in the far east, all major cities in India, as well as Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, “in a potential war against Southeast Asian neighbors over territories in the South China Sea.”
“An H-6K taking off from the air base of the PLA’s 10th air division in Anqing, Anhui province, would be able to strike at all US military bases in South Korea,” states the report, noting that “the long-range cruise missile has become a crucial part of China’s nuclear arsenal.”
This is just the latest example of aggressive and bellicose rhetoric emerging out of China.
Earlier this month, a PLA military website bragged that China’s first aircraft carrier combat task force was close to rivaling the U.S. Navy.
In November, Chinese state-run media released a map showing the locations of major U.S. cities and how they would be impacted by a nuclear attack launched from the PLA’s strategic submarine force.
China’s moon landing program was also used as a reminder of Beijing’s growing offensive capabilities, with one state media report even discussing plans to turn the moon into a Star Wars-style “death star” from which the PLA could launch missiles against any target on Earth.
A display to promote China’s Jade Rabbit Moon rover also included a background photograph of a mushroom cloud over Europe, a startling detail which some have interpreted as an indication that Beijing’s space program is a cover for the militarization of space.
China is currently embroiled in a territorial dispute with Japan over the Senkaku Islands, tensions that were heightened earlier today when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited a shrine seen by critics as a symbol of Tokyo’s wartime aggression.
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Monday, December 16, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Clashes in Madrid as demonstrators rally against anti-protest bill (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)
At least 23 people have been hurt in clashes outside the Spanish Parliament in Madrid, as hundreds of protesters gathered on Saturday to demonstrate against newly proposed anti-protest legislation.
The demonstrators held signs that said 'Freedom to protest’ and 'People's Party, shame of Spain!' while police and barricades prevented them from getting any closer to the parliament building.
The rally in the heart of the Spanish capital finished by 10 p.m. local time, with at least seven protesters detained and 23 people injured - 14 of them police - EFE news agency reports.
The rally in the heart of the Spanish capital finished by 10 p.m. local time, with at least seven protesters detained and 23 people injured - 14 of them police - EFE news agency reports.
Watch Ruptly's footage of the violent scenes on the streets of Madrid:
The new law, drafted by Spain's ruling People's Party, would introduce fines for activists taking part in unauthorized protests, publishing images of police, or interrupting public events.
Demonstrating near parliament without permission could result in a fine as high as 600,000 euro (US$824,040), while insulting a police officer could cost a demonstrator up to 30,000 euro ($41,202).
Demonstrating near parliament without permission could result in a fine as high as 600,000 euro (US$824,040), while insulting a police officer could cost a demonstrator up to 30,000 euro ($41,202).
Watch Ruptly's footage of the protest outside parliament:
Friday, December 13, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Did Michelle Obama Make President Obama Switch Seats Because Of Denmark PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt?
Selfie' diplomacy? The First lady appears to fail to see the funny side as her husband takes a 'selfie' with Helle Thorning-Schmidt and David Cameron.
One human rights group criticized President Obama Tuesday for not doing enough to combat human rights abuses in Sudan. President Obama is in South Africa honoring human rights champion Nelson Mandela today, but back in Washington, a leading Sudan advocacy group is criticizing Obama’s record on protecting Africans in danger.
Obamacare Architect: You Can Keep Your Doctor – As Long As You’re Willing to Pay More
Infowars.com
December 8, 2013
December 8, 2013
Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, a bioethicist and architect of Obamacare, told Fox News anchor Chris Wallace that if you like your doctor and want to keep your doctor, you’ll just have to pay more for it.
(Skip to 7:43)
“It’s a simple yes or no question,” Wallace said. “Did he [Obama] say if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor?”
“Yes,” Emanuel responded. “But look, if you want to pay more for an insurance company that covers your doctor, you can do that.”
Dr. Emanuel is the brother of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was Obama’s former chief of staff.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Revealed: The secret report that shows how the Nazis planned a Fourth Reich ...in the EU
The paper is aged and fragile, the typewritten letters slowly fading. But US Military Intelligence report EW-Pa 128 is as chilling now as the day it was written in November 1944.
The document, also known as the Red House Report, is a detailed account of a secret meeting at the Maison Rouge Hotel in Strasbourg on August 10, 1944. There, Nazi officials ordered an elite group of German industrialists to plan for Germany's post-war recovery, prepare for the Nazis' return to power and work for a 'strong German empire'. In other words: the Fourth Reich.
Plotters: SS chief Heinrich Himmler with Max Faust, engineer with Nazi-backed company I. G. Farben
The three-page, closely typed report, marked 'Secret', copied to British officials and sent by air pouch to Cordell Hull, the US Secretary of State, detailed how the industrialists were to work with the Nazi Party to rebuild Germany's economy by sending money through Switzerland.
They would set up a network of secret front companies abroad. They would wait until conditions were right. And then they would take over Germany again.
The industrialists included representatives of Volkswagen, Krupp and Messerschmitt. Officials from the Navy and Ministry of Armaments were also at the meeting and, with incredible foresight, they decided together that the Fourth German Reich, unlike its predecessor, would be an economic rather than a military empire - but not just German.
The Red House Report, which was unearthed from US intelligence files, was the inspiration for my thriller The Budapest Protocol.
The book opens in 1944 as the Red Army advances on the besieged city, then jumps to the present day, during the election campaign for the first president of Europe. The European Union superstate is revealed as a front for a sinister conspiracy, one rooted in the last days of the Second World War.
But as I researched and wrote the novel, I realised that some of the Red House Report had become fact.
Nazi Germany did export massive amounts of capital through neutral countries. German businesses did set up a network of front companies abroad. The German economy did soon recover after 1945.
The Third Reich was defeated militarily, but powerful Nazi-era bankers, industrialists and civil servants, reborn as democrats, soon prospered in the new West Germany. There they worked for a new cause: European economic and political integration.
Is it possible that the Fourth Reich those Nazi industrialists foresaw has, in some part at least, come to pass?
The Red House Report was written by a French spy who was at the meeting in Strasbourg in 1944 - and it paints an extraordinary picture.
The industrialists gathered at the Maison Rouge Hotel waited expectantly as SS Obergruppenfuhrer Dr Scheid began the meeting. Scheid held one of the highest ranks in the SS, equivalent to Lieutenant General. He cut an imposing figure in his tailored grey-green uniform and high, peaked cap with silver braiding. Guards were posted outside and the room had been searched for microphones.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1179902/Revealed-The-secret-report-shows-Nazis-planned-Fourth-Reich--EU.html#ixzz2mwGjJ3N0
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Sunday, December 8, 2013
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Friday, December 6, 2013
More Airports Set to Install TSA ‘Detention Pods’
Devices that critics liken to cattle grids have biometric capabilities
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
December 6, 2013
Infowars.com
December 6, 2013
A new Transportation Security Administration directive that mandates airports provide security for terminal exits is likely to lead to the installation of more ‘detention pods’ which have the capability of subjecting travelers to biometric scans.
“Airports across the country have sued to block a new Transportation Security Administration directive that requires them, starting Jan. 1, to begin guarding exit security doors, as passengers leave flights and head for baggage claims,” reports the Associated Press.
The article notes that in order to comply with the regulation and save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in staffing, airports may follow the example set by Atlantic City International, which has “installed five cylinder-shaped glass exit portals since 2009.”
These ‘detention pods’, which temporarily hold a traveler inside the portal until a green light and a voice command signals that the person can leave, have been compared to cattle grids by critics who see them as another way in which travelers are treated as prisoners inside the airport. According to Karen De Coster, the pods are a way “to remind you that you are a captive” and are “meant to make you feel like a prisoner who cannot leave.”
The detention pods, which are also in place at Syracuse International Airport, “were designed and approved by TSA,” according to Syracuse Airport Commissioner Christina Callahan.
Travelers have expressed confusion at the necessity of the pods. “I don’t understand those doors,” Cindy Katz, of Jupiter, Fla. told the Boston Globe. “What are they supposed to do? It slows everyone down.” The article also notes how some are concerned about “being scanned somehow while closed inside.”
Mindy Carpenter, who was waiting for friends to arrive at the airport complained, “It just took so long for the four of them to come through.”
The report adds that the detention pods “could be the wave of things to come,” and that their manufacturer, Eagle Security Group, is currently in talks with other airports.
As we previously highlighted, although the devices currently in use do not (at least publicly) utilize any kind of scanning technology, the pods do have biometric and object-detecting capabilities, meaning in the future Americans could face yet another stifling level of security simply to leave the airport.
A video demonstration of the devices shows a user biometrically scanning his fingerprint before he is allowed to leave the containment area.
“The identity of the user is guaranteed via fingerprint, iris or facial recognition scans before they are allowed to complete their passage from non-secure to secure areas. The Eagle ACP (Access Control Portal) with integrated biometrics of your choice is a complete solution,” states the company’s website.
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*********************
Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.
This article was posted: Friday, December 6, 2013 at 6:53 am
Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid icon and father of modern South Africa, dies
Freedom fighter, statesman, moral compass and South Africa's symbol of the struggle against racial oppression.
That was Nelson Mandela, who emerged from prison after 27 years to lead his country out of decades of apartheid.
He died Thursday night at age 95.
His message of forgiveness, not vengeance, inspired the world after he negotiated a peaceful end to segregation and urged forgiveness for the white government that imprisoned him.
"As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison," Mandela said after he was freed in in 1990.
Mandela, a former president, battled health issues in recent years, including a recurring lung infection that led to numerous hospitalizations.
Despite rare public appearances, he held a special place in the consciousness of the nation and the world.
"Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father," South African President Jacob Zuma said. "What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human. We saw in him what we seek in ourselves."
His U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, echoed the same sentiment.
We've lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth," Obama said. "He no longer belongs to us. He belongs with the ages."
A hero to blacks and whites
Mandela became the nation's conscience as it healed from the scars of apartheid.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
China’s yuan overtook the euro to become the second-most used currency in global trade finance after the dollar this year.
China’s yuan overtook the euro to become the second-most used currency in global trade finance after the dollar this year.
The currency had an 8.66 percent share of letters of credit and collections in October, compared with 6.64 percent for the euro, Swift said in a statement today. China, Hong Kong,Singapore, Germany and Australia were the top users of yuan in trade finance, according to the Belgium-based financial-messaging platform.
The yuan had the fourth-largest share of global trade finance in January 2012 with 1.89 percent, while the euro’s was the second-biggest at 7.87 percent, Swift said.
“It’s true that overseas exporters are using the renminbi more as the contract currency to increase the attractiveness and competitiveness of goods or services sold to China,” said Cynthia Wong, the Hong Kong-based head of emerging-market trading for Singapore and Hong Kong at Societe Generale SA.
The U.S. dollar led all currencies with an 81.08 percent share of letters of credit and collections in October, down from 84.96 percent in January 2012, according to data compiled by Swift. The yen slipped from the third-most used global currency to fourth over the same period, declining from a 1.94 percent share to 1.36 percent.
Yuan Deposits
China is seeking a greater role for its currency in global trade and investment as the state loosens controls on the exchange rate and borrowing costs in the world’s second-largest economy. People’s Bank of China Deputy Governor Yi Gang said Nov. 20 it is no longer in the nation’s interest to keep building up its foreign-exchange reserves, which totaled a record $3.66 trillion at the end of September.
Yuan deposits in Hong Kong, the largest pool outside China, rose the most since April 2011 to a record 782 billion yuan ($128 billion) in October. Agreements were announced this quarter to start direct currency trading between the yuan and both the British pound and Singapore dollar.
“The renminbi is clearly a top currency for trade finance globally and even more so in Asia,” Franck de Praetere, Swift’s Singapore-based head of payments and trade markets for Asia Pacific, said in the statement.
The Chinese currency ranked No. 12 for transactions in the global payments system in October, unchanged from the previous month, according to Swift figures. Payment value for the currency rose 1.5 percent that month, less than the 4.6 percent growth for all currencies, the Swift data showed. That saw the yuan’s market share drop to 0.84 percent from 0.86 percent in September.
Trading Volume
Daily yuan transactions surged to $120 billion in April from $34 billion in 2010, making it the ninth most-traded currency in the world, according to a September report by the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland.
The yuan has appreciated 2.3 percent against the greenback this year, the best performance in Asia, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The currency closed at 6.0924 per dollar today in Shanghai, little changed from yesterday.
China accounted for 59 percent of the trade finance denominated in yuan in October and Hong Kong’s share was 21 percent, Swift data showed. Singapore had 12 percent with Germany and Australia having 2 percent each.
“I’m not surprised as cross-border trades between China and Hong Kong have been quite dominantly denominated in yuan,” Raymond Yeung, a Hong Kong-based senior economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., said by phone today. “Yuan trades usually increase when there are strong expectations for yuan appreciation.”
Wider Usage
International use of the yuan is increasing as China opens up its capital markets. In the first nine months of this year, about 17 percent of China’s global trade was settled in the currency, compared with less than 1 percent in 2009, according to Deutsche Bank AG.
China and the U.K. will begin direct trading between the yuan and the British pound, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said on Oct. 15. China also approved an 80 billion yuan quota allowing investors in London to buy onshore assets. Singapore inked a similar agreement with China a week later. Direct trading between the currencies of Japan and Australia started in the past two years.
The European Central Bank and the People’s Bank of China agreed to establish a bilateral currency swap line of as much as 350 billion yuan, the Frankfurt-based central bank said in October.
Trading Restrictions
The Chinese central bank limits the yuan spot rate’s daily moves to 1 percent on either side of a fixing it sets every day. The trading band was widened in April 2012, after being expanded from 0.3 percent in May 2007. The yuan in Shanghai has traded 0.7 percentstronger than the fixing on average this quarter, down from 0.8 percent in the first nine months of the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The People’s Bank of China will “basically” end normal intervention in the foreign-exchange market and broaden the yuan’s daily trading limit, Governor Zhou Xiaochuan wrote in an article in a guidebook explaining reforms outlined following a Communist Party meeting that ended Nov. 12.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
The number of seaborne superyachts has increased by 43% in five years as the $10 billion industry increasingly relies on rich clients from the Middle East and Asia.
From an office overlooking the Oceanco shipyard in Alblasserdam, the Netherlands, energy tycoon Mohammed al-Barwani watched workers putting the finishing touches on a yacht that’s longer than a football field.
Once complete, the 92-meter (301-foot) vessel will feature nine bedrooms, a spa and a suite decorated with champagne-colored upholstery and a swirling zebra-stripe motif on terra cotta and eramosa-stone walls.
“We want to build bigger boats, more complicated boats,” al-Barwani, a 62-year-old billionaire who has never appeared on an international wealth ranking, said in an interview at the company’s headquarters in the Rotterdam suburb on the River Noord. “We want to be number one.”
In the three years since he bought Oceanco from Greek shipping magnate Theodore Angelopoulos for an undisclosed sum, al-Barwani has helped make the company into one of the world’s most reputable luxury-boat makers, according to Paul Fowkes, managing director at Corporate Jet & Yacht Solutions, a Nottingham, U.K.-based financing company.
The company was the first to build pools on superyachts, Fowkes said. It has since added pools with mechanical floors that can be raised or lowered to create a plunge pool, children’s pool or helicopter landing pad.
Dutch Pedigree
The number of seaborne superyachts, which are defined as professionally manned luxury motor vessels exceeding 24 meters, increased 43 percent in five years to 6,290 in 2012, according to the (Super)Yachting Index, an industry report published by London-based charter company Camper and Nicholsons International and SuperyachtTimes.com. The boats are marketed almost exclusively to the world’s billionaires, and usually are priced starting at about $175 million.
According to Fowkes, the $10 billion industry is dominated by two other companies: Bremen-Vegesack, Germany-based Luerssen Werft GmbH and Haarlem, the Netherlands-based Feadship Royal Dutch Shipyards. Both family-owned enterprises trace their roots to the 1870s.
“In the 85- to 100-meter size range, in terms of the price quality matrix, Luerssen and Feadship are the market leaders and Oceanco is right behind them,” he said. “You have the pedigree of the Dutch build, first class attention to detail. These are the qualities that a buyer looks for.”
Rising Sun
Luerssen has built some of the biggest boats in the world, including Rising Sun, a 138-meter vessel owned by movie and music billionaire David Geffen. It features a wine cellar, movie theater and basketball court, and is the 10th-largest yacht in the world, according toSuperyachts.com. The company also built Octopus, a 126-meter vessel with a nightclub and two submarines, for Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) co-founder Paul Allen. This year it completed Azzam, which is the world’s largest superyacht at 180-meters.
Running Oceanco is al-Barwani’s part-time job. He’s the chairman and owner of Muscat, Oman-based MB Holding Co., a closely held energy conglomerate that is one of Oman’s biggest non-state controlled companies. The business operates in oil and gas exploration, drilling services and mining, and had sales of $1.3 billion in 2012.
Al-Barwani has a net worth of at least $1.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He declined to comment on his fortune.
Oil Engineer
The billionaire created his first company in 1982, while working as an oil engineer with Petroleum Development of Oman. He ran the 60-person construction business for three years, until he was approached by an oil drill bit vendor who was looking for a supplier in Oman.
He quit his job and transformed the money-losing construction business into MB Petroleum Services, an oil industry supplier that counted PDO as its first client. He faced little competition while he expanded in the Middle East, and acquired companies in Asia andAustralia, making the business one of the world’s largest closely held oilfield contractors.
MB Holding is valued using the average enterprise value-to-earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, price-to-earnings and price-to-book multiples of four publicly traded peers: Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), Kentz Corp., Integra Group Holdings and TransGlobe Energy. A 10 percent country risk discount is applied.
Al-Barwani, who studied in the U.S and the U.K., spends half his time traveling for business. He was shopping for a new boat in 2009, when an investment banker suggested he consider buying Oceanco, which was founded in 1987. The billionaire traveled to Alblasserdam and discovered a bustling boat-building operation.
Superyacht Contracts
“I wasn’t planning to buy a shipyard,” he said. “It’s so far away from my business, but I thought I’d look and learn something about shipbuilding. It excited me.”
Oceanco has sold seven yachts between 85 and 110 meters since the beginning of 2012, and has orders that will keep its workers occupied through 2016, the billionaire said. Each vessel takes at least four years to build. There are only 15 to 20 known contracts for new superyachts longer than 100 meters, according to Merijn de Waard, managing director ofSuperyachtTimes.com.
Al-Barwani declined to comment on the details or value of yachts Oceanco has sold, citing owner confidentiality. He said each transaction was “significant.”
He wants the company to build features that clients don’t think they need until they see them. Customers upgrade their boats as often as every four years, seeking to add additional space or amenities, such as movie theaters or more fuel-efficient engines.
Designers, Crew
Superyacht prices can be as high as $600 million, depending on variables such as volume and interior design. They are sold on fixed-price or cost-plus contracts, which ensure the builders make their target profit margin after payments to designers, engineers and other contracted workers.
Owners also have to pay for a crew of at least 25, fuel, and the cost of berthing the boat. A yacht’s annual operating costs are about 10 percent of its cost, according to de Waard, who said owning such a vessel is similar to operating a small hotel.
“It’s very much like having a villa on the sea,” al-Barwani said. “In the summer you can be south of Europe or in the Mediterranean, and in the winter you can be in the Indian Ocean.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Devon Pendleton in London atdpendleton@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Matthew G. Miller atmmiller144@bloomberg.net
Monday, December 2, 2013
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Fast and Furious Star Paul Walker Dies at 40
By Alex Greg of DailyMail UK
Fast & Furious actor Paul Walker died in a car crash this afternoon when his friend lost control of a Porsche GT and collided with a street light.
The star’s representatives and official Facebook page confirmed his death this evening.
Walker, 40, was a passenger in the high-powered super-car when it spun out of control in Santa Clarita at 3:30pm today.
The LA County Sheriff’s department has confirmed that two people died in a collision at 3:30pm today, but no names have yet been released.
However, representatives for the actor have confirmed that Paul Walker was one of the two men who died this afternoon.
‘It is with a truly heavy heart that we must confirm that Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident while attending a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide,’ reads a Facebook update on Walker’s official page.
‘He was a passenger in a friend’s car, in which both lost their lives. We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news. Thank you for keeping his family and friends in your prayers during this very difficult time. We will do our best to keep you apprised on where to send condolences. – #TeamPW.’
Walker was reportedly an investor in the Always Evolving auto shop in Valencia, California and was in the area for a car show to support the Philippines typhoon relief effort.
Witnesses at the crash scene posted video of the site on YouTube, showing debris from the crash and emergency workers cordoning off the area.
Photographs from the scene show a completely wrecked, burnt out shell of a car.
Friends of the star told a local newspaper that they ‘went through fire extinguishers’ in a futile bid to fight the blaze that engulfed the car after the crash.
‘We all ran around and jumped in cars and grabbed fire extinguishers and immediately went to the vehicle. It was engulfed in flames. There was nothing. They were trapped. Employees, friends of the shop. We tried. We tried.’ Antonio Holmes told the Santa Clarita Signal.
Horror crash: First responders gather evidence near the wreckage of a Porsche sports car that crashed into a light pole on Hercules Street near Kelly Johnson Parkway in Valencia on Saturday, November 30, killing actor Paul Walker
Engulfed: This witness photo shows the Porsche completely consumed by flames after the driver lost control, hitting a pole and killing himself and Paul Walker
Desperate: Bystanders desperately tried to put out the flames with fire extinguishers but the fire was too strong
Friends at the scene said that Walker and his friend were taking the Porsche out for a joyride.
‘Him and his buddy, his brother in arms at heart just decided to joyride, take a spin. Something we all do. We’re all car enthusiasts. … We’re all here driving, enjoying each other, and God must’ve needed help,’ said Holmes, who said he was a friend of Walker.
‘When we saw Paul and Roger leave, Paul was the passenger in the vehicle. They both were experienced drivers.
‘This was just a tragic accident that happened on a joyride,’ said witness Jim Torp of Santa Clarita.
Crash site: Sheriff deputies work near the wreckage of the Porsche sports car that crashed into a pole on Hercules Street near Kelly Johnson Parkway in Valencia on Saturday
A friend lost: Bill Townsend posted this picture of himself with Paul Walker taken hours before his tragic death in a car accident in California
Walker rode the Fast & Furious franchise to stardom, starring in all but one of the six action blockbusters, beginning with the first film in 2001.
The blond-haired, blue-eyed Los Angeles-native brought California surfer good-looks and an easy, warm charm to the popular street-racing series.
‘All of us at Universal are heartbroken,’ Universal Pictures said in a statement. ‘Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the Fast and Furious films, and to countless fans.’
The son of a fashion model and a sewer contractor, Walker grew up in a working class, Mormon Los Angeles household. The oldest of five siblings, Walker’s mother began taking him to auditions as a toddler. He was a child model beginning at the age of two.
Walker, the son of a fashion model mother and a sewer contractor father, began modeling as an infant, and starred in a Pampers commercial as a toddler.
Heart throb: Walker was a child model and the face of Davidoff Cool Water, appearing in print commercials for the brand
He was born in Glendale, California and raised in the San Fernando Valley area along with his four siblings.
Walker has said the early induction to show business wasn’t to start him on a career path, but as a way to help provide for the family.
After a string of TV roles as a child in the `80s, Walker made his feature film debut in the 1998 comedy Meet the Deedles. Supporting roles in the films Pleasantville, Varsity Blues and She’s All That followed.
His performance in the 2000 thriller The Skulls caught the eye of producer Neal H. Moritz, who cast him in The Fast and the Furious as undercover police officer Brian O’Conner. Adapted from a Vibe magazine article about underground street races, the film became an unexpected hit.
In the sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Walker moved to center stage with his co-star Vin Diesel momentarily dropping out. Walker, a self-described ‘gearhead,’ kept his character’s sports car from the film.
Too soon: Paul Walker with co-star Vin Diesel (right) in the 2001 film The Fast and the Furious and with Ludacris (left) in the sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious
Tragic ending: Walker starred in Fast & Furious, the fourth installment of the franchise in 2009 (left) and the next one, Fast Five (right) in 2011
Other roles include Brokedown Palace, She’s All That, Flags of Our Fathers and the Hurricane Katrina drama Hours, which is set to be released in December. Though his stardom didn’t make as much of an impact outside the Fast & Furious series, Walker continually drew praise from his co-stars and directors as a kind-hearted and eager collaborator.
And Fast & Furious proved unusually enduring. Released in May, Fast & Furious 6 was the most lucrative of them all, grossing more than $788 million worldwide.
Walker is the father of a 15-year-old daughter, Meadow, whose mother had recently moved to California from Hawaii so the two could be closer.
Early days: Walker as a young child (left) and pictured in Village Christian High School yearbook in 1991, the year he was voted ‘Best Hair’
At the time of his death, Walker was filming the seventh Fast & Furious movie with Vin Diesel. Just yesterday, he tweeted the following message to his followers.
The boys are back. Will you be ready? - #TeamPW #FastFridays (Photo Credit: http://t.co/kkce2shzvM) pic.twitter.com/RDnrDBGs2n
— Paul Walker (@RealPaulWalker) November 30, 2013
Hollywood stars have paid tribute to the actor, including rapper and actor Ludacris, who tweeted his shock and sadness at his Fast and Furious co-star’s untimely death.
Alongside a touching picture of the film’s cast holding hands, he wrote: ‘Your humble spirit was felt from the start, wherever you blessed your presence you always left a mark.
‘We were like brothers & our birthdays are only 1 day apart, now You will forever hold a place in all of our hearts @paulwalker legacy will live on forever. R.I.P.’
Action star: Walker starred in the film Into the Blue with Jessica Alba in 2005
Animal lover: Walker at the premiere of his film Eight Below (left) said the best thing about the film was the dogs. The star had two dogs, including a Chesapeake Bay retrieve called Boone
Castmates: Paul Walker with Tyrese Gibson (left), Vin Diesel (center left), and Ludacris (right) at the premiere of Fast & Furious 5 in Brazil, 2011
‘No, @RealPaulWalker. No. No. No,’ tweeted actress Alyssa Milano. Walker guest-starred with her in the 80s comedy, Who’s The Boss? ’Rest with the angels. You. Sweet boy. #beauty #love #RIP.’
Veteran actress Goldie Hawn said: ‘Our family mourns the loss of Paul. A very special Human being. Our prayers go his beloved family.’
Bring It On star Gabrielle Union said: This is awful. Awful. #RIPPaulWalker pls pray for his family, friends & fans. We’ve lost a great, laid back, sweet, cool man & father.’
The Wire actor Michael B Jordan said: ‘Man life is so short. People you care about can be here one min and gone the next Don’t take life for granted RIP Paul Walker.’
TV host Vanessa Lachey said: ‘I just heard and am in shock. Prayers to Paul Walker’s family. Life is precious, never take a day for granted. #RIPPaulWalker’
James Franco said: ‘Much love to paul walker. So sad. He gave a lot of joy.’
Others, including Mario Lopez, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Jack Osborne and DMX also tweeted their sorrow.
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